Love Beyond Time ~ Yoriichi Tsugikuni x Reader (Completed)

A Little Kindness From the Heart

After eating breakfast, you continued your bickering with Michikatsu while Yoriichi sat between the two of you to prevent each other from killing each other. "Don't you have manners? You eat like a chicken." Michikatsu hissed through his teeth, glaring at you while you quietly. You decided not to pay attention to him. "You're the one who's bothered by everything I do. Does my breathing bother you that much? You're welcome to leave. No one is asking you to stay here."

You remarked nonchalantly before turning your head to look at him, pulling your eyelid at him, and stuck out your tongue. "Why you- Yoriichi, do you see why she is a problem?" Michikatsu desperately looked over to his brother, as much as his jealously for his brother remained, he wanted his brother to take his side for once. He was willing to put his pride away when he asked Yoriichi to take his side, but Yoriichi said nothing in response.

"I think it was a good idea I brought her here. As much as you bicker with one another, we should give her a chance, brother." He responded. He continued to eat in silence after the whole ordeal. Michikatsu was the proud and prideful brother, Yoriichi was the timid and wiser brother. Yoriichi caught your eye when you noticed the differences between him and his brother.

To you, Yoriichi reminded you of the sun, and Michikatsu was the moon. After eating breakfast, Michikatsu decided to excuse himself by coming up with the excuse he needed to train while Yoriichi remained behind. "If you finished, I can take your plate to wash them." You suggested with a smile, waiting patiently for his answer. He had to admit he was surprised by how you attempted to do the cleaning instead of letting him do the work. Yoriichi took care of himself as he was constantly ignored by his household for being the unimportant twin.

Michikatsu was lucky enough to be taken care of by the servants in his home. After a long moment of silence, Yoriichi opened his mouth to speak. "Thank you, [name]." He gave you a small smile before allowing you to take his plates away as well as taking your own to wash them since it was the least you could do. Somehow, you wanted to repay him for saving your life the night before, but you had no idea what to do since you barely knew this man. 

Yoriichi noticed why his brother was bothered when he took a look at the back of your obi. He figured you had a hard time trying to tie it yourself when you didn't wear kimonos that much in your era. "If you do not mind, I can help you fasten your obi from the back. I can understand how difficult it is to tie the obi sometimes."

As you washed the dishes, you stopped when you heard his request. You did have to admit you needed a bit of help tying it from the back since you weren't used to wearing kimonos. All you wore were large hoodies, sweatpants, or anything comfortable for you to wear. You didn't know how long you were going to be here, so you might as well learn how to wear these clothes from the past.

"Alright. That's fine by me. I had trouble tying the damn thing."

You turned to look over to him with a cheeky smile although, you felt a bit ashamed of yourself that a man had to teach you how to tie the obi when you could've done it yourself. Yoriichi looked over to you once again as he searched your face. He didn't see any discomfort in your expression with those hawk-like eyes of his. He was able to read anybody easily without having to say a word. When he didn't see that you were uncomfortable around him, that made him stand up and walk over to you as he searched your face once last time.

"This is embarrassing. I apologize that you're doing this, Yoriichi-san." If only you could hide your embarrassment from him when you peered over your shoulder. Even if he offered to help you fix the bow in the first place, you still found it embarrassing. You slowly moved your hair out of the way, so it would be easier for Yoriichi to see. You suddenly felt tugging and tightening around your waist when Yoriichi was helping you fix your obi.

After two minutes had passed, Yoriichi backed away from you once he finished. "There. If you'll excuse me, I need to go train." Training? You knew these men trained to be swordsmen, but training with those weird magic stuff? "Training? I saw the other men do something with their breath. They did water, fire, and all sorts of things." Yoriichi noticed your curiosity and thought that there was no harm in explaining what those men were doing.

"This is what we use to kill the demons. If you want, you can follow me to the training grounds. I am not stopping you from doing so."

You decided to see what they were doing for yourself, so you nodded your head in response and followed after him as he explained the breathing styles they used to kill those monsters. "These styles are swordsmanship forms they practice and teach here. They make use of specific and concentrated breath patterns. This increases the user's lung capacity and amount of oxygen in the blood. This increase of oxygen allows the user to enhance their physical abilities and mental concentration, allowing them to fight demons, whose physical prowess surpasses that of the average human."

You found the whole thing impressive because you didn't think humans capable of doing that with their lungs to kill those demons. "All known breathing styles are derived from the Sun Breathing, the first one I created." You were shocked to hear that he was the first man to create these styles and these people were able to derive their styles from him.

"That's impressive, Yoriichi-san!"

Yoriichi was touched that you were impressed with his skill but said nothing in response. All he did was give you an acknowledging nod to thank you for your words. When you showed up on the training grounds, the other swordsmen turned their heads to look over to you and greeted you with bright smiles.

"Princess [name] is awake! Good morning!"

One man greeted, causing you to raise an eyebrow when he called out a princess. "A princess? I'm nowhere near that." You mumbled under your breath but smiled in response to thank him. "It is because you come from another world, and they think you are knowledgable of your other world." Yoriichi quietly explained to you. He was a bit amused that you were seen as a princess even though you were a typical college student.

"I see. I guess I can get used to that nickname."

You looked up at Yoriichi and smiled, smiling softly at the other while Yoriichi stayed silent and stared down at you as well. To him, you were a strange woman. Although you bickered and acted childishly with his brother, he noticed the difference when you behaved around him. You were peculiar to him from what he's seen from the night before.

Even when you had a snarky tongue, he found it adorable that you could quickly become shy and timid around him. It was easy to see that you could effortlessly grow flustered even when you were regularly getting on his brother's nerves. As he watched you interact with the other swordsmen and admire their skills as a swordsman, he stood there as he watched you chat to your heart's content.

Perhaps a little kindness doesn't hurt in this world.

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