The Curse (revamped edition with many changes !!)

{'People who like summer flowers die in the summer'}

Shinobu felt the cool breeze and warm sunlight brush against her face, caressing her skin. She found herself at the entrance of the bi-annual Hashira Meeting. She looked around for her dearest air-headed fool of a comrade, Giyuu Tomioka. Late again, he was going to get his ass chewed out, isn't he? He had many nicknames for him, 'rat', 'loner', 'bastard', 'asshole', 'dumbass', and of course 'air-headed fool'. Courtesy of Obanai and Sanemi. 

Shinobu thought of Kyojuro and Mitsuri. Those two admired Giyuu, always hovering near him, treating him the same way she's seen the duo treat Senjuro. Their remarks on Giyuu were sweet and nice. They called him cute, a sweetheart, and the names of many sweets, both local and foreign. 

Tengen Uzui...that rascal, he kept on making friendly (or not, nothing's for sure when it comes to that half-glitter-half-muscle pervert) remarks on how he wouldn't mind having Giyuu as his first husband, to which he got looks of confusion and discomfort from Giyuu. 

Gyomei often referred to Giyuu as a scared and sad kitten abandoned in the rain- the mental image making Shinobu snort at the spot when she first heard of the comparison. Muichiro didn't have much to say, but he sometimes thought Giyuu was his mother, which had at first led to a look of bewilderment from the poor young man.

["Mother? Huh? I'm a man. I'm unmarried. I'm twenty-one. If I were to have birthed you, I would have done so when I was seven years old."

"...you're a man?"

Sanemi choked on his ohagi. Mitsuri and Kyojuro spat out their sweet potatoes. Tengen wheezed and guffawed until he almost fainted. Even Gyomei faintly chuckled. Obanai fell off his tree. Shinobu laughed until her stomach hurt.]

Shinobu was snapped out of her train of thought when Sanemi growled, like a rabid dog. Or maybe a yearning wife who was too stubborn to admit her concern for her darling. 

"Where in the everliving fuck is Tomioka!?! I swear to the heavens, I'll choke him and yank his stupid long hair once he comes here."

Tengen lowly whistled, a smirk on his face. 

"Ooh, kinky. Didn't know you were into that, Shinazugawa, how flamboyant!"

Sanemi let out a disgraced yelp of frustration, anger, embarrassment, and pure murderous intent which was only being tamed by the thought of Kagaya scolding him. His face, which looked like an enraged housewife who caught her disloyal husband in the act, softened a bit when Kagaya's children walked with him in tow, softly speaking.

"Oyakata-Sama has arrived."

Everyone relaxed considerably, their expressions and body languages softening when their Master spoke out in his lovely and calming voice, his words soothing everyone beyond measure. 

"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting. The weather is truly lovely today, albeit a bit cloudy. How are you all?"

Sanemi spoke up first, earning glares and a well-deserved murmur of 'bipolar bitch' from an unknown source.

"Oyakata-Sama, thank you so much for going through the trouble of visiting us today, may you lead a long life filled with happiness and luck." 

Kagaya smiled softly, nodding softly and facing the Hashira, a bit of solemnity on his face. 

"Thank you so much, Sanemi, but first we have to address a major issue about our Water Pillar."

Obanai looked a bit surprised, asking in a low voice. 

"...Tomioka?"

Kagaya nodded, a solemn look on his face, and Shinobu saw tears well up in Gyomei's eyes, with Sanemi lowly growling, 'not his fucking waterworks AGAIN, does he never get dehydrated!?!'.