月光 (Gekkou; Moonlight)

Chapter 5: Don't Wake Me Just Yet

Ookurikara didn't like this. He didn't understand his racing heart, and why he couldn't just fall asleep. It didn't help that Tsurumaru decided to change the locations of various objects and furniture––quiet enough not to wake anyone, but loud enough to keep Ookurikara awake––as his usual surprise. 

For once, Ookurikara slipped out of the room while Tsurumaru's back is turned. He walks along the veranda, hoping the evening atmosphere would settle this feverish excitement. It turns out he wasn't the only one struggling with insomnia.

Mizu sits on the veranda, ignoring the pain as she continued sketching. Ookurikara was fascinated by the shades of gray that escaped from the graphite of her pencil and how focused her moonlit eyes were–

"Ookurikara-sama," Mizu turns to look at him. "What're you doing up?"

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

"It doesn't matter too much. Come here; I want to show you what I'm drawing."

He obliges, wood creaking underneath him as his weight shifts. When he observes Mizu's work, he's astounded by the ethereal abyss of the ocean, with anemones, corals, and fish brought to life by this simple technology. 

"That's amazing, Mizu-sama," he comments. 

"This is... a familiar place, but I can't place it," she lets out a long sigh, "but I know it has to do with my past."

For a while, they sit in silence. After a bit, Mizu's calm aura seemed to soothe him, his breathing like waves going in and out of the sand. He begins to understand Mizu a bit more; her distance is the coping mechanism for her amnesia.

When her head rested on his shoulder, he froze like a deer in headlights. He pulls the sketchbook and pencil from the sleeping uchigatana, setting it securely on the veranda. Some of the worries eased off his chest. He didn't know this tsukumogami too well, but he desired to know her better. 

Deciding that the veranda wasn't a decent place for an injured sword warrior to sleep, Ookurikara picked her up, before picking up her drawing materials and navigating into Mizu's room. He lays her down on the futon, sitting down to draw the blanket over the slumbering tsukumogami. He pulls the golden locks from her face, noting the pale scars across her face. 

Ookurikara doesn't remember falling asleep in Mizu's room, but you'd never get him to confess that he enjoyed it. Understandably, he didn't feel like returning to his room; Tsurumaru usually has late night surprises, and as much as Ookurikara loves Mitsutada, he can't stand his snoring sometimes. He falls asleep next to the uchigatana, oblivious to the enlightenment the god(s) had given him. 

Mizu didn't realize she passed out on Ookurikara, nor that the usual lone sword had the compassion to take her to the room that she supposedly sleeps in. She was even more unaware of how she snuggled up against Ookurikara, or how he played with the strands of her hair like he sometimes does with Mitsutada's or Taikogane's hair when they're asleep. She had no knowledge that this soothed her touch-starved body, not ever knowing of what love or comfort felt like. 

Tsurumaru wasn't the only sword warrior who was surprised to learn that of all ken (swords), Ookurikara and Mizu were found together sleeping in her room. Iwatooshi, Mikazuki, Ishikirimaru, and Monoyoshi were shocked to find that going into Mizu's room to check up on her because they understood that their trip to Toba wasn't easy, especially since it was where aruji-sama had been put into a coma.