This Duty, My Duty

Chapter 4. Leisure and Work

The next morning came after the Saniwa had collapsed from the night before. Her heavy eyelids opened slowly as she came to her senses, taking in the environment around her very slowly. From a window nearby, Tsubaki could feel a soft summer breeze pass by,

"Is this... my room...?" She said softly as she tried to sit up.

In her attempt to sit up, she could feel a large amount of weight against her lap, causing her to look down to find Konnosuke resting well within her lap. A faint smile grew on her face as she gave the small fox a few pets to thank him for dealing with her stubbornness. At that moment, she could see the sleeping bodies of her two touken danshis, Horikawa Kunihiro and Kuwana Gou, sleeping peacefully on the couches that were within the room.

Seeing the two swordsmen sleeping in her room, waiting for her, made her eyes water a bit. She was acting so ignorantly for pushing herself like that without thinking of how her sword warriors would feel. She wasn't alone anymore; she had people waiting for her now. She could no longer act on such impulses and ignorance anymore.

"I have to better myself for them..." she mumbled softly.

To much surprise, Tsubaki's soft mumbles would end up waking the three bodies in her room, startling her a little to see how sharp their reactions were. With sluggish movements and groggy voices, the two touken danshis gazed up at the already sitting Tsubaki in dismay. Although sleepy, Horikawa was the first to run up to her bedside,

"A...Aruji-san! I'm so glad you're okay!!" Horikawa said as he unconsciously grabbed onto her hand.

"Aruji, you have to keep yourself healthy..." Kuwana said as adjusted his messy hair.

Tsubaki tried her best to reassure the two sword warriors that she would take better care of herself before Konnosuke began to sob into her lap,

"ARUJI-SAMA!! WAAAAH!! YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK, DON'T DO THAT EVER AGAIN WAAAAH!!" Konnosuke shouted as he was crying uncontrollably.

"A...Alright!! Don't cry Konnosuke, look, I'm perfectly fine with the little bits of rest I got," Tsubaki said as she gave the little fox a few more pets to put him at ease. As she expected, her fox friend slowly began to calm down thanks to the soothing motions. A few sniffles could be heard from Konnosuke but overall he was feeling much more at ease.

"Aruji-sama, are you sure you're okay?" Konnosuke asked as he peered up at her.

"Of course I am... A good hearty breakfast is all I need to put the cherry on top," she said before shifting her gaze towards the two boys in front of her, "Now, shall we have some breakfast? I'm sure you two are hungry!" Tsubaki said with a large grin as the two of them nodded their heads enthusiastically.

"Horikawa... you can let go of my hand now...~" Tsubaki said teasing him with a chuckle as Horikawa quickly let go of her hand,

"I..I'm sorry Aruji-san! I grabbed it without thinking!!" Horikawa exclaimed.

"Haha, I'm just teasing you, don't worry," Tsubaki laughed as she rose from the bed.

Tsubaki looked at her attire, realizing that she was still wearing her outfit from the night before. After all, she did fall unconscious and was immediately brought back to her room.

"Why don't you two go on ahead into the kitchen and pull out these ingredients from the pantry for me? I should change into a fresh pair of clothes anyways," Tsubaki said as she gestured for the two touken danshis to move along.

Following her commands, the touken danshis withdrew from her room. Now alone in the room with just Konnosuke, she would use this time to swiftly change into a new set of clothes, tying back the ends of her sleeves so that they wouldn't get in the way of today's duties. Once she was all set to go, she met up with her sword warriors in the kitchen. Just like she had asked, the two of them had collected the ingredients that she mentioned and put them all onto the counter.