[Maybe it really ought to be strange, to find a place where he fits right in - not because it's his home, the place where he belongs, but because he finds himself in perfect tune with everyone around him. Just like him, they have their purpose, and they've shaped themselves around it. And... well, they're swords. Maybe that ought to be worrying, but the thought is peaceful somehow. He really isn't all that different from them, is he?
Now he laughs a bit before replying, shooting Kashuu an amused glance.]
Well, of course I'd trained a great deal before picking you up. But that's not exactly what I meant.
[He falls quiet, his hand traveling along Kashuu's cheek and starting to fuss with his hair as he tries to find the right words. Still, there is the awareness that every single touch could mean something else, but his preoccupation with the subject pushes it aside. To this day, he actually hasn't talked about what happened in the forest that day, and everything that led up to it. He never even told Kondou, not his sister, not anyone. Not the whole thing - and Hijikata had kept quiet about it as well. It was as if the whole thing was something private, almost sacred, and letting others know and seeing their reactions would somehow take away from it.]
When I was little, maybe... three, perhaps? Three or four... [He shakes his head, the memory almost nonexistent on his part, learned more through what he'd overheard from others.] A samurai saw me playing with my toy sword, and staring at his. And for a joke, he told me that if I fought him with my tiny toy sword, he'd give me his own to keep. I, ah, took it seriously. [It almost feels like talking about someone else, in a strange way.]
My sister said I came walking with the sword in my arms, as proud as anything after beating a grown man senseless with a wooden sword. My father set out to return it to that samurai or his family, but... he never returned.
no subject
Now he laughs a bit before replying, shooting Kashuu an amused glance.]
Well, of course I'd trained a great deal before picking you up. But that's not exactly what I meant.
[He falls quiet, his hand traveling along Kashuu's cheek and starting to fuss with his hair as he tries to find the right words. Still, there is the awareness that every single touch could mean something else, but his preoccupation with the subject pushes it aside. To this day, he actually hasn't talked about what happened in the forest that day, and everything that led up to it. He never even told Kondou, not his sister, not anyone. Not the whole thing - and Hijikata had kept quiet about it as well. It was as if the whole thing was something private, almost sacred, and letting others know and seeing their reactions would somehow take away from it.]
When I was little, maybe... three, perhaps? Three or four... [He shakes his head, the memory almost nonexistent on his part, learned more through what he'd overheard from others.] A samurai saw me playing with my toy sword, and staring at his. And for a joke, he told me that if I fought him with my tiny toy sword, he'd give me his own to keep. I, ah, took it seriously. [It almost feels like talking about someone else, in a strange way.]
My sister said I came walking with the sword in my arms, as proud as anything after beating a grown man senseless with a wooden sword. My father set out to return it to that samurai or his family, but... he never returned.