Chapter Text
刀派 青江 – School: Aoe
恒次作、鄙田青江。我輩には特別なこと一つもないし…お館様無視しないでくれるかな…
Hinata Aoe, work of Tsunetsugu. There's nothing special about me, so I wonder if oyakata-sama won't ignore me…
Juzumaru slid open the door to the repair ward to be greeted by a spectacle that actually startled him so much he jumped back a few centimeters – one of the repair beds turned into a garden of origami flowers folded in a variety of elaborateness, from the very ornate icosahedral kusudama to laughably simple tulips and lilies, while his younger brother who had just manifested two days ago sat amidst it, his nimble fingers still working another sheet of paper with amazing speed – a quality usually not expected of a tachi – and skill and his attention not at all paid to the grievous injuries he sustained in battle and the blood, both his and the enemies', staining the pure white origami bellflowers attached to his twin ponytails. He couldn't help but notice that, though his burgundy military suit was taken off him, leaving him shirtless save for the bandages across his torso, the ornate embroidered obi he wore with said suit was draped over his lap. Once he noticed Juzumaru, the sword with long blueberry hair called, "Oh, it's you, ani-ue. I was waiting for you." as he said, he let go of the lotus he was folding and grabbed the obi, "You know I need help wrapping and tying the obi."
"Hinata. I am not here for that." Juzumaru replied, clearing a space amidst the origami flowers, careful not to crush any kusudama, so he could sit down on the edge of the bed. "You should not expect to wear your obi when your shirt is not on."
"But you know it's…"
"Hinata." Juzumaru repeated his name, firmer, and he had to quiet down, "I am here to talk about something else. Though you shouldn't be expected to excel in your first battle, there is something I have to tell you. In fact, it is precisely because it was your first battle that your charging recklessly at the enemy leader was that more dangerous, and that was after I had warned you not to stray far from me at all costs. It was extremely dangerous, and yet…"
"Ani-ue. Listen to me." Hinata interrupted him, "You know I'm already an unremarkable sword, and the last thing I want is to be an unremarkable and useless sword. That's why I wanted to take down the enemy leader on my own on my first battle. I finally managed to take it down, didn't I?" he carried on, "That's what I want to do ever since I received this human body – to do something, to actually accomplish something useful as a trusted warrior of oyakata-sama, to give people something to remember Hinata Aoe by to make up for the uninteresting past I have. You know, I didn't slay ghost and stone like Nikki, didn't scare an entire clan into submission like Kissaki and of course am not a tenka goken sword like ani-ue, despite being made by the same hands, no less! Out of the entire school, I'm probably the most boring one, especially next to you – hell, even down to my name; Hinata is already the most normal human name around and who on Earth knows who Hinata Hanbē is? – so can you tell me what else I can do to go anywhere at all if not to 'recklessly charge at the enemy'?"
Juzumaru didn't know what to answer at that, so he stood up, Hinata's obi in hand. "I'll take this back to our room." he said and left, ignoring his brother's vocal, noisy protest.
Juzumaru looked down at the obi, a sash made from the softest, coolest to the touch material embroidered in the most beautiful, colorful pattern, the only part of his clothing not even remotely damaged from the brawl he caught himself up in. In fact, he seemed to treasure the obi with all his life.
たとえ心臓に傷つけてもかまわないが、帯に触ると、めちゃくちゃ痛い目見るぜ！
I don't care even if you stab my heart, but the second you touch my obi, you're as good as dead!
He roared in a moment of pure, unbridled rage the moment the injury got a bit too much for him to stay calm before trouncing the enemy to admittedly a glorious victory for someone heading to battle for the first time. Aside from the fact it was where he usually stashed his origami paper, Juzumaru wondered if the garish sash that clashed with the rest of his clothing, much like his using wagahai of all pronouns, was also part of his mission to make himself stand out as much as possible.
Chapter Text
日向半兵衛が愛用していたのに名が由来した、鄙田青江だ。…いやぁ、これ以上何も言えないな。こんな出来事の少ない地味刀な我輩は、お館様に愛されるのかな…
Having derived my name from being used by Hinata Hanbē, I'm Hinata Aoe… ah, there's really nothing else to say. Will a boring sword accomplishing so little like me be loved by oyakata-sama, I wonder?
To give people something to remember Hinata Aoe by to make up for the uninteresting past I have…
His brother's words refused to stop echoing in his mind even long after he had exited his vicinity and many days after that disastrous first battle. Juzumaru was not annoyed, never annoyed with Hinata's constant woes about his "uninteresting" history ever since he gained a mouth to voice them; more than anyone, Juzumaru wanted to be a supportive brother patting his shoulder telling him there was more to him than he thought, but he knew he would be lying. As painful it was for both Hinata and him, everything the former said in the repair ward was sadly true. Standing next to an array of amazing sharpnesses, breathtakingly beautiful blades, famous former masters, slayings of mythical creatures, deeply meaningful names and participations in events that decided the fate of history, an assortment of illustrious pasts that was graced upon the population of the Citadel, to say what Hinata could offer to the table was wholly inadequate would be an understatement. At least the Awataguchi Yoshimitsu has more to their identities than "Ichigo Hitofuri's brothers" he once said, lamenting his never being known in the Citadel as anything other than "the brother of that tenka goken sword". Juzumaru could do nothing but watch his brother wrap himself in garish obi, swim in neck-high piles of origami, wallow in self-torment, engage in wildly outlandish behaviors, but never having the heart to even comment on how outlandish they were. At least he hasn't hurt anyone, Juzumaru reasoned.
And then one day, barging at him came a Hasebe with face redder than a tomato and fume nearly shooting out of his ears. "I demand a very good explanation for why you can't keep your brother in line, Tsunetsugu!" he roared, "You're coming into my room right now and see what horror he's wrecked!"
Not letting Juzumaru react, Hasebe immediately dragged him by his hair down the corridor into his room, not paying a modicum of attention to the stares he drew to him and the spectacle he was creating. Juzumaru was going to politely complain about his stinging scalp and wasted effort spent caring for his hair until he was greeted by a sight more shocking than Midare dressed in masculine clothes – the entire floor of the room was dressed in origami shuriken, origami knives and spiky kusudama into a terrifying bed of spikes, in the middle of which sat an all too familiar man with bramble pigtails and a floral patterned obi around his waist that stuck out against his Chinese-style casual clothing like a sore thumb. On the verge of a heart attack, Juzumaru dashed through the carpet of paper icicles, crushing a few underfoot in the process, and knelt down in front of his brother to nearly shake the life out of him. "Hinata! What are you doing?" Juzumaru cried, still frantically shaking his brother back and forth at a blurring speed.
"Ani… ue…" Hinata uttered, still dizzy, after Juzumaru calmed down enough to stop shaking him. "Nikki doesn't let me decorate our room anymore. 'Any more origami on this floor goes into the furnace immediately' he says, so I'm moving my work into Heshikki's room. I thought he would understand me, being my fellow Kuroda sword, and yet…"
"Kuroda sword or not, I don't appreciate anyone's entering and littering in my room without permission, and for the last time, do not call me that!" Hasebe shouted only to be replied with both Aoe swords' all but completely forgetting he was there.
"I'm surrounded by spikes, and I'm not talking about the origami." Hinata said, "Spikes of sorrow over a thoroughly unremarkable presence I'm graced with and over why creating a grand work of art to make up for that unremarkable presence is such a crime."
Juzumaru was speechless.
"This is an offense serious enough to report to master, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt on your ability to discipline your sibling." said a bruised and battered Kasen next to a certain sword in Chinese clothing still constantly fidgeting at his obi to get it exactly the way he wanted, a disgruntled frown still deeply etched on his otherwise handsome face. Instantly, Juzumaru figured out what happened, but was still compelled to ask what his brother did.
Hinata didn't answer him, instead turned to Kasen. "I believe I made myself very clear what happens to anyone touching my obi." he said to Kasen still barely hiding his rage from being roughed up by a tachi capable of much more raw strength than he seemed.
"As I said, I'm no stranger to handling kimono. I wash Jirōtachi's outfits on a regular basis, for gods' sake." Kasen rebuffed, "That obi of yours is in dire need of cleaning, and I assure you I can handle it with the care it needs given my experience with traditional clothing if you weren't so irritatingly stubborn. I wonder which one of us is the one mistreating traditional attire here, me or someone defiling the aesthetics of obi by wearing them over battle uniforms and Chinese shirts!"
That statement immediately triggered Hinata's rage, and he launched himself onto Kasen fully intending on pulverizing him some more before Juzumaru finally stepped in and separated them. "Leave my brother to me. Rest assured, I will have the matter sorted out." he said, and only then did Kasen feel at enough ease to leave.
Only the two Aoe were left in the room, but Juzumaru couldn't bring himself to even say one word. In his head relentlessly echoed those heartfelt words Hinata told him so many days ago. To give people something to remember Hinata Aoe by to make up for the uninteresting past I have…
Biting his lip, Juzumaru said, short and concise, "Leave right this instant."