━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Chapter 12 ━☂

❁ཻུ۪۪ ━ ❝ A place to call home. 

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Panting heavily as he continued to run (Y/n) looked up as he saw the familiar small village that was one thin river away from the temple. Smiling happily at this (Y/n) quickened his pace, running down the village streets as he continued to run towards the temple grounds. 

'Just over the bridge is my home! I'm almost there!' Seeing the bright red bridge that he so many times run on (Y/n) thought of how they would all react once seeing him after seven days. Glancing up at the moon (Y/n) noticed that the sun was peaking from over a mountain making him smile more. 

Running on the bridge (Y/n) ran some more and finally was inside the estate. Running towards where the temple should be (Y/n) slide the door open and looked inside. "I'm home!" (Y/n) yelled out of breath as he walked inside only to see that no one was there. 

Glancing around the room (Y/n) was about to go towards the courtyard only for the sound of multiple 'thud' sounds to stop him. Looking over towards where the door was (Y/n) smiled. 

"(Y/n)!" Everyone yelled in unison, Fumio on top of Gorou as the others were standing normally, staring at (Y/n) with happiness as some had tears on their eyes. Opening his arms, (Y/n) chuckled happily only for his eyes to widen as everyone ran towards his arms at once making (Y/n) panic. 

'Wait I don't wanna die-' Jumping up to hug (Y/n) everyone smiled happily down at (Y/n) as they fell on top of him, wrapping him in a tight hug as some of them began to cry. "It's not manly of you to make me cry like this, you idiot!" Gorou cried, sniffling as he glared down at (Y/n) with teary eyes. 

"Oh, look at your skin! All bloody and bruised- is that mud I see?" Fumio questioned him in a dark tone, glaring down at (Y/n) making him begin to sweat. "I'm glad to see you alive and well, (Y/n)-kun." Sora smiled warmly down at him, happiness clear in his black eyes. (Y/n) smiled back. 

"The Hashira's did teach you well. Good." Keiichi nodded, backing away from the hug as he had a small blush, which Fumio noticed and began to tease Keiichi earning him a bump on the head. "My baby bird! Never leave the nest! Never again! I was so worried!" Shigeru exclaimed, snot falling on (Y/n) hair making Fumio quickly clean it up. 

'This...' Allowing himself to be embraced by everyone, (Y/n) closed his eyes. '... I would fight the gods themselves just to be here.'

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Itadakimasu!" Inside the well-lit room were six people, sitting around the table as they feasted on the Daifuku and Dango that Shigeru and Gorou made overnight. Trying to put Daifuku on his plate (Y/n) yelped as Fumio hit his hand with his chopsticks. "Fumio-san! Why did you do that?" (Y/n) asked him, soothing the red spot on his hand which Fumio somehow hit really hard. 

Fumio humpfed, frowning disapprovingly down at the young boy. "Too many sweets and you'll start losing your figure! You already made me spent an hour making you pretty again so this is your punishment!" Fumio huffed, sitting back down on his personal cushion that he made pink.

(Y/n) sighed dejectedly, "Yes, Fumio-san." Nodding in approval Fumio went back to eating his Dango making (Y/n) frown. 'Look at you, enjoying yourself.' Looking away from his caretaker (Y/n) grasped the tenmoku teacup and took a sip of his sencha tea.

"(Y/n)! I demand an explanation!" Hearing the sudden yell surprised (Y/n) as he started choking on his tea making Gorou and Keiichi panic and try and help him. Hearing no answer the man stomped down the hallway and arrived near the dinner door as he slid it open, the man being accompanied by another person. "(Y/n)-"

"Can you shut up you stupid Hashira!" Gorou yelled at Sanemi, glaring at him as he patted (Y/n) back while Keiichi tried to calm (Y/n) down. Looking down at Gorou, Sanemi wore an offended look before it turned into one of rage. "Do you wanna die-!"

"Sanemi, shut up." Appearing behind Sanemi was Obanai with Kaburamaru wrapped around his neck. Looking over his shoulder, Sanemi pointed at the angry Gorou with a shaking finger. "He was the one who started it! That damn-"

"S-Sensei, no one is allowed to cuss inside or around the temple." (Y/n) breathed out, small tears around his eyes as he finally stopped choking on the tea. Looking down at his student Sanemi's eyes softened as he quickly appeared by (Y/n) side pushing Gorou away as he sat down on the now-empty cushion. 

"(Y/n)? Are you alright? Should I call for a doctor?" Sanemi questioned (Y/n), worryingly looking at his student as he wrapped his arm around (Y/n) shoulder, bringing (Y/n) closer to his chest. (Y/n) nodded his head as he looked up towards his sensei. "I'm fine, Sensei. Thank you for worrying." (Y/n) thanked him, smiling up at his sensei as Sanemi sent him a smirk back. 

"Not even a hello hug?" Snapping his head towards Obanai, (Y/n) smile widened. "Obanai-sama!" (Y/n) welcomed him, getting up as he bowed a perfect forty-five-degree angle. Sighing, Obanai pulled (Y/n) toward him as he hugged him. Hearing a hissing noise (Y/n) glanced down at Kaburamaru as he rubbed against (Y/n) arm. 

"I missed you too, Kabu-chan!" (Y/n) exclaimed, lifting his hand to pet the snake making flowers bloom around Kaburamaru's head. "You always give Kaburamaru more affection than me." Obanai pouted under his mask making (Y/n) panic thinking that his other sensei was mad at him. 

"Forgive me, Obanai-sama!" (Y/n) backed away, bowed down seventy degrees making Obanai sigh. "You never change, (Y/n)." Obanai whispered, glancing down at the still bowing (Y/n). Putting his hand on top of (Y/n) head Obanai messed up his perfect ponytail making (Y/n) pout in annoyance. 

"Obanai-sama! You know how much I hate it when people ruin my hair!" (Y/n) exclaimed, getting up from his bowing position as he untied his ponytail allowing for his long hair to flow down freely onto his back. "(Y/n)! You're so cute with your hair down!" Fumio fanboyed, rushing over towards (Y/n) hair only for him to put it back up on a ponytail quickly. 

"Last time I allowed you to do my hair you almost cut it." (Y/n) stated making everyone in the room look at Fumio as if he just went mad. Fumio began to sweat as he furiously shook his hands. "What? Me? No! Never! How could I ever go something like that- yeah I did do that." Fumio confessed, Gorou coming up behind him and hitting him on the head. 

"Fumio-san, I did expect more from you." Sora sighed, shaking his head as Fumio looked over at him with a wronged expression. "Sora-kun! His hair is still long, okay?!" Fumio defended himself only for his expression to morph into one of pure horror as he saw the head priest also shake his head in disapproval. 

"I thought I taught you better than that, Fumio-kun." Shigeru tsked, going back to eating some Daifuku furthering killing Fumio. 'S-Shigeru-sama!' Fumio thought as he turned into a rock, a breeze flying by as a small leaf landed on his head. Appearing by Fumio's side, (Y/n) blew away the leaf. 

"Sanemi-kun, Obanai-kun, please do join us." Shigeru offered them, smiling politely. Obanai shook his head, "We can't possibly intrude, Shigeru-san." Obanai stated, Fumio and Gorou nodding in agreement. Ignoring his disciple's rude gesture, Shigeru chuckled. "You will not be a bother, I assure you!" Shigeru exclaimed, motioning towards where they keep the other cushions.

Giving in, Sanemi and Obanai both nodded and walked over to get more cushions only to get blocked by Fumio and Gorou. "I do not wish to dine with these people as long as they don't know what true fashion is!" Fumio exclaimed, blocking the path with his two outstretched arms as Gorou did the same. 

"Yeah! Yeah!" Gorou agreed, nodding his head firmly as both of them glared down at the two Hashira's who were only a couple inches smaller. Looking up at the two, Sanemi and Obanai both had dotted eyes before grabbing the two males and throwing them to the other side of the room. 

"Deal with it, suckers." Obanai stated, glancing over at the two dazed drama queens. The two grabbed a cushion for one another as they walked over towards the table and sat down. "Itadakimasu." Both of them said in unison as they broke their joined chopsticks and began to grab either a Daifuku or a Dango. 

While the two were eating both Fumio and Gorou arrived back at the table as they began to eat aggressively, looking over at the other two unusually peaceful Hashira's with a burning glare. "I honestly don't understand why you hate those two so much. They're rather nice once you get to know them." Sora defended the two Hashira's, finishing his Dango as he went to grab another. 

The two froze at this and looked over at their friend with a deadpanned expression. 

"They're ugly."

"They always put (Y/n) in danger."

"Their fashion sense is revolting."

"They hate Nama Yatsuhashi."

"They think me singing is revolting."

"They strung me to a tree."

"They're ugly."

"They're not manly."

"They're ugly."

Sweatdropping at his friend's words, Sora turned away as he ate another Dango. "Forget I ever asked." Sora stated, the other two nodding in happiness as they went back to glaring at the two Hashira's. 

"That b- I mean, that Ojiisan thinks we're ugly." Sanemi snickered, catching himself from saying a bad word in the holy household as he took another bite from his Daifuku. Hearing this Fumio got up from his seat as he slammed his hands on the table, glaring heatedly down at Sanemi. 

"My face..." His face became dark as he neared Sanemi. Grabbing the cloth near his neck Fumio lifted Sanemi towards his face as Fumio's face became once again visible to the others only to see Fumio frowning with a vein mark popping out.

"... is the most beautiful thing to ever grace this earth so you better shut up before I grab your blade and shove it up your ass! You disgusting piece of human filth! I grace you with my presence and this is what you give me! You're lower than dirt! You look like you're already in your mid-thirties so you better shut up about me looking like an Ojiisan!" Fumio yelled at Sanemi's face, shaking him as Sanemi tried to grab Fumio's shirt.

Taking a sip of his tea (Y/n) continued to watch the interaction as everyone else did the same. 

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Sora asked, worry crossing his features only for him to gasp as everyone shook their heads. "They'll stop once Fumio decides to tap out due to ruining his hair, so it'll stop soon." Keiichi replied, drinking his tea gracefully as Fumio somehow brought Sanemi down onto the ground. 

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Say you're sorry, Fumio-san." Outside of the temple were Sanemi, Obanai, (Y/n), Sora, Fumio, and Gorou who were forced to come there once Obanai and Sanemi were about to leave. Grumbling under his breath Fumio looked away from his friend only for Sora to pull Fumio's head down. 

"Now, Fumio-san. Now before I decide to burn all of your kimono's-"

"I'm sorry, forgive me!" Fumio exclaimed, bowing down as Sora nodded in approval. "Good, now you go, Gorou-kun." Sora instructed only for Gorou to puff his chest out and shake his head, putting his hands on both sides of his waist. 

"You've got nothing on me, Sora-san!" Gorou announced, seeming proud that he was supposedly untouchable. At this, an evil glint appeared in his black eyes as he smiled over towards Gorou making the said man gulp. 

"What about Aiko-chan-" 

"Please, I apologize for my childishness back there! Forgive me!" Gorou exclaimed, bowing down as Sora was about to mention his stuffed animal. Sanemi huffed and turned away from him as Obanai only continued to look. 

"Leave." Obanai ordered, the other two quickly nodding and left not wishing to be blackmailed any more. Looking over at the two Hashira's, Sora bowed. "I wish you luck in your travels. Farewell." Sora bowed once more and left, sliding the door closed as he left. 

Looking over towards his sensei (Y/n) took off the sword belt and handed it over towards Sanemi as he took it only for him to step back as (Y/n) suddenly did a dogeza bow. "I will accept any punishment that you deem worthy, Sensei!" (Y/n) exclaimed, this confusing the two males. 

"(Y/n), what's wrong?" Sanemi asked him, only for (Y/n) to continue apologizing. Sighing, Sanemi unsheathed his sword and began to examine it. "I'm looking at it and it's not chipped or anything." Sanemi stated, looking away from his blade and down at (Y/n). 

"There's a black dot there, Sensei!" (Y/n) answered, still not wishing to look at his sensei's eyes. Looking at it once more Sanemi finally realized the black dot that was near the hilt of the sword only for it to peel of on its own and drift away onto the ground. 

"Ah... well, there's nothing there anymore so you can get up now." Sanemi ordered as (Y/n) quickly got up, facing his sensei with a happy smile. "Thank you, Sensei!" (Y/n) exclaimed, sparkles surrounding his figure making Obanai and Kaburamaru squint their eyes. 

"Caw caw! Hurry hurry!" Sanemi's crow yelled making Sanemi grit his teeth. "Sorry, (Y/n), but we have to go, see you tomorrow?" Sanemi questioned, turning around as he glanced over his shoulder to look at (Y/n). (Y/n) nodded, "Yep!"

"Goodbye, (Y/n)." Obanai waved, also turning around as they were getting ready to leave. "Goodbye, Obanai-sama!" (Y/n) waved goodbye, the two running away as they went towards the other mountain. 

Sighing as he saw that they were already away (Y/n) turned around and slide the door open, closing it behind him as he entered. Walking down the hallway (Y/n) turned a corner and walked two more steps until he was in front of his room door. Sliding it open (Y/n) walked in and closed it again. 

Walking slowly towards his futon (Y/n) fell on it and closed his eyes-

"We have cleaning duty, (Y/n)! So wake up!" Gorou yelled, slamming the door open as he barged into the room, grabbing (Y/n) arm and dragging him out of the room as the sun was already out. 

'Yeah, I definitely didn't miss this.' (Y/n) thought as he swept the outside shrine floor, bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep.

𑁍┊𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐑 ˎˊ˗

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ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴅᴀʏ/ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ!

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