“ i want to be like you. “ for mangetsu !
mangetsu is no stranger to a smile, but they tend to be more smirk than anything else. amused quirks of his lips, parted to exhale a short breath of laughter, followed by a witty quip just bordering on mean. around here, that's how you show camaraderie. sharp tongues and a little wrestling. maybe a knife fight or two.
when his mother was pregnant, mangetsu had tasked himself with the baby's protection even before their parents could sit him down and explain to him that this opens a whole new world of responsibilities. this is your job now, your obligation. at five years old, the world had been expected of him, and he'd vowed that the same wouldn't happen all over again. suigetsu would get a choice; would get to decide his path instead of being given one, and that first night mangetsu laid eyes on him, his smile would be different. everything would be different with suigetsu.
of course, the mist still runs in their blood, as does the hozuki legacy, and they don't turn out much different than expected. they bicker, they fight, there are days where mangetsu doesn't care to be bothered by the booger-picking brat. they practice fighting with swords far younger than they have any right to, and they rag on each other with every ounce of seriousness in the world. their egos are bigger than themselves, even as mangetsu gets older and his demeanor becomes more suave, more calm and collected.
there is, however, one thing that never changes, and it's the way he smiles.
suigetsu is eight, and he hasn't quite stopped biting people to get what he wants. or when he's happy. or bored. or hungry. he has, however, taken nicely to every sword he's been handed so far. nothing is too big of a challenge for him, and mangetsu is certain that zabuza will genuinely take on one of suigetsu's death match challenges if suigetsu continues throwing himself at him the way he does. mangetsu smiles at the thought. it seems that everything suigetsu does causes a smile to threaten mangetsu's features. too soft, too genuine, not bloodthirsty enough. he'd worry more if anyone else had the balls to step to him about it.
he's well on his way to mastering the very last of the seven swords, practicing daily within the courtyard, and he doesn't catch his brother's words as he swings samehada through the air, the noises she makes wholly unnecessary and entirely amusing. wiping the sweat from his brow, mangetsu turns to the boy, "what'd you say?"
i want to be like you. it's earnest, a determined furrow in suigetsu's brow, hands gripping his knees with conviction. mangetsu can't help the chuckle that falls from his lips, hefting samehada over his shoulder to cross the courtyard until he reaches suigetsu. mangetsu ruffles his hair until the boy whines and complains, batting at his hands, sticking his tongue out and huffing about how he's too old for this.
"that's a good goal to have," mangetsu begins, but he isn't quite sure if he likes it — he doesn't think he can explain why, either — so he simply lets that same, reserved smile curl across his cheeks. "stick with it, and then become better. can't have you running around trying to be a copycat like a fuckin' loser, can we?"
we can't go back, there ain't no way of stopping this // @kenjutsv.
