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Festivals were something that were fairly common in their Citadel. They liked to celebrate and have fun when they were able to. Not that they did them extremely frequently but, if the occasion arose, they were ready to have one.
They all pitched in to decorate. Some swords had set up stalls. There was food and dancing. Even fireworks, though a few were banned from going near those. At first everyone had joined in, dressed in their yukatas and enjoying the festivities. As it got later more swords called it a night.
A lot of couples had paired off around that time.
Minamoto held onto Suishinshi’s hand as they walked through the trees, lanterns hung around them, casting an ethereal glow. Suishinshi practically blended into the darkness, the lanterns made the small amount of skin showing shine.
Speaking of…
“Suishinshi,” Minamoto stopped them, reaching to pull down Suishinshi’s scarf slightly, “aren’t you hot?”
Immediately Suishinshi pulled his scarf up again, ducking his head, cheeks flushed red. “I’m fine, Kiyomaro.”
So cute.
It made Minamoto want to tease him more. “I don’t want you to overheat. I can carry your scarf.”
“You’re wearing more layers than me,” Suishinshi kept a hand protectively on his scarf, “you’d overheat first.”
“Isn’t it hard to breathe like that?” Minamoto crept closer, wanting pull the scarf down again.
Suishinshi ducked out of the way, skipping ahead two steps. “Really, I’m fine, Kiyomaro.”
There would be no further teasing for the minute as he was now too on edge. Ready and protective of his scarf. Minamoto sighed and came over to him, taking hold of his hand again. He pressed his arm against Suishinshi’s comfortingly.
They continued walking through the lit forest area.
Along the way they spotted a few other couples that had moved slightly off the road. Suishinshi ducked his head in obvious embarrassment. Whether it was because of seeing the others so close or the fact that they could see them holding hands, was unclear. Probably a mix of both.
It probably didn’t help that one of the couples they saw was Yamanbagiri Chougi sitting on a fallen tree with a lapful of Nansen Ichimonji, who was licking at Chougi’s neck whilst Chougi had his hands all over him encouraging his behaviour. It took a lot of self-restraint for Minamoto not to interrupt them in some way. It was always a lot of fun to rile Chougi up, easy too. He would enjoy it but he didn’t want an attempted stabbing whilst he was on a kind-of-date with Suishinshi. So, he just pulled Suishinshi along.
Seeing their co-worker in a compromising position wasn’t overly romantic anyway.
“You look really pretty in the lantern light,” Suishinshi mumbled into his scarf.
Minamoto’s eyes widened, looking over at him. He smiled brightly. “Thank you.” He leaned in close, pressing a kiss to Suishinshi’s forehead. “You look really cute, too.”
Suishinshi looked around them before tightening his hold on Minamoto’s hand, dragging him through the trees. They managed to avoid Fukushima Mitsutada with Nihongou and Sanchoumou with Azuki Nagamitsu, luckily both couples were just being cutesy and not doing whatever Chougi was up to. He even noticed Shokudaikiri holding hands with a huffy Ookurikara. What was with Bizen swords and these woods?
When they were further into the woods Suishinshi pulled to a stop, gently pushing Minamoto against a tree. He looked down, away then nodded to himself. Pulling down his scarf Minamoto could see his flushed face. They were further from the lantern light now, his face was cast partly in shadow but the red was still plain even in the low lighting.
Before Minamoto could tease him about it he felt lips on his own.
With a hum he closed his eyes, pressing back.
Then Suishinshi pulled away, ducking his head. Letting go of his scarf that he had pulled down to kiss him, it was ruffled and not completely hiding the bottom of his face anymore.
“What are you embarrassed about?” Minamoto asked gently, cupping Suishinshi’s cheek. “We kiss all of the time.”
“Kiyomaro!” Suishinshi looked up again. “We are in public and this is very… the atmosphere is different.”
“Romantic.” Minamoto pressed their foreheads together, knocking very slightly. He laughed, wrapping his arms around Suishinshi, just to enjoy holding him. “Suishinshi dragged me into a secluded part of the forest to be romantic with me. I am very lucky.”
“Well… I… yes, I suppose.” Suishinshi held onto him back, though he closed his eyes from embarrassment.
This was so fun.
“Suishinshi is so cute,” Minamoto hummed.
“Kiyomaro is pretty, too.” Suishinshi said that with utmost conviction.
With a laugh Minamoto managed to get another kiss out of him.
They were just out of the lantern light so shouldn’t be seen. Not that it mattered to Minamoto. He was just happy to able to be so close to Suishinshi.