The Threads That Bind Us

The next afternoon, Obanai was raking the edge of the garden while Mitsuri tended to a basket of fresh herbs by the porch. The sun had begun its slow descent, casting long golden shadows across the yard.

That's when they heard soft footsteps.

Obanai tensed instinctively, eyes narrowing as he turned toward the gate—then relaxed.

Giyuu Tomioka stood there, stoic as ever, his halfed haori fluttering gently in the breeze.

"I hope I'm not intruding," he said quietly.

Mitsuri smiled brightly. "Not at all, Giyuu! It's been so long—come in!"

He gave a small bow and stepped inside, his expression unreadable but not unkind.

Obanai set the rake aside, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Did you come to check on us?" he asked, voice neutral.

Giyuu looked at him for a long moment before replying.

"No. I came... because I heard you were healing."

That simple word—healing—settled into the space between them like a leaf drifting into still water.

They sat beneath the shade of a tree, Mitsuri bringing out tea and dango as the three of them shared the soft silence. Kaburamaru, curled on Obanai's shoulders, flicked its tongue lazily in the afternoon sun.

For a while, no one spoke.

Then Giyuu said, "You look... different, Iguro."

Obanai raised an eyebrow. "Different?"

Giyuu nodded. "At peace."

Obanai glanced at Mitsuri, who was giggling at something a bird was doing near the garden path.

"...I think I am," he admitted quietly.

Giyuu sipped his tea, then set it down with both hands. "I didn't think any of us would ever find peace. Not after everything."

Obanai's voice was barely more than a whisper. "I didn't either."

Mitsuri turned to them, smiling warmly. "I think peace isn't something we find. It's something we grow."

She nodded toward the tiny cherry blossom sapling in the garden.

Giyuu followed her gaze, then gave the softest hint of a smile—so small, it was barely there, but Obanai saw it.

He stood. "Would you like to see the garden?"

Giyuu nodded.

And as the two walked side by side through the winding rows of fresh blossoms and green sprouts, Mitsuri watched from the porch—her heart full.

Two quiet men, broken in their own ways, now walking a path softened by kindness and love.

Not every healing needed grand declarations.

Sometimes, it was enough just to walk beside someone and know...

They were no longer alone.