#tsurumaru/saniwa

[wordsintheatmosphere]

The Problem With A Heart

Series: Touken Ranbu Pairing: Tsurumaru Kuninaga/Saniwa (Female) Rating: G Summary: The problem with being given a physical form is all these new complications that comes with it. As a sword, Tsurumaru has never had to deal with such thoughts before, but things are different now.

—

His master had been gone for a long, long time.

She didn't leave without warning; his master was a responsible owner, and she had written meticulous letters about her reasons for leaving and the duties and responsibilities that were to be handled in her absence. She had been quite detailed in her letters, making sure that the swords under her current ownership were well taken care of and would not encounter too many difficulties; as her last appointed attendant, Tsurumaru couldn't help but smile wryly as he read over them. Despite her efforts, sword spirits were more than capable of looking after themselves and did not require the aid of a human to help them settle. There was no doubt that the sword spirits were much older than she was, than any human could possibly be, and there was little she could offer that they would not be able to do on their own. She of all people would know that, as someone with the power to pull spirits from old, historied objects and embody their essence into a physical form. Even so, Tsurumaru thought as he read over her letters for a countless time, she was quite meticulous in her writing. It was the only way she could show her care for them, in her own human way.

And yet, despite all the detail and attention and underlying anxiousness in her written words, there was no mention of her return. When will she be back? Will she ever be back? The questions that lived in Tsurumaru's mind could not find an answer in all of the pages his master wrote, no matter how many times he read them. He folded the wrinkled paper, textured with his constant touch, and placed it back in the wooden drawer. It hurt him to think that she chose to leave these letters behind instead of facing him, her attendant, who had the right to know. In his mind he knew she wouldn't be able to answer the questions that bothered him even if she were to face him then, but the problem with a heart is that rationalizing these thoughts did not help him in the slightest. 

There were many things that her swords chose to do; in a way, it was a welcomed break from all the fighting that they had done. Some chose the time to deepen the friendships between each other, some chose to busy themselves with hobbies or training, and all of them dutifully kept with the responsibilities that their master had detailed in her letters to upkeep their citadel. But for Tsurumaru, the days remained unchanging. There was a restlessness in his heart that blossomed when he read her letter for the first time, a feeling that kept growing with the days that passed peacefully. Was it right for him to feel this way, even in times of peace? He'd thought he would accept it, when he'd left to discover himself on that journey that his master approved of so long ago. It turned out he was still bad at accepting this unchanging landscape—at least, without his master. When he had made his mind up to settle down, it was because he thought he'd be able to be by his master's side, not like this in a place without her. Not like this, alone by himself.

He spent his days wandering the citadel grounds, finding ways to bide his time, and every late afternoon to evening he took to sitting by the front gates alone. When he was asked what he was doing, his answer was that he was bored and simply wished to observe the changing landscape outside of the citadel that was frozen in time without the presence of his master. It was not entirely a lie, but it was not entirely the truth either; his eyes wandered several times down the paths where his master could've taken on the day she decided to leave. It was unfair, the way it was so easy for her to choose to walk down those paths alone, when it was so difficult for him to be stuck here, unable to follow. 

It was a clear summer day when he finally saw his master walking down the dirt path. At first he couldn't believe it; many times people had walked down those paths, traveling to their destinations and back, and many times he had watched each of them, each figure of a lady making him hold his breath quietly before releasing it in disappointment. But this time he recognized the style of her clothes, the colour of her hair, and most certainly the way she carried herself with determined purpose, even if her eyes held the weariness of a person that shouldered a heavy burden. When her eyes met his, her steps freezing in surprise, Tsurumaru pulled his hood over his eyes and waited.

He waited. What else could he do, when he had been trapped waiting all this time? When he could hear her hesitant footsteps drawing near him, he rose to his feet. She was so small; he towered over her, the hood that covered his gaze no longer veiling the sharpness in his eyes. 

"You're back," he said, and though he was smiling there was an edge to his voice he couldn't contain. She darted her gaze nervously at the sound of it, and if he was in a better mood he would've kicked himself. This was the problem of owning a heart: the absence of a master couldn't bother him when he was simply a sword, but now things were too complicated and he didn't know how to handle these strange and unfamiliar feelings.

"I'm back," she agreed in a quiet, apologetic voice, then added, "how were things while I was gone?"

"While you were gone?" He echoed, the smile not leaving his face though his mind was in a mess; how were things, he had not bothered to keep track despite being her trusted attendant. He only knew of the way her absence had made him feel, how it felt to be left waiting and wondering in a place without her.

"I was dead," he said simply; there was no exaggeration in his voice, because as far as he was concerned it was the truth. "If nothing changes, then it's the same as being dead."

She looked at him then, and the pained look in her eyes melted the ice that frosted his heart ever since the day she left. He pulled her close, his arms enveloping and folding her body against his. She was so small; had anyone ever told her that? It made her look so harmless, but he knew she was anything but. No harmless person could ever leave him feeling so helpless at her absence, or drain the petty anger he'd held onto so tightly with just a look, leaving him feeling pathetic for speaking so coldly to her when she was all he could think about while she was gone.

"I'm sorry, Tsurumaru," she said, voice muffled against his clothes.

"Welcome home," he whispered, when he could finally trust his voice.

[chishigure]

TOURABU RPERS?!?!!!!

SOUJI AWAKE MAYBE?!?!?!!!!

[akairo-red]

Repost is prohibited.

前のアカウント消えちゃったフォロワーさんが

推しを無事新しい本丸でお迎え出来た記念絵です

[otaku-republic]

<Article> Popular ” Touken Ranbu” characters in X Reader!

[nxmelessfighter]

Dare you to kiss ur saniwa on the hand/head/forehead!! (any sani)

The mission had been so close to going terribly wrong. The HRA had decided to use humans to do their bidding, and between trying to make sure no one died that shouldn't have and fending off the hordes of possessed soldiers, the one person they were supposed to be defending ended up in danger. If it hadn't been for some quick thinking on Mitsutada's part— pretending to be the One-Eyed Dragon himself and drawing everyone's attention towards him— Date Masamune would have perished far too early.

Of course the tachi ended up paying the price for his reckless decision, though he seemed to not regret it at all, even after spending the last three days knocked out in repairs.

Ookurikara had finally finished the report for the sortie. It shouldn't have taken him this long but he spent far too much time agonizing over the details, wondering with every move they made what led them this close to failing, what led him this close to losing the one person he couldn't live without.

He finds Hana's door open, the saniwa staring into space and not noticing him entering the room until he places the papers on her desk.

"Kara-chan!" She looks at him in surprise. "…how's Mitsutada?" She asks softly.

"He just woke up a while ago." The first thing Mitsutada did upon waking up was attempt to sit up and kiss Ookurikara but he didn't get very far as the pain stopped him as soon as he got his head off the ground. Ookurikara (gently) pushed him back down and told him to rest. He isn't sure how much rest the eyepatched tachi is getting since Tsurumaru entered the room to check on him.

"Thank goodness." She sighs. He gets the feeling this is weighing as heavily on her as it has been on him. As captain of the first unit he should have done a better job getting the situation under control, but as their saniwa Hana must be feeling even more responsible. She won't even look him in the eye.

Ookurikara sighs, leaning over the desk and kissing Hana on the forehead.

"Kara-chan?!" Her face turns crimson and she brings a hand over her mouth.

"If you're doing something stupid like blaming yourself then stop." Like he had any right to say that.

"Does that really mean much coming from you?"

They knew each other too well.

[incorrect-joseimuke]

Saniwa: Oh, look, more backtalk from the sass master.

Mitsutada: I'm not the sass master!

Mitsutada: And it's wrong for you to be mean to us just because your life is miserable!

Tsurumaru: Wow, Mitsu bou, maybe you are the sass master.

[kowaindar0u]

💭 (sengo), 🪽(sada), 💞(yuichi), 🗡️(yasu), 💔(fudou)

[ IN CHARACTER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS . ]

under the cut cause these shits are long again lol

💭 THOUGHT BALLOON — is there something or someone you find yourself thinking about more often than other things? if so, why do you think you do this?

If I must answer this... well. Of course I am always thinking of my dear master. Fond thoughts, to be sure, but also...there's always a little...niggling in the back of my mind. 'What-ifs', so to speak. And... during, and after returning from, our lengthy mission among the Tokugawa, my thoughts have been perhaps more occupied by that of those I spent that time with. Tonbokiri, Ookurikara, Ishikirimaru, Nikkari, and Monoyoshi-kun... Of course being a fellow Muramasa, Tonbokiri has always seemed to understand me more than anyone else. But even the rest of them, I... I suppose there is likely no way to spend so long with a group of people like that and not kindle some kind of bond with them-- at least that's how I feel. I don't know if their feelings toward me are any different than they were when we began. I just know that when they each left us, one by one, fulfilling their rightful end in that timeline... even though I knew they were simply returning home, it really felt as if a loved one had died. And then of course... there are Gohei and Nobuyasu. Two pure, innocent, kind souls who deserved far better than what they'd been given. I never expected to become so attached to a child of all things, but even though I did so from a distance compared to my fellow touken danshi there, I still feel like I helped raise that boy myself. I don't know if I would consider myself a parent, but... The hatred I harbor for that boy's real father is immeasurable. I think about them all so much. I still grieve them, I think, even though I'm not sure what to do with myself when it hits. Even my fellow touken danshi who returned before Tonbokiri and I... sometimes I still think or dream about their 'deaths' and... well. At least I can remind myself they're still here, alive.

🪽 WING — if you could choose to have one superpower for a day, what would it be and why? what would you do with it?

ANY SUPERPOWER? Oh man, that's a hard choice! But you know what, I think I would choose to be able to fly! How cool would that be, y'know?! Especially if you could go super fast, just zoom around in the air! Think about it!! Oho, also... Imagine the surprises I could give Tsurumaru! Just fly way up and then when I spot him, just dive-bomb him! Hehehe...

💞 REVOLVING HEARTS — who and/or what are you most grateful for in your life?

Ah... without a doubt, my touken danshi. Perhaps it's a bit cliche of me to say as a saniwa, but... I'd be remiss if I said anything else. My life with them is wildly different, in the best of ways, from what it was before I ever knew them, and... I could not and would not give them up or trade them for anything in the world, not a single one. Without them... well, I'm nothing.

🗡️ DAGGER — what is something or someone you know you can’t afford to lose? how far are you willing to go to make sure you don’t lose it/them?

Why would you ask me something stupid like that? Ugh. Fine. But you'd better not tell anyone what I'm about to say. Yamatonokami. I know that idiot feels the same about me, but I'd give my life for him. He's my brother. It's my job to try and protect him when I can. And... I guess it's my job to tolerate him, too, even outside of battle, so he doesn't ditch me, yeah? [in souyasu verse, there's also this lol] Yamatonokami... and Souza. He's... I don't know what it is. I don't know why he likes me the way he does, but... I'm glad he does. If anyone hurt him in any way... well. I don't think they'd see the light of day again, even if it means I don't either.

💔 BROKEN HEART — is there anyone in your life you wish you had a better relationship with? if so, how come? what makes this person important to you?

[he is probably a few glasses deep of amazake to be answering this lol] Mmm... I wish... I wish... Hasebe and I got along better... I wish we could interact without fighting and yelling and screaming... I don't even know why. I don't think he likes me at all. I want to like him, though... I want to get along with him. I think if I could manage to not make him hate me so much... maybe all of us Oda swords could get along better and be happier, yeah? But I just can't help myself around him, he always knows just what to say to get under my skin! Sigh...

[topazadine]

Now, for funsies, I’m considering what kinds of arguments I could make for ANY ship being problematic (pls don’t take this seriously like at all, this is satire in the extreme, please know I don’t believe any of this lmao) 

I’m going to avoid the ships that are easy pickings, like Higekiri/Hizamaru or Namazuo/Honebami because that’s no fun, I want weird excuses

Mikazuki/Tsurumaru: Tsuru’s very childish so obviously Mikazuki’s just a lecherous creepy old man pedophile, in fact any ship that has Tsurumaru in it needs Chris Hansen to break it up

Shokudaikiri/Okurikara: same former employer (master)? PROBLEMATIC, power dynamics all out of sorts!

Horikawa/Izuminokami: the power dynamics AND a large age gap? God, Horikawa’s basically a pedophile too, maybe he and Mikazuki should make a Pedo Club

Yamatonokami/Kashuu: there we go again with the power dynamics, these swords just can’t stop fucking their former coworkers

Ichigo/Omokage: obviously Omokage’s got some mental health issues, so Ichigo is a predator who is preying on his low self-esteem. Loving someone who isn’t perfect is very problematic

Uguisumaru/Ookanehira: as previously mentioned, their smiths lived in the same area and studied the same style of smithing, which is so fucking problematic, nuke that ship out of orbit

Hasebe/Souza: as the Saniwa’s favorite attendant, Hasebe is basically Souza’s boss, I need Human Resources to get involved

Kogitsunemaru/Juzumaru (a ship I have seen, it’s cute btw): Juzumaru is basically an innocent uwu spiritual being, so clearly Kogitsunemaru is perverting this pure little cinnamon roll, spiritual people can’t possibly want love or even (gasp!!) sex

Ishikirimaru/Nikkari: height difference, must I say more??? Tall people dating short people is a form of violence, they’re basically saying they want to date a child  u.u

Yamanbagiri/Chougi: they have the SAME NAME. That’s like a form of incest basically. No person in the history of the world has dated someone with their same name (it actually happens a lot lmao, especially with people who have more gender-neutral names)

The only popular ship I can’t come up with a problematic element is ... *drum roll*

KASEN/YAMANBAGIRI. The most unproblematic ship in the world, uwu, we must all ship it now whether we like it or not because it’s the most morally pure

[hitotsuhachisu]

Nakaharu Castle's touken danshi; a list

Minamoto Kiyomaro (starter; buat honmaru baru di Higo)

Suishinshi Masahide

Ichimonji Norimune

Hizen Tadahiro

Nankaitarou Chouson

Kokindenjunotachi

Jizou Yukihira

Yamanbagiri Chougi

Seifugatananya Sakuya, bawaan dari Houki (jadi yg di honmaru lama nanti saniwa barunya wajib ikutan Special Investigations lagi). Cuman karena prosesnya lama jadi harus satu2 pindahnya. Sakuya ngambil Kiyomaro buat bantuin dia memulai honmaru baru di Higo (actually, in honor of Sakuya's 大切な人).

Namazuo Toushirou (1st kinji; pengawal pribadi Sakuya, ke manapun Sakuya pergi dia pasti ikut)

Nikkari Aoe (2nd kinji; jaga honmaru sekaligus penghubung komunikasi dari Namazuo ataupun pedang lain yang sedang dalam misi)

Kinji, bestie (maksudnya Namazuo-Nikkari yg jadi bestie wkwkwk, hubungan mereka ke Sakuya ga sepersonal itu meski tetep bersikap loyal).

Hachisuka Kotetsu

Kashuu Kiyomitsu

Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki

Kasen Kanesada

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro

Mikazuki Munechika

Midare Toushirou

Yamatonokami Yasusada

Heshikiri Hasebe

Akita Toushirou

Monoyoshi Sadamune

Shokudaikiri Mitsutada

Ishikirimaru

Otegine

Hakusan Yoshimitsu

Tsurumaru Kuninaga

Yagen Toushirou

Gokotai

Taikogane Masamune

Ookurikara

Nansen Ichimonji

Imanotsurugi

Pedang2 baru yg Sakuya bangkitkan di honmaru dia yg sekarang. Jauh lebih sedikit dari yg ada di honmaru lain. Karena sibuk dan udah ga ngurus era perpedangan lagi, Sakuya enggan nambah pedang.

Izuminokami Kanesada (tantou)

Bukan pedang orinya Sakuya, tapi dirawat di honmaru dia. Penanggung jawabnya atp Kasen Kanesada.

Kashagiri

Tldr; ada "dimensi" Iko juga di era modern.

[zantedeschia-praesul]

Munching on a stray roasted peanut in his brush boxes, the Saniwa huffs at the sky before drawing a "go-away" seal on the ground.

This ends now.

"Eda, hana, budou, fuku! Any and all mame, AWAY WITH YOU!"

And slowly every bean that was found at every corner of the honmaru, as well as the bizarre mame rain, disintegrated into thin air or crumbled onto the ground.

"All the beans just... Poofed..."

"Are we safe now, Aruji? No more mame?"

Saseki nodded, but his face still retains that unfamiliar serious look. "Yes, my love. No more of these mame chaos. But do me a favor and tell Tsurumaru to come to my room as soon as he's able. I need to warn him about messing with one of my black brushes from my gilded box..."

He knows that tone. He is scared of that tone. He's heard it before. Somebody is going to be roasted, for sure. "...yes Sir."

[mitissimus753]

KANE-SAN!

[rexcaliburechoes]

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: 刀剣乱舞 | Touken Ranbu

Relationship: Saniwa & Tsurumaru Kuninaga

Characters: Saniwa (Touken Ranbu), Tsurumaru Kuninaga

Additional Tags: child saniwa, Drabble, Lowercase, hasebe and yagen are mentioned but they aren't important

Series: Part 5 of the a little citadel for a little saniwa series

Summary: a small moment just before the not-matsuri starts. [strict 100-word drabble written for the tkrb wiki discord's recapturing summer memories event]

it is not necessary to read cranes, but it is highly recommended

[anekogia]

Genshin Impact × Touken Ranbu (JP voice actor)

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Childe/Tartaglia and Izuminokami Kanesada(Kane-san):

Voice actor: Kimura Ryohei

Fabulous yet chaotic characters with an equally fabulous yet chaotic seiyuu.

Chongyun and Tsurumaru Kuninaga:

Voice actor: Saito Soma

Was I trying to make it as if Chongyun is about to exorcise Tsuru? Yes. Yes I did. And failed.

Xingqiu and Katsugeki!Saniwa:

Voice actress: Minagawa Junko

Fun fact: Both characters are also voiced by the same English voice actress, Christina Vee!

Zhongli/Rex Lapis/Morax and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro:

Voice actor: Maeno Tomoaki

Maeno-san striking hearts once again with these two 💘.

(Also, I saw a post that says that the Geo Archon statue looks Mamba-chan, and I could no longer unsee it.)

Dainsleif and Nihongou:

Voice actor: Tsuda Kenjiro

I legitimately did not recognize Tsuda-san's voice in Nihon. I was pretty surprised by this.

[nxmelessfighter]

While most of the toudans refer to Hana as 'Aruji' and the like, a few of her swords just call her by her name.

Ookurikara and Yamanbagiri call her Hana

Mitsutada and Sada (and sometimes Buzen) call her Hana-chan

Tsurumaru calls her Hana-bou

This wasn't always the case, but after a couple of years of being a saniwa, it just kind of happened. Hana also used to call everyone with -san but she eventually ended up dropping it for the toudans she was closer to. 'Sada-chan' was expected but the first time she accidentally said 'Kara-chan' she couldn't look Ookurikara in the eye for a week. The name stuck anyways.

[incorrect-joseimuke]

Saniwa: Tsuru, what are you doing back there?

Tsurumaru, from behind a door: You'll see. It's a surprise.

Saniwa: I don't like surprises. A surprise means you're doing something that if you'd ask me first, I'd tell you...

Tsurumaru: *Walks out dressed as a mime*

Saniwa: NO!

[kowaindar0u]

❛  what do you need me to do to make you feel better?  ❜ (yusone pls i cant stop thinking of these softies 😭) (@zantedeschia-praesul)

[ 𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻𝑺. ]

The last week or so has been, without exaggeration, extremely exhausting and immensely taxing.

After summoning two swords (Koryuu Kagemitsu and Akashi Kuniyuki) within the span of three days, Yuichi was already feeling so spent-- which only served to make the next several days feel like the weight of the world was hitting him in whirlwind form.

His first unit was preparing to thwart HRA from turning the tides of the Battle of Sekigahara, where their plans included supplying large numbers of their own soldiers to the Toyotomi under Ishida Mitsunari's lead. Ookurikara, the captain, had sent word of the plans, but insisted the team present could handle it.

But Yuichi, envisioning the worst, sent a few more toudans as support-- Taikogane Sadamune, Tomoegata Naginata, and Tsurumaru Kuninaga. He'd gone with them, more out of impulse and concern than anything, and was met with what felt like a smidge of resentment. Ookurikara, he realized, was a bit insulted in his saniwa's apparent lack of faith of him and his team. Yuichi reacted poorly, though-- fortunately he didn't say anything to the captain, instead offering an awkward, curt goodbye before departing back to the honmaru.

Then, anomalies were detected surrounding the Honnouji incident, and so it was finally time to send in a second unit comprised of those who would know those events best-- Souza as captain, Yagen, Hasebe, and Fudou, with Kashuu and Ishikirimaru as well. Already, even before leaving, Yuichi could sense the tension between them, especially Hasebe and Fudou, and so as they ported off, he could only hope they could at least hold together as a team.

Since then, Yuichi had been inundated with paperwork, writing reports, tracking disturbances, and doing his best to be aware of his touken danshi here at the honmaru... And soon, it seems, once more information is obtained, he will be sending off his first-ever full third unit to investigate something in the late Heian period.

(Clearly, the day that he'd planned to set everything aside to spend with Nagasone is going to be pushed back, too.)

He is a mess.

He hasn't even had the chance to properly welcome Koryuu and Akashi as he tries to do, considering he has yet to really fully recover from...well, anything.

Yesterday, he snapped at Houchou, who had entered his office innocently, but loudly and unnanounced, startling him.

Today, the second unit returned, and while they had succeeded in their mission, they returned in grim shape-- things had been complicated by Fudou's latching on to Ranmaru, and even more so by Ishikirimaru's unsuitability, as an oodachi, to fight in such enclosed spaces as Honnouji temple.

He's just come back from visiting the repair room, and Nagasone has walked in on him pacing fretfully back and forth, face already wet with tears. A panic attack is well underway.

At Nagasone's question, he doesn't say anything for a few moments, instead, pacing a few more times while he tries to resist the overwhelming urge to just run to him. He knows Nagasone is there for him, willing to do anything for him, and he appreciates that to the ends of the earth and beyond-- but still, part of him doesn't want to lay this all on him...

It doesn't matter, though, because soon his hands are reaching out for him, before he finally lets himself go to him. He hangs his head, resting it against Nagasone's chest as his hands ball into fists, gripping at his jacket.

"Just--" Yuichi's voice is surprisingly loud, as he's finding it hard to not just wail at him. "I-I don't know, just... hold me."