First Kiss Meme: Goemon and Hiroe
Jun. 13th, 2007 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elabyAnother piece for the First Kiss Meme. This one's for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
templarwolf (posted today in honor of Enoch) using his awesome characters Kakita Goemon and Doji Hiroe. I really hope I wrote them well and didn't do anything that goes against canon. I definitely enjoyed writing this one.
--
It was the week of the Spirit Festival, and one of the artisans had made Hiroe a pinwheel from a piece of bamboo and some stiff paper. The paper was off-white, not painted or bleached, but its own original color. Goemon saw her with it when he was walking with his family down to their ancestral household to pay respects at the large family shrine. Hiroe’s family was doing the same, though theirs was on the other side of town, and Goemon summoned enough courage to smile at her as they passed. She smiled back as easily as breathing, and he felt a little giddy.
That evening he bought some paper, the highest quality he could afford with what money he had with him. While his family made their paper boats inside the house, he sat out on the porch, watching the fireflies slowly gather and disperse in the warm green twilight. He folded his own first, to practice. Then he folded hers, smoothing each edge with care. He took the smallest brush he could find, dipped it in his flat ink dish, and wrote blessings of peace, rest, and swift voyage on the sides. On the peak of the boat, he wrote in small letters: “From Goemon.”
The whole town gathered in the gardens by the river to send their boats out, each with a candle to guide the spirits to the afterlife. The sun was low in the sky and the sending would not start for another few hours. Hiroe stood beside a pond, cool in her blue and white kimono though the sunset made the water behind her blaze. She held her paper pinwheel spinning in the breeze and looked out at the water.
Goemon approached her softly. Though he was glad for the opportunity, he wondered why she was standing here alone instead of with her family. “Doji-san,” he said as he neared, and she turned around. The sun was behind her and it made it hard to see, but he could tell that she smiled. “A-are you enjoying the festival?” he asked, feeling he needed to preface his gift with something. Hiroe looked down at her pinwheel and then held it forward so the wind caught it fully.
“Yes, I am. Are you?”
Goemon nodded. “I am, and I thought— You may have one already, but—” He lifted the paper boat and stepped closer to her. “Doji-san, I would be honored for you to use this boat I made to light the way for your ancestors’ spirits tonight.”
Hiroe smiled again, and Goemon thought that the stars could not smile brighter. She put her hand on the boat, but she did not pull it away from him, and before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned in and kissed her.
It was soft and quick, and when he dared to look at her again, she was looking instead at the boat in her hands. Goemon felt a surge of nervousness, but he waited, still, for her reaction.
Hiroe turned the boat over so she could read the message on its peak. Then she looked up, and even though Goemon had seen her smile before, she looked truly happy now.
“Please,” she said. “Call me Hiroe.”
templarwolf (posted today in honor of Enoch) using his awesome characters Kakita Goemon and Doji Hiroe. I really hope I wrote them well and didn't do anything that goes against canon. I definitely enjoyed writing this one.--
It was the week of the Spirit Festival, and one of the artisans had made Hiroe a pinwheel from a piece of bamboo and some stiff paper. The paper was off-white, not painted or bleached, but its own original color. Goemon saw her with it when he was walking with his family down to their ancestral household to pay respects at the large family shrine. Hiroe’s family was doing the same, though theirs was on the other side of town, and Goemon summoned enough courage to smile at her as they passed. She smiled back as easily as breathing, and he felt a little giddy.
That evening he bought some paper, the highest quality he could afford with what money he had with him. While his family made their paper boats inside the house, he sat out on the porch, watching the fireflies slowly gather and disperse in the warm green twilight. He folded his own first, to practice. Then he folded hers, smoothing each edge with care. He took the smallest brush he could find, dipped it in his flat ink dish, and wrote blessings of peace, rest, and swift voyage on the sides. On the peak of the boat, he wrote in small letters: “From Goemon.”
The whole town gathered in the gardens by the river to send their boats out, each with a candle to guide the spirits to the afterlife. The sun was low in the sky and the sending would not start for another few hours. Hiroe stood beside a pond, cool in her blue and white kimono though the sunset made the water behind her blaze. She held her paper pinwheel spinning in the breeze and looked out at the water.
Goemon approached her softly. Though he was glad for the opportunity, he wondered why she was standing here alone instead of with her family. “Doji-san,” he said as he neared, and she turned around. The sun was behind her and it made it hard to see, but he could tell that she smiled. “A-are you enjoying the festival?” he asked, feeling he needed to preface his gift with something. Hiroe looked down at her pinwheel and then held it forward so the wind caught it fully.
“Yes, I am. Are you?”
Goemon nodded. “I am, and I thought— You may have one already, but—” He lifted the paper boat and stepped closer to her. “Doji-san, I would be honored for you to use this boat I made to light the way for your ancestors’ spirits tonight.”
Hiroe smiled again, and Goemon thought that the stars could not smile brighter. She put her hand on the boat, but she did not pull it away from him, and before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned in and kissed her.
It was soft and quick, and when he dared to look at her again, she was looking instead at the boat in her hands. Goemon felt a surge of nervousness, but he waited, still, for her reaction.
Hiroe turned the boat over so she could read the message on its peak. Then she looked up, and even though Goemon had seen her smile before, she looked truly happy now.
“Please,” she said. “Call me Hiroe.”
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-14 12:08 am (UTC)Thank you.
My only problem is that I like your version just as much as I like Caitirin's, so I couldn't really pick one to be canon (as I have yet to really establish one yet...). It's just too hard to choose.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-14 01:20 am (UTC)Well, I was imagining mine a little older, so this could just be another kiss, rather than the first kiss :) That one could be Caitirin's. Or maybe the first time Goemon was asked to call Hiroe by her given name.
I was worried that I had missed something important like if one of them weren't raised by their family or something. I'm really glad you liked it and could see it happening :)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-14 02:38 am (UTC)I'll have to get back to work on them soon, but I promised Enoch I'd finish my Nano before I leave for Oddyssey.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-14 08:33 pm (UTC)