Sazume jumped to her brother’s arms, almost suffocating him against the boa she brought on her shoulder. Kumari smiled at them, and couldn’t help but notice that she had her hair elegantly pinned up behind her head, being held by the comb he had given to her. Still hugging her brother, she noticed his reaction and smiled back.
At least until the comb was removed, and she felt her hair touching her back.
“Ichi!”, she shouted as her brother stepped back, laughing.
“Too naïve, sister…” Ichimaru dangled the comb between his fingers. “A few months without me and your reflexes are slower than never.”
“Careful with that! It’s the comb that Kumari gave me!”
“Oh, really? Then, I’d rather not... I don’t know, run around with it, right?” And, suddenly, he was already running halfway to the castle, laughing.
Sazume snarled, angry, ready to hunt down the brat and deliver the pain on him, but stopped when she heard something unexpected. She turned around and found what she never thought she would never see. Kumari, laughing.
“Now, what was I thinking when I gave you that thing? I think your hair is prettier like that, loosen up.”
She smiled, blushing. Was that the same cranky bear demon of five months ago? It was almost like her father’s plan to change her brother’s behavior had worked backwards, and she wanted to laugh at the irony of that thought.
It didn’t take long for Ichimaru to come back, hugging their mother and followed closely by their father.
“Oh, no, Sazume, your hair gave me so much work this morning! What happened?” Yume asked.
“Ichi. HE happened to my hair”, she mumbled, glancing at him.
“Lord Sesshomaru, I won’t deny I’m surprised to see you all”, Kumari said, making a huge effort to remain serious as brother and sister fought each other around them for the hair comb. “I didn’t expect to have you here before the next winter, at least.”
“Indeed, Ichimaru still has some time to spend here. That’s not the reason we’re here, we’re just passing by.”
“We are going to see the fireworks”, Yume explained, smiling.
“The… fireworks?”
