A Hot Day For Hot Heads [Kyo, Nao]

What a good day, if a little hot. It was the type of day that even with all this heat she'd still dragged herself out of bed and continued her katas with her naginata. Just because it was sweltering hot in the Seireitei today didn't mean that she would slack, as any good individual worth their merit would also push through to get better! With that out of the way though she was spawled out against the engawa of the estate, propped up by the pole that she was leaning into and fanning herself to get that refreshing cool air onto her face.

"Phew, the heat makes everything harder."

She mumbled to herself while looking at the courtyard. There was always something to watch there, a servant standing idle while a member of her family insisted on gardening themselves just to do it, someone training or maybe one of her siblings. It seemed like Miki had opted to not spend the day outside which was a shame, it'd be nice to talk her ear off with her enthusiasm.

Having finally finished his morning tutelage under their father, Kyo stepped onto the engawa himself to cool down, his serious expression seeming almost unusual for the Sawachika household. He normally would have given his elder sister an exuberant greeting, but his face made it clear that he was deep in thought, and as he took a seat next to Nao, Kyo almost immediately posited a question to her.

"Nee-san, why haven't you gotten married yet?"

It wasn't really the kind of question you were supposed to ask someone, but considering who their father was, and the fact that Kyo had just gotten out of a lengthy conversation about the importance of finding a good wife, it was the primary thing on his mind.

She was a little surprised by the question from her little brother, especially since he'd shown up so quietly. Where was his spunk! Oh wait, it was all in the abrupt and very straightforward question so that made sense to her, in a Sawachika way of course.

"Ohoho, Kyo-chan. You really know how to say hello, eh?"

The small woman shot back with a cheeky laugh and reached back to grab her long hair to tidy it up behind her as she pondered the response to him. Why hadn't she? Well that was very simple! There wasn't someone good enough in her life yet for her to want to marry. Kind of, there was a bit more nuance to it.

"Well. I only get to pick once, don't I? So I don't wanna waste it."

That made sense to Kyo, and he thought about her answer for a little bit as compared to what their father tended to say about getting married. Honestly, he hadn't really ever heard much about how mother and father had met, and he hadn't asked, either. But maybe that had taken a long time.

"That makes sense. I wouldn't want to waste something like that either. There are a lot of women in the Seireitei that would probably ruin my whole life, so I bet there are a lot of men like that, too."

Nodding to himself as if to affirm that made sense, Kyo's eyes moved to his sister, his curious eyes studying her cheerful, exuberant expression.

"Father seems adamant that I'll be married before too long, but I think that sounds like a waste of time that I could spend building."

"Is that so?"

She cheerily said, at his age and size she could understand where he was coming from. When she was younger too all she cared about was trying to play with Miki, helping their father and having as much fun as she could in the day to make herself content. Things get a bit more complex when you're older though, as she found out. It'd be real nice if the right guy could just appear and she'd settle down happy and content as a wife having kids with her husband.

It wasn't that simple though to her but she liked to keep it simple for herself. She'll know him when she sees him and it'll happen eventually but she won't sit around waiting for that to happen and wasting her life when there was so much to be grateful for, so much to do in her youth. The best satisfaction came from the goals you strived the hardest to reach and the dreams that you made real through hard work.

"Well, you're still a bit young Kyo-chan. Girls make more sense when you're older, and also make a lot less sense too!"

She answered with a grin and wrapping her arm around his shoulders to tug him into a hug with a big grin. It was a bit fun to make him have to do laps in his head to make sense of that one.

Kyo was, indeed, thoroughly confused by that bit of wisdom from his sister, enough so that he didn't have any time to avoid her tight embrace. Not that he would have, regardless, but it threw him off a bit since he hadn't even had time to expect it.

"Less sense? They don't seem confusing right now. Are most women harder to understand?"

It wasn't as if Kyo actually interacted with many women, after all. He was still young, and most of his interactions were either with his immediate family or the retainers from the Mousawa. He could imagine that there were probably much stranger women out there in the Seireitei than even the few he'd already met.

"I think they are."

Nao considered expanding on that, she could explain why she found a lot of it all a headache. For someone who was as boistrous and upfront as she, she found a lot of frustrations coming from situations like having something told to her but it being meant to have a different meaning or with other girls getting upset over things where she didn't see the point in getting up in arms.

Maybe that could extend to just people in general though, not much really fazed her and she was happy to build her own world in the space that she occupied. Show not tell.

"Why do you have girls and marriage on the brain anyway?"

She assumed father had said something to him after he pointed out that father seemed confident that Kyo would get married young. For the moment while he took his time she decided to use the fact that she was hugging him as an opportunity to fan them both. It was quite practical in her mind to give them both a bit of cool air on this hot summer day.

"That sounds annoying."

Kyo didn't exactly like the idea of having to deal with more complicated women later in his life. He liked things simple, straightfoward. That didn't mean he wanted people to be stupid or anything, but he didn't like playing pointless games.

"Father mentioned it. He said he was surprised you haven't gotten married yet, and that he thinks I'll probably get married before you do."

That was very much the sort of thing most would probably not so openly reveal, but Kyo was an honest young man, from an equally honest family. Besides, his father would never say something he wasn't willing to let the world hear.

"I don't think it matters very much, though. Getting married sounds like it's only important if you want to have children and a household."

"Oh. Did he now?"

She had a bit of a coy smile at that, maybe she'd go and chew her father's ear over it as an excuse to have him spar with her later! That sounded like a great use of her evening later once it was cooler as well! Really though, she could hardly be worried about something like that. There was no great rush in her mind to get into something hastily and have the foundation be weak.

"I disagree. I think there's a lot more to marriage than just being that simple."

Now wasn't this a hypocritical moment, Nao purposely being willing to complicate a subject but it was true! There was more to somethings than being black and white, even she had to concede some grey areas at times.

"Marriage is like a wonderful piece of architecture, Kyo. You have to make it together with another person though, and not like father helping you with the designs kind of together. It's special because it's something only the two of you can share between one another. If the foundation's weak then the whole thing will collapse eventually, it's like a beautiful display of perfect balance and harmony between two people."

Nao seemed almost wistful as she spoke about it, her demeanour almost entirely different like she was dreaming of the invincible structure that she wanted to make with someone else. Something that could never break, that's why she wouldn't waste her one chance at a good foundation on a maybe. She wanted to be certain.

"Does that make sense?"

Nao's explanation made some sense to Kyo's young mind, but admittedly, a lot of it also completely went over his head. Sure, he kind of understood what she meant, but the naivete of youth colored a lot of his perception of Nao's words.

"That doesn't make sense. Is it special that it was made because it's a display between two people? Mother never helps father with his work. It's better to be able to make something like that on your own, isn't it?"

Independence and strength were fundamental ideas of the Sawachika household, and Kyo had certainly taken them to heart during his lessons from their father. But he'd never quite understood why father always spoke so highly about mother, when she was perfectly capable of speaking highly of herself.