[Sanada/Yukimura] Tales of Sunken Flowers

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The Bakumatsu era: a nation battered by turmoil.

Legend has it that in the Aizu region, there was a group of ronin called the Sanada Corps. Eight figures in pale blue wandered the streets and alleys day and night, secretly fighting against the flames of war. The people adored them.

Then one day, the captain of the Sanada Corps died unexpectedly.

By order of the shogunate, samurai Sanada Genichiro ended ten years of secluded training and was honorably appointed as the new captain's personal bodyguard.

Sanada was not having it. "This boy does nothing but tend flowers and burn incense. He's so weak he can't even hold a sword, so why make him captain? This is far too lax!"

The new captain: "Hm? You've got some nerve, Sanada."

"..."

What could he do? His master was his master.

Sanada huffed and stepped in front of him. "Come on, anyone who objects to him being captain can fight me one-on-one!"

+++

At the darkest hour of the Sanada Corps, Yukimura Seiichi took command.

The anti-shogunate faction watched him like hawks. After all, Yukimura had once been a page to the previous captain, and he looked easy to bully. Surely wiping them out would be a piece of cake?

But.

Only when wave after wave of assassins vanished without a sound from the Sanada Corps' headquarters did the anti-shogunate faction realize how serious things were...

They say the gentle, sickly captain, as lovely as jade, is a ruthless killer!

+++

Inside Kiyomizu Temple, Yukimura smiled softly as he sheathed his dagger, wiping the blood spattered on his cheek with his sleeve.

Sanada took down a candle and set fire to one corner of the temple, burying the bodies strewn everywhere beneath a sea of flames.

The guardian god with no blind spots: the Aizu Domain's Sanada Corps has arrived!

"You're the one being lax, aren't you, Sanada?"

"...Do we know each other?"

(Loyal-dog top x demon-king bottom)

Notes:

1. Set during the Bakumatsu era, with some fictionalized elements and historical deviations. Please don't nitpick the history~

2. Told from Sanada's perspective, centered on Rikkai. Everyone goes dark, and handsome men kill each other. Extreme fans, beware. Couples: the three imperial pairings + Shiraishi and Kenya. Top/bottom roles matter.

3. The princes have longer versions of their middle school hairstyles, tied back or worn loose. Don't get the wrong idea! Don't get the wrong idea! Don't get the wrong idea!

4. Sanada may be wooden, but he's more humanized in this story. In short, this is my take on Sanada and Yukimura. If you think they're out of character, that's on me. Just click away, don't blame the characters.

Theme: Conquer the world!