Chapter Text
The jungle was quiet now.
Birdsong drifted through the trees. Flowers bloomed again where ash once fell. The river that had once carried blood now shimmered clean beneath the morning light.
Peace didn’t come easily. But it came.
And Majima stayed.
⸻
Kiryu found him at the riverbank, shirt half-open, hair down, trying to fish with a spear and absolutely failing.
“You’re splashing too much,” Kiryu said, folding his arms.
Majima looked up, grinning crookedly. “Nah, I’m just makin’ ‘em feel safe. Buildin’ trust.”
“You’ve scared everything within a mile.”
“Except you,” Majima said, and his grin softened. “You always come back.”
Kiryu crouched beside him, watching the water ripple around their bare feet.
“It’s been a year,” he said.
Majima blinked. “Since what?”
“Since you jumped in front of a bullet for me.”
Majima scratched his head. “Oh yeah. Forgot I did that. Kinda hazy. All I remember is thinkin’, ‘Damn, I hope he kisses me again before I croak.’”
Kiryu chuckled under his breath. “You nearly died.”
“Worth it.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Majima turned to him, expression softer than Kiryu had ever seen. “Hey. I know I’m not exactly cut out for this forest life. I snore, I talk too much, I make the birds nervous—but…”
He hesitated.
“I love you, you know.”
Kiryu didn’t answer with words.
He kissed him.
Slow. Certain. Like roots wrapping gently around stone.
When they pulled apart, Kiryu rested his forehead against Majima’s.
“You do talk too much,” he murmured.
“Yeah,” Majima whispered. “But you love me anyway.”
⸻
Later, in the village beneath the sacred tree, they shared a meal with Kiryu’s people. No more fear in the eyes. No more walls between them. Just family. Just warmth.
Children clambered over Majima, painting his arms with berry juice and calling him names he didn’t understand but laughed at anyway.
Kiryu watched him from across the fire, heart full.
He had never expected love like this.
Not in war. Not in peace.
But Majima had carved a place for himself—not just beside him, but with him.
And Kiryu… had let himself be known.
⸻
Under the stars that night, they lay side by side.
No more running. No more hiding.
Just two men who fought their way into each other’s lives, teeth bared and hearts open.
Majima stared at the stars.
“Think they’re lookin’ at us?”
Kiryu turned to him. “Who?”
“The old bastards. The gods. The spirits. Whoever’s up there.”
Kiryu smiled softly. He reached over and twined their fingers together.
“Let them watch.”
⸻
END.