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Kunihiro had become completely distracting lately. Absolutely nothing about him had changed, and yet, for some reason, Izuminokami found himself staring every time the wakizashi was within eyesight.
He had no idea why this was happening. That bothered the hell out of Izuminokami.
The first time he’d realized this was happening was about three weeks before. A sudden rainstorm had meant that everyone who wasn’t busy was enlisted to rush the laundry inside before it got wet. Nosada had laced an iron grip around his wrist and dragged him to the courtyard, ignoring all of Izuminokami’s very valid complaints, such as “I’m busy,” or “I don’t want to.”
On his first trip inside, Kunihiro had looked up and smiled at him. For some reason—the way the dim light caught in his eyes, maybe?—Izuminokami couldn’t look away. He stood, frozen, for what felt like at least a solid five minutes. Kunihiro went back to folding the clothing in front of him, his motions precise and fluid. His partner had always been this talented, Izuminokami knew, but had he ever really noticed that before? Nosada barged in, interrupting his personal reverie, with a sharp “Come on, there’s still more.”
Izuminokami brought in the next few baskets just a little faster. If he was out of sync with Nosada, he would have just a few precious moments alone to study Kunihiro alone without the other uchigatana’s nagging.
Man, the way his hair curled around his neck was distracting. The way his wrist arched just so as he lifted a shirt to fold it over itself was mesmerizing. And the way he was humming to himself as he worked? Izuminokami didn’t know how to deal with it.
None of this was new information to him; he’d been around his partner from the moment he’d been summoned. Kunihiro had come crashing into the saniwa’s office with a cry of “Kane-san!” and from then on they’d been nearly inseparable. But for some reason, he was reacting like he’d just met Kunihiro all over again.
He’d hoped it would go away with time, that maybe he was just having a particularly sentimental day and it’d pass quickly. Instead, unfortunately, it only seemed to be getting worse.
They were assigned to make lunch together. Kunihiro handled most of it—he seemed to just know how to make things off the top of his head, which Izuminokami had always found impressive. He had plenty of time to stare, too. He was mostly asked to do little tasks. (“Kane-san! Can you stir this for me?” “Kane-san! Can you mince this for me?”) This made it even easier to watch Kunihiro as he worked. His eyes fluttered closed as he tasted the soup he was simmering. How cute. He gasped quietly when he realized he’d left the rice on the stove for just a moment longer than he would’ve liked, and then his face lit up when he realized it hadn’t burned.
Seriously, Kunihiro had to be doing this on purpose. That was the only explanation Izuminokami could come up with as to why he was just this distracting. He knew he was being distracting, and he was doing it on purpose.
This theory fell apart quickly when, one afternoon, Izuminokami came across Kunihiro asleep at the table in their room. He had been reading, it looked like. He didn’t know how long it’d been since he’d fallen asleep, but there probably was no harm in letting him take a nap for a little longer. Someone would probably wake him up for dinner in a little bit. Izuminokami crouched at Kunihiro’s side for a moment, staring at him intently. Watching him while he was asleep wasn’t new to him; he’d done it plenty of mornings before. That didn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable, though. He was adorable like this. Maybe that was all Izuminokami had been noticing: his partner’s natural propensity for cuteness.
After a long moment, Izuminokami leaned in and brushed aside Kunihiro’s bangs, kissing his forehead. He then ran away in the coolest way possible, just in case the wakizashi had been woken up by the gesture.
Another week passed. Izuminokami was almost driven insane by how he seemed incapable of thinking about anything besides Kunihiro whenever the two were together. It still wasn’t a problem, per se, but it definitely was weighing on his mind.
They were sent out on a sortie together, along with Yamatonokami, Kashuu, and Nagasone. It was just like old times, really. The banter ran freely and easily. It wasn’t exactly difficult, really. Kashuu and Yamatonokami bickered all the while, even as they fought in unison. They all got to show off a little bit. It was, frankly, a pretty fun, easy sortie.
It was no wonder, then, that some of them might have stopped paying as close attention as they needed to.
An enemy tantou loomed behind Kunihiro, and Izuminokami knew he didn’t notice, because he’d been paying so much attention to the wakizashi recently that he knew what it looked like when his partner had a situation under control. He definitely, absolutely, didn’t know that he was in danger.
Izuminokami flew into action. He didn’t have a second thought. He just knew he needed to get between Kunihiro and that blade. The rest would come later.
And come it did. The blade of the tantou grazed his arm as he deflected the attack. Kunihiro, lightning-fast, finished the job without any hesitation.
As Nagasone declared that they’d cleaned up here and it was time to go home, Kunihiro looked up at Izuminokami. But rather than see the adoration or gratitude he’d expected—Kunihiro was upset. He was smiling, to be sure, but Izuminokami knew him better than that. He could see the tension in his brow, the faltering arc of his smile.
“Kane-san, you didn’t have to do that! You should’ve said something,” Horikawa scolded gently. His tone was light.
His ego was slightly bruised from the scolding, but Izuminokami grinned cheekily anyway. “Hey, if I don’t keep an eye on you, who’s gonna?”
Kunihiro’s expression melted. His smile softened. “That’s my line, usually.” He pushed himself onto his toes to kiss Izuminokami.
Kashuu yelled, “Hey, lovebirds, I’m tired and I wanna go home!” He punctuated this with a huff, turning back on his heel to catch up to Yamatonokami and Nagasone, already halfway down the block.
Kunihiro laced their fingers together, and tugged Izuminokami towards the rest of their group. “Come on, before Kashuu-san gets really mad.” Izuminokami started after his partner, but he wasn’t sure if he was walking so much as being pulled along. Sure, his other arm hurt like hell, and sure, Kunihiro was a little mad at him, but he had realized that maybe it wasn’t such a big deal that he was maybe going a little insane. If it meant that he could watch out for his partner, then it was probably a good thing, actually.
“Hey, you be more careful next time, Kunihiro.”
Kunihiro glanced up at him, and Izuminokami wished he’d be able to see that smile forever. “I will, Kane-san!”