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Ever since Kazuma had come home to visit two weeks ago, he couldn’t look at Ryuunosuke without flushing. And when Ryuunosuke would catch him, Kazuma would quickly avert his gaze and pretend it had never been on Ryuunosuke to begin with. Although Ryuunosuke was curious about what could be on Kazuma’s mind, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask.
Ryuunosuke wasn’t the only one who had noticed, however.
Susato catches Kazuma staring one day. Immediately, she lets out a scandalized gasp of “Kazuma-sama!” She looks at him sternly and puts her hands on her hips. “You mustn’t look at Naruhodou-sama so indecently like that! And so brazenly, too! Have you no shame?” she scolds the man.
Kazuma is caught off guard by the accusation. His eyes widen as he looks down at Susato. “Wh-What do you mean indecently!?” Kazuma splutters, his face somehow becoming even more crimson than before. Ryuunosuke imagines Kazuma’s face must be plenty of degrees warmer than Ryuunosuke’s own face had turned at Susato’s claim.
“You- You are staring at- Don’t make me say it, Kazuma-sama. These are words I never thought I’d have the severe displeasure of uttering in my life,” Susato continues just as heatedly as before. But when Kazuma only furrows his eyebrows deeper in confusion and lets out a confused cry, she closes her eyes tight and wills herself to say the words she dreaded. “You… You were staring intently at Naruhodou-sama’s bottom!” the distressed young woman accuses, pointing a finger at Kazuma for emphasis.
“What!?” Kazuma shouts, catching the attention of people around them. Neither Susato nor Kazuma seem to notice. Ryuunosuke on his part sends the passerbys apologetic looks. “I was doing no such thing,” Kazuma denies. He then turns his attention to Ryuunosuke. “I wasn’t looking at you inappropriately, partner, I swear it! I would never do that you! I mean, u-unless you- No, that’s absurd. I just wouldn’t do it, okay?” Kazuma says. Although by the time he’s done, Ryuunosuke has half a mind to call it begging with the desperate look he receives.
“Then what were you looking at, Kazuma-sama? What could be so interesting below Naruhodou-sama’s waist?” Susato demands before Ryuunosuke can answer. Kazuma’s response is near instantaneous.
“I was looking at Karuma!” Kazuma insists.
“You were looking at Karuma? That intently? With red cheeks?”
“Yes! I swear, whatever you think I was doing, I wasn’t!”
“You are a pervert, Kazuma-sama.”
All of a sudden Kazuma becomes aware of their surroundings. He surveys the area around them to see if anyone had heard, but luckily anyone who was watching had dispersed by now. “Don’t say that kind of thing out loud in public!” Kazuma hisses. “Don’t say it at all! I’m not a pervert!”
Kazuma and Susato have a stare off, neither one willing to give in. Ryuunosuke looks between the two. His eyes shift a couple times; Kazuma, Susato, Kazuma, Susato, then Kazuma and Susato again. Then he slumps forward and lets out an especially long sigh.
“It’s alright, Susato-san, I don’t really care if Kazuma looks at my butt all that much,” Ryuunosuke says without thinking about it properly. Suddenly the two are looking at him, eyes still narrowed but now sporting confused, knitted eyebrows as well. As if they’re asking why he wouldn’t care about being ogled. Suddenly he’s standing up stiffly, his eyes darting around. “I just mean- W-Well, it’s not as if Kazuma hasn’t seen more. L-Like when we go to the onsen and we undr-“
“Ryuunosuke, stop. You’re going to make things worse,” Kazuma cuts in.
But the damage is done, and one of Susato’s hands flies to her slightly agape mouth. Then she whips her head to look at Kazuma and her glare intensifies. “I can’t even imagine the things he must think then!” Susato exclaims.
“Alright, I’ve had enough. Susato, Ryuunosuke, I’m going ahead. You can join me when you’re done making me out to be some kind of weirdo that likes to think unsavory thoughts about his best friend,” Kazuma says sharply. True to his word, he stomps off right past the duo, into the direction of the Mikotoba household. Ryuunosuke and Susato merely watch for a moment, shocked.
Susato recovers first. She hums and rests her fingertips along her right cheek. “Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on, Kazuma-sama. I didn’t even hear him out,” she reflects guiltily. “Still, there was no need to become angry with you too, Naruhodou-sama. You were only trying to help.”
“Well, I did skew your perspective even more with the onsen thing,” Ryuunosuke mumbles. He takes a step in the direction Kazuma had. Susato hurries a couple steps of her own to walk by Ryuunosuke’s side. “It was the truth, Kazuma has seen more than enough of me. But I also don’t think Kazuma has bad intentions when he looks at me. That’s really why I don’t mind.”
“You must trust Kazuma-sama a lot then.”
“A defense attorney’s strongest weapon is their ability to trust, after all.”
When Susato slides the door to her home open, Ryuunosuke follows her inside. The two immediately start a search for Kazuma. On the way home, they had talked about the situation a little more and how they ought reconcile with him. But they couldn’t very well reconcile with a man they couldn’t even find.
They don’t have to search for long. They find Kazuma sitting in the living room, still seething.
Ryuunosuke calls out first, peeking a head into the room tentatively. “Kazuma?”
“What?” he snaps, not bothering to look at Ryuunosuke. But at the very least, he’s talking. Sort of. It’s enough for Ryuunosuke to decide to enter fully. Susato follows in after him now, clasping her hands together in front of her body.
“We would like to apologize to you, Kazuma-sama. Um, mostly myself. I should have listened to you when you said you weren’t acting indecently, and I shouldn’t have called you a pervert,” Susato speaks, looking at Kazuma hopefully.
Finally, he looks at the two. For a couple seconds he does just that. Then he sighs, closes his eyes, and nods. “Alright. I forgive you. I shouldn’t have stormed off either. I could have tried harder to talk it out with you.”
“But I was the one who wasn’t willing to listen!” Susato exclaims.
“But I was the one acting suspiciously. I can see why you were confused now that I’ve had time to think about it.”
“No, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Of course you would never do anything to taint Naruhodou-sama’s image!”
“But I-“
Ryuunosuke realizes that if he doesn’t cut in soon, they’ll be trying to take the blame from each other all day.
“Everyone is sorry. Can we just leave it at that?” Ryuunosuke intervenes with. Susato and Kazuma stop their bickering to look at Ryuunosuke, who suddenly realizes that he is in the middle of them. “D-Don’t just stare at me!” he complains. Unsure if he should look forward at Kazuma or behind him to Susato, he settles for looking at his feet. He is the middle ground, after all.
Kazuma’s loud, rumbling laughter breaks the silence. Susato and Ryuunosuke both look at him. His smile is contagious, they find as the corners of their mouths turn up.
“You’re right, Ryuunosuke. Of course you’re right. Why settle an argument with another one? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of making up?” Kazuma says, his eyes practically sparkling at Ryuunosuke. Behind him, Ryuunosuke hears Susato let out an ugh.
“E-Exactly!” Ryuunosuke exclaims. Although, perhaps not exactly exactly what Ryuunosuke had been thinking. Kazuma doesn’t need to know that. “So… please, can we just move on now?”
The trio does move on. Susato rushes off to make some tea and Kazuma offers to help plate some snacks. Ryuunosuke also offers to help, but the two siblings look at him sternly and sit him back down when he stands up.
(“You’re our guest! You are not allowed to do any work!” Susato had chided him. Kazuma had nodded in agreement. The two had made up splendidly indeed.)
For a while they just eat rice crackers with a cup of green tea each and exchange stories. Kazuma tells them the finer details about his court escapades and Ryuunosuke and Susato regale him with tales of the Japanese judiciary.
And it’s all normal and no one talks about what had happened in the afternoon. At least, not until Yuujin calls upon Susato to discuss an urgent bit about documents she needs to prepare in order to enter Yuumei University as Ryuutaro. She excuses herself with a bow.
Ryuunosuke and Kazuma sit in silence for a moment, as it had been Susato’s turn to speak and she was not there anymore. Kazuma should have gone next, trying to top Susato’s silly story with an even sillier story. But he sat quietly with his hands folded over his mouth. He looked at the plate of rice crackers intently, but Ryuunosuke could tell he wasn’t about to eat one.
“I hope you know,” Kazuma starts abruptly, “that I really wasn’t looking at you inappropriately.”
Ryuunosuke mouth falls open wordlessly. In the next second he laughs. Kazuma looks up at Ryuunosuke’s face when he hears the bubbles of laughter. He raises a questioning eyebrow at Ryuunosuke, who doesn’t speak until the giggles have fully passed. “Are you still thinking about that? I know you weren’t. And even if you were, again, I trust you don’t have bad intentions. I probably would have, I don’t know, sat on something and you’d scold me for not being careful about where I sit.”
Kazuma hums in acknowledgment of the response and sits up straight. “Nonetheless, I do have to apologize to you. I know you’ve caught me before. Staring at your hip, I mean. I don’t mean to be creepy, I just- It’s really, truly Karuma,” Kazuma explains despite Ryuunosuke’s attempt at dismissal. His cheeks flush red again at whatever thoughts rush about in his head.
“What about Karuma?” Ryuunosuke asks. While he didn’t agree with how the conversation from before went, he did have to admit that Susato had a point about the intent gaze and the flush. All that for Karuma? Ryuunosuke had never seen Kazuma look at the katana like that ever. And now that he had a prime opportunity to ask about the staring, he might as well.
Kazuma’s tongue pokes out to wet his lips. Ryuunosuke tries not to stare himself. “It’s… a bit embarrassing, you know.”
That certainly pulls Ryuunosuke out of his stupor. He looks at Kazuma with his mouth parted wide open. “You? Are embarrassed of Karuma?”
“No! Karuma is- er, was, I guess. Was the Asougi clan’s pride and joy, a symbol of our desire to cut evil down in it’s path. I couldn’t be prouder of what it stands for,” Kazuma clarifies. Not fully, of course, because Ryuunosuke still has no idea what’s so embarrassing.
“I see. Is it embarrassing that you don’t have it then? Because you’re the clan head? You can have it back if you want, Kazuma. I have gotten rather attached to it, I won’t lie. But it is yours and-“
Kazuma holds up a hand. “Save your breath, Ryuunosuke. You’re a little off center. I don’t want Karuma back just yet.”
“Oh. Okay. Then…?”
“Right. The thing is, Karuma isn’t actually always in the hands of the Asougi clan leader,” Kazuma says slowly. His gaze slowly falls back to the rice crackers. Coincidentally at the same time Ryuunosuke reaches out for one.
“Where else would it be?” Ryuunosuke quizzes. He lifts the rice cracker to his lips and bites down with a crunch. Kazuma smiles slightly at the sound of Ryuunosuke enjoying the snacks in the middle of a serious conversation.
“In the hands of the head’s lover,” Kazuma responds simply. Somehow.
“Oh, really? That’s neat. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s an analogy for taking care of your lover’s soul, right?” Ryuunosuke says casually. When he hears only the sound of his chewing, he focuses more closely on Kazuma. He gives Ryuunosuke a meaningful look, cheeks still ablaze. But Ryuunosuke blinks innocently at him, cheeks full, mind empty.
He continues to be clueless about Kazuma’s silence until Kazuma looks at an empty spot on the table. Ryuunosuke’s follows the line of Kazuma’s sight. He looks past the table, tracing the imaginary line with his own eyes.
And his eyes fall onto Karuma.
Right at his hip.
He isn’t the Asougi clan leader.
“Right on target for once,” Kazuma says lowly with a slightly sarcastic tone. The whisper of his voice diminishes the rude tone, however, and he sounds as embarrassed as he looks.
Ryuunosuke swallows down the bite of his rice cracker so he doesn’t choke. Then he has a tiny outburst. His own cheeks are suddenly burning up as he blurts out, “Wh-Why didn’t you ever tell me before!?”
“What, that it’s an Asougi clan tradition to have the fiancé of the head care for the sword until after the pair are married? I never had a reason to,” Kazuma replies, trying and failing again to be snarky about it.
“I’ve had this sword for months now, Kazuma! Over a year! And- And you never said a word! We’ve even exchanged it personally twice,” Ryuunosuke says quickly. He feels his pulse speeding up as well.
“Yeah, but those times weren’t about marriage. The first time, you were returning it to me and I was just getting my memory back. The second time, I was giving it to you because I had done something terrible with it, to it,” Kazuma retorts defensively. “I honestly hadn’t even remembered until I came back two weeks ago and saw you for the first time in months. And that’s why I kept looking at Karuma on your hip.”
Ryuunosuke swallows thickly as Kazuma talks. So this whole time… “We… aren’t lovers though. So are you sure you don’t want it back?” Ryuunosuke asks. He feels his heart fall as he speaks. It beats fast still, but it also beats a little too hard in his chest now. But if Kazuma wanted the sword back, all he would have to do is ask.
“Ryuunosuke, I-“ Kazuma pauses abruptly. He inhales deeply, and exhales even deeper. Then he levels a strong gaze on Ryuunosuke. “You should know something. While I truly do do my best to avoid thinking scandalously of you, I can’t deny that my heart has been yours for much longer than you could possibly know.”
“You, you mean you…?”
“What else could I possibly mean? I like- No, my feelings are well past that by now. I love you, Ryuunosuke Naruhodou. I have for so long now,” Kazuma confesses. “You have my heart. And you could have my soul, too. My life, my everything, it’s yours if you want it.”
“Oh… Wow. This isn’t a dream, right? I feel as though I’m going to wake up and find that you’re not here and that this isn’t real,” Ryuunosuke says lightly.
Kazuma silently reaches a hand out to Ryuunosuke over the table. Ryuunosuke slowly, unsurely meets him halfway. Kazuma takes Ryuunosuke’s hand and gives a gentle squeeze as soon as they’re close enough.
“Are you awake now, partner?” Kazuma asks, somehow finding it in him to be able to tease Ryuunosuke in the middle of a serious conversation.
“Yes.”
“Am I still here?”
“You are.”
“And this is real, too. So no more worries on that front, I trust?”
“Yeah.”
Even though Ryuunosuke gives his affirmation, Kazuma doesn’t let go. Neither does Ryuunosuke.
“Now that you’re properly alert, I have a proposal. I’ll let you choose whether or not you’ll give Karuma back to me,” Kazuma starts. His grip tightens just slightly on Ryuunosuke hand. It doesn’t hurt, but it does let Ryuunosuke in on how nervous Kazuma is. Despite his unwavering voice and flawless stance, his heart must be beating just as fast and hard as Ryuunosuke’s. Perhaps their hearts even fall into sync, Ryuunosuke muses.
“If you return my feelings, then Karuma is yours to keep. At least until we get, um, you know.” Ryuunosuke finds it impossibly endearing that Kazuma can’t bring himself to say the word married in the moment, but he chooses not to say anything, lest he scare Kazuma away. “If you would reject me, then know there will be no hard feelings. I’ll take Karuma back in stride, and if you would allow it, we could maintain our frien-“
“Save your breath, Kazuma,” Ryuunosuke interrupts, smiling as wide as he can at the way Kazuma looks at him indignantly. “You’re not getting Karuma back just yet.”
“Bastard, using my own words against me,” Kazuma says harshly, but his giddy grin betrays him. Ryuunosuke squeezes his hand hard in retaliation. Kazuma caresses the back of Ryuunosuke’s hand with his thumb for the trouble.