Work Text:
Shinobu’s hand was in Yuuta’s.
It was warm. It wasn’t quite soft, probably due to scars or calluses that came from his ninja training, though Yuuta had never examined his palms to know for sure. Could he do that? Would Shinobu let him? Maybe it’d be weird. Yuuta would like to, though.
Their fingers were laced together. They had been, for most of their walk back to the dorms. Yuuta wasn’t sure why the thought wouldn’t leave his mind. He ran his thumb along the back of Shinobu’s hand, just because he could.
In front of him, Shinobu’s steps stuttered, and then picked up faster than before. Yuuta felt his grip tighten.
The smile on his face was almost painful. They were holding hands.
Maybe the reason he couldn’t stop thinking about it was that Shinobu hadn’t let go. Sure, they’d already spoken back at the café, and Shinobu had been adamant that he’d forgiven Yuuta days ago, but— Well. It was hard to believe, after Yuuta had berated himself for a week over what he’d done. The warmth emanating from Shinobu’s hand into his own, though, was constant, reassuring, real. It was his lifeline.
A lot had happened over the past week, hadn’t it. Word of it, he was sure, had reached far more people than he was comfortable with, but that couldn’t be helped at this point. And it wasn’t something he wanted to worry about now, while Shinobu’s hand was in his.
Shinobu led the way up the stairs of the dormitory to his own room and slowly pushed the door open, only to freeze mid-stride with a surprised noise. “Ah, Kanzaki-dono! You are still here?
Yuuta couldn’t see around him into the room, but he heard a voice from inside hum a questioning tone. “Sengoku, there you are! It is very late, you know. I was getting worried.”
Shinobu lingered at the door, shuffling his feet. “I apologize for the delay. You were waiting for me?”
“There is no need to apologize. You are back safe and that is what matters.” A small shuffling sound. “Now that you are here, I will take my leave. Adonis-dono and Oogami-dono are expecting me, after all.” He paused, and soft footsteps moved across the room. “Sengoku? You do not need to stand by the door. Do you have a guest tonight?”
“Um, yes— Ah, that is…”
Shinobu shot Yuuta a panicked glance; Yuuta couldn’t guess why. He stepped to the side, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Kanzaki, and once their eyes met, he offered a smile and a wave. “Just me, Kanzaki-senpai!”
It wasn’t the first time Yuuta came over to Shinobu’s dorm, not by a long shot, so he knew Kanzaki would recognize him by his face. What he didn’t expect was for Kanzaki’s expression to immediately harden. “Ah, I see. Welcome back, Aoi.”
A chill as cold as ice ran down Yuuta’s spine. Tension snapped tight into the air.
Shinobu stammered nonsense syllables as he shuffled the door further open, trailing off as Kanzaki ignored him. “I heard a rumor,” Kanzaki said, deliberately, starting forward, “that something had happened between the two of you. Sengoku has not been acting himself lately, you see; I had been worried. I thought, that if someone had done something to hurt him—”
A hand dropped onto Yuuta’s shoulder and squeezed until it hurt. His other hand rested softly on the handle of his katana.
“It would be unforgivable. Even for you.”
The look in his eyes as they bored into Yuuta’s was akin to a predator staring down its prey. A tiny noise slipped from Yuuta’s throat, unbidden, but Kanzaki seemed to take it as a cue.
“And so, I am relieved that it seems to be untrue.” He glanced down at Yuuta and Shinobu’s still-joined hands for only a moment. “Is that correct?”
“Y- Yes!” A broken laugh filtered from his dry throat. “Um, e- e- everything is alright, that is, I…”
“K- Kanzaki-dono—!” said Shinobu, high-pitched and weak, tugging on Yuuta’s hand.
The samurai looked at him, then back at Yuuta. He squeezed his shoulder one more time before releasing him, with a smile sharp enough he hardly needed his blade. “Do not fret, Sengoku. I believe Aoi and I understand each other quite well now, yes?”
Yuuta held his breath and nodded. Message received, loud and clear.
“Excellent!” As though a switch flipped, Kanzaki turned to give Shinobu a wide, genuine grin. “Then, I shall be off. If you need anything, please, come find me. I will not be far. Farewell, Sengoku.”
“Good… bye…”
The moment Kanzaki turned away, Shinobu dragged Yuuta inside and slammed the door, yanking his hand out of Yuuta’s to press both of his palms against the wood; Yuuta tried not to dwell on the cold that lanced all the way into his chest at the loss. His heart was already racing for an entirely different reason.
Shinobu shifted so that his elbows were on the door, hands covering his face. “I- I apologize, Yuuta-kun! Kanzaki-dono, he, ah, I- I was not— It’s my fault he—”
“It’s fine,” Yuuta said in a rush, massaging his palm. He couldn’t blame him, not after the worry he’d caused his own roommates. “It’s fine, but— but, you know—!”
He put his hands on his hips and gave Shinobu an exaggerated pout, waiting until Shinobu turned around enough to see him before he continued. “You could have told me, you know, that you have your own annoooying big brother! He surprised me!”
Shinobu blinked once, then twice, and then all at once, his face lit up red. “Kanzaki-dono— He— That’s- That’s not— He’s—!”
Yuuta made a “go on” gesture, unable to fight back a smile.
“Yuuta-kun!”
Shinobu loosed a noise somewhere between a groan and a whine at the same time that Yuuta burst into laughter, halfheartedly dodging Shinobu’s attempts to hit him. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Unless, of course, it was supposed to stay a secret—!?”
“Kanzaki-dono is not truly my brother,” Shinobu said with a huff, and Yuuta giggled again.
“Well, maybe not. But, you know.” He grinned. “It looks like you two seem to think of each other that way.”
“He’s… Well…”
His hands started to fidget, so Yuuta made a placating gesture. “I… Sorry if I went too far, but I don’t mean anything by it. I have one of my own, as you well know. It’s… a nice feeling, isn’t it?”
Shinobu cocked his head at that. “It… is…”
Hinata— Another who knew what had happened, the first that Yuuta had told. The first that had worried over the two of them when this week began. The one who, if Yuuta had to guess, was the most frantic over them even at this moment, just a floor below.
The realization washed over both of them at the same time.
“Yuuta-kun. Is Hinata-kun going to…”
“No. He is going to do something worse. Shinobu-kun?”
“Y- Yes—?”
“Good luck.”