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It was midsummer, and even though the sun had finally fallen bellow the horizon, it was still unbelievably hot. The humidity only seemed to make it worse; Sougo swore he was breathing water. The air seemed to stick to his skin and weigh him down, and the crowds of festival-goers were not helping in the least.
Still, he felt rather upbeat. He was off duty for the night, Hijikata was cooped up at headquarters with a stack of paperwork, and Sougo had every intention of enjoying the festivities.
A slight breeze picked up, rustling his bangs, and he sighed, continuing to fan himself. Maybe he should find himself something to eat.
Kagura appeared in his field of vision then, and he swore, she had the absolute best timing. He watched as she repeatedly tossed up, then caught, a small coin purse, her other hand rather preoccupied with holding a candied apple. If she was going to walk around distracted, she deserved for him to torment her a bit.
He quietly approached her, and when she next tossed the purse, he snatched it out of the air. It was light in his palm, only a few coins remaining, and she only shrugged, not all that bothered by his theft.
“I stole it from Gin-chan anyway,” she said.
He scoffed at her confession. “Should you really be saying that to a police officer? I could arrest you.”
She took another crunching bite of her apple, a few shards of hard candy sticking to her lower lip. “You stole it from me, so shouldn’t you just arrest yourself?”
Sougo snorted, then shook his head, dropping the purse into her palm. She swiped her lips with the tip of her pink tongue until it caught the red chips of candy, and he watched, his throat suddenly dry, as she brought it back into her mouth.
He realized then that she was looking surprisingly cute. In actuality, she always looked cute to him, but Sougo refused to think further on such a dangerous topic. There was no denying that that the few years he had known Kagura had been kind to her. His eyes lingered a little too long on the healthy, pink swell of her lower lip, before traveling down her yukata-clad figure.
She was more than just cute. Kagura was downright attractive, and he had no idea how to cope with that. Perhaps sticking to the familiar routine of teasing and bickering would be best, he considered briefly.
With a small gesture, she quashed his brilliant, albeit predictable, plan.
“Truce? Just for tonight,” she said, grinning. “I know you like festivals just as much as me, and I don’t want to ruin the fun with a stupid fight.”
He blinked back his surprise, meeting her gaze for a moment, before she had him reeling again. He stared at her, astounded, as she tipped her candied apple towards him as a peace offering. The very thought of Kagura sharing food with anyone, never mind her hated rival, was inconceivable. She looked up at him with quiet expectancy though, and he could hardly turn her down.
He lightly wrapped his hand around her smaller one, inching the apple closer as he lowered his head--she really was quite short--taking a meager bite.
She seemed pleased when their eyes met again, and as he munched on the overly sweet candy, he became aware of how blue hers were, even in the limited lighting. He wanted to ask her what, precisely, she was up to, but without another word, she slipped her arm into the crook of his elbow. With his mouth still full he had no way to argue before she was leading them along, much too comfortable at his side.
She had poisoned the apple, he decided, and now she wanted a private show to watch his demise.
“Come on,” she smiled, “we never did settle who was the better shot.”
He smirked, despite himself. If he was going to die, he might as well enjoy himself first. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you, even if you are a woman.”
“Please,” she sneered, her tone playful, “You’re going to want me to go easy on you.”
He didn’t realize, as they strolled down the walkway filled with booths and packed with the people of Edo, that he never had referred to her as a woman before. She clung even closer to him as the crowds grew denser, and a passing, insignificant thought cumulated in his mind. Even if there were a lot of people around, she didn’t need to walk so near to him. Yet, she was so close that he could feel the warmth of her side pressed against his arm. Even if she had called a truce, this proximity seemed to be crossing a line beyond temporary friendship.
An even more unusual, foreign concept occurred to him; to the many people who didn’t know better, they looked like a couple.
He didn’t push her away, though. Nor did he bring her closer, perhaps because he didn’t want to test her boundaries, only for her to back off. Sougo knew this was wrong, he was taking advantage of her innocence, but for a reason he couldn’t quite fathom, he liked her just where she was.
...
In the end, she did win, and Sougo couldn’t figure out why he had let her. She was gloating now, too pleased with herself for his liking, but he couldn’t help but to smile when she wasn’t looking. Warmth bubbled in his chest, threatening to burst, and it honestly terrified him, more so than any deadly battle or unbeatable foe. In fact, he would prefer a duel to the death over what he was experiencing--at least he knew how to deal with those.
She casually grabbed his hand as they left the booth, and his heart stuttered with shock. Now he was certain that she was crossing the line beyond friendship with him, and he had to wonder if it was intentional. She may have acted as if it were the most natural thing to do, but could she be calculating her every move?
That seemed a bit too clever for her. He thread his fingers through hers though, not caring that her every gesture was most likely deliberate, and when he rubbed his thumb into her too-smooth skin, she squeezed his hand.
She was being very deliberate, he decided as she smiled up at him. “I’m hungry.”
Sougo laughed out loud. It made sense, how she could be so cunning. After all, he had convinced himself that her every waking thought was focused on procuring her next meal.
“Fine,” he shook his head with amusement. “Yakisoba sounds good.”
She had earned it, after stringing him along and making him think about unnecessary things. She had manipulated him like putty in her hands.
Her pace quickened as they looked for a food stall. He even let her get three orders of yakisoba, though she had wanted five, promising to buy her a drink if she was kinder to his wallet.
Sougo figured that was the end of it, until it was announced the fireworks display was going to begin shortly. She took his hand again, yanking him away from the festival crowds.
“I know the best place to watch fireworks, come on, Sougo!”
He could only flounder in silence as she dragged him, reconsidering her motive once more. It was so strange, to hear his name said by her voice.
When she broke into a run, he followed after her, just as he suspected he always would. He grinned at the back of her head, listening to clapping of her geta as she led the way down familiar streets.
He wondered, as he followed her up the metal frame of a jungle gym, if this was happiness. It had been so long since he had last encountered contentment, he barely recognized the feeling.
Moments later, color erupted in the dark sky, and her gaze shot upward, childish glee on her face. His eyes were transfixed on her though, the pale white of her flawless cheeks reflecting red and green with each explosion. He could not make sense of himself, and when she turned to him with an impatient expression, he was caught completely off guard.
She said something, and they were still too close to the festival for him to hear over the fireworks, but he could understand every syllable as her lips formed around them.
“I like you, stupid.”
Oh.
He couldn’t wait another second before he was lowering his mouth to hers. She sighed against him, pleased, then took the initiative, placing either of his hands at her hips before snaking her arms around his neck. Sougo pulled her closer, so that every time she inhaled, her full chest pressed flat to his.
Despite her being a member of the strongest clan in the universe, everything about her seemed soft, from her moist lips, to the skin of her wrist on his neck, to the curves hiding under her yukata. It was so contrary to what he expected, he kept fumbling for more, to fully understand everything he could about her through tactile touch. Her nails gently raked against his scalp, and he wondered what was too much, where was too far.
His palm found her round backside, his fingers stretching outward to grasp all of her, and he half expected her to stop and slap him for being so presumptuous, but instead she tilted her face, her tongue sweeping hesitantly across his lips. Feeling greedy, he swallowed her whole, not satisfied until he had a taste of every corner in her mouth.
Kagura moaned, a breathy, gratified sound that made his head spin, and he wanted nothing more than to explore the silken flesh of her inner thigh, to taste the gentle flavors of her milky skin. He knew that she wouldn’t be unwilling, though in his hazy mind, the last thing he wanted was to be arrested for indecent exposure. What they were doing was already bad enough.
Her teeth scraped at his lower-lip as she brought it into her mouth and he gasped, the hot air of his breath remaining captured in the small space between their faces. He could get used to kissing her.
“I think I might like you too,” he rasped, only for her to inch back and snort.
“Might?” she whispered with a teasing tone. “I think you should show me just how much you might like me.”
That, he could do.