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Your firm legs planted themselves in the warm sand. In contrast to your stillness, a strong, yet delightful ocean breeze blew energetically, pulling on the fabric of your kimono as if trying to whisk you away. With it came the salty aroma unique to the seashores only. A deep sigh of content escapes your mouth. Inazuma's oceanside brought upon a strong sense of nostalgia. As a child, all you ever knew was shore and the nets that caught every night's dinner. You grew up in Konda Village but are currently residing in the heart of Inazuma city. Now that you worked in the bustling city, you couldn't even remember the last time you took a walk by the shore.
Although the weather was sunny, looking out into the distance it seemed some gray clouds were rolling in. When a storm is brewing, it always seemed to start from beyond the shores before heading inland.
Looks like we'll have to hurry to make it home before the downpour.
This realization reorients your thoughts back to the task at hand: looking for any hint of bright red among the endless sand. Dendrobiums are a very common flower to find among Nazuchi beach. Despite their elegant and vibrant appearance, they surprisingly don't have many purposes, not even aesthetic ones. Not like the Sakura or mint leaves that are also scattered around various lands of Inazuma. Probably because dendrobiums were notorious for only blooming where bloody battlefields once took place. To Inazumans, dendrobiums are a symbol of fear, representing death and bad omens.
A ruby-like sparkle shines, catching your attention from the corner of your eye. You walk over and bend down in the warm sand, carefully plucking it from its spot of patchy grass. Adding it to the rest of the flowers you've picked, you gaze at the growing bunch in admiration.
Bloody red and beautiful. . . Like a certain oni.
Like his bright red horns.
Like his piercing eyes.
Like the marks that trailed along his body . . .
Alluring yet feared.
More than just their reputation.
You came to the conclusion that you really liked dendrobiums.
Truth is you've been smitten for Arataki Itto since you first came across him. When you recently moved to the city, he became your first real friend. Working at a grocery store certainly wasn't the big city dream you had in mind, but it was a humble start. Turns out the renowned oni would occasionally help out around the store in exchange for some groceries. Despite his initial intimidating appearance, his friendly demeanor surprised you. He approached you because he recognized your face and according to Arataki-know-it-all-Itto (his words not yours), he knew everyone in this city. As you got to know him, he eventually introduced you to the gang and they had accepted you as one of their own.
Well it's been over a year since that fateful meeting, meaning it's been over a year since all you could think about was this boisterous oni. How much longer could you keep pining for this man?
About that oni, maybe he had found enough flowers to total the amount needed. This time around, an Inazuman fisherman required 30 dendrobiums in order to make a special fish bait, which is the only useful function of dendrobiums. Itto often took commissions from the adventures' guild when money was short (which it is most of the time). And well, he loved to drag you along with him. You weren't complaining though, you could also use the extra mora. It was also one of the few opportunities the archons granted you to spend time alone with Itto. He lived and breathed the Arataki gang. Everything he did was in order to keep them afloat, including the Adventures' Guild commissions.
You walk up to Itto after spotting him by a battered Inazuman war flag not too far away, bent down to pick a flower. He looks up towards you, showing off all the flowers in his hands.
"Check it out dude! I found all these flowers already! Bet I collected more than you haha!"
"Yeah whatever! Don't forget this is not a competition, it's a team effort. Now, let's count them all to see if we have enough so we can go back. I'll even treat the gang to some dango!" You giggled, handing him your bunch.
He passes you a flower back, one by one, counting along with you,
". . . 29, 30, 31, 32!"
Itto furrowed his brows in confusion,
" What do we do with the extra flowers?"
Before he can say or do anything else, you choose the prettiest flower you can find in the bunch. Standing on your tippy toes, you place the flower behind his pointy ear.
"That takes care of one flower. It even matches the tips of your hair… How cute." you say, looking up at him with an innocent smile (and lots of rizz /j).
What you did not expect was to see his face flush a bright pink. Well you weren't lying, he was definitely a pretty boy. Especially when he blushes. . .
He clears his throat, " PFFT cute? You should be saying I look manly and extremely handsome haha!" The oni adds onto the comedy by flexing his arms exaggeratingly.
You can't contain your laughter and let a small chuckle out.
Itto picks another flower out of your hands and puts it behind your ear as well. You tried to hide your big smile by covering it with your free hand.
"Now we're even pipsqueak. Okay let's go deliver these flowers!"
He grabs the bunch of flowers from your hands, stroking his rough ones against yours. Smiling up at him, you nod and get ready to head back to Narukami Island.
That's when you feel a small, cold drop of rain land on your cheek. Then on your forehead, nose, arms. You stick your hand out to 'check' the rain and look up to see the dark clouds above you. Within less than half a minute the rain intensifies to a hard shower.
"Shoot! We gotta take cover. Follow me!" the oni urgently exclaims. He wraps his arm around your waist and pushes you under his coat cape to shelter you from the rain, running towards the nearest ship wreck.
You both sit down on some broken planks under the deck to shelter you and Itto from the rain.
"Damn! That rain came outta nowhere. Seems we're gonna have to wait this one out."
"No biggie! Let's just chill for a bi-" you look up at him and his appearance shocks you. Small drops of rain clinged to his hair, dripping down onto his drenched coat. And his face had droplets running down,as if tracing the red markings etched on his face. He runs his hands through the front of his hair to push away from his face. Even dripping in rain water he still looked stunning.
" Oh my gosh You're soaking wet!! hold on."
Luckily, you've always had a habit of carrying a handkerchief with you. Pulling it out of your pocket, you get to work, lightly dabbing his face dry and holding his chin with your other hand to steady his head.
In this short amount of time the atmosphere had shifted, leaving an slightly nervous pit in your stomach. Or maybe they were butterflies, you couldn't really tell the difference. Only the sound of rain could be heard as a comforting silence settled between you two.
"Oh thanks." He mutters under his breath.
A small blush of embarrassment covers your cheeks once you look between your lashes and catch him staring right at you with an unusually serious expression. Um and it seemed he had no intention of stopping. His eyes seemed to be searching for something in yours with an indecipherable expression. He's always been a shameless man, that much was true. He was never shy about expressing his true feelings. In the past few weeks you had noticed a shift in his behavior. If you recall correctly, it seemed to change when you decided to write letters to each of the Arataki members. The letters expressed how thankful you were for every individual's friendship within the gang. It's only a given that Itto's letter was a bit (a lot) longer than the rest and more heartfelt too. He held an extra special space in your heart after all. What you did not expect after it was Itto studying you with a look you weren't familiar with and for a bit too long. Or the soft touches where they weren't necessary. The once invisible tension seemed to be growing into something that could be perceived. Or maybe you were just extremely delusional. After all, who wants to get their hopes up for nothing right? Yet any time the two of you were alone, you secretly hoped that your desires finally came to fruition.
Even after what felt like minutes, his serious gaze still hasn't lifted. Normally you'd avoid such intense eye contact due to sheer nervousness. It felt as if a magnetic force was keeping your eyes steady, gazing right into his. It was unrealistic to expect him to understand what you couldn't articulate verbally, through this stare. Only that is exactly what you wished, praying to the archons deep down.
Itto began to lean in even closer until you could feel his breath. He grabs your arm, placing your hand along the nape of his neck, sliding his hand upwards to clutch on your own. Your hand rests on top of the cold, metal spikes of his collar and his silky hair. Such distinct textures to feel simultaneously, but it felt so right. Itto's head was tilted to the side and now his eyes were darting back and forth between your lips and back to your eyes.
His body seemed to pause, radiating an energy of momentary hesitation. That is until he leans forward close to your ear with immense certainty, almost closing the gap between your bodies.
His husky, hot whisper could be felt against your cheek.
"What if I told you that you've slowly been creeping your way into my heart?"
His words send shivers down your spine.
Without a second thought you formulate a response, "And what if I told you that you crept into mine long ago? What if it had been since the day that I met you?"
His eyebrows furrow in a moment of retrospective reflection. A gentle smile of realization crosses his face before he leans forward to meet your lips.
After a long kiss, he lifts you onto his lap, legs placed on either side of him, and starts peppering small kisses all over your face. You couldn't help but laugh in embarrassment.
An overwhelmingly delightful sentiment spreads all throughout, one you didn't know what to do with except give the oni a tight hug. You take in the fresh, earthy scent that the rain enveloped Itto in. He hugs you back in such a gentle way that one would not expect of a mighty oni, almost as if wrapping you in a protective embrace.
Although you could stay like this for an eternity, you separate and are met with a cheesy smile. You were probably grinning like a love-stuck fool as well, not that you cared at the moment. Your arms were still wrapped around his neck as you looked up to the sky. The rain clouds had quickly dissipated and the bright blue sky now went as far as the eye could see.
Just as the rain had gone, so too did the evanescent first bloom of your romance with Itto. The thought left a bittersweet taste on your tongue. Alas, that's life.
"Seems like the rain is gone for good. As much as I hate to say it, we'd better get going and finish this commission. Don't want to give the fisherman wilted flowers."
You had almost forgotten why you were here with Itto in the first place.
" Bummer, we were just getting to the good stuff." He lets out an upset growl with the last word. (Ok that was kinda. . .*starts sweating*)
A warm blush flushes your checks and your hands cover your timid expression. You'd been a pretty wholesome person up until this point, hence why you had no idea how to respond to that. He lets out a hearty chuckle once he sees your innocent reaction.
You pick up the bunch of flowers that he had left next to him, before attempting to get off his lap to stand up.
That is until he himself begins to stand up and you have no choice but wrap your arms and legs around him as to not fall. He uses one hand to support you back and the other grasps your thigh. Then he dips you down to give you more kisses, trailing down to your neck.
" Okay we can go now," Itto says with a satisfied smirk before finally letting you down. As you both walk inland towards the fisherman's location, he holds your hand with his free one, caressing your knuckles.
As you departed, there was a newfound appreciation for the shores that you so much adored, as they had brought upon another blessing. The waves no longer only represented the nostalgic past, but also the hopeful future.