Chapter Text
Kou tugs up the waistband of his pants, hoping to bring his waterlogged pants away from the ground so he wouldn’t be walking in mud.
“Mitsuba?”
He asks, the quiet of the night surrounding them, an owl's hoot and maybe a cricket's chirp accompanying them.
The pink-haired guard gives him no answer, simply tugging his hand as they walk together, Kou stumbling behind by a step or two.
They make it to the base of the oh-so-familiar hill, the view of a still lit-up village spreading beyond it.
“The stars…”
Mitsuba shakes his head and sighs at the lack of speckles in the sky. Droplets of water follow their tracks, dirt and blades of grass sticking to the soles of their bare feet. Their shoes are lost to the forest, Kou’s body soaked in the river’s water and Mitsuba’s only marginally dryer.
The water had washed out the scents of dirt and smoky wood from fireplaces in the town square, though it wasn’t strong enough to get rid of the sweet smell of carnival caramel or the mixed fragrant smell of the fruit bowls lining up the big stalls. Kou isn’t exactly sure how they ended up by the lake in the first place, despite the events of the night being fairly recent. Maybe Mitsuba had picked a word with the wrong guy, maybe they saw some higher-up official and went to hide.
No matter, all Kou can remember clearly now (and he hopes Mitsuba thinks the same) is their shared bursts of laughter. Echoing through the trees and dipping in and out of the water with blinding bright smiles.
“It’s like the sun!”
Mitsuba had said to his face with a grin, seeing Kou with a smile so large, and Kou felt awestruck seeing the stars in the other’s face, maybe he still is awestruck.
In Mitsuba's eyes are galaxies, in the corners of and separation of his lips a nebula or two, a supernova in the shriek of his laugh. A passing comet in the crinkle of the corner of his eyes as he hunches over and laughs and laughs.
Then Kou got pushed into the water face forward, bringing him back to reality.
“Earth to Kou Minamoto? Helloooo?”
Ah, he must’ve gotten lost in thought again. Kou shakes his head, chuckling softly as Mitsuba yips as the water droplets fall on his face.
Hand in hand they make it to the top of the hill, quiet and peaceful with a not-so-great view of the stars that night but a wonderful view of the village in front of them. Kou hears Mitsuba yawn beside him, leaning into the blonde.
“You're sopping wet, bleh…”
“Oh don't be like that! You pushed me into the lake!”
Kou playfully flicks the man’s forehead, and Mitsuba lets out a disgruntled mewl in response.
“You tired?”
“Yeah, super tired, sleepiest I've ever been.”
Another yawn from the pink-haired guard, this time bigger than the last, as he leans into the blonde guard more.
“I'm not a bed y'know, let’s go back to the-“
“No!”
Kou stumbles onto the soft grass beneath them with a small thud, rubbing his back as he realizes that Mitsuba had shoved him down and was now snugly placed between his legs.
“Mitsuba…”
Kou doesn't have enough energy to scold his friend (friend? Coworker? Crush? He doesn’t quite know anymore), so he admits defeat with a small sigh. He runs his calloused fingers through Mitsuba’s silky hair, watching the pink strands fall over his skin.
He can tell the other fell asleep right then and there, the pink head of hair dropping onto his chest softly, an out-of-tune melody of snores following like an owl’s hoot. Kou lays down himself, readjusting the two in the grass.
“We shouldn’t be sleeping outside, we have patrol tomorrow morning…” he mumbles to sleeping ears, knowing that he’ll stay all night with Mitsuba. Even if it meant being late to patrol, or being chastised by Teru later in the day, he’d stay by Mitsuba for anything.
“Goodnight Sousuke…”
He whispers softly, letting the sweet lullaby of soft snores and the wind bring him to sleep.