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Kazuha has a way of vanishing.
Granted, he is a samurai. A wandering samurai. He is never meant to stay at one place.
Like the wind, Kazuha was as sporadic as a calm person can be. He tends to his foes in dignified fashion. A swipe of his blade, and their weapons come crashing down to the earth. Hidden in the shadows of trees and the moon, Kazuha strikes with the grace of a swan.
When he is not fighting, Kazuha is led by fresh air and fresh meals. Fresh fish! Fresh sake too, if you would be so kind.
He is more delighted by company. He wouldn't be the loudest in a tavern, or in one of the Alcor's celebrations, but he will be there with the crowd sipping his cup of cool liquid.
And sometimes, when you're aboard, he's there with you too. He vanishes from the crowd, sitting by your side. Trading drinks and poems, and kindly smiling when your rhymes and flow does not seem to rival his own.
That does not matter. Kazuha's mind was hazy with some sort of comfort, laughing with you and nearly leaning against you when the sake intake was a bit too much for one night. You're warm. He likes warm.
"Kazuha?" Captain Beidou's voice booms closer.
"Here." Kazuha giggles against your shoulder, pale hair mussed from its tie, cheeks flushed, and eyes closed with reverie. He nudges you with his body. "More, please..."
"Oh, dear." Beidou sighs, but a laugh comes quickly through her. You gently pull Kazuha's arm around your shoulder, taking the cup from his hand and putting it away. He only smiles more and seems to lean closer onto you.
"I'll make sure he rests." You say.
The Captain grins before waving you off, already moving onto the next rowdy shipmate. "Don't get too distracted with each other!"
You ignore her words and tug Kazuha downship for the night. The next morning when you check on him, he has vanished from his bed.
Kazuha made sure to treat you to a walk through the town when the moment arises.
Letting you take care of him like he was a child was certainly not his proudest moment, and he knows better than to waste your time.
Inazuma and its eternal light shone ahead while you both feasted on skewers of chicken and mushroom. The Alcor docked in the Ritou Port to gather supplies for the next voyage, and Kazuha took you to watch the sights for a while.
There, you two stood by the edge of the port city, watching the sapphire waves wash through the rocks. You enjoyed your meal, and Kazuha examined you with mild amusement, and perhaps a touch of the fondness you only seem to see when he pets Tomo's cat.
Your gazes met, and he quickly turns away. Kazuha clears his throat. "You will be staying here for a while, yes?"
To some business of your own, your path will divulge from Kazuha's for a bit. But it's alright, no? You'll still meet again. He'll let you drink from his cup the next time he sees you and you see him. No matter, he has met and left people many times before.
But now... Now, he wants Beidou to just be a little slower with the supplies.
"Yeah." You don't miss how his gaze falters just slightly, nearly unmistakable. It ripples through your heart too. He might even hear it shift the beats. "A month or so, maybe much longer if I don't get things done in time."
Kazuha hummed, gaze pointed to the grass as he tries not to let doubt sink deeper into his mind. "I see."
He smells the rain from afar. Kazuha usually loved the challenge of seeking shelter when it inches close, but he now hates the challenge of leaving you when the rain comes.
Would it please move slower?
He hears your voice. "Uh, Kazuha?"
"Yes?"
"Your hand," you point at the sauce from his half-eaten skewer slowly trickling down his bandaged hand.
Oh, drat.
"Ah, my apologies. I was distracted." Kazuha sheepishly winced, bending his wrist to let the sauce drip the other way. But you don't seem to mind his small blunder.
No, you take his hand and put aside the skewer. "Let me help."
You watch his face. Kazuha returns your look with a calm one, perhaps expecting your gentle hands like before. He looks a little cute like this; lips lightly parted and eyes a little wide from the silly wonder of you taking the reins.
You cease the urge to kiss his cheek.
The bandages easily come loose, splaying to you the burns across his hand. He has told you about them before, and you silently listened as you cleaned his rough hand. Kazuha once feared that you might have found his scarred limb too unsightly.
It's that familiar shame that creeps up his spine at the thought of rejection.
But you take the spare bandages on your person and dress his hand once more, and Kazuha realizes just how foolish his doubt was. Here he was, sitting on a rock and admiring your adept fingers, utterly bewitched by the fact you always seem to use the bandages on him.
Securing the knot, it was almost like Kazuha's hand was the same as before. You hold him for a while, and he makes no move to pull away.
This is nice, he thinks. Kazuha gently squeezed your hand. What a nice dream. Perhaps this is why eternity was beloved by the Shogun. Who would wish to continue with time when he could just stare at how your cheeks slowly flushed forever?
"Thank you," he says, and you smile back at him.
"Kazuha!" Beidou's voice was loud even at the distance.
"The Captain's calling." You chuckle, and Kazuha grins. Let Beidou call on him a few more times. He stands from his place.
"Here," Kazuha lends you his newly bandaged hand. "I'll accost you."
"Don't forget your food."
You take his hand, and together you walk back to the port city, only leaving each other's grip when he finally boards the ship. You wave him goodbye, and he sends a maple leaf your way.
He is the leaf, the gales are his tides.
But sometimes, the wind eases, and Kazuha finds himself in a tranquil world with you. Not even two weeks later, he returns alone.
"You're leaving again?" You ask.
Kazuha brought you to somewhere quieter, but you might as well say that it was in the middle of nowhere. The sinking sun made the nearby trees and grass glow like ambers, the winds crossing both your faces like a dream. The open grove was carefully picked, and Kazuha knew you would love it too.
A temporary dream, one that might break the moment he opens his mind any wider, or if he breathes any harsher. He crosses that thought away from his mind.
You think of how fragile this entirety could be. One moment, a pleasant afternoon, then the next a drastic rain. But you hope this will last too, like his visit. And that he'll come back alive from wherever else his heart will take him.
The city was far, and you were deeper into the Land of Eternity. It was here that Kazuha hoped that the Shogun's eternity will trickle into both your paths too. May transgressions move aside, he only wishes that this is the eternity he'll remember.
Ah... Kazuha and his wanderlust. He just couldn't stay forever.
"I promise it won't be for long." He says, a leaf pressed to his lips. You stop yourself from being jealous of a plant.
"Besides," he chuckled, and Kazuha faced you, his crimson eyes aglow with warmth. "I would be sure to send you things. Letters, trinkets, flowers?"
"Flowers are best." You smile. "When they're fresh, at least I know you're still thinking of me."
That you remember me.
He laughs again. How sweet. Then, he'll make sure to bring you the freshest flowers from all the lands. The corners of his eyes lightly wrinkle with joy, and the leaf flees from his fingers. Kazuha lets it go.
"I'm always thinking of you." He says so simply, watching the leaf ebb away. "On land, on sea..."
"In the bath?"
Kazuha sputters, his cheeks staining red for a moment. If he was drinking sake, he surely must have choked. He eyes you indignantly, but even he could not be upset with you for long. "L-Let's not go to that direction."
"Yes, yes..." You muse.
"I'm serious." Kazuha manages to relax, but the newfound surge of emotion lingers. "You wait for me even under the rain. And often I come back with wounds you hate to see on my body. I know it worries you, that I must leave and you think of never seeing me again."
Kazuha has half the mind to take your hand. He does. He takes both, and caresses your knuckles with his thumb. That way, he could reassure you of something tangible. Something more certain.
"Even if it might take me forever—" how forever feels like a taunt— "you know I will always return to you. I will never forget you."
Kazuha looks deep into your eyes and hopes you won't be too intimidated by their intensity. Know that he'll only stare likes this at you, hold your hands like you're a treasure meant for his finding. His mind nearly slurs, but he was in no dream or sake pool.
You don't talk, but he could already see his answer clearly. He's admired your eyes for a long while, memorising what makes them shine and dull. If only you'll feel the warmth surging up his body. Share in it too, in more ways than one.
He wants to show you something. If you'll let him. Oh, please, let him.
Kazuha swallows.
"Here," Kazuha takes your cheeks in his hands, his bandages cool against your warming skin. His grip was soft, as if he was handling something so precious.
"Just let me..." He trails off.
His face grows closer—half-lidded gaze focused on your lips, but he glances at your eyes. Seeing nothing but acceptance, Kazuha angles his face. His mouth lightly parts.
In turn, you shut your eyes. You wait, and wait. And wait. But his lips never come. And suddenly you feel devoid of his familiar warmth. You breathe, and then the thought of him truly leaving has spoiled your dream.
The breeze chills your face. He's gone.
You open your eyes. "Kazuha?"
"Here." His voice was sweet behind you. A tease. The sunlight pools down the horizon, and the leaves rustle in a cheer.
You turn around. Kazuha's lips are warm and soft against your own.