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Lieutenant Tsurumi Tokushirou was acting strangely. Usami picked up on every little quirk that was off ever since they reached Otaru. It was extremely subtle but to Usami, it was a world of a difference, and it irritated him to no end wondering what the cause behind this change was. His precious Tokushirou was never like that. There was always a sharp, seductive yet mysterious smother to his gaze yet recently, he began to have nanoseconds of vacancy, as if something was distracting him.
One particular midnight, when stars boldly sprinkled the cloudless dark sky, Tsurumi —dressed in just a trench coat over his nemaki (sleeping robe)— slipped out of their inn. Usami hadn't been sleeping; he had been watching Tsurumi especially close since breakfast because the Lieutenant was at his most unusual that day. Much more of that vacant lapses.
Stealthily, Usami stalked Tsurumi. He followed the Lieutenant through the forest, perfectly matching footsteps so that he wouldn't be detected. But it didn't matter anyway, as Tsurumi didn't appear cautious. It wasn't like he was being careless, more so he was so determined on one thing he didn't bother about anything else. This was even reflected in the confidence in his stride as Tsurumi trudged through the snowy Hokkaido forests. He definitely had a destination in mind.
What was it? Where the hell was Tokushirou going? Questions and static clouded Usami's mind. He wanted to punch a tree to blow off some steam but that might be too much and draw Tsurumi's attention, no matter how distracted he currently was. So for the sake of his eventual satisfaction in discovering the Lieutenant's secret, Usami carried on doing no such thing.
Wait… instead of harbouring frustration, Usami should realise what this could lead to. Long ago, but still very fresh in Usami's memories from how many times he re-lived it over and over, him and his Tokushirou shared an electrifying moment. Usami lost his virginity then, and it was their beloved secret. No one else had something that special with Tsurumi Tokushirou before, and since.
And this would strengthen their bond further. Usami would see —and be the only one who would see— a vulnerable side of his Tokushirou. It wouldn't just be satisfaction, but elation from achieving a whole different level of closeness.
He could even imagine it. Tsurumi putting a finger to Usami's lips, his own lips pursed slightly to make a 'shhh' sound, whispering:
'Don't tell anyone, okay, Tokishige?'
At this point, Usami was drooling, dick hard. He didn't even notice the forest opening up, and his Lieutenant making his way towards a strange cluster of primitive-looking houses.
An Ainu village. Usami obviously knew about those because the whole reason they were in Hokkaido was to find the hidden Ainu gold. Was Tsurumi, then, investigating beyond work hours? Did he find a lead in this village and decided to interrogate the Ainu living there? But why do it secretly? Why hide it? Why so late?
Upon reaching one of the houses, Tsurumi lifted the straw mat serving as a door and let himself in. Usami scurried over, lifted slightly another straw mat hanging over an open window, and peeked into the house.
Inside was an Ainu man, as expected, sitting before a fire. Light casted on his face, his eyes were this striking diamond colour that Usami had never seen Ainu people have. A young Ainu girl, about the age of seven, slept closeby. No woman in sight.
His Tokushirou approached this man, both men wearing unreadable expressions. Then, to the raw shock and offense of Usami, Tsurumi laid down in what looked to be a fetus position, put his head on the Ainu man's lap and closed his eyes.
A soft smile blossomed on the Ainu man's face as he started combing his fingers through Tsurumi's hair.
Instantly, fluid dribbled from under Tsurumi's forehead plate.
"You don't know how hard it is to be in my position," Tsurumi said.
"I can only imagine," the Ainu man answered, though from his tone it was obvious he was just humouring Tsurumi.
"Central has been nagging at me for so long. If I don't report back my every move, they hound me for being uncoorperative and unforthcoming. I'm just utterly sick of them already."
"You are unforthcoming."
"Yes, but who would want to be Central's lapdogs? They're always lying and fighting about something so mundane, like Satsuma and Choshu lineage for their army. Internally, they're a total mess. No one with a turning gear in their heads would think them proper." Tsurumi gestured this way and that while he talked. "Which is why a government with power concentrated in one person's hands would work far better for the success of the country, in every aspect from economic stability to the average standard of living. Rather than waste time with infighting, effort will be pushed outwards."
"Hasegawa-san, that would be oppressive. Every man deserves a voice, and it's a leader's job to give them that voice and serve according to their needs. How else would a leader understand what is best for the country if not through the diversity of voices he allows to speak?" the Ainu man replied.
Usami bristled at the name the man used to refer to Tsurumi. 'Hasegawa'. It could very well be an alias used by Tsurumi to not give his identity away but having a special name between them provoked Usami nonetheless—the fuel to the already raging inferno with the way this random Ainu man touched his Tokushirou so brazenly tender, even more so how his Tokushirou allowed it at all.
Tsurumi huffed, "You'll see how right I am when I acquire the gold and lead Hokkaido myself as a military state. Every single person will be grateful for me, whether they realise it or not."
"I doubt that, Hasegawa-san. So long as your vision doesn't include the indigenous population, I doubt you will be very successful at all."
"Who said I won't include them? I need the Ainu people's resources."
"What about us, my people?"
And to that, Tsurumi fell silent, a refusable to speak.
In this stretching moment, the Ainu man carefully removed the enamel plate from Tsurumi's forehead, revealing the leaking wound. Tsurumi shifted to look up at the Ainu man, and his gaze, under the warmth of the fire and his companion…
Melted.
Stunned couldn't begin to describe Usami's state. Initially he was biting his lip hard, fresh blood dissolving the snow beneath him, but the bombshell made him gape instead.
Nothing processed in his mind for a good minute, then everything stuck behind a makeshift dam built by his brain to refuse reality, came crashing right through.
The waterworks immediately unlocked. Usami went right back to gnawing on his lips until they were mangled and he clawed at his arms in a frenzy to prevent a scream from breaching his throat.
That wasn't the Lieutenant he knew. That wasn't even the Tokushirou he knew. The man he knew with his entire heart (and dick) would be manipulating the Ainu man into revealing the gold, or a hint, or anything related to it.
But what fucking expression was that? Just who the fuck was in the lap of this Ainu man, staring at him with such a gooey fucking shimmer in his eyes?
It wasn't seduction, let alone manipulation.
So what the fuck was it?
While Usami fumed outside, Tsurumi shed off his trench coat, now in just his nemaki, and moved to sit in between the legs of the Ainu man, back to chest. His eyes were closed this whole time and continued to remain that way.
Slowly, Tsurumi tilted his head back, and the two men shared a kiss lasting a second too long, then the Ainu man sucked on Tsurumi's neck, drawing groans.
But when Tsurui twisted around and leaned in for more, the Ainu man denied his advances by tipping backwards.
"What Ainu am I if I give in to you, of all people?"
"Leave all that to the future. Now, it's just us." Even though the words sounded flirty, Tsurumi said them through gritted teeth and with a scowl. He licked his lips, chased another kiss, and yet again was rejected.
The Ainu man kneaded Tsurumi's bare thigh. It wasn't meant to be a tease, but to Tsurumi, it was an agonising one. "Every present action leads to our future, Hasegawa-san." He lifted Tsurumi's knuckles to peck them, then said, "I've indulged in your whims long enough. It's best for you to go. I don't want to wake my daughter up."
"Wilk!"
So Wilk was that bastard's name, Usami noted. Yes, he was still there, but he wasn't watching any longer.
"Wilk," Tsurumi repeated, stare blank, pushing the Ainu man onto his back. Tsurumi's obi undid itself, exposing his bare chest. "What am I without you?"
"That's for you to decide, Hasegawa-san," said the Ainu man as clear fluid splashed onto his face. "What road do you truly want to walk down?"
"I want the gold."
"Why?"
"I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it to win, I want to win, I want you to lose… Oh, I want you."
The Ainu man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I won't let you."
That was when Usami lost it. With a screeching neigh, he fled the Ainu village as fast as his legs could manage. He ran, nowhere in mind, till his feet gave out and he tripped on a rock and tumbled down a steep cliff, knocking himself unconscious.
When he finally came to, the sun was high in the sky. Tsurumi and Kikuta loomed above, their shadows blanketing him.
"What are you doing here, Superior Private? It's frighteningly cold in the Hokkaido forests. You could've died of hypothermia if we found you any later!" Tsurumi exclaimed.
Kikuta frowned. "You disappeared last night, we were searching all over for you. Why did you leave?"
A nightmare, so it was a hypothermia-induced nightmare! Usami chortled freakishly, scaring Kikuta, and clutched his stomach from how the whole nightmare was impossible in hindsight.
Tsurumi would never do that. Ever. The sunlight made Tsurumi's handsome face clear, and there was no trace of that patheticness, that vacancy, ever existing.
Thank heavens, Usami huffed from joy.
"Funny story, I had a nightmare you were being promiscuous with an Ainu man~! I was so angry but it's just a dumb dream, now I feel stupid!" Usami giggled as he trotted beside Tsurumi, heading back to the inn. "You, crawling all desperately over a man, an Ainu no less! Isn't that stupid funny? He even had blue eyes and like, what Ainu person has blue eyes? I should've known it was nothing but a dream from that moment on!"
"Wow, your imagination is overly active, Tokishige. That's healthy for a young man like you, but don't let it run wild with nonsensical ideas. Otherwise, I'll die from hysterics!"
"Of course!"
The two men laughed heartily, but then there was a flash of a dark bruise on Tsurumi's neck. Usami started, then it was either gone or covered by Tsurumi's uniform collar, and he had no way to confirm which was the truth.
It was the hallucinatory after-effects of hypothermia… Usami convinced himself to calm down.
That was it, right?