Don't Take The Money

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/37686358.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Relationship: Kaedehara Kazuha/Scaramouche
Character: Kaedehara Kazuha, Scaramouche (Genshin Impact)
Additional Tags: Roadtrip, Runaway Kazuha, Strangers to Lovers, Car Sex, Rich
Kazuha, Scaramouche is Bad at Feelings (Genshin Impact),
Scaramouche is actually a softie, Kaedehara Kazuha is a Tease,
Kaedehara Kazuha Being a Little Shit, Two idiots vs the world,
Bickering, bickering and teasing as a means of flirting, Unhealthy
Relationship Mentioned, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-03-12 Completed: 2022-04-16 Chapters: 6/6 Words:
63310

Don't Take The Money

by mellllting

Summary

When his family's business goes up in flames, Kazuha takes his chance to escape the
picture perfect life he never asked for. Far from home and needing a ride, Kazuha gets
Scaramouche to take him wherever he's going.
 Chapter 1
Chapter Summary

“Do you want a ride?” Scaramouche asked, not sounding all that happy about it.

Chapter Notes

I'm back again on my bullshit! Title from the song by Bleachers because it just works.

I have a spotify playlist for this but it my spotify has my full name and knowing this
fandom I'd rather not risk giving it away, so instead I'll suggest 5 songs or so at the
start of each chapter!

Runaway - EXO
Let's - Hoppipolla
Big Chance - SuperM
Blame Summer - RADWIMPS
Travelling - Hikaru Utada

This fic also has a CN translation! Check it out here

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Kazuha never expected to find himself standing at the airport alone with nothing but a backpack he
hastily packed no more than three hours ago, but there he was: alone and with very little to his
name. It was a shock to Kazuha who had been fully running on auto-pilot for the said past three
hours, leaving everything behind to start anew.

Was his plan reckless and abrupt and not planned out in the slightest? Yes. Yes it very much was,
but that's what made it so thrilling. All his life he had been tied down in one way or another, and
now he had a reason to cut all of the strings keeping him in place, so why wouldn't he take it and
just run away?

Kazuha craved the spontaneity that his life lacked up until that point. Everything had been
meticulously planned from the moment he was born, so the slightest crack in that perfect facade
was all he needed. And what a magnificently large crack he managed to find.

Just one knock and everything crumbled down to the ground in a wonderful spectacle - his family
name, its legacy, his relationship and his future all fell down in one swoop, and Kazuha couldn't
have been any happier about it.

Kazuha packed a decently sized backpack with some clothes, a notebook, a few pens, his favourite
book, a charger and all his savings before he rushed out the front door and made a beeline to the
airport. Did he know where he was going to go? No. But that didn't really matter - Kazuha was
going to be spontaneous.
Which is exactly why he bought a last minute ticket to a plane going heavens know where.

The flight lasted less than two hours, and when Kazuha arrived he was shocked at how barren the
place was. The airport was small and rather unkempt; there was plenty of dirt and dust bunnies and
the floor was uncomfortably sticky against the soles of Kazuha’s shoes.

It was perfect.

What shouts spontaneous more than a decrepit airport in bumfuck nowhere? Exactly.

Kazuha slung his backpack over his shoulder, a pleased smile written across his face. He walked
further into the airport, heading over to the small information stand tucked away to the side, a
small convenience store next to it.

Behind the counter sat a woman filing her nails, disinterested in the world around her. She didn't
look up at Kazuha when he came towards the booth. She didn't glance his way when he picked up
one of the pamphlets about the wonderful city - if it even was a city - he landed in (judging by the
pamphlet, it really was the middle of nowhere).

When Kazuha went to ask if there was a car hire anywhere, the woman still didn't acknowledge his
presence. Even when he cleared his throat as politely as he could there was nothing.

Though, when Kazuha warily rang the small bell on the counter, the woman did finally look up.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked, her voice tired and low.

"Yes… can I rent a car?"

The woman stared at Kazuha, blinking slowly. "A car?"

Kazuha nodded.

The woman scoffed, looking around her surroundings as if to make a point. "Sweetie, where do
you think you are?"

"Umm… where am I?"

At that, the woman laughed. "Nice one, kiddo. But there's no cars to rent here. You can wait for
the next bus. It should be here in an hour. Or two. Or three. Who knows these days?"

Kazuha wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means this airport is only ever used to change flights. Nobody ever comes here for more than a
night," the lady explained. "There's a hotel a ten minute walk from here if you don't fancy waiting
for the bus."

"Right… thanks."

The woman nodded and returned to her previous task, picking up her nail file from the desk.

"Great," Kazuha muttered to himself as he stepped back. "What the hell did I get myself into?" He
glanced down at the pamphlet in his grasp, wondering what he could possibly find in Tatarasuna.
The name alone didn't ring any bells so this truly would be a surprise.

Sure, Kazuha could easily buy a ticket for the next departing flight, but that felt like cheating.
Kazuha craved to feel something other than comfort for once in his life, and being stranded in a
completely unknown land was far from comfortable.

And so, Kazuha went to the small shop next to the information booth, bought himself some food
and water and walked out of the building. The outside was quite barren but it was easy enough to
make his way around; the signs scattered around were clear enough so he followed them, making
his way to the aforementioned hotel.

The walk wasn't that long and soon enough Kazuha reached a quaint hotel surrounded by a dozen
or so trees. They definitely added to the charm, making the building look like it belonged in a
fantasy novel.

The car park to the side of the hotel only had a handful of cars, one of them catching Kazuha’s eyes
the most. It was a refurbished convertible, the register plate on the front indicating it was far from
new - though that much could be guessed easily enough from the outdated yet still pleasing
appearance.

Kazuha walked inside the hotel, pushing the heavy wooden doors open. The entrance was far from
lavish; other than the main desk right ahead and the staircase behind, there were only a few
pictures hung up on the cream walls. Well, there was also another person bar Kazuha and the
receptionist.

The other guest - purple haired and roughly the same height as Kazuha - stood with his arms folded
as the man behind the front desk rummaged around until he found a set of keys and handed them to
the guest.

"Enjoy your stay," the man said with the feigned politeness of a service worker. He was rewarded
with silence from the guest who only grabbed his keys, picked up the small backpack he had and
walked off. "Wouldn’t kill you to at least smile," the receptionist muttered before turning to
Kazuha. "How can I help?"

"I'd like a room for one. One night."

The receptionist hummed, reaching for another pair of keys to hand over. He asked for the payment
first so Kazuha reached for his wallet, tapping his card against the reader. It would probably be
wise to withdraw some cash lest his family track him and haul him back to whatever mess he left
behind.

"Is there an ATM nearby?"

"There's one at the airport, though there's a withdrawal limit."

Kazuha hummed as he grabbed his keys. "As for the area, is there anything around? A city?
Somewhere to go sightsee?"

Just like the woman back at the airport, the receptionist laughed. "Did you come here to sightsee?
There's nothing here other than the remnants of an old mine. You're better off going to the airport
to catch another plane unless you've got a car with you - the nearest town is an hour's drive away."

"Oh… but I'm guessing there's no car rentals."

The receptionist laughed once more. "I'm afraid not. You could try and hitch a ride from one of the
few guests. Majority are visiting family so they could drive you down to the town," he explained.
"Unless you're lucky enough to catch a ride from the man before. He did briefly mention he was
driving cross country."
Upon hearing that, Kazuha’s eyes lit up. "I'll try my luck."

The receptionist nodded. "Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you."

Kazuha walked up the staircase, looking for the room that matched the number attached to his
keys. He walked further down the corridor at the top of the stairs until he reached the room at the
end.

When he stepped inside the room he was greeted by a small room with a made bed, a bedside table,
a desk with a chair tucked under, and a door to the bathroom. For the price he paid he wasn't
expecting a five star luxury hotel room, so this would do.

Kazuha closed the door behind him and threw his bag on the desk. He then walked to the bed,
slumping down on the bed. The mattress wasn't all that great and he could feel a few springs
digging into his back, but oh well. His body was sore from the day behind him; after being tossed
around in the uncomfortable aeroplane seats, Kazuha was aching everywhere so even a shitty
mattress was good enough for him.

He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Had it really only been a few hours? It didn’t feel like it with
how blurry everything was. One second he was at home, watching as his family slowly fell apart at
the seams, and the next he was landing down at some dilapidated airport in a place he had never
even heard of.

Had his family noticed that Kazuha had run off - that he packed a bag with the intention of not
coming back (at least not for the foreseeable future)? And what would they do once they noticed?
They could track his transactions if they wanted to, but what then? Realistically, could they force
Kazuha to come back? If presented with the option, Kazuha wouldn’t want to go back - he didn’t
intend on patching up all the problems he had nothing to do with.

Curious, Kazuha dug through the pocket of his jacket to get his phone. He had it turned off since
he got to the airport back home, so he had no idea what awaited him when he powered it back on.

A minute passed before the screen lit up.

Messages began pouring in, his phone buzzing with notifications. Texts came piling in - everyone
from back home was trying to reach him, not just his family. Kazuha felt rather guilty for leaving
his friends behind without saying anything, but he didn’t have the time to give them all a farewell.
Still, a text would have been good enough for now.

Of course, there were many messages from his family. His mother veiled her pleas for Kazuha to
come back with concern whilst his father outright told him to return, threatening him in whatever
way he could. Those threats landed pretty flat though; being cut off from the family wealth meant
nothing when said family wealth was slowly going down the drain.

Kazuha locked his phone again, too tired to read through all of the texts he received. Instead, he
decided to go wash up and call it a day.

After all, he wanted to get up nice and early to grab himself a ride across the country.

***
Kazuha couldn’t sleep, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing since it meant he was up
and about early enough to catch the other guests as they woke up and left their rooms, his eyes
looking out for a mop of violet hair he saw the day prior. A curse because he was tired and running
purely on the cheap instant coffee from the machine tucked away in the small dining hall on the
ground floor of the hotel.

There were still ten minutes before breakfast would officially start judging from the plaque hung
up above the counter leading to the kitchen. It was surprising that there would even be breakfast -
Kazuha just assumed that there'd be a vending machine or something along those lines.

Slowly, the dining room was filling up with what looked to be the majority of the guests. There
weren't many but at least Kazuha wouldn't be eating alone, so that was always nice.

Kazuha sipped on his coffee - cheap and watery but decent enough to keep his eyes pried open. He
kept glancing over to the entrance to the room, waiting to spot the man who could be his ticket
away from here. Kazuha didn't want to go back on the plane so easily. Plus, it would be nice to
have a travel companion, even if for a few hours.

When the man in question stepped inside, Kazuha perked up. His gaze followed the man: his face
was partially covered by a black baseball cap but Kazuha could tell it was him instantly. He was
dressed casually - black t-shirt and grey sweatpants - but the bag slung over his shoulder made it
clear he wasn't planning on lounging around for long.

Kazuha would have to strike fast.

The man walked over to the coffee machine and tossed a few coins inside, body weight resting on
one leg as he waited. Kazuha eyed him, not trying to be subtle in the slightest. After all, he was
trying to get his attention.

And it worked.

"Can I help you?" The man asked, voice tinged with annoyance.

"Yes, actually," Kazuha replied, idly playing with the cup in his hold. "I heard you're driving across
the country."

"And?"

" And I was wondering if you could let me join," Kazuha explained. The man by the coffee
machine didn't look pleased, but before he could say anything, Kazuha continued. "I don't have
anywhere in mind. You can drop me off anywhere as long as it's not in the middle of nowhere."

Still, the man wasn't happy.

"I'll pay you," Kazuha added. "Just name your price."

At that, the man raised his brow, carefully scanning Kazuha. After a while, he scoffed. "Sure," he
said. "You have until I'm done with my coffee to get ready. I'll leave without you if you're not here
by then."

Kazuha beamed. "Roger that!"

 ***

The man - Scaramouche, as Kazuha had learned after chasing after the man constantly yelling ‘hey
you, stop’ until said man turned around and retorted with ‘it’s not hey you but Scaramouche!’ -
downed his coffee like it was water which made things a bit tough for Kazuha. Luckily, Kazuha
had always been a good runner so he caught up with Scaramouche at the parking lot before he even
had the chance to open the door to his car.

“You tried to run away,” Kazuha accused, leaning against the car as he steadied his breathing. It
was the convertible that caught Kazuha’s eyes before. For one, it looked cool, but the idea of
driving across the country in it didn’t seem like the best plan. But who was he to judge?

“I didn’t,” Scaramouche replied. “I told you I was leaving after my coffee.”

“Nobody drinks coffee that fast!”

“Well I do. So are you coming or not?”

“I am, geez.” Kazuha opened the passenger side door and slipped inside, quickly throwing his bag
to the backseat. “What’s the hurry anyway?”

“Do you think I want to stay here any longer?” Scaramouche asked, offering Kazuha a baffled
look.

“Well… no, I guess,” Kazuha replied. He himself wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being stuck there
for much longer. “But you didn’t even have breakfast. Neither did I!”

Scaramouche shrugged. “Coffee’s enough.”

“That is a big fat lie, but I’ll let it slide since I have snacks.”

Scaramouche looked at Kazuha, a warning look in his eyes. “You do not eat in the car. You got
it?”

Kazuha tch -ed, folding his arms over his chest. “Fine. But if I get hungry I’ll complain.”

“Bold words coming from someone I could easily toss out of the car.”

At that, Kazuha laughed. “I have to warn you: I put up a mean fight,” he stated, shooting a playful
grin Scaramouche’s way. “Now let’s go.”

Scaramouche sighed, turning the engine on.

***

Scaramouche didn’t talk during the drive. He kept his eyes on the road and kept the music coming
from the radio low, slapping Kazuha’s hand away whenever he tried to turn the volume up. It
wasn’t unbearable, but it was rather boring.

The sights from the window were pretty, but there wasn’t much to look at. Still, it was either
looking out the window or looking at his phone. He was bound to see more messages or stumble
upon news surrounding his family, and he didn’t want any of that. Kazuha decided to just enjoy the
low hum of music and the sound of wheels against the road.

He never had much of a chance to observe landscapes like this, mainly ever taking planes where
the only views were clouds, clouds and even more clouds. It was hypnotising and Kazuha didn't
notice just how much time had elapsed with him doing nothing other than staring out the window.

The time displayed on the digital radio had already changed by two hours when it only felt like a
handful of minutes. He didn't expect a drive like this to be so pleasant .

Scaramouche looked the same as he did the last time Kazuha checked: both hands on the wheel
(other than when he put a hand over his shoulder and rolled it) and eyes focused on the straight
road ahead. His window was opened ever so slightly, relying mainly on the air-con to keep the
interior cool since the road was covered in too much gravel to let down the windows and roof
unless they wanted to suffer with the rising dirt in the air.

Hopefully the road would improve soon.

"Where are you off to anyway?" Kazuha asked, feeling like a few hours of silence were enough and
it was fine to finally talk.

"To the other side of the country," Scaramouche replied simply.

"Any place in particular?"

Scaramouche shrugged. "Serai, I guess."

Kazuha hummed. That was rather far from home, and though he had gone further - even abroad -
he had never been so far from home by himself. It was terrifying and simultaneously exciting.

"I've never been," Kazuha admitted. Though he could, he didn't travel that much. Most of the time
he only went where his parents wanted to go, and if not then he went abroad a few times with his
boyfriend. But he never really explored his home land that much.

"There's not much to see anyway," Scaramouche admitted. "The biggest tourist attraction is an old
shrine overrun by cats."

"That sounds amazing."

"It's not as exciting as it sounds."

"I beg to differ."

Scaramouche rolled his eyes.

"Are you going there for any reason?"

"None of your business," the driver replied, coming off somewhat hostile. Kazuha figured that that
was a secret Scaramouche wasn't willing to share. Kazuha was no more than a stranger to the man
so it made sense, though Scaramouche’s tone was rather harsh and it did make Kazuha flinch.

"Sorry, didn't mean to pry," Kazuha apologised.

The frown on Scaramouche’s face slowly dissipated.

"Are you curious where I'm off to?" Kazuha asked, perking up and leaning slightly towards
Scaramouche.

"Can't say I am," Scaramouche admitted. "But I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway."

"Bingo!" Kazuha exclaimed, humoured by Scaramouche’s attitude. He was so grouchy when he

spoke and it awoke a deeply buried urge within Kazuha to annoy.

Scaramouche sighed, mumbling "I should have left without him" under his breath.

Kazuha chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "I'm on the run," he declared.

That made Scaramouche raise a brow. "Like a criminal?"

"And what if I was? Huh?"

Scaramouche scrutinised Kazuha’s appearance, taking a couple of seconds before he shook his
head and turned back to the road. "Yeah, that's unlikely."

Technically, Kazuha was kind of a criminal by association. Sure, he didn't meddle with his family's
business and whatever shady things they got into, but he was still part of the family. At least
finance related crimes were less concerning than murder.

"But what, did you get mad at your parents? Did they not get you a yacht for your birthday?"

"How'd you know?" Kazuha replied, but behind his joking demeanour was a hint of genuine
curiosity.

Scaramouche readjusted his grip on the wheel, glancing at Kazuha from the corner of his eyes.
"You look like the type of person that would go to a private school - those for the richest of the
rich."

"I do?"

"You're wearing a sweater vest and colourful shorts," Scaramouche pointed out. "You're like a
walking, talking stereotype."

Kazuha snorted. "And here I was thinking I was being fashionable. I guess I'll need to take styling
tips from you then, Mr t-shirt and sweats."

Scaramouche gripped the steering wheel tighter. "You wanna insult me again? I'm happy to just
throw you out here."

Kazuha raised his hands in defeat, dropping the topic.

There was a short minute of silence between them before Kazuha decided to strike up another
conversation.

"Are you gonna go sightseeing?"

"No."

"Seriously? But you're going all the way across the country, there's so many things you could see,"
Kazuha said. "You're not in a rush, are you?"

Scaramouche clenched his jaw. "No," he replied. "But it's a waste of time. And why are you asking
anyway, you're being dropped off in the first town."

Speaking of the nearest town. "Wasn't that only supposed to be an hour's drive away from the
hotel?"

"That's a different direction," Scaramouche explained. "But we're nearly at the closest one. Should
be another ten minutes."

Kazuha huffed, leaning against the window.

Hopefully the town would have a car rental or decent public transport.

And just like Scaramouche said, after ten more minutes they reached a small town. There was a
marketplace and a few shops in the centre that they drove past, so it wasn't a completely abandoned
place.

Scaramouche drove over to the gas station where he told Kazuha they'd part ways. He also asked
for the fare from Kazuha so the man got his wallet ready, walking over to the ATM with
Scaramouche trailing behind him.

He typed in his pin and checked his balance. Thankfully his account had been left untouched and
all the money he had in it at the start of his journey was still there minus whatever he had spent so
far.

"Fucking hell," Scaramouche uttered, his head peeking over Kazuha’s shoulder to check the
number displayed on the screen. "I should have added another zero."

Kazuha laughed, pressing the buttons to type in the sum to withdraw. Once that was done, he
handed the money over. "Thanks for the ride," he said.

"Yeah, whatever."

Whilst Scaramouche went to fill up the tank, Kazuha stepped into the shop. He grabbed himself a
sandwich, only to leave it when he saw there were freshly toasted paninis he could grab instead. He
got those, a bottle of water and a fruit cup. Other than that he also bought a few toiletries since he
didn’t bring much with him.

When he went to pay he asked the cashier about any buses or rentals around. He was happy to learn
that there was a bus that went to a nearby train station every hour. so he could easily continue with
his journey that he was being left here by Scaramouche.

Kazuha walked out of the shop with his food in a small bag, happily munching on his panini.
Scaramouche was standing by the pump, looking like he was trying to pay with his card. The key
word being trying .

For some reason he was having problems so Kazuha approached him. “You okay?”

When he asked, a message appeared on the small display screen.

Card Declined.

“Maybe the chip is dirty,” Kazuha suggested, biting down on his panini and reaching for
Scaramouche’s card. The purple haired man complained but let him have it anyway. And so,
Kazuha rubbed the chip in between his fingers and then handed it back to Scaramouche to try
again.
The same thing happened.

“Maybe you should check how much you have on there,” Kazuha suggested, earning himself a
displeased scowl from Scaramouche. Still, the man dragged himself to the ATM and angrily
pressed his pin.

Kazuha observed from the side-lines, waving at Scaramouche when the man looked over his
shoulder at him. He didn’t look all too pleased, his eyes twitching as his expression turned sour,
then contemplative and then sour again. In the end, Scaramouche sighed and walked back towards
his car.

“Do you want a ride?” Scaramouche asked, not sounding all that happy about it.

Kazuha grinned. “Same price?”

Scaramouche nodded, avoiding Kazuha’s eyes.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a deal then,” Kazuha happily exclaimed. “Now go pay - and
maybe get yourself something to eat. Maybe it’ll make you less grouchy.”

Scaramouche looked like he wanted to retort with something - maybe threaten him about leaving
him there - but then he stopped himself. After all, Kazuha had become his piggy bank and it would
do him no good to shoo him away.

“I’ll wait here,” Kazuha said, ready to step in the car only for Scaramouche to stop him.

“No eating in the car!”

Kazuha cringed, retracting his hand from the door handle. “Loud and clear.”

Scaramouche then stomped to the shop to pay at the till, and when he did that, Kazuha grinned and
resumed eating his food.

Looks like he successfully secured himself a ride.

***

“It says that there’s a place to stop soon,” Kazuha stated, eyes carefully reading the map
Scaramouche tossed his way.

Though Scaramouche didn’t have a plan as to where he was really going, he still needed sleep so he
made it Kazuha’s job to find them one. It was a task Kazuha happily accepted even though his
ability to read a map was sub-par. Sure, he could read a map on his phone since it moved along
with him, but a traditional paper map was a completely different thing and it took time for him to
get used to it.

“Soon? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Umm… well it’s… if I had a ruler this would be much easier,” Kazuha replied, using his finger to
measure the two points on the map but that wasn’t much help.

“Just eyeball it!”

Kazuha whined. “I’m not good at maths.”

“It’s a fucking map, not rocket science!”

“Well I’m not good with reading maps so- oh! It’s there!” Kazuha pointed at the building
appearing on the driver’s side, his hand right in front of Scaramouche’s face. The driver swatted it
away, grumbling at Kazuha’s behaviour.

“You’re gonna make us crash.”

“I doubt that,” Kazuha replied. “But you see? I told you it would show up soon.”

“Dumb luck,” the driver muttered. He switched lanes to drive to the roadside motel.

It was already getting late with the sky painted in beautiful sunset colours: bright pinks, vivid
oranges and some blue peeking from behind the clouds. Since it was summer the days were
longer, but it was for the best to call it a night because the next stop on the map wasn’t soon.

Scaramouche pulled into the parking lot and switched the engine off, getting out quickly. Kazuha
followed suit, grabbing his bag before he left the vehicle.

“I’m guessing I’m paying for the rooms?”

“I doubt it will be much,” Scaramouche stated. “I should have enough.”

The two walked to the reception, not saying anything as they did so. Kazuha hadn’t asked about
why on earth Scaramouche - someone who was driving across the country - didn’t have money on
him, but Scaramouche told him anyway. His card getting declined must have been a huge blow to
his ego so he had to defend himself to Kazuha, saying that his paycheck was late and that he wasn’t
in fact broke.

But truth be told, Kazuha didn’t mind paying; he had plenty of money - more than he knew what to
do with, so paying for gas and accommodation for the next few days wouldn’t have done him
much harm anyway.

“Evening gentlemen,” the receptionist greeted, offering the two men a friendly smile. “What can I
get you today?”

“Two rooms,” Scaramouche replied, placing his bag on the ground.

“We only have two double rooms left,” she stated, pointing over at the price list hanging up on the
wall.

Scaramouche chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Then one room,” he said.

Kazuha could tell that the man’s ego would shatter if he had to ask him to pay for the rooms.
Scaramouche wanted to save some dignity and who was Kazuha to say anything about it? In the
end, whether they got separate rooms or shared didn’t matter much to him.

Scaramouche placed some of the notes Kazuha gave him earlier that day and in exchange he
received a key from the receptionist.

The men left to get to their room, finding it close enough to where their car was parked.

On the inside the room wasn’t anything to write home about; the walls were beige, the floors
carpeted with a worn out dark red matting that Kazuha wouldn’t dare walk barefoot on, and other
than two beds, a small dresser with an old T.V on top and two bedside tables there was nothing
else.

At least there was a private bathroom and not a shared one for everyone at the motel. Small
victories.

“Cosy,” Kazuha mused, claiming the bed by the window as his when he tossed his backpack on it.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, bouncing up and down to check the mattress. It seemed better
than the one back at the airport hotel, so that was a nice surprise. Maybe he could actually get
some decent sleep now.

“I’ve definitely seen worse,” Scaramouche commented. He also placed his bag on the other bed
and unzipped it, pulling out a few clothes and toiletries.

Kazuha shuffled back on his bed, making himself comfortable. It definitely beat sitting in a worn
leather seat for hours.

“You think they have any good channels?” He asked, looking over at Scaramouche for a response.

However, the man didn’t say anything, simply slipping out of his shirt and tossing it on the bed.
Scaramouche gave the fabric a quick whiff, scrunching his nose afterwards. “We need to stop at a
laundromat soon.”

“Agreed,” Kazuha said. He himself didn’t bring many clothes with him and the summer heat
wasn’t all that forgiving, so he could really do with giving his clothes a wash. “You think they
have one here?”

“Doubt it. Oh well, I’m gonna take a shower,” Scaramouche declared. He rubbed the back of his
neck and rolled his head, his eyes closed and brows furrowed. Kazuha could relate to that; there
was so long one could spend sitting down without the body starting to ache.

When Scaramouche left, Kazuha got up from the bed to turn on the T.V. He flipped through the
five available channels, in the end settling on a nature documentary. He moved back to the bed and
watched from there, enjoying the narration on the lives of penguins.

As the narrator told the life story of a young penguin, Scaramouche returned from the bathroom.
He was already dressed in a fresh set of clothes and a towel was slung around his neck to collect
stray drops of water from his damp hair.

“The water pressure is shit,” Scaramouche commented, throwing himself face first on his bed.
“Also kinda cold. And I’m pretty sure I saw a cockroach.”

“Lovely,” Kazuha mused, pushing himself from the bed. “I love having company when I wash up.
I’ll give it a show.”

Scaramouche grunted, hugging the pillow beneath him. He looked exhausted and Kazuha wouldn’t
be surprised if he came back to the man sound asleep.

“I’ll get going then,” he said, picking up his own things before heading into the bathroom.

The room was small, barely fitting all of the appliances. The sink and toilet were squished together
and the bath-slash-shower was tiny. There was no way an adult could lay down in the bath and feel
anything other than discomfort, but that was probably for the best.

Kazuha quickly slipped out of his clothes and got under the showerhead. Just like Scaramouche
 said, the water pressure and temperature was off but it was fine enough. He didn’t spend longer
than five minutes under the weak spray, scrubbing himself clean with the products he bought
earlier at the gas station. The fresh, citrusy smell of the two-in-one wash made him feel better
instantly and the face scrub he got had his skin feeling rejuvenated.

After the shower he dried himself, got dressed and then brushed his teeth.

Once all of that was done, Kazuha left the bathroom and headed back to the bed. Just like he had
predicted, Scaramouche was fast asleep. His face was smushed against a pillow and the position
looked like it would leave his body sore in the morning, but it was quite cute nevertheless.

Kazuha grabbed the T.V remote and turned the volume down a bit to not disturb the sleeping man.

In the end, Kazuha retired for the night twenty minutes later, exhausted despite barely having done
anything.

Chapter End Notes

Well, I hope you enjoyed! I only have the second chapter finished as of now and the
third is just started, and since I'm busy with uni and 2 group projects I might take a
week or 2 for updates after chapter 2, so please be patient with me!

Do let me know what you think so far, I really love writing this fic and I'm excited to
share the rest with you all! Also I'm estimating 5 chapters together but I may change
that once I've written some more. But yeah, I'll upload chapter 2 on Saturday 19. I'll
keep you guys updated on the progress on my Twitter
Until then!!
 Chapter 2
Chapter Summary

Of maps, dinosaurs and chronic pains

Chapter Notes

hello my fellow home-of-sexuals, let's get this started with some songs!

Rush Hour - Gaho

Fine - Jeong Sewoon
I Got U - LUCY
Easy To Love - KEY
It's Okay To Not Be Okay - Roman Kayz

enjoy!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The next morning - well, afternoon since both Kazuha and Scaramouche didn’t wake up at an
appropriate hour to be dubbed the morning - was slow. Unlike the morning back at the hotel,
Scaramouche did not chug down a cup of coffee in three seconds, instead savouring the slightly
better coffee from the machine outside of their room, sipping on it as he watched the news on the
T.V.

Kazuha also got himself a coffee and even grabbed a light breakfast of cereal for both of them from
the small breakfast bar available at the motel. Scaramouche had eyed the bowl handed to him like
it was poisoned, but when his stomach grumbled he caved in and cleaned the bowl up without any
reservations.

All in all, Scaramouche didn't look all too well; he had bags under his eyes and his movement was
still sluggish as if he was still half asleep. However, Scaramouche said that he was fine so Kazuha
took his word for it.

The plan was to rest up, stretch out the tension in their limbs and then get back on the road early
enough so that they wouldn't still be driving when it got dark.

So, after last minute touch-ups in the bathroom, the men checked out of their room and got into
Scaramouche’s car once more.

The early parts of the drive were just like they had been the day prior: silent and boring. However,
after Kazuha started whistling to the few tunes playing quietly from the stereo, Scaramouche
caved.

"My god, I'd rather have you talk than make my ears bleed!"
Kazuha ended on a deflated whistle, eyes wide for a split second before he smirked. "You should
have said so earlier," he uttered, noticing the slight twitch of Scaramouche’s brow. "How about a
round of twenty-one questions to kill time? I hear it's a great bonding activity."

Scaramouche dug his nails into the steering wheel but he caved in nonetheless. "If it stops you
from whistling then whatever, let's play."

Kazuha beamed, sitting himself comfortably in his seat. "Okay, I'll go first. What do you do for a
living?"

"Waiting and bartending," Scaramouche replied.

"Ooo, that's cool," Kazuha commented. "Think you can mix me a drink sometime soon?"

"Absolutely not," Scaramouche replied. "So that was two. Nineteen left."

"Huh? No, I only asked what you did!"

"And then you asked if I could mix you a drink; that's two questions."

Kazuha scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I see how it is. You like playing dirty, don't you-
that wasn't a question!"

Scaramouche exhaled with a hint of amusement.

"Anyway, as for the next questions…" Kazuha pursed his lips, pressing his index against them in
thought. "How old are you?"

"Old enough," Scaramouche replied. Kazuha wasn't all too pleased by that, and when Scaramouche
glanced at the man and saw his unimpressed expression he sighed. "Twenty-five. There, you
happy?"

"Very. And I guess this means you're the older one here," Kazuha stated. "I'm twenty-three this
year."

"Didn't ask, don't care."

"Well I wanted to share anyway."

Scaramouche rolled his eyes, briefly looking out of his window despite nothing being there in the
first place. "Why do you even wanna know anything about me?" He asked, looking back to
Kazuha.

"Because I'm bored and we're gonna be spending the next few days together," Kazuha answered.
"That and the fact that hitchhiking with a complete stranger isn't exactly reassuring."

"And what if I have to dispose of you if you learn too much?"

Kazuha laughed, surprised that Scaramouche had the capability of joking around. "Nice one, but I
doubt there's anything damming to learn about you. I for sure have a more shady background than
you ever could."

That seemed to spark Scaramouche’s interest. "And what background would that be?"

Kazuha grinned. "I thought you didn't care?"

Scaramouche frowned. "Well I asked. If you're gonna join me I'd like to know if the police are
after you."

"They might be."

The man behind the wheel looked horrified - well, as much as one possibly could with a face that
only knew how to frown.

"I'm kidding," Kazuha assured. "I'm not wanted, but the police probably would want to ask me a
few questions. Too bad that I fled. Oops."

"That just makes it look like you've got something to hide."

"Well I don't," Kazuha said, tilting his head to face Scaramouche. The man's eyes were on the road
but he could probably feel Kazuha’s gaze on him. "I never touched the money my parents brought
in."

"And your bank balance?"

"I made some good investments with my inheritance money," Kazuha stated. "Though I don't think
my grandparents were without fault. Still, I think I'm safe."

"What even happened?"

Kazuha smiled. "You're getting rather chatty. I never thought you'd be the nosey type."

"I'm sharing a car with a potential criminal and god forbid I'm curious," Scaramouche said.

“I’m not a criminal,” Kazuha affirmed. “Just related to some criminals.”

“If you say so,” Scaramouche muttered. “What crimes are on the list then?”

“On the top of my head there’s: falsification of signatures and records, dodgy deals, tax evasion
and avoidance - though technically avoidance is legal. There’s also market manipulation, coercion,
collusion, buying off law enforcement, bribery, money laundering, insider dealing, corruption,
forging of electronic signatures, destruction of legal documents, and insurance fraud. Just to name a
few.”

Scaramouche was stunned.

“That being said, if you have any stocks in Kaedehara Corp, you may wanna sell,” Kazuha added.
“The news should be going public soon - if it hasn’t already.”

Scaramouche furrowed his brows in thought, mumbling something beneath his breath. “Wait…”

“I’m waiting.”

“Kaedehara Corp,” Scaramouche repeated as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “You mean the
one that practically owns half the country?”

Kazuha chuckled. “Depends what you mean by that.”

“Kaedehara Airways?”

“The world at your fingertips,” Kazuha said the slogan, saluting at Scaramouche.
“Kaedehara Family Life Insurance?”

“Protecting family, one day at a time.”

“Kaedehara Bank?”

“The only bank for you.”

Scaramouche scoffed. “No way.”

“Yes way. I’m the one and only son and heir to the family business,” Kazuha declared.

"Damn," Scaramouche uttered. "That's unexpected. So you're the rich rich type."

"I can't really deny that - I'd be lying if I did."

Scaramouche hummed, his lips briefly twitching upwards. "Guess I should have added a few more
zeros to your fare."

"It's never too late," Kazuha joked. "I'll tip you generously if you provide a nice service at the
end," he added, teasingly poking Scaramouche's arm. "So be nice and smile."

"Bastard," the driver grumbled, earning himself a pleased laugh from Kazuha.

"How about I get us dinner? I could do with something that isn't convenience store food," Kazuha
said, slumping back in his seat. "How long from the nearest town anyway?"

"You're the one with the map!"

Kazuha groaned, lazily opening the storage compartment to pull out a folded map. He tried looking
up some map reading tips on his phone easier in the morning, but none were that much help to him
in the end. He really wished he could connect to the Internet on the road so that he would be spared
of map duty, however that wouldn't happen until they found themselves surrounded by people
again.

Carefully, Kazuha unfolded the glossy paper to find their potential whereabouts. He found the rest
stop they stayed at on the map, following up the road they took.

Given that they were currently surrounded by nothing by trees and nearby mountains, it wasn't all
that easy to gauge their exact location. However, there was a lake Kazuha remembered seeing no
more than twenty minutes ago. Once he could find the body of water in the map, their location was
more or less settled.

Kazuha trailed the printed road with his eyes, searching for signs of civilization. On the bright side,
if they took the left road on the fork in the road then they'd be a roughly ten minute drive away
from a small town. However, if they went right and took a detour, they could go to a roadside
tourist attraction.

Surely, they would have food at one of those.

Reading the small number printed above the spot, Kazuha turned to the page with all the names of
marked locations. When he found the name of the nearby tourist spot, Kazuha knew they had to go
there.

Kazuha needed to see the dinosaur.

It was a bit further than the town but it wouldn't take them too long to turn back if they wanted to.
Besides, there was another larger looking town in the same direction as the attraction.

With that, their destination was settled.

When they came to the split in the road, Kazuha directed them right. Scaramouche didn't question
the man's decision, believing that he could at least read a map well enough to know what was up
ahead. And Kazuha knew very well what was awaiting them.

"In roughly five minutes take a right," Kazuha ordered.

Scaramouche was about to say something, however his eyes caught the sign on the side of the
road. It was colourful with a cartoon dinosaur popping out of the edges, its tiny arms holding an
arrow pointing to the nearest exit.

It didn't take the man too long to connect the dots.

"No," Scaramouche said.

"Yes," Kazuha argued.

"We're not stopping at a tourist trap!"

"Says who?"

"Says me: the driver," Scaramouche stated. "We're not wasting our time at some stupid stop whose
main attraction is probably a stupid plastic dinosaur."

Kazuha frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I want to," he muttered.

"What are you, five?"

Kazuha sighed deeply. "Please? There's bound to be some place to get food there," he pointed out.
However, when he didn't see Scaramouche’s resolved wavering, he added "I also need the toilet."

With that, Scaramouche groaned and slumped his shoulders. " Fine - but we're not staying more
than an hour."

"Sounds good to me."

And with that, Kazuha won.

Scaramouche took the right and drove them to the attraction which was hard to miss with all the
signs and dinosaur standees everywhere. But surprisingly, the stop was quite nice looking.

The main building looked like a modern lodge with a dark wooden structure matching the tall, lush
trees surrounding it. It had large windows through which Kazuha could see some of the interior;
the main thing he saw was a gift shop which felt like a given considering what type of place this
was.

There were also half a dozen cars parked in the small parking lot which was something pleasant to
see. Despite other people staying at the motel, Kazuha hadn't seen a single one, meaning that other
Scaramouche, the receptionist was the only person Kazuha had seen all day. Seeing a few new
faces would definitely be nice after being cooped in a car for ages.

"Happy?" Scaramouche asked once they were both out of the car.
Kazuha stretched out his limbs, hearing a bone crack in his back. "I'm over the moon," he replied.

Scaramouche rolled his eyes and let Kazuha finish his stretches. He looked around a few times.
"Where’s that stupid dinosaur anyway? With all the build-up you'd think it would be visible
already."

"Maybe it's shy," Kazuha suggested. "Maybe it could detect your sour attitude from a mile away so
it hid."

"Ha ha, how funny," Scaramouche said dryly.

Kazuha did one more stretch before he felt all limber and relaxed. He clasped his hands together
and grinned. "Okay, let's find the dino."

"Didn't you need a piss?"

"How crude," Kazuha gasped. "And I'll go when I please. I wanna see what's inside first," he
explained, pointing behind him with his thumb. "Now come on, let's go!"

Scaramouche sighed. "Can't believe I became an over glorified babysitter."

Kazuha snickered, merrily making his way to enter the building as Scaramouche dragged his feet
behind him.

The interior of the building was dark, matching the wood used on the outside. The heavy curtains
which hung by the large windows were a deep emerald colour, making even the inside of the
building look like the forest it was surrounded by.

Racks with clothes, shelves with various knick-knacks and rotating displays were scattered around
the place. Some of the merchandise was subtle whilst the rest was gaudy and far from being
acceptable to wear in the public. Kazuha was already twitching to get his hands on it.

It was also substantially cooler inside, even going as far as to cause Kazuha to shiver at the drastic
change.

A few people were scanning through the items on display whilst two kids ran around with plush
dinosaurs, giggling as they looped around Kazuha and Scaramouche to then zoom in the opposite
direction.

"Looks nice," Kazuha mused.

"Still no dinosaur," Scaramouche pointed out. He sounded like it physically pained him being there
which only made Kazuha all the more amused.

"Speaking of the dinosaur," Kazuha uttered, his eyes catching a sign pointing to a large archway at
the back. "I think it might be hiding there."

Before Scaramouche could say anything, Kazuha grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward. The
violet haired man stumbled forward but quickly regained his footing before he could embarrass
himself in front of all the people present - mainly the kids.

The lights were dimmed in the passageway, building anticipation to what was at the other end.

In the end, there was nothing.

Scaramouche laughed. "Talk about anticlimactic."

And it was. Kazuha felt disappointed. Other than the plaques on the wall and a few stands and
displays, there really wasn't anything. That was until he took a few more steps into the room.

The floor changed from wood to glass and right below the spot Kazuha was standing there were
fossils. The remnants of an ancient creature was curled up right under his feet, and Kazuha never
felt so small.

The fossils were in a deep pit, dozens of layers of rock chipped away to leave it exposed. Even so,
Kazuha was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the thing. Just one tooth looked like it was the
length of his forearm.

"Oh damn, who would've thought," Scaramouche mused as he stepped to Kazuha’s side. He looked
down through the glass floor too, taking in the sight. "Well, I'm gonna see what food they have."

And just like that, Scaramouche lost interest and left back to the rest of the store.

But Kazuha wasn't about to waste such an experience. He walked around the room, reading the
information scattered around the place. There were some stories and legends in between all the
factual details, giving an insight into the beliefs of old locals. Apparently that wasn't the only fossil
found in the area, so the stories spanned far and wide.

It was all so fascinating that when Kazuha finally read all that there was, he felt disappointed.

In the end, Kazuha took a few pictures, even posing with the fossil under the building.

Once the photo session was done, Kazuha left and entered the store. There he went wild. He
grabbed a shirt, then another. After that was a hoodie, a magnet, a plushie and a snapback.

Kazuha paid for all of it and then made locating Scaramouche his mission. Somehow, the man
disappeared. Though he said he went to find food, Scaramouche wasn't in the restaurant-slash-cafe
by the main building.

Thankfully, Kazuha was able to find the man when he went back to the car to put away his
shopping bag. Scaramouche was sitting in the reclined driver's seat, the roof of the car put away so
that he could relax under the fair sunlight, eyes shielded by his plain black cap.

"There you are," Kazuha exclaimed. "I thought the earth swallowed you whole."

"I wish," the man muttered. He pulled the seat back up and then turned to Kazuha, his striking
violet eyes staring right at him. "You done?"

Kazuha lifted his bag in response. "And what about you? Did you see what they have to eat?"

"Burgers," Scaramouche replied. "Also pizza. The pinnacle of roadside restaurant food."

"I wouldn't mind a burger."

"Then come on," Scaramouche said, getting out of the car. "You can put your stuff in the boot." He
opened it for Kazuha, even going as far as to try and slam it shut, however Kazuha stopped him
before he did. "What?"

"Wait," Kazuha said, rummaging through the bag. He thought of this when he picked the item out,
thinking that it would suit Scaramouche.

Swiftly, Kazuha took Scaramouche’s cap and replaced it with the one from his bag. He then put the
man's snapback on himself, making sure it was snug on his head.

"Ay! What the fuck?" Scaramouche attempted to get his hat back, but Kazuha dodged him easily.

"What, I give you a gift and you act like this? Meanie," he said, lips out in a pout. "It looks good on
you."

Scaramouche took the item off, looking at it. The design was simple with the outline of the
dinosaur embroidered into the tan fabric, a la Jurassic Park style.

"It's so cringey," Scaramouche whined.

"You're cringey," Kazuha barked back. "Now put it back on. Come on, chop chop! Unless you
wanna pay for the food and our next accommodation?"

Scaramouche sighed, reluctantly putting the hat back on, much to Kazuha’s satisfaction. "Nice," he
mused, taking in the sight. "You’re giving off middle aged dad vibes right now. I'm digging it."

"Well I'm not."

Kazuha shrugged. "Tough. Now stop scowling and let's get food."

With Scaramouche slugging behind him, Kazuha walked into the pleasant restaurant. It was
decorated to fit the whole forest theme: dark wood and deep green accents.

Kazuha grabbed a table for them, smiling at Scaramouche who finally joined him.

"Order up. It's my treat."

***

After finishing their food, a quick coffee and a stop to the bathroom, the men were back on the
road. Granted, the food took a while to eat and the quick coffee wasn't all that quick, with
Scaramouche ordering himself another two after his first. But still, the men were once more
travelling, even if their stop lasted more than an hour.

Kazuha pointed out the two possible towns they could go to and suggested they just go to the
closest one. However, Scaramouche argued that they should drive back and head to the smaller
town since it would end up cutting the length of the rest of the journey significantly.

"But that'll take more time. We'd have to drive all the way back and then spend more time getting
there."

"It'll be worth it in the long run," Scaramouche stated.

"But it's a waste."

"Well I'm the driver and this is my car so it's my call."

There was no use arguing with Scaramouche anymore. "Fine," Kazuha muttered, folding his arms
over his chest.
Since Kazuha wasn't interested in looking at the same views again, he rummaged through his bag
and pulled out the book he brought with him. He flipped it open, finding the bookmark snuggled in
between two pages to continue from there.

Just like alway, the drive was quiet. The loudest it got was when Scaramouche put the roof back up
once it started getting dark and cool.

The map was left in the storage compartment since there was no need for it until they reached the
intersection.

They should have reached it already. Yet Kazuha hadn't felt Scaramouche make a sharp turn - or
any turn for that matter. It felt like they had been driving straight the whole time.

"Hey Scara… weren't we supposed to be heading to the town?" Kazuha asked, looking up from the
pages of his book. The views he saw outside were familiar; the trees were thinning out and the lake
wasn't anywhere near, just like it was on the road from the motel.

"We are."

"I really don't think so," Kazuha said. "I think you missed the intersection."

"I didn't."

Kazuha sighed. "You know, it’s okay to admit you made a mistake. I'm not gonna be mad or
anything. Besides, it's getting pretty dark already so I understand that you could have missed it-"

"Would you shut up!"

Kazuha winced. Scaramouche sounded far more agitated than usual, not holding back the bite in
his voice.

The driver sighed, dragging a hand across his face. "Let's just… Let's just get back to the motel.
I'm tired."

And now that he said that, Kazuha noticed just how tired he looked. The dark circles under his
eyes had deepened, and now that he realised this, Kazuha thought of how the man looked the entire
day. He didn't think much of it then, but Scaramouche really wasn't looking too good.

"Pull over," Kazuha said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because you look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," Scaramouche assured. "I can drive to the-"

"Scaramouche, pull over the fucking car!"

Scaramouche jolted in his seat, eyes widening at the sudden outburst.

But it worked. Scaramouche drove to the side of the narrow road, stopping the car under
overhanging tree branches. He gripped the steering wheel tight, jaw clenched and eyes flickering
between the dashboard and Kazuha.

"Good," Kazuha uttered. "Now get out."

"What?"

Kazuha opened his door, seatbelts unfastened and one foot already out. "I'm driving," he stated.

"No you're not!"

"I am," Kazuha argued. "I know you probably don't trust me - I mean, we've only known each
other two days - but I'm not letting you drive in this state," he explained. "So get your flat ass up
and change seats with me."

Scaramouche didn't budge.

"If you're worried about the car then I assure you I am a great driver," Kazuha said. "Or are you
just dwelling over how much this will hurt your ego? Trust me, it's better to take a hit to your pride
than get in an accident."

Still, Scaramouche remained silent. However, Kazuha could see his resolve melting away. There
was a glint of guilt in his eyes, understanding Kazuha’s reasoning.

Kazuha's eyes stayed on Scaramouche, waiting until the man finally let go and did the reasonable
thing to do.

When Scaramouche sighed, his head hung low, Kazuha knew he had won. Scaramouche’s grip on
the wheel loosened until he finally let go, instead going to undo his seatbelt and opening the door.

The men promptly swapped seats. Luckily there wasn't any adjusting Kazuha had to do since they
were both pretty much the same height.

Kazuha looked around, getting used to the layout. When his eyes landed on the gearbox he
grinned. "You're lucky my boyfriend liked driving manual," he said. "Otherwise we might have
been screwed."

"Well that's reassuring," Scaramouche uttered. "Please don't crash my car; I worked really hard to
save up for it."

"Don't worry, I've got this," Kazuha assured. "Now, how about you take a nap or something? I'll
wake you up when we get to the motel."

"Don't tell me what to do," the purple haired man grumbled, earning a light laugh from Kazuha.

"Alright, alright. Let's just get going then."

With that, Kazuha got the vehicle started. Thankfully he didn't have any trouble with it, meaning
that Scaramouche didn't have a reason to complain.

Soon enough they were back on the road, this time with Kazuha behind the wheel. He rarely ever
got the chance to drive; other than after his driving lessons, Kazuha relied on his boyfriend to let
him drive around in one of his cars.

It was quite a unique sensation being on the road in the driver's seat. It satisfied some itch in
Kazuha’s brain that yearned for control, and now that he finally got a chance to scratch it, Kazuha
didn't mind driving for the rest of their trip.

Scaramouche was slumped in the seat next to Kazuha, arms folded over his chest like a displeased
toddler. Still, he didn't say anything, allowing Kazuha to focus solely on the road.
At some point of the drive, Scaramouche’s eyelids grew heavy. He finally fell asleep not more than
twenty minutes before the motel. But any rest was good rest.

It felt wrong waking the man up so soon, but Kazuha figured he'd prefer to sleep on a bed than in
his car. So, once Kazuha parked the car, he gently nudged the man. When that didn't work, he
became a bit harsher until finally Scaramouche pried his eyes open.

He looked exhausted and disorientated.

"We're at the motel," Kazuha announced. "I'll get us a room, okay?"

Scaramouche hummed. He was slow getting out of the car but he managed.

They ended up at the reception, glad that the person behind the counter didn't care enough to ask
what they were doing back there again after checking out in the morning.

The room they got was the same one they got last time, offering a sense of familiarity, no matter
how small.

Scaramouche took the same bed, sitting down at the edge. He groaned when he landed on the
mattress, his body heavy and taken over by fatigue. Kazuha watched as he slouched forward,
burying his face in his hands. It wasn’t a reassuring sight, especially when Kazuha heard the man
wince when he made a slight movement.

“Are you okay?”

“Just… tired,” Scaramouche replied, peeking at Kazuha over his shoulder.

But Kazuha didn’t buy that. “You look more than just tired,” he stated. “Is something wrong?”
Kazuha placed his things on the bed and walked over to Scaramouche, standing in front of the man.
On the outside, it did look like fatigue - bags under his eyes, sullen expression and pale skin - but
Kazuha knew there was more to it. “I saw you wince. Does something hurt?”

Scaramouche looked up at him, his eyes giving it all away.

“Where?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Kazuha scowled, folding his arms. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, staring at the man as the
cogs in his head turned to try and figure out what was troubling Scaramouche. He thought of their
short time together, looking for any signs.

And then he found it.

“It’s your neck,” Kazuha said. “Or shoulder. Or both. But my guess is on the neck.”

Scaramouche looked down at the floor, a tired sigh slipping past his lips. “It’s both,” he muttered.
“But it’s fine, I’m used to it. I just ran out of painkillers. I thought I had some more but I was
wrong,” he explained. “I’ll be fine once I get some more.”

“But you’re not fine now,” Kazuha pointed out. “Does it keep you up? Is that why you can’t
sleep?”

The man in question shrugged, telling Kazuha all he had to know.

“You should have told me.”

“And what would that give?”

Kazuha’s lips were set in a thin line. He tapped his foot before quickly going back to his beg,
grabbing his bag to rummage through it. He pulled out a small first aid kit he brought along - it
contained nothing but a few plasters, a small bandage roll, disinfectant wipes and, most important
of all, painkillers.

Once he got the pack of tablets, he returned to Scaramouche, holding them out for the man.

“Will these do?”

Scaramouche bit down on his bottom lip, his eyes avoiding Kazuha.

“Come on, take them,” Kazuha ushered. “Or are you going to refuse? Am I hurting your pride with
this?”

Scaramouche finally made a move, timidly taking the offered painkillers.

“Was that so difficult?”

The man shook his head, holding the package in his hands, eyes fixed to it like it was the most
interesting thing in the world. Scaramouche looked ashamed - regretful even - which Kazuha
relished in. It was about time Scaramouche stopped acting like he was above everything.

Kazuha flicked Scaramouche’s forehead, bringing the man’s attention back to him. Scaramouche
rubbed the struck skin, tired eyes looking up at him in disbelief.

“What was that for?”

“To teach you a lesson,” Kazuha replied. “Now take your shirt off.”

“W-wh- I- what the fuck?”

“You heard me,” Kazuha said. “Off.”

“Why? What are you gonna do to me?”

“I’m gonna give you a massage. So get it off.”

“I don’t want a massage,” Scaramouche stated, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. “Get
away from me you weirdo.”

“No,” Kazuha stubbornly replied. “Get that shirt off already.”

“No!”

Kazuha wasn’t about to give up though. “How about this: you take off your shirt and let me give
you a massage, and you can ask me to do whatever else in return at any one point of our travels.
That could mean I buy something, or I don’t speak for the rest of the day, or whatever. So?”

Now that made Scaramouche consider. He gave it a minute of thought before he gave in and
tugged his t-shirt off, tossing it aside. “Anything I want?”

“Absolutely anything,” Kazuha assured. “Now lay on your chest.”

 Scaramouche did as he was told. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it, getting as comfortable as he
could possibly get given the circumstances. Once he was settled, Kazuha got on the bed, straddling
the man’s waist.

“What the fuck are you doing!”

“Relax,” Kazuha uttered, placing his palms flat against the man’s shoulders. “I won’t do anything
weird - it’s just easier that way.”

Scaramouche remained tense until he finally relaxed when Kazuha made no movements. He sighed
and buried his face in the pillow.

That was enough of a sign for Kazuha to start. He began slow and gentle, making work of the
muscle beneath him. “Damn, you’re really tense,” he stated. “Is it always like this?”

Scaramouche gave a muffled goran as a reply.

“That’s not good. Is it chronic or do you have some sort of recent injury?”

Kazuha could make out chronic from Scaramouche’s response.

“Well, you’re lucky I’m here then,” Kazuha said. “My boyfriend used to be on the varsity baseball
team so I’m used to giving plenty of shoulder massages.”

The man beneath said something, but unfortunately it was too long for Kazuha to understand once
it was muffled by the pillow.

“What was that?”

Scaramouche pulled his head back up, turning to speak again. “Does your boyfriend know you’re
giving massages to some guy you met recently? Or that you’re travelling with said guy?”

Kazuha paused. It was true that he left his boyfriend at home, and though he did love him, maybe it
was for the best that he did do so. Sure, he was great and kind and sweet and handsome, but he was
also a part of Kazuha’s life - the one he wanted to run away from with all his might.

WIth a shrug and smile, Kazuha resumed. “He’ll just have to cope,” he replied. “Now, face back
down,” he said, pushing down on the back of the man’s head. He received a few displeased
mutters from Scaramouche, but in the end he settled back down to his previous position.

Kazuha continued with the massage until he was satisfied that he got rid of as much tension as he
could. He was going to ask Scaramouche how he felt, but to his surprise the man was fast asleep,
looking fully at peace for once.

“Cute.”

Chapter End Notes

Damn this chapter was all over the place... oh well! Chapter 3 is currently at a bit over
5k and it's like... nearly a half done?? There's still a lot I wanna add in so there is a
chance I won't be able to finish it before next Saturday since I'm busy as fuck with uni
work. I'll try to have it up for the 26th but if I don't please don't be mad. I'll keep y'all
updated when chap 3 is ready. I hope it'll be worth the wait since it's longer and has
smut :)

Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed! Thank you for all the feedback, it really means a lot to
me!

See you soon!

Twitter
 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

Maybe Kazuha finally understood what it meant to be in love.

Chapter Notes

So umm.... this one's around 17k... yeah, don't exactly know how that happened but
I'm not gonna shorten it so enjoy! There's smut as well, it's kinda bad but in my
defence I haven't written smut since Feb 2021, so yeah... Also I don't think I'm gonna
write smut ever again, after writing like 30 or so fics with smut I am DONE I am not
just fluff and angst and implied sexual content, this was a pain in the ass TT

If you wanna skip the smut it more or less starts when they get to the car after taking a
dip in the hot springs, you'll figure it out

Anyway, since this one is so long I'm gonna add a few more songs to go along!

Buddy - LUCY
Late Night Movie - Hyunsang
MOMENT - the GazettE
Lovers In The Night - Seori
I Think It's Love - Taemin
Washing Machine Heart - Mitski
ISLAND - YOUHA
Dancing in the Moonlight - EDEN
In the Dark - JEONG SEWOON

See y'all at the end!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I saw Orobashi and lived to tell the tale? ” Scaramouche read from Kazuha’s t-shirt, eyes
squinting as he had barely just woken up. “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

Kazuha threw a fresh change of clothes (his second to last one) over his arm, surprised to hear from
Scaramouche. “Oh, that? It’s from the place we went to yesterday. You know, there were
information plaques that explained the story of a serpent god the locals used to worship-”

“You know what, forget I asked.”

Kazuha rolled his eyes. “Fine. Anyway, I’m gonna take a shower.” He was about to turn on his
heel to walk to the bathroom when he heard something unexpected.

“Thanks.”
“Huh?” Kazuha paused, looking at the man still laid out in his bed.

“I said thanks,” Scaramouche repeated, this time louder and clearer. “Also sorry. For yesterday.”

“Oh… well, I’m glad I could help,” Kazuha said. “Also, I think we’re even after I shouted at you
too.”

Scaramouche’s lips curved upwards in a slight smile. “Yeah, I guess we are. But still, I was an
asshole. So… sorry. And thanks.”

Kazuha smiled brightly. “No problem. Now I really have to go shower.”

“Yeah, you go do that. You’re stinking up the whole place.”

“Rude!” Kazuha laughed, pulling the bathroom door open.

***

On the road again, the atmosphere in the car was significantly lighter than it had been so far. After
that morning, Kazuha felt as if Scaramouche became slightly less disagreeable; the jokes he made
didn’t come off as harsh and serious, managing to make Kazuha actually laugh when he made a
snarky comment about his outfit or something he said.

Kazuha took that as a good sign. Maybe the man finally got used to having Kazuha around - not as
a stray keeping him company wherever he went, but as someone he could even trust. The whole
driving the car back and showing Scaramouche that he could rely on Kazuha fiasco must have
hammered home the point that Kazuha wasn’t just there to annoy him. They were travel companies
now, whether he initially wanted it or not.

Scaramouche also looked miles better; the painkillers, massage and a good night's sleep really
worked wonders for him. He still reached for his neck, rubbing the skin for relief a few times, but
he didn't wince or look like he was in too much pain. Still, Kazuha only had so many pills the man
could take.

The nearest town was still a bit away so hopefully Scaramouche would be able to cope until then.

"I've never actually been to Yashiori," Kazuha stated, starting up a conversation to fill the
otherwise boring drive. After all, they had already driven down here the day before. "Have you?"

"A few times," Scaramouche replied.

"How is it?"

"Like the rest of the country: barren. There's nothing but wastelands out there."

"Inazuma isn't barren," Kazuha argued.

Scaramouche scoffed. "Yeah? Let me guess, you've only been to Narakumi and maybe Watatsumi.
Is that right?"

Kazuha chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Yeah…" he replied quietly.

"Well congratulations, you've seen the liveliest places there are to see," Scaramouche stated.
"Other than that there's only small towns and villages that nobody cares about. The only ones that
still care and remember are those born there."

Kazuha carefully observed Scaramouche, noticing a hint of bitterness and grief in his expression.
He wanted to ask, but he also worried that Scaramouche wouldn't react too well to him prying.
Maybe he would share out of his own volition when he felt like it.

"That doesn't mean all of it is barren," Kazuha said. "The people that live in those towns have
history and traditions they uphold. Saying there's nothing is erasing the existence of the people
left."

Scaramouche clicked his tongue. "Whatever."

"Oh come on! You saw it for yourself," Kazuha pointed out. "The place we went to yesterday was
full of history, even if it was a tourist trap. You can't say that everywhere bar two places are
wastelands."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Scaramouche said.

Kazuha smiled. “Now, I’m sure there’s still something to do around here. Before I go search the
internet, do you have any suggestions?”

“I mean… there are a few places,” Scaramouche said with a shrug of the shoulders.

“Like?”

“There’s Fort Mumei- but that’s just some ruins,” the driver explained. “It’s really not much.
There’s also another abandoned mine but I doubt it would be safe to go there. Then there’s the
Musoujin Gorge, but that’s not as exciting as it seems. And I guess there’s also a beach.”

“A beach?” Kazuha asked excitedly.

Scaramouche glanced at Kazuha, taking note of his outward enthusiasm. “Yeah, a beach,” he
replied. “If you can even call some mounds of sand near water a beach. It’s like Yaoguang Shoal in
Liyue, but worse.”

“You’ve been?”

“To Liyue or Nazuchi? I mean, I’ve been to both.”

“Oh, nice,” Kazuha mused. “I’ve only been to Liyue on business trips with my parents when they
wanted to show me off, so I can’t say I know many of its sights,” he explained, some
disappointment laced in his words. “But I did stay at the Harbour for a few days on a holiday with
my boyfriend.”

“Well aren’t you well travelled,” Scaramouche teased. “Rich boy has barely seen the world, let
alone the country he lives in.”

“It’s not like I’m all that thrilled by it either,” Kazuha declared. “My parents are very… I don’t
really know how to put it. It’s like they were scared that if I got a taste of the world, I’d leave.”

Scaramouche laughed, looking over to Kazuha was amusement written all over his face. “And
were they wrong? My guess is no.”
Kazuha sighed. “They were right, but that doesn’t mean they should have kept me on a leash,” he
argued. “I never wanted to take over the family business, but being the only child I had the
responsibility thrust onto me. And I know my cousins would absolutely love to take my place so I
don’t understand why I had to be the one to take care of everything.”

“That’s rich people for you,” Scaramouche commented. “They make no sense.”

“They really don’t.”

“You’re saying they as if you’re not one of them,” Scaramouche pointed out. “Your bank statement
says otherwise.”

“I- yeah, I guess I’ve got money,” Kazuha agreed, trying to refute Scaramouche’s point that he was
the same as the rest of his family. “But I’m not like them. I don’t want to ever be like them. It’s
why I’m here and not back at home. And I don’t care if I lose my money, unlike them.”

Scaramouche didn't add anything else, only offering a faint hum at Kazuha’s declaration. That
caused Kazuha to scowl.

“Anyway,” he said after a few seconds of silence. “What brought you to Liyue anyway. Have you
been anywhere else? Mondstadt? Sumeru? Fontaine maybe?”

“None of your business,” was all Scaramouche replied with.

“Noted… Where are you from anyway?”

Scaramouche exhaled deeply. “Is that important?”

“I’m just continuing our unfinished game of twenty-one questions,” Kazuha stated.

“You- are you serious?”

“I’m deadly serious. I don’t like leaving games unfinished.”

At that, the driver sighed. “Fine. I’m from Inazuma. Happy?”

“Where abouts? Where do you live?”

“Inazuma City.”

“Oh wow, a city boy like me,” Kazuha commented.

“I’m more outer-city than inner-city like you,” Scaramouche noted. “Heaven knows how
ridiculous the prices get closer to the centre. Even with two jobs I’d be cutting it close.”

“Is it really that bad?”

Scaramouche turned to glare at Kazuha. “Maybe if you have daddy dearest to pay the bills then no,
it’s not that bad.”

“Yeah… my bad. I guess I never really thought about how it is for everyone else.”

“I’d be surprised if you did,” Scaramouche muttered. He looked back to the road, his jaw
clenching at the movement. His hand was already off the steering wheel to rub his shoulder,
however Kazuha was quicker to act.
Kazuha placed his hand against Scaramouche’s tense shoulder, applying some pressure as he
rubbed the muscle. “I’ll buy you some heat patches, those might help since it’s chronic.”

Scaramouche’s eyes widened at the sudden contact, his hand stopping midair before he was able to
place it atop Kazuha’s. “Yo-you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s just a heat pad.”

“I’m not talking about that! You don’t have to touch me,” Scaramouche said, his cheeks filling
with a shade of pink.

Kazuha smirked. “Really? But you seemed to enjoy last night’s massage a lot. You were out cold,
sleeping like a baby, so cute and innocent-”

“Please don’t!”

Kazuha laughed, taking in the sight of an embarrassed Scaramouche. “You’re so easy to rile up,”
he said after his laughter died out. “It makes me wanna annoy you to no end.”

“Please don’t,” Scaramouche whined. “I’m suffering enough as it is.”

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad to be around.”

“You’re the embodiment of everything I avoid in a person,” Scaramouche stated. “Genuinely,

you’re like a walking nightmare.”

“But at least I give great massages,” Kazuha added. “And I treat you to so many things. If
anything, I’m a saint.”

“You’re far from that.”

“Pot calling the kettle black.”

“You-”

“Eyes on the road!”

Kazuha’s exclamation caused Scaramouche to jolt in his seat, eyes darting to the road ahead.
Maybe it was a bit of an overreaction on Kazuha’s side, but the sight of another car driving towards
them made him panic since Scaramouche was too busy staring his way as they bickered.

“Fuck, don’t scare me like that,” Scaramouche sighed, a hand over his heart.

“Sorry, it looked like it was coming at us.”

“It really wasn’t, but I appreciate the road safety from you.”

“I had a very strict driving instructor,” Kazuha stated. “If I looked away from the road for more
than three seconds he’d yell at me. I still panic on the road.”

Scaramouche chuckled. “Then we might have had the same one.”

“Middle aged, receding hairline and thick rimmed glasses?”

“With a lisp and always wore ugly ties?”

Kazuha shook his head. “Very refined accent and always had a navy tie,” he said. “But in spirit
let’s say they were the same people.”

Scaramouche shook his head, the corners of his lips faintly tilted upwards. "You know, that makes
me trust you with my baby a bit more."

"You call your car your baby?" Kazuha asked, a teasing tint to his words. "That's so cute."

The driver slapped Kazuha’s arm with the back of his hand. Instead of getting Kazuha to shut up,
the act only made him laugh and continue.

"Your precious baby. I'm so honoured to be able to drive her."

"I'm getting the strongest urge to test the airbags right now," Scaramouche muttered.

"And risk the wellbeing of your baby? What a terrible father you are."

"I'm gonna strangle you if you don't shut up," the driver warned, turning to shoot an icy glare at
Kazuha.

"Ooo, kinky."

Much to his surprise, Scaramouche actually swerved the car on the road. Kazuha had to grab onto
Scaramouche's seat so that he wouldn't get flung out of the window, even if his seatbelt was on.

After the abrupt turn, Scaramouche resumed to normal. He glanced at Kazuha, a satisfied smirk
present on his face when he saw the man in the passenger seat dishevelled.

"Holy shit," Kazuha gasped, a hand over his heart. "My life flashed right behind my eyes."

"Really? How was it?"

"Surprisingly uneventful," Kazuha replied, sitting himself back comfortably. "Also somewhat
depressing. I have a terrible relationship with my parents," he mused. "Though I'm not entirely
surprised."

"You might wanna see a therapist. I heard it helps."

"No first hand experience, oh wise one?"

"If I was seeing a therapist I wouldn't be driving across the country on a whim," Scaramouche
stated matter-of-factly. He must have realised he said more than he wanted to because his eyes
widened comically before he made a poor attempt to brush past his words, clearing his throat in a
very fake manner. "How about you check the map; give us an estimate as to how far we are from
the town."

Kazuha shrugged, grabbing the folded up map. Considering how long they had been driving
already, as well as the fact Kazuha had seen a handful of cars pass them by, it was safe to assume
they weren't all that far away.

After quickly opening the map, Kazuha drew his eyes to a familiar spot. He traversed the road with
his eyes, looking at the landmarks and signs to figure out their position. To make his job easier
though, Scaramouche just drove past a sign with Welcome to Musoujin Gorge written across in
bold white font.

"Wait, is this the Gorge you mentioned earlier?"

Scaramouche nodded. "It's on the way. I'm not planning on sightseeing."

"Tough, because we're gonna do exactly that."

The driver sighed. "Fine, but prepare for disappointment."

Kazuhs was ready to argue, only to stop himself when he realised Scaramouche actually agreed
without putting up a fight. He turned to the man, a baffled look on his face.

"What? We'll probably have to stay an hour or two anyway," Scaramouche explained. "You might
as well go frolicking by the Gorge."

"You're so considerate," Kazuhs teased.

Scaramouche rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Are you gonna join me on my merry frolicking? Or will you act like a tired old man and just sleep
in the car?"

Scaramouche did give the proposition some thought. "We'll see."

"How vague," Kazuha huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "But whatever you choose, I'll have
fun anyway."

"And that's all that matters," Scaramouche said sarcastically.

Kazuha laughed, nodding. "Exactly. I'm the main character after all."

The conversation inside the car slowed down, filled mainly with Kazuha talking about anything he
could think of. That mainly consisted of some book he read of whining about Scaramouche’s
aversion to playing music at an actually clear and audible level.

Of course, Scaramouche argued that he was being responsible and sensible, not allowing himself to
get distracted by music. In turn, Kazuha argued that that just meant Scaramouche was a bad driver,
easily distracted by mere music. That started a war between the two, bickering about who was the
worst driver, the concentration required to drive safely and that just led up to Kazuha stating
Scaramouche probably had a horrible taste in music.

In the end, their bickering lasted long enough for them to reach the town. Buildings were scattered
around the place with the main road forking off in multiple directions.

Scaramouche continued down the main road until he saw a sign with the town centre pointed left.
He took the turn and drove around until he found somewhere to park. There was a fairly sized
parking lot behind what looked to be the shopping district, so that's where the man left the car.

"Oh wow, civilisation," Kazuha uttered as he shut the doors after he got out of the vehicle.

"Grab your bag," Scaramouche ordered, throwing the item at Kazuha who panicked to catch it.

"Ay! Careful with that, I have my laptop in there!"

"Oops," Scaramouche said, clearly not sorry.

"Why do I need it anyway?"

"There should be a place to wash our clothes somewhere," the other man stated. "Unless you want
to wear stinky clothes?"

"Ah, right, understood." Kazuha slung the bag over his shoulder. He waited for Scaramouche to
join him - his own bag in hand - before he started walking. "It looks kind of busy over there," he
said, pointing towards the shopping area. "Maybe there'll be a place there."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

With that, the two men headed out in the direction appointed by Kazuha. They walked past a few
shops Kazuha wanted to stop by - and he would, but taking care of dirty clothes came first - before
they finally found a small laundromat tucked in between a charity shop and a café.

They walked inside, greeted by the sound of whirring machines.

"You know how to use one of these right?" Scaramouche asked, eyeing Kazuha with slight
concern.

"I've done my own washing before," Kazuha declared. He then looked at the machines, noticing
the different options, prices and different ways to pay. "I'll figure it out."

Scaramouche sighed. "Just don't break anything."

"I make no promises."

Scaramouche and Kazuha went to different washing machines, putting their dirty laundry in.
Kazuha carefully read the laminated instructions stuck to the wall, following each step perfectly
until he reached the end.

"That should be it," he declared, wiping his hands on his shorts. "Are you done yet?" Kazuha
peeked around the corner where Scaramouche was. The man had just paid for the wash, turning
around to face Kazuha. "Good?"

"Good."

"Great! Now let's go shopping," Kazuha gleefully suggested. "Pharmacy first?"

"Sure," Scaramouche replied, picking up his now empty bag.

Kazuha led the way, heading over to the small shop squeezed in between two larger ones. A bell
chimed upon their arrival, standing out against the soft hum of music playing from the speakers.

There wasn't much that they needed to get but Kazuha still grabbed a shopping basket.

"Do you have a preferred brand of painkillers?" Kazuha looked at Scaramouche.

"Store brand works just fine."

"Store brand it is."

The men weaved through the aisles. Kazuha grabbed another toothpaste, some hand cream,
deodorant and whatever else tickled his fancy. Scaramouche simply tossed in two packs of
painkillers and called it a day.

"You're not getting anything else?"

"I still have stuff leftover," Scaramouche replied. "I'll just steal yours if I run out."
"I think you mean borrow."

"I said what I said."

"Of course you do."

Kazuha walked further down to look at the pain relief patches at the end of the aisle. There weren't
many options so he went for what looked the best, picking up two packs for now. If they worked
then he'd just buy some more later down the road if he had the chance.

"Is that everything?" Scaramouche asked, his eyes glancing down to scan the contents of the
shopping basket.

"Probably, but I think I'm gonna do another round in case there's anything else I could get."

Scaramouche shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm gonna go to the shop on the left and get something to
eat - some snacks and all that."

"Sure. I'll see you there."

Scaramouche offered a small nod and then walked out of the pharmacy.

Since Kazuha didn't want to take too long he got moving. There were a few items he might have
missed earlier that would be useful on the road.

He walked around, eyes fixating on random items scattered around. One such thing was an air
freshener. Sure, most of the time they drove with the windows or roof down, but that didn't mean
they couldn't add a bit of spice in there. Kazuha picked a cool, crisp scent that made him think of
strolling in the woods, the air clean and fresh. Hopefully Scaramouche would end up liking it too.

Next were some small toiletries, a pack of tissues, and wet wipes. Maybe they would end up
without a place to stay or get washed, so it was always better to be safe than sorry and stinky.

Kazuha was ready to go pay, however he stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted something in
the corner of his eyes.

He looked at the display, three shelves lined up with colourful boxes and bottles.

"Kazuha, no," he muttered to himself.

Yet he still moved towards the display.

It was stupid really, but Kazuha reached out for a random bottle, holding it as his eyes were firmly
planted on the label. Truly, what use did he have in bringing a bottle of lube with him other than a
potential future conversation that would be beyond awkward if Scaramouche ended up finding it.

But then again…

"No- maybe?"

Said potential awkward conversation may not turn out to be that bad. Could Kazuha be sure? No.
But did he think Scaramouche was hot? Definitely. After witnessing the man without his shirt on
multiple times already, Kazuha could safely say he wasn't not attracted to him.

Granted, sometimes the way he acted did make Kazuha want to throttle him. Still, he couldn't deny
he wouldn't mind fucking Scaramouche - or the reverse. Or both. Whatever floats his boat.
Besides, what's more spontaneous and reckless and free than fucking a man you've known less that
a week? Exactly.

In the end, Kazuha tossed the bottle in the basket. Maybe it would never come into use - or at least
not any time soon - but Kazuha preferred being safe than sorry.

And that was it for his pharmacy shopping spree. He paid for everything and thanked the cashier
when she handed him a bag with his items.

Kazuhs had a feeling he would need to get himself another bag, especially since he was planning
on buying himself some more clothes for the road. Another backpack, though smaller, would be
good enough, so he made a mental note to grab one the moment he saw one around.

With the plastic bag in hand, Kazuha left the pharmacy and entered the store Scaramouche was in.

It wasn't hard to find the man; Kazuha could recognise that shade of purple anywhere by now, even
if it was mostly hidden underneath a baseball cap. And of course, Kazuha could recognise said
baseball cap anywhere as well. Scaramouche wore the cap with the dinosaur that Kazuha bought
for him - he didn't even bother trying to fight for his plain black one, and Kazuha liked to believe
that it was because Scaramouche secretly liked it.

Kazuha walked over, standing himself behind Scaramouche, hands going to poke the man on the
sides. Scaramouche jolted under the touch, causing Kazuha to laugh when he saw the unamused
scowl on his face.

"You're insufferable," Scaramouche grumbled, poking Kazuha in the stomach, somehow managing
to go straight for the belly button, making Kazuha bend over forwards. "You took your time."

Kazuha grimaced, trying to get over the unpleasant sensation caused by the short attack. He pulled
himself together, a hand over his stomach to protect it from any more pokes. "There was a lot of
shampoos to sniff."

"I know you're lying, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if you did actually go around and
sniff every shampoo there was," Scaramouche stated. "I got a few things already, but feel free to
add what you want " he then added. "Just don't go too overboard since I'm paying."

"Oh? Are you treating me this time?"

"You're paying for gas anyway," Scaramouche stated.

"Ah, of course I am. How could I forget?"

Kazuha ended up grabbing a few snacks he had cravings for. He also grabbed some fruit because
the lack of proper, healthy, nutrition was getting to him already.

A single apple he managed to snag at the motel, a cup with chopped fruits and the strawberries
sprinkled on top of his dessert back at the tourist trap wasn't good enough and his body was already
showing signs of his poor diet. And so, Kazuha grabbed a pack of ripe strawberries, a bag of
clementines, two small packs of plump cherries and two large apples.

"Do you by any chance have a knife?" Kazuha asked Scaramouche, the latter of which was
dragging himself behind Kazuha who was going crazy in the fresh produce aisle.

"You think I'd tell you if I had one?"

Kazuha sighed, looking sadly at the grapefruits and oranges on display. "I'll take that as a no," he
muttered.

"Just peel them with your hands," Scaramouche suggested.

"Now that's just crazy."

Scaramouche shrugged.

That was the end of their grocery shopping. They had more than enough to last them a few days.
There were biscuits, pot noodles, lollipops, chocolate and fruit bars, and then the fruit Kazuha
picked out.

"I wanna get a few clothes as well," Kazuha said as they strolled through the streets. There were
plenty of people out and about, mostly conjugated in the central plaza where a large water fountain
was situated. "Also another bag."

"Then go for it," Scaramouche said. "We still have a while before our washing is done anyway."

Scaramouche pointed out a shop that looked decent when they passed by. Kazuha slipped inside
and went on the hunt for a new addition to his wardrobe - well, his bag.

There were many things to choose from, but Kazuha stayed away from the more dull and dark
clothes available. He skimmed through the clothes on display, curious hands examining the
fabrics.

He picked out a few things whilst Scaramouche just stood around.

"Aren't you getting anything?"

"No need."

Kazuha made it obvious as he checked the man out, a look on his face that read really ?

"What?"

"I'm getting you something," Kazuha declared. "Not for your sake, but mine. I can't have you
embarrassing me dressed like that."

"There's nothing wrong with the way I dress," Scaramouche stated. "I'm comfortable and ready for
the road ahead, so I don't see the issue here."

Kazuha sighed. He wasn't going to argue anymore, but he did still pick out a few things for
Scaramouche. They were more or less the same size judging by their nonexistent height difference
and similarity in their build, so that made it easier to find clothes for him. And, if he ended up
being ungrateful and refusing to wear what Kazuha bought, then Kazuha could just take the items
for himself.

"Oh this would look so good on you," Kazuha said, lifting the hanger and placing it against
Scaramouche’s chest. It was a simple loose t-shirt, but it would be great tucked in a pair of jeans.
"Shame you have an aversion to wearing anything other than sweatpants though."

"I'm not wearing jeans in this goddamn heat."

"But you'd wear sweatpants?"

Scaramouche chewed on the inside of his cheek, clearly knowing Kazuha made a good point.

"Let's get you some shorts whilst we're at it."

"I-"

"Don't worry, I won't put you in booty shorts," Kazuha assured. "Unless you'd like that."

"I'd hate that."

"Yeah, I thought so."

Kazuha ended up grabbing a few more things, even if Scaramouche complained here and there
about his taste in fashion. Either way, he didn’t stop Kazuha from purchasing the clothes for him
though, following the man around the store until there was nothing left to see.

“Where are you gonna put all of this anyway?” Scaramouche asked, eyeing the large pile of clothes
slung over Kazuha’s arm.

“A bag,” Kazuha replied. “I was planning on getting an extra one. Thanks for reminding me.”
Before he went to the check-out, Kazuha quickly walked over to the other side of the store where
there were a few bags. There were backpacks, totes and purses. Kazuha grabbed a backpack and a
tote - just in case - and returned to where Scaramouche was. “There we go.”

“That’s a lot,” Scaramouche mused.

“Eh, it’s fine. Now move, you’re in my way.”

Scaramouche scoffed. “Walk around me then.”

Instead of doing that, Kazuha barged into Scaramouche. The violet haired man stared at him,
baffled.

“Rude.”

Kazuha didn’t say anything, instead hurrying over to the check-out. An older lady was sitting
behind the counter, her attention focused on the sudoku she was solving. She only looked up once
Kazuha placed all the clothes down on the counter, offering her a large smile.

“Oh my,” she said, pushing the sudoku aside. “I can’t say I’ve seen you here before.” She got to
work with the clothes, scanning the tags and taking the shirts down from their hangers. “You’re not
from around here, are you?”

“I’m not,” Kazuha replied. “We’re just stopping by. We might stop by the gorge.”

“It’s not that great,” she stated. “Rather dangerous too, so I would advise against it.”

“Oh…” Well, Kazuha would probably have to cross that off his list of things to do if that was the
case.

“Where are you off to then? Inazuma City?”

“I actually came from there,” Kazuha stated.

“Then Watatsumi?”
“Nope.”

“Really?”

Kazuha nodded. “I’m just… going anywhere. I’m going wherever he’s going,” he explained,
pointing to Scaramouche who was busy with the glasses display behind Kazuha. “Which means
I’m off to Seirai. I think.”

The woman seemed shocked. “Seirai? What on earth could you possibly want there?”

Kazuha shrugged. “I don’t know. But it might be fun; I’ve never been, so sightseeing is on my list
of things to do.”

The cashier looked at Kazuha like she didn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Umm… is something wrong?”

“No,” the woman replied, her hands stilling. “It’s just, after the storm a few years ago, there’s not
much left of the place. Not many people stayed. You know, my older sister used to live there; she
stayed as long as she could, but there was just no use.”

“Why?”

“Most infrastructure was destroyed and there was close to no relief provided,” she explained. “It
was easier for everyone to abandon their homes and try to start from scratch elsewhere. Even the
orphanage had to be abandoned. It was such a painful thing. All those children had to be separated
to go elsewhere, still not finding a home for themselves. The same happened with the hospital and
care home.” The woman sounded devastated as she recounted the events, her hand going over her
chest. “You see, other than Inazuma City and maybe Watatsumi, everywhere else barely gets any
attention. It’s sad, but unfortunately true.”

“Oh… I didn’t think it was that bad.”

The woman shrugged, a soft smile appearing on her face. “We make do,” she said. “We make do
and we make the most of what we are given.” Resuming with scanning the clothes, the woman
nodded to herself. “Say, have you been to Higi village?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Well, I recommend you go,” the cashier said. “There’s a lovely hostel there. The views are
wonderful and there’s even an onsen for you to enjoy. The lady running it is also sweet; she’ll
make you feel right at home.”

Kazuha hummed. “That sounds nice. I think we’ll have to stop by.”

“That’s lovely. I hope you can enjoy your stay; Yashiori barely gets many tourists.”

Soon enough, all the clothes were scanned and packed in a paper bag. Kazuha quickly paid and
returned to Scaramouche, a pair of shades on his nose.

“Those suit you,” Kazuha commented.

Scaramouche took them off and put them back on the display rack. “They look the same as the
ones I have anyway. Are you done?”

Kazuha raised the bags in his hands. “What’s the time?”

“Time for our washing to be done.”

“Really? Damn, that was fast,” Kazuha mused. “We didn’t even get to visit the gorge.”

“There’s still time for that if you’re that desperate,” Scaramouche assured. “How about we put all
our shopping away first and then do whatever else you want?”

“I’ll do you one better: I take everything back and you head to get our washing,” Kazuha said. “We
can meet at the car and then walk around a bit more.”

“Sounds fine,” Scaramouche said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. “Just don’t drive away.”

“And leave your grouchy ass behind? I would never do that.”

Scaramouche frowned, unimpressed. “Whatever. Just get going,” he said, handing the shopping
bags he was carrying over to Kazuha. “Don’t take too long.”

“Aye, aye captain!”

The men split up, going their separate ways for now. Kazuha spun the keys to Scaramouche’s car
around his index, whistling a cheery tune as he did so.

The car wasn't parked far away so it didn't take him long to get there. He lifted the hood and
carefully put all the bags away, organising everything neatly so that Scaramouche wouldn't have a
reason to complain. He placed the bags with the new clothes next to Scaramouche’s small luggage
whilst he kept the food to its own side.

Once that was all done, Kazuha closed the hood and sat down on it, waiting for Scaramouche to
join him. In theory, it shouldn't take the other man more than twenty minutes from that point
onwards, yet Kazuha had a feeling things wouldn't go according to their plan.

And he was right.

Scaramouche was taking his sweet time, and after waiting an additional five minutes, Kazuha
decided he had enough. He pushed himself up from the car, made sure it was locked, and headed to
the laundromat where he hoped Scaramouche was.

When he got there, he was greeted with a surprising sight; Scaramouche was crouched down next
to a young girl, her cheeks stained with tears and eyes glossy from crying. He was on the girl's
level, a comforting and kind expression across his face as he spoke softly to her, rubbing her arm
reassuringly.

Any annoyance that Kazuha held for having to wait was instantly forgotten as he approached the
sight, careful not to spook the girl.

"Hey…" Kazuha said quietly, bringing the attention onto him. "Did something happen?"

"She lost her mum," Scaramouche replied.

"Oh no," Kazuha uttered, looking down at the girl, her hands clutching onto the fabric of her dress.
"Where's the last place you saw her?" He asked, getting down as well.

"She said near the fountain," Scaramouche replied on her behalf. "I was just calming her down
first. I was thinking of going there with her to wait for her mum to come back."

"Yeah that's a good idea. How about you do that and I'll go look around for her."
Scaramouche nodded. "You're full of good ideas today, aren't you?"

"Always," Kazuha said with a smug grin.

"Now, could you tell you how your mum looks? What was she wearing?" Scaramouche asked the
girl, his voice softening and sounding like a completely different person to the one Kazuha knew.
It felt strange hearing him like that, but Kazuha couldn't deny how his heart melted at the delicate
and kind way he spoke.

"Mummy's really pretty," the girl replied, making Kazuha’s heart clench. "She- she has a nice red
jacket. And a dress with flowers."

"Pretty, red jacket and a dress with flowers," Scaramouche repeated. "You got that?"

"Loud and clear," Kazuha replied. "I'll go look for her and you two wait at the fountain."

Neither of them waited around, all going in their own directions.

Kazuha first took a trip around his current location, looking around for a woman that matched the
description given to him. When there wasn't a sign of her he decided to ask around with any person
he came across. Some did say they saw someone that would fit that image, pointing Kazuha in the
direction she went.

In the end, Kazuha ended up out of breath from all the running around. He decided to take a brief
stop, leaning himself against a wall as he regained his breath.

At that point he wasn't entirely sure where he was, but considering he could hear a lot of people, it
was safe to say he wasn't that far away from the central plaza.

"Fuck," he groaned, throwing his head back. He was thirsty and hot and tired, but he couldn't give
up yet.

There was a chance that the woman had already made her way to the fountain where Scaramouche
was waiting, but Kazuha wanted to be safe rather than sorry, so he decided he would look around
for at least five more minutes before he threw in the towel.

However, maybe he wouldn't have to do that.

Kazuha heard a panicked voice asking around and calling someone's name. When he looked up he
saw a woman, pretty and wearing a floral dress with a red jacket.

Instantly, Kazuha regained all his strength. He took large steps towards the woman, waving at her
to grab her attention. "Are you searching for your daughter?" He asked, and when she nodded with
tears in her eyes, Kazuha told her where to go. He did get lost so he had to rely on the woman to
lead them both back to the fountain.

The reunion was heart-warming, with mother and daughter tightly embracing one another. The
mother ended up thanking the two men repeatedly, offering to get them a drink or something, but
they assured her that they were fine. And so, the family of two was ready to leave. However,
before they did so, the little girl stopped and waved at Scaramouche, saying something to him that
didn’t make much sense to Kazuha.

“Hope you find your mummy too!”

Scaramouche waved back but didn’t say anything. Even under Kazuha’s curious gaze, he remained
unfazed. It was obvious that even if Kazuha asked, he wouldn’t receive an answer. Hence, Kazuha
didn’t bother, though he did make a mental note of the man’s wistful expression.

“Well, that was eventful,” Scaramouche stated, taking in a deep breath and clasping his hands
together. “I still need to take this to the car,” he added, pointing to the bag with all their washed
clothes. “We can go to the gorge if you’re that desperate to see it afterwards.”

“Actually, apparently it’s dangerous,” Kazuha pointed out. “So I think we should skip out on that.
Though, I did learn of a hotel with an onsen in Higi village.”

“An onsen?”

Kazuha nodded with glee. “An onsen and a lovely lady running it,” he explained, recounting what
the woman at the clothes store had told him. “We should go there to stay the night, unless you
want to find some dingy motel? It’s your call.”

“I’ll take the onsen,” Scaramouche replied without even considering the other option. “But before
that: clothes in the car, fill up the tank, and then food.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

***

“Oh wow,” Kazuha uttered under his breath, eyes widening in awe at the sight of the village
emerging in front of him. The sun was setting, painting the sky behind the traditional homes in
hues of pinks and oranges. It looked like a scene taken straight from a painting, so serene and
breath-taking that Kazuha could do nothing else but stare.

The drive there had been a bit of a challenge with how uneven the terrain was - that and the fact
that Scaramouche’s car was simply not made for anything other than paved roads. Still, Kazuha
deemed that it was worth the pain and multiple scares that some rubble had managed to damage
the underside of the vehicle (luckily though, nothing had gone wrong).

An old wooden sign greeted them to the village, making news of the onsen and hotel up ahead.
Other than that, it didn’t look like there was much else around. Maybe there were a few homes and
shops, but it looked desolate nevertheless. However, it had its unique charm, even if it did resemble
a ghost town.

“There’s no road up ahead,” Scaramouche grumbled. “I’ll have to park elsewhere.”

“We’ve survived a road from hell, I’m sure parking on some grass won’t kill us,” Kazuha said.

And so, Scaramouche drove the car along short grass, the colour yellowish from a mix of intense
sunshine and the lack of rainfall.

Once Scaramouche was satisfied that the spot he chose was fine, he stopped the car and stepped
out. Kazuha followed suit, hurrying to get his bag from the trunk. Scaramouche grabbed his stuff
too, as well as reaching into the bag that contained their food to take out a snack. He took out a
lollipop and undid the wrapper, placing it in his mouth, his cheek jutting out from the small ball of
sugar.
Kazuha thought Scaramouche was about to toss the wrapper on the ground, but thankfully he
tossed it back inside the rest of their groceries. “Well, at least you don’t litter.”

“I was raised better than that,” Scaramouche uttered with a hint of offence.

“You must have been an angel of a child,” Kazuha teased, grabbing a lollipop for himself. “I
wonder what happened.”

“I grew up,” Scaramouche stated, slamming the trunk shut. Kazuha recoiled, nearly dropping his
sweet in fear of having his hands broken in half. “Now let’s check in. I could do with a dip in the
onsen.”

“Have you been to one before?” Kazuha asked, following after Scaramouche like an overexcited
puppy. “Was it any good? You know, I’ve never actually been to one so this is my first time. Do
we have to get naked?”

“Why is that your biggest question?” Scaramouche asked.

“Well, you know…” Kazuha grinned at the other man. Instantaneously, Scaramouche’s expression
filled with horror. He started taking larger steps towards the hotel, leaving Kazuha eating his dust.
“Hey! What’s the rush?”

“Leave me alone you pervert!”

Kazuha laughed, running after Scaramouche. “I’m not a pervert! You’re the one with weird
thoughts,” he argued, catching up to the man.

“Why else would you grin like that, huh?”

“Maybe I was gonna say I’m shy?”

Scaramouche scoffed. “Shy my ass.”

“Okay, maybe I lied! I was just trying to tease you.”

“And that’s exactly why I wanna get as far away from you as possible,” Scaramouche stated.
However, despite his sharp words and overall annoyed demeanour, Kazuha could see how his lips
had curved upwards with a hint of a smile. He could hear that trace of amusement buried beneath
his irritation. Dare he say, Scaramouche seemed to be enjoying their pointless conversation.

“Don’t say that,” Kazuha whined with faux dejection, his lips out in an over exaggerated pout.
“You’ll hurt my feelings.” He wrapped himself around Scaramouche’s arm like a koala, shocked
when he wasn’t pushed away.

“Oh no, what would I do then?” Scaramouche asked sarcastically.

“You’d have to pay for everything, Mouchie,” Kazuha uttered.

The sheer look of disgust on Scaramouche’s face was enough to leave Kazuha in stitches. He
laughed and laughed, all whilst Scaramouche stared at him like he had just murdered his entire
bloodline.

“Mouchie ?” Scaramouche uttered, the nickname sounding vile on his tongue. “Am I fucking
cow?”

Kazuha wheezed, holding himself up on Scaramouche’s arm. “Oh fuck, your expression is
priceless.”

“If you value your life, don’t call me that ever again.”

“Oh come on, no need to be so grumpy… Mouchie.”

Scaramouche wasn’t kidding. He practically tackled Kazuha, wrapping his arms around his waist,
trapping his arms in the process. He squeezed tightly, causing Kazuha to explode in a flurry of
giggles and maniacal laughter once he jabbed his fingers into his sides. Kazuha was extremely
ticklish so he never stood a chance.

Knowing Kazuha’s weakness, Scaramouche didn’t stop. He attacked Kazuha’s sides until the man
went weak in the knees and toppled over to the ground, the grass softening his fall.

“You wanna try that again? Huh?” Scaramouche taunted, attacking Kazuha relentlessly.

“Please- I- haha ! Stop!”

Scaramouche only stopped when Kazuha’s body started going limp, all fight leaving him as he
gave up. He let Kazuha go, letting him flop onto the grass, limbs boneless and weak. “There,” he
uttered, proud of himself. “That should teach you a lesson.”

“You’re brutal,” Kazuha muttered, words muffled as his face was smushed against the grass.

“And you’re reckless,” the other man stated. “Someone had to put you in check.”

Kazuha chuckled, trying to push himself up. “I guess that’s fair. Now can you please help me up? I
think my limbs have turned to jelly.”

“I’ll think about it,” Scaramouche mused, looking down at Kazuha with a thoroughly amused grin.
“This is quite a therapeutic sight.”

Kazuha rolled over onto his back, looking up at Scaramouche towering above him. “Yeah?” He
asked playfully, catching the flicker of something dark behind Scaramouche’s eyes. “And I’m the
pervert?”

Scaramouche lightly kicked Kazuha’s side, not enough to call it a kick, more of a warning tap than
anything. “Just get your ass up already.”

Without having to be told twice, Kazuha pushed himself up, grabbing onto Scaramouche’s hand
for support. “There we go,” he uttered happily once he was back on his own two feet. “Much
better. Though I have to say, the ground is surprisingly comfortable.”

“Is that so? How about you sleep out here then?”

“I’d rather not.”

Resuming with their walk to the hotel, the two men were greeted with a few faces of the locals.
They nodded at them, waved and some kids even ran over to them to ask them to play with them.
As enticing as that was, they declined, though Kazuha did end up giving his untouched lollipop to
one of the kids that came to greet him and Scaramouche.

“They’re a friendly lot,” Kazuha voiced.

“They probably don’t get a lot of outsiders coming in,” Scaramouche offered.
They finally reached the hotel, stepping inside. It was a larger building compared to the rest with a
garden up front. The interior was well kept with old furniture scattered around the place, large
pieces of art hung up on walls and potted plants placed here and there to add a pop of colour.

At the reception sat a woman, smiling brightly as she talked enthusiastically with an older woman,
both dressed in plum coloured yukatas. They both looked very familiar, so Kazuha guessed they
were somehow related.

She turned her attention to Kazuha and Scaramouche once she noticed their presence, her grin
growing even wider. “Evening gentleman, how can I help you today?” She tilted her head, long
black hair falling over her shoulder.

“We’d like to stay the night,” Kazuha stated.

“Just one?”

Scaramouche nodded in confirmation.

“In that case, let me take you to your room,” the woman said. She stepped from behind the
reception, leading the men further into the hotel.

Once they reached the room, she stopped and slid the door open for them. “Our onsen is just
further down the corridor and then to the left. My name is Tsumiko, and if you need anything, just
let me or my mother know. Enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you,” Kazuha said, smiling back at Tsumiko before she left him and Scaramouche alone.

The room they got was fairly large and decent looking; the floors were lined with tatami mats;
there were large windows which let in plenty of light inside; two large futons were located by the
wall and a chabudai was located just in front, the light coming in from the windows landing
directly on in. Overall, it wasn’t a bad place to be. If anything, it was probably the nicest
accommodation they had stayed on their journey so far.

“Not bad,” Scaramouche mused. He stepped inside and tossed his things aside. He started looking
around, humming when he found clean towels and yukatas they would slip into. “Now if you don’t
mind, I’m gonna go and take a dip.”

“Wait for me.”

***

Kazuha ended up being faster than Scaramouche, finding his way to the onsen before Scaramouche
could even leave their room. To be fair though, Scaramouche did decide to lay down face first on
his futon instead of getting ready. He only said he was checking if it was any good, only to end up
glued to the thing. Kazuha didn’t want to end his fun so he left him be, knowing that Scaramouche
would end up making his way to the onsen anyway.

And he did. Maybe it did take him an extra ten minutes, but Scaramouche finally joined Kazuha.

“Are you going to stare at me like that the whole time?” Scaramouche asked, clutching onto the
cool fabric of his magenta yukata, the colour bringing out his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kazuha stated, his body submerged beneath the hot
water. “I’m just sitting here, enjoying myself. I don’t know what your problem is. It’s not like you
haven’t stripped in front of me numerous times already.”

“I have not .”

“Yes you have,” Kazuha argued. “But fine, I’ll look away if you’re so shy.” And he did.

Scaramouche let out a tired sigh. “Whatever,” he muttered. He slipped out of his clothes, putting it
aside before stepping into the water.

After giving it a few more seconds, Kazuha looked at Scaramouche. He looked content, slipping
under the water until only his head was poking out.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Scaramouche said, sounding the most relaxed he had been the whole time.

“It should help with the pains too.”

“It’s already doing wonders.”

Kazuha smiled softly. “That’s good to hear then.”

***

For most of their time in the hot spring, the two men remained quiet. Kazuha thought it would be a
good idea to just sit back and relax without having to fill the silence in with a conversation.
Besides, Scaramouche probably needed some peace and quiet. After all their driving and walking
and being up and about, it would do the man so good to rest properly - not on cheap motel beds or
car seats, but somewhere nice like this.

Though he hadn’t complained about his shoulder and neck today, Kazuha did see him taking a
painkiller here and there throughout the day, so it was safe to assume that it was still bugging him.
Hopefully the hot water would help with that.

Scaramouche’s eyes were closed, his expression satisfied and calm. He looked oddly innocent like
that, all the walls which he held up around him crumbling down just for that short, sweet moment.

All Kazuha could do was stare - though ogle might have been a more appropriate term to use with
how his eyes would occasionally dip a bit lower, tracking the water droplets caught on his
collarbone.

"I can feel you boring holes with your eyes," Scaramouche uttered, peeking at Kazuha with one
eye. "If you want something then say it."

There wasn't anything he wanted to say, but it would have been awkward if he stayed silent and
made his ogling more apparent. So, in the end, Kazuha said "you're good with kids."

Scaramouche let out a dry chuckle, closing his eyes again. "What, did you think I'm the type to
steal candy from a kid?"
"I can't deny that it wouldn't surprise me if you did."

The purple haired man laughed, genuinely amused. “I’m sure that’s true. But yeah, I guess I’m
good with kids. It’s one of the perks of growing up around a lot of them.”

“You have siblings?”

“I… I guess you could say that,” Scaramouche replied, opening his eyes to look up at the wooden
ceiling of the onsen.

“That must be nice,” Kazuha mused. “Being an only child has its perks, but also plenty of
downsides. Like sure, I had all of my parent’s attention, but it did get lonely. That and the fact the
weight of their expectations lied solely on me,” he explained, looking up at the ceiling, wishing
that it wasn’t there so he could observe the peaceful night sky instead. “All my life I had one
thought in my head, and that was: don’t be a disappointment. Well, looks like I ended up one in the
end,” he added with a laugh.

Curious, Scaramouche glanced at him. “Are you actually not going back?”

Kazuha shrugged. “I’ll probably have to at some point,” he admitted glumly. “But I don’t want to.
As much as I love my parents, I don’t want to fix the mess they made. I don’t want to be suffocated
by them and our family name again.”

Scaramouche shrugged. “Fair.”

Deciding to steer the topic away from his own family as it wasn’t something Kazuha really wanted
to linger on for any longer - not when it made his heart heavy and his stomach churn with the
thought of going back - Kazuha leaned himself in Scaramouche’s direction. “What about you?
How’s your family? You mentioned siblings, right?”

Scaramouche looked frozen, too stunned to speak. Though maybe stunned wasn’t correct here -
paralized was closer to it. He went tense, his expression at a loss on whether to frown or smile or
even move in the first place. “I…” Scaramouche took a second, mouth open and searching for what
to say next. “Don’t have a family,” he declared, his voice a mix of bitterness and sadness, all
poorly hidden beneath a forced curve of the lips.

“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“It’s fine,” Scaramouche interrupted. “I don’t need your pity.”

Kazuha nodded, eyes glued to the clear water, wisps of steam dancing off the surface. He couldn’t
help but feel like an asshole for complaining about his own family around Scaramouche - but it
wasn’t like he knew before. There weren’t any signs that would have led him to knowing anyway.
Still, it wasn’t a pleasant realisation.

“Can you stop making this awkward?” Scaramouche asked after a few moments of silence and
stillness from Kazuha. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Kazuha could tell that that was a lie. But maybe it was for the best to not pry any deeper now.

“It’s not like my life is some miserable soap-opera,” the man added. “So stop acting like it. You’re
weird when you get all sullen and gloomy. It’s like seeing a kicked puppy or something.”

“Right,” Kazuha uttered, offering a thin smile at Scaramouche. He then turned to face up again,
disappointed by the sight. “You know, I wish there wasn’t a roof here.”
“It rains a lot here,” Scaramouche explained. “At least this makes using the onsen during the rain
actually enjoyable.”

Kazuha sighed. “But I wanna look at the stars.”

“You can watch the stars everywhere, idiot.”

“Not like this,” Kazuha contested. “There’s way too much light pollution back in Inazuma City.
This is like the perfect spot for stargazing.”

“Well tough. Deal with it- hey, where are you going?”

Kazuha stood up, water droplets rolling down his soft skin. He turned to Scaramouche whose face
instantly turned red. The man attempted to avoid him, eyes frantically searching for something else
to look at.

“I’m going stargazing,” Kazuha replied simply.

“A-and where do you think you’re gonna go?” Scaramouche asked, fixing his expression to not
look like a total flustered mess.

“Hmm… your car. Where’d you put the keys?”

“You… you’re not taking my car.”

“Yeah, I’m not taking your car,” Kazuha said. “I just wanna look at the stars. Also, how do you put
the roof down? Is there a chance it can get stuck?”

Scaramouche sighed. “You know what, I’ll go with you.”

“Aww, you wanna stargaze with me?”

“I don’t want you wrecking my car,” Scaramouche replied, but the yes I do was laced within.

***

The walk to the car was short and pleasant. The night was still warm so it was safe to just leave in
the yukatas provided by the hotel. Scaramouche had his tied tightly around him whilst Kazuha’s
was a bit on the loose side, allowing him to feel free in the cool fabric.

Scaramouche unlocked the car and quickly rolled the roof down, giving them a full view of the
twinkling stars scattered across the clear summer sky.

Kazuha eagerly jumped in the back seat, making himself comfortable against the leather seats.
“Now this is more like it,” he mused, his head tilted upwards to observe the tranquil sky. “It’s so
much better than in the city,” he commented. “All the lights make it so much harder to enjoy the
night sky, don’t you think?”

Scaramouche shrugged, slipping himself in the seat next to Kazuha. “I never really paid attention,”
he admitted. “Plus, I work night shifts most of the time, so it’s not like I get to enjoy the stars all
the time.”
“Oh yeah, you did mention working behind a bar,” Kazuha mused. “You still owe me a drink.”

“I owe you nothing,” Scaramouche pointed out. “And I’m not making you a drink. Ever ,” he
emphasised.

“Oh come on, why?”

“Because you’re already insufferable when you’re sober,” Scaramouche replied. “I fear what you’d
be like drunk.”

“I’m not that bad drunk,” Kazuha said in defence of himself. “If anything, I think I get more chill
when drunk. Though that also depends on the drinks. I’ve been told I get very loud from time to
time.”

“As if you’re not a walking, talking headache already,” Scaramouche grumbled. “You can get even
worse.”

“It’s my charm,” Kazuha said, playfully nudging Scaramouche. Once, then twice, only stopping
when Scaramouche’s flat expression crumbled and his lips wavered, an amused smile making its
way onto his face.

“You’re actually insufferable.”

“Say that without a smile on your face and I might believe you,” Kazuha chimed.

Scaramouche shook his head, but he couldn’t will the grin away. Kazuha took that as a victory.

“Insufferable,” Scaramouche repeated under his breath, looking away, but Kazuha could see from
his cheeks that he was still smiling. Kazuha would have cooed at how cute he was like that, but he
stopped himself in fear of another attack to his sides.

Kazuha let out a deep breath, sliding down against the seat. The stars above him shone brighter
than they ever did back home, and Kazuha feared that if he went back, he could never get to see
them like this again.

He didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to be the poster child for the picture perfect family
again. He didn’t want to take over the family business - if there even was one left, but who was he
kidding, of course it would still remain; maybe it wouldn’t be as large as it had been up until now,
but it would still be there. Kazuha was doomed to a life he never wanted if he returned home; his
parents never listened when he said he didn’t want to take over, or that he dreamed of other things -
smaller, calmer, simpler things.

If he went back home, then Kazuha would never have the chance to be free like this again. The
moment he would step back home - no, even Inazuma City - he would be chained down to the
place by his family, unable to decide his future.

Under no circumstances was that an ideal scenario for Kazuha.

Kazuha was content with just staying here - be it Yashiori, or in Scaramouche’s car, wherever it
went. It wasn’t that bad of a thought really; Kazuha was more than happy to stay on the road with
Scaramouche because this man - this man he met less than a handful of days ago - was the best
thing that had happened to him. Scaramouche was his ticket out, his ride away as far as possible
from home. But he was also just… Scaramouche.

Someone who didn’t know him at all. And though he knew his name - his family name - he also
didn’t ever know the Kazuha that posed for photographs with his family, his boyfriend, and
whatever rich people were around him at the time. He didn’t ever meet the Kazuha that always had
to be on his best behaviour, his tie and the collar of his shirt suffocating him as all he could do was
smile and put on his most agreeable act to please everyone. He didn’t ever meet the Kazuha that
felt like a stranger even amongst his friends, all so eager to take over their family business or start
one themselves - some even jealous over Kazuha, secretly hating him for having what they deemed
to be the perfect life.

Scaramouche only ever got to meet him: a Kazuha that even Kazuha found strange.

Kazuha didn’t even know who he was as a person after spending the majority of his life as a mere
persona of himself. But now, he had an idea of who he really was.

Honestly, Kazuha didn’t want to let Scaramouche go any time soon.

“How much longer do you think it’s gonna take us to get to Seirai?” Kazuha asked, his eyes
unmoving from the stars.

Scaramouche hummed in thought. “We still need to get through Watatsumi and Tsurumi, so I’d say
three days if we don’t take many long stops. Then about a week to get back home. Why?”

Kazuha shrugged. “Just curious.” He could feel Scaramouche eyeing him, wondering what was on
his mind.

“You know, I don’t mind if you wanna stick around for the whole trip,” Scaramouche admitted. “If
that’s what’s on your mind.”

Kazuha smiled softly, looking at the man from the corner of his eyes. “It’s exactly what was on my
mind.”

“I figured. You’d probably get bored without me.”

At that Kazuha laughed. “Oh that’s for sure. Who else could I bicker with for hours on end to pass
time?”

“Exactly.”

Kazuha beamed. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I think you like me,” Kazuha said.

Scaramouche scoffed, rolling his eyes. “And what makes you think that?”

“Just a wild guess really,” Kazuha stated. “But I can tell you don’t hate me as much as you try and
act like you do. That mean exterior of yours is all an act: you’re actually a softie on the inside.”

“A softie?”

Kazuha nodded.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been called that before. Most people just stick with seeing me as an asshole.”

“But you’re not,” Kazuha said. “You just put on that appearance, for one reason or another. I
know, because I’m used to having to act as someone I’m not. I think that’s why I stuck with you as
long as I have.”

“You did last longer than most,” Scaramouche mused. “After two hours most people have enough
of me.”

Kazuha laughed. “I don’t blame them; you can get a bit mean. But I think you’re not that bad,
really,” he admitted, his words genuine and soft. “I think you’re pretty cool - bad fashion sense and
all.”

“I guess you’re not all that bad either,” Scaramouche offered with a shy smile, causing Kazuha’s
stomach to do a flip, heart skipping a beat at the sincerity of those words. “A bit annoying but fine
overall.”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Kazuha said. Scaramouche rolled his eyes,
grumbling a yeah right under his breath. “I’m serious,” Kazuha declared, much to Scaramouche’s
surprise. “I mean, maybe I’ve heard nicer things said to me, but you… you’re genuine. I don’t
think anyone has ever been so truthful with me. Ever.”

There was something about the way Scaramouche looked at him next - as if he couldn’t believe
what he was hearing, baffled and even offended, and maybe even a bit hurt. It only added to the
unsteady beating of Kazuha’s heart. “I’m sure that’s not the case,” Scaramouche uttered.

Kazuha shook his head slightly, his throat tight. “It’s whatever. But thanks anyway.”

Scaramouche sucked in his bottom lip, unsure what to say next. Somehow the mood took a
complete one-eighty. It wasn’t something Kazuha wanted to linger on for too long.

“So…” Kazuha uttered, stretching the word out until he could think of something to say. “You’re a
bartender, huh?”

“A pretty good one as well,” Scaramouche added.

“Nice. You work at a club? Or somewhere calmer?”

“Nightclub,” Scaramouche answered. “I used to work at a pub but the pay wasn’t that good. It
wasn’t all that bad though: at least the music wasn’t that loud. But it’s bearable.”

“That’s good then,” Kazuha mused. “I don’t really go out that much. I think the last time was for
my boyfriend’s birthday, but that’s it.”

Scaramouche eyed Kazuha, intrigued. “A boyfriend, huh? You mention him a lot. How is he
anyway?”

“He’s… nice,” Kazuha said, struggling to find a better response.

“Yikes, that’s rough.”

“What?”

“Nice ? You might as well just say he’s terrible,” Scaramouche said. “No need to sugar-coat it.”

“I’m- he’s really not that bad,” Kazuha argued. “He’s just…”

“Nice,” Scaramouche offered, a bit mocking.

“Listen, I don’t know what else to say,” Kazuha said. Scaramouche looked at Kazuha like he was
in denial, a slight smirk to him. Kazuha laughed. “It’s true!”

“He must be atrocious then,” Scaramouche mused.

“He’s… fine,” Kazuha admitted. “He’s the type of man anyone would want as their son;
handsome, kind, funny, intelligent, athletic and all that crap,” he explained, turning to Scaramouche
to talk, even if this new position wasn’t all that comfortable. “He was the most popular guy at
school, the captain of whatever sports team he was playing in. Plus, his family was pretty well-off
too. And I… was the son of the richest family around. So it just made sense for us to date. It’s what
everyone expected.”

“But did you want it?”

Kazuha shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “It’s not like I don’t like him. He’s always been
good to me, and my parents liked him, but it just… I don’t know if I just made do with what I had.
If it wasn’t him then I don’t know if my parents would have been all that happy with me seeing
guys. At least he fit their standards.”

“But not yours?”

“But not mine,” Kazuha confirmed.

“And what are your standards?”

Kazuha looked at Scaramouche, meeting the man’s eyes dead on. “I’m not so sure,” he stated. “But
I think I’m getting there.”

“Should I ask you in a week?”

“I think that should be fine,” Kazuha said with a faint smile. “But enough about my horrendous
love-life! What about you? Have you had any success in that department?”

Scaramouche laughed. “I wouldn’t exactly call it successful,” he said, head tilted to the side so that
he could look at Kazuha better. “It’s been kinda rough for me.”

“Has nobody been able to fall for your charm?”

“You’d be surprised that there are plenty of guys into snarky assholes,” Scaramouche said.

“Oh wow, really? I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Well it’s true,” the purple eyed man assured. “But still, they don’t tend to stick around long either
way. They all tend to say the same thing.”

“And what is it?”

“That I have issues,” Scaramouche said, putting the word in air-quotes. “Whatever that means is up
to them to decide. It’s not like they went in without knowing I wasn’t the most pleasant person to
be around,” he added. And though he spoke as if he didn’t care, Kazuha could see right through it.
He could see it hurt Scaramouche more than he let on.

“They were probably shit as well,” Kazuha offered.

“Yeah… Though, there was this one guy that seemed to be really into me,” Scaramouche declared.
“Like, he was genuinely all in. He literally took me to meet his family after we had been seeing
each other for less than a month.”
“Oh wow, he sure sounds eager.”

Scaramouche laughed. “Yeah, he was.”

“How did that go?”

“Oh boy, it was wild,” Scaramouche replied. “Don’t get me wrong, Ajax was a good kid, albeit
loud and annoying, but sweet and charming nonetheless. But that was way too early.”

Kazuha chuckled. “Is that your type: loud and annoying but sweet?”

“Maybe it is. I don’t even know.”

Kazuha hummed, scooting a bit closer to Scaramouche. “So, what happened? Was his family bad?”

“No, it was the opposite actually,” the man stated. “His family was really sweet. It was huge too,
so many kids running around, and then his parents and grandparents to add onto the mess. It really
was a lot,” he recounted, a mirthless smile appearing across his face, as if saddened by the
memory. “It actually ended up being some sort of holiday for them which is why he invited me to
join him. Still, it was too early for that.”

“I’m sure he meant well.”

“He did,” Scaramouche agreed. “They all did. But I didn’t know what to do,” he admitted, picking
at the skin around his thumb. “It was overwhelming with how they all just greeted me and drew
me in to chat and drink and just… you know. I’m not used to that, so I panicked.”

“What did you do?”

“I… became ten times worse than I usually am,” Scaramouche stated, not sounding all that proud
of his past self. “I turned into an absolute asshole. I even went as far as to insult his mum’s
cooking.”

“Was it bad?”

“Fuck no, her cooking was delicious! I’m actually mad at myself that I didn’t eat more of it. But
alas, I did what I did. Ajax was pretty sad about it and we ended things after that,” Scaramouche
explained. “Shame really, but I’ve grown used to it by now. I’ve just accepted that I’m not made
for these things.”

“That’s sad.”

Scaramouche shrugged. “I’d rather not get my hopes up anyway. I doubt there’s a guy out there
willing to put up with me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of it,” Kazuha uttered, looking up at Scaramouche. He hoped that his
sincerity came through, and maybe it did because once they made eye contact, Scaramouche’s face
flushed, a light pink dusting his cheeks. Scaramouche was beautiful enough as he was, but with the
blush he resembled a doll, absolutely flawless in appearance.

But it was his eyes that Kazuha found the most fascinating. Those pools of indigo would glimmer
like amethyst under the sun, whilst now, once the sun was down, they would grow dark and reflect
the shining stars sprinkled across the night sky, a whole galaxy captured within them. Kazuha
could get lost in them - and he did. He was being pulled in closer and closer, his body inching
forward on its own accord until he was a hair’s breadth away.
“Kazuha…” Scaramouche uttered, his eyes flickering from the man’s eyes to his lips and eyes
again.

“Mmm?”

“You… why are you… so close?” His words faded out, no more than an exhale at the end. He felt
the pull too - Kazuha knew it with how he too leaned forward, eyes darkening with desire.

“Don’t think about it too much,” Kazuha replied, lifting his hand to cup Scaramouche’s jaw, his
skin just as soft as he imagined it to be.

Their lips joined softly, a soft gasp leaving Kazuha at the contact. There were no sparks or time
stopping like in the movies and books, but Kazuha wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was
perfect just the way it was, slow and gentle, a bit unsure but with an eagerness threatening to spill
out any moment.

And it didn’t take long for the dam to spill over. Their tender, delicate kiss turned deeper once
Scaramouche came to his senses, realised what was happening. The daze that had overtaken him at
the moment of their kiss had dissipated like fog, his mind clear and set on more.

Scaramouche pulled himself up, his hands finding their way towards Kazuha to hold him and reel
him in. Kazuha let himself be drawn closer by the hand on his waist and neck, moving until he was
sat atop Scaramouche’s lap.

Kazuha securely cupped Scaramouche’s jaw, arching his body forward to get closer to him. The
strong magnetic pull he felt only grew stronger like this, and Kazuha wanted nothing more to feel
more of Scaramouche against him. He tilted his head, parting his lips for Scaramouche to lick
inside, their tongues dancing to a song only they knew. It was sickeningly sweet, just like candy
Scaramouche had sucked on, but it was all Kazuha could have possibly wanted.

Scaramouche kissed him fervently, a parched man wandering through an endless desert, Kazuha
his only means of survival. It was intense, and Kazuha craved more. He craved the touch of his
hands trailing the expanse of his body, hot and ardent - something unlike what he was used to. He
wanted more than what he was ever given, and he knew Scaramouche could give it all to him.

Kazuha grinned into the eager kiss, his arms wrapped around Scarmouche’s neck. He took the
man’s bottom lip between his teeth, dragging it as he pushed himself up slightly from
Scaramouche’s lap. He looked down, meeting Scaramouche’s eyes, dark and blown out with lust.
It was overwhelming; the intensity with which he was met was foreign to Kazuha, never having
been on the receiving end of such unfiltered want. It made him a bit light-headed really, but more
so than that intoxicated.

Scaramouche’s gaze was fixed on him, stars reflected in his eyes as all he could admire was the
man above him. His hands dropped to Kazuha’s sides, holding him steady and close.

Kazuha leaned back down, meeting with Scaramouche’s lips once more. The kiss was far from
graceful - they were both too filled with desire to care though. Kazuha dropped back down on
Saramouche’s lap, swaying his hips to get some friction. It wasn’t enough though, and definitely
not with the layer of clothes between them, no matter how thin.

“Scara,” Kazuha panted, one hand going to the front of his own yukata to undo it. “Please,” he
continued, undoing the obi to finally get free of his clothes. He struggled with it even though it was
pretty loose in the first place, his hands too shaky with excitement to function properly. Thankfully,
Scaramouche helped him out and yanked the obi off, tossing it aside in his car. He pulled the
yukata open, his hands instantly going to roam over Kazuha’s chest.

“Fuck,” Scaramouche uttered under his breath. His dark eyes roamed over Kazuha’s supple skin,
fingers running across his ribcage, feeling the slight bumps underneath.

“Like what you see?” Kazuha asked, his voice playful amidst the sheer wanton he felt.

“What do you think?”

Kazuha smirked, placing a hot kiss to the corner of Scaramouche’s mouth. “I think you love it,” he
whispered, slowly bringing his hand down Scaramouche’s chest to pry his yukata open. One hand
wasn’t enough, but again, Scaramouche was there to help him out. And when he did, Kazuha
keened. Kazuha wasn’t by any means unfit - he did work out often - but he wasn’t as defined as
Scaramouche whose abs were easily noticeable.

“Like what you see?” Scaramouche echoed Kazuha’s question, a shit-eating grin finding its way
onto his face. Nonchalantly, his hands on Kazuha’s waist squeezed down, earning a soft yelp out of
Kazuha. “Your ogling is pretty obvious.”

“You’re the one who’s constantly stripping in front of me,” Kazuha pointed out. “It can’t be
helped.”

“Is that so?” Scaramouche asked, voice dipping lower and sending a rush down to Kazuha’s cock.

“Mmm,” Kazuha replied, his eyes falling shut as Scaramouche leaned his body forward, hands
stroking his sides.

“Guess this can’t be helped either,” Scaramouche muttered, his lips brushing against Kazuha’s
torso. Kazuha bit down on his lip at the contact, only to gasp the moment Scaramouche moved
towards his perk nipple, taking the bud in between his spit glossed lips. He sucked on it, teeth just
about scraping it.

Kazuha's back arched, lips parting to let out a mewl of pleasure. His nails dug into the flesh
beneath his hands, crescent imprints left behind.

"You're so sensitive here," Scaramouche hummed, mouth still attached to Kazuha's chest, causing
each word to thrum against his nipple. He sounded greatly amused, one hand trailing up to give the
other nipple some attention too, rolling it between his thumb.

The touch caught Kazuha off-guard, a surprised gasp leaving him. Still, Kazuha felt himself
yearning for more of it; his body leaned even closer to Scaramouche, his fingers tangled in the
mess of indigo hair he was grasping onto, the tips still wet from dipping in the onsen. Being like
that - so close and wrapped up together - filled Kazuha’s body with scorching heat, absolutely
exhilarating and rousing.

Even when it got too much, Kazuha had to fight with himself to pull Scaramouche away. It wasn’t
easy - not when Scaramouche was intent on bringing Kazuha to the limit, teasing his sensitive flesh
until it felt like he was going to explode - but in the end Kazuha did manage to take Scaramouche’s
mouth off him. When he did, the older man met his gaze, pupils blown-out and a smug smirk
plastered across his face.

Kazuha’s breathing was ragged and he guessed he was currently in a far worse state than
Scaramouche, and all that from barely being touched.

“You’re beautiful,” Scaramouche uttered, words seeping with sweet sincerity. It caused Kazuha’s
heart to skip, the wind getting knocked out of him. “And you sound just as good,” the man added,
the hand he managed to somehow sneak onto Kazuha’s clothed ass squeezing down, drawing a
gasp out of Kazuha.

“You flatter me,” Kazuha managed to say, his hips slowly swaying on their own accord. “You’re
not so bad either,” he muttered, dragging one hand down Scaramouche’s exposed chest until he
reached his underwear. He paused at the waistband, his fingertips ghosting over the man’s
abdomen, managing to draw out uneven breaths out of him.

They locked eyes before Kazuha smirked, quickly lowering his hand to Scaramouche’s bulge. The
man groaned when Kazuha made contact, the hands he had planted on Kazuha reeling him closer.
Kazuha was jolted forward, his crotch finding friction against Scaramouche - the burn utterly
invigorating. He was already so hard - achingly so - and it honestly surprised him, but
Scaramouche was in the same state.

Kazuha felt up the outline of Scaramouche’s cock, hard and large, and bit down hard on his bottom
lip. He did that. Kazuha didn’t know how , but he did. He was the one that lit the fire behind
Scaramouche’s eyes; he was the one that brought out all those breathtaking sounds out of him; he
was the one that Scaramouche was touching and kissing and drawing closer. It was all Kazuha - the
Kazuha that Scaramouche had helped bring to light, the real him.

Scaramouche firmly held onto Kazuha’s lithe waist, urging him to grind against him, and so
Kazuha did. It was a bit awkward at first with Kazuha gripping onto Scaramouche’s shoulder for
support, his other hand palming the man through the fabric of his boxers, but they made it work in
the end.

Needing more, Scaramouche pulled Kazuha down for another open mouthed kiss, messy and
heady. He yanked Kazuha closer, his hands now firm against Kazuha’s ass, fingers dipping under
his underwear and teasing the sensitive skin. Kazuha moaned into Scaramouche’s mouth, applying
more pressure to his erection and successfully eliciting a deep moan from Scaramouche.

The sound alone had Kazuha going weak in the knees, his movements staggering as a heady rush
of lust travelled down to his groin. He groaned, the strain of his aching cock in his underwear
getting too unbearable.

“Scara,” Kazuha uttered through laboured breaths. “Off, please.”

“What was that?” Scaramouche asked - taunted - as he leaned to nip on the sensitive patch of skin
beneath Kazuha’s ear. “Off what?” He lapped his tongue over the spot and proceeded to shower it
with attention, his teeth scraping over it and causing sparks of pleasure to shoot down Kazuha’s
spine.

Kazuha threw his head back, granting more access to Scaramouche’s curious mouth. He felt like he
was about to go crazy like this; his hips were moving like waves at sea, movements soaked in
desperation; his skin was set ablaze; his cock ached so good, but it was slowly bordering on
genuine pain and Kazuha wasn't sure if he was actually delirious at that point because he craved
that pain - being denied of the touch he truly craved, because he knew that Scaramouche would
make it worth it in the end.

However, when Scaramouche finally showed some mercy - or maybe not exactly mercy - and
forced Kazuha’s underwear down, only to ignore his erection and instead spread his ass cheeks
apart, a single dry finger teasingly prodding at his puckered hole, Kazuha felt like he was about to
pass out. Maybe it was the intense summer heat, or maybe it was the thrill of being out in the open
like this with the risk of someone spotting them, but Kazuha seriously thought that he could have
come like that - barely touched but so overrun by lust.

Or maybe it was just Scaramouche.

To retaliate, Kazuha finally dragged the front of Scaramouche’s boxers down, his cock springing
free. He pressed his thumb to the leaking tip, rubbing it in circles to make Scaramouche moan.
And he did.

Scaramouche’s guttural moan did things to Kazuha, his body arching into Scaramouche’s touch.

“Fuck,” Scaramouche uttered, dragging Kazuha in for a feverish kiss. He let one of his hands
wander to Kazuha’s front, the other one securely holding onto his hip. Finally, he reached for
Kazuha’s own cock, pulling out from under the fabric cage.

Kazuha mewled, his mouth going slack at the feeling of Scaramouche’s hand wrapped around him.
He struggled to muster up strength to kiss him properly, becoming an absolute mess when
Scaramouche began to slowly drag his hand down, using Kazuha’s precum to ease the glide.
However, Kazuha did find it in him to move his own hand tight around Scaramouche, pumping
him at a leisurely pace to match the same arduous one which Scaramouche had set.

“Is that good?” Scaramouche asked, wrist expertly flicking to bring Kazuha close but not too close
to the edge. Any time Kazuha’s breath hitched or his body gave any sign of being brought to the
brink of release, Scaramouche would slow down or loosen his grip, successfully derailing Kazuha
from his goal.

“Y-yeah,” Kazuha keened, his body feeling like a tightly strung string on the verge of snapping. “I-
I think I’m- ahh !”

Scaramouche gave Kazuha’s cock a sharp tug, looking entirely pleased by the man’s sudden and
visceral reaction. “So soon? Where’s the fun in that?”

Kazuha wanted to bite back with something sarcastic, or just anything in general, but his head felt
like it was filled with cotton buds. But Scaramouche was right: this was too soon. As good as it
felt, Kazuha had bigger things planned, and jerking each other off wasn’t exactly that.

“Scara, fuck me, please,” Kazuha begged. He felt Scaramouche’s dick twitch in his hand, clearly
interested in the proposal. “Fuck me. Please. I wa-wanna feel you. Please, please, please,” he
pleaded, getting more desperate when Scaramouche decided to torture him a bit more, the speed of
his movements increasing significantly until it felt like that string was about to finally snap. But
just before his vision turned white, Scaramouche stopped and rubbed his index finger in between
the crease of Kazuha’s ass.

Kazuha stumbled forward, mouth open in a silent moan. He really was going crazy.

A dry chuckle passed his lips - be it in amusement or pain or a bit of both. He was about to get
whiplash with how Scaramouche was handling him.

“I’d love to,” Scaramouche admitted. “But it’s gonna be rough without lube. I think it’s best we-”

“I’ve got lube,” Kazuha stated, resting his forehead against Scaramouche’s shoulder to catch a
breather.

“You’ve got what now?”

“Lube,” Kazuha repeated, giving a squeeze to Scaramouche’s pecs. “I bought some.”

The laugh that left Scaramouche was light and filled with a sense of pure disbelief. “Seriously?
Were you just waiting for this to happen?”

“Better safe than sorry,” Kazuha muttered, pushing himself up.

“Better safe than sorry,” Scaramouche agreed, though it was obvious he still found the whole thing
hilarious. “Condoms too?”

“I…may have forgotten that part,” Kazuha admitted. “Oops.”

“You were halfway there,” Scaramouche said, tapping his finger against Kazuha’s skull. “Good
thing I’m here. I should have one somewhere.”

“Always prepared?”

Scaramouche shrugged. “You never know when you’re gonna get jumped by a hot hitchhiker,” he
stated.

“Right, that’s true,” Kazuha mused, an earnest smile spreading across his face. “I heard there’s
been a few of those around. Better be careful.”

The older man chuckled. “Yeah, better be. Now go get it.”

“No, you get it.”

Scaramouche scoffed. “And why should I? You know where it is.”

Kazuha sighed. “I am fully naked.”

“And?”

“And what if someone sees? Think of the children.”

At that, Scaramouche laughed. “Right, of course. I’ll go. What bag?”

“Pharmacy one.”

Kazuha slipped off Scaramouche’s lap to let the man exit to grab the lube. He decided that he
might as well get comfortable, so he dragged his underwear down and tossed it where his yukata
had been discarded. Then, he laid himself down, his back pressed fully to the leather seats.

It felt rather awkward being like that, but it would only be a few seconds until Scaramouche
returned. And so, he lay there, legs spread and hands flat on his chest. At least it was a warm night
- though most were considering how ridiculous the summers in Inazuma got.

Thankfully, kazuha didn’t have to wait long; Scaramouche closed the trunk and made his way back
to the backseat of his car. It sounded like he was saying something to himself, but Kazuha had
zoned out, trying desperately to not just reach down and jerk himself off. It was honestly a miracle
he didn’t do that, all things considered.

Even if Kazuha was paying attention, Scaramouche’s words died out the instant he got in view of
Kazuha. His lips stayed parted, eyes staring at Kazuha in awe. That did manage to make Kazuha
blush; this was definitely too intimate to act all unbothered about. Besides, Kazuha couldn’t
recount ever being looked at like that - not even by his own boyfriend.

“Are you just gonna stand there all night?” Kazuha asked, feeling shy under Scaramouche’s
unwavering gaze. “Scara… come on.” He beckoned the man closer, and much to his relief,
Scaramouche snapped out of his entranced daze and quickly jumped back in the car.

His eagerness amused Kazuha, and just like that the mood turned for the better. Now that they
were so close again, Kazuha didn’t feel so coy, finding great comfort with Scaramouche by his
side.

“You look so fucking good,” Scaramouche stated, crawling up the seats to crowd Kazuha. Kazuha
spotted the bottle of lube he bought in Scaramouche’s hold, as well as a small foil packet the man
must have found somewhere in his car - Kazuha would say his wallet but that was left in their
room, so probably his other travel bag. “But I bet you’d look even better bouncing on my cock.”

Kazuha mewled, eagerly reaching out for the fabric of Scaramouche’s yukata. He yanked him
down, their lips crashing against one another. It was far from graceful, their teeth clattering
together from the rough movement, but Kazuha didn’t mind. He let Scaramouche have his way
with him, his tongue ardently exploring the wet heat. He moaned when Scaramouche sucked on his
tongue, his back curving upwards at that.

“Patience, we wouldn’t want this to end too quickly,” Scaramouche cautioned, as if he would
actually end up stopping if things got too intense too fast. It was both insanely arousing and a bit
annoying.

“What, can't you go more than one round?”

“I can,” Scaramouche replied. “But can you?” It sounded like a challenge, a means of provoking
Kazuha to do something brash.

Kazuha wanted to say that yes, he could go another round, but there was something about the glint
in Scaramouche’s dark eyes that left Kazuha gulping, his heart getting stuck in his throat.

“Thought so,” Scaramouche said to himself. “Up,” he ordered, tapping on Kazuha’s bare thigh.

Without any thought, Kazuha lifted his leg up and wrapped it around Scaramouche’s middle.

Scaramouche grinned, looking down at the sight; Kazuha was all spread out for him, eager and
desperate for more, arousal weeping out of his cock head. “Stunning,” the man muttered as he
uncapped the bottle of lube. He poured a fair amount of the cool liquid onto the palm of his hand,
rubbing it onto his fingers before he put the bottle down and made himself comfortable in between
Kazuha’s legs. “Tell me if it hurts,” he uttered, his lips brushing against the shell of Kazuha’s ear.
“Okay?”

“Yeah,” Kazuha breathed out. “Just fuck me already.”

“Not even a please?”

Kazuha didn’t have it in him to be annoyed, his arousal getting the best of him. “Please,” he
whined. “Please fuck me!”

“That’s more like it,” Scaramouche mused with a smile. “So you do have some manners.”

Kazuha really wanted to say something back, but any coherent thought left him when Scaramouche
plunged a finger against the tight ring of muscle without any warning, breaching inside of him.
Kazuha’s body tensed and his back arched off the leather seats, mouth wide open.

“Fuck,” he hissed, his body reacting to the intrusion in its own way. He tightly clung onto
Scaramouche, his nails digging into his back through the fabric of his yukata. “Fuck,” he uttered
once more, this time a bit more composed.

“You good?”

“Mmm, just a bit- give me a second,” Kazuha petitioned.

“Take your time.”

Kazuha took a deep breath and exhaled. He repeated that until the exhales weren’t so shaky,
focusing all of his attention on that and not on Scaramouche’s finger snuggly encased by his walls.
It wasn’t an entirely foreign sensation, but it wasn’t something that he was entirely comfortable
with in an instant. Luckily for him, Scaramouche was willing to give him all the time he needed to
get used to it.

“I think I’m good,” Kazuha admitted. “You can move.”

“My pleasure.”

Scaramouche started slow, retracting his hand before pushing right back in. It was a steady back
and forth, spreading Kazuha open and getting him accustomed to the stretch.

Soon enough, Kazuha was asking for a second finger.

The extra width made him wince and dig his heel into Scaramouche’s back. It took a bit longer to
get used to, but after a while Kazuha was fine with the spread and welcomed a third.

He finally started to get lost in the pleasure, obscene moans and mewls leaving him when
Scaramouche’s fingers rubbed against him just right.

But when Scaramouche rubbed against his sweet spot, Kazuha cried out in sheer bliss. “Yes,” he
moaned, pulling Scaramouche closer by his neck. “Yes, right there. Fuck, Scara!”

Scaramouche was incessant, drawing out bawdy cries out of Kazuha until the man’s utterances
became incomprehensible. Once he found the spot, he kept attacking it. Kazuha thought he was on
the brink of death or birth, or whatever. He was so close, and Scaramouche knew it.

“I think you’re ready,” Scaramouche declared. He pulled out his fingers, much to Kazuha’s
displeasure.

Kazuha tried to keep them in, clenching around them, but Scaramouche wouldn’t have it. Now
empty, Kazuha whined and bit down on his finger. He was achingly hard after having been
basically edged by Scaramouche multiple times, but the idea of touching himself right now felt so
wrong. After all that, Kazuha was going to come on Scaramouche’s cock, even if the wait seemed
to be killing him slowly.

Kazuha observed Scaramouche diligently, gulping at the sight of the man tearing the foil packet
open with his teeth. He watched as Scaramouche rolled the condom over his hard length, a low
groan coming from deep in his chest; his eyes rolled back at the pressure of his hand around
himself and Kazuha wished Scaramouche would just hurry up - he wanted to be the one that
brought him such bliss.

Zealously, Kazuha wrapped his other leg around Scaramouche, the limb snaking beneath the fabric
still strewn over his body to get a feel of his blazing skin. Scaramouche stumbled forward,
chuckling at Kazuha’s fervour.
The older man lubed his length up before taking a hold of it and lining it up against Kazuha’s rim,
the tip catching against the entrance. Kazuha gasped, unsure hands going up to wrap around
Scaramouche’s upper torso, resting flat against his shoulder blades. They felt hot to the touch, but
Kazuha figured he wasn’t any better; he probably seemed like he was running a fever with how
scorching he felt to the touch.

“Tell me if anything’s off,” Scaramouche said, looking at Kazuha with utmost care.

And with that, Scaramouche pushed himself in.

The sensation was completely different to what it was with Scaramouche’s fingers diligently
spreading him open. Even the three of them paled in comparison to the real thing, and Kazuha felt
like he was being ripped apart and put back together simultaneously. His plush heat welcomed and
rejected Scaramouche, unsure of what was the best option.

Without any input, his body working on its own volition, Kazuha’s muscles fought to push
Scaramouche out, clasping down on his cock. The act made both of them moan, the pressure
feeling heavenly - especially for Scaramouche who had been neglected for far too long.

The older man forced himself even deeper until he was buried to the hilt inside of Kazuha’s
warmth. His jaw was set in a straight line, fighting the strong urge to thrust in and out and fuck
Kazuha right there until he was left as nothing more than a writhing, crying mess. But he had self
restraint, holding himself still as Kazuha adjusted around him, his walls twitching and resisting
against Scaramouche.

But it was a futile fight anyway.

Kazuha’s laboured breathing evened out at last. His eyes were no longer tightly shut in pain;
instead, he met eyes with Scaramouche, both men bearing the exact same look.

More. They both craved so much more. Kazuha wanted so much that it pained him, stomach tying
in knots at the sheer weight of his need. He was desperate - not just for Scaramouche to move and
fuck him senseless, but for so much more.

He should have been scared, but that was far from the truth. It just felt right. Scaramouche felt just
right, like a missing puzzle piece he had been searching for all these years.

And Kazuha finally found him.

He found the right person at the right time.

So preoccupied with the thought, Kazuha finally got accustomed to Scaramouche’s thick cock
buried inside of him. It felt right like that, their bodies infinitely close now.

“I’m good,” Kazuha uttered.

“You sure.”

Kazuha smiled. “I’m sure.”

Scaramouche carefully pulled out until he was at the brink of bottoming out. At that, he sunk
himself back in, the force of his sharp thrust knocking the wind out of Kazuha. His movements
were slow but intense at first, eliciting the lewdest whines he had ever heard in his life out of
Kazuha. He was taking his sweet time like that, fucking into Kazuha at a rhythmic pace to see just
what noises he could force out of Kazuha.
His tempo picked up once Kazuha’s nails dug deeper into Scaramouche’s skin, possibly deep
enough to leave a proper mark. Then, Scaramouche’s thrusts became harsher, much to Kazuha’s
vocal approval.

Kazuha didn’t think he was capable of such obscene sounds, but he was left surprised at his own
abilities. Scaramouche made him sing around his length, body bouncing from the force of
Scaramouche’s thrusts.

The lewd sound of skin on skin, Scaramouche’s low, carnal groans and the absolutely filthy
squelch of lube being fucked out of his ass made Kazuha feel like he was drowning in a sea of
honey; he couldn’t force himself to swin up to the surface, helpless gasping for air whilst he was
surrounded by heavy, thick water keeping him captive. It was tortuous in all the best ways, and
Kazuha couldn’t stop himself from losing all control of his body.

His nails dug deep, painting red paths against Scaramouche’s back which would most likely end up
looking like he had been mauled by a wild animal. The legs wrapped around Scaramouche coiled
like a snake surrounding its prey: tight and unforgiving.

But Scaramouche didn’t complain. In fact, he picked up his tempo, his arousal taking control of
him.

Their mouths met in an unceremonious kiss that was barely anything more than them panting and
moaning into each other, minds overrun with inebriating lust.

Kazuha was so close, his cock heavy with his approaching orgasm. Scaramouche was no better,
fucking into Kazuha like his life depended on it. And it truly felt like it did.

Scaramouche gripped onto Kazuha’s tight and hoisted up higher, changing the angle of his thrusts
ever so slightly. However, that small adjustment left Kazuha crying out in utter ecstasy.

“Yes! Yes ! There! Harder!” Kazuha begged for more, tears welling behind his eyes at
Scaramouche finding his prostate. He clawed at Scaramouche’s back for dear life, body convulsing
and thrumming with excitement.

Scaramouche obeyed his pleas and continued to rub up against the same spot. He was relentless,
fucking the spot brutally until Kazuha slowly forgot his own name. It was too good and neither of
them could hold on for much longer.

Kazuha was the first one to finally break. With one last forceful push from Scaramouche, Kazuha’s
body lurched upwards as his veins filled with electricity. His vision was pure white with euphoria,
his cock spurting ropes of white all over his chest. He cried out Scaramouche’s name - much
louder than he thought he was capable of. It made him thankful that they were parked relatively far
from the nearest home.

Scaramouche came next, his thrusts becoming frenzied before he spilled out into his condom with
a low moan. His head hung low as he kept fucking into Kazuha, milking both of their orgasms dry.

Before Kazuha could whine at the overstimulation, Scaramouche finally stopped and slowly pulled
out. Kazuha mewled at the emptiness, clenching around nothing, his body having grown used to
Scaramouche nestled deep within his walls.

The older man’s body hovered above him, looking just as heavy and spent as it probably was. It
seemed as if he was about to topple over any second, his arms not fully able of propping his body
weight up any longer.
Kazuha’s vision was still blurry, so when he looked up at Scaramouche, the stars above him all
looked like they were swirling and falling. He thought they looked exactly how he felt, though that
could have just been a product of his post coital brain mush speaking.

Finally, Scaramouche laid down - albeit on top of Kazuha. He sighed, content. “That was…
amazing.”

“Yeah,” Kazuha agreed, voice hoarse from all the screaming and crying. “It was.” The urge to add
on the best I ever had was strong, but he felt it would have been a bit too much to say. Still, it was
true. Kazuha wasn’t entirely sure what about this exactly was so good, but it was. So, in the end, he
settled on the man laying with him. It was all Scaramouche.

Kazuha idly stroked his fingers through Scaramouche’s hair as minutes passed by.

“We should probably go back,” Scaramouche uttered.

Kazuha hummed. “Yeah, probably,” he agreed.

“You could also do with a shower.”

“For sure. Maybe even another dip in the hot spring,” Kazuha added. “Wanna come with?”

“I’ll pass,” Scaramouche replied, pushing himself up. He hovered over Kazuha momentarily, his
eyes flickering down to the man’s lips. However, in the end, he sat up without giving Kazuha
another kiss. “I’m too tired,” he stated, picking up Kazuha’s discarded clothes. “Hope you don’t
mind.”

“I don’t,” Kazuha assured.

And he didn’t.

However, he did mind the fact Scaramouche didn’t kiss him again. Or the fact he looked tense -
apprehensive even - afterwards. He wanted to assure Scaramouche that everything was fine, but
before he could do that the man was already getting ready to head back.

Oh well, he’d try later.

***

By the time Kazuha came back from the hot spring, Scaramouche was already fast asleep on his
futon. He looked at peace like that, and without giving it any thought, Kazuha reached for his
phone and opened up his camera, snapping a few pictures of him.

Satisfied, Kazuha went to his own futon. He looked down at it and in the end decided to scoot it up
a bit closer towards Scaramouche.

With that done, Kazuha slipped under the thin blanket. It was pointless and he knew he would end
up kicking it off during the night, but it was a pleasant weight for now.

Scaramouche had his body turned towards Kazuha. He was out cold, deep asleep already. Still,
Kazuha spoke up - a mere whisper to not disturb him: “You can kiss me anytime you want.”
Chapter End Notes

Wild shit am I right? This was an absolute pain to write and I can only blame myself
for it because I got way too carried away. To be honest though, this length of chapter
is what I'm most used to writing anyway (if you know me from my old fandom and
ao3 acc you would know just how much I could write per chapter), so there's a chance
the remaining chapters will also be rather long. I've already started working on chapter
4 but again, there's a chance I might not have it done for next week - I'll try to get it
done but yeah...

Also, I was planning on having another smut scene in chapter 4 BUT this took such so
much time and effort that I'm completely drained. But, I shall offer a brief rundown
because I liked the idea of it: Kazuha tries topping, Scaramouche assumes he's done it
before (he hasn't), Kazuha is a mess, they bicker, Scaramouche teases Kazuha and
gives up and takes things in his own hands, Scaramouche rides Kazuha, Kazuha
malfunctions and ascends to celestia. The end. That's all you get, I'm sorry but at the
same time smut painful to write. Lord knows I ended up wanting to cry the first time I
typed out the word cock.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to chapter 4 because Scaramouche is such an idiot but
he's so cute, you'll understand what I mean when I post it. Hope y'all will stick around
until then!

Let me know if you enjoyed! See you next time <3

Twitter
Ask me anything!
 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

Kazuha gets his long awaiting visit to the beach

Chapter Notes

Oooh baby let's goooooo!

Here's the songs for this chapter! You are obligated to listen to Don't Take The Money
this chapter, I'm sorry, it's the law

Rollercoaster - Bleachers
Run Away With Me - Carly Rae Jepsen
Clover - A.C.E
Don't Take The Money - Bleachers
Ready to love - SEVENTEEN
Love Sick - SHINEe

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Kazuha truly felt like he could sleep through the whole day, his body heavy and so, so tired. The
dull ache in his lower back wasn't entirely all too pleasant either.

However, as grand of a plan as sleeping for hours on end was, Kazuha was brought out of his sleep
by the sound of shuffling and the foil of a pill tray being breached. He peeked his eyes open,
thankful for the fact his futon wasn't directly in front of the window. Still, the brightness made him
wince, but it wasn't anything he couldn't adjust to quickly.

The source of the sound was Scaramouche; the man was sitting upright on his futon, back slouched
and turned to Kazuha, giving him a good view of the scratch marks he left there last night. Maybe
Kazuha did go a little overboard, especially since he hadn't trimmed his nails in a while.

Kazuha observed as Scaramouche swallowed down his painkillers, chasing it down with a swig of
water. Scaramouche sat like that for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating his next move.
Kazuha inwardly hoped that he'd lay back down so that they could laze around for the rest of the
day, but unfortunately Scaramouche had other plans.

The older man groaned quietly and rubbed his neck before reaching for the bag with his clothes.
He started looking through, pulling out a clean change of clothes for the day.

"Up already?" Kazuha asked, trying to hide his disappointment.

Scaramouche looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Kazuha awake. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's fine," Kazuha assured. He stretched his limbs out, groaning at how tense everything felt. "It's
probably a bad idea to sleep any longer anyway."

Scaramouche hummed, turning back to his clothes.

"Did your shoulder wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's fine."

Kazuha wanted to say that it wasn't fine, that he shouldn't be used to it, but what use would that be?
What could he possibly do to change the fact that Scaramouche’s chronic pain kept him up and
ruined his mood? He was no doctor or magician, so the best he could do was watch.

"You should take a dip in the hot springs again," Kazuhs suggested. "Loosen up a bit. I'll join you.
Lord knows I need it."

Scaramouche chuckled, shaking his head. "It's a bit too hot for the springs, don't you think?"

"Nonsense! It’s never too hot for them. Besides, who knows the next time we'll visit an onsen, so
let's make the most of it."

"Since you're so adamant about it, sure," Scaramouche agreed, putting his clothes down before he
could start changing.

"But before that, let me give you a massage."

"No need," Scaramouche assured.

"Don't make me ask twice, young man," Kazuha threatened, pushing himself up from the futon.
"Let me do this for you. Please."

Kazuha wouldn't let Scaramouche look away, not when he reached for his arm and wouldn't let go.
He wanted to do something for Scaramouche, filled with such an overwhelming need to show him
just how much he cared - how much Scaramouche meant to him.

Because he did mean a lot, and last night had been the tipping point for Kazuha. It had been the
moment in which he realised just how much his heart sung to stay by Scaramouche’s side, to ride
in his car with the roof down, to laugh and bicker with him, and to just be himself around
Scaramouche.

It made Kazuha realise he had never been truly in love, because never had he felt anything like this
towards anyone ever before.

He finally understood what it meant to be in love. It was the ache for more, the way just one look
would steal the air out of his lungs. It wasn't gentle or soft or perfect, but it was everything Kazuha
could possibly want.

Kazuha was in love, and he needed Scaramouche to know. Even if the feeling wasn't mutual,
Kazuha needed to let his feelings show somehow. He wanted Scaramouche to feel loved.

Scaramouche sighed, hanging his head low in defeat. "Fine," he muttered. He pushed the summer
blanket off his futon and laid back on his chest. "Work your magic or whatever."

Kazuha beamed, hastily shuffling over to Scaramouche to straddle his waist. Scaramouche huffed
at the additional weight, but other than that he remained unfazed.

The scratch marks were quite the sight but Kazuha felt it was best to not mention them, so he
didn't. He leaned a bit forward, pressing his hands against Scaramouche’s shoulder. He started
slow, listening to Scaramouche’s breathing, his grunts and sighs at his ministrations.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Kazuha asked, thoroughly massaging Scaramouche’s aching
muscles. "Straight to Watatsumi?"

"Well… we're near the beach so I thought we could go there," Scaramouche admitted. "I know you
wanted to go."

"The beach? But didn't we already pass Nazuchi beach?"

Scaramouche hummed. "Yeah, but there's one up north. It's not as big or nice, but I thought you
might still like to go."

Kazuha paused, staring down at Scaramouche in disbelief. The older man peeked over his
shoulder, stealing a glance at him.

It was odd really; Scaramouche was willing to change his plans for Kazuha, just to make him
happy. After trying to deny Kazuha of so many stops, he himself suggested they go somewhere. It
was sweet and it made the butterflies in Kazuha's chest go completely crazy.

"Are you…"

"I'd love that," Kazuha stated after staying silent for a bit longer than necessary. "I really would
love that. Thank you."

The tips of Scaramouche’s ears turned red and he looked away. "It's nothing."

Kazuha beamed, leaning down towards Scaramouche's face. He had the biggest urge to just give
him a kiss on the cheek, and honestly he could barely contain himself. And so, he did just that. He
placed a short peck to the man's face and pulled away happily, his heart swelling at how
Scaramouche's face turned bright red.

***

"This is amazing," Kazuha mused, fixing the baseball cap he stole from Scaramouche on his head
to shield his eyes from the blaring sun.

They arrived at the beach after spending most of the morning in Higi village, enjoying all that it
had to offer before they hopped into the car and drove off. By the time they reached the beach, it
was already past midday and the sun was already at its strongest. Scaramouche even ended up
wearing the clothes Kazuha bought for him since the heat didn’t allow him to wear his go-to
sweatpants. Truth be told though, Kazuha was more than thrilled by that; Scaramouche looked
great in the clothes he picked out: a loose black t-shirt tucked into a pair of shorts.

“It’s decent,” Scaramouche commented with a shrug. “It’s a beach. There’s not much to it.”

And he was right. There really wasn’t much to do or look at, though despite that there still were a
few people walking around. Considering the time of year, Kazuha expected more of a crowd, but
this was a rather unknown spot. It was a shame really, the sights were gorgeous.
The beach was a rather thin strip of sand along the coast with a pier - well, more of an old dock
used back in the day for small ships and boats - sticking out of it further down to the left. Kazuha
doubted it would take them all that long to walk up and down along the coast even if they took
their time.

“How warm do you think the water is?” Kazuha asked, looking at the waves gently crashing onto
the golden sand.

“Warm enough,” Scaramouche replied. “But don’t get too wet or I won’t let you back in the car,”
he warned.

“I’ll dry in seconds under this sun,” Kazuha pointed out. “But fine.” He slipped out of his shoes
and socks, his bare feet against the warm sand. He dug his toes in, smiling brighter than the sun in
Scaramouche’s direction. “It’s so nice.”

In that moment, Scaramouche’s almost bored expression morphed into something much softer. His
lips gently parted and his eyes lit up, looking back at Kazuha with a new found warmth. It only
made Kazuha’s smile grow wider, his heart light at the feeling of Scaramouche’s gaze on him. It
was as if he was all there was for Scaramouche in that moment - nothing but him. And maybe the
same could be said for Kazuha. Maybe Scaramouche was all that there was for Kazuha too.

“Come on, let’s take a dip,” Kazuha suggested, reaching for Scaramouche’s wrist to pull him
along. He tugged once, waiting for the older man to move.

Scaramouche looked frozen in place, simply staring at Kazuha like he was ripped right out of a
painting. It was endearing, but Kazuha wanted him to come with him and not stand in one place the
whole time. So, Kazuha tugged again.

Finally, Scaramouche spoke up. “I don’t wanna get wet,” he stated with no conviction.

Kazuha frowned, taking a small step closer towards Scaramouche. “Please,” he said softly,
fingertips stroking the skin beneath them. He was so close to slotting their fingers together, but he
held himself back for now - he wanted Scaramouche to be the one to make that move. Kazuha
needed to know he hadn’t deluded himself into thinking Scaramouche wanted this as much as he
did.

With the way Scaramouche gulped, eyes flickering down to Kazuha’s lips - curved and parted -
before wetting his own at the sight, Kazuha was over ninety-percent sure they were in the same
boat on this.

“We don’t have to go deeper than our ankles,” Kazuha added, pleading with Scaramouche and
carefully observing when his resolve would snap. “Please, for me?”

That seemed to do the trick.

Scaramouche exhaled, the corners of his lips twitching in a dazzled smile. “Fine,” he agreed. “No
deeper than the ankles though,” he added.

“How about the knees as well? You’ve got shorts on.”

“The ankles,” Scaramouche reaffirmed. “And no funny business, okay?”

“You know I can’t promise you that,” Kazuha replied, already moving and dragging Scaramouche
along with him.
The older man stumbled behind him, yelling in protest for Kazuha to stop since he still had his
shoes on. Not being completely evil, Kazuha allowed him to slip out of his shoes. After all, nobody
wanted to be walking around with wet feet.

Kazuha ran into the water, the texture of the sand changing beneath him until he felt the warm
water against his skin. It was much warmer than he expected it to be, causing the grin on his face
to only grow wider. He saw a few of the other people around also dipping their toes into the water
whilst the group of kids to their far left were running in to fully submerge themselves in the calm
waters.

“Come on slowpoke!” Kazuha called out Scaramouche.

Scaramouche finally took off his shoes and picked them up, slowly walking over to Kazuha.

“What’s the rush anyway?” Scaramouche muttered. “The sea isn’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah, well I don’t wanna have to wait for you.”

“I’m not forcing you to,” Scaramouche pointed out, stopping in front of Kazuha. Just like agreed,
the water went no higher than up to their ankles. “Just don’t go running in too deep, I’m not the
best swimmer nor lifeguard.”

“Aww, are you worried about me?” Kazuha cooed. “That’s so sweet of you.”

Scaramouche scoffed, shrugged his shoulders and looked away to the side, though even that
couldn’t hide the fact that his cheeks were dusted with a pretty light pink. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m
just thinking about who’s gonna pay for gas.”

“I’m sure you are,” Kazuha teased, booping Scaramouche on the nose. “You’re so heartless at
times. And here I was thinking that you actually cared about me. Looks like I’m nothing more than
a walking wallet to you, huh?” Kazuha was just playing along with the teasing, however he noticed
that Scaramouche panicked the further he went on.

“N-no! That’s not what I… I don’t think that,” Scaramouche admitted, voice wavering and
diffusing once he realised Kazuha was just joking.

Kazuha felt like his heart was about to melt like an ice-pop under the summer sun, sickeningly
sweet and messy. And all of that because of Scaramouche. Because Scaramouche cared about him;
he cared about what Kazuha thought about him; he cared about how Kazuha felt and how he
would react to his actions. Scaramouche cared and Kazuha wanted to kiss him senseless.

“Just, ignore that,” Scaramouche said. “Forget it.”

“Hmm… no,” Kazuha mused. “I don’t think I will.”

“Why do you have to be so annoying?” Scaramouche griped.

Hearing that, Kazuha laughed. “Oh I’ll show you annoying,” he stated, a spark of mischief setting
a fire behind his eyes.

Scaramouche knew he was fucked in that instant.

Kazuha kicked water at Scaramouche, getting the front of his shorts wet. Scaramouche was lucky
that they were dark so the wet patch wasn’t that obvious, but still, it was far from pleasant. Some of
the water also splashed onto his t-shirt.
The older man’s mouth opened in shock. He looked down at himself before slowly glaring at
Kazuha. “You…”

If the look in his eyes was anything to go by, Kazuha knew he was screwed.

Kazuha started running away just before Scaramouche started to chase after him. Much to his
surprise, Scaramouche was fast - very fast. But for the most part, Kazuha had the upper hand. He
would spin around and douse Scaramouche with some more salty water with a well timed kick.
Scaramouche would end up pausing to get over the impact, sometimes even wiping some stray
droplets that landed on his face.

It was beyond exhilarating running around that, getting further and further into the water until
moving became a pain. Kazuha’s movements slowed down and Scaramouche finally had the
chance to catch up to him, completely ignoring the fact that the bottom of his shorts were now
drenched.

“You little shit!” Scaramouche yelled, reaching for Kazuha’s waist to grab him and pull him back.

“Let me go!” Kazuha shouted back, his chest light with a flurry of elated giggles. “You absolute
brute!”

“Says the asshole spraying water everywhere.”

“I did no such thing,” Kazuha argued, pouting only to end up yelping in shock when Scaramouche
actually lifted him up. The older man heaved him up and started carrying him back to shore.

Kazuha laughed and kicked his feet, getting more water on the both of them. He felt
Scaramouche’s chest rumble with laughter too, the muffled sound playing out just against his ear.
It was faint but so authentic and pure that it made Kazuha’s brain short-circuit.

“You’re an absolute gremlin,” Scaramouche muttered.

“And you’re a party pooper,” Kazuha retorted, trying to pry the hands wrapped around his waist
open.

“Is that all you’ve got? Party pooper? ”

Kazuha huffed. “Okay, I agree that that wasn’t my finest insult. Still, put me down!”

“Yeah, or what?”

Good question. Kazuha did consider forcing his body back to make Scaramouche topple down, but
that would end up with him landing on his back and kazuha was worried that that would end up
hurting him. Considering the grief his neck and shoulder gave him, it was best he didn’t do that.
However, there was also the option of forcing him to tip over and fall face first.

And so, with all the power he could muster up, Kazuha lurched forward whilst Scaramouche was
mid-step. The abrupt movement managed to catch the older man off-balance and propel him to tip
over.

Kazuha ended up face first in sand with Scaramouche on his back, but thankfully he didn’t hurt
himself.

“My fucking god,” Scaramouche said in utter disbelief. “Are you okay?”
Kazuha slumped against the sand before pushing himself up, coughing up some of the disgusting
water that got into his mouth before he ended up rolling over onto his back. There was some wet
sand on his face but he wiped that off easily. He opened his eyes, the first image he was greeted
with was Scaramouche hovering over him, worry written over his face. It was sweet, and honestly
it did make him feel a slight twinge of guilt for concerning him. Still, he thought it was funny.

In the end, Kazuha ended up laughing.

Scaramouche didn’t seem all that pleased about that.

“You’re fucking crazy! You could have hurt yourself,” Scaramouche stated. “Don’t do something
so stupid again.”

Despite his scolding, Kazuha could hear that a part of him was upset about it.

Kazuha’s laughter fizzled out. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I mean, it is
sand and water, so I wouldn’t have ended up severely injured or anything… but sorry.”

Scaramouche sighed, shaking his head slowly. “It’s fine. I overreacted.”

“Maybe a bit,” Kazuha admitted, bringing his thumb and index finger together for a demonstration.

Scaramouche looked down at him for a second, then two, before he ultimately scooped up a large
handful of water and splashed it all over Kazuha’s face.

Kazuha shrieked, not expecting Scaramouche to do that. The water got in his mouth and nose,
leaving him sputtering. The man hovering above him just watched with a pleased smirk.

”Now we’re even.”

“Asshole,” Kazuha muttered with no ill-intent after he was over the initial shock.

“Takes one to know one.”

Kazuha chucked. “I guess that’s true.”

“Besides, you started this,” Scaramouche pointed out. “You reap what you sow.”

“Fair enough,” Kazuha hummed.

He was completely drenched now, his back stuck to the wet sand, waves softly crashing around
him. Scaramouche wasn’t in a much better state though, his t-shirt clinging onto his body in areas.
His hair was also dishevelled, his cap having fallen off somewhere amidst their chase, getting wet
before Scaramouche could save it from falling into the water.

Their shoes were also drenched now. Oh well, they would get dry soon enough anyway.

What mattered now was how close they both were to one another.

The position they were in reminded Kazuha of the previous night; Scaramouche was hovering
above him, hands caging him but not trapping him - no, it was like he was keeping Kazuha secure,
safe from the rest of the world and eyes which could fall upon them. Their faces were so close too,
uneven breaths mixing in between the short distance from their parted lips.

Scaramouche’s gaze felt heavy on Kazuha’s lips. He could sense the intensity behind it, but just
like their night in the car - unspoken and suppressed - Scaramouche refused to cave in and lean
down.

This time though, Kazuha wouldn’t let him go.

“Scara-”

“I have a request,” Scaramouche said at the same time as Kazuha spoke up.

Kazuha gulped. “Go on…”

“I…” Scaramouche seemed like he was struggling to formulate his next sentence, the cogs in his
head turning as fast as they could before they went up in flames. “I- do- I…” He sighed, feeling
like he wasn’t getting anywhere. “Fuck,” he groaned.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just being stupid.”

“Don’t say that.”

Scaramouche took in a deep breath before he finally locked eyes with Kazuha. To Kazuha’s
surprise, he looked absolutely determined about whatever he wanted to say.

“I… Can you kiss me?” That determination vanished as soon as it appeared, instead being replaced
with embarrassment.

Kazuha was left speechless whilst inwardly he was screaming yes, god yes I can kiss you! But none
of that came out. Instead, he ended up blurting something so painfully stupid it made him want to
curl up in a ball and die.

“And why would I do that?”

It was so bad. So, so, so, so bad. It was obvious Scaramouche was serious about this, and Kazuha
just ended up sounding like he wasn’t into the idea of kissing him. If he could, Kazuha would slam
his head against a brick wall for this, but he couldn’t.

Something about Scaramouche’s expression made it obvious that he was thinking about the worst
case scenario already. Still, he did end up answering Kazuha’s question. “You promised,” he
stated. “You said I could ask you to do anything. Well… this is that one thing,” he admitted. “But
you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

There were no words that could have possibly explained just how baffled Kazuha was. Not only
baffled, but touched. Was Scaramouche actually so clueless about what last night meant? Did he
seriously think that Kazuha just pounced on him because he was riled up and nothing else?

That thought hurt Kazuha. He thought it was crystal clear, but maybe it made sense. After all,
Scaramouche did say that he struggled with relationships. Maybe he didn’t expect Kazuha to want
him - to actually want him, not just his body.

“Is that really what you want to use your request on?” Kazuha asked, his voice laced with… with
something. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or laugh or shout or yell. All he knew was that his
heart ached so bad, like it was about to burst out of his chest. It was so painful that Kazuha could
barely stand it. It was the worst pain he had ever felt in his life whilst also being the most heartfelt
moment he had ever experienced.
Scaramouche nodded, his gaze averted from Kazuha. “Even one is enough.”

Kazuha let out a shaky laugh, hand reaching out to cup Scaramouche’s cheek. He brushed his
thumb against the man’s smooth skin, heart swelling when Scaramouche leaned into the touch.
“Who am I to break my promise?” He uttered. ”But for future reference,” his words came out as a
mere whisper as he pulled Scaramouche down until their lips brushed ever so slightly against each
other, “you can kiss me whenever you want. I’d like that a lot, actually. Just so you know.”

“You..”

Kazuha smirked before pushing himself up ever so slightly to press his lips against Scaramouche’s
own ones. The kiss started off gentle, mainly due to the fact that Scaramouche was more or less
shell-shocked from Kazuha’s previous words. He really must have doubted just how much Kazuha
wanted him because he didn’t snap out of his zoned out state for longer than Kazuha expected. But
once he did, Scaramouche put his all into the kiss.

Scaramouche let go of the items he was holding, not caring if the water ended up taking them away
off to sea. He only cared about feeling more of Kazuha beneath him; he cupped Kazuha’s jaw and
tilted his face back so that he could deepen the kiss, exploring the man’s mouth with his tongue
like it was his only purpose in life.

Kazuha gasped, clinging onto the damp fabric of Scaramouche’s shirt for purchase. The kiss left
him lightheaded but he didn’t dare pull away. All he could think of was how good it felt to be like
this. It was as if he was drowning, falling deeper and deeper underwater, but instead of fighting
against the current, he let it consume and envelop him whole. Kazuha’s heart was about to burst
out from his ribcage any moment now, his body thrumming with electricity from the intense wave
of affection he was experiencing.

Kazuha had never felt more alive than in that exact moment.

The small break for air didn’t last long even when Scaramouche did offer him a window to breathe.
They were back to kissing the instant they didn’t both feel like they were about to pass out,
wrapped up in their own little bubble, shielded away from the rest of the world. All that there was
included them, the pleasant sunshine and the salty sea water splashing around them, getting them
even more wet than they already were. It was perfect in every way imaginable.

If Kazuha could spread this moment out over eternity, he would. He would gladly stay right there,
right at that time, for as long as possible. Nothing quite compared to the delight he felt, his back
submerged under water with Scaramouche above him, kissing him like there was nobody else in
the world but him.

Kazuha wasn’t all that sure how long they were like this, kissing without a single care in the world
- it could have been seconds or hours really. However, once the sound of children’s laughter
approached them, Kazuha had to himself away.

Scaramouche whined in protest, chasing after Kazuha’s lips for as long as he could. It was an
endearing sight to say the least, but Kazuha had to push him back.

“People are coming,” Kazuha pointed out.

“And?”

“And I don’t think that this is quite the appropriate scene for others to stumble upon,” Kazuha
stated, referring to himself laid out under Scaramouche. Their flustered appearances also didn’t
paint the most family friendly image, especially with how Scaramouche was looking down at
Kazuha, practically shouting how he wanted to devour the man whole.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Kazuha laughed at the obvious lie. “Yeah? This doesn’t remind you of anything? I dunno… maybe
last night?”

“No idea what you’re referring to.”

“Mhm, I’m sure,” Kazuha teased, lifting his bare foot to kick Scaramouche away. The man
stumbled backwards, landing on his ass with a groan. “Now up we go. We need to get dry before
we’re back in the car, unless you wanna end up naked and getting changed out in the open.”

“I know you wouldn’t mind that.”

Kazuha chuckled, helping Scaramouche up. However, the man had other plans, pulling him down
on top of himself. Kazuha scowled, finding himself sitting on Scaramouche’s lap.

“What’s the rush? I thought you wanted to enjoy the water,” Scaramouche said, his hand an iron
clamp on Kazuha’s waist. “We might as well stay here for a bit longer since we’re wet already.
What do you say?”

Kazuha’s eyes wandered over to the family passing by them. The two adults did give Kazuha and
Scaramouche wary looks but they walked straight ahead, the three kids behind them not paying
any attention to the two dripping wet men sitting on the beach. Now that they were gone, Kazuha
exhaled. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s sit here for a bit.”

Scaramouche grinned, pulling Kazuha further up his lap. He went in for another kiss, only to be
promptly stopped by Kazuha’s hand. “Wha- I thought you said I could kiss you whenever I want.”

“You can,” Kazuha confirmed. “But I want to know something first.”

“And that is?”

“Why didn’t you kiss me last night? After we finished, it looked like you wanted to but you
didn’t.”

Upon hearing the question, Scaramouche seemed to tense up momentarily like he wasn’t expecting
Kazuha to bring that up. “I…” He paused for a few seconds, his eyes meeting Kazuha’s curious
ones. “I didn’t think you wanted it,” he admitted. “With how things turned out I thought you just
wanted to fuck.”

“Of course you did,” Kazuha uttered. He was equally baffled as he was unsurprised - as ridiculous
as that sounds.

“In my defence, you did tell me not to think about it too much,” Scaramouche stated. “I thought
that you just… you know,” he shrugged.

“You thought I just wanted to fuck?”

Scaramouche nodded. At that, Kazuha flicked the older man’s forehead, causing him to wince.
“What the fuck?”

“That’s for being an idiot,” Kazuha declared.

“Hey! It’s not my fault, okay?” Scaramouche said, rubbing his forehead where he got struck. “It’s
not like I’m used to this.”

“Used to what?”

Scaramouche sighed. “To this. Most guys just end up looking for a quick fix and that’s it. I- I’m
not used to them sticking for more most of the time. I thought that’s what you wanted too.”

“Don’t make me flick you again,” Kazuha warned, his hand up and ready.

“I’m just telling the truth! No need to settle for violence. It’s what I thought.”

“Well you thought wrong,” Kazuha stated, firmly placing his hands on Scaramouche’s shoulders.
“Because, believe it or not, I’m not looking for a quick fix. And if you haven’t realised it yet, I like
you. So, you’re stuck with me for now.” Kazuha meant it, but the for now felt wrong.

Truth be told, Kazuha wanted to stay with Scaramouche for longer than their trip across the
country. He was more than happy to leave the country with Scaramouche, to travel the rest of the
world with him just like now. However, if he said all of that, would it freak Scaramouche out?
Would it overwhelm him? Kazuha really didn't want to find out now - he’d leave that for later,
once they were done with their trip. For now he would make up the most of what he was offered.

“You got that?”

“Are you serious?”

Kazuha huffed. “Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I could name a few reasons,” Scaramouche replied. “Like I said, most guys-”

“I’m not most guys,” Kazuha interrupted. “Okay? I didn’t join you because I wanted to fuck you. It
just so happened that I ended up liking you along the way.”

Scaramouche was too stunned to speak. “In three days?”

“In three days,” Kazuha confirmed. “Do you have a problem with that? Because I’m pretty sure
that in those three days I’ve gotten to know you better than any of those guys you keep
mentioning.”

It took Scaramouche a few moments to react. However, once he did, Kazuha was blessed with the
sight of the man’s heartfelt smile. “I guess that’s true,” he uttered, stroking his hand up Kazuha’s
back. He leaned in for a kiss - one which Kazuha was more than happy to meet him in the middle
for.

It was gentle, just lips slotted against lips with not much to it. Still, Kazuha loved it so much.

“Also, I think I might have made a mistake,” Scaramouche said once he pulled away.

“About what?”

“About staying here,” Scaramouche said. “My ass is uncomfortably wet.”

Kazuha burst out laughing, resting his head on Scaramouche’s shoulder as the older man suffered.

“It’s not funny.”

But Kazuha couldn’t stop laughing.

***

In the end their clothes took much longer to dry than either of the men expected. Though, to be fair,
they did end up beyond soaked after their little stunt at the beach. Still, that just meant they had to
walk around the beach for longer than either of them wanted to. Even Kazuha got tired of it after
finishing their second lap of the place.

However, they did end up getting back to the car with their clothes semi-dry. Their shoes were
beyond saving so Scaramouche had to toss them in a plastic bag so that he could get them to dry in
their next hotel room. A hotel room they had to find first. Lucky for them though, they were now
heading over to Watatsumi where there were plenty of places to stay. After the capital, Watatsumi
was the busiest place in the country, seeing plenty of tourists every year - even more so in the
summer.

It would take about two hours for them to get to the outskirts if they drove without taking any
stops. Scaramouche was rather adamant on just getting to Watatsumi as soon as possible since it
was undoubtedly going to be busy and he didn’t want to spend the rest of his day stuck in a traffic
jam.

And so, after changing their clothes - because they really had to, especially Scaramouche whose
entire bottom half was uncomfortably damp after sitting down in the water - they hopped into the
car and made their way out of Yashiori.

Kazuha was rather sad at having to leave after having spent so many wonderful moments there, but
he consolidated himself with the knowledge that he would make even more memories in
Watatsumi with Scaramouche. Since Watatsumi was bound to have more to do, Scaramouche did
promise Kazuha they could spend more time there, but only if they then rushed through Tsurumi.
Of course, Kazuha agreed to the deal.

Kazuha pulled out his phone, his battery already half gone despite barely having used it the whole
day. He quickly opened his gallery, scrolling through the few videos and pictures he took once he
and Scaramouche got back to the car. He snapped some photos of Scaramouche whilst he was
getting changed, staring into the camera as if to ask are you being serious? There were also some
pictures of Scaramouche just doing things: looking through the trunk to find a plastic bag for their
shoes, opening the packet of biscuits he bought the previous the day, sitting on the hood of the car
and eating with the sun behind it - just normal things.

It was a Scaramouche that only Kazuha had the pleasure of witnessing, and that alone made
Kazuha giddy.

But there was one photo that Kazuha wanted to see the most. It was the one which he took mid
kiss; it wasn’t meant to be that way though, but Kazuha was more than happy with how it turned
out in the end. Kazuha wanted to take a picture of him and Scaramouche together, however the
older man didn’t notice Kazuha had his phone out so he just pulled him in for a kiss just as Kazuha
pressed down to capture the moment.

Kazuha grinned at the sight of the picture, setting it as his wallpaper. It wasn’t like he was
replacing that much - after all, his previous wallpaper was nothing more than a picture of a random
cat he spotted outside of his boyfriend’s house. Or well, ex-boyfriend? They hadn’t exactly broken
things off officially, and considering Kazuha was sleeping with and kissing another man, it was
safe to assume that things between them wouldn’t ever go back to how they were. And that was
probably for the best.

Kazuha really didn’t intend on going back to his old life and all that was attached to it. He wanted
to cut all his ties and start fresh, preferably with Scaramouche by his side if things were to go
exactly his way.

That is why Kazuha ignored every message which came his way. He ignored all the notifications
piling up, be it from text messages or social media. Though, he did end up taking a sneak peak of
one of his socials, seeing just how much damage had been done. He received plenty of direct
messages from news outlets trying to get him to comment on the downfall of his family businesses,
but he just ignored them. He would have to deal with it all later, but for now he wanted to enjoy the
freedom of sitting in the passenger seat of Scaramouche’s car, roof down and wind blowing
through his hair.

Kazuha turned off his phone screen and tossed the device into the storage compartment with the
rest of his and Scaramouche’s clutter - map included. He smiled, sitting back comfortably in his
seat. The views darting past were gorgeous; the water was calm, the sky was clear and the
mountains were picturesque. Kazuha wouldn’t mind getting to see them every day for the rest of
his life.

“I’m gonna miss this place,” Kazuha mused, his chin propped up on his hand.

“You’ll see it again,” Scaramouche assured. “We'll have to drive through here again anyway.”

When they have to go back. When their trip came to an end and Scaramouche had to return to his
everyday life.

It was both so far away yet also so close.

Kazuha didn’t know what would happen to them after that, but he hoped that it would be good.

“If we have time when we’re here again, I’ll take you to Fort Mumei.”

“I’d like that.”

“Guess that’s a plan then,” Scaramouche said, glancing over at Kazuha briefly.

Kazuha wondered if Scaramouche also was unsure of what would happen after this. Scaramouche
had a job to return to, a home and friends whilst Kazuha only had a dumpster fire awaiting his
arrival. Running away wasn’t an option, as much as he wanted it to be. Kazuha wanted to travel the
world with Scaramouche, but he also couldn’t force the man to drop everything for him. Maybe
one day he could, but for now there were plenty of things standing in their way.

But Kazuha could hope. And who knows, maybe a life on the low would be exactly what he
needed? Travelling could always wait a bit.

“Mind passing me my sunglasses? They’re in the storage compartment.”

“Sure.” Kazuha leaned forward and rummaged through the slight mess there. He did end up
finding a black sleeve so he pulled it out, offering it to Scaramouche.

The older man looked at the item. “Not those ones,” he said. “There’s another pair. But you can
wear these if you want,” he added as Kazuha went back to scour through the items. Just as he was
about to say that there weren’t any other glasses, he ended up finding them and handing them over.
“Thanks.”

Kazuha nodded, closing the compartment after pulling the unwanted sunglasses out of their
protective bag.

“They look stupid on me,” Scaramouche explained.

“Then why buy them?”

“I didn’t. It was a birthday gift from a co-worker,” he explained. “I felt bad since they’re expensive,
so I just kept them.”

Kazuha hummed, slipping the pair of shades on. To him they looked just fine, but knowing
Scaramouche’s taste in fashion it was understandable that he wouldn’t wear them. When he looked
over to the driver’s side, Scaramouche had his own pair on; they were plain, cheap sunglasses you
could get from any gas station, yet he still made them work which probably said a lot about how
handsome Scaramouche was.

“How do I look?” Kazuha asked, making a show of his newly acquired sunglasses.

“Good as always.”

It was a simple compliment yet it hit Kazuha like a tonne of bricks. Was he always this weak? Or
was it because the praise coming from Scaramouche was genuine? Even Kazuha’s boyfriend (ex-
boyfriend? It was still complicated) words never made Kazuha feel like this.

“Not so shabby yourself,” Kazuha managed to say amidst his small heart attack.

Scaramouche hummed and his attention returned to the road ahead. Unlike the rest of their journey,
there were substantially more cars scattered around - granted, not many considering they were still
a fair way from Watatsumi, but definitely more. Knowing how strict Scaramouche was with
keeping his eyes on the road, he most definitely wouldn’t want to look away for too long now.

Kazuha went back to his previous pose, eyes scanning the landscapes darting past him.

The drive remained fairly silent from that point on - a comfortable silence at that. Just as always,
the radio was turned to the quiet setting it could possibly go before nothing was even audible, but
at that point Kazuha was used to it.

Songs started and finished one by one, radio show hosts talked for a bit, and the music resumed.
All that on rinse and repeat.

However, there was one song that made Kazuha perk up.

His head whipped to the radio, ears focusing on the beginning of a familiar melody. Once he was
sure it was the right song, he automatically started humming along, a radiant smile spread across
his face.

Scaramouche looked over at him, curious. At first Kazuha worried that he might be distracting him
so the tune died out on his lips. However, Scaramouche didn’t say anything. Instead, the older man
reached for the dial on the radio and turned the volume up. And with that small act, Scaramouche
managed to make Kazuha fall hard. Just like that, Kazuha was sure he was in love.
His heart and chest ached, burning up with such intense flames that it drove him crazy.

And all he could do was sing the lyrics at the top of his lungs, only hoping that the meaning behind
them wasn’t completely lost on Scaramouche.

I'm in love and you've got me, runaway.

Just like that, Kazuha felt lighter and he beamed.

You steal the air out of my lungs, you make me feel it.

Kazuha felt giddy. He wasn’t a great singer by any means and the words came out as more of a
shout. He raised his hands up, his fingers spread apart to feel the wind through them. It felt
tangible, like he could grasp onto it and weave it - to capture it and the moment which he was in.

I pray for everything we lost, buy back the secrets.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kazuha saw Scaramouche looking at him. His expression was unclear
and ever the curious Kazuha looked over. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it definitely
wasn’t that .

Your hand forever's all I want.

Scaramouche was smiling - laughing even. But underneath that melodic laughter was so much
affection that made Kazuha feel lucky that he was sitting down because he was a hundred percent
certain he would have fallen over already.

Don't take the money .

The older man shook his head as Kazuha kept singing, thoroughly amused.

Don't take the money.

And then he looked at Kazuha, leaving the man completely breathless.

He reached for Kazuha’s shirt and abruptly pulled him towards himself, all that just so he could
kiss Kazuha. It was a sorry excuse of a kiss - more teeth crashing together than actual, proper
kissing - but it was wonderful. After a second they adjusted their lips, making it far more pleasant
for the both of them.

And Kazuha could have kept kissing him; he could have kissed him until they were left gasping for
air, mids hazy and lips swollen, but he had to stop himself even if it pained both him and
Scaramouche.

“You’re shit at singing,” Scaramouche stated once Kazuha pulled away. That overwhelming
affection behind his eyes was impossible to miss from the distance between them, and Kazuha
didn’t want to ever see it go away. He wanted Scaramouche to look at him like that until the end of
time. He needed it.

“I know,” Kazuha admitted, pecking Scaramouche on the cheek before returning to his seat. He
resumed his singing and Scaramouche didn’t stop him.

He never did. He just listened and smiled, turning to look at Kazuha from time to time.

Not once did he turn the radio down.

 ***

Watatsumi was different from how it was in Kazuha’s memories. For one, it consisted of more than
just fancy, upper-class hotels and restaurants Kazuha had acquainted himself with during business
trips with his parents. To be honest though, Kazuha really never had the time to go and explore;
nine times out of ten, whenever he was made to go on these business trips it was because he was
needed there.

Kazuha became less of a shadow behind his parents once he turned eighteen. Since then, he was
expected to have his own input in meetings, and if not then he was at the very least supposed to
observe and learn. Still, he was far from making any grand decisions.

The places Kazuha was more used to were closer to the centre of Watatsumi whilst the edges of the
city were littered with stunning architecture, parks and other such attractions.

The district which the men were currently driving through was illuminated by multicoloured neon
lights. As it was already pretty late, the drive having taken a bit longer than intended due to an
accident causing a traffic jam, there were plenty of people out in the streets, all dressed like they
were ready to go out and party. It did give Kazuha the idea to go out with Scaramouche, however
when he checked up on the driver he looked like all he wanted to do was sleep, sleep and then
sleep some more.

They could always go out some other time. Scaramouche had enough thrills for the day.

"We should stay somewhere nice," Kazuha said. "Somewhere with a pretty view."

"Like a high-rise?"

"Yeah. On me, of course."

Scaramouche hummed. "I wouldn't mind that. Some place that has a bathroom bigger than my
entire apartment," he suggested. "Though that shouldn't be all that hard to find. I practically live in
a shoebox."

"That… doesn't sound pleasant."

"It's not," Scaramouche affirmed. "But I barely stay inside anyway, and when I do it's just to sleep
and get washed, maybe eat from time to time. I honestly don't remember the last time I even used
the kitchen."

"You don't cook?"

"Not really, but I just don't eat that much in general. Takeout's fine most of the time."

"That's not good."

Scaramouche shrugged. "It's kept me going this far at least. And let's be honest, it's better than
anything I could make myself. I'm hopeless in the kitchen. Though I'm sure you can relate to that
much."

"You'd be wrong, I do know how to cook. I used to even cook for my boyfriend from time to time,"
Kazuha declared proudly.

"What, did he not have someone else to do it for him?"

"Well, funny you mentioned because yeah, he did," Kazuha confirmed, his voice slowly fading out
as he spoke. He scratched his cheek, a forced smile creeping onto his face. "He did. Most of the
time he would've eaten already. But he would have a bite or two, and he said it was good. He could
have just been lying though," he added with an awkward chuckle.

Scaramouche carefully glanced at Kazuha, trying to gauge his mood. Truth be told, even Kazuha
wasn't sure how he felt. He never thought about it, always assuming it meant nothing. But did it?

"Whatever," Kazuha said, eagerly brushing the topic away. "Anyway, fancy high-rise hotel? I'll
find one for us."

***

Kazuha ended up finding them a room in one of the nicer hotels, getting them one high enough to
admire the city from. Scaramouche was amazed, instantly commenting on the sheer size of it.
Kazuha just smiled as the older man went around the place and admired it, making himself at
home in the grand room.

After putting their things aside, Kazuha shuffled over to the large windows lining the entire wall of
the bedroom. Scaramouche had disappeared into the bathroom to check that out, and Kzuha could
hear him raving about the sheer size of the bathtub.

The view outside was stunning. High above everything else, Kazuha could see the rest of the city
in all of its glory. It was bustling with life, cars driving down the busy roads, neon lights flickering
in the night-life districts, yellow lights on in apartments and homes - everything that showed how
alive the city was. It was a sight which Kazuha hadn’t seen in a few days, mostly visiting smaller
towns and villages with Scaramouche.

Whilst the sight of the city was stunning, Kazuha didn’t feel like it was all that exciting. It all felt
so familiar to him that it didn’t have the same effect it had on Scaramouche. This was the exact
thing Kazuha wanted to get away from; he would have much rather preferred to be down below,
surrounding himself with new people and having fun - actual fun, not the type that came with going
out with his boyfriend and friends. That always felt too perfect, too planned, too limiting. Yet still,
he was the one that suggested coming here in the first place, so he couldn’t complain.

Besides, coming here was probably the right move to make; getting to see Scaramouche so ecstatic
- well, ecstatic in his own way since he wasn’t exactly jumping up and down in glee, but still, he
was clearly enjoying himself here - made it worth it.

Speaking of Scaramouche, the man finally finished his tour of the place and walked to stand
behind Kazuha, slightly to the side. His arm wrapped around Kazuha’s waist, chin resting on the
man’s shoulder. “Now that’s a view,” he mused.

“I can’t argue with that.”

Scaramouche glanced at Kazuha. “You don’t sound thrilled. Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing really,” Kazuha assured, leaning back against Scaramouche. “I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“About how it would feel to be down there instead,” Kazuha replied, directing his attention to the
lively streets below.

“You’ve never been?”

Kazuha shook his head. “All my visits here were business related. I never got the chance to enjoy
myself.”

Scaramouche hummed, looking down to where Kazuha’s eyes were fixed on. “We could always go
tomorrow,” he stated. “Spend a few hours walking around if you want.”

“Are you serious?”

The man in question shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“But will we get to Seirai and back in time if we go?”

“Who knows,” Scaramouche replied. “But if the trip ends up taking a bit longer I can always just
call in sick to work. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? We don’t have to.”

“I’m sure,” Scaramouche assured, his hand absentmindedly rubbing across Kazuha’s stomach,
occasionally slipping under the fabric of his t-shirt. “It’ll be fun. I haven’t been here in a while, but
I think I have some places you might like to visit. Hope you like arcades and parks.”

“I love them,” Kazuha uttered with glee. He turned his head to look at Scaramouche, his chest light
and smile wide. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. I guess it’s better than just driving past without stopping to have fun,” Scaramouche
stated. “Besides, I… I like it when you’re happy,” he added, the words almost inaudible with how
his voice dropped off in embarrassment.

Kazuha wanted to squish his cheeks and kiss him silly. He held himself back though, settling on a
short and sweet kiss. When he pulled away, he stayed close to Scaramouche, their eyes locked. The
urge to blurt out I love you became overwhelming, but just like with kissing Scaramouche
breathless, Kazuha stopped himself. He knew it was probably too soon to say it now, so he kept it
to himself for the time being.

“Thank you,” Kazuha uttered. “Really. It means a lot.”

Scaramouche looked to the side, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. “It’s nothing,” he muttered,
fingers playing with the hem of Kazuha’s t-shirt. “Anyway, I think I’m gonna take a bath.”

“Is that your round-about way of asking me to join? I’m sure the bathtub is big enough.”

“If you want…”

“I do.”
 ***

“Let’s see if these do anything,” Kazuha said, rummaging through his bag to pull out the box of
heat patches he bought for Scaramouche. “It might be better than taking pain killers all the time.”
He kneeled on the bed and patted the spot at the edge for Scaramouche to sit down.

Scaramouche walked over to the bed, tossing the towel around his neck to one of the armchairs on
his way. He then sat down, his back facing Kazuha. "They better work."

Kazuha pulled one out of the box and peeled off the film. "Where exactly do you want it?"

The man in question pointed to his left side. Kazuha then placed his hand flat against
Scaramouche’s shoulder.

"Tell me where," Kazuha said. His hand moved a round before Scaramouche let out a slight wince.
"Bingo." With that he was able to easily apply the heat patch to the point where his neck met his
shoulder. He made sure that it was stuck on firmly before he sat back. "How's that?"

Scaramouche rolled his neck and shoulder. "It still kind of hurts," he admitted. "But it's not that
bad. It's bearable."

The older man laid down on his back, his head ending up on Kazuha's lap. That couldn't have been
all that comfortable, but Scaramouche didn't seem like he wanted to change positions.

Kazuha looked down at the man on his lap, his hands going straight to his hair, still damp after
their shared bath.

Despite how that sounded, nothing happened. The most memorable thing which occurred during
the bath was when Kazuha straightened out his legs and ended up kicking Scaramouche in the
stomach. He felt so sorry about it, but Scaramouche didn't try to make it even. In the end, a kiss
was enough to make it better. Well, a few kisses.

Comfortable, Scaramouche let out a content sigh, relaxing where he lay. Kazuha continued running
his fingers through the mop of dark hair, finding an odd sense of comfort with their current
arrangement. He dipped down to press a brief kiss to the man’s forehead, heart going gooey at the
sight of the smile which formed on his face. There were no restraints to it, the glee seeping out
from it.

Though it hurt to think about, this could very well be something that Scaramouche wasn’t used to.
He did mention how his previous relationships went, so the chance of his experiencing simple
pleasures like this were crushingly low. But Kazuha couldn’t understand why. How was
Scaramouche deprived of this when he was so… him? It baffled Kazuha to no end.

“You like this?” Kazuha asked.

“Guess I do,” the older man replied. “Which is odd considering I hate when people touch my hair.”

“Haircuts must be painful for you then.”

“They are,” Scaramouche confirmed. “It’s also why I used to cut my own hair. It looked terrible,
but at least I didn’t have someone touching my hair.”

“I don’t think anyone actually likes getting their hair done,” Kazuha mused. “But I like the feel of
 this. Of having someone stroking my hair. It feels intimate, doesn’t it?”

Scaramouche hummed, looking right up so that he could get a sight of Kazuha. He observed for a
few short moments before speaking up. “I guess it is. But probably not as intimate as yanking it
during se- oww !”

Kazuha pulled on Scaramouche’s hair once he understood where he was going with it. The man
beneath him writhed and shielded his head, his glare pained and offended.

“Way to ruin such a sweet moment,” Kazuha said, not hurt at all - more so amused and playful.

“I was joking,” Scaramouche whined, sitting himself up and looking over his shoulder at Kazuha.
“You’re so violent.”

Kazuha laughed, scooting himself closer towards the older man. He promptly forced him to lay
back down on the bed before he climbed over him, legs either side of his waist. “And you’re so
perverse,” he countered. “Only one thing on your mind, huh?”

“That’s…” Scaramouche started but stopped once Kazuha’s palm traversed up his smooth chest, a
mischievous grin written across his face. “That’s not entirely a lie,” he mustered up. “But
something tells me you’re not any better.”

“And maybe you’re right.”

Chapter End Notes

Well hello again, how's everyone doing? Did everyone get their Ayato/Venti? Because
I got my beautiful hydro man AND his weapon, so now let's pray I win the 50/50 for
his sister. ANYWAY! As you might have noticed, I made this 6 chapters instead of 5,
and that is because the next chapter is gonna consist of Kazuscara basically going on a
date in Watatsumi and being gay and disgustingly in love. I was gonna have it
included very briefly and then just go to the ending of the fic, but I fear that that would
make the final chapter way too fucking long even when compared to chapter 3, so I
decided to just flesh the date out and make it it's own chapter. Hope y'all don't mind
waiting another 2 weeks to find out how this story ends.

Also, hehe, Scaramouche is so dumb. He really just used up his one request for a KISS
TT what a loser

Oh, and sorry for the cliff-hanger but I refuse to write smut again, so the funky times
are up to your imagination (yes this was the smut scene I mentioned in the notes of
chapter 3)

Well, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts and anything else! You can also
use my retrospring if you're too shy to comment!

Until next time!! <3

Twitter
Ask me anything!
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

“You have to treat this as a date.”

Chapter Notes

Let's goooooo! Here's the music!

Arcade - NCT DREAM

Sugar - KIM WOO SEOK
move - brb.
LOW LOW - TEN AND YANGYANG
Watermelon - LUCY
Paradise - LAYBRICKS
Heaven's Cloud - SEVENTEEN

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Upon waking up, Kazuha was greeted with Scaramouche buried against his chest, his arm slung
over Kazuha’s waist to keep him close. It was an absolutely adorable sight, especially with how at
peace Scaramouche looked in his sleep; the older man was already beautiful, but something about
how calm he was, his long eyelashes fanned across his cheek, lips gently parted, strands of hair
covering his forehead, made him look all that more stunning.

Kazuha smiled, shuffling himself closer all to press a kiss to Scaramouche’s forehead. He didn’t
want to wake him up - especially with how his neck pain always woke him up before Kazuha,
which thankfully wasn’t the case now. However, Scaramouche began to stir in his sleep, eyes
prying open with a grunt.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Kazuha said. “You good?”

Scaramouche replied with yet another grunt, limbs stiffening before he stretched out like a cat. He
muttered something that sounded like I’m good against Kazuha’s bare chest, leaving a kiss on the
spot afterwards.

“Did the heat patch help?”

“It worked wonders,” Scaramouche replied, voice fully audible now. “How long does it work for?”

“Around ten hours, I think. So, considering the time, it should stop working soon.”

“And so ends my pain relief for now,” Scaramouche mused. “Let’s hope it doesn’t start acting up
later today. I don’t really want to be suffering on our little outing. Speaking of which, you wanna
go to the large arcade or to the park first?”
A part of Kazuha expected to get up and learn that Scaramouche decided to change their plans for
one reason or another, but that didn’t happen. It was a stupid thing to think in the first place,
however Kazuha was used to last minute changes being made after having looked forward to
something; it had happened numerous times before with his boyfriend, so that wouldn’t have been
all that surprising. Yet Scaramouche kept his word, and Kazuha felt a pang of guilt at thinking
otherwise.

So, Kazuha was a bit taken aback by the question. Thankfully though, he did manage to regain his
senses soon enough for it to not be weird. “Arcade,” he replied.

“Cool,” Scaramouche uttered, rolling onto his back. “Might be less busy in the morning. It is rather
popular.”

“You’ve been?”

“A few times,” Scaramouche said, heaving himself up. “One of my co-workers is dating someone
from Watatsumi. She invites us over sometimes. Anyway, I’m gonna get ready. You should do the
same. I’m not waiting for you for long.”

“Aye aye, captain!”

***

When Scaramouche said arcade, Kazuha was expecting a decently sized, one floor area filled with
some crane machines, game tables and such. However, that was not what he got. Instead, the
arcade which Scaramouche took him to was gigantic, spanning three floors and an additional
underground level. It really was far and beyond any expectations Kazuha had, so he stood in front
of the building in awe once he saw it.

Inazuma City was the capital of Inazuma, so it wasn’t like it didn’t have things like this. But
Inazuma City was more catered towards business than pleasure, so other than a few nightlife
districts scattered around the place, there really wasn’t that much to do unless you wanted to get
drunk or party. On the other hand, Watatsumi was where everyone went to have fun. It was a mix
of modern thrills and traditional retreats, its entire economy relying solely on its tourism sector.

Kazuha never thought that the tourist attractions were this impressive though.

The interior of the arcade was even more remarkable than the large exterior. It was a bombardment
to the senses with the bright, flickering neon lights everywhere, the loud sounds of clinking and
music and people everywhere. Kazuha thought at first that it would get overwhelming within
minutes, but, if anything, it made him want to stay longer.

From the signs around the place, Kazuha learned that each floor was dedicated to something else.
The underground floor contained bowling alleys, pool tables, closed off table tennis rooms and a
bar and restaurant. The ground floor was for the claw and gacha machines as well as some pinball
machines. Above that were the coin operated games, such as air hockey, simulation games, VR,
shooters, racing games and such. Finally, the third floor contained another bar and restaurant
alongside some more pool tables and claw machines. That was probably the floor for the tired
parents to go to whilst their kids went wild.

So, it was safe to say that they were spoiled for choice.
“We should go bowling,” Kazuha suggested. “At least one game.”

“You’re up for a challenge first thing in the morning? I see,” Scaramouche mused, already making
his way down to the escalator leading down.

Kazuha followed after Scaramouche, looping their arms together with one swift movement. The
older man wasn’t expecting that, momentarily going tense at first before loosening up again.
Scaramouche then proceeded to pull Kazuha closer, much to the younger man’s pleasure. He loved
the feeling of being shoulder to shoulder, side to side with Scaramouche; it was nice - different
from how it felt when his boyfriend would hold him by the waist, as if he was showing him off to
everyone. With Scaramouche, it felt more as if the man just wanted him by his side - nothing more
than that.

“What, are you scared I’m gonna beat you?”

Scaramouche scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. If anything, you’re the one that should be worried.”

“Oh?” Kazuha uttered, laughing at that. “Someone sure sounds cocky. Can’t wait to make you eat
your own words.”

“The only one that sounds cocky is you,” Scaramouche pointed out, pulling Kazuha after him once
they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“So you think you can beat me?”

“I know I can beat you,” Scaramouche corrected.

Kazuha huffed. Now this was clearly a challenge.

“Then how about a bet?” Kazuha proposed on the short walk to the bowling alley reception.
“Winner decides what the loser has to do. But to make it fair, let’s say the request has to be made
within the arcade? It also has to be fulfilled in the arcade.”

“Fine by me,” Scaramouche agreed. “But just remember, this was your own doing.”

Kazuha leaned closer to Scaramouche, eyes locked as he dug his finger into Scaramouche’s chest.
“Bring it on, pretty boy.”

“I think that’s my line.”

Once the bet was made, Scaramouche booked them a lane for three games. Originally they wanted
one but then Kazuha said playing the best of three would be better for their little competition.
Besides, with only the two of them playing, it wouldn’t take them much longer than an hour. And
so, Scaramouche agreed.

The bowling alley wasn’t that busy, but that much was expected from the day and time. Even
during summer, people had things to do on weekdays, even more so in the early hours of the day.

“You’re first,” Scaramouche said, pointing at the name displayed on the screen above them. “Make
it a good one. Or don’t. Either way, you’re not walking out here a winner.”

“Oh I am so gonna beat your ass at this.”

“Be my guest,” Scaramouche said, amused.

Kazuha went to grab a bowling ball. He was careful with his decision, picking one that wasn’t too
heavy nor to light. Once he found the ideal ball for him, he picked it up and approached the lane.
Giving himself a few seconds to steady his breath and get adjusted to the weight of the ball in his
hold, he swung his arm back to get momentum, his legs moving alongside him, and then finally
propelled the ball forward down the wooden lane.

The ball rolled down at a commendable speed, its trajectory fine. However, the closer it got to the
end, the more it began to drift to the left before it ultimately ended up striking down seven pins.
For a first throw it wasn’t that bad.

Scaramouche’s expression was unreadable which only managed to tick Kazuha off because it was
so obvious that he found the situation hilarious.

“Don’t say anything,” Kazuha grumbled, picking up the next ball.

“I didn’t say anything, sweetheart.”

Kazuha pouted and went back to the start of the line. He threw once more and managed to hit two
more pins. Nine was good. He wasn’t going to end up a loser. No, he would win and prove
Scaramouche wrong. God did he want to prove the man wrong and wipe that cocky smirk off his
face.

“Not bad,” Scaramouche commented as he pushed himself up from the leather seats by their lane.
“Now it’s my turn.”

Scaramouche grabbed a green ball and walked up casually to throw it. He didn’t give it all that
much thought before he swung his arm and tossed it down. From the get-go it didn’t look like it
would end up doing much, however when Scaramouche turned around and went to sit down as if
he was sure he had gotten a strike, Kazuha noticed that the ball went right down the middle.

Just like that, all ten pins were down.

“Your turn,” Scaramouche pointed out sweetly.

Kazuha felt like he might have been tricked into making a deal with the devil himself.

At first it seemed like it was a fluke. After all, Scaramouche ended up only getting eight on his
next go. However, it was far from a stroke of luck on Scaramouche’s part. The older man was
consistent, going as far as to even get three strikes in a row later on in their first game. Never in his
life had Kazuha felt more cheated and bamboozled than in that bowling match with Scaramouche.

Kazuha lost the first game by a whopping thirty points. In the grand scheme of things, it could
have gone significantly worse, but it also wasn’t a good sign. Scaramouche just had to win one
more game and Kazuha would have to do his bidding, per the terms of the bet he himself set in
place.

“One, zero,” Scaramouche commented, looking at the scoreboard with a grin. “Things are
currently in my favour, too.”

“This feels unfair,” Kazuha whined, arms folded over his chest.

Scaramouche chuckled, scooting over to Kazuha’s side on the leather seats. “It’s fair and square. I
told you you’d regret betting against me.”

Kazuha pouted, glancing over at Scaramouche. “Do you play bowling professionally or
something?”
“No, but I was on a bowling team for a while,” the older man stated.

“What?” That revelation shocked Kazuha. Scaramouche didn’t look like the type of person to
actually do that, and the fact that he did in fact play with a team made him all the more curious.
“No fucking way. Explain.”

The older man shook his head in amusement, leaning back in his seat. “It’s nothing that big really,”
he began, looking at the message on the screen to throw the ball to begin the next game. “I was
doing a favour for a friend from work. There was this bowling competition with a nice cash prize.
She was kind of short on money so she joined, but she needed a team. In the end I got roped into
it.”

“But you were already good at bowling, right?”

“Eh… I wouldn’t exactly say good,” Scaramouche replied. “Sure, I was decent and occasionally
got a strike or two if I was lucky. However, with how things were going I decided to practice a bit.
In the end, we did win. But to be fair, it was a beginners level competition.”

“Oh wow… that’s kinda sweet of you,” Kazuha commented. “Doing all that for a friend.”

Scaramouche shrugged. “I guess… Either way, it left me with enough bowling knowledge to beat
your sorry ass. So go on, don’t deny the inevitable and go bowl.”

***

To nobody’s surprise, Kazuha lost. All three games to be precise. They played to the best of three,
so that final game felt humiliating. Though, it wasn’t all that bad since Scaramouche decided to
show some mercy on Kazuha; he ended up giving a few helpful tips to the younger man, showing
him a few of the techniques he learned when he himself had to get ready for the competition. With
those, Kazuha was able to get three strikes fairly easily.

Those three strikes felt amazing, and after each one he hurried over to Scaramouche to give him a
kiss out of happiness. Scaramouche didn’t complain, gripping onto the fabric of Kazuha’s t-shirt to
keep their lips pressed just that bit longer.

But still, a bet was a bet.

“Lay it on me,” Kazuha said, eyes closed and arms open in defeat. “What’s it gonna be?”

Scaramouche hummed, pondering over what he could get Kazuha to do for him. “I’ll be honest, I
haven’t actually thought about this.”

Kazuha laughed. “Seriously? You had the win secured from the start, but you really didn’t even
consider what you wanted?”

“No, not really,” Scaramouche admitted. “Did you?”

“Oh I definitely thought about it,” Kazuha stated. “It would be something humiliating. I wanted to
see you embarrassed .”

Scaramouche stared at Kazuha in disbelief. “Oh wow,” he muttered to himself. “I sure know how
to pick them.”

“Strong-willed?”

“Crazy,” Scaramouche corrected, resulting in a laugh from Kazuha.

“Okay, but pick something. Oh! I know! I could blow you in the bathroom,” Kazuha suggested
with mirth in his voice. “I’ve never done that. It could be fun, right? Get the adrenaline pumping.
Should we do that?”

Scaramouche looked like his wires were fried, brain malfunctioning. It took him a second to
process Kazuha’s words before his face turned bright red. “N-no! We’re not doing that.”

“You hesitated,” Kazuha pointed out, voice edging on the point of mischief. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Scaramouche replied. “My god, you’re unbelievable.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The older man sighed. “Just… How about you have to…” Scaramouche clicked his tongue, still
thinking of what to say. Then it hit him. “You have to treat this as a date.”

Kazuha’s mouth parted in bewilderment. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Is- is that your
request?”

Scaramouche nodded.

“Well, I have to say, it’s pretty shit,” Kazuha stated. Before Scaramouche could say anything, he
continued. “You know, considering the fact I already thought this was a date and all. But okay,
makes things easier for me,” he chirped happily, leaning forward to press a kiss to the corner of
Scaramouche’s lips. “Now, where should we go next?”

Scaramouche looked like the operating system in his head just crashed.

And by god was Kazuha in love with him. Absolutely, a hundred percent smitten.

***

“You alone are gonna pay the bills for this place,” Scaramouche stated as he hovered behind
Kazuha, watching as the younger man once again failed to pick up a cute plushie from the crane
machine. “At what point will you admit defeat?”

“The word defeat is not in my lexicon,” Kazuha said, his attention fully invested on operating the
wobbly crane. “It’s gotta give sooner or later.”

“You said that ten tries ago,” the older man pointed out. “I just think it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Nonsense, Kaedehara Kazuha is no quitter! I’ll get this at all costs.”

Scaramouche sighed. He looked at Kazuha, back hunched and face close to the clear screen, and he
knew he had to put an end to this madness. “At least let me try. You’re gonna give yourself carpal
tunnel with all that repeated button mashing.”
“Just one more try.”

“Kazuha...”

“ Fine! You go then,” Kazuha said with an unpleasant whine. “What, are you a god at crane games
too?”

“No,” Scaramouche replied honestly. “But I think I have a more level head than you right now.
What this needs is precision.”

“Oh yeah? Go ahead then. Show me your precision.”

Kazuha stepped aside to let Scaramouche take control of the crane. He inched the claw towards the
plushie Kazuha had been desperately trying to get for the past… Scaramouche didn’t even want to
think about how long they had been standing at this one machine at that point. Carefully,
Scaramouche guided it so that the claw could grab onto the largest part of the plush body before
finally lowering it down.

The movement was agonisingly slow now that Scaramouche was at the helm. It looked like it was
going to work though, and that was all that mattered.

However, just like Kazuha had failed, so did Scaramouche.

The claw grabbed onto the plush, but when it was going back up all the strength that it had
disappeared and the plushie fell out.

“Bullshit!” Scaramouche exclaimed. “This is rigged. That claw couldn’t even lift a leaf!”

And just like that, Scaramouche tried again.

And again.

And then once more.

Kazuha stood right by him, their heads and shoulders bumping together as they continued their
never ending attempts for the plushie. Kazuha started insulting the weak claw, and even
Scaramouche joined in every time he failed to pick up the prize.

After a few more tries though, a miracle finally occurred. The claw finally regained its strength and
lifted the plushie, carrying it over to the shoot where it was dropped.

Kazuha cheered, his hands up in the air in celebration. “You did it!”

“I sure did,” Scaramouche affirmed, not feeling as proud as he should have been considering the
hell that the machine put him through. He managed to lose his temper to a stupid arcade game, so
feeling smug was out of the picture for now.

Kazuha pecked Scaramouche on the cheek before he reached to grab the prize. It was a silly
plushie of an angry looking squid - one of those that were reversible and had another expression on
the inside, but larger than the ones Scaramouche had seen.

“There, you finally have your stupid plushie,” Scaramouche said. “You could have probably
bought one online for less money than you spent on the machine.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all about how I got it,” Kazuha pointed out.
“Why were you even so desperate to get it?” Scaramouche looked at the soft toy, scrutinising it
with his gaze.

Kazuha knew that it was cheap and maybe a bit tacky, but he still really wanted it. It really was so
childish to want something as simple as this, but Kazuha never really had plushies. Of course, he
did have teddy bears and such, but those were all expensive gifts from his childhood. Once he got
older, his parents would ridicule him if he ever brought home anything as shabby as his newly
acquired toy. It wasn’t proper, or it was embarrassing. He should act his age and status. That was
what he was always told.

His parents would probably freak out over Kazuha even daring to buy - not even wear - the clothes
he got back at the roadside tourist attraction. But they weren’t here now to see him. And even if
they were, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop Kazuha.

Kazuha shrugged, looking down at the plushie in his hold. It looked angry but cute at the same
time. The colour also reminded Kazuha of someone he knew - someone that was standing right by
him, shoulders brushing together.

“It looks like you,” Kazuha said, looking up at Scaramouche with a mirthful smile. “Don’t you
think?” He showed the prize off, watching as Scaramouche comprehended his comment, in the end
laughing at the offended scoff from the older man. “Oh come on, it’s cute! Just like you,” he sang,
looping his arm with Scaramouche, his hand trailing down until their hands brushed together and
finally locked.

“What’s on the other side?”

Kazuha looked at it, lips puckered in thought. He could flip it over, but that would also mean
letting go of Scaramouche’s hand (which was something he really didn’t want to do, mind you).
Luckily though, the little paper card attached to one of the tentacles had the reverse side printed on
it. He showed it to Scaramouche who then proceeded to look between it and Kazuha. His nostrils
flared with amusement, head shaking.

“Well, the other side looks just like you.”

“You think so?”

Scaramouche nodded. “I’d recognise those dreadful puppy eyes anywhere.”

***

“How many more gacha machines do you think we can raid before we run out of space to hold our
shit?” Kazuha asked, lifting up the plastic bag he grabbed from one of the dispensers near the
entrance to the gacha machine heaven (or hell).

The bag was practically full of small plastic capsules with a random assortment of prizes, be it
keychains or stickers or little figurines. Scaramouche also had one, though that bag was bigger and
held the prizes from claw machines. Those mainly consisted of plushies and larger figures that
Scaramouche - though Kazuha did end up getting one or two without any help - managed to snag
for himself.

“Now knowing you have a serious gacha problem? I’d say just one will be enough,” Scaramouche
replied.

Kazuha may have gotten a bit out of hand at the small machines, hooked on the feeling of putting
in a coin and getting a small ball of wonders in return. It may have gotten a bit out of control
considering just how much shit he collected from them. Still, Scaramouche did get a hold of him,
pulling him away before he spent all his fortune on cheap plastic toys.

“Yeah,” Kazuha agreed with an airy chuckle. “Maybe we should leave this floor before I develop a
nasty habit. Hmm?”

“I’m more than happy to do that,” Scaramouche stated. “I’m sick and tired of claw machines at this
point. They’re gonna haunt me in my nightmares, I’m telling you.”

Kazuha laughed, swinging their joined hands together as they walked. They made their way over to
the escalator going up. He hopped onto one of the stairs, standing taller than Scaramouche now.

“After this, let’s go get something to eat, yeah?”

“From the restaurant upstairs, or are you thinking of something fancier?” Scaramouche asked, his
thumb stroking the back of Kazuha’s hand.

“Anything’s fine. Even shitty fast food I’ll regret in the morning.”

“Not when we have a long drive still ahead of us,” Scaramouche said. “Then let’s go somewhere
nice. My treat this time.”

“Oh? Aren’t you gonna milk your cash cow for this?” Kazuha asked, leaning down to press his
forehead against Scaramouche’s. “My, my. You’re such a gentleman.”

“One of us has to be.”

Kazuha snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, how about I blow you in the bathroom? ” Scaramouche repeated mockingly.

At that, Kazuha laughed. “Oh come on! I was such a gentleman with that one.”

Scaramouche shook his head, a humoured tint to his lips. “Yeah, sure you were. Now watch out,
we’re at the top.”

***

Kazuha was - for a lack of better words - hopeless at arcade games. With the claw machines he
could blame the actual machines that were purposefully shit so bleed players dry, stealing their
money with fake promises of things getting better if they just tried one more time. No, this time
Kazuha had to just admit he was bad.

Shooting games? Dreadful. Kazuha couldn’t aim even if his life depended on it, losing the game
humiliatingly fast which only made Scaramouche tease him as he himself racked up points second
by second, earning them so many tickets for the shop that Kazuha began to wonder if Scaramouche
had some actual experience with the real thing.
VR? Oh, Kazuha felt like he was going to be sick. The big rides that you had to enter were fine,
though Kazuha was still terrible at the actual game involved. However, putting on one of the
headsets and having to play some flashy game with controllers that felt odd in his grip was where
he started to feel like he could barf on Scaramouche at any given moment. He was disorientated,
eyes completely unacquainted with the close proximity of the displays. The weight of the thing and
the wires also didn’t help with the nausea bubbling in the pit of his stomach, so Kazuha threw in
the towel and let Scaramouche enjoy that by himself.

At least it was entertaining to watch the older man move around and wave his hands at nonexistent
objects.

Racing games? Though one of the things he was better at, he still felt like a toddler having to ride
on a motorcycle. The car ones were fine since all he had to do was steer a wheel and hope that the
AI or Scaramouche weren’t about to ram into him or somehow fuck him with a special item that
would make him spin out of control. But the ones where he had to ride a bike? Kazuha didn’t even
want to speak about those.

Having to move side to side and remind himself that he wasn’t about to fall off, topple down to the
ground and embarrass himself in front of everyone and Scaramouche, wasn’t by any means fun.
Still, at least he managed to get second place on one of their last tries.

DDR? Oh that was fun, but also an utter mess. Though, much to Kazuha’s relief, Scaramouche was
just as bad as him. The older man had two left legs and a dreadful sense of rhythm, missing the
timing ninety percent of the time. Kazuha was better but he still was far from good. All the moving
around left him winded and weak, looking like he had just ran a marathon and not danced around
for a bit.

Carnival games like basketball free throw and skee ball were probably the only things he was
actually fine at. He managed to get a fair amount of tickets at those, even winning against
Scaramouche more often than not.

“Who would have thought that you’re actually good at this,” Scaramouche mused, leaning against
the encased basketball hoop as Kazuha waited for the machine to spit out his winning tickets. “You
play?”

“No,” Kazuha replied. “But my boyfriend was on the high-school team so he taught me a few
things here and there. Though he also did it with the cheerleaders, and honestly any other girl that
wanted to try so I guess that doesn't make me all that special. Still, I know a thing or two."

“Right…” Scaramouche uttered, looking down at his shoes. He kicked at the carpeted floor, his
rather cheerful expression turning sour at the comment.

Kazuha knew he fucked up. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, standing up straight as the game continued
to slowly churn out his tickets. “I guess I shouldn’t call him that anymore. It’s just a habit.”

“It’s not just that,” Scaramouche stated, looking straight at Kazuha. He expected to maybe see
some jealousy behind those deep, navy eyes. However, what Kazuha saw wasn’t jealousy, but hurt.
“I- I hate when you bring him up,” the older man admitted.

“I’m s-”

“Let me finish,” Scaramouche interrupted, pushing himself away from the machine to stand closer
to Kazuha. “I don’t hate it because I’m… jealous, or afraid that you’re imagining here instead of
me. That’s not it,” he affirmed. “It’s the fact that every time you say something about him, or you
even just think of him, you just- you just get this look in your eyes and I… I just want to fucking
punch that guy.”

“Y- what?” Kazuha wasn’t expecting to hear that out of all the possible things.

“I wanna punch him,” Scaramouche repeated. “You just look so sad and I- I- I don’t know the guy
but I know all I need to know about how he’s treated you. And listen, I know I’m no saint and I’m
far from the best man around, but I know an asshole when I see them - or when I see what they’ve
done. So… can you try to forget about him?”

Kazuha was left speechless. He brought his hands to his chest, picking at the skin around his nails,
fighting off the very strong urge to cry.

Because he wanted to cry. Right there, in the middle of the arcade, Kazuha felt his throat constrict
uncomfortably. What was he even supposed to say to all of that?

“Actually, you know what: I’m sorry,” Scaramouche said. “I probably shouldn’t have said… well,
what I said. Sorry. But I… Yeah, sorry.”

Did Kazuha really look that sad that even Scaramouch noticed it? Was it so obvious that the older
man could tell when he was thinking of his boyfriend? Was it really that bad?

Maybe it was.

Maybe Kazuha really was that miserable around the topic of his boyfriend. He just got really good
at pretending that he wasn’t.

Kazuha exhaled, biting down harshly on his bottom lip until it stung, feeling like it was close to
drawing blood. His eyes were transfixed on the funky pattern on the carpet, the edges of the
colourful shapes slowly beginning to blur the longer he stared at them.

“I… I want to- to not think about him,” Kazuha admitted. “I really do. But it just- he’s just there,”
he added with a forced, airy laugh. He finally dragged his eyes back up to Scaramouche, the man
looking at him with concern. The hot, salty tears welling behind his eyes made it harder to see him,
but the expression was clear enough to Kazuha.

“I’m sorry,” Scaramouche uttered, slowly moving in to wrap his arms around Kazuha and pull him
in for an embrace. Kazuha buried his face in the crook of Scaramouche’s neck, eyes falling shut as
Scaramouche’s scent and body heat enveloped him like a warm blanket. “I probably shouldn’t have
brought it up,” he continued, gently stroking Kazuha’s hair.

“No,” Kazuha mumbled. “It’s fine,” he assured, fingers tightly clinging onto the fabric of
Scaramouche’s denim jacket. “It’s fine.”

It was fine.

It was fine because Scaramouche wasn’t the same as his boyfriend - his ex-boyfriend. Kazuha
really needed to finally cross out their relationship; there was nothing left to cling onto or
remember pleasantly - not when it was more often than not a mere façade.

Scaramouche was right, and no matter how hard Kazuha tried to deny that his relationship was
anything but good, the lie could only last so long. The house of cards would have to topple sooner
or later, and it seemed as if that moment had finally arrived.

It took so much convincing on Kazuha’s side to fool himself into thinking that the relationship he
had been in since he was sixteen was something more than a ploy for approval and attention. It was
a relationship of convenience built on a cracked foundation and held up by a rotten skeleton.
Kazuha went in searching for approval and at least some affection, and though he did like his ex at
first, he was never in love.

Kazuha had to lie to himself that the man he was with didn’t only get with him for the clout or the
money he could marry into; he had to tell himself that he was just being nice to the girls he talked
to and not that he was sleeping with them behind Kazuha’s back; he had to kid himself into
believing that the trips they went on together weren’t merely a means of satisfying Kazuha when
their relationship got bumpy and uneasy; and he had to smile and act like being paraded around like
a prize at the man’s side didn’t make him feel sick to the stomach.

But now, Kazuha didn’t have to feed the lie any longer. As much as it pained him once it all came
crashing down, it did make him feel like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Was the middle of an arcade the ideal place for the revelation to occur? No. But Kazuha was happy
that he was free now. He was happy that he didn’t have to lie to himself any more.

Scaramouche pressed a kiss to the crown of Kazuha’s head, the simple act causing more tears to
spill out of Kazuha.

This was love. He knew that much for sure.

Kazuha slowly began to pull away, wiping the wetness from his eyes with the back of his hand. He
let out a choked laugh, his vision blurry. He probably looked like a mess right now, but that didn’t
matter with Scaramouche around. “Wow,” he uttered, more airy laughter passing his parted lips. “I
haven’t cried in a while. Damn, I didn’t expect to have an impromptu therapy session in an arcade.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

Kazuha shook his head. “Don’t. You were right; my ex was a prick, no matter how much I tried to
fool myself and others into thinking otherwise. But that’s in the past now. I’ll try not to mention
him from now on.”

“If you do mention him, all you’re doing is giving me more motives to fight him.”

Kazuha laughed. “I’d love to see you try. He’s got the height and muscle advantage on you.”

“That won’t matter if I kick him in the balls.”

“Playing dirty?”

“Always.”

***

After playing a few more games and garnering more tickets, the two men were ready to move on
with their day. They collected all their tickets and started making their way to the prize redemption
point, their hands joined in between as they walked, carrying all their other prizes in their free
hands. The plastic handles did dig into Kazuha’s fingers but he really didn’t want to let go of
Scaramouche, so he had to deal with the inconvenient pain for the time being.
On the way to their destination, Kazuha spotted a photo booth. He instantly stopped walking,
standing frozen in place.

“What is it?”

Kazuha pointed to the booth, eyes glimmering like a kid at Christmas. “Can we?”

Scaramouche looked at what Kazuha was referring to and gave him a small nod. “Sure. Might as
well.”

They steered off their path and headed to the photo booth. Kazuha pushed the curtain back, happily
sitting on the bench inside and scooting to the other end to give Scaramouche some room. He
placed his bag of miscellaneous prizes on the floor in between his legs, body leaning forward to
fiddle around with the setting and special effects on offer.

Scaramouche took his place beside Kazuha, sitting back as he let the younger man do whatever he
wanted to.

"There's so many filters here," Kazuha uttered in surprise. "They're so cute!" As he exclaimed that,
he also pressed on the option which gave him and Scaramouche cat ears.

The older man grimaced at the sight and Kazuha laughed at how ridiculous he looked. To be fair
though, he himself didn't look all that good either with the addition of furry cat ears sticking out of
his head.

"Okay, maybe not that," Kazuha mused. He then proceeded to click through multiple effects,
stickers and filters that they could possibly use. Not all of them were bad, some even pretty cool in
Kazuha’s eyes. But still, Kazuha couldn't find anything he actually wanted to use.

"Do we need a filter?" Scaramouche asked, arms folded over his chest, gaze directed at Kazuha. "If
you really want to use stickers then I'm sure you can decorate the pictures afterwards with all the
stickers you got from those gacha machines."

That wasn't that bad of a suggestion on Scaramouche’s part.

Kazuha turned to the touch screen and removed all the effects applied to them. What he was left
with was a plain reflection of himself and Scaramouche sitting side by side.

Scaramouche looked handsome, embroidered jean jacket over a simple black t-shirt. His hair was
tousled and messed up from constantly taking his baseball cap on and off, in the end resulting in
him shoving the item into the plastic bag he was carrying around.

Kazuha thought that Scaramouche looked stunning as it was, but something about seeing it through
a screen made him realise just how true that was.

Maybe it wasn't a bright idea to ruin it with filters and stickers.

"Okay, just a simple photo then," Kazuha declared. "Four pictures. Let's try to do something
different in each one."

"Fine by me."

Kazuha clicked through the menu and confirmed what he wanted. That finally started the timer.

"For the first one let's… hmm…"

Amidst his thought process the camera snapped a picture, much to Kazuha’s surprise. And so, the
image captured ended up being nothing more than Kazuha pondering, lips pursed as he held his
chin between his thumb and index finger. Next to him, Scaramouche had been looking at him,
waiting for Kazuha to say something.

"Seriously? How?"

Kazuha looked at the screen in disbelief, the next countdown going down without giving him a
chance to comprehend how fast it was moving.

Scaramouche started to snicker, the sound only getting louder and more amused the longer Kazuha
struggled to move on from the betrayal of the machine. In the end he was laughing heartily, his
smile emitting such a pleasant and bright aura that it made Kazuha feel marginally better about the
ruined initial photo.

Snap.

And yet another picture was taken, this time with Scaramouche laughing at Kazuha whose eyes
were wide and mouth parted.

"Oh come on! I look so stupid in that one."

"So nothing new," Scaramouche teased. "Now stop whining and pose for the camera unless you
want another stupid picture of yourself."

Kazuha exhaled and moved himself to sit closer to Scaramouche. "We're making things even," he
muttered before reaching for Scaramouche’s face, squeezing the man’s cheeks together so that his
lips were puckered like a fish. "Cheese!" Kazuha threw up a peace sign as soon as he saw the
countdown get to one, holding the pose until the screen went white when the photograph was
taken.

"Well that was unnecessary," Scaramouche commented, freeing himself from Kazuha’s hand.
"You're such a gremlin," he huffed, rolling his eyes at the sight of the small image to the side of the
screen which showed the pictures taken so far.

"I know I am," Kazuha said, pushing his face closer to Scaramouche’s. "But you wanna kiss this
gremlin so bad it makes you look stupid."

Scaramouche couldn't deny that. Instead, he did exactly what Kazuha said: he kissed him.

The older man suddenly closed the distance between their lips, drawing out a surprised gasp from
Kazuha. One of his hands held Kazuha’s jaw, bringing him in and tilting his head just right so that
they wouldn’t bump noses whilst the other one pulled on the fabric of his top, twisting his body so
that he would be more comfortable.

After the initial shock wore off, Kazuha was more than happy to kiss Scaramouche back. He parted
his lips, tongue lapping across Scaramouche’s bottom one to ask for permission. There was no
need to wait before Scaramouche deepened the kiss, licking ardently into the pleasant warmth of
Kazuha’s mouth.

Kazuha felt himself get lost in the exchange, his heart fluttering giddily, his lips curving up to
smile into the kiss. It made him feel weightless, and he sought that feeling so much that he feared it
would drive him crazy. He wanted to swing his leg over Scaramouche, straddling the man to feel
even closer, all so that he could kiss and kiss and kiss until his lips ached and he ran out of oxygen.
Kazuha wanted to experience this day by day until the very end, because how else could he cope
now that he knew this mind boggling sensation?

The only reason Kazuha stopped was due to Scaramouche pulling away, cheeks rosy, lips slick
with spit, breathing unsteady. “Let’s stop it here,” he suggested with a faint chuckle. “Or I might
have to take you up on that offer from earlier.”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind,” Scaramouche replied. He turned to look at the screen, shrugging at the sight. “Not
too bad.”

Kazuha glanced at the images displayed. They weren’t bad indeed. Sure, the first two were a mess,
but they had charm - especially the second one with how it managed to perfectly capture
Scaramouche’s genuine laugh. The sight of it made Kazuha’s stomach flutter; he could practically
hear the sound coming from the frame, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You want these? Or do you want to go again?”

“I think these are great,” Kazuha replied with a smile.

“Great, let’s get them then.”

And so Kazuha slipped in the coins required for the machine to print the photo strips. There was
one for Scaramouche and one for Kazuha to keep. Kazuha also selected the option to email the
pictures to himself since he really wanted a clearer version of them for the future.

Once the strips were printed, Kazuha slipped his into the back of his clear phone case, not caring if
it gott in the way of his camera. Scaramouche placed it in his wallet, not having anywhere else to
store the strip.

With that detour out of the way, the men went back to their initial goal. The ticket redemption and
exchange station had quite a lot of possible rewards to choose from, ranging from stickers and
sweets up to gadgets and rather expensive looking toys. But before they chose what they wanted,
Scaramouche fed all the tickets they earned collectively into one of the machines nearby.

“Oh damn,” Kazuha muttered. “That’s a shit tonne of tickets. Think we can get the most expensive
prize?”

“I’m pretty sure we’d need at least one more zero for that,” Scaramouche replied.

To check, Kazuha walked over to the display with all the prizes. Just like Scaramouche said, they
were off by a couple hundred tickets. They could probably manage to win enough if they went
back and played a few games, but it didn’t seem all that worth it. So, Kazuha looked around at
what else was available to them.

There were drones within their price range, some sort of music player, a decent looking headset,
and so on. However, what Kazuha’s eyes became glued on was the polaroid camera amidst the
more flashy rewards. For one reason or another, Kazuha never got one despite always wanting one.
There was just something so appealing to him about capturing a moment without the ability to redo
the picture; the moment printed could be messy or blurry, but it would be honest.

“What do you want then?” Scaramouche asked, finding himself standing behind Kazuha, chin
propped on the younger man’s shoulder, arms snaking around his middle.

“The camera,” Kazuha stated, pointing to it.

Scaramouche hummed. “It looks nice,” he commented. “What else? We’ll still have a few left
over.”

“Up to you.”

“In that case… I’ll get the mouse,” Scaramouche said. “It’s probably shit but I need a new one.”

With that settled then, they went to redeem their tickets. In the end they still had some more left so
they grabbed a pack of cards and a few sweets to use up all of their earned tickets. Finally, they
were done with the arcade and Kazuha was fully satisfied.

“I have to say, this was the best date I’ve ever been on,” Kazuha declared. “And it’s not even over
yet. Food and then the park you mentioned?”

“Yup,” Scaramouche affirmed. “But first, let’s put all these prizes in the car.”

***

The food they got consisted of a large burger with loaded fries for Kazuha and a huge bowl of
carbonara for Scaramouche. It was a rather nice restaurant with decent prices which is why Kazuha
settled for it in the end; Scaramouche was adamant about paying for their meal this time, so
Kazuha didn’t want to drag him somewhere that either looked to cheap as to not offend
Scaramouche, or to a place that would bleed the older man dry of his money. The one they ended
up going to was just right.

Kazuha was more than happy with his meal and was even considering getting desserts, however
Scaramouche stopped him before. He didn’t elaborate as to why and Kazuha didn’t ask, but it all
made sense once they headed over to the park Scaramouche mentioned.

A minute into the park there was a small building with a few benches surrounding it. Scaramouche
started to drag Kazuha there and so the younger man followed after him, confused but excited.

Much to his surprise and elation, the booth sold ice-cream.

“This might honestly be the best ice-cream I’ve ever had,” Scaramouche stated. “Not sure about
you though. But still, it's worth a shot.”

Kazuha took in the variety of flavours on offer. He honestly didn’t even know where to start since
there were just so many to choose from. “Oh god… I don’t know what to get. Any
recommendations?”

“They’re all great, plus you can always get like three scoops if you really can’t pick.”

“Hmm… what are you getting then?”

“Mango and green tea.”

“Then I’ll go for… bubblegum and cherry. I don’t think I can fit a third scoop,” Kazuha stated,
patting his stomach.

“Cone or tub?”
“Cone.”

With that settled, Scaramouche went to buy the ice-cream.

And he was right, it was probably the best ice-cream Kazuha ever had, but that might have also
had something to do with the company he was with. That and the fact that Kazuha was on the best
date he ever had.

***

Strolling through the large, open park was far more fun than Kazuha expected it to be. The
atmosphere of walking along paved pathways, large trees surrounding them and offering shade
from the summer sun was straight out of a fairytale. Kazuha felt like he could discover so many
nooks and crannies hidden away by dirt paths and thick trees and bushes if he just had the time for
it.

Kazuha did run off a few times when something piqued his interest, leaving Scaramouche to try
and find him afterwards. Most of the time the younger man ended up at a small pond, one of which
had a little island in the middle he got to by jumping on rocks peeking out from under the still
water. When he got to the middle and Scaramouche found him, Kazuha called for the man to come
join him. Scaramouche grumbled but he did try, only to wobble on the rocks in fear of falling into
the water.

In the end, Scaramouche did end up making it to Kazuha. As a prize, Kazuha gave him a kiss on
the cheek before rushing off the island, leaving Scaramouche to gripe and protest at the betrayal.

So, all in all, Kazuha had a blast. He loved the scenery, the calmness of it all. He basked in nature's
sounds - the chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects flying around, the gentle breeze dancing
through blades of grass and through tree branches. It all made Kazuha feel at peace, like this was
where he was meant to be, not in a busy city where the normal noise of life left him feeling tired
and deprived of something greater. There were no responsibilities here, only the natural state of
things.

If only things could always be like that.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Scaramouche mused, his fingers locked with Kazuha’s,
hands gently swaying in between them. “Next thing I know, you’re gonna be putting up a tent and
refusing to leave.”

Kazuha chuckled, nodding in agreement. “I wouldn’t mind that, honestly. But I know we have to
go soon. How much longer do we have before we need to go?”

“Ideally we would have left two hours ago,” Scaramouche stated.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

The older man shrugged, a faint smile written across his face. “You were having fun. That’s all.”

“But-”

“It’s fine,” Scaramouche assured. “We’ll just have to switch in the worst case scenario. Though I
 don’t really want you at the wheel if I’m being totally honest.”

“Why? I drove us to safety before,” Kazuha pointed out.

“You have,” Scaramouche admitted. “But Tsurumi is not a fun place to drive through. It tends to be
very foggy, the paths get narrow and bumpy, and it’s just creepy in general. If you’ve never driven
there before it’s dangerous. So, I’ll do the driving. I’ll just get some coffee or energy drinks for
when I get tired.”

“We can always stay one more night,” Kazuha suggested, stopping where he stood, arm extended
as Scaramouche still walked. “I don’t want you to have just power your way through. I- I’m sorry,”
he uttered, hanging his head. “It’s my fault.”

Scaramouche sighed, taking a few steps back to Kazuha. “Hey, it’s not your fault,” he assured,
lifting Kazuha’s chin up, their eyes meeting. “If anything, I’m the culprit. I guess I wanted to see
you happy.”

Kazuha's frown turned into a touched smile. “Gosh, you’re such a sap,” he commented, trying to
hide just how much that affected him. In the end, his endearment was impossible to keep down.
“But just so you know, you make me happy as is. So next time tell me when we have to go,
capeesh?”

Scaramouche grinned, nodding. “Noted.”

“Great! Let’s go then.”

“Let’s go,” Scaramouche echoed. “But first, we’re gonna need to fill up the tank. Getting stranded
in Tsurumi doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.”

“Got it. Tank, then off we go.”

Chapter End Notes

Oh damn, just one more chapter left! How are y'all feeling about that, hehe. Also
wow, ummm... so Kazuha's 'boyfriend' am I right? I'll be honest, originally I was just
gonna leave him as this nice but boring dude that meant well but didn't really make
Kazuha feel like he really cared. But in the end I decided to be a bit evil and just make
him an asshole that Scaramouche would happily fight on sight. Still, didn't give the
guy a name since it doesn't matter. Can be Tomo if you want to make him an ass, or
can just be some rando.

Anyway! Enough of that! Kazuscara are absolutely whipped it pains me on a personal

level. Gonna try to crank up the feels in the last chapter. There's one scene in particular
that I'm looking forward to writing and I hope I can give it the OOMPH it requires to
work.

Huh, I don't know what else to say now. I hope I can get the chapter done in time
because exams are coming up and I have an essay to write too so I don't want to have
to juggle everything. Oh well. I'll see you next week for the final chapter! Thank you
so much! Let me know how you found this chapter!
Bye bye!! Until next time <3

Twitter
Ask me anything!
 Chapter 6
Chapter Summary

Seirai at last.

Chapter Notes

Shaking crying throwing up. God I hope y'all like this, I'm so nervous about this TT I
wanted it to be perfect but I just can't do it. Pain is all I know.

Anyway, enjoy 18k of gays and sadness and some cute shit

Cue the music!

Closed Ending - SHAUN

Shall We? - CHEN
Grey Suit - SUHO
Never Goodbye - NCT DREAM
Drive - Bleachers
45 - Bleachers
One Last Time - Girls' Generation
Y.O.U - SHINee

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It took just shy of two hours before they managed to get to the outskirts of Watatsumi. That time
was spent mostly humming along to music and talking - mainly on Kazuha’s side since
Scaramouche wasn’t all that talkative whilst driving. But that was fine, Kazuha was more than
happy to fill in any gaps which Scaramouche left in their conversations. Scaramouche was by no
means mute the whole way through, so at least Kazuha didn’t end up talking to himself for the
better part of two hours.

Once they finally got to the edges of Watatsumi, it was noticeable. It was like a switch had been
flipped and the entire scenery completely changed; the bright summery colours present all over
Watatsumi were replaced with more muted shades, the sight of which was enough to bring a shiver
down Kazuha’s spine. The temperature also began to change, the sky becoming more grey the
deeper into Tsurumi they drove, a heavy fog coming up ahead.

“You really weren’t joking about this place, huh?”

“There’s a reason nobody has lived here in centuries,” Scaramouche stated. “The place is hopeless.
Did you never get a history lesson about it in school?”

Kazuha shrugged. “I never really paid attention. I only ever liked literature and creative writing
classes. Other than that I was shit at school,” Kazuha explained with a humoured grin. “You should
see me trying to solve a maths equation- or do anything related to science. You know, I once
fucked up so bad in chemistry class that they had to evacture the floor. Wild times.”

“So it’s safe to say that chemical warfare is a crime you’ve committed already. I’ll remember that
for future reference.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be making any smoke bombs any time soon,” the younger man assured. “I’d
probably end up blowing myself up before I could even use them.”

Scaramouche snorted, shaking his head in amusement. “Please don’t do that.”

“I won’t, I won’t. I promise,” Kazuha said, turning his head where it was laid against the headrest
to look at Scaramouche. “I know you’d just miss me if I did. You big sap. I’d miss you too if you
hypothetically blew up in a science experiment gone wrong. Say, would you want-”

Kazuha was unable to finish the question, jolting in shock at the loud screech the radio made. It
was just static noise but it was by no means pleasurable to hear, let alone at such a volume.

As Kazuha covered his ears, Scaramouche reached over to turn the radio off completely. “Well,
that’s all for the music,” he commented.

“Did it break?”

“No signal,” Scaramouche replied. “It won’t be back until we reach Seirai; the trees are way too
thick here and the mountains don’t help either.”

Kazuha sighed, looking at the electronic device sadly. “It’s safe to assume you don’t have any
CD’s either, right?”

“Yup.”

The younger man groaned, slumping fully against his seat. “This sucks. What am I supposed to do
now?”

“You’ve coped by talking up to now,” Scaramouche pointed out. “I’m sure you can keep yourself
occupied.”

“I know , but I don’t want to distract you with my constant ramblings,” Kazuha explained.
“Especially now,” he added, his eyes catching the eerie view outside the window. It looked like
they were in the middle of a horror movie, the scenery managing to change in the blink of an eye.
Not only was it creepy, but the fog was getting so thick that seeing anything more than a few
metres away was a challenge in and of itself.

“You’ve got your phone, right? Earphones? You’ll cope,” Scaramouche assured. “Plus, you can
sleep if you want. You’ve been yawning every five minutes.”

“I have not,” Kazuha argued firmly. “I’m not tired.”

And just like that, a yawn.

Scaramouche looked at Kazuha, eyebrows in a straight line. Unimpressed.

“That means nothing,” Kazuha stated, pointing his finger threateningly at Scaramouche. “It’s not
even that late. There’s no reason for me to sleep yet.”

“You’ve been running around like an overly excited toddler since we woke up,” Scaramouche
pointed out. “I’m also sure that the sugar high you’ve been on is about to reach its peak and you’re
gonna crash. Hard. There’s also the fact you cried early - which I’m not judging you for, by the
way, I’m just stating facts.”

“What does crying have to do with anything?”

“Oh come on, everyone gets tired after crying. It’s just how things are,” the older man answered as
if it was a given fact. “Just admit you’re tired and sleep.”

Kazuha bit down on his cheek, lips skewed in a sceptical frown. “Why do you want me to sleep so
bad, huh?”

“I don’t,” Scaramouche said. “You’re- you’re literally yawning right now!”

“Aaa -am not,” Kazuha argued mid yawn, vision blurring as his eyes watered. “Ignore that.”

Scaramouche chuckled. “Just go to sleep, it’s not like you’re gonna miss anything if you do.”

“But… will you wake me up in, let's say, two hours?” Kazuha asked, not wanting to leave
Scaramouche all by himself for too long. Not because Kazuha was a weak, whipped man when it
came to Scaramouche (because let’s be real, that was at least half the reason) but because Kazuha
worried that Scaramouche would drive even if he himself was getting tired or his shoulder started
to trouble him again. If things got bad, Kazuha wanted to be there to help him somehow - even
switch seats if need be.

Scaramouche sighed. “Sure. Two hours.”

“Two hours,” Kazuha repeated sternly. “Not a minute more. You got that?”

“Clear as day. Now rest up, sweetheart.”

Kazuha hummed, hoping that Scaramouche couldn’t tell just what that nickname did to his poor
heart.

“Two hours,” Kazuha muttered again, making himself comfortable and slowly shutting his eyes.
His eyelids were heavier than he expected them to be, so sleep found him with ease.

Just two hours.

***

Kazuha felt groggy when he finally regained his consciousness. There was a dull ache in his neck
from how it was positioned and his mouth was dry, having been open for most of his sleep.
Kazuha even felt some drool at the corner of his lips which was so not attractive. Hopefully
Scaramouche didn’t see that.

It felt like Kazuha was glued to the seat as well, his body so heavy and unwilling to move on from
his dreamy state. He couldn’t really blame the way it reacted, also not wanting to have to drag
himself out of the pleasant dream that he had. In it he was back in the park, but instead of walking
around he had a blanket spread across the vibrant green grass. He laid on his back, face up to the
affectionate sun, the warmth of its rays spreading through his entire body. He could smell the wind
carrying a subtle scent of flowers, surrounding him in the fragrant and fresh aroma.
But the most wonderful part of the dream had to be how, at times, he would feel the faintest of
touches against his skin. Even in his dreams, Scaramouche was so delicate with him. His hands
would brush the hair from his eyes, he’d take hold of his hand and kiss each individual knuckle
slowly before stroking his thumb against the back of Kazuha’s smile. He’d whisper something -
something which Kazuha couldn’t catch, but something that he knew was soft and sweet from the
way he felt his throat tighten and tummy swirl with the flutter of butterfly wings.

At least, Kazuha assumed that all of that happened within his dream.

When he started to wake up, he realised that that might have not been entirely the case.

His eyes were still closed but he was awake, stuck in those last few moments of being asleep and
waking up fully. There was no reason for his dream to bleed into reality now that the image of the
park and the sun and laying down had vanished into a mere memory. Yet it did. Kazuha could still
feel how his fingers were being played with absentmindedly. He felt that gentle - almost hesitant -
but oh so loving touch, fingertips trailing his palm just for the sake of being able to feel him.

Kazuha was scared that if he opened his eyes, it would disappear.

And so, he refused to even take a peek. He made an attempt to steady his breathing, but that was
harder said than done when Scaramouche ran his hand further up to Kazuha’s wrist, stroking up his
forearm and earning a light and shocked gasp from Kazuha.

At that, the touch stopped, scared that he got caught.

Kazuha cursed himself for the reaction, but admitted that there was nothing else he could do now.
Since Scaramouche probably thought he was about to wake up soon, he decided to slowly pry his
eyes open.

It was much darker out now, but just as foggy as it was before, so at least that stayed the same.
Scaramouche was sitting with his back straight, eyes directed to the road without losing the
slightest bit of focus. It made Kazuha slightly sad as he wished to have seen how the man looked
when he was touching him; was he also looking out on the road or did he spare glances at the man
beside him? Did he look at him with the same adoration that Kazuha felt hidden behind those
gentle caresses? Did he smile? Maybe he said something - something that Kazuha couldn’t hear in
his sleep, mind too hazy to catch it.

Kazuha wanted to know.

“You’re up,” Scaramouche mused, hearing Kazuha shuffle and groan from the passenger’s seat.
“Back to the world of the living, aren’t you, sleeping beauty?”

Kazuha rubbed at his eyes, a tired moan slipping past his hoarse throat. “Mmm,” he hummed in
acknowledgement. “Feels like I’ve slept for-” Kazuha’s eyes stopped at the small digital display on
the radio, catching what time it was. “Hours.”

Scaramouche hadn’t woken up Kazuha as promised.

“It’s been nearly five hours!”

“Looks like you know how to read a clock,” Scaramouche said, ignoring the point of Kazuha’s
exclamation. “Well done.”

“You were supposed to wake me up after two hours,” Kazuha stated, brows furrowed in
annoyance.
“Oh come on, no need to be so dramatic,” Scaramouche stated, glancing over at Kazuha to take in
his appearance. His eyes spotted some of Kazuha’s dried drool and he smirked, reaching a hand
over to brush some of it away with his thumb, doing nothing but embarrassing Kazuha in the
process. “You were sound asleep. I didn’t want to wake you up,” he admitted, bringing his hand
back to the steering wheel. “Besides, I enjoyed the peace and quiet for the most part. Do you know
that you sleep talk?”

“What?”

“You sleep talk,” Scaramouche repeated. “It’s funny actually. I got a glimpse into that big head of
yours,” he teased.

“Yeah? What did you find out?” Kazuha wasn’t entirely sure if Scaramouche was lying or indeed
telling the truth. This was the first time anyone mentioned him talking in his sleep, so it could have
just been a way for Scaramouche to change the topic from why he didn’t wake Kazuha up.

“You sure you wanna know?”

Kazuha crossed his arms. “Yeah, I do. Either way, you’re probably bluffing.”

Scaramouche chuckled. “Sure I am.”

“Go on then, what did I say?”

The older man gave Kazuha a brief glance, smirking. “You kept saying my name.”

Kazuha felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment. “I did not.”

“It’s fine if you don’t believe me. I still got my ego boost.”

Kazuha scowled. That was definitely a lie then. “Enough of that, you should have woken me up
anyway.”

Scaramouche sighed. “Seriously? Are you really so hung on that? I’m fine. Nothing hurts and I’m
not tired. Trust me.”

Though Kazuha still wasn’t pleased, there also wasn’t a point in keeping his annoyed act up. And
so, his shoulders sagged and expression softened. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

“I know that very well,” Scaramouche replied.

“How did you not get bored? I would have gone crazy without any music.”

“Some of us don’t need to bombard our senses to cope,” the older man stated. “Besides, I told you
already, you were sleep talking.”

So maybe he wasn’t lying about that.

Kazuha really didn’t want to think about the things Scaramouche might have heard him see in his
unconscious, dream filled state. Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t push him on that matter.

“How far are we anyway?” Kazuha asked, briskly changing the topic. “Five hours is a lot of time.
Surely we’re near Seirai now, right?”

“I’d give it another two hours until we’re out of the woods,” Scaramouche declared. “After that
we’ll have to drive down the coast towards Seirai. We should get to the edge of Seirai within the
next four, maybe three hours.”

“That’s so long,” Kazuha whined. “Are you sure you’re not tired? I really don’t mind switching
with you.”

“I’m fine,” Scaramouche assured. “But if you want to help me, pass me something to eat or drink
from my bag.”

“I thought you said there was no eating in the car,” Kazuha pointed out, raising his brow at the
older man.

“My car, my rules. That means I can break them if I want to. Now come on, you don’t want me
dying from thirst and hunger.”

Kazuha rolled his eyes but obeyed nonetheless. He reached his body over to grab the bag strew
across the back seat, hauling it towards himself in the front. It was heavy, filled with heaven knows
what. Scaramouche did buy some things before they left Watatsumi, but Kazuha wasn’t entirely
sure what any of it was. Though, he was about to get a glimpse of some of it.

The man unzipped the bag, finding the lighter things on top. There was a pack of savoury snacks
that he pulled out and showed off to Scaramouche, awaiting his approval. When Scaramouche
nodded, Kazuha opened the pack and held it for Scaramouche, letting the older man grab a few of
the flavoured crisps before he himself took one. The taste wasn’t anything to write home about, but
it was decent enough to satisfy his own growing cravings. Who knew that he’d get so hungry after
five hours of sleep?

After taking a few of the snacks, Kazuha put the foil bag on the dashboard, making sure it
wouldn’t fall off and make a mess everywhere. Scaramouche didn’t comment on it so he must have
been fine with the placement.

Now it was time to find a drink amidst the mess.

Kazuha didn’t feel like the bottle of liquor in Scaramouche’s bag was the best idea though.

“You're planning on drinking this?” Kazuha asked, lifting the neck of the bottle out of the bag.

Curious, Scaramouche looked at him, a brief light of dread flickering behind his eyes before he
composed himself. “Don’t mind that. It’s for someone else.”

“Right… Just so you know, this is disgusting,” Kazuha commented. “Had a sip of it once and
wanted to hurl my guts out. Somehow it’s even worse than Fire Water, as impossible as that
sounds.”

“Fire Water isn’t that bad,” Scaramouche argued.

“It literally burns you from the inside.”

Scaramouche shrugged. “That’s the appeal.”

Kazuha rolled his eyes. He carefully put the bottle back into the bag, not wanting to damage the
glass and cause a spillage in Scaramouche’s bag. When he put it back, he noticed that it clinked
against something - also made of glass. He couldn’t spot anything else though, and there definitely
was only one bottle of hard liquor in the bag. So, whatever it was must have been smaller and
hence not as interesting.
Finally, Kazuha managed to dig out a plastic bottle with water. He undid the cap and passed it over
to Scaramouche who took a few big sips from it.

“Good?”

“Good,” Scaramouche confirmed. “I’m all set for the next few hours.”

“And your neck and shoulder? How’s it holding up?”

Scaramouche shrugged. “Other than a flare up like two hours ago, it’s been fine.”

“Scara…”

“I swear it’s fine. I took a painkiller and it hasn’t acted up since.”

Kazuha sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll tell you what, how about we stop for a ten minute break?”

“But-”

“No buts,” Kazuha interrupted, pressing a finger against Scaramouche’s lips. “It’s just ten minutes.
We’ll stretch our limbs, I’ll put on a heat patch for you, and then we can get back on the road. Is
that fine?”

Scaramouche didn’t look like he was all that eager to agree from the expression plastered on his
face. Kazuha wouldn’t let him have it his way though. So, he kept his finger against the man’s
mouth until he saw Scaramouche’s resolve start to crack.

“I also need a pee.”

After a few more seconds of waiting, Scaramouche gave in. “Fine,” he said. “But this better not be
the same pee break we had back in Yashiori.”

“I promise. Just ten minutes.”

***

So… maybe it wasn’t exactly ten minutes. But in Kazuha’s defence, Scaramouche didn’t stop him
when one kiss turned to two, then to three and then to a bit more in the back seat of the car since
Kazuha’s offer from back at the arcade still held up. But no matter what, they were done within the
hour so their little break wasn’t that long in the end. Plus, they ended up much more rejuvenated
and lively than when they pulled over - especially Scaramouche.

Kazuha sat happily in his seat, a frivolous grin spread across his face. He kept eyeing
Scaramouche, revelling in the way the man would get flustered under his gaze.

“Can you stop that already?”

“Stop what?” Kazuha asked, feigning being utterly clueless. “I’m not doing anything.”

Scaramouche sighed. “The staring.”

“I’m not staring,” Kazuha replied with a giggle. In turn, Scaramouche glared at him from the
corner of his eye, making Kazuha’s laughter increase in volume. “Okay, okay. I’ll stop. It’s not my
fault you look so adorable when you’re flustered. And all that from a mere blowjob. You sure are
easily impressed.”

“And you’re ridiculously insatiable.”

Kazuha leaned forward so that his face was close to Scaramouche. “And you wouldn't have it any
other way,” he muttered, quickly giving the older man a peck on the cheek.

“I guess that’s true too,” Scaramouche mused, speaking more to himself than Kazuha. But that
made it all the more meaningful to Kazuha. Scaramouche was just as whipped as Kazuha was for
him. “But no more stops until we get to Seirai now, okay?”

“Scared I’ll woo you again?”

“First of all, you jumped me,” Kazuha corrected.

“I did no such thing and you know it.”

“Second of all,” Scaramouche continued, ignoring Kazuha’s defence. “If we stop again we might
not make it out of these woods before nightfall. And trust me, navigating through this fog in the
dark won’t be fun in the slightest.”

“Right, got it. Still, we should be out in two hours?”

“Hopefully,” Scaramouche replied. “The radio should start working again the closer we get to the
coast. So you can have your music back.”

“Oh how fun,” Kazuha uttered, clasping his hands together. “But to be honest, who needs music
when I have the best entertainment around?”

Scaramouche scoffed. “What’s that supposed to be?”

Kazuha smirked. “Look at me,” he ordered.

“What is it now?” Scaramouche asked, letting out an exasperated exhale. Still, he followed the
instructions given to him, turning his head to face Kazuha. “What am I su-”

The younger man interrupted Scaramouche’s question by cupping his cheek and bringing him in
for a brief kiss. He pressed their lips together, nothing more than that, but it was enough to feel
Scaramouche’s resolve melt. Kazuha could tell how he relaxed under the kiss, body slightly
inclining forward for more, to deepen the kiss even if it would be foolish to do so now. That alone
was enough for Kazuha.

As fast as he kissed him, Kazuha pulled away. He looked pleased with himself, even more so when
he saw Scaramouche’s expression; the man looked like he was being deprived of air, pained and
heartbroken at the loss of contact between them. It was adorable and all Kazuha could do was
laugh heartily.

Scaramouche pulled himself together soon thereafter, a frown spreading across his face.

“Best entertainment in the world,” Kazuha said amidst a dying flurry of laughter.

“Asshole,” Scaramouche grumbled. He then raised his hand and flicked Kazuha on the forehead.

“Ow!”
“That’s for putting us at risk,” Scaramouche said, nodding his head at the road ahead.

“Sure it’s not for not going further? You know, you looked so needy- Ow!”

And another flick to the forehead, this time a bit harder.

“You’re such a meanie!”

“And you’re reckless.”

“And you’re gullible,” Kazuha said, sticking his tongue out.

“Put that back in or I’ll bite it off.”

“Kinky,” Kazuha uttered, his tongue still out to tease Scaramouche.

Scaramouche quickly reached his hand out to grab the tongue between his thumb and index finger,
tugging on it as well as he could. Kazuha yelped and tried saying something, though those words
got muffled by Scaramouche’s hand.

Of course, Scaramouche looked like he was having the time of his life. Kazuha, on the other hand,
was fighting - albeit with some laughs spilling out of him as well. He managed to free his tongue,
but now Scaramouche attempted to shut him up by covering his mouth. So, doing what he had to,
Kazuha licked the inside of Scaramouche’s palm to get him to move.

Scaramouche grimaced, yanking his hand away. “You animal!”

Kazuha blew a raspberry at him.

The older man shook his head in disbelief before making a grand gesture of wiping his spit covered
hand against Kazuha’s shorts.

“ Eww .”

“That’s your own spit!”

“Still,” Kazuha uttered, looking down at his thigh. “Eww. I should bite next time.”

“You should behave.”

“Yeah but where’s the fun in that?” Kazuha asked, tilting his head towards Scaramouche. “Besides,
you’d get bored of me if I didn’t constantly rile you up. You’re like a kid with a terrible attention
span.”

“I think you should give yourself some more credit,” Scaramouche stated. “Your charm doesn’t lay
fully in your ability to annoy.”

“Yeah? What else is there then? My sexy body?” Kazuha asked, dramatically dragging his hand
across his torso to make a point.

“I mean, that’s not bad too,” Scaramouche agreed. “But you…”

“But I?”

“You’re… you’re just you.”

“I’m just me,” Kazuha whispered, the corners of his lips tilted upwards in a shy smile. “You
should become a poet, you know? You have such a way with words. Shakespeare is quaking in his
grave.”

Scaramouche lightly punched Kazuha in the arm. “Well aren’t you funny?”

“I think I’m hilarious, actually.”

Scaramouche rolled his eyes. “You sure are. A true comedian.”

“Thank you.”

***

The radio finally started working, just like Scaramouche said it would. And, once it began to play
music once more, the view outside of the window became clearer. The fog had been thinning out
noticeably since the thickest part of the woods, but now Kazuha could clearly make out was in
front of him. A coast began to make itself known, jagged cliffs and large rocks were getting closer
to them, and soon enough would pass them as they drove on to Seirai.

To think that they were nearly there. It was crazy to think about.

It hadn’t even been a week, had it? Still, so much had happened in the span of a few days, and all
of them had been so wonderful. From the moment Kazuha had met Scaramouche in that run down
airport hotel, Kazuha had been on the adventure of a lifetime. He saw much more than he expected
to see, and of course, he fell in love. That was something that wasn’t on his bingo card, that much
was for sure. Yet he was glad that it happened.

But their journey hadn’t reached its end yet. There was still Seirai and then the trip back. So much
could still happen in the span of those few days.

Though, Kazuha couldn’t ignore the question looming over the two men.

What happens after?

They hadn’t discussed that yet, and Kazuha hoped - oh how he hoped - that they wouldn’t leave it
to the last minute. Deep down in his bones he knew that this wasn’t a summer fling, a love meant
to wither as quickly as it bloomed. Kazuha knew that there was more to come, but he could so
easily lose it if he didn’t make his intentions known to Scaramouche.

Because Scaramouche was uncertain. He was scared, walls built up so high that it blocked out the
sun. Even if he didn’t say it, Kazuha knew. He knew just how new all of this was to him - how this
affection and love from Kazuha was something he had never gotten the chance to experience as
vividly as he did now. Scaramouche was the type of person that would let go of anything that made
him happy, all because he feared that he would tarnish it, that he would have to see if fade away
and lose that spark that was once there - and he would blame himself for it.

The incident with his ex inviting him to meet his family, his words at the beach, how he’s not used
to them sticking for more most of the time . One by one, the puzzle pieces started to fit together.

Scaramouche was scared, even if he would never say it aloud.

Kazuha just wanted him to know that he didn’t have to be scared anymore.

“Do you wanna stop by the cat shrine first? It’s on the way,” Scaramouche said, steering the left
down a clear path, the woods now far behind them.

“Do you even have to ask?”

“My bad,” the older man said, letting out an airy chuckle. “Cat shrine it is.”

“Is it actually called the cat shrine?”

“It’s technically called Asase Shrine, but nobody really calls it that anymore,” Scaramouche
explained. “I think I’ve only ever heard it be referred to by its actual name twice. Once on a really
old tourist brochure, and once from someone I knew.”

“Hmm. A tourist brochure, huh? Does that mean there’s things to see? Or that there used to be
things to visit?”

“There’s actually quite a bit,” Scaramouche stated. “There’s even an old shipwreck that got turned
into a museum at one point.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” the older man affirmed. “There’s also Amakumo Peak that you could climb, but it
was only for the most experienced of hikers. Then you have Fort Hiraumi and Koseki Village.”

“You seem to know a lot about the place.”

“I guess I do.”

***

When Scaramouche said cat shrine, Kazuha didn’t expect it to be so… overrun by cats. Sure, he
expected a few cats here and there, but this was completely beyond the scope of his imagination.
There were cats on the roof, cats on rocks, cats around a little pool of water, cats lounging under
the remaining slivers of evening sun, just cats everywhere.

It was amazing. There were no other words for it other than amazing. Kazuha seriously thought he
ended up in paradise once they drove into Seirai. The cat shrine was literally the first thing that
greeted them once they arrived, and if the rest of the place was like this, then Kazuha seriously
considered moving here. After all, who wouldn’t love to live near a shrine full of cats?

Scaramouche parked the car away from the entrance of the shrine so they had to walk for roughly
ten minutes to reach the place, but Kazuha didn’t mind. Even the walk to the shrine was wonderful
and filled with occasional visits from cats that stared them down, curious as to the two strangers
coming to visit their home. Kazuha offered his hand to some of the cats, careful as to not startle
them. Some would allow him to pat them whilst others would turn around, showing off their butts,
tails up high as they walked away from him much to Scaramouche’s amusement.

“And here we are: Asase Shrine, also known as the cat shrine,” Scaramouche declared once they
were by the actual shrine.
It was large, albeit somewhat decrepit. It was clear that there wasn’t anyone frequently coming in
to maintain it. Still, it had charm.

“There’s way more cats than last time,” Scaramouche added, looking around the place to take it in.
“Makes you wonder what they actually eat.”

“Fish? Birds? I’m sure they’re good hunters,” Kazuha said. “I’m assuming nobody actually comes
to feed them, right?”

Scaramouche shrugged. “I mean, someone might still come here to take care of them. But I doubt
they come by often; the shrine is quite a distance from the main town. They probably see someone
once per week at most.”

Kazuha frowned. “Shame.”

“The cats seem to be doing fine either way.”

Scaramouche was right about that. All of the cats looked fairly healthy. They were well groomed,
their fur looking nice and silky. They also didn’t look to be all skin and bones which was a relief.
Kazuha couldn’t imagine how he would feel if he came here and saw all of the cats in a terrible
state; he would have probably ended up crying, and nobody wanted that.

Kazuha started to take a few steps further into the open plaza. He followed the dirt path towards
where a group of cats were laying down comfortably by a small body of water. His approach was
slow and careful as to not startle and disturb the peaceful animals.

One of the cats - a black one with deep green eyes - raised its small head to observe Kazuha
wearily. Its gaze was sharp, making Kazuha feel like he was the animal’s prey, no more than a
little bird at the mercy of a cruel lion.

Still, Kazuha was able to reach the animals. He crouched down in front of them, slowly offering
his hand out. “Hey there,” he spoke softly. “How are you all? Enjoying a nap in the sun? That’s
nice,” he commented, smiling when a short haired tabby cat booped its nose against his hand in
greeting. “Nice to meet you too. My name’s Kazuha. What about you? What’s your name?”

Two cats meowed at him and Kazuha chuckled. “Really? That’s such a pretty name.”

Now even the black cat meowed, rubbing its face against Kazuha’s shin.

“Hey Scara, look at th-” Kazuha said, suddenly stopping once he looked over his shoulder to see
the older man swarmed by cats. “This… What are you, the cat whisperer?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Scaramouche stated, standing still as numerous cats circled around him,
some rubbing themselves against his legs. They all looked like they wanted to cuddle up to him, all
waiting for their turn to rub against him. It was absolutely adorable and Kazuha had to take a
picture.

He did consider getting his polaroid camera out from his packback, but Kazuha worried that the
flash or sound may cause the cats to scatter so he instead settled on using his phone. He ended up
taking a few pictures, snickering at the faces Scaramouche kept making as more and more cats
walked towards him.

“This isn’t funny,” Scaramouche whined, still not moving, scared that if he did the cats would bare
their claws and scratch him to death. “What do they want from me?”
“Maybe they think you’re one of them,” Kazuha suggested.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You know, you’re kind of like a cat in a way,” Kazuha explained. “You act evil and
unapproachable but you secretly love attention and affection. You’re also really cute and clingy
when you don’t think anyone’s watching.”

“I- I am not a cat!”

“Can you go nya for me? Pretty please,” Kazuha asked, making puppy eyes at the older man.

“No!”

“Come on, just once,” Kazuha pleaded, getting up and taking a few steps towards Kazuha.

“No.”

“Just once. If you do then I’ll get the cats away,” Kazuha promised. “Please?”

Considering his options, Scaramouche stared into the void. After a few seconds, he finally sighed
in defeat and hung his head. “Just once,” he stated, raising his finger up in emphasis.

“That’s all I need,” Kazuha assured. “Oh! You also need to do the hands otherwise it doesn’t
count.”

Scaramouche groaned. “Fine!” He looked up, eyes devoid of emotion. It only made what he did
next all the more hilarious. “Nya,” he uttered, his hands near his face acting as cat paws. He
shivered after what he did. “There. Now get them away!”

Kazuha laughed, nodding. “Fine.” He leaned down and the cats started surrounding him too. It was
cute but that wasn’t exactly what he wanted to happen. “Hey, could you leave my man alone? I
know he’s cute and all, but please don't swarm him. Okay?”

As if understanding, one of the cats meowed at Kazuha. It coiled its tail around Scaramouche’s leg
as if to claim him. Kazuha ended up laughing, looking back up at Scaramouche.

“I think they want what’s mine.”

Scaramouche’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly like a fish out of water, struggling to say
anything coherent. His face turned a concerning shade of red as well, resembling a traffic light.
And all that because Kazuha called him his.

Kazuha turned back to the cats, pushing a few of them away with his hand. Some tried to move
back and fight against him, but most gave up and went back to where they came from. Still, the one
wrapped around Scaramouche’s leg was persistent.

“Oh come on, you can’t have him,” Kazuha argued with the cat, staring it down. But the cat still
refused to back down. “I actually can’t believe I have to fight with a cat. This is something I never
thought would happen.”

“Why won’t it move?”

Kazuha shrugged. “Beats me,” he said, standing up. “But hey, at least the rest of them are gone
now. You can move now.”
Scaramouche glanced down at the cat who looked up at him, offering a very pleased meow.

“I think it likes you. How about you pet it? Give it some attention,” Kazuha suggested. “It might
leave once it’s satisfied. Cats do tend to leave when you try to smother them with affection. Maybe
that one is the same. Just try it.”

And Scaramouche did just that. He reached down to stroke the cat, rubbing behind its ears just like
the animal liked it. The cat purred and meowed, content in all of the love it was receiving. It
moved its body around Scaramouche a few more times and then it finally left.

“See? Another satisfied customer,” Kazuha hummed, watching as the animal went to join its kin.

“That was odd,” Scaramouche commented. “Animals usually avoid me at all costs.”

“Maybe your unapproachable aura has been shattered,” Kazuha suggested, stepping inside
Scaramouche’s personal area. He gripped onto the fabric of his jacket, the material thick enough to
shield him from the evening breeze. “What do you think, do you think that’s possible?”

Kazuha leaned his body in to press against Scaramouche, grinning when the older man wrapped
his arms around his waist, holding him steady.

“Do you think you’ve softened up? Become warmer and more open to attention? Hmm?” Kazuha
continued to question Scaramouche, slowly inching his face in until their noses were brushing
against each other.

“I… don’t know,” Scaramouche replied. “What do you think?”

“I think you have,” Kazuha answered with a warm smile. “And now I have to compete with cats.”

“That is quite the strong opposition,” Scaramouche teased. “How will you cope?”

“Barely,” Kazuha whispered, closing the distance between their lips.

Scaramouche gladly welcomed the feeling of Kazuha’s lips against his own. He moved one hand to
grip onto Kazuha’s hip, the other trailing the younger man’s side until it reached his face, cupping
his jaw and tilting his head back ever so slightly.

Kazuha smirked into the kiss, parting his lips to allow Scaramouche to deepen the kiss. He himself
fisted the fabric beneath his hands, using it as leverage and to pull Scaramouche even closer - if
that was even possible with the nonexistent distance in between them.

When Scaramouche licked into Kazuha’s mouth, the younger man sighed, feeling himself going
weak in the knees. He loved this feeling - being adored so deeply by Scaramouche. There was
something about the way he kissed - the way his tongue swirled against his, the way he was so
dedicated to exploring all of it, the way he so clearly and deeply wanted more than he could take
without turning Kazuha into a panting, writhing, crying mess - that made Kazuha lightheaded.

His kisses always felt like he was clinging onto something, afraid of letting go. It was intoxicating,
being wanted so much wasn’t what Kazuha was used to - not to this extent at least. Kazuha never
had anyone kiss him like the world could end any second, like there was no tomorrow and this
moment right here was all that was left. He never knew how it felt to be desired so carnally until he
finally kissed Scaramouche.

Kazuha could never let this go.

He couldn’t separate from this feeling - the way Scaramouche rubbed his thumb against Kazuha’s
cheek, the way the hand on his hip grounded him. He would be a fool if he did that.

“I can’t get enough of you,” Scaramouche muttered, pulling his lips away from Kazuha. Still, they
were so close, eyes locked together.

“Neither can I,” Kazuha whispered, smiling softly as his heart ached in his ribcage. He felt like
crying, so overwhelmed with the love he felt towards Scaramouche. Kazuha retracted one hand
from Scaramouche’s jacket and lifted it up, brushing away a few strands of hair from
Scaramouche’s eyes.

“I think you’ve done something to me.”

Kazuha laughed. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I think the same could be said for you,” Kazuha stated, stroking the side of the older man’s
face, heart banging against its cage when Scaramouche leaned into the touch, his eyes closing as he
revelled in the sensation.

“It was never my intention,” Scaramouche said, kissing Kazuha’s wrist. “I apologise.”

“No need. I think we’re even as is.”

***

The visit at the cat shrine had to come to an end soon enough since it was getting dark by that
point. It was honestly a miracle that they even managed to catch any sunlight considering how late
it was already. By the time they got to the shrine it was already past seven, so getting to spend any
time under some sun was a miracle.

But now it was dark, night having finally fallen. The view outside of the window wasn’t anything
extraordinary since seeing anything was quite hard now. Still, Kazuha would get to admire the
views on their way back once they reached their destination.

“By the way, is there a place you wanna go to in particular?” Kazuha asked. “When I asked you
where you were going the first time you just said Seirai, nothing else. Actually, you just said you
were going to the other side of the country which you then said, and I quote, Seirai I guess.”

“Did I?”

Kazuha hummed. “I honestly just thought you were going there just to drive around the country,
but that’s not the case, is it? There is somewhere you want to go.”

“There is,” Scaramouche admitted.

“What is it?”

Scaramouche didn’t reply for a few seconds, the silence feeling heavy the longer it stretched out.
Finally, he spoke. “It’s where I grew up.”
“Oh… You lived in Seirai?”

“I did,” Scaramouche confirmed. “I grew up here. I left as soon as I turned eighteen though,” he
explained. “Moved to the big city just to get away. But I didn’t hate it here. In fact, I do miss it
sometimes.”

“So are you visiting someone there?”

“You could say that.”

Kazuha hummed, trying to gauge Scaramouche’s mood. He wasn’t entirely closed off, no
impenetrable walls surrounding him. Yet he also wasn’t about to explain anything without a little
push from Kazuha, and Kazuha needed to be careful with how he approached the situation.

“Is it an old friend?”

“In a way,” Scaramouche replied vaguely. “He was… more of a father figure to me.”

“Oh,” Kazuha uttered, not missing the use of the past tense. “He must be great then.”

“Yeah,” the older man agreed, a soft yet saddened smile briefly flashing across his face. “Yeah, he
was.”

Kazuha felt like maybe he should push it any more considering the way Scaramouche looked,
forlorn and downcast all of a sudden. However, the older man did something that Kazuha didn’t
expect him to do: he continued to speak out of his own volition.

“He passed away two weeks ago,” Scaramouche satated. “I was actually supposed to come visit
him this week, but I never got the chance to. I also couldn’t come to his funeral since I used up all
my days off for this. That and the fact I couldn’t afford to come here on such short notice. I already
had plane and train tickets purchased and I couldn’t refund them for the same price, so… yeah. It’s
why I decided to just drive here instead of coming like I was supposed to; it’s better than sitting at
home for two weeks doing nothing but wallowing in pity and grief.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Scaramouche shrugged, swallowing the lump in his throat. “It’s fine,” he assured but Kazuha could
hear in the way that his voice wavered that he wasn’t all that fine . “Besides, I don’t really do
funerals. I don’t- I was never really that good with them. You know how it is, the kid with
abandonment issues causes a scene when someone leaves,” he uttered, trying to play it off as a joke
but it was laced with so much pain, so much self-hatred and regret that Kazuha felt suffocated by
it. He couldn’t even imagine how Scaramouche must have felt, having to bear with all those
emotions all by himself.

“Scara…” Kazuha uttered softly, placing his hand on the man’s upper arm, a feeble attempt at
comforting Scaramouche given their positions.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Scaramouche assured quickly, brushing the topic aside. “I shouldn’t have
brought it up anyway.”

“No, no, don’t say that. It’s perfectly okay to be sad about losing someone,” Kazuha said
reassuringly. “And I’m glad you decided to open up and share it with me. Really. I’m willing to
listen if that’s what you need.”

“Maybe not now,” Scaramouche said after a few seconds of heavy silence lingering between them.
“Tomorrow. I’ll… I’ll think about it tomorrow.”

“Okay. That’s fine,” Kazuha assured, reaching down to give Scaramouche’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“Tomorrow.”

Scaramouche hummed, eyes focused on the road ahead, lit up by nothing but the headlights. There
was still quite some time before they would reach their end destination - wherever that may be.

“By the way, are we going to stay the night anywhere? Or are we gonna sleep in the car?”

“We might have to,” Scaramouche admitted. “But I think there might be somewhere we can stay
the night in Koseki Village.”

“Is there a hotel or something?”

“No, there’s none of those left on Seirai,” Scaramouche stated. “There’s no use for them anymore.”

“Then what is it? Do you know someone that still lives here?”

Scaramouche nodded. “Hopefully they’re not asleep yet.”

***

After a bump ride down a gravel road, Scaramouche finally parked his car in front of an old,
traditional house. The front had a small patch of soil from which different vegetables and herbs
grew, making it known that the residence wasn’t abandoned.

Scaramouche opened the door for Kazuha, offering him a hand to leave the vehicle. Kazuha smiled
at the sweet act, taking the man’s hand gladly as he stepped out and shut the door behind himself.

“Here we are,” Scaramouche declared. “The light’s still on so at least we won’t have to wake
anyone up.”

The older man then proceeded to make his way towards the home, waiting by the front gate for
Kazuha so that he could close it behind them. Kazuha stayed behind Scaramouche when they
finally got to the front door, suddenly feeling self-conscious. It was silly really, but Kazuha was
about to meet someone Scaramouche knew, which meant that he felt like he had to make a good
impression.

Did he even look fine? After all, he did sleep in the car and then his hair got messed up in the wind.
Maybe he had circles under his eyes? Or maybe his breath smelled bad! God, there were so many
things that Kazuha suddenly started to worry about that he didn’t even notice when the front doors
swung open to reveal the figure of a sympathetic looking older woman, a pair of thick rimmed
round glasses resting upon the slope of her nose.

“Oh my! Am I dreaming?” The woman asked, voice rising with vibrant glee. “Is it really my dear
Scaramouche standing before my eyes?”

Scaramouche chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “That would be me,” he replied. “Sorry for
the late and uninvited intrusion.”

“Oh no need, young boy,” the woman assured, waving her hand in dismissal. “You’re always
welcome here, dearie. My home is your home,” she said, smiling brightly at Scaramouche.

She was quite a friendly looking figure, aged but as radiant as one could possibly be. Her grey hair
was cut short, reaching just below her jaw. Her warm, brown eyes sparkled with joy and drew one
in, offering so much comfort with just one look one's way.

“And who would this young fellow behind you be?”

Kazuha jumped slightly once all attention was on him. Scaramouche stepped a bit to the side to let
the older woman get a better look at Kazuha.

All Kazuha could do was offer a small, awkward wave at the woman, cursing at himself internally
at how terrible of a greeting that was.

“That’s Kazuha,” Scaramouche replied. “He’s… someone I like,” he added, getting shy as he
spoke.

“Oh how wonderful!” The woman exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “It’s a pleasure to meet
you, dear. You can call me Aunty Fujii.”

Kazuha nodded, “Nice to meet you too,” he said.

The wind decided to momentarily pick up, causing a full body shiver to run down Kazuha’s frame.

“Oh how careless of me! Come on inside, boys,” Aunty Fujii ushered, standing back to let the two
men in. “Would you like something to eat? Drink? I have this lovely tea Kyoko brought last time
she came to visit. I’m sure you’d love it,” she said, welcoming the men into her living room.

It was nice and cosy with many photo frames scattered around the place. The room was also filled
with potted plants, large and small, placed on the floor, shelves or hanging from the ceiling. Over
all, Kazuha found the place rather charming and pleasant to be in.

“I’ll go brew you boys some tea and get some snacks. You just get comfortable.”

“I can help,” Scaramouche said as he urged Kazuah to sit down on the couch. “I really don’t mind.”

“Don’t be silly, you’re the guests. Besides, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Now sit.”

Scaramouche chuckled, admitting his defeat. “Okay. Thank you.”

The older man sat down next to Kazuha, leaning back against the beaten in pillows. He looked
comfortable - much more at home than Kazuha was, but that was to be expected with how familiar
this place must have been to him.

“This is nice,” Kazuha uttered quietly.

Scaramouche placed his hand on top of Kazuha’s thigh, rubbing it up and down. “I never thought
you’d get this shy,” he mused, humoured by Kazuha’s drastic change in demeanour. “Are you
always like this?”

“No,” Kazuha replied honestly. “But this is someone you know - someone important to you,” he
emphasised. “I guess I… want to make a good impression.”

Upon hearing that, Scaramouche’s expression softened drastically. It made Kazuha want to grab
his face and kiss him until they were both gasping for air. But he had to control himself, suffering
with how his heart weeped and begged for Kazuha to more or less jump Scaramouche.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Scaramouche assured, lacing his fingers together with
Kazuha’s. “She already likes you.”

“You can’t know that.”

“But I do,” Scaramouche assured, a slight laugh laced behind his words. “Trust me.”

Kazuha huffed. “Okay.”

Soon enough, Aunty Fujii came into the living room with a tray in her hold. There were three mugs
of freshly brewed tea and a bowl filled to the brim with various biscuits and chocolates to go with
the drinks. She carefully placed the tray down and put the tea and treats on the table, putting the
tray under the coffee table. Finally, she sat herself down on the armchair opposite the couch,
making herself comfortable in it.

“Enjoy, boys,” Aunty Fujii said, picking up her own mug to take a sip of the tea.

“Thank you,” Kazuha said politely, reaching to grab his drink. He took a small sip, careful not to
burn his tongue on the hot liquid. Once he got a few tastes of it, he had to admit that it was indeed
good tea - fruity yet not too sweet, and it had just the right amount of bitterness from a blend of
herbs added in.

“So, what do I owe the pleasure to?”

“Well, we kind of need a place to stay the night,” Scaramouche explained. “Only one night
though.”

“That shouldn't be an issue, dearie. You can stay in Kyoko’s room; the bed should be big enough
for you two to squeeze in.”

“Thanks, really.”

“No problem, sweetheart,” Aunty Fujii said with a bright smile. “It’s good to see you again. It’s
been a while. When was the last time? For the old man’s birthday, was it? Oh my, that was half a
year ago,” she said, recounting the dates in her head.

“It has… I’m sorry I couldn’t make the funeral.”

“Oh don’t apologise,” the woman said. “You can’t always make it to where you want to be. That’s
just life. The old geezer would understand, so don’t worry.”

Scaramouche snorted, bowing his head down to look at the mug of tea in his lap.

“Speaking of Katsuragi, I went through some of his old stuff and I think there are a few things you
might like to keep. Plus, there are plenty of photo albums that your dear friend may like to have a
look through as well,” Aunty Fujii stated, winking at Kazuha. “I must say, you were such an
adorable little boy. You grew up to be so handsome too.”

Scaramouche blushed, looking away from the woman. “Don’t say such embarrassing things.”

Aunty Fujii let out a boisterous laugh, causing Kazuha to fill with amusement too. “Isn’t he just the
cutest boy out there, dearie?”

“He sure is,” Kazuha agreed, grinning.

“Not you too…”

“It’s true,” Kazuha said, lightly nudging Scaramouche’s shoulder, conscious of the piping hot tea
he was holding.

“In that case, give me a minute you two.”

Aunty Fujii excused herself and hurried up the stairs, leaving Scaramouche and Kazuha alone once
more.

“I’m dreading this,” Scaramouche muttered, lifting his mug up to his lips, taking a small sip of the
tea before putting the mug back on the wooden table.

“Well I’m excited,” Kazuha declared. “Because it sounds like I’m about to see your baby pics.”

“Exactly. That’s horrendous.”

Kazuha laughed, leaning his body against Scaramouche’s side. “Oh come on, it won’t be that bad.
Aunty did say you were a cute kid.”

Scaramouche rolled his eyes.

“Cheer up. Maybe you can get a look at some of my old photos someday too, make us even. And
you know, I have some pretty embarrassing ones. I was a bit of a rascal growing up.”

“You still are,” Scaramouche pointed out. “And I’d bet you’re even worse now.”

Their time alone didn’t last long. Aunty Fujii came down the stairs soon enough with a medium
sized cardboard box in her hold. There were a few things sticking out from the opened top, though
most of it resembled books.

The woman placed the box down and rummaged through to pull out a large photo album. “These
books here have all the photos the old man took whilst he was in charge of the orphanage,” she
stated, bringing one of the albums with her as she made her way to sit next to Kazuha. “This one
has the ones with our little Scaramouche.”

“Are you actually going to do this?” Scaramouche asked, burying his face behind his hands.

“Of course I am! You can’t just bring your boyfriend to me and not expect me to show you off,”
Aunty Fujii stated, the use of the term boyfriend making Kazuha feel giddy.

Scaramouche groaned.

The old woman laughed, flipping the thick cover of the book open to reveal the first pages with
images. She went through a few of them quickly, trying to find what she was looking for.

“Aha! There it is,” she exclaimed, pointing at a picture of a middle aged man holding up a baby
wrapped up in a blanket. “There’s our precious little boy,” she cooed, glancing over at
Scaramouche who was still covering himself in embarrassment.

“That’s Scaramouche?” Kazuha asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the old photograph.

“Indeed it is,” Aunty Fujii confirmed. “Oh he was such a wee little thing, as light as a feather.
Would cry if you left him alone for more than a minute. Katsuragi had to carry him everywhere
most of the time or he wouldn’t let the other kids sleep,” she reminisced, chuckling at the memory.

“Please don’t…”
“Nothing to be ashamed of,” Aunty Fujii said to the older man. She then proceeded to flip the
page, revealing more pictures of Scaramouche.

Kazuha could see him grow from one page to the other, going from a cute baby to an even cuter
toddler. In most of the pictures of when he was a toddler, Scaramouche was covered in dirt from
playing outside, looking like an absolute mess. He was often surrounded by other kids, some older
and some younger, playing and chatting with him like all kids do.

The sight reminded Kazuha of the conversation they had a while back. Scaramouche may not have
had any siblings related by blood, but he did have quite the large family all things considered. It
also made sense as to how he was so good with kids, all things considered. If Scaramouche stayed
here - if he stayed at the orphanage - until he was eighteen, then there must have been plenty of
younger kids that he helped take care of.

“Oh I love this one,” Aunty Fujii stated, turning the page and stroking the large photograph in the
centre of the page. “Each summer the kids would put on play and this has to be by far my favourite
one. It was the Wizard of Oz. Oh it was wonderful.”

Kazuha looked at the picture, trying to find Scaramouche. And there he was; dressed in a Tin Man
costume, right at the front of the rest of kids in the play, stood Scaramouche.

“It was a disaster,” Scaramouche said, resting his chin on Kazuha’s shoulder to get a better view of
the photo album. “I messed up my lines multiple times and I threw up in the middle of it.”

Aunty Fujii laughed loudly, wiping a tear which managed to spill from her amusement from her
eye, readjusting her glasses afterwards. “I could never forget it. If only we had a video camera back
in the day.”

Kazuha smiled, taking in the sight of the young boy captured all those years ago. Truly speaking,
Scaramouche hadn’t changed that much. He definitely grew into his features, his eyes looking
more proportionate to his face than when he was younger, cheeks round and cute. Kazuha would
have probably smothered young Scaramouche to death with cuddles if he was standing in front of
him now, and though he could technically do that to the man next to him, it wouldn’t be the same.
As cute as Scaramouche was now, he wasn’t near the level he used to be as a young boy.

Together, they looked through the rest of the book and then one more before Aunty Fujii said she
was going to retreat for the night.

“We’ll go as well,” Scaramouche said, placing the books back in the box. “Where do you want me
to put these?”

“Oh, those are for you, dearie.”

“What?”

Aunty Fujii stood up and started to clear the coffee table with Kazuha’s help. Before she could pick
up the tray and take it back to the kitchen, Kazuha offered to do so instead, quickly going into the
kitchen to place everything by the sink.

“They’re all for you,” the woman repeated. “The old man left quite a lot for you compared to
everyone else,” she explained. “It was all in his will.”

“But…”

Aunty Fujii approached Scaramouche, cupping the man’s face in her aged hands. “Katsuragi loved
you dearly, my boy. You were his pride and joy. It only makes sense for him to leave what little he
had left to you. Do have a good look through everything once you have the time, okay?”

Scaramouche directed his eyes at the box. There didn’t seem to be that much apart from the photo
albums and some old junk, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything without value there.

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, you know where Kyoko’s room is. Make yourself at home.”

“Will do,” Scaramouche replied.

“In that case, good night,” Aunty Fujii said, leaning in to place a kiss on Scaramouche’s forehead.
“You too, Kazuha. Sleep well.”

“You too, Aunty Fujii,” Kazuha said, waving at the woman.

The three of them made their way upstairs, parting ways to go into their own rooms.

Kazuha followed Scaramouche inside a medium sized bedroom, large enough to fit a double bed, a
desk and a wardrobe. It also had another door leading onto a small bathroom; there was no bath but
a tiny shower, so showering together was out of the window unless they wished to be pressed up
against each other completely and unable to move without elbowing each other in the face.

“This is nice,” Kazuah commented. “Who is this Kyoko anyway?”

“Her daughter,” Scaramouche replied. “She’s six years my senior.”

“So she’s like an older sister?”

“I guess you could say that,” Scaramouche said, looking around the room.

“Do you still talk to her?”

“Sometimes. She does visit from time to time if she’s back in Inazuma.”

“Oh?”

“She’s a lawyer in Fontaine,” the older man explained. “She’s quite busy as well. But yeah… I do
see her sometimes.”

“That’s nice then,” Kazuha mused. “Seems you’ve got a lot of people that care about you.”

Scaramouche shrugged, almost as if he didn’t fully believe it.

Kazuha stepped closer to Scaramouche, wrapping his arms around the man’s middle to pull him in
for a hug. The older man froze for a second, unsure as to what to do with himself until he finally
settled on hugging Kazuha back, his head resting on Kazuha’s shoulder.

“Introduce me sometime, will you? I’d love to meet her.”

“I’ll see what can be done,” Scaramouche replied.

They stayed like that - standing in the middle of the room, embracing one another - for a few
minutes, time passing them by. But in the end, Scaramouche pulled away and looked at Kazuha,
brushing the hair out of his face.
“I’ll go get our stuff from the car,” he stated. “You can take a shower in the meantime.”

“Will do,” Kazuha said, saluting at Scaramouche. “Oh, and make sure to take the box down to the
car as well. It would be a shame if you forgot to take it with you.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

***

By the time the two men had washed up, gotten changed and got in bed, Kazuha was on the brink
of passing out. It made no sense since he had slept for so long during their drive to Seirai, so he
excused his exhaustion from all the thrills of meeting someone new and talking much more than he
was used to with only Scaramouche as company.

Kazuha made himself comfortable on the side of the bed pressed up against the wall, his back
turned to Scaramouche as the older man had his arm slung over his waist, their bodies joined
together beneath the thin summer blanket. His pillow was far too soft for his liking, but he just had
to deal with it since it was still better than the one that Scaramouche had to use.

Other than the sound of their steady breathing and the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall -
now indicating it was past midnight - the room was silent.

Scaramouche’s hand had dipped below the loose fabric of Kazuha’s t-shirt, gently drawing circles
against his smooth, hot skin with his fingers. It was relaxing, lulling Kazuha to sleep. And he
would have fallen asleep just like that if it wasn’t for Scaramouche whispering something so
faintly that it made Kazuha doubt if he even said anything in the first place. But he did.

Probably thinking that Kazuha had finally drifted off to sleep, Scaramouche spoke, fully expecting
Kazuha to not respond. However, Kazuha couldn’t just go to sleep now - not when there was
clearly something on Scaramouche’s mind.

“What was that?”

The older man stilled at the question. “You’re not asleep?”

“No, not yet,” Kazuha replied, eyes staring out to the plain wall in front of him. “Did you say
something?”

“No, no I didn’t,” Scaramouche stated, resuming his ministrations to draw Kazuha into slumber.
“You should sleep.”

“And you should get better at lying,” Kazuha said, turning his head as much as he could to look at
Scaramouche. “You’re not fooling me, so you might as well tell the truth.”

Bewildered, Scaramouche’s eyes widened. “I… okay,” he uttered in defeat.

Satisfied, Kazuha laid back down, head flat on his pillow.

“I was just… talking about Katsuragi,” Scaramouche admitted. “You know, just thinking out loud
and all.”

Kazuha hummed, an invitation for Scaramouche to continue.

“He was the head of the orphanage I grew up in,” Scaramouche stated, his hold on Kazuha
tightening. “He was also the last one too since it closed down a few years ago. Nobody wanted it to
happen, but with the constant disasters coming in one after the other, crops getting ruined and
washed away, the storms and droughts and the uncertainty surrounding everyone’s livelihoods,
Seirai was becoming unlivable. People started moving out and the orphanage couldn’t hold on for
much longer. And in the end, Katsuragi had to do what he had to do; he sent the kids to other
orphanages in the country, even if it meant the kids ended up separated,” he recounted, sounding
pained at the memory.

Kazuha reached down to find the hand splayed over his stomach, grabbing onto it for support.

“By that point I was already living on my own, but I know how much it hurt Katsuragi to have to
let go. He thought he let everyone down by sending them away. But he really did try his best,”
Scaramouche stated.

“I’m sure he did,” Kazuha uttered, stroking his thumb over Scaramouche’s knuckles.

“He tried to keep in touch with as many of us as he could, hoping we’d find a family one day,”
Scaramouche resumed. “Most of us didn’t. Being here didn’t give us a good chance anyway, and
even after the orphanage shut down, only the young ones managed to find a new home. Because
nobody wants to adopt a kid that can walk and talk already - it doesn’t feel authentic . So, we just
had to cope. But Katsurago treated us well. He really did.”

Scaramouche paused, pressing his face against Kazuha’s back, taking a few breaths as everything
started to become heavier. Kazuha only hoped that being there for him was enough to get him
through it.

“We’d meet every year,” Scaramouche stated, voice slightly muffled against Kazuha. “Either he
would visit or I’d come to see him. We would talk, drink that horrendous drink he loved so much,
and I- I felt good. It was like… he was like a father figure to me. He raised me and helped me after
I left. He always welcomed me back, never judging me and my life. He was just… he…”

“It’s okay,” Kazuha assured, offering a reassuring squeeze to Scaramouche’s hand. “It’s okay. I’ve
got you.”

Scaramouche pressed himself even closer to Kazuha, hugging him even tighter as if he was
terrified that Kazuha would disappear at any moment.

“I was supposed to see him this week,” the older man stated. “But I couldn’t. If only I- if only I
came earlier. If I came at the start of the month I- I could have still seen him. And now he’s gone.
He- he’s gone. He left,” Scaramouche said, his voice breaking at the end.

Kazuha felt his shirt get wet where Scaramouche had his face pressed against it. He also noticed
the slight trembling of Scaramouche’s body, indicating that he was crying. The right thing would
have been to turn around so that he could wrap his arms around Scaramouche and hold him, but
that was easier said than done since the grip Scaramouche had on Kazuha barely let him move.

“He’s gone,” Scaramouche mumbled, his voice weak and shaking.

Kazuha felt so useless like this. How could he just lay there, unable to offer Scaramouche the
comfort he so dearly needed?

Even if it was difficult, Kazuha pried Scaramouche’s hands off him. That might have been a bad
idea though; as soon as Scaramouche felt the force against his hands he let out the most pitiful,
heart-shattering plea Kazuha has ever had the misfortune of hearing.

“Don’t leave me,” Scaramouche begged through tears, looking so fragile, as if he could crumble
into a million tiny pieces with one wrong move of Kazuha’s end.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kazuha assured, shifting his body so that he could turn to his other side,
now facing Scaramouche. “I’m not leaving. Okay? Now come here,” he said, opening his arms for
Scaramouche to shuffle into his embrace.

Scaramouche didn’t hesitate.

“It’s okay,” Kazuha whispered, wrapping his arms protectively around Scaramouche. “Let it all
out. Don’t hold back.”

Nestled against his chest, Scaramouche continued to let all his grief flow out of him. His body
shook with the weight of his sobs and Kazuha held him through all of it, doing his best to ensure
Scaramouche felt comfortable. He didn’t judge him; he wouldn’t dare to do something as cruel.
Scaramouche had willingly opened up to Kazuha and allowed himself to be seen in such a
vulnerable state, and Kazuha could never judge him for it.

And so, Kazuha held Scaramouche all the way through his cries. He offered his heart and warmth
to the older man, only hoping that once his heavy eyelids closed he would be at peace, his dreams
free of worry and grief.

***

Kazuha woke up to an empty bed - warm but empty nonetheless. He groaned, stretching his limbs
out without worrying about kicking Scaramouche since he was elsewhere.

The sun was peeking in through the closed curtains, a strip of sunlight cutting the room in half.
From how bright it was, Kazuha guessed that it was already late in the morning. His body felt
heavy and his neck ached from how uncomfortable the pillow he slept on was.

Kazuha pushed himself up onto his elbows, staring with groggy eyes at the empty room. Both his
and Scaramouche’s bags were still resting against the wall, so it wasn’t as if Scaramouche had up
and left him stranded - not that he would do that in the first place anyway.

Judging by the overall silence in the room, with not even a peep coming from the small bathroom,
Kazuha guessed Scaramouche was up and about. Kazuha had a feeling that he slept way too long
for it to be acceptable, so it wasn't all that shocking now that he thought about it. Scaramouche
must have had enough of lounging about aimlessly.

Speaking of Scaramouche, the door to the bedroom creaked open and in he came. He was already
dressed - nothing fancy, just shorts and a grey hoodie which looked thin enough to be bearable for
the current heatwave.

The older man sneaked inside, still assuming Kazuha was sleeping.

"You're up early," Kazuha said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He sounded groggy, voice
thick with the remnants of his deep slumber.
Upon hearing Kazuha, Scaramouche stilled. He took a look at him, seeming almost apologetic.

"You didn't wake me up," Kazuha assured.

"Oh, that's good then," Scaramouche uttered, sighing in relief. "I was just getting some socks, so
you can go back to bed."

"Mmm… don't want to," Kazuha stated. He then eyed Scaramouche’s feet, noticing that one sock
was missing. "What happened?"

Scaramouche crouched down by his bag, rummaging through it to find what he was looking for. "I
was helping with breakfast and accidently bumped into Aunty Fujii," he explained. "She was
holding a cup of water and it spilled over me."

"How tragic."

"Very."

The older man pulled out a change of socks and walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge to put
them on.

Kazuha propped himself up, pressing his face against the man’s arm. The hoodie smelled exactly
like him: cedar and lemongrass. Kazuha hadn't realised just how used he was to the scent by now,
finding a sense of comfort from it. He associated the fresh, relaxing aroma with home - that one
place, or in this case person, he would always return to.

Kazuha smiled, rubbing up against the arm.

"Someone's in a good mood," Scaramouche commented, looking over his shoulder at Kazuha. "Did
you sleep well?"

"I guess," the man in question replied. "But I think I should be asking you that. How are you
feeling?"

Scaramouche shrugged. "I woke up with a headache and a face covered in tears, but other than that
I guess I'm fine."

"You sure?"

The older man offered a reassuring smile, nodding softly. "I'm sure. I think I just needed a good
cry. I don't exactly remember the last time I actually cried, even more so after losing someone. It
was a lot."

"I bet," Kazuha uttered, sitting himself properly. He reached for Scaramouche’s hand, taking it in
between both of his. "It's good to let it all out, lest it eats you up alive."

"I know."

Kazuha nudged Scaramouche’s shoulder lightly so that he would face him. There was an
underlying sense of exhaustion in his expression, and Kazuha understood that very well. He knew
how long it took Scaramouche to stop his grief stricken cries during the night, and he knew that
even once those stopped he was still awake, his mind still keeping him up.

It was something which Kazuha wished to erase, but he understood that there wasn't much he could
do but offer Scaramouche his shoulder and just be there for him.
"I'm sorry for getting you involved," Scaramouche apologised.

"What?" That sure took Kazuha by surprise. "Don't be ridiculous. There's nothing to apologise for."

Scaramouche glanced down at their joined hands, his lips twitching in the faintest of smiles. "I'm
sure having to deal with seeing me like this is a lot," he uttered. "It's not exactly a thing you have to
put up with a week after meeting someone."

"Maybe it's not, but that doesn't mean you have to apologise for it," Kazuha stated. "It doesn't make
me want to leave or make me like you less, so don't think about it that way. Okay?"

After looking in his eyes, searching for a sign of wavering or lies, Scaramouche smiled, nodding.
"Okay," he uttered.

Kazuha grinned, kissing the man on the cheek. "Good. Now what's up with that breakfast you
mentioned?"

"You'll have to go downstairs and see for yourself," Scaramouche said, stealing a brief kiss on
Kazuha’s lips.

***

Breakfast was still far from done since Aunty Fujii insisted on making something grand for her two
guests. Truth be told, Kazuha would have been more than happy with some toast or cereal or just
anything small really, but he also couldn't deny how happy a homemade meal made him. And so,
Kazuha gladly helped in the kitchen.

Kazuha happily peeled the vegetables Aunty Fujii washed diligently under the sink. He didn't have
the chance to cook in a while, but being back in the kitchen made him feel at ease, reminding him
just how much he loved prepping food, not only for himself but others. Maybe his ex did avoid
eating his food for one reason or another, but that didn't mean Kazuha didn't enjoy this.

"Scaramouche, dearie, would you mind fetching us some mint from the garden?" Aunty Fujii
asked, offering a sweet smile at the man currently beating eggs for the tamagoyaki he was tasked
with making.

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all," the woman said. "It's for the tea."

Scaramouche hummed, putting the bowl with beaten eggs down before making his way to the front
door.

"He's such a good boy," Aunty Fujii stated, finally finishing with the vegetables. She moved to
stand on Kazuha’s other side, picking up a large knife and wooden board before picking up one of
the peeled vegetables to chop it up. "Don't you think?"

Kazuha chuckled, picking up the last vegetable to peel. "He sure is," he agreed. "Even if he tries to
act like he isn't."

"That's just Scaramouche for you. He's always been a bit like that - getting into a slight mean streak
when he feels threatened," the woman explained, sighing and shaking her head in disapproval. "But
he's not like that. He's truly the sweetest boy out there, and that's saying something since I've seen
many kids grow up around these parts."

"I don't doubt that," Kazuha assured. "I think he's great too. He's… really something."

The woman laughed, nodding in agreement. "Oh dearie, you have no idea how glad I am that he's
met you. You look and sound so lovestruck."

"Do I?"

Aunty Fujii hummed. "He looks just the same," she added. "My my, it truly makes my heart happy
to see. Young love is so beautiful, don't you think?"

Kazuha blushed, focusing intensely on the carrot he was half way done with peeling. "Yeah, it
really is."

"How long have you two been together? Scaramouche hasn't mentioned you before, so you must be
new to this, am I right?"

"More than right," Kazuha replied, feeling a bit bashful. "The truth is, we only met a few days ago.
I just wanted a ride and one thing led to another and umm… here we are," he explained, chuckling
awkwardly afterwards.

Kazuha expected judgement, maybe to be called reckless or stupid for his feelings. He really
wouldn't have been surprised, because was it really all that normal to fall head over heels for a man
you barely knew a week? Maybe he was bound to get a questioning glare, a comment about how
he was too naive or foolhardy for believing that he could love Scaramouche when there was so
much he just didn't know.

But Kazuha knew Scaramouche. He knew his humour, what the intonation in his voice told about
his mood. He knew how clingy he really was, how he loved receiving attention only to act like a
cat once it got too much, walking away and pretending like he wasn't just cuddling up to Kazuha.
He knew that he bottled up a lot of his emotions, and he knew that he got sad too. He knew enough
about Scaramouche to understand that what he felt was love, as ridiculous as it sounded.

When Kazuha met Aunty Fujii's gaze, he was surprised to see that she didn't look judgemental at
all. In fact, she looked pleasantly shocked.

"Oh my," the older woman uttered, placing her hands on her hips. "Now that is quite the story. But
you know what? There's one piece of advice I can give you."

"Really?"

Aunty Fujii nodded. "My husband and I fell in love at first sight too. We only knew each other a
few months before we decided to get married, so I understand what you're feeling. And let me tell
you dear boy," she said, pointing her finger at Kazuha’s heart. "Never stop listening to that thing
right there. A love so pure is hard to come by, so cherish it. Don't let yourself think it's wrong to
feel this way, and don't let anyone tell you you're foolish for it. Okay?"

Kazuha smiled, taking her words to heart. "Okay." He really needed to hear that. As much as he
kept telling himself he was in love - how genuine he was about it - there was still a part of his brain
that tried to be rational, making him doubt if this could ever last. He tried to not listen to it, and for
the most part he was successful, yet still it was like an itch he couldn’t quite reach. “Thank you.”
“Ah,” the woman gasped happily. Joining her hands together. “Aren’t you just the sweetest? I feel
much better now knowing someone’s watching out for Scaramouche. I know he’s closed himself
off more and more as the years went on, but underneath all of that he’s still a good boy. I just know
that he’s better off being around you - I can feel it,” she said, placing a hand over her own heart to
make her point. “Oh I’m so happy,” she added quietly, sounding like a mother speaking about her
own child.

Scaramouche had so many people that cared about him. Kazuha just hoped that one day he would
realise that.

The front door opened once more, announcing that Scaramouche was back from the garden. He
slipped his shoes off at the entrance and shuffled into the kitchen with a bunch of mint leaves.

“Is this enough?”

“Oh that’s plenty,” Aunty Fujii said. “Just pop them by the sink for now.”

Scaramouche did as told before he returned to what he was doing prior to his additional task.

“Hope you didn’t talk about me behind my back,” the older man said, raising a sceptical brow at
Kazuha.

“Then keep hoping,” Kazuha replied. “Aunty Fujii has so much gossip on you, I couldn’t help but
to ask. Who knew you were such a cutie growing up?”

Scaramouche sucked in his cheeks in a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. How was it possible
to be so adorable?

“I’m just kidding, we were just talking about how slow you are. What, did you struggle to figure
out how mint looks?”

“Hey!”

***

Once the three were done with eating breakfast, and after Kazuha and Scaramouche offered to
clean up as Aunty Fujii made haste with brewing tea, it was time for the two men to head out.
Scaramouche insisted that they probably wouldn’t need to stay another night, hence why he took
all of their belongings back to the car. Kazuha, on the other hand, had a feeling that things would
end up taking longer than the older man expected, which is why he told Aunty Fujii they may
return later on in the day whilst Scaramouche wasn’t there to hear him.

It was clear that there were far too many things Scaramouche wanted to do, so either he was
seriously underestimating how long he would take, or he planned on breezing through everything.
Whatever the reason, there was no way he would be able to finish before it got too dark to drive
back through Tsurumi.

Back in the car, Kazuha observed Scaramouche. He looked slightly jumpy, his nerves getting the
best of him.

The plan was to visit the local cemetery where Katsuragi had been buried recently. Since
Scaramouche hadn’t had the opportunity to come to the funeral, this would be the first time that he
got to see his old friend - his family - since he passed away. The way he was acting was
understandable, and after seeing Scaramouche breakdown during the night, Kazuha knew he was
still holding himself back.

Kazuha placed his hand on top of Scaramouche’s, offering a comforting squeeze to it.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he assured. “Take all the time you need.”

Scaramouche’s eyes wandered down to their joined hands, the jittering of his body significantly
decreasing. “Thanks.”

They stayed parked for a few more minutes before Scaramouche finally had it in him to drive off.
He turned the radio on for Kazuha, filling the otherwise silent drive with some generic pop tunes
that Kazuha bopped his head along too without realising he was doing so. Maybe the mood didn’t
call for such carefree actions, but it seemed to relax Scaramouche too; he would smile whenever he
turned to Kazuha, the younger man enjoying the beat of whatever song was currently playing.

Soon enough, the cemetery was visible from the car window.

Scaramouche parked outside, not caring much about where he stopped the car since there wasn’t
anyone there anyway. He drove off the main road and stopped as close to the entrance as he could,
almost like he wanted to have the car ready for a quick getaway from there.

Kazuha got out of the car first, standing outside whilst Scaramouche remained inside for a long
minute, gathering his strength. When he did finally exit the vehicle, Scaramouche went to grab his
bag from the back of the car, slinging it over his shoulder and looking at Kazuha. He nodded and
Kazuha nodded in return, waiting with his hand extended for Scaramouche to take a hold of.

When Scaramouche reached Kazuha, he grabbed onto Kazuha’s offered hand and held it tightly.

With a loud exhale, Scaramouche took the first step towards the entrance. Kazuha followed after
him, bumping their shoulders together to ease his mood, even if just a little.

After walking around for a minute or two, passing by many family graves - old and new - they
finally reached the newest addition to the large plot of land. It was a joint grave with what Kazuha
could only assume was the man’s wife, the year in which she passed away being quite some time
ago - a good few years before Kazuha was even born. Now that he thought about it, it really was
rather sad; the woman passed away so young and so long ago, and from the bits and pieces that
Aunty Fujii mentioned about Katsuragi, the man never did marry anyone else.

Scaramouche stood still in front of the structure, eyes transfixed on the name and date etched into
the large stone. He was trying to process the sight, his grip on Kazuha’s hand tightening as he
fought back the grief eating away at his heart.

Kazuha didn't mind it all that much, allowing the older man to take his time.

Instead of saying anything, Kazuha focused on the flowers left by the grave, many of which were
still fresh indicating that he recently received visitors - be it the people of Seirai or those in a
similar position to Scaramouche. There were also candles, now extinguished. A few of them
looked like they would still burn, only blown away by the breeze instead of having completely
burnt out. If only he had a lighter on him, Kazuha would have lit them all up again.

“Okay,” Scaramouche uttered after a few more moments of tense silence. “I umm… yeah.”
Scaramouche let go of Kazuha’s hand to get his backpack off, placing it down on the ground
before he unzipped it. Kazuha watched the man as he rummaged through the contents, pulling out a
plastic bag which made a clinking sound when pulled out. He also grabbed that bottle of liquor that
Kazuha found the day prior.

Kazuha raised his brow, silently questioning what Scaramouche was up to.

Feeling the younger man’s strong gaze on him, Scaramouche looked up, an awkward expression to
him. “It’s his favourite,” he explained. “We usually drank it when we met up so I thought that I
could… you know, pour a toast or something. Though that’s probably stupid. Yeah, it’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” Kazuha assured. “I don’t think it’s stupid. I was just curious, that’s all. Don’t let me stop
you.”

Scaramouche considered his options, and in the end he went with his gut. He placed the glass bottle
down, deciding to go along with his original plan which made Kazuha smile. He thought it was
sweet and he would have hated it if he had been the reason as to why Scaramouche didn’t go
through with it.

From inside the plastic bag, Scaramouche pulled two shot glasses and a large candle.

Once he had everything, he shoved the plastic bag back into his backpack and grabbed the candle.
It seemed as if he was carrying a lighter on him since he ended up having one in the pocket of his
jean jacket. He used it to light the candle he brought, carefully placing it down by the tombstone
once the flame looked strong and able to stay alight.

Kazuha extended his hand in a silent request for the small item. Scaramouche handed it to him and
Kazuha bent down to light the rest of the candles. Once he was satisfied, he gave it back to
Scaramouche.

“Looking good,” Kazuha mused.

“Yeah. It looks good,” Scaramouche agreed. “And now… would you mind leaving me alone for a
bit? I know it’s-”

“No problem,” Kazuha interrupted. “Take all the time you need.”

Scaramouche’s lips were parted, his words stuck at the back of his throat. “Thanks,” he finally
uttered. “You can stay in the car if you don’t want to walk around,” he then added, getting the keys
to his car out of his back pocket and handing them over to Kazuha. “Just don’t drive off.”

“Roger that,” Kazuha said, tightly holding onto the keys. “I’ll see you when you’re done,” he said,
placing a gentle kiss to the corner of Scaramouche’s lips.

Kazuha walked off afterwards, making his way back to the car. He had a feeling that Scaramouche
would take his time, so Kazuha wanted to at least have a comfortable place to sit in the meantime.

When he got to the car, Kazuha opened the trunk and grabbed one of the few snacks they still had
hidden away. He also got the book he brought with him on his journey, eager to read through the
rest since it had been a while since he had the chance to truly focus on it.

With all of that, Kazuha was ready to spend however long it took for Scaramouche to say what he
needed to say.

Kazuha made himself comfortable inside the car, happy that Scaramouche left the roof down so he
got to enjoy the rays of sunlight peeking through the leaves of the overhanging branches just above
him. He turned on the radio, playing it softly so that only he could hear it, and once he was
satisfied, he leaned back in his seat and opened his book where he last left off.

Kazuha read through the words on the page carefully, taking them all in with understanding rather
than just skimming through. He focused solely on what was in front of him, completely unaware as
to what Scaramouche was doing back by the grave. Unknownst to him, Scaramouche was
mentioning Kazuha as he spoke, sitting down in front of the tombstone.

“I met someone recently. I think you would have liked him.”

“You would have gotten along, probably too much if I’m being honest. I’m actually terrified to
think how the two of you would have been like together after a few drinks.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? These circumstances… If I came like I was supposed to, I wouldn’t have met
him. Though you would have gotten to hear me complain about work for the hundredth time.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t see you before you left.”

“I wish we got to talk one last time before this.”

“I’ll miss you, you old geezer.”

Kazuha was so into his book that he didn’t notice when Scaramouche returned until the door to the
driver’s side opened. Scaramouche tossed his bag to the back seat before he sat himself down,
closing the door after himself. He sighed, hands flat on his lap.

The younger man slotted his bookmark in between the pages of the book, closing it and putting it
down. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” Scaramouche admitted, much to Kazuha’s relief.

“That’s good. I’m glad.”

Scaramouche hummed, turning to face Kazuha. His expression was difficult to read; he looked like
he was seriously contemplating something, mouth opened slightly, the words which he wished to
speak still being figured out in his head. Still, Kazuha awaited them patiently.

“Do you wanna- would you mind if we stopped by somewhere else?”

“Not at all,” Kazuha replied, already pulling the seat belt over himself. “I’ll go wherever you go.”

***

For the most part, Kazuha couldn’t make out where Scaramouche was taking him. The trees got tall
and thick, making it that much harder to really see anything. Still, there was a road so at least it
wasn’t actually in the middle of nowhere, even if it felt like that.

The drive took at most fifteen minutes from the cemetery, but even once they reached their
destination it hadn’t become any clearer as to where on earth they were.

“It’s just down that path,” Scaramouche said, putting the roof back up so that no unwanted critters
would crawl into the car whilst they were away. He promptly turned the engine off and left the car,
waiting outside for Kazuha.

“You know, as much as I like you and all, I can’t help but get slight I’m about to die in the woods
vibes from this,” Kazuha said, joining at Scaramouche’s side. “You wouldn’t happen to have an
axe in the trunk, would you?”

“I actually do,” Scaramouche stated. “But that’s too messy.”

“Well that sounds like you have this whole thing figured out,” the younger man said, looping his
arm around Scaramouche’s own one.

Scaramouche chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m not gonna kill you. Yet .”

“That’s really reassuring.”

Honestly, if this was anyone other than Scaramouche, Kazuha might have seriously started
considering turning the other way and running as fast as possible. But Scaramouche got scared of a
small spider back on their date at the park in Watatsumi, so the odds of Scaramouche actually
being an unknown axe murderer were abismally low.

“What is this place anyway?”

“It’s where I grew up,” Scaramouche stated.

Kazuha wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t think that Scaramouche would end up taking him to his
old home, yet there he was being proven wrong.

“Really?”

“Really.”

The further down the path they got, the clearer the outline of a large building became until they
finally reached a front gate. There were signs of graffiti on the stone walls, but it had mostly faded
from someone washing it off.

“Here we are,” the older man announced, staring up at the sign above the entrance.

Kazuha glanced up as well, reading the name of the residence.

Slumbering Court Orphanage

Scaramouche bringing Kazuha here felt so personal that it left Kazuha struggling to find the right
things to say. Kazuha knew from the things he heard that Scaramouche grew up without his
parents, but Scaramouche willingly taking him here - trusting and allowing him to know so much
about his past - meant so much to Kazuha that finding the words to describe it became impossible.

“Welcome to my humble - albeit abandoned - abode,” Scaramouche said. “I mean, I haven’t lived
here since I was eighteen, but it’s still more of a home than the place I have back in the city. Oddly
enough.”

“Are you gonna give me a tour?”

“Do you want one?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

And so, the two men ventured inside.

The courtyard surrounding the main building was spacious, and though overgrown with weeds,
grass tall and uncut, Kazuha could tell just how beautiful it must have been back when it was still
being maintained. There was a spot off to the edge of the surrounding brick wall that Kazuha
figured would have been a great place to lay down and relax; a large tree with large, smooth rocks
offered shade and a place to hide and enjoy the sun.

Kazuha imagined that Scaramouche might have done just that as a youth, and the thought alone
made him smile, picturing the young boy he saw in the pictures Aunty Fujii showed off to him
peacefully sleeping under the protection of the tree.

Whilst the outside was impressive, it was the interior of the abandoned building that was the most
interesting. The decor was a clash of traditional and modern, incorporating influences from all
across the world. Whilst the main structure was very much of Inazuman origin, everything else was
a pleasant mismatch, making it so that no matter where one was from, they would have surely felt
welcome.

“It’s been abandoned for a few years now,” Scaramouche said, dragging his finger across a
wooden shelf, coming up covered in dust. “But Katsuragi didn’t let it go that easily. He would
come by occasionally to clean it, even if just a little.”

“He must have been very attached to this place then.”

“He was,” Scaramouche agreed, already walking to another room. Off to the side of the grand
entrance way was a spacious open living area. Furniture such as a few couches, seats, tables and
bookshelves remained, frozen in time. “He treated this place like his home, more than the place he
actually lived in after this place got shut down. I guess I can relate to that. It definitely beats my
shoe-box apartment.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind living in a place like this as well. It’s so much nicer than my family
home,” he explained. “It’s got charm.”

“It’s also haunted.”

“Oh wow, do you have first hand experience with that?”

“You bet I do,” Scaramouche replied. He led Kazuha further inside, stopping once they reached the
kitchen and dining area. “It’s actually the kitchen that’s haunted,” he stated.

Curious, Kazuha leaned closer to Scaramouche, hugging his arm. “Do tell.”

The older man chuckled, taking a quick glance at how closely Kazuha was pressed to him.
“Scared?”

“Intrigued,” Kazuha corrected. “Now tell the story! And it better not be boring.”

“Okay, okay. My god, you’re so impatient.”

“You should be used to it by now,” Kazuha pointed out. “Come on. I’m waiting.”

Scaramouche shook his head, amused by the younger man’s antics. “Fine. So, first of all, I wasn’t
the only one who saw this happen.”

“Adding some credibility, I see.”

“The first time I learned that the place was haunted was when I sneaked out of my room at night
with one of the other kids to rummage through the snack cabinets.”

“Oh wow, a little rascal since childhood. How scandalous.”

Scaramouche snorted at the comments from Kazuha, his amusement and fondness for the younger
man palpable from the mere sound.

“As I was saying,” Scaramouche resumed, pointing over to the corner of the room where a window
was located. “We managed to get some of the sweets hidden away for special occasions. We were
trying to hide any evidence that we were there when suddenly I saw a figure standing outside the
window. It had no voice or anything - it was just a black outline of a person.”

“Sounds like it was protecting the snacks if I’m being honest. Did you give it some?”

“We were like seven,” Scaramouche stated. “We were scared out of our fucking minds.”

“Figures. But do go on.”

“Okay, so we see the person outside and we start to panic. But then the figure looks like it’s
moving closer, and suddenly it’s inside. We dropped everything and legged it back up to our room,
shouting and crying on our way. Of course, we woke up the adults and after comforting us they did
tell us off.”

“To me it just seems like the ghost was just looking out for your health,” Kazuha said. “It stopped
you from eating snacks and then made you exercise. It was just being thoughtful.”

Scaramouche stared at Kazuha in disbelief. “I have no idea what the fuck goes on in your head.”

The younger man laughed, draping his body over Scaramouche. “Neither do I. But was that it? Is
there no lore? No origin story for the ghost? Nothing?”

Scaramouche shrugged. “Everyone you asked had a different story. Some said it was a woman
looking for her lost kid. Then some said it was someone that died on the premises years ago. Either
way, nobody had a concrete answer.”

“Mysterious,” Kazuha mused. “Should we wait around to see it together?”

“Won’t work,” Scaramouche said. “It only appears to kids.”

“I’m a kid at heart?”

“I really don’t think the ghost cares about that.”

Kazuha sighed. “No fun.”

The men resumed the tour of the old orphanage, exploring the ground floor thoroughly first.
Scaramouche would have something to say about each room, be it how he once got locked in the
storage closet because one of the older kids thought it would be a funny prank during their game of
hide and seek, or how he and a few other children made a hole in the wall whilst play fighting,
desperately trying to cover it up with drawings they rushed to make. Each time he spoke, Kazuha
could make out the way he truly felt - the joy and fondness weaved into his memories.

Kazuha listened carefully, making comments and jokes that managed to make the older man laugh.
He couldn’t get enough of it - all of it. Kazuha just wanted this to last forever; he wanted to hear
Scaramouche laugh and talk about himself, about his past and life without stopping. He wanted to
know all that there was to know to him, because to Kazuha, Scaramouche was the most interesting
person he knew.

Not even his old friends - rich enough to travel the world and buy whatever their hearts desired -
could reach Scaramouche’s level. And maybe Kazuha only said that because he had hearts in his
eyes whenever he was around Scaramouche, but that didn’t matter.

Their exploration of the building continued on and on, until finally they reached what
Scaramouche said was his old room.

“I shared it with two other boys,” Scaramouche explained, and suddenly the room felt smaller.
Kazuha couldn't imagine how that worked. “It was a bit cramped but we got used to it. I mean, it
was all we ever knew. Even now my bedroom is like… half the size of this.”

“Wow…”

“Impressive, I know.”

Scaramouche headed over to the window, forcing it open. He poked his head out, looking around
before deciding to climb through it.

“What the hell? You’re gonna fall!”

“Relax sweetheart,” Scaramouche uttered, sitting on the edge, his entire body outside of the room
now. “I used to do this constantly. You can sit on the roof here. Come on,” he said, turning his
body and extending his hand out for Kazuha. “Live a little.”

Considering they were on the second floor - not even the first floor - the idea of going on the roof
where he could potentially slip and go tumbling down to the ground really wasn’t all that
appealing. But Kazuha also wanted to try. After all, this entire trip started because Kazuha wanted
to be spontaneous, and if he refused to do something new now, it would feel like a wasted
opportunity.

And so, Kazuha took Scaramouche’s hand and climbed outside to join him. The older man led him
to the side where the roof was at a lesser angle, allowing them to sit down without having to fear
about slipping down.

Scaramouche grinned, closing his eyes and directing his face up to the sun. “Brings back
memories.”

Kazuha observed him intently, tilting his head to the side, his heart overflowing with fondness for
the man in front of him.

“I used to come up here a lot, mainly during the night to clear my head or to think.”

“Think about what?”

“Everything,” Scaramouche replied. “About life. About who I was and who I wanted to be. Family.
Why I… why I never had one. Things like that,” he explained.

“You’ve got family,” Kazuah said.

Scaramouche scoffed. “Maybe. Somewhere out there. But I’ve given up trying to find them. You
know, I did one of those DNA tests that’s supposed to show you your relatives, but I never looked
at the results,” he stated, hugging his knees close to his torso. “I figured there was no point
anyway. I was literally left in Seirai, the middle of nowhere even back when it still had people
living here.”

Kazuha chewed on the inside of his cheek. “You know, family doesn’t have to be blood. It can be
friends or the people you surround yourself with. Like Aunty Fujii,” he pointed out. “A chosen
family is family nonetheless.”

“Cheesy.”

“I know, but it’s true,” Kazuha said, leaning against Scaramouche. “So appreciate it while you can.
Make the most of it.”

Scaramouche turned to look at Kazuha, making brief eye contact with him before he decided to rest
his head against Kazuha’s. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying the sun and each other’s
company. Kazuha was comfortable like this, and if he spent the rest of the day right there, he
seriously wouldn’t mind.

Then, as a strong breeze rustled the branches of the trees around them, Scaramouche spoke softly.
“I think I understand what Ajax felt when he invited me to see his family.”

Kazuha felt his breath hitch, heart skipping a beat from that single utterance.

“I thought he was ridiculous back then,” Scaramouche continued. “But I get it now. When you’ve
met someone that makes you happy, you want the people closest to you to know. And I guess it
makes sense now. If I could, I’d want to show you off to everyone as well. Especially Katsuragi,”
he added, a slightly saddened smile forming across his face. “What do you think, is that weird?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Kazuah replied honestly. “I really don’t,” he added, feeling like his heart
was about to get stuck in his throat or jump out of his chest.

Scaramouche exhaled, picking at the skin around his thumb. “You know, I’m not good with this
whole… thing ,” he said, unsure as to what he could possibly refer to them as. “But I think I… I
know how stupid this is gonna sound, because I mean, we’ve met so recently, but I think I love
you.”

And there it was.

There it was.

Kazuha wasn’t sure what exactly he was feeling; on one hand he felt as light as a feather, drifting
off in the gentle summer breeze, but on the other hand he was grounded, stuck to the floor, frozen
in place as the words I love you echoed through his head. He’s heard them before - he’s been told I
love you countless of times - but never had it felt so true, so absolutely impactful and
overwhelming.

He was drowning and floating. Flying and crashing down. Everything and nothing made sense, and
Kazuha was addicted to the feeling.

He wanted to hear it again - he needed to hear Scaramouche repeat those three magical words,
because it made Kazuha’s world tilt on its axis. It stopped time for him and made him feel alive,
his heart wide awake and beating loudly for him.

I love you.
It was so sweet and heartfelt coming from Scaramouche.

I love you.

Scaramouche, who struggled to let anyone in. Scaramouche, who didn’t do relationships, nor did
he understand them. Scaramouche, the man who looked at Kazuha like he hung the stars in the
sky.

Scaramouche loved him.

“I love you too,” Kazuha blurted out, utterly unaware of the tears spilling down his face until
Scaramouche cupped his face and wiped the hot, salty streaks away oh so gently as if Kazuha
would shatter if he dared to add any more pressure. It was mind numbing how loved it made
Kazuha feel, and if this was how he would feel all the time around Scaramouche then Kazuha
didn’t know how he would cope. But he didn’t care. He wanted to feel like this forever. “I love you
so much,” he repeated, laughing through the tears that just wouldn’t stop.

“Then why are you crying?” Scaramouche asked, sounding just as lighthearted as Kazuha felt.

“Because I’m happy,” Kazuha stated, certain that he looked like an absolute mess right now.
“These are tears of joy.”

“I feel like I should be crying too,” Scaramouche joked. “I didn’t expect you to feel the same.”

“Oh you’re so fucking stupid.”

“Well that’s rude.”

Kazuha laughed, taking hold of Scaramouche’s face and squeezing his cheeks together. “Absolute
idiot,” he uttered, pressing their lips together for a simple kiss. If he went for anything more,
Kazuha feared that he would end up frying his brain from the overstimulation it was receiving.
“My idiot,” he added after pulling away.

Scaramouche looked at Kazuha with utmost admiration, stroking the man’s wet cheeks and
catching stray tears on his thumb. “I have a request,” he said, eyes softening when kazuha leaned
into the warmth of his hand.

“A request?”

The older man hummed.

“Go on…”

“After this… once we head back to the capital, stay with me.”

Kazuha bit his lip, feeling like he could cry even more. “Are you asking me out?”

“I guess I am,” Scaramouche admitted.

Back home. Kazuha knew he would have to return, and he knew that going back would end up
messy, but he also understood that this vacation of theirs couldn’t last forever. If he hadn’t met
Scaramouche, Kazuha would have probably avoided going back to Inazuma City for as long as he
possibly could; he would have travelled the world, absolutely carefree and blissfully ignorant to
what was happening back home.

But now that wasn’t an option. Leaving Scaramouche to travel the world felt so wrong, even if it
meant having to face his family and the mess they made.

He could say no. He could leave Scaramouche now and go his own way.

But he wouldn’t.

How could Kazuha possibly let go of the best thing that has happened in his life?

Besides, what was more spontaneous and adventurous than staying with a man you’ve met less
than a week ago?

Exactly.

“I’m afraid you’re out of requests,” Kazuha uttered.

“Ahh… I probably should have saved it for now,” Scaramouche said, sighing. Though Kazuha was
only teasing him, the older man sounded genuinely upset, like he knew it was too good to last.

Kazuha wouldn’t have that.

“A coffee,” Kazuha uttered. “And dinner.”

“Huh?”

“Buy me that and I’ll do anything you want,” Kazuha stated. “Absolutely anything.”

Bewildered, Scaramouche stared at Kazuha for a second, then two, and then he finally understood.

“A coffee and dinner,” Scaramouche mused, looking around. “You know, there’s no restaurants
around here. I’m no magician.”

“Then a kiss,” Kazuha suggested briskly. “Kiss me, and I’ll do whatever you want. Deal?”

The older man nodded. “Deal,” he agreed, closing the distance between them

Kazuha felt lightheaded. Just like before, the kiss was slow and gentle - merely a press of lips. Yet
it still left Kazuha breathless, his blood rushing to his cheeks, tinting them in a pretty hue of pink.

“So,” Kazuha managed to breathe out. “What’s your request?”

Scaramouche grinned, his lips hovering millimetres away from Kazuha’s, waiting to kiss him again
and again and again. “Stay with me. Be my boyfriend.”

“Is that all?”

The older man nodded.

“Well, I am a man of my word. So that’s a ye-”

Kazuha didn’t have a chance to finish before Scaramouche pulled him in for another kiss. It was
filled with so much joy, sending a pleasant warmth up Kazuha’s body. It felt like home, and
Kazuha would never get tired of it.

***
 “Your finger is covering the lens.”

“No it’s not,” Kazuha argued, so sure of himself.

“Your fat thumb is literally over half of it!”

“Oh stop being dramatic and smile.”

“What’s the point when my face isn’t gonna even be in the picture?”

Kazuha rolled his eyes, ignoring Scaramouche before he put his fingers up to make a peace sign,
smiling at the camera. Despite his protests, Scaramouche also posed. The arms he had wrapped
around Kazuha’s waist tightened, his front pressed against Kazuha’s back whilst his chin was
comfortably propped up on the younger man’s shoulder.

With a single press of a button, Kazuha took a photo. The polaroid camera quickly spat out the
image and Kazuha held it, looking down as he waited for it to develop.

Seconds ticked by, and before the full image was visible, Scaramouche groaned and Kazuha
laughed.

“I told you!”

Just like he said, Scaramouche’s face was covered up by Kazuha’s thumb, looking like it was done
on purpose.

“Oh wow, that’s beautiful.”

“You can’t even see the fort behind us!”

“I think it adds charm though,” Kazuha stated. “Plus, you can kinda see one of the arches,” he
added, squinting down at the photograph. Sure enough, a bit of the structure of Fort Mumei was
visible from behind Kazuha’s thumb. “See? I’m an amazing photographer, don’t you think?”

“You’re dreadful.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kazuha laughed, putting the photograph in the front pocket of his bag
where the rest of their developed pictures were stored. “I’m gonna put it up on the fridge when we
get home.”

“At least use one that has both of us in it.”

“This one does though,” Kazuha argued. “Your shoulder is still visible.”

Scaramouche shook his head. “You're lucky I love you.”

Kazuha laughed, leaning back against Scaramouche’s front. “Yeah, I really am.”

Chapter End Notes

Oh my god. Sup gays, it is then end. How absolutely tragic, I know.

 First, I wanna thank y'all for reading and I hope that this ending was worth the wait.
The original idea for this fic was different and the ending was meant to be more
sombre, kinda open-ending but I think we deserve some joy.

Yeah, honestly I don't know what else to say here

Thank you for reading and sticking around this long! Until next time <3

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