| [Mar. 5th, 2014|02:28 am] |
Genma let his smile show this time. “You’re just saying that because I feed you.” He stripped off his sweatshirt and t-shirt and tossed them across the water onto the bank. “Hatake, Tousaki, any issues with your injuries?”
Ryouma’s dark head crested the surface a few feet away. “Nope.” A few more strokes propelled him to the river bank he and Katsuko had first dove off of. He linked one muscled arm through a tangle of roots to avoid getting dragged downstream. “Back’s feeling good. Thanks, lieutenant.” He paused. “But I can’t feel my toes.”
Genma paused in the middle of pulling off a shoe and gave him a sharp, assessing look. “Try using a little chakra to increase blood flow to your feet.”
Ryouma rolled his eyes and huffed. Katsuko paddled over and propped herself up on a tree root beside him as Genma pulled his other shoe off, threw both shoes over onto the bank, and slipped into the water. “Want to try and drown Kakashi?” she asked. “That’ll warm your toes right up.”
Ryouma gave her a fierce, toothy grin. “Kappa in the water?” he asked, and then faltered. “Actually, I’m supposed to apologize to him.”
“So that was what this morning was about,” Katsuko said, and hooked her arm around a root. “It’s like you guys think you’re subtle, or something. So, what happened? Did you fight? Did he die? Did you die?”
Ryouma wrinkled his nose at her. “Are people generally immortal in the world you come from?”
“Now you’re just trying to distract me,” Katsuko said, letting her feet float. “What happened that’s so bad you two can’t even talk about it?”
Ryouma heaved a gusty sigh and tipped his head back against a root. “I did something stupid the other night and didn’t realize it bothered him. So he beat me up this morning for it.” He frowned across the river at the shock of white hair still swimming laps. “But the lieutenant thinks we need to talk our feelings out, so I have to tell him sorry I was a dick.”
There was a delicate pause. Katsuko raised both eyebrows and considered Kakashi and Ryouma’s exchange from that morning. “Did this ‘something’,” she asked, “involve personal space?”
Dark eyes cut towards her, startled. “How’d you—? Well, yeah.” Ryouma shrugged uncomfortably, the corner of his cheek tucking in as he bit on it. “I was joking and he didn’t realize it. You’d better not tell him you think his butt’s cute. He might break something getting away.”
The bride price tradition still applied in some parts of the world. How many goats would Ryouma have to offer to soothe Kakashi’s wounded honor? Katsuko idly kicked her feet and regarded Ryouma.
“Well,” she said. “You’ve already beaten yourself up plenty for this. I’m not gonna judge. Better get that apology over with quick, though. You don’t have enough livestock to pay for Kakashi’s hand in marriage.”
Ryouma stared at her for a very long time. Then he shook his head, scattering droplets. “You are the weirdest person I’ve ever liked.” Katsuko enjoyed the warm glow that gave her while he hoisted himself out of the river, channeling chakra until he could stand on the surface. He shivered, streaming water, while Katsuko floated peacefully on her back and grinned up at him. “Lieutenant! Are we done swimming? I need to talk to Kakashi.”
“Lieutenant!” Katsuko called. “How many goats can you buy on an ANBU’s budget?”
Across the river, Kakashi stopped dead to stare at them. Katsuko waved.
Genma popped out of the water like a judgmental seal and gave Ryouma and Katsuko a look. “Were you hoping to join Hatake in that filing? I’m sure he’d be glad of the company.” He glanced up at the sky, assessing the sun’s position. “Three more laps, then we can dry off and warm up, Tousaki can have his conversation, and Ueno can start her farm.”
“Ask Kakashi if he likes summer or winter weddings better,” Katsuko told Ryouma, and struck out for the opposite shore. She went freestyle this time, taking the opportunity to duck her face underwater while she contemplated Ryouma, Kakashi, personal space, and the vaguely unsettled feelings thinking about all three combined gave her. |
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