| [Jan. 31st, 2012|06:37 am] |
Ryouma hadn’t even known Kakashi liked sushi.
Well, there were plenty of things Kakashi didn’t know about him, either. He wasn’t entirely sure he could think of any of them, right now, but they’d come. He set the heirloom book on the desk, on top of a stack of six other indistinguishable volumes, and looked back at Katsuko. She was still leaning against the bed, poking her forehead with an expression of complicated awe.
“Sushi,” he said. “So, who likes salmon an’ who likes tuna?”
“Well, mostly Kakashi watched me drink myself silly and kept me from falling off the roof.” Katsuko considered this. “He’s more of a saury guy, though.” She stretched a leg out, flexed her bare toes, and nudged a precariously stacked pile of scrolls. Ryouma snagged two before the rest spilled across the floor. Katsuko beamed beatifically and snuggled her pillow.
“Oatmeal,” Ryouma reminded her. “I could tattle.”
She stuck her tongue out at him again.
Ryouma swatted the sole of her foot with a book. “Shift over, if you’re not gonna help. You’re sitting on things again.”
She rolled laboriously clear. He swept crumpled papers up into an efficient stack and tapped them on the floor to level them. The rest of the scrolls went on the desk, too, which ate up all the available surface. He started stacking books by the wall.
“I’m sorry,” Katsuko said.
He stopped, a half-rolled scroll draped over his hands, and looked at her. She set the pillow on the floor and looped her arms around her knees, leaning forward. Her gaze met his, abruptly serious. Loosed of laughter, her face looked older, and far more tired.
“I wasn’t,” she said, and stopped. Started again. “Last night, I was...off. I hadn’t slept the whole night through in, well. A while. I needed to stop...everything. Just for a bit. I thought about getting you too, but, well.” She lifted a shoulder in an expressive shrug. “Alcohol. And Kakashi had the seals.”
He’d never told her he didn’t drink, or that he was uncomfortable around people who did. Had Kakashi? Or had she known it already--learned it while mourning him--when she came to get Kakashi instead?
Her fingers twisted against each other, popping joints in a mindless fidget. “Kakashi watched me, but he didn’t drink. So, um. If you’re mad, it’s not his fault.”
Ryouma didn’t know how long he’d been holding that breath. He hadn’t any right to ask or forbid--but Kakashi had made that decision himself.
“I’m not mad,” he said, quietly. He finished rolling the scroll up, tied the ribbon, and set it aside. “Thanks for lookin’ out for me. I’m sorry I couldn’t for you.” |
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