For the briefest of moments, so fast Kakashi almost missed it, Raidou’s eyes flickered towards the village, and something went over his face, complex and inscrutable. And then it was just Raidou again, their straightforward captain, looking exasperated and maybe a little fond. “Of course I did. Now go to bed already. If either one of you is late tomorrow, I’ll make you both run laps until you throw up.”

Ryouma said to Kakashi, “That’ll be two laps.”

“In four hours,” Kakashi said. “Have you considered you’re just punishing yourself, captain?”

“It’s how I build character,” Raidou said. He tucked his hands into his pockets and headed towards the veteran barracks, throwing over his shoulder, “Make sure you drink water.”

“Thanks for the night, Taichou,” Ryouma said, like he meant it. He waited until Raidou was out of sight, then confided, “I feel kinda like a waterskin already. A really full one.”

“Did I need to know that?” Kakashi asked.

Ryouma grinned, loopy-warm. “Aren’t we the sharing kind of friends?”

Are we? Kakashi thought.

Maybe they were.

He snickered a little. “Waterskin. You are drunk.”

“Who nearly fell through a window tryin’ to pet somebody else’s dog?” Ryouma pointed at Kakashi, walking backwards. “Anyway, I’ve been drunker than this. Loads drunker. This is like… just a little tipsy…” He hit the edge of one of the large, u-shaped concrete planter boxes in the barracks courtyard and stumbled.

Kakashi snickered again, louder. “‘I’ve done this but worse’ is— actually, for you, a pretty good excuse.” He caught Ryouma by the shoulder, aimed him at the barracks door, and shoved helpfully until Ryouma got moving. “Also, she was a nice dog and she deserved to have her ears scratched.”

“Must be nice to be a dog,” Ryouma said dreamily. “All the ear scratches. None of the headkicking.”

Did he want his ears scratched?

That was a thought strange enough to occupy Kakashi’s attention all the way to Ryouma’s door. Especially since the conclusion was obviously: yes. Even though Ryouma had ears entirely unsuited for scratching. But he soaked up praise and affection like a sponge.

And people thought Kakashi had canine tendencies.

Ryouma lingered at his door, not turning the handle. “You had fun too, tonight, right?”

“I got to set things on fire,” Kakashi said. “And eat sushi. And be mean to people.”

Ryouma frowned at him. “When were you mean?”

He was drunk.

Kakashi leaned sideways against the doorframe and ticked off on his fingers. “Broke up your dance, insulted your friends, and like five other things with Sakamoto. Also didn’t share the sushi, which I don’t regret.”

“I didn’t want the sushi,” Ryouma said, bewildered.