Kakashi smiled, and borrowed a favorite ploy of Naruto’s. “Promise?”

Ryouma snorted, but he folded his first three fingers down on the wolf-bitten hand. “Want me to pinky swear?”

In certain ridiculous aspects of his own life, Kakashi was unembarrassable. He released the grip on Ryouma’s wrist and hooked their pinkies together. “Yes.”

The corners of Ryouma’s mouth tilted in a reluctant smile. He lifted his hand and pressed their thumbs together, making a solemn seal. “I promise I won’t die easy.” A returning spark glinted in dark eyes. “Even if I live that way.”

Kakashi’s skin tingled, as if storm lightning had just brushed his nerve-endings. He pulled his hand back to hide the shiver. “I guess that’s close enough.”

Ryouma rubbed his palm over his knee, as if he’d caught the same charge, and looked up sunnily. “So, no more ‘Tousaki,’ huh? We’re on a personal name basis now?”

Probably should have seen that coming.

Kakashi opened his mouth, closed it, couldn’t think of a single good reason to say no. “I was giving an important moment weight,” he protested, lamely.

“And I listened!” Ryouma said. “See, it worked! You should keep doing it.”

This seemed like dubious logic. But it also felt a little cruel to argue, just for the sake of knocking the glow off Ryouma’s face. On the other hand, there were exactly three people Kakashi referred to by their given name, and Minato still got his -sensei tacked on.

He scratched the side of his head awkwardly, and tried: “Ryouma.” His face scrunched. “It feels weird now.”

“Well, you don’t have to do it all the time. Practice rounds, maybe.” Ryouma’s glow shaded a little, as his expression turned wry. “Like me, working on listening to different voices.”

Kakashi bumped his knee against Ryouma’s, connecting carefully with the one that had been broken and fixed, and tried again. “Ryouma, I am very smart and you should always listen to me.” He brightened. “Actually, that one was easier.”

“Hah. You’re the one who nearly went swimming in possible leech-water.” Ryouma knocked Kakashi’s knee gently back. “But I’ll try. When you make sense.”

Kakashi’s mouth twitched. “That’s fair.”

This time, he was the first one to lie back and fold his arms behind his head. “What else did you want to talk about?”

Ryouma snorted again. “I didn’t exactly come out here with a battle plan, y’know. Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’d act surprised, but we both know that would be a lie,” Kakashi said. He tilted his head back, studying the clean lines of Ryouma’s profile cut out blue against the star-stitched sky. Straight nose, except for the faintest dip at the bridge where it had been broken and reset. Angled jaw tapering to a narrow chin, cheekbones sharp enough to cut an unwary hand. The mouth that tilted down just as easily as it lit into a cocky grin. “Tell me something else that makes you happy.”

Ryouma half-smiled, looking down at Kakashi. “You’re sure you’re ready for the entire plot of the Five Rings Cycle? Maybe Shuriken Force’s latest album, I could do the drums on my knees…”

Intrigued, Kakashi said, “Sure.”

Ryouma blinked. “Uh, okay. My voice isn’t great, but— Hah, well, you won’t tell the difference anyway. Uh, let’s see…” He hummed to himself for a moment, a simple melody that wandered up and down a scale, and struck his palm gently against his knee until he found a steady beat. Then he sang. “Way out here, nothing’s clear, except the world we left behind...

His voice was rough and a little too low, shaky at first, but smoothing and strengthening as he gathered confidence. He sang like he meant it, like the music mattered to him.

Nothin’ to fear in this hollow land
Tears won’t make you blind
Run on, run hard, you can’t look back
You’ve got something more to find