Genma tightened his fingers against Rina's arm, shifting onto his hip just a little more. Her head was against his injured left shoulder by his design: better to leave his right hand free. He trusted the seals and the protection of their hideout but... But her shakes were no over-reaction. He held her, ignoring the burn in his shoulder just as she ignored the dampness of the bandage and the hard buckle of his armoured vest under her cheek, and wrapped her fear in his courage. Let her shake for both of them. He could feel his own shudders, barely suppressed, in every breath.

After a long interval he took a deeper breath and tried to look at her. His left cheek was swelling, his eye blackening, and he had to turn his head. Even so her face was hidden to him. She was curled into a tight, trembling ball, arms against her chest, tension in every muscle. Genma reached over with his right hand, circled her left wrist with raw-boned fingers, then gently pulled, drawing her arm around him.

"Rina." Just her name, in a slightly hoarse whisper. He wondered if she was crying. He pressed a dry kiss to the crown of her head. Sweaty, messy, dirty hair. He kissed her again. "Rina."

He tried very hard not to think about what might have happened if he hadn't been on that trail, on that aborted courier mission, when Rina's partner Shouji had stumbled into view and begged help from an unexpected ANBU ally with his dying breaths.