The years passed quickly, surprisingly quickly as they learned to live in a world so different from that they had grown up in. Koganei was seventeen now, almost eighteen, and most definitely an adult in this time where people's lifespans were but a fraction of what they were in the twentieth century. At the moment, Koganei was also quite uncomfortably awake.
It was still dark, probably around three Koganei guessed, and it would still be at least two or three hours before the sun rose. Two or three hours of staring at the ceiling and trying not to look over at the other side of the bed, two or three hours of trying not to move because moving means fabric dragging and shifting over his crotch and that would be a really bad thing right now. Not for the first time in the past few years, Koganei cursed going through puberty while traveling across the country with someone he not only admired and looked up to, but was also prettier than most of the girls they'd encountered. And it didn't help that the only inn in this town was almost full so they'd had to share a room. A room with only one futon. A futon with Kurei far too close after that dream Koganei just had.
He finally decided to get up and take a walk-- the cold air would help and he wouldn't end up doing anything he regretted in the morning. What he forgot, what he tended to forget, was how lightly Kurei slept. The moment he sat up, Kurei had woken as he usually did: complete lucidity in an instant.
"Kaoru?"
Koganei froze, feeling sharply like he was fourteen again and caught doing something he shouldn't be. "Um," he said eloquently, voice cracking. He cleared his throat, "Go back to sleep, Kurei-nii." It was times like this that Koganei was unbelievably thankful Kurei no longer had the ability to summon flame, or the room would have been lit by now, and Koganei knew his face was bright red. Behind him, he felt the former Flame Master shift, probably propping himself up on an elbow; Koganei could practically hear the frown.
Turning to face Kurei, "No, really, …I'm…fine…" his words trailed off, and Koganei suddenly really regretted looking around as the light from the moon lit the room enough for him to clearly see the other's face. …Kao…ru… he heard, his name echoing through his mind as his memory very cheerfully superimposed the image from his dream of Kurei, flushed and spread beneath him, over the shadowed man looking up at him. The blush that stained Koganei's cheeks darkened and he scrambled back, pulling some distance between the two.
It was too dark to see Kurei's expression properly, made worse when Kurei turned away to lie back down, folding his hands over his stomach. Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes, Koganei staring at Kurei's shadowed form. "Kurei-nii?" he finally spoke up quietly, feeling his stomach tie itself into knots as he tried to figure out just how he should phrase this.
"Yes?"
"Um. How come… Uh. I mean, you know how Recca--"
"Kaoru." Kurei's voice was low and dangerous. Despite the brothers somewhat reconciling their differences before Koganei and Kurei had left, Kurei still did not like hearing that name, did not like being reminded. Koganei knew that.
"Sorry, sorry," Koganei scratched the back of his head sheepishly, crawling back onto the futon to settle next to Kurei, shifting twice before he could sit comfortably. He swallowed, opened his mouth to try and say something, then changed his mind, shutting it again.
Kurei scowled, turning his head to look at Koganei. "If you have something to say," he snapped, "just say it." A closer look caused Kurei's eyes to narrow slightly, and he sat up, reaching forward to press the back of his hand against Koganei's forehead. "Your temperature is high, are you getting sick?" Under the cool touch of Kurei's hand and the proximity of his face, Koganei wondered, somewhat hysterically, if he was glowing in the dark. He certainly was red enough.
Reaching up, he gently pulled Kurei's hand away. "I'm fine," he insisted, staring at the point of contact where his fingers circled Kurei's wrist. Gold bracelets clinked lightly against one another, an imitation of the tekko that had crumbled away with the comfort and warmth of his flame. They served to remind Kurei of those he had lost, what he had done; six in total. The rings gave off a warm glow, reflecting the moonlight streaming in from the window, and Koganei's breath caught in his throat as he looked down the arm, following the curve of the shadow to Kurei's face. "Kurei-nii… Kurei. I--"
And he cut off suddenly, entire body going still. Beside him, Kurei had done the same, both of them feeling the killing intent getting ever closer. Quiet footsteps, nearly inaudible over the sound of the cicadas outside, padded quietly down the hallway. "Ten," Kurei breathed, reaching for his katana. Nodding and releasing the wrist he still held, Koganei leaned over and grabbed the Kougan Anki, its weight familiar in his hands; he would never not be thankful that Kurei had quietly insisted, in his roundabout way, that they find the madougu Koganei had grown up with. His senses were hyper-aware of everything around him, everything except what his body had been aware of just a few seconds ago, actually, noting it as 'ally' and, though Koganei knew exactly what Kurei was capable with, 'not a threat'.
The door soundlessly opened, and three men immediately rushed in only to stop in confusion upon seeing the empty bedrolls. "What is it?" a fourth grunted, keeping their voice pitched low. Two more stepped cautiously in, then another two, heading towards their accomplices.
"No one's here."
"What? Ya sure we're in the right room?"
"Yeah, I saw them come in earlier."
"You are in the correct room," Kurei's voice smoothly broke in, and the bandits spun to see one of their group fall to the ground as the katana blade slid from his body with a sickeningly wet sound.
A dull thud and a chuckle caused them to turn the other way, seeing the gleam of the Kougan Anki as it rested comfortably on Koganei's shoulders. "Not very smart of you though." The crumpled form of the last of their team lay at his feet and he grinned, sharp and dangerous. Their relatively peaceful life had not dulled either of their fighting abilities and had, instead, honed them to near perfection; Koganei's larger form could wield his madougu with even more skill than before.
"They're still outnumbered!"
The expression on Kurei's face made clear how much he really detested hearing that phrase come out of some idiot's mouth.
"One's a kid and the other's a pretty boy, we can take them down!"
Koganei twitched, hands spasming on the handle his beloved weapon.
People really ought to learn to stop underestimating them, Koganei thought as he pushed forward, pressing the offensive. But then again, most people who attacked them were robbers, after the golden gleam of the Kougan Anki or Kurei's bracelets. On one hand, it got old really fast: they were untrained fighters with no skill or grace to their movements. On the other hand, these opponents were spurred by desperation and greed, which often brought out the best in people: it prevented their ability to fight from deteriorating.
Using the window as an exit, Koganei and Kurei left the inn. They could hear the sounds of cursing and running from behind them as they slipped into the woods, finding a clearing before they turned to face their pursuers. They stood, one on either side of the clearing, aware enough of the other's skill and ability to know it was unnecessary to fight back-to-back in this sort of situation.
The battle was quick and relatively boring, though the opponents had a mild advantage in numbers. It was through sheer bad luck that Kurei mis-stepped, loosing his balance for the split second that was needed to sink a blade deep into his shoulder. Out the corner of his eye, Koganei saw red, flipping through the forms too quickly to be seen and easily destroying his opponents. On his part, Kurei merely shifted his katana to his other hand, and cut through those surrounding him with an ease that spoke nothing of the pain he had to be in: every movement of his torso made the injury a little bit worse, but removing the blade would cause blood loss he couldn't risk.
With the last man down, blood staining the forest floor, Kurei hissed, reaching up and yanking out the blade. He threw it down and prodded at his wound, clearly disgusted that he had been injured by such terrible fighters. “O-oi, Kurei-nii!" Koganei headed over, concerned. "Don't do that here, it'll get infected. Let's go back, we can clean it." It probably wasn't too bad, Koganei knew, but the blood spreading on Kurei's yukata was going to stain anyway if they didn't get it cleaned and…it was a lot of blood.
They took a moment after returning to their room to dispose of the men killed inside the inn. It would have been easier if Kurei still had his flame, Koganei found himself thinking, before he quickly, guiltily, suppressed that thought. And then with an even guiltier conscience, reminded himself that if Kurei still had Jisho and Kurenai, then Koganei himself wouldn't be the one Kurei loved most.
The physical exertion that took strained Kurei's injured shoulder, and though he said nothing, made no betraying sound, even in the dark Koganei could see the set of Kurei's teeth, the sweat beading on his forehead. They dragged the men, one each, out a ways into the woods where the other dead bodies lay, leaving them there for the forest animals to find and destroy. As they headed back for the second time that night, Koganei kept his eyes fixed on the swinging tail of Kurei's hair, fighting the urge to sit Kurei down right then and there to check that wound. So when they finally, finally arrived in their room again, a trip that seemed so much longer when weighted with Koganei's concern, Koganei caught Kurei by the elbow. Then let go immedietly with a hasty apology at the startled hiss when Kurei's arm was suddenly yanked back when his body meant to move forward.
"Sorry, sorry!" he repeated as Kurei sank to his knees on the futon before he shifted his legs to rest, relaxed, in front of him. Koganei bit his lip, wasn't sure whether or not he'd be welcome, but reached hesitantly forward-- Stop. stared at his hand. Blood… If the wound was bad enough to stain through the yukata sleeve at Kurei's elbow, the wound was a lot worse than Koganei had thought. And then with the burden of carrying that man… Without thought or care about what Kurei wanted, Koganei dropped to his knees beside Kurei, surprising the other man when he grabbed the edge of Kurei's yukata and yanked down the sleeve to expose a bloody shoulder.
The wound was nasty, about five centimeters in length, and so deep Koganei wondered if the scar tissue, once it heals, would affect the muscle beneath it. The fear curling in his stomach came from the knowledge that, if Kurei was not the fighter he was, if Kurei had not knocked the blade up when he had, this injury would have been enough to kill him.
"Are you quite finished staring?"
The cool voice cut through his thoughts and Koganei realized he was staring, hands curled tightly around the cotton robe. Koganei dragged his eyes up from the wound to look at Kurei. Though his eyes were steady and his words calm, Kurei's face was pale and his skin clammy. Bloodloss, Koganei realized, and his current position kneeled over the other man prevented him from being able to treat the wound.
Koganei shifted back with another muttered apology that Kurei shrugged off as he usually did. Recalling that the makeshift first-aid kit they had put together -- they had taken advantage of the knowledge from the twentieth century and applied what they could to the technology available in the fifteen hundreds -- was still in his pack, Koganei scrambled across the futon to grab it. Lighting a candle, he pulled out the flask of alcohol and a roll of bandages, "…man, I wish they had Neosporin here," soaking a pad of cloth. With a brief meeting of eyes as the only warning, he pressed it forward, catching Kurei when he pitched forward reflexively with a strangled sound of pain. Looking down beside them, Koganei watched as Kurei's hand pressed against the futon before, with a spasm, it clenched into a tight fist as he breathed through his mouth, shaky exhalations of barely suppressed pain.
"Bear it, it'll be better soon," he consoled Kurei quietly, needlessly.
It wasn't the worst injury Kurei's suffered before, Koganei knew, and it wasn't the worst pain Kurei's undergone. Still, needing to watch this, every time he had to watch this-- Koganei hurt for him. For the emotions that Mori Kouran had trained out of Kurei; training that, even now, he could not shake off. After a few minutes, Koganei carefully peeled the cloth away, noting how blood had seeped through the material to show, pale pink, at the topmost layer. At least the immediate wound had slowed for the moment, and Koganei moved quickly, wanting to have the wound dressed before it started bleeding badly again.
A clean pad of cloth pressed against the wound and held up by Kurei while Koganei wrapped the bandages around his shoulder. Koganei ended up sitting on his feet behind Kurei as he neatly tied off the ends of the bandages and tucked it into a fold, smooth to prevent it from bother Kurei when he moved. Kurei's hands were folded in his lap, hair pulled over his shoulder to prevent it from getting in the way, yukata draped down around his waist to bare his top.
In the flickering light from the candle, so much stronger than the softness of the moon yet so much weaker than the harshness of electric lights, half of Kurei's face was clearly illuminated, the warm light softening the lines and blending shadows and highlights while the other half was in shadow, creating a strange effect.
Without quite realizing what he was doing, Koganei's hands found their way to Kurei's shoulders, thumbs brushing lightly over the taut skin bared at the nape of his neck. Adding a bit of pressure to soothe tensed muscles, Koganei found with the ease of experience the various muscle knots, smoothing them away as Kurei slowly relaxed beneath the talented strokes.
"…Hey…" Koganei's voice was pitched low, so not to disturb the comfortable atmosphere. In response, the older boy didn't speak, merely making a soft, questioning noise in the back of his throat. Koganei swallowed. "…Um. Nevermind." A startled, harsh intake of air reminded him of Kurei's injury and Koganei quickly loosened his grip, not even realizing when his hands had tightened. Kurei half turned, eyes slitting open to glance back briefly.
"…Are you all right?"
"Yeah, fine. Sorry 'bout that, Kurei-nii." In apology, without even thinking, Koganei dipped his head and brushed his lips against the dip at the base of Kurei's neck. His hands had paused in their motions, one sliding down to rest lightly against Kurei's upper arm, the other curling lightly into long, dark hair.
"…Ka…o…ru?" Kurei voice was uncharacteristically hesitant. He didn't move, eyes shut, body entirely still.
Instead of answering immediately, Koganei leaned forward, burying his forehead in the curve from neck to shoulder, hands sliding further down to link at Kurei's waist. "…Hey, Kurei," he said softly, feeling bold. Deliberately dropping the usual addition of 'brother' and noting the brief shudder as his breath drifted across skin, Koganei turned his head, pressing another light kiss to Kurei's shoulder. "…You know how," he tried, frowned, and tried again, "…ever notice when…" And then, deciding it was too difficult to phrase, simply tightened his arms and tugged until Kurei's back was flush with his chest, resting his chin on the top of Kurei's head.
His thumbs brushed lightly, back and forth and back and forth, across Kurei's abdomen. "Kurei," he said again, softly, "You're very pretty." When Kurei twisted in Koganei's arms to look back, surprised and confused, Koganei offered him a tiny smile before tilting his head to seal his lips over Kurei's, swallowing the shocked sound. Not discouraged by Kurei's lack of response, Koganei moved one hand up, skimming toned muscle, tracing faint scars, and the other down to splay across a thin hip, pausing when stopped by a fold of fabric. "Gorgeous," he breathed against the other's mouth, nipping lightly at Kurei's bottom lip before pressing back into the kiss.
It was with a sharp, sudden movement that Kurei yanked himself to the side and out, away. His face was flushed, eyes wide and the fingers of one hand touching his lips in a seemingly unconscious move as he stared at Koganei. "What…" he managed, before his eyes slid to the side, troubled. Without looking at Koganei, Kurei gracefully rose to his feet and tugged his yukata the rest of the way on in a single motion. He hesitated, then spoke quietly, "Get some rest, we leave in a few hours," then headed for the door.
"Kurei!" Koganei called out, scrambling up. "Wait, Kurei!" It was the pained desperation that halted Kurei's steps, and though he didn't turn, he paused. Waited to listen. "Don't leave," Koganei's voice nearly broke-- of everything he feared, watching Kurei leave ranked high. He never knew when Kurei might end up not coming back. He took a few steps and watched as Kurei's shoulders tightened, the twisting sensation of dread not dissimilar to how it felt so many years ago when Kurei would not look at him, would not talk to him. "Don't leave me," he whispered, fingers barely touching the bone at the base of Kurei's forearm. When Kurei did not pull away this time, though he still did not look up, Koganei slowly closed his hand around Kurei's wrist, the grip gentle and loose.
As usual, Kurei did not respond, choosing to remain silent. He had once told Koganei I won't make you a promise I can't keep, he had told Koganei that once and never spoke of it again. It was this refusal to say he'll stay that kept this fear of being abandoned, of being left behind, deep-rooted in Koganei's psyche. Koganei's grip tightened when Kurei didn't shake his hand off, as if holding onto Kurei now will keep him by Koganei's side. "Come back…?" His voice was soft, unsure, eyes fixed at the single point of contact between them.
Beneath his fingers, Koganei felt Kurei's bones shift slightly and Koganei felt a sort of sinking feeling in his stomach as Kurei twisted his wrist free. Kurei was going to leave. He was really going to leave this time and it was all Koganei's fault. He fought down the wave of nausea as he let his arm drop down to his side, squeezing his eyes shut. The sound of steps seemed too loud and Koganei wanted to close his ears. Wanted to not hear the person he loved most leave him and-- "Eh?" Koganei went still in shock as a hand landed in his hair.
"You're an idiot." Words spoken quietly, eyes hidden behind long bangs. Turning to stare after the smaller figure, Koganei could clearly see the awkward casualness Kurei tried to keep as he settled back beneath the blankets. "You'll catch a cold like that," Kurei snapped and Koganei could practically hear the blush as Kurei shifted, leaving enough space beside him. With a grin that he couldn't supress, stretching from ear to ear, Koganei climbed in under the blankets and with a sudden boldness, Koganei draped an arm over Kurei's waist.
Resting his chin on the top of Kurei's head, Koganei's smile only got wider when Kurei didn't move away and, instead, ever so slightly shifted closer. "Good night, Kurei-nii! Er, Kurei!" He laughed sheepishly, gleefully.
"Go to sleep, Kaoru!"
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