KINTSUGI ⊳jin sakai x yuna

さんじゅうし (thirty four)

Yuna's a quick study. Jin doesn't know how much that is owed to her sheer determination, and how much to her natural intelligence, but it's certainly a combination of both. The fact that it is getting much too hot outside for anything else other than a swim also helps, by keeping them at the hideout, in the shade.

Michio has not only overcome the drowsiness that comes after being unconscious, but by mid-summer, he can walk without even the slightest limp. Yuna also can, for the most part, get through a short text around that same time. The letters and notes Jin has found throughout his journey turn out to be perfect for such practice. If there are certain characters she forgets or hasn't seen before, she's quick to figure out what they mean in most cases. Writing, on the other hand, doesn't come easily to her: Jin leads the way, telling her a certain word or sentence before putting it on paper and letting her follow along on the process.

It's laborious at times, and he has to watch himself to not get distracted by the cute furrow of her brows when she focuses, or the determined look in her eyes. As fun as it is to watch her put her mind to use, he is the teacher, after all. Without him, there is no lesson, and he has to stay sharp.

The early morning when they had decided he would help her become literate still lingers in his mind during almost every lesson. Oftentimes, it happens when he's leaning over her shoulder, watching her read, or copy his writing. The memory of her touch on his lips is stubborn when it comes to leaving him be. Somehow, even writing lessons become an unfamiliar kind of romantic, and not thinking about kissing, caressing and doing many other things to and with her becomes difficult. Almost terrifyingly so.

When a cloudy, or windy day rolls by, and the heat becomes more bearable, they accompany the boys to their old parents' farm and help fix whatever it is that needs fixing. In all honesty, Jin had been a little nervous about putting his handyman skills (or lack thereof) to use, but it turned out there was not much that required them. Within a few visits, the farm could start to run again, if it were to have any inhabitants. So, after another week the brothers spent with them, Michio insisted that they had troubled them enough, and that he and his brother should start getting back on their own feet. ("Or what is left of them," Benjiro had added with a snorting laugh, which was followed up with a light slap over the back of his head from his brother.)

They accompany the brothers to their home one last time on a foggy morning. That seems to predict ideal weather for travel during summer. The ride to the farm is an easy, entertaining one. The boys always find something to talk about, and they're both in higher spirits than about a month ago. Banter goes back and forth between the two of them faster than any duel Jin has ever seen. But then again, that's nothing new as of late. It had taken them a while to get used to an easier life after leaving the slave camp, but they were healing. And their improving mood was simply proof of it. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing their emotional progress, no matter how small.

Their goodbyes were fast. Jin could notice the bittersweet look on Yuna's face from a distance. He could also get behind said feeling. He could only guess Yuna saw a part of Taka in both of the two boys, but he could never dare remarking that out loud.

They promised to visit whenever they would have the chance to, and the goodbyes were left at that.

Unfortunately, the ride back home from the brothers' new home turned out to be the exact opposite of the journey towards it. The morning fog is long gone, and the sun shines with such force that Jin feels as if his brain is about to start boiling inside his skull.

"I hope they'll be fine," Yuna speaks up, somehow out of nowhere. Jin had chalked her silence up to the unbearable heat, but it appears he had been wrong.