Sea Bunny Shores - HayaRyuu (Discontinued for now)

sixth.

Ryuuichi looks up at the Inn. There are cracks in the walls, and the foundation isn't steady. But Hayato mentioned that this was the cheapest option.

"Can't I stay with you?" Ryuuichi asked him.

"I have work to do," Hayato answered, opening the door. "I can't let you get in my way."

"I won't! I promise." Ryuuichi pleaded. "Well, it doesn't matter. The guys here have connections with oceanographers and cartographers. If you showed them where you washed up, they might be able to track the currents back to where you got shipwrecked."

Ryuuichi winced. "Okay, I trust you."

The boy walked inside and was surprised to see the interior was organized, with someone scrubbing the floor. Hayato walked to the counter where a woman had her feet propped up while reading a book.

"Inomata." Hayato greets. The lady looks up from her book and frowns. "What?" she spits.

"Sit down for a moment. I'll be back," Hayato whispered to Ryuuichi. The pirate walks over to Inomata and mumbles to her. She hops down from her chair and leads him to a room to chat privately. Ryuuichi sits down on a velvet chair, pulling the cloak around him. It's quiet, the only sound being the cleaning lady washing the floors.

Ryuu sighs and buries his face in the palm of his hands.

"I did not expect this at all!"

"Who thought that humans could be so accommodating?"

"That doesn't matter right now. I want to stay with Mr. Hayato. But, I guess he doesn't want me around?" he groans.

"Uhm, excuse me?" a soft voice says. Ryuuichi raises his head to meet the eyes of the cleaning lady. She had her hair tied up into two buns, despite her short hair. She sits down beside him. "How are you feeling? You seem gloomy," she asks.

"Ah, I'm alright."

"Would you like some tea while you wait?"

"Would that be okay?" Ryuuichi wonders. "Of course, you can come with me and choose which flavor you'd like!"

The boy stands up and follows the girl to a dirty kitchen. There is rotten food scattered on the floor and stacked dishes in the sink. "I'm terribly sorry about the mess." The lady apologizes. "It's hard being the only person cleaning." She turns on the kettle. "We have this nice strawberry flavor!" she grins. Ryuuichi tilts his head, having never heard of a strawberry before. "Strawberries? Oh, yes! Of course, I love them. I have them almost every day!" he lies.

"Is a strawberry some kind of animal?" he ponders.

"Good!" the lady says, leaving a teabag in a mug. "What's your name?" she asks.

"I'm Kashima Ryuuichi," he answers.

"What a lovely name," she compliments shyly, "I'm Ushimaru Yuki."

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Ryuuichi learnt that day that strawberries are not animals. They are red fruits in the shape of a heart covered with seeds. Ushimaru said her family grows them to create products to sell.

They sold strawberry candies, tea, cakes, milk and so on. The girl promised to bring him some sweet desserts next time they meet.

Ryuuichi offered to help organize the kitchen after he finished his tea. She gladly thanked them and lent him a pair of gloves.

The boy helped with household chores at home. He picked out the weeds from the garden, cooked meals and cleaned the sand that crept onto the floors.

Although, he wasn't used to washing plates. People back home used seaweed to wipe off leftovers. Ushimaru noticed his confusion and handed him a towel. She showed him how to apply the soap, rinse and dry.

They eventually got into a rhythm of washing the dishes. Soap was peculiar to Ryuu. "How do humans... just put scents in?" His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of chatting becoming louder. He turned around and saw Hayato approaching him.

"Let's go." the pirate said. Ryuuichi put down the dishes and picked up the flowers he left behind on a chair. "Nice meeting you, Ushimaru." he smiled. She nodded respectfully towards him before turning back to cleaning.

Ryuuichi followed Hayato but noticed they were heading to the exit. "Where are we going?" he asked. Hayato grumbled. "Inomata mentioned she wouldn't be able to help you."

Ryuuichi wasn't bothered, but he tried to act as if he was. "What?! Why not?"

"They're understaffed, and the Inn isn't in stable condition for people to be staying there," Hayato explained. "You can stay with me for the time being."

"Okay," Ryuuichi whispered.

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When they arrived, Ryuuichi planted the flowers in a clay vase. He stroked the soft petals as Hayato watched him. Hayato walked into Ryuuichi's room to place a set of new blankets. But he noticed something peaking out of Ryuu's leather bag.

"I didn't check his bag earlier for anything valuable," he mumbled. He bent down and quietly searched through his bag. There wasn't anything worth paying for. But he noticed a strange plant tucked away at the bottom of the bag. He picked it up, and it was strangely warm.

Suddenly, Ryuuichi walked inside. He looked confused as to why Hayato was looking at the contents in his bag. The boy noticed the plants Hayato was holding and sat down beside him. Hayato tried to come up with a reasonable excuse, but Ryuuichi didn't seem upset. "They're weird, right?" he commented, gesturing to the plants. "Yeah," Hayato responded. "Where did you get these?"

"At the bottom of the ocean." Ryuuichi blurted. Hayato furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, like- I meant," he stuttered. "Some humans dove down to the bottom of the ocean. That's when they found it."

Hayato's lips parted and slowly placed the plants back into the bag. "Where do you come from?" he asked.

He never learned about human cities, and he was awful at naming things. So, Ryuuichi stayed quiet. Hayato looked suspiciously at the other. "Okay then, maybe it'll come back to you," he said, words laced with mistrust.

Hayato stood up, "We should eat." he said. Ryuuichi knew Hayato was onto him. The pirate must believe that Ryuuichi is not who he says he is.

Ryuuichi followed him out of the room and upstairs to a storage room. He was surprised at the number of kegs.

Hayato brought out a box of herbs and placed them on a counter, putting a few into different bags. Ryuuichi noticed that his hands were stiff. "Are your hands cold?" he asked.

"Eh, you get used to it," Hayato answered. Ryuuichi walked beside him and intertwined his fingers with his. Like last time, Ryuu placed a kiss on the palm of Hayato's hands. The other snatched his hands away. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" he shouted. Ryuuichi flinched at the noise.

"Ah, well, whenever my hands were cold, I remembered that my parents used to kiss my hands," Ryuuichi clarified. "I'm sorry."

Hayato softened and dropped his arms to his side. "It's fine. I shouldn't have yelled." he sighed. "You can do it," he grumbled.

"I can?"

"Yeah, just let me know," Hayato said, keeping his eyes stuck to the herbs.

Ryuuichi smiled and stood beside him, helping with cutting up the vegetables. But he couldn't help the swell of guilt in his stomach, as the word; Fraud was said like a mantra in his brain.

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hello again, yes I know late update but writer's block cries

and I'm lazy

hope u enjoyed

question: favorite: the strangest place you've ever been to?

have a good morning, afternoon or night!

-fai