The Scar Under His Right Eye - Kazufuyu

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"You have a scar."

Kazutora liked to watch Chifuyu. Study him. Commit him to memory. Sometimes he'd sketch him too. Usually while Chifuyu read or watched TV or cooked or did taxes or anything mundane. Kazutora sat and watched a lot. He didn't feel useful a lot of the time, not having any real skills. Even if he did, Chifuyu's too particular to have anything done any other way than the way he does things. Kazutora lets him do that. He stopped offering to help when it just annoyed Chifuyu more than his stares, so he decided to simply watch.

Chifuyu didn't look up from his novel, speaking in such a tone that it's one a knowledgeable mother would use when unimpressed with a child's curiosity, "I do, yes." The scar was just below his right eye, ever so slightly there. It's hardly noticeable. Kazutora would've seen it eventually. After all, he spends most of his day staring at Chifuyu. He was mostly surprised it took him this long to notice.

Kazutora leaned forward, careful not to touch Chifuyu. He didn't like to be 'distracted' while reading. This conversation was already enough to slightly annoy him, and Kaxutora could tell. Although they shared a blanket, it was big enough and positioned in a way that it could've been two separate blankets and it wouldn't've made any difference. Kazutora's curiosity was usually contained, but he let it get the better of him this time. "How did you get it?" he spoke quietly, not wanting to upset Chifuyu more than necessary.

Chifuyu sighed, memorising the number page he was on, and closed the book. He didn't like to use bookmarks or any physical marker, he liked to remember the page number he was on. He looked up at Kazutora, placing the book in his lap and crossing his arms over it. "You were there. Do you not remember?"

The mental acrobatics Kazutora had to make for the connection to form. He had very little memory of the events between juvie and prison beyond halloween. It took him at least 15 seconds to remember any time he saw Chifuyu hurt and 30 till he remembered what him and Hanma made Baji do. He bit his lip, a pit forming in his stomach. The strength taken to give even a whisper in response was heavily disproportionate, "Why is it so light?"

Of all the questions, this was one Chifuyu was not expecting. He had an answer, given almost immediately but it still caught him off-guard. He was expecting another unnecessary apology to add to the pile of thousands Kazutora had given him over the years or something about Baji but not... his healing process. "My mom got me this cream that fades scars. It's- uh- had its uses between the fights in Toman and... the rough nights."

Kazutora nodded, fully aware of the rough nights. He had a few himself, but never to the extent Chifuyu had told him about. Out of all the scars that littered Chifuyu's body, the faded one underneath his right eye was definitely his favourite. A reminder that you can heal from the bad times without fully erasing them.