riptide | kyojuro rengoku

XVII | stars

"I'M ALL BETTER!"

Kyojuro announced, practically barging into the bottom part of the ship. You had been quietly tracing your hands over the Braille, but his sudden appearance startled you. Kyojuro muttered a sheepish apology, chuckling softly. "I know," You remarked, picking up the book from the ground you had dropped it to.

"You've been saying that for the past two hours."

Kyojuro seemed to take great pride in his healing abilities. Albeit he was in an absolutely disastrous state, he had listened to you pretty well after that and rested. Now, he was back and better than ever (clearly). "What're you reading?" He asked, brows furrowed at the book you had just picked up.

The book suddenly nudged forward in your hands and you grumbled, losing your place among the symbolized letters as Kyojuro traced his fingertips on the handmade cover of the book. "Can you even tell what it says?" There was silence and you laughed, knowing he had shaken his head subconsciously at your question.

"It says 'The Giver'. It's a novel that Kagaya translated for me."

"With Amane?"

Your lips curled at his question and you nodded. "With Amane," There was a beat of silence after that. Part of you contemplated on bringing her up, but you also knew better than to spill all of her life's details in front of Kyojuro. It's not that you didn't trust him, but you had too much respect for the white-haired woman to out her like this.

Kyojuro hummed thoughtfully, unsure if he should pry anymore. Ultimately, he decided to drop the topic, the pressure of his fingers against the book leaving. You could hear his footsteps recede before he suddenly stopped, turning back to look over his shoulder. "You should read outside! It's not too cold or hot out! Plus, I could use the company!"

He sounded awkward, but you could tell he was trying his best to sound confident. You caved in to his wishes, nodding and holding up your hand to let him know you'd be up there in a few minutes. Unfortunately, he didn't take that for an answer, snatching the book from your grasp as well as clasping his hand with your own before dragging you up.

"What's the point of waiting when you could just come up now?!"

He sounded excited and your heart fell at that as you realized you had slightly neglected Kyojuro. It's not that you got tired of taking care of him, but you were a rather introverted person; you liked your own personal time. You heard him sit on the boat, your own legs crossing as you planted yourself beside him.

You set your book aside and Kyojuro turned, his hair brushing against your forehead. "I thought you were going to read up here?" He had just handed it back to you thinking you'd go back to where you left off, but you had just merely cast it aside. Well, it's not like I'll know which part I left off at right now. You thought, slightly bitter.

Though, you didn't disclose that to him, leaning comfortably against his figure instead. "I've been ignoring you for almost the entirety of the day. It took you dragging me up to realize that, so I'm here now." You mumbled. Kyojuro's face flushed at your words and he gulped, hesitantly wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

A muffled yelp left your lips as he tugged you closer, your head pressing against his chest. You instantly recognized the silky material of his cloak, feeling it drape over you gently. "And I'm here too!" He spoke cheerily, his fingers squeezing your shoulder. You laughed, nodding into his chest and letting out a sigh.

"Kyo, it's night isn't it?"

"Mhm!"

"Then. . . can you see the stars?"

"Yeah!" Kyojuro chirped like an ecstatic child. You fidgeted with your hands, feeling awkward when asking this. The last time you had, you had mistakenly asked Kagaya who had merely laughed loudly at your question. Amane had tried to describe it to you back then too; something about dots of white against a sea of black.

"Can you describe them to me?"

Kyojuro blinked, not sure of what you were asking at first before it suddenly clicked in his head. Unwittingly, he blurted. "Oh right, you're blind!" You raised your hand, pinching his chin in an annoyed manner to which he whined and cupped his face, moving just an inch away from you before moving closer again.

For a second, there was nothing but silence, the crashing waves filling all the noise either of you needed. "Let me show you," He said abruptly, making your heart skip a beat. He patted your hand to reassure you that he would only be gone for a moment, disappearing into the bottom part of the ship before returning with something.

Kyojuro grabbed your hand again, fighting back the urge to laugh when you had nearly tripped over your own foot when attempting to stand up. However, you had threateningly held your fingers in a pinching motion to which he quickly shut up, leading you off of the boat and onto the island.

"Okay, look into the water,"

You did as you were told, sitting on a stone that was nestled into the sand. He held out a piece of torn black fabric and you couldn't tell what he was doing at first, watching as it grew soaked in the ocean. He brought it out, mumbling to himself as you heard grains of the sand move. "Alright, you ready?"

Kyojuro spoke like some kind of announcer; this was his biggest creation yet, as you could clearly tell. You laughed and nodded. Although you never understood his energetic and upbeat character, you loved it. Loved? You paused, swallowing hard and looking down into the water again.

Gently, his hand with the black cloth appeared again, but there were little dots of sand that decorated it now. Dots of white in a sea of black. . . Amane's description rang true in your head and you smiled widely, realizing what Kyojuro was doing. "The sky doesn't look exactly like that, but that's my artistic rendition of it!"

There was a boyish pride to his voice and you smiled, dipping your hand into the water to reach his own. You traced up to his shoulder, gently feeling for his face and you knew you reached it once he shuddered from the cold. You smiled sweetly at him and his skin grew hot under your fingertips.

Making sure his lips were in another direction, you leaned forward, planting your lips on his cheek affectionately.

"The stars are beautiful too."