Kazuscara • Alongside you

Chapter 8 • Bitter Tea, Sweet Kiss

Context:
Our two love birds are on a date at komore tea house and when they're left alone by Taroumaru, Kazuha takes advantage of the moment of privacy.
The characters are 14 and 16 as mentioned ever since chapter 1

Kunikuzushi pov:
Kazuha grabbed my face and he got closer, wrapping his hand around my waist, we were but a few inches apart and then...

our lips touched. Our lips touched.. our lips touched... OUR LIPS TOUCHED?!?!??

It took me a minute after the kiss for my brain to take in what happened and once it clicked, I turned as red as a tomato, my eyes wide and lips parted slightly muttering unable to comprehend what had happened. I was frozen in place, looking at his deep crimson eyes that I then saw weren't looking at me but my lips. My face only reddened even more. Was he waiting to be left alone just to do this?! Was this all part of some plan?!?! Did Tomo know about this plan if there even is one?!!??! How long did he like me?.. is it okay for me to like him back?... What will he think when he finds out I'm a prototype puppet of the shogun that they claim as their son.... So many thoughts were running in my head, both positive if they even were positive and negative.. I felt like I really loved Kazuha though, whenever I was near him, my chest felt some sort of warmth but that was impossible since... I don't have a heart. I love Kazuha. He makes me feel warm inside in a way I've never felt ever since I was created, not even mother brought me this warmth..
(Referring to how he never had a true feeling of reciprocation of love whether in a family-like way or in a relationship-like manner)

I then grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me again and kissed him.
His soft, tender lips crashing onto mine with passion. I was so happy of finding love, I just couldn't stop kissing him. From the second our lips separated to take a breath, I would crash my lips back on his.

After a solid three minutes, I had stopped, my lips a bit red and puffy from all the kissing. After a second I then just crashed straight into his chest and gave him a big hug, snuggling in his stomach. Once I looked up to look at Kazuha, he was facing the wall, face as red as a beet. Hehe.. "I love you, Zuzu.." I whispered to him. "I-I love you too, Kuni... Would you, please, be my boyfriend, Kunikuzushi?" He told me in a nervous tone, probably fearing rejection. I sat up on his lap and looked at him in the face and answered his question.

"Of course I will."

Kazuha looked at me with big eyes and I gave him a big hug. After the long hug, he grabbed my face and gave me a kiss. My face had instantly reddened from the small yet quite bold act. Once i had gotten off of him, I went back to my place and just as if the timing was perfect, Taroumaru enters the room with a kettle of tea in his mouth. The short shiba set it down and barked happily. "Thank you, Taroumaru." Said kazuha, wiping his lips a bit. Taroumaru then barked once again then left.

I set the small colourful kettle on our table and I sat back down on the small cushion. Kazuha then asked, "So, why bitter tea?" "I think that tea may start off bitter but after it leaves a sweet after taste that lingers in your mouth, I find that pleasant.." I answered as I served myself some tea in a short porcelain cup. "Oh, that's quite interesting, never thought of it that way." He replied putting a hand on his chin and smiling. I just grabbed the cup and started drinking, that sweet aftertaste flowing in proceeding after the bitter river flowing down my throat. A pleasant taste.

A short while later~

Kazuha pov:
I was resting my head in my arm while Kunikuzushi was drinking tea. Taroumaru then suddenly appeared at the door with some hotpot. He was carrying in his mouth a large bowl full of mildly spicy vegetable hotpot, i could tell from the light peppery fragrance coming from the smoke. He then approached our small table and put the large bowl down and finished off by letting us having a nice meal with a simple bark. There were two small bowls set at the side of the short yet long maple wood table that I took grasp of and put one in front of me and the other facing Kuni. I then served some of the Yosenabe in both our plates with a spoon set in the bowl.

"Itadakimasu!" Said Kunikuzushi, putting both his hands together, lowering his head slightly.
"Itadakimasu." I repeated a few instants after the ravenette boy. "Dig in!" I said enthusiastically to him, flashing a small smile which flushed his face in a light vermilion colour. How cute.

While we were eating, Kunikuzushi had actually gotten a bit of hotpot on his lips and didn't seem to notice. I took the great opportunity laid right in front of my eyes to tease him just a bit more..
"You've got something right here.." I told him, slowly approaching my hand to his face and wiping the yosenabe off and proceeding to lick it off my finger. His face had instantly turned a very dark shade of red but he seemed to have caught the fact I was simply teasing him so he lowered his face towards his food, stuttering the words "T-Thanks I g-guess..." trying to sound as calm as possible. He was just too adorable..

After finishing all their food and heading out~

Kunikuzushi pov:
We had both headed out of Komore tea house, back onto the loud streets of inazuma when suddenly I heard voices calling out to me and Kazuha.

"Oh, hello Kunikuzushi, you too Kaedehara Kazuha." Said the first voice.
"Me and milord were just coming here to visit Taroumaru and do onikabuto battles with Itto and Tomo, wanna join?" Said the second voice.
Me and Kazuha looked at each other and started chuckling.

1061 words
A/N
HI IM SO SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG I MISSED YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!!
I wanna shout out one of my friends for giving me so much inspiration and helping me get motivated while writing this story. They were one of the first to ever read this fanfic and have supported me throughout my whole writing.
I'd like a round of applause for lolohardreader !!! I love you bestie and I hope your doing great<3<3<3
ALSOOO I'll be making a chapter called Q&A in a matter of minutes, you can go and ask me questions there in the comments and I'll reply to your questions! Please don't ask any intimate question regarding very personal information.