Ethereal - Suegiku

5

        "Hey, did you remember to pack your futon? I can't find it." The brunette spoke from outside his and his colleague's tent, agitating the man inside.

"This is exactly why I told you I would unpack myself; you're no help!" He seethed. After a moment of silence, Tecchou stepped in and crouched next to Jouno, who was sitting in the corner with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Are you okay? You've been sitting in here since the captain and I pitched the tents. You're worrying me." He gently patted the man's shoulder, causing him to flinch and swat the brunette's hand away.

"D-Don't touch me, bastard!!" He backed even farther into the corner than before. "I told you, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? You're breathing really heavily, and you look like you're sweating." Tecchou went to place the back of his hand on Jouno's forehead, only causing the man to swat at his colleague's hand even more.

"Stop that!! I swear, I'm-" Jouno was interrupted by the brunette placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Jouno, I know you may not agree, but I'm not stupid. I can tell when there's something going on with you." He squeezed the man's shoulders in reassurance. "Just tell me what's wrong. I won't judge you."

"Well-! Damn it, you..!" The man stumbled on his words, clearly conflicted. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he kicked his colleague away from him. "Would you cut it out?! I'm fine, you idiot!"

"Are you sure? Again, I promise I-"

"Did you hear me?! Shut the fuck up!" Jouno huffed, before standing up. "I'm grabbing my futon myself. Please, don't try to talk to me again tonight."

"... Jouno, it's pretty dark out. I don't mean to freak you out, but there are probably bugs out there." The brunette stood up right after his coworker, seeming concerned once again.

"You think I can't hear them? There aren't that many out there, I'll be fine." The man began unzipping the tent. "And didn't I tell you to stop talking to me?"

"... Sorry. I'll leave you to it."

By the time Jouno made his way back to the tent, Tecchou had left and joined the others around the fire. Although he had contemplated heading over himself, the man figured he'd be the most sane if he were to stay in the tent and listen in on whatever it was his colleagues were talking about.

"... Are you serious? I mean, I guess we can't really blame you, especially Tachihara, but..." Teruko seemed to be speaking in a hushed tone.

"He's a pretty serious person when it comes to this stuff, captain. Besides, that bastard deserves it, right?" Tachihara responded.

"Exactly. Do you expect me to forgive him for traumatizing, if not killing all of those people?" The brunette let out a rare scoff.

"Well, if you really intend to follow through with this, then are you going to get the agency involved? Specifically the guy with the ability nullification?" The girl sighed. "Because if so, I really can't help you. That man should be in jail, exactly where Jouno sent him."

"His ability is what ended the vampire outbreak; in other words, he assisted in protecting billions of innocent people. Don't you think that cancels out all of his past crimes?" Tecchou seemed incredibly serious about whatever he was talking about.

"You're the last person I expected to hear that from, but I mean... I guess you're right. But still, that old man was sentenced to death. All you're doing is making our organization look like impatient and immature members of the military by killing him yourself without explicit permission." The girl seemed troubled, especially as the leader of their unit.

"How so? One could argue that, by placing the matter in our own hands, we're making up for assisting in his acts of terrorism, regardless of whether or not we knew we were."

It was silent.

"... Could we maybe change the subject? We're meant to be on vacation, not discussing... this." Tachihara muttered.

"Alright then. Maybe now is a good time for me to ask... if Jouno hadn't interrupted me, would we have gone lionfish spearing?"

"Nope. Sounds boring." Teruko smiled.

"Ah. Alright then."

After a few hours of laying down without a glimpse of sleep in sight, Jouno flinched when he heard the tent door unzipping.

"Are you awake?" Tecchou whispered, only to be met with silence. After a moment, he hummed before stepping closer.

Jouno stayed quiet, hoping the brunette would assume he was sleeping. After a moment, he couldn't help but notice that Tecchou's heart was racing. The brunette seemed pretty happy simply kneeling down beside the "sleeping" man.

"... I know you're sleeping, and I know it's probably not mutual like the captain says... but I love you." Tecchou smiled, promptly brushing his coworker's hair to the side, before sitting beside him and laying down on the many blankets he brought with him.

If he hadn't been pretending to be asleep, Jouno would have been speechless. Although, after he comprehended exactly what it was his coworker had said, something clicked in Jouno's mind.

It became clear that he loved him too.