the hidden guardian | kenhina

chapter 2

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Kenma Kozume

The news spread like wildfire. People swarmed the paper boy and newspaper stands like bees to flowers, buying up any paper they could get their hands on to read it.

Inarizaki was in ruins. There was a rouge guardian, one who controlled ice. He had tried to kill the Inarizaki family on their own land. Something had stopped him, something had protected them. Another guardian. One who controlled sunlight.

It's the first time anyone's ever seen them in action. No one knows why Inarizaki's guardian went berzerk, but the fear everyone in the villages felt was definitely something everyone understood. Would the others lose their minds as well? Are we in danger?

The ice manipulator hadn't even been caught yet.

All this to worry about, yet my only concern was on one thing only. When Shouyou left the village, he had walked in the direction of Inarizaki.

Was he hurt in the incident? Would he come back to me?

For the next eight days, I wondered and thought and worried until I was running entirely on coffee alone. Waiting for the day I'd see him walking the sidewalks to my shop, askign me softly for a cup of coffee.

I hadn't expected to see him walking through the streets stained with blood and dirt. His covered face turned to me, and he gave a swift wave, not stopping even after two whole weeks of us not seeing each other.

He passed me, just like that.

I wanted to run up to him and pull him into my arms, but he had a paper in his hand with the imperial seal and any smart person would know he was heading straight for the castle.

What exactly... does Shouyou do?

So, after fourteen days of pure agony, I finally see him again, and he's forced to keep his distance from me. I didn't sleep well that night, either.

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"Kenma," Shouyou breathes, fiddling with his fingers as he stands in front of my door. In the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop to talk to you. I had something urgent to deal with- Are you sleeping alright?"

It's been two days since I saw him enter the village again, and now he just... shows up again. Like he wasn't covered in blood two days ago, like he hadn't left abruptly, leaving me to mellow about my home melting myself into the pages of books to keep me from chasing after him.

Where had you gone? Why were you red when you returned with a letter for the royal family? Why hadn't you spared a single minute to hug me?

The tears streaked down my face one by one, following each other down to drip from my chin as they dreamed of being something bigger, something like a waterfall. As they flowed down my face, they did feel heavy like a waterfall.

Shouyou took my hands and bowed to me until his head was planted into my thighs. The bag over his head crinkled lightly.

"I'm pissed at you," I cry to him, "Of course I didn't sleep well. You left me and-and that battle in the village over happened, and you came home with blood all over you. So, no, Shouyou, I didn't sleep well. Not at all."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you, Kenma. I shouldn't have- Fuck, I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you everything-" He clutches my hands tighter and kisses the space between my thumb and my pointer finger. "-But I can't. I was born to serve the imperial family, that's my whole reason for living, it's all I'm good for."

I was going to deny that by telling him that he could live for me, he's good for me. That I'd take that bag off his face and let him be free. We could run away from everything, I'd do anything for him. We'd live for each other.

I couldn't say it. He continued speaking.

"You gave me a new reason to live, a new reason to protect this village, and all the others. I can't live without you, Kenma. I want us to be together for all of eternity. For your eternity."

Shouyou's speaking more about himself than I've ever heard him speak. How is my eternity any different from his? Why does he want to protect the villages so terribly? How was that even his job?

Something made a thought come into my mind. I hadn't expected to ever think of doing something like it, so my body acted on it before I could stop myself.

I took the bag as he pressed his face into my knees and I lifted it some. He flinched roughly and tossed himself away from me, but I had caught sight of something.

Ginger hair. Fluffy, sun-kissed, curly ginger hair.

His breathing picked up. He shook his head. My eyes were wide, his were too. We stared at each other. I can't see his eyes through the bag, but it's nothing new. Somehow, I knew we were looking directly into each other's eyes. I felt the electricity from the connection.

"... Kenma, you can't do that. You can't know who I am."

"... Are you that self-conscious? I won't say-"

"No, it's not... that. I lied about that. I'm just- Born with... unique features is all."

I'm learning so much about him, and my heart feels warm even if my head is hurting from trying to process it all.

"Like what?"

"I can't say. It'll give me away."

I dab the tears hanging on my eyelashes and stand up from the chair to lend a hand to Shouyou, who's sat on the floor with a smile.

"That's fine. I'm sorry for pushing you."

"... And I'm sorry for not stopping, that day, Kenma. I really should have, but... My mind was buzzing, and I was scared I'd slip up in front of you."

"It's fine if you do, you know. You're a human, after all. Human's mess up."

Shouyou fidgets as if he wants to say something, but he doesn't.

"... Kenma," he whimpers when I turn my back to him, heading to the kitchen. I turn around and find him grasping awkwardly at his wrist. He tugs his sleeve up and I catch sight of something glowing beneath the fabric. He covers it quickly.

He sounds like he's about to cry. I've never heard him like this. I've never seen him like this, so vulnerable.

"If I show you who I am one day, would you still be my friend?"

I pull him into a tight hug. His body is small, yet he carries himself in a way that screams that he's heavily trained. Yet, I had never once worried that he would turn on me. 

"I would hope we'd be something more than that at that point," I murmur against his shoulder. He jolts.

"Like... Like what?"

"Maybe... lovers?"

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