For most, a mountain range was a marvel of nature, giant peaks that reached for the heavens, shoved up to stand tall for thousands of years. The mountains that they trekked through could not be appreciated for their majesty. They were merely part of the journey from point A to B for the Black Order exorcists.
The wind was strong in these mountains today, whipping around their heavy coats and roughly mussing their hair. Kanda felt his hair tie loosening for the third time, and yanked it free with a frustrated huff.
His companion, Kuro, stopped, turning back to look at him inquisitively. She pocketed the map. Her hair, a rich, dark red, danced in the gale, but she didn't seem too bothered as swathes of it whacked her in the face.
"Maybe we should take a break. There's supposed to be a storm coming soon," she reasoned.
"I'm fine," he growled, securing his hair back into a ponytail.
"If you say so," she said, and pulled the map back out. Another gust of wind buffeted the mountainside, and Kuro clutched the map close, shielding it from being snatched away. She huffed, and crouched, smoothing the paper out against a boulder. Kanda watched her inspect it, finger trailing along the marked route.
"We won't reach the train station for another day or so. And with the storm coming, it'll be longer than that."
Thunder rumbled in the distance. They turned to see a mass of storm clouds approaching, heavy with oncoming rain.
Kuro scanned the map again.
"It says there's a cavern up ahead. Let's stop there."
She turned to him.
"I know you'd hate to tarnish your precious Mugen, but can you cut down some of those branches? We might need them later."
He clucked his tongue at her barb, but did not protest, and neatly drew his sword, its blade cleanly slicing through the pine above them. She gathered the branches in her arms and they resumed their trek, with Kanda electing to quietly follow Kuro.
An hour passed, the sky darkening overhead to a threatening steel gray.
Just as the first, fat drops began to fall, the exorcists ducked into the cavern, watching at its mouth as the drops turned to thick sheets of rain, beyond which the path they'd come from became impossible to discern.
The cavern tunneled deep into the face of the mountain. Kuro positioned the branches and snapped her fingers, sparks flying to land on and ignite the wood. She took a spare in hand and lit it.
"I'm going to make sure we don't have any company."
Kanda watched her retreat.
"And if the fire goes out?"
She stopped, regarding him with hard gold eyes.
"You're your own man, Kanda. I assume that means you know how to keep a fire going by yourself."
He scowled at her back, glaring as she disappeared behind a curve in the rock.
Kuro sighed to herself.
So much for being nicer to Kanda.
A couple of days prior, she'd been approached (more like cornered, Kuro reflected) by Lenalee, who'd picked up on the pair's less than amicable relationship.
"I know that Kanda can seem like a real grouch, but he isn't all bad. He's got a soft side, I just know it!"
Kuro eyed the other wearily.
"I think you and I have very different definitions of a “soft side”."
Lenalee laughed.
"Trust me on this, alright? I don't think he hates you as much as he pretends to."
Kuro hadn't thought much on Lenalee's words at the time, but she noticed that, during their travels, Kanda hadn't made any effort to pick a fight with her like he usually did.
She was suddenly shaken from her reverie as the cool air became humid, the ground dipping.
Kuro blinked at the sight before her.
Somehow, she'd happened upon an underground hot spring.
Perhaps they were near some sort of fissure within the mountain?
She had to admit, its heat was tempting...and she hadn't had much of a chance to truly bathe during their journey...
Kuro's mind raced. If she was careful, she could wash up before Kanda came looking for her.
If he bothered to come looking for her, that is.
She quickly scanned the cave, straining her eyes and ears for the faintest trace of any presence other than her own.
Luckily, she found none.
Kuro hastily stripped, setting her coat and underclothes up on a boulder. She sunk the torch into the soft clay at the edge of the pool.
She almost smiled at the luxuriously warm water that engulfed her as she lowered herself into it.
Kuro sunk beneath the water until her nose was level with it, dark red hair floating around her at its surface.
It felt nice, she admitted.
This was a comforting sort of warmth. A harmless warmth.
That's right. This doesn't hurt.
Meanwhile, Kanda was finding it hard to ground himself in his meditation.
Why had this girl invaded the innermost sanctum of his thoughts?
Why was there a gnawing sensation in his stomach?
Was he, who was so used to relying on others to carry their own weight, worried about her?
Kanda jostled his leg irritably.
He rose with a frustrated exhale.
She should've been back by now. The cavern couldn't possibly be that deep, right?
Maybe some Akuma had holed up in this godforsaken place.
The swordsman snatched a branch from the fire and stalked down the path, his free hand hovering over Mugen's handle.
He couldn't be too careful, right?
However, as he approached the dim firelight ahead, Kanda nearly dropped his own torch.
There she was, nude as the day she was born, submerged to her chin in a spring. She hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet.
He swallowed the lump in his throat, the noise painfully audible.
Suddenly, she let out an undignified yelp, water sloshing as she jumped.
"Kanda?! What the hell?!" She exclaimed, ducking behind a rock.
He stood there, speechlessly gawking at the image of her burned into his mind.
Suddenly, a pebble beaned him in the forehead with frightening accuracy.
"Oi! What was that for?!" He squawked.
"If you don't leave now, it'll be more than just a rock next time!" She retorted, raising a fiery fist.
He cringed.
"Jesus, woman, calm down! I'm sorry, alright?!" He said, before hastily clapping a hand over his eyes.
She was silent.
"Was that...did you just apologize?"
A pregnant silence filled the cavern.
"Did you, Yu Kanda, just apologize?" She repeated incredulously.
"Yeah, yeah I did, alright?! I apologize!" He growled.
Another silence.
Kuro sighed heavily.
"Fine. Get in."
He was shocked enough to let his hand drop from his face.
"Huh?"
She was now covering her eyes.
"I won't look if you don't."
Kanda was rendered speechless once more.
He found himself mindlessly removing his own coat, then paused at his belt.
What the hell was he doing?!
There were more red flags in his head than there were flagpoles to hold them, but here he was, actually going along with her proposal.
He must've finally lost it.
Yup, that was it; he, Yu Kanda had gone insane.
The swordsman stiffly waded into the pool, his back to her, with a boulder between them.
Kuro peeked between her fingers to find Kanda there, his hair still pulled up in a ponytail.
"Honestly, do you plan on leaving your hair like that?" She blurted.
He made a move to look over his shoulder.
"What did I say about not looking?!"
He heard her move until she was right behind him, and felt her yank out his hair tie, bluish black hair falling free.
"What are you doing now?!" He hissed, heat rising to his face.
"Hush."
Kanda felt her fingers run through his hair, slick with what he deduced to be soap. She was surprisingly gentle, and he found the tension slowly leaving his shoulders.
"Head's up."
She poured handfuls of water over his head, soaking it until the soap was gone.
"There. You're welcome."
He chewed his lip. Suddenly, he grabbed the soap from her hand.
"Um—?!"
"Now you shut up."
Kanda mimicked her movements, and worked the soap through Kuro's hair. Washed or no, it was impossibly soft, long strands of crimson that seemed to flow like silk in his hands.
"I didn't think you had it in you to be so... considerate towards me. I just assumed..."
She trailed off, unsure.
"What?" He prompted.
"I assumed that you despised me," she answered in a small voice.
He stopped, seemingly struggling to piece together his thoughts.
"No. I don't. I dont...despise you."
"Then...how do you—"
He huffed and maneuvered her head to face him, then quickly pressed a kiss her mouth.
She stared at him, flabbergasted at the color in his cheeks.
"I don't despise you. I just..."
He wrung his hands.
"I don't know what the words are for it."
She blinked owlishly.
"Do you...do you feel something for me, Kanda?"
She watched his eyes dance, processing.
He nodded.
Kuro found herself smiling.
Then, she began to laugh.
It was like something ignited itself within her, something boxed away, something ignored but something that had never entirely left her.
"Jeez. What am I going to do with you?"
She wiped away a tear.
"Kanda. I...I don't despise you either. But I'm not really sure what I feel. Can I ask you to wait to let me figure that out?"
He was quiet.
"Do whatever you want," the swordsman answered.
They redressed in silence, unsure how to proceed at the newly appeared fork in the path of their relationship.
Unbeknownst to Kanda and Kuro, the storm beyond the cavern had moved on; or, more accurately, it had migrated to linger in the awkwardness of the silence that surrounded them as they finally arrived at the rendezvous point.
However, with the time from each of their internal ruminations, the storm subsided, perhaps giving way to the sunlight upon a blossoming relationship.
