KINTSUGI ⊳jin sakai x yuna

ろく (six)

The Genmaicha tea's gone cold. Jin holds the wooden bowl in both hands (Yuna forgot to ask Ichi to borrow them another), looking down at the light brown liquid. The sky, now a dark orange, reflects itself in the tea's surface.

Yuna's outside, having just returned from a hunting trip. Even though Jin insisted he didn't feel hungry, and that plain rice would be just fine. He's glad she hasn't checked on him yet, he suspects she would scold him for barely touching the drink.

Somehow, he just can't. He knows he's stuck staring at it like a man that has fully lost his mind, but he can't make himself stop.

His uncle loved tea. Mecha, to be exact. While Jin preferred sweeter teas, his uncle had a predilection for a strong aroma, and his favorite usually left a leafy, bitter aftertaste.

He never liked to drink it, never managed to get used to the taste, but he remembers always obliging when Shimura would offer to have tea together. Jin remembers seeing him smile like a fox whenever he would finish the cup and pull a strange face.

When was the last time he had even seen that smile? Had made him smile?

"Don't tell me you've let it go cold." Yuna leans against the doorframe, dark red rag in her hands as she wipes the blood on them away. He hasn't seen her looking quite that relaxed in a while; it's a pleasant sight. He finds himself caught by it for a moment before he answers.

"Hm? No." He lies, bringing the bowl to his lips and taking a sip.

It's clear as day that she doesn't believe him, but she says nothing more about it.

"How's the wound?" She asks instead, approaching him.

"It still hurts, but it isn't as swollen anymore."

Yuna stops in front of his sitting form, crouching, then brings the back of her palm to his forehead. He feels only a small temperature difference, and, judging by her expression, so does she.

"Your fever's gone down, too." Rising back to her feet, she walks back outside, to her horse, opening the saddlebags. "I have something to do for you, if you want. Unless you'd like to catch some more sleep before the food is finished—"

"No." After his fever got better, he couldn't close his eyes. Busying his mind with something sounds like a good idea. Jin moves towards the wall, uses it to stand up. By the time Yuna returns, he's already waiting by the entrance. "What can I do?"

She holds a thick branch, which is almost as tall as her.

"I saw an ash tree while I was out hunting. It has sturdy, flexible wood. If you want to help, you can peel this, then carve it." He raises a brow, not quite understanding, but taking it from her when she holds it out. "We'll leave it to dry for a day or two, then use it as a fishing rod." In her other hand, she shows him a string and a fishing hook.

"Have you done this before?" Jin asks, inspecting the branch closer, bending it with both hands. He regrets it, shoulder stinging from the small force he applies. However, the wood does seem flexible enough.

She just nods, then returns outside, tending the roasting meat. Jin limps after her, plopping down beside the campfire. He suppresses a wince when he starts to feel his heartbeat, along with a slight sting in his wounds after the impact with the ground. On top of that, he also catches Yuna looking at him with slight amusement.

She takes the blade from her belt, flips it, then hands it to him. "You can use this."

"Are you sure you haven't sold my Katana again?" He asks as he takes it from her, and she rolls her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure. I hid it under one of the loose floorboards in the house when I had just rescued you."

He feels inclined to apologize for that again, but abstains. Yuna would only look at him with a frown and tell him to stop worrying, he's sure of it.

So, deciding that the best thing to say is nothing at all, he takes the branch and gets to work.

It's not a difficult task, but he supposes that's exactly what makes it so calming. When he was just a boy, he would hate things like this — scrubbing gravestones clean, polishing his father's armor. With age, he has grown to know how to appreciate them, and the way they let his thoughts roam free in a way that doesn't get tiring.

His mind drifts to his father and Yuriko when he feels the wind suddenly pick up.

He remembers feeling weirdly...uncomfortable, after he had read between the lines of Yuriko's final words. His father, together with a commoner? Had he not loved his mother enough? Had he just gotten lonely?

Before...well, he can't pinpoint exactly until when, but he recalls thinking of many commoners to be close to animals. With a weird sense of elitism, he would look down at them, consider them unable of the self-control and complexity he had. If they acted out of anything, it had to be out of carnality or animalism. His friendship with Ryuzo hadn't done much but confirm his viewpoint, then.

But he understands, now better than before, that the code he had considered to be what put him so highly above the others nothing more than a constriction. It never was about honor and discipline as much as it was about control. The control other, more influential men would have over him.

With enough thought put into it, his father's relationship with Yuriko doesn't seem as outrageous anymore. It doesn't matter that he never got the chance to know his father through the eyes of an adult. If anything, he understands how valuable it is to have someone to lean on.

His eyes involuntarily drift up to Yuna, and she catches him staring at her.

"What is it?" She asks, amused glint in her eyes. "You look like you've just swallowed a frog."

"It's nothing." He says. "I was just thinking."

She's hesitant, but he can practically feel a question coming. "About?" Yuna's now looking away from him, focused on turning the meat over the fire so that it roasts evenly.

He hesitates too, but works up the courage to tell her. "My father."

It's an untouched topic on his side. Yuna has talked about her family and background openly, but for him, this is uncharted territory.

Yuna hums. "What was he like?"

Was uncharted territory, Jin corrects himself. He takes a second to pick his words, to describe his father as fittingly as he can.

"He wasn't around much. And when he was, he was either silent, or managed to find a new reason to complain about me." When he notices Yuna's attention on him, he continues. "I don't remember ever hearing his laugh, or seeing him smile."

She has turned back towards her fire; he can't read her expression. "The last part sounds a bit like you."

"I do smile." He says, and Yuna huffs.

"I know." She looks at him like she's about to say something smart. "I remember your face when I found you on the beach after you'd killed the Khan. If that's what it takes to make you smile, no wonder you do it so rarely."

"You'll just have to wait for another mongol invasion." Jin says it like it's nothing, though even the thought of it terrifies him. But that doesn't keep him from coming up with more to say. "I remember you looking like you were about to cry back then—"

Yuna smiles playfully, picking up one of the pieces of bark he had peeled and throwing it in his direction. "Because I was worried!"

Jim dodges her attack, and realizes he's smiling only after he sees Yuna's grin as well.

She looks back at the meat, shaking her head with a sigh. "It looks like it's ready. Let's eat."

·𖥸·

Uuuh so this was mostly filler and probably boring so sorry about that but I do hope you enjoyed anyway. I just need to give these two some more quiet time. They deserve it, ok?