A/N: A little one-shot I finished a few days ago, just been a bit lazy to upload it. First time writing for Mikage & Jack after so long, and this might become a series though who knows. Constructive criticisms only; enjoy~ This is post-series by the way.
"You're just going to stand there, aren't you?" Jack asked, raking his fingers through his hair while a heavy sigh past his lips, when Mikage showed her back to him. Behind her, he could already see that a small crowd had started to form. A shiver slithered up his spine distracting Jack from the scene; his attention turned onto the ocean he stood alone in. Awkwardness had hit him hard for the first time, seeing the acts of whispering and laughter. For a split second, he wished he wasn't famous, but, like the water lapping at his legs, the feeling passed.
Jack grumbled to himself marching over to where the woman stood, her back still to him. In a matter of seconds he stood behind her. "Come in the water with me, Mikage. It's boring out there," Jack said to her, a bit of pleading in his voice.
Shaking her head, Mikage replied, "no. I am perfectly fine standing here, Jack. You go out and have fun, sweetheart." She moved three steps away from him, not ever looking at him once.
Jack grabbed Mikage by the shoulders, gently, and spun her around; her eyes doubled in size the second their eyes met. "Jack!" She yelled, pressing her palms against his chest in a feeble attempt to get away. She parted her lips to say more instead, a squeak escaped her after her body was pressed against Jack's who lifted her into his arms. Mikage pounded her fists against Jack's chest, each time harder than the last for every step he took.
Her features pinched at the sound of the man chuckling down at her, she pounded her fists even harder in retaliation. "Put me down this insta—" Mikage's words were caught in her throat the second she felt his warmth leave her and the crushing sensation of her body being swallowed by the cold ocean.
A booming laughter erupted from Jack as he swam away a few feet, waiting to hear the sounds of her crashing to the surface with her yelling at him. He grinned at the thought since it was a regular occurrence between them for as long as he could remember. Jack stopped and waded in the water looking over at where he had tossed the girl seeing there were only bubbles.
Fear licked his spine so badly that not even a small wave that crashed into him brought him back to his senses. His eyes stared at the empty spot with his heart racing; Jack's body moved quicker than his mind could process as he swam over to the woman.
Halfway there, he stopped at the sight of the woman bursting through the water. A wave of relief washed over him so he started to laugh a bit before a flash of anger consumed his features. "Bloody hell, Mikage! What were you doing? I thought you were drowning!"
Jack had wanted to punch himself the second after he uttered the last word.
His shoulders dropped with his eyes wide when he saw Mikage thrashing about, her head barely above water. Jack propelled himself to the woman, with his long legs, he reached Mikage in record time. Arms wrapped around her, Jack lifted her up out of the water while simultaneously pressing her body against his. Her cheek pressed against his, Mikage panted heavily tightening her grip around Jack's neck.
Guilt and the thick sand slowed down Jack's steps as he made his way back to the beach. What awaited him was a crowd bigger than before who were pushing to get closer for investigation. Gritting his teeth at the crowd, he walked over to where a lifeguard was while he shifted Mikage in his arms so she was more comfortable. In a flash, the lifeguard had taken over the second he took Mikage from Jack's arms; all Jack could do was watch as Mikage was looked over, his heart rattled in his chest.
He then felt the heat of the crowd surround him, one even dared to lay their hand on his shoulder. Jack never made an attempt to remove the hand like other times, his entire body was frozen- locked down with fear.
The world was eerily quiet for the moment, even the waves that had pounded the shoreline minutes ago were only lapping. A painful fit of coughing shattered the silence with a wave of relief washing over the crowd and Jack. And the fear that petrified Jack into a statue moved him into rushing over to the woman where he scooped a still coughing Mikage, hugging her tightly.
"Thank god you're safe. I thought you— Mikage?" All the fears he had been readied to confess were cut short at the woman pushing herself away from Jack. Yet it couldn't have compared to the tearing of his heart because of how Mikage turned her gaze away from him the second her eyes were open.
Three times Jack attempted to pull her back towards him, but she resisted every time until he finally let her stand. His eyes followed her back while his whole body felt burned—pain bubbling beneath the surface. After she was ten steps away, Jack finally had stood to his feet and walked after her replacing her tiny shadow.
He followed her back to their spot where he saw Mikage snatch her beach bag up, picking and tossing things into her bag. Jack raised a brow at this, confusion etched onto his face until he saw that his things hadn't been picked up. "Mikage, what are you doing?" He asked, looking at her movements to see a twitch or something to let him know she was at least listening.
Mikage shoved the book she had been reading into the bag, an act that Jack had never seen before. Sliding the strap onto her shoulder, the woman let out a deep breath before she turned her body halfway; her eyes narrowed. "Leaving," she replied, walking away down the shoreline. She heard the several strange sounds come from behind her but ignored them.
Silence hung over Mikage like a chill that refused to go away for the time she walked. Whispers surrounded her, but the woman ignored them since she learned to tune them out. Now only the sounds of waves crashing and sea gulls crying were all that she heard. Relaxed, Mikage pulled out her book where she tended to the crinkled pages then started to read. Her quiet world though was shattered at a hand weighing down her shoulder suddenly.
"Leave me alone." She stated, her eyes refused to leave the page.
"Not until we talk."
Before she could have retorted, Mikage's book was stolen from her with Jack lifting it out of her reach. She spun around, her face contorted into what was supposed to be an ugly scowl. "Return my book to me," Mikage jumped for the book, but to no avail, "Jack!"
Sighing, Jack lowered the book giving it back to the woman who put the book in the bag again. "Will you just listen to—" "You should have listened!"
Jack's mind went numb at the interruption while his eyes stared down in complete shock at the woman – speechless. Tears were streaming down Mikage's eyes, her bottom lip quivering. "You should have…why didn't you… Could you not see how terrified I was…"
All Jack could say in a weak and quiet voice, "I thought you were messing around…"
Mikage started shaking her head feverously, more tears sliding over her cheeks that she wiped away with the back of her hand. "W-Why would I joke…about s-something like that," biting her bottom lip, Mikage pounded her fists against Jack's chest, "you s-should have understood!" A few minutes went by of her pounding her fists and Jack standing there silent. Finally, Jack curled his fingers around Mikage's wrists that jolted Mikage from her crying to gaze up at him.
"Stop. What happened was a mistake…" Jack began, letting go of one wrist; his free hand now caressed the side of her face gently, yet his eyes narrowed, "but how the fuck was I supposed to know, you never told me!"
The woman whipped her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. "I already told you…"
Cupping her face, Jack tilted Mikage's head so their eyes could meet. He started shaking his head, his lips forming a frown. "No, you implied you didn't want to swim. Not that you couldn't." Mikage parted her lips to speak, but stopped at the shocking sight of tears falling from Jack's eyes; Jack pulled her into a hug then burying his face into the side of her head. "I'm sorry…"
"…Jack…" Mikage said nothing more; the warmth from Jack's soft breathing against her head left her confused. She decided then to do what Jack had always done: use action. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she attempted to soothe him. "It's…it's okay…" was all she repeated, not wanting to make him feel worse.
She shifted from one leg to the other because of Jack shaking his head against hers. "No…it's not," he said pulling his head away a sigh following after, eyes shut tightly with his brows knitted together, "I should have listened. I should have—" Jack's eyes flew open at the soft yet firm touch against his cheeks. He eyed Mikage, a single brow arched at the action; he felt his head being forced down so he let, resulting in their foreheads to touch.
A tiny smile spread itself across Mikage's lips though her eyes were glossy from the tears before. "Yes, you should have, but I should have told you... I can't— should not expect you to know me so well so soon. That's not fair." She then pulled away, placing a chaste kiss to his lips.
Jack's form relaxed entirely; he flashed a smirk at the woman but it disappeared a second later at the glare he was given. "That doesn't mean I forgive you for what happened. I'm a bit less angry now."
"Fair enough...I really am sorry Mikage," Jack began, slipping one arm around her waist pulling her towards him where he kissed the top of her head; he rested his chin atop her head. His shoulders slacked at the feeling of Mikage's hands resting against his shoulders.
The intimacy lasted for a few short minutes before they untangled from each other. Yet contact was made again due to Mikage gingerly touching Jack's arm, a finger pointed towards where their hotel sat. In silence the two walked back to the hotel, only the space of a hand apart between them all the way. Even when they were in their hotel room were they spaced apart, the space the length of their room. Mikage sat at the hotel desk, the sounds of her scribbling her day into her diary.
Retired to the bed, Jack's eyes were on the images flashing on the television though his mind was on the image of Mikage drowning, flailing helplessly in the water her eyes focused on him; it haunted him throughout the night.
A/N: Again, this may become a little series; if the writing seems different it's because I've recently got back into writing after some personal problems. Will vary in uploading and whatnot. Again, constructive criticisms only. Thank you.