Yuya's fingers are the same as Yuto's but they feel different. He doesn't have the rough callouses or the scars from years of combat. They move differently too, and lack the muscle memory Yuto requires for fluid conversation. Yuto practices in front of a mirror when he has the time, slowly forming the correct signs with his hands and then repeating them until the words are smooth and easy to understand.
The voice in the back of his head that's both his yet at the same time not his reminds Yuto that he doesn't need to use his hand language anymore, that this body can hear just like his old one once could. Yuto knows it's true, he's experienced noise in this new body of his, but he can't allow himself to forget the language he, Shun, and Ruri created to help him communicate. The war with Academia hasn't been won yet, and casualties happen. Yuto knows more than anyone, he's lost his hearing once and realizes it could easily happen again if he's out in the heat of battle.
(And, Yuto doesn't intend on staying in Yuya's for the rest of his life. If he's to return to his own body, then he's going to need to remember the intricate motions.)
If Shun notices any difference in Yuya's fingers, he doesn't say, not when they train together in public nor in private when they slide their fingers against each other. Shun also doesn't mention the hair or eyes, both glaring differences from Yuto's old body.
It's a relief that Shun keeps his thoughts to himself about this. Yuto is sick of strangers coming up to him intending to initiate a conversation with Yuya, only to have the second, original soul inhabiting the body surge forward to take control so Yuya speak with the person. For once, Yuto wants to be able to forget he's no longer Yuto, not truly, because can you still be yourself when trapped in someone else's body?
No, Yuto doesn't want to think about that. During the few, precious moments when Yuya has settled back to allow Yuto to pilot and he isn't fighting or training or planning, Yuto wants to be with his closest friend and let their hands speak louder than words. The fluid motions of sign motion bring him more comfort than the strange sound of his, no, Yuya's voice against his ears.
Sometimes Shun and Yuto don't talk, because all words, even the silent ones created by their hands, open wounds they aren't prepared to bandage. Instead they put their fingers to a different use, threading them through each other's hair and twisting their fingers together. And, instead of using their mouths to speak, they press them together in a languid fashion.
Yuto and Shun know they're living off borrowed time, at any moment the enemy that destroyed their world could invade with similar intentions, but to live in constant fear isn't living at all. Even child soldiers need their time off, and after all they've gone through, they deserve a break.
When Shun and Yuto pull away to breathe, Yuya's voice rings in the back of Yuto's mind:
We'll find a way to make this work, Yuto. I promise you, we will make this work.
Written for bus~ Thanks for reading and please remember to leave a comment.