"Seishin..." A lonely slur broke out. The silver-haired male threw a wary glance back. He could barely take in the other's frown, as Toshio pushed Seishin's shoulder and leaned his arm, along with his posture on him. "Where are you going?"
"Home." The other answered curtly.
"Nah... You can't leave yet... Don't be a meanie, you hear?"
Seishin sighed. He preferred, if Toshio kept his hands to himself. They were in a public setting. In accordance to such a thought, the monk's eyes strayed. He saw merry people going to and fro: families, friends, neighbors. Fiery lit stands colored the Omi River. The houses situated along it, played their part as well, with various lanterns and torches, bringing a warm illumination to the festivities. Sotoba's main street had been in a jumble for once, alive and thriving. It was the night of Kagura...
"Seishin... Come on, let's have another drink..."
"Ozaki-sensei, there you are!" A foreign voice called out from the side. Seishin stiffened. Great, as if they needed an audience. Wasn't this discomfort enough? The silver-haired male unceremoniously threw Toshio's hand off himself, watching the other stumble. Soon the doctor extended his limb for a reunion. In response to that Seishin backed away into the awaiting shadows. Toshio's feet mixed together and he was about to fall, when an arm caught him.
"He's quite a handful, isn't he?" Tohru joked soon after. His free hand waved a candy in his hold. After it all went into a standstill, Seishin managed to give a nod, whilst his cheeks still harbored a demented flush. Luckily, Tohru hadn't seen much.
"Ah. I believe he had too much to drink." Seishin added, meanwhile his accusing gaze shot to Toshio from time to time.
"You should get him to bed."
"Ah. We were, just leaving."
"Oh, he can put me to bed, alright..." Toshio muttered. Seishin paled, while his clenched fingers hid inside his priest robes - a valuable perk of wearing work clothes on this occasion. Right now, he could only hope, Tohru hadn't caught that. On the other hand, damn Seishin, Tohru was the one, holding this drunk, if the monk was able to hear it from his distance, then Tohru... A warm chuckle escaped the blonde.
"Oi, sensei, don't give Muroi-san trouble."
"He's quite a handful, I must agree."
"Seishin! You rascal!" Toshio swore, leaning to the side. He either lost his footing again or attempted to attack the silver-haired male.
Careless to that, Seishin was quite grateful to have found someone, who shared his opinion. He nodded to Tohru and took Toshio's other hand, as a sign of an end. His warm smile met the blonde's.
"Ah, thank you."
"No problem, get home safely."
"You too. Come by the temple once in a while."
"Sure."
They haltingly walked off into the darkness of night, where the slithering gravel disappeared and morphed with the shade. Tohru stood in place for a while longer, a sheepish grin had perched on top of his expression, while he tardily fidgeted with a candy wrapper. A pair of footsteps stopped beside him.
"Aren't you coming back?" A calm voice served as a greeting. Tohru didn't need to turn, he already knew, who it was. The blonde smiled, veering the candy to his companion.
"Here you go."
"I'll pass, Tohru-chan."
"Hmm, Nastuno, that's not fair. You ate a bunch of sweets already, one more won't hurt."
"I'm going to get rotten teeth by the end of this."
"I know, right?! Kagura is the best like that!" Tohru's eyes sparkled, after he felt his palm being pressed lightly. His suspicions had been confirmed, when he heard the crackle of the wrapping. He turned then. "Am I right, Natsuno?"
"I… think you went off-topic."
"Maybe."
"What were you doing out here?"
"Ah... Nothing much," Tohru leaned his palms on Natsuno's shoulder, before placing his chin on top, sleepily. "just bid stubborn lovers farewell."
"What?" Natsuno cocked an eyebrow.
"Oi! Look at you breaking you're own rules, Natsuno!" Tohru snorted, leaving the blue-haired male to shy away. He took a cue to mutter. "No gossiping."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Huh, actions speak louder than words, but who am I to judge." Tohru shrugged. Natsuno gave him a side-glance, before he leaned in to deliver a small peck on Torhu's cheek. Even though the action and its intended warmth were fleeting entities, the gesture got sealed within, along with the tranquility, they shared. Tohru closed his eyes finally. "It's fine, forget it."
"Thanks for the candy."
"You see? I knew you'd like it!"
"Do you want to head home?.. You look sleepy." He remarked after. Tohru rubbed his cheek against Natsuno's shoulder. The blue-haired teenager could have imagined the other being a needy little cat, snuggling for attention. Sometimes Tohru could be as selfish as he was giving. That would often make Natsuno wonder jokingly - why in the world had he ended up with someone like Tohru. But then... If he wasn't with Tohru, he wouldn't have felt half the joys, he had now. Natsuno lips curved upwards and he was trying hard enough to fight off a chuckle at Tohru's response.
"Nah. The Noh dance is gonna start any minute."
"Haven't you seen it a thousand times already?"
"It'll be a first for you," Tohru protested. Reluctantly, he tore himself away from Natsuno, grabbing the blue-haired male's palm. "to me that in itself is an experience!"
There was an unmistakable glint in his eyes. Natsuno found his own smile heightening, as Tohru led him back to the heart of the festival.
"Come on, let's have some fun, since we're here already!"
Natsuno's eyes fled to the side after those words, He spotted the festival's stands, occupied with various items, behind them stood blurred faces with their own joys and worries, plastered clear. There was a myriad of scents, drifting about, ranging from sweets and herbs to various incense and smoke from lit flames. The accompanying view crowded even more of his senses. The warm colors of wood and lights ran past him and Tohru and then worst of all was the barely recognizable mixture of people. Even though, they seemed to be in good spirits, lost inside their joys… Natsuno looked down, briefly. Out of an edge of his eye, he caught their joint hands, swaying, momentarily brushing through his shin. A flush crept in.
Tohru did not mind this, he didn't seem to. He was calm and composed, leading Natsuno along through the festivity. The blue-haired male gulped, feeling his palm getting sweaty. Could something like a festival distract the elderly from their prying habits? Into every corner, that Natsuno turned, he saw someone, who could potentially be running their mouth… It sounded repulsive, and at the same time, Natsuno could have berated himself for being paranoid… They had gotten into trouble once, did they really need a repeat of it?
That was the moment he felt a reassuring clutch from Tohru's hand, and the same nonchalant, yet persistent sensation, which reminded Natsuno, he was not alone…
X X X
On the other side of the village, Seishin huffed, while he dragged a half-sleeping Toshio down the road. He hadn't anticipated for the other to be this heavy. The monk supposed Toshio's hardly functioning legs were to blame here. Together with his childhood friend, he was probably hauling a pile of gravel and sand. On top of it all, Toshio kept mumbling a slow melody on repeat. If he had enough energy to slur lullabies, surely he could put in the effort to raise his feet once in a while. Was Seishin asking too much? In the end, he exhaled, pausing for a break. The man's eyes scoured the pitch-black surroundings. Most of the light was situated in the festival, concurrently the houses were empty and swirled into an abyss. Having poor eyesight didn't help one bit, Seishin could be standing in front of a fuming demon and have no luck. This wasn't good. As his awareness grew higher, his annoyance pitched as well. Seishin's looked down at the mumbling doctor, as if only to try and shift this redundant sound. Asking for help came as a second priority.
"Toshio... What are you muttering?"
"Ah... That?"
The monk gave him a glance and Toshio first and foremost rolled his head downwards instead of answering.
"Toshio..."
"Ne, Seishin, do you have a cigarette?"
"Why would I?" The monk cocked an eyebrow. Toshio was most likely trying to change the subject. Without a doubt, the latter piped, leaning his side at Seishin's.
"So you could spoil me."
"Ahm... You'd wonder..." Seishin rolled his eyes, stumbling to the side and against a metal railing from the other's weight. He could hear a faint trickle of water down below, so they must have been near the river, but it wasn't much of an indication where exactly. Omi glided through the majority of Sotoba. Cold, uneven supports scratched at his lower back, his knees buckled and Seishin took a deep breath, steadying himself against it all. It seemed to be the last straw, since he turned to Toshio with a glare. "You're kind of heavy, you know that?"
"Yeah, and you love me."
"That's not the point…"
"Why? Huh, I could sing to you, if you'd want. Would that make you happy, Sei-chan?"
"I'd be happier, if you could stand on your own feet."
There was a pause. Toshio debated the probability, weighted the two. In the end, it was decided.
"I'll sing to you instead."
Seishin rubbed his temples, as a headache crawled along. A wet click from his teeth sounded.
"Toshio, please..."
"Nah, Sei-chan, you need my help."
"You're making things worse... and please stop with the nickname."
"But it's cute, isn't it?" Toshio veered at him, before his hands reached out and enveloped Seishin's back against the railing. The silver-haired male stiffened and rose his head as if trying to keep a stable footing, a clear view. Despite his intentions, he felt his body being pulled downwards by an immense weight. He placed his hands on Toshio's shoulders, initially in an attempt to pry him off, but when he hit the cement and Toshio snuggled closer to his chest, it all faded. Seishin sat there with fingers still supporting the doctor's back. The latter had his face buried into the monk's chest as if it had been a pillow. Toshio's warm breaths tickled evenly in repetition and for a minute Seishin allowed himself to relax, let Toshio indulge. After all, this was comforting and brought a tiny source of warmth in this dead of night, even if Toshio reeked of alcohol and sweat - his custom tobacco scent had been drowned out for once. This calmness lasted only for a puny minute. Toshio mumbled into Seishin's robes.
"Shouldn't we be near the north mountain already?.. Seishin, where are we?"
"I don't know."
"You got us lost!" He accused, playfully. The monk's vexed eyes landed on his. "Would you look at that! An heir to the Murois and doesn't know his way around the village! A shame!" Toshio spewed out with a lighthearted snort. The lingering silence made him quiet down for a second. He patiently, or at least as much as his patience had lasted, waited for a remark. Nothing came up. Soft rumbles rang in the air, wafting in from the festival, the river rippled down below. This minimal background noise did little in dissolving Toshio's concern. The other had his gaze sewn forward, perchance needlessly inspecting shadows with those glazed pupils. The doctor feared, Seishin would let him go any second now, thus he reached out. "Sei-chan?"
"Ah..."
"What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know anymore..." A defeated sigh. He felt Toshio's light fingers brush through his cheek. The monk didn't have the slightest wish to continue onwards. In gratitude, he leaned into the touch, relaxing his form to nearly fall apart. He was feeling too calm for his own liking. It seemed like these mundane worries drowned away, either that or he just got tired of caring... In the meantime, Toshio rolled an eager tongue, as if scouring between teeth.
"You know, Sei-chan, a cigarette would be really great at this moment..."
-X-X-X-
A/N: well, I finally managed to write fluff (as much as this could be called a fluff) and with a Tohruno pairing... ahh, finally... They might come out as ooc in this, I apologize... Anyway, thank you for reading...
