Notes: I've been a bit sick for the past couple days, and the time I was going to spend polishing up this chapter ended up being spent on trying to sleep off this bug... so as a result, it's up a day late. Sorry! I'll try to have the next chapter up tomorrow as planned, but it might get pushed back a day, too. Chapter 14 is still on track for January 1, though!

Anyway, hope you enjoy! As of this chapter, I'm switching to Kuzuryu POV for a bit... kind of an odd place to make the switch, but it didn't work any other way, hehe.

Waiting for Rainbows
Chapter 12: We carve our footprints in parallel lines

"What Kuzuryu could manage to get," it turned out, ended up being a reservation for a two-night stay at an onsen in Hakone.

Kuzuryu stared down at the phone in his hands, open to the email confirming the reservation his contact had gotten for him, and tapped his foot nervously. Hinata had agreed to it easily enough when Kuzuryu revealed it earlier that evening, though he had seemed apprehensive about the legality of the arrangements. It had been a completely legitimate agreement, though, and once Hinata had been sufficiently convinced of that, he seemed to have absolutely no qualms about taking the trip.

Kuzuryu just wished he could say the same about himself. He groaned and leaned against the table, free to show how nervous he was now that Hinata had left to catch the train.

Had the cop completely missed the implications of spending the night together? At a hot springs resort? Because he sure as hell hadn't seemed all that flustered about it. And that only made Kuzuryu feel all the more ridiculous for the way his stomach churned with nerves.

It wasn't like he was completely inexperienced when it came to sex. He had lost his virginity to a cabaret girl from one of his father's hostess clubs when he was seventeen. But he had felt nothing for the woman, and was absolutely disgusted with himself after the fact. It had sort of put him off the idea of sleeping around ever since. But if it were with Hinata...

He felt his face flush and he pushed the phone away from him, burying his face in his arms. He definitely wouldn't mind if it were with Hinata. They had been going out for about a month and a half, so it was... probably around the right time to start thinking of it? At the very least, it was a hell of a lot more appropriate than bedding a hostess he barely knew just because she had offered.

But if Hinata wasn't interested yet...

"Ooh, is this where you're taking Hinata-kun for his birthday?"

Kuzuryu's head snapped up and he grabbed the phone away from Hanamura's field of vision, glaring at the cook who had come to start clearing off the table. "What of it?" Kuzuryu glanced at the screen quickly, confirming with some relief that it was only open to the hotel's website, nothing incriminating.

"Hmm, nothing." Hanamura continued to stack dishes, a knowing smirk on his face. Kuzuryu kind of wanted to punch him. "Plan to seduce him in the open-air bath?"

"None of your fucking business. And it's a shared hot spring with other guests."

Hanamura shot Kuzuryu a knowing grin, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh, but that just makes it all the more exciting, doesn't it? Give them a show!"

Kuzuryu was pretty damn sure his disgust was reflected clearly on his face. "Just fuck off, fatass. Kinda busy wallowing in misery here."

"Hmm." Contrary to Kuzuryu's request, Hanamura slid into the seat opposite him, and Kuzuryu had half a mind to shout at him to get the fuck out of Hinata's seat! "But now you've piqued my interest! Are you worried that Hinata-kun isn't going into the trip with the same expectations you are?"

Bingo. "Keep your nose out of it, Hanamura," Kuzuryu hissed.

Hanamura chuckled, pulling his cell phone from the front pocket of his apron. "I see. Then I guess you're not interested in seeing the panicked texts Hinata-kun sent me after he left tonight?"

That got Kuzuryu's attention. "What the fuck? Show me!"

"Nope." With an exaggerated flourish, Hanamura pocketed the phone again. "Actually, those texts don't even exist. I'm surprised you're actually that worried about it!"

Kuzuryu felt like he wanted to rip his hair out. "Just show me the conversation on your fucking phone, Hanamura."

"Unfortunately, there are some private personal discussions there, so I can't." Hanamura got up from the table and picked up his stack of plates again. "But there really isn't anything there about your trip. He doesn't even talk to me about his relationship with you. I think Hinata-kun knows that I'd just take it too far."

"So you're aware of that?!"

"In any case," Hanamura continued, completely ignoring Kuzuryu's retort, "I don't think you should be worrying about this as much as you are. I can tell you that Hinata-kun isn't as innocent as you think he is."

If that was Hanamura's idea of trying to cheer him up, it was a fucking terrible one. Kuzuryu clenched his hands tightly as his insides burned unpleasantly. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Hanamura paused, and actually had the good grace to show a modicum of uncertainty at Kuzuryu's response. "Well, for one thing, he had a girlfriend once. Hasn't he told you that?"

He had, but Hinata had said it wasn't anything terribly serious. "Is that all?"

"Er, well." Hanamura looked a bit uncomfortable then, and Kuzuryu cocked an eyebrow curiously. "I'm not trying to imply that he's experienced, exactly, but what I mean is that I'm sure the two of you aren't on as different wavelengths as you think! Anyway, feel free to stick around a bit longer, but I'm locking up in thirty minutes!"

Kuzuryu frowned at the cook as he disappeared behind the counter to wash up.

He was really hating the guy more with every conversation they had.

Once Kuzuryu had stepped out of the izakaya into the chilly December air, he took a deep breath, hoping that it would help cool down the burning uncertainty filling his body.

It didn't really help.

"Are you finished here?"

He looked to his side to see Peko appear from around the corner of the building.

"Yeah, call the car." He sighed, running a hand through his short hair, and glanced at his phone again to check the time. It was getting close to 1 AM, meaning that he wouldn't get home until nearly 2. He briefly considered spending the night at the Hachioji office instead just so that he could get to sleep that much earlier, but he knew that Peko would be against that. God, maybe he should start considering buying a place in Kibougaoka...

"So about that trip you're taking..."

Kuzuryu looked up at Peko and saw that her gaze was directed at his phone, still open to the ryokan homepage. He groaned and stuffed the phone into his pocket. "Fuck me, not you too..."

Peko's brows knitted together in confusion. "Me too?"

"Don't worry about it. What is it you want to say?"

Peko paused for just a moment, considering her words carefully. "Are you sure you don't want me or someone else to accompany you for security?"

"What?!" Kuzuryu gaped openly at her, trying to keep his cheeks from reddening too much, but fucking hell he had always had a tendency to blush far too easily. "No! Just— no! Fucking stay home, all right?!"

If there was the possibility of the trip heading in... that direction, he sure as hell didn't want anyone from the family hanging around to spectate!

Peko hummed thoughtfully, indicating that she wasn't quite ready to ease up on the issue. "Then the contact you used to get this reservation. Is he to be trusted?"

Kuzuryu grumbled into his scarf. "Yeah, he's good."

"And he's completely loyal to you?"

"Peko, it's fine." He glanced at her wearily. "You know most of the other faction has died out outside of the family."

"It's true that you aren't as much of a target anymore," Peko agreed, "but there are still the fanatics out there who want to see you ruined out of spite. If they—"

"Look, I say it's going to be fine, so it'll be fine." Kuzuryu held up a hand to indicate she shouldn't speak any more on the subject. "Besides, Hinata will be with me the whole time."

There was silence for a moment before Peko finally softened her expression, granting a small smile. "Yes. I suppose he will be."

They stood quietly, watching their breath mist in front of them.

"Speaking of which, have you told Hinata about the family yet?"

Kuzuryu stiffened and kept his gaze forward, resolutely not looking at her. "He's a fucking cop. Why would I tell him details about the family business?"

"You know that's not what I'm referring to." She looked down at him, but he still didn't meet her gaze. "You have to tell him about the state of the family soon, and everything that goes along with it. If you are serious about your relationship with him, he is absolutely involved in the situation."

Kuzuryu sighed, burying his face further into the scarf. "I don't want to tell him more than he needs to know."

"But you realize that the extent of 'what Hinata needs to know' increases with every step you take in your relationship." Peko sighed. "Have you even told him about the young miss yet?"

Kuzuryu didn't respond. He hadn't told him, and he knew that he would have to someday, but the idea of telling Hinata everything...

He shivered, and it wasn't due to the cold air. He didn't want to tell Hinata. That meant having to admit to his greatest failure to the one person in the world he wanted to think the best of him.

He was scared, and he wasn't going to try to deny that. He knew that Hinata wouldn't judge him, he knew that Hinata was far too kind to him to think any less of him for it, but still...

"You have to tell him soon." Pekoyama took a step forward and into Kuzuryu's line of sight, since he wouldn't turn to look at her, and he flinched at the seriousness in her gaze. "He'll find out from someone else eventually if you don't, and I doubt that you want him hearing it from someone besides yourself."

Kuzuryu took a deep sigh. "Yeah. I don't. Look, I'll do it, I just..."

Peko smiled softly, then stepped forward and flagged the car down as it approached. "I can see that you care for him a lot, so I know this will be difficult. But I'm sure you trust him to be on your side even after finding out. I certainly trust him to do that."

Kuzuryu flushed red at that, and he didn't even try to hide it this time. "...Yeah."

"But if he does turn on you, I'll have to acquaint him with my blade."

"Okay yeah, please don't do that."

The next day, Kuzuryu arrived at the koban a little after 10 AM, hot chocolate in one hand for himself, and coffee for Hinata in the other. Hinata smiled up at him fondly when he set the coffee down on the desk in front of him. "Thanks, Kuzuryu."

The smile set Kuzuryu's stomach fluttering, and he tried to mask his reaction by sitting down on the visitor's chair and taking a sip of his own drink. "Yeah, no problem."

"What, no coffee for me?"

Kuzuryu glanced up at Kirigiri, who stood against the other wall shuffling through some files. Her expression was calculating as she sized up the two of them, and it gave Kuzuryu goosebumps along his arms. Was she trying to imply something? He shrugged. "I don't know what you like. Get that Naegi kid to deliver coffee to you if you want it so bad."

"Oh yeah, he did used to do that, didn't he?" Hinata spoke up, putting his cup down. "Back when he worked at the cafe. He'd stop by during his break to drop off some drinks."

Kuzuryu made a disinterested sound as he took a sip of his cocoa and leaned with his arm propped upon the desk. "Anyway, if you want something, get it for yourself. I make deliveries for bros only."

"Bros. Right." Kirigiri glanced between the two of them briefly, which made Kuzuryu frown and try not to recoil in discomfort. She sighed, then snapped the file closed and dropped it on the desk as she walked by. "It's time for me to go on patrol anyway." She leveled them with a meaningful stare, then turned to the door. "I'll be back soon, so behave yourselves."

The door closed and silence settled between them. After a moment, Kuzuryu turned to Hinata, raising an eyebrow in question. "Did you tell her?"

"No!" Hinata insisted, shaking his head. "Are you kidding? I mean..." He gestured between the two of them. "It would be pretty bad if any of my superiors found out about... this."

"Well she sure seems to have her suspicions."

"That much shouldn't be too surprising, but, well... " Hinata groaned, running his fingers through his hair. "I might have accidentally dropped a pretty big clue?"

"A clue," Kuzuryu deadpanned. "Like what?"

"I kind of told her we were spending Christmas Eve together."

"So what if we were?" Kuzuryu reached up to smooth down Hinata's hair, which was sticking up even worse than usual after running his fingers through it. "That doesn't have to mean shit."

Hinata took Kuzuryu's hand and brought it back down, stroking the back with his thumb. "Yeah, and I tried to play it off that way, but I'm not sure she bought it."

"Has she said anything about it since?"

"Not yet..."

Kuzuryu made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat and idly wondered if he should pull his hand away from Hinata's. He decided not to, not yet at least. "Well, let her have her suspicions or whatever. But tell me about this shit, all right?" He squeezed Hinata's hand affectionately.

"Hmm." Hinata hummed his agreement, then looked back down to the paperwork. "On that note, I'm getting back to work. Need to make sure I have everything in order before the weekend."

"The weekend?"

Hinata glanced up at him briefly. "We're going on a trip together, right?"

"Oh, right." Kuzuryu took a deep breath, his stomach clenching anxiously. "Right. What do you want to do while we're there, by the way?"

Hinata tapped his pen against the paperwork thoughtfully. "Well, it's a holiday weekend, so places will probably be crowded. I'd be fine just hanging around the inn, mostly."

"Seriously?" Kuzuryu laughed. "We're going to Hakone and that's really all you want to do?"

"Uh." Hinata looked back up then, and after staring at Kuzuryu for a moment, his cheeks reddened and he glanced away. "W-well, there's also the fact that it'll be a rare chance for us to be alone for a while, so..."

...Ah. So he was considering that possibility. Hearing that confirmation had Kuzuryu's heart pounding hard against his ribcage, and unsure of what to do, he shifted their hands so he could trace meaningless shapes on the top of Hinata's hand, just barely ghosting under the cuff of his sleeve.

They sat in silence for a few moments, each grappling with their own strong emotions.

"We could go to Hakone Shrine together on New Year's, too."

"Sure," Kuzuryu responded, still idly tracing his finger along Hinata's hand.

"Isn't the Kuzuryu Shrine there too?"

"That's a fucking coincidence."

They sat in companionable silence for a bit longer, and Kuzuryu sipped at his now-lukewarm cocoa as he considered the situation.

He... should tell Hinata about everything going on with his clan. He knew he had to, and Peko would probably say that it should be done before the trip, but... would it be all right to put it off until afterward? What they had there, in that moment, was... it was good. He didn't want to ruin that. But would it be right to advance their relationship without telling Hinata about it?

Well, at the very least, a police koban wasn't the place to have that discussion. He decided to put it to the side for the moment and focus instead on the comfort of being in Hinata's general vicinity.

After a while, they heard doorknob turn and they took that as their cue to quickly move away from each other, just far enough to not be suspicious. They exchanged glances, though; they hadn't expected Kirigiri to return so early. On the other hand, it was fucking cold out and Kuzuryu wouldn't blame her for returning as soon as possible.

But to Kuzuryu's surprise, it wasn't Kirigiri who walked through the door.

"Hi there, Hinata-kun!"

The girl who walked through the door wasn't Kirigiri, but someone Kuzuryu had never seen before, with light dusty-brown shoulder-length hair and a sleepy smile.

Notes: :D

btw I haven't had the time to respond to reviews/comments/PMs like I usually do, and that may have to wait until I'm done with this crazy-ass schedule I set for this week. Rest assured that I still read and appreciate all feedback!