Scarlet Leaves // a Kazuscara fanfic

Illuminated Feelings

P.o.v. Kazuha

The moment I woke up was probably the most mesmerizing thing my eyes were ever blessed upon with.

The sight of Zuchi wrapping an arm around me to comfort his slight sea-sickness, unconsciously caressing my head in his lap, as I was still sitting on that stool from last night. I carefully detached porcelain skin from my white-ish hair, sitting back up and stretching my arms and back with a pop, a quiet yawn escaping my lips as I was doing so. By the time I looked back to the make-shift bed, crimson eyes met with lilac ones once again.

"Good morning, Zuchi-kun." I said, fully aware that it was likely already very late in the afternoon.

"mhm,,"

Was all I got in response, soft yet you could hear the salty-ness in his tone for waking him.

"Ahwe, I'm sorry for waking you dear but we should probably head up to deck now, that little stunt you pulled with these poor soldiers shouldn't go un-apologized. Don't you agree?"

I smiled at him, unconsciously intertwining our fingers with each other.

From this, a slight blush was visible on the usual lifelessly pale cheeks and ears of the bedridden ex-harbinger.

"Yes, I know. No need to remind me, such a headache."

Although he said the last line so I could definitely hear his tone seeping of annoyance, he squeezed my hand which made me realize we were holding them firmly together. The breath being caught in my throat at the sight.

"Ahem, alright then we should head out, Beidous already prepared dinner in her quarters, since you mentioned you didn't like the company of drunk sailors signing their tunes."

I coughed, stumbling a bit whilst standing up, our fingers still locked with one another.

He followed after me, letting his slim feet hit the floor softly before slowly standing up, making sure he wouldn't lose his balance after resting so much I offered him my second hand to which he politely waved his hand in disagreement, stating one hand would be enough to hold onto.

I went up the stairs from my quarters to the upper deck, at the reveal of sunlight hitting our features I felt the hand which was holding onto mine squeeze in surprise, guessing direct exposure to the rays wasn't something the bedridden man had expected.

Right on top were a few of the crew's sailors aiding away and making sure the soldiers' injuries were treated correctly.

I heard the other gulp and sensed him tensing up as we approached them.

"Ahem, good afternoon, Gentleman."

I cleared my throat bringing their attention to us.

"I think someone would like to apologize for the physical harm that was done to you."

Kunikuzuchi stepped forward, gripping my hand firmly, which made me slightly wince from the pain but I knew this must be pretty hard for him, he never liked these type of situations, even back in the day when he broke a window while we played outside, the confrontation reminded him of the one he got from Ei the day she created him. So I gripped back in reassurance.

"I-" he looked down to his feet, bowing ever so slightly.

"I apologise for causing you trouble, I promise it won't happen again."

He said in full sincerity.

I smiled in content, looks like he was able to channel his inner demons for that one.

The soldiers nodded in understanding and turned back to the crew to finish up with their bandages.

I lead Zuchi further up to Beidous & Ningguangs quarters where we would have dinner in a bit.