You Always Build It Better the Second Time Around

Chapter 12 - Intellegence

A/N: Special chapter that is longer because I am starting school (I moved states, I know I'm almost a month late to start- give me a break) and I fear I won't have enough time to write. I'm getting my last nights of freedom writing. When you're not even the reader and you're just waiting for that moment to write out the million possible scenarios for that future kiss scene...

I hope I get it out before I get too held up with school, but at the same time, I don't want to rush it. Thankfully, I already have an idea, and I'm going to stop this A/N before I start rambling...

...

So. Roadblock. Turns out we were both wrong. Asuramaru no longer resides here, and we've been travelling through a cave that goes on for about a mile and a half and ends quite abruptly. Since this little hiccup in our journey, Yuichiro has been apologizing profusely, and despite me constantly telling him it's alright, he still feels terrible. While I figure out our current location and where Asuramaru could be after we make it out of the cave and back into the thick jungle of trees, Yuichiro seems to be contemplating life decisions over a little thing such as this.

The poor thing.

"Yu," I stand behind him as he sits before a tree, ears flattened against his head and tail curled close to his body. "Did I, or did I not say that it's alright?"

He doesn't respond.

Damn. Plan B.

Instead of trying to convince him it's alright, I lower onto my knees and embrace him from behind and wait for his reaction. Expecting him to pry my off, he instead just sits there, uncharacteristically quiet without any of his sarcastic comments. Well, this is new and definitely not what I was expecting. Neither one of us says anything for a good amount of time, and despite the previous rush to find Asuramaru before nightfall, I lie my head upon his back and watch the sunset in the distance as the sky becomes darker and cloudier, returning to the cave-like grey ceiling.

"You don't have to keep holding me, you know," I hear him mutter after the sun-like orb almost completely disappears over the dead-land horizon of our first night in Hell.

I quietly respond, as if I spoke any louder I'd wake a sleeping baby, "I know." I smile softly, taking in his morning dew scent.

"It's going to become more dangerous now that it's night, especially if we just stay here," he softly reminds, as if trying to come up with an excuse for me to let go of him.

"I know," I softly repeat, keeping my arms around him. He doesn't say anything after that, and instead, to fill the silence between us, I suppose we just study each other's breaths, and find out later that our breaths or synced and wonder quietly if it's some sort of sign of good fortune or something. How silly, yet how meaningful this moment is. Some would say it's bonding for future friendship, I say our souls are speaking in place of our silent physical bodies not saying a word to fill the silence. But the silence does not need words when it's comfortable.

We end up deciding to stay there to rest, agreeing that Hell is obnoxious to deal with for more than twelve hours. Not surprisingly, Yu falls asleep first. I allow him to lie his head on my lap after moving myself up against the trunk of the tree Yu had sulked before just a little while ago. Hell has a sort of firefly-like bug that acts the same as in the human realm, so the forest is illuminated by a soft yellow glow in the night.

Perhaps it's the light, perhaps not. Either way, I'm unable to sleep despite how easy Yu is making it seem, so I settle for playing with his hair. This isn't the first time I've seen him sleeping, and I'm sure he's seen me once or twice, too. So, I suppose our relationship is a bit more than normal even after a little less than a month, so what? Whatever allows him near me. Always.