"Embers" Legal Drug & xxxholic crossover fic
“Embers.”
By
Rapha7
---- Legal Drug and xxxholic belong to Clamp.
---- Features Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka of xxxholic & Kudo Kazahaya, Himura Rikuo of Legal Drug in Clamp-inspired crossover.
---- Written for oneblanket challenge on LJ.
---- Worksafe, shonen-ai if you squint and read between the lines.
“Embers.”
By
Rapha7
---- Legal Drug and xxxholic belong to Clamp.
---- Features Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka of xxxholic & Kudo Kazahaya, Himura Rikuo of Legal Drug in Clamp-inspired crossover.
---- Written for oneblanket challenge on LJ.
---- Worksafe, shonen-ai if you squint and read between the lines.
------------------
“Damn it, Rikuo! This is all your fault!” Kudo Kazahaya shouted angrily as the wind lifted his scarf and tugged at his neck. Kazahaya clamped it down furiously as he stomped through the snow, growing steadily higher.
“Who was the one to say, ‘Oh, I’ll take it! I’ll take it!’ first, huh? You accepted this job without even knowing the smallest detail.” Rikuo glared at Kazahaya as he glanced backward. The trail they had forged from the bus stop long since disappeared from the heavy snowfall.
Kazahaya grumbled under his breath, then lifted his head to look at the dark grey sky. “Is it going to snow all night?”
Rikuo glanced upward as he trudged ahead, knowing that Kazahaya was following exactly where his feet trod, rather than facing the harsh obstruction of the pristine snow. “The weather forecast said so. But this blizzard is more than they expected.”
A small niggling worry began to creep back into the recesses of his mind, and Rikuo stopped suddenly, then grabbed Kazahaya’s floundering arm and jerked him forward.
“Ow! Watch what you’re doing, jerk!” Kazahaya growled, arching his back and glaring up at Rikuo’s stoic face.
Rikuo leaned closer and said seriously, “Listen, this blizzard is serious. If we stay out much longer, we’re going to get lost. Forget finishing the job, we’ll freeze to death before we can find the thing Kakei sent us for. We have to find shelter!”
Kazahaya’s eyes widened, then he glanced over Rikuo’s shoulder, “Hey! HEY! Do you see that light thing over there?”
“Huh?” Rikuo turned and through the clumps of snow falling through the air, he made out a haze of light.
Kazahaya leapt forward, leaving Rikuo to chase after him.
“Hey! Don’t move so fast! We should keep close! You can’t even see the ground, you idiot!” Rikuo heard Kazahaya let out a shout of surprise at the same time he felt a distinct rumbling beneath his feet.
Rikuo leapt forward and caught the hood of Kazahaya’s jacket before they tumbled downward into darkness.
_____________________________
“Nnnnn….” Rikuo groaned, then mentally prepared himself for a damage analysis. A soft fleecy collar or something was crammed into his mouth. He dimly recognized it as belonging to Kazahaya’s jacket.
His eyes opened slowly, yet blurrily, and he perceived two large shadows in front of a fire. Kazahaya! He grabbed the coat and felt around, touching the skin of Kazahaya’s face. His nose felt cold, and Rikuo’s hands patted around, feeling and tracing Kazahaya’s cool cheeks, waving below Kazahaya’s nose, trembling slightly when they felt the distinct warm waft of air from Kazahaya’s mouth and nose.
Alive. Rikuo closed his eyes and then reopened them, trying to focus.
“Oh? You’re awake already?” A kind sounding, a little reedy with a tendency to pitch higher, voice enquired, “You’re going to need something to warm up with. Just a moment.” He heard the sounds of booted feet clunking on a solid wooden floor.
Rikuo squinted, why were his eyes so blurry? It looked like two high school boys were gathered in front of a huge fireplace. The black of their uniforms danced before his eyes.
He groaned, then yelped when Kazahaya slapped him in the face, “Rikuo! RIKUO!”
Rikuo opened his eyes as Kazahaya leaned in closer over him, “Are you okay?” Was that a hint of panic in his voice? Rikuo clamped down on the thrill he felt at the idea of Kazahaya being worried about him and grunted.
“Yeah. I think so.” Those large eyes seemed awfully moist. Rikuo logged that detail away for further examination.
A few clunking steps and another boy loomed over them, his voice was rather deep. “You were lost in the snow outside the lodge. We found you.” He squatted next to them and handed them bowls of soup. “Drink this.” His short hair was arranged neatly, his face virtually expressionless, “It will taste like ambrosia. Trust me.”
Rikuo blinked. The description seemed odd coming from that deep voice.
“Oi! Doumeki! Don’t just give food without asking! They need this first!” Watanuki dashed into the room, with a tray of hot tea and cups.
“You’re so noisy.” Doumeki tilted his head away from the loudly speaking boy and grimaced, even as he set the tray before them carefully.
Rikuo sat up and leaned against what felt like a sofa, every muscle in his body ached and screamed from overuse. Kazahaya was sitting next to him, and for once, wasn’t trying to put three feet between them. The floor felt as if it were a part of his body, and he frowned down at his numb legs. The only warmth he felt came from beside him, and Rikuo reached eagerly for the steaming bowl of soup.
Kazahaya also reached for his bowl at the same time. The heat from the soup warmed their stiff frozen fingers. The pain of sensation tingling back into them was another matter.
“Ow.” Kazahaya whispered, trying desperately not to be rude before their hosts.
“…” Rikuo winced, but in a happy manner as he felt sensation surge back into his hands.
The loud bespectacled boy moved quickly forward and set the tea tray down on the small table, that neither had noticed before. Especially since the soup tray was between them within in easy reach.
“This will help warm you up as well…it’s very important to keep yourselves hydrated.” Watanuki smiled warmly, then tilted his head and pursed his lips at Kazahaya, “Don’t you work at Green Drug store?”
“Huh?” Kazahaya mumbled, around the rim of the bowl he guzzled down. A slight trickle escaped down his chin.
Rikuo watched the liquid skate down that smooth cheek and barely restrained the impulse to tease him, instead he nudged Kazahaya warningly in the side with his elbow.
“Uh…yeah. We were taking a vacation day, because we heard that it…it…” Kazahaya failed frequently at lying, his face flushed and he flustered around for a suitable excuse. The sullen faced high school boy turned away and stoked the fire, while Watanuki poured the tea.
“We thought we might go to the skiing lodge and enjoy the weekend for a change.” Rikuo put in smoothly, holding his hand out for the cup of tea.
Watanuki nodded, “Ah. So did we.” To himself, he thought, they’d never believe me if I told them that a witch sent them there to take care of exorcising an item, which could only be done on the night of a new moon during a blizzard on this particular mountain.
Doumeki paused in his stoking and craned his neck backward, “Watanuki, I’ll go get more wood before it gets worse out there.”
Watanuki turned away from their guests and waved him off impatiently, “Jeez, just get going, will you?”
“Oh,” Kazahaya suddenly blinked, “thank you for the food.”
Watanuki beamed, “No problem. When Yu-I mean we realized that with the weather we might have to stay, we made sure to bring food along.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, may we stay here for the night? The snow is pretty fierce.” Rikuo asked, as Watanuki refilled their tea cups. His hands shook a little at the question, but he recovered quickly.
“Of course! Yu-I mean we have plenty of space…” he glanced around worriedly, “DOUMEKI!”
“What?” Doumeki entered through the small cabin door and shook off several inches of snow as he placed a large stack of wood on the wood pile.
“Never mind.” Watanuki sighed. The creepy black things oozing around the cabin had disappeared.
Doumeki glanced at the drug store clerks, “Would you like more soup?” He prodded, gesturing toward the kitchen meaningfully.
Watanuki blinked, “Oh, of course, are you still hungry? You have to get warmed up! It’s going to get very cold tonight.”
“Please.” Kazahaya and Rikuo asked in unison, lifting their bowls. Watanuki placed the bowls on a tray and whisked out of the room.
Kazahaya glanced at the sullen faced boy who glanced around the room as if he were searching for something.
“Um…thanks for saving us.” Kazahaya offered, trying to smile, “Um…we’re really grateful.”
Doumeki shrugged, “No problem.” He continued to prowl around the room, poking around furniture and in the closet before coming back into the center of the room with a scowl on his face.
“Oi!” He called into the kitchen, as Watanuki swept back out with the trays. He leaned forward and whispered into Watanuki’s ear.
“Eh? EEHHHH? No WAAAAAAAAAYY!” Watanuki hurriedly placed the tray down within reach of the drug store clerks and dashed about the room, holding his head with both hands and ransacking the very places Doumeki searched.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Kazahaya’s voice rose in pitch as he started to panic.
Rikuo drank his soup calmly and examined the silent high school boy, “Oi, what’s the problem?”
Doumeki realized that Rikuo meant him, and answered calmly, “There doesn’t appear to be any kind of bedding, or futons available here. It’s supposed to get very cold tonight.”
“Eh?” Kazahaya frowned as he tilted his head, touching his cold fingers to his warm mouth and blowing on them. “Can’t we just stay close to the fire?”
Doumeki paused for a moment when he heard Watanuki cry out in delight, “YES!”
“What is it?” Doumeki strode quickly over to his friend’s side and stared at the crumpled mess of fabric.
“I found one! One blanket!” Watanuki danced a little.
“Oi,” Doumeki grabbed Watanuki by the shoulder, “One blanket for the four of us?”
Watanuki stopped dancing in celebration and frowned, “Well, at least I found ONE. What did you do? You cold fish person!”
Doumeki frowned deeply, “Aren’t there any more where you found that one?”
“Don’t be stupid, Doumeki! I only found this ONE.” Watanuki looked ready to start a fight, but then resisted at the curious watching eyes of Kazahaya.
Rikuo staggered to his feet, “How much wood do we have? It’s going to get cold, right? Is the wood pile close by? We should gather as much as possible, even more than what you have there, just in case the blizzard makes it impossible…”
“Ah, but are you well enough to help?” Doumeki asked, already putting his winter coat on again.
“We need heat.” Rikuo answered grimly, casting a worried glance at the wide eyed Kazahaya who was blowing on his soup and drinking it very seriously.
“Hnnn.” Doumeki nodded briefly and the two left the cabin again. The two remaining in the cabin shivered as the cold air wafted around.
“Jeez.” Watanuki shook out the blanket a little. “Well it’s very large…almost as if it could cover six people.”
Kazahaya yawned slightly, “Oh? Well that’s all right then. We don’t have a choice if we’re going to freeze to death.”
Watanuki glanced over at Kazahaya and pursed his lips, “I guess. Well at any rate, are you full, or do you need some more to eat?”
“Oh,” Kazahaya glanced down at the empty bowl, “Thank you, it was delicious.”
______________
Kazahaya opened his eyes. It was the middle of the night and he was hearing strange whispers from a corner of the cabin.
“Shh… Don’t wake them.” This from the boy with glasses, Doumeki, was it?
“I can’t believe we’re doing this…they’re right there!” The higher pitched voice nearly yelped as Doumeki clamped his hand over his mouth.
“You really are too noisy.”
The sound of rustling fabric hitting the floor caused Kazahaya to fiercely close his eyes. ‘No, I don’t want to see, I don’t want to see.’ He turned in closer to Rikuo’s warmth. Only in these circumstances was this acceptable, Kazahaya reasoned. It was cold and they could die. There was no way he…
“Ow! You’re too rough! Be careful!” Watanuki hissed between gasps.
“Shut up. Just show me where to aim.”
Kazahaya’s eyes opened again. ‘No way. Really no way.’ He squinted up at Rikuo without moving. Apparently those two had left the blanket, because it was left open in their places. Rikuo mumbled incoherently in his sleep.
“Shhh. Don’t wake them. For god’s sake. We don’t want to have to explain this.” Watanuki wailed in an undertone.
“Is it here?”
“Ah…no, to the left a little.”
“Here?”
“AAAAAAH!” A bright flash of light filled the entire room.
Rikuo bolted upright, “What’s going on?! What is it?” He automatically reached for Kazahaya and pulled him close to shield him.
Doumeki and Watanuki were sprawled, unconscious on their corner of the blanket, and Kazahaya blinked suspiciously. ‘How did they make it all the way over here?’ He felt the entire incident was rather dreamlike.
Rikuo cleared his throat and gazed at the two boys. “Ah. A nightmare?” Rikuo muttered to Kazahaya.
Kazahaya clamped his lips tightly and nodded. There was no way he would repeat what he’d heard.
Rikuo yawned, then whispered, “Then let’s look for the item. This is a lodge, a little too convenient, don’t you think?”
Kazahaya and Rikuo tiptoed around the sleeping boys and searched the small cabin by firelight. It was there, right where Kakei said it would be, hidden among the hearth stones of the fireplace. Rikuo used the tongs and pulled it out.
“Snow.” He carefully carried the item from the fireplace to the door.
Kazahaya followed closely as he cooled the item in the snow bank outside, leaning over his shoulder.
“That’s weird, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, at least now we’ll get paid!” Kazahaya grinned cheerfully.
“Shh… idiot. Don’t wake them. And hide this!” Rikuo wrapped the item in the cloth Kakei had given them and handed it carefully to Kazahaya, who promptly hid it in his jacket.
“Brrr… It’s so cold. Let’s get back to the blanket!” Kazahaya hissed, grabbing Rikuo’s arm.
“Yeah, alright. Let me fix up the fire again.” Rikuo rearranged the coals and logs, adding more to the fire, before joining Kazahaya at their arranged spot.
As Rikuo enclosed them all in the blanket, tucking it around their hosts and themselves to keep in the heat, he whispered to Kazahaya, “Just remember, keep quiet about this to them, okay?”
“I know, jeez. Just shut up already.” Kazahaya buried himself close to Rikuo and shivered. The cold air from outside had re-chilled him.
Rikuo absently rubbed Kazahaya’s arms and gazed at the fire. “This isn’t such a bad job.”
By
Rapha7
---- Legal Drug and xxxholic belong to Clamp.
---- Features Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka of xxxholic & Kudo Kazahaya, Himura Rikuo of Legal Drug in Clamp-inspired crossover.
---- Written for oneblanket challenge on LJ.
---- Worksafe, shonen-ai if you squint and read between the lines.
“Embers.”
By
Rapha7
---- Legal Drug and xxxholic belong to Clamp.
---- Features Watanuki Kimihiro, Doumeki Shizuka of xxxholic & Kudo Kazahaya, Himura Rikuo of Legal Drug in Clamp-inspired crossover.
---- Written for oneblanket challenge on LJ.
---- Worksafe, shonen-ai if you squint and read between the lines.
------------------
“Damn it, Rikuo! This is all your fault!” Kudo Kazahaya shouted angrily as the wind lifted his scarf and tugged at his neck. Kazahaya clamped it down furiously as he stomped through the snow, growing steadily higher.
“Who was the one to say, ‘Oh, I’ll take it! I’ll take it!’ first, huh? You accepted this job without even knowing the smallest detail.” Rikuo glared at Kazahaya as he glanced backward. The trail they had forged from the bus stop long since disappeared from the heavy snowfall.
Kazahaya grumbled under his breath, then lifted his head to look at the dark grey sky. “Is it going to snow all night?”
Rikuo glanced upward as he trudged ahead, knowing that Kazahaya was following exactly where his feet trod, rather than facing the harsh obstruction of the pristine snow. “The weather forecast said so. But this blizzard is more than they expected.”
A small niggling worry began to creep back into the recesses of his mind, and Rikuo stopped suddenly, then grabbed Kazahaya’s floundering arm and jerked him forward.
“Ow! Watch what you’re doing, jerk!” Kazahaya growled, arching his back and glaring up at Rikuo’s stoic face.
Rikuo leaned closer and said seriously, “Listen, this blizzard is serious. If we stay out much longer, we’re going to get lost. Forget finishing the job, we’ll freeze to death before we can find the thing Kakei sent us for. We have to find shelter!”
Kazahaya’s eyes widened, then he glanced over Rikuo’s shoulder, “Hey! HEY! Do you see that light thing over there?”
“Huh?” Rikuo turned and through the clumps of snow falling through the air, he made out a haze of light.
Kazahaya leapt forward, leaving Rikuo to chase after him.
“Hey! Don’t move so fast! We should keep close! You can’t even see the ground, you idiot!” Rikuo heard Kazahaya let out a shout of surprise at the same time he felt a distinct rumbling beneath his feet.
Rikuo leapt forward and caught the hood of Kazahaya’s jacket before they tumbled downward into darkness.
_____________________________
“Nnnnn….” Rikuo groaned, then mentally prepared himself for a damage analysis. A soft fleecy collar or something was crammed into his mouth. He dimly recognized it as belonging to Kazahaya’s jacket.
His eyes opened slowly, yet blurrily, and he perceived two large shadows in front of a fire. Kazahaya! He grabbed the coat and felt around, touching the skin of Kazahaya’s face. His nose felt cold, and Rikuo’s hands patted around, feeling and tracing Kazahaya’s cool cheeks, waving below Kazahaya’s nose, trembling slightly when they felt the distinct warm waft of air from Kazahaya’s mouth and nose.
Alive. Rikuo closed his eyes and then reopened them, trying to focus.
“Oh? You’re awake already?” A kind sounding, a little reedy with a tendency to pitch higher, voice enquired, “You’re going to need something to warm up with. Just a moment.” He heard the sounds of booted feet clunking on a solid wooden floor.
Rikuo squinted, why were his eyes so blurry? It looked like two high school boys were gathered in front of a huge fireplace. The black of their uniforms danced before his eyes.
He groaned, then yelped when Kazahaya slapped him in the face, “Rikuo! RIKUO!”
Rikuo opened his eyes as Kazahaya leaned in closer over him, “Are you okay?” Was that a hint of panic in his voice? Rikuo clamped down on the thrill he felt at the idea of Kazahaya being worried about him and grunted.
“Yeah. I think so.” Those large eyes seemed awfully moist. Rikuo logged that detail away for further examination.
A few clunking steps and another boy loomed over them, his voice was rather deep. “You were lost in the snow outside the lodge. We found you.” He squatted next to them and handed them bowls of soup. “Drink this.” His short hair was arranged neatly, his face virtually expressionless, “It will taste like ambrosia. Trust me.”
Rikuo blinked. The description seemed odd coming from that deep voice.
“Oi! Doumeki! Don’t just give food without asking! They need this first!” Watanuki dashed into the room, with a tray of hot tea and cups.
“You’re so noisy.” Doumeki tilted his head away from the loudly speaking boy and grimaced, even as he set the tray before them carefully.
Rikuo sat up and leaned against what felt like a sofa, every muscle in his body ached and screamed from overuse. Kazahaya was sitting next to him, and for once, wasn’t trying to put three feet between them. The floor felt as if it were a part of his body, and he frowned down at his numb legs. The only warmth he felt came from beside him, and Rikuo reached eagerly for the steaming bowl of soup.
Kazahaya also reached for his bowl at the same time. The heat from the soup warmed their stiff frozen fingers. The pain of sensation tingling back into them was another matter.
“Ow.” Kazahaya whispered, trying desperately not to be rude before their hosts.
“…” Rikuo winced, but in a happy manner as he felt sensation surge back into his hands.
The loud bespectacled boy moved quickly forward and set the tea tray down on the small table, that neither had noticed before. Especially since the soup tray was between them within in easy reach.
“This will help warm you up as well…it’s very important to keep yourselves hydrated.” Watanuki smiled warmly, then tilted his head and pursed his lips at Kazahaya, “Don’t you work at Green Drug store?”
“Huh?” Kazahaya mumbled, around the rim of the bowl he guzzled down. A slight trickle escaped down his chin.
Rikuo watched the liquid skate down that smooth cheek and barely restrained the impulse to tease him, instead he nudged Kazahaya warningly in the side with his elbow.
“Uh…yeah. We were taking a vacation day, because we heard that it…it…” Kazahaya failed frequently at lying, his face flushed and he flustered around for a suitable excuse. The sullen faced high school boy turned away and stoked the fire, while Watanuki poured the tea.
“We thought we might go to the skiing lodge and enjoy the weekend for a change.” Rikuo put in smoothly, holding his hand out for the cup of tea.
Watanuki nodded, “Ah. So did we.” To himself, he thought, they’d never believe me if I told them that a witch sent them there to take care of exorcising an item, which could only be done on the night of a new moon during a blizzard on this particular mountain.
Doumeki paused in his stoking and craned his neck backward, “Watanuki, I’ll go get more wood before it gets worse out there.”
Watanuki turned away from their guests and waved him off impatiently, “Jeez, just get going, will you?”
“Oh,” Kazahaya suddenly blinked, “thank you for the food.”
Watanuki beamed, “No problem. When Yu-I mean we realized that with the weather we might have to stay, we made sure to bring food along.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, may we stay here for the night? The snow is pretty fierce.” Rikuo asked, as Watanuki refilled their tea cups. His hands shook a little at the question, but he recovered quickly.
“Of course! Yu-I mean we have plenty of space…” he glanced around worriedly, “DOUMEKI!”
“What?” Doumeki entered through the small cabin door and shook off several inches of snow as he placed a large stack of wood on the wood pile.
“Never mind.” Watanuki sighed. The creepy black things oozing around the cabin had disappeared.
Doumeki glanced at the drug store clerks, “Would you like more soup?” He prodded, gesturing toward the kitchen meaningfully.
Watanuki blinked, “Oh, of course, are you still hungry? You have to get warmed up! It’s going to get very cold tonight.”
“Please.” Kazahaya and Rikuo asked in unison, lifting their bowls. Watanuki placed the bowls on a tray and whisked out of the room.
Kazahaya glanced at the sullen faced boy who glanced around the room as if he were searching for something.
“Um…thanks for saving us.” Kazahaya offered, trying to smile, “Um…we’re really grateful.”
Doumeki shrugged, “No problem.” He continued to prowl around the room, poking around furniture and in the closet before coming back into the center of the room with a scowl on his face.
“Oi!” He called into the kitchen, as Watanuki swept back out with the trays. He leaned forward and whispered into Watanuki’s ear.
“Eh? EEHHHH? No WAAAAAAAAAYY!” Watanuki hurriedly placed the tray down within reach of the drug store clerks and dashed about the room, holding his head with both hands and ransacking the very places Doumeki searched.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Kazahaya’s voice rose in pitch as he started to panic.
Rikuo drank his soup calmly and examined the silent high school boy, “Oi, what’s the problem?”
Doumeki realized that Rikuo meant him, and answered calmly, “There doesn’t appear to be any kind of bedding, or futons available here. It’s supposed to get very cold tonight.”
“Eh?” Kazahaya frowned as he tilted his head, touching his cold fingers to his warm mouth and blowing on them. “Can’t we just stay close to the fire?”
Doumeki paused for a moment when he heard Watanuki cry out in delight, “YES!”
“What is it?” Doumeki strode quickly over to his friend’s side and stared at the crumpled mess of fabric.
“I found one! One blanket!” Watanuki danced a little.
“Oi,” Doumeki grabbed Watanuki by the shoulder, “One blanket for the four of us?”
Watanuki stopped dancing in celebration and frowned, “Well, at least I found ONE. What did you do? You cold fish person!”
Doumeki frowned deeply, “Aren’t there any more where you found that one?”
“Don’t be stupid, Doumeki! I only found this ONE.” Watanuki looked ready to start a fight, but then resisted at the curious watching eyes of Kazahaya.
Rikuo staggered to his feet, “How much wood do we have? It’s going to get cold, right? Is the wood pile close by? We should gather as much as possible, even more than what you have there, just in case the blizzard makes it impossible…”
“Ah, but are you well enough to help?” Doumeki asked, already putting his winter coat on again.
“We need heat.” Rikuo answered grimly, casting a worried glance at the wide eyed Kazahaya who was blowing on his soup and drinking it very seriously.
“Hnnn.” Doumeki nodded briefly and the two left the cabin again. The two remaining in the cabin shivered as the cold air wafted around.
“Jeez.” Watanuki shook out the blanket a little. “Well it’s very large…almost as if it could cover six people.”
Kazahaya yawned slightly, “Oh? Well that’s all right then. We don’t have a choice if we’re going to freeze to death.”
Watanuki glanced over at Kazahaya and pursed his lips, “I guess. Well at any rate, are you full, or do you need some more to eat?”
“Oh,” Kazahaya glanced down at the empty bowl, “Thank you, it was delicious.”
______________
Kazahaya opened his eyes. It was the middle of the night and he was hearing strange whispers from a corner of the cabin.
“Shh… Don’t wake them.” This from the boy with glasses, Doumeki, was it?
“I can’t believe we’re doing this…they’re right there!” The higher pitched voice nearly yelped as Doumeki clamped his hand over his mouth.
“You really are too noisy.”
The sound of rustling fabric hitting the floor caused Kazahaya to fiercely close his eyes. ‘No, I don’t want to see, I don’t want to see.’ He turned in closer to Rikuo’s warmth. Only in these circumstances was this acceptable, Kazahaya reasoned. It was cold and they could die. There was no way he…
“Ow! You’re too rough! Be careful!” Watanuki hissed between gasps.
“Shut up. Just show me where to aim.”
Kazahaya’s eyes opened again. ‘No way. Really no way.’ He squinted up at Rikuo without moving. Apparently those two had left the blanket, because it was left open in their places. Rikuo mumbled incoherently in his sleep.
“Shhh. Don’t wake them. For god’s sake. We don’t want to have to explain this.” Watanuki wailed in an undertone.
“Is it here?”
“Ah…no, to the left a little.”
“Here?”
“AAAAAAH!” A bright flash of light filled the entire room.
Rikuo bolted upright, “What’s going on?! What is it?” He automatically reached for Kazahaya and pulled him close to shield him.
Doumeki and Watanuki were sprawled, unconscious on their corner of the blanket, and Kazahaya blinked suspiciously. ‘How did they make it all the way over here?’ He felt the entire incident was rather dreamlike.
Rikuo cleared his throat and gazed at the two boys. “Ah. A nightmare?” Rikuo muttered to Kazahaya.
Kazahaya clamped his lips tightly and nodded. There was no way he would repeat what he’d heard.
Rikuo yawned, then whispered, “Then let’s look for the item. This is a lodge, a little too convenient, don’t you think?”
Kazahaya and Rikuo tiptoed around the sleeping boys and searched the small cabin by firelight. It was there, right where Kakei said it would be, hidden among the hearth stones of the fireplace. Rikuo used the tongs and pulled it out.
“Snow.” He carefully carried the item from the fireplace to the door.
Kazahaya followed closely as he cooled the item in the snow bank outside, leaning over his shoulder.
“That’s weird, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, at least now we’ll get paid!” Kazahaya grinned cheerfully.
“Shh… idiot. Don’t wake them. And hide this!” Rikuo wrapped the item in the cloth Kakei had given them and handed it carefully to Kazahaya, who promptly hid it in his jacket.
“Brrr… It’s so cold. Let’s get back to the blanket!” Kazahaya hissed, grabbing Rikuo’s arm.
“Yeah, alright. Let me fix up the fire again.” Rikuo rearranged the coals and logs, adding more to the fire, before joining Kazahaya at their arranged spot.
As Rikuo enclosed them all in the blanket, tucking it around their hosts and themselves to keep in the heat, he whispered to Kazahaya, “Just remember, keep quiet about this to them, okay?”
“I know, jeez. Just shut up already.” Kazahaya buried himself close to Rikuo and shivered. The cold air from outside had re-chilled him.
Rikuo absently rubbed Kazahaya’s arms and gazed at the fire. “This isn’t such a bad job.”