Sazume approached him, covered from the rain by an elegant umbrella, and from the cold wind by her boa. Kumari smiled slightly, but wasn’t quite comfortable at sustaining her look.
“You have your way with kids”, she said.
“I was one, once.”
“The way you talk, it seems that it was a long time ago.” Her laugh didn’t alter his dark mood.
“Sometimes, it feels like that.”
Once again, his eyes escaped those of her. She thought it was only because of his shy nature, but there was something more there, disguised under his serene face. Kumari looked far away, as if nothing there mattered, not even the cold raindrops brought by a sudden wind.
“Are you not cold?”, she asked, tightening the boa around her neck.
“I’m used to it.” He suddenly remembered that he still had his arms uncovered, and started pulling the sleeves down.
“Wait!” Sazume noticed the marks around his left shoulder – horrible scars left by the lizard-demon bite. Those wouldn’t disappear easily, even from a demon’s body. “I’m sorry I was the cause of them…” She took her hand to his shoulder, but he covered it quickly.
“It’s nothing, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
His heart beatings went faster when she touched his shoulder, and he became suddenly nervous, fearing that she would feel his heart bumping in his chest. In spite of his dark skin, his face turned visibly red.
Sazume felt the emotion flowing through him, and blushed too when, in an impulse, he grabbed her hand. Somehow, her touch awoke something in him, and their eyes met. All of a sudden, she saw the sadness in his face, and the squeeze in her hand showed his urgency to feel a gentle touch. Time stood by as the coldness in his eyes melted with the heat of the contact.
“Good morning!” Ichimaru popped out of nowhere, hung upside down from the branches of the closest tree. Kumari and Sazume backed off from each other, scared. “Wow, jumpy, huh? What did you think I was? A lizard-demon?” He laughed.
“Good morning, Ichimaru-san.” Kumari said, his bad mood returning. “If you’ll excuse me, I have lots of things to do.” With no further word, he headed back to the castle.
“Well, a man’s gotta do his job.” Ichimaru stopped smiling when he encountered his sister’s angry look. “What?”
“Grow up, Ichi.”
“No, wait, stop it! Ouch!”, he yelled when Sazume pulled him down by his hair, knocking him down the tree. He rose from the ground, holding a painful head. “Wow, mom is right. She does have dad’s eyes.”
