#kawashiki

[the-marvelous-geek]

Borushiki vs. Kawashiki and Boruto's death - Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - ep. 292

We got a glimpse of how an actual fight between Momoshiki and Isshiki might ensue.

[jop-e]

#Draw #Drawing #Art #Timeskip #Boruto #Kawaki #Momoshiki #Isshiki #Karma #Jigen #Borushiki #Kawashiki #Code #Naruto #BorutoShippuden #NARUTOの推し名言はこれだってばよ #NARUTO好きと繋がりたい #narutofanart

[narutosidebitch]

High five

[sunkissedcrow]

a study of sorts

Pairing: Kawanishi Taichi/Goshiki Tsutomu 

Word Count: 9,650

Rating: T

Summary: In which Goshiki stares at Taichi, and Taichi tries to do nothing about it.

Excerpt

Beside him, Kenjirou spoke with feigned nonchalance, "Goshiki's staring at you again."

Tachi glanced at the first year from his peripheral vision, and indeed, Goshiki was staring at him. He looked back down at the water bottle in his hand.

It was a reoccurring phenomenon lately, that was, Goshiki's staring. Ever since the starting order for Inter-High was announced last week—Tachi made the cut with Kenjirou this year—he'd feel the weight of eager brown eyes trying to dissect him. Whenever they were on the same team for practice matches, Goshiki would glance over at him every ten seconds. He had significantly less subtlety than when Taichi tried to get out of cleaning the gym floor. No, when Goshiki stared, he stared.

He wore the same expression every time Taichi caught him: an intense frown slash pout, with his lips pressed together to a side, his eyebrows furrowed, eyes squinted like he was trying to activate heat vision and melt Taichi's body. He always looked somewhat ridiculous, just as he did now, standing in a circle across the gym with the second-years he trained with, despite only being a first-year himself.

"Still staring," Kenjirou commented, before raising his water bottle to his mouth. Taichi could see that, so he just hummed in response. Kenjirou scoffed at his noncommittal response with a mouthful of water. He swallowed. "Well, have you figured out why he's doing it?" he asked quietly with just a hint of annoyance. Taichi knew from experience that if Kenjirou could control his infliction of annoyance, it meant he wasn't actually that annoyed at anything.

So Taichi answered honestly. "Not really." Goshiki was still staring. Taichi could feel it even if he wasn't looking.

Kenjirou gave him an unimpressed look. "Did you even try?"

Taichi got as far as shrugging when another voice rang out.

"Oh, Kenjirou-kun, what are you whispering about?" Tendou draped himself over Kenjirou with a teasing grin, turning the shorter boy positively red from the weight of his body and their proximity.

"Nothing of your concern, senpai," Kenjirou muttered, looking away.

"Aw, don't be like that. I have endless amounts of care and love for my kouhai."

"Is that so?"

Their exchange held the attention of the entire gym, bantering and flirting blatantly just like they had been for the past three months. Sure, it acted sort of like entertainment during breaks, but it should have led to somewhere by now. Taichi should do something about it. But getting Kenjirou and Tendou together would either be as simple as the English test he had yesterday (it was his best subject) or as laboring as the serving practice Coach made them do.

He wasn't at all tempted to find out which of those would prove to be true.

Taichi should do something about Goshiki's newfound fascination with him too.

[ashxtodd]

SemiShira Week Day 1 (First kiss/Confessions)

Title: Falling

Main Pairing: Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou

Side Pairing: Kawanishi Taichi/Goshiki Tsutomu (Mentioned) 

Rating: T

Word Count: 7,995

Status: Complete

Links: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26677750

https://www.wattpad.com/story/244199475-%F0%9D%99%81%F0%9D%98%BC%F0%9D%99%87%F0%9D%99%87%F0%9D%99%84%F0%9D%99%89%F0%9D%99%82-%F0%9D%99%A8%F0%9D%99%9A%F0%9D%99%A2%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%A8%F0%9D%99%9D%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%A7%F0%9D%99%96

          What he didn't expect was an ash blond with frosted tips to rush into the gym panting, smiling in their direction. "Hey, I'm Sem-" He tried to say, only to be cut off by him tripping on his own shoelaces causing him to get knocked off balance and inevitably falling. "-mi." He finished. Idiot , Shirabu thought, only for him to add, but an overly attractive and hot one , a second later, causing his brain to short circuit for a moment.

5 times Shirabu thought Semi wasn't as bad as he thought. The one time he did something about the tension between them (kinda).

OR: Shirabu realizing what love is through the course of three years.

(Ft. best friend in the world Kawanishi)

SemiShira Week Day 1: First kiss/Confessions

[gregnator-greg]

Kawaki in Otsutsuki - Form or simply put Kawashiki Otsutsuki.

[musicprincess655]

Knight and Bishop, Ch. 25

Pairing: Semishira, Kawashiki

Rating: T

Tags: a/b/o, royalty au

read on ao3

“You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances” - Bobby Fischer

So Eita was honest enough with himself that he could admit it.

He had a crush.

A big crush on Shirabu, and he wasn’t completely sure how to approach it. On the one hand, Shirabu’s age shouldn’t be too much of a barrier. He was hardly a child, and if he was interested in a relationship, there was no reason not to pursue one.

On the other hand, he could get burned so easily. They’d already proven how badly things could go if they didn’t communicate. And Shirabu may not be that much younger than him, but he did have a kind of impenetrable feeling around him. Eita wasn’t keen on the idea of rejection.

So for now, he was playing it safe. He didn’t have to do anything about his crush immediately. Instead, he would continue spending time with Shirabu as they had been doing, and in the meantime, he would try to adjust to life in the castle.

Which meant he would have to start making friends here. He was already most of the way there with Taichi and Ushijima, but the new guard Goshiki was probably worth another look, and it was better to get to know all of them better, anyway. He’d probably be working closely with them in the future.

They were busy most of the time – there was still fallout from the war to deal with, and as it moved into October and the first snowfall of the year threatened, they were busy making sure there would be enough to last the citadel through the winter.

Still, Eita did find some of their free time to spend with them. Taichi was just as sarcastic and biting as he’d always been – Eita could see why he and Shirabu were best friends. Goshiki was a sweet kid with a surprising amount of insight, and it wasn’t long before Eita had switched to calling him Tsutomu. He rarely called anybody by their surname once he got to know them, with Ushijima and Shirabu as glaring exceptions.

It was almost surprising to learn that Tsutomu was the same age as Shirabu, now that his birthday had come and gone. In a lot of ways, he seemed much younger, but that was only on the surface. Tsutomu had a kind of wisdom that couldn’t come from anything but experience, and he carried himself with pride, even if he forgot himself a lot in his excitement. He was young at heart, and probably always would be, but that didn’t mean he was a child.

And Ushijima…Eita had a lot more respect for him after everything that had happened up north. Granted, he’d thought Ushijima was as cold as his mother when they’d first met, but if knowing each other for a few years hadn’t changed his opinion, the way Ushijima treated him after the battle had convinced him. Ushijima, in his own way, cared deeply about his people, and could often see to the heart of their issues by observation alone. He would make a good king someday.

All in all, Eita was pleased with the people he was closest to in the castle. They were a good group.

He’d noticed that Shirabu seemed to be withdrawing in on himself, though. He came looking for Eita to play a game or just to talk less, and when Eita did go looking for him, he usually found him tucked in a far corner in the library, isolated from everyone.

Eita could understand the compulsion to push people away, but in the long run, that wasn’t going to help Shirabu. Luckily, Eita had an idea.

“You should come down to the village with me tomorrow,” he said, once again finding Shirabu with his nose buried in a book. Shirabu looked up, only his eyes showing over the top.

Eita had always liked brown eyes. Blue or green or any other color would be distorted to him, but brown was always clear.

“I’d rather stay here,” Shirabu said.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Eita insisted – gently, because he didn’t like what had happened last time he pushed too hard, even if it was probably better for both of them. “They’re celebrating the harvest festival starting tomorrow. Haven’t you ever been to that?”

Shirabu shook his head.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Eita promised. “There’s always a lot of games and food and dancing at night. Ushijima-sama is going with Taichi and Tsutomu.”

Something in Shirabu’s face relaxed at the promise of people he knew that would be there.

“Fine,” he said slowly. “But I’m leaving if it’s too much.”

It almost turned out to be too much. Shirabu had given the crowd gathered in the village square a look like a deer seeing a hunter. Someone had knocked him into Eita’s side, and he almost looked ready to turn tail and run until Eita caught him and held his hand.

“Stay close,” Eita said. “Don’t wanna lose each other in the crowd.”

He couldn’t help falling back into his usually accent down here in the village, but he wasn’t trying that hard to keep up the noble accent, either. This was a day to have fun.

Shirabu, despite the death threat he’d thrown at Eita for that, squeezed his hand every time the crowd pulled at them. It wasn’t as bad when they drifted closer to Ushijima and Taichi and Tsutomu. People naturally parted for the crown prince.

Eita pulled Shirabu all over the place, looking at all the games and grabbing bites of food they could carry around with them. Shirabu actually looked like he was having fun, smiling as he followed Eita around. It was a good look on him.

Finally, though, Eita could sense that Shirabu was starting to get overwhelmed by the people surrounding them, so he took them both to a familiar door.

“Hey Ma!” he called, stepping into the smell of freshly baked bread like a warm bath.

“Eita!” she yelled back, a smile in her voice. “Grab the cookies from the oven, would ya? We’re near out.”

Eita stepped into the kitchen, covering his hands with a towel to go into the oven for the baking cookies. He turned around to see Shirabu staring around with something like awe.

“Here,” he said, passing one of the cookies to Shirabu. “Careful, it’s hot.”

Shirabu ignored him and bit into the cookie instantly, making a face when he burned his tongue. Then it smoothed out into something undeniably happy when he actually tasted it.

Eita didn’t have long to hang around, instead hurrying the cookies up to his mother at the front of the bakery. She kissed him on the cheek, setting them out in a hurry. This was always one of their busiest days of the year, and the bakery was packed with people.

“We’re also runnin’ low on rolls, dear, if you’ll put more on,” she said. “Did I hear someone else come in?”

“Yeah,” Eita told her. “I have a friend. He needs a breather from the festival.”

“Put ‘im to work if he’s up for it.”

“Will do.”

Eita headed back to the kitchen. Shirabu was still standing awkwardly, avoiding anyone who walked around him.

“C’mere,” Eita said. “Help me out.”

Shirabu wrinkled his nose, but he looked grateful for some direction.

He was absolute shit at anything to do with baking, and Eita spent more time fixing his mistakes than he did actually following his mother’s instructions, called back to them every so often, but it was fun anyway.

After a particularly vicious critique of Shirabu’s nonexistent kneading skills, Eita got flour thrown in his face for his troubles. He opened his eyes to the strangest look he’d ever seen on Shirabu’s face, before Shirabu burst out laughing.

It was the ugliest thing Eita had ever heard in his life. Shirabu gasped and squeaked in his inhales, snorted and gurgled on the exhales. It was adorable.

Finally, though, night started to fall, and they shut down the kitchen. Umi – home from wherever she’d been adventuring, promising stories later – took whatever was leftover out in a cart. She would sell things for a reduced price around the bonfire they were setting up.

Eita’s mother came back into the kitchen, collapsing at the table in the corner where the family ate together. She looked exhausted, but happy. The harvest festival was their last big day before the winter, and they had to make enough money for supplies. It seemed like this year had been a good year for them.

“Sit with me,” she told both of them. “Your brother’s makin’ tea.”

Eita sat easily, but Shirabu followed much more slowly.

“Ma, this is Shirabu Kenjirou,” Eita introduced him as he sat carefully, back straight and on the edge of his chair. “He’s a friend o’ mine up at the castle.”

“He’s pretty,” a small voice answered. Tomoko walked in to sit herself down as well. It was easy to chat with his family, and even Shirabu relaxed enough to join in. His mother liked Shirabu, he could tell.

Eita kept an eye on the fading light for when the bonfire would go up. When he judged it dark enough, he stood, pulling Shirabu with him.

“We’re goin’ to the dance,” he told his family.

“Have fun, dear,” his mom said, in a voice that told him she knew.

They ran into Ushijima, Tsutomu, and Taichi on their way to the bonfire. Eita could feel his heartrate starting to pick up from the sound of the fiddles. People were already dancing by the time they got there.

“Dance with me,” Eita said, holding out his hand to Shirabu.

“What?”

“It’ll be fun,” he insisted.

“I don’t know how to dance like that,” Shirabu said, nodding at the fast, jig-like steps.

“That’s the fun thing about dances like this,” Eita said, close enough that he could now take Shirabu’s hand. “If you don’t do what you planned to do, you just made up a new dance move.”

And before Shirabu could protest more, Eita dragged him out into the dance. Shirabu looked terrified for a split second before Eita put a hand on his hip and started to guide him.

Eventually, Shirabu stopped trying to fight it and followed Eita’s lead. His eyes were starting to shine, and he was smiling again.

Then the musicians started to play a song that was especially for couples. Eita kind of wanted to stay, even if it wouldn’t mean anything to Shirabu, but he could see Tsutomu and Taichi standing on the sidelines, watching over Ushijima.

They deserved this more than he did.

“You two go have a dance,” he told them. “I can watch Ushijima-sama for a while.”

They both shot him grateful looks before going out to dance. Eita settled in.

“This dance is for couples, is it not?” Ushijima asked.

“Yeah,” Eita said, watching Tsutomu sneak a kiss before they started dancing. “They deserve it.”

“I am glad they get along so well,” Ushijima said. “They make each other happy.”

“Mmm.”

Eita looked over at Shirabu, eyes shining in the firelight. He was drooping with exhaustion, but he looked happier than Eita had seen him away from a book. Eita felt his chest squeeze. Great. On top of his crush, he wanted to take care of Shirabu and make him happy.

But if this was the result, it was worth it.

[shiratorizawa-academy]

Kawashiki for fluff prompt 10?? I recently discovered this ship and it's my OTP now UwU

kawagoshi - “Are we on a date right now?”

Tsutomu was nervous. When Kawanishi-san had asked him three days ago to go to the movies, his first response had been pure happiness. He had been looking forward to Monday until he had overheard Oohira-san and Tendou-san talking about dates. Ever since then, he laid awake at night trying to figure out if he was going on a date or not. He still didn’t have an answer and he was supposed to leave now. 

Swallowing drily, Tsutomu hurried out of his room. Then he immediately hurried back in because he had forgotten his wallet. He couldn’t just leave without his wallet, he needed to pay for his ticket, arriving without money would be the same thing as just assuming that it was a date! 

Kawanishi-san was already waiting at the school gate when Tsutomu arrived. His heart kicked into overdrive the moment he saw him, he looked so good in casual clothes. Was it just his imagination or were they fancier than usual?

“Sorry!” he cried out from afar. “Sorry, I’m late!”

Kawanishi-san turned towards him and raised his eyebrows. “You’re not. Everything’s fine.” 

Trying to hide his labored breathing, Tsutomu got out his phone. “I’m not?” 

He wasn’t. In fact, he was still early. For how long had Kawanishi-san waited at the gates? Had he arrived early to make sure that Tsutomu wouldn’t be the one to wait for him? Or had he just been enjoying the afternoon sun? Was this a date or not?!

“Nope. Come on, let’s go. I didn’t reserve any tickets, so it’s good if we’re a little early.”

Tsutomu agreed and followed him out of school grounds. His thoughts couldn’t help but repeatedly circle around the facts though: an invitation for the movies, pretty clothes, arriving early. Could be a coincidence. Could be anything but. He wanted it to be anything but.

“...are you alright?”

Tsutomu jumped and looked at Kawanishi-san. They had been walking in silence for quite some time now. “Yes, why?”

“You seem distracted.”

Oh god. Oh no. “No, absolutely not! Everything is fine!” he said in a squeaky voice. Grimacing to himself, he rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants. He hoped that Kawanishi-san wouldn’t ask anything else.

Thankfully, the other seemed to understand. “If you say so.”

“Yeah. Yeah, everything is fine. It’s just - I was kinda distracted because-” Why was he still talking?! Kawanishi-san hadn’t even asked him anything! “Are we on a date right now?!”

Kawanishi-san stopped dead in his tracks. Tsutomu froze in terror. For a moment there was only silence, then Kawanishi-san turned towards him. His eyes seemed searching, registered the small part of Tsutomu’s brain that wasn’t busy ringing all the alarm bells it could find.

“...do you want it to be?”

It wasn’t a no. It wasn’t a no!

Tsutomu relaxed a little as hope crept into his chest. “Maybe?” he dared to ask. 

Kawanishi-san smiled. “Then there’s your answer.”

send me a ship/character/platonic relationship with a category and a number!

[ao3feed-haikyuu]

Of Cluelessness and Public Displays of Affections

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3hS1wBz

by sopenation

Goshiki notices a change in Shirabu’s behavior whenever he’s around Semi.

So naturally, he comes to the logical conclusion that his senpai is possessed.

In which Semi and Shirabu are dating, Goshiki is oblivious and Kawanishi is just trying to get himself a boyfriend.

Words: 4943, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Semi Eita, Shirabu Kenjirou, Goshiki Tsutomu, Kawanishi Taichi, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tendou Satori

Relationships: Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou, Goshiki Tsutomu/Kawanishi Taichi

Additional Tags: Heavily implied ushiten, Goshiki babie, Taichi's just tryna flirt, Oblivious goshiki, Semishira couple goals, focuses on kawashiki but there's lots of semishira, I enjoy making Taichi suffer, Loose reference to the bento fic here, First Kiss, Getting Together, Mutual Pining

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3hS1wBz

[semisemieita]

hear me out... polyamorous stz

-semi cuddling with tendou on monday and wrapped around shirabu and kawanishi the next day

-ushijima and hayato and reon getting their hugs and cuddles on in the dorm rooms

-CUTE KAWASHIRA/GOSHIRA/KAWASHIKI dog piles!!!

-semi mothering his kouhais and kissing their foreheads

-ushi, semi, goshiki and shirabu playing friendly two on two games that turn into love fests

-tendou and yamagata getting their sweet kisses on

-reongata solidarity! reon helps yamagata will monopoly during team bonding night

-tendou calming goshiki down after nightmares and killing spiders for him

-kawasemi kisses!

-goshiki, at his classmates: I love my teammates/bfs!

them: haha yeah...wait what?

-team bonding that ends in a 8 person hug

-I love them so much pls more poly in this world

[ao3feed-hqrarepairs]

Idiot

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2quM2M1

by noknockback

"Shirabu, it's not good to ogle." Kawanishi's amused voice served to bring him back to reality.

Shirabu looked away from the third years and flushed red, snapping back indignantly, "I wasn't staring! They're just more interesting than your boring ass."

Words: 1687, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shirabu Kenjirou, Semi Eita, Kawanishi Taichi, a little of the rest of stz

Relationships: Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou, there's kawashiki but it's like one sentence

Additional Tags: idk this was really random, also i really wanted to use the thing, it's at the end, from a fic i really like, enjoy, a little appreciation for yamagata if you squint

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2quM2M1

[jop-e]

Borushiki and Kawashiki #Draw #Drawing #Art #Timeskip #Boruto #Kawaki #Momoshiki #Isshiki #Karma #Jigen #Borushiki #Kawashiki #Naruto #BorutoShippuden #NARUTOの推し名言はこれだってばよ #NARUTO好きと繋がりたい #narutofanart

[pkmnshippings]

Will Kawashiki be a thing in your a/b/o fics?

to quote the fantastic russell howard: abso-goddamn-lutely

i already have plans, my friend and i talked shiratorizawa abo for three days straight! so i will put them into my verse in due course!

[musicprincess655]

Knight and Bishop, Ch. 17

Pairing: Semishira, Kawashiki

Rating: T

Tags: a/b/o, royalty au

read on ao3

“Adequate compensation for a sacrifice is having a sound combination leading to a winning position.” – Bruce A. Moon

Taichi only had so much room in his head, and it was all being used up. He could only try to keep so many people safe, and he was being overwhelmed.

So he pulled Goshiki away from where the younger boy was trying to go after Semi, stalking towards Kenjirou. Taichi didn’t have time to worry about his best friend right now. Kenjirou would be fine, and Taichi wanted to get both him and Goshiki to the infirmary.

Goshiki was too quiet as they went. Not for the first time, Taichi remembered that he was only sixteen. That had been his first battle.

It had also been Taichi’s. He’d been trained, of course, in defending Ushijima no matter what. He’d practiced fending off multiple attackers at once, but it was nothing like the real thing. Practice swords couldn’t teach him about people dying.

He and Goshiki weren’t really that badly hurt, just a few cuts and things to patch up, but Taichi wasn’t sure what else to do. He could do this much, at least.

Goshiki followed him pliantly, sitting when told and letting Taichi turn his face this way and that, bandaging any open wounds he could see. Finally, there was no more fussing he could do, and his own wounds were taken care of as well. He sat heavily beside Goshiki on the bed. They were tucked in a corner away from the activity around the more injured soldiers.

“Are you okay?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. Goshiki just huffed a breath, not really an answer.

“I didn’t know it would be like that.”

I didn’t either.

Somehow, though, it felt cheap to tell Goshiki that. He was supposed to be Goshiki’s beloved senpai. He was supposed to protect him.

He is surrounded by soldiers, and spears, and blood. None can touch his prince. He will not allow it.

He is mounted on his horse, his longer sword the perfect thing for reaching the people running around below him. They all die at his hand, and none may touch Ushijima.

And then his horse is stumbling over one of the many bodies he littered on the ground. He jumps before he can be thrown, and he is no longer above the men who would harm his prince.

Suddenly his sword seems too long. Everything is chaos, and everything is death.

He doesn’t see the man running for him until it is too late.

A blur of black and maroon, and the man is dead. He sees dark eyes and straight bangs. He doesn’t understand what is shouted at him, but he remounts his horse all the same.

“You saved my life,” Taichi said instead.

“You would’ve done the same for me,” Goshiki replied.

“That doesn’t make it matter less to me.”

“How many do you think are dead?”

Taichi wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that, so instead, he wrapped his arm around Goshiki’s shoulders and pulled him in close. Goshiki let his head rest on Taichi’s shoulder.

“More of them than of us,” Taichi finally decided on.

“I didn’t expect them to be like that.”

“Like what?”

“They were just people.”

That was the worst part. Realizing that your enemy was human, the same as you. Realizing that you were killing people who were only different from you because of which side of the Wall they lived on.

“I know,” Taichi said, because there was no use arguing that. “But they attacked us first. They were going to kill our king. If we don’t fight back, they’ll kill us first. We have to fight them like this to convince them to leave us alone.”

Goshiki curled up tighter into his side. He was still quiet, but that silence didn’t feel like shame anymore. He would be alright soon enough.

He wasn’t sure he could say the same thing about Kenjirou walking up to him. He’d never seen that look on his best friend’s face before, but it definitely wasn’t anything good.

“Kenjirou?” Tentative, reaching. Trying to approach gently, like he would if he was trying not to scare off a wounded animal.

“I fucked up.”

He sounded so much worse than Goshiki had. Goshiki was in shock, but Kenjirou was…something else.

“What do you mean?” Taichi asked carefully. In answer, Kenjirou reached into his pocket to draw out wooden tags, some splattered with blood. He held them out in front of Taichi.

“They’re dead because of me.”

Final. His voice was so final. There was no argument in his tone because he didn’t see it any other way. In his eyes, he might as well have killed those soldiers himself.

“Don’t say that,” Taichi said firmly. “They’re not dead because of you.”

“I sent them into that pass,” Kenjirou said. Monotone. He still held the tags out. “I planned the shield wall. Everyone who’s dead is dead because I made that plan. Semi was right.”

“Stop.”

Even Taichi was surprised by how hard his voice was, but it was enough to make Kenjirou close his mouth. Taichi reached up to take the tags from Kenjirou’s hands, having to work harder than he expected to break his white-knuckled grip.

He didn’t think Kenjirou even knew how hard he was gripping them.

Taichi set the tags on a table. He turned back to Kenjirou, using a hand on his wrist to guide him into sitting on the open side that Goshiki didn’t occupy. He’d seen his best friend sad before, and angry, and frustrated, but he’d never seen this.

He’d never seen Kenjirou look so small.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said, and Kenjirou looked like he wanted to argue. “Sh. Let me finish. It’s not your fault those soldiers are dead.”

“Who else could it be?” Kenjirou asked. He wouldn’t look away from his hands folded in his lap.

“No one,” Taichi said. “It’s no one’s fault. Maybe it’s the fault of Itachiyama for trying to attack us, or maybe it’s our fault for building the Wall in the first place, or maybe it’s the gods’ fault for making humans fight each other. We can go around in circles all day trying to assign blame, and all we’ll do is make ourselves dizzy. They died because this is war. War doesn’t have to make sense because it’s not sensible to kill and be killed, but we do it anyway. So no, it wasn’t your fault, or anybody else’s.”

“Less would have died if I’d listened to Semi,” Kenjirou said.

“Maybe,” Taichi conceded. “Maybe not. Maybe a plan that didn’t involve stopping them dead at the pass would have let Itachiyama break through our lines and kill a lot more of us than what we lost here. We’ll never know, and it’ll only hurt to keep trying to guess what would have happened if we’d done it differently.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Kenjirou asked. The desperation was heartbreaking. “We’re not nice to each other.”

Taichi unwrapped his arm from around Goshiki’s shoulders to pull Kenjirou into a hug. Kenjirou only startled back for a minute.

“We’re not nice to each other,” he said again. “You’re not nice to me. We don’t hug. That’s not how this works.”

“I’m not going to pile on when you’re already beating yourself up,” Taichi said into Kenjirou’s shoulder. “I know you’re just here because you think I’ll hit you while you’re down. You don’t deserve that.”

“Yes I do!” It would be so much better if he would just cry and get it out, but Kenjirou was too proud for that. “They’re dead because of me!”

“That’s not true,” Taichi said. “And saying it over and over won’t make it true. If you have regrets, do it better next time, but you didn’t do it wrong this time. And you won’t make me say anyone died because of you.”

“Fuck you!”

He still wasn’t crying, just shaking in Taichi’s arms. Goshiki reached across Taichi’s chest to grab a hold of Kenjirou’s wrist.

“Shirabu-san,” he said quietly. “We lost one hundred seventy-two men.”

Taichi heard Kenjirou’s sharp intake of breath.

“When I was training for the castle guard, we learned about some famous battles in history,” Goshiki went on. “Almost every time a smaller force tries to hold a bigger force at a mountain pass, they get wiped out completely. We only have to mourn one hundred seventy-two out of a few thousand. I think that counts as a success.”

“I know this isn’t news to you,” Taichi said softly, tightening his grip on Kenjirou. “I know you’ve studied all those old battles more than Goshiki has. I know you know that we lost way fewer than we could have.”

“They’re not numbers. They’re people,” Kenjirou whispered.

“Glad to know you’re finally listening to Semi-san,” Taichi said. “He knows what he’s talking about. But so do you. You’re smart, and this battle you’re so upset about? It was a win for us. Remember the names of the dead if you need to, but stop carrying around those tags to punish yourself.”

“I told the king I didn’t think I was cut out for this.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said he would have made the same choice in my place, and that he needed a strategist.”

“We need you here,” Goshiki said. “I was only able to protect Ushijima-sama because the shield line didn’t let through enough soldiers to overwhelm us. Kawanishi-senpai and I were able to fight them off because of your plan.”

“He’s right,” Taichi agreed. “If the king agrees you were right, and we agree you were right, it’s kind of hard to keep saying you made the wrong choice.”

“Semi thinks I made the wrong choice.”

“Semi lost a lot and needs someone to blame,” Taichi said. “Work with him next time if that’s what you regret so much. But stop expecting someone else to yell at you because you think you deserve it.”

Kenjirou still hadn’t pulled out of the hug, nor had he shaken Goshiki’s hand off his wrist. It wasn’t much like him, but then again, he was still an omega. Even with his prickly personality, he would be comforted by touch. And right now, it felt like he needed to be held.

Taichi wasn’t sure how long they sat there. He only knew it was long enough for Goshiki to fall asleep, leaning into his back and his grip on Kenjirou’s wrist going slack. It was long enough for Kenjirou to stop trembling. And it was long enough for Taichi to stop feeling so helpless.

When Kenjirou finally pulled back, his eyes were still wide with shock and horror.

“What do I do now?” he asked. Taichi didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered to the tags.

“Apologize to anyone you think needs it,” Taichi said, though they both knew who he meant. “Try to do it better next time. That’s all you can do.”

He leaned forward to press his forehead to Kenjirou’s in a gesture that was reserved for close friends. Unusual between the two of them, reserved only for comfort, it was still to be expected from friends as close as they were. Kenjirou took in a deep breath through his nose, and Taichi did the same, trying to calm each other with their scents.

Kenjirou’s vanilla scent was the sweetest thing about him. He’d never be a submissive omega, and that was why they were best friends. It was no fun if it wasn’t a challenge.

“How bad did I fuck up if you’re being this nice to me?” Kenjirou asked.

“You keep expecting me to beat you up, but I won’t,” Taichi replied. He felt Goshiki stirring on his back, probably roused by the movement of his lungs. “You should get some sleep.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“I’ll ask them to drug you,” Taichi threatened. “You need to sleep. You won’t be any use to us dead on your feet. You have to let yourself rest.”

Kenjirou looked like he didn’t have it in him to fight anymore. Taichi carefully arranged a groggy Goshiki in a horizontal position. Then he laid down himself, pulling Kenjirou with him. He felt Goshiki’s breath against the back of his neck, already asleep. It was cramped, the three of them on a single bed, but Taichi wouldn’t leave Kenjirou alone now.

And they slept, and forgot, at least for a little while.