♔. red child

The sea breeze kisses their cheeks as the island of Inazuma drifts further away. Jin tries not to look back at the docks where he knows Mikazuki still stands watching, but his desires get the best of him. It’s instant regret when he sees the azure and gold glistening in the distance. 

They’re leaving a part of themselves behind. 

Jin doesn’t flinch at the hand that rests upon his shoulder. Akako’s warm grip is a sense of surety and grounds him to their current situation. Reminds him that they have no time for regrets or what-ifs. They needed to focus on their action plan once they dock in Liyue. 

“You would have also punched him.” His gaze leaves the sight of their homeland and trails to her. Not that she didn’t before they left. He’s sure that if Mikazuki were anyone else, the man would have doubled over. 

His expression softens though. A small breath of a chuckle makes its way past his lips. A slight quirk and upturn. “If we had more time, I think you would have knocked him out and dragged him on board.”

-『赤』-

    “Of course--he’s always like this, doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants too.  One day it’s going to bite him in the butt!”  She replies, a huff escaping as she crosses her arms.  A leg shoots out to kick the side of the boat lightly as she looks across the sea to where they had sailed away from.  She knows the other was still watching them and maybe she could see him too, still standing at the edge waving good-bye.  

    He had provided everything for them but nothing for himself, like what he always did when they were kids.  He was always was last to get a dessert after making sure their food had arrived to always walking them back home once the moon was high.  Whenever they tried to argue with him, he would just laugh it off and continue to do what he wanted.  

    It’s was apart of his charm, sure, but it was also the most annoying part of him.  

    “...I know he’ll be fine.  But...”  She trails off, a rare scowl replacing her normally friendly expression.  

At least there’s that. No one could follow them to the Citadel. “If you insist. Then in the interim I will run your errands for you.” Jin supposes he could pick up her university items and do shopping for the both of them. 

“But if he has not stopped trying to contact you within a month, I will take matters into my own hands.” After all, this needless stress could affect Sayomi’s work.

-『赤』-

     “Oh?  Are you sure?  I’ll try not to ask for too much, Jin-san.”  She laughs, a smile forming.  Though his other comment was a bit...concerning.  And she hopes he doesn’t mean he’ll be “calling people to handle it.”

      But he means well and that was enough for her!  

“But he keeps circumventing your phone blocks?” His frown deepens as he sighs. Jin has seen many kinds of men while working at the National Diet. “I could speak to him if you keep running into him.”

-『赤』-

“Report him to the police,” Jin says simply. “Sexual harassment and stalking. Or if you want, I can contact some people to take care of him.”

-『赤』-

@ardxre​

“This is why you need to be firm in turning men down. They are relentless beasts who must be put in their place. If you give them the slightest bit of leeway, they will take advantage of that. ”

-『赤』-

His gaze falls to the side momentarily in thought. Jin adjusts his glasses and frowns. Takes another sip of the sweet dessert treat. With a decided sigh the book between his hands comes to a close with a subtle thump. 

“Very well. If you say so,” he concedes. “I am not to blame if Heshikiri Hasebe starts to nag at you again. Do not say I did not warn you, Sayomi.” Jin can hear it now. The uchigatana’s incessant worrying is at times a source of entertainment—so long as it’s not on him.

“What do we have in excess in storage?” He asks. “I remember we were running low on some beef earlier this week. Have we sent someone to purchase some?”

-『赤』-

     “Yep!  Akashi-san came back with some earlier, along with some sweets for the others.”  She replies, taking out her phone from her pocket.  Quickly she searches for the recipes she had bookmarked to look for something to cook.  There’s a light, tuneless hum that follows as she continues scrolling.  

    “We’re fully stocked up on everything now.  I was thinking Sukiyaki might be nice...”  She trails off again, copper hues glancing up from her phone to look at the other’s magenta gaze.  “I found some new recipes to try out.  Supposedly, they’re really good.”  The saniwa continues as she turns her phone to show the other the sukiyaki recipe on the screen.  

from here: [x]

-『赤』-

    “I have! I test-tasted some before giving it to the expedition party that came back.”  She says with a smile towards the other saniwa.  She bends down before sitting next to him, the bright smile still on her features.  It had been awhile since she made something--it was a nice, cool treat that was easy to make.  

-『赤』-

    “Kijin--What happened to your face?”  This was the first time she’s ever seen someone get a black eye from just field work.  Well, there was a first time for everything, wasn’t there?  

 The World

-『赤』-

   “True, but at least when we do win, it means one less revisionist is active.”  Out of how many?  No one really knew for sure, but in a war sometimes the small victories counted–at least that’s how she chooses to see it.  There would always be more battles to win, but there was always a bright side to a situation.  

-『赤』-

   “Put it away where?  I need to practice.”  The sage replies with confusion as she holds her bow.  She had cut her hand one time with the sharpened point but she knew it was enough to scare the uchigatana who was just a tad overprotective.