“samon?! what’re you doing here?! why were you just standing there? you scared the hell out of me…” you exclaimed, clutching your chest to slow down your heart. 

“i just came to tell you the sky looks good right now. and i was standing there ‘cause i was about to wake you up…” he’d decided to take the cool and casual route at the moment, even though you’d caught him extremely off guard. “the clouds are all gone so i figured you would want to see it.” 

“oh, that actually all checks out. i was gonna call you a freak ‘cause you were watching me sleep, haha.” you laughed, standing up from your chair and stretching. “there’s no way i’m gonna be able to submit all this paperwork to warden hyakushiki by tomorrow, so i might as well! let’s go!” as you looped your arm around samon’s and started walking to the balcony, his thoughts began to go wild. 

he’d never really spent too much time thinking about his feelings, especially towards you; he was always focusing on his work and his prisoners. although they were still prisoners and he was still a guard, he’d grown fond of them, (though he would never admit this out loud to them) and helped them with things they brought to him. his little rivalry with hajime was also included with work, and because of this diligence, he never really allowed himself to even think of something aside from it. 

with you though, he found himself thinking less about work and more about normal things. normal things that a twenty-year old might think about, like having a girlfriend and doing things he enjoyed with her. he could teach her all about how to garden and the different kinds of plants and what you can do with them, and he could even train with her. 

except, in these fantasies, it wasn’t a random woman. it was you. 

and that was something that made him a little bit scared. 

now, samon gokuu is not a man to get scared and run away easily, and though he wasn’t running away from you, he was definitely a little scared. not because you’re scary, (at all) but wholly because it was something strange and unknown, and he had no clue what indulging his feelings would be like. he supposes it wouldn’t be bad though. being with you. 

your arm untangled from his as you two reached the balcony, the cool air of the night feeling refreshing. you walked up to the railing, leaning against it as you stared at the stars. 

“ahh, you were right; it’s so beautiful tonight.” you said, a warm smile on your face as you looked back at him. the slight breeze in the night lifted your hair a bit, framing your face damn near perfectly. 

you were beautiful. 

“yeah, um…it really is.” he managed to get out, feeling a little bit too entranced by you. his supposed best friend. he almost felt guilty for whatever he was feeling, but at the same time, he wants to be able to imagine having a future with you. 

as he joined you at the railing, you scooted a little closer to him, beaming up at him with such a joyful expression that it squeezed his heart just a bit, (it really just skipped a beat, he just didn’t want to say it). 

he keeps a small hope in his heart that one day, maybe, these same stars would look down on you and him as lovers. for now though? he’s content just being by your side.

as he watched you, he noticed a lot of things. 

your hair was plastered all over your face, the wet strands sticking onto your skin in all different kinds of patterns. the droplets of water that were falling on you slowly slid down your cheeks and down onto your neck, soaking into your clothing. your lips were upturned into a joyous smile that made his heart feel all warm and fuzzy. 

the cold stone floor of the cell had long since made his legs numb. counting all of the different bricks in the wall had grown boring once he reached 1,000, so he had just been staring at the wall ever since. it was times like these that ate away at his mind. 

“jyugo? are you awake?” looking to the side, he saw you in the cell to his left, sitting right next to the bars. 

“i thought you were sleeping.” 

“i was, but i had a bad dream. will you keep me company over here?” you asked, a slight quiver to your voice. it was obvious you didn’t want him to think you were weak, but you couldn’t help the fact that you had been spooked. 

“...sure.” scooting over to the partition, jyugo leaned his back against the bars, his head slightly turning to face you. as he got a closer look, he noticed that your eyes were a bit bloodshot and that you had some slight under eye bags. it seemed like you hadn’t been getting a good sleep lately. 

suddenly feeling a warmth in his hand, he looked down to see that you had clasped onto his hand with yours. the warmth from your hand seemed to travel throughout his whole body, making his once cold body warm. 

“goodnight, jyugo.” he kinda liked the way you said his name. 

“yeah, ‘night…” 

“do you know how to waltz?” 

“uh, no…” 

“haha, it’s fine; i don’t know either. i always kinda wanted to learn though, you know?” you suddenly got a whole lot closer to him, making him want to take a step back. he doesn’t though; he just swallows a bit and tries to act calm. 

“why do you wanna learn?” 

“‘cause i think it would be nice if we could dance to a waltz one day…i don’t know, it just sounds very lovely.” you sighed, a small smile on your lips. “can i slow dance with you?” 

“what- uh- i mean…i don’t know how to…” the question took jyugo by surprise; is that what you were intending to do? 

“it’s okay silly, you just sway back and forth!” you took his moment of silence as a ‘yes’, wrapping your arms around his neck and leaning in close to him. 

jyugo froze, unsure of what to do and where to place his hands. all he knew was that you were close, so close, and it was messing him up a bit. what was he supposed to do again? 

shakily, he put his hands near your hips, his fingers hovering over your figure and just barely touching you. although he was still very stiff, he started to move the same way you were. even though the two of you were getting soaked by the rain, the warmth of your body against his was making his whole body warm. he hoped you couldn’t hear the way his heart was beating right now. 

“jyugo?” 

“uh, y-yeah?” 

“...” 

“...(y/n)?” 

“i like you.” for a second time, jyugo froze up, his limbs going stiff at your words. “i really like you. i’ve been so scared to ruin our friendship, but i felt like if i didn’t tell you now i never would, and i had to tell you or else i would explode from just wanting to tell you. i don’t know.” you buried your face further into his chest, taking his silence as a not good sign. “i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said anything. this was a mistake, so please just forget it happened.” 

it was only when you started to think it was a mistake that jyugo finally unfroze. 

“wait, no, i’m sorry. i was just…i just…i didn’t know what to say. it…it’s not a mistake. you’re too good for me though; if you stay with me, there won’t be good things for you.” at his words, you suddenly looked up angrily, seeing the pained look on his face as he looked away. 

“jyugo, can you shut up about that and just tell me if you like me back? i want to be by your side forever, even if that means that there will be bad things.” 

“but, (y/n)-”

“do you like me too?” 

“...yes.” in an instant, the smile that always made his heart skip a beat was back on your face. 

“see, it wasn’t that hard!” you leaned up, pressing your lips against his cheek, wet from the rain. “just let me be by your side. that’s all i ask.” 

jyugo’s heart almost exploded.