Chapter Text
Kazuha never expected to find himself standing at the airport alone with nothing but a backpack he hastily packed no more than three hours ago, but there he was: alone and with very little to his name. It was a shock to Kazuha who had been fully running on auto-pilot for the said past three hours, leaving everything behind to start anew.
Was his plan reckless and abrupt and not planned out in the slightest? Yes. Yes it very much was, but that's what made it so thrilling. All his life he had been tied down in one way or another, and now he had a reason to cut all of the strings keeping him in place, so why wouldn't he take it and just run away?
Kazuha craved the spontaneity that his life lacked up until that point. Everything had been meticulously planned from the moment he was born, so the slightest crack in that perfect facade was all he needed. And what a magnificently large crack he managed to find.
Just one knock and everything crumbled down to the ground in a wonderful spectacle - his family name, its legacy, his relationship and his future all fell down in one swoop, and Kazuha couldn't have been any happier about it.
Kazuha packed a decently sized backpack with some clothes, a notebook, a few pens, his favourite book, a charger and all his savings before he rushed out the front door and made a beeline to the airport. Did he know where he was going to go? No. But that didn't really matter - Kazuha was going to be spontaneous.
Which is exactly why he bought a last minute ticket to a plane going heavens know where.
The flight lasted less than two hours, and when Kazuha arrived he was shocked at how barren the place was. The airport was small and rather unkempt; there was plenty of dirt and dust bunnies and the floor was uncomfortably sticky against the soles of Kazuha’s shoes.
It was perfect.
What shouts spontaneous more than a decrepit airport in bumfuck nowhere? Exactly.
Kazuha slung his backpack over his shoulder, a pleased smile written across his face. He walked further into the airport, heading over to the small information stand tucked away to the side, a small convenience store next to it.
Behind the counter sat a woman filing her nails, disinterested in the world around her. She didn't look up at Kazuha when he came towards the booth. She didn't glance his way when he picked up one of the pamphlets about the wonderful city - if it even was a city - he landed in (judging by the pamphlet, it really was the middle of nowhere).
When Kazuha went to ask if there was a car hire anywhere, the woman still didn't acknowledge his presence. Even when he cleared his throat as politely as he could there was nothing.
Though, when Kazuha warily rang the small bell on the counter, the woman did finally look up.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked, her voice tired and low.
"Yes… can I rent a car?"
The woman stared at Kazuha, blinking slowly. "A car?"
Kazuha nodded.
The woman scoffed, looking around her surroundings as if to make a point. "Sweetie, where do you think you are?"
"Umm… where am I?"
At that, the woman laughed. "Nice one, kiddo. But there's no cars to rent here. You can wait for the next bus. It should be here in an hour. Or two. Or three. Who knows these days?"
Kazuha wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means this airport is only ever used to change flights. Nobody ever comes here for more than a night," the lady explained. "There's a hotel a ten minute walk from here if you don't fancy waiting for the bus."
"Right… thanks."
The woman nodded and returned to her previous task, picking up her nail file from the desk.
"Great," Kazuha muttered to himself as he stepped back. "What the hell did I get myself into?" He glanced down at the pamphlet in his grasp, wondering what he could possibly find in Tatarasuna. The name alone didn't ring any bells so this truly would be a surprise.
Sure, Kazuha could easily buy a ticket for the next departing flight, but that felt like cheating. Kazuha craved to feel something other than comfort for once in his life, and being stranded in a completely unknown land was far from comfortable.
And so, Kazuha went to the small shop next to the information booth, bought himself some food and water and walked out of the building. The outside was quite barren but it was easy enough to make his way around; the signs scattered around were clear enough so he followed them, making his way to the aforementioned hotel.
The walk wasn't that long and soon enough Kazuha reached a quaint hotel surrounded by a dozen or so trees. They definitely added to the charm, making the building look like it belonged in a fantasy novel.
The car park to the side of the hotel only had a handful of cars, one of them catching Kazuha’s eyes the most. It was a refurbished convertible, the register plate on the front indicating it was far from new - though that much could be guessed easily enough from the outdated yet still pleasing appearance.
Kazuha walked inside the hotel, pushing the heavy wooden doors open. The entrance was far from lavish; other than the main desk right ahead and the staircase behind, there were only a few pictures hung up on the cream walls. Well, there was also another person bar Kazuha and the receptionist.
The other guest - purple haired and roughly the same height as Kazuha - stood with his arms folded as the man behind the front desk rummaged around until he found a set of keys and handed them to the guest.
"Enjoy your stay," the man said with the feigned politeness of a service worker. He was rewarded with silence from the guest who only grabbed his keys, picked up the small backpack he had and walked off. "Wouldn’t kill you to at least smile," the receptionist muttered before turning to Kazuha. "How can I help?"
"I'd like a room for one. One night."
The receptionist hummed, reaching for another pair of keys to hand over. He asked for the payment first so Kazuha reached for his wallet, tapping his card against the reader. It would probably be wise to withdraw some cash lest his family track him and haul him back to whatever mess he left behind.
"Is there an ATM nearby?"
"There's one at the airport, though there's a withdrawal limit."
Kazuha hummed as he grabbed his keys. "As for the area, is there anything around? A city? Somewhere to go sightsee?"
Just like the woman back at the airport, the receptionist laughed. "Did you come here to sightsee? There's nothing here other than the remnants of an old mine. You're better off going to the airport to catch another plane unless you've got a car with you - the nearest town is an hour's drive away."
"Oh… but I'm guessing there's no car rentals."
The receptionist laughed once more. "I'm afraid not. You could try and hitch a ride from one of the few guests. Majority are visiting family so they could drive you down to the town," he explained. "Unless you're lucky enough to catch a ride from the man before. He did briefly mention he was driving cross country."
Upon hearing that, Kazuha’s eyes lit up. "I'll try my luck."
The receptionist nodded. "Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
Kazuha walked up the staircase, looking for the room that matched the number attached to his keys. He walked further down the corridor at the top of the stairs until he reached the room at the end.
When he stepped inside the room he was greeted by a small room with a made bed, a bedside table, a desk with a chair tucked under, and a door to the bathroom. For the price he paid he wasn't expecting a five star luxury hotel room, so this would do.
Kazuha closed the door behind him and threw his bag on the desk. He then walked to the bed, slumping down on the bed. The mattress wasn't all that great and he could feel a few springs digging into his back, but oh well. His body was sore from the day behind him; after being tossed around in the uncomfortable aeroplane seats, Kazuha was aching everywhere so even a shitty mattress was good enough for him.
He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Had it really only been a few hours? It didn’t feel like it with how blurry everything was. One second he was at home, watching as his family slowly fell apart at the seams, and the next he was landing down at some dilapidated airport in a place he had never even heard of.
Had his family noticed that Kazuha had run off - that he packed a bag with the intention of not coming back (at least not for the foreseeable future)? And what would they do once they noticed? They could track his transactions if they wanted to, but what then? Realistically, could they force Kazuha to come back? If presented with the option, Kazuha wouldn’t want to go back - he didn’t intend on patching up all the problems he had nothing to do with.
Curious, Kazuha dug through the pocket of his jacket to get his phone. He had it turned off since he got to the airport back home, so he had no idea what awaited him when he powered it back on.
A minute passed before the screen lit up.
Messages began pouring in, his phone buzzing with notifications. Texts came piling in - everyone from back home was trying to reach him, not just his family. Kazuha felt rather guilty for leaving his friends behind without saying anything, but he didn’t have the time to give them all a farewell. Still, a text would have been good enough for now.
Of course, there were many messages from his family. His mother veiled her pleas for Kazuha to come back with concern whilst his father outright told him to return, threatening him in whatever way he could. Those threats landed pretty flat though; being cut off from the family wealth meant nothing when said family wealth was slowly going down the drain.
Kazuha locked his phone again, too tired to read through all of the texts he received. Instead, he decided to go wash up and call it a day.
After all, he wanted to get up nice and early to grab himself a ride across the country.
***
Kazuha couldn’t sleep, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing since it meant he was up and about early enough to catch the other guests as they woke up and left their rooms, his eyes looking out for a mop of violet hair he saw the day prior. A curse because he was tired and running purely on the cheap instant coffee from the machine tucked away in the small dining hall on the ground floor of the hotel.
There were still ten minutes before breakfast would officially start judging from the plaque hung up above the counter leading to the kitchen. It was surprising that there would even be breakfast - Kazuha just assumed that there'd be a vending machine or something along those lines.
Slowly, the dining room was filling up with what looked to be the majority of the guests. There weren't many but at least Kazuha wouldn't be eating alone, so that was always nice.
Kazuha sipped on his coffee - cheap and watery but decent enough to keep his eyes pried open. He kept glancing over to the entrance to the room, waiting to spot the man who could be his ticket away from here. Kazuha didn't want to go back on the plane so easily. Plus, it would be nice to have a travel companion, even if for a few hours.
When the man in question stepped inside, Kazuha perked up. His gaze followed the man: his face was partially covered by a black baseball cap but Kazuha could tell it was him instantly. He was dressed casually - black t-shirt and grey sweatpants - but the bag slung over his shoulder made it clear he wasn't planning on lounging around for long.
Kazuha would have to strike fast.
The man walked over to the coffee machine and tossed a few coins inside, body weight resting on one leg as he waited. Kazuha eyed him, not trying to be subtle in the slightest. After all, he was trying to get his attention.
And it worked.
"Can I help you?" The man asked, voice tinged with annoyance.
"Yes, actually," Kazuha replied, idly playing with the cup in his hold. "I heard you're driving across the country."
"And?"
" And I was wondering if you could let me join," Kazuha explained. The man by the coffee machine didn't look pleased, but before he could say anything, Kazuha continued. "I don't have anywhere in mind. You can drop me off anywhere as long as it's not in the middle of nowhere."
Still, the man wasn't happy.
"I'll pay you," Kazuha added. "Just name your price."
At that, the man raised his brow, carefully scanning Kazuha. After a while, he scoffed. "Sure," he said. "You have until I'm done with my coffee to get ready. I'll leave without you if you're not here by then."
Kazuha beamed. "Roger that!"
***
The man - Scaramouche, as Kazuha had learned after chasing after the man constantly yelling ‘hey you, stop’ until said man turned around and retorted with ‘it’s not hey you but Scaramouche!’ - downed his coffee like it was water which made things a bit tough for Kazuha. Luckily, Kazuha had always been a good runner so he caught up with Scaramouche at the parking lot before he even had the chance to open the door to his car.
“You tried to run away,” Kazuha accused, leaning against the car as he steadied his breathing. It was the convertible that caught Kazuha’s eyes before. For one, it looked cool, but the idea of driving across the country in it didn’t seem like the best plan. But who was he to judge?
“I didn’t,” Scaramouche replied. “I told you I was leaving after my coffee.”
“Nobody drinks coffee that fast!”
“Well I do. So are you coming or not?”
“I am, geez.” Kazuha opened the passenger side door and slipped inside, quickly throwing his bag to the backseat. “What’s the hurry anyway?”
“Do you think I want to stay here any longer?” Scaramouche asked, offering Kazuha a baffled look.
“Well… no, I guess,” Kazuha replied. He himself wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being stuck there for much longer. “But you didn’t even have breakfast. Neither did I!”
Scaramouche shrugged. “Coffee’s enough.”
“That is a big fat lie, but I’ll let it slide since I have snacks.”
Scaramouche looked at Kazuha, a warning look in his eyes. “You do not eat in the car. You got it?”
Kazuha tch -ed, folding his arms over his chest. “Fine. But if I get hungry I’ll complain.”
“Bold words coming from someone I could easily toss out of the car.”
At that, Kazuha laughed. “I have to warn you: I put up a mean fight,” he stated, shooting a playful grin Scaramouche’s way. “Now let’s go.”
Scaramouche sighed, turning the engine on.
***
Scaramouche didn’t talk during the drive. He kept his eyes on the road and kept the music coming from the radio low, slapping Kazuha’s hand away whenever he tried to turn the volume up. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was rather boring.
The sights from the window were pretty, but there wasn’t much to look at. Still, it was either looking out the window or looking at his phone. He was bound to see more messages or stumble upon news surrounding his family, and he didn’t want any of that. Kazuha decided to just enjoy the low hum of music and the sound of wheels against the road.
He never had much of a chance to observe landscapes like this, mainly ever taking planes where the only views were clouds, clouds and even more clouds. It was hypnotising and Kazuha didn't notice just how much time had elapsed with him doing nothing other than staring out the window.
The time displayed on the digital radio had already changed by two hours when it only felt like a handful of minutes. He didn't expect a drive like this to be so pleasant .
Scaramouche looked the same as he did the last time Kazuha checked: both hands on the wheel (other than when he put a hand over his shoulder and rolled it) and eyes focused on the straight road ahead. His window was opened ever so slightly, relying mainly on the air-con to keep the interior cool since the road was covered in too much gravel to let down the windows and roof unless they wanted to suffer with the rising dirt in the air.
Hopefully the road would improve soon.
"Where are you off to anyway?" Kazuha asked, feeling like a few hours of silence were enough and it was fine to finally talk.
"To the other side of the country," Scaramouche replied simply.
"Any place in particular?"
Scaramouche shrugged. "Serai, I guess."
Kazuha hummed. That was rather far from home, and though he had gone further - even abroad - he had never been so far from home by himself. It was terrifying and simultaneously exciting.
"I've never been," Kazuha admitted. Though he could, he didn't travel that much. Most of the time he only went where his parents wanted to go, and if not then he went abroad a few times with his boyfriend. But he never really explored his home land that much.
"There's not much to see anyway," Scaramouche admitted. "The biggest tourist attraction is an old shrine overrun by cats."
"That sounds amazing."
"It's not as exciting as it sounds."
"I beg to differ."
Scaramouche rolled his eyes.
"Are you going there for any reason?"
"None of your business," the driver replied, coming off somewhat hostile. Kazuha figured that that was a secret Scaramouche wasn't willing to share. Kazuha was no more than a stranger to the man so it made sense, though Scaramouche’s tone was rather harsh and it did make Kazuha flinch.
"Sorry, didn't mean to pry," Kazuha apologised.
The frown on Scaramouche’s face slowly dissipated.
"Are you curious where I'm off to?" Kazuha asked, perking up and leaning slightly towards Scaramouche.
"Can't say I am," Scaramouche admitted. "But I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway."
"Bingo!" Kazuha exclaimed, humoured by Scaramouche’s attitude. He was so grouchy when he spoke and it awoke a deeply buried urge within Kazuha to annoy.
Scaramouche sighed, mumbling "I should have left without him" under his breath.
Kazuha chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "I'm on the run," he declared.
That made Scaramouche raise a brow. "Like a criminal?"
"And what if I was? Huh?"
Scaramouche scrutinised Kazuha’s appearance, taking a couple of seconds before he shook his head and turned back to the road. "Yeah, that's unlikely."
Technically, Kazuha was kind of a criminal by association. Sure, he didn't meddle with his family's business and whatever shady things they got into, but he was still part of the family. At least finance related crimes were less concerning than murder.
"But what, did you get mad at your parents? Did they not get you a yacht for your birthday?"
"How'd you know?" Kazuha replied, but behind his joking demeanour was a hint of genuine curiosity.
Scaramouche readjusted his grip on the wheel, glancing at Kazuha from the corner of his eyes. "You look like the type of person that would go to a private school - those for the richest of the rich."
"I do?"
"You're wearing a sweater vest and colourful shorts," Scaramouche pointed out. "You're like a walking, talking stereotype."
Kazuha snorted. "And here I was thinking I was being fashionable. I guess I'll need to take styling tips from you then, Mr t-shirt and sweats."
Scaramouche gripped the steering wheel tighter. "You wanna insult me again? I'm happy to just throw you out here."
Kazuha raised his hands in defeat, dropping the topic.
There was a short minute of silence between them before Kazuha decided to strike up another conversation.
"Are you gonna go sightseeing?"
"No."
"Seriously? But you're going all the way across the country, there's so many things you could see," Kazuha said. "You're not in a rush, are you?"
Scaramouche clenched his jaw. "No," he replied. "But it's a waste of time. And why are you asking anyway, you're being dropped off in the first town."
Speaking of the nearest town. "Wasn't that only supposed to be an hour's drive away from the hotel?"
"That's a different direction," Scaramouche explained. "But we're nearly at the closest one. Should be another ten minutes."
Kazuha huffed, leaning against the window.
Hopefully the town would have a car rental or decent public transport.
And just like Scaramouche said, after ten more minutes they reached a small town. There was a marketplace and a few shops in the centre that they drove past, so it wasn't a completely abandoned place.
Scaramouche drove over to the gas station where he told Kazuha they'd part ways. He also asked for the fare from Kazuha so the man got his wallet ready, walking over to the ATM with Scaramouche trailing behind him.
He typed in his pin and checked his balance. Thankfully his account had been left untouched and all the money he had in it at the start of his journey was still there minus whatever he had spent so far.
"Fucking hell," Scaramouche uttered, his head peeking over Kazuha’s shoulder to check the number displayed on the screen. "I should have added another zero."
Kazuha laughed, pressing the buttons to type in the sum to withdraw. Once that was done, he handed the money over. "Thanks for the ride," he said.
"Yeah, whatever."
Whilst Scaramouche went to fill up the tank, Kazuha stepped into the shop. He grabbed himself a sandwich, only to leave it when he saw there were freshly toasted paninis he could grab instead. He got those, a bottle of water and a fruit cup. Other than that he also bought a few toiletries since he didn’t bring much with him.
When he went to pay he asked the cashier about any buses or rentals around. He was happy to learn that there was a bus that went to a nearby train station every hour. so he could easily continue with his journey that he was being left here by Scaramouche.
Kazuha walked out of the shop with his food in a small bag, happily munching on his panini. Scaramouche was standing by the pump, looking like he was trying to pay with his card. The key word being trying .
For some reason he was having problems so Kazuha approached him. “You okay?”
When he asked, a message appeared on the small display screen.
Card Declined.
“Maybe the chip is dirty,” Kazuha suggested, biting down on his panini and reaching for Scaramouche’s card. The purple haired man complained but let him have it anyway. And so, Kazuha rubbed the chip in between his fingers and then handed it back to Scaramouche to try again.
The same thing happened.
“Maybe you should check how much you have on there,” Kazuha suggested, earning himself a displeased scowl from Scaramouche. Still, the man dragged himself to the ATM and angrily pressed his pin.
Kazuha observed from the side-lines, waving at Scaramouche when the man looked over his shoulder at him. He didn’t look all too pleased, his eyes twitching as his expression turned sour, then contemplative and then sour again. In the end, Scaramouche sighed and walked back towards his car.
“Do you want a ride?” Scaramouche asked, not sounding all that happy about it.
Kazuha grinned. “Same price?”
Scaramouche nodded, avoiding Kazuha’s eyes.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a deal then,” Kazuha happily exclaimed. “Now go pay - and maybe get yourself something to eat. Maybe it’ll make you less grouchy.”
Scaramouche looked like he wanted to retort with something - maybe threaten him about leaving him there - but then he stopped himself. After all, Kazuha had become his piggy bank and it would do him no good to shoo him away.
“I’ll wait here,” Kazuha said, ready to step in the car only for Scaramouche to stop him.
“No eating in the car!”
Kazuha cringed, retracting his hand from the door handle. “Loud and clear.”
Scaramouche then stomped to the shop to pay at the till, and when he did that, Kazuha grinned and resumed eating his food.
Looks like he successfully secured himself a ride.
***
“It says that there’s a place to stop soon,” Kazuha stated, eyes carefully reading the map Scaramouche tossed his way.
Though Scaramouche didn’t have a plan as to where he was really going, he still needed sleep so he made it Kazuha’s job to find them one. It was a task Kazuha happily accepted even though his ability to read a map was sub-par. Sure, he could read a map on his phone since it moved along with him, but a traditional paper map was a completely different thing and it took time for him to get used to it.
“Soon? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Umm… well it’s… if I had a ruler this would be much easier,” Kazuha replied, using his finger to measure the two points on the map but that wasn’t much help.
“Just eyeball it!”
Kazuha whined. “I’m not good at maths.”
“It’s a fucking map, not rocket science!”
“Well I’m not good with reading maps so- oh! It’s there!” Kazuha pointed at the building appearing on the driver’s side, his hand right in front of Scaramouche’s face. The driver swatted it away, grumbling at Kazuha’s behaviour.
“You’re gonna make us crash.”
“I doubt that,” Kazuha replied. “But you see? I told you it would show up soon.”
“Dumb luck,” the driver muttered. He switched lanes to drive to the roadside motel.
It was already getting late with the sky painted in beautiful sunset colours: bright pinks, vivid oranges and some blue peeking from behind the clouds. Since it was summer the days were longer, but it was for the best to call it a night because the next stop on the map wasn’t soon.
Scaramouche pulled into the parking lot and switched the engine off, getting out quickly. Kazuha followed suit, grabbing his bag before he left the vehicle.
“I’m guessing I’m paying for the rooms?”
“I doubt it will be much,” Scaramouche stated. “I should have enough.”
The two walked to the reception, not saying anything as they did so. Kazuha hadn’t asked about why on earth Scaramouche - someone who was driving across the country - didn’t have money on him, but Scaramouche told him anyway. His card getting declined must have been a huge blow to his ego so he had to defend himself to Kazuha, saying that his paycheck was late and that he wasn’t in fact broke.
But truth be told, Kazuha didn’t mind paying; he had plenty of money - more than he knew what to do with, so paying for gas and accommodation for the next few days wouldn’t have done him much harm anyway.
“Evening gentlemen,” the receptionist greeted, offering the two men a friendly smile. “What can I get you today?”
“Two rooms,” Scaramouche replied, placing his bag on the ground.
“We only have two double rooms left,” she stated, pointing over at the price list hanging up on the wall.
Scaramouche chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Then one room,” he said.
Kazuha could tell that the man’s ego would shatter if he had to ask him to pay for the rooms. Scaramouche wanted to save some dignity and who was Kazuha to say anything about it? In the end, whether they got separate rooms or shared didn’t matter much to him.
Scaramouche placed some of the notes Kazuha gave him earlier that day and in exchange he received a key from the receptionist.
The men left to get to their room, finding it close enough to where their car was parked.
On the inside the room wasn’t anything to write home about; the walls were beige, the floors carpeted with a worn out dark red matting that Kazuha wouldn’t dare walk barefoot on, and other than two beds, a small dresser with an old T.V on top and two bedside tables there was nothing else.
At least there was a private bathroom and not a shared one for everyone at the motel. Small victories.
“Cosy,” Kazuha mused, claiming the bed by the window as his when he tossed his backpack on it. He sat down on the edge of the bed, bouncing up and down to check the mattress. It seemed better than the one back at the airport hotel, so that was a nice surprise. Maybe he could actually get some decent sleep now.
“I’ve definitely seen worse,” Scaramouche commented. He also placed his bag on the other bed and unzipped it, pulling out a few clothes and toiletries.
Kazuha shuffled back on his bed, making himself comfortable. It definitely beat sitting in a worn leather seat for hours.
“You think they have any good channels?” He asked, looking over at Scaramouche for a response.
However, the man didn’t say anything, simply slipping out of his shirt and tossing it on the bed. Scaramouche gave the fabric a quick whiff, scrunching his nose afterwards. “We need to stop at a laundromat soon.”
“Agreed,” Kazuha said. He himself didn’t bring many clothes with him and the summer heat wasn’t all that forgiving, so he could really do with giving his clothes a wash. “You think they have one here?”
“Doubt it. Oh well, I’m gonna take a shower,” Scaramouche declared. He rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his head, his eyes closed and brows furrowed. Kazuha could relate to that; there was so long one could spend sitting down without the body starting to ache.
When Scaramouche left, Kazuha got up from the bed to turn on the T.V. He flipped through the five available channels, in the end settling on a nature documentary. He moved back to the bed and watched from there, enjoying the narration on the lives of penguins.
As the narrator told the life story of a young penguin, Scaramouche returned from the bathroom. He was already dressed in a fresh set of clothes and a towel was slung around his neck to collect stray drops of water from his damp hair.
“The water pressure is shit,” Scaramouche commented, throwing himself face first on his bed. “Also kinda cold. And I’m pretty sure I saw a cockroach.”
“Lovely,” Kazuha mused, pushing himself from the bed. “I love having company when I wash up. I’ll give it a show.”
Scaramouche grunted, hugging the pillow beneath him. He looked exhausted and Kazuha wouldn’t be surprised if he came back to the man sound asleep.
“I’ll get going then,” he said, picking up his own things before heading into the bathroom.
The room was small, barely fitting all of the appliances. The sink and toilet were squished together and the bath-slash-shower was tiny. There was no way an adult could lay down in the bath and feel anything other than discomfort, but that was probably for the best.
Kazuha quickly slipped out of his clothes and got under the showerhead. Just like Scaramouche said, the water pressure and temperature was off but it was fine enough. He didn’t spend longer than five minutes under the weak spray, scrubbing himself clean with the products he bought earlier at the gas station. The fresh, citrusy smell of the two-in-one wash made him feel better instantly and the face scrub he got had his skin feeling rejuvenated.
After the shower he dried himself, got dressed and then brushed his teeth.
Once all of that was done, Kazuha left the bathroom and headed back to the bed. Just like he had predicted, Scaramouche was fast asleep. His face was smushed against a pillow and the position looked like it would leave his body sore in the morning, but it was quite cute nevertheless.
Kazuha grabbed the T.V remote and turned the volume down a bit to not disturb the sleeping man.
In the end, Kazuha retired for the night twenty minutes later, exhausted despite barely having done anything.