if this lasts forever, i'll be just fine
↪ ship: you're my home / mikuni
↪ content: 1.5k words. actually like nauseatingly soft. technically this references something i still haven't finished, but also not really. no canon references, but takes place in between manga events because i deserve to be happy with him, actually.
happy birthday, cowboy. you still have my whole heart. 💛
with practiced ease, slender fingers slid gently through the strands of her hair.
"are you sure i'm going to look good like this?"
"of course i am. you always look good, koda-chan."
despite the way her heart skipped a small beat — or maybe in spite of it — her eyebrows furrowed at the compliment; drew together and narrowed her eyes as flecks of disbelief took to the color of her irises. her lips parted, a deflection — a no, i don't caked in thinly-veiled embarrassment — forming on the tip of her tongue only to die just before she got a chance to voice it as she glanced sideways, her gaze being met with his still fixated downward — on his hands; on her curls; on the way he was softly weaving them together. something about it — the way his eyes had gone half-lidded; the peaceful, ghost of a smile that lingered around the edges of his mouth; the shadow that his bangs cast over his face — made her stop short; made her mouth softly close again.
made her heart skip another annoying beat.
"there." after twisting a hair tie around the bottom of the braid he had made, mikuni pulled his hands from her hair, his gaze lifting up to meet hers with a smile that sent a wave of warmth cascading over koda's face. "all done~ you can go look now."
koda let her eyes linger wordlessly on his for another moment before breaking away from them, the heat pooling under her skin steadily getting warmer; getting more frustrating. a small, "…alright," came mumbled past her lips, her legs gently unfolding from underneath her and moving to dangle off the side of the bed.
sliding to the floor, her feet sunk into the soft carpet of their bedroom, just narrowly avoiding a shoe she'd haphazardly left there the night before and one of his boots he'd dropped next to it. nudging them gently to the side, koda made her way from the bedside to the adjoining bathroom in a few short steps, absentmindedly flipping on the light switch as she crossed over the threshold. against the sudden, harsh light, she squinted; and when her eyes adjusted and her vision cleared, she found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror.
on either side of her head, two braids hung, framing her face and brushing against the tops of her shoulders. a twinge of disconnect formed in the back of her mind; lingered as she shook her head gently side-to-side, green eyes watching the braids swing softly back and forth in tandem with the movement. strange, echoed somewhere in her thoughts — even if only slightly, seeing her hair styled differently — seeing it styled at all — was so… strange.
she didn't dislike it, though.
movement in the mirror tore koda's attention from herself; behind her, she watched mikuni stand up off the bed, his figure steadily growing closer until his chest was all but touching her back; until he could wrap his arms loosely around her shoulders and nestle his chin into a comfortable spot on the top of her head. a soft, content hum met her ears when she didn't pull away; and when she leaned backward against him, a happy smile broke out across his face again.
"see? i told you you'd look cute~"
the heat that had been softly burning under her skin suddenly flared up; turned her face bright red and forced her gaze sideways again. her heart skipped that same, irritating beat again — it always seemed to, no matter how many times she'd heard similar words fall from his lips — and with it came a short huff of air through her nose. "…you're just saying that."
the reaction she expected never came — there was no overexaggerated response; no feigned gasp of indignation; no i would never lie to my little koda-chan like some kind of monster! instead, all mikuni did was let out a low exhale against the top of her head, his nose burying itself into her hair. "i'm not," he murmured, his voice soft and muffled as it hit her ears. just barely, his arms tightened around her. "you're always so cute, koda."
whatever denial she may have still had — whatever flustered sh-shut up or disbelieving i-i'm not, though still sat heavy on the tip of her tongue — went unsaid; smothered by the warmth seeping from his body onto hers; by the comforting weight of his arms resting on the line of her shoulders; by the gentle kiss he pressed onto her head.
when her heart jumped this time, she let it.
despite the habitual way her lips pressed together — despite the way her bright red cheeks puffed out in a small pout; despite the way her eyes darted to the side once more — a short, "…f-fine," forced itself out of her mouth and into the air surrounding them. if only for right now, she would accept it without her usual fight; would allow the compliment to nestle itself into heart.
if only because he was the one saying it to her, she would allow herself to believe it just this once.
in the mirror, through the corners of her vision, koda watched her eyes flicker back and forth — from her face to his; to the way his eyes had slipped peacefully shut as he held her; to the hint of a smile he wore amidst her curls. as she looked at him — as her gaze traced over his frustratingly pretty features — one of her hands reached up to absentmindedly toy with one of the braids he'd weaved into her hair; and when the diamond on her finger glinted in the artificial light, her eyes flickered to it, too.
"…mikuni?"
"hm?"
i love you.
the sudden thought made her heart momentarily stop; sent an almost nauseating swarm of butterflies to the pit of her stomach. hotter still, her face burned — turned so red she wouldn't have been surprised to see it simply catch fire. blinking rapidly, koda looked away again — away from the mirror and his eyes and the way they had opened just enough for her to see the color in them. "…n-nothing."
against the top of her head, she felt him smile, another soft hum leaving the back of his throat and hitting her ears. wordlessly, mikuni took one of his arms from where it rested around her shoulders — and before koda got the chance to question it, his hand nudged itself easily into hers. his fingers slid gently between her own; curled loosely around them as he lifted her hand up to his face to press a feather-light kiss against the ring she wore.
"i love you, too, koda."
all at once, the flustered embarrassment she had been barely holding back crashed over her in waves; flooded her veins and filled her with the sudden and intense urge to hide her face. "i-i didn't—" through the now-racing beat of her heart, she stuttered out the words, eyebrows knitting together in a futile attempt to glare at him in the mirror. "h-how did you—"
"i guessed~" the familiar teasing tone slipped into his voice, the sound of it only serving to make her heart beat faster and her stomach lurch harder. another kiss was left on her skin — lingered there; brought with it an airy sigh. "it's not hard to tell what you're thinking, though. you're my little koda-chan, remember?"
of course i do.
the half-hearted glare eased off her face; left koda's features softer in the wake of the question — of the affectionate nickname he'd long-since taken to calling her; of the deeper meaning of it, hidden just below the surface. "yeah." when she spoke, it came out as a whisper — anything louder was unnecessary. "i know."
after her words came silence — one beat of it, then two, marked by the feeling of his heart beating steadily against her back. mikuni's hand pulled itself from hers as his arm slid from her shoulders, both moving to wrap around her waist and turn her around in his grasp. when their eyes met — shy green to affectionate brown — he smiled at her — softly; lovingly; so lovingly that it made her chest grow tight; so lovingly that it was almost overwhelming.
so lovingly that she felt like she might drown in it.
inching her closer to his chest, mikuni leaned down to her height to press a kiss to her forehead, his smile lingering against her skin. "good," he murmured, pulling back just enough to lean his head gently against hers, the tip of his nose just barely touching her own. blond strands of hair fell lightly into the space between them; behind them, his eyes slipped half-shut, the softened look in them melting away whatever flimsy wall might have remained around koda's heart. "i'm yours, too."
and then he kissed her — again and again and again.
"always."
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