dreaming in blue | niragi x oc

Usually Yamato spends his nights with Kuina. It's what they do, it's how they work. Kuina charms the men and Yamato charms the women or they trade off for specific cases and, by the end of the night, they have quite the amount of information to lay out between them and figure out what's useless gossip and what's worth telling Chishiya. They've become quite close, he supposes drinking and partying together will do that.

So, when he spends the night holed away into a quiet corner away from the party, he guesses he shouldn't be surprised that she comes to find him. He's denting an empty beer can with his thumb when she drops onto the couch beside him. She brushes her ponytail back, resets the unlit cigarette over her ear and then cracks open her can. Yamato says nothing, not even a greeting, too caught up in his own thoughts.

After taking a sip, she sets the can down on the table in front of them, then bumps her knee into his. He finally turns his gaze towards her, sighing and setting the partly-crumpled can down on the coffee table.

"Okay, you've been pouting all night, what's the problem?" Kuina says.

"I'm not pouting," he mumbles, thumbing at the points of his knuckles.

"You are," she insists, "Is this about Chishiya kissing Maki?"

Yamato's mouth twists, his gaze flicking away.

"You're jealous," Kuina teases.

"No." Yamato frowns. "Maybe. So what?"

Kuina cackles a laugh.

"Wasn't it your idea for Chishiya to get close to her?"

Yamato's frown deepens. He jams the toe of his shoe against the carpet.

"Well I didn't think he'd kiss her," he grumbles.

"Haven't you been flirting around every night?"

Yamato's mouth presses in a line, "Just to get information out of people - for Chishiya - and I haven't been hooking up with any of them."

Kuina laughs again, "It was just a kiss!" She shakes her head, "Why don't you just tell him you're into him? Geez, wasting all this time wimping out instead of going for what you want, as if we couldn't be dead in the next game that we roll into."

Still frowning, Yamato huffs, turning his eyes away to movement across the room. Aguni is storming his way through, situating himself by what was once probably the check-in desk. His face is more tense and stern than usual. He's an intimidating force, one that Yamato likes to stay out of the way of. His bulk is evidence of a trained, tactical body, one that can dole out and take hits, far different than Yamato's own gym-maintained figure.

"What's his issue?" Yamato says, nodding towards the militant leader.

"You didn't hear? Maki and Niragi aren't back yet," Kuina answers, plucking up her can and taking a drink. "He's real protective of her. Chishiya should be hoping Aguni doesn't find out about that kiss, bet he packs more of a punch than Niragi does."

A confusing set of emotions twists in Yamato's chest: pleased that Maki might be out of the way, then guilt for feeling that way, then wondering why he should feel guilty over somebody he doesn't even really know and is already working against.

His gaze flicks across to Aguni, trying to get a read on him. He's clearly masking worry, trying to hide it from the people around. His whole energy is overbearing, an oppressing weight across the entirety of the ground floor and the boarders. Yamato's eyes flick, watching how other boarders glance warily towards Aguni.

"People really are scared of that guy, huh?" Yamato muses.

"Well, duh," Kuina says with a snort, "All the militants are totally nuts. Really, we'd better hope that Maki does come back. Aguni will probably lose his mind if she doesn't, probably do who knows what if she's actually died out there." Pausing to sip her drink, she hums, "Hell, this place will probably go up in flames."