I inhaled pine and honey, wooded forests and fallen logs, damp earth and grounded leaves.

This was Haji's scent.

Haji was uncharted, yet he was familiar. He was everything.

I couldn't explain this anonymous, snug feeling. It overwhelmed the pores of my upper body with irreversible gooseflesh, my hairs standing on pleasurable ends. I could swear on every deity in existence that this offshore feeling... brought comfort that I hadn't known how to achieve on my own.

I challenged myself to slowly open an eye, and saw that the clouds had faded to hues of oranges and dark blues.

When my servant halted his steps in front of a quaint little building, I bunched my fingers around a small bundle of his white-collared shirt.

"This is where your brother lives," Haji's dry voice explained, clutching the side of my knee with the pads of his fingertips.

I was suddenly nervous. "My... brother? Is he inside there?"

"No, he is on an anniversary honeymoon with his wife, in Yomitan. He is Kai," Haji informed me.

Kai. Where had I heard that name?

"Kai." I repeated out loud, to which my servant nodded and confirmed.

I scanned the sign above the red-painted door. Omoro.

"O...moro?"

"Yes. Shall we go inside?" Haji questioned, looking down at me for permission, to which I shyly nodded. I gripped his shirt with more definite intentions as he began to take steps from the sidewalk and up to the door. He balanced me on one arm as he fetched a pink key from his pocket, then stuck it into the keyhole of the bronze-colored deadbolt. As he pushed it open with his leg, a soft chiming bell made its presence known. My neck craned to stare at the scuffed leather bar stools, dangling maroon ceiling lamps, and slated gray counter tops. This place did not seem completely foreign.

My brother lives... in a bar. I live in a bar.

Haji noticed my confusion. "The living space is above this bar area," he explained, his eyes searching and then landing on a wide set of wooden stairs. His quiet footfalls weaved us in between tables and stools, easing up the creaking steps until he had reached the top. He strode down a short hallway and into a medium-sized bathroom. Haji's fingers flipped a light switch on the wall, swiftly turning the dimness dial downward when I flinched.

"You haven't seen light for a very long while, your eyes will adjust with time," he said, moving to set me down on a padded brown chair in the corner. With widening eyes, I fisted his shirt once again and didn't release my hold.

He was leaving me?

Haji exhaled faintly, his body stilling as our eyes locked.

"I will return in a moment, Saya," he promised, offering a small smile before I slowly released my hold on him. My body settled flatly on the chair, and I watched in a daze as he walked out the bathroom door with pushed-up sleeves and steady steps. Sitting up like this, I realized just how achey my bones felt. It was as if my marrow was crying out for me to fall asleep again. The sounds of doors being opened and shut could be heard, and I patiently waited for Haji's return, pulling his black coat tighter around my body.

My eyes took in the pale yellow walls, medicine cupboard, and finally the gritted gray tiles.

"Saya," Haji called quietly from the doorway, startling me. He bowed in apology. "I did not mean to frighten you."

I didn't answer, studying the light pink towels in his hands.

"I thought you would like to take a warm bath," His statement caught me off guard. Again, I didn't answer him. He set the towels down on the corner of the sink, walked for a moment, and reached down to place the bath plug in the claw-foot tub. Turning the silver faucet, water began to rush out. He felt the temperature with his hand before adjusting it accordingly. I situated myself a little, feeling the universal ache once more.

He looked over his shoulder at me, hair falling into his eyes but being casually ignored. "You are quiet."

I stilled, then nodded my head hesitantly. "I... ache," my small voice told him. I looked at the floor nervously.

"Do you?" Haji questioned. I nodded again, and his eyes became... warm. "Then this will help," his hand motioned towards the tub, a few inches already filling up the bottom.

"Maybe it will," I answered, rubbing my calves together slowly. Haji's eyes lowered to notice my now frictioning legs. I froze nervously.

"I will leave you to undress," he stated politely, his line of vision moving back up towards my eyes.

"Alright."

He looked down, then stood up and left without looking at me again.

My fingers began to fumble with the buttons of the black jacket around me, shaking. Pangs of aches assaulted my shoulders, so I moved slowly. I had gotten just one button undone when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you... decent?" Haji's deep voice drifted through the thick wood of the door. I hesitated.

"Yes," I assured him, and the knob turned as he let himself in. There was a pink bath mitt in his hands. He took one look at me, then narrowed his eyes in concern.

"You have not moved."

My face burned. "I ache. I am taking my time undressing." The bare toes of my left foot rubbed the insole of my right one. Haji set the bath mitt on the edge of the tub, turned the water off, then knelt in front of me on one knee.

"May I?" His hands gestured towards the collar of his coat, which thanks to my incompetent fingers, was already undone. I'm sure my blood pressure spiked.

"N-no, I can do it... my-myself!" I stuttered out, turning my head the other way with embarrassment. Haji's eyes didn't waver.

"Saya, you are weak right now," he clutched at one of my hands with his own. "You should not exert yourself. Please allow me to help you."

My head did not move, but my eyes did. His face was determined.

"I am your servant," he added. "Let me serve you," his thumb rubbed back and forth on my slender wrist, just for a moment. The faucet was dripping into the bathwater, hitting the surface with soft pings.

Haji's hands began to unbutton his jacket from around me, sliding it off onto the back of the chair I was sitting on. My body felt much cooler outside of his coat, chilly air was on my back. His arms picked me up just like before, and walked me over to the bathtub, gingerly easing my achey, naked body down into the lukewarm water. I finally dared to look at him.

He was straining himself in order to keep his respectful eyes away from my chest. It made my lips curl upwards into a faint smile.

The water shaped itself around my small, bare frame. The tepid water sloshed deliciously as Haji settled my body against the bottom, gently put his hand behind my head, and rested my neck against the shorter curve of the tub. I moved my arms lazily to cover my chest.

Nervous, unrequited glances.

Haji did not meet my eyes a single time. Peculiarly, my threadbare body and limbs felt no shame. I simply watched him.

I watched him stand up and roll up his sleeves. I watched him slide a baby-pink bath mitt onto his bandaged hand. I watched him grab girly-looking soaps and I watched him dip his mitten-adorned hand into the bathwater and I watched him scrunch and lather bubbles onto it. I watched him start to serve me.

He did not speak. Nor did he hesitate to lift each of my legs out from the water, lather them with suds and tender hand movements, and submerge them back under. Perfumed lavender wafted just ever-so-noticeably past us both. His hand embarrassingly skimmed over the small patch of curls as he washed near the apex of my thighs. My cheeks heated, his did not.

Haji's hands moved on and upward, smoothing body wash on my midriff and navel. My abdominal muscles twitched when he reached my sides, accidentally tickling the sensitive skin there. I watched his mouth scarcely turn into an expression of amusement, but he continued without a word. I fought the urge to grin.

Very hesitantly, I removed my arms from in front of my chest. Bathwater trickled with every movement. My breasts laid bare, half under the water and half above it. With the pink bath mitt, Haji ghosted over them very briefly, assumedly out of chivalry. I was thankful, although I wouldn't voice such a thing.

"I am going to lean you forward now," his sudden yet soft voice told me, and I nodded shortly. Haji moved around to the short side of tub, just behind me. Just barely aching anymore, my back felt cold air when he pressed my upper half forward. I slowly clung my knees to my chest, sloshing the water around, as Haji got back to work. He cupped warm water in his hand and let it run down my back, over and over and over.

It might have been the most celestial sensation I had ever felt.

"Mm," I hummed, shutting my eyes. I could hear him exhale slowly as he continued to let the bathwater pour against my back for a while.

"And now for your hair," his hands pushed my shoulders up so that my back was straight. He got up to his feet to grab a large cup and two small, robin's-egg-blue bottles. Though his sleeves were pushed up, the very ends of them were saturated with bathwater. He paced back over to the side of the tub, rinsing the bath mitt of any traces of soap, before resting it on my forehead. He carefully guarded any water from cascading down my face as he dampened my hair, pouring a cup of the tepid water over my head. Popping open one of the bottles, he started to massage shampoo through my short tresses with one hand.

He was very gentle about it, as if he was afraid of touching me too brusquely. My stomach flipped pleasantly.

He covered my face with his hand again as he rinsed and repeated with conditioner this time, which smelled of something similar to sweet ambrosia. My hair clung to my head as the water flowed off of my head and onto the rest of my small dewy frame. He tucked one hand underneath and leaned closer when he lightly ran the bath mitt over my face.

When he was finished, he looked my body over once to see that there was no leftover soap, much to my humiliation, and then reached near my feet to pull the bathplug from its hole. The bathwater began to drain, and Haji stood to tug off the mitt and fetch the pink towels from earlier. He selected one and leaned down to rub it against my hair, bunching it and laying it over the side of the tub as he grabbed a larger one. His hands took hold of my underarms, pulling me up to a standing position as water dripped from my bottom and shoulders. He wrapped the pink towel around me, casually plucking me from inside the tub and onto the bathroom floor. I stood there in the towel bashfully before he once again picked me up.

"How do you feel?" He looked down at me in his arms.

"I feel... much better. Thank you." I shot him a small, tired smile. He politely nodded.

But I had a question for him.

"Haji?"

"Yes, Saya?" He opened the door, exiting the foggy-mirrored bathroom.

"Have you... given me a bath before?" I pondered quietly, peering up at his face. I saw him hesitate before answering.

"Yes."

"I have one more question," I said, sensing his uneasiness. He nodded for me to continue, glancing at me for a moment. "There is so much pink here. Why?" I questioned, child-like and curious. We were walking down a dimmed hallway. Haji opened the door to a bedroom and set my towel-embroidered body down on what I could only assume to be a bed. He smoothed over the top of my damp head with his palm, pecking the spot sweetly with his lips, letting them linger there for a moment before speaking.

"Because pink is your favorite color."

He swiftly turned around then. I was lucky though, because he certainly didn't see the rouged, crimson blush that graced my cheeks.

It can be so difficult to keep Haji in character, I hope I'm doing him justice! '~'

Reviews and criticism are appreciated. Thanks for reading!