003. Ends.

"This is why I hate bathing with you," he sighs, wiping water from his eyes with a grimace. He opens them, blinks, and watches the steam rise and curl thinly into the night air, disappearing into the clear sky overhead. The stars glimmer, and the moon shines huge and yellow.

Horo swims towards him with lazy strokes, brushing off his words with an easy smile.

"Come on, Ren! What's the point of going swimming if you don't splash around a little?"

"To relax."

Horo stuck out his tongue and plopped onto the underwater bench that Ren occupied, leaning back and looking up at the sky. Blue hair, soaked with water, hang in limp spikes around his head, the ends of every strand gleaming like stars as water droplets reflected light.

Ren couldn't look away.

The Ainu's voice broke his reverie, leaving him face to face with a wicked smile and two laughing sapphire eyes.

"Relaxed yet?"

Denial TwistSHQ