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Amaya at this point definitely knew that Senkuu knew that she liked him.
She tried to conceal it for his comfort. She knew about his opinion on romance. She didn’t want to dissuade him from saving all of humanity.
So the black haired girl tried to hide it.
She knew she was doing a poor job. Touches lasted too long, lingering above his skin or counting one extra second. Stares didn’t go unnoticed anymore, being caught quickly every time by blood red eyes resulting in flushed cheeks and a quick retreat. Conversations not being let go quick enough.
What was she supposed to do? She didn’t know how to get over it anymore. Amaya didn’t want to burden him with something he can’t afford to waste his time on.
And here she was, sitting in the rain as everyone took a well needed day off. Scraped knees in the dirt, her legs tucked underneath her. Amaya didn’t even care about the dress she was wearing at this point as mud soaked the red material. Golden eyes just stared out at the dark sky, proud of being able to get out of Senkuu’s way and leave him to do what needed to be done.
Love can’t only go one way, Amaya reminded herself each time she almost overflowed and told him. Just because I like him doesn’t mean he’s inclined to like me back.
She sighed, and moved her gaze from the sky to the river flowing steadily by nearby. The rain came down harder, soaking her through. Pushing a lock of black hair out of her eyes, she shifted her legs to cross beneath her.
She wondered faintly if he hated her. She took up too much time for someone who worked basically as Kaseki’s assistant. The sweet old man had taught her all he knew about glassblowing and she taught him the modern refined ways of woodcarving and pottery. They were a good team.
So why had Senkuu started coming to her first?
“Oi, Amaya. What in the world are you doing in the rain?”
She turned her head, seeing red eyes and white hair. She almost laughed - the very man she was attempting to get away from.
“I don’t know.” She said, staring at a leaf as it was swept by the river’s current. “What are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you, because Chrome couldn’t find you. He said something about you telling him stories.” Senkuu sighed.
“Oh. I forgot.” She said quietly.
Amaya stayed, showing no signs of moving. Senkuu stayed behind her. She was listening for his footsteps, and none came. The rain poured. A leaf was swept down the river before getting stuck behind a rock, and her golden eyes stayed locked on it as she refused to acknowledge the taller boy’s presence.
A hand fitted to her shoulder. Her head shot up in alarm, and Senkuu was looking down at her, the same indifferent expression as always.
“Come back to camp. You’re gonna catch a cold.”
“It’s okay.” She muttered. “You go back. I’m sure you have something to do.”
He seemed surprised at Amaya’s answer. She looked back to the river, brushing a tentative pale hand against the already rippling surface. A raindrop ran down her cheek.
Senkuu sighed, and sat down next to her. “Out with it, then.”
She almost short circuited. “O-Out with what?”
“Whatever is bothering you to be sitting out in the rain.”
She clasped her hands together, watching rain roll off her skin as she got colder and colder. “Nothing is bothering me. I just like the rain. I always have.”
She was lying through her teeth. Amaya knew that, but kept with her answer. Rain caused colds, chased away the sun and was downright miserable, helping her mood.
“Liking the rain is one thing, going missing for two hours when it’s pouring rain and it’s freezing cold is another. You should be inside.”
She smiled. It was a sad, guilt-ridden smile that reflected her conflicted feelings in her eyes. She spoke quietly. “You’re humanity's last hope. You should be inside instead of sitting in the rain with me.”
He apparently couldn’t think of an argument against that quick enough. His answer was firm, eyes gleaming as he tried to make eye contact with her that she tried her damn hardest to avoid. She didn’t want to make this harder on herself.
“That doesn’t mean your life means less than anyone else's.”
She didn’t feel surprised. He had a tendency to manipulate others he cared about into getting what he wanted. Staring through her dark hair that was hanging in her face, she pushed it out of her view halfheartedly. “Hmm.”
Amaya stayed there, still no sign of moving. The silence was deafening as the rain fell around them. Another leaf was swept past through the river’s rushing waters, and she kept her eyes on it as it bobbed through the water. Suddenly Senkuu got up, pushing a hand through his wet hair that was now plastered to his skull. She tried her best to not look as he did it, but god was it attractive.
“Anyway, come on.” He huffed. She raised an eyebrow at the ground, wondering if he was still going on about getting her out of the rain, but he hooked his arms around her middle and pulled her into a standing position. She yelped, making him smirk. “You’re coming inside so you don’t get sick.”
She waited for him to release her, butterflies causing a racket in her stomach. The sort-of-hug lasted a second longer before he pulled away. She would not look at his face right now for fear of being more obvious than she was already. Amaya followed behind him in silence on the trek back to the kingdom of science. Wet hair hung over her eyes and drenched cloth was heavy on her body.
Amaya was overcome with the sudden feeling to cry, but remained firm in her attempt not to. It was kind of him to not address her obvious feelings.
The two were maybe ten or so meters away from the camp, out of sight but close enough to see the lights, Senkuu stopped. She stopped behind him, looking up cautiously. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“Girls… will usually rant about whatever the moment they get the chance.” The male muttered with his back to her. “What’s so different with you?”
“I’m just not like other girls,” she scoffed, a small and genuine smile on her lips. “Maybe I just don’t want to tell you.”
He turned around, hair pushed haphazardly out of his face. Rain clung to his eyelashes, to the ends of his hair, making it shimmer. The light from the camp reflected off his face, off his red eyes, and Amaya clenched her fists.
He gave her the softest look she had ever seen him express, as if her hurting was hurting him too.
She choked on a laugh, pushing a hand to her face to hide the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “Senkuu, I like you.”
Amaya had held this off for so long, and here she was spilling out her heart to him. Guilt clawed at her chest, along with a heavy disappointment in herself that she’d now brought down all the walls she had built.
Thank god she’d covered her eyes. She didn’t want to see his reaction.
“I like you.” She repeated, voice cracking. “I mean, you probably already knew. You don’t have to give me a nice rejection or anything. I’m not asking you to have a relationship with me. I… I just can’t really keep it in anymore.”
Silence reigned around them. Trees rustled, rain poured and the sky darkened as it got closer to night.
“W-Well, now you know. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.” She said barely above a whisper, beginning to walk again. She had just made it past him and brought her hand down from her watering eyes when a calloused hand caught her wrist.
The slight force made her turn around, gold eyes shining against the village's distant light. A tear fell, trickling down her cheek.
“You… You can’t just say that.” He mumbled, lowering his eyes. His face was a light pink as he kept his hold on the girl in front of him.
“Senkuu..?” She breathed.
He pulled her close to him, looping the hand he held around his waist as he raised a hand to her face, holding her jaw gently. Any air she had in her lungs rushed out, her legs turning to jelly at the soft gesture. Still, she didn’t move, afraid he was trying to prank her.
When he leant in to kiss her, that’s when she started believing it was true. His lips pressed against hers, wet from the rain pouring around them. The hand he had pulled around his waist gripped the back of his shirt as she tilted her head into the kiss. Her other hand moved to join it, and he cupped her face.
It was so gentle, Amaya thought she was floating.
Senkuu carefully pulled away to breathe, letting his forehead rest on her shoulder. She smiled, lifting a hand from his back to put it on the back of his head.
They said nothing, but the silence in the rain was enough.