((Issho/Fujitora x Reader, romantically. Part 2 out of 2.))

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"Alright. It seems your leg has healed quite nicely in the past two weeks, (Y/n). You can leave the infirmary now but make sure not to overdo it, yeah?" said your crew's medic, giving you a warning look as he rolled back on his wheeled chair to bring you the crutches you had been using for a while now, "I'll come around to check on you next week. Keep using these until then."

You took the offered crutches, placing your hands on the handles and pushing up with your good leg to stand.

The cast had been taken off and now you only had a thick layer of bandages around the injury. It was nice not to need to drag such a heavy cast around anymore. Although no bones were actually broken, your shin had been chipped so it was just to be safe. Now that your body had done most of the healing on that part though, the cast wasn't needed anymore either way.

"Thank you," you responded, already limping your way to the door since you were quite eager to finally get out of here, "I'll be sure to take care of myself."

A bit clumsily, you opened the door and left the infirmary, moving down the ship's hallways to get to your room. Most crewmates were out to patrol the island so you didn't encounter anyone.

Actually, you hadn't seen that many people in general. They were probably busy cleaning up that last nest of bandits you had found.

Cocoa did peek in a few times to keep you up to date though so that was nice of him. You were, however, really disappointed that Fujitora didn't come by. But he was an admiral. Why would he take time to visit someone as unimportant as yourself? Of course he wouldn't.

While slowly crutching along, you thought back to what you remembered and what the choco-milk obsessed crewmate told you happened after.

You had been walking with your captain, Fujitora, through the forest to check out a seemingly abandoned bandit's hideout when you stepped into something, fell and hit your head. After you had woken back up to find yourself in the ship's medbay, it turned out that you had walked straight into a combination of traps a few leftover bandits had set up. Probably a last effort kind of attempt to get back at you for arresting their boss.

First you had triggered a bear trap, the iron spikes nearly destroyed your leg, and then fell into an underlying pitfall where you hit your head onto a rock and passed out. According to some of your crewmates -who had the pleasure of dragging you out of that pit-, your head had just narrowly missed a bunch of sharpened wooden spikes. No doubt they would've impaled your skull had you not been so lucky to land perfectly in a gap.

The thought made you shudder.

Maybe it really wasn't such a good idea to just go strolling into unknown territory. Even though you had your captain with you then.

Come to think of it. No one ever said what he had done after you passed out. Every time you brought it up, Cocoa just looked away awkwardly before changing the subject.

As you rounded a corner, you came to a sudden stop, your train of thought derailing when you stared at what was before you.

Stairs.

In front of you were stairs.

Right, right, your room was on the upper floor of the ship.

Great.

Not that it was impossible to get up there but it would take time and energy to balance up each step with only one leg.

You made a small huff and waddled up to the first step, determined to make it up there. You certainly weren't going to turn around and ask for help. All you've been doing for the past two weeks was ask for help.

So, albeit extremely cautiously, you began the ascent up the stairs. One arm holding the crutches, the other looking for support on the wall, you hopped up the first few steps fairly easily.

However you weren't the most physically fit due to being a strategist and office worker first and foremost, so after step seven, your leg began to protest. It wasn't used to lifting your whole bodyweight repeatedly. Especially not after you had spent so much time just laying around.

Already huffing and puffing, you lifted your head to look up the stairs.

... Why did the end seem so eternally far away all of a sudden?

You shook yourself. No time to think about that.

Bending your knee, you took another small leap but before your foot even landed on the next step, you could tell you made a mistake.

The tip of your shoe just barely caught the step's edge and with a jolt, slipped off, causing your whole body to crash forward into the stairs.

You used your arms to shield your upper body from hitting into the wooden edges, dropping the crutches in the process.

With a loud cluttering, they tumbled down to the hallway where you had started the climb.

The injury in your leg stung, the pain of the sudden crash having spread there as well. Drawing in a sharp breath, you just hoped it hadn't opened any of the puncture wounds.

Damn.

For a moment, you stayed still to get back your bearings and let the pain subside. The feeling of falling was still etched into your brain from before, making your heart hammer against your ribcage in a sudden panic as you remembered falling down that pit.

It took a while to bring yourself back into reality. You weren't falling anymore. You were fine. No need to panic.

Everything is ok.

Well.. not everything but you were ok. Once you got off these stairs, that is.

As you attempted to put yourself back onto your foot again, you noticed how your leg didn't seem to want to listen. Muscles shaking uncontrollably, you had to stop trying again.

When you looked up to the top, it felt as though there were double the amount of steps than before. You looked down to where your crutches had fallen. You could slide down to pick them up but then you'd erase the progress you already made.

Maybe you could crawl up?

The thought was expelled from your head as soon as it entered.

Yeah right, and risk someone seeing their second in command crawling up a few steps? Might as well wear a diaper and scream for mommy.

You pulled a displeased face. You'd just have to do it bit by bit. Slow and steady wins the race and all.

It could only take a few hou-

"(Y/n)-san? Is that you?" a familiar voice sounded from above you and you looked up with a mix of dread and joy to see Fujitora standing at the top of the stairs, his walking cane tapping down in your direction.

Though you were happy to see his soft face after so long again, you contemplated pretending not to be there but you knew he was already aware of your presence even if he couldn't see you. So instead, you let out a big sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"... Yes, Sir," you called out loud and your tone of voice must've been quite obviously dejected for the tall man raised a brow as he started slowly making his way to the middle of the stairs where you were laying still.

You could tell he was worried by his expression and also the tone of his usually so calm voice.

"I heard a crash. Are you alright?" he asked as he reached you, bending down to his knees to stretch out a hand. He did, however, completely miss you and swiped through the air above instead.

The confusion that entered his face nearly made you laugh.

"Sorry, Issho-san," you said, watching him turn his head down as if he were looking for you based on where your voice was coming from, "I was trying to walk up the stairs but I tripped... I- uh, I'm afraid I'm.. stuck now."

It took a few moments for the man to understand and then he lowered his hand until it landed on your upper back.

"Ah," he made, his hand traveling up to your shoulder, "there you are."

You were glad he was blind in that moment. You didn't know how you would've explained growing so red in the face otherwise.

"Y-yeah, here I am, haha," awkwardly laughing, you tried not to think too hard about how his hand on your body made you feel. You really really shouldn't be thinking about your captain like that.

A brief silence followed and then Fujitora got back up.

"Please, allow me to help," he said, moving his cane a bit as you felt your body losing weight.

Wait, what was happening?

Before you could even think about it, you were floating up into the air slowly as if being magically lifted by a gentle wind.

It took you a second to realize that he was using his fruit to manipulate your very own gravity.

It felt really weird, as if directions promptly decided to stop existing.

"Wh-whoa!"

To keep yourself from losing balance and doing involuntary summersaults midair, your hand moved out and grabbed onto the tall man's cloak.

He made a small laugh, taking your hand and guiding it to his shoulder where you could hold on better.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of zero gravity. It won't be long," said Fujitora while he began walking up the stairs with you being pulled along.

The feeling of not really having any control was uncomfortable so you pulled yourself closer to him, wrapping both arms around his neck for more stability.

His subtle scent of lavender filled your nose and his fluffy hair tickled your cheek, making you momentarily forget you were floating about like a balloon.

Such a calming smell.

And you were so close to his face too..

Usually -even while you were guiding him by his arm- you weren't this close to him because of the immense height difference. So being on the same level was.. new, to say the least.

Certainly not a bad experience though.

Fujitora stopped walking and you blinked, realizing you were already at the top of the stairs.

Well, that was certainly embarrassing.

You had been so lost and all it took was a few seconds to fix it. Although, you were fruitless unlike Fujitora so at least you had that thought to comfort your bend pride.

"Do you think you can walk on your own?" your captain asked you, putting a hand on your waist and turning your body so that you were floating in front of him now.

For a brief moment, you were nose to nose with him since you had been holding onto his neck.

That moment quickly passed when you realized just how incredibly narrow the gap between you was and you extended your arms to push yourself backward.

You wondered if he could feel the heat radiating off of you. Even if he could, he did a great job with not showing it.

As you were weightlessly hovering in front of him, you took a second to stare at his face. It was rare that you got to be on the same eye level as him.

".. Pretty," you mumbled absentmindedly before becoming very much aware that you didn't just think that in your head but actually said it out loud and that he was still waiting for an answer, "p-pretty painful, is what I mean! The walking. With my leg."

A brief silence followed, in which the admiral extended one hand and caught the crutches he had dragged up the stairs by changing their gravity and the direction of it. You didn't even notice he had done that because you were so caught up with admiring your admiral.

Then you felt your body gain weight again and just as you were about to think that he was going to put you down, hand you the crutches and send you on your way, did you feel his arm loop behind your back and under your knees.

Once your gravity was back to the usual amount, he was holding you in one arm as if you didn't weight anything at all. To him, you probably didn't, actually.

Your brain refused to brain in those moments, too overwhelmed with what was happening in such short notice. First you were an inch away from his lips and now he was pressing you against his chest.

This was just too much.

Fujitora spoke up again, beginning to walk while holding the frozen you still.

"I hope this is alright too. Controlling your gravity can be quite a task when you cling to me like so," he said, a gentle smile spreading over his scarred face as he chuckled.

You felt his chest heave with the small laugh, pushing against your side. Even through his clothes, you felt the squish of his relaxed muscles. It was similar to a foam pillow. But warm.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to-" you began, already feeling your neck burn again, but the wisteria tiger shook his head.

"No need to worry. You were under my protection when you walked into that trap so it is only natural that I'll be taking care of you while you recover from now on."

Huh. He wasn't entirely wrong. It was upon his suggestion that you accompanied him out into the forest and it was for him that you walked in front.

But still.. Was it really necessary that he carried you like some sort of newborn baby? What if someone saw?

The thought made you grow even hotter behind the ears.

"I had promised nothing would happen to you while I was there," the tall man continued, his deep voice taking on a somber tone, "but now you lost a leg."

You looked up to him, taking a moment to think over what he just said.

"Wait a moment. When did I lose a leg? It wasn't even broken as far as I know.. And I would know since it's my leg," you said and felt the slight jolt when Fujitora stopped walking suddenly, your face colliding into his shoulder.

It got quiet again for a moment and then a look of realization dawned on the older man's face. As you were still just as puzzled as -and even more flustered than- before, he began laughing loudly, the movement making your whole body shake.

"It appears as though we have quite a gossipy crew," he laughed as he started walking again, turning a corner to head to where your room was located. Luckily, it was directly next to his own so he knew the way well enough.

"Oh god, what did they tell you happened?" you asked him, now also realizing that some of your fellow marines must've exaggerated your injury quite a lot. It would explain why he had been so careful in moving you from the stairs.

Maybe that was also why he didn't come to visit you? He might've thought you were too gravely injured to have visitors?

Fujitora shook his head again, still smiling broadly while he adjusted his hold on your smaller body. You did notice how his hand brushed against both of your legs though, as if checking that you really did still have them fully attached.

"No matter now. It is relief enough to know your wound was not as grave as I first feared," he told you and let out another chuckle.

You'd have to chew out some of your men once you were in better shape.

Turning forward, you saw your door come into view and waited until Fujitora had reached it before saying anything else.

"Thanks for rescuing me from those stairs, Issho," you thanked your superior, not even realizing you had stopped using honorifics, "you can put me down now."

The large admiral appeared hesitant, his hold on you not changing for a moment.

"Say, (Y/n)," he began and you immediately realized that he stopped using honorifics, "you must be quite understimulated after being cooped up in the medbay for so long. How would you feel about a game of shogi?"

While speaking, he had bend down to let you steady yourself back on your crutches.

Standing on your own again now, you lifted your head to look at the tall marine.

"I do have quite a lot of paperwork to catch up on-" you started to say but were interrupted when Fujitora put his hand on your shoulder.

"I'm certain there are a few chatty crewmates that would love to take care of your work. You did 'lose a leg', no?"

"... Are you.. insinuating what I think you're insinuating?" you raised a brow, throwing him an amused look even if he couldn't see it.

"Mayhaps I am," Fujitora smiled, a gentle but somehow impish glint in his purely white eyes, "you certainly deserve a break."

Usually, you wouldn't have agreed. But you were kind of not in the mood to return to work right after being released from the medbay.

And the thought of getting to play a game of strategy with your favourite admiral did sound very intriguing.

So after a bit of contemplating back and forth in your mind, you nodded, remembered he couldn't see that and said out loud: "I think I'd like that a lot actually."

The pleased smile on your superior's face would've been enough reward for you but you were even more happy about getting in some quality time with him.

Plus, you wouldn't have to do that chewing out of your gossiping crewmates later if they already got their scolding in the form of paperwork. Nothing more dreadful than a stack of 'due tomorrow' files getting plopped down on your desk.

So instead of entering your own room, you followed the large man into his.

It wasn't like this was your first time in here. You were helping him pick matching clothes every other day or so after all. But you still felt a bit nervous every time.

You blamed it on him being your captain. Definitely no other reason to get excited.

"I'll prepare some tea and snacks," you offered and went to the small kitchen area that was especially built in for the head of the crew. No other room had their own private area like this.

While you worked your way around the kitchen, Fujitora set up the table with a gameboard that was used to play shogi.

As a strategist, it was one of your favourite games. You hadn't been able to play a lot lately because none of your crewmates posed a suitable match for you.

But you were quite certain that Issho would prove to be a challenging opponent. And if not, then at least you had a proper excuse to spend your free time with him.

Sitting down across from him, you set up the pieces on the board and soon enough, were engrossed in a battle of wits against the gentle admiral.

You felt that, despite it not being a preferable event, having stepped into that blasted bear trap somehow allowed you to get closer to Fujitora.

A strange but very welcome outcome.

Who knows where this relationship would go next?

You were positively excited to find out.