midnight dive | yuta & hotaru
The last thing he’d been anticipating when arriving on island was seeing any familiar faces from back home. Much less faces that he’d more or less idolized during his college years. Much less faces that he made an entire fool of himself in front of.
So when he encounters Yuta again after all this time, the son of Susanoo prays to any and every deity out there, regardless of pantheon, that the other demigod does not remember who he is. And if he does, then Hotaru also prays that one of those deities kindly, and mercifully smite him on the spot. Anything to save him from the embarrassing conversation of, “Hey, weren’t you that guy who…?” He still can’t finish the thought without his cheeks flushing and mortification filling his chest.
Yeah, he’d rather die. Be swallowed up by the ground. Or simply faze out of existence. Were those drastic solutions to his trivial issue? Of course they were. But they were solutions nonetheless. Anything was better than having to relive that moment, that much he was certain of.
And by some miracle, maybe a god or goddess heard his prayers. Or so he liked to believe. He’d managed to actually talk to Yuta without swooning so hard, he passed out. And by another miracle, he’d befriended the other demigod, though he was still suspicious about whether the other remembered him or not. Whatever the case, Hotaru was glad for the development. Even though he's pretty sure that he's used all his good karma for the rest of his life.
As their friendship progressed, he found it easier and easier to keep his cool around the other demigod, though there were still moments where he openly gawked. Moments like right now.
Inviting Yuta to join him for a late night swim might have been a mistake, but he was still debating that. An abuse of his privilege as one of the staff members at Zero to Hero, definitely though. "If you don't pipe down, we're going to get caught and I'm going to lose my job!" He whispers sharply, though the look on his face is anything but serious as he splashes water the other demigod's way. In hindsight, he was hoping to use that to distract the other enough so that he wouldn't catch him staring.
