Canna

I am a BL fan fiction writer. I usually write alternative universes and, well, boys love. Unfortunately, I do not take requests.

[yellowcanna]

The ZhongXiao Alliance

Summary:

“You requested the bard to get you porn?” Diluc questioned with a skeptical look on his face.

“No!” Aether shouted, waving his hands frantically in front of him. “It’s for…for Paimon!”

“WHAT?!” Paimon screamed off the top of her lungs before spinning around to see the pair of crimson eyes narrowing at her while the blue one twinkled with amusement.

"So he says." Kaeya gestured to the Honourary Knight.

“No! Paimon would never read these kinds of things! It’s adeptus Xiao!!”

“An adeptus from Liyue want you two to get porn?” The disbelief in the tavern owner’s voice was clear.

“This is all for Morax’s sake!” Venti pipped up from behind Aether, as if that would make the situation any better.

“Oh? Morax?” The Cavalry Captain raised a brow. "So it is the Geo Archon that wanted the porn?”

Aether buried his face into his hands. He should have never taken up on Xiao's request. No, before that, he shouldn't have taken Zhongli's request.

This whole mess started when Zhongli confessed to Xiao in the wrong order, starting with sex.

Now, it's up to one traveller, one emergency food, and one bard to make things right...by getting Xiao a guide to sexual intercourse.

Rating: 18+

Genre: Mutual pining, comedy, miscommunication, romantic fluff, smut, yaoi

Pairing: Main Zhongli/Xiao, side Aether/Venti, hint of Kaeya/Diluc and Xingqiu/Chongyun

Story type: Multi-chapter

Beta’d by: Amberowl123

中文 Chinese Translation available by: Yejet

╔ ✦✧✦ ═════════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═════════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

CHAPTER 3 - ZhongXiao Alliance, Gift!

“That will be 100,000 Mora,” the front desk lady said.

Once Aether handed her the bag of mora, she gave the blond a wooden tag with a number written on it. He pocketed the wooden tag, thanked the lady and walked out of the Baiju Guesthouse.

“Aether! Did you get us a good room?” Paimon who had been waiting for him outside flew towards him.

“Yep! I got us a double room for two days,” the blond replied before noticing the lack of a certain god. “Where’s Venti?”

“Over there,” Paimon pointed to the street further down the dock. “Seriously, Paimon doesn’t get what he’s doing.”

Aether was confused as to what Paimon was talking about, but followed her nonetheless. The tiny girl led him into a clothing store where Aether spotted Venti looking through the clothes on the rack.

“Ah, perfect timing! Come here, Aether!” Venti waved at the blonde with one hand, the other holding a blue qipao with lotus flower designs. Aether walked over and the archon push the qipao against his chest.

“Hmm…” Venti looked at Aether up and down before putting the dress back on the hanger. “Not this one either.”

“What are you doing, Venti?” Aether asked and Venti pulled out another one, once more using the blond as model.

“I’m looking for clothes, of course.”

“You want to buy clothes?”

“Not me, silly!” Venti laughed. “It’s for Xiao!”

“Xiao?” That caught the blond off guard. “Why do you need clothes for him?”

“Of course it’s for my dear old friend!” Venti exclaimed. “Clothes are important for setting the mood! We can’t have Xiao wear his usual clothes when the time comes!”

“But aren’t these girl clothes?” Paimon questioned, gawking at all the clothes Venti was pulling out.

“It never hurts to try, right? Maybe Xiao will look good in some of them!” 

“I don’t think we should get involved that deeply…” Aether muttered, only to have more clothes thrown at him.

“Trust me, this is how we’ll lure Xiao from Guili Plains,” Venti said confidently before letting out a disappointed sigh. “Now if only we could find the right one…”

“…What kind of clothes are you looking for?” Aether asked while helping the god put the clothes back.

“Hm…something like the clothes the people of Liyue wore a couple hundreds years ago.”

“Weeell, that explains why we can’t find any.” Paimon’s voice was dripping with sarcasm as she put her hands onto her hips.

“Hey now, don’t look at me like that! Those clothes were quite beautiful—especially on adepti. They had long flowing sleeves and clothes made of the finest silk wrapped around their bodies…in fact, Inazuman clothes were inspired by Liyue’s clothes at the time. Even now, their styles are very similar to the clothes the people of Liyue once wore.”

“What do Inazuman clothes look like though?” Aether thought back to that Harbinger he met not long ago, wearing strange clothes and claiming to be from Inazuma.

“You must be referring to hanfu,” a voice spoke, interrupting them.

The trio turned to see a boy with teal coloured hair walking up to them. 

“We meet again, my liege.” He smiled at Aether and Paimon.

“Xingqiu!” Paimon and Aether both greeted him with smiles.

“You won’t run away this time, will you?” Xingqiu asked with a playful grin.

Remembering how their last encounter went, Aether quickly shook his head. “Sorry about that time! We were uh, kinda in a hurry…”

“It’s alright,” Xingqiu chuckled before his eyes fell to Venti. “I do not believe we have met before. I am Xingqiu, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

“Good day,” Venti greeted with a bow. “I'm Venti the bard, musician and the three-time winner of the Most Popular Bard of Mondstadt!” 

“Three times? That is most impressive!” Xingqiu said in excitement, but that excitement was short-lived when he recalled his purpose. “I apologize, as it was not my intention to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but overheard you mentioning the name Xiao. Could you be referring to the Conqueror of Demons—Adeptus Xiao?”

“W-why do you ask?!” Paimon was immediately on the defensive.

“Please don’t fret, I mean no trouble,” the youth explained. “If you were talking about him, I’d like to ask you a favour. Please allow me to meet with him. No, it doesn’t have to be me, but I’d like him to meet with a friend of mine.”

“That’s not something we can decide…” Aether frowned at the request. As an adeptus, Xiao never liked getting close to humans. It was hard enough talking to him as it is. There was a high chance they would offend the adeptus if they started bringing people to see him.

“This is a very important matter,” Xingqiu pleaded. “In return, I can offer you the highest quality clothes you need. I can have them custom made by the best seamstress in Liyue. Everything will be paid for you by the Feiyun Commerce Guild.”

“A tempting deal, yet still lacks appeal.” Venti drummed his fingers over the strings of the lyre on his hip for dramatic effect. “The clothes we will take, with another favour you must make. Provide us with temporary logging at Qingce village, and the adeptus you seek is not beyond your knowledge.” 

Xingqiu was nervous when Venti claimed how it still wasn’t enough. However, after he heard the bard’s demand, he realized that it wasn’t any demand at all. He let out a quiet laugh and nodded with a bright smile on his face. 

“Of course, I will have a logging ready for you.”

“Then let us be your guidance, for we have ourselves an alliance!”

“Venti?!” Aether gaped at the god.

“Hold up, would Adeptus Xiao be alright with this?!” Paimon asked skeptically.

“It’ll be fine!” Venti brushed their concerns away. “If our friend here is making clothes for Xiao, it is only fair that he returns a favour.”

There were so many things Aether wanted to say to that, but he swallowed them up and nodded along. Venti mentioned that getting Xiao clothes would somehow lure him away from Guili Plains, so surely he had some sort of plan.

“Thank you, my liege.” Xingqiu brought his hands together in a familiar gesture that Aether was now overly familiar with, for the people of Liyue always did this gesture whenever they showed their thanks. “I will go to the Feiyun Commerce Guild right now and have them prepare the materials. It will take a bit of time, but I will have everything ready by evening if you could come then. Of course, we will prepare dinner for you as well.”

“We’ll be there for sure!!” Paimon instantly jumped in to accept the offer. Aether slapped a hand over his face, but he stood behind his two companions and kept quiet.

“I eagerly await your arrival.” Xingqiu bowed and hurried away to make his preparation.

“That went smoother than I thought!” Venti was extremely pleased by the outcome.

“Are you sure Adeptus Xiao will be alright with this?” Aether couldn’t help but worry.

“As long as I say it is for our dearest friend Mr. Zhongli, he can’t say no!”

The blond stared at the ever cheerful Venti. Words couldn't begin to describe how sorry he felt for Xiao at that moment.

For the rest of that afternoon, the three outlanders spent their time touring around the city; Aether and Paimon acting as guide for Venti.

They ate some snacks from the street stalls, did some sightseeing by the docks…

With the sun setting on the horizon, they arrived at the Feiyun Commerce Guild where they were served an exquisite dinner. Paimon’s eyes were shining the entire time as she stuffed herself to the point where she looked like she could barely keep herself airborne.

Once they had their meal, they were brought to another room filled with rolls of beautiful fabrics lined up over the walls. The young master of Feiyun Commerce Guild was in the middle of the room with two women. One was a middle-aged woman and the other much younger, standing near the back of the room with her hand folded in front of her and head dipped low.

“Thank you for coming,” Xingqiu said sincerely before introducing the woman next to him. “This is Madame Zhang and her assistant, Li Hua. Madame Zhang is the best seamstress in Liyue. Tell her what clothes you want and she will have it done.”

“I have heard from the young master that you are looking for hanfu. You can look through the catalogues and tell me which one you want,” Madame Zhang said, looking to her assistant who stepped forward and handed them a book.

Aether opened it up and saw beautiful hand-drawn clothes on each page.

“Wow! These dresses are so pretty!” Paimon gushed over the images.

Aether now he understood why Venti looked so disappointed back at the clothing store. The styles of these clothes were all beautiful and elegant. If Xiao was to wear these, he would look really good in them. He wondered why these clothes aren’t worn around Liyue anymore, but upon deeper thought, he realized why. While the clothing was beautiful, the long sleeves and dress looked like they would get in the way of a lot of things. It wasn’t very practical and seemed like it would take a long time to put on and take off.  

The blond flipped the pages until he found the men's section.

“Are these the ones, Ven—!” Aether turned his head and felt his lips brushing by something soft. It took a moment before his brain registered what happened and he jumped back with a startled yelp. He brought the back of his hand to his lips and mumbled a weak apology. He didn’t know that Venti was poking his head over his shoulder to look at the book, so when he turned around, his lips ended up grazing the bard’s cheek.

“Don’t worry about it!” Venti giggled. The archon was behaving like his usual self whereas Aether was flustered by the accidental kiss…if he could even call it that?

“After spending a whole night together, I didn’t think you’d still be embarrassed by something like this,” the god teased.

“D-don’t say it in a way that people would misunderstand!” Aether spluttered, eyes darting to the other people in the room. Xingqiu was coughing into his hand and acting as though he hadn’t heard when he clearly did. Madame Zhang didn’t seem to care at all what their conversations were, but her assistant Li Hua was holding a notebook up to hide her reddening face.

“Alright, alright!” Venti laughed before he took the catalogue from Aether and flipped through the pages. “Hmm…Madame Zhang, do you take custom designs?”

“Of course,” the seamstress answered. “If you know what style you want, you can tell Li Hua and she will draw it out for you. Or if you want, you can draw it and we can discuss the materials required.”

“I’m pretty confident in my drawing skills,” Venti said proudly. He walked to the table where there was a stack of papers but paused at the sight of inkstone and brushes. “Eh…do you perhaps have quills here?”

“Quill?” Madame Zhang was confused by this until she saw Venti’s outfit and was reminded that the people in front of her were from Mondstadt.

“I will get you a quill and some ink,” Xingqiu said. He walked out of the room to talk to a servant waiting by the doorway. In no time at all, the servant came back with a bottle of ink and a brown feathered quill.

Venti sat down by the table and began to draw. Aether didn’t want to distract the archon, so he maintained some distance while curiously watching the ink take form on the paper.

“Paimon didn’t know that the tone-deaf bard could draw!” Paimon said in amazement, and Aether had to agree. Venti was good at drawing. Even though it was a simple drawing of clothes, Venti’s strokes were clean and precise. He even drew out detailed patterns he wanted on the clothes!

While Aether was thankful Venti didn’t draw out a girl’s dress like he had feared…that design was still a bit…

Madame Zhang and Li Hua were also watching Venti draw. The former was deep in thought as she looked over the design, while Li Hua was using a brush to jot down notes.

“Something like this, if you can,” Venti said once he was finished, handing the paper to Madame Zhang.

Madame Zhang gave it another look before handing the design to her assistant. “Do you have any material in mind to use?”

“I will leave that to you, Madame. All I ask is for the clothes to be silky to touch—oh, and transparency on the outer coat.”

“Is this clothing for yourself?”

“Oh no, it’s for a friend, who is unfortunately unable to be here. But my companion over there got the same body build as him.” Venti said, pointing to Aether. “Our friend has Viridian coloured hair with jade green highlights, yellow eyes as bright as a cat’s on a moonlit night, skin as fair as the young maidens of Snezhnaya, and an aura as cold as the wind in Dragonspine!”

The woman raised an eyebrow at the bard’s imaginative descriptions. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you are making clothes for an adeptus.”

At that, Aether turned to Xingqiu who caught his look and grinned at him. It seemed that the young master had kept it a secret from Madame Zhang as to who the clothes were made for.

“Do you have any colour preferences?”

“Black and Cor Lapis gold—with black as the main colour,” Venti replied instantly.

It didn’t take long for Aether to figure out why Venti chose to make the outfit black. It would match Zhongli’s current outfit perfectly.

“Very well,” Madame Zhang waved to her assistant that swiftly went around the room, picking out all the black and gold fabric. And then, the elderly woman pulled out a roll of measuring tape and turned to Aether. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

“Huh?” Aether looked around before being certain that she was addressing him.

“We will need to take your measurement since your friend said you have the same body build.” The seamstress explained after seeing the confusion on the blond’s face.

“Oh, right!” Aether nodded and stood still while she took his measurement.

After getting all the information they needed, Madame Zhang left them a piece of paper with the address of her shop, telling them to drop by tomorrow at 13:00. Thanking the seamstress and Xingqiu, they left the Feiyun Commerce Guild.

By the time they left, it was late in the night, yet the streets of Liyue were still full of life with lanterns illuminating their paths.

They went into Baiju Guesthouse and found the room where they would be staying for the next two days. The room was a bit expensive, but they got a higher floor with a nice balcony facing the ocean.

After washing up and changing into simple Liyue sleepwear provided by the Guesthouse, Aether walked out of the bathroom. The room was dim, all the candles put out except for the one at the very corner of the room.

Paimon was already asleep, snuggled up in her tiny bed that Aether had made for her on the table. Venti was outside on the balcony, sitting on the wooden rail and staring out to the sea. The traveller quietly stepped out and carefully closed the door behind him so they wouldn’t disturb Paimon’s sleep.

“I guess gods don’t need to sleep.” Aether meant for it to be a light-hearted joke since they both knew how long Venti had slept for.

Venti flashed a grin at him before looking back to the ocean. The blond rested his arms against the red wooden rail and stared at the large ships coming and leaving the harbour.

It was truly a sight to behold.

“It’s a lot different than Mondstadt, isn’t it?” Venti commented as a breeze blew by, ruffling their clothes and hair. The god closed his eyes and deeply inhaled the wind that carried the scent of the ocean. “Especially during the night, where everything is still so bright.”

“Yeah…I was really surprised when I first arrived.” Aether rested his chin against his palm. “I couldn’t believe how many people there are in Liyue.”

“That’s because of all seven nations, Liyue is heaviest on trades, so people across the world come here for business opportunities.”

“…Zhongli once asked me where I like more, Liyue or Mondstadt.”

“The audacity!” Venti gasped. “I shall have his head on a spike!”

“When he can beat you in a single strike?” Aether raised a brow at the archon who turned to the blond with wide eyes before a cocky smirk lifted his lips. 

“To challenge a bard in the battle of rhymes, don’t start crying when you lose all your dimes~”

Aether laughed and raised both of his hands, quickly admitting defeat. He knew Venti wasn’t angry at all with Zhongli. Even when Zhongli asked that question, he genuinely wanted to know an outlander’s view on his city. It was never a competition between whose region was better and Venti understood that well.

“I told him that I liked Mondstadt more.”

Venti didn’t say anything, quietly waiting for his following words.

“Even without trade, many people around Teyvat gathered in Mondstadt and found home within the city. It’s also the first city that accepted me. Since it’s less populated compared to Liyue Harbour, everyone knew each other. It gives me a sense of belonging, despite not being a part of this world…” Aether mumbled quietly. “Sometimes…I thought…maybe, after I find Lumine and our mission is completed, we can become Adventurers together and buy a house there…”

“In your travels, you will see many things and meet with many people. All of that will become a part of your identity. Should that be your answer after reaching the end, Mondstadt would be honoured to have you as a friend,” Venti spoke softly.

A breeze blew by, caressing the outlander’s face and combing through his long golden hair. He couldn’t help but sigh at the sensation. The wind in Liyue always carried the saltiness of the sea, but Aether found himself longing for the smell of the grassy plains and the dandelions drifting within the wind that reminded him so much of himself and Lumine.

“You also mustn’t forget Mondstadt’s specialties—the taverns!” Venti chimed cheerfully, instantly ruining the moment. “Can you believe how they don’t have a single tavern in this place?!”

Aether laughed at that. While Liyue’s night was very lively, the feeling of walking through the quiet street and entering a bright, lively tavern filled with music and laughter was a whole other experience.

“…Thank you, Venti,” Aether mumbled after a long time.

“For what?”

For cheering me up—was the answer he wanted to say, but Aether stopped and said the second thing that popped into his head.  

“For travelling with us.” The blond turned to stare into the archon’s forest green eyes that seemed to glow in the dim lighting. “Even though it has only been a short while, it was fun!”

Venti smiled and pulled out his lyre, running his fingers over the string to create a beautiful sound. While the bard set a gentle tune, Aether let his gaze drift to the stars scattered across the night sky. He wondered where Lumine was right now, and if she was looking at the same stars as him. The gentle music from the lyre was calm and soothing. They stayed like that for the majority of the night, quietly bathing in each other’s presence.

When morning came, the trio headed out and continued strolling around the city. It was still early and while there weren’t too many people yet, the stalls were already opened for business.

They bought four Liyue savoury crepes from a food stall by the street for breakfast—two for Paimon and one each for the other two. After that, they got some red bean steamed buns as snacks. Just as they were turning the corner after buying the buns, Aether’s vision was covered in white and something slammed into his side, knocking him onto the ground.

“Aether, are you alright?” Venti knelt next to Aether and helped him up.

Aether nodded, looking up to see what had bumped into him and saw the girl on the ground in front of him.

“Keqing?”

Keqing’s head snapped up and her eyes rounding at the familiar faces of the two outlanders.

Aether didn’t let his eyes linger on her to take in her mortified expression, for that he was soon distracted by the thing lying on the ground between them, wrapped up in white paper. He also found his half-eaten crepe on the floor, sticking onto the wrapping.

“Ah, sorry!” Aether quickly picked the object up. Despite the item being the size of two Paimons, it was surprisingly light. Aether stared at the stain on the white paper and tried to wipe it off.

“I’ll clean this up!”

“No! It’s fine!” Keqing panicked, but she was too late.

When Aether tried to rub the stain off, he ended up accidentally tearing the fragile paper. The wrapping came undone, revealing a…a dragon plush toy?

“Oh?” Venti eyed the toy with great interest.

“Hey…doesn’t this look like the Exuvia?” Paimon noted as she circled around the large plush toy.

Aether thought back to the fake dragon body Zhongli made. It really did look alike, except it was much cuter with a bright golden body, a large head, stubby horns and beady black eyes.

“Of course not! Don’t be silly!” Keqing frantically snatched her toy back from Aether. “There’s no way I would get a Rex Lapis merchandise! Now if you’ll excuse me!”

Without waiting for them to say anything, the girl took off, disappearing down the street in a blink of an eye.

“What…was that all about?” Paimon turned to Aether who shook his head in confusion.

“I didn’t think that after all these years, I’d see Morax’s form like that!” Venti laughed. “To think Liyue would sell merchandise of their archon…well, I suppose it is a city of merchants. They’ll make anything as long as there’s profit.”

“You mean the Exuvia?” Aether looked to Venti in confusion.

“Exuvia?” Venti needed a moment to remember what that word meant. “Ah, they got many names for it, don’t they? Before becoming the Rex Lapis you know him to be, Morax was but another adeptus. His real form is a dragon that looked just like that toy—though a couple thousand times bigger.”

“A couple thousand?!” Paimon’s jaw dropped in shock. Even the fake Exuvia they saw wasn’t that big. “How big is he?”

“That depends.” Venti shrugged. “He could turn himself as small as a snake, or become so large that his body could wrap around a mountain. I’ve only seen him in his real form once, back when the Archon War was still happening…”

“That’s it!” Aether exclaimed with a happy look on his face.

“What is it?” Paimon questioned.

“I know what Zhongli can give Xiao for present!”

While Paimon still hadn't caught on, Venti was already grinning from ear to ear.

Twenty minutes later, the three walked away from Granny Shan’s toy shop, carrying a large dragon plush toy exactly the same as the one Keqing had.

“Sheesh, we should have thought of this sooner!” Paimon cheered with glee. “If there’s anything Adeptus Xiao likes, it’ll definitely be this!”

“It’s a good thing we made it on time to get this last one!” Venti patted the soft head of the plush toy.

“Now we need to find a place to wrap it up.” Aether was already looking around for a place to do that. It was too bad that Granny Shan didn’t offer wrappings.

“But isn’t it strange? I thought Keqing hated Rex Lapis, why would she get a toy of Rex Lapis?” Paimon questioned.

“Hates Rex Lapis? How so?” Venti asked curiously, so Paimon and Aether briefly explained Keqing’s view on the gods to the god. After hearing their explanations, Venti burst out laughing.

“Quite an interesting girl she is!” The Anemo Archon seemed strangely happy, similar to how Zhongli behaved whenever the topic of Keqing came up. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m sure she truly doesn’t know that the toy was modelled after Rex Lapis.”

Paimon nodded, easily believing it but Aether wasn’t so easily tricked. As one of the Qixing and as someone who has seen the Exuvia up close, there was no way the Yuheng wouldn’t have known. Then again, it wasn’t any of his business, so Aether didn’t think too much into it. Had they not run into Keqing carrying a Rex Lapis toy, the idea would have never crossed his mind.

In the end, they got the toy wrapped up at the Souvenir Shop.

Once that was done, the group headed for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, only to be told that Zhongli wasn’t there.

“Mr. Zhongli hasn’t been back since yesterday,” the Ferrylady informed them.

“Ehhh?! Do you know where he could have gone to?” Paimon asked.

“My apologies, but he did not say.”

“He must be at Jueyun Karst,” Venti whispered with one hand cupping his mouth, so the woman in front of them wouldn’t hear. It was then that Aether recalled Zhongli saying he was setting up a place there.

“But that’s too far away, and we have to go to Guili Plains tomorrow! We won’t make it on time even if we go now!” Paimon whined.

“May I ask what you are seeking him for?” The Ferrylady inquired. “While I may not know where Mr. Zhongli is at the moment, he did leave instructions for us to deliver a large quantity of flowers. I’m sure he will drop by to check on them before we ship them out in a day.”

“Flowers? Why did he order flowers?” Paimon asked.

“Must be part of the surprise,” Venti responded. 

“In that case, could you give this to him?” Aether held up the finely wrapped toy. “It’s something Zhongli asked us to get. It’s a present for someone important.” Hopefully, if he said it like this, Zhongli would understand that it was the gift for Xiao.

“Of course, I will convey that to him.” The Ferrylady said and took the toy off Aether’s hands.

“Thank you so much!” Aether thanked the woman and they left the parlour. Everything was going so smoothly that the blond couldn’t help but smile. However, he knew there were still a lot of things that needed to be done…

“I want nothing but for him to live freely so I told him to wait until the time of Rex Lapis is no more.” Zhongli’s voice echoed inside his head.

Aether was certain there were more misunderstandings between those two, and they needed to figure out what it was if they wanted to make it work. And then there was the most important thing he needed to figure out—whether or not Xiao felt the same for Zhongli.

At 13:00, they arrived at Madame’s Liang store where they spent half the day with Aether being the model. He was forced to hold still as Madame Zhang and three of her assistants fit the clothes and fabrics onto his body. The clothes were half done with many adjustments needed to be made. Aether jumped more than a couple of times when the needles came too close to his comfort and got scolded by the stern seamstress sternly telling him not to move.

Paimon got bored halfway through and fell asleep, while Venti was absorbed in a book he was given to read. By nightfall, the clothes were nearly done with some fine details left. Before leaving, Venti handed the seamstress a letter, telling her to deliver the clothes to the Feiyun Commerce Guild once it was finished, along with the letter. The woman accepted it, promising that it will be done by tomorrow noon.

Aether didn’t even ask Venti about the letter because of how worn out he was. He had stood still for what felt like an eternity—to the point where he could barely feel his legs. Even climbing the mountains of Liyue wasn’t as hard as trying to imitate a statue. The moment they returned to their room, the blond collapsed onto his bed. The ball of his feet and toes were throbbing so badly that he wondered if he could even walk tomorrow.

Seeing how he was in no shape to move for the rest of the night, Paimon went outside to buy dinner for them. Aether felt his mattress dipping with additional weight before feeling a warm hand threading through his blond lock. He cracked open his eyes to see Venti sitting next to him, looking at him with those kind eyes.

“Shall I play you some music to relax?”

“Hm…that would be nice…” Aether sighed, closing his eyes. He felt the hand lingered on his head a bit longer before it slipped away. Soon, the room was filled with the soothing melody of the lyre. 

Aether didn’t know how long he laid there for, but somewhere after the fourth song, he opened his eyes and glanced at Venti.

“Say, Venti?”

“Hm?” Venti hummed, nimble fingers continued to dance across the strings.

“Can I see your real form?”

The music stopped. Venti opened his eyes which he had closed at some point and turned to Aether. The blond noted that the god didn’t look angry or anything…just curious.

“What’s this all of the sudden?”

“You’ve said that this form you have now is that of an old friend…so I wonder what you really look like.”

“I told you, I am but a wisp among the thousand winds,” the archon chuckled. “There’s nothing interesting about my real form.” 

“That can’t be true.” Aether sat up and turned his body so that he was fully facing the other. “It’s the real Venti, after all.”

Venti’s eyes widened for a brief second before that carefree smile was back on his face. “Well…if you insist,” he sighed dramatically, “but don’t be disappointed if it’s not what you expect.”

Wind suddenly picked up within the sealed room, swirling around Venti who set his lyre onto the bed. Golden eyes followed Venti who drifted into the air, carried by the wind around him. His body began to glow and in a flash of blinding light, he was gone. In his place was a being even smaller than Paimon. The little creature wore a white cloak with blue patterns and a hood pulled over that tiny black head. Floating at the center of the wind current, Aether could even see a pair of stubby legs sticking out from beneath the cloak.

The blond stared at the creature in awe and wonder. He reached his hands out, slow and careful as though afraid he would startle the little spirit. The creature blinked those beady white eyes. Instead of moving away, it drifted downward and settled onto the traveller’s palms.

Aether cradled the little spirit and brought it close. He hesitated, but ran his thumb over the little thing’s head. Those white eyes closed, seeming to greatly enjoy the touch by how it leaned towards his touch.

“I told you, not so interesting,” Venti’s voice whispered into his ears, causing Aether to look around the empty room. The voice had spoken directly into his ears, but there was nothing aside from the wind still spiralling within the room.

“Venti?” Aether turned back to the little spirit. Despite the little thing lacking facial expressions, the blond could tell that Venti was amused.

“My voice travels within the wind,” the tiny god explained. “As long as there is wind, my voice will reach you.”

“I see.” Aether tilted his head and brushed over the two leaf-like accessories on the side of Venti’s hood. “You’re adorable,” he said and without thinking, Aether leaned down and kissed the little being’s head. It was when he pulled his lips away did Aether froze, remembering that this wasn’t some pet, but Venti.

Venti was frozen in his hands as well, stunned by the blond’s action.

“T-that wasn’t—I was just, you looked cute so out of habit I—wait, no that’s not what I meant!! I-I mean you are cute, but I wasn’t—!!” Aether was starting to sputter nonsense, but when he didn’t get any reaction out of Venti, his voice slowly dropped until only the sound of the wind could be heard.

“Um…Venti?”

Venti blinked up at him. The small wings on his side fluttered before he flew right for Aether’s face.

Aether shut his eyes, half expected to be hit or something but instead, he saw a flicker of light through his eyelids and something soft touched his forehead. When he opened his eyes, the first that came into his sight was Venti’s chin. And then, Venti pulled back and along with it was the warm touch on his forehead.

The god didn’t pull too far away. Their faces were still close with their noses a short inch apart.

“Now we’re even~” Venti said teasingly, his cool breath fanning over Aether’s face. Aether could smell the fragrant scent of Cecelia’s from the god.

It was when Venti pulled even further away did Aether finally take notice of his body—or rather, his clothes.

Venti wasn’t wearing his usual bard outfit. If there was one word to describe what Venti was wearing, it would be divine.

At this moment, Venti looked everything like the god that he was, wearing a white top with white shorts that showed a large proportion of his skin—from his lower chest to his abdomen. On the white skin of his chest and left thigh, there were glowing symbols that reminded Aether a lot of the markings on Xiao’s right arm. His white hood was fluttered within the wind and when Aether looked closely, the pair of snow white wings stretching across the room was part of his cloak. Behind him was the long white fabric from his shorts, dancing in the wind like a feathery tail.

The tip of his braids was glowing with cyan light—like the colour of the wind that surrounded them. The blond didn’t even notice the wind was glowing until this moment. He stared at the two golden feathers sticking out from the flower on the side of Venti’s head and was immediately reminded of that little wind elemental that nested on his palms just seconds ago.

The Venti in front of him was like a mix between his elemental form and his human form. At the same time, he also reminded the blond of a bird flying free in the endless blue sky.

He was really beautiful…

“If Paimon sees you like this, she wouldn’t call you by that nickname ever again,” Aether commented with a small laugh. He could also imagine how her eyes would bulge out and her jaw hitting the floor!

“Then it’s a good thing she’s not here, no?” Venti chuckled. In a poof—or a flicker of light, he turned back to the human form Venti. The wind was gone and the brightness of the room dimmed back down. Aether was surprised that none of the candles around the room were put out by the wind.

“Phew…as expected, it’s hard to keep that form without my Gnosis.”

At the reminder of Venti’s Gnosis, Aether frowned. His hands curled up into fists as he remembered how powerless he was with Venti lying on the ground in front of him. At that time, he was really scared, because he couldn’t tell whether or not the archon was still alive.

“Hey…” Gentle fingers brushed over his white knuckles before a hand lay on top of his. It was then that Aether realized how his nails were digging into his palms. “Don’t worry about it. I may have lost my Gnosis, but I’m still the Anemo Archon and have some powers left.”

“Yeah…” Aether responded, eyes fixated on the hand overlapping his. “Thank you, for showing me the real you.”

Venti smiled, but couldn’t say anything for at that moment, the door to their room burst and in came Paimon. Aether’s face warmed and he hastily withdrew his hand out from beneath Venti’s. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so embarrassed…it wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong, right?

In his panic, he barely registered the way his skin tingled from the lack of warmth. He glanced at Paimon nervously, hoping she didn’t see anything. Fortunately, Paimon saw nothing…not with that gigantic bag blocking her entire upper body. From this angle, all Aether could see were her legs sticking out from beneath the floating bag.

How in the world did Paimon manage to open the door?

More importantly, how did she find her way back when she couldn’t even see where she’s going?!

“Paimon’s back!” She announced, flying rather wobbly and drawing out all sort of s-curves in the air. The giant bag looked like it would fall at any moment, so Aether ran up to help her.

“Exactly how much food did you buy?!” Aether questioned once they both set the bag onto the table. Paimon was sitting on the corner of the table, completely exhausted from her trip.

“Excuse you! You have no idea how tiring it was for Paimon to carry food for all three of us!”

“Wow, you sure got a lot!” Venti said as he helped the blond unload everything and spread it over the table.

“Hehe, of course!” Paimon cheered and wiped away the saliva starting to drip from the corner of her lips. “Come on! Let’s eat!! Paimon was holding back the entire time, you know?!”

“Yes, yes, we’re very grateful you brought back these foods and didn’t eat our share,” Aether smiled. He couldn’t deny that these foods looked super appetizing. If there was anything Paimon was good at, it was identifying good food.

The three of them chatted while they ate, enjoying their dinner and the company they had.  

When morning came, the group set out to Guili Plains. They found the adeptus near the ruins where they began trying to persuade the Guardian Yaksha to leave with them.

“Qingce village?” Xiao stared at the two travellers and one archon standing before him. “You want me to go there with you?”

When the Yaksha saw the group coming here, he was expecting them to ask for the Cleansing pills he promised them. He didn’t think they would ask him to leave with them.

“You see—” Aether started, only for Venti to step in front of him, cutting him off.

“You’ve learned the basics of how to perform sexual acts, but knowing is very different than actually performing it,” the bard said without an ounce of shame. “That’s why I thought we could help you practice!”

“…Huh?” Aether’s head whipped to Venti so fast that he almost twisted his neck. Paimon was already slowly floating backwards, eyes darting and searching for a way out.

“We can go to Wangshu Inn if that is the case,” Xiao suggested calmly, not even the slightest bit fazed by what Venti proposed.

“No, that’s too risky. There’s a chance Morax might come to see you and when he couldn't find you here, he’ll go to Wangshu Inn for sure!”

“Venti—”

“I also ordered something to be delivered there! It’s a surprise present for Morax so the further we are from Liyue Harbour, the better!!”

“Hold on—”

“I see, very well.”

“Listen to me—!!”

“Come, brave Adventurer! Let us set forth on our journey!” Venti beamed, pulling Aether along and set forth to Qingce village with Xiao trailing behind them.

Paimon stared at the group walking further and further away. It seemed that they had forgotten about her, but the girl couldn’t feel any anger or resentment for it. If anything, she was never more grateful.

“Paimon thinks Paimon will stay at Wangshu Inn.” Paimon decided after a long while.

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

[yellowcanna]

The ZhongXiao Alliance

Summary:

“You requested the bard to get you porn?” Diluc questioned with a skeptical look on his face.

“No!” Aether shouted, waving his hands frantically in front of him. “It’s for…for Paimon!”

“WHAT?!” Paimon screamed off the top of her lungs before spinning around to see the pair of crimson eyes narrowing at her while the blue one twinkled with amusement.

"So he says." Kaeya gestured to the Honourary Knight.

“No! Paimon would never read these kinds of things! It’s adeptus Xiao!!”

“An adeptus from Liyue want you two to get porn?” The disbelief in the tavern owner’s voice was clear.

“This is all for Morax’s sake!” Venti pipped up from behind Aether, as if that would make the situation any better.

“Oh? Morax?” The Cavalry Captain raised a brow. "So it is the Geo Archon that wanted the porn?”

Aether buried his face into his hands. He should have never taken up on Xiao's request. No, before that, he shouldn't have taken Zhongli's request.

This whole mess started when Zhongli confessed to Xiao in the wrong order, starting with sex.

Now, it's up to one traveller, one emergency food, and one bard to make things right...by getting Xiao a guide to sexual intercourse.

Rating: 18+

Genre: Mutual pining, comedy, miscommunication, romantic fluff, smut, yaoi

Pairing: Main Zhongli/Xiao, side Aether/Venti, hint of Kaeya/Diluc and Xingqiu/Chongyun

Story type: Multi-chapter

Beta’d by: Amberowl123

中文 Chinese Translation available by: Yejet

╔ ✦✧✦ ═════════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═════════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

  ◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

    CHAPTER 2 - ZhongXiao Alliance, Book!

  “Eleven…twelve…thirteen…” Aether counted, carefully plucking the Cecilias and adding them to the basket in his hand.

“Aether! I got five more!” Paimon waved, flying back with an armful of Cecilias.

“Thanks, Paimon!” Aether smiled, plucking two more Cecilias while Paimon added her flowers into the basket. “Perfect, that’s all the flowers!”

“Great! Let’s go back to Mondstadt! Maybe the tone-deaf bard got the thing already!”

“You’re pretty optimistic about that.” The blond raised a brow at her.

“Well…as long as it’s not us who need to find it! That tone-deaf bard seems oddly familiar with these things, don’t you think?”

Aether couldn’t argue Paimon there. Venti was strangely at ease—confident even—when he told them he’d get them the porn. Though Venti was over two thousand years old, and so was Xiao. Perhaps it was due to their long lifespan that they no longer feel embarrassed over things like that?

When the blond thought of it that way, he found himself to be quite immature. If he thought over a bit more, the book was—as Xiao had said—study materials, right? Maybe he and Paimon were the ones over exaggerating and over complicating things.

With that mindset, Aether and Paimon left Starsnatch Cliff. The journey back to Mondstadt took about two hours. By the time they arrived, the sun had already set and the city was quiet compared to the lively nights at Liyue Harbour.

The two headed straight for Angel’s Share where there were already customers seated around on the tables outside, gulping down their drinks. The blond and Paimon greeted some familiar faces before grabbing the door handle and stepping inside the tavern Venti had told them to meet him at.

The first thing the two were greeted with was the sight of Diluc’s irritated face, Kaeya’s amused look, and Venti who was grinning from ear to ear.

“Aha! You see? I’m not lying!” Venti announced, pointing towards Aether who was frozen at the doorway. The blond wondered if it was too late to close the door and pretended that he was never here.

“What’s going on?” Paimon asked, looking between the two men and the archon.

“You’ve joined us at the right time,” Kaeya waved his hand lightly for them to come over.

Having no choice, Aether walked over to them despite his instincts screaming at him to leave. “What happened?” He asked and he swore he saw Diluc’s brows twitched.

What in the world did Venti do this time?

Venti, receiving Aether’s questioning look, shrugged. “Well, Master Diluc, Sir Kaeya and I were just talking about… aesthetics.”

“We were discussing your questionable performance,” Diluc corrected. Even though his voice was even, Aether could tell the man was this close to tossing the bard outside.

“What part of my performance was questionable?” Venti argued back, clearly seeing no wrong in whatever he did. Worried a fight might break out, Aether hurried to step between them.

“The part where you requested the customers to pay you with porn.”

The blond tripped over his feet, his face smashing against the hard wooden floor and his body drawing a line between Venti and Diluc.

“Aether! Are you alright?” Paimon flew over to Aether who had a hand over his reddened nose.

“Hey, I was doing our Honorary Knight a favour! You wouldn’t want to deprive Mondstadt’s saviour his needs, would you?”

Both Diluc and Kaeya looked down at Aether—crimson and blue eyes staring at him skeptically.

“You requested the bard get you porn?” Diluc questioned with an unreadable look on his face.

“No!” Aether shouted, bouncing back onto his feet at the accusation while waving his hands frantically in front of him. “Well, I mean, yes, I did ask, but it’s not for me!”

“Then who is it?” Kaeya inquired with one hand resting on his hip.

The blond’s brain was a mess as he tried to think of what to say. There was no way he could tell them that it was Xiao who wanted the book! He was an adeptus, after all. He also couldn’t say it was for a friend since that would sound like a poor excuse! “It’s for…for Paimon!”

“WHAT?!!” Paimon shouted off the top of her lungs before spinning around to see Diluc raising a brow at her while Kaeya let out a small hum.

“I must say, I would never have expected that from you,” the knight commented with an odd smile on his lips.

“No! It’s not for Paimon!” Paimon shrieked. “Paimon would never read these kinds of things! It’s for Adeptus Xiao!!”

Aether covered his hands over his face, unable to watch the mess unfold.

“An adeptus from Liyue wanted you two to get porn?” The disbelief in Diluc’s voice was clear.

“This is all for Morax’s sake!” Venti piped up from behind Aether, as though that would make the situation any better.

“Morax?” Diluc frowned. “Didn’t the Geo Archon die?”

“Uh…!” Both Aether and Paimon paled.

“Are you suggesting that not only is the Geo Archon not dead, he asked you to get porn?” Kaeya pushed on.

“I…!” Aether looked between the two men, feeling completely trapped with no way out.

“This isn’t the place to talk,” Diluc gestured for them to follow and brought them to the basement where they stored the wine. He shot more than a couple of nasty glares when Venti’s hands wandered too close to some of the wine.

Once they were inside one of the storage rooms, Diluc slammed the door shut and turned to Aether with his arms crossed over his chest. “Explain.”

Having, no choice, Aether began to explain the mess they were dragged into—including the fact that the Geo Archon was very much alive. The blond knew he could trust both Kaeya and Diluc to keep it a secret…perhaps that was also why Venti casually revealed the Geo Archon being alive.

“So Rex Lapis is alive and he has fallen in love with one of the immortals of Liyue,” Kaeya muttered after hearing the full story. “Most interesting indeed.”

“And that adeptus requested you bring…research materials.” Diluc pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a quiet sigh. While he fully understood the situation, he didn’t look any happier than when Aether first saw him.

“Now that we've gotten this misunderstanding out of the way, can I get my books back?” Venti asked with his hands on his hips.

“So…what exactly happened?” Paimon asked again.

“As usual, the audiences loved performances and kindly gifted me their valuable collections, but they were all confiscated by Master Diluc here.”

“You should be glad I didn’t kick you out of the tavern.” Diluc retorted.

“Wait, so you really did get a book?!” Paimon turned to Venti in shock.

“Of course! I did promise I’ll help you guys find one, didn’t I?” Venti bragged and looked back to Diluc.

“What about Kaeya?” Aether turned to the Cavalry Captain. “Why were you here?”

“As one of the Knights of Favonius, it is my duty to oversee regulations. I can’t turn a blind eye to shady dealings now, can I?” Kaeya shrugged.

“How was any of that shady?!” Venti gasped in genuine shock.

“Even if you are lord Barbatos, there are still laws you have to follow.”

“Surely a book or two isn’t that big of a deal!”

“You are correct. A book or two is not a big deal, but…” Kaeya trailed off, his eye shifting to Diluc. Diluc spared a small glimpse at Kaeya before sharply turning away. He looked a little irritated, but stepped out of the storage room and returned a minute later carrying a large bundle wrapped in a tablecloth.

The moment the redhead set the bundle onto the floor, the cloth unwrapped, revealing stacks after stacks of books.

“Don’t tell me—!!” Aether’s jaw fell open at the mountain of porn.

“Did you rob the entire city?!” Paimon shouted.

“Of course not! These were all gifted to me by my faithful fans!”

“So now you see.” Kaeya bent down, picking up a blank cover book and waved it at Aether. “When a large quantity of these suddenly turned up at a tavern, that is something a knight cannot ignore.”

“We’re very sorry!” Aether apologized immediately. He was never so glad that it was Kaeya who caught Venti and not Jean, Lisa or Amber. Aether would never be able to face them again if they were to find out.

“Morax’s happiness is on the line here! Can’t you cut us some slack?” Venti tried to bargain.

“You say that you only need one book, didn’t you?” Diluc finally spoke up. “Take one and return the rest to wherever they came from. That should be fine, shouldn’t it, Knight of Favonius?”

“Certainly,” Kaeya easily agreed.

“Thank you so much, Diluc! Kaeya!” Aether and Paimon cheered while Venti looked disappointed.

“Aww, I have to give all of these back?” He looked at them with teary eyes.

“Were you planning on doing anything with them?” Diluc’s sharp gaze was immediately locked onto the Anemo god.

“Of course not!” Venti laughed before glancing down at the pile of books, then to Aether. “So…which one shall we take?”

“Wouldn’t any one of them work?” Aether asked in confusion.

“Hmm, take this for example!” Venti held out two books. “One is about a woman and a man, while the other is about two men. Which one does Xiao need?”

“O-of course it’s…!!” Aether stammered, taking a look at Diluc and Kaeya before quickly hissing out the last part. “That second one!”

“Then does he want a book with words, or pictures?”

“Huh?”

“Are there any specific positions they want to do it in?”

“T-that’s—!!”

“And what kind of kinks do they—”

“Just something educational!” Aether frantically shouted to stop Venti from talking. He felt like he was going to die from embarrassment at this rate.

When he turned to look at the other two men, he saw Diluc with one hand covering his face while Kaeya was smiling weirdly at him.

Someone let him die.

“Guess we have no choice but to look through them all!”

“How did you reach that conclusion?!” Aether’s shout was so high that his voice ended up cracking.

At this point, Diluc had finally had enough and headed for the door.

“Oh? Are you not going to help our Honorary Knight with his troubles?” Kaeya watched the Pyro user open the door.

“Unlike someone who has too much time on their hands, I have a business to run,” the redhead stated before disappearing into the hallway. The knight chuckled and followed after Diluc. On his way out, the knight grabbed Paimon by her scarf, plucking her off the air and bringing her with him.

“Hey!!” Paimon shouted, kicking and throwing her arms around, but her limbs were too short to reach the man.

“It would be best if you wait for them upstairs. Seems like they will take a while,” Kaeya said, giving the blond a wink and closed the door behind him.

Aether was blushing hard, but Venti was already ushering for him to sit down so they could start looking through the books together.

“Hey Aether, look at this one!” Venti cheerfully opened one of the illustrated Inazuma scrolls right in his face, giving the boy a clear picture of the indecent act being performed…with an octopus.

Aether had to use all of his will power not to scream.

Why was there an octopus?!

“It got an octopus in it!”

“I can see that?! You don’t need to show it to me!!” Aether cried, swatting the scroll away from his face.

“You have such a pure-hearted~” Venti giggled, rolling up the scroll and setting it aside. “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Let’s start looking for something you can give to Xiao.”

Aether nodded, still red in the face as he picked up the book closest to him. Since all of these covers were blank, it was hard to tell the contents without looking inside. The moment Aether opened the book, he immediately regretted it as it was a picture book.

Golden eyes rounded upon the sight of a man lying on the bed, his head thrown back with his mouth opened and eyes closed. The look on his face could only be described as ecstasy with spurts of white splattered over his body. With his legs pulled apart, Aether was given a clear view of another man’s appendage, going into the...

The blond frantically snapped the book shut, but the image was already engraved into his brain…

“There’s surprisingly a lot of novels here. Well, then again it might be not so surprising. Some nations have strict rules on the picture ones. This would be good since words can go into details of how it’s done!” Venti mumbled while scavenging through the books and oblivious to Aether’s inner terror.

“We should pick out the ones with males only and put them into a pile!”

“Uwah, this one is a bit extreme, but hey, surely that brute would be into it!”

“Hilichurl? Huh, people sure are imaginative these days.”

“Woah, a Regisvines? Wouldn’t you freeze to death? Wait…did Regisvines have tentacles like these? Oh, they’re roots…?”

“Hmm, as I thought, there’s not too many with only males—oh! Hey Aether! Look at this! This one’s from Fontaine!”

“Aha, here’s another one! Come now Aether, help me out here!”

“Aether? Are you listening?”

“Aether?”

“Aether!”

…They found a book thirteen hours later.

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

“Are you sure you guys were finding a book and not gone off to fight monsters?” Paimon asked, hovering over Aether who was lying in the carriage with a folded cloth shielding his eyes from the morning light.

“Ehe, don’t mind him!” Venti smiled. “He’ll be fine after getting some sleep.”

“You two sure took your time! Paimon fell asleep waiting for you!”

“There were too many things to sort through. Besides,” the archon gestured to the carriage they were in. “If we didn’t take an entire night, how would we be able to hitch a ride on the Dawn Winery shipping cart that is heading to Liyue?”

“Why are you so proud when it’s Master Diluc who gave us the ride?” Paimon huffed before looking down at the book the two had taken an entire night to choose. Judging by the hardcover and the form of the book, it originated from Mondstadt. Since there wasn’t anything on the front or the back of the book, Paimon couldn’t tell what kind of content was inside.

“Soooo…” She looked up at Venti with a sly grin. “What book did you guys choose in the end?”

“Hmm, I would advise against reading it. It’s not something for the faint of heart~” Venti winked and began playing music on his lyre. Paimon puffed, but she floated down, sitting in the corner of the carriage and listened to the archon’s music.

The journey back to Liyue was peaceful. Even when there were nearby monster attacks, Diluc’s men were able to fend them off so there was no need for Venti or Aether to intervene. Because the Dawn Winery carriage was heading towards Qingce village, the three had to get off around Stone Gate and walk the rest of the way to Guili Plains.

This time, there was no need for Aether to call for Xiao. The moment they arrived at their destination, Xiao appeared in a flicker of green light.

“Lord Barbatos,” he greeted politely, nodding his head towards the Anemo Archon.

Aether and Paimon stared at Xiao, then to Venti who puffed out his chest with pride. Sometimes, they both forget that Barbatos was a huge deal due to the archon’s behaviour and the little respect the bard named Venti gets in Mondstadt…

“It’s been a long time, Xiao! Almost a millennia, I believe?” Venti greeted.

“Yes,” Xiao responded curtly. “What brought you to Liyue?”

“I ran into our dear traveller here back in Mondstadt and heard about Morax’s proposal to you, so I decided to come along!”

“I see.” The adeptus glanced to Aether. “I trust you’ve brought the items?”

“Yes, here they are.” Aether handed over the basket of Cecilias and the book.

“What are you planning on doing with those Cecilias?” Venti asked curiously.

“They are for the Cleansing pills.”

“Cleansing pills? What’s that?” Paimon inquired.

“Adepti do not indulge themselves in mortal desires,” Venti explained for the pair. “Stuff like alcohol, gambling, food, baths…things human usually need or do for pleasure! While older adepti don’t need to eat because their power is strong enough to sustain themselves, the same can’t be said for the younger ones. To prevent them from having worldly desires or cravings for things they shouldn’t, they created all kinds of special pills for convenience—like pills for hunger, pills for meditations and so on. The Cleansing pills are for when they want to wash their body. Toss one into the bathtub, dip in a viola! You’ll be clean and refreshed in no time! Pretty handy when you’re suffering from a hangover!”

“Wait, you mean they don’t need to eat at all? But Adeptus Xiao ate!” Paimon pointed at Xiao who crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight to his right foot.

“Eating is but a choice for us,” he said before narrowing his eyes at the wind god disapprovingly. “The Cleansing pill purifies the body and soul. It is not to be used to consume more alcohol.”

“You say the same thing as Morax,” Venti groaned. “But if I remember correctly, isn’t the Cleansing pill made with the herbs in Liyue? Why do you need Cecilias?”

“Many herbs have been lost in the flow of time and the changes within the formation of land,” Xiao replied rather patiently, to both Aether and Paimon’s surprise. “Madame Ping has informed me that the properties of Cecilia are similar to the herb I am missing.”

“Ah, Madame Ping! I haven’t seen her since I’ve last visited Liyue Harbour!” Venti nodded.

“If you’ll excuse me, I will take my leave.”

“Hey now! It’s been so long since we last spoke! Don’t be so eager to leave!” Venti hurriedly blocked Xiao’s path. “Even if you read that book, would you even know what you need to do?”

That made Xiao stop. For the first time, his emotionless mask cracked, revealing a lost look on his face as he stared at the book inside the basket of flowers.

“On the other hand, Aether and I had learned quite a lot! I’m sure we can help you with your studies!”

Aether’s head immediately snapped to Venti in disbelief. He opened his mouth to object, but Xiao beat him to it.

“I will humbly take you on your offer, lord Barbatos.”

“Wait, Adeptus Xiao, let’s not—”

“Perfect! In exchange, give us some of your Cleansing pills! Surely you’ll have extras once you are done!”

“I will only require a few. You may have the rest once I’ve refined them,” Xiao swiftly agreed.

“Wait—!”

With that, Aether was dragged away to Wangshu Inn by Venti with Xiao walking at the front and Paimon trailing behind. When the boss of Wangshu Inn saw the green-haired adeptus, she quickly organized the most luxurious room for them.

That was how Aether found himself locked within the room with one adeptus, one archon and one book between them. Paimon had slipped away at some point, no doubt stuffing her belly with food right now.

Aether was sitting there nervously, watching Xiao open the book to reveal the fine texts printed over the white pages. In the end, Aether and Venti picked out an erotic novel instead of illustrated ones. The blond had feared that the picture books would be too…too graphic for the adeptus to handle. At the very least, he couldn’t handle it, so they chose a novel instead with milder tastes.

“Start over here,” Venti told Xiao, flipping to the middle of the book where there was a red bookmark.

Xiao didn’t ask any questions and read from there. With the way those bright yellow eyes narrowed seriously and that pale hand covering his chin and mouth, Aether would think he was trying to decipher some sort of code rather than reading a sex scene.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Xiao said after only looking through the first page. “Why must you prepare the other person?”

“It’s called stretching! It’s so the person who tops could enter the person who bottoms easier!” Venti replied lightly.

“It’s muscles,” the adeptus deadpanned. “It should be the same if you relax.”

“Well, I suppose that makes sense, but it would be bad if anything tears, right?”

“Such insignificant wounds are hardly anything to mention.”

“But wouldn’t Morax mind even if there is a tiny bit of injury? He might feel responsible, you know?”

Xiao’s brow twitched, but he didn’t say anything about that anymore and moved to the next topic he couldn’t understand.

“What of this oil? What is the purpose of this?”

“It’s so your lord could go in easier and let him feel good, of course!”

Xiao nodded and went on to the next one.

Aether buried his face into his hands. After that first question, Venti has mastered the art of explaining things to Xiao—by telling him that everything was for Zhongli’s sake and how it could benefit Zhongli.

“Positions are an important part of sex!! You should let Morax see your face when you guys do it!”

“Why is that?”

“Well, surely he would want to know whether or not you are feeling good?”

“My pleasure matters not.”

“But it will to Morax! His pride will be hurt if you don’t feel good! That’s the same as saying he's bad lay!”

“A bad what?”

“It means you think he’s impotent~”

“…!!”

Aether’s golden eyes shifted to Xiao who looked as though he had swallowed a whole Electro slime, then to Venti who was smiling way too brightly than he should in such a situation. It was obvious that the archon was enjoying this way too much and Xiao was too clueless to see it.

The blond weighed the pros and cons of intervening before deciding to keep his mouth shut. While Aether never had any sexual experiences, reading porn and erotic novels for thirteen hours straight gave him some…insight to things. Even if Venti was seemingly playing around with Xiao, the Anemo Archon was in fact giving Xiao the best advice that could bring him and Zhongli closer together.

“There are also techniques you must master! You also need to know what Morax’s kinks are.”

“…Kinks?” Xiao frowned, clearly not understanding the definition of the word.

Aether’s mouth fell open, gawking at Venti like he had grown a second head.

And so, Venti began a list of every kink that was possible to mankind. Some of which Aether saw in the stacks of porn, but most he never even heard of and was certain the god was making this up as he went!

By the end of Venti’s long rambling, Aether’s jaw was pretty much touching the floor and Xiao…

Xiao was shaking with long bangs falling over his face. With his head dipped low, the blond couldn’t see what expression he has right now.

“I have no idea…that this requires so much skill…!!” Xiao whispered before promptly getting up. “I must request my lord to reconsider. As I am now, I can’t possibly be his partner.”

“Wait! Wait, Adeptus Xiao!” Aether jumped up—or at least, he tried. Distracted by Venti’s rambling, he didn’t even realize how numb his legs were and he ended up smacking into the floor with his hands grabbing onto Xiao’s ankle.

It was a good thing Xiao had stopped when he called out, otherwise Aether can’t imagine what would become of him if he made the adeptus fall flat on his face.

“You haven’t finished the book yet! Why don’t you look through the book first?”

Xiao considered the traveller’s words for a moment before he sat back down and picked up the book once more. Aether secretly let out a small breath of relief before shooting the god an accusing look. Venti responded with a guilty smile while scratching the back of his head, knowing he went overboard. Although the bard didn’t think he was wrong. Who knew what sort of weird kinks that old grandpa would develop after over two thousand years of yearning?

Now that he wasn’t asking questions every other sentence he encountered, Xiao’s reading speed increased a lot. In no time at all, he finished the sex scene and the milder contents inside calmed him greatly.

“I’m sure all those—erm, kinks that Venti mentioned don’t apply to Zhongli.” Aether made sure to shoot another look at Venti. “At least, I don’t think he would want to be tied up and lick your feet or make you lick his feet.”

“I have no issue if my lord asks me to lick his feet,” the Yaksha responded with absolute seriousness. “It’s…I cannot imagine making…making him…” The thought was so terrifying to Xiao that he couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“No, they are equally bad!” Aether wanted to crack open the adeptus’ skull to see what was inside that head of his!! In fact, he also wanted to crack open Venti’s! What in the world was the archon thinking trying to stuff these ideas to Xiao knowing he’ll take them seriously?!

“Calm down, Aether. You’re gonna burst a vein,” Venti laughed and Aether briefly entertained himself with the idea of throwing Wei—the stray cat at the front counter—at the cat-allergic god.

He can’t rely on Venti anymore, so he needed to do this by himself.

“Adeptus Xiao, has Zhongli ever given you anything?”

“The medicine you delivered to me was from him, was it not?” Xiao asked back.

“Well, yeah, but has he given anything that was…infused with his power?”

“…He has.”

“What was it?!” Aether’s reaction was a bit over the top, but he couldn’t help it. With so many things going on, he felt like he was going to die from a headache if he didn’t get one thing sorted out.

Instead of replying, Xiao held out his hand and his weapon materialized within his palm.

This was the first time Aether has seen Xiao's weapon, yet the moment he laid eyes upon it, he found himself thinking how there was no weapon in this world better suited for Xiao than this. The spear in Xiao's hand was by far the most beautiful spear Aether has ever seen. The weapon had an elegant emerald body with the bright green spearhead crafted from the finest jade. There were fix smaller jades—three on each side—spreading out like wings. Even without touching it, the blond could feel power radiating from the weapon much like its wielder.

“Ah, the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear!” Venti immediately recognized the weapon. He then turned to the clueless blond and explained, “it’s a weapon Morax made for Xiao. During the archon war, there was not a single god who did not know of Xiao and the spear he wielded. This close up, I can certainly feel Morax’s energy flowing within.”

“Aside from this, was there anything else Zhongli had given you?” Aether asked. A very bad feeling was creeping up on him, but he didn’t want to believe it…

“No,” the adeptus replied with absolute certainty, crushing what little hope Aether had left.

The last bit of energy left the blond, but he slammed his palms into the floor, stubbornly hanging onto his sanity.

One mystery was now solved.

The gift Zhongli mentioned…it was definitely this Primordial Jade Winged-Spear.

The courting gift Zhongli had given Xiao was a weapon…and of all times he gave it to him, it had to be during a war?!

How could anyone not misunderstand?!

“T-then did Zhongli say anything when he gave that to you?” Aether asked in his last attempt of struggle.

“He said he hoped I would accept,” Xiao’s gaze was distant as he remembered the past. “That was the day, I devoted myself to serving him.”

THUD

“…What are you doing?” Xiao frowned at the human lying on the floor.

“Eh…his legs must be numbed. Humans tend to have this issue when they sit too long, don’t mind him!” Venti waved and picked up the erotic novel. “Let’s continue!”

Xiao nodded and the two went back to discussing the book, ignoring the worldly-outlander slowly withering away on the floor.

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

“Hold on…you’re saying that the gift Zhongli gave Adeptus Xiao was his weapon and when he said he hoped Adeptus Xiao would accept…Adeptus Xiao misunderstood it as Zhongli asking if he would serve under him?!”

Aether hid his face behind his hands. Hearing Paimon repeated everything in his head out loud made the situation even more ridiculous.

After getting down the basics of how intercourse works, Xiao needed to work on making the Cleansing pills and left the inn, telling them to come back after three days to give them their portion of the pills.

So now they were back at Liyue Harbour, strolling around the streets since the last time Venti visited Liyue was centuries ago. The archon was running around the street, taking in the sights of the city while Aether explained the situation to Paimon.

“As I thought, this is all Morax’s fault,” Venti sighed all too happily, coming back with a steam bun in hand. “I figured that blundering buffoon couldn’t do a proper confession, but to think it would be to this extent.”

“Where did you get that steam bun?” Paimon asked, knowing full well the archon had no Mora on him.

“The old lady at the stall was nice enough to give me one after listening to one of my stories!” Venti took a bite into the hot bun and let out a satisfied hum. “Hmm! It’s been so long since I’ve tasted Liyue’s delicacies.”

Seeing the joy on the god’s face, Aether couldn’t help but smile and said, “let’s go to Wanmin Restaurant. We can talk while we eat there.”

“Now you’re talking Paimon’s language!” Paimon cheered. “Maybe Xiangling would be there!”

“Oho, I have heard of the name Xiangling. She is quite famous!” Venti nodded, taking another bite of his bun. “Ah, by the way…does this restaurant have any alcohol?”

“I’m sure they do, but…” Aether wanted to point out how none of them looked to be of legal drinking age, but Venti waved him off.

“Come on, you need to learn to live a little or you’ll end up becoming one of those block of rocks that can’t—”

“Oh? That can’t what?” A deep voice came from behind them, causing Venti to turn into the very stone he was mocking.

“Zhongli!” Aether turned to see Zhongli standing behind them with his arms crossed over his chest and those Cor Lapis coloured eyes glaring down at a certain archon.

“Aah, if it isn’t my dear old friend!!” Venti’s tune immediately changed as he spun on his heels and greeted his old friend. “I heard you’re going by the name of Zhongli now, yes? How is the life of retirement fairing for you?”

“How about we talk somewhere less conspicuous?” Zhongli suggested, though he wasn’t talking to Venti, but at Aether and Paimon.

They ended up booking a private room at the Liuli Pavilion with Venti and Zhongli listing out their orders to the waitress. Aether could already hear the sound of Mora leaving his wallet because there was no way these two broke gods would be able to afford any of it.

Once their meals were brought up, the waitresses closed the door on their way out, giving them full privacy. Finally, Aether found the opportunity to speak. He decided to start by telling Zhongli about Xiao asking for him to wait a week—or if he was to count the days that were already lost, to wait for five more days.

“I see,” Zhongli said with a small smile on his lips. “You have my thanks.”

“No, we uh, still haven’t figured out what he likes yet,” Aether said guiltily. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about that part with the porn and everything else going on.

“Wouldn’t anything be fine? That child is blindly devoted to you,” Venti chipped in from the sideline, but was ignored by Zhongli completely.

“It’s alright if you cannot find out. I know that it is difficult to get him to talk about himself.” Zhongli said with a soft sigh. “I have tried in the past, but he never gives me his opinion and only agrees with everything I say…”

“So that’s why you wanted us to ask!” Paimon gasped, finally understanding.

“What did I say? Blind devotion,” Venti lamented.

It was then that Zhongli finally spared some of his time to the other god. “Barbatos, why are you here?”

“Can’t I visit an old friend?” The Anemo Archon blinked those large, forest green eyes innocently.

“Venti was helping us gather some materials for Adeptus Xiao.” Aether quickly explained, not wanting Zhongli to think Venti was here to meddle.

“Materials?”

“Your little Xiao is refining some Cleansing pills so he asked our dear friend here to get some from Mondstadt.”

“Then he must have needed the Cecilias,” Zhongli nodded in understanding. “I should have told him I have already prepared the Cleansing pills. That is an oversight on my part.”

“He just started. We can tell him that you already have it prepared?” Aether offered.

“No, that’s alright.” Zhongli shook his head lightly. “I am happy that Xiao is taking the initiative. Traditionally, it is the one that proposed the courting be responsible for the preparations.”

That’s because he had no idea he was being courted—Aether wanted to say, but held himself back.

“What kind of preparations?” Paimon questioned with a tilt of her head.

“You know how male birds attract female birds by being pretty and all?” Venti cut in when Zhongli parted his lips to respond. “They must also build a nest and prepare the food. If the female likes the home they made, they stay with the male!”

“Barbatos,” Zhongli’s tone dropped and he glared at the other god. “Do not compare the courtship of adepti to that of animals.”

“Aren’t you all closer to animals than humans anyway? And besides, Xiao’s technically a bird.”

“Comparing Xiao to a bird is a grave insult. You say this knowing I am in the middle of courtship with him. Are you testing my patience?”

“I would never! I simply thought our friends here would understand better if I explain it that way!” Venti countered.

“Do not believe in this bard’s nonsense,” Zhongli said to Aether and Paimon. “The act of intimacy is important within our courting traditions. It is the first exchange of our adeptial powers, one cannot take it lightly. Therefore, it must be located in a place where we cannot be disturbed.”

“So…like a vacation home?” Paimon summarized.

“Yes, you can say that.”

“A vacation home…” Aether perked up when an idea popped into his head. “Zhongli, do you already have a place prepared?”

“Yes, I am thinking of Jueyun Karst. It is the only place with few mortals thus we would not be disturbed. I have already informed the adepti living there of this matter.” Zhongli paused when he saw the disappointment on Aether’s face. “Do you perhaps have an idea?”

“Oh no, if you already prepared it then it’s alright!”

“Plans can always change. I want to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

“Well, it didn’t seem like Adeptus Xiao have a home like the other adepti. Even when we sit down to talk, it’s at Wangshu Inn. I thought it would be nice if he could have his own place.” The blond said, scratching his cheeks. When he looked up to Zhongli, the archon was sitting there, staring at him with his eyes wide.

“Yes…that is…” Zhongli mumbled to himself before bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. “It has been a long time since…perhaps now…”

“Uh, Zhongli?” Aether called, successfully snapping Zhongli back to reality.

“My apologies,” the man heaved out a deep breath. “It is only natural you do not know of this, but the Wangshu Inn is established for the purpose of supporting Xiao.”

“Eh?! What do you mean?” Paimon flew up from her seat.

“The Wangshu Inn is created by a secret organization within the Qixing. To be precise, it started with an agent, but it grew and expanded into an organization over time.”

“Then the boss of the Wangshu Inn…” Aether trailed off, remembering the woman always sitting behind the front counter. Now that he thought about it, there was always something strange about her…like how casual she was when mentioning Xiao and even took in ghosts that Xiao brought over.

“If you are referring to Verr Goldet, her real allegiance is to that organization within the Qixing.”

“And the Almond Tofu that Adeptus Xiao loves to eat?!” Paimon gasped.

“The Almond Tofu is also created for Xiao,” Zhongli answered.

“Let me guess, that agent that started the whole thing was you, Morax?” Although it was a question, there was a knowing look on Venti’s face as he grinned at his fellow archon.

“I will not deny my involvement, but the Wangshu Inn is the result of the people’s gratitude towards Xiao.”

“And of course, Xiao is oblivious to all that~” The Anemo Archon sighed wistfully.

“He doesn’t know?!” Paimon stared at Zhongli with wide eyes.

“If he finds out the truth behind Wangshu Inn, he will not go there anymore.” The Geo Archon had a troubled look on his face. “He is a stubborn one and does not easily accept help from others. That is why you must keep this a secret.”

“Of course! Paimon will never tell anyone!”

“Your secret’s safe with us.” Aether nodded.

Then, the two turned towards Venti who straightened under their gaze. “Why are you two looking at me like that? You think I would tattle?”

“True…the tone-deaf bard may be annoying at times, but he can keep a secret!”

“Thank you for your compliments,” the god chuckled.

“Since he got a place already, I guess there’s no need for a home, huh?” Aether laughed lightly.

“Not necessarily. You have given me a better idea.” Zhongli looked at the blond gratefully. “I cannot thank you enough.”

“Oh…I’m glad I could help?”

“I have one more favour to ask of you.”

“What is it?” Aether asked rather cautiously. He couldn’t help it, not after what Xiao asked them to do…

“You say that Xiao is refining the Cleansing pills right now?”

“Yeah, he told us to come back in three days and he’ll give some to us!” Paimon beamed. Even if it wasn’t Mora, it was still a reward for their efforts. Besides, if it was something made by an adeptus, surely it would sell for a hefty price!

“Three days…that leaves two,” Zhongli muttered. “That is plenty enough time. I want to ask you to lure Xiao away from Guili Plains for the remainder of those two days. Preferably somewhere up north—around Qingce village. ”

“But…would he leave with us?” Aether frowned. The whole reason Xiao spoke to them in the first place was because they were delivering his medicine and that he needed their help. As for their time at Wangshu Inn…that was because of Venti. If not for the Anemo Archon, Aether doubted that he would be able to convince the Yaksha to go anywhere with him.

Zhongli was conflicted as well. He knew that his request this time was too much to ask of the traveller. Even he couldn’t think of any convincing ways for them to get Xiao to leave the plains he dwelled upon for so long.

“Ahem!” Venti cleared his throat, letting his presence be remembered. “Might I offer a solution to that? Of course, it will come with a small price~”

“I will give you three gallons of the finest Osmanthus wine in Liyue.” Zhongli was quick to take up the bard’s offer. Putting their many disagreements aside, Venti was still an archon and the one who gave Xiao his Vision. The younger god may be childish, a drunkard, slacks off from his duties and overall a disgrace to the arts…but he was an old friend Zhongli could rely on when push comes to shove.

“Deal!” Venti chirped, snatching up a Lotus Flower Crisp and bit off the fluffy pastry petal.

Aether smiled and raised his chopsticks. “Well then, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

“Finally!” Paimon let out an exaggerated sigh, picking up her plate and chopsticks with her eyes sparkling as she gazed upon the food. Zhongli let out a small chuckle and joined in as well.

At that time, Aether had no idea what sort of disaster his innocent suggestion was about to bring to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the adepti and the Treasure Hoarders located in Guili Plains.

Likewise, he was also oblivious to the new hell that awaited him at Qingce village…

         ◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

[yellowcanna]

The ZhongXiao Alliance

Summary:

“You requested the bard to get you porn?” Diluc questioned with a skeptical look on his face.

“No!” Aether shouted, waving his hands frantically in front of him. “It’s for…for Paimon!”

“WHAT?!” Paimon screamed off the top of her lungs before spinning around to see the pair of crimson eyes narrowing at her while the blue one twinkled with amusement. 

"So he says." Kaeya gestured to the Honourary Knight.

“No! Paimon would never read these kinds of things! It’s adeptus Xiao!!”

“An adeptus from Liyue want you two to get porn?” The disbelief in the tavern owner’s voice was clear.

“This is all for Morax’s sake!” Venti pipped up from behind Aether, as if that would make the situation any better. 

“Oh? Morax?” The Cavalry Captain raised a brow. "So it is the Geo Archon that wanted the porn?” 

Aether buried his face into his hands. He should have never taken up on Xiao's request. No, before that, he shouldn't have taken Zhongli's request. 

This whole mess started when Zhongli confessed to Xiao in the wrong order, starting with sex.

Now, it's up to one traveller, one emergency food, and one bard to make things right...by getting Xiao a guide to sexual intercourse.

Rating: 18+

Genre: Mutual pining, comedy, miscommunication, romantic fluff, smut, yaoi

Pairing: Main Zhongli/Xiao, side Aether/Venti, hint of Kaeya/Diluc and Xingqiu/Chongyun

Story type: Multi-chapter

Beta’d by: Amberowl123

中文 Chinese Translation available by: Yejet

╔ ✦✧✦ ═════════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═════════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

                             MAIN                 NEXT ▻

    CHAPTER 1 - ZhongXiao Alliance, Dispatch!

   The Guardian Yaksha does not dream.

Perhaps it was his punishment for devouring the dreams of so many innocent people, but Xiao never dreamed—not since the Archon War. Even sleep was something he did scarcely. Whenever he closed his eyes, all that came was the painful memories that haunted him even to this day.

Xiao had just returned to Guili Plains after the battle with Osial when a weird drowsiness crept up to him. Instead of fighting it, he simply closed his eyes and welcomed the sensation. When he opened his eyes once more, he was standing above the clouds with the sunset sky surrounding him.

Standing before him, was a man with long raven hair tied behind his back and eyes in the colour of Cor Lapis. This was a form that Xiao had not seen in many, many years. It was the Geo Archon’s real form—the form he always used during the war.

“My lord,” Xiao bowed deeply.

“Xiao,” Rex Lapis smiled warmly at him. “It seems you’ve already figured out.”

“I had my suspicions when I saw the Sigil of Permission.” Xiao explained calmly. “It was perfectly replicated, but the power imbued within was different than yours. The Sigil of Permission has not appeared in many centuries, it’s unthinkable for it to suddenly appear right after Rex Lapis' death, let alone one so perfectly replicated that even the adepti were fooled.”

“And that is how you knew of my plans and went along with it…” The raven-haired man let out a deep chuckle. “I expected nothing less from you.”

Xiao hesitated before straightening and stared into the archon’s gentle eyes. Every time Xiao saw those eyes, he couldn’t help but remember how they once looked during the Archon War. Back then, Rex Lapis was ruthless towards his enemies, sealing gods one after another with his mighty spear. His eyes were cold, reflecting only little warmth for those who he called friends and comrades. During that time, there was no room for gentleness or compassion.

It was a time of kill or be killed.

However, as the years went by, Xiao was keenly aware that every time they met, the hardness in his archon’s eyes would soften little by little—like the sharp edges of rock being smoothed by the waves known as time.

“Was the result to your satisfactory, my lord?”

“Yes.” The archon folded his hands behind his back. “And there is no more need for formality, Xiao. Rex Lapis is now a thing of the past. With the death of Rex Lapis, all have come to an end.”

Xiao stiffened and his cat-like eyes dilated even further. “My lord…I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Xiao, the age of adepti is over,” Rex Lapis said, gaze softening at the Yaksha that had been by his side for so long. “Your duty as the Conqueror of Demons has been fulfilled. You have witnessed it yourself, have you not? The people of Liyue no longer need the protection of the adepti.”

Xiao didn’t speak. While he couldn’t deny that, he also couldn’t accept being told his duty was fulfilled like this.

If so, then what else was he good for…?

“Xiao.”

A hand touched his cheek and Xiao felt a weird flutter within his gut. Despite being a dream, the hand felt warm even through the black leather glove. He let the hand guide his head up and was startled by how close they were. If this was not a dream, Xiao was certain he would be able to feel the god’s breath on his face.

“I wish for you to lay with me.”

Xiao’s jaw fell slack. His pure yellow eyes stared at his archon’s serious face, yet despite his shock, he still mustered the ability to answer.

“Ah…yes.”

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

“…Yes? Yes?!” Paimon squawked. She and Aether sat across the archon by the name of Zhongli, both of them staring at him with their mouths wide open. “Just like that?!”

“Yes?” Zhongli answered, setting down the cup of tea he was sipping on.

“Wait, wait, hold on! Did you just…did you just ask Adeptus Xiao to—!!” Paimon wasn’t able to finish since she bit her tongue in her rush to get the words out. She was jumping up and down in midair, hands slapped over her mouth with a pained expression twisting her face.

Aether quickly handed her a napkin before glancing back to the funeral parlour consultant. “Uh, Zhongli…” he began, still trying to wrap his head around what the god had just told them. “You and Adeptus Xiao are dating?”

“Dating?” Zhongli’s brows furrowed in confusion. It took him a while to understand what that word meant. “You are referring to courtship?”

“Courtship?”

“For adepti, our relationships work differently than humans. We do not undergo dating as mortals call it.”

“Is there a difference?” The blond blinked.

“For adepti, we choose our partners based on compatibility. We imbue our power within an item and give it to the party we are interested in. The other party will then choose whichever gift they felt is compatible to them. Once they accept a gift, it means they are willing to become a pair with the sender.”

“So…what you’re saying is when they accept a gift, then they're pretty much married?!” Paimon gaped.

“Well, that is one way to put it, though there are ceremonies needed to be performed in order to complete courtship…”

“Have you and Adeptus Xiao performed the ceremony?” Aether inquired.

“Regretfully, we have not.” Zhongli sighed. “Due to my responsibilities as the Geo Archon, there were many things I am unwilling to tie Xiao down to. Even if I didn’t ask, he will still take on my burden as his own, and that is not something I wish to see. I want nothing but for him to live freely so I told him to wait until the time of Rex Lapis is no more.”

“And now that you’re not Rex Lapis anymore, you’re going to tie the knot!” Paimon was finally able to put everything together.

The corner of Aether’s lips twitched at his travel companion’s words. Would asking someone to go to bed with them be considered tying the knot? Retorts aside, Aether was happy for both Zhongli and Xiao. While Aether may not know Xiao as much, the way Zhongli’s features soften when he spoke of the Yaksha showed just how much he loved the other.

“Which is why I like your help, as unfortunately, I am inexperienced in such a field.” Zhongli looked up at the pair. “I am lost as to what gifts I should prepare, so I hope I could ask you for suggestions.”

“Aren’t you two together? How could you not know what he likes?!” Paimon looked at the man with judging eyes.

Zhongli smiled softly, not the slightest bit offended by Paimon’s words. “You are right. That is a fault on my end.”

“Uh…Paimon didn’t mean anything by that,” Aether hurriedly said while nudging his floating companion.

“What? Paimon didn’t say anything wrong!”

“Paimon!”

“It’s alright,” Zhongli chuckled, looking directly at the blond. “Can I trouble you to find out what Xiao likes for me? I would ask him myself, but he may become suspicious if I do.”

“I don’t mind, but wouldn’t it also be suspicious if we seek him out just to ask what he likes?” Aether brought up this issue worriedly.

As though waiting for him to say that, Zhongli reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch, setting it on the table. “You can tell him that I asked you to deliver this to him. Oh…and Paimon, please don’t eat it.”

“Hey! What do you take Paimon for?!” Paimon snapped, cheeks puffing in anger.

“What is this?” Aether took the bag and smelled the strong scent of medicine coming from the pouch.

“It is painkillers.”

“Painkiller?” Aether’s golden eyes widened at the pouch in his hand, then to Zhongli. “Is he hurt?”

“No, but at times he suffers from pain that can only be eased by this medicine. You can find Xiao at Guili Plains. Call his name and he will come to you.”

Aether nodded, not asking anymore on the painkillers and put it into his bag. With that, the two outlanders set out to Guili Plains.

The trip took half a day, but they managed to arrive by sunset. They found a nice meadow free from monsters and people before Aether sucked in a deep breath and shouted Xiao’s name at the top of his lungs.

He didn’t even finish screaming out the last syllable when a gust of wind nearly knocked him off his feet.

“Enough. I can hear you just fine without your hollering,” a familiar cold voice spoke from behind.

When Aether turned around, he was greeted by the sight of the green-haired adeptus, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and his face perfectly neutral without an ounce of emotion.

“Adeptus Xiao!” Aether smiled happily.

“It’s been a while!” Paimon waved. Ever since they fought together against Osial, Paimon’s image of the aloof adeptus had greatly improved.

“So it has,” Xiao acknowledged before his eyes shifted to Aether. He tilted his head by a fraction, yellow eyes scanning over the blond like a curious cat. “You have something for me.” The words that came from his mouth wasn’t a question, but a firm statement.

“Oh, yes!” Aether reached into his backpack and pulled out the medicine from Zhongli. “We were told to deliver this to you. And also, thank you for saving my life back then, Adeptus Xiao.”

“You were aiding us in the battle to protect Liyue, it is only natural,” Xiao replied, taking the bag of medicine. He stared at the pouch for a long time, seeming to be thinking over something before speaking in a quiet tone. “Did Rex…did that person tell you to relay anything to me?”

“You mean Zhongli?” Aether asked.

“Zhongli…I see, so that is the name he is using now,” Xiao mumbled.

Aether thought Xiao looked a bit off just now, but this was also a good chance for him to start a conversation. “So Adeptus Xiao, since you and Zhongli are together, what—”

“What?” Xiao’s head instantly snapped up, eyes dilated as they locked dangerously on the blond. “Who told you such preposterous thing?!” He snarled, looking as though he was ready to rip whoever that spoke those words to shreds.

“Wait! Wait! C-calm down!” Paimon panicked. “We didn’t mean anything by that!”

“Y-yeah!” Aether quickly tried to back track. He didn’t know why Xiao was suddenly so angry, but he needed to hurry and calm the situation. “I thought maybe you two are, considering—”

“Considering Zhongli asked you to sleep with him!” Paimon finished for Aether who wanted to shove an entire Sticky Honey Roast into her mouth so she couldn’t speak for a while. He was going to put it in a better way, but she went ahead and said it straight out like this!

Thankfully, Xiao had swiftly collected himself again and the pressuring aura around him faded away.

“I don't know how much you know of him," the adeptus began, "but he was the one who freed me from my suffering and bestowed the name Xiao upon me. Disrespect him again and there will not be a next time."

Disrespect?

Aether wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he knew it was best not to bring it up at the moment. If it came down to a fight, he was no match against the adeptus with his current powers.

“Then…you two…?” Aether trailed off, carefully eyeing Xiao in case he blew up again.

“I am simply chosen to be his bed partner, that’s all there is to it,” Xiao replied impassively, turning his head away to stare off into the distance.

“…Huh?” Aether and Paimon echoed at the same time, staring dumbfounded at the adeptus.

This…wasn’t what they were told?!

“Bed…partner?” Paimon gaped. “But Zhongli—hmph!”

Paimon struggled against the iron hold Aether had over her with one arm wrapping around her torso and the other firmly covering that big mouth of hers.

“What is it?” Xiao asked, lifting his eyes to look at them.

“Nothing!” Aether did his best to pull off a smile. “Paimon just ate something bad, don’t mind her.”

“…I see,” Xiao looked away again. It was either he didn’t notice their strange behaviour or didn’t care—it was quite obviously the latter. “Please tell him that I still need some more time. Allow me to have a week to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” The blond didn’t know why, but he was suddenly getting a really bad feeling of all this. Xiao was clearly misunderstanding something here…or perhaps the one who misunderstood was Zhongli?

Either way, these two were obviously not on the same page.

Aether’s head was hurting from trying to put together the pieces of this situation. Weren’t Zhongli and Xiao dating, or court-shipping if that was even the right word? Why was Xiao talking as though he was just chosen to become Zhongli’s sex partner?

“Traveller, I would like to ask for your help.” Xiao suddenly said. “Naturally, I will compensate you for your trouble.”

“There’s no need for that! If it’s anything I could do, I’ll be glad to help!” The blond waved his hands in front of him—dropping Paimon in the process. The little fairy, pixie, dwarf—whatever she was—hit the ground with a pained cry before flying back up and shooting Aether a resentful look.

The blond secretly gave her an apologetic glance.

“I need you to gather twenty wild Cecilias,” Xiao requested, ignoring the two’s not so subtle interactions.

“Cecilia? From Mondstadt?” Aether and Paimon shared a look. Neither of them expects that Xiao would ask them to get anything from another nation.

“Yes.” There was a moment of pause before Xiao began to explain. “I would go there myself, but as an adeptus that once served Rex Lapis, I cannot cross into the other nation without the permission from the archon of that land.”

“I’m sure that tone-deaf—er, I mean the Anemo Archon! I’m sure he would mind though?” Paimon said.

“It's not a matter of whether the Anemo Archon would mind, but a matter of rules and regulations.” Xiao said sternly—as one would expect from a follower of the God of Contracts.

“That’s no problem. We were planning on visiting Mondstadt anyway.” Aether smiled.

“You have my gratitude,” Xiao turned to leave when he recalled something else. “There…is one other thing I want you to find for me.”

“What is it?” Aether asked and watched as Xiao pulled out a small bag. From the jingling sound inside, it was a bag of Mora.

“Oh! I knew you were different, Adeptus Xiao!” Paimon cheered, quickly taking the Mora from Xiao before Aether could.

“I want you to find a book,” Xiao explained. “I know little of Mora’s worth, if there’s not enough, come back to find me.”

“Of course! We’re more than happy to help!” Paimon weighted the Mora and was delighted by how heavy the bag was.

“Where did you get the Mora from?” Aether inquired. He didn’t mean anything when he asked this. It was out of pure curiosity because of all the gods he knew so far, all of them were broke, including the one who created Mora. The blond also highly doubted that Xiao would have a job considering that he was an adeptus who disliked mingling with humans.

“I got it from some Treasure Hoarders around the area,” was the response.

Aether sweatdropped at the thought of the adeptus beating up the Treasure Hoarders and robbing them of their wallets. No matter how he thought of it, there was something off about that image…

“Then that means it’s free Mora!” Paimon obviously didn’t share the same concern as Aether. “We happen to have a lot of connections with people who know a lot about books! What book are you looking for?”

“I need a book that teaches sexual intercourse.”

CLANG

The bag of Mora was dropped to the ground, creating a jingle of sound. The two stared at Xiao, wondering if they had heard his words properly. Surely Xiao didn’t say he needed a book about…

“Wha…what did you say?” Paimon laughed nervously while scratching the back of her head.

“I need a book that can teach me sex—”

“Okay, okay, we know what you need!” Aether frantically stopped the adeptus. “But um…why do you need that?”

“Rex—…my lord requested me to be his bed partner, but I have neither experience nor knowledge.” Xiao gritted his teeth as though it was something he should be frustrated over. Moreover, it was amazing he could say something like that with a straight face. “Since he called for me to become his partner, I cannot taint my body with anyone else to practice…”

“No, even if it didn’t matter you shouldn’t sleep around for something like that!” Aether instantly cut off the Yaksha’s dangerous thoughts.

“That’s right!” Paimon agreed, also extremely worried now. “Do you even know what Zhongli is asking you?”

“Of course.” The adeptus’ fine brows furrowed. He didn’t seem happy by Paimon’s question which was basically doubting whether or not he understood his archon’s intention. “Since he has summoned me to his bed, it is only natural that I am able to provide pleasure to him.”

“No, you’re getting it all wrong!” Aether tried to explain, but Xiao’s mind was already set.

“Once you find the items, I will meet you back here.” With that, he vanished in a flash of green light.

The two outlanders stared at the empty place where the adeptus once was, then to the bag of Mora lying on the ground.

Neither of them spoke the entire journey back to Liyue Harbour, fearing that the adeptus would overhear their conversation. It was only after they crossed through the gate and into the mass of people populating the city that they dared to speak.

“We have to find Zhongli! This is his entire fault! What courting?! They’re not even together at all!” Paimon shouted. She continued her rant, but soon noticed the lack of reaction from her travel companion.

“Aether? Aether!” Paimon shook the blond until he snapped out of thought and looked up to her.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Let’s hurry and find Zhongli!” Paimon urged.

“Hmm…but don’t you think it’s weird?” Aether wondered out loud. “How could two people have such different perspectives on their relationships?”

“That’s why we need to find Zhongli! C’mon! He should be at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.”

Aether nodded absentmindedly, thinking back to Xiao’s behaviour then to Zhongli’s. He recalled how happy Zhongli was and even though Xiao reacted negatively, that was only because he thought it was an insult to Zhongli.

While Aether wasn’t good at telling Xiao’s mood, the adeptus had stood there and spoke to them for a full fifteen minutes. Considering their previous interactions, the blond would say he was in a very good mood—some issues aside. That meant despite being troubled over Zhongli’s request, he was happy, right?

Though Aether had a feeling that happiness might be the fact that Rex Lapis asked something of him, not the detail of what was being asked.

Paimon was right. There was clearly a misunderstanding and they needed to tell Zhongli, but…

“No, let’s hold off on that.”

“What?!” Paimon looked at Aether like he was crazy. “But—”

“Let’s wait until we talk to Xiao again.”

With the situation of Stanley and Havria, Aether realized just how lonely these gods really were. If they tell this to Zhongli right now, there was no doubt that the archon would be crushed. If possible, he wanted to find a way for them to be happy. If he could talk to Xiao properly and let the adeptus understand the real situation, then maybe there wouldn’t be a need to tell Zhongli anymore.

“…Alright then.” Paimon agreed reluctantly. “But…where will we find that book?”

Aether stop in his track, face burning in red and the bag of Mora which was clutched in his hand felt unusually heavy.

“Looking for a book, my liege?” A voice suddenly called out to them, startling the two.

Aether spun around and was met by a familiar face he hadn’t seen for a while.

“Xingqiu!” The blond gasped, shoving the bag of Mora behind his back out of reflex before remembering there was no way anyone could tell what he was planning on buying with just this.

The teal-haired youth was standing there with a smile gracing his lips and a light blue parasol in his hands. “If you are looking for a book, I might be able to offer my assistance.”

“N-no, that’s alright!” Aether shouted, voice cracking in his panic.

“Yeah! It’s f-fine! We ugh…gotta go!” Paimon squeaked.

With that, the pair ran/flew off, leaving Xingqiu alone in the middle of the street, staring at their retreating forms.

“X-Xingqiu…”

“Ah, Chongyun!” Xingqiu turned to see his friend finally coming out of the old antique store. “Did you find it?”

“Yeah…” Chongyun hesitantly held up a book that was wrapped up in brown paper. His face was flushed in pink and he squirmed uncomfortably. Xingqiu kindly opened the parasol and held it over the boy’s head, blocking the strong afternoon light for him.

“I-if I read this out loud, w-will this really make that rumoured lecherous spirit to appear?”

“But of course!” Xingqiu said cheerfully before his face dropped into sadness. “Do you doubt me, dear Chongyun?”

“No, of course not!” Chongyun hastily replied, face burning even more. “B-but I—”

“Then let us go search for that evil spirit!” Xingqiu happily guided Chongyun away while desperately trying to stifle the urge to laugh…

On the other side of the city, Aether and Paimon were standing below the Adventurers' Guild, trying to catch their breaths when another voice called out to them.

“Hey! Over here!!”

They looked up to see Xiangling sticking her head out from Wanmin Restaurant and waving at them. Guoba was there too, peeking its head from behind the door frame.

“Xiangling!” Aether went over to greet the girl. “It’s been a while, how are you?”

“Couldn’t be better! I just got these new ingredients and I’ve been dying to try them out! How about a meal? I’ll give you a special discount!”

At the mention of a meal and the smell of food, the two were reminded how they hadn’t had anything since morning. They agreed and Xiangling immediately went to work and prepared a hearty meal for them. After finishing the delicious food, Aether finally asked the question he had been pondering over the entire lunch on how to ask.

“By the way, Xiangling…do you uh, know any place that sells books?”

“Books? If it’s books, Wanwen Bookhouse got lots,” Xiangling answered, stacking up the plates.

“Ah, no, I mean…uh…” Aether’s face burned, unable to continue on.

After weakly agreeing to go to Wanwen Bookhouse, he and Paimon left the restaurant with the promise to drop by another time. There was no way they could go to Wanwen Bookhouse, so Aether wandered around the town, looking at the shops yet none of them looked like they would sell the book he was looking for…

“Oof…!” Aether was so busy looking at the shops that he didn’t see the person in front of him until he walked right into him. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going!”

“That’s quite alright,” the man replied, and it was yet another voice Aether was familiar with. He smelled the scent of herbs and medicines before he looked up and saw the man who had an albino snake wrapped around his neck.

“Mr. Baizhu!”

“We meet again, dear customer.” Baizhu smiled down at him.

“What are you two doing snooping around?” The white snake asked, forked tongue darting out to taste the scent of the two outlanders.

“W-we’re not snooping!” Paimon shouted defensively.

“Relax, Changsheng was just making a joke.” Baizhu chuckled while patting the head of his snake. “Though you seem to be looking for something. I can help you if you like—”

“No, that’s fine, thank you very much!” Aether shouted before dashing off with Paimon in tow.

The man and snake watched the pair disappear down the street, confusion apparent on both of their faces.

“This is impossible!” Paimon cried after they stopped for a break at another corner of the city. No matter where they went, they kept encountering familiar faces. “How are we supposed to find anything for Xiao like this?!”

“That Xiao you speak of, could you be referring to the boy-adeptus?” A voice called from behind them.

Aether wasn’t even surprised at this point anymore. He glanced over his shoulder to see a purple-haired girl standing behind them with one hand on her hips and a bag in her other hand.

“Keqing?” Paimon looked as though she was going to cry—and those were not tears of joy “What are you doing here?”

“I was, uh, just buying some things!” Keqing stammered, seeming a bit embarrassed before coughing into her hand and steered the topic away. “Anyways, if you’re trying to find something for him, I can—hey!”

Keqing stared at the two that suddenly took off without any warnings, having no idea what in the world had happened.

In the end, it was decided that they wouldn’t find the book in Liyue. Considering the battle that occurred not long ago, Aether’s face was pretty much known to the civilians. There was no way they could secretly buy that kind of book while keeping their identities hidden.

In the end, they decided to go to Mondstadt.

Unfortunately, they were away for so long that they had forgotten that Aether’s face was even more popular and well-known there than in Liyue—especially amongst the knights. The moment they got back, they were greeted by all sorts of familiar faces and warm greetings that made it much harder to ask for that kind of book.

“Aether! Paimon! Great to see you two back! How was your travel?” Amber welcomed them with open arms, as usual.

“Well, it certainly has been a while. Words of your deed in Liyue have spread even in Mondstadt,” Kaeya commented with that mysterious knowing smile, as usual.

“If you want to drop by at the bar tonight, feel free to do so but alcohol will still be off the menu for you two.” Diluc said seriously with his arms crossed over his chest, as usual.

“Big brother Aether and Paimon! It’s been so long! Do you want to play with me?” Klee greeted, on the way to blast up the fishes in Starfell Lake, as usual.

"You've come at the right time. I have another experiment I need you to help me with," Albedo muttered while looking through his experiments, as usual.

“Oh my, so the cutie has returned,” Lisa giggled, slacking off from her work, as usual.

“Aether, Paimon, it is good to see you two back and safe. I’ve heard what happened in Liyue. For the Geo Archon to perish like that…” Jean sighed before her desk of paperwork, as usual.

“Through thou journey across the land, thou have finally come! Perhaps even cruel fate has deigned to smile upon me, through sin which courses through my veins!” Fischl spoke in that string of gibberish, as usual.

“Mein Fräulein means that she is happy to see you again, Aether, Paimon.” Oz translated his master’s words, as usual.

“Well hello—” Mona was broke, as usual.

With the sun slowly setting in the horizon, Aether sat on the fingertips of Barbatos’ statue, looking over the city with golden bangs covering his eyes. Paimon hovered next to him, being unusually quiet with her bangs hiding her eyes as well.

The two stayed like that for a long, long time, as though becoming part of the statue they were on. It wasn’t until a breeze blew by, carrying the melody of lyre that they reacted.

“Sadness is not a look that suits your face, especially one as yourself with such fair grace,” a gentle voice spoke through the melody.

Aether and Paimon slowly turned to see a barb dressed in green drifting down with the wind swirling around him and landed soundlessly in the statue’s palms.

“Will you tell me what trouble you so? Together, we can surely soothe your woe.”

“VENTI!!”

“TONE-DEAF BARD!”

“Ack!”

The two travellers pounced onto the Anemo Archon. Taken off guard, Venti was knocked onto his back and soon found himself drenched in tears…

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

“Pfft…AHAHAHAHAHA!!”

“HEY!” Paimon shouted, thoroughly offended that the god had the audacity to laugh after hearing their story. “Don’t take pleasure from our pain!”

“Sorry, but never would I thought for that Morax to…PUAHAHAHAHA!!”

“Stop laughing and help us think,” Aether groaned, burying his face into his hands.

“Alright, alright!” Venti wiped away his tears. “Tell you what, I’ll help you get your book!”

“Venti!” Paimon cheered, not even using the nickname to express her gratitude.

“Are you sure?!” Aether asked hesitantly.

“It’s just erotic book, no big deal about it!” Venti giggled at the red hue spreading over Aether’s cheeks. “Think of this as my way of helping out an old friend. It’s about time these two get together, I’d say!”

“Paimon doesn’t get it…are they together or not?”

“Well…hard to say…” Venti trailed off and noticed the disappointment on Aether’s face. “Oh don’t look like that! Even if they aren’t now, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t get together in the future. I did notice how those two interacted during the Archon War. It’s a miracle they dragged it on for so long.”

“The Archon War?! Wasn’t that like, two thousand and six hundred years ago?!” Paimon gaped. “Exactly how long was he in love with Adeptus Xiao for?!”

“Ah, you might want to add another couple hundreds of years to that! The war didn’t finish in one day, after all~”

“Tone-deaf bard!”

Venti laughed at the pissed off Paimon before putting a finger to his lips and started to think back to the memories from so long ago. “Hmm…it’s been a long time since I saw Morax and Xiao even longer so I can’t say, but surely he feels the same towards Morax.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Aether asked with worries.

“Well, there’s a saying that some love starts in bed!”

“You tone-deaf bard! You’re the worst!” Paimon shouted.

“Ah, calm down now!” Venti raised his hands to shield the small fists raining down on him. “That might sound wrong, but this is the best solution!”

“What do you mean?” Paimon finally stopped pounding on the god.

“It took over two thousand years for that old blockhead to lay everything aside and start thinking about relationships. How many more do you think will take for Xiao to come to terms with it? Rather than waiting another millennium, it would be quicker to let the misunderstanding grow and have them sleep together, no?”

“You’re not wrong, but the way you put it makes it super sketchy…” Paimon crossed her arms and stared flatly at the bard.

Venti chuckled, taking it as a compliment before his smile disappeared and his eyes drifted to the stars above. “Time is cruel after all. That’s why we should spend every moment treasuring the time we have.”

Aether stared at Venti. At this moment, the other felt very far away despite sitting right beside him. The blond thought back to the story Venti told them…the one about his old friend and couldn’t help but feel a prick of pain inside him.

“But we can’t be sure until we confirm Adeptus Xiao’s feelings.” Aether pointed out. If Xiao didn’t feel the same for Zhongli, then he wouldn’t want to go through with a plan like that. That would only end up hurting both Zhongli and Xiao.

“Hey Venti, do you know much about Adeptus Xiao?” Paimon asked, flying around them.

“Of course, for I am the one who gave him his Vision, after all!” Venti lifted his lyre up and ran his fingers over the strings, creating a soothing melody.

“Long, long ago, Liyue suffered many outbreaks of diseases due to the bodies of the archons buried beneath the land, eternally sealed by the Geo Archon’s spear. These archon’s souls were filled with bitterness and this bitterness manifested into monsters. They raged in forms of diseases, unleashing evil into the rivers and seas.

Rex Lapid summoned the illuminated beasts to purge the daemons from this world. These illuminated beasts with dreadful appearance and warlike temperament raged through the land to free the people of this curse. Within the armies of illuminated beasts, five stood out amongst the rest. They were Bosacius, Indarias, Bonanus, Menogias, and Alatus. These five were Rex Lapis’s personal guards, following him wherever he went to purge the plague. They were later known to the mortals as the Yakshas.”

“There are more Yakshas?!” Paimon’s eyes widened at the news. “Why didn’t we meet any other ones?”

“The Yakshas were guardians of Rex Lapis for years without measure, and the evils they vanquished were incalculable. Yet mighty though they were, the Yakshas were not beyond the torment that betides all who face war, and they became afflicted. Some were given unto their rage, others unto a madness which fear mongered.”

The melody slowed, taking a sadder tone.

“Many turned to the slaughter of their own, others were bewitched by shadows of the soul. After a millennium did fate present itself unto them, and it was such: three of the five perished, the fourth vanished, and all of the myriad shared the fate of the three or the fourth. The fifth alone prevailed, and the fifth was Alatus, the Golden-winged King.”

“Adeptus Xiao,” Aether whispered, eyes rounding at this realization. This was a story about Xiao!

“Wait, so Alatus is Adeptus Xiao and he is also the Golden-winged King?!” Paimon slowly put everything together. “But we didn’t see any wings on him?”

“Not anymore,” Venti sighed. “He lost his wings long ago. Alatus is nothing but the past. Xiao is his name now.”

He ran his hands over the strings a few more times.

“That one has endured much suffering. Even to this day, he carries a burden that was not his to bear. I will not dive too much into his past as it is not my story to tell, but Morax was the one who saved Xiao from a cruel fate. This was also why despite the countless contracts Morax has created, Xiao was the only exception.”

“Wait…you mean, Zhongli never made any contract with Adeptus Xiao?” Aether asked.

Venti nodded.

“The God of Contracts was known for making contracts and following everything to the contracts. It didn’t matter to him if they were friends or alliances, archon or Yakshas. Every single being that made a deal with him had to form a contract.”

“Even you, Venti?” Aether asked.

“Yep,” Venti whined. “Even me! Horribly paranoid he is, don’t you think? But Xiao was the only exception to all of that. Morax never made a single contract with him and whenever he asked Xiao for something, it was always requests. Because Morax was the one who saved him, Xiao devoted himself to serving the Geo Archon and never once said no to him. He was more devoted to Morax than those who were bound by contracts. Even if it is the most absurd request, Xiao will do it as long as it is Rex Lapis.”

Aether and Paimon groaned at the reminder of this misunderstanding between the two adepti. They certainly witnessed how devoted Xiao was to Rex Lapis…considering he was even willing to offer his body without questions.

“But it’s strange,” Venti brought a hand to his chin and frowned. “Xiao may be stubborn and cold sometimes, but he’s a sharp-witted one. I can’t imagine him misunderstanding the situation if Morax was even the slightest bit clear on his intention. I may not be an adeptus, but even I know how seriously they take courtships and Morax is the most traditional one of them all, so it's impossible for him to mess up on that. What exactly did that guy say to Xiao anyway?”

“Well, rather than what was being said, it’s more like the lack thereof…” Paimon grumbled.

“He asked Adeptus Xiao to sleep with him?” Aether recalled their entire conversation with the Geo Archon, and that was the only thing he could find that was mildly related to a confession.

“No, no, there’s got to be more,” Venti grumbled with full certainty. “The fact that Morax asked something like this means he thinks they are already in the middle of a courtship, so the problem must stem even further back in time. It seems we would need to have some more talk about this with Xiao.”

“We?" Aether turned to Venti in surprise. “You’re coming with us?”

“Morax is a good friend of mine and I have some responsibility towards Xiao. I’ll lend you guys a hand!” Venti winked.

“VENTI!!”

“TONE DEAF-BARD!!”

For the second time that night, Venti was thrown onto his back and drenched in tears—except this time, it was happy tears.

Thus the ZhongXiao alliance was formed.

                                MAIN                 NEXT ▻

[yellowcanna]

Fandango

Summary:

At age fourteen, Ajax joined the Fatui. 

At age fourteen, Ajax met the Sixth Harbinger, Balladeer.

When he first met her, she was in Inazuma disguised as a high ranking courtesan at Yoshiwara—Inazuma's red-light district. She wore beautiful and elaborate Inazuman garments, laying lazily against the wooden rail of the balcony and looking down at the men fawning over her on the street like they were nothing but trash.

At age fourteen, Ajax fell in love with the woman known as Balladeer.

At age twenty, Tartaglia has a secret. 

It was a dark secret—one which he will take to his grave. 

Even at the cost of his life, he will never admit to anyone (even himself) that his first love was a cross-dressing Scaramouche.

Rating: 18+

Genre: Love/hate, cross-dressing, post-canon, smut, yaoi

Pairing: Tartaglia/Scaramouche

Status: One-shot

╔ ✦✧✦ ═════════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═════════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

At age fourteen, Ajax joined the Fatui.

He was the youngest amongst the trainees so he ended up being at the bottom of the ranks. Despite being a formidable fighter and being brought here by a Harbinger (though the latter information was kept a secret), Ajax was often brushed aside. He was excluded from training and the older trainees ordered him around with small things such as fetching drinks and scrubbing the floor.

Naturally, Ajax wouldn’t do any of that, so he beat them up, including his squad leader.

Since then, life in the facility became harder. If he didn’t do as he was told, he would be locked away in the solitary room with no water or food for three days straight. When he got out, food was hard to come by as the kitchen was told specifically to not give him anything to eat.

They were trying to use starvation to get him to submit. They wanted to hear Ajax apologize and to swear to always obey orders, but Ajax stubbornly refused. Thankfully, the kitchen staff took pity on him due to his young age and gave him leftovers but Ajax knew this would only be temporary.

Sooner or later he will starve in this archon forsaken place. Wait, can he call this place forsaken by archon when it's a training facility for an archon's army?

As Ajax sat in his tiny room that was the closet and pondered what to do, he overheard the conversations of two Fatui members walking while passing by.

Most people tend to forget the fact that there was a child living in the closet, so Ajax was able to eavesdrop on their conversations. In two days, the new batch of graduates from the facility will be sent to a Harbinger. Ajax knew who the Harbingers were. One of them was responsible for throwing him here, after all. The Harbingers were what the Fatuis looked up to. They were of the highest position with powers granted by the Cyro archon herself and were undeniably the strongest warriors in all of Snezhnaya.

Ajax may be young, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew the main reason the people here hated him and tried to step him down was that they were afraid. They feared the power he had and feared their positions being shaken. But that was only these people, not a Harbinger.

A Harbinger wouldn’t fear him and more importantly, only a Harbinger could get him out considering it was a Harbinger who brought him in. If Ajax could get one to recognize him, then he’ll be free. Maybe he'll even get missions where he could face off against strong opponents.

That night, Ajax snuck into the office and found the files regarding where they were sending the graduates.

He internally pleaded it wouldn’t be Pulcinella and to his luck, it wasn’t.

They were being assigned to the Sixth Harbinger, Balladeer.

Amongst the Ten Harbingers, Balladeer was one of the names Ajax heard of the most. While no one would dare to gossip bad things about a Harbinger, there would always be a slip of the mouth here and there, and these slip-ups happened quite a lot with Balladeer.

For one thing, it was known throughout the facility that Balladeer wasn’t well-liked, even amongst the other Harbingers, though there was no explanation as to why. There were also countless warnings on what to watch out for when talking to this particular Harbinger, such as words that could warrant instant death like mentioning the Harbinger's height.

Exactly how short was this Harbinger to make their height a taboo?

Ajax looked through the papers, but there wasn’t anything useful. The only useful thing he learned was that Balladeer was currently in Inazuma, but other than that there was nothing on where to meet them or how. In the end, Ajax did the only thing he could think of.

He snuck out of the facility and waited at the harbour.

As long as they were going to Inazuma, they will need ships.

He waited at the harbour for a day prior to the graduates' departure since he didn't know exactly what time they were leaving. Once he saw which ship they were using, he snuck inside through the cargo and tailed after them. He wasn’t afraid to be discovered, since Ajax was confident that his skill was far above theirs. The only issue was when they were halfway across the sea, they had to switch into a small wooden boat and sneak into Inazuma.

When the Fatuis got onto the boat, none of them noticed the small body that was clinging onto the bottom of the boat, submerged within the water. Ajax was gripping as hard as he could to not fall from the boat while using his Vision to create a small air bubble around his head.

The travel took nearly two days until they finally arrived at the land of the closed nation. Once the Fatui graduates saw the land coming into sight, they sank the boat and swam the rest of their way there. Ajax swam deeper into the sea as he followed after these graduates.

When they were nearing the shore, Ajax swam ahead, finding some rocks to hide behind when he sensed presences from the forest. He dived back into the water just as the graduates emerged to the surface.

From beneath the ocean, Ajax saw a flicker of shadow and the newly graduated Fatui members dropped to the ground, dead in a single strike. Ajax let out a small whistle into his air bubble. Although it was hard to see beyond the surface, he could make out two people standing over the corpses.

These people were flipping through the corpses, most likely searching for clues behind these Fatui’s appearances. When they found none, they set fire to the corpses and walked away.

Ajax waited for a moment before he swam up and poked his head out from behind the rocks. When he didn’t sense anyone nearby, he hurried to the burning corpses and coated his hands with a layer of seawater. As a trainee at the facility, he was made to memorize the Fatui codes and knew that the information on their mission had to be on their bodies somewhere easy to access.

It didn’t take long for Ajax to find it written on the inside of one of the Fatui’s gloves. He pulled the glove off and retreated into the sea. Although those people left, there was always a possibility they would come back to make sure the corpses are completely burned. As much as Ajax wanted to fight them, he knew his priorities.

He retreated into the water and swam around until he came across a huge cliff. With nothing but a small rusted dagger, he scaled up the cliffs and finally stepped onto the land of Inazuma. He roamed within the forest, scavenging fruits and berries before coming across a man walking down the path, wearing cheap Inazuman garment that exposed a huge proportion of his chest and a bottle of wine carried over his shoulder.

Ajax knocked the man out and stripped him of his clothes and belongings—including the wine. He needed to take away everything to disguise this as a robbery or bandit attack. With that done, he ran into another part of the forest and changed into the man’s garment. The size was too big on him, but he easily took care of that by cutting off the extra fabric with his daggers. Once he was satisfied with his new clothing, he hid his Vision inside the wait belt thing—whatever they call it here—and pulled out the half-burnt glove he managed to save.

On the inside of the gloves were the codes he had been looking for, though most of it were burned way, leaving only a couple readable words. It took Ajax a couple of minutes to figure out that these weren’t meant to be words, but pronunciations.

Yo-shi-wa-ra.

Ajax didn’t know what this word or words meant, but he committed it into his memory. He dumped the glove onto his old clothes and picked up the bottle of wine he took from the man. He poured the alcohol over his old clothes before setting it on fire. Once everything was burned into ashes, he conjured a bubble of water and dropped it over the fire.

He travelled through the forest until he came across the wall that surrounded the city in the distance. He waited until nighttime and scaled up the wall, successfully sneaking into Inazuma without anyone noticing.

The structure of the buildings was very foreign to him. The structure here was more similar to Liyue from what he has seen in one of the old books he read at home. Without knowing the situation, Ajax couldn’t risk exposing himself so he slept in the alleyway, curled up against the trashes to provide warmth for himself.

For the next few days, Ajax would travel around the city with his face covered in grimes and dirt so that no one would spare him a second look. He memorized the entire layout of the city before starting to bond with the homeless people he came across.

At first, no one wanted to talk to him but Ajax’s cheerful personality and his young age eventually got a lot of people to open up to him. Through these homeless people, Ajax was able to gather plenty of information—enough to know what Yoshiwara was and where it was.

It turned out that Yoshiwara was the red-light district in Inazuma.

Now knowing where his destination was, Ajax set off towards Yoshiwara.

The travel took a whole day by foot. His feet were killing him from wearing the wrong sized sandals and the rough straw material that constantly scrapped against his feet. It made him wonder how these people could deal with wearing these things.

He glanced around at the men walking about, eyes searching for any signs of the Fatui.

As he ventured into the red-light district, Ajax was soon appalled by how filthy this place was. By filthy, he was not talking about cleanness, but of how they sold women like products. Beautiful women dressed in elaborate Inazuma gowns (which he learned was called Kimono) sat behind the wooden bars, waving at any passing men for their eyes to land on them.

They were like live stocks put in there for the display.

Some of them winked at passing men while others pulled off one side of their kimono to reveal their bare shoulder along with a tiny bit of breast…it was disgusting. The only fortunate thing Ajax found was that none of these women bothered to bat an eye at him, considering how filthy he looked and obviously had no Mora.

His stomach growled after wandering around the street for the entire night, unable to find a single clue. He was beginning to doubt if Yoshiwara was the location when he came upon a crowd of men gathered before a brothel. They were cheering and whistling, trying to get someone’s attention. Ajax followed their gaze upward and saw a woman sitting high up in the balcony.

Ajax had seen another woman like this at some other building. From his conversation with one of the homeless that used to frequent Yoshiwara back when he was still somewhat rich, this was an oiran—a high ranking courtesan.

These high ranking courtesans were different than those prostitutes locked behind bars. They were apparently said to be very talented and quick-witted and expensive. Only nobles could afford their services. Ajax wanted to retort how in the end they were still prostitutes, but the people here didn’t seem to see it that way.

This oiran was very different than the other one Ajax had seen. The other oiran sat very formally while this one was practically boneless, sprawling over the balcony with her pale hand rested on the wooden railing.

She was extremely beautiful with her dark purple hair held up by hair sticks and other accessories. She wore multiple layers of kimono with the outer layer being an eye-catching scarlet colour with golden lining. Despite wearing so many layers of clothes, Ajax could still tell that she had a very slender figure.

There was a small curve upward on her rosy lips as she held her head high despite the height she was at. Those electric indigo eyes swept over the crowd in such a condescending way that Ajax wondered what about this woman that attracted them.

And then…their eyes met.

Ajax felt goosebumps crawling over his skin. He jumped back by reflex—an action no one but the oiran had seen.

The oiran raised a fine brow before bringing her sleeve to hide her lips. While Ajax couldn’t see with the kimono sleeve in the way, he knew the woman was smiling judging from how much louder the men’s cheering got.

Ajax was the only one that felt the dangerous aura pouring out of her body that was directed at him. He nearly whipped out his blades, his heart pounding at the excitement of meeting a strong opponent, but he held it in. Inazuma wasn’t like any other nation. If he gets discovered, he will be killed for certain. That and the fact that he knew he wasn’t a match against that woman—at least, not yet.

Ajax turned and left. He didn’t get far, for that the pain in his feet was getting hard to ignore. Once he sat down in an alleyway, he looked down to see blood seeping from his cuts and dying the sandals in red.

He huffed, leaning his head back until he hit the wall, wondering what he should do to approach that woman. If his hunch was right, then that woman could be a clue as to where he could find the Fatui. Why else would a prostitute in a red-light district give out such a dangerous feeling?

Ajax didn’t need to ponder over the issue long, for that he was soon approached by a woman who told him that oiran invites him inside.

Ajax hid his cautiousness behind a bright smile and followed the woman. He was brought into the building through the back door, avoiding the eyes of other customers and workers before he was brought into a room on the very top floor.

The room he was shown into was huge, covered in tatami and expensive-looking furniture. At the center of the room, sitting by a low wooden table sipping on tea was the oiran. The pressuring feeling from before was gone, making her seem harmless—to the point where Ajax nearly doubted his senses if not for the fact that his senses were never wrong. It was what saved him in so many battles.

“Well, well…which sewer did you crawl out from?” The oiran asked with a mocking smile and words that made Ajax itched to draw his blades. “How old are you, boy?”

“Fourteen,” Ajax replied, holding his head high, looking nothing like a kid who grew up in the streets.

“Hm…” One moment, the oiran was drumming her painted nails over the table, the next, she was suddenly in front of him before he could even blink.

Ajax stood frozen, not having seen how she crossed the room like that. Cold fingers with sharp nails gripped his face harshly as the oiran leaned in close.

“You are not from Inazuma,” she noted after taking a good look at the face hidden beneath the dirt. Her breath was warm against his face and Ajax could smell the light scent of perfume clinging to her clothes. It was only when she pulled away that Ajax noticed they were the same height. Before, she was either lying or sitting so he couldn’t tell at all. Ajax may not be tall, but that was because he was only fourteen and still growing, but how old was this woman for her to be so short?

Considering her occupation here and the eyes that had seen many battles, she has to be older than him…

Wait.

Short?

“Balladeer?”

In an instant, Ajax was thrown into the wall. His entire body was shaking with electricity dancing around his body. His senses went haywire and despite the numbness in his body from the shock, he was able to conjure a pair of Hydro blades and deflected the daggers that were thrown at his vitals. The deflected daggers spun within the air before they were caught by two cloaked Fatui assassins that emerged from the shadows by the woman’s side.

“Seriously?” Ajax nearly laughed at his luck. He gripped his blades tighter and licked his lips. It had been too long since he last enjoyed the thrill of a battle.

“Leave him alive, I have questions for him,” the oiran who Ajax was now certain was the Sixth Harbinger ordered.  

“Yes!” The two assassins spun their blades in their hands and charged towards the boy.

Ajax’s smirk widened and he dashed into the fray, swiftly dancing around the two assassins with his stances and weapon constantly changing.

Balladeer never once interfered with the battle. She stood quietly by the corner, observing the battle with narrowed eyes. At first, her face twisted in surprise at the constantly changing forms of the boy as well as the weapons in his hands, but soon that shock melted away into seriousness.

“Useless,” she clicked her teeth when both assassins were defeated and thrown at her feet. She glared at her subordinates before her eyes shifted to the boy. “For a brat, you move pretty well.”

She eyed the pair of Hydro blades in the boy’s hands. “Who sent you?”

“I’m a new trainee from the facility, number 1412,” Ajax replied. “I came to serve directly under you!”

“A trainee?” The woman frowned. She eyed the boy up and down. Her gaze softened and a smile lifted her lips. “I see, so you are one of the new recruits sent to me.”

“No,” Ajax replied honestly. “I snuck out of the facility and followed them here. Those guys died the moment they stepped onto this land.”

Balladeer’s smile widened, though it was sharp and nowhere near gentle as she looked seconds ago. However, the smile was more genuine than anything Ajax had seen on her face. “So you’re saying that you are better than those who finished the program?”

She then glanced back down at her two fallen subordinates. “Well, you’ve certainly proved to be more useful than these buffoons. I applaud you for your honesty. Had you claimed to be one of those recruits, I would have killed you.”

It was then Ajax realized that question was a trap. This woman already knew the graduates had died and used it to test him

“Tell me, who recruited you into the Fatui?”

“Pulcinella,” Ajax answered.

“So it’s him,” she muttered quietly, looking over the ginger again. “Why come to me and not that Rooster?”

“He brought me into the Fatui as punishment.” Ajax briefly explained how he got thrown into military training by his dad, beat up a bunch of fully-armed troops and then being officially thrown into the Fatui training facility by the Fifth Harbinger.

“You say you wish to serve me, yet the look on your face tells me otherwise.” The woman stared into those unyielding and defiant eyes.

“I want to fight,” Ajax answered. “As long as you give me that, I will listen to you.”

“Hmph…very well,” Balladeer stepped over the bodies of her subordinates and came up to Ajax. “Since you’ve proven your ability, I will keep you. However,” her glared sharpened and her voice dropped into a low growl, “you are in no position to bargain with me, boy. You will address me properly and listen to my orders, understand?”

“Yes, my lady!” Ajax answered, dipping his head to hide the eye roll. Though this also made him miss the way the woman’s brow twitched upon the way he addressed her.

“1412 is a fitting number for you,” she said with a click of her teeth. “Now out of my sight until I summon you.”

“Yes~” Ajax drawled before he left the building the same way he came in. Once he stepped outside, there was another Fatui member already there waiting for him, disguised as any other Inazuman. He was brought to a building not far from Yoshiwara where the undercover Fatui were living in.  

It wasn’t until days later that Tartaglia found out what Balladeer meant by his number fitting him.

The number 1412 was given to him by the Fifth Harbinger, Pulcinella.

If he writes the letter 1412 closer together, it transforms into the word KID.

For the next couple of weeks, Ajax barely got any sleep.

Balladeer made sure to work him to the bone, between making him run errands and assassinating certain targets. Ajax didn’t mind as long as he was able to experience the thrill of fighting a strong opponent, and Balladeer made sure he got that.

Ajax was also able to witness how the undercover Harbinger worked. At times when he wasn’t sent out to fight, he was tasked with protection—or really it was just a clean-up group. He would hide in the ceiling along with one or two other senior Fatui members, peeking through the cracks to watch over their Harbinger.

With the woman’s silver tongue and quick wit, the men who came to her danced in the palm of her hands without realizing. For these men to be able to afford the time with an oiran, they were all nobles or people with high status. Through them, she was easily able to extract information on the state of Inazuma and the forces at play within the sealed nation. Despite being an oiran (which Ajax still wanted to call prostitute), her tactful way of words made it hard for men to advance onto her and those who tried to touch her…well, Ajax and the other assassins would swiftly jump in and knock these men out.

After that, the workers of the brothel would send these men home on carriages under the pretense that they drank too much and passed out. Ajax found it a miracle that they were able to live when he caught the cold and murderous look the oiran would sometimes direct at these men. If it weren’t for the fact that they needed to stay low, Ajax was certain she would have killed them.

Perhaps that was why they were always tasked with knocking these men out so that the Harbinger wouldn’t accidentally kill them.

Over the next couple of weeks, Ajax learned more and more about the Harbinger he served under. He could see why this Harbinger wasn’t well-liked considering that foul mouth and bad attitude, yet Ajax couldn’t say he disliked it.

Balladeer may be harsh, but she wasn’t reasonable. Ajax certainly had seen Balladeer punishing her subordinates—some nearly beaten to death—but that was because they crossed her boundaries. As long as he figured out where that boundary was, he could jump in her face all day and she would turn a blind eye to it. Of course, there was also the reason that Ajax proved himself to be useful. He was easily the strongest soldier at her disposal, so she was more lenient to him compared to the rest.

One time, Balladeer offered to fight him, wanting to see where his skill level was at and Ajax was more than happy to accept. He was thoroughly beaten, but he had never been happier—not since leaving the Abyss.

It was at that moment that Ajax found himself attracted to this woman.

Three months later, the Harbinger finished gathering the intelligence she needed and gave the signal for them to pull out.

It was finally time to return to Snezhnaya.

On the day of their departure, Balladeer gave Ajax one final task and that was to set the brothel on fire. Balladeer had already prepared a woman’s body dressed in her clothes. As much as Ajax didn’t like getting innocent people involved and knew some might lose their lives in this fire, he still did as he was ordered.

He set the place ablaze and snuck out of the city. When he reached the destination he was told to go, he found a young boy who looked no older than him standing there, dressed in Inazuma clothes with a large hat with veils behind him.

“Took you long enough,” the boy said, turning around to reveal those eyes that Ajax was overly familiar with.

Ajax stared at her, or him, in disbelief.

“Balladeer?!”

Balladeer grinned as though he was waiting for this very moment. He even leaned closer to get a better look on the boy’s face.

“Not a bad expression, but…” Goosebumps crawled over Ajax's skin. He jumped back as purple light blinded his sight, followed by the booming sound of thunder. When he opened his eyes again, the ground he was standing on was burnt in black. “Address me like that again and I will have your head.” 

“Y-you’re a guy?!” Ajax gaped, more concerned about that than the fact that he could have been burnt to crisp. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that the woman he had been serving for three months—and maybe have the slightest bit of crush on—turned out to be a guy.

“Did you think I was anything else?” Balladeer retorted and crossed his arms over his now very flat chest.

“I thought—” Ajax decided to shut up before the Harbinger does it for him. He knew well enough that Balladeer hated subordinates that talked back to him. The way the Harbinger was so nitpicky on so many things made it hard for Ajax to believe he was anything but a woman.

“How old are you?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Balladeer rolled his eyes and walked away with Ajax having no choice but to trail after him.

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Tartaglia—also known as Childe—slowly opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling of his room. He brought a hand up, rubbing his eyelids and let out a small groan. His entire body was still throbbing from the pain of using his Foul Legacy. The only bright side to all of this was that Teucer was now on his way back home.

Judging from the time, he should be nearing their home…

“About time you wake up,” a voice spoke in the room where he should be alone. Tartaglia was immediately up, looking across the room to find a familiar purple-haired man sitting by the table, sipping on a cup of tea. That large hat of his was set aside on the wooden chair beside him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I see the young lord still hasn’t learned any manners.”

“What do you want? Came to make fun of me too?” Tartaglia grumbled. He already had enough with Signora.  

“If you're referring to your performance yesterday, it was quite remarkable,” Scaramouche smirked. “Liyue Institute of toy research, was it?”

“You were following me?” Tartaglia was instantly alarmed. What kind of coincidence would it take for his little brother and Scaramouche to be together? The only thing he could think of was that it wasn’t a coincidence, but a scheme. “You brought my brother here!”

Scaramouche’s eyes shifted towards him with a smirk on his lips.

“What if I said yes?” He got up and walked up to the bedridden man. “Are you going to kill me?”

He leaned down close to Tartaglia and grabbed the young man’s chin, similar to what he had done so many years back. Tartaglia stared into those beautiful eyes he had begrudgingly fallen in love with and let out a small snort.

“You may be a scheming bastard, but you wouldn’t waste your time on something so pointless,” Tartaglia hated to admit how much he knew of this man. He slapped the hand off his face and held back a wince when he pulled on his injuries.

“I wouldn’t call it pointless,” Scaramouche drawled but decided to enlighten him. “That ship your dear little brother snuck onto was mine.”

Tartaglia recalled what Teucer had said about sneaking onto the ship that looked like the one he used for his toy company. The twenty years old wanted to bury his face into his hands. Sneaking onto a Fatui ship was one thing, but a Harbinger's ship? 

“Be grateful I didn’t feed that insufferable brat to the sharks.”

“I’m so grateful.” Tartaglia snapped sarcastically, knowing very well that the older Harbinger just wanted to see him embarrass himself, but that brought up another issue he wasn't able to figure out before. When Aether and Paimon found Teucer, he was already in a place where the Ruin Guards were roaming around. For an ordinary child to go from Liyue Harbour to there without encountering a single enemy was either a miracle or that someone was secretly mowing down these enemies before they could get close to him...

“You know, I never took you of all people to have a soft spot for kids.”

“Hah?” Scaramouche looked at the Eleventh Harbingers like he finally lost it. “It seems Mondstadt’s saviour has knocked out more than just screws from that head of yours.”

“You talk like you could do better!”

“Is that supposed to be a challenge? Not only did you fail to get the Gnosis, you even got played by an ancient god and that old hag,” Scaramouche cackled. He leaned down and breathed lightly into Tartaglia’s ear. “Shall I kill that Traveller for you?”

Tartaglia’s gaze instantly hardened with bloodlust rolling off of his body.

At the man’s response, Scaramouche pulled away with a laugh.

“What’s this? Got attached?” He mocked. “You really are a dog, aren’t you?”

Tartaglia’s glare was the only warning Scaramouche had before the Eleventh Harbinger snapped his head up and bit into that soft neck. He thrust his body forward, ignoring the pain in his muscles and with a flip, he successfully pinned the smaller Harbinger onto the bed by his wrists and neck.

“Did you know for some dogs, once they bite down on their prey they will never let go?” Tartaglia muttered against the tender skin, pulling his mouth away to see blood seeping out of the wound he created. He lapped up the droplets of blood and when he licked under the pale jaw he could feel the man’s pulse on the tip of his tongue.

“So you admit to being a dog,” Scaramouche snorted, not showing any signs of resistance. He laid there rather comfortably for someone who was forced into such position. He raised a knee and Tartaglia jerked when Scaramouche’s smooth leg pressed against his crotch and started moving up and down.

“Hard already?” Scaramouche smirked and pressed his leg harder into the budge. “As expected of a brat.”

“Keh…you don’t know when to shut up,” Tartaglia said before he leaned up and slotted their lips together.

It was a messy kiss with the full use of tongues and teeth as the Harbinger battled for dominance, but Tartaglia won—he always did. The ginger reaped his reward by completely dominating that sweet mouth while grinding his hips down against the smaller males.

Through the rough fabrics of their pants, Tartaglia could feel Scaramouche’s member coming alive through his ministration. Although Scaramouche tried hard to suppress it, he still let out a few moans which were greedily gulped down by the ginger.

He kissed Scaramouche until his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. It was only when he felt a sharp pain on his bottom lips did he pulled away, panting heavily as he stared down at Scaramouche whose face was flustered and panting just as hard. His lips were glistening in a beautiful colour with a bit of saliva staining the corner of his lips.

Tartaglia ran his tongue over his bottom lip and tasted the coppery scent of his blood. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness like the eyes of a predator as he dove down and captured those lips once more. His hands slipped under the Inazuman garment, easily removing them thanks to the time he spent at Inazuma.

He dragged his lips over the delicate white skin, leaving a trail of redness behind wherever he went. He ran his calloused hands over the smaller body, feeling the way the soft skin quivered under his ministration. His movements were hurried like a dying man who had been travelling in the desert of Sumeru for days before finding an oasis.

“Hn…!” Tartaglia was unable to hold back the grunt when he was kicked in the side—the force missing his injuries by mere millimetres. He crumbled onto the mattress and felt a weight settled on his hips. When he looked up, he saw Scaramouche straddling his hips with those electric purple eyes gleaming down at him.

“A dog should be obedient and stay,” he said, his chin held high with one palm pressing down on Tartaglia’s chest, gradually applying pressure into the wound under his bandages. It wasn’t hard enough to reopen the injuries, but Tartaglia was definitely feeling the pain.

“You—” The ginger was cut off by a pair of lips smothering into his. The kiss was short before Scaramouche dipped his head and bit into his collarbone, leaving behind his marks much like what Tartaglia had done. The petty bastard.

“Stay still,” Scaramouche’s voice whispered—soft and light. If Tartaglia didn’t have his senses focused on the man above him, he would have missed it. Blue eyes softened as Tartaglia reached to grab hold of those milk-white hips.

Tartaglia stared up at his senior Harbinger, taking in how the lithe body sat on top of him with his body curving beautifully and that taunting smile on his rosy lips.

He was really beautiful.

Tartaglia was suddenly reminded of that day when they first met. Scaramouche had looked so beautiful and unreachable like this too, except that this man right now was in his reach, and those gem-like eyes were reflecting Tartaglia’s image like mirrors.  

Heavy pants resonated throughout the room.

The youngest Harbinger lay on the bed, breathing heavily through his mouth with the body on top of him moving up and down. He could feel the way that heated passage tightened whenever Scaramouche pulled out—as if not wanting him to leave—and loosened whenever he engulfed his cock again, eagerly sucking him back inside.

Scaramouche was panting just as heavily as Tartaglia. Both of his hands were gripping onto Tartaglia’s shoulders, using them as leverage for him to move. His spine was arched back like a bow with its string plucked and his purple hair fluttered in his movement. Those beautiful eyes were half-lidded and unfocused with tears gathering around his long lashes.

Sweet sounds were slipping from Scaramouche’s parted lips despite doing his best to suppress them. Tartaglia’s grip on the pale hips tightened, helping to guide the older male who was starting to mess up on the rhythm. With a precise thrust of his hips, Scaramouche jerked, his eyes dilating with a sharp yelp echoing from his throat. His body quaked and Tartaglia groaned at the heat clamping down on him with thick white cum splattering over his stomach.

Tartaglia panted, starting to thrust his hips when the hands on his shoulders slammed into his abdomen. Slender pale legs also hooked around his much longer ones, locking his movements and holding him still.

Tartaglia looked up and was met with a harsh glare.

“You—ngh!” Scaramouche couldn’t get another word out because Tartaglia chose that moment to roll his hips, grinding his rock hard cock right into that little bundle of nerves. Taking his chance when the smaller man was distracted, he grabbed both of the man’s wrists. With a push of his elbows and a flip, their positions were reversed.

“Aahn!” Scaramouche moaned when the ginger began pounding into his body mercilessly.

“You’ve been doing whatever you like for a while now, it’s time to pay back with a bit of interest, don’t you agree, senpai?” Tartaglia purred against Scaramouche’s ears before giving his earlobe a small nip.

“Ah! Aaah!” Scaramouche cried as Tartaglia picked up the speed even more.

Having just came, Scaramouche was extremely sensitive. Tartaglia knew that better than anyone else. Rather than chasing his own release, Tartaglia was in fact restraining himself. He held the urge of his release back, using certain angles and speed that he knew could bring the smaller man maximum pleasure.

Tartaglia never told this to anyone and perhaps never will, but he loved the look on Scaramouche more than the sex. He was addicted to this body, sure, but he loved the process more than anything else. He loved the way Scaramouche would always fight him for dominance despite being physically weaker and smaller.

The ginger loved anything as long as it involves a battle—and the battle on the bed was no different. He loved how even after he won, Scaramouche would never lower his head down to him. The man was a prideful and feisty one, and that will never change even if he was at a disadvantage. No matter what situation, the little midget would always hold his head high.

Tartaglia couldn’t help but reach his hands up, cupping that flushed face and dipped his head to kiss those petal-soft lips.

Scaramouche’s arms wrapped around him and fingers gently scrapping down his back. He tightened his arms to draw the younger male close until the last bit of gap between their bodies was gone.

The Eleventh Harbinger sped up, fueled by the rare affectionate gesture. He gulped down Scaramouche’s moans and cries until the other jerked his face away, a lengthy mewl escaping his lips as his body shook violently.

The feeling of the hot passage squeezing down on him made Tartaglia lost it. With a low growl, he came, his seeds spilling deep within Scaramouche and filling him up. At the same time, white strings of cum were shot into the air, splattering onto both of their chests and stomachs.

Tartaglia pulled away from that addictive mouth before wrapping his mouth around one of the perky nipples and sucked. Scaramouche jerked but pressed into the mattress under the larger male, he couldn’t do anything but dug his fingers into the man’s tone back. His head was thrown back, his hair spreading over the white pillow like a dark halo. His mouth was wide open, letting out indecent sounds alongside the wet sounds of their hips smacking into one another…

As the sun slowly set into the horizon, a person slipped out of the bed to gather the clothes that were thrown over the floor. In the fading red light of the sun, bruises and bite marks could be seen littered over the man’s pale skin—mostly around his torso and upper thighs.

Once he put his clothes on, the bite marks were perfectly hidden under his clothes, showing how the person who left these marks was more than familiar with where to bite.

“Seriously, what are you, a cat?” Tartaglia’s resentful voice came from the bed. He was lying on his stomach, barely able to move due to the pain that was numbing his body. It couldn’t be helped, considering his injuries began to open halfway through, though that wasn’t what forced him to lie on his stomach like this. In fact, it would be easier on his injuries if he could lie on his back, but Scaramouche made sure to make that impossible for him.

In the fading light, bright red claw marks could be seen littered over his back. The scratches were deep, but only by the standard of scratches. None of it was deep enough to leave any scars, but it was made to sting. Tartaglia didn’t even know when the other had left these on him, but it must have been done gradually over the hours of their intercourse. Little by little with the nails scraping over the same place with great precision...just from how much care the bastard took to not let him figure out was proof of his bad personality.

When Tartaglia lifted his head from the pillow and saw the limp Scaramouche was desperately trying to hide, he decided to call this even. "Leaving already?"

“Unlike some people, I am busy.” The older man fixed his clothes and grabbed his hat. The bells on the hat rang loudly within the quiet room as he put it over his head. He opened the window and the warm air outside blew into the room, diluting the heavy scent that was the evidence of their deeds. 

"Also, I am a neko." He made a show of licking his lips that were curved up in a sly smirk. With a jingle of bells, he leaped out of the window and disappeared from Tartaglia's sight. 

The ginger stared at the window for a long time despite knowing the other Harbinger was long gone.

“Neko, huh?” He chuckled, resting his head into his palm and wiped a finger over his bruised bottom lip. “Would it kill him to be more honest? Come to think of it, didn’t Inazuma have a saying for that? Tsundere?”

He licked his lips, still able to taste the lingering sweetest left by the older male. Already, the thirst that was sated after so long came back. The thirst that only the shorter man could quench—and Tartaglia was certain this thirst went both ways. However, the pain in his back took away some of that thirst. It was like Scaramouche had engraved a piece of him into his back, always reminding the ginger of his presence.

Tartaglia let out a light-hearted laugh.

That guy really was a tsundere.

“You probably don’t even know…the reason why I worked so hard to become a Harbinger.” Ocean blue eyes glanced towards the window as the last bit of sunlight faded away.

“Don’t get involved, Traveller,” he whispered lightly into the empty room. His words sounded like a prayer, yet his voice came out laced with malice. “I won’t forgive anyone that hurt him, including you.”

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

When Scaramouche met Mondstadt’s saviour, he was admittedly surprised. The blond looked nothing like what he had imagined, yet he couldn’t deny that he felt power emitting from the outlander. What’s more, there were no signs of Vision anywhere on the kid's body—at least, not anywhere visible.

The moment Scaramouche laid his eyes on the Honorary Knight, his fingers itched.

His mission was to only investigate the meteor, yet when Scaramouche recalled the injuries on Tartaglia, he felt the urge to drill his hand through that traveller’s heart and watch as life slowly diminish from those golden eyes. It was a pity he had to give up the first time, failed the second and the third time he just woke from the dream so he wasn't in his best condition to battle.

Scaramouche had seen how the Mondstadt’s saviour interacted with Tartaglia’s younger brother as well as Tartaglia himself. He saw how much the youngest Harbinger seemed to enjoy spending time with the blond and that floating little creature—whatever that thing was. If not for his position, surely they would become good friends—perhaps even travel companions.

“Such a shame…” Such a shame that the blond had laid hands on the one person Scaramouche had his eyes on.

After Scaramouche first fought against Tartaglia and tested his full capabilities, he knew it was only a matter of time that the young battle maniac becomes a Harbinger. At the same time, Scaramouche also knew how much Tartaglia did not belong in their ranks.

He was too different from them.

Tartaglia hated the underhanded work they do and hated getting the innocent and weak people involved. If not for the world the Tsaritsa promised them and for the people of Snezhnaya, Tartaglia would have left the Fatui long ago…

Everything was for the sake of Snezhnaya.

Scaramouche gazed up to the stars in the sky. With his research on the meteor completed, it was time to bring the reports back to the Jester. By now, the puppy should be back in the palace, putting up a tough front before the other Harbingers while quietly licking his wounds behind closed doors.

“We will meet again in Inazuma, Traveller,” he chuckled with the sound of bells chiming around him as he left.

     ╔ ✦✧✦ ═════════════╗

Story Vocabulary

╚═════════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

Neko - means cat which in Japanese but can also refer to being the "bottom". So in a gay relationship and one guy is referred to as neko, it means he is the uke which also means the bottom. 

Number 1412 - Yes to everyone who has seen Detective Conan. It’s Kaitou Kid’s number!!

Tsundere - Japanese term for character whose actions do not line up with their feelings. Their outside behaviour is usually cold and even hostile, yet their inside is actually much softer and warmer. They usually say words they don’t mean or to cover up what they’re truly feeling.

Yoshiwara - A famous red light district during the Edo period when Japan has sealed itself from the rest of the world.

[yellowcanna]

Promise of a Lifetime

Summary:

“Where have you been, Xiao?! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Hu Tao shouted, grabbing Xiao’s hand and dragging him into the parlour where Zhongli was waiting.

“Master,” Xiao dipped his head towards Zhongli who was standing there looking at him…apologetically?

Xiao instantly had a bad feeling, and that feeling came true when Hu Tao went on a ramble about how they received a huge sum of mora. The green-haired youth gritted his teeth and took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm.

“Young master,” he stopped the girl who wasn’t getting anywhere other than mora. “These mora you mentioned…were they by chance given by Tartaglia?”

“Yep!” Hu Tao answered cheerfully, not the slightest bit ashamed in admitting that she had once again sold Xiao to the bastard.

The corner of Xiao’s lips twitched, but he controlled himself as to not show any form of disrespect towards Hu Tao and Zhongli.

“May I ask what is requested of me this time?”

“Simple! You just have to attend a party as his lady partner!”

Xiao was going to kill Tartaglia.

[AU where the gods and adepti are humans in Teyvat and Xiao was a former assassin of the Abyss Order]

Genre: Fluff, Canon Divergence, hurt/comfort, touched-starved, Enemies to friends to lovers, shounen-ai

Rating: T

Pairing: Childe/Xiao

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

╔ ✦✧✦ ═══════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═══════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

It was a bright sunny day in Liyue Harbour.

The green-haired youth sat on the open windowsill with one leg propped up and his elbow resting upon his knee. His bright, cobalt yellow eyes gazed out to the endless blue sky without a speck of cloud.

He closed his eyes when a warm breeze blew by, carrying the scent that was exclusive to Liyue. Feeling something settling down onto his elbow, he opened his eyes and was greeted by a little brown sparrow. The tiny bird chirped and hopped around his arm. Xiao didn’t move. He quietly observed the bird jumping all over him. And then, the serenity was ruined by the sound of footsteps before the door was rudely opened without any knocks.

The sparrow squawked and flew away while the youth heaved out an irritated breath.

“I figured you’d be here, Xiao!” A cheerful voice greeted, but the youth on the windowsill didn’t move.

He stared at the sky, determined to ignore the nuisance behind him.

The intruder didn’t mind the silent treatment. He sat down by the table at the center of the room where there was a teapot and a cup of half-drunken tea that had already gone cold. He picked up the ceramic cup and drank the remaining content.

That earned some reaction from the youth who glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowing.

“The master is away,” Xiao finally spoke. Although he tried to keep his voice indifferent like he usually does, there was a mild irritation which the other man was keenly able to pick up.

“I know,” the man smiled around the rim of the cup before setting it back onto the table. He reached for the teapot and poured himself some more tea. “I’m not here for Mr. Zhongli.”

“Young master Hu is away as well.”

“I’m not here for your young master either,” the brunet took a small sip on the hot tea and frown. “I don’t get why the people of Liyue prefer hot drinks when their climate is so warm. Wouldn’t cold tea be more convenient?”

Xiao didn’t respond and turned his attention back to the outside. Instead of looking at the sky, he was now eyeing the street below.

“Hey now, don’t be so eager to leave!” The man chuckled, easily seeing through what Xiao was thinking. “Aren’t you at least curious what I came here for?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun,” the man lamented with a soft sigh. “Someone is after my life.”

“I see,” Xiao turned around to fully face the man. “The Wangsheng Funeral Parlour will accept to host your funeral. Come back once you've brought the necessary funds.”

“Hahaha!” The man laughed. “Looks like staying in this old place has rubbed off on you! I didn’t think I would ever hear you crack a joke!”

Xiao just stared at the man impassively.

“Fine, I’ll get to the point. I need your help.”

“I refuse.”

“Aw, don’t be like that!” He pleaded. “Help a friend out.”

“I don’t recall ever being friends with you.”

“How could you say that after all of our bonding time?”

Xiao’s brow twitched upon remembering what this man viewed as bonding time. This man would keep pestering him, keep pushing his buttons, keep crossing the boundaries until Xiao couldn’t take it anymore and in the end, they would always clash with their blades.

Xiao could still clearly recall his first meeting with the man around this time last year.

As an envoy from Snezhnaya and one of the Eleven Harbingers—Queen Tsaritsa’s Royal Knights, this man known as Tartaglia was a formidable opponent.

The first time Xiao met this man was through his saviour and master, Zhongli. Xiao knew little about the world of business, so Zhongli brought him outside to see the world.

When Xiao first laid his eyes on the Harbinger with ochre brown hair, he knew he wouldn’t get along with him and he was right. The next time they met, this man came up to him and brought up his past.

This envoy from another nation had dug his claws deep into Liyue and pulled out a secret that was meant to be buried, and that was the Yaksha.

For as long as Xiao could remember, he was already walking within the darkness—chained and broken. Perhaps there had been a time when he was freed, but it was a time he couldn’t remember anymore. With a slave mark engraved into his soul, Xiao was powerless against the creature he was forced to acknowledge as master. Without his master's command, he couldn't even take his own life.

The Abyss Order was the name of the organization and Xiao was one of their few human slaves that survived. Since young, Xiao was trained to become an assassin and spy so that the Abyss Order can keep their eyes on each nation. Because he was originally from Liyue, that was where they assigned him to. Due to the demon mask he wore whenever in a battle or assassination, he was given the name of the Yaksha by the citizens of Liyue as a symbol of their fears and hatred.

Xiao could no longer remember how many people he had killed. All he knew was that two years ago, all seven nations combined their powers to finally rid Teyvat of the Abyss Order. During that battle, Xiao was naturally called upon the battlefield where he met Zhongli.

Though the man claimed to be a councillor from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, he was in reality part of the Qixing. Zhongli was the only person who saw through the slave mark binding Xiao and freed him from the chains that had bound him for so long instead of slaughtering him like the rest of the Abyss Order.

The name Xiao was the new identity given to him and since then, Xiao had settled within the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour.

Xiao never understood why Zhongli would go through so much trouble when it was easier to kill him. Even though Xiao may not want to be saved, he was nevertheless grateful for the man’s kindness—as well as Hu Tao’s for giving him a place to stay. Xiao was never one to take anything for granted. Since they extended their kindness to him, he must repay them.

It was as simple as that.

A year following that battle, he tried to live putting the past behind him, yet talks of the Yaksha would still be heard from time to time. There were still people investigating the origin of the Yaksha, for that the demon mask in Xiao’s possession oddly resembled the mask of an ancient clan of exorcists that was annihilated twenty years ago.

Though Xiao heard the rumours, he never bothered to investigate the truths behind it because it did not matter anymore. That clan was no more and even if there were survivors, Xiao doubted they would accept him—especially when he was the one who had killed so many of these exorcists during his time in the Abyss Order.

For a whole year, Xiao’s real identity was only known to Zhongli. Not even the other Qixing or Hu Tao knew about his identity.

No one had ever linked the Yaksha to Xiao.

No one but the Eleventh Harbinger, Tartaglia.

Tartaglia had found out about Xiao’s identity as the Yaksha and confronted him at Tianqiu Valley when Xiao was sent there on a task. He even used his identity to provoke Xiao. Enraged by the man’s action, Xiao drew his spear for the first since the battle that ended the Abyss Order.

Xiao had gone all out, even donning the mask Zhongli had specifically told him not to bring out. Tartaglia had put on a mask of his own, wielding both Vision and Delusion. The whirlwind summoned by Xiao’s power mixed with the violent rain and lightning from Tartaglia created a storm Liyue had never seen before.

Had Zhongli not arrived in time to stop their fight, one of them would surely die that night.

The third time they met was two days after when the man waltzed into his room as though nothing had ever happened. Needless to say, another fight broke out between them and half of the parlour was blown apart.

Hu Tao was hysterical when she returned to find the second floor of the parlour completely gone. However, that matter was swiftly settled when the Fatui shamelessly offered to reconstruct the entire building and even expanding it as compensation.

Since then, whenever Tartaglia dropped by, the young master would look at Xiao with stars in her eyes, desperately hoping for the two to start another fight.

As much as Xiao tried not to, he was still provoked into stabbing the man on multiple occasions. Each time something within the parlour was destroyed, Tartaglia would pay for it. Eventually, this became a pattern and Xiao’s fight became the highest source of income for Wangsheng Funeral Parlour.

“Leave, I have no interest in fighting with you.”

“I’m not here for a fight this time.” The brunet rested his chin into his palm. “I need your help, Xiao Xiao~”

“Do not call me that,” Xiao gritted.

“But you let the young master call you that—Ah! Wait, wait!” He called when Xiao had already gotten up, crouching on the windowsill and preparing to jump out any moment. “I got information that someone is plotting against me and there’s a high chance of assassination. Unfortunately, the mastermind’s identity is covered up pretty well so my men are having trouble locating them. I want to hire your help as a former assassin.”

“I reject.” With that, Xiao leaped out the window and was gone in a gust of wind.

Knowing how persistent that man could be, Xiao took his time strolling around the outskirt of the city. It wasn’t until the sky became completely dark and the lanterns on the street lighting up that he returned to the parlour.

“Xiao Xiao!”

What greeted him when he stepped through the front door was the excited young master of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour—Hu Tao. The raven-haired girl ran up to him, eyes sparkling in a way that Xiao long learned to be wary of.

“Young master Hu,” he greeted politely with a bow.

“Where have you been, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She gasped, grabbing Xiao’s hand and dragging him into the lobby.

“Master,” Xiao dipped his head towards Zhongli when he spotted him standing there looking at him…apologetically?

Xiao immediately had a bad feeling, and that feeling came true when Hu Tao went on a ramble about how they received a huge sum of mora. The green-haired youth gritted his teeth and took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm.

“Young master,” he stopped the girl who wasn’t getting anywhere other than mora. “These mora you mentioned…were they given by Tartaglia?”

“Yep!” Hu Tao answered proudly, not even the slightest bit ashamed in admitting that she had once again sold Xiao to the Fatui.

The corner of Xiao’s lips twitched, but he controlled himself as to not show any form of disrespect towards Hu Tao and Zhongli.

“May I ask what is requested of me?”

“Oh, that’s easy! You just have to attend a party as his lady partner!”

Xiao was going to kill Tartaglia.

✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Xiao sat in front of the mirror and stared at his own reflection. He fixed the Glazed Lily ornaments on the left side of his hair before picking up a piece of red Silk Flower paper and smeared the colour onto his lips.

He put on the pair of emerald earrings, slipping them through the earholes which he had not used for a long time. He then picked up the pair of black satin gloves on the table and slipped them on. The long gloves reached to his elbows, leaving his upper arms bare.

Xiao skillfully wrapped a piece of thin red string around his Vision before tying the string around his neck, creating a necklace. He tucked the necklace under his cloth with his vision hidden under the fake chest he made.

He buttoned up his top and closed the collar over his throat to conceal the budge on his throat that woman would not have. Once he was done, he stood up and headed for the door. His elaborate green and black qipao with Ameno pattern flowed down to his ankles and each time he took a step, the qipao would flutter, splitting at his hip showing off his long, milk-white legs.

“Eeeh? Why can’t I go in?” Xiao heard the familiar whine of Hu Tao from outside his door.

“Xiao said he can dress on his own, young master Hu,” the deep voice of Zhongli’s explained.

“But what is he needs help? And do you really think he would put it on? For all we know, he could have already shredded it and—”

Xiao opened the door. The raven-haired girl who was facing Zhongli spun around on her heels, mouth already open to say something, but her voice never came out. She stood there, her eyes as wide as her open mouth as she gawked at Xiao.

“Xiao Xiao?!”

Xiao heaved out a sigh and let the girl inspected him. He looked over to Zhongli and bowed respectfully. “Master.”

“You look beautiful, Xiao,” Zhongli complimented with Hu Tao hurriedly nodding in agreement before her eyes fell to the B-cup swell around the man’s chest.

If possible, her eyes widened even more and she reached out both hands to start groping them.

“T-they feel so real…!” She gasped in awe as she squeezed and kneaded the softness on Xiao’s chest. “Don’t tell me…Xiao Xiao you’re actually a—”

“It’s made with condensed slime,” Xiao deadpanned, not even wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. He took a step back and angled his body away so he could save his fake chest from her devilish hands.

“Ahem…young master Hu,” Zhongli coughed into his hand. “I believe Childe has been waiting long enough.”

“Huh? Oh! That’s right!” Hu Tao clapped her hands together. “That guy’s already waiting for you in the lobby and—oh, shoes! Let me get your shoes!”

The girl rushed off and came back with a pair of black heels with the same Ameno pattern that matched the qipao. Xiao slipped his feet into the shoes, finding it odd how well it fitted, just like this dress. At first, he thought these clothes were something Hu Tao prepared, but considering her personality, that now seemed highly unlikely.

Zhongli couldn’t have prepared these for him either, since if it was Zhongli, he would have bought all the clothes the store had to offer and piled them into Xiao’s room.

“Young master Hu, may I ask where you got these garments?”

“Oh, Childe gave them to me!” Hu Tao said happily and immediately veins started to stick out from beneath Xiao’s pale skin.

To the side, Zhongli lightly shook his head.  

With another bow to the two, Xiao headed for the lobby, his heels clicking as he went.

As he was descending the stairs, he spotted Tartaglia in the lobby, dressed in the same clothes as usual. Hearing the sounds of heels, Tartaglia looked up and froze. For a split second, the man was taken back, looking completely stunned, but he recovered the next moment with a weirdly serious look on his face.

That made Xiao’s step slowed just a little. He had expected the man to come up to him and tease him, but not eye him with such stoic expression. Xiao kept his face blank and finally arrived in front of the taller man.

He crossed his arms, waiting for the other to speak.

He waited for five long seconds and Tartaglia still didn’t say anything. Instead, the man turned to the attendant that was beside him.

“Bring the good.”

The attendant looked a bit dumbfounded at first, but when he realized what his master was asking for, he hesitated.

“But Master, that’s the gift for—”

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Azure blue eyes narrowed dangerously. In an instant, the attendant bowed down and hastily excused himself.

Xiao watched the man ran out and came back only seconds later with a beautiful ice blue box. From the unusual design on the box as well as the material, the green-haired youth knew it was a box crafted from Snezhnaya.

The attendant presented the box to Tartaglia who opened it up to reveal snow-white fur within.

“This is made by the pelts of the snow foxes that dwell within the mountain of Snezhnaya,” Tartaglia explained, pulling out the long white fur with great care. The pelt sparkled under the lighting and even looked as though it was emitting breathes of coldness from its origin.

Tartaglia ran his fingers over the pelt before he walked up to Xiao and wrapped the pelt around his shoulders and over his forearms. The rest of the pelt flowed down his side, the soft fur tickling his exposed hips and stopping just a couple inches below his knees.

Xiao was stunned by the man’s act. His previous anger was forgotten the moment the fur touched his skin. Never in his life had he ever felt something as soft as this. He looked down at the pelt hung around his arms, able to feel the strange coolness seeping into his skin despite how fur was known to do the opposite.

From how stiff the attendant was standing behind Tartaglia plus his previous behaviour, Xiao could tell that this pelt was meant to be for someone else.

“Master, then the gift…” the attendant began meekly.  

Tartaglia spared the man a sideways glance and waved him off. “Just replace it with something else in the treasury.”

Tartaglia looked over Xiao up and down as his hands reached for Xiao’s face. Xiao stood still, watching the man warily as those hands disappeared from his vision and he felt his earrings being removed. The brunet didn’t say anything. He took off the right earring first, then the left one.

After that, he tossed the two earrings to the attendant and reached up to remove his red earring hanging off his left earlobe. Xiao was quiet the entire time, even when the man leaned over him and slipped his earring through Xiao’s ear.

“Does it hurt?” Tartaglia suddenly asked.

“…No,” Xiao replied, feeling the weight of the new earring before looking up at Tartaglia. How odd of the man to question him such a thing considering how many times they left each other injured after a fight.

“Good!” Tartaglia wrapped his arm around Xiao’s elbow and pulled him outside where the carriage was waiting. “Then let us depart!”

The ride in the carriage was quiet.

Xiao was always one to enjoy the silence, yet silence with Tartaglia was never a normal thing. He glanced over to Tartaglia who was blatantly staring at him which made Xiao shift in self-consciousness.

“If you have something to say, just say it.” Xiao finally said after a long while.

“Hm…” Tartaglia hummed, eye drifting down Xiao’s form then shifting back up to meet the other's irritated gaze. “I thought you would at least try to punch me by now.”

“Because you made me dress as a woman?” Xiao huffed, turning his head away and stared out the window. “I am not unfamiliar with such disguises.”

“Past experience?”

“…Due to my build and face, I was required to dress as a woman many times to approach my targets.”

“I see…” Tartaglia’s voice was quiet and distant, yet there was no form of pity or sadness in that voice. It was the one reason why Xiao always found himself comfortable with talking to this man about his past.

That and the fact that even if he didn’t say anything, this man will dig it out anyway.

“What did they do?”

“Surely you don’t need me to answer that,” Xiao said dryly.

The Snezhnayan did not try to pry anymore, because he knew the answer. While it was obvious these people could never get far because Xiao wasn’t a real girl, some level of intimacies were still inevitable.

“You look gorgeous.”

Xiao glanced back at the man with narrowed eyes. The distrust in those golden orbs was as clear as day.

“I’m serious,” Tartaglia chuckled before his smile fell again. “More than I ever thought you’d be. I’m just disappointed. These clothes don’t fit you at all.”

“What do you mean?” Xiao bristled lightly at what he assumed was an insult.

“For one thing, they pale compared to your beauty,” Tartaglia lamented. He reached out and pinched his fingers around the tail of the fur. “Even the finest fur of Snezhnaya failed to match up to you.”

“Enough with your empty flattery.” Xiao shot the man a sharp glare. “How did you know my size for the dress and shoes?”

“How many times do you think we’ve fought?” The man laughed. “I’m a keen observer! I’ve memorized how your body moves in order to predict your next attack. Knowing your size is hardly anything special.”

Xiao didn’t believe that kind of explanation, but he didn’t bother trying to find out the real answer and instead got down to business. “I assume the one after your life will be attending the party?”

“Yeah, most likely.” Tartaglia nodded. “I have a few suspicions, but I can’t be certain yet. As an assassin, I like to hear your input.”

“You’ve hardly given me any information for me to have opinions.” Xiao crossed his arms and looked back out the windows. “But…I can think of some methods they may use. Halfway through the party, find an excuse to leave me alone and I will identify the perpetrator for you.”

“How dependable!” Tartaglia clapped. “But if you’re alone, you’ll need to talk. Can you take up that task?”

Xiao’s brow twitched, but he softly cleared his voice and spoke in a higher-pitched voice, “naturally.”

It was a beautiful sound with no signs of forced or strained as fake voices generally have. If Tartaglia hadn’t heard this voice coming out of the apathetic man before him, he would have believed the voice to be a real woman’s. He laughed, looking thrilled and extremely interested at how Xiao was able to change his voice like that, but the former assassin was done humouring him.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the dock where Xiao saw people dressed in fancy clothes being escorted onto a ship. So the party will be in the sea…

Xiao was now a hundred percent certain the assassins would come for Tartaglia after they return to land. With this, Xiao was now certain what kind of method they would use to take Tartaglia down, but decided to keep that to himself. Tartaglia hired him for protection, so he will fulfil it to the contract.

The door to the carriage opened. Tartaglia stepped out first before turning to Xiao and offered his hand. Xiao didn’t hesitate to reach for his hand. He placed his hand upon the larger one like a woman would and allowed himself to be guided out. Once standing side to side, he wrapped both of his hands around Tartaglia’s arm and pressed his body close to the man.

Tartaglia’s attendant was already waiting there. At the sight of his boss, he hurried over and presented the same fancy box that once contained the fox pelt. The Harbinger opened the box a little, taking a quick glimpse inside and snapped it shut.

“It will do,” he said, putting on his smile and led Xiao towards the boat.

At the appearance of the young handsome man with a beautiful female companion, eyes were automatically drawn towards them and whispers of the pair began to travel. Neither of the two at the center of this attention cared as they boarded the ship after Tartaglia showed the guards his invitation.

With the sun long set into the sea, the ship was lit with large lanterns, brightening the dock with waiters walking around carrying beverages. When Tartaglia made his appearance, these people swarmed towards him like bees to honey. As the Harbinger who oversaw all the Snezhnaya banks across the nations and establishes trades, Tartaglia has made quite a name for himself in the business world.

Every merchant in Liyue knew about him and was all too eager to establish a relationship with him. That and there was also the fact that the female companion he brought was simply breathtaking. Many men ogled Xiao, though none dared to look too long in fear of being discovered.

With Xiao latched onto Tartaglia’s side and Tartaglia taking control of any conversations that came their way, the green-haired youth didn’t need to participate in any of the interactions. While pretending to not care about everything around him, Xiao was cautiously eyeing their surroundings and checking on all the people that came up to talk to Tartaglia.

The boat has now set off into the sea and the host of the party was making a long speech on the stage.

Xiao was staring at a group of people talking not far from then when a glass of wine came into his vision.

“I don’t drink,” Xiao said quietly, keeping his voice low so no one would overhear.

“Try it, you’ll like it.”

Xiao frowned but knew this man would probably keep pestering him if he didn’t. He took the glass by the stem, swirling the fluid inside around to release the aroma. He took a small whiff before putting the glass against his lips and tilted his head back to take in the fluid.

There was a very unusual taste in the wine—one that was foreign to Xiao.

“I told you you’ll like it,” Tartaglia said with a knowing grin. “It’s Dandelion wine from Mondstadt.”

“…I prefer not to drink, especially during work.” Xiao handed the glass back to the man.

Tartaglia chuckled, bringing the glass to his lips—exactly over where Xiao’s mouth had touched—and took an elegant sip.

Once the speech was over, the guests started to go up one by one to hand their gifts to the host of the party. It was then that Xiao—having not paid any attention to the speech, realized that this was a birthday event.

“Come now,” Tartaglia wrapped his arms around his waist and guided Xiao up the stage where he had his attendant offer their present. “A small gift from Snezhnaya, for the beautiful Madame Zhang.”

The attendant opened the box to reveal a large green gemstone that Xiao had never seen before.

“Oh my!” The woman who Xiao assumed was Madame Zhang gasped at the sight of the gemstone. “Such beautiful emerald! This is the first time I’ve seen one in such quality!”

“We offer you only the best, for you are the star of tonight,” Tartaglia replied smoothly. 

“That is very thoughtful of you, master Childe,” Madame Zhang giggled while her servant took the box and set it aside with the other ones. “Though I believe that there is a lady that shines brighter than any stars or emeralds I’ve seen. What is your name, young miss?”

“I am Xiao, Madame Zhang.” Xiao dipped his head and spoke in his fake voice. “It is an honour of mine to be invited to your party.”

“You two sure make a lovely couple.” Madame Zhang hid her smile behind her paper fan. “Reminds me of when I was in my youth!”

“What are you talking about, Madame? You’re still in your youth.” Tartaglia commented, earning another round of giggles from the old Madame.

They left the stage soon after, making room for others to step up.

After all the guests had their turns presenting their gifts, the party resumed.

More people came to speak with Tartaglia and Tartaglia politely spoke back while making lighthearted jokes. When one man came up to the Harbinger and requested on speaking to him about business ideas and proposal for the bank, Xiao knew this was a chance.

Just as he thought, Tartaglia smoothly accepted the man’s request to talk privately.

After telling Xiao to wait here for him, he walked away with the man to discuss the matter somewhere more private and away from the rest of the people. He didn’t go too far on the deck, but far enough where the light of the lantern did not reach. Many people took notice of the two men’s distance, but the people that gathered here are high in social status. They all knew better than to walk in or interrupt a private conversation.

Xiao stood by the banquet table with his arms crossed and eyes closed, acting disinterested in everything that was happening around him—which was not so much of an act.

With Tartaglia gone from his side, men around began to openly stare at him. Many had the desire to approach him, but the cold aura Xiao was emitting created a barrier that only few dared to cross.

Those who managed to gather enough courage to speak to Xiao always ended up walking away seconds later, discouraged by the lack of conversation yet they dared not to bad mouth him due to him being Tartaglia’s companion.  

“Miss, I couldn’t help but notice you are alone,” another man said, walking up to Xiao as though he did not notice all the other men that were sent away. “If I may have the pleasure—”

Xiao just turned his head and tune the man out. After a long minute of not receiving any response and being ignored, the man walked away defeated like many others.

Just as Xiao was getting tired of these useless people trying to approach him, a glass of wine came into his vision. It was a familiar sight, except the glass of wine was held by an unfamiliar hand.

Xiao stared at the wine for a long moment before his bright Aureolin eyes shifted to meet the man standing in front of him. He was dressed in foreign attire, but Xiao had little knowledge of anything outside of Liyue so he didn’t know which nation those clothes were from.

“Pardon me, my lady.” The man bowed, taking off his hat and placing it over his chest. “I couldn’t help but noticed you seem to enjoy Dandelion wine.”

Xiao’s eyes dropped back to the wine held towards him. He reached out and took the glass, their gloved hands brushing as he did so. This was not the first time a man came up to him with drinks. Some of the men that Xiao brushed off earlier had as well, though all of them offered him women’s cocktails instead of actual wine.

He swirled the cup around under his nose and took a whiff of the aroma. There was a very light and bitter scent coming from the wine that Xiao was quite familiar with. His lashes fluttered lightly, yet his face betrayed nothing.

“I don’t dislike it,” he said, lifting his eyes to meet the man’s. “How did you know I enjoy this wine?”

“You were so beautiful I could not help but stare,” the man admitted bashfully.

Xiao softened his gaze and for the first time that night, he smiled. It was a fake smile that didn’t reach his eye, yet that was enough to cause those who saw his smile blush—including the man in front of him.

Xiao pressed the rim of the cold glass against his lips. Just as he was about to drink the content inside, a gloved hand came in and took his glass away. The former assassin was immediately alarmed, but he couldn’t show it with so many eyes on him. He just pretended to look annoyed and turned to glare at Tartaglia who appeared behind him with an arm around Xiao’s waist.

“My apologies, my partner here isn’t good with alcohol, so allow me.”

Xiao placed a hand over Tartaglia’s chest and pressed his body into his side. In the eyes of other people, it was a very seductive and affectionate move, but in reality, Xiao was pressing his palm hard into Tartaglia’s chest.

The Fatui’s smile didn’t even falter as he drank the entire glass in one smooth motion.

He didn’t even leave a drop behind.

“Master Childe can certainly hold his alcohol!” The man complimented, raising his glass and also downing the wine inside. 

The two happily chatted for a short while before the man walked away.

Xiao on the other hand already couldn’t be bothered with that man anymore. He tightened his grip over Tartaglia, only to feel a hand overlapping his in a reassuring gesture. Tartaglia didn’t say anything and continued greeting other people.

As time slowly passed, Xiao began to see sweats forming over the man’s forehead. Tartaglia’s face was becoming even more flushed and the grip around Xiao’s waist tightened. Eventually, some of the guests noticed Tartaglia not looking well and asked if he was alright, but Tartaglia just laughed and brushed it off as being a little drunk.

Tartaglia managed to keep up his appearance to the very end as the ship returned to the dock.

The moment they got back into their carriage and closed the curtain on the windows, he collapsed into the seat.

“You fool!” Xiao hissed, face distorted with rage. “You should have let me drink that, my body is capable of withstanding poison!”

“They wouldn’t use poison. They’re not so stupid to kill me with so many witnesses,” Tartaglia laughed as though this was something he could joke about. “Though…ngh…this is some potent stuff.”

“Which was why you should have let me drink it,” Xiao retorted and looked down to see the noticeable bulge in the man’s pants. It was impressive of the man to hold his hard-on back for so long. “Shall I drop you off at a brothel?”

“You’d abandon me?” Tartaglia groaned, cracking open one eye to look up at him. “How cruel...”

“I’m trying to help you.” Xiao clicked his teeth, not sure why this man was being so difficult. “If you had let me drink it, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Your body might be able to stand poison, but not aphrodisiacs, am I right?”

Xiao paused a bit before he let out a small huff. “I would have been fine. I’ve endured through it plenty of times.”

Now, both of those blue eyes were open and staring at Xiao. Xiao knew the man wanted to hear more. If this was normal circumstances, he would have ignored him, but…

“Events that required me to dress as a woman were always messy. Uses of drugs were not unusual. We were all trained to fight while enduring the effects of strong aphrodisiacs to see if we would succumb to pleasure.”

Xiao paused when Tartaglia let out a quiet, barely suppressed groan.

“You’re going to a brothel.”

“What if the assassins are waiting there to finish me off?”

Xiao pressed his lips together, unable to deny such a possibility as he had done something similar in the past. Finally, he let out a deep sigh before he ordered the carriage to bring them to a secluded alleyway where there won’t be any civilians or Millelith passing by.

Xiao took in a deep breath and glanced down at the person lying on the seat. “If you ever speak of what I am about to do, I will peel your fingernails off and shove them down your stomach along with your tongue, am I clear?”

“Hmm…then let’s do a pinkie promise," Tartaglia suggested, not the slightest bit fazed by the threat.

“…A what?” Xiao blinked at the man, wondering if the drug was getting to his brain.

“Pinkie promise.” Tartaglia raised a pinkie at him. “I do it with my siblings all the time. Come on, hook your pinkie around mine.”

Xiao was skeptical but did as he was told and resisted the urge to pull his hand away when the man hooked his pinkie around his.

“You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.” He began, lightly swaying their hands back and forth. His voice was quiet and calm, but Xiao could hear a strange tenderness within it. “You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.”

Xiao stared at their linked fingers until Tartaglia finished the strange vow and pulled away.

“Is that a custom of your home?”

“You could say that,” Tartaglia smiled wearily before gritting his teeth to swallow back another noise threatening to come out.

With the man giving him such a vow, Xiao felt a little more at ease and undid the collar of his qipao to free the restrain around his neck.

Once the carriage arrived at its destination, the coachmen scurried away with his face flushed in embarrassment. The carriage was rocking lightly despite not moving anymore. Inside the carriage, moans and huffs of two people echoed softly, accompanied by the sound of rustling clothes.

Dark figures crept along the shadows and surrounded the carriage. With the curtains on both sides of the carriage down, the inside couldn’t see what was happening outside.

“Haah!” A woman’s voice cried, followed by an indecent wet sound. “Ahn!”

The men edged closer and closer to the carriage. The moment they were within range, the ground beneath their feet shook with green spears made from condensed Ameno power shot out from the ground below them.

The spears pierced through their flesh and shattered their bones. In a blink of an eye, half of the assassins were slaughtered on the spot. Those who evaded the attack instantly realized they had fallen into a trap. They pulled out their weapons and aimed for the carriage, but all they saw was a flicker of green light before their heads flew off into the air by a strong current of wind. Flying up along with the detached heads was the top of the carriage that was sliced clean from the body.

The blast of wind swirling around the carriage vanished, revealing Xiao who stood with one foot on the seat of the carriage and his Jade Winged-Spear glowing eerily within the darkness.

On the floor of the carriage behind him…was Tartaglia.

The Harbinger was shaking all over and curled up like a shrimp in boiling water. He was red in the face, but Xiao knew it wasn’t due to the man being under the influence of the drug…but that he was trying to hold his laughter in.

The former assassin felt his veins throbbed and clutched onto his spear even tighter. Thanked to the man’s reaction, his cheeks were slightly red from embarrassment—which he had never felt until now. He briefly pondered the possibility of silencing this man and dumping him amongst these corpses but knew that even if he was drugged, Tartaglia could still put up a fight.

“Since you now know who the mastermind is, my job is done.” Xiao was about to leap out of the carriage and go home when his hand was grabbed.

“W-wait, wait—pfft…ahahahaha!” Tartaglia was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down his eyes. “That was the best! Hahaha! I didn’t know you could put on a show like that all by yourself! And those sound effects were—”

“Enough!” Xiao stabbed his spear into the carriage floor, missing the man's head by half an inch “Another word and I will make sure you won’t have a mouth to laugh with!”

“D-don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” Tartaglia let out another good laugh before finally sobering up.

He snapped his fingers and a man dressed in black and red cloak appeared. With just a simple glance, Xiao knew this man was also an assassin, one that worked for Tartaglia.

“I’ll leave you to deal with the bodies,” Tartaglia ordered before he stepped out of the carriage and pulled Xiao into the dark alley.

“Let go,” Xiao said after a while of being pulled around. He finally had enough and jerked his hand out of the other’s grip. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the droplet of sweats rolling down the brunet’s face. “If you have subordinates around, you should let them take care of you.”

Tartaglia turned and gave Xiao a small, tired smile. “Tell me, Xiao. When was the last time you were able to sleep peacefully, knowing that the world around you is safe?”

Xiao stiffened at that. He looked up at Tartaglia who was looking down at him seriously. Xiao understood the meaning behind the man’s word. Despite those being his subordinates, Tartaglia didn’t trust any of them. At least, not enough to allow them to witness or be near him during his moment of weakness.

Xiao let out a quiet sigh. “What do you want?”

“Let me crash at your place for a bit.”

“And you trust me?”

“Yes.”

Xiao was taken back. He didn’t expect Tartaglia to answer that without even giving a second of thought.  

“You think I won’t stab you in the back?”

“I think if you were to stab me, you’ll do it when I’m awake so I would know who stabbed me,” Tartaglia pointed out.

Xiao couldn’t argue with that. Despite his many dislike of this man, he also couldn’t leave him here like this when he was so vulnerable. In the end, Xiao reluctantly brought him back to his room. He used his Ameno power to carry them there while avoiding the eyes of the people in the streets. He didn’t inform anyone within the parlour and slipped inside through his room’s open window.

Xiao laid Tartaglia onto his bed before locking the windows and door.

Tartaglia’s condition was worsening by the seconds. Large beads of sweat were coming down his face and soaking through his clothes. His face was red and his breathing was harsh. He was even grunting in pain due to the tightness of his clothes—pants especially.

A normal man would have lost it long ago. They would have long thrown away their clothes and rubbed on anything that could provide them with relief, but Tartaglia didn’t do that. As someone who had periodically undergone those pain, Xiao could sympathize with what Tartaglia was going through.

He thought back to those long and cold memories, the burning pain of needs and wants…but most of all, it was the fear and loneliness that broke him. The fear and horror was something he remembered clearly even to this day.

Xiao lowered his eyes and sat down on the edge of his bed. He leaned over Tartaglia and reached a hand towards the brunet’s pants when a larger hand seized him by the wrist in an iron grip. In an instant, Xiao was thrown onto the soft mattress of his bed with Tartaglia hovering over him, pinning both of his hands over his head.

“What were you trying to do?” Tartaglia demanded, his blue eyes darkened and lips pulled into a thin line. At this moment, he was every bit as expressionless as Xiao. Beads of sweat dripped from the tip of his nose and splashed onto the youth’s pale’s cheek.

“You’ll feel better once you get enough relief,” Xiao stated the obvious.

Tartaglia’s expression turned even colder and Xiao felt the hands on his wrists tightened. “So you thought to offer yourself to me? How selfless of you.”

“It’s nothing I have not done before.”

That made Tartaglia stilled and the coldness in those eyes gradually melted away. He leaned down until their noses were an inch apart.

“Had you done a lot of such things?”

“Only with my mouth and hands,” Xiao replied in a tone as though they were talking about the weather, not his sexual experiences. “I have no knowledge other than that.”

“…I see.”

Xiao let out a quiet gasp when the man lowered his entire body onto him, pushing him into the mattress.

“What are you doing?” He inquired, looking down to see the Fatui rubbing his cheek against his fake chest with his arms wrapped tightly around his back.

“Hm…these things are in the way. What are they anyway?” Tartaglia complained, unwrapping one arm to poke at the jiggly object. Xiao slapped the man’s hand away. He undid the top of his qipao, reaching inside to pull out the slime essence paddings and tossed them across the room. He also pulled out his Vision that was hidden there and set it onto the nightstand.

Tartaglia hummed happily and rubbed his face against his now flattened chest. “Much better.”

“What are you doing?” Xiao asked again. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought the man was going to…

“I’m going to sleep this off, what does it look like?” Tartaglia mumbled tiredly. “But of course, if you offer to spar with me, it might let me work off this drug’s effect even faster!”

“Exercising will do nothing but make your condition worsen,” Xiao stated dryly. He stared at the man on top of him. In this short moment, he could already feel the man’s sweat soaking onto his skin and clothes.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable lying down like this, Xiao used his elbows to push himself up. The brunet was latched onto him like some sort of boneless animal, refusing to even budge. At this, Xiao created a gust of wind that swirled around his room. His pillow and blankets that were neatly folded on the corner of his bed were picked up by the wind and placed against his back to prop him up.

Xiao then looked across his room to see there was a pot of tea sitting in the middle of the table. He used the wind to bring the teapot into his waiting hands.

“Open your mouth.”

Tartaglia opened his eye to look at the teapot and did as he was told. Xiao carefully poured the cold tea into the man’s open mouth little by little. It was a good thing that the tea Xiao usually drink was made with Qingxin flower that replenishes the body’s moisture.

Once the man drank every last drop of the tea, Xiao let the wind pick up the teapot once more and placed it back onto the table.

“You’re asking for needless pain.”

“If suffering through this means I get the infamous Yaksha to take care of me, I think I'm getting a pretty good return.”

Xiao frowned but didn’t say anything as he stared down at the man.

“Xiao…” Tartaglia muttered against him. “Did you know that when you accepted that glass of wine, you had a particular look on your face?”

“…Look?” Xiao frowned. Had he made any expression when he noticed the wine was spiked? No, he shouldn’t have. He always had a good grasp over his expressions.

“Your eyes became hollowed, like a child who can no longer cry.”

Xiao’s eyes flew wide and flinched upon the feeling of something touching his cheek. When he looked down, he realized that was Tartaglia's hand which was raised halfway in midair. There was a small smile on the man's lips as his hand moved again.

This time, Xiao didn’t flinch away and allowed the hand to cup his cheek. Through the thin layer of the man’s glove, Xiao could feel his unnaturally high body heat.

“So you pity me?” Xiao questioned, yellow eyes carefully searching the blue ones for any signs of lies.

“Of course not,” Tartaglia chuckled, brows furrowed with pain from the effect of the drugs. “You’re strong. You’re the last person I would ever pity, Xiao.”

Then why…?

Xiao opened his mouth, but instead of asking the question on his mind, he asked something else.

“When was the last time you were able to sleep peacefully, knowing that the world around you is safe?” It was the very same question Tartaglia had asked him in the alley, and now Xiao threw it back at him.

“When I was fourteen,” Tartaglia replied.

Xiao stared into those eyes that held so much darkness and secrets, yet he was unable to hate it because his own eyes were the same.

Xiao lifted his hands. He hesitated for a moment before he wrapped his arms and clasped his pale legs around his hips. Tartaglia froze, obviously not expecting the former assassin to suddenly embrace him like this.

He tightened his right arm around Tartaglia’s shoulder while his other hand was behind Tartaglia’s head, pushing him into his chest with Xiao dipping his head down until his soft cheek was pressed against the brunet’s forehead.

It was a very protective embrace rather than intimacy. It was as though Xiao was trying to wrap himself around the man so no outside danger could ever reach him. For someone in a vulnerable state like Tartaglia, it was a very comforting gesture.

The Harbinger felt like he was going to melt within this warmth…

“I will watch over you, I won’t let any harm befall upon you, so sleep for that I will be here to protect you.” Xiao softly spoke out his promises with his warm breath tickling Tartaglia’s face. “May you fall into a dreamless slumber, yet should you dream of nightmares, call my name.”

Xiao tightened the hold onto the man, using his action to prove that he wasn’t going to go anywhere. He didn’t know what expression Tartaglia was making, nor did he look. He raked his fingers through the ochre brown lock and waited.

None of them spoke again that night. The only thing that could be heard within the silence was the man’s laboured breathing. Xiao understood all of his pain, yet this was the only thing he was able to offer, but Xiao knew this small gesture was what Tartaglia needed. Because this was what Xiao always wanted when he still lived within that nightmare.

All he wanted was simply for someone to hold him…that was all he wanted.

So now, he will give that to Tartaglia.

At some point in the night, Xiao found himself beginning to hum a soft tune. Because of Xiao’s limited use within the parlour, most of his tasks were to go around gathering the items for the funeral. Wild Glazed Lily would be one of the traditional items needed. Due to the…unique requirement when picking these lilies, Zhongli taught Xiao a song to sing before picking them. It was the only song Xiao knew. Of course, Hu Tao taught him some songs too, but they were songs Xiao swore to never sing and threw them into the back of his mind to be forever sealed away.

Xiao hummed this song to the Snezhnayan while occasionally conjuring some wind to provide him with a bit of comfort. He didn’t know how long he had been humming that same tune for, but it must have been a long time, for that the sunlight was shining through the rice paper covering his window, brightening the room.

The body in his arms had gone completely quiet sometime in the night. The only sound Xiao could hear from the man was his soft breathing. He never let go of the body in his arms. He kept a secure hold onto the man, his face still pressed against the Fatui’s forehead.

The brunet’s hair was now stuck together in clumps from his dried-up sweat. Some of that brown hair was sticking onto Xiao’s skin, but Xiao didn’t mind the itchiness on his skin or the stench. He had smelled way worse than sweat back in his days in the Abyss Order.

Xiao looked down at the man’s closed eyelids and the way his lips were neither curving upward or down. He threaded his fingers through the messy brown hair and wondered which side of this man was real.

The one who was always smiling and making jokes, or the one that was every bit as expressionless as Xiao?

Xiao only thought over that question for a brief second before deciding that it didn’t matter at all. Whichever side was this man’s real side, they were equally as annoying.

He continued to hold the man as the sun rose to the highest point in the sky before dropping back down.

Throughout the day, Xiao would sense people coming towards his room, trying to see if he was there but a small gust of wind would always send these people away. No one thought it was weird, for that Xiao had always been like this when he didn’t want to see anyone. The only one who would barge into his room other than the man in his arms would be Hu Tao, but the lack of the young master's voice told him that she most likely went out somewhere to play and wouldn't be back any time soon.

Xiao didn’t drink.

He didn’t eat or sleep either.

He kept holding the man until night came once more and the rowdiness from the street quiet down.

It was late into the night when the city was asleep did Tartaglia finally stirred.

Cobalt yellow eyes shifted down to the man in his arms. Xiao brought a hand to the man’s face, brushing aside those brown bangs and was greeted by the sight of those azure blue eyes.

“Hey there…” Tartaglia grinned, voice raspy from his long sleep. He turned around in Xiao’s arms and reached up a hand to touch Xiao’s cheek. “Were you with me this entire time?”

“I do not go back on my words,” Xiao replied.

“Yeah…” Tartaglia whispered and soon noticed something was off. He brought his hand down and took a sniff of his sleeve before breaking out into laughter. “I can’t believe you were able to hold me like this when I smell so bad!”

“If you realized, then get off.”

Tartaglia finally sat up. He stretched his arms over his head until he got some satisfying pops from his joints. “Aah, I haven’t had a sleep like that in ages.”

He hopped off the bed, taking Xiao’s hand and pulling him along.

“Come on!”

“What are you doing?” Xiao frowned, but still followed him.

“Bath. I think you and I both need one. And I’m sure you’d want to change out of those clothes?” He said, making a show of looking over Xiao who was still dressed like a woman.

Xiao huffed but was unable to argue with that. The two of them went into the parlour’s bath that night. Since it was in the middle of the night, everyone was asleep so both baths they had were unoccupied.

Tartaglia insisted on sharing one bath, but Xiao ignored him and went into his own before locking the door shut. Once he rid himself of the Snezhnayan’s scent and dressed into his usual clothes, Xiao walked out to see Tartaglia already standing there waiting for him.

“Where did get those clothes?”

“The guest rooms.” Tartaglia smiled cockily. “Since I crash here so often, I left some of my clothes behind.” He replied as though leaving his clothes in other people’s homes was the most natural thing to do.

Xiao made a mental note to speak with the young master the next time he sees her. He tossed the red earring back to the man and walked past him. "Since your business is done and the culprit identified, leave. I will inform young master Hu that my duty is over.”

“Always so eager to leave,” Tartaglia said with a light smile. “You’ve stayed with me all this time so you didn’t eat or drink anything, right? At least let me treat you to a meal.”

Xiao paused and it was then he became aware of how empty his stomach felt.

Reluctantly, he agreed and followed the beaming man out the parlour. They arrived at the Liuli Pavilion where Tartaglia booked a private room for them and ordered an entire table of food. Xiao was dumbfounded by all these food considering there were only the two of them, but since it wasn’t his mora they were spending he had no complaints. During the entire meal, Xiao ate quietly with Tartaglia chattering next to him and introducing him to the dishes he picked. Though Xiao didn’t want to admit it, Tartaglia had good tastes in his choice of menu. If there was any fault Xiao was to comment on, it would be the fork in the Snezhnayan's hand.

After eating a hearty meal with Tartaglia paying out of his wallet, they were back on the street, heading towards the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. The entire journey, neither of them spoke. They just enjoyed the silence and each other’s presence.

When they arrived at the main door of the parlour, Xiao was about to go inside when Tartaglia said something unexpected.

“I will be returning to Snezhnaya very soon.”

Xiao turned to the man who was gazing back at him as though he was expecting him to say…something.

The green-haired youth opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what he could say to that. He had almost forgotten that this man was a diplomat, that his stay in Liyue was temporary. The fact that he had stayed for a whole year was already surprising enough.

Liyue would never be home to someone like him.

His place will always be in Snezhnaya.

“I see…” Xiao’s gaze unconsciously shifted away from the man. “I wish you a pleasant journey.”

Tartaglia laughed weakly at the expected response. “So cold…and here I thought we have something special.”

Xiao stiffened at that last part. Before he could figure out what Tartaglia meant by special, the man took his hand into his and pulled him inside. As a frequent guest at the parlour, he knew his way around the building—especially Xiao’s room which he frequently intruded upon.

Once they were back in the room, Tartaglia sat down on Xiao’s bed and pulled the smaller man into his arms. Xiao hastily put out his hands onto the mattress to stop himself from falling against Tartaglia, yet he couldn’t pull away with the man’s arms wrapped around his waist.

“You—”

“I’m just returning a favour.” Tartaglia’s fingers brushed over the tender skin beneath the mesmerizing golden eye. “You should get some sleep. It’d be a pity if such beautiful skin gets ruined.”

There was hesitance in Xiao’s eyes, but the warmth being emitted from the brunet’s body and the weight of the arm over his back was extremely tempting. A longing Xiao hadn’t felt for a long time burned him from the inside and he found that he was too exhausted to fight against it.

Xiao knew he wasn’t thinking straight, but he couldn’t help but cave in. He hesitantly lowered himself against the man, like a cat testing the water.

Tartaglia waited for him patiently, watching him with a gentle look on his face. It was only when most of Xiao’s weight was put against him that he moved. He wrapped Xiao up in his arms and pulled the blanket over them. He leaned his back against the wall next to the windowsill and held onto the smaller body protectively.

Xiao closed his eyes and let out a small breath at the warmth and comfort surrounding him. Pressed up against the man’s chest, he could hear and feel the heart that was beating beneath the other’s ribcage was strangely calming.

“Xiao.”

Xiao didn’t respond, but Tartaglia knew he was listening.

“Come with me to Snezhnaya.”

Aureolin eyes snapped open in surprise. The body in Tartaglia’s arms shifted, but the man held the other tighter and continued.

“The Wangsheng Funeral Parlour gave you a home, but you and I both know this isn’t where you belong. Blades are meant to be sharpened and used on the battlefield, not to be locked away in the shed to rust, don’t you agree?”

Xiao dropped his gaze. He knew that for a long time, but he was saved by Zhongli who gave him a place here. Both Zhongli and Hu Tao were important people to him and leaving them would feel like he was betraying them.

“I…cannot answer you at this time.”

“But you’ll think about it?”

Xiao hesitated before answering with a small nod.

“Good.” Tartaglia smiled and buried his face into the silky green hair. He rubbed his hand up and down the curve of Xiao’s back while his other hand gently rubbed his nape.

“Rest, Xiao. In the name of her majesty, the Tsaritsa, I promise I will always protect you.”

Xiao felt something inside him trembled at such promise. He knew Tartaglia well enough to know that this man always kept his promises no matter how ridiculous that promise may be. But even so, this was the first time he heard the man use his Queen’s name when making a promise. Moreover, Xiao keenly caught how Tartaglia said always protect, and not just for tonight.

Xiao parted his lips but quickly close them again. He knew there was nothing he could say at this moment—not when he didn’t know what his own feelings were. He wasn’t so cruel as to give the man a half-hearted answer.

So Xiao closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep.

Xiao didn’t actually think he would fall asleep, given the heavy promise Tartaglia gave him, but he did. He fell asleep listening to Tartaglia’s voice that was softly singing a lullaby to him.

For the first time since he could remember, Xiao fell asleep feeling warm and safe.

When Xiao woke up, he was still bathed in the warmth of another living being. Even though his mind was still muddled by the sleep, every part of his instincts was screaming to him that something was wrong.

The first thing Xiao noticed was the weird rocking feeling and the second thing was the smell.

Being in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, there was always the smell of incense and because Xiao’s room was always so dull and empty, Hu Tao took it upon herself to always fill his room up with flowers. Right now, there was no scent of flowers or incense anywhere, only the smell of old wood and the saltiness of the sea.

In a split second, Xiao was up, eyes snapping open with the thick quill slipping off his body from the movement, causing his exposed arms to come into contact with the chilly air.

“Careful now,” the Harbinger’s voice came from the darkness before the Xiao was pulled back against the body with the blanket wrapped around his back once more.

“Tartaglia? What is this?” Xiao demanded, looking around the unfamiliar that was most definitely not his. It was a luxurious room, but the style of the room and furniture was not the style of Liyue.

There were no windows in the room, but the constant rocking motion gave Xiao an idea as to where he was. He leaped out of the man’s arms and in a flash of green light, he was across the room, tearing the door open and running out. He sped down the narrow hallway and up the staircase.

In a matter of seconds, Xiao was standing outside on the deck with the bright afternoon sun beaming down at him. He winced at the brightness and had to bring a hand up to shield his eyes from the unusually strong sunlight.

The cold assaulted his body, but Xiao could barely feel it when he saw all these people walking around him, moving the cargo of the ship. These people were all dressed in Snezhnaya clothes with some members of the Fatui as well.

Xiao’s breath came out of his open lips in a visible puff of white. His eyes scanned over the sea before stopping at the land in the far distant—covered by a sheet of white.

“Underestimate the cold and you’ll die in Snezhnaya,” Tartaglia said, coming up from behind Xiao to wrap a thick layer of white fur coat around the fragile-looking youth. Unfortunately for him, his gesture wasn’t welcome when Xiao whirled around and seized him by his collar, pulling him down until they were eye to eye.

“What is the meaning of this?” Xiao snarled, his eyes nearly dilated in his rage.

“Well, you’ll have to ask your young master Hu about that.”

“Young master Hu?” Xiao was taken back, not expecting such an answer.

Tartaglia held out a letter to him with Xiao’s name written at the top. Xiao snatched the letter from his hand and unfold it to see Hu Tao’s familiar handwriting.

He read through the long letter which basically came down to one thing.

Hu Tao had sold Xiao to Tartaglia for ten billion mora.

To be precise, Hu Tao has sent Xiao to Snezhnaya to work with their business partner as a diplomat at the contract agreement of ten billion mora.

Xiao ripped apart the letter. As though that wasn’t enough, he even used his Ameno power to shred papers until it was nothing but dust that was blown away by the ocean wind.

Where in Teyvat had anyone heard of a funeral parlour needing diplomats?!

“You!” Xiao glared at the man who had the audacity to look amused. “I did not agree to come with you to Snezhnaya!”

“Didn’t you say you’ll think about it?”

“That did not mean I agreed!”

“But if I don’t bring you here, how will you think about it?” Tartaglia laughed before he pulled Xiao into a tight embrace. The green-haired youth was mulling over whether or not to toss this man overboard when he heard the following words. “You’re not a prisoner, Xiao. You’re free to leave any time.”

Xiao frowned, trying to figure out if this was another trick.

“The contract I made with Hu Tao only says for you to help me out. As for when this help ends, that is up to you. If you want, you can end it right now and return to Liyue. The money has already been paid in full and by the rules of the contract, I won’t be able to ask the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour to give it back.” Tartaglia slowly released him and took a small step back.

Xiao stared at the man, his anger of being lied to had already faded into nothingness. Despite having pulled him here without asking him, the man was now presenting him a choice to leave.

“What’s your purpose of bringing me to your nation?”

“…I guess I just really wanted to show you my family,” Tartaglia laughed. “They’re the most precious people to me, so I wanted you to meet them.”

“Why?”

“Do I have to spell it out?” Tartaglia tilted his head and smiled at Xiao.

Xiao shook his head and looked back to the land of white the ship was heading towards.

“…Three months,” he finally said after a long time.

Xiao suddenly realized that when it came to this man, he was surprisingly lenient. Had it been anyone else that had kidnapped him into another nation, he would have killed that person already. “You have three months to convince me to stay. Otherwise, I will go back to Liyue.”

“That’s more than enough.” Tartaglia smiled before he held up his hand. Xiao watched as his fingers curled up, leaving only his pinkie behind.

“There is no need for a promise,” Xiao stated.

“Give me your finger.” Tartaglia waved his hand to urge Xiao to do the same.

The green-haired youth slowly held out his hand, raising his pinkie and hooked it around the man’s. Xiao only felt the pinkie around his tightening before Tartaglia pulled him into his arms through their linked fingers.

“I promise that I won’t make you regret this choice you made today, Xiao.”  

[yellowcanna]

Star-crossed Lovers

Summary:

"Have you heard of the story behind the Qixi festival?" Childe said mysteriously, waddling a finger at their little traveller friends. "It's about a pair of star-crossed lovers who can only meet once a year. It's a very old Liyue folktale, but I've heard rumours that this story was actually based on an adeptus and his lover. They are an Alpha and Omega pair that could only meet once a year.”

“An Alpha and Omega meeting only once a year?!” Paimon was horrified by the news. “Is that even possible?!”

“Adeptus…” Aether thought back to all the adepti he and Paimon had met so far. The face of one particular adeptus flashed across his mind. The Guardian Yaksha, Xiao. Like his element, he was the only adeptus that travelled around Liyue without a territory or home to call his own. “Do you know who?”

"Well now..." Childe's eyes flicked to the raven-haired man sitting beside him. "Who knows? It's just a rumour, after all."

Genre: Fluff, Omegaverse, light angst, hurt/comfort, separation, yaoi

Rating: M

Pairing: Cyno/Xiao, Childe/Zhongli

[Cyno is the Egyptian character in Act 3 from the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview.]

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

╔ ✦✧✦ ═══════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═══════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

“The Qixi Festival?” Paimon asked, floating next to Aether and staring at the Fatui Harbinger—or former Fatui now—sitting across the table. “What is that?”

“It’s a festival dedicated to a famous folktale in Liyue called The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl,” Childe explained. “It’s a story about two star-crossed lovers. They even got poems for it but I’m not good with poems so I can’t tell you much about that.”

“Through the varying shapes of the delicate clouds, the sad message of the shooting stars, a silent journey across the Milky Way.

One meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver amidst the golden autumn wind and jade-glistening dew, eclipses the countless meetings in the mundane world.

The feelings soft as water, the ecstatic moment unreal as a dream, how can one have the heart to go back on the bridge made of magpies?

If the two hearts are united forever, why do the two persons need to stay together—day after day, night after night?”

Zhongli recited the poem before bringing a cup to his lips and enjoyed the aroma of the finely brewed tea.

“The story is about a young cowherd by the name of Niulang. He is but an ordinary human who fell in love with a goddess name Zhinu.” Zhongli glanced over to the two outlanders. “They’ve met and fallen in love within the mortal world, but their love was forbidden by the goddess of Heaven and forced to part. Separated by the Milky Way, they can only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month—"

"Which is August, by the way," Childe prompted helpfully.

"—through a bridge made of magpies to spend one night together.”

“That’s…that’s so sad!” Paimon sniffled. “Why celebrate something so sad?”

“Half a glass of water can be seen as half empty, yet it could also be seen as half full. It is but a matter of perspective,” the raven-haired man chuckled. “If you look at it from another way, today is a joyous day for the two lovers to finally meet, thus should be celebrated.”

“But you know, there have been rumours going around that The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was based on a true story~” Childe said mysteriously, waddling a finger at their traveller friends. “They say that this is a story of an adeptus and his lover. They are an Alpha and Omega pair that could only meet once a year.”

“An Alpha and Omega meeting only once a year?!” Paimon was horrified by the news. “Is that even possible?!”

“Adeptus…” Aether thought back to all the adepti he and Paimon had met so far. The face of one particular adeptus flashed across his mind, but he shook it away. “Do you know who?”

“Who knows? It’s just a rumour.” Childe shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Sure you’re not gonna stay for the festival? There’s plenty of good food at this time.”

“Weeeell—” Before Paimon could scream ‘yes’, Aether held out a hand over her and shook his head apologetically.

“Thank you, but we really can’t,” the blond politely declined. “We need to head to Inazuma as soon as possible.”

“Guess it can’t be helped then.” Childe wasn't surprised by the blond's rejection. He knew how desperate the boy was in searching for his sister. He rested his head against his palm and grinned at the two. “I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

Aether nodded before looking at the Snezhnayan worriedly. “Will you be alright?”

“Of course,” Childe laughed, finding it funny that the blond would worry for his well-being of all people. However, when he spoke the next words, his icy blue eyes darkened despite the smile never faltering on his lips. “They already got the Geo Archon’s Gnosis. They wouldn’t risk coming to Liyue again just for the head of a little traitor.”

“Aether, Paimon,” Zhongli spoke up, drawing the two travellers’ attention to him. “I ask for both of you to not mention what has transpired, as well as my identity, to anyone—especially the adepti.”

“Why? Wouldn’t they be happy to know you’re alive?" Paimon couldn't understand the archon's decision of keeping silent on the matter.

Zhongli didn't speak for a long time. He stared at the tea swirling in his cup before looking back up to meet their gazes.

"Please," was all he said. 

"Ok...we won't tell anyone," Aether promised.

Paimon looked like she had many things to say, but in the end, she kept her mouth shut and nodded as well. 

Zhongli smiled and brought his hands up, making a gesture that the two outlanders were now overly familiar with, for the people of Liyue always did this gesture whenever they showed their thanks.

"It will get a bit boring without you two around," Childe lamented. 

“Oh, we’ll come back!” Paimon chirped confidently.

“Be careful in Inazuma. The Archon of Electro does not take kindly to outlanders,” Zhongli cautioned.

“We will. Thank you for everything, Zhongli, Childe.”

Aether waved before he and Paimon left the Liuli Pavilion.

The two men watched them go. It was only after they couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore did Zhongli turned to his companion.

“Shall we dine then?" He waved a hand at the untouched feast laid before them. 

"Only if you get me some forks. These chopsticks are seriously hard to use." Childe laughed, trying to pick up his chopsticks only for one to drop onto his plate. "How are you feeling?" His question was seemingly nonchalant as he continued to play with the chopsticks, but Zhongli could hear the bitterness lingering in his tone. 

"I'm fine," he assured the Alpha. "The loss of Gnosis only means I cannot use my power. It does not affect me otherwise." 

"Hm..." Childe tried using the chopsticks again but this time both clattered back onto the table. "Aaah, I give up!" He threw his arms into the air dramatically before flopping towards the Geo Archon and rested his forehead against that stiff shoulder.

"You should have run when I told you to,” he mumbled quietly. “Now you're stuck with me." 

Zhongli reached one hand up and combed his fingers through the soft copper coloured hair. "Do you not want to stay with me?" 

Childe snorted and looked up to meet those golden eyes clear without any other intentions. Seriously, how this archon remained so pure and oblivious despite being so old was beyond him. 

"Nah, I'll stick around. Someone needs to keep an eye on you when you go out." 

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Aether walked through the crowded street of Liyue harbour. He glanced around at the people setting up stalls and stands, preparing for the Qixi festival. Everywhere was rowdy with joy and happiness, so much that it almost made Aether wanted to stay. Almost.

“Let’s go, Paimon!” Aether grabbed Paimon who was drooling over some dumplings and dragged her away. After finally making it out of the packed city, he finally asked Paimon the question he didn’t dare to ask in front of Childe and Zhongli.

“Hey Paimon, is it bad for Alpha and Omega to be apart?”

“Of course!” Paimon shouted before remembering that this worldly outlander was clueless about the dynamics here since that didn’t exist in his original world.

“I told you how Alphas and Omegas are different than Betas, right?”

“Yeah…something about Omega could give birth regardless of gender?” Aether was still a little weirded out by that one. He wasn’t disgusted or anything, he just didn’t understand how that was possible.

“Yes, but when it comes to Alpha and Omega, once they found a partner, they’re bonded for life. They got this thing call a mating bite where they leave scars on each other’s necks—right over their scent glands!” Paimon pointed at her own neck. “I don’t know how it works, but I heard that it lets them connect on a…spiritual level? Basically, their partner means everything to them. Separating them is the same as taking a part of them away.”

“Is that so…?” Aether thought of his sister. He could relate to how it felt to have someone important ripped away from his side.

“Hey, Aether, look!”

“Hm?” Seeing Paimon pointing at the sky, he looked up and found that it wasn’t the sky she was pointing at, but Mt. Tianheng.

He put a hand over his eyes, protecting them from the bright sunlight and was able to make out the silhouette of a person standing at the very top.

“Is that…Xiao?”

As though hearing the call of his name, the adeptus above moved. In a few quick steps, the famed Conqueror of Demons ran down the mountain like a graceful mountain goat and landed before the two of them. Aether was certain that even if he jumped down without a glider, he still couldn’t beat the speed the adeptus displayed just now.

“I hear that you are departing Liyue,” Xiao said, his face unreadable as usual.

“Yes, we’re heading to Inazuma.” Aether nodded.

“The Archon of Electro does not welcome outlanders. Best to be on your guard.”

“You said the same thing as Zhongli,” Paimon giggled while Aether fought the urge to facepalm. 

"Paimon!" He hissed.

“Zhongli?” Although Xiao’s expression didn’t change, they could hear the question in his voice. Paimon froze when she realized she had just mentioned the archon right in front of the adeptus—one of the people Zhongli specifically told them not to tell.

“I-it's nothing! Just a...a friend!" Paimon stammered. She was starting to sweat bullets with Aether glancing nervously at Xiao. 

Fortunately for them, the adeptus was never the noisy type nor did he have any interest in other people's affairs—mortals especially.

"S-so!" Paimon shouted, trying to erase the previous conversation by raising her voice up ten notches. "What are you doing here?" 

“You offered your aid to Liyue in times of need,” Xiao replied neutrally. “It is only courteous for me to see you off. I will escort you to the outskirt of the city. Come.”

“Really?!” Paimon shouted in delight before shaking Aether by his arm. “With an adeptus opening a way for us, we’ll be out in no time!”

Aether nodded and hurried after Xiao.

As they walked, the blond couldn’t help but keep looking at the adeptus’ face. Xiao ignored the boy in the beginning, but eventually, he seemed to have enough of the other’s staring and finally turned to look at him.

“What is it?” He questioned apathetically.

“Ah, sorry!” Aether quickly shook his head. “It’s just…you seem happy today?”

That caught Xiao off guard. Although his face didn’t betray his feelings, his steps faltered for a split second before he collected himself.

The blond traveller briefly wondered if he said something he shouldn’t have. He just thought the adeptus might be in a good mood considering how much he was talking today.

“…Do I?” Aether wasn’t sure if that question was directed at him. In fact, he didn’t know if he was even supposed to hear it, considering how soft the adeptus’ voice was. Xiao was already looking away, eyes locked on the mountains in the distance.

“Eh? Really?” Paimon ogled Xiao, but couldn’t tell what part of the adeptus screamed happiness to her companion. “Oh, could it be because of the festival?”

“Festival?” Xiao thought back to the streets of Liyue harbour that had been rowdy all morning. “…Was that what they were doing?”

“You didn’t know about the Qixi Festival?” Aether asked. He thought for sure that Xiao would know, considering how long he had been living in Liyue for.

“You didn’t know about the story of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?!” Paimon gasped in bewilderment, as though she didn’t found out about this story just minutes ago.

“I have little interest in stories amongst the mortals,” Xiao stated plainly.

“Then I guess that rumour was fake after all,” Paimon grumbled, looking at Aether in disappointment.

“Well, it’s just rumour.” Aether shrugged before finally noticing something strange. They had been walking for a while now, but hadn’t come across a single monster.

No, not just that.

Now that he took a close look around the area, there wasn’t a single monster or enemy in sight!

“Where are all the monsters?” Aether couldn’t help but voice out his thought.

“Hey, you’re right!” Paimon spun around in the air. “I don’t see a single one around!”

“It is due to my Heat,” Xiao spoke up in front of them.

“H-Heat?!” Paimon squeaked, jaw nearly dropping onto the floor at what came out of the adeptus’ mouth. “Wait, you’re an Omega?!”

Aether’s eyes flew wide. An Omega?!

Then did that mean Xiao was capable of…

Aether’s eyes nearly dropped to Xiao’s stomach before he had to force his gaze back up. Thankfully, the adeptus was walking in front so he didn’t notice that small action of the traveller’s.

Aether knew about Heats and why Paimon looked so nervous. Once a year, fully grown Omegas will enter something called Heat, where they let out sweet pheromones to attract nearby Alphas and find potential partners.

After an Omega and Alpha bonded, the Omega’s Heat will then trigger the Alpha’s Rut. It was extremely dangerous to go near an Omega in Heat because that was when Alphas were most protective of their mates and will attack anyone that got too close, regardless of whatever reason they had.

But…if Xiao was in Heat, shouldn't there be Alphas around going crazy after his scent? And Omegas only enter Heat somewhere between February and March, right now was August.

Also, why would Xiao’s Heat scare monsters away? Was it because he was an adeptus?

Aether knew Xiao wouldn’t answer all of his questions, so he only asked the very last one. Xiao spared a glance at the golden-haired boy before turning his attention back to his path.

“The stronger an Omega’s pheromone is, the more attraction they will gain from Alphas. Monsters and demons could also be drawn by an Omega’s scent if their Heats are strong enough. Once mated, the Omega’s scent will be infused with their Alpha’s, changing into a smell that will be revolting to anyone that is not their mate.” Xiao stopped and turned around to face them. “This is as far as I can take you. Do not let your identities as outlanders be discovered in Inazuma.”

With that, the adeptus took off at a speed so fast that the two barely had the time to react before he was gone.

Aether and Paimon stood (float) there for a long moment before the adeptus’ parting words finally sunk into their brains.

“Wait…you don’t suppose he was saying that he’s…mated?!” Paimon shouted. “A-and his Heat! Isn’t it right on time for the Qixi festival?!”

“Then the story of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is actually…” Aether trailed off before the two of them shared a look.

“No way!” Paimon laughed.

“Yeah!” Aether agreed.

That was a dumb rumour after all.

As for why Xiao’s Heat was in August and not February or March...he was the Guardian Yaksha. Things must work differently for these higher beings.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Xiao stood on top of the mountain, Aureolin eyes scanning over the landscape before stopping towards a certain direction.

Alphas can always track their Omegas no matter where they are in the world. Although Xiao was an Omega, he was a yaksha as well as an adeptus, so his senses were naturally sharper than those of mortals. Even so, he could only feel the general direction of where his Alpha was.

His Alpha was aware he was on the move and was trailing after him, tracking him for half a day now. That man was getting closer as time passed, and along with it was Xiao’s increasing heartbeat.

It had been a whole year since they last met.

Before being mated, Xiao always preferred to pass his Heat high up in the mountains where monsters and people were scarce. However, his Alpha came from a nation without high mountains like Liyue. Although that person said it didn’t bother him, Xiao still wanted him to at least feel comfortable, so he never chose a place too far off the ground.

That was why this year, Xiao decided to spend his Heat in Jueyun Karst. It was the quietest place he could think of with fewer disturbances from mortals. He had already informed Moon Carver beforehand and the moment the adeptus heard the Conqueror of Demons would be coming to his territory to spend his Heat, he all but fled.

It wasn’t anything unusual. Before mating, other adepti would flee from him knowing how tempting his scent was. Now, they fled from him for the opposite reason. Xiao leaped off the cliff, dropping towards the ground at a rapid pace while summoning his spear into his hand.

With a thrust of his spear, the earth below him shook and the camp of monsters was annihilated in a split second. Without taking a break, he darted off towards the next area with monsters. While his scent naturally repelled these monsters, it would cause an issue if any of these monsters were to run amuck and get near the few humans dwelling here.

After swiftly dealing with all the monsters in the area, Xiao found a nice location up the waterfall with a small, deserted wooden house. The house looked like it hadn’t been used in years. The woods were falling apart, but not so much that he could see the inside.

Despite being an Omega, Xiao was never picky about where he spent his Heat. Or rather, he couldn’t afford to be picky. The purpose of an Omega’s Heat was to attract a partner and reproduce. As an adeptus, Xiao’s Heat could affect all living being miles away and draw them towards him.

It hadn’t started off like that.

In the beginning, his Heat was normal. It was still stronger than human Omegas, but Xiao was able to manage to deal with it on his own. Unfortunately as the years passed, his Heat became increasingly painful. The burn of the Heat would persist for days and the amount of pheromone his body release kept doubling.

His reluctance in finding a mate only made his body even more desperate.

The only one that he could ever consult with about his Heat was Rex Lapis who was the only other Omega he knew, yet the archon couldn’t find him any solution in solving his problem other than finding a mate. And so, every year around August, a bloodbath would always be shed. Demons and monsters would swarm towards him like ants towards their prey with Xiao at the center of it all, slaughtering anything that came to him.

Xiao let out a small sigh and stared at the pond before him.

He sat down on a piece of fallen log in front of the house and stared at the beautiful scenery. Despite being summer, the leaves in Jueyun Karst were always in the shade of autumn—just like Moon Carver.

Xiao loosened his collar, pulling them apart to reveal the scent glands on the base of his neck—one on each side. Both of his glands were marred with scars his Alpha left when he bit into them a thousand years ago. He rubbed his fingers absentmindedly over the jagged scar and began reminiscing the past.

The day they met was when Xiao’s Heat was at its worst. Having gone a thousand years without finding a mate, his body was finally breaking down.

Even without the countless demons surrounding him, he was dying.

His Heat had tortured his body for a whole month with no signs of going away. Every single one of his nerves was screaming in pain from the burning sensation coursing through his body. He didn’t even notice when a demon had raked its claws through the flesh on his back because he could no longer tell apart the pain.

His sight was starting to fail him, but that didn’t stop Xiao from piercing his spear through one demon and another. He might be dying, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Even without his sight, he could rely on the rest of his senses to kill the demons.

And that was when he met him.

The man was not an adepti, but a human that gained immortally. He was a scholar travelling in Liyue to study the demons when he came across the battlefield littered with corpses of demons and monsters.

Xiao had little memories of how their encounter went. What he did remember was attacking the Alpha when he broke through the walls of demons and came towards him. Their spears met in a dangerous dance with whirlwinds of fire twirling around them.

The adeptus was fully prepared to meet his end, but when he woke up, the pain in his body was gone along with his Heat.

On his scent glands were two fresh bite marks, forever bounding him to an Alpha from another nation.

Xiao held no resentment towards the other Alpha for marking him because he knew that Alpha had done it to save him. In a way, that Alpha was also a victim because to complete the bond, the Alpha needed to let Xiao mark him as well. With his scent gland injected with the adeptus’ pheromone, he will start to experience Rut in August which only Xiao could sate.

Neither of them was the romantic type nor did they ever thought that one day they would have a mate. The two of them easily came to an arrangement for the Alpha to come to Liyue every year so they can spend their Rut and Heat together.

For the first couple of years, their relationship where purely on a physical level. Even now, Xiao didn’t know at what point did that changed. Words of love were never exchanged, but their relationship naturally shifted to that of lovers. Perhaps it was because they were similar that they understood one another without the need of words, or perhaps it was due to the bond established between them.

Whichever it was, Xiao was never more grateful.

The adeptus walked up to the house. With a wave of his hand, he sent a blast of wind into the old structure. He held back his power, but some shingles were still blown off from the force. He leaped back when a fume of dust blew out from the windows and doorway. He sent out a couple more blasts of wind until all the dust was blown out.

He walked into the house, looking around to find a table and a couple of chairs in the corner of the dining room. When he walked into the bedroom, he saw a bedframe weaved with bamboo. It was old and broken around the corner, but sturdy enough to support two people.

He ran his hand along the hard surface of the bamboo bed. It wasn’t the best, but this will do. Xiao lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was worn out. Running from Liyue Harbour to this place had taken some toll on his body, considering how much energy his body was already consuming to prepare for his Heat.

He bit the inside of his cheek when he felt tightness in his lower abdomen. Xiao stared at the wall of the small house. Although he could guess the general direction of his mate, he couldn’t tell how close or how far he was. He didn’t want to miss out on meeting his mate, but at the same time, he didn’t want his mate to see him so vulnerable.

In the end, exhaustion won and Xiao decided it should be fine if it was only a quick nap.

All he needed to do was to wake up before his mate arrives. It should have been easy, considering how he was a very light sleeper, but Xiao forgot to take into account how badly his body and mind missed his Alpha. He had forgotten how safe it felt knowing his Alpha by his side.

By the time he woke up, everything was pitch black around him.

Xiao took a deep breath and his lungs were filled with a comforting scent that only one person in this world has. He sat up and found a dark brown cloak draped over his body. He stared at the cloak, running his finger through the soft fabric before finding the familiar brown and blue animal ears decorations on the top of the hood. Behind him where his head was resting was a leather bag acting as a pillow for him.

Xiao brought the cloak up to his nose and took a small sniff. His Alpha’s scent was practically drenching the fabric, meaning the other must have been wearing this cloak not long ago. It was no wonder he didn’t wake up. With the Alpha’s scent wrapped around him like this, his body naturally deemed the surrounding safe and he ended up falling into a deeper slumber.

Xiao folded the cloak up and set it on the bed before walking out of the hunt. When he stepped outside, he was greeted by the backside of a person dressed in the same cloak as the one that was draped over him. The person had his hood pulled over his head with that pair of pointed ears sticking upward.  

“You should sleep a bit longer,” the man spoke in a euphonious voice that made Xiao trembled. The Alpha never once turned back to look at him. His sun-kissed hand came out of the large sleeve of his cloak, picking up a stick lying by his feet and began to rearrange the campfire woods, causing the flames to burn even brighter.

The yaksha walked up to the man and sat next to him on the log with inches of space separating them.

“You should have waked me up.”

“You seemed like you needed rest,” the Alpha replied, turning his head to reveal his snow-white hair and beautifully sculpted face. That single flame red eye gazed at the Omega before turning back to the campfire. “It’s not like you to travel before your Heat like this.”

Although it sounded like the Alpha was merely stating a fact, Xiao knew the other was concerned.

“I was seeing someone off,” he explained.

Though curious, Alpha didn’t ask or push the Omega for details. He picked up a ladle and stirred the thick soup in the pot. Xiao stared at the brown soup that would never exist in Liyue and could smell the aroma of lamb being cooked inside. He remembered this soup. His mate made it for him the last time they met and he quite enjoyed it. If his memory was correct, it was called Torly.

While Xiao preferred lighter food and vegetables over meat, the coming of Heat would always make him crave higher calorie food so his body could store up energy.

“Do you need assistance?”

“No, just sit there and rest.” The Alpha reached into the sleeve of his cloak and pulled out a small box.

Xiao immediately recognized the packaging and design of the small box. It was a takeout box from Wangshu inn.

“Eat that for now. I’ll be done soon.” He set the box onto the Omega’s lap before returning to the task at hand.

Xiao carefully opened the box and just as he expected, inside was Almond Tofu. He stared at the beautiful and glossy white pudding with the light aroma of almond drifting into his nose. The Omega could tell how carefully the Alpha was when transporting this from how the delicate dessert wasn't broken or deformed in any ways.

“Thank you.”

He picked up the small wooden spoon inside and scooped out a small piece of the pudding. He put it into his mouth, enjoying the silkiness of the texture melting around his tongue. He ate slowly while observing his Alpha work, unaware of how his eyes would soften whenever he gazed upon this man.

After another ten minutes or so, the Alpha was done. He finished wrapping up the wrap in his hand and handed it to Xiao.

“This is?” Xiao accepted the wrap, looking at it curiously.

“It’s called Shawarma.” The Alpha poured the thick soup into a bowl and set it in front of the Omega.

Xiao took a bite into the wrap. Like all food his Alpha made for him, it had an unusual taste that did not exist in Liyue, but was delicious nonetheless.

The two of them ate with the only sound around them being the crackling of fire and the burbling sound of waterfall. They ate enjoying the presence of each other and the serenity around them. Even though they were both taking their time, their dinner only lasted about half an hour before it came to an end.

Xiao was gazing at the stars, lost in his own mind when his Alpha suddenly called out his name.

“Xiao.”

The Omega turned his head and saw his Alpha holding something to him. Without questioning anything, he opened his mouth and allowed the Alpha to push the glistening round bun-like thing into his mouth. Xiao’s mouth was soon filled with overwhelming sweetness that made him hummed lightly.

The adeptus cared little for sweets and like all citizens of Liyue, he wasn’t good at handling anything overly sweet. The only exception was during his Heat, where sugar became something like comfort food to the Omega. He chewed on the dessert and realized it was some sort of bread. The entire thing was soaked in the sweet syrup which made Xiao wonder if the dough was cooked together with this syrup or was the syrup added in later. Distracted, Xiao didn’t notice his Alpha move until he felt fingers wrapping around his chin, turning his head around before a pair of lips pressed against his.

Xiao closed his eyes and leaned forward, parting his lips to allow their lips to better mold against one another. Their tongues were tangled in a dance with the Alpha stealing the remaining sweetness from his mouth.

“Cyno…” Xiao managed to call out his Alpha’s name before a hand slipped behind his head and his lips were sealed once more.

Xiao let out a small, muffled groan against the Alpha’s mouth. The restriction he put around his desire was slowly starting to crumble. He wrapped his arms around the Alpha’s neck while the Alpha’s other arm snaked around his waist.

The last distance between them was gone and their bodies slotted together perfectly as they kissed.

He missed him.

He missed him so much, but there was nothing they can do. They have responsibilities to their own nations so neither of them could risk leaving for too long. The distance between them also didn’t allow them to meet up frequently. The only time they could meet was during this time so they could spend their Heat and Rut together. They may have met a thousand years ago, but even mortal couples had spent more time together in a lifetime compared to the two immortals.

“Ah…!” Xiao’s head threw back when the Alpha dug his face into his neck, pushing aside his collar and bit down onto his scent gland. Xiao’s face instantly flared up in red. Despite not displaying it on his face, he was embarrassed upon realizing he had left his collar open.

Sumeru was a very open nation where Alphas and Omegas walk around showing off the scent glands on their necks—Xiao knew that much from how his mate dressed. However, in Liyue, scent glands were regarded the same as private parts. Going outside with their scent glands shown was the same as going outside stark naked. 

Cyno hummed, his voice sending vibration against the sensitive gland which in turn made the Omega’s body quiver.

Xiao hastily pulled away from Cyno and closed his collar, much to the Alpha’s amusement.

“You looked like you have something on your mind,” Cyno pointed out. It was an off-handed remark, but Xiao realized his mate must have taken notice to his change of mood and decided to lighten him up.

“It’s nothing,” Xiao was turning his head away when his chin was caught by the Alpha once more. His head was guided back, cobalt yellow eyes meeting orange-red one. The Alpha didn’t say anything and silently stared into Xiao’s eyes.

Xiao felt his throat constricted before he reached his hands up and carefully took hold of the Alpha’s face. He brushed that long white bang aside to reveal the other eye hidden underneath. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss upon the scarred eyelid.

“There have been many things happening lately,” Xiao sighed. He slipped out of the Alpha’s arms and returned to his seat next to him, but now the distance between them was gone. Their shoulders were touching and their bodies so close that they could feel each other’s body heat.

“I’ve heard about Rex Lapis on my way here.” Cyno stared at the scenery before them. “Do you believe that the God of Contracts has died?”

“I don’t know,” Xiao admitted quietly. Deep down, he believed that Rex Lapis was still alive. Killing an archon was no small feat but then again, it wasn’t impossible either. “I have never imagined a future without Rex Lapis, so such situation still feels surreal to me.”

“Then perhaps you’ve been taking your archon for granted.”

“Perhaps.” Xiao wasn’t angry by his mate’s blunt words. It was true. He had been taking the archon’s existence for granted.

They all had.

All of them assumed everything will remain the same year after years. With Rex Lapis around, the mortals of Liyue never truly paved their own path. They have always been following the path given to them by their archon.

“How long will you be staying?”

“I took a month off from the Academia.”

Xiao nodded. Taking away the travelling time, it will be eight days.

“…How’s your body?” The Alpha asked after a moment of silence.

“There is still a bit of time,” Xiao said after closing his eyes to check on the condition of his body. Even sitting here, he could feel his body heat steadily rising. His heartbeat had started to quicken too, though Xiao didn’t know if that was due to the heat or the presence of his mate.

“Come to think of it, there might be something that will interest you.”

“Oh?”

“A traveller came to Liyue not long ago…” Xiao began retelling his story with the blond outlander from Mondstadt. Cyno listened as his mate told him everything—from their very first meeting at Wangshu Inn to the chaos that happened in Liyue then the Lantern Rite.

“So the person you were seeing off was this traveller?” Cyno inquired when Xiao finished.

The Omega nodded. “The boy is capable of using Geo, but I see no Vision on his body or those devices from Snezhnaya.”

Cyno frowned. No Vision or Delusion?

Could it be archon residue? No, if it was, Xiao would have known. 

“His scent was also strange.”

“How so?”

“I wasn’t certain before, but now that I’m close to my Heat, my senses had heightened. That boy did not have the scent of a Beta despite claiming to be one.” Xiao furrowed his brows slightly and recalled that smell. “It was an odd smell, one I’ve never smelled on anyone before.” 

“You’re saying he’s not any of the dynamic?” The first thing Cyno wanted to say was that it was impossible, yet as a scholar, there was no such thing as impossible.

Even amongst the archons, the ABO dynamic existed. It was how their world worked—like how trees grew from dirt and how all living beings needed water to survive. Never in Teyvat had there been a person not fitted into any of the three dynamics. But if his mate claimed that someone was not Alpha, Beta or Omega, then that was most likely the case.

“Fascinating.” This certainly piqued the Alpha’s interest.  

“He is searching for his younger sister. If he can safely leave Inazuma, then I’m sure he will head to Sumeru next.”

“If so, we will meet eventually.” Cyno reached out his hand and his long fingers brushed across the pale cheek of the Omega.

The Omega’s bright yellow eyes seemed to glow beneath the full moonlight when he looked back at his Alpha. Very slowly, he leaned his face towards the hand until the Alpha’s entire palm laid against the Omega’s pale cheek.

Cyno let out a small, inaudible breathe when he took in the sight of the beautiful Omega beneath the moonlight. His heart trembled like a string being harshly plucked. He leaned forward while his hand guided his Omega towards him until their foreheads eventually touched.

“Xiao, come with me to Sumeru.”

Xiao stiffened upon hearing what his mate had said. He stared at that flaming red eye that was staring back at him seriously.

“Cyno, you know that’s—”

“I do not know whether your archon is dead or alive, but one thing for certain is that the future of Liyue will be paved by humans. The demons you fought for thousands of years no longer dominate this land. From what I can see, the humans of this land are fully capable of exterminating demons in your place. The era of the adepti was over long ago, and so was your duty,” Cyno told him. “Now that the God of Contracts is gone, there is nothing binding you down. You’re free to go wherever you like, Xiao.”

“I…” Xiao shook his head and pulled away from his Alpha. There was a slight shakiness in his voice, showing just how much the other’s words were affecting him.

The adeptus didn’t know what to do. He admitted that he had wondered what the world outside looked like. He had been thinking about it ever since meeting Cyno but his responsibilities prevented him from ever thinking further.

For so long, slaying demons and vanquishing evil spirits had been his sole duty. It was the reason he existed. It was the only thing he could do to pay back Rex Lapis for everything the archon did for him.

To suddenly be told his job has ended was just…

Xiao let out a startled gasp when he was suddenly pulled towards the Alpha. His head was pushed into the Alpha’s neck and the comforting scent of the Alpha washed over him, calming him down.

“You don’t have to give me an answer now, Xiao.” Cyno muttered against the Omega’s ear and cradled him within his arms. “I will wait for however long it takes. Once you’re ready, I will come get you.”

Xiao didn’t respond. He wrapped his arms around the Alpha, fingers digging into the brown cloak and clutched onto him tightly. Cyno peppered kisses on the side of his mate’s face before his tender lips moved down the pale neck. When Xiao slowly relaxed under the Alpha’s ministrations, he started to respond with kisses of his own.

Soon, the two of them were inside the hunt with Cyno throwing his cloak over the old bed before setting Xiao on top. Xiao’s shirt was already gone with his mate kneeling between his legs, pushing him down until he was lying on his back. Through the gaps on the roof of the hunt, moonlight streamed in, hitting the Alpha and casting a faint outline around his body.

Xiao took his time admiring the handsomeness of this man. He stared at the unusual clothing exclusive to Sumeru that barely covered much of the Alpha’s body.

Cyno caressed Xiao’s cheek before he captured his lips in a deep and passionate kiss. Despite being a scholar who mostly stays within Sumeru Academia looking through books and doing experiments, Cyno was a warrior.

He was one of Sumeru’s strongest fighters and the most knowledgeable. It was only natural, for Cyno would never be able to mark Xiao amidst the battle with demons if he was weak. The Omega shivered when a palm covered in a layer of callus slid down the smooth skin of back, reaching lower and lower before slipping inside his pant.

Xiao pulled away from the kiss with a sharp gasp. His head fell back with the Alpha trailed his lips down his throat. He kissed and nibbled the tender skin before biting down on that sweet scent gland.

“Hah…!” Xiao wrapped his arms around the Alpha’s head, gloved fingers tangling into the fluffy white hair with small breathless moans escaping his lips. The Alpha’s nimble fingers slide between the creases of his buttocks and teased the sensitive opening there.

Xiao let out another small cry when the hand on his rear lifted him up with the Alpha grounding down on him at the same time. The delicious friction made Xiao clamp his legs together around the Alpha’s hips, his body trembling with pleasure coursing through every part of his veins.

“Cyno, please…” Xiao pleaded before his pants were stripped off his legs. A pair of hands grabbed him by the forearm, pulling him up until he was sitting in his mate’s lap.

Xiao wrapped his legs and arms around the man, letting out broken pants with the Alpha lightly sucking on his right nipple while his hand toyed with the other. Eventually, the stimulation became too much and he had to bring a hand up to stop the shameful sounds from escaping his mouth.

Cyno gave one last lick to the perky nipple before he reached up, prying Xiao’s hand away so he could steal a kiss from the petal-soft lips.

“Don’t hide from me, Xiao,” Cyno said seriously, pulling Xiao’s gloves off his hands to reveal the old scars hidden underneath. The Alpha intertwined their fingers and planted a kiss upon each of his knuckles in such a loving way that Xiao nearly melted.  

Hearing some sound, Xiao turned to see Cyno pulling out a familiar-looking vial from the leather bag lying on the edge of the bed. The Alpha popped it open and poured half of the content into his hand.

“Lift your hips,” The Alpha instructed and Xiao obeyed. He wrapped his arms around the man’s shoulder and lifted his hips into the air. He buried his face into the Alpha’s neck and waited with his heart pounding inside his ribcage.

It started with one finger, slick with warmed oil carefully sliding inside him before joined by another. Xaio’s arms around Cyno tightened, breathes becoming laboured as those fingers slowly worked him open.

Cyno was nuzzling his face against the Omega’s silky hair while his other hand caressed the yaksha’s thigh.  

“Cyno, it’s enough,” Xiao groaned, feeling his inside completely coated with the oil.

“You’re still tight.” Cyno frowned.

“It’s fine.” Xiao gritted his teeth when he felt the uncomfortable coil in his lower abdomen. “My Heat is coming. I want to feel you before my mind becomes hazy.”

Cyno didn’t argue anymore. He slipped his fingers out and dipped his head down to capture Xiao’s lips. As they kissed, Xiao heard the rustling clothes accompanied by the jingling sound of metal. And then, the adeptus felt the tip of his mate’s cock—slick with oil—pressed against his entrance.

The Alpha didn’t move anymore aside from placing small, encouraging kisses along his neck. Gentle hands rubbed along his hips and legs but did nothing to guide the Omega down onto his cock.

Xiao knew that Cyno was letting him take control, so he did. He slowly sank his body, eyes fluttering shut when the head of the thick cock slipped inside. It had been a whole year since he was last filled by his Alpha.

“Cyno, Cyno…” he called out to his mate with more and more of the cock pushing through his tight walls and filling his inside. He could feel everything—the size, the warmth, the texture of the appendage…it was torture.

“Xiao,” his Alpha panted against his neck, seeming to be trying very hard not to move by how hard he was gripping onto the Omega’s knees.

Xiao wanted more.

It wasn’t enough, so he paused to take a deep breath before slamming himself down the rest of the way. A cry tore out of his lips as the cock speared him open, pushing past the walls and kissing the deepest part inside his body. Cyno wasn’t doing any better. The sudden movement of his mate nearly made him see stars. He was panting for breaths with both hands gripping onto Xiao’s hips to hold him still.

When Xiao opened his eyes, thick droplets of tears began to fall from his eyes. They fell off his long lashes and dripped over the Alpha’s cheeks. When Cyno gazed up, his heart nearly shattered at the sight of the Omega’s expressionless face with large pearly tears falling from those beautiful eyes holding so much sadness and pain.

Cyno always loved the colour of the Omega’s eye, because it was the purest colour of yellow—ones even gold cannot produce. He leaned up and started to kiss the droplets away. He knew this wasn’t Xiao crying. It was merely his body’s reaction.

Separation for mated couples was painful, especially for Omegas. Xiao may be strong, but in the end, his body was still bounded by his dynamic. Omega needed constant care from their Alpha to feel safe, and Cyno was not able to give him that. Throughout all of the battles and nightmares the Omega had to endure, Cyno was never there for him. He had left Xiao alone in a land where even the people he protected feared him.

That was his failure as his Alpha.

“I’m sorry, Xiao,” Cyno whispered tenderly against Xiao’s lips. His words seemed to have brought Xiao back for the next moment, those beautiful eyes blinked and the tears stopped.

“Sorry, again I—” Xiao wasn’t able to finish before Cyno pressed their lips together. He wasn’t going to allow the Omega to apologize for something that wasn’t his fault. 

“Hold onto me,” Cyno spoke into his ear before he grabbed the Omega’s hips and started rocking into the heated body.

Xiao released a breathless cry and held onto Cyno, moving his hip to time with the man’s thrusts. Their movements were slow and unhurried. Right now, all they wanted was to take their time and feel each other.

When they finally came, they were wrapped up in each other’s arms, listening to the other’s breathing and feeling their heartbeats overlapping.

Xiao laid his head against the Alpha’s shoulder while the Alpha traced his fingers over the green tattoo on the left side of his hip and towards the inside of his thigh. It was a tattoo similar to the one on the yaksha’s right arm—one that only Cyno had the pleasure of seeing. While Cyno took in the sight of Xiao’s tattoo, Xiao was staring down at the clothes that were still on the Alpha’s body. Whenever they spend their Heat and Rut together, Cyno would never fully remove his clothes because they never know who might come and interrupt them.

Even though Xiao’s mated scent was repulsive to other Alphas, there would still be Alphas coming to target him.

It all came down to one simple reason—greed.

While Alpha and Omegas mate for life, they were still capable of being marked a second or third time. All they needed to do was to rip the Alpha’s or Omega’s scent gland out of their necks and with a strong enough healing magic, the scent gland will regenerate. Once the scent gland grew back, it will be clean without the marks of their mate. It was a very cruel process. Having their glands tore out and losing connections with their mate would make any Alpha or Omega lose their sanity.

Due to humans and gods living so close together, the people of Liyue held their archon and adepti in high regards. Even if they fear Xiao and steer away from him, they never dare thought of getting rid of him. People from other nations, however, were a different matter. They see the adepti of Liyue as a possible weapon if tamed properly. That was why being the only Omega amongst the adepti, Xiao became their prime target.

Omegas were always weak and powerless during their Heat so adepti or not, they naturally assumed Xiao to be the same. Whenever these people make their plans, not once did they take into account of Xiao’s Alpha. Once they learned that the Omega didn’t mate with another adeptus, they thought nothing more of the Alpha other than a nuisance needed to be removed.

In recent years, idiots like these were steadily growing—especially those from a certain nation…

Xiao was lying comfortably against his Alpha when he felt a rush of heat flowing throughout his body. An animalistic whine came out of his throat which was met by a dominating growl. The sound of his Alpha’s growl caused a gush of wetness to come out of his body. Xiao’s face burned as he closed his thighs tightly together, but that did little to stop the lubricant from flowing out of his body.

The sweet scent of his Heat flowed into the air, mixing with the dominating scent of his mate’s Rut.

Xiao’s scent glands started to itch. He wanted to scratch them, but his hands were caught by a pair of tanner ones. The world before his eyes spun and Xiao was pushed into the bed with his Alpha’s heated chest pressing down on his back. His hips were pulled up and with no warnings at all, Cyno thrust himself deep inside. Xiao screamed, eyes nearly rolling back at the pleasure of being filled. He clawed at the bamboo bed, the strength of his fingers starting to tear the material apart before his hands were grabbed and pinned down.

“Cyno!” Xiao mewled when the Alpha pulled out before slamming back inside.

“Xiao, you smell so good…” Cyno sighed, sucking and licking his ear before he buried his face into the Omega’s neck and started sucking on his scent gland.

Xiao was crying from the overstimulation.  He could feel the pheromones inside his glands being sucked away while his mate’s hips constantly rammed into him.

“Xiao, Xiao…!” Cyno called out his lover’s name over and over with each thrust of his hips.

“Cyno…!”

More.

It wasn’t enough.

He needed more.

More, more, more, more…

Until there was nothing of him left.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Cyno stared at the Omega sleeping peacefully in his arms.

He pressed a kiss on the Omega’s forehead, over the purple diamond marking before he slowly pulled himself out. A quiet moan escaped the yaksha’s lips, but other than that the Omega showed no signs of waking up.

Cyno rubbed his scent glands that were bruised from Xiao biting on them, releasing more of his scent so the adeptus can sleep better. He gazed up at the ceiling where the sunlight was spilling in from and shifted Xiao to the left so the sunlight wouldn’t hit his face.

Xiao needed rest—they both do. As much as the Omega’s scent was constantly tempting him, Cyno wasn’t some weak Alpha who would allow his desire to take over. He laid his head over his backpack and closed his eyes for some sleep as well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to join the Omega in his dreams for the next moment, his eye snapped wide open.

Cyno shot up and moving together with him was Xiao. The Omega was staring towards the same direction where the Alpha sensed the intruders. Cyno hissed out a string of curses in a language that the Liyue adeptus wasn’t able to understand. Seeing the confusion swirling within those pure coloured eyes, Cyno shook his head and pushed the Omega back down.

“Go back to sleep, I’ll take care of them.” He wrapped the Omega’s naked body up in his cloak and climbed off the bed.

Although he didn’t show it, Cyno was livid. No Alpha liked having their time with their Omega interrupted—especially during Heat and Rut. Even more so when these people came intending to take his Omega away from him.

He pulled out his Anubis mask and put it on his head. In the span of this short moment, the house was already surrounded. A ball of flames gathered in his palm before the Alpha shot it upward, blasting a hole in the roof and leaped outside. When he landed on the loose pieces of shingles on the roof, he was greeted by the sight of the intruders.

Unsurprisingly, it was those Fatuis again.

Most of them were Alphas, but Cyno could easily pick out the Betas seeing as all the Alphas had to wear masks over their nose and mouths to filter out the scent of his mate. He held out his hand and his spear materialized in his palm.

“Insolent fools,” he huffed, eye turning cold with crimson flames swirling around his spear.

When Cyno returned, Xiao sitting on the corner of the bed with his back resting against the decaying wooden wall. He had put on Cyno’s cloak with his eyes closed—seemingly to be resting. The Alpha’s eye softened at the sight of his mate. The moment he got close, Xiao’s long lashes fluttered, parting to reveal those calm Aureolin eyes. Cyno put on his cloak to hide the unique Sumeruan clothes before stuffing his Omega’s clothes into his bag. After that, he went over to his mate, letting Xiao hold onto his bag while he carefully gather him up into his arms. 

“Sleep, I’ll wake you when I find a place,” he spoke in that soothing voice, walking outside and stepping over the burnt ground.

Xiao leaned his head against the Alpha’s shoulder and closed his eyes with the bag held tightly in his arms.

There were many old and abandoned structures around Liyue, so finding their next logging wasn’t much task. Cyno found a decent place around Qingyun Peak and the two of them spent the remainder of their Heat and Ruts there.

Eight days passed by in a blink of an eye.

During this time, the pair roamed around Qingyun Peak before they spent their last day on the floating isle above the mountains, known as the Dwelling in the Cloud. This was a very old place created by the Cloud Retainer. Xiao was certain the other adeptus wouldn't mind them using her place, considering how she hadn't left her domain for a long time now.

The air high above the cloud was thin, but neither of the immortals was bothered by it. They sat at the ledge and watched the night sky with the cloud below them. Even though they didn’t mind the cold, their bodies were still pressed against one another, sharing warmth.

The night went by with neither of them exchanging any words.

When Xiao woke to the morning light, he knew without needing to open his eyes that Cyno was gone. The body wrapped around his when they fell into slumber was gone without any lingering warmth left.

The yaksha sat up with the familiar brown coat sliding off his body much like when he first woke on the night of his mate’s arrival.

In the place where his mate laid were four white flowers growing from a single stem.

It was a Qingxin—Xiao’s favourite flower.

He caressed the soft white petals before bringing the flower to his nose and smelled the sweet floral scent mixed with the faint scent of his Alpha.

They never meet each other with hellos and never part with goodbyes. It was an unspoken rule between them, as though doing so would seem like they had never parted to begin with.

Xiao gazed out to the land before him, golden eyes filled with loneliness and lost. He stared at the sun rising out of the clouds, not because of the view, but because that was where his Alpha was.

“I will wait for however long it takes. Once you’re ready, I will come get you.” Cyno’s voice echoed within his head.

Xiao parted his lips, but his throat felt awfully dry. He clutched onto the flower and closed his eyes. He could feel tears starting to gather, but he refused to let any fall.

“Go out and see the world, Xiao.”

“…?!”

Xiao jumped up, sharp eyes scanning over the tiny island but didn’t find anything unusual or out of the place. He brought a hand to his right ear where the voice had whispered those words to him. It was a voice Xiao was familiar with, but it happened so fast that he didn’t know if it was a voice from an old, long-forgotten memory or reality. He looked down at the flower in his hand, then back at the sun.

Suddenly, he felt like the world before his eyes began to open up—like an invisible cage slowly dissolving away. Xiao took a small step back and felt himself stepped on something. When he looked down, he found that it was Cyno’s cloak. He picked up the cloak and gazed back to the distant sky.

The lost look on his face slowly melted away. He held the cloak close before his eyes fell to the statue of Rex Lapis below.

Leaping off the floating isle, he landed before the statue. He stared at the image of Rex Lapis—the one who had saved him and given him his current name.

“I’ll be back,” he promised, setting the Qingxin flower before it as an offering. Without another glance back, he turned and leaped off the mountain. He gripped the cloak tightly in his arms and ran down the steep slope, moving at a speed too quick for mortal eyes to follow.

Xiao had never run faster in his entire life. He went from mountain to mountains, chasing after that scent lingering within the air.

As he was nearing the border of Liyue, Xiao finally saw the cloaked figure walking through the valley, carrying nothing but a brown leather bag over his shoulder.

“Cyno!!”

Cyno stopped. He glanced over his shoulder, orange-red eye wide in disbelieve when he saw the Omega running towards him. Kicking off the ground, Cyno closed the gap between them and caught the Omega within his arms.

“Xiao?” Xiao’s name fell from the Alpha’s lips in a hushed whisper, as though he couldn’t believe the Omega was here. He held onto the yaksha so tightly that ordinary people would find it painful, but Xiao was anything but ordinary.

The adeptus held onto his mate just as tightly. The tears he had been holding back finally fell from his eyes. For the first time in his life, Xiao laughed. It was a very quiet laugh, but the sound was more beautiful than anything the Alpha had ever heard.

For the first time as well, Cyno also laughed. The tears rolling down his face was no less than Xiao’s.

They didn’t need to exchange any words, for that there was never any need.

After a thousand years, they’ve finally caught each other in their arms. This time, neither of them have any intention of letting the other go.  

Back on Qingyun Peak, a gloved hand picked up the Qingxin flower left in front of the statue of the Geo Archon. The dark-haired man gazed out to the horizon with a gentle smile on his lips before he turned and blinked at the sight of large white flowers obstructing his view.

The flowers waved around in his vision, pulling back to reveal a smiling Childe holding onto a bouquet of Qingxin.

“For you, the fairest of them all.”

Zhongli looked around the statue and found all the Qingxin flowers that grew around here were plucked by the former Harbinger. He shook his head with a light smile and accepted the bouquet, adding the one in his hand to them.

“Thank you,” he thanked, already thinking of whether or not he got a vase for these flowers. If not, he will have to go find one.

A jade vase would certainly fit these flowers beautifully…

He will also need to get a painter to paint down the beauty of the flowers…

“Despite living so long, you adepti are all so interesting,” Childe snickered. “These flower suits you. Both you and that Xiao.”

“How so?” Zhongli lifted his eyes to meet those light blue eyes staring at him. The raven didn’t know why, but he felt his heart skipped a beat when he saw how intensely the Alpha was looking at him.

Childe walked forward and plucked a white petal off of the flower. He placed the petal against his lips and smirked at the oldest adeptus.

“In Liyue, Qingxin means Pure Heart, doesn’t it?”

The Snezhnayan leaned forward, pressing his lips firmly against the Omega’s. Zhongli’s entire body stiffened upon the contact. His golden eyes were slowly rounding while his grips over the flowers went slack, but not so much that he would drop them.

The kiss only lasted three short seconds before Childe pulled away with a laugh bubbling from his throat. Zhong stood there, his body as stiff as a rock with a white petal sticking on his bottom lip.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t told you my real name yet so listen closely, Morax.” He leaned towards the archon’s ear and whispered the name he had left behind ever since becoming a warrior. "My name is Ajax."

[yellowcanna]

Belongingness

Summary:

After much hardship, everything had finally ended. Aether was reunited with his sister and this time, he will stay by her side. Outlanders do not belong, but this was a world where Lumine belonged in. She had friends, loved ones, and even gaining a mascot along the way (though Aether preferred to call her an emergency ration).

If Aether asked Lumine to leave this world with him, he knew she would do it, but he couldn’t possibly do that to her. She was happy in this world and she deserved every bit of happiness. While she became one of the Knights of Favonius, he was taken in by none of than Diluc Ragnvindr.

Perhaps within this world, he too could find a place where he belonged.

Genre: Fluff, light angst, hurt/comfort, shounen-ai

Rating: T

Pairing: Diluc/Aether, Kaeya/Lumine

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

╔ ✦✧✦ ═══════════╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═══════════ ✦✧✦ ╝

“Outlander, your journey ends here.”

It hurts…

“The arrogance of human ends now.”

His head feels like it was going to split.

“Aether!”

“Lumine!” Aether shot up, sweat pouring down his body as he frantically looked around the darkness.

“Ugh!” He gripped onto his head when another wave of pain hit him.

The skin of his face burned against his palm, but he barely noticed. He jumped off of whatever he was sitting on and looked around the darkness.

No…                                                   

No, no, no, where was Lumine?

What happened to his sister?

“Ah…!” Aether tripped over something and tumbled onto the ground. His head hurts so much he couldn’t even think. Everything within his sight was nothing but a blur of darkness. Hearing a loud crackling sound, the blond turned and saw blue light flashing within his blurry vision.

He held out his hand and gathered energy into his palm. Golden energy sparked around his hand and with a thrust, he smashed through what appeared to be a wall.

The combined shattering sounds of glass, wood and concrete made his headache worsen. Once the noise died down, Aether could hear the sound of pouring rain. Another flash of light flickered by his eyes, followed by a loud crack seconds later.

It was a lightning storm.

Aether didn’t know what was going on, or where he was. All he knew was that he had to get out of here. He ran out the opening he created and the ground suddenly vanished beneath his feet. As he fell downward, pulled by gravity, Aether tried to summon his wings, but his wings didn’t appear.

“Wha—?!” He crashed onto the ground with a small, pained grunt. He was fortunate that he didn’t seem to be very high up. He dug his hands into the muddy ground and pushed himself up.

He needed to find Lumine.

She could be in danger.

He had to find her.

Aether through the heavy downpour. He was completely soaked in the rain with his body lighting trembling from the cold slowly seeping through his body. He didn’t know where he was heading. All he knew was that he had to get away.

Another flash of light was the only warning he gotten before the sound of thunder boomed against his ears, making him fall onto the grass with a pained cry. He clamped his hands over his ears. The sound had hurt his head so badly that he felt like his head was going to split in half.

Just as he was climbing back onto his feet, Aether saw a flicker of red coming at him from the corner of his eyes. Without thinking, he summoned his sword and swipe at whatever it was. He squinted his eyes, but it did nothing to help with his sight.

It was only the feeling of his sword cutting through the air that he knew he missed.

“Aether!” A deep voice belonging to a man’s called out to him in the rain.

It sounded familiar, but where had he heard it?

Aether grunted, his sword slipping out of his hand and he gripped his head.

It hurts.

Why was his head hurting so badly?

Aether staggered, only to collide against something solid and something that felt like a hand touched his forehead. He immediately pushed the person away and tried to escape.

“Lumine…!”

“Aether, you’re sick. Come back with me right now.”

“…I have to find her…I…!!”

Aether wasn’t able to go far before he walked into the person again. This time, the person didn’t give him time to react, grabbing both of his wrists and twisting them behind his back while using his arms to cage him against the larger body.

“Aether!”

The blond fought against the hold, but in his weakened state, he couldn’t even get the other to budge an inch.

“Let go!” Aether shouted, struggling to peel himself away from the firm chest he was forced against.

“Aether, you need to calm down.”

“Lumine, where’s Lumine?”

“Lumine is safe, Aether.” The person holding him whispered against his ear. “She’s in Mondstadt. Now come back with me. You’re worsening your condition.”

Aether had no idea what this person was talking about, but his vision was growing dark. His head was spinning and then…nothing.

He dropped limply within the person’s arms. He felt like all of his strength was suddenly drained from his body. His mind was still conscious, but he couldn’t control his body anymore. He felt something large wrapped around his upper body to shield him from the rain. He was then picked up, cradled tightly against the warm body before the person began sprinting. They must be moving very fast because even if Aether was protected by whatever that was wrapped around him, he could still hear the howling sound of the wind.

With each step the man took, Aether’s brain pounded. He felt as though he was on a small boat rocking violently in a storm and had to hold in the urge to vomit.

It hurts.

Stop moving.

Aether wanted to call out, but he couldn't. His entire body was frozen stiff. He didn’t even realize how cold he was until now.

“Master Diluc! You found master Aether!” A woman’s voice rang in his head once the moving finally slowed down.

“What happened?!” Another voice asked, this time a male’s.

“Go find a medic and prepare a warm bath! Hurry!”

There was a jumble of noises, but Aether couldn’t focus on those anymore. The sounds eventually became muffled, as though he was submerged within icy water.

It only felt like a brief moment before Aether slowly came to after dozing off.

Someone was shaking him, calling his name, but who?

Who was it again?

Aether couldn’t think. His head was killing him.

“You need to eat.”

The person pulled him up, but Aether was practically boneless. He couldn’t find any strength in his body to move. The most he could do was partially open his eyes, but even so, he could barely see anything. All he saw was a blur of warm colours and something moving in and out of his sight—something red.

The blond felt himself being pulled up and rested against something even warmer than the bed he was lying on. When his head fell to a certain angle, he could even hear the sound of a strong, steady heartbeat echoing into his ear.

Strangely, this sound didn’t bring him any discomfort. If anything, it made him calm down.

A hand came around his hand to take his jaw and gently pulled his head up before something was pressed against his lower lips.

“Drink,” the command was short and simple, but firm.

Aether didn’t know why he trusted the voice, but he did and parted his mouth.

Lukewarm water slowly slid into his mouth and down his throat.

The moment he swallowed the first bit of water, Aether tried to gulp down the rest, not realizing how thirsty he was. Unsurprisingly, this led to him choking. The glass swiftly moved away from his mouth as he broke down into heavy coughs. He leaned against whoever was holding him, feeling a large hand gently rubbed his back and waited for him to expel the water from his lungs.

After a long time, his coughing finally subsided and the glass returned to his lips.

“Drink slower this time.” Aether obeyed—drinking slower and more carefully.

After he finished the last drop, the glass was gone before something else was pressed against his lips.

He opened his mouth and the object slid inside. It was a spoon.

The blond almost moaned when the taste of creamy soup with the perfect amount of salt spilled over his tastebuds. The moment he swallowed the soup, the man pressed yet another thing against his mouth.

He parted his lips and this time the food was solid. When he closed his lips over it, he bit into something that wasn’t able to slip out of his mouth in time. It was a bit hard and moving. Before Aether could figure out what it was, the thing slipped out of his mouth, making the blond wondered he had imagined it.

He slowly chewed on the thing he was fed with and realized it was a piece of bread soaked in the creamy soup.

The person holding him took turns feeding him the bread and soup. Aether tried to eat as much as he could, but he sometimes got tired from chewing on the bread and would need to take a small break before continuing.

By the time he finished, Aether was worn out. He was ready to fall back into slumber, but the hand holding his head up gave his jaw a tight squeeze, indicating that he wasn’t done.

“Aether, I need you to open your mouth.”

Aether blinked tiredly but did as told before the hand on his jaw suddenly tilted his head all the way back. Before he could even be surprised, something poured into his mouth and a foul, revolting stench filled his nose.

“Hmph!” Aether wanted to spit the disgusting liquid out, but the man seemed to have foreseen his reaction. He clamped a hand tightly over his mouth and kept his head tilted upward to force him to drink it down.

Aether had no choice but to drink down the bitter liquid. It was only when the man was certain he drank it that he finally released him. Aether panted heavily with tears prickling the corner of his eyes. He wanted to get away, but the man’s hold on him was strong.

The blond knew it wasn’t finished. That disgusting smell was still thick in the air.

“No, I don’t—”

“Aether, you need to drink it.”

“I can’t, I—”

“Either you drink it or I’ll force you to drink it.”

Aether shook his head and tried to get out of the person’s hold.

A soft sigh was his only warning before both of his hands were grabbed by a larger one, locking them together and his head jerked back by another. Aether clamped his mouth shut, but instead of forcing his mouth open, something soft was pressed against his lips instead.

Taken off guard, the muscles in the boy’s jaw relaxed. The moment it did, something soft but strong at the same time slipped through the gap between his lips and pried his mouth open.

Aether tried to cloth his mouth, but a strong hand gripped his chin tightly and pressure on his lips increased. He tried to use his tongue to push the intruding appendage out of his mouth, only to be squashed down.

He groaned pitifully when the bitter fluid flooded into his mouth, making him cringe. He pulled at his hands, but the man’s grip over his wrists was too strong. With his mouth pried open and head pushed back all the way, he couldn’t even breathe. Aether had no choice but to swallow. The moment his lips were freed, he gasped for air. He was only given about five seconds of break before his head was yanked back up and his lips sealed again.

By the time they were done, Aether was a panting and shuddering mess. Panting due to the lack of oxygen and shuddering because of the awful taste lingering in his mouth. His hands were finally released, but he couldn’t even bother to move them anymore.

When he felt something pressed to his lips again, he wanted to move away but the arm around his shoulders stopped him.

“It’s just candy. It’ll help with the aftertaste,” the man told him. Aether hesitantly opened his mouth and allowed the candy to slip inside. Immediately, his mouth was filled with the sweetness and the flavour of lemon.

He rested in the man’s arms, rolling the candy around with his tongue until it completely dissolved. As he began to doze off again, he felt himself being shifted and laid down onto the mattress.

“Wait…!” He reached out and grabbed onto the person’s shirt—or at least, it seemed like it was his shirt. “Don’t go…please…”

Don’t leave.

He didn’t want to be alone.

“Don’t leave me, Diluc…” Aether called out the name without registering the fact that he even called it out. He didn’t want to be alone anymore, even if this person had forcefully made him drink something he didn’t want.

A pair of hands gently grasped onto his. For a moment, Aether thought the person was going to pull his hands away, but instead, those hands gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m not going anywhere,” the man promised.

Receiving the response he wanted, Aether let out a weak smile before he finally let himself go and slipped back into the darkness.  

The next time Aether woke up, he felt oddly refreshed. He didn’t know when was the last time he felt as good as he was right now. He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a lamp sitting on the nightstand, giving out a warm orange glow.

He stared at the light, a bit mesmerized by the glow before he heard the rustling sound of paper.

Then…the bedding under him moved.

Aether shifted his head and was suddenly aware of the steady beating sound against his ear. He had been so comfortable and strangely used to the sound that he didn’t even notice it was there until he had to go listen for him.

He blinked once, then twice.

When Aether saw an arm moving in and out of his sight, he nearly jumped up in shock. Or rather, he would have if a hand didn’t press down between his shoulder blades to stop him.

“Don’t move, you’ll ruin my work,” said a stern voice.

That voice…!

Aether snapped his head up and the man’s handsome face came into his view. Those ruby-red eyes briefly shifted to him before looking back to whatever he was doing. The blond followed the other’s gaze and saw papers resting over the bed in neat piles.

The red-haired man rested a clipboard against a raised knee and was using an ink pen to write over the documents…all with Aether lying between his arms.

“Diluc?”

“So you remember me now.”

“Huh?” Aether looked up at Diluc, only to be pushed back against the man’s chest.

Before Aether could say anything, a hand brushed away his golden bangs and rested onto his forehead. The blond lay against Diluc, feeling his heart beating faster and faster with each passing seconds.

He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that his face was burning hotter and hotter. His entire body was tensed, not daring to move an inch while his brain tried to make sense of his situation.

“You’re still a bit warm, you should rest a little longer,” Diluc informed him before the hand on his forehead guided his head back onto the redhead’s shoulder. It was then that he noticed Diluc was wearing only a simple white dress shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned, revealing his well-defined collarbone.

Aether quickly averted his eyes with his face heating up even more.

“D-Diluc…?”

“What is it?” Diluc responded, not stopping in his work.

“Why are you in my bed?”

“Take a look around, you’re the one in my bed.”

“Eh?” At that, Aether cranked his head up. He looked around and realized that it was true. This wasn’t his room. This room was much wider with finely polished furniture and bookshelves—it was undeniably Diluc’s room.

“Why am I…?”

“You don’t remember anything?” The redhead asked, looking down at him.

“No, I don’t...” Aether replied, shrinking a little under the man’s sharp gaze. What did he do to make him end up in Diluc’s room? The last thing he remembered was going to bed with a really bad headache due to going four days and night without a wink of sleep…

“You destroyed your room and ran out in the middle of a storm.” Diluc finally decided to enlighten him.

Aether’s mind nearly went blank.

He what?!

The blond briefly wondered if the redhead was joking, but Diluc’s face remained stoic and in all of his time working for the man, he had never cracked a single joke. His sister never mentioned anything about the Dawn Winery owner liking to make jokes.

The man’s adoptive brother on the other hand…Paimon had some strong opinion about the knight captain, but that was just Paimon.

“I’m...sorry…” While the blond had no idea why he would destroy his own room, he knew he had to apologize first. The man was his employer after all. His living arrangements and job all depended on him.

“It’s nothing that can’t be repaired, though it will take a couple of days.” Diluc set aside his paper before giving the blond in his arms his full attention.  

“Does your head still hurt?” He asked, bringing a hand up to brush away his long golden hair.

“No…I’m fine.” Aether shook his head lightly. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

The blond looked down but jolted when he felt a hand overlapping his. He glanced to his side and realized that he had been unconsciously fisting the redhead’s shirt.

“Sorry, I—”

“Are you apologizing for destroying your room, or the Abyss Order?”

Aether’s eyes widened before he looked down, using his bangs to hide his face from the man’s piercing gaze.

He didn’t say anything.

What could he possibly say?

He hurt so many people and yet all of them easily forgave his wrongdoing. Even Diluc, who was targeted by them on multiple occasions, provided him with a place to stay and a job.

“I know you are still feeling guilty over what happened, that's why I gave you all those work—so that it would stop you from thinking such useless things. I didn’t expect you to be so stupid to overwork yourself to the point of getting sick.” Diluc’s hand came to rest on Aether’s nape, causing the blond’s heartbeat to spike again.

Aether swore that if he was ever going to die, it would be because of this man.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. The one that was wrong and controlled you was that goddess. Surely you’ve been told that plenty of times now.”

“I know—”

“No, you don’t know.” Diluc cut him off firmly. “If you do, you wouldn’t be overworking yourself, trying to atone for something when there was never anything for you to atone.”

Aether bit the inside of his cheek and swallowed all the things he wanted to say. He knew it was pointless to explain because everyone will always tell him it wasn’t his fault. He was tired of hearing it.

How many people were troubled by his actions?

How many lives suffered at his hands?

Aether could never apologize enough for everything that happened. That was why he took as much work as Diluc would let him so that he could help the people and make changes like what Lumine did.

At the thought of his sister, Aether felt the void inside him growing a little bigger.

Before coming to this world, they were travelling from world to world without a place to call home for the longest time. They only ever had each other and there was never a need to have anyone else.

Outlanders did not belong in this world—Aether had truly believed that until he saw Lumine surrounded by people that loved and cared for her. As her brother, he was happy for her. He was thankful for all these people looking out for his little sister, yet at the same time, she was straying further from him.

In Lumine’s world, she didn’t only have Aether anymore. She got plenty of people she could rely on and people relying on her. She had friends and even someone whom she came to love. Aether knew that if he insisted on leaving this world, Lumine would follow him, but there was no way he could do that to her.

They had been travelling for too long and had been to too many worlds. It was time to put that to an end.

He encouraged her to stay, and he stayed with her because to travel the worlds without his sister was a lonesome and painful journey. Their wings were taken from them as the price of them being able to permanently stay in this world. With his sister having a life of her own, he didn’t want to get in her way so he was employed by Diluc and has been living in Dawn’s Winery ever since.

In the circle of the nobles, people would know of him as the personal guard to the young master of the famed winery owner. He would attend formal parties with Diluc and followed him around like a shadow, never straying from his side. Though in reality, his real job was to help Diluc collect information and assist him in protecting Mondstadt from the shadows.

Lumine on the other hand settled in the city as a Hero and an official member within the Favonius Knights. Paimon was even made a knight apprentice, though Aether was certain it was just a fancy title they gave to make Lumine stay with them.

Despite both of them having completely different jobs and living away from each other, they were still able to see each other frequently. This was all thanks to these two brothers always dragging them to Angel’s Share.

Diluc dragged him to help out while Kaeya dragged his sister there to relax and have fun. Although that was what they said, Aether and Lumine both knew that they were trying to give them more chances to meet up and for that they were grateful.

“Thank you, Diluc, but I’m alright.” Aether let out a soft sigh and sat up, hyperaware of the hand still on the back of his neck and the other one resting on his hip.

“I’ll believe that once you make an effort to make it more convincing,” the redhead snorted.

Aether gave his boss a wry smile before moving to get up.

“Thank you for taking care of me, and I’m sorry for the trouble I caused. I will make it up to the damage I—” Before Aether could finish, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

Aether let out a startled gasp when his back hit the mattress. He could hear the sound of paper fluttering into the air and when he looked up, he said Diluc hovering over him, looking down at him with those ruby red eyes.

“Are you playing stupid, or are you stupid?” Diluc asked with a frown tugging on his lips. “Did you honestly think I would hold anyone and sleep with them because they’re sick?”

Aether opened his mouth but found himself lost for words.

What was Diluc talking about?

He can’t be saying…

“In terms of feelings, you siblings are quite dense,” Diluc commented before he suddenly dipped his head and Aether’s eyes widened upon feeling the man’s warm lips against his own.

The kiss was short and sweet, lasting only three seconds before Diluc pulled away, but it was enough to leave Aether a shuttering mess. The boy opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he finally snapped it shut with redness blossoming over his cheeks.

“W-why…?”

“Because I love you. Would there be any other reasons?” Diluc questioned as though it should be obvious. “You’re loved, Aether. Your sister loves you, everyone in Dawn Winery loves you, the people in the tavern love you. I can’t say much for the Favonius Knights, but at the very least Kaeya and the Outrider girl like your company. You’re not alone, so you can rely on me a bit more.”

“As what?” Aether’s vision was blurring with tears gathering in both of his eyes. “My boss, my friend, or…”

“If you’ll have me, then as a lover,” Diluc said softly, taking a lock of his long hair and placing a kiss upon the golden strands.

Aether reached his hands up, wounding them around Diluc before pulling him down. He hugged the redhead tightly in his arms, face buried within his shoulder with his tears soaking up the redhead’s shirt. The young master of Dawn Winery held him back just as tight, his face buried within the boy’s soft hair.

“Diluc, I…” Aether was cut off by his own hiccups and unsteady voice from crying.

“I know,” Diluc chuckled and tightened his arms around the delicate being. “You’re not exactly subtle with hiding your feelings.”

Aether buried his face deeper into the crook of the man’s neck. He held onto him for a long time before he managed to stabilize his voice. Even though Diluc said he knew, there were some things he still needed to say out loud.

“I love you, Diluc.” Aether could feel the man’s lips on top of his head slowly curving upwards into a smile.

Dilus gently combed his fingers through the silky hair with the colour reminding him of the first peak of dawn.

“I love you too, Aether.”

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

“Aether! Give me another Dandelion wine!”

“Coming right up!” Aether shouted from where he was wiping the counter. He grabbed a bottle of Dandelion wine and brought it to the customer at the far back of the tavern.

“Another bottle of wine over here too!”

“Be there in a second!”

“Hey, Aether!”

Aether turned to see a certain blue-haired knight waving an empty glass in his direction.

“Another Death After Noon for me~!”

As soon as he said that, a glass with his order slammed down in front of him. Considering the force, it was surprising not a single droplet of the liquid inside came out…and that the glass was still in one piece.

“Is that how you treat your customers?” Instead of being intimidated, the Cavalry Captain leaned his head against his knuckle and smirked up at the red-haired man standing on the other side of the counter.

“I don’t appreciate customers harassing my worker.” Diluc scowled while making a hand gesture at Aether to keep working and not to mind them.

“I was ordering a drink, how could you say I’m harassing our dear Aether?”

“That was the tenth time you called for him in the last hour,” the tavern owner deadpanned.

“Master Diluc’s right!” Paimon fluttered up from the stool where she was standing on. “You called him for napkins, then forks and a bunch of other things! Why are you calling Aether so much today, Kaeya?”

Lumine who was sitting between Kaeya and Paimon also turned to her superior/lover.

“Hmm…why indeed~” Kaeya’s eyes drifted to the blond-haired girl. Seeing the curiosity in her bright golden eyes, he chuckled ruffled her hair.

“Hey! Kaeya!” Lumine tried to pull the hand off her head, but that large hand didn’t budge and continued to mess up her hair.

Kaeya laughed, about to say something when he received a whack over the head. He turned around on his stool to see Aether standing behind him with a tray held up—the object he hit the knight’s head with.

“I appreciate it if you don’t bully my little sister,” Aether told him without any real bite in his words.

“Sorry, sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. She’s too adorable,” Kaeya said with a wave of his hand.

“Oh, you have a good eye, dear customer! Even back in our hometown, Lumine is our number one beauty!” Aether said playfully and swiftly side-stepped his sister’s attempt to kick him in the shin. He stuck a tongue at her and she did the same.

“So,” he turned back to the blue-haired man, “is there a reason you’re calling on me so much today?”

“Hmm…maybe because you look different,” Kaeya replied with a knowing smirk, running a finger around the rim of his glass to create a light vibration.

“Oh yes! Paimon thinks so too!” Paimon immediately joined in, fluttering around Aether. “You look less gloomy than you usually are!”

“Gloomy…?” Aether stared at the fluttering…whatever she was. He brought up his tray to swat her prying fingers away. “I don’t want to hear that from an emergency ration.”

“HEY!”

“Paimon meant that you look really happy today, Aether,” Lumine giggled. “Did something good happen?”

Aether stilled for a moment before a smile stretched across his lips. He glanced over to Diluc who was behind the counter mixing the wine. Sensing his gaze, Diluc looked up with red eyes meeting a pair of golden ones.

“Well…” Aether smiled at Diluc who gave him a small smile back. He scratched his cheek awkwardly and turned back to the two girls. “I…Diluc and I are dating.”

Aether clenched onto the tray as he waited for his sister’s response with some pink dusting his cheeks.

Lumine stared at him, along with Paimon.

“…Some reaction would be nice?” Aether looked between the two. Why were they looking at him like that?

“Er…why are you telling us that now?” Paimon crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. “Wasn’t this like, ages ago?”

“…Huh?” Now it was Aether who was dumbfounded.

“Eh?” Lumine’s jaw fell with her expression mirroring her brother’s. “Weren’t you and Diluc dating all this time?”

Now Aether was really confused.

What in the world was she talking about?

“Wait…could it be that you mean you two…weren’t dating?!” Paimon shouted, earning looks from countless people in the tavern.

“Paimon!” Lumine hushed her loudly and Paimon clapped her tiny hands over her mouth.

“But, but, you two were always together! And Kaeya said—” Paimon cut herself off with a sharp gasp and all three of their heads snapped to the blue-haired knight who was grinning smugly at the looks on their faces.

“Kaeya!!” Paimon shouted, flying over to him in a fit of rage.

“You told Lumine and Paimon that me and Diluc had been dating?” Aether gapped in disbelief.

“I thought something was weird whenever Lumine and Paimon looked me for the past couple of weeks.” Diluc huffed as he walked over. “So it is you.”

“The fact that they couldn’t tell you two weren’t dating speaks volume, no?” Kaeya smirked at his adoptive brother.

“Kaeya!” Lumine shouted.

“How could you, Kaeya!” Paimon joined in. “Paimon will never believe you ever again!”

“Now, now, don’t be angry. It turned out exactly as I said, didn’t it?” Kaeya waved his drink at the group, causing the ice inside to make clattering noises. “Therefore I didn’t lie.”

“Yeah, but…something doesn’t sound right about that.” Paimon pondered over the man’s words. It somewhat made sense, but she still felt that she was being lied to.

“Besides, I thought this might help our little brother here speed up on confessing his love for his dear boss.”

“Don’t stick your nose into where it doesn’t belong, Knights of Favonius.” Diluc narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“Now I wouldn’t say that.” Kaeya set his glass down. “After all, we’ll all be families in the future, isn’t that right, my dear?”

Aether and Diluc both glanced at Lumine who was blushing so hard that her face was becoming a tomato.

“Lumine?” Aether arched a brow.

“Well…I was going to tell you later, Aether,” Lumine grinned shyly. She held out her left hand that she had been secretly hiding all night. On her ring finger was a silver ring with blue sapphires engraved in it.

When Aether’s eyes snapped to Kaeya, the knight was also holding up his hand, revealing an identical ring on his finger.

Before he could react to the shocking news, Paimon’s scream nearly knocked him off his feet.

“YOU TWO ARE GETTING MARRIED?!”

“…You didn’t know?” Aether gawked at Paimon. Suddenly, he felt like his shock as Lumine’s twin brother was nothing compared to hers.

“SO MEAN! WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL PAIMON?!”

“Kaeya! What’s this about marrying?!” Someone shouted from the other side of the tavern.

“Our Lumine is getting married?!” Another voice joined in.

Soon, the place was in an uproar with the other regular drinkers coming over to give their congratulations to the lucky couple. Aether moved behind the counter so he wouldn’t get squashed within the mass of people. He stood next to Diluc and watched the two knights with a small smile on his face.

“Did you know about this?” He asked, not taking his eyes off his sister who was standing next to Kaeya—their hands intertwined.

“Some weeks back, Kaeya came to me and asked me to introduce him to the best craftsman in Liyue. It wasn’t hard to guess his intention.” Diluc replied.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“You seemed quite busy with your works, considering you had to neglect sleep and food.” The man’s sharp words caused the other to flinch.

“You’re…” Aether swallowed nervously, “still mad about that?”

“Yes,” Diluc answered without missing a beat. The older man glanced down at his lover. Seeing the guilt on the blond’s face, he finally allowed a small smile to grace his lips. He reached out to take Aether’s hand within his own.

Their fingers laced together secretly behind the counter where no one would be able to see.

Aether held onto his lover’s hand. He could feel the warmth the larger hand was generating despite the leather glove separating them. He looked up to Lumine who looked back at him.

Bright smiles stretched across their lips at the same time.

This was where they belong.

[yellowcanna]

Ginger and Zunda

Summary:

“Fushiguro, did you become sexy overnight?”

BAAAM

Itadori crumbled onto the ground with a pained cry. He held onto his throbbing head where there was already a large bump forming.

“That hurts…what was that for?!” Itadori shouted, looking over his shoulder to see Kugisaki standing behind him with veins throbbing on the back of her fist.

“I came to see what’s the hold up only to find you sexually harassing Fushiguro.” She snapped, the way she looked at Itadori was like looking at a disgusting bug that needed to be squashed.

“Huh?! When did I sexually harassed him?!” Itadori cried.

“Calling him sexy and trying to kiss him is sexual harassment!”

“I wasn’t trying to kiss him! I was just sniffing him!!”

“Like that’s any better! Sniffing an Omega is equivalent to molesting when you’re an Alpha, you numbskull!” Kugisaki shouted before smacking her fist into his head again, beating the young Alpha back onto the floor.

"Exactly what did you two came here for?" Fushiguro muttered, staring at his two classmates in front of him.

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff, Omegaverse, shounen-ai

Pairing: Gojo x Fushigurou

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

╔═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╝

“Hey, Fushiguro!” Itadori shouted in excitement, waving his hand in the air while running towards his friend and classmate that he spotted walking down the hall of the dormitory.

With the golden week just around the corner, the first years were given a couple of days of break. Itadori was ecstatic. Finally, he could do some real sightseeing around the city that he didn’t have the time to do before.

Kugisaki was instantly onboard with the idea.

All that was left was Fushiguro.

However, when Fushiguro turned around, Itadori tripped over his own feet as though he had forgotten how his legs work and crashed onto the floor, rolling three times before coming to a stop at the raven’s feet.

“…What are you doing?” Fushiguro’s flat voice came from above. His voice sounded normal, but Itadori keenly caught the unusual hoarseness the other was trying to hide.

The boy bounced up from the ground and began looking Fushiguro all over, making the raven looked a bit weird out.

“What are you doing?” He repeated, stepping back to pull some distance between their faces when Itadori leaned too close.

“Fushiguro, did you become sexy overnight?”

BAAAM

Itadori crumbled onto the ground with a pained cry. He held onto his throbbing head where there was already a large bump forming.

“That hurts…what was that for?!” Itadori shouted, looking over his shoulder to see Kugisaki standing behind him with veins throbbing on the back of her fist.

“I came to see what’s the hold up only to find you sexually harassing Fushiguro.” She snapped, the way she looked at Itadori was like looking at a disgusting bug that needed to be stomp on.

“Huh?! When did I sexually harassed him?!” Itadori cried.

“Calling him sexy and trying to kiss him without his consent is sexual harassment!”

“I wasn’t trying to kiss him! I was just sniffing him!!”

“Like that’s any better! Sniffing an Omega is equivalent to molesting when you’re an Alpha, you numbskull!” Kugisaki shouted before smacking her fist into his head again, beating the young Alpha back onto the floor.

“No, wait…hear me out!” Itadori immediately tried to defend himself from being branded as a molester. “It wasn’t like that! I just thought Fushiguro looked different, that’s all! I didn’t mean anything, I swear!”

“Yeah, I know,” Fushiguro muttered. If it was anyone else, the raven would have already fed them to the Jade Hounds. “So? Do you two need something?”

“We’re wondering if you wanna go sightseeing with us. Since you’ve been here long enough, you should know some good places right?” Kugisaki asked.

“Ah, I know a couple, but I can’t go. I’ll send the locations to the chat later.”

“Eh?! Why?!” Itadori shouted in disappointment. “We all have free days off, don’t we?”

“I…have some other things to do for the rest of the week.”

That was all he said before hurrying away, leaving his two classmates behind.

“So?” Kugisaki crossed her arms. “What the heck was that about?”

“Didn’t you think Fushiguro looked kinda sexy just now?” Itadori asked, scratching the back of his head. When he looked up and saw the look on his female classmate’s face, he frantically waved his hands in front of him to explain. “I didn’t mean it that way! I meant literally! Didn’t his face looked…different?”

“Was it any different?” Kugisaki frowned, trying to remember what expression Fushiguro had.

“His voice too! It sounded a bit scratchy!”

“I didn’t notice anything wrong.” Kugisaki snorted. “You sure you aren’t feeling for the guy? He’s an Omega after all.”

“Of course not!” Itadori looked grossed out just imagining himself getting together with the raven. “I like women like Jennifer Lawrence!”

“Yeah, yeah, thank god I’m a Beta and don’t have to deal with these weird shits. Come on, let’s go already!”

Their conversation about Fushiguro’s changes ended there. Or at least, it should have ended there. The next morning, Kugisaki sat by the table, her left hand holding onto her miso soup and her right hand limply holding onto a pair of chopsticks. She stared at Fushiguro who was practically glowing at the other side of the table.

“…What?” Fushiguro frowned and yes, Kugisaki could hear the scratchiness in his voice now.

“Nothing!” The girl quickly raised her miso soup, pretending to drink while her eyes wandered all over the black-haired Omega.

It was just as Itadori had said…Fushiguro became…sexy.

A vein popped over Kugisaki’s head. She felt oddly irritated just to admit that.

After a painful breakfast that couldn’t pass by any faster, Fushiguro left. Itadori asked where he was going, but Fushiguro simply stated he was going back to his room and that was that.

“Hey, what the heck is going on?!” Kugisaki exploded once Fushiguro was out of their sight. “Why the heck is he so sexy all of the sudden?!”

“See?! You saw it too right?!” Itadori cried, glad that his classmate finally understood.

“What are you two doing?” Hearing a woman’s voice calling out to them, the two first years looked up to see Maki, Panda and Inumaki.

┈┈┈┈ ❖ ┈┈┈┈

“Megumi?” Maki frowned after hearing what the two first year’s explanations. “Aaah, it must be that time of the year for him.”

“That time of the year?” The two innocent children echoed, causing a sadistic grin to appear over the girl’s face. “When Omega goes into their H-e-a-t.”

“Heat?!” Kugisaki gasped. Even as a beta, she knew about Heats and Ruts, but… “Wait, I thought Heat and Rut happen only after the Alpha or Omega turns twenty?”

“Salmon.” Inumaki replied.

“Oh, I know that one!” Itadori said proudly. “It’s called trial Heat! I got trial Rut since I’m an Alpha and it’s a pain!”

“Trial?” Kugisaki frowned. Growing up in the countryside where the entire town consists of Betas, Kugisaki knew little about Alpha and Omega biology. She only knew basic manners when dealing with an Alpha or Omega—like not sniffing them for example. “Like a premature condition?”

“That’s right!” Panda nodded. “They won’t experience any need for sexual desire. These trial Heats and Ruts are so their bodies could get used to the sensation and prepare them before real thing after growing into adulthood. Right now, Fushiguro is going through just that.”

“But Fushiguro looked fine?” Itadori asked in confusion. “When I got my trial Rut, I felt like I was gonna die and I can’t stop drinking water since I was sweating all over. I can’t even sleep!”

“That’s because you don’t have a mate to help you out.” Maki snorted. “If you got a mate to ease your body with their scent, you’d be like Megumi right now. If an Omega is being taken care of well enough, you’ll be able to see the glow—which was what you saw on Megumi.”

“Wait…you’re saying Fushiguro has a mate?!” Kugisaki screamed. If there was one thing she knew about Alpha and Omega, it was their weird pairing system. Alpha and Omegas don’t date like Betas. Instead, they were able to tell with one glance who should be their partner and who shouldn’t. It’s kind of like love at first sight, but it was apparently way stronger than that considering they would only choose one person for their entire lifetime.

“That guy’s mated?!” Itadori’s jaw was practically touching the ground.

“Hm? You two didn’t know?” Panda tilted his head and twitched those fluffy black ears. “Fushiguro’s Alpha is—”

“Panda!” Maki shouted, interrupting whatever Panda was going to say. She smirked widely, showing off her pearl white teeth. “If you wanna know, why don’t you two go ask Megumi yourselves? I’m sure it’ll be a nice surprise~”

And that was how Itadori and Kugisaki found themselves standing in front of Fushiguro’s room.

“…Hey, knock already,” Kugisaki hissed, keeping her voice soft so she wouldn’t be heard.

“Why me?!” Itadori said back just as quietly. “Besides, what if his Alpha is in his room right now?! Fushiguro’s in Heat isn’t he? That would just be awkward!”

“So you know about awkwardness?” Kugisaki’s eyes swept over the boy up and down as if suddenly seeing him in a new light.

“Of course, what do you take me for?!”

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before they moved at the same time. They tiptoed up to the door and pressed their ears against the flat surface of the wood.

They listened for a long time, but nothing…

There wasn’t a single sound.

Was Fushiguro even in his room?

“Maybe he’s not back?” Itadori guessed.

“Hey, how does your Rut work?” The Beta lightly kicked the Alpha’s shin. “Can you usually move around during your Rut?” From what she saw on Fushiguro, he looked perfectly fine this morning though Maki did say that was because the raven got an Alpha to help him.

“Hmm…it usually gets really bad at night—like a fever with headache and all. Daytime is usually better so yeah, we could still walk around if we need to.” Itadori replied.

“Which means that guy will definitely be back before nighttime! Let’s hide and wait for him!” Kugisaki decided with Itadori earnestly agreeing. The two of them ran outside. It was a good thing they can get a clear view of Fushiguro’s door through the window so they hid behind some bushes and waited.

They waited and waited, but still nothing.

There wasn’t a single person in sight.

The sun slowly started to set and the mosquitos became more and more active. Kugisaki was the first to lose her patience despite how she was the one who suggested waiting.

“Argh!! I can’t take this anymore!” She shouted, slapping another mosquito that landed on her leg. “Where is that guy and his freakin’ Alpha?!”

“Wouldn’t it be just easier to guess who it is? I mean, there’s not that many of us." Itadori pointed out. 

Kugisaki huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “It can’t be the second years and the third years are still suspended from school.”

“Maybe they're allowed back? Ruts and Heats are pretty painful so if you got a partner, I don't think the school would keep them away."

“But then we never met any of the third years, how are we supposed to know?” Kugisaki questioned. “Come to think of it, there’s another person in the second year we didn’t meet as well. I heard from Maki-senpai that he’s also an Alpha.”

“Ah, that Okkotsu guy?” Itadori slapped another mosquito on her cheek. “Hey, can we get out of—”

“Shh!” Kugisaki hissed, grabbing the Alpha’s head and pushed him back down into the bushes with her following close behind. “Look!”

Itadori peeked through the gaps of the leaves. In the bright hallway, a person was strolling by the windows with one hand holding what seemed like a lunchbox and the other tucked in his pocket.

“Gojo-sensei?!” Itadori blinked at the sight of their teacher.

The pair watched the man stopped in front of Fushiguro’s door and gave it three quick knocks.

The two students watched with halted breaths. They swallowed at the same time, staring unblinkingly at that door until the doorknob twisted and it opened.

Fushiguro was revealed, wearing nothing but an overly large t-shirt with a wide collar, showing off his collarbones and most importantly—his scent glands on the base of either side of his neck. The scent glands that were usually hidden under the skin were swelled up and extremely painful to look at.

At glance, Fushijoru looked as though he wasn’t wearing any pants, but upon closer inspection, they saw the edge of his black shorts sticking out from under his shirt.

“S-should we be looking at this…?” Itadori asked, averting his eyes and looking extremely flustered.

“Ah?” Kugisaki turned and when she saw the redness on Itadori’s face, she glanced back at Fushiguro.

The boy seemed feverish and Kugisaki could tell from the rise and fall of his chest as well as his parted lips that he was also panting. His eyes looked slightly foggy, lacking the usual sharpness. Around those half-lidded eyes were also tints of red…as if he had been crying or something.

“…Is that erotic?” 

“Sorry, yes…” Itadori admitted shamefully, covering his face in his hands.

Kugisaki stared at the Alpha, then back to the Omega. “Man, I seriously don’t get you Alphas and Omegas.”

She squinted her eyes at the two who are just talking by the doorway with Gojo holding out the lunchbox and Fushiguro taking it.

“What, he’s just delivering dinner.” Kugisaki sighed in disappointment. However, her disappointment didn’t last long, for that the next moment, Gojo was wrapping an arm around Fushiguro’s waist and pulling the boy against him.

“Oi, oi, oi, what is this turnout?!” Kugisaki gapped, hiding deeper into the bushes as she watched Gojo rubbed his and Fushiguro’s cheeks together in an affectionate way before dipping his head to nuzzle the Omega’s neck.

“What is it?” Itadori asked, looking back only for his jaw to smash through the ground.

“Hey, correct me if I’m wrong…” Kugisaki’s brows were twitching nonstop, “but touching an Omega’s neck like that is equivalents to kissing…right?”

“Y-yeah, and you can’t touch the scent glands unless you’re…” Itadori’s voice trailed off when they saw Gojo’s tongue darted out of his lips and swiped over Fushiguro’s scent gland.

Fushiguro’s eyes fell shut, his body shaking uncontrollably with his lips pressed into a thin line, seeming to be desperately holding something back. Kugisaki stared at the raven’s flushed face, then to his legs that were trembling so hard she bet the only thing holding him up was Gojo’s arm around his waist.

“…Mated,” the Alpha finished weakly.

“Y-you know…it might be erotic…just a little…” Kugisaki hesitantly admitted. Suddenly, this whole peeking thing felt extremely wrong. She felt like they were intruding on Fushiguro’s private moment until another issue popped out in her mind. “Wait, isn’t he an old man?!”

“I’m only in my late twenties you know? You make it sound as though I’m doing something illegal.” A voice spoke behind the two of them, causing them to jump out of the bush with surprised yelps.

The pair whirled around to see Gojo standing behind them with his hands in his pockets and a smirk gracing his lips.

“Gojo-sensei!” Itadori gasped while Kugisaki quickly collected herself.

“But isn’t that right?” She pointed a finger at him. “Fushiguro’s still underage! Even if you two are mates, this is against the law!”

“Hey now, don’t start making me a pedophile all of the sudden!” Gojo said, holding his hands up. “All I’m doing is rubbing my scent on him to help relieve him of his Heats.”

“Really?” Kugisaki eyed the world’s strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer suspiciously.

“Really~”

All of the sudden, their surroundings became bright. It took the two students a couple of seconds to realize that they had changed place. Or rather, Gojo had picked them both up and brought them into the building!

“What are you two doing?” Fushiguro stared at his two classmates that suddenly appeared in front of him along with his teacher.

“Fushigurou!” Itadori blushed and frantically looked away.

“Well…we were curious about your Heat partner…” Kugisaki muttered. “Nevermind that, you’re mated with Gojo-sensei?!”

“Yeah,” Fushiguro replied like it wasn’t a big deal. “We realized we were mates when we first met.”

“When was that?” Itadori asked while having his eyes averted.

“…When I was in elementary.”

Kugisaki and Itadori immediately snapped their heads to Gojo standing behind them—the expressions on their faces identical, clearly expressing their inner thoughts.

“Can you two please stop looking at me like I’m a piece of trash?” Gojo was suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu. The last time he got these accusing looks was when the current second years found out about the age of his little mate. “It’s not uncommon for Alphas and Omegas to have wide age gaps since we don’t choose our partners like Beta.”

“Then do you regret it?” Kugisaki narrowed her eyes.

“Of course not!” Gojo laughed, walking around his two students and wrapped his arm around Fushiguro who was sweating badly yet still strongly holding on. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now if you’ll excuse us, I think Megumi is starting to reach his limit~”

With a wave, Gojo walked Megumi into his room and closed the door behind them. A second later, Kugisaki and Itadori heard the sound of the lock clicking on the other side.

The two stood outside for a long time before they looked at each other and turned to leave.

“Seriously? They must be at least ten years apart.” Kugisaki mumbled as they walked down the hallway.

“Is it bad to be ten years apart?” Itadori asked. “I mean, as long as you like each other, that’s all that matters, right?”

Kugisaki’s eyes widened. She stared at Itdaori who was smiling that goofy smile that it just made her want to slap him. At the same time, she couldn’t help but smile and thought back to Fushiguro and Gojo’s interactions. Now looking back, it made sense why these two were always so close to each other.

She always assumed it was purely because they knew each other for a long time, but to think it’d be like this…

Wait, then didn’t that mean out of the three of them, Fushiguro was the first one to snag himself a partner?!

“Damn it all!!”

“What’s with you?” Itadori jumped back in surprise at the girl’s outburst.

┈┈┈┈ ❖ ┈┈┈┈

“Finally the obstacles are gone,” Gojo hummed before looking down at his Omega in his arms. He chuckled and nuzzled his face into the sleek black hair. “I’ve kept you waiting, haven’t I?”

“What do you think?” The resentment was clear in Megumi’s voice. This bastard of an Alpha knew his classmates were watching, that was why he took so long to bring the food back! He purposely walked his way back so they would see everything!

“Just…hurry…!!”

“You should eat something first.” Gojo sat down on Megumi’s bed and pulled the Omega onto his lap. He raised a hand to set up a small screen around the room so they wouldn’t be disturbed. “You haven’t eaten anything since morning.”

“It’s fine, I need…” Megumi couldn’t even finish speaking before he wrapped his arms and legs around the Alpha. He pulled open his teacher’s collar and started rubbing their necks together.

“That excited are you?” Gojo muttered by his ears before Megumi let out a strained moan.

His body crumbled, feeling strength zapped out of him when the Alpha wrapped his mouth around one of his scent glands and sucked.

“Sensei…!!”

“I told you, call my name when it’s just the two of us, Megumi.” Gojo muttered against his ear, his large hand rubbing the Omega’s back before sliding downward.

Megumi shivered, his arms tightening around the Alpha’s neck and his long legs clamping around that strong hips. Despite the nervousness the Omega was displaying, that hand didn’t stop. It reached the Omega’s lower spine before the hand lifted, bypassing the tantalizing globes of flesh and tenderly touched the scent glands on his inner thighs.

Tears rolled out from the corner of his eyes and Megumi was immediately boneless in the Alpha’s arms. He panted heavily, eyes barely open as the Alpha licked at the scent glands on his neck while his fingers continued to stroke the ones inside his thighs.

“Megumi, did I ever tell you why I like zunda and cream flavoured Kikufuku?” Gojo gave that scent gland a hard kiss and was rewarded with a cute mewl from the Omega. He didn’t bother waiting for a reply because he knew Megumi wasn’t capable of words anymore. His brain was still functioning, he can still hear, but his body was no longer his to control.

“Because your scent is very similar to zunda. It’s mild, fragrant with a hint of sweetness. And your scent gland…”

“Aaah!” Megumi jumped when teeth lightly scraped over the sensitive glands while the scent gland on his thigh was pinched.

“Whenever you’re in Heat, your scent gland taste like the finest whipped cream. It’s simply exquisite. I just can’t get enough of that flavour…”

Megumi was slowly turning into a sobbing mess and the Alpha kept biting into his scent gland. It wasn’t hard enough to draw blood, but it was certainly hard enough to leave a nasty bruise. Gojo wanted nothing more than to break the skin—to taste the Omega’s blood and leave an unhealable scar on these scent glands so everyone will know that this Omega was taken.

But he can’t.

He can’t mark his Omega now.

“It makes me want to suck them dry so I could fill it up with my scent.” With that said, Gojo began to greedily suck on the tender scent gland. His mouth was instantly filled with the rich sweetness of the Omega’s pheromone. Normally, Gojo would take his time lapping at the scent glands and savouring it like a cat would do to cream, but for the first time, he was the one who became impatient.

All of this was due to Itadori.

Despite how he behaved, Gojo was an Alpha and Alphas all had a short fuse when it came to their Omegas. Gojo was no exception. Even if Itadori was a child, he was foremost an Alpha—the opposite gender of Omega. Letting the boy see Megumi up close like that made Gojo’s blood boil, yet it needed to be done.

He needed to show a certain curse who this Omega belonged to.

Gojo had long since noticed Sukuna’s interest towards his Omega.

Sukuna wanted his Omega, and Gojo wasn’t going to ever let that happen.

Fushiguro Megumi was his Omega and Gojo Satoru will be his only Alpha.

He wrapped one arm around the Omega’s back and spread his hand between the boy’s shoulder blades. He pushed the Omega against his body with so much force that Megumi could barely move. The Omega clutched onto his Alpha as the latter continued to gulp down his scent.

Once Gojo drank every last drop of the boy’s scent from that gland, he finally pulled his lips away. He admired the abused and shrivelled little scent gland before he turned his head to the other one and latched on.

Megumi could no longer see with all the tears flooding out of his eyes. He couldn’t even lift a finger. All he could do was let out obscene noises with the older Alpha thoroughly abusing his scent glands.

“Hah…” Gojo sighed blissfully when he released Megumi’s scent gland. He ran a tongue over his lips to catch any lingering trace of the delicious scent there.

It wasn’t enough.

It was never enough.

Gojo rubbed his calloused finger over the sensitive gland inside his student’s thigh, causing the body in his arm jerked violently.

His eyes dropped between the boy’s quivering legs, pushing up his shorts a bit more to reveal the scent glands hidden underneath.

Those poor glands were so red and plump that just staring at it made the Alpha’s mouth water. Gojo wanted to wrap his lips around those glands and suck them dry, but he can’t. Gojo heaved out a heavy sigh and nipped the raven’s cute earlobe. He ran a tongue over the abused scent glands on his neck, causing Megumi to shiver before finding the energy to move.

The Omega slowly pulled his head from where he was resting on the Alpha’s shoulder. He turned and under Gojo’s amused gaze, he pressed his lips against the man’s cheek.

“Cheeks are fine, right?”

Due to Megumi being too young (illegal), Gojo specifically set a bunch of rules for them and kissing was one of them. Sure touching each other’s scent glands was much more intimate than kissing, but it was necessary to relieve the Omega from the burns of his trial Heat.

While it was true that Gojo never specified what part they shouldn’t kiss (lips obviously), he never thought Megumi would ever take the initiative. He couldn’t stop the huge, silly grin from spreading on his face as he cradled Megumi and fell onto the bed.

“Yeah,” he answered, voice filled with happiness. “Hurry and grow up, Megumi!”

“You sound like a creep,” Megumi retorted, but buried his face into the Alpha’s neck and rubbed his nose against the man’s scent glands. The scent of the Alpha comforted him, especially during Heat where he felt extremely vulnerable.

“Ginger…”

“Hm?”

“You smell like ginger,” The Omega mumbled, seeming a bit embarrassed from how his gaze was drifting off to the side.

“Ginger, eh?” The Alpha laughed. Megumi suddenly felt a wave of irritation at not being able to completely see his mate’s face, so he reached up to the man’s face.

Gojo just sat there, not doing anything to stop those fingers from hooking around the blindfold and pulling it off his face. The moment the blindfold was off, a pair of beautiful blue eyes opened up, reflecting the image of Megumi like a pair of clear mirror.

The man smiled at his little mate before he leaned forward and pressed his lips against the Omega’s cheek.

“Cheeks are fine, right?” The Alpha muttered against the smooth skin, throwing Megumi’s words back at him. When he saw the colour blossoming throughout the raven’s face, he nearly laughed. He wanted to tease his little mate more, but he just took a bite of that soft cheek before pulling away. “Are you hungry?”

Megumi shook his head and buried his face into the Alpha’s chest. Gojo chuckled. He cuddled with the boy in his arms and ran a hand through the raven hair. It was only at times like this that the Omega allowed himself to be spoiled by his Alpha, so Gojo will make sure to thoroughly spoil him.

“Megumi.”

“What?”

“I love you.”

Gojo watched gleefully at the way the Omega froze in his arm and the colours on his face deepened.

“Hey Megumi~ Don’t you have anything to say back to me?” He teased, poking the boy’s side.

Megumi only buried his face deeper against the Alpha’s chest. Gojo heard him muttered three very special words. His grin grew wider and his poking on the boy persisted.

“What was that? I didn’t catch it, what did you say?”

“…I said go die.”

“No, no, I’m sure you said three words~”

“So you did hear it!”

“I didn’t! Come on, say it again, Me-gu-m—mph!”

Their conversation ended with Megumi slamming a pillow into his teacher’s face.

[yellowcanna]

Kakashi + Dazai = Gojo (╯✧▽✧)╯

[yellowcanna]

Brighter Than Stars

Summary: Rachel wanted to see the stars, but more than anything, she wanted to be the stars.

That was why she reached her hand out to Bam who had nothing. 

For the first time in her life, Rachel was seen by someone. She was worshipped by someone, was wanted by someone, was needed by someone. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted to be admired by all the people in this world. She wanted to be seen by every last one of them. She wanted to become a star so badly that she set off towards the Tower of Gods to have her wish granted. 

However, no one has told her that stars aren't the only thing that shines in the dark night. 

No one had told her that by becoming a star, she would become a lowly servant under the God of the Moon, Khun Aguero Agnis. 

So Rachel will kill the God of the Moon and then she will be the only one to shine in the night. 

[GOD AU: Moon God Khun, Night God Bam, Star Rachel]

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff, hurt/comfort, fluff, slight angst, alternate universe, mythology, romance, tooth rotting fluff

Pairing: KhunBam

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

╔═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖☽〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╗

Available on AO3!!

╚═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖☾〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╝

Climb the tower, and everything will be yours.

At the top of the tower, exists everything in the world and all of it can be yours.

Because at the very top of the tower, exist the realm of gods.

Once a mortal passes the trials of gods, they will become a god and live amongst the god within another realm. Everything will be in the palm of their hands. 

This is the story of Rachel—an ordinary girl living in a village by the forest.

Rachel came from a very ordinary background with both parents being farmers. Their incomes weren’t high, but they had enough to get by every year with a few coins to spare.

The village she lived in was a very special one, for that it was a village blessed by a goddess.

In the mortal world, the night was always frightening and unwelcomed.

Humans feared the night for that there was no light source nor were there warmth during nighttime. Being unable to see within the pitch blackness brought them endless fear and insecurities. 

However, four hundred years ago, light appeared for the very first time in the night. It drew a line across the sky and illuminated the land.

Although it happened for only a brief second, people believed that this was the work of a god. They speculated that the light was a sign of hope from the Goddess of Stars, for that the light resembled a falling star depicted in mythologies.

The pieces of the star showered over this village and since then, those born from this village had golden hair and eyes. Believing that they had been chosen by the goddess, they named themselves the Village of Stars.

Being the only ones blessed, the villagers in the Village of Stars believed that they were the chosen ones. With the village in a remote location, they rarely get visitors from other villages.  When they do, the villagers would chase them away until travelers knew better than go near the village with blond hair and golden eyes.

For the longest time, the Village of Stars had not seen a single outsider until one morning, a young boy was found unconscious in the heart of the village. The boy looked to be around ten with hair as dark as the night and dressed rags. No one knows where the child came from. While the boy was capable of speech, he had no memory of where he came from or who he was.

Naturally, the villagers did not welcome the boy. If there was anything these villagers hated more than outsiders, it would be people with dark coloured hair. The closer the colour was towards black, the more they shun them. Black represents the night and to the villagers who worshipped the Goddess of Stars, they see people with dark coloured hair a disgrace to their goddess.

Considering how the kid mysteriously appeared after the night, they even wondered if the boy was sent to them by the devil. Despite all their hate, the villagers couldn’t do anything to the boy. As humans who were blessed by the goddess, they value purity over everything else. They believe that even the smallest crime could taint them and lose their blessing

It wasn't as if they hadn't thought of chasing the boy out, but if he died then they might be held accountable. In the end, the village had no choice but to take the boy in. To show their spite for the boy's existence, they named him Twenty-fifth Bam because he was discovered after the twenty-fifth night of the month.

Bam was given a small hut to live in. They gave him just enough food to survive and nothing else. No one would speak to him, but no one would purposely make trouble for him either. The people in the village went about their days pretending he didn’t exist.

That was when Rachel extended her hand to Bam.

Rachel didn’t like her life.

It wasn’t a stretch to say that she loathed her current lifestyle.

As a girl without anything to make her stand out, she was far from what anyone would call a beauty. No boys would ever look her way and she couldn’t fit in with other girls either.

In a sense, Rachel was another outcast but for completely different reasons.

She was an outcast because she didn’t want to blend in.

She hated this village.

She hated this ordinary life.

She wanted to become something more.

This world was a cage created by higher existences called gods.

The sky, the sea, the earth…all of these that formed their world was created by a power known as Shinsu. Shinsu was a mystical power only gods were capable of wielding. 

Many people were thankful for the gods and were content living their lives like this, but not Rachel.

Like all other villagers, Rachel was afraid of the night. She hated the feeling of being shrouded by darkness and the helplessness that came with it. Whenever it was nighttime, Rachel would hide in her room with an oil lamp, reading her favourite illustrated book telling the story of a world with stars.

She would read of a world where everything was real and not illusions like this world she was in. In the world of gods, there were dazzling lights known as stars scattered across the sky whenever the sun sets and the darkness took over.

She would always imagine the stars in their night sky with people gazing up to the night and admiring them. She would imagine how brightly these stars will shine, chasing away the shadows so that no one will ever fear the night.

She wanted to see the stars, but more than anything, she wanted to become the stars.

That was why she reached out her hand to Bam who had nothing.

She became Bam’s only light.

She became Bam’s star.

For the first time in her life, Rachel was seen by someone. She was worshipped by someone, was wanted by someone, was needed by someone.

But it wasn’t enough.

She wanted to be admired by all the people in this world. She wanted to be seen by every last one of them. She wanted to become a star so badly that she set off towards the Tower of Gods to have her wish granted. She ignored the call of her parents and ignored the pleas of Bam. She will become a star so that once night comes, everyone will see her.

She will become the stars.

But she…was not chosen.

The door to the Tower did not open for her, it opened for Bam.

Why?

Even though Bam was just a nobody…

Even though Bam was just an outcast...

Even though Bam was just chasing after her.

This was unfair.

The gods were unfair.

Rachel hated the gods. She hated Bam, but she didn't let that hatred blind her. If the doors didn’t open for her, then all she needed to do was hold onto Bam.

Bam would never leave her behind, and just as she expected, Bam carried her up the Tower and faced the gods' trials in her place. She was delighted upon knowing how much influence she had over Bam but at the same time, she became jealous of Bam’s growth.

With each floor, Bam was becoming stronger and stronger, causing Rachel to feel more and more inferior. She became scared that Bam would leave her behind, so she continued to pretend to care for the boy just so she wouldn't be tossed aside.

She hated how she needed to suck up to Bam of all people, but she knew she had to hold it in.

It was when they finally reached the very top that all these negative feelings accumulating over the years vanished. Finally, her wish could be granted. In this real world belonging to the gods, she was free. Nothing could hold her back anymore, not even Bam.

When asked what her wish was, Rachel asked to become the Goddess of Stars without any hesitation.

And so, Rachel became a star and gained the powers of a God.

Her blond hair became even brighter and her clothes transformed into lovely white robes with the materials so light they were floating. 

However, no one had ever told her that by becoming a star, she became a single star amongst thousands and even millions of other stars.

No one had told her that in the world of gods, there was no night because the God of the Night was killed four hundred years ago.

No one had told her that not all gods and goddesses could live their own lives and that in the world of gods, there was still a hierarchy. As a newly born star, Rachel was at the bottom of that hierarchy. She became the lowest ranking servant under the God of the Moon.

Rachel had seen the moon before. It was a small and insignificant thing that was barely visible in the azure blue sky. Under the blinding light of the sun, the moon sometimes couldn't even be seen!

So why?

Why did the moon get to have power over all the stars that shine in the night?

The wish that was supposed to set her free ended up being a chain binding her. She became one of the countless servants with golden hair and eyes like her in the vast palace with a massive transparent dome covering the entire place like a fancy cage. As if to rub salt over her wounds, they call this place the Moon Palace. Everything in this place was made out of moon crystals—a weird bluish material that absorbs the sunlight and shines when the sun sets…or so she was told.

She didn’t see any point.

In her eyes, this was a fake structure that can’t glow on its own.

Everything was fake—including her wish. The free world she dreamed of where she becomes the new Goddess of Stars was nonexistent.

Rachel resented the Tower that failed to grant her wish.

When she met the God of the Moon, her resentment melted into something uglier—something that hadn’t surfaced since climbing the tower with Bam.

Jealousy.

Khun Aguero Agnis—a member of the Ten Great Family—was the God of the Moon.

He was a natural-born god and the first real god Rachel has ever met. It was also after seeing him that she realized how big of a difference a real, natural-born god was compared to her—a mortal who became a god through the Tower.

Rachel watched from the side of the hallway, her head dipped low in a bow like all the other stars that had parted ways for their god. 

He was breathtakingly beautiful and eye-catching, unlike the moon he represented. His skin was as white as milk with long celeste blue tied up in a high ponytail and flowing down his back. His eyes looked as though they were carved out from the highest quality sapphires.

His robes were gorgeous. They were white and blue with golden edges, adorned with shards of crystal that made the robe sparkly brilliantly under the sunlight. His long flowing robes split on each side of his hips, showing off his long pale legs as he walked down the hallway with his feet bare.

Each step he took, a small layer of frost was left on the blue crystal floor. Every single one of his movement was graceful and elegant. His head was held high and those sharp eyes just looked forward, not sparing any of the yellow-haired servants a look.

When Rachel first got her robe, she thought this was how gods dressed. Now that she saw what a real god's robe looked like, she realized how wrong she was. She felt that the plain robe was mocking her for being a lowly servant despite being a goddess herself.

She felt like she had returned to her old village, except she wasn’t considered ordinary amongst these other stars.

No, she was much lower.

She was the shortest of them all, the plainest of them all, the most flawed of them all because she used to be human—the only creatures with flaws.

She was an insignificant nobody.

A star no one would even realize was there—not that it mattered. In this real world where night didn’t exist, none of that mattered. She felt a wicked satisfaction and even a sense of superiority in knowing that even if these other stars were in higher ranks than her, none of them could shine.

Three months into her life as a star, Rachel got an unexpected summon from the God of the Moon. Rachel didn't know why the god suddenly summoned her, but she didn't have a choice in the matter.

When she arrived at the throne room, the blue-haired god was already sitting high up on his throne shaped like a crescent moon. The god was slouching lazily against the arc of his throne. He was sitting in a very casual manner, yet it was this lazy posture that made him all the more alluring.

“You are Rachel?” He asked, eyes narrowing and the smile on his lips faded.

Those were the first words he had ever said to her.

Before Rachel could respond something or someone appeared from behind the god's throne. 

“Rachel!”

Rachel was stupefied. She stared at Bam who had appeared behind the God of the Moon like it was perfectly normal, running down the long stairs to reach her and pulled her into a hug.

Rachel had to use everything in her power to force out a weak smile, looking at Bam, and then her eyes darting back to the god.

Later, Rachel learned that Bam had made a wish in the Tower to follow her, so he was transported into the Moon Palace where he met the God of the Moon. Because gods must grant the wish of those who reached the top of the Tower, Bam was allowed to stay within the Moon Palace, not as a servant, but as a guest.

Rachel couldn't believe it. She worked so hard to become a star yet all she ended up as was a lowly servant of an arrogant god while Bam…Bam had become a guest?

He became an honourable guest that even Rachel had to bow down to if Bam hadn't stopped her from doing so. He was given free access to every part of the palace that even the oldest stars didn't have.

Rachel even saw Bam casually talking to the Royal Guard General, Rak Wraithraiser. The Royal General who never spared them, the stars, any glances even gave a nickname to Bam out of affection. 

The Bam who only had eyes for her was now looking at other people. While she was suffering and being made to work as a servant, Bam was enjoying these privileges that he shouldn’t have.

Rachel thought it was still alright, for that despite knowing so many people, Bam would still keep his eyes on her when she was nearby. Whenever Rachel wanted something, Bam would still put her before anyone else.

To Bam, Rachel was still his star.

Rachel has confidence in that aspect of Bam...until she saw the dark-haired boy in the garden one morning.

The Moon Palace was a huge structure floating in the middle of the sky. While Rachel couldn't see the whole thing, she did learn it from the older stars that it was shaped as a semi-sphere.

All the stars lived in their chambers at the bottom of the semi-sphere, while the god and his close guards lived within the palace on the surface. The palace itself only took up two-thirds of the surface, leaving the remaining proportion being the garden.

Rachel never liked the garden. It was bland with nothing but grass and bushes of white flowers that never bloomed. Though trash in her eyes, the older stars treated these flowers preciously and even told her that they must never be picked without their god's permission.

Even though Rachel wouldn't pick these flowers in the first place, it irked her that even picking such a plain flower needed permission from that god.

That day, she had snuck out on her duty, wanting to find a quiet place without anyone bossing her around but ended up catching the sight of Bam with the blue-haired god.

The God of the Moon was sitting on the lush green grass with Bam sitting behind him, braiding his long hair.

Rachel couldn't describe the burning sensation inside him when she saw the sight.

Gods cannot be touched.

This was a common rule for low ranked servants like them because touching these higher gods would be equivalent to tainting them with their sins. But the God of the Moon who always walked with his chin pointed at everyone else was allowing Bam to touch him.

And Bam even plucked the flowers that Rachel had been told specifically over and over not to touch. The brunet plucked the flower and put it into the god's braid. The moment the flower touched the god's hair, the flower began to bloom.

Rachel watched with wide eyes at the flower that had never once bloom during her stay bloomed upon contact with the god. The flowers that were always insignificant in her eyes became a magnificent flower with pollens like gold dust flowing out.

Even from afar, Rachel could smell the sweet scent of the flower.

She felt the heat inside her twisting and twirling, especially when the Moon God turned his head to smile at Bam. Bam smiled back and stared at the beautiful god with a gaze Rachel had never seen Bam used on anyone before. Not even her.

Unable to help herself, Rachel reached for a moonflower next to her. She touched the white bud and watched it withered and turned into an ugly shade of brown.

Rachel couldn't stand being there anymore so she fled. She avoided all the servants in the palace and shut herself in her room.

Rachel hated Khun Aguero Agnis.

It wasn’t fair.

He already had so much yet he was taking away her Bam!

How could he take something away from her, who had nothing?

Time slowly passed and little by little, Bam began to know other gods. Every day, he would tell Rachel about his encounters, forcing her to listen to all these things that she would never have the chance of experiencing.

Bam was slowly leaving her behind because of that Moon God.

Rachel felt like the last thread holding her together was growing frailer each day. The snapping point came when the God of the Moon suddenly sought her out.

The god that had always ignored her existence came to her and told her to stay away from her Bam. While he didn't use any harsh language, those blue eyes regarded her as though she was a pile of dirt under his feet.

Rachel had never been so humiliated nor had she ever felt as angry.

It wasn’t fair.

Khun Aguero Agnis was only lucky he was born as a god. What gave him the right to look down on those who had to fight for their spot? What gave him the right to think he could order her what to do and take what was rightfully hers? 

It wasn’t fair.

The gods were never fair, so why should she be fair?

Rachel waited.

She waited patiently for a chance to take back the power over her life.

As if the other gods were on her side, a great war amongst the gods broke out. A group of gods banded together to rebel against the King of all Gods—as well as the God of the Day—Zahard, from his throne.

In this enormous war, the God of the Moon was part of the rebels. With the god's attention directed elsewhere, Rachel found the opportunity to escape from the Moon Palace. She ran to Zahard's army with the promise of providing them information about the God of the Moon in exchange for letting her into their ranks. Since Khun Aguero Agnis was the main strategist leading the attack on Zahard's army, they accepted her easily.

It was after being accepted by these greater and more powerful gods that Rachel learned what kind of god Khun Aguero Agnis was.

An outcast.

The God of the Moon, Khun Aguero Agnis, was an outcast of the Khun family. 

In a world where the night didn't exist and the King hating everything related to the night, granting a god the title of the moon was the same as exiling them.

Rachel nearly laughed when she heard of the news. The high and mighty god that always looked down on her was nothing but an outcast. She had never felt as alive at that moment.

Because her information had been useful, she was granted an audience with King Zahard and made a deal with him. If she could kill Khun Aguero Agnis, then Zahard will grant her any wish. Needless to say, Rachel jumped at that chance.

With the help of one of Zahard's men, Rachel disguised her appearance and slightly altered her aura. She mixed herself into the stars aiding their god in the battle. Because Rachel was a star in the first place, she was able to easily blend in and went undetected by the God of the Moon. The moment the god was critically injured by the enemies, she secretly planted a bomb in his heart while pretending to heal him.

Once she successfully planted it into the Moon God, all that was left was to wait for the signal. The moment the signal came, she activated the bomb and watched Khun Aguero Agnis crumbled onto the ground with a pained look on his face.

The God of the Moon was dead.

That despicable god—the one who took everything from her and always looked down on her—was finally gone!

Rachel laughed. She stood next to the fallen god and laughed while Zahard’s men began to slaughter the stars that fell into despair after the death of their god. Rachel watched them die with cold eyes. She didn't feel anything for them despite recognizing some familiar faces. 

She grabbed the loosely braided hair of the god and sliced it off with a dagger. The moment the hair was detached from the god, the flowers in the braid began to wilt. She admired the sight of the fallen god who was no longer the perfect being he always presented himself to be.

A wicked smile stretched across her lips.

Finally, the god had a taste of all the humiliations he had put her through.

☆･:*:･★･:*:･☆

Aguero slowly opened his eyes to the pale blue ceiling high above. He stared at it for a long time before sitting up, causing the thick blanket covering his body to slide off from his movement.

The moment he was up, the god felt something very wrong. His head felt much lighter than usual, and his neck felt exposed to the chilly air around. He raised his hand, feeling his hair and found that his hair had become incredibly short.

His long hair that should have reached his ankles was now so short that it couldn't even touch his neck.

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed dangerously. He surveyed the room carved out of blue crystals. This was undeniably his room, except Aguero never recalled putting a chair next to his bed nor the book on his nightstands.

He never had much in his room because it wasn’t needed. The only thing he needed when coming to this room was for sleep. Aside from his bed and a simple nightstand, he didn’t need anything else, so why was there a chair and book there?

Aguero climbed off his bed. He looked down at the simple white t-shirt and dark shorts he was wearing. With a wave of his hand, the clothes on his body turned back to the blue robe he usually wore in public. He glanced down at his own hands, flexing his fingers before he closed his eyes and concentrate on his own body. Immediately, Aguero felt a flow of power much larger than what he originally had.

His eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp before he turned and stormed out of his room.

He needed to find answers.

However, the moment he opened the door, Aguero was dumbfounded by the empty hallway.

There wasn’t a single servant or guard in sight.

Countless questions swirled in his mind, but the god kept clam. He tried to summon his pocket, only to find that it missing as well. Someone had taken it away, was it Rak? He briefly wondered if he should use his lighthouse to contact the overgrown reptile but decided against it. He needed to figure out the situation first.

Aguero glanced at the glowing crystals lighting up the hallway. Since his room was at the heart of the palace, there were no windows around to see what was going on in the outside.

He picked up his pace. He needed to go out and see what was happening.

“Aguero!”

Aguero froze.

He stared at the hallway in front of him, eyes wide in surprise at the arms wrapping around his body and someone pressing against his back.

“You’re awake! You’re awake, Aguero! I thought—” The man was abruptly cut off when he noticed the rapid drop of the temperature around him and felt the sharp tip of a blade brushing by the back of his head. “A…guero?”

Aguero was holding the White Heavenly Mirror over the back of the stranger’s head with hundreds of tiny ice blades forming within the air, all of them directed at the man.

"Slowly step back while keeping your hands in my sight," Aguero ordered in a cold and apathetic voice. "Try anything funny and I will kill you."

The person didn’t say anything.

He didn’t even move.

It was only when Aguero pressed his knife closer to his skull that he finally moved. The man slowly loosened his arm from his body and held his open hands within Aguero’s sight like ordered and slowly back away.

Once he had enough space to move, the God of the Moon turned around while maneuvering the

knife so that it rested against the intruder's neck.

Aguero eyed the man that was a head taller than him, wearing black robes with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. His bangs parted around his face, allowing the god to take in his handsome features as well as those golden eyes that were staring at him in a mixture of disbelieve and pain.

Aguero felt something trembled inside him when he saw the man's face, but it was gone the next second. The stranger was certainly good looking, but it was a face the bluenette was certain he had never seen before. 

“Who are you?”

The man opened his mouth, but his lips ended up trembling without making a sound.

Aguero’s gaze darkened. He didn’t like asking the same question twice. When he was debating on whether or not to capture him first, he heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Hey, black turtle! What are you doing?! We’re all waiting—”

Aguero’s eyes widened at the sight of Rak appearing around the corner behind the man he was pressing his blade against.

Except…Rak had…shrunk down.

If Aguero saw Rak in any other situation, he would definitely troll him—asking things like "where's your papa", but now wasn't the time. There were so many questions Aguero needed answers for, such as the identity of this stranger as well as the reason for his memory loss.

After feeling his power increased, Aguero became certain that he was suffering from amnesia. That was the only explanation for all these changes on him.

“Gator—” Before Aguero could even call for the head of his guards, mini-Rak was already charging at him like a cannonball.

Startled, Aguero hastily moved his blade away. Even if this man was an intruder, Aguero could already tell he wasn’t an enemy so he didn’t want to risk killing the guy before figuring out who he was. He retracted the blade back into his body before he was thrown onto the floor with Rak sitting on him, bawling his eyes out.

The ice blades in the air vanished, leaving the God of the Moon and his general on the ground…along with the stranger who was still watching them.

“Hey, get off me!” Aguero shouted, trying to detach the alligator from his body while keeping his eye on the stranger who still hadn't moved. "How about you hurry and explain what is going on? And who is that guy!!”

It was only then that Rak stopped and finally realized what Aguero had been doing to the stranger before coming across them.

“What are you talking about? That’s the black turtle!”

Which…basically told him nothing.

“Black turtle!” Rak repeated, staring at Aguero with rounded eyes. “Don’t you recognize him, blue turtle?! He’s our black turtle!”

“How am I supposed to know anything with that naming sense of yours?” Khun deadpanned. Though if Rak was acting like this, then that black turtle was most definitely a friend. But what was with that our?

From that short moment of interaction and the fact that he was capable of sneaking up to him, the man was most certainly a god. Aguero has memorized all the gods in the realm and can say for certain that his face has never appeared in any of the documents before.

Could he be a newly born god?

Exactly how many years of memories did he lose?

“Khun!!” More shouting came, this time from behind.

Aguero kicked off the miniature Rak who was still blabbering about black turtle and turned to see Shibisu and the gang running towards them.

Aguero let out a sigh of relieve, finally people competent of ordinary speech—

And then…Aguero found himself drowning in a sea of tears (mostly Shibisu) and bodies—some of which he knew, some who he had never seen before yet clearly knew about him.

In the end, Aguero had to put up a barrier with his lighthouses to push these people off of him. He grabbed Shibisu, shouting at the others to not follow before dragging the poor jersey-wearing god into his room.

After finally getting some peace and quiet, Aguero began to grill the information out of Shibisu.

It turned out his memory loss was worse than he imagined.

He had been asleep for a hundred years and had lost a hundred and twenty years’ worth of memories.

In these past hundred years, the world of gods changed dramatically.

The most important change was the end of King Zahard’s reigns.

The second most important change was the birth of the new god—the God of the Night. The god that Aguero had always longed for, the night that the moon belonged in…the God of the Night had finally appeared after four hundred years (or five hundred now).

The God of the Night was named Jyu Viole Grace, the son of the former God of the Night, V and the former Goddess of the Moon, Arlne Grace.

Ironically, the intruder Aguero had pointed his weapon against was the very same god he had been waiting for all this time. 

The god that will put an end to the unchanging sky and destroy the rule of this world—their saviours.

Aguero buried his face into his hands. To make it worst, he was apparently the one who found the young god. The boy followed his friend who wished to become a star and ended up at his palace.

When Aguero found out who that boy was, he kept him close by his side and within the Moon Palace. With Zahard being the God of the Day, everything happening in the daylight was under his watchful eyes. There were only two places where his eyes wouldn't be able to reach—the Underground world and the Moon Palace. While he was able to protect the young God of the Night from being discovered, that girl he was friends with wasn’t anything good.

She was tainted with envy, greed, and hatred. The God of the Moon knew keeping her alive was a huge risk, but didn't do anything because Jyu Viole Grace liked the girl. Aguero may have used some words to knock down her pride, but never once did he put her in any harm. He left her alone which in Aguero’s current view was ridiculous and stupid.

Now he was paying for his past self's stupidity...

To think he nearly died for such reason was unbelievable. Aguero couldn’t imagine himself to leave a ticking time bomb alone like this. It should have been obvious that this girl with so much unnecessary pride and hatred would want him dead.

Did he underestimate this girl’s capability?

Or did he become soft due to the God of the Night?

From what Shibisu told him, he and the God of the Night were close. Too close.

Shibisu even said the God of the Night was like a puppy around him.

Aguero thought back the shock and despair on the God of the Night's face. He felt extremely uncomfortable just from remembering it. He didn’t like seeing the other god make that kind of expression but didn't know why. 

After Shibisu told him everything, he left the room to explain Aguero's situation to the gods waiting outside. 

A couple of healers were called to check on the amnesiac bluenette, but the results were all the same.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the God of the Moon. The cause of his memory loss was likely from his body expelling a large amount of Shinsu in an attempt to keep him alive. The overuse of energy created some setbacks, but these setbacks were more or less healed during his long slumber.

In other words, these memories that Aguero lost would most likely never come back.

Aguero was fine with that. It was a pity that he couldn't regain his memories, but there was nothing he could do.

After a long tiring day of examination, his friends and comrades finally left to let him rest up. It turned out that today was the day they defeated Zahard so these noisy gods decided to barge into use his home to throw a party.

The God of the Moon laid on his bed, trying to sort out the mess inside his head when a loud knocking thundered on his door. He let out a frustrated groan and buried his head under his pillow, but the knocking persisted. It grew louder and louder, to the point where the Khun descendant was certain the overgrown alligator would smash his door down if he didn’t open up soon.

He waved his hand and the moment his door opened, Rak charged in and pounced onto him, trapping him below that shrunk down form once more.

“What’s with you?!” Aguero snapped, but couldn’t get angry with his closest friend now that he knew he was out for a hundred years and had made the other worried for a hundred years.

“That’s my line! Are you seriously telling me you forgot the black turtle?!”

Aguero heaved out a sigh before raising a long, pale leg and kicked the miniature creature onto the floor.

“So? What happened to you?” He asked, looking down at the alligator who was having trouble getting up by himself.

“Shut up! I can turn myself back anytime I want! It’s just easier to move around in this form!”

“Uh-huh, I can tell.” The bluenette admired his general twisting and turning on the ground because he couldn’t get up. In Rak’s word, he was like a turtle.

“Hey Gator, that God of the Night and I…were we close?” Aguero asked once Rak finally got onto his feet.

“You two were practically everywhere together.” Rak snorted, climbing back onto the god’s bed and sat down on his mattress. “You wouldn’t even let me be alone with him because you said I would make him go bad!!” He added that last part as though he had some sort of resentment towards him.

“So?”

“So what?” Aguero feinted innocence.

“When are you gonna go see him?”

“Why should I see him?”

“Are you serious?!” Rak roared, jumping up and bouncing a little on the soft mattress. His miniature form seriously lacked menace. “Do you know how much that black turtle worried about you?! He came to your room every single day waiting to see you open your eyes! He—”

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been in coma, would I?” Aguero retorted and Rak went quiet. “No matter how I think about it, I wouldn’t have allowed a woman like that to live. I would have killed her the moment I sensed her hostility towards me, especially in the middle of a war against Zahard and his armies.”

The God of the Moon stared at Rak. “That’s why I can only come to one conclusion. The God of the Night asked me not to hurt her, didn’t he? If not, there was no way she would have the chance to put a bomb inside me.”

Rak didn’t say anything, but Aguero didn’t need him to. His silence meant everything.

The night meant everything to Aguero, because the moon can only exist within the night. In the era of Zahard where night didn’t exist, Aguero and all of his stars were outcasts, so Aguero longed for the appearance of the God of the Night to change this ridiculous and oppressive rule and bring back the real order to this world.

But it seemed that it wasn’t a matter of simple longing anymore.

“The black turtle has been regretting for the past hundred years.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky I didn’t die then?” Aguero jumped off his bed.

“Blue turtle—”

“Relax, I’m not blaming him.” Aguero ran his fingers through his hair only to remembered it was short now “It’s my own stupidity for allowing it to happen. I’m thankful for him. He did defeat Zahard after all.”

Without waiting for Rak to say anymore, he summoned his lighthouse and teleported into the garden.

The moment he stepped outside, Aguero was blown back by the beautiful night sky.

Aguero had only seen it in pictures back when V was alive, but experiencing it firsthand felt completely different  

The moonflowers in his gardens that never bloom—unless he willed them to—were in full bloom. The white flowers were illuminating in the dark with golden pollens sparkling in the air.

The palace itself was also glowing in a gentle blue light that Aguero could never see under the constant blazing sunlight.

Drifting in the sky around the palace were the stars of his palace. They were all shinning dazzlingly and scattering the golden pollens they collected from the moonflowers into the night breeze.

When the stars saw Aguero, the light radiating off their bodies began to blink and they began to shower the golden pollens over him as if congratulating him on his recovery. Without the permission of their gods, they weren’t allowed to casually come close or talk to Aguero, so they could only use this method to show him their affections.

Aguero smiled at them, lifting a hand to collect the pollens they scattered and formed a golden ball in his hand.

These golden pollens from the moonflowers were exclusive to the Moon Palace. Many gods would pay a hefty amount for a small bag because these just a small whiff of these pollens can make one have a pleasant dream.

Although these were useless to him, it was a present from his stars so he tucked it away in his lighthouse.

When he glanced back up, the stars that were smiling at him were suddenly gone, all of them scurried away like startled rabbits. In a matter of seconds, the area around Aguero was cleared with the stars watching him in the far distant.

Aguero looked over his shoulder to see the familiar dark-haired god standing a couple of feet away from him. A gentle breeze blew by, causing both of their robes to flutter in the wind. Aguero stared at the other’s flowing brown hair and remembered how his hair used to be like that.

Come to think of it, Shibisu didn’t explain why his hair was cut off and Aguero had too much on his mind to remember his missing hair.

“Jyu Viole Grace—”

“Bam,” Jyu Viole Grace interrupted him. “Just call me Bam, Aguero.”

Aguero paused, but quickly collected himself and allowed a small smile to grace his lips. “Viole then. I owe you a thank for returning the night to us.”

“It’s…nothing,” the brunet replied, seeming very upset at Aguero’s refusal to address him by his preferred name. “Do you like it, the night?”

“Yeah…” Aguero took in the scenery around him and tasted the air that was exclusive to the night. “It’s more beautiful than I imagined.”

“I’m glad…”

Aguero could tell the brunet was holding back many things. He could feel his own heart throbbing, anticipating…but the God of the Moon squashed down all of those emotions.

“I’m sorry about my rudeness for before,” he apologized, referring to how he had pointed his knife at the one who liberated them from the rule of Zahard. If they go by hierarchy, the God of the Night has rule over him so he was technically his god.

“No…I should be sorry. I…”

“It’s fine.” Aguero looked away from the other god. For some reason, it hurt to see the other making such miserable expression.

“I don’t know how much you know about gods since I heard from Shibisu you were raised in the mortal realm. You shouldn’t apologize so easily to another god, especially if they are a lower rank than—”

“You’re not lower than me!”

Aguero was startled by the Viole’s sudden outburst.

“You’re not lower than anyone, Aguero!”

Aguero didn’t know what happened. One moment, the God of the Night was standing in front of him, the next, he was being wrapped within those long arms. Aguero couldn’t even react until he was being held so tightly that he didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Viole wept quietly into his shoulder, his voice pleading. “Please…just let me hold you. Just a little. I’m so sorry…Aguero…”

The blunette wondered why he couldn’t get angry at the younger god. He was starting to see why he almost died. If this was how he reacted when he had no memories, then he didn’t dare to think how he behaved with memories.

It was too dangerous.

Being with this god was too dangerous.

Sooner or later, he may die for real.

Aguero put a hand between them. All it took was a simple push for the powerful god to back away. It was so easy that it made Aguero feel nothing but guilt. He didn’t dare to meet those golden eyes because he was afraid of what he might find if he did. He was afraid that if he saw those eyes, he would hesitate.

“Since I don’t remember, let’s forget about it.” Aguero’s voice came out in a hushed whisper. “Even if you apologize, I don’t know what you’re apologizing for. I can’t forgive something when I don’t remember, so why don’t we just forget about everything?”

“Aguero—!” Viole’s eyes widened upon realizing what the God of the Moon was suggesting. Aguero was suggesting for him to forget everything that ever happened between them.

He was drawing out a line to separate them

The God of the Night wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, but he knew none of those would bring back his moon. He lost that chance the moment the moon he was supposed to protect nearly died because of him.

Perhaps it was his punishment that Aguero couldn’t remember anything.

Viole’s hands were clenching and unclenching by his side before he held out his hand and summoned a pocket. Aguero didn’t have to ask to know it was his.

The God of the Night slowly set the pocket onto the ground before leaving.

The moon longed for the night, but the night was the one who lost his moon.

Since then, the God of the Night didn’t appear at the Moon Palace.

Day and night took turns in the sky, but Aguero never saw Jyu Viole Grace again. Rak had made a mess of the palace when he heard what Aguero had done, especially when the Moon Palace was as much of a home to Aguero as it was to the god who ruled over the night.

Aguero holed up in his lighthouse for five days in a row, spending his time researching on the current era and keeping himself updated to everything that happened during his slumber. He searched up on all the new gods and found quite a few familiar faces from when he first woke up.

Take the kid Ja Wangnan for example.

It turned out that the young blond boy was the new God of the Day. This God of the Day wasn’t particularly strong unlike Zahard and the God of the Night. Even Aguero could easily beat him. The only upside was that this God of the Day seemed to have great connections with everyone around him. In terms of personality, he was quite popular and with the help of the remaining former princesses of Zahard, no gods dared to voice their complaints.

As Aguero clicked away on his screen, he came upon a file without any label. Curious, he opened it up and the first thing that popped out to him was a picture.

It was a picture of a young boy with short brown hair wearing a red vest. He was holding the camera (his lighthouse) up with a bright smile on his face. Behind this boy, Aguero saw himself.

He was sitting in the garden, his skin glowing under the bright sunlight. His hair was brushed over his shoulder in a very messy braid with moonflowers stuck in them. The God of the Moon felt his eye twitched at how ridiculous his hair looked. It was something he definitely wouldn’t do, and yet he did and even had his picture taken like that.

His eyes drifted to the brown-haired kid, then back to himself. The him in the picture wore a grin on his lips. It was a very small quirk of his lips, but it was the most genuine smile he had ever seen on his face.

There was even fondness within his eyes…

“Hey!” Aguero yelped and he was jerked out of his lighthouse.

His feet were dangling off the ground with a large clawed hand fisting the back of his robe, holding him within midair.

“Is this how you treat your god, you stupid gator!” He shouted, but Rak just huffed before snapping something onto his wrist.

Aguero looked down, eyes dilating at the sight of glowing yellow chains binding wrist.

It was a Heavenly Binding Chain. Like the name, this chain was made to seal away a god’s power—something that was only used on prisoners!

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“You’re the one who lost your mind, you stupid turtle!” Rak roared back and stomped over the door he had broken to enter the god’s room.

Aguero was thrown out of his home.

The gigantic reptile dragged the god outside and hurled the bluenette with all his strength, sending him flying through the darkened sky.

That night, the gods throughout the realm were able to witness the magnificent sight of the stars flaring up in golden lights so brightly that it was alarming. The stars were panicking—a sign that something had happened to the God of the Moon.

Before any gods could rush over to see what happened, the stars settled back down.

Aguero’s pocket was blasted with calls and messages, but the bluenette didn’t pick up.

Right now, he was in his own dilemma as he stared at the God of the Night with black Shinsu wings keeping him airborne. The brunet appeared like a flash of dark lightning, zipping through the sky to catch the falling god.

Aguero couldn’t say he was surprised by this outcome. The moment that reptile locked his power and threw him out in the middle of the night, he had seen this coming. As the God of the Night, anything that happened within the night was under his watch. If anyone was to notice him falling from the sky, it would be Viole.

“I’ll take you back and talk to Rak.” The God of the Night began to fly up, but Aguero grabbed onto his arm to stop him.

“Don’t,” Aguero grumbled. “If you bring me back, that gator will just give me an earful. Just put me anywhere on the land. When that gator got tired of waiting, he’ll come and remove the chain.”

The brunet seemed to be pondering on whether or not to listen to what Aguero suggested, but in the end, he complied. His arms tightened around the now powerless god and dived down. He flew over the land until he found a small meadow with tiny green lights leisurely drifting through the air.

When he landed onto the grass, green lights fluttered, startled by the sudden appearance of the two gods. Agureo eyed these little creatures with great interest. He knew about fireflies but born into an era without the night, Aguero had never seen one glow in the darkness before.

“Is this alright?” The God of the Night asked.

“Yeah, thank you.” Aguero thanked, walking out of the god's arms the moment his feet touched the soft grass. He waited a bit, but the other god stood there, seeming to have no intention of leaving. “You don’t need to accompany me.”

“It’s dangerous for you to be alone,” Viole replied and Aguero knew that was true. Even though Zahard and the old gods were gone, that didn’t mean that they were safe. Who knows how many of Zahard’s supports were still alive. With Aguero being the strategist within the war, he was naturally the most hated by their enemies. Being alone with his power sealed was the same as asking to be kidnapped or killed.

Aguero sat down on the soft grass. He couldn’t even summon a lighthouse thanked to the stupid chain on his wrist.

“At least sit down,” Aguero patted the grass next to him. “Having you stand there makes me feel self-conscious.”

The brunet shifted a little before sitting down. He sat…a lot closer than Aguero expected. When the other god noticed this unconscious action of his, he hurriedly edged away to maintain distance between them.

“We were close, weren’t we?” Aguero couldn’t help but ask even though he already knew the answer.

“…Yeah,” the brunet answered quietly. His bangs fell over his face, hiding those bright eyes from Aguero’s sight.

“I’m sorry about before. I might have come out a bit harsh,” the bluenette apologized softly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever remember.”

“It’s fine.”

Aguero was a bit startled, not expecting such an answer.

“It’s fine if you can’t remember,” the God of the Night repeated. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”

Aguero stared at Viole who finally looked at him with a smile on his face. It was a very strained smile that looked more like he was going to cry. It wasn’t anything like that bright and warm smile Aguero saw on the picture, but it was a genuine smile nonetheless. The God of the Night was truly happy that Aguero was alive even if the cost were his memories of him.

“I was stupid,” Viole whispered so quietly that Aguero wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear it. “You told me many times that I shouldn’t trust her, but I didn’t listen. I even made you not to hurt her and I nearly lost you because of that.”

Aguero couldn’t help but agree that it was indeed stupid, but it wasn’t the brunet who was stupid.

“It’s not your fault, so don’t go around flattering yourself,” the God of the Moon snorted. “You might have asked me but if I wasn’t confident I could keep a woman like that in check, I wouldn’t have agreed no matter what you said. The only reason she was able to get the better of me was that I underestimated her. Simple as that.”

“But—”

“No buts, end of conversation.” Aguero cut him off before looking up at the sky.

He stared at the palace glowing in the night with stars twinkling around it. From this distance, the dome around the palace and the palace itself formed a perfect circle, creating the image of the full moon he was looking at right now.

“Tell me, how did we met?”

“I followed…” Viole hesitated a little before continuing, “I followed Rachel after reaching the top of the tower. I wished to go to wherever she went, so the Tower brought me to the Moon Palace. I ended up being teleported to the garden where you were.”

He said that last part with a small laugh before joining in on the moon gazing.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. You were sitting in the field of moonflowers, looking up at the sky with your blue hair fanned out across the grass…” his voice trailed off, seeming to be reminiscing that moment.

Aguero could feel his heart beating unusually fast. The look on Viole’s face and the way he recalled that moment…it can’t be…

“You were surprised when I appeared…but after I told you what happened, you didn’t kick me out. You even brought me to Rachel and organized a place for me to stay even though I didn’t belong.”

“You’re the God of the Night,” Aguero pointed out. “Of course you belonged in the palace.”

“But at that time, you didn’t know,” Bam replied.

“How are you so sure? Maybe I knew who you are the moment I saw you.”

“You didn’t,” the brunet gritted out so harshly that it crushed the rest of Aguero’s argument in his throat. He glanced at the God of the Night, but the other had his head dipped down, hiding his face. Despite that, Aguero knew that the brunet was angry.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Aguero. Please…stop.”

Aguero didn’t say anything. He ripped his gaze away and stared at the fireflies dancing in the distance.

“…Rachel is in the dungeon.”

Sapphire blue eyes snapped to the man in surprise. He wasn’t surprised that this girl who almost killed her was still alive, but the fact that this god willingly gave him this information.

“…Should you be telling me this?”

Viole flinched as though he had just been slapped across the face. “Did you think I would still protect her after she almost killed you?” He asked bitterly. His hands were clenched so hard that blood was beginning to seep out. “It’s only fair for you to deal with her.”

Aguero felt like he couldn’t breathe. He can’t even look at Viole because his mind became a jumble of mess. All he knew was that he can’t stay here—not with the God of the Night.

“Take me back to the palace.”

Viole didn’t ask or say anything. He pulled Aguero into his arms and flew towards the moon in the sky.

They arrived at the palace door where Viole gently set Aguero back onto his feet. The gust of wind behind him was the only sign that the other god had left. Without looking back, Aguero ran inside. He needed answers, but he didn’t have the gut to ask the person who had all of it, so he found the next best person.

“GATOR!”

“What?!” Rak wasn’t hard to find. He was back to his small form, poking his head out of the kitchen with a bunch of bananas in his arms.

Aguero didn’t offer him any explanations and pulled the damn alligator into a random room nearby.

“Tell me right now!” Aguero shouted, grabbing onto the collar of his red t-shirt and proceeded to shake the life out of him. The beautifully ripe bananas fell from Rak's arms and scattered all over the ground. “What’s our relationship?!”

“What’s what?” Rak flailed his arms and kicked his stubby legs in a poor attempt to break free of his grasp.

“Viole and mine! What’s our relationship?!”

“Mated of course!” Rak replied like it was obvious, and it was. “Every day the two of you were attached by the tails—HEY!”

Rak squawked when Aguero slapped away the banana he was holding in his hand.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, you stupid Gator!”

“You were going to cut off all ties with the black turtle, weren’t you? Why did it matter?!”

“I—” Aguero found himself at lost for words. His grip over Rak’s shirt went slack and he tumbled down onto a blue lighthouse that appeared behind him. “I…”

Rak didn’t move. He stood there, staring at the idiotic turtle god that always needed his leader to point out the most obvious thing.

“Since when did you turn into a damn chicken, you stupid turtle!” Rak shouted. He reached for the glowing chain on Aguero’s wrist and tore it off. “The blue turtle I know never runs from his problem! He always faces his problem head-on!”

“I…” Aguero felt something trickle down the side of his face. When he reached up and wiped his fingers over it, he realized it was tears.

He was crying?

Aguero felt extremely lost. He couldn’t even remember when was the last time he cried. He didn’t cry even when he was abandoned by Maria.

This was the worst.

“When that yellow turtle killed you, the black turtle lost it,” Rak informed him. “He went crazy and we all thought he was going to kill himself.”

With those parting words, Rak walked away—but not without collecting his bananas from the floor.  

Left alone in the empty room, Aguero used his sleeve to wipe away his tears before he went into his lighthouse. The first thing he did was to find that nameless folder with the picture he was looking at before getting interrupted.

It turned out there were hundreds of pictures within that folder and all these pictures were taken by Viole when was still a young boy.

In all of these pictures, Aguero’s hair was braided. He could tell that the god responsible was improving his skill with each picture taken. Most of the picture was him and the boy with Rak occasionally being in there.

The three of them looked extremely happy. Aguero would even go as far to say they were like a family.

He even found pictures of his gatherings with other gods when they came over. In those pictures, most of them were already wasted. Aguero could see himself sitting with his arms crossed, staring flatly at the group of drunkards surrounding him. The boy on the other hand seemed to be having fun. He was holding a glass of juice and had his picture taken with every god present. Just from the number of pictures in that one event, Aguero could tell how much he was having fun.

After going through the pictures, Aguero sat in his lighthouse, needing a moment to sort through everything summoning his pocket. He called Shibisu and asked how Bam found out about his death.

From what he gathered, there was no way the girl name Rachel would dare to hurt him when other gods were present, which meant he had to be alone for her to make any move.

Shibisu wasn’t present at the time, but he had heard of the full story from Endorsi who was.

They were nearing the final battle against Zahard and had lost contact with Aguero for two whole days after the God of the Moon gave them the final plan.

They wanted to search for him, but couldn’t spare any forces with Zahard and his army approaching—especially not Viole. After much debating, Shibisu, Ran and Hatsu formed a team to search for the missing god while rest prepared their fight against Zahard. After battling for three full days without rest, Zahard finally appeared on the battlefield and faced off against the new God of the Night.

That was when the former King of all Gods brought up the news of God of the Moon’s death.

Viole—or Bam—didn’t believe him, but Zahard took out the Aguero’s hair.

Bam was always the one braiding the god’s hair, so he instantly recognized the hair as Aguero’s even without needing to see the withered moonflower within the braid. Zahard taunted Bam with Aguero’s hair. He mocked him, mocked Aguero, and told the brunet how easy it was for them to kill Aguero.

With its purpose served, Zahard ripped apart the braid and Aguero’s hair scattered into the flaming battlefield below.

Bam had lost it.

He lost all sense of reasoning and became a monster.

Zahard planned to make Bam lose the will to fight over Aguero’s death, but it backfired and instead fueled Bam’s determination to kill him. Bam attacked the God of the Day relentlessly in rage, not caring if he got hurt in the process. The battle lasted a whole day and with all of their combined efforts, Bam was finally able to take Zahard’s head.

The war had ended, but their saviour was also on the verge of dying. Zahard had done a number on the brunet and he needed treatment immediately, but he pushed away everyone that got close to him. He walked around the battlefield like a zombie, trying to find Aguero’s hair that was scattered amongst the bodies and debris.

It was only when Shibisu called them, informing them that they found Aguero and confirmed him to be alive that brought Bam back. Had he been any later, Bam would have bled out and died.

Aguero had never felt more like a jerk. He was never a good person, but it was the first time he hated himself so much after hearing what Shibisu said. He couldn’t imagine how much pain the God of the Night was in when he spoke those thoughtless and cruel words.

Why did he run away?

If he had realized sooner…no, he noticed already. He was just afraid to confirm it.

Aguero felt like the air was getting harder and harder to breathe, so he had to stop. He teleported back into his room and fell onto his bed.

He was so tired.

Aguero thought about taking a short nap, but then he saw the chair sitting quietly by his bedside. Very slowly, Aguero sat down on that chair. He stared at the empty bed before him, then to the book by the nightstand. He picked up the book, noticing there was a bookmark and most of the book had already been read.

When Aguero looked at the title, he realized it was a book about the story of gods—or old gods now. He flipped open the pages, noticing that the page bookmarked was about Eduan, the former God of Lighting and his father who had fallen together with Zahard in the war.

Aguero couldn’t even remember his last moment…how laughable.

Blue eyes stared at the empty bed. He wondered how long Bam had sat here for, watching him…waiting for him.

“I really screwed up, didn’t I?” He chuckled weakly to himself. He looked down at the book, setting it back onto the nightstand before walking out of his room.

With the night ended, the stars returned to the palace to perform their daily duties. He walked into the garden, recalling the first picture he saw where he was sitting in the garden with his hair braided.

Aguero easily found the location of where the photo was taken. He gaze out to the sky to see dawn coming from the distance. The night was ending and his stars scattered over the realm were returning into the palace.

The bluenette ran his fingers through the grass before plucking off a moonflower closest to him. The flower bub that had just closed reopened within his hand and he brought it to his nose to get a whiff of the sweet scent.

What was he doing?

Even though he was the one who chose to push him away…

A gust of wind blew by, causing Aguero to tense up a little before relaxing.

“How long were we together for?” He asked turning around to face the brunet standing a couple of feet away with his robe and long brown hair flowing in the wind.

“During the war...” Bam replied.

“Did we kissed?” Aguero looked up to meet those golden eyes.

“No…we didn’t.”

Didn’t have the time—Aguero could hear those unsaid words. If they confessed their feelings in the middle of a war where either one of them could die any moment, then it would be before facing off against Zahard himself.

…And shortly before his death.

“I keep saying cruel things to you…”

“No,” Bam shook his head lightly. “You don’t remember. It’s only natural.”

“Yeah…I don’t remember.” Aguero laughed a little too bitterly. He looked down at the flowers and his sight started to become blurry. “I don’t remember…”

“Aguero?”

“I don’t remember anything…”

Before the first droplet could fall from his eye, his vision was suddenly obstructed and he was pulled back against a strong chest. Aguero immediately felt at ease being held and protected by those arms, but it also caused his heart to tighten up even more.

“I can’t remember how we met, what was the first thing I said to you…I can’t remember anything.”

“It’s ok…it’s ok, Aguero,” the man whispered into his ear, cradling him while keeping a hand over his eyes.

How was anything ok?

How could this man tell him it was alright when he was the one being hurt?

Just how stupid was he?

“It’s ok, Aguero.”

No, it’s not…

“Bam…” Aguero whispered with tears freely falling from his eyes. “Bam…Bam…”

“I’m here, Aguero. I’ll always be here.” Bam promised, not even noticing his own tears rolling down his face. He held onto his moon and created a layer of darkness with Shinsu around them, shielding them from the outside world. “It’s alright if you can’t remember. We can make new memories. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. I swear that this time, I will protect you properly so please...please don’t push me away.” 

Aguero raised his hands, grabbing onto the hand covering his eyes and pulled it down. Although they were shrouded in the darkness, the bluenette was able Bam perfectly. When he looked down at the hand he was holding onto, he saw a bracelet tied around the god’s wrist.

It was a pale blue bracelet—no…it was a pale blue braid made with long strands of celeste blue hair, forming into a five centimeter thick bracelet. These must be his hair Bam had collected after the battle.

Aguero didn’t know how he knew Bam would make his hair into a bracelet. He just did and this groundless certainness left a painful reminder of how much he had lost.

“Hey Bam…” He gently touched the bracelet on the man’s wrist. “Can you braid my hair?”

“Of course…” Bam spoke back in a soft voice. He pulled away from Aguero and threaded his fingers through the silky hair that didn’t lose its lustre despite the god being asleep for so long. The fingers in his hair were warm and gentle. They massaged his scalp before threading through his silky hair. Since his hair was too short to be braided, Bam settled to only braid the hair on the right side of his head.

Once he finished, Bam picked up the moonflower in Aguero’s hands and slipped it behind bluenette’s ear.

“You’re beautiful, Aguero.” Bam complimented with a wide smile and warm eyes reflecting his image.

Aguero felt something inside him trembled like a string getting plucked.

This was the one.

This was the smile he had seen in the very first picture.

He looked down at the brunet’s hand in the grass. He slowly reached out and the moment his fingers touched the back of Bam’s hand, the God of the Night turned his palm around and laced their fingers together.

Aguero leaned up to the God of the Night who dipped his head towards him at the same time.

Their lips met halfway in the gentlest and sweetest kiss.

☆･:*:･☽･:*:･☆

Rachel didn’t know how long she has been imprisoned within the dungeon.

It could be decades or centuries—there was no way to keep count.

Her hands and legs were bounded by golden chained, tying her against the moist rock wall. Her cell was like a cave with rock walls surrounding her except the place where the bars should be. Gods don’t use wooden bars like mortals do in their cells. Instead, they keep their prison at the bottom of under a Shinsu lake with only a force field preventing the water from gushing into the prisoners’ cells.

The air was thin, barely enough for Rachel to get by. Despite not touching any water, the super-condensed Shinsu was greatly affecting her. Even if she miraculously undo the chains and get out, she will die within the water before the Shinheuhs swimming out there could gobble her up.

She breathed heavily, trying to get a bit more air, but failed.

Why?

Why did it become like this?

Everything went according to plan. It should have gone according to plan. She killed the God of the Moon and performed her part, so exactly went wrong? How in the world did Bam defeat Zahard?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She only wanted to become a star. Once Zahard won, he would make her the only star. Everyone climbed the tower to be granted a wish, what was wrong about that? Rachel knew many things she did might be considered despicable in other people’s eyes, but she wasn’t the first. Plenty of other people did the same thing, so why was she the only one suffering? Why was she the only one being blamed?

Khun Aguero Agnis—everything was his fault.

If he hadn’t existed—if he hadn’t gotten in her way—none of this would happen.

If that Khun didn’t take her Bam away, Bam wouldn’t have done this to her.

“BAM!” She shouted, but her voice came out muffled as though she was screaming in the water.

Although Bam never showed himself again after throwing her in here, Rachel knew he was watching.

He had to be.

If Bam didn’t care about her, she wouldn’t have been able to kill that cunning god so easily.

Bam will come back for her. She was certain of it. She only hoped that he will get her soon. The isolation and Shinsu were starting to drive her crazy.

“Seems like you still think you have a chance,” a voice echoed through the water barrier and into her chamber.

Rachel’s head snapped up with a startled gasp.

There was no way.

“How…!”

She stared at the shadowy figure walking through the water and coming towards her cell. The concentrated Shinsu parted like curtains, revealing a god she was all too familiar with. He casually strolled towards her, blue lighthouses appearing under his feet to form a path. 

Celeste blue hair, sapphire blue eyes and blue robe flowing around his body… he looked the same as when Rachel first saw him, except for his hair which she had cut off. Despite that, Khun Aguero Agnis looked gorgeous with short hair as he did with long. One side of his hair was even braided and tucked behind his ear and Rachel knew who did it.

“Why are you still alive?!” She shrieked, her movements causing the chains to rattle.

“Why wouldn’t I be alive?” Aguero questioned back, walking into her cell. A pale hand came up, grabbing Rachel firmly by the chin and twisted her head around, forcing her to face him.

The hand of the god was freezing, but Rachel didn’t show it. She wouldn’t show any weakness, not in front of him.

“I’m your god. If I had died, did you think you would still be alive?”

“What do you mean?” Rachel snarled.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?” Aguero laughed mockingly. “True, Zahard wouldn’t have told you. You were a disposable pawn, after all.”

Rachel jerked her chin away from that pale hand. Aguero didn’t mind and brushed off the frosts that had formed around his fingertips.

“Humans seemed to think that by reaching the top of the tower, they will become god, but that’s just human superstitions. You’ve seen with your own eyes what real gods are like. Do you think you are the same as them?” Aguero asked mockingly. 

“All humans gained after entering this world was a proportion of their god’s blessing. If they wanted to become part of this realm, they have to serve under the god that granted their wish. Just because they had a bit more power than ordinary humans, they thought they became god. The only reason gods can grant wishes to mortal is because these wishes are small, insignificant wishes. Turning a human into what you call a god is simple because your concept and definition of god are merely a human with fancy powers—not a real god.”

Aguero stepped back a little, eyes locking with Rachel’s and continued.

“The only way for god to be created is for them to be born. No gods have the power to create another god and gods are the only ones capable of manipulating Shinsu. If those who are not god want to use Shinsu, they will have to enter a contract with gods. Once you’ve made a contract with a god, your body will be altered to fit into this world. We call these Celestials. As long as a god wanted to, anything can become Celestials. The tree, the air, the grass—the stars in my palace—all of them who are given a new form and powers of gods are Celestials.” 

Rachel’s face turned pale and she finally realized where the God of the Moon was getting to.

“No…No!”

“You wanted to become a star, so I reshaped you into one with my power infused in you. You are also a Celestial, Rachel. All of your power after you became a star came from your contract with me. If I died, you would have turned back into an ordinary, powerless human. The moment you do, your body won’t be able to handle the pressure of Shinsu within this realm and you’ll be crushed.”

“You’re lying!” Rachel hollered. “I became a star because the Tower granted my wish, not you!!”

“And I’m telling you that the one who granted that wish was me.” Aguero patiently corrected. “Once a mortal reaches the top of the tower, all gods have the obligation to make their wishes come true. The Tower merely sends their wishes to the appropriate god that can grant such wish. Yours was to become a star, so you fell into my jurisdiction and according to the rule of the Tower, I took you in and made you into a star.”

“No! My wish was to become the goddess, not a—”

“And you were given a proportion of my power and became the goddess by your standard.”

“You’re just an outcast of the Khun family! You’re just a moon!” She spat out that word as though it was some sort of insult. “Why would you have the power to control the stars?!”

Aguero observed the woman. He watched her scream while tugging on her chains like a madman.

Then…the God of the Moon smiled.

He smiled so brightly that Rachel snapped her mouth shut. She was afraid, but at the same time, she was confident Aguero wouldn’t do anything to her. She had Bam, after all. With Bam was around, this god can’t lay a finger on her.

“Just a moon?” Aguero repeated slowly. “So you haven’t seen a real night yet. Shall I show you?”

He raised his hand and a lighthouse appeared in his palm.

All Rachel saw was blue light engulfing her before the chains binding her vanished and she fell with a startled gasp. She caught herself with her hands and hissed when her knees and palms scrapped over the sharp rocks. The overwhelming pressure of the Shinsu was gone and when she looked up, she found herself on the edge of a cliff.

She hurriedly crawled back and was stupefied by the scenery that opened up to her.

It was night.

This wasn’t the illusion of nighttime back in the mortal realm, but the real night that wasn’t something simple like darkness. There were thousands and millions of stars scattered across the sky, creating a breathtaking sight.

This was the view Rachel had always dreamed of seeing. It was a reality beyond anything she could dream of, yet the yellow-haired girl couldn’t find herself to admire the sight. Her eyes were fixated on that gigantic orb in the sky.

It was thousands of times larger than the stars, gently shinning pale blue light over the land much like the sun during the day.  

“No…no…!” Rachel choked.

She knew what this is. She had seen it, but those were all during day time and it was barely visible.

“This is fake!” She screeched. “This isn’t the moon! This is one of your illusions!”

She frantically got up and looked around the cliff she was on. “You think you can trick me with something like this?”

“Even after coming to the world of the gods, you still think these are illusions.” Aguero’s voice echoed behind her. She whirled around to see the god sitting high above her on his lighthouse.

Khun Aguero Agnis was glowing in pale blue light similar to the moon behind him. Had there been anyone else around, their eyes would definitely be drawn to the god and not even noticing Rachel—just like how people would always notice the moon first before the stars.

Rachel ground her teeth at how this god always acted like he was above everyone else.

“What do you want?” She growled. “You think I would break if you show me this fake image? I know you can’t touch me, Bam wouldn’t let you.”

Aguero snorted, cackling quietly before breaking into a full out laughter, causing Rachel’s angry face to distort even further.

“You think Bam would still protect you?”

“The fact that you haven’t killed me proved as much, doesn’t it?” Rachel replied confidently.

“Believe what you will. I’m here to grant you your wish.”

“…What?” Rachel narrowed her eyes, body tensing. She carefully scanned her surroundings, wondering what the god was playing at.

“No need to be alarmed. After all, I’m a god,” Aguero smirked. “You wanted to become a star that people will admire, I will make you one.”

Rachel tried to summon her lighthouses, only gap upon not being able to. At first, she tried to do it secretly, but when she failed, she began waving her hands around in the air, not caring if Aguero was watching.  

“Why?” She stared at her hands before directing her glare to Aguero. “What did you do to me?!”

“What did I do?” Aguero arched a fine brow. “I merely removed you from under my name. I thought you’d be happy now that I’m no longer your god.”

“You…!”

“Don’t worry, you’re still a Celestial.” Aguero waved his hands. “I will make you into a star, just not my star.”

“…!” Rachel gasped when her hands flew up as if pulled by an invisible force. The cliff beneath her feet crumbled away, but Rachel did not fall. She was suspended in midair, held in place by an invisible force.

“You keep fantasizing about stars, but do you know what stars are?”

Rocks broken down from the pieces of cliff flew up, smashing into Rachel’s body as though she had become the center of gravity.

The boulders and rocks broke down, filling up the gaps while she screamed out in pain.

“I’ll spare you the details, but they are just gas burning at a high temperature. They have no physical forms. When the previous Goddess of the Moon, Arlen Grace was born, she gave these stars a form. They were reshaped and given human bodies with the ability to think and feel, but still be able to generate immense heat that makes them shine.”

The rocks had formed a ball around Rachel, trapping her inside yet she could still hear Aguero’s voice as though he was speaking directly next to her ears.

“When you made your wish, your body was reformed into a star like all the other stars under me. Now that we have severed our contract, I will return you to what stars originally were.”

“No…let me out!” Rachel shouted. Aguero snapped his fingers and the rocks vanished. In the place of the rocks were condensed layers of gas, forming a globe with the blonde girl as the core.

When Rachel looked down, she was horrified upon seeing her arms and legs becoming part of this gas. All that was left of her were her torso and head.

This wasn’t what she wanted!

This isn’t a star!

“Bam! Bam! BAM!”

She cried for Bam over and over again, but her calls were ignored.

No, Bam wouldn’t let the Khun do this!

Bam wouldn’t do this to her!

“I told you that when stars became human, they gained the power to feel. That naturally applies to heat. Since I am their god, they have the power of ice which can be used to cool them and prevent them from feeling the burn whenever they generate light.”

Rachel’s eyes widened.

No! He can’t be saying…!

Aguero didn’t continue. He just smirked at her and Rachel finally broke.

She screamed at Aguero. She shouted at him, cursed him, then screamed for Bam to save her. She yelled until her voice was hoarse, but no one was coming to save her.

“You’ll be the first star within the mortal realm. From now on, you will be positioned in the North to guide humans for thousands and even millions of years to come. They will always look up to you and be thankful for your existence.”

Rachel’s breathing was growing faster and faster as her body began to heat up.

No! No! No!

“BAAAAM!!!”

Rachel screamed before her body burst apart with blinding light shining over the land. It was so blinding that even the god had to cover his eyes. With another snap of his finger, the star was gone.

Within the mortal realm created by god—a new star was born. It was the first star to appear after the moon. Even as countless stars scattered across the sky, the first star was the only one that remained in the same position years after years despite the other stars always shifting and changing in the sky.

The human later called that star the Polaris—though that was a story centries later.

The God of the Moon stood on his lighthouse and gazed up at the night sky. He stared at the stars twinkling at him to cheer him up. Aguero couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

A pair of arms came around him from behind and Aguero was pulled against a warm body.

“Do you hate me?” He asked quietly, raising a hand to gently place it over Bam’s. On the wrist of that pale hand was a brown bracelet made from braided hair much like the one the God of the Night was wearing.

The God of the Moon turned around on his lighthouse so that he could properly embrace his night. He took in the new image of his god. After cutting his hair, Bam’s face could now be seen more clearly, showing more of his handsome feature with his hair tied back in a small little ponytail.

“I could never hate you, Aguero.” Bam sighed softly by his ear, holding onto his moon even tighter. “Rachel had done many awful things during the war and even almost killed you, yet you still granted her that wish.”

“I granted her a wish, but not the way she wanted to,” Aguero argued.

“You let her become a star.” Bam pointed out with a deep frown. “You also gave her a swift death.”

Despite what Aguero had said to scare her, he never did let Rachel feel the burn or the pain of her body being torn apart from the inside. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even have the power to scream like that. Her nerves weren’t even given the proper chance to register the pain before meeting her demise.

Bam knew Aguero did this because of him, and that knowledge made him feel sick. Reading his mind, the God of the Moon reached a hand around and thread those nimble fingers through the soft brown locks.

“You’re overestimating me,” Aguero muttered and patted his lover’s back. “Do I look like someone so kind?”

“…You’re kind, Aguero,” Bam stated seriously. “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever known.”

“Oh?” Aguero glanced up at his lover with mischief sparkling in those gem-like eyes. “You should announce that at the next gathering. I’ll be sure to record the looks of their faces.”

Bam chuckled and kissed his moon on his temple.

Gathering the bluenette into his arms, he flew towards the palace in the distance. The stars they passed by waved and showered golden pollens to create a path. When they arrived at the garden, Bam picked the largest moonflower near them and slipped it behind the bluenette’s ear.

“I love you, Aguero,” Bam whispered lovingly and held those slightly colder hands tightly within his own.

Aguero smiled. He leaned forward and kissed his god on the corner of his lips, enjoying the way his cheeks brighten in red. “I love you too, my god.”

“HEY!” Rak’s voice echoed from afar. “How long are you turtles gonna keep flirting?!”

“Shut up Gator!”

Aguero yelled back while Bam laughed.

They walked back into the palace hand in hand—neither of them have any intention of letting the other go.

    ╔═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖☽〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╗

Author's Note

╚═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖☾〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╝

I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED THIS SUPER LONG ONE SHOT!!!! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Thank you all for dropping by to read this looong one shot! Like seriously...this is long even for my standard and all my one-shot stories are pretty long ahahaha. When I started the idea, it didn't seem like it was gonna be this long. I just wanted to write something to bash Rachel and get some nice fluffy KhunBam moments in there~! I just love those two together and had been wanting to write one for a long time, I guess that's what made me went overboard ahahaha.

I know people who like Rachel always argued that she represents the most ordinary character that everyone can relate to...but no? I cannot relate to her at all??

I get that she's weak, but that's why you should work harder than anyone else to catch up. Instead of working hard, she would always choose the easy way out, like choosing to cheat on tests rather than studying. She so desperately wanted to climb the tower, yet she didn't want to face the hardship that came with it. She never wanted to walk on her own two feet so she makes other people walk for her. She gets jealous of what other people have yet she never thought of working on her own to obtain it.

She discards people like trash and when she gets discarded, she had the audacity to get angry and felt unfair? If she did something despicable and owes up to it, I might actually like her a bit more. The reason I can't like Rachel is because everything is always other people's fault and never hers. She doesn't own up to what she did, which is what makes her more despicable than other people who might have done the same as her but at least recognized that.

People argue that Rachel is the only ordinary character in a world of superpowered people and doing what she can to survive. I feel like many people are forgetting that there are ordinary people within the tower that are not Rachel. Shibisu, Wangan, Ho, Serena...there's actually a lot, it's just Rachel stood out more because of her being next to Bam and Bam's attachment to her.

That's why whenever I hear the argument of her being relatable, I get worried. I mean, for sure people could like her as a character because let's be honest, she is indeed super well-written and the author obviously put a lot of thoughts into her.

But relatable?

Rachel is the very definition of a psychopath, I don't think anyone with a healthy mindset should relate to her. Like seriously, I'm not even kidding.

"Pretend to care, display cold-hearted behaviour, fail to recognize other people's distress, have relationships that are shallow and fake, maintain a normal life as a cover for criminal activity, fail to form genuine emotional attachments, may love people in their own way." — I literally copy and pasted this off the internet on the traits of a psychopath, sounds familiar?

I was a bit disappointed that the anime portrayed Rachel way better than how she actually was in the webtoon. Compared to the webtoon, anime Rachel is pretty much a saint. But still, the anime was a masterpiece, especially Khun!!! I'm so in love with him ahahaha! And we can't forget our leader and cinnamon roll Bam!

Anyways!! Sorry for my long blabbering! I really do hope you all enjoyed my very first Tower of God fanfic!!! I'm so sad the author went on hiatus, but I do hope he could properly rest up and one day return to continue this masterpiece!

In case it might not be clear, Rachel is dead in this story. She ain't coming back and neither Khun or Bam would allow her to come back. Khun basically used her body as a medium to create a new star that would kill her the moment it's complete. For the sake of dear Bam, Khun didn't let her feel any pain in the last moment of her death.

Sadly in this story, Khun did not regain his memories and never will. What's lost is lost, but he got all the time in the world to make new ones together with Bam!

I have recently made a Twitter account so if you enjoyed my stories, please do follow me! ☆⌒(≧▽° )

[yellowcanna]

Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

To this day and age, no one knows what lies within the city of Yokohama—or that was what the public was made to believe. In reality, Yokohama has long fallen into the control of the world’s largest criminal organization known as the Port Mafia.

Follow Class 1-A as their principal organized a field trip to Yokohama! In their short trip there, they must change their perspectives and learn exactly what it means to be justice and what it means to be villains.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, hint of shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi) if you squint

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Available on AO3!!

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

CHAPTER 17

ANOTHER DETECTIVE (DAY 4: WEDNESDAY)

This story has been beta'd by Momentary_Flight, Shady Spades

Aizawa glanced out the window of his and Toshinori’s shared dormitory, observing his students gathered outside in the empty lot. While he couldn’t hear what they were talking about, it was obvious from how they gathered around Midoriya, Hagakure and Shouji that it was about what happened tonight.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Aizawa turned to see Toshinori walking in.

“I’m surprised,” Toshinori commented at the sight of Aizawa sitting there. “I thought you would go lecture them.”

“I think they’ve learnt their lessons.” The Erasure Hero glanced back out the window. “Now we know how the Port Mafia plans on keeping their promise, it’s a good opportunity.”

Toshinori couldn’t agree more. It wasn’t every day that they would get access to a power capable of completely recovering their bodies in a second without any side effects. With such a powerful healer on their side, the children can afford to be reckless without suffering any losses and learn lessons on the way.

“What do you think about that question, Aizawa-kun?”

“What is there to think?” Aizawa snorted. “The only way is to capture the mastermind.”

“Yes…but that was apparently the wrong answer,” Toshinori recalled the way those Agency members looked when they got the response.

Even if the example had been real and Toshinori was infected with that Ability along with Shigaraki, he couldn’t imagine killing the other to save himself—regardless of whether or not Shigaraki was his master’s grandson.

As Heroes, it was simply not their way.

There were forty-eight hours. Time was certainly tight, but it wasn’t impossible for them to find the criminal behind it. People can’t vanish without a trace. With technology and every Hero on the lookout, the chances of them finding the mastermind was high.

“There are too many things we don’t know,” Aizawa sighed. If it were that simple, then the Armed Detective Agency members wouldn’t have reacted in such ways. “We have too little information, but I doubt anything would change my answer.”

“If such power existed in our world, I can’t imagine what chaos it would bring…” Toshinori muttered. Droplets of sweat trickled down his skin just from thinking about it. In many ways, this sort of power was more destructive than anything else, because it was a power that could divide people’s hearts.

“What will you do?”

“Hm?”

“Tomorrow,” Aizawa gestured to the business card the blond was still holding in his hand.

“I will go take a look,” the blond responded. If there really was someone who was acquainted with him, then he needed to go meet them. “Will you be going with the kids tomorrow?”

“Yeah, to be safe,” Aizawa answered. Although he no longer needed to worry about the children’s lives, that didn’t mean he would fully trust the Armed Detective Agency. Those detectives made it clear that they were going to listen to whatever the Port Mafia wanted them to do.

“About Midoriya...” The raven-haired man looked back out the window and his eyes easily found the boy within the group. “He’s showing early signs of PTSD.”

“I know,” Toshinori ran a hand through his dry blond hair. “There may be some trauma from the events of tonight, but I believe that young Midoriya will overcome it. I will talk to him in a bit.”

“…Then I will talk to the other three.” Aizawa closed his eyes and rubbed his dry eyeballs through his eyelids. As the homeroom teacher of these kids, he understood how much Midoriya idolized and was close to the former No.1 Hero. If Toshinori talks to him, then there shouldn’t be many issues.

Despite how he looked, that boy was a strong one. Toshinori was right that the boy will overcome it. He simply needed time.

“Just remember that we have to arrive at the Agency by seven tomorrow.” With that, Aizawa grabbed a cup with his toothbrush inside and headed for the public bathroom.

Left alone in the room, Toshinori waited quietly.

After another fifteen minutes or so, the kids seemed to have finished their talk and scattered—all of them heading for their own rooms.

Once all of them were back inside, Toshinori headed to the room Midoriya and Todoroki shared. He knocked on the door gently, not wanting to disturb the other kids considering how small the living spaces here were. It didn’t take long before Toshinori heard footsteps on the other side.

“All Might!” Midoriya looked up in surprise when he opened the door and saw his teacher/idol standing out there.

“Do you mind if we have a talk, young Midoriya?” Toshinori asked.

That was how the two found themselves sitting on one of the large pipes in the empty lot by the dormitory. They were both wearing their pajamas and slippers under the peaceful night.

“How are you feeling, young Midoriya?” Toshinori asked after a while of stargazing, turning his eyes down to the boy beside him.

“…Not so good,” Midoirya admitted. That was a good sign. “I…it was different. Seeing someone being alive seconds ago compared to when they were already dead…I didn’t know it could be this different.”

“Yes,” Toshinori sighed. “But unfortunately, we as Heroes will encounter many more deaths from here on out. Be it your allies, ordinary civilians, or Villains, there will always be times where you can’t save anyone.”

“I know.” Midoriya’s hands curled into fists on his lap. “I’ll get used to it.”

“I’m not saying you need to get used to it.” Toshinori raised his hand and gently ruffled the boy’s head, causing the boy to panic with a flush on his face. “If anything, death is something you should never get used to, young Midoriya. Once you become accustomed to death, you will cease to see the value in living, and that is very dangerous. Our job isn’t to get used to death. Our job is to save lives and prevent deaths, remember that, young Midoriya.”

Midoriya stared at Toshinori with wide eyes before he smiled and nodded.

“Yes!”

They spoke for another hour before Toshinori let the boy go. Midoriya looked like he was going to fall asleep at any moment and that was exactly what the adult wanted. With the boy so exhausted, he wouldn’t have time to think of other things. Hopefully, he could also have a dreamless sleep, though Toshinori knew the chances of that would be slim. No matter how tired the boy may be, the moment he was alone, he will involuntarily remember some unpleasant things.

When Toshinori walked Midoriya back to his dorm, the door opened before either of them could, revealing a tired Todoroki who also looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“Midoriya, you’re back.”

“Todoroki-kun! I thought you went to sleep already.”

“I was waiting for you to come back,” Todoroki replied, letting out a small yawn as he did so.

Seeing this, Toshinori smiled. It seemed that his worry was unnecessary. These children were growing and maturing faster than anyone else.

He has no doubt that all of them will become great Heroes.

“I will be going back. Good night you two,” he said before covering his mouth and let out a couple of light coughs. He was turning to leave when Midoriya called out to him.

“All Might!”

“Hm?”

“I…” Midoriya had a complicated look on his face before he smiled and shook his head. “It’s nothing. Thank you, All Might!”

Toshinori nodded and with a wave, he left.

Midoriya watched his mentor leave while Todoroki had already retreated into their room. He couldn’t help but stare after the fragile back of the man that was once the strongest Hero of all. The memory of Yosano’s power and how she healed Jirou flickered through his mind.

What if...

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

The next morning, the students were woken at the first peak of dawn. They gathered in the field outside, all of them half asleep with Aizawa and Toshinori checking out names to make sure they were all there.

“Sensei,” Todoroki greeted the two teachers when he joined the group. The two teachers immediately noticed his missing roommate.

“Young Todoroki, where’s young Midoriya?” Toshinori asked with worry laced in his voice.

“Midoriya said he will head out first and meet us at the Uzumaki Café,” Todoroki replied.

“I see…” Toshinori wondered if Midoriya was still affected by what happened last night and couldn’t sleep.

Understanding this, neither of the two teachers questioned it and let it go. When the rest of the students arrived, they set forth towards Uzumaki Café.

Like Todoroki had said, Midoriya was already at the café waiting for them. The boy greeted them with a smile, but Toshinori could keenly tell that the smile was strained. Toshinori wanted to go up and ask the boy what was wrong, but he couldn’t do that with all the other students around, so he decided to find some time later.

Once they finished their breakfast, they headed upstairs to the Armed Detective Agency office.

When they opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of three people seeming to be in a heated argument.

There was Kunikida whose back was facing the group, yelling at Tanizaki and a raven-haired girl in sailor uniform.

“—didn’t I tell you to stay home for the rest of the week?!” Kunikida sounded extremely stressed.

“But I missed my brother!” The girl whined, latching tighter onto Tanizaki’s arm with the other stiffening even further. “You only said for the first three days!”

“There was a change in the situation.” Kunikida gritted out in irritation. “Either way, just hurry and leave before—”

“Oh!” The girl leaned out from behind Kunikida so she could get a good look at the guests by the doorway. “You guys must be the Heroes!”

Kunikida jolted at this. Very stiffly and robotically, he turned to see the U.A students and teachers all standing there, staring at them.

“Um, hello?” Toshinori greeted the girl who seemed to be a high schooler.

“Hello, I’m Tanizaki Naomi, a part-time worker at the office!” The girl greeted them cheerfully, tugging the older Tanizaki along and walked over to them

“Tanizaki? Then you are—”

“That’s right!” Naomi beamed, not even waiting for Yaoyorozu to finish. Then—in front of all of them—the girl pressed her body against Tanizaki’s side with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around the boy’s arm sliding underneath his shirt.

“I’m his s-i-s-t-e-r~”

The group only felt a gust of wind before the two Tanizakis were gone, thrown into a storage room at the far back of the office before Kunikida slammed the door shut.

Class 1-A were dumbfounded.

Toshinori was dumbfounded.

Aizawa’s eyelids were twitching.

Mineta was at the back of the room, mumbling incest over and over with heavy pants and drools trickling down his chin.

“Ahem!” Kunikida coughed loudly into his hand. “The President is waiting for you in his office, come with me.”

Pretending as if nothing had happened, Kunikida led the group out of the office and down the hallway. It turned out that the President’s office was in another room on the other side of the hall.

“President, I’ve brought the U.A students and teachers.” Kunikida informed the man inside with a small bow.

When they walked into the President’s office, they saw Fukuzawa sitting behind his desk with Haruno standing next to him.

“Thank you.” Fukuzawa set down the cup of tea he had been drinking to look up to the group.

With another light bow, Kunikida walked away, gently closing the door behind him when he left.

“I trust that you remembered our conversation from the previous night,” Fukuzawa said, sharp eyes trailing to the children, then to the teachers. He reached into his drawer, pulling out a white envelope and placed it onto his desk. “For today’s assignment, your students will not be observing us. They are to go to another detective firm to study under the detective there.”

“Another detective firm?” Iida gasped in bewilderment. How many detective firms were there in Yokohama?!

“Another detective firm?” Aizawa swiftly caught onto what the man was implying. “So you’re saying today’s plan is given by the Port Mafia.”

That made all the kids stiffened and eyed the man sitting in front of them with cautiousness.

“This was given to me prior to your arrival,” Fukuzawa explained, and everyone instantly understood the meaning of his words.

Before, the Armed Detective Agency President had no plans of keeping them around, so he didn’t give them the letter. Now that the Agency decided to let them stay, they will not only be following the Armed Detective Agency’s agenda, but also the Port Mafia’s.

“Where is this other detective firm?” Toshinori questioned.

“Tanizaki-kun will take you there. Once you give this letter to the other detective, they will accept you.”

“You mean they don’t know we’ll be coming?” Sero asked, but Fukuzawa didn’t respond and turned to the teachers.

Aizawa stepped forward and picked up the white envelope. He stared at the blank front that didn’t state any addresses or name. He turned the envelope around and saw nothing written on the back either. The only thing on the envelope was that familiar scarlet wax seal Aizawa had seen before.

“There will be no issue if I accompany them, will there?” the raven-haired man questioned.

“That will be up to the other detective,” Fukuzawa replied.

“Who is this other detective? Is he an Ability user?”

“You will find that out once you arrive.”

Knowing they won’t get any more information from the man, the U.A group left the President’s office. When they came back out into the hallway, Tanizaki was already there waiting for them. His sister was nowhere to be seen, much to the relief of many and the disappointment of one.

As if agreed upon beforehand, none of them commented on what happened back in the office.

“I’ll take you to your destination,” Tanizaki told them. For someone who was seen getting touched by his own sister, he didn’t seem awkward in the slightest bit.

“Take care, all of you.” Toshinori looked to the group, giving a last glance to Midoriya before he headed back into the Armed Detective Agency office while Tanizaki led the students and Aizawa away.

Back in the office, Kunikida was already back on his desk working away with some other secretaries helping him out. Strangely, none of the other staff were around.

“Kunikida-san, is Yosano-san around?” Toshinori hesitantly called out to the busy looking man.

“I’m here,” a voice answered before Kunikida could open his mouth to speak.

Toshinori looked up to see Yosano walking out from a room.

“Come in,” she told him and walked back in without looking back. Toshinori followed after her and found that this room was the infirmary.

Yosano sat down by her desk that was filled with papers. She seemed to be looking through them before calling Toshinori over.

When the blond walked close enough, he found that all these papers were information of his students.

“These were given to us by the Port Mafia. It seemed that your school’s principal was the one who provided them.” Yosano explained when she noticed where his gaze was lingering. “Now that you’re staying, I will need to perform my job.”

“I see…” Toshinori took a seat onto the extra chair. He stared at the files on the doctor’s table, then to the doctor herself. “Yosano-san, were you once part of the Port Mafia?”

Yosano’s eyes shifted to the blond.

“Fourteen years ago, you were the one that healed me, weren’t you?” Although it was a question, Toshinori was already certain of this. From his short time here, he could already tell that the Armed Detective Agency has a high position within Yokohama. The story about the cannibalizing Ability yesterday proved as much with the enemy trying to pit them and the Port Mafia against one another.

If the Port Mafia had such a healer, they wouldn’t have used the favour the Armed Detective Agency owed them for outsiders like them. This could only mean that Yosano’s Ability was one of a kind even in this city of Ability users.

Yosano smirked and tossed the paper in her hand aside. “Yes, I was the one who healed you. But,” her smile dropped to a frown, “I was never part of the Port Mafia.”

There was an edge to her voice when she said that last part. Toshinori didn’t know what this woman’s relationship was to the criminal organization, but he knew it wasn’t his place to ask. He dipped his head low and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“You shouldn’t thank me. The only reason they blasted you into bits was because I could heal you. Otherwise, they might have used a gentler method.”

“Even so, you’ve saved my life.”

“I suppose.” Yosano leaned back into her seat and crossed her right leg over her left. “Is that all you came here to tell me?”

“Yes?” Toshinori stared at her, wondering what else he was supposed to talk about.

Seeing his confusion, Yosano chuckled. “Your student dropped by today. That one you gave your power to.”

“You heard from Ranpo?” Toshinori asked. After all, Ranpo was the only one who knew about his power.

“No,” Yosano tapped her fingers over the files of his students. “A Quirkless boy who suddenly gained a Quirk and arrived at U.A High School the same time as you…I don’t need deduction power to piece such simple facts together.”

“You could tell just from that?” Toshinori’s eyes rounded in astonishment.

“Your powers are the same, I’d be blind if I couldn’t tell.” The way the woman so easily pointed this out made All Might a bit uncomfortable. Was it that obvious? “That student of yours dropped by in the Agency early in the morning and sat outside the door. He was lucky I had to come in early today, or he would have waited another half an hour for Kunikida.”

Yosano said while pulling out Midoriya’s file.

“The boy asked me to heal you.”

“Young Midoriya?” Toshinori’s eyes widened in surprise.

Yosano took in his shocked expression before her eyes fell to the boy’s picture stapled on the top of his file.

“Yosano-san,” Midoriya stood in front of the woman nervously. He tried to calm his rapidly beating heart and steeled himself. “I want to ask…your power…is there a limit?”

“I’ve told all of you last night,” the doctor continued to sort out the papers on her desk and separate them into different files. “My Ability is capable of healing anyone a hundred percent.”

“Then…can you please help All Might?”

Yosano looked at the nervous boy for a long moment before she fully turned around in her chair to face him.

“Did he ask you to come ask me?”

“Eh? No! He didn’t!” Midoriya quickly replied. “I came on my own accord.”

“In that case, what makes you think I would agree?” Yosano leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “The person who needed healing didn’t come to me, why should I listen to your request?”

“That’s…!” Midoriya was completely taken back by the woman’s response. He may have expected many things, but it certainly wasn’t this. “I…because I know that All Might would never ask you to heal him.”

“All the more reason I can’t agree to it then.”

“But All Might’s—!” Midoriya’ gritted his teeth upon remembering how All Might no longer have One for All. “All Might may not last much longer…please, I’m begging you!”

The teen bowed his head low.

The doctor stared at the top of the boy’s messy green hair before heaving out a small sigh.

“In your world, I’m sure my power would be considered a miracle.” She said softly, yet her gaze was unwavering, locking together with Midoriya’s. “If so, then you should treat it as a miracle and understand that miracles do not occur to everyone.”

Midoriya knew it was a clear rejection, but he couldn't understand why. The doctor in front of him was fully capable of saving All Might, so why? Why couldn’t she heal him? He didn’t want to give up. He couldn’t—not when the solution was right in front of his eyes.

“Nothing you say will change my mind,” Yosano stated when the boy tried to open his mouth again. She turned back to her work and resumed sorting out the files. “If you can’t understand, then you should use your head and think a little.”

“I can’t heal you,” Yosano told Toshinori while staring directly into his eyes. “You know why, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Toshinori nodded slowly.

Of course he understood.

The reason was simple—because this was Yokohama, not their world.

If he, someone who was always in the eyes of the world, suddenly made a full recovery, many people would question it. Once they do, they will try to find the source behind his recovery. The Japanese government will be the first to find out that they have gone to Yokohama—proving there was a power within Yokohama that can fully recover a person regardless of how deadly their condition was.

In Yosano’s case, the worse condition her patient was in, the better.

This would become a revolutionary discovery in the medical field.

Countries, Villains, and even Heroes would find ways to get into Yokohama. Anyone with a dying loved one will try and find ways to venture into Yokohama in hopes of finding a miracle.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that an all-out war could happen between Yokohama and the world—all for the sake of one person’s power.

“You and Aizawa Shouta are the only ones I cannot heal,” Yosano told the blond sternly. “The two of you have been in the Hero career for a long time, it’s natural for your body to accumulate injuries and scars. If any of these were to suddenly disappear, it would cause suspicion. The Port Mafia has guaranteed that your students wouldn’t be harmed. Surely you understand where I’m getting at.”

Toshinori’s hands that were laced together on his knees tightened.

In other words, he and Aizawa were the only ones the Port Mafia wouldn’t protect. They won’t purposely endanger them, but the Port Mafia also wouldn’t help them if they got involved in anything dangerous. They only guaranteed the children’s protection, not the two Pro Heroes.

“Thank you very much, Yosano-san.”

“If there’s nothing else, I have work to finish up.” Yosano waved him off and Toshinori left.

As he sat in the office with nothing to do but stared at the view outside the window, he reached into his pocket and pulled out that white business card.

He looked up to the clock on the wall.

7:32 am

There was still plenty of time.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

The students looked around, eyes filled with curiosity as they waited by the platform in the subway for the train to come. Unfortunately due to the fact that it was a workday and they were right on time for rush hour, the place was packed.

Thankfully, the Port Mafia had taken such a situation into consideration and organized a private compartment on the very end of the train specifically for them.

The teens either stood or sat in the train, looking around but soon became bored and found the silence a little awkward. It was only a matter of time before one of them spoke up, and Uraraka decided to take the lead. 

“Tanizaki-san.”

Tanizaki looked up from where he was sitting and fiddling on his phone.

“What is the other detective firm like? Is it as big as the Armed Detective Agency?”

“No, that place is only run by one person,” Tanizaki replied.

“What is he like?” Ashido asked curiously.

“He’s—” Tanizaki paused, suddenly looked as though he was going to throw up.

“Are you alright?” Kirishima reached into his bag to hand the older boy a water bottle.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Tanizaki politely rejected the redhead’s offer. “It’s just…some stuff happened when I first met him.”

“What did he do?” Kaminari asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

“Ugh...I rather not say,” Tanizaki muttered, face turning green just remembering it. Seeing this, they all dropped the topic, knowing better than to keep prying.

“Since you guys will be staying with us...you should know that from now on you’ll be following the Port Mafia’s plans. You’ll get into more dangerous situations like yesterday.”

“But we’ll be healed right?” Sato pointed out.

“With Yosano-san’s power, we’ll have no problem!” Hagakure cheered.

“...You guys are very optimistic,” Tanizaki noted with mild surprise. He looked around the teenagers and shrunk back a little when he met Aizawa’s sharp gaze. “Well…I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“Tanizaki-san,” Midoriya spoke up, grabbing the older boy’s attention. “When the Armed Detective Agency President was hit by the cannibalizing power…why did you choose to go after the Port Mafia Executive?”

That caught the rest of the students’ attention. They still had lots of questions about that.

“They told you about that?” Tanizaki frowned. “What else were we to do?”

“But wouldn’t that be playing into the enemy’s hand?” Kirishima pointed out.

“You think we don’t know that?” Tanizaki narrowed his eyes towards the other redhead, looking very annoyed by his comment. “Then let me ask you. How in the world do you plan on finding the guy without knowing what he looked like or where he is?”

“But there’s plenty of time, isn’t there?” Yaoyorozu asked. “With Yokohama enclosed, you could easily—”

“Easily?” Tanizaki stared at Iida in disbelieve before he dropped his head into his right hand. His palm spread out across his face, completely hiding his current emotion displayed there. “Aaah, I see…so this is why…”

Everyone stared at Tanizaki, unsure of whether or not they should say anything.

“Do you really think it would be easy to find someone within forty-eight hours?”

“Yes,” Iida replied firmly. “If you try—”

“Try?” Tanizaki pulled his head out of his hand and looked towards the students. “The life of our President was on the line, trying isn’t good enough! Having brute force alone might work in your world, but things like power don’t mean everything in Yokohama!”

“What are you trying to say?!” Bakugou snarled. He wasn’t going to stay quiet if the older boy was going to start insulting them.

Instead of backing down, Tanizaki stood up and met Bakugou’s glare with his own.

And in terms of who was winning by being the scariest in this glaring contest, Tanizaki was way ahead of Bakugou. Right now, he looked nothing like the meek person from before.

If Midoriya had to find a way to describe the feeling Tanizaki was giving off right now, it was similar to Yosano when she got out of the car last night.

“You don’t know anything! Don’t talk as if it’s something that easy! You think we don’t know we’re being set up? What other choice do we have?! I don't care who I have to kill as long as it means saving the President!”

That last statement took all of them back. They stared at the boy with rounded eyes, unable to believe what they had heard. Even Aizawa, who had been quiet the entire time, frowned.

After a moment of silence and seeing how none of the children planned on speaking up, Tanizaki sat back in his seat and pulled out his phone.

No one talked for the rest of the ride.

Their journey took about an hour. When they got out of the subway, Tanizaki didn’t look angry anymore. But even so, none of them speak up. His last words still rang clearly inside their heads, causing them to maintain a distance between them and the older boy.

“From here on out, none of you speak.” Tanizaki suddenly said, turning to the group. “And walk closer behind me.”

“Why?” Tokoyami asked, feeling the tension spilling from the detective.

“I will activate my Ability to make all of us invisible.”

“What’s going on?” Aizawa frowned. It almost sounded like the boy was suggesting they sneak into the other detective firm.

“If we get noticed, we’ll be sniped by snipers.”

“Snipers?!” Aoyama shrieked.

“Ability…”

“Wait—!”

“Light snow!”

The students looked around as familiar green light surrounded them with gentle light particles floating down from the sky.

“Are we…invisible now?” Uraraka looked down at her hands and body, then to her classmates. There didn’t seem to be any differences.

“Yeah…stick close to me. Careful not to run into any people on your way, since none of them will be able to see you.”

With that, Tanizaki walked off with Class 1-A and their homeroom teacher close behind him. Fortunately, the street in this area was less crowded than the streets near the Armed Detective Agency. The further they walked, the less people there were.

While following Tanizaki, the kids spent most of their time looking around, trying to find these snipers the other warned them of. As much as they wanted to ask more questions, Tanizaki had told them not to speak so they could only keep their mouths shut.

“We’re here,” Tanizaki spoke quietly under his breath.

They looked up and were all shocked by the building this other detective firm was supposedly in.

Rundown was an understatement of the century to describe this building.

If Tanizaki didn’t bring them here, they would have all thought it was some empty building waiting to be demolished. The walls looked extremely worned out and some of the windows were even cracked.

Tanizaki grabbed the handle of the front door and pulled it open. The moment the door swung open, everyone saw an overlapping image of two identical doors—one being opened by Tanizaki, the other remaining close and blocking their path. In a flicker of green light, the door that was still closed vanished.

“Come on!” Tanizaki waved his hand, gesturing for them to get in.

The students did as told, but Aizawa remained still. Although he didn’t show it on his face, he was still in shock from what he had seen. The boy had created a fake image of the door showing that it was closed while the real one already opened.

To anyone walking by, Aizawa was certain that all they’ll see was an ordinary building without anything happening. From the fact that they had to avoid being seen going into this building meant that these snipers the boy mentioned were watching over this building.

Aizawa already knew how powerful this boy’s illusion power was—or so he thought.

This...everything that is happening before his eyes completely overthrew the definition of powerful. It wasn’t something that could be described with simple words anymore. If there were snipers surrounding this building and watching it, then the front door would definitely be something they would keep their eyes on.

To completely replicate the image of the door down to the finest detail so that even the people staring at it wouldn’t even have noticed that the door was a fake...it wasn’t a simple matter of illusion anymore.

Aizawa walked forward when he saw the last of his students going inside.

Gigantic dragon that took over an entire city.

Gravity that could lift an entire skyscraper,

Illusions where experts can’t tell apart reality and perception.

Healer that can provide instant recovery without any drawbacks.

Exactly how many of these monsters were living in Yokohama?

If these people were to become their enemies...would Japan stand a chance?

After they walked through the door, Tanizaki led them up a short flight of stairs to the back of the building and stopped in front of a pair of wooden doors with a sign on the side that said, Ayatsuji Detective Agency.

“Ugh…” Tanizaki froze in front of the doors. Anyone could tell that he was sweating and deciding on whether or not to open it.

“What are you chickening out for?” Bakugou snorted, but Tanizaki either didn’t hear him or just decided to ignore him.

Taking a deep breath, Tanizaki pressed his hands upon the pair of doors and pushed. Like before, they all saw an image of another set of closed doors appearing and disappearing a split second later.

They nervously stared at the doors, watching the gap between the doors grow bigger and bigger with light pouring out.

When Tanizaki fully opened the doors, the students were welcomed by the sight of a finely decorated office that looked nothing like the rundown exterior. Compared to the Armed Detective Agency that looked like a standard office, this detective firm was extremely well decorated with a vintage feel to it. The office space was huge with the floor covered in red carpet and large windows allowing the morning sunlight to bring warmth into the room.

When they peered inside, the first thing all of their eyes landed on was a blond man sitting behind the mahogany desk.

The man looked very young—around late twenties—wearing a black cap and a pair of lightly shaded glasses. He was holding a newspaper in his right hand while his left hand held a pipe with smoke rising out of it.

He blew out a breath of smoke and tapped his pipe against a glass ashtray.

“Come in.” He suddenly said, causing everyone to jump—Tanizaki included.

“H-he can see us?” Ashido whispered.

“But Tanizaki-san’s power is still active.” Asui pointed out, gesturing to the green light still shrouding them.

“Come on, go inside.” Tanizaki hurriedly ushered them in. Once the door closed behind them, Tanizaki dropped his Ability and revealed them to the blond.

The man simply raised an eye to look at them before setting his pipe down. “Ah, Tanizaki-kun. It has certainly been a while. I was wondering when you’d come back so we may continue where we left off.”

“Urk…!” Tanizaki hastily took a couple of steps back and hid behind the tallest kid in the class which was Shouji.

“Just joking,” the man said, his tone apathetic and unchanging. It was hard for anyone to tell whether he was joking or not.

“How did you know we’re here?” Tanizaki asked cautiously.

“Because there’s only half an hour left before the guard dog arrives. If you were to come, then it would be this time.” He folded the newspaper, his eyes lazily sweeping over the children before landing on Aizawa. Without saying a word, he held out a hand, as if waiting for something to be handed to him.

Seeing this, Aizawa walked forward while taking out the letter Fukuzawa had given them. “I’m Aizawa Shouta, the homeroom teacher of U.A High School Class 1-A. We were told to come to your office and give you this letter.”

“I know who you are,” the blond said, taking the letter offered to him. He flipped the letter around, taking one look at the wax seal before he ripped the letter right down the middle.

“W-what are you doing?!” Iida shouted, but the man didn’t seem to hear and proceeded to further rip the letter into smaller pieces.

“Is it alright not to read it?” Yaoyorozu asked worriedly.

“What’s there to read?” The man questioned back, voice still devoid of any emotions. He dumped the remains of the letter onto his desk. “It’s a blank letter.”

“What?” Midoriya stared at the letter in surprise. He took a closer look at the paper shreds and realized that there wasn’t a single word on it.

It was all white.

A blank letter, but why?

Aizawa turned to look at Tanizaki who was frantically shaking his head.

“I don’t know anything!” He spluttered.

“There’s no point in looking at him, Hero.” The blond man flicked the last piece of paper onto the pile he created. “The sender of this letter knew I’d know what they want me to do when I see you and know that I will follow through with their plans. In that case, is there a point in writing out anything?”

“Wait, so you knew we were coming and who we are?” Kirishima asked, unable to wrap his head around what the man had said.

“It’s not hard to guess.” The man picked up his pipe. “With the Selection War starting, it’s only natural that you would come into Yokohama.”

“What are you talking about?” Aizawa asked, eyes narrowing.

“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that you would come into Yokohama at a time like this?” The man looked calmly towards them. “The fall of the No.1 Hero and All for One. The League of Villains. The Selection War. Your arrival to this city was planned a long time ago.”

The man’s gaze shifted and Midoriya froze when their eyes met. “Welcome to Yokohama, ninth generation.”

Midoriya felt all the blood drained from his body. While his classmates had no idea what the man was talking about, he alone understood the meaning behind those two words.

Ninth generation.

There was no mistake…this man knew about his power! Not just him, but also All Might!

But how?

How did someone in Yokohama know about One for All?!

“But...I thought principal Nedzu planned this trip for us. What does all that have to do with anything?” Kirishima asked.

“I’m sure your principal also believed that he planned this, not the other way around,” the blond said almost sarcastically. “And the only way your world would feel safe letting you into a city filled with criminals would be the Port Mafia guaranteeing the safety of the young future Heroes. However, if they made such promises without a condition, it would raise suspicion. ” He looked over to the kids, ignoring the teacher’s darkening glaze.

“Therefore, your agreement must be this: as long as you don’t use your Quirks within Yokohama, your safety will be guaranteed.”

If the children were surprised before, what the blond said made them all calm back down. The reason was simple. There was no way anyone could make such an accurate guess, or can predict the future like the blond had done.

This could only mean one thing...

“You heard all of these from the Port Mafia, didn’t you?” Hagakure said with full certainty.

“That’s right! Don’t scare us like that!” Aoyama announced while making a pose.

The other students joined in, all of them agreeing that this was all staged. The Port Mafia must have told this man everything about them. The only other way this man could have known was if he had the power to see into the future which they were certain he didn’t. If he had such power, why didn’t he just say it instead of pretending to guess everything?

The fact that the letter they delivered was blank proved that the Port Mafia planned all of this. As for why the Port Mafia would do something so pointless, no one bothered thinking about it because they couldn’t think of any better reasoning.

Midoriya thought so as well, guessing that the Port Mafia must have been the one to tell this detective about One for All. If they weren’t on an assignment, he would have ran all the way back to the Armed Detective Agency to inform his mentor about this.

How did the Port Mafia know about One for All?

Did it have anything to do with All for One?

No one saw how Midoriya had hid his mouth behind his hand and began a string of incoherent mutterings.

Standing at the very front, Aizawa more or less shared the same idea with his students. This could only be another one of the Port Mafia’s plans. The question was, what were they trying to achieve by doing this?

What did the fall of All Might and All for One, along with the League of Villains, have to do with anything?

The longer he stayed in this city, the more questions he had, but Aizawa didn’t voice them out loud. He highly doubted this man would tell them anything. Aizawa didn’t know whether or not this man was part of the Port Mafia, but as of right now, this man was working for them much like the Armed Detective Agency.

The man didn’t respond to them right away. He took a long sip of his pipe and slowly breathed out a trail of smoke.

After a whole minute, he finally spoke. “Good grief, your brains are like casu marzu.” 

“Casu...marzu?” Uraraka echoed in confusion. The teenagers looked at each other, none of them having any idea what the man was talking about.

At the back of the group, Tanizaki pulled out his smartphone. He typed in the words and showed the result to the kids.

Half of their faces turned green when they saw what casu marzu was and what it looked like.

“WHAT THE HELL?! ISN’T IT CRAWLING WITH MAGGOTS?!” Bakugou exploded with steam bursting from his burning face. “ARE YOU SAYING OUR BRAINS ARE FILLED WITHS MAGGOTS?!”

“I can’t believe how this is possible. Even my maid is more adequate than you.” The blond clicked his tongue and tapped his pipe sharply against the ashtray. “Perhaps I should give her some credits for not being utterly hopeless like you lot.”

“Um...I think he’s saying that your brains are rotten.” Tanizaki supplied helpfully, checking the definition on his phone. “Casu marzu means rotten cheese.”

“ROTTEN?!”

“Thank you, Tanizaki-kun.” The blond nodded towards the other detective who didn’t feel like he was thanked at all. Tanizaki had a feeling that the man included him in some of those insults. “How the outside world hasn’t been taken over yet is beyond a miracle. The only thing I can say is that your Villains must have milbenkase for brains.”

All at once, the students and their teacher glanced at Tanizaki expectantly.

Slumping his shoulders, the Armed Detective Agency member typed in the word and turned his phone around to show them.

“Isn’t this the same damn thing?” Bakugou huffed upon seeing another disgusting image of cheese swarming with bugs. “So what, you’re saying that all of our brains are rotten? Is that it?!”

“If that’s how you perceived it, then yours doesn’t have anything left inside to rot. Congratulations.”

“DIE!”

“Bakugou!” Kirishima and Sato hurriedly restrained their class’s No.1 before he did anything they would regret later. 

“...I think he’s saying your Villains’ brains are infested with mites. Milbenkase means mite cheese.” Tanizaki once more translated for the poor children.

Completely disregarding Bakugou’s death threats, the detective stood up and walked around his desk.

“Lead the way, Tanizaki-kun.”

“Huh?” Tanizaki gaped. “I have to come along?”

“Where are we going?” Aizawa question. Then he remembered the snipers surrounding this building. “And the snipers outside, what is going on?”

“Why else do you think you were sent here?” The blond deadpanned, ignoring the teacher and kept his eyes focused on Tanizaki.

“Is it alright to do this...?” Despite asking that, the redhead was already activating his Ability.

The moment Light Snow was activated, the blond was already pushing the door open and strolling out with Tanizaki frantically running after him and the rest of the class following.

Without anyone realizing, the detective within the heavily guarded building vanished without a trace.

Half an hour after their departure, a sleek black car drove up to the building and out walked an elegant woman with turquoise coloured hair.

She pulled off the sunglasses from her face, revealing a pair of sharp and determined eyes. She folded the glasses carefully, tucking it into her pocket and walked towards the building. Behind her, the black car let out a sharp beep, signaling that it had been locked.

The woman walked with her chin held up high in confidence. To ordinary civilians, she would just be a mysterious woman passing by. Only few knew of her true identity within the mysterious city known as Yokohama.

Tsujimura Mizuki—a special agent that worked within Yokohama’s Special Ability Department. She was one of the few elites handpicked by her superiors, and the only one trusted with such an important task.

“Calling support troops, affiliation code 4048,” she spoke to the Bluetooth on her right ear.

“This is snipper support squad one.” A voice responded from the earpiece.

“This is Agent Code 4048 Tsujimura Mizuki. I will begin internal monitoring."

“Understood. We’ll switch to position B3 and continue monitoring the target from the outside.”

After finishing the daily confirmation, Tsujiumura walked into the building and stood before the closed door of the Ayatsuji Detective Agency.

She tugged on her gloves and fixed her suit.

Perfect.

She was right on time.

Not a second too late, not a second too early.

And now, as part of her special agent duty, she will begin to monitor Ayatsuji Yukito—the highest-ranked extremely dangerous Ability user within Yokohama.

“Good morning, Ayatsuji-sensei!” She announced her presence and pushed open the door.

She walked into the room with wide strides, only to stop at the empty chair in front of her. Usually, the man would already be sitting behind his desk by this time with insults readied to throw at her.

“Ayatsuji-sensei?” She called, looking around.

Receiving no answer and her eyes fell to the only place the man could be.

The basement.

When she was about to head down to check, something on the desk caught her eyes.

She walked over, eyes scanning over the things on the desk.

A folded newspaper.

A finished cup of coffee.

An ashtray with ashes.

A pile of shredded paper.

There was nothing out of the ordinary other than the pile of shredded paper.

“What’s this?” Tsujimura picked up some pieces of the paper. They were all blank with nothing on it. When she took a closer look, she saw something at the bottom of the paper pile. It was another piece of paper, though this paper wasn’t completely white so it stood out from the paper shreds.

She pinched her fingers around the corner of the paper and pulled it out. When she saw the finely printed words on the note, her entire body stiffened so much that one could mistake her for a statue from afar.

[I’m heading out first. Do your best to catch up, Tsujimura-kun.]

There was nothing else on this simple piece of note, but the more she read, the more Tsujimura felt like she was going to have a heart attack.

Her target had walked out from under their noses.

Her mind blanked out for a long time before another realization slapped her back to reality.

Her superior was going to kill her.

“AYATSUJI-SENSEI!!!”

     ┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

[yellowcanna]

Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

To this day and age, no one knows what lies within the city of Yokohama—or that was what the public was made to believe. In reality, Yokohama has long fallen into the control of the world’s largest criminal organization known as the Port Mafia.

Follow Class 1-A as their principal organized a field trip to Yokohama! In their short trip there, they must change their perspectives and learn exactly what it means to be justice and what it means to be villains.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, hint of shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi) if you squint

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Available on AO3!!

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

CHAPTER 16

THE BEGINNING (NIGHT 3: TUESDAY)

This story has been beta'd by Momentary_Flight, Nanami_ontheShore, Shady Spades

“Jirou-chan…will be alright, won’t she?” Hagakure mumbled worriedly.

The three U.A students stood by the wall, nervously watching the doctor work on Jirou who was laid across the table. Her legs and arms were raised with random items they gathered to keep her limbs up so her blood flow would be concentrated around her torso.

Midoriya and Shouji didn’t answer Hagakure’s question. They couldn’t. The three of them just stared at Jirou, as if her eyes would suddenly pop open at any moment.

“Geeze, you people are acting as if she’s already dead,” the little blonde girl huffed with her hands on her hips, conceitedly looking up at the three older kids.

“Oh no! That’s not it…we’re just a bit worried!” Hagakure tried to explain, though no one could see what expression or gesture she was making.

They all had been so worried about Jirou that they had forgotten about the young girl!

“Um, my name is Midoriya Izuki!” Midoriya crouched down so that he was eye level with the petite girl. “You’re Elise-chan right? Thank you so much for saving us back there! You were very brave! Normal people wouldn’t be able to do that!”

The green-haired teenager had spoken with a voice filled with excitement accompanied with the brightest smile. However, the reaction he received was…different than he expected.

“…Did you hit your head?” The girl deadpanned, seeming to be disgusted by his behavior and even took a step back to keep a distance. “You’re more disgusting than Rintarou. Don’t come near me.”

Midoriya was completely petrified by the girl’s sharp words. Worst of all, he didn’t even know what he had done wrong! He couldn’t ask either, for the blonde had already walked away, going to the far side of the basement.

“Don’t worry about Elise-chan,” the doctor snickered, turning his head to look at the high schoolers. “She’s a little shy around strangers.”

“I’m not shy!” Elise hissed like a cat that had her tail stepped on.

“No, it’s alright!” Midoriya frantically waved his hands.

He watched the doctor turn back to Jirou. With the tension eased, Midoriya found his eyes wandering around the basement. It was a very empty basement. There wasn’t anything except the table, a couple of boxes and some old wooden chairs. Elise was sitting by one of the boxes and using a red crayon to draw over it.

“Hagakure-san, Shouji-san.” Midoriya turned back to his classmates. “Back then…when that person appeared, what did you see?”

“What do you mean?” Hagakure asked in confusion.

“The man that took Kyuusaku-kun. When we saw him…did you see anything else?”

“Umm…no?” Hagakure replied after some thought.

“Was there something we should have seen?” Shouji inquired.

Midoriya’s lips were pressed into a thin line as he remembered that gigantic tiger. It was just like he thought, Shouji and Hagakure hadn’t seen anything. He was the only one who could see…which meant there was something more to those goggles.

Or perhaps…the goggles weren’t meant to be used as a see-through tool in the first place?

Midoriya snuck a glance at the doctor. While the doctor himself was suspicious enough showing up in this kind of place, he was helping them and he had Elise with him. While Midoriya didn’t fully trust the doctor, he also had no reason to suspect him.

“I saw a white tiger,” Midoriya finally said. “When that man appeared, I saw a gigantic tiger. It was only after the goggles broke that I saw him.”

“A tiger?” Shouji’s brows arched up at the unexpected information.

“So…you’re saying that the goggles made you see a person as a tiger, Midoriya-kun?” Hagakure’s voice went a pitch higher upon realizing what could possibly have made her classmate see such things.

Midoriya nodded slowly. He recalled the form of that massive beast with claws that looked like it could easily tear apart a grown man.

“I believe that the goggles you’re talking about are Ability detectors,” the doctor suddenly spoke up.

Midoriya’s head snapped to the doctor, not expecting him to know anything and even if he did, wouldn’t have made any comment. 

“Ability detector?” Shouji repeated the name.

“It’s a device that detects a person’s Ability,” the doctor explained while using a handkerchief to wipe his bloodied hand.

“That is the reason they are fighting up there.” He pointed towards the ceiling, turning around with a smile on his lips. “Those white cloaked men out there created these devices that can detect Ability users. The Port Mafia caught wind of it so they came to destroy them.”

“Why?” Hagakure asked.

“Simple. If this organization were to use their technology, then they will harvest many Ability users, even those that are newly born. That is something the Port Mafia cannot overlook,” the doctor replied.

“You know a lot about these things...” Shouji looked at the doctor suspiciously, then to the little girl who was still doodling on the box.

“You’d be surprised by how much information doctors can learn.” The raven-haired man carefully peeled his rubber gloves off, making sure his bloody fingertips didn't touch his skin. “Yokohama also has laws enforced by both the Special Ability Department and the Port Mafia banning any technology targeting Abilities.”

“Special Ability Department…” Midoriya remembered that Kunikida had mentioned this name before as well. 

“You can come up now.” The doctor tossed his rubber gloves onto the floor and stepped aside.

At the news that the operation was done, the three U.A students all but ran up to the table.

“Jirou-chan!” From the hand print on Jirou’s arms, Hagakure was gripping onto her friend while calling out her name over and over. Unfortunately, Jirou didn’t show any sort of reaction.

Her skin was deathly pale and her lips a dark purplish hue. Her eyelashes didn’t even flutter in the slightest movement. If they didn’t know any better, they would all think she had died.

“Judging from her injury, the bullet that went through her body was about 11 mm and has damaged the inferior vena cava. I’ve cauterized the injury, but that is as much as I can do.”

“Inferior…vena cava?” Hagakure struggled to repeat the name.

“Oh? You don’t know?” The man looked at them in mild surprise. “Do they not teach you in your Hero school?”

They all shook their heads, not even surprised anymore that this man could tell they were Heroes considering how many times their covers got blown already. Right now, they just want to know if their friend was alright.

“It’s the largest vein of the human body.” The doctor pointed over Jirou’s wound. “In simpler terms, this vein’s function is to carry blood from the lower body to the right atrium of the heart.  If you cut this vein, it will trigger a massive blood loss that can kill a person in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, your friend’s vein was only grazed and because you have been holding her with her legs up, you managed to keep the blood flow around her heart. She wouldn’t have lasted this long if you hadn’t.”

“Then...!”

“She will be fine.” The doctor assured Shouji whose shoulder sagged in relief.

“That’s great…!” Midoriya fell onto his knees, the tension that had been keeping him on his feet finally disappeared. “Thank you so much! Thank you!”

“Yes! Thank you so much!” Hagakure hiccupped.

“We can’t thank you enough!” Shouji bowed.

The doctor just smiled, saying nothing as he checked his wristwatch.

“The people from the Armed Detective Agency should be arriving to pick you up soon. What do you say we talk a bit until then?”

“How do you know we’re from the Armed Detective Agency?” Midoriya questioned, his muscles tensing in anticipation in case the man turned out to be an enemy.

“Oh? It seems you don’t remember me.” From his coat pocket, the doctor pulled out a piece of crumbly paper. The paper was filled with scribbles drawn in yellow and blue crayons. When the man flipped the paper around, all three of them saw the familiar flyer they were handing out just this morning.

“You were the one who gave this to me on the street, young man.” The man waved the piece of paper in front of the green-haired youth.

“I-I did?!” Midoriya spluttered, voice cracking from how high pitched it had become. Never would he have expected that response. “I’m so sorry, I...I didn’t remember!” While apologizing, he tried to think back to this morning, but there were too many people passing by that he couldn’t remember every single person who took a flyer.

“It’s quite alright,” the doctor chuckled. At this, the little blonde girl came over and stared at him in disdain.

“You’re still keeping that, Rintarou?” She eyed the crumbled paper with her hands on her hips.

“Of course! It’s Elise-chan’s lovely drawing! How could I ever throw it away?!” The doctor swooned, not even hiding the fact that he had been using the flyer as scrap paper for the girl to draw on.

“But…how did you contact them?” Shouji asked. After all, they didn’t see the doctor pull out any device and even if he did, would his device even work?

“I was accompanied by my subordinate when we stumbled across you, so I sent him to find help,” the doctor replied. “I believe I haven’t introduced myself. I am Mori Ougai. This is my daughter Elise-chan.”

“I-I’m Midoriya Izuku! Sorry for not introducing ourselves before!” Midoriya stammered and hastily gave the man his own introduction.

“I’m Shouji Mezou, thank you again for helping Jirou-san.”

“I am Hagakure Tooru! Thank you so much, Mori-san!”

“It’s always nice to meet young, aspiring Heroes,” the older man commented. “Though I must say, I didn’t expect to meet so many Heroes so soon, especially after coming back to Yokohama.”

“Were you in Japan before?” Hagakure wondered curiously.

“I may not look like it, but I once managed a pretty large company,” the doctor boasted. “Though I’ve retired and was traveling around the world with Elise-chan for the past three years. In the end, we find ourselves returning to this city.”

“Do you…like Yokohama?” Midoriya couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t know why, but he just wanted to know the answer, especially after everything he had witnessed in that fight.

“I do,” Mori replied without second thought.

Midoriya was a little taken back. It wasn’t as if he was expecting the man to hate the place he was from, only that he hadn’t expected such a fast and certain response without even the smallest shadow of doubt.

“Mori-san…you mentioned that Yokohama bans technologies regarding Abilities. Why is that?”

“If people were allowed to research Abilities, what do you think would happen?” The doctor questioned back.

“Ability users won’t have freedom anymore and there will be more bloodshed to capture them.” Midoriya said after some thought. This was the only answer he could come up with, linking back to what the man had told them about those Ability detectors.

Mori chuckled, seeming to find something the boy said amusing. “If Abilities are allowed to be researched, then Abilities could one day be mass produced.”

“Is that possible?” Shouji couldn’t believe it. After all, these were powers, not solid products that could be made in factories. Even Quirks don’t have something like mass production.

“Well, it is simply a speculation,” the doctor shrugged.

“So it’s to protect everyone?”

“Protect?” Mori’s smile turned sharp for a split second before going back to normal. It happened so fast that none of the kids were able to see it. “Well, it certainly is for protection, but it is more of a necessity for the future of this city.”

“The…future?” Midoriya thought over the doctor’s words. “So you’re saying that if Abilities could be mass produced, then all the Old Humans will become Ability users...then Yokohama will become no different than our world…!”

“You catch on fast, young man.” Mori complimented. “If every single human within this barrier gained Abilities, then this city would fall into chaos. Unlike Quirks, Abilities are dangerous because their possibilities are limitless. You can even pull a god into the body of a human vessel.”

Creeeak

Everyone froze at the sudden sound. The three kids turned towards the source, which was coming from the other side of the door. It was at this moment that they realized how quiet it has gotten.

There were no more sounds of destruction going on outside…just an unusual silence.

Within that silence, they could hear something coming towards them from beyond the door. Midoriya didn’t know how to describe the sound. It sounded like something was constantly being crushed and grinded into pieces. It was a sound that sent a weird chill down his back.

With their training kicking back in, Midoriya, Hagakure and Shouji moved to stand in front of Mori and his daughter. They braced themselves as the sound came closer and closer.

Midoriya only saw a flicker of something moving through the door. He didn’t know what it was, as it was too fast for his eyes to follow. For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating but the next second, the door fell apart into tiny pieces—revealing a man in a black trench coat with black hair that was white at the tip.

The man’s hands were tucked in his coat’s pocket as he walked over the remains of the door, causing the wood to break apart under his feet.

Midoirya knew without a shadow of doubt that this man was an Ability user. It was the only explanation for how the door fell apart like this. But what power was it? With his hands in his pockets, it couldn’t be something that required his hands.

He tightened his fists and brought them up—only to be shoved aside when the middle-aged doctor’s body collided against him.

“Ah, Akutagawa-kun.” Mori walked up to the man with his hand also tucked in his pocket.

At the sight of the doctor, the man known as Akutagawa pulled his hands out, folding them behind his back and bowed.

“It has been a while,” the man spoke in an aloof tone.

“Indeed it has!” Mori nodded before looking back at the students. “Shall we go then?”

“Uh…go where?” Hagakure looked around—not that anyone could see her doing it.

“Out of here, of course,” the man answered. “Your agency members should be arriving soon. Akutagawa-kun, have you seen them?”

“No,” the man responded curtly, not providing any additional information.

“Well, I’m sure they’re on their way.” The doctor wasn’t the slightest bit bothered by the other’s lack of social skills.

He turned to Shouji and said, “Would you mind carrying your friend? And do keep her legs and arms up.”

“Should we be moving her?” Shouji asked worriedly. After all, Jirou’s condition did not look good. Even if her wound had stopped bleeding, it didn’t change the fact that she lost a lot of blood.

“Of course,” The doctor waved absentmindedly before turning to his daughter. Immediately, his entire demeanor changed and he called her out in the sweetest voice he could muster. “Come now, Elise-chan! It’s time to go!”

“I’m not done drawing yet!”

“But Elise-chan, don’t you want to change out of your wet clothes?”

“…Fine!” The girl tossed her crayon aside, clapping her hands from the filth before walking back over to her father.

“Let’s go then, Elise-chan!”

“Ah—” Midoriya wanted to call out to them, but the doctor and the girl were already making their way up the staircase.

The black coated man just stood to the side like a statue, making no move to leave.

“What do we do?” Hagakure whispered, trying to avoid letting the strange man overhear her.

“Let’s follow and see…” Midoriya swallowed, feeling those steel gray eyes lock onto him. It must be his imagination, right?

Very carefully, Midoriya and Hagakure moved Jirou into Shouji’s arms, holding her legs and arms up as instructed.

They were cautious around the man, but the other didn’t seem to care for them at all. They slowly walked around him, ignoring the way those sharp eyes followed them as they moved. When they emerged from the basement, all they saw was the ruin of what used to be a house. The house they went into was gone and in its place was nothing but piles of debris. The only place that was clear was the stairwell leading towards the basement.

“Hm…the air after a shower is quite refreshing,” Mori commented, gazing up to the sky to see the parting clouds.

Midoriya looked around at the destruction, taking note of how awfully quiet it was. Or perhaps the night was supposed to be this quiet, he just forgot.

There was no more screaming, no more gunfire, no more lightning, and no more rain.

Just…peacefulness, as if everything that happened was but a dream.

Within the silence, they could all easily hear the roaring sound of an engine coming from the distance. The three U.A students looked down the street to see a car driving towards them. It was a very plain and ordinary silver car, but the speed at which the vehicle was coming at them was anything but ordinary.

Hagakure let out a scream as the kids frantically moved back just as the car spun, making a one-eighty and came to a screeching stop in front of them.

With a light click, the door facing them—the passenger door—opened.

Midoriya, Hagakure and Shouji finally showed relief on their faces at the sight of the Armed Detective Agency President, Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Another sound of the door opening came from the other side of the car, but this one wasn’t as gentle. Yosano Akiko climbed out of the driver seat and slammed the door so hard that the entire car shook.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Mori-sensei.” Malice was practically dripping from her voice as she walked around the car, her red heels clicking against the cement road. Her eyes were wide with a grin on her face, making her look as if she had suddenly gone insane.

The woman’s behavior shocked the three teenagers.

In that moment, Midoriya was reminded of the first time when he had to engage with Villains back in the U.S.J. He was getting the same vibe as back then…except this one was stronger and more suffocating.

“Ah, Yosano-kun,” Mori smiled at the woman as if he couldn’t see the menacing way she looked at him. And just like that, he dismissed her and shifted his gaze to Fukuzawa. “Fukuzawa-dono. It has certainly been a while, hasn’t it?”

“So it has, Mori-sensei,” Fukuzawa said before looking over to the four children, eyes lingering on Jirou’s limp form a tad longer than the rest. “Yosano-kun.”

“Yeah,” Yosano walked over to Jirou with a small frown on her face and her gaze turning serious and losing that crazed look.

“Um…” Hagakure wanted to explain, but Yosano reached out, grabbing the make-shift bandage around Jirou’s abdomen and ripped it off.

“Be careful!” Midoriya couldn’t help but shouted out at how rough the woman’s action was.

Yosano ignored them, observing Jirou’s face that didn’t even twitch at her action. She pressed two fingers into the side of the girl’s neck and her frown immediately deepened.

“For someone who is no longer part of the Port Mafia, you sure are engaged in their affairs.”

“The Port Mafia…?” Midoriya’s head immediately snapped towards the doctor. This man used to be part of the Port Mafia?!

So he was...a criminal?!

“What can I say?” Mori shrugged. “My successor has no respect towards the word retired.”

He tucked his hands back into his lab coat pocket and looked towards the four children. “But retired or not, it’s part of my duty to ensure we uphold our end of the deals.”

 “Ability,” Midoriya’s attention was brought back to Yosano whose hand hovered over Jirou. “Thou Shall Not Die.”

Purple rings made up with small characters appeared and circled around Jirou’s body. The three children saw purple light shrouded Jirou’s entire body before bursting apart into tiny particles, fading away.

The moment the light was gone, Midoriya instantly noticed the change in Jirou’s body. The first was the missing hole in her stomach. The bullet wound was gone without leaving any traces of scars. And the second more noticeable thing was the healthy colour in Jirou’s skin. No longer was she deathly pale, and her purplish lips had also become red again!

“What…!” Shouji almost choked when Jirou moved. They watched as Jirou groaned, eyelashes fluttering a couple of times before her eyelids began to peel back, revealing black irises.

“Jirou-chan!” Everyone could hear the tearful cry in Hagakure’s voice. The invisible girl jumped onto Jirou, causing Shouji to stumble back, but somehow maintain his balance.

“H-Hagakure?!” Jirou nearly jumped at suddenly being pounced on. Then she looked around, noticing the unfamiliar area they were in.

“What happened?” As soon as she spoke, she sucked in a sharp breath as the memories before she passed out flickered by. Her hand instantly flew to her stomach, but she didn’t feel the wound that was supposed to be there.

“Jirou-san, are you ok?” Shouji watched Jiro pat her own stomach, the confusion on her face turning into surprise.

“Jirou-san, do you feel pain anywhere?” Midoriya added.

“No…” Jirou slowly shook her head while eyeing her stomach. “It doesn’t hurt…wasn’t I shot?”

“You were!” Hagakure cried while shaking Jirou back and forth. “We were so worried! I thought you would die!”

“Well then, it’s time for us to take our leave, isn’t that right, Elise-chan?”

“Eh?” Midoriya quickly turned around to see the doctor holding out his hand for his daughter to take. “Please wait!”

He hurried over to the doctor, but stopped just a couple steps away, maintaining some distance between them.

“You were…part of the Port Mafia?”

Mori didn’t answer his question. Instead, the man reached into his pocket and flicked something towards the teen. The boy’s first instinct was to dodge, but when he saw what it was, he reached out and caught a small white card.

“Give that to Toshinori Yagi-san for me, would you?”

“Toshinori?”

“Who’s that?

Shouji, Hagakure and Jirou looked to one another, none of them familiar with that name.

“That’s right, you know him better as All Might, don’t you?” 

“Eh?! You know All Might!?” Hagakure exclaimed in surprise.

Mori only smiled at her. Together with Elise, they walked away, casually strolling down the quiet street that was once filled with violence and bloodshed.

“Let’s go,” Fukuzawa told them as he too turned to leave. He walked back to the silver car and climbed onto the passenger seat.

The four kids followed and cramped themselves in the back while Yosano took the wheel.

“Buckle up now,” she told them with a smile. That was the only warning they got before she stepped down on the gas pedal—hard.

They couldn’t help but let out a terrified scream with how the car sped down the road so fast that the wheels were lifting from the ground.

“We’re gonna crash!!” Hagakure screamed when she saw how the car was heading towards a building.

Yosano didn’t slow down. If anything, she sped up even more and with a turn of the wheel, the car nearly flipped over as it made a sharp turn.

Fukuzawa sat there calmly with his arms crossed and eyes closed, seeming to be asleep while the screams of bloody murder constantly echoed from the back.

Shouji, Jirou and Hagakure were practically thrown to the side from the force of the turn while Midoriya clenched onto the door beside him for his dear life. It was also at that moment that he looked out the car window to see the night sky that was now clear of clouds.

His eyes were almost immediately drawn to the large full moon behind what looked to be a clock tower. On that clock tower, Midoriya saw two black figures standing on the roof. He couldn’t exactly make out their forms as the moon had casted a dark silhouette over them, but Midoriya could see the pair of gold and silver eyes looking back to meet his own.

Before he could get a better look, the car slammed back down and Midoriya knocked his chin against the car door. By the time he collected himself and looked back out, the clock tower was blocked by the rows of buildings.

The car sped through the street, going straight down the road until they came bursting out of the neighborhood the four teens had been trapped within for so long. They had gotten out so easily that they almost couldn’t believe it.

It was only when they began to see other cars and people that the vehicle slowed down, driving at a perfectly normal speed to blend in with the other cars.

Nobody spoke during the ride back to the Armed Detective Agency. They just stared at the bright light surrounding the street and the happy people walking about. It was almost as if they had come to a completely different world.

Midoriya saw a family of three walking out from a toy store with a boy hugging a robot toy. Seeing the little boy reminded him of Kyuusaku. He wondered where the child was at the moment, and whether or not they were safe.

When they arrived at the Armed Detective Agency building, they were greeted by all of their classmates who were outside waiting for them.

Aizawa and Toshinori were there as well, accompanied by the young blond boy called Kenji.

“Is everyone ok?!” Iida was the first to shout and rushed up to them with the rest of their classmates.

“It’s great that you guys came back!” Yaoyorozu’s shoulders sagged in relief.

“What happened? Did you guys get into any fights?!” Kirishima queried worriedly.

“Well…” Midoriya began, but was cut short when Fukuzawa spoke up.

“Let’s talk inside.”

All the children quiet down, as they all knew how much trouble they were in.

Thankfully, the atmosphere was brightened a little when Kenji bounced to the door. “Right this way please!” He sang in such a happy voice that it made them relaxed just a little.

Aizawa and Toshinori trailed after the kids, neither of them speaking a word. When they arrived at the Armed Detective Agency office, they were greeted by Kunikida who was waiting for them at the doorway.

“Come in and take a seat,” the blond told them, motioning to the chairs set up inside. There were twenty in total. The kids obeyed, taking a seat while the adults stood.

“I would like an explanation,” Aizawa was the first to speak up after they all settled down. At first, the students thought their homeroom teacher was talking to them, but Aizawa’s eyes were fixed on the members of the Armed Detective Agency and their President.

“What do you mean?” Kunikida glanced at the raven-haired teacher.

“You know what I mean,” Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “Why were my students put into danger? Why wasn’t there someone looking after them?”

“Your students are all sixteen,” the blond-haired man pointed out. “They should have been fully capable of looking after themselves. The only reason we had someone looking after them on the first day was to make sure they obeyed the rules of Yokohama. After the first warning, I didn’t think it was necessary to continue monitoring them.”

“That’s—”

“First,” the President cut in, “why don’t we have the students tell us what happened?”

In the end, Iida was the one who retold the story of how they got themselves into the situation…including how it was Kaminari and Mineta who got the location of the nightclub. After that, Midoriya took over in explaining the events of what happened after separating from the large group to chase after Kyuusaku.

The adults listened quietly without any interruptions. It was only when Midoriya mentioned Jirou getting shot that the class as well as their teachers retracted.

“Jirou-san, you were shot?!” Yaoyorozu shot up from her seat in alarm.

“Ah, I’m fine now, look,” Jirou lifted her shirt for everyone to see. “There’s not even a scar!”

Although Midoriya saw it happen with his own eyes, he couldn’t help but gawk at Jirou’s stomach again. Never in his entire life has he heard of any Quirk which could heal someone flawlessly like that. Jirou was not only shot, but she had also suffered heavy blood loss. She wasn’t even conscious, yet with just a wave of Yosano’s hand she woke up absolutely fine.

Rather than calling it healing, it was more like time had rewound on her body—returning her back to when she was in perfect condition.

“Let me see,” Aizawa pushed aside the kids and made his way over with Toshinori. The two teachers inspected the wound, but no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t figure out just where the girl had been shot.

“What happened?” Aizawa questioned with a frown on his face.

“Yosano-san healed Jirou-chan,” Hagakure replied.

Aizawa glanced back to Yosano who met his gaze with a smirk.

“Let’s hear the rest. What happened afterward?” Kunikida looked back to Midoriya.

“Ah, yes!” Midoriya picked up from where he got interrupted. “After Jirou-san was shot, we ran into the alleyway and…”

Midoriya trailed off when the image of that woman’s head and her face flickered through his mind. It was an image he had tried hard not to think about, but now that they were safe, he involuntarily remembered it.

The woman’s dead gaze, the temperature of her head and the texture of her hair…

He couldn’t stop the sudden nausea in his stomach. He bent over and gagged, but there was nothing more his stomach could throw out.

“Deku-kun!”

“Midoriya!”

“Midoriya-kun!”

“Get back, he needs air,” Aizawa ordered, stopping the others from getting close.

“Young Midoriya, are you alright?” Toshinori rushed to his side almost immediately and crouched down next to him.

“Y-yeah…” Midoriya blinked away the tears that had come out while gasping for air. “Sorry, I—”

“It’s fine,” Aizawa told him before turning to Shouji. “Shouji, continue for Midoriya.”

“Yes…” Shouji nodded, knowing full well what had made Midoriya react in such a way. He finished telling everyone the story, including their meeting with the doctor who turned out to be a former member of the Port Mafia.

“That’s right!” Midoriya remembered the card pulled it out from his pocket. “That man, Mori-san wanted me to hand this to you, All Might.”

“To me?” Toshinori accepted the card from his pupil. He looked down and realized that this was a simple looking business card with the name of a clinic. He flipped the card around and saw the address of the clinic on the back with words written on the space below in fine black ink.

Wednesday 12:00 pm

“An acquaintance of yours?” Aizawa asked, looking down at the card as well.

“I’m not sure…” Toshinori replied unsurely. He racked his brains, but he couldn’t think of any Mori he may know of.

“He seemed to know you, All Might,” Hagakure added helpfully. That only made Toshinori’s brows furrow even more.

Unable to think of anyone, he decided to think about it later and tucked the business card into his own pocket.

“I think you owe us some explanation.” Aizawa had turned his attention back to the members of the Armed Detective Agency. “It’s too much of a coincidence that my students would head to the nightclub in an unpopulated area and get caught up in a war.”

“You’re right, it was no coincidence,” the President answered, looking back at the teacher calmly. “But we were not the ones who have set your students up.”

“But you knew it would happen.” Aizawa stated with full certainty.

Fukuzawa said nothing to deny it.

“If I may, your students are partly at fault for being so easily led by the Port Mafia,” Kunikida cut in. “Going to the night club is one thing, but if they hadn’t insisted on following some kid, they could still come back without getting caught up in the battle.”

“But Kyuusaku-chan was—”

“Look,” Kunikida sighed, holding up a hand to stop the invisible girl. He seemed tired of constantly repeating himself. “I will say it one more time, do you really think any ordinary kid would show up in that kind of place late in the night? Especially now, after knowing there was a battle so close by?”

“But we can’t just—” Iida wanted to argue, but Kunikida was already done.

The blond knew by now that no matter what he said, these Heroes wouldn’t understand. They simply don’t know the danger children could bring—especially if they were Ability users.

“Even if your students didn’t go to the nightclub and if the Port Mafia wished them to be involved, then there was no way to avoid it.” Fukuzawa said, pulling the blame off the students and onto the Port Mafia.

“You told us that as long as the children don’t use their Quirks, they won’t be in danger.” Toshinori said. “But they got involved in a battle and one of them was shot.”

“Are they in danger now, then?” Kunikida made his point by glancing over to Jirou.

“You know that’s not what we meant,” Aizawa snapped. “This wasn’t what was promised when we made the deal and came to Yokohama.”

“No, your deal is correct,” Fukuzawa replied. “But your deal was not with us.”

“What do you mean?” Toshinori didn’t know why, but he was starting to feel like the mystery was slowly starting to piece together, like he was reaching the answer of something, but just hasn’t grasped it yet.

“We, the Armed Detective Agency, were not the one who made the agreement with U.A to allow you into Yokohama.” Fukuzawa explained. “We were simply requested to take you in and have your students learn from us.”

“What…?” The two teachers’ eyes widened.

Their agreement wasn’t with the Armed Detective Agency?

Wasn’t Nezu’s old friend someone from the Armed Detective Agency? Aizawa and Toshinori even assumed that Fukuzawa was Nezu’s old friend, given the other’s age. While Nedzu didn’t make it clear, he also seemed to think his old friend was someone in the Armed Detective Agency.

“Who made this arrangement?” Aizawa hurriedly asked.

“The boss of the Port Mafia,” Kunikida replied. “He was the one who called us and had us take you in.”

“What?” Toshinori almost couldn’t believe his own ears. They all assumed it was the Armed Detective Agency that struck a deal with the Port Mafia…but it was the other way around?

“What is it? What’s going on?” Kirishima looked around, not following the conversation at all.

“Just shut the hell up,” Bakugou growled beside him.

“I know you have many questions, but we are not the ones who can provide you with answers,” Fukuzawa said. “The Armed Detective Agency merely took you in due to a favour I owe to the Port Mafia.”

“And what is this favour do you owe them that would make you take in twenty kids from a Hero school?” Aizawa didn’t like the sound of where this was going.

“A month back, the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia were both attacked by an organization known as the Rats in the House of the Dead,” Kunikida explained. “The mastermind behind the organization is an Ability user from Russia. Both the President and an Executive who is the second-hand of the Port Mafia boss were hit by a cannibalizing Ability.”

“Cannibalizing?” Uraraka paled just hearing the name.

“As in…that cannibalizing?!” Aoyama squeaked.

“Is there any other meaning for cannibalizing?” Sero whispered helpfully.

“It is a viral Ability that contains minuscule supernatural lifeforms that grow into maturity in forty-eight hours and eat through the hosts’ bodies. There are only two ways to stop this Ability,” Yosano took over the conversation and held up a finger. “The first is that if one of the two hosts dies, the Ability will disappear.”

She then held up another finger.

“The second is to find the Ability user and make them cancel their Ability.”

“I want to hear your opinions as the future Heroes of the outside world.” Fukuzawa said seriously, looking at the children. “If the leader of the League of Villain, Shigaraki Tomura and Aizawa-san were infected by such an Ability, what would you do?”

“Of course we find the mastermind and beat the crap outta them!” Bagkuou roared, smacking his right fist into his left palm.

“Yeah! We’ll just find the guy and stop that Ability!” Kirishima shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

“There’s forty-eight hours! There’s plenty of time for us to find them!” Sero added.

Midoriya nodded in agreement with Todoroki.

The rest of the class more or less gave the same response, all of them agreeing to find the mastermind instead of going for the head of the other host.

“Is that so?” Fukuzawa muttered quietly, not even surprised by the children’s response.

“Is that not what the Armed Detective Agency did?” Iida asked, not noticing how the looks in Armed Detective Agency members’ eyes had changed.

“We chose to kill the Port Mafia Executive.” Yosano stated bluntly, startling all of the children.

“W…what?” Midoirya choked out, unable to believe what he heard.

They chose to kill the other?

Why?

That didn’t make any sense,

They can understand if the Port Mafia came to kill the Armed Detective Agency President, but for them to target the Port Mafia Executive? Certainly the other may be a criminal, but to kill them just so the other could survive?

And wouldn’t that just be playing into the mastermind’s hand?

“I will tell you the real reason why you were sent to us,” Fukuzawa suddenly announced.

“Why did you decide to explain all of a sudden?” Aizawa eyed the man skeptically.

“Because I’ve decided to allow your students to observe us for the remainder of your stay within Yokohama.”

“So you were never planning on letting us stay long,” Toshinori muttered. He wasn’t surprised. Since the first time he met the President, he has noticed how aloof the other was. Despite having so many additional people within his agency, he never showed up again until tonight.

“I hold no ill will towards you or your students,” Fukuzawa began. “Even if it’s to repay the Port Mafia, I do not want to let innocent people that have nothing to do with Yokohama get involved in Yokohama’s affair.”

“What changed?”

Fukuzawa didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to their Agency’s physician. “Yosano-kun.”

“My Ability is called Thou Shall Not Die,” Yosano started with a wave of her hand. “My Ability allows me to heal any injuries without any exceptions.”

“Any?!” Ashido gasped.

“Any,” Yosano repeated with a devilish smirk. “Even if you were to have your arms and legs chopped off, or had your organs ripped out...as long as you have a breath left in you, I can fully heal you.”

She paused to let the information sink into the Heroes who were all gawking at her in shock. Such power was unheard of. Just thinking how many people she could save if her power was to be used in their world…!

It wasn’t just the kids who were overwhelmed by the news.

Even Aizawa and Toshinori were caught off guard by the revelation of such a huge secret. As long as Yosano stood, there won’t ever be a single death around her. This was a power that people around the world could only ever dream of because such a convenient power did not exist—or so they thought.

“The condition to use my power isn’t as simple as you think,” Yosano told them. “To activate my power, my patient must be in critical condition. In other words, if I want to heal a minor wound, I have to half kill my patients first.”

“But you’ll be able to heal them back? That’s amazing!!” Ashido blurted out with sparkling eyes.

“Wait…then back then, when Jirou-chan’s…!” Hagakure’s voice trailed off as everyone looked towards Jirou.

The raven-haired girl blinked, feeling a bit self-conscious with all the eyes on her as she turned to Yosano. “So, uh, I almost died?” She absentmindedly rubbed a hand over where she remembered she was shot in.

“Are you familiar with Hypovolemic Shock?” Yosano asked, though she didn’t wait for any response and continued on. “You lost over half of your body’s blood. The lack of oxygen circulating in your body has already begun to destroy your cells. By the time I arrived, you were already in a coma.”

“Eh?” Midoriya’s eyes widened as he recalled how Jirou wouldn’t wake up no matter how Hagakure called her. He knew she had passed out from blood lost, but a coma?

“That’s why that man appeared…it was to save Jirou-san until Yosano-san could get to us,” Shouji muttered.

“Yosano-san…your power also allows you to bring back someone from a coma?” Yaoyorozu inquired.

Yosano ignored the ponytailed girl and continued to focus on Jirou, as if she was trying to capture the slightest movement she would make.

“I see, so that’s what happened…” Jirou looked up to Yosano and smiled. “Thank you for saving me, Yosano-san.”

Yosano’s eyes widened lightly, but she swiftly recovered herself and let out a small snort “Aren’t you a good girl?”

“Eh?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Yosano waved and walked back to stand next to Fukuzawa.

“Well then, do you now understand why the Port Mafia sent you to us?” Kunikida observed the kids, then to the two teachers whose eyes were fixed on Yosano. It seemed that the two pro Heroes had already realized the situation they were in.

“I see!” Midoriya gasped as he jumped out of his seat, startling Ojiro and Sero sitting beside him. “It all makes sense now!”

“What? What makes sense?” Kirishima asked, looking around to see if anyone got what Midoriya was getting.

“Are you a moron?” Bakugou snapped before his crimson eyes shifted back to Yosano.

“Remember what they fucking said? As long as we don’t use Quirks, we’ll be safe. But ear jacks over there got injured even though she didn’t do a damn thing!”

“I see…so that’s it!” Iida gasped while Yaoyorozu seemed to have gone into deep thoughts.

“Uh…what does that mean?” Uraraka asked while sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

“It means that even if we don’t use our Quirks, we could be in dangerous situations and even get hurt, but as long as we don’t use our Quirks, the Port Mafia can’t let us die. They will have to protect us until Yosano-san comes to heal us! This is what they meant by us being safe!”

“It also fucking means that these Mafia shits got plans to put us in danger just like tonight, isn’t that right?!” Bakugou smirked widely at Kunikida.

“And if we use our Quirks in those dangerous situations, the Port Mafia will kill us,” Midoriya finished, hand moving up to touch his neck.

“Yes…” Kunikida adjusted his glasses. “Precisely.”

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

“There’s another one alive! Hurry and bring the stretcher!”

Bang

The echoing sound of gunfire resounded in the air as a man in a black suit stepped away from the body of a white cloaked man.

“Enemy survivors discovered in block C. They’ve been terminated,” the black suited man reported to his earpiece before continuing to check the bodies littered over the street, searching for anyone alive amongst the corpses.

“So these two are the Ability users from Mockingbird?” Higuchi Ichiyou walked up to two white cloaked men lying on the ground, bound in thick chains.

“Yes,” one of the men guarding the enemy replied. “The one on the left is the electricity Ability user and the other is the one creating the miasma.”

“How many sedatives were injected?”

“Four. It should be enough to keep them down for an entire day.”

Higuchi nodded just as a black van drove up to them. “Move them into the vehicle with caution. It’s possible that they still have comrades around.”

“I believe there is no need to worry about that.” an elderly voice cut in.

Higuchi turned around to see the Commander of the Black Lizard making his way over to them. At the sight of the man, the other Port Mafia grunts immediately tucked their hands behind their backs and bowed towards him.

“Hirotsu-san,” the blond-haired woman was slightly surprised by the sight of the old man. “Welcome back from your break.”

“It seems I have returned at the right time,” Hirotsu commented, looking over at the two bounded Ability users. “No, or perhaps this was all within his calculation…”

“Hirotsu-san?” Higuchi blinked, not catching what the man had just said.

“Who are these gentlemen, Higuchi-kun?”

“They are the leaders of the organization Mockingbird.” Higuchi replied. “A couple days ago, we received word that this organization created devices that allow you to detect Ability users.”

“Ho?” Hirotsu arched his brow with great interest. “That’s quite the achievement. What about the data?”

“Akutagawa-senpai should be—” Before the woman could even finish, there was a huge explosion in the distance. She turned around and saw black smoke towering into the night sky.

“It seems that they have been successfully destroyed,” Hirotsu chuckled. “But to go against the Port Mafia’s rule and secretly develop such technology…either they were confident in their strength, or there is a third party involved.”

“Yes…we’re still investigating that matter. Fortunately, it’s only a prototype with limited functions. At the moment, we’re disposing every single device—”

Another explosion sounded at that moment. This time it was from the complete opposite direction of the first one.

Hirotsu gave one glance to the second explosion before he smiled. “There really is no place like home.”

“So Hirotsu-san, did you come here for something?” Higuchi asked, glancing down at the case in his hand.

“Yes,” Hirotsu looked down the street to see a dark figure walking towards them. At the sight of the man, all the men and women in black suits around once more had to stop whatever they were doing and bow.

Within the silence, everyone could hear the light coughs the man was trying to suppress.

“Akutagawa-sama,” Hirotsu bowed lightly at the sight of the young man. “A splendid job as always.”

“I wasn’t the one leading the operation tonight.” Akutagawa replied coldly before his eyes fell to the briefcase in the elder’s hand.

“I see,” Hirotsu bowed again. “Then I shall pay my respects to Atsushi-sama in a bit.”

He unlocked the briefcase and held it up, presenting it to the younger man. “The boss has ordered me to deliver this to you, Akutagawa-sama.”

“These are… blood?” Higuchi furrowed her brows as she tried to figure out what was inside. She has never seen any drug as red as this before.

“These are drugs made from a Quirk user in the outside world with the purpose of permanently erasing one’s Quirk,” Hirotsu explained. “The boss wants you to test them on Ability users to see if it will affect Abilities the same way.”

Akutagawa pulled out one of the syringes, looking at the crimson fluid inside before his gaze shifted to the two Mockingbird Ability users.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

Yosano looked out the window, watching the U.A students and their teachers walk down the peaceful sidewalk and head back towards their dormitory.

She could still remember how excited the kids looked upon hearing her Ability. Even after they found out the real reason, they looked more relaxed rather than fearful, including the two teachers.

This made the woman frown.

To those people, instant recovery to their top form was like a dream in their fight against Villains. Heroes fight with a clear goal in mind—to save people and defeat the Villains. It was thanks to this simple, clear and reachable goal that they were able to fight.

But would they be able to fight in a war where the people on the other side were no different than them? Would they be able to withstand constantly being recovered and thrown back out into the battlefield, over and over until their mentally broke apart?

“Heroes are such a carefree bunch, aren’t they?” She looked back to see Kunikida and Kenji stacking the chairs away.

“…It can’t be helped. Our cultures are just too different for them to understand with words.” Kunikida sighed. “I can understand the President’s decision to let them stay.”

“Yeah,” Yosano agreed. She had been against the whole idea the moment she found out what the Port Mafia wanted her to do. However, that all changed after tonight—especially after hearing such naïve answers…

She clicked her teeth in annoyance because she knew that this whole mess was targeted at them, the Agency members. Sure the U.A students were targeted too, but the event that played out tonight was for those kids to experience and them to witness.

The Port Mafia boss knew they were going to turn these outsiders away, so they made a show tonight to convince them.

“It’s just like Ranpo-san said, isn’t it?” Kenji said cheerfully, not reading the heavy atmosphere.

Kunikida sighed, unable to argue with that. He hadn’t doubted Ranpo. The genius detective was never wrong, after all, but to think the Port Mafia would use such methods to get them to accept these children…

“Though come to think of it, who is this Kyuusaku they spoke of?” Kenji asked while tapping a finger to his chin.

“…I’m bothered by that as well.” Yosano crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against one of the office desks. She had never heard of that name before, but if those Hero students were right, then the one who picked the kid up was none other than the White Reaper of the Port Mafia.

Kuinkida paused in his cleaning up to ponder over that name as well. He had been concerned over this mysterious child ever since he first heard of them over the phone call. That was why he wanted those kids to ignore them and come back. In hindsight, he probably should have seen it coming given these Hero’s unusual sense of justice…but he hadn’t expected them to be bold enough to do that in an unknown territory.

Now that he knew that this kid was also part of the Port Mafia, he was even more wary. There were only two reasons the Port Mafia would have children in their ranks. Either that child was some sort of prodigy, or they were an Ability user.

Kunikida didn’t need to be Ranpo to figure out the answer. From how the kids described the child, they weren’t right in the head. If his assumption was correct, they would have attacked the students had the White Reaper not stepped in.

The thought of the whole mess tonight made Kunikida’s head hurt all over again.

“Really…” Kunikida grumbled while using his fingers to rub out the crease forming between his brows. “First the Selection war and now this…just what is that man planning?”

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

[yellowcanna]

The Binge Eater

Summary:

No one knew who the boy was, but he was given many names.

The Binge Eater, Fire Fist, Eat-n-Runner, Dine and Dash, the Running Man, Broke-Ass Kid with Bottomless Stomach.

Aizawa did not know where that second name came from, but he was certainly the one who gave the brat that last one. Like all his names (except that second one) suggested, the Villain was a serial dine and dasher.

If there was one thing all Heroes in Japan could agree on, it was that the Binge Eater was a little piece of shit.Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, comedy, fluff, shounen-ai (mild boy love)

Pairing: Marco x Ace

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: One Shot

AVAILABLE ON AO3

☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻

In his entire career as a Pro Hero, Aizawa met many kinds of Villains and has captured many Villains. But never in his life did he meet a Villain as odd as this kid right here.

No one knew who the boy was, but he was given many names.

The Binge Eater, Fire Fist, Eat-n-Runner, Dine and Dash, the Running Man, Broke-Ass Kid with Bottomless Stomach.

Aizawa did not know where that second name came from, but he was certainly the one who gave the brat that last one. Like all his names (except that second one) suggested, the kid was a serial dine and dasher.

He would go into restaurants, fill up that bottomless stomach of his and ran off without paying.

In the beginning, restaurants that suffered from lost thanks to the kid would all call the police, demanding the brat to be caught. But a couple of months later, bags of money would suddenly appear in every restaurant the boy had eaten in, paying back enough money to cover a whole month of their expenses. And there will always be a card there, specifically stating that these were compensations for the trouble the brat had given to these restaurants.

When words of this got out, the boy instantly became famous throughout every single restaurant in Japan. It became these restaurant owners’ dreams to get the boy to dine and dash at their stores—so much so that it became a competition between their circles to see who will be lucky to have the boy as customer.

While the eat and runs were been taken care of—as weird as that was—there was a more serious issue.

It was the brat’s clear disregard for Quirk restriction laws.

On many of his runs from the police and Heroes, the boy had used his Quirk.

He used these Quirks to evade getting caught by Heroes and has even been seen in fights against Villains with such Quirk. The boy has even fought against Pro Heroes such as Endeavour who got thoroughly beaten in a battle of fire.

That wasn’t something the police and Heroes could overlook anymore.      

And so, the Binge Eater was officially put onto the list of Villains.

Aizawa has no idea who the boy was. Even the police couldn’t find a file on the kid, but he must have some background considering how much money was used to cover up his eat and run antics—along with property damages. He didn’t know why the boy was doing such a thing, but his illegal use of Quirks couldn’t be overlooked.

That was how Aizawa found himself standing inside a restaurant on a Saturday evening, using his Capture Weapons to hold down the infamous eat and runner.

“Oh! If it isn’t Eraser!” The brat greeted him cheerfully. “How long has it been?! Hey Sakumoto! Get the beer! We’re gonna have a party over here!”

“Roger that!” A waiter yelled from across the restaurant, giving the boy and Aizawa a thumb up.

“We are not having any party!” Aizawa growled at the waiter. This was another thing he could never understand. As long as this brat was involved, the IQ of the people around would pummel downward like an elevator with the wires cut.

“Got caught again, Ace-chan?” An old man—one of the restaurant’s regular customers—laughed.

“Ace-chan, Ace-chan~! Look over here!” An older woman called, holding up her phone to snap a picture of the moment. The Binge Eater even complied, turning with a wide grin on his face.

“The police will get here soon, Ace!”

“Ace!! We’re all rooting for ya!”

“Come to think of it, who’s that Hero holding Ace-kun down?”

“Dunno…never seen him.”

Voices echoed around Aizawa, but he ignored it all. As much as he loved to retort and remind these civilians that this boy was a Villain, he needed to focus. Despite how the boy behaved, it was a known fact amongst the Heroes how dangerous he was. Aizawa couldn’t afford to mess it up.

“By the way, how’s All Might? I haven’t seen him for a while now! Pretty surprising that he would suddenly become a teacher at a school.”

“Don’t test my patience, kid," Aizawa threatened and tightened the binding. “Save it for when we arrive at the station.”

Right on cue, the echoes of sirens could be heard coming towards the restaurant’s direction.

Aizawa pulled on the bindings, but the kid refused to budge. Instead of panicking like any ordinary Villain would, the boy gave him a nasty grin.

“Nah, I like my freedom a little too much.”

The brat spun, reeling in the Capture Weapon—along with Aizawa—while his right leg swept over the mountains of dishes and plates he had piled up towards the underground Hero.

Later that night, a video went viral within Japan.

There were multiple videos taken from the customers within the restaurant, showing how a raven-haired freckled boy kicked a whole plate of chocolate cake (gift from the restaurant owner) right into the Erasure Hero: Eraser Head’s face.

The moment the Eraser Head’s face was smacked by the cake, flames erupted from below the boy’s waist. The boy easily slipped out of the Capture Weapon and shot through the roof like a rocket and vanished into the night sky.

Cheers and claps could be heard in the background with Aizawa standing there, the cake still stuck on his face but anyone could see the veins sticking out of his neck and hands that were fisting the Capture Weapon so tightly they were shaking.

Once more, the Villain by the name of the Binge Eater became top trending.

Along with Erasure Head’s embarrassing video were many other more embarrassing examples of other Heroes’ failed attempt in capturing the boy.

The fans of the Binge Eater (yes, the fucking brat got fans) even made a compilation of pictures showing exactly how the Binge Eater has outsmarted the Heroes.

A picture of Kamui Wood—surrounded by muscular men in drags trying to kiss him—after accidentally barging into the lady’s change room in an Okama bar during his pursuit of the Binge Eater.

A picture of Edgeshot flying right through a fire hoop in the middle of a circus performance. There were lions and the tamer in the background, gawking at the sudden appearance of the Hero and the Villan who was holding the hoop.

A picture of Mountain Lady who had her head buried under the rubble of a collapsed building with her ass up in the air as she struggled to pull herself out.

A picture of Fat Gum whose face was flat against the ground, arms sprawled out and his lower body was high up in the air—legs creating a perfect split with a yellow banana peel soaring into the distant sky.

A picture of Best Jeanist whose clothes were all burned away, leaving a tiny bit of cloth around his hips for decency.

A picture of Manual who was screaming from the boiling hot water that blasted back at him.

A picture of Mirko who was wrapped up into a gigantic ball of yarn and rolling down a traffic-filled slope. 

A picture of Wash whose arms and legs were completely tied up by bright red ribbons and left by actual washing machines with a huge CLEARANCE sign stuck on his front.

A picture of Endeavour whose flames were shooting off in rage as he signed a cheque at a restaurant for the property damages (one table and a ton of dishes) the Hero had caused when he attempted to punch the Binge eater (who ducked) in the face.

A picture of Hawks at a yakitori restaurant with the Binge Eater, their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders and...smiling towards the camera like best buds??

And the latest edition—a close-up of Eraser Head surrounded by a flurry of plates in the foreground and background with a chocolate cake covering his face. On the back of the cake’s plate, the tip of the Binge Eater’s black boot could be seen kicking the cake into the Hero’s mug.

If there was one thing all Heroes in Japan could agree on, it was that the Binge Eater was a little piece of shit.

By the time Monday came along, everyone in U.A High School knew what happened to the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A—including Class 1-A.

That entire morning, the kids felt like they were treading on landmines.

They wanted to ask, but none of them dared. They didn’t even dare to make a sound during their lesson as their teacher’s eyes were even dryer and redder than usual. It was only during lunch that they gathered in the cafeteria to talk about this infamous Villain.

“Doesn’t the Binge Eater seem really cool?!” Ashido held up her phone to show her classmates one of the many pictures of the Binge Eater on the internet.

“Ashido-kun, the Binge Eater is a Villain!” Iida reprimanded while making a chopping motion with his right arm. “As Heroes, we cannot look up to Villains!”

“I’m not looking up! I’m just talking about outlook!” Ashido quickly defended herself.

“But if you think about it, the Binge Eater never hurt anyone?” Kirishima pointed out. “Doesn’t he just eat and run?”

“But he violates the Quirk laws.” Sero reminded the redhead. “I heard he injured quite a bit of Heroes. Even though none of them were serious, they still got hurt.”

“Yes, that’s not something we should overlook, just because he didn’t cause too much harm.” Yaoyorozu agreed.

“But still, you gotta give it to the guy for having the guts to do that to Aizawa-sensei…” Kaminari was shuddering just thinking about it.

“I wonder if sensei’s alright…” Uraraka said worriedly. “He seems really mad.”

“He’s just some fucking grown-ass man wanting attention,” Bakugou snorted. “I’ll fucking kill him if I ever see him!”

“Yeah…even if he doesn’t mean it, he’s violating the law.” Midoriya has to agree with his classmates. He also agreed with his childhood friend’s perspective that the Binge Eater was likely someone seeking attention. Why else would anyone do something like this? But even if it was for something that simple, a crime is a crime.

The Binge Eater was breaking the laws left and right and needed to be stopped before someone gets hurt.

The green-haired youth wanted to ask his homeroom teacher but shook that thought away when he recalled the cold air his teacher was emitting all morning.

After school was over, Midoriya turned to the only person on his list—All Might.

“The Binge Eater, hm?” All Might said after taking a sip of his tea. “I didn’t think you’d come to ask me about him.”

“Do you know him, All Might?” Midoriya questioned curiously.

“I don’t think there is a single Hero who hadn’t encountered him once or twice,” the blond sighed. He felt a headache coming from remembering that freckled boy with a smile too wide and too bright to be a Villain.

Since Heroes needed to be kept updated to the news at all times, he naturally knew of Aizawa’s unfortunate encounter with the boy. The video had even gotten onto the news with newscasters talking about it. Early this morning, there were hordes of journalists and reporters surrounding the school gate, demanding to hear comments from Aizawa with regards to the video.

He has never pitied his co-worker as much as now.

“So you have met him?” Midoriya gasped, not expecting that response. After all, if All Might—the No.1 Hero—has encountered the Binge Eater, why wasn’t the Binge Eater in prison? Why was he still running freely?

“It was two years ago when I first met that boy. He was eighteen at the time. His behavior wasn't evil but more like a child, so I thought I could speak to him and with proper education, we can put him back onto the straight path.”

“…What happened?” Midoriya asked carefully, not sure if it was something All Might would want to speak about considering how tired he sounded.

“He rejected me,” All Might replied, remembering back to that time. “He told me that he wanted to live freely.”

“To live…freely?” Midoriya felt that the phrasing was a bit weird.

“To live however he likes regardless of the law.” All Might’s gaze grew serious at this. “The lack of restraints that defines a Villain. When I realized that he couldn’t see it the right way, I tried to apprehend him. But as you can see…”

“Even you couldn’t catch him, All Might?” The teen gaped in shock.

“You shouldn’t look down on the Binge Eater, young Midoriya,” All Might told the boy seriously. “The Binge Eater’s Quirk is a very unusual fire Quirk unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s no exaggeration to say that the Binge Eater is stronger than All for One.”

Midoriya stared at All Might with his mouth open, unable to wrap his head around what his mentor had said.

Stronger than All for One?

How was that possible?!

Then…wouldn’t that mean he was also stronger than All Might?!

Even if back then All Might was still suffering from his injuries…the Binge Eater was stronger? An eighteen years old boy?!

“What is his Quirk?” Midoriya hastily asked.

“Fire,” All Might replied simply. “If I have to put it into words…rather than having a fire Quirk, it’s like he is the fire.”

“What do you mean?”

“That boy can turn his body into flames.” All Might explained. “In other words, he has no solid body.”

“But that’s—”

“Impossible,” the Hero finished for his student. “You're right. There must be some sort of trick we haven’t figured out yet. But during our fight, I couldn’t even land a hit on him.”

“EH?!” If Midoriya wasn’t surprised before, he was thoroughly shocked now. All Might of all people couldn’t even land one hit?!

“Every time my fist touched him, I went right through his body. No matter how much power I put into it, the result was the same. My punches would all go through his body and that area of his body turned into flame. I tried to outspeed him so he wouldn't have time to react, but even so, that did nothing. As ashamed as I am to say, I couldn't do anything to him, nor could I stop him from leaving."

“But he must have some weakness!” Midoriya argued, not believing that his idol would ever be so powerless. All Might was the strongest! There was no way! "What about water?"

“Heroes with water Quirks that has encountered the Binge Eater all reported that their Quirks are useless on him.” All Might told the boy. “His fires can burn faster and hotter than the time they have to get their water out. Even now, we still do not know the limit of his Quirk. All we know is that throughout all the battles, we have yet to see a time where he is shown being worn out by his own flame or signs of his body overheating from overusing his Quirk.”

“That’s…” Midoriya didn’t know what to say. What can he say?

“The Binge Eater has never hurt any civilians and even in his fight against Heroes, he held back his strength. However, his behavior is too dangerous to be left alone. On top of his fame on social media, there is the danger of children being influenced by him and begin to recklessly use their Quirks in public. That's why even though the Binge Eater is perhaps the most harmless within Villains, he is on the top of the capture list for all active Heroes.”

Midoriya was completely lost for words.

He came to All Might due to his curiosity. He hadn't expected to uncover such a huge secret.

A couple of days later, the excitement and gossips in U.A over the Binge Eater died away. There will always be threads talking about the Binge Eater—where he was last sighted or what restaurants he went to—but nothing big that needed the entire media's attention.

That was until the U.A festival rolled along…

It happened during the match between Iida and Hatsume Mei.

During one of Hatsume’s introduction of her produces (using Iida as a demonstration), a voice suddenly shouted out from the audiences.

“How many of that Villain capture gun do you have?” The voice wasn’t loud, but it resounded within the sea of quiet audiences that were starting to become numb to the long match that became a sale.

“I have as many as you need!” Hatsume was quick to follow up with the sudden appearance of a potential buyer. “I can even customize the gun’s style, colour and firing range to your liking! If you buy a dozen packs, I will throw in an additional free pack!”

“I’ll have two dozen packs!”

“Thank you for your patronage!!” Hatsume’s eyes were practically shinning and she began promoting her other products to that customer.

“Uh…what a turn of events!” President Mic finally found his voice again. He shook out of his stupider and grabbed his mic once more. “After seven minutes of Hatsume Mei’s sales, we have a buyer in the audience! Let’s take a look at who this Hero is!”

Everyone turned towards the said Hero.

The man was wearing a yellow shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his muscular chest. He was holding a monocular over his eyes, using that to look at the girl while conversing with her. His bright orange hat rested upon a mass of raven black hair and on his right arm was a huge tattoo, spelling out A C E with a crossed-out S.

“Hey…doesn’t he look familiar?” One of the Heroes asked.

“Which Hero was he?” Another Hero wondered.

The muttering in the audiences suddenly quieted down.

Everyone stared at the orange hatted man, their eyes budging wider and wider with realization slowly sinking in.

“V…VILLAIN!!” President Mic screamed while Aizawa shot up—only to crumble back down due to his sudden movement pulling open some of his injuries. “THE BINGE EATER HAS APPEARED WITHIN THE AUDIENCE?!!”

“The Binge Eater?!” Midoriya gasped along with his classmates.

It was as if someone had hit the play button. In an instant, all the Heroes swarmed towards the infamous Binge Eater and pounced at him like hungry wolves.

“GET THAT LITTLE SHIT!!!” The Heroes roared with fire lighting their eyes. Just from this, anyone could tell how great the Binge Eater’s reputation was amongst these Heroes.

In an instant, the Sports Festival became a battle royal with Heroes vs the Binge Eater. Quirks were being blasted and explosions began blasting everywhere.

The little brat was laughing as he evaded all these attacks with eat. He didn’t use his Quirk—just stepping one Hero over another. With him jumping onto different Heroes, other Heroes had to hold back on their attacks and resort to getting near to capture him.

And with these Heroes swarming towards him, the Binge Eater gained more pebbles to step on.

At some point, he even got to the sky, where he began beating down the Heroes with nothing but his fists and legs.

He easily beat a Hero, kneeling the woman in the gut before using her body as leverage to jump onto another flying Hero that was coming in to help. This lasted five whole minutes with Heroes raining down from the sky and the Heroes that were grounded catching them.

Even the students could tell how one-sided the fight was.

President Mic was heatedly broadcasting the event on his mic like some sort of sports announcer while the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A struggled to recover from whatever he may have opened.

"This is bad, I need to go!" All Might shouted but was stopped by the Principal.

“Wait,” the white creature told him, looking at the battle in the sky. "Let's see how this plays out."

“But principal—”

“Something isn’t right. Why is the Binge Eater here—knowing how many Heroes are attending the Sports Festival?”

“That’s—” All Might thought back to his encounter with the boy and realized that the principal was right. Despite acting so carefree, the boy was smart. His countless getaways were proofs of that. Even if he wanted to come see the Sports Festival, he wouldn't do it so blatantly.

He was after something—that was the only explanation.

“W-what should we do?!” Uraraka shouted at the chaos in front of them.

“Perfect, I’ll fucking go kill him right now!” Bakugou roared, cracking his knuckles with an excited look on his face.

“Bakugou! We can’t!” Kirishima shouted, quickly stopping the explosive teen from joining the fight.

“That guy must be crazy, showing up in front of all these Heroes!” Sato shouted.

“Wait…what’s that?” Midoriya pointed at the mass of Heroes where a spark of orange light could be seen.

And then—from within the Heroes—a burst of bright orange flames.

“HIKEN!”

The flames expanded, pushing back the Heroes before shooting upward into the sky, becoming a bright beacon that pierced through the clouds.

Midoriya was nearly blown back from the intensity of the heat. He grabbed onto the railing and stared at the flames in disbelieve. The bright orange flames lasted a couple of seconds before it died away, but that was enough.

Everyone stared at the cloud, then to the single boy standing there.

He was young, he wasn’t extremely muscular, yet the power he displayed was anything but normal. Perhaps in this entire world, All Might was the only one capable of doing what this boy had just done.

Thanks to the fire and the heatwave, the Heroes were all pushed back, forming a large circle around the Binge Eater. The young man with an orange hat stood in the middle of the fighting stage with the stage’s surface completely scorched.  

“Can’t we stop here?” the Binge Eater asked with a smile—completely unlike someone who had just blast a pillar of fire into the sky.

Midoriya looked closely and found that the man was holding Hatsume’s mic. The pink-haired girl from the Support class had long run off to avoid getting caught up in the battle.

“Binge Eater, why are you here!” Kamui Wood demanded, pulling back his woods that were now literally charcoal.

“Would you believe me if I say I’m here to enjoy the show?” The Binge Eater replied in a smirk.

“Portgas D. Ace.”

Hearing the call of his name, the Binge Eater—or Ace, turned to see a white creature that looked like a gigantic mouse walking up to the stage with the Ectoplasm and Hound Dog by his side.

Behind him, Ace also noticed Midnight, Vlad King, and Cementoss slowly edging forward.

Instead of showing any worries of being surrounded, Ace was obviously more interested in the U.A principal.

He crouched down, eyeing the little creature with great interest. “Are a Mink?”

“I have been called a mouse, a bear or even a dog, but a mink is a first!” The principal grinned with his beady eyes staring at Ace. “I am Nedzu, the principal of U.A High School."

“Well, please pardon my intrusion, principal!” Ace laughed and offered a hand.

The principal walked up to the Villain fearlessly and shook that large hand with his tiny paw.

“Since you’re a principal in a school for Heroes, I take it that you’re a Hero too?”

"Indeed! But at the moment, I am just a principal!” Nedzu replied. “Hero or not, as the principal of U.A High School, we have the obligation to bring you in. Please cooperate with us. I can tell you have a kind heart, Ace. We don't want to fight you.”

"Neither do I, but—" Ace let go of that furry paw and straightened his back. "Obeying law was never really my thing."

“Portgas D. Ace—the Binge Eater. You are wanted for the repeated offense in breaking the Quirk restriction law, resisting capture and injuring Heroes!” Midnight announced, cracking her whip against the ground. “You have nowhere to go, come with us or we will resort to force.”

Ace opened his mouth, but suddenly stopped and whirled around. His eyes were wide as he stared up into the sky—at the hole his flames created within the cloud. Everyone immediately tensed up. They got into their positions, ready to engage in a fight. But in such a tense moment, the Heroes heard a screeching sound coming from afar.

“What’s that?”

The Heroes began to look around. At first, none of them could see anything but soon, the crowds started to get noisy as they all looked towards that hole in the cloud.

“Ha…hahahahaha!” Ace suddenly began to laugh, startling the Heroes who looked back down to see tears streaming down the boy’s face.

“You’re so slow…” Ace mumbled, eyes locking onto the hole where something flew out of it. Another screech came, this one much clearer than the first.

It was the call of a bird.

“What’s that?” Ashido squinted up at the sky. “Is that…a bird?”

“Are birds…supposed to be…that…BIG?!” Sero screamed out the last part for that the bird was now much closer, revealing its form for everyone to see.

The bird was gigantic. And what was more shocking was that the cyan blue colour on its body weren’t feathers, but fire!

With another screech, the bird tucked its wings in and the speed of its drop increased. The Heroes barely had time to brace themselves before the bird had already arrived. The bird flew around the arena, sending out a whirlwind of blue fire that swept the Heroes off their feet.

“Duck!” Iida screamed and all of them ducked down as blue flames blasted towards where they sat as well.

All they felt was a sharp gust of wind and then everything was quiet. Confused, Midoriya slowly poked his head out only to jump up with a sharp gasp.

All the Heroes had been thrown back—including the principal and the U.A teachers. The bodies of the Heroes were scattered all over the place. Midoriya couldn't tell how they were from this far away, but he didn't see any signs of burn, unlike that orange flame the Binge Eater had sent out. 

When Midoriya looked back to where the Binge Eater was, he saw the raven with another man he has never seen before. He was a tall man with a tuff of golden blond hair on the top of his head. He was smiling widely with a prickle of tear staining his eyelash as he hugged the raven-haired Villain.

As for the Binge Eater…he was sobbing.

For the first time anyone has seen, the usually cheerful boy was crying. He hugged onto the taller man tightly, fingers digging into the man’s purple jacket as he cried into his shoulders.

The Binge Eater dropped his mic onto the ground, but the mic was still picking up on their words and broadcasting it for the world to hear.

“Marco! Marco! Marco!” The boy called out that name repeatedly while crying his bawling his eyes out.  

“I’m here yoi,” the man name Marco mumbled, hugging onto the younger man even tighter. “I’m here, Ace.”

"I knew it…you're the one giving the money to the restaurants! You were the one…why didn't you come see me?!"

“I’m sorry,” the older man apologized. “I wasn’t sure if you remember…no, I was afraid that…”

The man struggled with words a couple of times before he let out a frustrated sigh and smiled bitterly. “I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long, Ace.”

“I missed you so much! I missed pops and everyone else!”

“They missed you too, Ace.”

The raven's cries were instantly cut off. He pulled back, staring at the blond with a look of disbelief before he was crying all over again. This time with a wide smile he couldn't hold back on his face.

“Thank you for coming back to us, Ace.” Marco closed his eyes and tucked his face into the raven hair and enjoyed the warmth within his arms. He was only able to savor the moment for a couple of seconds before he had to pull away and turned to the person walking up to them.

It was the No.1 Hero, All Might.

“Sorry for all the trouble this guy has caused,” Marco apologized, smiling easily despite being in the No.1 Hero’s presence. “If I say that he won't ever be a bother anymore, will you let us go?”

“I’m afraid not.” All Might’s hands rolled into fists. “We’ll need both of you to come with us.”

“You Heroes are always so uptight yoi.” The man smirked before blue flames burst out of him.

All Might took a step forward and threw out a punch, but instead of disbursing, the flame grew bigger within the violent wind. The colour of blue and orange mixed, creating perfect harmony and shot up into the sky—sending another blast of heatwave across the arena.

That gigantic bird made of fire surfaced from the flames, carrying the boy on its back as it flew off into the distance.

None of the Heroes chased after them. None of those who could keep up with the bird’s speed has the proper Quirk in stopping the pair and those who can, cannot fly.

The only person who might be capable was All Might, but the Hero stood on the burnt platform and watched them leave. In his mind, the scene of the Binge Eater crying in such heartbroken way and how much that Marco was holding back from crying made All Might hesitant to go after them.

From the bits and pieces of what he heard them, it seemed like the two of them had been separated for a long time—both of them looking for one another. That was why the Binge Eater always made such a huge scene to get people to notice him. He was putting himself out there to search for that man with some sort of mutation bird and fire Quirk.

While the man named Marco had found the Binge Eater, he didn’t reveal himself and instead chose to watch over him. Once the Binge Eater realized that, he resorted coming into the Sports Festival to put himself in front of all Heroes, forcing the other man to come out.

It wasn’t just All Might who thought of this. Everything that happened was broadcast live for the whole world to witness. In an instant, all of the fans of the Binge Eater band together to protest against the government—demanding them to remove the label of Villain from Portgas D. Ace.

There were many debates over whether or not the Binge Eater’s action could be justified.

The Binge Eater has violated the laws.

He was a lost kid trying to find home.

He used his Quirks.

He helped defeated Villains.

He also attacked Heroes.

He never seriously hurt them.

He is a threat to society.

He helped an old lady crossed the road and made friends with the people around him.

The debate went on and on without ever coming to a conclusion. Perhaps it never well, as there was no right or wrong.

The government refused to take down the Binge Eater from the position of a Villain.

They stated that no matter what the reason was, the Binge Eater has violated the law and must be held accountable. However, given special circumstances, the government was willing to give the boy a pardon if he turned himself in—together with the blond man that also violated the Quirk law.

The governments also as far as to allow the court to be public for the world to see, promising a fair judgment on both fire Quirk users. This made the protesters quiet down. If Ace did go to court, he was promised minimal sentencing and maybe even none at all depending on how good his lawyer was. The government clearly stepped back to present this opportunity, so all that was left was Portgas D. Ace’s response.

The citizens anxiously waited, but the raven-haired male never showed up again or announced that he will accept the government's deal.

The police were working overtime trying to track down where the two fire users had disappeared off to. They couldn’t find anything—not even the satellite could pinpoint where these two had gone. They ran multiple searches on the man name Marco but like Ace, there was no data on their files.

Either the man was some sort of wanted criminal that erased his past, or the man had smuggled into the country. Considering how no one has ever seen such unique Quirk like a flaming bird, they were leaning towards the latter. If so, then this led them towards a possibility they hadn’t considered before.

Could these two have left Japan already?

There were many questions from both the police and civilians, but these answers will never be found…until one year later, that was.

As people gradually began to forget the beloved boy that would frequent the restaurants, a picture surfaced on the internet.

It was a picture of a boy, smiling brightly against the camera while holding onto a Villain capture gun. He seemed to be in some sort of bar filled with a bunch of shaggy looking men in the background. They were all looking at the camera, raising large mugs in the air.

Marco was there, sitting not far from Ace with a fond and relaxed smile on his face. There was someone next to Marco as well, but all people could see was a huge boot. Either that was a fake, or that there was a giant in the room.

On the floor in the middle of the bar was a brown-haired man in chief clothing sporting an impressive pompadour. He seemed to be yelling at Ace while clawing at the red net wrapped around him. 

The very next day after the picture spread like wildfire on the internet, Power Loader stormed into Hatsume Mei’s workroom and screamed at her for two whole hours about selling products to Villains. Naturally, the pink-haired girl didn’t think she was in the wrong at all, so it was settled with Power Loader taking away all of her equipment and banned her from any creation for a whole week. 

Everything went back to normal, and their world continued like normal.

Occasionally, people would speak of the Binge Eater and the man who defeated over hundreds of Heroes with a single blast of blue flames, but their stories were gradually forgotten as the threat of Villains loomed over the country.

[yellowcanna]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

My soukoku story for the BSD 2020 Big Bang with a different take on Soulmate au!

Story is now complete with a total of three chapters!

Summary: 

Each human in this world was born harboring two different souls inside them. The first soul being the dominant soul—the soul of the body, and the second soul being the soul of their other half which was what they called a Soul Mate. That was why humans were born with heterochromia eyes—as they say that eyes are the windows to their souls.

Whenever a person’s life was endangered or was under extreme stress, a strange phenomenon would occur where their personality changed into a completely different person’s.

This phenomenon was called the Switch.

“Mama! Dinner has been prepared!”

“Mama! Was your bath pleasant?”

“Mama! Did you like the camellia flowers?”

“Mama!”

“Mama!”

The calls of mama echoed throughout the air as Chuuya froze at the doorway, eyelids jumping nonstop at the young boys crowding around him.

What. The. Fuck?

Nakahara Chuuya, age fifteen, has become the owner (mama) of a gay brothel (whore house) within the Yokohama’s underground red-light district.

Chuuya was going to murder his Soul Mate.

[yellowcanna]

Duo Heroes, Double Black

Summary:

“We are broadcasting this live above U.A High School and you won’t believe what we are seeing! Everyone, please take a look!”

In the middle of a no-longer-empty track field, were three black vehicles. The cars were parked in a straight line with the perfect distances apart from one another. In front of the line of cars was a table oddly standing out in the middle of the field with black sunshade set over it.

Men dressed in black suits stood in a perfect line between the cars and the table. They stood up straight, chin held high and hands folded behind their backs. It was obvious that these were well-trained bodyguards.

However, those weren’t what shocked the audiences sitting in front of their TVs. No…rather than the men and the cars...it was that single man prostrating on the ground, his attire making him stand out from all the black.

“ALL MIGHT! IT’S ALL MIGHT!” The reporter screamed, causing the microphone to ring from her sharp voice. “The former No.1 Hero who hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his retirement!! But…just what is this current situation?!”

What was the current situation?

That was what Toshinori wanted to know.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, comedy, fluff, shounen-ai (mild boy love)

Pairing: Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya)

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: Complete

AVAILABLE ON AO3

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

◅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

Story Beta’d by Nanami_ontheShore

Pain…

That was the only thing Dazai felt as he laid on the icy floor. His entire body hurt as he struggled to crawl up from the broken glass. He couldn’t care whether the shards would cut into his flesh. He needed to get out… he needed to see.

“Chuu… ya…” His hoarse voice called out the name of his former partner, his Executive, his right-hand man.

His back was still throbbing from where he had been harshly kicked, so much that he couldn’t get up. His hands fumbled to drag his body to the broken window.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He was supposed to die.

He wasn’t supposed to live.

Why?

His uncovered eye widened at the body below, lying motionlessly on the ground. Dazai’s vision was blurring, but he could still clearly see the blood splattered all over the floor.

Half of the orange haired man’s head had been smashed into pieces.

“Ah…” Dazai wanted to shout, to scream, to cry…but nothing was coming out. His throat had never felt so dry.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He had sent Chuuya out of the city. Chuuya wasn’t even supposed to be here, let alone flying towards him. He wasn’t supposed to save him in exchange for his own life.

Chuuya was supposed to become the next boss.

 “…!”

Dazai snapped his eyes open to the sounds of screams and explosions.

He blinked in the absolute darkness, alert and cautious.

What happened?

He was supposed to be dead.

How was it possible for a dead person to feel again?

“ERASER HEAD!”

Dazai tried to look towards the source of the sound, but he found that he couldn’t move.

The brunet reached out his hand to feel around the tiny space he was in and soon learned why. He was buried underground. He grasped a pile of moist dirt and felt it between his fingers. Then he reached for the heavy thing crushing his body.

He ran his fingers over the rough bumps. It was a tree bark…so this large thing was a tree. Dazai wanted to laugh at his typical failure to die.

It was such a pity. Had this soil not been so moist and wet, this tree would have successfully crushed his organs and spine. And what’s more, it was most likely due to this tree that this air pocket would exist underground. Although Dazai couldn’t see, the bark of the tree told him this was a healthy tree, not a dead one. Unless it’s winter, it should have plenty of leaves keeping the soil from filling this place in.

“ERASER!” The loud voice from before shouted again, sounding closer to Dazai’s ears. “YOUR EYES!”

“I’m fine!” A different voice answered. This voice was quieter than the first, but Dazai could still hear it pretty well, meaning they had to be close by.

The brunet opened his mouth, only to let out a hoarse, breathless sound. He coughed at how dry his throat felt before trying again.

“Hello?” Dazai blinked at the sound of his voice. It sounded off. As in, he sounded really young…like a kid.

He coughed before trying again, confirming that this was in fact his voice.

“LIKE HELL YOU’RE FINE!! YOU’RE BLEEDING OUT OF YOUR EYES!!”

“Whatever that is, I can’t erase it’s Quirk! We have to tell them to evacuate the city!”

Quirk? City?

“Hellooo?” Dazai called out lazily.

“But—” Loud mouth tried to speak again, but abruptly cut himself off. Just from this, Dazai knew they heard him.

“A little help would be nice.” Dazai called out calmly. He needed to know what was going on. Why was he alive when he was certain he had been dead?

Dazai could hear rumbling sounds outside. He closed his eyes and sighed as he thought of a certain petite mafioso. If only Chuuya was here, he would never get into a situation like this.

Just the thought made Dazai want to laugh.

What right did he have to think of something like that when he was the cause of his former partner’s death?

“So unfair…you wouldn’t even let me follow you to the otherworld?” Dazai mumbled softly to himself. Right at that moment, he heard the crumbling sound of dirt and the muffled noises were now extremely clear.

“SHIT! WE NEED REINFORCEMENT! THERE’S A KID CRUSHED UNDER A TREE!!”

Ahh, there goes Dazai’s eardrums. At the very least, it was mildly easier to breathe. Before Dazai could enjoy laying there a bit longer, the tree pressing down on his body was removed.

“All Might!”

Dazai felt large, warm hands grabbing him before he heard a weird poof.

“All Might-san?!” Loud mouth exclaimed.

“What is this?”

Dazai slowly opened his eyes and saw a blond foreigner lifting him out of the dirt and onto the soft grass.

The man stared at Dazai with shock all over his blue eyes. Dazai returned his stare. The brunet couldn’t help but notice how this man’s eye colours were strikingly similar to Chuuya’s. The moment this man’s hands left Dazai’s body, there was another poof and he was suddenly packed with muscles he didn’t have in the beginning.

Dazai blinked. He looked at the man up and down, taking in the blond’s expression as he examined his own body.

“A-All Might-san?! What was that?!”

“Forget about it, hurry and check his injuries!” To his credit, the now muscular man got over his shock and focused on the more important matters. “The tree might have crushed his organs! I’ll hold the enemy back and—”

“No, my organs aren’t crushed.” Dazai said calmly, slowly sitting up while wincing at the pain around his side. His organs were certainly fine, just not his ribs. He felt around. At least three of them were broken.

“Hey, you shouldn’t move!” That loud voice shouted again.

Dazai looked over and saw two young men looking in their twenties wearing…well, Dazai honestly had no idea what the heck they were wearing. All he knew was that the loud mouth was the blond, and the dark haired man with blood leaking from his eyes was the other person who had been talking.

If they weren’t speaking fluent Japanese, Dazai was seriously wondering if he had somehow landed in the West.

These strange men seemed to want to say something, but a loud smashing sound interrupted them.

For the first time, Dazai looked at his surroundings and stilled at what he was seeing.

Disaster doesn’t even begin to describe the sight. Debris were flying everywhere while the wind was blowing everything away. The air was contaminated by dirt and sand, turning this place into a literal sandstorm. If it wasn’t for the flying trees and rocks being tossed around in the sky, Dazai would have thought he was in a desert.

Being on the sidelines of the storm, Dazai could see multiple human silhouettes, flying around in the sky. They seemed to be trying to get close to something, but couldn’t.

Dazai stared at those figures curiously before he moved his eyes. And then, he stilled as he saw the chunks of land unaffected by the wind. These floating objects were all encased within a faint red light.

“Chuu…ya…?” Dazai whispered before he shot up. The loudmouth clearly hadn’t expected this from the brunet, so he wasn’t able to catch him in time and his dark-haired companion was busy wiping the blood out of his eyes.

Dazai had only taken a couple of steps before a large hand stopped him. This time, this hand was careful not to touch him. The brunet looked down to find himself on the edge of a giant crater. Where that crater ends, he couldn’t see from the storm around them, but that was enough. Dazai’s heart was beating fast and he couldn’t fight the smile from lifting his face.

“That way is dangerous, young man!” The muscular man said as loudmouth ran over to pull him back. Now that Dazai had the time to look at the bulky man, he found that his body was littered with blood and bruises.

“President Mic, Eraser Head! You two take this boy and alert the people outside! Whatever that thing is, it’s storing up power!” The muscular man said as his hands rolled into tight fists. “The next wave will undoubtedly destroy the city!”

“Alright!” The loudmouth nodded, picking Dazai up with one arm while his other supported his bleeding friend.

It was then that Dazai noticed something very wrong about his current height. His brow twitched, but remained calm as he observed his surroundings.

“Then—”

“Hey,” Dazai spoke up. Although his voice wasn’t particularly loud, they heard him. “You’ll die if you go.”

“Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha!” The man let out a very distinctive laugh and turned to Dazai with the widest smile on his face. He struck a pose and even gave him a large thumbs up. “There is no need to worry, young man! For that I—”

“I can stop that creature down there.” Dazai didn’t wait for the man to finish. That made the blond froze and the brunet clearly saw his smile dropped by a couple millimeters.

He was right. Dazai had the feeling that was the case when these people kept referring to the person down there by it. This meant that Chuuya didn’t even resemble the form of a human anymore.

Dazai looked down at the arm of the loudmouth holding him. Then again, who was he to say that?

“Young man—”

“My power can stop that thing.”

“It doesn’t work like that, kid.” Loudmouth tried to convince him. “Eraser Head’s Quirk didn’t even work on that thing!”

“My Quirk nullifies everything I touch,” Dazai said confidently while testing the new word on his tongue. “Isn’t that right, mister?”

Dazai shifted his eye to the man that had just experienced his Ability first hand.

“Young man, are you telling me that you’ve stopped that thing before?” The muscular man asked him seriously.

Dazai didn’t reply and simply stared at the man. From their conversation, he could tell how dire their situation was. Just like he thought, it didn’t take long for the muscles man to agree.

“Just throw me to the center,” Dazai told him but was adamantly rejected.

The muscular man wanted to carry him, but found that there was no way to do that without making physical contact. They thought of tying Dazai up with the bandage-like thing on the raven haired man’s neck, but Dazai was injured.

The brunet honestly didn’t see any issues, but the way these people fretted over his broken ribs and battered body was quite funny to watch. Their behaviour wasn’t normal. At the very least, it’s not normal in the world of Ability users.

In the end, the muscular man came up with the stupidest idea Dazai had ever heard of. The brunet watched the man take off at a speed so fast that he was gone in a blink of an eye.

By the time Dazai blinked again, he was cradled within the blond man’s arms and flying at an incredible speed towards the center of the crater.

Yes, this man’s plan was to charge at full speed and grab him.

Dazai looked up at the man holding him tightly in his arms. As expected, his bulking power was gone, turning him back into an ordinary human with a bit more muscles than the average people. This was quite interesting. The power this man displayed looked nothing like any Abilities Dazai ever knew of...and he knew a lot of them.

Rather than an Ability, it was more like this power was part of this man genetically.

After observing the blond, Dazai looked down to his hands. He recognized these hands as his own, yet the size was way smaller than the ones in his memories. He mentally compared himself to the previous two men who looked like they had normal human proportion.

If he was to guess, he would say this body of his has been regressed to around nine or ten years old. It seemed like there was a lot he needed to find out, but first things first, he had to get Chuuya back.

Just the aspect of knowing that he would see Chuuya again made his heart skip. The brunet didn’t even blink as the man crashed into the ground. The blond held Dazai tightly against his chest to protect him from the impact. He grunted in pain as he rolled across the uneven ground before managing to scramble onto his feet. He didn’t even take a break and ran as fast as he could while avoiding the debris flying at them.

This man was completely battered, yet he still protected Dazai regardless. Every movement he made, he did with Dazai’s safety being the priority. 

An ordinary person might be touched by this kind of selfless act, but Dazai was far from touched. He simply took notes of every little movement this man made, be it consciously or subconsciously. From his behaviour and actions, he seemed pretty familiar with the aspect of protecting. It was obvious he was used to this.

Dazai couldn’t continue analyzing this man as at that very moment, a roar that was a mixture of human and beast resonated through the air. Dazai’s heart thumped and he hastily turned to see the dust in the air clearing away, revealing a dark figure standing on all four, roaring and snarling at their direction.

Multiple black balls of energy began to form around that creature.

“Shit!” The blond swore in English. He seemed to know what those were and dug his heels into the ground, prepared to change direction and dodge the incoming attack.

“Throw me!” Dazai shouted. “Those things won’t work on me!”

“But young man—” The man looked down and was shocked by the determined umber brown eyes. He gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to do this, but there were no other choices. They were running out of time. If they didn’t stop whatever this was, the city would be destroyed! He grabbed Dazai and hurled him with all his strength towards Chuuya.

Chuuya roared. Black energy globe around him grew in size, only to stop when Dazai saw those crimson eyes meet his. Then, those condensed gravity balls changed direction at the last second, narrowing missing Dazai.

“Stupid slug...you should know they wouldn’t work on my either way.” Dazai’s heart was filled with warmth upon knowing that even subconsciously, the stupid hatrack was looking out for him.

Taking his chance, Dazai opened his arms and smacked right into Chuuya.

“Ability: No Longer Human.” He wrapped his arms around the redhead’s neck.

A beam of blinding white light burst from between them, engulfing the two as Dazai watched Chuuya revert back to himself.

Fair skin, wavy pumpkin orange hair…

This was definitely Chuuya. Although further shrunken in size, there was no doubt that this was Chuuya.

“Chuuya.” Dazai sighed out the name, holding the boy firmly in his arms.

The storm around them came to an abrupt stop, causing trees and dirt to rain from the sky. Dazai didn’t care as he embraced Chuuya, exhaustion taking over him and lulling him into a deep slumber.

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

“No, I don’t agree with this.” All Might stated firmly as his hands rolled into fists under the table. “That boy can’t be older than ten! His Quirk going out of control wasn’t his fault!”

“Yes.” His sidekick, Sir Nighteye adjusted his glasses. “According to the information we’ve gathered, those two were most likely one of the kidnapped children used as experiments within the lab.”

“Is this what we are coming down to nowadays, arresting children as criminals?!” The Equipped Hero, Yoroi Musha slammed his palms onto the table so hard that it shook from the force.

“We understand how you all feel about this.” The government official sighed, looking extremely troubled by the Heroes stopping them from doing their job. “But you’ve all seen what that boy is capable of. You were all there in the front lines. Eleven Heroes are still in critical conditions—an entire mountain was blown apart in just a second. This is the largest destruction ever recorded in the history of Quirks! We were only fortunate that this laboratory was in the mountains. Had it been in the city, thousands would have lost their lives!”

“But that’s the fault of those bastards experimenting on him!” The young, newly debuted Hero, President Mic finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted. “If they had never experimented on him, I bet his Quirk wouldn’t go all haywire like that!”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we need to move the child into an isolated place away from civilians.” The government official stated firmly. “The power of his Quirk is not normal. It may be the result of whatever experiment they were trying to run on that boy, but in my understanding, the Quirk was too powerful to even be erased by an erasing Quirk.”

At that, he looked over to the raven-haired youth that had been sitting quietly beside President Mic. His entire body was covered in bandages much like the other Heroes in this meeting. The only difference was that both of his eyes were heavily wrapped in bandages. Despite being pointed out, the raven kept his silence.

“I for one, agree with the government’s decision.”

All the other Heroes turned to stare at Endeavor in shock.

“Setting aside his identity as the victim, his Quirk is too dangerous to be left unsupervised. If it wasn’t for that other kid, we would’ve all died in that kid’s rampage.”

“Wait, don’t tell me…!” President Mic gasped as his head whirled back to the government officials on the other side of the table so fast that his neck almost snapped.

“Yes, we will be taking the other boy in as well, for safety measures.” The man said.

“ARE YOU STILL HUMAN!?”

“Calm down, rookie.” Yoroi Musha reprimanded. The older Hero expected as much, even though hearing the man confirming it didn’t make him any happier.

“We’ve looked into the database and we can’t find a single thing about these two boys.” The government official said, holding out the documents. “They have no records and none of the kidnapped children reported for the past decade match up with them. They don’t exist within this country’s database. I’m sure you all know what that means.”

All Might’s hands rolled into fists under the table. He knew very well what it meant. Either these two children were smuggled into this country which would be impossible given how tight securities are, or that they were born within that laboratory for the sake of the experiments.

If that was the case, then it was only natural for the government to take care of them.

“I think the boy should get a say in all of this,” Snatch said. “It’s only fair we make a decision after knowing the kid.”

Slidin' Go nodded. “Yes, why don't we all go speak to the boy?”

The government official frowned. It was obvious he didn’t see any point in doing that, but if this could make the Heroes back off, then so be it.

“Are they awake?”

“Midnight is keeping the orange-haired one sleeping just in case. The one with the erasing Quirk woke up just minutes before our meeting began.” Sir Nighteye replied. “Although to not frighten the boy, I suggest only three of us meet with him for now.”

It didn’t take long for them to decide who to go see the boy. As the person with the most interaction with the brunet, All Might was the most obvious answer. Since he was going, his sidekick would naturally be joining him,  along with the government official.

They walked through the practically empty building with the exception of police officers guarding the floors and the few doctors and nurses.

They came at the right time, as the doctor had just finished examining the dark haired boy.

All Might felt something inside him turn painfully at the sight of the boy’s bare upper body. It was covered in long thin scars, as if someone had repeatedly ran a knife through him. When he walked over, All Might noticed how the boy was absentmindedly rubbing the small dotted scars in his arms.

All Might frowned. Those kinds of wounds could only be left from needles. Just what were those Villains doing to these children?

The thought of how many children had died suffering at these people’s hands made All Might’s blood boil. However, they can no longer find the answers to that, as the laboratory and the people involved were all blown up when the other boy’s Quirk went out of control.

All Might heaved out a small sigh before he summoned the largest smile he ever had.

“Young lad! How are you feeling!” He practically shouted, keeping his tone upbeat in hopes that the child wouldn’t look so…empty.

The boy looked up. When All Might saw those lifeless eyes looking up at him, he felt a chill crawling down his spine. Never in his entire life had All Might ever seen eyes like those. There was no joy, no anger, no sadness… just void. Those were eyes that only the dead were capable of owning.

“Where’s Chuuya?”

All Might shook himself out of the trance and his smile was back on. “If you mean your friend, he’s resting.”

“I want to see him.”

“Look here—” The government official started towards him, but was stopped by Sir Nighteye.

“I won’t talk until I see Chuuya.” The boy said before looking away as if he couldn’t care less about the three adults here.

All Might could remember how desperately this boy had tried to reach out to his friend and save him. He crouched down by the boy’s bedside and extended a hand towards him.

“Young lad, I’ll take you to him.” He promised.

The boy looked back at him, then to his hand.

“Are you sure you want me to take your hand?” He asked with a light smirk.

It was then that All Might remembered this boy’s power. His smile twitched and he suddenly felt extremely awkward, not sure if he should pull his hand away.

“I’ll lead you then.” Sir Nighteye smoothly cut in, holding out a hand to the boy.

The brunet looked up at Sir Nighteye, but said nothing and took his hand. The sidekick noticed how weak and frail this hand was. The boy’s fingers were so slim that it was just skin wrapped around bone, much like the rest of his body.

All Might laughed in an attempt to ease the weird tension in the air.

“May I know your name, young lad?”

The boy looked into All Might’s blue eyes before a smile slowly lifted his lips.

“Dazai Osamu.” Dazai said before his eyes shifted to the other man that had been silent this entire time. “Are you a policeman, old man?” He asked in the sweetest voice he could muster.

“Old—” The man coughed, clearly not happy at being called old. “No, I’m not.”

“Hmm...I see.” Dazai turned away, hiding the mocking smirk on his lips.

Not a policeman and clearly not one of the doctors. The way he distanced himself from these two men meant he wasn't their companion either.

So the third party has arrived.

They walked out of the room and down the hallway. Sir Nighteye walked with Dazai in the middle with All Might leading their way and the government official quietly following behind. They took the elevator down, going into the basement of the building where there was only a single room down there.

There was a line of police officers standing around the room made of glass, giving no privacy to the people inside.

Seeing their arrival, the commissioner came over with a deep frown on his face.

He glanced at Dazai, then to All Might.

“What is this?” He demanded, obviously in a sour mood. “Even if you are Heroes, you can’t waltz in here unannounced.”

All Might explained the situation to him. The Commissioner didn’t look happy, but before he could reject allowing the kids to meet, Dazai spoke up.

“Do you think that will stop him?” The boy tilted his head towards the glass room.

Inside the glass wall, there was only a twin-sized bed. In the bed laid Chuuya, sleeping away peacefully while sitting next to the bed was a black-haired woman. She was practically naked, her outfit leaving little to imagination as she read a book. The room was filled with pink fumes and if one looked close enough, they could all see that they were coming from the woman’s exposed skin.

“Chuuya’s power can’t be stopped just because you put him to sleep. If it was that easy, how did you think he got out?” Dazai said with an almost mocking smile at the Commissioner.

“What do you mean?” The Commissioner demanded.

“Who knows?” The boy shrugged. “If you let us be together, then when Chuuya wakes up, I’ll tell you all everything you want to know.”

The Commissioner frowned, but didn’t reject the boy’s proposal.

Instead, he went over to the room. Through the intercom, he called the woman inside to stop her Quirk and turn on the fan.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dazai said, already walking towards the room.

“Wait, young Dazai,” All Might stood in front of the boy. “Midnight’s Quirk has filled the room, you’ll—”

“Don’t you want to see what my Quirk does?” Dazai glanced over to the government official.

“…Let him in,” The government official ordered.

All Might was about to protest, but Dazai was already entering. He walked through the double glass door and right into the room filled with the woman’s Quirk.

Midnight stood up in surprise when she saw the boy coming in, but froze upon seeing him perfectly fine. She blinked, looking over the boy up and down, then noticed this faint trace of white glow outlining the boy’s form.

She glanced to the Heroes and police outside, then back at the boy. She has heard about this other kid who had a Quirk just like Eraser Head, but erasing Quirks shouldn’t make him immune to Quirks.

“Boy, are you alright?” She asked, walking around the bed to face the boy.

“Beautiful mademoiselle, may I have the pleasure of escorting you outside?” The boy suddenly said, holding out a hand towards her.

“Oh my, you sure know how to sweet talk.” Midnight smiled, but the way her eye darted outside then back showed how cautious she was towards him. Nevertheless, Midnight reached out a hand to gently hold the boy’s. The moment their hand touched, blinding white light burst from their hands and filled the room.

When the light faded, everyone outside of the room stared at Dazai, then Midnight. None of them had any idea what happened, but those that were sharper instantly noticed how clear the air inside was.

Midnight’s Quirk had completely vanished.

“This is…” Midnight looked around the room in shock. She then looked down to her own body and tried to activate her Quirk.

Nothing was coming out.

She looked at Dazai with surprise on her face.

“Shall we go?” The young boy tilted his head, a light smile playing on his lips as he led the heroine to the door.

Midnight walked out, a little dazed as she tried to process just what had happened.

Everyone outside were in the same state.

“This isn’t just a matter of erasing Quirks anymore.” Sir Nighteye muttered quietly so that only All Might could hear.

All Might nodded with a grim look on his face. This was way beyond what erasing Quirk should do. Rather than calling it erasing, it was more like the boy himself was immune to the Quirks around him.

All Might snuck a glance towards the government official. Unfortunately, since the man was standing in front of them, he couldn’t see what face he was making. This wasn’t good, they were trying to get the children out of the grasps of governments, but now that they’ve witnessed how strong this other boy’s Quirk was, would they still back off?

The No.1 Hero watched as Dazai climbed onto the bed. He stared at his friend for a moment before slipping under the cover and curled up against the redhead. Despite being unconscious, the redhead seemed to know that it was his friend beside him. He shifted towards the brunet and leaned his head forward until their foreheads touched.

It was at that moment that All Might saw those lifeless brown eyes shined, as if a blind man was capable of seeing for the very first time. The smile on Dazai’s face touched somewhere deep inside All Might’s heart.

No, not just All Might. Every single adult present didn’t say a single word for a long time, as if afraid they would wake up the two children.

There really was no moment more beautiful than this…

BAM

…Or so All Might had thought.

The very next day, all the Heroes in the building received an emergency call from the basement. It seemed the orange haired boy had woken. They all rushed down and arrived just in time to see three police officers struggling to hold down a petite and scrawny child.

“YOU BASTARD!!!” The boy’s roar was so loud it even echoed down the hallway.

“Hold him back!”

“Damn, the kid’s strong!”

“Pull him back!”

Despite being grown men, the police were clearly at a disadvantage with how hard they were trying to keep the redhead down. In front of them, sitting against the wall was Dazai with a gigantic swell forming over the right side of his face where he was mercilessly punched.

“Fuck off!” With a snarl, the redhead flipped backward, forcefully twisting himself out of three adults’ hold. Then with a roundhouse kick, the three men were knocked down onto the floor in a blink of an eye.

“STOP!” All Might quickly intervened and grabbed hold of the young boy. When his arms locked around the boy, the redhead stopped thrashing. He seemed to know that it was useless fighting back against him. Yet when All Might thought this was finally over, he heard a low, nearly inaudible hum and faint crimson light shrouded his body.

His eyes flew wide, recognizing this power. Just as he was about to brace himself for what will come, the light around his body disappeared.

All Might looked down in surprise, thinking the boy had deactivated his Quirk, yet the boy in his arms looked as shocked as he was. Those large, icy blue eyes blinked a couple of times before they narrowed towards the raven-haired man walking into the room.

Eraser Head had tugged off one side of his bandages, revealing his glowing red eye locked on Chuuya.

“Looks like your power isn’t so strong after all.” The man smirked widely despite how his eye was shaking and unfocused. From so close up, All Might could even see veins in the young man’s eyeball expanding dangerously.

He was about to tell Eraser Head to stop when someone else beat him to it.

“Chuuya, enough.” The redhead jolted and looked back to his friend who had stood up.

Dazai used the back of his hand to wipe off a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his lips.

“Can you release him?” The brunet asked, looking up to All Might. “He won’t throw a tantrum anymore.”

“Who the hell’s throwing a tantrum, you suicidal maniac!!” The redhead shouted back, but indeed didn’t show any signs of lashing out.

From the corner of his eye, All Might saw Eraser Head snapping his eye shut. The boy must have stopped using his Quirk.

All Might carefully lowered the boy until his feet touched the ground before letting him go. He watched as the redhead moved to stand next to Dazai as if their dispute had never happened. The way the redhead stood close to the raven looked almost like a bodyguard, ready to protect his friend from any danger.

“Eraser Head, your eyes aren’t healed yet, you should go back out and get some rest.” All Might said to the younger man. The raven was covering his eye with one hand, giving him a nod as he walked away with Sir Nighteye guiding him.

All Might let out a small sigh of relief, glad that nothing had happened while noting down what the redhead had called the brunet.

Suicidal.

All Might gritted his teeth. He couldn’t imagine just what sort of hell these two boys had been through to make them behave as they did.

“Let’s put some ice on that!” Slidin' Go walked into the room with an ice pack. He crouched down, about to put the ice pack against the raven’s swollen cheek when the ice pack was snatched out of his hand by the redhead.

“Take another step closer and I’ll kill you.” He threatened darkly. Slidin' Go just smiled, putting his hands up to show he meant no harm and stepped back. They all knew what kind of hell these kids had been through. It was only natural for them to be wary.

Chuuya looked at the ice pack in his hand, then to Dazai’s bruised cheek. All Might watched his tiny face twisted into something he couldn’t quite figure out. Dazai seemed really happy all of a sudden, sticking his face over to Chuuya only to have the ice pack slammed into his face.

The blond let out a small snort. He couldn’t stop the smile lifting his face when he saw the two interact. There was no doubt in his mind that these two were very good friends. Then again, perhaps it was only natural. After all, these two children only ever had each other to rely on.

“Now then…” Dazai turned to the government official standing outside the room, observing them through the glass. “Shall we talk?”

Hearing that, the government official walked into the room and looked down at the two children. He opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, Dazai spoke.

“Chuuya and I will go with you.”

“Young man!” All Might gasped. “Do you know what you are saying?”

Dazai paid All Might no mind and maintained his eye contact with the government official.

“Though you do realize that forcefully detaining children is a serious crime?” Dazai inquired. “If the media gets a word about this, how do you think that would reflect on you guys? There are many witnesses here. Do you think you can silence every single one of them when there are obviously so many people against what you are doing?”

The surprise on the man’s face melted into a deep frown as he looked Dazai up and down.

“Even if I willingly go with you, we’re still kids. They will just believe we’re kids that knew nothing of this world and that you tricked us.”

“…What are you trying to say?” The government official asked.

Dazai just smiled. “I’m helping you think of a solution.”

“Solution?”

“Solution that your higher-ups are clearly too inadequate to come up with.” Dazai chuckled. Although his tone was even and normal, the mockery in his words was as clear as day. Half of the Heroes and police force watched with their jaws dropped at the ten years old bargaining with the government official.

“Of course, if you were given permission to train us into Heroes by our dad, then it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

There were so many keywords in his sentence that no one knew how to react. Even if they did, their focus was all over the place.

“...Huh?” That was from a confused Chuuya.

“Dad?!” That was from a surprised All Might.

“You want to become Heroes?” The government worker looked between the two boys.

“What can I say? We were touched by these selfless Heroes that came to rescue us.” The brunet sighed, although his words were clearly weightless, without a hint of sincerity. If these people didn’t know any better, they would have thought the child was making fun of them. “Besides, if you go back to your superior reporting our desire to train under them to become Heroes, surely you’ll get a nice promotion.”

The man swallowed, already tempted. Yes, with the power the redhead displayed, he was undoubtedly powerful. If the two of them become Heroes, then not only would they not need to monitor these boys, they would even gain the strongest weapon against Villains!

“And by the permission of your dad?” He asked, shamelessly taking the bait.

“He’s right here, isn’t he?” Dazai looked over to All Might.

Chuuya followed Dazai’s gaze, also looking at All Might.

All Might…was dumbfounded—along with the rest of the people fortunate enough to witness this event.

“Wait, me?!” All Might shouted as he pointed at himself.

“All Might has kids?!” Midnight gasped from outside the room. Due to her supervising Chuuya the entire time, she missed out on the meetings between the Heroes and the government official.

“No!” All Might spluttered. “I don’t— I’ve never—”

The man was so flustered that he had to keep biting onto his tongue over and over, unable to come up with a proper explanation.

“We also want at least once a month visitation from our father and the right to call—”

“Hold on! Will you please excuse us?!” All Might jumped in and ushered the two kids to the corner of the room. He crouched down, his large body completely blocking the sight of the two boys and casting a dark shadow over them.

“Young Dazai! What is this about being your dad?!” He whispered with his large hands cupping the side of his mouth.

“Do you not want to be our father?” Dazai blinked innocently.

“No, that’s not what I mean, but it’s very sudden! I’m only in my thirties! To suddenly become a dad is a bit—”

“You’re in your thirties, what’s the problem?” The redhead retorted. “Or could it be that you don’t feel right to have kids because you’re a virgin?”

“Y-y-young man!! Who taught you that kind of language?!”

“You’re not a virgin?” Chuuya raised a brow at him. “Wasn’t that what you were going to say? I never had sex?”

“That’s not—”

“You shouldn’t do that, Chuuya~” Dazai leaned close to his companion. “And here I was trying to let him save face. Do you know how pitiful it is when a man in his thirties never even had sex?”

“I—”

“You should be grateful that we’re giving you the opportunity to start a family.” The brunet sighed.

“I—”

“Hey everyone!” Chuuya shouted for all of their attentions. He pushed aside All Might and headed to the other Heroes and police. “This old man here is a v—mph!”

The rest of Chuuya’s words were cut off thanks to a large hand covering his mouth.

“Of course I will become their father!” All Might shouted and let out his usual laugh, although it sounded weirdly strained - especially when large beads of sweat could be seen rolling down his face. “It would be my honour! AAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!”

"All Might?!" All Might's sidekick gaped. His glasses slid down his face and clattered onto the floor.

“Let’s get the adoption papers, shall we?” Dazai walked out from behind All Might, smiling cheerfully at the government official.

The papers were brought rather quickly, much to everyone’s surprise. The government official was all too eager to hurry and finish the process so he could whisk the two children away. After signing the papers and a contract promising parental visitation once a month and unlimited calls, the job was done.

The Heroes watched the two children go, getting into the car and slowly vanishing from their sight. As the Heroes and police packed their things to leave, All Might finally found the time to go up to Eraser Head who was sitting in a chair. President Mic was there, tending to the bandages around his eyes.

When All Might got close enough, he could see the dried blood staining the man’s closed eyelid. It was the same eye he used to erase Chuuya’s Quirk.

“How is he?” All Might asked worriedly.

“He’ll be fine with a couple weeks of rest.” President Mic replied as he finished tying a knot on the back of his friend’s head

“That kid’s smart.” Eraser Head commented. “He knew I was trying to help him.”

All Might nodded. He noticed that as well. When Eraser Head activated his Quirk back then, he did it to show the government official that the boy’s Quirk was something they shouldn’t fear—that it was like any other Quirk that could be suppressed.

It was this action of the young Hero that made the government official lower his guard against the pair.

Even though All Might was flustered by the…virgin talk, he didn’t make his decision hastily. When he saw those two children lying together, he already felt the urge and desire to protect them. Although becoming a father hadn’t exactly been his plan, he also knew that it was something only he could do.

If he, the No.1 Hero, was to become those two children’s legal guardian, then he could become a shield for them. No one would dare to lay their hands on them as long as he was around.

But still...visitation once a month…

“I wonder what young boys like,” All Might wondered, not noticing the weird looks he was getting.

For starters, he should clear off a day in his schedule to see the boys!

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

“This will be your room from now on.” The secretary said, opening the door as Dazai and Chuuya strolled inside. The two now-kids looked around the room that was about the same size as a hotel room with two beds and a bathroom. There was no window for them to see the outside as they were once again underground.

“Remember to wake up and get yourself ready at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. Your clothes have been prepared and are in the closet.” Giving them the short explanation, the woman left, closing the door behind her and the two children could even hear the clicking sound of a lock being turned.

“I call dibs on the bed on the furthest side.” Dazai strolled into the room, looking around to admire their new living arrangement.

“Like hell, I’m taking that!” Chuuya snapped as he followed Dazai inside. His eyes narrowed at the vents, then he ducked down to look under the bed.

“Chuuya’s so mean, even though I always let chibi sleep on the bed while I slept on the floor back in the lab!” Dazai whined as he opened up the closet. He looked over the clothes stacked inside and ran his hands over the fabrics.

“Hah?!” Chuuya snarled, patting the blankets. Then he turned to the nightstand between the two beds. “I took most of the experiments and tests! Of course I get the bed!”

“That’s not true, I remember getting cut open! It hurts so much I thought I would die~”

“Then go—” Chuuya wanted to tell the other to die, but stopped moving entirely. Dazai had also paused as well, breath hitched as he waited for his companion to finish his sentence.

After a long while, Chuuya turned and walked into the bathroom. He came out five minutes later, blue eyes shifting to the brunet.

“So?”

“Nothing.” Dazai shrugged.

“Same here,” Chuuya grumbled while holding back a yawn. He was tired. His current body was too weak, yet he couldn’t let himself sleep like this. At the very least, they need to change out of these hospital gowns.

The redhead strolled to the closet and started flipping through the clothes.

“To not even bug the room…either they’re overconfident in their ability to lock us in, or they’re underestimating us because we’re children.”

“And? Which is it?” Chuuya snorted as he grabbed a t-shirt and pants.

“The latter.” Dazai’s response was swift.

“I see.” Chuuya slammed the closet door shut before turning to Dazai with a murderous glare. “You better fucking explain after I finish showering.”

With that, Chuuya stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Dazai chuckled and called out, “Chuuya! I also need to take a shower too! Why don’t we take one together just like back in the lab?”

Click

The sound of the lock turning could be heard from the other side. Dazai wanted to retort about how a simple lock like this wouldn’t keep him out, but refrained from doing so. He leaned against the wall with a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

By the time both of them finished cleaning up, twenty minutes had passed.

They sat on one of the beds. Since their bodies had shrunk, the bed that was just big enough to fit a grown adult seemed luxuriously big to their current self.

Chuuya sat at one end, armed crossed over his chest while Dazai sat on the other.

“So?” Chuuya narrowed his eyes. “What’s with this lab? Where the fuck are we?”

“Didn’t chibi noticed?” Dazai pointed to the scars on his arms. “We’ve been experimented on. What’s the last thing you remembered?”

“After—” Chuuya paused before deciding to skip the unpleasant memory, “the next thing I know, I opened my eyes to your annoying face.” The redhead involuntarily glanced to the large swell taking up half of the brunet’s face. “Where the heck is this place?”

“The future.”

“…What?”

“When the doctor checked on me, I asked for the date,” Dazai replied. “We’re in the 25th century.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“If only.” Dazai smiled bitterly.

“Then what’s the deal with those people?!” Chuuya demanded, recalling some of the more…unique people. “Did the world get invaded by aliens or something?”

At that, Dazai burst out into laughter.

“Aliens!! Chuuya! I had no idea you believe in these kinds of things!”

“Shut up!” Chuuya yelled, face flushed in embarrassment as he too knew how ridiculous that sounded. But what other explanations are there for these alien creatures? “I’m being serious!”

“Well,” Dazai wiped away a tear that came out from laughing so hard. “Rather than invasion, I would say evolution. Do you remember that man with bloodshot eyes?”

“The one with the similar Ability as yours?”

“No, his power isn’t similar at all. You remember what his eye looked like, didn't you?”

“Yeah.” Chuuya frowned. When that man was using his Ability, his eyeball looked like it was going to burst, which made no sense. What kind of Ability strains the user like that? Sure, Chuuya’s was one of them, but that was only when he activated Corruption. Even when Ability users weren’t able to control their gifts,  they would only bring harm to people around them, never themselves.

“My theory is that something happened in the past that caused humans to change. Humans gained supernatural powers similar to Ability and it merged with them in their bodies, becoming part of them genetically. They call these powers Quirks.” Dazai explained. “Those people in weird costumes you saw are called Heroes.”

“Like those western comics?” Chuuya received a nod from the brunet.

“From how that government official acted around them, it’s safe to say that Hero is an occupation in this era. If supernatural powers are considered ordinary, then the current society should be filled with people with individual powers. Since there are functioning police force here, these Heroes only exist for one reason—to deal with criminals that misuse their powers. If the people that use their powers for good are called Heroes, then people that misuse theirs are most likely called villains.”

“Let me guess, we’re victims of these villains?” Chuuya huffed, not liking any of this at all. “But if these powers aren’t Abilities, how did that guy nullify mine?”

“While you were asleep, I did a small test. My No Longer Human can fully nullify their Quirks just like ordinary Abilities. Maybe it’s the rule of this world, or maybe these bodies of ours contained the genes of these future humans. Our Abilities can affect Quirks, and Quirks can affect Abilities, but the latter has a certain limit. You saw how that man acted when he tried to cancel your Ability.”

“Yeah,” Chuuya nodded. Even he could tell that if he didn’t deactivate his Ability or if that man continued to suprress his Ability, his eyeball would have burst.

“Their powers are connected to them genetically whereas ours are not.”

“In other words, their powers are restricted and can’t be used to control ours, is that right?” Chuuya pretty much understood their situation now. “So? How did we get here?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Dazai shrugged. “By the time I came here, you’ve already activated corruption and flattened a mountain.”

“I what?!” Chuuya gaped. “Wait, if you don’t even know, then how did you talk as if you knew?!”

“It’s no brainers.” Dazai snorted. “Those Heroes were dropping hints everywhere. Only idiots like chibi wouldn’t be able to pick it up.”

And then, the brunet swiftly moved to the side to dodge a kick aimed for his head.

“Who are you to call me stupid?!” Chuuya raged. “And quit calling me chibi! Now that we’re kids again, I can still grow!”

“You know, I’ve heard that phrase a million times now. Don’t you get tired of saying it? Besides, if I’m right, then these bodies of ours are our original bodies. The fact that we kept our Abilities is proof. Just accept the fact that you’ll forever be 160 cm, Chuuya~”

“SHUT UP!” Chuuya roared as he smacked a pillow right into Dazai, knocking the brunet off the bed and tumbling painfully onto the floor.

“I’m still fucking angry at you!”

“…Yeah.” Dazai made no move to get up. “I killed you, after all.”

Hearing that, Chuuya’s face distorted in rage. He jumped off the bed and landed right on top of Dazai. He didn’t even bother softening the impact so Dazai let out a pained grunt as the petite body landed on his stomach.

Chuuya grabbed the brunet by the collar to pull his upper body up.

“Let’s be clear on one thing here. You. Didn’t. Kill. Me.” He slammed Dazai down, knocking his head against the ground. “Like hell I would die at the hands of a weakling like you! What I’m angry about is that you abandoned everything!”

Abandoned me—was left unsaid.

“Did you ever think of what would happen to the Port Mafia if you were dead?!”

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t!” Chuuya snarled. “If you had, you wouldn’t have selfishly jumped off the fucking roof!!”

“You were supposed to become the boss, Chuuya.”

Chuuya froze, staring wide-eyed at Dazai. The brunet no longer wore his usual mask on his face. Right now, his face was completely blank. His lifeless eyes stared back at Chuuya, reflecting nothing of their surroundings.

If possible, Chuuya felt even angrier. He grabbed Dazai’s collar again and pulled him up until their noses were lightly grazing.

“Don’t you dare think you can plan what path I take!” Chuuya snarled. “Who the fuck do you think you are to decide how I should live my life? Did I ever tell you I wanted your stinkin’ seat? Did I ever tell you I want to lead the Port Mafia? I didn’t, so don’t act all high and mighty and think you can arrange people’s life however you like!”

“Yeah…” Dazai smiled a little. He leaned forward until his forehead rested onto Chuuya’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Chuuya stiffened, unable to believe what he heard. Did this bastard just…apologized?

“I’m so sorry, Chuuya.”

Chuuya was even more stunned when he felt wetness on his shoulder. This shithead was now crying? For the first time, Chuuya didn’t know what to do. This scheming bastard who happened to be his ex-boss in another life—was now weeping quietly on him.

Chuuya hesitated, but he leaned towards Dazai and wrapped his short arms around the other boy’s boney body. He frowned at how skinny the other was, though he himself was no different. He hugged him tightly, wordlessly providing his support as he looked up at the ceiling. He had no doubts that Dazai wouldn’t want to be seen in such a vulnerable state.

How did you die?—Chuuya wanted to ask Dazai, but he knew that he wouldn’t get an answer. Other than suicide, Chuuya couldn’t think of anyone with the ability to kill this slimy bastard.

“Hey, Chuuya…” Dazai spoke up around half an hour later. Chuuya hummed, letting the other know he’s listening.

“Let’s rebuild the Port Mafia.”

Chuuya’s jaw fell, not expecting to hear that.

“This time not as boss and subordinate, but as partners. What do you say?”

Chuuya looked down to Dazai, but he couldn’t see anything aside from the mop of brown hair. Very slowly, his open mouth morphed into a small smile.

Building the Port Mafia in a foreign era huh?

Suddenly, Chuuya didn’t feel so lost in this new world. If there was no place for them to return to, then they’ll just have to make one.

“The only partner I’ll accept is someone who will grow old with me. If you want to continue with that suicide of yours, then I’ll kill you right now.”

“Growing old huh?” Dazai nestled his face into the redhead’s neck, enjoying how Chuuya subconsciously tilted his head away to give him room. “Yeah…I think I can bear with that.”

Chuuya’s eyes flew wide in shock. Something inside him fluttered as he felt heat creeping up his cheeks. But soon, Chuuya remembered another major issue they had been overlooking until now.

“Wait…didn’t you tell those government dogs that we’re going to be Heroes?!”

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

Knock knock

Kouyou gently opened the door, her red eyes softening at the sight of Dazai, sitting on the edge of the black coffin with his right hand reaching towards the person lying within. She walked into the room, stopping just far enough to not intrude into her boss’s space, but close enough for her to see the person inside.

She stared at the body that had been changed into a new set of black suit, yet even the finest materials cannot beautify the corpse. Not when the man sleeping inside the coffin was missing a huge part of his head.

Yet Dazai acted as if he couldn’t see that and just stroked the man’s left cheek.

“Boss, it’s time for us to bury the coffin,” Kouyou announced. She looked at Dazai who continued to sit there in a trance. The Executive was too used to this behaviour. Ever since Chuuya had died, he had become nothing but a hollow shell.

It wasn’t until Kouyou saw her boss like this that she realized the suicide attempts he made in the past was nothing but a joke. In the past, Dazai’s suicide attempts were for him to search for a meaning to keep on living.

Right now…right now, Dazai was truly intending to die. With every ticking second, with every breath he took in, Dazai had nothing but death on his mind. Just being alive right now must be so painful for him who craved death.

“Ane-san.” Dazai suddenly spoke as Kouyou bowed. “…I leave the Port Mafia to you.”

“…I understand.” The Executive dipped her head.

With a sigh, Dazai sat up and stared at the ceiling. Despite how thick the walls around this room were, he could hear the faint pitter-patter sound outside.

It had begun to rain.

Dazai smiled and turned to Kouyou.

“Thank you for all these years, ane-san—no, boss.”

“Ane-san will be fine.” Kouyou chuckled. A sad smile played on her lips as she looked at the face that was not much different from the child in her memory. She walked over to join Dazai and peered inside the coffin. The woman lifted her hand and gently placed it upon Chuuya’s folded ones. There was no warmth in those hands.

They were cold and hard.

“Perhaps one day, you two will meet again.” She whispered softly, withdrawing her hand. Giving Dazai one last look, she stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Dazai climbed into the coffin. It was cramped, but it was also just perfect as he held Chuuya within his arms. He then pressed a button inside the coffin and the lid started to close in.

Once this lid closes, it can never be opened again, be it from inside or outside.

“Sorry for the wait, Chuuya.” He whispered, gently kissing a lock of orange hair. This was the only part on Chuuya’s body that didn’t lose its lustre after his death.

“It’s been unbearable every day, even if it was just breathing…” He sighed, leaning onto the body, as if that way he would be able to feel the warmth that had once been there.

He slowly pulled out a pill from his pocket. Without any hesitation, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it dry. He held onto Chuuya tightly, not wanting to let go even as life slowly left his body.

“If there is another life…I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of it with you, Chuuya.”

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

Dazai opened his eyes and was greeted by the beautiful blue sky. It had been such a long time since he had dreams of the past—especially his past life. He stretched his arms over his head until he got some satisfying pops.

As he was trying to get his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight, he heard the galloping sound of hoofs digging into the earth.

The brunet turned his head with a smile on his lips. He stared at the beautiful horse with brownish-red coat running towards him. Just before the horse was about to trample over him, the reins were tugged and the horse threw its head back, letting out a loud neigh as it came to a stop.

“About time you wake up.” The horse lowered its head to nibble on Dazai’s cloth, revealing Chuuya seated on the saddle.

“Hmm, I was having a lovely dream.” Dazai yawned lazily.

“What? Finally found your dream partner for your double suicides?”

“Whatever do you mean, Chuuya? If it’s my suicide partner, I’ve found him long ago~”

“Like hell I’ll commit suicide with you! I told you—”

“That we’ll die together from old age, isn’t that right?” Dazai smirked, enjoying the way the colours blossom over his partner’s cheeks.

Knowing he lost the argument and not wanting to continue to look at Dazai’s smug face, Chuuya gave his horse a kick. The horse let out another whine before it hopped over Dazai and began to run across the lush green grass.

Dazai put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A black mare soon came sprinting towards him from the distance. Without even waiting for the horse to stop, Dazai grabbed the rein and hopped on its back with grace. In no time at all, he caught up to his partner and the two raced along the cliffs of Oki Island.

Below the cliffs, where the violet waves smash into the rocks…were twenty students.

Each of them were clutching onto the rocks with their dear lives. Around their hips were black harnesses, tying them to one another through wires that were only half a meter long.

“T-this is impossible!” Ashido shouted through shallow breaths. “I don’t have any more strength! Can’t we take a break here?”

“Hang in there, Ashido-san! We’re almost there!” Yaoyorozu encouraged, panting as she looked at the weights locked around her wrists. These were the same weights the U.A teachers had used back in the final exam. Each of these weights bounding their wrists and ankles were adjusted to double the weight of their bodies.

“My hands feel like they’re burning up.” Uraraka winced at the stinging sensation in her palms, but didn’t let go of the rocks.

“Mine too,” Sero said as he looked towards his reddening hands.

“Everyone! We can take a break after just one more step!” Iida shouted from the center of the line. “Look! Just one more step and we’ll reach the center line Chuuya-san drew! We’re halfway up this cliff! Sato-kun, Kirishima-kun, can you hear me?!”

“Yeah!” Sato shouted from one side of the line.

“Let’s do this!” Kirishima shouted from the other end.

“ONE!” Everyone shouted and reached up at the same time to grab onto a rock.

“TWO!” They raised one foot and dug their toe into the cracks in the rocks.

“THREE—”

“KYAA!” A scream came from the right of the line.

“Ugh!” Tokoyami gritted his teeth while Shouji clenched even harder onto the rocks. The two of them were feeling the pull on their hardness as the person between then—Hagakure, fell off the cliff.

“What happened?!”

“Who fell?!”

“Is everything alright?!”

The others shouted, unable to see due to all of them being in a perfect line.

“Sorry!” Hagakure shouted as she hurriedly grabbed onto the rocks and pushed herself back up.

“Are you alright?” Shouji asked.

“Yeah…my foot slipped.”

“Be careful, some of the rocks are moist and slippery,” Tokoyami said.

“Thank you Tokoyami-kun, Shouji-kun!” Hagakure panted from both shock and exhaustion. The two boys could tell how much the girl was shaking from the weights around her wrists.

“Wait, that one is—!” Before Shouji could finish, Hagakure grabbed onto the edge of a rock that had cracks along the side. The moment the girl applied pressure to pull herself up, the rock came loose.

Hagakure squeaked as she fell back down. Shouji, who had seen it happen, reached out to grab onto her by instinct. However, this made the rock his other hand was clutching onto broke from the additional force.

Tokoyami had already braced himself and was using all of his strength to hold on and not to be dragged down. Ashido who was beside Shouji didn’t have that luck. Taken off guard, she wasn’t even given time to react before the strong pull on her hip ripped her off the rocks.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Aoyama beside Ashido yelped as he too was pulled down.

“Ah!” The next to follow was Yaoyorozu.

Fortunately, the chain stopped there since Bakugou was the one beside Yaoyorozu. His face was distorted and veins were practically sticking out of his arms and neck as he gripped onto the rocky walls.

The pull on his hardness was strong considering five people had fallen but together with Tokoyami, the two boys held on.

“Hurry and get the fuck up!” Bakugou barked and the five immediately found their footings again and reattached themselves to the wall.

Everyone let out a loud sigh of relief.

They already lost count of how many times they fell into the cold, merciless water like this. They finally made it halfway up the cliff. If they fell here, then they’ll really be doomed!

A violent gust blew by and the students automatically pushed themselves against the wall to protect themselves from the force of the wind.

“I swear…this is the worst torture out of all of the tortures those two devils put us through…!” Kaminari wept.

“You want to go back to Mt. Fuji again?” Jirou mumbled with a dark look on her face. It was obvious that to her, she would prefer doing their current training rather than that time back at Mt. Fuji.

“Compare Kabukicho to this is nothing…compare to Kabukicho, this is nothing…” Mineta chanted over and over like some sort of mantra, causing Kirishima and Kaminari who were beside him to give him a weird look.

“Seriously, what happened back then?” Kirishima was really curious, but Mineta didn’t hear him and continued his chant. Exactly what could traumatize Mineta to the point where he couldn’t even touch girls without freaking out?

“Come on everyone! One more time!” Iida gritted his teeth.

“ONE!” They all shouted and reached out their hands.

“TWO!” They each raised a foot.

“THREE!” With a push of their bodies, they moved forward by a single step at the exact same time.

Finally, the group arrived at the red line drawn over the rocks. But before any of them could take a breather and celebrate, a particularly strong wind swept by.

Mineta yelped as he was blown into the air, his flailing hand smacking Kirishima right in the face and index finger stabbing into his eye.

With a pained yelp, Kirishima was knocked off balance, falling down together with Mineta. Kaminari screamed as he latched on, but since Kirishima was the end of the line, there was no other person to help the blond support the weight of two people (or just one person really), which in the end dragged him down as well.

“Gero!” Asui shouted as she too fell.

“Asui-san!” Midoriya tried to hold on like Bakugou had. He managed to do so for a few seconds, but the rocks he was holding onto ended up breaking and he followed his classmates. Just like this, the students fell one after another like dominos. Not even Bakugou could stop it this time as they all plunge into the sea.

On the yacht, a group of people in black suits watched the scene unfold. Their faces were blank, showing no expressions as one of them reached a hand up to their earpiece.

“The kids have reached the halfway line.” He reported.

Inside the yacht, countless people sat in front of the monitors, each displaying the picture of a student with detailed information on their current health conditions and heartbeat.

“Midoriya Izuku, normal!” The woman sitting before the monitor with Midoriya’s picture called out.

“Iida Tenya, normal!” A man sitting in front of Iida’s information was quick to follow up. And soon, the entire room was filled with echoes of various people reporting the students’ statuses.

“Mashirao Ojiro, normal!”

“Asui Tsuyu, normal!”

“Uraraka Ochaco, normal!”

“Kirishima Eijirou, normal!”

“Kouda Kouji, normal!”

“Kyouka Jirou, normal!”

“Shouji Mezou, normal!”

“Hagakure Yoru, normal!”

“Katsuki Bakugou, normal!”

“Tokoyami Fumikage, normal!”

“Hanta Sero, normal!”

“Todoroki Shouto, normal!”

“Yaoyorozu Momo, normal!”

“Rikido Sato, normal!”

“Ashido Mina, normal!”

“Aoyama Yuga, normal!”

“Kaminari Denki, normal!”

“Mineta Minoru, normal!”

“The halfway line has been reached!” The woman that was the leader of the team announced after the group finished their reports. “As per the boss's orders, we will now commence stage two! Activate the speakers and prepare the submarine!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Below the boat, the speakers that were attached to the bottom began to emit a high-frequency noise consisting of sharp clicks and whistles. The sound travelled through the water and into the far distance, attracting the attention of a pod of orcas that were swimming by.

Upon hearing the sound, these orcas changed their directions and began to swim towards the direction of the call…

Above the cliff, Dazai pulled on his horse’s rein, coming to a stop as he gazed out at the vast ocean and sky.

The brunet inhaled as a breeze of wind blew by, carrying the salty scent of the sea.

“Hey, Chuuya!” He called, looking over his shoulder to Chuuya who was directing his horse over to the black mare. “What do you say we set up our picnic here?”

Chuuya hopped off his horse and walked to the edge of the cliff, not the slightest bit afraid of falling off. His blue eyes reflected the ocean glittering in the sunlight.

Dazai stared into those eyes, mesmerized.

“Yeah,” Chuuya smiled, looking back at Dazai. “It’s perfect.”

The brunet’s eyes widened before a bright smile lifted his lips.

“Chuuya…” He reached out a hand and took Chuuya’s, giving his hand a small squeeze.

The redhead felt something inside him flutter at the other’s tender touch, but these fluttering feelings died away the moment he heard the jingling sound. Blue eyes shifted down and immediately landed on the familiar chains wrapped around his wrist.

“A good dog shouldn’t walk around without his leash!”

“Fuck you!” Chuuya threw out a kick. The mood was just getting good, but this bastard had to ruin it!

“I already did~” Dazai sang, skillfully dodging the kick and ran off with Chuuya hot on his tail. The long black chain bounding the two of them jingled with their movement.

They ran down the hill, their laughter and screams of bloody murder carried away by the wind.

The two horses that were left behind on the cliff chewed on the lush green grass. When another breeze came from the direction of the ocean carrying a set of different screams, their ears twitched. They lifted their heads, momentarily looking around before going back to enjoy their lunch.

Today was another perfect day.

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

◅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

AUTHOR'S NOTE ON AO3

[yellowcanna]

Duo Heroes, Double Black

Summary:

“We are broadcasting this live above U.A High School and you won’t believe what we are seeing! Everyone, please take a look!”

In the middle of a no-longer-empty track field, were three black vehicles. The cars were parked in a straight line with the perfect distances apart from one another. In front of the line of cars was a table oddly standing out in the middle of the field with black sunshade set over it.

Men dressed in black suits stood in a perfect line between the cars and the table. They stood up straight, chin held high and hands folded behind their backs. It was obvious that these were well-trained bodyguards.

However, those weren’t what shocked the audiences sitting in front of their TVs. No…rather than the men and the cars...it was that single man prostrating on the ground, his attire making him stand out from all the black.

“ALL MIGHT! IT’S ALL MIGHT!” The reporter screamed, causing the microphone to ring from her sharp voice. “The former No.1 Hero who hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his retirement!! But…just what is this current situation?!”

What was the current situation?

That was what Toshinori wanted to know.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, comedy, fluff, shounen-ai (mild boy love)

Pairing: Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya)

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: Complete

AVAILABLE ON AO3

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

NEXT CHAPTER ▻

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

Story Beta’d by Nanami_ontheShore

It began on an ordinary Friday.

The afternoon sun was strong, heating up the land below. There wasn’t a single sign of any clouds in the azure sky.

This was supposed to be a peaceful day for friends and families to gather and celebrate the coming of the weekend.

CRAAAAAASH

Unfortunately, this Friday was destined not to be a peaceful one.

 “U.A has been invaded by unknown enemies!”

“Men in black are surrounding U.A High School!!”

“Could this be a Villain attack?!”

“We are awaiting the helicopters to get a better look—”

“Black cars can be seen barricading the entrances to U.A High school…!”

“The police are at the scene…!”

Every news channel was going crazy with Japan’s entire attention all directed to one school.

U.A High School.

“We interrupt everyone with an emergency broadcast.” The newscaster announced sternly as she sat before the camera. “This morning at 9:24 am, unknown vehicles were spotted breaking entry into U.A High school. The emergency gate of the school has been activated, but according to witnesses, the gate was blasted apart by an unknown force which is speculated to be some sort of psychokinesis Quirks.”

As she spoke, a screenshot appeared by her left. It was a picture of the U.A High school gate, where the thick metallic barrier was wretched.

“Police and Heroes are now at the scene. We will move over to Furi-san, who is currently at the sight.”

The screen changed to a man that had the appearance of a ferret with curly brown fur. He was standing amongst a mass of people—all of them being reporters judging from the equipment they were holding.

“Thank you, Tanaka-san.” The man had to shout into the mic in his hand to be heard. “I am currently at the front of U.A High School, but due to police and Hero involvements, we are unfortunately unable to get any closer!!”

He then stepped to the side and the cameraman raised the camera, shooting pass the crowd to give the audiences a look in the distance.

Thanks to the police pushing all the reporters back, they were able to create an empty space around U.A High School’s gate. The camera was easily able to capture the black vehicles blocking the entrance with men in black suits and dark sunglasses standing guard.

“As you can see, there are currently five black vehicles barricading the gate! Their identities and goals are unknown, but neither police nor Heroes are taking any action! It appears that they are not Villains!! As of yet, no one from U.A High School has stepped out to give us any information. We can only—” Furi then paused, hand going to the Bluetooth in his ear as he tried to hear whatever was being said.

After a moment, the man’s beady eyes lit up and hurriedly turned back to the camera.

“The helicopter team has just arrived! We will switch over to Saito-san who will give us an air view of just what is happening within U.A!”

Once more, the scene changed, this time to a woman with bob cut hair.

“This is Saito!” She shouted through the noise generated by the helicopter's main rotor. She had safety equipment tied over her body as she leaned over the open door of the helicopter. Her clothes and hair were flapping wildly in the wind as she gestured for the cameraman to get closer to her.

“We are broadcasting this live above U.A High School and you won’t believe what we are seeing! Everyone, please take a look!”

The camera then turned to the world outside. For a moment, the entire screen became white due to the difference in lighting, but the lens soon adjusted to show the audience just what was going on inside U.A.

Everyone sitting in front of the television had their eyes bulging out in shock at the sight.

There, in the middle of a no-longer-empty track field, were three black vehicles identical to the ones surrounding the gate. The cars were parked in a straight line with the perfect distances apart from one another. In front of the line of cars was a table oddly standing out in the middle of the field with black sunshade set over it.

Men dressed in black suits stood in a perfect line between the cars and the table. They stood up straight, chin held high and hands folded behind their backs. It was obvious that these were well-trained bodyguards.

But those weren’t what shocked the audiences. No…rather than the men and the cars...it was that single man kneeling before the table, his attire making him stand out from all the black.

“ALL MIGHT! IT’S ALL MIGHT!” The reporter all but screamed, causing the microphone to ring from her sharp voice. “The former No.1 Hero who hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his retirement!! But…just what is this current situation?!”

What was the current situation?

That was what Toshinori wanted to know as well.

The loud noises of helicopters rang in the air, followed by the reports’ screams as they constantly flew over him, casting short moments of shade over his burning body.

The former No.1 Hero has been kneeling here for a good hour now. There was a layer of sweat coating his body with the strong sunlight burning into his back. Even his hair became drier than usual.

To make matters worse, the scorching sunlight wasn’t the only thing drilling holes into his body. It was the eyes of the hundreds of students that made it all the more painful. When another shadow passed by him, All Might didn’t need to look up to know another helicopter had arrived, carrying more reporters to film his shameful situation.

He really wanted to crawl into a hole and die!

The loud sizzling sound was constantly tempting Toshinori. Unable to help himself any longer, he snuck a glance up to the chief who had just slapped a piece of beautiful wagyu onto the hot iron pan. The aromatic smell of meat only added to his torture as he swallowed hard.

“Here, Chuuya! Ah~” A cheerful voice sang as the young man with chocolate brown hair waved around a thin slice of finely cooked wagyu on the tip of his silver fork.

The man with pumpkin-orange hair glanced at it skeptically but still leaned over to his partner. The black chains bounding both of their arms between them jingled from his movement. A pair of rosy lips opened up and wrapped around the beautifully cooked beef.

His lips closed around the fork before he slid back. Just like that, the man took away the juicy beef from the fork, his lips wiping off the juice on the silver fork and leaving behind only a thin trace of his saliva. 

“Hmm…it’s not bad!” The redhead commented with mild surprise as if expecting otherwise.

“Why of course!” The brunet said. He happily stabbed his fork into another slice. With the same fork he had fed the redhead, he brought the piece of meat into his mouth. “I did tell you that this store got the best wagyu recipe in Musutafu!”

“You said the same thing in Hokkaido and that place was shit.” The orange-haired man retorted, raising his empty glass as a man in a black suit stepped forward. He picked up the bottle of wine from the ice and elegantly refilled the glass.

“It was your fault for not realizing it was April the first.” The brunet shrugged, waving his glass with half-melted ice. A different man came up. He took the empty cup, dumping out the water and the melted ice to replace it with new ones. After that, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and filled the glass with the golden fluid.

“How about I strangle you with your bandages and hang you on the rooftop on Halloween?”

“Chuuya! I never knew you were into that kind of play!”

“You—”

“Um…” A voice cut in just before the two could start bickering.

Umber and icy blue eyes instantly snapped to the No.1 Hero kneeling before them. The poor man was shivering badly, looking to be on the verge of tears as he looked pleadingly at the two youngsters. 

“C-can we please take this somewhere else?”

It was truly a pitiful sight.

Anyone with a shred of sympathy would immediately escort the former Hero indoors and provide him with the finest treatment if they had saw him acting like this. Unfortunately for him, the two people in front of him had anything but sympathy.

“Oh?” The brown-haired male rested his chin in his palm. “I thought you liked attention. Or could it be that the audiences aren’t enough?” He said while nodding, as if agreeing with his own words. “After all, wherever you go you’re always surrounded by the media. That’s right! Let’s invite them into U.A right now! I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see you! Especially with your spectacular battle last month! I’m sure the entire world is dying to see their Hero again!”

“I’M SO SORRY!” The No.1 Hero screamed off the top of his lungs as his forehead met the ground in a loud bang. The sound was so loud that even the students watching from the window cringed. “PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”

“What…is going on?” Iida muttered as he stared out the window with the rest of his classmates. None of them had any idea what had happened. They were just having breakfast in the cafeteria when the gate was blasted open and these cars charged into the school property.

At first, everything had been a mess. It was like that time with the reporters all over again. Everyone thought it was an attack from Villains, but rather than Villains, these people in black suits came out. At the centre of these bodyguard-like men were two people, instantly standing out from the “Extras” as Bakugou would call them.

These two were dressed in black suits like the rest of the men, but with more taste and uniqueness. The fiery-haired male with a fedora wore a crimson dress shirt underneath his suit with a leather choker around his neck.

The tall brown-haired male wore bandages that could easily be seen underneath his suits.

They looked young, perhaps having just entered their twenties. And what really caught the students’ eyes about them were that thick black chain. The chain looked to be around half a meter long, with one end wrapped around the shorter man’s left wrist while the other end wrapped around the taller one’s right hand.

The events after that were a blur.

All they saw was All Might scrambling out there while Principal Nezu announced for everyone to calm down. Due to all the reporters and the intruders outside, classes were temporarily stopped until the school could calm the situation.

But no matter how they looked at it…how could any of them be calm?!

BANG

Everyone jumped and turned their eyes to the shorter male who had just slammed his feet onto the beautifully crafted oak table—which even to now, no one had any idea how they transported. As if knowing he was going to do that, his companion had picked up the plate of wagyu and his whiskey to prevent the food from being flipped over by the sheer pressure. Those with more sensitive hearings even hear the cracks in the wood that was threatening to split it in half.

“Sorry?” The fedora-wearing man wasn’t loud, but in the absolute silence, his words clearly reached the student’s ears. “Sorry for what?”

“I…should have told you about my confrontation with All for One.” All Might admitted meekly, looking nothing like the No.1 Hero he used to be.

“And?” The brunet swirled his glass of whiskey around, seeming to enjoy the sight of the adult grovelling at their feet.

“I…” All Might’s voice faded and his sweats were coming out like waterfall now. He obviously didn’t know what else to say, but knew that he could never say that! Was there something else he should be apologizing?!

Even the students were affected by his nervousness. All of them were looking at their Hero worriedly, wondering just what in the world was going on.

“To think that they would make All Might…just who the heck are they?!” Kaminari choked, unable to continue looking at the sight.

“I’ve never seen them before. I don’t think they’re Heroes?” Yaoyorozu stated unsurely.

“Rather than Heroes, they look like some sort of Yakuza?” Kirishima pointed out.

“But do Yakuza wear suits?” Ashido asked.

“No way! All Might would never bow Villains or Yakuzas!!” Hagakure shouted, earning nods of approval from everyone within hearing range.

“Even the media have no idea,” Uraraka said, flipping her phone around to show the others. The helicopter had changed location in order to capture the two people being protected under the sunshade. Although they were able to catch the two men on camera, they were just as clueless as the students.

“It can’t be…could it? But…” Hearing that familiar mumbling, all eyes were turned to Midoriya.

“Hey nerd, you know something don’t you?!” Bakugou spat. Surprisingly, his voice didn’t snap Midoriya out of his thought. The green-haired boy’s muttering became faster and faster as he eyed the two men sitting outside. As his muttering increased, his eyes were shining brighter and brighter until they were practically sparkling.

“Black suits, chains intertwining their hands, hat, bandages…!”

“Deku-kun?” Uraraka was about to give her friend a pat on the shoulder when…

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

Everyone jumped and all turned to Uraraka’s phone, where the scream had come from. The scene switched back to the female reporter who had a mixture of shock and horrified on her face. She hurriedly turned to the camera and put on the best professional face she could muster.

“IT’S THEM!” Midoriya shouted, his voice overlapping with the reporters’.

“We have just received the identity of the two mysterious men! You won’t believe it!” The woman shouted, barely containing her excitement.

“IT’S DOUBLE BLACK!”

“IT’S DOUBLE BLACK!”

Her and Midoriya’s voice shouted at the same time, causing countless jaws to hit the floor.

“YOU’VE HEARD IT RIGHT!” The reporter continued. “THE MYSTERIOUS MEN THAT INVADED U.A HIGH SCHOOL ARE NONE OTHER THAN THE DUO HEROES, DOUBLE BLACK!!”

A second of silence filled the entire cafeteria before everything fell into chaos.

“EEEEEEEEEEEH?!?!”

“D-D-Double Black?! That Double Black?!”

“The Port Mafia?!”

“The infamous duo?!”

“Why are they here?!”

“B-but aren’t they based in Yokohama?!”

“Are they seriously Double Black?!”

“The real deal?!”

“THEY REALLY ARE HERE!” Midoriya cried louder than anyone else as he snapped his head to his classmates. Stars were practically dancing out of his eyes from how brightly they were glittering.

“Double Black! The first underage Heroes in the histories of Heroes!!” Midoriya began to rant while frantically scribbling into his notepad.

“They debuted at fifteen and started their own Hero Agency in the heart of Yokohama! Since then, Villain activities in Yokohama has been zero! Yokohama became the very first city to ever achieve a zero crime rate! Their black suits are their signature Hero uniform! To this day, no one knows exactly what their Quirks are! All they know is that one of them has the ultimate offensive Quirk while the other has the ultimate defensive Quirk! They are the perfect duo that has ever—!”

“Okay, okay, we get it! You can stop now! We all know who Double Blacks are!” Kaminari cut in.

“But why is the Double Black here?” Ojirou asked the question they were all wondering. After all, everyone knew that Double Black—or the entire Port Mafia in general—never leaves Yokohama. They were always holed up inside that city and never bothered with anything happening outside.

They never even showed up at the Hero Billboard even though they ranked fourth—or third now since All Might retired. And those rankings they got was from the entire population living within Yokohama.

“And why is All Might bowing to them, gero?” Asui added.

Silence fell over them, even Midoriya, who finally seemed to snap out of his fanboy mode and remembered the situation his mentor was in.

The next moment, their idol—the former No.1 Hero, finally gave them the answer to the question that had been bothering them for the past hour.

“I’M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME, MY SONS!”

Those who were leaning against the window slipped and tumbled to the ground.

Those that were eating choked and spat out their food.

Those who had been standing normally and quietly observing…fell into a trance.

For a whole minute, everything was quiet.

And then, that serene silence was shattered by deafening screams ten times louder than before.

“HIS WHAT?!”

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

It was merely human instinct to fear the night.

To the humans living within this society, night time was evil, for that evil took form during then. In Japan, crime activities became eighty percent higher during the night. When the last ray of sun left the land, Villains will emerge from the shadows to terrorize the city.

However, there is one place that welcomed the night.

That place is Yokohama—Japan's second-largest city with a population of over three million. The people that lived in that city enjoyed the night more than the day because in Yokohama, there was no time safer than the night.

This was all thanks to the living legend that walks within the darkness of their city.

They were an odd pair, dressed in black suits with a single black chain binding them together.

Just simply hearing their calm, steady footsteps and the jingling sounds of chains was enough to bring peace to the neighbourhood.

Catching a glimpse of their shadow was considered good luck.

They were the Pro Heroes that operated as one and shared a single Hero name—Double Black.

No one knew where they came from. Their Hero licenses were real and confirmed by the government, yet their records were unable to be found. No one even knew where they went to school.

Four years ago, the two of them—both at the tender age of fifteen—suddenly appeared within Yokohama and boldly announced the entire city as their territory. In the beginning, everyone took them as a joke.

They were children, after all.

However, in less than a week, these two children swept through the city like a hurricane. In a blink of an eye, they eradicated all Villains dwelling within Yokohama and even ripped out organizations that had been taking root in that city for years.

The Villains they had defeated were completely broken, both mentally and physically. Even if their bodies recovered, their minds could never be healed. No one knew just what happened to them, but one thing they can be certain of was that whenever the name Double Black was mentioned, they would break down. It was as if Double Black were using these Villains to send a warning around the world.

But Double Black didn’t stop there. They didn’t eradicate the Villains, but Heroes as well. All the local Heroes were thrown out of the city together with their agencies.

“Yokohama is now under our protection, so you’re no longer needed.”

“What’s the point of keeping you around when you can’t even clean up these shits?”

These were the infamous words that the Double Black had spoken and were trending even to this day.

It was also these words that sparked war between the Heroes of Yokohama and Double Black. The government has deleted all footage concerning the fight that had broken out between the Heroes, but witnesses of that night could still tell the tales of how Double Black single handedly crushed all the Heroes in just one night.

After the Heroes of Yokohama were chased out, they filed complaints to the police and the governments. They were hoping the government would do something about the pair, yet they didn’t do anything. Not only did they not punish Double Black for attacking other Heroes, the government even allowed Double Black’s request of not allowing anymore Heroes into their city.

Since then, Yokohama only has two Heroes.

In the beginning, the people of Yokohama had mixed feelings. On one hand, the Double Black completely pulled out all Villains rooted in their city. On the other hand, Double Black had also pulled out the Heroes that had been protecting them all this time.

Then later on, the people of Yokohama were livid.

It didn’t take long for them to discover how Double Black functions.

Double Black only acts during the night, as that is apparently their work hour.

Despite being Heroes, they were completely treating their profession as a standard job.

After their work hour, they will not act upon any of their Hero’s duties. Even if a bank robbery were to happen right in their face, they will walk around it and continue on with whatever they were doing. Even if they came across a dying person, the most they would do was call an ambulance and continue on with their lives.

The people of Yokohama began to protest, wanting the two teenagers that called themselves Heroes out of their city. But as time passed, these protests vanished without a trace.

The reason was that despite Double Black not acting during their off-hours, the moment night came, those who committed crimes during daytime would face the wrath of Double Black. It was said that the retaliation they were met with was worse than committing crimes during the night.

Whenever a Villain was collected from Yokohama, anyone that saw them would always say the same thing.

“It would have been better if they were dead.”

Yes, these Villains were beaten and abused to the point where death would be a blessing. At the very least, dying could free them from the suffering Quirks and current medical equipment cannot heal. That was how broken and beyond saving they were.

Double Black would never kill the Villains, yet all Villains would have been better off dead. Due to the concerns this news may bring to society, the government was quick to seal it off. It wasn’t hard, for that no one had ever witnessed Double Black engaging in enemies due to them operating only in the shadows.

The governments were concerned about the images Double Black may give off to Heroes in general. They needed to show the entire country that the future Heroes were striving. This was a time to show that Heroes are superior to Villains, especially with the symbol of peace leading them.

But more than anything…they cannot go against Double Black.

They can use all the righteous reasoning, but in the end, it all came down to fear.

The Japanese government was afraid of the duo Heroes they allowed into the society. 

Unlike the naïve citizens, every single person in the government knew what these two teenagers were capable of. Not even the No.1 Hero—their adoptive father—can stop their rampage once they began.

The last thing anyone wanted was for these two to defect from Heroes and turn into Villains.

That and they simply can’t come up with the right argument against them.

“It just turned out this way after our battle, what are we supposed to do? If we let them go, innocent people would get hurt! Or are you suggesting that we Heroes should mind the welfare of Villains when we engage in a fight?

In that case, why don’t we set up a press conference right now and explain it to the world how Heroes should operate from here now on out! Let’s also not forget the new laws and restrictions needed to be placed on Heroes!

Firstly, Hero cannot attack Villain in the head! We wouldn’t want these Villains to suffer any head injuries or die, right? The stomach is another no! You never know what organs you might accidentally damage. Ribcage should be off limits as well! It would be dangerous if a broken rib punctured the lung or heart, wouldn’t it? On top of that, we have to worry whether or not they have heart conditions. Damages in the limbs would also be risky! If you don’t control your strength right, they may be disabled for life and we wouldn’t want that now, would we? We must illegalize any Quirk with destructive properties—such as fire, electricity or mental Quirks that directly attacks the brain.

And—”

Needless to say, neither the police nor the government would sit down to talk with Double Black ever again. If they really agreed to all of those things the Double Black had suggested, then both citizens and Heroes will start a riot.

The name Double Black, in many ways, brought more fear to Villains than All Might. No, compared to the devils wearing the skin of human children, All Might could be seen as an angel in comparison. Before anyone knew it, the crime rate within Yokohama dropped at an alarming rate.

In no time at all, Yokohama has become the first and only zero crime city.

This was a feat that not even the No.1 Hero All Might could achieve.

Despite never taking a step off Yokohama ground, Double Black became famous throughout the world and was ranked fourth on the Hero’s Billboard.

For the past four years, Yokohama was ranked first in the most ideal city people wanted to move to. The pricing for houses skyrocketed in a single week, up to the point where it became impossible for any outsider to move in, and no Yokohama citizens in their right mind would want to leave a zero-crime city.

The Double Black constructed their agency at the heart of Yokohama. The building was enormously tall, built in sleek black with modernized design. The locals would call this agency Double Black’s watchtower…or the God’s watchtower. It was a symbol addressing all Villains hiding within the shadows that they were always overseeing this city.

The Double Black didn’t stop there, however. Now, four more identical buildings were being constructed next to the existing one. Many people questioned it, as no one saw the need in having so many buildings.

In one of a rare interview with one of the Double Black, the man simply said this:

“It’s a business. As Heroes, we must constantly think of what we can do for the people we protect. Yokohama has become a zero-crime city, then what should we, as Heroes, do next? Of course, it is to help improve our country’s economy. That’s why my partner and I decided to merge our agency with our newly established trading company—The Port Mafia.”

And so…the Port Mafia was established.

Many people thought the two Heroes were joking. Who has ever heard of professional Heroes having a side job? Yet these two young Heroes did. Not only that they did it, but their company even flourished and the Port Mafia was now one of the leading trading companies and Hero agency within Japan.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call these two young Heroes living Legends.

Now these two Legends had left Yokohama and were inside Japan’s most distinguished Hero school.

“Imagine our surprise~” Dazai Osamu laughed as he sat with his partner on the couch inside the principal’s office. “To suddenly see our dear father live on the television, facing All for One in that wimpy form~”

“Uh…!” Toshinori who was still kneeling on the floor took an invisible jab into the heart.

“And all by himself! Truly the model of how all Heroes should be, isn’t that right, Chuuya?” Dazai continued to speak in that exaggerated tone of his, looking over to his partner who was anything but impressed.

The petite but muscly young man had his legs propped up on the table with his elbow pressed into the armrest and his cheek against his knuckles.

“So,” Chuuya eyed the man on the ground, “you lot were so confident you didn’t even need backups, huh?”

“No, that’s not it, we had backups.” Toshinori tried to explain, but the two young men weren't having it.

“Ah, those Heroes were your backups?” Dazai chuckled light-heartedly. He set his teacup on the table and his fingers along the rim, creating a small vibration into the air. “I’m sorry, they hadn’t done anything at all so I thought they had some cosplayers standing there for moral support!”

“Dazai-kun.” Nezu frowned, unable to overlook the disrespect the young man was clearly displaying. All the Heroes went all out in that battle and some were severely injured. For the brunet to say such a thing was pure insult to those Heroes. “Those Heroes fought their all—”

“And?” Chuuya cut in. “What did they do? Did they capture anyone from the League of Villains?”

“No, but it was thanks to them that—”

“So they got nothing to show for the result.” Chuuya snorted. Blue eyes narrowed over the white creature sitting on the opposite couch. “All you did was ruin a perfectly good opportunity to take the League of Villains down.”

“Chuuya!” Toshinori chided disapprovingly.

“Chuuya’s right.” Dazai hummed, completely ignoring their adoptive father and focused on the mouse, or bear—or whatever it was. “If you had waited a couple more days to assemble more Heroes into your little operations, the League of Villains wouldn’t have escaped. However, you prioritized the name of U.A over the safety of the entire country and you dare to preach us?”

“I did not prioritize U.A,” The principal said calmly. “They had captured one of our students. We have no time to—”

“No time?” The brunet smirked. “How? From what I see, he could hang on for a couple of days. The League of Villains went through all this trouble to capture him was to turn him to their side and showcase him to the world to break society's view on Heroes. Do you think that after all the trouble they went through, they would kill him just because he rebelled?”

“But young Bakugou—”

“—wouldn’t have died if you had waited a day or two.” Dazai finished for Toshinori. “And even by whatever miracle that he pissed them off and made them accidentally kill him, he’s just one life. That is where your plan failed. As long as your school’s name doesn’t get tarnished and that one student whose life obviously worth more than the rest of the country is safe, everything else doesn't matter.”

“Dazai!” Toshinori gasped. “You know it’s not like that!”

“Really?” This time, it wasn’t Dazai who responded, but Chuuya. “Because that’s how it looked to me, old man.”

“So what if your little school’s name got tarnished?” Dazai said. “Rip it apart and make a new one. If you don’t want that, then create a bigger gossip to cover up yours. If you’re incapable of doing even that, then give it five years and people will eventually move on and forget about it. You think reporters will still make news of you when there’s no news left to make and everyone’s tired of listening?”

Despite talking to Toshinori, Dazai’s eyes shifted to the principal who had kept silent despite the youth berating him.

“If it was me, I would gather all the Heroes in the top twenty Billboards and have the long-distance fighters supporting ex-No.1 here. With One for All launching an attack on the League of Villains, it’s obvious that All for One will appear. He told you about that little underling he picked up, didn’t he?”

Dazai looked over to Toshinori.

“What?” Toshinori stared at Dazai and Chuuya in shock. “You two…you knew? You know who Shigaraki Tomura is?!”

“When did you know?” The Principal asked, face turning grim as he regarded the two young men.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Chuuya huffed. “The moment we learned that All for One became a babysitter, this guy searched it up—starting with every orphanage in Japan.” He said as he jabbed his thumb at his partner.

“As long as the person got records, they can easily be tracked,” Dazai replied. “All for One hated you One for All holders. You’ve always been a thorn on his side. Then what can he do to get back at you? The only thing would be your master, dear father. Why wouldn’t you think he’ll use this against you?”

“Why…why didn’t you tell me?!” Toshinori coughed as he clenched onto his side.

“What would you do if I did?” Dazai questioned. “Save him? He’s beyond saving the moment Shimura Nana decided to abandon her son—his father. If she had really wanted to protect her family, she should have kept her child close or better yet, don’t give birth. Can you really say you’re surprised by the way things turned out?”

Toshinori gritted his teeth before going into another series of violent coughs. Blood was pouring out, but neither of the two sitting there looked like they cared.

“Tell me,” Dazai whispered softly - despite his cold, harsh words - as he looked at the two in front of them. “Did you guys seriously think you’ve won?”

Neither of the two in front of them answered.

“You captured All for One but the League of Villains escaped. The Symbol has retired. Everything went according to All for One’s plans. A new era for Villains is beginning. The Heroes, on the other hand, lost the only pillar that’s been their support for the past decades, and let’s not mention how incompetent most of them are. The world has now been reset into a clean slate. So let me ask you again, did you really think you’ve won?”

Dazai took another small sip of his tea before setting it onto the table.

“What is considered winning…was if you guys had done everything you could to capture that brat you guys called Shigaraki Tomura. He’s the one All for One created his plans around. You’ve let All for One lived for so long, what difference would it make letting him live longer? Which brings our discussion to our earlier topic—how the matter could have been easily resolved if you had waited for the other Heroes. For example, just having Hawks alone would have been able to change the outcome. With his speed, he could easily have stayed out of the fighting range and stayed hidden. The only time he needed to come out was to capture the escaping Villains you let go of.”

“…Dazai-kun, Chuuya-kun.” Principal Nezu spoke after a long while, setting the tea down onto the table as he looked at the two young men sitting before him. “If you two were to assist us, what do you think would be the casualty rate?”

Nezu had phrased it by casualty, not success…because they already knew the answer to that.

Had these two joined in, the success rate in capturing all of the Leagues of Villain, including All for One himself—was a hundred percent. What was more frightening was that this one hundred percent would still be if the two had worked alone, without the interference of other Heroes.

They only learned of this after the League of Villain’s attack on USJ, through Toshinori’s call with his sons.

The League of Villains was originally hiding in Kamino. When Chuuya and Dazai moved into Yokohama, All for One—for the first time in his life—was met with a mountain he couldn’t overcome. A battle happened one night…one that was never documented or recorded because it was over as soon as it began. With Chuuya alone, he singlehanded destroyed all the Nomus and critically injured All for One.

Had Kurogiri not warped them away, they would have died right then and there. No…not even that. With Dazai’s nullification Quirk, they wouldn’t have a chance in escaping. The only reason they were able to leave was that Dazai and Chuuya had no interest in any of them. It was no secret that Double Black never chases after Villains that left their territory.

It didn’t matter to them whether or not the Villain that fled was All for One. To them, All for One was the same as the other thugs that ran from them with their tails between their legs. They were all opponents that could be easily crushed anytime they wanted.

It wasn’t like Nezu never considered asking the two for help. It was simply that the pair made it clear the moment they became Heroes that they had no interest in peace or the safety of the world. They were only interested in looking after their territory, which was Yokohama.

“This isn’t about us.” Chuuya said, narrowing his eyes at the principal. “It’s about you. This bastard already told you what you should have done.”

“But if you must know, I can enlighten you.” Dazai said as he laced his fingers and set his hand on his knee. “If Chuuya and I were involved, the casualty rate would be zero. If you had formed a plan properly without putting that kid and your little school’s reputation first, your success rate would have been a hundred percent.”

The principal sighed, not saying anything to defend himself as that was the truth. They had let go of the League of Villain in order to preserve the school’s name and Bakugou.

Toshinori couldn’t argue either, as it was true that he failed in capturing the League of Villains. Although there were many things in which he disagreed with his two sons, he knew he wouldn’t win against Dazai in an argument.

“Chuuya, Dazai.” Toshinori sat upright to face his two boys. “I’m sorry for making you worry. I should have told you beforehand regarding—”

“Worry? Who?” Dazai blinked, tilting his head in mock-confusion.

“Eh?”

“You reaped what you sowed.” Chuuya deadpanned.

“Wait, aren’t you the least bit worried about me?!”

“Nope.” The two replied in perfect sync.

That was the last blow Toshinori needed.

With his body still recovering from his fight against All for One and having knelt in the burning sunlight for a whole hour (plus another hour in the principal’s office), his frail body finally gave out. The blond hurled out a large amount of blood before he fainted, face landing into the red puddle he had created.

Dazai sipped on his tea purposely loud. After drowning the tea in one go, he set the cup back onto the table and clapped his hand. The door to the principal’s office opened as two men in black suits walked in. One grabbed Toshinori under the arms while the other took his legs. Just like this, the two carried the former No.1 Hero out of the office.

“Well then, I do believe we’ve intruded long enough.” Dazai got up with Chuuya in toll. “These are the paper works and vacation forms our daddy has signed.”

Dazai waved and a man came up to set a stack of paper in front of Nezu. The principal took a glance at All Might’s signature signed on the top of the paper. It was certainly his signature, but Nezu knew for a fact that the blond man would have never signed it.

“Of course!” He chimed all too cheerfully and grabbed the stack of papers as if afraid Dazai and Chuuya would take it back. “Do let him rest up!”

“Tch.” Chuuya clicked his teeth, shoving his hands in his pockets as he followed his partner out the door. Just before the two leave, they heard Nezu spoke up.

“Dazai-kun, Chuuya-kun. I look forward to the following months.”

Neither of them said nor acknowledged anything as one of their men closed the door to the principal’s office. When the pair turned to leave, they were greeted by a familiar face coming from around the corner.

The moment Aizawa Shota saw these two, his eyelids began to jump and his eyeballs felt dryer than usual. For a moment, the raven wondered if it was too late to turn around and pretend not to have seen anything.

“Well if it isn’t Uncle Shouta~” Dazai greeted while Chuuya tipped his hat.

Aizawa let out a small sigh as he walked up to the two younger Heroes.

“You two made quite the scene.” He stated unhappily.

“Now, now, don’t say that! We’ll be colleagues from now on, please do show us the rope, senpai~”

“Colleagues?” Aizawa was taken back by this. “What is this about?”

“Weren’t you being called in by the principal?” Dazai smirked as he and Chuuya walked past the raven with their men carrying an unconscious Toshinori.

Aizawa stood there as he watched them go.

He suddenly got a dreaded feeling and hurried towards the principal’s office.

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

Toshinori couldn’t begin to describe what this feeling was as he slowly woke from his dream. It had been so long since he was able to wake up feeling so refreshed and energetic. Being the top Hero, he rarely had any time for breaks. To be able to sleep five hours a night was already a blessing for him. Many times, he had even woke up in the middle of the night upon hearing the echoes of sirens.

He blinked at the warm sunlight spilling over his face. Very slowly, minding his injuries, he sat up. He looked around the room and was stunned by what he saw. The room was enormous.

The bed was enormous.

He was lying in a king-sized bed with an entire wall in the room filled up with windows, facing the direction of the ocean.

Toshinori looked down at the thick crimson quilt covering his body before pushing it away. The moment his bare feet touched the red rug under the bed, he couldn’t help but marvel on how soft it was.

“Where is this?”

Toshinori whispered as he walked up to the large glass panels showcasing the city. He looked over all the buildings before his eyes landed on the giant Ferris wheel in the distance, right beside the ocean. Toshinori didn’t know why, but that Ferris wheel feels oddly familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before…

Click

The sound of the doorknob turning jolted him out of thought. Toshinori spun around and was surprised to see two familiar boys walking in.

The pair also seemed surprised that he was awake. One gave a very faint smile while the other maintained his stoic face.

“You’re awake, grandpa.” The white-haired boy with unevenly cut hair said.

“Young Atsushi, young Ryuunosuke?” Toshinori smiled widely as he walked over to the two children that were the same age as his students.

“It has been a while, grandfather.” Ryuunosuke greeted politely with a slight bow.

“It certainly has.” Toshinori chuckled. With looking for a successor for One for All and everything else that followed, he couldn’t find the spare time to visit these two adoptive children of his sons. Even when he called, their talks were always brief and minimal. Truthfully, Toshinori never knew how to interact with these two young boys. In many ways, these two young boys were harder to talk to than his sons.

“How are you two? What school did you two enroll to?”

“We did not enroll to any schools.” Ryuunosuke replied, his face still holding that usual sternness.

“No school?” Toshinori frowned. “Is Da—I mean, are your dads still homeschooling you?”

If that was the case, then it wasn’t good. He had never liked Dazai and Chuuya’s decision to homeschool the kids, even if they did have exceptional talents and powerful Quirks. After all, they are youths! They should enjoy the joy of school and making friends!

“Ryuunosuke and I already have gotten our Hero licenses.” Atsushi replied. “During Dazai-san and Chuuya-san’s absence, we will be overseeing Yokohama as the new Double Black.”

“…Come again?” Toshinori blinked, barely able to process the words. “Heroes? But you’re both fifteen!”

“Dazai-san and Chuuya-san debuted at fifteen as well.” Ryuunosuke pointed out.

“Yes, but they’re different—wait, how did you even get the license without doing the test?!”

“Dazai-san and Chuuya-san took us to the government’s Hero department and they deemed us suitable to become Heroes.” Atsushi replied.

Toshinori froze as he remembered that something similar had happened in the past. When he was called over to hold a congratulation ceremony for his sons…half of the room looked like they were about to tear up, and it wasn’t with joy.

What have you done, my sons? Toshinori wanted to weep. He wondered just what in the world happened for the Japanese government to approve of underage Heroes not once but twice.

“Wait…overseeing Yokohama?” Toshinori whirled around to stare at that Ferris wheel. That was why it looked so familiar! Wasn’t that Ferries Wheel the same one in Yokohama?!

“Then I’m in…Yokohama?!” Toshinori all but shouted and turned back to his grandsons. “How long was I out for?! I need to go back, I can’t be here!”

“You shouldn’t move so much,” Atsushi advised. “You’ve been asleep for three days. Your body is still healing from—”

Toshinori stopped listening from then on.

Three days?

He had been asleep for three days?!

“Then today’s Monday?!” He shouted, unable to believe he slept for this long. How?! Why?! “I have a class to teach, I can’t—”

“There is no need to concern yourself over such an insignificant matter.” Ryuunosuke said as he activated Rashomon, blocking Toshinori when the elder tried to walk around him.

“Dazai-san and Chuuya-san have filed your vacation form for you.”

“They what?!”

Atsushi kindly handed him a paper. Toshinori quickly took it from the boy’s hand, eyes widening in disbelief at what he was seeing. This was the U.A employee vacation form with his signature on it! But he never recalled sighing anything like this! And more importantly, he had taken three months off?!

“Where are Dazai and Chuuya?!” Toshinori shouted only to break into small coughs.

“They are taking your place in teaching at U.A during your break.” Atsushi replied.

Toshinori stared at the white-haired boy, then shifted his gaze to the black-haired one.

Blood splattered out of his opened mouth before he tipped backwards and fell onto his back. He seemed to struggle a bit before his limbs gone completely slack.

The two boys just observed their grandfather lying on the finely polished wooden floor. As if waiting for this moment, men and women dressed like doctors rushed into the room, preparing all sorts of equipment as they carried Toshinori back to the bed.

The two boys walked out without another word and into the long hallway of the Port Mafia headquarter.

“Heroes…huh?” Atsushi mumbled, looking out the window that made up one wall of the hallway. “Even though I knew this day is coming, it still feels surreal.”

Ryuunosuke walked beside Atsushi, hands tucked in his pockets as he too looked out at the city that was so familiar yet foreign at the same time. But at the least, some things never changed.

“We will begin patrol at sunset.” He announced. “We must uphold the name to gain the civilian’s trust.”

“That’s true.” Atsushi smiled, pulling out a phone from his pocket to see the news about the appearance of Double Black still trending. “Now that the Villains know that Dazai-san and Chuuya-san are away, there’s no doubt that they will make moves in Yokohama.”

He put his phone away before turning to Akutagawa. “You looked more relaxed now that Dazai-san’s gone. Do you still hate him?”

“No,” Akutagawa said curtly. “My grudges against him were gone the moment he died back then.”

Atsushi smiled a little, as if glad. “Remember that we need to keep the Villains alive.”

“Naturally.” Ryuunosuke looked at Atsushi, a little irritated that the other would remind him of this. “You do well to remember too, White Reaper.”

“I know.” Heterochromatic eyes gazed out at the lively city.

It was time to introduce the world to the new Double Black.

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

“So there you have it!” Dazai announced, standing in front of a group of dumbfounded kids. “For the next three months, the two of us will be personally training you. All of your other courses will be postponed during this time.”

“I-it’s Double Black…it’s really Double Black!!” Midoriya looked like he was going to hyperventilate at any moment. How could he possibly keep calm when the most mysterious Heroes of all time were standing right in front of him?!

“S-sensei?” Yaoyorozu raised her hand hesitantly, unsure if that was the right way to call out to them.

“Ah, just Dazai is fine.” Dazai waved before gesturing to his partner. “And you can call him Chibi.”

BAM

The teacher’s table completely shattered under the pressure of the petit man’s palm. The sight startled the entire class. Their faces turned white as ghosts and Yaoyorozu looked like she was greatly regretting her decision to speak up.

“Just call me Chuuya.” Chuuya growled.

Never had the class nodded so fast in their entire lives.

“Don’t scare them, Chuuya~” Dazai sang. Despite saying that, he seemed to be enjoying the students’ reactions. “Look at them, they’re so scared that they can’t even talk now.”

“WHO THE HELL’S SCARED?!” Bakugou shouted, but was ignored as Dazai looked back to Yaoyorozu.

“Go ahead.” He said.

“Ah, yes…” Yaoyorozu hesitated, but still asked the question that’s been on the entire world’s mind. “Are you two really All Might’s…?”

“We’re his sons.” Dazai confirmed, purposely omitting the word adopted.

Despite already hearing this last Friday and every single news talking about it throughout the weekend, they were still shocked. After all, who wouldn’t?! The world’s No.1 Hero, the Symbol of Peace, had sons!! And these sons were none other than the famous duo Heroes, Double Black! The one that achieved in creating a city with zero crime rate!

“And if you must know, Chuuya and I got two lovely boys, which means your All Might-sensei is a grandfather~” Dazai beamed, dropping another bomb and these students’ jaws broke through the ground.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

“Alright, enough chit chat!” Chuuya interrupted before anyone could voice their questions. Go change into your training uniforms and gather outside in the field behind the school in fifteen minutes! Anyone who is late will be punished!”

Then, the man turned and walked away, the chains binding his left arm dragging his partner with him. Although they didn’t know what was going on, no one dared to defy the feisty redhead. They hurried into the change room and changed into their school training uniforms. Fifteen minutes later when the students arrived at the field, their jaws dropped at the sight of a helicopter there.

No, that wasn’t even a helicopter! That’s a freaking military transport aircraft!

“Quit dawdling on your feet and get in!” Chuuya snapped out orders from the plane’s open hatch.

Class 1-A looked at one another before they walked over and entered the plane one by one. However, before entering the shorter half of Double Black would stop them to put a weird digital watch around their wrists.

“It’s to check your heart rates.” Dazai said helpfully beside his partner who continued to put these watches on them one by one.

No one thought anything more of it.

Once they were all inside, the hatch closed but none of them even noticed as they were too busy admiring the interior.

“Alright kids, grab and seat and buckle your seatbelts.” Dazai hummed as he and Chuuya walked through the kids.

“We’ll be taking off in one minute, hurry and sit down!” Chuuya repeated his partner’s words firmly.

The kids quickly found a seat for themselves and buckled their belts like the good children they were. After exactly one minute, the engine of the plane roared into life and there came the unpleasant sensation of being pulled off the ground.

Chuuya and Dazai just stood there, neither of them seemed to be affected as they stood over the pilot and watched them take off.

“Sen—Dazai-san! Where are we going?” Iida asked from all the way back.

“You’ll see,” Dazai only gave them a meaningful smile.

The flight was around forty minutes long. Not being able to see anything from where they sat, the kids had no idea where they were going. However, since the two men were Heroes hired by U.A, they knew nothing bad would happen to them. They just chattered quietly about their new teachers and the exploding news of their idol’s private life when Chuuya and Dazai suddenly walked back to them.

All of them instantly clamped their mouths shut and gave the two new teachers their full attention. After all, this was Double black!

“Now, let’s begin today’s first lesson,” Dazai said as he stepped forward to draw everyone’s attention to him. “What would happen if someone without any safety equipment falls from fifteen-thousand feet onto solid ground.”

“They die of course.” Kaminari answered without any hesitation. After all, what else but death awaits someone dropping from that kind of height?

“Wrong. There still is a very slim chance of survival if you angle your body just right to protect your upper body from the impact.” Dazai corrected. As he said that, the floor beneath their feet began to pull apart right from the center as a bright beam of light covered everything in sight.

“Gah! My eyes!”

“What is that?!”

“The floor’s moving!”

Gasps and shouts echoed throughout the plane as the floor fully pulled apart, revealing nothing but blue beneath them.

“We’re flying over the ocean?!” Uraraka spoke with a mixture of awe and fright. She nervously stared at her feet that were dangling over nothing. Although it may be rude, she still pulled her legs onto her seat, much like many of her classmates.

“Now then, next question,” Dazai continued lightheartedly, as if not noticing the teenagers’ panic. “If someone without any safety equipment falls from fifteen-thousand feet into the ocean, what would happen?”

No one answered this time.

The moment Dazai asked this, all the kids were staring at him in disbelief and horror.

“The right answer is, you will die for certain. Your bone will shatter the moment you hit the water, as falling from such height will be no different than falling onto concrete. Even if you manage to survive the impact, you will be swallowed by the ocean and drown. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“…Eh?” Midoriya blinked before his eyes slowly widened as the realization of their situation hit him hard.

“From a drop this height, it will take about a minute for you to reach the ocean. Keep in mind that this is neither U.A nor private property. The law of Quirk usage applies to all of you~”

“In other words, if any of you use Quirks, I will pummel you, got that?” Chuuya clarified. “Now off you go!”

“Wait, Dazai-san! Chuuya-saAAAAAAN?!!!!” Midoriya cried as the chair seat beneath him suddenly disappeared. His seatbelt also failed to work and just like that, he was freefalling from the sky with the rest of their classmates.

Everyone was screaming and crying for their lives as the carrier plane became smaller and smaller.

“I DON’T WANNA DIE!!!” Kaminari sobbed.

“GERO!” Asui croaked.

“SAUVE-MOI!!” Aoyama screeched.

“THIS ISN’T REAL! THIS ISN’T REAL, RIGHT?!” Hagakure shrieked.

“KYAAAA!!!” The usually quiet Koda was pale and screaming off the top of his lungs.

“E-E-E-EVERYONE!!! C-CALM D-D-DOWN!” Iida yelled despite panicking as well. “I’M S-S-SURE THE TEACHERS WILL SAVE US!!”

“Y-Yes!” Yaoyorozu choked out. “S-surely they wouldn't…!”

“WE’RE REACHING THE BOTTOM!” Uraraka notified them.

“A-ARE WE SERIOUSLY NOT GOING TO USE QUIRKS?!” Sero shouted.

“B-BUT THEY SAID THEY’LL BEAT US IF WE DO!” Kirishima shot back.

“FUCK! WOULD YOU STOP SCREAMING IN MY EARS?!” Bakugou roared, pushing away a screaming Mineta who had stuck to him like glue. This goes to show how desperate the little pervert was to survive.

“WE’RE NEARING THE GROUND—I MEAN WATER!” Sato shouted.

“AAAAAAH!” Ashido shut her eyes and braced herself, unable to watch.

Midoriya gritted his teeth and put his arms over his head.

Just split seconds before they reach the water, they stopped.

The wind was no longer roaring into their ears and smacking against their bodies.

It was as if time had suddenly stopped. All they could hear were their own heavy breathing and their intense heartbeat. When the class looked to one another, they saw their classmates suspended in midair with a layer of crimson light covering their body.

“This is…Quirk?” Midoriya whispered. Before he was given time to figure what this power was, the light disappeared and all of them were mercilessly dropped into the water.

Clap Clap Clap

When the students swam back to the surface, the first thing they heard was the sound of slow claps.

Midoriya turned to the source of the sound and was shocked by the sight of a motor yacht right beside them! They were all too preoccupied with the fear of dying that none of them noticed this luxury boat.

On the deck of the yacht were Double Black. Dazai was leaning his elbows on the steel railing, clapping his hand while his partner sat on the railing right next to him, swirling a cup of wine in his hand.

“How?!” Uraraka gasped at the sight of the two men. She looked up at the plane still in the sky, then back down to the duo Heroes.

“I wonder,” Dazai replied with a mischief smirk. “Though if you have time to be stunned, I would hurry and swim.”

“What do you mean?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“Well, it’s now 11:32 am. The sun will set in around eight hours. You are to reach the shore without the use of your Quirks before sunset. Anyone who fails to do so will receive punishment~”

“Wait, what?” Tokoyami couldn’t help but ask. What did this man say?

“Sensei!” Iida raised his hand.

“Dazai is fine.” Dazai waved to the class president.

“You don’t mean that we’ll have to swim to shore within eight hours?!” Iida yelled in disbelief.

“Yep, that is exactly what I mean!” Dazai clapped while his partner took a sip of his wine.

The kids stared at them for a bit longer. When the news finally registered in their brains, they immediately burst out into an uproar.

“WHAT?!!”

“THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!”

“THERE’S NO WAY!!!”

The two adults listened to the complaints for a couple of minutes before Chuuya finally spared them a glance.

“If you have time to complain, then hurry and get your ass moving.”

“But that’s just impossible!” Ashido shouted. “We’ll die from exhaustion before we get to the shore! I don’t even know where the shore is!”

“It’s over there, is it not?” Dazai helpfully pointed towards the direction of the shore. Everyone followed his finger and saw the city in the far, far distant. So far that they can’t even make out the outline of the city.

“This is crazy!” Sero complained. “No one can swim that far!”

“Even when you’re going to die?” Chuuya asked.

“We’ll die?!” Kaminari gaped.

Seeing the group still not getting it, Chuuya jabbed his thumb to the other end of the yacht.

Everyone cranked their head around. When they looked over the other side of the boat, they saw some men dressed in black suits holding a large hose that was ejecting crimson fluid into the sea.

“W-what’s that?” Hagakure questioned with a shaky voice. They all had a really bad feeling about this.

Midoriya squinted his eyes, swearing he saw something mixed in the chunky red fluid. Were those...fish parts? And bones?

“Well…” Dazai drummed his fingers along the railing. “Fish, chickens, cows, pigs, all kinds of meat mixed in together.”

“Eh?”

As the students stared at the two Heroes with eyes wide in disbelief. Before any of them could open their mouths to ask, they all heard a sharp yelp.

“Who pushed me?” Mineta asked, looking around the water before letting out another startled noise.

“M-Mineta-kun!” Midoriya frantically shouted Mineta’s name while the others slowly swam away from the boy.

“Mineta-chan, calm down!” Asui immediately followed up.

“Don’t move, Mineta-kun!” Iida shouted.

Seeing the pale faces of his classmates, Mineta stopped flapping around in the water. Although their expressions varied, all of them had fear in their eyes as they stared at Mineta.

Mineta suddenly got a very bad feeling and he slowly turned only his head around. He came face to face with a gray dorsal fin sticking out of the water surface.

At the same time, similar-looking fins slowly glided through the group as something in the water brushed by their bodies, sending chills down their spines.

“S-SHARKS!!!!!!!”

The entire class screamed, their current situation finally sinking into their brains. They started flapping their arms and kicking their legs to swim away.

“Are they stupid?” Chuuya watched the children jumping around the water like sardines. “They seriously thought these reef sharks would attack them?”

“It’s always human nature to fear nature’s predators.” Dazai chuckled. “Even back in our time, sharks, in general, had been used to instil fear into people from getting into the water. They naturally grouped all sharks together and wouldn’t bother to learn which ones attack them and which one doesn’t.”

Chuuya stared at the reef sharks gobbling up the meat. Though there were two curious ones swimming after the kids, probably trying to figure out what they were. That of course, earned more screams as the kids swam faster.

“They’re going to exhaust themselves within thirty minutes.” The redhead stated dryly. The look in his blue eyes showed that he was anything but impressed.

“Then it’s a good thing we planned ahead.” Dazai snapped his fingers. A woman in black suits came up to them with her hands folded behind her back, ready to receive orders.

“Release the first great white in thirty minutes.”

“Yes sir.” The woman bowed before she hurried off to relay the order.

Dazai picked up the bottle of wine on the stand beside them, refilling Chuuya’s glass before his own.

“We should do this more often.”

“Terrorizing kids?” The redhead arched a brow to his partner.

“Taking a vacation,” Dazai corrected.

Chuuya couldn’t help but smile and sipped his wine. Well, he couldn’t deny that he was having a good time. They never had the luxury of being so laid back when training their own sons. Or rather, being laid back was never an option when facing off against those two brats.

That and the work both of them had to do.

Since they were running a Hero agency and a trading company side-by-side, free time was scarce. After the painstaking years of rebuilding everything from scratch, they finally had the opportunity to take a short, well-deserved break.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Chuuya asked curiously as he looked up to his partner.

“How does three nights at a private hot spring with a full view of Mt. Fuji sound?” Dazai asked.

Chuuya turned to the brunet and lifted his wine.

Their glass gently clinked together, creating a melodic sound in the air.

“Not bad at all.”

As for what Class 1-A will experience on Mt. Fuji for those three nights…that will be another story.

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

NEXT CHAPTER ▻

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

[yellowcanna]

Flip that Coin, It Doesn't Matter

Summary: 

Heroes: Like the name, they are righteous people who fought for justice and the peace of society.

Villains: Like the name, they are people who misuse their Quirks to harm others and cause chaos.

In the current society where eighty percent of the world population has Quirks, every single person grew up knowing about Heroes and Villains.

However, there was one more occupation that was often overlooked yet their impact wasn’t any lesser than Heroes or Villains.

They are Assassins.

Midoriya has always dreamed of becoming a Hero due to his idolization of All Might like others in his generation. He had dreams of gaining a powerful Quirk—to fight the bad guys and saving people in need. But never once did Midoriya expect that the path of Heroes was one that was always intertwined with Assassins.

If Hero and Villain are the two sides of the same coin, then Assassin is the rim of that coin.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover

Pairing: None

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: One-Shot

Available on AO3!!

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

Heroes: Like the name, they are righteous people who fought for justice and the peace of society.

Villains: Like the name, they are people who misuse their Quirks to harm others and cause chaos.

In the current society where eighty percent of the world population has Quirks, every single person grew up knowing about Heroes and Villains.

However, there was one more occupation that was often overlooked yet their impact wasn’t any lesser than Heroes or Villains.

They are Assassins.

Midoriya has always dreamed of becoming a Hero due to his idolization of All Might like others in his generation.

He had dreams of gaining a powerful Quirk—to fight the bad guys and saving people in need. But never once did Midoriya expect that the path of Heroes was one that was always intertwined with Assassins.

The topic of Assassins has always been a sensitive one. When learning about Hero and Villains in school, Assassin was a term that would constantly pop out, yet their mention only lasted a sentence or two before being completely bypassed.

Nobody ever thought much of it, even Midoriya. That was how it has always been. He never thought that Assassin would ever play a part in his life until he began his life as a Hero.

The first time he met Assassins, it was in the U.S.J. Incident.

That was the first time they had ever encountered the League of Villains…as well as their first time of encountering Assassins.

“Hey Midoriya, we’re just here to see how things are going, okay?”

“Gero…”

“I know. We’ll run away the instant it seems dangerous.” Midoriya whispered, slowly poking his head out and searched for their teacher. He spotted Aizawa in the distance, fearlessly fighting the Villains despite being outnumbered.  

The underground Hero was swiftly mowing down the Villains left and right. He was strong. Midoriya couldn’t help the relieved smile on his face when he saw this. He naively thought that with their teacher being this strong, there wouldn’t be any problem.

And then, his eyes landed on two individuals by the fountain.

Midoriya wouldn’t have noticed them if it weren’t for their brightly coloured hair. For starters, both of these boys were young. The teen was certain that they had to be the same age.

The boy with red hair by the fountain with the blue-haired boy stood next to him. They wore similar clothing that looked like some sort of uniform.

The red-haired one wore a gray shirt with a hood and sleeves that reached his elbows with matching long pants. The blue-haired one was wearing the same thing, except his shirt was sleeveless and reached just above his belly button with shorts.

It looked like they were both wearing some sort of black skin-tight bodysuits underneath their gray uniforms. Both of them got black combat boots on their feet and brown gloves covering their hands.

Every part of their bodies was covered except for their heads.

Their uniforms got plenty of pockets too and from what Midoriya could see, these pockets all looked full. The two youths were watching the fight with serene smiles on their faces. Just the sight alone sent a chill down Midoriya’s spine.

“Hey,” the man with a hand covering his face gritted out, taking notice of the two at the very back. “Who said you can slack off? Get in there and stop him!”

“Hm…don’t feel like it.” The redhead spoke in a lazy tone and waved his hand at the Villain leader dismissively.  

“What’s going on?” Mineta muttered.

“An internal dispute?” Asui guessed.

Midoriya saw the Hand-man becoming even more agitated.

“You were the ones that came to us agreeing to the terms, or are you chickening out?” Hand-man growled.

“Agree?” The redhead rolled the word around his tongue before snorting as if he just heard something hilarious. “We never agreed to anything. You’re the ones gathering all the thugs in the area claiming you can take down All Might.”

“We never said we’ll help you fight.” The blue-haired one finished for his companion.

“Then what the fuck did you come for?” Hand-man snarled, scratching at his neck.

“We were just curious what made you so confident that you can take on the No.1 Hero.” The red-haired one shrugged.

And then, the Villain couldn’t be bothered by those two anymore. He was too busy dealing with Aizawa.

The three students’ attentions were also turned back to the battlefield. They watched in horror as their teacher was brutally beaten. None of them could look away from the brutal scene. They couldn’t do anything but stand there and watched the enemy break their teacher bit by bit.

“Hey~”

“Ah!” Mineta screamed. Midoriya and Asui jumped back at the sight of that red-haired boy crouching on the ledge next to them, looking at them with a wide smirk.

“Do you want to save your teacher?”

“W-what do you mean?” Midoriya asked in a shaky voice. He could hear the sound of his own heartbeat pounding against his eardrums. When did he come over? How come none of them noticed?

“Your teacher,” the redhead jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, pointing directly at Aizawa whose head was slammed into the concrete by that monster. “He’s gonna die at this rate. Do you want to save him?”

“Why?” Asui asked while pushing Mineta back with her arm. “Why would Villains offer help?”

“Villains?” The redhead chuckled, but there was a dangerous glint in his golden eyes. “We’d appreciate it if you don’t group us together with the likes of them.”

“You’re…not Villains?” Midoriya asked skeptically, finding it hard to believe considering they had appeared with the Villains.

“We’re not Villains,” another voice spoke up, this time from behind them.

Mineta let out another scream. With them so focused on the red-haired boy, they didn’t even notice the blue-haired boy that was standing on the ledge behind their backs.

“He’s going to die at this rate,” the blue-haired said while looking at the battle.

“You wanna save him or not?” The redhead asked again.

“How do we save him?” Midoriya’s eyes darted back and forth between the two. He was still wary of them, but if there’s a way to save their teacher...

“Simple!” The redhead snapped his fingers. “Hire us and we will kill that guy off for you.”

“…What?” Midoriya’s head was ringing. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had heard wrong.

“Like I said~” The redhead got up and pointed directly at the Villain with a hand on his face. “Hire us, and we,” he made a sharp gesture across his throat, “kill him.”

“W-what are you…!!”

“You still don’t get it?” The redhead arched a brow at them.

“We are Assassins.” The blue-haired teen whispered in a voice so low that only they could hear.

“Gero!” Asui immediately backed away with Mineta.

Midoriya did as well.

Cold sweats were starting to break out from all three of them. None of them could believe that these two kids who looked like the same age as them were murderers.

Midoriya rolled his better hand into a tight fist. He was ready to fend them off should they suddenly attack.

“Oh?” The red-haired boy’s eyes gleamed as if knowing what Midoriya was thinking. “Are you going to hit me?”

“Karma-kun.” The blue-haired boy called the other in a disapproving tone. Then he looked back to the three U.A students. “We’re not here to fight you. We’re just here on an assignment from our school.”

The three gapped at the Assassins.

Assassins have school?!

“But if you hire us to kill the guy off, we might get a bonus mark. That guy has already killed more than ten people. He’s qualified to be on the hit list.”

“What are you—” Midoriya couldn’t finish because the Villain with warp Quirk appeared by the Hand-man’s side, telling him about someone making it out to call for help.

“Tch…looks like it’s over.” The redhead clicked his teeth and shoved his hands into his pocket. “Come on Nagisa, let’s go!”

“I thought you wanted to kill them, Karma-kun?” The blue-haired boy now known as Nagisa inquired. He didn’t sound irritated or anything. It was just a genuine question—like if the boy said yes, he would immediately jump in to support him.

“It’s not like these kids have the money anyways." Golden eyes scanned over Midoriya, Asui and Mineta, then back to the Villains. “Right now those guys are just nobodies. It’s better to wait for their rank to grow and then kill them.”

“I can’t argue with that.” Nagisa smiled and just like that, the two of them walked away, turning their backs to both Heroes and Villains. Midoriya didn’t know where they were going considering they were walking the opposite direction from the exit.

The Villains didn’t bother with the two either since they were irrelevant to their plans.

It was only after All Might and the reinforcement arrived that Midoriya and the others found the chance to tell them about the strange boys that called themselves Assassins.

The moment their teachers heard of this, they were immediately on high alert. They searched the entire U.S.J, but couldn't find any traces of the two boys.

At that time, Midoriya hadn’t known how big of a deal meeting two underage Assassins were.

Assassins never make any public appearances due to their skills in avoiding cameras and killing their target in secrecy. Despite that, Heroes and governments were still able to gather plenty of information about them. It was common knowledge within Heroes and experienced Villains that Assassins were all grown adults.

No children Assassins were ever to be seen throughout history.

By having information on Assassins trainees, they could learn a lot about this mysterious group. Things such as old do Assassins begin their training, how were they chosen, do Assassins train their students one on one, or was there an actual school teaching them?

And most importantly, did these people willingly become Assassins?

These were all questions the government has always been searching for. And now, for the very first time in history, two young Assassins appeared—and with the Villains nonetheless.

It was two weeks later that Midoriya—as well as the rest of the class—were finally told about Assassins. This information was something they weren’t supposed to learn until they were in third years, but the appearance of the Assassins pushed the school to let them know early.

“As you probably all learned in middle schools, assassins are individuals who received request and payment to eliminate a target.”

Aizawa’s entire body was wrapped in bandages and looked as if a little bit of wind would be enough to blow him over.

“In the past, Assassins were regarded the same as Villains, but everything changed in the 24th century when the rise of Villains got out of hand. Governments around the world decided to hire Assassins to aid them in controlling Villains.”

The class burst into gasps of disbelief, including Midoriya. None of their history books or anything ever mentioned the government hiring killers.

“But sensei!” Iida raised his hand. “Isn’t that just the same as hiring Villains to take care of Villains?”

Many students nodded, unable to understand the reasoning.

“If you are going to become Heroes, then there’s one thing you need to remember from here on out,” Aizawa told them sternly, staring at them from the gap of his bandages. “Assassins are not like Villains. Villains do things out of their own self-interest, Assassins do not. They are killers, but not by nature.”

“Then…you’re saying they are good guys?” Sato asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t say that,” the teacher replied. “Assassins only kill when there’s a client hiring them to do so. In other words, they only kill when they are paid to do so.”

Midoriya suddenly remembered that red-haired boy—Karma’s parting words.

“It’s not like these kids have the money anyways. Right now those guys are just nobodies. It’s better to wait for their rank to grow and then kill them.”

Kill for money.

Midoriya’s hands rolled into fists. He couldn’t accept something like that.

None of the kids in the class could, which was understandable.

Aizawa himself and all other Heroes were the same. No matter how bloodied the Villain’s hands may be, it was not a Hero’s job to kill them. It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand the feeling of the people who resorted to hiring Assassins to vent out their anger, but deaths won’t bring anything back.

As humans, they have no right as an individual to pass on judgments to others. That was why they have laws. Their job as Hero was to bring these Villains to justice—where they will be sentenced for the crime they committed by the country and the people as a whole.

These Assassins used the despair of people who lost their loved ones and made money off their revenge.

It was simply wrong, and no one who aspires to be Heroes can come to like Assassins.

“After that collaboration, the Assassins struck a deal with the governments and the World Assassin Association was formed.”

Midoriya gapped. They even have a World Assassin Association? How big were they?! Why weren’t they taught something like that? Shouldn’t the public be made aware of this?

“The Assassin Association has three rules that all Assassins must follow. The first rule is that only those who have killed more than ten people can become an Assassin’s target, be it directly or indirectly.”

"That guy has already killed more than ten people. He’s qualified to be on the hit list.”

“The second is that Assassins cannot attack Heroes unless it was the Hero who made the first move. Everything that happens afterward, the Assassins will be able to justify their actions under self-defense.”

“Oh? Are you going to hit me?”

“The third is that they cannot kill anyone that they were not hired to. These are their three rules, keep them in mind.” Aizawa instructed sternly. “If you ever come across an Assassin, never attack them. As long as you don’t attack them, they cannot attack you. The moment you do, they will gain the right to attack you and not be held accountable for anything that happens afterward.”

“But aren’t they still criminals?” Asui wondered out loud, not understanding why as Heroes they can’t fight against Assassins.

“Aizawa-sensei, are Assassins super strong?” Ashido asked curiously.

“No,” Aizawa replied. “If we judge them by the standard of Heroes, they are not strong. In fact, it is speculated that most of these Assassins are Quirkless.”

That made the class blow up.

“Quiet!” Aizawa shouted and the students shut their mouths. However, they were anything but calm, especially Midoriya who was once Quirkless.

To suddenly learn of an occupation that hired mostly Quirkless people was…

“Aizawa-sensei!” He couldn’t help but raise his hand, wanting to know. “If Assassins were all hidden and not much was seen, how do you know they are mostly Quirkless?”

“Let me ask you this.” Aizawa stared at Midoriya. “Who do we fight against, as Heroes?”

“Villains,” Midoriya replied naturally.

“Then what does it take for someone to be defined as Villain?”

“Someone who misuses their Quirks—” Midoriya froze, unable to continue as his tongue suddenly felt numb in his mouth. His eyes widened as he slowly began to understand.

“That’s right.” Aizawa continued, looking towards the rest of the class. “As Heroes, our job is to deal with those who use their Quirks to fight. Then what happens if there exist criminals that don’t use their Quirks?”

“They will fall to the police,” Iida gasped. They understood now. They now know why as Heroes, they are unable to touch Assassins. Heroes and police may seem to be on the same side, but there were many complications between the two departments. If by law that Assassins cannot be arrested by Heroes, then in doing so will only get them in trouble with the police!

“But wouldn’t they be easy to deal with? I mean, they can’t use their Quirks in a fight, right?” Kirishima asked.

“Assassins have killed more Villains than anyone in this world,” Aizawa deadpanned. “And they have done it without the aid of any Quirks. Assassins pride themselves on their skills. They don’t need Quirks to perform their jobs. That’s why those without Quirks are often the most ideal type to become Assassins. Without any special features, they can blend in and become anything.”

“Blend in?” Yaoyorozu muttered as the class shared a look.

For the next fifteen minutes, Aizawa began going through detail on how Assassins truly operate.

To all of the children’s shock, it wasn’t anything as simple as just waiting in the dark with a weapon.

Assassins have a huge range of skills, ones that no Villains or Heroes could compare to. To the point where they can be placed in any situation and still be able to swiftly blend in. They must have knowledge in all areas and all fields. Honey traps, disguises, informants…there were just countless ways for Assassins to move without alerting anyone around them. They can even kill a person in broad daylight and no one will ever know who has done it.

Just hearing it sent chills down their spines, thinking that perhaps one day, they will walk by an Assassin without even knowing.

“Assassins are masters in disguises and because their disguises are not Quirks, it’s not something that can be detected easily. Their expressions, their form and even down to the slightest movement are calculated. They will be at a disadvantage once exposed, but it doesn’t mean you can underestimate them. If anything, dealing with Assassins are far more dangerous than Villains. Assassins fight with a variety of weapons and poisons. They all have a thorough analysis of the human anatomy to know how to incapacitate you for the rest of your lives. There have been examples of Heroes fighting Assassins only to leave their Hero career due to this.”

The class shivered at the dark look in Aizawa’s eyes.

“But…Assassins only target those that killed more than ten people, right?” Kaminari laughed weakly. “Doesn’t that mean that we probably won’t ever see one?”

“No,” Aizawa stated flatly. “If anything, Heroes are the only career where you will meet more Assassins than any other ones.”

“Eh?!” Aoyama couldn’t stop the small screech he let out.

“More often than not, these Assassins will come for the Villains you’re fighting.” The raven-haired man replied. “To Assassins, the most important thing is the ability to kill their targets in one shot. In other words, they will wait for the perfect opportunity where the failure rate is at the lowest. It’s not uncommon for Heroes to subdue a Villain only for an Assassin to take the chance and kill the Villain off. Whenever you hear a report of a Villain’s death after engaging with a Hero, most of them were in fact killed by Assassins.”

“Aizawa-sensei,” Iida raised his hand. “Why does the government hide all of this? The World Assassination Association and these reported deaths…shouldn’t the public be made aware of this?”

“Because if the news gets out, more people will be aware of these Assassins and will lean towards them. There might even be an increase of clients for these Assassins,” Aizawa said slowly. “These Villains Assassins target are people that have murdered over ten people. If these Assassins’ accomplishments were brought to light, there would be a split between society on whether or not the Assassins’ actions are just and that can become extremely dangerous. This is why Assassin’s involvement needed to be covered up.”

The man looked around the class before continuing.                     

“The final thing you all need to know is a fourth rule of the World Assassination Association. This isn’t a rule for the Assassins to follow, but it is the most crucial rule we as Heroes need to know. If for whatever reason someone was to kill an Assassin, then the first three rules of the World Assassination Association will no longer be applied to that specific person.”

“Then doesn’t that mean that anyone can kill them?!” Mineta cried.

“That’s why you need to avoid any fight with Assassins. Even if a fight were to happen, figure out a way to pacify the Assassin. Assassins are not like Villains. They are capable of listening to reasoning and can be negotiated.” Aizawa instructed.

“In the future, there will come a time when you must face off against an Assassin that has come to kill the Villain you’ve captured. The only thing you can do in that situation is to protect the Villain. As long as you don’t attack the Assassin, they can’t attack you in any ways. The moment the Villain is transported into jail, the Assassin will have no way to kill them, that’s why they will do everything in their power to kill the Villain before that happens. They may even appear in front of you disguising as an ally to trick you.”

“Then…how do we know if they’re Assassins or not?” Uraraka asked nervously.

“…You don’t.” Aizawa replied slowly, remembering something from the past. “The only thing you can do is to trust your instinct and let that be your judgment.”

Those were the only advice Aizawa could give to his students.

Everyone heard it. They understood what their teacher was trying to tell them and took it to heart. But understanding was one thing, putting it into practical use was another.

Midoriya learned it the hard way after the fight with the Hero Killer.

That was the first time Midoriya has ever witnessed a death right in front of him.

Back then, Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki did everything they could to put the Hero Killer down. The moment the Villain was beaten, they all relaxed, thinking that everything was fine now.

Reinforcement arrived and things were seemingly peaceful until the flying Nomu appeared.

Then afterward, Midoriya was saved by the Hero Killer.

At that moment, no one could move from the blood lust the Hero Killer was expelling.

Midoriya could only stare, feeling as if there were invisible hands gripping onto him. He couldn’t move at all, even by an inch. He could only stare with fear on his face as the Hero Killer headed for the rest of the Heroes.

“I must make things right…!”

He said, taking a step forward.

“Someone must be dyed in red!”

He took another step.

“I must take back what it meant to be a Hero!!”

He slammed his feet down and glared at the Heroes before him.

“Come! Try to get me, you fakes! The only one I’ll allow to kill me is the real Hero! ALL—”

Midoriya saw something flickered by.

It was too fast for him to make out exactly what it was. All he knew that whatever it was, it went right through the Hero Killer’s head, followed by blood gushing out from the Villain’s temple. And then, like a marionette with its strings cut, the Hero Killer crumbled onto the ground.

For a while, nobody could move. All of them were still frozen in place, staring at the Villain lying on the floor motionlessly.

Midoriya stared at the body in front of him and felt everything inside him turning cold.

“Assassin!”

Gran Torino and Endeavor were the first ones to react. The moment Endeavor shouted that out, he jumped in front of the Hero Killer, using his large body to shield the Villain. Gran Torino had already activated his Quirk and flew off, heading towards the direction where the shot came from. The rest of the Heroes hurriedly grabbed the three U.A students and ran from the scene.

As Midoriya was carried away, he spotted a small hole in the ground a meter and half from where Stain laid.

Hero Killer: Stain, has died.

The Assassin that had killed Stain him was never found.

The moment the Assassin shot the Hero Killer, they went into hiding. Even with Gran Torino’s speed, he couldn’t find where the Assassin had gone. Just as Aizawa had said, the police covered up Stain’s death as an unfortunate accident, but a video of Hero Killer’s last moment began to surface all over the internet.

The video cut off right after Stain was shot, so questions and conspiracy theory began to pop up everywhere. They were even speculating that the police were the ones that had shot Stain off camera.

Despite the things the Hero Killer had done, society had split opinions of the Villain. Many idolize Stain and could relate his reasoning—something that Aizawa told them would happen should the public know about the Assassins.

Distrust towards the police and Heroes began to rise.

Midoriya didn’t know how to take the news. He didn’t know how to feel about the Hero Killer’s death.

Given that the Hero Killer has only killed Heroes, whoever hired an Assassin had to be from one of the deceased Hero’s families.

Even without giving any information, Midoriya knew the police must be investigating those families. He couldn’t understand. While he may not know all those Heroes that had died, surely the last thing these Heroes wanted was for their families to become murderers, and that’s what they will be the moment they decided to hire someone to take someone else’s life.

For the first three days, Iida didn’t even climb out of bed. The criminal’s death no doubt affected him the most. Iida had wanted the Hero Killer to die. He had wanted to avenge his brother.

But now, when the Hero Killer really did die, Iida didn’t feel any happiness at all.

All he felt was the frustration left in the form of a void inside him.

Now, there was no one for him to resent for what happened to his brother. He wasn’t even satisfied with how everything turned out. Iida realized now that what he really wanted was to bring the Hero Killer to justice, to show everyone that the Hero Killer was wrong.

To prove to the Villain that he was wrong.

But that won’t ever happen…never again.

When his one week internship was over, Midoriya was going to bid Gran Torino good buy when a thought came across his mind.

“Gran Torino,” he began, “when the Hero Killer died, how did you know it was an Assassin and not another Villain that had shot him?”

“Hmm…when you worked in this field, you’ll get to understand how those Assassins operate.” Gran Torino replied. “Waiting in the shadows to strike at the very last second has always been their signature method.”

Torino raised his brows when he saw Midoriya open his mouth. As if knowing what he was going to ask, he continued.

“Of course, it could have been a Villain, but Villains wouldn’t have snipers skilled enough to kill the target in one shot. The sniper that night had shot him from quite the distance away. You need skills for that, kid. It’s not something anyone can do without intensive training. That’s something Villains wouldn’t waste time on when killing people with their Quirks are faster and more convenient.”

“But they could still imitate…”

“And what good will they get out of imitating an Assassin?” Gran Torino asked, and Midoriya had no answers to that.

“While the government acknowledged the World Assassination Association, killing is still killing and Assassins can still be arrested. If the Assassin is caught, they will just sit in jail until the World Assassination Association bails them out. The only thing Villains would gain by pretending to be Assassins would be Assassins sniffing on their tails, and that is the last thing any Villain with half a brain would want. That’s how much Villains fear Assassins because whenever they cross paths with Assassins, the Villain will always be the one to die.”

When they returned to U.A, everything that happened during the past week felt like a distant dream. The police had asked Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki to keep silent about that night’s incident, especially the appearance of an Assassin. To the public, everyone believed that it was Endeavour who had brought down the Hero Killer before the Villain was shot.

Midoriya couldn’t even tell anyone the truth of that night. He felt as if his world was slowly spiraling out of control. He couldn’t stop the frustration burning inside him. The more he thought about the Hero Killer, the more frustrated he was because he realized another crucial information he had overlooked.

The Hero Killer always attacks his victims in less populated areas, preferably in alleys where there are walls surrounding them. Midoriya had thought it was to prevent being seen, but the main reason the Hero Killer chose that location was because he was aware of the Assassin after him.

With his kill count, he knew that someone would hire Assassins to go after him, especially when these families of Heroes were all wealthy. When the Hero Killer fought, he was always mindful of his surroundings, prepared for any surprise attacks from the Assassin.

Midoriya couldn’t help but blame himself for not thinking of this earlier. If he had taken Aizawa’s word more to heart, he would have figured out that an Assassin would be watching them, waiting for the perfect chance to kill the Hero Killer.

As much as Midoriya didn’t like the Hero Killer, he should be brought to justice and atone for his crimes, not to die like that. If he was able to stop it, then somewhere out there, a family may not have to live the rest of their lives knowing that their hands had been stained.

Midoriya couldn’t contain these feelings inside him so in the end, he went to the only person he knew could help him through this.

He went to All Might.

They sat in the staff break room with All Might placing a cup of tea in front of him.

“I see,” he said gently, taking a seat on the other side of the couch. “Teacher had told me what happened that night.”

“Hm…” Midoriya nodded slowly, taking a small sip of the tea without really tasting it.

“Young Midoriya, what you’re feeling is completely normal,” All Might assured him. “As frustrating as it is, we cannot do anything about the Assassins. As Heroes, we are only allowed to deal with Villains. Assassins can only be apprehended by police, that is the agreement they established with the governments around the world.”

“What happens to Assassins that get arrested?” Midoriya asked.

“Well…” All Might sighed. “If the police successfully apprehended them, the World Assassination Association will negotiate with the government to bail them out. There will never be a real charge place on their heads.”

“Even if they killed people?”

“This was an old agreement established when Villains were striving.” All Might explained. “Back then, the governments were in desperate need of their help and agreed to many of their terms. None of them expected the newly established World Assassination Association at the time to grow into what it is today. As long as Assassins keep their words and follow the rules, there’s nothing anyone can do but overlook their crimes.”

“But it’s wrong,” Midoriya gritted out. “What about the people who hired the Assassins? They…!!”

“Young Midoriya.” All Might called out his name. Midoriya looked up as a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder.

“I too share your frustration. All Heroes do. In all my years, I have encountered a fair number of times when I let the Villain I captured die at the hands of Assassin. It’s extremely frustrating, but that is just how it is. There is nothing that can be done about Assassins.”

“I understand, but…” Midoriya chewed on the inside of his cheek. He understood what All Might was telling him, but it didn’t make it any better.

“In every generation, Assassins play a crucial part in keeping the Villains in line. It is due to their existence that many Villains don’t dare to recklessly kill people, because if they do, their kill count will go up and could become targets for Assassins.” All Might told him. “You will understand eventually, young Midoriya.”

Midoriya could only nod.

Time went by like this.

Whenever Midoriya heard of a Villain dying, he would search it up, trying to figure out whether or not an Assassin was involved. He knew he shouldn’t be digging around like this, but there was never anything for him to dig up anyways. If Assassins were so easy to find, the governments wouldn’t be looking for so long and still not find a single clue.

Midoriya’s mind kept thinking back to the two Assassin students he encountered during the U.S.J incident. Were they Quirkless as well? Why did they become Assassins? Was there something that forced them onto that path?

The teen shook his head at that last thought.

No, they weren’t forced.

He recalled the looks on those two boy’s faces. The gentle and easy smiles as well as how relaxed they were in front of bloodshed and violence. While they were all shaking in fear, the two Assassins acted like they were more than used to such scenes. Midoriya could also not forget the disappointment the redhead displayed when they walked away as if they had just decided to walk out on a movie that was still playing.

Were they…still human?

In many ways, it was this behavior that made them more frightening than Villains. Villains kill, but they kill for their own, sick pleasure. What about these people? They didn’t enjoy killing, yet they kill because they get paid.

Midoriya wondered just which of them was better? Killing for pleasure, or killing for money?

The youth shook his head again and slapped his hands against his cheeks.

No matter what the reason, killing is killing. There was no way to justify their ways of taking a life.

Yet unlike Villains, there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

Not the Heroes and certainly not the government.

The next time Midoriya saw the two young Assassins, he didn’t see them in person but on the television. It was the very first time in history that an Assassin was captured in action. It was also the first-ever video for anyone to witness such one-sided and crushing defeat for a Villain.

“Force Quirk Activation! Magnetism!”

All For One forcefully activated Magne’s Quirk to throw the members of the League of Villains into Kurogiri’s wrap hole.

“Wait! Don’t, Master!” Shigaraki shouted, hands digging into the dirt to fight against the pull that was drawing him closer and closer towards the portal. “With that body, you’ll—!!”

Shigaraki was cut off with a sharp gasp as he was thrown into the air, falling back towards the warp hole.

“No!” The hand on his face slowly fell off, revealing the scared and lost look on his face. His body was already passing through the warp hole.

The moment his body was engulfed by the black mist—leaving behind just his face—he stopped.

Before anyone could react, something was rapidly fired out of the black hole, aiming directly at All for One who was hovering in the sky. Having his attention lock onto All Might, All for One wasn’t even given the time to react before bullets pierced through his body.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye.

All for One fell from the sky and slammed into the ground, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

“MASTER—AAH!!” Shigaraki’s cry turned into a scream with his face distorted in a mixture of anger and pain.

Sweats rolled down his face as his red pupils rolled into the back of his head. His voice was gone, leaving behind just his gaping mouth as he fainted.

“Shigaraki…!”All for One had no idea what had happened. He never anticipated anything like this before.

All Might was stunned as well, and so were the citizens on the other side of the television watching the live broadcast. No one had any idea what had happened until Shigaraki’s head began to move. He slowly moved forward, coming out of the dark mist until his entire head was out, revealing the gloved hand gripping onto the back of his hair.

Shigaraki’s arms fell out of the mist. To everyone’s shock, his arms were twisted around the joints and broken in various places

The dark purplish mist fluttered before a person walked out.

Bright red hair, gold coloured eyes, gray and black uniform…although All Might has never personally met this boy, he knew about him. He learned about him from reports given by Midoriya, Asui and Mineta. He was one of the two Assassin students at U.S.J!

Unlike before, the boy was wearing a black mask covering the bottom half of his face.

“Good evening!” He greeted in a cheerful voice, holding up Shigaraki’s head and waved like a puppeteer performing an act with his puppet. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

With a wave of his hand, he tossed Shigaraki through the portal behind him. Before, All for One couldn’t close the portal when Shigaraki was stuck between dimensions, but now that his disciple was out, he could finally close it.

However, even if he did close it off now, he knew it would be meaningless, as this boy did not need the warp hole anymore.

All Might stared at the young Assassin standing before them.

It couldn’t be…

But why after all these years…?

As if thinking the same thing, All for One began to cackle, but was cut off when he began coughing intensely

“So the Assassins have finally come to take my head!”

The moment that name came out, the crowd of people watching the scene burst into gasps. All of them recognized the name Assassin, yet none of them had any idea what this name meant until this very moment. 

“Yep,” the boy tucked his hands into his pocket and walked up to the most feared Villain without a care in the world. “I’ve come to assassinate you, old man.”

“Assassins always worked in the shadows,” All for One chuckled. “And you’re young…what made the Assassins send out their fledging to do their work?”

“Nothing much,” the boy shrugged. “Just that the price of your head went down…to the point where even a fledgling like me can take your head.”

“Affordable?” All for One laughed. “And what makes you think you can kill me? I’ve been alive all this time and never once have Assassins ever been able to kill me!”

“Dabi, Himiko Toga, Twice, Spinner, Mr. Compress, Magne, Kurogiri and of course, Shigaraki Tomura.” The redhead started listening out all the names of the people All for One just saved. “Right now, my classmates are standing over them, watching this live broadcast. The moment they get the signal or if you try anything funny, they will kill them.”

That made All for One’s breath hitched. It was a very small and unnoticeable action, but the way the boy’s eyes curved up in a smile told the Villain that he had noticed.

"Assassins can't kill people who are not on the hit list.”

“And how do you know they’re not on the hit list?” the redhead challenged.

“I have my sources,” All for One replied confidently.

“Oh but they’re on the hit list!” The boy grinned widely behind his mask. “They’ve been on there since five minutes ago~”

“Impossible, that’s—!” All for One cut himself off when a thought came to him. However, this was something that has never happened before! “You requested a hit on their heads…!”

It was a general rule that Assassins cannot place a hit on anyone’s head, but there was no rule saying that Assassin cannot request someone who isn’t an Assassin to put out a specific hit. Although not against the rule, this was something that has never happened before, as doing such a thing will damage the Assassin’s name within their community.

But this person right here was a child. As a child who hasn’t become a full-grown Assassin yet. For a child who isn’t a true Assassin yet, these sort of actions could certainly be excused!

“You see, we rank those on the hit list base on difficulties!” The boy waved his finger, drawing lettering in midair. “E-rank, D-rank, C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and S-rank. The rank changes depending on the Villain’s abilities and their effect on society. The moment it was clear that you have a successor, you dropped from S-rank because you became replaceable. The moment police and Hero decided to team up and raid your little hideout, you dropped even more.”

And then, the red-haired boy leaned down, hovering over All for One’s face.

“Do you want to know what rank you fell to the moment you’re exposed in public eyes?”

All for One stared at the kid above him. He wheezed while his mind turned and began to run over the possible scenarios.

“You want to know, don’t you?” The boy laughed. “The answer is—”

And then, All for One’s brain stopped functioning.

He could still see the boy, yet he could also feel his life quickly slipping away from him. He tried to move his body, to figure out what had happened, but it was already too late.

All for One may not have known what happened, but onlookers did.

With the boy hovering over All for One, the Villain’s attention was zeroed in on the boy. He was observing the boy carefully, watching out for each and every one of his moves. His head was even pulled back, so he could keep the boy in his vision.

Therefore, he couldn’t see the blue-haired boy that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, nor could he stop the sharp blade slicing through the base of his neck—skillfully going under his equipment and into the flesh.

The blue-haired youth stood over the Villain, a foot on each side of his body with a bloodied knife gripped tightly in his gloved hand.

All Might felt a chill as he stared into those blue eyes completely void of emotion as they stared down at the head that he had just detached.

“Bye, bye, old man,” the red-haired boy waved and with a light kick, he turned the head over, ending their conversation.

“That’s a Villain boss for you! Over thirty shots with a submachine gun and he still wasn't down,” he hummed joyfully.

“We don’t know if he’s dead for certain, Karma-kun,” the blue-haired boy informed his companion. The cold glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by warmth and gentleness. Although All Might couldn’t see the boy’s lower half of his face, he was certain that the child was smiling. 

“Reports did say that he survived even without his head.” As he said that, his ocean blue eyes shifted to All Might who was standing in the distance. The No.1 Hero watched the scene with his mouth still open, unable to react properly to the turn of events.

“Nagisa-kun is correct!” A voice came from the sky. All Might and Gran Torino automatically looked up, but couldn’t see anything.

When they looked down, they were surprised to find a person with octopus mutation standing behind the two children.

“Koro-sensei!” The two kids shouted.

All Might and Gran Torino were instantly tensed. First Assassin students and now their teacher has appeared? What was going on?

“Well done, Nagisa-kun, Karma-kun!” the yellow octopus complimented, using his tentacle arms to pat the two boys on the head. “That was a beautifully well-executed assassination! Sensei is extremely proud!”

“Took us months though,” Karma said, pushing the tentacle off his head.

“A good Assassin must have patience,” Koro-sensei nodded. “You both took your time analyzing all of the League of Villains as well as their safe houses and laboratories. With thorough calculation, Karma-kun was able to pinpoint the exact location All for One would send his disciple to when in danger. Instead of acting, the two of you waited for an opportunity, and that is the Heroes’ attack on the League of Villains.”

The Assassin teacher made a point by nodding his large head towards the two Heroes in the distance.

“Karma-kun lay low in their laboratory while Nagisa-kun hid within the debris amidst the battle. Your plans have worked marvelously, but as your teacher, I will still have to deduct marks off the risks you took, especially Karma-kun!”

Karma didn’t say anything, showing that he fully understood what his teacher was talking about.

“Even now, we don’t know the full extent of All for One’s Quirks. Had he been calmer and thought more rationally, he would have realized that Karma-kun was bluffing about putting hits on the League of Villains then things will become extremely bad. And while I trust Nagisa-kun’s ability to stay hidden, there’s still a chance you could be hit or get caught up in the battle.”

“Yes…” Nagisa nodded slowly, almost dejectedly.

“Nevertheless, great job, both of you. Sensei is extremely looking forward to all of your futures!” The octopus sniffed proudly. “You’ve all come so far! Let us go back, everyone’s waiting for you!”

“Sounds like everyone else finished their assignments, Karma-kun,” Nagisa’s voice carried happiness as he turned to his companion, holding out his hand and curled his fingers in so it became a fist.

“Sounds like we’re the last two,” Karma snorted, lifting his own hand and bumped their fists together.

And then, clouds of white fume began shooting out from all around them. Some coming out from the mountain of debris while others from small cans that have been set on the floor at some point.

“Wait!” All Might gasped, he tried to run up, but his battered body wouldn’t allow him to go far.

“Toshinori!” Gran Torino had to pull him back when he nearly fell over.

“Nyuruhuhuhuhu~” A weird laugh echoed into their ears. They looked around, but couldn’t find anyone. “You should use this chance to leave as well! Your power is leaving you, it’ll be bad if you get exposed in front of the camera.”

“Who are you?” All Might asked, looking around the thickening fog.

“I’m a fan, and a fellow teacher,” the Assassin teacher replied. “Being a teacher is tough, isn’t it? I’m sure our students will cross paths in the future, I look forward to those days!”

Just like that, the Assassins left, taking the body of All for One with them.

No one knew why these Assassins took the bodies with them, but one thing for certain was that All for One was truly dead. Assassins will never assist Villains, just as how they will never assist Heroes. Their only job is to kill.

All for One will never come back—the Assassins will make sure of that.

As simple as that, the Villain that had seemed so powerful and out of reach has died—at the hands of two children no less.

The truth of All Might’s identity was kept safe, but the last ember of One for All has completely left All Might. The next day, All Might announced his retirement, putting an end to his Hero career.

The world was in an uproar after that.

Everyone was frantic over the loss of their Symbol as well as the escaped Villains.

But more than anything, they were shaken over the appearance of Assassins.

In that battle, the two Assassin children left a deeper impression than anyone else. With just bullets and knives, they killed the super Villain that was on par with All Might. This also served as a reminder to the world and Villains that Assassins are walking amongst them.

The Villains cheered at the disappearance of All Might, but the reminder of Assassins made them even more cautious than before, fearing that the moment they killed ten people, an Assassin would come to take their head.

This was a three-way deadlock.

“They did it on purpose,” All Might said, staring out to the city from the roof of the school with Midoriya by his side.

“Eh?”

“Those two children, as well as their teacher, were putting up a show for the media and the world,” the blond explained. “The moment they struck All for One from the warp hole, the battle was already decided. There was no reason to let themselves be seen, yet those two children did, knowing full well that they will be on live broadcast.”

“But why would they do that?” Midoriya couldn’t figure out what they’ll gain by doing this.

“That Assassin teacher…he knew about the truth of my power. Perhaps they already knew the moment you entered U.A, young Midoriya.”

“Me?” Midoriya’s eyes widened.

“Without a symbol, the world will fall into chaos with the Villains running amuck. To prevent the worst from happening, they sent out their students to show the world that the Assassins were striving. They show off the skill of their young ones and had them take out the most dangerous Villain in history as a warning.”

“You mean…if Villains were to overtake the city, it would cause issues to Assassins?” Midoriya frowned. “But wouldn’t it benefit the Assassins if more Villains were to appear? That means they will get more…”

The boy trailed off, not sure how to call it. Work? Business? They all felt so wrong, especially when these works involved taking a life.

“Assassins only kill those who have taken lives.” All Might replied. “But if the world was to go out of order and everyone has dirtied their hands, would anyone still bother to hire Assassins?”

Midoriya thought over All Might’s words and realized that no—no one would hire Assassins whose specialty was only to kill one person at a time with a price.

“If the world were to go out of order, there would be no place for them. Compared to Heroes and Villains, Assassins are the closest to ordinary civilians. Or to be precise, they blend within our society and live like ordinary citizens. If the world was to be filled with Villains, it would be inconvenient for them who can’t kill unless hired to do so.”

“Then…does that also mean that Assassin might be on a rise?” Midoriya asked. After all, he has seen the talks on the internet. Compared to the hype Stain brought, these Assassins impacted the world more than Stain ever could. Everyone was talking about them and there were heavy debates on whether or not Assassins are evil.

“It is possible.” All Might frowned. “Anyone with money can hire Assassins.”

Then he reached out a hand and spread his fingers out as if there was something in the distance for him to grasp onto.

“That’s why, as Heroes, we must do our best to protect everyone, young Midoriya.”

Midoriya looked up at All Might before a smile broke on his face. He nodded, looking over the city before reaching his hand out, making the same pose as his Hero.

“Yes!”

Please visit AO3 link for Author’s note!