Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Shoto..” 

“Over here, lil bro..” 

“Haku-nii!” Shoto happily ran into his brother. He quickly hugs his brother tightly, not wanting to let go any second. He can smell the nice fragrance that Haku-nii has. It's so refreshing and calm. The smell of warm sun and grass was the scent that his brother had. And it always makes him feel safe and warm. The two didn’t let go for a moment until they decided to talk to each other. 

It’s been a while since the two met. Because of the duty that their father gave, Haku had to go far away to study. His father sent Haku to one of the prestigious academies where he will learn on how to be a greater Alpha. Take an example for himself, Haruhiko brag. 

But that's an old story of one the older brother goes while the little one stays. No matter how far Haku goes,no matter how difficult he went through life,  he will always remember his precious little brother. 

“I miss you so much, Haku-nii!” Shoto’s eyes shine as he continues “I miss, miss you so much~” 

Haku chuckled as he returned his little brother hugs. He caresses his little brother’s hair and speaks. 

“You’ve grown up..” Haku look proud 

“Of course I am. I’ve been drinking milk everyday. That's why I’m getting taller..” Shoto smiles brightly at Haku. After the short reunion hug, they continue to walk slowly. Haku smiles at his little brother as he holds Shoto's hands tight. “Good for you, Sho. But you still have a long way to go to be taller than me~” Haku said, ruffling Shoto’s hair.

“I’ll get taller sooner!” He pouted while his brother started laughing at him. “I'm even taller than you, Haku-nii!” 

“We’ll see about that…”

They walk while they catch up on some things that they had done, but most fully Shoto asks about his brother's adventure. He is more interested in listening to his brother's story. He would rather not tell him anything about what happened at home. 

“Haku-nii..” 

“Yes?” Haku turned around “What’s wrong, Sho?” 

“Can I ask you a favor..?” 

Haku replied “Sure. what favor are you asking?” They kept their hands together while still walking. Haku can feel that his little brother gets nervous all of the sudden. 

“Can you help me become stronger?” Shoto asks while he then looks up to his brother. “I heard my friends say that you are the strongest in Bakumori, and I am happy for that.. I really do, Haku-nii” 

Shoto smiles cheerfully at Haku. 

“I just…want to see my father happy. Like you did!” His smiles start to fade but he tries his best to hide it. “Father always told me that I have to be you so that he will be proud. He said that everyone will be proud of me, "If I can be like you, strong…” 

“For once I want him to acknowledge me!” 

Seeing his innocent little brother plead at him makes Haku’s heart become more soft as he doesn’t want to disappoint his little brother. He knows that his father is very strict when it comes to perfection. He too has a hard time when to please his father. So he agreed to help Shoto in training. “Sure, let's go to the training room together!” 

“Really?”

“Mhm… let’s go!” 

Haku reaches out his little brother's hand and grip it tighter so that they will not be separated from each other. 

He’ll make sure he will never let his little brother go. 

– – – – 

But Haku is the one who let go of his hand 

Because of him, his brother stayed in his youth forever. Never grow older.

Because of his wish and its all is his fault. His fault. HIS-

As the memories start to vivid away, the dreams that Shoto had come to an end. 

The nightmare will never end

It’s been a while since his dream about his past. His mistake. His biggest regret. 

He can still clearly remembered like it was yesterday

“I better get up now…” He mutters to himself as he quickly goes toward his bathroom and starts to clean himself up. 

Ten minutes after taking a shower, he walked to his wardrobe and began to search on what he should wear. He decided to wear his usual clothes. He chose his usual black t-shirt and black pants. He turned around and saw one of his earrings. His old one. The one he used two years ago. He hesitated to wear it at first. But after some thought or two, Shoto decided to wear it. 

It’s fine… he can wear it and no one will notice it. 

His father doesn’t care either. 

He never care him 

“I’ll be right back…” and then the door was closed. 

He steps outside of his room  and for a minute he can feel the sunlight across the window, greeting him with its light. He closed his eyes as the sunlight struck his eyes. So bright , he thought. He strolled around from the hallway through the hallway and then through the gate where it connected to the training ground. 

Even though he just got back, there is no time to rest when he is in Bakumori, under his father's presence. There is no air when he is under his father. 

He sighed as he closed his eyes. It will be fine. He opened the gate and upon seeing the room filled with air, the room was occupied with five to ten people. And in between Shoto sees his father, looking at him displeased. 

His father looked so angry. As always, he always angry at him 

“I see you have the nerve for coming late...” Haruhiko said in a cold tone. He looks annoyed and irritated as if he wants to pull his hair up to make his own son's hair pull off and be bald. 

There is no time to argue about it, Shoto apologizes to his father for once before he adds some sentence “Who are these people, father?” 

“These people are your instructor. They will train you, give you a schedule to train, and examine you by the end of the day. They will train you until you’ve become stronger for the next competition.” 

Competition again ? He thought, and was thankful that he didn’t say any words. He didn’t say anything as he just nodded off at what his father said and told him to do. He retells all the things he should do and must be done. Shoto nodded again and again until his father looked at him and looked pissed. Again. 

“One more thing.” His father looked at Shoto with hatred. “A leader must come early in the morning to be able to organize its possession. No leader makes their people wait!” 

“Do you understand?” 

Shoto nodded again and this time he can hear his father ‘tch’ at him. “A word would be fine if you hear everything that I say. I don’t need a mute answer.” 

“...” People start to whisper as they look pity on the young master who. Before making it worse, Shoto let out his word, calmly “I understand, father.” 

“Good. Now stop wasting your time and train immediately.” and then his father left quickly, leaving the training ground. 

The instructors are looking at each other, confused by this awkward vibe in this room. They didn’t let out a word until the young master looked at them showing respect to them. “Thank you for taking your time to train and teach. I look forward to working with you, instructors.” 

Shoto bowed to them and that action surprised all of them. One of them starts to speak to respond to the gratitude that the young master gave to them. “We look forward to working with you too, young master.” The old man bowed respectfully to Shoto. 

“We look forward too, young master!” Others follow him as they show more respect to the young master. “We’ll make sure that you will not regret us. We will do our best!” As they finished their speech, they began their first lesson for this training. The time started ticking one by one  as the training lesson began for Shoto for his lesson. 

— — — — — — 

The sun started rising more  to the training ground, making the room getting brighter. The sound of clashing and running can be heard from outside, vibrating the quietness. In the training ground after getting some warm-ups, one of the instructors becomes Shoto’s opponent. The other had already left since their shifts are over and might as well go away and take a break. 

Just then came Shoto’s friend, Shu and Ike. Since they didn’t see him in the park where they used to play and train together, they thought that he would be in here and their speculation is correct. They decide to watch Shoto. Ike shush Shu just as the instructor start talking

“For today's lesson, unlike sword skill or combat, you will learn something different. From what I say, the potential in young master’s sword skill, you still lack of feeling.” The old man said as he observed him. 

Shoto looks confused as he stops his clashing his dagger to the wooden doll that has been used. He looks at his instructor as the old man continues. “Even when your skill is better than anyone, without feeling, there will be none to be able to complete this..” 

“How should I do it?” 

The old man smiles wisely “By knowing who you are fighting for.” 

The room starts to get quiet as the sentence from the old man ends. But it didn’t end quickly as the old man spoke again “If I may be bold. May I ask something?” Shoto nodded and allowed his instructor to ask “Who are you fighting for?” 

“My family and my people.” Shoto said it clearly.

“I see.. So let's test it shall we?” The old man took his dagger from his dagger belt. “Would it be an honor for this old man to fight with you, young master?” 

“It will be my honor.” Shoto retrieves his dagger and positions himself for the better angle. 

Both of them start positioning themself as others just watch them closely, observing. Shu is getting excited as if he’s going to witness Tekken in real life. Ike looked beside Shu just sighed as his friend was over when it came to training. But he too was excited as he just opened his note to see if he could draw or take a note. 

When they became quiet, Shoto quickly ran up to the old man and began attacking him. To which surprisingly the old man dodge his dagger by clashing it to his. This makes Shoto jump back as he steady himself to attack more. 

He tries to attack closely but the old man dodge it very quickly as if he can read his move. 

Shoto, not wanting to give up, began to make some plan to defeat him. If attacking closer isn’t the answer then that means he can attack him from far away.  He runs faster and faster to make the old man can’t clearly see where he should be. And just as his speed got faster, he quickly made a distraction by throwing another dagger to the old man. 

He dodged it again. Again and again until the last dagger is thrown again to the old man, which he actually can dodge. 

Shu and Ike continued to watch closely and realized that on the ground there was only the old man who was standing there.  “Where did Shoto go?” 

“Did he disappear?” Ike said in disbelief. 

“It can’t be!” Shu replied but still in disbelief. 

Both start to get confused but still continue to watch anyway to see any clues of where Shoto. The old man, on the other hand, looks very calm which makes Shoto a little bit irritated by the action. 

It doesn’t matter. I can do it!

And just then he sped up and tried to get closer to the old man to point his dagger to his neck. He tries to aim it well and clean so that it will be a surprise attack for him. 

Got it-

Just how fast he was attacking, the old man dodging was faster as he was clashing his dagger stronger, making Shoto’s dagger come off from his hand. It was suddenly reversed. The one who gets tangled up, the one who's getting their dagger on his neck is Shoto himself. 

He lost.  

He just lost. He looked shocked. How? He had many questions to ask in his mind but it was quickly interrupted by the old man's chuckle. 

“You are a great warrior, young master. Your eyes are sharp like your dagger. Your skill is unbeatable if I should say more..” 

“It’s nothing.. I still lost.” Shoto sighed in defeat as he smile at his instructor.

The old man looked at Shoto who was devastated at his loss. He smiles tenderly while calmly explaining “You’re lost not because you are lacking in your ability. You’re lost because you didn’t let the wind whisper to you.” 

Shoto looks uncertain and confused. He quickly asked “How can I know that?” 

The old man once again smiles “By knowing what you're fighting for.” He continued, “If the answer that you gave me now is the real answer, then you can win.”

“But since you’re lost, you can start looking for the real answer and let the wind whisper to you for the answer..”  

He looks at Shoto and he can see that the boy looks confused but doesn’t have courage to ask, he knows so he slowly explains it. “Sometimes words don't mean action. Words sometimes are an abstract that you couldn’t be sure if it's right or wrong. It’s the way it is. ‘Wind whisper’ means that you have to listen to your heart more, rather than your mind or the things that you’ve been pushed for.” 

“You have to find your answer within yourself. And when you do, you’ll be able to fight me properly.” 

He once again unsheathe his dagger and pointed it at Shoto “Again!” 

— — — — — — 

The training went somewhat satisfactorily,  but there were several things that Shoto needed improvement and some aspects were not thoroughly covered. His strength to be precise and his ‘answer’. 

‘His answer’ He thought deeply but still couldn’t figure it out. “What’s wrong Sho?” Ike was worried as Shoto was a bit surprised. . 

“Are you still thinking about what the elder says?” Shu comments. 

Shoto replied “I- maybe..?” 

“Pfft- to be honest with you guys. I too couldn’t figure it out what he mean.” Shu commented and continue “listen to the wind, sounds like talking to a wall without replying~” 

Shu tries to cheer Shoto up because his mood seems sour after hearing what the old man says. But it seems like it didn’t make him better. He became silent and that made Shu worry. Shu looks at Ike and signals him to help him. Ike looked at Shu and then understood it. 

Ike wraps his arm around Shoto’s shoulder and tries to assure him “Hey, don’t think too much of it, alright? Sometimes they give such an abstract for a lesson. They probably mean something, which is not really that important..” 

“Yeah what Ike said is true..” Shu continued Ike’s words. “You don’t have to push yourself too hard, Sho. We’re here for you.” 

Their words truly made Shoto’s heart melt in relief, he slowly looked at his friend and smiled “Yeah, you guys are right. Maybe I shouldn’t think too hard about what he said.” 

“Eyy~ that’s what I’m talking about!” Shu ruffles Shoto’s hair and smiles happily “We’re here for you, Sho. Just call us and we’ll be there for you..” Shoto starts to get a little annoyed as his hair is getting ruffled more, making his tidy hair become messy, but he lets it slide for now. 

Ike looks at them and smiles “Hey, how about the three of us go somewhere?” 

“Ohh! I am totally in! Where should we go?” 

“How about we go out to the forest. We can talk, walk, and maybe explore outside the wall..” Shu looks at Ike and he immediately agrees. But Shoto turned down the offers.” 

“Today I’m a bit tired, I’ll think I'll rest in my room. You guys have fun-” 

Both look concerned at him and still slowly ask again “Are you sure? You’re not sick right?” 

“Of course not- I just… feel tired because of training..” 

“I see..” Ike smiled sadly as Shoto couldn’t go with them. “But remember you have to get rest, no more training and do stuff that will make you tired.” 

“What are you, my mom?” Shoto said jokingly 

“I could but I don’t want to..” 

“Hahaha… I’m glad you don’t want to.” 

After Shoto left, Ike and Shu remained standing together, looking at their friend back while leaving them.  Their expressions convey a deep sense of sadness to their dear friend. The atmosphere was heavy with a mix of emotions, as if they were both struggling to come to terms with the situation. Ike's face was particularly somber, reflecting a profound disappointment and possibly even a hint of regret. Shu's gaze, though, seemed more contemplative, as if he was trying to process what happened before and wanting to try to find a solution for Shoto. 

But still, will Shoto be able to find his answer through their help? Will they help him or burden him more?

“Hey Shu.” Shu looks at Ike as he looks awkward for a second before he continues to speak again. “Do you think we can help Shoto, in another way?” 

“I don’t think we’ll be helping him, considering he still close his heart to us sometimes.” 

“I want to help him too, Ike. I do too..” Shu looks in pain as Ike realizes too. “But I don’t think he needs it.” 

“..” Ike sighed in disappointment. However, just as Ike started to feel down, Shu began to say “How about instead of helping him, we could cheer him up with something!” and that makes Ike look up and feel like there is hope. Another hope for them to make it to him. 

“That’s not a bad idea, Shu you’re brilliant!” 

Shu smiles happily as both him and Ike are agreeing to the plan. “So what should we do? Should we buy him something?” 

“Buying something for him is not a good option, since he already has everything in the flick of the hand..” 

“That.. I kinda forgot, thank you for reminding me Ike..” 

They start to think deeper and deeper as every solution that they think is something that is not special and could cheer him up more. Thankfully they didn’t give up that fast and started to let out everything from their mind. 

“What about flowers? I feel like flowers are more meaningful than making pancakes..” 

“Hmm.. I think flowers are simple, since we had a lot of them like daisies, roses, sunflowers, poppies, etc.” 

“But, there is one flower that Shoto likes the most.” Shu smiles as Ike looks confused. Though at the same time Ike quickly realize what Shu mean “You mean-” 

“Lavender” Both of them speak at the same time which makes them look at each other. “He loves those flowers, even though he only sees them in a picture.” Shu said.  

“Right, I remember. He always talks non stop about it. Even though he smells like one, he has never seen the flowers before..”

“We should get him the real one!”  

“I like the idea, Shu.” Ike continued, “But the only problem is where we should find them?” Both of them went quiet for a second to think of something. 

“Should we plant them now- wait we didn’t even know which seeds..” Shu mutters as he tries to make another solution, which doesn't result well. “It’s unfortunate that lavender is rare in Bakumori.” Ike said, his voice tinged with a hint of disappointment. "Here, we only have the usual varieties of flowers that are commonly found." As he spoke, Ike's eyes scanned the landscape, confused as he was about to give up. 

“Argh.. can they just  pop up somewhere and that maybe we could just take it anyway!” 

Ike looked back at Shu shockingly “Shu can you say that again?” Hearing that makes Shu confused but still he hesitates to say it again “Eh.. you mean the pop up somewhere?” 

“After that!” he asked as  his voice laced with a hint of surprise. The words hung in the air, leaving Shu momentarily perplexed.

“ ‘maybe we could just take it anyway?’ What's wrong Ike? Do you have problems with your hearing?” 

Ike's expression remained stoic, his eyes fixed on some distant point as he stood there in silence, thinking of something. And that's making Shu’s growing confusion. Shu continued to stare intently at Ike, his gaze unwavering, but the man before him showed no signs of acknowledging his presence. ‘Seems like he is in deep thought again’ Shu thought to himself as he was ready to give up. Just then in the blink of an eye, Ike's hand shot out and grasped Shu's wrist with a sudden, almost unnoticed movement, catching him completely off guard. The unexpected touch sent a jolt of surprise through Shu.  Shu's eyes widened in alarm as he tried to process what was happening, but before he could even utter a word, Ike's grip tightened slightly, and he called out in a voice laced with urgency, "Ike, what's going on?" However, Ike remained steadfastly silent. 

This makes Shu worried more as it is the first time Ike went silent without replying to his question. Before he could speak again, Ike turned his head to look at him. He looked kind of worried in his expression, Shu can tell it for a second. “Shu..” Ike mutters and Shu can hear it because they are close. 

“Yes?” Shu replied with a short answer. “I think I know where to find hydrangeas.. But it could be dangerous.” 

“Like that will stop me! Of course you’ll be with me, right?” 

“Of course, Shu. I will be with you and make sure everything will be okay.” Ike looked down for a moment before he spoke again, “But I have to warn you that the hydrangea that we’re looking for isn’t here. It’s elsewhere..” 

“That doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that we’ll be able to make Shoto smile again..” 

Ike smiles as he looks at Shu, who looks cute when he says it like that. But he was worried about what they would face when they had to get the hydrangea. But it is what it is, it’s their fault for taking the risk. “Alright.. Then you have to promise to never let go of me when we get there.” 

“I’m not a kid, Ike. stop treating that I am.” 

“Promise?” 

“Fine, I promise that I will stick together with Ikey wikey!” 

“Oh no.. don’t you dare say that name!” Ike's hand enveloped Shu's, his fingers intertwining with his in a gentle yet firm grasp as they set out together to gather the hydrangeas for Shoto. The sun cast a warm glow over the landscape, illuminating the path ahead as they walked side by side. However, their little journey quickly took them far beyond the familiar confines of the forest and their home, into a place where Shu wouldn't have expected. Even though Ike says there is a risk, he didn’t tell what the risk is. Maybe it’s just a dangerous place, right? What could gone wrong.

— — — — — —

Shoto stared blankly at his ceiling room. His eyes stare at it unease as there are heavy feelings that he couldn't let it out from his chest. Is it guilt or maybe ashamed of what happened today? He failed. Yet the old man didn’t get angry or look disappointed, instead he looked relieved as if he was looking at him like a child that made a small mistake. 

If only his father was like that too

In the old man's eyes, making a mistake is fine. But for his father, it is a sin. Thinking of that makes Shoto shiver as it was an uneasy feeling. He  tries to distract himself by drawing something in the paper, making clouds, pancakes, a knife, and some certain demon that he needs to make sure that he will do some payback. But he quickly got bored and tossed the paper into the bin. ‘Still not tired.’ he thought to himself as he then decided to do some small exercise in his room. He slowly laid his lower body down into the floor and started positioning himself to do some push-ups. Shoto made sure his chest descended towards the ground with controlled precision. His arms flexed, his shoulders absorbing the impact of his weight. With a deep breath he started to lower his chest into the ground and paused for a moment at the bottom before pushing back up with his arms. 

For multiple rounds, Shoto began to sweat from his forehead, face, and upper lip. While his breathing was steady and controlled in each round, he could not feel himself satisfied by doing this a couple of rounds. He is not tired yet, but the idea of doing another push-up isn’t his priority. Just that he stopped his exercise and sat there while looking at the ceiling again. 

“What should I do..?” He stared at the ceiling again and again, hoping to find a way. Shoto looks down at his clothes that he is wearing, he can see all the sweats start soaking into his t-shirt. He decided he should go change. Though that was his first thought. Because, just before he fully took off his t-shirt, his eyes locked into something outside from the window. 

There are no words could describe what Shoto saw outside of the window, but the minute he saw it he put his t-shirt back on and took the dark purple jacket, before slamming the door shut behind him. The room seemed to hold its breath for a moment, the only sound the faint creaking of the doorframe. Whatever Shoto's caught on, it will never tell. Because only him knew and we were not allowed to know it yet, as we will soon leave and arrive at the next location. 

— — — — — 

“I think I regret it..” 

“I should have stayed in my room.” He mutters to himself while his feet have some mind of its own, wandering the street like there is no ending. His eyes wandered and began scanning through the familiar roads and streets as the sun slowly went down, many people walked away from the street, making the street become quiet. All of the sudden, Shoto just realized that he was all alone, again. 

He had a thought of going to Ike or Shu’s houses but then he decided not to go there as he didn’t want to disturb them. Despite the cold evening running past his skin, he didn’t bother to go back and forget everything.  There is this feeling that he seems uneasy to talk about it. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was exactly where he was meant to be, he just wanted this feeling to go away from his thoughts. As he walks one by one at a small speed, then ito running, Shoto starts to run through the street, not minding if someone will watch him and think he’s crazy. 

He ran and ran, sprinting through the street, not wanting to stop his pace. Despite the exhaustion creeping through his muscles, he refused to slow down, his breath growing increasingly labored with each passing moment. His chest heaved with the effort, and his lungs strained to draw in enough air, but still he kept running. As he passed the forest, he went straight to a place where no one could find him. The only place where he used to sneak out with his brother. Across the deep forest, there is an entrance tunnel, where it was closed with many stone bricks. But He know where the fake one is. 

Without a split second, he lifts the fake one and closes it behind him, leaving a small source of light behind the brick. Just as he closed the entrance, he turned around to inspect. He looked around and only to see darkness and a weird stench of smell around the area. 

“I see this place hasn’t changed..” His footsteps walk slowly as measured where he will navigate through the quiet. His eyes were on his feet as he stared at his feet, navigating where to stop. 

“I never realized how lonely this place is.” 

“Seems like I haven’t been in this place for long..” Shoto began to mesmerize this place while his expression became more softened as he remembered the old day. The tunnel was dark and cold, dirty and smelly, but it held memories for him.

It’s been awhile since he felt this much relaxed. The silence makes all of his ache feelings go away. 

Haku-nii! Over here!

‘Wait slow down! You’ll fall if you run that fast!’

Only if you catch me now! 

As if he can see his kid form, running past him while being chased by his brother, Shoto turns around to see himself and his brother. He can hear the laugh and the worried voice that Haku spoke. Yes. These were his memories. His memories are remembering his favorite one, playing tag with his dear brother, forgetting how nasty and dark the world is.

‘I see you’re here too, Vox. Came to tag along with us?’ 

“It is my pleasure, but it seems like your sweet little brother is still scared of me..” 

I’m not! You’re not scaring me, Vox!

“Well I’m afraid I am a person who love to bite such a innocent kid like yourself~” 

I- HOW DARE YOU!!! Stay Back This Instance!! 

Fortunately that memory alone still has a little piece of him, his brother, and Vox, it does feel kind of strange when the only person that he hates knows this secret place. But it’s been over ten years, there is no way the Vox, five years old, remembers this place existed. 

“He won’t remember.” “I know he won’t”

Shoto just knows. He won’t know this place like he does. He won’t. 

As he closed his eyes slowly and hummed a song that his brother used to sing. Haku called it “Deep Coma”. He only sang it whenever he wanted to escape from reality, wanting to make his dream the real reality. Even the song that Haku’s sing always has the meaning of longing for something, it just always ends up with confusion and the reality of life. And just now, Shoto hummed the song for then he’ll be able to make the dream into his reality. 

While he was humming some beautiful tone, he didn't realize that there was someone else in the tunnel with him, hiding from the spotlight , lurking in the shadows. He failed to realize that someone is taking a quiet step one by one, walking closer toward him. 

The spotlight from the entrance cast an eerie glow, illuminating the narrow passageway but leaving the shadows at its edges shrouded in mystery. As Shoto still continues his humming, the figure steps closer as if about to reach him, before it suddenly steps into an old iron plumber, start echoing the hallway. 

“Who-” Shoto reacts faster as he turns around quickly, positioning himself for attack. But the figure is faster than him as he reaches for Shoto’s arm and pushes him against the wall. While Shoto could hear the sound of his own fists slamming against the wall, the loud thuds echoing through the tunnel, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. However, his ire was quickly eclipsed by a more profound emotion when his eyes landed on a figure in front of him. The boy who had transformed into a man stood before him, his stature now towering over Shoto's own. His muscular build, though only slightly more pronounced than Shoto's, exuded a sense of strength and maturity that was unmistakable. The contrast between the boy he once knew and the man now standing before him was striking, and Shoto's anger gave way to a mix of surprise and anxiety. The scene was frozen in time, as now both of them were staring at each other without speaking a word. It was Vox. How could he know he's here- No.. what’s even weirder is how did he come here? 

Before he could speak up, his eyes accidently locked into him, like a key that turned to lock the cage. His mind was occupied with many thoughts as he didn’t realize that the other was smiling down at him. Shoto remained frozen in place, the man gently reached out and placed his hand on Shoto's cheeks. His fingers, warm and soft, caressed Shoto's skin with a tender touch that was both soothing and unexpected. “You haven’t changed.” Vox looked at him affectionately. “Two years of waiting. Now it is all worth it.” Golden eyes meet purple eyes as it intertwines together for a moment. It didn’t speak as the eyes speak for itself. 

Just as Shoto was about to utter a word, Vox Akuma swiftly moved closer, his hand wrapping around Shoto's waist in a gentle yet firm grasp. The sudden movement was both unexpected and intimate, as if Vox had been waiting for the perfect moment to draw Shoto into his embrace. He shivered as Vox's nose was coming closer through  inches from his neck. He could sense the man's breath, warm and slightly scented with a hint of roses from Vox’ pheromones. 

“Welcome back, my mate .”