Chapter Text
They say that immortality is boring.
Koushi has never believed it until now.
It’s not that he’s tired of meddling with mortals—he probably never will be—and it’s not that he has any shortage of things he is capable of doing. But something is nagging at him, something that’s missing, because while he has virtually limitless power, his centuries of interacting with the mortal world have been mostly limited to watching from afar. He’s gone down to the earth plenty of times, just enough to be in the right place at the right time, offering the necessary push to set events in motion, but never staying long.
Gods aren’t meant to be curious. Their nature is supposed to be above that, above many of the emotions that mortals possess. They may take interest in a particular mortal every so often, but that generally has more to do with superficial reasons than heartfelt, profound feelings. They can feel rage and envy, certainly, but… love? Happiness? Emotions like that are much rarer among the divine. And they especially don’t feel them towards mortals; they’re lesser beings, so much weaker, with lives that vanish in the blink of an eye.
But when you’ve been making mortals fall in love for hundreds of years… Well. It’s hard not to want to understand what exactly it is you’re creating.
Which is not to say Koushi is totally alone; he isn’t the only god who feels more compassion than your average deity. In fact, the only reason he even thinks of himself as Koushi is because of his absolute fool of a companion. Gods don’t have names that mortals would understand, but Tooru, ever the romantic, has always loved mortal names. Something about “They’re poetic, Kou-chan, you of all people should understand”. So Koushi and Tooru have referred to each other with mortal names for the last few centuries, and eventually, Koushi has begun to see it as more than a superficial label. Tooru is the closest thing he has to a true friend, insofar as gods have them, and he’s the only being Koushi wants to discuss this problem with.
“Tooru.”
“Mm.”
“I’ve been thinking—no snide comments, please,” Koushi adds as Tooru opens his mouth, undoubtedly to say something rude. “I’ve been thinking about… this. All of this. What we are. Why we don’t spend more time in the mortal world. Is there something we’re missing?”
Tooru takes a moment to ponder the words more seriously than he normally would. “I mean, you already know that I’m going to say yes, of course. Why else would I call myself a mortal name? They’re more fun than we give them credit for.”
“Right, but… do you just think they’re fun? Nothing else?”
“Well, their culture can be fascinating—especially because so much of it is inspired by me, of course—but it’s not like…” Tooru narrows his eyes as he trails off. “Kou-chan, you’re awfully curious today. You’re bored, aren’t you?”
“I just think there’s more to existence than we’re getting. We go down to Earth all the time, but we never stay. Have you ever thought about it? Staying? For more than a day or a week in their time?” Koushi can hear the impatience coming through in his voice, and knows Tooru will take that as confirmation of his suspicions. He’s correct, as usual, but he doesn’t need to hear it outright.
“So you are bored,” Tooru answers with a smug look on his face. “I’ve considered it. I just think it would get so… I don’t know, repetitive. And dull. Gods, I wouldn’t be able to go more than a week without doing something noticeably supernatural, so no. But that’s me. And I know you have a much better attention span than I do. So I assume you’re thinking about going down and living like the mortals do, hm?”
Koushi sighs. “I… don’t know what I want to do. I just— I want to know what it’s like. To feel. I mean, I’ve been making them fall in love for literally my entire existence, and I don’t even know what that means. I could describe their behavior and thoughts down to the littlest details, but that isn’t the same. And maybe if I, I don’t know, actually stayed down there for more than a day…”
“...You’d be able to learn what it feels like,” Tooru finishes, an almost pitying note in his voice. “Well. You’ll need a surname, of course. And if you plan to really live like them, I’m certainly not letting you make all of your own aesthetic decisions, so—”
“So I should expect you to take over my wardrobe,” Koushi says with a snort. “Fine, but you’d better not interfere with the people I interact with. If I meet any that are worth staying around for, I’m not letting you within a hundred-mile radius of them. You’ll ruin them.”
Tooru presses one hand to his chest in mock offense. “Kou-chan, really! I would never. Do you really think so little of me?”
Koushi responds with a raised eyebrow.
“Okay, I take your point. But you can’t expect me not to visit. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find something worth staying down there for too,” Tooru muses. “No, but really, I support this. I get why you’re so intrigued, and if we’re capable of learning like that, I think that would be quite the interesting revelation. Also, I want you to finally get some, because at this point—”
“Tooru. Seriously. That’s not the point.”
“But it could happen.”
“That’s not the point,” Koushi repeats. Tooru isn’t wrong, though. It’s just not the first thing on his mind. What is more pressing is the knowledge that if he does venture down into the mortal plane for an extended period of time, he’s going to be navigating essentially uncharted territory. He’s studied mortals for quite literally forever, and he knows that he’ll be able to return at any time, but the feeling that this venture into the unknown gives him is unsettling to say the least. It’s not unlike the anxiety that mortals feel. But Koushi isn’t mortal. So he has no reason to be anxious, right?
Sugawara.
That’s the name Koushi—Suga, now—and Tooru have picked out together as his mortal surname. It circles around his mind as he enters the unobtrusive apartment that will be his residence for the foreseeable future, distracting him from his surroundings. Something about it feels right, putting him more at ease in this otherwise foreign environment. He hopes that the rest of his new situation will be just as easy to adjust to.
The walls of his currently-undecorated apartment are a light, creamy beige, which he understands that many people find boring, but he’s always loved the color. It feels very much like him: uncomplicated, honest, warm, and ready for something new. He’s very pleased to have gotten a unit with expansive windows that make it feel even more welcoming, letting the rays of the late afternoon sun fill the space with a warm, golden glow. There isn’t too much furniture for the sunlight to accentuate just yet, but Suga plans to remedy that soon enough. (Admittedly, he did cheat when creating his mortal persona by giving himself a bank account with a very comfortable amount of funds, so money will be no object, but he never had any intention of going into this without a considerable safety net.)
“Okay,” he says aloud to the air. “I have a phone. I have my wallet. I have the keys to my apartment. I have approximately one change of clothes. And I have absolutely no idea what to do from here.”
It feels good to admit that.
Given his extremely limited wardrobe and near-empty apartment, the first step should probably be going out and buying enough stuff to make the next week survivable (metaphorically, of course) before he gets down to actually living. Suga navigates to his phone’s browser and searches for nearby clothing and furniture stores, making a list in his head of which ones he wants to check out and where they are. Once he feels satisfied with his game plan for the day, he checks to make sure his wallet and keys are on him, and heads out for his first real mortal ordeal.
As Suga closes and locks his apartment door behind him, he hears the sound of the door across the hall from him swinging open. He turns to see a man that he assumes is about the same age as his mortal form—somewhere in his mid-20s—heading out of his own suite. The stranger has short, dark hair, tanned skin, and… well, he’s very fit. (Maybe Suga will reconsider Tooru’s suggestion about what he should do while he’s here.)
The stranger’s dark brown eyes meet Suga’s, and for some inexplicable reason, a slight shiver runs down his spine. It happens again when the stranger smiles at him warmly and says, “Oh, you must be my new neighbor, huh? I heard someone new was moving in. I’m Sawamura Daichi, nice to meet you,” extending a hand for Suga to shake.
Suga was not quite prepared to have to interact with people this soon after arriving, but he steadies himself because I’m literally a god, for goodness’ sake, it’s not a big deal. “Sugawara Koushi,” he replies, returning the man’s smile and reaching out to meet his hand.
The shiver turns into a bolt of lightning that shocks Suga to the very center of his being when their hands touch.
What the fuck.
Sawamura is evidently not affected by the same overwhelming sensation, as he simply withdraws his hand and leaves Suga with a wave and a “Have a good rest of your day!”
Suga returns the wave, but otherwise he doesn’t move for a solid minute while he tries to come to terms with what just happened. He has absolutely no idea who Sawamura is beyond evidently being his neighbor, but this can’t be normal. Right?
Whoever he is, Suga is certain that Sawamura is someone significant in the grander scheme of things, or will be. Maybe he’s dangerous.
Or maybe he’s just what Suga came here to find.