Work Text:
How did it come to this?
When I came here and Kuya told me that Koga was training, the first reaction I had was to arch my brow. Koga was usually buried in paperwork if he wasn’t out and about, taking in the sights of the Capital, but he did make time to see me whenever he could. I hoped that today, I’d be able to relieve him of his work-related stress with a boxed lunch I made, now in my hands and bundled in a furoshiki. I know he has a maid and all, but I want to give him a little something.
The sounds of Koga’s battle calls guided me to the garden of his manor, treading carefully to make sure I wasn’t in an earshot of his sword.
It was at the last corner that I was finally able to see him, poking my head out carefully just to make sure the coast was clear.
But what greeted me there had caught me off-guard, and I felt the warmth rise to my cheeks.
Koga held his sword in hand so carefully, his grip firm as concentration etched across his face at the empty air in front of him. No one could simply brandish their sword as easily anymore, so the walls of his property gave him the security he needed. Yet there was no target for him, only whatever he defined as his enemy, unless he was imagining the shadows that could grant him his next move.
My skin grew warm as my eyes accidentally drifted down, as the man I love had his kimono stripped off his torso and hung around his waist by his obi. His horns were proud on his head, his skin glistening with sweat as if the cool air had done nothing to douse the flames of his passionate training. The glyph and contract emblem graced his chest, barely hiding the curves of his muscles that were tucked away beneath his clothing.
For a brief moment, I realized I was gawking. Ogling even.
And I blinked, shutting my gaping mouth and looked back up at his face.
Koga was staring back at me, a teasing grin on his lips as he relaxed with the dull curve of his sword sitting on his shoulder so casually. “Are you going to be a stranger or are you going to say hi?”
I’ve been found out! Flustered, I came out from my hiding spot, and tried to will my legs to come forward. “H-Hi–” Seeing this shouldn’t have made me so shy, but it was Koga standing so proudly with the sun peeking through the trees and shining on him like he was a god and not an oni. “U-Uhm…” Say something! “Kuya told me that you were training, so I didn’t… want to interrupt.”
Koga approached me, a brow raised at the mention of Kuya. “Huh. He didn’t come to tell me you were here though. I would’ve come out to get you myself.”
And let the whole world see you like this? I wanted to smack myself for that comment. “I told him I didn’t want to disturb you, and it sounded like you were practicing with your sword so uhm…” I tried to let the dead space in the air speak for itself, trying to distract myself with something other than the sweaty chest he flashed to me as he stood in front of him.
“Hey, what are you talking about? You’re not a disturbance at all. If anything, seeing you is the break I needed today.” His hand reached for me, stroking my cheek and guiding me to look up at him.
I tried to change direction, quickly searching for something that would save me from the embarrassment that he’s seconds away from prying out of me. It’s the cloth that catches my attention, and I’m stuttering quickly as I move out of his hand. “W-Wait–! You need to dry your sweat before the cold air dries it all up and you get sick!”
“Huh? Oh, right.”
I offered him the nearby towel to help dry his sweat, my head turned slightly so I wouldn’t be caught staring a little too much at the glistening of his bare chest. My cheeks were already flaring but I knew I couldn’t hide my face for long. I could feel the material slip through my fingers as Koga took the towel, though there’s a pause and his gaze falling on me.
“Hm? You’re really red."
"I-” I should’ve thought of an excuse but it was already too late.
His large hand reached over to cup my cheek, tilting my head to make me face him and peer into those beautiful eyes of his. “You weren’t going to lie to me, were you?” His voice is soft, teasing as the grin that sat on his lips. “You know you can’t hide anything from me.” I really can’t. My secrets would unravel in front of him no matter how much I try.
Like the cruel tease he is, he pulls back to let me have some part of my sanity so he could towel off his sweat.
My heart is thudding loudly in my eardrums that I can’t ignore the way he’s standing here so casually, his clothes down to his waist as every bit of that cloth takes away the evidence of today’s training. I stop myself from looking, knowing the longer I linger, the more he’ll have in teasing me.
Not even diverting my eyes to the glyph on his chest will save me now.
I’ve nearly forgotten the furoshiki that I brought, not knowing how I’m still holding this thing to my chest until it seems to be plucked out of my grasp and he leans in. Third time’s a charm, as if he’s figured out how to grab a hold of me when I’m caught staring at him, and his other arm comes up, planting his forearm against the wood of the wall. A few steps could have landed me right against the shoji door or in the room, but instead, I’m trapped by his gaze that makes me flush so deeply. “K-Koga…?”
“That’s three times and you still won’t look me in the eyes.” His voice is low, soft yet husky, craning his head to see if he can get a better angle at my face. “Aren’t you going to look at me, or were you busy staring at the rest of me?”
“Wha– You–!” I abruptly turn my head to look up at him in the eyes, only to be met with a satisfied grin, and I’ve realized then and there that I’ve fallen into his trap. My cheeks are flared up before him with nothing to keep me hidden, baring all my thoughts and emotions in one shot as he embarrasses me to no end. I’ve become so shy, my legs are ready to turn to jelly.
“Well…?” he asks so expectantly.
“W-Well, what?” Right. His… question… “U-Uhm… I’ve never seen you like this before s-so…” The answer I received was a growth in his grin and I wanted to dig a hole to dive into. A situation like this was not good for my heart, that had my hands reaching out to place flat on his sturdy bare chest for support before my legs dared to give out. “K-Koga…”
His breath fans against my ear that it has me shivering, his chuckle sounding deeply. “…Do you want to see this more often?” His chuckle grew into a laugh, and I felt even more doomed than I did when I walked into this corner of his manor. With a warm heat in his gaze as he pulled back from my ear, he took my embarrassment for himself and leaned in, head tilted at an angle.
The stammers and blushes I made today were none like the one I made in front of others, granted only to the man in front of me as he kissed my breath away. The boxed lunch, as sturdy as the box was, had been set down neatly on the floor before I found myself in his lap and my lips silenced without another word of tease.