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Kyoutani’s memory was full of holes. He had no idea where he was, how, and when he got there. All he knew is that his head hurt like shit, and the more sensations he was receiving from all around his body while regaining consciousness, the more the pain worsened. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking away dark spots, and noticed two people standing over him, both with pursed lips.
“Oh, he’s waking up,” said one of them. Yeah, no shit , Kyoutani wanted to reply, but found his throat too sore and dry to utter a single word. He tried to move his hand, feeling an excruciating pull in his shoulders, and then for a few seconds he could no longer feel his hand.
“Fuck,” he mumbled, voice raspy and scratching at his throat.
The other boy placed a hand on his shoulder, massaging it until Kyoutani’s fingers tingled and he could once again move his hand. “Don’t move, you’re really injured.” His voice is commanding, but slightly shaking.
Kyoutani swallowed, and licked his cracked lips. “Yeah, I know.” He sounded a bit more normal now, thankfully.
“Do you remember anything?” One of them asks, Kyoutani has a hard time telling them apart. Whoever is the one who asked was in charge, he seemed much more in control than whoever was standing next to him. Every simple movement Kyoutani could see in his current state was calm and collected, while the one next to him seemed much more frantic. If Kyoutani had to guess, he’d say whoever just spoke was older.
“Not much after the Manticore showed up.”
“Do you know your name? Or where you are.”
“Kyoutani Kentarou. This camp for… Half gods, right?”
He nodded. “Half bloods, right, so probably only a low level concussion. I’m Yaku Morisuke, I’m mostly in charge here. This is my little brother, Yahaba Shigeru.”
Kyoutani looked between the pair for a moment, the only thing similar between them was the fact they both had brown eyes. He remembered where he was, and assumed they were that kind of brothers.
“He’ll be the one taking care of you most of the time,” Yaku continues, and the statement seems to catch both boys off guard.
“Wait, what?” Yahaba asked. “What do you mean?”
“I think Kyoutani-san would be good as your first independent case. You’ve been here for two years, you’re ready.”
“But what if I-” Yahaba is soon cut off by Yaku, who spoke in an authoritative, no-arguments tone.
“You’re ready, Shig. And if you’re not, that’s my fault. You’ll be fine, and when it comes to healing some things go before what you might not be ready for.”
Yahaba nodded once. “Got it. I’ll do my best.”
Kyoutani wasn’t sure just how great he was feeling about the lack of confidence from his new primary caretaker, and almost spoke up to request that maybe someone a little older would take care of him.“
Great, I need to go now. Head counselor meeting. You’re in charge, if anything goes wrong you can call for me.”
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.” Yaku walked out of the infirmary.
Yahaba sat down in the chair next to Kyoutani’s bed, looking out of place and dejected. Now that he was slightly more awake and grounded Kyoutani could properly examine the guy who’s now apparently his main caretaker, though he didn’t seem any older than Kyoutani himself.
Yahaba was pretty nimble, and both his knees were skinned. His hair was a strange silver colour, and Kyoutani couldn’t tell if it was natural, dyed or even a strange lighting play. It seemed fluffy, and for a single moment Kyoutani wondered what would happen if he tried running his hands through it, before quickly batting the idea away. Yahaba had light brown doe eyes, highlighting the faded freckles on his face. The rest of his features were very soft, from his button nose to his round chin.
Cute, he decided silently, not bothering to say anything as he scanned around the infirmary, which looked like every other hospital he’s ever been in. A few white cabinets were standing in one corner, probably loaded with all types of medicine and bandages. Next to them, three sinks stood. In the opposite wall to these cabinets, a long row of hospital beds were neatly set up, from the furthest corner of the room to the door. Only five of them were occupied by patients. Aside from that, the room was completely clean.
“How old are you?” Yahaba asked.
“None of your business,” he replied without thinking.
“We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together from now on, you know.” To Kyoutani, Yahaba sounded smug and snarky at the same time, and he felt the rage pooling in his stomach.
“So? I don’t have to talk to you.” He scoffed.
“Yeah, but it’ll be nice if we get along.”
Kyoutani rolled his eyes, not dignifying Yahaba with a response. He would definitely prefer someone else taking care of him, but it wasn’t his business and too late to ask.
“Fine, be an asshole then. See how that gets you through life.” Yahaba huffed, and walked to the cabinets to get a roll of bandages before coming back to the bedside. “Sit up straight.”
Kyoutani obeyed, wincing as he moved himself.
“Arm up,” Yahaba commanded again. Despite wanting to ignore him, Kyoutani raised his arm, biting the inside of his cheek and shutting his eyes tightly at the pain that shot through it. As Yahaba started removing the bandages, he opened his eyes again, taken aback by the amount of injuries he carried now. No wonder he was in this much pain.
Most of the blood had solidified on him by now, making his arm look like a battlefield of its own. Yahaba started carefully wiping the dried blood away, revealing dozens of cuts varying in sizes and a few burns that didn’t look like they were from heat. They were red and blistering, but not a single sign of peeling skin. Yahaba tightened the grip around Kyoutani’s arm, and ran a finger over one of the burns, causing Kyoutani to hiss.
“Poison,” he noted, without referencing Kyoutani’s pain.
“A little warning next time, maybe?!”
“No.” Maybe Kyoutani deserved it, just a little bit.
And with that he continued, cleaning all of the wounds he had and wrapping the bandages back on. He slowly continued like that, until every injury Kyoutani had suffered in the fight was properly cleaned. Yahaba worked meticulously, paying careful attention to every scar tissue forming and every last drop of blood. He scrunched his eyebrows and the very top of his nose when he worked, pursing his lips. Kyoutani hoped he wouldn’t notice he was staring at him. Without another word, Yahaba went to check on the other campers in the ward, leaving Kyoutani alone with his thoughts.
After about a month, Kyoutani was finally claimed. Until then, he hardly left the infirmary. It was difficult to walk around with how injured his legs were, and Yahaba warned that the damage might be permanent, especially if he strained his body too much. So in an uncharacteristic manner, he took the first two weeks at camp to let himself heal. He certainly wasn’t happy about it, but wanted his full mobility back eventually.
After a month, he was told he can go stay in the Hermes cabin until he gets claimed, under the condition that he came in for daily check-ups and to get his bandages changed. Many of his injuries were beginning to fade into scars thanks to Yahaba’s work and ambrosia (though he won’t admit the first part, over his dead body). The freedom was appreciated, and so was remembering the smell of fresh air not tainted by medicine and disinfectant. The first night out of the infirmary he went to the campfire with his temporary Hermes cabin mates, who all seemed a little intimidated by him. He sat there in silence, with everyone singing some silly campfire song he didn’t recognise even a single bit, when the third song ended something happened, everyone turned to stare at him with gasps. After a few seconds of confusion, he realised they’re staring at a strange symbol that appeared over his head. At that point, he was gawking like every person around him.
“You’re a son of Ares,” someone spoke up eventually. Kyoutani recognised him vaguely, a guy who only seemed about a year older than him, not more. He was also about the same height, maybe a centimeter taller. Kyoutani saw him giving sword fighting lessons in the rink earlier that day, but didn’t know who he was other than that.
“Ares?” Was the first word Kyoutani uttered that night. It was a familiar name, but he forgot exactly who it was.
“God of war,” Yahaba said.
“Oh.”
A few of the campers around him started whispering in between themselves, and he could swear some of them were passing drachmas from hand to hand. Meanwhile Kyoutani walked towards the other guy who spoke earlier, almost out of trans. By the time he got there, he remembered why though. This guy led out the Ares cabin to dinner earlier, and now over here to the bonfire.
“I’m your new head counselor, Iwaizumi Hajime,” he introduced himself. “Kyoutani, right?”
Kyoutani grunted in confirmation, and sat down. He could see Iwaizumi trading looks with the same guy he saw with him that afternoon, whom he didn’t recognise either, but paid no mind to it. People can think whatever they want about him, it didn’t change a single thing. He was here for protection, and nothing else. He wasn’t looking for the social experience of being a half blood.
Slowly, everyone simmered down and went back to what Kyoutani assumed was normally done in a bonfire. He continued to ignore the people around him, and contemplated what all of this meant.
Being the son of a god of war didn’t surprise him a single bit, and didn’t seem to shake anyone else. He did give off a vibe like that, but it was mostly his attitude of ‘don’t talk to me and I won’t talk to you’, he didn’t like trouble and didn’t enjoy other people’s company. Maybe it made him off putting, but Kyoutani didn’t particularly care. He didn’t understand why everyone cared about who his dad was so much, it didn’t really matter. When would Kyoutani ever have a chance to meet him anyways? The god of war wasn’t really the type of dad to make you breakfast or talk to you about the boys you want to date or drive you places. He was just… there. Some all seeing being watching over him without intervening even once. Without helping when he needed it
He went to sleep without exchanging a single word with his new siblings that night.
Another month after that fateful night, Kyoutani started blending in with the rest of the campers and participating in the more physical camp activities, something that made him rather satisfied. It wasn’t particularly the fact he could do the camp activity, but more that his full mobility and previous physical abilities were coming back. Yahaba seemed to be worried about it though, and pestered Kyoutani until he promised not to overwork himself.
“You seem to be healing well,” Yahaba noted one afternoon as he changed Kyoutani’s bandages.
“Good.”
“Yeah, but there are gonna be a lot of scars on your arms.”
“That’s fine.”
“They’ll fit your image,” he teased, to which Kyoutani huffed and rolled his eyes. “I think in a little while we can do the check-ups weekly, and you’ll have a lot of free time.”
“Alright.”
In the two months since he got to camp, Kyoutani… Well, befriended would be the wrong word. He warmed up to Yahaba a little more for sure, now willing to answer some of his questions, and quip back at his taunts from time to time. He refused to share any details about his personal life outside of camp though, no matter how much Yahaba or anyone else asked. He enjoyed the sense of privacy, especially since Yahaba knew not to push him around too much, otherwise they’d get into some explosive fight that’d end with one of them storming off. He learned from the first few times it happened, he hated those fights. No matter how convinced he was at the moment that he was right, the moment he or Yahaba walked away he’d be filled with guilt for losing his cool, and driving the one person who could tolerate him away.
And Kyoutani slowly found himself hanging out with Yahaba outside of the infirmary, in times when neither of them had activities. Sometimes Watari, a satyr and another one of Yahaba’s friends, joined them. Kyoutani learned to respect him after the time he used some sort of forest magic to detangle Kyoutani’s arm from a vine it got caught in thanks to some child of Demeter he didn’t know.
It seemed like the Demeter and Hephaestus cabins were in some long lasting war against the Athena and Ares cabins, due to some conflict between the head counselors. According to what Yahaba said, it was mostly between the Athena and Demeter cabins, but the Ares cabin stood behind the Athena cabin because of the connection between Iwaizumi and the head counselor of the Athena cabin, his boyfriend.
Kyoutani was impartial about the whole thing, he didn’t know either head counselors, and didn’t know the origin of their fight, and he definitely didn’t quite understand why his own head counselor was involved in it. But from the moment the Demeter kids started messing with him (almost right away after the day he got claimed, when he woke up in a hospital bed full of strawberries), he knew he was a part of the fight.
“It doesn’t make much sense if you don’t know them, but I get it.” Yahaba shrugged, kicking a pebble as they walked together through the forest.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You don’t really care, do you?”
“No. But the assholes filled all my clothes with soil and fertilizer.”
“So that’s why you smell like that?”
Kyoutani grunted, and Yahaba laughed.
“That’s a yes.”
“Whatever. Why’d you ask me to come with you?”
“Maybe I was bored. Maybe I like you. Maybe Watari and I are planning to sacrifice you to the dryads so they’ll agree to go on a date with us.” Yahaba shrugged.
“Are you?”
“Nah. But maybe you should consider the option that I like you.”
“Do you?”
“Sometimes. You can be nice.”
“Take that back.”
Yahaba laughed again, he seems to do it a lot. Kyoutani’s never sure what’s so funny.
“And funny.”
“Sure.” He rolled his eyes, wondering what reason Yahaba would even have for complimenting him.
“Seriously! I just wanna hang out a bit.”
Kyoutani huffed. “Fine.”
“You seem to be recovering well,” Yahaba noted.
“Yeah, I guess. I can fight now.”
“What weapon do you use?” Yahaba frowned at the loss of the pebble he was kicking as he kicked it too off to the side, and Kyoutani smiled at the way his nose scrunched and his eyebrows knitted when he did.
“Battle ax.”
“That’s so you.”
“Shut up. What do you use?”
“Bow and arrow. Stereotypical, but effective. I know how to use swords as well though.”
“Cool.”
“Mhm. It’s good to have multiple skills.”
Kyoutani stuck both hands into his pocket as he and Yahaba walked together. It was one of his first times in the forest, and he was beginning to appreciate the place. Tall, evergreen trees stretched around them everywhere. The leaves left patterns on the ground from the way they blocked the sunlight coming from above them. He could see small patches of the bright blue sky and clouds if he looked up, but most of it was hidden by the green tapestry surrounding them. The trunks around them were thick and tall, Kyoutani couldn’t even circle the smallest one with his arms, and as small twigs and old dry leaves were crushed under his feet in satisfying crunching sounds, he wondered how old this forest was. He knew the camp had stood since before the second world war, but the land was much, much older. He knew cutting down one of the trees could tell him something, by counting the rings, but no one in their right mind would destroy something like this, and Kyoutani definitely wasn’t about to.
“Do you like it here?” Yahaba broke their calm silence.
“I guess.”
“You’re always alone though.”
“I like it like that.”
“Seriously?”
“What?” Kyoutani shrugged in defence. “I’m not exactly a people person.”
He laughed again. It was the third time in that conversation. Every time he talked to Yahaba it felt like some inside joke he wasn’t in on, but Kyoutani desperately wanted to know what it was.
“Yeah, I know. You’re rude, and violent, and don’t care about anyone else.” The words were exactly what people always said when describing Kyoutani, but Yahaba said them tauntingly, with no meaning behind it and no cruelty behind his large doe eyes.
“Exactly.”
“Well, if you hate people so much, why do you hang out with me then? Huh?”
“I dunno. Force of habit.”
Yahaba hit his shoulder lightly. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kyoutani rolled his eyes.
“Seriously though.”
“You’re…” Kyoutani carefully weighed his words. “Not as bad to be around as some people.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No problem.”
“So there’s no specific reason?”
“Nah.”
“Ugh, that’s so disappointing.”
“Well, I humbly apologise.”
“Fuck you.” Yahaba pushed Kyoutani, smiling.
After another six weeks, Kyoutani came for his check up with Yahaba for surprising news.
“Well, I think you won’t need to come here for this anymore,” Yahaba informed him after taking off his bandages, while scribbling something in his notepad.
“Huh? Why?” Kyoutani asked, taken aback. He didn’t understand why Yahaba was fully discharging, considering all the marks that injury left on his body.
Yahaba flicked a finger on one of the wounds on his arm. Kyoutani jerked back, feeling odd. “Why’d you do that?!”
“This isn’t an open wound anymore, just scar tissue.”
After calming down for a second, Kyoutani realised he was right. There was no burning pain in there like there would be usually. It was dim and faded away almost immediately.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks?”
Kyoutani didn’t realise why he was so upset about this. It was supposedly good news, he didn’t need to wear bandages and could start completely regular activities like all the other campers. He wouldn’t have to listen to Yahaba yapping anymore about proper care for these wounds. But despite all of that… he felt empty. He didn’t want to stop coming to the infirmary, after getting so used to it. He’d even miss the horrid smell of medication.
“I wanna put the bandages on one last time though, just to make sure nothing opens up when you get to full activities. You can take them off on your own if nothing happens after a week, but still try not to strain yourself too much. Your body put a lot of energy into healing you, it might be a while until you’re back to normal shape.”
“Alright.” Kyoutani nodded, tapping rhythmically on the table next to him. Yahaba started bandaging the scars, one last time.
“Fourteen,” he said quietly.
“Huh?” Yahaba looked up at him, wearing a puzzled expression.
“You asked how old I was. When we met. I’m fourteen now, I was thirteen back then.”
“Oh. Why are you telling me this now though?”
Kyoutani shrugged. “Felt like it.”
“I’m thirteen now.”
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
They fell silent again, but this time the air was completely charged with tension. The only other time Kyoutani ever felt something like that, is on his way to camp. He was out in the middle of the night, running away from a few men he had stolen food from. The sky was invisible behind the grey clouds, and he remembered a static tension around him as the rain pounded on the trees and drenched his clothes, filling his shoes with small puddles, forming mud on them. He remembered a strange silence, before a loud crack was heard and everything around him disappeared in a floodlight, he wasn’t sure what came before. The next second, he realised the tree near him was on fire. A lightning strike. Kyoutani never remembered anything scarier happening to him, and he ran from there as fast as his legs could carry him in his state.
The feeling he got that night was the same as the one passing through his body right now, completely electric. As if he could be the next to combust, in just a single second.
“All done,” Yahaba said eventually, and released Kyoutani, who left the infirmary with an expression of pure shock. He walked back to his cabin, and crashed back onto his bed, feeling something hard on him. He moved the covers, to see a bunch of now broken ceramic pots filled with dirt.
Fucking Demeter kids , he thought. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.
Kyoutani walked into the infirmary again two weeks later, limping.
“Hey,” Yahaba said. “What are you doing here?”
“Sparring accident.”
“Ouch, c’mere and I’ll take care of it.”
Kyoutani went to sit on one of the beds, and Yahaba walked towards him.
“So what happened exactly?”
“Iwaizumi-san threw me around a bit.”
“Literally-?” Yahaba paused, pursing his lips in confusion.
“No, but I did land on my foot wrong.”
“Ouch.” Yahaba looked at his legs for a moment.
“Move your ankle to the left.”
Kyoutani did what he said. “Ow,” he tried to say flatly but his voice trembled as the pain shot up his leg.
“Now to the right.”
After handing round a few more commands, Yahaba stopped to think for a moment. “I think it’s sprained.”
“Fuck.”
“I could give you some ambrosia for it but it seems unnecessary, especially since we don’t have much right now, waiting for the next shipment. So I’ll bandage it and you’ll take things lightly, and come by once every two days to get checked until you’re better.”
“That’s fine.”
“Great. Take off your shoe, I’ll do it quickly.”
Kyoutani quickly let Yahaba bandage his ankle. “That it?”
“Yep, good as new. Come back tomorrow, try to swing by when I’m on shift. Okay?”
“Sounds good.” Kyoutani’s heart fluttered slightly. He wanted to tell it to shut up. Sadly, his heart on its own was not sentient.
“I’ll get some crutches from there, try not to put too much weight on your leg.”
“Alright.”
Yahaba got him the crutches and Kyoutani tried walking with them.
“You can go now, see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” Kyoutani walked away on the crutches, waving at Yahaba.
It takes three weeks for his leg to fully heal, and three more days for Kyoutani to end up in the infirmary, with a nasty burn on his face.
“Seriously, again?” Yahaba asked, seeing Kyoutani walk in. “What happened?”
“Lava wall. I wasn’t fast enough.”
“Oh, ow. Come here, I have an ointment for it.”
“Thanks…” Kyoutani went to sit where Yahaba was before, while the latter, went to get some tube Kyoutani’s never seen before. He kneeled in front of Kyoutani, putting some of the perfectly sky blue ointment on his finger. He went to smear it onto cheek, but retracted his hand at the last second.
“But I want something in return for healing all your injuries, since you seem to get a lot of them.”
“Seriously?! Isn’t this your job?”
“You come here more than any camper. It’s simple, for every time you come here needing help, I want one story of your home life or your journey here.”
“Why?”
“Just because. I’m curious.”
Kyoutani sighed. “If I say fine you’ll heal my burn?”
“Yes.”
“Then fine.”
“Get talking then, mad dog,” Yahaba teased, looking up at him with a lopsided smile.
“Fuck off.” Kyoutani rolled his eyes. When Yahaba’s fingers touched his cheek, he jerked back.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s cold.”
“It’s for burns,” he said. “What did you think?”
Kyoutani huffed. “I was surprised.”
“Can I try again?”
“No one’s stopping you.”
Yahaba hesitantly touched him again, and seeing that Kyoutani didn’t move this time, started confidently putting on the ointment, rubbing it into his skin. A shudder ran down his spine, as he felt the chill spreading through his body, from his stomach all the way to his head and fingertips.
“So what story are you gonna tell me?”
“I had a dog.”
“No way.”
“A shiba inu. Her name was Yuri.”
“That’s so cute. Tell me more.”
Kyoutani rolled his eyes, but told Yahaba more stories about Yuri, who he still thought off and missed. He knew she was under good care with his mom and step-father, and he regularly got mail with pictures of her, but it didn’t help much.
He told Yahaba that he got her when he turned six, and it was probably one of the happiest days of his life. He told him about the time he was playing with her in the backyard and skinned his knee, and she barked and howled until his mom came to see what was going on, and helped him up and back into the house, and how that night he gave her more snacks than he probably should’ve. He told about how every morning he took her out on a walk before school, and another one right when he returned. Kyoutani told Yahaba about how she’d follow him wherever he went, how Yuri was probably his closest friend. It took about six stories about Yuri for Yahaba to finally say something.
“Sounds like she was properly spoiled.” Yahaba was now sitting in a chair next to Kyoutani, their knees touching slightly. Not that he cared. He finished taking care of the now properly healed burn two stories in, but didn’t say anything about discharging Kyoutani, so he took it as a sign to keep talking.
“She was,” Kyoutani confirmed.
“Do you have any pictures of her?”
“Tons. My parents send them all the time.”
“You’ll show me later?”
Kyoutani hesitated. “Sure.”
“Awesome! See, this wasn’t so bad.”
“I guess.”
“You can go now. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah, see you.” Kyoutani got up and walked out of the infirmary.
A week goes by before Kyoutani returns to the infirmary, with a nasty cut under his left eye.
“This is starting to feel like a joke,” Yahaba said at the moment Kyoutani enters. “What happened to your eye?”
“Sparring accident.”
“Go sit over there, I’ll be over once I’m done discharging Bokuto-san.”
Kyoutani nodded, and went to sit on one of the empty beds. He listened to Yahaba explaining how to properly care for Bokuto’s wounds, noticing how much confidence he’s gained since he met Kyoutani.
When Yahaba first began caring for Kyoutani, he hesitated about everything he did. It was understandable, looking back. It was his first solo case, and Kyoutani was extremely injured. A wrong move could cause serious damage. During those first two months under Yahaba’s care, Kyoutani got to see him seize control over what he chose to do, instead of overthinking every idea he had to oblivion. Along the course of those weeks, from calling Yaku in for help every few days, he went to make his own choices without a doubt, knowing what would help Kyoutani’s health the most. It was a pretty magical process, if you asked Kyoutani. He enjoyed seeing Yahaba work, too. There was something so soothing about the way he treated every patient gently, calming them that it will all be okay.
A few minutes later, Bokuto left the infirmary and Yahaba came to help Kyoutani out.
“So what sparring accident was it this time?” Yahaba asked. For the past month, Kyoutani came in with three different wounds from sparring accidents, and he was starting to look like he was constantly being beat up. As if the scars he had from his big injury from a few months prior didn’t affect his reputation already.
“Couldn’t protect myself well enough from Iwaizumi-san.”
“He’s your big brother y’know.”
“Yeah?”
“You can call him by his first name.”
Kyoutani shrugged. “It’s a thing of respect.”
“Oh so you respect him but not me?” Yahaba teased, beginning to clean Kyoutani’s cut.
“Beat me at an arm wrestling contest and we’ll see.” Kyoutani winced back, and Yahaba hit his hand, clicking his tongue.
“Stay still. And stop being a bitch.”
Kyoutani grumbled, but didn’t move as Yahaba finished cleaning the cut properly, putting some gauze on it.
“There we go, almost done,” he murmured in a low voice, and Kyoutani froze, suddenly overly aware of how close they were and how their hands were still touching. He didn’t dare to move though.
“Okay, done. Now, story,” Yahaba demanded, fingertips still laying over Kyoutani’s hand.
Kyoutani retold another instance of his childhood, another story about the time he spent with his step father. It was a rather heartwarming moment, from an outsider point of view. Kyoutani still remembered it extremely fondly. Just talking about that day made him feel warm and satisfied. The day he came out was stressful, but it made him much happier.
Kyoutani’s step father was always a rather masculine guy. He was strong and stoic, always serious. He had certain standards about the people he met, and definitely expected a lot from his step son. Throughout his childhood, Kyoutani did his best to please his father. He engaged in typically masculine activities, and did his best to be mature, anything to impress him. But no matter how spectacularly he sometimes failed, it seemed like he could never disappoint his step father. It was always great to know someone had his back. That’s why coming out was especially nerve wracking, as a twelve year old boy who only recently discovered he loved boys and needed that approval more than anything. It was a serious, yet short talk. At the end of it Kyoutani really felt like he could be anything without facing judgment from his family, and it was the most relieved he’d ever been. He could still remember that day, and exactly what he said. But he wasn’t about to share that much with Yahaba, despite trusting him a lot more than he was willing to admit.
“Wow, it sounds like you two were really close,” Yahaba said softly.
“We were. Are,” Kyoutani quickly corrected himself. His relationship with his step father hardly changed since leaving for camp, thankfully. They didn’t see each other anymore (unless a special occasion brought Kyoutani’s family to the area). His step father didn’t stop loving him just because of biology, and it was so great.
“That sounds nice. I never really had that with any of my mom’s boyfriends. And my real dad, well…”
Kyoutani knew what Yahaba meant without even having to speak. Godly parents weren’t similar to their mortal parents in any way. They couldn’t bother to care about all their kids, because there were just too many. To the gods, their half mortal children were simply a tool to be used when necessary. The rest of the time they were at best an inconvenience. Every half blood learned that at some point. From what Kyoutani saw with older, more experienced campers, the bitterness of that knowledge never really faded away. It simply becomes a background feeling, maybe another drive to training, maybe what causes so many to leave and go rogue, claiming they don’t need the protection of parents who couldn’t care less about them. The sad truth was that they usually did.
“Yeah.”
“But I don’t mind it so much.”
Kyoutani nodded, unsure of what to say.
“You should probably go now.” Yahaba chuckled awkwardly, finally moving his hand away. The places where their fingers connected still felt warm to Kyoutani as he got up and coughed.
“I’ll see you soon?”
“Not too soon, bruise boy.”
Kyoutani laughed, a rare occurrence. “I’ll try. Bye.”
“Bye.” Yahaba waved him goodbye as he left the infirmary.
It took another two weeks for Kyoutani to come back to the infirmary, with a limp hand.
“Holy shit, what is it this time?” Yahaba asked.
“Broken hand,” Kyoutani explained through clenched teeth.
Yahaba cursed him in Greek quietly. “Give me a minute, go sit down.”
“Yeah, okay.” Kyoutani sat on one of the beds, bouncing his knee in boredom as Yahaba finished bandaging a different camper. After a few minutes, he came to help.
“How’d you break it?”
“Fell out of a tree.”
“A tree?”
Kyoutani shrugged. “I had a bet with Watari.”
“I’m guessing you lost?”
“...yeah.” Kyoutani admitted.
Yahaba sniggered.
“Shut up.” keep laughing , the thought flies through his brain so quickly he barely realises it was even there. He doesn’t know what to think about it.
“Yeah, yeah.” Yahaba carefully grabbed his hand, examining his injury. “That looks painful.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“Don’t be rude.” Yahaba flicks his forehead, pouting. “I’m helping you.”
“Yeah, you’re supposed to.” cute.
“You come here more than any other camper. Move your arm to the left.”
“You said that like a million times before.” Kyoutani does as he instructed, wincing at the sting that goes all the way from his wrist to his shoulder.
“Because it’s true.” Now to the right.”
Yahaba hands out a few more orders, before clicking his tongue once. “That’s definitely broken. I don’t think you’ll be able to spar any time soon, bruise boy.”
“Dammit.”
“That’s what you get for climbing trees you can’t come down from,” Yahaba teased. Kyoutani did nothing but roll his eyes. Yahaba quickly brought over a few bandages and some ambrosia.
“Don’t eat all of it, we’re in a shortage again,” he warned Kyoutani. “But it’ll speed the healing process.”
“Okay.” Kyoutani ate the ambrosia quickly, enjoying the flavour of his mom’s spicy chicken, which she always made on special occasions, like when Kyoutani got especially good grades.
“I’m gonna bandage it now, and it might hurt a bit.”
“Alright.”
Yahaba grabbed his arm again, in which the pain was already numbing down, and a long piece of wood. He started bandaging the two together
“You’re such a klutz, y’know,” Yahaba said softly, focusing solely on Kyoutani’s arm.
“Am not.”
“Are too.” Yahaba looked up at him, through his stupid fluffy bangs, with a taunting smile.
“I-” His breath hitched. “Shut up.”
Yahaba laughed quietly, looking down again, and Kyoutani felt his face go red.
“Klutz,” he mumbled.
“I’m not.”
“Sure.”
As Yahaba continued meticulously fixing Kyoutani’s arm in place, the latter looked down at him in slight shock. He didn’t understand what just happened, why did seeing Yahaba’s face make him so panicked? At this point, fifteen years old with almost no friends, Yahaba was the closest person to Kyoutani. Maybe his best friend, even. He should be used to it. But his blood was pumping through his veins and his heart was racing, as if he just finished sparring with a stronger opponent. His instincts were screaming at him that he was in danger, to get up and leave immediately, but he couldn’t. So instead he looked down at his best friends and let the thoughts roll through his head. Pain shot through him, and he wanted to reach out for Yahaba’s hand. He saw a small crumb on his cheek, and it took every last bit of his self control not to brush it away gently. They locked eyes for another moment and Kyoutani was sure his soul left his body for an early meeting with Hades.
When Yahaba’s bangs fell into his eyes, Kyoutani couldn’t hold himself back. He quickly moved them out of the way, ignoring how breathless he became when the tips of his fingers ran across Yahaba’s forehead for a second.
“What?”
“They got in your eyes. Seemed uncomfortable.” Kyoutani shrugged.
“Oh.” Yahaba looked taken aback. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“You care about me.” Yahaba smiled slyly.
“I don’t.”
“You totally do.”
Gods, Kyoutani wanted to kiss that stupid smirk off of him. He almost did.
“Whatever.”
“Whatever,” Yahaba mocked.
“Shut up,” Kyoutani warned.
“Fine, fine.” Yahaba giggled, remaining with a goofy grin across his face as he finished patching Kyoutani up. “All done.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Now,” Yahaba pulled himself up to sit against the wall, next to Kyoutani, “story time.”
“I told you like a million stories already, aren’t you tired of them?”
Yahaba stopped to think for a moment. “Nah.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“How’d you realise you were gay?” Yahaba asks, no hesitation in his voice. Kyoutani wished he could be this shameless about all he wanted to know.
“That’s actually a pretty nice story.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm. So I was twelve…”
He told Yahaba about meeting a perfect boy his age, who was just as confused as him and who’s smile could only be compared to the beauty of the full moon reflecting on the lake. He told him how they became close friends, and Kyoutani could trust him with every secret he held in his heart. He told Yahaba of their adventures together, and how one simple day they were sitting behind the school, he finally got the courage to lean forward and kiss his friend. He told Yahaba about the sweet, blossoming relationship they had as two young boys who were trying to find their place in the world, and the inevitable day it ended.
“Wow… So why’d you break up?”
“He was moving away, and we knew we probably couldn’t keep contact.”
“Do you miss him?”
Kyoutani hesitated. “I… Used to.”
Yahaba didn’t know that over time the wounds of the breakup healed long ago, by the same boy who healed the wounds on Kyoutani’s body. He didn’t know that his smile was more important than all the stars in the sky, and his laughter was better than a perfectly clear spring day.
But Kyoutani didn’t know all of that either. He couldn’t identify these thoughts and ideas, and he didn’t realise that all he needed was right next to him.
He left the infirmary that day with a heavy heart.
Kyoutani was sitting near the arena, polishing his sword calmly when Yahaba walked up to him, stomping his feet. He stood above Kyoutani, crossing his arms.
“Hey.”
“Hi?”
“Can we talk?” Yahaba asked, voice charged.
“Go ahead.” Kyoutani motioned with his hand.
“So I was talking to Iwaizumi-san earlier about some stuff, and mentioned that wound you came in for last week. The one you supposedly got sparring with him. Do you know what Iwaizumi-san said?”
“No?”
“He said you two haven’t sparred in over three weeks.”
“Oh.” Kyoutani avoided eye contact with Yahaba the best he could.
“So I’d like to know how you got injured, and if you lied about any other injuries.
“Oh, umm…”
“Yeah?” Yahaba crossed his arms. “Go ahead.”
“I was sparring with Chibi-chan. And you can ask him about it.”
“So you lost that badly against a new camper?”
“Not… exactly.”
“So tell me. Exactly.” Yahaba demanded.
Kyoutani didn’t need all of this right now. He’s been lying to Yahaba for a year about all of these injuries, gaining more scars than he ever thought he would. Taking any excuse he could to somehow get himself injured, writing them all off as accidents. But as to the question why, he had no answer.
He wanted to know himself.
“I let him win,” Kyoutani admitted. A half truth, but close enough.
Yahaba raised an eyebrow. “That’s unusual for you. To make him feel better?”
“Nah.”
“Then why?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled.
“Couldn’t catch that.”
“I don’t fucking know! Is that what you want to hear? I keep getting myself injured for some fucking reason and I don’t even know why!” He screamed, getting up and clenching his fists. “Does that make you fucking happy?”
“No! Obviously not.”
“Why not?”
“I want you to take care of yourself, you idiot! You can’t keep doing this to yourself! Have you ever considered the fact that some people just care about you?! That some people actually like you?!”
“No! Because no one ever does!”
“Maybe I do! But you’re throwing all of it away.”
“Fine.” Kyoutani grabbed his stuff. “See you around.”
“Where are you going?”
“Far away from you!” Kyoutani walked away, back to his cabin.
Before they knew it, a month went by with Yahaba and Kyoutani not exchanging a single word. Kyoutani distanced the rest of the people around him as well. He seemed to regress into the same behaviour he had when he first got to camp. He didn’t speak at all, unless necessary, and spent every last second of free time he had in the arena, practicing against the dummies and any person who was eager enough to try and spar with him. He and Hinata became unexpected sparring partners, as it seemed the ginger son of Apollo was one of the only people who was brave enough to challenge Kyoutani in this perpetual anger state. He was even beginning to lose less, truth be told. Kyoutani had to admit he was getting a bit better. They fought well against each other, as they were both extremely unexpected. He enjoyed fighting Hinata more than he initially thought he would.
Another benefit to sparring with Hinata is that he would tell Kyoutani about Yahaba. Every day after they finished fighting they sat at the edge of the arena in silence for a little while to cool down, before Hinata started a sort of update.
“He seems worried about you,” he’d say sometimes. Sometimes he’d tell Kyoutani Yahaba misses him. Some days he had absolutely nothing to say. And Kyoutani never knew what to reply, but he had a feeling Hinata knew he appreciated these updates.
Truth be told, he missed Yahaba too. Camp without his friend seemed bleak, he stopped taking walks in the forest. Because he couldn’t see the point if Yahaba wasn’t there to taunt him and kick around those stupid pebbles the way he always did. He wasn’t there to ask his annoying questions, or bug Kyoutani around until he admitted they’re friends for the tenth time, because “it’s nice to hear you admit it.”
Kyoutani really fucking missed him.
But he wasn’t gonna say anything. There was no way he was going to roll over and apologise first, not when he had nothing to apologise for. He was only looking out for himself.
Another month went by this way, while they both refused to even look at each other, until Iwaizumi finally managed to catch Kyoutani alone.
“Hey.” He leaned on the doorway of the empty cabin.
Kyoutani grunted in response.
“So you’re not gonna answer when I’m talking to you?” Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. “ I said something. ”
His voice ran a chill down Kyoutani’s spine, authoritative and intimidating.
“Hey,” he mumbled.
“Better. What’s been going on with you lately?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Kyoutani shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Iwaizumi.
“Lying to one of your doctors about us sparring, completely avoiding your best friend for some reason.” Iwaizumi closed the door and went to sit next to Kyoutani.
“Yahaba’s not my best friend,” Kyoutani objected immediately. It may have been true before, but their friendship is long gone now, there was no point in pretending they could salvage it now.
“I didn’t say Yahaba’s name.”
“Whatever.”
“Seriously, I’m worried.”
“Why should you care?” no one cares , he wanted to say.
“You’re my little brother.”
“That’s bullshit. We’re not actually brothers. It’s just our stupid dad.”
“I don’t see why we’re not brothers.”
“We didn’t grow up together. Our only connection is that asshole-” Thunder struck the sky, and Kyoutani went silence.
“Careful.”
“Right.” He looked down at his hands, resting in his lap.
“The gods aren’t gonna look out for us, Kentaro. We’re each other’s family, and everyone in this cabin has your back.”
“Yeah right.” Kyoutani scoffed. He’s been told these baseless lies since the moment he got there.
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re my brother.”
Iwaizumi’s persistence though… Kyoutani couldn’t help but admit that it seemed like he cared. He just didn’t want to believe it.
“Fine.”
“There we go. Now, tell me what happened with Yahaba, and why you lied to him.”
“I don’t even know why.”
“Really?”
“I guess… It was easier to say I lost to you than saying I let shrimpy win.” Kyoutani shrugged weakly. He truly didn’t know why he let Hinata win that day, or any other reason he got himself injured. He wanted to know so desperately, but none of this made sense to him. How was he supposed to find logic behind all these actions?
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
“And you don’t know why you let him win.”
“Nah.”
“I noticed something interesting,” Iwaizumi started, looking over Kyoutani in search of some sort of consent to continue.
Kyoutani didn’t say anything, but nodded once.
“You only ever did something like this on Yahaba’s shift. Not when Yaku was working, or Hinata or anyone else. Just Yahaba.”
“I guess…”
“Do you think maybe… you just wanted some excuse to see him?” Iwaizumi asked, with a quiet and gentle tone. Kyoutani could imagine him talking this way to a wild animal he was trying to calm down.
“What? No way!” He objected, almost immediately. “Why would I do something like that? I hate him.”
“Do you though? You’ve been here for over a year, and you spent almost all of your free time with him. You two kept going on walks together, training together. I know you told him stories about your life, stuff no one else at camp knows about you. It sounds like you care for him, and you trust him. It sounds like you really like him, Kentaro.”
“How do you know I told him stories?” Kyoutani asked, ignoring anything else Iwaizumi said.
“Heard it through the grapevine. Turns out people asked him to tell them stuff about you after your fight.”
“And…?” Kyoutani tensed, holding his breath. The thought of Yahaba sharing these stories to other people made him uneasy, and his heart shattered to pieces at the notion.
“And he told them to fuck off because it’s none of their business. You were right to trust him.”
“Oh.” He sighed softly in relief.
“I think you need to talk to him.”
“I’m not apologising to him.”
“I said talk. He deserves an explanation.”
“I… I guess.”
“Think about what I said.” Iwaizumi patted his shoulder. He walked out, leaving Kyoutani alone in the cabin once, deep in thoughts about their conversation.
Two more weeks went by as Kyoutani considered what he wanted to say to Yahaba. The moment Iwaizumi left the cabin that day he knew they were going to have to talk, but he knew that going into that conversation without knowing what he wanted to say would only end in another explosion, wrecking their relationship to the point of no return.
But before all of that he had to think of how he saw Yahaba. His thoughts and emotions were an absolute whirl and he couldn’t tell anything apart anymore. He spent this year thinking he and Yahaba were friends, and it was true. But was it all he wanted them to be? He thought it was enough, but if it truly was he wouldn’t have gone through all he did just to see his friend.
Iwaizumi’s words sown a seed that Kyoutani’s heart grew into a forest in a matter of days. He turned over and around every single interaction he remembered having with Yahaba, dissecting every last little detail in hopes to finally untangle the mess of his heart.
He’s only ever fallen in love once. The same little story he told Yahaba a few months prior, about his first and only boyfriend. Their relationship was short, but Kyoutani just remembered being so happy every time he saw him, every time his lips uttered the words my boyfriend . He remembered the pink and the happy, he remembered how he felt back then. This was different.
Kyoutani didn’t fall in love with Yahaba, it felt more like he grew into it. Hesitantly and carefully at first, then more freely. And in all the good days, in all the bad days, he chose it. He didn’t fall because a fall always hurts at the end. No, he invited Yahaba into his heart, he walked into these feelings. It was so different, and so good.
So Kyoutani finally decided to acknowledge his feelings. Yeah, he loves Yahaba. And it felt good to finally tell himself that. The weight of denial has been removed from his shoulders at last. Now he just needed to think of what to say.
That only took him a few more days.
It took three days for Kyoutani to finally manage to find Yahaba alone. He had come to the infirmary in hopes to catch a moment between patients for them to talk, and was fortunate enough to find him discharging the last patient there.
“Kyoutani?”
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here? Did you get injured or something?”
“Uh, no.” Kyoutani coughed once. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“So now you wanna talk.” Yahaba crossed his arms. “Where was that attitude the past three months?”
“I’m sorry,” Kyoutani mumbled, looking down.
“What?” Yahaba asked, completely bewildered.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated louder. This was going to be even harder than anticipated. Their combination of personalities made these intimate conversations extremely difficult.
“For what?”
“Yelling at you and walking away. Lying.”
“Oh,” Yahaba said softly. He sounded surprised again, but for the better. It was a good sign for Kyoutani to continue. But before he could say anything, Yahaba asked another question.
“Why’d you lie?”
“Right. That.” Gods, this is gonna sound so cheesy , he thought to himself while gathering the courage to say what he needed to. “I wanted to see you.”
“ What? ” Yahaba squinted his eyes at Kyoutani. “Is this a prank? If this is a prank I’m gonna kill you so hard-”
“It’s not a prank! I thought it was weird too at first, believe me!” Kyoutani immediately put both his hands in front of him, in a way of self defence.
“Okay…” Yahaba still seemed skeptical of Kyoutani. “So why’d you… wanna see me?”
“It’s complicated, and you’re not making this easier!” Kyoutani yelled out, referring to the wonderment Yahaba was now staring at him with.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just odd that you wanted to see me. Come sit here.” He patted the seat next to him. Kyoutani hesitantly walked over and sat down, immediately engulfed by a hug. “I’m sorry I cornered you like that that day. I should’ve given you a chance to explain yourself.”
“It’s- it’s okay.” Kyoutani stuttered, and hugged Yahaba back.
“So you wanted to see me?”
“Yeah…” Kyoutani felt himself getting red. “Not a word.”
“My lips are sealed.” Yahaba smiled at him. “So… why?”
Kyoutani opened his mouth to speak, and not a single word came out. Everything he had planned to say was lost in his head, and he only remained with stupid useless thoughts, such as it’s really hot in here, and shit, Yahaba’s really pretty when he smiles . Nothing that could help him articulate his feelings.
So he did one of the most stupid things that ever came to his head. He reached over to properly turn Yahaba to him, and kissed him.
Okay, maybe the most stupid idea he’s ever had, but it was definitely up there. It was also the only idea he had at the moment, so committing to it seemed like his best option rather than sitting there, blabbering like a fish out of the water.
It didn’t really seem like Yahaba minded it, either. He was frozen for a split second, before melting into Kyoutani’s touch, before they both pulled away a few seconds later.
“I-”
“I’m sorry-” Kyoutani said quickly, as they both stared at each other with red faces.
“It’s okay…”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, no-” Yahaba stuttered. “I liked it.”
“Really?” Kyoutani asked, suddenly growing shy. He looked down slightly, trying to swallow back his smile.
“I like… I like you.”
“Oh-” His voice cracked. Fuck . “I like you too.”
“You do?”
“I just kissed you.”
“Right.” Yahaba chuckled nervously. “Gods, this is so awkward.”
“Yeah…”
“So what should we do? What should we… Be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe like… Boyfriends?” Kyoutani looked up at Yahaba, looking to see his reaction, only to find Yahaba smiling softly at him.
“That sounds really good. Boyfriends.” Yahaba said that word like he was hearing it for the very first time, and it made Kyoutani a thousand times happier with the idea than he was when he put the offer out.
“Yeah?”
“On one condition.” He raised his finger in warning.
“What is it?”
“I don’t wanna see you here again unless you’re here to take me out.”
Kyoutani stared at Yahaba for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter.
“Yeah, okay. Deal.”