Work Text:
“This was a close call!” Itto exhaled with a laugh as wiped the rain off his face, standing in the shelter of the cave.
Ayato didn’t respond and Itto turned his head to look at him, just to see that Ayato was staring down at their hands. Itto was holding his hand.
He immediately dropped his hand before Ayato could say anything about it, but it was too late. Ayato already looked up at him through his long eyelashes.
“Is my hand that unpleasant to hold?” Ayato asked with a teasing smirk, expecting Itto to get all flustered and stutter, but he didn’t. He looked at Ayato with a more somber expression on his usually smiling face.
His red eyes were reflecting the dim light and the water droplets on his hair were shiny as a few strands hung down his forehead.
“I apologize for touching you without your permission,” he suddenly said and Ayato felt like he was punched in the chest.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh you know,” Itto smiled a little shyly. “Aren’t you a Lord? A man like you probably doesn’t get touched without giving his permission.”
“Who told you?” Ayato heard himself ask immediately, his voice hollow.
Itto showed his teeth as he smiled, his eyes narrowed slightly slightly, the smile forceful and not genuine at all. A rare sight. One that Ayato never wished to ever see again in his whole life.
“I had my suspicions at first,” Itto admitted. “But I quickly forgot about them since you didn’t act as I had expected from the head of the Kamisato clan. However, one of my gang members told me about your true identity.”
Itto crossed his arms over his chest, looking to the side. His eyebrows frowned slightly upwards as he seemed to think about something. He looked at Ayato once again.
“Did you enjoy it?” Itto asked, his smile slowly falling, his question serious.
“Enjoy what?” Ayato replied, his eyes frantically searching for any familiarity in the usually beaming face. But Itto’s face had just turned into stone, identical to the vision that listened to his every command.
Whoever would dare to say that people do not resemble their vision, was fully wrong.
“Did you enjoy making a fool of me?” Itto asked, his voice devoid of any emotion. His eyes were set on Ayato, watching his reaction closely.
Ayato was mortified by his question. He would have never expected for Itto to make such an assumption. After all this time that they had spent together..Ayato had come to appreciate his company more than anyone else’s.
His thoughts were racing about how much he adored Itto. His chest felt heavy, his head began to hurt and he started to feel uncomfortably hot as he realized how much Itto actually meant to him. Ayato looked up at him, his usually cool demeanor having fully broken. For the first time he didn’t know how he was supposed to react.
Should he deny it all? Would Itto even listen to him? Or maybe he should agree.
Ayato’s shoulders slightly fell, his head lowered. Maybe they weren’t supposed to stay together anymore. Maybe they had run out of time. Their differences were too much. Ayato wasn’t meant to be happy.
He should just tell Itto that he wanted to see who he was, if he was a threat to the daily life of Inazuma. He looked up, his eyes glowing with determination to get rid of Itto and keep him away from getting any closer.
His shoulders tensed up and his eyes widened as he looked at Itto. Ayato opened his mouth, but no words came out. Itto stood there, looking at him with a fond expression on his face. His eyes were radiating their usual warmth and yet his smile was something that Ayato had never seen on his face before.
Itto was smiling bitterly.
He lowered his head, closing his eyes in acceptance.
“Let’s not see each other after today,” Itto said before Ayato could even say anything.
“What?” Ayato asked, his voice hollow.
“You already made a fool of me once,” Itto replied. “I don’t see why we should stay in touch when you don’t seem to trust me enough to tell me your true identity.”
“Itto, I can explain-.
“I know you can,” Itto cut him off. “But I don’t think I can hear your explanation.”
He shook his head a little. “At least not now.”
Itto turned around, leaving Ayato behind.
Ayato watched Itto leave, foolishly believing that he would get to see him soon after giving him some space. But he was wrong. So utterly wrong.
He waited for a few days at first. The days soon turned into weeks. Then he finally went out of his way to find out where the man had left, not having heard any news about him at all. Itto had left Inazuma with some members of his gang, apparently returning to Liyue to visit some friends.
And for the first time, upon hearing those news, his heart began to hurt again.