Work Text:
To Kintoki, it's blissfully distracting to take walks outside his house sometimes. It helps take his mind off of his adoptive brothers, who can get very annoying as much as he loves them all, and the fresh air always helps clear his head when he's going through a rough patch.
What he didn't expect is a football clearing his head today. There's always a group of people playing on the nearby field, on the next side of the road where Kintoki’s walking, but he never expected one of them to have enough force in their legs to throw the ball so far and somehow hit him on the head at the same time.
He feels himself fall, putting a hand on his head as he feels a brief wave of dizziness through his body. For a moment Kintoki thinks his head has been hit hard enough to hallucinate, because he can swear he can hear voices.
“—ay?! Hey!” someone yells, the voice getting closer until it's practically in his ears. “Dude, you okay?! Oh, no, don't tell me you're dead!”
Kintoki looks up at the rather theatrical stranger, taking in his ‘assassins’ appearance. A rich brown skin with golden eyes and long, very deep purple — it would look black if not for the sunlight — hair, which is tied in a braid behind his back. They have two piercings under their mouth, and Kintoki’s pretty sure he saw two on their tongue as well.
“What…?” is all Kintoki can ask, still a bit stunned by the attack. He can already feel a bump forming on his head, reaching up to touch the bruised area before wincing.
“You're alive! I thought I lost you there, dude!” the stranger says, getting closer to Kintoki to assess the damage. “That looks pretty bad… maybe it's a concussion? Damn it, I'm so sorry…
“Listen, my name's Anubis,” the other — a boy, Kintoki assumes — says, standing up and offering his hand. “I can't really get you to a hospital, but I’d like to take you back to your house. Y'know, just to make sure you don't, like, die out there because of me.”
Surprisingly enough, Kintoki feels himself nodding. He knows how stupid this is, to accept a stranger's request to go home with him, but he's also a bit concerned that it might be a concussion. Regardless, he takes Anubis’ hand to stand up, noticing how the ground finally doesn't spin under him anymore.
However, instead of telling this kind stranger that he's feeling good enough to go home on his own, he starts walking. Maybe it is a concussion, there's no other reason why he'd be acting so weird right now.
“My name's Kintoki,” he says after a bit, realizing that he hasn’t introduced himself yet. “That was a pretty strong kick, I can't lie. I didn't even see the damn ball!”
To this, Anubis smirks just a bit, trying not to appear too cocky for quite literally almost killing someone. “Yeah, I play a lot over there. I think I've seen you a few times walking around too.”
The conversation should die down there, yet Kintoki keeps speaking. They keep walking and talking, as if they were good old friends or classmates which they definitely aren't — Kintoki's quite sure he’d recognize a guy so cute if they were together in a classroom.
He decides to ignore how his brain has called Anubis cute out of nowhere.
“I can repay you for the damage,” Anubis suddenly says, clearly trying to come up with something that might work for the both of them. “Since I couldn't take you to the hospital, I could… uhhh… give you some free coffee? My dad works at a cafeteria nearby.”
Kintoki wonders, just for a second, if the ‘free coffee’ means they'd drink it together. He shakes his head, both at his own thought and Anubis’ words, as it wasn't exactly his fault that he was hit on the head even if it still hurts a bit.
“Nah, I'm fine,” he says, before realizing he might take advantage of the situation now that he's at it. “Actually? Give me your number. That's enough payment for me.”
“Are you sure you didn't get a concussion?” Anubis asks snarkily, before getting his phone out of his pants pocket to give Kintoki his number.
While Kintoki finds it a bit funny that a guy who's seemingly his age doesn't know his own number, he knows a lot of people who don't even know their passcodes. Finally, after some minutes, he's able to get the guy's number, saving it as ‘Ball Guy’.
“C'mon, that can't be my reputation with you now,” Anubis complains, clearly joking based on his smirk. “But hey, hit me up whenever you want. And, uh, tell me if you have a concussion or something.”
Kintoki nods, which makes his head pound a bit, before turning around to his house. It's a big home, and based by his new friend's reaction, it looks even bigger if you're not used to it.
“Dude, are you rich?” Anubis asks, before looking a bit panicked. “Don't tell me you're gonna sue me now for the bump…”
Kintoki laughs, loud and airy, before shaking his head. “I just have a lot of siblings, we need a big house. You're not exactly rich when you have to share a meal with twelve people.”
The other gapes at him, even more shocked by the number of siblings. Taking a quick look at his mouth, Kintoki confirms that his earlier theory of Anubis having two piercings on his tongue was correct, before smirking at him.
“Well, I gotta get going, and you should talk with your football friends,” he says, to which Anubis nods.
After a bit more of talking, where once again they confirm the number exchanged is correct, they both part ways, and Kintoki finally opens the door to his chaotic home.
“Jesus, did you grow a new head?” is the first thing Kintoki hears, turning around and rolling his eyes towards his brother Michel. “No, like, seriously. That looks painful as shit.”
Behind all the sarcasm, Kintoki can hear the tinge of concern. As much as he might try to hide it, Michel is clearly worried for his older brother, seeing the obnoxious bump that certainly wasn't there before he left.
“I'm fine,” he confirms to his brother, but he sees that the worry still lingers. “Just an ice pack and it’ll be gone.”
“It better be,” Michel says, following him to the living room before forcing him to sit down. “It looks very ugly on you. I prefer the scar over the second head. Wait up, I'll bring you an ice pack, I think maman has one for her migraines.”
Kintoki watches his little brother leave, sighing to himself. It was clear that the younger one was worried, seeing how he didn't have his usual mischievous smirk on his face before leaving.
Before Michel gets back, he can hear steps coming downstairs — Kintoki really hopes he's not having hallucinations, he would hate to have a concussion right now — and towards the living room.
“Holy—” Raiden says before quickly covering his mouth, which opened in shock as soon as he saw his brother's current appearance. “Looks like that head couldn't handle more thoughts.”
He sits down next to Kintoki, watching as Michel brings back the ice pack and roughly puts it on Kintoki's head, making him wince from the cold and pain.
“What happened out there?” Raiden asks, finally sounding a bit concerned as well. Of course, after all, he cares about all his siblings equally. “You don't look too sad by this bump.”
“Don’t be mistaken, it hurts like a bitch,” the blonde answers, sitting up straighter. “Okay, so, I went for a walk, right, and then suddenly a football hit me. A football! It came from literally nowhere, so I kinda just fell and got a bit dizzy—”
“A bit dizzy?” Raiden interrupts, concern turning into worry, “you should get that checked by a doctor, it doesn't sound too good.”
“I mean, it doesn't hurt anymore… maybe I'll go if I still feel bad by tomorrow,” seeing his two siblings answer, Kintoki continues with his storytime. “So, anyway, I was there on the floor and suddenly this handsome guy just comes from nowhere and starts talking to me, he came home with me since he couldn't take me to the hospital, and he gave me his number.”
After the rant, Michel looks a bit more excited, certainly curious about whoever has caught his brother's eye. “Ooh, a guy? Did you text him yet?”
“Ah, no… you didn't give me time to do anything with your damn worry!” the blonde lightly complains, rolling his eyes when his brother just sticks his tongue out to him. “Let me just do that, actually.”
Getting his phone out of his pocket, Kintoki taps the new contact and sends Anubis a message. After making sure that the message was properly sent, he puts his phone back down.
“What did y'all do while I was out? This is… oddly quiet,” he mentions, only now realizing that he didn't see any of his other siblings at all.
“I'm pretty sure I heard Simo and Grigori fight,” Raiden says, his expression sobering up a bit. “I think Nikola intervened? Not too sure, but Grigori’s old enough to stop picking fights with a thirteen year old.”
ᯓ ᡣ𐭩࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔
At night, most of the siblings tend to eat dinner together in the dinning table. Only a few like Jack and Lü tend to eat earlier, leaving the ten brothers instead of the usual twelve without their parents who are out in a business trip of some sorts.
“Sometimes it's like being back in an orphanage,” Leonidas murmurs, mouth full of the sandwich he's eating. He's not exactly wrong either, considering just how long their parents’ business trips tend to be.
“Ah!,” Nikola suddenly gasps, looking in Kintoki’s way. “What's that? An ice pack? Doesn't it melt?”
Now everyone's eyes are on him, which isn't exactly ideal in his humble opinion. He looks down at his own plate, some noodles since apparently getting hit by a football made him really hungry, and nods slightly.
“Yeah, I got hit by a football and I got a bump. It's nothing, though, Michel already took care of it,” he answers, putting the ice pack a bit away from his head to see the damage. The bump isn't as big now, and it doesn't hurt that much anymore.
“He even met a ‘handsome’ guy while at it,” Michel teases, a sly smirk on his face and a sing-song tone as he looks at his older brother. “And gave him his number.”
“You can't be serious,” Kojiro says with a sigh, even if he looks like he's trying to hold back his laughter. “So a guy nearly kills you, and all you do is ask for his number?”
“Hey, he offered free coffee! I just wanted to make sure he fulfilled the agreement!” Kintoki tries to defend himself, at least having the advantage that he doesn't blush easily.
“Mhm,” Qin says, sunglasses off and laying on the table, making sure his blue eyes are pointedly looking at his brother. “Just make sure to not get pregnant. Or get him pregnant, who knows.”
“What?! Literally how—”
ᯓ ᡣ𐭩࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔
The café that apparently Anubis’ dad owns is quite cozy if Kintoki's being honest, looking around as a quiet bell dings when he closes the door after entering.
Some bread, croissants, donuts and chocolate palmiers are all exposed under a glass on the countertop, in a place perfect enough so that kids can see them and beg their parents for one. Had he brought some of his siblings with him, they would've bought some of those delicious-looking pastries.
The furniture is all a very dark brown color with a glossy look to them, the wood of some of the tables looks a bit chipped despite it. There's chairs in one side, and in the side against the wall there's just one long seat for separate tables. It makes enough sense, and probably comes handy when arranging tables together for parties.
The floor is more of an opaque black, contrasting with the glossy brown of the furniture. The ceiling is completely white, and it has some fake leaves hanging from it, giving the café a more forest-like look.
The walls are all white as well. Behind the counter, there's a rack with multiple drinks showcasing, most of them non-alcoholic until Kintoki's eyes look up to the tallest shelf. Definitely alcohol, got it. There's also a blackboard beside the rack, with a handwritten list of what seems to be a menu of some sorts.
The bell rings as someone else makes their way inside and sits right in front of Kintoki — Anubis, of course. He looks different from last time, his hair is down and he's wearing jeans instead of sweatpants, with a band shirt that Kintoki doesn't recognize.
“This place is nice,” the blonde finally says, looking down at the menu paper on the table. “Your dad has good taste.”
“Right? I tell him that all the time!” Anubis says eagerly, not bothering with the menu — he probably knows it all by now. “Warm in winter and cold in summer, it's the perfect place.”
He seems to hold very dearly this small café in his heart. Kintoki can relate to that in some way, with how he holds dearly each and every one of the gifts that his siblings have given him ever since they were all adopted — it must be a similar feeling, given just how much Anubis appears to like the place.
“I can order it for you, as an apology for the whole ‘almost killing you’ thing,” the boy says, making the quotes very clear. It also makes Kintoki notice his quite long and black painted nails. “Plus, I'll pay for us! Sadly, there's no son free pass here.”
They both laugh at that, as silly as it sounds. Their drinks are just some coffee, with chocolate powder for Kintoki, and a donut for the both of them. The quality of food is a pleasant surprise, and the blonde can't quite keep that in.
“Are these handmade?” Kintoki asks, his red eyes looking down at the donut. It looks store bought, but the flavor is so different and delicious.
“Yeah, of course! Almost everything here is, except the palmiers — don't tell anyone that,” Anubis nods, happy to see someone else enjoy what the workers here bake.
They talk. For an hour they talk in the café, until Anubis’ father grumpily kicks them both out for taking space that other clients might want to use, and then they go to a nearby park to keep talking. It's amazing to have someone his age listen, to have them both laugh at the same stupid jokes that would make his siblings sneer at home.
It's stupid, how his eyes keep wandering to Anubis’ lips, the the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs. He's really cute and handsome at the same time, something that Kintoki considered impossible before, and his personality is also not lacking at all. This time, it's Kintoki's mind speaking and not a possible concussion, he knows this guy looks a little too good.
When it gets late enough for the both of them to receive worried texts from their respective families, they part ways, but not before agreeing on a different meetup for next week. Kintoki is definitely looking forward to it, and he can finally think with confidence that he knows Anubis is also looking forward to it too.