Warning: Nudity and handjob.
Numb. Everything was numb, numb, numb. He couldn't feel anything.
But what was this? Warmth.
He inched towards it with great difficulty, his body instinctively huddling even closer to the source of warmth.
Once he got as close as possible to the warmth emitted, he struggled to opened his eyes for a second. However safe and comforting it felt, he couldn't fully relax until he knew he was in safe company.
After what seemed like hours of hard work, he finally managed to crack one eye open. Instantly, it was assaulted with the sight of fiery red hair.
Red hair. Kurama.
That was all he needed to know and with that, Yusuke slunk back into a restful sleep.
xxx
He wavered between consciousness and unconsciousness, teetering on the line which separated the two. His finger twitched and Yusuke became aware of the hair which his fingers were twined with. It was a rough, general mob of hair. It was exactly how Yusuke imagined Hiei's hair texture to be.
"Hiei?" Yusuke murmured as he leaned closer to the other body. Warm. He blearily opened his eyes and was met with red. "Kurama?"
It might have been because of exhaustion or his yet another close-to-death experience, but Yusuke couldn't seem to be able to make other connections besides relating to the two immortals.
Yusuke shook his head a little in attempt to think clearly, instinctively knowing something about his logic was off. He just couldn't figure out what was.
His eyes landed on his bare arm which led to the mob of red hair.
Wait. A mob? Kurama's hair was never a mob. Only Hiei's was. But Hiei's hair wasn't red. So... just whose body was this which he was twined with?
Yusuke's legs lashed out without a second thought, pushing the body beside him off with the help from his arm.
The body landed on the floor with a yelp in an unfamiliar voice, which further proved to Yusuke's groggy brain that his line of thought was correct. It also sent a surge of panic through Yusuke, effectively chasing some of the fog away from Yusuke's mind.
Who was that? Why was he here? And why... was he naked? Yusuke and that man.
Yusuke scrambled to find some kind of weapon, refusing to pursue that line of thought. Normally, he had no qualms about fighting without a weapon, but the situation unnerved him more than he would like to admit. His body was also struggling to keep up his mind. Yusuke noticed he couldn't use much of his strength when he pushed whoever the bastard was away from him.
"'Ak! Why would cha do th't?" The man from the ground stood before Yusuke could find anything to defend himself with. Under the blankets, Yusuke's hand latched on to the pillow.
Yusuke struggled to even out his panicked, rapidly shallow breathing. Way to wake someone up from... from what? Yusuke's mind came out blanked. "Who the fuck are you?" Yusuke croaked; the attempt to sound menacing was rendered ineffective when his voice was raspy and no more than a low whisper.
The other man blinked, probably either at his language, his painful sounding voice or both. "Ya voice doesn't sound so good," he said. He turned toward the table behind him, turning his back to Yusuke and Yusuke took that chance to lunge at him the pillow. He could talk when Yusuke got him pinned down. That was the plan, but Yusuke miscalculated. It wasn't only that his body didn't have Yusuke's normal strength; his speed and agility was hindered as well.
Something cold went through him.
When Yusuke attempted to lunge at the other man, his legs and ankles got tangled with the blankets, causing him to lose his balance. Normally Yusuke would recover from it right away, but he was walking on his knees on the bed and his body took way longer to act on his brain's command. His knees continued to stumble forward to extend the time before his inevitable fall and now Yusuke found himself falling straight off the bed. His face would have planted solidly against the ground, if a mysterious force didn't stop gravity from continuing on.
"What the hell?" Yusuke murmured, swallowing deeply through his parched throat. Hands moved under his armpits and maneuvered him onto the bed again, effortlessly like Yusuke was a child. The red-haired man with pointy ears (?!) pushed Yusuke until his back was leaning against the wall. A glass of water was then promptly shoved in front of his face.
"Water?" the elf-ish man said. Yusuke was immediately reminded his meeting with Kurama and their deal with a glass of water.
Yusuke let out a short laugh as he recalled the memory and in front of him, the redhead grinned back, his grin as wide as Yusuke's. Yusuke felt a fraction of his tension leave him. Instinct told him the man wasn't going to harm him and Yusuke thought himself as a pretty good judge of character. If he was wrong, well, only Yusuke was going to suffer from it.
Tipping his head against the wall in attempt to relax further, Yusuke extended his hand to receive the proffered cup. "Thanks," Yusuke said with a grin. He quickly drank the cup of water, coughing and choking from the speed which he drank and was again reminded of the time he was with Kurama in the bath.
"Ya okay?" the redhead said. Yusuke nodded in reply and waved off his concern.
"'m fine," Yusuke said, massaging his throat a little. Yusuke looked at the redhead with interest. "More importantly, what was that just now?" He indicated vaguely with his hand to where he had almost met the ground close and personal some moments ago.
The elf-ish man's ears twitched happily upon hearing Yusuke mention that little incident. The redhead waved his hand and a gust of wind whirled through the room, blowing open the window.
Yusuke, probably contrary to what the elf-looking immortal expected, groaned, dropping his head against his knee.
"Oi, mate, ya alright?" he asked, peering closely at Yusuke.
Yusuke heaved a sigh and lifted his head, not wanting to seem like a brat. "Didn't expect another immortal, that's-" A loud whine caught his attention and Yusuke looked towards the source. "Puu?"
Sure enough, the blue-gray horse was outside the window, slowly moving to a full stand. He was probably resting beneath the windows until the windows slamming open due to the redhead's wind display caught his attention.
"Why the hell is he here?" Yusuke asked, even as he swung his feet off the bed. He let out a shiver as his bare foot touched the freezing floor and quickly tiptoed towards the window without bothering to cover himself. He shivered as the cold air wrapped around him, making him feel chilled inside and out. Once Yusuke reached Puu, the little beast nudged Yusuke with his head, causing Yusuke to chuckle a little and pat his head.
"I dunno," Jin, god of wind, replied, moving to stand beside Yusuke. He rubbed Puu behind his ear, causing him to nicker affectionately. "He brought cha here on his back during the snow storm. He was frostbit'en and you were at the verge of fre'zing to death." Jin paused for a moment and looked at Yusuke sheepishly. "Touya, that's the guy who lives here," he explained. Yusuke didn't recognize the name so whoever Touya was, he probably wasn't an immortal. "He was only gonna save ya horse at first, 'cos ya should of known better than to come here, but the lil' guy here," Jin patted Puu again, "wouldn't get treated 'less you did first. So we saved ya too."
"So you saved me again, huh," Yusuke said, gazing into Puu's eyes. Puu let out a soft noise and brought his forehead to Yusuke's. Yusuke smiled softly and returned the gesture. "Thanks, boy."
Yusuke turned back to Jin after a moment. "He's fine, right? No side effect or anything?"
Jin shook his mob of hair. "Nope. Good as new, 'specially with a lil' dip in the bath." A thought occurred to him. "Ya should go have a bath too. It has healing props an' all."
Yusuke looked at Jin in interest. "You don't mind?"
"Nah. I woulda dumped you in there, save time with the healing proc'ss an' all, but we can't drag an uncon'cious body through the portal," Jin explained with a little shrug. "Lil' protection for the mortals from i'mortals."
"Except when it's a matter of life and death, of course," Yusuke muttered, annoyance laced in his voice. It wasn't like he didn't understand the logic with the rule and everything. Everyone technically have access to the same bath, but for privacy sake, each person enters a different dimension so none of the immortals who enter at the same time would come across each other. There was fear that the aspect of the bath could be exploited for kidnapping and such, though, and since each bath people summoned was a different dimension, no one would ever know. The bath system was altered so the scenario described wouldn't happen, or so Chu told him while he was drunk. It seemed like there was truth in his words.
Yusuke was brought out of his thoughts by a chilly breeze, which seemed to sap a lot of his strength out of him. He shivered, feeling the discomfort of the chill going through his body. "A bath sounds great," he said, withdrawing his hand from Puu's mane. "Mind if I get some clothes?"
Yusuke's mind began whirling again on the when he realized once again that the immortal was butt-naked. And so was Yusuke. And he woke up in the same bed as the other immortal, with the redhead's arm draped over his body and Yusuke's hand in the other's hair.
His mouth became dry and Jin, not least aware of Yusuke's own turmoil, chirped, "sure," in answer to Yusuke's previous question. He turned around and ambled to the closet across the room.
Yusuke's eye twitched as he realized he had a perfect view of Jin's ass, something which he hadn't intended to see at all. Yusuke brought a hand to his face and adverted his gaze.
What had occurred? Yusuke rummaged through his memory, but nothing came into mind that led would to this predicament.
Well, just what was 'this predicament'?
Well, Yusuke, Yusuke thought sarcastically to himself, sounding much like a certain old hag for a moment. You woke up with another guy and both of you were butt-naked and all close. Jin seemed pretty comfortable in his birthday suit, at least around you. Do the math, man.
Except pieces were not fitting. Yusuke was near death before, nearly became a human popsicle stick. There was no way he had libido for anything of that sort in a situation like that. Unless Yusuke had a hidden, utterly perverted side of himself which he didn't know about. A side which got off of screwing around when he was dying. While Yusuke was unconscious and didn't remember damn thing.
No way, Yusuke thought. Just no way in hell was I'm gonna accept this explanation.
Yusuke hobbled awkwardly over to Jin as to avoid as much of the cold floor as possible when he held out a glob of clothes to him. Yusuke quickly put them on as he continued to think, noting with some sort of weird relief that Jin also opted to finally cover his bottom half.
Okay, so if I don't think I did anything while I was out of it, does it mean Jin did?
Yusuke glanced at Jin, contemplating, before dismissing the idea. The immortal was nothing but helpful since he woke up and didn't seem to be the kind to take advantage of a random unconscious man and ravage him.
Besides, Yusuke thought, looking over his own body. I don't look thoroughly sexed up at all. But there's these weird brown marks...
Yusuke blinked when it occurred to him that Jin didn't give him any shirt of any sort. The elf-like immortal himself also didn't wear any.
You know what, Yusuke thought to himself. Screw all this thinking. Why don't I just ask him?
"Hey, Jin," Yusuke said, bringing the redhead's attention to him. "Why were we naked in bed?"
Yusuke could heat crawl up across his face once the question was out in the open. When it was phrased like that, Yusuke felt like a three year old who couldn't put one and one together.
Jin blinked at Yusuke for a moment, before his face cracked with a large smile. Then he started chortling, hard, completed with clutching his stomach and stomping his feet. The room was getting drafty again, thanks to the god of wind, but the fire that Yusuke felt was under his skin remained. His body, however, remained feeling strangely cold.
I swear, Yusuke thought, his patience and tolerance for his embarrassment dwindling by every second. If he doesn't stop laughing...
Jin, who by then was almost at the end of the fit of his laughter, took one look at Yusuke's red face and fell into another round of laughter again.
Oh, that's it! Yusuke thought. In one move, Yusuke swept Jin's legs under him, causing him to lose his balance and begin to meet the ground. Just as before, however, Jin, even as he was laughing to the point of having tears in his eyes, manipulated the wind to ease his fall.
"Wee!" Jin exclaimed as he suddenly shot up to the ceiling. He looked at Yusuke from his point of view and chortled again.
"Fucking cheating bastard!" Yusuke exclaimed as he impulsively grabbed the pillow from the bed and hurtled it toward Jin. Jin, who was bent in a fetal position in the air from laughing so much, didn't see it coming as it smacked him soundly on the side of his head.
He yelped (like a puppy, Yusuke thought) and swung his head up to see what had hit him. By that point, Yusuke had caught the pillow as it fell and had thrown it back up, aiming to get in another hit before Jin became aware.
Jin looked up just in time to be smacked by the pillow from directly beneath him, and the stunned looked on Jin's face had Yusuke going into a laughing fit.
The stun didn't last long, before Jin swooped down and grabbed the pillow before it landed against the floor or into Yusuke's hands again. Jin manipulated the wind into pushing himself back up towards the ceiling and swiftly, like the wind, threw it towards Yusuke.
Yusuke caught it, having seen the retaliation coming, and smirked widely at the immortal. He stuck his tongue out at Jin, feeling much like a brat, and whistled. Jin looked confused for a moment, before Puu poked his head in.
Still smirking and with the pillow in hand, Yusuke ran towards Puu, adrenaline feeding his body the necessary energy and vaulted out the window and right onto Puu's back. Yusuke took a moment to turn and blow Jin a raspberry, before quickly shifting into a proper riding position and urging Puu into a run.
Yusuke could hear peals of laughter following him as they raced into the forest. Thankfully, the trees were just huge with bushy, leafy tops and there were little trunks (read: obstacles) in the way of their run. "Go boy," Yusuke said as he leaned forward, firmly grasping Puu's mane with both of his hands. He squashed the pillow between his body and the junction of Puu's neck to keep it in place.
"Woo!" Yusuke cried out as they burst out of the wood. A quick glance up found Jin right behind them, flying towards them like some kind of homing device. The immortal also had a grin on his face.
Noticing Yusuke's glance, the man's ear twitched mischievously, before he swooped down towards them.
"Holy mother fucker!" Yusuke exclaimed with a laugh as he clenched his legs. Puu, understanding immediately, moved with a burst of speed that just allowed Yusuke to avoided Jin's grasp.
Jin laughed as he made a complete circle and returned to chasing Yusuke and Puu. By then, they were a little farther ahead than before. Jin called the wind and sped up.
They burst into another wood, blocking both of them from seeing where the other was. A careful moment of listening to the wind above told Yusuke that Jin probably sped up even more with his power. He would probably end up at the edge of the forest first and be there hovering, waiting for them.
Well, Yusuke thought amusedly. I wouldn't call Uremeshi Yusuke if you could get me so easily.
Yusuke tugged the handful of mane on his right hand, and Puu's ears immediately perked up. Puu tilted his head to the side ever slightly while still keeping his speed, and Yusuke nudged Puu with his right leg meaningfully.
Puu changed direction and began to veer to the right.
I love this horse, Yusuke thought as they burst out of the wood, Jin's surprised face as he turned upon hearing their loud exit making Yusuke giggle.
A determined look appeared on Jin's face and he could hear the wind as Jin burst towards them.
"Holy fuck, he's fast!" Yusuke exclaimed. He looked around for something to slow him down, knowing Jin would be on them in a matter of seconds. Five, to be exact.
Yusuke continued to look around. Five.
Yusuke looked back and saw Jin even closer than before. Four.
Yusuke leaned forward and felt something against his body. Three.
Yusuke tugged it out and found himself looking at the pillow. Two.
Yusuke turned with a dangerous grin on his face and a pillow in his hand. One.
Jin had a bad feeling and slowed his wind, but Puu slowed with him. The pillow smacked right into Jin's face. Zero.
Jin fell back, his back hitting a floor of wind right above the actual ground. Yusuke stopped Puu and turned around, suddenly worrying if he went too far. Jin's prone form scared him, causing him to recall the many bodies of the battlefield. Those days seemed so far away...
His heart thudded loudly against his chest as he swung off Puu. "Go get help, boy," Yusuke muttered to Puu. If it was serious, Yusuke wouldn't be able to handle it. Yusuke didn't wait to see if Puu understood before he hurried over to Jin barefooted. In the recess of his mind, he registered the loud noise of horse-hooves hitting rapidly against the ground drifting increasingly farther away.
He went to get help, Yusuke thought. He increased his speed to close the distant between Jin's prone form and himself. Good.
Jin hid a grin and imperceptibly lowered himself onto the ground with his wind, a mischievous plan forming in his mind. His eyes remained closed.
"Jin?" Yusuke called, standing over the immortal's body. The redhead didn't move. He didn't react.
"Jin," Yusuke repeated, a little more urgent. He kneeled down beside him, eyes quickly looking over Jin's body for any fatal wound of any sort caused when he fell. He found none. A head wound? His hand hovered over Jin's body for a moment, before his choice was taken away from him.
"Gotcha!" Jin's hand shot up and grabbed Yusuke's, flipping their body around so Yusuke was lying on the ground and Jin was on top of him.
He's fine, was the thought that first occurred to Yusuke and then relief spread throughout his body. But hot anger quickly replaced the relief. I'll kill him myself, Yusuke hissed angrily to himself. "You bastard," Yusuke hissed lowly out loud, his free hand gripping onto Jin's hand in a snap. His face heated from the anger. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought you were dead!"
Amusement slowly faded from Jin's eyes at seeing the serious look on the boy's face. "... I'm 'right," he finally said softly. "I don't die easy. I'm immortal."
Yusuke took a deep breath in, trying to rein in his emotions and feeling foolish for reacting so seriously to a little prank. His hand dropped the grip he had on Jin's hand, although Jin's on his other hand remained. He flung his newly freed arm over his face. Tension released from his shoulders, and the back of his head fell back against the grass. He closed his eyes, ignoring Jin for the moment.
Jin glanced at the quiet mortal, noticing how flushed his face was. "Your face's red," Jin said, his hand reaching out to slowly touch said face like a child. Yusuke's eyes flashed open at the touch, and it was then he noticed their proximity. Yusuke's heart began to beat crazily, whether from their impromptu race, his previous rush of anger or from the sudden awareness of their suggestive position, he did not know.
Jin's hand caressed his face, slowly from below his ear along his jawbone. Yusuke's head unconsciously followed his hand, leaning forward as the hand moved up, as though he was drawn by some kind of invisible string until their lips met. Their mouths opened simultaneously and then tongues were sliding against each other in a wordless dance.
Yusuke's hand reached up on its own accord and wound into Jin's hair, thinking, Yeah, it feels just like how Hiei's hair look like it feel like.
As that thought registered to his mind, his lips and tongue stopped moving. Jin, noticing after a while that Yusuke stopped, also stopped, parting their lips so Jin's hovered inches away from Yusuke's. Jin's eyes searched Yusuke's brown ones. "No?" he asked, sounding somewhat out of breath.
Yusuke shook his head, not trusting himself to speak just yet, and Jin nodded. "Okay." He got off of Yusuke and repositioned himself so he sat cross-legged beside the mortal. Yusuke sat up.
"You're hard," Yusuke commented, eyeing at the bump at the front of Jin's pants.
"The chasin' was fun and now my ears and lil' me are twitc'ing, but ya said 'no'." Jin was definitely pouting.
Yusuke scratched his head in response, knowing there was little to say when he was also hard. There was undeniable charisma to the immortal and his personality was easy-going and easy to get along with. The exact man kind of man he would look for for a little fling, except... "It didn't feel right," Yusuke replied with a shrug. "It felt good, physically and everything, but it's just a little..."
"Off," Jin finished with a nod. His shoulders slumped. "Ay, I get it."
Somehow, Yusuke got the feeling Jin wasn't talking about Yusuke's refusal to have sex with him. He scooted over to in front of Jin without thinking, his hand dropping to Jin's waistband. Jin's eyes widened and looked back at him.
"I'll jerk you off and you'll return the favor," Yusuke said with a semi-casual shrug. "Between friends, alright?"
Jin nodded jerkily and Yusuke dipped his hand in until he touched the immortal's dick. The immortal let out a breath and dropped his head onto Yusuke's shoulder. He was about to move his hand, when Jin's voice stopped him. "Wait. Lemme get yours too."
Jin didn't wait for a reply before slipping his hand to between Yusuke's legs. "Fuck," Yusuke murmured, dropping his head onto Jin's shoulder as Jin's hand touched him and Yusuke shifted so Jin could have easier access, resulting in extra friction. The two's hands moved without another word, their pace frantic and quick. There was no 'let's slow down and enjoy this moment,' only fast moving hands of each other's that helped them reached to their peak.
When they reached over the edge, Yusuke let out a wordless cry with an image of two certain immortals imprinted in his mind, while Jin let out a soft moan of, "Touya."
Yusuke's mind halted at that, but his hand and Jin's continued moving until both of them were milked dry. They exchanged a quick grin of their own as they pulled their hand out of each other's pants (well, technically, Yusuke was wearing Jin's pants) and then took a moment to regain their breathing.
"Don't tell me we were doing this before," Yusuke said, referring to his previous question regarding why he awoke naked beside Jin.
Jin grinned in amusement at the prospect, then honestly shook his head. "Nah. It was cold and I was givin' ya warmth. Body heat and all."
"Oh," Yusuke said. That explanation did made a lot of sense. "Thanks, then, I guess, for helping me out and not molesting me in my sleep." Yusuke paused and looked at Jin with a glint in his eyes. "But then again... Touya?"
Yusuke raised a questioning eyebrow, obviously referring to what Jin accidentally revealed. Yusuke was curious. If memory served him correctly, Touya was the guy who lived in the cabin Yusuke woke up in, according to Jin.
Jin looked at Yusuke hard for a moment, before shrugging. Yusuke suspected Jin thought if they were close enough to jerk each other off, he could tell him this too. He smiled happily at Yusuke. "Ay, Touya."
Yusuke waited for Jin but he didn't elaborate. "You like him?" he prompted, somewhat curious.
"Yah, but he doesn't like me," Jin replied, picking at the blades of grass at his feet, looking depressed. Yusuke winced inwardly upon hearing Jin's words, feeling somewhat guilty for pulling it out of him. Thankfully, Jin didn't stay depressed long. He looked up, his head moving side to side as though in search of something.
"Where's your horse?" Jin asked and Yusuke blinked. Crap. He forgot about Puu.
Yusuke wiped his hand against the grass a few times before standing, his eyes searching over the landform. Before he could complete his search, Jin shouted, "there!"
Yusuke looked at the direction Jin pointed to and squinted. In the distant, there was Puu, trotting towards them with someone else sitting upon him. Yusuke felt a flash of annoyance at the thought, before smothering it. He was the one who told Puu to get someone, after all. "That Touya?" Yusuke asked, taking a wild guess. He walked over to Jin, who was floating above the ground.
"Ay," Jin replied with a nod, his eyes never leaving on Puu. A smile formed on his face, before something steel like was put there. Like determination. "Touya!" Jin called with a laugh, propelling himself towards the two approaching duo.
Yusuke laughed a little at Jin's childish behavior, before making a move to follow. He didn't go beyond one foot before he fell, energy seeming to be drained from him. Pain started settling in like old friend reuniting as the adrenaline faded. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Yusuke gasped, wrapping an arm around himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to even out his breathing, his other hand moving to press again spots that hurt the most.
Yusuke dimly noted that those were also the areas which Yusuke found to have weird marks on him. Random, haphazard brown patterns. [1]
There was a rush of noises around him, including a high neigh. A smooth tongue slid over his face in an attempt at to comfort and Yusuke twisted away. "Leave," he murmured, before another jolt of pain went through him. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
"Move his hand," someone said roughly, but the voice contained a melodious tone anyway. Touya, Yusuke assumed. "Move," Touya said firmly and for a second, Yusuke thought he was speaking to him, but that didn't make any sense. At least, until there was a loud whine, followed by the gentle bump of Puu's head against Yusuke's.
"Go," Yusuke gasped out with his eyes closed. It would only hurt his little beast to see him like this and knowing Puu himself can't do anything to help. There were some more words and movements that Yusuke couldn't keep track of, before the sound of horse-hooves retreating met his ears for the second time.
I'll have to make it up for him later, Yusuke thought brief, before he was forced to focus on himself.
Yusuke clenched his hand into a fist as he did his best to not get in the other guy's way with flailing limbs and such. But the pain was too great for Yusuke to hold onto such control and in the end, Jin had to pin Yusuke down as Touya looked over him.
"What's wrong with 'em, Touya?" Jin shouted over to Touya worriedly, glancing down at his friend who was in excruciating pain.
"You should have never brought him out," Touya hissed angrily, his hand running over the brown spots on the boy's skin. "The frostbitten areas are being rewarmed at a rapid pace. The blood is flowing again."
"Ain't that good?" he asked, not understanding and feeling utterly confused and panicked as the mortal twisted in pain.
"Normally, it would be, but the rapid rewarming is causing too much strain and pain to his body," Touya quickly replied. Jin asked another question, but Touya didn't reply, appearing to be contemplating something. Mind appearing to be made up, he finally pressed his hand against the brown spots on the boy's skin. The mortal screamed.
Jin blasted Touya away from the boy with his wind without thinking upon hearing the blood-curling scream that left the previously smiling boy's mouth. Immediately, the scream lowered to a choked sob. "What are cha doing?!"
Touya stared unblinkingly at Jin for some long moments and whatever indignance Jin may have felt on the mortal's behalf evaporated at the sight of the look. It was so open, so vulnerable compared to how Touya usually act. Touya usually hid his emotions behind his icy eyes that shone like ice and acted as a barrier, but now that it was down, Jin could see it. The hurt from Jin's action.
"Touya," Jin called, uncharacteristically serious, but Touya had gone from cold to frosty.
"I'm trying to force the chill out of his body," Touya said coolly as he approached them again, his pace measured and controlled. Icy and impenetrable. As Touya squat down next to him, he glanced over at Jin for a second. There was a warning in his eyes for Jin to shut up and not interfere if he wanted to him to help the mortal. Next time, his cool eyes seemed to convey, stop me again and I'll leave.
And the mortal would be left to whatever fate had in store for him.
Jin pressed his mouth into a straight line and nodded. Touya, once he got Jin's acknowledgement, coolly turned away from Jin and focused on his patient.
"Hold his arms down," Touya said. "He was in the cold for too long. Too much of the chill had gotten into his body."
"But I've been living 'ere for a while, and I never had this craze of a reaction," Jin said, even as he did as he was told.
Touya's eyes darted up to Jin's face for a moment, before he laid his hand onto Yusuke's stomach. "Different circumstances," he explained curtly. Jin was about to comment on it, when Touya started.
The mortal's hand was grasping onto Touya's wrist. Something sparked in Touya's eyes. "You will meet your demise if you stop me from doing this, mortal," Touya said, his tone harsh. Jin was mildly surprised Touya didn't withdraw his hand, knowing that Touya disliked any sorts of contact.
"Yusuke," the mortal groaned out. It took Jin a moment for him to realize the boy just said his name and was surprised to realize that the boy never introduced himself. Jin didn't notice, since the boy guessed his name through the knowledge of his status as the god of wind and had been calling him Jin all this time. "This is gonna hurt like shit, isn't it?"
Touya nodded without sugar coating anything. "Yes," he said plainly. "Forcing the chill out of your body and letting it rewarm is going to be a painful process."
"But it's going to save my life," Yusuke stated, staring straight into Touya's eyes. Touya gazed right back, answering without hesitation.
"Yes."
Yusuke released his hold on Touya's wrist and breathed out, forcing his entire body to relax. "Alright," he said, closing his eyes briefly. "Let's do it then." His gaze flickered to Jin's and a tired, small smile flashed across his face. "But first, can you get me something to bite on?"
"Yes," Touya said. "That would be smart."
Touya looked at Jin and when Jin realized that those twin expectant looks were telling him to find something, he pouted.
"Why me?" Jin grumbled a little as he got up, disgruntled but knowing despite the casual atmosphere, Yusuke was by no means well enough to go off by himself. So he went.
Silence settled between Touya and Yusuke, lingering there was a long moment before it was dispelled with a long sigh from Yusuke. He threw his hand up to his face, his forearm blocking his eyes from the brilliant sunlight.
"This is not cool. Fuck whoever decides it is a good idea to have a snow storm during this time of the year," Yusuke bit out, hiding a wince as yet an unpleasant jolt of pain went through him. It wasn't as bad as before, but it was still definitely painful. He did his best to even out his breathing.
Touya's strange tone made Yusuke look out from beneath his forearm. "Jin didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Yusuke asked, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation. He thought back to what Jin mentioned about Touya.
"Touya, that's the guy who lives here."
"He was only gonna save ye horse at first, 'cos ya should of known better than to come here."
"Wait..." Yusuke said, feeling strange as the pieces came together. He recalled a line Touya said:
"I'm trying to force the chill out of his body."
People don't normally say stuff like that, do they? Like they could actually control the 'chill.'
Yusuke brought his gaze to Touya as realization dawned on him and found Touya looking back at him without a hint of remorse. "You're a god?"
Touya blinked, his hard eyes unwittingly easing in surprise. He shook his head. "No. I just have supernatural power."
"Same differences," Yusuke groaned. "You're the one I have to thank for this, aren't you?" Yusuke asked, gesturing to his own figure lying on the soft grass, his body curling slightly in pain.
"You have no one to thank for this but yourself," Touya said coldly, his eyes hardening once more like water to ice on a very cold day. "I gave out a warning, and you're the one who didn't heed it."
Yusuke blinked in bemusement, chewing his lower lips a little in thought. His pain ebbed a little, enabling him to think more clearly. Didn't Jin also say something like that?
"...'cos ya should of known better than to come here."
"What do ya mean?" Yusuke inquired. At the question, Touya radiated what Yusuke thought was uncharacteristic annoyance for him.
"After the rumor of the immortal fruit reached Ehendal, people started entering the mountain in search of the fruit. I told them there was none, but they wouldn't believe me. I left them alone, thinking they would give up after scouring the mountain and realizing there was no such thing as the immortal fruit. Such naiveté. The mountain was huge, perilous to anyone who has never ventured into the mountains before. One of the scouts was injured by a wild animal during the search, and they brought an army the next time, killing everything in their way and leaving behind a path of destruction."
"I warned the habitants of Ehendel not to enter Mount. Illisen again," Touya said, looking directly at him. "I told them there would be dire consequences, but you and your people didn't wish to listen, did you?" His lips curled to a subtle sneer. "Not to someone who wasn't a god."
Touya opened his hand with his palm facing up and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, snow slowly appeared, swirling in a mini-tornado above Touya's palm. "So I showed them," Touya said, his voice impassively cold, "the consequence of daring to intrude onto my territory." Touya snapped his hand close in an abrupt movement and the snow vanished as though it was never there. "And most of them never came back, although your people did keep sentry at the base of Illisen to keep the illusion of being in control."
"So whenever someone enters the mountain, you would notice and then you'll summon a snow storm to drive them out," Yusuke summarized with a wince. At Touya's nod, Yusuke let out a low 'whew.' "That must be a lot of work. Ehendel-ians are notorious for their stubbornness, aren't they?" He bit his lips in pain as he waited for a response, trying to keep the conversation going.
Touya gave Yusuke a look. "You speak like you're not one of them."
Yusuke took a moment to comprehend, before realizing that during the narrative, Touya used 'you and your people' when referring to citizens of Ehendel. Yusuke guffawed until he slowed due to the pain that came with it. "You... you thought I was an Ehendal-ian?" Yusuke asked with a choke. "I'm from Runisca."
"Runisca?" Touya asked. "Ehendel and Runsica are at war right now, aren't they? Why would a man like you from Runisca be here?"
"It's... er..." Yusuke said, fishing for words. He finally gave up and shrugged, finishing lamely, "complicated."
Jin returned before Touya could tell him to clarify.
[1] Think of Xanxus' scars resulted from the Ninth's Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition. (Katekyo Hitman Reborn)