Ryota Kise did not travel discreetly.
As he arrived to the camp, he clearly stood out. His blue carriages were dripping in gold and embedded with bright gemstones. His servants wore the purest of silk, the strong scent of incense following them.
He felt like the king he was as he was carried to King Aida's tent.
The plain man came out to greet him. Bowing respectfully as did his soldiers as he came out of his carriage.
"Your highness," the reigning king greeted and raised his head. "It is an honour to have you join our forces."
"It is my pleasure," he smiled and saw how three of the men in front of him reacted. Even the king blushed slightly, but kept his composure. Ah, a man in love. For those were almost the only ones who could stand his charm.
"Please, come in."
Inside the big tent, though everything was of great quality, it was also very rudimentary and Kise looked around in distaste at the lack of ornaments. They gathered around a big wooden table on which a magical shimmering three dimensional map showed the battlefield.
"My best general is away at the moment," King Aida said. "He went to get back the miles we had lost last week."
"Let's get to the point," Kise said smiling his signature seductive smile. "Why have we not won yet ? Trolls and rogue shifters against a United Kingdom of powerful elementals ? What's going on ?"
"Well..." The older king sighed. "They allied with an exiled group of demons who have used dark magic to gain control of the Snake River and the monsters in there are virtually immortal, they also used necromancy and cursed the battlefield so even our fallen soldiers raise to fight again on the other side."
Kise frowned as he imagined having to cut down former comrades who couldn't rest in peace and were forced into betrayal. Dark magic was dangerous indeed.
"We are sending troops east and west but here is the main battlefield," he explained showing a place right in between and close to the Snake River. "If we win here, the war will be over."
The first days were great as Kise was offered to rest and treated as he was due. He even had his pick of bedmates and a few soldiers were eager to serve their king. As it was, he had just finished with a female wind elemental, whom he had quickly, as he always did, thrown out and was relaxing on his furs when he heard noises outside.
Whatever, they would come tell him if it was important.
Nobody came. And when he heard the joyful noises pick up in intensity, Kise got dressed to go see for himself. Outside his magnificent tent, a few soldiers ran by without stopping at his sight which was already unsettling. He saw that people were gathered near the main tent where common soldiers took their meals. Curiosity was eating at him as he slowly made his way over, not wanting to look like a commoner running after sales.
Thankfully, soldiers did part to make way for him and bowed as they noticed him, but those who didn't had their eyes trained on a group of dirty soldiers who looked like they hadn't slept in days and were covered in dried blood and mud. A man in the middle caught Kise's attention. He looked fine, but wasn't the beautiful kind of person Kise liked to play with, his frown and severe eyes made him look stern and boring, even worse than Midorima. He was shorter than most of the other soldiers around him but something about his aura was... powerful. He radiated charisma and leadership and as he offered a small smile to a woman offering him water, Kise felt a sharp thud in his chest.
"General Kasamatsu," King Aida appeared from beside Kise and greeted the man who immediately stood up from his makeshift chair and kneeled in front of his king.
"Your Majesty," the general said and Kise was struck by the depth of his voice. "We are back."
"King Kise of Kaijo has arrived," he showed him and the general turned to him.
His dark blue eyes looked him straight in the eyes and for the first time ever, Kise found himself voluntarily turning on his attractive power. He wanted that man begging, thirsty for him, on his knees.
But nothing happened as the general only frowned harder and bowed in respect.
"It's an honour to have you here your highness."
"Thank you," Kise answered, quite surprised that the man wasn't panting in need yet.
Either he was deeply in love already, which somehow made Kise want to destroy something, or he had more character than all the men he ever met all put together.
At king Aida's request they moved inside his tent and went over the last mission. Kise, who hadn't participated in war effort since he came, stood silent as the general showed off his keen intellect and strategic competence.
Watching him built a foreign desire inside of the young King who couldn't tear his eyes away from the general.
"Thank you, general," king Aida said and Kasamatsu left after giving his respects.
"Tell me about the general," Kise ordered as soon as he was out. King Aida looked surprised at the request but didn't remark on it as he was talking to a far superior king.
"General Yukio Kasamatsu is our best general. He's a powerful metal elemental specialised in iron. He isn't a genius or particularly talented but he's the most hardworking and trained himself so well and diligently that he became someone even geniuses struggle against. To be honest, he may be the only reason we haven't lost this war yet." Kise stared in shock and something like excitement spread in his chest. "He was the last one standing during the battle of Exteria, he protected all of his men by summoning a fifty feet tall iron wall and fought against the enemy alone for three hours before the backup showed up." The king had a soft almost paternal tone as he told the incredible story.
Kise decided he was to have this man. There was an itch he needed to scratch, the uncomfortable feeling of losing, of not being desired.
Thus, he went after the general and found him in a common tent, not one worthy of a general.
"My king," a distantly familiar voice greeted. Kise looked at the tall, beautiful specimen of a man standing on his right. He was someone he would usually pay attention to, but his sight was boring and didn't appeal to Kise anymore. Only those dark blue eyes did.
Kise nodded at the soldier and looked past him to see general Kasamatsu taking of his shirt and looking curiously at them.
Damn. He was so different from his usual tastes. But so damn good looking Kise got hungry at the sight. Ripped chest leading to a tight eight pack with this appealing trail of ebony hair leading the path to something Kise was starting to obsess on.
"My king ?" The tall red head asked and Kise wanted to hit him for forcing him away from the drool worthy sight.
"Hmm ?"
"I was asking if you required further help to start the fire tonight ," he smiled knowingly and everyone in the room knew what he was talking about.
And Kise was horrified.
Not that he was anywhere close to being a prude and he usually was the one who freely proposed those persons but now it tasted like betrayal and shame.
"No," he answered in a dark, harsh tone and didn't have it in him to feel bad at the dejected look in the soldier's eyes. The only thing that mattered to him was what was going on in the general's head. Kise almost felt physical pain at the loss of the naked chest. The general was busy tying his shoes and fully dressed now. He had a blank look on his face and didn't look even slightly interested in what had or had not happened between Kise and his fellow soldier.
"I'm heading to training ground," he told the latter and bowed to Kise before heading out and making sure to stay as far as possible from the disappointed king.
"What did you want, your highness ?" The soldier asked sounding hopeful, but Kise was too angry to talk anymore and left without an answer.
He followed the general to the training ground where a dozen of soldiers were fighting. The general slashed the air with his hand as he walked towards a lonely, bulky man and an iron spear materialised. It was simple but beautiful, glistening and smooth.
The man smirked and slapped his hands together too. Two wind wheels appeared on each palms.
"Took you long enough !" He called out to the general.
"Fuck off Koji," he answered but there was a lightness to his voice that indicated they were close.
Kise stopped and watched as they spared. Both brutal and resorting to mean tricks. He almost got in between as he watched that Koji guy slam his right palm into the general's chest and it propulse him ten feet high into the air. But the smart man used the momentum to come back down harder and slammed the flat end of the spear into the other's chest. It went on for around half an hour and Kise was happy to get to see Kasamatsu displaying his strengths. It was weirdly arousing.
A week went by like this. Kise, for the first time ever, did not dare approach someone, and worst even, did not share his bed with anyone. The general went about his affairs, only greeting him in detached respect when they directly crossed paths.