Chapter Text
Oni. Mythical beings in Inazuma that were said to be terrifying and malicious — just the sight of them would strike fear into anyone's hearts and make them run away. Aether kept this in mind after he heard about it from someone in Ritou. He also found out that a half oni lived in Hanamizaka and he should be wary, they said, but he always found it weird how such a creature would be living in the city. If that oni was evil, wouldn't they have driven him away already?
It couldn't be bad, he thought. Above all, he had literally defeated a dragon and sealed an ancient god. Aether assumed that an oni would be as bad as a stonehide lawachurl at best, although he still kept their warnings in mind. However, what he saw was by a mile far from what he expected. When he arrived back to Hanamizaka, there was a commotion and a throng of people, mostly children were gathered around Kiminami Restaurant.
In the middle of it was Yoimiya having a mushroom pizza eating contest with someone he has never seen. Unruly and long white hair, red horns protruding from his head, and red marks all over his body. The man was bigger than anyone else he's seen too. Aether had a gut feeling about who it was, but it was confirmed when he asked a kid about his identity.
"That's Itto onii-san, the supreme oni!"
The contest ended in a tie. Right after that, Yoimiya spotted Aether in the crowd and introduced him to Arataki Itto. That's where everything started. Itto's outgoing and lively personality clicked with him and the two of them instantly became good friends. Aether decided to stay in Inazuma for a while to do commissions in the Adventurer's Guild for extra mora in preparation for his journey to Sumeru and most of the time, Itto would accompany and help him. His help was well appreciated and saved time for Aether, even though Itto always hounded him into these silly little competitions like where the one who beats more enemies or the one who lands the killing strike would win.
To be completely honest, Aether enjoyed his company a lot. Itto reminded him of this certain person who always wanted to best him, minus the feral battlelust. Later on he would laugh whenever he thought of being wary about Itto, seeing how he was extremely amusing to be with. It didn't matter to him what Itto was, but there was one thing that bothered him about the oni.
In his whole life, Aether had never seen someone with such unkempt long hair. Diluc, Mondstadt's winery tycoon at least made efforts to tie his own hair so it wouldn't get on his way of work, but Itto. Itto's hair was everywhere . Aether would sometimes see his hair almost dipping on the broth whenever they were eating ramen. Walks on windy weather would end up with Aether being slapped by white hair with red streaks and Itto would only laugh while apologizing, not even bothering to do something about it. On rare occasions his vision would get obstructed by strands of his hair whenever they fought together.
Aether has had enough. He needed to do something about it.
"Itto, can I tie your hair?" He blurted out of the blue on their way back to claim the rewards from the Adventurer's Guild. Itto stared at him with wide eyes before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"NOPE!" The answer was so straight forward that Aether was shocked himself. He expected it though. "This is my pride, you know? Why would I tie it? Let everyone cower whenever they see me?"
Ah, he thought I was worried about him looking too scary, huh, Aether mused. Idiot…
Aether knew that there was no way he could convince Itto like this and the only hope to make him agree would be to challenge him into a competition. Which was something he wanted to avoid because he was exhausted from work. Instead, Aether just thought of something to compromise.
"Okay, can I just brush it then?" He followed up. Although he did see Itto frequently brushing his hair, maybe he wouldn't notice if a small part of it was braided. Or maybe he'd like it, Aether is not sure.
"Hmm…" Itto held his chin, looking as if he was in deep thought. The wait was tense until his lips cracked into a grin again. "Sure!"
The two of them looked for a shaded area where the two of them could sit down, ending up under a large sakura tree in bloom. Itto sat in front of him and out of curiosity, Aether planted a palm on the middle of his back, wondering how many of his hands it would take him to measure how wide it is. Through his clothes, Aether could feel the hard musculature of Itto's back. He sighed to himself, feeling a little bit jealous. I wish I was this big.
"I'm waiting. My hair won't brush itself." Itto crossed his arms and leaned back a little.
Aether merely scoffed in response before opening his bag and taking a hair brush. He could already see some small tangles on Itto's unruly hair but it was when he started doing it his expectations were thrown out of the window again. What he expected to be rough and dry strands were really soft and silky to the touch. What the hell. The knots were easily untangled and it didn't take him long to comb through the entirety of Itto's hair despite its volume. No wonder why he was so proud of it.
"Itto, how do you wash your hair!? How is it so soft..." A hint of excitement was in his voice when he asked. He took a lock of the man's hair and sniffed it — smelled faintly like a mixture of sakura blooms and mint, something he never anticipated again from someone as manly as Itto.
"He-he… that's a secret!! It's an art passed through our clan, you know?" Itto turned his head and flashed him an ear to ear grin. When the smile on Aether's face dropped and turned into a pout, he slightly panicked. "Just kidding! I soak in the onsen every week to get it steamed!"
"Onsen? Where's that?" Aether asked with a tilt of his head.
"You've never been to one before?" The oni's eyes enlarged and lit up even further. "How about we hit it together? It's a great place to rest your weary bones, I'm sure you'll have a fun time there!"
"Okay." Aether quickly accepted the offer. If Itto said it will be fun, then I'm sure it'll be.
The two of them stood up and dusted off their clothes before making their way to Inazuma city. The sun had already set by the time they arrived. Aether dropped by the Guild first and claimed his commission rewards first before the two of them made their way to the public onsen in the outskirts of the city. The exterior was not as extravagant as the Royal Bathhouse in Tenshukaku but Itto assured him that this place was a top quality spot for relaxation.
Aether, who had no idea what an onsen was, agreed to go inside, with burning curiosity to learn more of Inazuman culture and also since he needed that time to unwind and rest for a bit. Things were hectic for him since he first arrived in Inazuma, and even after the matter with the Vision hunt decree was settled. This was well needed for him, he thought. As soon as they went inside, the staff manning the reception greeted them.
"Seems like we're lucky tonight. Not a lot of people in." His friend remarked, already making his way deeper in the establishment. Aether followed him closely while admiring the quaint atmosphere as well as the simple interior design of the place. Itto made a turn on a certain corridor full of wooden shelves. What are these for? He wondered, looking around the area and finding white towels in each section of the shelf. In his periphery, Itto was stripping his clothes one by one.
Wait.
Itto is stripping his clothes one by one.
"W-what are you doing!?" Aether quickly covered his eyes and turned around because by the time he noticed it, Itto's upper garments were already gone. "Why are you stripping!?"
Itto was confused for a second until he remembered that this was Aether's first time in an onsen. He laughed. "Because we're supposed to be!" He tugged on the blonde's wrists to find his cheeks slightly tinted with red. "Come on, take off your clothes too!"
"No! I'm leaving." His voice was louder than usual, obvious that he was guilty of hiding something. Aether coughed to clear his throat. "I'll see you again tomorrow, okay? Goodbye—"
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Itto's face suddenly changed into an extremely smug grin, the face he always made while taunting him in a competition. "Heh, don't worry… I won't judge you or tell anyone!!"
Huh? As if he could read what was on Aether's mind, Itto continued speaking.
"Don't be so shy, my friend. With how short you are, I already knew that you're also extremely small down there!" He cackled. "I won't tease you about it so let's go!"
Ah, so that's how it is. Of course, Itto wouldn't have any idea about his secret. Aether assumed he would be fine as long as Itto didn't see that. Also, something about the way Itto worded his encouragement and the current expression he had told him that if he refused, the oni would make fun of him about this for days. It would be a bother to deal with that, and maybe it was because of those contests they always had that Aether didn't want to give Itto the satisfaction of winning.
"Ugh, fine." Aether groaned.
"That's the spirit!" The oni ruffled his hair, earning him a displeased look.
Aether went to the other side of the shelf instead of taking off his clothes in front of Itto, somehow already contemplating his decision to stay while untied his braid and stripped himself of his garments one by one. For a while, only the rustling of clothes could be heard from the room. The blonde hesitated on taking off his underwear but he realized that it would get soaked and he would be walking around Inazuma city with that. Deeply contemplating it for a minute, he took them off and just opted to snugly wrap a towel on his waist to cover up his genitals. No matter what, he shouldn't find out.
With that done, Aether walked towards the entrance of the bathing area where Itto was already waiting for him. Gods, he couldn't deny that Itto's body was a thing of marvel. Well defined muscles on his limbs and ripped abs, unlike his almost frail looking body. He realized that the red marks lined the sides of Itto's body as his gaze continued trailing down to his hips, obscured by the towel wrapped around him and— his jaw dropped at what he saw next.
"Like what you see?" Itto boasted, both hands on his waist before he raised one arm and flexed his biceps. "I worked hard for these!"
"Y-yeah… good for you, I guess…" Aether choked out, blood rushing to his cheeks and eyes flying from side to side trying to avert them from that thing he just saw. "Nice body…"
Yeah, Aether mused. I'll just pretend I didn't see anything…
He'd pretend that he didn't see some of Itto's flaccid cock peeking out from under the towel wrapped around his waist.
...Just how big is that thing...?