Fire and Snow

"Where's Yuri?" Ayato asked Kuro who was putting on a shirt for an outing. The Fire Caster himself was wearing red fingerless gloves with a white t-shirt and blue shorts. The three of them were supposed to go to a cafe to study and get some coffee but Yuri wasn't here right now.

"He told me he has to cancel on us. He's going to a manga book signing, whatever that is." Kuro replied as he put on the shirt to match his black jeans. It was a white and red mid driff shirt that exposed quite a bit of his skin.

"I guess we can go on without him. Wait, are you really gonna go to the cafe wearing that?" Ayato asked him, pointing at the mid driff.

"Yeah. What's wrong with it?" Kuro asked.

"I guess you really were gonna try to be less shy and you're REALLY committing to that so I guess it's fine. But you're gonna rile up attention." Ayato told him.

"I'll be fine." Kuro said as they got ready to leave.

* * * *

A few minutes after they left,

"I'm not fine. Not fine at all." Kuro told Ayato as he buried his head in his chest, his face a bright pink color. The two were seated at a table where everyone was looking at Kuro and Ayato but mostly the former. Kuro was already cute and growing into a handsome man but he didn't really know it that much and wasn't prepared for all the attention he was recieving at the cafe. They weren't even able to study correctly and the waiters just stared at them.

They didn't come here often.

A few girls tried to ask for his number but Ayato got in the way and he ended up giving them his own number instead. A shy boy his age had even come up to him but Kuro politely declined.

"Why did I choose to wear this? I wasn't trying to impress anybody. I wish Yuri was here, I mean not that I'm not grateful to you. If Yuri was with us, he woulda talked me outta wearing it to begin with." Kuro said, feeling regret for the choice he had made.

"Or he would have carried a real shirt just in case." Ayato said and sighed.

"But at least I have you." Kuro said at the end and Ayato was stunned before smiling.

"I feel the same way." Ayato replied.

Ayato and Kuro had been friends since they were young, they lived in the same neighbourhood too.

Kuro didn't really have the best upbringing. His father (black-haired, beard] always thought of him as weak and fragile and didn't like Kuro for his Snow Casting which he had gained his Charm at the age of 11. His father said it was nothing compared to his own Frost Casting. His father had big expectations for him and wanted his son to create a legacy. Kuro was good but his father said he was never good enough. The Snow Caster ended up being abused verbally and sometimes physically anytime he made a mistake and couldn't say a word about it to his mother.

Until one day when they were 12 years old and in school, Ayato noticed Kuro had a bad bruise on his forehead and he asked him about it.

"My dad just got angry with me. It's nothing." Kuro said and before he knew it, he began to shed tears and fell on Ayato's lap.

"It's not fine, not fine at all. He has all these big expectations of me and I don't know how to fulfill them." Kuro spilled out all at once in tears.

"He shouldn't hit you for anything you're not capable of doing. Have you told your mom?" Ayato asked him and Kuro shook his head.

"After school, we're going to your house together." Ayato told him and Kuro was frightened. He was scared of what his dad might do to him.

Nevertheless, Ayato and Kuro went to the latter's house together, with Kuro being incredibly reluctant.

Ayato himself had a nice family filled with two older sisters, a younger brother and an older one. But not every thing was perfect in his household as well. He and his older brother who was older than him with only two years didn't have the best relationship.

His brother, Mikai [brown haired] considered him unnecessary because he himself had the exact same Fire Casting as he did. It was just that Mikai's own was a gold color while Ayato's was red. His sisters had metal and healing while his younger brother [red hair] who hadn't yet gotten his casting trait was Grass. When he was tasked with getting Ayato to school, he just left him at the bus stop and told him to find his own way back. Other times he would forget to make lunch for him to eat.

Ayato tried his best to stay positive every time his brother would do these things until one day, Ayato showed his family that he had gotten his Charm and they were all so happy for him except his brother of course. His brother over heard them and challenged Ayato to a fight.

"He can't, Mikai. He just got his Charm while you've already unlocked a Spell." His sister with brown wavy hair, Arale told Mikai, trying to talk him out of it.

"It's alright, sis. I'll fight him so he can finally accept me." Ayato said as he looked at Mikai who just scoffed it out.

Since his family was sort of a fight-crazy one, especially his father and two sisters, they had a small battleground outside their house.

The two of them got ready, both waiting for the other to make a move.

"Fire Casting: Zonal Flames!" Straight away, Mikai used his only real Spell. It was a ball of fire.

The fire ball came towards Ayato.

"Ha!" Using a basic spell which he only had one of, Ayato released a fireball too and clashed with the ball of fire. Ayato thought he had countered it, but no the ball of fire had just reduced in size. It was still coming towards him.

Ayato in panic kept releasing fire balls but the ball of fire moved in zigzag. That was what was special about it, it could move on it's own. Eventually, Ayato was hit, causing it to push him into the air before he fell on the ground.

His sister, Arale rushed to Ayato whose face had been slightly burned and who was also holding back tears.

"You were too rough with him!" Yumi, his other sister who had red hair in a ponytail told Mikai who just shrugged.

"If he couldn't take it, he shouldn't have accepted." Mikai defended himself.

The next day at school, Ayato was sad in school, his friends gave him space while Kuro came up to him.

"What's wrong, Ayato?" Kuro asked him.

"Nothing."

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm your best friend." Kuro said with a gentle tone.

Ayato shed a few tears before burying his face in Kuro'a chest. Ayato explained his problems to Kuro and the latter comforted him.

"You don't have to try and please your brother. You don't owe him anything and you shouldn't let him push you around." Kuro said while tussling with his friend's hair.

Ayato hugged him.

"Thank you, Kuro. I'll try." Ayato told him. From that day on, Ayato swore to himself that he would be there for his best friend.

~ ~

"I don't want to. I don't know what dad will do to me if I tell her." Kuro said, trying to resist Ayato's grip. It was impossible though, Ayato had much more physical strength.

"You helped me once so I'll help you." Ayato told him.

When they got to his house, Kuro's mom, Diane [snow white hair] was the only one there. Ayato explained what Kuro had been going through and the latter testified.

"What was he thinking? I told him not to push too much on you. He gets too obsessed with things but he should never hit you for what you can't control!" Diane was obviously furious with her husband.

The next day, Diane told her husband, Akira that he shouldn't pressure Kuro into such things and he should have never hit him.

In response, Akira got angry and the two had a fight. But Kuro's mom was a much stronger fighter than her husband, she just never liked to fight but with her Wood Casting, she easily beat him. She then filed for a divorce a week later, taking custody of Kuro who was her only child.

Because of Ayato, Kuro would no longer have to go through suffering but it did leave the latter with trauma that made him shy around most people.

* * * *

While in the cafe, Yuri had arrived through the door and the attention, at least some of it had shifted to him.

"Grhh." Yuri gave them an aggressive look and they backed off.

"I saw all the people lined up outside the cafe. Is something wrong?" Yuri asked them as he arrived at Ayato and Kuro's table.

He then saw Kuro whose face was buried in Ayato's chest and then noticed what he was wearing.

"What are you wearing?" Yuri asked Kuro, looking at his crop top. He then took a look at the situation before realizing what happened.

"He tried to be less shy but it backfired, didn't it?" Yuri said and the two nodded. "Come on, you two. Let's go to the mall." He said and they left the cafe.

When they got to the mall, Yuri bought Kuro a white jacket with blue box patterns all over.

"Thank you, Yuri." Ayato and Kuro thanked him.

"It's no problem. Just don't wear that next time." Yuri told them.