Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 9 ~ Part 1||

29 days post the fall of Troy

Fucking Kaminari.

Shouto leaned back in the tub and ran his hand through his hair, pushing back the red strands. He had tried not to dwell on it, but Yaoyorozu's words from the night prior wouldn't leave him.

In truth, it wasn't surprising that Yaoyorozu's friend had been on the receiving end of a god's unwanted affections, but the fact that he had taken her was.

Gods were only allowed to bring mortals back to Mount Olympus if they intended to keep them as consorts. Which meant that the god had fallen in love with Yaoyorozu's friend, enough to marry her.

He tried to recall if he had heard of any of the gods taking a mortal as a wife but couldn't remember. After all, it seemed that besides starting wars, fucking humans was all they ever did.

Shouto's jaw twitched at the thought. He closed his eyes.

Yaoyorozu had never confirmed it was Kaminari who had stolen her friend, but regardless, it was clear that Kaminari had been sent to protect her. Shouto was sure of it. But then — why use him? Was he simply a convenient bodyguard? Or was there another motive behind the curse? It couldn't be that straightforward, could it?

He ground his teeth and opened his eyes to glare down at the water. The bath had become cold.

There had to be a reason Kaminari hadn't simply whisked Yaoyorozu away from the battle.

His stomach twisted faintly at the idea of the Erotes even thinking of touching her, but he pushed the feeling aside. He glanced at his weapon, Endeavor, leaning against the wall. Even without his godly powers, the Erotes was a decent enough fighter by himself. His sword, Chargebolt, had been given to him by Zeus and could release lightning-based attacks. He could have easily defeated the Athenians, but he hadn't.

Was he being controlled? Kaminari wasn't the smartest of gods, but even he wouldn't have done something so foolish as to curse Shouto on a whim. Would he?

Shouto sighed to himself. He had always considered himself intelligent enough, but the mystery surrounding this was making his head hurt. If only someone was here that he could talk to — that he trusted. Midoriya or even Bakugo might have been able to dissect what was going on.

He flexed his fingers and stood up.

Not that it mattered. None of this mattered. He was still cursed for the time being.

Shouto scowled at the knowledge as he dried off. Pulling on his perizoma, he picked up Endeavor's sheath and grabbed his clean chiton, throwing it over his shoulder before walking out of the bathroom.

It was almost dark outside. The fiery reds and oranges of the setting sun shimmered off of the tiled floors and bathed the marble pillars of the house in golden hues. The day's oppressive heat had lifted somewhat, and a cool breeze flowed off the ocean.

The children laughed as they continued playing in the courtyard, getting their last bit of energy out before bed. A boy threw a pebble-sized bone into the air and proceeded to scoop up as many of the other bones as possible before catching the tossed one in a game of knucklebones.

Shouto watched the boys for a moment before a shift in the wind caught his attention. He raised his head and sniffed the air; his eyes narrowed. There were faint traces of magic in the wind. It wasn't as heavy and oppressing as the stymphalian's. So a god's.

A shiver ran down his spine. It felt like claws raking down his back. Shouto swallowed over the sour taste in his mouth and looked down at his hand. Ever since his fight with Dabi, he'd been crippled.