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Chapter 5: The Blue Hair Stranger

Keahi must admit that while he didn’t like to cause anyone any bother and it did embarrass him whenever someone fussed over him, he liked it when Bharath cooked for him. He always left with a full stomach and the warm, fuzzy feeling that someone cared enough for him.

It was yet another thing Bharath was exceptionally good at. Of course, he would brush off any compliments he would receive, claiming that anyone could be a good cook.

After reassuring Bharath that he had more than enough to eat, Keahi decided to go for a walk around the Temple’s gardens. As usual it was a beautiful day; the view of Obsidian burning brightly could clearly be seen from the courtyard. It was always a good sign to see the smoky haze around the Volcano’s peak as it meant that the Fire God was satisfied for the moment.

Keahi feared the day were the flames would disappear...

He was abruptly pulled from his thought by the sound of heavy set boots hitting the marble flooring behind him, the noise indicating that someone was running or in a hurry. Not that it should bother Keahi too much; Guards were usually doing their rounds or looking for something to eat at this time of day.

But what he wasn’t expecting was to have someone quite literally run into the back of him. With a startled noise, Keahi found himself falling when something, a hand most likely, suddenly grabbed him by the elbow in a warm and strong grip. He was then whirled around so he was suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, pushed up against something else strong and warm.

He soon realized that it was a chest as he could hear and feel a heart beat with his ear and hands that were pressed against said chest. Immediately, a pair of arms wrapped loosely, yet securely around his back, holding him still so he wouldn’t fall and hurt himself.

Keahi felt his eyes widen and his breathing become deeper as a strange, yet familiar, warmth washed over him. And his heart, it was almost as if it had skipped a beat, his body giving a slight tremble of recognition.

“Whoa!” A distinctly male voice said in surprise, a rather light and carefree curl in his tone. “Sorry about that!”

In a somewhat dazed state of mind, Keahi blinked his golden eyes a couple of times as he turned and tilted his head back to look up at the taller man who was still holding him, surprisingly. And the person whom he saw was not of anyone he had met before, or even glanced from a distance. He had long blue hair, a few strands falling carelessly over his shoulders as shorter strands draped casually over and around his eyes. His eyes were blue in colour, the same as his hair and seemed to be deep and wise, even as a sense of concern shimmered within.

Keahi felt a lump form in his throat. He was quite handsome, to say the least.

Suddenly, those eyes brightened into this almost gleeful expression and a cheerful grin slipped across his lips.

“Wow!” he said. “You’re beautiful!”

With his cheeks suddenly becoming distinctly and embarrassingly warm, Keahi abruptly pushed away from the stranger’s chest and took a couple of steps backwards. “What?” he spluttered.

“Ah, did I say that out loud?” the man suddenly asked as he scratched the back of his head in an abashed manner, his grin becoming a little bit more apologetic but not completely losing the happy-go-lucky feel. “Jeez, heh, sorry. I tend to speak before I think, ya know? But you are beautiful, which I can’t deny, but I guess I should have restrained myself, huh? Heh.”

Keahi could only stare at the other man, slightly baffled as to why he would say something like that. And yet, there were a sense of sincerity in his voice, as if he would never lie to him. Which Keahi found quite strange; he wasn’t all that trusting of people he only just met unless Bharath was there to introduce them. Even then he didn’t exactly trust them.

And, well, he also felt...flattered. No one had ever called him beautiful before. He has heard many an individual call Bharath, and even Brendis, beautiful on occasion, but such compliments were never freely given to him.

“...I’ve been called quite a few things in my life, but never beautiful,” Keahi said to the grinning man before him. “So, um, thank you, I guess.”

“Hey, no problem!” the man said, looking somewhat pleased that Keahi didn’t take his words the wrong way. Then an expression of genuine interest appeared on his face. “So, what’s your name, unless you want me to keep calling you beautiful?” he asked with a rather charming smile.

“I-I am Keahi Khatsho,” Keahi answered around a light blush, bowing his head a little in polite greeting.

“And you can call me Masou Damiyer,” the man now known as Masou stated, completely ignoring protocol to take Keahi’s hand and give him a firm but friendly handshake. “Please to meet you.”

“Y-you as well,” Keahi answered, completely surprised by how casual this man was treating him and thought, perhaps, he wasn’t aware that he was speaking to the Peace Keeper and a Fire Priest.

Either that or he didn’t care.

Suddenly, there was a noise from a few feet behind Masou, around a corner and Keahi could all but sense his Fire Guard Brendis seething in his own skin. He must still be searching for his elusive tormentor.

Looking over his shoulder, Masou gave a humorous and very distinctively mischievous grin before turning to face Keahi again. “Well, see ya around, Keahi,” he said as he gave his hand another squeeze, winked at him playfully and then abruptly took off running.

Keahi could only watch him leave in a muted sense of amusement and intrigue. “What a strange person,” he murmured to himself, a smile tugging at his lips as he subconsciously pressed the hand Masou had held against his chest.

Was that the person Brendis was talking about earlier? He did say a man with blue hair, of which was uncommon amongst the people of Fire Island to have. But he seemed harmless enough; a bit energetic and a little airheaded perhaps, but harmless nonetheless.

And he did seem to have a rather...boisterous way of speaking, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

A light blush danced across Keahi’s cheeks. He actually called me beautiful...

That was most certainly quite a first greeting. And not to mention meeting; running into him only to find himself suddenly pressed against his chest and a compliment a second later. Something like that most certainly did not happen every day.

Unaware that he was clenching his hand against his chest, Keahi wondered if he’ll meet with Masou again. But a small voice in the back of his mind told him, quite harshly may he add, to forget about him. As soon as he realized that he was the Peace Keeper he will probably try to avoid him in an attempt not to displease the Fire God.

“I need to forget about this,” Keahi told himself as he dropped his hand to hang loosely by his side and began walking again. “It’s silly.”

But...

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