Chapter Text
Yuder had honestly thought that being an anonymous hunter — specifically while also being completely unaffiliated with any guild, as well as the fact that his registration status with the Hunter Association was ambiguous to the average person — would have garnered him more animosity from the general public.
Honestly, Yuder quite often thought that the only reason his presence didn’t incite public outrage, especially as the situation seemed to be heading in that direction initially, was thanks to Kishiar and his antics. Having one of the most, if not the most, famous and well-liked hunters in the country very publicly flirt with you whenever you’re in the same vicinity does tend to help ones image, especially when most of the internet finds it entertaining.
He bemoaned the fact that nobody took him seriously because of it. On one hand, nobody was trying to arrest him; on the other, people were still shocked when he showed up to help at disasters, as if he wasn’t one of the most powerful hunters in the country.
Yuder still didn’t understand how Kishiar following him around like a lost puppy meant that him being able to summon earthquakes was forgotten by people. What was the correlation?
Was it all the videos people were constantly posting of the two of them? He supposed that those were many people’s first impression of him, and they didn’t exactly make him seem intimidating, at least from the ones he’d seen.
He still remembered the first video that had been posted, and how viral it had gone. People had actually tried to approach him for a few weeks after the fact, though that quickly stopped once people realized Yuder just tended to stand there silently when spoken to.
~*~*~
Yuder sighed, finally finished digging through the corpses of the monsters now that he got the last body part Enon wanted. He turned to take off into the air, jolting to a stop when he felt a strong grip close around his shoulder. He looked back at the person attached to the hand confusedly, though it probably wasn’t obvious through his mask.
“I’m sorry for grabbing you, but I was calling your name and you didn’t seem to hear me.” How would he know Yuder’s name? And he definitely hadn’t heard anyone calling him. Yuder squinted a bit, scrutinizing the man in front of him. He looked very familiar, and Yuder recalled seeing him fighting the monsters earlier; he couldn’t place where he’d first seen him though.
“My name?”
“Well, your name in the system. QWERTY?” Ah. Yuder had forgotten that he’d put something random when he got access to the interface. He was almost impressed the man managed to say it with a straight face. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgment before speaking.
“Did you need something?”
“I was just wondering if we could speak for a bit? I’m very excited to meet you — I’ve been a fan from your first appearance and have been closely following your career since, but we’ve never had a chance to meet until now.” The man gave Yuder a beaming smile, and Yuder momentarily found himself at a loss for words. His face was so handsome, Yuder found it hard to believe it was real; was he possibly using some type of glamour ability?
Realizing he had been asked a question, Yuder awkwardly coughed as he refocused his attention on the conversation. “Thank you,” he said, the words coming out slightly stilted.
The man took that as permission to ask whatever he wanted, and began enthusiastically questioning Yuder about many things related to his recent fights. Yuder was slightly blindsided by his eagerness, but he still answered each question as best as he could without giving away too much information on his powers, or potentially compromising his identity.
Before he knew it the man had closed whatever distance was between them, though Yuder didn’t actually care much. He wasn’t unpleasant to talk too, even if he didn’t seem to have a concept of personal space. The man clasped his upper bicep gently, and gave it a light squeeze before speaking again.
“Could I ask about your workout routine?” The smile on his face seemed tinged with impure intentions, and that thought only solidified as Yuder slowly scanned the man up and down. When he made eye contact again, he realized the man’s cheeks had a barely-visible blush.
“Why would you need my routine? It’s obvious you already work out.” The man leaned down slightly so their faces were closer together, then moved his hand from Yuder’s bicep to just above his elbow.
“It’s true that I work out, but I find the way you look much more appealing.” The way the man said it had made it sound like a question, or maybe an invitation? Yuder was more convinced now than ever that he was missing something, especially with the look on the man’s face that seemed to imply something.
Yuder’s only response was a confused tilt of his head, which lead to the man adopting a dejected pout on his face.
“Am I not your type then?” Yuder sighed as the interaction clicked into place in his head. He should just leave. No matter how ridiculously handsome the man was, Yuder didn’t have any intention of being romantically or otherwise involved with someone, especially not another hunter.
He muttered a quick goodbye, then turned around and flew away, quickly making his way to the area where he was supposed to meet Enon. He hadn’t known at the time that the blush on his ears had been visible to Kishiar, nor that the video of them had already gotten millions of views.
Yuder had only realized that a video was even taken once he met up with Enon, and saw it on the news as the other was going through all the monster parts he brought. Finally realizing who Kishiar was, he looked his name up on social media only to see hundreds of posts discussing whether or not Kishiar was smitten with him.
As the weeks went on, Kishiar kept spontaneously appearing whenever Yuder went out and continued to flirt with him, or even ask him on dates. Yuder had initially assumed it must’ve been some sort of joke, as he couldn’t fathom why such a person would be interested in an anonymous hunter whose criminal status was unknown to essentially everyone; however, the consensus on the internet, after about a week, had become that Kishiar was genuinely trying to pursue Yuder.
Yuder hadn’t truly believed them until much later, but even by then he felt a little silly denying what thousands of people agreed on — especially when Kishiar seemed to encourage the idea with his posts and public comments.
~*~*~
Yuder sighed, glad that at least this time they were alone in a dungeon with nobody to record them. He decided to finally break the silent staring contest they were having, looking at the ground in defeat.
“Why did you follow me?” he asked, before he reluctantly resumed eye contact with the other.
“This dungeon is very dangerous, so when I heard you went in alone I decided to join you in case you were in need of backup.” Yuder stared silently at Kishiar, as he could tell the other had another reason. “Also, I just wanted to see you again. It’s been a few weeks since we got to talk.” At least he had the sense to look sheepish; Yuder hadn’t really expected anything different, anyway.
“You know this dungeon is full of airborne poisons?”
“I took a poison immunity potion before I entered, I should have about 2 hours left,” Kishiar said while nodding.
“What rank was it?” The toxins in this dungeon were supposed to go up to S rank, so an A rank potion or lower wouldn’t be effective for parts of the area.
“It was S rank, so I should be fine.” Kishiar beamed, knowing he had won the argument as Yuder sighed in defeat.
“We should hurry, the flower I need only blooms at certain times of day.” Yuder turned, his steps sloshing as he began to trudge through the wet jungle floor.