Chapter 1

This was his chance. With a mortal body, he could finally put an end to his miserable existence. He could finally stop bringing misfortune to the people he loved, and join the stars he loved so much.

It was raining hard, and the current made it impossible to even think about crossing the river. The water was overflowing. It was the best moment to do it.

Hades wasn't scared, oh no. After more than 3000 years of watching humans come and go, death was nothing. It was all he knew, all he had ever known in fact. He felt like he was going to embrace his existence perfectly if he died. The god of the underworld, ruler of the dead, dying. Kind of ironic, no?

As he looked at the water, Hades prepared to let himself fall. He hoped he would hit his head and drown quickly. He hoped it would be fast, that no one would be able to save him. And yet, he hoped it would take a long time, and it would be painful. He didn't belong in this world, he never did. The only time he felt he had a home, he felt he was important, was at the beginning of his relationship with Persephone. But since that time, a lot of things had happened, and they weren't together anymore. He was ruling the dead alone, with no company but Cerberus, whom he barely saw, since the three-headed dog was guarding the doors of death.

"HADES" the god heard as he was about to let himself fall.

He briefly turned around. Hades saw a blue haired boy running toward him, followed by other people, including a purple headed girl. Apparently, he hadn't been quick enough. How did they find him?

Oh, of course. The answer was simple, and very infuriating: his jerk of a brother, Zeus, probably found him soon after one of his nephews declared he had disappeared. Since Zeus would never leave the comfort of his throne room, even to help his big brother, he sent his classmate to his "rescue".

Now was his chance. If he waited any longer, he knew he wouldn't be able to make his move. He had walked for hours to find the place where the river was the strongest, and the farthest away from the academy.

Without a second thought, as his friends were getting closer, he let himself fall into the cold water. The last thing he heard was an echo of screams and his name.

The water moved his body as he sank deeply in the river. Eyes closed, he thought back on his life, especially the most recent events.

Ah, how sweet was it to finally leave this earth. His mind was clear. He didn't regret his choice. He knew it was for the best. He didn't regret anything, except maybe not being able to be true about his feeling toward a certain someone…

Unconsciousness enveloped him as he descended toward the bottom of the raging river. His lungs were burning, but at this point he didn't feel anything. Soon, he'd be dead. He wondered where he would end up. Would he end up in Erebos, since he was dying in his human form?

Darkness enveloped him and all was fine.

The others were now standing where Hades had jumped off. Apollon threw himself to the ground, looking at the water, trying to see something. Alas, the mud made it impossible to distinguish anything.

"Do you see him?" Dionysus asked to his brother, his tone anguished.

"No it's too dark, I can't see a thing! It's really dark!" the sun god replied, completely panicked.

"Damn it" Takeru breathed as he kicked off his shoes.

As the sea god undressed, the others looked at him, worried. What was he doing? Was he seriously thinking of jumping in after Hades?

"Totsuka Takeru, the current is too strong" Tsukito started, but was cut off by his brother.

"I'm the god of sea and Storms, this is my playground" he replied as he threw his shirt to Yui, who caught it last minute.

Seconds later, he jumped into the water. Of course, because of the seal, his powers weren't full force. It was hard to navigate in this dirty water, but his powers weren't all he had. He was used to relying on his physical strength for this kind of stuff.

The boy swam as fast as he could, going to the surface every chance he had. His timing was very good, so he didn't swallow loads of water.

The darkness made it hard to see where he was going. He bumped his head quite a few time into rocks, and on a tree, which had fallen into the river, but nothing serious enough to knock him out.

After what felt like hours, he saw a faint glow in front of him. Using the little power he had over the element, he swam toward the body as fast as he could. Kicking and fighting the current, he finally reached the unconscious man. He took him with one arm and kicked the water to go up. When his head broke through the waves, he inhaled air quickly. He hadn't realized it, his mind completely focused on his task, but his lungs were on fire.

Weakly, he swam toward the riverbank, still holding Hades tightly. He was too tired to resist properly, and he unfortunately inhaled water. When he reached the muddy earth, the hands of his friends, whom had been following him from the river bank, helped them up on to the ground. While Apollon and Yui looked at Hades, Tsukito and Baldr helped the sea god to sit down.

Takeru coughed water out of his system, spitting it to a side. He was breathing heavily. When he had enough energy, he looked at the man he had just saved and his heart sank.

Hades wasn't moving. His chest was completely still. His nephew and Yui were desperately trying to reanimate him.

Was it too late? Had he jumped too late in the water to save the god? He couldn't even think about it. He hadn't hesitated one moment when he saw the god jump. He knew what to do. He couldn't bear thinking that the god was going to die. No, not after he… not after he had come to terms with his feeling. He turned his head toward the river, shivering.

Then, he heard someone coughing.

Takeru turned around so quickly he almost hurt himself. Hades was painfully breathing again. A sigh of relief escaped the god's lips. He was alive. He was… alive and he would live.

The young god's eyes rolled into his head as he fell unconscious, having pushed his body to its limit. Hades, even though he had started breathing again, wasn't conscious yet.

The group of gods, very much relieved that both were fine, picked them up and started walking toward the academy. Thor had picked Hades up, since he was the tallest, and most likely the only one able to carry Hades back to the school. Apollon picked up Takeru, following the group.

The two gods were left at the infirmary, under the care of the nurse and Apollon, since he was also the god of healing.

Hours passed, and Takeru was the first to wake up. He had suffered from exhaustion and hypothermia. He looked around, wondering where he was. Not recognising the place, he took a moment to remember what happened before his awakening.

He had been in class… it was right after lunch break. Everyone was there, except the Greeks. Suddenly, Apollon ran into the room, completely distressed.

"Uncle is missing! My uncle is missing!" He half yelled in the class.

"Calm down, Agana Belea" Balder spoke up as he stood up. "He is probably just at the library"

Apollon shook his head "No! We've looked everywhere, me and Dee-dee! Everywhere!"

"What he said! Literally everywhere" Dionysus added, out of breath. "And we've done it twice"

They started discussing where the eldest god could be. He had been there in the first part of the day, but as soon as the bell for lunch had rang, he had left, storming outside the classroom.

Takeru, in his corner of the class, started worrying. Recently, he had come to accept his feelings for the god, but since he was convinced the older man would never return his feelings, he had also accepted that he should move on. But still, he had realized the god of death had been a lot less happy these days.

As soon as the bell rang, he always left for his dorm, barely wishing good night to the others. He always had this sad, faraway look. And well, even if they had realized it, his friends only wanted to give him space, but at the same time let him know they cared.

"Let's go see Lord Zeus, he might know something" the boy suggested, rising up.

Surprised, the others followed him. Takeru was attending school, yes, but he didn't seem interested in anything else, especially about knowing the others. The fact that he seemed to be just as worried as they were for the god of death surprised them a lot. Even if Takeru showed a lot of interest in Hades, they thought it was because he was the god of the dead and he hoped to be able to see that special person once again.

As they walked toward the headmaster's office, the storm outside grew more violent. Takeru felt stronger than usually. He looked outside and hoped Hades hadn't gone there. The storm was going to be very violent, he felt it deep within his bones.

Apollon knocked on the door and they waited. It opened, but unlike they imagined, Zeus was standing right in front of them. They had thought that he would be on his throne, but apparently, that was not the case.

"Uncle Hades has been missing, we can't find him, and he disappeared right after lunch. We can't find him anywhere!" the sun god explained.

His father nodded. Takeru had never seen something like this. The normally stoic god showed some… was it distress? He seemed genuinely worried about the disappearance of his brother, which was something Takeru didn't think was possible.

"So I've heard. You need to find him quickly. I'm scared of what could possibly happen" he said, obviously afraid of his older brother's actions.

Takeru was the first to react. He started running and went out by the first door he saw, the others yelling at him to wait. But the god of the sea didn't want to hear anything. He had to help Hades no matter what.

The rest happened quickly. Hades jumped, and it was clear in Takeru's head that he was jumping after him. He took a moment to calm his beating heart, remove his shoes and shirt, and jumped.

And now here he was. Hades was saved. He was fine, and he was going to live. He should be proud to have saved his friend from a certain death, but somehow he felt… like he shouldn't have done it. Like it was none of his business.

He turned his gaze toward the window. It was a clear night outside, and the stars were shining bright.

His eyes fell on the sleeping silhouette in the bed next to him, right next to the window. Hades was still fast asleep, an oxygen mask stuck to his face.

Takeru smiled. Despite his mixed feelings, he was happy to see Hades sleeping in the bed next to him. He was still worried about him, but he knew he was going to be more than fine… eventually. The reasons on why the god had jumped were still unknown. But Takeru was determined to help the god get better.

Enveloped in a blanket, the boy decided to get up and sit in the chair next to Hades. He looked at him, fast asleep. The Greek god looked strangely peaceful. Compared to his usual expression, it was quite a change. Takeru wanted to see more of the peaceful Hades than the troubled one.

He had only accepted his feeling for the death god a few days ago. At first, he thought what he felt was only admiration and hope that he would be able to see Izanami-san again with this man's help. But slowly, he had started feeling more than admiration. It had started during gym class. While changing in the boy's room, he happened to catch a glimpse of Hades without his shirt on. And for a brief moment, all he could think was "Damn he's hot".

After that, various events happened. The sea god didn't quite understand where this was all coming from, and he started to avoid the older god. But after wishing quite a few time that Hades was sharing his bed, Takeru asked himself a few questions… and came to the realization he was in love with the man.

At first, he was somewhat surprised. He had always thought he was more into women, since all his adventures had been with them. And yes, he did enjoy women a lot. Such fragile beings that could turn out to be scary and… well, not so fragile. But now…

Takeru remembered another time his gaze had been caught by male humans and gods. He always had thought it was because they seemed powerful. Could it have been more?

The sea god fell asleep on his chair. The night went silently, and nothing else happened until morning came.