Kei has been around too long.

He can't remember when he was created, but knows it's been centuries. His land started off small—a village praying for rain in the middle of a drought. At some point, he popped into existence and there he was, bringing rain to the land and developing a following that spread, but kept him humble.

His form was that of a child with black hair and red eyes. Kei had the power to change his appearance but hadn't found a reason to. He was tired of his duty as a god; he was bored of being the one around for miles upon miles in the land. He was alone, because everyone he knew had tiny lifespans and were gone before he could blink.

There was a neighboring god, created some time after him on the coastal side of the land whose name was Kou. They didn't get along; it had been at least a couple centuries since they'd seen each other.

Kei was lonely.

So here he was, doing his rounds that he made once every fifty or so years, to see up close how the land was doing. Sometimes, he visited the tiny village where he originated to see how the inhabitants were doing and leave behind a few minor miracles. He never chose to reveal himself to the people, so they had no idea.

Currently, he was walking alongside a river when he saw him—a child who looked to be around his age, the age his form presented, anyway.

The kid, with wild brown hair and gold, shining eyes. He was waist-deep in the river, giggling as he reached into the water with his net. The boy nearly slipped but managed to right himself and laughed at his own antics.

It wasn't the first time Kei had seen a child, but he did find himself staring for a few moments. When the word "friend" slipped away from his mind, he turned on his heels to go back.

"Hey! Wanna join me in the river?" the boy called out.

But he couldn't have been talking to Kei because Kei wasn't visible to humans?

"My name's Kaito! You can call me Kai! What's your name?"

Kei turned around, confused, pointing at himself in question. "Me?"

Kai grinned and Kei was unprepared for it. "Of course! There's no one else here!"

Kei looked around, seeing that the strange boy who could somehow see him, was right. He carefully made his way towards him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm fishing," Kai motioned him over, becoming livelier once Kei stopped just a foot away from the riverbed. "Don't worry, the water isn't too cold," he assured, holding a hand out for Kei to grab onto. If only he knew he was in the presence of a god, maybe he wouldn't be so quick to deem him weak. "I haven't seen you around before."

Kei hesitantly took his hand, part of him thinking that Kai would pull him into the water without remorse, part of him hoping against that. When he was carefully helped into the river, he remembered he hadn't answered Kai's earlier question. "My name is Kei, I'm. . . not from around here, but I come by sometimes, to see how things are."

Kei nodded seriously. He pointed to a small basket almost full of fish just a couple feet away from them. "I just need to finish up and then we can play!"

Kei looked at him distrustfully. "Play what?"

Kai shrugged. "Anything." He smiled, then took a couple steps back. "Whoa." He stared at the water around Kei's feet, seeing it full of fish suddenly surrounding him.

Kei cringed. Kai was going to find it weird, or maybe figure out what he was, or maybe take back the thing about playing. He attempted to take a step back but Kai stopped him.

"Wait, don't move! The fish seem to like you!" He got his net ready, waited a couple seconds, then threw it, and after some splashes, lifted the net out of the river, holding four squirming fish in it. "Alright!" Kai exclaimed, quickly going over to put the fish into the basket. He turned back to look at Kei. "I couldn't have finished so fast without you, thanks!"

Kei stared, blinking at the weird boy whose honest grin surprised him. "Um, you're welcome?"

Kai got out of the water, then reached back to help Kei get out. Kei would have scoffed—if he wanted to, the waters would part for him to let him easily walk back to land—but realized that would be rude and instead took the offered hand. He was surprised to find it comforting.

Kai picked up the basket and put his net over it. "I have to get these home really quick, you want to come with me?"

Kei shook his head, suddenly shy.

Kai regarded him for a bit, "Well alright, then wait here and I'll come right back!" He waited until Kei nodded and smiled, racing away in the direction of the village.

Kei sighed, sitting by the edge of the river. Kai was so weird, why could he even see him? Would he really come back? There were maybe ten fish in that basket, did he have a large family? Did Kei's powers grow again and he created a little boy to interact with because he was so lonely?

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he stared into the river. There were still plenty of fish gathered around, like they knew he was there, like they were offering themselves to him. He waved a hand around and most of the scattered, leaving a few lingering fish behind, as if they were too stubborn to leave him.

Kei waved his hand again and the remaining fish finally left, leaving him alone again.

He glanced up at the sky. The sky was changing from blue to hues of orange and purple, the sun starting to set behind the clouds. He didn't know how much time had passed since Kai left—maybe he wasn't coming back. Maybe he was laughing from his home, laughing at the lonely boy-god who was sitting, waiting for him, by himself at the riverbank.

Being a god meant that Kei easily lost track of time. Either minutes passed or months did without him noticing. Right now he couldn't tell if it had been just a few minutes after Kai left or if he missed a lifetime again.

"Kei!" a voice called out, cheerful as the god heard someone rushing towards him. Kei didn't let his hopes rise, but who else knew him?

The boy from earlier showed up, his hands empty as they rested on the tops of his knees while he bent over to catch his breath. "I didn't want to leave you for long, so I went as fast as I could."

Kei looked past him towards the village. "Do you have a large family?"

Kai stood up, extending a hand for Kei, who took it without hesitating this time. "Nah, it's just me and my dad, but I get enough for some of the older folk here so they'll have an easier time."

Kei was surprised by this boy. This boy who likely wouldn't live to see a century, this boy who was casually friendly with him, this boy who didn't realize he was talking to a god who would outlive him a hundred-times fold, while Kai would be left as nothing more than a memory amongst the dust.

Suddenly Kei's eyes watered, surprising both him and Kai.

"Whoa, hey, why are you crying? Are you ok? Are you hungry? I could catch a fish for you, I don't need a net; I can even start a fire, please don't cry," Kai panicked, gripping Kei's hand that he still hadn't let go of, a little tighter. He used his other hand to reach up to Kei's face, carefully wiping away stray tears.

"I'm not hungry," Kei replied in between tears, "I just have to go soon." He would leave this human behind and by the next time he came back, Kai would either be an old man or dead. Kei had never felt this close to someone this quickly. He and Kou couldn't get along after some centuries, but this human was making him feel things he hadn't felt before.

Kai gave him a soft smile. "Is that all? That's ok, you can come visit another day, or I could go visit you?"

Kei shook his head, the last of his tears leaving him. He wondered what kind of sight he made, a god in the body of a child, crying because of a human, in front of said human who had no idea. "I don't live close, it's too far away, I don't come by often."

Kai's grip on his hand didn't loosen. "Come with me."

He led Kei around, making sure the sniffling boy wasn't being dragged against his will, and he took him in the direction opposite of where the village was.

If Kei really didn't want this, he could pull out of Kai's grip, but he wondered what they would do and let the boy lead him around.

Eventually, the sun was just barely above the horizon and darkness was quickly enveloping them yet they still hadn't reached whatever destination Kai was leading them to.

"I found this field not too long ago. I usually don't come here too much, but it's a nice place," Kai said as they stopped walking.

Kei saw they were in front of a field filled with countless flowers of all shapes and colors. Kei hadn't realized this was even here, but he thought it was beautiful, even in the dim light. He unconsciously gripped Kai's hand a little tighter.

"It's a full moon out tonight. There will be enough light to stay here for a bit," Kai told him. "Do you need me to walk you home?"

Kei shook his head, still entranced by the flowers and slowly letting go of Kai's hand. Kei sat himself down in the very middle of the field, feeling the life around him, feeling calm and relaxed as he closed his eyes and let his godly aura reach back to the flowers. He forgot about Kai for a moment and wondered briefly if he or the flowers would start glowing. It had been probably decades upon decades since he last took the time to admire the nature in his land. He didn't even know what he did to pass the time in his home, but he forgot about everything too quickly. He decided to remedy that, maybe connect a little more to the world around him.

He opened his eyes only to startle for a moment at seeing Kai in front of him, grinning, holding out a white flower towards him. It looked like a carnation. Kei tilted his head to the side, and Kai carefully reached out with the white flower and settled it through Kei's hair, over his left ear.

Kei stared at him, feeling his cheeks grow a little warm but unsure why.

Kai sat down in front of him, careful of the surrounding flowers. "I thought it would suit you." He reached out and plucked a few more flowers, yellow and white ones, and started threading them together. "A girl from the village showed me how to make a flower crown once. I hope I can still do it, since I've never done it before."

Kei watched him as he worked carefully, being gentle with the flowers and their stems. After a while, Kei copied him, pulling out flowers to make into a crown, this time taking red and white ones.

"You sure you're going to be okay going back by yourself?" Kai asked, glancing at him with a brief smile at seeing the other boy also make a crown.

Kei nodded. "I'll be fine." Making a flower crown was a lot harder than it looked, but he was a god, this should be easy for him.

"If you're sure-" Kai sounded worried but paused for a moment, "Hey Kei, look up."

Kei did as told and was surprised to find the flower crown Kai had been making settled softly on his head. Kai grinned, adjusting the flower already in Kei's hair to add it to the crown.

"It's perfect!"

Kei's hands stopped in making his own flower crown to reach up to touch the one on his head. "Thank you."

"You're super welcome!"

Kei went back to his flower crown with even more determination to do a good job and when he finished, he saw Kai staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

The two didn't speak again until Kei finished the flower crown. He was too shy to give it to Kai, but he looked at him and Kai smiled back at him. So Kei reached out with his flower crown—it wasn't as neat as Kai's was, but he tried—and set it carefully on Kai's head. For a second, Kei's fingers lightly touched the top of Kai's brown hair and the god let out a small gasp.

"Hm?" Kai blinked at him, hand reaching up to steady the flower crown.

"N-nothing," Kei looked away, from Kai's now gold hair on top of his brown hair. The gold matched the gold of his eyes. Oh, he was never going to be able to explain that. How did that even happen? Did he accidentally transfer some of his power to the boy? Was that gold going to disappear once he left? Hopefully Kai wouldn't notice it if it stayed until Kei was long gone. Kai raised a brow, unknowing of the fate of his hair, and stood up, reaching a hand out to Kei again. The god took it again, carefully not to knock the flower crown over.

"Do you know when you'll come back?" Kai asked, as the two started walking away from the field, back to the river where they first met just a couple hours ago.

Kei shook his head. "I don't know if I'll come back at all."

Kai hummed. "Well if you do, come find me, I'll be around."

"Are we friends?" Kei blurted out, making Kai stop and turn to see him.

"Yeah, of course." Kai made it sound like it was the obvious answer but Kei didn't meet his gaze.

"Even if you don't know anything about me? Even if I don't come back?"

Kai fiddled with the flower petals in the crown. "Well, I know that you're a nice person, and," he hesitated, "you seem lonely."

Kei froze. Was he that easy to read?

"And I'd like to think I'll see you again one day."

Kei didn't know how to reply, so he shyly returned Kai's smile.

Kai looked around. By now, the sun was gone and the moon was high above them, keeping a little light for them to see each other. "You sure you're gonna be ok?"

Kei nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Kai."

"You too! I hope I see you one day."

Kei sadly looked down. "Maybe."

Kai reached out and fixed the flower crown, then grinned at him. "Bye, Kei."

Kei waved with a small smile. "Bye, Kai."

And when Kei went back home, his home made of clouds and light and the prayers of the people, he wondered if he really could see Kai again, and if he did, if he would remember him. Kai didn't let the flower crown die, even after days and months. His energy kept it alive and he hoped it would stay alive for as long as he could.

Kei thought back to the gold hair he left on Kai and wondered if it was permanent—maybe it would grow out. He hoped Kai wouldn't be mad at him for it.

It was years until Kei dared to go back to the village. He couldn't get attached to a human; their lifespans were too short. He wished he and Kou, or even some other god around, got along because that would make things easier, but that wasn't the case. Kei was too fragile to let himself get attached to a human friend.

If he remembered correctly—and Kei tried so hard to remember everything about Kai, including when their meeting was, refusing to let it die out in his eternal memory—it was about a decade since he saw Kai. He still had the flower crown, and he thought about wearing it. He worried, thinking it would be too sad if either Kai wasn't around or if it would be weird, but in the end he put it on.

And here Kei was, hesitantly making his way through the village, hidden to everyone except Kai, if he was still here, if he was still alive. Kei had changed his appearance, hopefully to around the age Kai was, somewhere in his late teens. Kei slowly made his way through the village, hoping that maybe Kai was still around. Maybe Kei should've gone with him to his house, so he would know where he lived.

As a god, Kei could spy on a human if he so desired, but he wanted Kai to have his privacy and wanted to leave him alone despite Kei missing him.

It surprised him how much of an effect this one human had on him.

Kei nervously fiddled with the still-perfect flower crown made of white and yellow flowers as he walked around the village, his hope fading the further he got. He passed by the river where he met Kai but there were only two old men and three little boys and girls playing there.

Surely, he didn't miscount the amount of time he was away? Kai couldn't be dead already, could he?

Kei walked towards the field Kai had shown him. It was still bright out, the sun still had a couple hours before it started to set and with it, Kei's hopes of seeing Kai again.

He got to the field and Kai wasn't there either. This was the last place he was going to check. He went to sit in the middle of it again, fingers twitching to reach out to the flowers surrounding him. Part of him wanted to take off the flower crown, cast it away and forget about ever having met Kai, however brief their interaction was. Part of him wanted to keep it forever. Part of him—

"Kei?"

With barely contained surprise, Kei whirled around in his spot to see a familiar looking face. He was older, just about the age Kei guessed he'd be to match his appearance, but the gentle, gold eyes, the brown hair tipped with gold, was all the same.

"Kai."

Kai slowly walked over to him, his eyes momentarily glancing at the flower crown on Kei's head. He smiled. "You still have it?"

"Kai, I—"

Kai took a seat down next to him, their legs brushing a little, Kai using his hands to support himself, looking up at the sky above them. "It's been a while; how have you been?"

Kei unconsciously ripped out some of the grass beside his hands. "I've missed you."

Kai jokingly headbutted him in the shoulder. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Kai, I—"

"You were glowing that night, you know?" Kai looked over at them, their faces so close that Kei could see everything. Kai grinned at the god. "I figured you probably weren't like me, but it was cinched when you left my hair gold." He reached a hand up to run it through his two-toned hair. "It starts out brown and once it grows a bit, it turns gold, cool huh?"

He didn't seem angry. Not for the hair, not for not coming back in a decade. Not for lying and making him think he was human like him.

"You know, the flower crown you made me, it hasn't died yet, either." He smiled at the god, looking up at the flower crown on his head. "Some of the villagers say I was blessed by the god of the land."

Kei didn't know what to say. He watched as Kai laid down beside him, his head pillowed by this hand while the other one played with the flowers nearby. Kei leaned over him, red eyes looking into the gold ones that looked back. "You're my only friend."

Kai reached a hand up to lightly caress the white and yellow flower crown, slowly lowering it until he touched the soft black hair, then gently touched his cheek. "Can anyone else see you?"

Kei shook his head. "You weren't even supposed to be able to see me." He caught Kai's hand before it left his face.

Kai smiled. "I must be special then."

Kei sighed. "I want to see you again, before… before—"

"I'm six feet under?" Kai finished with a sardonic grin. He chuckled at Kei's distressed reaction. "If you tell me you'll see me in another ten years, I'll be right here, waiting. And if you tell me you want to come here every day, I'll still be right here."

Kei's eyes watered, reminding Kai of their first meeting, and they caused Kai to sit up suddenly, bringing both hands up to the god's cheeks, thumbs gently wiping away the few tears that spilled over. He brought their foreheads close together, red and gold eyes staring at each other. "Don't cry, Kei, I don't like seeing my friend cry."

"But one day—"

"One day is another day, but today is today. Ok, Kei?"

The god sniffled a bit, embarrassed to be reduced to someone who cried about the short lifespan of a human, embarrassed that he was being comforted by the same human making him cry. "Ok."

"Good." Kai smiled at him, then pulled back enough to look around them. He found what he was looking for and reached over to pull a small red flower from the ground. He brought one of Kei's hands to their laps and tied the stem of the small, tiny, red flower around Kei's ring finger. Once he finished, he gave the first shy smile Kei had seen. "I can't give you much, but think of this as a promise."

Kei was smiling now, shy in front of his human's gold eyes but happy. He watched Kai lay back down, then blinked in surprise when the human held a hand out to him. Kei laid down next to him, curled in towards Kai who wrapped an arm around him and brought Kei closer to him.

"You're glowing again."

"I'm happy."

And he was. He had been lonely for too long, hadn't had a proper conversation with someone in ages, most of his presence lied in the memories and prayers of the villagers who worshipped him. And now he had a friend—Kai was a bright moment in Kei's existence. One day, Kai would have to leave. But until then, Kei would enjoy this time with him.

M: So, I really like Ajin, like I love the manga and the anime is great and I just love these two, they need more love lol. I'm sorry for making Kei... very vulnerable? Even Gods get lonely and cry, right? Sorry for the oocness but I wanted to write fluff and here is something somewhat fluffy lol. If I ever write another fic for these two, I'll keep them more in character lol. But it was nice writing these two like this.

Thank you for reading! Sorry if there were any mistakes but I hope you liked it!