Amnesia Makes You Forget Important Things

Even though Ares had been around for a few weeks already, he hadn't made use of the Blue Moon at all. But after growing quite tired the past few days, he had realised he was overdue for some time to relax.

Murakumo was more than happy to have him over. It was pretty late into the night, almost closing time. So he figured there wouldn't be a problem in joining Ares.

Murakumo had his back turned to him as he undressed and wrapped a towel around his own hips. And when he turned around to look at Ares, he saw something he wasn't expecting.

Ares body… Wasn't a man's body. On Ares' chest, Murakumo recognised some small red marks, signs of a spell used to reduce one's chest.

"Woah!" Murakumo exclaimed in shock without thinking.

"What's wrong?" Ares asked with a raised eyebrow.

Murakumo was silent, trying to process what was happening. As far as he knew, people like Ares weren't usually that comfortable showing their bodies to people so easily. Specially considering the kinds of stuff people would say or do to them for it. So why was Ares confused? Why had Ares not told him about this before agreeing to go into the bath with him?

"Why didn't you tell me…?" He asked.

"Tell you what?" Ares asked back.

Murakumo was silent again. And then it hit him.

Ares had amnesia.

Was his amnesia so strong that he'd forget something like that? It would be the most likely explanation…

"Ares… Do you know what those marks on your chest mean?" Murakumo asked. It was the best thing he could think of.

"These…?" Ares touched the marks, thinking. "I don't really know. But… I do feel like I am forgetting something important when I see them in the mirror."

Murakumo sighed, taking his towel off. If he was gonna explain this to Ares, showing him the difference between them would be the easiest way.

Ares was quiet, but his eyes widened and his cheeks turned red.

But after that initial shock, he spoke. "You… Don't look like me."

Murakumo took a deep breath. This was important. He had to be careful with what he was gonna say. "Look… It's not something I completely understand. But, basically… You are a man, but you… Weren't born one? Or, at least, you weren't born in the body of a man."

"H-huh?" Ares mumbled, bringing a hand to his forehead.

"Like I said, I don't understand it completely. But I don't think there's anything wrong with it. You're not hurting anyone. But…" Murakumo sighed. "Not all people are as understanding as me, unfortunately."

As he said that, Ares brought both of his hands to his head and groaned in pain, falling to his knees.

"A-Ares!" Murakumo rushed towards him. He seemed to be going through an intense headache.

Murakumo picked him up, putting him down at one of the benches of the changing room. He had his head down, so Murakumo couldn't see his face properly. But he did seem to be sweating a lot.

Just as Murakumo was about to rush to grab whatever he could think of to help him, Ares started panting. He pulled one hand away from his head, the other wiping the sweat away from his forehead.

And then he started sniffling, sobbing quietly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Murakumo asked.

"I-I'm fine…" Ares looked up, and now Murakumo could clearly see the trails of tears he was trying to wipe away. "I just… I remembered something…"

"I see…" Murakumo replied. "You don't need to tell me about it. Your reaction says enough."

Ares nodded. "I… I know what you're talking about now."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. That's up to you." Murakumo smiled at him. He then grabbed both of their towels and handed Ares' his. "C'mon, let's hop in."

Ares just stared at the towel for a moment, then smiled at Murakumo and grabbed it.

They both wrapped their towels and went into the hot water.

Ares sighed with an awkward smile. "I guess I… Should avoid coming here, then. Unless I want someone to see me."

"You don't need to avoid coming here completely!" Murakumo said. "If you come around the time I open, it should be fine. The guys usually only come around later. And if you wanna come at night, I can make an exception and let you in after closing hours."

"... Thank you." Ares' smile turned more genuine, to which Murakumo couldn't help but smile back.

"You're welcome." Murakumo sighed. "I would like to say this wouldn't be a problem. But I don't really know what everyone else in town thinks about… This."

Truly, he'd like to say that everyone would be accepting. He did believe that they were all nice people. But… One couldn't be that sure. He didn't want to risk saying the opposite and leading Ares to the heartache of rejection.

"I'll figure it out."

"If anyone finds out and does anything to you because of it, tell me."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ares chuckled.

"Don't worry about it." Murakumo sunk deeper into the water and sighed as his muscles relaxed. "Enough worrying, though. How's the farm?"

Ares answered with a sparkle in his eyes. Murakumo had to hold back a chuckle from that. At least it meant his plan of changing the subject to something less serious worked.

Ares was happy. And that was enough for him.