The Prince [One-Shot]
Title: The Prince (AO3)
Pairing: Juntoshi (very subtle)
Genre: AU, Angst, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: He was raised to be a king. He was going to be one.
Warning: Blood and violence (though not really that bad, but still).
Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
A/N: I read too many dystopian novels these days that I am itching to actually write one (albeit short). Some of my favorites dystopian would be The Hunger Games, The Selection, The Winner's Curse...I think I still have some more but atm those were all I could think of XD I'd love it if you can recommend some good dystopian novels for me, while I'm still in the mood! Well, that's it for now! Hope you'll enjoy! Comments will be loved!
I am raised to be a king.
His breathing was harsh on the quiet night, cold sweats were breaking on his temple, and the warm air coming from the recently broken window clung to his body heavily. He strained his ears to listen, counting, wishing, and then a loud sound of a gun being fired went in the distance.
He nearly let out a sob, but he caught himself.
I am raised to be a king. This is nothing. Calm down. He told himself that again and again as his hold on the cold gun tightened. He peeked from behind the wall, and he was greeted by the eerily empty dark hallways. After taking a deep breath, he dashed out from where he was heading; he tried to gather up his thoughts, tried to come up with a plan, but it all ceased to non-existent at the shrill screaming of his sister.
He nearly screamed back.
Not her.
Forgetting the fact that he was supposed to run down the stairs and looking for ways to escape, he took another turn instead, blindly looking for his sister without screaming her name out loud despite how his heart was yelling her name frantically. Right before he reached the end of the hallway, someone came from the opposite way; the man caught a glimpse of him, but he was more than ready. He fired without thinking twice, watched as the bullet went through the man’s head and the blood splattered all over the white, pristine walls. He watched as the man body went limp and fell to the floor and as he side-stepped him, he thanked God for not killing his own men. Ignoring the body, he ran to where the man has come from, and the sight made he wished that he was dead instead.
The hallway was packed with dead body of a few guards, and not too far from there, right in front of their chamber, his father and mother lied limply on the floor with blood pooling under their body.
He felt a sharp, acid pain on his stomach, and he leaned against the wall as he doubled-over; he felt so sick, and he almost broke into tears, almost, but he found his strength yet again as he listened to his sister’s cries, not too far from where he was. Taking another deep breath but finding no relief in doing so, he walked over his parents bodies, feeling his heart shredded into pieces with the realization that there was a chance he’d soon join them in the same condition. He wanted to cry, wanted to kneel over their dead bodies and wept until someone found him and kill him, but he couldn’t because somewhere, his sister was still alive, and he’d be damned if he didn’t save her - this kingdom need at least a queen.
He tried to walk without a sound, but it was hard to do so with the blood everywhere - this hallway felt like a small piece of hell with the sickeningly smell of blood. Despite that, he still tried to walk ever so slowly, making little noise as he walked with his shoulder pressed on the bloodied wall, and then he peeked.
And there his sister was, driven in the corner, trembling and shaking with a man standing in front of her. The man’s back was facing him, and it was a very great chance for him to kill that man off; slowly, he aimed for the man’s head, hoping that he wouldn’t miss so he could save her.
But that was when her sister’s eyes met his, and her eyes widened.
The man turned around, and he immediately fired his gun, but the man was quick to dodge. His sister’s screaming pierced the night as the man charged towards him, and within a quick judge that the man wasn’t holding a gun, he yelled to his sister, “RUN!”
And the man punched him in the face.
He has been prepared for the pain though. He was born as a future-king, and he was raised as one. A king has to be able to protect himself, and ever since he was young, he has been trained to be able to fight. Despite the sword being his specialty, he should’ve had no problem on fighting bare-handed, so he let the rage consumed him as he hit the man’s head with the back of his gun, and then he delivered a kick right to his stomach. The man let out a grunt as he doubled over, but he didn’t lose his ground, and with a terrifyingly speed, he launched himself on him and made him stumbled backward, his head hitting the painting in the wall, and he gasped upon feeling the shreds of glass cutting his skin. The man used the chance to bring him down, slamming his head against the floor, making the world spun and out of his grasp.
He could still see her despite the blood that was leaking from his forehead though; his sister was still there, too terrified to move, looking at him in an unimaginable amount of fear. “Run!” He gasped out. “Mina, please!”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she shook her head frantically. “I can’t - without you - god…”
“Run! Please!” The man straddled himself and held his arms, successfully pinning him down and painfully pulled his hands back, probably trying to dislocate his arms or worse, tear it off. “RUN!”
His sister finally stood, her legs trembling, but she was still unmoving.
“I won’t run after you.” The man on top of him suddenly spoke, and with it, he yanked his arms backwards harder, making him cried out in pain. “I swear, Your Highness.”
His sister sobbed. “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill my brother.”
“You have my words that I won’t kill him.” The man said softly, but it sounded so wrong and he wanted to vomit just listening to it. “Go ahead.”
His sister looked torn; she looked at him for a long while, and although he knew he wasn’t in any position to say this, he said, “I’ll be fine.”
His sister let out another sob, but suddenly, she ran. He immediately grabbed on the man on top of him with his fingers, as if afraid he’d bolt from on top of him to run after his sister. But the man on top of him was unmoving as his sister ran past them, disappear from both their sight. He relaxed, almost, because he didn’t care if he was going to be killed, as long as there was still a chance for his sister to continue on living -
The man on top of him laughed.
He turned his head around, a sinking feeling on his stomach as the man’s body shook in laughter; at the same moment, the moon finally came out of their hiding place behind the clouds, as if it was curious to see how his fate was going to play out. He stared at the man’s face, at the almond brown eyes and the overly white skin and the mole on his chin -
“I’m not going to break my promise.” He said, and he was about to ask about what he meant by that, but then he heard his sister screaming in the distance. The sound was out of the world, almost animalistic, and he knew what happened.
They got her.
“See?” The man breathed out. “I’m not breaking my promise.”
His eyes watered; despite how much he told himself not to cry, he couldn’t help it. He was scared, because the man’s eyes promised him that he wouldn’t be dead so easily; that he’d face a hell, and that it’d take a while before he joined the rest of his family.
There were quiet steps approaching; the sound of boots walking over a puddle of blood leisurely filled his eardrums, and despite the rapid beating of his heart, he could still hear the footsteps, like it was the only sound existed in the whole world. The man on top of him released him, and then he turned his body around so he was lying on his back, but that was only for a while because then the man pulled on his collar as the other man walked closer.
He stared at the other man, at the handsome face and the blood-stained robe and the sword on his hands that were still dripping blood one by one to the floor.
And his stomach clenched painfully at the realization that he knew this man.
Once he was close enough, the other man crouched in front of him and he took hold of his collar too while the man that has punched him finally let him go and stepped aside.
“Prince.” The man spoke, his voice velvety. The man let go of his sword and he dropped it to the floor to caress his cheek; he jerked his head away, disgusted at the gentle touch, at the touch of the hands that has taken so many lives away. “Don’t touch me.” He said from between gritted teeth.
The man chuckled, but his fingers stayed still. “So brave.” He whispered. “I expected no less from my Prince.”
He thought about how soon enough, he wasn’t going to be anyone’s Prince anymore, and as if to confirm his thought, his body was suddenly being slammed to the floor again, the hand on his collar crept up to his neck and squeezed. “My dear Prince.” He spoke. “I hope you’ll forgive me for doing this.”
He wouldn’t. No matter what, he would never forgive him.
He wanted to tell him that, but he saw him reaching for the sword, he saw the sliver of the sword in the air, and then the pain exploded in his eyes, and he let out a scream.
After that, it was all quiet.
***
It has been eternity.
Or maybe it wasn’t that long, but Ohno couldn’t be sure. He has been trapped in this ironically beautiful room without any clock or calendar, and the only way he would be able to tell the time was by the sky behind the heavily locked window with bars outside of it, eliminating any chance of escape for him. No one talk to him; at a certain times of the day, someone would come to change the bandages on his shoulder where he has been stabbed, and Ohno was too tired already to try and escape - like he could with his shoulder numb and the guards pointing guns at him as the maids changed his bandages and bathed him. He tried to ask them questions at first, but they wouldn’t tell him anything but ‘It’ll be a bit hurt’ or ‘I’m going to change your bandage’ or ‘it’ll heal soon.’ After all was done, the maids would leave first, and then the guards, and then the door would be locked securely again. For foods, he was mostly given food that wouldn’t require any sharp objects like knife and fork - he was usually given breads and stew or soup or mashed potatoes; they’d open the door and left his tray of food without stepping a foot inside his room, and they’d collect the remaining in the morning. The first few days, he refrained from eating, but then he decided to eat because having the guards holding you down while the maids forced the food down your throat was very humiliating.
Still, he knew he was losing his weights rapidly; the bones were showing and he felt almost happy with the way his body was slowly falling apart.
He could tell that the maids weren’t happy though; one of them actually had the nerve to bring an injection of vitamins or such the next day, and before they could inject him with that, Ohno grabbed on the injection and he stabbed the maid’s thigh with that instead, relishing on the painful shriek of the maid before the guard went ahead and knock him out.
No one came over for the rest of the day; they wouldn’t even give him food.
He sat against the window and spent his hourless day by staring at the outside; his room was positioned to face the forest, so all that he could see was the far stretching of green, and if he tried, he could fool himself into believing that everything was okay.
But he knew that it wasn’t.
He still remembered that day clearly; it was a quiet night - to be honest, it was an awfully quiet night, and he spent it on his work room, mulling over some reports about the district that wasn’t able to meet the demand of the wheat they should’ve been able to provide. It has been happening a lot actually - there were uprising in the districts and the demand of foods and other necessities that has been placed on each district has been sharply declining. His father wouldn’t stop talking about it, telling them as ‘fools’ as he tried to shut the uprising by sending lots of guards in hunt for anyone that was responsible for it. They were shorts of guards when the palace was attacked - the siren was blaring through the night, and he knew they were in trouble, and as he grabbed his gun, he was prepared for the worst. He was the future-king after all; he should’ve been prepared for the worst.
But how could anyone be prepared of having his family being killed overnight?
Of course, he knew that this kind of thing was a possibility; he knew that being a ruler has this kind of risk - when people weren’t satisfied with you, they’d rebel. He knew that it was bound to happen with the way his father ruled, the way he overworked the districts while the capital lived comfortably upon their sufferings.
It just never occurred to him that it’d happen overnight, cruelly.
Despite all that though, Ohno was worried. He wondered what kind of thing was going on outside this mansion; were everything peaceful? Or were the road filled with guns and blood and cries of innocent children as their parents lied lifelessly on the ground?
He wanted to know, and his heart ached for the worry of the kingdom he was supposed to rule.
It was night when he heard the door being unlocked; he watched silently as the door was swinging opened, and a figure walked in with a food tray in his hands.
He nearly choked when he saw who he was.
“Hey, Prince.” The man greeted him cheerfully as he closed the door behind him with his feet. “I heard that you won’t eat, so I come here bringing you food.”
Ohno eyed the food warily; it was a plate of steak with fries and salad, and his mouth watered at the sight of it because it has been a while since he last eat meat, but he turned his face away instead, refusing to stare at the man that has contributed in instilling a permanent scar on his forehead. “I don’t need them.”
“Your body told me otherwise.” The man sighed; he placed the food tray on the table, and then he approached Ohno; his body tensed as the man lifted his hand, holding onto his wrist with a deep frown on his face. “You’re so thin.”
“Thanks.” Ohno replied dryly; he tried to snatch his hand away, but the man held it firmly.
“You should eat.” He said. “You can’t rule with a body like this.”
“You don’t need me to rule.” Ohno snapped. “Isn’t Lord Matsumoto enough to rule everyone?”
The man grinned from ear to ear, and he finally let go of Ohno’s hands as he walked to the food tray. “There’s a reason why Matsu - err, Lord Matsumoto decided to keep you.” He said as he started cutting the steak into small pieces. “You’re needed, Prince.”
Ohno snorted. “If he think that I’ll help him out, then he’s wrong. I’d rather be dead.”
“Oh, but that won’t do. Also, who said that he needs your willingness to help him?” The man walked over to him with a piece of steak on the fork, and he offered it to Ohno’s mouth; he pursed his lips tightly instead. “We can make you do it, you know.”
Ohno wanted to reply, but the man was smearing the sauce of the steak across his lips, and as much as he wanted to argue with him, his stubbornness to not be feed by this man won over.
“God, you’re so stubborn.” He sighed as he finally pulled away. “I don’t know what Matsumoto - argh dammit, Lord Matsumoto saw in you.”
Ohno lifted his hand and he wiped his lips clean with the back of his hand before replying, “Tell your Lord that I refused to help him in any way possible, so he should stop wasting his time and kill me already.”
“I doubt he’ll listen.” The man mumbled; he walked over to the food tray and he left the fork there, though he did take the knife away with him. “By the way, my name is Nino.”
“Thanks. Now I know what name I should say in triumph when I gouge your eyes out.”
Nino laughed; his voice was cheery, and at one glance, he didn’t look like someone that could kill, but Ohno knew better. “Well then, good night, Prince. Don’t forget to eat before bedtime.”
He watched until Nino was out of the room and once he closed the door Ohno bolted to grab the food tray; he lifted it, and without wasting his time, he threw it all against the door, knowing that Nino would hear the sound of the pretty china breaking. It was satisfying; he was hungry to no end, and his stomach writhed painfully at the sight of the spoiled steak on the floor, but Ohno turned his back on it determinedly, and then he buried himself under the blanket.
He might be satisfied for the night, but he knew that Nino was even more satisfied with the way he had ruined his life.
***
“Prince.” A whispered voice woke him up. “Prince, wake up.”
He rubbed his eyes sleepily; the room was bright with the light of the sun, and it took him a while to get used to his surroundings. He tensed a bit when he realized that someone was there with him already, but it only lasted a while, because this face was also similar to him, and he felt tears creeping up to his eyes at the sight of the man. “Aiba-chan?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Aiba said, but his voice was trembling, and Ohno could see that it was because he was holding back his tears too. “I’m alive.”
Ohno immediately pulled him into a hug, and he cried out loud. Aiba immediately hugged him back, and he cradled him, hands rubbing his back softly as he whispered words of comfort into his ears. Ohno clutched to him as his body shook with the force of his tears - he has been holding back for so long, but knowing that someone dear to him was still alive, even though it was just his butler, made him relief to no end. He was glad that Aiba was here, glad that at the very least, a piece of home was there with him. He cried until he was satisfied, relishing in the warmth that Aiba provided him, in the pair of thin arms that for a moment become the safest place of him.
Once he stopped crying, however, all the questions about what has been happening while he was locked here began to resurface. Aiba seemed to understand, but he gently told him to eat first from the food tray he placed on the bed, in which he was willing to do so for the sake of his stomach.
“I survived the attack, somehow.” Aiba said as he watched over Ohno who stuffed bread into his mouth eagerly. “The butlers and maids were all hiding in the basement until morning, and then Master Nino came to fetch us - he asked for your butler, and since it was me, I was being separated from the rest. I thought that I was going to be killed, but instead I was moved into Lord Matsumoto’s mansion with you, and I have been working on the kitchen with others ever since.”
“How about the others?”
“They stayed in the palace - it’s being cleaned and rebuilt at the moment.”
Ohno didn’t like the fact that the palace where he has lived in since he was born was going to be rebuilt, but then again of course the Lord would do it - he was probably planning on moving there as soon as everything was ready. “How about my family?”
“They’ve been buried in the palace’s ground with a proper ceremony, sir.” Aiba said carefully with a hint of sadness on his voice. “I’m so sorry for what happened.”
“No, it’s…” Ohno sighed - he was about to say ‘it’s okay’ but then again, it wasn’t okay, was it? “How’s everyone?”
Aiba looked at him in confusion, as if he couldn’t understand what he meant by that.
“Everyone.” Ohno emphasized. “I mean, like, citizens, royals, advisers.”
“Oh, right!” Aiba straightened himself a bit. “It caused quite an uproar when people learned that your family has been killed; people in the capital started a riot, but Lord Matsumoto has a big army behind him, sir. His army -“
“Must’ve come from unsatisfied people from the districts, right?” Ohno finished his sentence, and Aiba could only nod timidly. “I knew it - he must’ve talked them out into siding with him and overthrown my father.”
“Yes.” Aiba said in a tiny voice. “It’s still happening - the riot, I mean - but it’s nothing dangerous. Mostly, people on the capital are confused. This has never happened, and I think they’re scared to lose…uhm…the comfortable life they’ve been living with.”
Ohno nodded thoughtfully. “I can imagine.”
“Right. And uhm, most of the elite families like politicians and advisers and such are under home arrest for now until further notice from Lord Matsumoto.”
“Or until they agreed to work with him.” When Aiba didn’t answer, he knew that he was right. Sighing, Ohno picked up his spoon and he scooped a mouthful of mashed potato into his mouth. “Why are you here just now if you’ve been here from the start?” He asked, purposefully changing the subject because he needed time to process everything, and it’d be better to talk about light topic for now.
“Master Nino told me to wait until you’re ready. He came over this morning and told me to tend to you like I used to.”
Ohno frowned at that; did he feel sorry about his condition? Though Ohno was grateful for Aiba’s presence here, he could not see it past their way to convinced him to work with them; he glanced over at Aiba, and he mused at how healthy his butler was. He was still thin, but that was just the way he was - if anything, it seemed like he has gained some weight, and his cheeks were a bit fuller than the last time Ohno saw him. Aiba was radiating with energy, and his eyes were sparkling with something that has never been there before, something like hope.
He put down his spoon, and then he climbed out of the bed. He felt Aiba’s eyes watching him as he moved to the window, staring on a piece of peace in their possibly deformed world, before then he said, “You wanted this to happen.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“You wanted this to happen.” Ohno said softly. “The rebel.”
“I - no! I never wanted your family to be killed -“
“No, but you wanted the rebel to overthrown my father’s regime.” He said, but he wasn’t really accusing him - he was just saying the truth. He glanced over with a smile on his face to calm Aiba’s down, especially when the man was fidgeting anxiously. “It was something to be expected. I’ve seen how my father ruled, and I knew that people didn’t like him. I didn’t like him too, but I was nothing but his foolish son whose opinion sometimes didn’t matter to him - no matter how much I told him that his way of ruling was wrong, he’d always dismiss me. I saw it crumbling, our society. I saw how painfully wrong it was to hold a grand party at our ballroom while our people were desperate to meet up our demand, desperate for more than scrapes of food to get through the night. It must’ve been hard to them - it must’ve been hard for you too, serving on the ballroom while knowing that your family back in your town was desperate for food.” Ohno smiled sadly. “Am I right?”
Aiba ducked his head down in what seemed to be embarrassment, and he shook his head meekly. “But I never wanted your family to be killed.”
“I know.” Ohno said.
“But Lord Matsumoto is -“ Aiba stopped himself short, as if debating if he should say this or not, but in the end he did. “He’s making a change, sir. I can see it that he’s working to make everything fair to everyone - he is trying to give freedom to the districts, but at the same time he isn’t dismissing people in the capital. I can see him trying, and it’s just - though there’s a chance that everything wouldn’t go smoothly, I’d like to see it happen.”
Ohno closed his eyes - he thought he’d be offended, but instead, he felt sad. He was sad for not being able to be in Matsumoto’s position; he was sad that he wasn’t a part of that change, wasn’t the one that were in lead despite how he has always been raised to be one. Most importantly, he was sad that even though people expected so much from him, he wasn’t able to give them the change they wanted. “He’d make a good leader.” He whispered.
“People are still asking for you, Prince.” Aiba suddenly said as he lifted his face up. “You might not believe it, but people are still asking for you. It’s not a secret anymore that they have never wanted to kill you from the start - you are the first person people are asking for after that night.”
“But why?”
“Your kindness, Prince.” Aiba whispered with a small smile. “They could see that you’d be different form your father. They wanted you to be their leader.”
Ohno felt the warmth flooded in his chest, spreading in a rush to his whole being that he had to blink twice because he could feel the tears pricking his eyes again. He turned his face away, staring outside the window again, but was stunned to find someone walking out the woods into the mansion’s grounds.
It was Lord Matsumoto.
He watched as the man had his rifle slung across his shoulder while carrying what seemed to be a rabbit on his hands. He looked fairly young, with his hair being pulled back like that and his face red from the good exercise he probably just gotten. He walked across the ground, eyes fixed to the path before him, when suddenly he looked up to Ohno’s room, and their eyes locked.
He stopped on his path, eyes staring deeply at Ohno, as if he was trying to say something.
Ohno was the one who looked away first; he pulled on the curtain, blocking him from his sight, and then he turned towards Aiba, who quickly averted his eyes again as Ohno’s eyes found his.
“Aiba-chan.”
“Yes, my Prince?”
“I want to see him.”
“Him?”
“Lord Matsumoto.” He breathed out. “Please tell him that I wish to see him.”
The hope was back on Aiba’s eyes as he nodded eagerly. “Certainly, sir.”
***
It took him a week to finally be able to see him.
Ohno used that time wisely though; with Aiba tending to him again, he felt more comfortable and at home, and he started eating regularly again, mostly because he believed with Aiba working in the kitchen, they wouldn’t put anything weird inside his food. He asked Aiba to trim his hair, getting a nice, short hairstyle and a mirror back in the room so he could fully stare at himself after so long. He noticed then that he did looked awful - there were bags under his eyes and his skin was sticking to his bones, so while he waited for the time he’d finally be able to meet Matsumoto, he started taking care of his body again. He ate a lot, slept a lot, and by the end of the week he looked much better that he was before.
It was good that Matsumoto finally fetched him when he was already looking ‘okay’; he couldn’t imagine meeting him when he was at his weakest.
Aiba had prepared his clothes for the day; a freshly tailored blue suit, the kind that Ohno usually wore at the palace. He bathed him and combed his hair, trying to make him presentable like a prince he was, and although Ohno didn’t like to get ready just to impress the man that has murdered his family, he went along with it because he needed to show that he wasn’t one to be intimidated so easily.
Aiba put down the comb, and after looking at him all over again, the butler finally nodded. “You look amazing.” He said softly with glistening eyes. “You look like…a prince.”
“I guess I still am.” Ohno said playfully, and Aiba looked up at him with a smile. He shyly patted Ohno’s shoulders, and then he finally moved away from him to open the doors for him. “I’ll lead the way, sir.”
Ohno took a deep breath; it’d be the first time for him to step outside the room and to be honest, he was a bit scared. There was a possibility that everything could go wrong; the conversations might not ended up like how he wanted, and worse, there was a chance he’d be killed in the end.
But, as he glanced at Aiba’s hopeful smile, he decided that it was worth a try.
Pulling down his suit, he exhaled slowly and he finally moved outside with Aiba leading him through the hallways. Ohno tried not to look around too much, but he couldn’t help it - there were paintings all over the walls, red fuzzy carpet covering the floor, antique vases on top of beautifully engraved tables, chandelier hanging from the ceiling; Matsumoto really went all out with his house, though Ohno could say the same with the palace, but then again it was a palace, and the palace was supposed to be extravagant. This house, though, didn’t really given an aura of a home - it was more like a showcase, something made to impress someone rather than to live in.
Ohno wished Matsumoto wasn’t going to turn the palace into something like this, or worse.
They passed a group of maid - they immediately scurried over to the side and bowed a bit to him, and Ohno realized that one of them was the maid he stabbed with the injection. Coming into an abrupt halt, he reached out to the maid and brushed his fingers softly to the maid’s small hands. “I’m very sorry for what I did to you.” He said softly. “I was out of my mind - you didn’t deserve it.”
The maid looked up at him in a surprise, her cheeks were red as she shook her head. “It’s okay, sir. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Thank you. And once again, I’m sorry.” He said sincerely; he waited until the maid gave him a small smile, before he finally approached Aiba who waited ahead from him. Aiba was smiling as he approached him, and Ohno asked, “What?”
“You didn’t change.” Aiba said as he continued walking, Ohno close behind him. “With everything that happened, I think you’d change, but you didn’t.”
Ohno said nothing to that, because Aiba was really wrong.
He changed. He wasn’t the same man anymore.
Aiba lead him into the transparent door that’d lead to the garden; there were guards in front of the door, and they immediately held the door open for him to walk through. “Lord Matsumoto has been waiting for you, sir.” One of the guards said. “And he wished to talk to you alone.”
Ohno glanced at Aiba, and Aiba nodded as he stood still. “I’ll wait for you here, sir.”
“Please.” Ohno mumbled, and after that, he finally walked past the door into the garden. He squinted his eyes a bit at the evening sun; it has been a while since he was exposed to the sun, and he got a little bit dizzy thanks to that, but his steps didn’t waver as he made his way through the center of the garden, where a big fountain with a woman statue was placed in the middle, surrounded with a pond filled with koi.
And on the stone bench next to the fountain, Matsumoto sat.
Ohno approached him steadily, and he stopped walking when Matsumoto turned his head around to see him. He stood, and he approached Ohno with a small smile playing on his full lips; naturally, he took Ohno’s hand and brought it to his lips to place a feathery kiss, one that was enough to make his skin’s crawl for reason unknown to him. “My Prince.” Matsumoto said against the back of his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Lord Matsumoto.” Ohno addressed him as he stared at his face; this wasn’t the first time they met - Matsumoto has actually come to the palace more than once, and he was a pleasant man to have around. Ohno knew how much his father favored him - his father never failed to compliment him, the young, smart man that were active in politics, a man that actually has power in society with the rapidly growing business he started by himself. Ohno saw him in the party a lot, surrounded by important person all the time with that bright smile of his, and all those time, he’d always kiss his hand like this too.
But today, he felt like it was the very first time he has ever seen him - completely seen him.
“Let’s take a seat, shall we?” Matsumoto said as he finally let go of his hands to lead him to the bench. “You’re looking a bit pale after all.”
“I guess this is what happened when one was being locked for no apparent reason for nearly a month.” Despite the building rage in his chest, Ohno managed to deliver the words as calmly as he could. He moved to sit on the bench though, and Matsumoto took a seat beside him, politely leaving a space between them; it was only when Ohno was seated that he could see some sniper in the roof, pointing at him in case he did something funny like revenge, it seems.
“There is a reason.” Matsumoto said then as his eyes also followed his line of sight. “I have a reason why I locked you in that room.”
“Do tell me.”
“You need to heal from your wound.”
“I’m actually surprised you didn’t kill me at first try.”
“I will never kill you.”
“Funny, because your guards tell me otherwise.” Ohno replied sharply as he glared to the guards on the roof, as if by doing that he could take all of them down.
“They won’t shoot you - it’s only for security measures.”
“Very convincing.”
Matsumoto sighed tiredly; seemingly annoyed with the way their conversation were going. “I will never kill you, Prince. Not when I needed you.”
“I’m not helping you.” Ohno said, but Matsumoto completely ignored him.
“I’m trying to free the districts - I’m trying to give them freedom. Sure, they’ll still have to provide for the capital, but I’ll minimize the amount. I want to let them rule their own districts; perhaps placing a governor for each area would be nice. Surely, there’ll be a board in the capital that’d keep an eye for each district, but that’s all that we’d do - supervising them and making sure they won’t stray. In the meantime, I want to put the capital into work; no more partying, no more ridiculous budget that goes for unnecessary luxuries. They needed to work too, just like the others, and provides for themselves so it’d be fair.” Matsumoto said all this passionately, and Ohno felt himself being sucked into his enthusiasm. “I want everyone to help each other, not just one place ruling after the others - I want to put them all into the same places. I want to make everything fair.”
“And to do so, you need to kill my father.” Ohno said, and it was almost ironic that his words weren’t harsh or full of venom - he was merely stating a fact.
“I am sorry for killing your mother and sister, and I am sorry that you have to lose your family but no, I am not sorry for killing your father. People loathed him, Prince. They wanted him dead because they couldn’t see a future with him around even when you take over him.”
“Because he’ll still control me then.”
“Exactly.”
Ohno turned his head away, ashamed that no one believed that he could fight his father - though maybe, they were right. No matter how much he tried to change everything, he knew that he wouldn’t success that much with his father around, but he still didn’t want him dead. “Why did you kill my mother and sister too?”
“They weren’t needed.” Matsumoto simply said, unaware to how those words affected Ohno - he felt tears were threatening to come out and his body started trembling from the anger; how could he talk about his mother and sister like they were just trash, that they were replaceable?
“You can’t be a king.” Ohno whispered heatedly, and that made Matsumoto turned to him. “You can’t be a king, not when you disregard life so easily like that -“
“I know that I can’t. And I have no intention to.” Matsumoto cut him off. Ohno watched him stood and walked towards the edge of the pond, his hands clasped behind his back as he continued, “Which is why I needed you to still be a king. People see me as a hero for overthrowing your father’s regime, sure, but they never see me as their leader - I think they’re afraid of me too; figured, since I killed the royal family overnight. They have been asking for you - even when I gathered the people from districts, they all had agreed that you should not be killed. All along, they wanted you; they never wanted me.”
Ohno stayed silent for a while, processing Matsumoto’s words before then he finally understood what he meant. “So you wanted me to be a king…with you controlling me from behind.”
Matsumoto glanced at him across his shoulder, and he shrugged. “I won’t be controlling you if we have the same understanding.”
“No.” Ohno said out loud as he rose to his feet too. “If I am going to rule, then I will do so without anyone else controlling me!”
“Like I said, I’m not going to control you. I told you already about my plan, and don’t you think it’s good? Don’t you want to make it happen?” Matsumoto didn’t wait for him to answer before he continued, “I am not going to control you - I only want your cooperation! You’re free to rule as your wish, as long as you’re doing it right!”
“And by right, you mean by doing your plan, right?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Ohno rubbed his face with his hands in frustration as he started pacing; he must admitted that Matsumoto’s plan was actually good, and there was hope in that, hope for everything to be much better. Aiba would definitely be thrilled if he heard about that plan - perhaps it would happen slowly, perhaps it wouldn’t happen at all, but it was really worth a shot.
But Ohno didn’t want to rule alongside a man that has killed his whole family to get to this point.
“If.” He spoke between his hands, still refusing to face Matsumoto. “What if I refuse to help you?”
“Then you’ll be my prisoner.”
Ohno wanted to say, ‘Aren’t I’m one already?’ but by the gruff reply Ohno realized then that he would be a prisoner, literally. He knew that he’d probably been stripped off all the luxury he still experienced right now, perhaps being confined in the small room in the underground where the sun would never find him anymore. While it didn’t bother him that much, his heart ached with the thought that he wouldn’t be able to stay here, to actually protect his people that he has grown to love ever since he was brought to this world - to protect his people that had wanted him to be their king, even if he wasn’t that much of use.
I am raised to be a king, aren’t I?
He took a deep breath, and then he straightened his posture as he finally walked towards Matsumoto; the taller man’s posture was immediately guarded as Ohno approached him, even more when Ohno grabbed his collar, though he said nothing but staring into his eyes deeply.
“I’ll do it.” Ohno whispered firmly. “I’ll do it - I’ll become a king with you by my side. We’ll do it according to your plan.”
Matsumoto’s eyes widened for a moment, and a smile broke in his face. “That’s -“
“The only reason that I’m agreeing to this is because I want to give my people what they deserved. I want to help them - I need to help them. And if by doing so then I have to stoop so low as to having you controlling me, then so be it. I am going to stay; I am going to see this until the end. But listen carefully; I will kill you. I swear that I will kill you if you do something to my people. I swear that I’ll be the first person to stab you if you ever do something to them. I swear to God that I’ll kill you if you ever try to betray me, do you understand?”
Matsumoto stared at him in what seemed to be adoration; his smile turned into a big smirk, and he whispered softly, “I expected no less from my Prince.”
Ohno watched as he took his hand that was holding his collar, only to bring it to his lips and kiss it again, almost as if they were sealing their promise. “I’m no Prince anymore.” Ohno said then. “I’m your King.”
Matsumoto looked ecstatic as he held his hand tighter. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
With the matter being taken care of, Ohno pulled his hand away from Matsumoto’s grasp and he turned around to walk inside. He kept his head high, his posture straightened, and he walked with so much authority like he was the one who owned that place. Aiba was still waiting for him by the door, and when he walked in, the butler looked up, only to smile brightly in what seemed to be proud touching every corner of his face. “Prince…?”
“I’m not a Prince anymore.” Ohno said softly at Aiba, and the butler nodded happily as he immediately fell into his place behind Ohno, loyally following him.
“Your Majesty.” Aiba said in awe, and Ohno felt himself smiled.
“I’m going to protect you.” He said with his eyes staring forward. “I’m going to protect everyone. I’m going to fix everything. I’m staying until the end.”
Ohno could hear the smile in Aiba’s face as he answered, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
When he was told that he was going to be a king, he always thought that he’d be one peacefully; his father would be too old to continue, and that was when he’d step in. He imagined a peaceful, sacred ceremony; he imagined his father placing the crown on his head, his mother and sister staring from the side with smiles on their faces, the crowd yelling his name as he vowed to be their king. But now, that pretty image was ruined; he got his crown still, but it was a rusted one, stained with blood. He would still be sitting on the throne, but he’d be chained to it.
But he was raised as a king, and no matter what.
He was going to be one.
***
Matsumoto watched Ohno walked back into the house proudly, and his smirk melted into that of a smile; his posture slacken, and he let out a breath as he flopped back down to the bench. He sat there for a while with his hand draped across his eyes, until someone disturbed him.
“So, how was it?”
“It went well.” Matsumoto said with a smile; he removed his hand and stared up at Nino, who was looking at him curiously, as if he couldn’t wait to milk out every single detail of their conversations. “He actually agreed on being a king with me helping him out.”
“That’s good.” Nino commented. “Judging by how stubborn he is, I thought he was going to say no, and we’d have to torture him again.”
“He is stubborn, but he’s raised as the future-king, you can’t expect less from him.”
“Right.” Nino shrugged as he flopped to sit beside him. “I still don’t get why you insist on having him around though - sure, the people wanted him, but I don’t think they’d mind that much if you lead them. You’re not that bad of a leader either.”
“I don’t think I’m fit to be a king.”
“Pfft. Right.”
“Seriously though. If it were me, there was no way I’d cooperate with the man that killed my family; but he did it anyway. He knew that unless he did so, he wouldn’t be able to be a king. He sacrificed so much for his people, and I don’t think I can beat him to that.”
Nino looked at him funny, and then after a few passing moments, he said, “You’re not, like, in love with him, aren’t you? That’s not the real reason why you’re keeping him, right?”
Matsumoto didn’t answer for a while; he thought of Ohno’s smile as he first saw him in the palace, he thought of his soft, warm hands as he held them, he thought of his brown, silky hair being messed up by the wind, he thought of his bright brown eyes, he thought of this funny feeling in his stomach whenever he heard Ohno laughed at the party, he thought of the undeniable desire to kiss more than just his hand, to be able to be by his side not just to rule, but also to own him completely.
Then he answered, “Of course not.”
Pairing: Juntoshi (very subtle)
Genre: AU, Angst, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: He was raised to be a king. He was going to be one.
Warning: Blood and violence (though not really that bad, but still).
Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
A/N: I read too many dystopian novels these days that I am itching to actually write one (albeit short). Some of my favorites dystopian would be The Hunger Games, The Selection, The Winner's Curse...I think I still have some more but atm those were all I could think of XD I'd love it if you can recommend some good dystopian novels for me, while I'm still in the mood! Well, that's it for now! Hope you'll enjoy! Comments will be loved!
I am raised to be a king.
His breathing was harsh on the quiet night, cold sweats were breaking on his temple, and the warm air coming from the recently broken window clung to his body heavily. He strained his ears to listen, counting, wishing, and then a loud sound of a gun being fired went in the distance.
He nearly let out a sob, but he caught himself.
I am raised to be a king. This is nothing. Calm down. He told himself that again and again as his hold on the cold gun tightened. He peeked from behind the wall, and he was greeted by the eerily empty dark hallways. After taking a deep breath, he dashed out from where he was heading; he tried to gather up his thoughts, tried to come up with a plan, but it all ceased to non-existent at the shrill screaming of his sister.
He nearly screamed back.
Not her.
Forgetting the fact that he was supposed to run down the stairs and looking for ways to escape, he took another turn instead, blindly looking for his sister without screaming her name out loud despite how his heart was yelling her name frantically. Right before he reached the end of the hallway, someone came from the opposite way; the man caught a glimpse of him, but he was more than ready. He fired without thinking twice, watched as the bullet went through the man’s head and the blood splattered all over the white, pristine walls. He watched as the man body went limp and fell to the floor and as he side-stepped him, he thanked God for not killing his own men. Ignoring the body, he ran to where the man has come from, and the sight made he wished that he was dead instead.
The hallway was packed with dead body of a few guards, and not too far from there, right in front of their chamber, his father and mother lied limply on the floor with blood pooling under their body.
He felt a sharp, acid pain on his stomach, and he leaned against the wall as he doubled-over; he felt so sick, and he almost broke into tears, almost, but he found his strength yet again as he listened to his sister’s cries, not too far from where he was. Taking another deep breath but finding no relief in doing so, he walked over his parents bodies, feeling his heart shredded into pieces with the realization that there was a chance he’d soon join them in the same condition. He wanted to cry, wanted to kneel over their dead bodies and wept until someone found him and kill him, but he couldn’t because somewhere, his sister was still alive, and he’d be damned if he didn’t save her - this kingdom need at least a queen.
He tried to walk without a sound, but it was hard to do so with the blood everywhere - this hallway felt like a small piece of hell with the sickeningly smell of blood. Despite that, he still tried to walk ever so slowly, making little noise as he walked with his shoulder pressed on the bloodied wall, and then he peeked.
And there his sister was, driven in the corner, trembling and shaking with a man standing in front of her. The man’s back was facing him, and it was a very great chance for him to kill that man off; slowly, he aimed for the man’s head, hoping that he wouldn’t miss so he could save her.
But that was when her sister’s eyes met his, and her eyes widened.
The man turned around, and he immediately fired his gun, but the man was quick to dodge. His sister’s screaming pierced the night as the man charged towards him, and within a quick judge that the man wasn’t holding a gun, he yelled to his sister, “RUN!”
And the man punched him in the face.
He has been prepared for the pain though. He was born as a future-king, and he was raised as one. A king has to be able to protect himself, and ever since he was young, he has been trained to be able to fight. Despite the sword being his specialty, he should’ve had no problem on fighting bare-handed, so he let the rage consumed him as he hit the man’s head with the back of his gun, and then he delivered a kick right to his stomach. The man let out a grunt as he doubled over, but he didn’t lose his ground, and with a terrifyingly speed, he launched himself on him and made him stumbled backward, his head hitting the painting in the wall, and he gasped upon feeling the shreds of glass cutting his skin. The man used the chance to bring him down, slamming his head against the floor, making the world spun and out of his grasp.
He could still see her despite the blood that was leaking from his forehead though; his sister was still there, too terrified to move, looking at him in an unimaginable amount of fear. “Run!” He gasped out. “Mina, please!”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she shook her head frantically. “I can’t - without you - god…”
“Run! Please!” The man straddled himself and held his arms, successfully pinning him down and painfully pulled his hands back, probably trying to dislocate his arms or worse, tear it off. “RUN!”
His sister finally stood, her legs trembling, but she was still unmoving.
“I won’t run after you.” The man on top of him suddenly spoke, and with it, he yanked his arms backwards harder, making him cried out in pain. “I swear, Your Highness.”
His sister sobbed. “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill my brother.”
“You have my words that I won’t kill him.” The man said softly, but it sounded so wrong and he wanted to vomit just listening to it. “Go ahead.”
His sister looked torn; she looked at him for a long while, and although he knew he wasn’t in any position to say this, he said, “I’ll be fine.”
His sister let out another sob, but suddenly, she ran. He immediately grabbed on the man on top of him with his fingers, as if afraid he’d bolt from on top of him to run after his sister. But the man on top of him was unmoving as his sister ran past them, disappear from both their sight. He relaxed, almost, because he didn’t care if he was going to be killed, as long as there was still a chance for his sister to continue on living -
The man on top of him laughed.
He turned his head around, a sinking feeling on his stomach as the man’s body shook in laughter; at the same moment, the moon finally came out of their hiding place behind the clouds, as if it was curious to see how his fate was going to play out. He stared at the man’s face, at the almond brown eyes and the overly white skin and the mole on his chin -
“I’m not going to break my promise.” He said, and he was about to ask about what he meant by that, but then he heard his sister screaming in the distance. The sound was out of the world, almost animalistic, and he knew what happened.
They got her.
“See?” The man breathed out. “I’m not breaking my promise.”
His eyes watered; despite how much he told himself not to cry, he couldn’t help it. He was scared, because the man’s eyes promised him that he wouldn’t be dead so easily; that he’d face a hell, and that it’d take a while before he joined the rest of his family.
There were quiet steps approaching; the sound of boots walking over a puddle of blood leisurely filled his eardrums, and despite the rapid beating of his heart, he could still hear the footsteps, like it was the only sound existed in the whole world. The man on top of him released him, and then he turned his body around so he was lying on his back, but that was only for a while because then the man pulled on his collar as the other man walked closer.
He stared at the other man, at the handsome face and the blood-stained robe and the sword on his hands that were still dripping blood one by one to the floor.
And his stomach clenched painfully at the realization that he knew this man.
Once he was close enough, the other man crouched in front of him and he took hold of his collar too while the man that has punched him finally let him go and stepped aside.
“Prince.” The man spoke, his voice velvety. The man let go of his sword and he dropped it to the floor to caress his cheek; he jerked his head away, disgusted at the gentle touch, at the touch of the hands that has taken so many lives away. “Don’t touch me.” He said from between gritted teeth.
The man chuckled, but his fingers stayed still. “So brave.” He whispered. “I expected no less from my Prince.”
He thought about how soon enough, he wasn’t going to be anyone’s Prince anymore, and as if to confirm his thought, his body was suddenly being slammed to the floor again, the hand on his collar crept up to his neck and squeezed. “My dear Prince.” He spoke. “I hope you’ll forgive me for doing this.”
He wouldn’t. No matter what, he would never forgive him.
He wanted to tell him that, but he saw him reaching for the sword, he saw the sliver of the sword in the air, and then the pain exploded in his eyes, and he let out a scream.
After that, it was all quiet.
***
It has been eternity.
Or maybe it wasn’t that long, but Ohno couldn’t be sure. He has been trapped in this ironically beautiful room without any clock or calendar, and the only way he would be able to tell the time was by the sky behind the heavily locked window with bars outside of it, eliminating any chance of escape for him. No one talk to him; at a certain times of the day, someone would come to change the bandages on his shoulder where he has been stabbed, and Ohno was too tired already to try and escape - like he could with his shoulder numb and the guards pointing guns at him as the maids changed his bandages and bathed him. He tried to ask them questions at first, but they wouldn’t tell him anything but ‘It’ll be a bit hurt’ or ‘I’m going to change your bandage’ or ‘it’ll heal soon.’ After all was done, the maids would leave first, and then the guards, and then the door would be locked securely again. For foods, he was mostly given food that wouldn’t require any sharp objects like knife and fork - he was usually given breads and stew or soup or mashed potatoes; they’d open the door and left his tray of food without stepping a foot inside his room, and they’d collect the remaining in the morning. The first few days, he refrained from eating, but then he decided to eat because having the guards holding you down while the maids forced the food down your throat was very humiliating.
Still, he knew he was losing his weights rapidly; the bones were showing and he felt almost happy with the way his body was slowly falling apart.
He could tell that the maids weren’t happy though; one of them actually had the nerve to bring an injection of vitamins or such the next day, and before they could inject him with that, Ohno grabbed on the injection and he stabbed the maid’s thigh with that instead, relishing on the painful shriek of the maid before the guard went ahead and knock him out.
No one came over for the rest of the day; they wouldn’t even give him food.
He sat against the window and spent his hourless day by staring at the outside; his room was positioned to face the forest, so all that he could see was the far stretching of green, and if he tried, he could fool himself into believing that everything was okay.
But he knew that it wasn’t.
He still remembered that day clearly; it was a quiet night - to be honest, it was an awfully quiet night, and he spent it on his work room, mulling over some reports about the district that wasn’t able to meet the demand of the wheat they should’ve been able to provide. It has been happening a lot actually - there were uprising in the districts and the demand of foods and other necessities that has been placed on each district has been sharply declining. His father wouldn’t stop talking about it, telling them as ‘fools’ as he tried to shut the uprising by sending lots of guards in hunt for anyone that was responsible for it. They were shorts of guards when the palace was attacked - the siren was blaring through the night, and he knew they were in trouble, and as he grabbed his gun, he was prepared for the worst. He was the future-king after all; he should’ve been prepared for the worst.
But how could anyone be prepared of having his family being killed overnight?
Of course, he knew that this kind of thing was a possibility; he knew that being a ruler has this kind of risk - when people weren’t satisfied with you, they’d rebel. He knew that it was bound to happen with the way his father ruled, the way he overworked the districts while the capital lived comfortably upon their sufferings.
It just never occurred to him that it’d happen overnight, cruelly.
Despite all that though, Ohno was worried. He wondered what kind of thing was going on outside this mansion; were everything peaceful? Or were the road filled with guns and blood and cries of innocent children as their parents lied lifelessly on the ground?
He wanted to know, and his heart ached for the worry of the kingdom he was supposed to rule.
It was night when he heard the door being unlocked; he watched silently as the door was swinging opened, and a figure walked in with a food tray in his hands.
He nearly choked when he saw who he was.
“Hey, Prince.” The man greeted him cheerfully as he closed the door behind him with his feet. “I heard that you won’t eat, so I come here bringing you food.”
Ohno eyed the food warily; it was a plate of steak with fries and salad, and his mouth watered at the sight of it because it has been a while since he last eat meat, but he turned his face away instead, refusing to stare at the man that has contributed in instilling a permanent scar on his forehead. “I don’t need them.”
“Your body told me otherwise.” The man sighed; he placed the food tray on the table, and then he approached Ohno; his body tensed as the man lifted his hand, holding onto his wrist with a deep frown on his face. “You’re so thin.”
“Thanks.” Ohno replied dryly; he tried to snatch his hand away, but the man held it firmly.
“You should eat.” He said. “You can’t rule with a body like this.”
“You don’t need me to rule.” Ohno snapped. “Isn’t Lord Matsumoto enough to rule everyone?”
The man grinned from ear to ear, and he finally let go of Ohno’s hands as he walked to the food tray. “There’s a reason why Matsu - err, Lord Matsumoto decided to keep you.” He said as he started cutting the steak into small pieces. “You’re needed, Prince.”
Ohno snorted. “If he think that I’ll help him out, then he’s wrong. I’d rather be dead.”
“Oh, but that won’t do. Also, who said that he needs your willingness to help him?” The man walked over to him with a piece of steak on the fork, and he offered it to Ohno’s mouth; he pursed his lips tightly instead. “We can make you do it, you know.”
Ohno wanted to reply, but the man was smearing the sauce of the steak across his lips, and as much as he wanted to argue with him, his stubbornness to not be feed by this man won over.
“God, you’re so stubborn.” He sighed as he finally pulled away. “I don’t know what Matsumoto - argh dammit, Lord Matsumoto saw in you.”
Ohno lifted his hand and he wiped his lips clean with the back of his hand before replying, “Tell your Lord that I refused to help him in any way possible, so he should stop wasting his time and kill me already.”
“I doubt he’ll listen.” The man mumbled; he walked over to the food tray and he left the fork there, though he did take the knife away with him. “By the way, my name is Nino.”
“Thanks. Now I know what name I should say in triumph when I gouge your eyes out.”
Nino laughed; his voice was cheery, and at one glance, he didn’t look like someone that could kill, but Ohno knew better. “Well then, good night, Prince. Don’t forget to eat before bedtime.”
He watched until Nino was out of the room and once he closed the door Ohno bolted to grab the food tray; he lifted it, and without wasting his time, he threw it all against the door, knowing that Nino would hear the sound of the pretty china breaking. It was satisfying; he was hungry to no end, and his stomach writhed painfully at the sight of the spoiled steak on the floor, but Ohno turned his back on it determinedly, and then he buried himself under the blanket.
He might be satisfied for the night, but he knew that Nino was even more satisfied with the way he had ruined his life.
***
“Prince.” A whispered voice woke him up. “Prince, wake up.”
He rubbed his eyes sleepily; the room was bright with the light of the sun, and it took him a while to get used to his surroundings. He tensed a bit when he realized that someone was there with him already, but it only lasted a while, because this face was also similar to him, and he felt tears creeping up to his eyes at the sight of the man. “Aiba-chan?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Aiba said, but his voice was trembling, and Ohno could see that it was because he was holding back his tears too. “I’m alive.”
Ohno immediately pulled him into a hug, and he cried out loud. Aiba immediately hugged him back, and he cradled him, hands rubbing his back softly as he whispered words of comfort into his ears. Ohno clutched to him as his body shook with the force of his tears - he has been holding back for so long, but knowing that someone dear to him was still alive, even though it was just his butler, made him relief to no end. He was glad that Aiba was here, glad that at the very least, a piece of home was there with him. He cried until he was satisfied, relishing in the warmth that Aiba provided him, in the pair of thin arms that for a moment become the safest place of him.
Once he stopped crying, however, all the questions about what has been happening while he was locked here began to resurface. Aiba seemed to understand, but he gently told him to eat first from the food tray he placed on the bed, in which he was willing to do so for the sake of his stomach.
“I survived the attack, somehow.” Aiba said as he watched over Ohno who stuffed bread into his mouth eagerly. “The butlers and maids were all hiding in the basement until morning, and then Master Nino came to fetch us - he asked for your butler, and since it was me, I was being separated from the rest. I thought that I was going to be killed, but instead I was moved into Lord Matsumoto’s mansion with you, and I have been working on the kitchen with others ever since.”
“How about the others?”
“They stayed in the palace - it’s being cleaned and rebuilt at the moment.”
Ohno didn’t like the fact that the palace where he has lived in since he was born was going to be rebuilt, but then again of course the Lord would do it - he was probably planning on moving there as soon as everything was ready. “How about my family?”
“They’ve been buried in the palace’s ground with a proper ceremony, sir.” Aiba said carefully with a hint of sadness on his voice. “I’m so sorry for what happened.”
“No, it’s…” Ohno sighed - he was about to say ‘it’s okay’ but then again, it wasn’t okay, was it? “How’s everyone?”
Aiba looked at him in confusion, as if he couldn’t understand what he meant by that.
“Everyone.” Ohno emphasized. “I mean, like, citizens, royals, advisers.”
“Oh, right!” Aiba straightened himself a bit. “It caused quite an uproar when people learned that your family has been killed; people in the capital started a riot, but Lord Matsumoto has a big army behind him, sir. His army -“
“Must’ve come from unsatisfied people from the districts, right?” Ohno finished his sentence, and Aiba could only nod timidly. “I knew it - he must’ve talked them out into siding with him and overthrown my father.”
“Yes.” Aiba said in a tiny voice. “It’s still happening - the riot, I mean - but it’s nothing dangerous. Mostly, people on the capital are confused. This has never happened, and I think they’re scared to lose…uhm…the comfortable life they’ve been living with.”
Ohno nodded thoughtfully. “I can imagine.”
“Right. And uhm, most of the elite families like politicians and advisers and such are under home arrest for now until further notice from Lord Matsumoto.”
“Or until they agreed to work with him.” When Aiba didn’t answer, he knew that he was right. Sighing, Ohno picked up his spoon and he scooped a mouthful of mashed potato into his mouth. “Why are you here just now if you’ve been here from the start?” He asked, purposefully changing the subject because he needed time to process everything, and it’d be better to talk about light topic for now.
“Master Nino told me to wait until you’re ready. He came over this morning and told me to tend to you like I used to.”
Ohno frowned at that; did he feel sorry about his condition? Though Ohno was grateful for Aiba’s presence here, he could not see it past their way to convinced him to work with them; he glanced over at Aiba, and he mused at how healthy his butler was. He was still thin, but that was just the way he was - if anything, it seemed like he has gained some weight, and his cheeks were a bit fuller than the last time Ohno saw him. Aiba was radiating with energy, and his eyes were sparkling with something that has never been there before, something like hope.
He put down his spoon, and then he climbed out of the bed. He felt Aiba’s eyes watching him as he moved to the window, staring on a piece of peace in their possibly deformed world, before then he said, “You wanted this to happen.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“You wanted this to happen.” Ohno said softly. “The rebel.”
“I - no! I never wanted your family to be killed -“
“No, but you wanted the rebel to overthrown my father’s regime.” He said, but he wasn’t really accusing him - he was just saying the truth. He glanced over with a smile on his face to calm Aiba’s down, especially when the man was fidgeting anxiously. “It was something to be expected. I’ve seen how my father ruled, and I knew that people didn’t like him. I didn’t like him too, but I was nothing but his foolish son whose opinion sometimes didn’t matter to him - no matter how much I told him that his way of ruling was wrong, he’d always dismiss me. I saw it crumbling, our society. I saw how painfully wrong it was to hold a grand party at our ballroom while our people were desperate to meet up our demand, desperate for more than scrapes of food to get through the night. It must’ve been hard to them - it must’ve been hard for you too, serving on the ballroom while knowing that your family back in your town was desperate for food.” Ohno smiled sadly. “Am I right?”
Aiba ducked his head down in what seemed to be embarrassment, and he shook his head meekly. “But I never wanted your family to be killed.”
“I know.” Ohno said.
“But Lord Matsumoto is -“ Aiba stopped himself short, as if debating if he should say this or not, but in the end he did. “He’s making a change, sir. I can see it that he’s working to make everything fair to everyone - he is trying to give freedom to the districts, but at the same time he isn’t dismissing people in the capital. I can see him trying, and it’s just - though there’s a chance that everything wouldn’t go smoothly, I’d like to see it happen.”
Ohno closed his eyes - he thought he’d be offended, but instead, he felt sad. He was sad for not being able to be in Matsumoto’s position; he was sad that he wasn’t a part of that change, wasn’t the one that were in lead despite how he has always been raised to be one. Most importantly, he was sad that even though people expected so much from him, he wasn’t able to give them the change they wanted. “He’d make a good leader.” He whispered.
“People are still asking for you, Prince.” Aiba suddenly said as he lifted his face up. “You might not believe it, but people are still asking for you. It’s not a secret anymore that they have never wanted to kill you from the start - you are the first person people are asking for after that night.”
“But why?”
“Your kindness, Prince.” Aiba whispered with a small smile. “They could see that you’d be different form your father. They wanted you to be their leader.”
Ohno felt the warmth flooded in his chest, spreading in a rush to his whole being that he had to blink twice because he could feel the tears pricking his eyes again. He turned his face away, staring outside the window again, but was stunned to find someone walking out the woods into the mansion’s grounds.
It was Lord Matsumoto.
He watched as the man had his rifle slung across his shoulder while carrying what seemed to be a rabbit on his hands. He looked fairly young, with his hair being pulled back like that and his face red from the good exercise he probably just gotten. He walked across the ground, eyes fixed to the path before him, when suddenly he looked up to Ohno’s room, and their eyes locked.
He stopped on his path, eyes staring deeply at Ohno, as if he was trying to say something.
Ohno was the one who looked away first; he pulled on the curtain, blocking him from his sight, and then he turned towards Aiba, who quickly averted his eyes again as Ohno’s eyes found his.
“Aiba-chan.”
“Yes, my Prince?”
“I want to see him.”
“Him?”
“Lord Matsumoto.” He breathed out. “Please tell him that I wish to see him.”
The hope was back on Aiba’s eyes as he nodded eagerly. “Certainly, sir.”
***
It took him a week to finally be able to see him.
Ohno used that time wisely though; with Aiba tending to him again, he felt more comfortable and at home, and he started eating regularly again, mostly because he believed with Aiba working in the kitchen, they wouldn’t put anything weird inside his food. He asked Aiba to trim his hair, getting a nice, short hairstyle and a mirror back in the room so he could fully stare at himself after so long. He noticed then that he did looked awful - there were bags under his eyes and his skin was sticking to his bones, so while he waited for the time he’d finally be able to meet Matsumoto, he started taking care of his body again. He ate a lot, slept a lot, and by the end of the week he looked much better that he was before.
It was good that Matsumoto finally fetched him when he was already looking ‘okay’; he couldn’t imagine meeting him when he was at his weakest.
Aiba had prepared his clothes for the day; a freshly tailored blue suit, the kind that Ohno usually wore at the palace. He bathed him and combed his hair, trying to make him presentable like a prince he was, and although Ohno didn’t like to get ready just to impress the man that has murdered his family, he went along with it because he needed to show that he wasn’t one to be intimidated so easily.
Aiba put down the comb, and after looking at him all over again, the butler finally nodded. “You look amazing.” He said softly with glistening eyes. “You look like…a prince.”
“I guess I still am.” Ohno said playfully, and Aiba looked up at him with a smile. He shyly patted Ohno’s shoulders, and then he finally moved away from him to open the doors for him. “I’ll lead the way, sir.”
Ohno took a deep breath; it’d be the first time for him to step outside the room and to be honest, he was a bit scared. There was a possibility that everything could go wrong; the conversations might not ended up like how he wanted, and worse, there was a chance he’d be killed in the end.
But, as he glanced at Aiba’s hopeful smile, he decided that it was worth a try.
Pulling down his suit, he exhaled slowly and he finally moved outside with Aiba leading him through the hallways. Ohno tried not to look around too much, but he couldn’t help it - there were paintings all over the walls, red fuzzy carpet covering the floor, antique vases on top of beautifully engraved tables, chandelier hanging from the ceiling; Matsumoto really went all out with his house, though Ohno could say the same with the palace, but then again it was a palace, and the palace was supposed to be extravagant. This house, though, didn’t really given an aura of a home - it was more like a showcase, something made to impress someone rather than to live in.
Ohno wished Matsumoto wasn’t going to turn the palace into something like this, or worse.
They passed a group of maid - they immediately scurried over to the side and bowed a bit to him, and Ohno realized that one of them was the maid he stabbed with the injection. Coming into an abrupt halt, he reached out to the maid and brushed his fingers softly to the maid’s small hands. “I’m very sorry for what I did to you.” He said softly. “I was out of my mind - you didn’t deserve it.”
The maid looked up at him in a surprise, her cheeks were red as she shook her head. “It’s okay, sir. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Thank you. And once again, I’m sorry.” He said sincerely; he waited until the maid gave him a small smile, before he finally approached Aiba who waited ahead from him. Aiba was smiling as he approached him, and Ohno asked, “What?”
“You didn’t change.” Aiba said as he continued walking, Ohno close behind him. “With everything that happened, I think you’d change, but you didn’t.”
Ohno said nothing to that, because Aiba was really wrong.
He changed. He wasn’t the same man anymore.
Aiba lead him into the transparent door that’d lead to the garden; there were guards in front of the door, and they immediately held the door open for him to walk through. “Lord Matsumoto has been waiting for you, sir.” One of the guards said. “And he wished to talk to you alone.”
Ohno glanced at Aiba, and Aiba nodded as he stood still. “I’ll wait for you here, sir.”
“Please.” Ohno mumbled, and after that, he finally walked past the door into the garden. He squinted his eyes a bit at the evening sun; it has been a while since he was exposed to the sun, and he got a little bit dizzy thanks to that, but his steps didn’t waver as he made his way through the center of the garden, where a big fountain with a woman statue was placed in the middle, surrounded with a pond filled with koi.
And on the stone bench next to the fountain, Matsumoto sat.
Ohno approached him steadily, and he stopped walking when Matsumoto turned his head around to see him. He stood, and he approached Ohno with a small smile playing on his full lips; naturally, he took Ohno’s hand and brought it to his lips to place a feathery kiss, one that was enough to make his skin’s crawl for reason unknown to him. “My Prince.” Matsumoto said against the back of his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Lord Matsumoto.” Ohno addressed him as he stared at his face; this wasn’t the first time they met - Matsumoto has actually come to the palace more than once, and he was a pleasant man to have around. Ohno knew how much his father favored him - his father never failed to compliment him, the young, smart man that were active in politics, a man that actually has power in society with the rapidly growing business he started by himself. Ohno saw him in the party a lot, surrounded by important person all the time with that bright smile of his, and all those time, he’d always kiss his hand like this too.
But today, he felt like it was the very first time he has ever seen him - completely seen him.
“Let’s take a seat, shall we?” Matsumoto said as he finally let go of his hands to lead him to the bench. “You’re looking a bit pale after all.”
“I guess this is what happened when one was being locked for no apparent reason for nearly a month.” Despite the building rage in his chest, Ohno managed to deliver the words as calmly as he could. He moved to sit on the bench though, and Matsumoto took a seat beside him, politely leaving a space between them; it was only when Ohno was seated that he could see some sniper in the roof, pointing at him in case he did something funny like revenge, it seems.
“There is a reason.” Matsumoto said then as his eyes also followed his line of sight. “I have a reason why I locked you in that room.”
“Do tell me.”
“You need to heal from your wound.”
“I’m actually surprised you didn’t kill me at first try.”
“I will never kill you.”
“Funny, because your guards tell me otherwise.” Ohno replied sharply as he glared to the guards on the roof, as if by doing that he could take all of them down.
“They won’t shoot you - it’s only for security measures.”
“Very convincing.”
Matsumoto sighed tiredly; seemingly annoyed with the way their conversation were going. “I will never kill you, Prince. Not when I needed you.”
“I’m not helping you.” Ohno said, but Matsumoto completely ignored him.
“I’m trying to free the districts - I’m trying to give them freedom. Sure, they’ll still have to provide for the capital, but I’ll minimize the amount. I want to let them rule their own districts; perhaps placing a governor for each area would be nice. Surely, there’ll be a board in the capital that’d keep an eye for each district, but that’s all that we’d do - supervising them and making sure they won’t stray. In the meantime, I want to put the capital into work; no more partying, no more ridiculous budget that goes for unnecessary luxuries. They needed to work too, just like the others, and provides for themselves so it’d be fair.” Matsumoto said all this passionately, and Ohno felt himself being sucked into his enthusiasm. “I want everyone to help each other, not just one place ruling after the others - I want to put them all into the same places. I want to make everything fair.”
“And to do so, you need to kill my father.” Ohno said, and it was almost ironic that his words weren’t harsh or full of venom - he was merely stating a fact.
“I am sorry for killing your mother and sister, and I am sorry that you have to lose your family but no, I am not sorry for killing your father. People loathed him, Prince. They wanted him dead because they couldn’t see a future with him around even when you take over him.”
“Because he’ll still control me then.”
“Exactly.”
Ohno turned his head away, ashamed that no one believed that he could fight his father - though maybe, they were right. No matter how much he tried to change everything, he knew that he wouldn’t success that much with his father around, but he still didn’t want him dead. “Why did you kill my mother and sister too?”
“They weren’t needed.” Matsumoto simply said, unaware to how those words affected Ohno - he felt tears were threatening to come out and his body started trembling from the anger; how could he talk about his mother and sister like they were just trash, that they were replaceable?
“You can’t be a king.” Ohno whispered heatedly, and that made Matsumoto turned to him. “You can’t be a king, not when you disregard life so easily like that -“
“I know that I can’t. And I have no intention to.” Matsumoto cut him off. Ohno watched him stood and walked towards the edge of the pond, his hands clasped behind his back as he continued, “Which is why I needed you to still be a king. People see me as a hero for overthrowing your father’s regime, sure, but they never see me as their leader - I think they’re afraid of me too; figured, since I killed the royal family overnight. They have been asking for you - even when I gathered the people from districts, they all had agreed that you should not be killed. All along, they wanted you; they never wanted me.”
Ohno stayed silent for a while, processing Matsumoto’s words before then he finally understood what he meant. “So you wanted me to be a king…with you controlling me from behind.”
Matsumoto glanced at him across his shoulder, and he shrugged. “I won’t be controlling you if we have the same understanding.”
“No.” Ohno said out loud as he rose to his feet too. “If I am going to rule, then I will do so without anyone else controlling me!”
“Like I said, I’m not going to control you. I told you already about my plan, and don’t you think it’s good? Don’t you want to make it happen?” Matsumoto didn’t wait for him to answer before he continued, “I am not going to control you - I only want your cooperation! You’re free to rule as your wish, as long as you’re doing it right!”
“And by right, you mean by doing your plan, right?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Ohno rubbed his face with his hands in frustration as he started pacing; he must admitted that Matsumoto’s plan was actually good, and there was hope in that, hope for everything to be much better. Aiba would definitely be thrilled if he heard about that plan - perhaps it would happen slowly, perhaps it wouldn’t happen at all, but it was really worth a shot.
But Ohno didn’t want to rule alongside a man that has killed his whole family to get to this point.
“If.” He spoke between his hands, still refusing to face Matsumoto. “What if I refuse to help you?”
“Then you’ll be my prisoner.”
Ohno wanted to say, ‘Aren’t I’m one already?’ but by the gruff reply Ohno realized then that he would be a prisoner, literally. He knew that he’d probably been stripped off all the luxury he still experienced right now, perhaps being confined in the small room in the underground where the sun would never find him anymore. While it didn’t bother him that much, his heart ached with the thought that he wouldn’t be able to stay here, to actually protect his people that he has grown to love ever since he was brought to this world - to protect his people that had wanted him to be their king, even if he wasn’t that much of use.
I am raised to be a king, aren’t I?
He took a deep breath, and then he straightened his posture as he finally walked towards Matsumoto; the taller man’s posture was immediately guarded as Ohno approached him, even more when Ohno grabbed his collar, though he said nothing but staring into his eyes deeply.
“I’ll do it.” Ohno whispered firmly. “I’ll do it - I’ll become a king with you by my side. We’ll do it according to your plan.”
Matsumoto’s eyes widened for a moment, and a smile broke in his face. “That’s -“
“The only reason that I’m agreeing to this is because I want to give my people what they deserved. I want to help them - I need to help them. And if by doing so then I have to stoop so low as to having you controlling me, then so be it. I am going to stay; I am going to see this until the end. But listen carefully; I will kill you. I swear that I will kill you if you do something to my people. I swear that I’ll be the first person to stab you if you ever do something to them. I swear to God that I’ll kill you if you ever try to betray me, do you understand?”
Matsumoto stared at him in what seemed to be adoration; his smile turned into a big smirk, and he whispered softly, “I expected no less from my Prince.”
Ohno watched as he took his hand that was holding his collar, only to bring it to his lips and kiss it again, almost as if they were sealing their promise. “I’m no Prince anymore.” Ohno said then. “I’m your King.”
Matsumoto looked ecstatic as he held his hand tighter. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
With the matter being taken care of, Ohno pulled his hand away from Matsumoto’s grasp and he turned around to walk inside. He kept his head high, his posture straightened, and he walked with so much authority like he was the one who owned that place. Aiba was still waiting for him by the door, and when he walked in, the butler looked up, only to smile brightly in what seemed to be proud touching every corner of his face. “Prince…?”
“I’m not a Prince anymore.” Ohno said softly at Aiba, and the butler nodded happily as he immediately fell into his place behind Ohno, loyally following him.
“Your Majesty.” Aiba said in awe, and Ohno felt himself smiled.
“I’m going to protect you.” He said with his eyes staring forward. “I’m going to protect everyone. I’m going to fix everything. I’m staying until the end.”
Ohno could hear the smile in Aiba’s face as he answered, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
When he was told that he was going to be a king, he always thought that he’d be one peacefully; his father would be too old to continue, and that was when he’d step in. He imagined a peaceful, sacred ceremony; he imagined his father placing the crown on his head, his mother and sister staring from the side with smiles on their faces, the crowd yelling his name as he vowed to be their king. But now, that pretty image was ruined; he got his crown still, but it was a rusted one, stained with blood. He would still be sitting on the throne, but he’d be chained to it.
But he was raised as a king, and no matter what.
He was going to be one.
***
Matsumoto watched Ohno walked back into the house proudly, and his smirk melted into that of a smile; his posture slacken, and he let out a breath as he flopped back down to the bench. He sat there for a while with his hand draped across his eyes, until someone disturbed him.
“So, how was it?”
“It went well.” Matsumoto said with a smile; he removed his hand and stared up at Nino, who was looking at him curiously, as if he couldn’t wait to milk out every single detail of their conversations. “He actually agreed on being a king with me helping him out.”
“That’s good.” Nino commented. “Judging by how stubborn he is, I thought he was going to say no, and we’d have to torture him again.”
“He is stubborn, but he’s raised as the future-king, you can’t expect less from him.”
“Right.” Nino shrugged as he flopped to sit beside him. “I still don’t get why you insist on having him around though - sure, the people wanted him, but I don’t think they’d mind that much if you lead them. You’re not that bad of a leader either.”
“I don’t think I’m fit to be a king.”
“Pfft. Right.”
“Seriously though. If it were me, there was no way I’d cooperate with the man that killed my family; but he did it anyway. He knew that unless he did so, he wouldn’t be able to be a king. He sacrificed so much for his people, and I don’t think I can beat him to that.”
Nino looked at him funny, and then after a few passing moments, he said, “You’re not, like, in love with him, aren’t you? That’s not the real reason why you’re keeping him, right?”
Matsumoto didn’t answer for a while; he thought of Ohno’s smile as he first saw him in the palace, he thought of his soft, warm hands as he held them, he thought of his brown, silky hair being messed up by the wind, he thought of his bright brown eyes, he thought of this funny feeling in his stomach whenever he heard Ohno laughed at the party, he thought of the undeniable desire to kiss more than just his hand, to be able to be by his side not just to rule, but also to own him completely.
Then he answered, “Of course not.”