The Prince's Princess (21/?)
Title: The Prince's Princess
Author: ai_ai_gasa2
Pairing: Lots! Takanoo and some Hikabu, a bit of Ariokamoto, and Chiitaro~
Rating: Probably, overall, PG-13. But they're all individually really safe. Like PG or something.
Genre: Romance, Fluff, very AU.
Summary: The Queen of the South Kingdom died of a sickness quite early on in life. The King never remarried, but did adopt 5 sons. Many years later, it is time now for his children to begin looking for wives, and the King also decides to adopt a daughter, planning a matchmaking ball for her in advance. But the adoption process is delayed... And Prince Inoo has no choice but to step in and play the princes in his to-be-sister's place.
A/N: I'm sorry I haven't responded to comments, I'll do that tomorrow... I just need to hurry and post this because my older sister just walked in looking like Frankenstein's monster and declaring that the computer is turning off and she is going to bed at that very instant. So I hope you like this chapter!
They were sitting on the steps, talking and worrying about when and how to break the news to Daiki when they saw Ayaki walking up and down the hallway, looking around anxiously, searching. Their conversation quickly went quiet.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Whatcha looking for, Ayaki?” Chinen asked in his “I’m an innocent little cute boy” voice.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… Just a piece of paper.” She said vaguely, waving her arm and trying to get off the subject, straightening up.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “If it’s just paper, don’t worry about it.” Hikaru said. Ayaki looked reluctant.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What’s on the paper?” Yamada asked. “Is it just blank, or…?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It’s a letter. From an old friend, one I had before I came here.” She said. Chinen gasped.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “That’s really precious!” He exclaimed. Standing, he dragged Inoo up with him, saying “We’ll help you search!”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… No. That’s okay.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chii pouted. “Why not?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It… Um… I probably left it on my desk.” Quickly, Ayaki rushed off, Chinen smirking and saying to himself “Why? It’s just a letter from a friend…”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “She knows it’s gone.” Yamada said quietly. “We need to act. Now.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well.” With a grim smile, Hikaru stood. “Time to break the news.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> They all nodded with him, Chinen saying “I’ll go get Daiki.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Alright. Meet us in the Dad’s office.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen headed off, the rest going to the King’s office. Their dad was already there, looking over papers with a pained “I have a headache” grimace.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… Dad?” Not until Yamada spoke up did he look at them, raising an eyebrow.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Yes?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We… We have-”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What’s happening?” Daiki burst into the room, looking anxiously at them all. “Chinen said something… Keito’s dad… Rensuke…”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That got the King’s attention as well. Yamada tried to begin the story, but he was so reluctant to tell them that Inoo did it, pulling the letter out of his tunic.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I… Ayaki asked me to go in her room and get something for her-her shoes-and I came across this on her desk.” He handed it over, Daiki going around the desk to read over his father’s shoulder. It was obvious when they had reached the ending because both of their eyes went wide, Daiki sending them all a desperate and confused look.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “This can’t be right.” He said.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I’m sorry.” Was all Hikaru said. Daiki closed his eyes.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We have a plan.” Inoo spoke up, wanting to, trying to distract Daiki. It didn’t work. Though he’d opened his eyes now, he was staring blankly, not looking at anyone or anything. The King however, was surprised.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What is it?” He asked slowly, almost sounding afraid of what Inoo was about to say. After a deep breath, he began.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I know this is going to sound crazy, but hear me out. It’ll work.” Inoo paused. “In theory.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The King raised an eyebrow.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Okay… We have a little more than a week before Rensuke’s time is… Up. We’re going to use the first three, four, or five days to ride up to the North. We’ll tell the King and Queen what we’re telling you, and then… I’m going to dress up as Ayaki and try to talk the terrorists into letting Rensuke go.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That sentence made Daiki snap out of his trance. “No!” He exclaimed, looking at Inoo like he was crazy “You’ll die!”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo shook his head. “I don’t really need to convince him.” Inoo bit his lip, trying to act as if what he was talking about doing was easy “I just need to distract him long enough to get the Northern army to surround the camp.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki shook his head, laughing humorlessly. “This is crazy.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru nodded. “Inoo, Yamada, and I are the only ones going.” He declared. Daiki didn’t seem to care about the decision, staring off again, but Chinen shouted an indignant “What?! Why can’t I go?!” He gave Hikaru a wide-eyed look, just murmuring “…Ryu-chan.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru made a “come here” gesture. Chinen obeyed, Inoo close enough to hear him explain “We need someone to be here with Daiki; I don’t want him by himself, and we need to make sure Ayaki doesn’t find out. I know you can do that. They need me to go because I know how to get there, Inoo needs to be Ayaki, and Yamada needs to be there to help with our horses if something goes wrong.” He was asking Chinen’s forgiveness with his eyes, and the younger boy finally nodded and stepped back.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Thanks Chii.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen gave another small nod, taking a small step towards Daiki. The three then looked up at their father, asking permission. He sighed.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I really don’t want you to… It sounds so dangerous… But,” that made them all look up “I can’t think of any other way. If you can promise me one thing, then maybe.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What is it?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Promise you won’t get hurt, and that you’ll come home.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We promise.” Hikaru said firmly.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I promise too.” Yamada said, while Inoo nodded and smiled, saying “You got it.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “When will you leave?” Daiki asked.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Tomorrow morning.” Yamada answered. “We’re all packed and everything, we just need to get some food together and we can go.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> There were nods, the King standing and saying “I’ll go alert Mrs. Nakajima. And… You’re going early, right? What should I tell Ayaki?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Tell her they’re leading scouting parties.” Daiki put in, rolling his eyes slightly. “To search for Okamoto-kun’s dad.” The way he said his boyfriend’s name was awful, full of spite.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Don’t be like that.” Chinen told him. The King, not knowing the importance of the last part, just took that as what he should say and left, giving them all hugs before he did so. Once they were out of his office, they gave Daiki hesitant looks. He looked back at them, then asked
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Can I talk to you guys?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> How long did you know?” Daiki finally asked, breaking the uncomfortably crushing silence that filled the space of time Daiki had used to sit on Inoo’s bed and read the letter “How long… About this?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Just a few days.” Inoo answered. “We didn’t know what to do really, and…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen took up what he had been about to say. “We were afraid of telling you… Cuz of… Keito.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki let out a sharp cruel laugh at the mention of the name-Inoo hated it.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I don’t think Keito has anything to do with this, Daiki. If he did, he wouldn’t bring his father’s disappearance to our attention, would he?” Yamada reasoned. “I mean, it’s not like we really ever see him anyway-he’s either in his office doing paperwork stuff or out buying fabrics and supplies. I mean, would you have noticed?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The question distracted him. “Maybe… After a few days; a week at most. He always walks into the room at awkward moments, so if he hadn’t interrupted in a while I might ask…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That earned a look, and Daiki said quickly “It’s not like we’re usually doing anything, it just looks like... Nevermind.” He laughed a bit, then the look quickly faded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Still…” He murmured, putting his head in his hands. “I… This is Keito we’re talking about. If he…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “If I what?” As if on cue, Keito walked in, curious. “Sorry,” He quickly told them “I wasn’t eavesdropping; I just heard my name, so…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Instead of standing, sneering, or shouting, as Inoo expected, Daiki just looked at him. The look on his face showed he was being torn in two, and tears began almost at once.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “D-Daiki?!” Keito asked in alarm, rushing over and sitting next to his boyfriend on the bed. He put an arm around Daiki’s shoulder to comfort him. The older boy tried to shake it off, but it was unsuccessful, so he quietly murmured
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Please don’t touch me.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The whisper made Keito slowly retract his arm, extremely concerned now.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Daiki. What is it.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki was shaking his head.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We caught you.” He said. “You and your father.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Daiki-” Chinen began.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Caught?” Keito looked hopelessly confused. “You mean, like, did you find him?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki nodded. “We know where he is.” If this was supposed to sound like a “we know what you’re up to, you terrorist” threat, then it sure wasn’t working. The younger boy’s eyes lit up hopefully, but then he looked confused again.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then why’re you-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Before any of them could stop him, Daiki threw the letter into Keito’s face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You have explaining to do.” He told Keito. His sharp manner had returned, and he stormed out of the room. Keito dropped the paper, more concerned for his boyfriend than anything else, but Hikaru placed a hand on his arm.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I think you should read that.” Was all he said. More concerned with every passing moment, Keito just sat down and did as Hikaru suggested, obviously hoping something would come to light. Once he was done reading, and everything made sense to him, he jumped up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I…” he looked desperate for them to believe him “I didn’t know, I had nothing to do with this-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yamada cut him off. “We know.” He said. “Just… Daiki…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Keito nodded wordlessly, rushing off immediately.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I’ll go ‘just happen to be nearby’ and ‘accidentally hear/see what happened’, ‘k? You guys should get some sleep.” Hopping from Inoo’s bed like the dainty ballerina he was, Chinen gave them all goodnight hugs.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Make sure you send us letters, alright?” Hikaru said. Chinen nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Will we not see you in the morning?” Yamada asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Not if we leave as early as we’re wanting to.” Inoo responded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then… Bye!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The others said their farewells to Chinen too, Chii saying he would give Daiki hugs for them, then leaving.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “This is crazy.” Inoo told them. “You guys ready?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Yamada responded, Hikaru nodding.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Goodnight.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “G’night.” They responded, going to their own rooms. Inoo flopped, facedown, on his pillow. This idea was insane.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The world is insane,Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> his brain countered.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Nodding in agreement, Inoo went to sleep.
Author: ai_ai_gasa2
Pairing: Lots! Takanoo and some Hikabu, a bit of Ariokamoto, and Chiitaro~
Rating: Probably, overall, PG-13. But they're all individually really safe. Like PG or something.
Genre: Romance, Fluff, very AU.
Summary: The Queen of the South Kingdom died of a sickness quite early on in life. The King never remarried, but did adopt 5 sons. Many years later, it is time now for his children to begin looking for wives, and the King also decides to adopt a daughter, planning a matchmaking ball for her in advance. But the adoption process is delayed... And Prince Inoo has no choice but to step in and play the princes in his to-be-sister's place.
A/N: I'm sorry I haven't responded to comments, I'll do that tomorrow... I just need to hurry and post this because my older sister just walked in looking like Frankenstein's monster and declaring that the computer is turning off and she is going to bed at that very instant. So I hope you like this chapter!
They were sitting on the steps, talking and worrying about when and how to break the news to Daiki when they saw Ayaki walking up and down the hallway, looking around anxiously, searching. Their conversation quickly went quiet.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Whatcha looking for, Ayaki?” Chinen asked in his “I’m an innocent little cute boy” voice.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… Just a piece of paper.” She said vaguely, waving her arm and trying to get off the subject, straightening up.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “If it’s just paper, don’t worry about it.” Hikaru said. Ayaki looked reluctant.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What’s on the paper?” Yamada asked. “Is it just blank, or…?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It’s a letter. From an old friend, one I had before I came here.” She said. Chinen gasped.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “That’s really precious!” He exclaimed. Standing, he dragged Inoo up with him, saying “We’ll help you search!”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… No. That’s okay.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chii pouted. “Why not?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It… Um… I probably left it on my desk.” Quickly, Ayaki rushed off, Chinen smirking and saying to himself “Why? It’s just a letter from a friend…”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “She knows it’s gone.” Yamada said quietly. “We need to act. Now.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well.” With a grim smile, Hikaru stood. “Time to break the news.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> They all nodded with him, Chinen saying “I’ll go get Daiki.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Alright. Meet us in the Dad’s office.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen headed off, the rest going to the King’s office. Their dad was already there, looking over papers with a pained “I have a headache” grimace.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… Dad?” Not until Yamada spoke up did he look at them, raising an eyebrow.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Yes?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We… We have-”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What’s happening?” Daiki burst into the room, looking anxiously at them all. “Chinen said something… Keito’s dad… Rensuke…”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That got the King’s attention as well. Yamada tried to begin the story, but he was so reluctant to tell them that Inoo did it, pulling the letter out of his tunic.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I… Ayaki asked me to go in her room and get something for her-her shoes-and I came across this on her desk.” He handed it over, Daiki going around the desk to read over his father’s shoulder. It was obvious when they had reached the ending because both of their eyes went wide, Daiki sending them all a desperate and confused look.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “This can’t be right.” He said.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I’m sorry.” Was all Hikaru said. Daiki closed his eyes.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We have a plan.” Inoo spoke up, wanting to, trying to distract Daiki. It didn’t work. Though he’d opened his eyes now, he was staring blankly, not looking at anyone or anything. The King however, was surprised.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What is it?” He asked slowly, almost sounding afraid of what Inoo was about to say. After a deep breath, he began.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I know this is going to sound crazy, but hear me out. It’ll work.” Inoo paused. “In theory.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The King raised an eyebrow.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Okay… We have a little more than a week before Rensuke’s time is… Up. We’re going to use the first three, four, or five days to ride up to the North. We’ll tell the King and Queen what we’re telling you, and then… I’m going to dress up as Ayaki and try to talk the terrorists into letting Rensuke go.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That sentence made Daiki snap out of his trance. “No!” He exclaimed, looking at Inoo like he was crazy “You’ll die!”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo shook his head. “I don’t really need to convince him.” Inoo bit his lip, trying to act as if what he was talking about doing was easy “I just need to distract him long enough to get the Northern army to surround the camp.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki shook his head, laughing humorlessly. “This is crazy.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru nodded. “Inoo, Yamada, and I are the only ones going.” He declared. Daiki didn’t seem to care about the decision, staring off again, but Chinen shouted an indignant “What?! Why can’t I go?!” He gave Hikaru a wide-eyed look, just murmuring “…Ryu-chan.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru made a “come here” gesture. Chinen obeyed, Inoo close enough to hear him explain “We need someone to be here with Daiki; I don’t want him by himself, and we need to make sure Ayaki doesn’t find out. I know you can do that. They need me to go because I know how to get there, Inoo needs to be Ayaki, and Yamada needs to be there to help with our horses if something goes wrong.” He was asking Chinen’s forgiveness with his eyes, and the younger boy finally nodded and stepped back.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Thanks Chii.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen gave another small nod, taking a small step towards Daiki. The three then looked up at their father, asking permission. He sighed.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I really don’t want you to… It sounds so dangerous… But,” that made them all look up “I can’t think of any other way. If you can promise me one thing, then maybe.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “What is it?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Promise you won’t get hurt, and that you’ll come home.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We promise.” Hikaru said firmly.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I promise too.” Yamada said, while Inoo nodded and smiled, saying “You got it.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “When will you leave?” Daiki asked.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Tomorrow morning.” Yamada answered. “We’re all packed and everything, we just need to get some food together and we can go.”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> There were nods, the King standing and saying “I’ll go alert Mrs. Nakajima. And… You’re going early, right? What should I tell Ayaki?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Tell her they’re leading scouting parties.” Daiki put in, rolling his eyes slightly. “To search for Okamoto-kun’s dad.” The way he said his boyfriend’s name was awful, full of spite.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Don’t be like that.” Chinen told him. The King, not knowing the importance of the last part, just took that as what he should say and left, giving them all hugs before he did so. Once they were out of his office, they gave Daiki hesitant looks. He looked back at them, then asked
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Can I talk to you guys?”
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> How long did you know?” Daiki finally asked, breaking the uncomfortably crushing silence that filled the space of time Daiki had used to sit on Inoo’s bed and read the letter “How long… About this?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Just a few days.” Inoo answered. “We didn’t know what to do really, and…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Chinen took up what he had been about to say. “We were afraid of telling you… Cuz of… Keito.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki let out a sharp cruel laugh at the mention of the name-Inoo hated it.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I don’t think Keito has anything to do with this, Daiki. If he did, he wouldn’t bring his father’s disappearance to our attention, would he?” Yamada reasoned. “I mean, it’s not like we really ever see him anyway-he’s either in his office doing paperwork stuff or out buying fabrics and supplies. I mean, would you have noticed?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The question distracted him. “Maybe… After a few days; a week at most. He always walks into the room at awkward moments, so if he hadn’t interrupted in a while I might ask…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> That earned a look, and Daiki said quickly “It’s not like we’re usually doing anything, it just looks like... Nevermind.” He laughed a bit, then the look quickly faded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Still…” He murmured, putting his head in his hands. “I… This is Keito we’re talking about. If he…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “If I what?” As if on cue, Keito walked in, curious. “Sorry,” He quickly told them “I wasn’t eavesdropping; I just heard my name, so…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Instead of standing, sneering, or shouting, as Inoo expected, Daiki just looked at him. The look on his face showed he was being torn in two, and tears began almost at once.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “D-Daiki?!” Keito asked in alarm, rushing over and sitting next to his boyfriend on the bed. He put an arm around Daiki’s shoulder to comfort him. The older boy tried to shake it off, but it was unsuccessful, so he quietly murmured
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Please don’t touch me.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The whisper made Keito slowly retract his arm, extremely concerned now.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Daiki. What is it.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki was shaking his head.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “We caught you.” He said. “You and your father.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Daiki-” Chinen began.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Caught?” Keito looked hopelessly confused. “You mean, like, did you find him?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki nodded. “We know where he is.” If this was supposed to sound like a “we know what you’re up to, you terrorist” threat, then it sure wasn’t working. The younger boy’s eyes lit up hopefully, but then he looked confused again.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then why’re you-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Before any of them could stop him, Daiki threw the letter into Keito’s face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You have explaining to do.” He told Keito. His sharp manner had returned, and he stormed out of the room. Keito dropped the paper, more concerned for his boyfriend than anything else, but Hikaru placed a hand on his arm.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I think you should read that.” Was all he said. More concerned with every passing moment, Keito just sat down and did as Hikaru suggested, obviously hoping something would come to light. Once he was done reading, and everything made sense to him, he jumped up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I…” he looked desperate for them to believe him “I didn’t know, I had nothing to do with this-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yamada cut him off. “We know.” He said. “Just… Daiki…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Keito nodded wordlessly, rushing off immediately.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I’ll go ‘just happen to be nearby’ and ‘accidentally hear/see what happened’, ‘k? You guys should get some sleep.” Hopping from Inoo’s bed like the dainty ballerina he was, Chinen gave them all goodnight hugs.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Make sure you send us letters, alright?” Hikaru said. Chinen nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Will we not see you in the morning?” Yamada asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Not if we leave as early as we’re wanting to.” Inoo responded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then… Bye!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The others said their farewells to Chinen too, Chii saying he would give Daiki hugs for them, then leaving.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “This is crazy.” Inoo told them. “You guys ready?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Yamada responded, Hikaru nodding.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Goodnight.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “G’night.” They responded, going to their own rooms. Inoo flopped, facedown, on his pillow. This idea was insane.
mso-bidi-font-family:Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> The world is insane,Kartika;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> his brain countered.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Nodding in agreement, Inoo went to sleep.