The Prince's Princess (28/28) Part 1
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: So... Apparently this chapter is too large to post. So it'll be in two parts. XD
Well, it's been fun guys~ Thanks for reading this; some random people will make surprise cameos in this chapter. I loved every single comment. Really. I hope you like the last chapter!
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "...Okay." Inoo finally responded, all of them walking out to where the rest were sitting on the blanket together. Yamada was back.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Are the sandwiches good?" he was asking as they walked up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru nodded, mouth already full with half of one. He swallowed. "Great, why?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I helped make them, that's all."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Really?" Chinen was surprised. "Sugoi, Yama-chan!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki gestured for them to sit down, so they did, making themselves comfortable.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I can't get over how hilarious it is that Ayaki is a homophobe." Hikaru said with a chuckle, starting conversation.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Right? How did she live with all you guys?" Takaki asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well, she would never talk to Dai-chan or Hikaru, but she was kinda alright with me." Chinen leaned comfortably on Ryutaro's chest.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Why?" Yabu asked. After a few moments, Chinen shrugged.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Girls are cute too." he said.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I don't know what I was before, but you turned me." Ryutaro took Chinen's pointed finger, poking his cheek. Chinen gave him a smile.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Aw~ How corny." Daiki said the last sentence flatly, rolling his eyes slightly.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Oh shut up, Mr. Keito-is-my-future." Chinen retorted.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Ne, Shin-chan," Inoo tried to change the subject "D'you have anyone you like?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um." he said the word as if it was the answer, giving Ryu a hesitant glance. The older one was staring at the ground, eyes a bit chafed, and Inoo felt he might have picked the wrong subject. Then Shintaro perked up, smirked, and said
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "That's it." It was more of a grand declaration. "I love Chinen-kun."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Everyone looked at him in surprise.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "When we get there, I'll kiss him. No... I should probably ask him out first, but above anything he'll want a hug..."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Ryutaro had turned a funny shade of magenta, and Inoo realized that Shintaro was quoting his older brother.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "He's so cute, and..." Shintaro gave Ryutaro a smirk.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Say one more thing, and I swear to God I will-"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Kissable."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Ryutaro stood fast, hands balled into fists. Shintaro let out a squeak of fear, running off, still shouting, Ryutaro chasing him. Looking over, he saw Chinen doubled over, giggling.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Finally, they returned, a wincing Shintaro stumbling along in a headlock. After a few protests of "Ryu! Ouch!" Shintaro was released. The two both went to sit back down, Ryutaro getting a peck on the lips and an "I love you too." from a still laughing a bit Chinen.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Okay, besides Chii is there anybody?" the question was asked by Hikaru, who hadn't noticed the awkward exchange from earlier.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well..." Shintaro looked at the ground. Then Chinen asked "What's wrong Ryu-chan?" He had noticed the look on his boyfriend's face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "It's just... Well... I don't approve."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Of Shintaro's crush? It is just a crush, right?" Daiki asked, and the brothers nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then why-"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I honestly don't get what you're problem is!" Inoo was surprised when Shintaro raised his voice a bit, glaring. "They really think you don't like them!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I like them fine." Ryutaro answered. "I just don't like them with you."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro pouted angrily, looking a lot like Chii. "Why?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Why? Shin, they're 2 years older and a foot and a half taller than you!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Same with you and Chii." Shintaro said this quietly, but everyone still heard it. Not able to really argue with that, Ryu opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Shintaro, you're only 14."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "And you're only 16." Shintaro responded evenly. Really out of things to say now, so Shintaro took advantage of that and said "It doesn't matter to me what you say about us. I like him too much."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "So it's a him!" Hikaru exclaimed, making a "continue" gesture. "Go on. Tell us about him."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well, right now it's really just a crush... He is 16 and he is taller than me, but... He calls me adorable a lot, and I think he's..." Embarrassed, Shintaro coughed lightly. "Um."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "What's his name?" Yabu asked. Even he hadn't heard about this.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro, still a bit embarrassed, just mumbled something with six syllables.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Didn't catch that." Chinen prompted.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Nakayama Yuma."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> There was a moment of silence, mainly because the one person that would have commented, Chinen, didn't know who this Yuma-kun was.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I always wondered if there was something going on with you two I didn't know about." Takaki said with a grin, Yabu finally sputtering out "R-really?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro was in the middle of nodding when Yamada exclaimed "Oh, Nakayama! He's the son of a duke, isn't he?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "How do you know?" Inoo had to ask.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Oh, I met him at the first ball-don't worry Inoo, he definitely wasn't interested in you-but we talked for a bit. I popped a pimple on his neck, but it didn't seem to freak him out too much, so he's okay in my book."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "You what?" Yabu had an incredulous "you would do something like that to a total stranger?!" look on his face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> While Yamada tried to defend himself against Yabu's look, Inoo caught sight of Yuto, literally tiptoeing through the grass in their direction. Yuto saw him watching, so he placed one finger over his lips. Inoo nodded and averted his eyes.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yuto came up behind Yamada, covering the shorter boy's eyes with his hands, leaning close and whispering "Guess who~" in his ear.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Yuto-kun... Right?" Yamada had broken out into a big grin. Yuto took his hands away at the correct answer, but Yamada grabbed one, pulling Yuto practically on to him for a kiss.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru spluttered in surprise. “I didn’t… What?” It looked as if Yamada had pulled him over for someone to kiss-Inoo had barely seen the two interact. Not many of them had.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yabu, coming to the same conclusion, Said “You are weird.” Yuto’s face was bright red as a giggle escaped Yamada’s lips, forcing Yabu to scoot over, to make room, so Yuto could sit with them. He did, a bit embarrassed still, looking mostly at his lap.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Yama-chan!” Chinen sat up, pouting. “Why didn’t you tell us?!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yamada just shrugged, laughed again, and offered Yuto some food.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Here. Have a sandwich.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ryo-chan, I helped make them.” Yuto responded with a bit of a laugh. Their interactions surprised Inoo, and he had to ask
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “How long?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… A few days after Ayaki’s party, I think… We were eating the cookies that Dai-chan and Keito made…” He trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination, and Hikaru threw a bit of bread at the two.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “And you didn’t say anything?!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It didn’t seem as important as the terrorism and stuff!” Yamada insisted, though that just sounded like an excuse. Inoo just shook his head and laughed.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Lunch continued for the next 25 minutes, easy and fun, until they’d ran out of topics (i.e. got finally tired of teasing Yamada) Takaki, Inoo, Chinen, and Ryutaro folding up the blanket, taking everything inside. When they’d entered the kitchen however, they were surprised to see Mrs. Nakajima again making lunch.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Isn’t lunchtime over? Who is that for?” Hikaru asked her.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You’re father’s got a new visitor coming to stay,” She began “And they’ll need some lunch too, won’t they?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “A new visitor? Who is it?” Inoo asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You’ll have to ask your father about that one, dear.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> They went on a search for him, all interested. Not until they’d met up in the front doom did they find the man.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ah, there you all are. I was just in my office-I was going to go look for you.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Mrs. Nakajima said that there was someone new-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ah yes, just what I was going to talk to you about.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Who-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Inoo, calm down.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo shut his mouth, realizing that he’d been speaking rather quickly. The King laughed before continuing.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Now that Mr. Okamoto is… Gone, it came to my attention that Mrs. Okamoto might need some additional help, like an assistant of sorts. So I found a talented young man willing to take the job.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Is he here?” Chinen asked. Their father nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “In my office. Step inside and say hello to Matsumoto Kohei-kun”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Matsumoto Kohei…? The name seemed familiar, but Inoo didn’t realize why until the young man had finished introducing himself, bow and all.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo almost bowled him over.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I can’t believe it’s you!” he exclaimed, pulling back to get a good look at him. “I… You’ve been alright?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Before Kohei could respond, Hikaru had to ask “Inoo, who is this?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It’s Matsumoto Kohei!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well, yes, but-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “My best friend from the orphanage! Are you telling me you don’t remember?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> As Hikaru began to scrutinize the boy, Daiki spoke up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I do remember you.” He said thoughtfully, and Kohei smiled.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Oh, this is so great!” Chinen said, jumping a bit and clapping his hands together.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well, I suppose there’s no further need for introductions then.” The King said with a laugh. “And Inoo, since I assume you’ll want to catch up, will you help Kohei get settled into his new room? It’ll be your old one, Keito, if you don’t mind.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Keito said “Of course not.” and Inoo nodded, leading him to the appropriate spot. Once they’d put all his stuff away (which honestly wasn’t much) they sat on the bed, Inoo insisting that Kohei catch him up on his life, what had happened since he was gone.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Kohei hadn’t ever been adopted, but decided to go out on his own once he’d hit his sixteenth birthday. He first worked on a farm, the farmer’s boss taking a great interest in him and for some reason trying to teach him needlepoint. Though reluctant at first, he soon found out that he was quite good at it.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then I worked at a fabric store with an old woman, who helped me improve. But then she passed the shop off to her daughter, a woman that I didn’t like at all, and vice versa, and I left.” He laughed a bit. “I was in between jobs when your dad offered me this one.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo nodded. He was quite glad that his friend had done well over their many years apart, despite being all on his own.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “So,” Kohei asked, breaking the settling silence. “What’ve you been up to?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> A smile crossed Inoo’s face. He turned to Kohei, excited for his story, and began.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You won’t believe this. So, a few months ago, my father decided to adopt a girl to live with us, to be our sister, named Ayaki…”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">
PART 2
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: So... Apparently this chapter is too large to post. So it'll be in two parts. XD
Well, it's been fun guys~ Thanks for reading this; some random people will make surprise cameos in this chapter. I loved every single comment. Really. I hope you like the last chapter!
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "...Okay." Inoo finally responded, all of them walking out to where the rest were sitting on the blanket together. Yamada was back.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Are the sandwiches good?" he was asking as they walked up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru nodded, mouth already full with half of one. He swallowed. "Great, why?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I helped make them, that's all."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Really?" Chinen was surprised. "Sugoi, Yama-chan!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Daiki gestured for them to sit down, so they did, making themselves comfortable.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I can't get over how hilarious it is that Ayaki is a homophobe." Hikaru said with a chuckle, starting conversation.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Right? How did she live with all you guys?" Takaki asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well, she would never talk to Dai-chan or Hikaru, but she was kinda alright with me." Chinen leaned comfortably on Ryutaro's chest.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Why?" Yabu asked. After a few moments, Chinen shrugged.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Girls are cute too." he said.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I don't know what I was before, but you turned me." Ryutaro took Chinen's pointed finger, poking his cheek. Chinen gave him a smile.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Aw~ How corny." Daiki said the last sentence flatly, rolling his eyes slightly.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Oh shut up, Mr. Keito-is-my-future." Chinen retorted.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Ne, Shin-chan," Inoo tried to change the subject "D'you have anyone you like?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um." he said the word as if it was the answer, giving Ryu a hesitant glance. The older one was staring at the ground, eyes a bit chafed, and Inoo felt he might have picked the wrong subject. Then Shintaro perked up, smirked, and said
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "That's it." It was more of a grand declaration. "I love Chinen-kun."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Everyone looked at him in surprise.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "When we get there, I'll kiss him. No... I should probably ask him out first, but above anything he'll want a hug..."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Ryutaro had turned a funny shade of magenta, and Inoo realized that Shintaro was quoting his older brother.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "He's so cute, and..." Shintaro gave Ryutaro a smirk.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Say one more thing, and I swear to God I will-"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Kissable."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Ryutaro stood fast, hands balled into fists. Shintaro let out a squeak of fear, running off, still shouting, Ryutaro chasing him. Looking over, he saw Chinen doubled over, giggling.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Finally, they returned, a wincing Shintaro stumbling along in a headlock. After a few protests of "Ryu! Ouch!" Shintaro was released. The two both went to sit back down, Ryutaro getting a peck on the lips and an "I love you too." from a still laughing a bit Chinen.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Okay, besides Chii is there anybody?" the question was asked by Hikaru, who hadn't noticed the awkward exchange from earlier.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well..." Shintaro looked at the ground. Then Chinen asked "What's wrong Ryu-chan?" He had noticed the look on his boyfriend's face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "It's just... Well... I don't approve."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Of Shintaro's crush? It is just a crush, right?" Daiki asked, and the brothers nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then why-"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I honestly don't get what you're problem is!" Inoo was surprised when Shintaro raised his voice a bit, glaring. "They really think you don't like them!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I like them fine." Ryutaro answered. "I just don't like them with you."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro pouted angrily, looking a lot like Chii. "Why?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Why? Shin, they're 2 years older and a foot and a half taller than you!"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Same with you and Chii." Shintaro said this quietly, but everyone still heard it. Not able to really argue with that, Ryu opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Shintaro, you're only 14."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "And you're only 16." Shintaro responded evenly. Really out of things to say now, so Shintaro took advantage of that and said "It doesn't matter to me what you say about us. I like him too much."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "So it's a him!" Hikaru exclaimed, making a "continue" gesture. "Go on. Tell us about him."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Well, right now it's really just a crush... He is 16 and he is taller than me, but... He calls me adorable a lot, and I think he's..." Embarrassed, Shintaro coughed lightly. "Um."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "What's his name?" Yabu asked. Even he hadn't heard about this.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro, still a bit embarrassed, just mumbled something with six syllables.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Didn't catch that." Chinen prompted.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Nakayama Yuma."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> There was a moment of silence, mainly because the one person that would have commented, Chinen, didn't know who this Yuma-kun was.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "I always wondered if there was something going on with you two I didn't know about." Takaki said with a grin, Yabu finally sputtering out "R-really?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Shintaro was in the middle of nodding when Yamada exclaimed "Oh, Nakayama! He's the son of a duke, isn't he?"
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "How do you know?" Inoo had to ask.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Oh, I met him at the first ball-don't worry Inoo, he definitely wasn't interested in you-but we talked for a bit. I popped a pimple on his neck, but it didn't seem to freak him out too much, so he's okay in my book."
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "You what?" Yabu had an incredulous "you would do something like that to a total stranger?!" look on his face.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> While Yamada tried to defend himself against Yabu's look, Inoo caught sight of Yuto, literally tiptoeing through the grass in their direction. Yuto saw him watching, so he placed one finger over his lips. Inoo nodded and averted his eyes.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yuto came up behind Yamada, covering the shorter boy's eyes with his hands, leaning close and whispering "Guess who~" in his ear.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> "Yuto-kun... Right?" Yamada had broken out into a big grin. Yuto took his hands away at the correct answer, but Yamada grabbed one, pulling Yuto practically on to him for a kiss.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Hikaru spluttered in surprise. “I didn’t… What?” It looked as if Yamada had pulled him over for someone to kiss-Inoo had barely seen the two interact. Not many of them had.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yabu, coming to the same conclusion, Said “You are weird.” Yuto’s face was bright red as a giggle escaped Yamada’s lips, forcing Yabu to scoot over, to make room, so Yuto could sit with them. He did, a bit embarrassed still, looking mostly at his lap.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Yama-chan!” Chinen sat up, pouting. “Why didn’t you tell us?!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Yamada just shrugged, laughed again, and offered Yuto some food.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Here. Have a sandwich.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ryo-chan, I helped make them.” Yuto responded with a bit of a laugh. Their interactions surprised Inoo, and he had to ask
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “How long?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Um… A few days after Ayaki’s party, I think… We were eating the cookies that Dai-chan and Keito made…” He trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination, and Hikaru threw a bit of bread at the two.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “And you didn’t say anything?!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It didn’t seem as important as the terrorism and stuff!” Yamada insisted, though that just sounded like an excuse. Inoo just shook his head and laughed.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Lunch continued for the next 25 minutes, easy and fun, until they’d ran out of topics (i.e. got finally tired of teasing Yamada) Takaki, Inoo, Chinen, and Ryutaro folding up the blanket, taking everything inside. When they’d entered the kitchen however, they were surprised to see Mrs. Nakajima again making lunch.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Isn’t lunchtime over? Who is that for?” Hikaru asked her.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You’re father’s got a new visitor coming to stay,” She began “And they’ll need some lunch too, won’t they?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “A new visitor? Who is it?” Inoo asked.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You’ll have to ask your father about that one, dear.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> They went on a search for him, all interested. Not until they’d met up in the front doom did they find the man.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ah, there you all are. I was just in my office-I was going to go look for you.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Mrs. Nakajima said that there was someone new-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Ah yes, just what I was going to talk to you about.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Who-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Inoo, calm down.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo shut his mouth, realizing that he’d been speaking rather quickly. The King laughed before continuing.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Now that Mr. Okamoto is… Gone, it came to my attention that Mrs. Okamoto might need some additional help, like an assistant of sorts. So I found a talented young man willing to take the job.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Is he here?” Chinen asked. Their father nodded.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “In my office. Step inside and say hello to Matsumoto Kohei-kun”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Matsumoto Kohei…? The name seemed familiar, but Inoo didn’t realize why until the young man had finished introducing himself, bow and all.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo almost bowled him over.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I can’t believe it’s you!” he exclaimed, pulling back to get a good look at him. “I… You’ve been alright?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Before Kohei could respond, Hikaru had to ask “Inoo, who is this?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “It’s Matsumoto Kohei!”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well, yes, but-”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “My best friend from the orphanage! Are you telling me you don’t remember?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> As Hikaru began to scrutinize the boy, Daiki spoke up.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “I do remember you.” He said thoughtfully, and Kohei smiled.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Oh, this is so great!” Chinen said, jumping a bit and clapping his hands together.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Well, I suppose there’s no further need for introductions then.” The King said with a laugh. “And Inoo, since I assume you’ll want to catch up, will you help Kohei get settled into his new room? It’ll be your old one, Keito, if you don’t mind.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Keito said “Of course not.” and Inoo nodded, leading him to the appropriate spot. Once they’d put all his stuff away (which honestly wasn’t much) they sat on the bed, Inoo insisting that Kohei catch him up on his life, what had happened since he was gone.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Kohei hadn’t ever been adopted, but decided to go out on his own once he’d hit his sixteenth birthday. He first worked on a farm, the farmer’s boss taking a great interest in him and for some reason trying to teach him needlepoint. Though reluctant at first, he soon found out that he was quite good at it.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “Then I worked at a fabric store with an old woman, who helped me improve. But then she passed the shop off to her daughter, a woman that I didn’t like at all, and vice versa, and I left.” He laughed a bit. “I was in between jobs when your dad offered me this one.”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> Inoo nodded. He was quite glad that his friend had done well over their many years apart, despite being all on his own.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “So,” Kohei asked, breaking the settling silence. “What’ve you been up to?”
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> A smile crossed Inoo’s face. He turned to Kohei, excited for his story, and began.
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> “You won’t believe this. So, a few months ago, my father decided to adopt a girl to live with us, to be our sister, named Ayaki…”
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PART 2