The Brilliant Royal Divorce Plan Chapter 71
A.N.... OK I know this story has not been updated for months on end and I know you're ready to hang, draw and quarter me. But at least finish the fic? *puppy eyes*
So far, the gang have gotten out of Hokkaido with the help of Koki's little brother (Koki himself has disappeared into thin air), they are stuck in Aomori without their army in the night and Maru is probably looking to steal Junno. *whelp* the group is slowly falling to pieces as nobody trusts anyone anymore but they still have to get to Kyoto and get JUnno back on the throne. It's a great outlook ><'
“Maru you’re a genius!!!!” Junno jumped onto his advisor’s back like a child receiving a lifetime’s supply of candy, “What will I ever do without you? I love you to pieces man!!! Now let’s get the army in Aomori and kick some bratty ass!!!”
“I know you love me Junno but you’re strangling me.” Nakamaru Yuichi took the time to glance at Ueda with a completely different level of smugness on his face. “Let’s do some planning and go back to the good old days of civil war.”
“I have nothing to worry about with friends like you guys!” Junno pulled Maru into a bear-hug and reached for Ryo, who dodged laughing.
Smug glance number two.
For the first time in his life, Ueda felt the need to punch the emperor for being too much of a lovable idiot.
Indeed, the man’s smile was worth a million gold pieces, and Ueda resented himself for being so petty, but Nakamaru’s intentions were stirring him up inside. The dark sky illuminated by a thousand diamonds seemed a perfect backdrop for Junno’s playful latching, though his beautiful lover feared something deeper, darker, sinister maybe, lurking in the shadows. It sent chills down his spine to watch his Junno frolic like a child with someone who was well - not him.
Only the young Kame seemed to notice his distress.
Edging his own horse closer, he tugged slightly on Ueda’s reins. “If you ever need to get something off your chest,” he whispered, “I’m all ears.”
“Before you two start rolling on the ground,” Ryo coughed, “we should seriously plan our next move while the sky is still dark. Junno, please release Maru’s thigh from your grip and start acting like an emperor ready to take back his rightful crown!”
“Roger that!” Junno bounced back on his saddle with a toss of his hair, “follow me loyal subjects to our waiting army!”
“…Junno have you been smoking herbs?” Tegoshi replied, mouth agape.
The young emperor looked dejected. “Aw don’t be so harsh~ What’s wrong with my idea this time?”
“The fact that you still think we still have an army Your Majesty, is insane,” Tegoshi sighed, “if we did, I wouldn’t be so worried as your general.”
“I though you and Maru kept your army here before you came to find me in Hokkaido? You’re not telling me you sent them home are you?!” Junno cried, most definitely distressed.
“For fuck’s sake Taguchi Junnosuke!” Tegoshi fairly yelled at his emperor, “Open your eyes! Not everyone plays fair!! If Yamada Ryosuke wanted to take over Honshu to begin with, why the FUCK would he want to leave our army here?! So that we could return and fight him in a war?!”
“You do NOT use this language to His Majesty!” Kame yelled right back, “Have some boundaries!”
“YOU have some fucking boundaries!” Tegoshi spat, “YOU are speaking out of rank dear spy-boy! I think as a person who had to kill his own family for this country, I have the right to swear at my emperor who threw away Honshu to chase my cousin!!” Tegoshi’s breathing was getting heavier by the second. “I can’t believe you guys can still goof around like this! People are going to DIE either way! Why in HELL are we still stuck here in the Northern wastelands at this time of night, thinking that it will be easy to take back an entire country?!”
“For fuck’s sake stop complaining!” Kame threw his hands into the air, “And stop taking pity on yourself! Tat-chan is NOT your cousin! He’s Hokkaido’s crown prince, who happened to have saved our asses more than once! Do you remember What happened by that river in Osaka?! If it weren’t for him we’d be dead ten times over so stop making it sound like their love is a bloody sin!! Just because you are oh-so-happy with Nishikido-sama doesn’t mean you can be mean!!”
“YOU TAKE YOUR FILTHY PREJUDICE BACK TO SENDAI KAMENASHI!” the general screeched and lurched forward, only to be pulled back by Ryo, which left him fuming.
“Both of you should take some time out to think,” Maru interjected calmly to no avail. Both men broke free of their human restraints and lunged at each other. “I said think about things!” Maru wedged himself in their war, and was given a rough shove out of the way, landing with a thud on a patch of gravel road.
He LIKED the kimono he was wearing too.
“THAT’S IT!!” he roared, “I’M SICK AND TIRED OF BABYSITTING A BUNCH OF IMMATURE BIG-SHOTS WHO HAVE NO GRATITUDE!! Look at the state our friendships are in! Our words have getting more caustic by the day and our trust is breaking into negative figures! I thought we got over that by now?! If this is where we’re heading, I quit.”
With a dramatic flick of his (slightly dusty) kimono sleeve, Nakamaru Yuichi stormed off in the direction of the moon, scowling.
“How the FUCK did this turn into an argument in the first place?!” Tegoshi sounded disgusted, “We haven’t talked like sane people since sometime last year!!”
“That’s because you’ve been acting like a menopausal woman dear,” Ryo muttered under his breath.
“I WILL NOT BE MADE THE ENEMY HERE!!” Unfortunately, Tegoshi heard him. He too stomped in a direction opposite to Maru’s and disappeared into the night, closely followed by a yelling Ryo.
“Great! Just GREAT!!” the youngest man sat down on the spot and threw a piece of gravel listlessly, “I wonder how you guys even run a country with these idiots who can’t agree with each other! Nobody can read the atmosphere, nobody can tell that Tat-chan is probably ready to kill himself and nobody even has a solid plan of how we’re going to take Honshu back!!”
“Tat-chan is fine thank you very much!” Junno jumped to defensive mode, “who are YOU to question that anyway? Don’t you have better things to do than perv at my husband every spare moment of the day?!”
“Junno that’s not fair on anyone!!” Ueda spat, “Calm down and stop accusing Kame-chan! His intentions are good-
“You can’t possibly be defending THAT thing can you?!” the emperor’s stress reached its peak point, “You’re supposed to take my side!!”
“Junno stop insulting my lover!”
That was the last straw. Jin’s comment threw the taller man into a fit of colourful words, ending with ‘I’m going to find Maru’ and a rather dignified exodus.
“Since everyone is doing this, Kame we need to talk. NOW.”
Ueda watched the disappearing silhouettes of Kame being dragged by Jin and shivered. In a matter of seconds, he had been left alone with seven horses.
[Honshu Palace, Kyoto]
“Chinen-sama?” a maid tentatively knocked on the rare, wooden framed door to Chinen’s ‘room’. It was more like a prison than anything else, as the boy had given up counting the days since he had been forced into house arrest by his childhood friend. “Chinen-sama are you awake?”
“It’s the middle of the day, of course I’m awake.”
“Umm… I’ve brought you your lunch sir.”
“Do I recall asking for lunch? It’s not like I’m getting any exercise in here so I don’t need it. You’re dismissed.”
He hugged his futon pitifully. This was hardly the way for a noble son to end his days and Chinen felt utterly useless. Locked in a room twenty tatami mats big, he almost wished that it would be darker with walls. That way, he wouldn’t have to see the shadows that stood guard outside, nor hear them share daily banter with each other when they though no-one was listening.
I wonder if the Honshu guys have been killed by Ryosuke-sama yet? Did they die in a nice way or did he…. Surely not. That game has been outlawed since-
His door creaked open. “HEY!” Chinen jumped, “Who gave you permission to enter?!”
“That’s hardly the way a noble under house arrest should act towards his king dear,” came Yamada Ryosuke’s amused voice.
He was the last person Chinen had been expecting.
The fear, anguish and sudden wave of relief mixed itself into a coiled mess in Chinen’s heart, and lodged itself in his throat, appearing as a half-hearted gurgling sound.
“I didn’t quite catch that sorry,” Ryosuke leaned closer to his childhood friend, “look at you… I’m not trying to kill you so why are you trying to kill yourself? You’re skin and bones! I need you-”
“You don’t need anyone,” Chinen turned his face away bitterly, “you need the throne and the throne only. Am I wrong?”
“Not entirely but your tone of voice is making me doubt my own resolve in giving you another chance,” the young king lay his hand on Chinen’s shoulder and furrowed his brows together in a way that always made the other boy smile inside. It wasn’t logical but logic never did his work when it came to matters concerning Ryosuke. “Basically what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry okay?” he groaned, “I was wrong to have locked you up but your momentary weakness nearly cost us everything! I had to fix things before they got worse or they’ll kill us!!”
“By them, do you mean the people whose country you took from them?”
“This is for the greater good Chinen, if only you’d give me a chance to tell you…” Ryosuke pulled Chinen to his feet, grabbed the clothes hanging off the nearest chair and started to dress his friend. Fingers deftly threading their way through the layers of cloth, Ryosuke lingered on a patch of skin showing on Chinen’s abdomen. “He… Taguchi Junnosuke… can’t run a country to save his life. Nakamaru, Nishikido and Tegoshi do everything and even then, he has the nerve to run to Hokkaido chasing a man. I can’t accept that someone this flippant can rule the most powerful nation while I have to dodge every obstacle put in place by my brothers, gain father’s favour but limit myself to a meagre little country like Shikoku! This is heaven’s sign Chinen… and ours for the taking! Can you imagine having this land to us? We could live anywhere we wanted, any climate! We could travel with the sakura blossoms up the two countries in spring…”
“You won’t have time to mind me, let alone travel!!” Chinen shook his head vigorously, trying not to be lured in by words, “Have you seen the state of yourself?! You look in worse state than me! You’re pushing yourself to the limit Ryosuke-sama! Please just let this go before they get back sir or we’ll have no more options!!”
“I’m not going to leave THEM any either Chinen… Honshu is mine.”
For the first time, Chinen Yuri realized that his king was on the brink of being completely consumed by the thirst for power. He had always been slightly on the slow but this time he really was too late.
Especially as he suddenly noticed that in the process of being dressed, he ended up with less clothes on than when he began with - which is none at all on his upper body.
“Ryosuke-sama what are you-
“Honshu is mine… so are you Chinen,” Ryosuke ran a single finger down the centre of Chinen’s bare chest; “I have nothing left to lose. Let me tell you the truth - they are on their way back and I WILL kill them before they make it anywhere near Kyoto. So give up and just obey me… I promise I’ll treat you well for the rest of your life.” He palmed the other boy’s nipple slightly, causing Chinen to jump back like a frightened rabbit, clutching his chest and shaking his head.
“You’re mad!! I won’t give in to this! Not when you’re like this!!”
Grinning a little crazily, Ryosuke raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?” he sniggered, “you don’t think of me in this way? I’m a little disappointed that you’re not leaping at the chance to finally do this… I haven’t given you a fiancé yet because I was so sure that you won’t want to do this with anyone other than me.” He sounded so frightfully sure of himself that Chinen felt sick to his stomach.
“I… I… loved the you who didn’t have a care in the world apart from the welfare of Shikoku’s people! Not this power-hungry monster!!!” the half-naked boy yelled as he back away, “I’m not helping you kill off perfectly innocent people just to fulfil your ego!!”
“My ego you say?” Ryosuke paused for a moment, deep in thought. “Maybe. But I won’t need your help Chinen… I just need you to sit back, enjoy the view and watch me as I bathe in my enemies’ blood. Then we can travel the islands chasing cherry blossoms, okay?”
He’s crazy… But what am I supposed to do? Stop him?
“…When you take over Honshu, please get a decent night’s sleep Ryosuke-sama.”
“I see we understand each other,” Yamada straightened his own clothes and put a cold hand on Chinen’s cheek, “wouldn’t it have been better if you’d complied the first time round?”
He left the smaller boy crouched in a corner with the door open, sunlight pouring over a hunched figure crying quietly to himself. “…he’s wrong but he’s Ryosuke-sama… And I will follow him even to the grave…”
[Aomori]
“Nakamaru!!!” the emperor’s voice carried like an owl’s hoot through the dark as he finally caught up to his advisor, “You walk too fast!!”
“One tends to walk fast when they are trying to clear their head of unpleasant thoughts,” Maru yelled back but didn’t turn his head and kept walking at a brisk pace, “and maybe if I walk fast enough, I can get away from the assassins Yamada Ryosuke has probably sent after us by now!”
“I’ll protect you if that happens!” Junno caught up to the man at last and latched onto his sleeve, “I’m the emperor! I will not let anyone close to me get hurt ever again! So please Maru have a bit of faith in us…. We’ve gone through so many tough times together I know we’ll pull through this one!”
Maru bit his lip and stopped in his steps. Eye half-lidded, his head swam with possibilities… Taking Junno’s hand and running away from all responsibility his father left him with, getting away from it all and keeping Junno for himself.
But his clear head was his curse.
“You’re a hopeless case of an emperor you know?” the advisor’s face melted into a small smile when he turned to see Junno’s earnest eyes, “it ties all of us together… I’m stuck with serving you my entire life.”
“I know,” Junno grinned and flopped down on some roadside grass, “I have natural charm! Hey Maru, do you seriously think we can get out of this situation unscathed?”
“A slim chance,” his friend replied gently and sat down beside him, “but having said that, I also predicted that we’d all die during the civil war…”
“You were drunk then!”
“After all this is finished, let’s go drinking like the old times again…” Nakamaru Yuichi looked at his emperor in the afternoon sun. Soft features were somewhat rigid, like he had a heavy weight on his shoulders. Reaching out, Maru lightly touched the centre of Junno’s eyebrows and laughed as Junno’s expression changed into a surprised one. “That suits you better than frowning,” he said, “Leave all the thinking to me Junno. All you have to do is prepare our victory speech.”
If nothing else, I’m getting your country back first. It’s what you shed tears for and no brat from Shikoku is going to worm his way into it!
[Back at the crossroad]
Darkness had never been much of a problem to Ueda. He knew that anyone coming near him, he could simply kill if he did not like them.
However, the very thought that Junno had chased Nakamaru out of all people into the pitch blackness, and had not returned for at least 2 minutes was truly terrifying.
Maybe this is how it’s meant to be… Taguchi Junnosuke, one day I will no longer be beautiful, like this dark night when you can no longer see my face. Will you still love me or will you chase another away?
Wait! This isn’t the time to start thinking about these things! Tatsuya, you’re not back to cause Junno more strife - you’re here to get his kingdom back! I swear I will finish what I started…. All of Honshu’s problems started after I married Junno, so to take things back to what they were is my responsibility. I swear upon this night sky…
In the distance, pairs of voices distracted him from his sombre thoughts. Kame and Jin, Tegoshi and Ryo, Junno and Maru returned from three different directions, all seemingly made up and in good spirits. They smiled, they laughed, they blossomed like evening primroses in the moon.
That’s right… this is what I will protect. These guys gave me friendship and love and I will do everything I can to reciprocate.
He gave one last look at the way Maru triumphantly latched onto Junno’s arm and although one part of him died inside, another part couldn’t help but marvel at the way the six looked perfect together.
Is this the world that I’ve intruded on? They are all so quick to get hot-headed but all so quick to reconcile… such a perfect setting and I’m the third wheel… should I have stayed in Hokkaido instead?
Noticing Ueda’s broken expression, Junno suddenly realised he had left the auburn-haired man behind. “Oh my God Tat-chan are you cold?! I’m so sorry I-
“Your Majesty,” Kame smiled and stepped forward, “I think it’s high time we settled for the night and lit a fire.” He ignored Ueda’s inquisitive look and carried on, “Let’s tie our horses down, I’ll go and hunt some wild rabbits with Your Highness! We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow! Come on Your Highness, let’s go!” Grabbing Ueda by the sleeve, Kame took two sets of bows and arrows and escaped into the night, empress in tow.
“…well that was… odd,” Ryo scratched his head.
“Leave them be,” Maru shrugged, “they’ve always been close since they first met on your wedding night, haven’t they Junno?”
“…yeah,” the emperor nodded dumbly. Tat-chan….
“Kame what do you want?!” Ueda shrugged the younger man off in a huff, “read the atmosphere already!”
“I did, and that’s why you’re here right now,” Kame tossed him a bow effortlessly, “Who do you think you are?”
Ueda narrowed his eyes, “Have you been reading into my thoughts without my permission again?”
“You act like I have superpowers,” Kame laughed, “it’s not difficult. We’re the same type of people after all…. If I had been left alone in the dark while everyone else rushed out in pairs, I would get terribly depressed and start doubting the role I play in this group, am I correct?”
“Sometimes I wonder how Jin survives being seen through by you….” Ueda could only gape at the sheer accuracy of Kame’s insight.
“I just want to spell things out to you clearly in case you start going off on a tangent. It’s true that all this would not have happened if you had not married His Majesty,” Kame pulled his bow taught without an arrow and released into the night air. The twang resonated into the empty blackness. “But worrying over what has already happened has probably the same effect as me trying to shoot a rabbit without an arrow.”
“Then great wise one, what do you suggest me do?” Ueda plucked on his own bowstrings.
“Look forward and move the fuck on with life, in the plainest sense. Become his weapon. Do anything but sit saddened by yourself!”
“…Weapon…”
“Precisely,” Kame suddenly seemed a lot older, “We are much alike. You know that terrible feeling when you realise that maybe the one you love needs more than just you? Don’t depress about it, provide him with it! Nishikido Ryo will kill me in the near future but you’re different! You can make a difference! Remember what I said to you on the ship before it went down? About calling on me when you needed dying to be done? This is when you call… Tat-chan, if we can offer nothing more to them than our lives, let’s make it meaningful.”
“Is this an attempt at making me feel better?” Ueda picked up an arrow and in one fluid movement, drew the bowstrings taught, pointing the weapon at Kame’s head. “Because it only repeated what I had already decided in my heart. I have a piece of advice to give you too - don’t you dare give up until you’re dead!”
“And you!” Kame’s eyes glinted, “Stop worrying about your place! I would never have gotten this far with Jin if it weren’t for you! Everyone’s been affected by meeting you Tat-chan… There will always be a place in Honshu for Tatsuya, be he a Kimura, an Ueda, a Tegoshi or a Taguchi!”
“What if those people are different? How do I choose?” the arrow point was now point blanc at Kame’s forehead.
“I’ve had countless names,” the secret serviceman shook his head, “and in the end, I’m not bound by them. Why can’t you be every single one of those people at the same time? What’s stopping you apart from yourself? Be the dignified Kimura, be the beautiful Ueda, be the strong Tegoshi and be the empress of Honshu! Now shoot me if you’ve been meaning to!!”
Ueda chuckled as he heard a faint scuffle of four legs in the bush and shot without even looking. A dying goat tumbled out of the bushes which Kame finished off without even blinking. “I don’t need your pity Kamenashi,” he started back the way they came, “you should worry about your predicament more than mine.”
“You don’t have my pity,” Kame let him go, “you have my thanks.”
There was a pause in his step as Ueda was temporarily thrown off his train of thought. What could anyone thank him for?
“If you didn’t marry His Majesty, I would never have gotten out of Ryo-sama’s cycle or met Jin. For that I thank you.”
Under the moonlight, Ueda cracked a small but sincere smile. “I have done some good after all?”
The seven men set up a rudimentary sort of campsite and lit a fire for the night, and decided they would move towards Sendai as soon as the sun rose. Slicing the wild goat into pieces, a cheerful barbecue was soon under way.
“This reminds me of the small barbecues we used to have as kids…” Jin grinned as he skewered a piece of meat on his sword, “apart from we weren’t running for our lives then.”
“Yeah we were,” Tegoshi deadpanned, “remember? Ryo, you’re cutting the pieces too big…”
“We’re ALWAYS running for our lives,” Ryo joked, “we must be the fittest court of officials ever!”
“Don’t forget your emperor!” Junno broke out in a fit of giggles, “But seriously guys, let’s get things together and really kick some ass after tomorrow okay?”
“Isn’t that what we decided on before everyone started going on their periods and arguing?” Maru played along with the atmosphere, giving Junno a shove so he landed on Tegoshi’s lap. “So where to tomorrow?”
“Sendai. Straight South!” Junno pointed to a random direction.
“Junno, that’s upwards….” Jin sweatdropped.
“I was being hypothetical!” Junno rolled his eyes and drew a rather basic (heinously bad) map of Honshu on the ground with a stick. “We’re in Aomori right now… and judging by the fact that Tanaka’s ship even made the passage into Aomori bay without getting searched, Yamada Ryosuke probably hasn’t sent minions to look for us! This means we should try and get as close to Kyoto as possible in the shortest amount of time!”
“…it only means his minions haven’t reached Aomori yet. It also means if we take any route, we will run into them,” Tegoshi pointed out, “I vote we stop over in Morioka and get the help of the Ueda clan!”
“Wouldn’t heading straight to Sendai and bringing the Kamenashi family into it be more helpful?” Kame rushed in before Tegoshi’s idea could get anywhere, “We do have the secret service at our command after all!”
Ueda gave him a thankful look and Ryo let out a breath of relief. “Hime-san, shouldn’t we go around Morioka instead of through it?” he winked, “You know? Just in case there are baddies waiting for us inside?”
“Thanks Ryo… Let’s do that!” Junno also sighed, “We don’t want any unnecessary problems arising.”
Only Ueda noticed the worry in Kame’s eyes. Sendai was more awkward for Kame than Morioka for Ueda but the younger man had volunteered his hometown anyway…
[Honshu Palace]
“Ryosuke-sama,” Chinen set yet another cup of tea on the desk, “was is really wise to send all the Aomori forces to Morioka? What if they go around Morioka straight into Sendai?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Yamada Ryosuke smirked, “What can be more desirable than them going to Sendai? The Kamenashis will take them out before they even set foot in the city….”
“You got the secret service to follow your orders?” Chinen stared incredulously, “But they have an oath to Taguchi Junnosuke!”
“The beauty of it is that I didn’t even lift a finger…” the young king mused, “I was going through Internal Affairs documents recently and I discovered something interesting. It seems that Nishikido Ryo has been trying to replace the Head of Clan with Kamenashi Kazuya for a long time and the Kamenashi brothers based in Sendai are not happy with it. Of course Nishikido has his tracks covered, so they think Taguchi Junnosuke has been trying to get rid of them… now that I’ve taken over Kyoto, what do you think they’ll do once Taguchi enters the city? With any luck at all, the Kamenashis will kill him and everyone in his party within three days! Therefore sending troops straight into Morioka is necessary. Those men can’t afford to go past both Morioka and Sendai because they need supplies… and they will end up dead either way.”
“That’s great Ryosuke-sama…” Chinen clenched his fists.
“Of course, I can give them a little help to get noticed by the Kamenashis…. Discretely.”
[Sendai outskirts, 2 days later]
“Tell me Ryo,” Tegoshi fumed, “was it really necessary to dress the three of us as females?”
“Absolutely!” Ryo put on a display of mock seriousness, “Imagine if there were spies at the city gate! They would be looking for seven gorgeous men! Now if they saw three gorgeous women and only four gorgeous men, they might not come and try to kill us!”
“Ryo your reasoning is flawless,” Ueda’s eyebrow twitched, “but was it necessary to have us dress like this since Aomori township?”
“Not to mention the makeup,” Kame complained, “I have a feeling that you, Jin and His Majesty are deep down perverts…”
“For once I agree with you Kamenashi…” Tegoshi gave Ryo a death glare, “Ryo, you’re a pervert.”
“I know, but a happy pervert,” Ryo winked and rode up behind Tegoshi’s horse and gave the unsuspecting man a slap on the ass.
The trip into Sendai went a LOT faster after that - Ryo has always been quick to run for his life when the need arose.
[The same night]
“Now everyone listen up!” Maru cleared his throat as they exited the small inn into the streets, “Our mission is to stay as invisible as possible tonight, buy supplies and leave this place for Kyoto starting sunrise tomorrow.” He sighed as Ueda, Tegoshi and Kame were already strating to draw attention just by standing next to him. “As I was saying, we are not to do anything that might alert authorities-
“HEY!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TO THAT POOR LADY?!”
Before his speech had even finished, Junno spotted an attempted robbery and had already taken down the street on foot, chasing the robber.
“YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!!!” Maru screamed after him to no avail. “GET HIM BACK HERE YOU GUYS!!! We can’t afford any slip-ups and this might be a trap!!!”
A.N. aaaaaaand one day our beloved emperor is going to give Maru stomach ulcers XD