The Brilliant Royal Divorce Plan Chapter 74
Dear girlies:
I promised I'd be back at the end of November and here I am~ honestly rl is such a pain but now that everything's out of the way, I can happily write fics again while I wait for the CHAIN dvd to turn up at my doorstep! In case you're lost completely, I would suggest you a) read last chapter, or b) read the next paragraph.
SO. What we have now is a tight situation. The gang have busted out of Hokkaido, survived a flaming ship and made their way to Sendai, home base of the Kamenashi family. Kame's older brothers have been complete and utter cockblocks, and just as Kame and Jin's problems have gotten sorted, Ueda has decided to negotiate with the Kamenashis to help them get back Junno's throne.
But they seem not to like him very much.
“It depends if I’m talking with the transvestite empress of Honshu or the Crown Prince of Hokkaido,” Kamenashi Yuuichiro made no attempt to hide the disdain in his voice.
“As much as I would love to play word games with you Sir,” Ueda curtly replied, “I have no time. I would like to know whether you are going to help us in our cause or-
“Or you’ll kill us?” Kouji scoffed, “such a Hokkaido way to do things!”
“I mean no harm,” Ueda sighed, “but essentially, yes. If your care for Kame does not correspond to our political needs, I may be forced to smite you where you stand.”
“Come in then,” Yuuichiro laughed, “we’ll discuss this over a cup of hot sake.”
Sake was poured silently, both parties keeping a close eye on each other in case of brutally fatal attacks. The clear liquid flowed with only minimal sound into their cups as Kamenashi Yuuichiro stared intently at Ueda.
“Niisama,” Kouji coughed softly, “the cups are overflowing.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Mess cleaned up, the three men sat silently once more, doing nothing but staring at each other. No-one wanted to make a move lest they slipped up. The atmosphere froze over like the Hokkaido winter and what was worse - Junno was now in his room, unguarded and probably completely unaware of what was taking Ueda so long to check up on Kame.
“…Did you know that Yamada Ryosuke knows His Majesty is here in Sendai?” Yuuichiro made the first move, “He even sent me a nice little letter with a small fortune attached.”
“And what did that letter say?” Ueda was mentally having a nervous fit, but forced himself to remain calm.
“Nothing much,” Kouji laughed sarcastically, “He simply wrote ‘DO WHAT YOU WISH’ and stamped it. The letter is in the drawer in my office, would you like to see?”
“No thank you,” the empress sighed and took another sip, alcohol burning his palate. It doesn’t matter if they’re lying or telling the truth, if the Kamenashis have made up their minds about what to do with us, we are in their hands completely. I may sound tough, but in truth I cannot kill these two. If they end up dead, nobody can prove Kame’s legitimacy as the head of the family after what Ryo did to the documents, and Yamada Ryosuke will most definitely use this to undermine our attempts to use the secret service. Damn this… I hope they don’t decide to dispose of Junno or we’ll lose our biggest weapon in the court!
Knuckles white from fisting so hard, Ueda gulped audibly as the two brothers looked at each other and rose to their feet deliberately.
Yuuichiro pointed to Ueda and slowly pointed at him. “If the Taguchi administration hurts Kazuya in any way apart from the inevitable,” he declared, “the Kamenashi family will tear Honshu to shreds from the inside, starting from you. Do you understand?”
“Does that mean....” Ueda couldn’t believe his ears.
“We may be the shadiest part of Honshu with a sad history,” Kouji explained, “but we also have an unbreakable pledge to His Majesty. On his command, we will soak Kyoto in the blood of a thousand Yamada Ryosukes if it’s what it takes to protect Honshu. Of course, Kazuya is no exception. We understand that he may die in the line of duty, but as brothers, we would prefer it if the people close to him didn’t break his heart. Do you understand, Your Highness?”
A smile formed on Ueda’s lips. “Do you mean His Highness the crown prince of Hokkaido or His His Highness the empress of Honshu?”
Kamenashi Yuuichiro place a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I mean,” he smiled, “HER Highness, the empress of Honshu. Thank you for taking care of Kazuya up until now.”
[Later]
“YEESSSS!!!!!” Junno jumped up and down on his futon and bear-tackled Ueda to the ground, “I don’t know you managed to do it but as expected, my Tat-chan is amazing!!!!”
“Junno you’re heavy…” Ueda whined and attempted to roll out from under the taller man but was caught in a vice-like grip.
“I wonder how you convinced those guys…” Junno teased, “You didn’t pay them any SPECIAL favours did you? I’d better check just in case…” A sneaky hand travelled its way into Ueda’s kimono sash and the smaller man gave a wanton moan of approval.
“St-
“Not a chance I’m stopping here,” Junno cut him off, “it’s just too hard for an emperor to get any these days-
The door flung open and a scowling Nakamaru appeared in front of a very inappropriate display. “You’re right, these days an emperor who is in danger of being killed and running for his life DOES NOT HAVE TIME TO BE DOING SUCH THINGS!!” he hollered, “The Kamenashis have requested that we move out from Sendai immediately under heavy guard and I expect us to be ready to go in 20 minutes!”
“I can finish in ten,” Junno pouted and proceeded to undress Tatsuya in front of Maru, who looked like he was ready to commit acts of violence.
“JUST START PACKING!!!”
[Later still]
The view from their ride was amazing, but the emperor of Honshu couldn’t help but feel a slight shiver as the chilly morning wind snuck between his clothes. He sneezed.
“Tat-chan…” he whined like a child, “do we HAVE to act this out properly?” The emperor had never expected to be bundled into a less than elaborate prisoner’s cart as soon as he stepped outside his room, fully packed and ready for action. If it wasn’t for Ueda mouthing an obvious ‘trust me’
“Without a doubt,” Maru interjected, “the only way to get us into Kyoto without being killed is if the Kamenashis pretended they had captured us. This was the BRILLIANT plan our empress had devised for us all and I’m sure we’ll get used to this rickety prisoner’s cart in due time.”
“Sarcasm aside,” Ueda gave Nakamaru a dirty look, “I just hope Yamada Ryosuke doesn’t give the order to finish us off before we even get there.”
“He won’t,” Ryo shrugged, “The Kamenashis know about this, so if Yamada breaks the Kyushu-Shikoku-Honshu alliance contract by killing Junno, he’ll be forever under the influence of the Kamenashis. It’s much better to force Junno to forfeit the crown properly, since he can’t afford to kill the entire secret service just yet.”
Tegoshi lay on his back, squinting as the early morning sun peeked through the bars of their prisoner’s carriage. He let out a contented sigh. “We haven’t been able to relax this much since forever… Hey Jin, pass the mochi cakes?”
Ryo handed his lover one. “Jin and Kame are busy cuddling. Give them some peace Tesshi,” he teased.
The worst possible way to travel back to Kyoto for an emperor turned out to be the safest way. As Ryo had predicted, not a single finger was laid on them the entire trip. Although the way the secret service had to treat them was less than satisfactory, it was all part of the act and nobody held any grudges. After all, if Yamada Ryosuke were to find out this was a lie, he would have them killed. But Junno was no idiot either (despite what his subjects may think). The entire plan rested on his personal trust in the Kamenashi family - trust that this was no double plot to end their lives in Kyoto.
However, nobody in their party had much time to debate with themselves. They had no choice but to trust Kame’s brothers and worst case scenario: death.
So what?
It wasn’t as if anyone was AFRAID of death.
Weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Before long, the majesty of Kyoto’s temples and city walls loomed before the men. This wasn’t just home - it was a home infected with pests that needed a good extermination before it was habitable again.
The cart stopped abruptly as a figure rode towards them on a chestnut coloured horse.
“Get out,” a familiar voice ordered, “By the order of His Majesty Yamada Ryouke-sama, get the prisoners out of the cart.”
“Ikuta-kun!” Ueda gasped.
“Did you not hear me?!” Ikuta Toma showed no sign of his once friendly face in Osaka, “Get them out of the fucking cart!” He swung his whip in an exaggerated fashion, striking a guard in the face, sending the man sprawling to the ground.
“HEY!” Kame’s rage became apparent at the way Ikuta had changed, “I’ve been trying to co-operate by staying in the cart for long enough! If you’re going to be a piece of shit and abuse guards like this, I guess I’ll have to make your job as a traitor hard!” With his dainty bare hands, Kame easily snapped the wooden bars of the cart they were stuck in and jumped out onto the dirt road.
“Insolence!” Ikuta Took another swing at Kame’s face, which Kame caught with ease and pulled him forcibly off his horse.
“Don’t forget you’re a hundred years early to be challenging me,” Kame whispered through gritted teeth at his sub-ordinate.
Ikuta smirked, “Maybe, but I’M the head of secret service now, and I’ll be one who DOESN’T sleep around to get his quota done.”
Kame’s eyes flashed a dangerous red and in seconds, Ikuta was on the ground, vomiting blood. Ueda was the only one fast enough to catch what had gone on when Kame punched Toma in the gut, and it wasn’t pretty.
“Hah… still the pretty boy with violent tendencies,” Ikuta smirked from his position on the ground, “You can do to me what you want. But I suggest you dress up and get ready to enter the city properly…. Yamada-sama wishes his guests be treated well.” He jerked a thumb to the bundles on his horse, which were obviously filled with clothes.
Removing the clothing from the horse, Ueda discovered that their outfits were completely royal. As in, it seemed like Yamada Ryosuke did really want them to enter Kyoto city like they owned the place.
“Crafty little bugger,” Ryo smirked, “He really wants this takeover to be fair and square.”
“You’re right,” Maru could only chuckle, “he can do whatever he wants when we’re away in Hokkaido but as long as we’re under watchful Honshu eyes, he has to make sure to look as good as possible. Right Junno?”
Kame leaned over and spoke something quiet in Ryo’s ear, to which Ryo gave a short gasp before rushing over to Junno and doing some more whispering. Ueda was already beginning to suspect something was going astray, and when Junno’s face turned three shades of green and he rushed off with his clothes to get changed in the woods alone, Ueda knew he was being distrusted.
Perfect. NOW what’s gotten into Junno’s head?
Running as if the devil himself was on his heels, the emperor of Honshu dashed behind the nearest trees and frantically scrunched his royal robes for the sound of paper. A crisp crunch greeted his ears and the tall man let out a sigh of relief. Ryo’s single whisper that the king of Kyushu, whom he had not seen the civil war three years ago, had written him a letter sent shivers up his spine and to be honest, Junno wasn’t sure if he wanted to read it. The king of Kyushu did not like many people. In fact, people more or less pissed him off in general. The only reason he had backed Junno in the fight for the throne was because he detested Junno’s scheming uncle, not because he personally believed in the young prince at all. Though his actions seemed kind at the time, Junno clearly remembered that the king had said to him “I’m taking the less of two evils” before he ascended the throne.
Therefore, if the king of Kyushu had found out about Honshu’s inner turmoil, decided that Junno was not worth his time allying with and wanted him dead, this was the prime time to do it, or at least blackmail the heck out of Honshu.
Junno stared at the sun before fidgeting about and removing a piece of paper from his new clothes. It was meticulously sealed in wax. He took a deep breath and forced the seals open, closing his eyes for a moment before focusing on the single line of script written in dark brown ink and stamped off with none other than the Kyushu royal crest.
A blood script, of the highest urgency and seriousness.
The beautiful handwriting reflected perfectly on the narcissistic king himself, but the words emblazoned on the simple note were cruel beyond Junno’s comprehension.
He read it once, read it twice, committed every word to memory before ripping the paper to shreds and threw the fistful of tatters into the wind with a yell akin to that of a dying animal.
NO WAY IN HELL.
[Later]
“You’re not going to tell me what the note said are you?” Ueda felt there was no more need to beat around the bush. This was not a good time to be suspicious of each but despite his best efforts, he could see that the tight knit bunch he encountered a year ago at his wedding ceremony had changed dramatically. Tegoshi no longer trusted him or Kame, Ryo did not trust Kame, Jin did not trust Ryo, Maru probably wanted him stewed for pudding so that left Junno.
He could not lose Junno.
“I…” the emperor looked at his lover with pleading eyes, hazy with doubt and slight bit of pain he tried to hide but failed.
“It’s okay,” Ueda sighed and wrapped an arm around Junno’s shoulders, “sometimes I get anxious and forget you’re an emperor… You probably have this all figured out already.”
“Your face isn’t convincing me,” Junno cracked his usual grin, “When you’re not pouting, I’ll believe that you’ve finally decided to trust me as a ruler.”
“I’m not pouting,” Ueda pouted.
“And I’m secretly a girl,” the emperor poked his tongue out.
“They sound like they’re having fun in that carriage,” Tegoshi pointed out with a bored expression on his face, “like Junno didn’t go off into the woods, have a blood-curdling fit then come back smiling like a madman.”
“He wasn’t smiling like a madman,” Ryo rolled his eyes, “he was just smiling, Nothing’s wrong.”
Maru gave a snort.
The men had been bundled into carriages and were currently in the midst of a prepared royal procession into the palace, through Kyoto city. The people of the city had lined the streets, curious to see what was going on. As far as the people were concerned, their emperor should be inside the palace walls, not roaming the streets!
“What do you plan to do once we’re inside?” Ueda asked Junno, who seemed happy just to see his home once again.
“I don’t know,” Junno replied honestly.
“I’m sure you do know.”
“I really don’t.”
Ueda glared at his lover in the eye. “Even if you don’t know, God help us you need to pretend to know,” he said with fierce determination, “always remember that you are the rock that we depend on. If you don’t know, pretend you do. Okay?”
Junno sighed with a defeated look on his sheepish face. “I thought we’d come here then Yamada Ryosuke would try to kill us straight away! I really didn’t expect him to be so calm and collected…. I did plan in secret for an assassination, but that can only happen if we were in danger. Tat-chan, I can’t just order Kame to go and kill the person I contracted to look after my throne. He may be a brat but he’s also Shikoku’s king - and if anything were to happen to him on Honshu soil, the blame would be mine and Honshu will suffer for it. Shikoku has more than one prince, and if any one of the Yamada brothers were to come looking for revenge…”
“We won’t stand a chance?” Ueda smiled and reached over to grip Junno’s hands. They were trembling.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic,” Junno admitted, “but Honshu has barely recovered from a civil war. I have had reports that Yamada Ryosuke has almost completely changed the face of the cabinet ministers and replaced all the military generals in key positions around the country. He’s sly, but I can’t help but feel like he’s a brilliant king… With these insiders, even if we did kill him, we’d have no chance against a furious Shikoku army.”
The beautiful man beside him blinked a few times in shock. Ueda Tatsuya had never once imagined that Junno could be so articulate and collected at this point in time. Sure, the makings of a great leader had shone through a few times in Hokkaido, as well as fragmented pieces of sheer terrifying possessiveness that he didn’t want to remember, but to think that Taguchi Junnosuke had hidden this side so well for so long sent chills down Ueda’s back.
Considering the gravity of their situation, Junno has done considerably well.
But when in the world did he receive all those secret messages from the secret service?
“Why are you looking at me with the eyes of a fanboy?” the old cheerful Junno was back, “have you fallen in love with my dashing self?”
“Maybe,” Ueda broke into laughter, “I think I’ve been underestimating you all this time! I always thought you were a hopeless case but now I think maybe you can be half a good emperor after all!”
“That’s hurts a bit Tat-chan~” Junno sulked, “The wise eagle hides his talons you know?” He pulled a face and dipped in for a kiss, to which Ueda gladly responded.
“By the way,” the empress pulled back slightly, “Ikuta Toma IS on our side, right?”
“I would hope so…” Junno rubbed his chin, “Because he delivered our clothes… and there was that note in mine. Ryo heard from Kame who heard from Toma-kun that there was a letter in my clothes…”
“SO basically we have one ally?”
“Technically we have the entire Kyoto team of the secret service,” Junno started counting on one hand, “and maybe the Osaka team have already gotten there…. And Nara, Himeji…. Hyougo? As well as Mie, Shiga and-
“When did you send all those dispatch orders?” Ueda stared in awe.
“Dunno, just thought it might come in handy. Kame might have given the orders out before we left from Sendai,” Junno smiled innocently, “They’re probably following us right now.”
“…I love you so much right now,” Ueda shook his head and chuckled, “I bet Yamada Ryosuke won’t see this one coming.”
Junno pulled him into a bear hug inside the carriage, “Well, it’s all thanks to you! After having something worth protecting, you’d be surprised how easy it is to motivate yourself and get things done!”
Ueda smile disappeared off his face as quickly as it had come. Intense brown eyes flared with emotions so strong Junno had to avert his eyes slightly. “Please don’t ever forget I’m not your priority,” he whispered.
“You are Taguchi Junnosuke’s one and only priority,” Junno stubbornly bit back.
“Then answer me, who is the priority of the Honshu Emperor?”
Junno fell silent for a while, suddenly engrossed in the fine detail of his sleeve embroidery.
“We will discuss this after Yamada Ryosuke is dead and you’re my empress again,” he finished the conversation.
We both know that will never happen though. What wrong with a little dream? Surely God has not forbidden even the likes of us to dream?
The carriage stopped slowly.
“We’re here,” Ueda whispered, “Welcome home, Your Majesty.”
“WELCOME HOME YOUR MAJESTY!!!!” the most unexpected of sorts came crashing through the blinds of the carriage before the pair could even move out.
Yamada Ryosuke fairly leapt onto the couple’s carriage, seemingly oblivious to his status as temporary king and wrapped his arms around Ueda’s neck. “I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!!”
A.N. *sigh* children. Yamada Ryosuke isn't the friendliest character in this story but he's very good at acting. What will begin next is the final arc and the conclusion arc of this story. It's about karma, the duties of every character to their own respective loves, and how they react when faced with imminent danger.
And we'll see Junno show how his true self, a self we've only seen in short glimpses over this entire gigantic story.