fic: The Cob Prince (6/6)
***
At eight o’clock when the auction started, Jin fidgeted nervously and greeted the guests as properly as he could. He kept looking at his watch and nervously tightening his tie, changing his weight from one foot to another.
And minutes had never felt so long, he decided as he listened to the endless list of companies and buildings being sold, people trying their hardest to make as good deals as they could possibly pull off. He himself wasn’t interested - there was no point to be interested.
He already had what he wanted. Or would, when Kame would walk in from that stupid front door of theirs.
And after each an hour and half they had a break when the guests enjoyed a glass of fine champagne and small crab pastries his mother’s cooks had prepared for the night. He himself went out and leaned to the wall next to the front door, looking at the darkening sky, wondering if Kame was already on his way.
Had to be. Just had to. Jin knew it as he smiled to himself and anxiously waited, not even daring to think of the possibility that something might’ve happened that would’ve kept Kame from coming. Because he would surely be there - he would surely be there for him and they would claim the company theirs, and Jin would prove his love not only to Kame but to the entire world.
It made him nervous.
Ten minutes passed after midnight. Then fifteen. And there was no sight of the man, no matter how he looked.
He wouldn’t come. But he wouldn’t skip it, would he? It had meant so much for him. It had been their promise. Surely Kame wouldn’t miss it? Why wasn’t he coming?
Maybe he was just late.
Maybe his lateness would ruin it all. And it made Jin sad as he walked back in, glancing at his watch again and then to the window.
And it felt like everything was coming crashing down.
Takki tapped him to his shoulder. “I haven’t seen your date all night, Jin. Didn’t he come?” he asked, hesitant thanks to Jin seeming down. “Some problems?”
“He promised to come,” Jin said, trying to hold onto the memory of Kame’s faced when he smiled at him by the riverside. “He’s just late. It’s alright. He will come.”
“I haven’t seen Pi either,” Takki continued. “You didn’t leave him in the woods, did you? Seriously Jin, we need to call a search party if he won’t show up. I trusted you when you said he was coming but I can’t see him. He isn’t in here, Jin. What happened?”
“He’ll -” Jin started, only to be stopped by a voice talking to the microphone, asking people to take their seats for the auction would continue. Jin bit his lip and Takki patted his back encouragingly as they started making their way back to the hall with the crowd.
“Jin!” a voice called out for him from behind and Jin turned around, the widest smile ever seen forming on his face. He swore his heart could’ve stopped as he looked at the astonishing sight of Kame hurrying to him.
Jin took his hands and pouted. “You’re late. We almost missed it. You’re supposed to be the responsible one.”
“I’m sorry,” Kame chuckled and tidied up his hair. “Let’s go. Before it starts. Run.”
Jin smiled widely and pulled Kame from his arm forwards, hearing him let out a slightly suppressed laughter as they made their way to the cameras.
Takki was left staring after the two of them in shock, not believing his eyes.
It seemed like everything was possible after all.
***
“Go, go!” Koki roared at Kame angrily as he only waited in the water quietly with his head hung low. “You have to stop it! You have to stop this, only you can do it!”
“He’s right!” Junno agreed, jumping on his back and wrapping his thin and fragile arms around Kame’s neck, almost as if he was trying to choke him. “You need to go, Kame! What are you waiting for? You’ll die! You’ll die and his heart will break, you have to stop it! Are you an honourable man or not?!”
“I’m not a man. I’m a cob,” Kame answered numbly. “I can’t change things. I can’t stop it from happening. False belief just hurts more.”
“Kame, stand up for yourself,” Maru commanded. “You need to go now or it’s too late. You can’t do this to yourself. Or him. You can’t do this to either of you!”
Koki pulled him from his wing with his beak sharply. “Up! Up, up and in the air! We need to rush!”
“I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to hear it,” Kame answered, feeling sick. “I don’t have to.”
Junno jumped on his head and made his way on his beak to look him in the eyes furiously.
“You! Are you going to betray your prince?” he yelled dramatically angrily. “On the move, now! He’s seen you. He’ll know that it’s you. Even if there’s another you, he’ll know something’s wrong. He will if he really loves you!”
Koki ripped him from his wing painfully again. “We’re going to fly the fastest we can, Kame! Come on! There’s no time to waste! Do you want to die?!”
“…No,” Kame answered. “No. I don’t want to die.”
And it hit him, making him feel even more depressed and weak.
He didn’t want to die, and any minute he could end up doing just that, as awful as it sounded. And it scared him, the whole idea of it - disappearing, dying. Would it hurt? Ryo had said that it would be slow. How slow? Would he really have time to acknowledge and feel the life leaving him as his body turned cold?
There was still so much he wanted. There was still so much he needed, so many experiences he wanted to have, so many things he wanted to say.
“Get off, Junno,” he snapped, dropping the frog in the water. “I need to stop him. I need to prevent it.”
“YES!” Koki roared, flying higher up in the air. “HURRY, KAME! We need to get going, we need to be fast! We can’t be too late! We can’t! Only you can stop this!”
And Kame took off, flying over the dark forest, the wind guiding him to the right direction.
He had to make it. They had to make it.
And they flew, flew as fast as they could, freezing in the cold late summer night. Kame’s wings felt like they would drop off any minute, but he never stopped pushing forward, he never stopped to gather more energy.
He pushed himself to his limit as he flew, only seeing the silhouette of Jin’s house in the dark veiled night, nearing painfully slowly. Kame felt himself growing more and more desperate, more and more fearful.
What if he would die? What if he wouldn’t be there on time?
It wasn’t an option. It couldn’t be an option.
When he finally reached the house, Koki had fallen far behind with his smaller wings that couldn’t carry him as fast, no matter how he tried. And Kame started going around the big building, looking for a way, only to find every door and window in the mansion sealed.
No. No, it couldn’t be. Couldn’t.
He looked in from a window and felt fear clenching his chest.
He saw himself, or rather, Ueda. He was walking hand in hand with Jin and they were smiling, laughing happily.
Genuinely happily from Jin’s part.
Ueda had a mean glint in his as they made their way to the front. Everyone noticed them, pointing at who they thought to be Kame in shock, first going all silent and then exclaiming and crying out of surprise loudly.
Jin opened his mouth.
No. No.
All the cameras were pointing at them, photographing them, filming them as they stood there, Jin wrapping his arms around Ueda’s shoulders in that gentle and loving manner, a nervous but genuinely happy smile forming on his face as he looked at the other one who stood still.
NO.
Kame tried knocking the window with his beak desperately. No, no, no! It couldn’t go like this, couldn’t! It wasn’t supposed to go like this!
He didn’t ever remember fearing for his life as much.
Just a few simple words and it would all be over for him. It was scary how big power a few mere words held over him, how fatal they could turn out to be.
Would turn out to be, he realised as he kept changing windows, trying to keep knocking and getting attention. But no one was looking - there was too much noise, and everyone was too focused on the Kame inside and the man by his side, opening his mouth nervously.
No. No, Jin, no. Please no.
And he could imagine the hoarseness in Jin’s voice as he hawked and said what he had to say to the audience, looking happier and more in love than ever before as he held Ueda’s hand and leaned in to kiss him, one hand delicately on his neck.
Why, that he didn’t know, but that was when Kame knew that it was all over him. And he cried out, feeling an awfully cold, hot, numbing and weakening sensation rushing over him, making his flight falter.
And he flew away.
As fast as he could, he flew away, for he had to get as far away from the mansion as he could, he had to make his way somewhere in the woods and disappear forever.
His cob form was slowly dying.
He couldn’t fly straight as he cried out, putting all he had to his final flight.
And no matter what, he still loved him.
Maybe Jin just didn’t love him enough to realise.
***
The front door opened and Nishikido Ryo walked in the hall, a blarney smile on his face as he clapped in his hands, walking dramatically towards the little stage where Jin was holding his love from his hand, tightening his hold.
“Brilliant,” Ryo laughed, his laughter echoing from the walls and filling the hall as he kept clapping his hands, wiping a lone tear from his cheek, obviously out of amusement. “Thank you. That was such a brilliant show. Really broke my heart.”
“Ryo,” the Kame holding his hand whispered. Jin’s head snapped at the man.
“You’re Ryo!?” he bellowed furiously, everyone in the hall looking at the scene before them. Ryo nodded, spreading his arms as he stepped next to Jin.
“Such a lovely couple,” he stated and nodded enthusiastically, taking Jin’s free hand and shaking it. “He does look better than ever tonight, I must admit. Not that he would usually look bad,” he added after receiving a furious glare from Ueda, “but I still have to say that today he’s unusually beautiful.”
“You have no right,” Jin hissed at Ryo and let go of his date’s hand, grabbing Ryo by his collar and bringing him close, “no right to talk to us. To talk to him, after everything you’ve done to him. But do you know what? You failed!” he said, laughing mockingly. “You failed and I saved him. And he’ll be mine forever now and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
Ryo clicked his tongue. “Ah. I’m afraid you’re wrong about that. I was planning on taking him home with me now that the
show is over.”
“Just do it already, Ryo,” Ueda snapped at the man. “It’s time we take our leave.”
Jin looked at his date in disbelief. “Kame… Kame, what? What? What is happening in here? You’re going, you’re going with him? What is going on, you… you can’t do this to me! You can’t do this to me!” he cried out. And he didn’t understand. Ryo patted him on his shoulder and took Ueda’s hand, pulling him close and placing a soft kiss on his lips.
A black light lashed out, blinding Jin and making him cover his eyes with a wail. And when he opened them, the reality unveiled right before his eyes in its true, horrid form. He shook his head, throat dry and tight.
“No,” he choked out, shaking his head in horror. “No.”
“Your love fled. I saw him right before I came in,” Ryo said helpfully. “Seemed to be heading to the lake… I think it’s time we made our way in there as well, don’t you think?”
And Jin ran. He didn’t stop to hear more, he didn’t stop when he heard Takki yelling after him, he didn’t stop when the icy laughter echoed from the walls, when Ryo and Ueda held each other’s hands and looked up at each others, both smiling in a way that no one but the two of them could understand.
No, he ran. Ran as fast as he could and grabbed his motorcycle, started the engine and drove to the road, trying to make his way as near to the lake as he possibly could as fast as possible. And he broke the speed-limits, he didn’t bother putting his helmet on as he drove onwards, tears refusing to spill as he kept going.
He saw a white bird flying high above him in the sky. But its flight was weak and unsteady, he noticed to his horror, weak, unsteady, and the cob was quickly losing height.
He hit the brake and ran to the direction of the lake, making his way through the bushes and trees, already completely out of breath, his side stinging painfully. Yet he never stopped, he never could stop, not until he reached the lake, seeing no cob but a powder white form lying in the water face down.
He cried out hysterically and rushed to pick Kame up from the water, helping him to his feet. But Kame’s feet didn’t carry him anymore, the strength of his body was quickly leaving him for good as he looked at Jin.
It was then when Jin finally broke down to tears, hugging him tight as he sat down, holding Kame on his lap and kissing him to the lips. Kame didn’t respond but made a quiet sound and blinked tiredly. Jin entwined their fingers, shaking Kame gently.
“Hey, I’m here. We were supposed to meet today, weren’t we? Didn’t we promise that?” he sobbed, forcing a smile on his face. No, Kame wasn’t dying, couldn’t be. He was just sad, sad of the betrayal he had committed unknowingly and tired of
flying like crazy. He couldn’t be dying.
Jin couldn’t have killed him. It just wasn’t possible. He would never kill Kame, he would never hurt him. He had made his promise not to hurt him.
To which Kame had answered him that he never expected Jin to stop hurting him. And Jin’s tears dripped gently to Kame’s pale cheeks and he wiped them away with his palm shakily, feeling how Kame’s body was turning cold and stiff in his hold.
“I love you. I love you. It’s you that I love, you!” he started crying harder, his fist shaking uncontrollably as he clenched tighter, fearing he might break Kame’s weak, fragile and cold fingers, fearing that that was the reason why his lips were turning cold, why he was losing more and more colour each passing second. “It was supposed to be you! It was always supposed to be you! It’s you I promised eternal love to, it was you!”
Kame’s fingers tightened slightly and he exhaled quietly, swallowing tiredly.
“I know that,” he said quietly, his voice soft and melodic. “And I love you too.”
Quiet, weak and shaky, repressed as the stiffness took over his form. Jin kept shaking him and buried his face in Kame’s shoulder, letting out a heartbreaking cry.
“No. No. You can’t die. You can’t leave me. We’re supposed to be happy now, remember? We’re going to be happy now. Today’s the best day of our lives,” he kept sobbing, clutching Kame’s shirt in his hand. “Today we’re finally together, today we’re finally us for the rest of our lives.”
A weak smile formed on Kame’s lips as he closed his eyes, his hold of Jin’s hand weakening.
“No. No,” Jin kept sobbing harder, shaking his head and shaking Kame’s form desperately. “No, you can’t go. You can’t go! You can’t go! YOU CAN’T GO, KAME, YOU CAN’T GO!”
But no matter how hard he shook, Kame remained cold and unresponsive, beautiful with his pale skin glowing in the blackness of the night. Jin kept stroking his hair and hugging him, he put Kame’s head over his shoulder and wrapped his arms around him, soothing him the best he could as his tears kept dripping and wetting the shoulder of Kame’s shirt.
He kissed the back of Kame’s neck and he knew it was over for the two of them. He knew that that fatal night that was supposed to be the very beginning of their beautiful story proved to be the very end.
Ryo and Ueda walked in, Ryo pursing his lips at the sad sight opening before him.
“Ah. That’s sad. Two lovers, torn apart by fate,” Ryo said almost apologetically and shook his head. “Funny how something can break so easily.”
Jin set Kame down and clenched his fists, lunging forwards. “YOU! You killed him, it was you!” he screamed furiously, drawing his fist back and trying to land a punch on him but ending up kneed to his stomach, air leaving his lungs as pain overtook him, making him stumble on his knees and clench his stomach, gasping for air shakily.
“No. It was you,” Ryo answered him matter-of-factly. “You made the vow to the wrong person, the vow of everlasting love that was supposed to be his. You foolishly gave it out, you never saw through it. A hopeless idiot.”
Ueda rubbed his hands together. “But it’s over now, no matter who’s at fault. There’s nothing anyone can do about him anymore, except for bury his body before it rots. Which is probably something Jin would very gladly take as his responsibility.”
“You..!” Jin hissed and got up again, almost attacking Ueda but being kicked down by Ryo again.
“Allow me,” he said and took Ueda’s face in his hands, pulling him closer and kissing him on the lips, making the small man freeze in fear as the magical sensations shook his form. Ryo let go, backing away for a metre and watching as Ueda’s face turned to disbelief.
“You are lovely,” Ryo told him softly as he fell to the ground in pain and gasped, body trashing as it started transforming into a black cob, small and ruffled. “But you aren’t lovely enough.”
“YOU -!” Jin roared furiously again, attacking Ryo and knocking him over. He clawed at the man’s face, making him scream and roar in pain and press his hands on Jin’s throat, rolling violently so that he came out to be the one on top, pressing him to the ground.
“You want to kill me,” he stated and laughed. “I’m over your league, Jin dear. Way over your league. You can never kill me.”
Jin took a hold of his wrists and tried to rip his hands off his throat, failing miserably and starting to panic as no air entered his lungs. He gasped breathlessly, mind blanking out as he stared in Ryo’s icy eyes.
He tried trashing, but was quickly losing his strength. Ryo leaned closer, his lips brushing Jin’s nose gently, almost as if wondering whether he should play with his prey before the very last moment or not, as sick as it sounded. Jin’s vision was starting to have black spots.
And he wished he would just die. For it was slow, painful and he acknowledged life and strength slowly being ripped from his body, forced out of him.
“JIN, STAB HIM!” he heard a familiar scream and tried gasping breathlessly again, feeling something brush his arm as it flew past him. Ryo faltered, his grip lessening for a second, giving Jin time to draw in oxygen in his lungs and turn his head violently to see what had been thrown to him.
An arrow. One split in two, the wooden part of it slowly starting to decay away.
He grabbed it in his hand and hit Ryo to the chest with it as hard as he could, hearing an awful sound as it sunk, feeling the other one freezing over him in pain.
A cob cried out somewhere in the background and flew away, disappearing to the woods with a strangled cry. Jin felt something hot dripping on him and pushed Ryo off him, leaving him to the ground where he quietly trembled, blood starting to stain his shirt.
And then he was gone, Jin knew it. Only a few seconds.
He had gotten it easy, punctured heart. Way easier than Kame and way easier than him if it would’ve happened.
“J-J-Jin,” he heard the familiar voice again, raising his head to see Pi looking at him with teary eyes. “I lost you, you jerk! I lost you! Do you have any idea how lost I’ve been in the woods! We’ll never get to go home and it’s your entire fault and now we’ve killed someone! Killed, Jin!”
Jin sat up, looking at Pi in shock, still feeling his heart beating painfully, breathing ragged and heavy, hands trembling.
And he looked at the chaos around him, two quietly lying dead bodies around them as Pi rushed over to him, pulling him in a tight hug and trembling, obviously fearful of the sight he had just witnessed. Jin stroked his back, still in shock and unable to react better, body trembling and neck aching as bruises started forming.
Kame twitched.
No, he couldn’t, he was just imagining it, Jin realised and his tears started slowly and quietly falling again, hot on his cheeks as he gasped for air with a weak tremble, unable to remove his eyes from the sight.
Because Kame was dead, dead there on the ground, cold like the rocks at winter and beautiful like a rose waiting to wither.
But no, Kame shifted, groaned weakly and moved to his side, eyes still closed, face covering his face as he drew in an exhausted breath. Jin thought his heart would stop.
He pushed Pi violently away and rushed over to him, kneeling down next to him and helping his head on his lap as he swept the hair off his face and pressed his palm gently against his skin.
It was getting warmer. Kame was getting warmer. And he blinked, he blinked and groaned tiredly again, grasping a weak hold of Jin’s shirt and shivering from the cold, swallowing and opening his eyes fully.
He sat up properly, supported by a hysteric Jin whose hands were trembling violently as he looked at the sight before him.
“…Jin…” Kame said, turning to look at him, his voice a croak thanks to his dry throat. Jin’s eyes started watering again and his lips trembled as he let out a strangled sound between a cry and a laughter, knocking Kame over as he hugged him tightly.
“Jin, you’re crushing me,” Kame objected and tried to push him away, starting to regain his strength quickly. “Seriously. You’ll break my bones.”
Jin kissed him on the lips, pulling them up to a sitting position again and clinging to Kame desperately, burying his fingers in Kame’s hair as he pulled him closer, the kiss flooded with the mix of emotions shaking his form, switching rapidly from one to another. And Kame answered the kiss, trying to smooth it down, gently wrapping his arms over Jin’s shoulders and around his neck, rocking against him gently.
Pi groaned. “Can’t that wait until we get back home and you two can get a room?”
Jin broke the kiss and glared at his friend furiously, wordless and unable to snap at his friends properly. Kame smiled, a weird feeling swelling in his chest.
He was alive. They were both alive. Ryo was dead, he saw and wondered if that was the reason he was still alive.
Jin’s shirt was bloody as he gently kept caressing Kame’s back with his shaky hands, placing small and affectionate kisses on his neck.
“…We have to get back,” Jin suddenly cried out, finally fully realising the situation. “We have to get back or we’ll lose the company or something! We have to go back!”
“Jin -” Kame tried but was pulled to a run from his arm, Yamapi being forced to join them on the other side as they crashed in the woods.
“Jin, I swear to god that you better know where you’re going or I’ll never ever forgive you!” Pi yelled at him furiously as the made their way through the forest, just the three of them, bumping into each others and pulling each others from their shirts to slow the other one down and take lead themselves.
Laughter rang in the air and it was light.
Jin took Kame’s hand and he didn’t let go of it during the entire night - not even when they finally crashed down to the bed, both on the same, and made a wish for the future.
And hopelessly in each others arms they lie as the sun rises up again,
still the same and inseparable by its golden rays.