The Pauper Prince[ss] - Chapter 32 {part 2}
The Pauper Prince[ss] - Chapter 32 {part 2}
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Summary: To end the war that has desecrated the lives of the people between two kingdoms, an alliance in the form of an arranged marriage has been made between the two royal families. however, when the princess runs away to avoid being married, the unwilling look-a-like pauper, Kamenashi Kazuya, somehow finds himself brought in to play the part of the princess and decieve Prince Jin. But Kazuya never expected to fall in love...
Part 1 |
Part 2:
Koki narrowed his eyes. He and Maru were situated on a random hill that overlooked the entire flat land near the town - and where, along with a few small outdoor arena-style spaces, was the enclosure where Kazuya and Jin were currently with a horse in.
The two of them hadn’t been distracted by nobles hanging off of them, so they had been aware when Jin had gone up to Kazuya and dragged him away. Well, not dragged since Kazuya went willingly - at least, until they were in sight of the stables. Koki had muttered darkly under his breath about threats of what he would do to Jin if it turned out that he had figured some underhanded way to get Kazuya to continue toward the stables without a fight.
They watched as Kazuya tentatively approached the animal in the enclosure, surreptitiously jumping and moving closer to Jin when the animal moved.
Uncharacteristically, Maru glared - a sign that his protective instincts were coming out at the sight of Kazuya in fear. Over the years, Koki had known better than to get in the way of Maru’s protective instincts. Especially when they involved Kazuya.
Kazuya had been the first one - other than Koki - who had been young enough for Maru to really feel like he was protecting and could protect someone, and as a result, Kazuya was treated like he was still that defenceless little kid he had been when they had first met. Koki remembered; he had been there as well. It was long before Koki and Maru had realized that they were ‘friends’ with Yamapi and Kazuya and could rely on each other, but that didn’t ever stop them from helping each other when they could.
Helping their own.
--
It was summer but it didn’t feel like it. The skies were darkened after yet another attack; at least, it had been a minor one, and from the looks of it, just the result of combating planes in the skies and not an attack aimed specifically at the town and its people this time.
Koki came out from hiding of the shelter of the still-standing house that had once belonged to his parents. Until two months ago that is; during yet another attack, they had ended up on the wrong side of an enemy soldier’s weapon in the backyard of their home, while Koki and Maru - who had been staying with them since his parents had already passed away a few years ago - had been forced to hide.
Koki bit his lip and glanced at Maru, shaking his shoulder lightly, “Maru, let’s go out? The fighting’s stopped.”
Koki had had a feeling that from Maru’s hiding spot in the closet - while Koki had been under the trapdoor under the floor, hidden by a rug - Maru had seen something horrible, because Maru had been a little odd after that. He was quiet; he never spoke out loud, and just made movements like nodding his hand to answer questions; and all the smiles he gave Koki were half-hearted and as though he didn’t know how or wanted to smile anymore.
So, every day when they could, he would make sure to take his best friend outside, because neither wanted to be in the house. Koki had already blocked off all entrances to that section of the house with heavy furniture, not wanting to see the backyard, where it had happened.
Koki was only eight, but he already felt like he had the weight of the world of his shoulders - Maru who was older at ten years old, wasn’t able to help him, because he had been too scarred by what they had seen. While Koki had cried for days and weeks over the death of his parents, Maru had been as still as a statue, moving like a robot when he had to move.
Koki had a feeling it was Maru who had gone outside and found the bodies, and the reason why they had been in such peaceful-looking positions when the trapdoor had finally opened up to let Koki out. Koki didn’t know whether or not to cry at that - he didn’t want to see the murdered bodies of his parents in whatever position of pain and suffering they had been in, but at the same time, now he felt so alone; would it be better if he had seen his parents and not let Maru go through that himself? Because Maru was all Koki had left in this world, and even he wasn’t all there anymore. Koki constantly wanted to cry. On some nights, he would just sit there in front of Maru, silently begging - and sometimes vocally begging - him to talk to him, to do anything, because Koki couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to believe it wasn’t his fault that Maru was like this, that it wasn’t him that Maru had been protecting from the horrible truth of death, but - the more he tried to convince himself of this, the more easily the tears came out and it wasn’t rare for Koki to spend a whole night, muffling his cries into his pillow.
Maru stood up, not saying anything as always, and Koki bit his lip so hard he could feel the copper taste of blood. Maru walked next to Koki, but other than that, was the only sign of life that he actually showed.
Koki had already begun to think that his best friend had died along with his parents that night and only a shell had remained.
He led Maru through the streets; he was quietly surveying the damage done.
“It’s not that bad this time,” Koki tried saying to the older boy, “It looks people were just a bit injured this time.”
He would never forget one of the big scale attacks that had come as a surprise, and ended up with many bodies strewn along the streets. Back then, Koki had screamed, and cried; then he had retreated back inside and curled up in a corner. That had been the first time Maru had shown any sort of life or independent thought in days. Koki, in his fear and grief, had not even noticed that Maru had moved to put a comforting arm around Koki until the next day, when Koki, having cried himself to sleep, had woken up and noticed that for the first time in so long, there was a comforting presence around him. For the first time in so long, he hadn’t felt scared and vulnerable.
Koki liked to think that after that, he was starting to break through the walls Maru had put up between his mind and the rest of the world; Maru reacted to his voice, and would sometimes nod when Koki tried hard enough to get him to answer a question. Nothing had yet to compare to that night though, when Maru had moved without prompting to Koki’s side. Sometimes, Maru reacted to others hurt in the street, but all he would do was twitch and act like he wanted to go to them, but then he wouldn’t move. Like he was afraid that if he went to them, he’d find something he didn’t want to see again.
Like death.
“I mean, it could be worse right?” Koki was chatting as cheerfully as he could to Maru, ignoring the annoyed gazes the neighbourhood adults gave him. He knew they didn’t want them there; they were orphans and a reminder that the adults themselves weren’t helping those that really needed help. Koki and Maru - and the others war orphans scattered around - were a reminder of the adults’ failures.
Suddenly, he looked up when he heard a cry from nearby. Koki’s eyebrows furrowed at the boy who ran into view. The boy looked like he was probably five or six years old, was very thin, and was obviously a war orphan from the dirtied up and torn up clothes; he wore no shoes and from the looks of it, his feet were bleeding. He had obviously been a war orphan for a much longer time than Koki had - right now, although they weren’t new or that clean, Koki’s clothes were still pretty much intact and only a bit dirty.
But despite his torn appearance, something that obviously put the adults off, Koki could only feel sympathy and fear. Was this how he was going to be in a while, after nobody looked out for him for that long?
“Pi…” the boy was crying, looking around with tearing brown eyes and looking as though he was going to burst into tears. He was a pitiful sight, stumbling every so often due to his injured feet, and Koki felt a lurch in his stomach when he saw just how thin the boy was - he was malnourished for sure, and through the tattered clothes, he could see a hint of ribs sticking out where ribs shouldn’t be sticking out. Perhaps it was the pitiful, heartbreaking appearance of the little boy that set Maru off.
When the boy let out a cry and fell, scraping across the half-destroyed pavement - frail-looking body skidding across tiny sharp rocks that were the remains of what had once been a smooth, nice-looking street - and lay there, breathing heavily crying out for someone named Pi, Maru suddenly moved.
Koki watched in surprise as Maru twitched and took a step forward, like he had all those times he had seen those injured people on the streets. He didn’t move after that, but that was normal.
Then, the cries came - heartbreaking, lost cries that made even Koki want to cry. Or maybe it was just a reflection of all the pain and feelings of being lost that Koki himself had been feeling.
Then Maru was instantly at the boy’s side and Koki blinked in surprise before following. He stared strangely at Maru, but didn’t say or do anything; this had been the first time Maru showed any initiative to someone not Koki. Shaking his head, Koki sat down on his heels in front of the boy as Maru helped him up.
“You okay?” he asked, trying to give him a reassuring smile, “What’s your name? What’re you doing here?”
“K…Kazuya,” the boy managed to say, “I…I lost Pi!” he burst into tears again.
“Pi? What…or who…is Pi?”
“Pi is…” Kazuya burst into tears, “Pi! I want Pi! Pi’s my best friend! He looks after me, and I look after him, but I lost him! I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t find him!”
He was obviously distressed.
Koki tried fruitlessly to calm the little boy down, trying to reassure him that he was sure this Pi would find him soon.
“Where did you last see him?”
“Before the attack…he…we were hiding, and something loud and scary-sounding hit our hiding place…and we were scared, so we ran…but then when I looked again, Pi was gone and I can’t find him now!”
He had burst into tears again; the thought of being away from the one person who he felt safe with was making him distraught. Koki knew the feeling; what would he feel like if he lost Maru as well? He’d probably be like this too, crying and looking for Maru even if his feet were all bloodied up and everything.
Koki later figured that it was probably the distressed cries, but Maru suddenly moved again, reaching out a hand to pat the crying boy on the head. Then, he turned to face Koki and Koki furrowed his brow as he realized Maru was trying to say something, but no words were coming out.
Of course; not talking for so long would do that to a person.
He concentrated, watching Maru’s mouth as he tried to form the words, but only managing to make rasping sounds. Koki bit his lip, “I think he’s telling you that it’ll be okay.”
He looked at Maru for confirmation and got a nod. Then Maru began to try to speak again, the rasping sounds growing louder and clearer with each attempt.
“And that we’ll help you look for your Pi,” Koki got another nod of confirmation and he realized it was becoming easier to translate the starting-to-be-coherent-sounding rasping sounds, “But if you don’t find him, we’ll help you find your way back to where you usually stay, so if this ‘Pi’ goes back there, he’ll find you there.”
Kazuya’s eyes were still tearing, but he had lost the distressed look as he looked up at Maru, who was obviously trying his best to relay comfort to Kazuya even though he couldn’t say it out loud.
It turned out that they wouldn’t need to look far, or even begin looking at all, for a few moments later when Koki was trying to get a description of what ‘Pi’ looked like out of Kazuya, there was a frantic, but relieved shout of, “KAZU-CHAN!”
A boy, who seemed a bit younger by maybe a year or two than Koki, was running to them, and before Koki could even ask if that was ‘Pi’, Kazuya had gotten up with lightning-fast moves (or so it seemed) and ran straight to the boy. Koki stared, blinking as he realized the two were hugging in the middle of the street. Kazuya was babbling something to the boy who was obviously Pi, and Pi was nodding - and answering which meant he understood that mess of words - and Koki just stared. He didn’t know how anyone could understand the words that sounded like babble coming from Kazuya’s mouth.
Finally, Pi just hugged Kazuya tightly and Kazuya stopped, smiling a smile so bright at Pi that Koki began to rethink his opinion of Kazuya being pitiful-looking. The smile was so genuinely bright, and was such a refreshing one from the strained smiles of the adults around him.
“Thank you for helping Kazu-chan.”
Koki hadn’t even realized that the two had made their way over until the other boy spoke.
Kazuya was smiling brightly, “Thanks,” he echoed.
Koki shook his head, “No problem.”
And it really wasn’t; he was happy, especially since Maru had done something besides get trapped in his own little world for a little while. It wasn’t much yet, as he had gone back to his world right after conveying his message and comforting Kazuya, just like that time with himself, but it was something. He hoped that this was another push in the right direction to get Maru back. He watched as the other two left, Pi never letting go of Kazuya as they walked away. He wouldn’t realize at that moment how important those two would be to him.
Later, he would be both shocked and appalled to find out that Yamapi had the same age as him - older than him by a few months in fact - and that Kazuya had not been five or even six at the time, but not even a year younger than he had been, at seven years old.
But he had learned one thing: they were alike, all of them, because no one would protect them. So they had to protect each other.
--
For nearly a year after that, they had run into each other on the streets, randomly or just after an attack, and it was with time and more instances where they helped a younger kid that Maru began to break out of the shell. He had just needed to feel like he could protect something rather than being helplessly watching death.
And they had all helped each other over the years, not really recognizing each other as ‘friends’ until a while later and they eventually ended up hiding in the same place. Somehow, they just never stopped after that.
Koki’s eyes narrowed as he watched Kazuya and Jin. He didn’t care if Yamapi thought Jin could be allowed one more chance - although he did trust Yamapi’s instincts regarding Kazuya a lot. The prince had hurt Kazuya many times already! Yamapi may be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of Kazuya’s feelings for him - something that was probably very hard to do considering how much more protective Yamapi was - but Koki and Maru would be taking their fake bodyguard titles seriously.
While Yamapi protected Kazuya in his own way of being the one person Kazuya trusted the most in the world and could go to, Koki and Maru would protect Kazuya their way - by watching the prince, because they had to, because they wanted to.
Because Kazuya was still one of their own, whether the war was going on or not.
“If he screws up…” Maru left his sentence hanging.
Koki simply smirked in the direction of the prince, “Then he’ll have sorely underestimated just how protective us orphans can be when it comes to each other.”
“We do have to go through Pi first if we want to do anything,” Maru said mournfully, “He’s our protection from Kazuya’s wrath.”
Koki grinned, “When I hinted we were doing this, he never protested it.” He reminded Maru, “And you know what that means?”
“It means he’s not entirely against this security measure either!” Maru shared a grin with Koki. He paused, looking around, “We might want to choose a better hiding spot next time though; I’m beginning to feel like a stalker because we’re so far away that we’re watching them through binoculars…are you sure we’re actually bodyguards and not stalkers?” he asked in worry.
“We’re bodyguards.” Koki said, “We’re allowed to feel like stalkers.”
Maru blinked.
“We’re stalkers that are allowed to be stalking.” Koki reasoned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes me feel better about spying though.”
“Ha! You just said spying! We are stalking them aren’t we?!”
“…no.” Koki said unconvincingly, but he grinned and pulled Maru down, “Lay low and try to read the prince’s lips or something,” he said as he handed the binoculars to Maru. He took out a notebook, “I’ll record what they’re saying.”
Maru simply sighed, “I wish life was back to those simple days when one wrong look at Kazuya or Notti or Pi or Yuya or Massu or - well, you get the point - and I could go chase someone and throw tiny rocks at their head in warning.”
“You can still do that,” Koki’s lips twitched; he really wanted to see that again.
“…Kazuya would kill me first,” Maru admitted, “I fear his right hook.”
Koki nodded sympathetically, rubbing his jaw in memory, “I do too.”
“Well, that was your own fault for trying to bribe Yuriko into getting Kazuya into a dress. He punched you and ran off to hide out with Pi and we couldn’t see him for three months without him punching you the moment he saw you. But anyway, that’s probably how Yuriko got that idea that day all this started; so, in a way, technically, all this is your fault.”
Koki merely glared at Maru, “It is not and I didn’t think she’d take me seriously. Yuriko is extremely scary; and it’s half Kazuya’s fault for not fighting against the dress that day.”
Maru scoffed, “Kazuya’s only known Yuriko and been reconciled with his brothers for about a year; would you fight back against someone who was closer to your blood family than you were - and a girl and your older brother’s wife on top of that?”
Koki glowered and he shoved the binoculars at him, “Start spying.”
Maru’s lips twitched; it seemed as though Koki wouldn’t have fought back either if it had been him, and he briefly wondered what Koki would look like, forced into a dress by Yuriko.
“Stop laughing!” Koki whined to Maru for the fifteenth time ten minutes later.
* * *
---- part 3 ----
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Summary: To end the war that has desecrated the lives of the people between two kingdoms, an alliance in the form of an arranged marriage has been made between the two royal families. however, when the princess runs away to avoid being married, the unwilling look-a-like pauper, Kamenashi Kazuya, somehow finds himself brought in to play the part of the princess and decieve Prince Jin. But Kazuya never expected to fall in love...
Part 1 |
Part 2:
Koki narrowed his eyes. He and Maru were situated on a random hill that overlooked the entire flat land near the town - and where, along with a few small outdoor arena-style spaces, was the enclosure where Kazuya and Jin were currently with a horse in.
The two of them hadn’t been distracted by nobles hanging off of them, so they had been aware when Jin had gone up to Kazuya and dragged him away. Well, not dragged since Kazuya went willingly - at least, until they were in sight of the stables. Koki had muttered darkly under his breath about threats of what he would do to Jin if it turned out that he had figured some underhanded way to get Kazuya to continue toward the stables without a fight.
They watched as Kazuya tentatively approached the animal in the enclosure, surreptitiously jumping and moving closer to Jin when the animal moved.
Uncharacteristically, Maru glared - a sign that his protective instincts were coming out at the sight of Kazuya in fear. Over the years, Koki had known better than to get in the way of Maru’s protective instincts. Especially when they involved Kazuya.
Kazuya had been the first one - other than Koki - who had been young enough for Maru to really feel like he was protecting and could protect someone, and as a result, Kazuya was treated like he was still that defenceless little kid he had been when they had first met. Koki remembered; he had been there as well. It was long before Koki and Maru had realized that they were ‘friends’ with Yamapi and Kazuya and could rely on each other, but that didn’t ever stop them from helping each other when they could.
Helping their own.
--
It was summer but it didn’t feel like it. The skies were darkened after yet another attack; at least, it had been a minor one, and from the looks of it, just the result of combating planes in the skies and not an attack aimed specifically at the town and its people this time.
Koki came out from hiding of the shelter of the still-standing house that had once belonged to his parents. Until two months ago that is; during yet another attack, they had ended up on the wrong side of an enemy soldier’s weapon in the backyard of their home, while Koki and Maru - who had been staying with them since his parents had already passed away a few years ago - had been forced to hide.
Koki bit his lip and glanced at Maru, shaking his shoulder lightly, “Maru, let’s go out? The fighting’s stopped.”
Koki had had a feeling that from Maru’s hiding spot in the closet - while Koki had been under the trapdoor under the floor, hidden by a rug - Maru had seen something horrible, because Maru had been a little odd after that. He was quiet; he never spoke out loud, and just made movements like nodding his hand to answer questions; and all the smiles he gave Koki were half-hearted and as though he didn’t know how or wanted to smile anymore.
So, every day when they could, he would make sure to take his best friend outside, because neither wanted to be in the house. Koki had already blocked off all entrances to that section of the house with heavy furniture, not wanting to see the backyard, where it had happened.
Koki was only eight, but he already felt like he had the weight of the world of his shoulders - Maru who was older at ten years old, wasn’t able to help him, because he had been too scarred by what they had seen. While Koki had cried for days and weeks over the death of his parents, Maru had been as still as a statue, moving like a robot when he had to move.
Koki had a feeling it was Maru who had gone outside and found the bodies, and the reason why they had been in such peaceful-looking positions when the trapdoor had finally opened up to let Koki out. Koki didn’t know whether or not to cry at that - he didn’t want to see the murdered bodies of his parents in whatever position of pain and suffering they had been in, but at the same time, now he felt so alone; would it be better if he had seen his parents and not let Maru go through that himself? Because Maru was all Koki had left in this world, and even he wasn’t all there anymore. Koki constantly wanted to cry. On some nights, he would just sit there in front of Maru, silently begging - and sometimes vocally begging - him to talk to him, to do anything, because Koki couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to believe it wasn’t his fault that Maru was like this, that it wasn’t him that Maru had been protecting from the horrible truth of death, but - the more he tried to convince himself of this, the more easily the tears came out and it wasn’t rare for Koki to spend a whole night, muffling his cries into his pillow.
Maru stood up, not saying anything as always, and Koki bit his lip so hard he could feel the copper taste of blood. Maru walked next to Koki, but other than that, was the only sign of life that he actually showed.
Koki had already begun to think that his best friend had died along with his parents that night and only a shell had remained.
He led Maru through the streets; he was quietly surveying the damage done.
“It’s not that bad this time,” Koki tried saying to the older boy, “It looks people were just a bit injured this time.”
He would never forget one of the big scale attacks that had come as a surprise, and ended up with many bodies strewn along the streets. Back then, Koki had screamed, and cried; then he had retreated back inside and curled up in a corner. That had been the first time Maru had shown any sort of life or independent thought in days. Koki, in his fear and grief, had not even noticed that Maru had moved to put a comforting arm around Koki until the next day, when Koki, having cried himself to sleep, had woken up and noticed that for the first time in so long, there was a comforting presence around him. For the first time in so long, he hadn’t felt scared and vulnerable.
Koki liked to think that after that, he was starting to break through the walls Maru had put up between his mind and the rest of the world; Maru reacted to his voice, and would sometimes nod when Koki tried hard enough to get him to answer a question. Nothing had yet to compare to that night though, when Maru had moved without prompting to Koki’s side. Sometimes, Maru reacted to others hurt in the street, but all he would do was twitch and act like he wanted to go to them, but then he wouldn’t move. Like he was afraid that if he went to them, he’d find something he didn’t want to see again.
Like death.
“I mean, it could be worse right?” Koki was chatting as cheerfully as he could to Maru, ignoring the annoyed gazes the neighbourhood adults gave him. He knew they didn’t want them there; they were orphans and a reminder that the adults themselves weren’t helping those that really needed help. Koki and Maru - and the others war orphans scattered around - were a reminder of the adults’ failures.
Suddenly, he looked up when he heard a cry from nearby. Koki’s eyebrows furrowed at the boy who ran into view. The boy looked like he was probably five or six years old, was very thin, and was obviously a war orphan from the dirtied up and torn up clothes; he wore no shoes and from the looks of it, his feet were bleeding. He had obviously been a war orphan for a much longer time than Koki had - right now, although they weren’t new or that clean, Koki’s clothes were still pretty much intact and only a bit dirty.
But despite his torn appearance, something that obviously put the adults off, Koki could only feel sympathy and fear. Was this how he was going to be in a while, after nobody looked out for him for that long?
“Pi…” the boy was crying, looking around with tearing brown eyes and looking as though he was going to burst into tears. He was a pitiful sight, stumbling every so often due to his injured feet, and Koki felt a lurch in his stomach when he saw just how thin the boy was - he was malnourished for sure, and through the tattered clothes, he could see a hint of ribs sticking out where ribs shouldn’t be sticking out. Perhaps it was the pitiful, heartbreaking appearance of the little boy that set Maru off.
When the boy let out a cry and fell, scraping across the half-destroyed pavement - frail-looking body skidding across tiny sharp rocks that were the remains of what had once been a smooth, nice-looking street - and lay there, breathing heavily crying out for someone named Pi, Maru suddenly moved.
Koki watched in surprise as Maru twitched and took a step forward, like he had all those times he had seen those injured people on the streets. He didn’t move after that, but that was normal.
Then, the cries came - heartbreaking, lost cries that made even Koki want to cry. Or maybe it was just a reflection of all the pain and feelings of being lost that Koki himself had been feeling.
Then Maru was instantly at the boy’s side and Koki blinked in surprise before following. He stared strangely at Maru, but didn’t say or do anything; this had been the first time Maru showed any initiative to someone not Koki. Shaking his head, Koki sat down on his heels in front of the boy as Maru helped him up.
“You okay?” he asked, trying to give him a reassuring smile, “What’s your name? What’re you doing here?”
“K…Kazuya,” the boy managed to say, “I…I lost Pi!” he burst into tears again.
“Pi? What…or who…is Pi?”
“Pi is…” Kazuya burst into tears, “Pi! I want Pi! Pi’s my best friend! He looks after me, and I look after him, but I lost him! I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t find him!”
He was obviously distressed.
Koki tried fruitlessly to calm the little boy down, trying to reassure him that he was sure this Pi would find him soon.
“Where did you last see him?”
“Before the attack…he…we were hiding, and something loud and scary-sounding hit our hiding place…and we were scared, so we ran…but then when I looked again, Pi was gone and I can’t find him now!”
He had burst into tears again; the thought of being away from the one person who he felt safe with was making him distraught. Koki knew the feeling; what would he feel like if he lost Maru as well? He’d probably be like this too, crying and looking for Maru even if his feet were all bloodied up and everything.
Koki later figured that it was probably the distressed cries, but Maru suddenly moved again, reaching out a hand to pat the crying boy on the head. Then, he turned to face Koki and Koki furrowed his brow as he realized Maru was trying to say something, but no words were coming out.
Of course; not talking for so long would do that to a person.
He concentrated, watching Maru’s mouth as he tried to form the words, but only managing to make rasping sounds. Koki bit his lip, “I think he’s telling you that it’ll be okay.”
He looked at Maru for confirmation and got a nod. Then Maru began to try to speak again, the rasping sounds growing louder and clearer with each attempt.
“And that we’ll help you look for your Pi,” Koki got another nod of confirmation and he realized it was becoming easier to translate the starting-to-be-coherent-sounding rasping sounds, “But if you don’t find him, we’ll help you find your way back to where you usually stay, so if this ‘Pi’ goes back there, he’ll find you there.”
Kazuya’s eyes were still tearing, but he had lost the distressed look as he looked up at Maru, who was obviously trying his best to relay comfort to Kazuya even though he couldn’t say it out loud.
It turned out that they wouldn’t need to look far, or even begin looking at all, for a few moments later when Koki was trying to get a description of what ‘Pi’ looked like out of Kazuya, there was a frantic, but relieved shout of, “KAZU-CHAN!”
A boy, who seemed a bit younger by maybe a year or two than Koki, was running to them, and before Koki could even ask if that was ‘Pi’, Kazuya had gotten up with lightning-fast moves (or so it seemed) and ran straight to the boy. Koki stared, blinking as he realized the two were hugging in the middle of the street. Kazuya was babbling something to the boy who was obviously Pi, and Pi was nodding - and answering which meant he understood that mess of words - and Koki just stared. He didn’t know how anyone could understand the words that sounded like babble coming from Kazuya’s mouth.
Finally, Pi just hugged Kazuya tightly and Kazuya stopped, smiling a smile so bright at Pi that Koki began to rethink his opinion of Kazuya being pitiful-looking. The smile was so genuinely bright, and was such a refreshing one from the strained smiles of the adults around him.
“Thank you for helping Kazu-chan.”
Koki hadn’t even realized that the two had made their way over until the other boy spoke.
Kazuya was smiling brightly, “Thanks,” he echoed.
Koki shook his head, “No problem.”
And it really wasn’t; he was happy, especially since Maru had done something besides get trapped in his own little world for a little while. It wasn’t much yet, as he had gone back to his world right after conveying his message and comforting Kazuya, just like that time with himself, but it was something. He hoped that this was another push in the right direction to get Maru back. He watched as the other two left, Pi never letting go of Kazuya as they walked away. He wouldn’t realize at that moment how important those two would be to him.
Later, he would be both shocked and appalled to find out that Yamapi had the same age as him - older than him by a few months in fact - and that Kazuya had not been five or even six at the time, but not even a year younger than he had been, at seven years old.
But he had learned one thing: they were alike, all of them, because no one would protect them. So they had to protect each other.
--
For nearly a year after that, they had run into each other on the streets, randomly or just after an attack, and it was with time and more instances where they helped a younger kid that Maru began to break out of the shell. He had just needed to feel like he could protect something rather than being helplessly watching death.
And they had all helped each other over the years, not really recognizing each other as ‘friends’ until a while later and they eventually ended up hiding in the same place. Somehow, they just never stopped after that.
Koki’s eyes narrowed as he watched Kazuya and Jin. He didn’t care if Yamapi thought Jin could be allowed one more chance - although he did trust Yamapi’s instincts regarding Kazuya a lot. The prince had hurt Kazuya many times already! Yamapi may be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of Kazuya’s feelings for him - something that was probably very hard to do considering how much more protective Yamapi was - but Koki and Maru would be taking their fake bodyguard titles seriously.
While Yamapi protected Kazuya in his own way of being the one person Kazuya trusted the most in the world and could go to, Koki and Maru would protect Kazuya their way - by watching the prince, because they had to, because they wanted to.
Because Kazuya was still one of their own, whether the war was going on or not.
“If he screws up…” Maru left his sentence hanging.
Koki simply smirked in the direction of the prince, “Then he’ll have sorely underestimated just how protective us orphans can be when it comes to each other.”
“We do have to go through Pi first if we want to do anything,” Maru said mournfully, “He’s our protection from Kazuya’s wrath.”
Koki grinned, “When I hinted we were doing this, he never protested it.” He reminded Maru, “And you know what that means?”
“It means he’s not entirely against this security measure either!” Maru shared a grin with Koki. He paused, looking around, “We might want to choose a better hiding spot next time though; I’m beginning to feel like a stalker because we’re so far away that we’re watching them through binoculars…are you sure we’re actually bodyguards and not stalkers?” he asked in worry.
“We’re bodyguards.” Koki said, “We’re allowed to feel like stalkers.”
Maru blinked.
“We’re stalkers that are allowed to be stalking.” Koki reasoned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes me feel better about spying though.”
“Ha! You just said spying! We are stalking them aren’t we?!”
“…no.” Koki said unconvincingly, but he grinned and pulled Maru down, “Lay low and try to read the prince’s lips or something,” he said as he handed the binoculars to Maru. He took out a notebook, “I’ll record what they’re saying.”
Maru simply sighed, “I wish life was back to those simple days when one wrong look at Kazuya or Notti or Pi or Yuya or Massu or - well, you get the point - and I could go chase someone and throw tiny rocks at their head in warning.”
“You can still do that,” Koki’s lips twitched; he really wanted to see that again.
“…Kazuya would kill me first,” Maru admitted, “I fear his right hook.”
Koki nodded sympathetically, rubbing his jaw in memory, “I do too.”
“Well, that was your own fault for trying to bribe Yuriko into getting Kazuya into a dress. He punched you and ran off to hide out with Pi and we couldn’t see him for three months without him punching you the moment he saw you. But anyway, that’s probably how Yuriko got that idea that day all this started; so, in a way, technically, all this is your fault.”
Koki merely glared at Maru, “It is not and I didn’t think she’d take me seriously. Yuriko is extremely scary; and it’s half Kazuya’s fault for not fighting against the dress that day.”
Maru scoffed, “Kazuya’s only known Yuriko and been reconciled with his brothers for about a year; would you fight back against someone who was closer to your blood family than you were - and a girl and your older brother’s wife on top of that?”
Koki glowered and he shoved the binoculars at him, “Start spying.”
Maru’s lips twitched; it seemed as though Koki wouldn’t have fought back either if it had been him, and he briefly wondered what Koki would look like, forced into a dress by Yuriko.
“Stop laughing!” Koki whined to Maru for the fifteenth time ten minutes later.
* * *
---- part 3 ----