(no subject)
Title: Chapter Eleven [of twelve?]
Disclaimer: (n) A statement disclaiming something, especially responsibility
Pairing: implied Yamapi/Nino if you really, desperately want to take it that way
Rating: G
Word Count: 6985
Notes: And with this, we're in the home stretch. No, I'm so serious. Right Back to You is coming to an end, likely in the next chapter. So enjoy more confusion, angst, and ridiculous Victorian-romance-novel-type drama. Many thanks to maiaide for the beta-ing done.
“What do you think of this, Tottchi? The great diplomat of the Borderlands Matsumoto dead at my hands, the palace in a panic over it,” Ueda smiled and rolled onto his stomach, facing the Pet. “Maybe I’ll go after the prince just for fun. It has such a lovely sound to it, doesn’t it? What do you think - should I leave Ami to take the blame, or should I bring Ami back with us? Aaaah, such a hard choice. I already have you and Miya, though three could be too much maintenance, but face it - Ami is the prettiest.”
Toma stared dully back at the assassin.
Ueda laughed. “Well I suppose you wouldn’t have an opinion anyway.”
Of course I do, Toma thought. I just wouldn’t care to share it with you.
Ueda pressed his head close to Toma’s face, grinning. “Miya left his pretty little noble’s mansion last week, you know.”
Toma blinked. He hadn’t known that. He was pretty sure Ueda shouldn’t have known that, either. How on earth was the assassin keeping watch on Miya? He shouldn’t have had contacts here, and he hadn’t left Toma’s side since they’d arrived. It was frightening.
The assassin sat back. “Gone far away. To a little friend’s house, perhaps. A whore house, more likely. The noble got tired of him after all.” He sighed heavily, “And after all the work he did to save Miya’s pathetic little life.”
Toma frowned, but continued to say nothing. He just hoped Ueda was wrong.
------
In the week since Nino’s disappearance from the Ohno family mansion, Kokubun Taichi had been searching for the boy. There hadn’t been a single sign of him. He’d checked with Nagase right away, thinking that perhaps Nino had taken shelter with his old friend from the Eastlands. Five days later there was no word on that front - and Nagase knew the hiding places in the noble’s quarters of the palace far better than either of the newcomers ever would.
(Nagase’s final word on it had gone something like this: “I was supposed to teach him the guitar, too. Now who am I supposed to drag out drinking? I’m going to deck your charge when I see him.” Taichi hadn’t really brought it up again.)
Of course that wasn’t to say Taichi hadn’t asked Jun or Aiba themselves. It was just that neither had anything better to report. He’d made Gussan and Mabo aware of Nino’s absence and asked both to keep their eyes open, and Nakai had muttered and grumbled about having to scrounge up his old contacts in the police force for three days running. Nothing had come to light.
Taichi was growing tired of it, and more convinced of the futility of the search with each day.
So naturally it stood to reason that on the day when he wasn’t searching for Ninomiya with the scared eyes and unsure manner (he’d pretend later that he had been, but Taichi had just really wanted a drink) that he stumbled across the small runaway, walking down the street with Yamashita’s son carrying some bags of groceries and apparently engaged in a casual conversation.
For a moment Taichi was sure he’d mistaken a lookalike for the Nino he sought. The Ninomiya that Taichi was looking for didn’t carry on casual conversations. He didn’t walk next to another person; he trailed a few steps behind them and looked down at the ground. He might try to carry another person’s packages, but he wouldn’t allow the other person to help him.
Drink forgotten, Taichi followed them all the way to Yamashita’s clinic. Ninomiya bowed his head to the doctor and his wife and disappeared into the back, taking the bags from the son, and went up to the living quarters on the second floor. Taichi watched Yamashita’s son arrange the front of the store idly; by the movement of his mouth he was probably listing off the groceries they’d purchased to his mother. Taichi gave Nino a moment to be up the stairs and made his way into the store.
“Welcome,” mother and son chorused over the jangling of bells.
Yamapi turned to greet the new customer and the words died in his throat. Ohno’s bodyguard Taichi stared hard at him. His eyes darted to the back hallway in spite of himself. Taichi knew that Nino was here.
“Ah, Taichi-san!” Yamapi’s mother said. “What can we do for you?”
“Just needed to speak to your son,” Taichi said, smiling pleasantly, “The Queen is raving about her new supplement and I was wondering what it was.”
“I’m sure we’ve got some still in stock. Let me go check.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Yamapi regarded the bodyguard as steadily as he could while his mother stepped into the store room, a look in his eyes like he already knew what the older man was coming for. In a way it was relieving. Taichi didn’t really want to have to explain himself.
“So he is here,” Taichi said conversationally.
“... You already knew that,” Yamapi hedged.
“I had to be sure.”
“Ohno-sama made him leave. You can’t blame him.”
“No, I can’t, and I don’t. But Ohno-sama is looking for him. He misses him.”
“Nino won’t tell me what happened, but he’s adamant about staying away,” Yamashita sighed and sat down. “I’m trying to get him to go back, but I won’t force him. He has to return on his own.”
Taichi frowned. “Ohno-sama’s already become depressed over his disappearance.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I’m going to tell him where Nino is. He’s worried.”
Yamapi shook his head. “Don’t, please. Not yet. Nino’s getting better. He’s a little more sure of himself. He’ll return to Ohno on his own and then this won’t happen again.”
Taichi stared at the young man steadily. “How can you be sure?”
It was a while before Yamashita could answer. Finally he let out a long breath and shook his head. “I can’t be, and I think you know that. But think about it. If you force Nino to return when the reason he left is because Ohno told him to leave, how will he think of himself? How will he feel? He’ll think that it’s just another command. He’ll think that another noble has changed his mind, and he’ll go back to being subservient, and Ohno will get flustered and frustrated and he’ll lash out, and Nino will never stop thinking of himself as a Pet. You know that’s what Ohno wants.”
“Meanwhile Ohno-sama will be left hurting and continue to blame himself.”
“Maybe that’s good for him,” Yamapi said quietly. “Maybe he’ll learn to be more patient.”
Taichi left the clinic in low spirits, and they weren’t improved on returning to the Ohno mansion. He was immediately beset upon by the young man, almost like Ohno had been waiting at the door for him to return with news.
“Have you heard anything?”
Taichi looked into the imploring face of his charge and nearly broke. Ohno had been asking the same question every time Taichi returned to the mansion from the outside for the last week. He shook his head and watched the young noble turn away, withdrawing back into his bedroom. It took everything he had to stay where he was and not go after his charge.
Yamashita was right, as much as Taichi didn’t want to admit it. Nino had to come back to Ohno on his own, or nothing would change.
------
Sakurai Sho, prince of the Borderlands, stood in front of Yamashita’s clinic, shifting his weight from foot to foot, holding a large bag of pastries in one hand, and wondering what he was going to do now that he was here.
He hadn’t even thought of a good excuse to come back - he’d just gotten up, finished his meeting with his father, slipped away from his guards, and left the palace to come here. He had no idea what had possessed him to do that.
Well, no, that was a lie. He knew exactly what had possessed him to do that. He just didn’t know why he thought coming back would change anything. After all, he’d come only the day before - to legitimately pick up the herbal supplements that his mother loved - and Nino was clearly still nervous just seeing his face. It was no easy thing to get Nino to look at him, let alone speak to him or be in the same room alone with him.
Sho still hadn’t told his parents about Nino. He’d made excuses to his guards about why he’d asked Shun and the boy to come in. He wasn’t sure that any of the guards believed him - they’d known him for a long time now and he’d never been a particularly good liar - but they’d let it go. His parents, on the other hand. Not only would they not believe him, but they definitely wouldn’t leave it alone; at least not without many lectures on giving up the past and worrying about present palace security.
The door to the clinic opened with its usual clanging of bells and Sho jumped, blinking owlishly. He hadn’t seen anybody come up to the windows, but there in the doorway Yamashita smiled back at him gently, one eyebrow raised towards his hairline. Sho felt his cheeks start to burn immediately.
“You’ve been standing out here a while, your Highness. Aren’t you cold?” Yamashita asked.
“Oh, Yamashita... Good day,” the prince began awkwardly. He hadn’t meant to be caught gawking at the window like a fool. “Um. My mother - she wanted... ah, that is. She forgot to write a new, uh... thing. Request. For colds. That she wanted to try... since it’s winter... This isn’t working, is it?”
Yamashita shook his head, still smiling and asked: “Large bag you have there. That for me?”
Sho looked down, only then remembering the bag and the tarts contained within. “Ah... sort of.”
“For Nino, huh?”
The prince blushed, realizing how rude he must have sounded. “That’s not to say you can’t have any. I mean, I bought enough so you could share it with him...”
The lanky boy grinned. “He’s in the back. I’ll bring him out, please, come in.”
Sho entered the clinic after Yamashita, watching the pharmacist’s retreating back. Though he knew he could make himself welcome in the store and nobody would dare stop him, he couldn’t bring himself to sit. He stood rigidly as he waited, clutching the straps of the bakery bag and wondering if Nino would accept the treats.
He’d gone to the same coffee shop that Shun and Nino had come from when he’d first seen them, not knowing if Nino had been to any others in the city. He didn’t know what Nino had shared with Shun, or what he liked, so he’d bought one of everything he thought would be good. He hadn’t known what else Nino might like to receive for a present.
The sheer volume of things that Sho didn’t know about his brother - no, not his brother yet, not until he could prove it - was enough to make him want to scream. He’d never been particularly good with people outside of the court. He’d been brought up with the other court-bred children - all of whom were taught to speak respectfully and act according to their station. At his university it had been hard getting other students to speak plainly to him, let alone to make friends with them, and he’d wound up speaking more with the professors than anybody else. But Nino wasn’t just another student who would gape at Sho in awe.
Nino was truly afraid of him, and Sho didn’t know how he could change that.
The prince jumped when a door in the back closed, drawn out of his thoughts by the abrupt sound. Soon after there was the shuffle of footsteps. Sho drew himself up to his full height in preparation to meet Nino once more. He furrowed his brow. Maybe that would be too intimidating? He slouched a little and after a moment his brow furrowed more. Nino slouched, as though he was trying to make himself small even while standing. Maybe he would find Sho slouching to be the same as mocking him. Sho straightened just in time as Yamashita and Nino appeared from the hallway.
Nino didn’t look up. Sho sighed and clutched the bag handles.
“Your Highness,” Yamashita said softly, bowing his head.
Nino’s head shot up, his eyes wide, and a second later he bowed deeply. Yamapi hadn’t told him that it was the prince again, and he certainly hadn’t expected it to be. He’d half expected it to be Aiba, or maybe even Taichi. He’d wanted it to be Ohno. He’d wanted to be told that he could return. He’d wanted to be given the chance to repent, to make up for his presumptions.
“Please, don’t,” Sho said softly, only just able to stop himself from reaching out, “I’m not here for anything official. I just...” he sighed, “I just want to... Here.”
Nino looked up slowly. The prince held the bag out in front of his body, his arms nearly parallel to the floor. He blinked and tilted his head. The name on the bag wasn’t a familiar one - it was with a hint of pride that he realized he could read it.
“Your Highness?” he asked softly, confused.
Sho’s knuckles were white around the bag handles. “Shun told me you’d been here, to this café, on the day we met. I didn’t know if you’d been anywhere else since. There’s... uh... one of everything. Shun told me you’d seemed to like the food, but I didn’t want to get you sweet things if you don’t like them or if they make you sick or anything - ”
“Thank you,” Nino said quietly.
Sho took a step forward without even realizing he had. Nino tensed visibly and tried automatically to step back. Yamapi put his hand on Nino’s shoulder and gave him a firm but gentle push forward.
“They’re for you. Take them.”
Nino came forward - it felt like years before he was close enough to reach out and take the bag. His fingers brushed Sho’s as he curled them around the handle. Sho fought down the urge to just take Nino’s hand in his, and let the bag go.
“Thank you again, your Highness,” Nino said, offering a tiny version of a smile.
“You’re welcome,” Sho managed with a dry throat. His heart beat quickly. Nino was talking to him. Maybe. If he could only keep it up, and really get him into a conversation... “Do you - ”
Nino, who had started to turn to look for a place to set the bag, spun back around and looked up. Sho winced internally. Was that such a set back already? But Yamashita didn’t look particularly worried. Nino tilted his head when Sho was silent for a span of three heartbeats.
“Did you want something, your Highness?”
The prince shook his head to clear it. “Oh, no. I just... I wondered if you were free.”
“Free?”
“From whatever horribly mindless and boring jobs Yamashita’s got you doing.”
Nino immediately started to shake his head, glancing around to see if Yamapi was still with them, caught between wanting to please both Sho and the young pharmacist with his answer. (Yamapi was there, but he was also peeking into the box of snacks like he’d never seen food before.)
“They aren’t - they aren’t all boring,” Nino finally said, and grimaced immediately.
Sho grinned and Yamapi started laughing. Nino looked rather mortified, but he didn’t try to apologize. The prince hoped it meant that the younger man was getting more comfortable - at least with Yamashita.
Yamapi collected himself quickly. “He’s free, your Highness. There’s not much going on here.”
“But the accounts - ” Nino started.
“Can be done tomorrow,” the pharmacist said, smiling. “They’re backed up five years already, another day isn’t going to hurt them. Go on.”
Nino turned to Sho, bowing his head. “I guess I’m free, then, your Highness.”
Sho couldn’t help but notice that Nino was less than enthusiastic, but then, if Nino was still staying with Yamashita, there was probably another reason for it that maybe he could help Nino with. Then maybe Nino would trust him. The prince deflated a bit, though he kept grinning. It was a big maybe.
“Will you come with me to the park, then? It’s a nice day outside.”
“Ah - I don’t have - ”
“You can wear mine,” Yamapi said already starting to disappear with the café bag in hand. “I’ll put these away and bring it down.”
“Don’t have what?” Sho asked, brow furrowed at the cryptic statement.
Nino made an embarrassed little shrug. “A coat. I left it when I left.”
The prince blinked, surprised, “Left?”
The younger boy looked absolutely mortified, his mouth already opening, and Sho knew what was going to come in the pattern by now. He held up his hand, drawing himself up and trying to look authoritative - which had never been a particularly strong point of his. He still remembered keeping tallies of who mistook Jun to be the prince over him when they were younger. But Nino didn’t appear to need anything more than a hand raised to see authority. The younger boy snapped his mouth closed and hunched.
Sho sighed. “No bowing, no apologizing. I’m not here to interrogate you, I’m not here to be angry with you. I don’t even know what happened. I’m just here to see you, as your... friend. Nothing more. Okay? You don’t have to be scared of me. I don’t want you to be scared of me.”
Nino nodded, not looking up. Yamapi chose that moment to enter, and Sho couldn’t decide if he was thankful or not. The lanky boy held the coat in front of him, smiling a little at Nino as he came to a stop by the shorter boy’s side.
“Got the coat.”
Nino tried to smile as he took it and slipped it on.
Sho smiled. “I’ll have him back soon.”
“Take your time, your Highness,” Yamapi insisted, grinning in jest, “Please, take your time. Nino needs to get out more. He’s as pale as the newly fallen snow and just as energetic.”
“Pi!” Nino whined softly, “You don’t need to say that.”
The pharmacist just smiled at him. Nino pouted. For two days Yamapi had been needling Nino at every presented opportunity - and apparently Nino presented him with a lot of opportunities - being annoying and obvious about the things he used to tease the smaller boy about. He was so constant with it that Nino had begun to see Yamapi as a slightly skinnier and much quieter version of Aiba - someone who maybe really wasn’t going to hurt him because he maybe really liked Nino.
Nino buttoned up the coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m ready, your Highness.”
“Would you like to get lunch?” Sho asked.
The younger boy’s head shot up.
“He’d love to,” Yamapi said quickly, “He’s already sick of my cooking, I can tell.”
“Only because it’s the same rice thing everyday,” Nino said.
Yamashita pouted at him. “And that’s why you’re going to get a nice lunch with the prince. People will ask for your autograph from now until the end of time. So go on,” he said, shooing him towards the door. “Have fun and come back and tell me every detail so I can live vicariously through it.”
Nino laughed softly, shooting a tentative smile at Sho, who was standing and watching Nino laugh like it was the most treasured thing he’d ever seen. Nino blushed and looked away. Sho realized what he was doing and offered a sheepish smile instead.
“Sorry. Let’s go before the guards track me down and start tailing us.”
He held out his hand to Nino, and Yamapi watched with bated breath as Nino looked at it for a moment. Then Nino reached out his hand and took Sho’s, and the prince all but glowed as he led the younger boy out of the clinic. Nino looked back once the door closed behind him, and Yamapi waved to them. Nino smiled a little and waved back once. The pharmacist watched them until they were out of sight through the windows, and hoped that Sho would be able to convince Nino to talk to him.
------
Sho was careful not to get too close to Nino as they walked, or even touch him aside from their clasped hands. The smaller boy didn’t seem much inclined to walk very far away from him, but Sho didn’t know exactly what reasons for that were, and he wanted Nino to be as comfortable as he could be.
“Where are we going, your Highness?” Nino asked, after they’d walked a while.
His voice was so soft that Sho almost didn’t hear him. The prince blinked. Then he offered a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, looking around to see where they were and what was available.
“Truthfully? I... ah... I hadn’t thought about it.”
Nino stared up at Sho, his expression nearing incredulous. Sho had nothing more to offer him than the sheepish smile. The boy continued to stare, the corners of his mouth twitching like he wanted to smile, or maybe even laugh, or maybe he was just horrified by Sho’s complete lack of a plan.
“Your Highness...” he started, voice low and soft. The sort of voice that he’d used when he wanted to correct Jin without being slapped, “Please, I may be wrong, but... if you’re the one asking me to eat with you, shouldn’t you have thought of where you wanted to go?”
Now the prince stared at him - in fact stopped dead in the street. Nino stopped with him automatically, eyes going wide. He hadn’t misjudged the prince, had he? What if that had overstepped the boundaries of acceptable behavior? What was he going to do? Nino looked away, ashamed.
“I’m - ”
Sho caught Nino in a sudden hug, grinning brightly, and proclaimed, “You sound just like Jun!”
Nino froze, blinking. “S-sound like J-jun-sama, your Highness?”
The older boy stepped back, still grinning, and nodded. “Jun yells at me all the time for things like that. You should have heard the earful I got when I got lost the first time I went to classes at university.”
The former Pet blinked, still somewhere back on ‘yells’. Jun yelled at his prince? And his prince allowed it? What sort of strange country was this? Nino had seen men with higher ranking by title than Lord Kitagawa killed for talking back to him - how did you get away with yelling at the prince?
“Nino?” Sho asked softly, now looking worried.
“Does Jun-sama get in trouble?” Nino asked meekly.
“Eh? For what?”
“Yelling at you, your Highness.”
Sho snorted, grinning. He held out his hand to Nino once more and when the boy took it, he started walking again. “Hardly. The girls of the court have always been kept together, see. After the attack, father wanted to keep the boys of the court together for protection as well - he’d just lost y- his second son, he wasn’t going to risk anyone else’s.”
Nino caught the slip: Sho had been about to say ‘you’. He kept himself from sighing. So the prince still thought that he was this Kazunari. He would have to work on proving that he wasn’t. Sho continued smoothly, though Nino had to give him that.
“The country didn’t really have money for every noble to pay for their own extra guards at the time, and certainly not for a special one for me. So Mother proposed setting us up as the women were, and that’s when I really met Jun for the first time. He was a strict and opinionated kid from the beginning. He tried to boss everyone around, even though he was only just four.”
The prince laughed, swinging their hands idly, and Nino found himself relaxing in spite of his trained, habitual wariness. It was hard not to, when Sho practically exuded contentment.
“Of course, I was a little brat. I pulled rank on him whenever I could, just because I could, and told him off on really silly things. He remembers it well - everything now is just well deserved pay-back. Now that we’ve grown up it’s really kind of fun to watch him work.”
Nino smiled a little. Sho sounded so very fond of Jun, like Jun was also his little brother. And maybe that was for the best - Sho needed to let go of the boy he’d lost so long ago. The prince paused, having finished his narration, to look around and see where they were. He smiled widely and pointed at a store front across the street from them.
“That place is really good - want to go there?”
Nino shrugged. “I don’t really know any of the stores. If you say it’s good, I’ll believe you.”
Sho frowned just a little, but realized that, indeed, Nino probably didn’t know the stores and restaurants in the Capital. He had first met Nino having just come from a guided snack with Shun, after all. When Sho mentioned the surprise meeting with Shun and Nino, Jun and Aiba had recounted their adventures in shopping with Nino. That shopping trip had been almost a month ago. Nino had probably never gotten out much after that - if Sho’s guess was right he’d only found his way to the clinic by accident.
The prince smiled. “Well, I think it’s good. Let’s eat there, and you can tell me if I’m wrong.”
------
Sho, as far as Nino was concerned, had been very right about the restaurant. He sat back after he’d eaten his fill and offered the prince a timid smile. Across the table, Sho grinned brightly in return. They’d been given a private room, ostensibly because the main dining room was very full, but Nino had caught the fond roll of eyes from the man who greeted the diners.
As soon as they’d walked in, the people nearest to them had perked up, and eyes had followed Sho and Nino all the way to the back. Everybody knew their prince, and apparently he came unattended to eat here often. The waiting staff had fallen into an easy rhythm, suddenly much more attentive to their tables in the hopes of keeping the customers distracted in their seats rather than getting up to disturb the royal and his strangely shy guest.
They were taken to the back and given a booth which could be closed off from the rest of the diners by pulling a curtain. Sho slid into his seat first. Nino wasn’t even given a chance to worry about where he was meant to sit - the prince motioned him to sit in the seat across.
“Order anything you like, don’t worry about the cost, okay?”
Nino nodded.
Sho grinned softly and handed him the menu.
“What did you think?” Sho asked when they left the restaurant hours later.
“It was very good, your Highness,” Nino said softly, “You were right.”
Sho laughed. “Oh, good. At least my taste in food is still holding up. Not much else does.”
Ninomiya smiled a little. They walked slowly, Sho at the younger man’s side, heading in no particular direction. Except, Sho realized, that his feet were heading towards the palace grounds. They knew what he wanted no matter how much he tried to keep it from Nino. He chewed his lip, knowing he’d have to ask before the grounds came into sight or Nino would never agree to it.
“Can I show you something?” he asked. “Not the painting again, don’t worry,” he continued quickly, before Nino could open his mouth. “Something else.”
He watched Nino’s face as the younger boy swallowed and eyed him somewhat suspiciously. He watched the expressions turn from suspicion to a slow acceptance. Nino was coming to his conclusions and Sho intended to let him take his own time - though it didn’t stop him from trying to project all the sincerity he could in hopes of swinging the conclusion in his favor.
It was a while later, but Nino nodded. Sho beamed. He held out his hand and Nino took it. The prince led Nino through the city to the public palace gardens. They took the same side entrance into the palace Sho had brought Nino and Shun through not that long ago.
Sho called up to the small watchman’s platform and Nino watched the gate swing open. There were two armed guards standing at the doors to the palace - like last time, they immediately made to search Nino. Nino pressed close to Sho’s side, wide-eyed and paling, and Sho waved away the guards before they could look twice at him.
“This boy is my guest. He is not to be touched by any hands that he does not agree to - not now, not later, not ever. I will not have him harassed.”
The two men fell back, bowing. Sho smiled and squeezed Nino’s hand, tugging him along into the palace. “I hate having to talk like that,” he said as they walked. “I must sound so dumb.”
They were in the same brightly lit, wide hallway that Nino remembered from before, but Sho wasn’t leading him in the same direction - they’d taken a different turn and rounded a different corner. Sho felt Nino relax next to him when he realized they really weren’t going to the painting.
“Isn’t that how royals talk?” Nino asked softly.
“Only when giving orders or in other formal situations, really. It’s too tedious otherwise.”
They stepped down a set of stairs at the end of this hall and suddenly were outside, walking on a covered boardwalk of dark oak. When he looked up, Nino saw the ceiling of the cover was painted in brilliant colors.
“‘Tedious’?” he echoed after a moment.
“Too much work,” the prince clarified, “and for no good reason.”
The smaller boy nodded. Sho led him down the hall until they came to the side of a building with an ornate door and yet more armed guards. These two merely bowed their heads to Sho, who led Nino into the building entrance and to the side.
“Leave your shoes here,” the prince said. “This is the way to where we live. It’s the short way, unconnected to the state buildings - the ones where the actual ruling happens. That pathway is over there.”
Nino followed Sho’s finger, seeing another path connecting to another set of doors at the opposite end of the entrance. He nodded, looking around this lush hallway curiously. It was not as wide as the hallway from the main building. It wasn’t made of marble, either, but more dark oak and bright matting with thin lines of carpet running down the center.
Somehow it was cozy, Nino decided. He’d never thought ornamentation could be cozy.
They followed the hallway until it came to an intersection - it wasn’t very far in. To the right, the hall led out into a courtyard. Continuing straight the hall led on towards many more connecting halls and what were probably the large rooms that the royal family lived in. Rooms Nino wasn’t supposed to see, even though Sho snuck him into them all the time.
To the left, the hall went on a few feet, turned right for another twenty or so, and opened into a receiving room. Sho started to move straight. Nino turned to the left and began to walk of his own accord down the hall. It took a second of gawking before the prince could get his legs working enough to follow him, slack jawed.
“Nino?” Sho asked softly.
The receiving room was closed from the other rooms by two simply painted sliding doors - their dining room was on the other side of one of them, and his nursery beyond that, and the bedrooms were behind the other. Nino giggled and pulled Sho into the receiving room eagerly.
Mama would like to see Sho-nii.
“Nino...” Sho breathed again.
“Sho-nii is slow!” Nino whined, pulling on his arm.
Sho wondered if he’d hit his head and not realized it, or if perhaps he was dreaming, because this surely wasn’t happening. But the look in Nino’s eyes proved that the boy wasn’t all there - not in the way Sho had come to recognize. This wasn’t Nino; this was Kazunari.
“Mama’ll have cookies for us if we’re good,” Nino grinned. He made a bee-line for his room, frowning at the closed door and pouting at Sho. “Sho-nii, open.”
The prince reached out and did so automatically, his mind whirling with realizations. This wasn’t just Kazunari; this was Kazunari who was still four years old. Sho’s breath caught in his throat. If he was still four, was he Kazunari who had seen his mother die?
The slight boy went straight to his bed and scooped up the musty bear that laid on the pillows. It had been there, untouched, since the rooms had been sealed, but Sho was pretty sure Nino didn’t notice the smell.
Nino held the toy out to him, smiling. “Mama fixted him. His ear got hurt.”
Sho examined the rough stitching that held the ear to the bear’s head, smiling despite the lump in his throat. Nino had often chewed the poor thing; Sho wasn’t surprised it had torn off. Part of Sho knew he should be calling for the guards, or his father, or a maid - anyone to come witness this and help calm Nino down. The rest of him couldn’t bear to make it stop. This was his brother.
Sho returned the bear to Nino’s outstretched hands and Nino shuffled passed him. He held the bear, face content, and went straight for his mother’s room before Sho could stop him. Sho followed after him just in time to see him stop dead in the doorway of the empty bedroom. Every line of Nino’s body radiated confusion. Nino turned around and frowned, going back to the receiving room. Sho followed him, swallowing.
Nino turned around to look at Sho, frowning a four-year-old’s confusion. “Sho-nii, why’s it quiet? Where’s Mama? She gone somewhere without Kazu?”
The prince swore internally. He wanted his brother, but he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t explain that Nino’s mother was gone. He put his hands on Nino’s shoulders gently, “No, Kazu, of course she hasn’t. You’re not seeing things right. Come back to now. Come back to me.”
The younger boy blinked, confused by the silly words. Where was he if not with Sho?
Sho smiled encouragingly. “We’ll walk somewhere else. To the garden.”
Nino smiled brightly. Of course! His mama’s favorite garden! She’d have to be there. Sho-nii was so smart. He freed himself from Sho’s hold and led the way back into his mother’s room and out her back door. He hummed to himself and swung the toy bear in his hands, heedless of Sho walking quickly beside him and watching him intently.
There was a long walk down the veranda - it went along the entirety of the building - before they got to the steps leading down into the open pebble-laid path that would take them to the gardens. They had just gotten onto the first pebbles when Sho sped up, standing in front of Nino and stopping him from going any farther. Holding Nino’s thin shoulder in one hand, Sho tipped up his chin and made the slighter boy look up at him. For a long time he said nothing.
Nino frowned softly, blinking, his mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out. Why was Sho-nii stopping him? What was going on? But the words wouldn’t come out. Finally, Sho pulled him into a hug and held Nino tightly to his chest.
“Nino, come back to me. Come back to the present, Nino. Come back to now.”
“But Mama’s in the garden,” Nino said petulantly.
Sho shook his head. “She’s not, Kazu. She’s not here anymore.”
“Where’d she go?!” a four-year-old’s voice demanded.
But Nino thought he might have known.
Sho just held him tighter. “Come back, Nino. You should see Jun and Aiba. Yamapi will be waiting for you for dinner. They’re the now - they’re your now, okay? Come back to be with them. You need to go home to Ohno.”
Ohno...
Nino frowned. What was Sho-nii talking about? There wasn’t an Ohno in Mama’s garden. There was only Ohno back in the Ohno family mansion. He hadn’t known an Ohno - just his sister and Sho-nii and Mama and the men in shiny plates who followed them everywhere.
“Nino, stay with me,” Sho said, holding Nino still tighter when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to speak any time soon. “Your mother isn’t here anymore. She’s in the past, and you can’t stay there. You’re too old for that.”
His mother in the past... like the man who’d taken him from his mother’s arms so many years ago.
Sho looked into Nino’s eyes. There was a glazed quality to them, but they were becoming clearer. He was coming back, and as soon as he did, Sho was going to lose his brother again. He pressed his forehead to Nino’s. Even though it hurt, Nino couldn’t be Kazu anymore.
“Ohno’s waiting for you, you know,” Sho said softly.
Ohno... Ohno’s hadn’t come to get him. He’d left because Ohno told him to. Ohno hadn’t come to get him. Nino tensed, coming back to arms wrapped tightly around him. It was warm. Comforting, like Aiba had always been. But it wasn’t Aiba.
Nino looked away from Sho and laughed softly. “No he’s not. He told me to leave.”
Sho didn’t let him go from the hug; if anything he held on tighter. “He is, Nino, you know he is,” he said. “You said if I said so, you’d believe me. Believe me now - I know he’s waiting for you, and probably kicking himself for being stupid.”
The younger boy chewed his lip and looked down. “... It’s really hard to actually kick yourself.”
Sho burst into startled laughter. “How do you know?”
“Aiba-chan’s tried before.” Nino gave Sho a wan smile, which faded quickly. He looked over Sho’s shoulder. His voice sounded raw and tired. “My mother’s really dead.”
It wasn’t a question, but Sho nodded anyway.
“A man took me away from here. Kitagawa took me when he died.”
The prince kissed the top of Nino’s head. “You’re safe now. It’s over - you never have to go back,” he said, brushing back his hair. “I had wanted to show you my rooms, you know. I thought maybe you’d like to see the art work Ohno’s given me, or see Aiba. I didn’t expect this at all.”
“Looks like I gave your Highness a show.”
Sho tipped Nino’s chin up again, gently but firmly, forcing their eyes to meet. “No. You gave your brother a show. Your brother, who has been hoping for a very long time that you would come back. You have, and I won’t let anything else happen to you, ever.”
Nino nodded slowly. His brother. Kazu... the name sounded so strange, but it was nonetheless his. Sho had been right after all. Sho was his brother. Which meant... Nino shuddered. His legs felt weak. He reached up and wrapped his arms tightly around Sho’s waist. He was... Then he’d have to...
As though he knew what the younger man was thinking, Sho smiled softly and shook his head. He let Nino cling to him, brushing out his hair gently. “Don’t worry... I’m still not going to make you stay here. Say the word and I won’t even mention it again.”
Ninomiya laughed again, resting his head on the prince’s shoulder. The bear was caught between them. “I want to see your rooms. And Aiba-chan and Jun-sama.”
“We don’t have to tell them.”
The slighter boy nodded. “Not yet.”
Sho led Nino back up the veranda steps and along the smooth wood path to the back entrance of Nino’s old home. “Stop using suffixes with Jun’s name, though. He’ll get a bigger head than he’s already got.”
“... If he asks me why I don’t, can I tell him you said that?”
------
Nino wasn’t coming back.
Ohno realized that now. Nino had been gone for over a week. There’d been no sign of him in or around the house, and there’d been no sign of him anywhere near the palace - neither Aiba nor Jun had been able to find him - and those were the only two places Nino knew.
Nino was gone.
It was his fault. He would never see Nino again, and it was his own fault. He’d done everything wrong. He knew that Nino still had strange ideas, he should have spoken to him before, should have sat down and explained everything. But every explanation had sounded so wrong in his head that he’d just put it off.
His own idiocy had hurt Nino, and now Nino was gone.
Ohno took another sip from his glass of whiskey, grimaced at the watery taste, and reached for the bottle. The ice had long ago melted; he was drinking it straight now. The alcohol burned down his throat and the taste made him wince. He was going to have a terrible headache in the morning. He couldn’t make himself care.
Taichi had nothing to report. Nagase didn’t know anything. Nobody had seen Nino anywhere.
Ohno took another gulp from his glass. How could he have done that? How could he have hurt Nino so badly? How could he have denied what he knew was the truth and turned it against Nino like that? Nino would never trust him, would never see him as a friend now.
And it was Ohno’s fault entirely.
Disclaimer: (n) A statement disclaiming something, especially responsibility
Pairing: implied Yamapi/Nino if you really, desperately want to take it that way
Rating: G
Word Count: 6985
Notes: And with this, we're in the home stretch. No, I'm so serious. Right Back to You is coming to an end, likely in the next chapter. So enjoy more confusion, angst, and ridiculous Victorian-romance-novel-type drama. Many thanks to maiaide for the beta-ing done.
“What do you think of this, Tottchi? The great diplomat of the Borderlands Matsumoto dead at my hands, the palace in a panic over it,” Ueda smiled and rolled onto his stomach, facing the Pet. “Maybe I’ll go after the prince just for fun. It has such a lovely sound to it, doesn’t it? What do you think - should I leave Ami to take the blame, or should I bring Ami back with us? Aaaah, such a hard choice. I already have you and Miya, though three could be too much maintenance, but face it - Ami is the prettiest.”
Toma stared dully back at the assassin.
Ueda laughed. “Well I suppose you wouldn’t have an opinion anyway.”
Of course I do, Toma thought. I just wouldn’t care to share it with you.
Ueda pressed his head close to Toma’s face, grinning. “Miya left his pretty little noble’s mansion last week, you know.”
Toma blinked. He hadn’t known that. He was pretty sure Ueda shouldn’t have known that, either. How on earth was the assassin keeping watch on Miya? He shouldn’t have had contacts here, and he hadn’t left Toma’s side since they’d arrived. It was frightening.
The assassin sat back. “Gone far away. To a little friend’s house, perhaps. A whore house, more likely. The noble got tired of him after all.” He sighed heavily, “And after all the work he did to save Miya’s pathetic little life.”
Toma frowned, but continued to say nothing. He just hoped Ueda was wrong.
------
In the week since Nino’s disappearance from the Ohno family mansion, Kokubun Taichi had been searching for the boy. There hadn’t been a single sign of him. He’d checked with Nagase right away, thinking that perhaps Nino had taken shelter with his old friend from the Eastlands. Five days later there was no word on that front - and Nagase knew the hiding places in the noble’s quarters of the palace far better than either of the newcomers ever would.
(Nagase’s final word on it had gone something like this: “I was supposed to teach him the guitar, too. Now who am I supposed to drag out drinking? I’m going to deck your charge when I see him.” Taichi hadn’t really brought it up again.)
Of course that wasn’t to say Taichi hadn’t asked Jun or Aiba themselves. It was just that neither had anything better to report. He’d made Gussan and Mabo aware of Nino’s absence and asked both to keep their eyes open, and Nakai had muttered and grumbled about having to scrounge up his old contacts in the police force for three days running. Nothing had come to light.
Taichi was growing tired of it, and more convinced of the futility of the search with each day.
So naturally it stood to reason that on the day when he wasn’t searching for Ninomiya with the scared eyes and unsure manner (he’d pretend later that he had been, but Taichi had just really wanted a drink) that he stumbled across the small runaway, walking down the street with Yamashita’s son carrying some bags of groceries and apparently engaged in a casual conversation.
For a moment Taichi was sure he’d mistaken a lookalike for the Nino he sought. The Ninomiya that Taichi was looking for didn’t carry on casual conversations. He didn’t walk next to another person; he trailed a few steps behind them and looked down at the ground. He might try to carry another person’s packages, but he wouldn’t allow the other person to help him.
Drink forgotten, Taichi followed them all the way to Yamashita’s clinic. Ninomiya bowed his head to the doctor and his wife and disappeared into the back, taking the bags from the son, and went up to the living quarters on the second floor. Taichi watched Yamashita’s son arrange the front of the store idly; by the movement of his mouth he was probably listing off the groceries they’d purchased to his mother. Taichi gave Nino a moment to be up the stairs and made his way into the store.
“Welcome,” mother and son chorused over the jangling of bells.
Yamapi turned to greet the new customer and the words died in his throat. Ohno’s bodyguard Taichi stared hard at him. His eyes darted to the back hallway in spite of himself. Taichi knew that Nino was here.
“Ah, Taichi-san!” Yamapi’s mother said. “What can we do for you?”
“Just needed to speak to your son,” Taichi said, smiling pleasantly, “The Queen is raving about her new supplement and I was wondering what it was.”
“I’m sure we’ve got some still in stock. Let me go check.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Yamapi regarded the bodyguard as steadily as he could while his mother stepped into the store room, a look in his eyes like he already knew what the older man was coming for. In a way it was relieving. Taichi didn’t really want to have to explain himself.
“So he is here,” Taichi said conversationally.
“... You already knew that,” Yamapi hedged.
“I had to be sure.”
“Ohno-sama made him leave. You can’t blame him.”
“No, I can’t, and I don’t. But Ohno-sama is looking for him. He misses him.”
“Nino won’t tell me what happened, but he’s adamant about staying away,” Yamashita sighed and sat down. “I’m trying to get him to go back, but I won’t force him. He has to return on his own.”
Taichi frowned. “Ohno-sama’s already become depressed over his disappearance.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I’m going to tell him where Nino is. He’s worried.”
Yamapi shook his head. “Don’t, please. Not yet. Nino’s getting better. He’s a little more sure of himself. He’ll return to Ohno on his own and then this won’t happen again.”
Taichi stared at the young man steadily. “How can you be sure?”
It was a while before Yamashita could answer. Finally he let out a long breath and shook his head. “I can’t be, and I think you know that. But think about it. If you force Nino to return when the reason he left is because Ohno told him to leave, how will he think of himself? How will he feel? He’ll think that it’s just another command. He’ll think that another noble has changed his mind, and he’ll go back to being subservient, and Ohno will get flustered and frustrated and he’ll lash out, and Nino will never stop thinking of himself as a Pet. You know that’s what Ohno wants.”
“Meanwhile Ohno-sama will be left hurting and continue to blame himself.”
“Maybe that’s good for him,” Yamapi said quietly. “Maybe he’ll learn to be more patient.”
Taichi left the clinic in low spirits, and they weren’t improved on returning to the Ohno mansion. He was immediately beset upon by the young man, almost like Ohno had been waiting at the door for him to return with news.
“Have you heard anything?”
Taichi looked into the imploring face of his charge and nearly broke. Ohno had been asking the same question every time Taichi returned to the mansion from the outside for the last week. He shook his head and watched the young noble turn away, withdrawing back into his bedroom. It took everything he had to stay where he was and not go after his charge.
Yamashita was right, as much as Taichi didn’t want to admit it. Nino had to come back to Ohno on his own, or nothing would change.
------
Sakurai Sho, prince of the Borderlands, stood in front of Yamashita’s clinic, shifting his weight from foot to foot, holding a large bag of pastries in one hand, and wondering what he was going to do now that he was here.
He hadn’t even thought of a good excuse to come back - he’d just gotten up, finished his meeting with his father, slipped away from his guards, and left the palace to come here. He had no idea what had possessed him to do that.
Well, no, that was a lie. He knew exactly what had possessed him to do that. He just didn’t know why he thought coming back would change anything. After all, he’d come only the day before - to legitimately pick up the herbal supplements that his mother loved - and Nino was clearly still nervous just seeing his face. It was no easy thing to get Nino to look at him, let alone speak to him or be in the same room alone with him.
Sho still hadn’t told his parents about Nino. He’d made excuses to his guards about why he’d asked Shun and the boy to come in. He wasn’t sure that any of the guards believed him - they’d known him for a long time now and he’d never been a particularly good liar - but they’d let it go. His parents, on the other hand. Not only would they not believe him, but they definitely wouldn’t leave it alone; at least not without many lectures on giving up the past and worrying about present palace security.
The door to the clinic opened with its usual clanging of bells and Sho jumped, blinking owlishly. He hadn’t seen anybody come up to the windows, but there in the doorway Yamashita smiled back at him gently, one eyebrow raised towards his hairline. Sho felt his cheeks start to burn immediately.
“You’ve been standing out here a while, your Highness. Aren’t you cold?” Yamashita asked.
“Oh, Yamashita... Good day,” the prince began awkwardly. He hadn’t meant to be caught gawking at the window like a fool. “Um. My mother - she wanted... ah, that is. She forgot to write a new, uh... thing. Request. For colds. That she wanted to try... since it’s winter... This isn’t working, is it?”
Yamashita shook his head, still smiling and asked: “Large bag you have there. That for me?”
Sho looked down, only then remembering the bag and the tarts contained within. “Ah... sort of.”
“For Nino, huh?”
The prince blushed, realizing how rude he must have sounded. “That’s not to say you can’t have any. I mean, I bought enough so you could share it with him...”
The lanky boy grinned. “He’s in the back. I’ll bring him out, please, come in.”
Sho entered the clinic after Yamashita, watching the pharmacist’s retreating back. Though he knew he could make himself welcome in the store and nobody would dare stop him, he couldn’t bring himself to sit. He stood rigidly as he waited, clutching the straps of the bakery bag and wondering if Nino would accept the treats.
He’d gone to the same coffee shop that Shun and Nino had come from when he’d first seen them, not knowing if Nino had been to any others in the city. He didn’t know what Nino had shared with Shun, or what he liked, so he’d bought one of everything he thought would be good. He hadn’t known what else Nino might like to receive for a present.
The sheer volume of things that Sho didn’t know about his brother - no, not his brother yet, not until he could prove it - was enough to make him want to scream. He’d never been particularly good with people outside of the court. He’d been brought up with the other court-bred children - all of whom were taught to speak respectfully and act according to their station. At his university it had been hard getting other students to speak plainly to him, let alone to make friends with them, and he’d wound up speaking more with the professors than anybody else. But Nino wasn’t just another student who would gape at Sho in awe.
Nino was truly afraid of him, and Sho didn’t know how he could change that.
The prince jumped when a door in the back closed, drawn out of his thoughts by the abrupt sound. Soon after there was the shuffle of footsteps. Sho drew himself up to his full height in preparation to meet Nino once more. He furrowed his brow. Maybe that would be too intimidating? He slouched a little and after a moment his brow furrowed more. Nino slouched, as though he was trying to make himself small even while standing. Maybe he would find Sho slouching to be the same as mocking him. Sho straightened just in time as Yamashita and Nino appeared from the hallway.
Nino didn’t look up. Sho sighed and clutched the bag handles.
“Your Highness,” Yamashita said softly, bowing his head.
Nino’s head shot up, his eyes wide, and a second later he bowed deeply. Yamapi hadn’t told him that it was the prince again, and he certainly hadn’t expected it to be. He’d half expected it to be Aiba, or maybe even Taichi. He’d wanted it to be Ohno. He’d wanted to be told that he could return. He’d wanted to be given the chance to repent, to make up for his presumptions.
“Please, don’t,” Sho said softly, only just able to stop himself from reaching out, “I’m not here for anything official. I just...” he sighed, “I just want to... Here.”
Nino looked up slowly. The prince held the bag out in front of his body, his arms nearly parallel to the floor. He blinked and tilted his head. The name on the bag wasn’t a familiar one - it was with a hint of pride that he realized he could read it.
“Your Highness?” he asked softly, confused.
Sho’s knuckles were white around the bag handles. “Shun told me you’d been here, to this café, on the day we met. I didn’t know if you’d been anywhere else since. There’s... uh... one of everything. Shun told me you’d seemed to like the food, but I didn’t want to get you sweet things if you don’t like them or if they make you sick or anything - ”
“Thank you,” Nino said quietly.
Sho took a step forward without even realizing he had. Nino tensed visibly and tried automatically to step back. Yamapi put his hand on Nino’s shoulder and gave him a firm but gentle push forward.
“They’re for you. Take them.”
Nino came forward - it felt like years before he was close enough to reach out and take the bag. His fingers brushed Sho’s as he curled them around the handle. Sho fought down the urge to just take Nino’s hand in his, and let the bag go.
“Thank you again, your Highness,” Nino said, offering a tiny version of a smile.
“You’re welcome,” Sho managed with a dry throat. His heart beat quickly. Nino was talking to him. Maybe. If he could only keep it up, and really get him into a conversation... “Do you - ”
Nino, who had started to turn to look for a place to set the bag, spun back around and looked up. Sho winced internally. Was that such a set back already? But Yamashita didn’t look particularly worried. Nino tilted his head when Sho was silent for a span of three heartbeats.
“Did you want something, your Highness?”
The prince shook his head to clear it. “Oh, no. I just... I wondered if you were free.”
“Free?”
“From whatever horribly mindless and boring jobs Yamashita’s got you doing.”
Nino immediately started to shake his head, glancing around to see if Yamapi was still with them, caught between wanting to please both Sho and the young pharmacist with his answer. (Yamapi was there, but he was also peeking into the box of snacks like he’d never seen food before.)
“They aren’t - they aren’t all boring,” Nino finally said, and grimaced immediately.
Sho grinned and Yamapi started laughing. Nino looked rather mortified, but he didn’t try to apologize. The prince hoped it meant that the younger man was getting more comfortable - at least with Yamashita.
Yamapi collected himself quickly. “He’s free, your Highness. There’s not much going on here.”
“But the accounts - ” Nino started.
“Can be done tomorrow,” the pharmacist said, smiling. “They’re backed up five years already, another day isn’t going to hurt them. Go on.”
Nino turned to Sho, bowing his head. “I guess I’m free, then, your Highness.”
Sho couldn’t help but notice that Nino was less than enthusiastic, but then, if Nino was still staying with Yamashita, there was probably another reason for it that maybe he could help Nino with. Then maybe Nino would trust him. The prince deflated a bit, though he kept grinning. It was a big maybe.
“Will you come with me to the park, then? It’s a nice day outside.”
“Ah - I don’t have - ”
“You can wear mine,” Yamapi said already starting to disappear with the café bag in hand. “I’ll put these away and bring it down.”
“Don’t have what?” Sho asked, brow furrowed at the cryptic statement.
Nino made an embarrassed little shrug. “A coat. I left it when I left.”
The prince blinked, surprised, “Left?”
The younger boy looked absolutely mortified, his mouth already opening, and Sho knew what was going to come in the pattern by now. He held up his hand, drawing himself up and trying to look authoritative - which had never been a particularly strong point of his. He still remembered keeping tallies of who mistook Jun to be the prince over him when they were younger. But Nino didn’t appear to need anything more than a hand raised to see authority. The younger boy snapped his mouth closed and hunched.
Sho sighed. “No bowing, no apologizing. I’m not here to interrogate you, I’m not here to be angry with you. I don’t even know what happened. I’m just here to see you, as your... friend. Nothing more. Okay? You don’t have to be scared of me. I don’t want you to be scared of me.”
Nino nodded, not looking up. Yamapi chose that moment to enter, and Sho couldn’t decide if he was thankful or not. The lanky boy held the coat in front of him, smiling a little at Nino as he came to a stop by the shorter boy’s side.
“Got the coat.”
Nino tried to smile as he took it and slipped it on.
Sho smiled. “I’ll have him back soon.”
“Take your time, your Highness,” Yamapi insisted, grinning in jest, “Please, take your time. Nino needs to get out more. He’s as pale as the newly fallen snow and just as energetic.”
“Pi!” Nino whined softly, “You don’t need to say that.”
The pharmacist just smiled at him. Nino pouted. For two days Yamapi had been needling Nino at every presented opportunity - and apparently Nino presented him with a lot of opportunities - being annoying and obvious about the things he used to tease the smaller boy about. He was so constant with it that Nino had begun to see Yamapi as a slightly skinnier and much quieter version of Aiba - someone who maybe really wasn’t going to hurt him because he maybe really liked Nino.
Nino buttoned up the coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m ready, your Highness.”
“Would you like to get lunch?” Sho asked.
The younger boy’s head shot up.
“He’d love to,” Yamapi said quickly, “He’s already sick of my cooking, I can tell.”
“Only because it’s the same rice thing everyday,” Nino said.
Yamashita pouted at him. “And that’s why you’re going to get a nice lunch with the prince. People will ask for your autograph from now until the end of time. So go on,” he said, shooing him towards the door. “Have fun and come back and tell me every detail so I can live vicariously through it.”
Nino laughed softly, shooting a tentative smile at Sho, who was standing and watching Nino laugh like it was the most treasured thing he’d ever seen. Nino blushed and looked away. Sho realized what he was doing and offered a sheepish smile instead.
“Sorry. Let’s go before the guards track me down and start tailing us.”
He held out his hand to Nino, and Yamapi watched with bated breath as Nino looked at it for a moment. Then Nino reached out his hand and took Sho’s, and the prince all but glowed as he led the younger boy out of the clinic. Nino looked back once the door closed behind him, and Yamapi waved to them. Nino smiled a little and waved back once. The pharmacist watched them until they were out of sight through the windows, and hoped that Sho would be able to convince Nino to talk to him.
------
Sho was careful not to get too close to Nino as they walked, or even touch him aside from their clasped hands. The smaller boy didn’t seem much inclined to walk very far away from him, but Sho didn’t know exactly what reasons for that were, and he wanted Nino to be as comfortable as he could be.
“Where are we going, your Highness?” Nino asked, after they’d walked a while.
His voice was so soft that Sho almost didn’t hear him. The prince blinked. Then he offered a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, looking around to see where they were and what was available.
“Truthfully? I... ah... I hadn’t thought about it.”
Nino stared up at Sho, his expression nearing incredulous. Sho had nothing more to offer him than the sheepish smile. The boy continued to stare, the corners of his mouth twitching like he wanted to smile, or maybe even laugh, or maybe he was just horrified by Sho’s complete lack of a plan.
“Your Highness...” he started, voice low and soft. The sort of voice that he’d used when he wanted to correct Jin without being slapped, “Please, I may be wrong, but... if you’re the one asking me to eat with you, shouldn’t you have thought of where you wanted to go?”
Now the prince stared at him - in fact stopped dead in the street. Nino stopped with him automatically, eyes going wide. He hadn’t misjudged the prince, had he? What if that had overstepped the boundaries of acceptable behavior? What was he going to do? Nino looked away, ashamed.
“I’m - ”
Sho caught Nino in a sudden hug, grinning brightly, and proclaimed, “You sound just like Jun!”
Nino froze, blinking. “S-sound like J-jun-sama, your Highness?”
The older boy stepped back, still grinning, and nodded. “Jun yells at me all the time for things like that. You should have heard the earful I got when I got lost the first time I went to classes at university.”
The former Pet blinked, still somewhere back on ‘yells’. Jun yelled at his prince? And his prince allowed it? What sort of strange country was this? Nino had seen men with higher ranking by title than Lord Kitagawa killed for talking back to him - how did you get away with yelling at the prince?
“Nino?” Sho asked softly, now looking worried.
“Does Jun-sama get in trouble?” Nino asked meekly.
“Eh? For what?”
“Yelling at you, your Highness.”
Sho snorted, grinning. He held out his hand to Nino once more and when the boy took it, he started walking again. “Hardly. The girls of the court have always been kept together, see. After the attack, father wanted to keep the boys of the court together for protection as well - he’d just lost y- his second son, he wasn’t going to risk anyone else’s.”
Nino caught the slip: Sho had been about to say ‘you’. He kept himself from sighing. So the prince still thought that he was this Kazunari. He would have to work on proving that he wasn’t. Sho continued smoothly, though Nino had to give him that.
“The country didn’t really have money for every noble to pay for their own extra guards at the time, and certainly not for a special one for me. So Mother proposed setting us up as the women were, and that’s when I really met Jun for the first time. He was a strict and opinionated kid from the beginning. He tried to boss everyone around, even though he was only just four.”
The prince laughed, swinging their hands idly, and Nino found himself relaxing in spite of his trained, habitual wariness. It was hard not to, when Sho practically exuded contentment.
“Of course, I was a little brat. I pulled rank on him whenever I could, just because I could, and told him off on really silly things. He remembers it well - everything now is just well deserved pay-back. Now that we’ve grown up it’s really kind of fun to watch him work.”
Nino smiled a little. Sho sounded so very fond of Jun, like Jun was also his little brother. And maybe that was for the best - Sho needed to let go of the boy he’d lost so long ago. The prince paused, having finished his narration, to look around and see where they were. He smiled widely and pointed at a store front across the street from them.
“That place is really good - want to go there?”
Nino shrugged. “I don’t really know any of the stores. If you say it’s good, I’ll believe you.”
Sho frowned just a little, but realized that, indeed, Nino probably didn’t know the stores and restaurants in the Capital. He had first met Nino having just come from a guided snack with Shun, after all. When Sho mentioned the surprise meeting with Shun and Nino, Jun and Aiba had recounted their adventures in shopping with Nino. That shopping trip had been almost a month ago. Nino had probably never gotten out much after that - if Sho’s guess was right he’d only found his way to the clinic by accident.
The prince smiled. “Well, I think it’s good. Let’s eat there, and you can tell me if I’m wrong.”
------
Sho, as far as Nino was concerned, had been very right about the restaurant. He sat back after he’d eaten his fill and offered the prince a timid smile. Across the table, Sho grinned brightly in return. They’d been given a private room, ostensibly because the main dining room was very full, but Nino had caught the fond roll of eyes from the man who greeted the diners.
As soon as they’d walked in, the people nearest to them had perked up, and eyes had followed Sho and Nino all the way to the back. Everybody knew their prince, and apparently he came unattended to eat here often. The waiting staff had fallen into an easy rhythm, suddenly much more attentive to their tables in the hopes of keeping the customers distracted in their seats rather than getting up to disturb the royal and his strangely shy guest.
They were taken to the back and given a booth which could be closed off from the rest of the diners by pulling a curtain. Sho slid into his seat first. Nino wasn’t even given a chance to worry about where he was meant to sit - the prince motioned him to sit in the seat across.
“Order anything you like, don’t worry about the cost, okay?”
Nino nodded.
Sho grinned softly and handed him the menu.
“What did you think?” Sho asked when they left the restaurant hours later.
“It was very good, your Highness,” Nino said softly, “You were right.”
Sho laughed. “Oh, good. At least my taste in food is still holding up. Not much else does.”
Ninomiya smiled a little. They walked slowly, Sho at the younger man’s side, heading in no particular direction. Except, Sho realized, that his feet were heading towards the palace grounds. They knew what he wanted no matter how much he tried to keep it from Nino. He chewed his lip, knowing he’d have to ask before the grounds came into sight or Nino would never agree to it.
“Can I show you something?” he asked. “Not the painting again, don’t worry,” he continued quickly, before Nino could open his mouth. “Something else.”
He watched Nino’s face as the younger boy swallowed and eyed him somewhat suspiciously. He watched the expressions turn from suspicion to a slow acceptance. Nino was coming to his conclusions and Sho intended to let him take his own time - though it didn’t stop him from trying to project all the sincerity he could in hopes of swinging the conclusion in his favor.
It was a while later, but Nino nodded. Sho beamed. He held out his hand and Nino took it. The prince led Nino through the city to the public palace gardens. They took the same side entrance into the palace Sho had brought Nino and Shun through not that long ago.
Sho called up to the small watchman’s platform and Nino watched the gate swing open. There were two armed guards standing at the doors to the palace - like last time, they immediately made to search Nino. Nino pressed close to Sho’s side, wide-eyed and paling, and Sho waved away the guards before they could look twice at him.
“This boy is my guest. He is not to be touched by any hands that he does not agree to - not now, not later, not ever. I will not have him harassed.”
The two men fell back, bowing. Sho smiled and squeezed Nino’s hand, tugging him along into the palace. “I hate having to talk like that,” he said as they walked. “I must sound so dumb.”
They were in the same brightly lit, wide hallway that Nino remembered from before, but Sho wasn’t leading him in the same direction - they’d taken a different turn and rounded a different corner. Sho felt Nino relax next to him when he realized they really weren’t going to the painting.
“Isn’t that how royals talk?” Nino asked softly.
“Only when giving orders or in other formal situations, really. It’s too tedious otherwise.”
They stepped down a set of stairs at the end of this hall and suddenly were outside, walking on a covered boardwalk of dark oak. When he looked up, Nino saw the ceiling of the cover was painted in brilliant colors.
“‘Tedious’?” he echoed after a moment.
“Too much work,” the prince clarified, “and for no good reason.”
The smaller boy nodded. Sho led him down the hall until they came to the side of a building with an ornate door and yet more armed guards. These two merely bowed their heads to Sho, who led Nino into the building entrance and to the side.
“Leave your shoes here,” the prince said. “This is the way to where we live. It’s the short way, unconnected to the state buildings - the ones where the actual ruling happens. That pathway is over there.”
Nino followed Sho’s finger, seeing another path connecting to another set of doors at the opposite end of the entrance. He nodded, looking around this lush hallway curiously. It was not as wide as the hallway from the main building. It wasn’t made of marble, either, but more dark oak and bright matting with thin lines of carpet running down the center.
Somehow it was cozy, Nino decided. He’d never thought ornamentation could be cozy.
They followed the hallway until it came to an intersection - it wasn’t very far in. To the right, the hall led out into a courtyard. Continuing straight the hall led on towards many more connecting halls and what were probably the large rooms that the royal family lived in. Rooms Nino wasn’t supposed to see, even though Sho snuck him into them all the time.
To the left, the hall went on a few feet, turned right for another twenty or so, and opened into a receiving room. Sho started to move straight. Nino turned to the left and began to walk of his own accord down the hall. It took a second of gawking before the prince could get his legs working enough to follow him, slack jawed.
“Nino?” Sho asked softly.
The receiving room was closed from the other rooms by two simply painted sliding doors - their dining room was on the other side of one of them, and his nursery beyond that, and the bedrooms were behind the other. Nino giggled and pulled Sho into the receiving room eagerly.
Mama would like to see Sho-nii.
“Nino...” Sho breathed again.
“Sho-nii is slow!” Nino whined, pulling on his arm.
Sho wondered if he’d hit his head and not realized it, or if perhaps he was dreaming, because this surely wasn’t happening. But the look in Nino’s eyes proved that the boy wasn’t all there - not in the way Sho had come to recognize. This wasn’t Nino; this was Kazunari.
“Mama’ll have cookies for us if we’re good,” Nino grinned. He made a bee-line for his room, frowning at the closed door and pouting at Sho. “Sho-nii, open.”
The prince reached out and did so automatically, his mind whirling with realizations. This wasn’t just Kazunari; this was Kazunari who was still four years old. Sho’s breath caught in his throat. If he was still four, was he Kazunari who had seen his mother die?
The slight boy went straight to his bed and scooped up the musty bear that laid on the pillows. It had been there, untouched, since the rooms had been sealed, but Sho was pretty sure Nino didn’t notice the smell.
Nino held the toy out to him, smiling. “Mama fixted him. His ear got hurt.”
Sho examined the rough stitching that held the ear to the bear’s head, smiling despite the lump in his throat. Nino had often chewed the poor thing; Sho wasn’t surprised it had torn off. Part of Sho knew he should be calling for the guards, or his father, or a maid - anyone to come witness this and help calm Nino down. The rest of him couldn’t bear to make it stop. This was his brother.
Sho returned the bear to Nino’s outstretched hands and Nino shuffled passed him. He held the bear, face content, and went straight for his mother’s room before Sho could stop him. Sho followed after him just in time to see him stop dead in the doorway of the empty bedroom. Every line of Nino’s body radiated confusion. Nino turned around and frowned, going back to the receiving room. Sho followed him, swallowing.
Nino turned around to look at Sho, frowning a four-year-old’s confusion. “Sho-nii, why’s it quiet? Where’s Mama? She gone somewhere without Kazu?”
The prince swore internally. He wanted his brother, but he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t explain that Nino’s mother was gone. He put his hands on Nino’s shoulders gently, “No, Kazu, of course she hasn’t. You’re not seeing things right. Come back to now. Come back to me.”
The younger boy blinked, confused by the silly words. Where was he if not with Sho?
Sho smiled encouragingly. “We’ll walk somewhere else. To the garden.”
Nino smiled brightly. Of course! His mama’s favorite garden! She’d have to be there. Sho-nii was so smart. He freed himself from Sho’s hold and led the way back into his mother’s room and out her back door. He hummed to himself and swung the toy bear in his hands, heedless of Sho walking quickly beside him and watching him intently.
There was a long walk down the veranda - it went along the entirety of the building - before they got to the steps leading down into the open pebble-laid path that would take them to the gardens. They had just gotten onto the first pebbles when Sho sped up, standing in front of Nino and stopping him from going any farther. Holding Nino’s thin shoulder in one hand, Sho tipped up his chin and made the slighter boy look up at him. For a long time he said nothing.
Nino frowned softly, blinking, his mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out. Why was Sho-nii stopping him? What was going on? But the words wouldn’t come out. Finally, Sho pulled him into a hug and held Nino tightly to his chest.
“Nino, come back to me. Come back to the present, Nino. Come back to now.”
“But Mama’s in the garden,” Nino said petulantly.
Sho shook his head. “She’s not, Kazu. She’s not here anymore.”
“Where’d she go?!” a four-year-old’s voice demanded.
But Nino thought he might have known.
Sho just held him tighter. “Come back, Nino. You should see Jun and Aiba. Yamapi will be waiting for you for dinner. They’re the now - they’re your now, okay? Come back to be with them. You need to go home to Ohno.”
Ohno...
Nino frowned. What was Sho-nii talking about? There wasn’t an Ohno in Mama’s garden. There was only Ohno back in the Ohno family mansion. He hadn’t known an Ohno - just his sister and Sho-nii and Mama and the men in shiny plates who followed them everywhere.
“Nino, stay with me,” Sho said, holding Nino still tighter when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to speak any time soon. “Your mother isn’t here anymore. She’s in the past, and you can’t stay there. You’re too old for that.”
His mother in the past... like the man who’d taken him from his mother’s arms so many years ago.
Sho looked into Nino’s eyes. There was a glazed quality to them, but they were becoming clearer. He was coming back, and as soon as he did, Sho was going to lose his brother again. He pressed his forehead to Nino’s. Even though it hurt, Nino couldn’t be Kazu anymore.
“Ohno’s waiting for you, you know,” Sho said softly.
Ohno... Ohno’s hadn’t come to get him. He’d left because Ohno told him to. Ohno hadn’t come to get him. Nino tensed, coming back to arms wrapped tightly around him. It was warm. Comforting, like Aiba had always been. But it wasn’t Aiba.
Nino looked away from Sho and laughed softly. “No he’s not. He told me to leave.”
Sho didn’t let him go from the hug; if anything he held on tighter. “He is, Nino, you know he is,” he said. “You said if I said so, you’d believe me. Believe me now - I know he’s waiting for you, and probably kicking himself for being stupid.”
The younger boy chewed his lip and looked down. “... It’s really hard to actually kick yourself.”
Sho burst into startled laughter. “How do you know?”
“Aiba-chan’s tried before.” Nino gave Sho a wan smile, which faded quickly. He looked over Sho’s shoulder. His voice sounded raw and tired. “My mother’s really dead.”
It wasn’t a question, but Sho nodded anyway.
“A man took me away from here. Kitagawa took me when he died.”
The prince kissed the top of Nino’s head. “You’re safe now. It’s over - you never have to go back,” he said, brushing back his hair. “I had wanted to show you my rooms, you know. I thought maybe you’d like to see the art work Ohno’s given me, or see Aiba. I didn’t expect this at all.”
“Looks like I gave your Highness a show.”
Sho tipped Nino’s chin up again, gently but firmly, forcing their eyes to meet. “No. You gave your brother a show. Your brother, who has been hoping for a very long time that you would come back. You have, and I won’t let anything else happen to you, ever.”
Nino nodded slowly. His brother. Kazu... the name sounded so strange, but it was nonetheless his. Sho had been right after all. Sho was his brother. Which meant... Nino shuddered. His legs felt weak. He reached up and wrapped his arms tightly around Sho’s waist. He was... Then he’d have to...
As though he knew what the younger man was thinking, Sho smiled softly and shook his head. He let Nino cling to him, brushing out his hair gently. “Don’t worry... I’m still not going to make you stay here. Say the word and I won’t even mention it again.”
Ninomiya laughed again, resting his head on the prince’s shoulder. The bear was caught between them. “I want to see your rooms. And Aiba-chan and Jun-sama.”
“We don’t have to tell them.”
The slighter boy nodded. “Not yet.”
Sho led Nino back up the veranda steps and along the smooth wood path to the back entrance of Nino’s old home. “Stop using suffixes with Jun’s name, though. He’ll get a bigger head than he’s already got.”
“... If he asks me why I don’t, can I tell him you said that?”
------
Nino wasn’t coming back.
Ohno realized that now. Nino had been gone for over a week. There’d been no sign of him in or around the house, and there’d been no sign of him anywhere near the palace - neither Aiba nor Jun had been able to find him - and those were the only two places Nino knew.
Nino was gone.
It was his fault. He would never see Nino again, and it was his own fault. He’d done everything wrong. He knew that Nino still had strange ideas, he should have spoken to him before, should have sat down and explained everything. But every explanation had sounded so wrong in his head that he’d just put it off.
His own idiocy had hurt Nino, and now Nino was gone.
Ohno took another sip from his glass of whiskey, grimaced at the watery taste, and reached for the bottle. The ice had long ago melted; he was drinking it straight now. The alcohol burned down his throat and the taste made him wince. He was going to have a terrible headache in the morning. He couldn’t make himself care.
Taichi had nothing to report. Nagase didn’t know anything. Nobody had seen Nino anywhere.
Ohno took another gulp from his glass. How could he have done that? How could he have hurt Nino so badly? How could he have denied what he knew was the truth and turned it against Nino like that? Nino would never trust him, would never see him as a friend now.
And it was Ohno’s fault entirely.