The Prince and The Pauper (8/24)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Ariokamoto
Rating: PG-15
Genre:Romance
Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything.
Summary: Keito was a common citizen of the South Kingdom until the night his family's house burns down. Without anywhere to stay, they end up moving into the servant's section of the royal castle. There, along with his best friend Yuto, Keito meets the five royal princes...and catches Prince Daiki's eye. This is a spinoff of The Prince's Princess, by my sister ai_ai_gasa2 . It's basically a retelling of the story from Keito's perspective. I would encourage you to read that fic first if you haven't. You can find the prologue for that fic here. Please, enjoy!
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
The next week flew by, Prince Daiki constantly visiting, helping Keito and Yuto with their chores, sneaking in a quick hug when he could. Yuto thought it was one of the cutest things he had ever seen, and he constantly told Keito this, regularly asking him to 'please tell me about the date again', it eventually becoming almost like a bedtime story. Through Daiki's visits Keito learned that the shorter boy was one of those people that didn't wake up early, and if they were forced to they were zombies for at least half an hour. Therefore he was very surprised when he woke one morning to a gentle finger brushing his hair out of his face. He opened his eyes, expecting to see Yuto, or perhaps his mother, but was met with the smiling face of his new boyfriend. Boyfriend. The thought still made him rather anxious. He wasn't sure he was good enough for Daiki. He was just a commoner, after all. He had tried to voice this thought before, but Daiki had brushed the comment aside, with an immediate "Do you really think your status is important?" Keito shook the memory out of his head, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, smiling.
"This is a surprise. Why are you awake?" He asked, and Daiki sighed.
"Chii. He woke me up because he had a bad dream, and I couldn't fall back asleep." Chii-Prince Chinen. Keito thought that the prince's nicknames for each other were adorable, but he'd never used Daiki's. Perhaps he would...one day.
"Anyway, I thought I'd come see you, but you were still asleep." Keito looked out of his window. Dawn was just beginning. It was so early...he yawned, gently resting his head on Daiki's shoulder. The prince giggled, running a hand gently through Keito's hair.
"You're cute when you're sleepy." He announced, and Keito blinked, the statement making him embarrassed, heightening his awareness and causing him to feel more awake. He sat up, stretching and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"I'm going to change..." Keito announced, and Daiki nodded, watching as Keito self consciously dug around in his drawers, pulling out a black shirt with a low cut neckline and silver embroidery, and a matching pair of pants. He needed to change...but Daiki wasn't leaving. As if suddenly understanding the prince stood, crossing the room and slipping out the door quietly. Keito sighed in relief, quickly taking off his nightshirt and pulling on his clothes, running a brush through his hair, and popping a few joints before he opened the door. Daiki was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, cheeks red, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Weird.
"Daiki...are you okay?" Keito asked, putting a hand on his forehead. No detectible fever. Daiki looked up at him, his eyes sweeping over Keito's body, and his blush grew bigger.
"I'm fine, sorry." Keito nodded. Good. Daiki leaned forward, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, causing Keito to grin.
"C'mon, let's go eat." The short prince said, slipping their hands together, and walking Keito down to the kitchen.
"So, how's your family?" Keito asked, once they had gotten their meal. Daiki sighed, running a hand through his hair and nearly dislodging his golden band from it's resting place on his crown.
"Crazy, as always." The prince said, a grin creeping onto his face.
"They all have crushes now. Let me see..." He pretended to stroke a fake beard, contorting his face into a mock look of intense concentration.
"Hikaru, he likes Yabu Kota-son of the head advisor to the king of the Northern Kingdom. Then there's Chinen, who likes the third prince of said Kingdom-Ryutaro. Which is fine, they're both very nice, but after that it starts to get complicated." Daiki took a bite, and Keito took the opportunity to ask
"Complicated?" Daiki nodded, continuing
"Yeah. See there's the second prince, Prince Takaki Yuya. He-well he thinks he's in love with my sister, but he's not, he's actually in love with Inoo. And Ayaki is dating Prince Takaki, apparently with the intention of marrying him. Meanwhile Inoo is in denial about his feelings for Prince Takaki, even through it's obvious to the rest of us that he's got a complete crush. So as of right now he's locked himself in his room, pining, or something. We're not really sure-he hasn't told us because he hasn't left."
Keito was taken aback. He tried to wrap his head around what Daiki had just said, but he felt like he had just been told the middle of a story without any working knowledge of the beginning. So he asked the most obvious question.
"How is it that this prince thinks he's in love with Princess Ayaki when in actuality he's in love with Prince Inoo. That doesn't make sense logically." Daiki giggled, and swallowed the last of his breakfast.
"It's a pretty funny story actually. See about a month before you came my father threw a ball for Ayaki...the problem was that we didn't have her yet. See, we were all adopted. But my brothers and I were adopted together when we were little kids. Dad wanted four sons and a daughter...but when he got us the 'daughter' that he adopted was Inoo, who turned out to be a guy." He paused, and Keito nodded, signaling him to continue.
"So, he was going to just adopt a girl, but it didn't end up happening. Meanwhile we all grew up. So dad eventually got around to beginning to adopt Ayaki, and he planned a ball, the one I mentioned earlier, but the adoption process was delayed, so Inoo went to that ball as Ayaki. Does this make sense so far?" While Daiki had been talking he had been making hand motions to explain, waving his chopsticks about. Now he was waiting for Keito to respond with wide eyes. So cute.
"I think so...how did Prince Inoo go to the ball as Princess Ayaki?"
"Oh, he wore a dress and pretended to be a girl! It was hilarious." Daiki explained with a prankster grin. Keito giggled at the thought. But in all honesty Prince Inoo in a dress was exactly what Princess Ayaki looked like every day.
"Anyways, Inoo and Takaki hit it off at Ayaki's party and flirted all night. But..." Daiki paused for dramatic effect, inhaling and puffing up his chest. "Ayaki arrived the next day, and while she looks a lot like Inoo, that is where their similarities end. So, Prince Takaki has been romancing her under the hope that she will turn out to be like he had first hoped, which is impossible because she isn't the same person that he had first met. Meanwhile Inoo has been in denial about his feelings. But a few days ago we kinda forced him to consider that he might have a crush on the prince...and he's been locked in his room ever since." Daiki said the last bit in one big breath, looking rather guilty. Keito took his hand across the table, giving it a squeeze, and Daiki entwined their fingers, giving Keito a happy little smile.
"Your family is busy, always doing things." Keito said, and as if to prove his point Prince Chinen popped in, skipping.
"Dai-chan! I need your help with my letter." Daiki dropped Keito's hand, turning to face his brother.
"Letter?" Chinen nodded enthusiastically. Up close you could see the ink splattered on the little prince's fingers and the back of his hand, black finger prints on his cheek.
"To Ryu-chan!" He announced, and Daiki pouted.
"Can't you get Yama-chan to help you?" At that Chinen pouted right back, and after a few moments Daiki stood up, ruffling his little brother’s hair.
"Okay." He turned back to Keito, who stood, Daiki immediately wrapping him in a quick hug.
"See you later, okay?" The prince said, his deep voice hopeful. Keito nodded, blushing at the show of affection in front of the other prince. But Prince Chinen just smiled, also giving Keito a hug before the two left, the younger one already discussing his letter with excited concentration. They were so cute, the royal family seemed really close. Keito wondered what it must have been like to have been raised in that environment. He entertained the notion as he busied himself with the breakfast dishes, just drying the last cup when there was a voice at the door.
"Okamoto! Come here." He looked up to see Princess Ayaki standing at the door, looking uncomfortable. He dried his hands, hurrying over.
"Yes, your highness?" Up close it was astounding just how much she looked like Prince Inoo. He nearly grinned at the thought. Nearly.
"I'm having a birthday party in two weeks, and I need a new gown to be completed by then, as well as matching themed outfits for my brothers. I went to the sewing room but the seamstress wasn't there, honestly that woman..." She scoffed, and Keito felt himself growing angry. Any mistreatment of his mother was one of the few things, if not the only thing, that he was easily angered by.
"Well I'm sure she's doing something very important, in the meantime I can help you." Keito said, with a bow. She nodded curtly, whisking him off to his mothers workroom. He sat down in his mothers chair, pulling out a pen and one of the blank pages she kept for designs, ready to listen to the princess' ideas about the dress. The girl just sat there, fingering the necklace she was wearing. Eventually she pointed at it.
"You see this?" Keito nodded. She smirked.
"Prince Takaki gave it to me. It's aquamarine and gold. I want my dress to be made centered around this. And my brothers. We should all be in aquamarine blue." Keito nodded, making note in the corner of the page. He also drew a quick sketch of the necklace, pulling his mothers box of colors from her drawer, mixing until he got the color of the gem, putting a splotch of it in the corner. He nodded, happy with himself. She just stood, looking down at him.
"I expect the designs done in two days. Please tell that woman I'll be back to review them then." Then, surrounded in snootiness she exited. When she left Keito slumped in his chair, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The princess was nothing like her brothers. He sighed, looking over the dress requirements. Two weeks was a very short amount of time to get six elaborate outfits complete. His mom was going to need all the help she could get. He picked up his pen, pulling out a fresh sheet of paper. He could at least brainstorm some ideas. He worked for a few hours before his mother returned, her arms full of new bolts of fabric. Keito immediately hopped up, taking them from her and placing them in the racks of cloth along he back wall. He checked over the colors she had gotten. If they were frugal there might be enough of this aquamarine color.
"Mother, Princess Ayaki came by." He informed her. She sat down in the chair he had been occupying, running a hand through her hair.
"She wants a new dress and matching outfits for herself and her brothers before her party in two weeks." At this his mom looked up at him, surprised.
"She left some notes, here." He picked up the papers he had been sketching on, flipping through to the page with the color and the necklace design on it. His mom took it, examining the paper, and sighed.
"She wants the designs done in two days..." He added. His mother nodded.
"Forget two days, if I'm going to get these done I'd need the designs done by...now." She was already looking worried. Keito held out his sketches, biting his lip nervously.
"If you like these you could base some of them off of these...I know they're rough, and I don't usually help with this part, but..." She took his designs, glancing the one on top-Prince Chinen's-before looking up at him.
"What is this?" Keito stuck his hands in his pockets, eyes glancing at his feet.
"Ideas for the new wardrobe for Princess Ayaki and the Princes." His mother's eyes lit up, and she examined the page with a new fervor. Silently she flipped through them all, taking her time with each one. Keito's nerves were increasing the longer she stayed silent, but he stood there silently, attempting to gauge her reaction. Finally she looked back over at him, and broke out in a huge smile.
"Keito, you just saved me." She stood, pulling him in for a hug.
"Oh, they're wonderful darling! We'll get started right away...unless you have anything else to do?" Keito shook his head, and smiled back. Relief and satisfaction washed through him. Thank goodness.
He spent the rest of the day I'm his mothers workroom, Yuto eventually joining them, helping them pin things together. With the three of them they managed to get a third of the way through completing Prince Chinen's new outfit, his mother explaining that they would probably finish tomorrow, and then get started on the next one. Sure enough the next day all three of them had devoted themselves to creating the royal siblings new party wardrobe. They each were assigned different jobs: Yuto cut the fabric and pinned it using each prince's personal mannequin, Keito sewed the fabric together, and his mother did all of the embroidery and added any special touches, helped when anyone needed any help, and oversaw the whole process. By the beginning of the third day they were working like a well-oiled machine, and had all completely forgotten about the princess stopping by to see the designs until she was standing in the doorway. But they seemed to have gone over well, she didn't say anything, nodding once and leaving brusquely, humming something. The whole castle was abustle, everyone working feverishly to make sure things would be ready for the princess' party. It wasn't until after dark that Keito stopped sewing, looking down at the half-finished top that would eventually be Prince Inoo's, his eyes itching with tiredness.
"Goodnight." He mumbled to the top, setting it on the table and exiting the room. He stretched, a yawn escaping his lips, and he pushed open his bedroom door, thinking of nothing but his nice warm bed. He jumped when his eyes caught on a figure sitting there on his bed, their Shakespeare book in his hands. Daiki looked up from the book, and smiled. He pointed at the page.
"I don't understand a word of this." The short prince announced. Keito took a few more steps, shutting the door behind himself quietly.
"Daiki, what're you doing here?" He asked, sitting down next to the older boy. Daiki grinned, his skin warm in the light of Keito's oil lamp.
"I just thought you'd want to know that Inoo came out of his room today. I was about to leave actually, I didn't think you were going to show up." Keito leaned back against the wall, resting his head and looking up at the ceiling, holding back a yawn that was threatening to form in the back of his throat.
"How is he?" He asked, and Daiki furrowed his brows, standing up.
"Keito, I can leave." Keito immediately was taken aback. That's not-
"No! Daiki..." He grabbed the shorter boy's hand, pulling on it gently. Daiki looked down at him, and Keito adjusted himself on the bed, patting the spot next to him. Daiki relented, sitting down on the mattress, wrapping an arm loosely around Keito's waist.
"Tell me about your brother." Keito prompted, and Daiki nodded, fingers playing with the wrinkles in Keito's shirt.
"Inoo came into my room today looking like a zombie...like this." Daiki let his eyelids sag, extending his jaw down as far as it could go without his lips pulling apart, and Keito couldn't help smiling.
"And he drags me down to the kitchen where Hikaru is, and announces to us that he likes Prince Takaki, all dramatic as if we didn't already know." Daiki chuckled, shaking his head at the thought of his brother's dramatics.
"So anyway, Hikaru has started to formulate a plan to get them together. Oh! And there's more news! My sister told us today that she's having a birthday party, so that'll be fun, don't ya think?" Keito bit his lips, wondering if he should just play along and nod, or tell Daiki just how much 'fun' everyone else was having when it came to his sister's birthday party.
"I know about the party." He finally announced, with a small sigh. Daiki looked over at him, surprised.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, everyone's been working on the preparations nonstop for the past few days. I've been helping my mom with your family's wardrobe. We had just stopped for the day when I came in..." Daiki remained silent, as if he had never even considered just how much work would go into the balls and parties that his family decided to have.
"Oh, but guess what..." Keito said, feeling bad for the way that his words might come off. Daiki was looking embarrassed.
"What?"
"I designed them...the clothes you and your siblings are going to wear. So that'll be cool for me, to see you all in something I came up with." Daiki nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment.
"Keito I'm sorry for what I said-" Daiki started, but Keito cut him off, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Daiki, I'm gonna be busy for the next two weeks, so...just...kiss me." Keito mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed by his request. Daiki put a hand to Keito's cheek, and was shifting forward, leaning closer, when suddenly the door opened, and they both jumped, pulling apart. Keito's blood ran cold when his eyes met his fathers. His face remained blank, impassive. He bowed politely to Daiki, before turning to Keito.
"Keito, where's your mother?" Keito felt the nerves calming. He knew the answer to that.
"She went to the showers." His father left without a word. Daiki looked over at him, a blush on his cheeks.
"Sorry...sorry about that." Keito mumbled. Daiki just leaned forward again, this time pressing their lips together. He pulled them apart for a moment before kissing him again, gentle, warm kisses, one of his hands cupping Keito's face, the other making comfortable circles on his forearm. Warm, hazy comfort was all Keito could comprehend, and somehow they ended up snuggling. Keito didn't know when he fell asleep, all he knew was that when he woke up Daiki was gone.
Next
S/N: Hey guys, this is ai_ai_gasa2~ (S/N for sister's note, get it? Yeah, I'm not funny.) She made me post for her (because she's lazy) so I figured I could say something. I don't know. She's told me some of the comments about the Princess fic, thank you for those, it's always nice to hear <3 I am on the home stretch for something that I might deem post-worthy, I've just had a terrible time being able to write. But I may be back soon. Maybe. Thanks for reading this story, make sure to give it lots of love!