The Prince and The Pauper (16/24)
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 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
He woke to Daiki pulling out of his arms, and he frowned, blearily sitting up.
"What's going on?"
"I've got to get back to my room before someone finds me. Go back to sleep Keito." He sat there, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and the words slowly sank in. He didn't really want Daiki to go, he liked having him there, in his arms. It felt right. But logically Daiki leaving was the best option. He didn't want to acknowledge this, but he also didn't want to ask Daiki to stay. He stayed silent as Daiki got to his feet, adjusting his hair in the mirror and fixing his clothes. Daiki glanced back at the bed, and Keito must have looked kind of pathetic, because he came back to the bed, running a hand soothingly through Keito's hair and whispering
"I'm sorry baby. One day, we'll sleep in the same bed every night, and I'll never have to go. But for now, get a bit more sleep." With that, Daiki placed a gentle kiss on Keito’s lips and left. Keito tried to go back to sleep, but the sun began painting the sky with the first signs of dawn, and he found himself wide awake. He sighed, getting out of bed and taking a quick bath, slipping on some clothes before going over to his parents room, knocking on the door quietly to announce his presence before peaking his head in. He didn't realize he had been hoping his father would be here until his heart sank when he realized that the emotionless man wasn't in bed next to his mother. Dang it. He grabbed a scrap of paper from a stack on his mother's bedside table and scribbled a quick note, informing her that he was spending his day searching for his father, and he slipped back out of the room, quiet so as to not wake her. Next he wandered over to the kitchen, finding empty, and he took an apple from a barrel by the door, shining it on his shirt as he walked. He decided the best place to look was in town, and with that he walked and he ate, and he made it into town just as the sun began to rise in earnest, painting the sky bright golds and pinks. People began waking up, and at the sight of them he became self conscious. He used to be one of them, and it was through nothing but misfortune that he wasn't any longer, but just by looking at him one could see the difference.
His clothes now were clean and untattered, and slightly flashy. His hair wasn't slightly too long, and he had a new confidence, now that he was with Daiki. He was one of the royal princes' boyfriend now. He was different from them, and there was no escaping that. He realized that this place didn't feel like his home anymore. It held nothing for him. His friends, his family, his love, they all were at the castle. He thought these things as he walked, and once people were beginning to come out and go about their days, he began to ask around about his father. Many of them knew who his dad was, but strangely no one had seen him for months, it seemed he hadn't been into town since the fire that had driven Keito's family out of their home. That was odd. He asked around until lunchtime, at that point returning to the castle grounds and exploring all land around the main building, and all side buildings. It was mid afternoon when he began a second search of the main castle, and the hours passed, he finding himself becoming increasingly skeptical of the hope that he would find his father. he passed by the royal dining room and heard the clink of cutlery and buzz of conversation he realized he was starving. He had only eaten an apple all day. Once he had finished his search, he decided, he would eat.
He was on the third story, nearing the end of his quest, when he spotted a large group of people all standing together. The golden bands circling their brows identified them; it was the royal siblings and their guests. Perhaps they had seen his father. Once got closer he asked
“Hey, has anyone seen my dad?" Daiki took the opportunity to wrap his arms loosely around Keito's waist, his little head resting on Keito's back, and the gesture cheered him up slightly. In that deep voice of his, his boyfriend asked
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he’s not here. Yesterday, he went out to buy fabric for Mom, and I didn’t ever see him come back… I’ve looked everywhere.” The princes all frowned, Prince Ryutaro murmuring a small
“Oh.” but none of them had seen his dad. He thanked them and left, finishing up his search and returning, exhausted and fruitless, to the kitchen. He sat down at the bar counter, and within seconds he had a steaming plate of food in front of him. He looked up gratefully at Mrs. Nakajima, and she smiled at him.
"Eat, I heard about what you've been up to today. I take it you didn't find him?" Keito dug in, shaking his head dolefully as he chewed.
"What have you eaten today, you look starving." She announced, and he swallowed, quietly replying with
"An apple." before shoveling more food into his mouth. She shook her head at him, but she retreated back into the kitchen, and in a matter of minutes his plate was cleared. As if by magic a second full plate was placed in front of him, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Here, eat up. You're a growing young man, you need your food." Mrs. Nakajima said, taking his empty plate with a mothering look, and disappearing into the kitchen before Keito could thank her properly. That continued for four helpings, until he couldn't eat any more. He thanked Mrs. Nakajima, and found his mother finishing up repairs to some servants clothes in her office. When he came in she looked up, but at the sight of him alone the hope faded from her eyes.
"You couldn't find him?" She asked. He shook his head, and explained to her where he had been and that no one he had asked had seen him at all. She nodded, obviously worried, but she thanked him for what he had done, and he nodded, pulling her in for a hug.
"It's going to be okay mom. He'll be back soon." He assured her, and he felt her nod into his shoulder, before they separated. He left and he sighed, frustrated at his own uselessness. He didn't see anyone else that night, and he went to bed unhappy.
The next day was the day the Northern royal family was leaving, and all of the servants were put to work tidying and preparing to send them off. Keito helped Mrs. Nakajima prepare an especially elaborate breakfast, and then was called to prepare the horses, tacking up Prince Shintaro's horse, as well as helping some of the others with the saddlebags. Once the royal family was to leave however, the servants made themselves scarce, keeping away from the front entrance so as to not disturb the proceedings. Keito and Yuto hid up in the western tower, watching them leave through a pair of binoculars Yuto had snatched. Once the northern royal family had disappeared over the hills, they returned to their previous duties, the castle still needing repairs from the storm. Keito was put into the group of guys he had been with previously, and they were given the same job as before, removing fallen trees and chopping them into firewood for winter. They got to work, this time instead of the external grounds, on the courtyard. They were in the process of removing a fallen maple from the jumble of branches it had nested in when he heard his name being called. He glanced up, and to his surprise he saw Prince Yamada and Prince Daiki jogging up. The four other guys all gave him shocked looks, and work halted as the princes drew near. Yamada and Daiki stopped once they had reached the tree, and they took in the situation, asking
"What's going on?" The other guys all looked at Keito, as if because the princes knew him he was an ambassador of sorts between the two parties.
"We're going to move this tree out and chop it up." He informed them. The brothers shared a look, before saying
"Can we help?" That put the other guys on edge, and one of them said
"Your majesties, we wouldn't want to get your nice clothes dirty." At that Yamada smiled, shaking his head slightly at the mans excuse, before announcing
"That won't be a problem." and stripping off his shirt, Daiki following suit. The prince's hung their clothes on a nearby tree branch, and the other servants looked surprised to see that the prince's were very fit, muscles dancing across their torsos and arms. There was a quiet
"Oh." and with that Yamada and Daiki jumped in. The two extra bodies proved to be a great help, and for the rest of they day they participated in the dragging and carrying of trees and the chopping of firewood, their lean, muscular, torso's gleaming with sweat in the sunlight. Daiki always had an eye on Keito, concern flashing in his eyes whenever he would lift something heavy or trip. Some of the other servants noticed, but they didn't ask, and Keito tried to pretend everything was fine, and ignore the looks. At the end of the day as the sun was setting they decided to call it quits, and after the other guys left Keito personally thanked Yamada and Daiki for helping them. The princes scoffed, waving off his words.
"We didn't have anything better to do. Besides, Dai-chan missed you yesterday, didn't you, Daiki?" Yamada nudged his brother, and Daiki blushed, muttering
"Shut up." Yamada just grinned, but then he took in the placement of the sun in the sky, and he grew serious.
"We have to go, we can't be late to dinner."
"We could be a little bit late...." Daiki suggested, taking Keito's hand. Yamada frowned.
"Ayaki's going to be there." At that Daiki too grew serious, and after bidding Keito goodnight the two topless prince's wandered back in the direction of the dining hall. That was weird...Ayaki was there every night, wasn't she? There was obviously something the prince's weren't telling him. He pondered it, and he wished they would consider him close enough to tell important things in their lives. However he was still very aware that he was just a servant's son, while they were the sons of the ruler of their country, and he figured that he was never going to be fully confided in. He mulled these things over as he returned back inside to the servants’ part of the castle, and after finding out that once again his father had not returned, and talking with Yuto he went to bed.
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