The Prince and The Pauper (24/24)
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, but you don't have to have read it to understand the story. You can find the prologue for that fic here. Please, enjoy!
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He glanced back over his shoulder. The entirety of both royal families, Yabu, and Yuto were all standing there, Daiki in the front, a desperate look on his face.
"Please reconsider. Dad, he won't hurt me." Daiki was begging, and his gaze swept over Keito, distraught, one hand clutching at the chain dangling from his neck. The king however, was firm.
"Daiki, I've thought over this, and while I believe in their innocence, I can't risk any of you getting injured or killed by any of the surviving terrorists. Offspring or otherwise."
"They aren't terrorists." Daiki insisted. His voice was growing hard, as it did when he was preparing for a fight. Keito heard him walking closer, and then a familiar warm, small hand slipped into his own, and Daiki announced "If you make Keito go, then you're forcing me to leave as well."
"Son-" The king started to protest, but Keito cut him off, desperate.
"Daiki, no." Daiki couldn't do this. He wasn't going to take Daiki from this place, from a place where he could live in happiness, and security, surrounded by his wonderful family. He tried to twist his fingers out off Daiki's grip, the chain on his cuffs clanking as he did, but Daiki refused to budge. He tried desperately to make him understand. "This... This palace is your life. Your future. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I took a promising life from you."
"We... We've been together for this long, and you still don't get it?!" Daiki turned to face him, his gaze confidant full of love, and strength, and he gave Keito's hand a squeeze. "I love you Keito. You are my future." He turned to his father, announcing
"Either it's none of us, or both of us. We're a set-take it or leave it." The king seemed stunned by the ultimatum, eyes searching Daiki's face, then sweeping over Keito, as it trying to figure out what about him had made his middle son do this.
"Daiki I love you too but... Please don't do this." Keito was begging. "You need to stay here." Daiki ignored his words, staring up at his father, daring him to kick them out. The king was becoming flustered
"Well, I definitely have no idea what's going on here. But... Daiki, I can't kick you out. I just... I can't do that to you. And I've had no reason to doubt the two of you personally, but..." The king paused, seriously considering the situation. "I... It'll take time, but for now, I'll trust you. Until otherwise, you can stay."
His announcement was met with a whoop from Prince Chinen, the others quickly joining in, clapping and cheering. Keito felt his mother relax, all of the tension draining out of her. Keito couldn't believe it. It was a miracle. There, in front of everyone, Daiki pulled Keito in for a kiss, his free hand tangling in Keito's hair, holding him close as he kissed him. When they pulled apart he left the hand on Keito's cheek, cupping his face.
"You can stay..." He murmured, grinning. Keito felt a smile blooming across his own face, and he was about to lean in and kiss Daiki again, when the king's voice took their attention.
"Daiki." Daiki froze, turning to his father.
"What would you have done if I had made Okamoto-kun go? If I'd said you had to leave?" The king wanted to see just how serious Daiki was. Daiki narrowed his eyes, face going cold, and he took a protective step in front of Keito, and he announced harshly
"I'll go pack then." Oh. Everyone seemed stunned, and Keito felt all of their eyes on the two of them, but he didn't care. He pulled Daiki into an awkward hug, lifting his chained wrists over the top of Daiki's head and pulling him close, burying his nose in Daiki's shoulder, fighting to keep the tears from spilling over. They only pulled apart when the king stood, beckoning them over to a corner of the room, where, after removing Keito's cuffs, he proceeded to give the two of them a very embarrassing talk about sex, and its many aspects. He was finishing up, when Daiki got a mischievous grin on his face.
"Wait, dad...are you saying all of this because-is Keito moving in to my room?!"
"Why of course son. If this boy is going to be your future husband, we can't have him staying with the servants. I thought that was what you wanted." Keito was stunned. He bowed low, thanking the king profusely for his kind words. Daiki gave his father a hug, and the man smiled, saying
"Now, why don't you go move him in, okay?" Keito barely had time for one last thank you, before Daiki was dragging him by the hand over to where the rest of them, including his mother, were all standing. He pulled her into a hug, and she laughed, kissing him on the cheek. Relieved, she said
"Keito, you go celebrate. I'm going to go get something to eat, and take a nap."
"Okay mother." He brushed a stray hair out of her eye, and she left, Yuto tackling Keito in a hug, tears streaming down his face.
"Keito...thank god." Was all he got out before he was sobbing. There were some chuckles, but Keito pulled him close, squeezing his friend tightly. Once Yuto had wiped his tears and let Keito go, Daiki announced
"Keito's moving into my bedroom. Help me move his stuff." With everyone's help Keito's things were all packed up and moved within twenty minutes, his things looking plain and insignificant, out of place amidst all of all of Daiki's more lavish things. He stared at his pile of clothes-the ones Yamada and Daiki had picked out for him, the day that Daiki had taken his hand...and changed his life forever. That day felt like a lifetime ago. Daiki slipped his small hand into Keito's larger palm, lacing their fingers together, tilting his head back and peering up at his face.
"A penny for your thoughts." He said, and Keito smiled, looking down at the prince. His prince.
"I was just thinks about you." He pulled Daiki in for a hug, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Hey guys, lunch is ready. I'm supposed to be telling everyone." Yuto announced, strolling in. Keito smiled and pulled back from Daiki's embrace, Yuto's words reminding him of just how hungry he was, his stomach growling in response to the realization. Yuto's eyes scanned he room.
"Where's everyone else?"
"The youngest all left together, they went to go spy on Takaki and Inoo-we think they're finally going to admit that they're crushing on each other. I don't know about the rest though." Daiki informed him. Yuto giggled and nodded, slipping out of the room. Daiki turned back to Keito.
"Ready to go eat?"
"Oh, yes."
They made their way down to the front lawn to find Hikaru and Yabu sitting on a picnic blanket, an amazing feast surrounding them in large baskets. It wasn't long before the other boys all showed up and the picnic was in full swing. Honestly, Keito wasn't really focused on the conversation, his attention placed solely on the delicious sandwich in his hands, until Prince Yamada pulled Yuto in for a surprise kiss, effectively announcing to the rest of them that they were in a relationship. Yuto as grinning ear to ear, despite the blush blooming across his face as Yamada wrapped a possessive arm around his hips. Keito caught his eyes, and gave him a discreet thumbs up. Yuto's grin just got bigger.
That night the whole group snuck out onto the stable roof, everyone splayed out on their backs, staring up at the stars. Daiki had his head resting on Keito's stomach, and in low tones he'd describe the constellations up in the sky, pointing to them and explaining their meanings and histories with conversational gestures. The warm night breeze was tickling Keito's eyelashes, and he contented himself with feeling Daiki's body on top of his, chest expanding and contracting with every breath he took. In fact, he'd nearly forgotten that the others were there when suddenly, somewhere in the vicinity of his right ankle, there was a loud sigh, and Hikaru's voice said
“Everything is so perfect. It’s just the five of us again, Daiki’s got Keito in his bed," At that Keito covered his face in his hands, hiding the blush. "you’re here with me." This Hikaru was saying to Yabu, lacing their fingers together as he spoke. “Everything...except,” Hikaru shot up, pointing dramatically at where Prince Takaki and Inoo were lying next to each other, hands intertwined discreetly. “Everything except you two!”
“What’s wrong with us exactly?” Inoo asked, sass creeping into his voice. At this point most of them were pulling themselves to sitting positions to get a proper look at the exchange. Hikaru pouted.
“C’mon Inoo! I know you’ve liked Takaki since...forever, and Takaki, whether you realize it or what you like Inoo, a lot, so just…confess your undying love to each other or something!” That statement end both of the boys involved into fits of laughter, and over it all Chinen announced
“They already have.”
“What?! Nobody tells me anything around here.” Hikaru narrowed his eyes mischievously at the two laughing princes.
“I don’t believe you.” Then, mid laugh, Prince Takaki planted a kiss on Inoo's lips. The two boys shared some quiet words, Inoo placing another kiss on Prince Takaki's lips, and the topic was closed. Five minutes later, Keito was asleep.
~
Keito woke up in bed, next to his partner of five years. He kissed the smooth eyelids, watching as Daiki groaned, flopping about, naked except for the small chain with the golden ring he kept around his neck, all tangled up in the sheets, before finally opening his eyes, grinning when he saw Keito's face.
"Good morning baby." Daiki said, his low voice gravely with sleep. Keito grinned, brushing a strand of hair out of Daiki's eyes.
"Good morning. Happy anniversary." He planted a kiss on Daiki's lips. Daiki grinned, propping his head up with one hand, his elbow digging into his pillow.
"Does that mean I get some morning sex?" He asked, and Keito chuckled, and rolled over onto his back, digging inside of his side table drawer.
"One minute, okay?" Keito said, nerves trying to take hold as his fingers clasped the little velvet box. He shifted back so that he was facing Daiki, and he took a deep breath.
"Daiki, all those years ago you asked me if I would be the love of your life. I cannot deny that you were always, and will always be the love of mine. I cannot think of a life without you by my side, and...I don't want to. Please Daiki, stay with me forever." He took the little box in both hands, pulling the lid up to reveal the tiny diamond ring inside.
"Daiki Arioka, will you marry me?" Daiki's eyes flew wide, and he stared at the little ring, his breath suddenly shaky. He looked up into Keito's eyes and said
"Yes. Always, yes." Keito felt happiness flood through his body, and he plucked the ring from its cushion, taking Daiki's hand in his and gently slipping the ring onto his finger.
"I love you." Daiki said, and he pulled Keito on top of him, Keito's legs straddling his hips, pinning his arms above his head, their fingers intertwined, the new ring glinting in the morning light.
"I love you too." Keito murmured, and Daiki pushed up to him for a kiss, and the world was perfect.
FIN.
A/N: So...the end. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it! Thank you so very much for taking time out of your life to read my work, every comment makes me feel so very happy, and it's always amazing to hear from anyone that has read anything of mine. Thank you all of you that actually sat down and commented on this fic, you have no idea how much your comments mean to me! Now, as I did last time I finished a longer fic I was hoping to tell you guys about my future projects, stuff I've been working on while posting this...I know it could be a bit long, so bear with me here.Or just don't read this next bit, that's fine too.
So, I've been working on 2 projects actually. Two multi-chaps that I'm really excited about. I'm going to tell you guys about the first one, okay? So I've started on a kinda crackish fun AU where basically Yamada is a poor college student who's out of a job and needs money to pay the rent and he ends up working at a maid cafe run by Yabu and Hikaru, pretending to be a girl. Meanwhile he's slowly falling in love with his best friend and roommate, Daiki! I'm kinda hoping it'll be a light and fun story, everyone's in it, and there's some fun side pairings and stuff. It's not a gender-bender, despite all of the JUMP members that are running around in girl clothes, but I'm really excited about it! It's called Tea & Lace.
My other fic is a sequel to the Yakuza AU fic I did a while back called My New Family. It's another fic set the Heisei Kumi Universe, and it starts 8 months after My new Family ends. Um, It doesn't have a final title right now, and I'm only about 20,000 words into it, but I'm very excited about it, life is never boring or peaceful for long when you're a yakuza, right? We get to see how Daiki and Yamada's relationship is doing, and there's a lot more Chiitaro, and of course Shoon and Keito are dating now. So, yeah more of my Heisei Kumi boys. I don't know how many of you are interested in all of that, but I figured here was as good a place as any to tell you about it.
Thank you for enduring my rambling, and tell me if you're interested in any of my new projects. I don't know which I'm going to post first! You all are lovely~ I hope to see you again in the future!