Chapter Text
It didn’t take Shuichi and Kaito very long to finish their errands in town, although time dragged to a crawl for Shuichi. No matter how hard he tried, the scene in the square would penetrate his thoughts and make it nearly impossible to focus. When they returned to the castle, Shuichi froze in place, lost in his thoughts.
“You good bro?” Kaito noticed Shuichi’s apprehension as he placed a comforting arm around his shoulder.
“Y-yeah, I just can’t help but think about what happened today,“ Shuichi sighed and then lifted up a bag, “I’m… I’m going to drop off this and then go talk to him.”
“I’ll see you later, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll talk to you soon,” Shuichi nodded. After an unspoken exchange between the two, he walked off down the hallway.
The castle halls were busier than usual, filled with workers hanging decorations for the upcoming festival. It reminded Shuichi about Kaito’s suggestion, which, the more he thought about, the more he considered following through with it. For the moment he needed to work on his current objective though, which was to lift the ferocious guilt that was clawing at his heart. His mind became so consumed that he nearly bumped into a guard standing in front of the door he attempted to walk through.
“State your business.”
“Ah, I’m just here to make a delivery. The chancellor asked me to pick something up for her in the market today,” Shuichi responded with a sheepish grin.
The guard raised an eyebrow at Shuichi’s behavior and then glanced down at the bag. Shuichi was never one to lie when dealing with authority, which made him wonder why his Uncle assigned him this task in the first place.
“I’ll be taking that-”
“Is there a problem?” a voice spoke from behind.
A tall female clothed in blue robes stepped out of the room, her heels clicking on the tile beneath her steps.. She seemed confused at first, until her eyes had met with Shuichi’s and a flash of recognition came across her face.
“Oh, Shuichi! I was hoping you’d stop by today. Come in! Come in!” She cheered, dismissing the guard’s skepticism and waving for Shuichi to follow her.
Shuichi avoided the guard’s gaze as he walked into the room. The room was littered with mannequins, each with different outfits of varying styles. He stopped in front of one outfit that looked akin to a jester outfit, one that had the typical hat with bell’s attached at the two ends of it. They felt more like costumes, if anything.
“So, what can I help you with today?” The cheery voice pulled Shuichi back into reality.
“I’m just here to drop off the package you asked me to get for you a few days ago… That’s all, Chancellor ” Shuichi stammered.
“Oh Shuichi, I’ve already told you there’s no need to be so formal, you can just call me Tsumugi. I prefer not to use titles, anyway,” Tsumugi then reached out to grab the bag, “Thank you for doing this. Truth is, I’ve been a bit busy as of late. All the guards have been on edge ever since that break-in happened last night.”
Shuichi gulped as he realized Tsumugi was talking about his stunt from the previous night. He attempted to play it off by handing the bag over and glancing inside of it, “I heard about that… I’m sure it was just a petty thief, so there shouldn’t be much to worry about.”
Tsumugi didn’t seem to know about the incident in the marketplace today, so Shuichi decided to keep it that way.
“By the way, what exactly did you need me to grab anyways?” He asked.
“Oh! Just some sewing supplies, I’ve been making a new costume for the culture festival. This is my favorite time of year as well as the king’s so we put a lot of effort into the preperations,” She paused for a moment while rummaging through the bag, “For example, have you heard we’re trying to capture a dragon this year?”
“Actually, I have. Kaito was telling me about it earlier,”
“Oh… I see that Kaito never seems to know when to keep quiet, does he?”
“No, I suppose not,” Shuichi snickered at the comment.
There was a pause between the two until Shuichi eventually spoke up, “Well, I hope everything you needed is in there. I have a few things to take care of. If you’d excuse me...”
“Oh, of course! Thank you for your continued efforts. We sincerely appreciate all of your help,” Tsumugi beamed.
“Give his highness my regards,” Shuichi waved as he then walked out of the room, avoiding the guard’s gaze as he walked past.
Once he had turned the corner, Shuichi picked up his pace as he scurried towards the prison. He prayed enough time had passed since the marketplace incident that their prisoner would be locked up. He did have stuff to do, so there wasn’t another opportunity he could afford. His legs carried him while he wondered what he should do once he made it there. It wasn’t like he could waltz up and ask personal questions, nor was Shuichi at the liberty to admit he was going to free this prisoner.
Unfortunately, his legs moved faster than he realized, and he arrived at the stairs before his plan was resolute.
The stairwell was dim; the only form of light coming from a row of candles that descended down underground. Shuichi let out a weary sigh as he walked down the stairs. The atmosphere felt more oppressing the further he went down. By the time he had made it to the bottom, Shuichi shivered in anticipation. He continued walking, albeit a bit aimlessly. Visitors weren’t uncommon down here, especially among the staff. Worst case scenario Shuichi would make up some excuse saying someone asked him to question the culprit.
“Nishishi~ Woooow, Net-chan must really be submissive to come grovel at my feet in a place like this!”
Shuichi froze in his tracks as his head whipped around to look behind him. His eyes made contact with a pair of violet eyes as their owner laid on the ground, casually kicking his legs behind him in the air. Something told him it was going to be a long day.
“Ah… Hello.”
“Sooooo, what do I have the pleasure of helping you with this time? Do you have another friend that needs saving from the hellish grasp of ropes?”
“Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you.”
The boy in the cell went silent for a moment as if he was studying Shuichi. His eyes narrowed for a couple of seconds before they widened and Shuichi heard a click of a tongue, “Oooooh, I get it. You feel guilty so you want to break me out of here, huh? Never thought my knight in shining armor would be such a klutz!”
“H-How about I just start with your name?” Shuichi asked.
“Buddy,” He casually said as he drummed his fingers along the ground.
“What?” Shuichi raised a confused brow.
“Actually, I lied. It’s Klaus,”
Despite only being here a short time, Shuichi was already having second thoughts about talking to him. He took a deep breath, walked forward, and knelt in front of the cage, “Just give me your name, please.”
“Ugh, you’re boring!” He pouted, “Most people usually believe the Klaus one…”
There was a long pause before either of them spoke again. Shuichi refused to leave until he got some answers. The boy must have picked up on this fact, because he released a very audible sigh as his boots kicked together behind him.
“It’s Kokichi.”
“Right…” Shuichi was almost inclined to not believe that one either, “What were you doing outside of the castle last night, Kokichi?”
“Nishishi~ I could ask the same of you, Net-chan! You looked like you were in a hurry to get away from those guards,” Kokcihi said.
“It’s Shuichi,” Shuichi looked down at Kokichi with a grunt, “I was just… investigating something. Now, will you answer my question?”
“Wow, you must suck at investigating if you got caught! Maybe I should give you lessons so they don’t find you next time,” Kokichi snickered, “If you have to know, I was sneaking around to storm the castle to kill the king-”
“What are you-”
“But maybe I’m just lying, y’know?” Kokichi then rolled around onto his back with his pair of violet eyes staring directly up at Shuichi. For someone that was locked in a jail cell, he seemed to be incredibly calm. It contradicted any expectation Shuichi had for someone in this scenario. It felt… unnatural.
“You seem pretty calm for someone who is currently locked up in prison,”
“Well that’s because my knight in shining armor is going to rescue me from here, of course!”
“Anyways…” Shuichi then sat down next to the prison cage, “Why’d you help me then? You wouldn’t be in this situation if you had just left me alone.”
That seemed to be the question that knocked Kokichi off guard. There was a brief look of pity on his face, so brief it almost never existed. It was followed by a snicker as Kokichi closed his eyes, “It was just convenient. I needed money, and if I let you go that meant I’d have dirt on you if I pickpocketed those guards.”
“Right… I guess that’s true,” Shuichi grimaced at the thought.
“Sooooo, when are you going to get me out of there?”
“Not so loud! I told you I just came here to talk to you, remember?”
“Yeah, but like, you’re totally coming back later right? It’s written all over your face!” Kokichi turned back around to kick his legs in the air again.
“What are you-”
“Oh, but if you do come back, I hope you have a better plan than whatever you did last night. I’d hate to get thrown back in here!”
Shuichi let out a deep lofty sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Part of his brain was questioning if he should follow through with his plan. If it wasn’t for the guilt on his conscience, he would forget about his plan and go about his day. He then stood back up and turned his back towards Kokichi.
“Well I think I got everything I wanted…” Shuichi hummed, then muttered, “Though it was less than I expected.”
“Oh, are you leaving now? I’ll see you later. Don’t leave me down here for too long!” Kokichi flashed an innocent-looking smile as he rested his head on his hand.
Shuichi could feel the gears turning in his head while he trudged himself back towards the stairs. It was a miracle nobody heard Kokichi hollar about being rescued. There was an uneasy feeling in his chest that something was… off about him, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was.
---------------
“So… What exactly is my role in your plan?” Kaito asked.
Lanterns lit the hallway as Shuichi led Kaito towards their destination at a brisk pace. The usual bustle of the castle halls had long since died down by this point with the soft glow of the moon shining through the window. Kaito looked as perplexed as ever, which caused Shuichi to sigh.
“I need you to distract the guards for me while I get Kokichi out of there. It shouldn’t take very long. I spent the rest of my day mapping out the best route to get out of the castle without anyone noticing us. It’s just better to be safe than sorry.” Shuichi explained.
“Oooooh, I get you! Yeah, don’t worry I’ve got just the thing. You just stay put here until I give you the signal,”
“Ah-! Kaito wait-!”
Kaito didn’t even acknowledge his plea as he rushed down the hallway abruptly. Shuichi stopped dead in his tracks to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was beginning to question why he asked for Kaito’s help to begin with. It didn’t take him long to hear shouting up ahead which snapped him out of his thoughts and ran towards the scene. He stopped just before a corner where he saw Kaito, talking to one of the guards right by the staircase to the prison.
“Hey, I think that bandit from the other day got out, I saw someone suspicious over here, and I need help!” Kaito egged on the guard.
The guard suddenly went into a panic and rushed down the hallway in the direction Kaito pointed down. Once he was out of eyeshot, Kaito turned around and gave a thumbs up to Shuichi before running off himself, “Be careful, he’s a slippery one!”
As Kaito ran off, Shuichi stood there with his back to the wall in complete bewilderment. He was impressed that it actually worked. With the entryway unguarded, Shuichi slipped by as quietly as he could. Unlike during the day, the prison had an eerie feel to it, being only lit by lanterns every couple of feet. Shuichi retraced his steps from earlier back over to Kokichi’s cell.
“Ohhh, there you are! I was starting to get worried you were lying earlier,” Kokichi said in a much quieter tone compared to his shouting earlier.
“Yes, well… We need to be quick, so let me-” Shuichi walked forward towards the cell to figure out how to unlock it, only to find it creaked slightly and opened as he pulled on it.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it, but I unlocked that after you left. See, aren’t I nice!”
“You… You unlocked the door?” Shuichi whispered.
“Hmmm? Oh, are you telling me you don’t know how to pick locks? That’s like, the most basic lesson of thievery. Jeez you must really suck at this infiltration thing!”
“Erm… Why didn’t you leave?”
“Oh? You mean you DIDN’T want to come save me? How mean!”
“N-No I did want to! I meant… Why didn’t you leave earlier?” Shuichi asked.
“Oooooh, well you seemed like you were hatching up some kind of plan, and I didn’t want to ruin it by running off before you came back, soooo I just decided to make your life a little easier. That’s all.”
Shuichi stood there in complete shock as Kokichi hopped up onto his feet and brushed himself off. He could barely comprehend what had just happened until Kokichi had stepped out of the cell, waving his hand in front of Shuichi’s face.
“Heyyyy, I’m not the one with the plan here, but I’m gonna assume we don’t have all day, so what are we doing?” Kokichi’s voice had changed into a more serious tone compared to his previous, carefree attitude.
“Ah- Right… I have something to help us with this, since I don’t want this to end like last night…” Shuichi began rummaging through his bag until he pulled a spellbook with a bookmark in it. He flipped to the designated page and said a couple of words underneath his breath. Suddenly there was an array of sparkles that had fallen around the duo in a circle and circled them.
“Nishishi, Net-chan’s using magic this time! I see you’ve grown since your past encounter!”
“I told you my name is Shuichi…” Shuichi muttered, “That should make it so they don’t see us, but we need to stay quiet.”
Shuichi then grabbed Kokichi’s wrist. He could feel the other boy flinch for the briefest moment. Now that he thought about it, Kokichi didn’t seem that old which made him wonder if his parents had known about this.
“Just stay close to me, the range on this spell isn’t very long,”
“Jeez what are you, my mom?” Kokichi sneered.
Shuichi didn’t acknowledge that with a response as he began to lead Kokichi out of the prison. Surprisingly, Kokcihi didn’t say a single word as he followed Shuichi towards the stairs with his tattered cape fluttering as he walked. The path to the stairs was mostly empty other than a single guard they had passed by on patrol. Just as Shuichi had hoped, they were completely unaware of their presence as they eventually made their way to the stairs.
“That spell of yours sure is neat. You should show me how you do it, so I can add it to my list of tricks!”
“Can you even do magic…?” Shuichi asked.
“Oh, did you believe that? Sorry, I lied again,” Kokichi had this innocent looking smile on his face that contrasted his words. It was starting to make Shuichi’s head hurt.
“Right, well… after you,” he whispered.
Kokichi looked at Shuichi with a puzzled expression then began to climb the stairs with his back up against the wall. Shuichi raised an eyebrow at his behavior but didn’t think to comment on it as he followed him. When they reached the top of the stairs the scenery looked exactly as it did before he had gone downstairs. The moonlight glistened through one of the windows. The guard from earlier was still missing too, Kaito seemed to be doing a good job keeping him distracted. Shuichi then waved Kokichi to follow him down one of the hallways. It was the home-stretch, and the last thing Shuichi wanted was to get caught.
“Don’t move,” Kokichi said in a hushed tone as he suddenly put an arm in front of Shuichi to prevent him from going forward.
“What are you-”
“Kaito are you sure you saw the prisoner escape? It’s been nearly a half hour and we didn’t see him once.”
“Yeah I’m sure! Would you really question me, Kaito Momota?” Kaito appeared around the corner as he gave the other guard a thumbs up, “We just have to keep looking, and I’m sure we’ll find him!”
The other guard sighed as they both approached the stairs, “Stay put, I’m going to go see if he’s even missing. You could’ve just seen one of the mages… like last time.”
“What do you mean ‘last time’? I’m telling you that guy looked suspicious!”
The guard didn’t respond as they descended down the stairs. Once they were out of earshot Kaito released a loud groan as he rubbed the back of his head. Now that he was alone, his face changed from calm to panicked while he paced back and forth, “I really hope Shuichi got done down there by now…”
“Friend of yours?” Kokichi snickered.
“Oh, yeah… That’s Kaito, he was helping me,” Shuichi explained.
Kokichi turned around for a moment, and his eyes flashed with inspiration. While still invisible he began to move back towards Kaito.
“Kokichi, what are you-”
“Boo,” Kokichi said in a monotone voice as he touched Kaito’s shoulder.
Kaito jumped backwards, nearly falling down the stairs at the sound. His hand grasped his sword as a yellow blade shot out in front of him, “S-Stay back whoever you are. I-I, Kaito Momota, won’t back down to a fight!”
“Woooooow, Shuichi you didn’t tell me your friend is afraid of ghosts! This is great info!”
“Kokichi what are you doing?” Shuichi whispered.
“Wha-!? Shuichi where are ya’, I can’t see you!” Kaito whipped his head back and forth into a panic.
With a sigh, Shuichi stepped out of his spell and glanced up at Kaito, who looked like his soul was about to leave his body, “Sorry, someone… got a bit excited. It was a spell I cast so nobody could see us,” he then glanced at the sword and winced, “So put your sword away...please.”
“O-Oh yeah,” Kaito sheathed his sword, “Just so you know I wasn’t s-scared or anything.”
Shuichi couldn’t help but laugh at Kaito’s reaction, “I know you weren’t. You don’t get scared of anything. I’ll tell you everything later, but I need to go,” He then stepped back into the wispy circle and grabbed Kokichi’s wrist a bit tighter this time to drag him down the hallway.
“Byeeee mister ‘I’m scared of ghosts’!” Kokichi waved, which caused Kaito to flinch again as they walked away.
“Jeez, you sure your friend is cut out for that line of work?” Kokichi remarked.
“Kaito is… special,” Shuichi didn’t know how to describe his friend other than that.
The rest of their escape had gone without a hitch, and Shuichi led Kokichi out into the forest where they had met the previous night. Once they were far enough away, he dismissed the spell.
“Wellll, that was kinda fun, more fun than if I had just left on my own soooooo, thanks.”
“Huh? Oh… You’re welcome, now we’re even I guess,” Shuichi looked back over towards the castle, “I should probably head back before anyone notices I’m gone.”
“Awww, you’re leaving already? But you haven’t told me why you were sneaking around the other day!”
“I told you I was just investigating something, it’s not that important.”
“Nishishi, if it wasn’t important then you wouldn’t have been investigating in secret,” Kokichi said.
“Why… Why do you want to know so badly? It has nothing to do with you,”
“‘Cuz maybe I wanna help so you don’t get caught again,” Kokichi rocked back and forth on his heels and placed his hands behind his head, “Or maybe I’m lying. I have a feeling you know if I am or not though.”
Shuichi turned back around and looked into Kokichi’s violet eyes. He could feel a mix of emotions behind them, but pinpointing what they were seemed difficult. After everything that happened today, Kokichi intrigued him despite his obnoxious nature.
“Hey, where are your parents? Do they know you got locked up?”
“Hmmm? Oh my parents are dead. Maybe I murdered them, or maybe someone else did! ” Kokichi responded in a very cheery tone.
“Right...” Shuichi didn’t know what to make of that statement, but he felt like it was another lie. Since Kokichi had no intention of saying anything further it felt like his hands were tied, “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but this doesn’t concern you.”
“Wooow, Shuichi you’re so heartless! Turning down a kind gesture when you suck at being a thief!” Kokichi then started to cry abruptly.
“Wha-! Hey! Calm down, I didn’t mean to make you cry! I-I’ll think about it, alright?”
“Oooooh, good! I was hoping you’d say that!” Kokichi then perked up as if he wasn’t crying and flashed a smile, “I won’t bother you anymore, you look exhausted. Say hi to your scaredy-cat friend for me. See you later, partner!”
Without being given a chance to respond, Kokichi ran off into the woods. Shuichi stood there, bewildered at what had transpired. Kokichi had unofficially declared himself as Shuichi’s investigation partner. He didn’t like the idea very much, but he seemed to have promise if today taught him anything. It couldn’t be that bad, right?