Chapter Text
The world feels steady. Still, as if all the life in the air had been cut down with a knife. The wind didn’t stir the branches of the trees enclosing the usual practice grounds of the two knights in training, nor did the sun peek through the overhead clouds. One might call the conditions absolutely perfect for a training session, and someone like Akito Shinonome, youngest son of Count Shinonome, never gave up such an opportunity. And one never saw Akito without his self-proclaimed “partner” and fellow knight-in-training, Touya Aoyagi.
It was confusing, why Touya had been the insistent one today on returning for an extra training session, mostly when it was Akito who felt like his ability and technique was much more lacking than that of his fellow knight and friend. Not that he minded of course, but from countless nights spent with Touya, Akito could notice when something felt different.
“Oi, Touya, your form feels off today,” Akito commented, stumbling back and trying to plant his feet firmly on the ground to brace himself from another incoming blow. His training partner struck again, a vertical blow with enough strength to make him wobble slightly in his stance and bring his other hand to the hilt of his training sword. He held his breath, grunting as he pushed the other blade from where it threatened to caress the skin of his neck.
Dropping his weapon to the ground, Akito exhales, this time allowing himself to breathe out properly. He manages a laugh, running his hand through his fire-orange hair as he walks over to take his partner’s blade from his extended hand. “You’re certainly not lacking in strength today. Or ever.”
Touya wipes at his forehead, and Akito notices he’s breathing hard as well. “I’m sorry. I know that was sloppy, and I need to work on—”
“Oh, come on. I’m not stupid, y’know.” Akito throws an arm around Touya’s shoulder, not bringing his head in closer like he may normally, if no one else is around. “That wasn’t the usual Touya. You’ve got something on your mind, don’t you?”
“I…” Touya kicks at the ground with his boot, sighing.
“Why don’t we head back into town, to Sir Ken’s tavern? We can get fresh water there and talk it over, if you like.” Touya’s silence is nothing unexpected. Akito sighs. “Or, we don’t have to talk about it at all.”
“Let’s just take a break,” Touya requests, and Akito can’t help but feel relieved.
“Oi, Sir Ken!” Akito pushes the tavern door open, it’s familiar creak still stinging Touya’s ears even after hearing it countless times. He drops his head, as if ashamed of himself as he follows Akito to their usual table. The tavern-owner’s daughter waves at them, another knight, An Shiraishi, and Touya cracks a smile back, before noticing Akito is back at the table with two mugs of water.
The water is refreshing, at least enough to satisfy his thirst, yet his thoughts still run rampantly, reminding him of what he’s missing. What he needs to do, and what he can’t do without someone at his side.
The two sit in silence, a comfortable silence of not needing to talk in order to enjoy the other’s company, yet Touya can feel Akito’s tension just in the way he gripped his jug tighter, his knuckles red and presumably sore from training earlier. “Hey…” He breaks the silence, Akito’s face turning back to meet his, olive eyes meeting his own gray eyes.
“Never gets old in this old place, does it?” Akito sets his glass down and leans back in his chair, arms crossed in his lap. “I could listen to Sir Ken’s stories of knighthood forever, or eat Meiko’s fine pastries until my stomach burst.”
Touya clenches his fist, knowing all too well Akito is trying to make small talk to protect his own feelings. He nods along, nonetheless. He might as well play along. “I think Sir Ken’s daughter is going to sing again tonight, or at least that’s what I keep hearing from what other people are saying.”
“She’s got a nice voice,” Akito admits. “Shame she doesn’t train with the same kind of passion she has for singing. Then maybe she’d make a half decent fighter.”
Touya can’t help but smile. It was so like Akito, solely focused on his goals and scoffing at those who didn’t take the same dreams as seriously. He wouldn’t have had the pleasure of spending the last few years in his company if he didn’t have the same passion himself; that was what had drawn him to Akito in the first place.
He leans forward, bringing his voice more to a whisper. “There can only be two greatest knights in history, right?”
That brings a grin to Akito’s face. “...Yeah.”
And watching his best friend smile, Touya starts to forget why he’s been so worried for these past weeks. He remembers the night on the balcony, at the Crown Princess’s sixteenth birthday when he finally took that step forward to cup his hands around Akito’s cheeks and bring him closer, pressing his lips against Akito’s. He feels an urge to do it again, but the two know all too well rumors spread fast around here, and the ones circulating about themselves already hinted at a relationship that neither was brave enough to pursue in the first place.
“...Touya? Oi, Touya.”
“H-Huh?”
“You’re staring. Again.”
“Oh.” Touya’s lips curve slightly. “Sorry.”
Akito’s eyes widen and a mischievous look appears in his eyes. He nudges Touya slightly. “Really?”
Touya doesn’t have trouble admitting it to Akito. “Sometimes it’s hard not to.”
“Oh, shut up. You sound fuckin’ ridiculous, you know that?”
But it is ridiculous. Everything Touya has considered, every decision he’s tossed in his mind leading up to this moment is the very definition of ridiculous, but he had spent enough time caring about that aspect of it.
“Akito.” He lowers his voice again. “Will you… listen to me, for a moment?”
His partner tilts his head. “Eh?”
“There’s…” Touya hesitates, looking around at the tavern atmosphere. It certainly wasn’t suited for anything he was about to say, with spies scattered in nearly every corner of town, but especially in crowded places like this one. “Can we go outside for a moment? I need to ask you about something.”
Akito gets up from his seat, waving over at Sir Ken behind the bar. “Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you out there in a moment, alright?”
It’s ordinary for Akito to stick around a couple moments longer and exchange a quick conversation with Sir Ken, so Touya naturally picks himself up and waits outside. The sky has darkened significantly since when they first arrived, and it makes Touya realize that they’d been in there far longer than it had felt like. Moments with Akito seemed to fly by, anyway. He leaned against the wood paneling of the bar, kicking at the loose dirt on the ground.
Moments like this on his own, where the only one to listen to his feelings was the moon and the stars that only seemed to look down on him with judgment like most others in town, were the loneliest. Touya pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, hoping to conceal his easily distinguishable hair from a stray eye. As the exiled son of one of the most powerful Dukes in the kingdom, Touya had no shortage of rumors spread about himself or offers for his head on a platter. He was fortunate that the Tenma noble family had taken him in, yet no amount of new comfort could erase the past that he so desperately wished he could forget.
He couldn’t forget the old manor, the old empty hallways and dark corridors that he wandered at night as a scared little boy victim to a life of endless failure, followed by yells, cries...
He couldn’t forget such a place when he needed to return to it.
“Ah, there you are.” Akito leaned up against the tavern right next to him, a tad closer than one might usually stand, but Touya took comfort in feeling his arm brushed up against his own. “So, what did you wanna ask me?”
Touya swallowed hard, face fixed on the ground in front of him. Looking into Akito’s eyes was a death sentence. “There’s something I never wanted to ask of you, but…” he pauses, noticing his heart pounding in his head, palms sweating. “I really, really need you for this.”
“Alright, spit it out.” Akito turned to face Touya, leaning sideways to look directly at him. He could’ve tilted Touya’s chin and looked into his eyes, but Touya refused to look over at him. A death sentence.
“I need to go back to my father’s estate.”
Akito paused, as if not computing the words coming out of Touya’s mouth. “Are you fuckin’ crazy?!”
“Listen—”
“You’ll fuckin’ die if you’re even seen there!”
“It’s important.” Touya looks up, and Akito is staring right back at him, yet he backs away, cursing softly into the evening. “Akito, I need your help. There’s something there that I need in there.”
“What’s so important you’d risk your damn life over it?”
Touya doesn’t want him to know, or he’d certainly refuse to accompany him. That, or refuse to let Touya even leave the house and lock him inside the Tenma estate. Touya inhales slowly, letting his breath come out steady. “I know it’s difficult to understand, but there’s something there that I need, not because it’s just important to me, but because…”
He hates that he wants to tell Akito that it’s important to him too.
“My mother,” he whispers, changing topics entirely. “She gave it to me. It’s all I have left, of happy memories of that place, of anything tied to my family name—”
“And you can’t just ask Marquess Tenma to negotiate with your old man over it? Seems like he’s got plenty of money to throw around.”
Closing his eyes, Touya shook his head. He’d told Tsukasa about the possession, and while Marquess Tenma was more than happy to help Touya get it back, the thought of causing more unnecessary tensions between the two families filled Touya with too much guilt to even consider it. “I can’t…”
Akito sighed deeply. “Touya.”
He hadn’t even noticed that Akito had reached for his hand, holding it tightly in both of his hands. His breath hitched in his throat.
“You know, whatever this thing is, I don’t care anymore. All I care about is helping you get it back.” He squeezed Touya’s hand tighter. “Just. Give me a night to sleep on it before I go leaping headfirst into a fuckin’ deathtrap.”
Touya couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “When you put it like that, we sound like total fools.”
“Maybe that’s because this is stupid as hell, but I can’t let you do this on your own. And I know you’ll do it on your own without me.” It was so typical of Akito to pick up on something like that. Akito let Touya’s hand fall back to his side. “Now go rest up. G’night.”
“Goodnight, Akito.”