Chapter Text
Bokuto’s mother always told him that he would know if he was destined to have a soulmate, he would feel it. “Like love,” she said, “it was excruciating and terrible. But it was also beautiful.” What she was comparing it to was the change that occurred at a metaphysical level when a soulmate was born. It never hurt for the younger ones, but for the older ones, it was awful.
In the middle of the night, Bokuto woke up, his hand pushing hard against his eye, screaming in pain. The guards outside his cell came in, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. “What’s happening, boy? Why are you screaming like that? Do you want to wake up the entire castle? Shut up.” Bokuto ignored them and continued to scream, his eye burning behind his lid.
He could feel a searing heat and a small trickle of blood moving down his cheek. After about twenty minutes, it stopped. There was still discomfort, but the burning sensation subsided. The guards looked at him, confused. He couldn’t open his eye, it was swollen and painful. “I need help,” he said, reaching out his hand.
“We’ll take you to the doctor tomorrow. Go to sleep.”
“Please, it hurts so badly.”
“You’re fine. You’re not even human. What are they going to do for you, Owl-boy? Now shut up and go to sleep.” Bokuto curled in on himself, knowing it was useless. He leaned his eye against the stone floor of his cell and used it to cool down his face, trying to fall asleep.
The next morning, after begging incessantly, the doctor finally took a look at him. He was brought up to a room a few floors above his cell, and as he passed the others who occupied the castle, a bit of shame passed through him at the difference between his tattered rags and their expensive clothing. Off in the distance, Bokuto could hear the wailing cry of a baby. He wasn’t sure why, but he thought it sounded sad.
“Why didn’t you bring him to me last night?” the doctor said, her face full of concern. “He could have gotten an infection and passed away.”
“He’s just a servant, it’s not like it matters,” the guard answered. “Can you just give him something to make him shut up? He’s been annoying all morning and says that he can’t do his work.”
“Fine, fine. You can go now and I will have someone fetch you once he’s ready to return to work.” The guard left the room and the doctor began to look over him. She cleaned his swollen eye, a layer of crust and pus forming around the lids. Once she placed a cold compress on his skin, he was slowly able to re-open the eye. She looked into it to see if there was any damage.
“I can see,” Bokuto said. “So I guess that means I’m fine?”
“Yes… Have you always had two different colored eyes?” she asked.
“What?”
“Your swollen eye is blue, were you born with a blue eye and a gold eye?”
“No, my eyes are gold, like my parents. Did it change? Is that why it felt like someone was sticking a hot poker into my eye last night?” Bokuto asked.
“I believe so. The question is… why?” She stood back and grabbed a book from a shelf. “This isn’t the right one, I need to run to the library to grab a medical book, stay put.” Bokuto nodded and watched as the woman disappeared from the room.
He laid down on the small table she had him sit on to examine him, but found it difficult to fall asleep with the wailing baby crying in the background. After perhaps ten minutes, Bokuto sat straight up and lifted himself from the table. He knew he would be in trouble, but he needed to get that baby to be quiet, there was something in his body telling him to move toward the sound.
He slunk around corridors, avoiding people until he was outside a room where he could hear the crying inside. He slowly opened the door and made his way in. Near the window stood an ornate bassinet where the crying was coming from. Bokuto walked toward it and inside, he saw the culprit. A small baby, most likely just born, howling madly. His face was bright red from crying, his cheeks stained with tears. The color of his face was a large contrast to the jet-black hair on his head.
Although Bokuto knew better, he lifted the child, being careful to support his head, and began to rock him gently. After a few seconds, the crying stopped. The boy looked like he was asleep and calm. Bokuto smiled at him. “You got him to stop,” a voice said behind him. Bokuto turned quickly, fearing the worst as he saw the woman before him.
“I’m so sorry. I heard him crying from the doctor’s room and I… I don’t know, it felt like I should help,” Bokuto explained.
“You could hear him all the way from there?” she asked. She looked a lot like the boy, they shared the same dark hair and, what Bokuto would consider, similar complexions. “What are you?”
“What?”
“You’re not human, so what are you?” she asked again.
“I’m sorry. I should go before I get in trouble.” Bokuto set the baby back in the bassinet and began to walk away. Almost immediately, the boy began to cry again.
“No wait,” the woman said, stepping in front of Bokuto. “He’s been crying all night. I don’t know what’s wrong with him but you seem to have an instinct toward him. Please, just rock him again. I can promise that you won’t get into trouble.”
Bokuto looked between the woman and the door. It was the first time he had seen anything above the main floor ever and it might mean a chance for him to escape, to fly again. But he knew he couldn’t. And not because the woman looked so desperate. He knew what would happen to his sisters if he ran.
He turned back to the baby and gently raised him, holding him close to his chest and rocking him gently. He stopped crying once again, and only whimpered softly until his breathing calmed to a normal tempo. The woman’s eyes calmed along with the child and her shoulders seemed to relax as well.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She walked closer to him and looked over at the boy, combing through his hair. As she did, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. She stilled for a moment and then looked at Bokuto, placing a hand on his cheek. “I see now.” Bokuto was a little confused until he looked down at the little boy. The baby looked back at Bokuto with bright eyes, one blue and one gold.
“Does that mean…?”
“There you are. I told you to stay put,” the doctor said, swinging the door open. “Come back now before-” she stopped short in the doorway, her eyes wide. “My apologies, milady. I didn’t mean to disturb you and young Keiji. I just came to bring the boy back with me.”
“He won’t be coming back with you,” the woman stated plainly.
“What?”
“I don’t believe I misspoke. Please reach out to the servants. He - what is your name?” she asked, turning to him.
“Bokuto Koutarou.”
“Hm. Koutarou will need new amenities. He will be staying with me and my son from now on.”
“Are you sure, milady? He’s the son of-”
“I am positive. I will deal with my husband later. Now, the servants.”
Everything seemed like a whirlwind with several people moving around and talking about Bokuto. He was able to bathe for the first time in a few months, they brought him new clothes, and fed him a meal much too large for him but he ate every bite to ensure he didn’t offend anyone. Afterward, he was shown to a room next to the woman’s - he had gathered she was the lady of the land, Lady Akaashi. Her husband had been at war with Bokuto’s people which resulted in his imprisonment three years prior.
“My son will stay with you,” Lady Akaashi stated. We are going to move his bassinet into here. I want you to take care of him. The bond the two of you have is special and I hope, over time, you two will cultivate it as you see fit. How old are you, Koutarou?”
“83.”
“Hm. You know, I’ve always been slightly envious of the slow aging process of you Akuma. But it must be challenging to live so long. What is the average lifespan for Owl Akuma?”
“My grandfather lived to be 247,” Bokuto responded quietly.
“I’m sure you’ve seen several wars over the last few decades. You look so young, maybe thirteen. Such smooth skin.”
“Um, thank you, Lady Akaashi. But… you know who I am, right?” Bokuto asked.
“I do.”
“Why are you being so kind to me, then?”
She took a deep breath through her nose before answering. “I think all things happen for a reason, Koutarou. You are the son of my husband’s enemy. But you are not my enemy. You and my son are soulmates and there is nothing we can do to change that. It’s much larger than us. The universe is much wiser than humans or Akuma so… while we can make up rules and conquer lands, we cannot dictate the laws of the universe. There is often a lesson meant to be learned. I think for my husband, that lesson is evident. For you and my son, that is yet to be determined.”
“Bokuto-san! I can’t get down! I need help!” Akaashi called from the tree branch he sat on. His eyes welled up with tears as he looked down to the ground, afraid of falling to the earth. Bokuto stood up and walked to the tree, holding his arms outstretched and smiling.
“Just jump to me, and I’ll catch you.”
“What if you drop me?”
“I won’t. I promise.” Akaashi closed his eyes and scooted forward on the branch until he was falling through the air. He cried out, his nerves taking hold until he felt the comfort of Bokuto’s arms. He opened his eyes and looked up at Bokuto’s smiling face. “See? I told you that I wouldn’t drop you.” He set Akaashi on his feet and began to walk back toward the large stone castle. Akaashi reached out and took his hand.
“Bokuto-san, do you ever fly anymore?” Akaashi asked. Bokuto rolled his eyes, they had had this discussion before, and Akaashi knew the answer. But he was a smart boy and thought he could wear Bokuto down if he continued to bring it up. Who knew eight-year-olds could be so smart?
“No, you know that I can’t do that. It’s against the rules for me to fly on the grounds of the castle.”
“Well… couldn’t we go off the grounds of the castle then? No rules say that we can’t fly out in the forest, right?” Akaashi asked, looking at Bokuto out of the corner of his eye.
“What’s this 'we?'” Bokuto asked. “I didn’t know you could fly as well. When were you going to tell me? Not just me, but your family. Maybe if you told your father that you could fly, he would allow it on the grounds.”
Akaashi scowled at him, annoyed. “You know I can’t fly.”
“And you know I’m not allowed to fly. So why do you keep asking me about it?” Bokuto sneered, kneeling to Akaashi’s level.
“I want to know what it’s like to be up high,” Akaashi replied, his voice small. “I want to see the view from above the trees. It’s not fair that you can’t because my dad is mean.”
“He’s just making sure I don’t leave.”
“You wouldn’t leave… Would you?”
Bokuto smiled a wide toothy smile. “Of course not.” Bokuto lifted Akaashi into his arms again and looked around. It looked clear, no one around as far as he could see. “Do not tell anyone about this, okay?”
Akaashi smiled, his eyes wide and full of joy. Bokuto took a deep breath before pushing his wings out, ripping his shirt in the process. It was a bit painful, he hadn’t let them out in a long time and the skin had healed over. Bokuto looked down at Akaashi who stared at the outstretched wings, his mouth open wide. He was suddenly nervous that he was scaring the boy.
“Those are your wings?” he asked, quietly.
“Yes.”
“They’re so pretty. I’m sorry you have to hide them all the time.” Bokuto gave Akaashi a soft smile and nodded.
“Ready?” Akaashi nodded vigorously. Bokuto pushed the wings down, generating a gust of wind behind him. He continued the motion until he was up in the air with Akaashi, clutching tight to his neck, his head tucked into his shoulder. Once Bokuto reached a height above the tallest trees, he stilled in the air, hovering in the sky. “Are you going to open your eyes? I thought you wanted to see the view from above the trees.”
Akaashi slowly pulled his face away from Bokuto and opened one eye at a time to look around. Once he did, there were no words to describe the joy on his face. “We’re so high up,” he said, a smile on his face.
“You wanted to be above the trees.”
“Can you go higher?”
“I could… but I’m not going to,” Bokuto said. He knew he was going to be in trouble when he landed, there was no way someone wouldn’t see and tell Lord Akaashi. But right now, the happiness on the young boy’s face was worth it. As much as he hated to admit it, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for him. It was the tie of soulmates that dictated his behavior.
“Thank you, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, his voice breaking.
“Why are you crying?” Bokuto asked, concerned. “Are you scared? We can go back down.”
“No, I want to stay up for a little longer if that’s okay with you. I’m just a little sad that you can’t do this all the time. It’s so beautiful and you’re not allowed to fly when you want, even though it’s part of your nature. When I become the lord, I’ll let you fly whenever you want to and you can go wherever you want, too.” Bokuto smiled at the boy, much too wise for his age.
“Thank you, I look forward to the reign of Akaashi Keiji. But for now, we need to head back, okay?” Akaashi nodded, tightening his grip around Bokuto’s neck as he descended to the ground. Bokuto could see the men in armor below, as well as the Lord and Lady waiting for them, he was in trouble.
As he landed, the men got closer, but they didn’t make a move to harm Bokuto. They were waiting for him to set Akaashi down. “How dare you defy my orders, Bokuto!” the Lord shouted at him, stomping over. “Were you trying to kidnap my son?”
“No, of course not,” Bokuto replied, setting Akaashi to the ground and raising his hands in surrender. “I would never put him in harm’s way.”
“Keiji, step away,” the Lord ordered.
“No,” Akaashi answered, standing in front of Bokuto, his arms outstretched in protection. “I asked him to take me up, it’s my fault.”
“Keiji, step away,” his father said again, with more aggression in his voice.
“If I do, you’re going to hurt him.”
“Keiji, sweetheart, please,” his mother pleaded.
“No!”
“Keiji,” Bokuto said softly behind him. Akaashi turned to look at him. Bokuto gave him a gentle smile and nodded lightly. “It’s okay. Go to your mom.” Akaashi’s eyes welled up as he slowly walked toward the Lady, her arms out to receive him. He hugged her as he looked back at Bokuto.
Once he was a safe distance away, the Lord nodded, causing the men around Bokuto to bind his arms and pull him to the ground. They took their various weapons and began to strike him across the back, bruising and ripping his wings in the process. Akaashi pulled against his mother, trying to free himself from her grip.
“Stop it!” he screamed, tears running down his face.
When they finished with their beating, Bokuto was brought down to the cells to continue his punishment, the Lord telling him to remember his place and where he came from. He knew, of course, that he didn’t belong with the Akaashi’s and it was only the rare string of fate that tied him with young Keiji. He sat on the cold floor, familiar with the surroundings despite not having been there in the last eight years. He had done well to abide by the rules set by the Lord, but he always had difficulty saying no to Akaashi.
“Bokuto-san?” Akaashi’s small voice rang out in the darkness. Bokuto sat up and looked out of the cell. Akaashi stood outside the bars, a tray of food in his hands.
“What are you doing? You shouldn’t be down here.”
"My mom told me I could bring you dinner,” Akaashi replied. He set the tray on the floor and opened the small gate at the bottom of the bars, sliding it through. Bokuto moved closer to him and sat against the wall next to the bars, taking a bite of food. Akaashi stayed on the opposite side of the bars, his eyes cast down to the floor.
“What’s wrong?” Bokuto asked after taking a bite.
“It’s all my fault that you're here. It’s my fault that they hurt you.”
“No, don’t blame yourself. I’m old enough to make my own decisions and I should know better. And, to be honest, it didn’t hurt that much. I’m a lot stronger than those guys,” Bokuto replied, taking another bite of food.
“Then why didn’t you fight back? We can leave. You can fight them and we can leave.” Bokuto laughed while looking at Akaashi.
“There are times I forget how old you are because you seem so mature. But then, at times like this, I remember. Keiji, you need to think about the big picture. You’re going to inherit all of this. You’re going to be in charge and that’s important. You can’t leave it behind. And I already told you, I’m not going anywhere. So, we bear with it for now. The rules and the things that seem unfair, we can deal with it because it’s all a part of a greater lesson for us. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I am so tired of these stupid tutors and their lessons,” Akaashi said, barging into Bokuto’s room. Bokuto looked up from a letter he was writing to his older sister, an eyebrow raised. He tossed himself onto the bed and stayed motionless for a while.
“What’s wrong now?” Bokuto asked. Akaashi was too smart for the tutors, they frustrated him. He wanted more of a challenge.
“Why do I need to learn other languages? It’s not like I’m going to go around like some colonist and conquer random lands.”
“You might need to do business with foreign leaders, though. It would look good if the Lord of the Akaashi family was able to speak in different languages to a degree, at least common phrases.”
“I came here to vent, not to get a lesson.”
“P𐌿𐌻c𐌷𐍂𐌰 𐌴𐍃 𐌴𐍄 𐌳𐍉𐌻𐍉𐍂, 𐍃𐌴𐌳 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐍄 𐌵𐌿𐍉𐌵𐌿𐌴 𐍂𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌹c𐌰.”
“Excuse me, what was that?” Akaashi asked, propping himself up onto his elbow.
“You didn’t understand it? Let me try again. Pulchra es et dolor, sed sunt quoque rustica. Still nothing? One more time. Tha thu brèagha agus glic, ach tha thu ro naive.”
“I get it, you can speak a million languages. You’re old.”
“Ouch. Okay.”
“I know I’m going to need some of it, but no one speaks Latin or Greek anymore. Couldn’t they teach me German or Spanish or French? Wouldn’t that be a better use of my time? And they act like they are literal geniuses. I’m smarter than them. I just want to be done with school and take over instead of my uncle standing in until I’m old enough.”
“Enjoy your youth, Akaashi. Don’t try to grow up too quickly,” Bokuto said.
“That’s easy for you to say. How old are you now? 150?”
“99, actually.” Akaashi turned over on the bed to look at Bokuto, his hands holding up his head.
“You’re going to be 100 this fall? We should celebrate.” His face looked eager, a wide smile taking up the bottom portion and making Bokuto’s heart skip a beat. He turned away. Even if they were soulmates, that didn’t mean it would be a romantic relationship. It was much too early to discuss that with Akaashi, a teenager. Still, it was hard to resist the beautiful features Akaashi had grown into, a blend of his mother's softness and his father's strength.
“No, we don’t have to do that. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Are you serious? I don’t know anyone who is a century old. We have to celebrate. I’ll have my mom make sure the servants prepare your favorite dishes.” He hopped off the bed and ran from the room, excitement present with each step. Bokuto laughed to himself.
Since his father died when he was thirteen, Akaashi grew anxious to take over - he believed himself to be much more mature than he was, and, in some ways, he was wise past his years. And in other ways, he was still a naive teenager, excited about a birthday party. The juxtaposition was humorous.
“Hey, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, sitting on the tree branch in the courtyard. Bokuto looked up at him.
“Yes?”
“Shirofuku Yukie confessed to me today.”
“Did she? She’s the daughter of a nearby duke, correct? She’d make an excellent partner one day. She’s very beautiful.”
“I told her no.”
“Oh? How come?”
Akaashi let out a long sigh before answering. “Seriously?”
“What?” Bokuto shielded his eyes from the sun to see Akaashi. In the back of his mind, he could still see the scared little boy who was afraid to fall to the ground. But now, it was a young man of sixteen staring back at him, the same Blue and Gold eyes he saw when he looked into the mirror. The baby fat was long gone and replaced by a strong jawline and Bokuto could see a small amount of stubble trying to make its way onto his face. How had he grown up so quickly?
Akaashi jumped from the branch and landed close to Bokuto. He leaned in and stared at the older man intensely as if his thoughts would translate by sheer willpower alone. “You don’t get it, do you?” he asked.
Bokuto furrowed his brow, “Akaashi?”
Akaashi leaned in, closed his eyes, and moved closer, placing his hands on either side of Bokuto’s face. Bokuto just looked for a moment, time standing still. He had thought about this before, but he couldn’t let it happen, not now. He touched his hand to Akaashi’s chest and pushed him away lightly. Akaashi opened his eyes, an expression of hurt painted across his face.
“Why?” he asked.
“You’re too young,” Bokuto replied, essentially in a whisper.
“What? Are you serious? I’m not.”
“You are. How do you even know that you want this? You might fall in love with someone more suitable for you. Someone who is in the same social standing, someone who can give you children. Not an Owl Akuma like me.”
“Children? First I’m too young and now you’re talking about children? Do you understand how ridiculous that sounds? You’re my soulmate, of course this is what I want.”
“A soulmate can mean many different things. It’s not just a romantic relationship, Keiji. It could mean best friends, siblings, parents, and children. It’s just a bond the universe has created to link people together, a lesson for them. I’m not saying ‘no.’ I’m saying ‘not now.’ I want you to be older, to figure out who you are first. Think about whether or not you would want to be with someone so much older than you.”
“You’re always going to be eighty years older than me. What does it matter if it’s now or later?”
Bokuto stood up to put some distance between himself and Akaashi. “Were you even listening, Akaashi?”
“Yes, Koutarou. I was. I’m not a child. Everyone else treats me like one, I didn’t expect you to as well. If you don’t want to be my soulmate anymore, you can just say so. And stop pretending it’s because I’m too young. We both know who will outlive the other.” Akaashi turned on his heel and walked away back to the castle, Bokuto staring at him the entire time, his mouth hanging open.
After a moment or two, he sat down with his back against the tree, his head in his hands. Before he knew it, he could feel the tears coming. Akaashi was right, afterall. Bokuto was in love with him, he wanted them to be partners, but he didn’t want Akaashi to miss out on having a normal life where he could be a parent. He didn’t want to watch Akaashi die.
“I present to the court, Lord Akaashi Keiji of Fukurodani.” Once Akaashi turned nineteen, he was deemed fit to begin his rule. He stood in front of the other Lords and Ladies, an ornate crown adorning his dark wavy hair, blue and gold eyes gleaming, and a small smile on his face. He bowed gently to the audience.
Bokuto stood in the back corner of the room, his heart full of so many emotions. Over the past three years, they had kept some distance. No longer did Akaashi burst into Bokuto’s chambers, complaining about his studies or the mundane routines of schooling. Bokuto watched from the background as Akaashi dated women his age, none of them lasting very long.
Of course, Bokuto maintained his duties as an aid, accompanying him during times of travel, and helping him with school work and other responsibilities he had acquired over the years. Their exchanges were minimal, yet cordial. “If you’ll excuse me,” Akaashi said. “I’m going to retire for the evening. I’m a little tired from the festivities. But please, continue to celebrate.”
Akaashi walked past the guests, hugging his mother briefly, and then walking past Bokuto. Dutifully, Bokuto followed, knowing his place, as Akaashi’s father had reminded him years before. They walked down the corridor in silence until they reached Akaashi’s chambers. Bokuto stood against the wall, silent, stoic.
“Come inside, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi instructed.
“Milord?”
“Don’t call me that. Come inside.” Bokuto walked behind Akaashi but maintained his distance by standing at the door while Akaashi sat at the desk. “I’m going to name you as my Advisor tomorrow at my first council meeting,” Akaashi said. Bokuto raised an eyebrow, not sure how else to respond. “Are you upset by that?”
“No. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. But what about the current Advisor?”
“He was very loyal to my father but I don’t trust him. He’s consistently given my uncle some troublesome advice in the past few years. I think he might have some ulterior motives. I know I can trust you.”
“Thank you.”
“I also plan to rescind the regulation prohibiting you from flying on the grounds.” Bokuto turned to Akaashi, no longer able to contain his emotion.
“T-thank you.” Akaashi smiled at him before standing from the desk and moving closer. He took Bokuto’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the knuckles. “Did you think I would have forgotten my promise, Bokuto-san?”
“You were eight.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve always been important to me. Even before I knew you. And I also wanted to apologize for… for what I said that day. I can’t claim to know what it’s like to outlive so many people you love. I shouldn’t have used that against you. I’m sorry. Do you think you would ever be able to forgive me?”
“Keiji, I was never upset with you. I could never be upset with you. Nothing you said was untrue. They were just things I had yet to come to terms with.” Akaashi leaned in and placed a small kiss on Bokuto’s cheek, receiving no resistance.
“I still love you, Bokuto-san. I know you will always think of me as a small, scared boy. But I’m not anymore. And I’m going to prove it to you.”
“I thought you would have been bolder, considering the last time you tried to kiss me,” Bokuto said.
“I want our first kiss to mean something. And there will be a first kiss, I know there will be.”
“The Lord from Kurasuno is going to be here tomorrow. Are there any other arrangements you would like me to make to prepare?” Bokuto asked Akaashi as they walked to the meeting hall.
“I think everything should be prepared. The servants made sure the chambers were cleaned and ready. We have an abundance of food. Is there anything I’m forgetting?” Akaashi asked. The dark circles under his eyes were too prevalent for someone just twenty-five years of age.
“You’re forgetting to sleep. You look like you’ve aged twenty years in the past three months since you learned of their arrival. I promise that everything will be okay. You’ve gone to every length to ensure that everything was accounted for. Now, I think you need to rest,” Bokuto replied, placing his hands on Akaashi’s shoulders, and rubbing them gently. He had grown a lot in the past few years. Not just taller, but stronger, his shoulders broad and his chest muscular. He was still smaller than Bokuto but was no longer the skinny child he had been.
“I know. I will.”
"Oh, there is something. Come with me.” Bokuto took Akaashi’s hand and led him down the remainder of the corridor and outside the castle. They traveled quickly to the familiar tree they had spent so much time under over the years. Once they stood under it, Bokuto stopped and looked at Akaashi. The timing could have been wrong, but Bokuto needed it to be now.
“The tree? Is there something wrong with the tree?” Akaashi asked, his face confused.
“No, nothing’s wrong with the tree. I need you.”
“For?”
“Ever.” Bokuto’s eyes seemed so sure. Akaashi stared at him, his mouth open in surprise. “Will you be my partner?”
“Oh, okay,” he replied, his voice cracking slightly. Bokuto’s expression changed to one of concern.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just a little surprised. I thought I would be the one to ask you.”
“Do you want to be the one to ask me? We can do it over again if you’d like,” Bokuto suggested.
“No. This is perfect. But can I make one request?” Akaashi asked.
“Of course.”
“I want the ceremony to happen here with just the two of us and my mother. I don’t want to do the giant royal gathering with a bunch of strangers I don’t care about and who will only cast judgment on us. I just want the people I love there.” Bokuto smiled, feeling a little choked up himself.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Not even four months later, Bokuto and Akaashi met again under the large tree. They were met by Akaashi’s mother and an officiant from the royal family, the same one who pronounced Akaashi’s parents’ partnership. They laced their fingers between one another as the officiant wrapped a ribbon around their wrists, signifying the bond between them now and forever until death parted them.
Once all the vows were said out loud in the presence of Akaashi’s mother and the officiant, they turned to one another for their first kiss. Not just as partners, but as their first kiss ever. “I said our first kiss would mean something important, didn’t I?” Akaashi gloated, refusing to kiss Bokuto for the entirety of their short engagement. They closed the distance and pressed their lips together. Akaashi’s were soft and warm, Bokuto’s were slightly chapped, but welcoming.
That night, the two of them flew again for the first time in years, the moon in the night sky illuminating their forms as Bokuto hovered over the trees and the two of them kissed deeply.
Then, they met in their shared chambers for the first time. Both were nervous and excited as they looked at their partner, their soulmate. “Bokuto-san? You’ve um… you’re not…” Akaashi struggled.
“You don’t have to call me that anymore, you know. We’re partners now. Call me Koutarou.”
“You’re avoiding the question, Koutarou .”
“You didn’t ask a question, Keiji. But I think I understand what you’re trying to say. I have not been intimate before.”
“How? You’re over one hundred years old,” Akaashi said, surprised.
“I know. But your father imprisoned me during my youthful years. I was in my prime and wasting away in a cell in the basement and then playing babysitter for a bit so…”
“Okay, I get it. I’m sorry,” Akaashi said, quickly. “I’m sorry you had to endure that treatment. And that your family suffered.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Let’s not talk about that right now. It might not have been a great time, but it led me to you,” Bokuto said, taking Akaashi’s hands and placing a kiss on his cheek. Akaashi’s hands began to slowly work on Bokuto’s shirt, unfastening the buttons until he was able to push it off his shoulders. Bokuto let the shirt fall to the floor and mimicked Akaashi’s motions, removing his shirt as well. The two stood for a moment and looked over each other, admiring.
“You look younger than me, Bok- Koutarou,” Akaashi said, placing a hand on Bokuto’s chest.
“No. We look the same age. I’m just an old man. Try not to break me,” Bokuto joked. Akaashi smiled and led Bokuto to the bed. They spent a lot of time kissing, neither one wanting to move too quickly or rush the other. They eventually took the plunge, connecting in ways they never thought imaginable. Akaashi lay on his back, looking up at Bokuto, their eyes matching in the symbol of their undeniable bond, the one that started it all.
Bokuto tucked his head into Akaashi’s neck, planting kisses along the skin and moaning at the new pleasure. Even for a being of over one hundred years, there were still some experiences he had yet to discover, and with Akaashi, they were that much better. He couldn’t wait to discover them all. Akaashi wrapped his hands around Bokuto, lightly scratching his back, moaning just as much as his partner.
“Move your hands,” Bokuto said, suddenly. Akaashi looked at him, confused, but obliged. He moved his hand down onto Bokuto’s hips, pulling him closer, as close as possible. And then it happened, a pair of giant wings spread out into the bed chambers. The right hit the mirror on one side of the room, the left crashed through the glass window on the other. They flew out with so much force, Akaashi understood why Bokuto wanted him to move his hands, they might have been taken clean off.
“Beautiful…” Akaashi whispered, kissing Bokuto deeply. The two of them found release together, calling out for the other into the air. They lay facing each other, hands touching the skin on arms and chests, goosebumps ever-present. Bokuto’s wings hung off the side of the bed, folded closer to his back. “Can I touch them?” Akaashi asked.
“Hm? The wings? Sure.” Akaashi reached out behind Bokuto and ran his fingers along the wing closest to him. It was so soft.
“Amazing that something so beautiful could do so much damage.”
“I could say the same about you,” Bokuto responded, causing Akaashi to blush. They spent the rest of the night, and many other nights lying like that - naked, vulnerable, together.
“I don’t understand why they’ve chosen to rescind our treaty. What have we done to anger them?” Akaashi lamented. He sat back in his chair at the head of the council table, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
“Who knows?” one of the lords answered, sarcasm present in his voice. Akaashi opened an eye to look at him, and Bokuto openly glared. Although it had been years since he had taken over Fukurodani, his birthright, many disagreed with Akaashi, those who were vastly loyal to his father and his ideals.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Akaashi asked, impatiently. The Lord knew he had messed up but had no choice but to answer.
“Shiratorizawa is a nation of tradition and you… are not traditional.”
“Elaborate.”
“Most lords have a lady as their partner. You have… an owl,” the Lord replied, his voice small. Akaashi sat up in the chair, his face angry.
Bokuto put up a hand to Akaashi in hopes to calm him down. “We have been partnered for nearly ten years,” Bokuto said. “Why have they chosen to rescind the treaty now if they’re such traditionalists?”
“I’m not sure, for certain, but many nations believed the partnership was a farce, a rumor. No one was there to witness the ceremony other than the late Lady Akaashi, many of us weren’t even sure. But now you’ve chosen to bring a child into it through a third party. I think that shows how serious you two are and other nations that may have thought it was a rumor are suddenly paying attention.” Akaashi sat back again, his face sullen. If other nations feared or hated him based on the person he loved, there would be no way to sway him with his fancy words surrounding politics and economics. They already made up their mind. “My apologies, milord.”
Akaashi took a breath, “All of you are dismissed for today, go.” The men and women left the room, scattered conversations whispered between them. Bokuto waited until the last person left and closed the door before reaching out for Akaashi’s hand in an attempt to comfort him.
“Love?”
“What are we going to do?” Akaashi asked, his voice slightly shaky. “What if they choose to go to war because they don’t have the same beliefs as us?”
“I don’t think there’s much we can do. We can respect their wishes and hope that that act in itself will harbor goodwill and they won’t start a war. Or we could send them correspondence and ask for some kind of silent treaty. We don’t have to have anything written, but perhaps a silent agreement between the two nations to remain neutral and not step into each other’s business no matter what.”
“That might work. Let’s think about it for a day or so. I don’t want to make any rash decisions based on emotions. I’m feeling a little bit on edge. It’s been a few hours since she was taken to the doctor. How long does it take to have a baby?” Bokuto could see Akaashi’s leg shaking under the table, he placed his hand on top to stop its motions.
“Sometimes minutes, sometimes days. Be patient. She’ll be here soon.”
“She?” Akaashi asked, raising an eyebrow. “How do you know it’s going to be a girl?”
“I don’t know, I just have a feeling. But as long as they’re healthy, I don’t care.”
“How will we know if the child is biologically mine or yours?”
“Well, I think we could leave it as a surprise, but we have very different hair, and my eyes were gold for about eighty years before I met you and they changed. I’m assuming yours were meant to be blue. But it doesn’t matter. They’ll be ours.” When they decided to have a child together, they wanted it to be a surprise as to who would be the biological father, reasoning that they could always have another child later. On the nights when their surrogate was ovulating, they took her into their bed chambers and both had sex with her, the other watching the act of intimacy. The doctor announced that she was pregnant not long after.
“Of course.”
The door opened and a servant walked into the room, bowing before speaking. “Milord, Advisor Bokuto… She's here. The baby has arrived,” she said, almost out of breath as if she had run through the castle. Bokuto and Akaashi stood and hurried to the chamber where the baby would be held. As they entered, the doctor stood over the bassinet, the same ornate carriage that held Akaashi as a baby. She let out loud cries, indicating that she had a healthy set of lungs. The doctor turned to look at Bokuto and Akaashi as they entered and smiled.
“I think something interesting has occurred,” she said, taking a step away from the bassinet. They approached, cautiously, unsure of what she meant. Inside laid a baby girl with a head full of black and white hair.
“Yours,” Akaashi said, his voice proud. He lifted the baby from the bassinet and cuddled her close to his chest. She stopped crying and opened her eyes, bright blue eyes staring up at the two of them.
“Yours?” Bokuto asked, tilting his head to the side. They could hear the doctor chuckle in the back of the room.
“Turn her around,” she instructed. Akaashi did and the two took a simultaneous inhale. On her back were two tiny wings in between her shoulder blades.
“Definitely yours,” Akaashi said.
“I wouldn’t assume so quickly,” the doctor said. “She isn’t strictly Akuma or human. She’s both.”
“How is that possible?” Bokuto asked.
“I believe both of your seeds impregnated the surrogate. But what normally would have resulted in twins, resulted in one. We have a child here who has three biological parents. It’s quite fascinating.” Bokuto and Akaashi stared at the baby girl, turning her back to face them. The doctor was right, there were distinct features that belonged to them and their surrogate: Akaashi’s eyes and cheekbones, Bokuto’s nose, chin, and wings, and the surrogate’s freckles that decorated her cheeks and nose. She was perfect.
“Papa, I need your help!” Yua called, standing on the wide bough of the large tree. Bokuto walked up toward her, a smile on his face. “I can’t get down.”
“Just like your father,” Bokuto said under his breath. “Jump, I’ll catch you.”
“What if you miss?”
“I won’t. I promise.” She closed her eyes and jumped forward. Bokuto jumped to meet her, but instead of falling back to the earth, he took flight. Yua opened her eyes and smiled. After a few years, Akaashi and Bokuto had concluded that Yua was exactly like the two of them, a hybrid. She took pieces of their personality as well as their physiology. Although she had the same abilities as Bokuto - she had yet to learn them - she aged at the same rate as her human father. When the realization came, Bokuto spent a few days alone, sobbing at the prospect of outliving both his partner and his child. He knew, of course, that was going to happen when the two of them had a child. But when Yua showed signs of being part Akuma, he hoped that was a trait she would keep.
“We’re so high up!” she beamed.
“Give me your hands, I think today is the day,” Bokuto said confidently. Yua looked at him, scared, shaking her head. “Come on, you can do it. I know you can.” Reluctantly, she put her hands into Bokuto’s. He held her below him and let her spread out her wings. “Okay, now flutter them, nice and easy.”
She did as she was instructed. “I’m too scared, Papa. I’m going to fall.”
“I’ll catch you. I’ll always catch you.” Yua looked to the side to see her father was no longer holding her hands but flying alongside her. She smiled and surged forward, Bokuto close behind her. After about an hour, they landed gently by the tree, Akaashi waiting on the ground for their return.
“Daddy!” Yua screamed and ran to him, hugging his waist.
“I see you learned to fly today. How did it feel?” he asked.
“It was so cool, we were way above the trees.”
“I saw. Don’t you think she’s a little young for flying?” Akaashi asked, turning his attention to Bokuto.
“I recall you being only eight when I took you flying for the first time,” Bokuto retorted.
“She’s four.”
“But Daddy, aren’t you older than Papa?” Yua asked. They looked at her, smiles on their faces but both of them thinking about the looming truth they had yet to share with their daughter. No one tells you how to inform your child that you’ll outlive them.
“No, Papa is much older than I am. I just look tired.”
“Oh, okay.”
Bokuto and Akaashi sat up straight in their bed as they woke up to the sound of Yua screaming in the adjoining room. They ran into the chambers to see what was happening. She clutched her arm, the sound of the searing present in the room as if someone was burning her but there was no one else there.
“What’s wrong?” Akaashi asked, rushing to the bed. She continued to scream, holding her arm. “Koutarou, get the doctor.” Bokuto ran from the room and down the corridor, taking flight midway through his journey when his legs wouldn’t move faster. He grabbed the doctor from her sleep and carried her to the room, setting her on the ground. She quickly began to examine Yua, pushing Akaashi out of the way.
“Did she say anything?” Bokuto asked as Akaashi walked to him.
“She just keeps screaming. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t know if there is anything we can do.”
“It burns,” Yua screamed. “It hurts so much.” Bokuto took Akaashi’s hand, wondering if he was witnessing what he thought he was.
“I think I know what this is,” he said quietly.
“What?”
“Isn’t it odd that we haven’t met him yet?” Akaashi asked, fiddling with his hair in the mirror. Bokuto looked at him, taking in the lines on his face, the greying pieces of hair. He recalled the days he used to think Akaashi was too young and wished he could return to those, but was happy with the life they had built.
“Not everyone’s soulmate is imprisoned by their parents and then becomes their babysitter until they’re old enough to be lovers… That sounded way weirder than out loud.”
“I know. But it's the night before the wedding, and we’re having dinner with them for the first time. Shouldn’t we have met them first?” Bokuto stood up and placed his hands on Akaashi’s shoulders, peering at him in the mirror before placing a kiss on his cheek.
“Stop worrying. The universe knows more than both of us. Now, come on, we’re going to be late.” They walked to the banquet hall, hand in hand, and looked out to the luxurious spread. Yua stood at the opposite end of the room talking with a young man who donned a matching port wine stain on his arm. He was four years younger than her, twenty-two to her twenty-six, but Ushijima Mūn was taller and strong like his father. Lord Ushijima stood with his advisors, looking about the room. No one could have imagined that the son of their enemy would become their daughter’s soulmate - Bokuto did.
Yua walked up to her fathers, her fiance’s hand in hers. “This is Mūn.” He bowed to both of them and they returned the gesture. “These are my-”
“Your father and your brother?” Mūn asked, a naive smile on his face.
“My parents,” Yua corrected him. He looked at the two of them, not quite understanding how the men in front of him were partners with their age difference. Little did he know that the age difference worked differently than he thought.
“My apologies,” he said and bowed again.
“It’s fine,” Akaashi interjected. My partner, Koutarou, is an Owl Akuma. That’s how Yua has wings. I’m sure the two of you will have plenty of time to discuss our odd little family." Mūn and Yua walked away, a slight blush of embarrassment on Mūn’s face. “I’m so old.”
Bokuto laughed. “No, you’re not.”
“I look old. Old enough to be your father, apparently.” He was joking, but Bokuto knew that it hurt Akaashi, the difference in their appearance. It reminded him of his mortality and the fact that he would be outlived by Bokuto.
Dinner was relatively uneventful, other than Lord Ushijima drinking too much wine and making an impromptu speech about his only son. They laughed to themselves at seeing a former foe in such a vulnerable state, but then felt the same unnamed pain at the loss of a child who would be off living their own life independent of them. The sonder of the situation was palpable.
That night, Akaashi undressed and lay in bed, waiting for Bokuto to join him. When he walked into the room, he lay on the bed beside Akaashi and placed small kisses on his chest. “Koutarou?”
“Yes?” Bokuto answered after a kiss.
“I want you to find someone else once I die. Okay?”
Bokuto sat up and looked at Akaashi, his eyes wide. “What? What are you talking about? I’m not going to just fall in love with someone else.”
“Koutarou, you told me that your grandfather lived to be at least 247. You’re healthy and show almost no signs of aging. Sometimes you look younger than our daughter. You could live for at least another hundred years. I don’t want you…” his voice broke a little and he looked away. “I don’t want you to be alone.”
“I won’t be alone. I’ll have Yua and I’m sure she and Mūn will have children and I’ll have them, too. Please don’t worry about me, love. I don’t want you to think about something so far off in the future.”
“We don’t know how long it’s going to be, Koutarou. I’ve already lived longer than my dad. My mom was maybe sixty-seven when she passed. I’m not far behind her. I just want you to keep an open mind about it, okay? I want you to know now, while I have my mind intact and I can talk for myself, I’m fine with you falling in love again. Someone else should be able to experience the thrill of flying above the trees with you.” Akaashi’s voice was confident, but his body shook slightly.
“Okay,” Bokuto conceded, not wanting to fight the day before their daughter’s wedding. “Maybe one day. But right now, I love you, Keiji.”
“I love you, too.”
“We received a letter from Yua and Mūn. The kids are well and they plan to visit in a month or so. We can have the rooms made up for them before they arrive,” Bokuto said, looking over the letter penned by Yua.
He looked over to Akaashi who was staring out the window. His eyes were beginning to look dull, his hair further back on his head and no longer the jet-black color of his youth. They had celebrated his seventieth birthday the previous winter with a large dinner, their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren in attendance. Bokuto was even able to see his sisters, both looking similar to him in age.
Although Akaashi never spoke much, his words were even fewer and, at times, not coherent at all. Bokuto had taken over the estate affairs, leading council meetings, explaining documents to Akaashi to get his signature, and ensuring Fukurodani stood strong. When he began showing signs of deterioration, Bokuto started to pray to the gods that he would make it to each holiday, another visit with their daughter and the grandchildren. Now, he prayed for each sunrise.
“Love, did you hear me?” he asked, standing close to Akaashi’s chair. Akaashi kept his gaze forward and nodded so slightly, one might have missed it if they weren’t looking for it. Bokuto placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered into his ear, “Do you want to go flying, Keiji?”
This time, Akaashi turned his head a fraction, his eyes more present than they had been in the past few months. “Above the trees?” he asked softly.
“Above the trees,” Bokuto answered, his throat becoming painful and his voice cracking. He carefully lifted Akaashi into his arms and held him close to his chest. He stepped through the open window and spread his wings wide, taking flight into the sunny morning sky. Akaashi closed his eyes and leaned into Bokuto, a smile on his face as they left the earth, castle, and trees.