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Arthur has a lot of admirers, and it’s, like— whatever, right? There is literally no reason for Shinra to care, but the thing is he does care, and for multiple reasons too.
His first, and foremost – or so Shinra likes to think, reason is pretty simple, even if a little petty. All those girls, and then some guys too, that follow Arthur around, help him with homework, leave him love letters and do pretty much anything that the Sir Dumb Knight desires, Shinra wants that too, kind of. He wants for people to look at him not because he’s the Devil Footprints or the boy with a creepy smile, who killed his whole family, but to view him in… a far more positive light. And he doesn’t understand, really, why all love and attention goes to the Knight, Knight-King or whatever it is that Arthur calls himself nowadays.
He confides in Ogun about it once, when both of them are skipping Lieutenant Pan’s class, but instead of the same annoyance that stirs up inside Shinra, he only gets a kind laughter in response.
“Our Arthur calls himself a Knight, and it’s pretty romantic, you know. Girls dig that stuff,” he laughs again then, and nudges Shinra in the side, before continuing, “It’s no wonder why Arthur has so many of them crushing on him. For all that you hate him, you’ve gotta admit that he’s not that hard on the eyes.”
Shinra does admit it, and even goes further – he acknowledges, despite their rivalry, that Arthur is not hard on the eyes at all. He’s pretty much the opposite – every time they’re in the same room, his stupid blond head attracts Shinra’s gaze like they’re a pair of damn magnets. He stares at the other boy, even in the moments when he looks stupid, and something sort of close to admiration visits him whenever Arthur looks, well— like a Knight-King is probably supposed to.
And that leads him to his second reason – the constant flow of Arthur’s admirers makes it pretty hard for Shinra to pick up on him. He can’t just come up to the other boy, punch his arm and say something like, “Hey, onion-head, still refuse to admit that heroes are better?” without getting an army of girls following at his heels.
Not all of them, thankfully, are calling him names and almost no one dares to tell to his face that he’s the devil that had killed his family, but they protect Arthur fiercely, defending his title of Knight-King like they actually believe that it’s true.
It’s infuriating, to say the least, and it’s disheartening and straight up annoying, because it denies Shinra his chance to start another stupid fight with Arthur.
And it’s a big loss, actually, because Arthur, for all that Shinra calls him dumb and annoying, is an amazing sparring partner. He knows all of Shinra’s moves, foresees them the moment Shinra decides to use one of them, and it pushes Shinra to think of something new and to become better, stronger.
And yes, alright, it’s fun too, because sometimes Arthur says something weird or makes a stupid mistake, and it rips laughter right out of Shinra’s chest, and even if he pretends to hate the other boy’s guts, he doesn’t, not really, because with Arthur he can be himself, because Arthur, even though he constantly calls Shinra the Devil, doesn’t actually mean it, or, at least, not in the same way that their other classmen do. For him, Shinra is the Devil not because he had killed his family, he doesn’t even seem to believe in that story. For him, Shinra is the Devil because Arthur is the Knight, and Knights are just meant to have strong, scary enemies. And since Shinra fits that role, he’ll continue playing it, if it means that Arthur will continue picking up stupid fights with him.
His third reason is well— a lot more embarrassing that the other two, but it still exists, and it brings Shinra no lesser amount of distress. The thing is that sometimes, rarely, but it still happens, some girl will get through that thick skull of Arthur’s and gain his attention, and it— it bothers Shinra, more than he likes to admit. It’s rather selfish, and Shinra’s aware of it, thank you very much, but he likes, when all of Arthur’s attention is centered on him. Any of these numerous girls that follow him have a very real chance of becoming the Knight-King’s Princess, or Queen or whoever is worthy to be by his side. And then what will Shinra do?
What will become of the Devil who has lost his biggest rival?
Shinra gains another, fourth, reason, when St. Valentine’s Day descends on the Academy.
It could be mistaken for any other day, it certainly is no less normal for Shinra, but all of his classmates are more agitated than usually, and the color red is more prevalent in the building of their Academy than it ever was.
It’s on the paper hearts, on love letters and boxes of chocolate – everyone gets some kind of present, even Ogun holds a few of them, when Shinra meets him in the morning.
“Found them in my locker,” he answers Shinra’s raised brow. “Don’t know who gave them to me, but… not gonna lie, it is kinda nice.”
Shinra hums in agreement, as he makes his way towards his own locker. It’s empty, of course, except for his uniform and a few textbooks. He feels a prickle of disappointment, but nothing more – even though he learnt it hard way, he now knows to always lower his expectations.
“Maybe, you’ll get yours later?” Ogun offers, not unkindly.
Shinra only shrugs in response, before he lets his eyes travel further – to where Arthur’s locker is. The red surrounding it almost makes Shinra’s eyes hurt. “I think I know who took all of my presents,” he jokes. “Sir Knight is popular as ever.”
“Want to watch him run away from the girls again?” Ogun asks.
“Shame we don’t have any popcorn,” Shinra replies with a grin. “Last year, it was quite a show.”
“Think he’ll have to turn into Assassin again?”
“God,” just the memory of Arthur sneaking around in his stupid over-sized hoodie makes Shinra laugh. The sight of Knight-King reducing to a mere Assassin just to escape a few stubborn girls was worth all the chocolate that’s currently stuffed in Arthur’s locker. Shinra oh so wishes to see the repetition of it. He tells Ogun as much, before he bumps their shoulders together.
They leave the locker room side by side, joking about Arthur’s misfortunes all the way to their first class.
It’s during their first break that Shinra finds out that this year Arthur has learnt another way of battling his numerous admirers.
Shinra is just on his way to the restroom, when he hears the tell-tales of a storm approaching – the clamor of dozens or so feet running in the hallway. He turns, catches sight of a blonde ponytail, and that’s— that’s when shit hits the fan.
Because Arthur— he notices Shinra too, changes his direction to run straight at him, and as soon as reaches close enough, his hands fist in the lapels of Shinra’s uniform, and then he tugs him, forward, until their foreheads collide and their lips… their lips touch.
At first, Shinra is simply too stunned to shove the dumb Knight away. A choir of gasps fills the hallway, before it becomes deserted, almost, except for Shinra and Arthur, who… are still kissing, if Shinra’s guess is right. He had never been kissed before, but Arthur’s lips are pressed to his own, and he still continues to hold him oh so close, and how else to call it, if not a kiss?
It’s the first question that flies out of Shinra’s mouth, once his brain cells scramble together and he - finally – pushes Arthur away; he asks him, eyes (and cheeks) burning, heart thumping and finger raised in accusation, “What the hell was that, you dumb Knight?”
But it’s Arthur he’s asking, so the only answer Shinra gets is an enlivened ‘hmph’, and then the Knight-King walks away, leaving Shinra lost, confused and with a wide grin on his face.
It’s their second break, when most of the students go to cafeteria to eat, and, as always, Shinra sits with Ogun. He munches on his food absentmindedly, still not sure that this whole encounter with Arthur wasn’t a hallucination, and reluctant, obviously, to share his troubles with his friend. It is then, when the self-proclaimed Knight-King joins them at their table, and it’s nothing new – Arthur always eats with them, however— this time, he doesn't sit close to Ogun, as always, but chooses a seat close to Shinra; he then grabs him by the hand, and says, as full of himself as ever, “You’ll be my Valentine, Devil.”
He doesn’t ask, like normal people do, he proclaims it, proudly, like the Knight-King is ought to, most probably. And he doesn’t even have enough gall to blush, while doing so.
It baffles Shinra, and he would have gasped, just like Ogun did, if Arthur’s behavior also didn’t enrage him. Who that dumb Knight thinks he is, ordering Shinra to be his Valentine just like that. Don’t Knights know no shame, doesn’t Arthur know how to court.
Shinra can’t simply let it slide. He tugs at Arthur’s hand, roughly, and almost makes their Sir Knight lose his balance, before he intertwines their fingers and smirks at the other boy. “Think heroes are that easy? You’d have to defeat me, Knight, before you earn the right to be called my Valentine.”
Arthur lets out another hmph, and before he dives into his own lunch, says, “I’ll see you in the courtyard, Devil. We'll settle our score there.”
Shinra’s grin grows wider, as his feet start to tingle in anticipation of another fight. He doesn’t miss his chance to kick Arthur under the table, Arthur kicks back, and then they both return to their food. And neither of them quite notices that their hands are still joined.
They don’t come even close to settling the score that evening, or the evening after, or a week later, and so very soon Shinra, in addition to Devil’s Footprints and the boy, who killed his family, earns himself another nickname – Arthur Boyle’s boyfriend.
For quite a while, he can’t quite decide if this one is better or worse than his previous ones. Everyone still stares at him whenever he enters the room, the hushed whispers are still following him whenever he goes, but… no one accuses him of being a demon, and that’s got to be a step up, right?
Besides… it makes something warm bloom in his chest, whenever he hears that nickname, and whenever Arthur takes him by the hand or gives him a kiss, his grin almost dissipates and turns into a smile.
“It’s not actually real,” Shinra explains to Ogun, when he asks how exactly the shift from rivalry to romance happened. “I think the onion-head simply decided that pretending to date me is a perfect solution for his problem with all those girls crushing on him.”
“And you?” Ogun presses, ignoring his homework in favor of pestering Shinra. “Doesn’t it bother you? I can more or less understand Arthur, but why do you continue to go along with that stupid lie?”
Because I like it, Shinra almost says. Because I don’t really want it to be a lie, he almost thinks. But to Ogun, he gives a standard, safe answer, “Heroes are meant to help people, right? Even if they’re dumb Knight-Kings.”
Ogun doesn’t look all that convinced, but the essay they’re working on is due to next morning, so he lets Shinra be, and focuses on the homework.
And Shinra comes back to it too, but his productivity is almost nonexistent as all he thinks of is blond hair and unbelievably pretty blue eyes.
It takes another week for Shinra to notice that when Arthur touches him, they don't always have an audience. They can train in the gym or spar in the courtyard, with no soul around, and, still, Arthur acts like they are— a couple.
He holds Shinra’s hand for far longer than necessary, when he helps him get up. He smudges his lips against Shinra’s, before he says, “that last attack wasn’t half bad, Devil”. He gives Shinra massages, when his feet hurt after a long day of training. And every time Shinra wakes up from a bad dream, Arthur is there, in his bed, his embrace warm and comforting.
And it— it shutters, ruins Shinra’s theory completely. Because if Arthur doesn’t just keep up with his lie, what does he do? What is the purpose all of that— affection? Where it even comes from?
Shinra works up the courage to ask Arthur about, after his morning starts with Arthur’s – surprisingly soft – lips pressed against his cheek.
“What are you doing?” he questions, bluntly, as is Arthur’s preferred way of communicating.
And the Knight-King, for all the shit Shinra usually gives him, doesn’t need Shinra to explain further (and embarrass himself even more) to understand what the whole point of that question was.
“Does it bother you?” Arthur tilts his head to the side, his ponytail swinging along with it, and he looks so damn cute that Shinra honestly wants to scream in his pillow.
Although, there is another reason why he wants to scream, and it is connected with Arthur too, because— what kind of answer is that? What is he even asking?
Does it bother Shinra? Yes, of course, it does, he wouldn’t have asked if it didn’t. But also… it doesn’t bother him, not really, not in a bad way, at least. He wants to understand what is going on between them, that is true, but he’s also… not opposed to it. Not nearly as much as he thought he’d be.
Holding Arthur’s hand is kinda nice, and Shinra feels safe, when his strong arms are wrapped around him, and kissing is another topic completely, but that too isn’t bad, quite the opposite, it feels pretty awesome, and, yes, alright, maybe all those girls were right in the end, and Arthur is worth all that fuss, and, maybe, Shinra too is rapidly joining their ranks, or, more probably, he had joined their ranks long ago and had a crush on Arthur Boyle for a very, very long time, but. That still doesn’t answer his question.
“What are you doing?” Shinra asks again, because he doesn’t know how to phrase his complain better. “Are we—”
He doesn’t want to say dating, because he’s sure he’ll combust from embarrassment then, but, luckily – the Knight-King comes to the rescue.
“I’m courting you,” he says, as nonchalant as ever. “I thought you gave me your permission?”
When, Shinra wants to ask, but also he doesn’t want to, not really. He’ll most probably get yet another convoluted reply, so filled with Arthur’s fantasies, that Shinra’ll have to go to the library and read the book about damned King Arthur to understand even half of what the other boy means.
So instead, he voices a more pressing question. “I thought that the Knight-King needs a Princess?”
Arthur lets out another hmph. “A Prince is more than enough. Or, well,” he shows Shinra that stupid, proud grin of his that he used to want to wipe off with a kick of his feet, but more recently - yearns to wipe off with a kiss. “I guess, a Devil-Hero can work too.”
And that's how Shinra realizes three things: first, there is little that actually bothers Arthur Boyle, and, maybe, he needs to learn that lesson too; second, those girls crushing on Arthur were definitely onto something, because the bastard is charming, and smooth when he wants to be; and, third (and the most important) - Devil-Heroes and Knight-Kings make up a pretty good couple, despite all of their differences.