Chapter Text
somewhere in the village, a bell rings.
somewhere in the village, somebody makes the grand decision to steal one of the prince’s trinkets, one that he felt had a nice ring to it.
“you can’t possibly think of actually doing it,” his troupemate tries to reason with him. “it’s the prince. just imagine what the prince will do with a filthy thief in his castle at night.”
“or worse! what if you get beheaded?” another voice quips behind her.
he swipes a dismissive hand at the two. “emu, nene, it wouldn’t be stealing if he doesn’t find out.”
nene opening her mouth to dissuade his reckless plan once more, she reluctantly closes it when she realises he’s already on his way to leave through the window. from how he literally carried nothing but the three daggers with him, reasoning with such an unhinged mind was futile.
“don’t worry,” tsukasa giggles, “you know i’d never plan on getting caught.”
he slips through the window with ease, and into the darkness of the village.
——
it’s struck midnight when tsukasa really starts making his move.
under the grace of the moon above him, he carries himself with nimble footsteps, blending into the darkness that swallowed the village whole with his darker attire. above the village, he jumps from roof to roof, allowing his swift movements to parry him forward with each calculated jump.
it’s the thrill he truly enjoys as the cold air sweeps past his hair, and he welcomes the chilling gusts of wind with open arms.
undoubtedly, the jester makes it to the patch of trees surrounding the castle in record time. taking the time to marvel at his own footwork, he even chuckles quietly to himself. perhaps he’d create an even more interesting show with such agility, much to the disdain of nene.
however, that could be settled later.
he had a small bell to steal, after all!
grand towers beyond his wildest expectations seemed to stretch into the darkness, built on brick by brick without any trace of mistakes. with such a great castle, it came with its price — stationed guards at the different entrances, some could even be seen doing their nightly patrols if tsukasa squinted at the windows close enough.
in the distance, tsukasa scoffs.
of course the prince had a whole army of guards to protect him, this was the sole heir to the throne the rulers had!
rulers, monarchs, it was all rather pretentious. putting a bunch of people who simply had rarer blood in charge was nothing but idiocracy at its finest to him, so he had no reason to pity the very prince he was about to steal from.
he inches closer to the castle, hoping to get a better glimpse of its structure to plan for a fuss-free way in. even the huge courtyard was fancy, decorated with well-maintained rose bushes, grass cut to a neat length, and the marbled cat statues that were stationed in every corner.
not his focus today.
averting his attention to the mission at hand, he recalls that every level of the castle had the troublesome, watchful guards that blocked any sort of sneaking in he wanted to do. his eyes flicker upward, looking for possible vantage points. only, if there were any.
on the final card up his sleeve, he sneaks a glance to the highest level of the castle.
the prince’s room itself.
he was about to steal from the prince by entering from his window.
he inhales. nothing the star jester of his troupe couldn’t handle, right?
dagger in hand, he swings his rope into the night and leaps.
——
ten seconds pass. his feet land softly in the room.
first part of his mission succeeded.
heartbeat echoing in his head, he presses his back against a curtain, holding his breath. all he needed was that bell, and he’d be gone faster than he came, with a new trinket to show off for his next show.
he waits, waits for another ten seconds. and another. no panicked yells, no orders for guards to get him, just dead silence. it’s even creepier than being caught.
but, he still had done more than enough to succeed, he muses silently, also more than pleased with himself. exhaling a sigh of satisfaction, he scans the room.
tsukasa soon realises he’s in some sort of walk-in storage within the prince’s bedroom, as he strains to look through the crack under the door. from that slit of light, a man walks into the bedroom, his hand placed delicately on the doorknob. he is speaking to someone at his bedroom door, his voice as gentle as a songbird’s. judging by the hour tsukasa had snuck in, he was probably sending out orders for what to do the following day.
at the sight of the man, tsukasa straightens in the slightest.
squinting his eyes, the man’s hair is bright purple, some stray bits of cyan here and there. half of it is swept to his left, while the other half is left tucked behind a pierced ear. he wears an expensive-looking suit, the ends of the tailcoat long and light — flowing with his graceful movements.
a demure smile sits on the man’s face, his expression calm and polite.
oh, this was definitely the prince.
surely, this was also strange. he’d watched his interactions with his other familiars before, his cockiness setting off something in tsukasa that made him roll his eyes in repulsion. smug royalty agitated him like no other.
the whispers that he manages to catch with strained ears are near incomprehensible, but seem to be an average list of instructions for a servant to clear the next day. contrary to his first impressions of him, the poised prince responds with the grace and reserved fitting of royalty.
he definitely played the part of a prince, his clothing extravagant with many details, all of different fabrics that only the finest silk could reflect under the warm light of the fancy chandelier above him, especially with the intricate stitching on the suit, without a trace of mistakes, undoubtedly by the most skilled hands in the village. fresh flowers sit on the left side of the suit, though a little disheveled from a day’s worth of work.
already bored of the conversation he wasn’t even a part of, his eyes darted around, scanning the storeroom around him with much disinterest.
the furniture inside was as grand as the prince himself, but his expression morphs into confusion when he notices a huge pile of metal on the ground, nails and screwdrivers sprawled aimlessly on the velvety carpet beneath him.
this was what the prince was doing in his free time?
his eyes dance over to meet two robots, remotely shaped like cats, sitting in the furthest corner of the small room. they looked ridiculously stupid.
..the prince made robot cats in his free time.
just as he was about to stretch his hand out to get a better glimpse of it, he stops himself. “thank you, good night now,” he catches the prince beyond the door say, his voice gentle but weary.
his eyes immediately flicker back to the cat-robot’s creator.
the door to the bedroom shuts with a click. tsukasa forces himself to even his breathing, staring at the prince with wary eyes.
the royalty’s hand falls from the handle immediately after, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he leaned his head against the door, shoulders slumping ever so slightly. the prominent exhaustion on his face almost made the jester feel bad for intruding in on such a private moment.
tsukasa feels the urge to look away.
however, he found it strange that it was hard to peel his eyes off of the prince before him.
the moment doesn’t last long as the prince’s eyes glance at the door, a calculating expression on his face, so different from the expression he wore in front of the servant.
he stills.
“come out now,” he says, tone cold and commanding.
oh shoot, he’s been caught.
through his unsteady breathing, he suddenly realises that the royalty’s eyes are startlingly yellow, glowing golden even, under the chandelier’s light.
“come out now,” he repeats calmly, staring directly at the mere door that separated the two. it sends chills down tsukasa’s spine. sure, he had been caught once or twice during his more reckless steals, but he’d never been caught this quickly, much less have his hiding spot be guessed correctly within minutes. “it’ll be much easier for the both of us if you would stop hiding.”
tsukasa’s jaw clenches. like hell he was about to surrender to a cocky prince!
grip on his dagger tight, it takes only a quick flick of his wrist to send his dagger flying directly from under the door, heading directly for his victim’s ankles. he smiles when he recalls that the thin handles on his daggers were made for the exact purpose of slipping through small cracks. though he only possessed three daggers, he wasn’t well-known for his knife-throwing shows for nothing.
to his dismay, the dagger lands in between two nimble fingers.
the prince had caught the damned dagger in his hands, without even knowing beforehand that he was being attacked.
he sighs gravely. “oh, you’re making me so sad.”
the ingenuity that laced the prince’s words made tsukasa’s blood boil. not to mention the dagger he held in his hands, how he twirled it around like it didn’t almost slash both his ankles.
though, he still has yet to call for the guards. tsukasa’s brow raises.
“ah, a performer of the phoenix troupe,” he speaks again, matter-of-factly. the stupid logo on his dagger must’ve given him away, since he hadn’t planned on having his throw get intercepted in the first place. however, he hadn’t expected the prince, out of all people, to recognise his troupe by the logo.
“heir to the throne, prince kamishiro rui,” tsukasa responds drily.
“i’ve never had a troupe performer try to assassinate me before,” rui says with glee, inspecting the jester’s dagger up close. his smile widens as he stares directly at the door tsukasa hid behind. he definitely knew he was staring back at him.
and it was so annoying.
“i’m not here to assassinate you,” he hisses, his second dagger held tight in his shaky hand.
“i think throwing a dagger this sharp would’ve made me bleed out,” the prince retorts, expression morphed into feigned hurt, although tsukasa could only look from under the door slit.
tsukasa rolls his eyes. “and render you immobile.”
“i see. and if i had called for the guards nearby?”
“..i’d be gone before they could lay their hands on me.”
as if to prove his point, tsukasa’s eyes flick discreetly to the window he entered from. it would only take a leap, from how small the storage room was. the window is slightly to his right, wide open, with the rope he used to enter coiled up and sitting at the windowsill, making for an easy escape. judging by how many guards were lurking the castle, he had to leave before the prince could distract him from escaping any further.
without missing a beat, tsukasa sends another dagger flying from under the door. he knows rui will catch it with the utmost precision, but at least it would save him some time.
as he turns to make the jump for the window, his foot is caught by something small underneath him. the sound of clattering metal explodes through the room, stopping his feet in its tracks. the cat robot he’d mocked earlier had expanded to ten times its size, blocking his only way out from this darned castle. he’d definitely activated this now oversized cat, and it was about to land him a free spot in jail.
with the sole dagger he had left, he slashes through the robot with sweaty palms, praying it was less tough than it looked before the prince could enter the store room.
he hears a hand on the door handle.
tsukasa inhales, holding his golden dagger high up in the air. he had to change tactics now. forget stealing the bell, he could return for it another day. perhaps on the day of the prince’s funeral. oh, it would be such a tragedy.
kill the prince, tear past the robot, and flee.
the doorknob turns, and tsukasa rushes forward. the force sends rui’s back slamming against the door, with a dagger was aimed dangerously close to the prince’s throat.
smiling maniacally, he feels a sickening sense of thrill with rui’s warm breath on his lips, intermingling with his own from how close he had the dagger to his neck.
it is then that tsukasa realises rui is slightly taller than him, more irritation coursing through his veins when he has to look up to stare into his eyes.
“are you going to kill me?” the prince finally mutters, breaking their shared silence.
“you’re the one who entered the room.”
“is it such a crime to enter my own store room?” rui jabs at tsukasa again, a witty smile on his lips that matched the playful tone he had. tsukasa can only glare back, without a snide remark to return.
“well then, what is your name, the new owner of this store room?”
god, it would be so easy for tsukasa to end his life right now.
“why does it matter?”
“you’re interesting.”
the compliment sends tsukasa a step back, dagger moving along with him. the jester blinks, careful to keep his surprise off of his face.
“..tenma tsukasa.”
“tsukasa..” rui tests the name out loud, his name spoken with a gentleness that felt unfitting for the person it addressed, perhaps undeserving. tsukasa feels a shiver run down his spine.
“tsukasa, why are you here?”
“not for your life, if you’re still hurt about that,” his grip on the dagger tightens ever so slightly.
“indeed, i am very hurt,” rui replies, a soft giggle escaping his lips. tsukasa’s eyebrows knit together in frustration when he watches the prince relax against the door, leaning against it like he didn’t have a dagger centimeters away from his throat. “then, what is it that you’re after?”
“the bell, the one you use when making announcements to the village,” tsukasa exhales. “i want that bell.”
rui smiles again, his hand traveling up to the hilt of the dagger’s handle, fingers trailing down it until they rest over tsukasa’s hand. it stuns the performer for long enough for him to push the dagger away.
although, the dagger doesn’t return to his throat.
“you want that bell? you’re risking your precious life for a bell with a tiny, purple ribbon?”
tsukasa’s glare hardens. “i will be ripping off that purple ribbon as soon as i silence you.”
rui sighs, looking into the distant view of the window behind tsukasa. “i’m just so bored, you see, with all my princely duties.”
boring? to live a life of luxury? tsukasa’s sure a hint of surprise passed his face, but he’s quick to return to his frown.
“..i do not care for the prince’s life events.”
“fine, since it’s the bell you do care about, how about we play a game?” rui’s eyes darken at the ludicrous proposition. “if you win, you can have the little bell you’re so intent on having.”
tsukasa thinks the prince’s head would make a really good bowling ball for his next show.
“are you sure you are in the position to be making such outrageous demands?” tsukasa snaps, flicking his wrist in the slightest so the dagger in his hand glints in the moonlight above them. rui barely pays any mind to it, at most sparing it a small glance.
“i do have that bell,” he chuckles freely.
his nonchalance throughout this entire proposition was really starting to get to tsukasa’s head.
rui is expressionless as he turns the handle of the door, revealing his bedroom in its entirety. tsukasa spots a chessboard sitting atop a marbled table.
“a game of chess for the bell you’ve failed to steal,” the prince states, expression serious, with his eyes zoning in on the boy before him. “do you accept?” tsukasa feels the urge to tip-toe a little in order to match rui’s height.
“and if i lose?”
rui smiles.
“don’t.”
tsukasa feels himself burning under the piercing stare, and it’s the most uncomfortable he’s felt tonight. rui keeps his gaze steady.
“..do you often play chess with potential assassins?”
rui’s eyes widen. it’s a new expression for tsukasa. “hm.. only with people who interest me.”
“and i, a lowly performer of a troupe, interest you?”
the prince looks down at the jester through half-lidded eyes, merry amusement burning bright in his eyes that seemed to glow.
“greatly.”
tsukasa watches him, watches rui’s yellow eyes bright and sharp, much like a cat’s. he wonders if this prince made bargains with every assassin that snuck in from his window, wonders if he allows just anybody, even lowly thieves, to get as close to him with their weapon of choice as he is now. he wonders if he’s always been this careless about his own life, one of such high status, so relaxed with a blade to his neck. he even wonders if rui’s heart is beating is as quickly as his own now.
he’s enticing.
indulging in his own desires, tsukasa lets his eyes trail downwards and to rui’s lips, tracing the curve of his cupid’s bow. his lips are a soft pink, perhaps his new favourite shade of pink.
suddenly, he doesn’t feel like leaving the castle just yet.
“fine, i’ll play.”
and he puts his dagger down.