Chapter Text
It was a day like no other before; everything had been decided and carefully rethought twice, maybe even three times or more, who knows. There was no backing away anymore; today Tsukasa will fall in love with Rui without a doubt.
Slowly walking his way to the blond's office as every day for the past five months, the young alchemist was determined to finally steal the heart of his future loved one.
After so many failed attempts to profess his blooming, never-ending love, the taller of the two would be out of options, if he hadn't had his last winning card saving his pathetic ass, of course!
Because miserable situations demand miserable actions.
So if showering his knight with compliments that would make his cheeks boil red, helping him with his paperwork as a proper secretary and voluntarily cleaning his office—like, c'mon he doesn't even tidy his own workplace—how could he possibly show more that he loves his knight in a shining armor?
All of that might make it appear as though he was merely working for Tsukasa and for certain reasons that would undoubtedly be mentioned later on, it may even be true.
However, despite all of his efforts, they were in vain because the blond beauty had been entirely bulletproof to the skilled charmer's flirtatious methods, not getting the hints in the slightest.
Obliviousness of the other made Rui seem even more crazy than he was considered before. So there was only one option left for a desperate love interest.
If all this didn't work out, his smartass had came up with the amazing idea of serving Tsukasa love potion with his very own love mixed into it.
How romantic!
No worries, rest assured he is skilled in what he does, obviously. One might argue that forcing his love on someone in this way is inappropriate, but Rui had already justified his own decisions in his mind, and nothing could persuade him to think otherwise.
Furthermore, the effects of the said potion should wear off after three days, so if the blond doesn't fall in love with him for real, he will give up—but definitely, that isn't happening!
The genius alchemist hummed as he neared his destination.
Even though Tsukasa was a highly ranked and respected knight, he actually spends most of his time in his office signing documents, giving other knights orders and only occasionally going on missions.
He must give Rui credit for this; whether on purpose or not, well… definitely on purpose, how he could even doubt the alchemist.
His now purple haired assistant had undoubtedly added some fun to his monotonous daily work schedule.
The bored knight buried his head in walls of paperwork and intuitively searched for his coffee, not finding where it was supposed to be.
Oh, right, Rui still hasn't arrived yet; it's embarrassing how much he had grown used to Rui being by his side all the time.
—
The love story of the two had started quite in a Rui-like way of him doing every effort to make the knight's life harder than it already was.
After moving to the new town, the former traveling alchemist made the decision that opening his brand-new workshop—well, illegally—was the best way to start his business.
He even had the audacity to shamelessly promote it throughout the entire town, inviting everyone to pay a visit and offering great deals like giving everyone a 50% discount on their first purchase.
Obviously, all this fuss didn't go unnoticed by the honorary knight, and as soon as he noticed rumors spreading about the purple-haired troublemaker, he got to work and visited his, at first glance sketchy shop with the intention of ruining his despicable schemes.
Rui, being the sly little bastard, not only talented in alchemy but also in machinery; constructing robots had always been his hobby, was prepared for the knight's visit, secretly watching him through a small robot without the other noticing.
And he calls himself a knight, that easily falling into Rui's hands.
If this knight hadn't attracted the sly one's curious eyes, he would have lied.
Truly, he was really handsome. Staight precisely styled blond hair showing off his perfectly shaped face with sweet honey-colored eyes. Decked out in a fancy knight's uniform, his long royal blue coat billowing behind him as he stridently walked to the alchemist's newly opened shop.
The only flaw ruining his perfect appearance was the grumpy and serious expression plastered all over his face.
Ah, such a pretty face; what a waste to ruin it with an expression like that on such a gorgeous face. He must definitely change that with his marvelous plan prepared only for the charming knight.
Just before the blond entered the shop he had deftly hid in the shadows, prepared to surprise him.
Without any hesitation, Tsukasa opened the heavy wooden door and entered the alchemy shop, looking for the culprit behind this case. Stepping further, the first thing that caught his attention was how dark everything there was.
Only one window mildly provided light for the entire space, lending the interior a sinister atmosphere as though something dangerous was cloaked there. As he turned to look around, he was instantly bombarded by an array of colors and more importantly, all fragnant smells mixed together, creating an oddly fascinating smell constantly hitting his nose.
The shop was as well stocked with a wide variety of potions, as cures for insomnia, upset stomach headache, scented oils, ointments, salves or other useful alchemist supplies.
On the wall shelves, were placed glass jars full of herbs: rosemary, hyssop, oregano, motherwort, white dead nettle, marshmallow plant and burdock—those were the only ones he could recognize. The large ones were filled with strange, hard-to-define substances.
Rather than thinking about what that might be, he moved to the wooden counter. Thinking about that, every piece of furniture there was made of dense mahogany wood, which only heightened the already potent aromas.
Said counter was scattered with a selection of books about alchemy.
”After mixing butterfly wings and lizard tails together, add just a tiny bit of moss and keep melding… —HUH?” There is no way this is legit, it just sounds disgusting. With a grossed out face Tsukasa closed the book putting it to the side.
As he passed fingers on the counter he noticed plenty of machinery clutter mindlessly left all around, creating a chaotic working space.
For such a small space, there was just too much junk everywhere, unacceptable! Where does he even sleep? There were no clues of a proper bed anywhere at all, other than a small leather couch left alone in the dark dusty corner.
Moving from the counter to something that seemed like a table where he worked his magic. Many test tubes and bowls in which left-overs of crushed herbs were placed, waiting for the alchemist to finish his work.
In the very corner, there were stimulants to keep one awake. When he knelt down to check if there was anything hidden, he was surprised to find a different range of spell traps carelessly stashed under the table, including the strongest tonics that can close severe wounds, treat any poison or allow one to breathe if a fish and a… poison?!
Why would he keep the poison in such an obvious place?
Smaller provincial alchemists tend to be local healers, while larger shops deal in rare ingredients and carry a variety of magical potions. This guy's case somehow didn't fit any of the descriptions!
But this wasn't the only thing worrying him right now; throughout the entire time he had spent there doing nothing, just wasting his precious time, the person he had been looking for was nowhere to be seen.
Rosing back to his feet, he dusted off his uniform, not long after and completely out of nowhere, he felt someone's touch on his hand. He jolted slightly while definitely expecting a situation as this one right?
Not given much time to react, the knight was spun as a ballerina finally facing the person behind all this.
The ballerina-like knight slowly regained his composure after this absurd occurrence, looking slightly higher not expecting the other to be taller than him, well not much just…..possibly just a hair taller, hah.
Tsukasa adjusted his posture to appear taller while ignoring the fact his heeled boots added few extra inches to his height.
The taller of the two was smirking down at the blond with an amused expression on his face.
“Ah, welcome to my humble shop dear customer! What could possibly have brought such a well-known knight here? Could it be that you decided to come because you heard about my limited offers?”
Smooth silky voice tickled the smaller ones ears, it was clear he was trying to play with him, not letting himself to be left out, Tsukasa responded with a comeback.
"You really are brave enough to play dumb, you fool! I'm here to inform you that you can either pay the rent to stay here or pack your belongings and leave as soon as possible!”
The blond knight spoke in an assertive way, making the other man aware of the reason for his grandiose appearance. The purple haired man of whom Tsukasa still hadn't known the name yet, should be grateful he was the one coming there, which does not often happen to the knight as him to be assigned to a task as this one.
In a smooth-like almost inconspicuous manner the purple-haired latter stepped back fully showing off his whole figure. Despite the man's mysterious appearance due to the poor lighting and present dark atmosphere giving him almost mystical feels.
Tsukasa was still quick to notice his more than attractive features. He had never seen anyone with such striking hair, purple with a few turquoise strands emphasizing his already interesting looks. He was being closely observed by the eyes that were bright yellow, certainly resembling a curious cat.
Wait? HUH? He didn't come there to admire this troublemaker but to restrain him from continuing his illegal activities. He needed to remain focused on his work, avoid letting his mind wander and besides, how long had he been staring at his face for?
Shaking his head and regaining lost senses, he wanted to resume speaking but was cut off by the other who had already begun speaking. “Oh… that's the case then….I see…”
The trickster placed his hand on his forehead in an effort to appear totally devastated by what he had just heard.
Out of all the reactions Tsukasa was foreseeing, this one was undoubtedly not that he had anticipated. His eye twitched slightly.
Naturally, it wouldn't be our alchemist if he didn't start adding more to his cheap performance to make the blond feel sorry for him, while fully aware of what he was doing.
Tilting his head to the side rapidly, as he moved his hand from his forehead to his cheek, remaining on creating pitiful situations.
“T-Then…I must sincerely apologize for any troubles my foolish decisions have caused you, oh dear knight, but the intentions of mine were not in any way ill or to cause harm, I only have one desire and that is to help others!”
He even looked at the other man with the poutiest eyes he could muster at the time. During his entire breathtaking act, his other hand moved to his chest where heart was to only prove the words he spoke were absolutely and without a doubt genuine.
The smaller would have sworn a single tear dropped down the purple-haired man's cheek, but he wasn't sure if his eyes weren't just playing tricks on him.
Again caught off guard, Tsukasa completely broke from the knight's serious and stern attitude as his big brother instincts kicked in, he reached out to the dejected alchemist's shoulder to ease his worries.
"Hey, look please…I didn't want to scare you off, not in a way like this, I-I… If you don't have enough money to pay right away, I can wait and won't report you to authorities.”
With a way more comforting voice than before he reassured the other. Lifting his head a bit to look at the blond. "R-Really?" he spoke in a low sniffly voice.
With a single small nod Tsukasa confirmed his promise, finally smiling at the taller man, in a comforting way.
The alchemist had achieved his goals, feeling content with the outcome, decided there was no longer a need to play on the knight's emotions, the knight still without a name smiled at him.
“I knew, the smile would suit you more!”
The showman abruptly stopped acting and returned to his typical persona after wiping fake tears from his eyes.
Tsukasa blinked once, twice, then again and again repeatedly, eyes widened, wondering how he could have fallen for someone else's tricks so easily—it never happens to him!
Even promising this criminal to not report him, where the straight thinking went at that moment?!
Perhaps, that wicked alchemist used some sort of potion on him somehow without him even noticing?
But there was no way in the world that this was possible, completely ruling out the possibility that he might just be drawn to the others' charms.
The poor knight did not know what was in store for him in the not too distant future, but at least he was not under any kind of spell…for now.
The amused man's grin only grew; it was far too simple to get under his skin and get the best out of him. “If I could make one more request, dear knight, may I perhaps know your name? I am truly ashamed that I still do not know it.”
Once more talking in a mischievous sense, his sweet words found their way to the humilitated man. "Tenma—Tenma Tsukasa…" he choked out a reply, his eyes turned to the side, looking everywhere but at the taller man.
"Then, Mr. Tenma, please allow me to introduce myself as well. My name is Kamishiro Rui, and I'm more than pleased to meet someone as charming as yourself."
He made a graceful bow in front of Tsukasa. His attitude wasn't helping the already mortified knight. "Tsukasa— J-Just call me Tsukasa; it sounds weird to be addressed as "Mr. Tenma" by you.” He muttered.
"Mhm! Then, nice to meet you, Tsukasa! I feel privileged to address you by your first name. Who would have imagined I'd be given a chance like this? fufu ~”
“D-Don't get ahead of yourself!” Refusing to be cornered by Rui any more, as he collected himself back together, Tsukasa remembered that poison hidden under the table and decided to confront him about the matter.
"If your intentions are truly as pure as you have declared, then what is the hidden poison supposed to mean? Care to explain, hm?"
The smirk persisted, he chose to tease Tsukasa even more. Apart from that, it wasn't even real poison—just a trap for nosy people like the blond. To hide something so dangerous under there and tag it as "poison" would be beyond stupid. Real poisons were hidden somewhere else….wait what?
"So you found out about it, how embarrassing! Be careful; that tiny bottle contains the most lethal poison known to man: my intoxicating love for you, dear Tsukasa.”
He couldn't possibly be more shameless than that. The worst part was that Tsukasa unquestionably fell for all of the bait offered by Rui, whose attitude was completely pushing all of his buttons.
"Y–Y-Y- Your WHAT?!" For the first time, he was thankful for the poor lighting there, because, upon hearing such a ridiculous reply, heat rushed to his cheeks and ears rapidly. A shit-eating grin was displayed all over his face, taking great joy in Tsukasa's reactions.
"Not pleased by my love, hm? You wound me!" Once more, he dramatically positioned his hand on his forehead, winking at Tsukasa.
Having had enough of his bullshit, he decided now was the best time to leave. "Y-You better be prepared; I'll be back next week, so if I were you, I'd be counting all my coins right this second! I won't be as forgiving the next time I show up as I was today!” The latter was about to leave the alchemy shop as quickly as possible after turning on his heel when he overheard the purple-haired tricker's comment.
"My dear knight, I'll be waiting for your return! " Rui was propped over the counter as he waved and smiled with his eyes closed and then Tsukasa was gone for the time being.
At the time, all this teasing towards Tsukasa was just to annoy him and get a funny reaction out of him, but poor Rui didn't know just how much would everything change in the following events.
As the knight had promised before, he returned exactly after one week of Rui's never-ending waiting for him, the alchemist couldn't stop thinking about him at all.
However, he was prepared for him, having a perfect excuse to defend the fact that there was still not enough money to pay his debt.
Thanks to his convincing acting, he was always successful in persuading Tsukasa to wait more, with the hidden intention to see him every week, gambling with his kindness.
To his surprise, the blonde had always returned, even though he must had already known about his made-up excuses. Still, he came back no matter what. As the weeks went by, their relationship had developed into a close friendship and both men started realizing how close they had become in this short period of time, willingly or not, of course.
Rui was quick to settle his feelings and realize what those feelings for the knight were, but the knight wasn't as willing to accept his more than platonic feelings for the alchemist.
Initially, he was just annoyed to pay a visit every week at Rui's workshop, knowing he would just come up with a brand new excuse every damn time.
At this point, he could have been considered his regular, even though he had never bought anything from him. He was suspicious of his techniques, but the suspicion was soon brushed off. After hearing only praise and not one complaint about his work, everyone was satisfied and grateful to him, his shop became really popular amongst people.
Tsukasa would often observe his work during his frequent visits, starting to realize he had stopped being irritated by it and even started being happy and fidgety to see Rui!
The blond continued on visiting him, completely ignoring his duties as a knight defending this rule-breaker.
His head was a complete mess; that guy had completely taken over his mind. The hardest and most painful thing to swallow was to accept that he could have easily ended this long time before developing such feelings, closing his STILL illegal business, but... but he didn't.
Had he completely gone insane? Well maybe…
Not so soon he admitted he had fallen for Rui.
They eventually began to play a game of ping-pong to see who could come up with more awkward flirting methods. Constantly treading on the thin line of what was considered just a friend thing to do, wanting to somehow confess their feelings without actually saying them out loud.
These dense idiots were doing everything but confessing to one another, and if that wasn't ironic enough, both were completely oblivious, not knowing they both were deep down without turn back in love with each other.
Finally leading into the present and ending this long ass flashback. The dept Rui had, didn't go unnoticed and Tsukasa was barraged by higher positioned people to finally close Rui's shop.
Not having the heart to do such a thing to his dear friend, Tsukasa had decided to offer Rui the chance to work under him in his office as some sort of assistant to pay everything, and so he of course accepted, awed and pleased to spend even more time with his future love.
—
Stepping inside the fancy building, Rui went straight into the kitchen to prepare Tsukasa his morning coffee as he always does, with the small, almost unnoticeable difference of mixing a few drops of his love potion into it.
Before entering the blond's office, he knocked, "It's me..." and entered. He was met with a dozing-off knight sleeping at his working table, drowning in a sea of papers that needed to be signed.
Rui approached the sleeping beauty, placing the coffee near him, patting his silky hair to get his attention.
The knight gradually began to awaken, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes as he finally saw his beloved coffee prepared, waiting for him.
Without any hesitation, completely ignoring the other man's presence, he grabbed it and took a sip. Rui chuckled at how eagerly Tsukasa drank his coffee and observed him expectantly as the liquid passed down his throat.
“Feeling different in any way, my dear Tsukasa?”