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The fairy kingdom’s palace is very… natural. There’s ivy climbing the walls, and servants rushing back and forth.
It’s clear that Dame Hinomori stands out in her dress, with people stopping to look at her confusedly.
But what really seems to get people’s attention is Akito. People start whispering and sharing glances as soon as they see him, and Akito’s kind of uncomfortable with all the attention.
Fairies are fluttering around, and suddenly one red-headed fairy with crimson wings approaches them.
“…My god, it’s true. Akito, you’re back!” She says, adjusting her glasses, and there’s a flash of familiarity in Akito’s chest at the sight of her. “…Also, Shizuku, what are you wearing?”
Dame Hinomori laughs and twirls, her dress flowing out with the motion.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but why are you wearing it? Where did you go?”
“We went to get Akito from the vampire kingdom so we dressed up.” Ena says, and the red-haired fairy looks even more confused.
“You… what?”
“We went to the vampire kingdom and found my stupid brothers.”
“How? Why?!”
“Uh, hi.” Prince Kamishiro chimes in.
The red-haired fairy looks like she’s about to have an aneurysm.
“Why? Why are you with Prince Kamishiro?!”
“The vampire kingdom was attacked by people claiming to be from here.” The rat man says, and the red-haired woman immediately turns to him.
“And who’s this? Some guy you found in the woods? Because I know it can’t be my son who left ten years ago.”
“Missed you too, mom.”
“If you missed me so much, then why didn’t you come home?!” She yells, and the rat man cowers under her gaze.
“Sorry, sorry. You’re right. Where’s—”
“ARATA!”
The rat man immediately lights up at that voice, and there’s another flash of familiarity in Akito’s chest.
The owner of the voice turns out to be a tall fairy with silvery-gray wings and light brown hair, who stalks over to the rat man.
“Souma! My belo—”
And the rat man is cut off with a hard slap.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” The fairy (Souma?) yells, and the rat man’s face falls.
“Come on, don’t I get a kiss before you start yelling at me?”
Souma crosses his arms and turns away.
“You don’t deserve it.”
“Awww, don’t be mean to me. I had to go. You know I did.”
“You could have waited for me to wake up and have said goodbye.”
“You wouldn’t have let me go.”
“For damn good reason. You’ve been living in the woods for ten years and I’ve been doing all your work!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But, come on, can’t we just save all the yelling for later? I missed you so much!”
The rat man leans in for a kiss, and Souma literally curves him.
“Oh, no you don’t.”
The rat man looks so upset at that, and he dramatically puts his hand on his chest.
“We’re married! You’re my husband! You can’t do this to me!”
“Oh, watch me.”
~
Arata really isn’t sure if he’s dreaming or not when he hears a pretty voice in his head.
“Arata~”
It’s familiar, it’s so familiar, and Arata can’t get enough of it.
He’s approaching the source of the voice, and there’s a pretty, familiar smile on his beloved partner’s face.
“Hey.” Arata says.
“Hey.” Souma replies. “Come with me.”
His arm is being grabbed, and he’s being dragged over to the bath.
There’s hot breath on his neck and his clothes are being fiddled with, and oh god, his entire body is starting to heat up. He’s wanted this for so damn long.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Souma whispers, and Arata laughs.
“How could I not be?”
Souma lets out a pretty laugh.
And then he’s being shoved. Hard.
He crashes back into the water, and Souma crosses his arms again and Arata feels a vague annoyance in his chest.
“You’re soooo mean to me.” Arata starts. “I need someone to help me up now.”
“The water nymphs are going to help you and then come get me when you’re decent. Then maybe I’ll be willing to talk to you.”
“Come on, can’t you help me instead?” Arata begs, and Souma just spins on his heel and walks away. “Hey! Don’t ignore me!”
~
When Souma’s pulled along to his bedroom by a water nymph, he doesn’t know what he expected, but it definitely wasn’t this.
Traitorous heart. How dare it skip a beat.
Arata’s smile is easy and relaxed, dressed in some of his old clothes. His hair is cut back to its old style, and god, why does he look even better than Souma remembers?
And he’s draped across their bed.
Arata practically purrs as he locks eyes with Souma, giving that same smug smile.
“Still mad at me, partner?”
“Absolutely.” Souma replies. “I’ll find somewhere else to sleep.”
Arata immediately sits up on the bed, his eyes flashing with concern.
“Uh, no way. I’ll sleep somewhere else, you take the bed.”
“I’m the one who has the problem, I should find somewhere else to sleep.”
“No way, I’m not letting you do that. Come on.”
…Arata really is such a sweethea— No, damn it, he’s upset!
“Fine. We’ll share the bed.” Souma says, and Arata absolutely lights up. “But I’m not cuddling with you.”
Arata’s smile falls a little, but he takes a pillow out from under his head and puts it in the middle of his and Souma’s sides.
“Whatever you want.” He says. “Anything for you, partner.”
~
When Souma wakes up with a strange weight on his chest, his eyes flutter open to see a pillow halfway across the room and a partner asleep on him.
He really should have expected this.
He’s still upset… but he’s not going to wake him up. It’s too warm and comfortable for that.
He quickly notices a leaf poking out of his sleeve, and he adjusts it so it’s hidden. Arata doesn’t need to worry about that right now.
(And he tries to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head that says Arata’s bound to notice it at some point, that his body will mess up and he’ll collapse near him and everything will come out)
Souma sighs gently and puts a hand on top of Arata’s head, gently playing with the strands of hair.
Oh, Souma can’t help the smile on his face. He loves this and he knows it. The calm, warm contentment that comes with simply existing. When he and Arata are in the same space, everything feels alright.
There’s nothing to drag him out of bed, no reason to wake up.
So he lets the familiar smell and warmth drag him back off to sleep.
~
Rui hates this, Rui hates this, Rui really hates this—
“Rui?” Toya-kun whispers, and Rui almost jumps out of his skin.
“Oh, Toya-kun. It’s just you.” Rui sighs.
Toya-kun slips a hand into his pocket.
“This place is putting you on-edge as well, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. Especially that husband of the Rat Man’s.”
“So it’s not just me, then.” Mafuyu says, appearing to Rui’s left. “You’ve read the letters. He’s likely the them who killed the Rat Man’s beloved partner and sent his kids away.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Rui replies. “He seems charming and sweet, but there’s something lurking behind that smile. I’m sure he didn’t mean to let his mask drop like that and backhand him in front of everyone.”
And then there’s the sound of fluttering and footsteps behind them, and Rui spins on his heel to find that same tall, silvery-gray fairy.
“You’re up early. Have you already had something to eat?” He asks, giving an easy smile.
Mafuyu gives Rui a subtle nod. Tell him you did.
“Uh, yes. Thank you.” Rui replies.
“Oh, alright then. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”
“Thank you, your highness.” Rui says, giving a small bow, and he shakes his head and laughs.
“No need to be so formal. Call me Souma.”
“Er… thank you, Souma-san.” Toya-kun adds, and Souma-san gives an easy wave before walking away.
“He was definitely planning to poison us.” Mafuyu adds, and Rui nods.
“Absolutely.”
“Have you noticed that the entire palace adores him? He’s probably worked hard to gain that reputation.”
“What are you guys talking about down there?!” Akito yells, from the ceiling.
“Don’t worry about it!” Toya-kun yells back. “Let me get you down!”
~
God, Souma’s exhausted. Arata just got back, they want to give him a few days before pushing all his work back on him again, but Souma’s tempted to just make him do it now.
He walks back into his bedroom, and…
Fair Shinonome, what the fuck is going on here?
There are… roses. So many roses.
“Surprise!” Arata says. “The rose nymphs helped me. They love you more than me, anyway.”
Souma can’t help the small smile and the short laugh that comes out.
“Yes! I got you to smile at me!” Arata replies, flitting over to Souma and wrapping him in a hug.
“I’m still upset at you.” Souma replies, and Arata’s face falls.
“What can I do to make you forgive me? I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” Souma starts. “Maybe start with the ten years of work that you left me with.”
Arata blinks.
“That’s all? Alright. I’ll start tomorrow, you just relax.”
“Wait, really?” Souma replies, and Arata smiles.
“Yeah. Like I said, anything for you. So starting tomorrow, you get ten years to relax. Anything else?”
“Mm… I’ll think about it.” Souma replies, and Arata smiles.
“Good. I meant it when I said anything. I love you.”
There’s a warm nose on his cheek, and Souma’s vision starts spinning. He needs to sit down soon. Damn it.
“Alright. Let’s go to bed.” Souma whispers.
“Right. Here.”
Arata pulls the blanket off the bed, and Souma slips under the covers. Then there’s a familiar warm body on the other side, and a pillow stuffed between them.
“Don’t worry about the pillow. It’s useless when you’re asleep anyway.” Souma says, and he can feel Arata lighting up.
He suddenly feels that same familiar weight again, and it’s almost too comfortable.
“Aren’t you going to try to kiss me again?” Souma asks, and Arata shrugs.
“Nope. Not until you want to. Night, partner.”
“Night.” Souma replies, and the lights go out in an instant.
~
When the morning comes, there’s a note in Arata’s pretty handwriting on the other side of the bed. Thought I’d get an early start. See you later. Love you.
Souma sighs. He really is a sweetheart.
He just really wishes his dear partner would have thought for a second before he decided to leave the kingdom for ten years. He doesn’t like being angry, but he doesn’t know how else to feel.
Well, seeing as how he has a day off, he might as well enjoy it. He gets out of bed, but he notices a piece of paper sticking out of a drawer in his bedroom.
He opens the drawer, and it’s just absolutely filled with letters.
Love letters.
All in the same handwriting as that note.
My beloved partner, I fear that without your touch I am liable to burst into flames. Every second of the day, my longing for you grows ever stronger.
My darling partner, being away from you is the worst torture I’ve ever experienced. The dungeons of Shimizu do not compare to being without your warm voice and gentle touch. I wonder, were you to pass me on the street, would you still recognize me? Or would you leap away in fright?
“How’s the best partner in the world?” Arata says, walking in with a plate. “I brought you some breakfast. Thought you might be hu— Where did you get those?!”
“Maybe don’t try to hide them in a drawer in our bedroom.” Souma replies. “So, you’ve been writing poetry for me, huh?”
“I-Uh… just a little here and there. When I really missed you. Though as the days went by, I definitely started writing more. It made me feel good to think of you.”
Arata lays the plate on the bed and grabs Souma’s hand, running his thumb over it.
“You don’t know how hard it is for me to not kiss you right now.” Arata whispers, and Souma laughs. He’s been punished for long enough.
“Then do it—”
And then the door bursts open.
“There you two are!” Yoka says. “We’re trying to figure out how to make the vampire kids more comfortable, but I don’t think they’d listen to us. Would you two mind going to talk to them?”
“Why us?” Arata asks.
“Well, everyone likes Souma and they already know you, so…”
Souma laughs into his hand gently.
“Not everyone likes me. My parents don’t.”
“Your parents don’t count, and anyway, I’m your mom now. So, do a favor for your dear mom?”
Arata sighs.
“Fine, fine. Come on, let’s go talk to the vampire kids.”
They walk over to the room that the vampire kids are sitting in, and Souma opens the door gently.
“Listen, we’ve just got to figure out a way to survive.”
“We definitely can’t trust Prince Shinonome. He’s more conniving than he looks.”
Souma crosses his arms and glares at Arata, who looks confused and shrugs.
Souma sighs and touches Arata’s face.
‘Whatever you did to these children, you’d better apologize.’
‘Yeah, yeah…’
“Yeah, I mean, he—” One of them starts, and Souma opens the door and cuts him off.
“Hey, Souma-nii!” Aki yells, from the ceiling. “I can’t hear anything anyone’s saying!”
Souma laughs and flits up to the ceiling, grabbing Aki’s hand and gently pulling him down to the ground.
“Don’t worry. Happens to everyone.”
“Thanks.” Aki says, turning to everyone else. “Now, what were we talking about?”
The vampire kids share a look, and Souma sighs.
“Whatever Arata did to you, I’m sorry.”
“Hey, you can at least let me apologize!” Arata replies.
“Um…” Prince Kamishiro starts. “I accept your apology.”
“Good. Now we can get to the reason why we’re here. We were wondering if there was anything at all you needed to make your stay more comfortable. I’m sure you probably miss your homes, so if there’s anything at all you need, please, ask.”
The vampire children share another look, and Souma sighs.
“Arata, what did you say to these poor kids?”
“Nothing!” Arata replies, and Souma narrows his eyes.
“Like I’m going to believe that.”
And then it looks like something clicks in Arata’s head.
‘Wait… the kids were never this uncomfortable around me before.’
‘Hm?’
‘…I forgot about that stupid vampire thing.’
‘Arata…’
‘It is stupid! They change their names after they get married, the one of lower ranking takes the surname of the one of higher ranking!’
‘…Wow, you’re right, that is stupid. But what does that have to do with anything?’
Arata bites his lip.
‘When they say ‘Prince Shinonome,’ do you think they might mean you? ’
Souma looks at him like he’s crazy, and Arata sighs.
‘…Yeah, I’m a moron. There’s no way my perfect partner managed to piss them off.’
“Um, Prince Shinonome…” Aki’s vampire boyfriend starts.
“Just call me Arata.” Arata says, and Souma can feel a small flash of amusement from their bond. These kids are too damn formal.
“Oh, uh, not you. Your husband.”
Souma raises an eyebrow.
“First of all, I thought I told you that you kids should call me by my name…”
Aki’s boyfriend immediately flinches and tries to backtrack, but Souma continues.
“And second of all, that’s not my name? My name is Souma Miyata. Is this that weird vampire thing that Arata just told me about?”
“What?” Asahina asks, and Souma’s honestly kind of stunned that Arata wasn’t just messing with him.
“Wow, you actually change your names after you get married? I’ve never heard of that.”
“Huh?” Prince Kamishiro says. “Wait, you don’t ?”
“Why would we do that?” Arata says.
“Then, wait, how do you pick which name gets passed on to a child?” Aki’s boyfriend asks, and Souma looks at him confusedly.
“Whichever one sounds better with the given name? I mean in the royal family it’s usually Shinonome, but Arata’s such a mama’s boy that he usually uses Tono anyway.”
“Souma…” Arata groans.
“Wait, doesn’t that get confusing?” The blond human kid says. “What if you need to say like… Sweet Shinonome or something?”
“Everyone here is on a first name basis.” Arata finishes. “Also it’s Fair Shinonome, get it right.
“A-alright…” Aki’s boyfriend says. “Prince Miy— I mean, Souma-san, uh… your husband didn’t do anything wrong, you shouldn’t punish him.”
Souma can see Arata pouting out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeah, haven’t you punished me enough? Don’t I deserve a kiss by now?”
“Why is it that you keep trying to win him back?” Mafuyu-chan says.
“What?” Arata replies.
“Well, he killed your beloved partner, did he not?”
…If Souma had anything in his hands, he would have shattered it by now.
So he settles for smacking Arata upside the head.
“You’ve been telling everyone I’m dead for ten years?!”
“No! No, I swear to Shinonome, I don’t know where they got that from!”
“I cannot believe I almost kissed you! What the fuck have you been telling these kids, that you had a secret lover that I killed because I was jealous?!”
“Souma, love of my life, I promise you, I didn’t tell them a thing!”
“Souma-ni—” Aki tries to cut in, but Souma doesn’t even register it as he crosses his arms.
“You’re the one who proposes to me, you’re the one who says you want to be with me forever and begs me to run away with you, and now I find out you’ve been telling these kids that I killed your lover?!”
“Souma-nii!” Aki tries again, and Souma still doesn’t register it.
“So, you deny it then? Hmph, you’re an even better actor than I thought. You might as well be an Asahina.” Mafuyu-chan cuts in, and Souma waves her off. It’s not her fault that Arata’s fed her this bullshit.
“So, Arata, tell me. Who were those letters really written for, huh? Because I thought I was your beloved partner, but apparently it’s someone else! Fair Shinonome, should I have listened to my parents when they told me to leave you?!”
“Don’t try to pin all this on him.” Prince Kamishiro growls. “We all know what you really wanted was the power and status of being a royal. You probably cheered when he vanished.”
“Everyone, shut up! ” Aki yells, and there’s a sharp gust of wind that throws Souma directly into Arata’s arms.
And Aki’s gone when he looks back to where he was. So he looks up.
“…Help?” Aki asks, stuck on the ceiling again, and Souma feels his anger slowly start to melt into concern as he flies up to bring Aki back down.
“That was a lot. You okay, Aki?”
“Uh, yeah, fine. Don’t worry.”
Arata puts his hand on Souma’s shoulder, and there’s another flash of anger in his skin.
“Don’t touch me.” He growls, shrugging Arata’s hand off. “I’m going to get some air. Don’t come near me.”
He stalks out of the room, and there’s a cold feeling settling over his heart. Right, he’s heard of this— The way a marriage bond can freeze over if something happens that’s extreme enough to make one partner consider leaving.
Ten years, Souma never considered leaving once.
Maybe he should have.
~
Akito’s on the ground, his brother’s curled up in a ball mumbling something that he can’t make out, and all the vampires and humans are behind him talking confusedly.
Idiots. Everyone here is being an idiot!
He tries to speak up again, but Arata’s combination of mumbling and crying is just getting louder, and Akito’s starting to vaguely make out what he’s saying.
“I’m sorry. I love you. Don’t leave me.”
Lady Asahina sighs and crosses her arms.
“He’s scared to be alone. But he has to learn that being alone is better than living with a husband like that.”
“And what do you know?!” Arata snaps. “I’m nothing without him! Fair Shinonome, I knew it was a mistake to go back and save all of you! Is this fun for you?! Ruining the one thing I was counting on?!”
“Will you guys just listen to me?!” He yells, and Toya looks shocked.
“Akito?” He asks, and Akito groans.
“ Partner is what fairies call their spouses! I know you all think that if he was married to his beloved partner, then he'd be calling him his husband, but that’s not how fairies work! The dropped letters were to Souma-nii! ”
Toya and Prince Kamishiro share a look.
“Wait, then what did that mean? About him wishing that he could have kept them away from his beloved partner?” Asahina asks. “Who are they ?”
Akito’s about to say that he doesn’t remember, but then Arata cuts in.
“You. Keeping you vampire bastards away from him. Especially Tetsuya Melor.” He growls. “Or did you not realize that my beloved partner was kidnapped and experimented on for days? Did it just slip under your nose, like all the other suffering and corruption? You bastards don’t even protect your own kind. In Aoyagi they’re a bunch of cowards, in Kamishiro they just don’t care, in Asahina it’s outright encouraged, and in Shimizu they torture you. What a beautiful kingdom Solaria is, huh?”
Prince Kamishiro looks genuinely stunned.
“What…?”
“They pumped his bloodstream full of iron.” Arata says. “Five times, he almost died. I remember each one vividly. I begged him to stay awake for me. I told him I was coming, that I needed him to just hang on. Because if Aki and Ena had vanished and Souma had died? I’d have died of a broken heart. He wanted to die. He was ready to die. The only reason he was staying alive was so I could get Aki and Ena. And they weren’t there. Souma’s the best person in this kingdom— he’s not whatever you think he is.”
And suddenly, as Arata speaks, Akito hears screaming in his head.
“You can do whatever you want with me. Just let them go. They’re only children.”
And then Akito remembers drifting in and out of consciousness, and he remembers that pained screaming. Begging, pleading for Arata to hurry up and come because he can’t take it much longer.
Akito doesn’t know how long it was. At some point the screaming stopped, and then he woke up and he was with Ena in a dungeon of some sort.
Akito’s chest feels tight, and when he looks up, he sees that even Lady Asahina looks stunned.
“Oh, we fucked up.” Saki says.
“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” Prince Kamishiro responds.
~
Souma doesn’t really know what he’s doing here anymore. It was definitely a mistake to go back into their bedroom. He should have just asked the nymphs or Yoka to get his stuff.
And it’s even worse when he feels a pair of familiar arms around him and he has to resist the urge to just melt into Arata’s arms and accept any explanation he’s given.
“I’m sorry.” He whispers, planting a soft kiss on his earlobe. “It was a cultural clash. They didn’t understand that when I said my beloved partner, I meant you. I really swear, they just misunderstood.”
“Then how did they get that? How did they think…?” Souma asks, and Arata spins him around so they’re face to face.
“The letters. I dropped a few over time. In one of them, I talked about how I wish I had been able to stop them from taking you in the first place. Sometimes I still hear your screams in my head. I’m a failure as a partner, a brother, and a prince. I don’t even know how the rumors started. It’s like overnight, I turned into a folk hero and people were cheering for me. But they didn’t actually know anything about me, I know that now. They found a few letters and trinkets that I dropped and just ran with them. I mean, the plays in Aoyagi…”
“Plays?” Souma asks, and Arata freezes.
“…They’re so weird. I have that weird accent that rats have.”
Souma laughs gently. He probably should have assumed this was just a misunderstanding from the start. Arata’s a prick, but he’s not that much of a prick.
“Well, you did look about as unkempt as one.”
“Hey!”
Souma crosses his arms, a genius idea appearing in his head.
“Arata, how badly do you want me to forgive you?”
Arata looks confused.
“More than anything. Why, is there something you want me to do?”
Souma laughs gently again.
“If you can get the blondie actor to perform as many of those plays as he can remember off the top of his head, I’ll forgive you.”
Arata looks embarrassed, but he looks right into Souma’s eyes.
“…Anything for you, partner. Come on.”
Arata gently pulls him along, wrapping his hand around his wrist, and he’s glad that Arata doesn’t seem to feel the branches under his jacket.
The vampire kids are wandering around the palace with Aki, and Aki practically lights up and floats over at the sight of them.
“There you are! Listen—”
“I know.” Souma says. “Arata explained it to me. And he told me something about plays?”
The blond human looks up with a bright light in his sunset eyes.
“Do you want to see them? We can perform most of them as long as we have a rope to swing off of.”
“We can get that done.” Arata says, and Aki laughs.
“So, Souma-nii said he’d forgive you if you showed him the plays?”
“Shut up!” Arata replies, flying off to grab a rope.
Aki laughs again, and his body starts to move without his consent and he starts drifting higher.
Souma grabs his arm gently, and he pulls him back down to the ground.
“Thanks. God, this sucks.”
“It sucks for everyone.” Souma replies. “When I was going through it, I almost flooded my family’s house. Don’t worry about it, it’ll get better.”
He leaves out the fact that his feverish dreams always seemed to include a pair of fresh crimson wings and green eyes.
Soon enough, Arata approaches with a long rope and flies up to tie it to one of the branches on the ceiling, and he drags a chair over and motions for Souma to sit down.
“Here.” Arata purrs. “For the world’s greatest partner.”
Souma slips into the chair, and Arata pulls another one over so that he can tie Aki to it.
“Do we have to do this…?” Aki groans.
“Just be glad you didn’t end up having to be locked in your room for two months so you didn’t get yourself or anyone else killed.”
“…Nii-chan, what the fuck?”
Arata freezes for a second.
“…Oh, you didn’t remember that part yet.”
“He was also two.” Ena chimes in.
“Again, what the fuck?” Aki finishes, and Arata sighs.
“You’ll remember eventually. At least you’ll remember everyone screaming when you broke into my room. Anyway, he’s secure, you guys can start going. Someone turn the lights out.”
Souma snaps his fingers and all the flames float from the candles into his hand, and the fire nymphs appear to set up a spotlight above the stage.
The other fairies and nymphs start whispering and watching, and Tsukasa-kun laughs brightly.
“Thank you, thank you one and all for coming to our show! May I present… Rat Man and the Azure Diamond, inspired by your own dear Prince Arata!”
“What the hell?” Yoka asks, fluttering over.
“Apparently while in the vampire kingdom, Arata became some vigilante folk hero. Stealing from the rich, giving to the poor, the whole nine yards.” Souma whispers back, and Yoka’s wings flutter excitedly.
“Finally happy with me again?” Arata purrs, and Yoka laughs softly.
“Maybe a little. I’m so proud of you. I raised you right.”
“Love you too.”
“Alright, alright! Let’s watch!” Souma adds, and Yoka laughs as she turns to the stage.
The lights come up on Tsukasa-kun, now in character as… well, Arata, Souma guesses.
“Mamma Mia! I must break into this manor! They steal from their subjects and force them to live in poverty while they live in luxury! Let us be off!”
And then he swings off the rope and lands on one of the ivy platforms perfectly.
But Souma’s more focused on laughing at the accent.
“They… hah… they really thought you sounded like a rat, huh?”
Arata turns bright red, and Souma laughs even harder.
The plot is pretty basic, Arata steals a special azure diamond from a noble’s manor and uses the money from selling it to fund an orphanage. Which is definitely something Arata did, because he’s blushing really deeply and it’s so pretty.
“…Lapis…”
“What?” Souma whispers.
“The ‘diamond.’ It was Lapis Lazuli.” Arata whispers back.
Souma laughs again.
“You’re really nit-picking that part?”
“I think you’ve already noticed the accent.”
Tsukasa-kun swoops down the rope again and grabs Toya-kun by the hand and pulls him up to another platform, and Souma’s suddenly invested again.
“Thank you, Rat Man.” Toya-kun says. “You saved me. But… may I ask you a question?”
“If I can, I will answer!” Tsukasa-kun replies. “Speak now, dear friend!”
“Why do you wear that ring? It pierces your cloak of darkness with light and gives away your position.”
Suddenly, there’s a short piano riff that brings up something in Souma’s chest.
It continues slowly, and Tsukasa-kun suddenly turns deathly serious.
“I… cannot take it off. It is all I have left of my beloved. It… it would betray everything I am to remove it or to let it dull.”
Tsukasa-kun sighs, staring at his hand.
“…My beloved partner. Would you still recognize me if we were to meet again? Or would you leap away in fright?”
“Yeah, see?” Arata whispers. “Slapping me wasn’t an option.”
Souma gently smacks Arata in the back of the head, and Arata groans.
“You’re so mean to me.”
Souma laughs gently, but he can’t shake off the feeling the piano riff gave him. Why does it feel so… warm? Is this the power of a vampire musician? The only one that’s ever been able to have this effect on him was…
His eyes drift to his dear partner, and everything suddenly falls into place.
Oh. Arata wrote that, didn’t he? Just for him.
He doesn’t mention it. Not yet. But maybe Arata will sing it for him later.
There’s barely a second between the play’s ending and the brilliant applause, with everyone cheering as the lights go back up.
“Encore! Encore!” Yoka cheers, and Mahono joins her.
“Wait, when did you get here?” Souma asks, and Mahono laughs into her hand.
“I heard the commotion, so I decided to come and watch. Absolutely lovely. Can we see another?”
“O-of course, Queen Shi— Wait, uh, Your Majesty !” Rui-kun says, bowing to Mahono.
“Oh, please! Call me Mahono!” She says, waving him off. “You kids really are way too formal.”
“Uh, alright, Queen Mahono… let’s… god, what other play can we do?”
“ Rat Man and the Silver Ring. ” Mafuyu-chan says, and Rui-kun shakes his head aggressively.
“That one has—” He starts, and Souma cuts in.
“You kids don’t have to worry about offending me. I’m actually kind of curious to see what you all thought about me.”
“Trust me, he’s too nice.” Yoka chimes in. “Unless you’re Arata, but in his defense, Arata really deserves it.”
Rui-kun still looks suspicious, and Aki rolls his eyes as aggressively as possible.
“Guys. He’s really nice. Like, the nicest guy in the kingdom. Everyone likes him. Don’t worry about it.”
“…Alright.” Rui-kun says. “If you’re sure. And I-I greatly apologize if you’re offended—”
“Rui-kun. Relax. ” Yoka says. “It’s alright. It’s just a show.”
“M-Ms. Tono—”
“Yoka.”
“M-Ms. Yoka, I-I just don’t want to offend the prince.”
“And like I told you, he’s the nicest guy on the planet. You should be more worried about offending Arata.”
“I’m fine.” Arata groans, knowing that he can’t do anything because he desperately wants his partner back.
Rui-kun takes a deep breath and starts walking over to the stage again, and Souma doesn’t even have to worry about the lights again because it looks like the fire and water nymphs have it handled. Everyone seems excited to see this second show.
It’s again pretty simple, something about Arata stealing a precious silver ring, but this time it’s different. This time, it shifts to a flashback.
It seems like Rui-kun is playing the villain, who is probably supposed to be Souma, and all of his earlier apprehension seems to vanish with the wind as he gets into character.
“What have you done with them?” Tsukasa-kun growls. “My partner, my children, what have you done with them?!”
Rui-kun clicks his tongue and grabs Tsukasa-kun’s face menacingly.
“Darling, don’t worry about them. You have me.”
“I don’t want you. I never wanted you.”
“It’s not about what you want. It’s about what’s best for the kingdom. Bastard heirs and a secret lover, they’re very unbecoming of a prince. They’re not worthy of you.”
“I don’t love you! Not like I love my partner and my children! Tell me what you’ve done with them, or I’ll kill you myself!”
“Darling, please. Just forget about them.”
“Never! Tell me!”
Rui-kun sighs.
“If you insist. Your children are probably far away from here by now, but your darling partner is right behind your little old cottage. Have fun~”
Tsukasa-kun runs off, and that piano riff starts playing again as the scene changes to a quickly growing cottage (the nymphs are really excited, it seems) with a small plot of fresh dirt that Tsukasa-kun drops to his knees in front of.
“No…” Tsukasa-kun whispers, with pure grief in his voice. “Please, no… no, no, no… partner… partner, please…”
Rui-kun smirks as he walks over to Tsukasa-kun, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“See, darling? Your partner is right here.”
“Why…?! Why?! You didn’t have to kill—”
“Yes, I did. Your heart was here as long as your darling partner lived.”
“And my children? What of them?!”
“Oh, I didn’t go that far. They’re alright. On the other side of the kingdom by now, probably. You’ll never find them, dearest. Not even I could. Now you have nothing more attaching you to this place.”
Rui-kun leans in, gently kissing Tsukasa-kun’s neck.
“You’re all mine, sweetheart. Now, come home. Come to bed. And just forget.”
The flashback scene ends, and Souma has to gently grab Arata by the back of the hoodie so he doesn’t get up and lunge at the kids.
“It’s fine, partner.” Souma hisses, and Arata turns to him confusedly. “It was a misunderstanding, right?”
Arata crosses his arms.
“It’s a really shitty misunderstanding. You’re way too nice.”
Souma just laughs.
“My Arata’s defending me, hm? You’re so sweet to me.”
Arata settles back into his seat, and Souma leans in to kiss him on the cheek gently.
Arata turns bright red and touches his cheek, almost if he can’t believe it.
He smiles brightly, gently leaning in to touch his nose to Souma’s.
“Mamma Mia!” Tsukasa-kun yells. “This silver ring is worthless, it might as well be used to bring joy to someone!”
It’s definitely not supposed to be funny, but it’s hilarious to anyone who actually knows Arata. Souma can’t help himself anymore. He bursts out laughing, and Arata smiles and starts laughing gently as well.
“You have the prettiest laugh I’ve ever heard.” He purrs. “I missed hearing that laugh.”
Souma laughs even harder, and he breaks out of Arata’s arms to clutch his stomach and laugh. It’s too much. All this is just way too dramatic and nothing at all like what their life was like that he can’t help it anymore.
But suddenly, it’s… wrong. Something’s wrong.
No. No, this isn’t happening. He tries to bite back the nausea and get up to at least see if he can collapse somewhere that isn't directly in front of Arata, but it doesn’t work. His vision is spinning, and the lights suddenly go back up as Arata grabs him tightly.
“Hey, are you alright?” He whispers, keeping him steady, and Souma really wishes that his idiot partner would let him fall because he’s about to throw up and he needs to make sure that he doesn’t hit Arata with it.
He can’t control it. He can’t. He desperately wants to, but he can’t anymore. Fucking iron poisoning. A bunch of bile escapes from his lips, and from the way Arata winces in pain, he knows that some of it must have gotten on him. He’s completely toxic. Everything hurts him, and the moment it all bursts out it hurts everyone around him too.
He’s trying to stay awake, trying to speak at all, but he just can’t.
And it finally all goes black.
~
Arata barely registers the pain on his arm from where he got splashed because of how worried he is. None of this makes sense. Souma was fine literally two minutes prior! He was happy and laughing!
He takes a second to think, and it finally clicks that it’s really weird that it burns where Souma’s vomit splashed onto him.
His mom runs over and quickly wipes it off of him with a wet towel before getting out of the way for a fairy that Arata vaguely recognizes as Meiko Akatsuki, the doctor’s apprentice. Well, it’s been ten years, so she’s probably a full-fledged doctor by now. She puts on some gloves and reaches over to Souma, pulling him out of Arata’s hands against his protests.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She says, putting a gloved hand on Arata’s arm. “Come with me, I have something for that iron burn.”
“Iron burn?” Arata asks, and Dr. Meiko flinches.
“…He hasn’t told you?”
“Told me what?”
Ena’s literally shaking in the back, her eyes far away.
“N-no… why… I’m… he’s…”
“Ena?” Arata asks, reaching out, and she flinches away from his touch.
There’s a hand on his arm, and his mom is pulling his hand away from her.
“Don’t. She’s not seeing you right now.” She whispers. “She’s seeing Tetsuya Melor.”
Arata feels his emotions starting to go out of control, and he takes a deep breath. He can’t let the fire take hold right now. Not when Souma’s so close to him and unconscious like that, with pain creasing his lovely features.
What the hell is going on? Ena’s having flashbacks, Souma’s unconscious…
And suddenly there’s another hand on his, and Arata looks up to see Ena with some of the faraway look gone from her eyes.
“He… protected us.” She whispers. “It almost killed him. And now he needs to hold that with him forever.”
“What? I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”
Yoka frowns as she puts her hand on top of Ena’s.
“He knew it would hurt you, so he didn’t want to tell you yet. The experiments those bastards performed on him. They didn’t just go away when they came back. The iron poisoned his bone marrow. His blood and vomit are toxic, and they hurt him constantly. And they hurt us if we touch it too. It’s… terrible. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
“What…?” Arata whispers, and Dr. Meiko flutters her wings as she scoops Souma up.
“Do you mind if I take him back to your bedroom? It would be best for him to be comfortable.” She asks, and Arata nods.
“Yeah, of course. You don’t even have to ask. I’ll even take him myself—”
“I appreciate it, but please let me handle it. I’ve been doing this for years.”
Arata’s heart drops.
Years. She’s been doing this for years. Souma’s been suffering like this for years, and Arata wasn’t there to take care of him.
He starts walking over to their bedroom with Dr. Meiko and watches helplessly as she lays him out on their bed. She steps away after a second, and he practically bolts over to the bedside, taking his hand and kissing it.
He rolls up his sleeve slightly to plant a kiss on the inside of his wrist, and he notices a branch winding up his arm.
Dr. Meiko sighs and puts her hand on one of the branches.
“It’s a mycelium network. It’s used in place of his own nervous system. He can’t move without them.”
Arata’s literally shaking. Fair Shinonome, why would you punish him like this? All he did was try to help. All he ever did was try to help.
There are tears running down his cheek, and they fall onto branches and skin. But there’s no familiar hand to wipe away those years, and no beautiful smile to make his day better.
~
When Souma wakes up, he notices that his hand is soaked.
He’s confused until he feels warm lips on his palm and everything clicks.
“Arata…?” He groans, and Arata snaps to attention, dropping Souma’s hand and turning to him. “Don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m feeling better now.”
“But… but you’re always in pain, aren’t you? And this is going to keep happening?”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?!” Arata snaps. “How am I supposed to not worry about it?! I should have been here, I’ve been such an idiot! I didn’t… I thought you’d be fine… I didn’t realize they’d…”
Souma gently reaches a hand up to Arata’s face and wipes away the tears with his thumb.
“Don’t worry about it, partner.” He whispers. “I definitely wished you’d been here, but you’re back now. I didn’t want you to feel guilty like this.”
Arata’s still shaking, but he wraps Souma in the warmest hug he’s had in ten years.
“You’re too good for me. I love you more than anything.” He whispers.
“I know.” Souma replies. “I love you too. Now, look at me.”
Arata pulls his face up, and Souma pulls himself up as fast as he can to launch his face into Arata’s and kiss him absolutely senseless.
Arata lets out a shocked gasp for a single second, and then wraps his arms around Souma to hold him close. There’s pure delight coming through his skin, from everything about Arata. It’s absolutely delicious.
And now that his partner’s back, he’s not letting him go again.