Chapter Text
Sharing a room- no, not just a room, but technically a bed, though Shinra nearly choked him to death for saying it once- with Shinra only made their bickering worse.
Deciding who used what dresser, where their other personal belongings would go, and generally sharing space was turning out to be an even bigger mess than either of them had thought. Of course, Captain Obi insisted that they tough it out until they could figure out how to get along.
But as far as Arthur was concerned, they got along just fine! A knight was supposed to fight a devil. This was just the natural order of things. He couldn’t just let Shinra off easy! No matter the bruises he sometimes got from their scuffles, they always made him feel knightlier than anything else ever had.
A scuffle with Shinra was like an energy drink- his focus improved, the strength of his plasma sword grew bigger than ever, and his reflexes were on point.
The fire he felt deep in his ribcage for Shinra was good for him. So why would he want to break off a good thing?
Though he couldn’t help but tease him whenever someone brought up the idea of sacrificing Shinra to the White Clad. But the reality was, ever since sharing a dorm with him in the Academy, it felt weird whenever Shinra wasn’t next to him.
Even when they went on the mission to the Nether with Company 2. The moment he had the chance, it was like his brain completely turned off and his legs carried him right to Shinra.
Maybe it was his knightly instincts to keep chasing a devil and keep it in line.
Arthur’s mind wandered as he tried to complete the stacks of paperwork Hinawa had assigned him. Of course, he wasn’t alone. Shinra and Maki were barely visible across the table behind mountains of papers.
A knight follows the orders of his superiors. He reminded himself. Though paperwork wasn’t a very knightly duty, following orders when they aligned with a knight’s values was. But only if they aligned with a knight’s values.
And this knight only wanted to be as knightly on the outside as he felt on the inside.
A snicker came from Shinra’s direction. “Thinking knightly thoughts again?”
Arthur quipped, “So what? You having delusions of a devil like you becoming a hero?” His fist met the table too hard, sending the mountains of paperwork sliding to the floor.
From beside Arthur, Hinawa glared at them both. “Now you two are responsible for reorganizing that paperwork. Maki, there’s something else I need assistance with while they clean up the mess they made.”
They both left the room, but before Hinawa closed the door, he threatened the both of them. “If this isn’t cleaned up in twenty minutes, I’ll make you run laps until your eyes bleed. Got it?”
Shinra and Arthur sighed, “Yes, sir.”
The two cleaned up the mess in relative silence, only speaking to decide how best to reorganize the paperwork in a fashion least likely to disappoint Hinawa.
Get along. The words Captain Obi used rang in Arthur’s head. Ever since the fight in Asakusa, they learned to be more in sync with each other. When it really mattered- whether in a life-or-death fight or a life-or-death mission to appease their superiors- they could get along just fine.
Arthur’s eyes darted back and forth between the papers yet to be picked up and Shinra’s hands sifting through the pages behind the tangle of chair legs on the other side of the table.
“Could a knight be friends with a devil?”
The words came too easily. Maybe not exactly without permission, but Arthur didn’t even think about saying them before he was already mid-syllable.
Shinra’s hands stopped moving for a moment. “Could a hero be friends with a knight?” Was all he said. “They’re from completely different classes, aren’t they?”
“You’re right.” Arthur returned fully to the task at hand. “A knight would never associate with a peasant like you.”
Shinra chuckled. “Great. From devil to peasant. What an upgrade.”
“You’re still a devil to me.” Arthur said.
No, they might get along, but friends? Not likely. At least Arthur couldn’t say he never tried, though.
Shinra walked past the station’s courtyard, the splashing of water indicating that Tamaki and Iris were finishing up their purification ritual. He respectfully kept his eyes forward, the hallway bathed in the orange light of sunset. Though the ritual wasn’t exactly the same as bathing, it still felt like an intrusion whenever he caught a glimpse of them soaking wet in only a single layer of clothing.
“Devil!” An accusatory shout echoed down the hall. “Have you come to peep at the innocent Sisters of the Eighth?”
Shinra turned around to find Arthur leaping toward him. But he didn’t make it far enough before crash-landing right into Tamaki.
“Wha!” Tamaki squealed and her back smacked to the ground.
Though the crash was sudden and Shinra was mostly worried if Tamaki was okay after hitting the tiles so hard, it’s what didn’t happen that shocked everyone.
Tamaki looked down at herself. “My Lecher Lure! It didn’t activate!” She quickly stood up. “Iris! I think the purification ceremony finally took away my-”
She slipped on the wet tile, teetering right toward Shinra. In a blur of fabric and skin smacking against skin, she ended up like she always did: nude and in a position better suited for adult magazines.
Shinra couldn’t hide the awkward blush that crept up his neck, but he made sure to look away as soon as possible. “You okay, Tamaki?” He asked, hoping the warmth at his feet was just water and not blood.
Iris helped her get dressed with some reassuring, kind murmurs. At least Tamaki wasn’t running away every time it happened anymore, and she seemed uninjured despite taking two nasty falls on rough tile in a row. Tamaki turned to Arthur with her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t it happen with you?!” She gave him a glare up and down.
Arthur’s eyes were blank. “Because I’m a knight?”
Tamaki scoffed at him. “Sure.” She looked him up and down once more before walking off, Iris hot on her trail.
Shinra blinked a few times, finally furrowing his brow. “Why me? If I’ve gotta deal with this crap, you should, too!”
Arthur’s face got red. Shinra had never seen Arthur blush before. Knights weren’t shy or bashful, and neither was Arthur. Shinra’s head whirled with all the oddness that was happening around him. Nothing made sense!
Arthur’s voice was deep and grumbly. “As if you didn’t enjoy that, you devil.” He shouldered past him and turned the corner without another word.
Shinra groaned and his back sharply met the wall. “What the heck is up with everything today?! It’s all so weird!”
“Hey, Licht.” Arthur walked into the science lab. He tried not to stare at the dozens of other Arthurs around him that reflected in the shiny glass surfaces of beakers and other equipment not fit for a knight to be interested in.
“Hey Arthur, what’s up?” Licht was leaned over a table, pouring over some kind of data with a spindly finger tracing over printed graphs and diagrams.
“You’re a man of science. I find myself in need of an apothecary.” Arthur admitted. Though even knights got sick sometimes. For example, whenever they got poisoned by the toxic claws of a devil.
Licht turned around with a frown. “Are you sick?” He tilted his head. “I do happen to have some medical knowledge under my belt. After all, spontaneous human combustion could be a biological matter for all we know.”
Arthur frowned. He did not want to know what was under this man’s belt. “I’ve been experiencing fevers and heart palpitations. I assume this extravagant alchemist workshop has a potion or tonic that can fix me?” He cautiously glanced at the equipment around him. He was still red from cheeks to throat.
“Well, let me examine you and we’ll see what I can do. Doctor Licht is on the case!” He gestured to the chair near the table. “Please, sit here and try to relax.”
After a while of getting poked and prodded by Licht, he ended up on some heart monitor that showed his every heartbeat on its screen. Licht recorded its measurements carefully. “Well, everything looks normal right now. But we might want to run stress tests. I’ll ask Shinra to come down here and get under your skin, you know, for scientific purposes… Wait…” He stared at the screen, then at some other data he had written down. “Did you run into Shinra when you were experiencing these heart palpitations?”
Arthur nodded. “He was spying on the girls performing the purification ritual in the courtyard. I came to stop him. It’s a knight’s duty to protect fair maidens! But Tamaki stopped us before I could finally slay the devil. Her cursed Lecher Lure didn’t work on someone as knightly as I am, though!” He proudly announced the last line. Of course something like that wouldn’t work on an honorable knight!
Licht looked between Arthur and the data again. “And you’re sure her Lure didn’t work on you? It only works on Shinra and other men?” He scratched his chin in thought. Arthur peeked over the data he was pouring over. Though Arthur didn’t know how to read the graph, he was pretty sure his heart rate would spike every time Licht said,
“Shinra.”
Licht watched the monitor closely before he sighed and shook his head. “It’s undeniable evidence, Arthur. There’s a reason why Tamaki’s Lecher Lure doesn’t work on you, and why your heart almost literally soars in your chest when I say Shinra’s name.” He turned the machine off and started peeling the sticky pads away from Arthur’s bare skin. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. But you’re not sick. Well, maybe lovesick.”
“Secret?” Arthur stuck his nose up in the air. “A knight has no secrets.”
“Sure, sure.” Licht smiled. “Then you should tell him. Might cure that ‘fever’ of yours.”
But Arthur only grew more confused. “So I do have a fever? Caused by some cursed secret, you say? I trust the methods of an apothecary, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. I have no secrets.”
Licht leaned back against the table and rubbed his forehead. “Jeez. How do I explain this in a way you’ll understand?” He pressed his lips together for a moment before he sharply snapped his fingers. “You know how the knight always shows up on his steed to save the princess? The one he eventually marries or whatever?”
“Of course. That is a common fate of many valiant knights.”
“Turns out, according to my data,” He pointed to the heart monitor. “You’re more interested in a prince. And more specifically, a prince going by the name of our very own Shinra Kusakabe.”
“But Shinra’s a devil!” Arthur stood up, knocking over the chair he had sat in. “Are you saying a prince exists of the same name as that demon?!”
Licht’s shoulders sank exhaustedly. “Look, man. I’m saying that you, Knight King Arthur Boyle, are experiencing all the biological symptoms of being in love with Shinra. Devil or not. Maybe he’s a Devil Prince or something.” He waved his hands in front of him. “But that’s none of my business! I can officially give you a clean bill of health, Arthur. So do what you feel is best with this information, okay?”
He was hurriedly rushed out of the lab by Licht, his excuses a mix of lots of work to do and needing to review some other test results in the meantime.
The door creaked shut behind Arthur and he was left alone with what little thoughts were drifting around his head like the slow gurgle of a lava lamp.
A Devil Prince? Impossible!