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“For the last time! No, I am not—you aren’t even listening to me, are you?!”
Kyoutani’s brow twitched. “Course I am.” The fluffy haired brunet glowered at him. “Your Highness.”
“I don’t care about that damn title! That’s not the problem!”
“No, the problem is you’re being uncooperative and making my job too damn difficult.”
It sounded simple. Well, as quests go. Sure, it was perilous and there was some sorta cursed forest and a maiden locked away in a tower guarded by a demon, but it hadn’t been too bad. He could go by himself and not be dragged down by anyone else.
But then, ohohoh, but then he gets here and instead of some ruined tower or a castle destroyed by time, there’s this house, a little worse for wear, but steady enough, and there’s wolves outside of it and he hears screaming (obviously the maiden) so he charges into the clearing. The wolves scatter, yipping and growling and then this guy comes out holding a frying pan aloft, pure murder in his eyes.
He can recognize the appearance anywhere: this is Shigeru, the younger Prince, second in line for the throne, right after the Crown Prince Tooru.
And damnit, he hates his job. He’d been sent out to recover a maiden (preferably one who wouldn’t scream at the sight of him) by the Prince himself, but what does he find? The lost second son.
“Your job?!” Shigeru’s voice goes high and Kyoutani understands now how he could’ve mistaken it for a woman’s. “You’re here to—to fetch me?! Damnit!” The Prince curses and stomps around the room, muttering and scowling, containers clanking together as he moves. “Tooru sent you, didn’t he?! That—that—that busybody!” Kyoutani is altogether unimpressed and he’d really like to take a nap and ignore all this ridiculousness. “How’d he even find me?! No—“ he whirls around, stomping towards the knight and grabbing hold of his collar, glaring down at him with unveiled ferocity.
Kyoutani is only slightly ashamed that all he can do is stare at him.
“Is Iwaizumi still at the palace?”
“Captain Iwaizumi?” Kyoutani repeats, wondering why the Captain of the Guard is important (well, aside from the obvious, but this conversation isn’t revolving around the Captain and all his amazing skill).
Shigeru lets go and stomps away, scowling out the window and crossing his arms tightly, staring out at the trees. “Captain. Of-course.” His head tilts back as he groans, eyes closing. “Tooru’s twenty-four this year. Damnit, they want me at the coronation… No, no no no, that’s not it…” He turns, looking over his shoulder. Kyoutani straightens up a bit, gazing back at him. “There’s gonna be some huge party, isn’t there?” Kyoutani hopes his expression correctly displays “Of-course, you idiot.” Shigeru clicks his tongue, hunching his shoulders as he slumps back to the table and flops down on one of the chairs. Kyoutani slips into the one across from him. Shigeru gazes back at him, the rage leaving to settle into a tiredness Kyoutani doesn’t usually see in one so young. “So. Tooru sent you on a quest to rescue a damsel, did he?”
“That was the idea, yeah.” Shigeru props his elbow on the table, holding up his chin. “And, what are you doing out here anyway?”
“Hiding. Lot of good that plan was, but hey, it’s been six years. Figured I was in the clear.” He let his elbow slide along the wood, letting his head drop onto the table with a dull thud. “Damnit.”
“And, you’re out here, because…?” Kyoutani knows how difficult it was to get here. Sure, the forest wasn’t cursed, but it was creepy enough and the closest village practically begged him not to go, citing the deaths and disappearances in an effort to sway one of the King’s Knights. He didn’t put much stock in legends or spooks, but riding through, he was tempted to start. Then, his horse went and decided it didn’t like the vibes and bolted, leaving him to walk. And while there weren’t any demons (that he knew) there were some rather large looking forest cats that watched him with glowing eyes and the crows that watched him from above looked waaay too big to be normal.
And those wolves weren’t anything to sneeze at. Scared off easily, but he supposed that was because there were only two of them and he and the Prince made a fair bit of noise.
“Hiding, didn’t you hear me?” Shigeru raised his head to glare, then dropped it back down. “I can’t exactly run away and then stay in a town. I would’ve been taken back within a week.”
Kyoutani didn’t care, but he was curious. “Why would you run away? You’re a Prince.” Shigeru huffed.
“Yeah, uh-huh, because that’s totally fun. Being told what to do, what to wear, how to act, how to feel? Totally what I wanted to do with my life.” He turned his head sideways, eyeing him. “Tooru could do it, until he was old enough to work around it and make it less about what he was supposed to do and more about what he could make happen. Me? I’m the replacement, obviously. I don’t get a say. Second son, remember?” He pouts and Kyoutani feels the urge to smack him.
“You’re a prince, act like it,” he growls. “You get a life better than almost everyone else, so don’t complain just because you can’t get your way!”
Shigeru goes silent and Kyoutani gets front row seats to watching how the Prince’s eyes narrowed, how his lips curl up in a sneer. The man huffs out short breaths through his nose, obviously angry as he sits up, glowering at the knight.
The Prince’s eyes, brown before, are now more golden, not quite like Kyoutani’s but startling enough to make him pause.
“I ran because I couldn’t get my way, huh?” The chair screeches against the floor as he pushes away, storming towards the door and throwing it open. He stomps across the porch, leaping the three steps and stepping outside. Kyoutani scrambles to follow, watching the man storm through the tall grass. The prince raises a hand to lips, the shrill whistle floating around the area before fading.
And the knight hears the wolves, the barking as they crash through the trees.
“Oi, what the hell are you doing?! They’ll kill you!” He draws his sword, striding after the idiot prince. “What are you thinking, calling them here?!”
“Back off!” the Prince screams, eyes flashing as he turns, the two standing across each other, several feet standing between them. “I didn’t ask to be rescued, I didn’t ask to go back! I was born there, but I live here! Here, in the forest, where I survive on my own! Where I’m free to do whatever the hell I want, to act, to feel how I want! Congratulations, Knight! Your job is over! Go back, and tell my idiot brother I’m dead! That the wolves everyone feared so much?! They killed me, not the castle assassins or the punishments I had to suffer or the life I was supposed to live!” His chest is heaving, sweat beading at his temple. And Kyoutani stares, blinking at him, uncomprehending. “This…” the Prince pulls at his tunic, tugging it over his head and baring his back. “This is what they did to me, to make me submit!”
Scars cross over his skin, a pattern he recognizes from a whip. The Knight stumbles back, eyes wide as he takes in the flawless skin, only marred by the scars, pale and thick across his back. “B-but—but you’re the prince?”
The skin ripples as Shigeru rolls his shoulders, the scars trembling. “My only use is for diplomatic unions,” the man says in a voice just as blank as the knight assumes his face is. “If I was not perfect, I couldn’t be traded. So they made sure I would submit. Tooru, as the heir, strove for perfection until he had the power and wits to do what he wanted. As future king,” Shigeru pulls his tunic back on, the dark material hiding his past, “he couldn’t be… trained. Not like me.” There’s a crashing in the brush and Kyoutani readies his sword, turning towards the threat. “Don’t bother, they won’t hurt you.”
The Prince settled in the grass, hands braced on his knees, watching two dark shapes leap from the shadows of the forest. They’re yipping, almost prancing through the grass to nearly tackle the Prince, licking at his face and hands when he reaches to pet them.
“W-what…?”
“In the village,” Shigeru’s head pops up, the wolves curling around him, desperate for pets, “the one closest to the forest. They call me the beast tamer when I go for supplies. But the elders are more wary of me.” Brown eyes (no longer gold) gaze back at him. “They whisper ‘Jinmenjuushin’ when they think I can’t hear them. ‘Beast in human form.’ Because they don’t know who I am, they leave me alone, keep themselves guarded when I happen to go into town.” Shigeru stands and the wolves whine, pressing against his legs. “Because I just happen to find these two when they were pups and trained them up, they think I’m a monster, a creature of the forest, a demon.” Shigeru tilts his head, expression blank. “Will you leave me to my peace, Knight? Or will you force me to go back?”
Kyoutani doesn’t question Iwaizumi. Tooru, he’ll question, simply because the man acts so frivolously. Iwaizumi summoned him and Tooru gave him the quest. He doesn’t like losing.
“I have my orders.” Shigeru looks away, expression darkening. “But it’s been so long, why does he want you back now?”
“He’s becoming king,” Shigeru answers, as if that’ll clear everything up. Kyoutani frowns. Shigeru sighs. “Because he’s probably found something he wants and one way to guarantee he has it is through marriage.”
“But the prince and—“
“My marriage.”
Kyoutani clicked his mouth shut.
“I’m sorry, what?” Tooru stared down at the book in his hands, flipping through the pages and watching the dates go by, all done in his brother’s hand. Beside him, Iwaizumi can only watch the dates go by, faster and faster until the pages are blank. All entries are dated years ago.
“You were the one who said there was a demon guarding those woods,” Kyoutani bit out, avoiding their eyes, hand clamped tight on the hilt of his sword.
“No, no, but…” Tooru keeps flipping, but there are no more entries and the pages are still blank. “No, he… Iwa-chan…?”
“Last I knew, he was still there, but I haven’t been by…” The Captain glanced down at the book. “Not since three years ago…” Tooru flips back, fingers tracing the thin, neat writing detailing the second prince’s days, how much he’s struggling to keep the garden up since there are rabbits sneaking in and forest boars knocking down his rickety fence.
“K-kyoutani, you…?” Tooru looked up then, brown eyes wide. The Knight can swear he sees tears.
“The villagers said there was a man who appeared one day, one who could control the wolves,” he speaks, “There are legends, about the forest, about spirits that take over those who die.” He looks down. “‘Jinmenjuushin.’ Beast in human form.”
Tooru leaned back, looking around like he’s completely lost, brown eyes wide and watery. The Captain is scowling, staring down at the stone floor with the hardest expression Kyoutani has ever seen. “Thank you, Kyoutani,” Iwaizumi murmurs. “You’re dismissed.” Kyoutani nods curtly, turning on his heel and striding out of the doors. As they’re closing, he hears a sob, but walks away, not bothering to look.
“You’re sure?” Iwaizumi holds onto the reins, looking up at the knight. Kyoutani looks down at him.
“Yeah.” The captain lets go, patting the horse’s flank lightly. “Thanks, Captain.”
“No, thank you, Kyoutani.” The captain swallows, no doubt remembering the somber occasion the memorial for the second prince was only four days ago. “If you ever change your mind, you’ll always have a place here.” Kyoutani nods again and Iwaizumi steps back. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Kentarou.” Kyoutani starts at the use of his name, but nods once more.
“Me too.”
“Sir, there’s a letter for you,” Kunimi wanders into the study, a wrapped package in his hands. Tooru raises a hand, not looking up from the papers strewn across his desk. He huffs at the weight, his hand dropping, not expecting a package. Kunimi leaves, ignoring the frustrated calls of his King, ranting about misidentifying things. Tooru huffs again, appraising the package curiously before tossing it aside, returning to his papers.
It’s only when, a few hours later, Iwaizumi comes in does he mention it. The Captain picks it up, tugging off the paper while the King squawks from across the room (“That was addressed to me!”), unveiling a book. There’s nothing adorning the front, but there’s a vine with flowers etched along the spine. “Picking up gardening, are you, Tooru?” Iwaizumi opens it, flips through the first couple of pages.
“Me? Garden? Never!” He notices when Iwaizumi freezes, staring down at the book in his hands. Tooru is quickly reminded of that awful days four years ago and he rises, striding over to look over his shoulder.
Tooru,
Don’t blame Kyoutani. When he found me, I convinced him not to bring me back, not since I’d been out here so long. I’m used to this life, I can provide for myself and I don’t think I could lose my independence again. I’m sorry, honestly I am. I know you’re going to hurt. We’re brothers and even though our paths diverged, I put you through that.
But it’s my turn to be selfish. You don’t need me, not really. And, honestly? You let me be for so long, with nothing to show you even knew where I was.
Don’t get angry, Tooru. I know you. You don’t like losing—we’re the same with that, aren’t we? But you keep the kingdom, I don’t care. I have the forest and I have a life I created of my own. So give me that.
Shigeru
Tooru rips the book from his hands, reading through the first page again until he starts flipping, a sense of déjà vu taking over as the dates go by, quicker and quicker, until he reaches the last page in the book.
Dated two months ago.
A feral grin takes over his face. “That little brat… Putting me through that…! Iwa-chan, bring him back so I can strangle him!”
“Oh, look at that,” Iwaizumi takes the book, reading down the entry. “Looks like Kyoutani’s living with him. Himara? Kouta? Do they have kids?” Tooru screeches, sounding remarkably like the demon Kyoutani convinced them killed his younger brother. “Oi, Trashykawa, don’t scream in my—“
“I’m going to kill that brat! Going off and getting together with Mad Dog?! Not without my blessing he does! I’m going to be the best uncle!”
Iwaizumi lets him go, flipping back and starting from the beginning, grinning as he watches Tooru rage around the room.
Looks like their wayward Knight found his place. Good for him.