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“Where’s Mona”? Akechi asked, stretching. The last time he’d seen him was at dinnertime. It was now 23:30.
Ren shrugged. “He went out somewhere”. He pulled out his phone. “ ‘Will probably be back late. Don’t wait up for me’ ”.
“Pull up the tracker app”.
Ren raised his eyebrow. “You put a tracker on my cat”?
“Please,” Akechi snorted unattractively. “You act like you’re surprised”. He ran a brush through his hair. “Since Mona turned into a human, he seems to be short on brain cells”.
Well, Akechi wasn’t wrong. Mona seemed to have the brain of a two-year-old. “Still, you put a tracker on his phone”.
Akechi met his gaze in the mirror. “I should put one on your phone too. Since you have a habit of disappearing when I’m not looking”. He set the brush down and stood up. “I may have found a way to turn him back”.
“How”? Ren asked, taking his shirt off.
Akechi cleared his throat and averted his gaze. “Either magic or a specific incense”.
“I heard about the incense thing. Something about lavender, myrrh and licorice, I think”? Ren ran his hand through his curls.
Akechi sat on their bed, never taking his eyes off Ren. “We have to burn lavender, frankincense, myrrh, juniper, sage, mugwort, rose, yarrow, mint, cedar, patchouli, licorice and sandalwood; while Mona holds a bowl of sliced ginger and rosemary”.
“It’s worth a try, I guess”. Nothing they tried had worked so far. If it didn’t work, their house would smell great. Ren checked his phone. “Mona must’ve turned off his phone”. Since becoming a human, Mona liked to stay out late. On New Year’s Eve, he came home at 1:30 in the morning. So, Ren wasn’t too worried yet.
Akechi took his sleep mask out of the drawer. “We should get to sleep”. He grabbed Ren’s hand. “If something is wrong, we can’t be sleep deprived”.
Ren climbed into bed. “You wanna cuddle”?
“What makes you say that”? Akechi prayed it was dark enough to hide his blush.
The bed creaked as Ren moved closer. “A. you keep staring at my chest and B—”. He reached out, placing his hand on Akechi’s face. “You’re blushing”.
“No, I’m not”. Akechi said, trying not to lean into Ren’s touch.
A sliver of moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains. “Yes, you are”. Ren smiled and leaned in. “It’s fine if you wanna cuddle, you know I don’t mind”.
Akechi shivered as Ren’s breath caressed his lips. They’re just friends. He shouldn’t feel like this, shouldn’t want this. “That isn’t what friends do”.
“There’s platonic cuddling and cuddling for warmth”. Ren tucked a lock of hair behind Akechi’s ear.
Akechi’s heart raced. “And what about us”?
“Well, that depends”. Ren placed his hand over Akechi’s.
“On”? Akechi asked, moving closer. God, the tension was driving him crazy.
Ren laced their fingers together. “We could do a trial run”.
While Akechi was worried that this would mess up their relationship, going further was too tempting to resist.
Ren placed his hand on Akechi’s face. “Ready? One, two”.
Sparks flew as Ren’s lips met his. Everything he’d imagined, nothing compared to the real thing. Akechi’s eyes fluttered shut.
Ren’s lips were unfairly soft and tasted like peach chapstick and mint toothpaste. Akechi licked Ren’s bottom lip, savouring the taste.
“Akechi, you can kiss back, you know”. Ren took Akechi’s face in his hands.
His cheeks blazed. “I’ve never done this before”.
Ren smiled and pecked Akechi on the lips. “We can try again”.
“Okay”. Akechi tilted his head and leaned in.
“We’ll bump noses that way”. Ren told him. “You stay straight and I’ll lean in”.
Ren’s lips were just as warm and soft as the first time. Akechi moaned, wrapping his arms around Ren’s neck.
“Just follow my lead”. Ren whispered. “Just like that”.
Akechi buried his fingers in Ren’s curls. “How are you so good”? Even in his wildest dreams, he could never be this good.
“Lots of how-to videos and practicing on stuffed animals”. Ren admitted sheepishly.
He moaned as Ren’s lips trailed down his neck. “And here I just practiced in dreams”.
“Mmm, I like that you dream of me”. Ren tucked a lock of hair behind Akechi’s ear.
Who wouldn’t dream of Ren? With his deep, sexy voice, gorgeous dark grey eyes, black curls, pretty, pink lips. Akechi pushed Ren back. “Why wouldn’t I”?
Ren pulled Akechi on top of him. “I like this angle”.
“You like being under me”? Akechi said, twirling a loose curl around his finger.
“Top, bottom. Either is fine”. Ren said as a blush crept across his cheeks.
Just as Akechi leaned in to kiss Ren, his phone rang.
“Mona, where are you”?
There was a pause. “That’s the thing; I don’t know”. Mona glanced around. Moss patches covered the stone walls, chains hung from the walls and there was a tiny bed in the corner of the room. “I think it’s an old castle”. He grabbed the door handle, causing rust to rain down. “But the handle’s stuck”.
Ren motioned to Akechi. “Is there a window”?
Mona climbed on the bed. “There is. The trees have some kind of fruit on them. Nashi, maybe”?
The keyboard clicked as Akechi plugged in the details. “Saitama’s about thirty minutes from here”.
Ren hung up the phone and ran his hand through his curls. “Let me get dressed and then we’ll go”.
“We’ll get him back”. Akechi took Ren’s hand, squeezing it.
A towering grey stone castle stood before them. Moss and ivy grew along the walls and windows.
“Mona didn’t mention that the castle was actually a fortress”. Akechi crossed his arms over his chest.
Ren walked up to one of the windows. “We could try getting in through here”. He glanced up. “We could get in through one of the higher windows”.
“Not unless you’re planning to grow a meter or so”. Even if Ren stood on his shoulders, there’s no way they’d reach the window.
Ren scratched his head. “Guess we’re breaking in the front”.
“Can you not sound so eager to commit crimes”? Akechi sighed and followed Ren up the hill.
Metal clinked against metal as Ren picked the lock. “It’s only a crime if you get caught”. He said, throwing a smirk over his shoulder.
“I’m sure the police will love to hear that when they arrest your ass”. Akechi leaned against the doorway. Thank god this castle was off the beaten path. “Are you almost done”? Somebody was bound to notice them sooner or later.
The final chamber clicked open. The wooden door slowly creaked open, revealing a long, dark hallway. A cloud of dust greeted them as they stepped in.
Akechi coughed. “Let’s go before we inhale something toxic”.
“Did you find a map”? Ren asked.
Akechi shook his head. “No, but from what Mona described, he’s probably down in the dungeon”.
Eventually, they came to a long stone corridor.
“This doesn’t look suspicious at all”. Akechi paused in the doorway.
Ren took a step forward and Akechi grabbed his hand. “What, do you wanna go together”? He asked, turning around to look at Akechi.
“It’s a trap”.
Ren looked between Akechi and the corridor. “How do you know that”?
Akechi pointed to the walls. “See those holes in the walls? Unless you want to be swiss cheese. I suggest you find another way”.
“We don’t have time to look for alternate routes”. Ren stuck his arm in the middle of the corridor. Arrows shot out from both sides of the wall. He jerked his arm back just in time. What about the walls? Ren carefully moved along the walls.
Akechi’s jaw dropped. Ren made it all the way without getting shot. “How the fuck did you know that”?
“Saw it in a movie once”.
Akechi made his way along the left side of the wall. “What movie was that”?
“A GuyMcver one”.
Akechi frowned. “The Otter Kingdom one”?
“No, that was three years ago. The new one takes place in the Waitomo glowworm cave”. It almost made Ren want to book a trip to New Zealand until he saw how much it’d be for all three of them to go. Let alone the money for the hotel, tour of the cave and anything else.
Akechi faintly remembered seeing trailers. “Is it any good”?
“Pretty good. It’s better than the holiday one”. Ren said, sidestepping what looked like a pile of bones.
He thought that one was really good. Then again, Akechi loves sappy movies. Even if he’d never admit it. “At least it’s better than the gothic mystery one”. Beautiful scenery, but the writers fell asleep at the wheel.
“True, but it’s not the French one”.
They stopped in the second doorway. Colourful tiles lined the corridor.
“I guess we’re playing hopscotch”? Ren scratched his head. He figured they’d be traps, but these were the oddest traps he’d ever seen.
Akechi calculated the width of the tiles. “It’s Dance Paradise”.
“They want us to dance”? That sucks as Ren has two left feet. “What if we just walk across”? No sooner had Ren stepped on a turquoise, and a scarlet square. The floor opened up to reveal huge, bloodstained spikes. Skeletons dotted the pit.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed”? Akechi asked, yanking him back.
Ren curled himself into Akechi’s chest. “No,”.
“We have to follow a specific rhythm”. Just as Akechi said that, music started playing. “Follow my lead”.
Scarlet, turquoise, violet, orange, lemon yellow, celadon, indigo.
“You’re getting better”. Akechi said as they headed down the hall.
Ren rubbed his neck. “Thanks, I got it from watching you”.
“Your ‘watching’ is usually just staring at my ass”. Not that Akechi minded, he knew he had a great ass.
Like Ren was going to ignore the view in front of him. “Please, like you don’t stare at mine”.
Akechi glared at him. “You know, you probably could’ve avoided the arrows if you crawled”.
“That was my next idea”.
They turned right at the intersection and came to a dead end.
“You’d have to keep your ass down”. Akechi told him.
Pot calling the kettle black. “You have the same problem”.
They came to a third corridor.
“Hopefully, this is the last one”. Akechi leaned against the wall. There weren’t any obvious traps. He kicked a rock down the corridor. Nothing triggered; no spikes emerged from the ground.
“Maybe there aren't any traps this time”?
Akechi hummed. “We should still be careful”.
“Okay,” Ren took Akechi’s hand.
Akechi’s heart fluttered. “You don’t have to hold my hand”.
“But I want to”. Ren leaned into Akechi’s side. “We should order pizza when we get home”.
“It’s almost 2 in the morning. We’re better off making our own pizza”. Thank god they didn’t have the ingredients for pizza. “You should tie your shoe before you trip”.
As soon as Ren bent down, the stone walls roared to life.
“Shit”! Akechi yelled, grabbing Ren’s hand.
Why did this castle have to have so many long ass hallways?
The bloodstained walls were closing in on the stone path.
They dove for it, rolled and hit the wooden door at the end of the corridor.
The walls closed with a heavy thud that echoed, causing small bits of gravel to rain down.
“We are turning that cat back. I am not doing this shit again”. Akechi bent over trying to catch his breath.
“Those training sessions with Ryuji are paying off, huh”? Ren sat up, brushing dust and dirt off his jeans.
Akechi flipped him off. “This better be the last trap”.
“You said that already”. Ren stretched and walked up to the door.
“Is that a new kit”? Akechi asked, leaning against the wall.
Ren balanced the kit on his knee. “Yeah, I got it last week”. He frowned; this lock was more difficult than he was used to. “Pretty advanced lock for an old castle”. He muttered.
“Ren”! Mona cried.
His heart raced. “I’m coming”!
“We’ll never get in at this rate”. Akechi moved Ren to the side. “Cover your ears”.
“Why”? Ren’s ears rang as Akechi shot the lock. “You brought your gun”? He yelled.
Akechi took his earplugs out. “Of course I did. You never know when you might need it”. The wood splintered as he kicked the door open.
“That was hot”. Sadly, they had no use for kicking doors in their normal life.
Akechi rolled his eyes. “Go get our cat”.
“Mona”? Ren called, stepping into the dark room. He jumped when something furry brushed against his leg.
“Down here”.
“How are you a cat”? Ren asked, crouching down to check on him.
Morgana shrugged. “Don’t know. One second I was human and the next I turned back into a cat”. He purred as Ren petted him.
Akechi tucked his gun in his waistband. “We should get going before this place decides to kill us”.
Ren stood up and peeked out the door. “If we can find a way out”.
Just as he said that, the wall fell, revealing a staircase.
“Let’s go”. Akechi said, retrieving his gun.
Eventually, the stairs lead up to the exit.
The cool early morning air ruffled their hair.
Ren took Akechi’s hand as they walked to the car. “Thank you”.
Akechi’s heart fluttered. “You act like I wasn’t going to help you”.
“No, but you didn’t have to help”. Ren smiled and turned to face him.
The crisp air swirled around them. “I’ll always help you”. Akechi said, moving closer.
“I’ll do the same,” Ren said, leaning in and kissing Akechi.
Akechi’s cheeks burned as he pushed Ren away. “We still have to get back”. His lips tingled as soon as Ren pulled away.
“Come on, I’m hungry”! Morgana yelled from the car.
Ren kissed Akechi on the cheek before getting in. “Isn’t it a little too early for breakfast”?
“You weren’t the one who spent hours trapped in a castle”!
Ren smiled and kissed him on his head. “I’m glad you’re okay”.
“I hope you two aren’t going to flirt for the entire trip”. Morgana said, curling up in Ren’s lap.
Akechi rolled his eyes. “We weren’t flirting”.
“I saw you kissing back there”.
Ren rubbed his neck. “I was just thanking him”.
“Yeah, by sticking your tongue down his throat". Morgana stretched out his paws. “At least you’ve stopped dancing around your feelings”.
“So, you don’t care about us being together”? Ren asked. He figured Morgana would be more possessive of him and wary of Akechi.
Morgana let out a purr. “Anybody could see that you two want each other. Plus, it saves me the trouble of locking you two in a room until you confess”.
Ren smiled and ran his hand down Morgana’s back.
The red light was taking forever.
Akechi muttered something about needing permission from a cat.
“I think it’s cute. Plus, it makes sense given that he lives with us”. Ren reached across the console, taking Akechi’s hand. “I mean, you wouldn’t date someone that your loved ones hated, would you”?
“Last time I checked, you’re dating your significant other, not their entire family”.
The light finally turned green.
Ren kissed the back of Akechi’s hand. “Well, it’s good we’ve got Morgana’s blessing”.
Morgana purred happily in Ren’s lap. He was glad to be back with his family.