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It was a typical day at the Mukami household, until a familiar from the Tsukinamis showed up with a letter. Ruki answers the door and reaches for the letter, only for the familiar to growl at him. The familiar was refusing to let him take the letter. He takes a closer look, and sees that the letter was actually addressed to Azusa.
“Azusa, you have mail!” Ruki calls for his brother.
A few moments later, Azusa arrives. The familiar allows him to take the letter and then leaves.
“Why do you think this was sent to me?” Azusa asks.
“I have no idea,” Ruki says, “usually correspondence between the families goes through me.”
Azusa inspects the letter. The envelope is gilded and closed with an ornate seal. His name is written on it in fancy looking calligraphy. It looks much more important than the usual letters they receive from the other families.
“I’m a little nervous. I wonder what it is.” Azusa says.
“If you’d like, you can open it with all of us. Then if it’s something you’re not sure how to handle we can advise you.” Ruki says.
“I’d like that.” Azusa replies.
— — —
Once the Mukami family was gathered, Azusa broke the seal on the envelope and took out the letter. He begins to read it aloud.
“Dear Azusa,” That’s as far as he gets before saying, “Oh, this seems personal. I’ll read the rest alone.”
With that, he heads to his room to finish reading the letter, leaving his brothers confused.
— — —
Having been locked in a castle for centuries, Shin wasn’t sure how modern courtship worked. Was it even called courtship anymore? He had no clue. He has wanted to confess his feelings to Azusa since the parade, when he had realized that his heart skips a beat whenever he’s around, but Azusa makes him feel nervous and he couldn’t stand the thought of being rejected face-to-face. He had to come up with a way to let Azusa know he had feelings for him, but there were so many things to consider. Have the norms for courtship changed over the years? Was it different when it wasn’t between two royal families? What about the fact that they were both men, did that change anything? Whatever may be different about his specific situation, Shin had decided that love letters seemed pretty timeless, and could avoid a face-to-face rejection. The only problem was he wasn’t entirely sure how to write one.
He picks out the fanciest stationary, Azusa deserves nothing but the best, and begins the first of what would be many attempts to put his feelings onto the page.
No matter what he wrote, he couldn’t get it to sound right. How does he convey the way he feels about Azusa? How he’s beautiful and confusing and a little bit scary in a way that drives him crazy? How can Shin explain that he thinks Azusa is creepy and weird, but in a good way? It doesn’t help that a lot of the things Shin likes about Azusa sound like insults when they’re actually written out. Eventually he decides that his fretting over wording was just cowardice, and that he has to just send a letter. It doesn’t matter if his wording is awkward, Azusa will understand how he feels. At least he hopes he will.
He finishes writing, puts the letter in a fancy envelope, seals it, and gives it to one of his familiars with the explicit instructions to not let anyone but Azusa take the letter.
He regrets sending it the moment the familiar is out of his sight, but he doesn’t want to call back the wolf. Everything is up to Azusa now.
— — —
Azusa sits on his bed, reading over the letter.
“Dear Azusa,
You are the prettiest man I’ve ever seen. You have the type of beauty that is a little terrifying. You’re weird and you confuse me a lot, but I think that’s a good thing, I want to figure you out. Please consider this my formal declaration of my intent to court you. If you are open to being courted, please send me a letter in return. If not, please destroy this letter.
Yours,
Tsukinami Shin.”
Azusa reads and re-reads the awkwardly worded love letter. He had no clue that Shin felt this way about him before now. As he looks over the words he feels warmth creeping up towards his face. He feels incredibly flattered that Shin sees him that way, and a little confused. What would courtship entail? Was this just an outdated way of asking him out? If so, what should he say? He considers his options, and the more he thinks about it the more he likes the idea of dating Shin. He might want to discuss this with his family, but would that be outing Shin? He decides that it’s probably safe to tell his family what the letter is, since to his knowledge courting is usually fairly public, so Shin would probably be intending to let people know, at least if he says yes.
— — —
“I think that Shin just asked me out.” Azusa says after gathering his brothers.
“Really? What did he say?” Ruki asks.
“He said that the letter was a formal declaration of his intent to court me.” Azusa replies.
“That does sound like he was asking you out.” Yuma says.
“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of mean prank?” Kou chimes in.
“He seemed really sincere.” Azusa says.
“No offense, but you can be kind of naive sometimes, and Shin is exactly the kind of guy to make a joke like that.” Kou responds.
He wasn’t entirely wrong, if things went poorly Shin’s backup plan was to say it was just a joke even though he was being genuine.
“I think that he meant what he said. I’m going to write back.” Azusa says.
“Just make sure to let him down gently,” Ruki says, “I don’t know how he’ll handle rejection but I’m betting it won’t be good.”
“Rejection?” Azusa asks.
His brothers look at him confused, before realizing what Azusa means.
“You’re not seriously going to go out with him, right?” Kou is the first to break the stunned silence.
“It’s really up to Azusa what he does, isn’t it?” Yuma tells Kou.
“Yes, but he should consider all the potential risks as well. This could be dangerous for him.” Ruki says.
“I’m going to say yes.” Azusa says, his brothers’ concern has only reinforced his desire to date Shin. He can be really stubborn sometimes.
His brothers aren’t really sure how to respond. None of them exactly approve of Shin, but it really should be up to Azusa if he dates him. Ruki decides on what he wants to say.
“The political implications of courtship are different from modern dating. It typically begins with engagement, after which there is a period where the couple gets to know each other more which ends in marriage. If that was Shin announcing that he intends to court you, it was essentially a proposal.”
Azusa feels himself blushing again. Shin likes him that much?
“I’ll ask what he means by courtship.” Azusa says.
“If he meant what he said, he’s probably waiting for your reply, right?” Yuma asks.
“Right. I should go write back.”
— — —
Azusa sits, thinking of what to write. He opens with a compliment, trying to match Shin’s energy, and then asks his questions. He looks over his writing afterwards. It’s messy, but legible. He didn’t expect it to be pretty, it was written with his non-dominant hand. He didn’t have a choice in that, his left arm had been amputated a few months ago. He’s satisfied with his letter. He puts it in an envelope, addresses it to Shin, and seals it with a sticker before giving it to a familiar to send.
— — —
Shin is anxiously awaiting Azusa’s reply. He keeps telling himself that it hasn’t been that long, and he’s sure that Azusa will respond. The more time passes, the more anxious he becomes.
Eventually a bat shows up with a letter. A familiar from the Mukami household. Azusa’s reply. He takes the letter and opens it immediately, reading it carefully.
“Dear Shin,
You’re hot. I bet it would feel really good if you were to hurt me, you’re really strong. What do you mean by courtship? If you’re just asking me to go out with you, then the answer is yes, but if this is a marriage proposal then can we at least go on a few dates first?
Yours,
Mukami Azusa”
Shin is overjoyed. Azusa wants to go out with him. After internally celebrating for a little, he thinks about Azusa’s questions. Technically, it had been a proposal, but only because he didn’t know that wasn’t how things were done anymore. He thinks that he should probably admit his ignorance to Azusa, it would be less embarrassing than if Azusa were to realize while they were on a date that he has no clue what he’s doing. He begins to draft another letter.
“Dear Azusa,
It was my understanding that the standards of courtship that I was raised with were still in practice. Could you explain what going on dates looks like in modern times? Am I still expected to provide you and your family with lavish gifts, or is it primarily about spending time together and getting to know each other better? I await your response.
Yours,
Tsukinami Shin
P.S: If you want to see how strong I really am sometime, I’d be happy to show you.”
He wasn’t sure about the postscript, but Azusa really did like pain, and for some reason even though it makes him nervous, Shin likes the thought of hurting him. It wasn’t threatening, because it’s not a threat if he likes it. Shin smiles to himself as he hands the letter to his familiar, as far as he could tell, this was going very well.
— — —
Azusa reads over Shin’s letter. He is most interested in the postscript. If that means what he thinks it means, he and Shin would be having a lot of fun soon. He immediately begins writing a reply.
“Dear Shin,
I would love to see how strong you are. You can hurt me in any way you’d like to properly show me. To answer your questions, a modern date is basically just doing an activity together, like going on a walk, seeing a movie, or getting a meal. You wouldn’t really be expected to give me or my family gifts, but you can if you want to. I couldn’t really afford to get you much though.
Yours,
Mukami Azusa”
— — —
When Shin receives the letter, he thinks about what he wants to say in return. The next step would be properly asking him on a date, right? What could they do together? Pandemonium has some lovely forests surrounding it, maybe a walk through the woods? Or would it be too forward to invite Azusa to Pandemonium? Actually, maybe that would be a plus for Azusa, he’s awfully forward himself. There was no sense in being shy, Azusa had already agreed to go out with him. Even though Azusa still makes him nervous, he’s come this far. He won’t back down, he’ll try to make the date sound as appealing to Azusa as possible.
“Dear Azusa,
Will you accompany me for a walk through the forests surrounding Pandemonium? We could wander so deep into the woods that nobody could hear you scream. Should you accept, meet me at sunset tomorrow at the castle gates.
Yours,
Tsukinami Shin”
He reads over the letter. It’s pretty short, but he thinks that it will catch Azusa’s interest. He hands the letter to a familiar for delivery.
— — —
Azusa isn’t sure if he is meant to respond to this letter. The instructions for if he accepts are just to meet Shin tomorrow. He can do that, but he doesn’t want to leave Shin anxiously waiting for a response if he was actually meant to reply. He decides to consult with his brothers about it.
“Shin asked me on a date. I’m not sure if I should send a letter back or just show up.”
“It’s probably best to be clear, let him know if you plan to go.” Ruki says.
“Anyway, what are you going to do?” Kou asks.
“We’re going for a walk, and then I think he’ll beat me up.” Azusa says, grinning.
“And you’re sure this is a date?” Kou says, “Because that sounds like he was threatening you.”
Azusa is a little annoyed with Kou’s concern for him. “He knows I like pain. I think it’s an offer, not a threat.”
Azusa’s brothers aren’t sure how to respond. They don’t really approve of Azusa going out with Shin, but they know that if they voice their discomfort with this it will only make Azusa more determined to go.
“Well, I hope you have fun.” Yuma says, and Kou and Ruki agree.
The three of them offer to help Azusa prepare for tomorrow. Azusa tells them that he’d like that, but right now he should write back to Shin to let him know that he accepts the date.
— — —
Shin is anxious. He isn’t sure if he’s going to receive a reply, technically he didn’t ask for one. He would still like to know for sure if Azusa is going to show up for the date tomorrow. Surely if Azusa didn’t like the idea of that date he would write back to find a date that they would both like, so no news is probably good news. Just as he came to that conclusion, a bat familiar with a letter shows up. Shin takes the letter, worried that Azusa took offense to his previous message. He was being pretty presumptuous with his “nobody could hear you scream” comment. He opens the letter and is relieved to see its contents.
“Dear Shin,
It’s a date!
Yours,
Mukami Azusa”