Maki narrowed her eyes slightly...before pouting. She supposed if the prince knew him… She opened the door wider, stepping outside to grab the food from the servant, who gave it to her with only a slightly annoyed look. As she brought it back inside, Hajime just rolled his eyes at her back, before looking down at the prince. "Hello, Kokichi. It's fine, so long as the requests are during the day shift. And, I guess, if I'm working that day. I don't mind...but I won't say no to the raise," Hajime said, giving the prince a slight smirk. "It's good to see you. I feel like I only ever spot you running to and from the mailroom these days. I hope you're not overworking yourself to impress 'them'," Hajime said, glancing with a frown over Kokichi's shoulder. "Aiichi would worry, you know."

While Kokichi made small talk, Maki went to put down the food, fully intending to collect the extra plates already in here and go pass it to 'Hajime', whose casual, flippant tone she had found unreasonably annoying. But as she did, Shuuichi came up to her and whispered something in her ear that put all thoughts of the servant out of her mind and made her frown.

"Hmmm...does he need a healer?" she asked him, quietly.

Shuuichi shook his head. "No, the fact that he's not struggling to breathe means his body is adjusting, but it might be worth it to make him throw up, depending on how recently he took it. It's not good for him to have that much going through him at once, and he'll probably end up throwing up on his own anyway. Best to get it over with," Shuuichi said, closing his eyes as his vast knowledge of poison treatment became suddenly extremely useful. "Make him throw up, fill him full of water, throw up again. That should be enough. Then maybe keep him awake for a while after that, just long enough to know he's clear."

"Ugh, he's going to be such an infant about it." Maki scowled, putting the food down with more force than was necessary. "Fine. Help me drag him to the bathroom."

As the two started picking up the prince, the chair clattering behind them, Hajime glanced over Kokichi's shoulder at the noise, then back at Kokichi. "Is...everything alright?"

Kokichi snickered a bit before he sighed, annoyed. "I'm not overworking myself, period, let alone for some dumb, roundabout reason like that. I missed a lot of work with everything that's been going on, so I've been knocking out a lot of quick requests--it's a lot of letters for not a lot of work, you know?"

Not true at all. Some of the letters he'd written, like the thank you letters, were pretty quick, but all his work for the preparation for the fall harvest was pretty involved, needing not just him to write some fancy words, but research and computation and a thorough analysis of market trends to make sure he wouldn't be giving their farmers bad advice. But he still wasn't overworking himself! It was all well-within what he could handle.

"Aiichi can go stuff that worry in his pants," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I have everything under control."

Then he turned around at the clatter behind him and Hajime's comment. Seeing Maki and Shuuichi hefting the unconscious Kaito up and...to the bathroom? Hm. Turning back to Hajime, Kokichi made sure his usual smile was back in place. Totally under control. "Yupp! Shuu-chan and Maki-chan are helping me with a little prank on my husband. Since there are no lakes nearby for the classic prank, we're gonna give him a twist on it--what a way to wake up, right?"

Hajime frowned...then snickered. "Pffff, really now? Wish I had time to stick around and watch that train wreck. Good luck with your future divorce, Kokichi. Shame our symbols of peace came to such a brutal end," Hajime teased, shaking his head, before sobering up a bit. "Hey, just be careful, okay? I hear the guy has a temper. Word's going ‘round that he was yelling at Aiichi just this morning. It's just a rumor, but I heard it from Lake, who heard it from Denji, who heard it from Waku...well, you get the drift." Hajime shrugged. "Call for someone if you don't feel safe, okay? Let me know if you need anything else," Hajime said, giving the prince a friendly wave as he left him to his prank, heading downstairs.

In the bathroom, Shuuichi held onto the still entirely out Kaito, one arm around his waist and the other around his chest, his head hanging limply over the toilet, while Maki wrapped a rag around her two fingers to protect them from biting. "Alright, brace yourself," she said, grabbing the front of Kaito's forehead to lift his hair up. "Sorry about this, Kaito," she lied, before shoving her fingers down his throat.

Kaito's eyes opened wide.

"HRRRRRRK!"

Kokichi grinned devilishly at Hajime's amusement, actually having a little fun with imagining that scenario where he'd move Kaito into their bathtub and keep him in just big enough of a puddle to be annoying but not dangerous. No way he could get the escorts to help him with that, and even more of an impossibility was him moving Kaito himself, but maybe he'd use it as a point of inspiration.

Though, his impish mirth cooled as he blinked in surprise. Kaito had yelled at Aiichi? That...seemed along the lines of what Kaito wanted, but not how he'd ever acted around his dad. Shit...and he'd told him that Aiichi said he could go into town... That wasn't something Aiichi would approve from being intimidated, so...he wondered what actually happened.

"Okie dokie, Hajime-chan!" he chirped, returning the wave. "Thank you again!"

And Kokichi just closed the door in time to hear vomiting from the bathroom.

He quickly scampered into it, watching in slight horror and amazement as Maki and Shuuichi held onto the prince and made him spew. "What the fuck...?"

"Painkiller overdose," Shuuichi said, holding on as tight as he could as Kaito thrashed in his grip, his face slightly red. "Nothing too bad, I think, b-but precautionary measures and all. Could you fill up a glass of water, Kokichi? We're going to need to do another round of this. Thank you."

Maki's focus was relentless, her hands steady as she waited for Kaito's spewing, some of the breakfast he had had that morning not quite finished digesting, letting him catch his breath and whine a bit before putting her finger in again, prompting another choke, Kaito getting the rest of what he had out now as she pulled her fingers away again.

As they waited for him to start spewing just bile, showing the last was out of him, Maki sighed, patting him on the back of his neck. "Hey, hey now, relax, it's just us. Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Kaito's whole body was shaking as he looked wildly around, trying to pull himself from out of Shuuichi's grip...before Maki's voice pushed through the panic, Kaito growing still as he processed, before finally saying, confused, "M-maki? Wha...what's happening?"

"We needed to make your throw up, Kaito," Shuuichi said, his voice not without sympathy. "Sorry to wake you like that. You're gonna drink some water and we're gonna do it one more time, okay?"

Kaito didn't say anything at first, just looking tense and confused...but he trusted Maki and Shuuichi implicitly, so even though his fight and flight instincts were screaming at him, he just nodded his head. "K-kay."

"Overdose...?" Kokichi repeated softly, brows furrowing down as he grabbed a fresh glass from the cupboard and filled it up with water, not feeling great that it was going to be used to keep Kaito throwing up, but it'd be worse to dry heave. When had Kaito even had the chance to overdose? Sure...he took some a little sooner than he should have the night before, but it was only about an hour off, and he'd taken a half dose! And promised not to mess up the timing for the rest of how long he had to take them. And then he'd taken some late that morning before they went to sleep, which was plenty of time between the doses so...how?

Well, it was obvious how. Kaito had taken a painkiller during a time Kokichi hadn't known about. Had been asleep for. He'd slept in that morning and Kaito hadn't been there when he woke up. And then the time between that possible consumption and taking a pill before their nap?

...he really wasn't doing a good job looking out for his husband.

Sighing, frustrated with himself, Kokichi knelt at Kaito's side when he finished spewing, holding out the cup carefully. "Told you I'd bring them."

Kaito's hand shook at Shuuichi let him grab the glass, finding himself unable to look Kokichi totally in the eye as he just barely managed to take the glass without dropping it. Kaito had no idea what Kokichi was talking about, the entire exchange before Kokichi left totally gone from Kaito's memories, but he could guess from context he meant Shuuichi and Maki. "Th-thanks," Kaito said, embarrassed that his husband was seeing him like this. In an attempt to not appear so weak, he shook Shuuichi off, who accommodatingly backed up enough that it could at least, kind of, look like Shuuichi wasn't holding most of Kaito's weight, propping up his side as Kaito laughed, the sound uneven and shaking. "Geez, th-this is not a g-good look on me, huh? J-just give me a second, 'Kichi. M-me and M-maki-Roll j-just gonna get this done real quick..."

Kaito frowned at the water, hating that it was going to be coming back up soon, but chugged it down accommodatingly. He choked in the middle of drinking it, and once it was done, Maki's standby to shove her fingers down his throat again proved unnecessary, as Kaito immediately started to hurl into the toilet again.

By the time all of this was done, Kaito was no longer dizzy, his head clearing up remarkably, though his back ached and stomach felt like someone had punched him in the gut. His head pulsed, but surprisingly enough, it didn't actually seem to be hurting just yet, enough of the painkillers still absorbed into his system to help with the pain.

Kaito took some steadying breaths as Maki, this time, went to refill his glass, giving it back to him. As he looked at it, distressed, she said, "No, this is just to keep you hydrated. Small sips, but finish the whole glass. Now...how did you manage to do this to yourself? Two tablets a day, one in the morning, one before bed. It's easy."

Kaito shrugged, giving his sidekick a shaky grin. "W-would you believe me i-if I said I honestly don't know? It's kinda blurry...I-I'm okay though, really! I already f-feel better!" he said, trying to talk through his shaking, not having touched the water gripped in his hand yet.

Shuuichi sighed and Maki rolled her eyes, reaching down to help Shuuichi lift him up. "Come on, I think he's done. Let's go put him back on the seat. Probably better he sits up for now."

"Half a pill last night, some amount early this morning, and some amount late this morning," Kokichi said without much inflection, following the others back into their room. "That's my guess, anyway."

As the escorts helped Kaito back into the chair in front of the vanity desk, Kokichi picked up a small bowl of apple slices from the food Hajime had brought up before settling himself at the foot of their bed. He munched quietly, staring blankly at the floor.

There wasn't much he could've done while he was asleep, but...saying no in the bathroom was a big thing he could've done. And...being firmer the night before, not recommending Kaito take a half dose. He'd been worried, freaked out to all hell, and just sort of...adrift in everything, but he'd recognized Kaito's pain and knew one thing he could suggest. And that thing had probably confused Kaito's pain-fuzzed brain enough to mistake how much of a painkiller he could take at any given time.

Shoulders slumped, Kokichi spoke more to the ground than to anyone in the room. "Maybe I should go sleep in one of the guest rooms while Kai-chan recovers..." Even if he probably wouldn't be sleeping and would want to come in and check over Kaito constantly, but...if he wasn't there, then he couldn't mess more stuff up, right?

"What? Why?" Maki asked, confused by the comment. "It's not your fault. You barely know Kaito. There's no way you could guess how he could mess up a truly basic medicine schedule," Maki said, stressing the last part as she glared at Kaito.

"I-if Kokichi doesn't feel comfortable looking after him, he can spend a couple of nights in my room..." Shuuichi offered, his ears reddening as he hid his face under his hat. "I don't mind, and I probably have the most trained medical knowledge out of all of us anyway..."

"Again, why? What would be the point? It's simple. Stay in bed, take it easy, a tablet twice a day. But no, Kaito Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars, can't be bothered to follow simple instructions!"

Now that he was awake and seemingly coherent, Maki started pulling her hair, anger born of long-standing worry as she continued hotly, "Seriously, Kaito, what's been going on with you? You've always been reckless, but ever since we've arrived here, it's been ten times worse! Sneaking away from the party when we first got here, twice, was just the beginning apparently! Remember that? Remember how it ended with you attacking your future husband and risking the treaty!? Then you went ahead and learned nothing from that, sneaking out to the greenhouse when you knew you were being targeted, again with that same super important to millions of people future husband in tow!"

"Maki-" Shuuichi said, reaching out to put a cooling hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away, now pacing back and forth as she continued.

"Not to mention all the stuff from when we were gone, most of it I'm hearing about second hand! Attacking Secretary Chisa over breakfast!? That must have been an interesting morning! How about getting yourself thrown from a horse for NO REASON, and then immediately trying to start a sword fight with literally three different people with a broken arm! Sound reasonable to anyone here not named Momota!? No!?"

Maki glared hotly at the other two men in the room, not waiting to listen to any objections as she shouted, "Oh, right, and let's not forget, completely failing to watch out for yourself on your wedding day, one of the biggest political events in our history, where NO SHIT someone might try to slip poison to you! You couldn't have been just a TAD CAUTIOUS!? You got yourself and Kokichi SERIOUSLY HURT, KAITO!"

Maki stood in the center of the room, her fists clenched at her side, her whole body shaking, all of that just...spilling out in a rush as Kaito just stared at her, shocked.

Finally, he managed to say. "...s...sorry..."

"Don't be sorry! Be careful! I'm sorry! I don't know!?" Maki said, clearly frustrated as she pulled both her pig-tails, biting her bottom lip.

Maybe it wasn't his fault directly, but he certainly hadn't helped anything. In...pretty much all of the cases, actually.

When they'd met at the market, neither of them had known who the other was, but that was the issue. They'd both known how much was at risk at that time, and still they'd snuck out of their respective homes in disguise and fucked around pretending to be people they weren't. When Kokichi had gone to check out the greenhouse...it hadn't occurred to him that any of the kids would be awake, let alone would be able to sneak away from their clearly also asleep caretakers. He also could've just...said no when Kaito asked to tag along.

At breakfast...he'd been the one to insist they go downstairs instead of just having food brought up to them. All for some dumb reason like wanting to be able to move around on his own, proving everyone wrong about how often he needed to be kept in bed. And when Kaito went to go look for Maki and the rest, god knew Kokichi had blamed himself for that. He should've protested more, he knew that.

And then for the wedding... Kokichi visibly flinched and curled into himself. He hadn't been thinking at all. Even if he'd never had a reason to doubt anyone offering him food before...but they'd just dealt with a poisoning, and he knew by then how awful the secretaries were.

There was something to say about Kaito's own agency in all this, but...Kokichi was supposed to look out for him, and he'd failed at every step. What a shitty husband he was...

And a shitty...maybe friend? Husband of a friend, at least. Maki and Shuuichi had been worried sick over everything, and now, all that coming to a head? He had no idea what to do to...reassure Maki. Comfort her. Because she was right--he barely knew any of them.

"...some of that stuff Kai-chan only did because of me, but...Maki-chan's right. We haven't been careful at all." Words came out of him anyway, and he glanced to Kaito with something remorseful in his gaze. "What should we do, then? Promises for the future only mean as much as how you act on them."

"...I could probably ask someone to buy a pill minder. That might make it easier to keep track of your doses," he offered up, wanting so badly to do something, to make up for all the mistakes he'd made.

"Oh?" she said, her pitch lower, the fury in her swirling. "You haven't been careful? Really? You think you have to tell me that? Every Momota in this room is an idiot, and that includes you! DON'T THINK I'M NOT ALSO PISSED AT YOU, KOKICHI MOMOTA OUMA!"

Maki turned on Kokichi, fire in her eyes, that same burning, murderous fury born from keeping herself up at night worrying about Kaito, now also worried about Kokichi.

She just...didn't know how to express it to the Dicean Prince in any kind of healthy way.

She had sworn herself to him, for a damn good reason too! Kokichi had been raped and almost died on his wedding night, but had still found time to send Maki and Shuuichi help that they had desperately needed, had spared Maki a terrible choice regarding her closest friend in the world, between killing him quickly or killing him slowly. She was endlessly thankful for that, and angry at him for not taking care of himself better, and didn't know how to tell any of that to this still relative stranger. What could she say to him that would make him understand that she just wanted them to both be fucking okay!?? For, like, ONE DAY!??

Her frustration only grew the more difficulty she had expressing herself, the more red filled in the edge of her vision, as she clenched her fist, taking a step towards Kokichi, "He doesn't need a pill minder, because his schedule is easy. He just needs to stop being stupid and stubborn about it! You both need to stop that!" she said, vision going red as she reached out to Kokichi, grabbing him by his wrist, her grip tight as she was determined to shake some sense into him.

"Kokichi, I didn't read it, but your medical jacket’s as thick as a textbook! Me and Shuuichi are sworn to you, we are here for your protection, we are on your side, and you're keeping HEALTH SECRETS FROM US!? We've been alone with you PLENTY of times since we got here! Were you ever going to tell us how we're supposed to help you if something goes wrong, or were you hoping to get some final kick out of watching us stare at you stupidly while you die on the floor somewhere, with NO IDEA what was going on!?”

Her vision was almost completely red, Maki absolutely having overexcited herself by this point, radiating a violent, murderous energy...before her arm was suddenly grabbed, a surprisingly strong grip forcibly pulling her away from him, and, blind in fury, she turned, using her free hand to grab the neck of the assailant, squeezing hard...

"-ha...hrrrk-"

Before her vision cleared up and she recognized Kaito, struggling to breathe in her grasp.

She let go, guilt and anger swirling like a storm inside her, but Kaito just used the opportunity to put his arm around her back and draw her into his chest, holding her as he caught his breath. He kissed her on her head and gripped her tight, his voice slightly rasping with every breath.

Maki's face reddened, furious and embarrassed...before she hugged him back, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know," he replied, his tone light, if his voice still struggling. "Me too. Wow...that was a lot building up, huh? I guess, what, two weeks worth of anger? That was almost worse than our first night here. I'm sorry we worried you so much," Kaito said, chuckling as he rubbed her back...before saying seriously, "But...you can't fight Kokichi, okay?"

"I wasn't going to!" Maki insisted, gripping the back of his shirt in her hands...before admitting, "I didn't mean to."

"Hey, I know. I get it. It's fine when it's with me. That's how we talk...but, we don't touch Kokichi like that," Kaito said, not using The King's Voice, but...stern, still. "Even if we're angry. Kokichi's like Shuuichi. We're just not doing that, alright? Hey, come on now, calm down, everything's fine right now. I'm safe, Shuuichi's safe, Kokichi's safe. Everyone's safe, you've got us...'

"I just had to make you throw up. Every time I look away something else happens to you."

"Yep, but you got to me just in time, like you always do, and now I'm safe."

"That bitch hurt Kokichi and I wasn't here to-"

"-not even kind of your fault, no one blames yo-"

"-ave a duty t-"

"-ou’re doing it, we're sa-"

As Maki continued to argue with him, each point less heated than the last one, Kaito continued to whisper small comforts to her, yes, yes, I know, but here's why it's better now, kissing her on the head every few sentences and rubbing her back as Maki slowly stopped vibrating her murderous energy before she stopped arguing at all, just listening to him for awhile. Shuuichi went over to check on Kokichi.

"Sorry about that. She didn't mean it," Shuuichi said, sounding tired, forgetting himself for a moment as he reached out to put a comforting hand on Kokichi's shoulder, giving him a shy smile. He chuckled quietly, "The secrets out, I guess. We're all a little crazy. Are you alright?"

Kokichi shut up in the face of Maki's rage, maybe a little intimidated, but mostly because...she cared. And trying to argue that was just cruel.

But that didn't mean that the sudden grip around his wrist didn't hurt. He winced, practically feeling her grinding his bones together in her unforgiving hold. He wouldn't dismiss her worry, wouldn't try to invalidate her concerns, but making a new one would be bad for everyone involved. He didn't need to add to the list of broken bones they had to deal with right now.

"M-maki-chan, let go," he said, voice more strained than he'd like. It hurt, and any more pressure and-- Her grip was suddenly removed and a breath involuntarily left him, instinctively holding his wrist to his chest. But he nearly tossed himself back at her when she whipped around to put Kaito in a chokehold.

...but it was fine. They were fine. They'd made a lot of mistakes, but they were okay and would have the chance to make up for those mistakes.

Kokichi let out a few surprised, heavy breaths as Shuuichi came over to him, managing to smile back at the detective after a moment. "She meant to get her feelings across, not to hurt me--even I can understand that."

Gently, he lowered his wrist from his chest, frowning as it was already red and starting to bruise. He flexed each finger, then his hand as a whole, and while it hurt, it wasn't excruciating, so she likely hadn't actually broken anything.

"I'm okay," he decided, before shamefully pouting up at Shuuichi. "...I know you already knew, but I wasn't hiding my health stuff on purpose. Everyone already knows and I hate talking about it so... It never came up, so I never said anything."

Shuuichi shrugged, watching Kokichi carefully test his hand, and when it seemed like he still had full mobility, he sighed, mostly relieved.

"Yeah, of course you weren't hiding it. You've grown up in a place where everyone seems to know everything about you," Shuuichi said, wondering if maybe some sort of binding might be a good idea to put around Kokichi's wrist...or at least maybe some ice..."But the three of us aren't, ya know...part of 'everyone' here. We're still working things out. I knew because of the scrub of your records, and I'm guessing you've told Kaito about it, since he's not demanding to know what's going on, but Maki was probably feeling a little left in the dark right now, and that tends to worry her. But that's not your fault."

Shuuichi glanced over at Kaito, who was still holding onto Maki, now whispering quiet platitudes...but Shuuichi could see Kaito looking down at Kokichi over her head, his face concerned as he looked at the bruise on his husband’s wrist, before glancing over at Shuuichi, eyes pleading. Shuuichi just smiled at him, a flutter in his stomach at Kaito's distress, before sighing, putting a hand on Kokichi's back to guide him up. "Hey, let's go run that under some cold water while they put themselves back together."

It hadn't been intentional at all...but maybe there was a subconscious part of him that didn't want to bring it up because...he was worried about the Luminaries turning out like everyone else. That they'd dismiss him, because he was the antithesis of the sort of strength Luminary seemed to value so much. Or, worse, that they'd pity him and treat him like he was made of glass.

But Kaito had reassured him over and over that he didn't think that way, and if Shuuichi had known from the beginning and still treated him kindly... He'd tell Maki after they'd all calmed down. At least just what to look out for and what to do.

Sighing lightly, Kokichi nodded and got up off the bed, holding his wrist close to himself just to not jostle it. While he turned on the sink in the bathroom and held his wrist under the water, Kokichi nodded to the space under the sink, shuffling to the side so he wouldn't be in front of it. "There's, like, bandages and stuff in there. Would you mind getting some out?"

Sighing again, though more annoyed this time, Kokichi rolled his eyes. "People are gonna freak no matter what, but if I leave what's under the bandages a mystery that'll give me more leeway to convince people it's nothing. Good thing I'm not planning on going out again... There are already enough rumors going around about how I'm not safe around Kai-chan, and I really don't need to add to them."

"There are?" Shuuichi asked, going to collect the bandages accommodatingly, just...really surprised by that. Shaking his head, Shuuichi pulled out the bandages, placing them and the small scissors that had already been dug into them on the counter, putting down the toilet seat and motioning for Kokichi to sit down.

"That's so strange, but I guess it can't be helped. Back home, Kaito was known as the one royal family member you could trust. Even Kaede, for all of her goodness..." Shuuichi sighed, an old memory tugging at his heart strings, stretching out a strip of bandage, turning it gently but firmly over Kokichi's wrist, one wrap, two, three, four. "...everyone knew she could be manipulative. For people’s benefit, usually, but it was still hard to trust her once you knew that about her. But Kaito...oh well. We knew going into this his reputation would be an uphill battle. There's still time to turn it around."

Grabbing the scissors, Shuuichi cut the bandage, sticking the end tightly, looking over his work before closing his eyes. "Atua loves you," he said to the wound... before remembering who he was bandaging, giving Kokichi a sheepish grin. "Uh...sorry. Force of habit. I'm not actually all that religious myself, but that's something Kaito got me doing."

Letting go of Kokichi's arm, Shuuichi leaned back to observe his handiwork. "Good? If it's too tight, let me know, we can re-wrap it." Shuuichi frowned at something Kokichi said, pulling the thread as he said, "People will freak?"

Gently patting himself dry, Kokichi turned off the tap and sat down, holding his arm out for Shuuichi to bandage. "Mm, I can believe that. People only think that way here because, first of all, he's Luminous. I'm sure you know the reputation your country has here. But because he was a second away from killing Chisa, a-and...what happened on our...you know..."

He swallowed and looked away, uncomfortable. Maybe one day he'd be able to talk about it clearly, but that day was still far off. "...they've just seen him really pissed, you know? There's even a rumor he yelled at my dad this morning. Once people start to get to know him, they'll die down. Kai-chan's too much of a sweetheart for people to begrudge him for too long."

Kokichi snorted softly at the blessing, something of a smile returning to his face as he tested the wrappings. Just perfect. "No worries, and the bandages feel perfect! Shuu-chan really knows his stuff!" He did say he had a good bit of medical knowledge.

...maybe enough to count as the healer for their trip? Knowing Aiichi...probably not.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Kokichi stuck his tongue out with distaste. "Any time I get hurt at all everyone freaks the fuck out and acts like I'm dying. It's the worst with cuts and scrapes, even small ones that, even for me, don't bleed that much. When I broke my arm as a kid people were practically writing my eulogy. It's ridiculous."

"I know enough to not need to consult a healer every time I'm investigating a body, anyway," Shuuichi said modestly, a small shrug on his shoulders and a pleased smile on his face as he put away the tools now that they were done with them.

It was probably actually a serious topic...but the way Kokichi said it made Shuuichi laugh. "What, really? That kinda sucks. Well, hopefully they were at least 'nice' eulogies. It'd be a shame if everyone was waiting around to finally tell each other how much of a brat you were," Shuuichi teased lightly, offering a hand out to help Kokichi up, more out of learned politeness than any real concern. "How did you break your arm?" he asked, leading them back out of the bathroom.

Outside, Maki and Kaito weren't hugging anymore, Maki looking considerably more calm, if still embarrassed, Kaito in the middle of laughing at what was no doubt a joke he had made himself. The two looked over to the approaching detective and prince, Maki whispering something to Kaito and Kaito just giving her a reassuring smile as he whispered back.

"Maki has something to say, Kokichi," Kaito said, the tone entirely leading, Maki just pouting at him for a moment before, sighing, bowing her head to Kokichi.

"I'm sorry. I should have just told you I was worried about you when I started worrying. I didn't mean to lash out," she said, not upset that she had to say it, but more just uncomfortable saying it so directly.

"Pff, I think I'd prefer it if everyone just roasted the hell out of me; that's how I'd know they were actually nice ones." Kokichi laughed a bit, grinning at the light jape. He liked to joke and banter, so he was thrilled when people joined in! And a lot of the castle staff did! It was just when they looked at him as if he was a helpless child that drove the divide between them. And...that, you know, they were employed by his father.

Shaking his head, Kokichi gestured lightly along with the quick story, careful not to move his injured hand too much. "I was sliding down the stair railings and didn't catch myself at the bottom. I didn't know how to fall correctly then, so I held my arm out as I basically face-planted myself and landed on it. No one trusted me to go downstairs by myself for months."

It had been annoying as hell, but he didn't sound too put out of it now. It had been a long time ago, even if the restrictions on him hadn't loosened any. ...until very recently, maybe.

It was sobering enough though, that when Maki apologized to him, his kind smile didn't have any residual mirth that would make it seem insincere. "Apology accepted! Maki-chan had a lot of good reasons to be worried and we're still new to each other. I just have damn bird bones so it hurts me a little more when she physically tries to get her point across."

"And...I should tell you everything so you don't have to be as worried when I get sick." His smile was a little sadder, but she deserved to know. Going back to sit on the bed, Kokichi looked at the medical jacket for a moment before taking a breath. "I have issues with my blood, and that causes even more issues with my lungs and heart. If I get a cut, I'll keep bleeding way longer than other people, and it makes me feel sick to the point I pass out. I'm anemic and have low blood pressure, and, apparently, I'm malnourished, so even just getting stressed out, sometimes I'll faint anyway. And when that happens, I have trouble breathing and sometimes my heart will stop or I'll stop breathing altogether."

"I usually just have to stay in bed for a few days and take special medicine, like you saw that one time you and Shuu-chan came to visit me after the night at the greenhouse." He paused, looking up for a moment before glancing between Kaito and Shuuichi. "That's all the major stuff, right?"

Kaito shrugged good naturedly. "Sounds about right to me. Oh, and it's not just him bleeding that makes him pass out, but I think seeing someone else bleeding a lot also makes you pretty queasy, right? It's why we did the bonding ceremony mostly separately."

Maki raised an eyebrow, leaning against the edge of the vanity desk. "You did your bonding ceremony away from each other?"

"Only parts of it," Kaito said, grinning at her reassuringly.

Shuuichi frowned, his lips tightening together as he said, "Um...when you asked if that was all the major stuff...did you mean-"

Kaito sighed, reaching over to pinch Shuuichi ever so slightly on his ear. "Would you get out of your own head? You know that wasn't an order. What's got you so sensitive to it all the sudden?"

Shuuichi shrugged, the tension somewhat leaving his face. "New person, I think? It'll get better."

"Of course it will!" Kaito said with a wide grin, smacking his friend companionably on the shoulder. "You and 'Kichi just gotta shake those cobwebs out for awhile, and you'll be good to go!"

"So," Maki said, closing her eyes as she considered this new information carefully, "What are things we should specifically be looking out for? For instance, if you faint, or look like you may faint, what do you expect us to do?"

Kokichi murmured an 'oh, yeah,' to Kaito's add-on, nodding. Again, it often wasn't an issue, so he hadn't really thought about it. But, with how often Kaito got injured, it had turned into an issue--hopefully that would become less frequent in the future. For both their sakes.

That same pained expression went across his face as Shuuichi seemed uncomfortable, though Kaito nipped it in the bud. Still...Kokichi sighed lightly. No questions that seemed like they were like an order...or just specifying that Shuuichi didn't have to answer if he didn't want to? He'd ask more about it later. When they weren't, yanno, already in the middle of a different conversation.

"Well," he drew out, swinging his legs a little from the bed. "Some of the staff here carry smelling salts, which usually help if I'm not bleeding. For fainting specifically, maybe try not to let me hit the ground? Then find someplace I can lie down and ask someone from the med wing to make up some of my medicine."

He tilted his head to the side, looking into middle distance as he thought. "When I have trouble breathing, I usually just need to chill for a bit, and that tends to fix it. And when I get nosebleeds, I just need to try to stop it within twenty minutes--otherwise, it's considered blood loss and hemorrhaging." He frowned a bit. When the nosebleeds persisted...it got really scary. "At that point, I'm just put on bed rest again, but it's not too different from other causes. If blood gets to my brain or in my stomach, it can be really bad though..."

"Keep bleeding to a minimum, catch you if you fall, smelling salts," Maki said, nodding. "I can get us some of those. Then a place to rest and medicine from the med-wing. Doesn't sound too complicated."

Shuuichi frowned at the last statement, Maki just still looked like she was trying to memorize all the information given to her, but Kaito...Kaito now looked uncomfortable, squeezing his fists against his chest slightly, trying to pop his joints one handed as he looked at the ground, his conversation from this morning, while a little hazy now, coming back to him.

"Um..." Kaito said, brow furrowed. "What if...we see you bleeding...but you don't want help?" Kaito asked, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the idea, but at the same time also super conflicted with his frustration with everything had happened so far. "I mean...would it be bad for us to just leave you to it?"

"Huh?" Kokichi just blinked at that hypothetical, unsure what a situation like that would even look like...until he remembered the other day. He sighed, expression going contemplative for a long, quiet moment.

"...if it's something small, I don't need anyone fussing over me. Like, if I'm not near any first aid kit or anything, I'd still accept a bandage or cloth or whatever, but...I can handle something like...tripping and getting a scrape, or cutting myself on something small."

"Most of the things that would leave me bedridden, though... I hate it, but I can't handle that stuff on my own. Sometimes it scares me and I make bad decisions. And...I've made a lot of bad decisions in the past." He looked off to the side, feeling small and guilty and shameful. Crossing his arms over his lap, Kokichi continued. "That's why Aiichi tells people that, if it looks like I'm going to hurt myself, or let myself be hurt, they should make me comply, even if that means knocking me out."

He was quiet for another moment before curling in on himself a little more. "I wasn't... What was in my file really hurt, and I wasn't thinking right. I didn't even register I had a nosebleed until I remembered what Lake-chan and Denji-chan did after...way after. I just didn't want to be around anyone, didn't want to give them any more..."

Any more reason to think he was helpless, or actually detrimental to himself. He knew he was going to freak out, and he didn't want anyone to see. So he'd lashed out on people who had only his health in mind.

"It makes me feel...useless when I get knocked out. But them trying to stop the blood flow? That was right of them. So..." He took a deep breath, shyly, warily looking back up at Kaito, Maki, and Shuuichi. "If it comes to something life-threatening, like a gash or a bad nosebleed, and I'm not doing anything to stop it? Even if I don't want help...you should. You've all placed so much faith in me, and I appreciate it more than you'd ever understand, but I'm one person. I can't make every decision by myself, especially when I really know so little about the world. So, even if I say no...please save my life."

Kaito shoulders hunched up, clearly conflicted by this answer...but nodded reluctantly. "Sure, okay..." Before clenching his fist, stomping his foot on the ground as he suddenly bellowed out, looking determinedly at Kokichi. "But it's never going to come to that! There's always going to be a better option than hurting you! I'm sure of it!"

Maki raised an eyebrow at Kaito, not sure where all this conflict in him was stemming from, but just shrugged, rolling her eyes slightly as she just sighed. "I can promise to at least never hurt you on purpose anyway. I guess next time I want to give you a friendly stab in the thigh, Prince Kokichi, I'll simply take it out on your husband instead."

"W-what!? Hey, now come on-!"

"What, you'd rather not stand up for his honor-"

"That's NOT what I said Maki-Roll, but you can't just say th-"

Shuuichi nodded. "While I appreciate the faith you're showing in us in making that sort of request, I'm actually in agreement with Kaito. I can't imagine a scenario where...'knocking you out'?" Shuuichi said, his tone questioning, making sure he was understanding the specific solution being offered, "Is the most helpful option available. If it's just a matter of getting you from one place to another, you're pretty small. I bet even I could move you if I had to."

Interrupted from their fight by the comment, Kaito said, "Oh, oh, I'd make that bet! Kokichi could totally fight you off, Shuuichi! You'd have to actually catch him first, you see, and trust me, 'Kichi is fast!"

Maki shook her head. "No way. Shuuichi always looks so nervous that it's almost impossible to tell when he's actually planning to make any moves. Shuuichi would have Kokichi in the air before the prince could even guess he was aiming for him."

"Guys..." Shuuichi said, glancing over at Kokichi warily, recognizing the competitive look his two best friends were now glaring at each other.

"What!? Kokichi is intuitive as fuck, he would totally be able to tell! Shuuichi has tells!"

"Name one tell that you've ever seen Shuuichi has. Now take whatever dumb thing you were about to say and swallow it, because I know you don't know any of them. He literally wipes the floor with you in every game and gamble you've ever done with him because you don't know any of his tells."

"Look, I can prove it! If Shuuichi and Kokichi sparred, Kokichi would absolutely win!"

"Oh, please, he's never held a weapon!"

"I'll train him first, he just needs three training sessions, and he'll be ready!"

"You're on!"

"Hell yeah I am!"

The tension and insecurity in Kokichi melted away as Kaito and Maki drove their convictions to the sky, even drawing soft snickers from him. Things would be okay. They'd be okay. Just because everyone in the castle treated him a certain way didn't mean everyone in the world would. And as his world expanded, maybe that insecurity and expectation would go away.

As Maki and Kaito began a different argument, though, Kokichi's grin turned impish. Rolling his eyes a little, he sat straight again, the presence of the Dicean Prince back to full strength. "You two do realize something like that would only happen in the weird world where I wouldn't take the chance to be in Shuu-chan's arms, right?"

He winked at the detective before sneering at the other two. "I don't want to fight Shuu-chan, especially when the thing I'd be fighting against is a free piggyback ride wherever I wanna go. So let's just settle this now before you two make even bigger idiots of yourselves."

Holding his arms out in front of him, Kokichi leveled his gaze on Shuuichi. "Up."

Oh no, Shuuichi realized with growing horror.

There were three of them now.

"W-what?" Shuuichi said, eyes darting rapidly between the three of them. "What am I doing?"

"You're proving you can carry him around if you needed, Shuuichi." Maki informed him, a small hint of a smirk on her face. "I think he could get all the way to the first floor with him."

"Well, course he could, going downstairs isn't a challenge! Now, down and back up!? That's a challenge worthy of one of my sidekicks!" Kaito said, jumping up, swaying slightly at the sudden movement. "Whoa."

"It's a challenge for Suhuichi, not you, idiot. Move slower!" Maki growled to the Prince-Consort, before turning to Shuuichi. "Like he said, up already, I have a bet to win."

"Oh my god," Shuuichi muttered, standing up, looking over at Kokichi with new, appraising eyes. He didn't seem heavy...but all the way down and up the stairs?? "You aren't even betting anything."

"Mmmmm, Kokichi!" Kaito said, looking over at his husband, "What should I bet?"

Kokichi's grin was absolutely shit-eating, not even trying to play innocent. He'd have to be better about respecting Shuuichi's boundaries, but that didn't mean he had a free pass against tomfoolery. No one had that.

He waved his arms a little, a whine in the back of his throat as Shuuichi still wasn't picking him up, but somehow his grin got even shittier when Kaito asked him what to bet.

"Complaints."

"Until a healer clears you for bein' concussionless, every...let's say half-staircase Shuu-chan makes it with me is another day that Kai-chan can't complain about taking it easy, and can't go off gallivanting by himself." Kokichi's smile truly looked devilish as he grinned at his husband. "If you're sure you can heal quickly, by all means, root for Shuu-chan to not be able to pick up little ol' me. But if you have faith in Shuu-chan, then that means you have to take care of yourself and not drive everyone crazy while you do."

"Or is that too steep a bet for my dear Kai-chan?"

"What?" Kaito said, frowning, "Hey, come on now-"

"I'll take that bet," Maki said, a full on smirk on her face now. "For my side of it, if you win, and he only makes it downstairs, I won't stab you the next time I'm mad at you."

"What, why is everyone picking on me!?" Kaito said, sputtering, before continuing on hotly, "And of course I believe in Shuuichi! My sidekick can absolutely get him back upstairs if he really tries! Right Shuuichi!?" Kaito demanded.

Shuuichi sighed, reaching down and picking up Kokichi, considering trying to just hold him in front of him, but, realizing that was going to be too much on his arms right away, sort of unceremoniously threw him over his shoulder with a grunt. "W-wait, so, you want me to win now Kaito? Doesn't that mean you'll lose the bet-"

"Don't argue with me, just win!" Kaito shouted. "He's up, he's up, it starts now! Maki, the door!"

"On it!" Maki said, running for the door and opening it up, shouting, "Go Shuuichi! Now!"

Overwhelmed by the sudden pressure on him, Shuuichi started to run, heading for the stairwell, already feeling beads of sweat on his forehead as he got to the top stairwell, keeping one arm around Kokichi's waist and using the other to grab the guard rail, moving down each step as quick as he could while above Maki and Kaito watched, cheering him on!

"Go Shuuichi, faster! What did we do all that training for if you can't pick up the pace!"

"If I stab him it's your fault Shuuichi!" Maki called down, "Save your prince!"

"What!?" Kaito shouted back at her.

"Oh my god," Shuuichi muttered, getting down the first stairwell, breathing heavy as he headed for the second.

Kokichi squeaked slightly as Shuuichi threw him over his shoulder, the bruises on his chest shooting pain through him for a moment, but...it was fine. This was fun and a little pain wouldn't change that. And it wasn't anything dangerous! His chest wasn't taking his full weight against Shuuichi, so nothing would happen!

Except fun.

Kokichi tried not to giggle too much as Shuuichi dashed for the stairs with him, not wanting to throw the taller boy off balance any more than just carrying him did. But he did join in on the cheers from the third-floor landing. "You got this, Shuu-chan! If you can do this, then there's no situation you can't save me from."

As they started going down to the first floor, Kokichi tried to hold on to Shuuichi, though his position didn't grant him much to brace himself with. So instead he just waved cheerily to the staff looking on in bewilderment, reassuring them that it wasn't anything actually dire going on.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this all on your shoulder. I thought Shuu-chan really was gonna give me a piggyback ride or hold me from the front while I cling onto him, but this is super impressive!" Taking a deep breath to brace his middle, he hummed a little, voice going softer so it'd be less likely for others to overhear. "Honestly, when Kai-chan told me you were all trained up an' stuff, I was kinda skeptical? But it turns out Shuu-chan really is super buff."

"Oh no," Shuuichi said, closing his eyes, cursing himself. "That would have been easier, wouldn't it have been."

Maki and Kaito's shouting was getting more distant as Shuuichi got down the second staircase, huffing loudly as he said, "Oh...okay...here's the deal. When we get to the bottom, we put you on my back. I...ha...I can maybe get back up that way!"

As he moved on to the second to last staircase, making the turn, Shuuichi almost ran headfirst into King Aiichi. He shouted, taking a few stumbling steps to the side before catching the railing again. Very quickly he bowed low, "Excuse me, your grace!" before returning to his run.

All the way back upstairs, squinting down now, Kaito asked Maki, "Wait...is that the king?"

"Mmmmm," Maki said, squinting harder. "...maybe? Why? Is that bad?"

Kaito shrugged. "Literally no idea." Then, cupping both hands, he shouted, "COME ON SHUUICHI! ALMOST HALFWAY THERE!!"

Kokichi couldn't help a few giggles at that. So smart, and still dumb. Fuck, this trio was fun. "Gotcha, gotcha. I have to say I am a little invested--as the person sharing a bed with him, it'd be nice to know Kai-chan isn't gonna, say, OD while I'm sleeping."

He was...maybe still frustrated about that.

And, wouldn't you know it, the epitome of frustration had appeared. Kokichi waved to his father with false cheeriness, breaking into a sneer and sticking his tongue out at Aiichi right before he and Shuuichi turned the corner.

For a moment the leader looked on at the two in amusement before shaking his head. Kids will be kids... Shuuichi seemed responsible enough that he'd simply put Ko down before dropping him. Though that bandage around his wrist...

Passing by the third-floor landing, Aiichi raised an eyebrow at the two enthusiastic spectators. "Do I want to know what's going on? I can't imagine Shuuichi is kidnapping Ko with how lively your cheering is."

Maki bowed to the king, and even though he knew better now, Kaito didn't want to leave her being the only one to do it, so he bowed as well. "Just settling a bet, your grace," Kaito explained, smiling nervously at him as Maki glanced over the railing.

"He's at the bottom!" Maki said, Kaito distracted from the king at this, running to the railing and looking down to confirm what she was saying. "I think they're stopping though. Come on, Shuuichi! Get back up here or I'll stab him twice!"

"Sh-she's kidding!" Kaito said, putting up both hands at the king, suddenly a bundle of nerves. "It's a joke! A-and she's talking about me, anyway!"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Maki said dismissively, glaring down at the floor. "Get back up here!"

Shuuichi caught his breath, putting Kokichi down. "Alright, on my back...h-ooof. I'm gonna die," Shuuichi muttered, leaning over to let Kokichi get onto his back.

Aiichi chuckled a bit and shook his head before heading up the next flight of stairs. "I see. Have fun and be safe, you four."

Shuuichi was already suffering enough, so Kokichi gracefully climbed onto his back rather than jumping on. He didn't want to kill the poor man. Holding onto Shuuichi's shoulders and holding onto his waist with his legs, Kokichi secured himself pretty well.

"Woooow, I'd be insulted that Shuu-chan is calling me fat if I didn't know that saying something like that so sincerely meant he's deranged. Maybe he should do more weight training with me in the future. Then we could start measuring things in reps of Kokichi." He giggled against Shuuichi's ear before pointing up the stairs. "Alright, onward! Dash all of Kai-chan's hopes and dreams while saving his faith and legs!"

Shuuichi took a couple of steadying breaths before, occasionally grabbing the railing to pull himself up slightly faster, he started to run up the stairs. Later, after some sleep, it would occur to Shuuichi that no one actually said he had to run the whole way...and he'd spend a lot of time groaning about this to himself in frustration.

The little giggle in his ear and the talk of hopes and dreams was also, frustratingly so...distracting. And Shuuichi maybe ran just a little faster as he tried very hard not to think about that.

He was up the first flight! Kaito and Maki were screaming above, their shouts getting a little louder, a little clearer with every step. Shuuichi's heart was pounding into his throat, and honestly, if Kokichi had weighed even a little more, he'd have given up by now. Hell, he wanted to give up now even...but wasn't ready to face his friends’ disappointed faces, so he kept going, huffing and puffing the whole way.

"I am...absolutely...going to collapse...the second I stop moving," Shuuichi warned Kokichi, spots at the ends of his vision as he got halfway up the second staircase, getting his second wind as he weaved around two guards, who, along with a good number of staff by this point, were openly staring at this entirely random display.

"Come on, Shuuichi, you're so close! Get up here! Come on!" Kaito shouted, his vision spinning slightly as he went, "phew."

"Shut up! Stop shouting! I'll shout!" Maki said, breathing deeply before going, "GET UP HERE SAIHARA, YOU'RE ALMOST DONE!!"

"I'll prepare for it. When Shuu-chan wins the gold and collapses after the finish line, he can lie down in our room and not move while the rest of us wait on our champion and get him all the food and water he wants." Waving to the staff watching, his smile brighter than it was most days, he laughed again. "I did ask for enough to feed four people. Other than just being weird if I'm the only person to eat anything, it'd suck for food to go to waste."

Now that the heavy stuff was out of the way, he did want the rest of those apple slices. It probably wasn't the greatest of him to still be skipping so many meals, but snacking was better than just not eating at all, surely.

And, if things kept up like this...tomorrow, yeah. Tomorrow he could face people properly again. He could even go collect breakfast for Kaito! Because, while he'd been out and about today, he'd also overdosed on painkillers, so maybe it was his father's influence in him, but Kokichi really wanted Kaito to take things easier tomorrow. And if Shuuichi made it up the stairs, he could be assured of that!!

Quieter than Maki's shouting, Kokichi personally cheered on his chariot. "You can do this, Shuu-chan; we're all so sure of the great things you can do--including carrying me up and down the castle."

Shuuichi huffed, puffed...and then laughed. "Y-yeah! I got this. Hold on, Kokichi!"

Halfway up the last staircase, weirdly excited, Shuuichi put his final burst of energy into this last bit, Maki and Kaito both waiting at the top of the stairs again. The spots at the edge of his vision widened, he felt a weird sense of vertigo, and, realizing he may legit not make the last few steps, he reached his hand out to his friends, shouting, "Maki! Kaito!"

"On it!/Got you!" they both shouted at the same time as they reached down, each grabbing his arm and catching his momentum as he felt himself start to teeter backwards, pulling him up the final three steps before Shuuichi collapsed against both of them, sending all four of them to the ground.

There was a moment of stunned silence...and then Kaito shouted, "ALRIGHT!!" Grasping onto Shuuichi and Kokichi and laughing loudly, pride radiating from him as he shouted, "YOU DID IT!"

"Course he did it!" Maki said, sitting up, smirking, a pleased red flush on her face from the excitement. "He had your bad luck on his side! You always lose our bets!"

"Whatever, whatever, good job Shuuichi! You alright, Kokichi?" Kaito said, grabbing Kokichi's waist and pulling him off his friends onto his own lap.

"Is he alright? Kokichi's fine. I need funeral arrangements," Shuuichi muttered, groaning as, free of the prince, he flopped onto his back, catching his breath and blinking the dots away.

It was a frightening moment when Kokichi felt Shuuichi's balance start to shift backward. If the detective fell forward, all he needed to do was let his legs dangle until he felt the ground. Maybe he'd even be able to keep Shuuichi from going down if he held onto his shoulders.

Falling backward? If Kokichi tried to catch himself, he'd only be shifting his weight even more behind them, simply assuring that they'd fall rather than making it a moment of possibility.

Thankfully, though, they weren't the only two factors in this free body diagram. Giggling delightedly, Kokichi held onto Shuuichi carefully, trying not to splay any limbs that would hurt anyone as they all went down.

"There we have it ladies and gentlemen--our grand winner, Shuuichi Saihara, setting a new world record in the sport of Prince Hefting! As promised, he will receive his grand prize of lounging in our room until the shadow of death leaves him; as well as a happy-to-heal Kai-chan for a full eight days!"

Kokichi happily snuggled in his husband's lap, sitting up to place a kiss on his cheek before snickering at the spent detective on the floor. "I'm fine, I'm fine; Shuu-chan is a perfectly gentlemanly mode of transportation. But let's get him fueled up from all that energy he used running around."

Along with their own cheering, there had been some claps and a few whoops from the stunned staff that had stopped to watch, excited for the conclusion before they went on with their days.

"Eight days?" Kaito said, having completely forgotten the terms of the bet, increasingly distressed as he said, "What!? Eight!?"

"Shut up, Kaito, that was the bet. No whining or trying to break schedule, for any reason, for the next eight days," Maki said, helping Shuuichi up as he leaned against her shoulder, groaning. "Also, I get to stab you the next time I'm angry at you...after the eight days, anyway."

"How is that any different than usual, then?" Kaito muttered, kissing the top of Kokichi's head before gently pushing him off himself, using the railing to pull himself back onto his feet. "Well, fine, if it's bedrest, then Shuuichi's joining me today. He's totally lost all the color in his face anyway. Come on." Kaito sighed, placing a hand on the back of Kokichi's neck, the four making their way back into the room.

Once they got back inside, Maki unceremoniously dropped Shuuichi onto the bed, who immediately grabbed a pillow and curled around it, groaning. Kaito, grabbing an apple for himself before he did, went and plopped himself next to Shuuichi, sitting cross legged as he said between bites, "Seriously, you good man? That was a lot of steps."

"...fine," Shuuichi admitted, uncurling himself and lying on his back. "Just tired now. I'm pretty sure Kokichi gained, maybe, fifty pounds on the way back up. Sure felt like it anyway."

Maki grabbed some food for Shuuichi, placing it by him on the bed before going to sit on the window seat, dragging it back towards the bed. "That was super impressive. I didn't actually think you could do it."

"What?" Shuuichi said, sitting up and putting a pained hand on his chest. "Maki!"

Maki just shrugged as Kaito laughed, thumping Shuuichi's back again. "Hey, don't let it get you down! You did it anyway! I believed in you the whole time! And you know Kokichi did too, considering he was ready to go along for the ride the whole time!"

"Eight whole whine-less days... Ah, I'm looking forward to it," Kokichi teased, putting a hand on Kaito's lower back as they went back to their room. "Instead, Kai-chan has to be 100% totally sincere whenever he's hurting or needs something, and then I can get him stuff lickity-split!"

Kokichi quickly shot forward to rescue his bowl of apple slices from the danger of a bouncing mattress before he left the bed to the overexerted boys and pulled up his desk chair, curling up in it and munching on his snack.

"Nishishi, that's my secret power," he snickered. "I'm not actually underweight at all, I can just apply extra force when I wanna. That makes it even more impressive Shuu-chan made it all the way with me."

Even if he was small, carrying a little less than a hundred pounds down and up two floors was no small feat. Especially just on your shoulder for half of it. Kaito really hadn't been kidding when he talked about Shuuichi's training.

Kokichi nodded in affirmation, eating another slice. "I lied before, you know? I wasn't actually bracing myself at all, because I knew Shuu-chan wasn't gonna drop me. And when he sorta did, he braced my fall anyway, so it doesn't count."

"Hmmmm," Shuuichi said, yawning as he sat up, starting to eat the food Maki had brought him. "Well, I'm glad someone had faith in me, because I sure didn't. I honestly wasn't sure I was even going to get to the bottom."

"Geez, you've been training with me since middle school. When's it going to get through your thick head that you're actually kind of good at the physical stuff?" Kaito asked, poking Shuuichi in the skull in a way that would actually send himself into agony if someone tried it on him. "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can't do it if you want to."

"Sure, sure," Shuuichi said, yawning again, resting his head on Kaito's shoulder as he ate, Kaito just looking mildly surprised before grinning down at him. "Oh, we ran into King Aiichi halfway down. And, I mean, almost literally ran into him. So that was kind of embarrassing."

"Yeah, we saw. He came up and talked to us a bit during the run. Just wanted to know what was going on, but didn't seem too worried about it," Kaito said, looking over at Kokichi as he said it, gauging his reaction.

"We should have timed it," Maki realized, looking annoyed with herself. "I mean, obviously I can beat Shuuichi's score, but I'd like to know by how much I'd be destroying it if I did it."

"Of course you'd make it to the bottom! Even if you fell you'd keep rolling!" Kokichi chirped the morbid fact before rolling his eyes a little. "God. If it was just me running around you can bet he'd pick me up and throw me back in here. I don't know if he just likes you guys or he's finally mellowing out or what, but honestly Aiichi can be the one stuck in his office for once. Since he's letting me out, I'm never letting him tighten the restrictions ever again."

Even if reasonable arguments had never worked on his father before, Kokichi would fight with everything he had to hold on to the freedom he was finally being given. He could go out in town, and the trip would be amazing, and...and he would just be able to live. It'd be fine, and he wouldn't let his father take that away from him.

Humming a bit, Kokichi considered Maki's point before smirking. "Let's just consider this a trial, then. Making sure that all of our contestants can actually complete the course. While Kai-chan's gotta rest up before he can set his time, you guys can still get yours in, and Shuu-chan can actually prepare for next time."

"We can set up a scoreboard and everything! Prolly gotta think up better prizes though..." His head started to tilt in his thinking way, eyes going distant as he considered this new game.

"What? I have to do it again!?" Shuuichi gasped, burying his face into his cap as he pressed into Kaito's side. "Kaito, give me your broken arm and concussion. I'll be sick and you can go run up and down stairs."

"Deal!" Kaito said, snickering before shaking his head slightly. "Nah, you don't mean that. The broken arm's just annoying, but man, I do not recommend concussions, you guys. You think you're fine, then you do a little physical activity, and BAM! You're down again. It's the, um..." Kaito tried to think, "Yandere? Tsundere of injuries? One of those. All, no, no, I'm not here, right up until you stop paying attention to it and it gets all whiny?"

"We have got to burn all those trash novels you read," Maki said, dead serious, as she bit into a sandwich. "It bothers me so much that I'm familiar with both those words because of you."

"Unless you want a score of zerooooo~" Kokichi sang, snickering as he went back to his apples. It might just end up being a silly competition between Maki and Kaito, but he had a feeling that Shuuichi would end up goaded into it again at some point. He got the impression that there had been a lot of things that ended up that way with these three. And...being a part of that, even a little...it made him feel warm.

The same with jokes that he understood. Stretching out in his chair, Kokichi groaned and pouted at Maki. "Noooooo! Those kinds of books are so good! They're absolutely horrible to the point they're incredible! And because they're so trash you can only find them, like, secondhand--if Maki-chan burns them she'll be burning world treasures!"

"Also, Kai-chan and I first bonded over awful trash novels, it's sentimental for us. Let us have our so bad it's good moments." Grinning out of his whining, Kokichi glanced over at his bookcases consideringly for a moment. "Actually...when the far-off time of you unpacking actually happens, we should see what books we have that the other doesn't. Touko Fukawa can only write so much at a time, you know, and I'm ravenous for horrible content."

Shuuichi and Maki both gave each other a look, but didn't comment. Kaito rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, yeah...I mean, I don't really have a whole lot to show you. Man, let me tell you, I really screwed myself over getting nothing but hardbacks and collection pieces for so many years. Just, nothing fit! I managed to get in a couple in my own box...um, Maki and Shuuichi were both nice enough to add a few to their boxes too. But a lot of them ended up getting binned. I think I got six in total now?"

"Seven. You forgot the one we managed to squeeze into my weapons crate."

"Oh, yeah! Thanks Maki, I totally forgot! That was the Allen in Wonderworld book, right? That's an actual, legit treasure, it would have been a total crime if they had thrown that one away."

"Isn't that book common?" Shuuichi asked, knowing that it, in fact, was. "You probably could have just gotten another one here."

"It's a classic! And I've had it since I was a kid. Thanks again, Maki."

"I had the space. Either way, it doesn't matter. We'll get them all replaced," Maki said, certain.

Shuuichi added in, feeling like maybe Kokichi needed some context, "We didn't really know what kind of living situation all three of us were going to end up in when we got here, so we were told to only bring things we needed for work and formal events. Then, Kaede asked around and convinced three of the party staff to donate a box space to us each. So, we all got one box for just personal items too...which I think Maki filled with more weapons for hers?"

"That's not true," Maki said, pouting. "I threw a few more sentimental daggers in there, but most of my box was keepsakes and mementos from the kids at the orphanage. I mean, most of it is garbage, but what am I supposed to do? Throw away all their stupid dolls and ugly drawings? It'd have broken their hearts if they had heard I didn't take it all with me."

"I got in a lot of my old journals, and some childhood toys," Shuuichi said with a shy smile. "Plus a few mementos and stuff from friends, the kids at the orphanage, some keepsakes from my old mentor. Just, ya know, sentimental stuff. It's funny what you end up wanting to keep."

Kokichi's grin slowly dimmed, something...complicated in his expression, though concern and regret were certainly in there. He...didn't have context for much. Looking at all of Kaito's boxes and suitcases, he just assumed that was a normal amount for moving all your things to a new place. And he'd talked about books and figurines before!

Seven. Kaito had been just able to bring seven books to Dicea. And one box each for personal items... Kokichi looked around his room, knew the contents of his closet. Even without a frame of reference, he could tell that a single box wouldn't be able to fit everything. Sure, he didn't read all the letters on his wall every day, or even took all the stuffed animals in his closet out more than just once a month cleaning, but...they were all special. Being forced to leave them all behind...

And it wasn't just belongings either. They'd all left people behind, friends, family both found and bound. They'd left their culture, everything they'd known. ...he felt bad for asking.

"...we really need to work on international communication..." he sighed. Weeks and weeks of preparing the rooms for the escorts coming with the prince, and they hadn't been told anything about what would happen once they were there for good.

"I know it's not the same, but please keep an eye out for anything you might need when we go into town next week." He spoke more to the ground than the Luminaries, brow furrowed somewhat. "Since it'd be sort of a moving in shopping trip, don't be conservative! Except you, Kai-chan."

He looked up, offering a soft smirk at his husband. "You're still gonna have to convince me for anything out of your budget."

Kaito chuckled sheepishly. "H-hey, come on! That's total favoritism, man! Why am I always the one getting picked on?"

"Actually, your stuff is kinda everywhere, now that we're talking about it," Maki said, raising an eyebrow at all the clothes on the ground. "We have time now. Do you wanna just...unpack it? Me and Shuuichi did our rooms our second night here. Our fearless hero should follow his sidekicks’ examples. Shuuichi, you up to helping?"

Shuuichi groaned, falling backwards for a bit...before sighing. "Yes."

As the two went to get up, Kaito also moved to get out of bed, and Maki shouted, "No! You're resting!", causing him to scoot back to where he was in alarm, body tense before he relaxed, rolling his eyes. "Just tell us where you want stuff to go. Between the three of us, we'll get it done in, like, thirty minutes."

Shuuichi started collecting the clothes, folding what made sense as he asked Kokichi which were Kaito's drawers, and grabbing hangers from the closet for the ones that didn't make sense to fold. There were eight boxes in total, and four of them were for clothes, the amount so many because those clothes were also the traveling cloaks, winter jackets and riding boots for their long journey, along with extras of all of them in case the original pairs were damaged beyond salvage. Indeed, as they took out some of the clothes, they started noticing damage and wear and tear from the trip that they had ignored while on the road, but in a castle would be unacceptable to wear.

Shuuichi took out one jacket and laughed. "You didn't just throw this away? Kaito, you burned the back off this one! I can't believe you put this back in the box!"

"It was my favorite one! I thought maybe I could repair it!" Kaito said. "Annnd then I forgot about it," he admitted.

"Dump it," Maki said, and Shuuichi threw it next to the front door. The jacket was the first item in the 'dump' pile.

Two boxes, the two large crate ones, each opened to a set of armor and a decorative sword, for the dowry and wedding respectively. "Where are these going to go?" Shuuichi asked.

"Dump?" Maki said.

"No!" Kaito said, shocked. "Those are gonna be historically important armor sets some day! The armor that the great hero Kaito Momota married the future King of Dicea and started a hundred year golden age in! They'll put it in a museum someday!"

"Can they do it now? Otherwise it's just going back into the corner," Shuuichi muttered.

Putting the now-empty bowl on his desk, Kokichi got up to help sort out Kaito's things. He paid extra attention to what were clearly supposed to be winter clothes, rolling his eyes and reaffirming that they'd need to get proper clothes for the winter if they would ever want to step outside. Thankfully, there was just enough space for all of Kaito's clothes, but it was close. Honestly, if none of his clothes had been damaged, there wouldn't have been enough space.

"Your clothes are so boooooring!" he whined to his husband as if he was any authority on fashion. If nothing else, the more muted and cohesive colors looked pretty jarring next to the rainbow vomit of Kokichi's clothes. "Maybe I will let Kai-chan get fancy clothes just so I don't fall asleep looking at him."

Quick from the teasing though, Ouma's cheeks flushed. It was technically what his role would be, even if very few people in Dicea called the leader a king, but hearing Kaito just say it like that...sheesh.

"We can leave it in the corner for now. I'll talk to someone about getting some armor stands so Kai-chan's fancy armor won't just be sitting in a box." Trying to play off the color in his cheeks, Kokichi opened up some of the other boxes. And then looked at the items inside, then over at his shelves. The shelves that were specifically above his reaching height.

With a great sigh, he started pushing a chair over to the first shelf.

Shuuichi noted what Kokichi was doing. "Hey, Kokichi, why don't you pass me the stuff in the box and I put it on the top shelf? Make a train?"

"I can organize the document box while you guys are working on the personal one," Maki said with a sigh, opening the sixth box, a sturdy, metal one full of important files, birth certificates, seals, and plaques, everything documenting and proofing everything Kaito might ever have to prove to anyone in the future, along with important schooling documents. "This stuff is going in a drawer or a shelf, Kaito?"

Kaito shrugged. "I think the drawers are all basically full, right? Just throw them on the shelf for now, I'll get a safe or something for them later."

"I'm still going to organize them. You basically just threw them all in here, Kaito. These things are important," Maki scolded.

The last two boxes to unpack, that Maki wasn't working on, was the personal box and finally...wait, what was that last box? It was another metal box, but this one with a lock on it... Kaito groaned. "Oh no...shoot, I'm an idiot. Sorry, Kokichi, that last metal box has items I was supposed to give you on our proposal day and wedding day. A necklace from my Grandmother's inheritance and a decorative dagger from my Grandfather. Neither of them really suit you, but they're meant to be added to your personal treasure collection."

Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh...sorry. Shit, I can't believe I forgot...actually, no, I can believe I forgot. I'm shocked no one else remembered I was supposed to give those to you. My crown was transported in there too, but that went back with the Luminary party...shit. Do you think the king or Byakuya are gonna care that I forgot to present the treasures?"

"I doubt it. I forgot you were supposed to bring those too. They were such a small part of the plan, and it all worked out anyway." Shuuichi pointed out, before glancing at Kokichi. "Unless you wanna divorce him over it now and re-start the war?"

Kokichi pouted for a moment but conceded, pushing the chair back away but pulling the box closer. As he started handing items over to Shuuichi, he debated saying anything...and did. "If it's alright with you, Ryouhei or someone will prolly wanna make copies of everything to keep with the rest of our records. All of your citizenship papers, our marriage certificate, and a copy of the treaty is already there, so you're all already documented, but still."

It was probably a good idea, just because he was from a foreign country, to keep the original documents in a safe, but...someone would probably ask about his papers sooner or later.

Though, Kaito mentioned something else that probably meant something different in Luminary. He blinked, before giggling awkwardly at Shuuichi. "Uh, no way. I'd be pretty happy if I never see another war, even from afar, in my life."

"But...what do you mean by personal treasure collection?" he asked, glancing between all the Luminaries. His cheeks started to color a little, but he tried to play it off. "Like, you can see the letters on the walls, a-and you've seen, uh. My stuffed animals."

He couldn't play that off. Kokichi looked to the ground in embarrassment, but after a breath he got his words going again. "But...I have a feeling that's not what you're talking about, with family heirlooms and all that..."

All three of the Luminaries looked at Kokichi in open surprise.

"...stuffed animals?..." Maki raised an eyebrow.

Kaito chuckled...until he realized Kokichi wasn't making a joke and hyper-corrected. "A very fine personal treasure stash! Very...personal!"

Maki rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Kaito, could you stop being like that for...five seconds? Just to give me a break?"

"Like what?"

Maki waved vaguely at...all of him. As Kaito gave her an offended gasp, Maki turned back to Kokichi. "A royal treasure is...ugh, you know what. Tell 'em Shuuichi."

Without thinking about it, Shuuichi immediately started. "A royal treasure, as far as I understand it from a Luminary perspective, is an accumulation of precious items the royal family keeps and passes on to the next generation. While its actual properties can be anything from jewelry to art to war bonds and properties even, it's all categorized under 'treasure'." Shuuichi paused, surprised, before looking sternly at Maki. "Maki..."

"It's payback for the day you reminded me I have to bow to royalty before leaving a room," Maki said with a small smile. "I'd find it surprising if your family didn't have something similar, as it's a way to ensure the royal family can maintain wealth and influence when the kingdom itself isn't doing well. Maybe you call yours something different?"

"Errrr, uh, I mean, it's...not important or anything," Kaito said, having way more experience than Maki at this point of just how awkward some of these cultural shock exchanges could be, and honestly not sure where this particular one, if it ended up being one, was going to scale. "Every generation of the Momota family is meant to add to the overall collection for the family. We have a fairly large collection, though… I mean, most of ours was, uh, 'inherited' from the previous regime," Kaito said, laughing awkwardly.

"I know a few other kingdoms that have the same tradition, since I've been in charge of investigating the authenticity of the gift exchanges our kingdoms have had. Though, they were all monarchies too. I guess that's possibly just a royalty tradition?" Shuuichi theorized. "And Dicea isn't a traditional monarchy, after all."

Shuuichi then laughed, "If they don't have a royal collection, I wonder where all the stuff in the dowry is going to end up going."

As the personal box was unpacked, it was revealed to be filled with exactly six, thick books, carefully packaged self painted figures, two journals, one of the journals with a lock on it, two award plaques, and a binder full of letters, awards, drawings of various levels of quality, some clearly drawn by children, others borderline professional. Shuuichi put them away as they were handed to him.

Kokichi thought for a little bit, handing up items to Shuuichi all the while. Stuff that was passed down to the leading power... "I...guess the castle itself is kind of our treasure? Like, the library and records room, and workshops... Each leader is in charge of maintaining the castle and everything in it, mostly as a preservation of Dicean history and tradition."

"And... As the government, we do have access to a greater amount of money than the average person, but that's just so we have the ability to provide relief aid. We used to directly collect taxes from all businesses, but the travel time moving money around was just inefficient, so instead each community elects a representative each year to keep track of commerce so...most communities are self-circulating, or circulating within a certain range of trade."

"All the stuff from the dowry is going back to the communities the dowry we sent to Luminary came from," he answered Shuuichi, wondering if, in other countries, dowry just...stayed with the family it was given to. "The items weren't very important, it was just that our countries had an exchange of goods, a show of goodwill. Putting money where our mouths are, so to speak, about our promises of helping each other."

Feeling a little like he was asking a stupid question, Kokichi glanced around at the others. "Why... What purpose would there be to holding onto wealth that you're not going to spread?"

Kaito rubbed the back of his neck, the answer seeming obvious to him, but... "To make sure you and yours are always taken care of?" he tried, not sure if that was a shallow answer or not. "Like...you're not expected to ever sell the necklace and dagger, right? Like, it was given to you by my family just assuming it would sit in a room somewhere until you died. But the purpose behind it is, if something happened, and you ever needed the wealth that those two treasures could offer you...you'd have it? I mean...personal wealth just equals security, comfort and influence, right? Doesn't holding onto excess wealth ensure that our family, and anyone we care about, would always have access to those things, no matter what? Isn't that...a worthy goal?" Kaito asked, embarrassed to be having this conversation in front of his friends, since he was probably going to by the end of it just tell Kokichi he was right about whatever he was trying to say... "Uh, but, I get that my perspective is biased. Maki, Shuuichi? What do you guys think?"

Shuuichi shrugged shyly, but Maki said, "I've personally been saving my allowances for a long time now, which I guess you could call a treasure, but I don't plan to not spend mine. I'm saving up for specific things. Home, family, things like that." Maki said, a small blush on her face as she admitted what Kaito and Shuuichi already knew to be her dream future was, but was new for Kokichi, "After I get those things? Sure, I guess I'd want to save up for my children's future too."

"Uh...I don't know, I'm kind of with Kokichi. Money is meant to be spent. It's better for everyone to keep it moving, right?" Shuuichi said, readjusting his cap. "I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with the amount of money Maki's managed to save, but the Luminary royal family, uh, no offense Kaito...but they've probably gained more wealth than the family could spend for the next several generations if they were just using their already saved wealth alone. And it's not like the Luminary Kingdom isn't hurting for extra funds..."

That did make sense. Life was hard to do when you were always worried about where your next meal would come from. That was why the Dicean government had instated the basic income generations ago. It was so no one had to worry about basic needs, and instead could focus on their own passions and making their communities better and better.

Oh!

Kokichi blinked widely, something of a revelation coming to him, though he kept quiet to hear Maki and Shuuichi put their own thoughts in. Saving money wasn't a foreign concept at all. He'd managed to save a decent amount himself, though it was more because he simply didn't have much to spend it on, rather than saving up for anything. Though, with being allowed to go into town freely...he might start spending more. Or saving it for their trip. But, like Maki, he was planning on spending it eventually.

But keeping money moving was the basis for how an economy worked, or at least how he'd been taught. If one person kept a lot of wealth and never spent it, ever, then that just meant there was less money in the ecosystem, and more people would have more trouble affording things they needed.

Also, keeping wealth in items? An object was only worth as much as someone was willing to pay. If, like, the apocalypse happened, at least the dagger had some utility.

"Mm. I think the difference in my perspective is that all of Dicea is 'me and mine'? So...I want to take care of everyone. If everyone is always taken care of, then there's no reason to worry about struggling, right?" He looked to the others for their reactions. It made sense to him, but maybe not in general. "If a community is strong, that means every person in it is."

His lips tightened a little, deciding if he wanted to say anything...and this time he didn't. This wasn't some policy meeting, so there was no reason to bring it up. No reason to needlessly embarrass Kaito, or any sort of national pride Shuuichi and Maki had. If Luminary, as a country, was hurting for extra funds, if the royal family was holding on to, honestly, an amount of wealth Kokichi had trouble conceptualizing, then... He had wanted to ask how they took care of the people who were struggling. And, remembering what Kaito said about the indentured citizen program and then what Shuuichi had just said...the answer was they didn't.

"Right...that makes sense," Kaito said, trying to pop his good hand’s joints on his knee now, not quite looking anyone in the eye. "Um...I mean...so long as everyone really was in it together...which, I mean, Dicea works! So I guess in practice, it does work. There's no arguing around it. If it works, it works," Kaito said, shrugging a bit as he continued. "I guess, I'd just be worried, that if we tried that in Luminary, like, if me and mine really invested in the idea of such a large community of people working together...that some other family would just...do what my family actually did?...but to us, you know? And then the people I cared about would be left behind while some other family took our place," Kaito said, feeling ashamed that his worst case scenario was just...a version of his family, but as enemies to the people he actually cared about.

...which...wasn't everyone...

Oh, sure, in theory, it was. Kaito liked the idea of everyone doing well as a concept. But in a time of crisis, he...he did have favorites...

Kaito looked at the metal box full of the two 'treasures' that he hadn't thought much about, back when he had just believed that the Ouma Family already had a surplus of such kinds of items...but now suddenly felt more important, with this new information in mind.

Feeling like an asshole, he said to Kokichi, "Well, if there's not a treasury the Ouma Family already keeps...do we have to feed them into the community if it's just those two things? Could we keep just these two heirlooms then?" He asked him, smiling nervously, "For our kids, I mean? I mean, just something they could have? If they don't ever end up needing them, they could feed it into the economy themselves, right?"

Maki read Kaito's face, his clear embarrassment at asking this, and deciding maybe this had turned into a private conversation said, "Hey, we're basically done with the food right? This room is so close to clean now, it'd bother me to leave all these dishes behind. Shuuichi, give me a hand?"

"Sure, Maki," Shuuichi said, surprised at her sudden desire to depart, though he supposed it was getting late. "We'll come check in on you both tomorrow, alright?" Shuuichi said, smiling, helping Maki collect the dishes, each saying goodnight to them, which Kaito reflected back, as they left.

And, despite keeping his last question to himself, he'd embarrassed Kaito anyway. Great. Luminary...well. It did sound horrible. For Kaito's sake, for the sake of their countries' cooperation, he'd tried to keep optimistic and to be understanding. But he just...didn't get it. How a place so cruel could exist. Especially when such good people lived there.

Kokichi kept quiet, bidding Shuuichi and Maki a goodnight before going over to Kaito's side and pressing his face against his good arm. And then he straightened, offering his husband a smile. "We don't have to sell them. Sentimental items are always difficult since the memories and meaning attached to them are worth more than whatever some stranger would buy. They were passed down in your family, so we can pass them down in ours, okay?"

His smile faded a bit as he sat down next to Kaito. The last bit of cleaning could wait. Having an orderly room was just weird anyway. "I'm sorry," he murmured, pressing his head against Kaito's arm again. "I put you in a difficult spot and embarrassed you. I didn't mean to, but...I was still the person who asked those questions."

"Luminary is just so different from everything I know--and you feel the same about Dicea, right?" Kokichi peeked up, gently laying his hand just barely against Kaito's. ...he needed to be honest with Kaito. Even to save his pride and feelings, with something this big it wasn't fair to just pretend. But Kaito might not feel very...inclined to touch him, so Kokichi straightened up.

"I'm trying to understand, with every difference that makes one of us go, 'huh, wait, what?' I'm trying, and, as individuals? I can see where the love for your country comes from. But as an institution..." Kokichi looked down into his lap, expression hardening into something a little pained. "It scares me."

Kaito listened to Kokichi say they could keep the heirlooms, but entirely misinterpret why Kaito had wanted them in the first place, and Kaito honestly couldn't tell if Kokichi was just rationalizing the decision or just was...giving Kaito more credit in his motivations than he deserved. When the truth was, Kaito was just concerned at the idea of his children growing up depending on the mercy of a community that had sent half a castle staff's worth of assassins on a child that, if Kokichi was correct, was only inheriting the wealth and comforts of the castle out of King Aiichi's spite.

What if their own kids faced similar issues, and weren't so lucky? Were somehow dethroned and cast into the streets...

But he just nodded, swallowing his concerns. What did it matter why Kokichi let him keep them? At least they would stay. And even if something did happen to the Ouma Family, Kaito could still count on his own family, the Momota Family, to make certain he and his would be taken care of. Byakuya and his relationship was a little strange, to say the least, but Byakuya would never turn his back on him if he asked for help.

So, yeah. Everything was fine.

Kaito smiled at Kokichi as his husband leaned against him, his words kind. Understanding. "You don't have to be sorry, I wasn't embarrassed," Kaito lied, though in his defense, he wasn't quite conscious that it was a lie. He had felt embarrassed, but if he was asked how he felt right then, he would have had a hard time explaining it to anyone, probably just settling on...conflicted, or confused. He would need time and reflection to realize he had been embarrassed. "It's, you know, another one of those conversations we were always going to have eventually. Money is always a tough conversation, but, well, it's an important one, right?"

Then Kokichi leaned away from him, which surprised Kaito, until...

Kaito winced. He curled his hand into a fist.

There was just...the smallest spark of fury.

But this was Kokichi. Kaito could lose his temper on plenty of things, certain people, situations, systems...but not Kokichi. He had a responsibility. Plus, he also just straight up didn't want to. Every time he'd lost his temper with Kokichi in the past had led to a lot of guilt and discomfort on Kaito's part. No matter how justified he felt in the moment, he always ended up reflecting and realizing he was, ya know...just acting like an impulsive dick. The bad guy.

Kaito glared at the ground. His family wasn't evil. They weren't. Sure...there were still rebellions, four generations later, decrying how they had came to power...sure, the kingdom had been basically on a steady decline since they had taken control...s-sure, they enslaved a portion of the population and brainwashed people and Shuuichi and Maki had almost just died because of that very recently and maybe, just, personally, Kaito had spent his whole life being hurt so Byakuya could learn how to use the philosophies his kingdom ruled by against others...

They weren't evil! They were Atua's CHOSEN FAMILY!

And that's what it all came down to, for Kaito. His big conflict with what he recognized as not exactly...'good' in his family, his society, his kingdom. His true, utter belief that this was the intention of Atua, a god who loved him, who loved everyone, and had picked his family to lead because he loved his creations so much...if they were evil...then what did that mean for...

Kaito swallowed. Feeling all of that, and just...not sure how to express any of it. Afraid to even analyze it himself. His family was not evil. His kingdom was fine. Atua loved him. If one of these things weren't true, all of it stopped being true, and...and how was he supposed to...

"S-sorry..." Kaito muttered, "I don't know what to say to that."

...he supposed money would be a difficult situation if there was a real fear of having nothing. Even if Kokichi had sputtered his anger and fear about having nothing but the Ouma name...he didn't really have nothing-nothing. If he was cast out onto the street tomorrow...well, he'd probably come right back and live in the castle until he could find his own place. He'd still have his income, he might even keep working on administrative matters because it was what he'd been trained to do.

In Luminary, if you were cast out of your established life...it sounded like you were just thrown away to die.

He wanted to understand so badly. To not just write off his husband's country. A country couldn't be run off madness, could it? There was only so much people could take, and Kaito's family had ruled Luminary for four generations! Which...okay, wasn't that long in the whole scheme of things, but it could be long going forward! They had rebelled against the last leaders for a reason!

But the entire mindset of leaving so many of your people out to dry, of practically enslaving anyone who was down on their luck for even a moment...why? Why wouldn't they be taken care of?! What was so important that you would let people suffer and die?

"...you don't have to. I'm scared, but...I want to understand. And...something like that isn't going to happen overnight. So... I'll just stick to what I do understand for now." Gently, tentatively, Kokichi ran his hand down Kaito's arm.

"I like you." Placed his hand over his husband's. "I like Shuu-chan and Maki-chan." Slotted his fingers in the space between Kaito's, easy, the perfect size. "I could see the goodness in so many members of the party." Holding Kaito's hand from behind. "And I trust you. And for right now, that's all I need."

Kaito's first instinct was to pull his hand away...but he squashed it down, curling his own fingers back, just listening to Kokichi. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. All Kokichi was doing was literally just...asking questions. What, his kingdom couldn't stand up to literal basic scrutiny?

Ya know what... "I think this is just my fault," Kaito realized, running his thumb soothingly across the skin on Kokichi's hand, new understanding coming to him. "I'm just...explaining it all badly. I grew up in the Luminary system, sure, but I'm not like you. I'm not like my brother. I wasn't raised to really understand it, not to the point of influencing it," Kaito said, giving Kokichi a sheepish grin, chuckling nervously. "That's probably where most of your fear and confusion is coming from. You only have me to explain it all to you, and I'm just...doing a bad job."

Kaito's eyes cleared up, the distress, the despair, from before, leaving him as he realized the logic in this new thinking. Kaito was an idiot. Why was he trying to speak for his entire kingdom like he knew anything? All he was going to do was mislead Kokichi and make negotiations and communications more difficult between the kingdoms. He'd make things hard for both his husband and his brother.

He just needed to...shut the fuck up.

Taking Kokichi's hand, he brought it up to his lips, gently kissing the finger he knew he was bonded with Kokichi on, the act both an apology and a display of true affection. "I'm sorry. I keep trying to explain things like I know, but I really don't. And considering who you are...how important you are...it's really irresponsible of me to do that. Atua gave me to you for a reason, but it definitely wasn't to scare you," Kaito said, kissing Kokichi's hand again. "I'm sorry. I'll be better."

Kokichi's expression softened, internally deciding to...cool it on the cultural exchanges a little. At least for things that could relate to policy. Stuff like arguing what kind of food was better was fun and harmless.

"I value what you have to say, but...okay. It's not very fair to make you act as my Luminary Encyclopedia, is it?" He laughed gently, hoping to cheer Kaito up. Scooting a little closer, Kokichi placed a kiss on Kaito's shoulder, squeezing his hand. "There's a lot of time to learn, and I look forward to it."

He gave another little nuzzle to Kaito's shoulder. "Plus, well, neither of us are really doing any heavy official stuff yet, huh. I... I want to take advantage of it. To be just a young adult for a little while. To spend casual time with you and Maki-chan and Shuu-chan."

"...to go on a date with you." He blushed a little though he was excited at the prospect. If he could really leave the castle now, then...it could really happen. Sure, they could have a date in the castle, there were plenty of cool places, but it was a little different if they could be in a place where people didn't know them as much.

"It's not just Luminary I want to learn about. I want to learn more about life. About living." He pressed against Kaito, eyes shining with excitement and hope. A possibility he never thought would be open to him. And, that hopeful, protective warmth in his chest, he turned that gaze to his husband, cheek pinking but voice earnest. "About love, if you're willing."

Every word he listened to, Kaito felt himself a relax a little more, the previous conversation apparently put to bed as Kokichi's voice started to tempo out, his sweet observations coming out in a casual, pretty lilt that made it easy for Kaito to put aside his growing discomfort with having to take a serious look at himself and his culture...

The Luminary Prince grinned at the date idea. It was funny enough, considering Kokichi had grown up here his whole life and should have, in theory, known this town inside and out by this point... but Kaito wasn't actually sure if he did, based on everything he knew about Kokichi now, so he found himself wishing he could take some time to scout some places out, really take Kokichi to some interesting or romantic spots. To really make his first few dates something special. He was, after all, still technically in the middle of Mission 'Woo Kokichi'. Though, based on this conversation, his mission was going really well...

Kaito stared down at Kokichi, who kept getting a little closer, a little more pressed against him, that small kiss...all of that with that last statement...

Kaito turned bright red.

Letting go of Kokichi's hand, he grabbed the pillow Shuuichi had been lying on, and shoved it onto his face, since he couldn't do his eyepress thing effectively right then, groaning into it...before deciding 'fuck it' and tossing it aside, reaching over to put his arm around Kokichi's backside, pulling him up against him as he kissed him, soft, long kisses, each one filled with affection.

With devotion.

When he finally broke the kiss, Kaito sighed, resting his forehead against Kokichi's, enjoying listening to the small sounds of him breathing, the closeness of him, as he said, just entirely unable to keep it to himself anymore, "Of course I'm willing. I love you, Kokichi."

Kokichi giggled a bit as Kaito shoved his face in a pillow, starting to really understand what it meant for Kaito to hide his face like that. It was hilarious that he was able to fluster the older prince, but it was another thing that made Kai-chan so cute.

As was his free, open affection. The nervousness in Kokichi melted away with each second of the sweet kisses, taking it as an emphatic 'yes'. And in response, Kokichi sent back his excitement and joy.

It was maybe ironic. Kokichi had expected his life to end once he got married, bound to a jerk that would overpower him. Instead, he was finally being given the chance to really live, all with people who actually looked at him and someone who would never turn his back. He grinned, closing his eyes for a moment and enjoying being so close to his husband.

Though what Kaito said next made his eyes shoot open and his face heat back up.

...Kaito had said he fell in love quickly, had fallen in love with each of his friends. For some reason...Kokichi had just assumed that wouldn't apply to him. Kaito had seen the absolute worst of him, after all, a-and it was wonderful that he wanted to stick around anyway! Kokichi appreciated it wholeheartedly! B-but, love?

"O-oh," he stuttered quietly, lips twitching up into something of a smitten expression. "Then that certainly makes it easier.

Kaito smiled, leaning back as the top of his ears went bright red, a small flush on his face. He let Kokichi go to rub the back of his head awkwardly as he chuckled. "Sorry. I know that was probably out of nowhere...you, you don't have to say it back, or feel the same way. I know all this is super brand new and honestly even I'm a little weirded out that I feel this way already..."

Kaito laughed, shrugging, "If I didn't say it now, it was going to come up at some even more random time, trust me. I'd ask you to pass me the salt at the dining room, you'd say sure, I'd say, 'thanks, dude, I love you.' Ugh." Kaito sighed, the example not entirely true to real life incidents in his life...but honestly was close enough to some of his more baffling confessions.

"But, yeah..." Kaito said, taking Kokichi's hand into his, interlocking his fingers between Kokichi's smaller, delicate digits, "There's no pressure, okay? We have time. I just don't want my, ya know, my feelings or whatever to freak you out or anything."

Kokichi snickered a bit, imagining that he'd have a much bigger, more baffled reaction if Kaito had confessed in a way like that. His cute, sweet husband was just full of surprises. Squeezing Kaito's hand gently, he smiled up at him. "At the risk of sounding like Shuu-chan, it's really flattering that you feel that way already. I've told you, but at the most, I was expecting a loveless marriage."

His eyes flicked down for a moment before meeting Kaito's again, his blush soft on his face. "But, I think you're someone I could fall in love with. I haven't had a lot of people close to me in my life, so...emotions in that vein are kind of confusing for me? But I like you. A lot. And hearing that you love me makes me really happy."

"If nothing else...I think..." Kokichi worried his lip a little, still unsure if this would be right, even though Kaito said he loved him. "W-would it be alright if I called you my friend? If we are friends? I-I mean, you said you fell in love with your friends, but that doesn't necessarily mean every person you've fallen in love with has been a friend? S-so if that's not the case with me, um, then, then just ignore that, alright?"

He sputtered out his rambling, gradually looking away from Kaito as he worked himself up in doubt, feeling...childish and embarrassed to even bring it up.

Kaito took a second to try to follow Kokichi's logic, his first instinct being,

'Of course we're friends!'

to

'Why wouldn't all my loves also be my friends?'

to

'Oh wait, no, he has a point, yeah, I can think of some examples where they never even came close to being friends.'

And this whole series of thoughts was such a trip that Kaito spent probably too long thinking about it, realizing that the silence between his response and Kokichi's question was lasting just a beat too long...so Kaito just grinned, laughing playfully as he ruffled Kokichi's hair, enjoying watching the strands floof up at the attention. "I think you just friendzoned me, but I'm weirdly flattered by that? You've been my friend for awhile now Kokichi. I'd think it was awesome if you considered me one of yours."

Giving him a warm, if somewhat more somber grin, Kaito admitted, "Like...honestly, there were a solid couple of days there where everyone was just telling me over and over that I had to accept that you hated me...and we're so far from that now! It really feels like a miracle some days!" Kaito said, a burst of warm excitement running through him as he hugged Kokichi, "So, hell yeah, we're friends!"

Kokichi's grip on Kaito's hand tightened a bit, but this time not from affection. If Kaito wasn't saying anything, then...was he just thinking of the nicest way to shut him down? To say that it was such a weird question when they were already married. To just...laugh at how inexperienced in so much he was and--

He looked up as Kaito ruffled his hair, definitely not helping the messy tangles it'd already been in, but Kokichi didn't care. His eyes widened significantly before being crinkled from the bottom from how wide his grin was. "I didn't say you'll only be my friend, Kai-chan. You're my husband of course, and we'll see about love..."

Kokichi practically rocketed into the hug, squeezing Kaito as much as he could. His laughs were grateful, pleased, just elated to hear those words. Maybe there was some humor in how hearing that they could be friends meant more to him than a confession of love. Or maybe it was completely expected for someone who'd never been able to get close to anyone, skeptical of their intentions.

"I really like you! I-I've always wanted a friend, and I'm so happy that it's you." Kokichi turned his head a little, placing a kiss on Kaito's cheek before nuzzling his neck, hiccuping a few laughs from how happy he was.

The idea that Kokichi seemed to be seriously implying, had said similar things already in the past now, that he had literally never made a friend before this...was never not going to bother Kaito. As he accepted wholeheartedly Kokichi's affections, he still felt himself just get...frustrated. With Kokichi's lifestyle up to this point. The kind of lifestyle that leads to you asking someone after their love confession 'so...does this mean you like me too?'

The urge to fight King Aiichi came back a little...but again, it all wasn't going to matter soon. Once Kokichi did this trip, no one would be able to deny him anything. And with his freedom, Kokichi was going to make so many god damned friends. Kaito was certain of it.

Kaito just had to support him. Which was fine. Supporting others was always the easy part.

Kissing the top of Kokichi's head in response to the nuzzling, breathing in his scent, Kaito squeezed Kokichi tighter and said, "I love you. And I like you too. I'm really lucky it turned out to be you."

Loosening the hug, Kaito laughed some more, glancing out past the still mostly curtained windows. He was shocked to realize that the sun was only just now going down. What a weird, busy day...oh well. At least he didn't feel terrible. Would it be okay to take his tablets soon? It was technically on the schedule to take them once night hit...ugh, he really didn't want Maki to shove her fingers down his throat again...

"Do I really have to do eight days of bedrest?" Kaito asked, holding Kokichi comfortably against himself, running his hands through the back of his hair. "The healer said I'd only need a week's recovery, and that was five days ago...though, I guess I haven't exactly been super good about the 'resting' bit yet..."

Kaito looked down at Kokichi and grinned, a hint of wolf in the gaze. "How can I? You're such a temptation, you know that? I seriously don't understand how no one gobbled you up during your sneaking trips into town all these years. If I had seen you wandering the streets back in Luminary...and didn't immediately assume you were a teenager? I'd have been hopelessly smitten. You'd have had to beat me away with a stick."

It was maybe a horrible thing to think about, but maybe framed in the way that, for how horrible and meaningless the war was, there was at least one good thing that came out of it. Without the terms of the treaty, he and Kaito likely would never have met, or, if they did, it would've been years down the line, Kokichi mainly meeting with his older brother and maaaaybe having a conversation or two with Kaito. He'd never wish for the war to happen, but...he could privately be thankful for Kaito to have been sent to him.

His wonderful, reckless husband.

Kokichi rolled his eyes a bit, about to tell Kaito off, but the blatant flirting made him color and smirk. "That's just it, right? If they don't know who I am, people think I'm a kid. At least it's a good defense against people I don't want smitten with me." He stuck out a tongue and made a face at that, planning to just...move on from there. Tengan wasn't the first person to make him feel uncomfortable with their gaze.

"But if I'm a temptation, then you really need to work on your self-control." He booped Kaito's nose with a teasing smile before it softened. "And I need to work on saying no. Maybe when you're better it'll be fine, but we haven't fooled around a single time without it being bad for one of us. So, until you're okay, we're not doing anything, alright?"

"And it'll probably be more than the rest of the week now." The soft smile turned into a frown. "It might not take eight days, but until a healer clears you, Kai-chan has to take it easy. And while it wasn't part of the bet, please be careful with your arm. I like Kai-chan however he is, but I'd prefer a healthy, happy version."

"We do kind of have a bad pattern going on, huh?" Kaito admitted, kissing Kokichi's temple before he sighed. "Right, sorry. Don't mind me, I'm just a horn-dog. Wait...so, in a very real way, we are both in a relationship, married, 'Just Friends', annnnd also 'Friends with Benefits'...I'm not gonna lie. That's a first for me," Kaito mused.

"But okay. That's the plan. Get better, get out to town, get dating, maybe eventually start having sex that doesn't wind up with one of us in horrific pain the next day, prepare for our cross-country trip!" Kaito said, his eyes lit with a fiery determination as he laid out their goal. "Totally manageable! We got this!"

-

They were making remarkable time, really.

As the Luminary Party ended the second week on the road, the General was getting briefed by his top navigator that they were, in fact, ahead of schedule by this point, and if things kept up as they were for the next week, they'd actually make it to the border in three weeks instead of four. The General had nodded at this, dismissing his man and heading to inform the Secretaries of the good news...as much as he'd like not to.

Things had gotten...weirder. Since they had left the castle.

It had started as a gathering of just a few people every night, Head Secretary Tengan and Secretary Chisa laughing and chatting with a few curious or devoted servants around their own private campfire before everyone parted for sleep. At first, the General had thought nothing of it. In fact, as the group grew every night, their talking getting livelier, the individuals joining the conversation having more and more fun spending time with each other, some now the general's own guards, he had thought that maybe this was a good sign. That whatever confrontational stick shoved up the Head Secretary’s ass and had influenced Chisa into the shittest version of herself that the general had ever seen, had maybe just been...he didn't know? The pressures of the treaty? Temporary madness at the weight of the responsibilities on them.

Just because the general didn't like either of them (he had liked Chisa once. That time was long gone now), didn't mean he couldn't appreciate seeing stuck up elitists finally getting their heads out of the clouds and realizing that the common folk made fine companions, the Secretaries seeming to genuinely be enjoying themselves every night. Getting along.

He had been happy for them.

Then...then the group got weird.

It got bigger. The talk, while mostly festive, would randomly get quieter. The general would look over and see the staff, servants, guardsman, assistants, that one weird white haired man that the general was certain wasn't part of their staff but clung to Secretary Chisa's side like a leech, all either whispering, or even more disturbingly, leaning in to listen attentively to whatever Tengan was saying, fascinated. Intent.

And then members from that group had started to spread to other campfires...and those campfires were starting to act the same...

The General couldn't get anyone to talk about what was happening during the discussions. When he had finally ordered one of his guardsman who regularly attended to inform him beat for beat what they were discussing, the man had just blushed, and said, looking excited and ashamed, almost lewd, "Just...about stuff that makes us all f-feel good, sir..." and that was the most he could get out of him.

Juzi just wanted to get the fuck home already. This whole trip had been one weird fucking clusterfuck after another. He was just a soldier, at the end of the day; he didn't want to deal with the crazy political junkies and their weird fucking headgames.

Still, he went to the secretaries, and informed them they were making incredible time. "One more week, and we should be at the border. After that, just another few weeks til home," the General said, watching the secretaries expressions carefully...after all, there was word that things were a little tense back at the castle in regards to them. The General had already gotten several messages from both the King, Queen, and Heir-Apparent Byakuya stressing how important it was to get them back to the castle as soon as possible. Which he was doing, and while putting Head Secretary Tengan under lock and key would be highly disrespectful towards the king and not even an option for the General, he had secretly assigned guards to watch them at all times.

Those guards were now all part of the campfire groups now, of course...

"Thank you, General," the Head Secretary said, his small, pleasant smile betraying nothing, like it always did. Secretary Chisa, however, had started giggling to herself. "I'm certain we're all eager to be back. It's good to know we're making such progress. That will be all."

The General scoffed at the dismissal, but didn't argue with him, leaving their tent. Whatever. A couple more weeks, a month at most, and he was done with the whole sorry business. All the better.

As the General slept that night, three sets of hands suddenly circled around him, covering his mouth, grabbing his arms. With a shout, he was pulled out of his tent, as was everyone else in all the tents surrounding him, women screaming as they were pulled out by their hair, the few children they had brought along shouting in protest as their parents were ripped away from them. They were all dragged to a bonfire, which had been built in the night, and was now blazing.

A large group of people was already formed willingly around the bonfire, easily half the party. They were all listening to the secretaries, who were standing in a space to themselves, the bonfire silhouetting their pleased, cheery expressions. Their followers' faces were flushed. Their eyes a tad too wide. They were nervous...and excited...

"What is this!?" the General demanded as he was pulled past the crowd of other struggling party members, trapped in the arms of what earlier that day had been their neighbors. Their friends. "What the fuck Tengan!?"

"Head Secretary Tengan, General. You mustn't forget yourself," the Head Secretary tsked, before saying to the crowd. "We have a new destination, friends! A new home, a new lifestyle to pursue, that all of you have been graciously invited to! But to succeed in getting there, everyone must be willing to work as a unit. As you can see, most of you are already on board with this change in plans. They've seen the light, so to speak. For the rest of you...I'm afraid we just don't have time anymore to gradually bring you into the fold. So, as they say, it's simply time for a trial by fire."

The flames roared.

"Anyone who doesn't want to follow my plan...and no, you don't get to know where we're going beforehand. You don't get to know what you're signing up for. This is a question of total faith. You either put your faith in me, or..." the Head Secretary chuckled. "Let's be fair about this. Let's give everyone the consideration they deserve. One by one. Let's start with..." the Head Secretary looked down at the general, smirked...and then pointed to a random guard. "You! Guard Mondo!"

"What?" The guard, who had only been being held by one person, shouted, and suddenly the arms around him doubled, someone at his neck, another person at his other arm. Mondo sweated, looking to the General, borderline panic clear on his features. "What are you asking!?"

"Do you agree to put your total faith in me and my decisions, so that I may lead you to a new, more fun, more interesting life?" the Head Secretary asked, smiling brightly.

The guard stared at the General, who just stared back, conflicted. Then the guard looked at the fire, the secretaries, as everyone watched...and then scowled, looking away. "Fuck no," he said quietly, "You're a fucking freak. I follow the King and the General, fucker."

"I speak for the king," the Head Secretary reminded him gently, before saying... "Very well," and waving his hand.

The men started to drag the guard to the fire, who fought them, hard. He screamed as they dragged his heels through the dirt, people screaming no in the crowd, some people starting to cry. A few of his fellow guards tried to rush forward to save him, but were stopped by even more of his fellow guards, who were watching in wide eyed excitement. A grotesque thrill in their faces.

Just before he got to the edge, the General, who had been debating in his mind the whole time what he was going to ask of his people in the face of this, felt his resolve break, and shouted, "He accepts!"

The men stopped, looking to the Head Secretary, who looked down at the General. "Oh?" Tengan asked with a smile. "Does he?"

"He does," the General growled, frustrated, but not ready to watch his guardsman, nor no doubt countless others, get thrown to the flames. "All of the guards accept. Any civilians who don't accept will be placed under my guards watch. We...we go where you tell us, Head Secretary Tengan. I swear on my honor," he said, narrowing his eyes as he said quietly, "Don't fucking burn anyone."

The Head Secretary went over to the General, and with that amused smile, reached down and placed his hand on his head, giving him a little pat... "I believe you," the Head Secretary said. "...but honestly, I'd have been more entertained to watch you struggle with this more. So, in punishment--"

The Head Secretary waved his hand. Mondo was thrown into the flames.

"NO! NO! MONDO! BRO!?" A guard from the crowd started to scream, fighting with everything he had, his captors having to throw him into the dirt, tears running down his face, as he screamed, "NO! NO!"

Mondo's screams were the stuff of nightmares.

The Head Secretary knelt down, placing a hand against the general's cheek and gently moving his gaze away from his burning soldier, Juuzo now staring at him with wide, horrified eyes that quickly turned to anger. "Tengan...he was nineteen. He was a fucking kid..." the general said.

The secretary chuckled. "You'll learn. There's a balance to fighting back. I always like a little struggle...well. You'll understand someday...also. Since you don't want to use my title anyway...call me Master from now on," he said, patting the General affectionately before going back to the crowd.

"Alright!" he said, to a chorus of screams, "Next one!"

Kokichi could barely contain his excitement. He'd barely slept the night before, despite the warm snuggles he and Kaito always ended up doing. He was going to go out into town! Freely! Without having to avoid the gazes of people who'd possibly know him, or having to worry about sneaking back into the castle without anyone seeing. He could just...go have fun as himself.

It was also nerve-wracking. He expected the second he stepped outside the gate for a guard to block his way and tell him to go back inside. Kaito would argue it, surely, but he really didn't want to start any fights. He'd sneak out anyway. But...

Kokichi shook himself, trying to focus on everything going right. For once he was taking a bit more time to figure out what to wear, standing just barely in their closet in just a towel, having done a good chunk of his routine before his husband stirred.

Let's see... Just a simple button-down would be fine for a shirt, but...how about the lilac poncho? It wasn't too thick for a late summer's day, and it had a ton of internal pockets. And it'd look cool against the green, swirling pattern on those shorts! And bright yellow socks! Very nice! Hmm...but how about...

When Kaito first woke up, his first thought was, 'I should go get my morning tablet'...but that was just a reflex by this point. The healer had officially taken him off the tablets two days ago, and in response, Maki and Shuuichi had disposed of his leftovers, and then turned his and Kokichi's room upside down, making certain there wasn't any leftover pills stashed away that Kaito had 'forgotten' about. The idea had of course never occured to Kaito, and he had tried not to be hurt by his friends' suspicion, knowing it was coming from a place of love. So, yeah, drug free for two days.

He was also, for the most part, pain free too. His impulse to take the tablets, again, being a more learned habit by this point. His head hadn't hurt even a little in days, his back wounds had entirely closed in the last week, his rib had stopped hurting and his leg wound had long closed. Honestly, it was just his arm now, and even that he barely noticed now, having gotten used to working around it.

On the fourth day, he had finally sat down to help with the congratulation letters, which had been a godsend, since by that point he was close to losing his mind from the lack of anything to do. And the letters had been so sweet! Atua followers, asking about his spirit guide, the binding ceremony, quoting passages to him, sending him Atua's blessings. A few of his more daring letter writers had asked for details of the wedding night, which Kaito had understood, the religion being what it was, but he had written back carefully talking around the issue, and had otherwise been thrilled to answer all the questions, even if after awhile he started writing back the same thing to several different people, the questions not being super varied.

One particular letter writer, who had been having a crisis of faith and had more wanted to contact a member of the chosen family rather than congratulate the wedding, had taken some extra time to write back to, Kaito not wanting to get it wrong. But he felt good about the letter once it was done, and had invited the sender to write him another letter if they wanted to, as he was always happy to talk about his faith to a brother (or sister. The letter hadn't specified).

On the sixth day, after Kaito had been cleared of his meds, he had convinced his friends, but mostly Maki, that it was time to make his round of apologies throughout the castle. He went to the stables and paid for the horse...with Kokichi's help. He found Miss Waku and apologized for their first meeting, which had gone well. He spoke quietly to Hajime, who had mentioned to Shuuichi Kaito's weird behavior, Shuuichi coming to talk to Kaito about it, apologizing and explaining he had been upset and had tried to hide that through flirting, because he was an idiot.

Now it was the eighth day, and today was the day! The day to go out to town! Kokichi had been getting more and more hyped every day leading up to it, and as Kaito sat up, yawning, he wasn't surprised to hear Kokichi already up and about. "'Kichi?" he said, trying the latest pet name he had been testing on his husband during his bored days in bed, "Babe?"

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" It'd taken a little bit to break the quickly built habit of asking if Kaito needed anything anytime he woke up. Considering how much he hated it when people offered to do things he could easily do himself, it'd been shocking how second nature it was to offer assistance. Maybe that was just the nature of people, wanting to help each other, not meant to be patronizing.

Walking over to the side of their bed, Kokichi dumped the clothes he'd chosen for the day on it, dropping the towel and starting to get dressed. "You ready or wanna slug about for a while--I'm gonna head down for breakfast after I get dressed, so I can pick you somethin' up if you want?"

Things had definitely calmed down, and Kokichi had managed to only skip one or two meals in the past week, getting back in the swing of his usual eating schedule. Aiichi's presence was as unappetizing as always, but eating with Kaito, or Maki and Shuuichi when they came to meals sort of counteracted that, and Kokichi found himself slowing down a little. Not quite achieving vacuum status, at least.

Pulling up his socks--he'd decided on orange ones instead--Kokichi hopped up on their bed and gave Kaito a good morning kiss. "Hey. Have you made a shopping list, or are ya just gonna listen to the whims of window shopping?"

Kaito kissed Kokichi back, watching in amusement as Kokichi seemed to bounce from spot to spot in the room, full of excited energy. "If you're going down already, just bring me an apple and I'm good til lunch. We can eat something while we're out. And, yes?" Kaito said, not certain for a moment...before, yeah! "Yes, I did! I made one, hold on, Shuuichi helped me out with it...where did I??"

Kaito looked around the nightstand in confusion, before spotting the paper on the ground. "Ha! Got it! I'm prepared!" Kaito said, sounding a tad smug at his level of preparation...that, again, he had only done because Shuuichi had sat down with him last night and talked him through making the list, Kaito finding himself drawing a blank every time he tried to do it by himself. "It's just clothes and some books, really. Oh, and a new pair of shoes. Having nothing but boots is kind of a bummer when you're inside all the time...speaking of, this," Kaito said, gesturing to Kokichi's whole outfit, "Is cute. Very...bright," he said with a chuckle.

He pulled himself out of bed, yawning again, determined to be in and out of the shower by the time Kokichi got back. "Think Maki and Shuuichi are already up?"

Eating while out... Kokichi had gotten food on his sneaky excursions before, of course. But he'd mostly stuck to getting quick things from the market or food carts. Sticking around in a restaurant, especially if he was alone, was just tempting fate. If anyone was able to study him for a long time, or thought a "kid" paying for a meal by themself was a little too weird, then bam. Cover blown. He wondered what kind of place the others would want to eat at... Even if he hadn't gone in a lot of them, he did know of a lot of restaurants.

"Just an apple? I hope you haven't started to pick up my eating habits," he teased. While his appetite hadn't always been there between the pain and painkillers, Kaito still ate a reasonable amount. He hadn't really been able to tell, but maybe even a little more, since the kitchen had sent up various Luminary dishes that they'd been working on, every time with a request for feedback. "But I gotcha. Maybe you'll get some surprise extra food too, depending on how generous I'm feeling."

The list was more conservative than he'd been expecting from how Kaito spoke of his spending habits, but Kokichi supposed that was Shuuichi's influence. As for himself, he wasn't really planning on getting anything. For himself. If there was anything that caught his friends' eyes but they were unsure about getting, he'd spend his savings there. Call it a moving in gift!

Kokichi giggled a little at the compliment and hopped off the bed, spinning in a quick circle to show off and get the poncho to flair out. "We should get you some slippers too. I run around in socks all the time, but slippers help when we have a high traffic day but still feel like bein' comfy." Not for today, though! Because he was going out!

He quickly rounded the bed and gave Kaito a brief hug before walking backward toward the door. "Probably, they tend to wake up pretty early. I'll knock on their doors and ask if they want somethin' if they're in, but if not I'll prolly see 'em at breakfast. See you in a bit!"

And skipping happily, Kokichi bounded out of their room, his level of excitement truly something special.

"Kay, see ya," Kaito said with an amused smile, giving Kokichi a small wave as his husband twirled and then skipped out of the room, Kokichi's excitement infectious. Kaito was a little nervous himself. It was Kokichi's first day out of the castle without, like, trickery and stuff. He really wanted it to end up being a good day for him. Kaito kept finding himself looking outside, worried that it would just suddenly start storming or something...but no. It was a beautiful day out. Good, good...but what if...

...Ah, what was he stressing over? It was a day trip downtown with his friends! Of course it was going to go great!

Kaito headed to the shower, humming cheerfully to himself. Slippers, huh? Hmm...

-

Maki was out in the hall outside her door, her back towards where Kokichi would be coming down the hall, talking to Timothy, who was looking annoyed.

"Why can't I come?" Timothy asked again, looking on the verge of a tantrum as Maki just stared cooly down at him, her arms crossed, "Kaito gets to go and he's feeble!"

"Prince Kaito," Maki corrected him with a growl, endlessly frustrated that Timothy hanging out in Kaito's room for the last few days since The Incident had resulted in this lack of formality in her charge. "And he's not feeble, he's been cleared to go. And you know why you don't get to go."

"That was five days ago!"

"And?" Maki said, her brow twitching, face going red with anger. "I don't care what anyone else says. You're my charge, you stop being in trouble for that when I'm done being angry, and I am still furious with you. And you still won't even tell me where you got the tar for King Aiichi's seat from. I told you specifically to not prank the king, and what did you do?!"

Timothy pouted at her, spotting Prince Kokichi coming around the corner and smirking slightly to himself. "Prince Kokichi thought it was funny."

"Prince Kokichi is a Bad Influence," Maki said, following Timothy's eyeline and knowing that the prince was coming behind her. "And also not responsible for your actions. You know who did feel responsible? Kaito, who dragged himself out of his sick bed to go apologize on your behalf! Does that sound like something your prince should have to do for his assassin trainee!?"

"Nooo," Timothy muttered, though he didn't know what the big deal was. Timothy had come to learn that Submission Bows weren't even a thing here. So...what was there to be afraid of when you apologized then?

Well, besides not getting to go on town trips, apparently.

"That's right, no. Now, give me your list. And don't think of being cute and asking for a bunch of stuff you don't need. You're getting the essentials and that's it," Maki said, holding out her hand. Grumbling to himself, Timothy passed her the list he had written out.

Maki was clearly ready to dismiss him and Timothy looked around her, giving a small wave as he said, somewhat more timidly, "Good morning, Prince Kokichi."

Kokichi paused as he left his room, spotting Maki and Timothy down the hall. The prank on his dad had been hilarious, honestly--Tim was quickly becoming a kid after his own heart, especially when he heard about the other pranks he'd pulled. Not only had Aiichi been stuck to his chair, but when he'd finally pried his pants off, it looked like he shat himself. A true classic.

But, well...Maki wasn't as accepting of tomfoolery as the castle staff, who were just tiredly accepting at this point. Fifteen years was a long time to wear people down.

The excited smile on Kokichi's face faded a bit, their conversation different, but still hitting close enough to home. Being told that, no, you couldn't leave... But Maki wouldn't keep him in trouble forever. And if Tim did want to take another path in life...ah crap. He knew he'd forgotten something. Maybe he and Kaito could bring it up with Maki today.

Approaching the two, Kokichi brought his smile back up and waved back at the young assassin maybe-to-be. "Good morning, Timothy! Morning, Maki-chan! You guys gonna be heading down for breakfast?"

Maki turned around to greet Kokichi, giving him a cool smile, still coming down from her scolding of Timothy. "Good morning, Kokichi, and yes. We're just waiting for Shuuichi. He said he'd be just a minute. Where's Kaito? Is he sleeping in? Do you need me to use my promised bet stabbing to wake him up?"

"Oh, oh!" Timothy said, raising his hand in excitement, "I can do it! I've been practicing!"

"You only get to stab dummies," Maki said sternly, "No knives near people."

Shuuichi opened the door just at that moment, wearing a dark, stiff outfit that was probably too warm for the bright, sunny day, but very much fit his usual 'professional emo' mystique. Maki was wearing one of her many carefully constructed 'sweet' outfits that her mentor had helped her pick out and put together in a desperate bid to offset some of her natural, constant murderous vibe. They both looked nice, ready to face the day.

"See? Only needed a minute," Shuuichi said, adjusting his cap to fit comfortably on him, a small redness in his cheeks but otherwise composed as he turned to Kokichi, a warm smile on his face. "Good morning, Kokichi! Today's the day, huh? Are you excited?"

As he asked this, the group started to head downstairs.

"Nah, nah," he waved off, having somewhat given up at this point pointing out that he'd prefer no one be stabbed. "He's up, just takin' a shower. I am gonna bring up breakfast for him though. I dunno if he usually sleeps in, but I'm gonna enjoy the last of him taking things easy while I can--we've used up all our no-whining time, yanno?"

Kokichi grinned back at Shuuichi as the detective joined them, his excitement bubbling back up at just the mention of their outing, a notable bounce in his step as they headed down to breakfast. "Morning, Shuu-chan! And what makes you say that, today's just a normal day? Can't you see my dreary moping?"

He giggled a bit, hopping down the stairs. "I'm fuckin' PUMPED!!" He garnered a bit of attention at his loud outburst, some of the staff a little startled, but smiling at their prince. Genuinely good spirits wasn't something they often got to see from the heir. "There's so much I wanna show you guys, but we should probably get shopping done first, right? Make sure we actually get everything. Ahhhh, I can't wait to go to Powell's--I usually have to be in and out so I don't get to really search through the books. And there's a cafe attached to the bookstore, so if you guys get tired of me an' Kai-chan bein' nerds you can get something to drink while you wait."

He was mostly planning on only getting things for his friends, but...well. If there was a book or two that caught his attention, he could definitely afford that. Considering how his world had opened up, he'd probably have less time for reading, but it was still a pastime he really enjoyed.

"I don't get it, why's just going to town so exciting?" Timothy asked, taking the steps two at a time, though he stopped halfway down to let the adults catch up when he saw a Dicean maid bringing laundry upstairs, hiding slightly behind Maki until she was gone before returning to returning to taking two steps at a time down the stairs. "Are you guys going to do something cool?"

"It's just a novel experience for some of us," Shuuichi said, giving the maid a small nod in greeting as she passed. "And for the rest of us, it's our first real opportunity to explore our new home. So, yeah, it's pretty exciting."

"You'll get to go next time, if you behave yourself," Maki told Timothy, before looking over at Kokichi, even her spirits being lifted somewhat by Kokichi's just open, honest excitement. "And it's not the end of the world if we don't get everything we need. Town's always going to be there, just outside. Any of us can always go back out later to get anything we missed."

"I'm assuming Powell's is the bookstore then. I might ask them to see if they have any medical research books. It's become a bit of a hobby since I got here...actually, that's a point," Shuuichi said, looking over to Kokichi as they all got downstairs. "It's no big deal if not, but off the top of your head, Kokichi, do you think you know of any medical centers or pharmacies around the area we're heading to? It might actually help to get some reading recommendations from people in the actual field."

Hmm...maybe he'd buy some pranking supplies for Timothy while he was out... Other than just being some damn good entertainment, it might make a little of things up with Tim not being able to join them. It was different for a kid who'd already traveled all over the place, even if with a military, but Kokichi couldn't help but want to encourage freedom. He never wanted anyone to grow up the way he did.

And...Maki was right. This wasn't a once in a lifetime chance, even if it was a first in a lifetime one. They could always just...go back. Decide to spend an evening in the gardens, perusing the market in the morning and bringing back something cool to the kitchens, or if Kaito decided to start on his cooking skills, maybe something for him to whip up! Getting tired of work and taking a day off to walk around the aquarium or sculpture museum...

Gah! Thinking about it like that just made him even more excited!!

Kokichi looked over at Shuuichi at his question, thinking for a moment. "Hmm... It's pretty big, so I think they might have something you're looking for! And there is a pharmacy nearby, but..."

...there was no reason he had to steer away anymore. He was allowed to go outside. And...he did want to speak with her, if she had time. But...

Chickening out, he gave Shuuichi a grin. "You could probably guess, but those kinds of places aren't really my wheelhouse, so I don't know too much about it specifically. But! There is a candy shop pretty close by--and a blacksmith's too, Maki-chan!--so I might go drool over myself over there while you check it out."

"I probably should visit the blacksmith. My make-shift training weapons are...inadequate, to say the least. That's likely what I'll do when you all visit the bookstore. I don't read much myself. Most of what I know about fiction comes from Kaito refusing to stop talking about it," Maki admitted, opening the door for the group to walk into the dining room, which was as busy as it usually was this time of morning. "Maybe now that he has another fiction nerd around, he'll leave me alone about it."

"Books are boring," Timothy decided...before thinking about it and saying, "One of my second-classes did give me a couple of books I liked once, but they were in the middle of the story and I realized too late I was reading them in the wrong order. A bunch of teenagers were picked by an alien to turn into animals and fight off other aliens. It was cool, they had war strategies and everything. Some kid named David died, but, like, the book didn't say he died. They just turned him into a fly and were like 'ooooh, flies don't live very long' and left him alone to die of old age as a fly."

"Did he still know he was a person as a fly?" Shuuichi asked, curious despite himself, "Or was he just a fly living its fly life by that point?"

"No! He was totally still a person! And when you're an animal you can talk inside your mind, so he was crying out to them, begging them to change him back! It was super creepy! I had nightmares about it!" Timothy said with a wide grin, clearly proud of this fact. Then his face fell. "Oh. The old bag is here. What, hey, come on-!"

Maki sighed, taking Timothy by his neck and taking him to his other caretaker, bowing her head respectfully as she said, "Here he is. We're leaving for the day, so if he gives you any trouble..." don't say stab him, don't say stab him, "...let me know, and I'll be sure to talk to him about it."

Kokichi snickered a bit, putting the pharmacy out of his mind for the time being. "I wouldn't bet on it. It'll just be, 'oh, Kokichi recommended this book, blah blah blah cool scene, blah blah opinions on plot,' instead of just getting right to it. And maybe I'll join in too. Maki-chan's suffering has just doubled, sorry, not sorry."

Maybe he could convince Nao to establish a proper book club. It would be fun to talk about books with more than the librarian and Hideki, which he hadn't done for years with the secretary.

He listened in interest to the story Timothy recalled, even as disturbing as the point he brought up was. He didn't think he'd ever seen that series before... He could at least ask someone at the bookstore about it. Or any other children or teen novels about...war analogies? Probably action at the least.

Looking up at the mention of her, Kokichi gave a wave to the glowering housekeeper staring at them, receiving a nod in return. At least he'd heard Haneda hadn't gotten in too much trouble over the tar incident.

Haneda also gave Maki a respectful nod, her natural resting bitch facing seeming like she was giving Tim a stink-eye. "I'll let you know the total time I actually end up seeing him." She sighed. "With how much you two run, I don't understand how you still have so much energy to sprint away from me at any given moment, Timothy."

It would be a long day, she could already tell.

Kokichi had some sympathy for the woman, but not enough to keep himself from stacking three whole pancakes on his plate. They'd get food later, but he'd need the energy!

Anyone else looking on at how the prince was practically vibrating with cheer already would probably dispute that point.

Upstairs, Kaito was getting finished dressing, gelling up his hair into its pointed angle, a habit he had started as a teenager and still hadn't quite grown out of. Like, hey, if it works, why change it, right? Still better than that nonsense hairstyle they had put on him during the wedding.

As he had just finished everything up, there was a knock at the door. Kaito quickly went to grab it, the action always a hurry for him; everyone was learning that Kaito got weird if they didn't knock before entering into the princes' room, but only Hajime had really gotten the point yet that only an answer, or even a couple of seconds of not answering, wasn't an invitation to walk right in. So Kaito had gotten a little...quick to answer it, in an attempt to get everyone used to the idea that the door needed to be opened by someone on the inside.

Again, mixed results, but hey, it was better than swallowing his pride and just asking everyone to respect his and Kokichi's privacy...on the off chance he had to deal with the consequences of them refusing.

Thankfully, it was Hajime, who simply raised an eyebrow at the quickness of Kaito's answer. "Hey, Hajime, good morning!" Kaito said, a sheepish smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck, Kaito still somewhat embarrassed by his own erratic behavior at their first interaction. "Did Kokichi send you up?"

"No, why, was he supposed too?" Hajime asked, it sort of being up in the air if he was asking sincerely or not. He handed Kaito a letter, with a familiar Luminary seal on it. Byakuya's. "The mail guys asked me to bring this up to you. Apparently there was some urgency to it? Basically every messenger who carried it said it had to get to you within a certain number of days or something. So, it's probably important."

Kaito chuckled, taking the letter with a grateful nod. "Uh, well, maybe. This is a letter from my brother. Kind of...everything needs to be done within a certain timeframe for him. Um, but thank you! I appreciate it!"

Hajime nodded before walking off, Kaito closing the door behind him. He considered the letter...before shrugging. It likely actually wasn't all that urgent and his brother was just giving the messengers a hard time. And, anything he needed to know this morning, he could find out this afternoon. He went to put the letter on his nightstand, checking himself out in the mirror one last time before heading downstairs, deciding to meet the others in the dining room. They were probably just about done by now.

Okay, so, maaaaybe three pancakes was pushing it. Kokichi had inhaled the first no problem, it was a usual thing for him. For the second he slowed down a bit, listening in interest to a story Lake was telling, her eyes starry as she gushed over something cute Nazumi did earlier that morning. And that was totally platonic and not something someone in a relationship would do, sheesh, guys, it's not like that!

By the time he'd gotten to the third...he was just picking at it, not wanting to compost nearly a whole pancake that he'd willingly put on his plate, but his stomach feeling pretty damn full. He didn't want to give himself a stomachache that would keep him home--NO WAY!!--so...he just ate little nibbles of it here and there, hoping to easily eat a good enough amount of it that it wouldn't feel too bad getting rid of the rest.

He was just about thinking he'd gotten to that point when Kaito walked in. Well, that saved another trip upstairs. Still enthusiastic, Kokichi waved high to his husband. "Kai-chaaaan! Eat the rest of this for me! I'm too full!"

Ugh. That guard was here.

But! Also his friends! And his husband apparently needed him, so Kaito headed over, kissing Kokichi on the top of his head as he grabbed the plate from over him, eating the last of it easily (he was getting used to using the hand on his broken arm in limited ways, at least. Holding things, a plate for example, wasn't too strenuous.) on his way to the kitchen to drop the plate off to be washed. By the time he got in there, the food was entirely gone, and Kaito gave the staff a friendly nod. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully, dropping the plate off. He got a few good mornings back, but the hustle and bustle of the morning meal was clearly on, and Kaito headed back outside the kitchen quickly to get out of the way.

As he went back to the table, he put his arm around Kokichi's shoulder, saying to Maki and Shuuichi, who seemed to be finishing up their own meals as well, "Alright, guys, we ready to go? Come on, hustle, we've got a life-long dream to make a reality!"

No thanks to some people. Kaito's resentment of Lake had only grown the more he had stewed over the idea, and while, yes, he knew that she was just following orders and he, of all people, as a best friend to an assassin should maybe cut her a bit of slack...

Nah.

Shuuichi finished his coffee with a sigh, before nodding. "I'm ready."

"Me too," Maki said, both of them grabbing their plates to return them to the kitchen.

"Alright, cool. Come on, Kokichi, let's get out of here," Kaito said, kissing him again on the top of his head before pulling Kokichi's chair out from under the table, Kokichi with it.

Kokichi took the moment to take a few last sips of his juice and wipe his mouth of syrup. He didn't mind eating a little messily, it happened, but he didn't want to go around town with even more to make people think he was a child.

There was a little bit of hubbub, people seeing that they were about to go. Well-meaning but annoying reminders that it was fine to take a break if he got tired, wishes to have a good day, a few suggestions of places to go that were snickered at and garnered eye rolls from people who knew that Kokichi knew personally where the group would spend the day. It was stuff like that why he never really begrudged any of the staff for his imprisonment. While they all did worry about his health, most didn't want to keep him inside. He knew a few of them had tried talking to Aiichi before, putting forth a proposal of a heavily chaperoned outing, but things had never worked out before. And if anyone took him out against Aiichi's wishes...that would technically be a kidnapping, no matter Kokichi's opinion on the matter.

"Hey, if you see 'zumi, say hey, would ya?" Lake asked, giving the heir a grin. She nodded a bit to Maki and Shuuichi, then back to Kaito who was returning from the kitchen. "I know she's been wanting to talk with our newbies here about any plants they want."

Kokichi nodded and gave the guard a thumbs up. "Totally! I really wanna show off the garden anyway, so I'll tell Nazumi-chan how much you love and miss her every moment you're apart."

She turned red with a bit of blustering to his amusement, though went back to her other conversational partners as Kaito came back. He'd noticed that she'd been kinda...reserved when his husband was around. That was a conversation he knew they should have, but...just hadn't gotten around to yet.

Kokichi giggled, reveling in the giggles around the table too, as Kaito pulled him away from the table, hopping up to press his nose against Kaito's arm before tugging him to the door. "Let's go!"

Maki and Shuuichi hadn't taken too long, and before he knew it, they were standing at the gate. Taking a nervous breath, Kokichi took a step out of it.

It was actually another, genuinely beautiful day.

The streets were full of people, parents with their children, shopkeepers whose stores had been open for hours now as the morning went by, young couples holding hands and giggling into each other's ears. People were out and about, having a good time, enjoying themselves in a kingdom that genuinely loved them and treated them well.

Kaito, Shuuichi, Maki, and Kokichi were out there among them. Enjoying themselves as well.

They had to be careful not to be a wall, Maki and Shuuichi lingering slightly behind while Kokichi bounced slightly ahead, playing full tour guide as he pointed out this store and that park. It was remarkably like Kaito's first day here, but more relaxed, no one in disguise, no deadlines or at risk treaties in the back of anyone's mind. As they got farther into town, Kaito actually recognized a spot, pointing out the apple cart. "Hey, check it out, guys. That's where me and Kokichi met."

"Oh? The infamous Caleb and Koh?" Shuuichi teased, adjusting his cap to block out the sun a bit, otherwise feeling pretty relaxed and open. "What was it again you told Kokichi you did for a living, 'Caleb'? I know you told me once and it was something actually ridiculous..."

"Ah heh heh, we...we don't gotta get into that," Kaito said with an embarrassed chuckle. "I was just making something up on the spot."

Kokichi had shared his city with others before, yeah, his habit of needling strangers honing his tour guide skills throughout the years, but it felt different to do the same with his friends. Knowing when to point out something he otherwise would've skipped because he knew it aligned with someone's interests.

He snorted a bit as they passed the apple cart, easily whirling about through their party and avoiding other people walking around, some staring at him in surprise, others with knowing smiles. "He told me he was a stableboy here to sell horses. I just thought he was some weird foreigner, and while I was right, Kai-chan's a weird foreigner who doesn't know what stablehands do."

Smirking a bit at his husband, Kokichi sped up to his side and gave his arm an affectionate nuzzle. "You somehow just lucked into knowing exactly the sort of mystery I'd never be able to leave alone."

Just past the various carts in the market was a large street packed with all sorts of shops. While there were businesses scattered all throughout the large city, this was the shopping district that enticed so many to go on a spree. Taking Kaito's hand, he pulled his husband along towards a clothing store, expecting Shuuichi and Maki to follow. "Alright! Let's get your wardrobes settled!"

Shuuichi was quickest to pick things out, once he had Kokichi give him context about exactly what he should be expecting in the winter. Everything he picked was dark and stylish, handsome, but without looking like he was trying too hard to be any of those things. Maki needed some extra help. Again, she picked her clothes from a business angle: what could she wear that would make it less obvious that she fully intended to kill you? While sexy clothes worked better for this concept, cute clothes always ended up being easier to move around in. She ended up consulting all three of the boys on various outfits, asking them plainly, "From 1 to 10, how easy would you find letting your guard down around this be?"

Kaito, though...

He had promised himself he wasn't going to do this. He wasn't! He didn't have the literally bottomless funds here that he had enjoyed at home. He needed to be smarter about his choices! He'd go in, reserve himself, just spend time with his friends and get the necessities. That was the plan!

But his eyes went wide, and his hands got grabby, and before he had even known it, he was staring in mild panic at nineteen different outfits that he had fallen in love with, each less practical and more skin showing than the last. Hardly any of it was winter wear, and the jacket he had picked for the winter time was thin and showed off the curves of his chest muscles.

"Umm..." Kaito said, chewing on one his knuckles as he realized not one, or two, but most of these would either need to be put back or replaced with something practical...but...but he looked so good in them! He had caught several people’s eyes already! He had straight up made the cashier blush just coming up to her in one of the outfits to ask for a (slightly) looser size of pants. She had offered to hem it. Personally. He definitely couldn't get rid of that outfit! "Um..."

Honestly, Kokichi had the most fun going around the store with Maki, pulling out just silly items and poorly stifling his giggles as he insisted, hey, totally, no one would ever expect to be killed by someone wearing this. He was pretty sure she didn't appreciate it.

But when he rejoined with Kaito, his impish smiles turned to a blank stare. "You're not convincing me about any of these, Kai-chan, so think real hard if you wanna spend your own money on 'em. And think even harder since you should buy, you know, the clothes that we actually came here for first."

Kaito had told him, but this was incredible in the same sort of way watching a contortionist was. Kokichi rifled through some of the flashy, skimpy clothes Kaito had picked out, getting an idea of the sort of sizes his husband wore, before disappearing back into the main part of the store.

Taking a bit of pity on his husband, Kokichi started looking through a particular style of thermal shirt that fit close to the body and had options in a v-neck. It was meant to be worn in layers, but for being inside it'd do the trick. Finding Kaito's size, he picked out a maroon one, a forest green one, and a deep mauve one.

He headed back to the dressing rooms, intending to drop them off before searching for the rest of the clothes Kaito would need.

"Ha, ha, okay Kokichi!" Kaito said nervously, as Kokichi ran off to go get him different clothes after his warning... and then, because the cashier was maybe staring a little too long, he added in, "Thanks, babe!"

She frowned, but looked away. Not available. Got it.

Okay, so, how much money did he actually have to spend? Taking out his purse, Kaito counted out the last of his funds from the journey...not bad, not bad. More than he had expected. Now, how much were all these clothes.

...fuck.

Okay. If he got the cheapest of the batch, it'd be three outfits worth...and he'd be totally out of money. Okay, okay, but what if he just bought the dark purple skinny jeans with the silver tank-top and the button up with the neat dragon embroidery...but, well, did that really look better than the gray spotted shirt that clung to his stomach with the black pants...um...um...

When his husband came back with three new shirts, each one far cheaper and more practical than anything Kaito had grabbed, Kaito said to Kokichi, "Hey, uh...could you pick one for me? That might be easier..."

Kokichi rolled his eyes a bit but set the shirts aside to look through the clothes Kaito was trying to part from. "Is this just your way of asking what I'd most like to see you in? I think my favorite Kai-chan is one that's not gonna freeze to death. I'd rather have my heater than an ice sculpture."

But he looked through the flashy clothing regardless. He wasn't going to indulge the other prince by agreeing to fill their room with clothes that Kaito would barely get to wear, but he was far from wanting to be the No Fun Police.

Hmmm...tank-tops and muscle shirts would probably be the easiest for Kaito to wear with his cast, even if he'd gotten good at wearing sleeves. Stuff he could wear right away would probably be best, because once it started getting colder he'd have to wait until spring to wear any of it.

...but...not anything too revealing... Kokichi knew Kaito was dedicated to him, but he still felt a foreign sort of jealousy pooling in his stomach. Kaito was pretty, but having people have easy access to ogling his husband's body was...not something he wanted to contribute to.

After a few solid moments of comparing and considering, Kokichi held up an outfit of a muscle shirt that was dipped in dyes to have a sunset gradient, a black stylized lion roaring on the front, a shiny red half jacket that would definitely show off Kaito's forearms and waist, and tight, acid dripped dark grey pants. "What about this?"

Awww, yeah, the blush pants! He hadn't picked them out with that shirt and jacket in mind, but now that Kokichi had pointed them out, they did seem to work naturally against each other. Kaito reached out to take the outfit, checking the price tag on each item...okay, okay. Not great, but he'd manage! So long as there was nothing too expensive he'd desperately want in any of the other stores...yeah...yeaaaah....

Fuck, he'd need to start making some money. How did you get a job, anyway? Do you just...ask??

Deciding to ask Kokichi later (Maki and Shuuichi wouldn't know. Neither of them had ever had to worry about going out of their way to get work in their lives), Kaito just grinned at Kokichi, leaning down to peck him on the cheek as he said, "That's perfect! Thanks, 'Kichi'."

"Um, Miss!" Kaito said, the cashier now looking even more annoyed, though Kaito wasn't sure why. "Hey, I'm not going to take the rest of these, thanks. Also, I'm still looking, but could you ring this outfit up now? Just wanna lock in my decision, ya know? Ha ha..." Kaito felt the other clothes calling to him and started to sweat. "Just as soon as possible, thanks."

"Certainly," the cashier said, giving him a plastic smile, before looking to glare at his boyfriend...wait...was that the prince??

As the cashier stared at Prince Kokichi, the question marks practically visible over her head, Maki and Shuuichi came up behind Kaito, holding their own items. "I think we're ready to check out too," Maki said, Shuuichi nodding, a pleased smile on his face. To Kokichi, she said, "We can afford all our stuff. Good luck with your husband. Kaito's hopeless."

Husband?? The extremely out of the know cashier wondered, having totally not been paying attention to literally anything political happening in her town in...ever. Since when had the prince gotten married??

"Sure, sure, sure, you shopaholic. I'll go get you some more reasonable stuff to try on." Still, Kokichi pressed into the kiss, feeling self-satisfied. He picked up the rest of the clothes Kaito had picked out and started hanging them up on the return rack, separating them back out into types to at least make it a little easier on the employees who'd have to deal with his 'eyes too big for his purse' husband.

He sighed in faux exasperation to Maki and Shuuichi but gave them a smile back. "I'm starting to see that now. I'm gonna have my work cut out for me trying to teach him how to budget, aren't I. But, for you two who are better at it, do let me know if you need any help with anything today. I know you guys are pretty focused on essentials, but moving can be pretty expensive and I'm happy to help out."

Kokichi paused, moving some of his hair behind an ear, the light catching on his wedding ring for a moment, before he headed back in to find Kaito useful clothes. Thick pants that wouldn't absorb water, heavier sweaters, wool socks, and a winter jacket that would actually do the trick compared to the showpiece Kaito had picked out. By the time he returned to the dressing room, Kokichi was struggling a little to hold onto all the clothes.

Shuuichi was just finishing up his purchase when Kaito noticed his husband trying to move an entire rack’s worth of clothes on his chest, Kaito putting his own bag aside for a second as he chuckled, reaching out to help pick up as much of the clothes as he could with one arm...which, actually, was a good chunk of it. Hefting the pile of clothes onto his shoulder, leaving Kokichi the smaller items like the socks and few pants and shirts Kaito hadn't managed to snag in the grab, Kaito winked down at him. "Thanks 'Kichi. I'm sure all these are perfect. Maki and Shuuichi seem ready, so I'll just try these on at home and if anything doesn't fit I'll return it."

Dropping the clothes on the counter when Shuuichi finished up and moved aside, the cashier just gave him a raised eyebrow. "You sure that'll be all?" she asked, a smirk coming across her face as she said, "I'd still be happy to hem some of the looser items for you. All it takes is some quick measurements..."

Kaito shook his head, already opening up his purse to see what he had left to pay for all these. "Nah, that's alright. I think a lot of these types of clothes are meant to be a little loose? Thanks anyway. So, what does that come up too?" he asked.

She told him.

Kaito stared into his purse.

"...uh..." he looked down at his husband, a sheepish smile on his face, "...'Kichi?"

Kokichi took a deep breath. Asked how much Kaito needed. And took another breath before taking out his own purse. One fun thing. And Kaito did need the warmer clothes. The rest of the day would be solely window shopping for Kaito, however.

Handing over the coins to the cashier, to whom he offered an apologetic smile, Kokichi sent his husband a look. "Pay me back with anything you return, and when we get home we're gonna make an expense log for you. Then you can keep track of anything you save and shop responsibly."

He wasn't Kaito's babysitter, and something like managing his husband's expenses was just too uncomfortable to even consider. But he could help Kaito start to manage them himself. Having learned about the wealth the Momota Family had at their disposal...it'd be a difficult lesson for Kaito to learn, he bet.

Expression a little softer as the cashier started bagging the clothes, he nudged Kaito's side. "Maybe you all could do, like, a fashion show or something when we get back? Show off all the new stuff ya got."

"Pfff, yeah?" Kaito said with a smirk. "Think that big puffer jacket’s gonna be runway worthy, huh? Sure, that'd be fun. Are you not going to get anything though? There's a lot of stuff here I thought would look cute on you too."

"Alright, everything's bagged up!" the cashier said brightly, having considered her options, and, like...if the prince had gotten married, it was probably arranged, right? If she was in an arranged marriage, you'd bet she'd feel flexible on the whole 'one and only' thing, so...well, maybe the red-head would come in alone next time. Wouldn't do to burn this bridge yet! "Please do come back, we re-stock our shelves with new options every Friday!" Which was a lie, they restocked Thursdays, but she always worked Fridays. "Hope to see you again soon!"

"For sure!" Kaito said, grabbing as many of the bags as he could, scrunching his mouth to the side for a bit before holding out his arm to Kokichi, saying with determination, "I can totally lift all of these! Just start hanging them onto my arm!" Weirdly excited by the idea of the challenge, he called out to Shuuichi and Maki, who were waiting by the exit. "Hey, guys! Hang your bags on my arm! I wanna see how many we can get on there!"

"Not with an attitude like that it's not," Kokichi rolled his eyes. "And I already have clothes suited to Dicean weather. I'd rather make sure you guys are all situated before I even think about getting stuff I don't need."

Turning back to the cashier, Kokichi nodded his head and quickly picked up a couple of the lighter bags, guessing right about what Kaito would do. "Thank you for your help. I'm sure we'll be back sooner or later." Hopefully with more restraint.

"You could lift everything, but you're not going to." Already Kokichi was starting to walk over to Maki and Shuuichi with the few bags he could comfortably carry in his hands. "You may be down to just a broken arm, but I'd like Kai-chan to be down to nothing, please."

Messing up his arm carrying shopping bags was somehow even dumber than getting thrown from a horse he'd stolen in a worried fury. They'd promised, not just to each other, but to everyone else who cared about them that they'd be more careful. And trying to show off how many bags he could carry was definitely not being careful.

Coming up to the escorts, Kokichi nodded to their own bags. "Are you guys good to carry your stuff or do you wanna drop them off?"

"Awww...fine," Kaito huffed, easily hefting the bags he had managed to snag over his shoulder, following after Kokichi with a happy grin, thinking about his new outfits. They had all been mostly attractive. And even the puffer jacket would be sexy if it was open, and he wasn't wearing anything underneath it… Grinning to himself, they all left the store.

"Let's drop them off. We plan to be out basically all day, right? Better to lighten the load early then," Shuuichi said, he and Maki leading the way back to the castle, Shuuichi doing some mental math of what he had left. He had more in general than what he had brought in his purse, of course, but with what he had left...hmmmm...enough for a meal, maybe some textbooks, some toiletries...should he pick up more from his room to cover Kaito's meal? It wasn't really fair to put that on Kokichi, after all, not after he had just bought almost all of the prince's clothes...hmmm...oh right, the toiletries. "Wait, maybe we should stop and get soaps and stuff real quick? Then drop off all that at once?"

"I'd be fine with that," Maki said, pouting as she said, "I'm almost out of all my conditioner. I've been having a harder time gauging how much I need these days now that you guys aren't helping me brush it."

"Awww, Maki, we can still help each other get ready in the morning!" Kaito said, keeping close to Kokichi. "Now that I'm off bed rest, I gotta get into a routine again anyway. What if we trained in the morning, then afterwards did all the hair stuff? Oh, 'Kichi, would you be up to joining our training sessions? Now that I'm cleared, I really gotta get started on it again."

Kokichi hummed in assent, leading the way to a shop they could get all the soaps and various toiletries they'd need. Hmm...maybe he'd get some more body wash for himself... He did have another container as a backup, but with both him and Kaito using his lavender soap, it was getting kind of low, and if the backup became the main soap, then, well, he'd need another backup!

His mouth twisted to the side at the mention of training, though. "I definitely can't do any sparring, and regimented exercise has never really been my thing... I might come to hang out with you guys, though. I could definitely bring some work to do. Or maybe I could make it a designated reading time... Plenty to do, whatever the case," he chirped, having talked himself into a more positive outlook.

It was obvious what kind of store they were in the second they came to the propped open door, and not from the visuals. A lovely amalgam of scents practically accosted anyone who walked by, enticing them to take a peek. Calling a hello to the employees, Kokichi made a beeline for the liquid body washes, figuring things were pretty self-advertising in the store so he didn't need to explain much to the others.

"Hey, Kai-chan, what sorta flavor should I get?"

Kaito went over to Kokichi, kneeling behind him as they looked at the bottom shelf. 

"Hmmmm." Kaito put his arm around Kokichi's chest, making a dramatic show of sniffing his neck, before sighing. "I like what you smell like now. Oh, rose-thorns nice too though," Kaito said, pointing to a container he noticed, with a small red rose on it. "I think that's what my cousin wears. It always smelled nice. Hmmm...ahh, there's my stuff," Kaito said, reaching out to grab his honey-oak. "I ran out of this so fast on the trip, but it's kinda my go-to. What do you think?" Kaito said, popping the top, "Can ya stand it? I can change it up if you hate it."

Maki and Shuuichi went to their own familiar products, getting everything they needed quickly and without much second thought. Shuuichi, who was grabbing some much needed shampoo for his constantly smothered hair, noticed some slippers with little stars on it and smiled, taking them off the counter as he, as politely as he could, yelled back to Kaito, "Hey, check it out. Who does this remind you of?"

"Awww, yeah, look at those. Those are perfect," Kaito said, eyes shining, before giving Kokichi a small grin, "Can I?"

Kokichi giggled a bit at the sniffing, nudging his head against his husband's. Though, he did raise a bit of a teasing eyebrow. "Well, I've heard soooo many great things about your cousin, so I suppose it's only natural to judge her soap preferences too." He opened the container a little, taking a sniff and decided that he wouldn't mind trying it out for a bottle's worth of showers. And, after a moment to clear his nose, he sniffed at Kaito's preferred scent.

It was...woody, natural, deeper than anything Kokichi ever picked for himself, but there were warm notes of sweetness as well. And it did seem like the sort of thing that would fit Kaito too. With an approving nod, Kokichi held his hand out to take the bottle. "I like it. And it's different enough from mine that if we accidentally switch soaps for a day, it'd throw, like, everyone off balance."

Prank-level: married. A whole world opened up to him, and Kokichi had barely even given it the time of day. Thankfully, he had the rest of his life to take advantage of it.

He looked over at Shuuichi and--pfff. Okay. He did recommend Kaito get slippers to hang around the castle in. Rolling his eyes with a little snort, Kokichi pecked Kaito's cheek. "You better appreciate me sooooo much after today, you realize that, right? Never thought I'd be a sugar daddy, and yet here I am, spending my savings to make my darling husband happy." Another kiss to the other cheek. "And seeing that makes me happy, but don't push it."

He turned to give Shuuichi a thumbs up, mentally adding the prices in his head.

He was going to get a job! He was! He was going to figure out how all that worked. He had questions, sure, like...how often did you get paid? Was it at the end of every day? Did it matter that he was just shy of twenty-three and had no work history? He had gone to university! That was a kind of work history, right? Diiiid that count?

These were all important questions...for later. For now, Kaito just grinned through the kisses, before, not really caring who saw, he cupped Kokichi's cheek and led him into a proper kiss, saying at the end of it, "I think I can show you some appreciation tonight, yeah." Kaito added in a wink as he said quietly, "Daddy."

And then his face went bright red, and he shoved his palm into his eye and said, "Nope, nope, no, that felt wrong, that was too weird. Fuck, let's never talk about that again, I can't, it's too weird. Shuuichi!"

"Hmm?" Shuuichi asked, having gotten distracted by some bath salts, looking at him in surprise as Kaito stood up, lumbering away from Kokichi, his face still uncomfortable as he just stood behind Shuuichi, threw his arm around his shoulder, and hid his face in Shuuichi's cap. "Kaito?"

"Shhhh...I just live here for now, okay?" Kaito said.

Shuuichi gave Kokichi a questioning look before shrugging, moving onto the next aisle as Kaito walked in step with him, never lifting his face.

Maki, already done with her shopping, came up behind Kokichi, asking curiously, "What was that about?"

It was a little embarrassing to actually kiss in public, but...he'd seen other couples do it. And Kokichi was never upset about Kaito kissing him. And...maybe it was a little nice to be able to flaunt in that small way.

However, Kokichi lit up at the comment Kaito made afterward, involuntarily making a slightly disgusted face, though...there was something comforting about their uncomfortable solidarity. A shudder went down his spine before he relaxed his face enough to return to normal, though the bright flush remained.

Shaking his head and holding the two soap bottles in the crook of his arm, Ouma sighed deeply and meandered...away from Kaito and Shuuichi--just for a little bit! He still needed to buy the slippers. "Nothing you want to know about, Maki-chan, and nothing either of us wanted to know about. It's amazing, finding out something you never want to speak of again."

For all of the issues he had with Aiichi, Kokichi was thankful he never picked up those kinds of daddy issues. It was a biased way of thinking since he was already uncomfortable with it, but it would be too weird to bring up in bed. Especially with what he knew of King Leon, too.

After a little bit of aimless perusing to fade the blush on his face, Kokichi reapproached his hidden husband and the unbothered detective. "Unless Kai-chan needs anything else, I'm gonna buy these and the slippers."

Kaito shook his head into Shuuichi's cap, and Shuuichi said, "I think he's saying no. Hey, the slippers were my idea, I don't mind paying for them if you'd like, Kokichi. Kaito's bought me quite a few things over the years, so this would be my way to pay him back a little."

"No!" Kaito said, breaking away from his hiding space, moving around Shuuichi. "Those things were gifts! You don't have to pay those back! Uh..." He remembered that he wasn't actually negotiating with his own money, and chuckled, "Look, I'm gonna pay Kokichi back, okay? I'm gonna get a job! Just, keep the receipts, 'Kichi, I'm gonna pay all of it back!"

Shuuichi's face was...doubtful. "You're going to get a job?" he asked, softening the clear disbelief in his voice with a kind smile. "What kind of job?"

Kaito shrugged, moving back over to Kokichi, now that the uncomfortable moment had passed. He had only said it as a joke, but the sheer discomfort just using the word on Kokichi jokingly had actually shocked Kaito. Well, you learn new things about yourself every day. "I don't know. What do people do?"

"You should just ask the king to pick a job for you," Maki said, her things all paid for, just waiting for the men in her life to get their shit together. "If you try to find work for yourself I'm worried you'll end up a bouncer somewhere, or a bartender or something."

Kaito's eyes lit up. "Oooooh."

Kokichi shrugged a little, not caring that much if Shuuichi wanted to buy the slippers, but he blinked in surprise at Kaito's declaration to pay him back. Apart from just giving the money to him for any returned clothes, he hadn't expected Kaito to pay him back for...well, any of this. If not just because Kokichi didn't mind spending money on his husband, then...well...

Kaito was his first friend. Had negotiated Aiichi, 'no, Ko, you can't even step outside the gate' Aiichi into letting them take a trip to another country! Probably had something to do with his father letting him go into town. Kaito believed in him. All those things were worth far more to Kokichi than a few pairs of clothes, some soap, and a pair of slippers.

Kaito certainly didn't need to get a job to pay him back, though, if he just wanted something to dedicate his time to...Kokichi had already said that he'd support the older boy no matter what he decided to do.

Not a bouncer if he could help it.

"Oh no, don't get excited about that. You're gonna give me a heart-attack if you go into a job that has you picking fights on purpose." Kokichi pressed a hand to his head before standing straight again. "If you don't want to help me with administrative stuff, Aiichi can definitely find a good place for you. People always need a helping hand. To make it easier, though, you should probably write up a resume, or even just a list of the things you can do."

"He can pick some pretty good fights on purpose, though," Maki pointed out, looking for all intents and purposes like she was seriously considering it now. "Best put that on your resume, Kaito. Though, admittedly, the number of fights you actually win..."

"Is that your version of winning, Maki, or do you just mean in general?" Shuuichi asked good-naturedly, just deciding to drop the slipper thing if Kaito was going to continue to protest it, paying for his own things from a cashier who seemed mostly mentally checked out through the process. "Because if we're not counting your version, I think he's actually got a pretty good win/loss ratio."

"My version," Maki said with a shrug. "Alright, so what else is he good at?"

Both Maki and Shuuichi were quiet for a while, deep in thought...

...and then awhile longer...

"Hmmm," Shuuichi hummed, as the four headed out of the store. "Uh..."

"Oh come on, you guys! I'm good at plenty of stuff! I'm...good with people!" Kaito tried, carrying the bag from this store as well, the few items not adding much extra weight.

"Lately?" Shuuichi asked.

"Here?" Maki said at the same time.

"I can do paperwork and stuff, school proved that!"

"You're a C student, Kaito."

"C is passing!"

"You're lucky you’re royalty, is all I'm saying."

"I'm strong! Look!" Kaito said, reaching down and scooping Kokichi up, putting his husband on his shoulder. "Ehhh? See?"

Maki and Shuuichi looked all the way up to Kokichi...and then said, one after another, "Maybe something in construction?" "I feel like we're back in bouncer territory." "Male escort?" "Kaito? He'd end up giving it away for free." "Female escort." "...I'm listening."

Shuuichi then explained his elaborate, on the spot plan for how to make Kaito a well-known female escort using stuffed bras and Kaito having a strict 'never actually takes clothes off' policy and a reputation for discreteness. "I feel like you're being very specific," Maki pointed out.

Shuuichi sighed. "It was a very strange case."

They all headed back to the castle.

Kokichi shook his head again and paid for the soaps and slippers, fitting them into one of the bags he was already carrying. Kaito had been in a military program, which did mean he had planned on a life of fighting, though, hopefully for Kokichi's heart, a little more weighted onto the tactics and command side of things. But… Everything that had happened were outliers, he knew. But all the fights and all the injuries Kaito had gotten just made him hope that his husband wouldn't get into any fights anytime soon.

Though...what would Kaito do, then?

He listened to Shuuichi and Maki struggle with ideas, his lips pressed in a line. Until Kaito hefted him up, at least, a startled squeak breaking him from the stoic presence as Kokichi tried to hold on. And then a hurried, "No!" to chime into the escort conversation.

As their ideas died down and the castle loomed, Kokichi hummed softly, unsure if this would just be totally out of left field, considering Maki and Shuuichi knew Kaito way better than he did, but...the ideas wouldn't leave him alone.

"...the figurines in our room, you painted them yourself, right? And you've talked about doing more of them in the past." Even if they were for a model of Dicea that Kaito and his family set on fire, but that part didn't matter. "Maybe you could work on games or collectibles?"

"And you have nuanced opinions on novels, too. But not, like, in a hoity-toity way. Maybe a beta reader?" Kokichi mused from up on high. "Oh, or being a TA at the university for the Astronomy classes? You know how to use the tools and you know enough that it impresses the hell out of me, so Kai-chan could definitely be able to help students."

"Or helping out at Susanoo's dojo? You did plan on teaching me stuff about swords, even if it didn't end well...but you could teach other people for sure!"

As they reached the gate again, Kokichi gave his husband a hopeful smile. "There's plenty Kai-chan can do, for sure!"

Maki and Shuuichi listened to all of this, glanced at each other...and then started laughing.

"Oh no, you didn't think we were serious, did you, Kokichi?" Shuuichi asked, a small smile on his face as he moved his cap out of the way to look up at Kokichi.

"We're just teasing him, Kokichi. Kaito knows that," Maki said, her own usual stoic/murderous face easing into gentle amusement. "Though those all are really good ideas. Honestly, Kaito, you might as well use all that random astronomy knowledge for something. Being a TA sounds weirdly professional for you, but I could picture you getting a bunch of kids excited about random star patterns."

"And you were getting good at painting those figurines, near the end there," Shuuichi agreed. "You could probably make some quick extra cash helping local game stores, yeah."

"And if you talking about books as a job gets you to leave me alone about them, all the better," Maki said dryly as they headed back into the gates. "But yeah, you could do that too. You could do anything you want, Kaito. You know that."

Kaito had gone from flustered to happily embarrassed, grinning at his friends. "Heck yeah, I can! I'm Kaito Ouma Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars! The impossible is possible! Heh, here, let me put you down Kokichi. Carefully," he said, squatting down so that Kokichi could safely slide off him, a sheen of sweat on his forehead, but otherwise looking none the worse for wear. "Thank you for thinking of some non-joke ideas, 'Kichi," Kaito said, shooting Shuuichi and Maki a mocking glare. "Here, let me grab the bags, I'll drop it off to our room and come right back down. Then we can head out again! Think about where you wanna go next," he said, offering to take Kokichi's bags.

Maki sighed. "You are one-armed, Kaito. Here, I'll grab the rest. No sense in all of us going back up. Shuuichi, give me yours too."

"O-oh, uh, my room’s kind of a...mess right now," Shuuichi stammered. "If you put my stuff in your room I'll pick it up when we get up."

"Sure," Maki said with a shrug, taking his bags. Glancing over at Kaito, assessing his health level...before saying, "Bet I get to the top before you."

"Hell no!"

And the two were off.

Kokichi flushed, though...he supposed he hadn't really been thinking about it that well. Considering the last time he'd talked to Kaito about job stuff had been pretty serious, he'd just...assumed that that was what this conversation sort of was too. He teased people plenty, but...casual, unprompted teasing between friends was still new.

But at least they seemed to think his suggestions were good.

Smiling through the lingering embarrassed blush, Kokichi braced himself on Kaito's shoulder and slid off of him, landing safely on the ground. And while he'd protested against Kaito taking all the bags before, well, the other prince pretty much had just been holding them, since he was holding Kokichi. And he didn't really want to go back into the castle if he could help it, just on the off chance Aiichi showed up and decided that just that was enough of an outing.

He snickered as Kaito and Maki took off, their competitive zeal something he'd seen more of lately and was absolutely delighted by. Maybe to Shuuichi's long-suffering exasperation, but it seemed like the detective had fun anyway.

Turning to the detective, Kokichi sent him a bit of a teasing look. "Medical research turnin' your room into a tornado, huh? Or just a bunch of anatomy diagrams open you don't want Maki-chan to see?" He laughed a bit more before waving his comments off. "I was thinking we should go to the gardens next. There's an exit that's close to where the pharmacy 'n stuff are, so Shuu-chan can get his recommendations before we go to the bookstore."

His bright smile turned a bit devious after that. "And I'm totally showing you guys where Mikaku-chan planted weed in the garden. Kai-chan got all up over himself when I mentioned it when we first met."

Shuuichi had left his poison bag open and on his bed. He had taken too long getting ready this morning and had almost left without taking his dose...

Okay, no. That wasn't quite right.

He had planned to not take his dose this morning. The first hour of every morning he usually kept himself isolated, because the side effects were the worst in the first hour. His shoulder, after the strange, black and white puss had scabbed over it, had healed in a matter of days, and all that was left there was a thick, somewhat ghoulish looking scar. There was no real use to continuing the experiment as it was, since he didn't have any injuries to mark the progress off, and was finding it difficult to gauge if he really did feel stronger, or if it was all in his head...so, he had told himself yesterday that he would stop. Just full stop, use the results of the experiment as it currently stood to further his medical research as much as his limited knowledge in the field would allow. This morning was supposed to be his first dose free day.

But as he had started to head for the door, the sheer...panic. He had felt. At the idea of trying to get through the day without it...

It had been a mindless, intense anxiety. Just an absolute certainty that he wouldn't be able to get through the day without his dose. He had stood there debating with himself for fifteen minutes, when he had heard Maki outside, scolding Timothy, and realized he was running out of time to choose. So, real quick, he had gotten his poison bag out and...

It had been okay. He had managed to act fairly normally all morning, he was certain, and besides, everyone was so busy with the shopping that he didn't think anyone noticed he had kept mostly quiet so far, though, he had made a mistake when he had started teasing Kaito with Maki. He had been enjoying making his prince try to defend himself too much...to the point where Kokichi had felt the need to step in...hmmmm...

It was harmless. Totally harmless. He had been joking, and it had been harmless. If it hadn't been, Maki would have shut it down before Kokichi did. Everything was fine. He was fine.

Reassured with his own, internal pep talk, Shuuichi smiled, putting his hands up to his mouth as he laughed, "Those diagrams really are shocking sometimes, actually. I don't think I've ever seen the human body presented in a less appealing way. I have to imagine they change the way people in the medical field even view other people."

"I'd appreciate the stop, yeah, and sure, the gardens sound great. Kaito told us you brought him there his first day here, and he seemed pretty impressed by it. Not to mention I've had a few different people tell me I need to go plant something there now. Maybe a...cactus? Something that wouldn't die if I forgot about it," Shuuichi said with a shrug.

He burst into another round of laughter at that last part. "Oh, no...marijuana is very illegal back home. People have it, of course, but every time I've seen it it's usually because it's associated with a case...or the rich kids are trying to impress the noble kids at a party," Shuuichi said with a sigh.

Up above them, Maki and Kaito had finished dropping off the bags and were heading back downstairs, not running this time, just playfully arguing with each other over who actually won. Shuuichi looked up at them with a warm smile, being able to hear some of their muffled bickering from all the way down at the first floor. He really did love them...

Even just hearing how stuff in the body worked sometimes weirded Kokichi out too much. The work that went into getting a medical license was hefty, to say the least, so having to pound all those diagrams and facts into your brain? It definitely didn't make up for the way he'd been treated by various healers over the years, but he did know that they weren't just heartless.

"Oh," he remarked. He hadn't explained that very well, had he. "You don't have to take care of your plant yourself! Some people do, because they like to, but the garden has its own set of staff to take care of it. Like, there are plants in there from people all over the country--they don't travel here, like, every week to tend to theirs."

"Still, if you did want a cactus, I'm pretty sure there are a few different varieties that would grow here." He nodded, sure of his knowledge, before snickering at the new information. "Oh, no shit? It's legal here, but, you know, hiding some in a public garden is just? Funny? And so like Mikaku-chan that it's almost ridiculous."

Their strategist was an odd one, no doubt. He was brilliant, could think of ideas and solutions that no one else had even touched on, but was also fascinated with all sorts of mysteries and weird happenings--all without weed, though he did partake every now and then.

Kokichi looked up when he heard Kaito and Maki's voices and started bouncing on the balls of his feet, excited to get back on the road.

"Kaito, I don't know why you're arguing this. I stepped on the top step first, so I obviously won."

"But I got to my room before you got to yours, I was watching, so I won."

"We weren't racing to our rooms. If we had been racing to our rooms, I wouldn't have stopped running at the top step, and in fact, would have won, even by your cheating new rules standards."

"I'm not cheating! We definitely said-ha," Kaito laughed, seeing his small husband practically vibrating in place in place, reaching out to take his hand now that they were all bag free. "What, still ready to go? Don't want to take another twenty year break?"

"Your stuff is in my room, Shuuichi," Maki told him, glancing over at Kokichi, "As is some of yours. We didn't trade back before dropping them off. I'll sort through it when we get back and bring you yours. Did we decide where we're going?"

"The gardens," Shuuichi said, the four heading outside, back down the road. "Do you all think it would be weird for me to plant a cactus there? I'm not sure why, I just find the idea weirdly amusing...though, maybe for a not very nice reason. It just seems funny because-"

"Because isn't that just so 'Luminary' of us?" Maki said, a small smirk on her face, seeing where Shuuichi was going with this, the detective blushing slightly as he nodded. "We would be the kind of people who get told 'plant anything you want in our big, beautiful Dicean garden', and we'd all immediately point to the plant that stabs people."

Kaito burst out into laughter, grinning wide. "Oh no...that is perfect, isn't it? Ugh, I hate that...do you think they'd have different cactus types for us to choose from 'Kichi? I'm kind of in love with the idea now."

Kokichi happily took his husband's hand, turning to go and leave the castle again. "Hmm, I was thinking thirty years this time? Can't wait to enjoy town one more time when I'm in my fifties." He'd be surprised if he even waited a week before heading back out. The backlot was nice and all for getting fresh air, but something about being in town just felt ten times more invigorating.

He giggled a bit as all three Luminaries seemed enamored with the idea of planting cacti as their plant, and...he could really see it. Cacti could hurt, definitely, but they were also incredibly hardy, one of the best plants at retaining water. In a desperate situation, you'd thank every god people believed in to find one. Some even had medicinal properties in their juices, and others you could eat! And he'd totally heard of one variety that would get you super high. He'd seen pictures of their flowers, just as lovely as anything in the garden.

"Definitely!" he nodded at Kaito. "They might not have starters ready to be planted immediately, but you'd at least get to choose what kind you'd like, if you all wanna do it today." He paused for a moment, growing a little bashful and rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced to the Luminaries. "I kinda wanna show you all my plant too. It's what I was wearing at our wedding, Kai-chan. It's harder to tell when they're picked, but they smell like peaches!"

"Oh, yeah? I didn't know those were, like, your choice. I just sorta assumed someone picked that out for you," Kaito said, turning to his friends as he said proudly, "I wish you guys could have been there to see it..." There was a flash of something deeply, deeply sad in that statement, but he shook it off, smiling brighter as he continued. "H-he looked incredible, you guys! Like something out of a storybook. He had this pretty flowery robe thing, and his hair was pinned back like it was during the dowry ceremony, but he had this headband thing that was just covered in actual flowers...well, I guess you'll get to see those in a minute. Seriously, he was beautiful. I felt so dopey standing next to him," Kaito admitted with a grin, rolling his eyes. "I mean, Shuuichi, you saw it for a second before you left. The servants had me looking so goofy..."

There was an awkward pause as they walked down the road, a conversation that none of them had had yet hanging over them now that it was being touched upon...Kaito finally opened up his mouth to ask, but before he could even say anything, Shuuichi said, "Honestly, I knew I was being tricked when it was happening..."

Kaito shut up, not wanting to interrupt something that Shuuichi had been keeping to himself for awhile, his sidekick hiding under his hat as he continued quietly. "The Head Secretary came to me first thing in the morning and just...told me. What he was doing. Said that he had sent Maki away to kill someone close to Kokichi. Said he was doing it because Kaito had upset him...said that Maki probably wasn't coming back and that Kokichi would blame Kaito and make his life miserable for it. I didn't know you at all back then, Kokichi, so...everything he said about you seemed really plausible to me."

"I knew you had to stay for the wedding. That it didn't matter what was happening to Maki...you had to stay for the wedding. Lives counted on it. But every second I delayed to do what I was already planning to do anyway after I talked to you, Maki got farther away...so I decided to just go and hope I could save her on my own."

Shuuichi clenched his fists, brow furrowed. "What's so frustrating, is I was this close to finding out the truth about Maki's mission. Timothy knew what her mission was, and was going to tell me. But I thought he was going to tell me about Kokichi's mentor. So while he was in the middle of letting me know, I told him I already knew what was happening, gave the note, and left. If I had just let him finish speaking...I'm supposed to be the smart one. I'm not supposed to be tricked. We could have avoided so much..."

"I'm sorry I was stupid, guys..."

Kokichi flushed deeply, being complimented so earnestly. "Geez... Well, if you like Dicean styling so much, whenever we have to go to formal events Denji-chan will probably want to fuss over you too, so get ready for it."

It was embarrassed bluster, but his blush faded fast when Shuuichi spoke up, finally hearing one of the other sides of the story. He still thought that fucker's plan was stupid, but...Shuuichi was right. None of them really knew him well then. Maybe it really was plausible for him to blame Kaito for something he had nothing to do with, in their minds. That he wouldn't think to blame that fucker. That, even if he was angry with Kaito, he'd ruin his life for it.

It was a horrible thought experiment, but if the plan actually had been what they assumed, and Maki had succeeded... If she did end up returning, he probably wouldn't be able to speak with her for...a while. Even before he knew of the Indentured Citizen Program, he'd already guessed that she literally couldn't go against orders. And...it wouldn't be fair to blame her for that. But it would've still hurt too much to talk to her for a while.

Even in that worst-case scenario--or, one of them, since Shuuichi being killed was obviously a worst-case scenario--he still wouldn't have done anything that fucker threatened. But they didn't know that.

Kokichi sighed softly...before turning to offer Shuuichi a kind smile. "Then it's a good thing Shuu-chan has friends, right? Even choosing to do a dumb thing like 'fix it yourself', Shuu-chan has friends that will do whatever they can to help when he does something dumb."

No one could ever do everything on their own. It just wasn't how people worked. But the more people cared about each other, the more they worked together, then truly amazing things could be accomplished. He still had no idea what had happened to the secretaries, but the willingness to care was where truly fun and interesting things happened.

"Well, some of his friends were more useful than others," Kaito said with a small chuckle, the gardens coming up. "I'm pretty sure my interference didn't help any. But, Kokichi's right, Shuuichi. You and I were too close to what was happening to see what was going on. Literally the second I told Kokichi about it he spotted all the little holes in it, and just came up with a solution that ended up working perfectly, even without knowing what was actually going on. So...yeah. If we have a problem, we should just keep doing that, I guess? Telling each other and hoping one of us has the solution. What could possibly beat all four of us!?"

"As for you being stupid," Maki said, reaching out to take Shuuichi's hand in hers, squeezing it a little in affection, "Obviously I wish you hadn't come. I was trying so hard to distance myself from you, to prolong the inevitable...but considering that you didn't know what was happening, I'm grateful you came to get me. Going out into the woods to chase a brainwashed expert assassin on your own was incredibly stupid...but I know you only made it because you, you know..." She squeezed his hand again, staring at the ground. "You love me. So thank you for trying to come get me. Don't ever do it again or I'll give you a matching shoulder wound on your left side," she warned, dropping his hand with one final, violent squeeze.

Shuuichi smiled. "Thanks...oh. I'm guessing this is it, then?" he asked as they entered the gardens. "Wow..."

...well, that was true. He could've done without Kaito running a horse to death, getting thrown from it, and losing his mind due to everything stressing him out beyond belief. But in that situation too, he had friends to help him out. If they kept working together, then...things would be okay. No matter what.

Especially with Kaito, Maki, and Shuuichi in particular. Kokichi didn't bother hiding his adoring smile at the exchange behind him. Aw...that was really cute. Maki and Shuuichi had followed Kaito to another country, so it shouldn't be surprising how much they cared for each other, but it was still sweet to hear stuff like that.

About as proud as he was when he showed 'Caleb' the gardens, Kokichi spread his free arm out in a grand gesture. "Welcome to the Dicean Capital Community Garden! A living tribute and memorium of every Dicean citizen. In spirit, anyway--not everyone wants a plant in it."

Kokichi nudged their group down to take a path longer than the one he'd taken Kaito on before, planning to hit his patch of cornflowers, take a small detour to Mikaku's marijuana, and end up in the part of town that had the pharmacy, candy shop, and blacksmith.

"For most plants, you're allowed to take pieces of them--like fruit or whatever--as long as you don't take everything. Nazumi-chan knows the garden like the back of her hand, so we don't really get people tryin' to be sneaky jerks. If we see her around, you guys can ask about the cacti."

While Kaito openly gawked at everything, Shuuichi found himself playing a small game of 'can I recognize the medicinal plants', every now and again pointing at one and saying, "I...think that's use to treat sunburns...and...that one's good for constipation...shoot, I don't know what that one does, but I've definitely seen it come up in the books a few times..."

Maki was more or less disinterested, but was still happy to just be walking around with the group, mostly just listening to and commenting every now and again on Kokichi's tour, though at one point she saw a particular flower bush and actually burst out laughing, to the surprise of everyone in the group.

"No, no, sorry, I just...I was on a job back when I was, I don't know, nineteen? And I ended up being stuck inside of a bush just like this, but way more overgrown, for hours with a...well, I was stuck there for hours anyway, because a group of teenagers decided to play spin the bottle and a bunch of other dumb things teenagers like to play, and had decided to use it as cover from the dinner party their parents were all at. I just had to sit there watching a bunch of fifteen year olds being painfully awkward with each other. Total nightmare."

She paused, smiling fondly at the memory despite herself as she confessed, "There was this one girl who was clearly trying to flirt on another girl though, who was entirely oblivious to it. Just...so dense. I found myself rooting for her. So that was kind of entertaining."

"Ugh, I was part of a party like that once around that age. Super uncomfortable, never wanted to do it again. Actually, Kaito, you dragged me to that party, didn't you?" Shuuichi said. "I remember now. You guilted me into it. Said there was a girl you had a crush on and you desperately needed me to be your wingman, but when we got there, you refused to tell me who it was, and were acting weird the whole night. What was that all about?"

"Oh geez, that...I lied. I didn't need you to be my wingman for anyone, I was trying to be a wingman for a friend of mine by bringing you to her," Kaito admitted with a sheepish laugh. "She had an over the top crush on you, wouldn't stop gushing, so I promised to introduce you two. But I don't think you ever caught on that she existed, no matter how much I tried to push you on her. Like, do you even remember someone named Komaru Naegi?"

"Errrr..." Shuuichi said, his mind drawing a total blank, "...should I?"

Kaito sighed. "Nevermind. We both realized after that night that it wasn't happening. She got over it. Then me and her dated for all of a week and she got over that too. I think she started dating girls pretty exclusively after that. I wonder if collectively we just turned her off guys altogether."

It was fun, walking through the garden with friends, the experience more full than he'd ever had before with their own commentary, and not just him pointing things out. Sometimes he'd have things to add on to Shuuichi's I Spy game, saying, oh, the lady who planted the aloe went to the most southern coast every year and would get super sunburned, or, you see the beehive in that tree? The flowers under it are really good for bees--the person who planted them moved from the mountains and had bad allergies, so they wanted to gather local honey to help.

When Maki pointed out the flower bush he snickered along with the story, a little surprised that Spin the Bottle was something people actually did, and wasn't some dumb, old game that people used to force people together in novels. The story Shuuichi and Kaito told was pretty funny too, though he felt some sympathy for Komaru. Trying to flirt with an oblivious person was sooo frustrating.

"You're too brutal, Shuu-chan," Kokichi sighed, shaking his head. "Any other stories of you super shutting people down I should add to the data pile? Oh!! But c'mere, look, look! These are my flowers!"

Kokichi excitedly knelt down at the side of the path, gesturing to a cluster of wild purple flowers, their thin petals waving gently from the wind the younger prince generated. "I don't remember it, but my nanny went through a botanical encyclopedia with me when I was super little, and I pointed these out to be my flowers. Honestly, I think I probably just liked the color, but they've become my favorite anyway."

As Shuuichi wondered what Kokichi meant by 'add to the data pile'...were there others? Kaito grinned, "Yeah, those were the ones! He had a bunch in his hair. It was nice, really pretty."

Getting an idea, Kaito reached out to pick one of the flowers, breaking the stem between his fingers and moving towards Kokichi...but Maki intervened. "Hold on, hold on, honestly Kaito..."

She took the flower away from them a bit, inspected the petals carefully, and blew on them gently, inspecting them again...before giving it back to Kaito. "Alright, there, you dunce. Your husband is afraid of bugs, remember? Look out for that before putting random plants on him."

Kaito grinned. "Thanks, Maki. My bad." Then he went and tucked it behind Kokichi's ear, securing it with some hair as he said, "There. That's a taste of what he looked like on our wedding day. Beautiful, right?"

Shuuichi laughed. "Kaito, you're kind of a sap, you know that? It suits you though, Kokichi."

"I like it...do you think flowers in my hair would make me seem more meek and hapless? I'd have a hard time imagining Kokichi being a snickering little shit in that."

"Still bitter about the way he reacted to Timothy's prank?"

"Yes."

Kokichi blinked in slight surprise as Maki took the flower before... Again, his cheeks burned red, but from more than just being flattered. Damn bugs... He knew they were important for the ecosystem and all that, yadda yadda, but he'd much prefer if they stayed away from him, thank you very much. Even just at the thought of a bug hiding in the petals and crawling on him... A shudder went down his spine and Kokichi offered Maki a grateful smile before he stood back up, tilting his head a little to show the flower off.

And, just to prove Maki's point, he snickered a little more. "It was hilarious. I know you'll never tell him, and I won't tell him as my gracious gesture towards Maki-chan's sanity, but no one in the castle's gonna be bothered with the caliber of pranks he's been pulling. I've been messing with everyone pretty much my whole life. Honestly this might be a breath of fresh air since I've been too busy to really set anything up."

He wouldn't tell Timothy that, no, also in part because it'd probably dampen the boy's enthusiasm, but that didn't mean he wouldn't interfere. Or laugh wholeheartedly when he saw one go off. When he'd found out about it, damn, you bet he wished he could've seen the horse in the entry hall!

Reaching out a little, he gestured to her hair ties. "Flowers would totally make Maki-chan even cuter though. Weaving flowers into braids is a pretty common style, but you could also just get hair ties or clips that look like flowers, so you don't have to worry about them wilting. Like Nao-chan!" The pink and orange flower clip the librarian wore around her bun was loosely modeled after a hibiscus, but was just sort of a 'generic flower shape.' Apparently she'd been wearing clips like that since she was a teenager!

"I could totally see you with, like, sunflower hair ties. Or maybe Maki-chan could get a lot and change them up to match what's in bloom! I don't think most people would assume someone who'd pay attention to that would be plotting their doom." Then again, their head gardener had once killed four people, but...most people wouldn't assume stuff like that.

"Hmmmm..." Maki sighed. "Sounds like an awful lot of work...we'll revisit it the next time I get an assignment, see if it's worth pursuing. With all this down time, I actually have quite a few new methods I'd like to explore more for future assignments. As my prince and current highest authority based on the terms of the treaty, I'd love to sit down with you at some point, Kokichi, to go over them."

Kaito frowned, giving Maki a curious look as he pointed out, "Uh...Maki, I'm not sure you're...getting any new assignments..."

Maki shrugged. "Fair enough. But it's still my profession to hone my craft and to keep my chain of command informed of what is at their disposal. Whenever you have time, Kokichi. I would appreciate it."

"Sure thing," he agreed with a nervous smile, trying not to sound too unenthusiastic. Maki was a killer. He knew that and accepted it. But it still didn't mean he liked her profession at all. And it was one thing to joke around about what would make people underestimate her the most, and another to go step-by-step through assassination plans. At least he could still hope she'd never have a chance to use them.

She seemed occupied enough, especially with training Timothy, but if he decided not to do that anymore... Gently, Kokichi spoke up again. "Actually... And this goes for you too, Shuu-chan, but if you guys have any hobbies or education or whatever you want to pursue, feel free to talk to me or the boss about it. I don't know if I mentioned it...I know I told Kai-chan..."

He hummed for a moment, eyes squinted as he tried to remember, but then just shrugged. "Well, anyway. There are workshops and seminars held in the castle all the time, and anyone is free to join. The big bulletin board in the entry hall is updated with notices, and in the case of a workshop that needs supplies, there's usually an interest list you can write your name on to let the person putting it on know how many sets of supplies they need to bring."

"Also, if you want to take any classes at the university, it's super easy to enroll. And you're free to take classes just to take them, and not have to worry about credits or grades or anything." Hoping he wasn't...overstepping their boundaries or offending them or anything, Kokichi looked between the Luminaries with wide eyes. "Just some options, you know?"

"...workshops are held in the castle..." Maki mirrored.

"...and anyone can just...go to university?" Shuuichi said, brow furrowed.

Maki and Shuuichi both looked down at him, slightly surprised...but Shuuichi hid his face under his cover, glancing away with a small frown, something clearly now on his mind, as he said, "That will...certainly be something to think about, yes," and Maki's face seemed to go even more stoic, her eyes, instead of murderous, now...surprisingly cold as she said, "Yes...yes, I agree. I'd love to hear more about how all of that works someday..."

Kaito looked between his two friends, entirely unable to guess where their heads were at, but knowing something was going on in there... before finally just deciding to try to save the conversation. "Um...okay! Cool! I think classes would be a lot of fun! Thanks 'Kichi!" He looked earnestly at his friends, wondering what was up with them, as they both seemed to be brooding over something to themselves, before saying, "Riiiiight, guys?"

"Oh...sorry, yes!" Shuuichi said, blushing slightly as he nodded. "It really would. My interests are pretty niche at the moment, but I'll definitely look through the listings to see if something catches my eyes."

"Same, I suppose. Maybe I can sign Timothy up for some of them. He needs more things to occupy his time," Maki mused, reaching out to a random berry bush, picking a berry before showing it to Kokichi and Shuuichi. "Is this poisonous?"

"Errrr...no, I don't think so..." Shuuichi said, but before he could say anything else, she shrugged and popped it into her mouth.

Whelp. Hopefully it wasn't.

It was visible how Kokichi deflated. He hadn't wanted to imply that the trades they had spent their whole lives working for (willingly or not) wouldn't see much use in their new home, but... Well, for Maki, it was true. She could continue to hone her skills and train Timothy, but he just...worried about her getting bored without any real tasks in front of her. So...why not offer other avenues she could take if she wanted?

With Shuuichi, he could probably find detective work. Things weren't, like, creepily peaceful across Dicea. There were still problems and people doing shifty things that would need to be found out. He could probably introduce Shuuichi to one of the lawyers he knew in town, and then he'd have a connection to find cases he wanted to take on! But, still...it was good to have options, wasn't it?

...maybe not, if they weren't really used to having options...

Kokichi found himself looking to the ground, hands shoved in his pockets, unsure what he should even apologize for, or if he should apologize at all. He glanced up a bit as Kaito perked everyone back up, but he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he'd messed up.

Until Maki popped a random berry in her mouth. He dashed to her side with a gasp, looking up at her worriedly. "Maki-chan, that's a chokeberry!"

Perhaps it was too obvious by the way he hadn't reacted more urgently, but Kokichi did manage to hide his grin as he carefully watched to see her face react to the horribly sour berry.

It wasn't bad. Surprisingly sour, but then, maybe it wasn't ripe ye-

Chokeberry?

Maki didn't panic. She didn't hesitate. This wasn't her first rodeo digesting poison. She pushed Kokichi aside, into Shuuichi, who caught him and, knowing what she was about to do, took several steps backwards with him. She then put a fist into her other hand, furrowed her brow...and punched herself as hard as she could into her gut.

She immediately started to vomit.

As she wretched, Shuuichi said quietly to Kokichi, actual horror in his voice, "Oh my god, Atua save us, that better have been actual poison or she's going to kill you."

Kaito, in turn, had immediately run to her side, rubbing her back as he said worriedly, "Maki? Are you good, can you breathe!?"

After she was done vomiting, Maki stilled herself, taking a couple of testing breaths...before nodding, giving Kaito a thumbs up.

Kaito sighed in relief, still rubbing Maki's back as he said, "Geez! Why would they keep something like that here!? They should put a sign or something!"

"I'm gonna burn it," Maki said darkly, the second she could speak. "Fertilizer's highly combustible...once I find where they're keeping some..."

...uh oh.

Maybe he should've known better than to tease a professional assassin with a poison joke, but... Like the rest of them, Kokichi was an idiot too.

He stumbled back at the push, thankfully steadied by Shuuichi, though he didn't feel very thankful, watching as Maki didn't hesitate to gag herself.

Oh no

In a breath he yelled out, "It's-just-a-berry-not-poison!" before kicking things into high gear, running away. Hopefully the others could calm Maki down to a...slightly less murderous rage before she would have a chance of catching him. He was pretty fast, but he'd seen her move too. He'd have to rely on his friends sooner than he'd thought.

He figured Maki and Shuuichi would've been paying attention to the path he took them all down, so Kokichi started down a branching one, moving at breakneck speed so the assassin wouldn't break his neck. He knew the places where you could run through the plants without hurting anything, too; that should buy him at least a little time before--

"Ooph!"

It wasn't poison!?

Kaito gaped as his husband just shouted that out, before watching him run, almost immediately disappearing into the greenery, glancing over at Maki who...

oh shit, oh shit, he immediately turned on his dad's voice, calling out, "Maki, sta-"

Nope, too late. She was gone.

"Oh my god, my best friend is about to kill my husband," Kaito said aloud, just baffled that things had just spiraled this wildly out of control all of the sudden. "Come on, Shuuichi, maybe we can catch them before it's too late!"

"Uh, right, we'll just..." Shuuichi looked around the paths, both the victim and the murderer having moved too quickly to gauge which one they were on, eyes scanning the dirt before finally saying, "This one! Come on!"

Shuuichi and Kaito both ran as fast as they could down the path.

Meanwhile, Maki was in her primal mode, her vision red and her brain a mask of screeching white noise, her hair flowing in for the sheer murderous intent radiating off her.

Where was he? His footsteps were light enough to not make a trail. He had to be here somewhere though. Perhaps he was taking refuge in some shrubbery? She would find him, she would find him, she would-ow!!

Out of nowhere, Maki felt hands on her hair, Shuuichi leaping onto her and grabbing both pigtails, allowing himself to fall and bring her down with him as he shouted, "Sorry, Maki! Kaito!"

Not far behind Shuuichi, having tried a different path until he heard them yell, Kaito shouted in his dad's voice, "Maki! Stand down!"

Maki frowned...took a deep breath...and said, "Really? Would you get off me! I'm not going to kill him!"

Shuuichi frowned beneath her, having braced himself this whole time for some retaliation for grabbing her hair, honestly surprised the hair trick had worked at all as he said, "...r-really?"

"No," Maki pouted. "We don't fight Kokichi, remember? Kaito said that eight days ago. Of course I won't kill him...not that it'd be much a fight..." she said darkly, her rage still radiating off her.

"Then...what were you trying to do?" Kaito said, not doubting Maki, but just...offering her room to explain herself. "Because it looked like you were going to stab him."

"Does shaking him until his teeth fall out of his head count as 'fighting'?"

"Please don't shake my husband, Maki, he's so thin, you really don't understand, he might literally shatter."

"Fine! What can I do?! How about piercings?! I'd give him a piercing!"

"...a piercing?" Shuuichi asked.

"Yes."

"...you mean you just want to stab him in the ear," Kaito realized.

"YES!"

Kokichi would have certainly fallen if not for the sturdy hands in thick leather gloves holding his shoulders. "Whoa, easy there... Prince Kokichi?"

"A-aunty Nazumi..." He'd run right into the head gardener, concern written all over her face. She'd likely been in the middle of work, her overalls dirt-covered and her favorite shovel laying on the ground just to the side. "I-I, uh!"

"You look like you're runnin' from a serial killer or something, your highness." She'd heard from Lake that the prince and his new friends were coming into town today, boss-approved and everything. Sometimes Nazumi would see Kokichi in the garden, and would just pretend not to, but today she wouldn't have to, Aiichi finally getting his damn head out of his ass.

But she hadn't expected to see him so...fearful. Pale and startled and...she looked at the flower in his hair, still holding on. There were people in town who still really hated Luminaries, despite accepting the treaty. Maybe...one of them had gotten a jump on the royal couple, the Luminary Prince telling his husband to run... Between what she'd seen at the wedding and how Lake described Prince Kaito, he did seem like the type to take on a battle for his husband's protection.

Her surprised expression hardened as she let her little prince go, eyes narrowed in grim determination as she picked her shovel up and headed the way Kokichi had come. No one was allowed to hurt her prince (and his husband) on her watch, in her garden!

"Oh shit..." Kokichi groaned to himself before taking off after the gardener. "Aunty Nazumi, wait!!"

Kaito was still very much trying to negotiate with Maki, Maki now standing, but Shuuichi holding her by the arm with both hands, Maki holding a dagger as she fumed, "It'll be a NICE piercing! TASTEFUL!"

"Maki, Maki, please," Kaito said, not able to help but laugh a little as he watched his life-long friend try to do something he had never seen her do before...try to make her murderous rage come out in a, comparatively, non-violent way. "We can't shake him, and we can't give him random piercings. I don't know what King Aiichi's limit is, but I think I will have to answer some very difficult questions if his son is suddenly walking around with a piercing in his ear."

"Then I'll give him a BELLY BUTTON piercing!"

"With a dagger, Maki!? You're just talking about stabbing him in the stomach!" Kaito dared to get a little closer to her, himself more in danger than Shuuichi because, well, Maki didn't randomly stab Shuuichi. "How about this! You can stab me! Didn't you say you were going to stab me the next time you got pissed at Kokichi? Just a little poke in my bad arm, I'm not using it anyway!"

"Errrrggggg..." Maki growled, fire in her eyes...though it was clearly dialing down at the sheer ludicrous course of this conversation. "...told myself I wouldn't stab you til you're all healed up..."

"Alright, well, I'll take the piercing then! On my husband's honor! I've always wanted a piercing! Piercings are cool!" Kaito said with a loud laugh, stepping even closer to her, reaching out to put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Buuuut, let's not shake my husband...or chase him through the gardens...or give him random piercings....okay? Can we agree on that?"

Kaito risked putting his hand on her shoulder, and there was a tense moment where it looked like maybe she'd lash out...but she sighed. "...would you really let me give you a piercing?" she asked, genuinely curious as the red went away from the edge of her vision.

Kaito smiled blankly. "...m-maybe not with the dagger?" he tried, chuckling, "But, uh, I did say I would! So...yes?"

Maki sighed. "Shuuichi, you can let go of me, I'm okay. I wasn't going to kill him anyway. Where did he even go? He's incredibly fast."

Kaito looked around, increasingly worried as he realized...yeah, he had no idea. "Kokichi?! Hey, it's okay to come out now! Are you out there!?"

"It's no big deal! Seriously, no one's in danger!"

"I'll clobber 'em! One good hit sends 'em all down!"

"Aunty, I'm serious! They're my friends, nothing happened!"

"So there ARE people chasing you!"

"Aunty Nazumi, come on!"

That was how the prince and the gardener walked into the clearing of the path the Luminaries were standing in, Nazumi holding her shovel in one hand like a cavalier might heft a great axe. Her orange eyes were furious, hair starting to cover one as it fell out of her headband, a wide, sneering smile on her face.

Nazumi had heard of Maki, the new young woman that was rumored to be a hired killer, but she'd never seen her. Maki hadn't been at the wedding. So all the gardener saw was a woman close to her prince's husband brandishing a dagger.

However, Kokichi moved before she did. He was still...concerned that Maki was still pissed with him, but whatever she'd do was much more preferable than a fight breaking out.

He dashed in front of Nazumi, just beginning to raise her shovel, and held his arms out wide, making himself a tiny human shield for the Luminaries behind him. "Aunty, STOP! No one's in danger!!"

The three Luminaries all looked over to the upcoming noise, two voices coming out of the greenery...and then out came a woman, with a shovel edged by wear and tear against rock and dirt, and fire in her eyes, her whole body radiating violent intent. Not unused to being approached violently, none of them reacted at first, just staring at her curiously...

...and then Kokichi came out of nowhere, arms wide, standing between her and them, as she, with all of her violent intent, brandished a shovel bigger than him...

All three of the Luminaries reacted at once.

Maki and Kaito moved quickest, Maki leaping over Kokichi with now an additional dagger in hand, holding both daggers up as she moved into a low pose, her eyes wide and searching, looking for weak spots. Kaito went around Kokichi, a shout, low and bloodthirsty, erupting from the back of his throat as he made up the right flank, legs spread, his single arm balled into a fist and ready to swing, the two of them making a wall between her and Kokichi.

Shuuichi, in turn, grabbed Kokichi and dragged him backwards, trying to put as much space between the prince and the fight as they could in the short timeframe they had as Maki said, low, calm, and deadly, "You have one warning to put that down."

Kaito, the exact opposite, was all bravado and bolster as he shouted, "Don't you move an INCH closer to him! I'm Kaito Ouma Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars, and you will NOT touch the Dicean Prince!"

Nazumi blinked, once, twice, before the killing intent in her ebbed away and she gently brought the shovel down to her side. And then she started laughing, smoothing her hair back into her headband. "Ahahaha! Ah geez, what a horrible impression. Gotta work on those."

"So, Maki and Shuuichi, I'm guessing," she asked, pointing to them each in turn, laughing a bit more at how Shuuichi had dragged Kokichi away. And with a nod to Kaito, she continued, "And our Prince Kaito, of course."

"My bad, folks. I didn't see you at the wedding, Miss Maki, and, living in a place like this so long, when you see people hold weapons out, you make some assumptions you wouldn't other places--sorry 'bout that."

Kokichi sighed, tipping his head back onto Saihara's chest. "Fuck...I gotta sit down... Ya tell people exactly what's going on and do they listen? Nooooo, of course not..."

Laughing more sheepishly, Nazumi held a hand out to the garden. "I'm sure Prince Kokichi's already given you the rundown, but welcome to our garden! I'm Nazumi Hijiri, this year's head gardener."

As Shuuichi took off his cap to fan Kokichi a little, a worried look on his face, Maki and Kaito stared at the woman in confusion for a moment before, slowly, relaxing their poses, Maki's daggers disappearing into her skirt as they both quickly bowed.

"I apologize, Miss Hijiri," Maki said first, adjusting her head a little to take some of the crack out of her neck, her body losing its tension as she realized there wasn't going to be an actual fight out of this. "I forget myself sometimes, please forgive me. You have a beautiful garden.”

"Uhh, yeah, me too!" Kaito said, nodding vigorously before straightening up, sweat pulling on his forehead as he chuckled nervously. "Sorry for all the disturbance! We just got worried for a second when we saw Kokichi up against, well...you. That shovel looks like it can do some damage! You have some biceps on you!"

Kaito looked back at Kokichi, leaving Maki to the woman as he trotted back to him real quick. "H-hey, are you okay? Man, you really bolted for it! I told you he was fast, Shuuichi!" Kaito said, a touch of pride in his voice as he then reached out an arm. "Here, I got him."

Picking up Kokichi, his arm placed under his ass, bracing him on his hip, he went back to the woman, nodding his head at her. "Thank you for standing to defend my husband...uh, that is what you were doing, right, Miss Hijiri?"

"Aw, aren't you all so polite! Not the reaction I'm used to from the other side of the shovel, I'll tell ya!" She easily accepted the apologies, chuckling to herself. Lake was right, they were some good kids. Protective, but that wasn't a bad thing, and even if it were, a damn chunk of the town would have to deal with that sin. "I'm glad you all are enjoying yourselves."

"I'm good, I'm good, just provoked someone with the shortest fuse I've ever seen for no reason," Kokichi sighed, though he didn't protest being picked up, needing a moment for his chest to loosen and his heart to slow back down. Running around was fine, but having to stop two murderous parties going against each other? Not an everyday occurrence for him.

As Kaito took him back to Nazumi, he gave the woman a tired, 'I told you so' sort of look and she practically sweatdropped right there. "Ye. Kokichi ran right smack into me, and it's been a long time since I've seen you that startled, kid. Not since you walked into that spiderweb."

Her smile sobered a bit, almost apologetic as she looked over the foreigners. "Most people are fricking elated for the war to be over, but there's still a lot of hurt. I hope you all haven't had issues, but I got ahead of myself, thinking someone wanted to settle their personal beef with Luminary by bein' a dickwad to ya, Prince Kaito. That you'd sent Prince Kokichi off for safety, and...yeah. My bad."

"Everything okay, though?" she asked, wondering what had actually happened to send the prince running.

And...maybe Kokichi huddled a little closer to his husband. "Prank gone wrong, you know how it is. Uh, Aunty? There's a puddle of vomit near the chokeberries, by the way."

"Aaah." She nodded knowingly, even not knowing the exact truth. "I gotcha. Aronia is way too sour for most folks raw, but it's pretty good when it's cooked into other stuff. Hope that experience doesn't put you off them." She looked around the other three, not sure which of them had fallen for Kokichi's prank, but the information applicable for all of them.

Hefting her shovel back up, very much proving Kaito's comment on her muscles true, Nazumi gave them all a nod. "If ya don't mind, I'm gonna go clean that up. Don't want any other folks gettin' sick from the smell."

Kaito sighed, clutching Kokichi close to himself, frowning at the story Nazumi had constructed in her head. He hadn't had any experience yet with outright anti-Luminary sentiment yet, other than a few whispers in the castle on occasion...but, then, he had only been in the castle for two weeks now, and, honestly, had spent most of that time almost exclusively in Kokichi's room...

...he supposed he should watch out for that sort of thing, if only for Kokichi's sake. Timothy's reaction was extreme, the kind of thing a child raised on the battlefield might do, but his reason for it probably wasn't unique to him. There could be people out there who might consider Kokichi a traitor for marrying a Luminary...

"Um, Miss Hijiri," Shuuichi called out to her, putting his cap back on his head. "When you have a moment, could we ask you about putting some plants down? I assume all of us could use a chance to take a breath, and picking out some seeds or...whatever it is we're meant to do might be the perfect excuse for that."

Maki went over to Kokichi, held in Kaito's arms, and staring at him...seemed to consider things...

"How would you feel about Kaito with an ear piercing?" she asked him. Entirely serious.

Nazumi broke out in a sunny grin, giving Shuuichi a thumbs-up. "Oh hell yeah! I'd be honored to help you guys decide on your plant. Why don't you head to the office--you can take 'em there, right, Kokichi?--and I'll meet you there in just a sec. If you don't have something in mind already, we have catalogs in there that you can start looking through."

Kokichi nodded to the gardener before looking down at Maki in surprise. "Uh... I mean, I don't really care? It's his body, so...shouldn't you be asking him?" He glanced to his husband, a little confused about why this came up. Had...Kaito been wanting to get a piercing before, but had put it off for the wedding, for whatever reason?

Giving light directions to the garden office, Kokichi thought for a moment before giving both Maki and Kaito a look. "If you wanted to get a piercing today, that's something I'm not paying for, Kai-chan."

"We're not paying anyone else to do it. I just need access to a needle and fire," Maki said, following Kaito.

Kaito just laughed nervously...ahhh. The things he did for love.

"I'm guessing this is it," Shuuichi said as they came across a small building, looking a little like a lodge. Assuming the front door was open and right to believe so, they walked in.

Kaito placed Kokichi down, kissing his forehead as Shuuichi and Maki went to look around, saying with their relative privacy now, "Hey, are you alright? The shovel lady said you looked really freaked out when she found you. I know this might sound insincere, considering everything that just happened, but Maki said she wasn't planning to, uh...well not kill you anyway… Look, I don't like doing it, but I can, and you can, actually...I mean, if you don't feel safe around her, we can... give her some official orders on how to behave with you and...I-I mean, she won't be able to chase you or anything anymore...I mean..." Kaito felt more and more conflicted the more he discussed the idea, his brow furrowing with dread as he thought about just...forcibly suppressing a part of Maki's personality... "...we...maybe we could ask her permission..."

Kokichi smiled up at Kaito when he was placed down, his heart having calmed on the walk over. "I'm okay. I was more just startled at running into her. I was so focused on shaking Maki-chan that I wasn't really looking where I was going."

"And I wasn't thinking earlier, which was the problem." He sighed a bit, looking over at Maki for a moment. "I should've known better than to try and prank her like that, it's not Maki-chan's fault. Those are called chokeberries because they're super sour and make people's faces scrunch up and stuff if they aren't expecting it. The name set up such a good punchline I wasn't thinking about how accustomed to poisons you guys actually are, and I certainly didn't think she'd make herself throw up."

"Maki-chan said she wouldn't hurt me on purpose, and I trust that. I just ran because I figured you guys would be able to calm her out of, like, throttling level before she caught me." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and a little ashamed. "I don't want to ask Maki-chan to change just because of a mistake I made."

He felt bad enough ordering Shuuichi around by accident. Doing that to one of them on purpose? He'd never be able to forgive himself. The rationalization of 'for your own good' did have its uses, but he'd seen far too many cases of abusing it.

Kokichi raised his voice a little, enough to reach the other side of the cabin. "And Maki-chan is totally valid in bein' mad at me right now for a bad prank."

Maki looked over at Kokichi, Shuuichi having found the catalog and now perusing through it, looking for the specific kind of plant they had all agreed on. Maki gave Kokichi a long, tired look...and then smirked, shrugging. "You got me. I totally believed you. Good one. But that's alright..." She suddenly sneered, looking over at Kaito, "Now I get to practice my first ever piercing on someone. So it all evens out in the end."

"Hahaha, but not today, right? M-maki?" Kaito asked, increasingly nervous as Maki just smirked at him, before turning back to Shuuichi.

"Ha! Found it! Cactus, you guys!" Shuuichi said, Maki, and eventually Kaito, looking over his shoulder curiously as they saw a bunch of pictures and descriptions of cacti. "Hey, these are pretty cool. I didn't know cactus's grew flowers."

"Look, some of them have specific shapes from the top angle...that one kind of looks like a star, Kaito," Maki pointed out.

"Oh yeah...Astr...astrophytum...I'll never be able to say that last word. Doesn't look like it has needles though, and that's kind of the joke..." Kaito pointed out.

"I think it's still gloomy enough to get the point across," Maki said, pointing to one that caught her eye. "That one has lots of thin little needles hidden among flowers though. Perfect. Latispinus."

"Which one for you, Shuuichi?" Kaito asked, "It's your idea, after all."

"Still looking..." Shuuichi murmured... "Ah! That one!" he said, pointing.

"Paper spine cactus?" Kaito asked, brow furrowing, "Dude, if you're trying to take some sort of dig at yourself, there are a lot more cactus here that better represent you..."

"I just like the way it looks," Shuuichi said. "It resonates, you know?"

"It looks creepy."

"Yeah," Shuuichi said, a pleased, tired smile on his face.

Kokichi sighed with a bit of a smile, bopping his head against his husband's arm. "Thank you for taking my punishment, and I'll do my best to make sure this isn't a regular thing, Kai-chan. And I'll make sure you get numbed before she gives you a piercing."

He joined the Luminaries, peering around Shuuichi's side to take a look at the catalog. While there were plenty of plants that wouldn't grow in the capital, the catalog was specifically curated so that everything in it would be able to be planted in the garden. Sometimes they had to order seeds or starters or saplings from other places, but everything in the catalog was a possibility. Even cacti.

Kokichi giggled softly as they each found a cactus that they liked, and even having only known them for, like...damn, three weeks now? Thereabouts? He could agree that each fit them.

With a slight knock against the side of the cabin, presumably her shovel being placed on the outside of the building, Nazumi entered the office, taking her gloves off and stuffing them in a loop in her belt before joining the four. She took a look at the page they were looking at and gave an excited hum before looking around her desk for a moment before finding a pen and a pad.

"Cacti? Awesome, I've been hopin' to plant a few in one of these years. Now, I'm going to have to order cuts in, and it'd be just cruel to plant 'em when it's about to get freezing, so, if it's alright with you all, once we get the cuts, I'll plant them in indoor pots to let the little guys settle. Then, once our next spring starts warmin' up, they'll go in the garden." She started writing the loose plan down, shrugging a shoulder. "Of course, there will be a different head gardener at that point, but since you've come to me now, I'll make sure your plants get all settled."

"Now! Tell me whatcha want!"

Nazumi wrote down the three varieties of cacti, noting little things about them before walking over to a large, heavily detailed map of the garden on the wall, humming and hawing for a moment before she stuck three pins in an area near one of the edges of the garden. "This place gets the most sun, and the soil tends to stay a little drier. The tallest plants around it are shrubs, so they won't be blocked or anythin'," she explained.

"They'll be all together?" Kaito asked, that point being very important to him, feeling relieved as she finished putting the pins in. "Good. That's nice. It'll be fun to come see them next year then! The Luminary Cactus's!"

"The Luminary Cacti," Shuuichi corrected, stretching his arm across his chest now that all the fussing was done, getting up from the chair and bowing low to Nazumi. "Thank you for your time and help, Miss Hijiri. Again, we apologize for all the chaos we brought. It, uh...probably won't happen again."

"My mouth tastes bad now," Maki pouted, playing with her hair a bit. "What time is it? Are we thinking about lunch soon? I need to get the vomit out of my mouth."

Shuuichi adjusted his cap, thinking about it. "Well, I think we were gonna swing by the pharmacy real quick, or at least you guys will drop me off there for a little while, and...is that bookstore near here? Are you two still going to go check that out?" Shuuichi asked Kaito and Kokichi.

The incredibly broke Kaito just shrugged, looking over at Kokichi.

"You guys did pick species that need the same kind of care, so, yeah! They'll all be together. If you have time, you can even plant them if you'd like!" For those that could and wanted to, it was a special moment, planting your plant in the garden. Leaving your mark in the representation of the nation. Nazumi sure had felt a sense of awe and belonging when she planted her lilies in the garden, years ago. Right next to Lake's zinnias...

Sighing with love, Nazumi nodded to Shuuichi at his bow. "It's my pleasure to help out, and, since no one got hurt, no worries about earlier. I hope you'll enjoy the garden to your hearts' content!"

"Oh, oh!" Kokichi piped up, seeing a plan working out very well now. "Let's take Shuu-chan to the pharmacy, and me and Maki-chan can go to the candy shop! She can get something better tasting until we do go get lunch, and the blacksmith is, like, practically next door. Powell's is close by too, so Shuu-chan can meet up with us after he gets recommendations and we can look at books, then lunch?"

He'd share his haul from the candy store with Kaito if he wanted anything, and maybe one book if he found something he really liked. And lunch, of course. Even if Kaito didn't have any of his own money left, there was no way Kokichi wanted him to feel left out of everything. Or to go hungry.

Looking to his taller companions, Kokichi started to lead the way regardless. "That sound good?"

"Sure. I'm not much of a sweets person, but I'll grab something real quick and then head to the blacksmith. I have a few specific orders in mind. If I'm lucky, they'll already have something I have in mind just laying around already," Maki said, following naturally.

"Why do you want to go to the pharmacy again, Shuuichi?" Kaito asked, the two men following as well, one step behind. "I know you've been studying, like, the benefits of poison or something?"

"More or less, yes," Shuuichi nodded.

"Right, but..." Kaito didn't know how to just say 'why?' without it coming across like Kaito thought it was a waste of time. "Are you thinking of going into medicine, Shuuichi? I mean, you know you can, right? You're not tied to your career track anymore."

"Oh, I know that..." Shuuichi shrugged, lowering his cap. "I don't know. Probably not, honestly. I'm not sure if I'd have the patience for the schooling. Honestly I haven't given any of that too much thought yet. It feels a little like a waste to just...stop being a detective, after all this time and training put into it..."

He shrugged. "I'm just scratching an itch right now. I just want to know a lot about this one specific thing, and once that's done, I'll probably find everything else in medicine really boring."

"Just medicinal properties of poison in general?" Maki asked, sounding more or less indifferent to it as they all walked. "Or are you trying to work out something specific?"

Shuuichi was quiet for a moment before, lowering his cap again, he said, "In general."

There was a moment of Kokichi narrowing his eyes, expression curious and a little suspicious, before it was smoothed away. He obviously hadn't known Shuuichi that long. That was a point he continued to return to. But...

That sounded like a lie.

The question was...why? That he was working on medicinal stuff didn't sound like a lie, so unless Shuuichi just had really weird tells... What was so bad or embarrassing that he didn't want anyone to know? Surely Kaito and Maki would know if he had some, like, life-threatening illness that he wanted to take a stab at curing himself, so there would be no reason to question it if Shuuichi just wanted to keep it from Kokichi.

...hmmm.

"Well, for that stuff, you're in luck, Shuu-chan!" Kokichi chirped, pushing his suspicion and discomfort away. "The pharmacy we're going to is run by Dr. Kimura, who's, like, a genius when it comes to medicines an' stuff. So, if anyone here is gonna have what you're looking for, it'll be her."

Shuuichi knew who Dr. Kimura was, and was to him. He'd read the medical files. There was no...resignation letter or anything in the files, but... Kokichi couldn't help thinking that she'd been fired from his case. Shuuichi was a smart cookie, but… Like, most of the healers that were mentioned in the jacket weren't around, so there wasn't any definitive proof to figure out what had happened.

...Kaito might've thought otherwise, but Kokichi really was a coward.

Dr. Kimura. The healer who had suggested Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Learned Helplessness. There had been other notes in her report, recommended treatments and such, but in the whole of the file, that had been the only report on Kokichi Ouma she had generated, and her own report hadn't had any other professionals willing to cosign on it.

All of this information drifted through Shuuichi's head the same way all information he learned did. Just...constantly in the background. Waiting to be made useful if called upon. But nothing about it poked Shuuichi as something to consider more deeply.

Kaito, on the other hand...just thought: wait...why was that name familiar?

As he puzzled over it, trying hard to place where he had heard it before (was it just a name he had read in a book maybe?), the group spotted in the distance what looked a good deal like a candy shop from the outside, a group of kids coming out and chewing on licorice outside the store as a mother with a small toddler walked in around them, wishing the children a friendly good morning. Shuuichi looked around, uncertain which building might be the pharmacy...unless. "Is it that one, Kokichi?" Shuuichi asked, pointing to a small, white building down the road, a sign above its door Shuuichi was personally unfamiliar with.

"Do you want one of us to come with you, Shuuichi?" Kaito asked, also not much of a glutton for sweets, though he enjoyed dark chocolate quite a bit. "I can if you want."

Shuuichi shook his head, "No, that's alright. I'm certain it'll be a boring conversation. I'll just head back here once it's done. If you guys are already done with the candy shop and the blacksmith by the time I'm done, I'll meet you at the bookstore."

Kokichi perked up as they neared the candy shop, saliva starting to pool in his mouth already. The pancakes he'd had that morning had been soaked in syrup as per his usual, but it was always time for sweets! And especially for Miss Andou's.

He loved the food that Isabella and Chako and Catherine and all the rest made, and things like the cinnamon rolls were topped by none other! But when it came to candy, Miss Andou reigned supreme in town. Knowing himself, he hadn't gone into her shop all that frequently, knowing that if he let himself visit as much as he wanted she'd surely come to recognize him, but now? All bets were off.

Looking over to where Shuuichi was pointing, Kokichi nodded. "Yupp, that's the one. Again, I've never been in there, so that's about all the help I have to give." He opened his mouth again as if to add another comment before he just shut his mouth and gave Shuuichi a smile. What would he even ask? Shuuichi to pass on a message like 'hey, I read your report from when I was six, thanks for at least trying to convince people to not make me lose my mind'?

"Okie-dokie! Powell's around that corner to the left--it has a big sign so Shuu-chan shouldn't miss it," he said, pointing to the corner he was talking about. It'd be easy to get directions from someone, but it was easier to just let Shuuichi know from the start. "Now! Let's get some sweets!"

Kimura, Kimura...fuck, where had he heard that name before? This was going to bother Kaito all fucking day...Kimura...did he know a Kimura back in high school?...no...

As Kaito followed Maki and Kokichi, Shuuichi branched off, feeling a little strange as he did so. Even if it was just down the road, this was the first time since he had left the castle the morning of the wedding that he had been on his own, walking through an unfamiliar town. He had traveled with Maki and Kaito for six months before they had ever gotten here, and honestly had spent shockingly little time apart, even during times when honestly they had all desperately needed some space from each other. Not that space had been an easy thing to give, when Maki and Shuuichi were both responsible for Kaito getting to his wedding in one piece, and Kaito was still struggling to break the frustrating habit of crawling into any friendly person’s bed, a habit that the Luminary Party had been extremely worried about the Ouma Family finding out about and doing serious damage Kaito's marriage prospects.

Knowing the family now, Shuuichi suspected it wouldn't have changed anything, but man, had they all been worried about it for a moment there...no, it probably wouldn't have bothered Kokichi, at least. With the way Kaito casually talked about past relationships around him, as far as Shuuichi could see, it didn't seem like Kaito was worried about Kokichi knowing that side of himself either. So it probably wouldn't do any real damage to either of them to know about it...what a sha-

...Shuuichi blinked, his brow lowering in concern. Why had he started thinking about that?

Right. Going through town by himself. Still felt strange. Long story short.

Opening the door to the pharmacy, Shuuichi walked in, taking a look around. "Hello?" he called out, not seeing any other customers, nor anyone behind the counter. "Are you open?"

Kokichi practically hopped his way into the candy shop, dragging Kaito (physically) and Maki (metaphorically) with him. And as the sweet air of the shop surrounded them, Kokichi's eyes widened right along with his excited smile, having seen the shop before doing nothing to dampen his awe.

There was nearly a whole wall packed with different containers of taffy, making a sort of color block that fit the fun and cute theme of the shop. There were gummies of all sorts of shapes and flavors, lollipops arranged in a tree straight out of a child's dream, strings and coils of licorice, jawbreakers from the size of a marble to the size of an adult's fist, all sorts of dipped-chocolate items, a pastry case right next to the open workstation behind the checkout counter...and so much more.

Kokichi hadn't gotten around to asking more about Atua, but Miss Andou's candy shop was the best sort of paradise he could imagine. He skipped over to the taffy wall, looking very literally like a kid in a candy store, not noticing the appraising look from over the counter focused on him after they'd finished helping the mother who had walked in before the royal group.

The prince, huh? No better advertising than that...

There was a bit of a thump, a sound of small boxes tipping over, and a worried squeak, before some shuffling and a woman peeked out over the counter. "Sorry! Can - can I help you with anything...?"

Shuuichi frowned, coming up to the counter and as he looked over her in concern. "Are...are you alright, miss?"

The woman in front of him looked...well, nervous was maybe a reserved way of putting it. She also just looked unique, the texture and color of her hair not something Shuuichi could ever recall seeing on a person before. That along with her eyes and her skin...it was like someone had taken a hue of blues and just...upped the saturation into something just shy of colorless.

And, again, she looked...really nervous.

Shuuichi felt a blush rush up his neck, lowering his cap as he stammered out in response to her question, "Uh, yes, thank you. This is going to seem more than a bit random, but do you have some time to, uh… I'm trying to study how people do research on new drugs? Like, the actual experimentation progress as someone in the medical field might do it? And, um...do you know any works on, maybe, little known applications of poisons? The sort of thing you wouldn't find in the castle library, I mean?"

-

Back at the candy shop, Maki was trying to buy gum, because that was just the kind of person she was. 'Trying', in the sense that she was waiting in line, while the kids who had come in recently to buy licorice had found themselves drawn back into the store, staring wide eyed at the woman with extremely long pig-tails and, just, had an aura around her that none of the kids had ever become familiar with before.

They were all whispering in between licorice bites, either unaware or not caring that she could hear every word they said as one whispered, "Dude, go say something."

"Say what? You go say something," the other kid whispered, flustered as his friend kept poking him in the side.

Their third friend, eyes wide and sparkling, whispered, "I really wanna touch her hair...do you think she'd let me?"

"I feel sorta like she might drop kick you into the dirt," the first kid whispered, snickering. "Don't know why. Just seems like it, right? Go talk to her," the first kid poked again.

"Dude, shut up..."

Kaito was finding himself entranced with the pastries, staring at them. He didn't even really wanna eat them. They just...looked nice. Almost fake, but in a nice way. He wondered if he could make something like that...

Seiko didn't recognize the young man in front of her, but then...she didn't leave the pharmacy much these days. Keeping hours different enough from Ruruka and Sonosuke to make sure they wouldn't bump into each other opening their stores or leaving for home... It was annoying as hell, but having to talk with them was worse.

The young man was probably a medical student from the university, working on a specialty. And, if he was trying to get into drug certification and research...the professors would recommend her for outside references. And he only wanted books, it sounded like; that was easy to do.

"Uh, sure..." she agreed distractedly, pulling out a notepad to make a list for the student. "False Positives and the Placebo Effect by Dr. Yasuke Matsuda, I-I have a pamphlet for herbal home remedies..."

But for medicinal uses for poison, and things that wouldn't be in the castle library... Honestly, the only things like that were the papers she was still working on, her published pieces having been donated to the library as she finished them.

Poking her pen into the pad, Seiko looked back up at the young man. "Are you studying poisons in general, or is there, um, a particular poison you're studying at the moment? I may be able to help you more if I know what I'm looking for, Mr...?

If Kaito heeded the siren call of clothes, then Kokichi did the same for candy. He was careful of his funds, of course, but between the gummies and chocolates and just, frankly, absurd assortment of taffy, it almost looked like his small hands wouldn't be able to hold onto the full bags.

He went up to Kaito, noticing his enamored gaze at the pastries. "Kai-chan, if you want one, I don't mind paying. Miss Andou's pastries are to die for."

There was a flattered little laugh from behind the counter, Ruruka finishing ringing Maki up, keeping her annoyance that the woman had only bought gum suppressed, especially seeing the load the prince was stocking up on. "Aw, thank you! I wasn't aware that our prince was such a fan! And had such good taste! If you want a recommendation, the eclairs turned out simply scrumptious today!"

Kaito swallowed, thought about it...and then shook his head. "Nah, that's alright 'Kichi. I'll grab one next time."

Kaito wasn't going to tell Kokichi this, because it was ridiculous and he knew the smaller prince would have no idea what he was talking about...but he was starting to be able to feel himself losing muscle definition after almost three weeks entirely without any training and still not changing his eating habits at all. He was noticing it in his stomach first and foremost, his muscles there just...losing their lines as his stomach flattened...which would then lead to his stomach softening...fuck, and that was just a slippery slope right there, wasn't it?

He wouldn't look bad with more weight. He didn't think people with extra weight looked bad. Quite the opposite, in fact. But...he liked the way he normally looked. And if that meant less heavy carb meals from the kitchen and more apples, well, fuck, apples were delicious anyway.

He gave the lady behind the counter his best charming smile anyway, as he said, "They do look amazing though, Miss! Seriously, they're really something." Looking down at Kokichi, Kaito burst out laughing, raising an eyebrow as he said, "Geez, 'Kich, you buying out the store?"

"Hey, I'm heading to the blacksmith!" Maki called back to her friends, waving her gum at them as her three stalkers gawked and whispered at this new development. She was going to the blacksmith, they whispered to each other. Why? Maybe just getting something fixed? Maybe she was a swordsman. Why a swordsman? I don't know, she looks like it maybe. Go ask her. You ask her!

Ignoring them, Maki headed outside, her entourage close behind her.

-

"...Mr. Togami," Shuuichi said, a moment of entirely unnecessary panic as he sputtered out the name, just...wanting assistance with his research but not necessarily wanting his questions connected back to him. Looking back at the entrance with some concern (what if his friends came to get him and heard her calling him by the wrong name why did you do that Shuuichi what the fuck man??), he walked up to the counter, journal pulled from his inner jacket as he continued quickly. "Shuu Togami. You can call me Shuu, if you like. Um...do you...are you familiar at all with Despair Pollen? From the Danganronpa Kingdom?"

What, the foreign prince thinks he's too good for some pastries?! Not entirely opposed, though, and with Prince Kokichi delighting in the confections...surely Prince Kaito would think differently next time.

Calmed down with her inner reasoning, Ruruka sent a sweet smile back to Prince Kaito, thanking him for the compliment.

Meanwhile, Kokichi rolled his eyes. "I have at least some self-control. And it's been a while since I've gotten any new candy--even if I can come back whenever," and he could!!! "I still might as well stock up, just in case it turns out to be a bit."

And if it wasn't? He'd eat it anyway.

Giving a bit of a wave, as much as he could, holding onto the bulging bags, to Maki, Kokichi carefully set his bounty down on the counter, grinning up at Miss Andou. "As much as I'd like to get, like, a whole box of pastries, I think I'll just get yelled at if I ruin my appetite any more. How much do I owe you?"

"Just think of it as an incentive to come back!", the woman giggled, giving the prince the total before something gleamed in her eye for just a moment. "Actually, since you're getting all this, how about I give you a little perk! It's a new treat I've been working on, and I think I'm just about there. How about you give it a taste and tell me what you think, Prince 'Kichi?"

Such a cute little nickname. And with a sweet-tooth like the prince's, she did want to hear his feedback. It was just a bonus that she'd likely be seeing him a lot more in the future.

After the exchange of coin--which certainly didn't seem enough for the amount of candy Kokichi was buying, but he hadn't just been following his stomach when he picked everything out--Ruruka turned to get a small container on one of the shelves behind her, opening it and showing the shiny, candy-coated orbs inside.

"I've been working on a way to keep syrup contained in a gummy shell, which is then sugar-coated. Go on, try one!"

Seiko nodded a bit at the name, then grimaced at the name of the poison. "Not as familiar as I'd like, I'm afraid... The embargo," she lamented, not needing to say anything more than that. "I suppose that's why you're researching it?"

"I would say to read about the research done on the common poppy, but the reported effects of Despair Pollen poisonings are so different I am not sure you would be able to get the right answers from that..." She paused, thinking through all she knew on the foreign plant. "All... All the cases I've heard about have been accidental, s-so... There aren't any studies on how it affects the body through small doses...sorry."

If only Danganronpa would share their findings! For this particular case, it wasn't such a big deal, since Despair Poppies had only been reported growing in the Western Forest, but all the other medical advancements the country had made in its history?! If they had knowledge that could help people, why weren't they spreading it?!

Stewing in her disgruntlement, Seiko sighed. "If I could get medical texts from the Danganronpan Kingdom myself, it'd be a different story... Though, I suppose, if you could even get your hands on the pollen, that would make this all more than theoretical..."

She bowed her head a bit to the young man, feeling frustrated. "My apologies, Mr. Togami, but from all I know, I don't think there are any in-depth reports of Despair Pollen you would be able to get your hands on in Dicea."

Shuuichi frowned...fuck...the sheer temptation of getting some real, actual help on this...

Clutching his journal, not able to put literally any new information in there...and thinking about how he had felt this morning. The anxiety. The desperate need...but thinking about how he felt the rest of the day. Stronger. More confident. Not to mention that little tingle of delight that randomly flowed through his body now...m-maybe not at the most....appropriate times but...

Shuuichi bit his lip, looked around the store...and came closer to the pharmacist. "Um...w-what if you...did? Have access to a small sample of it?" he asked her, stressed even just asking. He was putting himself at risk, reaching out like this. What if his friends found out? What if they made him stop? He couldn't stop, he was certain of that. The experiment wasn't done... "Do you think you could find anything out with a small sample? Something you could pinch between your fingers? I-I'm not saying I have access to anything like that right now...but if I could get it for you? Would it help anything?"

-

The Luminary Prince felt himself weirdly...bristle. At hearing her use his nickname for Kokichi. But honestly that was a weird way to feel about it. 'Kichi’ wasn't exactly a super original nickname to begin with, and Kaito seriously doubted he was the first one to try it on him. Still...Kaito shook his head, chuckling at himself. Honestly, he was a weirdo.

He also looked at the eagerness in the lady's delivery of the candy, and tried not to feel...paranoid about that too. It was extremely unlikely that this random shopkeep had set up a scenario this specific where her prince would come into her store and accept something dangerous from her. No one was trying to drug Kokichi right now. It was fine.

Grabbing Kokichi's bags for him, he grinned, "That sounds like an awful lot. I hope you're not the type that gets sugar high, 'Kichi."

Seiko backed up a little, unnerved by the young man coming forward so...desperately. He looked desperate.

...he looked like he needed help.

Her mask was covering it, but the worried frown on Seiko's face was obvious. "...if I, hypothetically, had access to the pollen...I would be able to study it, yes. There's surprisingly a lot of information you can get without even performing a trial study..."

But getting a sample would require going to Danganronpa and getting the pollen without being caught. And wouldn't have a chance happening in the time it would take to get to the Western Forest from the Dicean capital--you'd have to wait for spring for the poppies to pollinate again.

...Seiko's frown got a little deeper, looking at Shuu more carefully. He'd turned red before, but...that just seemed to come from his general nervousness. Not a fever. And his eyes... Focused. Not the round, glossy, almost dazed look victims had.

But he still needed help.

"...for your own safety, do everything you can to avoid contact with the pollen. Gloves, a face mask, protective goggles...do not let it get in your system. But, Mr. Togami, if you can get me a sample...I will share my findings with you."

Kokichi grinned back at his husband, raising an eyebrow. "Even if I was, look at 'em! Small enough that it wouldn't be any more than eating a ton of regular candy. Miss Andou knows her stuff!"

With a thank you, he plucked up one of the little spheres and popped it in his mouth. Kokichi's eyes widened as he bit down, a slight crunch followed by a chewy mid-section, while yummy grape syrup--he'd picked a purple ball, obviously--gushed out, coating his entire mouth. It didn't take long for him to eat, but the blissful, amazed expression on his face didn't waver.

"That's incredible! I don't even know how you'd improve it--it's, like, the best parts of all candies all wrapped up together in a bite." Kokichi giggled, enjoying the lingering taste in his mouth. "Once you bring these out for sale, Miss Andou, you can expect me to seriously put your stock at risk!"

She laughed along with him, clapping her hands together in delight once she'd put the container back away. "Oh, you don't know how happy that makes me! Maybe I'll put a notice on the community board when they're ready for market? From your reaction, Prince Kokichi, it certainly seems like enough of an event!" And she could rely on the prince for word-of-mouth marketing it seemed. With the cravings he'd find himself with, she bet he'd try everything in her shop within a month.

Waving goodbye to the confectionary, Kokichi got out of the line and happily pressed his head against Kaito's arm. As they left the candy shop, he hummed, finishing licking the goo off his teeth. "It's a close race with the bookstore, but I think that might be my favorite store in town."

Shuuichi smiled, wide, sincere. Her warnings were, uh...wildly too late. But to have an actual expert in the field, looking at a sample! That was...more than he could have possibly hoped for from this visit. His hands shaking slightly in his excitement, Shuuichi nodded before bowing low. "Thank you! I-I'll do that! I think I know of where I can get a very small sample...f-for a certain amount of gold," Shuuichi lied, again, just trying to put distance between himself and the now trail of evidence he knew he was leaving behind. By itself, his small excuses wouldn't fool anyone seriously looking into what he was doing...but Kaito? Or Maki? If either of them heard anything about this, Shuuichi was just trying to put some room of plausible deniability in this exchange. To make it sound like the whole thing might have been a miscommunication, in a worst case scenario.

They'd believe him. Because they'd want to believe him. And that could be used.

Shuuichi closed his eyes for a moment, suddenly ashamed of himself. That...was a terrible way to think of his friends' trust in him. But it didn't matter. With additional research the experiment was that much closer to being over. Once it was over, he'd stop taking the doses. That was the deal he had made with himself. Once the experiment was over, he'd stop.

A-and with new information in front of him, then the experiment wasn't over yet!

Smiling still, Shuuichi said, "Thank you so much for your time, Dr. Kimura. It's really appreciated, it would make my research so much more rounded to have your expert opinion added to its findings. Thank you so much.".

"Um, I will...as soon as I have access to the sample, I'll return with it, and I'll be certain to follow your instructions." Shuuichi thought about it, frowning, before he continued, "Um, and for the sake of my source's privacy, I would...I would appreciate it if you would please keep this conversation between us, if you wouldn't mind. For the sake of ease in sharing information. You can understand why he might want to keep this sort of thing to himself… Um, and I would still appreciate having that reading recommendation list, thank you."

-

"I think she's just as much of a fan of yours as you were of hers." Kaito chuckled, looking back at the candy store over his shoulder. "She was totally gushing over you. I thought she was going to eat you for a second there."

Seiko startled a little at Shuu's gratitude, but...yeah. She was doing the right thing. Helping people who needed it was the whole point of medicine, after all. And...well, it was nice to be thanked for something.

"I hope to be able to present you with some worthwhile information, Mr. Togami. Please take care of yourself, though, and not just with exposure..." Sometimes certain acts were required for advancement, but...getting involved with the darker world came with all the risks you'd imagine. For an enthusiastic young researcher, she hoped he wouldn't be biting off more than he could chew in the name of science.

Nodding, she grabbed the pamphlet she'd mentioned and handed over the reading list. "Considering any research I perform will be in its infancy, there is no need to consult with others any time soon." If they'd even deign to speak with her. "This all will be handled with the proper discretion--I will not put you or your connections at risk."

It wasn't like there had been an outbreak of Despair Pollen poisonings or anything. Wherever Shuu could get the sample from, they weren't abusing the volatile poison, so it wouldn't do to stop the only source of the Ronpan secret.

Kokichi giggled back, already excited to dig into his new treats when they went back home. "From every time I've gone in, Miss Andou is just really excited to share her treats with people. I bet it's pretty exciting for the two princes to just walk in the door--intentional or not, we kind of are a type of advertising everywhere we go."

He shrugged, looking to the next building over, trying to see if Maki had finished at the smithy, and then turning to look at the pharmacy, looking for Shuuichi just the same. "Good or bad, that's up to the individual, but we are highlighting things with every step."

Taking the list with the same level of gratitude, Shuuichi left the pharmacy feeling much better about things. He suspected that taking the doses was a good thing...he had felt better and better every day. And he believed, sincerely, that all further research into the pollen would just prove his theory. Validate the risk he had put himself in by trying this experiment himself.

And, honestly...there was still a very big part of himself that wanted to try it on Kaito.

His broken arm was only two weeks into its healing. According to the healers, he'd still have another few weeks before he could take the cast off, and even after that, he had to be careful with it for a long while. Shuuichi was certain, certain, that the pollen would cut that healing time in half, if his own wound was any indication. Wouldn't it be fascinating, to watch Kaito heal like that...to see his childhood friend get stronger, better, faster.

...and the personality measurements would be so simple to gauge. Shuuichi already knew specifically how the pollen affected Kaito's personality. It'd be so useful...

No, no. Wait for the results first. Just to confirm he wouldn't hurt his friend doing that. He had no idea how long it would take to get the results back, so he'd just bring her the sample as soon as he could. Maybe make the trip tomorrow? He wasn't like Kokichi; he really could just come and go as he pleased. He'd take a morning trip...

Spotting his friends, he gave them a little wave, trotting over to them just as Maki was coming out as well, something long and covered in a cloth over her shoulder, her small entourage of curious children trailing after her as she left the blacksmith, heading back to Kaito and Kokichi.

"Hey guys, got what you needed?" Kaito asked, grinning as both Shuuichi and Maki nodded. "Great! Hey, uh, Maki...you realize you got a shadow, right?"

Maki nodded, sighed...and then whirled around, something flinging out of her hand in quick succession, faster than the eye could follow.

Three strips of gum flew out of her hands, each one flung into each child's face. One just looked surprised, another one screamed, and the last one laughed, managing to catch his. Maki gave the last one a look of approval as the other two reached down to pick theirs up from the ground, just looking over at her confused as she said, eyes narrow with bloodlust, "Now...scram."

The three looked up at her in awe...and just giggled, the three of them running off and whispering to each other.

Kokichi started giggling as well, snorting before he gave Maki an amused look. "Okay, I really get why you're a 'babysitter' now." You could practically hear the air-quotes in his speech, though Kokichi kept his hands to himself. It wasn't so much that she was good at caring for children; it was that they couldn't get enough of her. He'd thought her cover was ridiculous, but seeing live proof--and not just now, remembering the children piled into bed with her--made it make so much more sense.

"Alright! Let's get Shuu-chan his new books and then eat. Is there anything you guys particularly want? If it's not, like, strictly foreign food, I probably know a place for just about anything." He'd almost said 'Luminary food.' Which, really, wouldn't be that bad. Anyone who recognized Kaito would know immediately, and for anyone who'd come to the wedding, seeing a tall red-head would make it easy to connect the dots.

But for anyone who didn't? Nazumi's warning was fresh in his mind. The people who felt the strongest against Luminary probably wouldn't have come to the wedding, so the only description of Kaito would've had to come from a secondary source--plenty of room for error and doubt there. And then if they didn't recognize Kaito, they might not recognize him, which was sort of a double bonus.

Placing a hand on Kaito's back, giving him a few affectionate rubs, Kokichi led the way to the bookstore, filling back up with the excited energy he'd had before entering the candy shop. He still couldn't stay super long because he didn't want Maki to absolutely die of boredom, but being able to actually casually peruse at his own pace?

He might need to start budgeting better too!

When they had gotten into the bookstore, Shuuichi and Maki had immediately branched off, Shuuichi heading right to one of the store clerks with his list, and Maki heading straight to the cafe, fully intending to just sit with something warm and caffeinated drink and just...sit. Enjoying the rest. She picked her seat with care, having a good view of the whole store (it was large, sure, but she could take advantage of the fact that the store itself had put 'decorative' stylized reflective mirrors up in certain corners of the building), feeling confident she could keep an eye on her men and let herself relax at the same time.

Kaito was just...in awe. His stomach fluttering with excitement as he looked around, a giddy sort of grin on his face, looking over at the rows and rows of books on display, and then looking up, seeing another floor, which promised to be just as full of fascinating stories...

Kaito found himself practically vibrating with excitement, but also a little overwhelmed. He hadn't been to a bookstore in a year now, unwilling to tempt himself into new books when he knew he was getting rid of all of them, and then unable to stop at any on their way down here. He wanted to go see if the latest Circleworld book was out. Fuck, in a year? That beautiful bastard had probably written three new books by now. No, no, Touko Fukawa probably had something new by now...shoot, maybe it'd just be fun to just look down a random aisle and see what there was to see...

...No, no, he should follow Kokichi. He could already feel himself wanting to ask for books he didn't even know existed yet or not. His eyes were getting too big. Just stick with your husband. Grinning down at Kokichi, he said, "Well? Anything you wanna go look at first?"

...okay, maybe Powell's was paradise instead. Instead of sugar in the air, it was the faint scent of paper and ink, mixed with a bit of coffee from the cafe. Instead of being packed with sweets, it was packed with books, anything you could ever want. And not even just books! You could get stationary and sheet music and calendars and! So much!

Predictably, Kokichi started drifting to the fantasy section before he heard Kaito speak up. And, smiling back up at him, Kokichi giggled a bit. "Think you can guess? I think I've had enough of espionage for a bit, and I'm kinda full up on romance for the moment." He colored a bit, but offered his husband a wink.

"While I'm finally going to go on an adventure of my own, I think I wanna hype myself up a bit."

Taking Kaito by the arm, Kokichi looked through the action/adventure novels, seamlessly gradiated into the fantasy section by the shared genre. He looked across the several shelves the Promise of Oond series took up, wondering if it would be action-y enough for Timothy. Kokichi had adored the series growing up. Though...considering how heavily the story featured magic...he wasn't sure if it'd be down their ex-soldier's alley.

Ida Evatson books were too 'adventure at home' for his current mood, even if he didn't own every one already. And the Perry Hotter books, even the spin-offs they already had in the library... Cod of Distrust was a wild ride, but, honestly, he'd just been confused by the end, and Kokichi didn't think he really wanted to own it... Ah...he had to finish the Lakeplanet books at some point...

"Oh shit!" Kokichi bustled over to a novel displayed on a stand, the cover proudly showed off rather than being stacked spine out. "I didn't even know a new Circleworld book was out!"

Kaito grinned, eyes bright with excitement. "Really!? Which number are we on?" Kaito asked, reading the cover over Kokichi's shoulder. 53! Okay, so, two new books since the last one he had read. That was exciting! Not that they needed to be read in order or anything, there was no harm in missing number 52 for now... Kaito studied the cover, before saying, "Oh, you know what? I bet this is another installation in the Guardsman storyline! Check it out, see that dragon in the window? I bet that's the baby he let go back in volume 7! I love his storyline!"

Kaito knelt down next to the shelf, taking out one of the identical copies of the book on display, thumbing through it a little before going to the summary on the back of the cover. After reading it a moment..."Yeah! It is!" he said, excited, handing it over to Kokichi to let him take a look. "You know, when I was first graduating high school, I was seriously tempted to just skip military school and straight up join the local guards, just because of how much I admired this character growing up. To work his way up from a street guard to a Duke, just by his merit and grit...gah, Sir Vimes is so cool!"

It was almost nostalgic. Kokichi lit up as Kaito recognized the series and went off on a tangent, the warmth in his heart feeding his smile. "You read them too? I've been collecting them off and on, but we have the full series in the library--if you've missed any it'll be easy to catch up."

Taking the book from his husband, Kokichi read through the summary, then looked back at the cover, taking all the little details in. "I see what you mean, though I think I've always liked the postal stories a little more. Pfff," he snickered, giving Kaito an amused look. "God. That's so stereotypical of us, isn't it. Admiring guards and postal workers."

He shook his head a little before holding the copy Kaito had gotten from the shelf to his chest. "Alright, I'm definitely getting this. I probably shouldn't buy any more, though..." he sighed. "Today has been the biggest spree I've ever had...and, plus, carrying a lot of books is just annoyingly heavy."

...he did have a big, strong husband, and Kokichi could easily carry his candy himself, but...no. Save your money.

"Let's look around more--even if we don't decide to get anything else, we can still ask Nao-chan to request copies for the library."

When it came down to it, the four of them ended up spending almost two hours in there.

Maki, used to stalking people, was perfectly content to sit and wait, refilling her drink every now and again. Next to her, Shuuichi was already pouring over his new books, his brow furrowed as he started reading through the first one, a coffee next to him that he had taken one sip of and then forgot existed.

Kaito had wandered with Kokichi for as long as he could before he found himself stopped, crouching in the middle of a book aisle as a book he had taken out to just look at for a moment, Kaito opening to a random page to get a sense of the writing style, just...took him away. Kaito was still kneeling there a half hour later, three chapters further from the spot in the middle of the book he had started in, just...wanting to know how this subplot he had stumbled on in the middle book was going to progress...the masked swordsman in the middle of some battle with some enemy cartel that had apparently whisked away his daughter...

When Kokichi eventually came back for him, Kaito looked up, a little dazed as he said, a tad sheepishly, "'Kichi...?"

...it wasn't fair. Kaito was just an absolute cutie. They'd known from the start they would bond over books, but returning to his distracted husband absolutely engrossed in a tale...

He couldn't help it, placing a kiss on Kaito's forehead and then another to his cheek as he held his hand out for the book. "Just one. And I want you to tell me all about it when you finish, okay?" A little because he wanted to see how their perceptions differed if he read the book, but also...because he liked hearing Kaito tell stories. He could easily imagine it, them cuddled up together in bed, far too late in the night, Kaito just finishing a book and not wanting to wait to get all his thoughts out. And Kokichi would be elated to listen.

Also, the book wasn't that expensive, so it wasn't weighing on his pockets any.

Once they'd bought the books and returned, a bit apologetically, to Shuuichi and Maki, Kokichi brought up lunch again. "So, if Maki-chan hasn't started a liquid diet, have you thought about where you wanna go?"

"You both wrapping up?" Maki asked, having been perfectly content where she was, but stretching her back a little, ready to go if the others were too. "Our go-to's for food have always been traditionally pubs. The kind of places university kids hang out. But, that was back home..." she shrugged. "Pubs probably don't have the same benefits here as they did back there. It was always just a relatively safe place to be relatively dumb children."

"Safe in the sense that no one went running to the guards when fights broke out, anyway," Shuuichi said with a small sigh. "Kaito and Maki did very well for themselves there. Me, I always found they were a little loud."

"You like dart boards though," Kaito pointed out to Shuuichi, cheerfully carrying the candy bags and the new book bags as well, as much as Kokichi would let him take on. "And you're crazy good at pool. I still don't understand how you do it."

Shuuichi shrugged. "I don't see what the challenge is? You just line it up and send the ball where the stick’s pointing. It's baffling so many people seem to struggle with it."

"He has a gift," Kaito told Kokichi, shaking his head sadly, "And he doesn't even recognize it. Won't take bets on it either. Which he should. He'd literally always win."

"But, yeah, we don't have to go to a pub. I think all we're saying, like, if I can speak for us collectively," Shuuichi said, giving his friends a small grin, "Is that we don't actually eat out all that much and don't have a preference for restaurant types. You have a favorite, Kokichi?"

Ah, so that was probably why Kaito had asked about pubs when they first met. It was just that he was used to it, and not that he was prone to day drinking. Though, he probably wouldn't mind it. Kaito was off the painkillers so he wouldn't have to worry about mixing dangerous shit, and he was probably eager to have something that hadn't been watered down, but... Eh. Kaito could make that decision for himself.

Though...

"Uhhh..." Kokichi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "A pub is fine with me. I've never actually been into any of the restaurants in town. Too risky to spend a lot of time in one place, you know?"

"Actually... Kai-chan, I think the one we went to might still be the only one open right now. That good with you?" Kaito did mention that he wanted to take him on a date back there, but...that didn't mean the first time they returned had to be a date! They could go back tons of times for varying reasons if they wanted! It was a place for food and drink, first and foremost, even if it had the extra special meaning for them as being the place they'd had their first meal together.

And this time, Kokichi could pay.

Kaito nodded, looking at his friends with an eager grin as he explained, "It's where me and Koh went on day one. It's not like a pub at home, I got the vibe there that it's kind of where old guys sit and drink, but it was nice still! There was this massive, beef of a woman working the counter, seriously, she could bench-press all of us at once, it was incredible." Kaito shook his head, disappointed. "Someone with that kinda muscle mass? Wasted to have her serving drinks. I hope she's fighting someone, somewhere professionally. Or at least lifting stuff competitively."

"We should ask her when we get there. You make her sound like something one of a kind," Maki said, only a...tad...jealous as she tossed her hair a little, feeling herself subconsciously flexing her own lithe but defined arm muscles. "If she's really all that, maybe she'd be up to a spar."

Shuuichi finished re-bagging all the texts he had gotten, linking the bag onto his arms and experimentally lifting it up and down before smiling, it not seeming like a lot of weight. "Maybe don't lead with that question, Maki. Don't forget, we're still new here. It'd be nice to make a good first impression at the only pub around that feeds the lunch crowd."

"'m just saying," Maki muttered, pouting as everyone left the bookstore. "Nothing wrong with a little test of might, if she's 'that strong'."

"I'm not sure if it would've solved a bunch of things or made them worse, but I'm pretty happy with how things are so I'll say that I'm just thankful Miss Sakura didn't blow my cover." Kokichi sighed a bit, though he could laugh at the situation, looking back. "She totally knew who I was. Gotta admire people who just mind their own business."

And considering no one had called him out at home, she hadn't told anyone afterward either. Or maybe they just minded their business too.

Now, since they'd gone to a totally different part of town than he'd taken Kaito to his first day, it would be a bit more of a walk to the pub, but that was all fine by Kokichi. They hadn't been walking all that much, actually, spending quite a lot of time in stores. Quite a lot... He was surprised to see the sun on its way down, it having been somewhere around midday when they entered the bookstore. Whoops.

...maybe it was long enough of a walk to warrant a snack?

Kokichi looked up to the candy bags Kaito was holding onto, wondering how much everyone would yell at him for grabbing a piece. One piece of candy wouldn't ruin his appetite--though he couldn't finish the portions at the pub anyway--and...he just felt like having something sweet! Again, but, honestly, he did snack on candy pretty frequently while he worked. Enough that he'd almost forget himself and grab something with sticky fingers. Having to re-write reports on clean paper was enough of a hassle he usually remembered to wash his hands more.

...he'd have a piece for lunch-dessert. That was a good compromise.

It was a nice day out, and as noon slowly became the afternoon, the foot traffic increased exponentially, all the non-early birds, the teenagers and kids who hadn't skipped classes getting let loose, people taking late lunch breaks or leaving work early out and about. The four bunched together, trying to not be too much of an obstacle on the sidewalks, but it didn't seem to matter. As more people were out and about, more and more people were starting to recognize Prince Kokichi, and a few Prince Kaito, and were making holes for them, giving them a little more space than they might have otherwise. Some waved warmly at Prince Kokichi, having met him on a trip to the castle. Most just gave them polite looks before moving on.

A few frowned.

A shopkeep with tired eyes and a scar down his neck whispered to his grown son, helping him man the store, and pointed at Prince Kaito. A warning in his ear. The son's face grew somber, serious. He nodded his head and promised to steer clear.

An older woman, plump with laugh lines around her eyes, saw the two princes while she was shopping and reflectively clenched her fist, a stinging in her eyes as, in her pocket even now, she had a photo of a brave daughter she would never see again. Feeling a hot pool of hatred in her gut, she turned away from the sight of them, and went off to go find one of her friends, to talk her anger out to them, to have them listen with knowing, sympathetic eyes.

Two boys, brothers, with dirt smeared on their face holding baseball bats, having just come back from playing in the park with their class and heading home to shower before one final class for the day, stopped in their tracks, watching the group pass. They didn't say anything to each other. They didn't know if they hated the tall red-head yet, who they recognized from pictures that were being passed around in certain circles.

They didn't know if they hated him yet because they hadn't heard word about their father yet. They had understood a lack of correspondence in the middle of the war, when things were hectic and dangerous and busy. But the war had been over for two weeks, and their friends were getting letters from their relatives on the front lines...why hadn't Dad sent word yet?

They both wondered this, individually and together, watching the group go...before returning to their trek home to shower, a little less pep in their step.

Maki noticed a lot of this. She could feel it off people. Shuuichi noticed a little of it, reading body language idly. Kaito noticed none of it, and was peeking into Kokichi's candy bag. "Man...you really like taffy, huh?"

Kokichi waved back to the people who recognized him, smiling warmly. Probably not today since...he was kind of with an entourage, but, being able to finally leave the castle, he'd actually have the chance to speak with more people. Not just a hello and how do you do, not just business, but just...normal chatting. He'd actually get to connect with the people he was sworn to protect.

...even if some of those conversations would be less than cordial. He kept the concern and sadness out of his own face, but...he did see those looks. The people who had lost things they could never get back because of Luminary. Because there were no winners in war. His heart ached, but...at least right now, the kindest thing he could do was to give them their space. Let them hurt and mourn in peace.

...he'd talk to Aiichi about the reparation efforts, though. He'd gotten them into this mess, but Kokichi knew his father enough to know that he hadn't forgotten about getting them out of it. For all the people he'd signed off on sending to their deaths...he cared about each and every one.

But that wasn't something he could do anything about in the meantime.

Kokichi snorted up at Kaito, grinning brightly. "Because taffy is awesome? It's just chewy enough to really let you enjoy it without hurting your jaw, and it comes in like a bazillion different flavors. It'd be heartbreaking to only choose one!" So he'd chosen five.

Glancing around to Maki and Shuuichi, he offered, "You guys can all have a piece if you want, I'm not super stingy or anything."

Shuuichi nodded, just as Maki said, "No, gum is good enough for me, thanks."

"Well, I'll take one if you're offering," Shuuichi said, looking over to Kaito. "Kaito?"

Surprised to be addressed during this, then remembering that he was actually the one holding the bag, he lifted his arm out, "Here, I got it. Just reach in and grab whatever you're looking for."

Just as he paused to lift up his arm for his friends to grab what they wanted, the momentary shift in his movement made it so that the rock, no...a roof tile? Large and red and square, flew next to his head, and just missed beaning him in his temple, the thing landing in the middle of the road with a small crack and a thud, pieces of it splintering off at the impact.

Kaito stared at the roof tile curiously, before looking up. "...huh. Guess that fell from the roof of the shop, huh... Ha!" He laughed, "God, could you imagine if that had hit me? Man, I think the castle healer would have just straight up killed me if I had accidentally given myself another damn concussion just walking through town. Ha ha, eh. Actually, can I try one of your taffies, 'Kichi? ...Maki?"

Shuuichi, in turn, had a hand firmly grasping Maki's arm, who was just...staring at the roof. Radiating killing intent. "She's fine, Kaito," Shuuichi lied, smiling brightly at Kaito, clutching Maki's arm hard. "Probably just looking out for more falling tiles."

"...yeah," Maki said, eyes narrowed, searching.

"Well, let's just keep moving. We'll steal Kokichi's taffy stash at the pub," Kaito said, winking teasingly at his husband.

Kokichi's heart leapt into his throat as the tile came down and he flinched a little backward. Fuck. Waaay too close for comfort. Accidents did happen...but... Kokichi couldn't help glancing up at the roof.

And, his attention drawn to Maki...she was looking at the roof, too. The last thing they needed was to start a panic, but...he gave her a concerned look before turning back ahead. Kaito had the right idea; the quicker they left this area, the better. He wondered if saying something like he wanted to sit down would get them all moving faster without suspicion, but...ugh. He'd already had one serious scare today; he didn't want to seem like that much of a weakling.

"Sure, sure," he rolled his eyes, keeping close to Kaito. "Take advantage of my kindness, why don't you. It just means I'll want to go back to the candy store sooner to stock up again." Which really wasn't a bad thing at all, honestly.

The looks and whispers persisted, but they made it to the pub in one piece. And, like when he and Kaito had gone before, it was mostly empty. Which...right now, was probably a good thing.

Kokichi gave a cheery wave to the same woman working behind the counter. "Hi again, Miss Sakura! Are the tables open yet?"

There were five people in the pub altogether, excluding Sakura, and...ya know, it was impossible to say for certain, but were those the same two guys from last time? If so, damn, those were some serious regulars. The other three were a small group of younger people at the corner of the booth, two young men and a young woman, probably around the gang's age. No one besides Sakura gave the four much more than a passing look, though maybe the young woman looked up a tad longer than the other patrons before going back to her conversation with them.

Sakura, in turn, looked up from the small talk she had been making with her two regulars, giving Kokichi the same curious, if somewhat disinterested, look that she had given him last time he was in her pub. Hmm...interesting. She had heard a rumor that the king was loosening the collar on his pet bubble boy...well, good for the kid. Probably overdue, based on the number of times she'd seen him running around town like a chicken with its head cut off. "Have been since noon," she said, straightening up to go fill some glasses with water for the new group, "Sit anywhere you want. Be with you in a moment."

"Let's be 'those' guys and sit where we sat last time." Kaito chuckled, leading everyone to, roughly, where he thought they had sat last time, each grabbing a chair, Shuuichi and Maki each on one joining corner, Kaito and Kokichi on other, each person taking a side for themselves.

Sakura eventually came back with a tray of waters, putting it in front of each person as she said to Kaito, "Heard you're a lush. Drink the water first if you're gonna drink here.I don't need any royal scandals in my pub. Here's your menus, and yes, you're paying up front again."

Sakura was very much a 'mind your own business' kind of person...but she also didn't trust foreign customers. They weren't the only ones that ever did it, but the number of times a foreign visitor to the castle had ditched out on their check, or had 'mistakenly' underpaid and left before it could be corrected was more times than zero, and she didn't mess around with it anymore. Easier to just get the money up front.

Shuuichi and Maki raised an eyebrow, but Kaito, who remembered this from last time, just grinned and said, in his 'hero' voice, "Certainly, mother! Won't be a problem! And, uh, thank you for the water, but whatever you heard I...oh. okay." Kaito chuckled as the woman left, entirely un-offended as he looked back, excited at his friends as he said, "Well? Didn't I tell you! She could deadlift a house! How do you even get that big? I have to ask her!"

"Some of it has to be genetic," Maki said, pouting, running her hand through her hair as she glared at the massive woman, kind of...seeing what Kaito was seeing, yeah. "It has to be. I could lift weights for a thousand years straight and never come close to looking like that..."

Shuuichi laughed a little, looking over his menu as Maki and Kaito, both in their own ways, continued to fawn and gush over the giantess. Looking over at Kokichi, he said, "Wanna do a pre-meal taffy, Kokichi? I'm still curious to try one."

Kokichi grinned in amusement as Kaito led the way near where they'd sat last time, heart slowed enough from the roof tile to warm at how much of a sap his husband was. Even joined with the disaster their second day was, the time they spent at the pub had been lovely. Chatting, telling stories...the place just had a good vibe.

And almost certainly was a regular spot for some of the castle staff if Sakura had heard about Kaito's drinking reputation. He snickered, moving his water closer to himself and taking a sip--it was important to keep hydrated, especially when he wasn't just lounging in his room.

Kokichi perked up from his own menu as Shuuichi spoke up, eyes glittering at the prospect of having a piece of taffy without getting looks for having his dessert first. "Oh hell yeah! What kind do you wanna try? I got strawberry, green apple, chocolate, root beer, and grape."

He pulled over the candy bag Kaito had set down, pulling a green apple piece out for himself. "Maybe we'll stop by Miss Andou's sometime when she's pulling the taffy--it's super cool to watch. I saw her rolling mints once too, it's nuts. She's friends with Mr. Izayoi, the blacksmith, and I think he helps her with some of the heavy lifting stuff sometimes."

"Ah, to be friends with a pastry chef," Kokichi sighed wistfully, sending a teasing look to his husband before unwrapping and popping the taffy in his mouth, expression immediately turning blissful.

"Green apple," Shuuichi picked, accepting the candy and popping it into his mouth. "Hmmm," he hummed, pleased, though he was struggling to chew through his as he said, "'ike it."

"Dude, don't talk with your mouth full," Kaito scolded, looking idly through the menu. "Hey, I figured, since we'll be here a minute, that maybe we should talk about the trip a little? I mean, we're probably...not going soon," Kaito admitted, glancing down at his cast. "But still! That just gives us more time to prepare, right?"

Maki and Shuuichi both gave Kaito long, confused looks.

"...trip?" Maki asked.

"Oh my god!" Kaito said, eyes wide as he suddenly remembered all at once, "I didn't tell either of you about the trip!"

"Kaito, keep your voice down," Maki said hotly, glaring over at the other patrons, who were all looking at them now, before realizing the man was done shouting, went back to their own conversations. "And for fuck’s sake, what trip?"

Kaito grinned at the two of them, though of course he picked his words carefully. "Me and Kokichi are going to take a trip to the Danganronpa Kingdom soon. Both of you are invited to come, if you would like?"

Shuuichi's eyes went wide. The sheer...enormity of this new information hitting him like a brick. "We're going to Danganronpa??"

"Quiet!" Maki said, wanting to slap all of her friends, though no one was looking at them now. "That's sensitive information, Kaito. If we're making a move like that, you can't just let anyone know. It'll put the group at risk when we're on the move...also, how long has this been a thing?" she asked suspiciously.

"Um...since before the wedding?" Kaito said, smiling nervously. "I asked the king the first time I ever got to have a real conversation with him. A little after the assassination attempt. I told Kokichi on our wedding day though, and I was gonna tell you guys too! But, uh...it got hectic."

Kokichi blinked in surprise, the shock hitting him more silently than Kaito. He'd totally forgotten. By the time Maki and Shuuichi had returned, yeah, there had been a lot of other things going on, and he'd just...had the information settled, so it never prodded at his mind. And, he guessed, every time he and Kaito had talked about it, they'd been alone.

"You told me the day after the wedding, actually," Kokichi corrected, his cheeks coloring. "And you made me cry like the nicest jerk ever."

Turning to the others, he gestured a hand out. "Aiichi put some stipulations on it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he sprung new ones on us, so...nothing's super set in stone. From what Kai-chan told me, we had to wait a month at least--which we're definitely going to wait longer for Kai-chan's arm--and we have to bring a healer." Right... He needed to get started on figuring out someone he'd want to bring. That was gonna be a whole Thing.

"But...he said I could go." Kokichi's gaze lowered to the table, a sweet, thankful smile on his face. Never in a million years would he have even dared to seriously dream so big, but here it was, an opportunity to learn so much more about the world he really knew so little about. "I'd be happy if Shuu-chan and Maki-chan wanted to go with us too."

"Well, of course we're going/You think I'd let you go without us?"

Shuuichi and Maki glanced at each other, both saying at the same time, "Stop that."

Maki pouted and Shuuichi lowered the cap over his eyes, grumbling to himself, as Kaito chuckled. "That was weird. Not sure I've ever heard you two do that before."

"It's Kokichi's fault," Maki muttered.

"I mean, by this point, I'm inclined to agree," Shuuichi said. "The evidence is circumstantial, but man, is there a lot of it by this point."

"Have you all decided what you want to order?" Sakura asked, coming back.

All four of them gave her their order, and when it came to payment, it was Maki who said, "I've got Kaito's tab this time. He can pay me back with a decent spar when he's better," giving the hostess his share of payment. Kaito blushed, nodding his head.

"Sure, Maki," Kaito said, giving her a wink. "But you don't have to do that to get me to spar you. I'm always up for a good round!"

"Oh, and we have to stop somewhere and buy a needle and an earring on the way home," Maki said, a small, mean smirk on her face as she said, pointing to the tip part of her own ear, "I think a black stud right there would suit you."

"M...m-maki, come on-" Kaito sputtered out, looking far more distressed at the idea of the piercing then he did at the idea of a spar, which regularly resulted in actual stabbings between the two of them.

"So we're going to Danganronpa..." Shuuichi muttered, his mind racing about what this meant for his research. There was so little concrete information out there about Danganronpa's medical practices...but if he was actually researching it while in the kingdom, then certainly their own texts would have the answers he was craving...

Kokichi openly snickered at the two speaking over each other again--and again--just enjoying their annoyance with it by this point. It was bizarre, but, hey, totally harmless. It was just luck that Sakura came by to take their orders right then, though, because he was seriously thinking of grabbing another piece of taffy, and he didn't have an excuse for it this time.

As he pulled his purse out to pay for the gyoza he ordered, along with Kaito's meal, he blinked up at Maki before using the extra gold he'd pulled out already to act as a tip instead. He wouldn't have minded paying for the entire meal, honestly, but he wouldn't force generosity on the others. Other than Kaito, they could all manage their money fine.

He did blink at Maki again soon after, though. "You're gonna give him a shell piercing?" He'd just sort of assumed it'd be a regular lobe one. And...he didn't think that pointing out that he'd heard trying to pierce through cartilage was more difficult would be necessary. Probably little to nothing was difficult for Maki to pierce through. "Kai-chan's gonna have to put in the work to make sure it doesn't get infected, then. We have a bottle of peroxide in the bathroom, sweets."

He butted his head a little against Kaito's arm in affection, still a little embarrassed to use a pet name, but feeling pretty satisfied with it all the same. Enough that his smile was still bright as he crossed his arms on the table and laid his chin on them. "I still almost can't believe it... But it's so exciting! I kinda wanna read up on places to visit, but I also just wanna wander? If we don't have a solid itinerary, then there's no stress about travel time and delays and stuff, yeah?"

Kaito blinked. 'Sweets'? Was...was he sweets?

As Kaito considered this, a small smile on his face, Maki sighed, leaning back into her chair, already looking tired as she said, "You may not want to, but I'm going to end up studying as much information about the kingdom as I can get my hands on now. I'm assuming that we intend to make this trip with the bare minimum of staff, considering you've only mentioned bringing a healer. It was dangerous enough traveling with a five caravan train..."

"We're far less of an obvious target with fewer people though," Shuuichi pointed out, sipping at his water. "And if we can keep the princes' identities secret on the road, we might be able to get from town to town with relatively minimal fuss."

Maki rubbed her temples. "Sure. Two purple-eyed, purple and red-haired royals who were both just part of a hugely influential, multi-kingdom, fifteen-year-war-ending political wedding, and whose faces are now no doubt being imprinted and passed around in art pieces, political pamphlets, local and international newspapers...not to mention hate groups..." Maki sighed again, staring at the ceiling. "Mind you, there's probably less of all that in Danganronpa...that kingdom did really well for itself during the war, considering we were refusing to trade with each other, so trade for them skyrocketed...so, likely, there's not a lot of hurt feelings to either the Dicean or Luminary royal families there..."

"I think it'll be okay," Kaito said, giving Maki a gentle smile. "And, maybe that's partly why King Aiichi agreed so easily to let us go? If there are some hard feelings about the end of the war, and...yeah, I suppose there would be," Kaito said, uncomfortable with the idea. It still confused him that people wouldn't realize that the war ending was, like...the eventual goal of the war. It wasn't meant to just go on forever. "Then traveling to a neutral kingdom for the next few months is probably the safest place we can be, right?"

"That argument can go either way," Shuuichi said. "The Dicean or Luminary castles are probably the actual safest places to be right now, surrounded by security and a dedicated staff. But if you wanted a second safest place? I could see how that makes sense."

The three young people in the corner were whispering to each other now, stealing glances at the group of four. The young woman giggled, before nodding. "Okay, okay," she said.

She got up, walking over to the table, a smile on her face. "Hey there, uh...sorry to intrude, but, you're Prince Kokichi and Prince Kaito, right?"

Well, yeah, the safety research was important. While he might hold off on learning about tourist attractions and natural wonders, familiarizing himself with the laws and attitudes and relative culture of the various areas in Danganronpa would be pretty essential for not making the trip a huge disaster. And...maybe it was naive of him, but he knew already he'd probably want to avoid the capital, just stick to, like...smaller areas. They were just rumors, but...

...maybe he was just being silly. As if he, someone who'd never left his hometown, knew anything about traveling...

"Aw shit..." he groaned, tipping his head to the side on his arms. He was so used to going around unnoticed (or, relatively so) that...he kinda forgot that people would actually know his face now. And though it would likely be how he looked at the wedding, Kaito was more recognizable, and if they were together? Forget it. "I'm never going to be able to sneak anywhere ever again, am I."

A point Maki made had him humming in consideration, a point he hadn't really thought about until someone else brought it up. "...while neither of our kingdoms made an enemy of Danganronpa and there wouldn't be any animosity from that...there could be people annoyed that trade will be going down, as Dicea and Luminary will lift their embargo. But if my dad doesn't think it'll be a problem..." He shrugged. Normally, he wouldn't think trade going down would spark hate, but...with all that he'd learned about Luminary, maybe the economic change would be enough for foul feelings to grow for both kingdoms.

He worried his lip a bit, thinking over this, but Kokichi perked up as the young woman from the other group came up to them. He thought about lying, but...Kaito probably wouldn't play along.

"Yupp," he chirped instead, giving the woman a bright smile. "Good afternoon! Would you like some taffy for you and your group back there?" He held the bag out, nodding to the two men still at their table. He wanted to think the best of his people, but...the roof tile came to mind. In the case that the woman just wanted to say hello, then it was just a nice gesture. But if she had...other intentions, he'd found people were less likely to let their rage overcome them if you were kind first.

The girl laughed, the sound small and chirping, covering her mouth demurely. "Awww, thank you! That's sooo sweet! That's okay though, I just ate, and a girl's gotta watch her figure, right?" she said, her attention entirely on Prince Kokichi as she gave a friendly wink, her gray, nearly white curly hair framing her sweet, freckled face.

Shuuichi liked her immediately. Maki was immediately suspicious. And Kaito was just thrilled to see someone come up to his husband in such an easy, friendly fashion, and grinned back at her, watching the two of them.

"Anyway, my name’s Aba," she said, giving Prince Kokichi a small wave, "Those guys over there are my friends, Itch and Tom! Wave guys!" She called over to them, the one called Itch, a dark-skinned man with a short crew cut fade, ignoring her as he paid for the meal for the three of them, and the man next to him, a blond haired, blue eyed skinny man with eager eyes and a sharp smile, gave them a wide, quick wave. "They're brothers. Don't ask, it's complicated. Anyw~aaaaaay," she said, her voice a sing-song as she tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling at them. "We've all been invited to a party tonight! You know that old brewery over on the east side that's been shut down for a billion years? A friend of mine’s friend of hers dad owns that place, and he's letting his daughter host a party there to celebrate her getting into Uni. Anyway, Prince Kokichi, word’s around that you aren't, like, chained to a bedpost anymore or whatever, so, it'd be super cool if you wanted to come. There's gonna be a lot of people our age there. Your friends can come too, if you want. I just know people would be super stoked, you know?"

Just a friendly person, phew. Kokichi felt himself relaxing a little, figuring he didn't need to brace for an impromptu debate or ranting or anything as he set his candy bag back on the table. She seemed nice, and not in the way that people faked for some other agenda.

Waving back at, well, Tom at least, Kokichi listened raptly to what Aba had to say, nodding and humming in comprehension at all the usual spots. And then his eyes went starry.

A party?

And, more importantly, a party that wasn't thrown by the government, which were the only parties he'd ever been to. A party that didn't have to do with his father at all, wouldn't have watchful eyes on him at all times, keeping him from pretty much doing anything. A party with...people his own age.

When the Luminaries had talked about the parties they went to in their teens, he'd had some idea about it, just because of the types of books he'd read. But...they sounded like fun in real life.

"Really? I mean, it'd be okay if we just...showed up?" His eagerness and excitement were palpable. If he didn't go back home, then he'd still just be out in town, which Aiichi had agreed to! ...but that was just selfish, dumb thinking. His father would likely be expecting him to return before that evening, and if Kokichi didn't show up? He could practically see members of the guardforce busting into the brewery and hauling him back home. He didn't have to get permission, per se, but...he would have to make sure his dad wouldn't blow a gasket.

Calming a little, Kokichi gave the woman a kind smile. "Er, I don't wanna agree for all of us," he gestured to the others, "but if it'd work out tonight, I would love to come, if it's really alright. Thank you for extending the invitation, Aba-chan!"

"Oh yeah, for sure, are you kidding?" Aba laughed, "Like, having the heir apparent there would totally make my friend’s friend’s day. Makes her party, like, super high class by association, ya know? Besides, it's one of those kinds of parties where, like, honestly anyone can be there, ya know? Like, designed to be crashed, that sort of thing. Anyway, there's no official start time, but I wouldn't recommend showing up before ten. It'll be dullsville til then, no doubt. Okay, bye then!"

Aba gave Kokichi another little wave, before practically bouncing back to her friends, whispering to them and then giggling as she nodded to one of their questions. Itch nodded back, but Tom just shouted over to them, "Better see you there! We've got our eyes out for you!"

"Tom, oh my god, seriously. Shut the fuck up, you're so embarrassing," Aba laughed, pushing her friend out, the three of them gone.

As they left, there was the smell of warm food filling the pub. Likely their food was almost done. Kaito was still grinning, watching Kokichi's expression carefully, excited for his husband. "Welll, that's exciting, right? Your first day out and you've already been invited to a party!"

"She annoyed me," Maki murmured, a small frown on her face. "I'll go if you all are going, but I wouldn't recommend it. A party at a large, abandoned factory? There's absolutely going to be trouble there by the end of the night."

Shuuichi shrugged. "I'm not particularly up to it myself, but I'm with Maki. If you guys are going, I'd wanna go just to keep an eye out, if nothing else. But I differ from Maki, in that I think she seemed fine. Though I've never heard an accent like that before...do you think it's just a voice she puts on?"

"We should absolutely go! It'll be an experience for Kokichi, and parties can be a lot of fun!" Kaito said, pumped at the idea.

Maki gave him a Look. "You know parties mean a different thing for you, now that you're married, right?"

Kaito actually looked a little offended at this. "Hey, come on. That wasn't the only reason I ever went to parties. It's nice to just hang out with people too! And this will give us a chance to meet a bunch of new friends! What's not to be excited about?"

Waving goodbye, Kokichi snorted at Tom's shout, honestly just...really flattered to be asked to a party, even if it was only because of his title. If he went, maybe he'd be able to talk to people and...make his presence accepted for more than just being the heir apparent. Have a chance to really experience life as, well, not a teenager anymore, but as a young adult! To do something other people could regularly do.

Though, he was quickly brought down from that excited high. Kokichi's smile faded as Maki and Shuuichi threw in their opinions, and not even Kaito's enthusiasm brought it back up. "I don't wanna make you guys go if you don't wanna..."

Even if Aba and the others seemed excited, and would likely tell the host about it... But he hadn't given a solid yes, and he did care more about Maki and Shuuichi's comfort than making an appearance somewhere just to give clout to someone else.

"We'd have to sneak out, anyway--I don't want Aiichi to get his hands into any of this." Kokichi sneered at the table a little. Apart from making it hard for him to even go to the party, even if Aiichi agreed to let him go, there would definitely be a guardforce presence where there likely wouldn't have been. And, fuck. How embarrassing would that be? "I'd rather just not go at all than ruin the party for everyone."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be 'making us' do anything, Kokichi. We'd go because we'd want to know you and Kaito would be getting home alright."

"Look, Kokichi doesn't wanna go if that's pressuring you guys to go, and you both don't wanna go. There's an easy answer here," Kaito explained before shutting up, Sakura swinging by with all of their food. She held the tray with all their meals with ease, and put the correct plates in front of all of them, giving a respectful nod before heading back to the counter. "Kokichi and I don't need babysitters. We can go to a party by ourselves!"

"We're not trying to babysit you, Kaito," Shuuichi said with a small frown, looking a little hurt by this. "We're your friends, we just don't want you to be around a bunch of strange people you don't know with no one looking out for you. That's how bad things happen. You know that."

"We'll be watching out for each other," Kaito insisted, flustered by the small looks of exasperation both his friends were giving him. "Why is that a weird idea? Kokichi's familiar with the area, and I'm familiar with parties. Between the two of us, all the bases are covered! We'll stick together, all night, and come home if anything weird starts to happen! No problem! Right, Kokichi?"

Kokichi smiled up at Sakura as she came with their food, but the conflict in him was still very present. Was this how all of his new opportunities would end up? But he couldn't just willingly go back to his old life without any consideration. Aside from anything to do with his father, never leaving home...it would drive him crazy. er. Sometimes you had to take risks so even greater things would have a chance to bloom!

"...Shuu-chan and Maki-chan have a point. If we were just average Diceans going to a party, then I think we could look out for each other, but we're not. We were just given an impromptu invitation, we don't know all who's going who might not appreciate either of us being there." While he was more worried for Kaito, Kokichi knew there was now a target on his head again too. It was irrational, since he didn't have a choice in either the war or marrying Kaito, but if he was the one to bring Kaito and then, you know, treat him as his beloved husband, that might...not be the kindest thing to do to some people.

...the party was sounding like a worse and worse idea, wasn't it... But he still wanted to go so badly!!

He swirled one of his dumplings around in the sweet sauce that came with them, chewing his lip as he thought. "Maybe...we could just go for a little while? Keep to a timeframe, so if we don't come back within it, Shuu-chan and Maki-chan will know that something happened?"

"Perfect! That's perfect! That Aba girl said we shouldn't even bother to show up til ten, right? How about midnight? Or, uh, midnight-thirty?" Kaito asked, just straight up negotiating with his two friends now, ignoring his own steak for the moment. "That'll give us two solid hours at least to be there, then a half hour to get back! If we're even a minute late, Maki, you can do that whole thing you like to do and just start cutting people’s fingers off again, and Shuuichi, you can...maybe make sure Maki doesn't do that!"

"Why do I always get the tough jobs?" Shuuichi muttered, eating his fish.

Maki was quiet, considering everything as she spun her spaghetti with her fork, frowning... "You'll definitely be no later than 12:30?"

"Yes, I swear on my family name!" Kaito said, looking serious.

Maki looked dissatisfied with that. "Right, sure..." she said, clearly finding the idea distasteful...before she looked up. "Swear on Atua that unless something extremely bad has happened, something that would warrant me 'doing my thing', as you put it, both you and Kokichi will be back by 12:30."

Kaito nodded. "I swear on Atua."

Maki seemed satisfied with this, though she just sighed still. "Fine. You don't need it, obviously, but you have my blessing. We are doing your piercing before you go though."

"Come onnnn."

"I had to force myself to vomit in the middle of a public garden. I'm getting to stab someone over it," Maki said, no room for argument as she stabbed at the shrimp on her spaghetti, her face red from the memory. "Plus, I've never pierced anyone's ear before. It'll be fun."

"Whatever," Kaito grumbled before grinning over at Kokichi. "Alright! Our first non-political party together! This will be awesome!"

Twelve-thirty...definitely would be the latest he'd ever stayed out. His knowledge of the city's nightlife was definitely lacking, but from the reports, crime wasn't, like, rampant or anything. So...it'd just be exciting! Depending on how tired they were, maybe Kokichi would suggest going to the observatory after they checked in with Maki and Shuuichi.

If no one else found a problem with the plan, then...then it wasn't a bad one! Things would be fine, and he'd get to go to a party! Kokichi's excitement returned, and he cheerfully took a big bite of his gyoza, though he gave a sheepish laugh through it at the reminder of what he'd made Maki do. Not all of his ideas that day had been good, but this one wouldn't be one. He was sure of it.

Laughing a bit at Kaito's words after he'd swallowed, Kokichi gave his husband a teasing look. "I know I give you shit for how long you take to get ready, but I think I'll need your help tonight. I've never been to a party someone else hasn't styled me for so..." he gave a great sigh, "I'll have to defer to Kai-chan's fashion sense. At least I have time to brace for it."

The meal was delicious, company lovely, and the four of them spent time chatting and teasing, just...being friends. Kokichi went out to lunch with friends, and had a great time. By the time they were finishing up, his worries seemed much further away. "So, we gotta get piercing stuff... Hm. I think I know of a jewelry place that might have what you need, Maki-chan."

"Perfect, let's stop by there. What's the game plan beyond that? We still wandering town for a few more hours? You get everything you need, Shuuichi?"

Shuuichi nodded, a pleased smile on his face as he looked down at his bag of books. "Yep. The pharmacist was incredibly helpful. I'll likely be going to see her again, maybe often, for a little while...but, uh. Look, when I went to see her, I did something a little...weird," Shuuichi admitted, blushing as he looked down.

"Weird how?" Kaito asked, genuinely confused. Out of his group of friends, Shuuichi was kind of the...least weird person he knew, honestly. "You weren't rude to her, were you?"

"No, no," Shuuichi sighed. "You know how we were using fake names all the way up here? For some reason, when I was by myself with her...I just used a fake name without thinking about it. Just as an impulse, you know? And after I had done it, was too embarrassed to correct my mistake. So, if you ever meet her, and she doesn't seem to know my name...that's what happened."

There. That should clear up his mistake from earlier. If he was going to be regularly talking to this woman, it was actual madness to think that Maki or Kaito wouldn't end up talking to her themselves someday. He wasn't sure why he had thought the fake name idea would even work. It had felt like it made sense at the time, but...

His brain always felt a little on fire these days, and sometimes his thoughts moved so fast that he didn't understand the logic behind them afterwards, and sometimes when he did have time to reflect on the things he thought and did these days...still didn't make much sense...but this fixed that! Right? She had sworn to keep the Despair Pollen between the two of them anyway, so a false name just complicated an already complicated situation. This solved that.

Right, of course. Just so long as his friends maintained faith in him...

Kaito snorted. "Dude, seriously?" he said with a wide grin, laughing, "That's so funny! That sounds like something I would do, man."

"What name did you give her, if you don't mind my asking," Maki said, that last bit tacked on to not make it a command. Whoever had trained Shuuichi to respond to authority had done a really, really piss-poor job of it, and Shuuichi had been dealing with the consequences of that for his entire life. Maki was in no way his authority, but sometimes random things people did could trigger it, such as just say things in a certain tone of voice, or if Shuuichi was particularly distracted, he might not even notice who was giving him the command and just treat them as an authority. It was frustrating, but just one of those little hiccups they had to deal with as a group.

"Shuu Togami," Shuuichi explained, smiling down at Kokichi. "I guess your nickname for me was just on my mind."

"...Togami?" Kaito asked, frowning at him. Looking suddenly tired.

Shuuichi shrugged, giving Kaito an apologetic smile. "I woke up thinking about him. Couldn't tell you why."

"...yeah, I mean, that's alright," Kaito said, shaking the tired off of him, grinning wide. "It's a common enough name, right? Though, you probably should clear that up with her at some point. It's a little weird, dude."

Shuuichi nodded.

As the four walked, Kaito looked up into the sky a bit, apparently enjoying the cloud watching. "I wonder how he's doing these days?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Maki said before looking at Kokichi. "Where is this place again?"

If Shuuichi was going to see Dr. Kimura more often...maybe Kokichi could gather his courage enough to tag along one of these days. To thank her himself for just...making him feel a little more sure of himself. For not feeling quite as alone, even if the information had been hidden from him all these years. If he was right about her being dismissed from his case, though...she might not want to see him.

Future problem, Kokichi! You don't have to think about it right now!

Instead, he listened to Shuuichi's explanation, snorting a bit. "It's not that weird. I've been using fake names for years in town, even with people who probably knew me. But I'm flattered Shuu-chan took inspiration from me!"

Kokichi did have some giggles at the situation, but they quickly fell to confusion. Togami? He was sure he hadn't heard that name before, at least in any possible way it could pertain to the Luminaries. Maybe...a friend from back home? That would explain Kaito's reaction a bit...he thought.

But, well, none of his business unless one of them wanted to talk about it. Maybe he'd ask Kaito another time, though.

"Oh, right, right; this way!" Just barely stopping himself from taking Maki's sleeve, he led the way to a lower-end jewelry store. They sold pieces that were fun and pretty without the price tag that came with precious gems or metals. "I know I've seen flower hair ties here, so if Maki-chan wants to get some to try out, she can take a look!"

Fantasy Claire's was a pretty tacky place...but it had its charms.

"Why's it called Fantasy Claire's?" Shuuichi asked the cashier, who looked bored out of her mind as next to them several young preteen girls argued bitterly over which two of them would get the preferred style of ring they both wanted, but shared the same colored gemstone related to their astronomy sign, so one of them had to pick a different one because they couldn't both be walking around wearing the exact same costume jewelry ring, OBVIOUSLY VALERIE! GOD!

As one girl started the very earnest argument that she was obviously way more of a scorpio than her friend was anyway, the cashier just shrugged, tiredly. "I don't know. Owner’s name was Claire, maybe? And, like, everything in here is fake, so...Fantasy for that maybe?"

Shuuichi nodded. This made sense.

"How about this one?" Maki asked Kokichi, showing him a little black star shaped shell-stud earring. "I think it suits him."

"Why are you asking Kokichi? It's gonna be my earring," Kaito said, clearly uncomfortable just being in this store, his face a little blue as, in the corner, a young girl getting her own earring suddenly burst into frantic tears, her mother sighing next to her. "Actually, nevermind, just get whatever. Can we get out of here? This place is...weirdly hostile feeling?"

"At this point, I'm just guessing that Kai-chan can easily make an entire outfit of star-print things, huh?" Maybe that was why he called himself the Luminary of them. Between his interest in astrology and how his friends pointed out any and everything with stars on them, and how Kaito gushed at every one, and his formal capes... At least it'd be easy to find designs his husband would like.

Kokichi nodded to Maki, giving her a thumbs-up. "If Kai-chan has no objections, then I say go for it. I think it'll look nice." He went to Kaito's side, putting his free hand on the taller man's back again, starting up those affectionate rubs. "I can't believe we managed to stumble across the one sort of shopping you won't go goo-goo eyes for. The realm of preteens is one place this hero cannot dwell."

Teasing aside, Kokichi nudged Kaito towards the door with a kind smile. "We can wait outside while Maki-chan pays if you want. And I'll let you hold my hand while your ear gets pierced, and I won't complain about how tight your grip is, since this is my fault anyway."

As they got a little farther away from other people, a glint went through Kokichi's eyes and he lowered his voice a little. "If you're serious about paying me back, then maybe it's me who will end up owing you." When he wasn't flustered, flirting tended to calm Kaito down. He'd agreed to the earring, however that situation had come to be in the first place, but that didn't mean he couldn't be nervous. So Kokichi would try to make it fun instead of scary.

Kaito looked down at Kokichi, confused by the statement for a moment...before the tip of his ears went bright red, a flush on his face.

They had been totally celibate for the last eight days, but...honestly not for a lack of Kaito trying. Especially considering how much of that time he had spent in bed, Kaito had felt restless pretty much any time Kokichi was near him and they were alone, and had a hard time not expressing that need towards his husband. Ooooh, he had come close a couple times too, towards wearing Kokichi down. A few days ago, Kaito had even had him on his back, kissing into his throat, and then...

Well, long story short, he had made the mistake of wincing when Kokichi had thrown his arms around him, and Kokichi had stopped the whole thing dead in its tracks, both of them going to bed frustrated and pouting.

But! Now he genuinely felt better! And wasn't just, ya know, trying to convince himself or anyone else of the fact. He actually felt good, his healer had given him a clean bill of health, as far as the concussion went, and Kokichi...

Kaito grinned, a touch of conqueror in it as he said, "Careful, 'Kichi...you look too cute in that outfit to be tempting me this much, so far away from home..."

The conqueror went away though as they got outside, Kaito taking a steady breath as he enjoyed the sun and the wind, away from that hostile store. Geez. Pre-teen girls were scary...

Maki and Shuuichi did eventually come out, Maki looking smug with her new supplies. Behind her, the previously crying girl and her mother also walked out, the girl talking excitedly, looking by all means like she hadn't been in hysterics just moments before.

"Got it," Maki said, stretching her shoulder. "We heading back?"

Kokichi snorted, just rubbing Kaito's back more, though he'd be lying if he said that tone in Kaito's voice didn't excite him at all. For being single all his life barring the last two weeks, it was...harder than he'd anticipated keeping his hands to himself. Especially with how miserable Kaito had been, but Kokichi just had to keep reminding himself that it'd hurt Kaito even more if they tried anything.

And that had resulted in going to bed a little too horny for comfort a few times. Kaito really had destroyed his sex drive.

But now...Kaito still had a broken arm, even if it hadn't been bothering him that much. So...well, just getting off wouldn't mess him up any, right? As long as they weren't in any position that would put weight on his bad arm...

Color bled into Kokichi's cheeks. So far away from home indeed.

And though he was enjoying his time out...maybe there was something to being home as well. Nodding a bit, Kokichi glanced back at the sun for a moment. "Probably. So we can put stuff away and all that, right? And maybe not staying out as long as possible will make my dad easier to deal with..."

He sighed before perking back up. "That good with everyone?"

There was a general concession of yes, though Kaito personally probably could have stayed out the rest of the day and not been bothered, though Maki and Shuuichi were clearly starting to get restless in town. Maybe when they got back and dropped all their stuff off, he'd ask Kokichi if there was anywhere he wanted to go, just the two of them. Sure, King Aiichi had said when Kokichi left he always had to have two people with him, but, like...

...what the king didn't know wouldn't hurt him?

Kaito blushed at the very idea of that, feeling foolish. Of course the king would end up knowing. The king always knew everything, because that was their job...or, at least, that was definitely true at home. Kaito had been thoroughly convinced as a child that if he did something he wasn't supposed to do, and didn't get in trouble for it, it was because his authority figure had decided to let him get away with it, for whatever reason. Because it was impossible to trick someone above you. And as an adult, Kaito still, for the most part, sincerely believed this...

...for, ya know, his Luminary chain of command, anyway. The Dicean?

He couldn't stop thinking about how Kokichi had said they were going to 'sneak' out tonight. This, coupled with his childhood of regularly sneaking out of the castle, was...confusing. Like...certainly the king knew? Right? And had just allowed it to happen for some reason? How was it possible he didn't? He was the king. Anything any of his people knew he was entitled to know about, so...someone had to have told him, right?? And just allowed it to continue?

So why all this fuss with 'number of people' and 'keeping Kokichi confined' when the king hadn't even been willing to enforce his own rules when they weren't followed?? The fact that Kaito just...asking for permission on Kokichi's behalf resulting in largely positive results didn't help Kaito's confusion with the whole mess.

He wished he understood the rules here.

Whatever. He and Kokichi would 'sneak' out tonight. They'd be back before Maki had a chance to get either worried and/or homicidal. Kokichi would have a good time at his first ever party and the two of them would meet some cool new Dicean people!

And he guessed they'd find out later if this would actually make King Aiichi upset or the man would quietly let them get away with it.

As the castle gates came up, Shuuichi yawned. "I think I'm just gonna hide in my room for the rest of the day and read," he admitted, clearly looking forward to the idea. He had so many new things he had to add to his journal now, after all. "Though, since you're going to be up till twelve-thirty, Maki, I'll come hang out with you after they leave."

"Sure," Maki said. "If we're otherwise done for the day, I have to track down Timothy. I wanna show him some of the new blunt training weapons we're going to be practicing with from now on. Maybe I'll do his first ever spar today, now that there's no chance of him hurting himself. Oh, though-" she looked over at Kaito, smirking, "Why don't we get this piercing done now, hm? Based on the instructions the woman at Fantasy Claire’s gave me, it should be quick. We'll just do it in your bathroom."

Thank fuck--'blunt'. Kokichi had heard through the gossip mill how worried people had been over the actual daggers they'd used for Timothy's training at first. While Maki had accommodated the concern, seeing how a Luminary spar went before, he was kind of worried what sort of weapons she'd pick up from the blacksmith. Seemed like he didn't have to be, though.

Kokichi hummed a bit, walking a little faster, now that the deed was done and they were past the gates. "In that case, I'll get some ice while you guys sort out our bags and prep and all that. I know you can handle it, Kai-chan, but I'd feel better if we numbed you first."

Shuuichi and Maki were probably the last people he needed to protect Kaito's reputation from, but...he still wanted to. If they put extra care into his piercing, then maybe Kaito wouldn't be so nervous. Or, by drawing it out, they might give him the chance to overthink it even more and freak himself out further. One of the two.

"I'll meet you guys back in our room!" And with that he scampered off to the kitchens...or at least to knock on the door and ask through it.

They stopped by Maki's room first, Kaito grabbing some of his and Kokichi's bags that had been left there, Shuuichi grabbing his own from the pile. While Shuuichi had only taken a moment to drop his own bags off, the three then went off to Kaito and Kokichi's room, Kaito just...inexplicably nervous.

When they got upstairs to his room, Kaito was led into the bathroom by a still smirking Maki, followed by a mostly disinterested but amused Shuuichi, and told to sit on the closed toilet seat as she prepared everything. Kaito was mostly resigned that this was actually going to happen (it...it really hadn't occurred to Kaito at any point this morning that he'd end the day with a piercing. Hell, he had never seriously considered getting a piercing ever), but felt his face turn pale again when he saw the small, metal needle she took out of the bag, leaving it on the sink counter top as she checked under the sink for the before-mentioned peroxide.

He didn't really knoooow why the small prick of a needle was so much more intimidating than, say, the swipe of a sword or the stab of a dagger...but fuck, it was. He shifted uncomfortably on the toilet seat, smiling nervously as he asked Shuuichi, "Hey, uh, Shuuichi...do you happen to have any random facts about piercings?"

Shuuichi frowned, sitting on the side of the tub as he thought about it. "Um...you can't bleed out from someone ripping a piercing out, and if someone did, so long as it was stitched up in time, the torn skin would heal with minimal scarring," Shuuichi provided, continuing on idly, "Which I found out while proving the identity of a body wasn't actually who police originally thought it was, but it was actually his twin brother. See, the murdered twin didn't have any piercings, and when he was killed, his murderer, his twin, tried to fake that it was his own death by piercing his brother in all the correct places after he had died. But he didn't realize that the holes would have a different depth and shape to them without the body healing around it..."

"You've seen some weird shit, Shuuichi," Kaito said, feeling slightly nauseous at the story.

Shuuichi smiled and blushed. "Yeah...maybe."

So, Kokichi wasn't let into the kitchen, but they had given him a cup of ice without questions, so he'd take it. On his way back to their room, he thought he saw his father just turning a corner and, not wanting to talk or for the ice to melt, Kokichi quickly scampered off, not in too much of a fuss if he was seen but not stopped. If Aiichi saw for himself he was back, actually, that would be ideal. No search parties today, nope!

While he nodded to people going about their day, he didn't stop for any conversations he might have liked either. He had a feeling that if he took too long Maki would just get impatient and give Kaito the piercing without him. Kokichi couldn't just abandon his husband like that! So it wasn't long before he joined the party in the bathroom.

Taking a small washcloth, Kokichi picked up a piece of ice and held it to the shell of the ear Maki had told him she'd pierce. "Alright, Kai-chan should barely feel a thing! And he'll have something new to accessorize with!" He smiled at Kaito, trying to soothe him.

"Yep!...Sure!" Kaito grinned at Kokichi, or, at least showed his teeth as his shoulders started to rise up, his fight and flight instincts slightly kicking in as Maki lit a lighter under the needle, cooking it for a moment, then pouring the peroxide over it.

"There. That'll do it," Maki said, "Probably."

Kaito made an involuntary little 'eep' sound when she turned towards him with the needle while Shuuichi laughed, though Shuuichi at least had the good grace to cover his mouth as he snickered the prince. Maki then glanced at Shuuichi and said, "See that hand towel? Grab that, this may get messy..."

Remembering herself, she turned to Kokichi. "Hey, you sure you don't want to step outside for this? I don't think it's going to be a gusher or anything, but Kaito will probably bleed a little."

"C-can we please just do this already?" Kaito asked, still keeping on his pseudo-brave face even though he started tapping his foot anxiously as Maki went beside him, her gaze focused as she positioned the needle right where Kokichi had iced. He closed his eyes, biting his lower lip.

"Nm mm," Kokichi shook his head. Even if the description of 'a gusher' made him feel queasy already, he had promised to be there for Kaito. And...it was just a piercing. How much blood could there really be?

...he didn't have to look.

Staying on the opposite side of Kaito from Maki, Kokichi gently held his husband's hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze. It wouldn't be that bad, he was sure. Even if it was Maki's first time giving someone a piercing...like, it was simple. And she was already very good at stabbing. It'd be a quick second, then they'd clean the hole and put the earring in, and then it'd be done!

Kokichi pressed his face against Kaito's shoulder, keeping his own eyes shut as well as he rubbed his thumb down the side of Kaito's hand. "You're good, you're okay," he murmured so quietly that it wouldn't sound like much more than just indistinct sound to Maki and Shuuichi, probably. "Kai-chan is a really brave hero, and he's gonna look really hot. He's gonna show off tonight and make me have to disappoint a lot of people by letting them know you're taken. Just take a breath and it'll be over."

Kaito felt Kokichi press into his arm and looked down at him, listening to Kokichi's almost breathlessly quiet encouragement...and couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, aww... thanks ba-OW! Maki!" Kaito said, jerking his whole body, trying to look over at Maki now but her hold on his ear unyielding.

"It's already done, just give me a minute," Maki said, inspecting the needle through his ear before, satisfied, she gestured to Shuuichi. "Pass me the hand towel."

Shuuichi nodded, still sporting a small smile as he leaned over to hand it to her. Placing the hand towel behind his arm, Maki, with more difficulty than pushing in had caused, drew out the needle, covering up and putting pressure on the piercing with the towel once the needle was free of it.

"Kokichi, pass me the earring. Over on the sink. Thank you," she said, taking the earring from him and then removing the towel, sticking the earring in through the bleeding and fastening it shut. She then put the towel back on the spot as she went back to her bag, pulling out some liquid. "Come on, Kaito, I gotta run salt water over the wound. Put your head over the sink."

As Shuuichi continued to snicker at all of this, Kaito just muttered, "Sadists. I've surrounded myself with sadists," as he got up from the toilet, leaning over the sink and hissing between his teeth as Maki carefully poured the salt water over the piercing, being sure to get all around it and behind it. When the pouring eventually stopped, Maki dabbing his ear with the towel again, Kaito peeked his eyes open, asking curiously, "W-well? Is it done?"

Maki took away the cloth and inspected the earring... "Hmmm...not bad," she said, clearly proud of herself. "Take a look."

Kaito straightened up from the sink, taking a look at the piercing in the mirror. It was a small, black star, now just...on the back of his ear.

He grinned.

"Hey, that's not so bad!" he said, looking over at his husband, angling his head so Kokichi could get a look at it. "It's kinda cool, huh?"

"Do you think, if Maki made it a policy to give you a piercing everytime she wanted to kill Kokichi, that Kaito would run out of ear space before we finished our cross-country trip, or only just after?" Shuuichi teased, seeing that the drama was over and that both Maki and Kaito seemed pretty pleased by the end result.

"You're thinking too limited, Shuuichi," Maki said, cleaning up her supplies. "There are other places beside the ear, after all."

Kokichi snickered a little bit at Kaito's mundane reaction to the stab, rubbing his shoulder a bit before pausing to hand Maki the earring. And then, with some groaning and teasing...it was done. And...Kaito did look good with it. As ridiculous his star aesthetic could seem at times, it suited him.

"Hmmm, don't hate it, and I suppose that's all that matters," he snarked. "I can't imagine I'll be looking at the back of your ear all that often either, but I'll be sure to factor in the additional twenty minutes to your get-ready time to account for you trying to choose from the no doubt extensive collection of earrings you'll get."

Using the sink counter as a platform, Kokichi hopped up to briefly kiss Kaito's cheek. "It looks nice, honey."

Landing back on the ground, Kokichi smirked at the escorts. "Now, while you didn't need to ask me about the ear piercing, I would at least like a heads up on any other places you're gonna adorn Kai-chan. I'm not sure I'm willing to accept surprises like that."

"...or for Kai-chan to run at me with his shirt off to show off his, like, new nipple piercings or whatever." He rolled his eyes with a bit of a snort, walking out of the bathroom to sort out the few things he'd bought. And maybe help Kaito out with putting his new clothes away.

Kaito was, in fact, now imagining all the different style earrings he could get for his new piercing...but snorted at the idea of nipple piercings. "Uh, no. That's gonna be a hard pass, I think," Kaito said, looking over at Maki, "We're even?"

Maki shrugged, "Of course. That was fun. Maybe I'll give myself a few piercings. Not today or anything, but maybe in the future."

"Well, with that excitement done, I'm off. I'll see you later tonight, Maki. Have a good time at your party, guy...oh!" Shuuichi turned to Kokichi, eyes suddenly stern. "Don't drink anything anyone hands you if you didn't see exactly where it came from, and never leave your drink unattended. If you lose track of it, don't drink from it again. Understand?"

"And don't take anything if you don't know what it is," Maki added in, looking over at Kaito. "That goes double for you. If it has a tiny little happy face on it, you will see me with a very unhappy face."

"I did that once!" Kaito said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't even mean to! He told me it was a mint!"

"Yes, and he suffered for that," Maki said, eyes narrowing darkly. "But you know better now. And don't take your eye off Kokichi. No offense, Kokichi, but I...don't think you're used to being around a bunch of young adults, it seems. Especially university students, which it sounds like most of these kids will be. They are just...so dumb," she said, frowning. "All the time."

Shuuichi laughed at this assessment, just saying, "True," as the two headed out of the room.

"Man...they really worry too much," Kaito said, shaking his head.

Kokichi felt himself standing up a little straighter at the look Shuuichi gave him before glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck. "Got it..." And...considering he didn't even understand what Maki meant by 'take anything' for a good few moments...the warnings were probably justified.

He'd...spoken to other young adults before. People coming by to use the castle's facilities, or during festivals. But...they were usually quick and superficial, people just wanting a taste of the novelty of talking to the heir apparent. He'd never hung out with anyone his own age before Kaito and Maki and Shuuichi, unless Denji counted, which was...difficult since they worked for his dad. Going to this party was probably going to be the most interaction with people his own age, like, ever.

Sighing a little as the escorts left, Kokichi gave Kaito a nervous look. "I don't know... I did get poisoned from a drink someone gave me when it was supposed to be a place we'd both be super safe and looked after. I think at least some of their concerns are warranted."

But he couldn't let nervousness stop him from at least trying something that was so normal to other people. If he found he didn't like these kinds of parties, well, then he'd found out for sure! And if he had a great time, he would've never found out otherwise. That was the point of new experiences!

Laying out his new candy in his desk, Kokichi nodded over to the other bags. "C'mon, though, help me unpack--clothes aren't too bad to sleep on top of, but toiletries and books would be pretty uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but, like..." Kaito frowned before shrugging. "Yeah, you have a point. But everything really is going to be fine tonight! We're only going to be there for two hours anyway. What kind of trouble could we possibly get into?"

He grabbed the book bag and dumped it, taking his own book with a happy little smile and putting it up on the top shelf with his collection, then taking the new Circleworld book and putting it on Kokichi's lower shelf. He grabbed the toiletries next, bringing them both into the bathroom and, not sure where Kokichi might want his, just put both of them on the tub side to be dealt with later.

Then he grabbed a handful of hangers from the closet, and, doing his best with his single arm, started hanging things up...before remembering he hadn't tried any of these clothes on yet. Shoot.

Taking the only clothes he knew did fit, the new 'fun' outfit, as Kokichi called it, he put them aside on top of the dresser. "I'm gonna wear the new outfit for the party. You wanna pick what you're gonna wear while I try this stuff on?" he asked, going back to his clothes.

Considering all of them, Kaito sighed. Whelp. Nothing to do but try them. Carefully getting his cast past the sleeve hole, he took off his shirt, tossing it aside before grabbing one of the v-necks. The v-necks were all the same size and brand, so if one fit, chances were they all would.

He got himself into it, checking it out in the mirror. Not bad, not bad... "What do you think? Too tight?" he asked Kokichi, running his hand down his chest and over his stomach, the fabric clinging to it. "Eh, it doesn't feel bad anyway."

...two hours was plenty of time to get into trouble, which he knew personally as someone who enjoyed causing a little bit of trouble every now and then. But he'd just hope for things to go smoothly. No reason to bring his nerves up when they were just dumb, nonsense feelings anyway.

Kokichi looked over Kaito's new clothes for a moment, humming his assent. Okay, so that was the sort of stuff you wore to a party... Leaving the closet door open, Kokichi began considering his clothes. And then just...stared, twirling a bit of his hair around a finger.

Nice but not too formal, maybe a little flashy...hm. The black turtleneck tank top he had seemed like it'd pair well with stuff without being outside the accepted dress code. Then...well, what to pair with it?

Kokichi turned when Kaito spoke up and...well, his eyes didn't go to his face right away as they usually did. The shirt wasn't painted on or anything, but it definitely showed the outline of Kaito's impressive figure, the collar just dipping past his collarbone and almost teasing his pecs...

Fuck. It was probably just because they hadn't done anything in over a week, but Kokichi felt his cheeks start to color. "If it fits, it fits," he said simply, quickly turning back to the closet. Picking out clothes. Right.

Kaito glanced at Kokichi curiously...before smirking a little.

He looked back at the clothes available to him, taking off the v-neck and deciding all of those would fit. Good, good. What else. Ugh, the puffy winter jacket. He was going to look ridiculous in it...but he would be super soft and squishy in it. That could be fun! Great for hugs!

Deciding to try that one on next, he put one sleeve through it, leaving his cast just under it, and looked down at himself in surprise...before he burst into laughter. "It's too big," Kaito laughed. "Check it out, 'Kichi. Is it supposed to be this long? Haha...actually, I kinda like it. It's like a jacket, but, also, a low key cape? And it's squishy. I can dig that."

Still chuckling to himself, Kaito took it off, throwing it onto a hanger and putting it away with the v-necks before returning to the clothes.

He got through a few more clothing items, cheerfully finding that so far everything fit fine...and then he got to the end of the bag and looked down in almost stunned amazement. How had he not seen...

Picking up the long, light purple jacket, it wasn't much to look at on the outside. But the inside fabric...

Getting one sleeve in, managing to hook the other end on the edge of his shoulder with surprising stability, Kaito went to go look at himself in the mirror looking at the jacket on himself...a wide, giddy grin on his face as he said, "Kokichi! Where did you find this!? I love it!"

Okay... Um... The jeans he'd drawn all over? From afar, it just looked like some print, but up close you could see the little doodles and quoted passages from books he'd liked. Yeah...

Back to Kaito, Kokichi snorted a little, knowing that he looked the same in his own winter jacket, but it was funny to see Kaito similarly swaddled in cold protection. "It is supposed to be that long, actually. It's harder to layer up on pants, so proper coats are long to help keep you warm. But if you're gonna accept in on the grounds of being like a cape, then, sure, let's go with that."

Back to the closet. ...that orange flannel? It would be thick enough for any sort of chill the night air might bring, but also able to breathe, and it was easy enough to tie around his waist if he got too hot. Alright...that was, uh, probably? A good outfit? Taking the clothes out, Kokichi turned to ask Kaito about it before he stopped, stunned.

He figured Kaito would like it, but...wow. The jacket looked like it was made for his husband for how well it suited him. Even only wearing one sleeve somehow added to the effect. "Oh..." he breathed quietly before bringing himself back. "You needed a jacket not just for the depths of winter, so I just picked something out from the fall section. I saw the inside, and, yanno..."

He shrugged a little, unable to tear his eyes away from Kaito, though he was reminded of the clothes in his arms after a moment. "Oh, right! Uh, do you think these would be okay for this kind of party?"

Kaito was still admiring the jacket in the mirror right now, seeing how it looked with his new earring (the skin around the earring was pretty red, but Kaito wasn't worried about that right now), when he looked to see what Kokichi had picked out.

...an orange flannel??

"Uhh..." Kaito said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Let's...let's take another look at your side of the closet, yeah? Come on, what have we got to work with!?"

Kaito went into the closet, shifting through Kokichi's clothes, muttering to himself. "No, no, cute but no...let me see that undershirt you're wearing again? The turtleneck thing? Actually, just put that on, okay. Let's try it with...you have suspenders? These are cute. Okay, we'll take your darkest pair of jeans, with these purple suspenders, plus that black sleeveless turtleneck..."

As he continued to mutter to himself, he called back out of the closet, "Try those on together, see how it feels.” Huh, look. Bandanas...

Kokichi's cheeks burned brighter, though for a different reason this time. He usually didn't think about how his clothes went together at all, and usually didn't care, but... For fuck's sake, the whole city knew he was a shut-in, though not of his own volition. He was already nervous enough about the party, and he just...didn't want to stick out any more than he already would. At least not in, you know...the way he would wearing those clothes, apparently.

Setting the pants and jacket to the side to be put back later, Kokichi took off his poncho and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling on the tank top and smoothing it down. Unlike Kaito, he didn't really have anything to show off with form-fitting clothes, but it wasn't like he ever tried to hide how small he was either. He just...wore whatever was comfortable.

He walked back over to Kaito and took the pants and suspenders from him, then took off his shorts to put them on, the suspenders not just for show. These were a pair of pants he definitely needed to wear a belt with, though they didn't look baggy or anything.

...he didn't really feel any different. They were just clothes, and he'd probably worn these in this combination at some point, though the outfit as a whole was less colorful than combos he usually chose. But he looked nice enough, and if his party expert thought that this would work, he'd trust him.

Walking up behind Kaito, Kokichi tapped him on the shoulder. "Better?"

Kaito looked back at him, grinning wide. Perfect...like he had hoped, the black outline of the clothes showed off Kokichi's lithe, thin frame well, and Kokichi's pale, smooth arms were absolutely worth showing off. Though... "You're going to be too cold in that, aren't you," Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's an actual crime to hide you under anything...but maybe you should pick a jacket to wear with it," Kaito admitted with a sigh.

Reaching out though, Kaito put his thumb and the tip of his fingers on Kokichi's shoulder, running them down his arm with an appreciative linger. "Maybe it's for the best if you do show less skin actually," Kaito said, a wolfish grin on his face as his fingers ended at Kokichi's wrist, running his thumb up and down his small, blue veins. "I'd make an idiot of myself just staring at you all night."

Kokichi went to pick out a jacket, but paused at the touch to his arm, raising an eyebrow at Kaito before smirking at him. "Better than making an idiot out of yourself doing something else, right? And I'd think Kai-chan would prefer me without a jacket so I'd have to rely on husband-warmth instead."

Giggling a bit, Ouma looked back into the closet, eyes lingering on the cape Kaito had given him for a moment. Right, it'd ended up being put away when Maki and Shuuichi helped them clean up their room. As fun as it'd be...maybe a bit too much for his first party.

Still... He picked it out from the closet, turning around and presenting it to Kaito with a teasing smile. "Would seeing me in this again make up enough for putting an outer layer on?"

Kaito looked down at the cloak...and realized all at once holy shit yes it would please thank you.

Taking the cape from Kokichi, he carefully wrapped it around his small prince with a flourish, buckling the top clip and then taking a step back to admire it, and...

"Oh my god," Kaito said, covering his mouth, a wide, pleased grin hiding behind his hand as his cheeks went bright red. "That's actually sexy."

And it genuinely was. The outfit Kaito had picked out for Kokichi was because it showed off Kokichi's frame and complemented Kokichi's eyes and hair while showing off some skin. All together, it had come across as almost more quirky and pretty than anything else. But the outfit layered with that cape...it made Kokichi look older. His eyes seemed slightly sharper. An air of confidence and, as Kaito had said about the cape back when he had first introduced Kokichi to it, low-key menace in it that was...weirdly attractive to the Luminary citizen, who had been raised to respect and admire those who could inspire fear in others...

Fuck...it was hot...

Kokichi's cute little smile undid the overall effect a liiiiittle bit, but still.

Damn.

"That would have been the perfect outfit for certain types of Luminary parties," Kaito admitted, reaching out to adjust the cape a little on him, just mesmerized. "You look dangerous..."

While Kokichi could understand the concept of putting more clothes on being sexy, in certain situations, well...it was just like Kaito to go ga-ga over someone in a cape, wasn't it. Still, he snorted a bit at his husband's tastes, fixing the collar before doing a quarter turn, making the cape sway, the ribbons on the end rippling slightly, and, from above the collar, he gave his husband a sharp look.

Before giggling to himself and walking out of the closet to take a look at himself. "I'm not sure if 'dangerous' is exactly good for this kind of party, but I'll take it!" It might help his nerves at least. Just like the last time he'd worn it, the cape was comforting in its weight and concealment. And he could always flourish it a bit if he got too warm.

"Hmmm, maybe I will actually wear this tonight." He nodded to his reflection before turning back to Kaito, reaching up to unclasp the cloak. "Think I'm gonna change back for now though--it'd be weird if I changed into this just for dinner, huh?"

As Kokichi reached up to unclasp it, Kaito's arm shot out, grabbing at Kokichi's wrist, his own eyes wide and full of...Intent.

"Leave it on for a second," Kaito whispered. Staring.

His grip still on Kokichi's wrist, he gently pulled Kokichi's hand to himself, breaking his stare with his husband for a moment to kiss his wrist, then the palm of his hand, enjoying the feeling of Kokichi's fingers against his face for a moment...before moving down his wrist again. Then he kissed just below his wrist, and then just below that, before opening his eyes up again, looking up at Kokichi...hungry.

Kaito then let Kokichi's wrist go, and stood back up to his full height, looking down at his small husband, just...a heat of lust in his stomach. A need in him ignited that he had denied himself for too long now.

Kaito grinned down at Kokichi, before taking one of his purple suspenders into his hand, using its pull to lead Kokichi step by step backwards towards the bed...

Kokichi's eyebrows raised for a moment before his expression relaxed into something smug. Ah. Well, he did say he looked sexy. And after teasing each other on and off all day...

Letting Kaito easily take his arm, Kokichi caressed Kaito's face whenever his hand was in a position to do so. He felt pleased and a little tingly as he felt lips against the thin skin of his wrist, and then Kaito looked down at him, just...wanting. And Kokichi was pretty wanting himself, too.

"If I'm gonna wear this tonight, you can't rip my clothes off me or anything, okay?" he softly, teasingly, reminded, letting himself be pulled back to the bed. "And I'd rather not stain anything either..."

...but, with heat starting to pool in his stomach, Kokichi didn't stop there, leaning into his husband's space with a smirk. "But you have several things I wouldn't mind you staining. Giving me a reason to cover up, but, oops, just a wrong move, the cape giving people a glimpse of how much my Kai-chan loves me. And then some things no one will see..."

Kaito could feel his heart starting to pound, mind growing heavy with lust with every word his small husband teased. He was far more used to maneuvering now with one arm, so though he ached to leave it on him, to fuck Kokichi into his cape...Kaito took a deep breath, steadying himself, unclasping Kokichi's cape and throwing it onto the desk chair. After a moment's consideration, Kaito took off his own new jacket, throwing it on top of Kokichi's cape, before turning back to his husband.

Kaito played with Kokichi's suspender strap for a moment, using it as leverage to pull Kokichi as close to himself as he could, liking the way he could move Kokichi around using it...but Kokichi was right. He didn't want Kokichi to not get a chance to show himself off tonight in this...he slid Kokichi's suspenders off his shoulders, each one falling to the side of him, his pants now drooping ever so slightly, showing off the lower part of abdomen, that little purple trail of hair...

So fine. He wouldn't 'rip' them off. With that in mind, Kaito pushed Kokichi onto the bed.

He took a moment to admire his husband, his legs hanging over the edge of the bed, staring up at Kaito, that red in his cheeks. Kaito put a knee on the bed beside him, but otherwise remained standing, just leaning into the spot as he undid Kokichi's pant button, using the extra space to run his fingers up and down the trail of hair...

"I'm gonna try something a little new today, okay?" Kaito said. "You left me behind last time...so, we're gonna work on your stamina a little today..."

Kaito pulled Kokichi's pants and underwear off, tossing them aside, looking back at Kokichi and just...flushing. The shirt could stay on for a little bit. Kokichi looked cute, wearing nothing but a tight black shirt...

Kaito leaned down, taking the back of Kokichi's neck and lifting him a little to meet him halfway, kissing him deeply, rubbing his thumb over the line of his jaw as he took little nips at his tongue...and when he broke the kiss, Kaito laid him back down, looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Don't cum, okay?"

Kaito then took his knee off the bed and knelt in front of it, taking to rubbing at the inside of Kokichi's thigh for a bit, before taking Kokichi's dick into his hand, massaging a little bit of life into it, enjoying feeling the pulse, at first slow, then start to quicken under his attention. Giving the exposed skin of Kokichi's inner thigh a small kiss, Kaito said again, "Don't cum, 'Kichi."...before taking Kokichi's small dick into his mouth, running his tongue over it.

Kokichi let Kaito take his time ridding him of his clothes. Kaito had said before that Kokichi always moved too fast, and, after waiting so long...he wanted to make this last, at least for a little bit. To actually make sure to make it good for Kaito...which was something his husband brought up himself.

Flushing deeper in embarrassment, Kokichi pushed his head against the mattress as Kaito caressed the area just above his groin, even just that getting him a little excited. He pouted, looking up at Kaito, not pressing into his touch though that seemed like the best thing to do to show his appreciation. "It's hard to last when you're my partner, you know? Kai-chan does all sorts of things that make me feel so good, but does it so slow that I can't take it."

The pout was wiped away by Kaito's lips, Kokichi eagerly, hungrily kissing back despite his "complaints", cupping Kaito's warming cheeks in his hands, taking the opportunity before he was told to not touch. They'd kissed while Kaito was recovering, yeah, but whenever it started to get a little heavy...Kokichi didn't trust either of them. Once, Kaito had started kissing his neck in that way that made him gasp, and he almost broke.

But now, there wasn't much to hold back for.

The little pleased smile on his face as they parted told Kaito enough how much Kokichi had missed this, but the...surprised and excited look on his face was something new.

Don't cum...huh?

Kokichi supported his head a little, not sitting back up, staying right where Kaito had put him, but just angled himself enough to watch his husband, spreading his legs when Kaito started to rub his thighs. Kaito, for how much he teased him, wasn't cruel in bed, so...he wouldn't start pressing at his sweet spot, telling him all the while to not cum.

Just able to see the top of Kaito's head between his legs, sighing happily at his dick being handled, Kokichi wondered just what Kaito was gonna do to increase his stamina before--

"Hhhooo!" With a gasp, his body jolted, the heat in his belly melting down throughout him, thighs almost clamping around Kaito's head. It was so warm. It was wet and warm, and, fuck, Kaito was gonna get him hard in record time with that stuff he was doing with his tongue and, "A-ahhh~ Thi-this isn't very fair, Kai-chan...ahh... Giving me my first blowjob and telling me to resist..." His thighs twitched again as Kaito took more of him in, playing with the soft chub of his dick while the hardness underneath began to grow.

Kaito wished he could see Kokichi's face right now, the man's expressions honestly always Kaito's favorite part...but hearing him gasp and feeling him shudder and tense around him was a close, close second, and Kaito felt a warm rush of desire and affection run through him from it, his face bright red. Pulling his lips away from Kokichi with a little 'pop', and then placing a gentle kiss on its head, he said to Kokichi, "Shhh, it's alright. I'm gonna help, 'Kichi. But you gotta put effort in on your side, and you gotta tell me when you're getting close, okay?"

Kaito placed another little kiss on the side of Kokichi's dick, rubbing his hand up and down the shaft as he smiled, feeling Kokichi tremble and twitch, his legs already crossing over him, Kokichi's body subconsciously trying to hold Kaito in place. It was a common reaction, that need for more, and Kaito chuckled, sending a small prayer to Atua before taking Kokichi into his mouth again.

Kaito breathed through his nose easily, practiced at this, and so took his time, testingly lowering and rising his head, lapping his tongue against the underside of Kokichi's dick as he tried to swallow him deeper into his throat. He couldn't properly deepthroat Kokichi though, as it wouldn't give him enough time to react if Kokichi started to cum, Kaito's hands at the base of his shaft, his fingers playing with his tensing, shifting balls a bit, ready and waiting. He did feel the very tip of Kokichi's dick start to get swallowed down though, and Kaito took several teasing gulps around it.

Fuck. "Fuck!" That little pop was going to haunt his dreams until the end of time, he swore it. And the sudden change from Kaito's mouth to his saliva cooling in the open air? He needed something to hold onto, now, before he forgot all about it. Grasping blindly at his side, Kokichi found one of their pillows and tugged it over, pulling it to his chest and grasping the sides.

"O-okay...okay..." he panted, a realization from Kaito's words only getting him hotter. It wasn't just going to be Kokichi holding out as long as he could. If Kaito was going to help him then...then Kaito was going to full-on edge him. He was going to do that thing he did that night when they were telling stories, was going to drive him nuts until he was about to burst, but not let him. Was going to pinch him, physically stop Kokichi's cum in its tracks, get him to calm down, then rile him right back up again.

Fuck, he couldn't wait.

Kokichi groaned as Kaito took him back into that warm, firm wetness again, taking even more of him in, giving some love to every part of his, comparatively, much smaller dick. He wasn't able to envelop Kaito the same way, but, if this was even close to what Kaito felt when he would suck him off...god, he could definitely understand why his husband would lose his mind.

"Kai-chan feels so good... I h-hope I can make him feel - Ohh... - just as good later." Kokichi's thighs continued to shake and twitch around Kaito's head, wanting to close and Kokichi doing everything he could to stop them, to be good, to do everything Kaito wanted him to and-- "Oh ffffffuck~"

They did close, just for a moment, Kokichi feeling his cock finish swelling in an instant at the slight, teasing pressure, sure Kaito could feel every little thing. Squeezing the pillow, he panted and tried not to thrust into his husband's mouth.

Kaito felt the pressure around his skull for a moment, and phew, it was a good thing he hadn't tried this during the concussion. He had wanted to do this all the way back during their shower together, but yeah...this would have hurt him, no doubt.

Now though? It was just fun, feeling Kokichi lose himself for a moment, trying to squeeze at him, Kaito just chuckling to himself as Kokichi's knee knocked into his ear (and thankfully totally missing the other one).

Kaito didn't think Kokichi was close to cumming yet, but it still might be a good idea to slow him down a little, based on...well, everything Kokichi was doing. So Kaito pulled away from his dick again, noticing that it was a lot fuller than when he had first swallowed it down, and then just pressed his face against it, kissing the base of it a few times as he murmured, "Calm down...we still have so much to go, 'Kichi. Party doesn't start till ten, and frankly, I'm not feeling that hungry for dinner...we have all afternoon..."

Kaito kissed the base of his dick again, and then, even though this part always made him feel a little bad...took his fingers to the tip of Kokichi's dick and squeezed...before leaning in further, taking one of Kokichi's pulsing balls into his mouth and sucking, playing with the little muscle in between his tongue and his lips.

Kokichi let out a grumbly little whine, hugging the pillow to himself. "It's easy to calm down when you're not the one having you play with you. And if you really do e-edge me until the party...ah... I might actually pass out once Kai-chan lets me cum..."

"But I'm gonna try... 'm gonna let Kai-chan know, so...so I won't cum until he says I can...gonna make you proud..." Kokichi bit his lip a bit as he felt Kaito squeeze him already, a taste of what was going to come--instead of him cumming. Even if getting aroused so quickly was embarrassing, Kokichi didn't think he was physically capable of bursting immediately after getting hard, but the pinch made him spread his legs farther out, his knees bent a little which probably helped Kaito out with where he went next.

And, while he was dedicated to this evening of torturous pleasure, Kokichi couldn't help the stutter of his hips as Kaito started blowing one of his balls. Was that even the right terminology? Fuck if he knew or cared in the slightest right now, when Kaito's mouth was still so warm and inviting. He hadn't had an issue like it since the aphrodisiac, where it had felt like his balls were stretched full and always filling more, but, fuck, he hoped there wasn't some external tell in his junk that would just tattle even more how turned on he was. It was going to be a battle between Kaito's fingers squishing his hole and his body increasingly getting more desperate for release.

He shivered in pleasure at the thought, wanting Kaito to win.

"Since you didn't want to be left behind...is Kai-chan gonna fuck me tonight, eventually? I haven't been tempted to use the vibrator yet, but I miss having you inside me."

"Hmmmm," Kaito said, pulling away from Kokichi's balls as, for a moment, he just rested his head on Kokichi's thighs, idly working his shaft with his hand as he made a show of thinking about it. "I don't know. Maybe? I guess that depends on how long you last, huh? I'd like to..." Kaito said, moving his hand down, running a teasing finger through the press of Kokichi's cheeks, pressing against his hole slightly. "But I only have one hand, you know? If I have to use it to prep you open, I won't be able to help you stop cumming. Which is the exact issue we ran into last time, you know?"

Kaito pulled his hand back to Kokichi's shaft, running it up and down again as, with some satisfaction in the action, he took Kokichi back into his mouth again, sucking now, giving a pleased hum into the back of his throat as he felt Kokichi's dick swell and twitch at his attention. Lapping, sucking, leaning in to swallow him into the back of his throat for just a moment...

Before he pulled himself off him suddenly, saying as if he had 'just' gotten the idea, "Oh. I suppose my good, obedient husband could just pinch his own dick while I loosened him up though, right?"

Kaito smirked as he kissed the head of Kokichi's dick before sticking out his tongue, rubbing the warm wet over his head, massaging him before putting his lips just around the tip...sucking deeply...

"Oh," he said, stopping again. "And if you tried using that vibrator without me, I'm going to take that thing and use it on you until it loses its battery, replace those batteries, and then do it again. Just, ya know...so you know," Kaito said cheerfully, before taking Kokichi into his mouth again.

"I feel, ung, bad about last time...more than just...ah, you know?" Overexerting Kaito, making his concussion worse, maybe driving him to OD. "Bad" was just putting it lightly, but now wasn't really the time for serious talk. "Feeling you finger me drove me crazy...but if I can last longer, then I can make Kai-chan feel better and better, right?"

Words escaped him for a good moment, just becoming breathless sounds as Kaito took him back into his mouth, making him shiver again...and what Kaito said right after didn't cool him down in the slightest either. Resisting the temptation to stroke himself, obeying his husband's wishes and keeping himself plump and hard in his hands while Kaito prepped his hole, getting him nice and loose and slicked up to be a perfect home for Kaito's cock...

And then being promised an even worse/better punishment? While the other prince sucked and massaged him, making his cock pulse with heat and love, wanting to show its appreciation...

"K-Kai - hold me!" Already one of Kokichi's hands shot down as if to squeeze himself, instead gripping the sheets. He wasn't about to cum, but Kaito would definitely be able to taste the first of his juices start to leak. It was implausible, but Kokichi didn't want to spill a drop until his husband said he could.

Kaito could actually taste it before Kokichi had said anything, and while that was a fascinating experience by itself, Kaito fully interested in knowing the full taste of Kokichi's sex, he still stuck to his duty, pulling his head away and pinching Kokichi again, holding him gently but firmly as Kaito rested his head against Kokichi's thigh, looking up at Kokichi's body from this angle, able to see his stomach, chest, and arms, and the bottom of his jaw...but desperately wishing he could see his face.

"It's okay, 'Kichi...you're gonna get to feel good again soon, but take some deep breaths. In three seconds...hold it...out three seconds..." Kaito murmured, cheerfully rubbing his lower fingers up and down Kokichi's shaft still, though his thumb and forefinger stayed firmly where they were. "It's better like this, I promise...deep breaths."

As he heard his husband breathe, Kaito just smiled lazily, just...happy with all this. He enjoyed being able to take his time with him, and there was no...pressure to this session. Nothing hanging over their heads, like a wedding, or a drug, or an injury that was going to send one of them into their sickbed for another few days because they had lost their willpower for a night.

They were just...having fun before going to a party, after a day out in town with their friends. It was the most easy going thing Kaito could think of. And he was just happy he could finally get to do something like this with Kokichi.

"Alright...when you think you're good, you're going to reach down and take your dick from me, okay? I'm gonna go grab the lube, and we're going to open you up, alright? We're gonna take our time with it, and I know you're gonna feel frustrated, but it'll be worth it, okay? No pain this time," Kaito promised, kissing Kokichi's thigh. "And then I'll need just a little bit of help from you to get ready...then gonna make you feel really good...fill you up, beautiful..."

Following Kaito's instructions, Kokichi took deep, calming breaths, trying to get himself to relax. He could still hold on for a bit just leaking pre-cum, but it'd be easier to stop as early on as possible, before it got to the point where he couldn't ease back.

Once the throbbing in his crotch died down into a general tingle, Kokichi nodded, mostly to himself, and partially sat up, replacing Kaito's fingers with his own. He didn't need to keep squeezing himself, but he did anyway, trying to match the pressure while it was fresh in his mind. Hard enough to keep him from cumming, but not to the point where he'd feel like throwing up the next time he went to the bathroom. He'd definitely had enough pain in his dick to last a lifetime.

Licking his lips a little, Kokichi scooted up the bed and rolled over onto his knees as Kaito fetched the lube. One hand between his legs, clutching his tip, and the other bracing him, Kokichi kept his hips high as he spread his legs, giving Kaito easy access to his waiting hole.

"It feels so good when you fill me. I'm just a perfect fit for Kai-chan's cock; I like it when you loosen me up, but I like feeling you stretch me too...like I'm conforming to Kai-chan's dick perfectly. Like I'm the perfect place for it." He let out an airy little giggle, dutifully not stroking himself. "And he leaves me a wonderful present too."

It was going to kill him, he knew, knowing what the ultimate prize of this all would be, but he'd be a good boy. If Kaito wanted to take it slow, Kokichi would do everything he could not to hurry, to be a loving husband and encourage Kaito to take his sweet time doing whatever he wanted to Kokichi's body. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a few more deep breaths, feeling himself getting too excited just thinking about what was to come. No letting go until Kaito said he could.

Kaito smirked at this little speech, glancing over to see Kokichi had repositioned himself into just the most compromising position...it made the Luminary Prince’s cock twitch and his heart race a little harder, how willing and eager Kokichi was. Just entirely obedient...

Kaito snickered to himself and shook his head. God, he really was a pervert, honestly. Using the word 'obedient' on his husband didn't feel kind, but damn, it was fucking arousing. Coming back to his husband, hand covered in lube, Kaito looked down at his prize, Kokichi, still wearing that tight black shirt, his pale ass high and waiting for him as Kokichi just knelt there...

Kaito, using his pinky, as it was the only part of his hand not slightly sticky now, pushed Kokichi's shirt up and then kissed the lower part of his back. "Good job," he said to him, kissing him again before taking just a little bit of skin between his teeth and biting down slightly, just hard enough to leave a little bruise there. Then he straightened up and said, "I'm not going to hold back, okay? It's up to you not to cum. I know you can do it, 'Kichi. I'm going to fill you up if you can hold out."

Kaito rubbed the lube up and down Kokichi's hole, enjoying the feeling of little shivers beneath his fingertips, before pushing one finger through. After eight whole days, any loosening that may have occurred back when they were doing this every other day had entirely disappeared, and the skin fought back against him, though Kaito was patient. He rubbed his finger gently at the edges, letting the skin mold and adapt around it, pulling his finger in and out and curling it inside until he felt the walls start to give. "There we go...next one..."

Pulling his finger out, he ran more of the lube from his hand over the hole, being careful to be gentle with the red edges, before pushing two fingers in now. As this was roughly where he had lost Kokichi last time, Kaito grinned, putting more movement into it, pulling them in and out and exploring with the tips, looking for that spot...

He felt the muscles around his fingers suddenly tighten around him and he smiled, leaning over to kiss the base of Kokichi's spine again as he focused on the spot, enjoying teasing and poking the area as Kokichi shivered and shook beneath him.

His hand still deep inside of Kokichi, but Kaito's balance having remarkably improved in the last eight days, Kaito put a knee on the bed again and leaned over to Kokichi's head, placing a kiss on Kokichi's ear before breathing hotly against the lobe, placing his tongue against the shell and nipping the tip of his ear before whispering, "Are you being good, Kokichi?" before moving to kiss and bite the nape of his neck... and getting frustrated with how little of it was available due to the turtleneck. "Take this thing off."

"I can do it..." he repeated, even as he shivered in anticipation. He'd be able to hold out, would get to feel Kaito enter him properly, that wonderful cock that opened him up... It'd been far too long since he'd felt it, partially due to his own fault, though they shouldn't have been having sex those times anyway. But, fuck it was so hard to resist.

Kokichi hummed happily at feeling Kaito start to slick him up, his far too long ignored hole sending excitement through him just from the slightest touches. And then it wasn't just the slightest touch.

"Nggggmmm..." Kokichi closed his eyes again as he groaned, the single finger already feeling huge. If not for Kaito's own desire, Kokichi could imagine him not doing anything with his ass for stretches in the future, just to get him to tighten up. He hadn't thought he felt particularly loose, not anytime not right after sex, anyway, but if he was struggling with one finger then...

"Shit shit shit shit," he hissed to himself, feeling the stretch of two, unable to keep from pressing back against Kaito a bit, wanting to feel more of it. At least Kaito said he was going to go slow, for how frustrating that would be to his already pleasured dick.

His panting started to grow heavier, little moans ringing each breath as Kaito massaged his insides. He could seriously cum from this, which, he supposed, was why Kaito was doing it. Okay, okay, just hold on, you can't cum if you're holding yourself, Kokichi, you can do it, hold out for you husband, you've go--

"Aaa-aaaaaah!" His back suddenly arched down and Kokichi pressed backward into Kaito's fingers, both hands scrambling for his throbbing dick, leaving his face and shoulders to prop him up. The sudden spike of pleasure left him shaking, and, god, fuck! Don't cum don't cum! He could practically feel his cock filling, about to release, but, being good, Kokichi desperately clutched his tip, squeezing the pulsing bulb.

And then the jerk had the nerve to keep massaging his sweet spot. Fuck! Kokichi gasped and panted as he shook, trying so hard not to stroke himself, though his hands were right there and he needed to spill so badly. Ever greedy, he did pump himself a few times, one hand still squeezing himself but the other sliding down to his plump shaft, j-just a few strokes, not a lot, he c-could just-- With a sharp gasp, Kokichi felt a bit of wetness spill into the hand keeping his orgasm at bay; not cum, not yet, but he was tempting fate here.

Kokichi cried out, half-muffled by the bed, his whole body quivering at the love being given to his ear, his beloved husband whispering into it. "K-Kai-chan, I-I I can't! I'm gonna cum if I move my hands, I can't!"

Kaito sighed, his hunger, his possessive need for Kokichi getting worse and worse for every desperate moan and heavy breath coming from his husband. Kokichi wasn't the only one struggling to take this slowly… God, it'd be so easy to just mount him now, to just push his way in and let Kokichi ride the orgasm through its stinging, exhaustive aftermath, while Kaito just took what he wanted...

He'd have another limp tomorrow. Be strong, Kaito. Be good to your husband, who's putting so much faith in you.

So, gently, Kaito pulled his fingers out, grasped the inside of Kokichi's leg, and in one fluid movement, flipped Kokichi over, putting his husband on his back, Kokichi's hands barely staying in place.

Giving Kokichi a kind, if strained, smile, Kaito still struggling not to lose it right now, the red-head put his hand around Kokichi's dick, gently pushing Kokichi's own hands off of it. As he did so, he leaned over Kokichi, kissing him, stealing his breath and nipping at his lips.

Then he kissed Kokichi and held his lips against him, deliberately waiting until Kokichi had to breathe through his nose. Once Kokichi got his breath, Kaito pulled away, whispering, "Breathe out...back in..." going in for another kiss, waiting, again, until Kokichi had to breath through his nose..."Out again...good...you're doing really good..."

The whole time, Kaito kept his grip on Kokichi's cock, feeling it twitch and pulse desperately in his palm.

As he listened to Kokichi catch his breath, Kaito kissed the bottom part of his jaw, enjoying the smell of him, waiting until Kokichi sounded reasonably calm before he said, a tad sadly, "I really wanna kiss your neck, 'Kichi." He kissed the fabric covering it. "Didn't you want to make me happy?"

Kokichi squealed as he was flipped over, probably gripping his dick a bit too tightly to keep holding on, his warning very real. He was absolutely going to lose it if there wasn't anything physically stopping him. But Kaito was there to help, as he had said he'd be.

His hands fell to the sheets, gripping them tightly as Kaito kissed him, writhing under his husband, trying not to lose his mind though Kaito could definitely feel how ready to pop he was. He had no room to anyway, but Kokichi didn't shy away from the kisses, pressing eagerly against Kaito, inviting his tongue in and just barely grazing his teeth against it, loving the slight dizziness that just made his dick twitch more, another small leak escaping the top.

"Hah...ah...ung..." He had to gasp when Kaito pulled away, panting heavily to get his breath back, to pull himself back from the edge. Which he barely had time to do, Kaito leaning back for another kiss. By the time Kaito properly let him catch his breath, Kokichi's face was red and desperate, tears beading in the corner of lust-hazed eyes.

He knew better than to beg for release, knew that Kaito wouldn't fuck him until he was ready, and not a moment before, no matter how much he wanted it. And, god, he wanted it so badly.

With a warbling sound, Kokichi tugged his shirt off in a flash, shaking hands cupping Kaito's jaw, urging him to take everything he had to give. "Please, please, I want Kai-chan t-to be happy! So he c-can kiss my neck a-and I won't cum, I j-just want to make Kai-chan happy. Please, take me..."

Fuck...fuck...

W-was he being too hard on him? God, his face...it was the first time Kaito had gotten a good look at his face since they started, and Kokichi looked borderline crazed, his eyes wild, entirely lost in what was happening. He looked...

F-fuck he looked so perfect...

Mine.

Kaito was on him as soon as his skin was exposed, maybe a tad too rough as he set to work marking Kokichi, nipping and sucking at his skin, leaving little red marks that would darken into little, telling bruises. At one point he bit slightly too hard and heard Kokichi whine and, feeling bad, kissed the spot in apology, his fingers massaging Kokichi's dick, which was full and ready to burst in his hands. Kokichi wasn't going to last like this. He really wasn't… The second either of them let go, he was going to burst, and Kaito couldn't forget how much pain Kokichi was in the day after their wedding… He knew that just cumming twice was hugely different than the almost constant stream that had occurred that night, but...Kaito couldn't bring himself to forget it. He didn't want to hurt him. He didn't want to hurt him...

Kaito suddenly remembered what was in the bathroom, and he wondered...would that work?

"I am, I have, you're mine," Kaito said, biting into Kokichi's shoulder, sending another jolt through his husband...before kissing his chest, once, twice, again, each kiss soothing, placating, an invitation for calm. "But you're gonna leave me behind, Kokichi. I know you're trying so, so hard not to, and you're doing such a good job, but you're going to...so we're gonna get just a little more help, okay? Grab yourself, okay? I'll be right back."

When Kokichi obeyed, Kaito used his free hand to appreciatively run his hands up and down Kokichi's body for a moment, relishing in him, in his perfect, beautiful husband...before giving him a final kiss on the lips before getting up, heading to the bathroom.

It had only been a cup's worth, but it hadn't been that long since they had pierced his ear...where was...

There.

Was it going to be too mean? Kaito grabbed the cup and stared down at its freezing, slightly melting cubes, and bit his lip, reconsidering. This might be too mean...

He heard Kokichi groan from the bed and felt that possessive flare again.

Kokichi was his.

He'd finish when Kaito decided he would.

The conqueror grinned, excited beyond reason by this thought. And his groin was responding to it...almost painfully, pressing against his clothes. Taking a moment to kick off his pants and underwear, Kaito walked back out, holding his cup, his erection high, as Kaito looked down at Kokichi, for a moment just...leering.

Before he blinked, and his face went gentle, Kaito remembering from the look on Kokichi's face that his husband needed him to be gentle with this as he sat down next to him, leaning in to kiss him as he said, "I know, I know, I'm sorry. You're being so good. I'm gonna help you calm down, okay? This is going to be a little bit of a shock to your system, but you trust me, right? You can always tell me to stop, and I'll stop. I won't hurt you."

Kaito grabbed a piece of the ice, showed Kokichi what he had so he wouldn't be too surprised, and then, gently, pressed the ice against his throat, running it slowly down his chest, and then onto his stomach, spreading it against Kokichi's heat.

As the ice melted quickly against skin contact, Kaito dared to, just at the tip, gently slide over Kokichi's head...

It was a good thing he chose that turtleneck to wear tonight--Kaito was absolutely littering his skin and Kokichi was encouraging every bite, nip, and suck, singing his husband's praises, murmuring how wonderful everything felt, how much he loved being Kaito's, being marked by him so no one would ever think differently. Even when some of the bites turned painful, but Kaito was quick to let go and apologize with a softness that drove him as crazy as the roughness.

"I'm yours..." he moaned, caught in a conflict of the compliments going straight to his full cock, but wanting to make the compliments true and get more of them, which required him holding on. Barely even registering what was happening, but obeying Kaito's words, Kokichi reached back down to grip himself, groaning at the feeling. He didn't think he'd ever been this desperate in his life.

Then again, that was the source of all of this, wasn't it? Without a partner, Kokichi had never really spent any more time than necessary getting himself off. If he was alone, and especially as a teenager, as soon as he got turned on, he'd just rub one out and go back to life as usual. He wasn't used to holding on, and trying to match Kaito's pace was...well, training he did need, if he was going to be able to keep pleasuring his husband in the future.

Swallowing the spit that had started to pool in his mouth, Kokichi whined, snapping out of a daze and stilling his hands from where he'd been idly pumping himself. No! Not yet! Kaito didn't say he could cum yet!

When his husband returned, Kokichi blearily blinked up at him, mind slow to take in what he'd brought. But, as Kaito pressed a piece to his neck, Kokichi shivered violently for a moment, knowing in an instant what it was. The ice he'd brought up. Was cooling his body really going to work? He'd never tried it, but, fuck, the heat and pressure in his groin was like a damn volcano; how could this--

"AAAAAH!!" His legs snapped together as he loudly yelped, half sitting up just from the shock, his hand losing grip for a moment and another small spurt of pre-cum escaped, coating the ice cube. "Kaito!"

Kaito grabbed him when he shot up, dropping the ice and placing his now cold hand on his back, pulling him close to him as he placed warm, apologetic kisses on his neck and his chest where the line of ice had left a trail of red, upturned skin.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned as he pulled Kokichi closer to himself, trying to warm him back up with his own skin.

He drew his hand up from Kokichi's back into his hair, running little soothing circles into the nape of his neck as Kaito kissed his forehead, feeling his husband shiver and tremble in his arms and entirely uncertain if he was still on the verge of cumming or was just shocked by the pressure of the cold. "I won't do that again if it hurt..." and then Kaito grinned into his hair, excited, as he said, "...but if it didn't, and you think you can take your hand away from your dick now without bursting right away, then I'm gonna put some onto your back, okay? And it's time to start giving my cock some attention while I do."

Kokichi pressed into Kaito's hold, shivering and...not super sure of how he was feeling. It had definitely been shock more than anything, but... The pressure to cum had already been overwhelming, his hips starting to ache, and the ice had just... Kokichi shook his head a little against Kaito's shoulder, taking careful, shuddered breaths.

"I'm okay, I'm okay..." He was. Actually, he was more clear-headed than he'd been just moments before, though still incredibly turned on. And it looked like Kaito knew that. Feeling a little embarrassed, Kokichi tentatively let go of his cock, the chubby length still full and standing proudly, reaching up needily for attention, but...no spurts. He wasn't cumming. He was wet, but not cumming.

With another breath, Kokichi turned his attention down, mouth watering at the sight of Kaito's now exposed cock, and he didn't wait before reaching down, swirling his thumb around Kaito's head before gripping around him and giving a few gentle strokes, his hand already slicked enough by his own escaped juices, and his eyes flicked back up, looking for his husband's approval and guidance. "It didn't hurt...but I'm still not sure how long I can last... Do you want me to blow you again, or something different this time?"

He definitely wouldn't last if he took Kaito into his mouth. He'd have to pinch himself immediately again and...he wasn't sure how long he could resist, even with Kaito's demands. Swallowing that huge cock and hearing how he made Kaito feel would quickly replace the heat the ice had eased.

Kaito had fully intended to have Kokichi swallow him down, but the question gave him pause, Kaito reassessing how his husband was doing. There were little red trails of ice burn against Kokichi's pale, sensitive skin, sweat covered every other part of him, and his eyes had small tear stains, from one one or two drops that had squeezed out during the more overwhelming part of it. Perhaps the worst and best part of it was the way Kokichi looked at him, half desperate, half exhausted, his small frame shivering and trembling as he took small, heavy breaths...

Too much. Kaito was pushing for too much, at least this time.

All of this would definitely help with Kokichi's stamina for next time, but for now, his husband was clearly frazzled, edged for too long, his nerves shot. And while Kaito was fairly certain he wasn't hurt, that didn't mean Kaito wanted to torture him by exhausting him. It was time to wrap this up. They could try again next time.

Kaito smiled down at him, face adoring, as he ran his hand through his hair. "...do you think you'd be up to trying to ride me a bit?" he asked. Kaito wasn't quite lost in his lust yet, and he felt calm as he asked Kokichi this, and was looking forward to the idea mostly because he wasn't mindless yet. If he was in the middle of a frenzy, he'd never be patient enough to let Kokichi try. As he was now though? He just reached down, tilting Kokichi's face up again as he smiled wolfishly, "Think you're open enough for that?"

Kokichi's eyes widened, looking up at Kaito adoringly and in awe, even as he trembled at the prospect. "Y-yes!! Oh my god, yes, I wanna ride Kai-chan!" He'd resigned himself to wait longer for Kaito's dick, and now it was being offered? And to try and fuck his husband, to pleasure him himself, to try and use everything he'd learned to impress Kaito...

Shifting back onto his knees, Kokichi considered the large cock in front of him...and then his own, swollen, reddened one. Shyly, he looked back up to Kaito, making a request of his own. "Could you hold me while I get you inside? I think I need both hands, and I don't..." if he could flush any deeper, he would, "Kai-chan's dick is really good at making me cum."

Honestly, Kokichi had no idea if they'd stretched him enough to fit Kaito's dick. He still...er, didn't have much spacial awareness when it came to his asshole, but he'd gotten Kaito inside with just two fingers of prep before! ...granted, that was when he'd been given a strong aphrodisiac which had probably made his body easier to fuck, but it had happened! So even if it would be a tight squeeze, he could do it!

Shuffling forward over Kaito's lap, Kokichi reached behind himself and, after a moment, found his hole, feeling a little squishy with the attention it had been given before. Shivering in anticipation, Kokichi leaned forward to gently give Kaito a kiss. "Ready?"

Kaito grinned into the kiss, pleased by how excited Kokichi was as he kissed him back, hand gently wrapped around Kokichi's poor, abused cock, unable to help but give Kokichi a few teasing, squeezing pumps and feel the shiver against himself, before doing the pinch. "Go for it, beautiful."

Kaito felt Kokichi shift on top of him and wished he had an extra hand to help guide Kokichi on, but just waited patiently as Kokichi worked it out himself, unable to help leaning in to give him little encouraging kisses, which was perhaps a little distracting from his task. He did this right up until he felt himself penetrate, and then hissed between his teeth. "Hhh...hnnnnn..."

Kaito leaned back, biting his lower lip, his face flushed red as Kokichi started to work his way onto him. It felt good, but shit...they hadn't opened him up enough. God...he was so tight on him... "A-are you good?" he asked, swallowing a sudden build-up of drool as his heart started to get excited.

Kokichi screwed up his face with a shiver, unable to even give Kaito an annoyed look for teasing him so much. He was going to get worked up enough just sinking down--he didn't need Kaito trying to push him back to the edge. But he was given the go ahead, and his hole was pinched shut, so Kokichi didn't waste any more time.

Using his pointer and middle fingers on both hands, he tried to open his hole a little more, using the rest of his hands to steady Kaito's cock under him. Once he was inside, it was just a matter of letting nature take its course, but he had to get it inside first, no slipping away, just barely gracing his hole.

"Hkk! Aa-ahh..." And, with only a little bit of trouble, Kokichi felt Kaito's head push past his outer ring.

His panting was getting heavier, lips open and reddened from kisses. Kokichi kept one hand under himself to help keep Kaito's length steady, but moved his other to Kaito's shoulder for his own leverage. Because going down was slow. Almost agonizingly so, Kaito just feeling enormous in him, but that relentless dick slowly pushed into him. Or, rather, Kokichi pushed himself onto it.

Little whines left him as he was slowly, yet unforgivingly, teased open, each ring of muscles resisting before being opened, continually pulsing, trying to accommodate the girth. "Fuh-feels sho good!" A bit of drool dripped out of Kokichi's lips even as he tried to swallow, his dick pulsing in time with his hole.

"Kai-chan feels so good in m-me! I missed this so much, Kai-chan, I love having K-Kai-chan's cock in me!" A good way down, Kokichi freed his other hand, making a circle around Kaito's shoulders, nudging him to come closer as Kokichi lovingly--if wetly--kissed at his chest, not wanting to stretch away from the dick filling him up. "Please, please, is it good? Does Kai-chan feel good?"

'Kai-chan' was going to lose it.

All the calm that had prompted the suggestion that Kokichi ride him was ebbing away as Kaito felt Kokichi pulse around him, Kaito suddenly extremely aware of how close Kokichi was to him, of his scent, which suddenly seemed so much more powerful.

As Kaito was invited close to Kokichi, each wet little kiss against him another sensation that Kaito suddenly felt hyper aware of, he kept his grip on Kokichi's dick, but brought up a knee to brace Kokichi against his leg, pushing forward and bending Kokichi backwards a little over it so that he could kiss him, shoving his tongue in, lapping him up, his cock pulsing inside of Kokichi as he buried his face into Kokichi's neck, licking the skin there before biting down, feeling Kokichi squeeze around him.

"F-fuck, 'Kichi'..." Kaito growled, his heart pounding in his chest. "I-it feels good, just...just f-fuck me already I...I want you now!"

Now look who was greedy. Not that Kokichi was in any mindstate to tease, or even think coy, teasing thoughts. More than the monster of a cock buried inside of him, more than being kept at the edge of orgasm for...quite a while, being wanted was what spurred Kokichi into action the fastest. The knowledge that his husband wanted him, needed him, wanted to be fucked as much as Kokichi wanted to fuck him; he spurted a little more, close to cumming whether Kaito let him or not.

Using his leverage from around Kaito's shoulders, Kokichi sat up on his knees, feeling his insides want to stick to Kaito's dick but slipping, his rings snapping closed but...not for long. It wasn't much movement, not to start with, but he sank back down, letting Kaito's dick push back up into him. And then he did it again. And again. And again, with more movement, a little faster.

And before too long, Kokichi couldn't pace himself at all, truly the greedy one, and he started desperately bouncing on Kaito's cock. He could feel everything pulsing and throbbing, wanting Kaito to push even deeper into him, his tight muscles losing the battle and being fucked loose and pliant, his anus almost like a seal around Kaito's dick, and truly making wet, lewd sounds as he sped up.

And his butt wasn't the only one.

"Ngah! Ah~AH~ Hah, ah, huu, mnnn! Ah!" Panting heavily, Kokichi's tongue was starting to loll out every time his mouth wasn't occupied with Kaito's, his moans and whines and squeaks providing a very explicit soundtrack in their room. And all the while, his strained chubby dick pulsed and twitched, leaking in small spurts, wetting Kaito's fingers, begging to be set free. "I-I-ahhh, I'm gonna, Kaito, please, please, PLEASE!"

Yeah, it's not like Kaito could have resisted by that point anyway.

"You can cum, Kokichi, it's okay, f-fuck, FUCK, you can cu-" He was losing it. He was fucking losing it. He let go of Kokichi's dick, unable to do what he had originally wanted to do, which was watch Kokichi orgasm, too hungry, too desperate to take his time anymore he moved his arm around Kokichi's back, gripping his fingertips tight into his waist as he shuddered and spasmed in Kaito's lap, Kaito taking advantage of the fact that Kokichi was already leveraging himself on his knees to shift himself beneath Kokichi. Now that he was on his own knees, Kokichi sat deep onto his dick, Kaito steadying him with his grip around his waist, Kaito moved his hips up and down, grunting low in effort as Kaito thrust upwards into him, sweat pouring off his brow as he said, mindlessly, "Yes, yes, Kokichi, fuck, 'Kichi! Kokichi! My Kokichi!"

He knew Kokichi was well into his orgasm now, and Kokichi's cock bouncing against Kaito's stomach was probably a little much right now, but Kaito couldn't bring himself to care. In fact, relished it a little, listening to Kokichi cry out and mewl against him as Kaito pulled him closer to him, Kaito's only purpose right now to just thrust upwards and inwards, upwards and in.

His orgasm came intense but slow, and as he pounded harder into Kokichi he could feel the smaller man's ass constrict and spasm against his dick, and Kaito growled into his ear. "Mine, mine, you're mine. Only I get to make you feel good. Only I get to see you twist and bend like this. Your dick, your cum, your eyes, your heart, they're all MINE," Kaito vowed, fury, lust and possessive jealousy all such intense, violent emotions in him that he couldn't distinguish between them anymore.

He pulled Kokichi down as hard as he could onto his cock, pushing up into him until his balls pressed into his ass, bit into Kokichi's shoulder, and came with a snarl.

Hajime, who had been about to knock on the door to ask if Kaito had written a return letter for Prince Byakuya yet, heard small squeals, angry shouting, and the pounding of a mattress...and decided...

Ya know what?

...probably wasn't important.

He then left, face beet red, determined to never speak of this to anyone.

There was no buffer. The second Kaito released his head Kokichi came, tearing through him, absolutely wrecking him as it had built up for so long. He splattered against them both, Kaito pressing close enough to rub his spunk between their middles, his dick trapped there as well.

His orgasm felt long, but even after his release Kokichi was given no room to come down, not with Kaito possessive and pounding into him, and even with his overstimulated cries, Kokichi held his husband close, still trying to ride him with shaking legs. Kaito was welcome to take and take, Kokichi wanted him to, even when it felt like he had nothing left to give.

Everything Kaito said struck Kokichi down to his core. He was Kaito's only. His entirety belonged to his husband, no one allowed even a tiny piece. No one else could claim him.

With a sharp gasp, a few more tears escaping his eyes, Kokichi let out an absolutely indulgent moan as he felt Kaito shoot into him, feeling that warm liquid burst so, so deep in him, a little bit of Kaito to keep with him at all times, if he couldn't have his husband buried in his hole instead.

Kokichi's entire body was shaking in overstimulation, one last tiny spurt of cum escaping him, and he cried in ecstasy, clutching his husband desperately. "M-my Kai-ch-chan... I want y-you...m-my one and o-only..."

Kaito gasped and shook, just holding Kokichi close, the fury and that mean, possessive streak ebbing away as Kaito blinked, the haze of lust draining away. All it left behind was this...protective concern, Kaito doing his best to steady Kokichi as his husband shuddered into him, Kaito kissing into Kokichi's hair. "Yours...I'm yours, 'Kichi..." he promised.

As the two breathed together for a moment, Kaito…was immensely satisfied, if more than a little concerned by the fact that he had lost himself again at the end there, hoping that his loss of control wouldn't make things tough tonight on Kokichi, or tomorrow for that matter. And fuck, he had edged Kokichi for way too long... "Are you okay? Let me take a look at you..."

Kaito laid Kokichi down as smoothly as he could, drawing himself out of the smaller prince as Kaito took inventory. Kokichi’s dick looked pretty red...not wedding day red, but still. He wished he had some lotion he could put on it, the way you could put it on a rash or rope burn. Was that a thing? Who did you even ask if that was a thing? Shuuichi?

Otherwise, the red marks from the ice had evened out, though you could still tell where they had been. The usual marks of small bruises that Kokichi never seemed particularly bothered by...

The bite on his shoulder hadn't broken skin, but you could clearly see the teeth marks, and the skin around it was bright red. Kaito leaned down and kissed just beside it, not wanting to sting it. "I'm sorry," he said, for the bite. Then he kissed Kokichi's lips, whispering, "Thank you...you did so good, Kokichi...you held out so long. I shouldn't have asked you to hold out so long...are you okay? Do you need anything? I could get you some water...I'm sorry I got so rough at the end there...I love you so much..." This last part was a breathless sound. Just something true and simple in Kaito, needing to be expressed.

As they breathed together, Kokichi practically went boneless against Kaito, his arms slipping down the older prince's sides. Fuck. Intense didn't seem like a strong enough word to describe how that was. Thankfully they still had a good chunk of time until the party, but...fuck. Kokichi could feel the tides of exhaustion start to wash over him, promising such nice things in the depths...

"A-ah..." His shaking returned for a moment as Kaito pulled out, and almost he pleaded for him to stay, though Kokichi knew that would be uncomfortable for the both of them. He wouldn't always be a horny idiot. Though...he did feel kind of empty now, his hole slowly swelling from the rough treatment.

Kokichi lazily kissed Kaito back, his blinks getting slower, the last of the tears rolling out the corners of his eyes. "Mnn...wake me up in time...to take a shower. 'M glad I could make Kai-chan happy. But 'm gonna pass out now..." Not a dangerous 'pass out'. Just an overexerted, fully satisfied 'pass out'.

Reaching out with a dumb limb, Kokichi ran a hand against Kaito's neck, giving him a tired, sweet smile. "I...think I might love you too..."

...????!???!?!?

Kaito stared at Kokichi, watching him fall asleep, a crooked half-smile that he was entirely unaware he was wearing morphing his face goofily as he tried to digest that, the smile eventually blowing out into a full on grin as the tips of his ears burned red and his stomach flipped over itself.

Kaito wanted to make a bunch of extremely unmanly and unheroic happy sounds, but Kokichi was asleep and he didn't want to wake his husband back up, so he covered his mouth and just snickered (because he was not giggling thank you very much).

Did he really!?!!???

Kaito felt wide awake himself. Sex rarely made him sleepy by itself, though he was usually a little slower after. So Kaito sat on the bed for a bit, indulging himself by watching Kokichi breathe a bit, Kaito eventually throwing the covers over him, afraid he'd be cold if he just left him like that. Then he thought Kokichi looked maybe a little uncomfortable without a pillow and, trying very hard not to wake him up, he put a pillow under his head.

Scooting back to consider his handy work, Kaito decided Kokichi looked as comfortable as he was going to be sleeping post-sex. Kaito was still grinning, just, excited and musing over the idea that Kokichi might actually possibly...??!???

He snickered (NOT a giggle!! Princes of the Stars don't giggle!!) to himself, and realized that maybe he shouldn't hang around a sleeping Kokichi and giggle like a loon. He should take a shower. Then, maybe he could start reading one of the books 'Kichi (who may love him, he might!) got him. Maybe he could sneak out of the room for a bit and let Shuuichi and Maki know that Kokichi had kind of dropped the L word a little! Or-

Kaito's happiness hiccuped for a second as his eyes caught his brother's letter, still waiting for him on the nightstand.

It looked thick.

Remembering what Hajime had said about it seeming to be urgent, Kaito started to press the joints of his good hand into his knee, debating with himself...before he grabbed the letter.

Of course he wanted to read it. It was from his brother. He was thrilled to hear from Byakuya again...but...there was no way this letter could be a response to the letter Kaito had sent, right? It was here way too quick for that...

Kaito glanced over at Kokichi, and then, letter in hand, he quietly went to the bathroom and closed the door.

Sitting on the side of the tub, Kaito undid the envelope and stared into it, confused for a moment before he emptied its contents. There was some loose leaf paper, as you would expect of a letter, but there was also another letter packed into the same envelope.

In Byakuya's familiar handwriting were the words: To Be Delivered To Kokichi Ouma.

Oh...Byakuya had added a letter to Kokichi in Kaito's letter. That made sense, Kaito supposed. He wondered if his brother expected them to open their letters at the same time or...?

Kaito took Kokichi's letter and placed it aside, for now. Even if his brother had intended it, there was no harm in Kaito reading his letter first. Unfolding the papers, Kaito read the first line.

...oh shit.

It was written as follows:

Kaito

I cannot even begin to express to you how furious I am right now.

I have not received any return correspondence from you yet, but things have so thoroughly exploded here that I felt it was best to inform you sooner rather than later of the predicament you’ve put me in. The sheer amount of damage control I am having to commit to due to the interference of a pair of Dicean Diplomats whose only purpose were to drop off the dowry is staggering. Mother is furious, Father has been entirely blind-sided, and both of our reputations are at stake. Both of our parents have sent you correspondence asking for clarity on some accusations of abuse at the hand of Head Secretary Tengan, an accusation the Diceans felt some need to bring up for some god damned unfathomable reason when discovering a host of other white-collar crimes regarding the Secretaries, but I have taken the liberty of intercepting that correspondence and responding as you on your behalf, denying all allegations.

If that seems uncouth of me, Kaito, I demand you place more faith in me. I do so entirely for your benefit. While the damage against my own reputation in how I was involved in these allegations will be superficial, at best, as people already consider me cold and heartless, the damage against yours will be insurmountable if any of these allegations are officially confirmed. Any opportunity to seriously participate in any form of politics, hell, any serious consideration for your ability to even make sounds decisions for yourself, at least among Luminary citizens who will fully understand what these allegations mean in regards to you, will be entirely disregarded as sincere if people believe you went through a version of obedience and devotion trainings. If you do not deny these allegations, Kaito, no one will believe any decision you make from now on will have actually come from you. You will be essentially dismissed as nothing but a mouth-piece of other people. This cannot be allowed to happen.

So, from now on, you will deny any additional training that happened in your childhood if asked to you by anyone. If asked to clarify what did happen between yourself, me, and Head Secretary Tengan, you will inform them it was tutoring sessions in politics, and nothing else. I do not care if another authority tells you to say differently: you will follow this order.

Also, I am hearing disturbing reports of your treatment in the Dicean castle. There is a rumor that at one point yourself, Shuuichi and Maki actually tried to escape and were brought back by one of his guards beaten. Kaito, if you are being mistreated and you do not want to be there, you simply need to tell me and I will send for your return immediately. If Kokichi Ouma tells you differently, remember that while he is the heir to the Dicean throne and your husband, I am heir to the Luminary throne, and you should consider me a higher authority to you than he is as a born Luminary citizen. And I am telling you that he is not privileged to just treat you however he likes. You will tell me if this continues or worsens.

I have heard about the incident with Secretary Chisa, but as you can imagine, I am not particularly sympathetic towards your husband right now and don’t feel inclined to do much about it. Though I have heard that you did express a considerable amount of anger towards her over the drugging. In light of that, I will see about getting her removed from her position here, and can do worse if you feel strongly about the issue. It’d be simple enough to have her disappeared. I understand that Head Secretary Tengan was also likely involved in the incident, and that according to a letter from the General, as well as a few informants, behaved badly towards you for much of the trip. Dealing with him will require more time and nuance due to Father’s favoritism of him, but you will know that I am aware of it, and I am working on it… though these smug, self-important Dicean commoners have complicated the matter beyond all reason.

As an additional aside: you may be hearing rumors by now of a new terrorist group popping up in Luminary, as well as a few of our neighbor kingdoms. These rumors are not entirely unfounded, but they are being exaggerated as they spread from country to country. It is being handled, so do not concern yourself about it. However, if anyone tries to get into contact with you over a group called The Remnants of Despair, cease all communication and report it immediately to King Aiichi, who is aware of the situation in more detail.

You will respond as soon as you get this correspondence. Place the time and date at the top of the letter.

Heir Apparent.

Byakuya Momota

Aiichi massaged his hand, looking out the wide windows of his office with a face devoid of expression. Those poor people...

Though, it wouldn't do to treat them with pity, but nor could he dismiss them as something not even human anymore. Despair...the cruelest, most despicable emotion, and yet these people were reported to have embraced it. Fetishized it. And for people who craved it, there was no swaying with reason or offering an opportunity for hope. They didn't want it. They wanted to hear screams, even of their own, while the world burned.

What a fate worse than death.

He'd worked for years in the attempts to create a space where no one would have to suffer, but, especially with veterans returning... He'd agreed to let his friends go through hell to protect what they had. And now he couldn't be sure how many of them still thought of it like that.

So he'd sent word to all of the community leaders, warning them of the dangerous ideology, asking them to act with more vigilance to help out anyone who was seeming to struggle. Kindness and love and care was the best thing to stop anyone from falling.

And for those who had already fallen?

Aiichi tipped his head back onto his chair, closing his eyes. He needed to speak with Leon and Byakuya. Without politics. Ugh.

Ko would hate him, but the princes' honeymoon would have to be delayed. He and Kaito would be enormous targets, and while he had faith that Ko could withstand the mental battle against these Remnants, everyone they'd need to bring to withstand the physical battle? Even one person questioning their heart would bring everything to ruin.

With this new threat to peace...he couldn't let his son become a casualty.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Kaito knocked the letter against his forehead a bit, brows furrowed, chewing on his bottom lip as he realized that this was going to take some handling. His brother thought he was being beaten. Worse than that, Byakuya was angry at Kokichi over it. It didn't matter that Byakuya had only written a paragraph to him on the matter...there was a whole fucking letter by itself attached to it, specifically for Kokichi...

So...what were the odds Kokichi's letter was just going to be his brother asking politely to get some rumors explained to him?

Fuck fuck fuck. Why did he always do this!?

He never fucking had anything to say to him unless he thought someone else was messing with him, and then, SUDDENLY, Kaito's personal life was super important to him. Why did he do this!?? This was going to be Junior year all over again...fuck fuck fuck.

Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe this letter to Kokichi was Byakuya's only reaction to what he thought was going on. If so...that was totally manageable! Kaito would just send Byakuya a letter explaining how extremely out of context everything his brother was being told was, and Byakuya wouldn't be mad at Kokichi, and he wouldn't make any extreme decisions because he was upset. Just so long as Byakuya was patient enough to wait to hear from Kaito himself about all of this...

Shit, he needed to get this letter sent out tonight.

Putting the letter aside, Kaito opened the bathroom door quietly, peeking out to confirm Kokichi was still asleep. Deciding his husband was, he quietly walked over to the vanity desk, where they kept their letter writing material. Grabbing the things he needed, he more quickly but just as quietly headed back into the bathroom.

Writing the best he could using the edge of the tub, Kaito chewed at the end of the pen. There was...actually, there was a lot in this letter that he needed to address, huh...hmm. He...he wondered if he should be upset that Byakuya had intercepted his letters from their parents?

...no. Byakuya knew what was best. Kaito would have probably messed up those letters anyway. He trusted Byakuya.

...he wondered why his father would need clarifying about what had happened in the first place? He had authorized everything that had happened. Maybe there had been other aspects of the Diceans’ accusations that had needed clarity? No doubt Byakuya had handled it. This Kokichi thing was more important.

Considering his words carefully, the letter went as follows:

Byakuya, please calm down!

This is all just a misunderstanding! I’m not being mistreated! I was not trying to escape Prince Kokichi! Maki and Shuuichi had been sent away by Head Secretary Tengan over an argument, and I went to go retrieve them. In my hurry to find them, I mis-handled my horse and was thrown from it. Kokichi’s guard had been sent to give aid to Shuuichi, and she had nothing to do with my injuries. Your informants are giving you a misleading account of the situation.

I am fine!

Thank you for your concern about my reputation, and while of course I’m going to follow your orders, please, please do not let trying to salvage my reputation keep you from putting some consequence on Head Secretary Tengan and Secretary Chisa for the incident in regards to Prince Kokichi on our wedding day. It was a horrible offense against us and I am worried it will be dismissed and disregarded among your efforts to clear up the Dicean allegations. Kokichi has been a good husband to me, and no one has told me to say that. He didn’t deserve what happened, Byakuya, and the incident has put a severe amount of strain on both of us.

Please do not send one of Maki’s associates after Secretary Chisa. Kokichi wouldn’t like it. It’d be enough for her to lose her title.

Thank you for keeping tabs on me, but I am fine. I am extremely happy here and fully devoted to this marriage. I have at no point tried to leave, and Kokichi has at no point caused me any harm.

We’re even planning on taking a honeymoon trip together! We’re not certain when we’re going yet, but Kokichi and I are planning to go explore the Dicea Kingdom for a while, and crossing the Danganronpa border for a bit to get a real feel for the culture there. Maki and Shuuichi will escort us, and we will have a healer on staff, so it’s perfectly safe! However, while we’re gone, it may be difficult for me to receive correspondence, which is why I bring it up. I will be certain to send you correspondence regularly though, so that you know everything is still fine!

Please, please don’t do that thing where you try to correct everything before I’ve had a chance to talk to you about it, or this is going to be Junior year of high school all over again. I don’t need any intervention! I am happy!

Your totally safe, extremely happy, prone to dumb accidents brother,

Kaito Ouma Momota

P.S. I haven’t heard anything about any terrorist attacks? But if you say it’s not something I should worry about, then I have full faith in you! Thanks for letting me know!

Okay, okay...that should work, right? The letter was light in tone, to show Kaito wasn't in distress, but at the same time got his points across. No problem. He could totally manage this. God, this was so embarrassing. What a stupid rumor to have gotten all the way back home...god, it was so stupid. Fuck.

He wondered if it was just Byakuya who was hearing rumors like that?

Kaito rubbed his temples and growled. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This was his own dumbass fault. Fuck. Abused? He wasn't fucking being abused! Has anyone even seen Kokichi? With all due respect to his husband, the guy was half Kaito's size, and as thin as a stick. If Kaito was afraid of Kokichi, he wouldn't run from him in the middle of night, he'd fucking spar him and 'accidentally' stab him to death. Sure, Byakuya seemed to think Kokichi was getting guards to do the job for him but...God, this was so stupid.

Hopefully this was an isolated incident, and Kaito could nip this whole thing in bud.

Putting the letters aside, Kaito took a super quick shower, just enough to get clean, before throwing back on the clothes that he had worn into town. Grabbing the letter to Byakuya, Kaito considered the letter he had received, plus the one he was supposed to give Kokichi...

It could wait. On his way out, Kaito threw the letter into the drawer of the nightstand, next to Kokichi's friend’s abomination machine. Kokichi didn't need to deal with whatever was in the letter right now. Kaito was handling it.

He headed downstairs to the postal room, and didn't come back up to the room for a long time, grabbing some food from the kitchen and hiding out in the yards, just sitting and eating angrily. Stupid, stupid, this was his own god damned fault, fucking stupid...

Aw...fuck.

Kokichi groaned, huddling into bed and scrunching his eyes shut tightly. Stupid, stupid horny idiot. Everything around his hips ached, his asshole tender just existing, and, fuck, he was sticky. Grossly sticky, the blanket over him sticking to his belly. Fuck. He'd fallen asleep before cleaning up, even a little.

Cracking one eye open, Kokichi paused, adjusting to the light. It looked...like the end of sunset, maybe? And, glancing to the clock...yeah, still plenty of time before the party. Okay...shit. Gotta get up.

With a flood of annoyed grumbling, Kokichi sat himself up, wincing at the sensitivity of his rear and blushing at the smeared, half-dried semen on his abdomen. His dick looked a little irritated, but nothing too bad, though what he had to compare it to as 'that bad' was apocalyptic. But, no use just whining. Gingerly getting out of bed, a gasp left his throat as a shock of pain went up his spine.

He definitely hadn't prepped enough to slam himself down on Kaito's dick. Fuck.

Trying not to limp too much, Kokichi made his way to the bathroom before... He looked back at the room, blinking with a confused look on his face. Where was Kaito? On one hand, this was kinda lucky, since he could try to sort himself out without Kaito worrying himself over this, but... Kokichi colored a little more and closed the bathroom door behind him, readying a shower. Especially with what he'd said...it would've been nice to wake up cuddling.

...whatever.

Kaito had watched the sunset, and as the stars started coming out he felt a little better about everything.

Sure, it was still embarrassing to try to explain to his brother that, no, he didn't need rescuing like some wilting damsel in a tower, thanks...so long as it was only Byakuya he needed to explain himself to? And Kaito didn't have any reason at the moment to think the rumor was more widespread than a few misunderstandings being sent to Byakuya. He didn't need to worry about it. He was Kaito Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars! Second son to Atua's chosen family! He wasn't anyone's victim!

As he saw the moon start to come up, Kaito supposed he should go wake up Kokichi. He should have plenty of time still to get dressed, but Kaito had wanted to thoroughly calm down before he went back upstairs, and besides, Kokichi probably needed the sleep. Maybe even when he went back up, he'd let Kokichi sleep just a bit longer, and take another shower himself without getting back into his sweat-covered day clothes. It's not like it would make them late, and honestly, there was no harm in it if they were.

Heading back upstairs, Kaito opened the door as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb him...only to see the bed empty. "...'Kichi?"

The shower had helped, had soothed at least some of the ache from his body. Limp or no, he was still going to that party. So, he'd taken a little extra time in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and hair, choosing a cute scrunchie to tie his hair back, and... Well, extra time had become a little more extra time, as Kokichi turned and twisted in the mirror, smirking and admiring all the new marks on his body.

The bruises littering his neck, the deep love bite on his shoulder, teeth marks still visible thanks to the heat of the shower. The light scratches and finger marks on his hips and back... And it'd all be covered up, just barely, though he and Kaito would know that a love letter was written across his skin, marking their devotion.

"A-ah?" O-oh, Kaito was back. Flushing at what he'd just been doing, Kokichi peeked out of the bathroom, confirming that it was just Kaito, and then very carefully walking out in his towel, doing his damnedest not to limp.

"Did you decide to get dinner anyway?" he teased, going around their room to collect his clothes for the night, scattered around from their earlier zeal. And it was fine! Until he leaned over to pick up his shirt, a flinch going through his form.

Kaito gave Kokichi a small grin, but found himself immediately reassessing him now that his husband had a few hours to heal. That was...maybe too many bruises. And shit, yeah, he really had bitten him too hard, it was still red. He had to be better about that next time. Still, Kokichi didn't seem bothered about it. If anything, he seemed smug, the towel hanging around his waist in a way that suggested that maybe Kokichi was actually showing himself off a little… His husband's confidence made Kaito grin, made him want to kiss him again. As he stepped forward to do so...

"Ah, shit," Kaito said, moving towards Kokichi more quickly now, concern washing over his features as he reached down to help Kokichi back up. "Hey, are you okay? Fuck, I hurt you...shit, Kokichi, I'm sorry," Kaito apologized, trying to think. Would it help if Kokichi sat down? Actually, probably not...fuck, Kaito couldn't ask Kokichi to walk around all night if just leaning did that to him. "Look, forget the party. There will be other parties. Maybe a hot bath would help..."

Straightening back up--maybe with a little more difficulty than normal--Kokichi pouted up at Kaito, something firm in his expression. "No way! Look, it's not that bad, if we're just gonna be, like, walking and standing around, that's fine. I can handle it."

"...there's always other parties, other festivals, other performances, but I never get to see any of them." There was something desperate in his heart, but Kokichi didn't let it take control of him. If he broke down over this, then he really wouldn't be able to make it to the party. "We got too excited. Again. But who knows if, before the next party, I'm sick again, or Maki-chan catches you in the leg, or we fuck the world away. While I can handle this one, I want to take the chance."

He looked up at his husband, trying to get him to understand. "We're not gonna be out long, right? And we can always come back early. But, Kai-chan...I really wanna go. It's not gonna be any fun if you're just worried about me the whole time, so...please trust me to know my limits. I wanna go to a fun party with my husband, like a normal person..."

Kaito listened to this, rubbing the back of his neck. "You are a normal person..." Kaito murmured. Well, not counting the whole 'future king' thing. But otherwise...okay, no, he understood what Kokichi was talking about. But Kaito wasn't trying to say Kokichi couldn't handle going because he was sickly or anything. If anything, it was just because Kaito was a fucking id...ugh. But it didn't matter, did it?

Kokichi wanted to go. They were going.

"...Alright!" Kaito said, getting some energy back into him, squeezing his good hand into an encouraging fist as he lightly tapped Kokichi's arm. "If you say you're good, you're good! I trust you! One hundred percent! And this will be fun!" Kaito promised, straightening up and stretching his shoulder, noticing as he did there was a stench coming from his shirt. They really had walked around an awful lot today in these clothes.

"I already showered once, but I was dumb and just threw my old clothes back on to go down for dinner. Sorry I didn't wait for you to wake up; I honestly thought you'd be totally out until I shook you or something. You seemed totally out."

Kaito leaned over and kissed Kokichi's skull. "We're gonna get dressed, we're gonna go have fun, we'll get home before Maki can even finish sharpening her daggers. It's gonna be great!"

Giving Kokichi an encouraging thumbs up, Kaito went to go take a shower real quick, leaving his husband to get dressed.

Normal was relative, he knew that, but...sometimes he couldn't help but yearn for it. For his heart and lungs to function as well as the average person's, to have been born to average citizen parents. Then maybe his father wouldn't be such an over-protective control freak, and maybe his mother would be alive. Maybe he would have been able to run around and play in the sun, to make friends with any old kid he met, to have been able to travel and go to school and...

But he accepted, and, to a point, enjoyed the responsibility of his position. Kokichi wanted to be able to help the people of Dicea, and leading them was the best way to do that. He'd never be normal, but...he was still allowed to pretend sometimes, right?

His expression relaxed into fondness as Kaito accepted his words, smiling as he leaned into the tap against his arm. "Thank you. I don't want to worry you, so I'll let you know if I actually do start hurting. I'll make Kai-chan's trust worth something, I promise."

"And...um, no worries about waking me--I didn't wanna get up when I did, believe me." Kokichi rolled his eyes a little, though his cheeks went rosy again. Before Kaito could escape into the realm of tall people, Kokichi quickly turned to kiss his jaw, giving him a fond pat on his arm. "I'll just wait for cuddles tonight, right?"

With a nervous giggle, he left Kaito to his shower and got dressed, unable to resist doing a little spin in the mirror when he put the cape back on. It was so silly and it just felt...right. Something he could wear comfortably, like, anywhere. Much to Kaito's delight, he'd bet.

As he tied his hair up, Kokichi stopped by his desk. He wasn't, like hungry-hungry, but his sweet tooth was prodding at him a bit. He'd missed dinner and candy wasn't really meal-worthy, as much as he wished it was, but...no harm in having some. While he waited for Kaito, Kokichi unwrapped a piece of taffy, grape this time, and savored his time chewing through it. And the next few pieces of candy he ate too.

Kaito was quick to take a shower, and then...well, he tried to be quick getting changed. You would have thought it would be easy, considering he already had his outfit picked. But the red half-jacket...

He could get the cast through the sleeve and then holster his arm again. It was how he had tried it on in the first place, and he had felt good in it at the store. But now he kept looking at himself in the mirror, not having done so yet, and just felt a little goofy looking. Stupid fucking arm. God, he couldn't wait to be healed up. He supposed he could just wear the shirt and pants, chill be damned...

Kaito glanced over at the jacket with the solar system lining, and grinned. Well, it had at least stayed up easy even with the cast keeping his arm out of it, right? And without his arm in both sleeves, that inner lining could actually be shown off. Hmmmm...

Putting the red half-jacket aside, Kaito grabbed his new fall jacket and threw it on with the pants and shirt Kokchi had picked out. Then he took a dumb amount of time doing his hair and checking out the star on his ear for the thousandth time, and eveeeentually...

"Alright! Let's take a look at us side by side, come here," Kaito encouraged, excitedly beckoning Kokichi to join him by the mirror. Finally coaxing him over, Kaito looked with shining, excited eyes at the two of them. Honestly, they both looked weirdly unlike themselves, both of their outfits for the large part being picked by the other person; Kokichi looked slim and mature and, with the right expression, half intimidating in his slender purple, black, and white outfit, especially with the cape. Kaito, in turn, was more of a mesh of colors than he would have ever chosen for himself, the bright colors of his shirt only amplified by the light purple of the jacket, his pants the only dark thing he was wearing now.

So, yes, they were both a little...'other' looking. But, still.

"Dude, we're fucking hot," Kaito boasted, winking at Kokichi through the mirror. "People are gonna be all over us at this party."

Actually...that was a point.

Kaito looked down at Kokichi, grabbing his hand and, after a moment of consideration, bringing it up for a kiss against the finger with his binding cut. "Hey, so, I don't know how you feel about this either way, but...like, I know I say some crazy shit when we're sleeping together, and a lot of it is, ya know...kinda crazy possessive? I don't know, it just keeps coming out of me, I'm really not the kind of person that says shit like... but with you I just get...you really do something to my head when we're...anyway, but I don't want you to think that I'm some sort of..."

Kaito was seriously struggling to think of how to word all this in a way that conveyed that he wasn't worried about Kokichi running off to sleep with other people. He totally trusted Kokichi! But at the same time, to say it in a way where he also conveyed...please?? Don't?? Do that?? Without sounding really aggressive about it. He had been in a relationship before where the other person had been furious every time Kaito had talked to other people, and thankfully the relationship hadn't lasted long, but fuck it had been a nightmare while it was going on. He really didn't want to be that person to Kokichi.

It wasn't Kokichi's fault that he was fucking beautiful. And it wasn't Kokichi's fault that the idea of anyone else touching him made Kaito...

"I'm not gonna get weird if people get flirty with you, alright?" Kaito promised, determined to keep control at the sheer...undercurrent of fury at the idea. Trying to convince himself as much as Kokichi, he added in, "They'd be crazy not to! Fucking look at you! I just want you to know that I trust you, and I don't want to be the kind of person that scares new people away from you and, like, I don't want you to be worried that I'll get pissed or anything just because someone’s being nice to you, cool? So, that said..."

His grip on Kokichi's hand got slightly tight."...if anyone makes you uncomfortable in the slightest?" Kaito said, something...dangerous. Flashing in his eyes. "Just...let me know. And I'll handle it."

...so, by the time Kaito actually came out of the bathroom, he'd probably had a meal's worth of candy if the glorified shaped sugar had any nutritional content. But what else was he supposed to do?! Sitting was uncomfortable, so leaning against the wall and snacking was practically the only thing he could do.

Considering Maki and Shuuichi's warnings...well! At least he wouldn't be tempted to eat anything?

Lugging himself over to the mirror with a deep sigh, acting out how long he'd been waiting, Kokichi nudged his head against Kaito's arm affectionately as he took them in. And they looked weird. But, like, cool-weird. Kokichi found himself smirking at his reflection, standing a little taller. Somehow their height difference didn't seem as prominent, but it was still there, obviously, much to his disappointment as he wanted to put an arm around his husband's shoulders.

...and he blinked at Kaito's reaction, surprised to find...he was thinking the same. There had been people ogling Kaito in town today, which Kokichi MUCH preferred to the dirty looks and cold stares, but...

He laughed softly, running his knuckles across Kaito's cheek. "Kai-chan, you know I'm not that submissive when we're not banging. I know I can trust you, so I know I can act differently and try different things, and that it'll all be okay. Now, if you started saying shit like that just randomly? Then maybe I'd think differently, but I know Kai-chan is my cute, fun, loving husband, so I know that he trusts me just the same in that way."

"And, surprise, surprise, I do actually know the difference between friendly flirting and serious flirting." He fixed Kaito with an amused, but serious look. Kokichi had never had a relationship before, true, but that didn't mean he'd never tried. "I don't want to lead anyone on when I'm clearly happily taken. Hopefully people will know better, but if someone doesn't take the bat-to-the-side-of-the-head hint, we can insist, together, alright?"

Kaito didn't need any more rumors like that about him. Kokichi gave the taller prince an affectionate smile and increased his own grip on Kaito's hand. "And I trust you too. Kai-chan is a flirt machine, but I know that he's gonna be heading back home with me at the end of our time limit."

"And if he starts feeling uncomfortable?" He gave a sharp smile, eyes narrowing as he shifted his shoulders just so to make the cape billow out behind him. "Then maybe I can put how dangerous you said I look to the test."

...maaaan it was a good thing they'd already both gotten off today. That was a such a weird fucking mixture of cute and hot, and almost on instinct more than actually being aroused Kaito shoved his palm into one of his eyes, looking down at his too cute for words husband. Gah!

"Okay!" Kaito said, glancing at the clock in the room. "I have...no idea where this place is! It's nine, so do you think it's worth heading out now if we wanna be there by ten? Or is this factory closer than that? Do you even know? It didn't even occur to me to ask anyone for directions..."

Kaito messed with his goatee mindlessly, which he tried not to do since it could ruin the carefully gelled point, but sometimes when he was trying to think critically it just happened on its own...such as earlier, it had been a total mess when he had...

Kaito glanced at the nightstand drawer. Was it really okay for him to be keeping mail from his brother away from his husband? His brother wouldn't like it...but it wasn't like he was hiding it! Just...delaying the delivery slightly! Because knowing Byakuya, it said not nice things, and knowing Kokichi, that could mean...well, honestly? Based on Kaito's limited experience with Kokichi and not nice things, it could lead to literally no reaction whatsoever, or a full-blown meltdown. Kaito wasn't going to begin to guess which it would be, so...

Just. Just until the party and everything was done. He wasn't being disloyal to either of them! He was still a good husband and a good brother.

He just wanted Kokichi to be able to have fun tonight!

That whole mental debate only lasted for a second, and then Kaito asked, "Also, uh...I'm assuming we're not going out the front gate, right? Because we're being sneaky? How do you sneak out of the castle?"

Kokichi hummed a bit, mind going through a mental map of town. "Well...we probably don't wanna be there right at ten, right? Like...let the party have a chance to start up, 'n stuff, especially if we don't wanna make a huge deal out of being there." Which, he didn't know about Kaito, but he didn't want to do. If he got the chance to just show up and start hanging out without being there as The Heir Apparent And The Prince Consort, he wanted to take it.

"If we're not just ambling along, it should take us, like, half an hour, forty-five minutes to walk there--like Aba-chan said, it's on the other side of town from Miss Sakura's pub. So...we should leave in like fifteen minutes to leave enough time to sneak ouuuuu..."

Kokichi drew out the word, eyes landing on Kaito's cast. Shit. His eyebrows drew in and Kokichi lifted a hand to start tapping on his lips. "...I usually go out one of the side or back entrances, then climb over the wall. If you can't climb, though..."

The front gate was too risky--someone was always watching it. And the walls surrounded the whole castle... Digging under would be too obvious and would take too long for tonight... Maybe...getting something to platform over from a second-story window to the top of the wall...?

Kaito looked down at his arm. Right.

...

"Roughly," Kaito asked, "How high is the wall?"

Kokichi shrugged, tilting his hand from side to side. "About eight feet? There are a few places with good gaps in the mortar for climbing. If I don't slip, then it takes me like three minutes to climb over."

Kaito nodded at this, considered things carefully...and then? "Okay..." he said, eyes hard. Determined. "I...I think I have a plan."

-

Shuuichi was tall enough, but Kaito knew he wouldn't be able to keep that full height under Kaito's weight. Maki could lift him, but she was too short.

Which was now why Kaito was luring an increasingly baffled Hajime Hinata out into the castle yards.

He wasn't even on shift anymore, and had only stuck around the castle this late into the evening because he had wanted to grab dinner and had been using the castle library. But when Kaito, looking like a man on a mission, had spotted him in the hallway, he had thrown on a wide, insistent grin, put a hand on Hajime's back, and had essentially herded him outside, saying things like, "Yeah, I really just want to show you this cool star pattern I spotted tonight," and "You know, I swear I heard Kokichi talking about trying to get you a raise? You've definitely earned it. You've just been so helpful!"

And partly because Hajime was still SUPER uncomfortable about what had happened in the early afternoon and also, like, was still KINDA uncomfortable from his first meeting with Prince Momota, he was having a hard time getting a clear sentence out to the Luminary Prince as he was essentially pushed into the darkness. Like...where were they going? Why was this crazy, horny weirdo clearly trying to lure him to a bushy area out in the yards? If this motherfucker thought he could get some with Hajime after dicking down Prince Kokichi, he had another thing-oh?

"Prince Kokichi?" Hajime asked, totally flustered as he spotted the prince hiding in a bush. "What...what's going on??"

"Look!" Kaito said, a wide grin on his face, practically vibrating with pride at having found someone both tall enough and potentially strong enough. "I found someone! Hajme's perfect for this! Look at his shoulders! He can totally do it! I was lucky to nab him when I did, he was on his way out! Atua's looking out for us, 'Kichi!"

Kokichi didn't hold back his facepalm when he saw what Kaito's plan was. "Hajime-chan, I'm sorry about this. You're one hundred percent getting that raise for this nonsense."

Peeking around, Kokichi leaned out of the bush a little, giving Kaito a look. "This is going to work for getting out, but not getting back in, and I am not asking Hajime-chan to stick around to help, so...we'll figure something else out." And then turning to the befuddled man, Kokichi gave him an apologetic, but also pleading look. "We got invited to a party."

"We're not gonna stay long, and we have contingency plans and all that, but... I don't want Aiichi freaking out and doing, like, background checks, and sending guards to what was otherwise just gonna be a normal party, yanno? So, we gotta sneak out, but Kai-chan can't climb the wall with a broken arm, so... would you help us? Please?"

There was a good chance this would just backfire horrifically. That Hajime would just turn around and tell Aiichi, and then Kokichi would practically be locked in his room for the next week. But...maybe he wouldn't, and Kokichi would just have to make this up to him covertly.

...Fuuuuuuck.

Okay, what were his options? Option one: he says no, bails, tells no one what he saw. Honestly, option one--probably best option. The princes could find some other way out, Hajime wasn't 'technically' breaking one of King Aiichi's rules regarding Kokichi, and also no one ended up using his body as a ladder. Perfect!

Option two: he says no, and on top of that, goes to report it to the king, like, now. The princes don't accidentally get themselves into any problems, Hajime comes out looking like a star employee, gets known by King Aiichi himself as someone trustworthy and reliable. Worst ways to advance in a career, especially for a housekeeper; maybe they'd even make him a supervisor for the day shift!

Downsides to that: the princes would probably be...a little disappointed with that one...and like honestly low-key fuck Kaito, but Prince Kokichi? Hajime had snuck out plenty of time to parties back when he still lived with his parents, and often had an awesome time doing it. Who was he to say the prince of Dicea couldn't do the same?

So option three...??

Hajime sighed. "Only once," he insisted, ignoring Kaito's small jump of excitement, "And if you guys are caught, my name never gets brought up. Got it? ...Alright, damn it...let's do this."

They headed to the wall.

Getting Prince Kokichi up was easy. Hajime just put his hands out together as a lift and when Kokichi stepped on, it was shockingly easy to send him up. The Luminary Prince though??

"Stop wiggling, and don't droop! I can't pull myself up one arm, if I could I would have asked Maki-Roll! I have to step off your shoulder!"

"Well you better step QUICK because you weigh a THOUSAND POUNDS, what are you even EATING?!"

"How dare you! It's mostly muscle mass!"

Kaito eventually managed to clumsily get himself up the top of the wall, and sighed, pouting down at Hajime who was wheezing and hunched over from the effort. "Honestly, a thousand pounds. You should train with me, Maki, and Timothy in the morning, Hajime! Then you won't struggle with this so much next time!"

"This is the ONLY TIME!!"

Don't be fooled by the all caps and exclamation marks; the argument was happening as a whisper shouting match, both men just blustering at each other, Kaito straddling the wall and Hajime seriously considering throwing a rock at him.

Maybe one day they'd be fast friends. Today was not that day.

"Okay. Step one down! Now for..." Kaito looked down at the other end of the wall...hmmm...

Right...getting...down...

Kaito looked over at Kokichi, shrugged, sighed, and then threw himself over.

To his credit. He landed on his feet. To his discredit, his knees immediately buckled and he landed backwards. From his position on the ground, Kaito looked up at Kokichi, trying to catch the wind blown from his lungs at the fall as he said, "Okay...give me a minute...I'll help you down...phew."

Kokichi covered his mouth as he silently giggled at the spat the two other men were having, his shoulders bouncing enough to clue others in. Though, he did sober by the time Kaito made it up, and Kokichi looked down at Hajime, bowing his head a bit in thanks. "I really owe you for this, Hajime-chan, more than the raise. My dad won't hear a word about this."

Because they'd totally get back in without anyone noticing. Totally.

...the thump on the outside of the wall didn't diminish those chances at all. With a last wave to the housekeeper, Kokichi sighed, looking down at his husband sprawled on the ground before shaking his head. "Just catch your breath, sweets."

Turning to face the outside of the wall, Kokichi planted his hands on the top, in a single moment kicking off the side and landing on his feet a bit away from the wall, landing in a crouch to protect his joints. Rising, he walked over to his husband and offered his hand. "Let's get going."

Kaito blinked at Kokichi...

“Oh my god," Kaito whispered. "My husband’s a ninja."

As Kaito quickly got up, just, eyes shining as he looked down at Kokichi, asking him insistently, "How did you do that? Where did you learn how to do that?? That was some Maki shit right there!"

It was a long walk to the factory, but the night air was cool, and the farther along they got the more excited and hyped up Kaito became, the letters far from his mind as he found himself, as part of his gushing to Kokichi about his ninja move, recounting a story from his childhood.

"So, we all knew that there was, just, no chance she was going to make that jump, right? And it's not like we didn't tell her! But Kaede was wasted, so she was convinced she could make the jump, and, like, we were all drunk too, and kinda being assholes, so we kept telling her she wasn't going to make the jump even though we knew that was just egging her on to try it more. So, she leaps, and of course she's nowhere close, but it's only when we see her falling are we like 'oh shit, this might actually hurt her' so all five of us, like, rush forward to catch her, and she ends up landing right on top of Shuuichi, who, honestly probably could have broken his spine, but Atua was looking out for them both and they ended up being fine, and I swear, the way Kaede gushed over Shuuichi for the rest of the night, I really thought they were going to get together, it was really cute..."

Kaito tried to remember what his original point was, and then said, "Right! All that to say, that I think with that form you just showed you could have absolutely made the jump, and that's kinda crazy."

Once they got a bit away from the castle, Kokichi let his laughs ring out into the night, being a perfect audience for Kaito's story, gasping and snorting and exclaiming at all the right points. At the end, he just shook his head with a laugh, squeezing Kaito's hand a little. "I told you I learned all the most important stuff I know from my nanny, right?"

"Before he worked in the castle, Ikuo was an acrobat." Kokichi's smile went soft, thinking about the man who raised him far more than his biological father. "Well, sort of. He was a children's entertainer, part of a troop called the Super Bunny Men. They would do all sorts of tricks and would build insane obstacle courses to wow and amaze. And, knowing that kids are idiots who would try to copy them, they would teach kids how to fall and do simple stuff like headstands and shit."

"Of course he'd teach me all that stuff too."

When he'd spoken of it, Ikuo was fond of his days as a Bunny Man, but wanted steadier work with...less volatile people. And, considering how good he was with children and how he'd always end up mentoring the younger staff members, just exuding paternal vibes, Kokichi's parents had asked him if he would like to be their child's nanny when the time came.

Kokichi looked down at his free arm, at the rest of his small, thin body. "...I can't do any of the more strength-focused stuff, and I don't have the stamina to be any sort of proper athlete, but Ikuo saw how much I loved getting into places I shouldn't be and how I'd end up getting into trouble. So...he taught me how to clamber and leap and run and pick locks and...all sorts of stuff! So I'd be able to have fun and get myself out of most trouble."

He grinned up at Kaito, squeezing his hand again and leaning into his arm. "I'm really excited for you two to meet when he comes back."

"How long has he been gone?" Kaito asked, squeezing the hand back, fascinated to finally hear more about the guy who, for a brief period of time, Kaito had sorta thought he had doomed to let die alongside his best friend in order to fuck his psuedo-son to death.

That...that wasn't the right way to think about what happened on their wedding night, but...

Kaito squeezed Kokichi's hand harder, saying, "I'm looking forward to it. Everyone talks about this guy like he basically raised you. It's nice to think I'll get a chance to meet more of your 'family', so to speak."

And anyone who taught his husband how to pick locks as a child probably wasn't the kind of 'guardian' that all those other fuckers in the castle had been to Kokichi. Kaito had a hard time imagining this guy knocking Kokichi out, for his own good or...whatever.

Kaito wondered, idly, if Kokichi's nanny hated Luminaries.

...well, he'd...try extra hard to make a good first impression!

At that question, Kokichi deflated a bit, his nostalgia and excitement dampened by reality. "...ten years..."

And the time right before that hadn't exactly been...happy. At ten, Kokichi had still been wrapping his mind around the concept of war, and...he just couldn't understand why Ikuo would leave him. And that led to...a lot of hurtful things being said. Arguments mostly on Kokichi's side, claiming that it was really that Aiichi was firing Ikuo because the leader hated Kokichi and never wanted him to be happy, so he'd take away the only person in his life. That Ikuo had never cared about him and would rather die than to spend another day looking after him.

It had to have hurt Ikuo deeply, but the man hadn't shown it, instead allowing Kokichi his space to hurt before scooping him up and holding him close while he cried and begged his daddy not to go. Kokichi still had trouble believing it, but Ikuo had explained that he was leaving because he loved him. That Luminary had the edge in numbers and experience, and that Dicea needed every willing hand possible to keep everything they loved safe. Ikuo was leaving to fight in the war to protect his precious son, to make sure he would be able to live happily without a hand even stricter (crueler) than Aiichi's over him.

Kokichi had still told his daddy that he loved him before Ikuo left, but...he'd cried a lot those first few months.

Swallowing, Kokichi tried to shake that mood off. The war was over, Ikuo was coming back, and right now, he and Kaito were going to a party. "He did raise me. Aiichi, like, talked to me and shit, but he clearly had no idea how to raise a kid," Kokichi scoffed, anger with Aiichi an easy place to come back to. "Ikuo can be kinda scary if you don't know him, but he's really nice. I'm sure he'll love Kai-chan too."

'Bunny Man' was scary? How scary could a child-entertaining acrobatic nanny possibly be? Well, Kokichi had seen him last at the age of...ten? He supposed? Maybe he was still just looking at his nanny with the eyes of a ten-year-old.

"Well, I'll try to make it easy for him. Definitely don't wanna piss off the guy who raised my husband. Though, can I point out another, ya know, culture difference between us? Honestly, 'nanny' sounds like the wrong word. The guy sounds like he was a mentor to you, at least by Luminary standards, rather than a caretaker."

Kaito closed his eyes for a second, listing off the comparisons. "Mentors take on a kid and pass off all their job skills to them, regardless if the kid is actually pursuing the field or not, just to make sure that no matter what happens, they've got something to fall back on. So for him to teach you acrobatics, lock picking, all the stuff he knows? Not to mention a personal interest in your development beyond just 'keeping them alive' until a certain age, which is what nannies do back at home...yeah. Dude definitely sounds like he was your mentor.".

Which was good! Kaito was relieved that Kokichi had someone like that, someone who'd even still actively be in his life like that. Sure, maybe an acrobatics mentor wasn't the...most helpful?? Skills to pass on to a future king, but fuck it, random skills came in handy in all sorts of random ways. And it was always just good to have someone.

"And mentors are great! Probably the people that care most about us growing up, at least in my experience. Maki’s and Shuuichi's mentors had each been devoted to them, though they both showed it in their own ways. Maki's was tough, and scary, but that was because he knew Maki would need to be tough and scary one day. Still, he never let her go without anything she needed, and when it came to times where he could reward her for stuff, he was a total softy. Got her anything he could afford. Shuuichi's mentor was...well, I didn't get to know her that well, because she was pretty distant with us. Kind of intimidating, honestly. But Shuuichi adores her, so I gotta assume it was different when they were alone. And Byakuya...well, for all the shit he did over this trip, you can't argue that Tengan wasn't a brilliant mentor towards my brother. Byakuya hates him now, for a lot of reasons, but he still got almost all of his skills from him, so...that worked out in its own way."

Though it didn't work out for Byakuya's temper, but, well, you couldn't blame that solely on Tengan. No one in their family could control their temper. They never had to. Kaito sure struggled with it.

Kaito smiled, a fond memory coming back to him as he continued. "Mine wasn't an official one or anything, but her name was Priestess Meruko Mifune. She worked at the castle temple. She was one of the lower ranking priestesses so she was always really busy cleaning and putting together service equipment, knife sharpening, keeping the sacrifices comfortable and making sure the offerings were prepped, that sorta stuff. But she always made time for me when I came by! She was amazing. Taught me everything I know about Atua. I would have loved for you to have met her."

Kokichi hummed softly, feeling something soothing about learning of one of the only cultural differences that didn't make his skin crawl. Honestly, Luminary mentors just sounded like...parents? The people who were supposed to care for you the most, make sure you were safe and happy and able to achieve any dream that passed your mind. That would teach you everything they knew and hope you'd surpass them.

Of course, it didn't always work out that way, but...that was what was supposed to happen.

Kokichi almost wanted to ask what parents did in Luminary, then, if they didn't bring up their children, but...he had a sinking feeling that it would be a less happy cultural difference.

Though, maybe mentors weren't all up to the standard Kaito listed, just like parents. Kokichi scoffed lowly at the mention of Tengan, but managed to keep his mouth shut. Apart from his economic acumen, Kokichi had no idea what sort of leader Kaito's brother was, so...his judgment was yet to be sealed. So Tengan's influence was also in the air, though hearing that Byakuya hated the old man as well did boost Kokichi's opinion of him.

And, while the nitty-gritty of the religion was still...uncomfortable at points, Kokichi relaxed back at the fondness in Kaito's tone. Kaito had his friends, of course, but he'd said they couldn't always be around. And then, mentioning that his family had just sort of...left him to his own devices, it was comforting to hear that Kaito still had a parental figure in his life.

While he was still incredibly unsure about going to Luminary...it was still on the table. Kokichi leaned his head on Kaito's arm, sending his husband a soft smile. "I still could, someday. I would be honored to meet someone Kai-chan holds in such warm regard. Unless she'd object to meeting a non-believer?" He tittered quietly, making it clear that that was a joke.

Kaito stared at Kokichi in mild confusion for a moment, before he realized, oh, well... duh. "No, no, I mean...like, one day in paradise, sure! Absolutely! But she died when I was...eight? No, I had just turned nine! Yeah..." Kaito smiled fondly, glancing up at the star-filled sky. "I bet she's having a blast doing her trials. She always talked about it like she honestly couldn't wait. A lot of people think the trials sound intimidating, but the way she thought about it, you got to go on this big, amazing adventure, specifically designed to teach you new things about yourself and to leave you a better person by the end of it, and then on top of all that, you get to go reunite with everyone you left behind once you’re done! What's not to love about that? That's so exciting! I hope she's having fun."

The environment around them was starting to change, reflecting the more functional purpose of the area: stores were giving way to what looked like more functional, less entertaining businesses, advertising repairs and landscaping, or stores selling in bulk large amounts of functional equipment, like nuts and bolts. Those, too, were also slowly giving way to even more functional buildings: storage units and labor shops, which Kaito could see in the distance were slowly becoming full-sized factories.

Out of everywhere they had been so far, this actually was starting to feel the most like home, and Kaito could feel himself relaxing slightly under the loom of the shadowed buildings.

"You should actually ask Shuuichi about that someday! Priestess Meruko's death, I mean. He doesn't like to brag about it, but it was actually the first real big case that he contributed to. He'll tell you that his mentor only let him investigate because the clues were so obvious and it was an open/shut case, but, like, he was nine! That's still super impressive, I think!"

...oh. Whoops. He'd caught that Kaito spoke about the priestess in the past tense, but he figured it was because she was back in Luminary. Then again, Kaito spoke about his family in the present tense still so...his bad. Kaito didn't sound beat up over it any, but Kokichi still squeezed his hand gently and murmured an apology.

Though, his respectful reverence quickly turned to curiosity. "Her death was under suspicion?" Why else would a detective be involved, let alone to call it a 'real big case'? But, while Kaito seemed upbeat, asking about the possibly nefarious death of his mentor seemed pretty damn insensitive, so... "Ahhh, more storytime potential. I should seriously start asking you guys to tell me a bedtime story, like, every night, especially with all the hints you all keep dropping. Though...while I'm gonna be ogling everything like an idiot, I can't imagine the scenery will enthrall me the entire time we're traveling. Even if you and Maki-chan and Shuu-chan know everything, I think I'll ask you to tell your stories again during our trip."

While they had been more or less walking in the same direction, Kokichi soon had to take his role as navigator more seriously, leading them through various turns through the rows of growing industrial buildings. He never really spent too much time in the industrial part of town, mostly because there wasn't much to do unless you scheduled a factory tour which he certainly never did, but sometimes on his more restless visits, he'd just start walking aimlessly around the whole of the capital city. And, due to the laws of randomness, he'd sometimes end up in this sector anyway.

Which was proving to be a boon in making their way to the brewery.

Before too long, rounding out a comfortable thirty minutes, they came across what looked like an unassuming building, but could hear faint music coming from inside. Kokichi took a deep breath, trying to draw himself up and push down the squirming nerves in his stomach. His first party...

"So...what do you think the odds are that there's a different shut down factory building booming music at ten at night?" Kaito asked with a grin, feeling excited. "Guess this is the place, huh? Let's get in there!"

When they got to the heavy metal doors that seemed to make the front entrance of the building, Kaito tried the door first. When it held shut, he knocked, calling out, "Uh...anyone there?"

His attempt was rewarded, and there was a sound like someone was moving a heavy lock, and then the door peeked open, the music now blaring as a skinny man with no shirt on and clearly already mostly obliterated peering out at them suspiciously before snickering. "What's the password?" Somewhere behind him there was a tither of giggles.

Kaito, who was not unfamiliar with this kind of game, grinned. "Fuck you, buddy?"

The man snickered louder, putting his hand on his head and shaking it as his shoulders shook. "Fuck, man, might as well be. Ya know there was actually supposed to be a password, but no one fucking actually told anyone what it was? It was supposed to be Gaia. What a shitshow. Also, fuck you...alright, yeah, you two can come in."

The man laughed, opening the door for them, and around him near the entrance was clearly just a gaggle of party-goers who had taken a look inside, made use of what was available there, and still had somehow ended up hanging out by the doors, chatting and joking with each other. Then a few of the folks greeted Kaito and Kokichi, some raising their glasses at them, one girl saying, "Welcome to the end of the world party!"

"Nah, dude, this is that one chick’s, like...school party or something, right?" An extremely tired sounding guy who had his head in her lap and his legs propped against another girls legs asked, sounding genuinely confused, "Fucking whats her name? Hiccup? Hillary??"

"Hiyoko," the girl provided, and then laughed as she said it, "The blonde with the tits!"

"Her! The blond with the tits. That's right," the man sighed happily, before glancing over at the boys. "Hey...do I know you guys from somewhere?"

"Fuck, man, was just thinking the same thing," said the door guy, staring at them in confusion. "We go to middle school together?"

"Hey, hey! Oh my gaaaawd, you actually maaade it!" said a mildly familiar voice down the hall, Aba, with two drinks in her hand, coming down and passing the drinks to the two sitting girls, who thanked her profusely for the trouble. "I was thinking you weren't going to show! What are you doing over here with these bums, the party’s inside, come on!"

Kaito's joke made him feel a bit better, but the nerves came roaring back as the person at the door asked for a password? They hadn't been given a password. Aba said it was the sort of party that was meant to be crashed, so what was the purpose of a--oh. Joke. Haha.

Kokichi's face was pleasantly amused on the outside, but as they stepped into the brewery, he swallowed nervously, stomach just a gelatinous ball of worms. How... H-how did you get into the swing of a party? He'd never joined a party partway through, always having to be there from the very beginning, and...he never really was allowed to participate in the more...wild aspects of anything. For so many parties, he was shuffled off to the side to sit down and watch. And while that was a possibility here, even if he wanted to do that--which he didn't--that wasn't really something you started off doing, was it?

Kokichi squeezed Kaito's hand a bit, hoping to...leech off some of his ease. But thankfully they had some external help as well.

Waving cheerfully to Aba, Kokichi giggled a bit. "Hiya, Aba-chan! I mean, gotta keep you in suspense for a little while, right?" He eagerly--though not obviously--followed after her, wanting to be somewhere that was easier to blend in with the crowd.

This party had clearly been going on for hours now.

It was a three floor factory, though from the main factory floor only two floors were actually visible, the stairwell and the second flooring all being rusted metal grids. In the middle of the factory, in rows of five, were giant metal brewing machines, each one having a name and function sign on it that was mostly faded but still legible. Scattered about were folding tables that had clearly only been brought in for the partiers, with cases of already packed beer on top of most of them, with one table covered in food as clearly an afterthought.

There were people EVERYWHERE.

They were dancing. They were hanging out in clusters. A few of them were clearly playing drinking games together, and those groups were the loudest of everyone, cheering when someone won, cheering even louder when someone drank. There were also quite a few people hanging in the corners of the factory, couples who only had eyes and hands for each other, small groups doing slightly more sketchy things out of everyone's way, and a few just plain ol' wallflowers, either taking a break or too out of place to participate with any of the rowdier groups, but quietly keeping each other company and commenting on their people watching.

Aba led them to one of the tables with beer on it, but not beer in cases. It looked like this table had a keg precariously propped on top of it, clearly bending under its weight, and manning that keg was...what had his name been? Itch? Probably a nickname. As he poured a large glass for, well...to put it as the guys at the entrance did: a blond with tits.

"Hey, Hiyoko! Check it out! Told ya I wasn't bullshitting!" Aba said, leading the two princes through the crowd to the table, Itch giving the two a nod as Hiyoko just looked at her confused...before her eyes widened.

"No shit! They are actually letting him out these days? I straight up thought you were a myth!" the woman said to Prince Kokichi.

His first party...and it looked like something straight out of his imagination whenever such a scene popped up in a book he was reading. People everywhere, letting loose and having fun, and, as Maki said, probably being very dumb in some cases, but nothing, like, dangerously dumb, from what he could tell. Kokichi's eyes were wide in curious excitement as they walked through the factory, taking everything in with wonder.

This was awesome!

Even as his guess was proven correct, as Aba led them to the host. He--and by association, Kaito--had only been invited because they were Princes, something for Aba and Hiyoko to brag about later, but...that was fine. He was taking advantage of his position in turn, to be able to experience something like this.

Kokichi snorted and rolled his eyes at the taller woman. "Sometimes I feel like a damn myth. But, nope, I exist outside of the castle, much to everyone's surprise. Congratulations on getting into university, and thanks for letting us barge in." With a bit of a laugh, he nudged Kaito a bit, showing him off in a small way to the others.

Because they were basically an attraction, there was the danger of word getting around that he was seen at a party on the other side of town in the middle of the night, but Kokichi wasn't worried. Rumors could be insane, and even if party-goers insisted, as long as they weren't caught sneaking back into the castle that night, he could just deny it and no one would have solid proof otherwise.

Still, it couldn't hurt to lay down another contingency. With a sigh of exasperation, Kokichi shrugged a bit. "But, like, we didn't wanna crash it to pieces, yanno? Didn't want the whole damn guardforce bein' wet blankets, so I'd appreciate if Kai-chan an' me bein' here is kept to word of mouth, Hiyoko-chan."

"The whole damn guardforce, huh?" mused the tall man, glancing over at Kaito for a moment before shaking his head, offering his fellow tall person a glass over everyone else's head. Kaito chuckled at this before accepting it, giving Itch a grateful grin. "That'd be a shame, yeah. Shit, might still happen anyway. Hiyoko here said her dad gave the a-okay for, how many was it?"

"Twenty-fiiiiive people!" the woman laughed. "It's not my fault! I set up a password and everything, and still everyone got in. Dad’s gonna have a fit! Well, fuck him anyway. And stop being a dick, Itch! 'Kokichi-chan' wants a drink too! God knows there's nothing else to do! Everyone here is so laaaame!"

"Kid, there are easily almost a hundred people here, and you're still gonna write them all off, huh?" Itch said, raising an eyebrow before dutifully filling a glass for Kokichi as well, though before he handed him the drink, he said, "No offense, friend, but you're a tad on the slim side, and you're not supposed to be here, I gather. You okay to be drinking?"

"He doesn't drink a lot either way. At least, I've never seen you drink much, 'Kichi," Kaito said, taking a sip of his own beer...face scrunching instinctively as he looked down at it. What a...unique?? Mixture of bitter and sweet? "What is this?" Kaito asked.

Hiyoko burst into mean spirited laughs as she said, "Oh my god, Itch, he couldn't even take a gulp of it! I told you this latest batch was awful!" Itch's mouth scrunched into a slightly offended pout.

Aba gave Kaito a companionable pat on the arm as she said sympathetically, "It's not your fault. Itch has been borrowing Hiyoko's dad's brewing equipment for, like, a year now, trying to learn to brew his own beer, and the results are usually...a little mixed. What did you try this time, Itch? I know I saw a box of questionable looking potatoes a week ago."

""s fucking apple cider and potato," Itch admitted, before shaking off his disappointment to Kaito's reaction, saying with a much more casual expression. "And some other shit. Company secret, or at least it will be once I get this place back in order and off the ground. And the taste might not be there yet, but no one can deny the kick. Shit's functional."

Aba rolled her eyes at him, before turning back to the princes. "If you guys want just normal beer, literally every other table has cases of them. Itch just likes to test his products at these kind of events."

Once again, Kokichi's facepalms were relegated entirely to the realm of his internal emotions. Sure, it'd been directed at him, but Maki had straight out said to not drink anything that you didn't know the origins of. A keg was sealed, yeah, but not when it was brewed by someone you didn't know. It was likely fine, but Kokichi wasn't taking any chances. For once, he just wanted a night to go well.

Offering an apologetic smile to Itch, especially with Kaito's reaction to the beer, Kokichi shook his head. "As much as I'd like to, I'm designated navigator tonight." Drinking was a staple of college parties, even he knew that, but with him and Kaito being there alone? No way was he taking a sip of anything.

But that didn't mean that he'd never drink in the future. Kokichi's eyes lit up at the tall brewer. "You're gonna re-start the brewery?! That's awesome!" He had to consciously stop himself from going into Business Mode, thinking about business grants and licensing and employment... Asking Itch if he'd sent in his plans to the castle was...not a normal party thing. Kokichi knew he was a nerd, but...he could tone it down.

"When I'm not 'being responsible'," Kokichi actually acted out the air quotes, rolling his eyes a bit again, "I'd love to try your stuff sometime! It's been aaaaages since this place was open." He didn't drink much, but encouraging an entrepreneur? That was a nerd thing he could do stealthily.

Itch nodded. "I'll take that deal. Honestly can't think of a better way to advertise than getting the heir to endorse it. People buy into that sort of thing, ya know? It's useful."

"Because people SUCK!" Hiyoko shouted, every word out of her mouth betraying more and more that she was maybe more than a little drunk, though she physically held herself surprisingly well as, stamping her feet, she said, "People suck and Uni is gonna suck and Itch's beer SUCKS! ...Haha, awww, come on, don't look like that!" she said to Itch, all of her previous grumpiness disappearing with the ease of a lightswitch, the blonde wrapping her arms around him and saying cheerily, "I'm just teasing! Look, give me another glass of it, maybe now that I'm drunk it won't taste like such hot garbage. Pul-leeeaaase, Itch??"

"You're a real handful," Itch sighed, before giving her the glass he had poured for Kokichi and watching with some amusement as she, in an act of solidarity, tried to down the whole thing...before gagging halfway through. Watching her, he admitted, "Alright, the apples I picked may have been a tad too sweet. I'll get it right next time. Then, you just wait. I'm gonna buy this place off her dad, and sell this shit by the cartload." Itch said, this time to Kokichi, "That's the plan, anyway."

"Heeeeeey! They made it!" said a cheery voice from behind them, and to Kaito's surprise, a pair of long, thin arms suddenly circled over his shoulders and around his chest, a head planting itself onto his shoulder as...what was his name?? Kaito couldn't remember this one, but a blond man said, "I knew they were gonna come! Itch didn't think you guys were showing!"

"Oh, you're, uh, the brother, right?" Kaito said awkwardly, trying to shift his shoulders in a way that suggested maybe the guy get off now? The blond took the hint, getting off his tiptoes and sliding off Kaito, before turning his piercing blue eyes on Kokichi, a wide grin on his face.

"Your grace!" The man-Tom! That had been his name. Tom said, leaning down and, arms wide, pulled Kokichi into a bear hug, lifting the prince off the ground. "It's so cool to finally get to meet you! You know, I think I've seen you at like, legit, ten different festivals growing up! Itch never let me go say hi! So this is me, saying hi!"

"Tom..." Itch said, a warning in his tone. "Personal space?"

As such was life. Kokichi would bet it was far more pronounced in Luminary, but there was a chance that, with everything he did, someone would take it as a statement. Most people understood that the boss and heir were just people with high profile jobs, and a lot of the loyalty came from personal interactions instead of blind national pride, but...well. They were sort of celebrities in a way too.

Kokichi found himself tittering under his breath at Hiyoko's outburst, hoping her hangover wouldn't be too horrible tomorrow. Just like how he'd felt the first few times he watched Shuuichi, Maki, and Kaito interacting, there was an ease that spoke of casual friendship in this group. But, unlike that time before, Kokichi didn't feel the well of jealousy. He had friends of his own now, and instead it was just pleasant to watch other groups.

Nodding in interest at Itch's goal, Kokichi looked back at the loud voice addressing them before being able to comment. The...much more outgoing brother. He raised his eyebrows a little at how Tom draped himself over Kaito, but that surprise was nothing to suddenly being picked up.

With a squeak, Kokichi tensed before awkwardly giving a pat to Tom's back, more caught off guard now by the hug than the whole being lifted off the ground thing. "Hi to you too, then, Tom-chan. Glad you could finally fulfill such a long-standing wish," he snarked a bit before wiggling gently in the lanky man's grip. "Could you put me down, though?"

"Wow, you weigh, like, nothing!" Tom said excitedly, casually ignoring Kokichi's request as he looked over at Itch with bright, shining eyes. "Itch, it's like picking up Limpy! Come try it out!"

"Hey-" Kaito said, a tad tense as the guy ignored Kokichi, moving towards him--but Itch put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

"No, don't, he’s trying to get a rise out of ya. Tom, put him down," Itch said, his voice allowing no argument as Tom sighed, putting down Kokichi immediately. "Tom likes to fight people, and he's heard a hell of a lot of rumors about Luminaries, so he's been talking about getting into a good fight with one for like a week now. Tom, apologize."

"Sorry," Tom said automatically, before giving a genuinely sheepish smile to Kokichi. "My bad, I was just playing. I am a hugger though! Aba, Hiyoko!" he called out suddenly, opening his arms wide as he grabbed both girls by their waists, Hiyoko groaning in annoyance and Aba laughing with delight as he lifted them both up from the ground, a surprising amount of strength in his thin arms as he shook them a little.

Kaito did a quick glance over Kokichi to make sure his husband wasn't rattled, before laughing, "Dude, you do not have to piss off my husband to get me to spar with you! I love a good fight too! What's your weapon of choice?"

"Small blades," Tom said, flicking his hand and, seemingly out of nowhere, a small butterfly knife of multiple shimmering colors appeared, spinning almost prettily in his hand. "Let me guess: broadsword?"

"Wow! That's stunning, where did you get that!? Kokichi, we have to get Maki one of these!" Kaito exclaimed, stepping closer to Tom to admire the beautiful blade, Tom snickering before he handed Kato the blunt end so that the prince could get a better look at it. "And I wish I could spar with a broadsword. They're too heavy for me still. Maybe one day. Seriously, where did you get this?"

As Tom started to excitedly explain which blacksmith in town made this kind of knife, Itch sighed, walking over to Kokichi, his movements like a glacier in comparison to his quick-moving brother. "Sorry about that. Tom's a bit much. There's a reason I didn't trust him to run around ya back when we were all younger either, what with the way they were saying you were. Hey, I was mostly playing with you when I said you were too skinny to be drinking. You sure I can't offer ya anything? Drinking parties aren't much fun without the drinking part."

...when Kaito told him that he'd have back-up with anyone who made him uncomfortable, he didn't think it'd become relevant so soon. Kokichi still figured Tom was just playing, but...he really didn't like it when random people picked him up. He begrudgingly understood why the guards would sometimes do it, for his own safety, but just any random person that came by him? Marveling over how small and cute he was, treating him like a doll...

He did give the blond an annoyed frown, but nothing came of it. Just playing. With a sigh, he adjusted his shirt when Tom put him back down before rolling his eyes good-naturedly, but with enough seriousness that, if Tom even caught it, perhaps he wouldn't play the same game again.

Though he did peer at the butterfly knife in interest all the same, willing to let bygones be bygones. As long as it was still functional, which, from how Tom was handling it, it seemed so, Maki would probably be delighted with something similar.

And he was happy to see Kaito being able to bond with someone that wasn't, yanno, obliged to spend time around him. He was sure his husband would be able to charm the people of Dicea, but he had been worried.

And as for himself?

Kokichi shrugged a bit to Itch, keeping in a grimace. How people said he was, huh? He knew enough to know that it wasn't just that kids found sitting around too boring that stopped them from talking to him. "It's certainly a way to introduce himself. As long as Tom-chan doesn't make a habit of flinging me in the air every time we see each other, it's no biggie."

He laughed a bit before shaking his head again. "You're not too off the mark, Itch-chan. I'm a total lightweight, so if I wanna make sure that one," he held a hand out towards Kaito, fawning over a shared interest in weaponry, "gets home alright, I gotta stay suuuper sober. It's fun enough to watch everyone who has indulged though," he snickered.

"Anyone could prolly guess this isn't my usual sort of scene, but it's fun! Though, it doesn't take much to get me out of the castle."

Itch nodded at this, reaching out to steady the table as a group of partiers bumped into the other side of it, giving the group a dirty look as they giggled and apologized before moving along. "Yeah, I'm not much a drinker myself, actually. I know that might sound surprising for, like, a future professional brewer, but I've always been more fascinated by its effects on other people more than enjoying it myself. Then, when I tried making my own batch and it, uh...well, it tasted like shit, even for me. But that's alright. I enjoy the challenge of it."

"Ugh, enough, I'm sick of the brewery talk. I didn't host a fucking party in my dad’s brewery to talk about brewing! I did it go get drunk and fuck people!" Hiyoko announced, Aba snickering into her hands as Hiyoko looked around, hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. "So I gotta find a gem in this group of uggos soon or this whole night was a waste of time!"

"Oh, oh! Oh my gawd! I totally almost forgot!" Aba said, grabbing Hiyoko's wrist, brow furrowed. "I found him. The one! Your guy! I was gonna tell you, and then some girls asked me to get them drinks, and then I saw the princes, and, well, ya get me! So, there's a group playing Taskmaster upstairs, right!? And there's a guy up there, Hiyoko, when I say, just..." Aba put her thumb, finger and middle finger together, kissing the tips like a chef over a perfect meal, "He's perfect. He's shredded, dark haired, and dim as a rock. Totally your type. The taskmaster told him to 'bring him a bucket of steam' and the guy was still looking for a bucket when I left."

"Yes!" Hiyoko, sounding thrilled, before she turned to the rest of them, in charge. "Alright, we're going upstairs! Itch, fuck your shitty beer, leave it behind! You two, you're with us!" she said, pointing to the princes, then pointing to the stairwell. "To my new hot idiot fuckbuddy!"

"Don't wanna get high on your own supply, right," Kokichi said with a shrug. It seemed actually pretty normal to him for a brewer to be more interested in the experimentation, the culinary aspect, or the chemical aspect than getting into the business just 'cause they liked to drink, though he bet there were plenty in that camp too. Though, many more that didn't care about the business at all and were just happy for the drink.

Kokichi smirked a little to himself at Hiyoko's outburst--even if he wasn't going to be participating in either activity, he supposed that was what parties like this were for. He didn't really like drinking, and he'd already been comfortably fucked, but he had a feeling he was still in for a good time. Especially with Aba's description of the guy that fit Hiyoko's type, and...Taskmaster? He could guess enough from the name, but he did wonder about a game like that.

Retaking Kaito's hand, Kokichi looked up at him with a grin. "Doesn't sound like we're expected to be wingmen, but wanna watch anyway? Drunk flirting is always fun to see, especially when it turns into a trainwreck." Also, he didn't...really know what else to do but follow the group. Talking with Itch was nice, but...talking business all night, even with someone who was interested, was kinda...boring. And probably wouldn't do anything to help his social life.

"I feel kiiiinda like we don't have a choice," Kaito admitted, laughing as the spunky blonde woman just kept shouting 'let’s go! let's go!' to the group, gently pulling Kokichi along as the group hurried up the stairs. "You ever play Taskmaster before? Like, with anyone in the castle I mean? It can get...let's just say Maki would be annoyed."

As the group got upstairs, a group of eleven or so people were in a crowd, screaming a mixture of abuse and encouragement to an extremely shredded, entirely unbothered man as he did pushups in the middle of the circle. "Fucking fall, bitch, what are you doing, no!" "You got this, you got this! Make him eat his words!" "Guys, please, I am literally going to vomit if I drink again, can someone just kick him or-"

"A hundred pushups, done!" a smaller woman shouted, calling time as the man stopped, getting up and stretching his shoulders mildly to an equal chorus of cheers and colorful cursing. "He completed his task! Everyone drink! You guys!" the woman said cheerfully, point to the newly arriving group, "If you're playing, then you're playing now! He did a hundred pushups! Drink!"

"Here, we got bottles over here." A friendly, chubby man standing next to several boxes of booze pointed to them, and as Hiyoko drooled over the pushups man, who seemed entirely uninterested in all of this, Tom ran over to get beers for everyone, bringing some to his friends, and then passing one off to Kaito and Kokichi.

"Oh, Kokichi's not drinking tonight-" Kaito pointed out, though he took his own beer, and then was surprised when Tom shoved the second beer at him too, laughing loudly.

"Everyone plays! Those are the rules for the second floor! If he's not drinking his, you'll drink his share then! Itch, you're playing, right?"

Itch looked over at Kokichi, shrugged, and then downed his whole beer at once. His three friends were a little slower to get all theirs down, Aba choking on hers a little, but they all got theirs down too.

Kaito grinned excitedly as every watched him with two drinks in his hand, and knooooowing it was gonna look stupid but also knoooooowing the kind of reaction it would get, Kaito tooks both bottles, and chugged them down at once.

He found himself coughing just at the end there, but the sheer attempt was enough to get cheers and one annoyed 'oh fuck no, we're not drinking two at a time now are we??' before the group turned back to the hot man, the small woman from before saying, "Alright, Ash, you're taskmaster now! Pick someone and give them a task!" For the new group, she explained, "If they succeed, we drink a whole bottle, and they become taskmaster! That guy drinks two, I guess!" She laughed, pointing at Kaito, who gave her a wink and thumbs up. "If they try but fail, they drink half a bottle. If they refuse to try, they drink a whole bottle! Alright, go!" she said to Ash, who clearly hadn't thought this far ahead, looking around the group for inspiration.

"Say someone has to get naked!" someone from the crowd shouted.

Ash shrugged, "Alright? Everyone's task is to get naked."

"You can't task everyone, you have to task just one person!" Tom explained, looking annoyed. "Like, telling him to climb something high or something!" Tom said, pointing randomly to Kokichi.

Ash shrugged again, looking over at Kokichi. "Alright. You, climb to, uh," Ash looked around, pointing to the slick, metal brewery machine nearest to them, "the top of that, I guess?"

"No way, he's not drinking, that'll be too easy!"

"Easy, that machine is sheer metal. He shouldn't do it because he'll fall!"

"Make someone get naked!!"

"What? He's not gonna fall!" Kaito said, looking offended on his husband's behalf, as beside him Tom snickered. "You guys don't even know, but 'Kichi's a ninja! Show em, babe!"

As there were snickers and jeers and one or two heartfelt, "No, guys, he'll fall, veto the task", two people near the back of the crowd started whispering to each other, pointing to Kokichi in clear confusion. "Is that...?" "Nah, can't be, right?" "Okay, but if it is, who does that make the tall guy..."

"If she dislikes these kinds of parties in general, I can see how she'd get all pissy over people doin' dumb shit on top of it," Kokichi snickered. Shuuichi and Maki had been very correct--he really couldn't see either of them having a good time here. "And, nah, never played before. I think I got to play truth or dare with people once before games like that got put on the blacklist. And everyone just kept giving me 'truth' anyway..."

Along with his initial guess, it didn't take long for Kokichi to understand how the game worked. This was...probably a bad idea to have the only person looking out for him doubling down on a drinking game, but...they could do a round or two without Kaito having to drink too much, right? And they could always just go back downstairs.

...and the constant paranoid voice in him immediately whispered to just leave. Kokichi's eyebrows raised, but he simply considered the brewing machine for a moment. It was too convenient for Tom to point him out, but...it didn't have to have been on purpose, and if it was, it didn't have to be malicious. Maybe he was just giving him an opportunity to join in with everyone. To be more than just a trophy for Aba and Hiyoko.

And no matter what happened, Kaito would only be drinking one bottle, max.

The machine was a sheer metal cylinder...but there were struts along one of the sides, holding the vat up. There would be a bit of a jump to get to them, and then up to the domed top, but...

Kokichi looked over to his husband, giving him (and the crowd) a mischievous grin. "Ready your next bottle, hun."

Turning to the vat, Kokichi judged the distance before taking off in a running start, his cape fluttering sinisterly behind him as he leapt for the bottom support strut.

"Oh fuck no, this dude’s crazy."

"He's going for it! Go for it little guy!"

"Guys, I think that's the prince..."

"Come one, Kokichi, get it!" Kaito screamed, the Luminary Prince practically bouncing on his toes as he shouted encouragement to his husband, Tom still snickering beside him as, to the other side of him, Itch came up, both watching curiously to see if the prince really could pull off physical feats like this. Aba and Hiyoko were both also shouting loudly, Aba shouting encouragement, Hiyoko trying to start a 'Fall! Fall! Fall!' chant that a few people joined into, but there was an undercurrent of 'guys, no, seriously, that's definitely the prince' and 'why would he be here? I thought the guy couldn't walk or something?'.

As Kaito shouted his encouragement, Tom suddenly cheered, "Yeah! Go Prince Kokichi!" before glomping onto Kaito's arm. His bad arm. Kaito winced, quickly pulling away from Tom as he said, "Hey, ow!", before getting caught by Itch, who pulled Kaito's jacket aside curiously before Kaito really had a chance to figure out what was happening. "Shit, man, is your arm seriously broken? I thought you were just supporting a sprain or something. Wild. Tom, apologize."

"Sorry," Tom said automatically, looking back up the metal, a wide, sharp grin on his face as he said, "Holy shit, look at that. I think he's actually going to make it."

Kaito, though still annoyed by Tom's grab, looked up at the brewing machine, a wide grin splitting his face. "You got this, Kichi! Halfway there!"

Another thing Ikuo had taught him was to never be distracted when you were doing something dangerous. Anything that had to be addressed would be put into the queue of thought for when you were on steady ground, unless it was, like, something flying into your path.

So Kokichi just barely had an annoyed frown on his face as he climbed, bouncing between the struts, support beam, and side of the vat. He supposed it was inevitable that people would find out who he was. But hopefully with this he'd be able to carve out a better reputation than if he'd just introduced himself on the ground. After this...there was no way they'd think he was weak. Or useless. Or inept.

Maybe doing something crazy in a drinking game wasn't a reputation he wanted to leave on his people either, but he didn't mind it.

His expression smoothed as Kaito's encouragement broke through the noise, and Kokichi continued his way up, everything feeling surprisingly sturdy for being abandoned. Or, sturdy enough for the whole 95 pounds of his body. Easily clambering up the side of the vat, he came to the second difficult part--the top dome.

The vat was closed, luckily for him, so...all he had to do was jump from the last strut to the handle wheel on the top of the vat. One last jump and he could take a break, at least. Getting back down would be A Thing, but maybe he could cajole some of the others into catching him so he didn't have to climb back down. He was still good, but his hips were aching a little more than they had been.

Bracing one foot on the last strut and one on the support beam, Kokichi kicked off, one after another, and launched himself at the handle.

"Whoo-ooph!"

His hands grasped around the handle, even as his chest collided with the dome. And, after a moment of pulling himself up--"Drink up!"

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Holy shit! Look at that!"

"That's awesome! Drink up bitches, he's up there!"

"Yo, that was crazy, uh, your grace?"

"Wooh! Take off your clothes!" shouted that one, just, very determined individual.

"Told you he could do it!" Kaito said, radiating pride, mindlessly accepting it as someone passed him another beer. "You rock, babe! Uh..." Kaito looked at the path Kokichi had taken upwards, and then shouted, "Hey, uh, total faith in you, but...can you get down??"

There were a few chuckles over this, a few similarly voiced concerns now that he had pointed it out, someone jokingly called out 'that should be the next task!', and a few people just...stared. At Kaito.

Realization dawning over them.

Itch finished chugging his bottle before placing it down in a random spot, as most everyone was doing. "It's alright, I got him," the big man said, walking up to the brewery machine and holding his arms out. "Hey, I ain't drunk or nothing. You let yourself fall limp and I'll catch ya just fine."

"You sure you can catch him?" Kaito asked, starting to worry as more people drank, chuckling at the situation, a few already coming up with ideas for tasks to suggest to Kokichi when he got back down.

"What, you gonna catch him with one arm?" Itch asked, "Relax, I got him. The king did a real good turn for me and my bro once, a long ways back. I'm not about to let any harm come to his only son."

Meanwhile, Aba was being pulled aside by some of the onlookers who had gone quiet, them whispering urgently to her as they kept glancing over at Kaito. She put up her hands and said quietly, "No, no, it's fine. I knoooooow, of course I know! What, am I stupid? Just let it go for now. Trust me, okay?" she said with a giggle, "This is going to be fun."

Kokichi settled himself into a half-crouch on top of the vat, not wanting to sit still. His cheeks were flushed from the activity, but...like, anyone's would be, right? The rumors about him, while grounded in an awful reality, didn't mean what his father would have everyone believe, and now everyone here could see that. And, for one of his first proper impressions on his peers? It was a good one, as far as he felt at the moment.

...though, he still did have to find a way down. It was too high to just go into a roll at the bottom, not without hurting himself, and...well, he could slide back down to the struts and make his way back down that way, but...

Itch was stepping up to the plate and Kokichi chewed his lip. An accident was easy to explain away, but there were just so many witnesses. ...trust was a two-way street, and a leader couldn't lead without the trust of their people.

So, with a breath, and bracing himself regardless, Kokichi pushed off the top of the vat and aimed for Itch, the rush of air against him almost comforting if it weren't for the grated ground quickly approaching.

From a lot of the group’s perspective, it all looked like it happened in an instant. Kokichi fell, and Itch, easily, caught him. But to Itch, Kaito, and Tom, who were all more physically trained than the average person here, Kokichi's fall happened in slow motion. And there was a brief moment where it looked like Itch had misjudged the fall and, taking a few steps back to catch him, had taken a step too far. Kaito's heart leapt into his throat as he realized Itch didn't have enough time to correct, and even Itch's face had a sudden look of tension as he realized his own mistake...but Tom, looking perfectly pleased with himself, put his hand on Itch's back and pushed him slightly forward, fixing his momentum, and after only being momentarily startled, Itch calmed, and caught Kokichi easily, his frame barely reacting to the impact of Kokichi's thin body.

Itch took one second to look at the small form in his arms before he put him down...the prince really was something to look at...and that climb had been impressive. Dude had a sort of graceful strength getting up there. He looked like he could bend. Itch could imagine the purple-haired man being a whole lot of fun, somewhere comfortable and private...

Honestly, that fact that a piece like this was being wasted on that Luminary piece of shit was another prime example of why the whole world needed to come down.

But all of this only shot through Itch's head for a second, and as Kaito moved towards them, a nervous sort of relief clearly on his face, Itch put down Kokichi and took a respectful step back. "Told ya I had him. Still, not gonna lie, got nervous for a second there. Thanks, Tom," Itch said over his shoulder to his brother, who waved off the thank you with a laugh and a shrug.

"Shit, Kokichi, that was amazing!" Kaito praised, pulling Kokichi into a hug and kissing the top of his skull (several people in the crowd’s faces darkened at this, but there were mostly giggles and one impressionable person's 'awww, that's cute').

"Alright, another task done! Everyone already drank? You, tall mushy guy! You haven't drank!" the short woman pointed out.

"Oh, right, on it." Kaito said, starting to drink his beer, before blanching. "Ugh, uh, sorry, I think I got another one of Itch's batches. Sorry, man, I don't think I can drink this. Too sweet for me." And also, just, weirdly familiar? But in a bad way? Kaito couldn't explain it for the life of him. "Anyone got one of the case beers?"

"Here, I got you," Aba said, switching out the beers with a smile, before drinking down Kaito's rejected bottle. "I've developed a taste for it," she explained, giving him a wink as he looked at her in open astonishment. "I've been testing out Itch's beers since he first started making them. Ya get over the taste."

Kaito laughed, drinking down his beer. Once he did, the short woman turned to Kokichi. "Alright, taskmaster! Give someone their task! Just remember, most everyone here is, like, what...eight beers in at least now? (and that's just counting the ones for this fucking game, someone moaned) So maybe don't have anyone else try the shit you just pulled. They'll totally faceplant," she said with a laugh.

Itch caught him. Kokichi found himself letting go of a relieved breath as he landed in the man's arms, having half expected to slam against the floor. At least he'd kept his doubts to himself.

Keeping his nervousness out of his giggle, Kokichi offered a thumbs up to both brothers, giving them a grateful nod. "Hey, thanks! It'd kinda suck if I had to find a way to walk home with my skull detached from my spine." His joking and sincere gratitude was soon shifted to affectionately rolling his eyes as Kaito pulled Kokichi close. Under his jacket, Kokichi rubbed Kaito's side a little, reassuring the nerves he'd seen on the other man though he laughed teasingly to the crowd. "Well, you spoiled my secret identity and called me a ninja, so I couldn't disappoint, right? One of us has to put on a good show, and I'm not letting it be the injured one."

Stretching out his legs a little, Kokichi looked through the players as he was prompted, thinking of a "task". Something impressive or stupid or sneaky... The man who'd been doing pushups before, Ash, he thought he'd heard him called, had just gone, so it wouldn't be fair to try and scoot him Hiyoko's way...not that he really thought she'd need any help. So just...something to keep the game going.

Pointing out someone random in the group, Kokichi tilted his head and shrugged. "Lick your elbow."

Tame, but a near-impossible task, since you couldn't physically do it unless you dislocated your arm. It'd be good for a few laughs watching the person try in vain before they were forced to drink, and then maybe he and Kaito would dip out. He really couldn't let Kaito get sloshed.

Behind him, Kaito covered his eyes with his good hand, the tips of his ears blushing red. Lick her elbow? For someone Kaito knew damn well could be a mean little shit in his own ways, Kokichi was surprisingly pure.

The woman Kokichi had pointed at simply frowned slightly and raised an eyebrow, looking at her elbow before actually making a vain attempt to get her face near it. There were a few chuckles in the group, but a few other people also tried it, really just to confirm that, yeah, no way was she going to be able to do that. "Awww, man," she moaned, deciding to be a damn good sport and trying to stick out her tongue, hoping maybe that would give her the extra few inches she needed. Nope, not even close. "I'm not going to be able to do that. Fuck, do I gotta drink then?"

As she whined and tried to lick in vain, some of her friends, just to be mean, encouraged her to keep trying and Kaito whispered to Kokichi. "You're real cute, you know that? Also, when you were jumping around through the air like that? You definitely impressed these guys. We should definitely get some names before we leave the party and see if anyone wants to hang out after this, these people seem really chill."

The short girl chuckled as she watched her friend still desperately trying, still acting as the sort of self-appointed referee as she asked, "Do you give up?"

"Uggggghhhh...." she groaned. Clearly annoyed at her impossible task.

Shaking her head, the short girl said, "Alright, alright, ya know what? You're three down, right, Cherle?"

At the question, the woman suddenly stilled, looking at her shorter friend as she said, somewhat hesitantly, "...yeah? Why?"

The short woman grinned widely. "Help me help you. Take a knee."

Again, there was the smallest hint of hesitation...but a light, red flush came to the woman's face as she said, "O-okay," kneeling down so that her friend had easy access to her, the shorter woman's friendly, companionable nature not changing for an instant as everyone suddenly had eyes on her, wide. Anticipating.

Kaito guessed she was gonna try to bend her arm backwards a little or something stupid like that, and chuckled to himself. He was somewhat distracted though, as behind him, he heard Itch quietly say to himself, "Oh, seriously. Now? Of all fucking-"

As the shorter woman grabbed her friend's arm, Kaito looked over his shoulder. "Everything alright It-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

Kaito on instinct grabbed Kokichi and pulled him closer to himself, hiding him slightly under the jacket as a shock of fear washed over him at the scream. He looked back at the scene, and the woman, face bright red, tears in her eyes...her arm was jutting out of her shoulder in a painful, unnatural way, it still being held by the short woman, who smiled at her cheerily, though her friendly expression had turned...leering and longing as she moved the arm in a way that made the woman convulse and clench her teeth at her touch, the elbow now so much closer and- "Go ahead," she said, "Lick."

And the woman, to Kaito's horror, opened her mouth and did so.

Kaito started to pull Kokichi backwards. "What the fu-" But a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder, blocking his path.

"Hey, hey, don't freak out," Itch said in his ear. Somewhere behind them he could hear Tom giggling. "They're just having fun. Ain't no need to cause a scene. People might react badly."

Fun? What about that was fun!? But...to Kaito's shock, Itch had a point. Once she licked her elbow, despite the obvious, incredible pain she was in, everyone around her started cheering with the exact same enthusiasm they had for the pushups or Kokichi's climb. And then the shorter woman said, "Alright, on three." And then immediately shoved the arm back into place, causing another agonizing scream out of the woman...who once she was done screaming, actually seemed to smile, her eyes cloudy, her face red and covered with sweat, but still. Weirdly happy.

"A-alright, you bastards!" the woman said shakily, holding her arm to herself. "I did it! Drink up! To the end of the world!"

"To the end of the world!" her friends all cheered back.

Kokichi snickered a bit, watching people try to perform the feat, wriggling their shoulders and sticking their tongues out. Not really the sort of tone that these parties had, as far as he knew, but it was silly and amusing and...something a little more comfortable to him. Being a bit of a daredevil was fun enough, but for people drinking a bunch? God, he felt like such a party pooper, but he really didn't trust any of these people to stay within their limits.

He looked up at Kaito with a bit of a grin, only those who knew him well able to see the bashfulness in it. "You think?" he murmured back, the part of him that just wanted to be accepted fluttering with hope. "Maybe...it'd be nice to meet people in town sometime..."

To make plans and follow through, to joke about getting caught up in work, asking how school or training or a new hobby was going... To have friends... Kokichi was at a party, and had made a good impression. Enough that maybe--

He startled at the ear-piercing scream, eyes widening and face paling in horror at the woman's contorted arm. J-just...why wouldn't you just take the drink?! Dislocating your fucking arm wasn't worth that! Kokichi felt his breath start to hitch a bit, especially as he heard murmurs from the crowd.

Giddy giggling. Comments that weren't just 'what the fuck, that's fucked'. Excitement over new tasks they hadn't even considered. And that Itch expected this to happen.

Disgust and fear roiled in Kokichi's stomach and he pressed closer to Kaito, tugging on his shirt a little, chest starting to hurt.

This was some sort of BDSM orgy, wasn't it.

"Hmmm..." Kaito said, sweating slightly as he kept his arm around Kokichi's back, looking back at Itch with a strained, nervous grin. "...heyyyy. Um. We're on a pretty strict time limit. Me and Kokichi are...gonna go..."

Itch raised an eyebrow. "Time limit? You both just got here maybe a half hour ago. Who's expecting you to come back from a night party after only an hour?"

Aba, holding two beers and bringing them over for Kaito to take his and Kokichi's drink with, pouted as she overheard him say that. "Whaaaat? Nooooo! You guys can't go, you just got here! And things are really starting to pick up too!" Aba said with a giggle, several members of the group going over to the woman and congratulating her on the task completed. One of them reached out to hug her, and she groaned in pain at the pressure on her shoulder, melting into the embrace.

Somewhere downstairs, there was the sudden sound of glass breaking. Someone on the dance floor had apparently decided to take one of the glass bottles littering the place and throw it against the wall. There were some cheers and laughter, and following his example, more bottles were grabbed and thrown. Kaito flinched as a bottle flew up the second floor and smashed against the brewing machine next to them, Kaito moving Kokichi to the other side of his body now, worried some of the shards would go wide.

Shit, was this a mosh party? No, no, mosh parties got violent, but in a 'might accidentally get stampeded' kind of way. Not...whatever was going on behind them, as the woman pointed to one of her friends and said loudly, "Hey, I task you with shattering a bottle just by squeezing it!"

He heard objections, but it was mostly just...doubt that the guy she had picked was strong enough to do it. No concern over what would happen to his hand if he did. What the fuck was this? They needed to get out of here.

"Yeah, well, I mean, thanks so much for inviting us! But this might not actually be our scene, I think-" Kaito started to pull Kokichi towards the stairwell, but Tom was standing directly in front of it, and the look on his face gave Kaito serious pause.

Kaito wasn't the type to think this sort of thing about himself or his friends...but...he was suddenly extremely aware that he only had use of one arm, and that Kokichi wasn't even a hundred pounds...and neither of them were armed...

"Ugh, oh my god, Kaito, you're such a spoilsport!" Aba whined, going around Itch to get in front of them as well, still holding her two beers as she looked at both of them with clear disappointment. "Stay! The party won't be the same without you! 'Kichi-chan wants to stay, don't you?" she said, smiling down at the prince. Her eyes shimmered with something as she winked at him. "These are your people, Kokichi. Don't you want to play with us?"

It'd only been an hour?! Fuck. Not that he wanted Maki to come after them, daggers blazing, but...it'd be an hour and a half until anyone would worry about them.

Kokichi had never thought he was a prude. All his correspondence with Iruma was at least half sex jokes and insults. But...maybe it was just something always in him, maybe it was a reaction to what had happened to him, but the thought of seeing other people get it on made him feel sick. Not to mention that there was probably going to be blood involved at some point, and he really would get sick from that.

He grimaced a bit as Aba pleaded for them to stick around, not wanting to see how things would pick up. What people did safe and consensually was their own business, but he wasn't consenting.

And as they blocked the way...

Kokichi took a careful, deep breath, trying to stave off the pain in his chest, and sent Aba and Tom an unamused look. "I played while it was a game I found fun. And now it looks like it's getting boring and gross, so I wanna go. Obviously I'm not gonna slam ya, so I don't see why Aba-chan and Tom-chan are getting such a stick up their asses when you only invited us as a prize for yourselves."

"We did have other plans tonight, but Kai-chan and I wanted to stop by for a while, so we put it off. But now I wanna go and get to them, so let us go down the stairs, please."

Tom and Aba both looked curiously down at him, Aba frowning a little, Tom smiling.

"Is that why you think we invited you, Kokichi?" she asked, clearly disappointed at the idea. "You're not a prize. In fact, we invited you specifically because you're not a prize. It's actually really sad. You seem so confused..." She stepped close to Kaito and Kokichi, a sort of sway to her movement now, as she said, her eyes just a tad too wide for her skull, reaching out to Kokichi, "Don't you realize how disgusting it is, seeing our Dicean Prince, hiding from his people in the arms of his rapist? You're broken. Someone needs to fix you..."

As she reached out to Kokichi, Kaito grabbed the small of her wrist, his face furious. Unhesitating.

A squeeze. A forceful twist.

"AUUUGH!" she screamed, pulling her arm away from him in a violent swing, clutching the shattered bone to her chest as she moved quickly backwards, looking at Kaito with open rage as she screamed, "YOU PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!"

All the talk, giggles and chatter behind them suddenly died down, though the crowd downstairs seemed to just become louder, encouraged and turned on by the sounds of screams coming from upstairs. Every shout seemed to have ripple effects through all the party-goers, making them more reckless, more excited.

Kaito turned to Tom now. Bloodlust radiating off him as he said, "We're leaving. Get out of the way."

Tom just giggled at this, then, seeing Kaito's expression not relent, sighed, looking over Kaito's shoulder at Itch, who still loomed behind them. "Itch, they don't like us anymore. What should we do?"

Itch crossed his arms, just...frustrated. This had quickly spiraled out of control. He had really wanted to get the Luminary more docile than this before they tried to separate him from the prince, but...well, shit. Not like they'd get another chance if either of them walked out of the party, not after an impression like this. It was now or never.

"You grab the Luminary," Itch sighed, "I'll take Kokichi."

Kokichi almost felt like his heart stopped, though thankfully it actually didn't. He could still breathe and the pain in his chest was still manageable, but this was...an entirely different sort of feeling. He knew that people in the castle knew. Chisa made sure of that. And he knew that gossip spread like wildfire, but...he...he'd sort of thought that the staff would keep it to themselves. What an idiot...

He'd shuffled away from Aba's outstretched arm, but he didn't expect Kaito to react as well. Another mistake on his part. Kaito wasn't exactly...calm when it came to Kokichi's reputation.

"Kai-chan," he stressed, unhappy, and he took a small step towards Aba. "I'm sorry, please, let's take you to a heal--"

Another heartbeat missed.

...this wasn't an orgy, was it. Or, not just one. This was...a plan folded in with a fucked up party, drenched in anti-Luminary sentiment. People wouldn't help them, even in some drunken wall. This wasn't a chance to talk down an assassin either.

...it was time to be a coward again. Kokichi didn't want to leave Kaito to fend off Tom, and possibly others, on his own, but getting caught would only give them leverage to use against his husband.

Bolting in an instant, Kokichi made to jump off the side of the stair railing.

"God damn it!" Itch shouted, moving forward to grab the smaller prince and already a mile too late as Kokichi moved. Itch not having taken into account the idea that Kokichi would run, the little guy faster than him by more than a little. "Tom, grab-"

An elbow slammed into his face, knocking Itch backwards, blood spurting from his nose as he cried out, and Kaito immediately turned to Tom, who was distracted, staring at his brother in concern as Itch fell backwards. His butterfly knife came out, accompanied by a sister blade, Tom's smile as sneering and sharp as his blades as he said, "Oh, so the rich kid likes to fight, huh? Time to fucking show you what a fight looks like when no one’s holding back, your highness!"

"No, Tom, you need to grab the prince--fucking idiots!" Hiyoko ran to the railing, shouting down at the crowd. "Grab the little guy, purple hair!! For the revolution!!"

Downstairs, not everyone reacted quite the way Hiyoko hoped. Most people laughed. There was a sudden chorus of shouting "To the end of the world!", but these chanters hadn't quite understood through the noise and chaos what their host was trying to tell them. Some understood and were too drunk or high to care.

There were some who did understand though. And some of those were even true believers, people for whom all the philosophy talk and the 'activism' the group had participated in had equaled more than just fun curiosity and band-wagon hopping.

And they moved.

Kaito wasn't really thinking. He wanted to move after Kokichi, but running didn't come naturally to him when he was panicked. Kokichi was in trouble, and there was someone to punch in front of him. That was all the information a freaking out Kaito could handle.

So he went after Tom.

Tom was fast and strong and clearly a trained fighter, but Kaito had the sort of 'wall of mass' technique that worked well on fighters like that, at least at first; he just fucking barreled forward, unafraid of Tom's knives, knocking one knife aside as Tom swung it around and just ignoring the other one that was now digging into his shoulder. He moved his arm up as a battering ram against Tom's chest and, with a furious shout, pushed him over the safety railing and off the second floor.

He heard screams and the sound of a table collapsing as something heavy crashed down onto it, but before Kaito could do anything else, a hand went around his throat and Kaito was jerked backwards, slammed into the grid metal flooring. When his vision cleared, Itch was looking down at him, fury stressing every line of his usually neutral face.

"Heel, bitch."

Kokichi kept in a wince, shock going through his legs as he didn't allow himself to properly land--there wasn't time for that. As soon as he touched down Kokichi began to run, heading to the front door, but not in a clear path. It would be easy to guess, but hopefully everyone was too drunk to think through it.

Though, he had far too much to think through himself. Revolution? He hadn't heard anything about discontented groups anywhere in the country, let alone in the capital city. He could understand people being angry about the war--he was too--but...what were they hoping to gain? If anyone had problems with Dicean leadership, they were encouraged to talk it out with the current leader. If the concerns were valid, then there were policy changes, sometimes a change of leadership too. People calling for Aiichi to step down wouldn't need him as leverage.

The complete question of motive bothered him. You couldn't talk to people who didn't have a goal. They just did things to do them, regardless of consequence, just like what he'd felt when--

Kokichi gasped a breath into his burning chest, quickly changing direction to avoid grabbing hands. This felt just like what the Luminary secretaries had done. Scarily so.

...he needed to get help.

Kokichi bunched the cape under one of his arms, giving less for people to grab onto. But...there really were a lot of people at the party. His dodging became more frantic, his progress slowing, and in an unfortunate combination of one side-step and a wall of party-goers swaying in a mad dance, sent Kokichi to the ground.

To the broken glass-covered ground.

He didn't let himself look, tried to push the stabbing pains in his arm out of his mind just like the heavy, painful beating of his heart, and tried to scramble up, but he didn't have the time to spare. And the grabbing hands caught up.

"Fuck, Tom?!" Hiyoko shouted, looking over the railing to see the lanky blond in the middle of a heap of a destroyed table, a few interested party goers staring at him. Some drunkenly laughing and pointing. "Tom, are you dead!?"

Tom just blinked up at her from his position on his back, taking a few hesitant, testing breaths, waiting for the ringing in his head to stop before he dared shift his shoulders to see what exactly the state of his spine currently was. When there was no pain other than just the ache of the fall, Tom sighed in relief, giving the party host a shaking thumbs up.

"I think he's good!" Hiyoko said to Itch, glaring in the direction of the entrance as she saw a group struggling to handle a squirming mass that she was fairly certain was the Dicean Prince. "What are they doing!? He's like this big, just fucking pick him up and bring him back here!" she screamed, furious at the lack of competence in her fellow 'revolutionaries'.

Who would have thought selling a philosophy of carnal, violent, final pleasures with no regards to the future or other people would attract, like...unreliable followers??

"He fucking better be fine...or you're going to be worse off for it," Itch said, his grip on Kaito's throat tightening, Kaito struggling to breathe as he tried to pull Itch's hand off of him, scratching at his skin with his nails and punching him in the arm. Itch ignored all of this, just hanging on as Kaito's fighting started getting weaker, and then weaker still, his growling, desperate attempt at breathing becoming a frightened whine as his vision started to go out. "Did they catch him?" Itch asked, brow furrowed. "If he didn't, we gotta move. Having one of them is better than nothing, but we'll lose this shit too if Prince Kokichi comes back with guards."

"It's too hard to see from here. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? FUCKING BRING HIM BACK ALREADY!"

Kokichi desperately tried to shake off the hands grabbing at him, the scene right out of one of his nightmares, but, unlike the last one he'd had, this was a nightmare creeping into reality. He needed to run. He needed to get help, save Kaito. To stop these mindless people and help them back into sanity.

He needed to get away right now stop touching him STOP

When he was in trouble, Kokichi wasn't expected to fight back. He'd done well for himself with words over the years, but what he'd always been told to do was. To scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

The sound was ear-splitting, the loudest noise to come out of Kokichi in years, if not his whole life. When he screamed, help would come. And, as a secondary benefit, he startled the hands enough into flinching back, and Kokichi took the chance to run once more. No longer agile and graceful in his speed, but now something primal and fearful, doing everything he could to just get away.

Even if his vision started to dim, his chest heaving thin, raspy breaths, blood gushing out of the gashes in his arm, dripping to the ground without any signs of slowing.

Kaito had almost been out. It was too hard to stay awake. He couldn't catch his breath against Itch's grip, and the strength was leaving his only good arm. There was a knife in his shoulder, and every time he moved it was a new ripple of agony throughout him. He hurt. He hurt. Maki!? Maki! He needed help! Please! Mak-

Kokichi.

And then, an old, long dormant, long forgotten thing inside of Kaito stirred. His vision went white. The pain he was in was suddenly irrelevant. His barely functioning brain, screaming for oxygen, was irrelevant. Everything else was irrelevant. Somewhere in his head, Tengan laughed.

Master was calling.

Kaito did...quite a few things next. But it's almost not fair to say that Kaito did them. He would remember doing them later, but only in the way someone might remember a childhood story they were told about themselves, the memory uncertain and half-fabricated to fill in the gaps. In the moment, he wasn't really conscious of anything happening. He just suddenly understood that there was a blade within reach, and Itch's throat was right there.

It was all easy after that.

"Oh, FUCK!" Hiyoko screamed, taking a few quick steps back as Itch suddenly pulled his hand away from Kaito's neck, now way more focused on his own as a deep, long cut split open, only a small trickle of blood at first as Itch stared at Kaito in shock...then he tried to take a breath, and the wound gushed.

He put both hands over it wound, gasping in panicked shock as he threw himself away from Kaito, who stared at him almost with an expression that could best be described as curious disinterest. But Itch only had Kaito's attention for a second, because his master was calling for him, and Kaito had to go. There was no other choice. He had to go.

This was the first time something like this had happened to Kaito as an adult. It was a mindset Shuuichi and Maki understood with painful familiarity. Tengan had actually believed this side of the training had completely failed to take. He'd be quite pleased to see the results as Kaito, without hesitation, cut through two people who dared tried to stop him at the bottom of the stairwell, with no way of knowing nor a care in the slightest if the wounds had been fatal as he ran past them.

Tom was still on the table and watched Kaito run past him, using his own damn butterfly knife to murder anyone who got close to him...and decided, ya know what? That looked like a bad time. Maybe he should go check on Itch and let someone else deal with that.

So the blond ran upstairs instead.

When Kaito finally managed to catch up with Kokichi, it was because the men who had been chasing him had cornered him next to the party goers who were all lingering by the door, the group in the way of Kokichi's exit, but seemingly baffled by everything happening, having entirely missed the commotion inside. "What the fuck is going on!?" asked the door man, who was now only in his briefs, looking flustered and high and more than a little frightened. "Why is everyone bleeding!?"

One of the men, taking advantage of Kokichi's blocked path, had grabbed his master, an arm around his chest and around his waist, lifting him up. Kokichi was struggling to breathe. Kokichi was bleeding. Kokichi looked terrified.

Kaito moved forward. A very dumb person tried to step in front of him, saying "Stop, or we'll ki-"

Kaito, almost without even seeing him, shot his foot forward and kicked the man hard into his abdomen, and something cracked inside him as the man fell, unable to even shout. The third man, smarter, backed away into the wall, and Kaito ignored him, with only eyes on the one who had Kokichi.

It really only occurred to the believer in this very moment that he didn't want to die. Not really. As fun as all the partying and talk had made the idea sound, seeing death in Kaito's eyes, coming for him...

The man pushed Kokichi towards Kaito, and then ran for the door, pushing the party-goers aside as he unlocked the sliding bolt, opened the door, and ran for it into the night.

Kaito dropped the blade to catch Kokichi, pulling his shivering better into his chest, hooking his arm under his ass and letting Kokichi's head fall against him. He did all this with a mindless precision. He didn't feel any of the pain in his body. His master had called for him. Kokichi needed help. That was all that mattered.

This place had tried to hurt Kokichi. They needed to get away from here.

When Kaito ran out of the building and into the dark, abandoned streets, Kokichi in tow, no one at the door tried to stop him.

Kokichi could barely fight off the hands as his path turned into walls. Everything was going...thick. Dark. Cold. But he couldn't...no, he couldn't slow down! He needed to run! To get out of here and get help, for himself, for these crazed people, for the husband he'd fucking abandoned...

...why did this keep happening? Everything he did ended in danger and tragedy. He kept putting Kaito in danger, all because of his stupid decisions. As excited as he'd been initially, Kaito had tried to talk Kokichi out of going tonight, right? But he'd taken advantage of the faith his husband had in him, and now, they... Kaito was...

Kokichi barely registered that he was falling, his limbs refusing to respond anymore, the scant amount of air he was able to breathe running out even on providing him a picture of what was happening. Faintly, he realized he'd fallen against something soft, but even that went away as everything went black, the relatively deep cuts in his arm, some still with pieces of glass poking out, still running red rivers down his arm.

About fifteen blocks away from the brewery, right where the industrial buildings started to give way to the more commercial shops and houses, Kokichi stopped breathing.

The farther away from the factory Kaito got, the more back to his senses he became. His breathing got shaky. His whole frame trembling, both from the wound in his shoulder and the crushed feeling of his throat, but mostly from just real, true terror. He felt his eyes start to sting, then burn, with tears, a heavy, almost childish sounding sob escaping him as he walked down the street, clutching Kokchi close to himself. Maki. Shuuichi. H-he needed his friends. They would help. They would make this all better. Please, please, help. He had done something bad. The memories were all jumbled and shock was hitting him like a freight train, but h-he had done something b-bad. Where were his friends?

Kokichi needed help. His breathing was starting to sound scary. His thin body shaking violently against Kaito. Terrified by the sounds coming from his mas-husband, from his husband, Kaito kissed the side of his head, saying with literally no confidence, "I-it's okay, Kokichi, it's all gonna be o-okay. We're g-gonna go home. Shuuichi will mix y-your tea. Maki will k-keep us safe. Your dad’s coming home soon. We're gonna be fine by the time he gets here, o-okay? Wouldn't wanna worry him! Everything's going to be okay. It's okay Koki...K-kokichi??"

When Kaito realized what was happening, he laid him down on the sidewalk and screamed for help. When no one came, Kaito tried to breathe for Kokichi. He pushed on his chest. He screamed for Maki. In his panic, he screamed for his brother, to just come, to make this not be happening.

Eventually, when Kokichi started to cool, he just screamed.

B A D E N D I N G

{....................................................................}

Somewhere else, a god who, more likely than not, didn't actually exist, watched all this play out with a frown. They gave a sad little pat to a horse who was also watching with beautiful big, black eyes.

The horse turned to the god that didn't exist and said, "That's not how it ends, right?"

The god considered the question...and then said, "Nah. Let's try it like this."

{....................................................................}

L O A D S A V E F I L E

{....................................................................}

Kaito took a sip of the offered beer, and scrunched up his nose reflexively.

He thought, for a second, just asking Itch what was even in this thing...but instead just laughed and said, "Shit, what am I thinking. I can't drink tonight. We both literally promised some friends of mine to be home in, like, two hours. We'll never make it if Kokichi has to drag my drunk ass around."

Itch frowned. "You have to leave for the castle in two hours?" he asked, voice full of skepticism. "Or what'll happen?"

Kaito chuckled, shrugging. "My friend will come here and probably drag us both out by our ears, if we're lucky. If we're not, she'll beat the shit out of us first. But yeah, we're definitely on a time limit."

Itch and Aba glanced at each other, concerned. Their kidnapping plan became...way less of a sure thing, with a strict time limit like that. They had hoped that it would be well into the next day before anyone figured out to come look for the princes here, but if someone was coming that soon...

"Well, wouldn't want to worry your friend," Aba said with a laugh, looking over at Itch with a meaningful smile as she said, "But seriously, Itch, we should probably stop serving your beer tonight. Hiyoko's dad is already gonna kill her, and your stuff is kinda strong right now. If we get into a big scandal here tonight, we probably won't get to keep using the space."

Itch considered her point, glancing at Kaito...yeah. If he wasn't going to drink it, there was no point in serving it tonight. It would just complicate things. "I'll go seal it all up and collect what's already out there then." Itch sighed, low key furious as he started to seal up the keg, though he didn't show it.

Once again, Kokichi's facepalms were relegated entirely to the realm of his internal emotions. Sure, it'd been directed at him, but Maki had straight out said to not drink anything that you didn't know the origins of. A keg was sealed, yeah, but not when it was brewed by someone you didn't know. It was likely fine, but Kokichi wasn't taking any chances. For once, he just wanted a night to go well.

He'd been about to decline his own glass, making up something like he was in charge of getting them both back home, but...well, Kaito was the bigger goodie-good truth-teller out of the two of them. He hadn't really wanted to imply they were on a curfew or anything, but. Eh, it'd work out.

Instead, Kokichi tilted his head in interest at a truth someone else said. "Do you guys hang out here often, then? Sounds like it'd be pretty cool to have, like, a pseudo-secret hideaway in the middle of the city like this. By 'borrowing equipment' I didn't think it was the actual brewery, but if it is...that's super cool! This place has been shut down for aaaaages--it's awesome that it's seein' at least a little use."

"Oh yeah, we come hang out here all the time. It's kind of like our clubhouse, ya know? And Hiyoko's dad is kiiiiiiinda cool with letting us do that, in a 'I'm gonna pretend like I don't know what you're doing until you get into trouble doing it' kinda way, ya know? So that's cool."

Kaito nodded. That aligned about right with his world view. It was hard to keep things from authority figures. Not legitimately.

Upstairs there was a sudden round of cheering, and Kaito glanced up curiously. "What's that all about?" he asked, a small, excited smile on his face. It sounded like fun, whatever it was.

"Oh, they're playing taskmaster upstairs. But, if you're both not drinking, you can't really go up there unless someone else is willing to take your drinks for you. House rules," Aba said, laughing a tad shyly as she admitted, "I'll be honest, this is just straight up a drinking party. I'm not sure what you guys will do for fun if you're not gonna participate. I mean, I'm still glad I invited you, but now I'm worried you'll, like, just be super duper bored or something. That's so lame."

"No, we won't get bored! This is still really cool!" Kaito insisted, looking around at what himself and his husband could do. "We dance. Maybe we should go join the dance floor?" Kaito said, half asking Kokichi in the statement.

"Oh my god, you guys dance! There you go, that's perfect!" Aba said, looking down at Kokichi with something close to adoration on her face as she said, "Hey, would it be weird if I asked you to dance? I knoooow you're here with your husband, and totes respect that, for realsies. But getting to dance with a prince? I'd be like a princess." Aba sighed, fanning herself dramatically. She glanced at Kaito, and her carefully painted cheery face was back as she said to him, "And I bet there's, like, a TON of people who are already dying to get their hands on you here. Switching dance partners is pretty standard to do every time the music changes. It'd be a great way for you guys to meet people!"

Kokichi nodded along with Kaito, though for a different reason--you could "get away" with a lot if people just didn't care enough to tell you no. Or didn't know enough to tell you no. While people in the castle knew he'd snuck out into town, no one had ever seen him leaving or coming back, and rumors were rumors when it came to people seeing him in town. Who was to say he wasn't just hiding in the castle, huh? Aiichi could lay down all the rules and warnings he wanted, but without anyone knowing how or when he left, he was golden.

"...taskmaster?" he murmured questioningly under his breath, guessing well enough what kind of game that was, but...well, no drinking games for them, and he'd feel bad making someone else that he didn't even know double up.

Then his confusion shifted to a sheepish laugh, incredibly flattered that Aba wanted to dance with him. "Kai-chan's actually the real dancer between us, but if you don't mind dancing with a fumbling prince, I'd love to have a dance with you, Aba-chan!"

He'd had maybe the most fun in his life dancing at the wedding, laughing along with all the others there. This would pretty much just be that, yeah? But with only people around his own age, and without guards and his dad watching. And without anyone handing him a spiked drink.

Drawing himself up in a princely presence, Kokichi offered his hand to the friendly woman. "Well, may I have this dance, Aba-chan?"

"Eeeee!" Aba said, actually squealing for a moment before she suddenly tried to be serious, smoothing out her clothes, taking his hand daintily...and then just giggling, entirely unable to keep a straight face as she said, excitedly, "Come on!"

Kaito chuckled as the two disappeared into the crowd of bodies. And, honestly, yeah, disappeared was the right word. He looked around the packed crowd, but already had lost his husband and Aba's forms in the crowd. There was just the...smallest prickle of nerves in that. He was supposed to watch out for Kokichi, after all. But...well, Aba was with him, and it wasn't like Kaito was far. It would be fine.

Still, Kaito suddenly found himself alone at the edge of a dance floor, and he rubbed the back of his neck, looking around at the party-goers. Maybe he could...ask one of the wall-flowers if they wanted to dance? It'd feel weird to just go into the crowd and try to cut in on someone already dancing, not when he wasn't trying to romantically pursue the person in question, ya know? There were rules to these things. Maybe he could just go check out that table full of snacks-ow!

"Oh, shit, sorry!" Tom said, immediately letting go of his arm with a small laugh as Kaito gave him an annoyed look, rubbing his other arm. "Dude, is your arm broken?? Itch told me it looked like you had just sprained yourself, my bad. Did I hurt ya?"

He had, but Kaito didn't want to sound like a whiner, so he just gave Tom his best Heroic Smile and said, "Nah, I'm fine. I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars! It takes more than a busted arm to knock me down!"

"You sure are!" Tom said, giggling with that curious little sharp smile of his. "Where'd everyone go, by the way?"

"Uh...Aba and Kokichi are dancing, and Itch went to go collect the beer he makes? Something about it being a bad batch, I think?" Kaito said, "And I'm not sure where the hostess went? I think she followed Itch?"

"Heeeeey, Prince Kokichi's dancing!? That's super awesome! Hopefully he has some stamina, no doubt a lot of people are gonna wanna dance with him once they realize who he is. And, even if they don't, dude's a pretty piece. You're real lucky, man."

Kaito grinned. Tom was a little...obviously unhinged, and Kaito didn't know what to make of him just grabbing him, but, well...complimenting his husband was a quick way to Kaito's heart. "Hell yeah, I am. Don't have to tell me twice!"

"Then I won't!" Tom said cheerfully, going around Kaito and hooking himself around his other arm, Kaito frowning at this but not actually shaking him off this time. "Hey, Luminaries are all, like, violent and warmongering and shit, right? ...Wanna look at my butterfly knives?"

"...well, I mean, you don't have to put it like that but...yeah?"

There were many advantages to being small, actually. And one of them was on display as it was remarkably easy to slip into the crowd of dancers and get to a spot to, yanno, dance. Not that it had been at his own wedding, but the music wasn't anywhere near, like, ballroom dancing. So...he just let the beat of the bop wash over him, moving in time and putting in little flourishes that he'd learned from his one lesson.

Though, he couldn't really spin Aba or anything, not when she was taller than him. So, instead he just spun them both around, hopping in time and swinging them both from side to side using their combined momentum.

And, by the end of the song, a few people were doing double-takes, gazes pointing down and nudging others into doing the same as shouted whispers traveled through the crowd, partner to partner.

"The prince is here!"

"The prince is here?"

"No way, uh uh, he's permanently in a sickbed, right?"

"I heard that he died years ago and they replaced him with a copy, kept out of the public to avoid anyone looking too closely!"

"You're nuts..."

"Aba mentioned seeing Prince Kokichi in town today...and she is dancing with that guy..."

"Holy shit!! What a little cutie; I want a dance too!"

And by the time the second song ended, the first full one since Kokichi and Aba had joined the floor, there was movement in the crowd, people shifting as several made their way to one particular spot.

"Will you dance with us?!"

There were several more songs after that, and each time one ended there was a new clamor for Kokichi's attention, sometimes polite and sweet, girls giggling shyly as they asked to be next, or boys stuttering over their requests. Others, especially as the night went on, swooped in before anyone could get in the ask, taking Kokichi's hand and leading him into a dance as the next song progressed. Some were good dancers, some were not so good dancers.

But as they all danced, a lot of them wanted to talk as well.

"That outfit looks so good, Prince Kokichi!" one woman gushed, "I am absolutely buying suspenders after this. You just make it look sexy!"

"Hey, this is a weird time to bring this up, I know, but you actually helped my dad with a water shortage on our farm a few years back? I just wanted to thank ya for it now that you're, like, right in front of me," a guy said shyly, clearly not a dancer as he only lasted half the song before taking a deep breath, his face red as he said, "Sorry, I need to go grab some water! Thanks again!"

One woman said, drunk and giddy, "Ya know, I wish the world really was ending? This would be a great way to spend the last night!"

Beside her, a guy shouted out, "To the end of the world!"

She laughed, spinning Kokichi as she cried out in joy, "Humanity is dead! Long live humanity!"

"Pu~huhuhuhu." Someone giggled, as the song wound down and the cheers ended. "I'm sure that's not confusing to anyone at a~ll!"

When the next song started up, a hand reached out for Kokichi and pulled him in. It was another man...at least, he was probably a man. His form was a little like Kokichi himself. At a quick glance, you could almost mistake him for a younger teenager, though it only took a moment of really observing him to see the age in his eyes, in the way he stood and handled himself. The way he dressed helped too; he was wearing half a suit, with a vest and a red tie, of all things. Half the suit was white, and half the suit was black, which was probably meant to be a reflection of his biological features.

Half of his hair was a pale, albino white color, and the other half was jet black. He also had heterochromia, or, to say he had two different eye colors; one a shade of gold so light that it almost seemed white, and the other a bright red. He was taller than Kokichi by a good bit, though by no means did that make him tall, but he carried himself in a way that, for the first time that night, everyone on the dance floor seemed to be subconsciously trying to make room, if just for him.

The man looked down at Kokichi and grinned. "Man, these guys are really taking the whole 'end of the world' joke to its limit, huh?"

It was a blast, honestly, the actual dancing part just becoming background noise...or, movement, or whatever. Kokichi loved when he got to just talk to people, and especially when it was just talk-talk, no blustering over his title or trying to play politics. Some people were a little awed by his title, and it was the reason why he was such a popular partner, but, just like the party itself, Kokichi was taking advantage of it too.

Talking fashion (giving credit to Kaito, though in a...softer way, as not to touch any wounds the war with Luminary left) or light business (just like at the wedding, those people were his favorites, able to put faces to names and handwriting) or just how fun the party was (he...didn't really get the 'end of the world' thing. Maybe an in-joke, Hiyoko saying goodbye to extra free time now that she was going to go to university?) was...just lovely. Something that kept his smile wide and genuine, his love for his people apparent to every person that took him by the hand.

But while he didn't want to disappoint anyone waiting for their turn, he probably should...at least take a break soon. Kokichi's cheeks were rosy and the loose hair falling out of his ponytail was starting to stick to his sweaty face. His hips and chest were starting to ache a bit too, though it was still at a manageable level. Not to mention that he should check on the time... It would be cruel to stress Maki out so much.

However, he was quickly pulled to another partner, so...after this one. The dude had some sick style too, so he couldn't just ditch 'em!

Giggling a little as the next song started up, Kokichi shrugged a bit. "As long as they're still having fun with it--kind of a weird way to look at something you chose for yourself, but I'm not gonna ruin the joke."

"Awww, that's the spirit!" the man said, smiling brightly down at Kokichi, that strange little giggle coming out of him again. "Yeah, best not to rain on a bunch of college kids’ emo parade! That's why I never bothered with it myself; universities are full of a bunch of drama queens! Might as well just go straight into business, where at least you get paid to deal with everyone's melodrama!"

In a surprisingly gentle fashion, he spun him around, the movement slow and easy, paying no heed to the song’s quick tempo. He then pulled Kokichi back in, and again, not at all concerned about the actual music they were dancing to, the man pulled him in close and put a hand on his waist, drawing him into a slow dance.

As he did, he said, "Forgive me, I know this is a pretty intimate way to move, but you're looking a little flushed, so I figured slowing things down might be appreciated. I overheard the guy from a few songs ago saying he was gonna go get some water. You wanna go with me to figure out where the heck that good shit is? I keep literally stumbling over cases of beer, but can't find a damn sink to save my life!"

"Unless you're a civil servant," Kokichi rolled his eyes a bit with a smirk. Considering that they allocated funds, Kokichi, his father, and Hideki weren't actually paid for their work. Of course, they had the same basic income that everyone did, and they didn't have to worry about food or housing since it was lumped in with castle upkeep. "Though, I'm so damn nosy, other people's sob stories are kind of a labor of love for me."

There was a debate of nature versus nurture, but it did take a certain kind of person to be able to stand the work the leader did.

Following the monochrome man's lead--which he found he did prefer to leading a dance himself--Kokichi was a little surprised by the slowing pace, though...he wasn't complaining. It gave him a moment to catch his breath--and the guy wasn't being creepy about it. Which probably was because he was one of the more sober people Kokichi had danced with.

Water...well, you couldn't spike tap water, right? Nodding, Kokichi smiled up at his dance partner. "That sounds great, actually. I gotta check in with the hubby, though, if he hasn't been whisked away himself. We're kinda playing Cinderella tonight, and bein' late's not just gonna make a pumpkin, ya feel?"

"Holy shit, you brought your husband to this thing?" the man asked, looking actually genuinely shocked before laughing, putting a gentle hand on Kokichi's back and using his slightly bigger frame to push people aside, navigating through the crowd to get the break in the dance floor, where the room opened up. "Phew. Made it! Some of you all really need to bathe more!" the man called back into the crowd, though there was no response, people lost in each other's bodies.

Turning back to Kokichi, the man grinned wide, but with only, like...half of his face. A crooked smile that still somehow came across as charming. "Don't know if that's brave, dumb, or sneaky of ya. Guess it depends on how ya feel about the guy. So, where is the Luminary Prince then?" he asked, looking around. He knew what the red-haired, six-foot prince looked like, and didn't see anyone matching that description anywhere in the room.

Kokichi rubbed the back of his--ew, super sweaty--neck with an awkward smile. "I know, I know. But the whole reason he's in Dicea is to make sure nothing like the war breaks out again. And I know well enough how it feels to be isolated, so I was kinda hoping Kai-chan could find people to click with here--he's way more of a party guy than I am."

All that, and there was no way Kokichi would have gone to the party by himself. If all three of the Luminaries hadn't wanted to come, then he would've just stayed home, probably resting his rear instead of doubtlessly making sure he'd be even sorer in the morning. But Kaito had been just as excited about it, so he got to come! And, at least so far, it was just an incredibly good time.

Kokichi followed the man's gaze out across the crowd, frowning slightly when he couldn't see the gelled spikes of his husband's hair above the crowd. "Oh... We were talking over by where the keg was earlier, and Aba-chan and I went to dance...it has been a while, and he's not the type to stay in one place for long, yanno?"

Kaito probably wasn't upstairs. He'd turned down drinking for the night, and Kokichi trusted him to stick to that. Honestly, he'd expected Kaito to show up on the dancefloor too, but he hadn't seen Kaito the whole time. He tightened his ponytail and shrugged up at his former dance partner. "Maybe we'll find him on the quest for water?"

"Makes sense to me!" the man said, straightening his tie and slicking back his hair a little, though it immediately poofed out again as he looked around, hands on his hips. "This is a brewery, right? Water goes into beer, doesn't it? That's where the wet part comes in! So where the heck are they hiding it!?"

The man walked in a random direction, expecting Kokichi to follow. While this area was the main brewing porting of the factory, it was far from the whole of it, and it wasn't long before they came across a pair of double doors, leading into a hallway that was lined with the occasional door, some wooden, some glass, clearly the 'office' area of the building.

"I'm telling you straight up, if we come across a bathroom, I'm drinking from the sink. It's hot in this outfit. It's gotta be pretty hot in that cape too. I can't believe you were actually managing to dance in that thing, it looks weighted. Why don't you take that thing off, give yourself some air?" the man suggested, looking around the hallway, frowning as he went up to one of the wooden doors. "Leeeeet's check mystery door number one!"

He opened it up. Broom and mops and things. "Shoot. No dice."

"No sober people allowed in the clubhouse, naturally." Kokichi giggled a bit as the man's hair poofed out, following his lead away from the dancefloor, though he kept a constant eye out for Kaito. "Since this place is officially closed down, I wouldn't be surprised if the water got shut off, actually. Don't have to worry about leaks or flooding happening in a place no one's checking on. Hopefully not, if Itch-chan's been using it for his experimental brew."

There were still people around, but Kokichi did feel a little...weird going into a more out of the way area. But he was thirsty and Kaito was missing so, what, was he just supposed to wait on the edge of the dancefloor and wait for Kaito to mosey on back himself? Saying no to everyone who wanted a dance? He was kind of trying not to exhaust himself here.

Kokichi flourished the cape a bit, opening it up more so the air going past him by walking could cool him a bit. Though, he did give the man's get-up a glance. "And so we suffer for fashion. But I bet this isn't as hot as that suit, Mr. Wears a Full Damn Suit to a Factory Party. Even if it is really cool."

They went through a few doors, finding supply closets and abandoned, empty meeting rooms. But no taps, and no husbands. Kokichi was starting to get kind of worried and the ache of the dancing was starting to catch up with him, bringing back his limp in a small way.

"This is getting ridiculous," he griped to his companion, cape more falling off his shoulders than hanging on them now. Throwing open a new door, though, it seemed their luck was changing. It was a bathroom, but taps were taps!

"Aw yuss!" Kokichi cheered, sort of jogging, sort of limping into the bathroom and testing one of the sinks, grinning at the clear, cool water that ran easily from the tap.

"Eeeeeyyyy, there we go!" the man said, letting the door close behind him as, that crooked grin still wide on his face, he took the sink next to the one Kokichi had tested and turned it on himself, letting the water pour for a second to make sure it wouldn't turn some funky color before bending down and taking a long sip from it. It tasted fine, and the man took his time with it before splashing a little of it onto his face to cool him down.

Then, with a playful smile, he ran his fingertips under it and, once they were dripping, he put his fingers over Kokichi's head, letting the water fall down the back of his hair and onto his neck. "There," the man said with his funny little laugh, "That should cool you down a bit."

He then immediately ran his hand under the water again, and did the same thing for himself, pulling back his vest collar and letting the water drip down his back a bit with a small sigh. "Yeah, you're right. The suit’s a little much for a party like this. My defense, I wasn't actually expecting there to be a party. I dressed for a business deal, not a freaking frat party! Pu~huhuhu, not that I'm going to complain though. It's nice to get a chance to dance with beautiful young people, rather than sitting in a room with stuffy old assholes. Worse ways to spend a business trip."

Turning around and leaning against the sink, the man looked Kokichi up and down, and finally said, "Hey. What's with the limp?" he asked. Then, reaching over, he pulled back the cape, which had fallen back down over his shoulders as Kokichi drank. "And the bruises on your arm? It's hard to imagine you getting into some sort of fight. You don't seem the macho type."

After a brief moment, the man smirked. "You the masochist type?"

Kokichi stood on his toes and took a few needy gulps of water, rocking back onto his heels with a satisfied sigh after he'd gotten his fill. Theeeeeeere it is. Okay! Nice and refreshed and re-- "Eeep!"

He squeaked, shoulders hiking up in defense of the shocking coolness, though...it did feel kind of nice. Giving the man a 'ha ha, very funny' look, Kokichi ended up following suit and wetting his hands again before rubbing down the back of his neck, wetting the neck of the turtleneck a little.

And, while he was in a bathroom, he supposed, Kokichi adjusted his suspenders a bit before looking at the monochrome man curiously. "Business deal?" From how Hiyoko and Aba talked about it, their host's father didn't seem like he had much to do with the brewery these days. And if Itch was thinking of taking his brew to market...well, he'd probably want to work on it a bit more, but wouldn't he schedule a meeting with someone, yanno, not during a party?

His curiosity of what this man was even doing at the party was put on the wayside as questions were thrown his way instead.

"Pffff," Kokichi rolled his eyes, smirking at the man though the inside of him burned in embarrassment. What he and Kaito did...wasn't really him being maso. Was it? Sure, he liked it when Kaito would get kinda rough...and he liked the marks...and he liked being choked...

Thoughts for another time.

"Nah," he said instead. "Kai-chan's been tryin' to teach me how to fight. But, like, all soft stuff, and I already bruise easily. Big ol' jerk caught me in the ankle earlier--haven't shaken the limp off all the way yet."

"Awww, that's adorable," the man laughed, shaking his head as he dropped the cape, letting it fall back over Kokichi, leaning back against the sink and enjoying the cool and quiet privacy of the room as he looked the small prince over with a casual eye before nodding. "Well, if that's the case, I wouldn't go spreading that story around here. You know there's a lot of people around here just looking for an excuse to start beef with him. Him giving you a limp would probably qualify."

He shook his head, clearly disapproving as he added in, "I don't feel particularly that way about your marriage myself, mind. Honestly, I think you both did a real brave thing, marrying a stranger for the good of the many! Extremely noble!" The man bounced himself off the sink, stretching his arms above his head before frowning at how tight the fabric was there. As he talked, he took off the vest, and undid his tie entirely, letting the two ends fall as he undid the top parts of buttons of his button-up shirt, letting some air onto his skin as he said, "There, that's a little better. Seriously, I'm changing beforehand, if I'm ever in a situation like this again.”

Checking himself out in the bathroom mirror, his vest folded over his arm, the man looked through the mirror over at Kokichi, grinning as he said, "Though, even I gotta admit, it's a little strange, the way you talk about him. You sound like you actually like the guy. Guess the rumors about you two aren't true, huh? You seem happy enough."

Kokichi sighed a bit, regretting that bit of the lie. Should've just said he tripped sneaking out of the castle. Or trying to axe-kick a table. That would've been cool. "I don't blame people for being angry with him. Even if Kai-chan had about the same influence in the war as I had--that is, fuckin' nothing--he's still part of the family that started it, and asking people to put their pain aside to acknowledge that, especially when the militia volunteers are still returning, is just super mean? And Kai-chan gets that too; we're both just hoping that people will start seeing him as a person rather than a representation of Luminary. At some point, anyway."

It did feel a bit better to be around someone that didn't need to be convinced, though. Kokichi gave the man a grateful smile for his understanding of the situation but snickered a bit at his observation.

"Rumors will be rumors," he shrugged, looking wholly amused by such dumb rumors that were probably going around. Kokichi was still sorting out his feelings, but they were nowhere in the realm of being unhappy in his marriage. "Kai-chan's been a really good friend to me. I was all prepared to hate this snotty, stereotypical Luminary, right? But Kai-chan's a sweetheart, and while our marriage is political, I'm glad I get to spend the rest of my life with someone that's so determined to make me happy."

To spend the rest of his life with someone who he maybe loved. Kokichi knew better than to trust words spoken in the heat of a moment, but...there was a very real possibility that it wasn't just something he wanted to say after sex.

Unbeknownst to him, a soft, loving smile crossed over Kokichi's face, his expression plainly fond as he discussed his husband.

The man considered him for a while. Ahhh, young love. So cute. So sweet. So...vanilla. But that was alright! Vanilla can be a great flavor, when you were in the mood to indulge.

Especially if you had some black and white sprinkles to add to the mix.

Running a hand through his own hair, the man chuckled to himself. "Sure, sure. Any good man should try to make their husband happy. It's the mark of a good man! And marriage is meant to be forever, regardless of how true that is these days. But..."

The man walked over to Kokichi, having been watching a strand of his hair fall from his ponytail and into his face for a while now, reaching out and taking that strand between his fingers, and with a slide of his thumb against his skin, tucked the strand behind Kokichi's ear. "...are we talking, like, exclusively? Forever and ever? Cause let me tell ya, kid..." the man said, rubbing his thumb along the shell of Kokichi's ear, "...pretty little thing like you? That's a real waste."

Kokichi's eye twitched, the phrase 'pretty little thing' almost immediately making him want to snarl and push the man away. He almost did, actually, but the man hadn't done anything, and had been fun to talk to otherwise. So he took a careful, calming breath before gently pushing the man's hand away.

"Yes, exclusively. And even if we weren't, it's kinda sketch to ask someone that while their partner isn't around, dude." Don't lash out. Just turn him down. "I'm devoted to my husband, and that's not subject to change."

Kokichi was extremely aware that they were in an enclosed room alone together. This didn't have the tells of the...less fun flirting adventures he'd had, but the memory of gross gentle smiles and appraising gazes made his stomach flip. Glancing to the door, Kokichi started ambling over to it. "And, speaking of, I gotta find him. Make sure he hasn't gotten into any trouble."

The man snickered down at Kokichi, though as the prince went to move past him, he stepped aside easily, putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging casually, keeping a step or two behind him as they made their way out of the bathroom. He had no interest in trying to intimidate Kokichi or force the issue. He was just enjoying the fun of taking his shot and seeing where it landed.

"Well, who am I to get in the way of a happy marriage? Though, I feel like you just implied that if I asked in front of the husband, I'd get better results. I'm not against that little challenge. I bet I could convince him of the healthy, fun physical opportunities an open relationship can provide. Especially if it's Kaito Momota," the man laughed.

As Kokichi reached the door though, the man briefly took his hand out of his pocket, and before Kokichi could pull it open, put it on the doorframe, leaning his weight into the door and saying into Kokichi's ear, "Maybe we could get him to join in? Take turns between us taking you? I'm a switch myself, but I get real strong bottom vibes from you that's triggering all sorts of things in me." He used his other hand to place light, testing fingers against Kokichi's hips, no grip to it, just an inviting linger as he whispered, "Trust me, there's nothing like losing track of whose limb is whose. No part of you ever not being touched. Being filled up once, and then being passed to the next one, to be filled up again..."

Suddenly, probably because they were right next to the door, they both could clearly hear the sound of approaching voices, coming down the hallway towards the door. The voices were loud and pitched in a way that suggested an argument was happening. The man immediately backed up, leaving the door free and not touching Kokichi anymore as, right outside, Itch could clearly be heard saying, "Don't fucking try playing that shit with me, Tom, look at his fucking hand! We're trying to stay low-key tonight, and you pull this shit!?"

"No one told me we were being good little children tonight. Kaito, did you know we were being good children tonight? Also, why is it my fault he sucks at gambling?"

"Itch, it's fine, it's just some cuts, I'm fine! Ow-ow, hey!"

"More of a warning for the future, actually," Kokichi hummed, maintaining a casual tone somehow. He wasn't sure what the man meant by pointing out Kaito specifically, though. Not even counting how possessive he was when they were doing the deed, Kaito seemed pretty...firmly monogamous to him. "I did say we're exclusive."

He'd said no. And that was that. The man at least wasn't getting butthurt over it, but Kokichi wanted this conversation shut down and locked away until the end of time. If Kaito ever did want an open relationship...well, that was something they'd have to talk about, but as far as Kokichi wanted, the only person to even tangentially be related to his sex life was his husband.

Maybe in another life, the way the man whispered in his ear and touched him gently, promising things Kokichi had begged of Kaito before would get him considering, but as it was? Kokichi felt cold dread wash over him, his stomach churning uncomfortably.

Strong bottom vibes?! Well...sure, he was a bottom, even if he'd rode Kaito...at the other prince's behest. But for other people to know that? To not have to be told or seeing something they shouldn't, but could just sense it on him? Kokichi started to sweat again, panic dripping into him as his breath sped up and chest ached, wanting to get away from this man right now.

But before he could say anything, the man pulled back, and Kokichi was still with it enough to listen to the voices outside. Though, they weren't calming in the slightest. Quickly opening the door, Kokichi's eyes landed on his husband and the two brothers, expression openly worried and upset, his face pale.

"Kai-chan?"

"You two are the stupidest fucking-" Itch pushed the bathroom door open just as Kokichi had started to pull it, pulling Kaito in behind him by his bad arm, who had a towel around his hand that was stained and spattered with red. Tom was following dutifully behind them, with a long, lazy smile on his face.

All three of them froze when they saw Kokichi and the man in the bathroom, Itch looking frustrated and pissed, Tom surprised and amused, and Kaito only looked shocked for a second before his face lit up.

"'Kichi! There you are!" Kaito said, looking a little exhausted and sounding relieved. "I asked Aba to go find you a couple of minutes ago! I thought you were still back at the dance floor. Our time’s almost up. I think we should be getting going."

Itch relaxed, pulling at Kaito again who winced and glared at him. "Ya'll are going after I pour some alcohol on those fucking cuts and bandage them." To Kokichi, he said, "My dumbass brother convinced your stupid-ass husband to start playing knife and gambling games with a bunch of people, and the prince here apparently sucks at both of those things." Itch pulled Kaito to the sink, Tom going to grab an old first aid box strapped to the far wall.

As Itch turned on the water, he glanced over at the man, raising an eyebrow. "Monokuma, what the fuck are you doing here? I told you to come back tomorrow."

"Pu~huhuhu!" Monokuma laughed, giving the much taller man a cheeky wave. "Are you kidding? How could I resist stopping by tonight? You said you had something big to give me! Something that would make my year! I was curious what someone like you thought would be such a great gift for someone like me, so I thought I'd come take a peek at my present early." Then Monokuma frowned, giving Itch big, sad wet eyes as he said, "You can imagine how hurt I was when I realized you all were hosting a party and didn't invite me! What the fuck is up with that?!"

"It was a last minute thing, and this ain't your kind of scene anyway." Itch glared at the man, glancing over at Kokichi before shaking his head. "Also, forget about that. I couldn't get it. Go the fuck home, man, this whole party’s a train-wreck anyway."

Kokichi sighed, at least a little of his worry easing away. Kaito did suck at those things, though he mostly knew through anecdotal evidence. At least whatever they were gambling with wasn't money--until the next pay cycle, Kaito didn't have any, and Kokichi certainly hadn't given him some of his own. And at least the clubhouse was prepared for idiots.

Kokichi stood off to the side, knowing he'd just be in the way and not wanting to see Kaito bleeding. Again. Though, he did send the man he'd been dancing with a curious glance, his identity partially revealed.

Monokuma...what a weird name, though Kokichi guessed it was probably a code or nickname. Fit the color scheme at least. And his business was with Itch. Maybe...Itch was going to get some taste tests of his latest brew and then present it to Monokuma tomorrow? But it was kinda rank, so...no-go?

...but...the party being a last-minute thing? A bit of confusion passed over Kokichi's face as he glanced between Monokuma and Itch. Maybe just the date. Like...they'd planned on having a party for Hiyoko's acceptance regardless, but she'd only recently gotten the word. ...hm.

As Kaito was getting the finishing touches on his cuts, Kokichi went up and pressed his head to his husband's back before peeking around his side, looking at Kaito's face through the mirror's reflection. "You okay?"

Kaito was drained.

He and Tom had been chilling out at a back table together, watching the dancing and Tom showing off his knives to Kaito, and all of that had been fun at first. Then, eventually, Tom had taken out a pack of cards and introduced a game to Kaito: high draw. Both men picked from the top of the deck, looked at their card. If they got something like a three and knew they would lose, they'd put the card back at the bottom of the deck and draw again. If they got something high, like a ten, they'd call for a bet and hold the card until both players were ready to bet, showing their cards. Whoever had highest won.

Loser had to play the knife game.

Well, that was the tricky part. Kaito couldn't play the game itself, because the knife game, where you sang a song and tried to stab in-between the fingers of your hand as quickly as you could, obviously required both hands to play. But Tom had insisted that if Kaito lost, Tom would do the knife game on his hand for him, and that he was really good at it by this point, so Kaito wasn't likely to be cut.

Kaito was convinced and they had played a round. And, surprisingly, Kaito won the first round! He had watched, fascinated, as Tom played the knife game, his movement frighteningly quick, and had come out of the song with clean, clear hands.

Then they had played again, and Kaito had lost. He had been tense, splaying out his fingers, glancing at the dance floor every now and again, worried Kokichi might see, but never catching a glimpse of his husband. Tom had started the song, started the game...and Kaito had come out the other end of it with clean, clear hands.

It had been exciting! And a little scary, but that was why it had been exciting. Kaito had laughed.

Then someone who had been watching asked if they could play. Using the same rules.

After that, Kaito just kept losing. And losing. And the people joining in, drunk and inexperienced and...look. Kaito wasn't actually stupid. He realized after the first few cuts that people were missing half the time on purpose. And the more he lost, the more people gathered around, asking for a turn. He had understood what was starting to happen.

But...he had hoped that if he stayed a good sport about it, if he toughed through it, maybe everyone who had gathered around and felt that need to cut him would be satisfied by the end of it? That maybe they'd leave the party feeling better about him.

So he kept playing and he laughed good naturedly when he lost and his hand only shook a little every time the song started again, and it was only when Itch found them, moments before Kokichi's dance with Monokuma started, was Kaito dragged into another room to go find a towel to put pressure on the cuts with, Itch shouting at Tom the whole time, the gambling group broken up by the extremely irate brother.

And all of that had been...tiring. But now it was done, so that was okay. And Kokichi was here! And they'd be going home soon. So...Kaito grinned, giving his husband a wink. "Yeah, I'm okay! Just a few nicks. One of these days I'm going to figure out how people win at these games. There's gotta be a trick to it, right?"

"Alright, that's the last of them." Itch sighed, throwing the bloodied towel into the sink and taking a step back. "You both are heading home? Let me walk you out. Tom," Itch said, voice hard as he turned to his brother, "take Monokuma to the back office and get him a real drink. I want to talk to both of you in a second."

"Pu~huhuhu, what? What are you mad for? That's so intimidating!" the man sneered. "Maybe I should walk them out? Me and Prince Kokichi were in the middle of a very interesting conversation, actually. Maybe we'll find we're all heading in the same direction tonight."

His shoulders tensing, Kokichi gave Monokuma an exasperated look, as close to the real glare he wanted to give as he could get. "I don't think so. Thank you for the dance, Monokuma, and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the party."

He nodded his head to the man before giving each of the brothers their own. "And thank you two for the invitation--it was fun! If we don't see her on our way out, would you mind thanking Aba-chan as well? Considering how you had her ask us, she really deserves the credit." He offered them a friendly grin, even if Kaito could probably feel his hand shaking when he gently held on to his husband's arm.

The party really had been fun, if with a few...uncomfortable bits. Hopefully Maki wouldn't chew them out too much for Kaito's new cuts. Kokichi kind of wanted to himself, but he wanted to get them safe and sound at home first. A place with fewer questions and less of a need to watch their backs.

They all exited the bathroom and Kokichi rubbed the inside of Kaito's elbow in little, slow, soothing circles...though maybe more soothing to him than his husband.

Kaito looked between Kokichi and the multi-colored man, brow furrowing in concern. Whatever the guy was talking about, he could see Kokichi tense from it, and the shaking in his fingers when they walked out...Kaito looked back at Monokuma over his shoulder, giving him a hard, dark look. The man only snickered, as Tom, next to him, waved widely. "It was fun hanging out with you, Kaito! We'll do it again soon! You can count on it!"

Kaito gave him a little wave back, a little internally conflicted. Out of everyone he had played with, Tom had been the only one to not cut him. So...even if the game had been his idea, it wasn't like it was his fault that Kaito kept saying yes to new players. Even if Itch seemed to think it was.

As Kaito followed Itch to the entrance, he felt little touches and soothing rubs from Kokichi, who was clearly trying to comfort him...which usually meant something was bothering the smaller man. As Itch told the group blocking the door (door guy was still there, but he was in his briefs now, and seemed way more high on whatever he was taking than when Kaito and Kokichi had come in) to move out of the way so they could get out, Kaito whispered to Kokichi, "Hey...do I need to go talk to that Monokuma guy? Cuts or not, if he was rude, I can still go let him know he shouldn't mess with the Prince of Dicea."

Kokichi shook his head a little, waving goodbye to the party-goers but not saying anything until they were outside, the brewery door shut behind them. "He wasn't rude. He was actually pretty nice to talk with, and, if something like that had to happen, that was probably the best way, but..."

His nose wrinkled as he paused, pressing a little closer to Kaito. "He was asking if we wanted to swing." The little touches hadn't been anything, and Monokuma hadn't been forceful, even if he kept taking Kokichi's 'no's as 'maybe's. The man hadn't even really done anything wrong, but Kokichi just... "I told him no, obviously, and he wasn't pushy! But that was still...uncomfortable."

Sighing softly, he looked up at Kaito. Wanting to know if it was just something Monokuma had said, or if... Even if Kaito was probably biased beyond belief. "Do I give off 'strong bottom vibes'?"

Kaito snorted, unable to help himself. Was Kokichi joking, or...oh. No, the look on his face suggested he wasn't. In fact, he looked a little upset... So Kaito, not wanting to be unkind to his husband, gave his answer some serious thought.

"I'm gonna guess he said you did, huh?" Kaito mused, making a small mental note to absolutely punch that guy in the face the next time he saw him. He'd try to do it when Kokichi wasn't around to be upset about it. Fucking creep. "He probably just said that because you're smaller than most guys and you have those, like, crazy big eyes. You look like a, if you want to call them that, 'top’s' wet dream, because you're small enough to throw around and stuff. People can be weird about that sort of thing. It's like if you're not 5'5 and up, you're not allowed to be anything other than on the receiving end in bed. It's all fucking superficial though."

As the two walked down the cool, night streets of the industrial area, Kaito said, "Well, when I first met you...okay, no, when I actually first met you I thought you were a teenager, made the mistake of thinking you were cute one second, and wanted to punch myself in the face for even daring to think that much. You were very off limits to that sort of thinking when I first met you." Kaito chuckled, curling his bandaged fingers between Kokichi's, giving his hand a small, affectionate squeeze. "After that? No, I wouldn't have guessed you enjoyed bottoming, for whatever that's worth...and it's not worth much, because it really doesn't say much of anything about you. If you don't mind me getting on a soapbox for a second? Because this is something I've thought a lot about before...people put way too much into that kind of label. I've met people who really think that your fav sex position, like, defines you in some way, or says something about your place in the relationship with the other person, or, fuck, even other people in general. I don't buy into that shit, but man, do some people take it way too seriously."

Kaito scoffed, starting the story before he really had time to think about it. "I knew a guy once who was totally normal around me, nice as can be. Then one day, he started acting like a total dick. Just ordering me around and stuff and making fun of me all the time, right? I called him out on it, and get this: he had been hearing locker room stories about me, and decided that because my boyfriend at the time was topping me, that I was the kind of guy that could be intimidated and pushed around. Heh..." Kaito smirked darkly, his muscles tensing up, "I got suspended for three days after knocking him out, but he didn't say shit to me after that."

Kokichi turned his gaze to the ground as Kaito snorted. It...it must've been obvious, then... He couldn't--and wouldn't--police other people's thoughts or anything, but...knowing that people perceived him in any kind of sexual way made his skin crawl.

But...oh. What Kaito was saying wasn't really the problem he had with it...but it was nice to hear anyway. Kokichi smiled gratefully up at him before snickering a little, gently squeezing Kaito's arm. "Deep down Kai-chan totally knew I was an adult, though hearing how fuckin' quickly you shut down even the tiniest bit of appreciation for a minor is rad. Normal, but Kai-chan is still very honorable."

Sighing a bit, Kokichi shook his head at the story, finding it very believable, and pretty indicative of his husband. "That's one way to knock sense into someone, I guess. And...thanks, though... I wasn't bothered that he just decided that I liked to bottom from the way I act and look. If he'd said I gave off top or switch vibes, I'd still..."

"...I just don't want anyone but Kai-chan thinking about my sex life," he muttered, chewing on his lip a bit. "I know I'm pretty, and I don't mind people flirting, but...even just thinking about someone thinking about it makes me feel sick. It never even really occurred to me before, maybe, cause, like, I didn't have a sex life at all? But now?"

He sighed again, making sure they made the correct turns to get back to the main roads leading to the hub of town. "...did you have fun? No one said any gross stuff to you, did they? I know there are a lot of angry people, but I hoped that Kai-chan would be able to make some friends."

Oh. Well...there wasn't much that could be done about that, admittedly. Kaito could growl at anyone who brought up Kokichi's sexual, well, anything, all he wanted, but...you couldn't make people stop thinking about it.

Kaito would just...do his best to be there for Kokichi when those issues came up. That was really all that could be done.

Kaito grinned at the question. "Heck yeah I had fun! You should have seen this trick Tom can do with his knives, it's reaally intimidating, but really cool too. And while I didn't really get anyone’s names outside of them, Aba seemed really nice, and Tom and Itch, um..." Kaito tried to think of an accurate way to put it. "They're both kind of intense? But Itch reminded me a lot of Maki, in a way, and Tom's just got an all over the place kind of vibe. I didn't much like him at first, but he grew on me. What about you? I lost track of you pretty much as soon as you went onto the dance floor. Did it go alright?"

Kokichi relaxed a bit, glad he hadn't brought Kaito along somewhere where he'd just be othered and subjected to hate the entire time. And while he'd gotten cut up a bit, considering the bandages, nothing was too deep, and for how awful Kaito's record seemed to be, it sounded like he'd enjoyed the game.

"Good... Yeah, they do seem like a fun group; I'm glad they decided to talk to us in the pub. Maybe we'll get to hang out somewhere a little more low-key, and Shuu-chan and Maki-chan will wanna come too. If Tom-chan has cool knife tricks, I can see Maki-chan, like, wanting to one-up him but make it not look like that's what she's doing," he giggled.

They'd have to be careful, and it would be slow, but if people in town could start to accept the new Luminary-Diceans? It might be easier to be sympathetic with the returning veterans, not to mention to maintain good relations with Luminary. If guests or tourists didn't have to worry about, say, people trying to drop roof tiles on them, then maybe this union would really have a chance.

And, you know. Kokichi wanted his husband to feel happy and comfortable in his new home.

"It was a ton of fun," he grinned, leaning his head against Kaito's arm. "Aba-chan was fun to dance with, and she was totally right. Almost right away people were practically lining up to dance with me--it's a big novelty, right? I got to meet a few people I'd written to before, and just, like, generally nice people? I've never gotten to do anything like this before, and while I'm certainly looking forward to crashing into bed," he rolled his eyes, "I think I'd like to go to more parties in the future. If I get invited, of course. And maybe ones that are less drinking focused. I swear like a third of the people on the dancefloor were only standing because they were leaning against someone else."

"Ha, no doubt Itch's weird drink didn't help with that. I didn't want to be mean to him about it, but it tasted really weird. It was waaaay too sweet, and there was something to it, like...I don't know. You ever drink wine that's sitting too long in a crate? Like, that grungy, bottom of the barrel taste? It was like that, in apple cider beer format. Never tasted anything like it before. Was not good," Kaito admitted with a laugh.

Kaito brought up Kokichi's hand and kissed it, giving Kokichi a warm smile as he said, "I'm glad you had fun, and we should definitely do it again soon. But, for now, I'm with you. I really need some sleep soon. Today was long."

As the town slowly started to shift back into the market area, close to the castle, Kaito offered, "I can carry you, if you want. We don't have that much left to go, and I know between what we did at home and all the dancing, you have to be aching by now."

Something about that... Kaito's description was familiar. But... The only reason the Luminary Party had access to Despair Pollen was because they'd traveled through the forest while the poppies were blooming. And, if the person that had given them directions was any indication, Ronpan people knew well enough to stay away during the start of spring.

How would Itch even get the pollen? And why use it as...a flavor enhancer? Since it made booze taste rank. No one had looked like they were poisoned so...maybe he was just overthinking things...

Kokichi let it go for now and returned Kaito's smile, though he flushed at the offer given to him. Now that he'd properly calmed down from the dancing his chest was in better shape, but in return, the aching and tenderness of his hips and rear had only increased. There was no way Kaito hadn't noticed his returned limp.

But he shook his head. "That's just it though--we're almost home anyway, and you're hurt on both arms now. And we still have to figure out a way to sneak you back in. I can tough it out a little longer."

"Actually... I don't wanna leave you on your own for too long, but do you think I should climb in first and get Maki-chan and Shuu-chan? Just to let them know that we're back so we don't have to worry them, and maybe they'd have some ideas about getting you over the wall too."

Oh, right. They had snuck out. Kaito had totally forgotten about that...shoot, how was he going to get back inside?

Kaito thought about it, yawning...okay, okay. Let's think. You're trying to sneak into and out of a secure government building. What were the biggest risks? Well, being seen by the guards, of course. Why? Because they'd arrest you. Well, no, that wasn't the case here. Kaito lived here. So what was the worst case here? They'd tell King Aiichi that Kaito had come back at one in the morning.

...they'd tell him if they thought it was something worth telling him, anyway.

"Is there a reason we can't lift you over the wall, and I can't just...walk back in?" Kaito asked sincerely, feeling a little bad to point this out, but... "I don't have a curfew. As far as I'm aware, there's no official restriction on my movements. So me coming back home, alone, doesn't mean anything to anyone, does it? So long as you were here all night?"

That was...true. Kokichi pinched his bottom lip a bit, thinking. "Well... It'd be a little weird since no one would've seen you leave, but...there's always the chance that they just missed you. Someone might ask what you were doing...and while it's not really any of their business, as long as it's not gonna turn into any sort of big scandal, it's kinda rude just to say that..."

He gave Kaito's bandaged hand a look. "Maybe...you wanted to take a walk at night? Cause even though we went out today, you've still been on bedrest for a while, and wanted to stretch your legs...yeah. And...you found a stray cat, but it got startled and scratched you, and you didn't want to bother the healer on night duty again, so you got bandages yourself."

"...okay. Okay." Kokichi looked up at his husband with a nod. "I think that'll be okay. Just wait a sec before walking in for me to get back up to our room, alright? Just in case."

...this would be alright. At worst, if Aiichi decided to comment on it at all, he might just ask that Kaito consider coming back a little earlier in the future. Probably for some dumb reason like not disturbing Kokichi, as if he'd be all tucked in and asleep like he had a bedtime. Ugh.

As the castle came up, Kokichi steered them off to the side before anyone watching the gate would be able to see figures walking up. Then it was just a matter of climbing up and over.

"Just, like...sing a song in your head or something, then head back around to the front. I'll meet you inside, sweets."

Kaito nodded, leaning over to give Kokichi a quick kiss. "For good luck," he explained, giving him a wink. "Please don't fall off the wall, okay? I will actually have a heart attack."

With that, Kaito backed up, watching with some amount of admiration as Kokichi got himself to the top. He really was just...really impressive.

As Kokichi disappeared from view, Kaito finally let himself sigh, just the...fucking ache of this night resting on his shoulders like a weight. He glanced down at his hand, frowning at it. There were a...lot of bandages there. Had he really played that many rounds? Each cut a representation of someone who had waited their turn, patiently, to play a head game with him in order to just get a chance to hurt him.

It had been...scary.

Tonight had been hard.

The whole day had been hard, really. There had been a lot of long stares at the market. Vicious looks from shoppers and storekeeps alike. A lot of pointing and whispers. And though Kaito was pretty certain he had played it off well enough that Kokichi didn't notice, someone had definitely tried to brain him with a roof tile earlier that day.

Kaito sighed again, letting his forehead rest on the cool, stone wall, wondering how long he should give Kokichi to get back inside to this crazy fucking castle filled with people that had tried to kill his husband at some point, a thought that just endlessly bothered Kaito, run by a king that had put them in a position where Kokichi was climbing a wall in the middle of the night and Kaito was trying to think of a song he could sing just long enough that his adult husband could sneak back to bed without anyone noticing or telling on them.

It was hard. All of this was so hard.

Kaito felt like he was going to go crazy here.

And it was hard to feel any of that, because he loved Kokichi, and he didn't want to disappoint him by buckling under the pressure of all this. He was going to be a good husband. He was going to be a good prince consort. He was going to be a good Luminary representative to these strange, bizarre people that he didn't understand.

He was going to make all this work!

...but for now it was just nice to stand by himself, without anyone around to put a face on for, and just think to himself 'What the fuck.'

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Kaito glanced up at the moon. It was a beautiful, starry night. So that was something. Steeling his resolve, Kaito put an easy grin back on his face, and headed to the gates.

Kokichi giggled a bit and gave Kaito a fond look before turning to scale the wall, the footholds familiar and well-used throughout the years of him sneaking in and out of the castle. They'd probably be getting a lot less use coming up though, huh. If he was free--free--to leave the castle. To just...be able to relax when he went out.

...though, that wasn't quite right. He just had something else to worry about now. But...it wouldn't last forever. Even if everyone wasn't friendly to Kaito and other Luminaries, they would at least just...coexist. Diceans had problems with each other, but as long as you just let the people around you live, it'd be okay.

He'd touched down safely, and when he didn't see anyone around, he quietly scampered around to one of the side entrances to the castle and slipped inside, easily getting up the stairs without running into anyone this late at night. Fuyuji didn't just stomp everywhere he went, but Kokichi could usually hear him coming, and the night owls among the staff, while encouraged to keep an eye out if they were awake anyway, tended to stay around their rooms.

It would be harder once the rest of the guards came back, when they'd actually have a proper nightwatch again, but...hopefully he wouldn't need to sneak around as much.

One he reached that hallway on the third floor, Kokichi knocked quietly on Maki's door, the cape drawn closed around him, remembering how Monokuma had commented on his bruises. He'd wear a long-sleeved shirt tomorrow...and maybe a scarf or something. "Maki-chan?"

Her door opened immediately, Maki fully dressed and, while it wasn't obvious of course, fully armed. Behind her, a fully dressed Shuuichi was sitting at her desk, and gave a little wave to Kokichi as Maki looked Kokichi over intensely before relaxing slightly. "Tired, but uninjured. Couldn't hope for better, I suppose." Her eyes narrowed as she looked around, her shoulders tensing up as she asked, full of nervous suspicion, "What about Kaito? He back in the room already?"

Outside, Kaito was stopped by the gate guards, but mostly because they didn't recognize him at first. After a moment of asking his business, midnight trips to and from the castle being uncommon enough to warrant asking, one of them recognized him as Prince Kaito. Though, the words he used was, "That's the one that stole the horse from the stables."

The other guard’s eyes widened and he nodded. "Oh, right. Welcome back, Prince Kaito. I've been on shift since three… Have you been out here all night?"

At this, Kaito frowned, eyes furrowed. "You've been on shift since three and you're still on?? That's an eleven hour shift! How long are you supposed to be on for?!"

"Uh, I'm working two shifts in a row just for today, sir," the guard explained, surprised at his reaction. "My replacement had an emergency so I volunteered to stick around for his shift so the day guys wouldn't have to be called in."

Okay, that was more reasonable. But still. "Do you need coffee? I can get you some water and coffee," Kaito said, rubbing the back of his neck in concern. "For the both of you? It's a quick run to the kitchens."

The guards looked at each other and chuckled, surprised by the Luminary noble’s clear concern. All thoughts of wondering why he was out here in the first place banished from their heads as the double shift guard in question reassured him. "It's fine, sir. We're kind of a skeleton crew at the castle right now, so these things happen sometimes. And the kitchen already has a habit of sending us coffee and water. Thank you though."

Kaito nodded. "If you're sure. Alright, well, you guys stay alert out here. We're counting on you! Have a good night, guys."

And Kaito headed inside, exhausted, as the guards chuckled and chatted between each other about what had just happened.

"I had to sneak around the back, but Kai-chan's coming through the front--he can't climb over the wall with a broken arm, so," Kokichi shrugged a little bit, offering Shuuichi a wave back. He felt a bit bad about making them stay up, but between that and making them go to the party, he supposed being able to relax at home was the better option. Though...'relax' might be overselling things.

With a bit of a guilty look, Kokichi decided to...break the news early, so hopefully Maki would have time to process it by the time Kaito came up. "The party went well! But Kai-chan was playing this...like, knife gambling game? He has some cuts on his hand, but the guys who invited us patched him up all good 'n stuff."

...that still wasn't very comforting, considering they had been supposed to be looking out for each other all night, but...it was okay. They were okay.

Kokichi shifted his weight a little, the ache in his hips starting to get a little painful rather than just annoying, and he suppressed a small yawn, the nap he'd taken earlier far from enough to make up for the busy day they'd had.

He was playing WHAT??

Maki's gaze darkened at this, her pulse speeding up in quiet, stoic fury...but she just nodded. Kokichi looked tired, and she trusted him if he said Kaito was on his way up. Her main concern had been them getting back safe, and it appears they did that, so...

She would yell at Kaito for KNIFE GAMBLING GAMES??? tomorrow. It could wait.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'm glad the party went well," Maki said, once again giving Kokichi another appraising look before her features softened from fury to concern. "Go to bed. You can tell us all about everything tomorrow."

Kaito made his way into the main building and headed up the stairs. The castle was quiet at night. Eerie and unfamiliar. Kaito remembered Kokichi's ghost story about his mother’s friends and felt a tad uneasy...but remembered that the ghosts were supposed to be haunting a theater somewhere. Also, of course ghosts weren't real. Atua would never not allow anyone to go to their trials like that...

S-so no, ghosts didn't freak him out, okay?

...he thought he felt a chill in a certain part of the stairway and, just wanting to get back to their room, hurried the rest of the way up.

When Kaito finally got to their room, he gave a small warning knock against the door, just in case, and then let himself in.

...they'd both get quite an earful tomorrow, for sure. And, honestly, they probably deserved it for doing some very dumb things, even if it had all turned out alright. Who knew what could've happened with just one change? They were lucky it went so well, so he'd appreciate that luck, and try to be more responsible next time.

Kokichi nodded sleepily, offering Maki and Shuuichi a small smile. "See you guys in the morning, then. G'night!" Then he turned, unable to suppress his limp as he headed back to his own room. Fuck, he wanted to crash...

Back in their room, Kokichi sighed to himself and limped to the bathroom to at least wash his hands. He probably could do with another shower, but, fuuuuuck he didn't want to be standing for much longer. So, having danced with over a dozen people, washing his hands was the laziest thing he'd let himself get away with. Then it was a quick matter of slipping out of his clothes, letting them pile next to the bed, tugging on his pajamas, and practically falling into bed.

He could've fallen asleep right there, but Kokichi rolled onto his side when he heard a knock on the door, smiling when he saw who came in. "Look at that. Your luck worked on me. Now get in here and get ready to cuddle with me."

Kaito grinned, feeling himself relax considerably, now that they were back in the relative familiarity of their room. As he walked from the door to the bed, he threw off his clothes with little care, letting them fall onto whatever part of the floor he happened to be standing over once he had gotten them off, finally getting to just his briefs as he collapsed onto the bed, breathing deeply into his pillow for a moment before reaching out and grabbing Kokichi, pulling him close.

"You talked to Maki?" he asked into Kokichi's hair, exhaustion now hitting him in heavy waves, asking, more on habit then anything, "Was she upset?"

Kokichi hummed happily as Kaito joined him and he delightedly cuddled up against the taller prince, kissing his collarbone softly. As fun (and terrifyingly stressful) as everything had been, Kokichi really loved this. Kaito's body pressed up against him, the two of them interlocked, warm, happy, and safe.

"I did," he mumbled against Kaito's chest, not bothering to keep his eyes open any longer. Kokichi draped one of his arms over Kaito's waist, holding him close in a sort of hug for a moment before relaxing. "She's gonna be mad about the knife game, but she said it could wait until tomorrow. I think she's mostly happy we made it home okay, but she's gonna worry anyway, right?"

He was starting to get a beat on Maki and Shuuichi's personalities past the surface level stuff...maybe. It'd help lessen misunderstandings, but he had time to learn. About them and Kaito too. There was no pressure to dig and dig until you found enlightenment, no matter what you hit and hurt on the way down. They could just...learn about each other naturally. So, today, Kokichi could bring up his feeling that Maki worried endlessly about her friends, and that that worry came out in anger. And if he was wrong, he could learn that too.

"...mm. Kai-chan? I know it wasn't fair to say it when I did before, but... I really like you. And I do think I might love you too. I'll figure it out one of these...hmm...days."

Kaito smiled, blinking slowly as he stared at the window of their bedroom, running his fingers up and down his husband’s skin absentmindedly, enjoying the cool of his body against his own endless heat. "Yeah, she would have been. Thanks for checking in with her. I know she can be a lot, sometimes, but...she cares a lot."

He closed his eyes, taking in his other senses. Kokichi smelled like sweat and effort, the lavender entirely gone...and Kaito breathed it in deeply. Enjoying the scent of him, raw and unfiltered. His husband and future king, who could climb walls and flip through the air like it was effortless...who, based on everything that had happened today, clearly had a way with his people...a true leader...

"I love you," Kaito said, sincerely. Then just as sincerely, he murmured, "You don't have to love me back yet, or tell me that you do if you're not sure. There's no hurry. It can wait." Kaito kissed the top of Kokichi's skull, already half asleep as he promised, "I'm not going anywhere..."

If Kokichi had more to say, Kaito couldn't hear it. He was so tired. His next breath came in while he was awake, and in the exhale, he was out.

Morning came as it always did, but unlike the day before, Kokichi hadn't jumped up at the first sign of wakefulness, ready to take on the day. Instead he wrinkled his nose and snuggled against Kaito's chest more, his hips aching just enough to tell him that trying to sit up would be rather unpleasant. And his hips weren't the only things that were sore. His entire body whined for more rest, still tired out from running around and dancing the whole day, practically.

It'd look bad if he was too tired to come down to breakfast after "just a day trip" into town, but...Kokichi was too aware of the ache in his body, the scratchy static in his head, and just the utter fatigue running through him. He knew what this was, but just didn't want to acknowledge it.

This was just one of those unfair days where his body refused to relax and he felt sleepy and slow the entire time. He knew from experience that it would be pretty awful for him to go on with business as usual, but...maybe he could just go down to breakfast. Have a low-key day that wasn't too telling to anyone else. Yeah...

Sighing softly to himself, Kokichi nosed against Kaito's neck a little, stealing his warmth. Didn't have to get up for breakfast yet...

Kaito was dreaming again. He had been dreaming a lot, ever since he had gotten to Dicea. Maybe just the strangeness of the new environment seeping into his unconscious? Who knew.

Kaito was sitting on the end of a pier at a beach. He was tanner in this dream than he was in real life, constantly working in the sun, and in this spare moment of free time, was wearing faded jeans and nothing else, just enjoying the smell and sounds of the ocean. He had long scars on his shoulders and back, and in this fake version of his life, Kaito knew he had gotten those scars during a fishing accident, when he had dared take a net out during bad weather, entangling his ankles on the net by mistake and the ocean, relentless, had pushed and slammed him onto rocks on the shore, until Kaito had managed to grab hold of one of the rocks and pulled himself up onto it, holding on for as long as he could while the storm and the ocean beat and battered at him.

Kaito had never been fishing with a net before in his life. But the memory of those scars was, at this moment, as real and visceral as any of his waking world memories, and he closed his eyes for a moment, his back tensing at recalling it.

When he opened his eyes, Koh was looking down at him.

The horse was massive. Kaito stared up at him, and couldn't actually think of a comparison to his guardian’s size that would do justice to the behemoth. It was like looking up at a series of mountains, and having those mountains blink gently back down at you.

Kaito smiled, unintimidated. The tension from his back leaving him entirely. Why wouldn't it? He didn't have anything to fear, with Koh around. His spirit guardian would protect him.

He said something up to Koh, but couldn't understand the words coming out of his mouth. It was a different language for this different version of Kaito, who fished with a net and lived on the beach and was darkened and hardened by sand and sun. This version of Kaito spoke with a calm and friendliness to his guardian spirit, and chuckled at every other sentence, and the horse just listened patiently, its big black eyes as beautiful and as mysterious as the bottom of the ocean itself.

When the other Kaito finally stopped talking, Koh moved its massive head down to him, and Kaito reached out his hand and pet its nose, an ant tickling the fur of a giant. When the horse brought its head back up, it looked, intently, at something down, below itself, down into the ocean that covered the horses legs.

Kaito watched, stunned, as massive tentacles pushed out from the ocean depths, curling around the horse’s legs, pulling Koh down. The horse screamed, and Kaito stood up, intending to jump into the water, to protect his bond-mate, intent to do something--

Kaito woke up with a small little breath, feeling something warm move around him and into him. Kaito blinked at the ceiling for a moment before looking over at his husband. His eyes were closed, but the way he was moving made Kaito think he was probably awake, so he didn't feel too bad to shift over, placing a kiss at Kokichi's temples. "Good morning..."

There was a sudden, heavy knock at the door. "Kaito?" Maki said from behind the door, "Get up. You're late already."

Kokichi groaned though he pushed against whatever of Kaito's was in front of him--the front of his shoulder--and gave his husband a kiss back for his efforts. Late? Surely he hadn't slept in that much...fuck. With a grand sigh, Kokichi opened his eyes and tried to be kind as he greeted Kaito. "...morning."

Sitting up to get out of bed would probably hurt too much so... Kokichi rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, every joint and muscle whining at him as he stepped down to the floor. At least he didn't technically have to get dressed...even if he was coated in dried, old sweat. Gross.

He limped over to the closet and haphazardly threw on a sweater and sweatpants over his pajamas, hair looking like a right bird's nest. Didn't matter. Just make it down to breakfast then... Maybe take a bath or something. Spend the day trying not to focus on the ache in his body.

Making his way to the door, Kokichi opened it a crack, looking bleary and like a pale wreck. "Morn' Maki-chan... We'll be down in a sec..."

Maki, dressed and put together for the day, raised an eyebrow at Kokichi, before her eyes narrowed at the state of him. He had looked exhausted last night, but this morning seemed even worse...

Not unkindly, Maki clarified, "You don't have to go, Kokichi. Honestly, you look like you need a few more hours of sleep. I'm here to collect Kaito. He's training with me and Timothy this morning, like he's been saying he's going to for a week now. I'm here to collect on that."

Kaito stared at the ceiling, listening to this, and sighed internally, recognizing this particular pattern. Okay...Maki was pissed. Why was she pissed? Kaito stretched the fingers of his bandaged hand against the bed absentmindedly. He couldn't think of anything. Hmm...oh well. He guessed he'd find out. Training time.

Got it.

"Give me fifteen minutes, Maki-Roll! I'll meet you guys down in the yards!" Kaito said, sitting up with a yawn, blearily watching...ah geez. "Make it twenty!" he said, noting Kokichi's unstable stance. His husband was practically leaning against the door frame, and the look on his face could be generously labeled as 'tense'. This was maybe a bad time for Maki to pull him away, actually... "Uh, actually, Maki, could we do it after breakfast?" he called through the door.

Maki glared at the wood of the door, but her eyes went back to Kokichi. Hmmm... "Fine. You're not getting out of training though, Kaito. I'll collect you later," she promised, turning with a flourish, leaving Kaito to manage whatever was happening with Kokichi.

"Hey...you look a little rough," Kaito said to his husband. "Do you want me to bring up food?"

Really, he wanted a few more hours of sleep--and it was somewhat relieving to hear that he hadn't slept right through breakfast, and instead was "late" for pre-breakfast training. But Kokichi's expression fell further. He didn't need people telling him to go back to bed, to arrange their schedules around him. He could manage today by himself--he had done so for years whenever this happened.

But...unlike others who didn't take his no for an answer...Kokichi didn't need to rage to get his point across to the Luminaries. They didn't deserve or warrant his anger. So he took a deep breath and tried to level himself out.

Shutting the door in Maki's absence, Kokichi turned back to Kaito and leaned against the door. "I would like to get breakfast myself, thanks."

"...sometimes...I just. Wake up hurting? It has nothing to do with yesterday, and I don't want people to think that, so I wanna get breakfast," Kokichi haltingly tried to explain, subconsciously massaging his hands, trying to ease the pain in the joints. "I'm not gonna be dumb and stubborn about it. I'm gonna get food, then come back up to rest. I don't need anyone to watch me either, so put your all into training this morning, okay?"

He couldn't stop Kaito from worrying, he supposed; this really sucked. But he could try to assure Kaito that this was normal and manageable and that he didn't need to go out of his way for anything.

...maybe, if he saw him during breakfast, he'd ask Mikaku if he could use some of that special massage oil. It did tend to ease some of the ache, the few times he'd used it.

Kaito frowned, brow furrowed in concern. His husband didn't look good...and Kaito would probably be worrying about him all morning, if he left him behind. It'd make Kaito feel better to stick close to him, in case Kokichi needed anything. But...he was pretty certain that if Kaito pushed, Kokichi would get upset. And that would be even worse.

So Kaito grinned, burying his concern as he gave his husband a thumbs up. "Hey, that's alright then. If you say you're good, you're good! But, I did manage to negotiate breakfast time from Maki! So, let me just throw some clothes on, and we can go get breakfast together, yeah? Give me one second!"

Kaito, feeling a lot more energized after a good night's sleep (the dream long gone from his mind already), threw off his covers and hopped out, trotting past Kokichi to the closet to just throw something on. What did he have, what did he have...okay, he was going to be working out after, so maybe throw on some loose pants...okay, now just grab a shirt, any shirt...no, you idiot, not that shirt, that shirt would look ridiculous with these pants...maybe...

Kaito shook his head, fighting himself. He was just going to get breakfast with his husband! Put literally anything on!

The gray v-neck they just bought! Yeah, there we go! That was some low-key casual shit! And he'd throw his slippers on, rather than digging out his new running shoes. Yeah! Not taking forever to get dressed! He was doing it!

As he stepped out of the closet, he caught himself in the mirror... "One second, let me just wet my hair real quick," Kaito said, running into the bathroom real quick.

Kokichi rolled his eyes a little. One second. Right. Knowing better by now, he limped back to the bed and fell onto it, letting his legs dangle. It wasn't really relieving at all, but the less time he had to put pressure on various parts of his body, the better. His knees and ankles would thank him for it later.

His appetite usually suffered along with the rest of him when this happened, but oddly enough Kokichi found himself rather hungry. Probably because he'd skipped dinner and partied for, like, two hours. Candy was good for immediate energy, but not a long-term solution at all.

Though...he could go for some right about now...

Kokichi tipped his head off the bed and looked over at his desk. ...nah, too far. Maybe he'd pick a bag to set by the tub while he took his bath later. How decadent.

For a moment, since Kaito was coming down with him too, he thought about asking if Kaito would mind carrying him down, but...that would defeat the whole purpose of going down at all. He could handle a short trip, then rest. Maybe he'd get lucky and would be able to sleep through it...

Five, six...seven minutes later, Kaito came out of the bathroom, teeth clean, hair, while not gelled up, at least not looking crazy either, though Kaito hadn't been able to resist gelling his goatee into a straight point. Seeing Kokichi lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, Kaito chuckled guiltily, leaning over him and giving him a small peck on the lips before pressing his forehead playfully against Kokichi's (no fever. Okay) smiling down at him as he said, "Ready. Here, let me help you up."

Kaito grabbed Kokichi's hand, moving backwards to pull him up(his hands were cold, but that was normal), running his thumb soothingly around his wrist (was his pulse slow? Would it be bad if his pulse was slow? Kaito couldn't tell and didn't know what he would do with that information anyway. He really needed to learn more about medical stuff.) as he said, "Let's take it slow, okay? I'm still pretty tired from yesterday, honestly, and Maki's absolutely going to put me through the ringer once she gets her hands on me."

Kaito didn't know what he was trying to do, collecting all this information. He felt helpless when Kokichi was hurting, and...he just felt better feeling like he was doing something, even if all he was doing was just trying to get better read on the situation.

"That is a second for you...wowie." While his voice was teasing in a dry way, Kokichi smiled at the kiss and let Kaito pull him up. And...well, no one had ever done this for him. Kaito was as comfortingly warm as ever, and even more since Kokichi seemed to chill even easier than usual like this, and he couldn't hold down a soft, appreciative sigh at the slight rubbing on his wrist.

It was tempting to ask Kaito to just...stick around, keep him warm and rub the pain away, but that was... Kaito wasn't his nurse. He had his own life, and was finally getting back into it. Kokichi couldn't tie him down into his life of lying in bed and intermittent dozing.

He had a feeling Kaito only wanted to take things slow for his sake, but...that was fine. He was making an effort not to be obvious about it, at least. So Kokichi nodded with a soft hum, bopping his buzzing head against Kaito's arm. "So...I've seen Maki-chan and Timothy doin' laps 'n shit. I can't imagine she'll spar with you until your arm is healed so...are you guys just exercising?"

The slowed pace probably did help, though Kokichi's limp remained, his hips complaining with every movement. Sitting at the table was gonna be uncomfortable too, but he could deal with it. Food would probably help everything anyway.

Snaking his arm around Kokichi's, essentially offering himself for Kokichi to put his weight against, Kaito said cheerfully as he slowed to match Kokichi's steps, "Probably leg and ab workouts. Stuff I could have been doing this whole time, really. Well, maybe not during the worst of the concussion, but...definitely things I can do with the cast. And honestly I'm pretty out of practice, so it's probably going to be more just me sweating and lying down between reps. Though, it'll be nice to see how Tim's coming along! Maki's been complaining about him less every session, which probably means he's improving, right?"

Of all his big regrets for the last few weeks, of which there were many, Kaito's handling of Timothy was one of his biggest. As one of his only three Luminary citizens to look after, Kaito felt like his illness had essentially caused him to abandon what was arguably his most vulnerable member of the now incredibly small pool of people he was directly responsible for. Worse than that, Maki, who honestly had enough on her plate right now, had taken up the duties that Kaito had essentially volunteered for when he had intervened with the execution.

In the few times he had spent time with Tim now since all this had started, it was usually because Tim was in trouble with Maki and Kaito needed to put himself in between them for a while, such as the incident with pranking the king. Kaito, in the middle of a migraine, had dragged himself out of bed and down to the king to apologize personally, for the most part because Maki was terrified that this was going to result in Tim being sent back home to Luminary, and, in her fear, had been on the verge of attacking everyone around her, especially Tim. Kaito had gone to the king to confirm from the man himself that Timothy's citizenship wasn't at risk for the prank, which had calmed Maki down considerably.

Mentorship, man. Who would have thought it would be so nerve-wracking?

But, it was time for Kaito to do his part in it! Maki hadn't volunteered for this shit, Kaito had! So...yeah! He'd get more of a grip on the Tim thing today! That was the goal!

...riiiight after he made certain his husband got back upstairs, safe and sound.

"So, when you say you just...feel bad sometimes? What does that mean?" Kaito asked him, moving slowly down the stairs. "Is it anything the tea could help with? I can bring some up real quick before training. It wouldn't take me long."

"During none of the concussion," Kokichi corrected softly. As far as he understood, it was dangerous to do anything active while you had a concussion, as it would muddy your body's reactions to things and could leave you overexerting yourself or getting into an accident. But now? There was plenty Kaito could do without his arm, and Kokichi could trust Maki to make sure he wouldn't try anything that he shouldn't with a broken arm. She was responsible like that.

Even with stuff she didn't necessarily have to be responsible for. Kokichi hummed softly, just keeping his body moving forward. "Maybe. I don't watch their training sessions, really, since I was mainly just working while they were going on, but I usually see the tail-ends. And they've stopped ending with her scolding him as much, I think. It doesn't look like Maki-chan's giving up on him, so I'd say it's a good guess that he's doing better."

...shoot. They still hadn't spoken to Maki about talking to Tim about school. Though...considering how people had acted towards Kaito yesterday, maybe enrolling a former Luminary soldier in a class filled with Diceans wasn't...the best idea.

Kokichi pressed his lips together, leaning a little more onto Kaito as they headed down the stairs. Timothy still didn't even like acknowledging any of the castle staff, who were understanding of his situation and would never hurt him because of where he came from. Putting him in school would just...be putting him in a place he didn't want to be with people that would, more likely than not, ignore him if not antagonize him right out. Surely there were kids that would try to befriend him, but...would Tim even want to be friends with Dicean kids?

That worry certainly wasn't helping his head any.

"This isn't something medicine can help--at least the kind I take while I'm sick," Kokichi sighed, stumbling a little but quickly righting himself, despite the shock of pain through his bones. "It's like...you exercised until you couldn't move the day before, and then there are bruises across every inch of your skin. Everything is just...really sore. I don't think there's anything actually wrong with me, but I just hurt."

The little stumble shot Kaito full of fear, suddenly looking down the stairwell like the hazardous death trap it was. Kaito looked from the stairs, to Kokichi, to the stairs again...

There were serva-staff members everywhere, of course. Kaito didn't want to embarrass him by saying he was suddenly afraid that Kokichi was going to fall down the stairs without more help...

Gently untangling his arm from Kokichi, but keeping a grip on it, Kaito trotted down a few steps ahead of him, pulling Kokichi's arm over his shoulder as he said, laughter in his voice, "Ya know what, I think I need a little warm-up before training! Let me just take you down the rest of the way. Carrying your weight will be a good start for all the squats I'm gonna end up doing."

Kokichi paused for a moment before a soft smile lightened his tired, bleary face. "I'm not sure if this counts as practice or cheating, but I'll let Kai-chan get away with doing a partial run of Prince Carrying. You were still concussed when Shuu-chan did his run, so I'll say this is just you catching up on any information you might've missed."

What did he ever do to deserve this man? Kokichi carefully got himself up on Kaito's back, holding on with his thighs even if they immediately started trembling from use. Kaito only had one arm, but...he'd been able to carry him with one arm before. So holding himself up would only last until Kaito adjusted his grip.

Sneaking a little kiss on the back of Kaito's neck, Kokichi whispered a near-silent thanks, letting his arms fall forward over Kaito's shoulders. "Honestly, I am betting that Maki-chan will have the best time, but I think you'll put up a good fight. She has speed, but you have tall person's leg advantage. Or maybe Shuu-chan will come out of nowhere and surprise all of us one day. Anything could happen."

Kaito kept his back bent forward, feeling the trembling in Kokichi's legs, which filled him with even greater concern. This just...happened? Sometimes?? Fuck...trying to take more of Kokichi's weight, Kaito put his arm round his back, essentially using his arm as a seat for Kokichi to lean some of his weight into. It was a stress position and Kaito wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, but he didn't have to. Just down the stairs. No problem.

"Oh, I am absolutely winning that thing once my arm is healed up. Maki can try to get the best score all she wants, but I can put in a damn good run when I'm at my best! You just wait!" Kaito insisted.

He kept talking as they worked their way down, allowing his mind to wander and his tongue to ramble in that 'random thoughts lead to random stories' way he had. If you asked him, he wouldn't be certain how he got to talking about Circleworld again by the time they were at the bottom floor, Kaito just still carrying Kokichi as he made his way to the dining room, but by the time they got there he was in the middle of explaining, "...yeah, so, that's why I really appreciate Commander Vimes’ relationship with his wife, you know? Like, she's not always a big character in the story, but that always feels like it's because she's, you know...busy. With stuff outside of what the story’s about, which is Vimes. Like, even when they got married and stuff, she never stopped raising dragons and stuff. She's still her own character, ya know? Though, in the last Guards story, she was pregnant, so I guess that could change..."

Just outside the dining room doors, Kaito carefully put Kokichi down, not wanting to be carrying him in front of his father, who was usually in the dining hall around this time.

Kokichi laughed quietly, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold his own weight for the whole trip, but he still wanted to make it as easy on Kaito as possible. "Well, you're at least piggyback-ing me from the start--Shuu-chan learned that lesson just a bit too late. I'm gonna be cheering all three of you on, so I guess I win no matter what."

It wasn't perfect, but nothing was on days like these. Being piggybacked kept the worst of the strain off his body, and that was all Kokichi could ask for. And Kaito rambling about whatever came to mind was comforting at this point, giving him something to focus on that wasn't too demanding and distracting him from the fuzziness of his brain. And, yanno, being draped over Kaito let him soak up alllll that big husband warmth.

He hummed and grunted as Kaito spoke, weighing in with his own opinions in a small way, and before he knew it, they were at the dining room. One of his knees buckled a little when Kaito set him down, but Kokichi kept upright and took a breath, trying to smooth the most of his wince away.

But, as they entered the dining room, that didn't matter that much. Aiichi was leaning against the far wall, chatting with some people and drinking from a mug, though his eyes flicked over at the opening door, in an instant something sad in his gaze as he took in Kokichi's appearance. He supposed he wasn't exactly subtle.

But Aiichi didn't break his conversation, and Kokichi didn't let the look phase him, just finding an empty chair and tenderly sitting down.

"You look like hot shit, kid."

Kokichi gave Denji a tired glare, though the stylist nudged a pot of porridge closer to the princes. "And you look like you're trying to crash this year's bird population to nothing, but here we are."

Ah.

The other one.

Kaito felt his whole back tense, going quiet in the presence of the other person, sitting down in a chair to Kokichi's other side. Out of nothing but petty spite, Kaito ignored the porridge offered, filling his own plate with the meats and vegetables he preferred. He grabbed some of the coffee going around in relief, not feeling tired but appreciating the kick some caffeine would give him, as he listened to Kokichi and his stylist talk, his eavesdropping entirely for appraisal purposes.

It wasn't that he wanted to dislike these people...both King Aiichi and Kokichi himself had told him that Kokichi's treatment wasn't their fault...

...

Still.

He wondered where Shuuichi was. No doubt Maki and Timothy were already out in the yards, planning to get some of the workouts Kaito couldn't do out of the way till he got there, but Shuuichi was usually eating breakfast around this time. Still, no sign of him. Oh well...Kaito just had to remember to find him later. He had a task in mind for him, and honestly, as Kaito glanced at the bandages around his hand, it probably couldn't wait. That was alright though. He'd find him after training.

Kokichi did take the porridge, mostly because it was now the closest thing to him, and because the warmth from it would probably be nice. And because Denji wordlessly moved over the sugar bowl and a bowl of dried cherries to add into it. As people who practically grew up together, they knew each other pretty well by this point.

Denji worked on their own bowl of porridge, giving the prince an amused smile. "So you guys went on a shopping spree yesterday, right? Please tell me you got a cohesive outfit for once? We could actually have fun putting together stuff for you to wear for appearances, but nooooo, Kokichi has decided he wants to put circuses so to shame to the point they don't even come to town. Such a devious way to get rid of your competition, clown."

"I have to find some way to keep you here, Denji-chan. The carnies would cream themselves just to make you a main act." Kokichi sent them a smirk before shaking his head. "I didn't get clothes for myself--we mostly just stocked up on stuff Kai-chan, Maki-chan, Shuu-chan, and Timothy needed."

"And candy."

"And candy," he nodded. There was a reason that he kept all his candy and only candy in that drawer. He'd been resistant for a long time, but after Denji saved him from the bugs that wanted to steal his treats, he relented. "Miss Andou is experimenting with a new treat and she let me try it--it was suuuuper good."

Denji groaned, leaning back in their seat a bit. "Of course you think it's good, sugar-hog. All her stuff is good, but now you're going to have preferences and her pastries aren't going to be special, so what the fuck else am I going to bribe you with!?"

"Denji-chan will think of something, I'm sure," Kokichi snickered. "And just because something is special doesn't mean I won't like it, you know. Not all of us are trend-chasers."

As he ate, Kokichi lost his grip on his spoon a few times, the joints in his fingers not wanting to cooperate, but even when it dropped to the floor Denji didn't say anything, or even looked anything more pitying than an amused older sibling, simply grabbing Kokichi a new spoon and setting it in his bowl.

"Yeah. Real shame Kokichi gets to buy his own treats now," Kaito muttered quietly. "Really fucks up the relationship dynamics, huh."

Kaito squeezed his fork, feeling embarrassed the second he said it. Especially when his stupid, childish grumbling was almost immediately accompanied with the sound of Kokichi losing his grip on his silverware, the sound of it falling sending Kaito's heart into his throat, looking over in concern as the stylist moved quicker, replacing the utensil without comment.

Kaito wanted to ask Kokichi if he was okay. If there was anything he could do. But he wasn't and there wasn't and Kaito already knew that, so he looked away and drank from his coffee instead, just feeling...uncomfortable. He wanted to fight someone. God, he wanted to fight someone.

Kaito's eyes went to King Aiichi, who was looking calm and comfortable around his loving, adoring people...the stylist wasn't at fault. Kaito was wrong to be mad at him. He knew that.

...man, it would feel good to fight the king...

Denji glanced over to Kaito but...it'd make things worse to start a fight. At least where everyone else was around and it'd just upset Kokichi. And there was food that would make such a gross mess. And it wouldn't just be the yelling, fronting match the stylist wanted. They'd heard enough through the grapevine to know that the Luminary prince wanted a real fight.

Kokichi sighed quietly and tried to keep his hand at least over the table more. He and Kaito were committed to making this work, and they'd learned to enjoy it, or at least each other. But for everyone who wasn't him? It wasn't just Timothy he was worried about fitting in. Kaito seemed comfortable enough talking with Hajime, but... Small steps. Small steps. Don't try to overcorrect while things are still in motion. People would warm up to Kaito and the other Luminaries. They'd warm up to the Diceans. This would work out.

It had to.

He and Denji talked for a little while longer while Kokichi finished his breakfast, and he caught Mikaku's attention for a moment while the strategist was drowning his coffee in cream, and the older man had caught the drift with a knowing nod, heading off once his mug was filled.

It was tense, but not the worst breakfast he'd ever had by far.

Kokichi waited until it looked like Kaito was pretty much done with his food before gently touching his arm. "I'm gonna go back to our room--prolly gonna hog the bathroom for a bit, so fair warning if you want a shower after training." Remembering a conversation as he got himself standing again, Kokichi tilted his head to the side. "Or...if you wanna grab your stuff to...get ready for the day with Maki-chan and Shuu-chan?"

Kaito looked at Kokichi, genuinely baffled. What, and leave Kokichi alone when he felt this bad? Kaito was still debating just going to training, especially as every movement Kokichi made seemed weaker and more pained.

Kaito was his husband. He had a responsibility. Of course he wasn't going to leave him like this to hang out with his friends today.

"I mean, I'd rather stay with you..." Kaito pointed out, giving his husband a charming grin as he leaned in, whispering, "Honestly, after training, a day just lounging around with you sounds really nice. I could read one of the books you bought me, bring up food later if you wanted it...it'd be cozy, you know? Also, let me bring you upstairs, please? We ate quickly, I won't be too late with Maki."

Getting up, Kaito offered his hand to Kokichi, helping him up and offering his arm. He ignored eye contact with everyone else in the room, every defensive instinct in Kaito on fire right now, his agitation around the castle staff worse than it usually was while his protective instincts were triggered by Kokichi's current state.

Kokichi took the offered hand and help, and, again, didn't say anything until they'd left the room. Though, unlike getting outside the brewery, there were still people around, but they were less likely to be overheard anyway. "I'm kind of an asshole on days like this, you know... But if you want to stay, I'm not gonna kick you out of our room or anything."

He'd told himself not to worry about it so much, but Kokichi couldn't help it. He didn't want Kaito to grow dependent on him, for his world to only really have four other people in it. But it would grow. They were still super early on, and there had been a bunch of traumatic shit going on. Kaito wanting to be close by while he was in pain wasn't indicative of anything but care.

Making their way back to the stairs, Kokichi weakly rubbed the palm of his free hand against his brow, groaning softly. "Sorry. I'm thinking about dumb shit. I enjoy Kai-chan's company so if he wants to laze with me, that's great. Like I said, though, 'm prolly gonna take a bath while you're training, and I might still be in it when you're done. Just kick me out if you wanna de-sweat."

Take a bath and use some of that massage oil. Kokichi never had the strength to really rub it in in the way it was meant to be used, but a little on his wrists and shoulders did wonders for helping him relax.

Kaito nodded, half-listening, now considering the whole...stairs issue. There was no way Kaito was going to watch Kokichi try to climb two flights of stairs up to their bedroom, even with his help. But Kaito probably couldn't manage to hold him onto his back the whole way up either, not if Kokichi's weak grip on the trip down was any indication. Hmmm...probably best to pick him up from the front then.

"Stay in the bath all you want. I don't mind being sweaty, and if I really needed to, I could borrow Shuuichi or Maki's shower," Kaito said, the logic of it simple to him. Leaning over, he gave Kokichi's forehead a gentle kiss, before saying simply, "I'm just gonna carry you up, okay? You could totally get up there yourself, but my heart can't take watching you do it. Sorry."

He pulled Kokichi gently to himself, putting his arm under his husband’s ass and lifting him up onto his hip, letting Kokichi fall against him. There wasn't much strength to his husband’s grip in either his legs or his arms, but that was alright. It was like carrying a large, sleeping child. Kaito had done this plenty of times before, with Maki's siblings. It was easier with two hands, sure, but, well, Kaito was managing.

He didn't have much of anything to say as they headed upstairs, and to pass the time and to not let himself think about how worried he was over Kokichi, Kaito just hummed slightly to himself, some nonsense song that he heard only a few times and only half remembered.

Kokichi's mouth twisted into a scowl, but with another deep breath, he let it ease away. Honestly, he didn't want to climb the stairs himself. He could if he had to, of course, and Kaito knew that too, so he was just being kind and loving and all the things that he was. And none of the insulting, gross stuff that he wasn't.

So he let Kaito scoop him up, and Kokichi looped an arm around Kaito's shoulder, partly to performatively keep his grip, but mostly so he wouldn't elbow Kaito in the stomach or anything. "I'm supposed to be the only one in this relationship with heart problems, so I suppose I have no choice but to protect Kai-chan's myself. You're lucky you have me."

Apologizing and explaining just always seemed to stress Kaito out more. So instead...he could just joke around. Be the brat he played at sometimes. Don't give Kaito even more to worry about over his shitty, broken body.

Stroking Kaito's shoulder gently, Kokichi listened to his humming, not recognizing a piece of it but enjoying his husband's voice nonetheless. And when they arrived back at their room, he placed a lingering kiss on the corner of Kaito's lips. "Thank you, sweets. Try not to let Maki-chan kill you too much."

"She wouldn't kill me..." Kaito frowned, gently placing Kokichi down. "Well, I mean, okay, if she did, it would totally be an accident. Like...she'd feel real bad about it! But I wouldn't let her anyway. I'm pretty tough when I want to be, you know. Just like my husband," Kaito said, kissing him back. "Alright. I'm coming right back after training. You sure you don't want me to bring anything up on my way back? ...Alright. I'll see you soon. Enjoy your bath."

He gave him another kiss and left the hall, heading downstairs with only one quick, uncertain look back...maybe he should...no, no, he'd be fine. Kokichi would tell him if he really needed help. Kaito had to believe that.

He continued downstairs.

-

Kaito finally got the yard, where Maki was waiting for him, her and Timothy already covered in a layer of sweat, Tim covered in an additional layer of dirt. Probably more stance exercises. Grinning at them, genuinely excited to be training again, Kaito waved as he jogged up. “Hey Maki-Roll. Timothy! I’m here! Sorry I’m late.”

He got up to them, taking a breath, before grinning at Maki. “Alright. What am I starting with?”

Maki smiled. It was a gentle smile. That was…probably not good.

“We’re going to give Timothy here a practical lesson in ORM,” she said sweetly, and Timothy, the little shit, had the gall to actually snicker as she did so. This, of course, caused her to turn to him, eyes sharp, as she said, “What does ORM stand for, Timothy?”

“Operational Risk Management,” Timothy responded immediately, the answer coming easily. It had been hounded into him in the military. “Risk vs. reward sort of thing. Suppose to think about it all the time.”

Maki nodded. “Very good,” she conceded, Tim practically beaming at the rare compliment, as she turned her attention back to an increasingly nervous Kaito.

“Now, Timothy. Let me give you a scenario. Kaito, give me your hand.”

Kaito grinned nervously. “A-aw, come on, Maki…”

“Give,” she said, no room for argument in her voice. Swallowing hard, Kaito handed her his bandaged, injured hand. She frowned as she inspected it, and Kaito couldn’t tell from her expression if it was better or worse than she was expecting. She said, “Timothy, let’s say, in our hypothetical scenario, that someone you don’t know, in a setting where you have virtually no allies, offers to play a gambling game with you, and if you were to lose, cut up your hands. Based on ORM, walk me through the appropriate response.”

“Step one: Identify the hazard. The hazard being that if you lose, your hand gets all cut up and, heh, Miss Harukawa gets her hands on you the next day,” he said with another mean little giggle.

Maki nodded. “An excellent point. Kaito? What did you think the hazard would be?”

Kaito grinned wide, something that was quickly becoming his panic response these days. “Uh…I thought…maybe Tom wouldn’t like me-OW OW OW!”

Maki squeezed his hand, shaking her head. “Tsk,” she said, “Tim. Step two?”

“Step two: assess hazards,” Timothy continued on, watching, fascinated, as his mentor essentially punished actual royalty. Huh…maybe it wouldn’t suck to be an assassin… “Which basically just means, like, the results of the first one. Like, if I get cut, my hand will hurt, and if Miss Harukawa finds out, my hand will really hurt me.”

“Ow, ow! Maki, please, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise! It was dumb, okay, I was dumb, I get it!”

“Fine...Kaito, you explain the rest of ORM, and tell me what you should have done, and what you will do next time… then I’ll let go.”

Kaito winced at the grip on his hand, continuing as quickly as he could, “Step three, make risk decisions, decide to don’t do the thing that will get your hand cut and upset Maki-Roll, step four, implement controls, meaning take steps to keep yourself out of the situation where your hand gets cut and you upset Maki, ow, OW! L-like walking away from the guy who’s t-trying to play knife games with you, okay? S-step five, supervise, making sure no one else does the stupid thing you decided not to OW OW, not to do, don’t do the thing, don’t let others do the thing, Maki, please!”

Maki stared coldly at Kaito…before sighing. Letting go of his hand, Kaito drew it back to himself, pouting, breathing heavy and a little red in the face…but honestly he was okay. If it had been really bad, he could have forced Maki to stop, after all.

Still…owwww.

“Lesson better be learned. This was me restraining myself,” Maki warned both boys, before shaking her hair over her shoulder, saying indifferently, “100 situps, both of you. Now.”

They both rushed to start.

God. How could anyone possibly be this cute? Laughing quietly, Kokichi assured his husband he'd be alright, yes, really, I'll be fine Kai-chan, thank you, have a good session, see you later, I like you a lot. Kokichi shook his head at himself a little, catching Kaito glancing back once as he stepped into their room. Absolute sweetheart.

As he'd expected, there was a little bottle of massage oil sitting on his nightstand, which he carefully picked up before heading into the bathroom. The showerhead was back in place and their various soaps had been settled in their preferred spots through their showers the day before, so the only things Kokichi had to do were to turn on the water, put the plug in the drain, and take out a towel. And, yanno, undress.

Which he did...rather slowly and painstakingly, his muscles protesting everything. He wasn't about to ask Kaito to rub his back, though, so the water would have to be enough. And. Well. Bubbles didn't do anything to ease his physical pain, but what was the point of a bath if it wasn't a bubble bath. And Kokichi managed to keep his grip on the bottle long enough to pour a good amount in along with the water pouring from the tap.

When the tub was full, Kokichi sluggishly made his way inside, groaning at the hot water and quickly settling down with his head in the divot. "Ahhh... fuck me."

It was steaming and he could practically feel the heat soak into the very core of his body, a warmth he fully indulged in. This was better. But what would be even better than better?

Kokichi took the oil bottle and tipped a few drops onto the wrist of his opposite hand before setting the bottle aside and rubbing his wrists together, almost immediately feeling the pain fade. Then, his wrists still slick, he rubbed them down his shoulders, groaning in relief before sitting back to enjoy his bath.

Warm and slowly relaxing, feeling something of a lull come over his thoughts, letting him have a few moments without worry...really, the only thing to be better than this would be a certain tall, toned, red-headed prince behind him, rubbing uninjured hands down his body...

"Ahh..." Kokichi closed his eyes and stretched out in the water, letting himself drift into a daydream.

Almost forty minutes went by, and both Kaito and Timothy were huffing and puffing, Maki assessing both of them for a moment before nodding. “Good job. Timothy, your form is getting better, though keep your back straighter during your squats. It’s okay if it feels silly to jut your butt out like that, it’s a sign of good form and will make you stronger. Kaito, your form was fine, but we have to build your stamina back up again. Still, not bad at all for your first day back. You’re both dismissed.”

Timothy bowed, and was surprised to see Kaito do the same thing, Kaito beaming at Maki, thrilled to have done well. To Maki, Kaito said, “Hey, I’m gonna spend the rest of the day with Kokichi up in our room. He’s not feeling great so I’m just gonna keep him company. Would you mind, when you see him, asking Shuuichi to come talk to me for a minute?”

“Sure. Anything wrong?” Maki asked, her tone now far more casual now that she wasn’t in ‘mentor’ mode.

Kaito grinned and shook his head. “No, no, not really. Nothing worth going into right now. Oh, Tim,” Kaito said, looking over at the boy, “Walk me upstairs, alright? There's something I wanna talk with you about.”

Timothy found himself looking at Miss Harukawa for permission, who just nodded. “Sure, Kaito,” he said, following the prince inside, moving quickly to keep up with Kaito’s long legs. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Look, I know you’ve been…sort of struggling here,” Kaito said, not wanting to say his first thought, which was ‘a total mess’, “And no one’s mad at you about that, by the way. It’s okay that you’re not integrating immediately here. Our military works very hard, by my family’s orders, to instill national pride in all of its soldiers, and for me to just tell you none of that meant anything is…wrong.”

“It did mean something,” Timothy said, his face growing hard at the implications of Kaito’s words, “The Diceans are evil. They needed to be fought for Luminary.”

Kaito brought up his injured, abused hand to his chest, and hurt it even more, worrying his joints against himself mindlessly as he chuckled. “Yeah…I mean. Yes? But no. That was true a couple of weeks ago. But it isn’t anymore. I know that’s…hard to get your head around, but…that’s just the way of war. Your enemy yesterday is your closest ally tomorrow. You can’t…hold onto the old stuff once everything’s changed…but anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I think…it would help if maybe you were around more kids your age. Being the only person under ten around is already kinda shitty, but trying to make nice with a bunch of adults you don’t trust is even worse, right?”

“I trust you,” Timothy said, looking frustrated with this whole exchange. “And Miss Harukawa, and Mr. Saihara.”

“And Mr. Ouma?” Kaito asked.

“Which one?” the kid said darkly…and Kaito felt a small spark of pride.

“My Ouma,” he clarified.

Timothy thought about it…before nodding reluctantly. “He’s better than the rest of them. Also, I’m sworn to him, so…yeah. I trust him too. It helps that he married a Luminary, I guess.”

Kaito nodded at this. “It does. But we need more trusted Diceans to add to that list, alright? So, I think, to better integrate you, and give you more options for your future outside of Maki’s training…I think we’re going to start sending you to school soon.”

Timothy looked up at Kaito, his brow furrowed in almost panic as he asked, “Wait, what? Am I not becoming an assassin anymore? Does Miss Harukawa not want me?”

“She doesn’t know about this yet, and no, nothing like that. You know Maki went to school too. It’s actually a pretty normal part of assassin training. Assassins need to learn how to blend in with other people, and going to school is perfect for that.”

“Do I get a choice?” Tim asked, sounding increasingly desperate, “Do I have to go to a Dicean school?”

Kaito bit his lip…if he actually thought Tim would agree on his own, sure…he’d get a choice. But as it stood... “I’m just letting you know that it’s happening, Timothy. I know you don’t like it, but I promise, I’m making the best decision for you, as your prince. As soon as I have more information, like where you're going and your hours and such, I’m going to let you know…but this is something that’s happening. Do you understand?”

Timothy didn’t answer, his small hands gripped into fists. “Timothy…” Kaito said, a warning in his voice.

“I understand, Prince Kaito,” Timothy muttered. “Is that all? Can I go?”

They had gotten to the top of the stairs, and Kaito sighed. He hadn’t expected a better reaction. He had expected a worse one, actually. Kaito just smiled at the boy, and said, “Sure. Come get me if you need anything, okay? I’m here if you need me.”

Timothy said nothing to this, but just ran off, clearly furious.

Sighing, Kaito rubbed the back of his neck. Well…that was done, he guessed. He’d work out the details of the school thing later. For now, it was time to go tend to his husband… Hopefully the bath was helping with the pain…

He headed into his room, giving a small warning knock before coming in. Looking around. No sign of Kokichi. Probably still in the bath then. “Kokichi, I’m back,” he called out, heading to the bathroom door, calling through it. “You good in there? Is it alright if I come in?" He wanted to get eyes on his husband if he could, assess that he was alright before going to read or lounge on the window seat or anything like that. He hoped he wasn't being a bother...

Daydreaming turned into actual dozing a few times, but luckily his tub had been outfitted for that exact scenario. Ikuo had been willing to let him bathe by himself when he was well pretty much from the first time Kokichi had asked, but his nanny hadn't been the only person he had to convince. But, thankfully, Ikuo had been the one to talk with Aiichi, and the boss relented on the grounds that his tub be made as drown-proof as possible. Thus, the divot and the bench, along with grips at the bottom of the tub, that, ten years later, were pretty much worn away, but Kokichi never found himself slipping down under the water.

He'd had to reheat the water once, but in all, it was just an incredibly relaxing time. Kokichi's cheeks, along with the rest of his body, had turned a flushed pink, and the steam from the bath wetted his hair and face even though he didn't dip them into the water. There was still something of an ache in his body, but it was heavily muted and Kokichi found himself able to do a little more to relax.

Memories mixed in with his idle thoughts, the worse bits left out. Maki and Shuuichi running around his room in a game, the two of them able to let loose a bit. Saying his 'I do's with Kaito, then dancing the evening away. Getting all dressed up last night, talking and teasing. And, of course, the many and growing ways Kaito had touched him.

Kokichi had found himself brushing the tips of his fingers down his happy trail, mimicking the move his husband seemed to enjoy, then down to gently massage the insides of his thighs, sighing lightly at the memory of soft, gentle kisses. Being pushed forward with his ass in the air, Kaito slicking him up all nicely...soft kisses against his ear, whispers meant to tease and excite...the barrage of kisses and bites to his neck, his badges of honor still dark from the day before...how Kaito always seemed excited to touch and love him, how he wanted him, enough to, apparently, get uncharacteristically possessive, how he'd always let Kokichi know how he was doing, that he was so good...

"Uun..." Kokichi began to lazily stroke himself, the oil doing its job and keeping his wrist from hurting. He hadn't touched himself during the eight days of abstinence, always just too frustrated to get it done whenever Kaito got him riled up. So...it'd been a while since he'd masturbated. Having an insanely sexy husband would do that to ya.

Though, Kokichi wasn't even sure he'd finish, and he was barely even hard. He was just enjoying the touches, taking his damn time for once, playing with his balls a little, giving his soft, chubby length a few indulgent pumps, fitting his head between his fingers and popping them off. God. He had a long way to go before he reached Kaito's level of dick suckin'. That fucking popping sound was still so clear in his head...

He sighed happily and--blinked his eyes open. Kaito was back already? He couldn't imagine training being particularly short so...oh well. He could take a long bath if he wanted.

"You can come in," he called, voice lazy and much more relaxed than it had been when Kaito left.

Kaito felt some of the concern leave his shoulders at hearing Kokichi, his husband sounding more chilled out than...well...ever? A drawl to his words, entirely non-urgent. Smiling at this a little, Kaito came in anyway, still just wanting to confirm he was alright.

The room was filled with a hot, heavy steam, and Kaito quickly closed the door behind him, not wanting to ruin Kokichi's little self-made sauna by letting the heat out. Stretching his own neck a little, Kaito went to the bath, where Kokichi was lounging among a thinning layer of bubbles and foam, and Kaito took a seat next to the tub, putting his arm on the side and resting his chin against it, looking at Kokichi with small, curious concern.

He was a little red from the heat, but beyond that, he looked happy. There was a half empty bottle of...massage oil? on the side of the tub that Kaito glanced at curiously. Kaito hadn't even realized they had something like that in here. Maybe something to help with Kokichi's soreness? Judging by the look on Kokichi's face, it had worked. ...Kaito would have to keep that in mind.

He felt bad, disturbing Kokichi's peace, so he said, "Hey. Just wanted to check on you...you feeling alright? Anything I can do for you?"

"Hey," he greeted back, offering Kaito a pleased smile. "I'm as alright as I can be--definitely needed something like this. Though, I probably won't stay in too much longer...as nice as it is, spending hours in a bath will totally mess up my skin." He sighed, lifting an arm and showing off his pink complexion before rubbing his wrist against his neck a bit.

"I gotta return Mikaku's massage oil at some point, but he's prolly not expecting it back any time soon. It has like...some sort of natural muscle relaxant in it, or something like that." Kokichi blinked lazily, taking a slow breath of steam. "But...maybe grab me a clean pair of boxers? I didn't really bother changing this morning."

Shifting over to the side of the tub, Kokichi mirrored Kaito's position, resting his head on his arm as he just...gazed at his husband affectionately. "How was training? Were we right, and Tim's doing better?"

Normally this would be where his brain butted in with a whole slew of worries and concerns and plans, but Kokichi was far too relaxed for that right now, and instead he just wanted to hear Kaito's thoughts and not ruminate on them too hard. Gently, he ran a wet hand across the other prince's cheek, calm, happy affection coloring his entire demeanor.

Kaito stared at Kokichi, feeling better every second he looked, grinning as his husband reached out to touch him, his stomach flipping with excitement at the small display of affection. Kokichi was happy...good. Good. Everything was okay then.

Good.

"He is!" Kaito said, excited to relay the success of his and Maki's charge. "You should see the control he's getting over his movement. His exercises are becoming slow and fluid, and he seems less frustrated when he fails now. At least, based on what Maki was telling me before, he seems less frustrated. He falls and he just gets right back up and tries it again. As he gets bigger, I think he's going to end up being really formidable...like, genuinely intimidating. And he was able to go a lot longer than I did, but, well, he better enjoy that lead while he has it, cause I'm gonna catch up to him before long..."

Kaito closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying Kokichi's presence. Timothy was doing better. Maki seemed happy, once she was done being angry with him. He hadn't seen Shuuichi yet, but he was probably fine. He was usually the one Kaito had to worry least about. And Kokichi was good… Kaito felt some of the desire to fight, to seek out and hit some sort of enemy, start to leave him, reassured by all of this. Everyone was okay...

Opening his eyes, he gave Kokichi a small, guilty smile. "I told Tim I'm going to start sending him to school. He wasn't thrilled...but he'll be better when he gets used to the idea..."

Kaito glanced over at the massage oil. Muscle relaxer, huh... "Is there any place you couldn't reach with that?" he asked, nodding towards the massage oil, mostly thinking of Kokichi's middle back, which he probably couldn't reach at all. "I can put it on real quick, before leaving you to the rest of your bath and getting your clothes ready."

Kokichi giggled a bit, booping Kaito on the nose. "You're really gonna compete with someone thirteen years younger than you, huh. Maybe I'll really have to sit in on sessions sometimes, make sure you're not pushing yourself to the standard of energy that a nine-year-old has."

It was good to hear that Timothy really was improving, though. It was something important to the Luminaries, so even with all the cultural and circumstantial situations, he was truly happy to hear that Tim was doing well. In the bubble of relaxation, Kokichi wasn't thinking of the dozens of other factors that went into that, but...what Kaito told him next sort of got him on that path.

Kokichi wasn't quite frowning, but...well, his smile certainly wasn't as easy. "Did...you ask him if he wanted to go to school? I...do think it'd be a good idea to get him used to places and people that aren't in the castle, but...if he's only begrudgingly going, it's just gonna be miserable for him..." He mumbled a few things about tutors and workshops and prejudice before taking a deep breath to clear his head. "...you, me, Maki-chan, and Shuu-chan can figure out the details later. It's good you let him know that it's on the table."

The School Issue, along with soooo many other things, were things Kokichi did need to think about. They were important. But, selfishly, he didn't want to step out of his relaxation just yet. So, when Kaito offered to rub some more oil onto him...Kokichi pushed all the other stuff out of his mind.

"Mmhm. I usually just use a little, since it hurts too much to, like...massage myself. But if Kai-chan's offering, I won't protest a bit of a back rub." Moving the bottle over to Kaito's side, Kokichi turned over to sit partially on his side, lifting...er, a decent bit of his back out of the water, small bubbles sliding down him.

Kaito frowned, looking away from Kokichi. No, he didn't ask him if he wanted to go...he was nine, of course he wouldn't want to go. That was a decision the adults in his life had to make for him...but, worried that this would become an argument if he said that, Kaito just shrugged, listening to Kokichi murmur about the possibilities if he decided not to go and the issues of him going, hoping that his silence would make Kokichi just assume he was agreeing with him without being asked to further explain himself.

Kaito sighed in relief when his question of the massage oil seemed to derail this line of thinking, more than happy to massage his husband, as offered, especially if it meant Kaito didn't have to try to explain to his life-long stifled husband that telling a small child what was best for him was a very, very different thing than trying to tell a twenty-year old what to do...that his and Tim's situations weren't the same...

Kaito took the massage oil and popped it open, pouring some onto his fingers using help from his knees, lifting it up to smell it for a moment. It smelled nice. Sort of...tingly? If that was a word for it. Leaving the bottle in his lap, Kaito leaned over, smoothly palming the oil into Kokichi's back, rubbing the lines of his thin muscles and working on the knots that he found between his fingers, getting on his knees and leaning over farther to make sure he got the other side of Kokichi's back just as well, rubbing his palm up and down the muscles, spending time around his spine, slightly fascinated by the edges of his bones. He dipped his hand into the water, making sure he massaged a bit into the base of his spine as well, and kept doing all this till Kokichi's back felt soft and pliable, Kaito kissing the top of his head before washing off his hand in the water.

"I'm gonna go get your clothes ready, alright? Call me if you need me, babe."

Oh... This was much better than lightly rubbing the oil into a few easily accessible spots. This was...probably what the oil was made to be used for, actually. With each stroke and gentle knead, Kokichi felt himself relaxing more and more, his worries fading back into ambient headspace for the time being. Stress and pain that he hadn't even realized he had were melted away under Kaito's hand, and Kokichi found himself sighing and groaning quietly as Kaito massaged his back, his head falling forward in utter relaxation.

And by the time Kaito was done--which Kokichi only realized once he kissed his head--Kokichi felt like a warm bowl of custard, all soft and jiggly. "Hrmm... You sure you didn't go to school to be a masseur? I could fall asleep right here..." Though, bed sounded like a better idea for that. And Kokichi felt warm enough for once, inside and out, that warming up the covers himself didn't seem like a challenge.

Turning back around, Kokichi rested his arm and head back on the open edge of the tub, his eyes closed and his expression just indicative of pure contentment. "Mhmm...like you lots...hun."

"Love you," Kaito replied back, opening up the door and closing it quickly behind him, sighing, rubbing his palm into one of his eyes. Listening to Kokichi moan and mewl had been... a humbling lesson in self restraint for Kaito, who had steadfastly ignored his arousal at the sounds. Kokichi was sore and tired and needed to relax. Kaito wasn't about to ruin his zen by getting all needy and grabby on him. He had had his fill yesterday. Today was a rest day.

Determined to keep to that, Kaito quickly headed to Kokichi's drawers, taking out new briefs for him. Should he get some pajamas ready? What if Kokichi didn't want to go to sleep after this though? He had sounded sleepy...Kaito would take out some of Kokichi's sleeping clothes just in case. What did Kokichi sleep in...honestly, Kaito had some difficulty telling the difference between Kokichi's sleeping clothes and his day clothes. They all just looked brightly colored and comfortable. Hmm...he...he had seen Kokichi sleep in this once, hadn't he? Yeah, he remembered this shirt. This was the greenhouse shirt. So that, and the briefs...this would probably work, yeah.

Kaito went back into the bathroom, putting the clothes on the counter top, before saying, "Here, I picked something out for you. If it's not what you want to wear, just let me know through the door, I'll get whatever you do want," before leaving the bathroom quickly, not trusting himself to look at his husband right now.

Once outside, Kaito looked around. He needed to distract himself...his book. The one with the kidnapping subplot. He still wanted to know what had happened with it, so he grabbed it, taking the book to the bed, determined not to think about his husband’s little noises...the feeling of him becoming putty under his fingers...the fact that Kaito was fairly certain he had seen a small hint of chub under the water...

Kaito blushed, sitting on the bed, opening the book up to the beginning. It was a dark and stormy night, apparently...

Love...it was nice, being loved. Knowing that there was someone who had his back conditionless. Who believed in him and cheered him on, but loved and cared about him, so they'd help out wherever they could. Who would think about him with a smile on their face. Probably the kind of smile Kokichi had on his face right now, bright and easy and just...happy.

Kokichi pressed his face against the rim of the tub a little, sighing happily and just barely keeping himself from dozing off again. He'd never felt romantic love before, which was why he was hesitant to say it back to Kaito, but...he had felt love in general before. For his people, for his dad. And what he felt in those cases...was pretty damn close to how he felt about Kaito. So...maybe he did love him.

Kokichi cracked an eye open at Kaito's brief return and thanked him quietly for the clothes before drifting back into that comfy state for a little longer. Kaito was so good to him...would be such a wonderful partner in leading the country...was already such an amazing husband. Once he was back in better form, he'd do something to properly thank Kaito. He more than deserved it.

With slow movements, Kokichi finally pulled the drain plug, waiting a few long moments before he hefted himself out of the tub, though just to sit on the side. Grabbing his towel, he started to pat himself dry, just rolling his eyes with a smile when he realized he was half hard. Probably had been getting there while Kaito massaged him, but...he was facing away. After he put on the clothes Kaito had brought to him, along with the sweatpants he'd thrown on for breakfast...yeah, he was still pretty visible. But whatever. He wasn't expecting Kaito to do anything.

Leaving the towel and extra clothes in the bathroom, Kokichi sleepily tottered his way over to the bed and crawled in, naturally curling up to Kaito's side. "Thank you, sweets. I love you."

When Kokichi walked out of the bathroom, Kaito found himself staring...before turning back to his book, ears red again. A hard boiled detective was now lamenting the intrusion into his office by a foxy dame, and for the life of Kaito, he wasn't certain if the book was starting a really well crafted parody or if the author just sincerely was exploring old time story tropes in their work, but either way it was charming in its own...way...

He stared down at Kokichi. Stunned for a moment.

This stunned confusion only lasted a second, as Kaito felt another rush of excitement at Kokichi's affection. There hadn't been a 'might' there this time, right? Had he misheard him? No, no, Kokichi had definitely said it...and the calm, easy way he said it...Kaito gripped his book, just processing.

He realized all at once that he didn't know how to...react to the words. He had been told them by dozens of people, with varying degrees of sincerity. It was something people liked to say after sex, which Kaito was used to--it was why Kokichi's confessions before hadn't bothered him much. In the afterglow of orgasm, that was just the sort of thing people felt, for a little while. But...that wasn't the case now...

Finding himself just staring at his book without taking in any of the text, the tips of his ears now bright red as he struggled between the desire to overreact, to lean over and kiss him and crawl on top of him and tell him he was going to live up to it, to be a good husband, let me prove it, let me prove it...

...and doubt.

Which wasn't fair. If Kokichi said it, Kaito believed him. He had to believe. Even the very notion that Kaito doubted his words, the horrifying idea that Kokichi might see that doubt on him, made him extremely uncomfortable. Kokichi had said it. Kaito was going to believe him.

...but...what if Kokichi just said it because Kaito kept saying it...

Kaito closed his eyes, scolding himself harshly. That wasn't fair to think. Kokichi wouldn't say it if he didn't mean it. Had, in fact, said twice now that he wouldn't say it if he didn't mean it. Kaito had to trust that.

He told himself the words. Once. Again. Kokichi loves me. Kokichi loves me?

Kokichi loves me.

He said it to himself until he believed it...

And then he grinned, face lighting up in excitement, hiding his expression in his book for a second as he chuckled, embarrassed at his own giddiness, before looking down at Kokichi, eyes shining. "...yeah?"

"Mhmm," he lazily drawled, nuzzling against Kaito's side for a moment. "I've been thinkin' it over for a while...and, you know, fuck it if I'm wrong and this isn't love. It's what I think love feels like to me and that's enough for me to answer the question."

"I love you," he half-yawned, perhaps an overly casual way to say such an important thing, but to Kokichi, it just felt...right. Natural. Something he didn't have to think about much because it was just such an inherent truth. And...fuck, wasn't that a nice feeling. To know something so solidly that he didn't have to stress over it, like, at all.

There were plenty of things to stress over, and before too long Kokichi's back would start to knot up again from the weight placed on his shoulders. But for now, he just wanted to relax and indulge in the basic truths of the world. Kaito had given him the best--and one of the only--massage of his life, he was warm and cozy, and he loved his husband. Easy.

With a relaxed sigh, Kokichi slung an arm around Kaito's waist, acting a bit like an affectionate cat, wanting to touch and be close even during mundane things like reading.

"I love you," he affirmed once again.

Again, Kaito didn't know what to do.

His whole body felt excited, but in, like...a ‘going to the park with your friends as a kid’ kind of way. Like, just, that warm, happy feeling of just, everything being fun and good and everything going your way. If this was a different type of world, Kaito would have his phone in his hands right now, texting fucking everyone he knew, 'Guess what he just said!??'

But he didn't. All he had was this book, which he couldn't focus on, and his husband, who loved him, pressed against him, with a small bulge that he couldn't not focus on pressing against his leg, and while Kaito himself wasn't aroused in any real way, that light, excited energy in him just....

He just wanted to make Kokichi as happy as he felt.

So, after a minute of hotly arguing with himself (he's SORE, he's not feeling good, just leave him alone, let him go to sleep, for FUCK’S sake, Kaito!), Kaito put aside his book on the nightstand, and used his now free hand to run his fingers up and down Kokichi's arm as he whispered, "I love you too..."

And he shifted himself down, lowering himself down from his sitting up position so that he was more lying down next to Kokichi, risking to put some pressure on his bad side as he leaned into it, pushing Kokichi onto his back a little so that Kaito could look into his eyes, smiling warmly down at him as he gave Kokichi a small kiss, then another, brushing his hair off his forehead as said, just as quietly, "Hey...I noticed you were a little restless, before...and I know you're not feeling good, but...I can take care of that real quick, if it'd help you sleep..."

Kaito kissed his cheek, and then kissed the back corner of his jaw, lingering there as he breathed into Kokichi's ear, "I don't mind..."

Kokichi cracked an eye open when he felt Kaito shift, taking the new position in stride and snuggling up against Kaito nonetheless. Whatever his husband wanted to do, Kokichi could conform to his side, happy with the contact, and, for once, content to just lie there. Maybe doze some more. Listen to the sounds of Kaito breathing, or turning a page, or talking quietly or...whatever.

Or to contribute to the sounds of soft kisses. Those were quite nice, as was being told that he was loved in return. Kokichi reached up and ran a hand through Kaito's hair, just a bit through the less gelled sides, tracing his thumb around the shell of his ear, careful to be even gentler around his piercing.

Though, Kokichi did look a bit surprised at what Kaito brought up. Lying on his back now, there was absolutely nothing his sweatpants did to hide the slight bulge of his crotch...and, by his words, Kaito had probably noticed his chub in the bath too. Kokichi sighed contently at the whispers in his ear and gave the nape of Kaito's neck a little rub. "Was just daydreamin' about my sexy husband, you know? No worries about taking care of me; there's not really much to take care of--'m comfy. I just wanna snuggle against Kai-chan."

"...if you wanted to, though, I'm not saying Kai-chan can't touch me, though. He can do that all he likes."

Kaito looked at him with pure, total adoration. Kokichi's sleepy, lazy response did nothing to discourage Kaito's desire to touch him, to just excite him, please him, just for a little bit, and then let him enjoy the afterglow. He wanted Kokichi to just be totally content, and so he smiled into his neck, kissing it gently. "Good. I like touching you. Honestly? Getting you off is my new favorite hobby," Kaito teased, putting his hand underneath Kokichi's shirt, feeling the smooth skin there for a moment before gently rubbing his nipples, kissing into his throat, and then back up into his mouth again, beaming down at him. "Just lie back and relax, okay? I'm gonna do everything."

Leaning onto his cast arm (it really did feel okay. It hadn't the first week, any sort of pressure being too much against it, but as time went on the bone felt less painful and more just sore and constantly itchy), Kaito kissed at Kokichi, just taking his time there for a while, letting his hand wander over Kokichi's body. Nothing jolting or surprising. Just warm, soothing touches as Kaito enjoyed being near him. Enjoying this freedom he had to play with and explore him at his own leisure.

It was so nice...this level of casual intimacy. Kaito realized with a shock how much he had missed this, being at this point in a relationship. Just able to make someone feel good before a nap, just because you wanted to...because you liked them so damn much that just knowing they would feel good was the only reason you needed to touch them...

He loved this.

He loved him.

Eventually the kisses moved downward, Kaito moving downward, Kokichi's shirt still bunched up to his chest as Kaito kissed between his nipples, down his stomach, to his hips.

As he got to the waistline of his pants, Kaito said brightly, "Don't worry, 'Kichi, you won't need to take a shower or change your clothes or anything. Nothings gonna spill," he promised.

When he took Kokichi's chubby dick out, it was still mostly limp, and was also a little red from yesterday still, but Kaito wasn't discouraged by this. He wasn't going to treat it roughly, it wasn't going to hurt, and Kokichi could take all the time he needed as Kaito, without hesitation, brought it into his mouth, getting to work.

Sucking a limp dick required a different tactic than when a cock was already mostly hard and throbbing, and so Kaito focused on the tip, running his tongue over Kokichi's head as he massaged the base of his cock. It occured to Kaito that he could go get the massage oil from the bathroom to help with the shaft, but, honestly, he wasn't sure how comfortable he'd be licking a muscle relaxant. Would it numb his tongue? Would he talk funny afterwards? That could...actually be kind of fun, in a dumb kind of way, but...nah.

After a moment, Kaito emptied his mouth, and, using the building of drool from his tongue otherwise being occupied, put three fingers in his own mouth, lapping against them for a moment to wet them, before returning them to their job, playing with the loose skin and that thin, pliable muscle as he took Kokichi back in again. Sucking at the tip.

When he felt Kokichi start to stiffen, he started to take him more into his mouth, running his tongue along the length. It was only then that Kaito glanced up at Kokichi, trying to get a read of how he was doing.

Kokichi tipped his head back, giving Kaito ample space, before he laughed lightly, enjoying the kisses and touches. "I can believe that. Kai-chan always does so much to pleasure me; 's why I can never hold out long. Considering all the cute noises you make when I can return the favor, though, hmm... I like getting you off too, sweets."

He enjoyed being able to make Kaito happy, but...it was kind of nice to be told that he didn't need to do anything, just for this special occurrence. Kokichi still kind of felt like goo and while he didn't think he'd just pass out without warning, he was in a sort of comfortable, sleepy state. Getting as active as they usually got would be...difficult. And probably painful if he tried to push past what the bath and massage had done for him.

That didn't mean he'd do nothing, though. Kokichi happily kissed Kaito back, that movement lazy too, just gently caressing Kaito's tongue with his own, giving his lips soft, brief sucks. He continued to idly rub Kaito's neck and his body was relaxed under his husband's hand, making little adjustments to encourage and accommodate. Straightening his back, supporting his neck, parting his legs a little...

Then letting airy sighs out of his mouth as lips left his own to go exploring, the kisses feeling comfortable and loving. "Nmm... I love you, Kai-chan. I'm so happy to be a part of your life, and I feel blessed for you to be a part of mine. For such a wonderful person to be mine...mmm, can't think of anything better."

The pace didn't change much once Kaito got to his dick. His mouth was still just as warm and wet and lovely as the day before, but it didn't feel as much of a shock, and Kokichi just hummed contentedly, a soft, sweet smile on his face. The warmth in him didn't feel like it was being yanked up to a boil, instead just slowly congregating in his crotch with every movement of Kaito's tongue over him, every suck and stroke. And, like his husband was breathing life into it, Kokichi could feel himself start to get properly hard--not desperate or unbearably craving, but just...feeling nice and appreciated, stiffening enough that Kaito wouldn't have to lift his dick to suck it.

The sighs and hums came at a sluggish pace, Kokichi's cheeks slowly going rosy and his smile sticking around with half-closed eyes that glittered with the love he had for the man between his legs. "Mmm... Feels good, Kai-chan. Really, you are some sort of secret massage god, right?"

"It's my ultimate talent," Kaito bragged, kissing the side of Kokichi's dick, watching it stand up with something bordering on pride, taking Kokichi's balls between his fingers and massaging them. "I'm Kaito Momota, Ultimate Masseuse. Or maybe just Ultimate Nob-gobbler? I'd take either title," Kaito joked, before occupying his mouth again.

There was enough of Kokichi available now to start taking him into his throat, and Kaito, taking a quick breath, lowered his mouth all the way down him, swallowing his tip into his throat, again, and then again, allowing his muscles to constrict around Kokichi for as long as he could before needed to take a breath, moving his head back up and taking a breath through his nose. As he did this, he squeezed at Kokichi's balls, feeling the sack push against his palm as Kaito began to move his head up and down.

Internally, he winced a little at the slurping sounds coming out of his mouth right now, doing his best to limit them. He didn't mind hearing them when it was happening to himself, but he had once had a partner (the same one who had been spreading the locker room stories about him) back in high school who had hated the sound, and now Kaito could never quite...not think about it when he was making it. He had learned that if you lapped as you went and moved the right speed, it helped minimize it, and so he did that, focusing on Kokichi's head every time he needed a small break in the movement.

Kaito grinned at the first taste of pre-cum, licking it onto his tongue and sucking at the tip, trying to coax more out. There we go...

Kokichi giggled a bit, a snort interrupting the middle. Nob-gobbler. God. "Why not both? You are a man of many talents--far more than just those two. Need a whole page to list your accolades at the end of letters. Ah..."

He gasped as he felt Kaito start to swallow him down, his entire thickening length enveloped in that warmth with his tip being treated to another type of massage, something that did speed up the heat building in him a bit. Gradually, Kokichi's breathing became heavier, his little happy groans and hums becoming more drawn out as Kaito worked him up in the gentlest way possible.

Kokichi parted his legs a little more, the sweatpants loose enough to easily do so, and he found himself tilting his hips up, not quite bucking against Kaito, but just the barest rock, giving Kaito more access to his balls and everything between his legs...

"Uhn...mmm... Good... hnn... wonderful..." Kaito was wonderful. Not just now, but always. It was almost a surprise when Kokichi felt Kaito lap at his tip to clean up his first leaks, the pleasure having been built up so slowly that Kokichi hadn't realized how hard he'd gotten, but...of course Kaito had gotten him wet already. His husband was good at that.

Draping an arm over his forehead, Kokichi let his heavy breaths become soft pants with a smile, feeling his cock slowly throb and dribble pre-cum, and feeling Kaito keep coaxing more out of him. "You feel amazing... I love you, sweetheart."

Kaito blushed at this, taking Kokichi's cock out of his mouth for just a moment, kissing at its underside so that Kaito could look at Kokichi, just wanting to take him in for a moment. Kokichi looked perfect like this. A huge improvement from Kokichi from this morning, who had been in pain and tired and grumpy and surrounded by those people...

Kaito much preferred him like this. Calm and aroused and safe and happy...if Kaito had his way, Kokichi would just...always look like this. Never crying, never afraid, never angry or weak or calling himself bad, frightening things again...just content and enjoying the pleasures Kaito could provide...

Kaito would just have to do his best from now on.

Kaito closed his eyes, getting back to work. He thought about shoving a finger into him, but....would Kokichi need more then if he did? Kaito didn't want to push into him, afraid it would hurt Kokichi in the long run while his body was on the mend. But, well, so long as Kaito got him to cum soon after, it would probably be fine...

Kaito lapped and sucked and swallowed, moving his mouth quicker, running his hand from Kokichi's cock to his ass, rubbing at his cheeks, squeezing them slightly, before moving his hand to his thigh, pushing his legs slightly wider, opening up access. Choosing his middle finger, he rubbed the opening of Kokichi's hole, taking Kokichi deep into his throat as he pushed the digit in, letting his knuckle hit skin before, gently, easily, moving the digit up and down his walls, Kaito swallowing Kokichi, again, for as long as he could before the need to breathe became urgent.

Breathing in deeply through his nose, Kaito moved his head up and down, speeding up. Determined to make Kokichi cum soon, to let his husband enjoy his afterglow while the massage oil was still sinking into his skin, while everything was still good and calm and nice. The last thing Kaito wanted to do now was edge him, so he put his all in, fingering him, swallowing him down, not resting as he felt Kokichi stiffen, felt the taste of him coat his tongue.

Kaito felt Kokichi tighten around his finger, and he smirked, slowing his head, trying not to overstimulate him as he felt Kokichi shoot into his mouth, the feeling of him coating the back of his tongue, warm and tasting of sex, tasting of Kokichi. Careful to keep his promise of letting nothing spill, Kaito swallowed Kokichi's load down, leaving his finger in for as long as Kokichi's body kept pulling at it, only pulling it out when the muscles relaxed.

Then Kaito started cleanup: gently lapping up his dick afterwards, cleaning it and sucking the last of the juice out, taking the ends of the sheet and finally just patting Kokichi's dick dry of his spit, tucking him away again when it felt like his job was done. Kaito kissed Kokichi's abdomen and his stomach, enjoying the rare moment of Kokichi feeling warm against his lips, before lowering his shirt down as well. Kaito resting his head on his husband's stomach.

"...love you 'Kichi..." Kaito murmured, kissing Kokichi's stomach again through his shirt, just staring up at him, enjoying the taste, the scent of him. Entirely pleased with himself.

"Hmm?" Kokichi raised a bit of an eyebrow under his arm, feeling Kaito start playing with his ass, though he easily parted his legs farther, feeling his waistbands slide down his thighs. He hadn't been expecting Kaito to want to finger him, but, feeling a finger press against his hole, that seemed like where this was going. He liked being fingered, but...he kind of figured that, yanno, Kaito sucking him off was wayyy more than enough, especially when he wasn't gonna fuck him. So that meant that Kaito was gonna finger him...because Kokichi liked it.

With a soft moan, feeling Kaito push in and give his dick a firm suck, Kokichi felt his heart melt a little more. And though the relaxed pace picked up, Kokichi still felt at ease, still warm and comfortable and loved. If feeling the coil in his belly start to tighten. He tilted his hips up a little more, making things easier on Kaito's wrist, but also to be able to feel him rubbing along his walls, still a little loose and tender from the day before, to rock into that mouth that said such sweet things to him and was now fanning his growing flames.

Mewls started to tinge Kokichi's breaths as his pulse sped up, his dick twitching and his backside pulling and pulsing around Kaito's fingers, all working together until... "A-ah...ahhh...Kaito..."

It was different from the other orgasms his husband had given him. Kokichi had never been to the ocean, but how he was feeling now was what he imagined sitting on the coast, letting the waves of a calm day wash over you felt. His rear was twitching, inviting Kaito's finger in to stay, almost encouraging the insertion to spill and leave another round of jizz in him, while his thighs shook and he shot into Kaito's mouth, his pleasure swaying back and forth in him like a tide.

It was maybe a weird thing to say about an orgasm, but it felt comforting and secure. And that feeling didn't leave when it ended either. Slowly, gradually, his breaths slowed back down, an immense feeling of satisfaction leaving him with a sweet smile, not even Kaito handling his spent cock feeling too overstimulating.

"Hahhhh... Love you too, Kai-chan..." Kokichi removed his arm from over his head, instead cupping Kaito's face and gently rubbing his thumbs across his cheekbones. "That was...really good... If you don't mind doing something else for me..." There was nothing but love in Kokichi's sleepy, comfortable gaze, even through the little sigh that was probably a yawn. "Cuddle with me?"

Kaito sighed. "So greedy..." And then grinned up at him, to take any bite out of the statement.

Kaito kissed Kokichi's stomach one last time before crawling up, not feeling sleepy himself but more than happy to hold him, kissing the top of Kokichi's skull. He leaned on his good arm, entwining his hand with Kokichi's, finding himself idly rubbing Kokichi's pinky, where he had been bound to him, just idly remembering that he should check in with Atua soon, thank him for Kokichi. When was the last time he had made an actual, like, official offering, outside of just getting injured? Did his binding ceremony count as one for the month? He should probably get that taken care of soon...

Whatever, he could think about that later. There were still a few days left in the month, he had time. He picked up Kokichi's hand and kissed the pinky, before putting his arm around Kokichi and pulling him close.

For now it was just nice to be here with his bound-mate.

"Tell me if you start hurting, okay? I can put more of that massage stuff on you," Kaito assured him. Then, because he wasn't much for silence, he continued idly, "I started reading that book you bought me. I think it might be a parody. Or maybe a satire? It's not been, like, funny or anything, just...really stereotypical. I like it so far. Thanks for getting it for me."

Kokichi laughed softly, making a sort of agreeable hum. "Maybe so, as you keep tellin' me. But I think we both enjoy it, hm?" He thought he could remember Kaito saying so at some point, and, jokes aside... Kokichi had never found such solace in another person before. Sure, he loved Ikuo, and his nanny had always freely given him affection, but...it was different with a partner. Kaito was so affectionate himself, and Kokichi found himself enjoying the casual touches and sporadic kisses, wanting to show his feelings in a similar way. And, so far, that seemed to be cuddling up against Kaito as often as he could.

Tipping his head against Kaito's shoulder with a nuzzle, he gently squeezed Kaito's hand, the strength still relatively weak, but not shaky or difficult like the trouble he'd had earlier that morning. For now, pain was far from Kokichi's mind.

"My pleasure!" he sleepily chirped, happy to listen to Kaito even if he wasn't fully alert. "Once the next pay cycle rolls over and you have money again...I wanna talk to you about budgeting, but we can go to the bookstore again. Or... I mean, we could go any time you wanna, really."

Anywhere in town, they could just go if they wanted. It was still a whole Thing to get his mind around, but...he was free. Sighing happily, Kokichi found himself rubbing the side of Kaito's hand in turn. "I'm glad you're enjoying the book, though. 'm lookin' forward to Kai-chan's book reviews, myself..."

Letting his eyes close, Kokichi tipped his head against Kaito's chest affectionately, his smile still refusing to leave his face.

Oh? Was he on an allowance after all?

Kaito had sort of been under the impression that, without a royal fund to draw from, he'd have to either rely on Kokichi or find work somewhere. His parents had had him on an allowance that renewed every month at home, as a set limit that he was allowed to draw from the family funds, but the allowance was so large that he rarely had to seriously think about what he spent anything on.

And, well, Kokichi kept talking like being royalty was an actual, like, paid job rather than just something you, ya know...were. Maybe Kaito was technically already employed then, as a Prince Consort? Shit, if that was the case, he...really had to work out exactly what he was meant to be doing. Kokichi said he was meant to assist him in leading things, which as far as Kaito had been able to tell was...writing letters to people fixing farm budgeting issues? Fuck...he really didn't know how to do that...but if he was being paid already, he, like...had to learn, right? It wasn't right to get paid and not do the job...

Sigh. He was of course more than willing to try to learn it, but man...could his official job just be 'make Kokichi feel good'? He was pretty good at that so far, so long as he didn't open his big mouth and say one of those things that made Kokichi look at him with horror and confusion...

...he wondered how much he was being paid?

Actually, that was a point. How much were Maki and Shuuichi being paid? They were also being paid an allowance allotted to them by the Indentured Citizen Program, plus the allowance of working at the castle specifically, and, when Kaito had asked them to come, it had sort of been under the assumption that the castle would employ them for their services, but...neither Maki or Shuuichi technically worked for the king. It was officially a part of the negotiations that they didn't. And since his husband didn't have any royal funds to draw from to pay them, like Kaito had been expecting...

Kaito furrowed his brow.

Okay. Okay.

Kaito had a responsibility to the two. They had moved here at his request. So, if their pay was now uncertain, he'd fund them from his own payment for being Prince Consort for as well as he could. Just until they could find employment elsewhere. He wasn't going to leave them in the lurch, he'd just...do without for awhile. Timothy too. He needed an allowance, and Kaito didn't want it coming out of Maki's funds. And if the government service job didn't pay that much, which Kokichi sort of suggested it didn't, then he'd find more work on top of that to make up the difference to Shuuichi and Maki. Heh, maybe he'd end up selling those treasures sooner than he thought. He wouldn't like to do it, but Shuuichi and Maki would be worth the loss...

He could do this! Byakuya would be proud!

With these new responsibilities in mind, Kaito said, "I don't really need any new books anytime soon, but thanks. I could use that lesson on budgeting though. I've...literally never had to think about finances in my life, not really. Like, if I'm honest? Before this trip started, I never even really knew what anything cost. It was a shock to find out how little bananas cost. They're so good, it just never occurred to me they'd only be a couple copper, and was ready to pay this one guy, like, a gold piece for a bushel before Shuuichi swept in and saved me."

That was fair. There was something nice about owning your own copies, but Kokichi had his own collection for Kaito to peruse, not to mention the whole freaking library downstairs. Kokichi still felt bad about Kaito having to leave so much of his collection in Luminary--or...trash it, which Kokichi was nervous to ask about, since...the logical thing to him seemed like Kaito's books would be kept in the castle collection, or donated to a library or used bookstore, but...it didn't sound like that--but they had plenty of time to start making up for it. Their shopping trip had covered a lot of the necessities the Luminaries had needed, but uprooting your life tended to have an annoyingly high cost associated with it.

One that Kaito really needed that lesson for, apparently. Kokichi tried not to laugh at his husband, but he couldn't help a little huff of disbelief and cracked an eye back open to look up at the other prince. "I bet that guy's cursing Shuu-chan's existence, then, though upselling people is pretty shitty."

Now, if this had just been a normal day? Kokichi might've started on the lesson right there and then, and then, of course, would've probably led the conversation into more international differences that made them both uncomfortable. But right now he was incredibly chilled out, so he just gently squeezed Kaito's hand with a hum. "Once the pay cycle goes through, I can help you break it down into what people typically spend it on--like, visually move the coins into groups so you can get a proper idea. A lot of people make more than just the basic income, of course, but it is enough to take care of, you know, the basic stuff. You'll catch on quickly."

Maki and Shuuichi hadn't painted the brightest picture of Kaito's academics, but Kokichi was sure that Kaito would get the hang of at least basic financing quickly. And he had a safe place to figure it out--since government staff didn't have to overtly pay for housing and food, that took a lot of budgeting out of the picture. Still good to know, though.

Closing his eye, Kokichi did that little sigh-yawn thing again. "Kai-chan's a hard worker, so he'll get everything."

Kaito snickered. "Of course I will! I'm Kaito Ouma Momota, Legendar-oh."

His usual speech was interrupted by a small knock at the door, and Kaito found himself tensing for a moment, not wanting anyone to come in and see them lying in bed like this...but that tension eased as he heard Shuuichi call through, "Kaito? It's me."

"Oh, right, I asked Maki to let Shuuichi know I needed to talk to him," Kaito quickly said, half remembering and half explaining to Kokichi. Kissing him quickly on the forehead, he said, "I just need to talk to him for a second. Be right back."

Pulling himself out of bed, Kaito half ran to the door, opening it up to reveal Shuuichi, carrying a bag of something as he gave Kaito a warm smile. Then, looking over his shoulder, he saw Kokichi and gave him a wave. "Kokichi! I picked up something from town for you. At least, it's yours if you want it. Do you like blueberry muffins?" he asked, holding up the bag.

For the man who made the impossible possible, then the already possible would be, like, extra possible. Plausible, even. God, Kaito was just endearing in the best ways, and Kokichi knew he was biased, but who the fuck cared? He loved his husband and was more than allowed to find him cute.

Kokichi gave a curious little hum, though, giving a half-lidded glance to the door before, unfortunately allowing Kaito to get up. And by that, Kokichi didn't move at all and just slumped bonelessly against the bed as Kaito got up. Still comfy... Though he did perk up a bit.

"Oh hell yeah. Shuu-chan's the best!" He returned a lazy wave to the detective, rolling onto his side to give Shuuichi a grin. "We had breakfast like...an hour ago, maybe, but muffin time is always a good time. Thanks!"

When Shuuichi had said he'd be visiting the pharmacy frequently, Kokichi hadn't thought that first thing in the morning the next day would be the sort of occurrence he'd go for, but to each their own--if that was even what Shuuichi was doing. Maybe after having a taste of town he'd decided to spend more time there instead of at the castle. Kokichi could definitely understand that feeling.

"Here, I got it. Thanks, man," Kaito said, giving his best friend a wide grin, taking the bag from him and bringing it over to Kokichi. "Try not to get crumbs everywhere, ‘kay babe?" he said, giving Kokichi a wink, before trotting back over to Shuuichi.

"Hey, can we talk outside real quick?" Kaito asked, stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind him, Shuuichi just looking at him, eyes wide, face...curiously blank. Not that Kaito really noticed as, not wanting to be out here too long in case Kokichi felt like maybe he was trying to hide something from him, Kaito quickly explained, "Hey, could you help me out with something? I got a letter from Byakuya, and...okay, so, obviously he has informants in the castle, right? No big deal, I figured he would. But, they're giving him a reaaaallly fucked up version of what's happening here, and...I just need to know who they are, okay? Do you think you could find that out? Especially before they get a chance to write about this?" Kaito asked, holding up his bandaged hand and grimacing. "Like, I'm worried they'll give him some weird version of events, like Kokichi fucking made this happen or something, and I just wanna talk to them too...Shuuichi? Are you okay?"

Shuuichi was...having a real hard time focusing on what Kaito was saying. His eyes wide, and his face now, just...bright red, as sweat started to pool at the line where his hat pressed against his forehead.

Kaito...smelled like sex.

Kaito smelled a LOT like sex.

Every word he said in Shuuichi's direction created a new waft of it, and...fuck. It wasn't the first time Shuuichi had caught Kaito in a somewhat compromising position like this, not by a long shot. There had been days where Shuuichi had specifically been tasked with figuring out whose random bedroom Kaito had found himself in this time and luring him back home. Shuuichi didn't mind. It...it hadn't bothered him or anything, but...

His stomach flipped. He could feel his mouth start to water.

It was...so bizarre. Shuuichi had gone his whole life with no sex drive to speak of. Oh, sure, he found people attractive, in, like...an aesthetic sort of way. And he could see the appeal in sex, objectively. But when it came to actually being attracted to people, like, on a physical level? It had just never happened to Shuuichi, and he had honestly gotten comfortable with the idea that it just never would.

...but...fuck.

Shit, Kaito was definitely saying something to him. God, Shuuichi couldn't stop...breathing him, if that made any sense. And the bandages on his hand...Shuuichi felt his blush turn even hotter, which was just so confusing. How could...how could such small doses of the despair pollen cause such...heavy reactions?? Was it the pollen? It had to be, right? This couldn't just be something that was always there...could it?? It was so intense, this just...need growing in him...

But Kaito!?

He needed to just...stop breathing in. That was the key. It was because Kaito smelled like this. It wasn't fair, how was Shuuichi supposed to...did Kaito always look like that? His eyes so...concerned and confused and...wait, what was happening?

Shuuichi blinked as Kaito suddenly put his hand on his forehead, staring at Kaito in bewilderment as he asked, "Sorry...what?"

"Shuuichi, I asked if you were feeling sick. You feel really warm, man, is everything alright?" Kaito asked again, tone worried as he turned his hand over, now checking his temperature with the back of his palm. "Maybe you should get some rest..."

Shuuichi shook his head, gently reaching up and pushing Kaito's hand aside. "No, no, I'm sorry, I'm fine. I just...got distracted. You asked me to find Byakuya's informants?" Shuuichi asked, piecing together the bits of Kaito's request he had managed to take in between the smell of him and the burning, foreign need in the detective's stomach.

"Uh...yeah. To stop them from informing him about my hand? At least until I could talk to them," Kaito said, not looking at all appeased as he said, "But, seriously, if you're not feeling well, I can ask Maki-"

"No, no, it's fine. I'm fine. Just overexerted myself walking around town. I can... I can find them for you," Shuuichi said, lowering his cap over his face as much as he could, just...trying to both hide his red face and maybe somehow block the scent coming off Kaito's breath. "You can count on me."

Kaito gave him a long, concerned look...before grinning. "If you say so, then...I believe you. Just, don't overwork yourself, okay? Thanks, Shuuichi."

Shuuichi nodded at this, mumbling something about how he hoped Kokichi enjoyed the muffin, and then walked off. Heading straight to his room.

Still concerned, but not wanting to doubt his friend, Kaito headed back into the room, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, what's good for, like...a cold or something? I think Shuuichi might have caught something out in town, and I wanna see if I can't get him something, I don't know, helpful brought up from the kitchen?" Kaito asked Kokichi, thinking maybe his husband might just know something like that as he crawled back into bed with him.

Kokichi rolled his eyes a little but didn't fire back as Kaito left to speak to Shuuichi in relative privacy. He hoped they both knew that they could talk about...whatever in front of him, but he also knew that sometimes you just wanted to speak with someone alone, and it had nothing to do with sensitive information. And especially with close friends.

So Kokichi didn't pay the whole thing much mind, and just scooted himself to the edge of the bed, taking one of the muffins out of the bag and taking a big bite. "Mmmmm..." he hummed, the flavor alighting on his tongue.

The top was slightly crunchy, granulated sugar covering the top and having crisped up slightly. The muffin itself was cakey and moist, only complemented by the sweet ooze of the blueberries scattered inside. That all to say, it was really delicious, and Kokichi swayed slightly from side to side in delight as he ate.

And, like the little sugar vacuum he was, Kokichi had finished off the muffin by the time Kaito returned, his news bringing a concerned frown to Kokichi's face. "Aw, that sucks... Um... Orange juice is good in general, and if his throat is bothering him, usually putting honey into some kind of, like, non-caffeinated tea is good. I dunno if Shuu-chan would want a meal so early, but the kitchens have always made me broth-based soups when I've gotten colds."

Hesitating slightly, but his concern winning, Kokichi added something else in. "If he went to Dr. Kimura's pharmacy this morning, he might've gotten something already? If he didn't...it might be worth asking someone in the med-wing about cold medicines, though, if he's just a little sniffly or something, I dunno how much help they'd be."

Kokichi scooted back alongside Kaito once more as his husband rejoined him in bed, giving his chest a nuzzle. "I hope Shuu-chan feels better soon... I hate that you guys keep getting hurt..."

"I don't even really know if it was a cold," Kaito admitted, absentmindedly kissing Kokichi's skull again. "He just looked red to me. Like maybe a fever. He said he was fine but...eh. I'll just keep an eye on him. More likely than not, if he is sick, Maki will notice and make him go get medicine anyway. And we're okay, 'Kichi. It was a weird couple of weeks, but it's all calming down now."

Kaito reached for his book again, his duties as a husband completed as best as could be expected right now. Kokichi was happy, he was taking care of the Byakuya issue, and Kaito was ready and available if his husband needed anything else. He felt himself relax, just...certain that there was nothing else he could do by this point.

He opened the book roughly to where he thought he had left off. Right. The dame with the jet-black eyes and the legs up to here had just tasked the detective (heh. It was funny to think of the detective as Shuuichi. Maybe if the dame became a femme-fatale, she'd be good stand-in for Maki?) with finding out what happened to her recently missing father, the local crime boss...hmm...so was she going to end up being a bad guy or...?

Kaito got to reading, but kept an ear open for Kokichi.

A fever... That would mean Shuuichi had caught something that had progressed to the point of giving him symptoms. Kokichi's immediate thought was that his shoulder had gotten a minor infection, but...they'd been around several healers, and it'd been almost two weeks since he would've gotten the wound. Maybe...it'd been healing alright but then he caught something? Shuuichi didn't seem the type to just ignore a healing injury, though, and it hadn't seemed like his shoulder had been giving him much trouble lately.

Then, maybe he'd just gotten a sunburn? It was bright out...but, coming from a warmer climate, the Luminaries were the last people he'd expect to get got by the sun. Also, the brim of Shuuichi's cap covered his face pretty well, so unless he'd been walking around with his head tipped back to the sky...

Kokichi sighed quietly and closed his eyes, trying to go back to his zen state. Waiting and watching was the best thing to do if Shuuichi said he felt okay. He didn't have to worry himself over this. Shuuichi and Kaito and Maki were okay! They would be okay. They would, because things were calming down, and not because of Kokichi's endless meddling.

Just. Relax.

Taking slow, deep breaths, Kokichi settled himself against Kaito's side and tried to let himself get back into the comfortable state of dozing in and out, taking advantage of what the bath and oil--and orgasm, honestly--had given him. And, with the odd affectionate hum here and there, he managed to do that.

Kaito settled in to read his book, which, again, he was struggling to quite get a good read on its tone. It was so beat by beat stereotypical, but, like, from multiple different genres?

Like, once the Dame started talking about her crime boss father, eventually the scene shifted to his perspective, and instead of writing like a noir, the style of the writing started to reflect, like, a gangster thriller, the crime boss's second in command (the guy was specifically described as small and with a baby face, and for the life of him Kaito couldn't picture anyone other than Fuyuhiko. He wondered how that guy was doing?) realizing it was some of their own people who probably betrayed the boss, and taking aside the suspects he thought it was for 'questioning', everyone holding bats and knives-

-

Head Secretary Tengan sighed, looking with some amount of disappointment at the four men in front of him, three guardsman and, sigh, one of the Secretary Administrative Assistants, who had been put on their knees when they had finally been caught and dragged back to him, in a different state of terror.

The administrative assistant, shifting to tuck his skirt beneath himself, was crying and shivering, a massive bruise on the side of his face and scrapes all over his legs, but was otherwise uninjured. He was staring straight at the ground, wringing his hands in front of his small chest, but occasionally looked to his left to glance worriedly at his comrades.

The two guardsmen to his left were in far worse shape than the assistant, because they had fought back so much harder, doing their damn best to pull away the two weaker members of their group from the arms of the followers who had eventually caught up to them. They could have escaped on their own, honestly...but if they had been thinking like that, they wouldn't have tried to bring the other two to begin with. Quite noble, really...

But it wouldn't have mattered. The caravans were in the middle of nowhere, avoiding all towns and habitats. The four boys could have run for days and not found any help.

So foolish...such a waste of strong recruits...

"Does...anyone want to try to explain themselves?" Tengan asked curiously, shifting comfortably in his seat. They had set up camp for the night, and his tent was large and quite cozy. The servants had filled it with all the spare pillows and beddings that quite a few dead people were no longer using, including the late Priestess Angie's large, ceremonial pillows, which Secretary Chisa was lounging on, hugging in her lap two children, Monaka, "The Mage", and Nagisa, "The Sage".

Monaka seemed thrilled, watching the spectacle with wide, engrossed eyes, and Nagisa...just seemed resigned. Having already seen worse than this in the relatively short time his whole world changed. Had stopped thinking about...well, everything, once his dad had been thrown into the fire. It was easier to just accept things...he wondered why they had bothered to run? What a stupid thing to do...

But, still, he winced as the small, feminine looking assistant started to cry harder as General Juuzo walked to Tengan's side, holding his large, deadly broadsword.

Seeing the general readying himself, the most beaten but determined looking of the guards squared his shoulders, looking directly to the general as he said, "Ishimaru needs a doctor. He barely eats, hasn't spoken since...since the bonfire, only moves where you lead him. He can't survive like this!"

The quiet, still guardsman to the assistant’s right said nothing to this. Just staring blankly into the distance.

The other beaten guardsman, not as brave as his comrade but clearly trying to be, stammered out, "I-it's me and Karlo's fault...we made the other two c-come with us. Like Karlo said...Ishimaru needs a doctor. A-and Chihiro didn't w-want to come with us...b-but we made him. He's being targeted by certain other p-party members. They're...th-they're really going to hurt him if he s-stays...please d-don't punish them for our decision..."

Michael was lying, and this caused Chihiro to cry harder. Chihiro had begged to come with them, when he realized they were going. He had been good friends with Mondo and Ishimaru, back when Mondo was alive, and he had been doing his best to take care of Ishimaru while he was in this state, but...there were a group of followers who had started fixating on Chihiro, enjoying how easy it was to overwhelm him and make him cry, and now without anyone to protect him...when Michael and Karlo had come to him, saying they wanted to try to make a run for it to get Ishimaru help, Chihiro had begged to come, even knowing he'd slow everyone down...

This...this was all his fault...the small assistant put his head in his hands and sobbed.

Tengan sighed, motioning to his servant, Nagito, to bring him a glass of water. Nagito moved quickly and cheerfully, just basking in the hope of the four runaways: two of them, even in the face of total, final despair, still holding on, trying one last desperate plea to save their two more hopeless friends...it was so beautiful. Such a grand display of powerful hope.

Two bad they were both garbage at it and were probably about to die anyway.

Well...it didn't matter how much hope you had if you were fundamentally worthless. Shame. Nagito waited patiently for Tengan to finish the glass before taking it back from him, moving back to his spot standing in attendance at the other side of the tent. Feeling incredibly lucky to get to witness this.

Tengan sighed. "What foolish young men," he mused, looking over to Chisa. "Secretary. He's one of yours, right?" he asked, referring to Chihiro. "What's his worth?"

"Not much," Secretary Chisa said cheerfully, Monaka giggling in her lap. "He shows relative promise for reliable paperwork, but has no future as a politician, if that's what you're asking. Too weak willed. Though, if we're talking about worth in Danganronpa's court, mmm...he is quite pretty?" she said with a pleasant laugh. "I'm sure quite a few people could have some fun with him."

Chihiro shook violently, leaning against Ishimaru, hiding his face entirely in his hands. No, no, no, no-

Ishimaru blinked...an almost invisible, but sudden, look of confusion on his face.

Tengan nodded. "Noted. General Juuzo? The other three are your men. I specifically asked you to control the guards. Or do I have to remind you what's at stake?" he asked, glancing over at Chisa.

Chisa, with a grin, suddenly wrapped her hand around Nagisa's neck...and squeezed.

General Juuzo watched, almost impassively, as the small child's face started to change a different color, the boy desperately trying to escape the Secretary's grip as he gaped, Monaka looking on in curious delight...and the general turned away, dragging his broadsword to Karlo and Michael. Staring down at them.

Michael stared at the ground, unable to face it. Karlo stared up at the general, clearly terrified, but trying to be strong. "Genera-"

"Bow," the general instructed.

Nagisa's throat was released. The child took several deep, pained breaths. Chisa held him close to herself.

Both guardsmen laid their arms out in a triangle, and their foreheads on the ground, trembling. Neither of them had anything else to say. They knew they were done. The only comfort they had was that they had at least died trying to do the right thing...

Atua bless them.

"Karlo Pérez, you are guilty of disobeying Head Secretary Tengan's orders to remain with the party, and are guilty of going awol in the face of duty. You are sentenced to death," the general said, talking quickly, mutely, not dragging this out any as he lifted his sword, and in a second, bore it down on him. Karlo screamed, for only for a moment, as the sword twisted in his back, his heart entirely severed, the man collapsing immediately. Beside him, Michael sobbed, curling tighter into a ball, as the general repeated the same thing to him, raised his sword-

Both guards were dead in under a minute. Secretary Chisa clapped, "Delightful! So efficient! Are we doing Chihiro next then?"

Chihiro wailed. Blinking again, Ishimaru turned to look at him. Confused.

Tengan considered the two final boys. "Mmmm...Chihiro. Let's make it up to you. Do you die now, and face oblivion? Or perhaps we should give you to the followers you seem so afraid of...let them get some use out of you before the end?" he asked with a gentle smile. "So at least you die with purpose, yes?"

Chihiro cried. He could barely think. He was so afraid.

Tengan listened to him weep and shrugged. "Ah well. General."

The general, resigned, dragged his broadsword to the small assistant. He wouldn't delay it. He'd make it quick. Relax, kid, it was all going to be over soon...

And as the general raised his sword, something flashed in Ishimaru's eyes...

...and Kiyondo suddenly snarled.

"Oh, FUCK THIS, bro!"

He moved quickly, grabbing Chihiro and pinning him against himself as Kiyondo backed towards the entrance of the tent. Two guardsmen, who had been watching this all quietly, both pulled out their swords as the man who had been Ishimaru ran at them, but Kiyondo wasn't daunted. He kicked at the arm of one of the guards, this caused his sword to swing upwards and to the left, catching the other guard by surprise in his throat, the woman only having a second to react in stunned surprise before the light went out in her eyes and she collapsed. Her fellow guard, in shock at what he had just been made to do, dropped his weapon, Kiyondo catching it and shoving it into his gut.

The other guard also collapsed with a scream, and Kiyondo pulled the sword out, aware that there would be more guards outside to deal with and that leaving the tent would just result in them both dying, so he turned back to Tengan, his eyes red with fire, his hair turning inexplicably white as his body was shocked through a sudden identity crisis as he shouted, in Mondo's voice, "Fucking tell everyone to BACK THE FUCK OFF or I'M TAKING EVERY ASSHOLE IN THIS TENT DOWN WITH ME! CHIHIRO IS MINE!"

Everyone stared at the maddened man in shock...except for Tengan, who leaned on his knees, a wide, excited smile on his face. He had seen a lot in his day. There wasn't a lot that could surprise him anymore. But the total transformation here...

"How...interesting," he mused.

-

Okay. So, the novel was now back on the hard-boiled detective, who was now officially investigating. Still no sign of the swordsman who would eventually be trying to rescue his daughter in the middle of the novel, but Kaito was willing to wait for the story to get around to him. For now, he was fascinated as the detective, investigating the abduction, was drawn deeper and deeper in the criminal underworld that the crime-boss was king of.

He was now interrogating two drug dealers, the two men clearly being written as sort of comic relief, seeing themselves as having a bigger place in the organization than they actually did. Kaito liked them, and kept finding himself chuckling at their lines. But, for how goofy they were, they clearly had a wealth of information, keeping their eyes and ears open for new opportunities to advance, and the detective could make use of that-

-

Shuuichi, having finished quickly, almost violently, rubbing one out, sitting in his bed half naked and still red and sweating, looked miserably at his jar of the pollen, which no one, not even Maki, had caught him collecting back in the forest all those months ago.

...it was...already half gone...

That was...that was probably a good thing, right? If he didn't have any left, then, well...he didn't have any left. He couldn’t keep taking any. And he kept telling himself he had to stop anyway. Knew that he should stop. The physical part of the experiment was over. His shoulder was completely healed. There was no use to continuing the experiment like this...

...he thought of what he had imagined, jerking off, and covered his face, ashamed of himself. Why...why had that image excited him so much? He didn't like the idea of Kaito hurting. He didn't get excited at the idea of Maki or Kokichi, helpless and afraid. He didn't like any of that. He didn't. Kaito especially. The man was his best friend. Shuuichi had spent his whole life watching out for him, and being watched out for in turn. This...this all felt so wrong...

...but fuck, even now, just thinking about it set a pool of excitement in his stomach.

Enough. Enough! Get dressed, take a walk! Stop...stop thinking of your friends like that! This wasn't like him. It was the stupid fucking pollen. It had to be!

...god how many doses of that did he have left what was he going to do when he ran out?

Stop it!

Shuuichi quickly got dressed, washing his hands and putting his cap back on before heading downstairs, nowhere in particular to go but just needing to walk. He wouldn't think about it. It didn't matter if he ran out of pollen. He was going to quit anyway. He wouldn't wait for the results from the doctor. He'd quit. He couldn't think of his friends like this...

...he wondered what Kaito had looked like, getting those cuts...

God damn it STOP!

As Shuuichi walked downstairs in the main hall, lost in his own head, he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him for the third time, looking up just in time for a heavy hand to tap him on the shoulder.

"Hey," Itch said, looking down at him curiously. "Aren't you that guy that was hanging out with Prince Kokichi yesterday? We missed you at the party, man. You know you were invited, right?"

Shuuichi gaped, surprised to just be...addressed. He wasn't like Kaito or Maki. He didn't stand out much, and people rarely approached him on their own. But, yes, he remembered this person. Shuuichi scratched his cheek, nodding. "Sorry, Itch, right? My name is Shuuichi, I remember you from yesterday. Uh, yeah, thank you for the invitation...parties aren't really my thing. What brings you to the castle?"

Itch shrugged. "My friends had a really good time with the princes yesterday, so I figured I'd come by and invite them to hang with us again. Ya know, be the ambassador, sort of thing. You seen them around?"

Shuuichi smiled at this. Look at that. They had made some friends at the party. That was...that was nice. Especially considering Kokichi...ah, but. "They're here, but Kokichi is getting some rest, and Kaito isn't likely to leave him while he is. Sorry, I doubt they'd be up to going out today."

Itch sighed...but shrugged again. "That's alright. Can always try again later. No big deal...what about you?" he asked, looking at the detective with casual curiosity, "You're a Luminary, right?"

Shuuichi frowned. "Uh...yes? How did you-"

"You got an accent. It's pretty subtle, but Luminaries hit their consonants harder than everyone else. Once you got an ear for it, you can always hear it. But that's cool. I was only asking because I'm curious. So you're new here too? You hanging with anyone yet?" Itch asked, the explanation coming out even and smooth. Entirely casual.

Shuuichi nodded, blushing slightly as he murmured, "Uh, y-yes. I mean, not...I haven't really gotten to know any locals yet, but me and Maki often hang out with the princes-"

"Maki that chick who was with you all yesterday? Didn't see her at the party either. Shame. She's real something to look at," Itch chuckled. "Be a bro and don't tell her I said that. I'm shit at flirting and absolutely can't back that up. One of those 'admire from afar' types. Anyway, if the princes are busy and you ain't hanging with no one, you should come hang with us. You can invite the chick too, if you want. Get to know some of us 'locals', ya know?"

"U-uh..." Shuuichi didn't know how to answer. Again, he wasn't used to being this...directly approached. He blushed bright red, hiding under his cap as he stammered out, "I-I would have to find Maki...I'm not sure-"

"If she ain’t around, she ain't around. She can meet us next time. Come on," Itch said, putting his hand companionably on Shuuichi's back, guiding him to the front door.

Shuuichi went with him.

-

Oh man...it looked like even the mayor was in on it! Well, that made sense to Kaito. Politicians usually had some hand in whatever the local crime families were doing. It kept things organized, and everyone was safer when the nobles and the politicians were working directly with the local crime families. That was partially why Byakuya had been so furious with him when Kaito had made such a bad first impression with Fuyuhiko, considering the baby-face gangster was being groomed to be the next drug lord for the capital city. Kaito still felt bad about that...but it had all worked out eventually. Fuyuhiko really wasn't that bad a guy...

His bodyguard was fucking terrifying though, and had never quite forgiven Kaito for his feud with Fuyuhiko, even after the two had buried the hatch. Kaito still got shivers thinking about her.

But, yeah, the mayor in the book was in bed with the crime boss. Not surprising by itself, but she was also, like, IN BED with the crime boss. Kaito was already guessing that the Dame from the beginning of the story, who had mentioned being adopted, was actually this woman's daughter. He wondered how it would affect the story? He wondered why the woman had refused to acknowledge herself as the mother? Maybe the crime-boss hadn't let her?

-

Byakuya was sitting through another one of his father’s tantrums in the war room, just...trying to be patient as the idiot threw another chair at the wall, right next to Byakuya's head. He'd be more offended, if he believed for a second his father was even bothering to watch where the debris from his destruction was going. Instead, the heir apparent just brushed some of the splintered wood off of his shoulder, waiting for his father to calm down.

Fucking moron.

"He sent them to embarrass me! That's what this is all about! That fucking selfish, vindictive, psychotic-" King Leon took out his dagger and started stabbing into the map, putting hole after hole into the Dicean Kingdom, face red and eyes wild as he shouted, "Why else would he say those things!? He wants to discredit my sons!? My representative!? Why, just to get one last dig in before the war ends!? Just wait, oh ho ho, fucking just wait! I'm gonna send a whole battalion right into that asshole’s-"

"You cannot send armed forces into Dicea only three weeks after signing a treaty with the kingdom, father," Byakuya said, feeling like this was the third time he had to explain this to his father in three weeks already. "The other kingdoms would disapprove...strongly. It would weaken our alliances and put our trades at risk, and also, you know...you sent your son there. Remember?" Byakuya said dryly, crossing his arms as he rolled his eyes. "Unless you'd like to turn Kaito into a prisoner of war, an armed response to this is simply not an option. Though, could I recommend again that Kaito be asked to return home...even if it’s framed as a visit, he'd be considerably safer on this side of the border if you truly wish to re-ignite-"

"Kaito would be fine," the King said dismissively, clearly not giving it any thought as he continued to glare at the map, his shoulders shaking as he just...imagined that fucker...snickering to himself in his stupid fucking robes. Mocking Leon. "Aiichi...that prick. He's always been like this. So fucking holier than thou, always spouting that fortune-cookie bullshit of his...I knew he was capable of a lot of shit, but spreading rumors and lies about my children? The sheer NERVE-"

Byakuya, who was only putting up with this because, again, he was trying to gently remind his father that one of those sons was, in fact, in danger, added in, "If you wish for revenge, there are quite a few unfortunate rumors surrounding Prince Kokichi that an official accusation of could embarrass the king...such as rumors regarding himself and your son-"

"Ya know what I'm going to do?" the King decided, not really listening at all to his heir, who just openly glared at him now. "Kimigashine owes us a favor, right? You negotiated that trade route between them and Novoselic, right, couple months back? They owe us. I'll contact...shoot, who's in charge of Kimigashine these days? King...??"