Kaito’s eyes turned upwards a little in amusement, rocking in the egg chair a little as he said in a small sing-song, “You thought your husband was a total fucking brat and loved me annnywaaaay~”

“You are a total brat.” Maki informed him.

“Yeah, but, like, worse~” Kaito grinned, still rolling his foot against the flooring to rock his egg chair, “My husband spoils me~”

“You are far too pleased by it by this point.” Shuichi sighed, though admittedly he couldn’t bring himself to be too annoyed. Seeing Kaito go from devastated, to sad, to embarrassed, to eventually get to a point where he had found something amusing or even worth bragging about from the whole thing? Shuichi wasn’t sure if the fact that Kokichi was apparently willing to support Kaito if he just randomly decided to turn his back on literally everyone and everything was something worth… bragging about. But Kaito had apparently emotionally gotten to that point, if the genuinely pleased look on his face was any indication.

Dr. Mariah gave them a small, grateful smile… before her face cooled into its usual neutrality, as she said, “So, Kaito. How does the title go… I know your title is ‘prince’, but you say that other thing sometimes…”

“Second son?” Kaito guessed.

Dr. Mariah nodded, “Prince Kaito Momota, second son of Luminary. I’ve assumed that’s meant to be a way to indicate you’re son of the reigning monarchs, but not the heir apparent? Or would you still be ‘second son’ if you had been heir?”

Kaito shrugged, “It’s a literal title, but you’re not wrong on the second part either. I’d still be the second son if I was heir, but no one would call me that. I’d be Heir Apparent, it’d be offensive to address me as the second son.”

Dr. Mariah tilted her head a little, “Offensive?”

Kaito blinked a bit, genuinely confused by the question… before his face turned red. Looking away and shrugging, “Not that there’s anything wrong with being the second son. It’s just a point of hierarchy. Heir-Apparent is higher in the hierarchy than the second son is.”

“I imagine it can be difficult, to be so directly compared in value to your brother, growing up.”

Kaito, again, shrugged, “No more than any family does it.”

Dr. Mariah shook her head at that a little, saying plainly, “No. Things like that are unique, when it comes to royal families. Your are given titles that indicate your value within the family at birth, which if they even have such a bias in the first place, can only be done informally in any family that grows up without birth titles. Beyond stereotypes that first borns are more responsible, there is no legal favoritism for families not being raised in that situation.”

“It’s, again, something that affects all of you. Another way this group is unique,” Dr. Mariah pointed out, looking to the rest of the group, “‘Heir-Apparent’ of Dicea, and in your both cases,” Dr. Mariah said, gesturing to Shuichi and Maki’s side of the Koi Pond, “Two emotionally contradicting titles. ‘Indenturdes’, which made you lesser, ‘Royal Apprentices’ which made you greater. All four of you have been constantly, since you were born, reminded of your value in an extremely explicit sense. In ways none of your peers have ever had to, though because of who you were raised around, how rare that is might be lost on all of you.”

And Kaito had thought him a ruthless monster and had stuck by him anyway. 

He was glad they had, of course, but…they weren’t good indications of what either one of them would put up with for the other. Allowing utter selfishness, or accepting mistreatment. He really was glad they cleared up that misunderstanding if just to confirm that those limits would never actually be tested, but…it still wasn’t great to know how far they’d stretch. 

As they got into some of the hierarchical semantics around Kaito’s upbringing, Kokichi hummed softly, nodding. “Right… It took me a little too long to really realize how genuinely seriously you guys take titles like that in Luminary. I knew there was some degree of politeness--like…I could tell that you weren’t genuinely trying to piss me off, calling me ‘your grace’ ‘n shit--but it took forever to wrap my head around someone actually getting angry to not get the “right” one.”

He sighed softly. “Looking back, Kaede was pretty nice not to tell me off right away when I got hers wrong. Even if I did preemptively apologize for cross-cultural snafus.”

Kokichi had frowned a little as Kaito compared his situation to “any family”, but Dr. Mariah caught that immediately, and broadening that uniqueness to all of them…

He sighed again. “I mean…maybe not when I was super little, but I figured out how singular my situation was when I was still a kid. It wasn’t, like, official-official until I formally took the oath, but…I did know that other kids weren’t expected to hold the betterment of our people on their shoulders.” A thought came, and Kokichi grimaced briefly. “...they didn’t have assassins come after them growing up either.”

Dr. Mariah sighed, nodding at that, “As I said in our very first session together: there are no couples like you. Perhaps in the most technical sense, historically, that wouldn’t be true. But in every way that matters to you, and to the therapists you can reach out to, including myself, and to the social systems you all can put into place? In every way that matters? Your situation is unique. Unprecedented.”

“Kokichi’s childhood was so much more dangerous than mine.” Kaito mused… before looking around to everyone, “All of yours were, really. I’m not gonna lie, you guys make me feel real soft, sometimes.” He grinned, “You're all badass’s.”

“I do understand why Maki’s childhood was dangerous, but Shuichi’s?” Dr. Mariah asked.

Shuichi sighed, “If you thought the difference between you going to prison or not, or even having assassins sent after you, was literally one or two people ‘accidentally’ falling down the stairs before they can finish their investigation, how tempted do you think you’d be? Every case file put in front of me gave me a new group of enemies. When I first started having to lead my own investigations? I couldn’t go anywhere alone, and Maki and Kaito practically had to act as full time guards.”

“It was fun~” Kaito grinned, squaring his shoulders, his expression a little delightfully fierce, “The fights were fun, the arguments were fun, and man, when they realized exactly who I was… that was fun too.”

Maki smirked at that. Feeling largely the same way about it. 

“I’m certain it was necessary, and that Shuichi was fortunate to have friends who so enthusiastically wanted to help. And Kokichi, I’m certain the castle had just as many opportunities to protect you, though I can’t guess how comforting that was or not–”

“Okay, but, seriously, they have that down.” Kaito mused, “You kidnap a guy a little bit and suddenly the whole castle is attacking, putting down your top assassin and throwing you down the stairs. It was wild! Very impressive.”

“Shouldn’t Kaito be talking about his family?” Shuichi gently reminded them all. 

Dr. Mariah smiled lightly, “We are.” She assured Shuichi. Not saying that she had made the mistake before, of forcing Kaito to stay on topic when he was talking about difficult things, and he had finished that session literally refusing to speak to any of them. She was always careful to balance it now, especially with him. 

Kokichi couldn’t really dispute that. Their childhoods had been definitely more physically dangerous that Kaito’s but…well, he couldn’t exactly say that they were more stressful. Just…shitty in different ways. Which, even with Kaito, Shuuichi, and Maki’s long shared history, made going through all of them a learning experience for each and every one of them. 

He could only shrug a little about how comforting it was to know how the castle had protected him in life. Kokichi couldn’t exactly say it was nice to know how many people would put themselves in the line of danger for him but…well, it had been comforting sometimes. Especially once he had grown from his fear of Katsuki, it was something that allowed him to sleep at night, knowing that no one else would scale the castle walls and sneak in through his window. 

Glancing over at Dr. Mariah with a small, amused smile, Kokichi took a breath to nod at Kaito. “Mm… Well, hierarchy has been a major point in our relationship… I guess I can’t really even begin to fathom how much more…impactful, I guess, it was for you growing up, hun.”

“I mean, it’s just who I was.” Kaito said. “Like, that’s what titles are. They’re you, summarized.”

“And that is precisely why it has so much effect on you, psychologically, that you believe that.” Dr. Mariah explained, “Especially in regards to, again, your brother. It can have an affect on you, and how people around you treated you, that between you and the child closest to you growing up, that it was engrained into you that you were the lesser valued one.”

Kaito’s lips thinned at that, something a little offended in his expression. “I wasn’t lesser.” He insisted, “My role was just different. And my role was to…” Kaito frowned, now looking a little more uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck. Considering how to word it, “...okay, admittedly, my ‘role’ got a bit confused, growing up. Historically, I should have been an ambassador. My job should have been to negotiate or confirm trades on the Momota families behalf, using the mobility that not being either the king or heir gives me. But I was never trained in anything like that. Actually, from the beginning, Kaede’s training was more like what I was supposed to be doing. Foriegn relations and trade knowledge and the socialite responsibilities of being an ambassador in the name of the family. Even before I gave up my claim, my education never really leaned towards it, and growing up in it I was never really sure why… just kinda accepted it, you know? Didn’t realize anything was wrong until I was mostly grown and looking around, like, ‘is this what I was supposed to be doing?’”

“What ended up confusing your role?” Dr. Mariah asked.

Kaito looked a little grim at that, before he sighed. “...Tengan. The Head Secretary. Though I’ve really only realized exactly how much it was him until now, this year. The Head Secretary was in a lot of ways the one who raised Byakuya and I. He was in charge of interviewing and hiring our tutors, approving our education, was responsible for the indenturdes who kept track of our schedules and arranged our day to day lives. And looking back on it, I think he had decided what my future was gonna look like from the beginning. I don’t think he could have guessed the whole ‘losing inheritance’ thing, since that really was mostly my own fault, but I don’t think he ever wanted me set up to be a politician, let alone one that traveled.”

“What role did he have in mind for you, then?”

“... just…” Kaito frowned, “... supporting Byakuya. In person, I mean. Not, uh… not going far. I think he was planning for me to be… emotional support. Or something.”

Titles, labels… Kaito’s definition really was what he believed, and all the stuff Dr. Mariah said was right. Though, for his own definitions…Kokichi found himself agreeing with Denji more, though that was probably because they had grown up together. Labels were a tool to try and succinctly convey aspects of yourself and how you felt to other people, since trying to explain fully could take more than what certain conversations needed. However…a lot of time those terms became overly distilled, and people created their own connotations, and thus using them became misrepresenting yourself. Inaccurate, stifled boxes you forced yourself to act within. Things probably better left to be vague umbrellas of lots of meanings to better form a community with. 

Kokichi still found use for titles, didn’t completely reject them like Denji, but…what words could ever do a living person and their experiences justice? 

Defining your identity around pre-made roles…he was right. Even if he could come to understand some of it, Kokichi would never really know what that was like. 

And then not even getting to act in that role, because of a…

Kokichi huffed softly, tensing his jaw as his expression darkened. He had known that Tengan just thought of Kaito as a plaything to delight in playing out cruel stories, but…from birth? From the very start, the old bastard had just…

Kokichi’s nostrils flared as he tried not to tense up his body so much. “...m glad that asshole’s dead.”

Kaito shot Kokichi an alarmed look… before his face softened. “No you aren’t.” He said gently, “But, I can appreciate that if someone would ever tempt you to be, it’s someone who would hurt me. I love you too, Kokichi.”

Kokichi shook his head softly, expression only growing more troubled. “...I believe that anyone can change for the better if you give them the chance and support to. But Tengan…he had power and support and the chance for fulfillment that a lot of people couldn’t even dream of, and every single chance he did whatever he could to make others miserable. Not even petty annoyances, but…working to bring people to the lowest points of despair possible.”

“...a person like that…doesn’t deserve to live. The person that killed him was right.”

Kaito felt his shoulders fall a little. He knew thoughts like that hurt his husband. Maybe a year ago he’d have reveled in Kokichi showing him that sort of love, but now… Kaito just didn’t like that Kokichi had to go through that. 

And if he felt any way about Tengan being killed, well… it wasn’t worth commenting o–

“Kaito misses Tengan.” Maki said blankly. “Sometimes.”

Kaito’s fists clenched into fists, shooting Maki a genuinely furious look. “Maki.”

“I’m not sorry.” Maki said immediately, “We’ve been talking about Kaito’s family for twenty minutes and he’s managed to say almost nothing about any of them. Kaito was raised to not tell people family drama, and all of them took advantage of his silence. The fact that he told me at all is because it was connected to something that he’s spent near a decade, circling the drain, wanting to tell me about. I don’t want him to spend another decade waiting for the courage to talk about his family to anyone else. Including Tengan.”

“Maki.” Dr. Mariah said, her eyes incredibly stern. Cold. “Take a walk. I don’t care where you go. Don’t be back for five minutes.”

Maki frowned at that… but glancing over at Kaito, seeing the anger in his face, she sighed. Standing up and, without another word, heading over to the stairs. Disappearing inside.

“...I…” Kaito grit his teeth, gripping the ends of the egg, the wood creaking his hands, “...I told her that in confidence…”

“And she shouldn’t have said it. Not until you were ready.” Dr. Mariah agreed, “Not the first time she’s done that, but I’m assuming by… well, honestly, by the taste radiating off of you, that this really wasn’t something you were ready for anyone to share. I’m sorry that happened, Kaito.” Dr. Mariah clasped her hands together, and said, “I wanted to send Maki away to not let her pressure you… we don’t have to discuss it. We can pretend nothing was said, when she returns.”

Kaito let out a little, frustrated breath. “...dammit, Maki…”

Kokichi’s eyes flicked to Maki in shock. Not so much for what she said--even if Tengan was perhaps the worst example of a living being Kokichi could even conceptualize, only not claiming that spot in absolution because Junko Enoshima existed…well, Kaito had just said it. Tengan had been the person to raise him. Even if he was horrible, Kaito had still sought his approval, and Kokichi knew how…bitter and empty Kaito had felt, not getting any sort of true ending or catharsis or even an off-handed farewell when he had left with the Luminary party. 

No, it was the sudden shock of hurt rage from Kaito that clued Kokichi in more than anything that…Maki really shouldn’t have said that. That it had been a trusted secret between them. And even if Kokichi really could understand Maki wanting to push through the barriers Kaito had when it came to talking about just how shitty his childhood actually was…there was only so far you could push someone before that just became another thing to hurt them. 

Kokichi let out a slow sigh, trying to drain out his previous anger before looking over at Kaito in concern. “...I mean…yeah. If you weren’t ready to tell us…or even if you were, and Maki-chan just… I won’t push something like that.”

“...” Kaito looked troubled, and to the supernaturals on the roof, how he felt about it would only reinforced his troubled look. That had genuinely thrown him for a loop, had blindsided him. Not even necessarily because of the Tengan comment, but because… Kaito had confessed things to Maki that night. Things that filled Kaito with a cold terror, thinking she might just as casually drop those on the group too.

(Why had he told Nao?)

… Kaito frowned at that thought. Staring at his knees, trying to work that out in his head. Knowledge of what he had done as a child, of people knowing, genuinely filled him with terror… but he had told Nao. Nao. It wasn’t actually the first time he had told anyone, though the number was still, what… four? Including Maki? Togami was… dead. And the second person hadn’t known who Kaito was. Kaito so anonymous in that moment that he had felt comfortable enough to share it, and had desperately wanted to again, by that point, his time with Togami long gone and Kaito desperately needing reassurance about it.

Togami, a stranger, Nao, then Maki…

Why had he picked Nao before Maki?

Before anyone?

“...y-you know…” Kaito whispered. Still staring at his knees, “...the last thing he ever said to me was that I made my father proud.”

Taking another little breath, the sound a little wet, Kaito didn’t look up from his knees, as he continued, “I thought for a long time that the fact that he left without a word to me was just him being cruel again. Maybe wanting to reinforce to me how little I mattered. That I wasn’t even worth a goodbye… and then after a while? I thought maybe that was how he was being… kind? Because there really isn’t, like… a nicer thing he could have said. Like maybe it was meant to be a kind gesture that he didn’t want to ruin…”

Kaito closed his eyes, “...but that’s just me reaching for something that isn’t there. I’m always reaching for something that just… isn’t there. Because, like… that might have been the last thing he ever said to me, but it wasn’t the last thing he ever did. Did he have to touch me? Like that, as he said it? Did he have to do that, in front of fucking… everyone? Maybe no one else would have thought twice about it, but he knew how uncomfortable that made me, he knew it’d make me nervous and embarrassed. And then, like… I know no one ever proved it, but I’m convinced he was in on the aphrodisiac. I’ll never be able to prove it. But I’m convinced.”

“So, last words? Hey! Your fathers proud of you! Great!” Kaito said, grinning a little, though his eyes were glassy, “Last actions? Just a little, ya know… ha. T-trauma and sexual abuse! For fun! Because it apparently hadn’t been for anything else… just for fun. And…” Kaito’s eyes deadened a little, “That’s only the stuff I can remember, apparently–”

“Am I allowed back?” Maki asked, opening the door. 

Dr. Mariah’s expression went cold again. “Maki. I hope I’ve stressed enough through this how unacceptable what you just did, was. You may sit back down, but I caution you to not try a stunt like that again. That isn’t what support looks like.”

Kaito was less mad now, but he still shot Maki a wary look. They’d probably talk more about it later, between them.

Kokichi’s concerned expression remained, feeling the brushes of Kaito’s troubled (betrayed, afraid, angry, low) feelings like wavering flames. Not in that they were warm feelings by any stretch of the imagination, but in how they moved. Kokichi wasn’t trying to look right at the fire, but…he couldn’t ignore that it was there. 

And unless he truly worked to shut everything out…some things slipped through. And if Kaito’s feelings weren’t warm and fuzzy before, the small slip of thought chilled Kokichi to the bone, making him freeze and look at Kaito in alarm. 

…he’d told Nao? 

Kokichi didn’t even know what it was that Kaito had told her, but that deep, personal secret that sparked such raw feelings of betrayal when Maki had even brushed against it…

Something curdled in his stomach. Why should he even be surprised. She’d seemed so much smaller since, but…she really hadn’t changed at all, had she. Always prying into people’s lives to get a peek of…of…of fucking new content to shock and disgust readers. She couldn’t even just leave their family alone. 

Looking back up at Kaito as he laid out his heart felt like surfacing his head from under swamp water, but Kokichi’s expression couldn’t help but soften, his heart aching nonetheless, even with the new wound that sparked more anger than sorrow. 

“...as much as I hate him, and I’m…glad that a person like that no longer exists…” Kokichi sighed softly. “...I do wish you could’ve gotten something from him, before the end. That he had something worthwhile to give. I would offer to show you what happened the night we got him out of your head, but…I think it might just make you feel worse.”

Kaito sighed, rubbing at his temples a little, “I… I don’t know. I’ve never even considered asking you for those memories. Not that they don’t sound incredible, for what you did for me, but… I mean…” Kaito huffed. Running his hands through his hair, looking frustrated, “...I’ve never asked. But honestly, I think it’s because I already know. Like, knew the second you said he was spending time in there, but, like…”

Kaito huffed. Crossing his arms and looking exasperated, rolling his eyes. “Let me guess. Weird sex shit. Right?”

Kokichi shrugged, his lips twisting. “A bit. But…mostly gross power fantasy and ownership stuff. And just…like he thought he was so smart, planning to have this whole…comic book-type fight with me, always being a step ahead while taunting.” Kokichi deflated, his gaze lowering. “...like the fact that we were in your head meant nothing, and it was all just…some personal playground.”

Kokichi let out a despondent sigh. “...I think he’d noticed we were there as soon as we landed, but…the thing that actually made him pay attention…that I purposefully used to be a distraction…was weird sex shit.”

“...I’m sorry, Kai-chan,” Kokichi said softly. “...I don’t think I’ve ever apologized for using you like that.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow at that… before chuckling. “Okay, those memories I would want.” He said with a small grin. Before rolling his eyes again as he said, “And I don’t care, whatever he did. I mean, well, no, I do care, but like…” Kaito shrugged, though there was a small bead of sweat on his forehead, “I don’t remember what happened. If he was doing stuff in my head that didn’t affect anything? Then… what does it matter?”

Dr. Mariah’s thin eyebrows pinched together, “It matters because you never asked what happened, and assumed he was sexually abusing you. And this was the man who raised you.”

“Circumstantial evidence.” Shuichi murmured, “...I’ll allow it.”

Kaito rubbed at his joints a bit, though his expression was still just tense. Exasperated. Like this was barely worth talking about, as after a moment he explained, “The guy had this thing for purple eyes. He was fucking always mentioning them, pointing them out, making these little, like, metaphors about them… and he’d do this thing where he’d rub his thumb, like, here.” Kaito huffed, tapping against the edge of his eyes, “When I was little, I thought it was a paternal gesture. I didn’t fucking know any better… when I got older, it became more and more obvious to me that it, and a lot of other little gestures he made with me, while nothing specifically sexual, weren’t harmless either. Like, it all added up.”

Dr. Mariah frowned… before she sighed a little. Looking a little irritated with herself.

…of course. Gods dammit, but of course. Of course his relationship with sex hadn’t started with his sexual history. Gods, it was literally a stereotype, but it was one of those stereotypes in the psychology field for a reason. Of fuuuucking coooourse it had been familial authority figure in his childhood. From what it sounded like, the societal equivalent in Luminary of ‘The Creepy Uncle’. Oooooof fuuuuucking cooooourse– “Kaito, I can understand why you’ve had difficulty discussing this. It’s a personal topic for anyone. I feel like I need to ask, have you started talking about this with Miss Crystal?”

“...” Kaito seemed to take a breath to explain himself, go into detail about what they had discussed… before he deflated a little. Saying stiffly, “No.”

Well…Kaito did sort of have that part of the memories. From the times Kaito had talked about tyrant!Kokichi, it didn’t seem like he remembered the first part, him showing Kokichi around Luminary, but the daydreams had persisted. But the rest of the stuff… 

Kokichi frowned. Just because Kaito couldn’t remember it didn’t mean it didn’t affect anything. In fact, Kokichi was pretty sure Tengan’s interference affected a whole hell of a lot in Kaito’s life, and not just from making sure his conditioning wasn’t slacking any. And even the less tangentially related things, like Dr. Mariah brought up…

Grimacing as Kaito brought up…Tengan’s fucking fetish… 

He knew it was some weird sex thing. They’d known that for ages. Hell, Kokichi had known before he’d really known, with all the creepy comments Tengan had made toward him in person. But knowing that…that Tengan had ruined Kaito’s life, had tried to pervert everything he could during their wedding…was ‘cause he liked a fucking color?!? It was already disgusting knowing he’d just done it for fun, but…

Huffing, Kokichi tipped his head down and pressed a knuckle into the center of his forehead, spreading his other fingers along his browline. Just…trying not to blow up. So by the time he looked back up to Kaito, he just looked…tired. “...do you think you’ll wanna talk to anyone about it?”

Kaito frowned, both at the question and also slightly in concern at Kokichi’s obvious agitation. Kaito was no empath, but that didn’t mean he still couldn’t practically feel the weight of this on his husband, and briefly Kaito regretted saying anything at all. Who cared if Tengan had an eye fetish, could get kinda creepy and touchy and had seemed to delight in the way Kaito squirmed uncomfortably around him, he had never actually done anything–

But he had. He had done things, and that wasn’t even counting the monstrosities that had happened to the Luminary Party. The damaged onyx ring Kaito was idly wearing around his left thumb twisting in slow circles between his fingers, Kaito fiddling with it. Physical proof of Tengan’s atrocities, when before Kaito had really only had reports and rumors that no one had wanted to talk to him about in detail, and that he had never sought more information about. The aphrodisiac that had been slipped into Kokichi’s drink that Kaito was certain was Tengan’s fault. Why had they even had aphrodisiacs?? Had Tengan and Chisa literally brought that damn drug across three country borders to just fuck with them? Had they made it along the way? Bought it? When?? Why???

Pointless cruelty, and not the first time Tengan had been pointlessly cruel, in that regard. Kaito could recognize it was pointless, now. He and Byakuya having a relationship like that would have never made his brother ‘happy’, or ‘unstressed’. His brother had never been the type at all, let alone the type to lean that way towards his own family, when it came to sex. Byakuya relieved stress mocking people and yelling and forcing everything to come under control. He didn’t sleep with people to relieve stress. There had been nothing in their childhood to suggest he would.

…and even if he had, it still would have been pointless. Kaito was… he still struggled with that, but he was starting to realize that maybe even if it had eased Byakuya’s stress, that still wouldn’t have been good enough. 

Kokichi asked if he wanted to talk about it, and Kaito glanced at Maki, who looked impassive. Then he glanced at Shuichi, who seemed… tentative. Tired, a slight furrow in his eyebrows, like he had something on his mind. Kaito wondered what his fiance was thinking. He had depended on him so much growing up, his clever fiance…

Why had he told Nao?

“I think I want to, yeah.” Kaito admitted softly, “Talk about it, I mean. But… it’s just ugliness and there’s nothing anyone can do about any of it now. And it wasn’t as bad as… nothing happened to me. It was just weird. It was all just a bunch of weirdness.”

Maki’s expression hardened at that, but maybe out of respect for the fact that she was already on thin ice when it came to callouts, she didn’t say anything. 

Kaito frowned, looking to Kokichi… before he said earnestly, “I don’t have to talk about it. Nothing even happened, and I know you hate this stuff, and I can talk about it to Miss Crystal, and… this doesn’t have to be your problem? You know?”

Shuichi chuckled lightly at that. Hearing an echo of himself saying the same thing in desperation to Kokichi. That the pregnancy ‘didn’t have to be his responsibility’. Maybe they both showed favoritism to Kokichi. Or maybe both of them still struggled to judge Kokichi’s ability to handle things. Who knew. It felt baffling to hear it come out of Kiato’s mouth though.

He tried not to let it show, but Kokichi’s eyes still widened in slight surprise as Kaito…said he wanted to talk about it. Kaito never wanted to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about it so much that he said there wasn’t actually anything to talk about. And while Kokichi always wanted to make sure Kaito knew his feelings and views and health were important…he understood that. Kokichi didn’t want to know because of his own curiosity, though at some points for some things that had been a factor. Kaito just deserved someone to talk to. It didn’t have to be “now” and it didn’t have to be him, but…his husband deserved so much more than to be left in silence. 

And while Kaito was still prefacing everything as that it was just “weird” and “nothing had happened”...now he wanted to talk. Kokichi wouldn’t insist that it had to be him, but…

Kokichi shot Kaito a lightly annoyed look. “Hun…you’re my husband. It is my problem. Even if I’m not the person you want to talk about it with, even if there’s nothing I could ever do about it, it’s still my problem, because you’re my problem. Choosing to care about each other means that everything about us is each others’ problem.”

His expression softened slightly. “...if you don’t want to tell me…I can accept that. As long as you have someone to confide in, then…that’s something I can accept. I’d want more for you, because I think you deserve the world, but…it’s not about my comfort or my curiosity. It’s about you getting the support you deserve.”

“...it makes me really happy you do have people that you want to talk to…but it doesn’t have to be me.” Kokichi tilted his head slightly. “So…would you like me to go, for this discussion, or…can I support you too?”

Kaito wrung his hands a little, that question bluescreening him a little. What did support even look like? In this context?? He was just gonna start talking about stupid bullshit and, what?? His family was going to get horrified and sad or… something?? Something, something, something, who knew, who knew, grossed out, maybe a little grossed out, something something something something judgy because if anyone thought about his situation for five seconds they’d notice all the ways he could have just helped himself something something something something something something realized how fucked up he actually was how his obsession with sex was more than ‘quirky’ how badly he had wanted to be useful how he had never been able to let it go and how weak that made him and something something something something something who knew who knew who knew–

“He’s right,” Maki said idly. Shrugging a little as she leaned against the side of her egg, “Kaito, I mean. It was something, but it was only, you know… ‘weird’. Not a big deal, really.”

Dr. Mariah narrowed her eyes, about to say something short to Maki when she was interrupted by Kaito’s sudden wide-eyed, barking laughter. Kaito startled into laughter before he covered his mouth, looking sheepish, as he gave Maki a look that was both amused and grateful, “Maki. You’re going to make them question your judgment, man.”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Fine, if it is a big deal, it’s still just on Tengan. Kaito didn’t do anything that was a big deal. Maybe a bit weird, but nothing else really.”

Kaito gave another barking, nervous laugh at that… before he felt a little crazy. How could he not say anything after all of this? He didn’t want to. He wanted to run and pretend this conversation never happened. He hated this. He hated this so much. 

…why had he told Nao?

“Um…” Kaito huffed, looking away, as he muttered, “God, this is too much buildup over nothing. I can be overdramatic, sometimes… stupid… okay, so!” Kaito said brightly, looking at the group again. A new energy to him as he said with a grin, “Okay, so… so… so…”

“Kaito, would it help if I asked questions?” Dr. Mariah asked, “Guided a bit?”

Kaito blinked, looking a little befuddled for a moment, “...um, sure? I mean, it helps with everything else we talk about. I’m worried this is too much buildup over what won’t be even much of a conversation though. There’s not a lot to talk about.”

“Let’s just talk about what there is to talk about then.” Dr. Mariah suggested gently, “You said you were aware that Tengan saw you differently then others, and that it was to do with your eyes. Can you recall the first time you made that connection? The day you first realized something was happening?”

“Um, can I remember… can I? I mean, I was young, I think, it’s hard to remember when I didn’t know that… oh!” Kaito’s eyes lit up, “Oh, yeah. I do remember this. My, uh… my brother had just convinced me that I was adopted, because I had eyes different from the rest of the family. I’m the only one with purple eyes. Kaede was the only one closest to me, her eyes are this bright pink that, like, I think is just a lighter version of her moms dark red eyes, and… I got confused. I started arguing that my eyes were like our cousins, that Kaede and Aunt Ibuki both had purple eyes and…”

Kaito paused, recalling the memory. Certainly some of it was exaggerated or entirely made up, he had been young when this happened. But in his recollections, “Tengan was listening to us argue, because me and my brother were pretty regularly taken to him when we started having big fights. He was kinda our disciplinarian, for a long time. And he heard me make that argument and he kinda… he was sorta mad? But in a condescending way. He made me come over and we looked in a mirror together and he put my face in his hand and kept forcing me to look myself in the eyes while he explained in detail all the ways my eyes were different… and after a while he started complimenting them. Saying I should be happy with my eyes, and my brother just had to stand there and watch us do this for a while, and it went on for like… a really uncomfortably long time… it kinda stopped the fight for a little while, long enough for me to ask someone else and get guided to look up some basic genetics book, but for the rest of that day Byakuya and I were too, like… awkward. To talk to each other. It had felt like something had happened.”

“...but it hadn’t. Nothing happened.” Kaito said, “It had just felt weird. But as far as I can remember that was kinda the start of it. Or, the start of me noticing it.”

Kokichi started to falter, feeling the whirlwind of disjointed anxiety building in Kaito. They were the sort of feelings that Kokichi had originally anticipated right before what he thought was going to be Kaito’s abject refusal to talk. But then Maki cut in and…

Oh. She knew all of it, didn’t she. 

Honestly that made Kokichi feel a lot better. Kaito wasn’t alone in this, he had confided in someone that had listened. And…well, there probably still wasn’t anything to do, but…well, Maki just said it. Confirming that it wasn’t anything that Kaito did. And whatever it was that had happened…Kokichi knew that Maki wouldn’t tolerate Kaito letting the past carve into him, wearing his self away. Whatever response she had, he could be confident in that. 

But they had all decided to have this conversation and…Kokichi couldn’t say it wouldn’t make him feel better to have Kaito confide in them too. Maki was enough…but he was a little busybody. 

The…illuminating incident as it were…wasn’t anything mind-jarring. It seemed like the sort of thing that Tengan had pulled in Dicea too. It was just, yanno…

Worse. Coming from the person who was raising you, to a young child.

Kokichi really hadn’t wanted to comment, knowing how much it could just derail Kaito, but as his brows furrowed and lips turned down, it felt like words were tumbling from him without his consent. “...unwanted compliments, especially towards your body, aren’t nothing.”

Kaito, at that, gave Kokichi a small, somewhat wane smile, as he gave Kokichi a small wink, “It’s kinda my bread and butter, babe~”

“Unwanted compliments.” Shuichi stressed. “It sounds like Tengan was leering at you. Not only that, but in front of Byakuya, making things uncomfortable between you two. Both Kokichi and Maki are right: that’s not nothing… but the way you were involved in it is simply weird. I know for a fact that I’d struggle to know how to react to that situation as an adult, I’d be clueless how to respond as a kid.”

“Yeah? Yeah, well… I mean, yeah.” Kaito admitted with a small shrug– something easing in him lightly– as he said, “I mean, I know that. Like I said, I knew things were off, but… I guess what I want to stress is that he never touched me like that. I never got undressed around him or anything like that, like, nothing physically happened.” 

“Kaito.” Shuichi asked gently, “... how conditioning works is that the person needs to be traumatized in some way before the conditioning can take hold. Broken down and rebuilt.”

“...”

“Leering doesn’t break a person. Or, it doesn’t break you.” Shuichi said, “So, what did?”

Dr. Mariah tasted the air, and said, “That’s not something you have to answer, Kaito. It’s a bit of a pointed question, really–”

“Maki and I can’t remember what happened to us.” Shuichi said softly, “But they hid us away in facilities no one was allowed to go to, to do it. Timothy doesn’t remember what  happened to him either. Sometimes I think maybe that was by design. Maybe the empaths there, in impossible situations, really had offered us the only kindness they could. They took the memories away. Or maybe they didn’t and it was a coincidence. But either way, the story of Tengan conditioning Kaito through stress games seemed… unrealistic.” he looked over to Kaito, his cool, golden-gray eyes sad, but probing, “The idea that Tengan would make Kaito forget is also unlikely.”

Kaito licked his lips lightly. His eyes distant and far away, now playing with the ring on his thumb again. His fingers just keeping busy. Better than wringing his hands into pretzels, anyway. “...they were stress games. But, like… things happened, if I lost.” Kaito suddenly deflated. Looking genuinely exhausted, as he said, “I always lost. God, I tried so damn hard to win, sometimes… and other times I just played, going through the motions. Knowing I was going to lose. After a while, you just kinda have to accept you’re going to lose. I don’t know if they were, but sometimes it felt like the consequences for losing weren’t as bad, if I stopped trying so hard to win. Maybe that was just me rationalizing to myself, in retrospect I can’t recall them being all that different from each other. It’d be things like… like there was this one stick that was kinda cut weird. Made a whistling sound. Left these thin red welts that hurt like hell, but they didn’t leave bruises. Um, I remember I had to stand really close to the fire for a while. My legs got all red, hands too… uh…” Kaito looked more tired as he continued to recall the stress tests, “I remember I thought they were going to drown me once. They didn’t, I never even went into the water, they just had this big bastion of water in front of me and kept asking me questions and I was just, like… freaking myself out, waiting to see what they’d do with the water. I was convinced they were going to push me in, I just kept waiting for it… never happened. I was just told to leave after a while. Had nightmares for days about them dunking my head anyway.”

Dr. Mariah tilted her head slightly. Her face impassive, if somewhat gentle. “Tengan was allowed to do these things to you? To harm you with a stick and hold you to a fire?”

“Oh, no, he never did anything.” Kaito recalled, “Byakuya did everything. Tengan just watched.”

Dr. Mariah’s face flickered a little, a small, tight frown… before she sighed. “Many… Many pedophiles try to get around their crimes by having children harm each other, rather than harm them directly. To not make light of what happened to you, Kaito, but it does sound a bit like Tengan used the opportunity of having you both alone so often to… substitute Byakuya, for things Tengan would have liked to do himself. Did he ever touch himself, during these?”

“No.” Kaito said immediately. His shoulder defensive, eyes widening a little as he insisted, “I would have told someone something like that. Even I’m not that stupid.”

“You’re not unintelligent at all, Kaito.”

Just because Tengan had never touched Kaito in a sexual fashion didn’t mean nothing physical happened. And Tengan didn’t even have to touch him. And the fucking games… They’d had conversations about them before, about how they weren’t really games, since games were meant to be won, but…Kaito had never told him what the ‘punishments’ really were. And…Tengan burning him, using a switch, psychologically tormenting him…

And it was Tengan, it wasn’t Byakuya. Even from that small stint in Byakuya’s mind, Kokichi knew that he did think it was him…but also the bigger truth, that he had just been another victim. That it was all psychological with Byakuya, that he had been forced to inflict torture unto his brother lest he recieve it himself, in a vague threat, and…they had been children. It shouldn’t have been up to them to form a rebellion. 

And then…

“You’re not stupid!” Kokichi spat out, his cheeks flushed with anger. “It’s not your fault, or in your hands at any moment for being a victim to a sick fuck! Tengan didn’t have to touch you, e-even if he still did in the way none of you would notice!”

Kaito flinched slightly. Not because it was Kokichi, but just… it was a tough conversation. Kaito wasn’t in the best mindset to do things like ‘not flinch’. Kaito couldn’t help but stare at Kokichi, appraising him, trying to figure out how angry he was and what Kaito needed to do about it… before he caught what he was doing and grinned lightly. “I know, babe… or, well, no. I guess I don’t know that, but, like… it sounds obvious, when you say it like that. It’s just hard to think it.”

“Kaito?” Shuichi asked. Fiddling with his hat a little, that thoughtful look still on his face, “... can I ask?”

Kaito paused… before he said, “Oh, is that the whole question?”

“Sorry,” Shuichi smiled lightly, though like the bastard he could be he continued without asking again, “...I sort of missed what happened, a year ago. By the time Maki and I had returned, I think you had decided you weren’t going to talk about it, so I only ever heard second-hand rumors. The Dicean Ambassadors found proof of abuse against you and Byakuya, enough to present it to your parents officially. It was Tengan’s abuse, correct? Do you know what evidence they found? Were other people involved?”

“Oh, god, you know what… I still don’t know.” Kaito said dryly. A touch of exhaustion in his eyes as he confessed, “I never asked. My correspondence with home has been reeaaaal spotty. The only people I talk to are the folks who, boy, love to monologue at me and tell me what I ‘already know’.” Kaito sighed, rolling his eyes a little, “Really should just reach out to some of my friends and ask what the fuck is happening over there, especially when it comes to discussions about me. I have no idea what they found… but I mean.” Kaito shrugged, “We were little kids, not super secret agents like you two were. We sucked at keeping secrets. I was young, my nannies and servants saw me without my clothes all the time, they could see the marks on me. Tengan never told us to lie about it, and Byakuya… didn’t. It just didn’t seem to matter. I think most people dismissed it as spars getting out of hand and anyone who knew it was more, like… I dunno. I thought people knew when I was a kid, and no one talked about it. One of those ‘understood’ things. I used to think… and I think I’ve told you this, Kokichi, and no doubt you both too, at different points, but I just assumed everyone knew each others secrets already and just didn’t talk about it. So every time I caught someone in a lie, I just assumed they knew I knew and I was supposed to pretend I hadn’t.”

“Did your parents know?”

“...” Kaito hesitated, “...kinda. Maybe.”

“What does that mean?”

“...” Kaito sighed, a frustrated sound, as he ran his hand through his hair, “...I mean… at least later, they did. I sorta thought they knew the whole time and approved. I didn’t think Tengan could get away with doing that stuff without approval. And then, like… Byakuya told them and… I mean… fuck, I don’t know. I lied. And I thought they just pretended to believe me.”

Kaito said that all quickly. Almost idly… and then it was like a sudden weight had been lifted off his shoulder as he stressed, “I lied. I lied. Byakuya tried to tell them and they asked me if it was true and I lied. And they let it go! Like, if I hadn’t… lied. It was getting bad, guys, it was getting so bad. Byakuya used to have fun with it, but Tengan pushed it too far, pushed me too far, and I…”

Kaito hesitated. Tripping up there… “...sometimes the punishments were I had to act certain ways. It was just meant to embarrass me, I thought. I had to… it was a lot of kneeling and sitting at their feet while they talked like I wasn’t there. Tengan loved that one. Sometimes he pet my head… we had these private sessions where I had to stay knelt at his feet and he told me about how hard things were going to be for Byakuya. That as his brother, my job was to help him, and I wasn’t very smart, or very good at anything, and really I wasn’t very good for… I was… he never said it specifically. He only said it once, that I was only good for… things like blowjobs and stuff. He only said it once. And Byakuya put a stop to everything the second he did. My brother…”

Kaito's eyes turned red. Eyes swelling and shimmering as he grit his teeth and closed his hands into fists, staring blankly at the koi fish pond, “... my brother wasn’t a good person. He didn’t treat me well. But he did love me. At least once… he stood up for me… he wasn’t going to let that happen. He made Tengan stop. I just… if nothing else. Byakuya did that…” Kaito closed his eyes, his cheeks red and wet, as he insisted softly, “I’ve always had my own fucking reasons for loving him. It wasn’t always just… mindless. He protected me when I needed him. No one else did that. Just him.”

Shuichi winced at that. Looking away.

Kokichi sighed softly, trying to let his anger steam out and away from him. He was allowed to be angry at the injustices of his husband’s past, but he wasn’t allowed to let those feelings burn his family in the present. They could get a little heated, Kokichi couldn’t think of anyone just sitting placidly through this conversation, but they still needed to keep some presence of mind. Listen and acknowledge Kaito. But don’t make it about your own rage. 

…he didn’t know what the allegations were either. He had been sick and in recovery when the initial reports came in, and once he had been in a place to find out…even if he hadn’t understood it, he could see how hurt Kaito was even by the words. Kokichi had already been pushing so much in those days, it just…seemed needless to search after something that would bring that horrible expression back on Kaito’s face. 

He had known that they’d been about the “lessons”, though. Reports of abuse towards Kaito and Byakuya from Tengan. And…well, now knowing what happened, Kokichi could guess at what was in those reports, even if he had no idea how the ambassadors had found proof. What any of their informants had even been able to provide. 

…all he knew was that Luminary wasn’t like Dicea. And that those reports, which would’ve resulted, in Dicea, in a huge top-level court case against Tengan and deep-level investigations into other castle-related caregivers, along with anyone who might’ve known about the abuse…didn’t mean anything but an embarrassment to be swept under the rug in Luminary. Just more rumors to Kaito’s already flighty reputation. And less goodwill between their nations. 

And for the people who really had known…

Kokichi closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was “love”, that he’d describe Byakuya’s rebellion as. Maybe the man doing the right thing for once in his life. Maybe finally seeing Tengan truly for the monster he was, and refusing to take orders from such a thing anymore. (And then, when nothing happened…seeing the power that the monster had, and committing himself to the same path.) But…

“...even Byakuya could see what a…garbage waste of atoms Tengan was,” Kokichi said softly. “For all of my issues with him…that’s been one thing we’ve both agreed on from the start. I just…”

Kokichi sighed, looking more tired than angry now. “...it shouldn’t have mattered if you lied or not. It shouldn’t have taken sexual harrassment for your brother to stop seeing tormenting you as “fun”...even if it wasn’t his fault for seeing tormenting you as “safe”. From all the comparatively “little” things you did tell your parents about being uncomfortable around Tengan, to all the ways he was publicly dismissive of you, that should’ve… You were failed, Kai-chan. You and Byakuya both were.”

Kaito gave Kokichi a wary, teary look, before he looked away. Rubbing his fingers over his eyes, half-hiding himself as he muttered, “Yeah, maybe…”

“Why the doubt, Kaito?” Dr. Mariah asked,

“It’s not doubt, I mean… Kokichi’s right, we were failed.” Kaito said, doubt radiating off of him. Twisting the ring on his thumb over and over… he huffed, “I just don’t… understand.  I had to have been doing something to invite all of it. Me, Kaede, Byakuya… Kaede only moved in with us later, but we all still basically grew up together. They weren’t treated like me. I don’t understand what I did to piss off my parents and Tengan so much?”

Dr. Mariah tapped at her journal a bit, humming a bit. “...that’s a fair question. Unfortunately, there’s no real fair answer. But, if it would help to explore the subject, it’s actually depressingly common.”

“Abusive parents don’t always… well, in fact, they often focus their real abusive techniques on one child. The other children are in an abusive situation by often neglect or, if nothing else, traumatic exposure, but active abuse? Where a child is being pointedly torture–”

Kaito winced, “Don’t call it that.”

“...it’s unfortunately one of the real dangers of the inherent power dynamics between children and their caretakers.” Dr. Mariah sighed, “In the exact same way that some people can’t handle being leaders, or being bosses or even just minor responsibilities like resource management or navigating the emotions of their own friend group… people look at all the power they have over someone, and arbitrarily pick something and go ‘that’. That will be the thing I ignore. That will be the thing I actively destroy. The people in your life were not suited to be caretakers. To be parents. And because they had total power over you, they chose to either neglect you or use you as a personal stress relief. There was nothing you did that earned that abuse. That’s simply the nature of being entirely under the control of someone not suited to take care of everyone under their control. It was a fault in them. Not in you.”

Kaito nodded slightly… but leaned forward, insisting, “But everyone knew Byakuya and Kaede were better, maybe if I had just measured up–”

“You could not compete with the children that your caretakers had already decided to give all their time and resources to. That was impossible. You were not ‘worse’, Kaito. You were neglected.”

“You don’t understand, just listen to me!” Kaito snapped. Tired of being interrupted, tired of his arguments– the arguments he had been giving himself his whole life– being dismissed as if it was a matter of common sense. She hadn’t been there. She didn’t know. “I was a menace! I was out of my mind, hitting walls and talking to the air and f-fucking a-assaulting my brother! I was all of my parents anger a-and stupidity and none of the charm or intelligence o-or, fuck, I only know how to fuck people! For fucks sake my god damn god is apparently the god of Whores and fucking Concubines and if he’s that, then maybe Tengan was right, because what the hell does that make me!?”

There was a sudden chill and heat in the air. Kaito paused, distracted from his shouting, as he looked over to the other end of the koi pond… where Shuichi and Maki were both giving him withering looks. Kaito gulping a little as he realized he had messed up somewhere, but wasn’t sure how… “guys?”

“If being chosen by a God of Whores and Concubines only makes you good for sex, Kaito,” Shuichi said stiffly. Peering at him coldly beneath the brim of his hat, “Then what does that make your concubines?”

“Funny.” Maki said. Hair shimmer as heat radiated off of her, “The same thought came to me.”

“...y-you guys aren’t… really my conc… u-uh, I mean… o-okay, but that’s not the same thing… w-wait, what are we a-arguing?” Kaito stammered, as the temperature difference grew worse. Kaito leaning back, knowing what his sidekicks and friends looked like when they were genuinely considering making his life miserable, “G-guys?”

“You’re not worth less than those morons running Luminary because you got affected by Despair Pollen and was chosen by a concubine god, Kaito.” Shuichi informed him.

“And having an empath and self-important assholes control your life and use you doesn’t mean you did anything to deserve it. Even if you did things you regret, it doesn’t mean you did anything to earn what you were forced to do.” Maki said, before narrowing her eyes, “Obviously? Right?”

The nature of abuse was a real horrid thing. Except for Tengan, probably, for all the problems Kokichi had with them, he could likely accurately guess that at no point Kaito’s parents made the decision to knowingly, actively cause harm to their children. Maybe at one point they had consciously decided to ignore Kaito, and…well, that was the reason Kokichi had punched the construct of Sayaka in Shuuichi’s head. But at their children’s births, they hadn’t decided to hurt them. 

They were just people unable to wield power, who were given a lot of it. In being parents, and in being royal parents. And Kaito and his brother and cousin had suffered for it. 

It wasn’t Kaito’s fault his life had been sabotaged by others. He had done nothing to invite that. And hearing him claim otherwise…

Kokichi clenched his jaw as Kaito burst out the blame (and self-doubt) that had been building, but while his own anger was allayed by the dual-building disaster of hot and cold across from them…it wasn’t gone. He could see the point Shuuichi and Maki were making, though, and…well, it was a very important one for Kaito to really come to terms with. His own point would be better suited to…later. 

Instead, he just gave his husband a hard, pointed look, nodding over to Maki and Shuuichi. 

“...N’hh.” Kaito whined, giving his husband a desperate look, than looking over to Dr. Mariah… before gripping the sides of his chair tighter. “Maki. Shuichi. That’s not fair.”

When neither of them saw fit to answer that, still just glaring at him, Kaito made another deep in his throat whining noise, before saying– his voice tight with stress– as he leaned forward “You can’t… emotionally blackmail me into saying I’m wrong about the situation, because that would be saying you guys deserved it or something! It was different!”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Oh, I’m sure–”

“I was loved!” Kaito shouted, “I was family!”

There was a heavy silence at that. Kaito huffing… before he dipped his head. Shame radiating off of him as he tried meekly to continue, “And that’s not fair, to say you did something to deserve it if I did. You were orphans, you had… no one. No one but mentors who couldn’t bring themselves to be close to you. You didn’t stand a chance. But I was a prince! I was the second son! I…” Kaito looked away. Still ashamed to say this, but it being how he felt and, well… he was too deep in now, “...I was supposed to be loved. You guys were too, but… I don’t know. The people who should have loved me were right there. The whole time. I must have been doing something wrong…”

That was the crux of it. It wasn’t fair, nothing about it had been fair and…

Kokichi huffed, unable to bite back his words a second time. 

“Who cares if you did everything wrong?!” he snapped, leaning forward so quickly in his chair that the egg started to swing slightly. “Who cares if you were literally one of your Luminary demons, causing evil with every action?! Who cares if you were the worst goddamned person on the whole planet?! They were your parents! You’re right, they were supposed to love you! Unconditionally! No matter what!”

“You think any of us love Miyako even an iota less,” Kokichi violently gestured between himself, Shuuichi, and Kaito, “When she’s screaming in the middle of the night, or when we can’t get her to let go of our hair, or when she poops over our whole room? You think we love Tim and Cali and Kimiko less when we had to evacuate the whole castle from them messing around, or when they’re carving into walls, or when they broke that table?”

Gritting his teeth, Kokichi stared Kaito down with fury etched into every line of his face. “I don’t even have to use my abilities to know that you don’t. That you wouldn’t even think of it. That even when you’re annoyed, or pissed off, or even just really tired, you still love them with everything.”

“Because we’re good parents. And your parents weren’t.”

Kaito, briefly, wanted to argue ‘what if she grew up screaming and hitting things’, ‘what if he started talking to the air’, ‘what if one of them tried to assault the oth–’

Kaito shuddered, banishing that last thought from his mind. That pain still too raw and real to him, all this time later. Too hard to look at the face of. He closed his eyes and took some steadying breaths… before opening his mouth to, again, try to argue what if either of his children tried to sexually harm the other…

…but each time the thought came to mind, he just kept thinking about Tengan. 

About if that scenario happened, the way it had in his own childhood? 

How

He’d 

Have

Fucking

Killed him.

How… dare. Someone put Miyako or Timothy in that position. How dare he. These were just kids they didn’t understand what was happening, how dare anyone even dare to look at them that way. God, Kaito would lose his fucking mind on anyone who so much as suggested his kids harm each other that way, he’d lose his fucking mind–

“...” Kaito’s face scrunched up in heavy, frustrated tears. And he knew he was just repeating himself, but the hurt of it just wouldn’t go away as he hunched his shoulders into his ears and said through wet stammering breaths, “I just don’t understand… h-how could they let that happen? I just don’t understand, I had to have… I had to have… there had to have been something wrong with me…”

Kaito flinched when he felt the first graze of arms around him. But he didn’t open his eyes when he leaned into someone’s neck– Shuichi’s– and he bit his lip, trying hard to stifle shaking, shuddering breaths racking through him when he felt hair run over the back of his head– Maki’s– as he eventually forced his grip off the sides of the chair and put his arms around the bodies around him– those thin shoulders were definitely Kokichi’s– as he moaned, “I don’t understand… I could never have… why couldn’t they love us? I don’t understand…”

The sorrow and regret and…loss…and that flash of blinding, consuming rage… For a moment, all those feelings left Kokichi breathless, but…well, again, he didn’t have to be an Empath to recognize them. And of all secondhand or reactionary emotions…compassion has always been the most important of the three, and Kokichi didn’t even have to think before pulling himself out of his chair, slotting into his perfect place between Shuuichi and Maki as they held Kaito. 

“...it’s not something wrong with you, that you can’t understand cruelty in others,” Kokichi whispered, rubbing Kaito’s side gently on the part of him he’d claimed. “The fact that your love is so natural that the lack of it in others is…otherworldly… That’s a blessing, Kai-chan. It makes you good. It makes you choose good.”

“B-but I didn’t choose good, I attacked By–”

“Stop that.” Maki sighed. Pressing her forehead into Kaito’s temple, both a small bump and an affectionate nuzzle, “When you were a kid, an old pervert told you that your brother was stressed out and that to help him you needed to suck his stupid child dick. That’s not you ‘attacking’ him, that’s you doing something uncomfortable because you love someone and you were worried about them.”

“But I… I wanted to do it, I–”

“You can’t unlearn something someone spent years teaching you overnight, just because you were told once it was wrong.” Shuichi said softly, his voice gentle and warm against Kaito’s ear, hat knocked back and away, “You loved Byakuya. Conditioned and unconditioned, unfortunately. You’re everything Kokichi’s talking about, as much as I hate that. You love them no matter what they do. No horror they ever did made you love them less. You even miss Tengan. I wish you didn’t. I wish you could hate them. But that’s just not how you work. And I love that about you.”

“...sometimes I wish it had happened.” Kaito whispered, “I just… because I am good at it, and maybe it would have made them happy, and maybe people wouldn’t have died and my family would have all gotten along if I had just… if I hadn’t done it wrong…”

“...it’s not a game if there’s no way to win,” Kokichi murmured, quoting himself from a related, past conversation. His stomach dropping a bit as Maki finally let go the piece of the puzzle Kaito had been talking around. Kokichi realizing in that moment even more what, once upon a time, Togami had done for him. 

But a wound wasn’t healed just from pulling out the knife. 

“...it was never your burden to save your family from themselves. You still wanted to, and…that’s what makes Kai-chan amazing to me. You never give up on people. But it wasn’t your burden to break yourself for the people who should’ve been supporting you.”

More quietly, Kokichi sighed. “...I can’t say. I’ve only ever…sort of met Byakuya once, and I never met your parents. But…I don’t think they’re the sort of people who…are ever happy. Just not upset.”

Or maybe the things that had once made them happy were long gone. And there was no bringing them back.

“...” Kaito squeezed at them tighter. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I’m such a mess. I’m so sorry, I’m supposed to be the one that takes care of you…”

At that, Shuichi sighed, while Maki chuckled, “Kaito, you do take care of us. To an honestly annoying degree.” Shuichi chided.

“And we’ve always taken care of you. To an also honestly annoying degree.” Maki smirked, before resting her head on his shoulder as she said, “You needing support doesn’t mean we suddenly think we can’t rely on you. If it did, you’d have lost all credibility by the tenth grade. I don’t know why you keep thinking that you need to be some unbreakable pillar of strength. You’ve never even successfully pulled that off, let it go.”

“Sh-shut up. Such a pillar of strength.” Kaito wept. “F-fucking nothing gets to me.”

“Uh huh.” Shuichi laughed, leaning up to place a kiss against Kaito’s head, “Except ghosts and ghouls and people being mean to each other and your friends being sad and your children being happy and occasionally something ‘dramatic’ happening in whatever book you’re reading. Other than all of that, yes. Nothing gets to you.”

“Not to mention you do hurt when you are harmed. Loudly. To the point where it’s… it’s gotten to me.” Maki said softly, “I wanted so badly to not care if I hurt you. But you wear your stupid hurt on your stupid face and you make me feel like garbage for being another person to fail you. Asshole.”

“...s-sorry?”

“It’s a good thing.” Shuichi reassured, “Like me wanting to be woo’d and dated. We should want to be treated well. You should want the people you love to consider it important not to hurt you. It can be frustrating to hear you say that, over and over again, but I keep forgetting that it’s a weird thing that does keep happening to you. So, yes, I agree. It should have been enough that they loved you. Your loved ones should consider it important, if they hurt you with the things they do… okay? I get it.”

“...” Kaito peeked up. His eyes red and puffy, giving Shuichi a mildly annoyed look. “Are you saying this whole time you had no idea what I was talking about?”

Shuichi blinked. “....did you not know that? Uh…”

Dr. Mariah sipped at her water, nodding to herself. The danger had passed. 

Kokichi sighed softly, nuzzling against Kaito’s lower chest, pretty much just his lower half visible from the outside from how he’d nestled as close to Kaito as he could get between Shuuichi and Maki. “You two…really need to at least try one of those communication exercises one of these days. I have the benefit of literally being able to read your emotions and even then sometimes you confuse the hell out of me.”

Giving Kaito a squeeze around his waist, Kokichi peeked up, trying to catch his husband’s eye through the mesh of bodies. “...I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s not a good way to show my frustration, especially not when you’re upset too. I think you might be able to relate but…it bothers me hearing someone talk badly about you.”

He hoped it was less scary than being squeezed in a vice, but it still wasn’t an appropriate response.

Kaito sighed, looking down at Kokichi and, almost playfully, placing a quick kiss against his forehead. His husband had no idea what he looked like, honestly. Kaito loved giving him real kisses, but sweet forehead kisses were still often a highlight, that brief moment where Kokichi closed his eyes as Kaito came in, the smell of his shampoo and the heat of his skin. Kaito loved giving Kokichi forehead kisses.

“I do get that.” Kaito said with a small smile, squeezing his friends harder as he felt a wave of exhaustion run through him. Exhaustion, but a lightness in that exhaustion, as he said, “I do. And it can be nice, seeing you be angry on my behalf. It was just… I didn’t mean to flinch. You’d never hurt me.” Kaito sighed, leaning into Kokichi’s hold, “You love me. You guys aren’t perfect, but… I know that you love me. More than in the kinda desperate way I wanted to believe my last family loved me. It’s so… different. With you guys. I know you guys love me, even when you make mistakes. Even when I make mistakes, you guys still love me anyway… god, I feel like I say that word so much it loses its meaning, but I can’t explain how much I depend on that. I don’t care if admitting to it is wrong in some way. I depend on you guys loving me. I’m so afraid of people, guys… they keep hurting us, and I’m so afraid of them…”

Dr. Mariah tapped at her journal, as she finally said to the huggers, “That’s something we can explore. But, for now… it’s still a little early, but I have a feeling that if we try to force Kaito to keep talking about things after a talk like this, he’s going to be too spent to contribute.”

Kaito felt better, but his whole body was notably shaking. Like someone at the end of a long, difficult workout, each muscle spent and trembling just from the exhaustion of their use. As Shuichi pulled gently away from Kaito, though still holding his hand, he looked back at Dr. Mariah, “What if he has more things to say?”

Dr. Mariah tilted her head curiously at that. “Then he can say them to you. My job is to get you through difficult conversations and provide tools and guidance to navigate those difficult conversations. You all did very well. We can continue to discuss this topic in the next session, if we wrap up now, but by this point I honestly think you’d benefit more from some good food or your beds and talking about these things with each other. I trust that you won’t send him back into a crisis situation. Or that if you end up in crisis yourselves, you will call for me. But I don’t think you will.”

Predictably, Kokichi did close his eyes as Kaito pressed his lips to his forehead, basking in that small, warm moment of affection. “I’m glad that you have that trust in me, and that I can provide that assurance…but I still shouldn’t yell at you, and it’s not wrong of you to flinch. I’ll work on it. You…you’re not a person I want others to take their stress out on, least of all myself. You deserve better.”

That was something Kokichi could work on. Kaito’s anger might’ve been something that the law needed to intervene with, but it didn’t mean that Kokichi didn’t have his own issues. His own actions, especially learning how to temper them in times of stress, was a form of harm and danger that he could prevent from hitting their family. 

Others…less so. And that was scary. There were precautions they could take and changes that really would affect the world around them, but…they could only ever choose their own actions. Not those of others. And unless they wanted to seclude themselves from the world, then that left them open to being hurt by others. After being hit so hard and so many times…it was scary, thinking about what could be next. 

But there were other things out in the world besides fear and people who would hurt them, and…they had time. 

Not having moved from Kaito at all, even with a little more breathing room, Kokichi gently rubbed his husband’s sides and smiled softly. “...what do you think? We could get a snack on the way home, have a baby-dad nap time when we get back?”

Kaito sighed, resting his head on Kokichi’s, “...I do want all of that. I’m kinda out of it though, I might, like… I’m sorry if I keep wanting to talk about sad things. I didn’t want to tell you guys about any of this, but… I think it was getting to a point where I had to tell you or I was going to, like… do stupid things…”

“Crisis situation.” Dr. Mariah called out.

“Yeah, yeah…” Kaito sighed, “...how could anyone look at little kids and want to hurt them… I don’t understand…”

“Good.” Maki said, now straightening up herself. Running a hand through Kaito’s hair, before pulling back, “I’d like you less if you did. Do we have homework?”

“More volunteer work for Maki, we need to open up more social avenues for you Maki,” Dr. Mariah said, “Shuichi, Kaito, Kokichi’s right, do those communication exercises, any of them, it’ll help. Kokichi, for your one on one session this week, I’d appreciate you bringing up managing your emotional responses. You still get more aggressive when it comes to your immediate family, it’s good to stay on top of that.”

“My meeeeaaaan, tyrant Kokichiiii~” Kaito hummed, wrapping his– shaking– arms around Kokichi and holding him tight now that his friends had pulled back, “Meanie ‘Kichi~ Can be screechy~ I think he’s peachy~”

“My lovely Kai-chan~” Kokichi sang back very quietly, holding Kaito in turn. “Sweeter than pies of pecan~ Want everyone to know he’s my man~ Always want to keep him in every plan~”

-

They ended up picking up food at the gyro place again, deciding to eat on the way home to get there a little faster, and while it seemed there were still things to be said between them… It had been a lot, that day. They needed some downtime, some recovery, and, well, Kokichi had tempted Kaito and Shuuichi with baby-dad naptime. 

Which was why it was only a bit before dinner did Kokichi tug gently on Kaito’s shirt, asking if they could talk in private for a moment while Shuuichi was watching Miyako. He hadn’t exactly been waiting for Shuuichi’s shift to start, but…well, he wasn’t even sure of what his own emotions were going to be like for that conversation. But he had a hunch they weren’t going to be the sorts of things he wanted to expose his daughter to first-hand. 

There was a little sitting area at the end of their hall, right in front of the window, similar to quite a few scattered throughout the castle. There was a woven bench with a cushy maroon cushion, a side table with a vase of orange cosmos. It was a place Kokichi walked by every day (or nearly) though not one he often took advantage of, with his room right there. 

Feeling the evening sun warm his neck through the window, Kokichi took a breath. “...I overheard something from you while we were talking in therapy today. I promised not to make assumptions, when that happens, so…I want to ask you about it. Is that a conversation we can have right now?”

Kaito scratched his neck a little, some of the sleep still in his eyes. He had baby-napped hard. Little Miya on his chest, Kaito listening to her breathe and rubbing her little back and her little feetsies and sleepily wondering how anyone could hurt little kids… 

And he might have been content to do that for the rest of the night, but Kokichi had looked concerned about something, when he had asked him to step out to chat. 

Kaito had apparently been right, and admittedly, he found himself mentally going over his thoughts during the therapy session, trying to guess what it was that had upset his husband. It was hard to police your own thoughts though, and Kaito in this moment couldn’t think of what it could be, beyond the things they had already talked about…

“...” Kaito chuckled. Rubbing his hand over his forehead, as he said, “I’m trying to, like, do a play by play of what happened, to figure out what you’re talking about. Probably just better to ask you, huh babe. I’m okay. We can talk about it, I promise to not meltdown on you.”

Kokichi smiled wanely. “I’ll hold you to that, only by the fact that I don’t want it to get to the point I push you into a meltdown. If it starts feeling like too big or difficult a discussion to have right now…please tell me. We can shelve it until we’re both ready, okay?” His smile faded more. “...I know…for you and Shuu-chan, at least, that…it’s hard to have difficult discussions with me, right? ‘Cause I blow up at you guys so much… I’ve known that for a while, but even if Dr. Mariah didn’t want me to bring it up again during my personal sessions… I know it’s something that hurts us. And places the burden of those difficult things unfairly on you two. I really am trying to work on it…so let’s go slow, okay? Take it step by step.”

And while ‘slow’ might imply certain things, Kokichi didn’t want to beat around the bush of topics either. 

“...before Maki-chan blurted things… I heard you ask yourself, ‘why did I tell Nao?’ It’s not fair of me to know that before you’ve shared it…but…” Kokichi sighed softly, unable to really keep up a wholly neutral front. “...I was so angry… Please tell me what’s going on there.”

Kaito felt an impulse to assure Kokichi that he didn’t make it hard to talk to him. And if he did, then Kaito had no right to complain about it, because he was Kaito Momota, the King of blowing up and being difficult to talk to… but that wouldn’t be helpful. They hadn’t done all this therapy for him to not realized that it wasn’t helpful, to argue that stuff. Hell, what had Dr. Mariah said… accept the reality presented first? Deal with that? Then present alternative view? He sucked at that, but it was good advise. 

And taking it one step at a time was also good advice… even if Kaito felt his face pale as Kokichi brought up the spiraling thoughts that Kaito had genuinely forgot had compelled him to talk in the first place. God, how had he not guessed that…

Kaito looked away, ashamed, wringing his hands. Murmuring immediately, “I’m sorry…”

“...it was the… it was the incident at the bar. I mean… I told you I talked to her.” Kaito said, looking to Kokichi earnestly, “I told you guys. Harassed her? Followed her out of the bar? Shuichi got mad at me for talking to her at all.”

Licking his lips lightly, Kaito tried to think of how to explain himself, “...I… sometimes have a hard time saying things I hate about myself. To people I like. Or love. I’ve always been like this, sometimes it’s… easier. To talk to people I’m not trying to impress. And…” Kaito sighed. Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger as he muttered, “...that’s not a good enough explanation.”

“...I’ve been desperate to talk about this stuff to someone for a while.” Kaito admitted. “It’s been on my mind since the conditionings let up. It felt like it was eating at me. This terrible thing I had done… and Nao was talking about this terrible thing she had done, and was ashamed of, and…” Kaito chuckled, rolling his eyes, “Everyone always talks to me like me liking them or not is some sort of lost cause, like my feelings are set in stone. The truth is, babe, I’m impulsive and fickle and really emotion based. I felt bad for her. Related, for a moment… it was hard not to… want to talk to someone I felt like I related to. For a moment.”

Kokichi gave Kaito a pained look at his apology, but he took a breath and just…listened. Listened to all the context and flow behind the thought he’d picked up, and…tried to put all the pieces in order retroactively. Form his feelings with all the proper information instead of…

He let out a heavy breath, rubbing his brow. “...I want to believe you. I do believe you. I just…the first thing I thought, when I heard you, and…and I still think it now…is of course it was her. Of course she’d managed to manipulate and pry her way into another person’s secrets, needled her way under your skin enough for more content…”

Kokichi grit his teeth, before letting out another breath, his shoulders dropping as his voice calmed back down. “...and that’s what I’m angry about. Not that you talked to her. …I meant what I said before. Even if it’s not me…I just want you to have people you can talk to. So…so thoughts like that can’t eat you alive. I only hope that the people you have don’t hurt you with what you say.”

Looking up, Kokichi’s expression was slightly strained, but sincere, his eyes catching some of the afternoon light. “...but I do believe you. And…and if you feel like…she wasn’t trying to badger you for your trauma? Then…I’ll believe that.”

Kaito gave Kokichi a soft look at that, resting his elbows on his knees… before he shrugged a bit. Admitting tiredly, “I don’t think that’s what happened. Honestly, it kinda felt like I threw myself at her. Like she was uncomfortable with how much I was confiding in her. Maki thought the same thing about Drake, that he must have been manipulating me, but honestly, these days I’ve felt like if anyone so much as talks to me for five minutes, I’m suddenly ranting about things that have been bothering me whether they want to hear it or not.”

“I just haven’t wanted to be a burden.” Kaito said softly, “I feel like I’m overflowing, sometimes, ‘Kichi. And… Ikuo’s been kind enough to listen to me vent and say stupid shit about my brother and about Yasu… Lake’s let me talk about things to her even when it seems like I punish her for every damn conversation we have… Waku has sometimes picked me up when I felt like I’d literally fall apart…”

“...” Kaito closed his eyes, “And sometimes that wasn’t enough. Sometimes I found myself confiding in assholes at bars. The person who terrorized my fiance. And as much as I like Drake now, at the time he was the kind of weird guy that Shuichi was sorta pseudo setting me up with. And truthfully I would have rather talked to you each time. Or Maki and Shuichi… but it’s hard. Sometimes I feel like I’m one more complaint away from you guys getting sick of me…”

Kokichi nodded. He still wasn’t thrilled with his fiance’s abuser knowing one of the biggest incidents of trauma in his husband’s life…and he probably wouldn’t have been that happy with his aunt knowing it either. Because for as much as he had loved her…she did sensationalize some of the worst things in the world. It made for extremely compelling fiction, the kind of gut-punches that would leave a person reeling and agonizing for the characters…but it had been fiction. And if Kokichi needed a break, there was always a sappy romance comic or a tourism illustration collection waiting for him to read. 

But real people didn’t get breaks from their trauma, not like they could just shrug it off entirely. And as much as dark stories could relate to and reach out to people in those same dark places…maybe Kokichi just…wasn’t the kind of person that would sit right with. Knowing that those stories came from real places. 

(...maybe he would’ve hated it a little less, if it had just been his aunt to know. Because for all that she did try to unearth the worst stories to mold and write down…she hadn’t tried to keep people there. She had also found the pockets of calm and hope that you couldn’t find without digging that far into the depths, and even if by the nature of the genre, those brighter moments usually only served to make the resulting fall that much worse…sometimes they weren’t. Sometimes a gesture of kindness or a moment to gather courage was enough to survive a nightmare. Sometimes, while bloodied and broken, people still made it out, limping into the sunrise.)

(...maybe that perspective, that they were still alive, that they had survived, was…something that Kaito in a kinder (only slightly) universe could’ve used, if he had spoken to just Kokichi’s aunt.)

(He had said that he felt like they could relate to one another.)

“I’m glad you have Ikuo and Lake and Waku,” Kokichi said softly. “That’s what I mean, when I say I want you to have people… A community. Even if you would’ve rather been talking to us…you deserve more people than three. Even three very special people.”

“However,” Kokichi stressed, his lips finally turning up into a smile, though there was a bit of a mischievous turn to them, “We are very special people. And that specialness means that it’s impossible for you to be a burden. Not in the way of one that we’d ever even think about wanting to drop.”

Holding his hand forward between them, Kokichi let the gold of his wedding ring shine in the sun. Even after a year, the metal still glistening and well-kept. “See this? It might’ve not meant as much at first, but with every promise we’ve weaved between us since…this means I’m never letting you go. Not without a fight that would require me being destroyed to lose.”

Because while Kokichi wouldn’t hold Kaito in a loveless or harmful marriage, the fact of it being loveless or harmful (at least to the point past them both desperately trying to be better than that) meant that the person Kokichi was would have to be destroyed into something unrecognizable. Still being themselves, there was nothing Kaito could do to make Kokichi let him go.

Kaito’s eyes followed where Kokichi led their attention, smiling lightly as he showed off his ring. His own fingers idly fussing with his own wedding ring– he had so many rings these days. He didn’t always wear them all at once, but they all had meaning to him these days– as he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss against it. “I’d never let anything destroy you. Not my ‘Kichi.” Kaito murmured softly. 

Putting his arms around Kokichi, Kaito pulled closer, leaning his body against him slightly, “...I know you’re not angry about it. But I’m sorry again I confided in Nao. Especially about that. I knew it was wrong when I was doing it. I’m the one who kept whining and bitching about ‘are you guys gonna bring Nao back into our lives’. And then what do I do? Literally chase after her when I see her and talked to her like she was some…” Kaito grit his teeth. Pulling back from Kokichi, feeling frustrated, “...old fucking friend or something. God, I’m fucking gross…”

“...the guy at the bar?” Kaito said, giving Kokichi a worried look, “I told him something I shouldn’t have, too. I… I really should have told you, by now. I didn’t mean for it to be a secret, but Maki keeps poking me about this, and honestly she’s right. It wasn’t a secret, but it is something I’ve been refusing to talk about, and that basically makes it a secret…”

“...I… I was never going to do it.” Kaito said, “But I considered… leaving to bring Togami back. Because I was scared he was going to die. And a part of me was still in love with him.” Kaito pulled back more from Kokichi. More ashamed of that now that he was confessing it, looking down at his hands as he said, “I’m sorry I told a stranger that. That’s not anyone else's business but yours, honestly. And I’m sorry I felt like that and didn’t tell you…”

Kokichi snuggled up against Kaito, thankful for both the affection and the support. His aches and stiffness hadn’t gotten worse throughout the day, thankfully, but they hadn’t gotten all that much better either. Letting his body just kind of lean and float on top of Kaito’s while holding and supporting him in turn, trusting that his husband wouldn’t let him fall was…nice. 

A comfort all too brief, as it turned out. 

Sighing, Kokichi just gave Kaito a small shrug. “Shuu-chan said he was more mad that you could get yourself to talk to her before he could, not that you’d talked to her at all. If it doesn’t feel like a betrayal to him…then I have a hard time mustering up those feelings myself. It does make me sad that…how did you put it? You felt like you could only confide in her because she wasn’t anyone to impress. I wish other people had seemed like options to you, because…you deserve to have the best confidant. Not just a single option. But…I think I can understand what you mean by feeling like you could relate. Even if I don’t think your situations are comparable. But…that doesn’t make you gross, in my eyes.”

And for…the other time, apparently… 

Kokichi squinted his eyes a little, a hurt expression passing over his face before he gently reached out to put a hand over Kaito’s, trying to bridge the distance Kaito was building. “...I wish you had told me.”

Sighing, Kokichi looked at the flowers in the vase, eyes honing in on all the tiny, delicate wrinkles in the petals. “...I hate Togami. For what he did to you, for what he allowed to happen to your friends…” Kokichi knew those words would hurt, but he kept his tone softer than the usual bluntness that had accompanied similar thoughts. He wasn’t trying to punish Kaito. “...but I know that you love him, with all the other complicated feelings too. And I know that he’s given you some…unquantifiably precious things, acts of true kindness and compassion…even if they’re not things I can personally identify as love. But still…for those things, I’ll always be grateful to him. Even while still hating him.”

Kokichi sighed deeper, the lines under his eyes almost visibly deepening. “I trust you, that you wouldn’t have done it. You didn’t so…I mean, there’s no greater proof than that.” There was a slight lift of mirth in Kokichi’s voice, though he closed his eyes afterwards. “...we had offered him a form of asylum. Even with the trouble it would’ve caused, since…since you’re a Luminous citizen, and crimes recognized in Luminary were committed against you, and Togami wasn’t Dicean…even with a possible dispute between the right of laws in our countries. We offered him the chance to be tried in the Dicean court system, which would prevent him from being deported. And…and I know, whatever lawyer came to see him, they would’ve told him that the death penalty is…functionally obsolete, here.”

“He refused,” Kokichi said softly, not looking at Kaito. “So…we didn’t have any legal ground to keep him.”

Kokichi squeezed his hand over Kaito’s. “...I’m sorry he died.”

(...potentially.)

Kaito winced, closing his eyes… squeezing Kokichi’s hand back.

“...he either died or he was content to let me believe he did.” Kaito whispered. “Either way. What a selfish choice. Maybe it’s good, that someone else picked my husband for me. I had terrible taste.”

“...your dad had a crush on my dad. His taste was worse,” Kokichi murmured, a little too unsure to really lean into the joke, but trying to lighten things just a little. “I think you have pretty good taste, actually… You just lower your standards more than I think you should, sometimes. It’s an undeserved benefit to some people, and a disservice to yourself, I think.”

Kaito chuckled, his eyes a little red, but giving his husband a fond look. “Well, your dad picked me. So maybe his taste was worse. Your dad apparently has a thing for wayward angry red-heads, so long as he doesn’t have to sleep with them himself. Honestly? I always thought that was the most selfish decision he made, on his part. That he didn’t just marry me himself. He was single, he didn’t know you’d love me. Could have taken that crossbolt himself.”

“And you’re right… but for all my low standards, I still lucked out and got the absolute best anyone had to offer.” Kaito murmured back. Scooting back to him and wrapping his arms around him again. “Kaito Momota. Luckiest guy in the world.”

It had been a risk with Kokichi. He and Aiichi had talked about that too. But even if Kokichi hadn’t ended up loving Kaito…in Kaito’s shoes, Kokichi thought it was a little more comfortable for a 22-year-old to marry a 20-year-old, rather than a 39-year-old. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered all that much, if either way they had tried to ignore Kaito, but…

Well. It wasn’t a point Kokichi begrudged Aiichi on so much these days. Regardless if he “should”. 

Sighing happily as he got his embrace back, Kokichi hummed in agreement as he snuggled back into Kaito’s arms. Though, for all that he wanted to keep that embrace…

“...did you tell Maki-chan or Shuu-chan? About Nao?”

“...no. Neither of them.” Kaito admitted. “I mean, not about what I told her. Hell, when I told Maki I still wasn’t planning to tell anyone else, not her, not anyone. And admitting I had told Nao? God, Maki would kill me… disgusting…” 

Kaito felt another shudder of repulsion run through him, idly running his fingers over Kokichi’s arms. “I know it’s not a Dicean thing, but for a Luminary? Me treating Nao well was a disgusting thing to do. I was really ashamed of myself. If Maki or Shuichi wanted to punish me for it, I’d understand. I couldn’t blame them. But I’m still afraid to face it.”

Kokichi sighed softly, nuzzling Kaito gently. “...even with those different feelings…they know you, hun. I think they’d understand, if you explained like you did for me. They might be mad, sure, but…” He sighed again, looking up at Kaito plaintively. “...it’s not a good sign, if there are things you can’t tell your loved ones because you’re afraid of their anger.”

“And if it’s just…having to face yourself, for the wrong you did…” Kokichi shrugged a little in Kaito’s arms. “You’re already facing that on your own. Which is worse than facing it through them, I think. Wasn’t that something you said once? That at least facing someone else meant it was over?”

“And, yanno, of course…if it would make it less scary, I’ll be there right with you.”

“...” Kaito squinted at Kokichi a bit, “...they are much nicer to me when they’re pissed when you’re around. If Shuichi gets to use Miyako as a shield, I could use you… respectfully. Respectful exploitation. I love you, Kokichi.” Kaito grinned, giving him another little kiss… before his brow furrowed. Looking at Kokichi’s eyes now that he was less in his own head and own problems and…

“.......shit, babe, I forgot. Do we have more of that, like, drug massage oil stuff? Do you want a massage?”

“I love you too,” Kokichi smiled, returning the kiss. Of all the shields Kaito did use to hide from his problems, Kokichi wasn’t one he used that often so…Kokichi didn’t mind being used. Especially if it helped them open up communication between all of them. 

And especially if he got a treat out of it~

Kokichi chuckled softly, letting himself melt more against Kaito, more assured that his husband wasn’t about to pull away again. “Oh, absolutely. It’s not, yanno, the worst today, but I wouldn’t really say I’m comfortable… Our bottle is under the sink, as usual. I know you’re more careful than I am with it, but careful with the child-lock. I swear it snaps harder than all the other ones…”

“Mmmhm~ Allllright, and we’re heading up.” Kaito warned him, dipping his arms beneath Kokichi and, with one swift movement, picking him up, half-murmuring to himself, “Little ‘Kichi pamper time~”

Heading inside, Kaito gave a grin to Shuichi, who was doing tummy time with Miyako. Tummy time had come leaps and bounds over the last few months, and Miyako– either in a brilliant move of exercise, or an equally brilliant desire for laziness– was often in pursuit of trying to turn over. She wasn’t even close yet, and if Kokichi wasn't capable of literally seeing her goals in her head they wouldn’t have realized that was the reason she kept hitting and slapping the ground, but that was what she was trying to do and Kaito was very proud of her ambitions! 

“Everything alright?” Shuichi asked, both keeping an eye on Miyako and reading a book on his lap. One hand on her butt so that he could keep track of where she was.

“Yeah, Kokichi just wanted to check on me.” Kaito said, “It’s been a tough day for everyone. And now we’re gonna ease some aches and pains.” He promised, sitting Kokichi down on the bed and heading to the bathroom.

Kokichi was more than happy to have Kaito carry him back to their room, and while he didn’t completely ragdoll--Kaito could still carry him completely limp, but it was a little easier if Kokichi kept his body together at least a little--he let Kaito do the majority of…everything, movement-wise. 

Laid out on the bed, Kokichi smiled at Miyako’s great efforts--she really was getting stronger and more coordinated every day--and idly took his shirt off. “It’s massage time~ And I know we’ve pretty much just been relaxing since we got home, but I’m excited to see what we’re having for dinner. It’s still super early in the season it’s basically still summer, but fall foods are so yummy~ Can’t wait for the first squash harvest.”

Shuichi watched Kaito disappear into the bathroom, before shooting Kokichi a clearly imploring look. Raising an eyebrow, though instead of asking again what they had left the room to talk about– something Kokichi just didn’t do– he decided to play along, “We really are close to the end of summer, aren’t we. It’s been a busy summer, it’ll be nice to see the weather change. The leaves changing is still magical.”

“Alright!” Kaito said, healing back out with the bottle in hand, sitting on the bed next to Kokichi as he started to slather his hands in the stuff, putting the bottle aside as he said, “Pick a position, babe, time to work some knots~”

“Anything you’re looking forward to for fall, Kaito?”

“Um…” Kaito hummed, “I mean, my birthdays the easy answer, but I really do enjoy Atua’s week more. Gotta say, doing the ritual to talk to him feels different, now that I kinda know more about him. Maybe knowing what he’s an actual god of will make the visions make more sense… assuming he’s actually talking to us.” Kaito said, frowning a little, “Funnily enough, having his existence confirmed to me makes me a little more skeptical about some of our practices with him.”

It wasn’t his secret to tell, not yet. So Kokichi just gave Shuuichi a small, calm smile, trying to convey that things were okay, and they’d get to them later. It wasn’t the sort of thing he knew Shuuichi had much patience for, but…well, they’d get there. 

Giggling softly, Kokichi turned onto his stomach, folding his hands under his head. “Aw…there’s this craft project that’s kinda like pressing flowers? But you press leaves between sheets of waxed paper, and then when it’s sealed you can cut the paper just to the shape of the leaf, so you can pick out really pretty fall leaves to preserve as decorations. I can’t wait until Mi-Mi’s old enough that we can do that, going on an expedition to find the prettiest leaves to keep.”

They could definitely do it before their daughter was ready, though. Kokichi had still gotten to celebrate some of his favorite season-specific pastimes with his family last year, but…fall had admittedly been shakier than the rest. 

Humming softly at the reminder of another season-specific event, Kokichi nodded into the mattress. “Oh…I guess now’s a good a time as any… Like, we’re definitely setting you up in a space with better ventilation and more snacks and water ‘n stuff, but… You said there used to be people that sat with Momotas to write down the visions, right? And that you used to join group sessions when you could. We’re definitely gonna check up on you more than last year, no matter what, but…I dunno. Do you think you’d wanna invite more people to do the ritual with you? Or just hang out?”

Kaito grinned sheepishly at the long, loooong sigh he heard come from Shuichi as Kokichi pointed out Kaito’s ‘secret’ habits back in Luminary. Pressing his thumbs into Kokichi’s lower back and slathering the oil up into his shoulders, before pressing it down back to his base. Reaching over and grabbing more from the bottle, lathering Kokichi as he said, “I wasn’t supposed to, yeah, but the priestess’s would help me set it up and…” 

Kaito grinned, and while he was always a little ashamed when this happened, couldn’t help the rush of arousal that went through him as, uh, ‘fond’ memories ran through his head, “Those were good times. And also kind of what I mean? See, the highest ranking Momota is meant to be the only person who can hear Atua… but historically, and, like, recently historically, the temples kept changing their minds about it. Or, well, the current head of the family kept changing their minds on it and sorta forcing the temples to change the mythology. Way I figured when I was a kid, it was just Atua changing his mind every generation or so…”

“That’s a point.” Shuichi said, looking to Kaito as he picked up Miyako, who gurgled happily in his arms, “Kaito, if you thought Atua currently only would speak to Leon, then why did you always bother? I mean, I know you always said because doing the ritual was a ‘chance’ of it happening for anyone, but you always treated it very seriously.”

“...” Kaito flushed. A little embarrassed, before he admitted, “I thought maybe Atua would… maybe… make an exception for me. I mean, I knoooooow that the things I used to see and hear as a kid weren’t Atua, I’ve known that for years, but, like…” Kaito shrugged sheepishly, “I could never let go of the ‘maybe’.”

“Well, I agree with Kokichi. If you were already sneaking into group prayers for the rituals at the temples anyway, then it’s pointless for you to do it the ‘correct’ way here.” Shuichi said, rolling his eyes, “You made Maki and I look like idiots, Kaito. Maki probably wouldn’t even let you do it alone now anyway, now that she knows you’ve never actually done that.”

“I’m not sure how much fun I’d be just being around you guys. I mean, you all saw me for a moment last time, right? I escaped the closet for a minute?”

“Longer than that, yes.”

“I’m pretty incoherent during it.” Kaito said, “I guess if you guys could stand it, I’d be into ‘hanging out’. But I don’t want to be a burden.”

Kokichi huffed, more than the quiet sighs of relief and contentment that he had been breathing into their blankets as Kaito got to work, and kicked one of his legs up, lightly slapping Kaito’s back with it. “Shush. You’re never a burden to us--we chose you, you don’t get to escape us.”

“Even staying in the non-smoke room, I probably wouldn’t be able to stay around the whole time,” Kokichi hummed apologetically, “But I’ll definitely be there for some of it. My dad said last year you pulled him into a waltz on the stairs, so that’s the kind of energy I’ll be expecting, when you’re not staring into space, just bein’ cute.”

Kokichi knew that Kaito couldn’t really just make his own rules for the whole ritual. For something like spirituality, even when some of that was something a little different than standard faith, ascribing to group rules was kind of the point of feeling something bigger than yourself. But Kaito had already been bending those rules, and…well, they weren’t in Luminary, so some things had to change anyway. So…why not change things to have more fun. 

“Do you think you’d wanna invite any of your friends too? I know you and Waku-chan had a pretty deep conversation about it all last year.”

Kaito lit up, grinning wide, “I’d love to invite Waku.”

Shuichi pouted. Patting Miyako’s back a bit as he whispered to her, “You hear the excitement in his voice, Miyako? Once upon a time he sounded that excited spending time with me. Oh, how times change.”

Kaito shot Shuichi a bemused look, “Handsome, I am marrying you. I think I get plenty excited spending time with you. Me finding a new super cool friend doesn’t mean I don’t still love and appreciate you.”

“A super cool friend even.” Shuichi sniffed.

“Look, Waku has her own, interesting relationship with Atua that I am all about! They’re like… friends! Which is awesome! If anything, if she spent time with us, she could potentially say hi to him! …assuming it’s not just me rambling. And if it is, well, she can just get to make fun of me. Awwww, you guys could bond by making fun of me! Maki, Shuichi and Waku, allll bonding over dumb prince shennanigans?? Eh???”

“Hmph.” Shuichi humphed. 

“And, as for anyone else! …” Kaito’s grin waivered, brow furrowing, “...maybe Souda? I don’t know if Souda would be into it though. Uh…” Kaito huffed, working on Kokichi’s neck now as he admitted, “I really need to make more friends.”

“At least ask the temples if they’d be open to you joining them.” Shuichi said pointedly. “Seriously, you’ve given up on that too quickly.”

“Ha ha, yeah…” Kaito bit his lower lip a little, worrying it… before he tried to say casually, “Hey, Shuichi? There’s, uuuuuuuh… well, do you know if Maki’s gone back out or anything?”

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, “Far as I know, she’s still in her room.”

“Hmmmmmmmm good? Goooood.” Kaito murmured, “...there’s something I need to tell you, handsome. Maki’s gonna want to hear it, but it kinda matters more to you. So, uh… if you’re up to it? We can talk about it now, or we can wait until she gets here?? Whichever is fine.”

Shuichi sighed, “It’s to do with me? Does this have to do with everything we talked about today?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

Kokichi snorted a bit at Shuuichi’s jealousy, though he did make a small note to himself to keep an eye on it. Not dismiss it, even if Shuuichi was playing it up a little right now. 

As they’d just talked about, Kokichi did want to be someone Kaito could talk to about anything, but even without some of Kaito’s reservations, he knew that he couldn’t be Kaito’s everything. Shuuichi and Maki couldn’t either. A person probably didn’t need, like, 50 close friends to be fulfilled, but they still needed a few, and…Kokichi was so thankful and warmed by Kaito and Waku’s friendship. She still had her lower moments, sure, but Waku seemed more and more sure of herself, as the year had gone by, and Kokichi adored how Kaito could brighten up just at the mention of his friend. And knowing that when the two of them had been fighting, Kaito had someone he could go to without worry… 

It was a great thing. And Kokichi was sure Shuuichi knew that too, deep down. 

Humming softly at the prospect of inviting Souda too, Kokichi bonelessly shrugged, his eyebrows furrowed as Kaito worked out a knot in his back. “He might be interested, and I think he’d be happy with the invitation either way. It’s just nice to…hhh…to be considered, yanno…even if it’s something that’s not for you. But…he is into social drinking, so he might be interested…in getting high too.”

He’d been melting a bit as the massage progressed, but Kokichi cracked an eye open as Kaito broached the Nao subject himself. Maybe just not wanting to put it off any longer, now that they had talked about it… Kokichi glanced between Shuuichi and the vague large shape of Kaito in his peripheral vision, face neutral. It would be…a little weird to talk about this while he was getting a massage, but…

Kaito had a hard time keeping secrets when he was feeling guilty about them. And Kokichi knowing about his confession to Nao had really made Kaito realize that, while he hadn’t strictly thought of it as a ‘secret’... it had been. Just like the Togami thing. Kaito not realizing until that conversation that, really, he had been keeping a lot of secrets from his partners. Just trying to spare his own feelings and dodge difficult conversations. 

And, well? Kaito didn’t sit well in guilt for too long before he felt the need to fix things. And the only way out of this one was through.

It was Shuichi who seemed to be hesitating. Patting Miyako’s back a bit, giving Kaito an appraising look, “...am I going to want Maki here? How bad are we talking?”

“If Maki’s here, she may cut me.”

“Whelp. I’m going to go get Maki.” Shuichi said stiffly, standing up. “Come on, Miyako, let’s go find your aunt. She does all the angry things that Dada only thinks about on the inside.” 

“Awwww, I knew you’d grow into ‘dada’!” Kaito called after him, as Shuichi headed out. “...this is gonna be fiiiiine.” Kaito said, digging his thumbs deep into the muscles around Kokichi’s spine, “Juuuuust fine.”

“Nnnnnuuuuugh…” Kokichi groaned into the mattress, his eyebrows arching up and his mouth falling open. His sacrospinalis twitching and contracting before it had no choice but to release its tense hold around Kokichi’s spine. The kind of deep, sudden ache of “giving up”, that sometimes made Kokichi tear up and later lounge in perfect comfort. 

“...it’s gonna be okay,” Kokichi rasped out once he could get his mouth moving again. He licked his lips, trying not to drool onto their bed before taking a breath. “They know you, and they love you. Just…explain what happened, and they’ll understand, even if they’re mad.”

“...you’ve kinda…sabotaged my knight’s stance…but I can still do a mean puppy-dog eye from here.”

Kaito gave Kokichi a fond smile– he still missed, sometimes, having the freedom to if not have sex, than at least pursue sex anytime he wanted, but man, massaging his partners often felt like a very close second, and Kokichi made it very rewarding– before carefully starting to rub his hands down one of Kokichi’s arms. Reaching over to grab a little more oil to start dealing with the aches and pains he knew really did spread everywhere on his husband's body. 

“... Knight stance?” Kaito asked, grinning wide. “Okay, I’m so curious, what is your ‘knight’ stance? Awwww, babe, were you gonna be my knight?”

“Mhmm,” Kokichi hummed matter-of-factly, spreading his arms out to give Kaito the most space to work with. “I told you… If it would make it less scary, then I’ll be by your side for anything. I don’t think physically being in the way would be much of an obstacle at all for Maki-chan, and I’m not exactly a sound barrier for Shuu-chan’s weapons of choice, but…being there does make it so there’s an extra second that they have to think before acting, and maybe that might make a difference.”

“Plus, I can hold your hand and rub your back, and I like to think that provides at least a plus five to assurance.”

“Honestly, babe, if you could just keep them from, like…” Kaito paused, thinking about it, “...I was gonna say something playful, like duct taping me to stuff, but anything related to Nao might be worth more than duct tape pranks. Also, they’re taking a long time, aren’t they–”

At that, the door opened, and in walked Shuichi and Maki… no Miyako. “Guys?” Kaito asked stiffly. “Where’s my little sweetbun?”

“Timothy’s watching her for a moment.” Maki said. “They’re chilling out on his floor, he’s distracting her with the monster doll.”

“...awwww.” Kaito said, eyes wide with adorable wonder for a moment, “But also, really?”

“We’re not about to fight, because you’ve had a very difficult day and we promised Dr. Mariah we weren’t going to send you into ‘crisis’ mode again.” Shuichi said, going to sit down at the desk, while Maki stood by his side, looking very much like a bodyguard. “But, if by some freak accident we do fight, I figured Miyako could be babysat for a few minutes.”

“Okay… but does Timothy have the baby bag? Because you know Miyako can do those nervous shits when she’s not near us, and poor Tim might not know better than to just let her sit in it–”

“It’ll be fine.” Maki said, crossing her arms, “What’s happened? Why am I cutting you?”

“Ideally, you’re not… beeecauuuuse Kokichi has that fear of blood thing?” Kaito grinned, rubbing and massaging Kokichi’s hands now with the oil, “Sooooo we don’t want to make our ‘Kichi here faint, right?”

“I can be subtle.” Maki said grimly.

Kokichi did frown faintly, seeing Shuuichi return plus a Maki and minus a Miyako, but…well, that was probably a good call, on their part. It was the reason Kokichi had wanted to talk to Kaito privately outside their room too. Regardless of the actions they decided on, there probably wasn’t any of them that would be feeling particularly happy through this conversation. 

While Kokichi hadn’t sat up yet, his gaze was still steady as he looked over at Shuuichi and Maki. “You can be, and whatever emotions you feel are yours to feel. But we are trying to take conversations slower, and be more understanding to each other, and work through issues without hurting one another. We are all worth the care of taking a breath.”

Pushing himself up once Kaito had released his hands, albeit a little wobbly from how his muscles had turned to putty, Kokichi glanced around with an apologetic look. “...during therapy, I overheard something from Kai-chan that he hadn’t been quite ready to talk about. That’s what I wanted to talk to him about outside,” he nodded to Shuuichi. “I know it’s not fair of me to push an issue that’s not ready yet, but…we talked it through. And now Kai-chan wants to tell you guys too, so we’re all on the same page.”

Maki raised an eyebrow… before she leaned in towards Shuichi. Whispering in his ear. Shuichi listened, before nodding, sighing, “...okay. We were mostly playing, because I know how you can be, sometimes, Kaito.”

“How I can be?” Kaito asked, idly starting to take the time to work on Kokichi’s feet now. Carefully twisting his ankles to start to loosen him up. “What does that mean?”

“Well, you tend to think whatever you did wrong was worse than it actually was.” Shuichi shrugged, “When you came back from Drake, giving up the secret, you literally looked like you were about to fall apart. And while I know that was a big deal, you still acted like the sky was falling down because you had personally punched it.”

“...” Kaito pouted, “I don’t exaggerate my mistakes.”

“Doesn’t Miss Crystal literally have you on medication based on delusions you have over always being in the wrong?” Maki pointed out.

“..... partly. No, okay, but this is the wrong mentality to have this conversation with, because this is serious, guys.” Kaito frowned, “And while accidentally telling Kokichi’s secret to Drake was also really fucking serious, this ones, like… it’s not just a mistake, this is hurtful.”

“Yes, we’re realizing that. Mostly because Kokichi seems fairly serious about it too.” Maki said, nodding towards Kokichi, “And honestly, Kaito, if you’re going to tell us something hurtful you did, today really is the day to do it. I don’t think either of us are eager to make you feel like shit, after a day like this.”

“...” Kaito’s shoulders fell a little. Something guilty on his face at that.

“Kaito, trust us.” Shuichi said softly, “Give everyone more credit. Including yourself.”

…well, in fairness, the world kinda had felt like it was falling apart after Kaito had come back from that blunder. They had been unimaginably lucky that Drake was the kind of person he was, but, admittedly, Kokichi had been panicking the whole time they were waiting for Shuuichi and Maki to return. 

But that didn’t change the fact that Kaito did often catastrophize his mistakes. Kokichi didn’t really think that threatening him in jest was the best way to handle that, but…well, his family were sarcastic assholes. Even in the face of trying to be healthier for each other, he couldn’t dampen all their fun. 

Kokichi agreed that Kaito should give them all more credit, and…even if he felt like he deserved a bigger reaction than giving Shuuichi and Maki credit would imply… It wasn’t up to Kaito to force them into his own, extremely karmic ideas of justice. He simply would have to take what they felt they should give. And they could all examine that. 

…but pointing that out was another way to keep delaying Kaito actually telling them, which they were already doing, so Kokichi just leaned over a little, placing a gentle hand on Kaito’s shoulder before he nodded encouragingly. 

Realizing he might need to stop actively massaging Kokichi for this part, Kaito idly kissed Kokichi’s ankle, before putting it down and focusing his attention on Shuichi and Maki. Giving Maki a nervous look, before focusing entirely on Shuichi.

“...um…” Kaito sighed, ducking his head a bit, “...you remember when I talked to Nao?”

Shuichi’s eyes dimmed immediately, but Maki stiffened… before she hissed, “Oh, what did she do?”

“No, no, it’s not…” Kaito winced, immediately feeling gross trying to defend her, as he said, “It wasn’t… this specifically wasn’t her fault. This very specific thing, in a vacuum, which says absolutely nothing about other terrible things she did. Look, let me just rip this bandaid off: when I was harassing Nao? That night at the bar? We got to talking about things in our lives that we regret, and–”

“You were talking about me?” Shuichi asked dimly.

Kaito suddenly remembered the other reason he hadn’t wanted to talk about this, back when it had happened. If Nao was ever, ever going to finally get the fucking balls to apologize, that apology wasn’t going to come through Kaito on her behalf. So, squaring his shoulders, he said stiffly, “I spent some time reminding her how shitty she was, for doing what she did. Like I said, I was harassing her, and even though she tried to walk away from me, eventually she just stopped and let me get it out of my system. And, well, when she did–”

“Oh, dammit.” Maki cursed, “Kaito, did you confide to the resident asshole again?”

“... maybe.” 

“Kaito.” Shuichi said, giving him an exhausted look, “Nao?”

“I’m so sorry.” Kaito said immediately, wringing his hands a little, “I… I don’t have a good excuse–”

“What did she get out of you?” Shuichi asked. Face tight with concern… before his eyes widened slightly, “Oh, Kaito no. Not the Byakuya thing.”

“You told that nightmare woman that?” Maki demanded, heat radiating off her as she clenched her fists, “Oh, I am going to cut out her tongue.” 

“No, no, no…” Shuichi said, raising up his hand, his own eyes calculating, “...we have so many ways to bleach her brain. We know Temp is morally nebulous, he could maybe be into–”

“Shuichi! Maki-roll! No!”

Kokichi could feel the anger coming off of his fiance and sister-in-law, but…well, he hadn’t really thought they’d come after Kaito in the first place. Even being unsure with that taboo of Luminous culture…he liked to think he knew Shuuichi and Maki at least a little. 

Sighing softly, Kokichi put his cheek in his hand and nodded. “Yeah…I’m not thrilled with her knowing either. But…Temp’s been trying to leave that sort of stuff behind. Even for a good cause, please don’t tempt him. I feel obligated to at least ask, being his friend.”

“...I wanna be mad. Wanting her to just leave our family alone, wanting to tell her off for manipulating you for information…” Kokichi sighed, before looking over to give Kaito a soft look. “But, like we talked about…I believe you, that it was you that pursued her, and that it was your choice to talk. So I can’t…put that blame on her. I just hate that she knows something so private, and that hurts you.”

“It wasn’t her manipulating me, it was just–”

“Let me guess.” Maki said dryly, “She was the only one who could ‘match your evil’?”

“...”

“No, let me guess,” Shuichi said, taking off his hat and blowing air in his face, “You were in the middle of fighting, your emotions were all high, and in the ‘heat of battle’ you started to spill your feelings.”

“.... we weren’t in the middle of fighting…”

“I blame you.” Shuichi told Maki plainly, who gave him a dry look in return, “You reinforced all of his ‘working through feelings while fighting’ stuff, and now he can’t turn it off.”

“It’s a tried and true practice, it’s not my fault Kaito can’t differentiate a good spar and actually being in an argument.” Maki said stiffly.

“Guys, I’m right here.” Kaito reminded them, “...you’re not mad at me?”

“Honestly, I’m mostly pissed at Nao.” Shuichi confessed. Still looking grim, as he said, “The first person she talks to in this group and it’s our Kaito. People can manipulate you by accident, she had no right.”

“Ooookay, and now we’re veering into ‘condescending’.” Kaito warned them. “...Shuichi, I’m really sorry. I know she wasn’t the person I should have talked to, but thinking about my childhood was weighing on me. I had just refused to talk about it to Dr. Mariah and Kokichi, I was lonely and drunk, we were talking about sexually abusing people–”

“Kaito,” Shuichi interrupted, “Nowhere. In anyone’s wildest dreams. Does what you did to Byakuya. Or to me. Or to Kokichi. Equal what Nao did. You and Nao are not the same.”

He was sure he was right, but…sometimes Kokichi really did wonder what things were “Luminous culture”, and what things were “customs that made sense in Luminous culture, but few people other than Kaito actually believed in”. Maybe it was situational. 

Kokichi frowned more and shot Kaito a sterner look, nodding with Shuuichi’s words. “I only touched on it when we talked…but Shuu-chan’s right. Your situations, your actions, are not comparable in the slightest. Saying they are is either lightening the severity of what Nao did to the point it’s insulting and dismissive and actively hurtful to Shuu-chan, or exaggerating what you did to the point of brushing over the actual mistakes you made in some cases, which is cruel to everyone involved.”

He sighed, softening his gaze. “...I can understand you hitting a bursting point, and wanting to confide in someone whose opinion you don’t care about. I still wish you had felt comfortable enough to talk with someone safer…but I understand why it happened. But even if you feel monstrous…you and Nao are vastly different. Your deeds aren’t comparable.” 

Kaito sighed, looking away, “...I know. But, I mean… look at my options. Tell my incredibly pure husband, my intelligent fiance, or my strong best friend who literally made a kingdom kneel to her my shittiest, weakest point… or…?” Kaito shrugged, “Waku? Souda? Maybe I could have told Waku, but… none of that felt fair. To tell people I care about this ugly side of myself. I know it wasn’t as bad as what Nao did, but even now, what I did still feels evil.”

Shuichi sighed, “... we need to go get Miyako soon, if only to not keep Timothy trapped babysitting her. But, Kaito… not that long ago, you let me tell you, in detail, everything that happened with Nao. A lot of things I was ashamed of. Still am ashamed of. I won’t ask you to do it in front of Maki or Kokichi, but… I’d like to offer that same comfort back. I’d like to hear about what actually happened, if you want to talk about it in the shrine or something. More than just that it ‘happened’.”

“...yeah, I think I’d like that.” Kaito confessed. Going back to rubbing Kokichi’s feet, as he said, “You’re not angry with me? I’d be angry with me.’

“I’m not.” Shuichi said, “Maybe I will be later. Maybe I won’t. I trust you. You wouldn’t aid an enemy of mine, you wouldn’t hurt me that way. And I’m the one who’s always arguing that we were maybe too harsh with Nao. I’m sure that’s been confusing.”

Kokichi gave Kaito a look. “I know it’s not the same, since you told Nao and Maki-chan before…but you did tell us. And…well, you’ll have to tell me, since I shouldn’t assume…but it’s not the worst thing in the world now, right? And I can only speak for myself but…you’ve seen ugly sides of me. I’ve told you about things I’ve done that feel unforgivable to me--I’ve done some of them to you.”

“And…we talked about it recently, right?” Kokichi smiled, just a bare upturn of his lips. “To me…sharing those things with you was such a relief. Because you saw all that, and you’re still here. Now…you’ve told us one of the closest kept pieces of your heart, and we’re still here too.”

It was scary, confessing things that you were sure would lower your reputation to people you cared about. And it wasn’t an imagined threat either. Shuuichi and Maki did see Kaito differently, after Kokichi had told them about his rape. That loss of trust was devastating. 

But Maki and Shuuichi were still there. Kokichi was still there. And in the long run, it was better for all of them to be open about it. So the wounds could heal and close, and that trust could be rebuilt through other deeds. 

Kokichi sat back as Kaito claimed his feet again, comfortable enough with where the conversation had gone to sink back into the Goo Zone. “...aiding an enemy, hm? Different verbiage for the…talking normally with enemies being unforgivable, thing?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Kaito grinned thinly. Looking to Maki and Shuichi as he popped a few of Kokichi’s toes, “I was trying to explain to Kokichi, why me speaking familiarly to Nao was such a bad thing, in Luminary. It can be difficult to summarize something that felt so… innate, growing up.”

“My enemies are Kaito’s, Kaito’s is mine.” Shuichi said softly… before smiling lightly, “It’s not comparable, but I did become friends with Fuyuhiko before you guys really settled your differences. So… well, no. It’s not comparable. But I’ve done it to you too.”

“It’s not a ‘rule’ or a ‘law’ or anything like that.” Maki added in, shrugging, “It’s just an understood thing. You treat your friends enemies like your own, until they figure it out themselves.”

Shuichi sighed, getting up. “Let me go get Miyako. Kaito, do you want to go to the shrine after you’re done with the massage?”

“If Kokichi doesn’t mind. He gets kinda limp after these things, maybe Maki, you’d take a nap with them? Give him a hand, if you don’t mind?”

Maki shrugged, “Sure. Haven’t slept in this room in a while.”

Kokichi hummed softly, his eyes squinting a bit in mild flinches as Kaito cracked his toes. “That makes sense…though I guess the way we treat enemies is the part I got stuck on more. Like…maybe not for small-scale, petty stuff, but if someone has genuinely wronged a friend of yours…’course you’re not gonna treat them like you’re best buds. But…I dunno. You can treat certain people like they don’t exist, but it does make certain things harder. Guess I just…wouldn’t really care about having a neutral conversation with an enemy, if that situation happened to happen.”

…Kazuo. Kaede. Byakuya. 

Kokichi’s eyebrows lifted in consideration. “...or maybe that’s just a personal thing for others, on my behalf. I do get kinda bitchy.”

Sighing, Kokichi shook his boneless neck, not making another move to sit up properly again. “I don’t mind. You got to snuggle Miya-Miya the whole time for your nap anyway; I miss my sweetbuuuuuuun.” Humming haughtily, Kokichi gave his partners a greedy look. “...maybe I’d mind even less if you guys asked someone to bring up dinner for us when you’re done?”

“We will. Food will be up and warm and ready,” Kaito said, popping a few more toes, running his thumbs down the base of Kokichi’s feet, “By the time you wake up.”

Leaning down to give Kokichi a small kiss on his back, Kaito leaned forward, and whispered in Kokichi’s ear, “...and I like the bitchy side of my Kokichi. You’re kind, and you’re patient, and understanding and gentle, and I am endlessly grateful for these sides of you… but I still find your protective side incredibly sexy.” Kaito snickered, giving Kokichi a quick kiss on the ear, “And I don’t resent seeing that either.”

“Insatiable.” Maki said, rolling her eyes, and heading for the door, “I’m going to get Miyako. Be gone by the time I get back so we can all nap in peace.”

-

Kaito looked fondly around his little shrine, moving around the bean bags to give Shuichi plenty of space to sit and be comfy, before plopping himself down on the other end, sinking into it… before he grinned at Shuichi, “I daydream a lot about the shrine Kokichi’s building me. I’m worried my expectations might be getting unreasonable.”

Shuichi smiled softly at that. “I’m glad you’re still excited for it. How have… things been? With Atua?”

Kaito shrugged a little, rubbing the back of his neck as he confessed, “It’s more complicated now. It shouldn’t be, right? I never didn’t believe in him, having it confirmed shouldn’t change anything… but it does. My belief came from a place of pure faith, you know? Now it comes from a place of…”

“Fact?” Shuichi tried. 

Kaito shook his head, “No. Trust. Atua’s become a person. Someone that isn’t ineffable or flawless, but like… a person. Who can, theoretically, make mistakes. Or be held accountable for those mistakes, as unrealistic as that feels. Which makes my conversations with him feel more…” Kaito shrugged, a little helplessly this time, “accusatory, sometimes. Now that I know he’s not a one true god situation? That he was… mortal? Once? Might even still be…there’s a part of me that wonders, if he can even hear my prayers at all, if I should really be okay with him ignoring me. And if he can’t…” 

Kaito frowned, looking up at the posters of his saints, surrounded by little notes and drawings Kokichi had passed under the door during Kaito’s lock-ins. “...who have I been talking to? Really just… me?”

“So…” Shuichi tilted his head a little. Not following Kaito’s gaze to the walls, unconcerned about the saints hanging above them, as he asked, “Your faith is you trusting that the prayers and devotion are worth it, somehow?”

“‘Worth it’ feels like the wrong mentality.” Kaito admitted, “I guess just not ‘entirely pointless’, is what I’d settle for. Just trust that if Atua can hear me? He will. And that if he doesn’t interfere, it’s still as wise as I thought it was when I was basing my beliefs on faith. Just… trusting the person. Ya know?”

Shuichi, who had never had a hard time turning his eyes from the saints, but had always struggled to look away from Kaito, nodded. “I suppose I do… do you want to talk about it now?”

“I know, I know…” Kaito sighed, running his hand through his hair, “...did it help you? I really, really wanted it too. I felt so helpless, with the Nao stuff, I wanted to help so badly… did telling me about it all help?”

“It did, actually.” Shuichi admitted. “More than I expected it to, honestly. I’m not sure I could explain why, other then… it felt like what happened was a secret, before I told someone. There was this burden of keeping it to myself, of feeling like it was some part of me that I was keeping hidden. I suppose it still kind of is, I wouldn’t want just anyone to know what happened, but… telling you? Made me feel less like I was hiding it. And it felt less heavy, when it stopped being a secret.”

“Really?” Kaito asked. Something hopeful in his voice, though it changed slightly to skepticism as he followed it up with, “You’re not just telling me what I want to hear, to get me to talk about it?”

“I’m not Korekiyo, Kaito.” Shuichi said softly. “I’m not being nosy.”

“...I never told him.” Kaito said, putting his hands together. Fussing with his joints, “I wanted to. I tried, like, easily over a dozen times… but Korekiyo…” Kaito shifted uncomfortably, as he admitted, “I knew he got off on it. Some of the stuff I told him about. I… tried not to mind. I didn’t mind, not really, because…” Kaito’s eyes dimmed a little, “...you’re right, it does help to talk about it. It was nice to just talk to someone and feel understood, about things. Talking to him helped a lot with the whole… Chad stuff. The Togami stuff… but I couldn’t stomach the idea of him trying to bring the, ya know… th-the Byakuya stuff, into… I mean…” 

Kaito looked at Shuichi somewhat helplessly, “You know. I didn’t want it to start showing up in the ‘scenes’ Korekiyo put together. The stuff I pretended not to notice… no, that’s a lie. I didn’t hide that I noticed it, it just…”

Kaito sighed. Slouching in his bean bag and looking at the ceiling. “...didn’t matter, I guess. So long as Korekiyo was happy. Wooo~” He said. Spinning his forefinger in the air and spinning it, before letting his hands fall against his chest with a frustrated sigh, “...I’m a mess, Shucihi.”

“I know.” Shuichi said. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice how bad things had gotten. Back in Luminary.”

“Hm?” Kaito said, rolling his head to give Shuichi a bewildered look, “Why are you sorry?”

“Because…” Shuichi sighed, taking off his hat. Fussing with it in his hands, “... I thought you were happy.”

“I was! I was.” Kaito insisted, straightening up. Giving Shuichi a stern look as he said, “I was happy, you didn’t, like… miss me being miserable or whatever. I needed help, sure, but even I didn’t notice how bad things had gotten, and you couldn’t notice it if I didn’t, handsome. Same way I… I mean, if we’re assigning blame? I thought you were happy too!”

“...I was.” Shuichi said softly.

“Sure, I know, but like… you were in danger, constantly! And, you know… enslaved.” Kaito said just as softly. Wincing at his own words as he said, “I should have recognized more, how… bad. That situation was. Because I didn’t recognize it. You and Maki seemed so cool and put together and proud… the idea that you guys were ‘victims’? I couldn’t fathom it. Not Maki and Shuichi… me? Being a ‘victim’? How?? I’m the second son. Best friends with the proteges of the Luminary Royal Detective and Assassin… I felt like we ruled the world. In our own way. Bigger than life.” Kaito chuckled weakly, “And instead, turns out if you analyzed our lives and dissected them, we were all… ‘abused’.” Kaito said. Having used the tone for all the words, but this time literally bunny-earing his fingers, quoting the word sarcastically as he huffed, “Or something. I felt big and powerful and impressive, and now I look back at our lives and can’t help but feel… pathetic.”

“Maybe we were.” Shuichi said softly.

“...when I talked about this to Maki? We decided we were evil. The villains who got away with it.” Kaito said, “It helped, to think of it like that.”

“If you’re the villain, you’re not the victim.” Shuichi guessed.

“Fuck, yeah. Yeah, dammit, guess that sums it up right there.” Kaito chuckled, shaking his head as he shot Shuichi an adoring, if tired, look, “My intelligent detective. My brilliant mage. Always so quick to figure it out… I’d rather be evil. Then helpless. I hate being helpless, Shuichi.”

“Do you really think things would have changed? If you had told your parents the truth?” 

“...” Kaito looked away. Silent for a moment… before quietly shaking his head. “...I thought they knew.” Kaito whispered, “And me lying was giving them permission to let it continue. A part of me… still believes that. How could they not know? We were their children. He was their most personal servant. How could they not know…”

“Kaito…” Shuichi fussed with his hat, tilting his head, “...what exactly happened? I was doing my best to follow what Maki and you were saying during therapy, but…”

So Kaito explained. Explained that Tengan had been stressing to Kaito lately, how stressed Byakuya was. How Byakuya’s responsibilities and pressures were growing, and boy, he had to put out those pressures somewhere. You see how ‘reactionary’ he gets, Kaito? How he makes impulsive decisions when he’s angry? It needs to be someone’s duty to manage those negative feelings, so that Byakuya can be free to focus on running the country. Byakuya’s anger wasn’t his fault. It was the responsibility of others. Kaito’s responsibility. If Byakuya grew angry or impulsive or frustrated, it was Kaito’s fault. For not fixing it.

“And… I guess maybe some of it was empath stuff. Or conditioning stuff, or whatever, but my dreams started getting really explicit.” Kaito said, wincing slightly, “For a while there, it felt like every morning I’d wake up with new, like, really vivid images of how I could ‘help’ Byakuya. I became obsessed, it was all I could think about, some days. All of this happened before you and I got close, and… it was really hard to focus on people, those days. To talk to anyone normally. Because all I could think about was Byakuya. I’d obsessively watch his mood and I felt so guilty every time I saw he was having a bad day and I’d think about how I could help him, if I just had the courage. I couldn’t get away from those thoughts…”

“I knew it was wrong. That it’d have to be a secret. But I thought it was going to be another one of those open secrets, ya know? Like no one would talk about it, but everyone would know I was doing my duty, and be grateful to me… I was excited.” Kaito said weakly, chuckling dryly, “That’s always the toughest thing to remember. How excited I was to start. I just wanted to help so badly… Tengan left the study after really stressing Byakuya out with some trade contracts they were reading about. Like, Tengan was being weirdly mean to Byakuya about them, quizzing him on them and chastising him, till Byakuya was looking like he was ready to tear the papers apart. And I was already doing the ‘kneeling’ thing… Tengan just liked me to sit at their feet and stuff. Usually if I was doing that and they weren’t messing with me, I’d just zone out. But watching Byakuya stress out was stressing me out, and when Tengan left I thought, okay… this is it. This is the moment I show Byakuya that I’ve been good. That I’ve been listening. That I know what I’m supposed to do.”

“...did Byakuya know?” Shuichi asked, after Kaito trailed off into silence. “Did Tengan hint what your ‘purpose’ was going to be around him?”

“I don’t know… yes? It seemed obvious to me, but maybe that was just because I was listening for it. Or maybe Byakuya was in denial. I don’t know… I just remember how shocked he looked.” Kaito said. His gaze far away, “I was shaking like a leaf, but I was still so excited to start. I told him I knew what I was doing,” Kaito said, rolling his eyes, “Based entirely on just dreams I had. Suddenly I was a child ‘blow job expert’. Told him to just… sit back and let me handle it. And then immediately got stopped, just trying to undo his belt. My hands shaking too hard to manage it, while Byakuya asked me what the hell I thought I was doing.”

“...I told him I was doing my duty, and I kissed at his damn crotch. Still trying to undo his damn belt. Hands half the size they are now…” Kaito muttered, looking down at his hands, “God, I must have been so small… a-anyway. The second I kissed him, Byakuya lost his damn mind. Grabbed my hair and…” Kaito closed his eyes, “It was a bad beating. Let’s just say that. Byakuya just screaming at me, beating the shit out of me. And then when he had to pull me out of the table after I crashed through the damn thing, he finally thought to ask who had put that thought in my head. Told him Tengan, and that’s when the whole ‘lying to my parents’ thing happened.” Kaito said, explaining to Shuichi how his parents had ended up giving Kaito the final say, over who was telling the truth. Byakuya or Tengan.

Shuichi nodded every now and again, his eyes impassive. Every now and again his lips tightening, but otherwise listening without comment. When Kaito seemed to lose steam, murmuring about how Byakuya had made the sessions stop with Kaito, but Kaito always felt like he had completely lost his chance of ever getting his brothers respect again before drifting into depressed silence, Shuichi finally said, “You’ve always had this issue, being compared to a dog. Was that the ‘sitting at their feet’ thing?”

Kaito looked a little surprised at the question, before smirking at Shuichi, “Your little detective brain just connecting threads, handsome?”

“Sorry.” Shuichi said, sincerely, “I’ve always wondered what that was. I always assumed it was perhaps something one of your sexual partners did that left a bad taste in your mouth.”

“Nah, yeah… looking back, it was probably just Tengan getting some kick out of it, but at the time it was just one of the more common punishments for losing a stress game.” Kaito said, shrugging a little, “I guess when Tengan just didn’t feel like setting up anything more creative. I just had to act like a dog. Lost ‘being human’ rights, because I was too dumb to follow ‘simple instructions’. When we were younger? Like in the early days? Byakuya thought it was hilarious. He’d…” Kaito grinned, something mean in it. Bitter, “He’d make me sit and give my ‘paw’ and play fetch. Fucking, roll over… I actually thought it was fun, when I was really little. It was only as I started to get older that I realized it wasn’t a game I was playing with them, but that was I being mocked. As the years went by, I went from thinking it was fun, to being embarrassed, to seriously resenting it. I think it was one of the first things I ever genuinely hated. They’d do that and I’d leave and just… start screaming. At people, the air, myself, whatever. Fucking hit walls. Nothing pissed me off like a day acting like the fucking dog. I’d leave those sessions genuinely wanting to kill people.”

Shuichi’s eyebrows went up a little, “...is that why you destroyed that hallway? The day we met?”

Kaito gave Shuichi a startled look… before laughing a little. “Shit, maybe? I don’t remember. Probably. I was angry all the time then, it wasn’t just the dog shit, but man, nothing got me as violent as the dog shit. If I was destroying property randomly? Yeah, chances were an hour ago I was fucking, like, barking when someone said ‘speak’ and trying not to fucking cry. Just letting that anger build up in me until I was finally out of sight and just losing my mind on whatever was nearby.”

“...why wouldn’t you tell me?” Shuichi asked. Knowing the answer as soon as he said it. 

“What, back then?” Kaito asked, raising an eyebrow, before grinning, “Because you were cool and intelligent and I immediately found you attractive and had a major crush on you, and of course I wasn’t going to tell you my brother literally made me act like a dog. Fuck, of course you were the last person I ever wanted to know that, it was humiliating. And by the time we got older? It stopped being a problem. Byakuya stopped it. So by that point, what was the point of telling anyone? It didn’t matter anymore…”

“...” Kaito fussed with his hair a little. Twisting a piece of it between his fingers, pouting a little… before he laughed. “Except, well, you know it did still matter. I couldn’t bring myself to talk about it to anyone, but that shit ate away at me. And any part of me that could get past my embarrassment was being actively suppressed by my conditioning. Can’t say bad things about my brother… not Byakuya. Byakuya’s perfect, I can’t ruin his reputation like that, what would people say. I had a ‘duty’.” Kaito sighed, shaking his head, “I kept that secret for so long. I didn’t tell a soul for years. Couldn’t, and didn’t want to. Even though it ate me up inside. Couldn’t and didn’t want to, but fuck, I needed to. Had to tell someone… and then…” 

Kaito smiled softly. Something soft and adoring that only made Shuichi a little furious, jealousy tugging at him, as Kaito said, “Togami showed up.”

“What a loophole. What a loophole…” Kaito said. Crossing his arms and sinking into the bean bags, “Can’t talk to anyone but Byakuya, about what happened, who never wanted to talk about it, beyond reminding me I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. It’d ruin both our reputations, that’s an order, Kaito, never tell anyone what happened, our parent weren’t going to protect us, so Byakuya would have to… never tell anyone… but then he left? He left, and someone named Byakuya Togami took his place, and despite knowing I’d know Byauya had hired an imposter to cover for him for the trip, still insisted on acting like I wouldn’t know. Kept up the act for nearly a month… and fuck, man. That was so shockingly confusing. Because Togami, like, acted so much like Byakuya, but… he kept misunderstanding how he was supposed to treat me. At first he was too nice, than he was too mean, and finally he just pulled me aside… well, he summoned me to his, or, Byakuya’s room, and made me sit down and talk to him, trying to understand Byakuya and I’s relationship so he could better imposter him, and…”

Kaito blinked, eyes wide and far away. “I don’t know why it worked, but it did. It felt like I was allowed to tell him. Because it was Byakuya. I was allowed to talk about what our relationship was like, and… I told him all of it. Everything, Shuichi. And…”

Shuichi listened quietly. Again, his heart only breaking a little bit, as Kaito said, voice full of love, “He was so kind. About it. At first he dropped the mask entirely, treated me like Togami, but when I started to panic because I realized what I had done, he put it right back on and it made me feel like I hadn’t betrayed Byakuya. Because again, Byakuya was right there. Even if I knew that wasn’t true. Apparently it was convincing enough for my conditioning. So he just kept doing it, playing this little game of being just enough Byakuya that I could confide in him, while over time letting me see more and more of Togami… he was so kind to me, Shuichi. He was so… he was so patient. And gentle–”

“Kaito.” Shuichi said softly, “I don’t know if I can listen to that.”

Kaito winced. Giving Shuichi an earnest look as he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I love you.”

“I know… but just so you know? I don’t think having a sexual relationship with a kid who was forced to think of the person you’re impostering as their sexual responsibility is exactly kind.” Shuichi said, seething a little, “It sounds a little exploitative, to me.”

“...maybe.” Kaito confessed, “Maybe a little. But it was a genuine weight off my shoulders, to tell someone about it. And, yeah… there was a part of me that needed to vent through those feelings. It’s not like Tengan undid whatever he did to me, just because Byakuya and I never went through with it. I stopped having the dreams eventually, but they were still vivid memories, and the first damn thing I ever knew about sex.” Kaito scowled, “Maybe Togami exploited me. But trying to live with those feelings by myself was worse.”

Shuichi sighed, shaking his head… before shifting slightly on the bean bags. “Kaito, come sit with me instead.”

Kaito didn’t need much prompting. He got up and basically immediately sat back down again, but just on Shuichi’s side of the closet now. It was a small space. As Shuichi tucked himself into Kaito’s side, Kaito looked around the small space, and murmured again, “I’m really excited for the new shrine… the closets too small. And I’m embarrassed by the memories I have in here.”

“You’ll get it soon. Kokichi’s been working diligently on it.” Shuichi said softly back to him. “...what else?”

“What do you mean?” Kaito asked, closing his eyes, “What else happened? There really isn’t anything else. Just games that confused me and punishments that hurt. Mean little conversations that happened over my head while I zoned out… isn’t that enough? Does there need to be anything else?”

“No.” Shuichi said, “But you gave me the chance to talk about everything that happened to me. And I still left things out, just because they didn’t come to mind. I stripped naked in front of Yasu. Or, I tried. She wasn’t impressed, and I was embarrassed and left… I left to go kill myself. I wanted to die, rather than be abandoned by Nao. I left to go kill myself, and a man found me and stopped me. Said I was perfect, and took me away to be raped. Then Maki saved me… and then I almost fell out of a window trying to masterbate. No, not almost.” Shuichi sighed, “Did. Fell out of the window, and was caught. And we talked about everything that happened, and that still never even occurred to me. Because sometimes it’s all just… so much.”

Kaito held Shuichi. Holding him tighter. “...I can’t think of anything else right now.” Kaito confessed, “You’re right though. Later something might occur to me. And… I’ll tell you then? When it does? And you can keep telling me things when it occurs to you? And we can talk to each other… and I’ll be a villain with Maki, and a victim with you, and between the three of us, maybe we can talk about all of it. All the ugly, shameful parts of it… and sometimes we’ll talk to Kokichi. And he’ll remind us of the prettier side of things. Our Kokichi is so good. He makes me feel heroic, when I talk to him. I don’t know how he keeps doing it, but he does… villain, victim and hero… how can all of those things be one person? A group of people? How are we all of those things?”

Shuichi shrugged, “Maybe everyone is.”

“Huh… yeah.” Kaito whispered. “Maybe so.”

-

Elia was positive she wasn’t just making things up under wishful thinking. Sure, she wasn’t really the type to scope out every party in the city with a plan locked and loaded to go, but she liked to think she was at least relatively personable, and she had enjoyed her time with people before. Elia was confident she knew what it looked like when someone was just smoothing over a social interaction, or when someone wasn’t interested. 

Her small conversations with Maki, either between workouts or while she was helping out with the occasional class Maki taught weren’t that. The lingering stares she could feel and sometimes caught weren’t that either. A month of passing acquaintance wasn’t all that much, but, hell, it wasn’t like Elia was asking the woman to marry her. 

She just wanted to get to know the fiery powerhouse a little better. 

The two of them happened to be cooling down at the same time after a kick-boxing class when Elia decided to shoot her shot. 

Throwing her towel over her neck, she raised a hand to get Maki’s attention, offering her a small grin. “Hey, Maki, you got a sec?”

Maki… did not get crushes on people.

She just didn’t. She lured people in, messed around with them a bit, and moved on like a breeze through the wind. She liked it better that way, a small, good time with no real feelings involved, as impartial in the relationships as out of it… because how she was when she did get a crush was always humiliating.

Kaito was a prime example. Kokichi had never seen Maki, in prime ‘stupid fucking crush on stupid fucking Kaito ruining her stupid fucking day’ mode. Kokichi had, unfortunately, seen her in ‘why is this happening why is my face red I don’t even care oh god stop’ crush mode now, though, because the stupid fucking goth chick with the big teal eyes was stupid and there and– !?

Maki’s fluster, as she finished running her towel through her hair, was maybe not as obvious to everyone else as it might have been to, say, her immediate squad of friends. There was just a sudden tensing to her shoulders, and a moment of her ears stubbornly turning red for no damn good reason as Maki got a sudden, slightly irrationally pissed off look on her face. Frowning tensely as she mentally argued with herself… before pulling the towel down and, with an extremely controlled air of indifference, hummed over to Elia, “Hm?”

That was the other reason Elia didn’t think she was way off-base. While usually streaked with more confusing flavors, the warm, occasionally flattered fluster that wafted off of Maki when they talked was mighty tasty. Not the bombastic flavors and stomach-filling prowess of grand joy or deep love or tranquil contentment--often the other fillings in each filling seemed to imply that Maki was annoyed or frustrated with the happier feelings going through her--but…the subtlety of Maki’s feelings was only another thing that pulled Elia towards the woman. 

“I like you,” the raven said bluntly, her kind look glimmering with a sort of interest, “And I would like to get to know you better. Do you want to grab a drink together sometime?”

While her words were confident, Elia did soften her smile a bit from there. “It’s no pressure if you’re not looking for that sort of thing right now either--I would still like to get to know you platonically too.”

“......” Maki stared at Elia for a moment… before her eyes widened slightly as her face turned bright red. Her hair wafting up as a sudden heat radiated off of her, one that wasn’t very different from her bloodlust as she gave Elia a fierce look, “--What!?”

“Oh! She’d love too!”

Maki turned her murderous gaze over her shoulder, the heat just coming on stronger as Hina bounced over with a bright smile. Throwing her arms over Maki’s shoulders, entirely unconcerned as her own hair started to wave in the heat exhaust, and only sweating a little as Maki glared at her, “Don’t let her fool you, she’s just embarrassed! You want to go get a drink with Elia, right big sis?”

Maki looked on the verge of manslaughter.

Hina nodded with increased certainty, before leaning past Maki’s shoulder and saying conspiratorially to Elia, “She calms down once she’s less flustered. Are you guys going to go now? Maki’s got time!”

Murder.

While it wasn’t the first time Elia had ever encountered it, dealing with extreme emotions by channeling it into violent intent really was one of the more unique coping methods. 

It was kinda hot, though Elia would prefer it if Maki was able to speak at the apex of her fluster too. 

Giving Hina a kind and mildly flustered look of her own, Elia chuckled and gave a hopeful shrug of her shoulders to Maki. “If you’d like to? I know a place that does protein and electrolyte-specialized smoothies, if you’re interested?”

Inferno– “That sounds like so much fun! I’m so jealous! Big-sis will meet you outside, Elia!” Hina promised, placing her arms beneath Maki’s armpits and pulling her away towards the lockers. Maki’s digging in her heels as Hina called over her shoulder, “You guys are going to have so much fun, give her a bit!”

Pulling Maki around the corner, Hina sighed, took a breath… and then WACKED Maki in the back of the head. Just lifting her chin and straightening her back as she ignored the sudden knife to her neck as she said, “Pull it together! She’s super cute and you’re super into her, I’ve been waiting for this, for, like, weeks! And I’m three days away from losing a bet with Sakura!”

Maki glared at her, gripping her knife tighter… before she huffed. Putting it away with a flick of her wrist, before sighing as she ran her hands through her hair. “...I need to ask Kaito.”

“What?” Hina asked dryly. 

Maki scowled at her, though the embarrassment coming off of her was more mild now, cooling down now that The Crush wasn’t there. “You heard me. I can’t do it right after gym, I need to ask Kaito.”

“Okay, but that’s crazy.” Hina said, before balking a little at the genuine anger in Maki’s face, “I-I mean… isn’t it?? You don’t need to ask Kaito, you two aren’t dating! …Wait, are you two dating?”

Maki rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “No. I just…” Maki reached up to start pulling at her hair, mildly frustrated to remember it wasn’t really long enough to do that anymore, so she crossed her arms instead, shrugging. “...It’s too difficult to explain. I just feel like I need to.”

Hina tilted her head at that, pouting, “But she’s asking you now… okay! If you were to ask Kaito, right now, what you should do, what would he say?”

“...”

“Come oooooon,” Hina grinned, poking Maki in the shoulder, “What would he saaaaaay?”

“...go get drinks with Elia.”

“So go get drinks with Elia!!”

Maki sighed at that, looking away… before asking Hina, “Could you go ask him for me?”

“Eh?”

“Go ask him for me.” Maki said, relaxing a little, “If he says anything different, you can come tell me. She already told you where we’re going. It’ll be fine.”

“...okay, that’s still craz–”

“I am not.”

“--but! Because I love you and you’re my big sister and we just recently fought a war together, I will do the crazy thing you just asked me to do. So that you can go on a small date!” Hina said, grinning brightly, “So! Go on that date!”

-

Maki headed out the gym, dressed and clean and looking around for Elia. Spotting her at the gate, she took a small, steadying breath, before heading over. “...apologies for earlier.” Maki said, as she approached the other woman, tucking her hair back behind her ears a bit as she said, “Hina was being a busy body, but she was right, I would like to get a drink with you.”

Elia was leaning against one of the bike racks just inside the gate, washed and cleaned in her own right. It wasn’t quite as much as Elia would wear on a non-work out day, a leather jacket traded out for a black cardigan, her makeup limited to eyeliner, hair a little tousled but put in some semblance of order. And while she didn’t perk up in surprise seeing Maki head over, her expression did brighten. 

She hadn’t expected Maki to completely brush her off, but…well, maybe today was a little sudden. 

Looking over Maki’s casual outfit with a warm expression, Elia nodded and started to lead the way. “It’s alright--I did kind of ask you out of nowhere,” she chuckled softly. “I’m glad you came, though. I’m sure I would’ve stood out here for an embarrassingly long time before convincing myself you weren’t interested.”

“Are you actually interested in the smoothies?” she asked with a side-long glance. “They’re something I like to get after workouts sometimes, but…I really have no idea if you like sweet things.” Of course there were more sour and more bitter--and even a novelty spicy one that Elia had once raised an eyebrow at--smoothies but…well, typically they were at least a little sweet. 

Maki took one look at Elia’s outfit… and looked away. Face reddening again as she said– again, inexplicably sounding a little pissed off– while she ran her fingers through the side of her hair a little, “I don’t discern that much when it comes to my food… but I don’t mind sweet things.”

She did mind spicy foods, but she’d rather fight ten people then admit that one weakness to her crush at this exact moment. Walking at Elia’s side, Maki glanced at her, before looking down at her hands and puffing out her cheeks a bit, a concerned, uncertain look on her face… before she let the air out. Straightening her back as she said, “I don’t… really know. If I’m looking to date. Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elia laughed softly before giving Maki something of a wink, just subtle enough a motion that, with Maki not looking directly at her, could be plausibly denied. “We’ll see if I can find out a favorite or two, though.”

When silence fell for a few moments--or as silent as it could be with their light footsteps on stone and the late-afternoon chatter of a city alive around them--Elia didn’t find it uncomfortable, even for how Maki seemed to be psyching herself up for something. Focused on their purposes being there, comfortable silences had fallen between them at the dojo before, neither woman seeming to have a need to fill the air when they were around another person, and…well. Elia was happy to find it wasn’t awkward outside of their usual setting either. 

What Maki mustered to ask didn’t make it that way either. 

Looking at her more fully, Elia gave Maki an easy nod. “I am. I meant what I said before--I am attracted to you, but mostly…I think you’re a cool, interesting person, and I’d like to get to know you, Maki. If that turns out to be friendship, or even just knowing a workout buddy a little better, then I’d be happy.”

After a beat, Elia’s smile grew a little lopsided as she shrugged. “I’d just ask that you be upfront with me, if you know what you want. Life’s too short to chase an illusion.”

“Nn? Hn.” Maki felt that heat spread across her face again– stupid, why did she get like this auuuuuugh she was giving Kaito an earring for this. But at the question of what she wanted…

…she didn’t know yet. That was why she sent Hina.

So she shrugged, saying honestly, “I don’t. I’m sort of in a transition phase in my life, as melancholy as that sounds. Just sort of taking things day by day, settling into my routines… you’re kind of the most interesting thing that’s happened to me since I returned from a trip I took not that long ago. Interesting in the sense that this breaks from my routine.” Maki explained, daring to glance over at Elia as she gestured between them, “Normally after training at the gym I’d go check on my family and then update and manage my room. Not… terribly exciting, now that I say that out loud.” Maki pouted. “Even if this doesn’t become dating, it is nice to just do something different.”

“It doesn’t seem terribly melancholy,” Elia said softly. It wasn’t so much her volume, reasonable to begin with, had dipped, but rather that there was no bite in her words at all, even the natural huskiness of her voice smoothing out. “It can be daunting and frustrating, and even scary at times to have left what you knew before without having a promised future…but that can be exciting too, yeah? Taking things day by day means the future is really what you make it, and what that can be can be…anything. Endless possibilities.”

“But I’m glad to be a welcome event,” Elia chuckled, her usual tone returning. “Or, I’d hope so, since I doubt you would’ve given me the time of day if I was an unwelcome one.”

Tilting her head, Elia picked out a bit of information Maki had given. “Have you been redecorating your room? Or just the type to keep things orderly?”

Maki felt herself relax a little. That easy camaraderie there that had made working out alongside Elia easy for the past few weeks, even as The Crush grew more and more over time. That same tug and pool that had let Maki spend all that time with Kaito, even when her crush had sometimes made her want to throw him off a building in sheer self-defense. 

Smirking slightly, Maki shrugged, “I won’t say that I’m not up for the occasional annoying task. I have a lot of little siblings who want to do annoying things with me all the time. But, admittedly, if I didn’t like you already, I probably wouldn’t bother with something like this. Takes away time from all of my said annoying little siblings.”

“And organizing my things just relaxes me.” Maki said, placing her hands behind her her back and interlocking her fingers, “Makes me feel more prepared. Life can be a bit surprising, which I’m not really a fan of, but life hasn’t exactly gotten the memo of that yet. So I just try to be prepared for surprises. Eases the disruption… what about you? In the sense of siblings, I mean. I know we were discussing disruptions and organization, but that put me in mind of family again. Most disruptive things in my life.” Maki said. The fondness in her tone clear.

Elia chuckled softly, easily accepting that she wasn’t necessarily in the clear for being entirely a nice departure from the norm…but she was an accepted one, at least, and that was pretty good too. “Ah, yeah? Even without hearing it from Hina, I could tell you had siblings from how you handled the teen class. That kind of beleaguered acceptance is hard to miss.”

Nodding along with Maki’s approach to life, Elia smiled a bit. There was no way to truly prepare for everything, but doing what you could certainly ease some of the worse blows. And in some ways, the act of preparation itself could be a comfort against the looming maw of the unknown future. 

Though, as Elia had said earlier, not everything in the unknown and chaos of the universe was unpleasant. 

“You’re telling me,” Elia grinned. “I have eight--four brothers and four sisters. They can be absolute menaces at times…but they’re my menaces, you know? Would fight the world for ‘em.”

Maki smiled lightly… and then she brought her knuckle to her mouth and laughed a little. Soft and bell-like. “Eight’s pretty good. I have a few more, but I’m not so out of touch to not recognize eight’s quite a bit too. Hina’s one of my siblings, though she’s only recently started being that open about it as to call me it in public.” Maki said, smiling lightly as she turned her gaze back to the path in front of them, “We were separated for a time. She’s the main reason I spend so much time at the dojo. I love all my siblings, but I’ll admit, I enjoy spending time with the grown ones the most. I love seeing how far they’ve come.”

It was sort of serious conversation, but also… sort of not. In a way, it was nice, because it felt like small talk. Just discussing their families, how they spent their time idly… Maki still wasn’t sure if this was a date or not, but it was nice either way.

…glancing over at Elia, Maki felt herself flush hot again. God, did she have to be so pretty? Who gave her permission to look like that? She was so blue… gah! She was going to kill Kaito! Stop turning red!

“Yeah? Man, I usually win the sibling tower,” Elia laughed, a blush of her own dusting amid her freckles hearing Maki’s laugh. What an angelic sound… Like the blessing of Dah’et themself. “Your crew must really be something.”

Elia had known Hina for a while, even before the stint last fall Maki had in coming to the dojo, but there was something so proud and bright about the usually enthusiastic woman when Maki was around. Like a fresh and herby citrus glaze on baked salmon, full of life and yet warm and nostalgic at the same time. Even with the time apart, it was clear how dearly the sisters felt for each other. 

“That’s wonderful,” Elia said genuinely. “I suppose it’s different, being separated, so I guess I’ll find that out for myself soon enough. But in the day to day, it’s…almost like my siblings become this static idea of themselves. And then before I know it, we’ve grown up into new people. It’s great to see, but also a little baffling. It’s just a physical difference, but I was unconvinced for weeks when my older brother grew taller than me. Now he’s a damn beanpole and taller than everyone.”

“Meanwhile, the youngest are…man, already 13 this year,” Elia shook her head a little. “They’re riots now, but…hm. Maybe it’s just me being sentimental, but I think it’s going to be wonderful, seeing them grow into themselves.”

Especially because Lisa and Enoch never got the chance to before. Of all the injustices done to them…well, there was a reason the rest of them tended to dote on the twins.

Maki sighed, “Thirteen. The best of the worst ages. Middle schooler’s are such terrors, they even frighten me, though I’ll never let it show. Little terrors, just starting to figure out how to work the people around them but not quite understanding why you don’t just tear people down because you can… it’s a good age, honestly. Thirteen year olds learn a lot. It’s really their chance to shine, as far as learning the realities of who they’re going to be.”

“... I’ve got three more years before my kid becomes thirteen.” Maki said. Something pointed in the observation. Uncertain if that was something about herself Elia knew yet or not. “Tim’s already fairly sarcastic. Who knows how that’s going to develop into his rebellious teen years.”

“The terrors of the teens,” Elia snickered in agreement. “Though I think I’m a little lucky I’m getting to skip out on the worst of the drama for this round. I’ll just have to trust that I won’t be missing any huge personal revelations when I head home to avoid the Great Bathroom Shuffle.”

Making a considering sound, Elia nodded. “Your son is ten, then? 13 might be great for self-discovery…but 10’s a lot of fun,” she grinned, before snorting, giving Maki an amused look. “Oh, I heard you all in the castle had to have a whole ventilation rehaul over the summer. I’ll certainly take the “proud parent rebuttal” if I’m wrong, but…was that him? I imagine the castle has some pretty tempting vents for a secret hideout.”

“Ugh. Nope, that was him. Him and his little moron friends.” Maki said, rolling her eyes– though another small part of her relaxed, seeing Elia not immediately put off by Timothy’s existence– as she placed her hands inside of her jacket now. Allowing herself to lower her guard a little, entraping her hands, “Me, his father, his fathers stick of a husband, and all of the castle staff spent the entire weekend fixing their little ‘fortress’. When I asked him what he was thinking, he had the audacity to say if they didn’t want kids getting in there, they would have made the screws harder to turn. Honestly. Kids.”

Looking curiously over at Elia, Maki asked, “How are you managing to skip the awkward puberty phase for your own siblings? Are they not local around here? Or…” Maki puffed her cheeks a bit, a little visibly annoyed, “... are you going on a trip?”

Elia snorted, a devilish smirk painting her features in mirth. “Well, with infallible logic like that? Makes perfect sense.”

The smoothie shop really wasn’t that far away--regardless of how delicious and healthy their drinks were, if it had been on the other side of town from the dojo there was no way Elia would’ve bothered going after a session--and as they walked, Elia silently gestured ahead to the sign, letting Maki know where they were headed. Though, with the obvious annoyance in Maki’s face at the mention of Elia going away, the raven couldn’t help but blush with a pleased expression. 

“Nah, I’m in town for the foreseeable future. People start making a lot of tattoo reservations around this time of year, since there’s not as much a worry about sun exposure or scheduling around swimming compared to the summer,” she explained, holding the parlor door open for Maki. “I guess it’s not so much I’m missing the phase, as I have an escape button. I have my own apartment by my work, though my family lives in Usott too. I think I’d miss them too much if I went farther, but…”

Elia chuckled fondly. “It is nice being able to leave when I need some space.” And when she wanted to bring someone home and not subject them to a hoard of nosy, overprotective busybodies. 

Maki gave her a small, pleased nod as she opened the door for her, Maki walking in and looking around. Small smoothie place, nothing terribly noteworthy about it, beyond a portrait of a whale on the wall that seemed somewhat out of place with the otherwise light, bubbly aesthetic of the place. Maki raised an interested eyebrow at Elia’s tattoo work, but decided to comment instead, “Your own apartment, hm? I like to imagine that’s pretty relaxing. While I’ve been lucky enough to not have to share a room with anyone for most of my life, I’ve never had a whole apartment to myself. I’m not sure what I would even do with that much space, personally.”

“...I’d love to see it sometime.” Maki said, giving Elia a bit of side-eye, “Judge your taste in decorating.”

It was a nice, small shop, the majority of the non-seating area taken up by a long counter, behind which you could watch the staff make your drink…if you weren’t caught up in looking over the massive and highly customizable menu dominating the back wall. There were set recipes, drinks with fun names like Just Peachy and Mango Mania--not quite all that zany, but still creative--but there was a hefty list of ingredients that you could special order into a personal smoothie too. Not just fruit (and other flavors like peanut butter and chocolate) but dairy components (and dairy replacements) and different kinds of protein powder, vitamin supplements, and greens. 

If that didn’t say it enough, then a back shelf filled with protein bars for sale really showed the kind of people the shop was marketing to. Though Elia had always thought that none of the smoothies really tasted like the sort of things mega-health nuts would only consume. They were just…delicious. And helped give her a bit of pep regained after a workout. 

“It was pretty daunting at first,” Elia nodded. “I shared a room with my older sister for a long time, and even then, with so many of us, it was pretty surreal, having a place that was just mine. But I’ve grown to appreciate it--and I finally have a place to hang up all my art.”

Meeting Maki’s side eye, Elia’s brows raised in slight surprise, before she flushed and smiled back. “I’d love to have you, then. Think I might be able to sway a few points by being a good hostess?”

Maki smirked lightly, heading over to the counter. “Depends on what you imagine being a good hostess is. I’m told Luminaries make difficult guests here. I’ll try to make it worth your while.”

Looking over the menu list, Maki hummed to herself slightly. Mr. Nidai liked to go get smoothies with her as a treat, and protein shakes had always been in arms reach growing up, an easy and efficient way to fill up when you had no time and no freedom to prepare for yourself something better. Maki, in truth, thought workout drinks were somewhat lackluster things… but she could admit she liked the familiarity of them. The type of food that reminded her of nicer days with her mentor.

Pulling some copper from her pockets, she ordered herself a raspberry smoothie. Raspberry’s were one of the fruits that grew plentifully in Luminary, and while it was maybe not terribly creative, Maki mostly just wanted to drink something she’d knew she’d like. She liked the mildly bitter tang of them. Looking around the store, she said, “Want to sit by the windows? Or keep walking? It’s a nice day.”

-

Back at the castle…

Kaito, after answering the bedroom door, had listened to Hina for a while… before scooping up Miyako into his chest carrier and, running with her diaper bag around his back, he SLAMMED his way through Kokichi’s office door.

“BABE!”

“G’wah!” Miyako shouted in solidarity.

“I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!” Kaito continued to shout, eyes wide and sweating lightly… before glancing over at Nadya, sitting at her desk, “HI NADYA! I NEED TO BORROW KOKICHI!”

Kokichi jolted from his seat, worry flashing over his face at the frantic feelings coming from Kaito…but Miyako wasn’t crying or wailing. So…whatever Kaito was feeling, it certainly wasn’t the end of the world. It’d be kind of an awful way to tell Kokichi something that major like this anyway. 

Giving a nod to Nadya as she waved him away, Kokichi put a gentle, hopefully calming hand on Kaito’s arm as he led him out of the office, shutting the door for a little privacy. He leaned forward to place a little kiss on Miyako’s forehead, not one to ignore her, before he looked up at Kaito with a--hopefully--tempered expression. 

“What’s going on? Is everyone safe?”

“Yes! Probably!” Kaito said, giving Kokichi an urgent look, “I need you to contact Maki and tell her to go on the date, gosh darn it, or I’m going to go and kick her butt!”

Miyako kicked the air, “G’ah!’

Kokichi blinked before his face broke out in a wide, excited smile. “Maki-chan’s on a date?! That’s so exciting! Yeah, sure, right away!”

Still beaming, Kokichi leaned against the wall and let his eyes unfocused, knowing full well how annoyed his sister-in-law was going to be with his feelings on the matter, but too happy to care about it. 

{Kai-chan’s given his blessings with full, incensed enthusiasm, as has Miya-Miya. AAAAAAHHHHH!!! I’m so happy for you!!! I hope you have a blast, and lemme know if you had a good time when you come back!!! ✽-(^▽^)/✽}

-

Maki, sipping at her smoothie, twitched. Got it, got it, loud and clear, stop having a party in her head, Ouma. Get out of there. She’d tell him about it later.

-

“You did it? Good!” Kaito said, distractedly patting Kokichi on the head, before leaning over to give him a kiss on the temple, “Good, good, good, okay… soooooo me and Miya here are going to goooooo…. and-spy-on-Maki-okay-I-love-you-have-a-good-day!” Kaito shouted, running off as he called over his shoulder, “Love you, love you, don’t tell Maki, see you later, bye!”

Kokichi smiled at the kiss, before darting forward to grab the back of Kaito’s shirt before he could fully escape. As much as his happiness for Maki was still around, a sharp frown cut into his features. “Kai-chan.”

“Yeeess?” Kaito asked, obligingly stopping the second he felt the tug on the back of his shirt. Turning around and giving his husband a sheepishly confused look, ‘Something wrong, ‘Kichi? ….look.”

Kaito sighed, turning around to face his husband, idly playing with Miyako’s legs as he chewed his bottom lip, “...it’s the Elia girl. I know it’s safe… probably. I want Maki to go on the date! I want her to relax and enjoy herself and have fun!”

“...” Kaito grinned nervously, “I don’t want anyone to hurt her. This is the first thing she’s asked me for permission for since she made me take that stupid vow. You know what that means? This is the first thing she’s tried to do for herself since she got back. I don’t… want the world to punish her for it. I want to go protect her.”

Kokichi’s expression softened a bit. It wasn’t actually the first thing Maki had asked…but it was one of the more major ones. And yet…

“I don’t think that’s a bad desire to have,” Kokichi said softly. “Maki-chan deserves happy things that won’t hurt her. And she did ask you to take the pressure that making decisions gives.”

“...but you guys have also just told me all about how you would sabotage each other’s relationships,” Kokichi continued, his expression not as sharp as it was, but sterner. “And Elia is one of the first non-family people Maki-chan has reached out to, or at least let herself be reached…I would say since she got back, but since she’s been in Dicea at all. And…Maki-chan wasn’t waiting for you to say yes. She was waiting for you to say no. She’s already on that date, meaning she wants this, but she respects you and needs you enough that if you said no, she’d leave.”

Kokichi took a small breath. “...if she sees Elia more, then…yeah. Elia will have to decide if she can handle the type of relationship you and Maki-chan have. She’ll probably have you and Shuu-chan looking into her, because you love Maki-chan and want her to be safe.”

“...but for a first date…just let them get to know each other without all the rest of it. I won’t stop you, if you really want to go,” Kokichi half-smiled, before shrugging and nodding back to the office. “I still have work to do. But…at least think about it, okay? Maki-chan seems really excited for this.”

Kaito swallowed hard. Both relieved and surprised to hear Maki was already on the date. Waiting for a no, huh… he didn’t understand why. He wished he did. He knew, though it was easy to forget, how much this vow meant to Maki… and it crushed him that he didn’t really understand what she wanted from him. Why she needed it. He just knew it was important, and was trying his best… she was already on the date, huh? Good, good, it was nice seeing Maki in crush mode again, that angry fluster and beat red face, it was cute and made Kaito happy, to see her caught up again, entranced by the beautiful blue stranger who was apparently very good at martial arts…

“...” Clutching Miyako a little, hugging her, Kaito said softly to Kokichi, “‘Kichi, before you go… do you…” Kaito looked down, “...is it hard? I… I don’t know if I ever will stop loving Maki. Like that. I don’t think she ever really will either. And… now that she’s dating again, if… if you were maybe hoping that… would change…”

Kaito closed his eyes. “...I’m sorry. We’ve ruined a lot of relationships, because those feelings never go away. And you’re right, a part of me is scared about this, like… next part. Because I don’t want to ruin things for her, being so obviously still fucking in love, ya know? But you never really got a chance to say no, to Maki being around… is it? Okay? That she is?”

All of the stern protect in Kokichi’s face--because it was protection, if perhaps a different kind than Kaito’s--melted away as he stepped up to Kaito again, putting his arms around him and squishing his face next to Miyako’s, scrunching his nose a bit to make it wiggle and entertain his daughter. 

“I think the love you and Maki-chan have for each other is beautiful,” Kokichi declared, his voice soft but full of conviction. A decree unshaken. “And for how difficult it might make things…even if Maki-chan finds a new love, I think the world will have lost something incredible, if her feelings for you faded away. I think the two of you would’ve lost something invaluable. And…that’s something I never want to have happen to you guys ever again.”

“I don’t love Maki-chan like that, or even how Shuu-chan loves her, but I do love her in my own way. And not even just for the strain I could see on you two, those months she spent away were hard. And scary. And I wanted nothing more for her to come home again and call me a sentimental fool.”

Sighing, Kokichi squeezed Kaito harder. “You two love each other. And I’m not saying that’s something you have to hide with Maki-chan going on dates again. I’m just asking you to think about giving them the chance to figure things out between them first. For Elia to know Maki-chan as Maki-chan first…and not Maki-chan-who-loves-Kai-chan-who-loves-her-back immediately. Because Maki-chan deserves someone to love and cherish her in a relationship…but I think she deserves to have friends too.”

Kaito leaned into the hold a bit, while Miyako made happy little giggles at the nose wiggle, wiggling eagerly. There was a part of Kaito that wanted to ignore all of that. Wanted to run to Maki and make sure she was okay and make sure no one was being unkind or manipulative or cruel…

…but Kokichi was right. Under entirely normal circumstances? Kaito being there would just make things hard for Maki. Because he wore his stupid emotions on his stupid face and couldn’t help himself. And Maki needed friends of her own, like Shuichi and Kokichi and even Kaito had. Just because this friend might end up being something more, or at least more intimate, didn’t mean Kaito was obligated to vet them immediately.

…eventually.

But not immediately. 

“Fiiiiine.” Kaito sighed, “I’ll just go back to my room… I guess.”

“Thank you for considering my point,” Kokichi said softly, giving Kaito one last squeeze before giving Miyako a kiss goodbye. Ah…productivity was either gonna rocket or plummet, now that he had just a moment of baby time. It looked like Miyako was in such a wonderful mood today too. 

“Sometimes I really don’t understand you guys…so if she’s mad that you didn’t come spy on her, I’ll take that fall,” he grinned, turning back to go back into the office. “Promise. No more earrings for you.”

-

For her own drink, Elia got a lemon-blueberry smoothie with just a whoooooole lot of greens. Her smoothie certainly didn’t taste like a bushel of kale, but when you were in charge of every meal you ate, it was a good rule of thumb to try and get vegetables in wherever you could. 

Even if they weren’t exactly where she got her nutrition from. 

Once they’d both gotten their drinks, Elia had suggested they take a stroll outside--Maki was right in that it was a nice day, and it felt better being able to move rather than staying in the bright parlor. 

“Hmm… You asked me before about my background in martial arts, but I don’t think I ever asked about yours,” Elia started, eyes flitting casually around the shops they passed. “You seem to take to every kind of class like a duck to water too. Did you focus on a sport, or more of an all-arounder kind of gal?”

“...hm.” Maki hummed around her drink. Now that she knew for certain this was a date, having been considering how she wanted the date to go. What was the goal… probably to ask for a second date. What sort of date would Elia like to go on though? Maki needed to get to know her a little better in order to gue…

…oh. Huh.

“...you know. Sometimes I forget that I’m not famous here.” Maki admitted. Brushing some of the red smoothie from the corner of her lip as she looked over to Elia, “I was a bit well known, back in Luminary. At least in certain circles. I was… professionally trained in fighting, weapon skills and parkour. I suppose a little bit of everything, though I leaned into a natural gift I had towards parkour and throwing. My training has given me a good foundation for learning a variety of physical skills though.”

“I like the way you move through the classes.” Maki said, tucking her hair behind her ears a little as she flushed slightly, “You have this natural grace to your movements… it’s like every stance you take flows into the other, even when you’re moving quickly or hard. Do you… dance?”

“Ah, I can see that, then,” Elia nodded. “You do have that lightness and momentum awareness that comes from parkour…I say as any sort of expert,” she rolled her eyes with a small snort. “But…that’s really amazing. If it weren’t for the fact I kind of get that you were pretty busy, I’d wonder why you hadn’t volunteered to teach more at the dojo sooner. You have a good spark to you.”

The kind of person that Elia didn’t need to hold back for, at least in another life. A flame not easily snuffed. 

In turn, Elia matched Maki’s blush, giving a flattered titter. “Hearing that from you? I’ll take that with a hearty thanks. I’m no studio dancer but…yeah, I enjoy it.” Straightening one of her cartilage piercings, Elia gave Maki a sheepish look. “I grew up dancing with my mom. She’s not a dancer either--a cognitive scientist, actually--but I always thought she was the most graceful person I’d ever seen.”

“So, I’d like to think I’ve learned a good lesson or two,” Elia winked. 

Maki smiled around her straw, giving Elia an intrigued look, though… now the whole ‘assassin’ thing was worrying the back of her mind. She hadn’t had to explain that side of herself in a long time. She rarely ever had to. It was usually the first thing anyone knew about her. She was used to people making their judgment calls about it long before she had ever said her first word to them, and just navigating it from there. 

She had never had someone come to like her already, and then find out about the assassin thing.

…hm.

Hm.

She genuinely had no idea what she should do. Probably just mention it now. Just lay it out there, like she had about Timothy. Just rip off the bandaid and deal with whatever was beneath, before they got too far or she got too attached… should just tell her. It wouldn’t be confusing. Just say ‘I’m an assassin’, or, ‘was an assassin’, and even a Dicean would recognize all the terrible implications of that confession. Elia could just decide for herself, if she could stand to talk to a professional lifetime assassin, let alone… date…

Tell her. Just tell her. Don’t be a coward Maki.

“...I enjoy dancing quite a bit too.” Maki said, sipping at her drink, cursing herself out, “Especially lately. I’ve never disliked dancing, in the right circumstances, but these days I practice it with shocking regularity, and it’s given me a new appreciation for it. Perhaps we could go dancing sometime.”

“And a ‘cognitive scientist’?” Maki said, raising an eyebrow, “Pretend I don’t know what that means.”

Hm. Those nerves were a little…bitter. Not like a deep coffee, but…more like one that had burnt and over-steeped. A concern starting to stew. 

Not…the greatest sign for getting to know someone but, well…Elia was patient. If Maki had something to say to her, she could say it when she was ready. And hopefully it wasn’t just stringing her along.

…though that wasn’t exactly the impression she was getting. 

Smiling behind her cup, Elia gave Maki a warm look. “That sounds like a lot of fun. The dance scene around here is pretty robust--I’m not that fussy when it comes to style, so we could probably find something that fits us both.”

Making a huffy, amused sound, Elia nodded. “My aunt calls it psychiatry for people that don’t want to do customer service. My mom studies the way people think, but she doesn’t take on clients like a therapist or psychiatrist would. A lot of her studies influence the field, though--like giving concrete reasons behind something a therapist might advise.”

Elia sent Maki a side-eyed conspiratorial look. “If you can imagine, having a brain scientist as a mom didn’t make it easy for any of us to get away with much.”

Maki couldn’t help the small frown, though she was practical enough to recognize the  frown was undeserved. Before she had discovered empaths and their relationship to Luminary conditioning, Maki would have heard that description and immediately assumed Elia’s mother, and people in her field, were responsible for conditioning. It might have made Maki more wary, if only because Elia herself might understand better than most how to manipulate Maki’s conditioning in a way that pleased her.

…but Maki was pretty sure she wasn’t conditioned anymore, anyway. Something about having a dragon wake up in her head apparently making the whole thing moot. And it had apparently been a mixture of abuse and magic that had made conditioning commercially possible in Luminary, not strictly brain scientists. So… “Interesting.” Maki said, sipping at her smoothie again, “Sounds like you come from intelligent stock. Did it pass down to you? …That’s my attempt to ask you ‘what you do’ in a coy way.” Maki said, rolling her eyes at herself a little, smirking a bit, “Is the tattoo parlor your job, or a hobby you keep up with? I still need to introduce you to Kokichi, I’m certain you two would have fun looking over each other's work.”

Ooh. Now an almost acrid sourness was joining that bitter taste. But…Maki wasn’t leaving so…maybe there was still time to salvage this. 

Elia snorted before snickering softly. “My little brother would probably give you a decisive no on that, but he’s a little hater. I’m not following the family hopes of science, though--my tattoo work is my job, yeah.”

Sliding up one of her sleeves to better show off the work--though Maki had seen the dragon before, Elia grinned. “It’s always a blast, seeing other artists’ work. Revs up that creative drive in competition. This wasn’t so much inspiration, though, since I’ve always thought dragons are the coolest.” 

With a cheeky look, Elia bounced her eyebrows at Maki. “Not to drum up my own business, but have you ever thought about getting something done? I don’t mean to be that thirsty on main, but girl, you’ve got muscle contour for days. There’s a lot you could rock with that.”

….O///O flames. Burning off the side of her face.

Maki looked away, desperately trying to get her temperature under control. Gaaaaaah why did having a crush do this to her, grrrrrr Kaito had no idea the hell she was going to bring down on him. She was going to get creative. Were finger piercings a thing? They were about to be. 

“...” she couldn’t help but rub her arm lightly with her free hand, feeling the lines of her lean biceps out with her thumbs, “I’ve… thought about it. It’s not something I’ve ever really had the opportunity to do before. I think I’d enjoy having one, though I’d have to think about what I’d actually want to get. Maybe could be something fun to bounce ideas off of with you?” Maki said, the offer sounding a little shy. Not sure how much fun Elia would have talking about tattoos Maki ‘could’ get. 

“I do like your dragon tattoo. Other than those eyes of yours, it was the first thing I noticed.” Maki admitted, glancing down at the tattoo again, “Why dragons, anyway? Have a thing for leather?”

Elia grinned. That was a much better sign. 

She offered Maki another wink, though Elia’s expression was more friendly than flirty this time. “I’d love to. If your clothes are any indication, you have pretty good taste in style, but you wouldn’t believe the number of horrible tattoos I’ve covered up,” she rolled her eyes. “If I could help you nail a design on the first go around before putting needle to skin, well…usually I charge consultation, but as a friend? Seeing you with some art that makes you happy would be all I need.”

There was a bit of a hopeful peak when Elia referred to them as possible friends. It took more than a handful of interactions and a tentative date to really make a friendship, but the foundation had to start somewhere, and Elia really did like Maki an awful lot. More with every bit of conversation they talked out. 

Looking at her own tattoo as well, Elia chuckled with a wink. “Well, a bit. But dragons are…amazing, right? I couldn’t tell you about Luminous lore, but in Dicean at least they dominate the apex of folktales and fantasy. Just thinking about it… Impossibly powerful beings with the power to shape continents, the intelligence and wit to befit centuries of work, and…”

Elia’s next chuckle was a little self-conscious, aware she was nerding out a little. “Well…they’re protectors, more than anything. Being claimed by a dragon means nothing can touch you. All that strength and cleverness, but most of all…drive. A sort of devotion that touches on incomprehensible to some people.”

Blushing a little more, Elia gave Maki a sheepish shrug. “I guess you could say I find dragons to be a sort of inspiration through admiration. I may not be all powerful or a genius, but drive can take a person to heights no one could’ve imagined. Other than just looking cool? I…guess I designed this lady to remind me of that. To drive me to be able to protect the things I love past my normal capabilities.”

It was a double-edged sword in a way. Desperation, the other side of that wild devotion, could push people to incredible feats…at unimaginable costs. And Elia had seen too many of those costs. Had been the one to collect that debt. But she had decided not to let that make her choose apathy. 

She was no longer shackled by the Library and she didn’t want to fall into a self-made prison of her past sins. Instead…she could simply honor the wills of those who fell, and walk her own path in life decisively. 

Maki’s eyes widened a bit, at all of that… and she looked at her feet, puffing out her cheeks a bit. Scolding herself lightly for being flattered. You are not a dragon… letting herself get tempted into thinking she was one was foolish, and dangerous. She wasn’t a dragon, regardless of what several gods seemed to believe. Regardless of what she seemed to be capable of. Regardless of what Miyako looked at and titled with all the bluntness of infant innocence. 

Maki wasn’t the dragon.

She was someone new.

…but still. She was… arguably still some of those nice traits that Elia seemed to value so much. And that was oddly flattering, Maki burning red again as she sipped at her smoothie. “I’ve heard of the lore around dragons too. My brother… well, my friend, but I consider him a brother. My brother has a book on fantasy species that has a section on dragons. Makes them seem amazing, I could see how they’d end up a favorite. I can’t help but think of how destructive you’d have to be first, to change the shape of a continent. Not exactly something you can do with ‘gentle nudges’.” Maki observed a little dryly, something sad in that thought… before she said, “I found myself like the winged creatures though. In the book, I mean. Dragons too, I suppose, but there’s something enchanting about the idea of being able to take flight. To soar high and untouchable, wind blowing past your ears and all the open sky ahead of you.”

Maki smiled a little, as she said, “When I need to travel quick and fast, I’m biased towards running across rooftops. But admittedly, that’s because a part of me likes the fall, when I jump back down. That moment of weightlessness, where I feel disconnected from the earth? Where I have to spread my arms to control my dissent and catch my balance when I hit the ground, lifting up my knees to brace into either catching myself the hard way or dipping entirely into a roll… I feel happy, in those moments. Caught in that brief moment of flight. Like a fairy or, those things, what are they called… a part of some Dicean religions… Angels? Might have been angels.” Maki shrugged, sipping at her smoothie again, “Makes me feel like that. Like I’ve grown wings.”

“That’s true,” Elia conceded with a nod. “At least if you want something done this century. But maybe that looks different to a being that can live for millenia.”

Eternity was a long, long, long time, after all. 

As Maki shared her own fantasy preferences, it was Elia’s turn to look at the other woman with slight wonder and flattery. It wasn’t like Elia could feel feathers forming on her shoulders from Maki’s passionate and accurate descriptions--her tattoos were just ink, after all--but…there was a certain moment of nostalgia. Soaring in crisp air, gravity more of a tool than a law. 

“I’m familiar with angels, yeah,” Elia nodded, “similar to winged humans? It really is an amazing ability…” Maybe there was more to elaborate with that, but…Elia let the sentiment sit for a moment. A longing in her heart she didn’t often let herself feel for long. 

The moment passed, though, and Elia gave Maki a grin. “It’s the guardforce’s bane, from what I’ve seen, but have you run into any of the other Roof Routers here yet? I’ve caught that kid from Hina’s class, Will, hopping over them a few times.”

“Roof Routers?” Maki asked, though she looked away from Elia to suddenly look around. She hadn’t noticed, but she had stopped keeping track of her surroundings, for a moment there. Foolish, getting caught up looking at the pretty blue lady. Always important to remain aware, as she gave the area a quick sweep. No one walking strangely, either ahead or behind, no feeling of eyes, no repeat of faces that should have been left behind a street or two back. So far all clear. “Can’t say I have. Wait… actually, I did a stint of shadowing for a guard once, and she mentioned that some people can recklessly race across roofs…”

She gave Elia a curious look. “That?”

Elia grinned before taking a long sip of her smoothie, content to look around them as Maki did. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s an official name, though I think it has the chops to be. It’s just a little more succinct than saying, ‘the other people that run over the roofs in the city’.”

Raising her eyebrows a little, making an impressed face at Maki shadowing a guard, Elia nodded. “Yeah. People racing, or trying to go quickly for their own purposes, or parkour fanatics…every once in a while you hear about a creep, but I think most people doing it are harmless. I heard Will talking about how there’s an unofficial leaderboard in the parkour community here, people logging times for specific routes.”

Looking over, she gave Maki a sheepish look. “I won’t say I’m a model citizen, like I’ve never done it myself, but I try not to make a habit. Though it does seem pretty interesting, especially in some of the older cities that would force you to clamber a bit more.”

Maki raised a pointed eyebrow at that… before smirking. “So what’s your time then?”

Elia blinked before chuckling. “Well…from my family’s house to my shop? 12 minutes and 39 seconds.” She shot Maki a wink. “Cut it close, but I have never been late in the three and a half years I’ve been there.”

Maki smiled, “You’ll have to show me the route. Unless you’re protective of your record. I’d hate to lose the chance to date you because I couldn’t help demolishing your time.”

Then, laughing a little– soft and bell-like– she said, “We’ve never done it more than once, but my family has this thing called ‘Prince Hefting’ that we’ve always meant to start up properly… think you could run a ninety-seven pound shortstack up three flights of stairs? I can’t remember what the record was, but you can help us set a new one if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Elia grinned, a bright sort of flame igniting behind her mauve eyes. “On the contrary; I’d welcome it. It just means I’d have to put up a better showing myself. Wouldn’t mind introducing you to the motley Di Carmelo crew either, if you’d like.”

Feeling her heart flutter again at that perfect laugh, Elia held an arm up to flex, though she let out an impressed whistle. “If that’s the kind of family tradition you all get up to, you must have some crazy stories. But if it’s not a devious ploy to get me arrested for kidnapping the Heir Apparent? I think I could put up a respectable time.”

At that, Maki huffed. Shaking her head a little as she said, “If your goal is to kidnap Kokichi, get in line. The boy is infuriatingly easy to kidnap. And I have… not been as successful as I’ve wanted to be, stopping that. I was his bodyguard for half a second, this year, and you want to guess how many times he was kidnapped under my watch? Twice. Which is a very bad track record for a personal bodyguard. Thankfully his new one has a good head on her shoulders. It seems to have stopped happening, under her watch.”

“That sounds a little more like luck to me, if there haven’t been any attempts,” Elia shrugged, giving Maki an easy look. “But…that sounds terrifying, honestly. Kidnapping in general, but to the person you’re supposed to protect? Can’t really assume your own reasons, but I wouldn’t exactly be chomping at the bit to get back into that business.”

At that, Elia gave a considering hum, pausing before speaking again. “I am more interested in you as, yanno, you. But I can’t say I’m not curious at all. You live in the castle, right, with the royal family. What’s that like for you?”

“It was terrifying.” Maki agreed, though she seemed fairly undisturbed by it. Giving the smoothie a small frown, as she realized she was running out. Darn. She was enjoying it. “But in a way, it ended very well, for the circumstances. Prince Kokichi survived it alive and whole, it ended within the hour. A guardswoman named Katsuki found him and rescued him. She was very brave. And the second time, the kidnapper didn’t even manage to leave the castle with him, everyone in the castle working together to rescue him. Again, very brave. The Dicean staff and guardforce are commendable. Extremely efficient, Diceans should be proud.”

“And as for not going back to it… I’m taking a break from working, right now. Or, rather, working on myself as a person.” Maki said, and while she said it casually, she did glance at Elia to see how she’d react to that. In Luminary, taking a ‘break’ from work was basically unheard of. Even the elites who did it didn’t admit to it. They just took jobs that didn’t require them to actually do anything. It was considered a shameful thing, to not actively be working. “Resting, I suppose. Though the idiots I call my loved ones still keep me plenty busy.”

Considering Elia’s question, Maki hummed a bit. “...it’s busy. Crowded. The castle’s a very public place, and I will admit, it took me a moment to get used to that. Like the Luminary castle at home, there are the faces you see every day, the people who work day to day in the castle, cleaning and cooking meals and living there. But there’s always new faces there too, unfamiliar people constantly in and out, changing and shifting every day. That got easier as time went on though. Me and my family all live basically down one long hallway, each room one we occupy mostly by ourselves, and unless someone is lost or it’s a guard roaming, that hallway is usually pretty empty. I’ve come to view that hallway as our actual home, rather than the castle itself. Which, really isn’t that different from where I came from. I worked in the Luminary castle growing up, and we had a wing to ourselves, that we shared with other people that worked there. Common for the servants, I was just surprised that Dicean royalty lived that way here too.”

“The Ouma family is incredibly humble.” Maki said, trying to negotiate a few more sips out of her drink before giving up with a small sigh, “The kings a bit of an idiot, and his son can be a bit too sentimental for my opinion, but they’re both extremely dedicated leaders who have genuinely devoted their lives to Dicea’s wellbeing. It’s a bit impressive, honestly. Just wish they’d take threats to their lives more seriously. I swear, I develop ulcers every festival, watching them shove random foods into their mouths as people push plates into their faces. My poison kit’s have never felt so important before.”

Elia nodded. “That makes sense, if you’re in a transitionary period. Money can be its own motivator, sure, but…job hunting can feel kind of useless if you’re not really sure what you actually want. I got pretty lucky to get my internship at the tattoo parlor while I was in school--I got hit over the head with finding my passion.”

With a kind, warm look, Elia gave Maki a nod. “I hope your rest gives you just what you need.”

There was a certain division, thinking about the castle and the royal family specifically, even if it was pretty obvious that the king and his family were just people. Still…it mostly sounded like a hectic apartment, though with certain facilities shared…and with other people taking care of them, Elia supposed. Different, but not a completely unimaginable world. 

She made an interested little hum as Maki mentioned living in the Luminous castle--some sort of royal combat job, then, she supposed--before snorting at Maki’s opinion of their royalty. “I guess that’ll change if you introduce me to Kokichi, but I’ve never met the Oumas myself, so you’d have a more informed opinion than me. I can’t complain with their leadership, though--they seem a good sort.”

And the hope they inspired in people was divine. Something that Elia could taste just from a walk down the street, sometimes. It was nice, and not just for her stomach, to see some leaders taking the ‘love’ approach. 

“Poison kits, huh?” Elia blew out a puff of air, ruffling her teal bangs. “Damn that’s a good idea. Nothing trade-secret in there, is there? I might have to ask you for some recommendations so I can finally relax when my little brother tells us everything he’s eaten in the name of science.”

Maki laughed lightly at that, “No, no trade secrets. I suppose technically the answer is yes, but if it’s in the name of making certain people are safe, I don’t see the harm in teaching people cures and signs to look out for. I do have knowledge of how to treat more garden variety poisons, like swallowing bleach or other common chemicals. I could go over it with you someday, or maybe even him, if he doesn’t know it himself already.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “And while I have plenty of children in my life who should be my biggest concern for random items put into their mouths, nooooo. It’s the adult I have to worry about. Shuichi considers himself a bit of an experimenter, these days. Give him all the time and resources to do anything he likes, and it turns out he likes to annoy me by taking unnecessary risks. Well, at least it does seem to make him happy. It’s nice to see him excited over the latest concoctions he’s brewing.”

There was something about the moment Elia ruffled her bangs. They shimmered slightly, in the sunlight. Following entirely an impulse, Maki reached over to lightly brush her bangs outside of Elia’s eyes, the tips of her fingers ever so slightly grazing warm skin, as Maki peered into Elia’s eyes. “...your eyes are incredibly expensive.” Maki said, pulling her hand away, “I keep finding myself looking at them. It’s nice. I’ve always found myself drawn to people who express themselves so openly. I suppose I have a type. Stunning looks and expressive eyes.”

“How altruistic,” Elia chuckled, “You’re a good sort too. I’m sure he does know, the little nerd, but maybe bringing in an expert exasperated big sister might really emphasize how worried I get about him.” Though, Enoch was perfectly aware of how worried Lisa always was about him, and he still decided to follow his curious heart so…maybe that was a lost cause. At the very least, Elia could make extra sure he knew what to do if he poisoned himself. Again. 

“Shuuichi… Your basically brother?” Elia confirmed. “Sounds like we have some similar problems in that field, then. …but it is nice seeing how excited they get, right?”

Elia had been on the first chimes of a laugh, words mulling into form about how their brothers should probably never meet, lest they come up with the end-all be-all of risky experiments, when Maki reached over to tuck back her bangs. Just a gentle, bare touch, but…a purposeful one. 

Those same eyes Maki mused on widened, losing themselves in her, before Elia’s face broke out in a flush, her freckles still scattered like stars in a red cosmos. “...that’s awfully sweet of you. Maybe I’ve just felt there’s no use hiding, when your eyes feel like they can cut to the quick better than a tempered blade. Or maybe,” she grinned, eyes fond and playful, “I just want this sweet, focused, enchanting beauty to see me, and hope I can measure up. Hope…she likes what she sees.”

Maki leaned back a little, face turning red… before she pouted. Puffing out her cheeks and looking away as her hands went right back to running her fingers through the side of her hair as she said, “I’m not that hard to impress… I mean… I already like you… nrgh!” 

Maki stomped her foot a little, turning her whole body away and saying with some frustration, “Ugh, give me a minute. I hate when my body does this, it’s like I turn into a tomato. It’s embarrassing, don’t look.” She insisted. Heat radiating off of her as she struggled to calm herself down. Come on, stop it, this wasn’t enchanting or focused. You just look like a doofus! Cool it down!

Perhaps for Maki’s benefit, Elia didn’t laugh, but she did smile, looking slightly away and gently brushing the back of her hand against the one Maki still had down. “I think you’re cute when you blush. It’s sweet. And…yeah, maybe you’re not impossible to impress…”

“...but something about you makes me want to put in that sort of effort,” Elia said softly, still smiling though her gaze was out at the street, giving Maki the privacy she wanted. “Since you’ve come back to the dojo, and we’ve been talking… I see you and I think to myself that you’re someone who deserves something really special. And I want to put my best foot forward.”

“Sorry if it comes off a little too over-the-top, because of that. I know I can get a little carried away.”

Maki stiffened, slightly, when she felt the brush against her hand. And immediately felt a little foolish at the stiffening, huffing a bit as she couldn’t help but mock herself. Was holding hands on the first date really ‘going too fast’ for her? Honestly. She had gone soft in Dicea. 

Almost in defiance to herself, Maki puffed her cheeks and, with one solid movement, grabbed Elia’s hand. Staring at Elia determinedly, almost like she was staring her down, challenging as she, quite bravely, boldly held her hand… before her whole body lit up red again, her hair fanning up in a sudden burst of heat, and pulling her hand away she stepped back, sputtering slightly, “W-well, this was a good date. We will, we will… do it again. At some point. Very well. Good.” Maki said, bowing stiffly to Elia, before turning to leave… 

…and then turning back and saying, “When are we going out again?” Her tone demanding. Eyes fierce. “You should take me dancing.”

Elia was content to give Maki her space--she was maybe enthusiastic, but Elia didn’t want to push or rush the woman--but her gaze snapped right back to Maki like a magnet when she felt Maki take her hand. The grip a little tight, like there was something to prove, and Elia could feel calluses, the kind right in the middle of the palm from grips…

Maki had a nice hand. It was warm. 

The whole of her was rather warm, actually, but Elia wasn’t afraid of the heat. 

Grinning wide and watching Maki affectionately, Elia nodded. “I’d like that. If you’re free Sunday? Let me know what kind of dancing you like, and I can propose a place to you next gym day?”

“I…” Maki took a deep breath, “...like rock music!”

And then Maki turned away and stomped off. Entirely embarrassed and more than a little flustered and… kinda thrilled because despite Maki clearly acting like a crazy person, Elia’s eyes had been warm and amused. Like Maki’s intense, aggressive emotions hadn’t immediately turned her off. Like she had found Maki’s heated fluster… endearing. Rather than something to be avoided. Like Maki was ‘sweet’.

…ugh, god, she had such a type. 

She was gonna go home and make Kaito pay for it. 

Elia stood on the side of the street, watching Maki go still with that bright grin on her face, her stomach warm and fluttering with each forceful stomp the shorter woman took away. Maki was…even more incredible than she had thought. Elia was quite looking forward to going dancing. 

When Maki had turned off the street, far enough away even for the most sensitive ears, Elia turned and made a quick, powerful motion that caught some stares in the street. Punching the air in victorious fist pumps, Elia’s grin only grew.

“YES!”

-

Kaito was regaling Miyako with puppet theater, Little Lamb reading a book to an entranced Miyako. Though Little Lamb was, indeed, quite little, the toy was valiantly making the effort to turning the pages of the book by smacking the whole of its little body against it and, with only a little grumbling every time, turning the page by running from one side of the book to the other. When the page was successfully turned, Little Lamb would huff and puff for a moment from it’s heroic excursion, before starting reading the next page.

“Where’s my cow? Is that my cow?” Kaito asked through Little Lamb, in a high, squeaky voice. Every word accompanied by Little Lamb shaking their entire little body. “It goes ‘Oink, Oink!’ It is a pig! That’s not my cow!”

Miyako blinked in astonishment. What a development in the narrative. Truly compelling, five out of five stars… but her little golden gaze went to the door, a second before it was knocked again. “G’yah!”

“Momota.” Maki called through the door grimly, “It’s time.”

“....hmmmm…” Kaito hummed, carefully putting down the book and the toy and reaching over to pick up Miyako from her sitting pillow, “....that sounds less than ideal, Miya. But if we’re very quiet, auntie Maki might not realize–”

“G’AH-AHH!”

“You are a very mean baby.” Kaito whispered, picking her up and heading to the bathroom as the door knocked again. 

“Momota!”

“No ones home!” Kaito called back before closing the bathroom door. Heading into the bathtub and sitting inside as he whispered to Miyako, “Auntie is probably being playful, Miya. But, sometimes a playful Maki can still be dangerous, so you and I are going to hide out here until Auntie goes away–shoot.”

Kaito listened as Shuichi’s voice, faint on the other side of the wall, spoke up. His fiance opening the door as Maki and him came into the bedroom.

“So, what’s happening?” Shuichi asked, as he let Maki in, looking around the bedroom, “Kaito?”

“He’s in here somewhere, I heard him and Miyako through the door.” Maki said, as she dumped her bag of Fantasy Clair items on the desk. “Hiding from me, probably.”

“Right. And why is my fiance and baby hiding from you?” Shuichi asked, having stopped by to see Kaito after spending some time in his office reading.

“Probably because I told him menacingly ‘it is time’.” Maki said, checking the closet. 

“Yep, that will do it.” Shuichi said.

Kaito had come by right at the end of the work day, so after cleaning up and grabbing a snack, it wasn’t long before Kokichi was headed back to their room, hoping to spend some time with Miyako in her energetic, happy mood. It wasn’t so much that those moods were rare--Kokichi was quite pleased to say that she was generally a happy baby--but…well, it was nice to enjoy nice things! No matter how common they were! 

When he did return, though, it wasn’t just to Kaito and Miyako, and Kokichi took an apprehensive look at the items on the desk before coming forward and beaming at Maki. “You’re back! Did you have a nice time?”

“Yes.” Maki said, going down on her knee and checking under the bed, “It was a lovely time. Hmmm, not here either.”

“What was a nice time?” Shuichi asked, giving Kokichi a warm look and heading over to give him a ‘welcome back’ hug. “Hi~ Have a good day at work?”

“I went to get smoothies with Elia today.” Maki explained, giving the bathroom door a knowing look, before motioning them both to be quiet as she started to silently head towards it, “It was a date. We’re going to go dancing soon too, just have to nail down a day next time we meet up at the dojo.”

“Maki! That’s great!” Shuichi said, lighting up– and entirely ignoring her waves of ‘shush’-- though he too looked at the bag of Fantasy Clair’s on the desk, “...Maki. It is not Kaito’s fault if you got flustered.”

“Who said it had to be his fault?” Maki asked idly, knocking on the bathroom door and saying menacingly through it, “Kaiiiitooooo. I know you’re in there. Come on out.”

“I’m on the toilet!” Kaito called through the door. 

“Nyh’eeen!” Miyako agreed.

Kokichi only lit up more at that, words failing as he could only send happy, proud vibes towards Maki before snuggling into Shuuichi’s hug, giving him a cheek kiss in appreciation. “Yupp! Nadya-chan and I are starting to get Harvest applications. It’s always difficult planning, but it always gets me hyped up for the festival. How’s your day been, sweetheart? How’s Nini?”

While he was interested in hearing about Shuuichi’s day, he knew that his fiance probably wouldn’t answer right away, as there was a highly interesting subject to discuss first. But he still wanted to get the questions out there, wanting to be affectionate and attentive. 

Though, as Maki went after her quarry…

Kokichi sighed, parting from Shuuichi and going to Maki’s side with all of the grace of someone accepting a penance due. “Maki-chan… I asked Kai-chan to not go spy on your date. If you’re mad at him…I’m the one that brought it up.”

Maki shot Kokichi a bewildered look. “Spy on me?”

“Without me?” Shuichi pouted. “Wait, how did Kaito know you were on a date? Why didn’t you mention it to me before you went to the dojo?”

“Didn’t know before the dojo. Elia asked me there.” Maki said… before turning bright red. Covering her face as a heat started to wave off of oher. “Elia asked me on a date.”

Shuichi lit up again, “She asked? Oh, that’s wonderful, Maki–”

“Kaito.” Maki hissed. Glaring murderously through her fingers at the door, hair and clothes rustling in the steam of her heat, “Don’t make me come in there.”

“Miya,” Kaito whispered to her, looking around warily, “We need a window in this bathroom. As an escape hatch. Remind me to get one commissioned.” 

Kokichi looked at Maki for a moment before sighing again. Well…good. He’d made a good call, then. She wasn’t mad about some…show of care and possessiveness that in most cases would be creepy and a violation of trust but to them was an act of love. Kokichi liked to think he was getting better about parsing those but…well. He wasn’t perfect. 

But if she wasn’t mad about that…and Shuuichi had said…

Kokichi crossed his arms with a slight frown. “...Maki-chan? Are you trying to punish Kai-chan ‘cause you can’t handle your own feelings?”

Maki stared at the door, considering this… before nodding. “Yep.” Knocking on the door again, she said, voice sweet as cinnamon, “Kaito~ Kokichi changed my mind. You can come out now. It’s safe~”

“Oooooh, hear that Miyako?” Kaito coo’d at his daughter, who was now happily playing with her feet on his lap, “That is what we call a ‘bold-faced lie’. It’s good to learn that tone of voice. That is a ‘danger’ voice. Aren’t we learning all sorts of neat things today?”

Shuichi rolled his eyes again, “Maki. You can’t give Kaito an earring every time you go on a date. It’s unrealistic.”

“It’s not ‘every’ time.” Maki said simply, “Once does not make a pattern.”

There were more…drastic things he could pose. That certainly wasn’t good processing behavior, to not know how to deal with positive, flustered feelings, and instead outlet them through “violence” towards an unrelated party. 

But, well…it wasn’t really violence, despite what the piercings were a proxy for. And while it was debatable considering the dynamics of their relationship, Maki had never forced Kaito to get any of his piercings--he’d willingly gone along with them. And Kokichi didn’t have a doubt that if Kaito really wanted to draw a line, Maki would pout, but she wouldn’t force him. 

This was absolutely something to bring up in therapy, but…well. Baby steps towards healthier behavior. 

Sighing once again, Kokichi eased his frown into a smile towards Maki. “...I’m really happy for you. I know you two have been talking more…this is great. You deserve someone that makes you happy this way, Maki-chan.” 

“Thank you.” Maki said… before flushing again. “She has eight siblings. Isn’t that wild?”

“I can’t wait to hear more about it.” Shuichi smiled, “But first, my baby is currently being held prisoner in a bathroom. So, Maki, if you could step away from the door before I go get my taser?”

At that, Maki pouted… before she huffed. Turning on her heels and heading over to the window, sitting down at the seat and crossing her arms. Giving Shuichi a pointed ‘there, happy?’ look. Shuichi smiled warmly in turn, before trying the doorknob, “Kaito, I’m coming in.”

“Heeeey, handsome~” Kaito called from the bathtub. Taking Miyako’s arm and having her wave from his lap, “Saved me from Maki?”

“No, just missed my baby.” Shuichi said, heading over and, with no resistance from Kaito, picking up Miyako and cradling her to his chest, “There you are, Miyako. Come along, father needs baby love.”

And, peering down at Kaito, Shuichi squinted a bit… before saying, “If you’re getting another piercing, have you ever considered your nipples?”

“No.”

“Just a suggestion.” Shuichi said lightly, heading out the bathroom.

Kokichi made a surprised face, before laughing softly. The fact that that was one of the first things Maki said about Elia already meant a lot, but…yeah. If Elia had a big family, then she was someone who’d know how important that could be and…that was a big plus for Maki. Kokichi wouldn’t quite go down the rabbithole that Shuuichi and Kaito were sure to soon sneak through, but he was happy to hear things from Maki and paint a picture of Elia, comparing it to his secondhand standards for his dear friend. 

Flushing a bit, hearing about nipple piercings, Kokichi shook his head before humming happily, coming up to Shuuichi’s side and greeting their daughter. “Ah, I’ve been looking forward to this since Kai-chan busted into the office… Scared the heck out of me at first, but then to tempt me with the sweetest most perfect little girl in the whooooole world? Mm, maybe Kai-chan does deserve an earring for that.”

Beaming brightly, Kokichi offered his fingers to Miyako, still cooing at her.

“G–Ah!” Miyako cheered, grabbing Kokichi’s finger and then, her face suddenly pinching in concentration, pulling at it. Mine. 

Shuichi and Kokichi thoroughly distracted by a determined, happy little baby, Maki snuck past them and headed into the bathroom. Giving Kaito, who was still just chilling out in the bathtub, an amused look, before heading over to sit on the side of the tub. “Brilliant hiding spot.” She teased.

Kaito grinned warily, resting against the wall and pulling up his knees as he shrugged, “It’s not like I had a ton of options… should I have told you not to go?”

Maki thumped her head lightly back on the wall. “...maybe.” She admitted.

Kaito frowned at that. “...why?”

“Because she’s nice?” Maki said, bringing up her knee to her chest, “And pretty. And comes from a big, cute family that loves her, and is Dicean, and… has no idea who I am. Or what I’ve done. And I didn’t tell her.”

“Maki…” Kaito whispered, “...you’re not just what we made you do. You’re more than–”

“Not now, Kaito.” Maki whispered, “I spent the whole time angry at you. But… I’m glad you said yes. I really wanted to try it.”

Kaito frowned… before sighing. Rubbing at his eyes a little, easing the tension in them. “...you don’t have to tell her. Who cares who you were in Luminary. That was another life.”

“Terrible argument. You know just as well as I do that it matters.” Maki said, giving him a dry look.

“...okay. Then I take responsibility.” Kaito whispered. “If it goes poorly? It’s my fault, okay? I gave you permission, because I think it’s a good thing and it’s going to go well. If it goes wrong? Then I made a bad call and I own that, okay?”

“...... okay.” Maki said. “...I’m still giving you a piercing.” 

“Why!? Where!?” 

“Where do you want it? If it’s anything more complicated than an earring, we should probably go somewhere professional.”

“Why would I suddenly want a body piercing!?”

“Maybe a belly button ring?”

Kokichi easily let Miyako have his finger--even if he knew it would be a trial to reclaim it later--and pet Miyako’s head with his other hand, just having a nice moment with his fiance and daughter. Though, after a bit, since it seemed Maki and Kaito were having their own talk, Kokichi looked up and gave Shuuichi a weak, knowing smile. 

“...when do you think you’re going to look into her? I do feel obligated to warn you, if you’re gonna try stalking her at all.” It wasn’t really something he could condone at all, but…they wanted Maki to be safe. And if Kokichi genuinely tried to stop Shuuichi, all that would happen would be Shuuichi not telling him what happened.

Kokichi just…really didn’t want to hear about another arrest for any of his family.

“Hm.” Shuichi hummed, kissing Miyako’s head, “I’m not sure. I may not have to.” He admitted, giving Kokichi a small, sheepish smile, “Our mentors are here, after all. In fact, we might want to have this talk with them.”

Sighing a bit, Shuichi said, “The truth is, I’ll probably only find out surface information about her, and really only when they start actually dating, rather than sort of dating. Anything more, and I’d wait until Maki asked me to look into her specifically. Maki is more paranoid than I am. If I’m looking into someone for her, it’s usually at her request.”

“... also, calling my investigations ‘stalking’ feels unkind.” Shuichi pouted. Patting Miyako’s back as he said softly to her, “Don’t listen to daddy. Your father isn’t a stalker.  He’s a professional.”

Miyako was now looking sternly at Kokichi’s other fingers. Bringing up her other hand and dazedly trying to snatch another.

…oh. That was a good point. He hadn’t heard about anything unkind, but…he had heard about his family having to step in during certain conversations their parents were having with people. Again, there was a certain level of acceptance Elia would have to have if she and Maki did end up pursuing something more, but…well, Nekomaru’s judgement was just as much a ‘diving into the deep end’ sort of thing as Kaito’s spying. 

But…they could figure it out. Even with paranoia and care…they were moving forward. 

Kokichi gave Shuuichi a soft look, dipping his fingers a little lower for Miyako to catch, before he grinned. “Professional stalker, maybe. And not really here, without a license, for as much expertise you might have.”

Still, he gently nudged Shuuichi’s arm, assuring him he was just poking fun…before he caught the louder, last bit of the conversation in the bathroom. …a bellybutton piercing. One of those hook ones, with…with maybe a star at the end… Kaito pulling off a tanktop after a workout, his abs glistening with sweat as the metal caught the light. 

Eyes wide and distracted, Kokichi turned bright red.

Shuichi huffed, “Another reason to go back to school, I suppose. Stalker. Really. I didn’t spend a lifetime studying to just be called a stalker.”

Though, Shuichi raised an eyebrow at the sudden fluster on Kokichi’s face. Eyes widening slightly as his fiance’s face turned bright red… before Shuichi laughed lightly. Giving him a small smirk. 

Though, before Shuichi could think of a fun way to tease Kokichi, Maki and Kaito came out. Kaito grinning at the sight of Kokichi, Shuichi and Miyako together, before putting an arm around Maki’s shoulders and pointing to them. “See? See that cuteness right there? Imagine. You, Elia, being all cute and extra and adorable–”

“Yeah, yeah, Momota.” Maki huffed, shaking him off. “Go sit at the desk, let’s figure out what you’re getting.”

“Okay, but this can’t be a habit, Maki. I don’t want a new piercing every time you catch feelings.” Kaito sighed, going to sit down at the desk as Maki followed close by, “We’ll consider this payback for me recklessly encouraging you into something new and scary, okay?”

“Consider it whatever you want, Momota.” Maki said, running her fingers through his hair to push them back behind his ears, “Alright, what are we thinking?”

Shuichi gave Maki and Kaito both a thoughtful look… before he said with too much interest, “Give me a moment, I’d like a good view. And I’d still advocate for some sort of body piercing.”

“Good view?” Kaito asked, giving Shuichi a bewildered look over his shoulder as Shuichi started to gently pull Miyako’s fingers from Kokichi’s– Miyako contently refusing to let go– Kaito giving Shuichi a searching look… before his expression grew accusatory, “Is this going to be another ‘feeding’ thing for you? You creep?”

“Everyone keeps calling me names today.” Shuichi pouted.  

Kokichi couldn’t temper his blush much, either under Shuuichi’s delighted, teasing look, or with Kaito and Maki returning, but…well, he could handle his other reactions. He had his own healthy daydreams, thank you very much, even if they didn’t make him space out quite as much as his husband’s. 

It was nice to see he was right, though. No nonconsensual piercings here. 

Kokichi gently pulled his fingers in Miyako’s grip, kissing the backs of her little iron grips in hopes to coax them open before he glanced over at Kaito. “...I think you’d really rock some body piercings, hun. But, as always, it’s up to you and what you’re comfortable with.”

“And you’re not really a creep or a stalker,” Kokichi hummed, straightening from Miyako for a moment to place a placating kiss on Shuuichi’s cheek. “Our Shuu-chan is fun and protective and thoughtful and intelligent and lovely~ Always.” 

“Thank you, Kokichi~” Shuichi said lightly, leaning into the kiss, before saying triumphantly, “Ha! Got distracted, did you Miya?”

Miyako, seeing Shuichi’s hair shift, had reached up for it, letting Kokichi’s fingers go. She pouted as she missed the mark by… well, quite a few feet, but she didn’t quite comprehend that. The hair was right there! Get back here!

But, Shuichi moved one of the lounge chairs from the fireplace, scooting it over to the desk and sitting down, looking for all intents and purposes like a kid in a candy store… before he said defensively, “What?” at Maki and Kaito’s mutual looks.

“Perv.” Kaito simply said, looking away with a small, offended huff. “And with my sweet, innocent Miya right there too. Anyway, I don’t trust Maki to give me a body piercing. If we’re ever doing a body piercing, it’s from a professional, got it?”

“Sure.” Maki said, “So what will it be?”

Kaito peered at himself in the mirror, turning his head left to right… “How about here.” Kaito said, poking at the spot next to the lobe piercing on his right ear, “I mean, that would look nice, right? Matching earrings one right after another?”

Kokichi snickered softly, taking his hard won hands back, at first heading to the bed, before stopping and heading back towards the door, giving his family fond looks. “I think that would look nice. You could get those cool earrings that are like waves going through adjacent piercings too! Am-chan would have a design field day, I bet.”

“We should still have antiseptic stuff in the bathroom, and I’ll dash out to get ice,” Kokichi hummed, already opening the door. Though, before he left, he gave Kaito and Maki a cheeky look. “Though…if you do end up choosing a body piercing, you said Elia works at a tattoo parlor, right? I’m sure she could help you out.”

Not bothering to stick around for the fallout of that, Kokichi dashed out of the room, heading out to get the ice.

“...” Shuichi smiled wide, “That sounds like a phenomenal way to kill off two birds with one stone.”

“N-oooooooo, are you kidding me?” Kaito groaned, wincing slightly as he felt a sudden heat behind his back. Not needing to glance at the mirror to know Maki was suddenly bright red and radiating heat. “I have to trade a body piercing to get a chance to properly meet this Elia person?”

“It would be such a nice way to meet Elia though. Get to know her a bit?” Shuichi said pointedly to Kaito, who sighed. Before smiling at Maki, “Give you another chance to see her before dojo time?”

Maki looked away, flustered. Kaito winced as her hand found its way into his hair and nervously pulled. “Ow. Maki!”

“Sorry.” Maki said sincerely, taking her hand away, reaching up to start running her fingers through her own hair instead, “...I’m going to introduce you all to her properly, at some point, but… she doesn’t know a lot about me, yet.”

“She doesn’t have to know everything, just to give Kaito a piercing.” Shuichi said, “...does she know how to give dick pierc–”

“Shuichi, handsome, it’s not happening.” Kaito said.

“Fine, fine… okay, but, Kaito…” Shuichi leaned forward, saying conspiratorially, “...imagine a little hoop earring around your nipple that I could put a chain th–”

“Annnd nope! Nope! Not in front of my baby!” Kaito said, getting up from the desk. Face beat red as he went to collect Miyako, picking her up, “Come on, we’re going back to hiding in the bathtub!”

Maki hummed, leaning against the chair, “...we could stop by her parlor tomorrow? See what something like that would cost?”

“Hmmm~” Shuichi hummed happily, as the bathroom door closed shut.

-

As excited as Elia was to take a few steps forward with Maki, life still moved on. Yeah, she’d looked around a little for any good rock shows happening, any clubs featuring bands she thought could be fun, and she’d considered her wardrobe a few times…but! Life didn’t revolve around a date happening in a few days! 

Even in early fall, the weather was still gracing them with warm, sunny days, so Elia was lounging at her desk in Cogito Ink in a skull tank top and ripped jeans, working on designs for a few clients. It was true what she’d told Maki, that fall was prime tattoo season, but at least in early fall that more meant many consultations rather than inking appointments. 

But they still had the regular trickle of those and walk-ins, so Elia wasn’t too startled when she heard the door open, looking up from her drawing pad with a bright smile. “Hey, welcome on in! H -”

Cogito Ink was a comfortable middle ground between the dark aesthetic preferences of those in the counterculture that loved tattoos, and the light comfort typically Dicean. They had dark wood floors, but wide windows filling the space with natural light, somehow complimenting the crystal draping near the ceiling and skull faux-chandelier, which in turn somehow didn’t alienate the collection of soft-looking plush stuffed animals in a black woven basket. Though, it might’ve been hard for anything to look out of place with the rows and rows of framed designs up on the walls. 

Elia only stuttered for a second in surprise before her face lit up even more, getting up from her desk to greet the pair at the door more personally. “H-hey, Maki! It’s nice to see you! And…” She looked to Shuuichi, trailing off for a moment. Not Kokichi, Elia knew enough for that, and she was pretty sure Kaito was a redhead, from the things she’d heard, so… “You must be Shuuichi, right?”

Shuichi smiled warmly, bowing his head politely. His gray, golden gaze giving Elia a small, shy look as he said softly, “Elia, it’s lovely to finally meet you. Maki’s correct: you have beautiful eyes.”

INFERNO.

Shuichi gave Maki a fond look, putting his hand on the small of her back to get her fully inside the store, the two heading over to Elia. “We’re sorry to catch you off guard. We were discussing piercings for my fiance last night, and it occurred to us we know a professional, so we thought we’d come by.”

Maki, staring the floor, said stiffly, “Sorry if it’s weird.”

Elia laughed, tinting at the compliment. “Thank you! And it’s great to meet you too; Maki speaks very fondly of you, and I can’t say that didn’t make me curious about the man that made brother status.”

Lighting up as they explained what they were doing--honestly, Elia was flattered Maki had remembered the name of the parlor, and she would’ve been thrilled if Maki had just wanted to say hello--Elia lowered the slant of her desk and offered them seats on the other side of it. “That’s not weird at all, and I’m honored you thought of me. Though…I will say this is one of the first times the person getting the piercing hasn’t come by themselves to ask around.”

But she shrugged. She was happy to pass on any information that would help…and get to talk with Maki so soon again. “What sort of piercing is he thinking about?”

“...” Shuichi blushed. Adjusting the hat on his head a little as he glanced around, before saying softly, “...what type of piercings can he get? We’re exploring body piercings.”

Maki sighed, her skin cooling a little as she tucked her hair behind her ears, before also looking around the parlor. Her eyes widening a little as she took in the art on the walls, the heels of her boots tapping on the wooden floors as she peered at the artwork. “Elia, which of these are yours?” Maki asked curiously, sounding calmly impressed as her eyes darted from piece to piece, “These are beautiful.”

Dropping her eyes to one of the shelves under her desk for a moment, Elia fished around for a binder as she spoke. “Well, technically you can get a piercing just about anywhere there’s enough loose skin for it. But for body piercings, more typical places are nipple, navel, hip, and back dimple piercings…though saying the last two are “typical” is stretching it a little,” she laughed.

Getting the binder, she flipped it open to an index page, chalk full of types of piercings. “Genital piercings are under body piercings too, but we do warn anyone getting them that they tend to dull feeling in the pierced area, since you’re getting rid of nerve endings.”

Following Maki’s eyeline, Elia grinned, pleased. “Oh, thanks! The ones all around my desk here are mine, though any of the flash sheets with this wing emblem,” she pointed out a dual pair of bubbly-looking wings in the corner of one of the frames, “Are mine. Though, they are a little difficult to pick out while sitting. Feel free to look around, if you’d like.”

“Oh, well, that’s unacceptable.” Shuichi murmured, entirely to himself as he peered over the binder. His eyes analytical as he looked over the options, quietly taking out a small journal and opening it up to a fresh page, jotting down notes and murmuring to himself, “Whatever we do, it has to be fun for him too. That’s a rule, Kaito has to enjoy it…”

“Don’t mind him, he’s just excited because he’s engaged and his fiance said he’d get a body piercing for him.” Maki said, giving Elia a small ‘what can you do’ shrug, “And winged frames? That’s cute. Because of your back tattoos?” Maki asked. Though as she asked, she did walk around a little. Eagerly looking for more examples of Elia’s work, “Your color blending… I don’t really know anything about art, but even I can tell that’s really incredible. It’s like some of your work is melted into each other.”

Shuichi, jotting down another note, asked, “Would nipple piercings also make him lose feeling there?”

That was sweet. Couple tattoos and piercings were always fun--usually because of the sentimentality of the designs or placements, and usually because…well, it was nice being a conduit for people’s devotion to each other. Uncle Ben had been incredulous when she said she was going to get into the body mod business, thinking that a place of pain was a ridiculous, empty place for an angel, but that was a shallow view. 

Yes, tattoos and piercings were painful, but underneath that was always an undercurrent of excitement or joy or satisfaction or…all sorts of positive feelings, really. It was against policy to force someone into a modification, or to serve someone that was under the influence, so every client was someone who really wanted what they were getting. So it was a rewarding job both for soul and stomach. 

Flushing a little more as she watched Maki look through her work, Elia nodded. “Yeah. We all picked out a simple little design to put on our sheets, so people would know what artist they wanted, and…well, I picked out wings even before I got mine. Not to echo you too much, but…there’s such a power and elegance to them, right?”

Looking back to Shuuichi, Elia waved her hand on a pivot. “Technically yes, though I’ve heard more debate on it from my clients. It’s hard to say if it’s just subliminal, but I think it might be a person-by-person basis. In any case, though, even with such a small area, it isn’t total feeling loss. Just some numbing around the piercing site.”

Shuichi nodded, jotting down more notes and murmuring to himself some more. Wondering if it was worth the risk. Kaito would say yes if Shuichi genuinely asked him to do it, so Shuichi was going to stop playing with the idea if it was going to deny Kaito feeling in some of his erogenous zones. Dick was out, nipples were probably out… 

Recalling the way Kokichi’s face had lit up when Maki had made the belly button joke, Shuichi asked Elia, “What about the navel piercings? Any risks there?”

“I still think you should be nice and just propose another ear piercing, Shuichi.” Maki said, tone lightly scolding, “He fusses at me, but I think Kaito likes the way those look on him. He never fails to decorate the earrings I’ve already given him, and I catch him looking at them in random reflective surfaces all the time. He likes the way they look.”

Turning to Elia, Maki shifted her weight from foot to foot a little awkwardly, before confessing, “We have a sort of in-joke between us that’s maybe gone a little too far. When I’m feeling particularly emotional about things, we tend to talk Kaito into getting an earring. It made sense when the joke first started, I was mad at his husband for a prank he pulled and Kaito said I could give him an earring for ‘controlled vengeance’. Harmless violence, basically. But…” Maki shrugged, “He looks nice in earrings. So every now and again when I’m feeling emotional, I like to bring it up again. It’s really meant to be playful more than anything, though as you can see it’s–” She gestured to Shuichi, looking over the binder, “--escalated.”

“Nothing outside of the regular risks for piercings, though navel piercings take much longer to fully heal than lobe piercings,” Elia explained. “Considering the core of the body tends to brush up against things more often than the side of the head, we do place an emphasis on being careful about snagging or tearing, but it’s the same concept.”

Elia regarded Maki as she explained more in-depth what the whole piercing deal was, raising a bit of an eyebrow. Before a smile broke out and she giggled softly. “Prince hefting and now vengeance piercings? You guys really do get up to some crazy stuff, huh? I wish I could make an excuse to get a piercing every time I pissed off one of my siblings.”

She gave them an easy shrug. “Even escalated…well, you said he likes them, right? No harm, no foul there. Do I wanna know what prompted this piercing, or is that on a need to know basis?”

Shuichi, still jotting down notes, flipped to a different page and jotted down another quick note as he said idly, “She either likes you a lot, Maki, or can handle a heavy dose of crazy. Either way, good sign for you.”

“Shut up, Shuichi.” Maki said, glaring at him, her face burning red again, before giving Elia a somewhat sheepish look, “Um… it’s not a big deal. I just…”

“He’s the one who encouraged her to date you.” Shuichi called over, eyes narrowing as he looked at more and more examples of navel piercings, “When it’s healed, can the skin around navel rings… hold well? Like, theoretically, entirely hypothetically, if you pulled on it? Would the skin tear?”

“Shuichi.” Maki said, the fire burning inside of her as she glared at him, embarrassed, “...um, basically, yes.” Maki said, turning to Elia, “Kaito basically didn’t hold me back from the idea of dating you, and while I’m very excited to go dancing with you… I haven’t dated in a long time.” Maki confessed, “So it’s a bit nerve-wracking… I hope that’s not off-putting. I really am very excited. Just nervous.”

Sure, Elia appreciated forthrightness, and she had asked Maki from the beginning to be upfront with her, but…

Wow. That was…really blunt. 

Elia sat up with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing for a moment. She…well, she didn’t really get what Kaito potentially holding Maki back meant, and she knew there was a lot about Maki that she had no clue about, but…

The surprise eased, even with a light blush touching her cheeks, and Elia smiled softly at Maki. “...I do like you a lot, Maki. I know we don’t know each other all that well, but everything I am learning just…shows me more and more a kind of person that I like and want to keep learning about. It doesn’t bother me if you’re nervous, or…out of practice, so to speak,” Elia gave a lop-sided grin. “That just gives me a nudge to not be so damn pushy, you know? We can go at whatever pace is comfortable for both of us. I’m enjoying the journey so far.”

For a moment, she just gazed warmly at Maki, letting the silence imprint her sincerity…though she did turn back to Shuuichi with a cooly amused look. “I wouldn’t recommend tugging on the piercing. Just like others, the skin will tear with enough force. But…what parameters around that are more your business than mine--if your fiance feels uncomfortable, then that’s probably a sign his skin is being put to the limit.”

Maki looked away, a small, pleased smile on her face, this time not followed by that burning heat. That was just… very nice. She hadn’t felt like Elia was pushing anything yet, but she appreciated that the other woman wasn’t running for the hills, for how nervous Maki was admitting to be about all of this. Maki was a little embarrassed, at her own nerves. She hadn’t thought dating again would make her this insecure, but there it was. She hoped once the ‘newness’ of it all eased, so would her nerves. Let her confidence shine through. Maybe impress Elia a bit with her own charms.

Though, at Shuichi’s little defeated sigh, Maki said, “If you want to experiment with Kaito more, instead of trying to get him a weird, practical piercing, just go to the damn sex shop with him. Or use the things he’s already bought hoping to entice you with. Honestly, Shuichi, you’re making this too hard on yourself.”

Now it was Shuichi’s turn to be embarrassed, sputtering and going red as he shouted, “M-maki! Don’t just say things like that!”

“Oh, right. Like you were being subtle.” She mocked, heading over and looking at the binder, “Look, see that? See those little middle piercings, in that part of the ear? That’s what he asked for. He’ll look nice.”

Shuichi sighed. Giving Elia a sheepish look as he pointed to said earring style and asked, “How much for one of these?”

While the only clients Cogito Ink had were adults, it was an all-ages friendly shop, all inappropriate art kept in very specific binders, and language encouraged to be considered when children came along with their parents or siblings to the parlor. That said, with some of the culture around tattoos, Elia was no stranger to decidedly un-kid friendly discussions, and dealt with them with the grace of any person who worked customer service. 

Calmly, Elia simply pretended she didn’t hear any of that. 

Looking over the style Shuuichi pointed to, not commenting on any of his fluster, she hummed with a nod. “A secondary lobe piercing? Two silver for basic jewelry, though if you want to special order anything fancier then you pay for the cost of that as well. We include a small bottle of cleaning solution as part of the package too, and there’s an accountability clause in our contract so if he gets an infection, or for other reasons the piercing closes up within a year, we’ll re-pierce it for free, if you want that.”

“Oh, huh… that’s good. That’s better than you doing it, I think.” Shuichi said, glancing at Maki, “Right?”

“I think we do miss some of the point if I don’t do it myself. Now I’m not stabbing anything, which seems a shame.” Maki pouted.

“Vicarious stabbing?”

“I think by this point we’re just buying Kaito a new ear piercing, if he wants it still.”

“Let’s… wait until after the family photo.” Shuichi decided, “Kaito’s so excited for it, I’d hate for his ears to be red and swollen for it. We’ll revisit this after.”

Maki laughed lightly, giving her brother an amused look, “All of that, just to not get him anything?”

“It’s not for nothing. I got to meet Elia, which I was looking forward to.” Shuichi said, giving Elia another warm smile, “Thank you for your patience. We know we’re a lot. It’s really been very nice to meet you.”

Elia chuckled out a laugh, giving Shuuichi a nod. “You guys are definitely unique, but I’m used to my own brand of chaos. I like being on my toes, especially when there’s great people dancing around right along with’ya. I’m glad I’ve gotten to meet you as well, Shuuichi. And I’ll look forward to meeting Kaito if you all do decide on that piercing.”

Maki nodded, giving Elia a polite little bow… before fuming at Shuichi, who laughed at her, nudging her a bit. The two whispering to each other, Maki bright red and Shuichi clearly lightly teasing as the two headed out. 

Going out into the markets, Shuichi was still laughing lightly while Maki took some steadying breaths… before looking over to him. Something serious in her gaze. “?”

“...” Shuichi shrugged, “What should I look for?”

Maki sighed. Shaking her head, “Why can’t you just read my mind? Every time I think we’re on the same page.”

“Okay, so… wait.” Shuichi said, raising an eyebrow, “What does that mean?”

“Don’t look into her.” Maki said. “I… haven’t been upfront about who I am with her. I don’t want her secrets.”

“... she could be a–”

“Let her kill me then.” Maki said blankly.

Shuichi’s eyes narrowed at that. “You don’t mean that.”

Maki gave him a startled look… before looking more and more uncertain. “I… suppose not…”

They were silent for a moment… “We’ll ask Kaito.” Maki said, “My judgment isn’t sound right now. We’ll ask him.”

“...that’s going to be a problem eventually.” Shuichi said softly. 

“Yeah.” Maki said. “Eventually.”

“... she was tall.” Shuichi said. Something teasing in his voice as smiled softly at Maki, “Not ‘climb a tree, Amber loses her mind’ tall, but… you looked cute, next to her.”

“Shuuuut uuuuup.” Maki pouted. Puffing up her cheeks.

-

Honestly, Kokichi wasn’t even sure what was happening at first. He’d been sleeping, not even dreaming, before he was suddenly pulled to awareness, feeling like he was receiving intent but…

Bigger, than that. Almost claustrophobic, in just how dense the feeling was with other people, but not exactly unpleasant. Just strange. 

{ATTENTION DICEAN EMPATH COMMUNITY}

{Geez! You don’t have to be so dramatic!}

{Just get on with it…}

{Oh, you assholes, I just got to sleep…}

{...}

{We’ve received contact from the greater psychic community. A power burst a year and a half ago has been investigated, and there is warranted suspicion that the creation of a Tulpa has occurred. Please be on-guard and report any strange incidents to the community.}

There was a lot of general murmurings after that, a little too pointed to really dismiss like Kokichi might if it was sound and not feelings, but…

…what the heck was a Tulpa?

He could understand the intent, but…

Pulling himself out of that grand pit of people, Kokichi opened his eyes into their dark room before drowsily sitting himself up, looking around for Shuuichi. 

“...where’s th’ guidebook?”

Shuichi blinked sleepily, slightly startled by one of his partners rousing. Miyako contently eating in his arms– she never gave Shuichi problems, during feeding time– but Shuichi half-asleep himself. He loved his baby, but damn, midnight feedings sucked. Tiny little baby stomach, can’t just hold food through the night like a normal person. Get a bigger stomach already, Miyako. Let your father sleep through the night. 

Shuichi almost told Kokichi to wake Kaito, if he needed something… but Kaito had taken his sleeping pill, and him sleeping for eight full hours in a row was still a victory. So, begrudgingly being both an amazing father and an incredible fiance, thank you very much, Shuichi sighed and valiantly pointed to the nightstand next to the bed. “There.” He told Kokichi. Like a hero.

Mumbling a thanks, Kokichi wriggled out of Kaito’s arms and reached for the book, rubbing his eyes and squinting before deeming that it was simply too dark in the middle of their room to read. So with great, drowsy reluctance, Kokichi dragged himself to the free space at the window seat, opening the book and thumbing through to the section he needed. 

“...had m’ first all-Empaths meeting,” he softly explained. “S’like a city conference all in your head…”

Getting to the section, Kokichi rubbed his eyes once more and started to read. He’d gotten from the intent that a Tulpa was basically an Empath’s construct that existed in the physical world. A feat that was beyond even the strongest Empath so…that made sense why the whole psychic community was a part of this announcement. But even with that, Kokichi didn’t really…get it. 

A major subject of debate on whether Tulpas are actually alive or not, they are ideas brought into reality through either collective consciousness or grand psychic ability. Given the infinite nature of ideas, a Tulpa can be just about anything from an inanimate object to an incomprehensible beast to (nearly) a person. 

Kokichi squinted.

“Oh?” Shuichi asked, blinking a little harder. Trying to force himself more awake… blegh. It was so laaaate. “That’s exciting… maybe? Isn’t it? Seems sort of…”

Shuichi yawned. Looking down and seeing Miyako had stupped suckling, just contently licking the top of her mouth, eyes closed as she seemed to be leaning into the idea of just popping off back to sleep, belly full. Shuichi sighed, bringing her up onto his shoulder and thumping her back, “Come on, Miyako, not yet… little burp for– ew. That’s more than a little burp Miyako.”

Miyako, having spat up down Shuichi’s back, yawned. Any second now, Feed Smell was going to stop fussing and she’d go back to sleep. Mmmmm. Heck yeah…

“It is… I’ve heard we don’t really…meet often. So it’s neat to finally…hm. See what it’s like.” Kokichi frowned as he read through snippets of accounts, things that seemed like they could just be folktales, but were apparently attributed to Tulpas. People being afraid of a beast in the woods that manifested from their fear, innocuous drinks that became poison from rampant paranoia, reports of Cimics that turned out not to be…

…but at that point…what was the difference? Simply a strange circumstance of birth wasn’t enough to disqualify a being from existence, right? But…Temp had been very clear that life couldn’t just be created, and while they were lifelike, constructs weren’t new life. 

…what did it mean to have a soul, then? Could a Tulpa have a soul?

Kokichi frowned, not reading the page anymore. “...apparently the greater psychic community says that someone created a Tulpa, so we should be on the lookout for that. So…I guess just be aware of weird things.”

“Tulpa… what’s a tul–” Shuichi paused, his mind filling in the blanks,  “...a creature created from belief? The author suggested that really was just a myth, that people use it as a catch-all for things they don’t understand. It’s an empath thing?”

“Psychic thing, not Empath thing,” Kokichi shook his head, glancing over and giving Miyako’s back a little rub. “Empaths can have really powerful abilities, but at the end of the day the only things we can directly affect are people’s minds. People with, like…telekinesis, ergokinesis, materialization, that stuff…they can actually directly impact the physical world.”

“And…apparently one of those things is being able to make a Tulpa,” Kokichi shrugged, before his brows furrowed. “Though…the community said that they made the connection because of a power surge…like the stuff I used to do. And if it’s a warning…then I can guess that making a Tulpa is pretty rare, and takes a significant amount of power to do.”

“And if it’s someone who didn’t tell the community themself, then…” Kokichi frowned, looking up at Shuuichi to give another shrug. There were a few reasons why someone wouldn’t out themself--they could just not know about the community, like him--but…other reasons were less comforting.

“Wow.” Shuichi murmured, entirely genuine… but still yaaaawning. Changing his sleeping daughters diaper, Miyako entirely sleeping through it, the lucky duck. “Hmmm…”

Finishing sorting his daughter out, Shuichi gave her a small kiss on the forehead, before laying her down in the crib. Giving her a loving look as he saw her immediately curling her legs and arms into herself. Sweet little thing… “Was this recent? Was it close?” Shuichi asked softly, before sighing as he straightened up. Looking over to Kokichi, brushing some of the hair out of his face, “...what I’m really asking is if you think there’s a reason for us to be nervous. Is it a danger?”

Kokichi sighed softly, trying valiantly not to catch Shuuichi’s yawn, but succumbing nevertheless. It really was quite late… He understood being prompt about giving information but…they really couldn’t have waited until the morning?

“They said the surge was a year and a half ago, and…they addressed the entire Dicean community, so…” Kokichi shrugged a little. “...the fact that they made an announcement at all is concerning, but…I don’t think we’re in danger. Just given knowledge to…make sense of something weird, if we see it, I think. No different than the inherent danger of any given day, I think.”

“Hmmm. Well, alright then.” Shuichi said. Adjusting his robe– he liked to put it on when he was feeding, and pumping too. Kept the chill at bay at night– he headed over to Kokichi. Sitting down beside him on the bed, and wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close.

“What a life full of mystery, you’ve brought to me.” Shuichi sighed, resting his head against Kokichi’s, “How interesting… was it nice?” He asked softly, closing his eyes, “Feeling your people? For a moment?”

While he would probably head back to bed in a moment--if he didn’t get what sleep he could before work it would be a nightmare in the morning--Kokichi snuggled against Shuuichi’s side, putting an arm around his back. 

“...yeah,” he said softly, a small smile coming to his face. “It was…crowded, I guess is the best way to put it, but… There’s so many people. I knew almost from the start I wasn’t really alone… One of the first things Alter Ego ever told me was that the community decided it was time for me to be mentored, and a community usually implies more than a couple people, but…”

His smile grew. “...there’s a lot of us. And no one was happy to be woken up in the middle of the night.”

“Well, at least they’re sensible people.” Shuichi laughed lightly, tracing the tip of his fingers up and down Kokichi’s arm. Laying a light kiss against the top of Kokichi’s head, Shuichi sighed again, leaning against him. Closing his eyes, “...I could fall asleep.” Shuichi confessed. “Just like this.”

Kokichi closed his eyes as well, smiling at the kiss to his head as he relaxed more against Shuuichi. “...I could too…if it wasn’t gonna ruin both our backs tomorrow. Think you can make it to the bed?”

Shuichi sighed dramatically. “...I suppose. Let me lean on you? Take me to bed?”

“Lean on me~ When you’re not stroo~ong,” Kokichi softly sang, not bothering to open his eyes as he stood, keeping an arm around Shuuichi. “And I’ll be your fiance~ I’ll help you carry on~”

Shuichi snickered, not putting too much of his weight on Kokichi as he followed his lead. Smiling even as he tried to shush through his little giggles, “Kokichi, you’re going to wake… well, let’s be honest, neither of them. They’re both out.” Shuichi realized, glancing back at the crib with a fond look, before snickering as he looked down at Kaito as they got closer to the bed, “We were only out of bed for a moment, and look at him. You’d think he was trying to pick up the mattress.”

Kaito, almost as if in response, snorted briefly… before letting out a little, sleepy sigh. Spreading his arms and legs out a little wider.

“Miyako loves my singing,” Kokichi huffed with false and very flimsy offense. “You know how many lullabies I sing her? A lot. Enough I feel like I have to make a spreadsheet just to organize all of them.” So it wasn’t so much that Miyako was an especially deep sleeper, as just a selective one, and with their only light sleeper remaining taking sleeping pills? The nights in their bedroom tended to be pretty peaceful. 

Mattress hogs and all. 

Peeking one eye open, Kokichi gazed with affection at the total starfish Kaito had become. He kept his promise of escorting Shuuichi to the bed, but as he let go to climb back in, Kokichi shuffled forward on his knees before laying himself right on top of Kaito, claiming his own sort of mattress if there was no room on the other. 

“Hmm… He’s just like a sea urchin. Giv’im a second to scrunch up from this, then you’ll have room to slide in, honeypie.”

Shuichi giggled as, exactly as Kokichi predicted, the second Kaito felt that warm, human weight on him, he immediately started to scrunch up. Making small, sleep sounds from the back of his throat, one arm mindlessly flopping onto Kokichi’s back. Shuichi, seeing his opportunity, took off his robe and put it at the edge of the bed, before crawling in next to Kaito and tucking himself into his side. 

“...he really does make an excellent heater.” Shuichi whispered contently. 

Kokichi made a small, pleased sound as Kaito put his arm around him. He had really liked the full side-hug he’d been in before, but this definitely wasn’t bad. A lovely warm body under him, secured with an arm…

“Mhmm,” Kokichi hummed, taking comfort in the steady thumping under his ear. “...sorry in advance if I roll onto you.”

“I’ll squish you if you dare.” Shuichi murmured sleepily, pressing his face into Kaito’s neck, “Trap you between us. It’ll be hours before Kaito wakes up to save you.”

“Hmm…death by dual-hubbie squish. I’d take that.”

“Your funeral.” Shuichi said softly. Smiling as he drifted to sleep.

-

Even before…everything, when he’d been a complete homebody, Henery still got out semi-regularly to pursue his photography. Dicea had an abundance of gorgeous locations practically everywhere you went, and Henery wanted to capture every one he came across. Now, though, if he wasn’t setting up the shop, Henery was pretty much assuredly outside, and not always with his camera. Just enjoying the city, both in the natural beauty that had always drawn his eye, and in the non-enclosed nature of it that he had come much more to appreciate. 

He had been quite pleased--and a little relieved--to hear that the royal family wanted their portraits taken in Ramnas Park. The park was pretty…huge, and there were all sorts of backdrops to consider, but…it was beautiful and a bright sunny day and…

Well. He was going to be an official photographer for the royal family. 

“Ah, Henery, Eileen, you made it!” Kokichi chirped brightly, waving in a wide motion to get the attention of the two people who had entered the park. There had been a lot of debate over what outfits they were going to wear for the pictures, but Kokichi was pretty happy with the high-waisted, form-fitting pants, billowy, open chemise, and printed silk undershirt he’d gone with. It was Denji-approved too!

Eileen gave the prince a warm wave, as much as she could with her arms full of extra photography equipment. She didn’t entirely understand everything she was holding, but she knew some of it was lighting stuff, and either way, she had agreed to come mostly as a backup against the real challenge of the day, which was absolutely going to be the red-head. Who indeed, looked up from where he was playing with Miyako on a picnic blanket, and his eyes seemed to glint with the mark of a hunter, as he grinned wide with all his teeth, “Hey! There they are! The master photographers themselves!”

Kaito had, originally, argued that they needed to dress formally for their very first family portrait. “It’s a royal photo! This is the sort of thing they’ll put in history books, next to our obituaries and alongside definitions of which wars we lived through! It’s important guys!!” 

But he had lost that initial argument, and after a while his needling had eventually settled on at least similar coloring… no, Kokichi, not those colors. And pouting as his suggestions of reds and blacks was turned down too. Well, maybe gold? WELL FINE SOMEONE ELSE PICK SOME COLORS! KOKICHI, THE ‘RAINBOW’ IS NOT A COLOR!

And when no one could agree on a color, it had somehow organically resulted in outfits of various ‘base’ colors and similar cuts in v-patterns and button styles. Sure, the ‘similarities’ was maybe something only Kaito and Denji, respectively, would notice, everything else seeming different, but Kaito was willing to take the win. Kaito was wearing a new cloak that he had bought specifically for this photo– after Shuichi had STRICTLY said NO when Kaito had proposed wearing his Akane coat around his shoulders as a sort of pseudo-cape, Kaito still weirdly casual about wearing his own past lifes’ skin– along with semi-formal clothes that was, admittedly, more Danganronpa style than he’d like. It was only recently that Kaito was starting to really recognize the differences between Danganronpa styled clothes and ‘Traditional’ Luminary style clothes, and while he found he preferred Luminary style, in his heart he still on impulse considered Danganronpa style the ‘correct’ way to wear clothes, especially for formal occasions. It was becoming a bit of a conflict in Kaito’s sense of identity, the more he noticed it, but that wasn’t a conflict Kaito was ready to really face yet, having just given into his still ingrained sense of ‘proper’ formal wear. 

So, yeah. His clothes were Luminary colors, but Danganronpa style cuts. Meanwhile, Shuichi went the exact opposite way, and was actually wearing another Yukata, though it was all dark colors and worn a little loosely around him, not pulled tight. Shuichi had admitted to Kaito that he just liked the way the things felt and looked, but most importantly, for a photo he’d prefer something that wasn’t form fitting, his weight and breasts still not something he was entirely comfortable with. Kaito had proceeded to kiss him up and down, calling him handsome and adoring the clothes Shuichi had picked out for himself… even if it was ENTIRELY OFF THEME, SHUICHI.

It was okay. Anything for love… gah. 

Maki, in turn, was wearing a light red dress that Kaito had never seen her in before– aww, did she buy a dress for the photo?? Nice– and over it a sharply cut black jacket. Kaito had grinned, practically jumping at his heels, at the small flower pinned in her hair, which Maki had just pouted at, blowing out her cheeks and turning red as he gushed about it. Timothy in turn was wearing similar colors to Maki and Kaito– both of them getting together to pick his outfit– but was notably wearing green suspenders with the maroon button up shirt and black pants they had put him in. 

And Miyako was, again, wearing that bright yellow flower dress that Kaito adored, because he loved her in it and refused to take no for an answer. Not that anyone had fought him hard on it. Miyako looked cute in basically anything put on her. 

Basically they all looked nice, they all looked mostly different, and Kaito was deluding himself that the v-cuts and buttons were at least similar. He had entirely failed to get his family to pick a theme, but whatever. It was still going to be nice pictures! “...Tim! Stop chasing Chase, you’re gonna get dirt on your pants!”

Timothy stopped running, looking annoyed, before looking down at his pants. Kaito sighing deeply as Tim tried to wipe some of the dirt off the hem of his pants by, sigh,  rubbing the bottom of his shoe on it. Looking genuinely perplexed when that seemed to make the problem worse. Deciding for his own sanity to ignore that, Kaito picked up Miyako and headed over to the photographers, that hungry glint back in his eyes as he grinned, “So! How long before we can start? You said something like six pictures, right?”

It was wholly different from anything that really made Henery nervous, but the look in Prince Kaito’s eyes was still a little unsettling. Still gently, he shifted the camera box in his arms. “Um, well, if you’ve all chosen a spot, then I can get started on setting up which really shouldn’t be too long, and…uh, I mean I did bring extra slides so…”

Partially in case there was something in the park that caught his eye after the session, but Henery was saved from having to navigate that part of the conversation again as Prince Kokichi jogged up, gently nudging his husband’s side. “We all agreed on three pictures, Kai-chan. I mean,” he laughed softly, giving Henery and Eileen a nod, “I hope after this you’ll still consider having us on as clients so…we can always get more pictures later. But let’s keep our promises to the kids, okay?”

Turning back to the photographers, Kokichi beamed brightly and gestured with his whole body to the side. “We were thinking of being in front of these cherry trees? Pretty good way to make sure other people aren’t accidentally in the background, right?”

Eileen gave an appreciative look to the setting Kokichi was proposing, giving a small whistle and laughing lightly as she nudged Henery, “Seems like a good spot to me. Do you think if we’re lucky, we’ll get a good gust of wind, might get some leaves falling? That’d be beautiful.”

Kaito frowned, giving the sky a wary look, “That’d mess up our hair…”

Miyako, who was not aware her hair was ‘done’, coo’d happily and nudged her head into Kaito’s chest, trying to burrow into his pecks now that she was in prime dad carrying mode. Mmmmm, potential nap time… aw, no! Nap pecks, come back!

“What do you think, Miya?” Kaito coo’d at her, as he shifted her around to have her sit more on his arm, showing off the cherry trees to her. Unaware of her increasing pout as he said, “Think the pink would go nicely with that yellow dress of yours? Awwwww, I think it wooould. Ooooh, ‘Kichi!” Kaito said, suddenly looking excited again as he beamed down at his husband, “It’s gonna look so good! Have them set up, I can’t wait to start!”

“Kaito, stop trying to pressure the photographers to hurry.” Shuichi sighed, heading over and, bowing his head lightly to Henery and Eileen, grasping his fiance’s arm gently and guiding him away, “Come on, let’s let them work.”

Maki, in turn, came over, standing by Kokichi, and quietly stood by to watch them set up. 

Henery made a softly appreciative sound, his mind painting up the scene for him. The exposure wasn’t quite short enough to capture each little curl of the summer leaves, but the added interest in the air really would be something… But they had to be a certain amount of precise for a family photo, to make sure everything looked right. The family wouldn’t be forced to stand stock still for a few minutes, but…a few seconds, at least. 

Laughing softly as Shuuichi ushered Kaito away, Kokichi followed Henery and Eileen over to where, apparently, Henery thought would be the best place for the camera. “So, I can pay you after the pictures are taken, so we have an accurate time rate, right? And then I can come by your studio this weekend to pick up the plates?”

“Right,” Henery said softly, adjusting the tripod with two of the princes thankfully already in front of the trees. Kaito was the tallest of the bunch, so it was much simpler to adjust the height to him and do rough estimations for the others. “If there are, um…mistakes in the final photos, I’d be willing to retake them for…” Not free, your time is worth more, “For a cut hourly rate…but I am aiming to get you all something you’ll like the first time around.” He shot the prince a small, awkward smile before directing Eileen where to put the reflector umbrellas. 

“Not that he’ll have to! Henery is exceptional! Trust me, every picture’s going to be gold, first time around!” Eileen assured, following his directions. She gave Maki a curious look, who was still just quietly watching, “Hi! I’m Eileen, I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure?”

“Maki Harukawa.” Maki said simply, before heading over. Peeking into the umbrellas for a moment, before stepping back. “Pleasure.”

Eileen gave her a tight, somewhat bewildered smile, “...right! So, how do you fit into all of this? Are you an aunt? Cousin?”

“Sibling, mother, family friend.” Maki shrugged, “Baby-mama, concubine. Don’t know if there’s a word specifically for my situation beyond ‘involved’.”

“Oh! …fun!” Eileen decided, giving Maki a more interested look, forgetting about her assistant duties for a moment as she stepped towards her, “So, that makes you the little carrot-tops over there’s mom? Aw, I can see the resemblance!” 

“No you can’t.” Maki said dryly, “He’s adopted.”

“...Nope! I still see it! You have similar demeanors, he’s really taken to your body language growing up, I can tell–”

“I adopted him last year.”

“...” Eileen grinned harder. A determined glint in her eye as she said, “Oh, you’re a challenge. I think I like you.”

Great. Another Kaito.

Henery shook his head a little to himself as he affixed the box of the camera onto the tripod, starting the finicky job of constantly checking the viewfinder and adjusting every other bit of their set-up. As intimidating as Eileen’s almost aggressively social nature could be at times…it was one of the reasons they had known each other at all before anything. He knew it really wasn’t his fault at all, but sometimes he still felt bad, like he was dragging Eileen into his own isolation…

But she was the one who had offered to help out with his business--had been the one to encourage him into it to start with--and…it really seemed like there was nothing in the universe that could keep Eileen from connecting with people. A true anthropologist down to her personality. 

“Ah, I guess we kinda skipped on the rest of the introductions, huh?” Kokichi laughed sheepishly, amused with Eileen’s determinedly friendly demeanor. “Well, you’ve met four of us now, but the man in the yukata over there is my and Kai-chan’s fiance, Shuuichi, and, yeah, that’s Maki-chan and Kai-chan’s son, Tim, with his dog Chase. We have other extended family, but…we decided to stick with this group for the portraits.”

He shrugged a little. “It’s mostly for us, but for spreading the photo around… People have seen Aiichi before. It’ll be nice to get a next generation thing going, I think.”

Henery nodded as he fiddled with the lighting. There was something probably to say about what a nice family they made, or agreeing about people wanting to see the heir’s generation but…none of the words seemed to want to link together in a way that didn’t sound…weird, so he just kept to his nod.

“It’s going to be SUCH a nice family portrait, and absolutely, when it comes to people who are curious about the heir-apparents family? People are going to eat this up! Especially the baby, I cannot tell you how much people lose their minds over baby pictures. And she’s such a sweet little thing too!”

Sweet little Miyako was currently reigning bells of terror in dads head, pouting as she slapped at his hands. Lay her back down on your chest, old man! It’s chest nap time! Do not make her scream! 

Kaito, wincing a little at the bells, whispered to Shuichi, “Can you get Little Lamb? I think we need to distract her and wake her up a little. I think she’s getting grumpy.”

“On it.” Shuichi said, hurrying over to the baby bag.

“So cute.” Eileen gushed, as she watched the blue haired man take a stuffed toy out of the bag and, hurrying back to the foriegn prince, start showing it off to the baby. Meanwhile, Timothy had gone back to running around with Chase, apparently forgetting he was trying to keep his clothes clean, “Such a nice family.”

Kokichi watched fondly as Tim ran off. Not all that far, they wouldn’t even have to shout for him, but…well, it looked like history was repeating itself. Or maybe that was just one of the everlasting truths of children. Just as Denji had cuffed all his pants and bemoaned occasions of Kokichi wearing white, Timothy was going to run around with his dog before a photo. 

Kokichi had a feeling this was going to be his favorite portrait of his family for a long time. 

Straightening from his work, Henery gave Kokichi and Maki a timid look. “Everything is pretty much set up, so… If you all could stand how you like, so I can get the framing right?”

Perking with excitement, Kokichi nodded eagerly. “Oo, of course!” They weren’t all going to be in every picture, but getting the full group would probably be best to set up first. 

As Miyako watched, fascinated, Little Lamb bounce and dance around, Kaito looked up from the show Shuichi was putting on, excitement radiating off of him as he said, “We’re starting? Yes! Tim! TIM! Get back here, we’re starting!”

“Gwah!” Miyako shouted in turn, kicking her little legs, now more thoroughly awake.

“That’s right! Gwah!” Kaito encouraged her cheerfully, as Maki gave the finished setup a quick inspection, ignoring Henery’s and Eileens confused looks, before deciding it was safe, heading over to the group. Shuichi straightened out his yukata a bit, feeling his hat shift around inside of it, having decided he’d be okay taking the picture without it. 

Kaito sighed as Tim ran up, Kaito looking him over, before saying, “Did Chase jump on you?”

Tim, with a dirt paw print on his face, said, “No.”

“Uh huh. ‘Kichi, would you hold Miyako for a bit, let me just… nope, you can’t escape me, come here.” Kaito insisted, grabbing Tim’s shoulder and bringing him back when Tim tried to walk to Maki’s other side, Kaito taking out a handkerchief and trying to clean up Tim’s face a bit, “Come on, kid, you can go as buckwild in the dirt as you want after the photos. It’s your first family portrait! They’re fun!”

“They are?” Tim asked, sounding pointedly doubtful.

To Kaito, they always had been. His family all around him, and if not in a ‘good’ mood, at least usually in a neutral one, especially if Kaito was working extra hard to make them smile while they waited for the artists to get the basic designs laid out. Family portraits had been more reliable than family dinners had ever been, for not having any big arguments or anyone just deciding to leave or Kaito needing to go quiet and zone out while tense conversations happened over his head. His dad straightening out Kaito’s posture and complimenting his shoulders, which grew broader every year, and his mother fussing with his hair and complimenting his beauty, which had always stood out after the careful work of the servants to make him look perfect for the portraits. 

Byakuya had hated them, but the portraits could take ages, so even he usually resigned himself to being patient through them. And Kaito had reveled in those moments where he had felt really a part of them. A part of the whole. 

And Kaito felt no less happy and connected to his family now, even though this portrait wasn’t going to take an hour and was more going to take seconds. Everyone getting roughly into position, Kaito being tallest being a step behind the others, on Kokichi’s left, while Shuichi, second tallest, was also half a step back, his arms loosely wrapped around Kokichi’s as he stood at his right, Maki standing at Kaito’s left, half a step in front of him, while Tim stood partly in front of her, her arm around Timothy’s chest protectively as Tim stood partly at attention, Chase laid out at his feet. Kaito, one hand on Kokichi’s shoulder, but the other holding Miyako up to his chest, Kaito coo’ing at her to look towards the camera, “...oh, ya know what might work? Uh, miss! Sorry, you said your name… Eileen? Eileen, you think you could hold Little Lamb and make it dance over by the camera? That might get her attention!”

Eileen chuckled at that, before grabbing the toy and, getting Miyako’s attention, making the doll bounce as she slowly and carefully moved back towards the cameras. Miyako watching this strange woman leave with her toy. Hmmmm… should she… be upset…?

As Kaito took Miyako back and they all started shuffling into position, Kokichi chanced a Cool Uncle Moment right in front of Tim’s parents. Giving the boy a subtle wink, he murmured, “It’ll be nice having the picture. And if it gets a little boring now, I’ll sneak ya an extra cookie at dinner as thanks for putting up with us.”

Kokichi didn’t hate portraits. And what he’d told Tim was true. When he had gone through all his old portraits with his partners, it had been really nice being able to share those memories with them. But that didn’t mean that Kokichi particularly liked getting portraits done. 

When he was little, if he wasn’t feeling awful--which, if he was, they usually didn’t have any portrait sessions--then it was agonizing to have to sit or stand in place for hours. He wanted to go out and play while he had the energy to! But Ikuo had often been just out of picture view, making small games to keep up his spirits…or just bribing him with treats, like Kokichi had just done for Tim. Later, portraits had meant standing annoyingly still in one place with his father and more than once Kokichi had bitterly thought that the silence between them was even preferable to his father’s meaningless prattle. 

Looking back, they had had a few good times, but…

In any case, though, this would be a much quicker portrait, and then they could still have a lovely time out at the park. 

Following some of the timid suggestions from Henery as he got them all pleasingly in frame, Kokichi smiled a little brighter as Eileen took up Little Lamb’s dance… And, well, with one kid reassured…

{Ooh! Isn’t this fun, Mi-Mi? Miss Eileen and Little Lamb are putting on a show for you!! How lucky!}

From behind the camera, Henery started to count them down.

Timothy smirked at the cookie bribe, while Kaito gave a notable sigh at it. But not about to shoot Kokichi’s bribe down, not when it got his kid to at least settle down a little. And as they all followed Henery’s instructions, Miyako blinked curiously as daddy’s voice filled her head, getting excited with her at the show.

And Miyako’s eyes lit up, giving a happy little gurgle, as Shuichi and Maki’s backs both straightened proudly, Chase looking up at Timothy as he stared straight ahead, and Kaito absolutely beaming with pride. Look! Look at his family! Look at how amazing they were! 

And the countdown ticked down quickly, when a flash of light popped, a shutter going off. 

-

There wasn’t anything in particular that day that led to Kaito asking about it. It had been a normal day, really. Kokichi going to work in the day, Shuichi getting some personal space by spending time in his office, Kaito watching over Miyako. He had refused to let the incident from the other week stop Kaito from bringing out Miyako on his runs, and, while, admittedly, he tended to be more cautious about where his back was turned these days, he otherwise just jogged like usual. And that jog that morning, a random thought had occurred to him, nagging at him the rest of the day.

And as he and Kokichi settled into bed, Shuichi sleeping on their other side– they were experimenting more with just letting the feeding alarm wake them up, rather than taking shifts. All of them aware that in the upcoming months they’d have to consider the nursery more, and trying to ease the 24/7 eyes on Miyako process to cope with that– Kaito had taken his sleeping pills and settled down, idly rubbing Kokichi’s arm, “...hey, babe. Still awake?”

As nervous as Kokichi was about starting to ease things up when it came to Miyako…it was nice getting to go to sleep with both his partners again. They’d still found time, here and there, over the past few months, but…this? Cuddling between his loves, feeling Kaito’s arms around him and tangling his legs with Shuuichi… There really was nothing like it. 

…and it meant he was more often getting a proper night’s rest before work which…admittedly, was starting to get to him a bit. 

Settled into bed, Kokichi opened his eyes again and tilted his head toward Kaito, giving him a soft hum. “Yeah? What’s up?”

Kaito felt something nervous run through him, which was stupid. Kokichi wasn’t going to mind. If anything, Kaito was just making sure he wasn’t too tired. 

Still, Kaito tapped lightly against Kokichi’s arm a bit, before giving his shoulder a mildly appeasing kiss, “Hey, it’s totally fine if you’d rather not. But I’ve been thinking about how, uh, you guys have always just visited my mind, right? Like, everyone has, right? I never visited anyone else and just don’t remember doing it?”

Kokichi blinked a few times, trying to think back. When he’d bridged his family together, they had gone to Kaito’s mind, even if, technically Kaito was linked to Shuuichi and Maki as well, and…hm. No…that had been a memory Kokichi made…and that one had been Chibi Kaito…so…

“Oh…yeah, that’s right,” Kokichi said softly, before realizing more what Kaito entered that bit of information with. Looking up, Kokichi raised an eyebrow. “Do you wanna come to my mind? Since I’d be pulling you in, you wouldn’t go through the circus, but we could still go see it if you wanted.”

Kaito felt himself relax when Kokichi guessed where he was going with that and offered before Kaito had to ask. Right, see? It was fine. It was allowed. Grinning a little, Kaito nodded, saying softly, “If that’s okay? It’s just this cool thing everyone else has done… I kinda want to see what it’s like, ya know?”

He frowned though, as he said earnestly, “Only if it’s not gonna hurt you, though.”

Laughing softly, Kokichi snuggled against Kaito’s shoulder, placing a kiss on the nearest bit of skin he could reach without actually sitting up. “It won’t hurt me. It’s not as simple as supporting your consciousness while I’m in your mind, but it’s not that much more difficult…and I’ll be just fine in the morning. Yanno, if we don’t end up chatting all night.”

Wriggling his fingers under Kaito’s waist, Kokichi squeezed him gently. “It’ll be fun, getting to show you around. Shuu-chan wasn’t there under the happiest circumstances, and Maki-chan’s never been there… It’s fun to host, even if I have a lot to live up to, compared to you.”

With a wink, Kokichi shut his eyes again. “Mm… More reason to get to sleep soon, then.”

Kaito blushed a little. He never really knew what to do with the compliments Kokichi gave his, uh, ‘mind’. He was genuinely flattered by them, because he actually did enjoy his own imagination, but… it wasn’t the sort of thing he got to show off to people, not being a writer or artist or anything like that. It was strange, to have someone look at the things he imagined and think they were as interesting as he found them. 

And Kaito laughed lightly at the small wink, his eyelids already a little heavy as the drug ran through his system. “Alright… uh, looking forward to seeing you, babe… don’t let me keep you up, kay? Don’t…” Kaito yawned, closing his eyes as he dug his face further into the pillow, murmuring something about Kokichi not letting Kaito get carried away.

As Kokichi woke up in “their room”, it occurred to him that he’d never immediately pulled someone into his mind; at least not a non-Empath. It…did seem like within his capabilities, but…well, even for Shuuichi, it always took him a second to acclimate once Kokichi showed up. Suddenly waking up in someone else’s head seemed pretty jarring and uncomfortable…and while Kaito had asked him, Kokichi wanted to be kind to his husband’s mind. 

So while they were going to spend time in Kokichi’s head, he first opened a portal to Kaito, sending a soft ‘hello’ into the darkness for Saint Madison, before taking a breath. Feeling out in the darkness of sleep that was, in its entirety, Kaito, and…like gathering strings of cotton candy, gently gathering it up, until a solid form of consciousness could appear. 

It was a little bit like being woken up. 

There was that same sense of grogginess, as Kaito felt a little ‘other’ from himself, for a moment. A little detached and adrift. And there was also, briefly, this feeling of being tugged? Not forward, but backwards. Saint Madison, for a moment, refusing to let him go… but Kaito leaning away from her, towards Kokichi. Enjoying the gentle comfort of his husbands gathering, and slightly chastising Saint Madison to leave him be. 

And it was like he took a single, deep breath, and was suddenly ‘Kaito’ again. Whole, as he ‘opened his eyes’, looking up curiously at Kokichi… before closing them, yawning as he leaned into Kokichi, wrapping his arms around him. “Mmm?”

Kokichi giggled softly, standing on his toes to wrap his arms around Kaito as well. “Hi, Kai-chan. I know it seems a little late to ask now, but…if you are tired, I can go. But! If you wanna do this, then…I can open up a portal into my lobby, so you can get the whole experience from the top?”

Rubbing Kaito’s back affectionately, Kokichi hummed in excitement. “We can definitely explore it if you want too--I put a lot of work into it! People visiting can actually eat the elephant ears and corn cobs now, and I think the acrobat show has gotten a little out of hand since I was daydreaming about it…but I think that just makes it cooler. But…anywhere you wanna go, okay? All you have to do is ask.”

While he wasn’t nudging his husband forward quite yet, a portal opened up behind him, crackling with gold wisps at the edges, just like Alter Ego’s. 

Whole experience? Whole experience of…? “Oh!” Kaito opened his eyes, looking down at Kokichi more clearly as he said, “Right! Visiting time! Sorry, I forgot.” Kaito grinned, leaning down to give Kokichi a quick kiss, before giving the portal a fascinated look. Giving Kokichi an excited look, as he said, “Yes, I still wanna go! Absolutely! Yaaaay, ‘Kichi mind time~”

Still, despite his enthusiasm, Kaito was notably careful stepping through the portal. Literally stepping softly, like he was afraid if he stomped too loudly, he might give Kokichi a migraine. Taking his husbands hand, he stepped further into the portal, keeping his steps light and careful… before whistling low as he looked around. “Wow…” Kaito whispered, as around them roared the heat and music and hustle of a bustling circus. The portal disappearing behind them as Kaito instinctively ducked a bit, as large wooden stilted stepped carefully over him, the stilt walkers moving swiftly around them, and so high up that Kaito couldn’t catch a trait he’d immediately notice in the others, as he looked around.

…holy shit.

The dolls were people size now.

Kaito squeezed Kokichi’s hand a little tighter, both intrigued and a little intimidated, as a part of him internally went ‘I knew it!’. Peering around the circus, literally looking for Smug Rabbit among the walking, performing dolls. Though, Kaito couldn’t help the small, flattered chuckle as a smaller doll in a nice dress with a basket of flowers they were selling came by and passed Kaito a small flower, before moving on to sell more flowers to the other ‘guests’. “Aw,” Kaito said, turning the flower over in his hand, before grinning down at Kokichi, “Babe! This place is incredible! …you said this was a ‘lobby’?”

Once upon a time, Kokichi had been satisfied with his void and smattering of confetti. But now?

Kokichi grinned fondly, his chest puffed with pride as Kaito looked around the circus in awe…and a bit of terror. As much as he didn’t want to scare Kaito, those were exactly the feelings Kokichi had made his circus to instill. It wasn’t a threatening place--except perhaps for people with sensory issues--and he wanted guests to have a good time! But it was still his mind, and he wouldn’t allow people to roam and snoop as they pleased. 

Laughing in a pleased, smug tone, Kokichi took Kaito’s hand and gave it a squeeze, leading Kaito down one of the many random walkways in the circus. “Yupp! It’s like the lobby to a building--you’re still in the building, but you can’t really see what’s going on or what the place is about just from the lobby. If someone comes to visit me, then they end up here, instead of the whole of my mind, and they can’t come “in” without my knowledge and permission.”

“...with a few exceptions, over the months,” Kokichi said sheepishly, looking up at Kaito with a smaller grin. “But in my defense…I don’t think it’s that shameful to have a construct that was specifically made to slip into people’s minds quietly slip by me. Did give me some ideas of where I needed better defense, though.”

“Oh, right, the little, like, blue haired doll looking thing, right?” Kaito asked, vaguely remembering a mental image of her Kokichi had shown him… before his eyebrows shot up, recalling, “Oh. There’s, like… a little doll version of me somewhere around here too, huh?”

Kaito looked down at their feet as they walked, like he expected the chibi to be immediately underfoot, and hummed curiously when one didn’t appear. Stepping a little closer to Kokichi as he saw a doll fortune teller, looking into their crystal ball as they walked down the pathway, another doll in a tophat juggling nearby. “And no, I don’t think it’s ‘shameful’. Aren’t you, like, still really new to all of this? Uh…”

Kaito looked up into the air, putting one finger up, and then two, as he tried to recall accurately, “‘Waking’ you only found out, like… at the beginning of summer, right? Few months ago. That you could do all of this, or needed to even make defenses for your mind. And ‘sleeping’ you has still only known for, like, nine months? Something like that? I think it’s fair if a construct or whatever that’s been doing this for years slipped into your brand new aware brain at all, easily or not. You’re super powerful and impressive and sexy and smart, but you’re not exactly practiced at this yet.”

“Mm,” Kokichi nodded, accepting a balloon from one of the drawing figures with a smile. “We’ll probably see Chibi Kai-chan at some point. I’m not really sure if it’ll be different since he’s based off you, but he can get a little rowdy with guests. So…that’s a heads up, I suppose. I don’t think he comes out to the circus much, though. I have asked him to stay in the better defended parts of my mind.”

As developed as he liked to think he’d become…Kaito was right. Kokichi was still pretty new to everything, and though he’d gone through a lot of trials by fire…Empaths worked for years on their abilities. It wasn’t him being sloppy or negligent to have missed things more experienced Empaths knew. 

But still…

With a flattered blush, Kokichi pouted up at Kaito. “I like to think I’m a little practiced. I’ve been working hard!”

“...less so on a lot of things lately, though,” he admitted quietly, letting the pout become a small smile. “Alter Ego, Temp, and I did agree to take a break from things to focus on our kids, but…sometimes I still feel bad for not working on things. But…Miya’s important to me, and she deserves me at my best for her.”

Kaito gave Kokichi a fond, if knowing, look, bringing up his hand to place a gentle kiss on his pinky, as he said, “My good Kokichi’s being too hard on himself, I can tell. While I know you could save the world with enough time and dedication, babe, I’m asking you to pace yourself, please. Your Miyako needs you, yes, but so does your Kaito. And you running yourself ragged trying to be perfect, immediately, is only going to wear you out. Then I’ll be running around taking care of my bed-ridden husband, infant, and just watch, something would happen to Shuichi at the same time, it always goes like that.” Kaito sighed, shaking his head a little, “Kinda kidding, kinda not. My point is, you taking care of yourself takes care of us too. Takes care of me.”

Grinning down at Kokichi, a small smirk, he continued, “And considering you have a little doll version of me that you asked to stay in the ‘safer’ parts of your mind? Somehow I think that matters to you. Among other reasons.”

Kokichi looked up at Kaito fondly, running his thumb over the rest of Kaito’s fingers when his husband brought his hand up. It was all stuff he’d heard before, yeah, reasons beyond just that their team had promised not to experiment without the others that kept him from at least trying to theorize at night. 

But…it was still good to hear every now and then. Really remind himself that he wasn’t just…leaving people in the lurch, not doing enough. 

Kokichi was doing plenty, and many important things. As much as he always wanted to rush ahead, they had time to do things right. 

“Of course it matters to me,” Kokichi said softly, pulling Kaito’s hand now to kiss his wrist. “I promised to be there for all of you, not just for my own benefit and not missing out on things, but…I love you guys. I want to make sure you’re flourishing too.”

Sighing, Kokichi rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been…an ongoing process, with Chibi Kai-chan. I mean, he’s based off you, so…” Kokichi shrugged. “He’s just not made to be a defense, though, despite how much he’s grown, and…I don’t want him to get hurt. That’d just be me getting hurt, I know, unless I got rid of him, but… He’s helpful. I don’t wanna do that.”

Snorting, Kokichi looked back up at Kaito. “We’re talking so much about him… I can call him, if you guys wanna meet for sure.”

Kaito chuckled, “Again, I think it’s fucking cute, that you made a little doll version of me that you get protective over. I don’t care what anyone else says about it, I just think it’s swee– GAH!”

v(｀皿´)ﾉ~!!!

Chibi Kaito, who had been watching them from the stands covering and tent tops, hearing Big Kokichi say he was going to summon him, realized his opportunity was quickly closing for a good surprise attack… and so, with a shout! He leapt off the nearest rooftop, a long, sustained bell noise ringing through the air as he flew down with a little sword in his hand!!!

Which he proceeded to immediately accidentally drop as he had to use both his hands to grasp onto Kaito’s hair, lest he bounce off the top of Big Kaito’s head and fling off into a wall. 

“🎵🎶♮!!”

“Holy FUCK what is on my head!?”

Kokichi sighed. That was one benefit, he supposed, of having Kaito be so much taller than him--he was already looking up, so aerial attacks weren’t so surprising. 

“I did tell you he gets rowdy with guests… Chibi Kai-chan, were you following us the whole time? You could’ve just come to say hello, you know.” Kokichi knew he knew…and knew that Chibi Kaito didn’t just want to say hello, he wanted a fun, bombastic opening! 

Falling onto Kaito’s head with a clamor certainly was memorable, if nothing else. 

Letting go of Kaito’s hand, Kokichi held his hands up to carefully extract Chibi Kaito and bring him down to a more seeable level. 

((ヾ(≧皿≦；)ノ＿))

o(o･`з･´o)ﾉ

ヾ（＠＾▽＾＠）ノ

Kaito watched, bewildered, as a… well, as he remembered the small doll version of him to be, though this time looking more ‘real’ as it, or, ‘he’, nuzzled up into Kokichi’s hold, wiggling excitedly in Kokichi’s hands as it made small, adoring bell sounds… Kaito’s brows furrowing ever so slightly as Chibi Kaito started to lay little kisses on any part of Kokichi it, or, he, could get close enough too. Which, arguably, was innocent enough, it was just a little Kaito, after all, and Kaito liked kisses…

…but then the little thing had the audacity to peek behind him, making certain Kaito was looking, before placing another big smacking kiss on Kokichi. 

…huh.

“So.” Kaito said, peering down at him, “This is the runt, huh?”

(✿╹◡╹)

Bringing Chibi Kaito down to chest height--for him, anyway--Kokichi smiled fondly at the shower of kisses, returning a big one to Chibi Kaito’s head before letting his arms form a little seat for his construct. “Yupp! Kai-chan, meet Chibi Kai-chan; Chibi Kai-chan, meet Kai-chan. Chibi Kai-chan is my memory construct--he can seek out any knowledge or memory that I have and…I guess bring it to the forefront of my mind. He’s also been organizing them a bit but…I really don’t think I’m any less scatterbrained than usual,” Kokichi giggled. 

Before that giggle turned quite dry, if still amused as he peered between his husband and construct. “...and don’t you go picking up a rivalry with the literal person you’re based on. And Kai-chan…he’s basically a daydream I constantly have of you.”

“Who’s a rival? I have no rivals for your love.” Kaito said, his voice purposefully idle.

(＊◕ᴗ◕＊) “♪♫?”

“Well, okay, Shuichi’s less of a ‘rival’ and more of, like, a tag-team partner.” 

(๑✧◡✧๑) “♩.”

“Dude, don’t be weird about my fiance.” Kaito said, giving the chibi a dry look, who looked back at him, the picture of innocence. 

Kokichi nodded sagely with all the calm acceptance in the world. “You and Shuu-chan are the sole keepers of my heart. I have other love for family and friends and aesthetics and humanity, but when it comes to romantic love, it’s you and him and that’s it.”

“And you~” Kokichi hummed, bringing Chibi Kaito up to smooch his squishy doll cheek, “Are me, painted to look like him. I know you like to play around, which is fun, but still… Be cool.”

( •_•)>⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

(*▼▽▼*)

Kaito raised an eyebrow at the sudden, spontaneous sunglasses… before snorting a little. Reaching over and fixing the left side bangs over the glasses a bit, as he teased, “Still cute. A little weird, admittedly, but no more weird than my legion of Kokichi daydreams. Actually, that’s a good way to differentiate… do you know, little Kaito, what the hierarchy order of a typical Kokichi nest is? Not a whole clan, just the nest?”

(・_・ヾ??

Kaito nodded, patting his little form on the head, “Yep. Exactly. You’re a good looking impression, but you’re not a true-blue freaky Kaito Momota. Probably wouldn’t even know how to talk to Tyrant Kokichi. It’s more nuanced than you’d think, he doesn’t just want you to agree with him. Poor daydream Kaito would have no idea what to do with daydream Kokichi’s.”

Kokichi snorted softly, though…he was happy that Kaito didn’t find Chibi Kaito too offputting. It was what Kaito kept saying, but there was a difference between thinking about something conceptually and facing it in front of yourself. Technically Chibi Kaito was still just a concept, but…such things got complicated when it came to Empaths. 

“I can’t believe you gave daydream mes’ a hierarchy. Well, at least they’re happy in the daydream.” Shaking his head a bit, Kokichi pressed to Kaito’s side. “Well, do you wanna keep looking around the circus more, or head inside? I’ll warn ya now…a lot of the time in my head I just hang out in our room. But we really could go anywhere I could think up.”

At that, Kaito’s smile grew a little… lecherous, his ears turning red, as he said softly, “Oh, allll my daydream ‘Kichi’s are… very happy. Yes. That’s a rule. Many, many happy ‘Kichi’s.”

( ب_ب ) Yeah, Chibi Kaito knew a pervy thought when he heard it. 

But Kaito chuckled, shaking it off as he looked to his husband now, humming a bit as he looked around. “I really do like this circus, you’re right, I could see myself finding it easy to get lost looking around here… but!”

Giving Kokichi an excited look, he said, “We have your little memory construct right here anyway. Why not put him to work! I’d love to see memories you’d want to share, babe. Like, I know most of them would just be memories of the castle, but… I don’t know! It’s you!” Kaito said, wrapping his arms around Kokichi’s thin hips and pulling him close, beaming down at him, “I’m always happy to get to know you a little better, ya know? I mean…” Now his grin was a little more shaky, his confidence bleeding out a little as he amended, “If you’d be up to showing me anything. I realize maybe that’s a little… I’m not demanding to see memories, is what I’m saying. I’m not entitled to them or anything.”

Kokichi’s expression softened into an adoring look and he pressed against Kaito. “You’re not entitled…but I want to share everything with you. My life, my future, my thoughts…and my memories too. Mostly I’m just a little worried about boring you…but I’m sure we can find something fun to explore together.”

The question was just what that would be. 

Thinking for a moment, Kokichi looked down at Chibi Kaito. “Hmm…it is the season. Could you find a foothold memory from Harvest the year I was seven? Oh! Or, actually, the candy parade from that year. I think that could be fun…” Looking between the two forms of his husband, Kokichi shrugged a little. “I could bring up the memory myself, but…it’ll be easier to get a clearer picture of it if Chibi Kai-chan finds a specific memory I can…like, extrapolate the whole event from.”

“But! We gotta go into my mind proper for that,” Kokichi nodded. “Kai-chan, could you open the tent flap to your left, please?”

Chibi Kaito gave a small, happy little bell-chirp, before bouncing out of Kokichi’s arms. Scurrying with his tiny legs over to the tent, and only struggling a little bit, scurrying under its ends, searching for something behind it. And with a pull of rope, the flap opened. 

Kaito, following Kokichi, headed inside… and again, he found himself looking up, a little amazing. The inside of the tent awe inspiring, as Kaito gawked at it while Kokichi led him by the hand. The tent ceiling seemed to reach up and up and up, impossibly high, as circus performers flew through the air and walked across tightropes, while a cheering audience rang around them. At the base, a clear parade of clowns was dancing and spinning and rolling around, while up and down the stairs the lifesized dolls sold cotton candy and peanuts to each other. Music filled the air, as Kokichi brought him to a ticket booth, motioning for him to sign in. Kaito supposed this was just part of the lobby process, as he signed his name into the book, ignoring the unnerving gaze of the blank-faced ticket salesman… and when Kaito blinked, it was all gone. The circus vanished, the music and noise of the crowd gone, and instead they were in their room.

The sun was setting, filling their room with warm, orange tones, the air chilly and crisp, summer edging into winter. Kaito found himself immediately looking to the crib on instinct, but there was no sign of life beyond himself and Kokichi. Still, the room felt comfortable and lived in, incredibly familiar… even more so than it would be to Kaito in real life. A year in this room for him, but a literal lifetime for Kokichi, who had never known a different home. Every little detail of the space seeming more vibrant, easier to catch, for Kaito in here. Up to and including the small, faded constellations, painted into the walls.

“Hmm.” Kaito hummed, looking up at them, “Your mom had a real thing for circumbinary solar systems, huh?”

Partially through intention, and partially just as a consequence of his daydreams, Kokichi’s circus was made to be hours of entertainment for any guest. Maybe that was a little superfluous, considering most people who came by either bypassed the lobby entirely, or were admitted in just a few minutes, but Kokichi loved his circus regardless. Even if there were secrets in it only he would ever know. 

Perhaps in an amusing inverse, while Kokichi had spent countless hours in his room, he didn’t really consider it an entertaining place for other guests. And yet, Kaito seemed just as interested. 

Blinking a few times at the unfamiliar word, Kokichi mouthed it to himself a few times before lighting up. “Oh! That…that’s a solar system with two suns?” Stepping back to flop on their bed, Kokichi looked up to squint at the faded paint. “...maybe. That’s not something anyone’s ever mentioned about her… But maybe that was just…something fun to have in paintings, you know? Two suns seems like such a fantastical, whimsical thing to include but it still is a real thing.”

Kokichi smiled softly…wistfully. “I wonder if she came up with…whole ideas about how the systems worked with each other, or what planets there were like. I know those would be things I’d think about, if I was planning a project like this.”

“I mean, there’s not a ton of them that we have mapped out, so the fact that it keeps coming up so prominently in her work suggests she liked them. See, look there,” Kaito said, pointing to the two star system drawn intricately over the bed, before tracing it over towards the window as he continued, “It’s maybe only roughly two-hundred lightyears away, or… “ Kaito squinted at the distance, eyeballing it, “Two-fifty? So it’s not crazy, at the scope she’s using, for it to show up at all. But the fact that she put it there? That would put us all the way over here, by the window. Which, maybe she did on purpose, maybe she liked the idea of our solar system being near the open window? But it gives me the vibe that she wanted to put the dual-star system on display, really.”

Looking around, Kaito grinned, as he said, “Oh, look at that one! That’s one of my favorites, it’s where we found the Zenith planet. Oh, that reminds me… babe, it’s interesting that you all have a holiday named ‘Zenith’. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to ask why it was named that way. We named this planet… well, I keep saying ‘we’, Kaito said sheepishly, shrugging, “My school’s astronomy students named this place Zenith because it’s location is directly above the tipping point of the north poles equator, right? So it’s always just directly above us, as far as the gravitational pull of the planet is concerned… I’m just curious if your word for ‘Zenith’ is different then Luminaries.” 

Just like when Kaito had pointed out the exact system in Dr. Miyako Ouma’s portrait, Kokichi looked up, astonished. A warmth filling his chest and cradling his head as, a little more, his mother became more of a real person to him. He had known that his parents had personally decorated his room, and so the stars that had kept him company in the dark would’ve been accurate to the ones outside his window. But it had never really occurred to him what the placement of all of them meant. That it wasn’t just an arbitrary arrangement, but…that their star was there too, and that the place right above his bed--which hadn’t changed since he was a child--had been hand picked too. 

Maybe with something that his mother wanted to watch over her child. That she wanted him to have as a curiosity too. 

Faded as it was these days, for a moment the room darkened and the painted stars glowed brightly--as much as the soft glow of them had ever. The lines and dots crisp and comforting. Kokichi let out a breathy little chuckle, his eyes wet before he wiped them. 

He gave Kaito a semi-surprised look at the next fun fact he shared, before laughing a little louder. “Really? I thought it was after one of your saints, like the other planet your university discovered.”

Giving Kaito a half-apologetic look, he explained, “...the night we kicked Tengan’s ass, before all that you took me to your university. Showed me the planets… We did talk a little about how funny it is, that you named a planet Zenith and we have a holiday. I’m pretty sure that the holiday is named that because it’s on the longest day of the year so…the sun has the highest zenith that day, right? So…same meaning, I think.”

“Oh, huh.” Kaito said, giving Kokichi a curious look… before a sudden memory stood out to him, as his brow furrowed a little bit. “Hey, ‘Kichi? I kinda had, like… a weird sort of panic attack that da–”

Chibi Kaito, with a triumphant squeal, flew in through the window on a string of rope, flipped at he let go of it, tucked into a roll as he hit the ground, and rolling over to the bed, bounced up and, with a triumphant bell sound, presented to Kokichi a small candy wrapped like a scary pumpkin head. Not just finding the right day, but a specific memory of that day that Kokichi, subconsciously, thought it’d be nice to show Kaito. “♩♪♪!!”

Kaito blinked… before with a chuckle, clapped, “Ey, way to go, little man! Nice hustle!”

Chibi Kaito humbly bowed. 

Kokichi’s expression softened into a concerned frown the moment Kaito mentioned a panic attack, but before his husband could even finish the sentence Chibi Kaito came bursting in, demonstrating one of his classic dramatic entrances. With a giggle, he joined in with Kaito’s applause, pausing only to affectionately ruffle Chibi Kaito’s hair. Though, with the creature, it was less ruffling, and more just giving him a head rub, as his ever-present spikes never split or sagged (barring emotional causes). 

“Aw, thank you; you found this in a flash! I think you might have fun in this memory too, so you’re welcome to come with us if you’d like!”

…but first…

Kokichi turned back to Kaito with that same concern. “...I am excited to have fun with you…but I don’t want to brush you off. What were you saying?”

Chibi Kaito swayed happily with pets– and again, the little punk couldn’t help but peek up smugly at Big Kaito, who just raised an eyebrow in turn– before enthusiastically nodding at Big Kokichi. Hopping off the bed and heading towards the closet in his little scurrying run, going to, Kaito assumed, get changed into something appropriate. Cute… Kaito smirked at Kokichi’s idea of an adorable tiny version of him, before returning his attention to Kokichi.

Chuckling sheepishly, Kaito rubbed the back of his neck as he shrugged a little. “I don’t know… I didn’t realize what day we were talking about, when you knocked Tengan out of my head, until you mentioned that you did the sexy throne room daydream with me that day and I realized, oh.” Kaito said, waving his hand vaguely in the air, “That day. Right, migraine day. I mean, it looked a lot worse than a migraine, but…”

Kaito sighed, shaking his head as he tried to dismiss the stress of that day away. Kokichi gushing blood in his sleep, just freaking… dying. Next to a peacefully sleeping Shuichi. Horrifying. “...it’s stupid. It’s probably just Tengan shit, thinking back to it, but I had to leave the room that day, before your nosebleed started? Because I was having this, like, panic attack. At the idea of, like…”

Kaito looked around the room. The distant mountains that sometimes still caught Kaito off guard, on a clear day, past what felt like an impossible large landscape of trees and flora. The view always very Dicean. “...It’s stupid.” He said again, “But I got, like, painfully embarrassed at this idea that I’d show you around Luminary and you’d… like it. That, followed up with pretending like I was a king and you were, just…” Kaito rolled his eyes at himself. Even knowing that daydream had been forced upon him, still mocking himself for the ludicrous fantasy, “...like, ‘happy’ to be my consort. I was really enjoying it, and then all of the sudden I felt like I was going crazy. Just realizing how delusional it all really was… I don’t know why I’m bringing it up. I felt like an asshole, leaving your side to go pray over my stupid, like, fuck, I don’t know… inferiority complex or whatever stupid shit you could call it. I don’t know…”

Kaito rubbed at his temples, murmuring to himself he didn’t know again… before rolling his eyes at himself. “I didn’t know you were dying, so I know I shouldn’t feel guilty for going to pray, but you were dying, and I am. And I don’t know how much of that was me and how much was whatever was happening my head. I don’t know. I don’t know if it matters. I’m just thinking about it, is all.”

Kokichi had been so worried for Kaito, that night. He had gotten the best help and every advantage he could possibly think of, and still…he had been so worried about Kaito getting caught in the crossfire. Because…well, it was just like their conversation they had on their Shuuichi anniversary date. Tengan didn’t care about Kaito getting hurt; in fact he would use it as a bargaining piece against Kokichi. Kokichi was trying desperately to keep Kaito safe, and Tengan just had to win once…

He’d known that it…it hadn’t been good for Kaito, once the bastard showed up and activated his conditioning. But hearing that it had pushed Kaito into a panic attack so bad he had to leave the room…

Kokichi reached over and gathered Kaito’s hands from his head, gently kissing his fingers before speaking softly. “...I did like it. I loved walking around Luminary with you, seeing it the way you do. It was roleplaying to me, but…I liked seeing you as a king. Supporting you to be one. Before Tengan butt in, everything I did… I wasn’t giving you anything new, in my eyes. Just…accentuating the things about yourself that I already saw there. Letting you use them as tools, instead of being stomped down.”

“...I wasn’t the one who did it, not directly, but…I’m sorry about your panic attack. It wasn’t my intention to put you in the line of fire like that.”

Kaito smiled lightly at the kisses, but… tools? He wasn’t sure what Kokichi meant. Saint Madison and the dogs and vines, he supposed. Running his thumb along the side of Kokichi’s grip, Kaito shrugged again. Before confessing, “I think a part of me is trying to dissect myself. I don’t really know if that’s helpful, honestly. I think I told you once, that I’ve decided that unless proven otherwise, my actions are my own? I still think that’s important, because I think…” Kaito peered up at the ceiling, blowing a small puff of air out, “I think I could drive myself crazy, looking at all the shit and thinking ‘was that me, or was that someone else’. Did I freak out at the idea of me, like, daydreaming that you’d actually like my home because of conditioning? Because Tengan was there in that moment? Because that’s how I actually feel about it? If I do feel that way about it, are those emotions strictly mine, or do they come from muscle memories of lives I don’t remember living? What’s the real Kaito? Is there a real Kaito? Or am I just the thing leftover after everyone else was done?”

Kaito squeezed Kokichi’s hands lightly, still staring at the ceiling… before he huffed. Looking down at Kokichi and saying, “It kinda doesn’t matter, right? Regardless of the reasons I am the way I am, I’m still me. There’s no getting around that. Trying to figure out who gave me which parts of me is just… asking to go crazy. I think I already get that. It’s just still hard not to wonder sometimes. That’s all. That’s the only reason I bring it up. I don’t know why it bothered me so much, to pretend you might enjoy Luminary if you visited, and might be happy if I had been king. I was just wondering if Tengan made me have that panic attack, or if it was just me?”

Smiling at Kokichi, Kaito reached down to give him a small kiss, as he said, “And it’s okay if the answer is ‘you don’t know’. You don’t have to know. It’s not even really all that important.”

Kokichi had a feeling that, generally, people weren’t really supposed to find this kind of stuff out about themselves. Sure, their family were special cases, but for everyone, finding out that you were accumulated dust of people passed? Or even thinking about it more scientifically, learning that your body was accumulated dust of everything in the universe, that you were just a series of chemicals and electrical impulses, that you were just a bunch of atoms hanging out, electrons occasionally passing by in the vast yet tiny spaces between…

It did help teach you about the universe, but at the end of the day when it came to your own identity…none of that was helpful. You were you, regardless of what made up “you”. Kokichi was Kokichi, and Kaito was Kaito. It wasn’t their pasts or lingering bits of other people that were taking steps into the future; it was them. Their lives to do as they wished. 

But…sometimes the existential thoughts came and…some context helped. 

Kokichi leaned forward to immediately follow up Kaito’s kiss with another before giving his husband a soft look. “You did seem a little embarrassed with the king stuff. I was encouraging you a little more than the tour of Luminary. But you seemed comfortable and excited…” Kokichi sighed, “Until Tengan decided enough was enough, and triggered your conditioning, and dissipated your daydream into your subconsciousness. There might’ve been things that made you a little uncomfortable that was just you…but with how you’re talking about the timing of things, it really seems like it was Tengan triggering your conditioning that gave you that panic.”

Kaito listened quietly to Kokichi, his eyes glazing a little as he got lost in his own head, however far away that might be from him right now… before he let out a little sigh. Nodding as he said, “Good? Good… maybe. I’d…” Kaito grinned a little uneasily, “I’d like to think I’m not so pathetic that just entirely on my own, I’d have a panic attack over feeling embarrassed over my daydreams. I was ready to accept it if that was the case but… I feel less stupid. I don’t mind being embarrassed. I do mind losing my senses because of it.”

“Thank you, beautiful.” Kaito said, pressing his forehead against his husbands. “Thank you for looking after me.”

Then, bursting out of the door, Chibi Kaito gave a loud growl, leaping out and raising his little claws up… before making a little bell sound that sounded like an ‘awooo!’, he ran around dressed in a wolf cloak, like a costume for harvest, before grinning wide and posing. Proud of his wolf costume. 

Kaito frowned, slightly, at the little doll… before he sighed. Kneeling down and putting up his hand. “Hey, nice outfit. High five, little wolf-man?”

ヾ(≧∪≦*)ノ〃

“I try my best,” Kokichi murmured, closing his eyes for a moment as he enjoyed having Kaito so close. It was really true, what he had thought about freeing Kaito of Tengan’s influence, and ridding his friends of their conditioning. He just wanted to give them their choices back. They weren’t unreasonable or broken people, just…ones that had been limited. 

Kokichi looked over as the closet door opened, giggling softly at the costume Chibi Kaito had decided to don, as well as how he decided to show it off. And, of course, how the two versions of his husband were getting along. 

Getting up from the bed, Kokichi held up the piece of candy, smiling nostalgically at the pumpkin-themed wrapper. “Alright! Well, I promised a fun memory, didn’t I?”

For effect, mostly, Kokichi unwrapped the candy, and as he did so their bedroom melted away, turning into the main plaza outside the castle on a fall day. Not just any fall day, though. Little clear globes with tea candles insides were strung up between lampposts, which had coiling branches of bright autumn leaves climbing them. Pumpkins, carved and not, covered every flat surface that wasn’t in a walkway, while cotton-y fake cobwebs and floppy bats and tiny ball-like ghosts were strewn about everywhere someone could place something up high. 

Usott decorated for Harvest, distinct from the year they had experienced together, but in-keeping with the same vibe. And right in the center was a tiny, familiar round cheeked face, looking around in awe, one hand in his dad’s, and the other in a cast and sling.

Kaito startled a little, but… it was odd. How natural it felt, for the world to change suddenly around him. Kaito looked mostly just curious, as Chibi Kaito gave a joyous little burst, running around Kaito and Kokichi’s feet as he looked around at the display like half of it’s clear formation wasn’t his own doing. Kaito found himself smiling, getting increasingly excited as he saw somewhat familiar streets, but decorated and made festive and new.

And his eyes lit up, as after a moment he recognized that sweet little face. Love and affection erupting in his chest, as Kaito made a small little noise of awe. Oh… his little husband…

Kaito found himself moving towards the young memory, just staring in awe. His eyes searching Kokichi’s face, memorizing every little piece of him… before he frowned at the cast. “Aw, little love… what happened, ‘Kichi?” Kaito asked, looking to his husband. Knowing this was many years ago, but still asking, “Are you okay?”

Kokichi kept his laughs quiet, but how his shoulders were bouncing didn’t exactly mean he was subtle. He knew just about any non-traumatic memory from his childhood would get this kind of reaction from Kaito, but…this was a sweet one. It wasn’t Harvest itself, so Kokichi wasn’t wearing any regalia--rather, it was one of the events preceding the festival. The candy parade. It didn’t happen every year, but it was an event predominantly for children to dress up and gather in the plaza, watching as people in all sorts of costumes from ghouls to a five-person dragon would put on spooky plays and interact with the kids, while children could collect sweet treats or simple toys. 

Seven-year-old Kokichi wasn’t wearing much of a costume, but he still had pierro-esque face paint on, while his outfit was littered with polka dots. Even to the point it looked like he had painted his cast too, for as much as it could be seen from the sling. 

Older Kokichi could only laugh a bit, giving Kaito a nod. “Remember when I told you how I broke my arm sliding down the banisters once? This is from that. By now…it was alright, I think, but I still had to be careful with it. Not like I was gonna do much running around here anyway.”

“Ooooooh, looook at youuuuu.” Kaito whispered, starting to follow young Kokichi and younger Ikuo, before pausing and reaching back for Kokichi, wordlessly demanding his hand, “Come on, come on babe, we gotta keep up. Oh, wow, there’s lots of kids here.” Kaito realized, looking around warmly. “Is this happening this year? Oh, oh! We could have Tim and the Girls, bring Miyako, maybe Addason if Temp is up to it, oh! The siblings! Awwww, I wonder if we can convince them this is safe? Oh, they’d have so much fun…”

Kaito looked around, partly imagining all the kids he knew and cared about running around in little costumes and excitedly collecting candy and comparing their hauls with each other. But his imagination couldn’t get too carried away from him, because little ‘Kichi was about to go up to one of the, uh… candy people? Kaito supposed? Oh! Could he be a candy person this year!? He could give out candy! 

“Shh, shh, shh, ‘Kichi, ‘Kichi watch! I think you’re about to get candy!” Kaito whispered to his husband, looking fascinated.

Kokichi graciously acquiesced, squeezing Kaito’s hand softly as they followed his memory around the plaza. “It’s happening this year, yeah. If the kids didn’t bring it up first, I was gonna talk to you guys about it when it was closer to Harvest. It’s…kind of like a mini, kid-focused festival before the festival, right?”

“This was my second Candy Parade, actually,” he explained as they walked. “The first time I was five, and I got too scared of some of the costumes to go around much. But someone in a unicorn costume kept sneaking treats over to me, so I wouldn’t be left out.” It had been very kind, as Kokichi was sure Ikuo had been debating the whole time whether they should just leave. 

Grinning at Kaito’s excitement, Kokichi leaned against him as the little Kokichi approached a woman dressed like a haughty, tawny cat, covered in fancy jewels that she pretended to ogle while his younger-self parted from Ikuo, exchanging his hand for the small pail that Ikuo had been carrying in his free hand. Going up to the cat woman with wide, hopeful eyes, kid Kokichi chirped, “Trick or Treat!”

In slow, graceful movements, the fancy cat, looked down, reacting with prideful surprise and putting a clawed, be-ringed hand to their cheek. “My, what have we here? I haven’t heard the ancient code in centuries… Hm, but my treasures aren’t given up so lightly… What do you say, little clown? Can you prove yourself worthy of the treasure of the sphinx?”

Little Kokichi nodded eagerly, an excited smile breaking out on his face. “Yes! Uncle says I’m a prickly savage--I’m really smart!”

To the sphinx’s credit, she only blinked before nodding with gravitas. “Very well.”

“I’m quite a fan of sapphires,” she made a beautiful gesture with her right paw, showing off a blue gem, “But rubies too,” and a matching gesture to a red gem on her left. “What could be better, then, than them both combined? What sort of color would that be?”

Little Kokichi only looked over the rings for a moment before bouncing excitedly on his feet. “Amethyst! A purple gem!”

“Ooohohoho!” The sphinx laughed, putting one paw to her face. “A double answer--your confidence was earned! Good job! You may partake in the sphinx’s treasure, worthy explorer!” With a sweeter smile than the act, the woman offered a few wrapped candies to little Kokichi, dropping them carefully into his bucket when he held it up and offering him a soft, “Happy Harvest!” before the boy scuttled back to his dad, holding up the fuller pail with pride. 

(♡´艸`) Chibi Kaito swayed happily, watching young Kokichi solve the riddle… and above him ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇ‸இﾟ+)ﾟ｡ Big Kaito had big, runny eyes, as Big Kaito grinned wide. 

“Oooooh, good job baby Kokichi! Look at my smart little baby husband, solving riddles and being a-amazing!” Kaito coo’d, tugging on Kokichi’s arm urgently as he pointed at his little self, small Kokichi beaming with pride as Ikuo gave his son little words of affectionate congratulations. “Look, he’s so smart! You’re so smart, little ‘Kichi!” Kaito called out. “I’m so proud of you! Your future husband loves you so much!”

Sniffling in pride, Kaito turned his watery gaze to Kokichi, before pulling him into a hug, “You were soooo cuuuuute and smaaaaaall and smaaaaaart I loooooove youuuuuuu~”

Kokichi could only laugh more as Kaito cheered his memory on, letting himself be scooped up into the big hug. “Niihii! I-I had a feeling you’d like this one, hun. I love you too.”

“I’m not sure how much ‘what does blue and red make’ is a riddle…but it is a good question for a seven-year-old,” Kokichi snickered, rubbing Kaito’s back. “I’m always impressed with how the volunteers make it fun for kids, more than just walking around and getting sweets. I remember someone some year dressing as a “necrodancer”, and had kids follow dance moves to earn their treats. It’s all really creative.”

Kaito narrowed his eyes. “I am going to be the best candy guy… shit, I gotta think of a theme. Gotta buy candy… I will be prepared. I will–”

Kaito blinked. A distinct mixture of sunset colors, Kaito peering at the kid in the little fairy costume. He couldn’t remember the guys name for the life of him, but… well, he didn’t know how old the guy was, but it wasn’t impossible… “Hey, babe.” Kaito said, poking his husband before nodding to the little sunset haired fairy boy, who seemed to be nervously hovering in a circle around little Kokichi and Ikuo. Nervously stepping a little closer, then apparently changing his mind and walking away, then steeling his courage and walking towards Kokichi… then getting nervous and standing still, adjusting his weight foot to foot, clutching at his candy bag. 

It looked so much like…

Kaitos eyes widened, a wide grin splitting his face, as he said, “Oh my god, ‘Kichi! Weird receptionist guy is about to confess to you!! Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Kokichi didn’t doubt it. Kaito was fantastic with kids, and…really, the only reason Kokichi could think of why Kaito wouldn’t want to volunteer for the parade would be if he was taking his own kids. Otherwise? Kids would be clamoring to see what was up with the…whatever costume Kaito would decide on. 

Nuzzling Kaito proudly, Kokichi took a few moments to follow Kaito’s gaze when he spoke up, blinking a few times in surprise before letting out a small, “Huh…”

“Oh… That looks a lot like Blair, doesn’t it?” And not just in coloring, for how distinctive it was. Kokichi watched for a moment as the young boy kept flitting in and out around his younger self…and after that moment he gave Kaito a sheepish smile. “Well, I didn’t tell you ‘cause this is the first time I’m noticing him. Meeting him at Dr. Mariah’s office really was the first time we’d met…”

“...I wish he had said hello,” Kokichi said softly, watching Blair stalk off again, red coloring his face. 

“Oh noooo, baby receptionist, come back! Baby Kokichi is super available! He’s so smart and cute and he’s really nice when you get past the first impression!” Kaito called to the baby receptionist, “Blair! Shoot your shot, it would have been so cute! Aww… aw, shoot, what a waste.” Kaito sighed, seeing the little kid lose his nerve and run off. Something the receptionist had clearly not grown out of. Poor guy. “I should get him a drink. I’m sure he doesn’t still have a crush, he’s probably just embarrassed by memories like these. Aw, sweet little thing.”

Considering how few people had ever approached Kokichi as a kid… Even if Kokichi hadn’t returned the feelings, he would’ve been over the moon to have the chance to make a new friend. One that wasn’t put off by his conditions, or his status. 

Well…what could’ve been. 

Snorting softly, though not derisive, Kokichi looked up with a raised eyebrow. “I mean… Dr. Mariah said he did still have a crush on me, and that’s why he’s been avoiding us. I really didn’t know it was such a long-time thing, though.”

“...also, I wasn’t available; I was seven,” Kokichi nudged Kaito’s side.

Kaito’s brows furrowed, “Still? Even more reason to take him under my wing. Dude needs to get laid, sheesh man, plenty of fish.”

Snorting at Kokichi’s nudge, Kaito smirked at his husband, “The most available age to be. You two would have loved spending time together and being little brats together, and that’s as much dating as kids that age do. Little baby besties~ You don’t already have a baby bestie? You were available, babe, sorry to tell ya.”

“I mean…available to have a friend? I’m still available for that, even if I don’t feel lacking there anymore,” Kokichi chuckled. “But I wasn’t thinking about romance at all at this age. I was more concerned with trying to get my uncle to follow my lesson plan, and trying to learn to juggle on my own so I could impress Ikuo. And, yanno, sliding down the stairs and breaking all my bones.”

Kaito couldn’t help but frown a little, giving Kokichi a slightly confused look… before the frown deepened. Pulling away a little from Kokichi, as he seemed to debate with himself what he felt like saying, “...I don’t mean like…” Kaito licked his lips a little, clearly arguing with himself, before he couldn’t help but shoot Kokichi a slightly frustrated look, “...I didn’t mean, like, sexually. What, I mean… what’d you think I was doing at that age? Just fucking… what?”

Kokichi frowned, eyes searching Kaito in confusion before they widened. “Oh! Oh, no, hun, I didn’t mean… No, I wasn’t trying to say that’s what I thought you were saying. I’m sorry.”

“I just…” He sighed, giving Kaito a plaintive look. “...well, I guess it’d just be smarter to ask, huh? What…do you mean by calling it dating, then? ‘Cause…when people use that kind of romantic language to describe what kids are doing, I take it as…romantic, you know? Kids daydreaming about getting married, or spending the rest of their lives with a dear friend.”

Kaito sighed, rubbing and popping his knuckles a bit. He had known Kokichi hadn’t meant it sexually, he just… was feeling defensive. Distinctly aware that his childhood relationship with sex had been unusual. Afraid that Kokichi might see that aspect of Kaito’s childhood as all consuming.

It hadn’t been. He hadn’t tried anything till he was eleven. Th-that… it hadn’t been his whole childhood.

But that wasn’t what his husband was assuming, and Kaito let out a little steadying breath. “Sorry. I don’t know, I just always called getting to know, like, really close friends ‘dating’. Like, as a cutesy tongue in cheek sort of thing. It’s just meant to be cute, not, like, sexual… or marriage, or whatever. Like, you were seven, obviously that’s not what the seven year olds are thinking about.” Kaito muttered. Still massaging his knuckles… before he looked curious at his hands, “Why does that still work, when I’m a dream person? It’s still so soothing to crack them. You’d think some of the physicality of it would be lost.”

“...sorry.” Kaito said again, giving Kokichi a slightly embarrassed look, “...I took that too personally. I just hate the idea that people might think that I didn’t do normal kid things, you know? I had crushes on Maki and Shuichi and tons of people, but I didn’t want to sleep with them. I… didn’t try that on anyone but B-byakuya. And, like… th-that was mostly just me trying to h-help, ya know?” Kaito said, the stutter coming from the old fear of mentioning it with any sort of casualness. A part of him still seeing it as an important secret he was keeping. “I didn’t… just want it. All the time. Or anything.”

Kokichi nodded, taking up Kaito’s hands again. “I know. You were just a normal kid, with a few extenuating circumstances but…yanno. It does sound like you started having crushes sooner than I did, but honestly I think most people did,” he shrugged, “And you’re not even close to an outlier by being, like, 12 and thinking the world of someone.”

“Thank you for talking this out with me,” Kokichi smiled softly, squeezing Kaito’s hand. “And…now I understand what you mean. I didn’t mean to hypersexualize your childhood, and I’m glad you called me out. I don’t want you to just…sit with something like that, you know? Even if it wasn’t what I meant to say.”

Giving Kaito a semi-sheepish look, Kokichi gently nudged Kaito, aiming for them to walk around his memory of the parade a little more. “I think I might have my own sexual and romantic hang-ups when it comes to childhood too. Thank you for clarifying for me.”

Kaito felt the tension in his chest relax, reaching for Kokichi’s hand again as his husband guided them back into the walk. Excited kids racing to and from around them, trying to hit all the candy stations they could in what must have seemed like an impossible time limit of ‘however long their parents could stand being out that night’. And Kaito admittedly felt better, to have talked to Kokichi about that. Even if he had known that Kokichi wouldn’t do something like that to him on purpose… it was something that followed him. A weight in his mind that for the most part he had always just had to sit in. 

Like he and Shuichi had discussed… it was nice to talk about it. 

Still, Kaito’s eyes widened in sudden concern. Looking down at his husband as he asked gently, “...you do?”

Kokichi nodded, resting his head on Kaito’s arm. Biting back the impulse to first reassure him that nothing had happened…because that’s what Kaito had said about his own situation, and…that just wasn’t helpful. So…it would be best to just explain his feelings. Start from the ground up rather than to try and squish his life into a pre-cut label. 

“I mean…just now. Feeling uncomfortable hearing someone describe me as a child as available, even if, even before hearing what you meant, I know you’d never imply anything sexually. And…” Kokichi trailed off on the thought before humming softly. “Like how uncomfortable I am considering that anyone but you or Shuu-chan sees me as a sexual being. And half the time it doesn’t even occur to me that you guys do.”

“It’s like…I have to consciously flip a switch, to remember that sex and sexual attraction even exist in the world,” Kokichi said softly, eyes tracing the dusky sky. “And when the switch is off, which is my default, it’s…jarring, to be reminded. Especially when talking about the times when that switch didn’t even exist because it was always off for me, along with the romance one.”

Kokichi looked over at Kaito with a small smile. “...thinking about it like that, I’m pretty sure that’s not how most people think about attraction.”

Kaito felt the concern ease out of him, not about to find out that some shitty doctor or some shitty assassin or some shitty whatever had done something horrible to his husband. Good. Tiny baby Kokichi was a treasure and the only thing that made Kaito feel any better about knowing how sad the precious child would grow up to be someday, is also know what a stupendous, wonderful, happy adult he could be too. The person walking alongside him living proof that for baby Kokichi, everything had eventually turned out okay.

Good.

Still, what Kokichi was talking about… Kaito chuckled a little. Not trying to tease or dismiss it, but just admitting, “I am down for hearing all about this, babe, but this is one I don’t think I’ll ever understand. I mean, my childhood wasn’t about sex.” Kaito stressed again, “...but I don’t remember having a ‘sexual awakening’. It was just always ‘on’, I guess. Turning it off’s a challenge, if we’re using that metaphor.”

“For instance, my first instinct, hearing you don’t think of yourself as a sexual being? Is to immediately want to remind you how sexy I think you are… but that’s specifically the sort of thing that doesn’t help.” Kaito mused, walking past a small bonfire, lighting up the park entrance that led to the market. “...does it make you unhappy? Beyond being surprising, I mean?”

Kokichi nodded, not surprised. They’d talked about this a few times, and hearing Kaito talk about his…non-awakening awakening, he supposed, it was clear that their experiences growing up into their sexualities were vastly different, to the point it was difficult to comprehend the other. Kokichi didn’t think this was ever going to be one of their big hang-ups, but…he didn’t want to quit trying to talk about it. 

Holding his free hand out to the bonfire, feeling the remembered warmth, Kokichi hummed softly. “...not really? I mean, it’d make me unhappy if someone was harassing me, but I think that’s true for pretty much everyone. It…”

He sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. “You’re right, in that reminding me how sexy I am doesn’t help. In this context it would just be…a non-move, I guess. Not thinking of myself as a sexual being isn’t a bad thing to me. It doesn’t mean I think of myself as undesirable or…anything else negative. It just…is. And I know you enough that, now, when you say how sexy I am, it doesn’t bother me…”

“...but when I didn’t know you as well?” Kokichi looked over, his eyebrows raised a little. “It…annoyed me. Because it felt like you were saying that my worth was dependent on how sexually appealing I was to you. Not in a malicious way, but just like…that was a fact of the world. Like…diminishing everything else a person could be to just if you wanted to bang them.”

“Reading about all sorts of struggles people had--gay and bi people, gender non-conforming people, women, foreigners--about…overcoming that objectification? Proving that their mere existences weren’t inherently sexual, and therefore inappropriate for certain settings?”

Kokichi sighed. “...I think that’s what I mean, by having a hang-up. Because it just feels…insulting, to call someone sexy, without acknowledging anything else about them. Or to listen to someone’s struggles and insecurities and just…brush it all off because they’re sexually appealing.”

Kaito winced a little at the confession, though he supposed he had, to an extent, already known that. Kokichi had told him before. This was the first time he had ever tried to explain in detail though, and Kaito listened quietly. Standing by the fire as Kokichi warmed himself against it, his husband glowing in the orange ember glow. Amethyst eyes and dark purple hair seeming to shimmer in the chilly harvest night.

Pretty…

Kaito sighed, chastising himself a little. Come on, man, literally when his husband was talking about finding that sort of thing insulting? Pull it together. 

Glancing into the fire, Kaito wasn’t sure what to say to all of that. He could try to explain himself, but, well… Kokichi knew. Kaito couldn’t say anything his husband hadn’t already learned in the last year, about how Kaito viewed people, he was pretty sure. It’d be largely arguing schematics, and that wasn’t helpful for what Kokichi was trying to express to him. Still, without trying to defend himself, Kaito was unsure what to say. Saying ‘makes sense’ felt a little dismissive…

Curious, Kaito reached into the fire, and picked up a coal. Just to see if he could.

There was a brief, brief flash of pain. A sudden, intense heat on his hands… that immediately faded away. Almost like it was hurriedly shoo’d away from Kaito’s hands, that burning heat, the literal rules of the universe around them trying to accommodate for Kaito’s boneheaded, bizarre impulse. The coal just felt warm to his fingertips, the fire playfully hot. Kaito grinned a little at that, pulling one of the burning coals out and looking at the flame dance off his skin and back onto it curiously, before sighing, he sat down in front of the bonfire. Rolling the burning flame and coal playfully around his hand, before grinning at his husband. “Thanks for not burning me, babe.”

“...I’m sorry I insulted you.” Kaito decided to settle on, though it still didn’t feel like the right thing to say. “I know I wasn’t good about expressing that I did like other things about you. About people in general… your husband can be a bit of a brute. If I felt objectifying, you’re not wrong. I do that. I’m just sorry I hurt you with it.”

Kokichi made a choked, panicked little noise as Kaito reached his hand into the fire. 

He wasn’t really sure how he expected Kaito to react to all that. It wasn’t really anything new, concept-wise, that they hadn’t talked about before, and…Kokichi wasn’t trying to blame Kaito of anything. He was just trying to explain his feelings. As an Empath, he could just drop that tangled web onto someone and they’d understand…but they’d only understand as much as he could, and without the words to verbalize it, even with pure intent there was surely something that could be lost. Or maybe missing. Trying to explain it himself, it became something more solid to Kokichi himself. Something he could observe and gain an understanding from too. 

So…of all responses Kaito could’ve had, Kokichi wasn’t expecting much, but certainly not for Kaito to grab a coal from the bonfire. It didn’t even occur to him to simply move the coal away, and instead Kokichi changed the rules of his world entirely just…

Kokichi offered his husband a small, fond, yet exasperated smile, joining him next to the fire. “I never want to hurt you, hun.”

“...and thank you for the apology,” he murmured, before grinning tiredly. “This all wasn’t a way for me to ask you to stop, by the way. I like it when you call me sexy. Both for overtly sexy reasons and…for all the other stuff I’ve come to learn you mean, when you say that stuff. I don’t want you to stop that expression of love.”

“Okay, but, seriously?” Kaito chuckled, nudging Kokichi with his shoulder, “Thank you. I mean, I love you dearly, with my whole heart, so if I thought it hurt you I would stop. I swear it, Kokichi, it might take a few times to get it through my thick bonehead of a skull, but I don’t like doing things that make you unhappy. Or uncomfortable… more than briefly.” Kaito said, grinning a little wolfishly, leaning in to place a small kiss against his cheek, “Because you’re super fucking cute when you’re briefly uncomfortable, with wide startled eyes and your mouth puckering into that cute little ‘o’...”

Then he kissed Kokichi more fully, taking his time for a moment. Just enjoying the warm taste of his husband, “...and you’re unbearably sexy when you’re just past that little uncomfortable moment, and sometimes you get a little exasperated with me which makes me laugh, and sometimes you gently shut me down which fills me full of love, and sometimes you get this little leering smirk which makes me–”

Kaito sighed. Looking warm and excited and content. Covering his heart, the tips of his ears turning red and his face flushing lightly… before smirking, giving Kokichi a small wink, “Sorry? Sorry. My point is, I love you so much and I’d change how I express love, to make you happy. I could do it, I’d try until I succeeded, because you’re more than worth that… but baaaaabe.” Kaito whined, leaning against Kokichi hard now, putting a lot of his weight onto him as he groaned, “It’d be so haaaaaarrd.”

Still cradling the lit coal in his hand, Kaito peeked down at it in his lean. Turning the flames over and over in his hands. One more little bit of tangible, real proof that his husband would never hurt him. Not on purpose… and he whispered, “Thanks for not asking me to. You do so much for me…”

Kokichi rolled his eyes a little before relaxing into the kiss, resting his hands on his husband’s arms before they started traveling. Just small, comfortable strokes and touches, present and in contact and an endearing sort of restlessness. Even with the exact sort of fondly exasperated look that Kaito was likely talking about given to him right after. 

“It would be hard,” Kokichi nodded, agreeing, as he settled more against Kaito’s side, watching him roll the coal in his hands. It was still a little jarring to see, but Kokichi was no longer absolutely beholden to his internal logic. There would be no plummeting to the earth or third degree burns for either of them. “And I do know you would try to compromise with me, if I asked you too…you already have.”

“...but in this case, at least… I feel like I would’ve been missing a part of you. It’s not just an idle habit--when you talk about how sexy a person is, it’s…” Kokichi blew out a huff of air, looking moderately entertained with himself. “...it’s like you being an Empath for a moment, expressing a piece of intent, your unique and personal way of experiencing the world, and those are the words you use to express something that means so much more than syllables.”

“Asking you to stop isn’t the same as asking you to try a kind of food I don’t think you’d really like, or dressing in a way that feels inappropriate to you. It’d be me just…asking you to give up a part of your personal expression…and I’d be barring myself from understanding you more too.”

Kokichi leaned over, resting his head on Kaito’s shoulder. “You work to understand my perspective…so I work to understand yours. There will still be things we disagree on, even knowing how the other person sees it, but I think even times with that outcome are important. Not everything is a compromise, but we do learn a lot by approaching things that way.”

“Awwww,” Kaito couldn’t help but gush, giving Kokichi a somewhat embarrassed but incredibly pleased grin at the comparison to ‘intent’, “You always make me and my stupid habits sound way cooler than they actually are… my good husband. Man, it’s a shame I can’t go and tell that cute kid in the polka-dots how amazing he’s going to be when he grows up. He’s got so much to be proud of.”

“I like when I finally understand something you’re trying to say.” Kaito admitted, watching baby Kokichi start to look a little tired, but valiantly heading to the next candy-giver, even as his eyes started to droop and he swayed a little, waiting with some other kids as the candy-giver started to tell them a scary story. “I remember how surprised you were, when I confessed that even when I supported you, didn’t always mean I understood what you were saying. I just wanted to be there for you, for whatever you were struggling with, or support whatever choice you had settled on… even if I was a little in the dark over what all of that actually was.”

Kaito shrugged a little, though only with his shoulder that Kokichi wasn’t resting on, now just resting the flame in his palms. It was warm… felt nice. “You did the same thing for me, even if maybe neither of us realized how much. You couldn’t understand why I’d be so selfish as to not care what was happening to people in Luminary, or not care if…” Kaito’s face pinched a little. An old pain aging his features a little, “...people around us were dying, or if the whole world burned, so long as our little family was happy… you still loved and supported me, vowed to take care of me, even when you couldn’t fathom why I was possibly asking for something like that. Even if I seemed monstrous to you…”

“Shuichi thinks it’s weird, that I keep talking about all of that like it’s a good thing.” Kaito grinned a little weakly. “I guess it is. I think a part of me is just proud to have someone that loves me that much. Sure, there’s a loooot of problems with the fact that whole exchange happened at all, the way it did, but… you were fully ready to sacrifice and face the challenges of taking care of your selfish, delusional Kai-chan… and thinking about that reminds me of all the ways and times you really did do that. All the stuff that happened that must have made what you thought I was saying seem really plausible, to you. I’ve put you through so much, Kokichi. You sacrificed and worked so hard to take care of me, this last year. I know I didn’t make it easy…”

Staring at the kids and their parents, all of them long grown by now, Kaito said after a moment, “I resented how you handled my parents death for a long time, Kokichi. It took me a long time to get control of my anger about it enough to actually talk to you about it. But once we did? It’s been easier to look back at that memory while being less angry about it, and just… god, I must have terrified you. Fucking… bragging about Byakuya, asking you to be happy, while my parents just died. I couldn’t say anything else, I couldn’t, but that doesn’t make the fact that I said that to you any better. No wonder you were so freaked out and didn’t try to help me. What the hell could you do to that level of insanity? I fucking shouted at you and Maki and ripped up that letter and… I was acting insane. I must have scared the hell out of you. That wasn’t your fault.”

Kokichi chuckled softly and looked over at his younger self. He had really enjoyed the candy parade, and what he’d shown Kaito was a genuinely fond memory he had…but it wasn’t really the longest one. Even on his best days back then Kokichi had only managed to be active for an hour or two before his energy waned. He’d been upset to leave, when Ikuo finally stepped in, wanting to give him as much time as possible even as it looked like Kokichi was wavering on his feet, but he hadn’t been left with a bitter taste in his mouth afterward. It was a good memory. 

…there was a lot Kokichi wanted to tell his younger self. Reassurances to treasure the good memories, even with how short they may be. But it was probably better not to meddle with the past. 

Even if there were mistakes that Kokichi would gladly try to fix, even at the cost of a lesson. 

Sighing, Kokichi closed his eyes for a moment, a sticky, rolling sense of shame going through him. “...I was scared. You seemed so freaked out, and I was so sick still, I couldn’t go after you on my own… I was scared, but…I still know better than to have let that take me over and hurt you. No matter your reaction, I knew you would’ve needed support and help…”

Something ashamed and pained crossed over Kokichi’s face as he opened his eyes again, pressing closer to Kaito. “It’s not an excuse. No matter what, I should’ve known better. But when my body doesn’t work right…when everything hurts and fatigue feels like I’m trapped under water…it’s so hard to think, sometimes. I try so hard to push through it, to still be able to…yanno…be me. Be a leader, or at least someone people can trust and rely on, when I’m sick…but it’s so hard to push through it.”

“It’s not my fault for being ill, but I still let you down in a way that hurt you badly. I should’ve known better, but…I didn’t. And I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Kaito said… before lighting up a little, as he said, “I really mean that. And it’s nice that it’s okay now. If that makes any sense. It’s nice to be able to talk about all of that… and sick or not? Though, yeah, damn, you were super sick too, I actually forgot about that. Maki was literally carrying you…” Kaito sighed, rubbing his forehead a little, the warmth from the fire following his palm onto his forehead, “...damn. But yeah, sick or not? It wasn’t your fault. That wasn’t fair, to put all of that on… you… oh, geez.”

Kaito couldn’t help but laugh, poking Kokichi’s knee before pointing to what he had just noticed. Following baby Kokichi around dutifully, carrying a bag larger than himself, Chibi Kaito had apparently at some point decided he was getting in on the candy action. Mimicking Kokichi’s little chirping tricks or treats and following the rules of each candy station before triumphantly getting a little more candy in his bag, before heading to the next one. 

“Damn, but your little Kaito’s fucking cute. I kinda wanna bully the little guy.” Kaito grinned, watching Chibi Kaito do a small, happy little dance at the latest candy haul. “I wonder how much like me he actually is? I wonder… oh, huh….” Kaito’s eyebrows tensed together, looking genuinely bewildered, not sure if he should be horrified with himself or not as he muttered, “...shit, am I into it? Maybe if he wasn’t acting like a little kid… otherwise, though…”

Kaito tapped his forehead with his knuckles a bit, lost in his own head for a moment as he tried to decide how he felt about that. He had always thought his high school friends taste for drawing incredibly tiny people was weird, but, like… gah! Lightly punching his skull, Kaito huffed, rolling his eyes at himself… before he realized, “Oh, shit, we were talking about important stuff. That’s my bad. Maybe I’m just tired. We gotta remember not to keep each other up too late, I don’t really know how time works in here. But! My point is, I don’t think what happened was your fault. You were sick, you were scared, and I’m willing to bet I was the first person who ever pulled something that specifically insane on you. Like… it’s seriously not your fault. You did the best you could, in that moment. I don’t blame you.”

“And, afterwards? Look, let’s be honest… Nao disrupted our lives in a big way. Nao, Shuichi’s addiction… I love Shuichi. But you and I both put a lot of our feelings about stuff on hold to support him. Sometimes that’s just what it takes to help a loved one get through something, but that doesn’t mean we can’t admit that some things we needed to take care of for ourselves fell through the cracks, trying to navigate all of that. It was a lot. For everyone.”

Following Kaito’s gaze, Kokichi couldn’t help but laugh softly, looking over adoringly. Aww… It looked like Chibi Kaito was having the most fun following his little self around, and Kokichi felt a little bad that that fun would be cut short soon…but the setting of the memory would stay, if he willed it to. Chibi Kaito could trick-or-treat all he wanted, and they could sit by the bonfire as long as they wanted to. 

Within reason. They did have to get some proper sleep that night.

“Don’t bully him,” Kokichi nudged Kaito’s side. “I know you have fun with teasing sometimes, but I don’t like seeing you upset…even if he’s a version of you that’s not really you.” 

At Kaito’s realization, though, Kokichi could only sigh, giving him an even look. “...I won’t judge you for considering it, but…please keep any fantasies to yourself. I already try to keep my consciousness to myself whenever he and Chibi Kokichi go off on their own.”

Their lives were just…supremely weird. 

With another sigh, Kokichi nodded slightly. “I keep thinking about what Dr. Mariah said, about it being a situation so much bigger than us, and that we needed proper help. I don’t blame Shuu-chan for what happened, or consider his recovery a burden, but…it’s getting more clear to consider that time not…us being okay and helping him, but that we were all kind of falling apart. And the rest of us just…tried to pull together as much as we could for him. I know especially as he was getting better, he tried for us too.”

…Kaito’s eyes widened, shining. “Oh my god, there’s a chibi Kokichi?”

Urgently, shaking Kokichi’s shoulder a little, he said, “Please, please, please, I need to see Chibi Kokichi, oh my god, I bet he’s so small and cute, does he also make little music sounds, oh my god, I promise I won’t look at him weird, I have to seeeee hiiiiim, wait, does that mean tiny Kokichi and tiny Kaito kiss and hold hands and are cute and stuff?!” Kaito demanded, eyes sparkling as he glanced over at Chibi Kaito, who was now giving baby Kokichi little comforting pats on the leg as young Kokichi insisted up to Ikuo he could stay up a little longer, “Oh, that’s so fucking cute, I’m gonna die.”

Blinking and getting himself somewhat under control, Kaito rubbed the back of Kokichi’s neck a little as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, “It really does just kinda boil down to that, doesn’t it? We needed help. More than each other. We needed friends, or, hell… freaking adults. Adultier adults. We needed so much help… sometimes I want to punch everyone else in our life. Yours, mine… maybe that’s not fair. Maybe an argument could be made they were struggling and trying their best too… but damn. We needed so much help. It’s all so much easier now, now that there’s other people we can go to without quaking in terror. Lake, Nazumi, Waku, Drake, Amber, Temp, Stacy… maybe even this Elia girl soon, if Maki can land that. Just… people we can go to… that we can trust without being afraid. It’s good. It’s important.”

Snuggling into the hold around him, Kokichi laughed softly. “It is--all our therapists aren’t just saying it to be quirky. We even realized it ourselves before that. I knew that isolating myself wasn’t good, but…having people now? It makes everything before seem so much worse.”

“...I know you get mad at them,” he said softly, pressing his cheek against Kaito’s chest, “And…yeah. Maybe they should’ve known better too. But I can’t blame them, when…yeah, they were probably dealing with their own things too, but…it’s hard to keep reaching out, even if you know it’s the right thing to do, when every other time you’ve always been slapped away. I guess that makes me appreciate the times they did manage to help, or that they’re willing to keep reaching out more.”

Snorting softly, Kokichi looked over to Chibi Kaito and the younger Kokichi and Ikuo, before his smirk was heralded in by bright, excited bells. Well, if Chibi Kaito was about to lose one trick-or-treating buddy…

Wearing a smaller version of the white suit Kokichi had worn as he and Kaito had run over Luminary’s rooftops, Chibi Kokichi came running over from the other side of the plaza, his top hat bouncing on his head.

=͟͟͞͞٩(๑☉ᴗ☉)੭ु⁾⁾

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

(つ≧ヮ≦)つ⊂(・▽・⊂)

Kaito gave a small, deep in the back of his throat squeeeee as he watched the two tiny versions of themselves hug each other in excitement, before watching the little him quickly explain to little Kokichi what the game was. Both the little wolfman and the little phantom thief grabbing Chibi Kaito’s overly large bag– now seeming the perfect size, with two chibi’s pulling it– as they hurried on to follow young Kokichi to the next candy giver.

“Oh, baaaaabe.” Kaito whined, pointing at them like Kokichi might have missed literally any of that. “Loooook aaaaat theeeeem! God dammit  that’s the cutest thing I’ve seen since Miyako threw down Little Lamb and then got immediately upset that she didn’t know where it went. Damn. So fucking cute.” 

Then, planting a small kiss against Kokichi, he said despite his ears still burning red from the power of cute that was happening nearby, “You’re worth reaching out over and over again, ‘Kichi. You’re more than worth it. Little weirdo sunset receptionist missed out. They all did… you’re amazing.”

Kokichi snickered, watching the chibis do their thing--which was being unconscionably cute, just, all the time. He knew that they did go on adventures through his memories and imagination a lot, but he wasn’t usually watching it happen. It was very sweet. And…it was nice to get such pure enjoyment out of his mind. Kokichi wasn’t really sure that having his constructs have fun was really on par with an antidepressant, but there was probably some form of self-care associated with it. 

…Kokichi wouldn’t argue he wasn’t worth it. He was worth love and respect and friendship, just as any person was…and more than inherently too. He wasn’t a bad friend, and he tried to be a kind, fun person and…and he succeeded, at least as much as someone could generally succeed that way. 

He just knew that even the happiness he could give to others just…wasn’t always worth the journey to get there. So he was thankful towards everyone who had stuck through it anyway. They were amazing too. 

Tilting his head, Kokichi kissed Kaito’s cheek, opening his mouth, before closing it again. “...can I tell you something about Nellis? It’s kind of a downer, and…it’s not really something I’m trying to get off my chest--it just came to me.”

“Hmm? Something about ol’ grumppuss himself?” Kaito said, mostly just teasing, smiling through the small kiss on his cheek. “Sure, I always want to hear what you have to say, babe. And, honestly, the more I can know about Nellis the better. He’s very much in that ‘sometimes feel okay about, sometimes still want to punch in the mouth’ range for me. It’s never usually a good idea for me to leave people in those ranges. Makes me act stupid. And more info always helps, one way or another… so, yeah. Shoot.”

Kokichi nodded, but still for a few moments he didn’t speak. He knew he could sometimes be…overly blunt. Just like how Nellis had dumped so much information on them both, Kokichi knew he sometimes had a habit of trying so hard to just get to the point his words became bricks hurled at people, uncaring of the damage they inflicted under the name of honesty. 

He was trying to be better about that, but…sometimes he really didn’t know how else to phrase things. 

“His wife left him.”

Kokichi’s brows furrowed as he frowned, reaching over to let his fingertips take in some of the warmth of the smoldering coal in Kaito’s hands. “Not like…like he was an ass to her, and she left after being fed up. Sure, the times they spoke probably didn’t endear him much, but…” Kokichi frowned deeper. “They’d only spoken a few times before they married, and as soon as the paperwork was in, she left.”

“...” Kaito gave Kokichi a curious look at that, before making a small humming sound. Considering how he should react. 

Adjusting the coal in his hands to make it a little easier for Kokichi to warm himself on it, Kaito thought about it. The… tricky part was that Kokichi, in a very real way that Kaito was always trying to keep in mind, was Nellis. Meaning this wasn’t trivia over an old historical figure. This was something that happened to Kokichi. So… care needed to be taken there. 

The other part of it was accidentally implying things Kaito didn’t mean, by how he reacted. A few thoughts immediately crossed his mind, and one by one he dismissed them, not liking their implications. Chewing on the inside of his lip a bit…

“...was he heart broken?” Kaito decided to ask. “Like… was he in love?”

“No, they barely knew each other, really…though I know that doesn’t exclude love,” he chuckled, looking up at Kaito with a wink before running his fingers over the little flames again. “But…it did really hurt him.”

“...it’s not really one of those social things that everyone knows, since…yanno, it’s purely an Ouma thing. I’d hesitate from calling it a “thing” at all, but as it turns out, I really do have a pretty good sample size,” Kokichi snorted. “...our marriages are all arranged. Our spouse chosen to help bring the country to greater prosperity and understanding. While it’s a nice urban fairytale when the leaders do fall in love, and people gush all about it…it’s not the expectation that we’ll love whomever we marry.”

Kokichi’s lips turned down more. “...but there is an expectation of companionship. It’s not wholly uncommon for a spouse to live somewhere else, but it’s usually…still on good terms. There’s the expectation that the leaders are both people who have dedicated themselves to Dicea, so…even if there’s no romance, or if they don’t know each other well, there’s still the expectation that…there’s someone right beside you, similarly dedicated, and…through similar goals, a comradery will form. You’ll have a partner. Someone you can rely on.”

“...Lina pretty much only ever talked to Queen Abylone. It was like I didn’t exist…”

“...” Kaito rubbed the back of Kokichi’s neck soothingly. Conflicted with himself for a moment… before whispering gently to Kokichi, “Is it okay to think of you as Nellis right now? Or should I remind you that you’re Kokichi? We never did figure out how we were going to navigate that…”

Kokichi blinked in minor shock, eyes flicking up to Kaito, before he took a deep breath. Closing his eyes as he let it out in a slow stream, before opening them again, calmer. “I’m Kokichi. None of that stuff is my life…just things that happened a long time ago, to someone who was almost me.”

Kokichi shook his head a little, smoothing back some of his hair from his forehead. “But…I dunno. Some of the stuff he’s said to you, thanking you for being kind…I understand that’s where that all came from, now. In another life…I wasn’t worth sticking around for. It makes your choice to this time…mean more, I guess. Makes me appreciate it more.”

Tipping his head back onto Kaito’s shoulder, Kokichi smiled dryly. “In some ways, it almost feels like he’s my dad or something, and he’s just relieved history isn’t repeating itself.”

Kaito sighed, a little relieved Kokichi seemed to come back to himself. He would have talked to Nellis, or a Kokichi who was thinking of himself as Nellis, just as well, but… he was glad his husband felt like himself. He didn’t want Kokichi to lose his sense of identity. Not without specifically choosing to do so, for a little while. 

Now in full Kokichi comfort mode, Kaito made himself sturdy for Kokichi to lean on, twisting his hip lightly and adjusting his legs to make himself easier to sit against, keeping the fire close between them to warm Kokichi in the chilly fall air. His other arm still wrapped around him, hugging him close as Kaito placed little kisses against Kokichi’s hair. 

“It’s not being kind to love you babe. Definitely not now. And in the beginning?” Kaito paused, frowning to himself a little. Debating with himself.

…Dr. Mariah kept saying he wasn’t helping anything, being the martyr in their relationship. That it was okay for Kaito to admit that things about the relationship had been bad. Kaito hadn’t really believed her when she said it, but seeing how much things had improved since they hard started talking about the hard stuff? The sheer weight that had been lifted off when they had entirely talked through the memorial garden? Dammit, their therapists kept being right about stuff, it could be a little annoying. 

Still. Gentle ways to say things. 

“...it’s funny. I have this way of sort of… compartmentalizing myself. You’ve probably noticed. This feeling belongs to This Kaito, that feeling belongs to That Kaito… I kinda want to say it’s a side effect of literally being made of compartments, but I don’t actually think that’s true. Honestly? I think it’s just a coping technique I made for myself when I was thinking ‘bad’ or ‘untrue’ thoughts, as a kid. Thoughts that conflicted with each other. Both things could be true, just… depended on ‘who’ was thinking them, at the time. Never straight up different personalties, just different ways for me to be.”

“So, without knowing the details? Only knowing it was an arranged marriage for the benefit of Dicea, and that this Lina woman didn’t follow through on her side of it to be… supporting?” Kaito sighed. “A part of me hugely looks down on her for that, because that was her job. She was a consort or… maybe a princess or a queen, at some point. Either way, she was brought to Nellis as a…”

Kaito hesitated, before giving a small, frustrated sound, “...I know she wasn’t really, but I can’t help but see her as being brought to Nellis as a subordinate, and she had a duty to fulfill that role, and she shirked it, and how dare she. She had a duty…”

“...and then another part of me kind of envies her courage?” Kaito admitted. Looking away, ashamed at the admission, “I couldn’t have done that… I think I told myself I could have, a few times, but let’s be honest. I couldn’t have. When I met you, and things were… scary and hard? My first instinct was to try to endear myself to you. To desperately try to get you to accept me. Even when you hated me… I so badly wanted to ‘succeed’. I never even thought of alternatives, like leaving or not talking to you or even just hiding myself away somewhere. I think I would have been terrified of the thought of even trying something like that. It never felt like a real option.”

“And I don’t really know what happened. Maybe she was a bitch, or could have tried harder, or ignored Nellis’ attempts to try, or it shouldn’t have mattered if Nellis tried or not, because she had a duty… I don’t know. But… I do know it’s hard, being the person brought in to support the Ouma. Especially for the benefit of a home that wasn’t yours… if you don’t find something to love? Something, anything… then it just feels like this huge, overwhelming task that takes everything from you and gives nothing back. I don’t know… maybe it wasn’t like that. But for the non-Ouma spouse? It sure can be…”

“...sorry.” Kaito muttered. “I don’t know why I’m even bothering to defend her.”

Almost a little surprised even at himself, Kokichi chuckled softly. “There’s a part of me that feels bitter and defensive, hearing you do that. That wants to fume and cry out that you don’t understand. But…at least right now, that part of me feels really small and childish. Like…of course you wouldn’t understand,” he shrugged. “You weren’t there.”

“But you do have the perspective of someone who married an Ouma, and…yeah. You understand how difficult that is in a way I’ll never really get, even if it’s something I can work to recognize.” Kokichi smiled softly, squeezing Kaito’s arm. “You have a unique position to extend empathy, and…that’s great. I love that, hun.”

He laughed again, though a little more bittersweet. “Even the part of me that’s still hurting loves that.”

“...I’ll never really know what was going through her head,” he shrugged after a moment. “She’s probably been dead for years, even if I could find out where she went. Maybe…she just got herself into a situation that spiraled, and she was clever enough to get out. …but a part of me still wants to be stubborn,” he smiled grimly. 

“...she was Dicean, and in her late-twenties, while Nellis was in his early, and…she was the one who proposed marriage to the queen,” Kokichi muttered quietly. “Said it’d be helpful for the next generation to have a more sociable liaison…or something like that. So she and Nellis got married, and the next day her bags were packed and he never saw her again. Only ever heard about her from other people who wrote to the castle about their needs by her encouragement.”

Kokichi’s expression darkened. “...do remember her calling him a ‘king fit for a kingdom of dirt’.”

Kaito’s brows furrowed, though he brought up the coal– fire and all– to rub it idly between his eyebrows, smoothing out the wrinkles a little. Honestly, he was begging to force his face into a permanent stern look, if he wasn’t careful “...okay, that does sound a little bizarre. So she… arranged her own marriage? And then left both him and the castle? What, did she only want the Ouma name?”

“A kingdom of dirt… did she not even like Dicea?” Kaito asked, “I… what? Then what was… motivating her? …maybe she just wanted a place in history books?”

Kokichi sighed. “Again…it’s not unheard of for a spouse to act as a liaison or an ambassador. Especially if the leader gets stuck working with things at the capital, or they’re not very good at the social side of things, it…really can be the reason for the marriage, for the spouse to be the one that tours and talks to people. Hell, it’s not even weird for a spouse to just get tired of the work and start their own retirement early.”

“...but that was definitely more of an insult just towards Nellis than Dicea. And even if a spouse is going to travel…leaving literally as soon as they could is…extreme.”

Another sigh, and Kokichi closed his eyes. “...I’m never going to know what she was thinking. But to him…it always felt like she was sure he was going to run Dicea into the ground. That he was just so…useless and unloveable that our people would’ve been better off with no leader at all…”

Kokichi gave his husband a sad smile. “There’s a lot of reasons Nellis reminds me of myself even just a few years ago.”

“...Ugh.” Kaito groaned, shaking his head at her, “What a busy-body. God, I’m sure she was miserable at parties. Probably only ever wanted to talk about politics.”

Placing a kiss at the edge of that sad little smile, Kaito insisted, “Nellis is a rude, aggressive asshole, but he was a great leader. And I bet if she, and anyone else, had bothered to give him more than that first chance? Hell, more than the first few? They’d have seen the sides of himself that worked so hard to…” Kaito wracked his memory, “he made the basic income thing, right? An idea like that? To follow through on, requires a huge amount of compassion, respect, and trust in not only other people, but all other people. The side of him that could have done that? I bet you anything, with enough poking and prodding and needling and getting to know… I bet he would have been gentle.” 

This was maybe the wrong way for Kaito to think about it, but he was on a roll, as he closed his eyes and said softly, “He’d have touched gently, loved gently… especially since he knew he could be an asshole? It would have made him more careful. Did make him more careful. He would have known how easily he could hurt people, and so gave them the power to help themselves. Sacrificed his own power and control to lift other people up… and he was Fuse’s father, right? Wasn’t she known for being strong and compassionate? His wife never gave him a chance to be a husband, but from what it sounds like, he was a good father, and a good leader, and if she had let him he would have been a great husband. She didn’t know what she was talking about. She had made up her mind before she had ever met him. Who cares what she thought? She didn’t know him.”

Kokichi quirked a small smile. “It’s weird to think about now, since I have his memories…but he was a pretty recent leader, you know? I read all sorts of books about Nellis growing up. He had an infamous mouth, was a known recluse…but in every description every author talked about how hard he worked to make Dicea better for everyone. Even being privileged himself, he could see how people struggled, and the chances some people never got just because of the roulette of birth…and he strove to create a system that would level the playing field. And not just for humans, even if his work was less successful there.”

Nellis was, fundamentally, a jackass, but he cared so much about people. Even when so few people ever seemed to care about him. 

As Kaito went on, Kokichi blushed, gazing up at his husband…even if, between blinks, purple hair became brown and amethyst eyes lightened, the body under Kaito’s arm becoming bigger and more solid. 

Even if the laugh that came next was a little more awkward than Kokichi’s usual brays, and the voice that followed was deeper. “Well, I don’t know about a great husband. He was gay too.”

Kaito hesitated, for a second. Wondering if for Kokichi’s benefit, he should draw away… but more carefully now, he kissed his cheek, still nuzzling close as he shrugged slightly, “As I think my ‘Kichi would be the first to argue, a good marriage doesn’t have to be a sexual one. I mean, I like to think in my case, it was just a great bonus he got in the deal. Not to brag~”

Another slow, careful kiss, this time against his temple, “You would have been a good husband, given a chance. I believe that entirely. Even in, uh, your own way… the first time I met you, you tried to look out for me. So angry at Temp for… misleading us. Me. I wasn’t in a good headspace to appreciate that you tried. But you did. And that’s worth something.”

“And if you couldn’t be in love? I bet you would have been a great partner. I can picture it so easily. You would have never let anyone mess with her. Supported her plans… I think you’re the type, when you decide to do it, to be someone’s fiercest advocate. And fierce protection can be…” Kaito smirked, a veeeery slow, careful kiss against the side of his mouth, “very sexy.”

Kokichi (...?) snickered, pressing against Kaito more. “You sure? Half the time I’d worry I was just embarrassing you, if I wasn’t so focused on the protection in the first place. But you always do get cute and blushing afterwards.”

It was easy to just brush off into the flow of conversation, but the ‘you’s and ‘Kokichi’s were…a little weird to say if…

Nellis looked down, frowning at the hand he saw. Wider, bigger, tanner if only slightly, nails clipped neatly just above the fingers…a small birthmark under the knuckle of his ring finger. 

Not Kokichi’s hand. “...huh.”

Kaito hesitated again, trying to read the… other person. Admitting softly after a moment, “Sorry… I wasn’t sure what to do. I… don’t really know what’s happening. Did you put the mask back on on purpose, ‘Kichi? Uh… Nellis? I don’t… know how to address you. I’m sorry, I’m trying…”

His brows furrowing, Nellis kept looking at his hand, as if it’d suddenly change into what he was expecting if he just looked for another second. Though, he gave it up as he shook his head, glancing at Kaito. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m…not really sure what’s going on either.”

He frowned more, hesitating a moment before patting at his face, feeling at the unexpected features. “...I don’t feel any different. Like I’m not myself, you know? Though I guess every past version is still me, but…Nellis isn’t trying to tell you anything, and I wasn’t trying to bring out his version of…me, I guess…”

Back to staring at his hands, though through it all Nellis never leaned away from Kaito. “...maybe this is a sign we should pack it in for the night. We both do have to sleep.”

Now Kaito was a little worried. Somehow he might have felt better if it really was Nellis, or, well, Kokichi purposefully putting on the mask and playing as his younger self, but… Kaito suspected he only felt that way because it had happened before and there was something comforting in knowing that had all turned out alright, for Kokichi. Now? His head filled with worried daydreams of Kokichi losing his sense of self, unable to visualize himself of recognize himself or– “I think you’re right,” Kaito admitted, scratching at his jaw a little awkwardly, “I’m, uh… a little tired, and I think it’s stressing me out a little. Sleep will help.”

“... you’ll go to sleep after you send me back?” Kaito asked, something insistent in his tone, “You need the rest. Promise?”

Nellis reached over to hold Kaito’s hand. His fingers were still a little shorter, but…the size difference was far less pronounced. Kokichi always thought that their hands had slotted together perfectly, in their own way. Nellis leaned in before hesitating and changing trajectory slightly, placing a kiss on Kaito’s temple. It was less of a stretch than it usually was. 

“I will, promise. You know how cranky I can get in the morning even with a full night’s sleep.” The smile looked a little crooked, a little off on Nellis’ face…but it was adoring and earnest all the same. “I love you, Kai-chan. Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.”

Kaito closed his eyes at the kiss against his temple… and relaxed a little in the darkness. Oh, okay. There was Kokichi. Opening his eyes and a little less worried and uncertain at the unfamiliar face, as he squeezed his hand back. “Love you too, beautiful. See you in the morning.”

-

He was about to go to sleep, having sent Kaito back to his own mind, but… Kokichi peeked an eye open in their real bedroom. The light of the moon was just enough to…

…ah, whew. Right hand.

Alright, time for sleep.

-

It wasn’t really like Kokichi was feeling a constant sense of malaise. He knew what that felt like, and how life had been going lately wasn’t that. It was just…being a little more tired than his usual, even if they were trying to sleep more consistently around Miyako. Feeling a familiar ache in his back from hunching over his desk. Pinpointing the slight pressure in his head from all the plants clogging his sinuses with their last hurrahs. 

Just a lot of tiny ailments that were easy to push past in day-to-day life, though…that did mean that they were excellent spaces for anything more serious to hide behind.

Kokichi wasn’t sure what time it was, just that sunlight wasn’t coming through their window yet; and he could thank his lucky stars for that, since anything lighter felt like it’d send a dagger right through his skull. Sweaty and yet shivering, like he couldn’t muster any warmth in his body despite the blankets and bodies around him, Kokichi huddled closer to Kaito, giving a wet sniffle as his head throbbed. 

…he really didn’t see this coming.

It wasn’t daylight yet, but it was late enough in the morning that Kaito was less drugged asleep and more just genuinely asleep, the chemicals having long coursed through him and finished their job. This was by design, as the drug wearing off hours before morning was to help Kaito feel less groggy in the morning, letting him enjoy his morning workouts with Miyako and eating breakfast with his family. 

But Kaito’s ears, after a year, were trained for specific, little sounds. And as he heard the little chitter of teeth clanking together and the small, whining sniffle of someone trying to breath through a closed nose, Kaito knew as soon as he opened his eyes that he wasn’t going to do any of those things that morning, as he immediately thought, ‘Bad ‘Kichi Noises’. 

On his other side, Shuichi– who slept deeply these days, with or without assistance, and still woke up groggy anyway– sighed a little in frustration, not at all awake as his body protested Kaito’s slow careful movements. Kaito shifting a little to get a better look down at Kokichi, who was… oh yeah. No doubt about it. Today was one of those days. 

…okay. 

Entirely unafraid of catching whatever Kokichi had himself– Kaito was invulnerable until proven otherwise– Kaito traced Kokichi’s forehead with his hand, feeling his temperature as he brushed his hair aside, before leaning in to give Kokichi’s forehead a small kiss. Yep. Fever. Burned, too, felt like a bad one. Okay… “Babe?” Kaito whispered, “Kokichi? Are you awake?”

Kokichi let out a little longing sigh as something wonderfully cool--somehow wonderfully, even if the rest of him was feeling frozen--brushed his forehead, before letting out a slightly louder groan. “Tragically…”

Prying gummy eyes open, Kokichi squinted at Kaito, reaching out with a shaky hand under the blankets. “...think m’might have a cold or somethin’... Should move away from Miya…”

…but he really didn’t want to move. He knew, conceptually, that he needed to keep his gross, germy self away from his infant daughter…

But everything felt too loud and too bright, even in the dim hush, and he felt like his veins were made of waterfalls of ice slush, and his bones ached. If left to himself, Kokichi wasn’t going to move a muscle. 

…but he wasn’t left to himself. Even if he felt shitty for expecting Kaito to get into gear so early in the morning. 

Okay… placing another small kiss against Kokichi’s forehead, Kaito sat up entirely, and taking his part of the blanket, wiping his mouth on it. Just in case still, Kaito only kissed the very top of Shuichi’s head, before gently shaking him. “Handsome? Shuichi, man, wake up. I need your help.”

“N’mgh?” Shuichi grumbled. Taking his blanket and trying to pull it over his head.

“No, please, Shuichi. Help.”

The direct request for help cut through Shuichi’s sleepy fog, and now Shuichi peeked up. Giving Kaito a concerned look. “Uh, okay. What do you need help with, Kaito?”

“There he is.” Kaito grinned, before sighing a little, “‘Kichi’s down with something. I need you to take Miyako for the day, maybe spend it in the nursery? She just shouldn’t be here. You either.”

“...the last time you did this, you got sick too.” Shuichi reminded him dryly. 

Kaito chuckled a little, shrugging, “Maybe I’ll get lucky this time? We’re not just letting Kokichi suffer in bed alone, right? Are you saying you’d rather sick Kokichi duty?”

Shuichi narrowed his eyes… before pouting a little. “There’s nothing else we can do?”

“As far as I can tell, this is our options, handsome. Oh! But you could ask one of the healers to stop by, just confirm the cold, bring some stuff for symptoms. And while I know you can handle Miyako yourself just fine, maybe let Maki and Ikuo know you’re on baby duty all on your own for the whole day, I’m sure they’d like to help.”

Shuichi sighed, sitting up… before peeking over Kaito, at Kokichi, “Feeling ill, Kokichi?”

Kokichi let himself drift as Kaito turned his attention on Shuuichi, feeling like he could guess what sort of conversation they were having. Even for the most mundane things he always wanted to hear what his loves had to say! But…sometimes he could get by on the quick-notes. 

Though, he did blearily squint his eyes open again as he heard his name a little more pointedly. Pouting up at Shuuichi, Kokichi tried to hum before his blocked up nose stopped that fast, and he sighed, groaning at the stiffness of his neck. “Yeah… Regular autumn cold, I guess… Least didn’t hear about the flu going around…”

Tilting his head slowly, as if it weighed 50 pounds, Kokichi barely stifled a weak cough. “...I could just rest in the medbay, if it’d be easier. Wouldn’t really be alone if I needed anything, and you wouldn’t have to sit by my side the whole time…”

While it was clearly taxing, Kokichi managed a small smile. “Some of the time, course. Do like your company.”

Shuichi gave Kokichi a dry, somewhat exasperated look, while Kaito just grinned knowingly at Shuichi. “Yeah, Shuichi? Wanna send him to the medba–mmph!”

Shuichi, having shoved Kaito back down onto the bed by putting his whole hand in his face, turned a soft expression on his fiance, “That’s alright, you’ll heal faster here. This is why we have a nursery, and a bed in that nursery. Get some rest Kokichi, I’ll come back to check on you… oh, stop fussing, Kaito, you’re faking it I know you can breathe.”

“Mmm, mmm!… hffhffhff~” Kaito chuckled behind Shuichi’s hand, stopping his exaggerated struggling beneath Shuichi’s grip as he placed his previously flailing hands against his fiance’s wrists, and kissed at his palms a bit, “mmmm… come back to see me too?”

Shuichi smiled lightly at that, “Course. Alright… let me go collect Miyako and her things. I still need a few more hours of sleep, I swear. Why does everything always have to start early with you two?”

Even knowing it was something of a futile point…it was a valid one. Sure, Kokichi had spent the bulk of his illnesses in his room before his Luminaries came over, but…with a healer always checking over him, or at least checking in, it wasn’t that different from being in the medbay. He simply wouldn’t have anyone to infect in his room alone. But now he did, and his family always wanted to keep a constant vigil over him themselves, and…well, it would be safer for him to recover in the medical ward. 

But while they were a little more willing to ask for help now, Kokichi knew it would be a losing battle for a long, long time to suggest that he rest downstairs. And it was always a battle he simply didn’t have energy for when it was most relevant. 

Sighing, Kokichi weakly tried to tuck himself in again, the blankets disrupted from his partners’ movements. “Okay… Sorry. S’hard to sleep when ‘m so cold ‘n I can’t breathe. I’ll try to let Mi-Mi know that Daddy’s okay next time I wake up, so she doesn’t worry like last time.”

“Such a good daddy, takes care of little Miya~” Kaito whispered, curling back under the covers and, seeing Kokichi shiver, adjusting the blanket to make certain it was tucked nicely on Kokichi’s other side, before wrapping himself around Kokichi, sharing his body heat. “Shuichi has Miya, and I have ‘Kichi~ Everything’s okay. Everything’s fine…”

Watching Shuichi pack up and leave, Kaito gave him a warm smile as Shuichi glanced over his shoulder before he left, the door clicking behind him… and Kaito laid down. Whispering to Kokichi, “The healer will be here soon, and we’ll see if a painkiller might help when they do. Then you get to go back to sleep, babe. I’ve got you.”

“Nnnnngrmph…” Kokichi groaned, trying to simultaneously swaddle himself in blankets (and Kaitos) while trying to keep as much pressure as possible off his head. “Prolly gonna…gimme fever reducer ‘r cold medicine. Shouldn’t double-up with painkillers after that. But…it will prolly knock me out…”

Opening a tired eye towards Kaito, Kokichi sighed. “...it’s gonna suck if I get you sick again.”

“Eh, I barely felt it last time.” Kaito said dismissively, with the exact same sincere confidence that led him to telling Seiko once that he had no recent medical issues, his arm in a cast. Emotional hurts followed Kaito for a long time, but physical? He usually forgot about them as soon as they were done. “It’ll be fine, I’ll walk it off. Let’s just wait for the healer, reset my good husband to zero, and let you sleep the day away. Heh, maybe I’ll actually sleep in too? Sleep the day away with my ‘Kichi~”

Kokichi sighed. If it weren’t for all the minor ails that such an attitude and outlook probably completely bypassed, he’d be envious of Kaito’s fortitude. He liked to think he had a brighter outlook on his own health these days, but there were still times when the smell of cleaned vomit and stale sweat and the feeling of prickly burrs seeping into his bones and sapping all his energy echoed for far too long in his mind. 

“Mmb - …m’okay…” Kokichi tiredly conceded, closing his eyes again. “If I’m too out of it when they come…cold symptoms. S’what I have…”

-

Kokichi had been half asleep, when the healer finally arrived, and at no point during the process did he really wake up in any sort of coherent way. 

Still, when the healer came and left, Kaito had managed to coax a little maintenance out of Kokichi. Medicine, and a cup of cold water with it, was gently given to his mumbling, grumbling husband, and because Kaito suspected Kokichi would sleep for a while after that, he managed to convince Kokichi to go use the bathroom once, before tucking him back in. Kaito had no idea if Kokichi would remember doing any of that. If he really understood what was happening, he didn’t bother making it clear. Once he could, he just burrowed as hard as he could into Kaito’s side again, and fell completely back to sleep.

And, surprisingly, Kaito fell asleep too. Honestly enjoying the chance to cuddle and sleep in with his husband, even under the unfortunate circumstance. Maybe Shuichi was onto something…

In a predictable swing, the next time Kokichi really woke up, he felt like the sweat sticking his clothes to his body was earned. He still didn’t quite have the energy to kick off all the covers tucked in around him, but…at least this heat was more tolerable to the cold from earlier. Given his usual affinities to each temperature…that probably meant whatever medicine he’d taken earlier was doing its thing. 

Still couldn’t breathe through his nose, though. 

Lolling his head to the side, Kokichi smiled softly at Kaito’s peacefully sleeping form. That…could mean that his husband had caught something from him--probably not in the few however hours they’d been resting, since that was quick, but if this had been stewing in Kokichi for a day or two, then he had already exposed his family--but…it could also just mean that Kaito was catching up on sleep. Even trying to be better, they all did need it. 

…ah, that reminded him.

Not disturbing Kaito just yet, Kokichi closed his eyes and reached out, smiling softly as he felt his daughter. 

{Hi, Mi-Mi~ Are you having a fun day with Dada?}

{Weird room smell, Do you wanna go upside down, slobber tongue, Little Lamb doing happy dance. Bounce from one foot to the next, Food Smell making strange, repetitive sounds as Little Lamb bounced. “Feet, toes. Toes, feet.”}

Miyako wasn’t picking up that the sounds were specific words yet– words were still welllll beyond her grasp, and she only recognized Miiiiiiiyaaaa~ as a familiar sound that had coo’d at her even in the darkness, repetitive enough for her to recognize it as its own thing– but she could read the emotion on dada’s body, and he seemed really impressed that Miyako had feet and wanted to let her know. So, Miyako too, was impressed by the realities of having feet. And toes, apparently. Which Little Lamb softly bounced against.

Also, she might have a little poo soon. That was always nice. 

{Mm, that does sound like a fun day--that dance sounds like a blast! Little Lamb will have to show me it sometime. Or maybe you could--my Miyako’s very good at dancing.}

The three or so days that Miyako had been fascinated with the fact she had toes had been a treat to watch--Kokichi wondered if they were going to get a round two from this. If Shuuichi continued the trend of making little songs for her body parts, Miyako could have epiphanies of her own existence every week. 

{Dad’s gonna be real excited to hear about your day too, sweetbun. Unfortunately, Daddy’s very, very tired. I’m okay, but I need lots of naps. I’ll keep saying hello, though--I love my Miyako too much to stay away for too long.}

{Daddy tired?}

…… Kaito groaned. Suddenly burying his face into his pillow and warily putting his hand to his temple, muttering, “Miya? What?”

Sitting up a little, resting on his elbows as he looked around blearily, Kaito briefly had a moment where he was genuinely worried, not able to see little Miyako’s form through the bars of the crib… before he remembered, right. Miya was in the nursery. Did Miya need something? 

Feeling confident she had done well, Miyako informed daddy simply, {Big heat fix.}

Despite the pressure and pounding in his head, Kokichi couldn’t help but chuckle, reaching out a weak arm to pat Kaito. {Thank you, sweetbun. Dad’s gonna fix Daddy right up.}

“Sorry,” Kokichi quietly croaked, though there was a lightness in his tone. “I told Miya that I’m not gonna be around much today, and she deduced that the proper thing to do was have you come fix me. Our little girl has quite a lot of faith in you.”

Kaito groaned, letting his face fall back into the pillow for a moment. Taking a moment in the sweet, sweet bliss of non-bell filled silence… before he huffed through his nose in determination. Pushing himself up as he said, “Right. Gotta live up to Miya expectations. Dad’s on the case!”

Sitting up cross legged, patting his face a bit to wake himself up more, Kaito peered down at Kokichi. Giving him an appraising look, before he ran his hand over his husband forehead, and humming a bit at the sticky texture of his skin. “Your fevers gone down, that’s good. Buuut that probably means you’re really feeling that stickiness now, huh? Alright, babe, which do you want? Proper bath, or your big, sexy husband going over you with a wet rag, which is a much more fun way of saying ‘sponge bath’.”

Kokichi’s eyebrows raised a bit before his expression softened. “You already have been taking care of me…but thanks. And sorry for inadvertently waking you up.”

It’d be mean to use their daughter as an alarm clock anyway, but…man. Kaito was already very easy to wake up--the fool-proof plan of mind bells was just overkill. 

Huffing a little, Kokichi rested his eyes again, feeling said stickiness conform all along his shoulders and back and legs. “...I do feel better than before, but I don’t think I really have the energy for a proper bath. And when you phrase it like that, a sponge bath does sound pretty enticing…”

Still, Kokichi made no moves to sit up even a little. 

“...have you ever been part of a carriage wash?”

“Uuuuum… unless you mean washing a carriage, or… bathing on a carriage? I don’t think so, no.” Kaito answered, running his fingers through Kokichi’s hair and pushing it all back and off his face. His husbands hair was getting long. “What is that?”

“I mean, it is just washing carriages…” Again, Kokichi tried to hum, only to be foiled by his nose. Truly the worst part of any illness. “If you’re talking about a carriage wash, as, like, a noun, though…it’s kinda like a fundraising event. People will clear out a field or a depot or something, advertise people to come by with their carriages to get washed…”

Kokichi smiled softly, a gentle, innocent thing. “It’s kind of a trope. The people washing wearing white shirts that get soaked as the day goes on. I dunno…the idea of a sponge bath reminded me of it, for some reason.”

More so the imagery of Kaito in a thin white shirt being hit with some sudsy sponges, laughing as he flicked water at his assailants… That was a nice daydream to have right now.

…Kaito squinted at Kokichi. Something clearly exasperated in him as he openly pouted. “Now? Now? When you’re sniffly and sick and there’s no way anything’s going to happen… nooooow you wanna get lewd and flirty with me. Honestly, babe, your sense of timing can be mean.”

Huffing again, Kaito got up, and with an annoyed little ‘hmph’, headed to the closet. Grumbling to himself about ungrateful husbands who only wanted to get playfully objectifying when there was no way Kaito was gonna get off on it, sorting through his clothes and finding a good, somewhat larger than him white shirt, putting it on over his head as he grumbled how no one in this family appreciated they had a damn stallion on their hands, before heading over to the bathroom. 

Now out of Kokichi potential headache range, Kaito whistled pleasantly to himself as he fished a bucket out from under the sink, grabbing some of Kokichi’s preferred body wash and running some warm water through it. The ‘bucket’ in question was actually Miyako’s bath bucket, which would sit a little easier and more squarely on the bed. Then it was a matter of opening up the linens drawer and fishing out a few fresh, fluffy rags. 

Kaito sniffed the rags a little before placing them on the side of the bucket, grinning happily at the fresh laundry smell. Reminded him of Waku. Aw, he hoped she was having a good day. He bet she’d get a kick out of Kokichi daydreaming of people in wet t-shirts cleaning carriages through his sniffles. He wouldn’t tell her so, he didn’t want to embarrass his husband, but he still bet she’d get a kick out of it. 

Cheerfully daydreaming about regaling his friend with his husbands cute antics, Kaito headed back out, his earlier grumbling forgotten as he headed to the bed, crawling on. Though, he paused, looking the setup over, before rolling his eyes at himself and going back to get a big towel. “Unless you want wet spots on the bed, babe, we’re gonna want to move you onto a towel. You alright with me picking you up to shift you?” Kaito called over his shoulder.

“It is, yeah,” Kokichi said simply, though he wasn’t exactly feeling remorse or frustration with himself. He didn’t want to do anything with Kaito, even beyond his lack of energy and gross, snot-filled body. It was just a pleasant thought to come to him. Kaito, wet and soapy and grinning widely in the sun as his muscles visibly worked under a thin veneer or shirt… Nice. 

Maybe it said something about Kokichi that he felt the same sort of comfort from that daydream as some of the ones Chibi Kaito would bring him in his unconsciousness. 

Despite his grumbling, though, Kokichi was delighted to see that Kaito had changed into just the sort of shirt Kokichi had been thinking about. Though he really hoped there wouldn’t be enough water splashing around to soak it. 

Doing a weird sort of half-hum through his partially open mouth, Kokichi shifted slightly under the blankets. Not actually moving much, but trying to make things easier for Kaito to move him. “Fine with me. I think I could probably fight to sit up at this point…but I really don’t wanna make this headache any worse.”

“And you don’t have to. Dad’s on the case. He’s gonna take care of everything, and fix Daddy up, just like Miya said.” Kaito reassured Kokichi, laying out the towel next to Kokichi after pulling back the covers, making small little apologies for the chill as he carefully lifted Kokichi up by the neck– large hands firmly grasping the base of Kokichi’s neck and the bottom of his head, to lift him without hurting his head any more than it already was– as he peeled up and off of him his shirt. 

Tossing it aside, Kaito let Kokichi back down, before moving to pull his drawers off of him, not really thinking twice about that. It’d be a full wash. Clean ‘Kichi time~ Grasping Kokichi’s neck and tucking his arm underneath Kokichii’s legs, Kaito gave his thin husband a small warning of “Annnd up~” as he brought him up, quickly moving him onto the towel, murmuring as he went, “Annnnd down.”

Pleased with the setup, Kaito moved quickly, wanting the heat of the water to keep up, as he dipped a rag in, squeezed it out, before starting with Kokichi’s face. “My good, sweet husband~ how’s your head? I hope I didn’t jostle you too much.”

“Our girl, already so wise to the ways of the world,” Kokichi chuckled, trusting himself in Kaito’s arms. Thankfully there hadn’t been many reasons to do this for a while, but Kokichi could feel that Kaito’s skill hadn’t gotten rusty. Maybe it wasn’t the greatest thing, that Kaito had become so adept at maneuvering his limp body, or giving him sponge baths…but Kokichi was thankful all the same. For as much expectation it put on Kaito, Kokichi did like having him there while he was sick. 

Closing his eyes as Kaito washed his face, Kokichi made another aborted humming sound before speaking, trying not to get any errant washcloth water in his mouth. “You didn’t, it’s alright. I mean…it still feels like someone’s playing a rather bombastic timpani solo in my head, but it was like that before you picked me up.”

“...we gotta go to the theater again. We have those play tickets, but…somethin’ else too. Mark out a dad-date night.”

Kaito lit up at the reminder, grinning wide. “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead~ God, I’m so looking forward to that. I hope whoever they have playing the leads are cute. I had such a crush on Guildenstern… well, I told you.” Kaito chuckled, wiping down Kokichi’s neck, then moving onto his ears. Cleaning out Kokichi’s ears gently as Kaito continued, “Though, something else? Or do you just mean the ‘something else’ should just be we go on a date. We’re doing pretty well, as far as dates, the last few weeks, gotta keep going strong!”

Finished with his ears, Kaito dunked the rag again, before squeezing it and moving onto Kokichi’s neck, down to his chest. “Yeah, really looking forward to that play. Really hope it captures the magic of the first time I saw it… it can, admittedly, be a little tough to follow.” Kaito laughed, giving Kokichi a sheepish look, “So, uh… don’t judge my tastes too hard, if the play seems boring. It’s not, it’s really cool and interesting! But it’s also, like, two guys just talking to each other for, like… a looooong time.”

Kokichi scrunched his nose a little as Kaito cleaned around the shell of his ears. He did clean them himself, thank you very much! But it always felt weird, no matter what. That was probably a good sign he shouldn’t follow in Kaito’s footsteps and get a piercing there, even if he could get over the blood part. 

“Date, but also…it’d be nice, going to see a concert or a poetry reading or another play or something. I told you I used to sneak into the theater a lot--there’s a lot of cool things people do. I’m really not, considering what our year looked like, but I am surprised we only saw something there once.”

“But seeing your favorite play is definitely something I’m super excited for,” Kokichi tiredly grinned. “And I have seen and read Hamlet. Even if Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead veers off a lot, at least I’ll know kinda the world around them. Might make it easier to keep up.”

“And I’ll have the biggest fan right there to help me along if I get confused~”

Kaito snorted at that. “Be careful what you wish for. It’s gonna be me, just, like, excitedly whispering to you every little secret or subtle thing I ever noticed about the play while you can’t hear what’s going on at all because I won’t stop ‘explaining’ it to you. You’re going to hate me, it’ll be the first time my husbands ever hit me, and I will have one hundred percent earned it.”

Taking the opportunity to rub out muscles slightly as he washed, Kaito washed Kokichi’s shoulders, as he mused, “Man, it’s been year since I’ve been to an open stage night. You ever been to one of those, ‘Kichi? You have a stage, and anyone can go up and do basically anything for the audience? Though, like, usually it’s singing and poetry reading. Amateurs getting their moment to try performance, see if they like it. I read a poem once, and realized pretty quickly I preferred to read other peoples work. Did a few monologues then, which were waaaaay less stressful and way more fun~” Kaito grinned, eyes lighting up at the memory. “You ever do anything like that, babe?”

“I think I’d enjoy the extended commentary…but maybe not for my first viewing. Afterward, though? Maki-chan’s gonna wanna avoid us for a week ‘cause we’ll be nerding things up so much.” Kokichi chuckled softly, before groaning as Kaito pressed over the tight muscles around his collarbones. He knew that he did need to open up his chest muscles more but….uuuuuugh. Ouchie.

He opened his eyes to give Kaito a curious look before grinning. “Aw…I would’ve loved to hear one of your poems. I’ve never gone up myself, but…I mean, the kids did one…was that last Harvest? I think so--seems right for the advent of the “Baby Assassins”. They have open stages at festivals… I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a thing other places more regularly though.”

“Oh, man, I forgot about the baby assassins.” Kaito grinned wide, looking delighted at the memory, “Their scary story. Oh, they were so good, I was so proud. My brave Timothy.”

“Man, I don’t think I have any of my poems anymore. It was a very short phase for me, but I did have a little journal just littered with my attempts to write poetry. I kept trying to write about love, and none of it ever really felt like I hit what I was actually feeling. And they didn’t rhyme for shit.” Kaito admitted, rolling his eyes, “I know poems don’t have too, but man, whatever I was doing with those things does not equal making up for the lack of rhymes.”

“Most of them were short. Really short, only a line or two. I read the longer one for the open stage night, and it was what I considered my best one. And it was… personal. Too personal, probably. I can’t remember how it goes now, but I remember starting strong and then, like, losing my confidence and voice a couple of lines in. Realizing it was too honest and I didn’t want to say it to a bunch of strangers. Just stuff about what it was like living in the castle. People clapped, but they definitely only did it politely. There was no way anyone heard me at all after a certain point, cause I was just rushing through and mumbling.”

“I was actually more proud of the short ones.” Kaito admitted, washing down Kokichi’s arm carefully, rolling his husbands shoulder to loosen some of the tightness of being in bed all night and morning, “But I read some of them to the girl I was seeing for, like, that day, all proud cause I sort of thought they were, like, ‘poignant’. To the point, but deep in their metaphors… And she said they literally just sounded like random thoughts I was having and jotted down. Like a journal. And once she said it? I could never unsee it. Just stopped trying to write them as poems, after that.”

Kokichi laughed softly. “Sometimes I read one that clicks but…a lot of the time I don’t get poetry, admittedly. So I tend to like rhyming ones because I enjoy the wordplay that goes into a lot of ‘em. Ones that are wholly metaphor can be hit or miss, though… I can respect the craft, but I know there are much better appreciators.”

Kokichi gave Kaito a soft, adoring look as he recounted having second thoughts on-stage, backing out…and it softened even more sympathetically as he described his leave from the craft. “That’s a shame… I think even just random thoughts can be beautifully poetic, but if it feels wrong to ya, it’s hard to muster up the creative force. It doesn’t even have to be meant as criticism, but…it sucks. Having a comment like that just stick with you and just…drain out the will to create.”

“...mm. If you want, you should pick out a monologue to perform on an open stage this year. I so rarely get to see Theater Kid Kai-chan.”

Kaito audibly ‘ooooh’d’ at that idea, admitting with a small sound of wonder, “Man, I’d honestly love to do a monologue again. I miss performing… it’s a lot of fun, though I gotta warn you, preparing for a showing means a lot of listening to your husband mumble lines over and over to himself as he goes around doing stuff.”

Even as he said the warning, Kaito’s cleaning of Kokichi’s body had a notably enthusiastic uptick. Something almost bouncy in his movements, a small, permanent half-grin shadowing his face as he turned over the idea in his head. “I bet Dicea’s got entire books of monologues I’ve never even heard of. That could be a lot of fun to read through, try to pick an interesting one. I wonder if they’d have them in the library… probably, right? Hmmm…”

Running the rag over Kokichi’s lower stomach– Kaito saw it nearly every day for the last year, but he still found himself lingering his eyes on Kokichi’s stomach hair from time to time. That coarse, purple line did things to him– Kaito said cheerfully, “Alright, one more moment and I’ll dry off your chest and stomach and arms, then move onto your front lower half. You alright? Any spots you want a better touchup, or maybe a quick loosening of your muscles?”

Kokichi smiled, for once thankful that this kind of bath didn’t require any input or focus on him because he could keep his entire attention completely on Kaito’s smile. And while he didn’t have to focus on it, the enthusiastic energy that sparked up in Kaito was quite nice to feel too. 

(Part of Kokichi thought he was a complete bonehead for not realizing it sooner. Of course Kaito would get interested in drama. Kokichi didn’t think it would really turn into the complete opening of Kaito’s social life as he wished, but…getting back into a hobby you loved was such a wonderful thing, and Kokichi cursed himself for not thinking about it sooner.)

“There’s all sorts of playbooks and collections in the library, yeah. I’m sure you’d be able to find some that capture your brain. And I love Kai-chan mumbles--if I can’t mouth your performance along with you then what’s the point?”

Laughing softly, Kokichi turned his head away to cough, giving a deep, snorting sniffle right after. “Ah… As much as I’d like a massage…I think my head’s a little too fuzzy for it right now. Thanks for the offer, though.”

Kaito glanced down at Kokichi, mildly concerned, but… well, his husband seemed alright, more or less. For being sick, anyway. It was faaar from the worst Kaito had seen him, and honestly Kaito was glad for that. He hated seeing Kokichi broken down and incomprehensible. A Kokichi that was just tired and with a headache he could speak through, let alone think through, was a gift, as shitty as that was to say. 

Patting Kokichi’s chest and stomach dry– maybe, admittedly, indulging himself too much as he dried Kokichi’s lower stomach– Kaito moved on with a fresh rag to Kokichi’s lower half, starting with his hips. As he did so, he said, like it was a secret he was letting Kokichi in on, “I know you guys have a theater section in the library. During the heatwave, I was running around trying to help people in the library because I wanted to help the librarian guy during the heat, and I saw it when I was checking on people. I keep meaning to go back and read through it, but I always leave everything to the last minute.” Kaito huffed, rolling his eyes at himself, “I’ve had plenty of chances. Just haven’t yet. I miss all the reading I used to do. No ones fault but my own, I’m the one who likes to stare into space in the non-cool way when I have free time, but, like… now that my brain isn’t constantly in ‘recovery’ mode? I do want to read more. That library on the second floor of my room you saw wasn’t just for show.” Kaito laughed, “I spent so much time there. Was easily my ‘happy’ place.”

“Aw, that was kind of you…my good Kai-chan,” Kokichi hummed, looking a little more amused by Kaito’s caresses on his stomach. “And probably a pretty good crash course on what kind of sections we have in the library. Not to toot my own horn a bunch…but it’s quite the collection. I like having my own books, sure, but I love knowing I have a whole world downstairs.”

Not every book in the world, obviously, and not even every book in Dicea, though it was close and Kokichi had formerly bragged as such, but even living in the castle his whole life and being something of a bookworm, there were so many tomes that Kokichi knew he hadn’t even touched yet. It was exciting and lovely and…man. 

Kokichi sighed, groaning softly. “Me too… It feels like I’m barely reading a book a month at this point… I used to find a quiet corner of the library multiple times a week to curl up and power through some adventure. Now? I’m practically illiterate.”

“...your room library did look like the perfect place to do that on a more regular basis, though,” Kokichi said softly, dropping his dramatics. “I kind of wish I’d looked around it more, but…well. You know.”

“Heh. Nothing’s ever straight forward for us, huh?” Kaito grinned, shrugging a little, “There wasn’t much more to it than what you saw. I mean, sure, technically that whole wing was mine, but everything else in there was like… utilitarian stuff. Like, I had a small gym, and there was another room that was my nursery at one point, and another that was my childhood playground, and, like, two more sitting rooms because man when you have a ton of rooms in a place with not a lot of people living there, suddenly every room that doesn’t have a point becomes a ‘sitting room’. Two guest rooms, which I never… well, almost never used, because if someone was coming that far chances are they wanted to spend the night with me. What else… oh, I had, like, a sort of ‘mini’ treasure room that we stored ceremonial armor and clothes and, like, political gifts in, like these massive artwork pieces gifted to me on my birthdays, even though I was like, two or three when I got them. Things that were more meant to be honoring the ‘Momota’ family, rather than something you’d actually get a little kid. Some of my friends liked to see it sometimes. Korekiyo loved that room, he liked too…”

Kaito paused, thinking about it, before shaking his head, “My point is, the wing was setup with the idea that if I wanted to, I never really had to leave it for anything I wanted… but, I mean, it was always more fun to go out and do things with other people anyway. Other than the gym, I really only ever used that main bedroom you saw, my teenage one. That was the room Tengan butchered. Really trying to drive in the ‘you’re not coming home’ thing. The rest of my wings probably still in the process of being transferred to the castles, like, larger resource rooms. You have to be really important for people to leave your wings untouched for historical precedence. Like, Byakuya’s wing is still probably exactly as he left it, so historians can analyze it and preserve his memory. My dads too… probably not my moms.” Kaito frowned a little, “I’ll ask Kaede if they’ve deconstructed my moms yet. Maybe Kaede’s husband lives there now.”

For a moment, Kokichi just blinked at Kaito. Maybe they were just using different definitions, but…having a gym and an entire playground not just in your house, but in your personal, specific section of your house was…not something he would consider to be stripped down to the bare essentials. 

He was trying to be more contentious about it, but…sometimes it was just too baffling, the incredible class difference and social values they had grown up under. 

Kokichi’s brows furrowed slightly. “...I guess I can understand preserving an area for history… I mean, I did show the kids the dungeon replica in the archive, even if I guess our version of preservation is more…about the vibe, I guess, and not the literal exact state and objects. …but that does just sound sexist as hell that they’d preserve your dad’s room and not your mom’s.” Kokichi blinked again. “Oh… If all your past leaders have their rooms preserved, is that what you meant by there are entire wings of the Luminous castle that go untouched?”

Kaito gave Kokichi a curious look at that. That wasn’t the first time that Kokichi had suggested gender had something to do with hierarchy, in Luminary. Kaito wasn’t sure what he had said that gave that impression, but it had never felt convenient to correct him the last few times Kaito had noticed, since usually they were talking about something else. 

“Oh, yeah, some wings, for historical purposes, just get completely locked down. Technically not even I’m allowed to be in those wings, they’re forbidden because any sort of disturbance can ruin the preservation. The only thing that’s supposed to be moved in or out during that time is bringing in work and paperwork to archive them in the wings, for, again, historical preservation. Though a lot of that is super classified. Like, the sort of thing that would be used in lessons for future leaders, but wouldn’t be in historical textbooks… I read a few, and…” Kaito grinned a little uneasily, “Shuichi and Korekiyo read tons. Though, uh… when we go visit Luminary? Don’t mention that to anyone. Suuuuper illegal. They were just so interested in it, and, like, we put everything back where it was when we were finished…”

Kaito said all of this like the memories still made him nervous. A small taste of his nerves when they had actually been doing it, Kaito fretting in the quiet, eerie empty wings, worried any second a roaming guard might hear his friends slamming closed books or chatting about what they were reading to Kaito, who had just grinned back and tried not to think about the consequences of being found there.

Dunking and squeezing his rag, Kaito started to work on Kokichi’s feet, always careful to gently handle Kokichi’s toes, since his husband tended to wince in embarrassment when Kaito touched there. “And, I’m not sure why my moms wing getting dismantled is sexist… royalty whose wings are preserved tended to just be the reigning head, or someone who did something of huge national importance. Mom was like me. She was just a consort. That’s why both our wings are dismantled, and why I can expect Byakuya’s and dads and Kaede’s, someday, wouldn’t be.”

Kokichi could feel the echo of nerves, and…well, he tried to push past his own frustration to acknowledge his husband’s feelings. “What a shame… I am a future leader, but I doubt that’s a loophole people would care about,” he chuckled lightly. “But I am curious about what sort of lessons people are able to glean about how people kept their rooms. I totally get it from, like, an anthropological standpoint, but…not for political lessons. It’s interesting.”

And it really was, not just Kokichi talking around some judgement call because Luminary did things differently. But…that was closer to his feelings about the dismantling of Sayaka’s rooms. 

Kokichi opened his mouth, before closing it, his mouth twisting. The look he gave Kaito was gentle and apologetic, and a bit uncomfortable. “...how I feel about it is…I think gonna be one of those really uncomfortable things between us, about hierarchy.”

Kaito shot Kokichi a mildly wary look… before he sighed. Shrugging. “Might as well just say it babe. Let’s be honest, the ‘live and let live’ stuff we try between us when it comes to my home is always pretty fragile as is, and it’s gonna be, just… so much worse, if we leave it to when we’re literally, physically there someday. I’d rather you get it out of your system and ask questions to me here in Dicea, before we’re at, like, a formal dinner surrounded by elites and you have that pinched sort of… ‘strained horror’ look on ya. Asking uncomfortable questions to them. Man, navigating that trip is gonna be a whole experience… alright! Seriously, I’ll be okay!” Kaito grinned, finishing washing Kokichi’s feet, starting to dry his lower body. “What’s up?”

Kokichi echoed Kaito’s sigh. He did have a point. And while he hated inadvertently making Kaito feel ashamed of his home…they were questions and opinions Kokichi genuinely had and…it was hard to stifle them. Perhaps to his own detriment. But that was a trait that Luminaries had already deemed Diceans assholes for.

“...you, and others, have told me before, that your father focused primarily on war efforts, while your mother worked on welfare and domestic affairs, and Tengan…did everything else, until your brother took on some duties. In my view…”

Kokichi trailed off, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to articulate his thoughts. “...to me, there is nothing ‘just’, about being a consort, especially if, for example, your mother was tackling just as much work as your father. And while we both know how underhanded it was, from a work perspective, it seems much more like Tengan was doing the work of a ruler, while your parents were department heads. Not touching the implications of that, though…maybe it’s not sexist, since I suppose it would be the same for any spouse that was…lower in Luminary marriage hierarchy regardless of gender, but it feels like the treatment your mother is getting, if dismantling her rooms is true, is unfairly discriminatory just because she was the person that was dictated to be secondary. And that it doesn’t accurately reflect her life or actions.”

“Oh, yeah.” Kaito nodded, finishing drying off Kokichi’s legs, “Totally. One hundred percent… hey, turn around, kay? Time to get your back. You think you’ll need any help?”

As they got Kokichi sorted out, Kaito prepared his last two fresh rags, one for Kokichi’s upper back and lower, Kaito mused, “Byakuya used to talk about that all the time. He hated it… dad was a figure head only in name. Everyone knew that. Or, if they didn’t, then that meant they didn’t really know anything. Weren’t part of the inner-circles that mattered, as far as politics went. But, because he was the person in charge. Good or bad, the state of affairs was his responsibility. If something succeeded, he succeeded. If something failed… well, technically that was his responsibility too, though my dad tended to consider one aspect of his duties finding the people at fault and, uh… holding them responsible.”

“Byakuya…” Kaito hesitated a little. But, well, he had literally just been the one to suggest he and Kokichi couldn’t dance around stuff like this to each other, “Byakuya knew Tengan was the real leader. The one who actually got things done. And at first he loved him for it… I think, for a little while there, my brother idolized Tengan. And why wouldn’t he? Tengan made Byakuya who he was. Intelligent, strong… ruthless. Preparing Byakuya to be a better leader than either of his parents. Preparing Byakuya to be more than a figurehead.”

“And mom was always trying to make Luminary more like Novoselic. And, while she was an excellent socialite in some respects, which I really admired, she and Tengan…” Kaito paused, licking his lips a little, “It’s not that they were ‘enemies’. Not specifically… but they were at odds, a lot. If mom wanted something one way, and Tengan wanted it another? They’d go to dad as, like, a last ditch effort to get him to back them, and dad allllways picked Tengan. I don’t think mom hated him for it, though. I think mom was just glad that Tengan was passing on his abilities to Byakuya. Byakuya was her golden boy. My mom loved Byakuya so much…”

Kaito’s face was pained for a moment. Needing to pause for a moment, breathing through his nose a little to steady himself, trying to not let the burn behind his eyes become more. He took another steadying breath… before continuing uneasily, “S-so, I mean… yeah. It’s not fair that my father will be remembered for the hard work of everyone around him. But, I mean… people remember Dicean history in terms of the ruling Ouma, don’t they? They don’t remember the leaders administration team, or their spouses, or the other support roles. They remember the Ouma.”

Hmm…well, there were other parts of that description Kokichi took issue with, but…it wasn’t his job to disassemble and rebuild Luminary’s government, and while Kokichi took things that Kaito said that ‘everyone knew’ with a grain of salt…he was inclined to believe this one, at least partially. And he didn’t doubt that Kaede, whose job it was to reform Luminary, did know. 

…it just hadn’t been fair. Not for the people put into the Indentured program and the lower classes, above all, but…it hadn’t even been fair to the queen of Luminary either. And history--which by itself Kokichi found a little baffling, considering how much history Luminary actively destroyed--wouldn’t remember them fairly either. 

While he was on his stomach, Kokichi reached out, finding Kaito’s arm to give it a weak squeeze.

“Well…maybe broadly, but I guess that can be applied to Luminary too,” Kokichi mumbled. In practically every history book that goes into the Oumas, it always lists notable members of administration, and while the spouse is always mentioned, they usually only get a deep-dive if they actually did anything for the country. Kinda like that for anyone on the team--they’re credited for their work and contributions.”

“But…as for people remembering eras…yeah. People tend to just mention the Ouma at the time.”

“Well, it’s not a competition,” Kaito muttered, carefully washing Kokichi’s back… before snorting a little at himself, “Well, maybe it’s a little bit a competition. But whatever, I can’t get mad everytime Dicea does something better than Luminary. We’d be here all day.”

Wiping down Kokichi’s butt– cute, thin hips, tiny, tiiiiny butt– Kaito reminded himself, “It’s better to just have these conversations now. I don’t… I mean, I’ll get it, kinda, when you want to talk to Luminaries about much better Dicea is, when we go there. Because in your mind you’re just giving everyone there ‘good ideas’ to improve things. But when you visit, I need you to remember that this is people's homes, Kokichi. It’s not just as simple as walking into someone’s house and pointing at all the ways it can be fixed. You can’t just point out a crack and ask them why they haven’t plastered it with new cement yet. There’s a reason the cracks haven’t been fixed yet, and it’s not just ‘we don’t know better’... okay?”

“Just… be mindful of that when we visit. That’s all I ask.” Kaito muttered.

Kokichi sighed softly. “I know… I’ve been trying to get better, but…sometimes it’s like I see a crack and it surprises me, even by now I know it shouldn’t, and that takes me off-guard and I get worried. And so I ask what sort of foundation the house was built on, and what the weather’s like, and what weather precautions you have, and if you’ve been putting anything into support beams… I know that the crack could be fixed with cement, but I know that it’ll just crack again if all the conditions that made it in the first place aren’t changed and…”

He let out a puff of breath. “...and while thinking of all of that, I forget that not everyone has the means to completely tear down their house to build one with different materials and construction practices. And that cracked shelter is better than nothing. So I just…come off as some elitist, privileged asshole that doesn’t understand anything.”

“...I am trying to leave it all in the hands of your new house inspectors and personal handy-businesses. But it’s hard to always remember that.”

Kaito chuckled. “Yeah, that. All of that. Well put. And, look, you can talk to me all about it. Like, sure, back in the early days it was pretty insulting, but you and I have gotten to a point where I get where you’re coming from, ya know? I know you’re not trying to be mean or demeaning. You just genuinely either want to help, or just need to say things because you’re trying to understand. No worries there.”

Kaito washed the back of Kokichi’s ankles, that really the last spot before he needed to start drying and getting Kokichi into fresh clothes… and Kaito said sternly to Kokichi, “But ‘fixing’ my country? Is not your responsibility. Not even just for your sake, babe… you don’t have the right. I know you could. And I’m praying to Atua every day that Kaede doesn’t give you reasons to be tempted… but I’d be angry. If you decided to force the issue and remake Luminary in your image, okay? I’d feel the same way about you going in and changing people as I felt about that fun little mass assassination attempt our Maki sold you on, at least for a while.”

“As your husband?” Kaito said, something slightly dark in his tone, “You’re allowed to be tempted. You’re even allowed to think it’s a good idea. But you and I are going to have problems if you ever follow through. Understand me?”

Kokichi closed his eyes, letting out a thin stream of air from between his lips, since he couldn’t sigh through his nose. “I really do understand. As much as sometimes the world feels like my responsibility, and that I feel for everyone…they’re not, and it’s not. They’re not my people, and I’d be doing both them and my actual people a disservice if I started acting like they are.”

“I can help, certainly. We have those huge export agreements with Luminary for a reason… And I’m going to do my part to help everyone who was put through the program, by their own permission.” Shifting, Kokichi brought his hands under his face. “...but I don’t want to start another war. And I wouldn’t be able to help Luminary any other way. The only people who would want the kind of help I can give moved to Dicea.”

“...and even if I hate Kaede personally, and the sorts of ideas she has about other people…I have faith that she’ll be able to help people on a tangible level, during her time as queen,” Kokichi said softly. “She really wants to, and she has other people working for it too. I’m not going to deny her and the others that chance.”

“Okay, I have to know.” Kaito said, finishing drying Kokichi off, leaning over to place a little kiss against Kokichi’s shoulder, before patting his back gently to let him know he was done, getting up to grab new clothes for him, “Like, look… I know why I’m mad at Kaede. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why you hate her? Sure, yes, I hated how she handled the Maki situation, I think that was exploitative. But she ultimately did everything Maki asked. And sure, I hated how she handled the attempted murder and succesful banishing of my immediate family… but, eh…” Kaito made a small, conflicted sound, before admitting as he brought back Kokichi’s fresh clothes, “...somehow I feel like you feel less strongly about that, then I do. Just one of those things we disagree on.”

“So what was it?” Kaito asked, helping Kokichi into his fresh underwear, “What earned the rare hatred of my ever patient, ever forgiving husband?”

Even with him sweating into them all night and morning, their sheets still smelled nice. Nothing too perfume-y--never knew when someone with allergies was going to book a room--but just…a nice clean, soapy smell. Familiar and comfortable. 

“...I don’t like how manipulative she is,” Kokichi said softly, “In regards to all of you. And I think her plan was really fucked up. But…the thing that just…set me off, I guess? And made it so those are all just…supporting facts to my dislike?”

It sucked, but Kokichi did try to lift his legs a bit, making it easier for Kaito to help him put his sleep shorts on. “...I need to think about the full story, because it’s not my secrets to share,” Kokichi frowned at Kaito, “But…she was abusing her husband. Horrifically. To the point he was considering some…reckless, dangerous, suicidal, in a sense, things just to escape her. Seeing what happened to him, and listening to her rational… Even if things are better between them now, I can’t forgive her for that.”

Kaito shot Kokichi a genuinely shocked look. Of all the things he had been expecting Kokichi to say, that had never even crossed Kaito’s mind as a possibility. “...Sou? Sou’s being abused?”

Taking Kokichi’s neck firmly again, Kaito gave his gentle warning as he usually did, “And nooow up… annnnd down… there we go…” Kaito murmured, putting the shirt around Kokichi’s neck first, before helping him get his arms through the sleeves, Kokichi wincing at the movement, “Almost done, almost done. Covers are coming back on and you’re gonna be warm and toasty soon… I mean, I knew he wasn’t adjusting to Luminary well. He never left the manor. I’d invite him to things, but honestly I could barely get the guy to say more than a word or two to me, the rare times I saw him. Sort of assumed he just needed time to adjust to the new country, and…”

Kaito paused… before groaning. Rubbing his temples as he muttered to himself, frustrated, “Oh, I really did do that… fucking karma, I swear… I should have tried harder to reach out, it’s so fucking hard doing this and he was by himself… dammit…”

Old memories recontextualized by Kaito’s new life experiences, Kiato sighed in frustration at his past self, who had been perfectly content to leave Sou to reach out ‘when he was ready’. Even under just normal circumstances, that hadn’t been fair on Sou, Kaito now very much realized. It was so hard to reach out in a place where you felt so constantly ‘other’. Damn… but now with this new layer…

Kaito’s brows suddenly burrowed. An intense look in his eyes, as he said, “Oh, I will have some fucking words with her. ‘I use you as a moral compass, Kaito’. ‘You’re how I know I’ve gone too far, Kaito.’ Oh, what a fucking bullshitter.” Kaito snarled.

…

…oh. 

Kokichi had felt a certain kinship to the boy during their initial meeting, but…well, it was a little shameful to admit he hadn’t drawn the parallels to Kaito until just now. Maybe that could be forgiven considering the different circumstances they had met on, but…jeez. It really was hard to reach out to people in the cracks, wasn’t it. 

Eyes widening at even more bullshit Kaede was apparently spouting, Kokichi huffed, anger clear even as he snuggled down under his blankets. “She said she thought she was protecting him, since she knew Byakuya had made him a spy, and she didn’t want him knowing anything about the revolution plans. But what she was doing to him was…unconscionable. And since the moment they met she’d never given him a single chance on anything.”

Taking a moment to forcibly unclench his jaw, Kokichi let out a slower sigh. “...it is better, now. I bridged them, and they talked…and then they talked in the physical world, and I know Alter Ego checks up on Sh - Sou every now and then and…it’s better. I just…”

Kokichi offered his husband a grimace. “...I know it’s not my job to fix, but…I wish there was more I could do for him. I did offer him protection if he went to Dicea, so that’s at least an idea in his subconscious, but…”

Tucking Kokichi in, running his hands through Kokichi’s hair to get it back and out of his face, Kaito huffed. Still irritated, as he said, “I’ll fix it. I mean…”

Kaito frowned, a deep, frustrated look radiating off of him as he sat back, “... I think I can fix it. It used to be something I thought I was good at, talking people out of their worst habits. Kaede wasn’t just playing to my ego when she told me those things… or, she was, but not out of nowhere. I used to think I was good at it. Convincing my friends and loved ones to be better than their worst impulses, just from the power of my belief they could do it, really.”

Kaito rolled his eyes, deeply disillusioned of this point, as he explained dryly, “I was an extremely powerful person among a group of people who were distinctly more powerful than me. For my friends? I could support them financially and through networking, and boy did I do my best. I really am proud of a lot of those efforts. I know it’s not systematic changes, but I did make lives better, little handfuls at a time… maybe it’s not enough. Maki knew it wasn’t enough…”

Shaking his head, Kaito continued, “But for the powerful people? I still tried. But kinda the only thing I could offer was a little… emotional pushing.” Kaito smirked, looking to Kokichi knowingly, “Telling people they could be better. Informing them that, even if there’s no real consequences you can put on them, they’d disappoint you… you and I have a lot in common, really, babe. You are definitely a lot better at it though, I’ll admit. Apparently all I managed to do was convince everyone who loved me that they needed to keep secrets from me. Guess that’s one way to get around my disappointment. Juuuust don’t tell me.”

“But.” Kaito said, frowning sternly, “Now I do know. And there’s nothing stopping me from informing everyone how. Fucking. Disappointed I am.” Kaito smirked grimly, “I am very good at that.”

“Your belief really is a powerful thing,” Kokichi smiled, eyes crinkling in adoration. “Maybe it wasn’t doing exactly what you thought before…but it still looks like a superpower to me.”

“And guilt’s a tricky tool, but…I believe in you for that too. But…” Kokichi frowned, his brows drawing it. “...I’m worried about Kaede thinking that Sou reached out to you, if you dress her down for everything. I couldn’t tell how much of her taking her stress out on him was performance and how much was calculated…but if there’s even a chance of her taking things out on him…”

“...do you think Shuu-chan might have any ideas for how to let you berate her, ‘cause she definitely deserves it, while keeping him safe?”

Kaito rubbed the tension out of his own shoulder, sighing in frustration. “Well, I mean, I have an easy way to explain how I know without him telling me. It’d be late coming, but those ambassadors of yours apparently spent their whole time there just digging into family secrets. If they were clever enough and insane enough to expose all of Byakuya and I’s secrets, it’s not that far out of left field that they caught onto one of Kaede’s and they just focused on the family in charge’s dirty laundry instead. Could say I had a personal talk with one of them. Would need a reminder of their names.”

“But taking it out on Sou… Kokichi, what does she do? Like, what kind of a reaction are we trying to avoid?” Kaito asked, “For me, if it was Tengan in my early life, it’d be a new, more intense lesson in the study, and shit going missing or my social life getting harder in my later life. And if it was Byakuya… well, usually someone was getting arrested or disappeared.” Kaito sighed, rolling his eyes, “Or I was just getting an earful about something, which isn’t that bad in hindsight. My point is, the different ways of retaliation could be taken into account, either by me or Shuichi or… I mean, Maki would probably just threaten to murder her, maybe not Maki’s ideas.”

Kokichi blinked. “Oh. That’s…a good idea. The timing might feel weird but…it’s not impossible.” And as awful as Kaede was…well, he had more than a faint hope that she’d accept that answer, and not go after Shin anyway. By now, they had been working together for months. Hopefully that had fostered at least a little respect. 

Grimacing a little, Kokichi sighed. “...he wasn’t allowed to leave their manor, and he was kept under surveillance all the time. And whenever she just…didn’t want to deal with him, or didn’t want him overhearing things, she kept him locked up in a basement room…sometimes for days, just…forgetting him.”

Kokichi’s face crumpled a little from there, feeling the memories of that night a little clearer. “...she hit him too. Yelled and broke things around him. Alter Ego said that all those things pretty much stopped after they talked, but...it’s awful. He’s just a kid…”

It’d be awful even if he wasn’t.

“Are you fucking serious!?” Kaito shouted… before he took a deep, deeep breath, “Do not yell at your husband. He is just the messenger. We are not shouting around our sick husband… actually, our sick, sniffly husband. Tissues. He’s all clean, time for tissues and water…” 

Muttering to himself, Kaito went to get the tissues from the desk, coming back and– shoving the tissue over Kokichi’s nose– Kaito said sternly, “Blow. And no being bashful, babe, this isn’t childish, your muscles are exhausted and your nose is stuffy.”

Kokichi jumped at Kaito’s volume, before just watching him with a tired, sad expression. He’d asked for the reason Kokichi hated Kaede…and it was a damn good reason. Especially finding it out amid all his own marital struggles…what Kaede had done was unforgivable. Even if Shin wasn’t being hurt anymore. 

Kokichi wanted nothing more than to get him out of that situation entirely, but…but what could he have done? Not to mention that it had been months before he remembered it in the physical world. Just…call up out of the blue, in a tumultuous time, hi, it’s the Dicean heir who you’ve never met, do you want to come to yet another foreign country that you know nothing about and live here? Just like what you were promised the first two times? Surely there’s nothing suspicious about that…

Frowning up at Kaito, Kokichi blew into the tissue, grimacing at the globs of snot decorating his nostrils before Kaito cleaned him up. “...you see why I’m so worried about him.”

“Yeah,” Kaito admitted, tossing the tissue before heading to go get Kokichi a fresh glass of water. “Dammit, Kaede, can’t we have any Momota’s who aren’t crazy people? Just literally any… you’re supposed to protect your spouse. Cherish them. Locking them away and isolating them isn’t fucking cherishing shit. Especially if you’re going to terrorize them and lock them up and…ugh, Rantaro. For fucks sake, man… maybe that’s not fair, but still…” Kaito hesitated, whispering to himself, “Did Maki know?”

“...no. Maki would have told me. She would have let me fix it.” Kaito decided, bringing back the cup of water, “Little sips babe. Water will help heal… ugh. You know what Kaede needed? That damn woman studies class. I told her! I told her it was a cool class! I told her there were some interesting ideas there! I told her it’d be a great way to get laid! But nooooooo. And now what are you doing, Kaede? Putting princess’s in freaking towers. Like the first thing you learn about in that class! Everyone needs the ‘don’t lock the princess in the tower’ lesson! It doesn’t help!”

“...sorry. Ranting.” Kaito muttered, groaning… before he murmured to himself, “Who can I trust… Fuyuhiko? Maybe. He’d at least be honest if he could do it or not. The mentors are going home, they’d manage it, but that would take, what, three more months ideally? Nah, there’s gotta be a more immediate solution. Maybe Koko, or Lord Kaido, that dude owes me… though I diiiiid get his eldest killed… Samuel would have done it… maybe his sister, they were close…”

“Sorry,” Kaito said again, “I’m trying to think who I could ask back at home to look after Sou. I’m still entirely planning to scold Kaede until she feels like hot garbage, but someone who’s actually in the area would be more useful helping him than either of us. I just need someone with enough resources and social skills to navigate the relationship of the literal queen of the country. Has to be a lord or lady, or, honestly, Fuyuhiko. He can get away with all sorts of shit the average person couldn’t. Maybe ask him to ask Peko to look in on it?” Kaito murmured to himself, still feeding Kokichi careful sips of water.

Kokichi didn’t really know what to think about Rantarou, not that he’d particularly stopped to think about the man at all in many months. Shuuichi and Maki had said he was trustworthy, Shin was resentful, Kokichi knew that he’d practically helped raise Kaede… He’d never heard a single thing from the man himself, though. Maybe that was why he didn’t really think about him at all.

Taking small sips of the water, Kokichi waited until Kaito tipped the glass back to sigh. “Yeah… There’s only so much we can do over here. After she took the crown, I did think about…like, requesting that Sou become an ambassador or something, talked up more politically than that, but…it’s still too weird and coming out of nowhere. And…not really asking him what he’d actually like.”

“I can make an argument for him being an ambassador, if he wants it. To be honest, Luminary needs an official Dicean ambassador, I’m not enough. I have too much to lose, it’s too hard for me to be the only voice arguing for Luminary’s side of trade deals. Maybe not for a ‘prince consort’ in general, but absolutely for me specifically. I was never trained.” Kaito mused, clearly practicing some speech in his head as he mused, “Though, Sou hasn’t been trained either, has he? Did Kimigashine train him in trade agreements? Hmmm… well, even if he hasn’t been, he could be educated within the next year for the job, then come down. It’s a more long-term solution, and at least he wouldn’t be left with nothing to do. He’d have a position of importance… arguing the Prince-Consort be an ambassador is a hard sell though. Can’t forget Kaede isn’t just a princess from another branch of the family, she’s queen now…”

Kaito huffed, staring at the ceiling… before he grinned at Kokichi, “Don’t worry babe. I need to think about this more, but I’m working on it. I’ll take care of this. Luminary problems aren’t your responsibility, but I’m still Prince Momota. And Kaede is my cousin. I’ll take care of this.”

It wasn’t a perfect solution--far from it. But Kokichi habitually tried to take every troubled person under his wings, and other than straight-out running away, which he had actually warned Shin against, the ambassador idea was his best idea to get Shin out of Luminary…and into Dicea. Where Kokichi could be sure he was taken care of on a base level. 

But he wasn’t sure if Shin would even want that. He didn’t want to kidnap the guy, however nice he thought Dicea would be for him. 

It didn’t feel like a Luminary problem, it felt like Shin was a young man who had once desperately needed help, and still wasn’t in the greatest position, but…Kokichi was trying to let go of those problems too. Not reaching out to every mind on the continent to busybody his way in. 

…”helping” people with problems he couldn’t understand. 

Kokichi returned Kaito’s smile with a small, tired one. “I believe in you. And I’ll support you where I can. If nothing else…now that things are a little calmer, it might be nice to send a letter. Try and have a good relationship with at least someone in your family.”

“Babe, we have phones, I’m gonna call Kaede to yell at her the second you're better and I can walk away from you.” Kaito said dismissively, “And then talk to Sou… h~eeeeee.” Kaito grinned. Something malicious in it as he said, “Oh, she can just try to shut me down, but this isn’t like taking over the kingdom and attempting to murder all of my immediate family. Oh no. This is an objectively bad thing. Can’t fucking talk circles around me and shame me for this shit, Kaede, you fucking know you shouldn’t be treating your husband like that, and you will listen to me fucking call you out for it. Hee-heeeheeeeeee~”

As Kaito cackled to himself for a bit, snickering at his prime opportunity to finally take some real anger out on someone he had been very angry with for a long time now… Kaito blinked. Hearing his little breathy cackling and, somewhat embarrassed, clearing his throat, “Hmph. Well. yeah. Gonna call her. Soon as I can. Figure out how to handle it from there.”

Looking notably cheerier about all of this, Kaito hummed happily, imagining his future furious chastising… before giving Kokichi a warm look. “Thanks for telling me babe. You’re gonna see, when people just tell me stuff? I can help! I just need the chance, ya know? I can help… I can help.” Kaito repeated. Reassuring himself. Looking determined.

Kokichi huffed softly. “I know…but Kaede’s definitely caught on that I refuse to discuss anything about our personal lives together, and I’ve never spoken to Sou before…out here, anyway. I may have been in his mind, but he doesn’t know who I am at all, and I don’t want to freak him out.”

Feeling a haze of drowsiness descend upon him as Kaito maniacally cackled, Kokichi could only smile. He might’ve been at the same deadend he’d been at for months, but…it felt nice, finally telling Kaito why he hated Kaede so much. Not because he relished in ruining their relationship--though he knew Kaede had done that herself for other reasons--but…it felt like a weight off of him, to share what he’d discovered. 

…the other stuff wasn’t so relevant. And Kokichi had told Kaito upfront that it wasn’t the whole story. But if it came out…it could be Shin’s story to tell. 

“You can help,” Kokichi muttered, his eyes falling closed. “My Kai-chan is very…very helpful.”

Kaito felt a warm affection run through him, watching his Kokichi start to fall asleep. Running his fingers gently through his hair again, this time entirely because he loved him and wanted to please him with a gentle touch, Kaito leaned over to place a kiss against Kokichi’s forehead. “I love you so much. You’re brilliant and beautiful and sexy and perfect. I’m so proud to be your husband. You’re going to feel better soon, and the world’s going to be a brighter and better place for it. We all love you so much…”

Several people in that room and the next over would soon feel a certain sense, while Kokichi’s breathing started to deepen.

{❤}

-

Kaito, in his defense, had been an excellent family man that day.

He and Timothy had decided to tackle a new figurine that day after Kaito took him out to breakfast at the diner, energized and fresh off his run with Miyako that morning. Kaito, knowing school was right around the corner for the kid, was trying to make more use out of their diner days, and not wanting to have paint fumes in the same room as the baby, they had put down a blanket in the garden and worked on the new figurines there. 

Maki had, surprisingly, at some point come to join them, not painting anything herself, but a willing audience as Timothy, suddenly, was extremely determined to show off his developing figurine painting skills. Kaito was extremely enthusiastic about hyping him up and Maki, to her credit, made an effort to be suitably impressed, in her own Maki way. 

Then, joining his fiance and husband in the afternoon, Kaito and Kokichi had regaled Miyako with some children’s books they had scoped out together in the library, Kaito wanting to look for monologue books to find something worth performing, and Kokichi joining him after their talk of wishing they were reading more again. Shuichi fondly watching them from his own book– the one reader among them who had never given up the habit– as Kaito and Kokichi both immediately ignored their own books in favor of trying to share with Miyako hers. 

Then it was a warm dinner downstairs, chatting with family and friends that they saw and sat near, something almost easy in it, these days. There was still small tensions, little hiccups in the relationships between Kokichi’s Dicean family and his Luminary family, but… it was getting easier, these days. The tensions easing.

Kaito had sent his family to bed while pondering random monologues to them, not minding as Shuichi and Kokichi’s encouraging little hums became sleepier and sleepier as Kaito pitched monologue idea after monologue idea, reading little excerpts from the speeches he was reading to them to see what they think, continuing to do so even as everyone else's in the rooms breathing became deeper. More even. Kaito eventually the last one awake before, chuckling to himself a little, he took his pills and went to bed.

He very rarely woke up in the middle of the night after taking one of his sleeping pills. That was the point, after all. But that night, after the hours of the drug passing through him, doing it’s job and evening out, instead of staying in deep sleep… 

Kaito wouldn’t remember what the dream was about. And he had wet dreams fairly often, most of them surreal in some way. But the flashes of imagery in his mind, that he barely held onto when he woke up, wasn’t even really all that sexual in nature. It was just little touches to his arms, to his legs, his stomach. Idle touches. A hand on his shoulder, a brushing of legs, a small kiss affectionately put on his back, and despite how simple the affection was? How innocent the dream was?

Kaito woke up and realized after a groggy moment… oh shit… fuck…

It wasn’t necessarily ‘bad’, the tension in his body. He felt like an electric springboard of desire, and in a lot of ways Kaito considered that a very fun way to feel… it was just… this felt too familiar. To the point where Kaito briefly, irrationally wondered if he’d look down and see Kokichi… but no. No, Kokichi was actually burrowed into Shuichi’s shoulder. In the coveted middle spot, as he called it. Kaito was barely touching him, beyond Kokichi having his ankles wrapped around Kaito’s leg. 

…fuck. Oh, god dammit. Kaito shifted slightly, laying on his back, staring up at the dark ceiling as he felt himself sweat into the blanket a little. Was Miyako asleep!? Ugh, the mere fact that he was worried about it… could he risk touching himself right now? He could be quiet, but that wouldn’t matter for his damn emotion reading baby. Fuck, it was like he had a rock in his pants. He needed to get out of here. Awkwardly waddle his ass into the bathroom or down to his shrine or something.

Kokichi wasn’t really a light sleeper. Half the time it was simply something natural, but others it was learned; if he was awoken by sounds or other shifting around, he simply forced himself to ignore it and go back to sleep, wanting to get as much time as he could. 

At least…that’s how it had worked out a lot of the time. But though it hadn’t happened in months, between one of them usually being out of bed for Miyako anyway, and Kaito taking his meds, Kokichi still felt some familiarity from Kaito shifting next to him. Waking up in the middle of the night, looking around their room then out to the hall, then back…

Huffing softly, Kokichi rolled over and sleepily reached out to put a hand against Kaito’s torso…somewhere. He wasn’t quite awake enough to really check up on his husband, but he did let out a quiet little, “Nnm?”

“Oh, nope.” Kaito whispered, reaching down to take Kokichi’s wrist and immediately moving it up. “Nope. Nooooo… nope.”

It wasn’t that Kokichi had brushed it. It was just that moving the blanket in that area at all fucking shifted the tower that was currently hanging high around his waist. Kaito’s tension making every little brush and movement feel electric against him. Kaito swallowing slightly, water pooling at the back of his throat. 

Careful… careful, Momota. The last time this happened, you badly hurt your husband. Pull it together, cool down, get out of here the second you can walk. Fuck.

…

Hmmmm…

Not quite distress, not really, but…

Well, obviously, but that was a lot of the time, so…

Blinking his eyes open in the dark, Kokichi huffed again as he squinted at his husband. “...do you want a hand?”

God, of coure he fucking did.

But Kaito swallowed that thought. Looking over at Kokichi, face half buried in his pillow as he peered at Kokichi in the darkness of their room. Shuichi somewhere on the other side of his husband, still sleeping peacefully. Again, Kaito knew, objectively, none of this was ‘bad’. Hell, not that long ago Kaito would have loved waking up like this, especially with a lover already tucked up nearby and eager to go… but, well, there were just things Kaito didn’t treat as lightly anymore. 

So as much as he just wanted to do a thousand different things– most of them involving rolling over on top of his husband, some of them wanting to play with toys that Kaito could still only fantasize about despite being very solidly tucked away in their closet– what Kaito did was run his thumb on Kokichi’s wrist, which he hadn’t let go of, resting against his chest, as he whispered, “I don’t need it babe… I’m gonna go to my shrine in a second…”

Kokichi groused incomprehensibly, shifting to prop himself up on the elbow of the arm not in Kaito’s grasp to rub sleep from his eyes. “Didn’ ask what you need…geez…” 

Giving Kaito a sleepy nod, Kokichi awkwardly patted Kaito’s hand in return. “M’okay. Go make sure your bowl ‘n everything ‘r settled, and I’ll meet you there in a sec. Jus’ need a sec…”

Sure, it would be fine to just go back to sleep--Kaito had himself handled. But…what? Those were some quite nice feelings coming off of him, and Kokichi had woken up anyway. He may not get totally in the mood himself--he might, who knew?--but that didn’t matter when Kaito was and Kokichi was perfectly capable of giving him a nice time. 

In a minute or two. Give him some time to wash his face and brush his teeth. 

Kaito blinked at Kokichi, genuinely stunned. Of all the things he had expected Kokichi to say next, it hadn’t been that. Kaito had given up on the idea of Kokichi ever wanting to spend any time like that in his shrine a long time ago. Sure, they’d talk in there occasionally, usually when Kokichi was trying to comfort Kaito, but, uh… anything else? Kaito had accepted that as a non-starter.

…huh.

Kaito whispered to himself, “oh, shit, okay??”

Getting onto his elbows and pushing himself up, Kaito winced as he felt his junk strangle itself in his boxers a little. See, this is why he liked to sleep naked. Clothes after waking up could be a deathtrap. His poor fucking dick needed air. As much as he wanted to rush out of there, he couldn’t help but peer down at Shuichi, then over at Miyako. Would it be okay to leave them sleeping? 

Peering at the clock, Miyako wasn’t going to feed for another two hours. And it’d be Shuichi’s turn anyway… not that he thought it’d be literal hours, but, well… fuck. Way Kaito felt right now, it could be literal minutes. He was fairly certain he was already wet down there, his cock slick against his drawer with pre-cum. That had probably been why he had woken up so damn tense. He had been on the verge of cumming in his sleep when waking up had interrupted him, and like all ruined orgasms, it was a painful sort of joy. 

Maybe not a ‘joy’ to everyone, but fuck it, Kaito’s longest relationship had been with a sado-masochist, Kaito was allowed to consider a ruined orgasm a good time. 

It’d be okay. Adjusting his dick in his boxers, Kaito sighed as the strangled feeling eased, reaching down to grab some pajama pants he had kicked off onto the floor at some point, and giving Kokichi a final look, Kaito headed out. 

Don’t let anyone see him walk across the castle with a boner, don’t let anyone see him walk across the castle with a boner.

Knowing himself enough to not put his head back down while Kaito was heading out, Kokichi instead properly sat himself up in bed, giving Kaito a lazy wave as he left. Okay…okay. Gotta wake up a little. It was fine if he didn’t get in the mood, but it wouldn’t be fun for Kaito at all if he participated half-hearted and half-asleep. Should’ve just sent him off on his own if Kokichi was going to settle for that. 

Stretching with a deep breath, Kokichi quietly shuffled off the bed before heading to the bathroom, aiming to quickly wake himself up…and clean off the worst of his sleep gunk. Could be endearing! It wasn’t not sexy. But Kokichi would feel better with a fresh face. 

…hm… And maybe with some other ideas too. 

He wanted to give Kaito enough time to comfortably make whatever arrangements he wanted to his shrine without having Kokichi loitering in the hall, but not leave his husband hanging, so it wasn’t that long before Kokichi was pattering out up to the fourth floor. He didn’t expect it to be an issue, but he left a note for Shuuichi on the bed table closest to him, simply explaining that he and Kaito were in the shrine and would be back before Shuuichi’s shift was over. 

A rough estimation, at least. 

Just in case, Kokichi snagged a few condoms from their stash and some of the lube packets, keeping it all cupped against his chest as he knocked on the shrine door, the dim moonlight coming through the hall windows backlighting his form…

…and the two fuzzy cat ears perched on his head.

Kaito’s shrine wasn’t very big, and hiding away his prayer bowl and knife and cleaning supplies was easy enough… but knowing that Kokichi was coming in there beforehand, for once, Kaito found himself looking around the shrine with a more critical eye. Biting his lip a little, he peered up at his saints, narrowing his eyes at their sexy poses. Kaito had never had a reason to think about it before, but… would being surrounded by sexy, beautiful images of women… be a turn off?? For his poor gay husband? Should he take them down??

No, no, of course not, that was silly…

… okay, he’d pray and apologize later, they’d understand, sorry girls, coming down, yes, even you, Saint Koko, even though Kaito adored the tapestry Shuichi had bought him from the market. But these ladies had to go, because his husband was coming and…

…Kaito grinned. Something excited lighting up in him.

Kokichi was coming to pray. 

Okay, sure, that wasn’t how they were thinking about it, but that’s partly what it was. Sexy times in the shrine! Sexual prayer! With his husband! Oh shit, in the real world. Not that Kaito didn’t love the empath stuff, he did, but there had been a part of him that had missed the feeling of his body being spent the morning after. The feeling of waking up and smelling Kokichi on him, muscle memory in the warm spots where Kokichi had kissed, little marks that Kokichi left on him…

… alllll the marks Kaito left on Kokichi that Kaito could look at later, remembering how he had given them to him.

Oh fuck he was horny as all hell god dammit.

His saints tucked away, Kaito started fussing with the bean bags. Putting them this way and that, trying to imagine what Kokichi might be up to. His husband might not be up to much, he might just want to get Kaito off quickly and head to bed… ooooh… there was something sexy in that idea, admittedly. Though, a part of him would be a little disappointed if Kokichi wasn’t up to letting Kaito touch him back–

Kaito’s eyebrows jolted up to his forehead at the knock, not having realized that much time had passed. Not that Kokichi had likely been that far behind him, but…

“Heeeey, babe, welcome to the…” Kaito’s eyes widened as his voice died, opening the door and giving Kokichi a genuinely baffled look, his eyes immediately darting from Kokichi, to the top of Kokichi’s head, to Kokichi again, “...”

Fresher eyed, Kokichi gave Kaito a small, awkward smile in the dark. He knew Kaito going silent wasn’t a bad thing, and he knew he wasn’t exactly going out on a limb to wear the ears (though he hadn’t gone for the whole get-up. It would’ve taken too long to acclimate himself to the tail, and Kokichi wanted to be a little more active with his hands than the gloves would’ve let him be) but…well. It was still a little new for them. 

“I wasn’t sure what you had on hand in here, so I brought some supplies, nya~” Kokichi said softly, showing off the goods in his hand before stepping into the shrine, gently nudging Kaito in too. “I can’t imagine you’re all that picky right now, but…have any preferences on where to start?”

…he knew too that acting up the cat bit would probably make having an informed conversation with Kaito rather difficult, but…well, he wanted to make Kaito happy. This was one of the first times, at least in recent history, that Kaito had actually let Kokichi insist on joining when he got worked up. 

Or maybe it was just Kokichi being more insistent than usual not letting Kaito brush him off with his usual, ‘I don’t need it, I can take care of myself’s. 

It was the middle of the night, he wasn’t exactly over-thinking everything he was doing right now.

Kokichi was correct. The second the door clicked shut behind him, stepping aside to let his husband nudge his way through, Kaito felt something like fire run through him at that little ‘nyah’. 

He felt massive in that moment. He was always tall and Kokichi was always small, of course, but as Kaito took the few steps forward he needed to close the gap between himself and Kokichi, Kaito wrapped his arms around Kokichi’s front, hugging him from the back as he leaned over him. Kissing at his neck, feeling large and imposing against the press of Kokichi’s body and, for the first time in a long time, not feeling monstrous in that size difference. A small, satisfied groan running through him as Kaito pressed his cock against Kokichi’s backside, kissing Kokichi’s neck and taking little breaths inbetween each kiss, taking in Kokichi’s scent, as he whispered, “Oh, fuck, I need you.”

Kokichi tilted his head with a pleased, calm smile, happy with the kisses and enveloping presence of his husband behind him. He wasn’t unaware of the fire and desperation coursing through Kaito--he was very aware--but…sometimes that heat and predatory hunger was just something that Kokichi found…

Cute. Sweet. Something that just made him want to wrap himself all up in Kaito and bask in the feeling like a cat in a particularly warm ray of sunshine. Maybe that caused them to be a little tonally dissonant, but Kokichi always had fun, and he had a feeling Kaito did too. 

Swaying his hips back against Kaito’s erection, Kokichi hummed lightly. “And I’m here to give. Just gotta keep talking to me, okay?”

Kokichi tipped his head back a little more as Kaito kissed at his shoulder, the angle just right to whisper in his husband’s ear. “D’ya wanna lie down and let me turn around? Lemme start pawin’? Or you need something a little more im-nya-diate?”

“Gotta keep talking… talk to my ‘Kichi…” Kaito echoed, feeling a little genuinely stupid in his lust. Maybe there really was a difference, between sleeping with Kokichi in their dreams versus the real world. It had been a little while since Kaito felt literally drunk on his own lust. Lost and rolling in the waves of magma inside of himself. His time in the dreams had felt great, but Kaito had never felt like he was drowning in his own body in those. The last time he could remember feeling like this, he had–

(He had frightened Kokichi trying to literally choke on Shuichi’s dick.)

Kaito swallowed, trying to pull himself back under control a little as he murmured, “Gotta keep talking… kay. Kay. Fuck. Keep talking, Kaito…” he couldn’t help his little, intense shudder of arousal as Kokichi whispered in his ear, those fucking tiny hips pressing and teasing back into him as Kokichi posed his question. Kaito’s grip around Kokichi tightening a little at the idea of laying down. The appeal of seeing what Kokichi might do if Kaito let him make decisions, versus how badly Kaito just wanted to shove himself on top of him.

…wait, what the fuck did he just say? “Hah!” Kaito couldn’t help but let out a loud, startled bark of a laugh, resting his forehead on Kokichi’s shoulder as he snorted against his skin, “What? Ooooooh noooo, you’re so fucking cute… oh fuck… oh I’m gonna lose my fucking mind… oh you have no idea what you do to me. You wouldn’t do that shit if you knew how it rips through me. Oh fuck don’t make me cum to god damn cat puns, I’ll never respect myself again. Fuck.”

“...nevermind, I have no pride. You can keep doing it.” Kaito grinned, nipping at Kokichi’s skin a little, playful, easy bites… before he sighed. “I’ll lie down. I will. Okay…”

It felt like entirely the wrong thing to do, his every instinct screaming to get closer, to get in, but Kaito pulled away after giving Kokichi’s shoulders a few more kisses. Sighing like he was losing something incredibly precious as he pulled away from the hold he had around Kokichi before, without much restraint, he literally fell backwards. Letting himself fall bodily down onto one of his bean bags, laying back on it with a little sigh as he made himself comfortable. His legs parted a little, his arms spreading out around the upper folds of the bean bags as Kaito almost lazily looked back up at Kokichi, a picture of obscene decadence as his pajama bottoms tented up high. 

Kaito grinning toothily up at Kokichi as he said, “Coming, kitten?”

It wasn’t awful, when Kaito lost himself in the feel and scent and primal urge of it all…but Kokichi did want to do a little more than just be a pair of thighs or ass to rut against. Maybe not anything as involved as some of their other “occasion” times, Kaito seemed far too worked up already, but just something a little more than a wank and go. 

So! Communication!

Snickering softly, Kokichi gave his husband a little shrug, nipping at his neck right before Kaito could pull away out of reach again. “Thought I’d give it a shot at least. If you like it, then I’ll keep it up.”

Not letting Kaito get away from him for long, Kokichi turned around and flopped on top of him, if with a slightly more controlled descent. As nice as the positioning of bracing his legs against Kaito’s thighs would be…sharp knees would be more uncomfortable than anything. So Kokichi simply knelt between Kaito’s thighs as close as he could get, grinning implishly in the dark above Kaito before capturing his lips and reaching down, rubbing over Kaito’s crotch and abdomen, but not quite his dick, simply letting the pull of his pajamas form the most of the friction there for now. 

“Mmmph… hmmm.” Kaito hummed against Kokichi’s kiss, his hands immediately circling around his husbands waist, running his fingers and hands up Kokichi’s back as Kaito let himself lean more back into the bean bags. Again, it felt a little like he was drowning. Drowning both in the heat of himself, but now in the taste of Kokichi. Kissing back enthusiastically, realizing, fuck, it had been too long. Way too long since he had last kissed Kokichi like this. Been kissed by Kokichi like this. Drown in heat, drown in taste, drown in his husband. Kaito wanted to drown. 

Kokichi’s little touches were playful and frustrating. Kaito swallowing hard in between kisses, trying to swallow down the buildup of drool in the back of his throat as he lifted up his hips, trying to get more friction, feeling himself rub against Kokichi’s stomach, having to lower his hips again because he could feel Kokichi’s hands get caught between their body as he did so. Kaito whining as he lowered his hips again, feeling Kokichi’s hands move and explore the hard lines of Kaito’s hips and abdominal muscles as Kaito moaned, “Fuck, babe, don’t tease. Fuck, mph.” 

He hadn’t brought it up with either of his partners yet, but Kokichi had been contemplating one day asking if he could actively feel them while they were intimate, creating not a perfect feedback loop, but quite an interesting one. The idea had come to him because…well, it was hard to completely block them out at any given moment of them spending time together, and especially when they were feeling strongly right in front of him. 

Feeling that hot drowning feeling bubbling up his throat, filling his body like smoke from smoldering cinders…Kaito always felt so strongly that being around him was intoxicating. Delights that Kokichi just wanted to lap right up, burrowing in to feel more--at least with nicer emotions like this. 

But he wasn’t Shuuichi, and he had promised not to tease too much. 

“Sorry,” Kokichi chuckled, biting Kaito’s lower lip one more time before moving off slightly. With a quick turn of his hands, Kokichi dipped his fingers under Kaito’s waistband and pulled down his lower garments, his own hips close enough to feel his cock spring free. 

Sliding his hands between Kaito’s thighs, Kokichi purred, “I may not have a rough tongue to continue the effect, but then again, that might be a little too much for you right meow. Can I blow you?”

“This is how I die.” Kaito realized, giving Kokichi a little awed, baffled look, “Killed dead by cat puns. Sexy cat puns. Oh fuck.”

Kaito was admittedly relieved Kokichi was up to playing with his dick by that point– his balls felt like they were going to explode, he swore– but a part of him immediately missed the closeness of his husband. Kaito’s lips already feeling cold and lonely without Kokichi pressed against them, Kaito wiping his mouth with the back of his palm before reaching out. 

Running his hand through Kokichi’s hair, careful around the hairband that was keeping the cat ears up, Kaito looked at Kokichi with equal parts lust and adoration. “I don’t deserve you.” Kaito said, running his thumb down Kokichi’s cheek, “Look at you… how? How do you exist? You’re perfect.”

…Kaito grinned wide. All glinting teeth as he leaned back into the bean bag, pulling his hand back and resting his head against his fist as Kaito lazily tilted his head at him, “You are absolutely too much for me right, uh, ‘meow’. Kitten… is that…” Kaito swallowed, his other hand running itself up and down his own stomach a little, his dick twitching in anticipation now that it was free in the air, “...is that alright for me to call you, ‘Kichi? You can veto ‘kitten’. Just, ya know… the theme and all…”

It hadn’t been a yes, so Kokichi wasn’t gonna go all for it, but all the same Kokichi started kissing down Kaito’s chest, nipping and humming happily at the hand going through his hair. But as he got down to Kaito’s hip, Kokichi gave a little shrug as he looked up at his husband. Something of a needless motion, since the only light in the room was the sliver coming through the crack in the door, but it was something Kokichi felt was warranted anyway. 

“Mm…I don’t mind it,” he hummed, thinking about it for a moment. “Don’t think I’d use it myself, but if it comes to you while we’re doing stuff like this, it doesn’t take me out of anything.”

“I’m your prey, right?” he smirked, giving a rougher bite on Kaito’s hip. “I’m already caught and ready to be devoured…but I was never docile. ‘Least that’s kinda how I think about it. Won’t lose my nature even at the end.”

“Hah…fff.” Kaito winced at the bite against his hip, though when the wince cleared his gaze was even more hazy than before. Moving his legs now, slowly, as he stretched out, trying to wrap his legs around Kokichi as Kaito’s fist relaxed, pushing up past his cheek and now entangling itself in his hair as Kaito bit his lower lip. It was dark, but Kokichi would have had to have been blind to miss the pure lust on Kaito’s face, as he ran his fingers over his own chest.

As he did so, his gaze unfocused, Kaito felt his gaze start to wander. The ears kept grabbing his attention, the silhouettes tantalizing, but now Kaito couldn’t help but find his eyes trying to see down Kokichi’s shirt, looking for that thin, jutting collarbone and those perk, pink nipples. Absolutely unable to see past the shadow of the shirt at all though, his vision started taking in Kokichi’s legs instead. Pretty, thin legs, that Kaito liked to run his hands up and down and kiss at his knees and feel tighten around his waist while Kokichi’s body desperately shook–

“Caught, maybe even tamed. But never changed.” Kaito whispered. Lost in the fantasy, groaning softly as Kokichi kept kissing and touching just around the area Kaito actually wanted him to taste, “Can’t change him… my ‘Kichi grew up in the garden and mountains… braved nine foot snowfalls and blistering summers that seep into the walls… sweet, beautiful kitten… proud Ouma…”

Wrapping his legs around Kokichi’s hips, Kaito whispered, “Can’t change you, but you’re still mine. Caught, fair and square. My proud, wild Ouma… babe.” Kaito suddenly whined, as once again Kokichi got close to his dick without starting, “Now? Please?”

Kokichi smiled softly against the space where Kaito’s thigh met his torso. That was…oddly poetic and sweet, for being cat-based erotic prose. They learned, they grew, and some things did change…but not their hearts. The core soul of who they were just shone brightly as ever, kept true. 

Snickering as Kaito trapped him with his legs, Kokichi raised an unseen eyebrow. “Was just waiting for you to say yes, hun. Can’t read your mind that well.”

And not wanting to keep Kaito waiting any longer, Kokichi finally closed the distance, taking Kaito’s head into his mouth completely to start while his hands wrapped around his shaft, giving a calmer, languid stroke to warm his husband up. Not that he really needed it.

Swirling his tongue around, Kokichi hummed, as close to a purr as he could comfortably get. “All yours. For forever and beyond.”

“Mmph.” 

Kaito immediately put his hand over his mouth, breathing through his nose as he closed his eyes. Don’t cum immediately, don’t cum immediately, don’t. Biting one of his fingers, Kaito tried to balance it out, focusing on the pain of his finger as he felt his husband wrap his mouth around the head of his dick, those sweet, chilly little hands rubbing up and down his shaft. Oh, fuck. Kaito knew he definitely had pre-cum now, because he felt little jolts of electricity shoot through him as Kokichi ran his tongue over the tip of his head. Opened up just enough that his nerve endings felt raw against his husbands ministrations.

Oh, it was such a near thing. Such a near thing. Kaito’s dick was stiff and hard, he could feel that tension in his stomach and thighs as he tried to swallow the noises in himself down. He already wanted to cum so badly. He wanted–

Kokichi’s small break to whisper lovely, sexy words at him were a little too much. Kaito gasped behind his hands as his hips suddenly shuddered, that shudder moving all the way up his body and down his legs, curling his toes. “H–augh…”

The shudder of an orgasm ran through him… but even Kaito was a little surprised when he didn’t actually cum. Blinking stupidly in the dark as he gave a small, surprised hum that came out more as a gurgle, a line of drool escaping from the corner of his mouth that he immediately wiped off on his shoulder, as Kaito finally let himself breath again, “Oh, wow… been… fuck, been a while since that’s happened to me… oh fuck… a dry one…”

He’d known that Kaito was already close, and that taking his sweet time to get to business wasn’t helping that at all, but…hm. Maybe Kokichi really did need to reevaluate his sense of timing. 

Taking the cue from Kaito’s shakes, Kokichi quickly cupped a hand over Kaito’s head, still stroking with his other, but…

Kokichi blinked, looking at his hand curiously before glancing back to Kaito’s dick. “Oh… do you want me to keep going, or do you need a sec?”

Or they could stop, but Kokichi had a feeling that wasn’t an option Kaito would really consider, considering they’d been in the shrine for about five minutes, tops. He didn’t have the most extensive history with dry orgasms, but given that he wasn’t chasing his own pleasure there, he didn’t want to overload his husband immediately.

“Oh, if you stop touching me, I am going to sulk for a year.” Kaito swore immediately, barely joking as the words ripped out of him… before he amended quickly, “Not really. Not really. My ‘Kichi can always stop. But, fuck, don’t. Though, one second.”

Kaito gave a shaky little breath, running his hands over his face as he waited for the lingering shudders to subside. Those were really rare for him, but he enjoyed them when it happened. Felt like he had been given an extra shot, through his usual two loads max before needing a break. Oh, but he still had loads to give…

“Okay,” Kaito said after a moment, the shudders easing into a warm afterglow. Kaito’s legs running over Kokichi’s ass and back as Kaito relaxed back into the bean bag, “If you’re still good? I’m good. You can…” Kaito chuckled a little at that. The word ‘can’ feeling a little sacrilegious, a little too bold, but something enticing in trying for small, commanding words like that again, “you can start again.”

And, playing with a bunch of old ideas that Kaito had been afraid to touch too seriously for a long time now, Kaito let his voice dip low a little, whispering in the dark, “You’re doing so well… such a good job…”

Kokichi huffed a laugh, close enough that his breath puffed out onto Kaito’s skin. “I’m not gonna. It’d be too cruel to leave my Kai-chan hanging like this. A real cat-astrophe.”

…hm. Even among the inherent cheesiness of all of his puns…that one wasn’t great. Maybe just stick to the noises. 

Kokichi had gone back to gently rubbing Kaito’s thighs as he rode out his orgasm, smiling at the ripples of pleasure going through his love, before simply giving a hum of assent at the go-ahead, and returning his mouth and hands to where they were previously. His new pace was a little slower, now unconcerned since they weren’t right at the precipice of the finish line anymore. They weren’t starting from scratch either, but now lingering touches wouldn’t be absolute agony. 

And as Kaito seemed to like that… Kokichi let out a heavier breath through his nose, feeling warm and happy with the praise. It’d been a long time since Kaito had done something like that… He’d almost thought he’d forgotten.

Dipping down a little lower, Kokichi splayed one of his hands on Kaito’s crotch for a moment, just feeling, before curling around to massage his balls. 

“Oh, ‘Kichi…” Kaito let out a little warm sigh, stretching his legs out a little now, not needing to curl them around him so much. While before he had been mostly sitting in the bean bags, little by little, with every shift and stretch and tension in his hips that slowly released, Kaito found himself more fully laying back. Just gently coming undone as he let himself relax at Kokichi’s touch. Getting a little lost in a mixture of daydreams and his husbands touch and letting himself test– carefully. Always so carefully– kinks and preferences that Kaito had found himself too afraid to look at directly for many, many months now.

Kaito wasn’t sure why he was suddenly okay with testing those boundaries again. Nothing felt dramatically different, beyond maybe he and Kokichi’s relationship felt like it had been in a really good place for a long time now. Kaito still slipping up now and again, pushing too hard or acting too erratically during sex, but… well, not constantly, at least. And Kokichi seeming far more comfortable and willing to pull back or chastise or stop Kaito from pushing Kokichi too far, when Kaito felt himself losing his senses.

Kaito’s fears of hurting Kokichi were always on the back of his mind. He couldn’t help it. But for now, they felt distant. Not an immediate threat. And because Kaito was relaxing a little, he admitted, his voice dreamy as he spoke, “You look so pretty between my legs, beautiful… on your knees. Your mouth full… oooh,” Kaito sighed, letting out a soft, easy sound, a little easier to let noises out now that he wasn’t gritting his teeth and feeling his throat tighten around his windpipe, “I think about you on your knees all the time, babe… do you ever pick those u–UUp—ah.” Kaito twitched. Some of the tension coming back into his hips as Kokichi worked, “Mmm… up? Those daydreams? Feel bad about it sometimes… just idle daydreams when I’m bored… pulling you aside and you get on your knees and just… mmm…”

Kokichi tried not to smile too much as he worked his mouth around Kaito, always trying to be conscientious about teeth, but…well, it was hard not to when Kaito was talking like this, in that relaxed, dreamy voice. Letting out all sorts of cute little noises, telling Kokichi everything he needed to know about how much Kaito was enjoying this. Enjoying him. 

He knew that it wasn’t like Kaito wasn’t having a good time all those times he was stifling his sounds, but…it was nice to know so clearly. And Kokichi loved hearing it from him. 

Letting out a pleased hum, Kokichi worked down a little more, experimenting with gentle little twists of his wrist around Kaito’s shaft. He felt the impulse to respond to his husband, even in the middle of something like this…

Well, he could, couldn’t he?

{I rarely get anything graphic} Kokichi felt to his husband. {But I do catch it sometimes. My good husband with all of his heat and passion~}

{It’d be nice sometimes, you know? Taking a break from pouring over data sheets, coming across the building to take care of my guy. He’s so busy taking care of everything else all the time.}

Kaito felt his bones jolt for two reasons: that little turn of the wrist that forced a startled little gasp from the bottom of Kaito’s throat, and as always that brief feeling of alarm at the presence of a ‘voice’. But, intent was still very different from ‘voices’, really, and the difference was something that became more and more apparent to Kaito the more often it happened. Sure, he understood what Kokichi was trying to convey, but nothing was actually being ‘said’ to him. It was just knowledge, dropped into his mind. It was… still a little strange to him. But Kaito was getting more and more used to it, as time went on.

Having it done in the middle of being blown was definitely a new one.

Kaito couldn’t help a small, nervous giggle, even as his hands started to dig a little into the beanbags. The durable fabric twisting in his grip as the tension started to build again. Kaito might have been willing to suggest that his restlessness and quick buildup was just a sign that he hadn’t done this in a while, but honestly? Kokichi was just getting really fucking good at this, and Kaito was struggling to keep himself composed in his grip. Sweat starting to prickle his back and hairline as he grinned a little loopily, “Y-ye–ah? H–aaah… fuck. Um…” 

Kaito bit at the bridge between his thumb and pointer finger a little, his other hand still clutching at the beanbag. “Yeah? Yeah… ah, just… fuck, babe, just d–on’, mmm!” Kaito bit down on the skin harder, half covering his mouth as he felt the back of his jaw start to slick, Kokichi’s thumb’s suddenly digging in at the base of his cock and around his balls. Oh, fuck–fuck–fuck… “Don’t-wanna-be-selfish-with-ya? Ya know??” Kaito finally managed to get out quickly, all in one breath, the words insecure but his gaze fixated on Kokichi. A contrast between Kaito’s thoughts and what his body was doing, as Kaito let go of the beanbag and reached out towards Kokichi, eyes wide and focused and endlessly aroused as he ran a hand through Kokichi’s hair again, “Not your responsibility, managing your brute of a husband's lust, kitten… don’t want to be selfish…”

{You don’t have to muffle yourself. We’re pretty far away from any bedrooms here, and I like hearing you. My cute, perfect Kai-chan… I like knowing how much you’re enjoying this.}

It sounded like at least some escalation would be alright, but Kokichi was still gentle as he pushed against Kaito’s gooch as his fingers wandered and massaged, knowing that, well, at least for him it could get pretty overwhelming quickly. It was hard to see exactly what Kaito was doing--what faces he was making--in the dark, but Kokichi could still see the slight glimmering reflections of his eyes in the dark, focused right on him. 

So, what else could he do but meet that gaze head on? Eyes unwavering, Kokichi pulled back a little, scraping with his teeth as his tongue pushed into a point all up Kaito’s dick, lingering just below his head before Kokichi came off for a breath. 

“Not my responsibility,” Kokichi rasped, his voice going a little lower, “But something I’m honored to partake in, mm? Maybe you don’t want to be selfish, but I do. Wanna see my sweet husband taute and shaking, making the best noises… Wanna make him warm and happy and satisfied.”

In any light, this was true… but damn, Kokichi was pretty. Kaito felt little butterflies erupt in his stomach, separate from his building, tense arousal, as in the dim silver light he saw Kokichi stare back at him. Kaito grit his teeth and let out a sharp little hiss of breath as Kokichi scraped at him, that alone risking Kaito wanting to cum again as his full, throbbing dick bopped and a little in the air when Kokichi let it go, high and wet with what Kokichi had left behind, aching.

Kaito shoved his tongue to the top of his mouth, a low, needy grunt escaping from the bottom of his throat again… before he swallowed. Clearing it a little as he admitted, “I, nngh, I get, uh… embarrassed.” He admitted. Knowing how ridiculous that was to admit, as his thumb still pet Kokichi’s cheek affectionately. Caught in between his desire to run his hand through Kokichi’s hair and do something mean. Aggressive. And at the same time just wanting to lay back and entice Kokichi to do whatever he wanted, pliable and willing. His skin was on fire, but Kaito could feel it burn hottest on the tips of his ears and in his toes and fingers, like the heat in his skin was rushing to all of his end points, “With how I sound. Chad said… well, I get embarrassed.” 

“‘Kichi?” Kaito whispered, his hand tracing down and, lightly, wrapping around Kokichi’s arm. Not pulling, necessarily, but a gentle tug that was an invitation for Kokichi to follow his hand back up to Kaito as the Luminary prince whispered, “I miss you. Come back up here.”

Kokichi’s gaze softened a little, still focused and desirous, but sympathetic to his husband’s feelings. They did encourage and talk to each other in ways that would be beyond the bound in regular speech, but Kokichi never wanted to push Kaito too hard. 

Swallowing around the saliva spread all around his mouth, Kokichi hummed softly and took the invitation, crawling back up Kaito’s body, though he made sure to drag his hips against his husband’s as he did. 

“It’s okay to be embarrassed--if there’s anything you don’t like, I won’t push it,” he softly reminded Kaito. “But…I suppose I just want you to know…I don’t find them embarrassing. They’re lovely, and I love hearing you. There’s never a time I want my Kai-chan to be quiet, not when he’s talking about literature themes or gushing over Shuu-chan or when he’s letting me know how much he’s enjoying our time together.”

There was a pause, then a small, rough chuckle as Kokichi kissed the corner of Kaito’s mouth, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pressing his hips down. “Well…maybe when I have a migraine, but even then it’s just that I want quiet, not silence.”

Kaito shivered as he felt Kokichi run his stomach and crotch over the base of Kaito’s tight dick, something about the texture of Kokichi’s shirt and shorts both erotic and deeply frustrating as Kaito wrapped his arms around Kokichi again. 

Still, he grinned happily at Kokichi’s immediate, easy reassurances that they didn’t have to push past this particular insecurity right now. Kaito appreciated that about his husband. He knew if it was reversed, Kaito might have felt compelled to insist in a thousand different ways that Kokichi letting his pleasure show unabashed was incredibly sexy and desired and yada-yada… and, sure, all of those things were true. And Kaito believed they were probably true for Kokichi too, in regards to Kaito’s sounds. But a lifetime habit of trying to suppress the needier and louder of his moans wasn’t something he could get rid of with just permission to do so. It was too engrained in him. The fact that he was as noisy as he was with Kokichi now more a sign of a year of Kaito getting progressively more comfortable with his husband.

Maybe someday Kaito could be loud. He just wasn’t there yet.

“I love my ‘Kichi’s noises.” Kaito said as a response, humming happily as Kokichi kissed the corner of his mouth, before turning and kissing Kokichi back more fully. Having never been shy at the taste of himself, entirely unconcerned about it as he happily started making out with Kokichi again. As he kissed Kokichi, Kaito started to roll his hips up a little. Rutting against Kokichi’s hips and stomach, feeling Kokichi’s shirt catch on his dick a little, pushed up before falling over it, letting Kaito feel the warmth of Kokichi’s stomach directly, at least with the tip of his dick. The rest slicking against Kokichi’s shorts, able to feel the bulge of his husband's dick beneath the fabric.

…huh.

Kissing Kokichi again, Kaito chuckled again. Peering at Kokichi in the dark, Kaito realized, saying softly, panting slightly in his lust, “You’re not hard… not really. Too… hah… too tired?”

“So you’ve said,” Kokichi laughed softly, happily tilting his head to commit himself to their kiss. Kokichi only seemed to get self-conscious about his noises after the fact, and never for all that long. Considering how nervous he was about a lot of things in their sex life, it was a little weird, but…well, it wasn’t like he was doing anything in public. And when it was just for his husband and fiance? Kokichi liked being loud for them, giving them the same reassurance he felt in their noises. 

Carding his fingers through the back of Kaito’s hair as they kissed, Kokichi ground his hips down against his husband’s as Kaito rolled up, hoping to make just the right amount of friction that his husband wanted. Even if he was still fully clothed. Which, admittedly, could be kinda hot, but could also be kinda scratchy and…

Kokichi snorted quietly and kissed Kaito’s jaw as they parted. “Think so. This is really nice, don’t get me wrong, but…I don’t think we’ll have to worry about me tonight. Is that okay?”

But even still… “Hmmm… Shuu-chan and I were talkin’ about it a bit ago. Want me to take my shorts off, and I can lube up my thighs for you to fuck? I don’t mind if you wanna get in me either, but that way might be faster.”

Kaito swallowed hard, imagining a few different scenarios, each of them desirable in some way and a little guilty in others. Kaito knew he got more out of these sessions than either of his partners ever did. Even when they were all entirely into it, Kaito suspected he was the one that enjoyed them most, getting lost in what he honestly considered ‘his element’. It made him feel greedy and selfish, and the best way he had found to ease that feeling was to be certain his partners came, and came well. 

Hell, he loved having them cum on their own, sometimes, partly because it was unbearably arousing and could fuel his desire for days, but also because it made him feel less selfish the more he enjoyed himself the next time they did it together. That was true for Kokichi and Shuichi. That had been true for a lot of his partners. Kaito giving and giving and giving, trying to balance against the conqueror inside of him, who wanted to TAKE.

But this wasn’t Kaito being selfish, not really. Kokichi was just a little sleepy and, if his husband was anything like Kaito was, he genuinely enjoyed the act of pleasuring Kaito for its own sake, at least on occasion. Because it was fun. Kokichi didn’t have to get off to make Kaito’s pleasure less greedy…

However, pushing himself into Kokichi when his husband wasn’t that into it did feel greedy. So while Kaito played with that mental image for a moment, he dismissed it, tossing it aside. His husband wasn’t a cock sleeve, Kaito wasn’t going to leave his husbands hips aching for no relief on Kokichi’s end. He could ask Kokichi to blow him until he was finished, but Kaito was pent up, and while Kokichi had never complained about it before, Kaito knew doing a blow job too long would leave Kokichi’s jaw aching and uncomfortable.

Fucking Kokichi’s thighs though… Kaito grinned. Kissing at Kokichi’s cheek and neck a bit as he considered it. Hmmm… “That’d be a first for me.” Kaito admitted. “No one’s ever offered that to me before, or wanted it from me. Huh… pfff.” Kaito laughed, blowing a small huff of air into Kokichi’s neck, as he buried his face into it, “Oh, you’re going to see my ‘o’ face without being lost yourself. Oooooh noooo, I’m gonna look so damn goofy to you…”

Snorting at himself a little, Kaito kissed at Kokichi’s neck some more… before whispering to him, “Can I put you on your back, beautiful? You can stay on top if you want to, but it might be easier for you to keep your legs together on your back.”

Kokichi wasn’t expecting a fight, or even really a big disagreement or anything, but the time Kaito took to consider everything was expected…even if Kokichi struggled a little to understand it. Oh, he totally got wanting to feel balanced and like everyone was properly satisfied--he need only look at all the times all three of them were together, and the logistics conversations they had to see that--but, well, Kokichi had said from the start that he just wanted to make Kaito feel good. 

And while they hadn’t really had a proper conversation about it…Kokichi had caught Kaito thinking about wanting to ask Kokichi for something without physical reciprocation. That…yeah, maybe once in a while Kokichi could just blow him, and it didn’t need to turn into anything more than that. And Kokichi was super down for that! Especially in a time like this, when his pleasure was more consecrated in his heart, rather than his loins. 

It was just getting Kaito to agree to his own wishes. And, it turned out, this time, he would. 

Kissing at Kaito’s temple as he buried his face in his neck, Kokichi rubbed his hands down his shoulders. “Goofy is good. I know I probably look pretty ridiculous when I’m in the throes. And goofy doesn’t erase beautiful, you know? My Kai-chan is always beautiful.”

Removing one hand to pat at the beanbags around them, Kokichi hummed in assent. “Sounds good to me. Roll to the l…er, your right. It feels like there’s more cushion that way.”

Kaito felt a warm, pleasant spark of affection run through him at being called beautiful– honestly, always, always strange to hear from his ethereal husband– before he grinned playfully. Wrapping his arms around Kokichi and one leg, he pushed off the beanbag with one quick roll to his right, taking Kokichi with him as he rolled them onto Kokichi’s back. Keeping the weight off his husband by propping himself up by his elbows, Kaito grinned down at Kokichi, before leaning down a little on Kokichi. Kissing him a bit as the beanbag adjusted around Kokichi’s back.

“I love you so much…” Kaito whispered… before nipping onto Kokichi’s shoulder. Biting down a little, feeling the skin bubble up between his teeth, before letting go before any real damage could be done, licking at the reddening mark, even if Kaito couldn’t see it in the dark, as he whispered, “I’m about to fucking cover you in cum. God I’m so fucking pent up.”

Lifting himself up, Kaito grinned wolfishly in the silver light, promising as his eyes glinted, “If you don’t get that shirt off you, I’m going to rip it up.”

Giggling as the world turned over, Kokichi held on tight to Kaito’s shoulders, bracing his own legs against Kaito’s the best he could to keep them from tangling painfully. Kokichi liked having his own agency and autonomy in the bedroom, liked being able to touch and move and initiate…but damn if he didn’t find it hot how easily Kaito could manhandle him. Lifting and positioning with ease, Kokichi barely making a difference when he tried to brace and balance. 

One of these days he was going to propose the wall again--just with a pillow behind him this time. 

“A…ah…” Kokichi gasped as Kaito bit him, before snorting, tracing a finger around Kaito’s ear. “I love you too. I’ll need to change anyway, so I guess we can use my clothes to clean up later. Hope we can avoid everyone in the halls.”

But for once, Kokichi wasn’t particularly unnerved by something like that, and he smoothly removed his shirt and wriggled out of his shorts and underwear, setting them to the side and exchanging them for one of the lube packets. 

“Hmm, cats usually clean themselves off, rather than the opposite… You wanna help me out with this, or just feel?”

“If it was brighter, I’d ask you to do it, just because I love to watch you guys prepare yourselves and each other. I’ll be honest, Kokichi… nothing makes me feel more…”

Kaito hesitated. Saying ‘powerful’ feeling a step too far, a step too deep into the uncomfortable zones that had been the gateway for Kaito hurting his husband. It was the honest word, but he tried to think of a replacement, before finally settling on, “enraptured. You guys are so fucking sexy when you’re prepping for me.”

“B–ut.” Kaito said with a little pop, kissing Kokichi before leaning back, taking the lube packet from him as he lowered his own pajama pants, moving them and his boxers down his thighs and past his knees, kick them off with his feet, tapping at Kokichi’s knees with his hands, “I can’t see much right now, so spread ‘em, beautiful. Gonna lather you up!”

Glancing up, Kaito could still barely see the silhouettes of the cat ears, but did see they were slightly askew… and with a grin, used his free hand to readjust them back onto his husbands head. “I am way too into these. I think I just need to be honest and admit there’s something edging on a fetish, here.”

Kokichi chuckled softly, though there was open adoration in his shaded eyes. “There’s something a little exciting about being together in the dark, but…it does kinda make other stuff hard, huh? I think Shuu-chan might hate it, since he loves watching us so much.”

His assistance not needed, Kokichi stretched his arms up high as he spread his legs, trying to angle his hips just so on the beanbags to keep him propped up a bit. He didn’t think they’d really get into any terribly uncomfortable positions unless they straight up fell off the beanbags, but having his lower half a little elevated would probably make things easier. 

Raising an eyebrow, rubbing an ankle along Kaito’s thigh, Kokichi snorted. “Hun, I think that ship sailed when we bought them. Or maybe when you started to think about hunting me. Even with your brilliant brain, I think coming up with an entire ecological system about Kokichis you hunt is kind of indicative of a fixation.”

“Which is good,” he said softly. “Wanna be more than captivating to keep my Kai-chan’s attention. I’m already competitive enough, keeping up my rivalry with Shuu-chans to be your main prey.”

“Oh, you have no idea…” Kaito mused, emptying some of the lube into his hands, before warming them up as he rubbed them together. No startling cold for his Kokichi. No temperature stuff, not unless it was wax that Kokichi could control the temperature of in his dreams. Kaito could offer to be waxed on in the real world, but he had a feeling Kokichi would insist on stopping at the first possible sound of pain, if he ever agreed in the first place. His kind husband… 

Rubbing the lube between Kokichi’s thighs, running his thumb once on Kokichi’s limp dick just to make certain it really was before deciding to not try to push Kokichi into anything by touching it more, Kaito mused as he worked, “Or maybe you do? You have been in my head a bunch, I can’t know for sure how much you’ve seen… not that I think you’re keeping it from me. Just gotta imagine idle signs of the weird ways my lust turns sometimes probably doesn’t come up in idle conversation. God, you made that joke about Kokichi’s trying to lure Kaito’s away for their colonies in the woods, and getting captured instead, and it just did things to me.”

“I don’t imagine you in collars or on strings.” Kaito said. Half reassuring Kokichi– even if Kokichi didn’t need reassuring on that, it felt important for Kaito to say– as he reapplied the lube to his hands again. Warming it up before spreading the lube deeper into the curves where Kokichi’s legs met his crotch, Kaito now staring fixedly at that space. Imagining sliding his long cock between those spaces, “But… I do imagine needing to… trap you for a little bit. Just keeping you in the cabin and the garden for a bit, trying to help you adjust while you get used to living with me. You exploring and playing with things, because these Kokichi’s have never been in a house before, and you…” Kaito grinned, lost in the daydream, “always make a mess, at first. Not intentionally, you’re just playing and trying things, but you leave the sink running and you knock over the bookshelf climbing it and…”

Kaito looked away. Suddenly realizing he was revealing more about his idle daydreams than he had originally meant to say, as he admitted softly, “That sounds so stupid. It’s not even sexy, I just think those daydreams are cute… the sexy ones are when you convince me back into the woods to meet your colony of Kokichi’s. Those I get real lost in. There’s always a few Shuichi’s there. Sometimes another Kaito…”

Kaito looked down at Kokichi. Running his thumbs over Kokichi’s thighs to see if they were slick, before on a whim adjusting Kokichi on the bean bag. Digging his knees into the bottom of the bean bag to lift Kokichi’s hips higher, testingly thrusting his hips above Kokichi’s crotch to see how much range he had before he moved Kokichi again, pulling him down a little so his ass, still high, was nearer to Kaito, before Kaito practiced thrusting again. That would work… “Cross your legs, babe, let’s see how I did…”

“But the ones that aren’t just, like, ‘fun’ daydreams? Where I just get to imagine you being cute and sexy and a little playful? The ones where I’m chasing you through the woods, and maybe you do want me to catch you, but man you aren’t making it easy for me… where I finally manage to grab you and pin you down and we’re both panting and fuck I should wait, I should get you home and settled, but you’re so beautiful in the grass with the moonlight in your eyes and we’re both warm and covered in sweat and you’re staring at me…” Kaito said, feeling electricity start to dance across his skin again as, for a moment, he looked down at Kokichi, and that was all he saw. The Kokichi in the grass, chased and caught and successfully captured, waiting in breathless anticipation to see what the hunter was going to do to him… “Fuck.” Kaito whispered, arousal rushing through him, “It just does things to me… I’m sorry if it’s weird…”

It was arousing, Kaito rubbing around his crotch and thighs, slicking him up, still ever so attentive to warm the lube up before rubbing it in… Make no mistake, it wasn’t like this was doing nothing for Kokichi. He was warmed and each bit of his skin seemed attuned to attention, but it just…wasn’t molten lava flowing through his veins, pooling in his stomach. It wasn’t like heavy, sweet perfume driving Kokichi for deeper breaths, pulling him into a hazy grotto where Kaito was the only thing that was real. 

But it was still nice, and…in a way, it was nice to be able to feel Kaito’s versions of all those sensations with a clearer head. With a sense that he could take care of his husband, without falling from the trapeze for a moment in his own cascade of pleasure. 

“I haven’t pried much, to be honest,” Kokichi purred softly, letting his legs wander and sate his need to touch while Kaito was focused and out of range. “I’ve seen a few dreams, get impressions of things, but not a lot of specifics. I like hearing all of it from you, anyway. I like it more than just looking around.”

Because Kokichi could see a scene, could feel Kaito’s emotions surrounding it, but it wasn’t the same as learning more from what Kaito chose to share, and how he described it. Kokichi might’ve been able to see fond antics, but hearing Kaito describe it just as someone who might be acclimating a new cat, hearing his reassurances to Kokichi’s personhood, hearing the laugh and want in Kaito’s voice… It was more than the sum of his thoughts. 

Crossing his legs, flexing his thighs a little to make things a little more interesting for Kaito, even if his muscles still weren’t much to sneeze at, Kokichi huffed a laugh. “I like weird. I’m weird, so…weird is good. That my husband is creative and thoughtful enough to think of such elaborate worlds, and he still chooses to put me in them? That’s very sexy.”

“Not to mention…you’re right,” Kokichi breathed. “I’d always count on you catching me, but I’d never make it easy. It’s more fun that way…and I get to see my Kai-chan all worked up and determined…eyes only for me. If you extend a hand, I’ll always take it…but some things taste sweeter if it’s worked for, yeah?”

“It is more fun that way.” Kaito whispered, just taking a moment to look at Kokichi. Wrapping one arm around his legs, helping to keep them together a little, but using his other to run his hand up and down Kokichi’s chest and stomach. Spreading his hand wide as it went up Kokichi’s chest, his thumb and pinky easily running over both nipples, playing with the little points a little, before moving his hands upwards as he pushed his hips forward into Kokichi. Not putting any serious weight into his arm, but his hand now closer to Kokichi’s neck. Not wrapping around it– that too just came a little too close to memories that Kaito hadn’t quite put behind him yet– but more securely holding Kokchi’s collarbone and shoulder, squeezing slightly as he said, “I love chasing you. Even if it hurts sometimes. It’s exciting and interesting, and you’re so worth it.”

Kaito began to thrust his hips now. At first slow, easy motions, mostly just testing to see how far back he could pull his hips without losing Kokichi’s hold around his dick. Small, wet sounds as the lube did it’s job and let Kaito rub the loose skin of his cock between Kokichi’s small, soft thighs without too much resistance. There was a part of Kaito that missed the resistance Kokichi’s ass would give him– another part of the chase– but the rest of him loved how easily he could move against Kokichi now. That freedom of movement giving him a sense of control. Of having conquered. 

And while, considering all the times he had failed to do this, this was probably the most laughable time for him to recall this was something he should do… he paused. Giving out a little frustrated huff as he forced his hips still, before asking his husband, “Are you comfy? Is that okay? Do we need to adjust at all?”

“Mm, even when I get you stuck in a wall?” Kokichi laughed, before the sound went breathy, a grin spreading over his face as he felt Kaito’s cock slip between his thighs. It wasn’t the squeeze and stretch of being inside him, but there was…there was an alluring intimacy to it this way too, all its own. A closeness that didn’t feel like a substitute or imitation of something else, just…a sensuality that drove Kokichi to reach out, now that Kaito was back in touching distance, wanting to hold him closer. 

Running his fingers feather-light over the arm pinning his shoulder, tracing the muscles in Kaito’s forearm, the soft skin at the inside of his elbow… Tracing higher up, feeling out his chest, fingers pressing to his side, but not stopping any movement. Not when Kaito was ready to--

Kokichi blinked, a little off-guard at the check-in, before nodding, his hair making a soft sound against the beanbags. “Yeah, I’m all good. I mean…could always use you closer,” he winked into the darkness, “But…yeah. I’m comfortable. All good for you?”

Kaito gave a little huffy laugh at that, taking another steadying breath to force some calm back into him– it was so hard to stop once he had started. But a lot of their problems wouldn’t have happened if Kaito had checked in more during the acts– before he grinned widely at Kokichi, “Closer I can do.”

Scooting his knees in more, Kaito leaned down further, while still being careful to control where his weight was being leaned, and he kissed Kokichi a few times, as he started to roll his hips again. This part was, admittedly, a little odd for him. He usually helped push himself past the edge by watching his partners, and especially Kokichi, cum first. That was usually his cue that he should go feral and thrust like his life depended on it, pushing him over the threshold and into his own orgasm. But, he couldn’t pace himself on Kokichi’s reactions, cause, like… Kokichi was mostly just waiting on him. Patiently laying there while Kaito took what he needed out of him, waiting until Kaito was done.

It felt bizarre. Kaito looked at Kokichi closer, seeing love and affection in his husbands gaze, and Kaito kissed him again, before trying to focus on the feeling between his legs. Trying to find the thing in this situation that was going to let him push past the edge.

…he supposed he could really, just… push as hard and as fast as he wanted. It wasn’t like when he was buried balls deep into Kokichi’s ass and could only do it for a moment at the end, it wasn’t like sustaining it was going to hurt Kokichi like this. Kaito wasn’t even sure if he could sustain it. There hadn’t been many times in his life where he could go buck wild like that for the entire session, and the few times he had tried half the point had been to hurt his partner, masochists getting off on Kaito wrecking both his and their hips. 

But he didn’t think this would hurt? 

“...if this hurts, kitten? Let me know, okay?” Kaito whispered, kissing Kokichi again, before leaning more weight into his hips. Holding Kokichi’s legs tight, as Kaito braced his knees beneath himself, before hesitating, realizing this angle could potentially feel like slaps against Kokichi’s backside. That might hurt… “I’m just gonna try this pace, but if it hurts, I’m gonna stop and try a different pace, okay? Just tell me, it’s okay.”

Licking his lips a little, Kaito started… and immediately felt himself have to swallow a sound, a small grunt strangling his throat as he let out a small hissing breath of ‘fuck’ as he tried slamming his hips in between Kokichi’s thighs. His dick rapidly moving in and out between the two warm points, pushing and massaging quickly against them. Kaito enjoying the way Kokichi’s hips bent deeper into the bean bag, Kaito needing to shuffle forward a little to keep his angle as he thrusted harder, “Fff… nnn…”

Kokichi gave a happy little noise as thanks for the kisses, enjoying having more of Kaito within arms’ reach. This was primarily built around Kaito’s pleasure, but Kokichi could have fun too, and…well, admittedly there was some leeway, but Kaito wouldn’t acquiesce to something that made things more uncomfortable for him. 

“I’ll keep you updated,” Kokichi promised, gently grazing his nails around Kaito’s shoulder. He really had seen Kaito lose himself in pleasure without his own mind clouded, but this occasion felt special all the same. Kaito wouldn’t have to worry about pacing or bring his partner to the same heights…he could just go all in. And Kokichi couldn’t wait to watch. 

Letting out a few of his own sighs, feeling Kaito’s dick rub up on his stomach a bit at the angle, Kokichi tensed his legs, a wide, open grin growing on his face. “Ohh… That feels nice to me. Very good. Hmm…mm. You enjoying yourself too, Kai-nyan? Feels good, fucking my thighs?”

Kaito felt his ears and back redden, something genuinely flustered in him at Kokichi’s question. Because he was, and the even way Kokichi spoke just reminded Kaito that Kokichi could watch that. That Kaito’s pleasure and lust was on full display, Kokichi able to look at any little part of it he wanted. Both in and out…

It was exposing, and there was something arousing in being so exposed. Kaito huffed, looking away in slight embarrassment as he muttered, “Reminds me, you said you’d masterbate for me one day. Holding… mm… holding you to that, beautiful.”

“...but yeah.” Kaito admitted, glancing back at Kokichi, before immediately getting lost in Kokichi’s eyes. God, Atua, he loved Kokichi’s eyes, as Kaito found himself exploring them in the silver light of the darkness. The small bit of color he could see standing out as the light only glistened at certain points of it. “Yeah, fuck, yeah. Yeah. Oh.”

Kokichi kept clenching his legs, but Kaito adjusted his hips a little lower, and found himself caught on the stronger part of Kokichi’s thigh muscles. The head of his dick slicking against Kokichi’s stomach, hitting the texture of his happy trail. Kaito steadied his hips there, liking that combination, as he lowered his chest onto Kokichi’s. Still Gripping Kokichi’s legs and his shoulder to keep his body from sliding backwards at Kaito’s pounding, but enjoying the way he could feel Kokichi’s body shaking and bounce against his own nipples as Kaito bounced his hips against him. Kaito kissing Kokichi again, groaning against his tongue as he freely moved his hips, moving them as quickly and hard as he felt like as he posessively bit at Kokichi’s lower lip, if only briefly, before shoving his tongue in. 

Owned. Possessed. Captured. Kaito let himself enjoy this powerful feeling as he held Kokichi’s body beneath himself, grunting as he rocked his hips harder, perspiration starting to build on his skin. “You feel so good, kitten, oh fuck, oh fuck, you feel so good, mine, mine, oh god, you’re mine, you’re mine.”

A part of Kaito, feeling bold, wanted to literally scream that. Shout it as loud as he could. Wanting to dare anything else in the woods to even consider taking his hunt from him. Wanting everything in the woods to know what he had claimed.

…but that was a daydream, and in real life Kaito didn’t want to risk the chance that he’d embarrass his husband by having anyone pass by hearing them. So he whispered and grunted it in Kokichi’s ears, it enough for him for Kokichi to know that Kaito had claimed him. That Kaito had him and there was no escaping him now. That Kokichi was caught. 

And after a moment, there wasn’t much coherent in Kaito’s words. Just little grunts and grit teeth as Kaito adjusted against Kokichi, his sweat starting to fall, the pace he was setting hard work. Very hard work, his own hips were going to whine at him later for the workout he was giving them, but Kaito didn’t care. He found it was easy to keep up in his lust, as his dick tensed up between Kokichi’s legs, before Kaito suddenly found himself tightening the grip around Kokichi’s legs and putting as much weight as he could on his hips, rolling his hips violently into him as Kaito suddenly started to pant.

“Hah, h–aah… hah, o–oh, oh, h–rrnngh.” Kaito growled, biting into Kokichi’s shoulder and gripping him tight, like he was afraid Kokichi might try to pull away from him as his hips suddenly shuddered, his chest heaving as his orgasm shot out and spilled long over Kokichi’s chest and stomach. Kaito still thrusting in his orgasm, overstimulating himself a little as he rode the high…

“Turn around.” Kaito ordered, “Ass in the air, thighs shut close. One more time, one more time.” He demanded, his heart still thumping from his orgasm, but only more revved up, as he leaned back and almost hurriedly grabbed Kokichi’s hips, turning him over, “One more time.”

Kokichi chuckled breathlessly, just barely grazing Kaito’s glass jaw. He knew his husband really didn’t need anything more, but he really did love that spot. Kissing it, mostly, but he’d settle for this while he was twisted up like a gourmet pretzel. “Yeah, I do owe you… One of these days we’ll…hm. I’ll put on quite the show~”

He was telling the truth that this position wasn’t painful, and it hadn’t become so, but…well, it was a little difficult to move. For the most part, Kokichi was reliant on Kaito coming to him, to be able to touch, and while he could squeeze and shift his thighs with relative ease, it was hard to find any purchase to move his hips back against Kaito. And, well, even if it wasn’t uncomfortable, Kokichi knew that he’d been feeling it tomorrow. 

But with all that? The pleased, breathy sighs leaving him were the most indicative of Kokichi’s opinion. The frantic pace, the close, sweaty heat, Kaito stretched and hunched over him…it was the type of closeness that always begot horrific metaphor, but that Kokichi craved for these moments. 

Especially with everything Kaito was whispering into his ears. 

“I’m yours,” Kokichi murmured back, holding tight to everything he could. Not wanting to give up anything of Kaito to the world right now. Nearly looking like the one who had caught Kaito, his eyes and teeth gleaming in the dark as Kaito somehow bowled him over while lying down, pressing in and biting as Kokichi felt him shoot onto him. 

And while he had half a mind to tease…

He so often took Kaito out of this sort of thing, even with no objections, so…it wouldn’t be so bad to play along from the beginning this time. 

Moving with Kaito’s grip, Kokichi settled onto his knees, pushing his ass high while finding a comfortable position for his shoulders and neck, giggling into his arms. “Oooooh, my good Kai-chan… Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you in the morning too. One more time, my sweet.”

Kaito grinned, heart thumping wildly in his chest, his adrenaline shooting through him like a physical force. He felt wide awake and like he was in the middle of a long, frantic run, like a kid running downhill as fast as he could. It was that high, eager excitement that so often got him into trouble, with this, too caught up in the exhilaration in his body to think about anything other then the person he was with and how it felt to be pressed up against them. Against Kokichi. God, Kokichi. Kokichi, Kokichi, Kokichi–

Fixated and single-minded, Kaito leaned over him and started placing frantic, needy kisses on Kokichi’s back and neck, steadying his hips with his hands as he hurriedly put his hips between Kokichi’s thighs again. His cock felt electric and maybe even a bit painful in his stimulation, chasing one orgasm immediately with pursuit of another, but Kaito didn’t care. He was too deep in, lost in the feeling and happy to chase and sustain it.

It was exciting. He was having fun. 

Kaito kept the kisses up as he moved himself again, wanting Kokichi’s taste and warm against his lips, wanting desperately to show Kokichi the love and affection that warmed his stomach and spread throughout every nerve ending, moving with and around his lust. It was, admittedly, two slightly different feelings, his love and his lust, but both burned brightly through him as Kaito stared at Kokichi’s little half turned face, his husbands sweet words only pushing him forward, the amusement in his eyes and red in his cheeks intoxicating to look at. That little giggle. Kokichi’s laughter shooting through Kaito with the same brunt force as when Kokichi first pouted up at Kaito and demanded his brand new husband take care of him.

Kaito was pretty sure he had said something like this to Kokichi before, but he remembered it now: he had a feeling these words, that laughter, the cat ears and the little cat puns and that stupid little ‘nyah’ that set Kaito ablaze, wouldn’t have affected him at all if he had heard it from anyone else. It was just that it came from Kokichi. Kokichi driving him wild.

His husband would never have any idea what he did to him.

It didn’t take much longer, and this time Kaito couldn’t help a slightly louder, slightly longer grunt, it peeling out into a deep sort of whine as Kaito came between Kokichi’s legs again… but this time, instead of being revved up and excited for another, Kaito could only pant on top of Kokichi. Sweating and burning up and admittedly more than a little tired, as he rested his forehead on the back of Kokichi’s shoulders. His heart still thumping painfully in his chest, as his euphoria danced like electric currents both on top of his skin and deep within his body.

“Hah…hah… oh… h’oooooh…” Kaito panted, closing his eyes, feeling sweat drip down his face… before he placed little soothing kisses on Kokichi’s back, before whispering tiredly, “Atua, who loves us…”

He continued on. A little prayer, asking his god to look after them. To look after his husband, who was so good and patient and who Kaito loved with all of himself. To ask the saints to look after them for the upcoming year, to watch over the family that he and Kokichi Ouma headed. “We love them, and each other, and I ask for protection through that love, and offer this moment in prayer, in my place of worship. Atua be pleased.”

And catching his breath a little, Kaito kissed Kokichi some more, letting his body cool down and his head clear a little… before he said, sounding somewhat bewildered and tentatively hopefully, “...you said something about the morning? ‘Kichi??”

He couldn’t really stop some of his noises--the gasps and little laughs, hums and soft groans as he body was shaken like an earthquake--and Kokichi didn’t want to suppress them anyway, but he kept a little more quiet on this round. Not egging Kaito on with words as much, just…content to feel and give and let Kaito’s ever-consuming emotions surround him. 

He doubted he would ever truly understand. At this point, Kokichi was beginning to think that sort of barrier was just how people were differentiated--how they were them. Kokichi could--and would--see a million examples of Kaito’s passions, the depth of his heart, could open up the communication between them not just to understand from Kaito’s own mouth how he saw things, but feel the exact way he was feeling, and…yet, Kokichi would never quite understand it himself. 

But he could still appreciate it, and listen to his husband for what he needed, and sympathize with the parts he could understand. 

And, at times like these, enjoy the moments of being that felt like being thrown into the middle of a volcano. 

As Kaito came again, shuddering and panting, Kokichi relaxed his thighs with a shake, sweaty and messy in his own right as he rested his head on his arms, listening to Kaito’s prayer. Just a verbal addendum, or simply another part of the prayer they had already acted on. And while Kokichi didn’t think the gods had any right to the moment of intimacy between him and Kaito…he still smiled against his skin, and echoed a soft, “Atua be pleased,” when Kaito finished.

With a little sigh, Kokichi let his body fall to the side, patting around for his discarded clothes to clean up what he could before it got on the beanbags even more than it was. “Mmhm. I know this stuff usually hypes you up, rather than tires you out…but if you get all sore in the mornin’ I was gonna, like…bring you breakfast ‘n stuff. Maybe bring Miya-Miya to the office if you wanted to sleep in. Just take care of you, you know?”

“...” Kaito felt a warm spark in his chest, his stomach doing little flips as he let himself fall on his side beside Kokichi, seeing Kokichi’s little wandering hand pats and reaching over him to grab Kokichi’s shirt, passing it to his husband as he murmured a bewildered little, “...yeah?”

Kokichi took care of him in a thousand useful ways, that Kaito truly was grateful for. All of his friends did, each in their own way. But it was rarely in that way. Partly because Kaito rarely ever needed to be taken care of that way, checked up on or treated gently after sex, and even now his mind whirred that the back of Kokichi’s thighs probably could use an ice pack if Kokichi didn’t want swelling in the morning. Kaito had borderline spanked him with his hips, after all. And after keeping his husband up, it was Kokichi that probably both could use and deserved the chance to sleep in while Kaito ran around grabbing breakfast and taking care of Miyako and doting on his husband, who had been so patient and accommodating to his bullish husband…

But Kaito feeling that way didn’t take away the pleased, embarrassed flush to his skin as he imagined it going the way Kokichi proposed it. Kaito sometimes struggled to accept it, but it wasn’t like he didn’t like being doted on, a little bit, sometimes. It was nice to be fussed over…

 “Maybe.” Was the best Kaito could bring himself to say. Not wanting to commit Kokichi to that idea by sounding overly enthusiastic about it, wanting to give Kokichi an out if his husband was tired and sore tomorrow, as Kaito ran his hands soothingly over Kokichi’s hips, “But how do you feel? Are you hurt? I tried to keep the worst of my weight off you, but I can carry you back if your legs are aching.”

Kokichi hummed a thanks as he started cleaning up his legs and stomach. He would definitely do a quick cloth wipe down when they got back to their room--his idea of just going to bed naked was thoroughly dashed at this point--but for now? It would be enough to not feel completely disgusting on the trek back downstairs. 

…which he was a little more concerned about now than he had been earlier, but…well, he’d just hide behind Kaito if anyone on night watch was in their wing. Highly, highly embarrassing, but what people did in the middle of the night was their own business. 

Mostly clean, and his shirt trashed, Kokichi turned over more onto his back and stretched his legs out, something in his hip popping quietly. “Mm, not aching, but I’m a little wobbly. Just need a second, though, even with the gracious offer. And I’m okay, hun,” Kokichi smiled, reaching out in the dark to claim one of Kaito’s hands. “That was a lot of fun! And it definitely sounded like you agree.”

Kaito laughed a little, relaxing at Kokichi’s easy tone as he accepted Kokichi’s hand. Tracing his palm with his thumb as he grinned in the darkness, “Holy shit, babe, that was amazing… also? Super weird to hear you coherent after I just spent that much energy. Like, seriously, usually by the time I’m coming down from my high, you’re literally half asleep. Which is very cute! But also, huh. Look at you, all awake and stuff. I never get to chat with you after sex!”

Kaito leaned over, giving Kokichi a small kiss, before whispering, “Thank you… you were so patient with me. You didn’t have to come all the way up here and help me with all of this, but I’m so damn glad you did. Fuck, I feel incredible.”

Chuckling, Kaito laid back down, lightly wrapping a leg around Kokichi’s as he admitted, “Maybe you just have me used to it, but I feel like I need a nap. Or maybe it’s just still the middle of the damn night and my bodies feeling it. Heh~ could be either/or… oh man, you think Shuichi would be tempted once we get back, smelling like cum? He gets like that sometimes, all revved up after he’s seen we’ve been together. Put me through the ringer once. Do I want to be put through the ringer again? I could be tempted… hah!” Kaito laughed, squeezing Kokichi’s hand, “Maybe I’m more energized then I thought.”

Kokichi giggled softly, tracing his own fingers around what he could of Kaito’s hand while Kaito was touching his palm. “It is pretty novel, huh? I mean…I’m not not tired at all, and I know I’ll be thanking myself in the morning if we do go to bed soon, but…yeah. This is nice. After-sex naps always feel so refreshing, but I like getting to check on you with more than a few mumbles.”

Kokichi landed a few more pecks on Kaito’s lips, smiling against him. “...I’m glad I could help out. I know you’re a big, strong guy who’s happy with his hand, but…when I have the option to? I like being here for you in this way. I like taking care of my Kai-chan. And this was a lot more fun than just sending you off in the middle of the night.”

Scoffing through a laugh, Kokichi snuggled closer to Kaito, hooking an arm under him. “It might cross his mind, if he’s woken up at all, but we both know how much Shuu-chan likes his sleep. And even if you’re interested, you’ve told me your limit before, and while I have no qualms about taking care of my tired, sore Kai-chan tomorrow, I’d be a little more worried if you ended up that way ‘cause you pushed yourself too hard.”

“...we should be getting back soon, though,” Kokichi sighed. “Tomorrow’s another day.”

Again, that warm feeling in his chest. Little flutters in his stomach, as he couldn’t help but grin into Kokichi’s little kisses. A part of him nervous to accept that style of affection, but too enticed by it to completely deny it either. Oddly flattered that Kokichi would recall Kaito’s admittance that he couldn’t push himself much more than twice without needing a real break, and the subtle reminder that even if Shuichi did want it when they got back, that Kaito should seriously lean towards that self-care, even if it would be fun to sleep with Shuichi next.

Maybe Kokichi was doing this on purpose, saying these things that filled Kaito with affection and a type of love he wasn’t entirely used to. Doting and indulging him. Or maybe Kokichi had no idea the effect his words had on Kaito, right then, and would have given Kaito a baffled look if he tried to explain. Kaito didn’t know. He just knew that in his long history of sex, this wasn’t how he was usually treated, and it was… nice. Not necessary, but nice. Kaito basking in it a little, as he whispered, “That’s a good point. I could promise to make it up to Shuichi later~”

Bringing up his hand to kiss the back of his pinky, Kaito sighed a little, before saying, “Fiiiiine. Let’s go and clean ourselves up and kiss our Shuichi and our Miya goodnight and go to bed. Be responsible adults… I love you, Kokichi.”

Kokichi snickered softly, feeling warm himself not just from the heat of sex, but from that nice, appreciative feeling in Kaito’s chest. “I think he gets quite a lot of fun out of planning too, our guy. Give him some time to think about how he wants you to make it up to him? It’ll be all the better.”

Or he might get a little pouty, but…Kokichi didn’t really think that would happen. If Shuuichi was feeling left out, that was something they could talk about, and…well, Kokichi thought that this was something that was pretty understandable. And in all honesty, Shuuichi probably would’ve shooed them off anyway if they’d woken him up beforehand. 

Giving Kaito’s hand one last squeeze, Kokichi nodded and started to get up from the beanbags. “I love you too, Kai-chan. I’m still claiming the middle spot when we get back.”

-

Kaito sat down in the horrible yellow room, and took a deep breath. The telephones intercom already running, the administrators having already called ahead and asked Luminary’s admin to request Queen Kaede’s audience. It was actually unlikely, that Kaede would be available. A queen’s life was busy, and Kaito hadn’t called ahead, asking for a proper time to call. It was actually incredibly rude, what he was trying to do, extremely disrespectful. 

Kaito knew the message would be loud and clear, that he was upset with her. And he admittedly felt a little proud, immediately, when Kaede turned on the other end of the line, a tad wariness in her tone as she brightly said, “Kaito! What an unexpected delight!”

Kaito grinned at the phone, though he knew he wasn’t entirely hiding his own wariness as he responded shortly, “Oh, I bet.”

“Oh, noooo.” Kaede laughed a little– Kaito could picture so easily, how she would bring her hand up to her mouth, like she was feeling demure and shy, while all the while her eyes would be studying you openly– before sighing, “You sound upset… is everything okay, Kaito?”

“I had an interesting conversation, the other day. I’m calling because I’m trying to confirm some things I heard.” Kaito said, before feeling a small smirk twist his features a little as he said, “Does the name Aihito Houdan ring a bell?”

There was a silence, just for a moment, and Kaito could admit, at least to himself, that he was enjoying it. That silence of possibilities. 

“...Kaito, you didn’t harm him, did you?” Kaede asked, sounding deadly serious. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve honestly been wondering this since I learned about the coup… did you tell them?” Kaito asked her softly. Chuckling lightly at the silence as he corrected himself, “Or setup the people who would tell them? Did you know what it would set off? Or am I giving you too much credit and it was just a happy coincidence?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Kaito.”

“You don’t?” Kaito asked, sounding genuinely bewildered, “Well, maybe you don’t. Maybe it’s more obvious to me what happened then it is to anyone else, because I’ve spent the last ten months obsessively thinking about everything that happened. Everything that led to my parents being dead and Byakuya being banished and you being queen… Byakuya’s hated dad for years, but weirdly enough, it was only after our abuse and dad’s incompetence got exposed to everyone that my father suddenly was thrown from the war room. And Atua knows you’ve benefited from attacks to my reputation before…”

“King Leon was exposed as incompetent when one of his Head Secretaries most trusted secretaries was banished from Dicea for brazenly raping his son.” 

“I wasn’t raped.” Kaito immediately corrected through gritted teeth, before clearing his throat, embarrassed at the reaction, as he clarified, “Chisa drugged Kokichi’s drink.”

“Oh, Kaito…” Kaede said softly, something genuinely sad in her tone, before she sighed. Continuing on, “Between the envoys and Chisa’s antics, you really think I could have planned any of that out beforehand? Or how Byakuya would react to all of it? I’m not that good, Kaito, no one is.”

“So just a lucky break for you?”

“Kaito, I thought you were handling this. Why are you breaking down now, after staying composed through all this for the last year? Did something happen with the envoys?”

“You got off so lucky.” Kaito said grimly, “They were so busy exposing my secrets, they didn’t have time to tell people about yours.”

“... Kaito, everyone knows about the coup now–”

“You’ve been locking Sou in a basement?!”

The genuine shock in Kaede’s tone as she asked, “How did you…” was incredibly worthwhile to Kaito, who couldn’t help the mean little smirk on his face as he heard her curse on the other end. Collecting herself for a moment, before Kaede said, “Kaito, whatever you’ve heard? It’s outdated information.”

“You’ve been terrorizing your husband, locking him in rooms and hitting him.”

“Hitting him!? I…” Kaede scoffed, her tone clicking a little, before she said softly, “I had to make hard choices, Kaito.”

“Why is it when a Momota makes a ‘hard choice’, everyone but the person making the choice suffers for it?” Kaito mused, “Always?”

“I didn’t enjoy it! It was necessary–”

“Your grace, if I may? I can assure you, any bad feelings you had hurting him, still doesn’t equal the suffering he went through actually living through that.” Kaito snarled, before saying somewhat earnestly, “Kaede. What the hell happened!? The coup I hated, but I could understand. Taking advantage of the rumors going around about me to lose my inheritance sucked, but I could understand it! Manipulating Shuichi and Maki? They both ended up okay, so I could forgive it. The manipulations you use don’t usually hurt the people you manipulate into helping you, so I’ve always been willing to look past it, but… that was more than manipulation! The stories I’ve heard about Sou? It’s just straight up abuse! Why in the hell would you go that far!?”

“...I wanted Byakuya to see.” Kaede said softly. 

“Oh, don’t fucking turn this around and make this my brothers fault–”

“He sent me a spy and forced me to marry it. Him.” Kaede corrected herself, as Kaito frowned, “Sou. He sent me Sou and forced me to marry him, and expected this to break my spirit, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it. Byakuya thought there was nothing I could do. You know how hard it is trying to be a socialite Momota, Kaito…Byakuya was trying to exploit my dependency on my good reputation by putting me in an impossible situation.”

“So,” Kaede said, “I decided to show him I can be ruthless too.”

“...dammit. No wonder my husband can’t stand you.” Kaito muttered, rubbing at his temple.

“Kaito, I didn’t pick that last part up, you went too quiet.”

“Nevermind.” Kaito sighed, running his hands over his face, “Hey, Kaede, remember all that stuff about trusting me to be the one to tell you when you’re full of shit?”

“Kaito, you don’t understand–”

“Your husband is not a fucking chess piece. And also? Slapping around and terrorizing someone entirely under your power isn’t fucking impressive, not even in a ‘look how ruthless I am’ sense! It’s just you being a fucking self-important assho–”

“Kaito, you need to reconsider your tone–”

“Why, what are you going to do, have me assassinated?” Kaito asked dryly, “I don’t know who would ruin your life first if you tried to target me: Kokichi, Shuichi or Byakuya. Actually, let’s be honest, Maki would get to you first. Man, Kaede, whatever you did to Maki? You seriously burned that bridge. Way to piss off your strongest ally. Great socialite skills there, your grace.”

“Becoming Queen isn’t easy, Kaito.” Kaede said stiffly, “I did many things I’m not proud of. But it was all for a greater good. And Sou is fine now. I’m more than paying him back for the slight discomfort he felt for a mere few years.”

“Yeesh.” Kaito muttered, before sighing, “Look, Kaede, I didn’t just call to yell at you. I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal…”

“My husband has a desire to get to know at least one of my family members, and after a year of peace, I thought some new show of the Momota and Ouma family getting along would be good for international relations. And I want to know damn well that Sou’s getting some breathing room from you to make some choices for himself. So, the proposal is this: Dicea will host Prince Consort Sou to take a tour through Dicea’s landscapes and towns of notes, including a trip to the capital, as an ambassador tour in order to better acquaint the Luminary Queen to her neighbors to the east, through her husband.”

“...”

“I want you to send Sou on a vacation through Dicea.” Kaito clarified, “Let Dicea host him for a few months, he’ll get to take some time away from you, Luminary, all of Luminaries bullshit, and when he gets to Usott I’m going to ask him, now that he’s had space to think about it, what he wants to do next. And then we’ll figure it out from there.”

“...or what?” Kaede asked dryly.

“Hm?” Kaito blinked theatrically at the camera, even if Kaede couldn’t see him. “What do you mean?”

“Or what will you do, if I don’t? If you believe I can’t threaten you, Kaito, what on earth do you think you have to threaten me with? Going to throw Maki’s life away for Sou’s, sending her after me?”

“Kaede, no… we’re family.” Kaito frowned. “And you told me you look to me for the right thing to do. I’m proposing this because if you really wanted to make it up to your husband? This is the right thing to do. Sou needs a vacation, space, in a place where he’ll be able to be safe and be himself. I thought about putting a watchdog on him, someone in Luminary to ensure his safety, but rumors have gotten back to me that his safety has already been guaranteed in Luminary. So, great, he’s doing better there… but that’s still not good. Especially if he’s still trapped with his abuser. That’s not a reprieve, Kaede. It’s not good for him mentally. Space and time to be his own person, and decide what he wants for himself, will be.”

“Oh? And did that help you?” Kaede challenged, something bitter in her tone, “Or are you still trying to crawl into Byakuya’s lap even now?”

“...”

“...oh god, I didn’t just say that.” Kaede whispered.

There was a brief silence, Kaito quietly listening to Kaede compose herself. Muttering and cursing to herself, clearly genuinely put off by her own actions. After a moment of listening to her quietly chastise herself, Kaito started to feel sympathy. Having been in that position himself, realizing how bad his mentality on things had gotten.

So after a moment, he said, “Kaede, genuinely? …yeah. It did help. Getting away from… all of you? Has helped a lot…”

“...becoming queen was so hard, Kaito.” Kaede whispered. 

“Don’t ask me to sympathize.” Kaito responded dryly. “Not now. Not yet. Maybe someday, when you and I are in a better place… but for now? Kaede, I’m never going to be able to look at you the same way, unless you at least start trying to be good to the people in your life. The person I know you wanted to be, growing up. I don’t think you were lying, when you used to talk about what being a good leader was. I know you believed it. I believe you still believe in that person, and…” Kaito swallowed a little, before saying softly, “It’s not too late to be that person you envisioned. It’s not too late to be the Kaede I knew… but you have to start with Sou. And it can’t end with Sou. You’re queen now. We need so much from you.”

“...” Kaede sighed. “I need an official invitation from Dicea. I can’t propose it myself. And Sou will need to agree.”

Kaito grinned, “Good.”

-

“Okay, okay, so…” Souda gestured for Kaito to take a few steps back, Kaito chuckling as he backed up, sipping at his mead while Souda appraised the triangle of shot glasses, “If I throw the coin in and it lands, you drink the shot but I get the coin, and then get to go again. And if I miss–”

“Then it’s my turn, yeah.” Kaito nodded, sipping at his mead again. The hustle and bustle of the pub happening quietly around them, two musicians in the corner playing for tips filling the air with music, “And it’s whatever coin we bet with. So, if I bet a gold piece, you gotta throw a big heavy gold piece. But if Waku were to bet a copper piece, well, that’s a whole different challenge. But if you manage to land with the coin we bet? We drink, you keep the coin.”

“Kinda seems like a waste, that the more I win the less I get to drink.” Souda pouted, “I came out to drink, dammit!”

“Would you relax? If you win, you can buy yourself a drink with the coin you win.”

“Well that also feels unfair!”

“Oh my god.” Kaito grumbled, rolling his eyes at Souda, “I will buy you a victory drink. How about that? You’re supposed to make your opponent drink to make their aim worse, make it harder for them to win. Everyone get it? Waku, you get the game, right?”

“It’s like beer pong with betting. And better drinks, hopefully,” Waku nodded, eyeing a new sign behind the bar, the place apparently getting ahead of the curve and advertising Harvest-themed drinks already. None of them were traditional shots, so they wouldn’t work as game pieces for the challenge Kaito had proposed, but they did sound intriguing. She saw someone earlier with an air-pump syringe that was a cloudy green and it seemed exactly like the type of thing she could probably goad Souda into trying. 

Stretching a little--the boys had been fussing over the rules for a while--Waku tucked some of her hair behind an ear before pulling out a silver piece and grinning at Kaito. “What are you feeling, then--the whiskey or the rum? I’ll wager I’ve played more laundry basketball than either of you two have in your life, so I don’t plan on losing.”

It was a lively evening at Tino’s, a pub not quite the gruff, solitary silence of dives Kaito and Waku would sometimes go to together, but a little more rowdy than the pubs closer to the open market, comradery found more in groups than across the whole pub. The perfect place for commotion to go if not unnoticed, then unexamined. 

The kind of place that…Aceto Doppio wasn’t really sure he was supposed to be? Pubs didn’t always kick out minors on principle, but he hadn’t even been ID’d…and why else would The Boss ask him to come here, passing on a small folder to Miss Luke if he’d draw attention by not being allowed to be there? The Boss wouldn’t make such a blatant mistake so…

It was all fine, probably. 

His job done, though, Doppio wasn’t really sure where he should head to next, or if it was wholly conspicuous to leave immediately, so he just--

Waku jumped, her silver missing by a mile with her flinch as she and quite a few other patrons turned at the loud THUD-ding sound, a short, pink-haired guy stumbling back from a swinging door that, presumably, had just smacked him in the face. 

“Aw, bad luck.” Kaito laughed, immediately reaching over to give Waku a pat on her shoulder– maybe taking a second to squeeze a little reassuringly, appraising her quickly to see if the jump had triggered anything– as he said, “That’s no worries, Waku, trust me. You taking the first drink only means it’s gonna even out the playing field a little! Gives poor Souda a chance!”

“What!? You have no idea my coin-throwing prowess! I could be the greatest coin thrower in the world!” Souda squawked, looking deeply offended, tears dotting his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Kaito said, giving Waku another appraising look, before glancing at the person who had just been thrown on his ass, snickering, whispering to Waku, “Want me to go check out what the noise was all about?”

Letting out a breath, Waku let her shoulders relax as she pouted at her friends. “I’ll still drink, but I call foul play. I would’ve absolutely made that.” Shaking her head, Waku picked up the shot of rum and knocked it back, scrunching her nose as she pushed the silver on the table towards Kaito. 

“Muster that outrage, Souda,” Waku said gravely after clearing her throat. “Jock supremacy can’t continue.”

It was all in good fun, though, and Waku gave Kaito a calmer smile. “...yeah, but mostly ‘cause that guy still hasn’t gotten up. Hold up your pinky and ring finger if we gotta get out of here ASAP.” She wasn’t expecting anything bad, but it paid to be prepared.

Picking up his coin, Kaito gave her a nod and a grin, “Ring, pinky, aye! Oh, shit, yeah, he really hasn’t. Hey, hey!” Kaito shouted, hurrying over as he spotted the clearly already intoxicated woman who had first come in trying valiantly to step over the guy the door had hit, her heel accidentally but still obviously painfully coming down on his hip. 

“Oh, hold on, almost got it.” The woman murmured, picking up her leg and trying to step over him again, a flash of irritation coming over her as someone grasped her arm and pulled her to the side, around the fallen guy… before she looked up and her expression went immediately from irritation to delight as she cooed up at Kaito, “Oh, hellooooo there handsome~”

Kaito grinned down at her, cooing back as he pushed her gently towards the bar, “You need waaaaaater~ shoo, shoo, go get water, lovely~”

“Come buy me a drink!” She called back, but stumbled in the direction of the bar, that having been her destination, “Show you a good time!”

“Mmhm.” Kaito said, rolling his eyes again, as he looked down at the… hm. Kid?? Baby??? Or this was another Kokichi/Fuyuhiko situation, as Kaito reached down to offer the, at best, twink a hand. “Hey there! That was a hell of a spill, man! Few too many drinks?”

Doppio groaned softly, both hands now occupied rubbing his face and hip. Owwwww…that was sure to bruise. People really were just incapable of looking where they were going, huh? Though, he supposed he had himself to blame at least partially for being in a bar in the first place…ugh.

It took Doppio a moment to realize that the voice above him was talking to him, and he floundered for a moment, wide, golden eyes just blinking up at the massive red-head for a moment before tentatively accepting the hand. “Oh, uh, thanks… Uh, no, I…don’t think so?”

He didn’t feel drunk, and despite whatever the rule may be for other people, that was usually a better indicator for him than trying to recall how many he’d had. Though, what the hell else was Doppio doing at a bar otherwise? He never drank on the job--unless it was required by social convention--and, well, it wasn’t really his scene anyway. 

…maybe he’d just gotten bored? Given that he was out and about most of the time, it wasn’t really an issue, but…the house could get pretty lonely sometimes. 

Stumbling a little forward, unprepared for just how enthusiastic the red-head was going to pull him up, Doppio made a little unbalanced sound before straightening. “I-I’m good. Didn’t mean to pull you away from…whatever. Thanks.”

“Woooooah, woah, woah. Hold up, nope.” Kaito said dryly, grabbing the kid’s shirt collar before he could stumble out into the street, pulling him back like a disappointed mother over a fussy kid. Peering down at the kid with a furrowed brow, he snapped his fingers in front of the guy’s face, watching his pupils, and hmphing as he didn’t see anything that confirmed one way or another, “You don’t ‘think’ so? Yeah, that’s no good. Someone in here feed you a drink? It only has to be one, you didn’t even have to finish it, just have a few sips. Anything like that happen?”

Kaito wasn’t explicitly saying it, because he didn’t want to alarm the kid overtly, but he was talking about a date-rape drug. Unfortunately, one aspect of being a ‘party prince’ back in Luminary was that, even outside of what had happened on his wedding night, he was painfully used to seeing signs of that shit, either someone trying something, someone else looking affected, and a few unfortunate nights where Kaito himself wasn’t sure what had happened. It was just an unfortunate risk of going out into the world to drink. And if the kid was affected, Kaito was not about to let him stumble out into the world only to be followed by whichever dipshit in here had dosed him. 

Looking at the kid too? It was waaaaay too easy to see the temptation, if you were out here doing that shit to people anyway. The kid was gorgeous. Big sweet golden eyes, a smatter of freckles over tan skin, under bright pink hair that gave both Souda and Waku runs for their money. Pretty little thing like this, at a bar alone? Oh yeah. Kaito was gonna assume some shit.

Doppio tensed as the guy grabbed onto his sweater, looking back with a newly appraising look. He liked to think he wasn’t…yanno, the most useless and incompentent piece of shit in the world, but this guy was more than half a head taller than him and twice as wide and…he’d literally picked up that woman from before to move her, hadn’t he. The only way he was getting out of this was if he got squirrely and, wait, what?

Blinking from the snaps in front of his face (rude), Doppio looked over at the guy again, a more confused than wary look crossing his face. “...no. No one here bought me anything.”

He probably should’ve been shown the door already by now, actually, but while Doppio had half a mind just to scoot, there was a stubborn part that insisted on staying since he was already here. 

And since his mind was on that track-- Frowning a bit, Doppio tried to roll his shoulders out of the tall guy’s grip. “What’s your damage, let me go. If you helped me up just to mug me you’re dumb as hell to do it in the middle of a bar, and also I don’t have that much money.”

Kaito frowned at that, before huffing. Letting the kid go, but squaring his shoulder as he gestured to himself with a jab of his thumb, “Mug you!? Do I look like someone who needs to mug someone!? I’m Prince Kaito Ouma Momota, Luminary Prince of the Stars! Even murder children look to me when things get tough! Tough like ‘getting dosed with something at a bar’!”

Crossing his arms, Kaito tilted his head a little, frowning at the kid as he said, “You sure you’re good? I’m not accusing you of anything, you didn’t do anything wrong if someone put something in your drink. You feel clear-headed? Know where you’re going?”

…

The frown persisted on Doppio’s face for a few more moments before his eyes widened almost comically. Prince? Ouma? And, look, Doppio wasn’t wholly unself-aware, he knew he could be kind of a space cadet sometimes, but he definitely wasn’t so out of it that he didn’t know that this was Dicea, so this was…

Blanching, Doppio made a strained sound in his throat. “I-I’m sorry! Look, I’m… People mess around with me, you know?! So I… I assumed… Sorry! I didn’t mean anything by it, Prince Kaito, like…like of course the royal family wouldn’t mug people! Obviously! That’s ridiculous; no one would think that, so I totally wouldn’t, and you came over to help me up and everything and…”

Very quickly, Doppio waved his hands in front of himself, as if trying to clear the air physically. “Sorry!”

Kaito tilted his head a little, a concerned look deepening on his face at the ‘mess with me’ comment, “Uh huh…”

“Hey! ‘Prince Momota!’” Souda called over, having been watching this gleefully from a distance, having goaded Waku into passing him a silver coin and taking two drinks after two failed throws. “You gonna clobber someone!? Do it, do it!”

Kaito shot Souda a withering look over his shoulder, “Souda, dude. Shut up.”

But, in the process of looking over his shoulder, Kaito suddenly noticed, uuuuuuh, a few stares his way. Some just curious, but a few… ah, shit, Kaito had kinda forgotten himself, hadn’t he. He had been feeling too comfortable with Waku and Souda, he had forgotten he had to be careful out here. 

Throwing an appeasing grin on his face, Kaito grabbed the kid around the shoulder and pulled him in, announcing in a general sort of way, “Total misunderstanding! Everything’s good! Hey, you drink? I’m gonna buy you a drink… one mead. With food. Gonna get you, like, a hotpocket or something, one of those little meat paddy things, put something solid in you.” Kaito murmured, giving the kid a concerned look now that he had an arm around him. Waaaay too skinny. “One mead, one hotpocket, come on, come meet your pink brethren. Souda, Waku! I found your cousin!” Kaito called, dragging the kid back to their table.

Doppio was a coward, but he really tried not to act like one, even when The Boss’s overarching advice for things like this was just to run…but holy shit, if the prince was going to fight him he had to run! There was no winning there--what was he gonna hope for, huh? Beating down or killing a member of the most beloved family in the country?! Doppio really couldn’t help it sometimes, but Boss always told him to cause as few ripples as possible, not get his damn face plastered across the kingdom!

Looking nervously between the prince and his posse--the woman there was giving him just an unnerving stare, like she was looking right through him--Doppio…felt a little better with the prince immediately shutting down talk of a fight, but…

Doppio could only blink in surprise as he was ushered over to the table, mind-reeling, and of all things to take from that, he responded, “I’m not related to these people.”

Waku’s gaze softened knowingly before she nodded at the kid--he seemed a little erratic, but so were the rest of them, “He means it as an expression of in-grouping, since we all have the same hair color.”

Taking a breath, Doppio nodded. This…seemed like where he was now. “I do drink sometimes. Wouldn’t really have reason to come to a place like this if I didn’t…” Glancing around the group, he gnawed gently on his lip. “Oh, uh…I’m Aceto Doppio. By the way.”

“Ooooh, Aceto? Hell yeah, now that’s a sharp name! Giving you real ‘protagonist’ vibes!” Kaito grinned, thumping Doppio on the back good naturedly, “Can I call you ‘ace’ for short? Alright, one mead, one meat pie for Ace! Waku, Souda, you guys want me to grab you anything while I’m at the counter? Don’t let him drink any shots, I don’t think he’s old enough.” Kaito said pointedly, slapping his hand on Doppio’s back again, “Don’t worry, our group’s looking after you tonight! We’ll make sure you get home safe and sound!”

“Eeeh? We are?” Souda said, giving Kaito an unimpressed look, “I didn’t come out here to babysit, Kaito.”

“What’s that? You're offering to pay for his food and drink, Souda? Ah, buddy, that’s so nice of you! Come on, bro!” Kaito grinned fiercely, reaching out to grab the back of Souda’s neck and pull him along to the bar, “Such a guy! What a pal!”

“Gah!”

“Be right back!” Kaito called over his shoulder to Waku.

Doppio grimaced a bit. “I mean…everyone pretty much just calls me Doppio. I guess Ace is, like, casual…even if that isn’t even how my name’s pronounced…but knock yourself out, I guess.”

“Kaito, he doesn’t like it,” Waku said without preamble, before adding, “Get me that Potion of Eternal Youth--it looks like it sparkles and if we’re going in on pink I might as well. And I’ll pay for whatever pretzel or breadstick thing they have so Souda doesn’t end up throwing up behind the building again.”

Giving Kaito another sour look at the ‘too young to drink’ comment, Doppio sighed before awkwardly taking a seat at the table that the woman--Waku--gestured to, only wincing a little as he banged his knee against the booth casing. “So…what are you guys doing with shots spread out like this anyway?”

“Kaito introduced us to Not Beer Pong. Same concept with shots, essentially, but with gambling involved too. You toss a coin in, it makes it, opponent drinks and you get the coin, opposite for failing. We won’t make you drink, but you can play if you want--gives the rest of us more reason to drink, really, especially since Souda (the guy that left with Kaito) is being weird about drinking other than what the game demands. I’m Waku Harai.”

The two of them traded nods before, bluntly again, Waku asked, “Are you Tsumarian? Your name sounds like it.”

“Oh, uh, I think it’s a family thing…”

“Interesting,” Waku leaned forward, a hunger for questions in her eyes.

“Uh oh. Waku’s got that ‘fish on the hook’ look in her eye.” Kaito grinned, placing down her drink in front of her, a fresh cup of mead in front of Doppio, while behind him Souda was carrying a bowl of pretzel sticks and a plate of hot pocket. “Alright, alright, so you don’t like ‘Ace’. That’s fine, so, you’re one of those ‘last name’ kinda guys? That’s fine! It’s tough! Brooding and mysterious! Strong choice!”

“I mean, I go by my last name too, so it’s not that strange.” Souda reminded Kaito… before raising an eyebrow at Kaito openly bewildered look at that, “Did you not know Souda’s my last name?”

“What the hell is your first name then!?”

“Kazuichi!”

“That’s too fucking long!”

“What the hell do you mean it’s too fucking long!? Both your partners are called Shuichi and Kokichi! It’s like the exact same length!”

“Their names are too long too! Everyone needs a strong, two-syllable name! Right, Waku? Back me up here!”

Doppio just shrugged a little, unwilling to make a definitive comment on the matter, though Waku nodded affirmatively in his place. He wasn’t really sure what to think about her speaking for him, but…well, if it got Kaito to not call him Ace…

And going by your surname wasn’t that weird! Even in this group apparently. Quietly thanking both men--Doppio wasn’t sure if Kaito had really made Souda pay for his drink, so that was just to be safe--as he slipped a small chain into the mead, Doppio shrugged awkwardly again. “It…kind of isn’t. Four syllables is longer than three.”

Making an intrigued sound at the swirling pink glitter in her high fluted glass, Waku hummed. “Shuuichi is four syllables too if you go by classic Dicean phonics--and Kaito is three by the same rules. And, Kaito, I’ve never heard you call Shuuichi anything but his full name if you’re using it at all. Or are you arguing that ‘handsome’ is his two-syllable name?”

Seeing that the chain hadn’t changed, Doppio pulled it out and took a sip of his mead, deciding to just accept the food. He was positive it wasn’t his night to make dinner--or, rather, that it was one of his few nights off from making dinner--he had checked his notepad several times to confirm so…it was nice getting to eat out every once in a while. And especially while he wasn’t paying.

At the mention of Shuichi, Kaito grinned fondly, though he was idly debating with himself about going back to the bar to get a fun sounding drink. Waku’s looked really good. Taking his silver coin from Waku and deciding to at least play a round or two before he did. “Yeah, Shuichi didn’t like my attempts to shorten his name either. He was, like, eleven when I was trying to do it, so maybe it’s just time changing his perspective, but Kokichi is absolutely getting some favoritism points, for Shuichi never having corrected him when he started doing the ‘Shuu’ thing. I never got away with that sorta shit.”

Chuckling some more, Kaito flipped the coin with his thumb, trying to land one of the cups, and cursing a little as it bounced on the edge. “I’ll figure out the momentum.” He murmured, heading over to pick up the glass and drink it back in one large swig, turning the cup outside down and placing it down, “Waku, wanna try for a gold? I’ll bet a gold on yours.” Kaito said, placing her silver down, pulling a gold out to give to her, “And Maki-roll, well, I made her name longer with her nickname, so I dunno, saying I shorten everyone’s names isn’t quite right. I’m more going for ‘vibes’ than anything. Doppio! How’s the food treating you? Still feeling alright, kid?”

“I think Kokichi adheres to the two syllable thing more than you do,” Waku mused, humming in pleasant surprise at the tart floralness of her drink. “Since he’s adding a whole suffix, he needs to cut down somewhere. Also, weren’t the three of you still kind of scared of him when he gave you nicknames?”

Taking the gold with a muttered, “You’re on,” Waku flipped the coin just in her palm for a few moments, judging the weight before flipping it right into a shot of butterscotch vodka, giving Kaito a smug look. Looked like she wouldn’t have to pay him back for her drink and food after all. 

Having just been kind of watching, Doppio startled to attention as Kaito called out to him, nodding before giving the prince a frown. “Don’t call me ‘kid’. But…yeah, I’m fine. Seriously, I know I’m not the biggest guy but a glass of mead isn’t going to bowl me over.” 

Looking over the array of glasses on the table, he huffed softly. “I’d be worried more about yourself, honestly. Like…what even is this?” he asked, gently tapping a shot glass filled with an almost black liquid.

“My Shuichi isn’t afraid of anything!” Kaito said defensibly, squaring his shoulder… before admitting, “Though, Kokichi could admittedly be a little intimidating, in those early days. Intelligent eyes and a sharp tongue, my ‘Kichi. Most of the time it’s sexy as all hell. Sometimes it’s scary.” Kaito mused.

He lit up as Waku landed her shot though, “Wow! Fuck yeah, good shot! I’m gonna win it back though. Here, I’ll put a silver down for the next one.” Kaito said, passing her a silver for her next shot, as he reached over to the one with the gold in it, giving her a ‘one second’ motion, before swigging it back. Grinning as, by the time he was done with his shot, the gold coin was lodged between his teeth, leaning over to Waku as he gave her a raised eyebrow, daring her to take it from between his teeth. 

“It’s just rums and whiskeys but with food coloring in it.” Souda explained to Doppio, pouting as he waited his turn to play, wanting to drink more. “Bar’s got a theme, apparently. They’re chomping at the bit for fall.”

The royal family couldn’t compare to The Boss, of course, but while The Boss hadn’t told Doppio to consider them a threat, they always did try to avoid confrontation, as much as you could when dealing with illegal activities behind the government’s back. So if Prince Kaito said his husband was scary…Doppio whole-heartedly believed it. 

…hm. 

Would The Boss be mad with him fraternizing with an Ouma? Doppio really, really hoped not. 

“Told you,” Waku smirked, just rolling her eyes a little as she took the gold from Kaito’s teeth, dropping it on a napkin to dry off. “Fair conditions, and I’m unstoppable. You two are gonna have two tabs tonight, boys.” Taking the silver, she lined up for her next toss. 

Doppio hummed at Souda’s explanation, giving the dark shot another unimpressed look before letting it be. “It’s a bit early, isn’t it? I mean, I guess it literally is fall, but Harvest is a good bit away.” He paused to think. “...maybe not if you’re having a party, or something. Planning takes a while.”

Kaito grinned cheekily as Waku took the coin, stepping back to watch her take her next shot as he crossed his arms. Looking curiously at the little group, Kaito couldn’t help an amused grin, “...you are all, just, so pink. Hey, kid? Are you? Old enough to drink? Because I’ll be honest, I’d be tempted to invite you to join our little group of pub crawlers if you really aren’t, like, fourteen or whatever you probably are. Maybe? I’ve never been any good at telling people’s ages.” Kaito admitted. 

Glowering a little more at the ‘kid’ moniker--and the expression growing drier at being assumed to be 14--Doppio…

(...was he? Old enough to drink? He remembered getting tossed out of a pub in…was it Pifet? Or was that when he [they] were living in Rifia? It seemed like a long time ago, so…he probably was, right?)

Waku raised an eyebrow at the totally vacant look on Doppio’s face before the kid said with all confidence, “I am. It’d be really lame to come hang out at a bar by myself if I was underage, right?”

She squinted at him. “It’s one thing to watch your back if you were going to drink anyway, but I’m not comfortable enabling a teenager to get a drinking problem. You sure?”

“Yes,” Doppio huffed, at least having convinced himself thoroughly enough for the time being that, with that, Waku nodded her belief and tossed the silver, sliding the bourbon shot over to Kaito with a smug look.

Kaito huffed a sigh as he took the glass and, again, swigged it back. This time leaning his head back and, with a ‘phwoo’, spitting the silver coin up into the air and catching it with a single swing. Grinning at Waku, he tossed her the coin, before reaching over to nudge Souda, “Hey man, she still hasn’t missed, so ante up!”

“Yeah, yeah, here you go. One full copper.” Souda said, passing it to Waku, “Good luck!”

“If we’re certain that we don’t have any teenage drinkers among us?” Kaito said, giving Doppio a stern look… he grinned. Shrugging a little as he admitted, “I super was one. I was really bad about it too, I’d go out and get wasted, and end up in random, strange places in the morning, no idea where I was, shit just missing or, like, suddenly having things that I definitely didn’t have before I went drinking the night before… my poor friends. I gave Shuichi so many headaches, the guy having to figure out where the hell I went through the night to go fetch me back to the castle.” Kaito chuckled. “That was always the nice part, though. Knowing if I waited it out, Shuichi was gonna show up soon and take me back. It was a nice way to start the day!”

“Sure, but were you drinking alone?” Souda asked, “Cause that’s the lame part, really.”

Kaito shrugged, “Sometimes. I mean…” he smirked, giving Souda a wink, “Never ended the night alone. But started? Sure.”

Waku did an over-flourished bow to Souda as she took the copper--there were some very fun habits she managed to pick up from Kaito--and continued with the ritual she’d done for the other coins, testing its weight. Lining up, she shook her head a little at Kaito’s antics. “Sometimes I really forget how fitting your old nickname was. I’m positive my case-worker and, like, Mr. Fuji knew that Lake was slipping me booze every once in a while, same with Kokichi, but I had no less than eight people lined up at any given time to lecture me into the stratosphere if I was even curious about something that might lead to a drug addiction.”

“Probably a good call,” she snorted, the copper gracefully plopping into a similarly amber-colored shot. “If I woke up somewhere with no memory of how I got there, I probably wouldn’t have handled it well.”

“It’s not so bad,” Doppio hummed, not really thinking about his words much as he sipped his drink. “It can be a little disorienting, sure, but you just dust yourself off and carry on, just like any other day. Just takes longer to get to a shower, I guess.”

Souda, at first, groaned when he saw Waku make it… before lighting up, realizing this meant he got to drink. Taking the cup, he frowned at it, before reaching in with his fingers, trying to grab the copper and pull it out before he drank. 

As Souda fussed with the drink, Kaito chuckled, both at Souda and at Doppio. Reaching over to place his hand on the back of his neck and shake him companionably, Kaito grinned at him, “Ha! Another wild one! Nice~ And also another really good reason to make certain you get home alright tonight.”

“You were literally just talking about how you did the same thing. How do we know you don’t need babysitting?” Souda reminded Kaito, finally grabbing the copper between two fingers… before cursing as he lost his grip on it, trying again.

“Souda, literally just drink the shot and then take the copper out once it’s empty.” Kaito told him dryly, wrapping an arm around Doppio, “And who the hell says I’m not being babysat too? Waku’s my designated drinking buddy. I can trust she’d get me home, even if she had to go get a guard to drag me there. She’s awesome like that. What about you, Souda? You have a wild history?” 

Souda, with a huff, swigged the drink back… before blanching. Coughing a little, before getting the coin out from the back of his tongue, letting it drop from his mouth into his hand as he grimaced. “Y-yep! More wild than anything you’ve seen, Kaito.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow at that, smirking, “Uh huh.”

“I always do, eventually,” Doppio shrugged, shoulders tensing a bit under Kaito’s touches. He wasn’t allowed to bring any people to their house, but…people walked by all the time, so that wasn’t different from someone going to it, but not coming in, right? And The Boss was always furious when he came home injured… He was always telling Doppio to be more careful, take better care of himself--Doppio hated making such an incredible person worry over someone as insignificant as him, but…

…it was nice to be cared about. 

But! The fact of the matter was…would Boss be more or less pissed knowing that someone went out of their way to make sure Doppio came home safe and sound, or that Doppio pointed out their home to a stranger. Very good questions.

Waku nodded primly as Kaito pointed out her very important role as drinking buddy, watching fascinated as Souda struggled to extract the copper. “It’s a dual-effect role. Because I will make sure Kaito gets his ass back home tonight, I’m also a sign that his husband doesn’t need to pace a hole through the floor worrying if we’re going together. Win-win for everyone.”

Snorting a little as Souda finally coughed up the copper, Waku shook her head and slid a new copper over to Doppio. “Hey, why don’t you give it a shot, Doppio? I could go all night, honestly, so someone else should have a turn. You make it, I’ll drink and you can keep the money, you miss and Souda can be your proxy.”

Holding her hand out for her won copper, Waku blinked at Souda. “That cool with you, or you want a potential break from drinking?”

Kaito nodded seriously at Waku’s point about his husband, responding, “And I love you for that Waku.”

“A break? I don’t need a break! Like I said, I came out to get wasted! If I’m not blacking out by the end of the night, what’s even the point!?” Souda demanded.

“Souda, see, this is why you keep ending up vomiting behind the pubs we go to. Eat some of the breadsticks,” Kaito insisted, rolling his eyes– Souda was a lot of fun, but Kaito sometimes got a little dizzy, for as often as Souda inspired eyerolling in him– before clasping Doppio’s shoulders enthusiastically, pushing him lightly towards the table, “Do it! Win yourself a copper! If you’re gonna be part of The Luminary Prince of the Stars’ entourage of Starbursts, then you gotta play our games! It’s a bonding activity!”

“Starbursts?” Souda asked, chewing on a breadstick.

“Oh, yeah! When you get, like, a brand-new galaxy forming stars, the stars have this sort of twinkling pink color to us, and we call them Starburts.” Kaito grinned, before clarifying, “Well, it sort of, like, turns the area around the new stars pink, and, like, really it’s more of an optical illusion than actually turning the sky pink in that area, it just looking pink to us because the heat signature once it gets to our equipment turns this really pretty pink color hitting our atmosphere and our own reflecting lights. Like, a really good example is the galaxy Henize 2–10, which is about thirty–”

“Oookay, look, if we start talking about the mechanisms of the telescopes, then I won’t fall asleep. Otherwise? Doppio, take the shot so he’ll get distracted.” Souda begged, while Kaito just pouted at him.

“It’s a cool fact, man.” Kaito grumbled, huffing.

Doppio gave Kaito a quizzical look--still trying to nudge himself out of the prince’s grip--before giving a determined nod, aiming to plonk the copper in the dyed shot he’d been looking at earlier. “Are you a…what are they called, astrophysicist or something, Prince Kaito? That, uh…all sounds pretty technical.”

He pouted a little as the copper sailed right over the glass, bouncing on the tabletop. At least Souda seemed more than happy to drink.

“Starbursts, huh?” Waku hummed, swirling her drink to get the glitter going again. “It sounds cute. Though I’m really hoping you had a name for your group with Shuuichi and Maki, because they will get jealous again over you treating me to cool, new things.”

“Aw, good try! You’ll get it next time! Here, take my next shot.” Kaito insisted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out another gold coin, grinning as he placed it in Doppio’s hand, “Now, keep in mind, I have two children, one who’s a newborn. Can’t afford to lose a ton of gold! So try your best, okay? You got it, champ!”

Snickering a little, being entirely playful in the pressuring, Kaito smacked Doppio’s back again before taking a step back. Giving Waku an amused look, as he said, “Of course I did. They were my first Sidekicks! Hell, they’re the reason I started calling people sidekicks, back when that was a thing I used to do a lot. I was the Luminary Prince of the Stars, and they were my Hero Sidekicks! Heroes of their own stories!” 

Leaning over to Waku, Kaito placed a hand on the back of her head, pulling her in and placing a small kiss on her temple, before saying, “And don’t let their fussing get to you. If they’ve been acting weird to you, it’s just cause I’m not paying them enough attention, and we’ve been working on that. We talk about it in therapy and everything. There’s nothing wrong with me having a super cool, awesome new group of inexplicably pink-haired friends, and doting on them too.”

“Yeah, if you start kissing me, I’m gonna fight you.” Souda told Kaito dryly.

Kaito smirked, straightening up to his full height and striding over to Souda in long, quick steps, “Sounds like a fucking challenge to me.”

“Hey! No! Stay back, I will pelt you with bread sticks!!”

Doppio blanched a little as Kaito pressed the gold into his palm. Two kids? He did know that the royal family was, like, a family-family family, but…how old even was Prince Kaito? And wasn’t Prince Kokichi a kid? Or basically, anyway. He really wasn’t kidding about not ending the night alone…

A gold wasn’t really even that much, but it wasn’t exactly wishing well money… Doppio made a small nervous sound as he lined up his next shot, trying to focus in more. 

Laughing softly, Waku gave Kaito a fond pat on the back. “Don’t worry, they’ve never been unkind--I’m glad you all have been talking it over, though. I’m still divided if Sidekick on its own is much of a group name, but I guess starting the trend is special on its own.”

Giving an amused smirk as she snagged some breadsticks herself, Waku lifted her eyebrows at Souda. “What, you’re not gonna smooch the homies? What a shame, Souda, it’s a bonding experience.”

Somehow landing the gold in a glass, Doppio couldn’t even feel satisfied as he quickly looked between Kaito and Souda. On one hand, he greatly preferred the prince’s handsiness to be directed at someone else. But on the other, the prince had described it as a group thing - 

(And…what? He’d been sitting with them for, what, an hour? Sure, Doppio wasn’t exactly a friend-expert, but…really?)

-and if staunch refusal wasn’t a deterrent…

Doppio widened his eyes and let his shoulders curl in a bit, a look of nervous discomfort crossing his face. “...please don’t kiss me.”

Kaito, who currently had a foot in his face, still amicably trying to push past it to get in prime forehead smooching range, peered over at Doppio from his non-smushed side of his face… before frowning a bit. Grabbing Souda’s ankle and lifting it up off his face– ignoring Souda’s outraged squawk as Souda found himself teetering backwards on the stool he was sitting on– Kaito said to him, “Sure, man, wasn’t really planning on it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you and I are officially friends now!” Kaito grinned, giving Doppio a thumbs up… before catching the breadstick that was thrown at his head and, with barely a glance back at Souda, throwing it back in his face. “But we’re not close like that yet. I can’t just go around kissing anyone, my partners would hate it.”

“Then don’t kiss me!” Souda shouted, still practically hanging off the stool as Kaito kept a grip on his leg.

Kaito snickered down at him, “How can I resist trying when you make such fun faces, man? I’m only a person, I can only resist such an easy target so much. Stop being fun to tease! Ow! Stop throwing bread!”

“Let go of my foot!”

Letting go of Souda’s foot, Kaito snickered again as Souda straightened up, huffing a bit, before demanding, “Someone pass me a coin, it’s my turn!”

“Here you go, man, silver on me… also, wait!” Kaito realized brightly, looking at the drinks, “Did you make that shot, Doppio!? Awesome! You get a gold! Way to financially cripple the family man!” Kaito laughed, reaching for the cup in question and, with a swig, downing it.

Taking the gold piece off his tongue, he cleaned it off on his shirt, before handing it to Doppio, grinning at him with a small shrug, “I mean, I’d love to be close enough to you someday that my partners wouldn’t feel weird about me passing on affection like that. But kissing strangers versus kissing close friends is, like, two really different things. Ya know?”

So he did consider them friends? What a weird guy. Sure, sure sure, it wasn’t like people on the whole were prickly assholes that had their guards up the whole time, but Doppio was sure that the sweet old lady that worked at the store he bought nice pastas from just considered him a nice friendly face and the two of them had started chatting regularly within the first three weeks he’d moved to Usott. Striking up a friendship with some guy you scooped off the floor of the bar was weird, right?

(...he didn’t really know what to do. If people got to know him as more than just a face in the crowd, he wasn’t really used to them liking him. Wanting to be closer. What did you do, if someone wanted to be friends?)

Noting the uneasy look still on his face, Waku nodded with a somewhat encouraging smile. “I’ve known Kaito for over a year now, and I’ve been friends with his husband for years. We’ve evolved--you don’t have to worry about being kissed if you don’t want to be kissed.”

Doppio gave a pointed look over to Souda before sighing. At some point, you could only accept that things were just the way they were. Though he did balk a little as Kaito handed him the gold. 

“Wait, I thought…”

“You made the shot, so you get the money,” Waku explained simply.

Still taking the coin anyway, Doppio made a defeated noise, plopping back in his seat before taking a big gulp of mead. “...I’d think kissing close friends is a different thing again from kissing your partners.”

“Now, that is true.” Kaito grinned, “Someone pass me a coin, already, I want to make a shot.”

“Here, you can play for a copper, your grace.” Souda smirked, passing Kaito a copper, “Try not to spend it all at once.”

“Ha ha,” Kaito said dryly, making a show to check to see if the copper was real, biting it, showing it to Waku to see if she thought it was real, and when she nodded, aiming to flick it at one of the cups, “And yeah, kissing friends is different from kissing partners. Though, maybe I’d have a hard time defining exactly how… feels sorta innate, ya know? Like, if I kissed Souda–”

“Still not happening!! Stop making that joke where people can hear!! They’ll think I’m taken.” Souda grumbled.

“The way I would kiss Shuichi? I feel like he’d know it wasn’t just a friendly kiss between bros.” Kaito said, nodding gravely… before cursing as the copper hit the edge of the cup again, “Damn. I’ll get it one of these times. And if I kissed Shuichi the way I would, theoretically, kiss Souda? Shuichi would probably think I was mad at him.”

“Good try,” Waku encouraged, patting Kaito’s back after his missed shot. She could give him another try, but that went against the loose rules they’d established a bit so she put a copper in front of Souda next, giving him a nod to go. 

Doppio, on the other hand, was considering Kaito’s words, finishing up the meat pie they’d gotten him. That all sounded congruent, at least, but… “Wait, so do you never kiss your partners friend-i-ly? Or is it just another innate feeling thing, the difference between friend-kisses and just more…chaste, I guess, kisses for your partners?”

As if realizing the ridiculousness of the conversation, he huffed. “Wait, no. I just don’t wanna be kissed, and nothing beyond that is really my business. Even with, like, granny kisses, keep your mouth to yourself, man. I barely trust people’s hands, let alone whatever they’re spreading around with their mouths.”

“Still not gonna kiss you, kid.” Kaito smirked, watching as Souda lined up a shot. Heading over to sit with Waku, Kaito nudged her a little, grabbing his mead and saying to her, “Hey, you know how you have the ‘reading hearts’ thing? I have a little superpower too. Wanna know what it is?”

Glancing over at Doppio, he ‘whispered’, “I can read when someone’s definitely never been kissed before. It’s a gift~”

Doppio raised an eyebrow, clearly wholly unimpressed. “Uh huh.”

(...he had no idea what to make of ‘reading hearts’. What was that supposed to mean? Was Waku a…a fuckin…heart doctor, what were they called… Cardiologist! He supposed anyone could take a pulse, but sometimes when Doppio got bored or curious and he took his own, he could never remember the ranges of what was normal or low or whatever, and he forgot what you were supposed to multiply if you took it over a minute, or a few seconds, so…yeah. That could be a skill.)

Not missing a beat, Waku nodded solemnly. “Yeah huh. Kaito’s a spot-on judge of character, especially when it comes to relationships. It makes people-watching with him half a game of detective work.” 

“Ha! Got it!” Souda shouted, grabbing the drink and triumphantly passing it to Waku, “I win! Drink up, Miss Waku!”

“Souda. Dude. I don’t like it when you call her that.” Kaito frowned, looking over at Waku as he asked her, “You’re not into that, are you? The ‘Miss’ stuff?”

“Good shot!” Waku cheered, taking the glass and knocking it back after giving Kaito a small shrug. Letting the copper drop from her mouth, she pressed it into a napkin before handing it back to Souda. “It’s kinda fascinating, to be honest. You’ve got a complex and a half when it comes to women your age, Souda, and watching it never gets boring. So, nah, I don’t really mind.”

Doppio glanced between them with an increasingly confused look.

“Ugh. Well, I don’t like it.” Kaito grumbled, crossing his arms… before he huffed, “But, if Waku doesn’t mind? Sure, whatever… seriously?” Kaito asked dryly, as Souda took the copper from Waku, and immediately passed it to Kaito, “This was in Waku’s mouth.”

“Does that bother you?” Souda asked.

“....” Kaito stuck his tongue out at Souda, before going to try again, “And yep! I’m not an expertise in a lot. I’ve only got a hobbyist’s understanding of Astronomy, for instance, to answer your earlier question, Doppio. But when it comes to how people treat their bodies?” Kaito flicked the coin, grinning wide as this time it landed neatly in the drink, “I am very accurate.”

“Uh huh.” Souda said, grabbing the drink and, once again, trying to drag the coin out with his fingers first, “What’s so impressive about guessing if someone’s kissed at all? Fifty-fifty shot, that’s not impressive. You know what would be impressive. Guessing how many different people a person’s kissed. That would take skill.”

“Huh… alright, fine! I can guess that!” Kaito said, taking a heavy swig of his mead, “Alright, Souda, I bet if I can guess how many people you’ve kissed, you gotta buy me one of those weird fancy fall themed drinks they got!”

Souda snickered, taking his shot once he fished the coin out. “I think you’re biting off more than you can chew. What do I get if I win?”

“Uh…” Kaito shrugged, looking around, “Suggestions?”

…well, whatever the deal was there, it wasn’t totally a freaky fetish thing. Souda wouldn’t have given up the coin if it was. 

Doppio had never really heard someone describe something as ‘hobbyist’ level, and…what Kaito had said before seemed a bit more than working knowledge. But he knew he was kind of a dumbass, so maybe that was a common standard of knowledge. That’d be kind of disappointing, honestly, because it sounded like the sort of level he’d talk about for cleaning--not that it was really a booming subject of conversation--and Doppio liked to think he was something of an expert in that area. 

The prince could just be weirdly humble. That sounded like an Ouma thing. 

Humming lightly, Waku glanced back to the bar. “Well, he could buy you one of those drinks? They may be novel in theme, but at least the one I had was genuinely good.”

Doppio raised an eyebrow at Souda. “Why would him being wrong mean you won anything? You wouldn’t have done anything. If anything, it’d just mean Prince Kaito lost.”

“Hey, yeah! What Doppio said!” Kaito agreed, pointing at Doppio and saying, “Medium-Pink’s right!”

“Medium-pink?” Souda asked, giving Kaito an incredulous look.

“Yeah, you’re right, doesn’t really convey much, does it? All three of you are so damn small.” Kaito realized, looking at all of them, rubbing the back of his neck a little as he asked, “Is that just a ‘pink’ thing? You all come out skinny little things?”

“HEY! WHO’S A SKINNY LITTLE THING!?” Souda shouted, “I’LL KICK YOUR ASS, YOU KNOW!?”

“...?” Kaito waited patiently, but Souda didn’t seem to want to follow that up with any actual ass-kicking, Souda just pouting after a moment. Kaito shrugged, “Alright, alright, so, how many people has Souda kissed…”

Kaito peered at Souda, who gave him a knowing smirk back. Kaito’s brow furrowed at the smirk, confusion lighting up behind his eyes, “...you know, you act like someone who’s never dated. But you’re looking at me like whatever number I guess, isn’t gonna be high enough. Are you fucking with me?”

Souda shrugged. “I was very popular back in Danganronpa.”

“...you mean the Danganronpa border town in Luminary.” Kaito gently reminded him.

“Oh! Yeah, of course that’s what I meant.” Souda grumbled, “Alright, make your guess already.”

“...tw…” Kaito squinted at Souda, “...twelve?”

“Pffff.” Souda laughed, grabbing one of the glasses and passing it over to Kaito, “Drink.”

“Okay, well, you’re a fluke. I could totally do it with anyone else!” Kaito whined, taking a cup and drinking it, even if that had nothing to do with the agreed bet. “Waku, Doppio? Either of you want to take on the bet!? I’d get it in one guess!”

Doppio mouthed the moniker along with Souda, while Waku made a displeased face. “I’m gonna give you a no on that one. No way I’m gonna be ‘small pink’. Not as a nickname, and especially not when we’re all only two-to-four inches apart from each other, height-wise.”

“I could still grow,” Doppio huffed. Sure, it wasn’t really like he was getting any growing pains, and he was…(...probably past the usual time of growth spurts?), but it was still possible. Though he wasn’t that bent out of shape about it--The Boss always said he was cute anyway, so he didn’t have much to complain about, appearance-wise.

And all that definitely paled in comparison to the tidbit that Souda let slip, even with the amendment. Danganronpa? Hmm… That was…probably something he shouldn’t touch.

Doppio scoffed a little bit as Kaito lost his gambit, while Waku laughed indulgently and tipped her glass to the prince. “Sure, why not--give it your best shot!”

Kaito lit up at that, peering at Waku as he said, “My Waku? Brilliant, brave, daring… but! Also well aware what a catch she is– and damn is she a catch– and cautious enough to be picky. So, while Waku absolutely could have kissed a thousand eager participants right now, I’d say… two. Two romantic kisses, my friend kisses don’t count.”

“SCANDALOUS! Miss Waku is as pure as the fallen snow! She’s never kissed anyone!” Souda guessed… before his eyes narrowed, “Though, there is something intriguing about more experienced women…”

“Dude, Souda, please, your nose is bleeding… is that what I look like when I talk like that?” Kaito asked Waku, pointing at the spazzing out Souda, “Please tell me I have more dignity than that.”

“Oh! U-uhhh!” Just panicking for a moment, Doppio searched through the small sidebag he had on before pulling out some disposable napkins. He offered them to Souda, though there was clear hesitation through his form as he tried to determine if Souda was even capable of taking them and helping himself. 

The fact that the other two didn’t seem all that concerned did not help his decision-making. 

Chuckling softly, Waku gave Kaito a nod. “Well, I count it as three, but one can be a little debateable, so I’ll say you’re right enough. Which drink did you want? It looked like the Tarman Gunk has ice cream in it, so you could make your partners really jealous when you talk about it later.”

Giving Souda a coolly intrigued look, she shook her head. “Sometimes it does look like you’re combusting, but you tend to keep it to yourself more. If something set the both of you off at the same time there wouldn’t be any salvaging you, though.”

“Really!?” Kaito asked, lighting up, genuinely pleased to have gotten that close… before he coughed into his hand, trying to hide his pleased look behind his knuckles, “I mean, course I got it right! Or, near enough anyway. I’m gonna pull those stories out of you someday, Waku.” Kaito grinned, getting up off the stall as he said, “And yeah, I could eat something sweet! The ice cream one, I’m into it. Doppio, you want anything? Our treat! Souda, pull it together, man, you’re embarrassing me.”

“Stop saying that! This is a perfectly normal reaction!” Souda insisted, stuffing the napkins Doppio had given him up into his nose, “It’s a man’s passion!”

“See, something like that? I’m certain I’ve said that before.” Kaito whispered to Waku, shaking his head a little, “Hearing it said aloud by someone else? Cringe. Just cringing on the inside.”

Still looking at Souda warily, Doppio lit up. “Oh! Um…yeah, sure, if you don’t mind. I haven’t really had affogatos that much so an ice cream drink sounds pretty interesting. Thank you!”

…and dessert drinks usually weren’t that alcoholic. He hadn’t been lying, one glass of mead hadn’t gotten him tipsy, only pleasantly warmed on the inside, buuuuuuuut… Even if he wasn’t working, Doppio could only imagine ice cold terror towards coming home drunk. Not exactly the sort of dependable image he always wanted to give The Boss.

Waku nodded knowingly and gave Kaito another pat on the back, though this one was more sympathetic. “You two are just horny on main--it is what it is. But you don’t piss off your partners, and I haven’t seen Souda get slapped yet, so you know when to reign it in.”

“And if you don’t, then be prepared to have one of the worst legal lectures of your lives,” Waku shrugged, speaking the warning lightly. “All sexual public indecency infractions go through Kaname, and they’re a real hard-ass celibate. Trust me, you don’t wanna get caught for that kind of thing.”

“Oof.” Kaito winced, nodding as they waited at the bar for the bartender, “Well, if it gets to the point where someone wants to report me anyway, then I’d probably deserve it. And celibacy is hard. I was a celibate for a little while.” Kaito sighed, leaning against the bar counter like a heavy weight had landed on his back, “Hardest, uh… hour? Half hour? Of my life.”

Glancing over his shoulder at Doppio and Souda, Kaito whispered to Waku, “I like the new guy, he seems nice. Reminds me a little of ‘Kichi. What do you think? Should I try to keep Team Starbursts for more than tonight?”

Waku snorted, looking up at Kaito with warm affection. “You think that because you weren’t sure if he was a kid, called him skinny, bought him a drink and a meal, and saw him knocked on his ass within two days of you guys meeting?”

Waving the notion off with a small laugh, Waku glanced back at their two companions and hummed softly. “He seems like a very nervous person with no social life, but he seems to vibe with us well. He doesn’t really latch on to ragging on Souda either, which would probably be an issue if three of us were half doing it at any moment, so he’s not just going along with whatever to be included.”

“I like him,” she concluded with a nod. “I bet he’s even more of a weirdo than what we’ve seen--the next blue moon we can all get together? It’d be nice to extend the invitation.”

Kaito gave Waku a puzzled look, before thinking back… “Oh! Yeah, I guess all that stuff did happen.” Kaito grinned, resting his forehead on her shoulder as he snickered, “Well, the last time all that happened, I got married, so it’s not the worst first impression.”

Straightening up– a long process, Waku was so small– when the bartender came by to get their order, Kaito listened to Waku ask for two of the drinks, before saying to her as the bartender started their work, “Good, I was hoping you’d feel that way. I’ll ask Souda about it later, but I feel pretty confident he won’t mind another person joining the group. Especially like you said, someone that’s not as into teasing him.” Kaito grinned, glancing back again as he saw Souda was now betting with Doppio with the remaining set of drinks, enthusiastically taking a coin from him before successfully sending that coin into another drink, before remembering Doppio was limiting his alcohol, taking that drink for himself and chugging it, “Maybe they’ll get close? They don’t seem all that similar, but hell, opposites attract, right? Could be good pals in the making!”

“How are you feeling? How are your nerves? I want to make certain we walk Doppio back to wherever he’s settled down around here, cause I’m still not entirely convinced how spacy he is isn’t just how he is, ya know? But I wanna base how many more drinks I have tonight on how much longer you want to be out here.” He whispered to her, smiling lightly as he said, voice utterly fond, “Gotta keep my hero strong~”

“Sometimes it just takes time and effort,” Waku nodded, nudging Kaito’s side with a playful wink. “Worked out for us, and I’d think this all is a much better impression. And if the two of them do hit it off, I’m sure Souda will be thrilled to have a buddy with a more regular schedule than a new dad and someone that just wants to stay in their room half the time. Though I suppose we don’t know what Doppio does, actually.”

Chuckling, though not dismissing Kaito’s high opinion, Waku flounced her poncho for no reason beyond whimsy, the fabric billowing like a quick undulation of a jellyfish. “Oh, I’m definitely tipsy, but I haven’t hit the sleepy or crowd-averse stages yet. If Souda doesn’t drink everything before we’re back, I’ll probably try my hand with another shot and call it a night, drink-wise.”

Taking the two chilled/heated drinks from the bartender with a bright thanks, Waku gave Kaito another fond look. “Gotta make sure I can get you home safe and sound, after all.”

When they got back to the table, Doppio was watching, fascinated, as Souda poured over what looked to be a haphazard amalgam of screws and springs and metal, the conversation between them having stumbled into Doppio bringing out the smashed flashlight that had been in his bag.

Kaito snickered as they headed back to the table, both at Waku and at what they found there. “Uh oh,” Kaito said, his grin contradicting his words as he said with some excitement, “Souda’s got some metal to work with. Guess the world’s getting a new invention tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, shaddup.” Souda grumbled, looking over the pieces as his hands deftly took the thing apart, tiny screws turning easily under his switchblade as he took the light apart literally slot by slot, “He broke it in the fall, I’m just trying to… see if there’s any salvaging… hmmm…”

It wasn’t the first time Kaito had watched Souda fuss with a mechanism, but it was still a rare enough sight that Kaito wasn’t sure what Souda was going to do next. Sometimes he did exactly what he was saying and just fixed the item in question. Other times, though, the item he handed back was something entirely different. And as Souda murmured to himself that this was a really solid flashlight, and, well, the glass was already cracked, might as well get rid of that, and if we’re getting rid of the glass, well, what if you took out the reflector, and you turned it around like this, and… “Kaito, you strong enough to puncture a hole in metal?” Souda asked.

“Uuuuuuh, maybe if I had some sort of tool? Oh, okay.” Kaito blinked, as Souda shoved the switchblade at him, along with a small, circular piece of metal, something Souda had taken out from the inside of the flashlight. “Through the middle?”

“Yeah, obviously.” Souda said, snapping his fingers at Kaito as he said, “Hurry up, it shouldn’t take all day!”

Kaito gave Souda a dry look at that, before pushing the end of the switchblade into the center of metal and, biting his inner lip before placing the metal on the table and, looking away, desperately hoping he wasn’t about to slice open his hand by mistake, he brought his hand back and slammed it onto the top of the switchblade… before pulling it out of the metal, and balking a little as he took it out of the table too. Looking around to see if anyone had noticed that, wiping at the new indent in the table like that would cover it before passing both items back to Souda. “Alright, there you go. What’s that gonna do anyway?”

“Make a laser.” Souda said, putting the items back together. Saying it like it was obvious.

“...a what now?” Kaito asked.

“Anyone have a piece of paper on them? Napkin?” Souda asked, finishing clicking the pieces together.

Doppio looked a little sheepish as Souda reiterated the brief explanation he’d given before handing the flashlight over. “My boss always tells me to get heavy-duty flashlights, you know? ‘Cause then you can always still use them for, er, self-defense even if the batteries run out, or you mess up the crank, or the bulb bursts. But, uh…I still end up breaking them a lot. He’s really understanding, but I don’t think he’s gonna be thrilled I’ve broken another…s-so Souda offered to take a look and…” He gestured to the man absorbed with taking apart his flashlight. That’s how they’d gotten where they were.

Placing Doppio’s drink in front of him, Waku hummed in thought as she sat back down, quickly cupping a hand over every drink she could see when Kaito tried to puncture the metal disk. “That’s a pretty good idea, actually. Getting things that aren’t obsolete if their main purpose breaks. Even if we do happen to know the best tinkerer this side of Carbosi,” she laughed, giving Souda a wink, knowing full well he’d be too absorbed to notice it. 

Doppio made a little attentive noise as Souda called out for more supplies, and he dug out a well-worn notepad from his bag, flipping past pages so filled with writing the ink had warped the paper to a fresh, relatively crisp sheet. Tearing it out, he offered it to Souda. “This work?”

Souda grabbed the paper, looked it over… and the sharp smile that spread across his face was wicked, as he snickered, “Heeheeeheeeeee~ alright! Stand back!”

Kaito raised an eyebrow at that, before wordlessly grabbing both Waku and Doppio’s arms. Pulling them backwards a bit, stepping in front, as Souda– still borderline cackling– placed the piece of paper in front of the shot glasses, aimed the flashlight, clicked it on and—

Fwoosh!

“HA HA HA HAH HAH HAH!” Souda cackled maniacally, as a small, thin red line beamed out of the flashlight, the paper, after a moment, catching fire as Souda beamed in triumph at his accomplishment, “EASY! EASY AS PIE! HAH HAH HA HA HA HA hey!” 

“Annnnnd that’s enough mad scientist out of you tonight.” Kaito decided, putting his hand over Souda’s smaller, thin fingers and turning off the switch beneath his forefinger, taking the flashlight from Souda. Veeeery carefully placing it down on its face on the table as he said, “Waku, friend, could you get the fir– oh, okay. Thank you.”

Nodding easily, Waku was already smothering the fire, giving a small wave to the attention Souda’s cackling had garnered. Nothing to see here, folks, nope, not gonna be burning down your pub tonight, we’re good. 

Doppio, for his part, had been completely unphased by Souda’s ‘mad scientist’ mode, and instead only reacted after the demonstration, his eyes widening in awe…though he stayed behind Kaito until the prince had moved first. “Wow… That seems way more economical than a lighter. How’d you know how to do that?”

Hmm…would starting a fire through light still work with kerosene? Once actual flames appeared Doppio couldn’t see why not, but if the gas made something too shiny…was that a factor? It would make things easier if he didn’t have to throw matches or make a gas trail to set something off…

…that was all if he hadn’t relinquished rights to the laser once he’d handed Souda the broken flashlight.

Souda smirked, clearly still pleased with what he had done, though at Doppio’s question he just shrugged, “Honestly? Once you know how things work, some things just make so much sense that asking how I knew feels a little… ridiculous? Like of course it would work if I did that. It’s just the logical progression of the engineering. If you understand how all the little pieces and physics itself work, then putting it all together in that way would obviously lead to that result. It’s more just noticing than anything.”

“Oookay, well, you know, Souda, how we’ve talked about you writing down the schematics for these things and bringing them to the castle administration to get it copyrighted and, more importantly, safety-checked before you start just handing it out to people?” Kaito said leadingly to Souda, who looked more bored every word Kaito said, his expression lined with irritated disdain as Kaito discussed the– blegh– paperwork, “Let’s not make any more ‘lasers’ till you do that. Kay?”

“I only made it cause Doppio mentioned he used the flashlights as a self-defense thing, and while that’s not exactly going to be an effective ‘weapon’, perse, if you point it at someone’s skin long enough, it’ll get it hot enough to give them a good scare. I’d be intimidated if someone pointed a fire wand at me.” Souda shrugged, “Easier than bludgeoning.”

“Doppio’s not gonna need to bludgeon or fire-scare anyone. We’re walking him home, remember?” Kaito scolded, “We’re not giving him something that hasn’t been tested. He could burn his eye out or something.”

“Eh? Doppio, don’t point the laser in your eye.” Souda cautioned the other man lazily, clearly losing interest in this part of his invention, now that the ‘inventing’ bit was done, “There, he’ll be fine.”

“Nope. I’m using Prince privileges, and confiscating this… don’t tell my husband, I’m pretty sure that’s not something I can actually do.” Kaito admitted quickly, taking the flashlight and shoving it in his pocket.

“I guess that makes sense,” Doppio nodded, not understanding at all. But he was used to that--some people in the world were idea people! The type who could make great things and inspire others, creating a future with their own hands. And then there were people like Doppio, who had their own talents and skills, sure, but were better utilized being directed by an idea person. It worked out for him and The Boss, and Doppio could think of no better example to a working model than that. 

Though while he didn’t really understand how Souda could look at broken pieces of glass and metal and make magic, he did understand that he now no longer had a flashlight. Pouting a little, he sighed at Kaito. “Well…I guess I was gonna say I’d broken it anyway, so saying I lost my flashlight isn’t much worse…”

“Don’t think there’s much point in tracking down the chick who bowled you over for compensation,” Waku snorted, her eyes tracing over the pub regardless. “Work doing well enough for it to be an expense?”

“O-oh, yeah, I mean…” Doppio stuttered, perking, “Like I said, my boss is really understanding, and things like this happen all the time. It won’t be a big deal or anything.”

Kaito gave Doppio a curious look at that, before chuckling. Digging into his purse as he murmured, “Too used to people calling that weirdo ‘Boss’. I keep impulsively thinking you mean your dad or something… alright! Here, Doppio! Bet a gold piece~” Kaito said, slamming the piece down on the table in front of Doppio, “You could buy yourself a dozen nice flashlights with that, so don’t fuck it up, kay? I believe in you,” Kaito grinned, slapping Doppio’s back, “You got this!”

Doppio just gave Kaito a vacant look for a good few moments before the gears connected and he uttered a soft, “Oh!”, his freckled cheeks coloring lightly. “Oh, oh no. That… Right, I guess that can get confusing. I don’t really spend much time at the castle, don’t think I’ve actually ever been, so…it doesn’t really occur to me that ‘Boss’ is anyone other than…yanno. My employer.”

He couldn’t really…say much on the subject of parents, but privately, Doppio thought that if he did have a dad then…gah! Someone like The Boss would be nice. Not actually Boss, not even in his most private daydreams would Doppio be so inappropriate, but…yanno. Someone who’d tell him he was doing a good job, like The Boss did. That would be nice. 

Reeling a little from the force of Kaito’s slaps--the prince really was just so handsy--Doppio sent him a suspicious look, even as he picked up the gold piece to start aiming into one of the last shots on the table. “I thought you were worried about going into debt, Prince Kaito.”

“Debt? Me? Haven’t you heard, dude, I’m a Momota. We’re richer than god.” Kaito smirked, winking at him and giving him a thumbs up, “Way more importantly? No one’s gonna tell my husband how much money I’ve lost tonight! Pals don’t snitch on pals losing, just, a week’s worth of spending money in a night! It’s the rules!”

“Okay, but you’re just teasing, right? Momota’s are crazy wealthy, even if the Diceans don’t understand exactly what that means.” Souda pointed out, leaning against the table– he was a little drunk, it was hard not to want to just lean against stuff right now– as he raised an eyebrow at Kaito, “A week’s ‘spending’ money for you should be, like, buying a small town’s worth of funds.”

“Uuuuuh, yep!” Kaito said, waving his hands dismissively at Souda, stepping back to let Doppio take his shot, “You got it. Definitely still have access to that. Look, I can afford a few gold, and that’s only if you make the shot, Doppio. And I could still win it back! So give it everything you got!”

Waku chuckled a bit, pouring out a glass of water from the pitcher on their table and sliding it Souda’s way. “You’re probably just going to snitch on yourself when Kokichi brings out your budget book for the next pay cycle. He likes it when you have fun anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

…even if Kaito’s tone wasn’t, just, entirely rushed, Doppio was pretty sure he heard that the prince didn’t have access to the Momota fortune. It’d be idiotic anyway to try and make a business contract with a member of the Ouma family, but there was really no point in it if he was no more wealthy than the average person. 

Maybe still with gregarious habits of spending wealth, though. 

Taking a little steadying breath, his tongue peeking out a little, Doppio flipped the gold coin…and sighed when it dinked off the rim of the glass. With a little shrug, he went back to his seat, finally digging into his cocktail, the ice cream having melted a bit at this point. “Well, I did still win the other gold you bet.”

Nodding, Waku reached over to claim the forfeit shot. “I know you took his losses before, Souda, but this is gonna be my last shot tonight so I’m stealing it.”

“Of course Miss Waku! Drink up! It’s a good night for drinking! And honestly, it’s pretty exciting when you just grab things from me– ow!” Souda whined as Kaito pinched his ear, “What!?”

“Man, can you even afford to lose more blood from nosebleeds by this point? Calm. Down.” Kaito scolded, before grinning at Waku, “I’m cool with you drinking my bet for him, but you wanna try for my gold piece? It’s still available! Still plenty of chances to ensure I can’t feed my poor children this week! You monsters~”

Chuckling, Waku knocked the whiskey shot back, coughing lightly before she chased it with some water. Depending on where Doppio lived, they might end up walking Souda back to his place first, but either way it was looking to be a warm, tipsy evening walk. She didn’t do it too often, but there was something invigorating about a cool breeze against drink-flushed cheeks. 

Matching Kaito’s grin, Waku took the gold piece and lined up to take a shot. “Says the man who gets all his meals for free,” she teased, weighing the coin. As her standard that night, she tossed it a few times just in her hand before tossing in a nice arc…right into the last umber shot on the table. With a small bow, she gave Kaito a kindly haughty look. 

Ice cream smeared on his lips, Doppio gave a small snort. “Still plenty of chances?”

Kaito clapped enthusiastically, an eager and willing audience for Waku’s theatrics, before snorting at Doppio, “See, here’s the thing. You gotta know what your opponent wants out of these games, ya see? It’s all a mind game.” Kaito said ‘wisely’, pointing at his temple, as he rounded the table to grab the whiskey shot, “And because I am, as established before, literally the richest person any if you have ever met, bets against me are a sure thing. Waku’s playing the odds~”

“...how does Waku throwing the coin have anything to do with what you want to happen?” Souda pointed out. 

“Hm? Uuuuuh… no, see, the mind game is just being in a betting game with me at all.” Kaito pointed out, picking up the shot, “Because I’m less motivated by coin than I am getting to do fun stuff like this~”

Kaito drank back the shot, before giving them all a ‘one moment’ gesture. Putting down the shot glass, going across the table, and drinking down the booze around it, “PHWOO!” spitting the coin across the table, before throwing his hands into the air in triumph when the coin rang cleanly through the air, rattling inside of the cup. “HAH! Phew, so glad that made it, I woulda looked SO stupid! Hah!”

“Woo!” Waku cheered, giving Kaito impressed and enthusiastic applause just as much as he’d done for her. 

Doppio was willing to applaud too, though the look he gave Kaito was still somewhere between sheepish and sardonic. “...I still don’t think that’s much of a mind game, but that was really cool anyway. Though I’m more glad that’s not the gold I won from you now.”

Giving him a look as he slurped his glorified coffee milkshake, Waku simply blinked once before speaking. “I think you’re the most relaxed germaphobe I’ve ever met. You know all the right products for cleaning metal when you get home?”

Doppio blinked before pouting slightly, his chest puffing up in minor offense. “Of course! I’m very good at cleaning.”

Kaito grinned happily, taking the coin out of the glass and, good naturedly, trying to wipe it off his shirt a bit before handing it to Waku. “What’s a little spit between friends? Not in that way. Shuichi would murder me actually dead.” Kaito mused, half talking to himself at that point, before grabbing his own glorified milkshake and drinking deeply from it. 

Ice cream on his nose, Kaito laughed after taking another big swig, his own cheeks flushed with alcohol as he said, “Alright, we’ve almost started a fire, got to show off neat bar tricks, and snagged ourselves a new pink cutie! And Souda hasn’t even thrown up yet! I’d call this a damn good night, guys. Even if at some point now I gotta go home and tell my family I’ve lost the house to you dirty, dirty grifters!”

“Again, you are a Momota. Like, buy me a boat!”

“No!” Kaito said cheerfully, pulling Souda into a half hug, before peering down at him, “Wait, would you let me kiss you if I bought you a boat?”

“I don’t know… maybe?” Souda said, brow furrowing, “Are we negotiating?”

“Mmmmmm, nope. Felt too real to comfortably joke about.” Kaito decided, patting Souda’s shoulders companionably, “You’re weird, Souda. Definitely got some mixed signals coming off ya, it’s fascinating. Anyway, if I stay here much longer I’m gonna start itching to buy myself some stronger drinks, and poor Doppio there is practically wasted. It’s time to start getting the little pinklings home!”

Waku nodded in accordance. She figured they had or were working it all out in therapy, but Shuuichi was one hell of a jealous guy. If Kaito fucked up big time and Maki didn’t get to him first, then Shuuichi would make sure that Kaito would become a cold case no one would be able to crack. Very terrifying, but Waku knew that Kaito adored it. 

Rolling his eyes a little--he was barely tipsy, if that--Doppio looked around his area at the table with a very intense expression for a moment, slipping the few coins he’d won into his bag before getting up. “...maybe stick to starbursts. Pinklings is just…weird.”

Waku laughed as she started stacking the empty shot glasses on the table, trying to make things at least a little easier to clean up. “It’s like piglings, which…are also pink, mostly. Kinda don’t mind it, if I’m honest, though I doubt we’re all gonna follow in a little waddling line behind you like ducklings, Kaito.”

“Okay, but consider this… it’d be super fucking cute if you did. We would be adorable, guys.” Kaito insisted, pulling a slightly struggling Souda up from the bar stools and pushing him towards the door, “We could even have you, like, in a line from tallest to smallest? It’d be so fucking cute– Souda, what?!”

“I W-WANNA GET W-WAAAASTED!” Souda whined, still trying to pull from Kaito’s grip.

“You can’t end every night hurling on something! Tonight’s a win, man, just embrace it!”

“IT’S A MAN’S DESIRE TO DRINK UNTIL THE ROOM SPINS!”

“Dude, you have got to stop grouping us all into that! How about this, it’s a man’s desire to not wanna piss off his partners coming home drunk off his ass, how about that?” 

“Don’t push your ‘family man’ values on me!” Souda whined, grabbing onto some random pedestrian’s bar stool and kicking at Kaito as the prince continued to drag him. Both Souda, the bar stool, and the random confused patron now skidding across the floor. “I’m too young to be responsible!”

“HOW THE HELL OLD EVEN ARE YOU!?”

“Ooof, that is a great question.” Souda muttered, keeping his death grip on the stool as Kaito continued to valiantly pull.

“Uuuuh, I guess I’ll be back guys!” The man on the bar stool told his friends back at the table, who waved at him goodbye.

Watching with raised eyebrows, Doppio glanced over at Waku, the woman keeping step with him as the other two were occupied. “They, uh…”

“Do this every time, yeah,” she nodded, watching with clear amusement as Souda tried to be as difficult as possible. “Unless Souda leaves the bar to go vomit? Then he whines about leaving while he still has control of his legs. He’s literally only a social drinker, but I’ve handed over a pamphlet on alcoholism already. Think he used it as a napkin or something.”

“...oookay then,” Doppio hummed, before reddening more than the alcohol had done to him all night as Souda practically kidnapped a patron, half hiding behind his hands. “Oh my god, what are you doing? And if you can’t remember your own age then why the hell were you guys getting touchy about me??”

“I dunno! Maybe not knowing how old you are is a pink-haired thing! Waku!” Kaito said, pointing dramatically at his friend, still dragging Souda– and with him the kidnapped patron, who was sipping at his drink through a bendy straw, apparently curious to see how far this would go– as he shouted, “How old are you!?”

“24,” she replied without a beat, looking even more amused as Doppio jogged forward a bit, the man looking more mortified by the second and about a handful away from starting to smack at Souda’s hands as he apparently settled for trying to plead the inventor to let the stool go. 

“Well, there’s that theory debunked.” Kaito pouted, while Souda seemed to double down, actually biting into the wooden leg of the stool.

At that, the patron winced, “Oof, man, I really doubt they wipe down the leg of the stools… like… ever.”

“I-sh a r–am’s ‘ride ‘roo–!”

“Oooookay,” Kaito huffed, as they got to the front door. Reaching over to grasp the patron by the back of his shirt, carefully lifting him off and putting him back down on the floor– the patron, again, good naturedly just allowing this to happen– before saying to Souda, “You want this stool so badly? Guess what, now you have a stool! We’re taking this stool! Bill the tab to Queen Kaede Momota! She’s good for it!”

“If you take the stool, you’re banned from the bar.” The bartender called out.

“Dammit, Souda, I like this place. Let. Go!” Kaito grunted, trying to pull the stool leg from the man’s teeth. It was a fruitless struggle for a moment, before Kaito huffed, and finally jammed his fingers into Souda’s side.

“Pfff-HAH HAH HAH! Wait! No, that’s no fair!” Souda shouted, as Kaito pulled back from tickling him and, with a huff, threw him over his shoulder, “At least buy me another round for the road!”

“...fiiiine.” Kaito grumbled, heading back into the bar, Souda still over his shoulder, as he called to Waku and Doppio, “You guys want another drink for the road too? Random guy we almost kidnapped? Want anything!?”

“Take a gin and tonic if you’re buying!” 

“Alright, one gin and tonic for the kidnapee!”

“M’ agg scassat u cazz… Mamm ro carmmn, va’ a fa na casc e bucchin.”

Waku chuckled softly to herself as she put a gentle hand on Doppio’s back, guiding him to the exit as he hid in his hands, scrunching down into his sweater like he wanted the cloth to eat him. She had no fucking clue what he was muttering, but she called it. He was absolutely Tsumarian. 

“I’m good, Kaito, thanks,” she called back. “I think Doppio might be too--I think we’re gonna wait outside for you two so he doesn’t explode.”

Doppio simply made a high-pitched, frustrated sound from his sweater fortress.

“What’s his problem?” Souda asked from over Kaito’s shoulder.

“I dunno.” Kaito shrugged– Souda bouncing a little as he did so– before going to order his drinks. 

After a minute or so, once Souda had a new drink in his hands and Kaito had gotten a chance to maybe just a tad too flirtatiously deliver the random guy his drink, they met the two smaller starbursts outside. Kaito offered Waku a sip of his drink– he had gotten what she had gotten earlier, the pink swirling drink– and when she refused had started sipping at it as they headed out. “Like I said. Pretty successful day~”

Looking over his shoulder at Doppio, Kaito asked, “Alright, so where do you live? Waku and I are gonna end up in the same place, so it’s really just down to who’s closer, between you and Souda, which direction we head next.”

By the time Kaito and Souda came outside, Doppio had calmed somewhat, though his face was still flushed--though from his embarrassment, his drinks catching up with him, or Waku’s needling about what exactly he had said before it was unclear what exactly was causing it. Still, he gave Souda a small nod at the question. “Probably your place. I live in the suburbs, so… Out on Magnolia Place, you know?”

At that, Waku’s whole amusement with…pretty much everything that night faded a little into concern as she looked over Doppio. “Wait, and you were planning to walk back on your own?” Glancing to Kaito, knowing it’d mostly be for his clarification, she explained, “That’s like a half-hour walk just from the castle.”

Doppio nodded, a small frown forming on his face. “Yeah? That’s not that far.”

Kaito let out a low whistle, before nodding. “Ooookay. Definitely dropping off Souda first then. Waku, love, if you want to head to the castle, I can handle dropping off Doppio and heading back myself. I don’t feel that drunk, honestly, just, like… little tipsy.” Kaito shrugged at her, “Won’t hold it against you if you don’t wanna make the trek.”

“And Waku has a point, Doppio. You came out a long way for a drink my dude. And, like… you barely drank. Why’d you come out this far?” Kaito asked him, as he casually started guiding the group towards Souda’s area.

“I didn’t come into the city just to pub hop,” Doppio drawled, thumbing the strap of his bag as he started following the others. Hopefully Souda didn’t live straight up on the other side of town--he never minded the walk into town, but the evening was wearing on and he’d rather just be on his way if it was going to turn into a two-hour walk or something. “I come out here most days for work--I’ve already been in the city proper earlier today so…”

…so…he’d done something…and decided to go the pub to take a break before heading home? That wasn’t wholly out of character for him, but…

He shrugged. “Decided to get a drink before the day was done.”

Waku hummed, accepting the vague and uncertain answer. Sometimes whims were a mystery even to the person that had them. “You’ve mentioned it a few times now… What do you do for work, Doppio?”

It was like flipping a switch. His moods could be a little mercurial at times, sure, and it wasn’t as if he was bored or unenthused with their company before, but at the question, Doppio beamed, practically lighting up the evening himself. His voice jumping up with pride and excitement, he answered, “I’m a personal assistant!” 

“Hell yeah you are!” Kaito shouted, grinning wide as he held a hand up to Doppio, “Up high!”

“You, uuuuuuh, really into administration, Prince Kaito?” Souda asked, raising an eyebrow as he sipped at his brew.

“Not really, but I am really into self-confidence.” Kaito grinned. “And Dope’ here’s fucking got himself some.” 

For a moment, Doppio just kind of looked at Kaito’s hand as if he had no idea what to do with it, before the gears seemed to click into place and he gave the prince a hearty high five, riding the high of work talk. 

And…it really was a high. Waku knew plenty of people that took pride in their work--Kokichi and Aiichi especially lived for, at least, the fruits of their work, and getting Denji invested in a conversation about fashion or personal style brought about a certain liveliness and passion that Waku had only seen matched after they had met Andromeda. But the quick, bright pattering code of Doppio’s heart sounded like there was really nothing greater in the world to him. 

At least until he blinked, giving Kaito another sulky look. “Don’t call me a dope.”

If Kaito was discouraged, he didn’t show it. Just chuckling a little as he said, “Another attempt at a nickname shot down. Ah well, we’ll see if I manage to land on gold.”

Sipping at his own brightly pink drink, Kaito started to lead the group down the road, Souda’s place in mind as he led the pack. “It is cool to hear how enthusiastic you are about your job though. You’re in good company! As you can guess, Souda’s a tech genius, and he’s been using those skills at the local greenhouses. Dicea has plants down, but Souda’s still going to take them to the next level, someday!”

“I mean, I have some ideas about watering systems, but…” Souda shrugged, “We’ll see.”

“And Waku! She’s the castle’s top housecleaner! And that is high praise, seriously, the Dicean Castle Housekeeping community is insanely efficient. Maki-roll– my best friend– basically only trusts the housekeepers among the staff, she says they're the most reliable people around, and Maki doesn’t mince words on stuff like that. And Waku?” Kaito said, pointing back to Waku, “Best of the best! No competition!”

“Or…you could just call me my name…” Doppio murmured, not really for anyone. 

Nodding along with Kaito expounding on Souda’s tech prowess, Waku had her head held high when it was time for her own praise, though she gave Kaito a light punch on the arm. “I am damn good at my job, but that’s the first time I’m hearing that distinction, Kaito. Saving it just to brag so you don’t have to prod Aiichi into giving me a raise? Or ask Kokichi to prod Aiichi into giving me a raise.”

Snickering a bit, meaning all that just as a joke, Waku locked eyes with Doppio and jerked her head towards Kaito. “Don’t let the big guy fool you with his insecurities either. Cleaning, cooking, art, acting…Kaito’s a chameleon that can do anything if he gets the idea to. Not to mention a contender for Best Dad of the Year.”

While he listened with curious interest, Doppio smirked a little. “Still think he can pull forward after betting away his kids’ food money?”

“He’ll find a way~”

“You think I won’t storm into Aiichi’s office and demand a Waku raise? You are deeply underestimating me, the man’s about to pay out.” Kaito snickered, running his arm around Waku’s shoulders and shaking her a little. If she was a little taller, Kaito would be content to actually just leave his arm there as they walked, but Waku was itty bitty and it wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do, especially, admittedly, when he was swaying a little. This pink stuff was good, and he had already had quite a few drinks already. 

So, giving her a tight side hug, Kaito pulled back and sipped at his drink before he chuckled, “And don’t undermine my greatest accomplishment, Waku! Gold digger! Do you have any idea how tricky it is, someone with my background, ending up a gold digger? I was RICHER THAN GOD!”

“Geez, shout it louder.” Souda winced, plugging his ear as Kaito laughed, “Don’t get into the shouty phase now, wait until you drop me off so my neighbors don’t complain at me.”

“Sorry, sorry~” Kaito loughed, his voice still a tad too loud as he shrugged, “And honestly I’m entirely kidding. I am still, like, stupid rich. At least for Dicea. But my Kokichi still spoils me anyway~ He bought this outfit!” Kaito said– half-shouted– gesturing to himself as he spun around to show himself off to the group, “This is a nice fucking outfit too! He bought all of it! … oh, no, wait, not the belt. Or the shoes. Did I buy these shoes?” Kaito squinted at the shoes, before murmuring, “Where did I get these? Anyway! I’m gonna beg Kokichi’s forgiveness, and because he is wonderful and lovely and spoils me, he will absolutely feed my beautiful babies~ …or Shuichi will. Or Maki! One of my kids is hers too! Shuichi’s a loooord. Have I ever told you guys that? Lord Saihara, under the Momota crest! I am killing it on this gold digger career, seriously.”

Still walking backwards, trusting someone would warn him if he was gonna run into something, Kaito asked Doppio, “So, as a kickass admin assistant, like Waku asked earlier: who’s the lucky boss? Who is your assistance making them the best they can be?”

Waku chuckled a bit, giving Kaito a fond look as he jostled her. Honestly, it wasn’t even up to Aiichi if she got promoted or got a raise, though if that was something he decided he wanted no one would really shoot the idea down. But it was pretty funny to think about Kaito mustering his gumption to approach his father-in-law to ask for a raise. She’d heard from Hajime just how the whole thing was all sorts of bungled with him before Kokichi stepped in to propose his promotion. 

“Are gods even that rich?” Doppio hummed, crossing his arms as he thought about the phrase. “I guess if you could just, like, materialize whatever you wanted, that defeats the purpose of money so…I guess, yeah. Can gods do that? That seems like a god thing.”

Doppio just kind of shrugged at that, leaving the matter be, and though he perked up at more questions about his work…

Don’t say The Boss’s name. 

Do not say it.

He squinted a bit at the twinges of the sudden headache before grinning, blatant admiration in both his expression and voice. “Mr. Naso. Mostly I cook and clean, b-but I can do anything, really! Anything he asks I’ll make a reality! It’s the least I can do.”

“Oh my god, YES!” Kaito shouted, stopping the group so that he could turn and, rushing in, going in for another high five. Trying to make this one a stinger. “Impossible is POSSIBLE!”

Quicker on the draw this time--and his eyes lighting up a bit at the phrase--Doppio held up a hand for the high five. And was nearly bowled over completely by the rampaging six-foot redhead, if not for Waku quickly snatching ahold of his sweater and bracing all her weight in the opposite direction. 

“Hey, hey, maybe turn it down a few notches, guys,” she cautioned. “We’re trying to make sure Doppio makes it home in one piece, remember?”

“Don’t worry, Miss Waku! I’ve got you!” Souda shouted, going to help steady her steadying Doppio, putting his hand on the small of her back– “GAH!”

“Yeaaaah, no.” Kaito grumbled, reaching over to grab Souda and– grabbing Souda’s drink in the same hand he was holding his own– throwing him up and over his shoulder, before handing Souda’s drink to Doppio, “Here, take my straw, see if you can keep feeding him his drink. Otherwise he’ll shout all the way home.”

“PUT ME DOWN MOMOTA–!”

Shaking his arm out a little--owwwww--Doppio shot Waku a grateful look before Kaito realigned their little caravan train and he resigned himself to drink duty. “I guess if you’re not jostling him much,” he sighed, holding the drink up to Souda. “I heard once about someone who was drinking something with a straw in a carriage, and they hit a bunch of bumps and the straw went through the roof of their mouth. Luckily it was a frozen drink so they were numbing it immediately, but still…”

Waku blinked, grimacing. “Well, I’m never using a straw again.”

“I will use straws again, but man, that mental image is gonna haunt me every time I do… drink safely, Souda~” Kaito said cheerfully over his shoulder, as Souda pouted, but did indeed take the offered sips of the straw. It wasn’t hard for Kaito to keep Souda from jostling, keeping his back straight and, with the extra load, finding it easier to focus on his steps to keep himself from swaying. “Cook and clean, and assist… I bet you’re amazing at it, Doppio. Well, your boss better watch out, because now you know a prince, and who knows! I don’t think the king has a personal assistant? Doppio could be looking to upgrade someday~”

“Oh, oh.” Kaito lit up, looking over his shoulder at his friends, “Have you guys ever heard of muses?”

Doppio beamed at the praise, though he kept that same energy as he said bluntly, “Not a chance. There is no upgrading from Mr. Naso--the king has a whole administration team, but I do everything!”

“...that an assistant does,” he shrugged more sheepishly. “The more…business-y stuff is beyond me. But if you need tile grout cleaned it’s as good as erased from the world.”

“Ah, a guy that really knows the important things in life,” Waku nodded sagely before she raised an eyebrow at Kaito. “Like…classical muses? Was Kokichi going through his art history books with you or something?”

“Oh, uuuuuuuuh, nope!” Kaito snickered, shrugging a little, and then hearing a little shout, “Oh, sorry Souda. No, no, I actually mean, like, a weird type of model? And man, if there’s a cleaner way to differentiate between me and ‘Kichi, it’s that, isn’t it? If he said muses, he’d absolutely be talking about that art stuff. Me? Model!”

“Wait, wait, wait, are we talking about models? How did we get to models?” Souda asked, peering past Doppuo at Waku, before saying brightly, “Have you ever considered modeling, Miss Waku??”

“Doppio! Straw!” Kaito ordered, before continuing on brightly, “It’s a neat, like, job that I discovered a few months ago? I met this woman named June, and she said her job was to be an ‘inspiration’ to people. Like, she hangs around people and basically acts as, like… their cheerleader, I think? Or, like…” Kaito licked his lips a little, “...she said she hung around them and made them want to be better, I think? I can’t remember how she described it, but I remember thinking, damn. I think that’s an awesome job. Going around being a muse? Is it narcissistic to think I’d be a kickass muse?  I’D BE A KICKASS MUSE! Waku!? You want a muse!?”

Doppio made a small, attentive sound at Kaito’s order, immediately holding Souda’s drink up to him. And while he didn’t slosh or tip the cup, ever the picture of…obediently carrying out very simple orders, he did make a skeptical sound as Kaito explained the job he’d discovered. “Is that…actually a job? One that people would actually pay for?”

“People pay for all kinds of things,” Waku just shrugged, before giving Kaito a small snort. “But I’m not gonna be the type to pay for that. I think you would be a good muse, Kaito, but I’m not exactly looking around for inspiration. Or motivation. And I think you’d get a lot of people trying to take advantage of your rates, since that’s something you have trouble, like…ever turning off.”

“Pffff, I was about to say, for you, Waku? I’d go pro-bono.” Kaito grinned, “What’s that thing you tell artists… oh! I’d do it for the exposure. I’d go be an awesome muse for my awesome Waku, and you can tell a bunch of suckers and simps what a kickass muse I made for you… hmmm… Shuichi may not… love it.” Kaito realized, his eyes narrowing a little, “I mean, I wouldn’t have to be a sexy muse… but I’d be so good at it! Souda!? Wouldn’t I make a sexy muse!?”

“I really cannot stress how not my type you are.” Souda said, taking another long sip from the drink Doppio was holding before, bracing himself on Kaito’s back, he went ‘HUP!’ and pushed himself up. Kaito making a genuinely startled sound as Souda managed to get himself upright, and in the same motion swinging his leg around, now riding Kaito’s neck. Reaching down to Doppio, he wordlessly gestured for the kid to give him his drink, as he said, “You’re too big. Six foot tall, strong, all muscles and square edges… blegh.”

“Rude!” Kaito shouted, looking up at Souda with a glare, who shrugged down at him, “...but the issue isn’t the dick??”

“Eh.” Souda shrugged, “I prefer vaginas in a pinch.”

“That sounds like you’re open to either, when not in a pinch… wait, what is the ‘pinch’ in this context?”

“Shut up, your highness, I don’t fucking know! I’m drunk, I don’t know what I’m saying!”

Kaito nodded solemnly, patting Souda’s thigh, “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. You can go to bed soon.”

Waku let out a harsh scoff of a laugh as Kaito remembered what exposure was, though she shrugged a bit. “I’d talk you up for sure, dude, but Shuuichi would be pissed, even if you weren’t a sexy muse and just an easy-on-the-eyes muse. Just watching his inner struggle if it was something you genuinely wanted would be pay for me, actually.”

Doppio made a soft noise of awe as Souda maneuvered himself around Kaito--impressive on its own, and even more while drunk--and…well, Kaito wasn’t his boss. Doppio was beholden to no royalty! (Except when it came to doing their taxes.) So he handed over Souda’s drink without complaint. 

…that was the reason he was holding it, right? For Souda to…not have it? Something like that…

Though despite Souda admitting to rambling, something actually did make sense to Doppio about it all and he blinked, perking. “Oh, are you a sex worker, Souda?”

“...” Souda put his lips around the straw and suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked– “The hell gave you that idea!?”

“Oh shit.” Kaito whispered, eyes widening, craning his neck upwards at Souda, “Oh, that would explain it.”

“It wouldn’t explain anything.” Souda grouched, plopping the bottom of his bottle on the top of Kaito’s forehead, and for good measure resting his chest on top of it, ignoring Kaito’s pained grunt as Souda basically pinned his head up, “...what would it explain?”

“Ow, ow, ow,” Kaito whimpered, glaring up at Souda with one eye as he waved his hand vaguely in the air, “Someone grab my hand, I can’t see. Waku, lead the way to Souda’s place! And it’s not a bad thing–”

“It’s not a thing at all.” Souda said stiffly, not relenting with the bottle.

“-- but, like… you are a really awkward flirt, but your confidence in your body is really sincere.” Kaito mused, “You strike me as someone who hasn’t had a chance to date much, but has been arou–ow!”

“You’re cruising for a bruising, your grace. You think I won’t fight you just because you’re royalty?” Souda warned, thumping the bottle on Kaito’s forehead again. 

“Ow, stop that! And you’re not gonna not fight me because I’m royalty… you’re gonna avoid fighting me because you’re a skinny little punk– OW!” Another bottle thump, “Can someone please take that away from him!?”

Doppio shrugged a little, though as Souda’s assault continued his shoulders stiffened, his body curling defensively. “It’d be kind of fucked up if you talked about casual sex as an ‘in a pinch’ situation. So…it’d be about paying the bills, right?”

He winced in sympathy with a bottle thump. “...but I guess I was off base.”

Taking the lead of the group, Waku sighed as she guided Kaito, Souda’s home in sight. “He does have a point, Kaito, but, Souda, please stop smacking Kaito around. If he comes home bruised I don’t care how sloshed you are, I’m kidnapping Kokichi so you have to be the one to watch him cry.”

While he still looked a bit wary, Doppio gave Waku a curious look. “Maybe I just don’t know what I’d be getting into, but isn’t Prince Kokichi, like…scary litigious? I think that’d be more of a concern than him crying.”

“Lit–ow– Litigious?” Kaito asked, grunting as Souda finally relented, pulling back the bottle so that Kaito could lift his head again, “What does that mean?”

“I dunno? Lit?” Souda guessed, sipping at the last of his drink and, pouting at the empty bottle, tossing it aside. Kaito immediately reached out to grab the bottle before it could hit the ground, huffing slightly at Souda, who just rested his arms on the top of Kaito’s head, “What, he’s well read? Well read people aren’t scary.”

“I’m well read!” Kaito bragged, again, far too loud. 

“My point exactly.”

“Fuck you, man, I’m intimidating as hell.” Kaito insisted, shoving Souda’s bottle into his pocket, before sipping more at his bright pink glittery drink, “And in my experience, Kokichi’s usually at his scariest just before he starts crying. He gets all, like…” Kaito waved his hands in front of his face, “Empty and cold. It’s usually a good sign when he calms down enough to cry. Though I’m sure Waku didn’t mean it like that. He’s also just a sweetheart you shouldn’t be okay with seeing cry.”

Doppio blinked before he shrugged a little. “It’s, uh, you know… Really willing to get into legal battles he’s likely to win? Shit’s terrifying.”

Humming, Waku gave Kaito a nod. “Sure, Kokichi can be scary in his own right, but Kaito’s right. It’s not that you should be scared--it’s that seeing Kokichi cry and be disappointed in you is one of the worst feelings in the world.” Shaking her head a little, she navigated their group past another on the road. “Doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest mega-bitch ever--if you see him crying, your heart is breaking.”

Looking up to give him a small grin, Waku chuckled. “Sorry, Souda, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“You all are absolutely underestimating me. I’m a hard street thug! I don’t care if someone cute is crying at me! I’d be unphased!” Souda insisted. 

“Okaaaaay, well, even if a crying Kokichi theoretically wouldn’t phase you? And he would, just to be clear.” Kaito said, as they headed up the stairs of the apartment complex, heading to Souda’s door, “Kokichi’s got a ton of fans who would be pissed at you. Fangirls especially. Up to and including ‘Miss’ Waku. If Kokichi doesn’t scare you, then Waku… or Lake… or Katsuki… or Maki-roll… or Amber… Stacy… Nazumi–”

“How does he have that many fangirls!?”

Kaito decided not to mention some of the ladies mentioned were family as he nodded solemnly, “My ‘Kichi’s a stud, has a whole fanclub oo’ing and aah’ing over him. Those ladies would rip you apart. Alright, now get off of me, we’re here.”

“You’re a hard street thug that isn’t a complete asshole without a heart,” Waku amended, taking it upon herself to hold open the public doors of the complex. “Which, yanno, is why we’re friends with you. You’d be phased.”

Even if they’d just met that night, Doppio still highly doubted Souda was any sort of ‘street thug’, even with his friends playing along. He didn’t exactly know what things were like in Luminary, but he doubted a prince and someone who was a respected member of the Usott castle staff would really recognize that sort of stuff…

But underestimating people was a pretty horrible assumption to make. 

“He’s the prince of the country,” Doppio muttered quietly. “He has fans of all sort; shouldn’t be that surprising…” But then he sighed, giving Souda a small wave. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Goodnight, Souda,” Waku called, “Good luck with the hangover tomorrow.”

As Souda hopped down, he spun on his heels, reaching to take Waku’s hands in his own. “My dearest, sweet Miss Waku, I will think of you every second I’m awa–AHH!”

“Annnnd night!” Kaito said cheerfully, grabbing Souda’s collar and dragging him in front of the door. The two bickered a bit as Souda got his key out, Souda insisting he was laying the groundwork for his and Waku’s future lives together, and Kaito insisting that if Souda didn’t knock it off he was going to wind up with his head in a toilet. This bit of childish bullying seemed apparently just plausible enough to Souda to have him stuttering and uncertain, managing to get the door open and scurrying inside before Kaito could follow through on it, before peeking his head out.

“We doing this again soon?”

“Gonna try to! See ya, Souda!” Kaito waved, Souda nodding before the door shut behind him, several locks clicking into place. Kaito turned to the other two and grinned, “He’s a lot of fun. Alright, Doppio! Which direction we heading next?”

Waku rolled her eyes a little, sharing a look with Doppio, which…he wasn’t exactly sure what she was sharing, but there was some sort of comradery in it. They were an odd bunch for sure. 

As they turned to head back out of the building, Doppio nodded with a definitive energy in his voice. “East!” If there was any perk to living in the suburbs--and there were a lot! There were a lot of very good and important reasons why The Boss had moved them out there--it was that pretty much no matter where he was in the city, he needed to head east to go back home. So…it made giving directions, though this was the first time he had ever needed to, much easier than the minutiae that was…a bit fuzzier. 

Before, Doppio hadn’t fought Kaito--and thus the group’s--insistence of walking him home, as he’d gotten the feeling it was a losing battle, but as they walked out of Souda’s apartment he gave the prince a more sheepish look. “Though…I really am fine to head back by myself. If you guys just wanted to go home once we pass the castle?”

“Ooooh, Doppio, Doppio, Doppio…” Kaito patted the smaller man on the shoulder, shaking his head a little, “You have any idea how few nights out I get? I am Dad Guy. I am Good Husband, Doting Fiance, Dedicated Prince Consort Guy. You got any idea how rare it is, that I get an excuse to just go out and walk around a bit and drink a bit and breathe in the night air?”

Squeezing Doppio’s shoulder, Kaito leaned down, grinning at him with all of his teeth, “You are not getting rid of me.”

“But!” Kaito popped up, taking his hand back and looking brightly over at Waku, “I can understand if our Waku here isn’t looking for similar excuses to stretch her legs and delay getting home a bit. I don’t mind walking him out and walking home by myself, Waku, I really don’t feel that drunk. I feel great, really!”

Squeaking, Doppio shrunk away a bit at that teethy grin, forcing out a stammered, “W-well okay!” 

It wasn’t even really that he felt better about it being some selfish motive--Doppio simply wasn’t that altruistic, and he hadn’t asked before because he felt bad about keeping Kaito and Waku out later. The ongoing fight in his head about whether The Boss would be pissed or pleased about someone bringing him home was…well, ongoing. And with one member of the group taken home, he figured why not swing for the fences and take the decision out of his hands?

But apparently that wasn’t happening and fuck, he really didn’t want to fight Prince Kaito.

Waku, for her part, just gave Kaito a dry, yet fond look. “I know you do, but you’re still being a loud tipsy guy, and that’s my cue to make sure you two don’t end up getting into some HOA-type prissy fight.” She tipped her head to the side. “...unless you do sober up more by the time we pass home, and I might take that time to pass on that you’re gonna be out for a little longer.”

“I’m sure my partners would appreciate the heads up, but literally every time I go out they both stress at me that I’m allowed to be out for as long as I feel like.” Kaito admitted, the three heading out at a leisurely pace, Kaito’s long strides slow and casual in order to keep pace with his smaller companions, “So I’m kinda taking advantage not just for my own sake, but because I think it’d make them happy too. They worry about me, ya know? They don’t think I do enough stuff for myself.”

Rolling his shoulders a little, easing the tension in the back of his neck, he mused, “They’re kinda right and kinda wrong. Basically everything I do, I do for myself. I just happen to really, really like doing things for them, or with them in mind. It makes me happy, ya know, when I feel like I’ve successfully done something for them. It’s only stressful and awful when I think I’ve failed. But, also, freaking everyone’s been telling me that I’m, like… basically relying on that type of feeling too much. And that I’ve got to find other ways to enjoy myself again. Hanging out with you, Waku, is always an easy way to do that, I love hanging out with you. But getting the chance to just walk around the city by myself is nice too. It’s the sort of thing I would have loved to be doing with my nights in Luminary. I loved just going out into the city and seeing what I’d find.” Kaito grinned, his mind on old memories, “It felt so natural to me. Like I was in my element.”

Waku shrugged and nodded, not having been overly worried about either course of action. Kokichi had, at one point, been terrified every time Kaito was out and about, but what she said back at the pub was true--as the months went on, and she and Kaito had their hangouts, that fear had eased back every time. Kokichi was a worrier, so she doubted the feeling would ever completely fade, but it was more something for Kokichi to manage, not the rest of them. 

So, she simply patted his back with a fond smile and kept in pace.

Doppio, on the other hand, hummed softly, finding something familiar in Kaito’s words. “Oh, my boss says that kind of stuff to me all the time too--like trying to insist on vacations ‘n stuff. It’s, uh…” he paused, stumbling over his words a little, “Uh! Well, if you’re happy with the other stuff too, like walking and, yanno,” Doppio made a quick gesture between Kaito and Waku, “friendship, and all, then that’s good!”

“I just think some people don’t really get that being helpful is…” he trailed off, searching for a word. “Not the kind of task that feels like you need a break from, I guess? I mean, I guess I can admit that it is a task, but it’s something I’d always choose, rather than…” He scoffed softly, “Sitting on a beach doing nothing. Or whatever people do on vacations.”

“I appreciate that your boss would recognize you work too hard and want you to reward yourself.” Kaito grinned, “I mean, I don’t know if you work too hard, but I’d take it on good faith that you do. You’ve got a ‘worker bee’ energy to you, I could see it. And yeah! Yeah,” Kaito chuckled, reaching over to ruffle Doppio’s hair, then trying to smooth it out again as he realized he messed up the braid a little, “Being helpful can be its own sort of relaxing. I get really stressed out, when I feel like I haven’t done anything to pull my weight recently. It can kinda drive my partners nuts, but I usually get my most energized and excited when, like…”

Kaito cringed a little, “Okay, it’s gonna sound terrible said out loud, but fuck it, it’s true and I should own it: when they’re both, like, down and sick and, like, really need me? Genuinely? I feel happy. Not because they’re down, but because, oh, okay, I can make things better! This is my chance to matter again! It’s what makes me happy when I’m taking care of the kids too, especially my wee little itty bitty Miyako. She needs me to run around at her every little need and demands I pamper every little whim, and she doesn’t care if I work myself ragged or am worn down to the bone, she always demands more… and I just, like, am into it. I feel so damn important and useful and needed, and there’s nothing in the world like a hard day taking care of all of them and by the end of it feeling like I nailed it.”

“Buuuuuut, it’s not healthy to only feel good about myself in, like, relation to how well I’m serving someone else, ya know? It’s bad for your mental health. Ya gotta do things that are purely just to serve you, ya know? And maybe that’s not sitting at a beach staring at the ocean, especially not if you don’t really want to, but, like… well, taking a vacation to do something you do want to do? I dunno… Waku? When’s the last vacation you’ve taken? What’d you do with it?”

While not as put out as with some of the other jostling--and the nicknames--Doppio still lightly batted Kaito’s hands away, fixing his hair himself. Considering how late it was, he didn’t bother re-braiding his hair, but just settled for tucking the loose strands back into it, running his fingers through his bangs to fix the rest. He wasn’t that concerned with his appearance, but there was a certain degree of professionalism he tried to maintain, even off the clock. 

“Mm…I wouldn’t say it’s exactly like that for me--I’d never wish or even be happy if Boss got sick,” Doppio shuddered, “And…well, it’s not like you can bring phones around with you, so a lot of the time I’m working without any sort of contact or supervision,” even if sometimes it felt like The Boss knew exactly what he was doing at any given moment, “But…yeah. I like having a full to-do list. Nothing beats having a list that’s expected to take a few days and finishing everything in one.”

Not to say that he lacked the patience for multi-day tasks, or rushed through everything but…given the number of times he had to take extra time because his luck got in the way, or he forgot a step or two, Doppio always felt on top of the world when he could surprise The Boss with a quick job.

“You two really have just a dismal work-life balance,” Waku sighed, shaking her head before considering Kaito’s question. “Well, I have plenty of single days off, but as for time I requested for vacation? I extended my days off around Zenith so I had a little under a week.”

Shrugging, she glanced at the guys, gaze lingering on Doppio for a moment. “I never really go anywhere on vacation--travel makes me nervous. But I block out days to go see exhibitions or concerts I’ve been looking forward to, or check out restaurants. I went swimming a lot, last vacation, since it’s been so hot this summer.”

“Could you give that love of swimming to Kokichi and Miyako? Please? Just a little.” Kaito sighed, “It’s not looking good for all my future possible swimming days, when my husband refuses to learn how to swim and my baby looks like she wants to crawl out of her skin every time we put her in the water. Why do they hate water so much!? They’re Diceans! You guys are literally surrounded by water!! Why is the desert prince the one advocating for all the swimming stuff in the country soaked in water!?”

Doppio’s eyebrows raised a little, surprise gently washing over his face, but it wasn’t so much of a noticeable reaction after he shrugged, especially with Waku chuckling. 

“I’ll try, but…” She hummed, cutting herself off. “...that’s actually an interesting point. I know plenty of people who don’t know how to swim, so it feels strange that it’s so common for people who literally lived in the desert,” she nodded to Kaito. “There’s an excuse that you guys have more coastline, but not where you and the others are from, and we still have all sorts of lakes and rivers over here.”

Doppio wrinkled his nose a bit. “It’s overrated. And people constantly underestimate how filthy natural bodies of water are. You know how many people I’ve seen swimming with cuts and open sores? It’s like they’re begging to get an infection.”

Kaito shot Doppio a borderline offended look, as he sputtered, “It’s not OVERRATED! Swimming is AWESOME! It’s borderline magical! You get in this pool of water and you’re suddenly, like, weightless and graceful and fast and your hair goes all, like, swooshy in the water! You can literally jump, like, several feet in one go! You can run up the walls!”

“...” Kaito tilted his head a little, musing, “Actually, that might be it. I mean, for one, you, Waku, really only know Luminaries from the capital… I think? Do you know more Lumaries than us? Anyway, swimming pools and lanes are really common in the capital city, cause, like… the capital city is pretty wealthy, in comparison to the rest of Luminary. We have more accommodations like that in general. And swimming recreationally like that, with the exception of the coast cities, is considered a really upscale luxury. So, like, maybe it’s that Luminaries really like swimming for the same reason Diceans really like… uh… shoot, what’s something that seems cool to you guys partly because it’s so niche and rare… damn, I really can’t think of an example. You guys have any idea what I’m trying to say?”

Doppio stuck his tongue out with a displeased expression. “Being weightless sucks. It’s just a bunch of filthy water that gets in your nose and dissolves your sunscreen.”

…unless it wasn’t filthy water, but…Doppio had never been to an indoor pool. At least, he didn’t think so. There’d never really been a reason for him to go to one…not that there was much of a reason for him to go take a dip in a lake or the ocean but…

Maybe let’s not think about that. 

“Oh. That probably would explain it, huh,” Waku mused, before she gripped the inside of her poncho in thought--a poor substitute for her braids, but it would be some time before her hair grew out again. “Hmm. Some people talk about mountaineering like what I think you’re implying, but…it’s pretty easy just to go out to a mountain.”

Doppio chewed his lip, eyes drifting all over as he tried to come up with something. “Maybe traveling in general? It’s not uncommon within the country, but it’s a real bragging rights thing to say you’ve spent time outside of Dicea. You basically have to take a mountain trip or go sailing if you wanna go anywhere else.”

“Oh!” Waku perked, giving Doppio a nod. “Ziplining! Harder to do than just finding a mountain to climb, and it’s always seemed exciting, even if I’ve been too terrified to actually consider it.”

Kaito nodded with a small, considering hum at Doppio’s traveling suggestion– that made sense, the mountains did make it seem like more of a trial to go long distance casually– before his eyebrows raised at Waku’s contribution. “Ziplining… oh? Oh!” 

He lit up, clenching his hands into fists as, for a moment, he seemed to bounce on his toes as he shouted, “That’s awesome! Wow, I never even thought about that, but that makes so much sense! Of course there’d be a ziplining scene here, you guys have, like… non-building heights! Ooooh, that’d be so cool! Do you think Kokichi would enjoy ziplining!? Shuichi would hate it, but I think Maki and Tim would get a huge kick out of it. Ooooooh, maybe I should take my family ziplining. FUCK YEAH! I’M GONNA BE THE COOLEST FUCKING DAD EVER! God I bet Tim would love ziplining…”

For a moment, Kaito practically salivated over that mental image, of finally doing something that might actually impress his very difficult to impress son– so far a staple of Kaito’s children. They were both so tough to impress– just imagining seeing Tim look back at Kaito for reassurance before going down some crazy cool mountain landscape or something… before Kaito frowned a little. A dark thought trailing behind that excitement.

“...my last attempt at a vacation kind of went as bad as one of those could go.” Kaito mused. Sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, shooting Waku a mildly desperate look as he asked, “...but, like… what are the odds, right? Anything like that would happen again? Not great, right? … I mean, the mountains are just around here anyway, it’s not like I’m taking them to the beach again…”

Waku laughed softly, endeared as always with how Kaito got caught up in his own enthusiasm. “If you guys stayed at a lodge, I’m sure Shuuichi would find something to enjoy, but everyone else? They’d have a blast. Kokichi’s always been a daredevil for that kind of stuff.”

Miyako was still tough to say, though Waku assumed Kaito would intend it to be a vacation further out in the future if he wanted Miyako to enjoy any of it. High-speed careening through the air was kind of the opposite of what was good for babies. 

But for a vacation in general…

“The odds of something like that happening to you all again are so laughably small I’d call them impossible if that wasn’t just inviting disaster,” Waku assured, patting Kaito’s back again. “And you guys went to the hot springs last winter and that went fine, right?”

Doppio, not having any idea what they were talking about, made an affirming hum. “I think you’ve just made your own case of why beaches suck and are overrated for vacations. Stick with the mountains if they’ve--”

All of a sudden, the young man cut himself off, going quiet, and to Waku it nearly looked like one moment he was there, and the next there was only an outline, though it was easy to see Doppio quickly scurrying off the road and towards a patch of trees. 

“...” Kaito scratched the back of his head, watching Doppio sprint off, before glancing over at Waku, “...I’m gonna chase him.” He warned her.

“Shout if you need me to get help,” she nodded, veering to the side of the road to get out of the way. 

It had been just faint enough… Honestly his own voice nearly covered it up. Oh what luck! It was still in season, but getting late…oooooooh he couldn’t believe it!

Just beyond the treeline, Doppio crouched down into the foliage, his doe-eyes in full effect as he peered at the small pond. 

Kaito pushed into a run the second Waku moved aside, but it wasn’t like his usual bolts when it came to, say, his partners. He usually only found himself running after people for two reasons these days: because someone in his family was hurt, or because they were playing a game. Both required break-neck speeds, sustained for emergencies, short and playful for the games.

For this, though? Kaito’s run was steady but slower. Careful. Not moving so fast that he couldn’t see what might be ahead of him or around him, as Kaito moved away from the roads and followed the path he thought Doppio had disappeared into the treeline through. He peered around as he ran, not just looking for Doppio, but for signs of any other danger, his eye adjusting to the shadows of the trees as he listened carefully.

Careful… careful…

When he saw Doppio’s form crouched down, peering at a small piece of water that partly shimmered in the rising moonlight, Kaito slowed his careful jog into a slow, even walk. His night vision getting better as he kept darting his eyes around, listening for danger, as he carefully walked up behind Doppio. Whispering, “Hey, everything okay…? Something spook you?” 

Eyes still fixed on the pond, Doppio shook his head gently, before he gently motioned Kaito forward. “Look,” he whispered, a small, yet truly delighted smile on his face. 

And it was hard to see in the shaded night, but at the banks of the pond, making small ripples, were the sources of the low croaking that Doppio had barely been able to hear from the road. 

“Hello, signori,” the teen hardly whispered, moving ever so slowly towards the smattering of toads. Not reaching out, but wanting to get closer. “Wonderful night, isn’t it? Have you been thinking about where to hunker down for the winter yet?”

Kaito’s eyes widened a little, seeing what Doppio had rushed over here for. Hmmm… partly just reminding himself, Kaito tapped his finger to his lips, indicating quiet, before whispering, “Be right back…”

Slow, careful walk back to the tree line– the roots of the trees feeling natural and familiar beneath his feet– Kaito got back in sight of the road and waved Waku over. Grinning at her as she came, “Come on, Doppio’s found weird nature stuff. Frogs. It’s neat, come take a look.”

“Though,” Kaito tapped his lips again, “Try to be quiet, I don’t want to scare them off. He seems really excited by them.” Kaito explained, leading the way back.

Waku raised her eyebrows--of everything Doppio could’ve dashed away for, frogs were not what she would’ve bet on--but followed Kaito into the trees. Never a bad time to have a frog detour. 

As they neared, even while he was whispering she could hear Doppio having a conversation with the frogs, and when Kaito led her to the pond, a smile of her own formed, seeing the slick little amphibians croaking in the moonlight. Before her smile faded.

He was wearing jeans and a sweater, but…

“Doppio,” she whispered, not wanting to scare the frogs off, at least. “You’re crouching in poison ivy.”

It took a few beats, Doppio not even registering her for a moment, before he looked down. 

“...fuck.”

“Ah, he is? Uuuuh… hm.” Kaito frowned, rubbing the back of his neck a bit, “...I don’t know enough about poison ivy. That’s, like… not lethal, right? Oh, shit, is it lethal??” Kaito asked, eyes widening, looking to Waku for direction as he said, “Should I get him to a healer??” 

“It’s not lethal,” Waku quickly assured Kaito, while Doppio sighed, pouting a little and apologizing to the toads, saying goodbye before he stood up. Well…it was a detour he probably shouldn’t’ve taken anyway--it really was getting a lot later than he’d intended, and he really didn’t want to worry The Boss, but there were toads, how could he have not at least taken the opportunity to say hello. And, ugh, now he was gonna come home in a rash… What sort of…useless impression was that…

“No, I-I have stuff at home for it,” Doppio sighed, looking around, much more put out now than a moment before. “Should just…get there quickly, now.”

Coloring, he gave the prince and housekeeper an embarrassed look. “...sorry.”

Kaito gave a little huff of relief, before gesturing Doppio to follow as he said, “Don’t be sorry, we were taking you home anyway. We’ll just be quicker about it now, do some power walking. It was cool seeing toads! Are there any little tadpoles around… actually, nevermind. I can’t get caught up looking at tadpoles, cause I might actually get caught up in that. Come on! Hup-hup-hup, let’s get our guy here home!”

Kaito beckoned and encouraged and, at one point, pushed Waku and Doppio forward, herding them out of the forest as he said, “Say goodbye to the frogs, guys! We’ll see them next time we hang out, do a little frog hunting, yeah?”

Wrapping his hands in the sleeves of his sweater--he had no idea if that would actually do anything, but Doppio thought it was probably best not to spread his hands all around--Doppio sighed mournfully as they made it back to the road, more hustle in their step now. But the prospect of seeing more toads in the future was a very tempting one. 

“It’s best right after a rainstorm,” he piped up. “Especially if it’s still drizzling? Go to pretty much any pond in low-traffic areas and you should be able to hear them--for the next month or so anyway. Oh, and especially around dawn and dusk! In light rain, sometimes, they’ll even come up to people! If they’re in the middle of town, yeah, it’s probably better to bring them to a pond or in a garden, but for the most part you should leave them alone since some toads are venomous and some frogs have such sensitive skin that oils on human skin can really hurt them.”

“Kind of feels obvious now, but you a frog guy, Doppio?” Waku asked, amused by the info-dump. And she was only further amused by the half-shrug paired with vigorous nodding that he apparently decided to pair together. 

“I really like them! Amphibians and reptiles and insects are really cool, though I-I like a lot of animals! They’re nice.” There was something of a shy smile on his face, and judging by the back and forth of his enthusiasm, it really seemed like Doppio was making a dedicated effort not to be too excited by it all, contrasted with his whole-hearted passion when it came to the subject of his work earlier. “It feels like there’s something special about just…getting to see animals doing their thing out in the world. I like getting to get a peek of it.”

“You, my kid, and my fiance outta form a club.” Kaito chuckled, glancing around at the quiet roads before settling into the quicker pace, letting Doppio lead the way while he kept an eye out. It’s not that he was ‘uncomfortable’, now, he was still thoroughly enjoying his tipsy night out… it’s just Doppio running off had startled him, and that sharp shot of adrenaline hadn’t quite faded yet. Made Kaito more conscious of the area around them. “Shuichi has this giant snake he keeps in his office, coo’s and aww’s over that thing like it’s a damn puppy, rather than a nightmare noodle. And Tim likes to go visit that reptile, like, humanitarian thing? You guys know the place I’m talking about? He likes to go visit this one toad in particular, huge thing, like, as big as my head. Wild.”

“It’s lessening as the days go on, but seeing my pregnant boyfriend around those things? Set off a phobia I didn’t know I had hard.” Kaito huffed, shaking his head a little, “Freaked me the hell out, seeing that, I’m still not quite over it. Not around my bowling ball, super fragile fiance, thanks. But frogs and lizards and that are still pretty cool to me… tasty too.” Kaito smirked. And, partly lying, looked to Doppio and grinned toothily, “Just kidding.”

Doppio’s eyes widened in awe, amazed just thinking about someone having a giant snake. He did tend to prefer seeing animals out in the wild, though, in a rare spot of introspection, he wasn’t sure if that was because he truly had some sort of stance against captivity, or that he just wasn’t allowed any pets so seeing them in public was just what made him happy. 

However, hearing about it, Doppio tilted his head to the side in interest. “Reptile humanitarian thing?”

“A reptile and amphibian shelter, basically,” Waku explained. “They take in reptiles that have been pets or are too accustomed to humans to be let back into the wild, like other shelters. Shuuichi’s snake was a school pet for a while, if I remember right.”

“Ooooh… And they let people visit?” Obviously, since Kaito just said his son went to visit a toad, but… Doppio’s eyes gleamed with excitement and ambition. Next day off, he was definitely finding that place. Gonna say hello to all the lizards and snakes and turtles and frogs. 

Ones that were being kept safe and not being tormented by people, or…e-eaten?!

“Eeeugh,” Doppio squeaked before quickly shaking his head. “Don’t even joke about that… They’re just minding their business. It’s infuriating when people go out of their way to hurt animals…” His face falling into something hard and frustrated, Doppio huffed. “Some people think that just because something’s s-smaller than them, or weaker, then they have all the right in the world to hurt them… It’s disgusting.”

“Hm? Can’t argue with that, really.” Kaito nodded, though he knew damn well his actions would put him very firmly in that category of people who took advantage. It wasn’t his proudest trait, especially now that he knew more people who considered animals so carefully, but it just wasn’t something he thought about too much himself. He had a feeling what happened to that horse he ran to death would have appalled Doppio. And, again… for good reason. Kaito just had a hard time thinking that way about things.

…he wondered if part of that was why he felt so okay with his old skin hanging around? Or, Akane’s old skin hanging around. It was still tucked away lovingly in the shrine, and Kaito had taken it out the other day, staring at it, trying to think about how it had been Akane, waiting for that horror to seep in… why did ghosts freak him the hell out but the things they left behind didn’t bother him? Hm.

“Oh, Doppio, are you a vegetarian?” Kaito asked, glancing at the smaller man with a raised eyebrow, “I only ask so I can keep it in mind the next time we all hang out. Gotta make sure we go places that have selections for you and all of that.”

“Responsibility with power, and all that,” Waku nodded along with Kaito, something of a smile starting to play on her lips. She liked animals well enough, didn’t go out of her way to hurt them, even with finding bugs while she was cleaning--it was mostly left up to discretion on whether to kill or release, among the housekeepers, but killing usually meant another thing to clean--but she really didn’t have such strong feelings. Maybe not for all things, but she was getting the impression Doppio had some similar sensitive sensibilities to Kokichi. 

She wondered if the young man had ever cried seeing baby animals. 

Sighing a bit, Doppio gave Kaito a weird sort of shimmy-shrug. “I kinda try to be, but my boss isn’t, and…well, sometimes it’s just easier and more convenient to get meat rather than any protein substitutes for certain dishes. I kinda rationalize it as…we’re not really taking advantage of livestock for no reason--it’s survival for us. So it doesn’t feel as bad… But I do try to eat vegetarian if I have the opportunity.”

Kaito nodded, draping his arms behind his head and holding them there, sort of lounging back into his own grip as he walked, “Well, we’ll keep that in mind then. Lots of pubs and stuff have non-meat options, but admittedly it’s mostly, like… bread and peanuts and sweets, that sorta thing. We’ll figure it out.”

Kaito grinned, beaming at Doppio as he reached out to thump his back a bit, saying cheerfully and loudly, “After all! You’re one of the Starbursts now! We gotta look out for our own, right Waku!?”

Waku chuckled, waiting for the chest-deep, “ooph,” and few steps of a stumble Doppio went through after Kaito’s back slap to give Doppio a much more gentle hip check. “Absolutely. Kaito’s gotten his adopting little hands all over you, Souda’s cajoled you into a food bet, and you’re a total freak that I can’t wait to hear more of. Sorry, you’re stuck with us.”

He looked a bit concerned about being called a freak before he sighed, giving a small groan. “And being constantly slapped around by all of you is part of it?”

“Yupp!”

“It’s a requirement.” Kaito nodded, bringing up his hands in front of Doppio and flexing them a bit as he frowned at them, “I also get a bit handsy sometimes? Like, it’s literally mindless, I just touch people. You can get me to stop, but ya gotta tell me I’m doing it in the first place or I might literally not notice. Don’t worry, I mean, like, grabbing shoulders and touching arms and stuff, nothing that would, like… get my fiance to murder me, basically. But I do touch too casually otherwise.”

“And, I am a hugger… speaking of! Waku!” Kaito shouted, opening his arms, “Please and thank you, I haven’t hugged you all night! Messing with Souda took all of my attention!”

“I’ve noticed,” Doppio said dryly before he gave a more gentle shrug. “I’ll…try to speak up about it, then, if it really is mindless… Some people do it as a point, you know? Or some sort of weird power-play, and I’m really not looking to start any fights…”

…most of the time. And even the times he did, he’d argue--and he did! And…sometimes he managed to convince The Boss--that he still hadn’t been intending to get in a fight but sometimes fights just happened! And you needed to defend yourself!

…and sometimes you woke up in an alley with blood on your hands and you didn’t know what happened but luckily The Boss doesn’t ask about it and you don’t really know anyone else so…it’s fine. 

Grinning, Waku happily hopped up into Kaito’s arms, unphased by how he just kept walking as they embraced. “It often does. But that’s alright since he likes the attention, and he likes messing with you too.”

“Heeee~” Kaito grinned, squeezing Waku tight– their pace not stalling for an instance– and genuinely feeling warmed and assured by the hold– before letting her go before he got too caught up and tried picking her up. He hadn’t tried that on Waku yet, but he had a gut instinct that she wouldn’t like that sort of thing. A tad too vulnerable. It was alright, he loved and appreciated the little ways she let him show her affection already, he didn’t need much more than the occasional happy hug. 

He loved his family dearly… but he had missed having friends like this. Ones he could cheerfully adore, and ones that– “Yeah, he does. I think everyone needs that friendship that it’s comfortable being a little, like, combative with. That’s how Maki and I’s friendship was, especially in the early days where she didn’t like to admit how fond of me she was. So, to say I’m used to that sort of friendly aggression is an understatement. It’s fun.”

“And, ooph, yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about, Doppio. And, honestly? I do do that myself, sometimes. Especially when I’m trying to intimidate someone but I can’t really say that, like, I’m not comfortable with them directly. Though, doing it to someone your size? I mean, I guess it depends on who’s being the aggressor, but I’d personally feel uncomfortable trying that on you. I’m too big for that shit, ya know, it’s just bullying after a while.” Kaito mused… before he smirked. Flexing his bicep a little and winking as he said, “Ya know, cause I’m ginormous? …just don’t stand me against, like, the lady who owns that one pub, Sakura, if you’ve ever seen her. Or that guy who does the plays if you’ve seen him, Behemoth? Man, now there’s a guy that lives up to that name… I met a guy named Caleb recently… he’s huge…” 

Kaito was originally just trying to make a joke at his own expense, and was now entirely caught up on thinking of the sexy giants in his life. His gaze far away and spaced out as he murmured, “...some lady named Katsuki threw me over her shoulder once… that was… interesting…”

Doppio gave Kaito a look of doubt at that--he was perfectly happy not being antagonized by someone he trusted, thanks (even if…The Boss did tease him sometimes, but that was different)--but Waku just nodded as she plopped back to the ground, resuming her pace. “I’m not all that comfortable with casual aggression, but it is nice to have friends that you can have a different dynamic with than constant fawning. Even Kokichi has Denji, you know?”

Though, she raised her own teasing eyebrow at Kaito’s next point. “His size, huh? Doppio’s about the same size as Maki.” Just without years of putting on lean muscle and honing combat instincts, but bam-dum-tss that was the jooooooke. 

While he agreed with the statement--his words about people picking on those smaller than them not just relegated to animals--Doppio hummed, unimpressed. “You’re not that big. You could probably break me in half, but I think even my boss is taller than you.”

“Height isn’t everything,” Waku snorted, having long come to terms with her persistent five-foot height. Giving a nod to Doppio, she smirked, “I’d be surprised if you ever had a reason to find out, but a lot of the guards, like Katsuki? They’re buff as hell, and you’d barely know it until you’re already in the air.”

“I was considered bigger in Luminary. My people are generally on the shorter side, it seems, when it comes to the continent. Still plenty strong! Buuuuut if I had to guess, I’m gonna say that the lack of diversity in the commoners’ diets maybe made smaller people overall. Who knew~” Kaito mused, his gaze distant again for a moment… before he refocused. Coming back to the present as he smirked, “It’s been an interesting experience, casually running into so many people who are so much bigger than me. I know you poor sorry sacks get the raw end of the deal when it comes to high shelves and shower heads, but come on. It’s gotta be fun being the smaller guys running around, sometimes. If I was all tiny and petite? I’d take advantage of that shit, no doubt. Tall people are sexy~”

“...though, yeah, if you’re short and can still throw someone like me around anyway? Then you don’t need to be tall, I still find that attractive for literally the exact same reasons.” Kaito chuckled… before squinting at Doppio, “I really hope you’re not actually  a kid. God, I am so bad at not talking about stuff like that around teenagers. When I first met my husband? I was convinced he was a kid, or maybe a teenager… like, twelve to sixteen range, right? Fine, whatever, I was hoping to mentor him and letting him show me around town cause I was new… but fuck, one of the first conversations we had was about a really weird, smutty novel.” 

Kaito sighed, shaking his head as he ran his hands through his hair, “I mean, kinda okay if he was sixteen. But if he had been twelve? Uuuuugh. I’m really embarrassed thinking about it, honestly, what a weird fucking move that was. Couldn’t even blame being drunk, I just got too caught up talking about my favorite trash novels.”

“Hey, Waku… what is up with Denji?” Kaito asked, looking to her after he finished cringing at his memories of getting way too casual talking about sex with a potentially very young teenager… nnnngh… “You guys are friends, you hang out… I can’t figure them out. And I feel like I should be trying to get to know them better, since they have, like, honorary sibling title with my husband. I barely know them at all, beyond that they are fashionable and have, like… I dunno. Some massive chip on their shoulder. Are they cool?”

“Step-stools exist for a reason,” Doppio shrugged, Waku giving an agreeing hm. Right after, however, his brows drew in. “Though it sucks getting run into all the time because people aren’t looking down. Or looking around in general, but that’s less of a height-thing, and more of just an asshole thing.”

“Maybe a bit of a ‘you’ thing too,” Waku countered. “I don’t get crashed into that often. Does stuff like what happened tonight happen to you a lot?”

Doppio sighed, hunching into his sweater as he looked down the street. “Yeah. Yeah.”

As was getting mistaken for being younger (...maybe?) than he was, though… “12 to 16? That’s a really big range,” Doppio scoffed, squinting right back at Kaito. “You are bad at determining ages.”

Again Waku nodded to agree, before she gave Kaito a mildly surprised look. “Yeah? Den’s competitive and they like complaining, but they’re a really chill person to hang out with. And they’re one of the best people to gush to if you have a new project you’ve been thinking about.” Tossing the idea around in her head for a moment, Waku added, “I guess you have to be the type that can match tit-for-tat, though. And you really suck at playful arguments here, Kaito.”

Kaito laughed at the accusation, nodding. “Told ya. Though, my husband was absolutely playing some shit up, so I refuse to take full responsibility. I don’t know if he did it consciously, but I have a theory that he felt more comfortable if people thought he was a kid so that people wouldn’t want to flirt. He doesn’t like random flirting from strangers, makes him uncomfortable.”

Though, he shot Waku a surprised look next. “I do?? I don’t know if I’ve gotten into a playful argument here… have I? Did I miss something with Denji?”

Doppio hummed, understanding that sentiment completely. Who the heck actually wanted to be interrupted while they were out and about by some pompous jerk who were so self-absorbed by their own whims they didn’t care about anyone else’s comfort? Like, he was just trying to buy squashes! No one cares if you think he’s cute! Plus, he was a minor so--

(Was he?)

A small wince went through Doppio’s face, that headache deciding he’d had it too good for too long. 

For a moment, Waku just stared at Kaito, before she sighed sympathetically and gave his back a pitying pat. “Being snippy and argumentative is…pretty much the only way Denji ever talks, Kaito. I think you’ve missed something.”

“Yeah? Maaaaan…” Kaito sighed, scratching the back of his neck a bit, “...Waku, you think you’re gonna end up walking with us after all, the long haul? I don’t wanna be a bummer tonight and talk about genuinely not fun things, and I definitely don’t wanna do it in front of poor Doppio here, who’s no doubt obliterated from all the alcohol through his tiny, tiny body. Can’t overload the poor guy. But, I mean…”

Kaito shrugged, giving her a small smile, “I’d love the chance to talk about some stuff if you’re up to walking back with me? No real pressure, it’s fine.”

“You think I’m gonna abandon you now? I’m in it for the long-haul, drunken walks and real talks and all.”

Doppio, who had been rubbing his forehead a bit and just…trying not to think too much about that conversation that certainly didn’t involve him, glanced up quickly. “...I seriously am okay. If you two have stuff you want to get to, I can make the rest of the trip by myself.”

Waku blinked at him. “...did you sneak out or something, and are worried about us getting you caught coming back?”

Doppio stiffened, blustering. “No!”

“Oh noooooo.” Kaito groaned, putting his head into his hands, “Does he have parents? Oooooh, I’m so bad at telling aaaaageeees… look, if you’re trying to sneak back into your house, honestly that makes me want to walk you home even more. You shouldn’t be out here drinking with strangers if no one knows where you are, man. You could get kidnapped! By burly foreign princes who want an extra person to do drinking games with! No one ever considers the dangerous Luminary princes just wandering around, waiting to snatch people!”

As much as they did have a relaxed enough vibe that night for a lot of teasing, Waku decided that pointing that quite a few people had worried about that sort of thing for a long time was…in poor taste. 

“I don’t have parents!” Doppio squeaked, turning red. “A-and I’m not gonna be sneaking back into my house! I-I just know it’s really out of the way, and I am a stranger to you so there’s no reason you should walk a couple miles through the city for…no reason!”

“And you’re worried about someone at home seeing us,” Waku supplied, before she gently punched Doppio’s shoulder. “And it’s not for no reason. Even if it’s for a stranger, it’s good to make sure you get home alright.”

While he still looked a bit worked up, Doppio couldn’t really come up with an answer for that.

“Look, if we’re a dirty little secret? That’s fine, we’ll walk you to your neighborhood, and we’ll just watch from the end of the street to see you get to your door safely. How about that?” Kaito asked, giving Doppio a small shrug and a smirk, “Not the first time I’ve had to do something like that. Hell, not even my first time in Dicea! Discretion is my middle name! We’re not trying to get you into trouble with anyone, okay? …god, watch, he’s gonna end up being sixteen with, like, a body builder grandfather who’s gonna come out and kick my ass.” Kaito muttered, shaking his head. “I’m gonna start demanding to see everyone I talk to’s ID’s, I need some damn proof of age.”

“Ah well. At least it’s a great night to be out. Seriously, fucking LOOK at that sky!” Kaito grinned, looking up at the bright light of the near full moon, stars sparkling faintly around the deep edges of the night around it. “The temperature feels good, it’s quiet and peaceful… even moreso, since it looks like we’re getting out of the bustle of downtown.” Kaito realized, looking around at the longer stretch of paths ahead of them, the city markers and business buildings easing into homes and living spaces, “These must be nice places to live and grow up in… did you grow up around here, Doppio?”

Honestly…Doppio hadn’t been expecting any concession. Even if he had still tried to give the others outs--or not-so-subtly ask to be left alone--Kaito especially just had that…drive to him. The sort of stubbornness that meant he would not be talked out of his impulse decision. 

The fact that the prince was giving him a rather kind compromise… Doppio looked at him in surprise before giving a small, shy, yet thankful nod. Before sighing. “I’m not 16. And I don’t have a grandfather, let alone one that’s jacked.”

…needless to say, Waku was intrigued. She wasn’t a human lie detector, she wasn’t Kokichi, but Waku always thought she had a pretty good beat on whether people were lying to her face. Every time Doppio had insisted he wasn’t a kid, it really seemed like he was telling the truth…but there were so many other things about him that implied that maybe he was. 

Really, he was probably 18 or 19--technically a child still, but people started giving social leeway, at least, around those ages. But the fact that he never confirmed it was very interesting.

The middle of the city wasn’t necessarily loud, not at night, but there was a noticeable quieter volume as their little group trod out into more residential areas, people likely having turned in for the night, or were otherwise calming down. And cloaked in a nippy blanket of darkness, cool, pale light washing out the earth enough to make it glitter…there really was something special about it all. 

Doppio didn’t usually stay out this late when there wasn’t something night-specific he needed to be doing, but…he really liked this stretch of the walk home. Something he’d…

“Hm? Oh, no. I moved here…” Trailing off, again that completely vacant look took over Doppio’s features, his brain almost visibly trying to grasp at something. “...uh… Some months ago? Time kinda flies.”

“Oh shit, really? I’ve not been able to do this yet…” Kaito asked, looking absolutely delighted as he trotted up ahead, spinning on his heels to walk backwards as he grinned with all of his teeth at Doppio, spreading his arms wide as he shouted, “Welcome to Usott!! We have, if you haven’t heard, alllll sorts of attractions! Join the community garden, it has weed and cactuses and pretty purple flowers! And an aqueduct!! In the shape of a dick!! But ya kinda gotta tilt your head like this to see it.” Kaito said, tilting his head as an example and squinting, “And it’s a crooked dick, so, do with that what you will. Nothing wrong with that, really. Adds character!”

Doppio startled at the shout, and while Waku did too, she just chuckled, giving Kaito an amused look. “Nighttime voice, Kaito.”

“Um… Thanks? I suppose?” Doppio tried, slowly lowering his shoulders. “I haven’t really done a lot of sightseeing on my own, but I have been through the community garden a few times.”

He sighed, gnawing on his lip bashfully. “Fell through a hydrangea bush and got an earful from the head gardener. I get it, but…she’s kinda scary. Like scary in the way you know that your pets will probably eat your corpse after you die.”

“That’s a highly specific feeling,” Waku hummed.

“You’re kinda morbid, my dude.” Kaito snickered, though he did look a little genuinely distubed. “Not a fan of that thought. That snake is not eating my fiance… anyway.”

Turning around again, Kaito slowed his pace again to line back up with his starbursts. Little pink cuties… gah! They really were gorgeous people. And so small! Kaito looked between them on either side of himself and grinned, just tickled by the situation. “I can’t wait to tell my partners I found another pink Dicean friend. Highlight of the night, I swear. I’m gonna start wearing a pink piece of clothing when we hang out, so that everyone knows I’m with the pink group.”

“And do you mean Thalia?” Kaito mused, “Thalia’s not scary. She’s a sweetheart, really. And she’s a quarter pink! She’s also kinda a friend of mine, really, I’m sure if I introduced you guys you’d get along right as rain. She’s been there for my family during some tough times, we just don’t, ya know… like, hang out. I would though. Thalia’s kickass.”

Kaito followed Doppio as he turned a corner, looking around curiously at the resident homes. He tried to imagine growing up in a place like this. He frowned a little, though it was mostly out of exasperation at himself. His imagination immediately being about, like, heading downstairs in the morning to go to breakfast, imagining people chatting warmly around him as he prepared for school… imagining less growing up in a commoner’s house and more imagining just… growing up with a different family. In a different life. Even in his daydream scenario, his father wasn’t the person playing The Father. Just some faceless figment, an idea of a person. King Leon would have never asked Kaito what he was planning to do with his day. Kaito couldn’t even imagine it.

“You should get a plant for the garden,” Kaito said, meaning Doppio, “It’s a tradition when you move to Usott. Everyone gets a plant in the garden to represent they were here. I have a cactus. It looks like a star, from above.”

Doppio shrugged. He liked that idea more than people handling his corpse. Though, if he really could have his way, his body and anything of his would just cease to exist after his death; nothing left for people to tamper with.

“I don’t really think someone’s hair color is a good basis for judging character,” Doppio murmured, “But…I’ll take your word for it, I guess. I get why she was pissed, after all--I did mess up that bush…”

Waku snorted. “There’s a pretty good track-record so far. One of Kaito’s son’s best friends has pink hair too. Until we meet someone that disproves the rule, maybe it’s just a hidden pattern in the world.”

Shaking his head a little, Doppio kept his head up more than he had for a lot of the walk, having to be a little more aware of his surroundings by this point. They were getting close and…oh, yeah, definitely down this street, and then…

“Maybe,” he hummed non-commitantly. And by ‘maybe’ he really meant ‘no’. Even if he actually did want to plant something in the garden, there was no way The Boss would say yes. Who knew when they would have to move again, and the fewer signs that they were there the better. Lingering in the past was for weak fools, as Boss always said. “Your cactus sounds pretty cool, though. I’ll keep an eye out for any star-shaped spiky boys next time I pass through.”

“If you can’t find it, I’ll show it to you! Next time we hang out!” Kaito grinned, seeing the way Doppio’s eyes were starting to graze down the road, his steps more purposeful.

So, to really drive it home, Kaito reached out, grasped Doppio’s shoulder, and leaned over to grin at him, the edges round and wolfish, as he said meaningfully, “How’s the best way to get a hold of ya?”

Doppio nodded, but didn’t really register Kaito coming closer until he was practically buckling under the prince’s weight, eyes going round and alarmed at the sudden proximity. “Uh….uh…”

Not by phone. An incredible invention, but the powerlines were an obvious tip-off and they were too traceable so they didn’t even have a phone. 

“Er, uh.”

Not by letter. They…would technically know his address, so trying to conceal that was a little pointless, but Doppio would be mortified if The Boss ever noticed him getting social letters. 

“Uh…”

Waku tugged on Kaito’s shirt. “Back off a little, dude, you’re freaking him out.”

“I-I usually go to the open market on Monday mornings!” Doppio stuttered out. “So…so if you catch me then, just…let me know if you’re planning something.”

“Hell yeah! Open market monday mornings, got it!” Kaito said cheerfully, patting Doppio softly around his shoulder before backing up like Waku had prompted, looking entirely pleased as he grinned at him, “It was awesome meeting you, Doppio. Seriously, you made this whole night, you were great! Thanks for letting us walk you home, man.”

Doppio nodded quickly, scuttling farther out of touching range…but his expression did soften a bit into a small smile to match the wave he gave the others. “Thank you for looking out for me…and inviting me to hang out. It… It was fun! I’ll see you guys around.”

“Get back safe!”

“See ya, Doppio! Good luck with your housemate!” Waku waved, settling in as she figured that they’d watch the young man until it was confirmed he was in his home safely.

And while their gazes on him was a little unnerving, Doppio tried not to let it get to him as he went down the block, the houses relatively spaced out this far out of the main hub of the city, and spent…more than a few moments fumbling with his keys before he stepped inside. 

It was dark, but The Boss tended to keep odd hours so that wasn’t really…

Doppio took a breath, calling out into the house as he toed off his shoes. “I’m home!”

The lights were dim, but that wasn’t anything particularly new or unusual. If it could be helped, the only light was a lantern, that could be moved as needed, and could not hope to penetrate the thick, heavy curtains that were put up and always remained closed in front of every window of the house. Windows were unnecessary, unpleasant things. There was nothing out there Diavolo particularly wanted to see, and worse, it gave opportunity for wandering eyes to trace over his silhouette. To violate him with unwanted acknowledgment of his existence.

Between the darkness and the ever closed curtains, the full body cloak was, admittedly, somewhat overkill. But Diavolo often found he couldn’t relax exposed even to an empty room. Needing that last bit of certainty cloaked around an identity that was no one’s business but his own, as he jotted down notes at his desk and read reports from his men. His eyes narrowing in the shade of his cloak as the dim lantern light lit up frustrating news that another smuggling route between Luminary and Dicea had just collapsed due to the increased order at the borders… damn… that spice had been expensive too…

Pink eyes, rich and deep in color, so much so that their melted pools even could be seen by the shadows they hid in, glanced warily as the subordinate announced his presence. Diavolo glanced at the watch on his wrist, his eyes narrowing further. Hmm…

From his office around the corner of the living room, he called out a deep, baritone rumble. “You are later than expected…”

Doppio winced. There was nothing in The Boss’s tone to indicate it--the tone was remarkably even, giving nothing away, a skill that Doppio had always admired in the man, among many--but just from the remark alone…

Ah shit. Boss was pissed. 

Shuffling towards the office--a muted, “ow” as Doppio ran into the hall corner table that he ran into around three times a day--unthinking of the burgeoning bruises on his forehead and hip, and the spotty redness of a forming rash on his hands and ankles, Doppio came to the threshold with a nervous, guilty smile. 

“My apologies, Boss. I…I lost track of time.” 

His eyes darted around as he tried to come up with something to say that wasn’t just…total unprofessional bullshit, though after a moment Doppio stiffened and brought out his well-used notepad, flipping through it to the latest entry before he nodded vehemently. “But I got everything done today that you wanted!”

Diavolo almost didn’t look at him at all. His subordinate returning was noteworthy, and him returning late was even moreso, but there really was quite a bit for him to look over still that night. The empire never slept, and so the emperor could never rest as well… but he did glance up at the small, familiar sound of Doppio hitting the table, and his keen eyes narrowed as they caught several things that displeased him.

His rise from the desk was slow. Glacier-like, his long, hanging limbs heavy and burdensome as he let his spine do the heavy work for him, always looking slightly off kilter as his stance swayed with the weight of wherever his head had tilted. Someone had once remarked that he rose like a puppet, a string on his back holding most of his weight, but Diavolo didn’t pay that comment much mind. That person was gone, and his observations went with him. All lost to the irrelevance of the past.

But this was the present. And in the present, he stood from his desk, and with long movements, approached Doppio, peering at him from the darkness of the hood, “...show me your hands.”

Ahhhh fuck shit!

Well, of course Doppio liked having The Boss’s attention, and it was always a special, thrilling thing but fuck The Boss was obviously working (he pretty much always was, and Doppio tried to follow in that example too, even if he got distracted sometimes) so if he got up from that AAAAAAAAAAH--

Blinking, Doppio gave the cloaked figure a puzzled look while already raising his hands, the sleeves of his sweater scrunching back as he forgot to hold them down and--

Doppio blinked again, jolting a little from his own surprise. “Oh! Oh… I…” The Boss hadn’t said to put his hands down, but there was a little motion from Doppio’s elbows that suggested that if he hadn’t caught himself, he’d bring his hands behind his back. “Oh, you shouldn’t worry, it’s nothing. Crouched in some poison ivy, you know how it is. I’ll just put on some cortisol and I’ll be right as rain!”

“...I don’t know how it is.” Diavolo rumbled, his eyes still peering at the rash with some irritation. Reaching out and, grasping Doppio’s arm near his elbow, turning his hand and arm over, seeing the spreading of the rash on either side, “I’m sure you can explain it. It seems remarkable, that they would have poison ivy in the middle of the crowded city your errand took place in. Truly remarkable…”

Keeping the grasp on Doppio’s arm, Diavolo sighed in beleaguered irritation, as he led Doppio back to the desk, but only to grab the lantern. Walking easily through the darkened house, they headed to the kitchen where some of their first aid supplies were, Diavolo leading Doppio to one of the stool seats next to the kitchen island. The furniture had come with the house, but Diavolo had found they used the island furniture more than he might have guessed as he indicated for Doppio to sit, while he went to get the supplies.

The house’s previous occupants were unimportant. They belonged to the past.

Doppio shrank a little. There…really was no getting out of this, huh. Of course he didn’t want to lie to The Boss--he’d rather die, honestly--but…it really was nothing. Boss was such an incredible, important, busy person, he didn’t need to fuss over Doppio…

…being Doppio.

…still, he couldn’t help the little smile when Boss took his arm. Their house was nice enough, Doppio didn’t have any complaints, but…it really only felt like home when he was next to The Boss. 

Hopping up on the stool The Boss led him to, Doppio reached for a nearby aid kit, figuring that…well, it’d be presumptuous to guess The Boss’s intentions, but maybe he just wanted to see for himself that Doppio was taking care of the rash. 

“Well…” Doppio started, his voice breaking upwards, “I mean…there’s greenspace all over the place, gardens everywhere you look just like every other city, and uh… But, that’s to say…” He glanced over at the hooded figure with a sheepish grin. “...I heard some toads croaking on the way home.”

Diavolo didn’t say anything immediately. But his darting look from beneath his cloak, the deeply unimpressed look in his gaze, spoke volumes. Not only unimpressed, but exasperated. Disappointed. Disappointment that Doppio would have inconvenienced him so much, for something so little… 

But that heavy, disappointed moment faded as Diavolo sighed. Placing the lantern down on the kitchen island table so that it was easier to see Doppio’s arms. Taking the first aid kit from Doppio’s pull, ordering him with exasperated concern, “Roll up your sleeves and hold out your arms. Take off your sweater, if keeping them rolled is beyond your capabilities.”

The grin melted off his face and Doppio practically deflated, his head dropping into a meek nod as he started rolling up his sleeves…before just pausing and taking it off (inadvertently exposing the hefty green-ish bruise on his hip. That lady’s heels had been no joke). 

Boss was really pissed. 

No pet names or even asking about work, no gracious pauses for Doppio to chime in and ask if he’d eaten, because, well, Boss was a capable adult and Doppio would never doubt him, but he also tended to get absorbed in his work when it was a leftovers night and Doppio wanted to make sure he kept his energy up not because he was worried! But just…

…but nothing. 

He was just a…useless…waste of space… A nobody with nothing to give and…honestly he was lucky that The Boss even registered him as more than a speck of dirt, gave him a job and a purpose and a home and…

“Yes, Boss,” Doppio whispered, not wanting to take up any space, even in sound.

Again, a heavy, purposeful pause. Diavolo’s gaze speaking volumes, impressing upon Doppio how unhappy he was with these blemishes on his skin. His silence the brunt and rough edge of his displeasure, Doppio sitting in the harsh aura of Diavolo’s disapproval. 

If Diavolo needed to voice aloud his displeasure at Doppio’s choices that led him to being injured in such a way, then it had not occurred to him to do so. He trusted that Doppio would self-correct, just in the knowledge that Diavolo was so clearly frustrated with him. His desires both accurately read and accommodated, without Diavolo having to do anything as unseemly as ‘lose his temper’. Doppio should recognize Diavolo’s desires. Recognize and prepare in advance, without Diavolo guiding his every step and move. 

Otherwise what was the point, of having him be something outside of himself?

Still, as much as Diavolo wanted his heavy looks and disappointment to be correction enough, as he got the cotton swabs and dunked them into the balm, using thin metal pliers to dab the cotton against the rash reddening and spreading on Doppio’s arms, Diavolo found that words would be necessary, as his eyes narrowed again at the mark on his subordinate’s stomach.

“...were you stepped on?” Diavolo asked, though he was certain he was correct, now that he had seen the mark. The outline of a foot, as his hand around Doppio’s elbow, steadying his arm while Diavolo cleaned it tightening ever so slightly, “Were you in a fight? This was not that kind of errand…”

…he’d been sloppy. Boss knew that he got…distracted, and waylaid, and usually he impressed that it was alright, as long as he got the job done, and Doppio always did! He was very good at his job. Yeah, there were things he could do to improve, but…he really was trying. 

…but if there was one thing The Boss never budged on, that provoked the ire that Doppio always felt he should be getting when things went wrong was…when he got hurt. Doppio would gladly put his life on the line for The Boss! …but until he needed to, only a very last resort effort, then…he needed to take care of himself. Because who would take care of The Boss then?

Be more cautious looking at the plants around ponds. 

“Hm?” Doppio glanced over himself, still stewing in the agony of The Boss’s disappointment, before he straightened in surprise, just as shocked to see the bruise across his middle as he had been to see the rash. “O-oh, no, I wasn’t, I…”

So…Doppio thought he had all the tact and subtlety of a whale sometimes, but…there were a feeeeew subjects he knew he had to handle with a bit more care when reporting to The Boss. Eyes flicking all over the darkened kitchen, Doppio let out a small, nervous giggle. “I, um… Someone opened a door onto me. And then stepped on me…but! But!”

Straightening more, Doppio turned his gold doe eyes onto the hidden figure of The Boss, clearly trying to convey the luck and upside of everything, even if he couldn’t see the man’s face. “But this guy helped me up! A-and was really nice. And…walked me home, ‘cause I think he was worried that someone had roofied me or that I was drinking underage or something, it was really nice of him! And everything was okay!”

Diavolo tsked at the explanation of someone opening a door on Doppio, shaking his head and cursing in their native language as he continued to lightly clean Doppio’s arms… before his eyes, ever so slightly, widened at the rest of the story. 

The cotton swab stilled for a moment… before, putting down his tools. Looking around for a moment, Diavolo felt his jaw tighten as he mentally prepared himself, before pulling back the hood of his cloak. Wanting to look at Doppio more fully, his eyes searching deep into his subordinate’s, searching for something…

After a moment, Diavolo sighed. Reaching out and gently cupping the side of Doppio’s face, murmuring softly, “Ah, caro mio… what an impulsive thing you can be, sometimes.”

Picking up the tools again, Diavolo re-wet the cotton balls, before starting to work on the other arm.

He did this in silence for a moment… before asking. “So this man? He knows where you live, then?”

As always, when it happened, Doppio felt a jolt straight down to his core when The Boss looked at him straight on. No walls or darkness or hoods…just deep pink eyes locking with gold, making Doppio feel…seen. Like his entire being, his soul was laid bare for The Boss to see, like there was a form of knowing, deeper and more comprehensive and intimate than anything anyone else in the world would ever be subject to, as was the norm for brains and flesh. 

It was comforting. To be known fully, and still accepted. Like a call of the void that Doppio just wanted to snuggle into like a soft comforter. 

The Boss’s hand against his cheek, paired with that gaze was more soothing to Doppio’s heart than even the whole tube of cortisol would be for his arms. 

…but he knew he wasn’t…quite out of the woods yet. 

“Well…” Doppio drew out, “Technically, yeah… He did promise to wait on the far side of the block, and…a-and it’s pretty dark out right now! So he might not recognize it in the daytime? Or any other nighttime. Since the first thing he saw of me was getting stepped on, I think he just wanted to make sure I made it indoors…”

Doppio knew that wasn’t…quite good enough, but there had been something itching at the back of his mind for a few hours now.

“...hey, D-” NOPE NOPE ABORT DO NOT FINISH THAT LINE OF THOUGHT “Boss?” Doppio cleared his throat, before giving The Boss a small smile. “He…said something pretty interesting to me, actually. ‘The impossible is possible’... It’s…catchy.”

…and for a being that was an idea come to life, a creature that was created by belief…internalizing that sort of idea was…interesting. Dangerous. Fascinating. While they were now in the physical world, Tulpa were still not quite physical beings. Not life and souls made by the gods, caught in the endless cycle preserving the universe. They were something outside of it, things that should not, and to a point, did not, exist. And thus, the rules that governed reality didn’t quite apply to them--some rules could be bent. 

A Tulpa believing that the impossible could be possible…what a remarkable sentiment that could be.

…hm.

Diavolo considered this new information, as he worked on Doppio’s arms. On one hand, privacy was all. It was Diavolo’s both greatest desire and strongest asset, only competing with his subordinate itself: Doppio. Doppio was a remarkable thing. Diavolo’s greatest achievement. His belief in his destiny made manifest. Given agency. Such a triumph.

….hm.

“It is quite a thing to say, my sweet.” Diavolo said, keeping his voice casual, as he turned Doppio’s arm over, getting the underside of it. Asking with an air of idleness, “Did you believe him?”

“Mm,” Doppio nodded, that same spark in his eyes as when Kaito had first said the phrase. “I was talking about how if anything’s needed from me for my job I’d find a way to do it, and so he said that, and…something kinda clicked. Like…technically everything’s impossible until you do it, right? Nothing exists until someone makes it so. So…people do impossible things all the time, so…there’s not really anything that’s impossible. Just things people haven’t done yet.”

Yeah… Yeah, that made sense. 

Though, Doppio blinked, looking up at The Boss in alarm. “Should I have not believed him?!”

Again, a long silence. Diavolo finished his work, before putting down the tools. Wordlessly, he stood up, gesturing for Doppio to stand as well. When he did, Diavolo leaned down his long, lean body, taking the lantern and looking over the bruise on his hips more closely. Wordlessly gesturing for Doppio to spin, so that he could look for other injuries.

“...well. The bruise will linger, but otherwise there’s nothing to be done.” Diavolo decided, before sitting back down. Wordlessly staring at Doppio, his mind making whirring little calculations in his mind.

The thing was, that Doppio wasn’t actually an idiot. He didn’t mindlessly agree with anything told to him, at least not in Diavolo’s experience. He didn’t even, in fact, mindlessly agree with everything Diavolo told him. Oh, his devotion and admiration were true, there was no doubt there. But like in all good subordinates, there was a sense of possession, in that devotion. A belief of understanding that exceeded blind belief. Diavolo could be too busy working all day, and when questioned on hunger say he was fine, but Doppio wouldn’t believe him. He would bring food anyway, an act of care and devotion that was, in its own small way, in itself a defiance to what mindless belief was. 

And for a more relevant example, if Diavolo told Doppio he could do anything? Doppio would nod and smile and agree… but there would be an unspoken caveat, to that agreement. That Doppio was capable of anything Diavolo was capable of. Would allow him to be capable of. And thus Diavolo, himself, became the glass ceiling, the unacknowledged limit, to what the creature of belief was capable of.

But someone else had said it. Someone who was nothing to Doppio, beyond an offered idea… and had apparently said it either so convincingly, or with such confidence, that his subordinate had just… believed him.

…hm.

“You are not unintelligent, my Doppio.” Diavolo said, taking Doppio’s reddened, rashed hands between his own and gently holding them. “If perhaps a little impulsive and a little careless with what is mine. While it is always a good idea to run new ideas by me, as I would save you from being led astray by ignorance or malice… if you noticed wisdom in something he said? Then…” Diavolo ran his thumb over a clear, clean spot on Doppio’s wrist. Ever gentle. Ever patient. “...perhaps it is something for you to explore. An idea to examine.”

A belief to make stronger.

“Did this man get your name?” Diavolo asked, even as interested as he was in this possible new development, still keenly aware that this was still a potential breach in his privacy, and needing to account for it, “Did you get his?”

Doppio spun dutifully, knowing the verdict even before The Boss said it. And while he did feel bad about taking up so much of his time, it…it was nice to get so much attention. And attention out of care. Doppio knew he wasn’t, but The Boss really had a way of making him feel…important. 

Especially when he said things like…

Doppio flushed, deeper than the lingering alcohol in his system, though a drive and passion alit in his heart. “Thank you, Boss. I won’t let it get in the way of work, of course, but…I dunno,” he laughed, smiling at the soft touch to his wrist, “Just kinda became a brainworm. Promise you’ll be the first to know if I get an epiphany or something.”

Unlikely, but…hey. The impossible was possible.

But there were still a lot of things in the world that were very probable. 

Nodding to answer that the man had gotten his name, Doppio’s gaze went shifty again as he mumbled, “He was…Prince…Kaito Ouma…”

………

Hm.

Diavolo was a recluse, to a near debilitating degree… but near was the key term. One did not take over and run a drug empire, especially in a place like Dicea, without knowing things about politics. Hell, without knowing everything about politics. Diavolo had watched the war ending negotiations, peace treaty, trade negotiations, and border security redefinitions like a hawk, both to damage control all the things the loss of the chaos of the war would take from him, and to explore all the things he could gain. There were lots of drugs and chemicals in Luminary that were unheard of in Dicea, and the same vice-versa, and many people on both sides who were eager and excited to spend top coin on thrills they had never experienced before. Luminary ‘spice’, which was considered extremely common and a poor man’s drug in Luminary, was going to sell exceptionally well in Dicea, who didn’t have anything quite like it. And in turn, weed and mushrooms were, surprisingly, considered fairly niche and rare, in Luminary. They’d pay handsomely for supplies that Diavolo would otherwise consider leftover garbage.

All that to say? Yes, he knew who Kaito was.

And so, putting his cloak back on, indicating they were done tending to Doppio’s wounds, Diavolo gestured vaguely towards the tea kettles, indicating Doppio should start making himself useful in the kitchen, as he corrected, “Momota. They gave him Ouma as a middle name to fulfill and appease Luminary’s sense of marital identity. It means nothing. He does not, otherwise, have the Ouma title.”

But that distinction, as important as it was, didn’t negate how well connected the Momota was, as Diavolo considered this new turn of events. “...was the Ouma prince with him?”

“Oh…yeah, he did say that,” Doppio quietly remarked, hopping off the stool and looking at his arms for a moment before leaving his sweater off. It wasn’t like he was gonna be frying anything in the middle of the night, so it would be fine. 

Taking out the long handled lighter from beside the stove, turning on one of the burners, Doppio frowned. Would a laser work on something like this? It’d be nice to not feel like he was tempting fate to set him on fire every time he started cooking… Well. No fire this time, and it was time for tea. 

And maybe food.

Gesturing slightly to the ice box, implicitly asking if Boss had eaten yet, Doppio shook his head. “No, Prince Kaito was out with some friends. Time off from family and fatherhood stuff. They, uh…”

…oh, c’mon, you know their names! Other Starbursts, shorter and taller pinks, they wereeeeeeeee…

There was a very concentrated look of focus on Doppio’s face, the same one he had worn earlier as Kaito and the Starbursts prepared to leave the pub as he had tried very hard to make sure he wasn’t forgetting any of his possessions. 

“...the guy went by his last name, like me… It was…uh…W…no…”

Doppio’s glare at the air might’ve been more effective even than the laser, for how furious the expression was. Until, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, he lit up, holding the mug he’d retrieved from the cupboard in the air like a trophy. “Souda and Waku!”

Diavolo didn’t recognize either name, and while he’d look into it, guessed that they weren’t anyone particularly important. Diavolo could guess who they were anyway, at least to the prince. For most Diceans, Kaito’s history truly hadn’t come with him, no one even hearing rumors of what he had been like. But Diavolo made it his business to know things, especially things that affected his empire, and the marriage and treaty had affected quite a bit. 

Out with two people and picking up a third from the bar? The fact that Doppio had indeed been delivered to his home suggested the ‘roofie’ fear was likely legitimate, but otherwise Diavolo guessed that The Wild Prince was back to his old whoring ways. Doppio was an incredibly attractive figure, it wouldn’t be the first time someone had taken a specific interest in him while he was out on an errand. But most lost interest when Doppio’s age became more difficult to pin down. Diavolo guessed Kaito’s interaction had gone the same way: interest, flirtation, uncertainty and then dismissal. 

And a surprising fifth step: assurance of safety.

Doppio knew that Diavolo’s identity was his most carefully kept secret. He did not warn Doppio that Kaito could not know who Diavolo was. Doppio already knew that. He did, however, say, “Avoid Prince Kokichi, should the opportunity to meet him ever arrive. For now. I would not want that meeting to occur under anything but the most carefully controlled circumstances. Understand?”

Doppio nodded with vigor, straining up to pick out tea for The Boss--caffeinated, because for how much Doppio did have…some concern about The Boss’s sleeping habits, he usually did crash during the day, and Doppio had interrupted work so…the pick me up would probably help. “Got it, Boss!”

“Prince Kaito said that Prince Kokichi wasn’t that scary…but he also said that about the head gardener, and she’s terrifying, so…” Doppio shrugged, setting the prepped tea mug to the side and getting out the container of oxtail stew he’d made the night before, planning on heating it up after the kettle was ready. “He still seems really scary to me. I’ll keep on the down-low.”

Turning from the stove, just having to wait for the time being, Doppio shot The Boss an apologetic look. “...I really am sorry about bothering you so much tonight… Is there any paperwork I could help out with right now?”

Prince Ouma was, indeed, worthy of caution. Diavolo wouldn’t do business in the capital itself if he could actually help it. It was, unfortunately, just the prime place to send out messages as needed, quickly. And still, Diavolo didn’t know what he’d do with these new circumstances, beyond keeping an eye on them and letting them develop. Taking opportunities when they arrived.

“Yes,” Diavolo said, for now putting to rest the issue of the royalty that had apparently stumbled its way into Doppio’s otherwise non-existent social circle. “One of our caravans got pinched at the border. I’m going to need you to start sending messages out to put together our backups, the supply needs to be up and moving again by tomorrow afternoon. You don’t need to remember who’s receiving the messages, just put together the templates and I will fill in the addresses once you’re done.”

“And, Doppio?” Diavolo said, giving the subordinate a long look. “...otherwise? Your errand was complete, today? Good… you did well, even when you were careless. I cannot help but focus on the negative, before the good… you carry such a precious thing with you, always. Vito mio… you must always remember that. Mistakes cannot be afforded.”

A small, irritated look crossed over Doppio’s face at the mention of the border issues. He wasn’t deluded, he knew their business wasn’t just going to fly all over the continent without any issues, but…still. What kind of dumbasses thought they could throw a wrench into Passione’s deliveries? What kind of moron would stand against The Boss? Ugh, people were the worst.

Moving the kettle once it started to whistle and replacing it with the pot, Doppio nodded as he poured water into the tea mug. “Yes, sir. I…” He squinted at the small clock across the kitchen. “...I should be able to catch the 1am letter transfers, so that should give our contacts enough time to prepare…”

…as long as he didn’t spill over any inkwells or…anything like that. 

Mind already prodding logistics into place, Doppio paused as The Boss decided to impart one last comment on his escapades, before he returned a small, understanding smile. “I understand, Boss. You entrust so much to me…I want…I need to give it the proper respect. I’ll make you proud, I swear it.”

“Yes,” Diavolo said softly. Hidden beneath the shadows of his cloak. “I believe you will.”

-

Once they saw Doppio slip into a house, the duo still waited a beat before turning around, starting the journey back into the main city. It was a nice, pleasant night, and they were far enough out that it was mainly the sounds of nature that surrounded them, providing a soundtrack for peaceful silence…

But Kaito had asked to talk.

“So, what’s up?” Waku asked as they got back onto the main road heading into the city. “More cultural dissonance stuff?”

“Kinda.” Kaito huffed, appreciating that she had asked, rather then waiting for him to bring it up again himself. “Maybe… honestly, I feel a little stupid. Kokichi and I have been working on this for, like, straight up almost a year, I just can’t seem to get past it. And I’ve tried! Am still actively trying. It’s so fucking frustrating man, I really hate this…”

Realizing in his pre-amble that Waku probably had no idea what he was leading up to, he explained as they walked down the road– the sound of their own footsteps against the graveled pathway a comforting and reassuring sound to Kaito, “I’m really struggling to connect to Kokichi’s family. It’s been an ongoing process, and honestly, it can feel like that the only person who wants me to get along with them is me, which has been a little… tricky. Kokichi has been…”

Kaito paused. Not sure how true this would be, or if it was fair to say about his husband. To keep it fair, he said, “It’s complicated, but long story short, Kokichi’s been trying to keep me from having to deal with his family when I don’t want to, which lead to this huge fight during the heatwave when I realized he was doing it, though I don’t think he realized exactly how in the dark I was about what he was doing… anyway. Ever since that big fight? I’ve realized that unless I want to spend the rest of this marriage being partly separated from the rest of his family for ‘my own comfort’, I’m gonna have to get over my stupid fucking discomfort with them and, like, make an effort to get to know them and be more part of things myself…”

“...and I just don’t know how to start!” Kaito shouted. Groaning as he ran his hand through his hair, scratching his scalp a bit, as he grit his teeth, “I have had so many false starts, you have no idea! I keep just hitting this wall! How do I connect with these people!? Gaaaaah, it’s so frustrating!”

Waku huffed softly, equal parts fond and exasperated. “That does sound like Kokichi. People not getting along? Perfect solution is to completely isolate them from each other. Ahg, that little doofus…too accommodating for his own good.”

“But you guys have talked about it,” she conceded, voice quiet enough to indicate that it was mostly to herself before she reached out, patting Kaito’s back. “Well, you did ask Aiichi out to that picnic, and have invited him to spend time with Miyako a lot. I guess it’s not that social if you really only talk to Denji when you get your haircut, and if you’re not really counting all the times they’ve pulled you aside to talk about Luminous fashion…hm.”

Lake didn’t hold grudges, and Kaito had talked about how the two of them really did have deep conversations time to time, and Waku knew that the guard popped in all the time to say hi to Kokichi and see Miyako, and, like…Nazumi was with the family all the time. But it wasn’t about what they all were doing--if Kaito was feeling this way, it meant those things weren’t working. 

Rubbing a comforting circle on Kaito’s back, Waku hummed in thought. “Well…what have you done before, to connect with people you started off on the wrong foot with?”

“...had a bitter feud that lasted most of our teen years?” Kaito recalled, thinking of Fuyuhiko. “Which is maybe not the way I should go about it this time… and honestly? I’m not sure if there’s something I can ‘do’ that even really involves them. Like, that ‘wall’ I was talking about?”

Kaito gestured to himself, waving his hands from his chest to his head as he frowned, “That wall might be me. Like… I think they’re all fine with me, really. It’s not them struggling to get along with me, it’s me struggling to get along with them. Honestly, I think if they actively disliked me, Kokichi would have reacted differently, ya know? Or maybe I’m just projecting what I would do in his situation… I think he separated me from them because he saw how unhappy being around them makes me, and because he’s my husband and he loves me, he wanted to spare me that discomfort. If it was them, like… harassing me? Or calling me out or something like that? I don’t think Kokichi would have let it stand in that ‘live and let live’ thing he does.”

“...maybe.” Kaito tacked on, shrugging a little. “Kokichi can be kinda hard to predict. Maybe he’d have reacted differently… but anyway, my point is, that because my husband doesn’t do that, I think it’s safe for me to assume that none of them have an active problem with me. Not that they’ve let him know about, anyway. So it’s just… me.”

“.......and Hideki but honestly fuck that guy.” Kaito snarled. His eyes dilating in a brief flash of rage, clenching his fists tightly… before he let out a looooong breath of air, “Annnd that’s what I’m talking about. That right there. It’s not him! It’s me! God, I wish I could just… dip my brain in fucking bleach. I need to be making some active attempts to fix my feelings about them. Self correct…”

Pausing, Kaito thought about Waku’s question some more, “...when my family did things that hurt me? How I usually got over it was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. Ya know, like… see it from their perspective, see how I was messing up in our interactions, and try to, like, focus on the positives, or at least understand the negatives. It made it easier to forgive the things they did or said if I made an effort to understand why they had done it, ya know? I think that’s what I need to do. Make a better effort to understand them and give them the benefit of the doubt. Denji’s a great example. The first interaction I ever had with them, they freaked me the hell out and looked like some quiet henchmen type, and so I started associating them with, like… petty bullying and subtle evil. Evil minion type stuff. I need to get to know them better so that I can get past that… how did you get to know Denji, Waku?” 

“Could still be an effort from both sides, but I was still talking about your wall,” Waku clarified. “I mean, I guess it’d make it way harder if you’d never had a wall with people before, but if you ever have? Then it’s like a cheat code on how to overcome it again, since you’ve already done it once.”

“....and it could still be Mr. Fukui,” Waku tilted her head, smirking shallowly after a moment. “He’s a real sad-sack asshole, and you’d be far from the first person to say ‘fuck that guy’. I know he’s, yanno, a person, but honestly I barely talk with the man and I think we’re both pretty content that way.”

She shrugged. “I know I’d be able to go to him for help, and he trusts me as a member of the staff and someone who lives in the castle and we just…coexist like that. You’ve got a raw deal, considering how close Kokichi is to him.”

Waku was no therapist, but…she didn’t think ‘self-correcting’ his feelings was…quite the right way to go about things. But giving people the benefit of the doubt was…a bit more gracious. 

Snorting, Waku gave Kaito a grin. “Oh, they’d be pissed to hear you consider them a minion. Not even the mastermind, just a lackey…rough.” Laughing at that a bit, Waku calmed and bumped her shoulder against Kaito’s arm, before flouncing her poncho.

“They made me this.”

“I didn’t have all that much of a growth-spurt, in the time I was growing up in the castle,” Waku started, looking out at the road as she talked, “But I did get new clothes when they took me in, considering I only had what was on my back. And I was so scared, even of that. I thought that I’d be indebted, or that, for the nicer things, it meant I’d have to go…present myself to people.” Waku glowered into the darkness. “My mom pretty much only bought me clothes when she was having important people over, and she couldn’t lock me away the whole time, so…I thought it was something like that.”

“I’d rip up the nicer pieces, pretty much just wear blankets in my room… Eventually they did get me to calm down a bit, and while I hated going out, Ikuo arranged things where I actually could go shopping and pick things out myself. I was still nervous, but…it was better.” Waku snorted, rolling her eyes up to meet Kaito’s. “You would’ve been appalled. I only shopped at this little second-hand store, and only bought oversized sweaters and sweatpants. Things in muted colors, clothes that I could hide in and not stand out, basically.”

“Then…Denji moved into the castle. And, you know,” Waku shrugged, “New person, not my jam. I didn’t even see them for months, let alone speak to them. But…must’ve been six months in? They shove this big piece of red fabric at me. Said that if I wanted to hide and obscure my figure, there were better ways to do it than looking like I was wearing the ugliest winter pajamas in the world.”

Waku chuckled softly. “I didn’t even say thanks, just ran away. But I did keep it, and…” Snorting, she did a little twirl in the street, the fabric fluttering and ballooning away from her body. “Obviously I love it. It was so soft, yet sturdy, and I can move my arms in all sorts of ways without people being able to see, and the hood can cover my eyes completely if I want…”

Her smile softened. “It was thoughtful. Even if I avoided them all the time, Denji was still paying attention to me…and they hate seeing people just…underselling themselves, I guess. Conforming to an image that isn’t them, or not putting any effort into an image at all.”

“That’s just how we started talking at all,” Waku shrugged. “The rest was just…getting to know each other over years.”

Kaito’s face tensed a little, at Waku’s story of her early days at the castle. Not because anyone had done anything wrong, up to and including Waku’s ‘comfy, safe’ outfits, but just because he hated the idea of a little Waku, scared and nervous and hiding… “It can be a little wild, sometimes, thinking of the version of you I met when we were first here. I hate how scared I made you…”

Kaito reached over and, briefly, gently, took Waku’s hand and squeezed it, before letting her go. Sighing as he shoved his hands into his pockets,  closing his eyes as they walked. His skin felt warm in the cool night air. He was tipsy, absolutely… maybe borderline drunk. But this was the type of drunk he aspired too. Where he didn’t feel like he was totally out of control, just a nice, floaty feeling. 

And as sad as half of the story made him, his chest warmed as he smiled through the second part of it. Opening his eyes to give Waku’s poncho an appreciative look, as he admitted, “I do love that thing on you. It’s so cute. And they’re right, it seems comfy and safe while still being so cute…”

“I like stories like that.” Kaito said softly, crossing his arms a little as he peered back up at the sky, “I appreciate that they went out of their way to help someone who was struggling. Honestly Waku? Even knowing little things like that helps… I don’t want to dislike people. I like liking people. Even when I feel like I have a good reason to dislike someone, I always feel like an asshole. I want to like people.”

“...wait, okay. Okay.” Kaito said, putting his right hand into a fist and thumping it against his other palm, “With Denji, what if I made them something to wear? I mean, it’ll look terrible, but that’s half of the gift: they can know I was thinking of them, and make fun of me at the same time! Heee~ha ha ha ha, if I do it just right? They’ll show me how to ‘fix’ it and get fond of me because they got to help the stupid prince.” Kaito grinned, eyes alight with plans and determination, “That could work. That could totally fucking work. Then I could have a relationship with Kokichi’s sibling!”

“...snrrt.” Kaito snorted, shaking his head a little, “God, I’m such a Momota… but honestly, I really just need to talk to them, I know that. I’m not hard to win over. I just need to get to know someone! Hell, even when I was talking to N–”

Kaito paused.

“...... hey, Waku?” Kaito said, glancing to his friend, “...were you and Nao close?”