Shuichi blinked sleepily. He felt warm...and was a little lost in his own head until Kaito leaned down and kissed at his shoulder again, “Hmm?”

“Can Kokichi massage you too, handsome?”

“Hmmm.” Shuichi hmmed contently, just nodding a little. 

Kaito looked over him, a little surprised by this reaction. Maybe it was mostly just because the tension in his chest was finally letting up after all this time, but...Shuichi seemed so subdued now. Pliable. From being, uh...well, to be crude about it? ‘Milked’, even if that definitely wasn’t milk.

...Kaito actually really hated the despair pollen effects. In theory, he wouldn’t. It was a drug that, essentially, prepped a person’s body for sex. Enlarged sex organs, making it easier to pleasure the person on the drug, making them want it more, needing it. And when they got it? Shuichi was so easy to make cum. He really didn’t need any prep, and anywhere Kaito touched, including, apparently, his upper body, was sensitive and ripe to be pleasured. And now, apparently, here was a brand new way to keep Shuichi quiet and content and…

Kaito couldn’t help but feel like everything the drug did? Was just a different form of ‘conditioning’. Just conditioning the person it was affecting to be...someone that, in different circumstances, they wouldn’t have been...and that Shuichi, specifically, hadn’t been. And as much as Kaito loved sex and how it felt and pleasuring others with it...if he could have changed their fates? He wouldn’t have let Shuichi anywhere near it. Wouldn’t have led him here, sleepy and docile after being ‘maintained’ in a brand new way.

But, well...those were vague, distant daydreams. There was no changing any of this. It was done. And if getting the fluids out of his boyfriend brought him comfort and peace? It wasn’t fair that these tricks were available to them or that Shuichi needed them...but that was how it was. Ah well...Kaito would do his best to use this new trick gently on his boyfriend. To make certain he felt loved through it in the future. Not maintenance, not dirty, not something Shuichi needed to be ashamed or embarrassed of.

Kaito kissed his neck a little...then grinned up at Kokichi, “I think that’s a yes, babe. Is that a yes, handsome?”

“Yeah, Kokichi...you can touch, it’s alright.” Shuichi said, leaning back comfortably into Kaito’s chest, “...feels good…”

Kokichi’s smile softened at that reaction. It was a little more this time, but Kaito’s magic hands did wonders and turned his lovers into putty once again. 

“Alright, but tell me if I’m doing something wrong.” Kokichi scooted closer to his lovers a little more, shifting to sit on his knees so he could comfortably lean over Shuuichi. Gently, he cupped Shuuichi’s breasts from the sides, unbothered by the coating of nectar and massage oil already there as he followed the curve of Shuuichi’s body, giving him a massage. 

A little nervous, even with Shuuichi looking blissed out, Kokichi watched his face, wanting to know if he was doing anything wrong right away.

“Hmmmmm…” Shuichi smiled a little, looking over at Kokichi adoringly, his eyes heavy as his body shifted ever so slightly towards Kokichi’s touch as he purred, “Kokichi has cold, thin fingers...feels nice...hah...mmmm...you’re both so nice to me…even when I’m all weird and grumpy...feels good…”

Kaito kept one arm around Shuichi’s waist, keeping his boyfriend steady as he watched Kokichi gently massage the sides of Shuichi’s chest, but looked curiously down at his other hand, which was still coated by the stuff inside of Shuichi’s chest...and then, entirely unable to help himself, he brought a pinky up to his mouth and popped it in. Giving it a curious swallow.

Huh. Very strange. Sweet, but not quite honey, exactly. But he could see why Shuichi had called it honey. It was almost honey...just slightly off. Huh.

Yeah. They’d need to tell Seiko and Dr. Tenshi. That was probably important.

“I’m always surprised when Shuu-chan says how cold I am feels nice. I think I should start to get used to it by now,” Kokichi laughed softly, slowly gaining confidence as Shuuichi accepted his touch as well. Unlike Kaito, Shuuichi’s were the first pair of boobs Kokichi had ever touched and...he was a little lost on what to do. Especially with how sore Shuuichi had been, Kokichi felt like he needed to be much gentler than how he’d ever touched Kaito’s chest and...he’d told Kaito to stay away from his nipples, so he’d do that too. 

Just experimenting a little, Kokichi started massaging the tops of Shuuichi’s breasts along with the sides now, just confident enough to notice Kaito indulging his own curiosity. He gave Kaito a questioning look but...it was something they could talk about later. 

...considering how sweet it smelled, of course Kokichi was curious too! But...until Seiko could confirm that Kaito’s and Shuuichi’s spore levels were negligible at the least… Curiosity wasn’t worth getting sick again. There was only so much he could do against viruses and the seemingly random bouts of sickness he’d get every now and again but...things like using condoms or preparing for the cold--he owed it to the people he loved to take better care of himself. And Kokichi hadn’t realized it before, but...that meant going to bed at a reasonable time every night, and at least trying to eat something at every meal, and just...trying to be around people. Not locking--metaphorically, especially with the desk still shoved in front of their door--himself in his room to sulk and overwork himself even on days he could get out of bed. 

With new lovers, a nephew, a child on the way, and with the future of a kingdom...he needed to be better for them. 

Kokichi leaned over a little more, placing a light, affectionate kiss on what he could touch of Shuuichi’s forehead. “I love you, Shuu-chan.”

“Mmmmm...love you too...warm…”

Kaito put his arm around Shuichi’s chest again, feeling his heart a little...slower. Shuichi was falling asleep. His skin was flushed red, and Kaito got the sense that the touches were probably making him feel good in ‘certain’ ways. He was half tempted to playfully check Shuichi to see if he was sporting a semi...but, at the same time, Shuichi seemed more relaxed in this moment than Kaito had seen him in days, not since the last time they all had sex, and even then?? This might be more relaxed.

So Kaito caught Kokichi’s eye as best he could, and then placed his finger lightly in front of his mouth. Wordlessly suggesting to Kokichi: should we let him go to sleep?

Kokichi looked up at Kaito and...yeah. Shuuichi more than deserved a comfortable nap, even if he might be out of it later since it was the middle of the afternoon. Despite trying to keep a regular sleep schedule, Kokichi wouldn’t mind staying up a little later with Shuuichi if he couldn’t get to sleep that night. 

Finishing the last bit of his massage, Kokichi nodded to Kaito and carefully got off the bed, quickly fetching a towel. As comfortable as Shuuichi was now, he might not appreciate waking up with a wet, sticky chest later. Wiping his own hands off, Kokichi passed off the towel, stopping briefly to press a kiss to Kaito’s cheek. 

“What a comfy Shuu-chan…” he quietly cooed, looking over drooping eyes and warm cheeks. 

“Hmm?”

“You’re good, buddy. Relax,” Kaito reassured him, taking the towel and starting to gently pat at Shuichi’s front, taking up the oil and nectar as Shuichi looked confused at both of them. “Let’s just lay down a bit, kay?”

“...early.”

“Sure, but, you’re speaking in incomplete sentences and are barely keeping your eyes open, handsome, s~oooo.” Kaito kissed the top of his head, putting down the towel and adjusting Shuichi in his lap to make it easier to scoot off the bed, standing up and holding Shuichi bridal style as he asked Kokichi, “Get the covers, babe? Thanks. Oh, grab his hat...thanks. There we go.”

Shuichi huffed, clearly not thinking he needed to be treated like this right now. He was fine! He was wide awake, really. Just cause he was a little zoned out didn’t mean he needed to be put to bed. He was….mmmmm….

Shuichi was out almost as soon as Kaito put the covers on his shoulders, covering up his body again. Kaito hoped that when he woke up, not having a shirt on wouldn’t be as alarming this time as it might have been before this. That hopefully at least some of his mental issues with his chest had been connected to their constant, steady discomfort, and with that alleviated, it’d be easier for Shuichi to accept them, or at least cope. 

Running his hand through Shuichi’s hair, checking to see if he was really asleep, Kaito sighed. “Well...honestly? That couldn’t have gone better, huh?”

Going to toss the towel in their laundry basket, Kokichi returned with a nod. “I was really worried it was going to be too much for him but…” Kokichi grinned, still caught up in that warm, touchy-feely mood, and pressed another kiss to Kaito’s cheek. “Kai-chan’s magic massages still have a perfect record. And now Shuu-chan’s probably feeling more comfortable than he has in months.”

Kokichi crossed his arms over his chest, grimacing a bit. “...I can’t imagine having that much nectar stuffed in my chest… I’m glad it’s out now but...it still sucks that Shuu-chan had to deal with it at all. Hopefully we can all make sure it never gets that bad again.”

“...did it really taste like honey?”

“Almost. It almost tastes like honey. Like, in a way that honey is the only real way I can describe it? But at the same time, not quite. But, for the sake of description?...it’s basically honey, yeah...almost.” Kaito huffed, leaning over and hugging Kokichi, pressing his lips affectionately against his cheek and neck as he said, “You were amazing, Kokichi. I don’t think he’d have let me do that without you. I think I scare Shuichi, sometimes, so...thanks for backing me up, babe. I know that was a lot.”

“And yeah. Either if Shuichi starts using that pump regularly, or lets one of us help him, or whatever...definitely can’t let it get that bad again. He was all blissed out by the end, but there was a second there I really thought he was going to lose it halfway through. He was trembling so badly…hopefully it doesn’t make him that sleepy every time too. Guy’s out like a light.”

Kokichi giggled softly as Kaito hugged him, hugging back and getting all snuggly with Kaito for a good moment. “I think we just balance each other out--if it were just me, I don’t think I would’ve gotten Shuu-chan to admit that there was anything up with his chest at all, let alone even start the conversation about a massage. I don’t think I would’ve had the nerve to keep massaging him through the discomfort either. Kai-chan’s our bright star, as usual.”

Nuzzling his husband a little more, Kokichi looked over at Shuuichi, taking comfort in the relaxation present in the slack of his face. “I think it might just be since today was the first time, paired with everything that happened at the appointment. But, if it does make him sleepy, then maybe it’s a before-bed sort of thing.”

Kokichi went quiet for a moment, enjoying the presence of his boys before looking back up at Kaito, that deep relief back in his eyes. “...our baby’s healthy, Kai-chan.”

“Our baby is so healthy,” Kaito whispered cheerfully, holding Kokichi tighter, excitement bubbling up in him as he said, “And they’re gonna be beautiful ‘Kichi...just like their daddies...our beautiful, strong baby...I’m so excited, ‘Kichi!” he whisper-shouted, laughing into Kokichi’s hair. “Our baby’s on their way!”

Kokichi didn’t care so much about what their kid was going to look like, or even their personality to an extent. Their interests, what they would want to be… More than anything, Kokichi wanted their kid to be healthy and happy. Able to live a life exploring all sorts of things and knowing that whatever path they took, they’d have the love and support of their family right there. 

But...considering the three of them were all good-looking, he figured it’d be too much of a stretch for their kid to not be beautiful in some way, and more than just how all parents thought their kids were cute.

Kokichi wrapped his arms around Kaito’s waist, nuzzling into his shoulder. “They’re on their way...still many, many months out, but we’re gonna get to meet them. I’m excited…”

“You know, Ikuo said that later on, the baby can actually hear you talking? I don’t think it understands any words, but, like, the tone and stuff… If it wouldn’t annoy the hell out of Shuu-chan, maybe we could sing lullabies or something. I feel like that would be comforting…”

“Pffff, you’re nicer than me, ‘Kichi. Shuichi better get real used to me talking at his stomach all the time real quick. He’s gonna start having to beat me off his stomach with a stick.” Kaito snorted, thinking longingly of getting his stethoscope out even now and listening to that wonderful little Thump, Thump, Thump… “Lullabies, huh? I like that idea...what lullabies do you know, ‘Kichi? I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that’s another series of traditions that didn’t cross the border. We probably know entirely different ones.” Kaito chuckled.

...maaaaan, he had joked, but he hoped he wasn’t about to learn his lullabies were secretly evil or something.

Kokichi chuckled a little, though his cheeks went pink. He didn’t really know any way to describe lullabies other than to...well…

“Probably,” he murmured. “Even in different regions of Dicea, there are different music traditions, so with different cultures, they probably have different lullabies. I, um…”

Quickly, quietly, Kokichi half-sang a few lines, his eyes averted from Kaito. “See that sun set/The day is ending/Let that yawn out/There’s no pretending/I will hold you/And protect you/So let love warm you/Til the morning.”

Coughing awkwardly, Kokichi half-shrugged. “You know.”

Kaito at first just looked curiously amused as he realized Kokichi was actually going to sing a little...and then that amusement softened into open adoration, a soft love crossing over his features as he admired his small husband. 

When Kokichi finished, clearly embarrassed with his little half-shrugged ‘ya know’, Kaito looked at him a bit...before leaning down and kissing him on the lips. Resting his hand on Kokichi’s cheek as Kaito took his time with him, kissing him gently, as he ran his hand down his back, enjoying the easy access he had to Kokichi’s cool skin without his shirt tangling his arm.

After a moment, he broke the kiss, before placing another warm kiss on Kokichi’s cheek. “I didn’t,” he admitted, “I’ve never heard that one before. Thanks for teaching it to me, beautiful.”

Kokichi was a little surprised by the kiss, but only a little--having Kaito as a husband meant you needed to be ready for bouts of affection at almost any moment. Kokichi kissed him back, enjoying the gentle tempo, and by the time they parted, his embarrassed flush had completely given way to an affectionate one. Laughing a little, Kokichi shrugged again. “My dad used to sing it for me. Or, well...he’s not really one for singing, but he tried. I only found out the notes when I asked someone in one of the music classes held here to show me what it was supposed to sound like.”

Nuzzling his nose against Kaito’s neck, he hummed. “I guess I’ll be learning more Luminary lullabies as you sing them to Baby, though. Maybe I’ll ask my dad if he knows any others too.”

“All the ones I know are sort of bouncy and excited. Which is maybe a little strange, now that I think about it? Not great for making sleepy babies,” Kaito mused, thinking about it. “I don’t remember who taught me my lullabies...I mean, I know it had to be my nannies, but I don’t really remember who any of them were. Mom changed them out a lot.”

“But, I know a lot of hymns from the priestess’s. A lot of those are soft and sweet and soothing...might make half-decent lullabies. Like, mmm….”

Kaito struggled to pick one real quick. Honestly, he...was thinking of the lyrics of all of them with new eyes, well, how he would imagine Kokichi would hear them, and he didn’t want to...hmmm…

“When your sky is cold and lonely/ when your heart is full of fear/ know that I am here/ I will keep my arms around you/ I will keep you safe and sound/ so says I/ so says I/ I am here.”

There was more to that song. Warnings of the darkness that would require the protection. And honestly, Kaito had even had to doctor that bit of the hymn itself to make it more soothing and less ominous...but it was still a nice sound. And Kaito chuckled to himself as he was done. “That’s not too bad, eh? I bet I could get a fussy baby to sleep with that.”

“Ah, I know what you mean. Ones I’ve found in nursery rhyme books really seem like simple tunes for kids to follow than for infants.” Other than those, though, the ones his dad had actually...er, recited for him? Kokichi had a lot of impressions of comforting memories, lulled to sleep by his dad’s voice. 

...somehow it seemed sad to him, to not have that sort of connection with the person that raised you. But...at least Kaito had had the temple. 

Kokichi closed his eyes, taking in the hymn before nodding with a hum. “It sounds nice--I bet our kid will appreciate it. Even if they don’t understand the words for a while, just...having our intent be that way means a lot, I think. To soothe and protect.”

A small laugh came out of him. “You’re already brilliant at that. No sweat.”

“Magic fingers.” Kaito bragged, tapping his fingers lightly but quickly up Kokichi’s back, while on his front his other hands tapped lightly and rapidly down him, before leaning in for another kiss. “Maybe that’s how I could make us extra money. Professional masseuse...mmmmm...no happy ending offers though. Only happy endings for my two loves.” Kaito promised, kissing Kokichi again. 

“...Though, man, I’d make a killing on some happy ending services. The family would never want for anything. Is that a weird thing to boast about? I’d make so much money, ‘Kichi.” Kaito marveled, enjoying his small fantasy of, errr…’excelling as an independent freelance masseuse’.

Kokichi giggled a bit as Kaito lightly tapped over him, raising an eyebrow at the idea he brought up. Right...he’d almost forgotten that Kaito wanted to get a paying job. Kokichi had never really worried about money but...he supposed it was different, if you came from the sort of wealth Kaito did. 

(A mean part of him snarked that at least Kaito was willing to make money legitimately. He barely even registered the thought, though.)

“I don’t think it’s weird to boast about how good at sexual stuff you are, since Kai-chan really is very good, but...I would hope that you’d talk to me and Shuu-chan before doing anything…” Kokichi sighed, trying not to let himself close up. Be better. “And you’d have to join the sex workers’ union and all that.”

There was a pause before Kokichi looked up at Kaito curiously. “...are you wanting for anything? That money can buy?”

Security. Power. Comfort. An escape route if things get real dodgy. New clothes.

“...nah, not really.” Kaito murmured, sighing at himself. He...didn’t need any of that stuff. They would be fine without it. No one was gonna...attack them or anything. According to Ikuo, the thing that happened to Kokichi’s mother wasn’t likely to happen again. Dicea seemed stable enough. And the people adored the Ouma family. So...yeah. They probably didn’t need those things.

And the new clothes were just him being vain, so, yeah.

Still… “There’s a sex work union?”

Kokichi frowned, but decided not to comment. Not right now. If there was something that was bothering Kaito...then, if he really got a job, he’d have extra income and...then he’d be able to buy whatever he was thinking about. And, with the war over, it’d be a lot easier to get imports from Luminary, so things from home would be on the table too. 

He had half a mind that Kaito was just trying to get him to go into work mode to distract him but… “Mhmm. There are unions for pretty much everything--along with employer contracts, like the one Maki-chan and I made, they make sure that everyone in a certain field is getting fair treatment. Certain pay levels, job security, job safety conditions, opportunities, standarized prices, equal hiring...all sorts of stuff. We have copies of every union’s statements and rules, but they were mostly made by people in the fields they’re for. I can do a lot of research, but the best way to figure out what standards a profession needs is for the people who do that job to set the standards themselves, since they know the ins and outs and snags that outsiders won’t know about from a glance.”

...he knew better by now than to ask what sort of unions there were in Luminary.

Kaito listened quietly to all this, finding the information interesting, but really just thinking mostly about the sex union specifcally...and he suddenly grinned. Looking incredibly pleased with himself.

“That’s where my Atuans are.” he said, certain this would be true. “Do you all keep a log of where union leaders can be contacted? Does the city itself have a sex-worker union working within its borders, or should I expect to have to send a letter across the country somewhere?”

Kokichi looked up in slight surprise, not...totally sure how Kaito had made that connection, but if it was something he wanted to do, then Kokichi would be behind him for it. “Uh, yeah, we get copies of the rosters every quarter, and every city has a representative of the union. It’s more like...having a lot of little city unions that make up the overall one.”

He stretched out a little, though made no moves to get out of Kaito’s embrace. “If you go to the archive and ask Yuliya-chan, she could even just get you the name and address of the sex workers’ union rep for our city so you don’t have to look through the rosters--you still can if you want, though. You could send them a letter, or, since they’ll be in the city, you could even ask to meet in person.”

Kokichi wasn’t sure if they’d be Atuan but… “It’d be nice, talking to another believer again, huh?”

Kaito did his best to commit Kokichi’s advice to memory. He would want to do that soon. Maybe even today? Well, either way, soon. 

“Hm? I mean, yeah, of course it’d be nice to talk to other Atuans just for its own sake, but also, I really, really need to work out how people worship outside of Luminary? Luminary changed a lot of the rules the last few generations, and I just...I just wanna make certain the temple King Aiichi is trying to build for us in the capital will reflect, uh...well, I just need to find out which new rituals managed to get out of Luminary and...manage that. And make certain that Dicean Atuans are comfortable practicing their religion in the open like that!”

“I mean, I’m one of Atua’s chosen family. I need to make certain his followers are taken care of. That’s the point of being chosen in the first place.” Kaito shrugged, taking a soothing breath. It was actually a huge relief, to finally see a way forward on that. “I just gotta, ya know...find them and talk to them. See what they need from me.”

Kokichi hummed softly, coming to more of an understanding. Obviously even things like religion would vary from place to place. Hell, even with it being the national religion of Luminary, he had an inkling that how people practiced changed at least a little depending on the culture they were in. If the temple Aiichi was helping organize was meant to bring people together then...it would be kind of important to figure out what Atua meant to all those different people. And just like how the best people to lead a union were people working in the field it was for, who better to organize what Atua meant to people than someone who regularly practiced!

Though…

…’chosen family’? How did… If a ‘chosen’ was meant to look after Atuan believers...but the whole nation was supposed to be assumed to be Atuan? And the ‘chosen’ was the family who’d been in power?

The gears turned in Kokichi’s head, but they all triggered an alarm siren. 

It was one thing to push past uncomfortable differences to make sure Kaito was actually getting a choice in his happiness but… He knew. He knew there were horrible problems in Luminary. Kokichi didn’t need to point out another one with it all being like Kaito said that day in the med bay. None of them had set this up, and they didn’t need to explain motives that weren’t theirs. Kaito likely wouldn’t know the answer, so...Kokichi didn’t need to ask. 

Set on that decision, Kokichi snuggled against Kaito’s chest, pressing a few kisses to his neck. “I hope you all get to have a good talk together, then. I know my father has been talking with Atuans to get their input on what they want for the temple too, but it’d probably mean more for you to have a conversation as well. You guys could talk about more than just...like, theory.”

“...talking to your father kind of makes me uncomfortable.” Kaito admitted, feeling a little sheepish. “I should have been asking him how it was going and who he was talking to ages ago, honestly, but...he just makes me nervous. I know he shouldn’t, that things are different than how I understood them to be when I got here. I’m still getting my head around that. I’d just...rather talk to the Atuans themselves first, before I hear it filtered through him. Make sure I’m not being misled…”

Kokichi let out a loud snort, accidentally blowing against Kaito’s neck and quickly looking over to Shuuichi, scared he’d woken him up. Seeing his boyfriend not even stir, Kokichi turned back to Kaito with an amused look. “Sorry, but no, that’s super reasonable. Aiichi’s a creep. Sure, some people find him a comfort, and I won’t lie that he doesn’t do a good job, but he’s just weird and creepy. A stilted old fart.”

Blowing a raspberry, Kokichi rolled his eyes. “...and I know that’s not exactly what you mean, and that’s okay too. There are plenty of other people you can talk to for practically anything you want to get done. Hmmm, there’s actually one person in particular that can help you out with a ton of things, and I think you know him pretty well.” He gave Kaito a teasing wink before calming. 

“But, yeah. Even if we weren’t building a temple, I think it’d be a good idea for you to talk to Dicean Atuans. For all the logistic reasons but...also...I can’t imagine what it’s like to go from being surrounded by people who believe in the same religion as you, to...I mean, I think Shuu-chan believes? I think he mentioned it.” Kokichi shook his head a little before nuzzling Kaito again, softer and more deliberately. “That’s a whole community you haven’t been able to be around. Even if they practice some things differently, I think it’ll be good for you to meet them.”

There were a few beats before Kokichi spoke again. “...I actually asked Aiichi about the temple the other day. For his own hopes… That priestess that conducted our binding ceremony? He said that having to set up the ritual in a basement made him wonder about it, and he asked her a ton about Atua. Even if it’s just used for big events like binding rituals, my father said that he wanted there to be a space where Atuans could hold such important ceremonies and not...feel like they were, well, stuffed in a basement. That they could invite friends and family and have there be a nice place to be. If nothing else, that’s my father’s intent with the temple.”

Kaito winced at the air on his neck, before raising an eyebrow at Kokichi. He really wasn’t sure he understood, even listening to Kokichi now, about King Aiichi. That was probably the problem of getting all his information second hand, and having, what...two? Conversations with his father in law? Something like that? Everyone either made him sound like a saint or a devil, and Kaito just…

He was just trying to fit in. Every time he thought he had a handle on things, someone rolled their eyes and pulled the rug out from under him and, well...maybe getting to know Diceans outside of the castle, and his own religion, would be easier. At the very least, he’d get to meet them himself, rather than hearing about them and forming a bunch of judgments about them that he’d ultimately realize were entirely misguided and wrong.

“Shuichi...um...he kinda believes.” Kaito shrugged, giving his boyfriend a fond look. “He believes but doesn’t practice...and honestly, he probably only believes because he doesn’t see the point in not believing, if changing his mind wasn’t going to get him anything different. Our Shuichi’s very...practical. Like that.”

“And...it’d be nice to be in the community again. Speak to some Priestesses. I really do miss the wisdom of my priestesses…”

Kaito thought about their binding ceremony...and made a small little laugh. He knew Kokichi better now. It was probably okay to admit this now...

“Heh, yeah...Priestess Angie was pretty upset about the state of the basement. She didn’t hold it against anyone or anything, but...the whole binding ceremony was kind of a disaster.” Kaito chuckled, shaking his head a little, “Again, no one’s fault. Or, if it is anyone’s fault, it’s whoever decided to change out our dove for an entire horse...oh, did anyone ever tell you Kokichi? Our binding animal originally picked for us was supposed to be this sweet little dove we brought the whole way here. His name was Carrier, and I helped take care of him on the way down...he was meant to represent peace and unity between our kingdoms. It would have been nice...wouldn’t have needed a whole basement for a bird either.” Kaito sighed. “Which is probably, looking back, why a room wasn’t prepared beforehand. We probably weren’t expecting to need a whole blood-letting room. Just a bowl for a bird. Then Tengan had to have his shitty joke...not that I don’t love our spirit animal. Of course I appreciate Kohtalon. But man...what a disaster that whole thing was…”

Their Shuuichi was very practical like that. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have any faith or never had hunches or stuff like that. But sometimes when it came to belief it was like...if Shuuichi couldn’t see a tangible change that he could prove came from his own hand, then it didn’t really matter one way or another. And he didn’t have any feelings on it beyond that. It could be a little baffling at times, but it made Shuuichi’s dedication to finding out exactly what he could change steadfast. 

Kokichi listened to Kaito talk about the clusterfuck their ceremony had been, actually...really talking about it for the first time since it happened. And while he’d never bring it up with Kaito...he felt bad that any animal was meant to die for them, but Kohtalon? What a poor horse...shuffled down into a basement then… It was just even worse that it had to suffer just for Tengan’s amusement. 

Sighing, Kokichi was quiet for a moment. “...I don’t think I ever did properly thank you for that. Giving me an out to avoid the sacrifice. Even more than what it meant for me...you stood up to that sadistic asshole, and...had to face what, if I understand it right, is supposed to be one of the most important ceremonies in your life, alone. At least for part of it. I don’t regret marrying you but...I wish you could’ve been bonded to another believer. So that whole ceremony would’ve been happy and exciting instead of anxiety-inducing and lonely. You deserve so much more than what happened.”

...Kaito chuckled, embarrassed, as he felt the back of his eyes burn a little, running his palm over his eyes real quick. He was...he hadn’t been expecting anything like that. Ever. It was...touching. For Kokichi to even think of it. But…

“I wouldn’t want that.” Kaito sighed, kissing Kokichi’s temple and then, taking his hand and kissing gently at his bound finger, “All of that was worth it. It gave me you. If having a happier binding ceremony meant that I didn’t get you at the end of it? ...I love you, Kokichi. Maybe I didn’t then, but I do now. All of...everything that happened? All of that was worth it for you.”

Kokichi felt his chest warm. Hearing that...someone thought he was worth strife and...Kaito had said as much, but especially since that evening in the memorial garden...hearing that Kaito still loved him… It didn’t mean the same to him, but Kokichi still found Kaito’s bound wrist and kissed the scar, the edges rough against his lips, but Kokichi didn’t mind in the slightest. “Thank you. I love you so much, Kai-chan. I love you enough that I want our future to be brighter, so we don’t have to go through an either-or like that.”

“But...I do feel the same. I feel guilty every time I think about it, but...even though the war was horrific, I’m happy that it meant that I’m sitting in your lap here and now. We can’t change the past so...I’m just happy that I got lucky enough to have you.” He pressed another kiss to Kaito’s wrist before snuggling against him, not believing in fate, but having a feeling like he was right where he was supposed to be.

Kaito let his arms rest around Kokichi. It was the middle of the day, and Shuichi was sound asleep now, soothed and taken care of. Maki was with Timothy, doing her best to take care of him. Hmmm…

“You wanna go somewhere?”

Kokichi blinked up at his husband in slight surprise. For a moment… To be fair, he’d never really heard those words in any context that wasn’t trying to get out of the current location as quickly as possible. But...everything was okay right now. Not perfect but...there weren’t any disasters going on for once. Sooo…

“Uh...sure! Did you have somewhere in mind?”

“Hmm...not really...how do you feel? I know you’re still shaking off the end of that cold. You feel like you still need to take it easy?”

Wrinkling his nose a little, Kokichi begrudgingly considered that. “...probably not anything too physical but...if it’s anything like taking a walk, I could handle that.”

Thinking for a moment, Kokichi looked back up at Kaito. “...are there any sort of museums you’d wanna see? Or...we could go to the theater to watch practice? Or we could wander around and see more of the city.” A small laugh bubbled out of him. “It’s almost like our first day together, me listing out all that stuff.”

“Mmmm, my little tour guide...a punk kid who laughed at my hair and called me a chicken.” Kaito snorted a little, shaking his head, “I was so immediately fond of you. I wanted to make you a sidekick. Was just trying to figure out what your strengths were first...think I was projecting a little, that day. I was so nervous about stuff, it was nice to see some excited, care-free kid just running around being nice to strangers.”

“The theater idea sounds fun, actually? Do you think they’d be okay with us lingering around and staring like a couple of leches?” 

Kokichi snickered. That first day had been amazing. They’d gotten past what happened after, but that first day still felt as warm as the late summer weather suggested. “What can I say, it was a fun hobby. And you were a lot more easy-going than a lot of the travelers I pestered, so I let myself have a little more fun than usual.”

Starting to squirm out of Kaito’s grasp, Kokichi knew he wanted to give his hands a proper wash before they headed out. The towel did the trick, but still. Bodily fluids. 

“Oh, totally. Barring rehearsals right before opening night for some performance, people are allowed to drop by and watch whenever. I have no idea what’s going on at the theater right now though--haven’t been by in a long time. I hope it’s a play, though dances and concerts are always cool to watch too.” 

Kaito got up as well, stretching his neck and shoulders a little before heading over to Shuichi, readjusting his blanket and, waiting to see if he’d wake up, kissing him on his temple...and when Shuichi didn’t so much as stir, decided his friend would be fine. “Alright, cool. Let’s go see what they’d got going on.”

-

It was a nice enough day and an easy enough trip. They stopped on the way to get drinks (at the same place Shuichi and Maki had a few days before, though they had no way of knowing that), Kaito sipping on a cappuccino that was more foam than coffee, he was discovering, but still tasted pretty good, and was still nibbling on a banana-nut muffin that he was really only picking at.

They had walked into the theater without anyone so much as batting an eye, and Kokichi ahd led them to the second floor balcony, the two watching down at the cast and crew murmuring to each other between scenes and trying to work out kinks in the performance. Kaito wasn’t entirely certain the context of the play yet, but it seemed?? To be about fairies??? Mean fairies, he guessed. It was the best he had guessed so far.

“You seen this play before?” Kaito asked Kokichi, nibbling at his muffin.

It was surprisingly casual. Almost like when Kokichi would sneak out of the castle, getting waves here and there but able to be on his way without issue. He hoped this was a sign of things to come but...he had a feeling he’d get a lot of people wanting to talk during the festival. Which he never minded, and oftentimes enjoyed, but still. 

Kokichi was carefully sipping at a hot lavender milk tea, having burned his tongue when he had immediately gone to take a drink once their order came up. Food hubris was a dangerous thing. But it was perfect for warming his hands as they watched the practice going on. Squinting down at the elements he could see, Kokichi shrugged after a moment. “Like...the poster out front said it was this old play about confusing love triangles and miscommunication between a group of humans and a group of fairies, but...some of this looks totally new to me. Maybe they’re putting a spin on it?”

Sitting back in the padded seat, he shrugged again. “People are always reiterating on old stories. Keeps things fresh, even more than the difference every performance has. Did you go see plays in Luminary?”

“Oh yeah, all the time.” Kaito said, enjoying the smell of the place, actually. Every theater in the world smelled the same. He didn’t know what to compare it to (old leather?), but the scent was distinct. “It’s an easy date idea if you’re worried you’re not going to have anything else in common. And, I just liked it too. Getting lost in the story.”

“...and I was in two plays myself, in high school.” Kaito confessed, cheeks pinking slightly even as he grinned at the memory. “One time as a comic relief character, and the other time I got to play the bad guy. Both times were a lot of fun. I died at the end of the bad guy role. Death scenes are weirdly a lot of fun.”

“Mm. I bet it could be good for conversation too, if you and the other person don’t know what to talk about. It’s something that you just experienced together, so it’s kinda perfect for sharing opinions and little things you noticed.” Kokichi had overheard snippets of conversations like that a lot throughout the years, people excited to go over what they’d just seen.

His eyes widened in excitement, though, hearing that Kaito had been something of a novice thespian himself. “Really?! Ah, that’s awesome. I can’t imagine it’d be good for keeping the mood of a scene, but getting to, like, super overact a death? Like staggering back and laying out one last dramatic monolog--very fun.” Kokichi chuckled an awkward laugh. “I’ve never acted, but playing pretend is like a one-person play, if you think about it.”

Leaning against Kaito a little, Kokichi took another sip of his tea. “Do you think you’d ever wanna do some more acting?”

“Oh yeah, no, I over-acted the shit out of that death. I was supposed too. I mean, I was the bad guy, and had a few, like, genuine attempts at being intimidating scenes? But the bad guy in the play was really mostly about being a nuisance for awhile and then being a pathetic mess and letting the heroes beat on me at the end. Like, cathartic comedy, really. I guess I’ve only done comedies, really.” Kaito mused, before shrugging, “It was good. I liked making people laugh.”

“Awww, ‘Kichi…” Kaito smiled, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles gently for a moment before giving it back to him. “Playing pretend is so acting. Just without the audience, I guess. Or a script. You should try it with a theater group, though! It’s fun being the center of attention for a little while, everyone listening and watching your every word, gasping when you do something dramatic, laughing when you say something clever or fall dramatically, getting really, really pissed off at you when your character steals the princess again...I think you’d have a lot of fun. And I bet you could do it, if you really wanted to.”

“As for me, mmm….maybe? I mean, it’d be fun, like I was just saying. I think I’d just want to make certain everything else I need to get done is sorta, ya know, at least on its way, since rehearsals can be pretty intense for a few weeks before the performance, at least.”

“Alright, daydream time. You could perform any play, any character you want? Who are you?” Kaito asked, popping another piece of muffin in his mouth, before wordlessly offering Kokichi some.

He really could imagine it. Kaito did seem to fit comedies far more than dramas--not because he couldn’t be serious, but because he just excelled so greatly at silliness. Kokichi giggled a bit, pressing his hand affectionately to Kaito’s cheek before shrugging. “Maybe if there’s like an improv workshop going on at the castle or something. I don’t think I’d have the time to commit to a real performance.”

Not to mention that...honestly, it’d be irresponsible for him to promise that time to people when he fell ill so often. That’s why understudies were a thing, but knowing that it happened to him so often, it was better just not to try and promise something he wouldn’t be able to keep.

He nodded along with Kaito’s similar concerns and accepted a piece of the muffin as he thought for a moment. “...mm, from the play they’re practicing now, actually, the jester character? Despite being there for comedy the whole time, they’re the character that actually gets the plot moving--at least traditionally in the story. It seems like fun. Or maybe one of the kids in that play about the psychic girl? I think a musical would be fun, but I’d die singing in front of an audience. You?”

“Psychic girl musical? Not sure I ever saw that one myself.” Kaito admitted, smirking, “Maybe you can give me a private performance later? Show me an idea how it goes?” Kaito teased with a small wink, snickering at the idea of trying to convince his shy husband to begrudgingly put on a ‘one act play’ for him.

Thinking on his own question, Kaito was quiet for a beat, considering...then realized, the answer so obvious that he was actually surprised it had taken him so long to think it, “There’s this play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? I saw it when I was sixteen. I was...obsessed. With that play for a few months. A small local theater was putting it on for only four nights and I went to every single night to watch it and actually, honestly cried when I realized it was done and I couldn’t anymore. I bought the script and read it word for word, page for page, until I had it memorized. I could probably still recite a stupid amount of it now.” Kaito sighed, reflecting on that time of his life a little. Strange days those were...Togami had just vanished and Kaito had gotten past the ‘grieving’ stage and into the ‘pissed’ stage, and had started going around fucking anyone who would let him touch them, specifically because Togami had asked him to never do exactly that. He had kept a little black book of names, and beside each name, for almost a year, he had written careful notes on each person, explaining in detail all the ways they had been a better fuck then Togami. He had had long, elaborate daydreams about seeing Togami again someday and throwing that book at him, just so he’d know how much Kaito hadn’t needed him…

And then near the end of his sixteenth year, after a year of doing that, he had just gotten...sad and tired. And had wanted something else to do with his time. And there had been that play, a welcome distraction from the growing depression that Kaito’s life had been spiraling into during that year. He honestly owed a lot to that play, now that he was thinking about it.

“I’d want to be the character that was probably named Rosencratz.” Kaito said, before, chuckling to himself, he added in teasingly, “Or was his name Guildenstern? The play never really nails it down. That was part of it. But the funny one. He was sweet and kind and clever in his own way...ugh, I had such a crush on the actor who played Guildenstern too, so in this daydream, I’m playing with him...or, actually…” Kaito grinned. “You’d honestly play a pretty cool Guildenstern yourself, Kokichi. I could picture it.”

Kokichi rolled his eyes but didn’t lose his smile as he just nudged Kaito a little. The play was actually based off a childrens’ book that he had loved so...maybe he’d lend Kaito the book. Much better than him explaining it, surely. 

Just listening to Kaito’s explanation, there was a little bell in the back of Kokichi’s head that went off at the title of the play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...not the most common names, so why they were familiar was definitely related to the play. Where had he…

“I’d love to hear any monologs you have stored away,” Kokichi earnestly said. “And isn’t it great? When you see something so cool and get to see a ton of it? Though, yeah, it’s kinda...transient when it comes to plays. In some ways, it makes it even more special to have gotten to see any given performance, but it’s a little sad knowing that you’ll never see it quite that way again.”

Snorting a bit, Kokichi just nudged Kaito as he suggested they could play the titular duo, but then he suddenly sat up. “Oh! Those two are characters from Hamlet, aren’t they? So, is that play a spin-off?”

“Hamlet?” Kaito asked, looking a little befuddled, “There’s a character in it named Hamlet, yeah. He’s this asshole prince who, like...even though they’re all supposed to be friends, he spends his whole time berating them and fucking with them. Is there a play about him?”

“Ah yeah, that’s him.” Kokichi snorted, finding the difference funny. “What a weird split. Hamlet is about the prince, yeah, and it’s this, honestly, depressing drama. His dad’s killed and he’s haunted by the ghost that tells him that his uncle is trying to fuck his mom and take over the throne. And there are pirates. If Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is about them, I really can’t see it being anything but a comedy. I wonder if there was some folk tale that the two versions were derived from…”

Kokichi shook his head a little. “I have a feeling I’d enjoy the comedy more.”

“Ahhh, yeah. The pirates. I did wonder about the pirates. They kinda come out of nowhere in the play, so maybe in the context of there being some other, original work, the pirates make more sense. And it is a comedy!” Kaito said, though there was a slight...glimmer in his eye? That suggested maaaaaybe Kokichi had just touched a hotspot in Kaito as he added in insistently, “a horror comedy!”

“See, see, okay, so...the play is actually about the concept of being a character in a play and being aware of the confines of your universe without actually being able to understand it or exercise your will around or outside of it! Oh, man, if there’s another play this is based on, that would actually explain the meta narrative a lot. I need to find a copy of this play, compare the two...but, yeah! The play is about these two characters stuck living out this play over and over and over again, for an audience, stuck to the script and the confines of the stage, but recognizing that it’s happening to them, as much as they can anyway, doesn’t save them in any way. They’re just...stuck! Making idle existential observations for a situation they’d be happier being blissfully unaware about and entirely unable to save themselves with the small traces of knowledge they barely even wanted in the first place!!”

“And I loved it.” Kaito whispered, eyes sparkling with true, fanboy devotion. “It was terrifying.”

Kokichi crossed an ankle over his other leg and leaned on the shin bridge, the practice below them all but forgotten as he only had eyes and attention for Kaito. A meta narrative horror comedy? That sounded fascinating, and Kaito’s passion for it only made it more enticing. 

Shuddering as his husband said his piece, Kokichi took a sip of his tea to ward off the existential chill. “Man...I wish we’d gotten that one over here too. And by the nature of it being a play and you being an audience...you’re complicit to their despair. The play wouldn’t go on if there was no one who wanted to watch. That’s definitely something that’d get you all off-kilter when you left the theater.”

“There’s definitely a copy of Hamlet in the library, though, so you can at least read through it. I have no idea if the theater is gonna put on a production of it anytime soon. Maybe I should ask around to see if anyone knows about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern… Like I said, people are always reiterating stories, so an entire alternate play in a world people know that’s already been written and performed countless times?” Kokichi laughed softly. “Maybe that would be a good place to start for intermingling Dicean and Luminous culture.”

“It would be interesting, if it’s not just a case of your idiot husband not ever finding out there’s another play based on the one, or, that mine was based on, out there in Luminary. But, assuming that’s not the case? It is kinda fascinating, isn’t it? Two halves, or, two sides of one story, one that was only ever performed and released in Luminary, the other only ever released in Dicea? How does something like that even happen…”

“I would think that both came from a common tale, and then throughout times someone in Dicea wrote Hamlet, and someone in Luminary wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and each became popular enough on their own that the original tale was lost, or is only known about in certain circles.” Kokichi shrugged a bit. “It’s certainly weird, but not impossible. Like, why the change that you spell aluminum with two “i”s? It seems so needless.”

“Yeah...I wonder if the disconnect was entirely the war, or if mabe our countries weren’t talking all that much before that either? We certainly don’t seem to have a lot of shared history or culture that I know about...well, what about Hamlet? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was a horror comedy, and the ending was…” Kaito paused, thinking about it, “...I guess kind of a downer, though saying it ‘ended’ kind of goes against the nature of the play itself. Was Hamlet more positive?”

It just...seemed so weird. Kokichi knew that Dicea came from a lot of smaller cultures banding together for protection, but...it seemed weird that they didn’t intermingle with their neighbors at all. Kokichi knew so little of Luminary as it was now, but the regime before the Momota family took power, and whatever was before that was completely unknown to him. Danganronpa was a very ancient kingdom, but...surely even if some of the structure was still around, some things had been different. Why had so little disseminated? 

“Uh-uh,” Kokichi vehemently shook his head. “Everyone dies pretty horribly in it from botched revenge, and it ends with someone who had nothing to do with anything coming in, taking control of the kingdom, and promising to tell Hamlet’s story. Actually…”

“...by that nature, maybe it’s that guy’s story that’s the cycle of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s repeated play, in a way. It’d be an interesting connection, at least. But, yeah. It’s pretty depressing.”

“Huh...hmmm….” Kaito tried to imagine that, no signs of any revenge plots in his play...but… “Sounds like a lucky break for that guy at the end, then. Maybe there’s a third play out there somewhere, where some dude just keeps randomly getting increasingly, absurdly lucky, until he just happens to luck into a whole kingdom? That’d be a hell of a comedy.”

Kokichi snorted a laugh. “Maybe Danganronpa has that version. Do you think it’d be an irresponsible use of power to hold a summit for world leaders so we can finally find all the parts to that story?”

Kaito shrugged. “At least they’d all--or, uh, we’d all,-- finally be talking to each other.” Kaito looked down at the stage a bit. Seemed the cast was taking a break. They were passing around water and coffee to each other, making idle chit-chat, some of them reading lines to each other. “I’m actually a little surprised the queen never got back to us. We sent her a letter awhile ago...I mean, we asked the carriers to treat it urgently, right? I know it takes a while to get to the Danganronpa capital, but…”

Kaiot sighed. “It’s really hard keeping up communications across country by mail, I guess. Hopefully this telephone thing will make things easier...I really gotta talk to my brother soon. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t sent word for me to call him yet.”

If all the countries started talking with each other...honestly, if you’d asked Kokichi a few months ago, he would’ve marveled at what they’d manage to accomplish. Now...he wasn’t sure if that would be the outcome, or if they’d all be at each other’s throats. Like what Kaito had told him about Hope’s Peak, he guessed. Sometimes being strangers might be best for such wildly different cultures. 

Kokichi shrugged a bit. “To be fair, it was a personal letter--not policy or anything. She’s probably too busy to respond to social calls--Danganronpa is really big. I couldn’t even imagine what it’s like trying to manage that many people over that large an area all at once. Like, she obviously had aides and, yanno, I met a Ronpan duchess. If the country is split up into duchies and governances, that makes it easier, but still.”

If you were going to split up territories like that anyway, Kokichi didn’t really understand why they wouldn’t just be separate countries under an alliance but...well, that was a whole host of politics he wasn’t involved in. 

Sighing softly, Kokichi bopped his head against Kaito’s arm. “...I could show you where the scribes’ office is when we get back, if you want. Could actually start setting up that appointment. Give them a list of free times that they can give your brother, and you guys can find a time that overlaps.”

“Yeah, I can do that. I guess I was just sorta expecting him to just let me know when he wanted to talk.” Kaito shrugged, grinning uneasily as he said, “He’s, uh...gotta know about the baby by now. There’s no way he doesn’t. That’ll be a...conversation.”

Kaito put down his cup, worrying his joints a little...before shaking his head lightly, brow furrowing as he insisted, “It’ll be fine. Everything’s gonna be fine. I’m just gonna talk to him and we’ll work it out. It’s fine.”

“Your time is valuable too, Kai-chan. You’ll make time for each other.” ...there was only so far he could push when it came to Byakuya, Kokichi knew, but...if nothing else, he’d insist until the end of his days that Kaito was so much more than what his brother said. Kaito was so good at boosting other people’s confidence--it really was the least Kokichi could do to return the favor. 

Giving his husband a look, Kokichi leaned over the armrest between their chairs to press up against his husband. “It’ll be okay. Byakuya knows about our kid because we sent an international statement out. And if he says anything about them other than congratulating you on your first child, then tell him I wanna kick his ass. I’ll kick anyone’s ass who wants to hate on our kid.”

“Ha ha ha, I mean…” Kaito kissed at Kokichi’s head, trying not to be nervous at the idea of Kokichi and Byakuya arguing. Hooo boy… Kaito would be a nervous wreck. “I’m sure he’s happy for us. He gets to be an uncle now! So that’s nice.”

He better be. Kokichi might not have totally understood Kaito and Shuuichi’s fears if their kid turned out to be Kaito’s, but it was telling enough that there were fears. That Shuuichi seemed terrified and worried people were going to come after him and the baby, and Kaito got the same type of anxious laughter he got when anyone said practically anything about Byakuya. 

So...Kokichi would protect them. Anyone trying to get at his lovers and their child would have to get through him and every piece of Dicean law he could use. And...he had a feeling there were more than a few people that would stand with him. 

Humming with a nod, Kokichi gave a little half laugh. “I don’t think I’m a particularly good one, but I like being an uncle. I hope your brother gets to enjoy it too. Even if we have the phone, maybe we can send him a letter once the baby’s born and have them place a handprint on it.”

“Awww, that’d be cute...put their itty-bitty hands on some paint...maybe their teeny-tiney toesy’s….eeeeeeeeeeee….” Kaito chuckled to himself in a highly undignified manner, excitement lighting up his face again. “Awwwww, man, I hope they get your eyes, man...or…” Kaito’s face darkened just momentarily...before he shook his head a little, something stern there as he said, “No, yeah, I hope they get your eyes. You have beautiful eyes...awwww, but Shuichi’s hair. It’s so silky. You know he doesn’t put anything in it? The monster. I had to force him to start putting in leave-in conditioner when I found out, but honestly, it was silky before that too. Some people are born with all the good genes.” Kaito sighed, envious.

“...man I act flamboyant sometimes.” Kaito chuckled to himself, a little embarrassed. Squealing over babies itty bitty hands and feet and gushing over peoples hair was definitely not what the heroes in his childhood stories did. Sheesh.

Kokichi’s own expression softened, adoring all of the love and affection Kaito had. If he was this excited now, Kokichi could just imagine how much Kaito would fawn over their baby when they were born. Good thing you were supposed to establish that sort of connection with an infant, holding them and talking to them all the time. 

For as much as Kokichi loved and appreciated the love Kaito had for others, how he saw that in himself, at least in this context was...a little confusing. Raising an eyebrow, Kokichi tipped his head to the side. “Is being excited for your baby and, like, declaring how pretty the people you love are that flamboyant? I always thought that was more like...paying people to announce you everywhere you go and wearing all the most flashy and expensive things you own at once. Just being super dramatic and unapologetically loving yourself.”

“I mean, you do do stuff like that sometimes, I guess. It’s cute.”

“I’m not...cute.” Kaito pouted. “I’m...I don’t know...like, cute is like you and Shuichi. And Maki, sometimes. All sweet and, ya know…” Kaito sighed, something openly affection on his face as he said, “Soft? Needing protecting. I mean, I know you don’t really. Not all the time anyway, and not always in...ways I can provide. But that’s...what cute is?”

Kaito sounded uncertain, because he was uncertain. He had never felt the need to explain his concepts of ‘heroic’ and ‘cute’ and what all that actually meant to anyone before, and because of that, had never actually had to analyze the ideas himself. It seemed...not entirely correct? That he saw cute things as things ‘needing protecting’. After all, he didn’t consider any wounded person ‘cute’ by default. And Maki was cute sometimes and definitely didn’t need protecting.

...but also sometimes she kinda did? And, uh….hmmm… “Man, for a guy who reads as much as I do, you’d think I’d have an easier time explaining my own ideas and concepts.” Kaito snorted, rolling his eyes a little, “I get real confused by myself real fast.”

“Kai-chan is very cute,” Kokichi insisted with a nod. “You’re sweet and soft, and everyone needs protection sometimes. But to me, Kai-chan is cute because when he starts talking about something he’s passionate about, your face lights up and sparkles and other people can’t help but get excited too when they see you. You draw people in, even when they’re not enthused themselves. God forbid you’re actually doing something you love--no one stands a chance against Kai-chan’s cuteness then.”

Kokichi giggled lightly, leaning up to give his husband a kiss. Relentless passion and optimism, enough to pull in even people like Maki or Hajime, or drawing people out of their shells like Shuuichi. But Kaito was far more than just cute.

“You’re captivating and you’re good at making people feel comfortable, and you’re such a good friend, anyone who you give friendship to really should treasure it amongst their most valuable things. Handsome, charming, bombastic...if you need more time to figure out how to word things, I could go on?” Kokichi teased his husband a little, knowing he was being a little flattering, but nothing he was saying was untrue.

Kaito stared at Kokichi during that whole little speech, a little...surprised at the sudden gushing and just…

...after a moment his face split into a grin, and his face reddened as he laughed sheepishly, putting a hand over his eyes, laughing to himself. “Geeez, Kokichi...you can’t just do that to me, man. Awwwwww...fuck dude, that was so sweet…”

Kaito peeked at Kokichi between his fingers, still grinning and laughing lightly to himself, face red...before he looked around the empty second balcony, peeking down at the cast and crew, and whispered with a grin, “...think anyone can see us up here?”

And ding, ding, ding!! Kokichi’s prize is another moment of Kaito being adorable. Giggling in delight, Kokichi leaned back up to kiss Kaito’s cheek again. “Hey, if you can catch me off-guard with compliments, I can do the same to you. Accept it, Kai-chan--being such an awesome person is a heavy burden, I know.”

For a moment, Kokichi was confused as to why Kaito was asking that, going to explain that, no, probably not; the stage lights weren’t fully on so it wasn’t like anyone on stage couldn’t see the audience at all, but they were up high and in the dark so no one would really--

“Kai-chan!” Kokichi whispered with red cheeks, knowing that the people down below wouldn’t really be able to hear them either, but feeling more exposed. “Th-this is a public space! No!”

Kaito snickered, feeling a little bad at Kokichi’s flustered realization, but also still just, like...really turned on as he gave Kokichi a smirk. Face red as he gave him a small wink and said, “‘Kichi, everywhere in the world other than our bedroom is a public space. Come on, you’ve really never wanted to fool around somewhere other than our bed?” 

“Not curious at all, beautiful?” Kaito asked, reaching to tuck some of Kokichi’s hair behind his ear, fingers grazing gently his cheekbones and the top of his ear, grinning wolfishly as he did so.

That wasn’t true--their office wasn’t a public space--but Kokichi had a hard time finding his words as he sputtered, his face continually flushing. And...it wasn’t like he wasn’t curious at all about fooling around somewhere else, but…

“There are people here…” he half whined, squirming under Kaito’s grin that never failed to make his stomach flutter. However, he kept glancing over the balcony, all too aware that there were a couple dozen people going about their day right there and...like, anyone could come in like they had to watch practice. Maybe different locations could be fun, but being caught… Kokichi hunched into himself a bit, almost afraid of the idea. 

“...and we’re not supposed to, yanno, swap fluids more than just kissing. I doubt you brought any condoms along…”

Kaito looked down at his husband, adoring, as he whispered, “Wasn’t worried about you swallowing me down beautiful…”

...then he sighed slightly. Toning it down, not quite as thrilled with Kokichi’s small curl of fear as he was his flustered surprise. He wanted to play around, but he didn’t want to...actually push his husband into something that would genuinely upset him. So Kaito leaned back a little and just chuckled and said, “No, no, alright, alright. I’m just kidding, Kokichi.” He entirely, one-hundred percent lied. “Of course we’re not going to do that. You just looked so enticing for a second there, I couldn’t help but fantasize aloud a little. But no, we won’t do that. I’m sorry for teasing, babe.”

Besides, even if Kaito gave him the most gentle blow-job possible, it would still likely wear his poor love out. Getting him home would be difficult if Kokichi was half-falling asleep, and, well...Kokichi would probably worry about the morality of the whole thing long after they were done and Kaito had moved onto thinking about other stuff. His husband was a better person then he was. Kaito probably shouldn’t burden him into situations that would leave him feeling guilty, just because Kaito himself wouldn’t feel any particular way about it.

Lots and lots of reasons to back off. Only one reason to push. And Kaito wasn’t going to prioritize his dick over his husband's feelings.

...ya know. This time.

(...he probably shouldn’t tell Kokichi he was keeping small packets of lube and condoms on himself these days, specifically because of what happened at the office. Hey man. Gotta be ready for your lucky breaks.)

Kokichi’s face blazed as his eyes widened, realized what Kaito had actually meant. He’d read stories about theater blow-jobs but...it had always felt too risque and, honestly, just rude to do. Surrounded by other people, even if you were in the dark, and just...why go see a performance if you weren’t going to appreciate all the work the performers and technicians and producers and everyone else involved did to put on the show?

But...during practice? People were allowed to watch, but no one was, yanno, expected to come, and people generally came and left as they pleased. And...there really wasn’t anyone else on the second floor…

Taking a steadying breath, Kokichi tried to collect himself. Kaito was always trying so hard for him and...he knew, in many ways, he wasn’t what Kaito had been expecting or wanted in a partner. Kaito was a sexual person, and while he now had two people to share that with…

Looking at Kaito uncertainly, Kokichi started off slowly. “...I mean...since no one else is here right now… I-I wouldn’t mind...making out? And...seeing where it goes? But I wanna stop if anyone comes up to the balcony.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. Ooooh boy...he’d maybe started something a little tricky here. Kokichi was interested, at least partly, and as much as Kaito wanted to jump on that, because of course he fucking did...there was still the whole ‘his husband was a better person then him’ thing to think about. Errrrr….

Okay! Kaito would be careful! He wasn’t going to make Kokichi do anything that would have his husband hating himself later. Careful! 

“Yeah?” Kaito asked, glancing around again, his heart beating a little quicker as he leaned into Kokichi, his eyes excited and just a...tad predatory as he said, “Alright...I’ll keep an eye on the entrance. We’ll stop before anyone sees anything. Promise.”

Then Kaito, glancing over at the entrance over Kokichi’s shoulder (which he would continue to do periodically through this, not wanting anyone to show up and embarrass his poor husband), took Kokichi’s face and shoulder into his hands, his left hand gentle against Kokichi’s cheek as he kissed him lightly, chastly at first, not wanting to frighten him...but pressing harder against him as he ran his hand from his shoulder down his arm, squeezing at his arm a little, before moving his hand to Kokichi’s waist.

 Making out with an arm rest between them would be challenging, but Kaito wasn’t quite ready to pull off a move like pulling Kokichi into his seat yet, still trying to be testing and gentle as he kissed him warmly against his lips, marveling at how Kokichi felt against him just there was below them, practice loudly started up again.

When he saw that excitement spark back up in Kaito’s eyes, Kokichi knew that this was going to be okay. Relationships were all about compromise, even for things they both wanted. Though...Kokichi had to admit that Kaito was always conceding more than Kokichi ever was…

...this was a step towards rebalancing that. 

“Thanks,” he managed to murmur out before Kaito captured his lips, sweet and gentle and quickly ramping up, the fire of Kaito’s passion unable to be contained to a candle wick. But Kokichi loved that about Kaito, and while things could get overwhelming in bed and they both had wounds to prove that it didn’t always end up okay...this time it would be. 

Kokichi brought one arm up to Kaito’s shoulder, awkwardly finding that there wasn’t really room to maneuver with his other, so it remained in his lap for the time being, still holding on to his empty cup of tea. He found that the slight bitterness of coffee still on Kaito’s lips was something he preferred more than actual coffee, sweetened by his husband. 

Taking advantage of the thespians below filling the theater with noise, Kokichi hummed happily against Kaito’s lips, taking his time enjoying their touch.

Kaito glanced at the entrance again, and snickered as one of the thespians downstairs cried out, “Lord, these people are so god damn stupid!”, immediately responded with annoyed chorus’s of “Follow the script, Essi, come on now, you keep doing that and it’ll be a habit by the time the performance happens. Alright, alright, back from the top-”

“Whatever you say,” Kaito murmured, pushing his arm back up Kokichi’s shirt, running his fingers up and down Kokichi’s front, warming his skin and lightly running his fingers over Kokichi’s nipples as he bit, ever so slightly, at Kokichi’s bottom lip, before pushing his tongue in, drawing Kokichi’s tongue out to press his lips down around, breath running hot against him. His other hand, the left one, ran his fingers through Kokichi’s hair, tangling those uneven locks between his fingers.

Kokichi jumped a little as the actor cried out, his eyes opening to glance nervously at the balcony ledge, but it was easy to relax himself back against Kaito. They were too focused on what they were doing, and he would find it easy to focus on what he and Kaito were doing. It was fine. 

By now deepening kisses were an old, comfortable dance that Kokichi didn’t need a partner showing him every step for. Kokichi still followed Kaito’s lead, trailing after his tongue with his own, sucking gently as he closed his lips around him, but it was undoubtedly a partnership. 

Kokichi trailed his fingers in swirling patterns along Kaito’s neck, dipping beneath his collar. Finding a use for his other arm, Kokichi quickly placed his cup on the seat now behind him before bracing himself on the arm between the two of them, using it for leverage so he wouldn’t have to struggle to lean over it. As soon as Kaito let his tongue go, Kokichi grazed his teeth along Kaito’s lips, pressing up against his husband lovingly.

“You’re so sexy, you know that?” Kaito whispered to Kokichi, breaking the kiss with a grin, kissing him gently against his cheek, and then again at his jaw, and then his neck, warm, wet kisses, as he let his hands explore a little, enjoying the hard curves and angles of his hips and stomach. 

Taking a moment to nibble, ever so slightly, against the skin of Kokichi’s neck (not enough to bruise, this time) he then kissed his way back up to Kokichi’s mouth, before whispering, “Want a warmer seat, babe?”

Before Kaito...no, he hadn’t. He knew he was good looking enough, and he’d been aware of his sexuality for years but...the concept of him being sexy? Anyone who had reciprocated his flirting throughout the years, or had started flirting with him first, even, it had all been with the intent of Kokichi being cute or pretty. Which he was, but...it was just something completely different when Kaito sang his praises over Kokichi being a sexual person. 

And, when it came to his husband and his boyfriend? Kokichi found he liked it quite a bit. 

“Coming from you, that’s high praise,” he whispered back, having just enough room to trace his fingertips along Kaito’s abdomen outside of his shirt and jacket, shivering a little when Kaito kissed at his neck. And just like how Kokichi had gotten more comfortable in general, Kaito had gotten more comfortable with him. 

Laughing against Kaito’s lips and giving them a light nip, Kokichi found the floor and quickly skirted around the arm divider between the seats, getting comfortable in his favorite place of Kaito’s lap. “Ah, my greatest weakness. You always know what to say to get me on top of you, hm?” Laughing a little more, Kokichi kissed Kaito deeply, looping his arms around his shoulders.

“Honestly? You’re so light, it’s actually real comfy when you sit on me. Like…” Kaito snickered, taking both hands and running them through Kokichi’s hair, massaging his scalp a bit as he teased, “...like petting a cat or a small, extremely light dog. Just sorta cozy, ya know?” He teased, leaning in to kiss him again, making a point of trying to floof up Kokichi’s hair. 

Kokichi giggled softly as Kaito tried to rival a gale, occasionally having to blow longer strand of hair out of his eyes. It wasn’t like just wearing his hair normally hid the weird style in any way whatsoever, but messy and fluffed up like a tumbleweed really made it look ridiculous. “Ah, while I use my husband as a heater, he uses me as a weighted blanket. We really are lovers of convenience.”

Kokichi sat up, rubbing his hands along Kaito’s neck and shoulders, nipping at the elder prince’s bottom lip, giving it a little suck. “Anything else I can do for you?”

Kaito felt a little excited shiver run down his spine, smirking at Kokichi as he sighed a little, “Man...you have no idea what you do to me, huh…” running his hands under Kokichi’s shirt, resting his hands on his lower back as he pulled him closer to himself, breaking the kiss for a second to rest his forehead on Kokichi’s shoulder, debating with himself. Gotta keep yourself under control, Kaito…

Downstairs, apparently a fight scene was being practiced, with louds ‘Hyah’a!’ and ‘en-guards!’ and Essi occasionally going ‘You fucks!’ which always caused the director to sigh and go “I know you’re joking now, but I’m telling you, you are creating habits” and Kaito chuckled listening to all that, whispering to Kokichi, “What a backdrop, huh? Hah...nah, babe, I’m already tenting a little. Honestly, if we’re going to walk out of here without me looking ridiculous? I probably need to cool down a little.” Kaito admitted, not doing a great job of that as he leaned in for another kiss, just enjoying how soft and warm Kokichi was for a moment...so fucking perfect…

...Kaito was already on spores that day, huh. Maybe it was before it had started doing anything drastic to his personality, but...still… Kokichi was his husband. He should’ve been able to notice something. 

Though...he still didn’t think their romp in the office was any sign. Shuuichi had been concerned by his bruises, but Kokichi had always bruised easily. He was a little sore afterward, sure, but...he’d liked it. 

Kokichi mentally shook himself of that guilt. What was done was done, and Kaito was on the antifungal medicine, and they’d promised to be better at communicating. They were taking steps to be better. 

And maybe this was one of them. Kokichi raised a bit of an eyebrow but went into the kiss Kaito initiated, stroking a few fingers behind Kaito’s ear and sloping down under his jaw. “If you’re sure…”

Murmuring against Kaito’s lips, Kokichi couldn’t keep his cheeks from tinting again. “...you know...whenever you’re in the mood, or, you know...it’s been a while… Talk to me, okay? Even if it doesn’t seem like I’m in the mood, I’m still always happy to help my Kai-chan feel good. I never want you to feel frustrated or alone just because my sex drive isn’t as strong as yours.”

...agggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh do not ravish your tiny shy husband in a theater after he just expressed fear at being caught!!!!

Kaito swallowed hard, grinning sheepishly at his husband, shivering again as he felt those fingers run along that little point in his jaw. “Yeah? I mean...I’m okay, ‘Kichi. We’ve been busy, and I’m not,” Kaito laughed, saying extremely quickly, “like,-a-slave-to-my hormones-or-anything. I don’t need it or anything.” he insisted, ignoring how badly he wanted to touch Kokichi right now. “Besides…”

Kaito leaned back a little, wanting to really take in his husband right now. Kaito was fairly certain Kokichi had no idea what he looked like. His hair was a little wild right now, those small, upward strands exaggerated from Kaito’s playful fussing, some falling into his face. Affectionate, wide purple eyes looking at Kaito in a way that sometimes (often) he didn’t feel like he deserved, words that dripped kindness and sweet things in an entirely un-ashamed or embarrassed way that sometimes overwhelmed Kaito. A small, thin, delicate body that Kaito felt...sometimes too large against. 

Curiously, lost in his musings, Kaito took his hand and grasped Kokichi’s, lifting it up and looking at his fingers in comparison to Kaito’s. Small, thin, chilly fingers, skin shockingly pale in comparison to Kaito’s, which still by this point had retained some of the tan of sunning his whole life in a near-desert landscape...small, soft, pale hands, cupped against large, calloused, dark skin...if Kaito squeezed his hand closed around Kokichi, and gripped hard enough, he really could hurt him...he didn’t even think it would take that much effort.

And because he knew that, his grip around Kokichi’s hand was gentle. Running his thumbs along Kokichi’s joints, just marveling at them a bit...before pulling Kokichi against him again, kissing him softly a bit, before whispering into his ear, “...your Kaito is selfish, Kokichi. If you don’t keep me on a tight leash? I’m gonna demand too much of you…”

Well...Kaito wasn’t a slave to his hormones, but… Gah, he didn’t know. There was something here he couldn’t quite pin down, let alone think of a solution for. It really was more of a therapist’s forte here, but...Kokichi just wanted to be someone Kaito could depend on. And every time he came up short he felt like all he was was a failure and a disappointment. 

At least that was something he could work on. 

Kokichi tilted his head, letting Kaito work out his thoughts though he felt a little curious about what his husband was looking at. What about him that Kaito was mulling over, enough to spark such a look of consideration and gentle admiration… He squeezed Kaito’s hand gently as he took his hand up, giving Kaito the space to think but a reminder that he was here back down on earth too. 

And when Kaito came back, Kokichi sighed softly, pressing a kiss of his own to Kaito’s lips after his husband had gotten his in. “So, demand too much of me. And if something crosses a line, I’ll say no. If you keep pushing from there, then that would be an issue, but just asking? I can’t read your mind, love--I’ll never know your thoughts and ideas or needs or wants unless you speak them aloud. And...you never know what I’d want too until you ask me.”

Communication and setting boundaries. They needed to work on it. 

Kokichi kissed at Kaito’s neck before snuggling against the same space. “But if you think it’s a bad idea? Then I’m not gonna push you into anything you’re uncomfortable with either. We can have some fun at home later, okay?”

Kaito snorted. “All of my ideas are terrible ideas. Doesn’t mean I’m uncomfortable with them. Just don’t want you to do things you shouldn’t be doing, ya know? You are our future king, after all. And regardless of what you think that means, ‘Kichi, that’s a big deal to me and a lot of people like me. I have to keep that in mind. I owe you that.”

Letting Kokichi snuggle against him, Kaito ran his hand soothingly up and down Kokichi’s back for a moment, enjoying the warm, comfortable moment...and down below, someone said, “Alright, so here, we have the crescendo moment, where the faun comes in from the left and finds her sleeping. So, music, you ready? Alright, go ahead…”

And from a band that Kaito suspected had only just now gotten themselves together in the rehearsal, and sounded maybe a little incomplete, started softly playing music down below, the sound playful if a little ominous...and Kaito snickered.

“Alright. Here’s your chance to say no to me, Kokichi. If I had to play out a fantasy, right now? …” Kaito flushed hard, fully expecting a raised eyebrow and a ‘no, Kai-chan’ as he whispered into Kokichi’s ear, “I sometimes think about that blowjob you gave me back at the beach house? You were so good, Kokichi...I almost lost my mind…”

“EEH-EEH.” It was still soft, not wanting to shatter the mood, but Kokichi made a quick sound like a buzzer, looking up at Kaito in an amused manner. “Sorry, incorrect, that’s not the answer. Saying all your ideas are terrible is such a huge lie I don’t know how you even expected to get that past me. No one has a perfect batting average, but Kai-chan has some wonderful ideas--so I want to hear them. Even the ideas you’re not sure about, or even the ones that do kinda suck. They’re yours, so of course I’d wanna listen.”

And barring a few obvious examples, Kaito didn’t tend to do things that put Kokichi in harm’s way. As much as it terrified him personally, being caught fooling around in a theater wouldn’t be the end of the world. Still, he’d rather not be caught at all. 

Kokichi’s cheeks heated up too when Kaito whispered his fantasy in his ear, but...as much as he’d like too… 

Kokichi sighed. “...I can’t...be clean like you are with me. I don’t wanna make a mess here and...you know I can’t even...um...try to swallow right now…” His face burned, flustered talking about swallowing Kaito down. Even if he could somehow manage to not spill, he’d just get sick from eating Kaito’s jizz and...they were trying to be better than that.

Another sigh. 

“...damnit.”

Kaito’s eyes lit up, once again back in comfortable territory, just lightly flustering his husband without frightening him. He listened with an amused smile as Kokichi rationalized why the blowjob wasn’t going to work out, and Kaito felt a warm swell of affection in his chest as Kokichi’s apparent disappointment with the limitations of Kaito’s, uh...literal poison on their sex life. 

It was cute, and Kaito decided to say so, poking at Kokichi some more as he chuckled a little, saying, “Awwww, no? That’s a shame.” He murmured into Kokichi’s ear, music still softly playing through the theater as the cast down below started and stopped through their lines, trying to work out how this scene would go, “My ‘Kichi makes such sweet, sexy faces when he’s trying to swallow me down...drives me crazy…but you’re right.” Kaito sighed, kissing the side of his face gently, “You shouldn’t do that. And I...shouldn’t sit you on this chair in this dark, loud theater, and get on my knees and swallow you down until there’s absolutely nothing left because…”

...Kaito waited a beat, before making a small, thoughtful humming sound. Squeezing at Kokichi’s hips a bit as he said into his ear, “Sorry, I forget. Why shouldn’t I do that, ‘Kichi?”

Kokichi’s blush stayed hot as he rubbed the side of his thumb down Kaito’s neck and over just the top of his shoulder, wishing that he could be doing something like easing the tension out there like Kaito always did for him but...he simply wasn’t the person with the magic hands in this relationship, so Kokichi could only hope his attempts were comforting if nothing else. “I like making Kai-chan feel good…”

And Kaito loved making him feel good. Kokichi shivered in Kaito lap as he explained another crossed off path, but… Kokichi’s breath caught in excitement. “...because it’s not fair for me to - to get off if you don’t get to? And...we don’t have spare pillows? Wouldn’t it get uncomfortable to kneel on the floor?”

Again, another up-tick of excitement. All Kaito really wanted to do was fluster his husband. Because Kokichi was adorable and Kaito got his kicks where he could get them. But his endless desire to up the ante got the better of him as he looked at Kokichi with a feined befuddled look before glancing down at the floor, as he whispered, “Do you think it would be? The floor doesn’t look that hard. Hold on, let’s test this out.”

Giving another quick glance to the entrance and the rest of the floor, making certain no one had come up while Kaito wasn’t paying attention, Kaito grasped Kokichi and stood up, before carefully depositing Kokichi back on the chair. Then, with exaggerated care, Kaito got down to the black tar of the floor, shifting his weight from knee to knee with experimental care, before resting his arms on Kokichi’s leg, laying his head on one arm as his chest leaned against Kokichi’s lap, looking up at him with a pointedly amused look at he observed ‘innocently’ to Kokichi, “I don’t know, it doesn’t feel so bad down here. Maybe if I was down here for a long time it’d start to ache...how long do you think you’d last, ‘Kichi?” Kaito asked, entirely theoretically, as he grazed his fingers up the front of Kokichi’s shirt a bit, finding some of that coarse, purple hair there and running his fingers through it a bit, grinning up at his husband.

Kokichi squealed something resembling Kaito’s name, now feeling his entire body start to flush just from the position Kaito had put himself in. They weren’t even doing anything and it still seemed so risky...and yet...kind of exciting. 

Though, Kaito asking how long he’d last just made Kokichi cover his red face in embarrassment. Unbidden, he kept thinking about how he’d have to keep himself quiet, a difficult task if the past had anything to say. The practice down below was loud, but any loud noise Kokichi would make would be echoed by the theater. And fuck knew Kaito would be doing everything he could to make Kokichi writhe and moan without letting him finish too fast. 

Unconsciously, Kokichi’s legs parted a little as his stomach shuddered under Kaito’s touch. 

“...i-it’s still not fair if you’re only blowing me…”

Kaito saw that small parting of legs and felt that newly familiar feeling of something dangerous running through his system, a shock of slightly too heated excitement as his grin became more…’toothy’, looking brightly up at Kokichi as he experimentally started to play with Kokichi’s pant button, saying pathetically, “Oh, I know...it’s just not fair...my husband’s so cruel to me…”

He shouldn’t, he shouldn’t, he shouldn’t, this next bit was taking a step beyond playful and was too much pressure, he shouldn’t, he shouldn’t…

Fuck. He was going to slow down his and Kokichi’s path to paradise so much with all these levels to his own trials he was always adding. Fuck.

But he couldn’t help himself. The idea was in his head now, and Kaito pulled back from Kokichi a little, leaning back as he sat between his own ankles, steadying himself on the floor with his left hand as undid his own belt with his right hand, looking up at Kokichi with what was an attempt at a pout and what kept morphing into a smirk against his own will as he undid his jean button, running his hand down into his own pants meaningfully as he murmured breathily, “I guess I have no choice but to just satisfy myself...while satisfying him too? Such a cruel husband...” Kaito teased, grin all fangs as his eyes lit up with lustful excitement. “He makes me work so hard…”

And...it really was something too far. Just as what held Kokichi back from giving Kaito a blowjob, Kokichi gave their surroundings a nervous look. “...maybe...we should wait to go home… I-I mean...I wouldn’t want you to have to walk around with gross underwear and...I mean, it’s a hazardous material, and if we asked someone for cleaning supplies then they’d ask what’s up and if they’re particularly curious…”

Kokichi rambled out his anxieties, straightening up and pulling his legs together, not focused on Kaito but rather their surroundings again. He wanted to just...have a playful time together, but when you started thinking about the logistics… 

A sigh, and Kokichi rubbed a hand down his face. “I can blow you when we get home, okay?”

It was in no way a bad thing, Kokichi saying he was too uncomfortable to do this...but Kaito felt a sudden rush of embarrassment and shame at the refusal, quickly taking his hand out of his pants as his face turned red, not from arousal this time as he said, “I,  I mean, y-yeah, of course, I was just play-oh fuck!”

Don’t let the exclamation mark fool you. He kept his voice down and quiet, just hissing out the ‘oh fuck’ in a rush of breath as, Kaito on his knees on the floor with his belt and button undone, (pants TENTING) he looked around widely and in a bid to not be seen, suddenly shoved himself underneath the seat. 

Kaito was a big guy, but he was also extremely determined (and also, not...entirely un-used to hiding himself in small spaces due to, uh...similar situations) to hide, ducking under the seat and watching carefully visible feet underneath the seat, waiting for his opportunity before going to the other side of the row when the feet started to cross the threshold, shuffling under the seats on his stomach and elbows as someone walked to the front row.

Hina (also known as Aoi, though not in Dicea) peeked her head to the front row, and (entirely missing Kaito) smiling brightly, as she whisper-shouted out, “It is you! Prince Kokichi? Hello! My name is Hina! Do you mind if I come over and say hello?”

Kokichi felt his stomach drop as Kaito started to stutter and just...act embarrassed. He didn’t want to embarrass Kaito and...he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d done it now, but he couldn’t just… All the thoughts of how things could go wrong took up too much room in his head and while he was a little worked up now, he wouldn’t be able to focus or get relaxed enough no matter how nicely Kaito treated him. 

However, ice didn’t freeze him in his tracks until Kaito cursed and ducked, and it was only a few moments before Kokichi heard footsteps coming up behind him, and all he could think was thank fuck they hadn’t started anything. 

Painting on a smile, Kokichi thought quickly before grabbing his empty cup and getting up from his seat, going to the end of the aisle to meet the woman half way. “Hello, nah, you don’t have to sidle out along the seats, hold on.”

Kokichi kept his attention forward as he made it to the set of wide steps, trying to keep Hina’s attention too. “It’s nice to meet you, Hina! Here to watch the practice too?” If she was focused on him then...maybe Kaito could sneak over to the back row of the balcony and act like he’d gone to the bathroom?

Hina smiled brightly, resisting the extremely strong urge to bow as she said, “I’m a stunt-coordinator for the show! I work over at the dojo? Someone mentioned they saw you and uh…” Hina looked around, a small look of confusion on her face as she said, “...Prince Kaito? Head up here to watch the practice? I, uh…”

Hina laughed awkwardly, feeling her stomach twist nervously as she said, “I’ve spent the last hour trying to talk myself into coming up here and introducing myself to the both of you. There’s something I think I need too... uh...is Prince Kaito returning soon?”

“Oh that’s awesome! Thank you for your work! I can’t say I’ve gotten to see as many shows as I’d like, but I’ve always been impressed with some of the stunts people pull off--I’m glad I’ve gotten to meet you, as someone who works to keep everyone safe while keeping that stage magic.” ...it was a little political, what he was doing, but by now? Whenever he met people and they mentioned their job or hobbies, it had become second nature to thank them for whatever they were doing for the community. 

That wasn’t to say he couldn’t hear how much of a dork he sounded like, and Kokichi twirled a piece of his hair in slight embarrassment, though he perked in surprise, not having expected that someone wanted to talk to Kaito so specifically.

Really hoping that Hina was a Dicean who was working on accepting Kaito as one of their people, Kokichi nodded with a happy hum. “He should be! He went to go use the restroom a little while ago--I hope we’re not cutting into your time too much.”

“No, no, they’ll be fine without m-”

“Essi! Stop trying to shred down the railway bars! That’s not what the skateboard is for!!”

“-...I mean, if they die without me, it’s really just karma by this point.” Hina mused, that bright, cheery look never faltering...before she sighed softly. “Well, if he’s going to be back any minute...Prince Kokichi? May I ask you a question?”

“...does…” Hina hesitated. She was choosing to put her faith in the Dicean government. She was a citizen. Recognized as such by Dicea, if not Luminary. She was certain she and her friends weren’t in danger...and while she knew this was a betrayal of trust, she felt an obligation to at least...start communication. They couldn’t be afraid forever… and honestly? They regularly visited her girlfriend’s pub. It was just a matter of time before she ended up in the same room as them after all. “...there’s some fears that Prince Kaito might be...sending Luminary refugees home? Is there any truth to that?”

Kokichi laughed softly, by now recognizing the shouted name of the thespian, he figured, who was more energetic than the rest. However, as Hina became more serious, so did he, listening intently to hear out any trouble someone may be having. Though, the subject she brought up…

Kokichi couldn’t help blinking in surprise, stunned for a moment before shaking his head. “No, not in the slightest. I’m sorry that we’ve not done a better job reaching out...that must be such a horrible fear.”

“I apologize for talking law, but, even if Kai-chan had that intent, which he doesn’t in the slightest, he has no grounds for it.” Kokichi’s eyebrows knitted together in worry and determination, knowing that Hina was probably just looking for a no, but he wanted to explain what he could so, until the castle could do better outreach, she could answer anyone with the same concerns. “All people who come to Dicea seeking asylum are given citizenship, and in the bounds of our laws, that identity takes precedent. And, without the unanimous vote of the leader and admins, and, in some cases, the representatives of whatever town someone is being considered in, a citizen cannot be exiled. And for someone trying to...send people to Luminary, or any specific country, that would be considered human trafficking and the person orchastrating it would be arrested without contest.”

“...but that’s all theory, since Kai-chan’s not doing anything like that. He’s living as a Dicean citizen just like everyone else.”

Hina nodded at all that, looking a little more confident and determined now as she said, “Yeah, we figured Dicea wouldn’t allow something like that to happen, but...I mean, with the fact that he brought Maki and Shuichi with him, people were worried that maybe he was tasked with utilizing them to-”

“‘Kichi! I’m back!” Kaito called from the entrance, walking down the aisle… head and upper body drenched as Kaito dripped his way down the aisle, looking a little sheepish but no longer horny in any way. As he gave his husband a grin and a little wave, he glanced over at Hina and said, “Oh, hey! We have a fellow second floor-er, awesome! Are you a friend of Ko…”

Kaito paused as he finished walking up to them, something slightly confused coming over his face as he looked at Hina quietly, “..kichi’s? Uh…”

Hina, despite years and years and years of not having to do it, suddenly, automatically found herself crossing her hands over each other in front of her hips, looking somewhere vaguely at Kaito’s chest as she said, “Um, no, I was just stopping by to say hello and introduce myself to the prince...and, uh, actually, you both seem busy with watching the rehearsal, so I think maybe I should leave you to i-”

“...Aoi?”

Hina’s eyes widened. She had only met Kaito a handful of times...she hadn’t thought for an instance that he’d…

...it was panic, pure and simple, that made her say, “...No, I’m sorry, my name is Hina…”

...Maki had been used by the Momotas to get rid of people, and Shuuichi had been used as a threat. Kokichi didn’t know how many people even understood what conditioning was or that Luminary had a slavery program, so...if there hadn’t been news given to the people who would understand that Maki and Shuuichi were free Dicean citizens now… For anyone who’d understood Luminary enough to escape it, he could see why that would be terrifying. 

But everything Kokichi and Dicea stood for would protect them. 

Kokichi turned at Kaito’s voice, his eyes bugging in surprise as Kaito came back soaked??? How?? When? Kokichi took a few quick steps over to Kaito, worried and fussing, not wanting to admit it in front of a stranger that...okay, this looked like water, so at least there’s that...he was worried Kaito had run into someone and, well…”hate crime” was the right term, but one he didn’t want to embarrass Kaito with. 

“Kai-chan, what happened? Are you okay? Shit, you can’t go outside like this…” 

But then the air changed for a second and…

...he and Kaito weren’t the only people hiding something. 

Kokichi grinned and found Kaito’s hand. “Mhmm! This is Hina, as she said--she’s a stunt-coordinator for the theater! How cool, right? She wanted to come up and introduce herself to us, so…” With a bit of a sheepish, disarming laugh, Kokichi gestured between the two taller people. “Hina, this is my husband, Kaito! The two of us really enjoy theater, so you might see us around now and again--feel free to say hi if you want!”

...someone’s past as a refugee wasn’t anyone else’s business. Even if Kaito knew, unless Hina wanted to share it herself, then they’d only talk about it behind private, closed doors. 

Kokichi could ease the mood as much as he could but...he did wish he had a moment to assure Hina that Shuuichi and Maki weren’t tied to Luminary anymore, not in any way beyond the ties to their loved ones. Every Dicean immigrant, no matter how they came to the country, would be protected.

Kaito’s brow furrowed as he looked at Kokichi in confusion, “...but…”

Hina smiled brightly, nodding her head in agreement as she said, “Yep! I’m the stunt-coordinator! I really hope you both come watch us opening night! We’re actually really excited about this particular performance, and by we, I really do mean me and my fellow coordinators! We’ve been given a lot of wiggle room to work around the context of the scenes to make some really interesting action scenes!”

Kaito stared at Hina...something a little...hurt flashing across his face as he looked back and forth between Hina and Kokichi...before he suddenly laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Right! Of course, I apologize. You...you reminded me of someone! Um...Hina, of course. It was amazing to meet you, and we will definitely be showing up to the opening night! When do you all open?”

“Two weeks to the day! Don’t judge us based on the rehearsal, it’s gonna be polished and a lot of fun to watch!”

“Great! Um...well, as you can see, I had a little accident with the bathroom sink, so, I think maybe I should go home and get some dry clothes on. ‘Kichi, you okay leaving early?” Kaito asked, chuckling sheepishly.

“Oh, that sounds amazing to watch,” Kokichi honestly gushed. “I’ve never really been able to make it to any opening night performances, but...well, things are a little different now. We’ll do our best to keep that night open.” And Kokichi meant it. While this might’ve just turned into trying to keep the most pleasant conversation ever, getting to see a play on opening night was something Kokichi had only ever dreamed about. Getting to do that, but also supporting someone he’d met personally? He was going to write it down on his calendar as soon as they got home. Or...close after that, anyway.

And while he could recognize that Kaito was providing an exit… Kokichi sighed, still worried about how soaked Kaito was. “I’m alright with that, but let’s stop by the bathroom again. You really shouldn’t be out in this weather while you’re wet, so the least we could do is wring you out.”

Turning back to Hina one last time, it wasn’t something he normally did but...Kokichi held his hand out to shake her hand. “It was lovely meeting you, Hina. I look forward to seeing what you all create together in two weeks.” And, under his breath as she came closer, he whispered with a kind look, “We won’t tell anyone. You and others are safe.” 

Kaito might want to talk to Shuuichi and Maki about it, especially if he’d known Hina enough to recognize her, but nothing would come from it. Kokichi would make sure of that. 

Hina smiled at Kokichi, a relieved look on her face as she said quietly, “Thank you…” then out loud, she said, “Alright, well, it was lovely meeting both of you! You both have an awesome day now!”

Kaito just gave Hina a small smile and wave, before waiting for Kokichi as he said, “Alright, I’ll lead the way. I just came from the bathroom after all.” Kaito chuckled, leading the way to the bathroom. 

It wasn’t far, and as they got into the bathroom, there was one sink with a small puddle of water underneath it, and Kaito snickered to himself as he saw it, admitting sheepishly, “Man, didn’t realize I had left that much of a mess. Sheesh…”

Kokichi sighed softly and looked around, trying to find...like, a utility closet or something. “Not ideal, but I’m glad all this was just from you. I was worried that...I don’t know, someone had thrown a cup of water on you or something.”

“...are you okay? From dousing yourself and...having to crawl around and meeting Hina and all that,” Kokichi asked, not having much luck. It made sense, since this was a bathroom open to the public when there were shows going on… He’d have to find the closet he was looking for elsewhere, or at least notify someone that there was a puddle in the bathroom, either to get directions to supplies to clean it up, or so that word could spread and no one would accidentally slip. 

Ushering Kaito over to a different sink, so he wouldn’t be a victim of his own puddle, Kokichi grabbed a piece of his shirt and started wringing it out. 

“Heh, ‘Kichi, back up a bit babe, I’ll take care of this.” Kaito promised, gently pushing his husband back a bit before taking off his shirt, and jacket, the jacket already dry but the shirt needing wringing out a little as he started to twist it over the sink. “And no, babe, no one did anything to me. I’m fine. I just needed a, ya know... a solid dose of cold water earlier. Was a little, uh...too caught up.” Kaito chuckled, twisting the shirt tighter.

“...so...what did Hina actually want to talk to you about?” Kaito asked. Continuing to twist, drops spilling out of his shirt.

Still looking around, Kokichi did manage to find a few spare handtowels in an open cabinet, and he took one out to start drying the puddle. And, before he answered Kaito, he gave a steady glance at the door, keeping his voice low. “...it doesn’t mean much to most people, but for those who it would make sense to...people don’t know that Shuu-chan and Maki-chan aren’t still doing their old jobs.”

It was probably safe to talk more directly than that, but this was a much bigger secret than what Kokichi was used to talking about. About the same as Kaede’s plan, though, oddly enough, Hina’s secret had much higher stakes in Dicea than what some weird foreign leaders were doing in another country. So...he was trying to be discreet. 

“...some citizens who immigrated here were worried about what you being here meant for them. I assured her that everything was okay and explained how Dicean laws wouldn’t let anything bad happen to that subgroup.” Kokichi looked over at Kaito with a small sigh. “...she did want to talk to you too, but...I think she got too nervous, seeing you in person.”

“...so she’s a Luminary immigrant? That’s…that’s kind of amazing and kind of alarming. We...our border patrol has a reputation of never letting anyone get past the border, and deserters of the military are always caught...but maybe...maybe the border patrol and the military aren’t being totally honest about their retrieval efforts? Mom thought that was true, but I’ll be honest, I always thought she was just being a little, uh...paranoid.”  Kaito nodded quietly...before sighing. “Yeah...but...I…that was definitely Aoi...wasn’t it? And if it was I...”

After a moment, Kaito growled. Twisting the shirt so hard that the fabric began to rip, “..I have to do...something…”

Kokichi winced a little, looking to the door again as Kaito just...said it straight out. “Maki-chan told me as much, but at this point, I do think it’s just propaganda. It’s easier to dissuade more people from running if they think there’s no hope. But there are always people who don’t rely on hope.”

He sighed, tugging up his scarf before jolting at the growl in Kaito’s voice. And...for a second, he feared what Hina had brought up. That Kaito was going to tell his brother about all the refugees living in Dicea. There wasn’t anything Byakuya could do at this point, but…

“...why? If...you two had some business left from when you last saw each other, I guess but...she’s living her life, you’re living yours. Why is there anything left to do?”

Kaito bit his lower lip, conflicted. He could respect her wanting to just live her life, but… “...I can’t just keep it to myself. And I can’t not bring this up with her. Her brother thinks she’s dead. I can’t know she’s alive and well and not tell him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

“But, but...shit, what am I going to do...can I buy him out of his contract? He still has, what, another...four years? Five? I wonder how much it would cost. Will he want to come here? Aoi can’t go back, they’ll kill her...what if Byakuya asks why I want to buy Yuta? Shit, shit, shit, I can’t just pretend I don’t know...fuck…”

Riiip- “Aw, shit. My shirt…”

Kokichi felt his shoulders relax a little. That was the Kaito he knew and loved. If Hina had a brother back in Luminary that thought she was dead, then...yeah. That was something you couldn’t just leave be, at least not without trying something. 

Coming up to Kaito’s side, Kokichi put a comforting hand on his back and started rubbing gently. “Okay, I think I get the picture now. Why don’t we give Hina a few days to recover and process, then come back to the theater and talk with her about it. Then, we can respect her wishes and move on to decide what to do from there--you don’t have to know exactly what to do right now.”

Kokichi looked over at the ripped shirt with a small sigh, but offered a gentle smile up at Kaito. “Think you’ll be okay huddling in just your jacket until we get back home? I think that’d be faster than stopping to buy a new shirt somewhere.”

“Though,” Kokichi continued with a teasing look, “That means we just have to go on another clothes shopping trip soon, of course. I can only be thankful I didn’t lose that hand of cards to you.”

“Yeah? Alright, but...I really do need to talk to her. Maki and Shuichi too, I suppose. If people think they’re still doing their jobs, then, uh...we definitely don’t want to wait for some Luminaries to decide to, uh, take matters into their own hands first. I’m not sure how we should approach it, but, uh, yeah. We definitely gotta figure out how to spread the word on that soon.”

Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt his shoulder tensing with stress. It was going to be okay. Frankly, Kaito was glad to have found out something like this in this way. There could have been a lot worse ways to discover that ex-Luminaries afraid for their lives and freedom thought Maki and Shuichi were there to capture them. Way...way worse ways. 

Kaito gave Kokichi a gentle look as he nodded, agreeing that he could just wear his jacket for now...before chuckling. “Are you talking about the one on the trip to the beach? Did I say I’d have used the winning to get a clothing trip?...honestly, that’s an amazing idea. Can we gamble in the future for clothes? I would absolutely gamble for clothes.” Kaito confessed, tossing his shirt on the ground to soak up the last of the water before dumping it in the trash, buttoning up his jacket. 

Kokichi nodded. “I told Hina that things were okay, but it’d be better to get the word out more. Like, people know that Shuu-chan’s our surrogate, and...maybe being louder about Maki-chan being the head of my security detail would help that. But for getting that information out to the people who are worried about it, maybe just letting Hina know explicitly that Maki-chan and Shuu-chan are free citizens and asking her to let others know would work.”

If he could avoid making some big, embarrassing announcement like ‘Maki and Shuuichi don’t work for the Luminous Government’ he’d want to. Both for his friends’ sake but...there could be instances of making an announcement like that that would get people to wonder why that sort of announcement needed to be made. And if he could keep anyone from accidentally exposing any refugees that didn’t want that information known, he would. 

Kokichi gave a small worried look to the shirt in the trash before hanging up the now-drenched towel he’d used on a towel bar, but let it go as he started to walk out of the theater with Kaito. And instead, he turned his thoughts to brighter things. 

“Oh, I know you would. But I offered to let you dress me up for a day if you won--which, I suppose, could be a shopping trip. But even with a loss, I’ll still come with you on this actual trip, if you want.”

“Oh, that’s right! I was gonna put you in a cute little footsie pajama! Oh man...that gives me an idea.” Kaito snickered, taking Kokich’s hand in his hand as they walked down the street. “You all are gonna hate me. It’s gonna be great.”

“Oh! I know it’s...brrr...damn...I know it’s c-cold, but can we stop b-by the sex union w-w-workers before we go home? I r-r-really need to…” Kaito shivered, “I n-need to introduce myself to th-them.”

Kokichi gave Kaito a sympathetic look, often one to be chilled himself. Squeezing Kaito’s hand, he gave a nod. “The union office is down on Willow Avenue, right? It’s a little detour, but if you think you’re fine, let’s go. Since it’s the middle of the day, there should be someone there.”

Kokichi led the way, never having gone to the office himself, but knowing that a lot of union offices were on that road so...he knew the way, more or less.

Kaito actually felt very confident about this next bit. This was Atua business! Atua wanted him to succeed at this, so though he didn’t interfere, maybe he’d send some of his saints to nudge things how he would want this to go? Yeah! That made sense! Kaito was not alone in this! He totally had this under control! 

Honestly, Kaito was a little surprised at how...normal the building Kokichi brought him too was. Atua followers in Luminary were nothing if not showy. But, well, he supposed that at least in this context they were union workers before they were Atuans. 

God it was so cold “A-are we n-nearly there b-babe? Cause I th-think I’m gonna d-d-die.”

Kokichi gave Kaito a worried look. “Yeah, just this one over here… Hun, if you wanted to talk to them, I can go buy you a shirt to change into for the walk back home. And next time I’m insisting harder that you at least wear a scarf…”

This winter was gonna be so rough…

Quickly shuffling into the office, Kokichi swept his eyes over the front area before giving a little wave to a woman with kind-looking eyes, her desaturated short blue hair pinned back with a small bow, and despite her cool pallet, the woman looked cozy, wrapped up in a thick sweater. 

“Oh, you two look right about to freeze--come in. Caught off guard by how fast things are getting chilly this year?” The woman ushered them over to what looked like a reception sitting area, complete with a large tank thermos with a tap at the bottom. “Tea? Coffee? You’re not leaving before I get something warm into you, young men.”

A little surprised by the hospitality--but not really, since it was similar to what he saw from the castle staff whenever unexpected visitors came by in the middle of the night--Kokichi just offered up his empty cup from the shop he and Kaito had gone to earlier. “Tea, please--you’re too kind. May we have a name to thank you by?”

The woman laughed softly. “Sorry-- I’m Voirrey. You two looked in such a sore state, names were the last thing on my mind.”

“C-c-coffee, p-please, thank you V-v-voirrey,” Kaito said (well, chattered, teeth knocking against themselves), sitting down at one of the waiting room chairs and curling around his stomach a little, huffing a bit. Damn. He had...really underestimated how cold it was going to feel, with wet hair and wearing nothing but a jacket. Fuck. “‘K-kichi, I might n-need you to go buy those c-clothes, babe.”

“Oof. Someone sounds like they’re borderline freezing. I hope you didn’t come here to warm up, boys. We’re not that sort of establishment here.”

Out came an older gentleman, with a thick beard, round belly, and skin as dark as night, and such an effeminate and elegant swagger to him that somehow the immediate thought you had looking at him was ‘dainty’, despite the sheer size of him. 

This was a man with an ‘image’ that he had long ago decided on and had perfected. His hair was long and curled tight and coarse, and the edge of his beard and his hair were all dyed a glittering gold, and indeed, all of his makeup shimmered slightly, the dark coarse hair on his chest and stomach also touched lightly at their ends by the dye. He wore silk, silver pants that hung tight at his waist and loose at his shins, wooden flip-flips, and his arms were covered in gold and silver bracelets, each when looked at exquisite in detail in craftsmanship.

Kaito swallowed hard when he saw him. Entirely forgetting his chill. Eyes wide.

Wow…

“Try not to drool,” the older gentleman instructed Kaito, rolling his eyes at him, clearly nowhere near as impressed with him as Kaito was in turn, before saying, “Well, if coffee and tea is all you’ll be needing, please, Voirrey, do help these gentlemen and then show them the way out. Thank you~” 

Kokichi sent Kaito something of an amused look before speaking up, figuring his husband needed a moment to reboot. “While we appreciate your hospitality, we did come here with a purpose. My husband, Kaito--oh, and I’m Kokichi--was curious about the USWU and was hoping he could talk to someone from the union. If not today, then we were hoping to set up a time that would work for all parties.”

Voirrey had a mildly surprised look as she finished up the drinks for the young men, putting the names together with their appearances. The princes? Here? Probably not a mistake on the due forms--they’d always corresponded by mail for that. And as far as she knew, Prince Kaito didn’t have any sort of duties when it came to the nation. Maybe he was trying to get involved with union management?

Trying to catch the eye of her coworker, Voirrey gave a little shrug before turning to hand out the drinks, returning Prince Kokichi’s grateful smile and noting that he was probably happier to have something warm his hands than his stomach for the moment. 

Behemoth raised a small eyebrow, also making the name/prince connection, though a small scowl wrinkled his curiously strong yet effeminate features at the realization. He had known this was coming up eventually, but honestly, after almost two months without word, he had kinda thought he’d just kept perpetually lucky. Or that the Luminary Prince would somehow manage to get himself killed before showing up. Ugh.

Noting Voirrey’s ‘look’--the two had been working together for many, many years now, and though they didn’t have a lot in common outside of work, they had managed a pretty good working relationship by this point and were pretty decent at body language with each other-- he conveyed quietly to her: what? Too harsh?

Now, Voirrey wasn’t Atuan, and she’d barely known what it was in any detail more than, ‘that’s the national religion of Luminary’ for most of her life. And even still, it had taken years and years of working together with Behemoth for him to even mention it. When the news had been announced and the prospective wedding was hot gossip all around town, they’d had a long conversation when the office was empty about...well, essentially what it’d mean for a different sect of a religion to come into contact with another. 

So Voirrey wasn’t totally lost on why Prince Kaito was in their office. But it was fun to feign it. 

Raising her eyebrows slightly, she replied, ‘Time to deal with it’. After all, she had a feeling that if Kaito didn’t talk to them, he’d go out looking for other Atuans, and while it didn’t tend to be a ride or die secret, no one wanted to be outed like that. 

“Well what do you think, Be? Too enamored comparing pay stubs to have a chat with a young man? Pretty lucky you two fellas happened to come in while our union representative is in-office.”

“Someone’s gotta do it. And at least it’s quiet and I rarely gotta talk to whiney children.” Behemoth muttered, looking down at the twink and twunk with open exasperation. He knew he should at least be polite. Prince Kokichi was a man of influence even at this stage in his political life, and it wasn’t unlikely that the union would be going to him for help for something or another in the future...but, well, Behemoth’s charisma came with a price tag, and if you weren’t paying for it? He wasn’t offering.

Still...Behemoth sighed and said to the two princes’ “Well, is this something we can discuss in the reception area? Or do I have to invite you into my office?”

“Um…” Kaito was blue-screening a little. He was so big...and so pretty...and so tough...and so sexy...a-and- Kaito blinked, finally registering the question as he said, “Oh! Um...no? Yes! No! I mean…” Kaito, for fuck’s sake stop thinking with your dick! Get up and act like a prince!

Kaito stood up, bowing slightly to the union leader as he said, “Um! Maybe! I came to you to ask if you’re familiar with the local Atuan religious leadership? I know there aren’t any official temples within the capital, and I haven't had any, uh, any success in finding any priestesses-”

Behemoth snorted. “Well, congratulations. You found one. What do you need?”

“...um….” Kaito’s brow furrowed, honestly, genuinely confused as he said, “I’m sorry, uh…” straightening up, he looked over to Voirrey, “You, ma’am?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, that Luminary bullshit...me, you idiot. I’m a local religious leader. Behemoth Bullworth, Priest of Atua. I help organize the local capital Atuans. What do you want? Wanna know when and where the next meeting is taking place, is that it?”

“...uh…” Kaito was blue-screening again, looking Behemoth up and down, confused… maybe this was a case of mistaken pronouns? “...you’re the local priestess?”

“Priest.”

“...what?”

Voirrey sighed softly. Even the rumors that didn’t paint Kaito as a total monster weren’t very kind to his character. However, the ‘bumbling idiot’ bingo square seemed to be an accurate one. Not the worst thing for a person to be, and it could be very charming, but not exactly what people looked to for their leadership. 

Trying to keep bright in the awkwardness, Kokichi tugged gently on his husband’s sleeve, murmuring up to him. “Kai-chan… You said yourself there were going to be differences. Priest Bullworth is likely going to be the best person you could ask about Atua in Dicea--try to keep an open mind? Then process once you’ve asked everything you wanted to.”

“...I can stay, if you want. Um...there might be a cafe nearby you could stay in while I get you a shirt?”

The prince was quiet, but there was only so quiet your voice could be while making your voice project almost a foot in distance. 

Walking around the boys, Voirrey shook her head and put a maternal hand on each of the princes’ shoulders. “Stay or go, I’m not letting you two walk out of here just to freeze. Take the time you need to stay together or get comfortable in the waiting room while you get preparations. Relax. It’s just a Saturday.” 

These were all extremely valid suggestions, and both Kaito and Behemoth were listening to them, in a vague, detached sorta way...but Kaito was looking up at Behemoth with increasing bewilderment as he said, “But, but passage 13, section 11, paragraph 2, Lovelin, states th-that Atua restricted right to the clergy to all who were either born female, or transitioned to female by the age of-”

“Seriously? You’re going to quote Lovelin’s passages at me? If that ‘prophet’ ever heard a word Atua or any of the saints said, I’d eat the whole Book. He made that up to ensure the Momota family only had to interact with females-”

“-what? No, I mean, okay, Prophet Cole and Prophet Lykin m-may have made up some passages, there’s a lot of debate about that, but Lovelin was absolutely a prophet-”

“There hasn’t been a real prophet in six generations, easy. Anything written after the start of the new calendar is self-serving bullshit at best, madness at worst.”

“What!? You can’t dismiss six whole prophets! You’re trying to suggest Atua hasn’t spoken to anyone in over a century!?”

“Listen, kid-” Behemoth hesitated, looking over at Prince Kokichi and his co-worker...and sighed. Grabbing Kaito’s arm as he said, “Come on, I’ve got extra coats. Prince Kokichi, I’m stealing your husband for an afternoon. We’re going drinking and I’m fucking schooling you on your own religion. By the way, just so you know before we start: your family might have been chosen two centuries ago, but you all so dropped the ball. The Momota name’s gonna be a hindrance out here, not a help. And don’t fucking pull that ‘Creator God’ bullshit on me either.”

As Behemoth dragged an increasingly furious Kaito into his office, after a moment both of them came out wearing really thick, heavy fur lined coats, Behemoth still dragging a barking, spitting Kaito by the arm as Kaito shouted, “H-he didn’t start out as the creator god but he got upgraded!”

“How the fuck does that make sense in your head? You’re literally spouting nonsense, kid! He’s a lesser god looking after brothel workers and we appreciate him for that! Stop shouting, we’re gonna get looks on the sidewal-”

And, just like that, they were gone.

With every insistence traded back and forth, Kokichi dimmed, now no longer just there to support his husband and help ease communication differences between cultures but… He couldn’t help the...almost frightened, worried expression on his face as he looked up at Kaito. 

There were things about Atua that made Kokichi uncomfortable, sure, but he was sincere when he said he liked hearing Kaito talk about something so special to him. And Kokichi was able to do that, because no religion really ever made sense to him. But because of that perspective, he’d never argued religion with Kaito. 

However, Kokichi had argued other things that Kaito held close to himself and…

Kokichi looked between his husband and the priest with wide, worried eyes, unable to get a word in when he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to interject with in the first place. But...while Kaito insisted he could handle more than what people gave him credit for, and Kokichi was trying to respect that more...whenever Kokichi had criticized Luminary in the past, or even just poking fun at his brother...Kaito lost it. Either falling into a violent rage or just...breaking. Empty smiles and barely a word other than ‘okay’. 

For the thing that had gotten him through other hard times, how could Kaito listen to someone who interpreted his entire religion differently? And not more minor differences like Kokichi had expected, like not using certain rituals. Oh god, was Kaito going--

Kokichi felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that softly lowered to take his hands apart from where they had been anxiously squeezing together. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself like that, darling.” Gently guiding Kokichi’s hands back down to his sides, Voirrey gave him a kind, curious look, though it wasn’t without worry. “Behemoth talks big, but he’s not going to hurt your husband. They really are going to get drinks and debate. And Be can hold his own too, not to worry.”

Kokichi had to force himself to not immediately fist his hands in his jacket. “...he...Kai-chan hasn’t finished his therapy course...if he gets arrested again…”

It seemed that some of the other rumors were true too, then. Voirrey’s look hardened a little as she regarded that...almost panicked look on the young prince’s face. “...we work closely with domestic abuse cases too, you know. Are you safe?”

Kokichi startled, and the incredulous look before he tempered it was answer enough, though the words that followed helped too. “N-no! He’s not like that, he’s just…”

Temperamental, unstable, self-righteous...Voirrey was expecting something like that. 

“...sensitive.”

…

“We both know where the castle is--Be will get your husband home safely, Kokichi. Why don’t I walk you home.”

“...Maki-chan’s gonna be pissed… Okay, thank you, Voirrey.”

-

“...no, no, look. See? See, right here. This passage right here: and so Atua did send his true love, and she did say to the king, that to deflower a child of sixteen displeases Atu-”

“No, kid, look, I understand the desire to say that the Kaleon has some legitimacy because some good things happened during his time scribing, but that just makes him a more decent of the liars. He was using the medium that would allow him to make real, actual positive changes, but that doesn’t prove Atua actually-”

“Atua wouldn’t abandon us for a century! He had to have been talking to someone!”

“Ah, kid, you’re really going to look at what’s become of Luminary and insist that Atua’s still talking to anyone there? Be serious with yourself. He stopped talking the second the ‘creator’ followers started spreading that propaganda.”

“We...we just didn’t know he was a creator. Okay, okay, maybe the word ‘upgrade’ was the wrong way of saying it, it was more...more discovery-”

“Here, Matches! Matches, thank goodness, could you go find Abigal? She’s so much better explaining this shit then I am, and honestly, kid might have an easier time hearing it from a priestess! Barkeep! Three rounds, one for me, one for the kid, one for Abigal when she gets here!”

“...w-well, maybe...maybe Atua wasn’t ‘talking’ talking to these prophets, but, he wouldn’t just let them say stuff without letting us know it was fake, right?”

“Ah, kid...alright, look, so here’s our version of the Good Book. Here, we’ve been scribing all the historical claims of Atua sightings outside of Luminary and-”

-

“Wait, so...when is Kaito meant to be coming back?” Shuichi asked, blinking at the morning light. 

Kokichi had come home the night before, explaining that Kaito had gone off to a pub to have a talk with one of the local Atuan religious figures, and would be coming back later. Maki had gone to double check this was true, and seeing Kaito indeed drinking at the pub that they had all visited weeks ago (which was apparently much, much busier in the evening than it was in the middle of the day), pouring over a series of books while a group of people around him either talked to each other or at him as he read. After making certain he was there willingly, Maki had rolled her eyes at him and gone back to the castle, reporting that he was fine and was insisting he’d ‘be back soon’.

Shuichi had tried to wait up for him with Kokichi, seeing the concern on his boyfriend’s face, but eventually he had to take his medicine, and when Maki had come by to pick up Kaito’s medicine, looking pissed and saying she was going to ‘shove it down his damn throat at that damn pub’, Shuichi had taken that as a sign he should take his own medicine and had gone to sleep soon after.

Now it was the next morning and there was...still no Kaito?

It had been comforting to hear Maki’s description of what was going on at the pub, but...Kokichi still couldn’t help but worry. He couldn’t let it consume him, he had people counting on him, but still…

Kokichi had stayed up the whole night, though he did come to bed when Shuuichi started winding down. Can’t abandon the people around you just to worry over who wasn’t there. So he’d held his boyfriend and kept up a worried vigilance on the door, just...not knowing what to expect at all when Kaito came through it. 

Would he be itching for a fight, taking it out on everyone else? Kokichi didn’t think he’d have to be escorted back by a guard, his knuckles ripped and that fierce bloodlust demanding more in his eyes...but that thought kept popping into his mind anyway. Or would Kaito not come by their room at all, mainlining it to his shrine to desperately assure himself of what he knew. Would he get all floaty and empty again, barely listening to anyone and just going through the motions?

Maki said he had been fine, and Kokichi wanted to trust Kaito to handle something like this, but… The thoughts never left him alone. And so by the next morning, Kokichi was even more of an anxious wreck, now down a night of sleep. 

He was quiet as he dressed for the day, a damp towel over his head, his heart feeling heavy and sluggish in his chest. 

Shuichi finished putting his clothes on, giving Kokichi another worried look. The day had gone by really well, for Shuichi, after he had woken up from his nap and had waited for Kaito and Kokichi to come home. He had found himself really wanted to read and… the fear of going to the library just...hadn’t been there. He wasn’t sure what the mental trick or loophole finally dealing with his chest yesterday had resulted in Shuichi not finding all reminders of Nao impossible to deal with, but he had wanted to go to the library and just...hadn’t found any internal reasons not to go.

It had been nice. People had given him little nods, a few smiles, but otherwise he had been left alone to read and he had just sorta felt...normal. Like himself.

But, well, with the ups came the downs, and as was normal for Shuichi’s life both the up and the down primarily stemmed from Kaito’s choices, which...wasn’t great, when you stopped to think about it for any length of time. But, well...Shuichi wasn’t thinking about it. 

He was just mostly worried about Kokichi, honestly.

So, putting on his hat, Shuichi headed over to his boyfriend and, taking the towel on his head, he gently ruffled Kokichi’s hair under the towel, collecting some more of the water, before taking it off and kissing Kokichi on the top of his head. “...you okay?” Shuichi asked, kinda knowing Kokichi wasn’t, but more offering Kokichi space to talk about it if he wanted too.

“...I have to be…” Kokichi sighed but managed to smile up at Shuuichi, getting up to toss the towel away. However, the smile was short-lived, and with every breath that Kokichi tried to draw himself up with, he quickly deflated. “...I’m worried. I want to trust Kai-chan, and Maki-chan said he was doing alright but...I can’t stop thinking about how everything could go wrong.”

At the very least it wasn’t a school day, so they didn’t have to worry about Kaito not being there to walk Tim to school. Still, Kokichi clasped his hands tightly over his stomach. 

“...I have to stop...I have things to do today. But I couldn’t even get to sleep… I don’t even think sitting there with Kai-chan would help anything, because I’d just be there waiting for things to explode at any moment. It’s just...not going to be over until it’s over, but I can’t just wait for that since I have my own life and responsibilities to attend to and I know Kai-chan’s an adult and he can manage himself but things always go wrong a-ha…”

He had to take a deep breath, running out of air in his rambling. “Sorry...this is just as bad.”

Shuichi frowned at all that, before sighing softly, gently putting his arms around Kokichi’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug. “I’m sorry, Kokichi,” Shuichi said, nuzzling the back of his head a little. “I know I’m not the one who should be apologizing, but...it’s hard not to feel responsible for Kaito’s behavior sometimes. Kaito developed a lot of...bad habits, when it comes to dealing with bad news, that maybe when we were growing up I could have at least...I don’t know.” Shuichi sighed. “Called him out more on.”

This was ludicrous of course. Kaito had been a member of royalty, and while their personal friendship had given Shuichi a ton of leeway in regards to Kaito to work around that, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a shit ton of social pressure regardless to let Kaito have his way when he really, really wanted it...honestly, that was what made Maki so invaluable to the trio growing up. Maki was also bound by those social and political contracts to let Kaito get away with things he probably shouldn’t have...but she just hadn’t cared. Or, hadn’t had the ability to control her temper enough to pretend to care. 

And, well...Shuichi had been a child and teenager too, when Kaito was developing these habits. Just because Tengan had stopped raising Kaito didn’t mean Shuichi had even had the ability to step in his place. Yeah...there were a lot of reasons Shuichi wasn’t responsible for Kaito’s actions. But…

...well, Shuichi still felt like that regardless, sometimes.

“If you want, I can go sit with Kaito at...I mean, he might still be at the bar? I can go sit with him, make sure he comes home today. We don’t have to just let him do whatever he’s doing,” Shuichi mused, “We can intervene.”

“You were a kid too,” Kokichi sighed, unintentionally echoing some of Shuuichi’s thoughts. “And...if I thought about this without factoring in Kai-chan’s reaction? This was what he was asking for, what he had been wondering about for ages. He’s talking out how Diceans worship Atua, and even if he no longer feels like he’s responsible for helping them out, maybe that broader understanding will be good for him.”

“It’s just me,” he groaned. “I’m being stupid and I don’t want to enable myself like this but I can’t make it stop.” And that was the issue. It wasn’t what Kaito would potentially do, it was that Kokichi couldn’t stop worrying about it. And the more he tried to make it stop, the worse it made him feel when he couldn’t, and sooner or later the stress would force him to stop and then… Everyone would look at him with pity and disregard, and Kaito would feel bad for making him worry even when it was Kokichi’s fault, and now even with it not being about him at all, Kokichi had made it about himself, and…

...god, he hated himself. What a pathetic loser. He’d been so much better at his job when he hadn’t had any friends. Unhappy and lonely but...if it was just him, he’d trade that for not letting down the people around him. 

Kokichi sagged against Shuuichi a little. He wanted to hide, to just sit in the closet for a while but...that would be making things worse for everyone too. 

“...I think I just want tea this morning. I’ll meet you at the office?”

Shuichi considered Kokichi for a moment...before letting it go. Maki would go check on Kaito herself, he knew that. Shuichi would honestly prefer watching over Kokichi today over watching over Kaito. Especially over Atua stuff? It would be a lot of watching the guy thinking himself into circles. Kaito would come back when he was ready.

Hugging Kokichi a little tighter, he nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you there, Kokichi.” 

Shuichi spent the rest of the day with Kokichi, just trying to be a slightly positive presence for his boyfriend. He got deep into the work and, during lunch, had idly looked through the pregnancy books Kaito left in the office, nose wrinkling at some of the things he read but mostly making small, mildly sarcastic comments about it to Kokichi every now and again.

Maki, indeed, kept checking on Kaito. And she was pretty annoyed with him, honestly. Kaito had attracted even more of a crowd the next day, and in a way it really seemed like half the pub was made up of people either arguing religion with him, trying to explain it, or...well, at some point blueprint paper had been provided? And they seemed to be drunkenly designing something while both explaining and arguing, and Kaito looked a mess...but…

...well, no more a mess then the occasional benders Kaito had gone on back in college, really. The last time she checked on him, she asked him if he was planning to take Tim to school tomorrow as she brought him his medicine, and Kaito, with now several different versions of the building being poured over by strangers in questionable outfits that Kaito was referring to casually, Kaito had blearily promised he was going to.

Maki planned to be up and take Tim herself, just in case, either way. Kaito might not even remember his own name tomorrow morning, if the bags under his eyes were any indication.

As she left, she heard him saying, “Okay, what about blood letting then? Atua specifically merged us with Khalisi to take in some of her benefits, right?”

“Look, kid, I wanna say yes? But before I do that, I gotta ask exactly how much bloodletting you do following that bit of scripture.”

“Um….”

“Can we see your arm?” a woman Maki didn’t know asked, something exasperated in her voice, like the group had learned quickly that Kaito hadn’t done anything in his religion in half measures.

When he, presumably, showed them, someone said, “Holy fuck dude, it’s meant to be once a month!” and that was the last she had heard before leaving the pub and reporting all this back to Kokichi.

The day passed by in something of a haze to Kokichi. A dreary, heavy haze that...wasn’t fair for him to envelop himself in, let alone spread it to anyone else. So Kokichi did his best to smile and snicker at Shuuichi’s snarking, to not just reciprocate any affection his boyfriend gave, but to initiate about as frequently as he usually did so Shuuichi wouldn’t feel burdened by his feelings too. 

They worked, Kokichi managed to get some food into himself at lunch, and… Well, Maki reporting in how Kaito was doing was a relief. He was drunk and sloppy but...curious and relatively calm and surrounded by people who Kokichi knew wouldn’t let Kaito do anything too dangerous. And that did make him feel a lot better, honestly. 

But he probably wouldn’t be completely pulled out of his funk until Kaito was back home...and likely not even until he’d slept and sobered up too. 

However, after Maki let him know how Kaito was doing? The rest of the day had been better, and Kokichi found it easier to be playful with Shuuichi and bright with Tim and a confidant for Maki. 

Until, having decided to get a little more work done, he fainted in the archive and was sent back to his room for rest after being roused. 

Shuichi was...maybe fussing. Just a little. 

Because, well...he fainted. 

Fretting around Kokichi, Shuichi had made a point to make certain Kokichi was comfortable in their room, making certain the fire was full (though he, admittedly, had spent an annoying amount of time making certain he actually understood how to tend to it and wouldn’t set their room on fire) and getting food sent up from the dining hall, causing Hajime to laugh at him a little as Shuichi asked if there was any food better for someone not resting well. 

“I think any food helps with wanting to get some rest, Shuichi.” Hajime had teased, as Shuichi had waited outside of the kitchen doors, getting the impression that the chefs would prefer he not enter the kitchen himself.

“Sure, but...like, better food I mean…for sleeping?”

So, with Hajime’s help, Shuichi had brought up a plate of heavy carbs, mashed potatoes, thick meats, and corn, with lavender tea and water. And Shuichi had insisted Kokichi stay in bed while he set up the bed tray (...Kokichi? Where do we keep the bed tray??) and the whole time just kinda wishing Kaito would come home already, because Kokichi looked like a wreck, and Shuichi didn’t know the tricks that Kaito had started developing over the last few months for looking after Kokichi when he was like this. Hell, even when Shuichi had been on the rotation to watch Kokichi back after his second heart attack, he had only done it for a few days before Nao took him off the schedule, and all Kokichi had done was sleep on his shifts…Shuichi didn’t really know what Kokichi did or didn’t need.

So, yeah. Shuichi was fretting a little, as he asked again, “Are you sure that’s okay? I can bring up different food…”

He was so embarrassed…

The only thing Kokichi had wanted was to not be an unreliable burden on the others, but even when things had been looking up, he’d had a fainting spell--which happened all the time! Albeit more often when he was stressed out--and now he’d worried Shuuichi too. Honestly, all Kokichi wanted to do was cry and wish he’d never been born but...he couldn’t double down. Not now, not ever. 

So while he assured Shuuichi he was alright, he didn’t make a fuss as he was put to bed and...not allowed to do anything. Fussing always just made people look at him like a disobedient child, anyway…

Kokichi had to work to smile at Shuuichi again, and while he wasn’t so hungry… He took up his spoon and started working on the mashed potatoes, a certain dullness in his eyes. “This is great, Shuu-chan. I appreciate you going out of your way to request a meal for me. Did you eat already?”

Shuichi looked surprised at the question, before looking around. “No, I brought a plate up for myself...I left it on the desk. Hold on, I almost forgot about it,” Shuichi confessed, scooting off the bed and going to grab his own food, a meal that looked a great deal like Kokichi’s, but smaller portions. Shuichi sat back down, and pushed the food around on his plate for a while...before glancing up warily at Kokichi. 

“You’re upset…”

Kokichi hated that wary look. Nothing you do is ever right...and now you’ve hurt Shuuichi too. The dull look in his eyes was replaced by regret and shame. 

“...yeah,” he nodded with a small sigh, “but not with you. With me, as seems to be the theme today.”

He normally liked mashed potatoes, but right now they just felt thick and gluey in his mouth. Nothing tended to taste good when he was like this. Still, Kokichi forced himself to eat another spoonful. 

“...everything’s fine, but I can’t get myself to believe it. And because of that, I’m just making everything harder on everyone else, which makes me hate myself more.” Another soft sigh. “...I’m sorry for worrying you too. Shuu-chan doesn’t deserve me just being an asshole.” 

Shuichi smiled lightly at that. “You’re not being an asshole. And...it’s fine if you’re just not feeling good. I get that. I just...you would say something, right? If you…” Shuichi tensed slightly, a memory of Kokichi just...quietly gasping under a tree, skin turning red, then blue… “...if it was something that needed to be taken more seriously? I thought you were okay today, and then you fainted...I just don’t want to dismiss you being distant as you needing some time to yourself and I find out you needed to...be taken to a healer or something. I’m sorry. I’m not good at being on this side of taking care of someone.”

Shuichi sighed, taking off his cover to run a hand through his hair, cooling himself a little as he said. “...we’ve talked about this before, I think. In the hills. That ugly, awful feeling of just needing to be looked after? I know me fussing might not be helping with that...but I’d really hate if something happened and it was because I wasn’t being vigilant…”

“But….if you’re really just...in a bad mood? And stressing out and that’s all it is? You can tell me if I’m hovering…”

Kokichi frowned softly. It was true for everybody to an extent but...his health and emotions were so closely linked that...he could never definitively say that he just needed time to sulk. Because he was always one particularly bad thought away from hitting the self-destruct button on his body. 

“...I thought I was okay, health-wise, too. And sometimes I do just faint. Sometimes I start breathing just a little too shallowly without noticing it, and just having slightly less oxygen makes me pass out. Or sometimes my blood sugar’s just a little too low, and I don’t get the spins before passing out like most people do. I’m just...broken that way, I guess…”

Kokichi set his hands on the tray table, his eyes downcast. “...I do like that Shuu-chan cares about me. But I just fainted, and that’s not a big deal for me...or, I would say that, but it seems I can’t even handle the littlest things, so what do I know? I can’t stop freaking out over nothing and it’s ruining things for everyone else… I’m sorry...you all deserve so much better than me…”

Shuichi looked sadly at Kokichi, and the...probably overly large portion of food on his plate. “...I watched you work out the bylaws for zoning permission for a park today, Kokichi. It took a lot of work. I know because we had to go to the archive three times for just that letter alone,” Shuichi said, laughing lightly at the memory...before continuing seriously, “The archive isn’t close. It’s three sets of stairs down, three up...I always find myself breathing harder on the way back. And I…”

Shuichi shrugged. “I don’t even care if that park gets made or not. I’m happy to help work on the problem, but I won’t lose any sleep tonight if the park turns out to be infeasible. You care about that stuff. You carry it. That’s why you worked so hard to try to find a way to make it work...all while having a husband who’s now traded locking himself away in a closet for locking himself away in a pub without announcement, your pregnant boyfriend fussing at you, and Maki being Maki.”

“And all of that with low blood sugar? And a tendency to faint?” Shuichi sighed, shaking his head lightly. “‘Little things’...what little things? You do so much…and…”

Shuichi gave Kokichi a soft, sad look. “...I could have done a lot worse than someone kind and intelligent and diligent and thoughtful who likes to kiss me a lot and didn’t mind me being on drugs as much as he probably should have. You know for a fact how true that is. You’re the best thing that could have happened to me, Kokichi. For me? Who on earth would have been ‘better’?”

Kokichi glanced back up at Shuuichi, confused by the point he was making. Zoning permissions were always a difficult challenge, having to balance the wants and needs of often dozens of people, and of course societal wants. It was something Kokichi often enjoyed puzzling out, eager to create a new public space for people to enjoy while respecting the private areas that were so crucial for a person’s expression and rest. And with people always changing, their needs from the environment changed too, so you could never stop thinking of what would benefit the people of a certain area. 

He wouldn’t be distraught if the park wouldn’t be able to be made, but...it did mean he’d be on the lookout for a different project in the area. Probably in the form of a different proposal from the same people who’d sent him the letter about the park, but if he heard of a different group thinking up a new project, he could guide the groups together and likely find the best solution possible. 

That was what Kokichi loved about his work. And...of course he’d care about it. It was for his people. 

“...how do you always manage to put things in perspective like this? Shuu-chan’s superpower.” Kokichi huffed a soft laugh, managing a more genuine smile for Shuuichi. It was like when Kaito had seemed surprised to hear that Kokichi cared about every one of his citizens, sorta, and every time Shuuichi managed to pull him out of his head. 

He still thought he was worried over nothing, but...he had a right to be worried. And there was more to Kokichi’s life than just Kaito, so with all of that stacked together? ...maybe he wasn’t so useless to not be able to handle all of it. Maybe he was just normal. 

Shaking his head a little, Kokichi sighed again, but instead of sounding downtrodden, it sounded like he was letting go of something. “...I just want to be better for you, Shuu-chan. Because I love you, because I love Kai-chan, it makes me want to be a better person. And...sometimes I forget that the baseline of ‘me’ isn’t so horrible, and I get frustrated that I’m not at that better yet. I guess that’s something to be better about too.”

Kokichi sat himself up in bed more and shifted to be closer to Shuuichi, giving him a soft teasing look. “Thanks for getting me dinner, my sweet Shuu-chan, but I really don’t think I can eat all of this myself. I guess we’ll have to hope for Kai-chan to show up so he can help me out.”

“Well, Maki went to go bring him his medicine again...but, I got the sense from what she told us earlier that Kaito’s just kinda...working through this whole Atua thing? It seemed like he at least wasn’t by himself, bu-”

There was a sudden clatter outside. Shuichi raised an eyebrow, and felt a touch of annoyance as he heard two extremely familiar voices arguing with each other down the hall, before there was another loud THUMP.

After a moment, the door opened, and Maki dragged in (literally dragged) a wiggling, grumbling Kaito by the collar of a jacket that was very clearly not his, but was also not the same jacket Kokichi had seen Behemoth put on him. 

“Look.” Maki said to Kokichi and Shuichi, an extremely annoyed and tired look on her face. “He doesn’t have to sleep here. But I couldn’t leave him in the pub when I went to go check on him again. He was in new clothes when I went to check on him again. New, mismatched clothes. He has no idea how he got into them. He’s not coherent, is what I’m saying. I wouldn’t have even brought him in here, but the people there made me promise to drop this off someone safe,” she said, her other arm holding a bunch of blueprints, loose papers, and journals and deposited them onto the desk. “Plans for the temple or something, I don’t know. Should I take him to a spare room?”

“‘Ak’ee! -ou wan’ share with friends!”

“If he thinks a hangover is getting him out of training and school duty tomorrow…” Maki threatened vaguely, eyes dark.

Kokichi perked up as he heard the voices outside, his eyes widening as he recognized one and, once Maki had opened the door and dragged Kaito in, it was almost like Kokichi was glowing with how much he’d brightened up, able to see with his own eyes that his husband was unharmed and in, more or less, a decent state of mind. And...really, what made Kokichi’s hope grow even more was...the plans for the temple? Kokichi knew Aiichi was helping out and likely had copies of the plan as it’d been decided so far, but...Kaito going out, meeting other Atuans, and despite all the differences...making so many blueprints and notes for the temple…

Kokichi’s watery expression was filled with relief and adoration. 

Sniffling softly, he grinned at Maki. “Thanks for bringing him home, Maki-chan. Do you know if he’s eaten?” And, turning to Shuuichi, “Do you mind one way or another if he crashes here tonight?”

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, less pleased with Kaito’s current state than Kokichi was as he said with some distaste, “He’s absolutely going to throw up in our bed…”

Maki looked down at Kaito, musing aloud, “I guess I could make him throw up until it’s just water…”

Kaito started to wiggle in her grip, “N’oh, no! Won’ hurl, ‘aki-han, I can see the ceiling!”

Maki rolled her eyes at his wiggling, leaning down and helping Kaito up to his feet as she said, “Well, maybe if he has something solid in his stomach he’ll be less inclined to get nauseous. Come on, Kaito, walk with me here. Let’s put some food into you, you idiot.”

Kaito’s gaze was unfocused and exhausted, but he did manage to let Maki help him stumble into the bed, and there was a moment where he looked really, really confused (while the room finished spinning around him) before he finally was able to squint and...he grinned wide. “‘-o-echi! Made temple! And the a-uwans hate me bu- they sai’ I can come drin- with them and go to mee-ings and I s-ill have to -ay full price for -appy endings, bu-uuuut I said nooo-oooo cause I -otta stay -rue to my swee- babe and my handsome -uuichi...where h-ooichi?”

“Here, Kaito. To your left.”

“H-ooichi!” Kaito exclaimed joyfully, leaning over and trying to wrap his arms around Shuichi’s shoulders, before immediately losing his balance and falling awkwardly onto his side in Shuichi’s lap. Giggling to himself as he did so.

Maki watched all this and turned to Kokichi. “Are you sure you want him in here? He’s a mess.”

Kokichi giggled softly, still riding that high of relief that Kaito was alright. And...if he could connect the dots correctly… Dicean Atuans hated what the Momota family did to the religion, but they were treating Kaito as a person and not as a representation of his family. And that included a full-day drinking binge while working on plans for the Atuan temple in the city. It maybe wasn’t what he had expected but...Kaito had found his religious community again. 

Kokichi couldn’t help feeling proud for both his husband and his people, even seeing the sloshed mess of a man in front of him. One that wasn’t going to cheat on him even totally drunk. 

“He’s dealt with my vomit and worse before. He’s my husband, kinda in the meaning that I take care of him like this.” While he gave both Maki and Shuuichi an amused look, he turned to Shuuichi with a more serious one. “But this is your room too. If you’re uncomfortable or just don’t wanna deal, we can set him up in a guest room for the night.”

Kokichi looked around himself for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to get out of bed to help out without tipping over the tray table.

What, after watching Kokichi’s face literally light up seeing him after looking down and depressed all day? Shuichi wasn’t about to kick Kaito out. Besides… “Won’t be the first time I’ve taken care of a drunk Kaito,” Shuichi admitted, shrugging a little as Kaito looked up at him adoringly, probably not following the threads of this conversation all that well as Shuichi lightly ran his fingers through Kaito’s hair, which was unusually greasy at this point. “But, Maki, can you get us some nausea medicine from the med hall? And has he taken his regular medicine yet?”

“Not yet. He wouldn’t let me near him with it. Probably was worried I was literally gonna shove it down his throat.  Maybe you’ll have better luck,” Maki said, passing the tablet over to Shuichi (Kaito’s indeed watching the tablet pass hands with a worried look), before saying over her shoulder on her way out, “I’ll be back with the nausea stuff. Put some food into him. Kaito, if you give them any trouble, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“‘Ove you ‘aki! I ‘ant your hair!”

“He keeps saying that.” Maki sighed, heading out.

As Maki left, Kaito looked up at Shuichi again, before looking over at Kokichi, grinning wide as he said excitedly, “‘ur -ere!!”

Kokichi smiled softly back at his husband. “We’re here. And now with you here, let’s have dinner, okay? I really can’t eat all this on my own…”

Laughing to himself, Kokichi rubbed a palm over his eye, giving Shuuichi an apologetic look. “...I knew I was worried over nothing. Sorry for being such an asswad--think you could ever forgive me?”

“You have wildly different definitions of being an asswad then I do,” Shuichi mused, giving Kokichi a raised eyebrow, before nodding his head. “Yes, I forgive you-”

“-ou’sh a ashwa?”

“Who’s an asswad?”

“Y’a!”

“You are. Why are you so drunk, Kaito?” Shuichi gently scolded, still running his hands through Kaito’s hair, though there was a softness in his tone.

“I ‘ept getting --ad? And -ey goht me beers when I shou’ed, but when I crie-?? Suddenly shots! ‘Lambing lambourshinishi!”

“You did flaming lamborghinis because they felt bad when you started to cry?”

“...yes??”

“Okay. Don’t tell Maki that you did that. So you got mad, you got sad, and then…”

“Jokes! Really ‘ood ones. They’re really sh-’unny. Jokes and shots. ‘An we ha’ff more shots!?” Kaito suddenly asked, looking excited as Shuichi helped him sit up, looking back and forth between Kokichi and Shuichi as he said urgently, “‘anna flamin lamburinshi?”

“Nope. And, again, don’t say those words when Maki gets back.” Shuichi sighed, taking his plate and moving some of Kokichi’s portion onto it before handing Kaito a fork. “Eat. And so did jokes turn into talking about the new temple?”

“...’esh? No. Temple sh-a whole t-rime,” Kaito slurred, looking confused at the food for a second before cheerfully digging in, realizing it was for him. “‘Anna be helpfurl.”

“You worked on the temple the whole time because you want to be helpful?” Shuichi translated.

“Ye’aa!”

It sounded like he owed some of his relief to the people at the pub, then. Maybe Kaito would feel differently in the morning but...he supposed it was difficult to explode in the ways Kaito tended toward when he was super drunk. Not a coping method he hoped his husband would use on purpose, though. Having everything Kaito was struggling with along with alcoholism would be a nightmare. 

Kokichi was grateful that Shuuichi could translate the slurry mess--he got the gist of most things, but he’d seriously thought that Kaito had meant that there was someone named Anna that was helpful. Back to working on his own meal, Kokichi leaned forward to put an affectionate hand on Kaito’s arm. “You are helpful, love. I’d love for you to show me your plans tomorrow, if you’re up for it. But...I haven’t slept in a day, and I don’t think you have either, so the most helpful either of us can be is to go to sleep, I think.”

At some point, he’d have to go back to the union office and thank Priest Bullworth for looking after his husband. As bad as he’d been, Kokichi knew he would’ve been inconsolable if Kaito had left on his own. Knowing that he was with people was a small relief that had kept him from losing his mind...though, if they had known where Kaito was, they might’ve just brought him home immediately. 

No changing how things went now, though. 

“Hey, Kai-chan?” Kokichi asked his husband in a coo. “I looooove you.”

Again, there was a brief moment where Kaito looked confused, struggling to process what he was seeing and hearing...but he grinned wide and reached out to clasp Kokichi’s cheek in the way he was used to doing while his depth perception wasn’t shit as he said, “‘oooooooooove yoou’sh ‘ishi! I...awww.” 

Kaito pouted when the hand didn’t connect, Kaito not stopping in time and very close to just falling over forward, until Shuichi reached forward and steadied him, Kaito blinking in confusion...and he suddenly had a mildly distressed look on his face, looking a little dizzy as he admitted, “pinning…”

“Focus on eating, Kaito. Maki will be back any second and then you’re gonna take your medicine and go to sleep.”

“-ot dry? Swallow?”

...Shuichi hesitated. “...not dry, swallow?” he asked, not sure what Kaito was trying to say this time.

Kokichi laughed softly, though he held his arms out to brace Kaito from the front as well. He wasn’t sure how much of this Kaito was going to remember in the morning, not to mention how Kaito was going to be feeling in the morning, but it was something cute to stow away and tease with later. He’d never seen Kaito so drunk before, and he had a feeling that it wasn’t something he’d see very often at all. 

Taking a few sips of his tea, Kokichi puzzled on the latest cryptogram, starting to feel a little tired himself, both from actually eating and from having Kaito home, safe and sound. “Uh… I mean, we have water. You’re not going to have to dry swallow your medicine, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Kaito visibly looked relieved at that, nodding his head (and tilting himself slightly to the left again, Shuichi reaching to steady him). “Ye-sh. Swallow,” Kaito said again, something annoyed in his expression.

There was a small knock on the door, and Maki came in, holding a packet that she immediately started to open as she said, “You all get him to take his medicine?”

“Not yet. Give me one second, Kaito, I’ll go get a cup of water,” Shuichi told his boyfriend, who grinned sloppily at him. 

As Shuichi got up to go put together the tablet with a glass of water, Kaito openly stared at him walking away...before blushing red, snickering to himself as he ‘whispered’ to Kokichi slyly, “Bubble-butt.”

Shuichi tensed for a second...before rolling his eyes. Oh, sure, of all the things he could say totally clearly… “Maki,” Shuichi hissed, as the woman snickered into her hands a little, Shuichi blushing as he said, “Don’t encourage him.”

Maybe Maki had him dry swallow his medicine the night before? Like...it probably wasn’t the best to have with alcohol, but if Kaito had been drinking anyway, he couldn’t see what the difference was. If Kaito remembered anything about it in the morning, he’d ask. 

And Kokichi doubted Shuuichi would let him forget this. Unfortunately for Shuuichi, Kokichi snickered a bit too before dramatically sighing. “It’s confirmed. Shuu-chan’s incredible ass is so powerful it can even break through Kai-chan’s drunken haze to provide a few unslurred words. I know it’s a lot of responsibility, but I hope Shuu-chan will use his power for good and not evil.”

Giving Kaito a nod...maaaaybe he was getting a little greedy. “Shuu-chan’s pretty incredible, isn’t he?”

Kaito gave Kokichi a stupid, happy grin as Shuichi groaned, Maki now just openly laughing at him. “Kokichi, please. Maki’s right here!”

“You have a very nice figure, Shuichi. You should be proud of it.” Maki smiled warmly at her friend, shrugging a little. “You literally snagged two princes with it.”

“That is not why we’re together. I didn’t even have a butt when Kokichi met me!”

“My ha-nshum ‘oohichi,” Kaito murmured happily, his plate, mostly empty now, sliding off his lap as he reached out to Kokichi, managing to finally grab a bit of Kokichi, trying to drunkenly pull Kokichi into his lap as he practically gushed, “H’ooochi -ig sku-ishy bubble butt, and ‘ishi’s sweet, ‘asty dick!”

“Oh my god.” Maki said dead-pan, looking incredibly amused as Shuichi blushed hot in second hand embarrassment as he said, “Kaito!”

Kaito nuzzled his head into Kokichi’s neck, the movement in no way coordinated as he said dreamily, “‘ike swallowing ‘ishi’s cock. No a’blet. -Ust ‘ishi cock.”

Maki was right there, but anyone who said Shuuichi didn’t have a nice butt was just determined to be contrary. And Kaito regularly sang praises over Shuuichi’s looks in public, so...Kokichi didn’t think it was too mean. 

And that’s probably why it hit him so hard when it swung back to him. 

Kokichi scrambled to set their dishes and the tray table off to the side, deciding that it’d probably be easier to just go towards Kaito than to have Kaito try to come to him and maybe send their dishes off the side of the bed or something. However, when Kaito started another verse of praises, Kokichi’s face rivalled Shuuichi’s. 

...there really hadn’t been a ‘let’s do something at home later’ after the theater the day before. 

Kokichi steamed in embarrassment, trapped in Kaito’s uncoordinated hold before he sighed. “Yes, tablet, and you’re not getting anything while you’re drunk. You’re not even gonna think this is embarrassing when you’re sober though…” While his face remained bright red, Kokichi rubbed Kaito’s back in long, easy circles, holding his husband in turn. 

Kaito groaned in disappointment, but eventually they did actually manage to get him to take both his tablet and the nausea medicine, and Shuichi and Maki cleaned up the plates and food before finally Maki said, “If you need any additional help with him, feel free to knock on my door, I’ll get up.”

“Thanks, Maki.” Shuichi sighed, giving her a wave, before turning to Kokichi and Kaito, Kaito having basically curled himself partly into Kokichi’s lap during the time it had taken them to get his medicine and clean up, Kaito clutching his arms around Kokichi’s waist and looking half asleep now as Shuichi said, “Kaito, you can’t sleep like that. Kokichi needs to lay down too.”

“No. ‘omfy…”

...maybe he’d been better at his job when he didn’t have any friends, but maybe not. They did widen his perspective quite a lot, and for all the worry that hit Kokichi like Miu’s plans for that “train” thing, they brought him a lot of happiness too. More than he’d ever had before. 

Waving Maki goodnight, Kokichi sighed softly, looking back down at the man in his lap, still rubbing his back. The morning would be another test, but for now… 

“C’mon, I know what’ll be comfier.” Taking advantage of his small size and Kaito’s lack of coordination, Kokichi scooted down through Kaito’s arms until they were resting around his shoulders, and Kokichi curled up within the space left. They were more or less in the middle of the bed, so Shuuichi could easily take either side…

Kokichi peeked out of the embrace, giving his boyfriend a sleepy smile. “Wanna slide in behind me? Don’t gotta worry about Kai-chan rolling over and crushing you that way, and I’m totally looking out for you and not just trying to get the middle again.” A little laugh. “I love you, Shuu-chan. Thanks for dealing with me today.”

“N‘ooooo, I wanna h’ooshi,” Kaito demanded, having it in his mind that somehow he could hold both Kokichi and Shuichi at the same time, and not seeing any issues with this idea...but the words were said softly and gently, clearly almost fading into sleep just in that sentence alone.

Shuichi smiled warmly at Kokichi, having finished taking his own medicine as he got into bed behind Kokichi, putting his arm around his waist and kissing him gently against his temple as he said, “I love you too, Kokichi. And of course. I’m just glad you’re feeling better...just try to show me the same patience next time I’m a mopey grump, I guess.” Shuichi teased himself lightly.

“Love youuuuu...love youuuuuuuu….” Kaito murmured too, half meaning it and half just echoing them, his brain fuzzy and more than a little lost as to what was going on, but coherent enough to recognize he was with his lovers and that made him feel safe and taken care of, murmuring sleepily, “love youuu…”

Kokichi snuggled back against Shuuichi, giving him a soft smile. He hadn’t been particularly cold, not with Shuuichi tending to the fire so carefully and tucking him in under the blankets, but it was different being between his lovers. Completely enveloped in warmth and love...really, he didn’t know how he’d been able to stand his bed before. Cold, lonely, more of a prison than a comfortable resting place to return to. 

Maybe he was getting a little flowery though. Lack of sleep could do that to ya. 

“I’ll always do my best for my Shuu-chan,” a nuzzle back against Shuuichi, “and my Kai-chan,” Kokichi murmured, pressing a kiss to Kaito’s cheek before whispering a gentle, “Love you,” back to his quickly fading husband. 

You always had to hang in there. You never knew how bright the future could be.

-

There’s a weird thing that happens to some people when they’re sobering up from a truly awful binger. Sometimes, you only sleep for five, six hours...and then you’re just...up? And like, actually up. Not sleepy. Not struggling to stay awake.

Up.

At about three in the morning, Kaito was Up.

And everything huuuuuuurt.

He had no idea how he had gotten home (those memories weren’t gone forever, but they would slowly bleed back in the rest of the day.), but he went from arguing the merits of a farm with Matches to entangled in Kokichi’s arms, his mouth dry and awful tasting and his skull pounding. He had managed to disentangle himself from Kokichi without waking either of his lovers (and only pouted a little at how quickly Kokichi just turned himself around and burrowed into Shuichi’s shoulder. Traitor.), before going to brush his teeth...and then immediately vomiting.

After awhile, he brushed his teeth again, looked at himself in the mirror for a stupid amount of time chastising himself (what were you thinking!??), before trying to imagine heading back into bed to go back to sleep and deal with whatever this last day had been in the morning…

And then he vomited again.

Teeth brushed, feeling awful, and waaaaay too awake to just sit quietly in the room now, Kaito got dressed into new clothes, brushed his hair, and slumped his way down to the dining hall, knocking on the kitchen door.

Now, the morning shift in the kitchens started early, but not 3am early. There was a certain slice of time, usually from somewhere around midnight to 4am that the kitchen was left empty. Or, mostly. 

Cleaning was obviously part of cooking, and Chako wasn’t going to shirk her duties, but, come on. No one liked the overnight shift, sticking around to deep clean whatever you could in the time before people started showing up for the morning shift, and then cleaning whatever they were using. 

So, as she was scrubbing down the pile of burner covers, Chako didn’t exactly look as put together as she usually was, a deep sleepiness in her eyes and her bright red hair falling out of her usually slick bun. Smacking her rubber gloves to the side, Chako dragged herself over to the door, silently cursing out whoever it was who couldn’t sleep and wanted a snack, but when she opened the door…

“...you’re lucky I didn’t have to clean the ovens tonight. Need an apology pastry?”

“Kinda? I mean, probably. I don’t know yet, but I went on a bender for…” Kaito’s brow furrowed. “What day is today?”

“Monday,” Chako grumbled. “Shuuichi asked the evening crew to make a special meal for Kokichi, since apparently he hadn’t slept in a day and was stressing out over you so much he fainted. You’re gonna need more than food for this apology, Kaito.”

“Two days, more or less then…” Kaito twitched. Like, literally felt his left eye pulse as he frowned at that, sounding more disappointed than anything as he said, “Kokichi fainted!? Ah, geez…”

Kaito ran a hand over his face, feeling a not great mixture of guilt and nausea hit him at that. “Right...okay. I mean, food’s the only thing I can do right now, but yeah...more apology stuff later. I don’t know. I’ll think of something.” Kaito tiredly promised himself, giving Chako a sheepish half-grin as he said, “Teach me something new for him? I’ll help you with whatever I just interrupted as payback?”

Chako waved a hand out towards the stack of iron covers. “I have to get more than half of these done by five. Let’s get to it.”

Washing her hands and glaring at Kaito until he did the same, Chako thought about what Kokichi would want to eat and...ideally, something that didn’t need more than one spot on the stove. ...apple turnover. 

Heading to the pantry, she found two large apples, and, thinking of Shuuichi, grabbed two more. Heading back to the sink, she instructed, “Grab a paring knife and a bowl, and get peeling. Once peeled, cut the apples into chunks of similar size--it’s easiest to do if you line up all the slices to cut through them all at once.” Giving him her blunt directions, Chako put her gloves back on and picked up where she left off, hoping to at least get one more cover done by the time Kaito finished peeling the fruit. 

Kaito looked down at the apple...looked at the pile of covers...down at the apple…

...he rolled his eyes and sighed, putting aside the knife and bowl and apple, before going to join her at the sink. “Look, just let me help you with these, it’s gonna be hours before Kokichi’s up anyway. You’ll get done faster with two people, and I can clean a dish.”

Chako’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Considering how Kaito had always just...barged in on the kitchen, not caring about contaminating anything, always demanding that people stop what they were doing--you know, feeding everyone in the castle and any guests--to cater to him… Never even mind that bullshit ‘sire’ business. In some ways, he was even worse than those uppity Luminaries that never even set foot in the kitchen. 

But for all her irritation at the prince...Chako had considered it a tiny, itty-bitty good sign that he’d wanted to learn to cook, not just as a whim, but for his husband and ...boooyfriend? Official co-parent, anyway. And it wasn’t just something to get praise for. Kaito had come with plans of Kokichi’s favorite foods and hopes of just...making him happy. And that was why Chako had bothered to teach him at all. 

But...to put his own project to the side and help with manual labor… The big guy had issues, that was for sure, but he wasn’t the worst. 

“Thanks.” Chako nodded over at a cupboard. “There are spare gloves and steel wool in there--grab a set. These covers are seasoned by flame, so we’re not trying to get them to shine, but when water starts running clear over them, then they’re clean. Get a pump of soap and get scrubbing.”

It took a second for Kaito to find the steel wool, just because he had never handled something like that before and didn’t actually recognize it when he first saw it, but once he was set up and started, he found something...vaguely soothing in the process. He found he really, really liked the steam. After awhile, his hair started to fall down from his spiked position, and he was sweating, and it felt a little bit like being broiled as he continued to scrub…

But again. The heat was nice. Especially with his hangover. He felt like he was sweating the liquor out of himself. He even liked it a little when the gloves began to overheat at the direct contact of the boiling water spraying, something soothing in the burning feeling, though he had to move his hands out of the way a few times just to give them a break. 

And damn steel wool was effective. “Why don’t we use these on everything? This is amazing.” Kaito mused, watching in awe the charcoal and caked on food come up under the harsh pressure of the boiling water and wool. “Could you imagine fastening, like...a glove out of this stuff and punching someone with it? It’d be devastating.”

Surprisingly, Kaito wasn’t such an awful dish duty coworker. Other than a few instructions here and there, which she’d give to any newbie, he got the hang of it quickly, and while he was a talker, it wasn’t anything grating. Not complaining, at least, and that was the bare minimum Chako could ask for. 

“Unless you want everything you eat with to be made of hard metals, sponges and bristle-brushes are what you’re gonna use most of the time. Steel wool scratches up everything it touches--why we wear gloves--and even aside from causing contamination risks, it’ll shred through ceramic and porcelain and most woods.” Smirking a little, Chako masked a laugh by blowing some loose hair out of her face. “I’m pretty sure using this in a fight would be unusual torture--but, it would get the message across, I have to admit.”

“They always say to never insult your cook, but even without food there are plenty of dangerous things in here. Same for the housekeepers--the same training they go through to be able to clean safely means they could mix a bomb with household items if you get on their bad side.” This time Chako let herself laugh, a low, dark little thing. “It’s an important enough job even without people realizing that.”

Kaito nodded at that, saying conversationally, “Yeah, housekeepers get a pretty raw deal, as far as acknowledgement goes. At least they do back in Luminary. A lot of work for not a lot of respect. But honestly, some of the most competent people I knew were housekeepers back home. Like, the indenturedes who become housekeepers don’t really get any training specifically for their job, it’s all on the job training...but that usually just means they need to be good at picking up work as they go, and they’re always so heavily scrutinized whenever they make a mistake, you know? It’s not easy.” Kaito sighed, specifically thinking of Yuta and Rantaro.

“But, Kokichi really makes it a point to, like...I don’t know how to describe it.” Kaito admitted, brow furrowing as he scrubbed, sweat pouring down his neck, “He really likes to build up other people's contributions to stuff? Which is great! It’s actually really sweet how much he cares about it, like, just pointing out how...important? I guess everyone is? I just wish he could take some of that energy and point it at himself a little, sometimes…the way he describes himself and what he does is really depressing. It’s like he thinks he’s not doing anything at all...I just don’t know how to get him to stop beating himself up. It’s too obvious to say ‘you do a bunch of stuff and everyone likes and needs you’, ya know? He just can’t see it, so he always just ends up, like...dismissing the idea or forgetting it after awhile.”

Kaito suddenly remembered who he was talking to, and bowed his head to Chako a little, “Sorry, I sometimes speak without thinking. I’m sure you don’t appreciate hearing stuff like that about your future boss. I apologize.”

Chako scoffed, not caught totally off guard since some of the Luminaries that had helped out in the kitchen all those months back had been pretty vocal about how different things were in Dicea. “Ridiculous. For anyone criticizing a housekeeper’s work, I’d like to see them take the job for a day. See how quick they start crying, realizing they’d starve and wallow in their own filth if not for the people they hire. Anyone who doesn’t value practical work is an utter fool.”

Admittedly, Kokichi was a niche case, but...for everyone else Chako had ever worked for? They all had done maintenance and practical work themselves, but simply had gotten too many new duties to do everything themselves. Even these days Aiichi sometimes came by to help out with dinner dishes--usually to avoid Hideki tracking him down for some administrative business, but still. 

Back in the summer, Chako could hardly believe some of the gossip from the Luminaries, poking fun that some of their employers probably had never even touched a broom in their lives. Better reason to live in Dicea, in her opinion, where custodial and food service jobs were some of the most respected, period. And made you quite a tidy paycheck. 

However, just because Kokichi wasn’t used to cleaning or cooking didn’t mean that he was like those Luminous fools, not in the slightest. Chako raised a curious eyebrow, but what Kaito was prattling on about wasn’t all that surprising. 

Huffing, she flicked a bit of water Kaito’s way. “Talk what you want to talk about, I don’t give a shit. And Kokichi’s a kid--he pours too much into other people and it leaves him empty. It’s a good sign for proving how much a leader cares about their people, but he’ll figure out a better balance in time. No one’s expecting him to be perfect at 20. Now, if he’s still pulling that sort of shit in ten years, then I’ll personally come yell at all of you for not telling him to see a damn therapist sooner.”

“He said he was going too! I don’t know, uh...if he’s actually started that or not yet. And I honestly don’t know if it’ll help or not. Therapy’s not super common in Luminary, and I haven't seen any examples of it working myself...but Dicea seems to really believe in the idea, so…” Kaito shrugged, looking tired. “Hopefully it helps.”

His therapy was supposed to start again in a couple of days. He...wasn’t exactly looking forward to it…

...god he was so stupid…

Kaito blinked, feeling his chest tighten, and bit the inside of his lip. Do not start crying in the god damned kitchen. You are not doing this right now. Deal with it later! It can all be dealt with later! 

They got through a good amount of the dishes when Kaito eventually asked, “So, I’m assuming you volunteered for the midnight shift? Or, morning shift? I don’t know which one this counts as. Any reason you decided not to work days?”

Chako eased back from her intensity a little. That was good to hear. He was a good kid, bright, kind. Having some help sorting through his shit would be good. 

Pretty much everyone had heard of the shitshow that happened with Kaito, so he actually did have a reason to be wary about things, but… 

“Pff, you’re looking at one. And you have looked at a few dozen others at the very least,” Chako rolled her eyes. “You know, back when the Party was over here, you could really tell that no one had even ever been to a counselor. On the other hand, I’d be hard pressed to point out anyone who hasn’t been to therapy at one point or another, and even then I might just be wrong since they hadn’t mentioned it to me. Life is fucked and it’s hard to sort through on your own--so, you pay someone to give you some labeled bins to get started cleaning. Or to give you a map or a flashlight or whatever you’re looking for in that metaphor.”

And ninety-nine percent of the time, the person you hired wasn’t drugging you and trying to groom you into an easy kidnap victim, but the law of large numbers was cruel like that sometimes. 

They fell to silence for a little bit, and while Chako kept an eye on the clock...well, Kaito had been right. Four hands were faster than two, and they’d definitely be done with the burner covers by the time even the early worms came in for the morning shift. 

Which they were not currently on. 

Chako sighed, adjusting her gloves for a moment. “This is the overnight cleaning shift--we rotate, since it’s the worst. It’s just my night tonight.” And, because Kaito tended to meander down to the kitchens at all hours, she decided to elaborate a bit more. “Morning shift, which is mostly prepping doughs and marinades, along with making breakfast, is from four-thirty until ten. Afternoon shift makes lunch, and further preparations, and goes from ten-thirty to four. Evening makes dinner, four-thirty to eight, and night cleans and starts overnight prep from eight-thirty to eleven. Then, one person at least is on overnight, which is just to clean and help with cleaning for the start of the morning shift. People have their own hours, though, and fill the gaps between shifts, but if you’re aiming for a less busy time, that’s where to aim.”

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but as long as we each know our own hours, that’s enough. The official shifts are for planning or pay times or some other business I don’t get paid enough to care about. Ask Isabella if you’re curious.”

“Uhhhhh….okay.” Kaito said agreeably, knowing that he was losing that information basically as soon as Chako was saying it. “That sounds like a lot...hey!” Kaito looked over at Chako, eyes widening slightly. “Do you think they’d hire someone to, like...clean at night? Like, part time?”

Again that night, Kaito surprised Chako. It was one thing to offer to help clean but...to get a job for it? Definitely not the hoity-toity image she’d gotten of the Luminaries. Looking at him for a moment, Chako nodded. “Probably. You’d have to go through training, and you’d probably have shadow shifts for your first official week, but, yeah. We always need help keeping the kitchen clean.”

She wasn’t letting Kaito off for all the bullshit he’d pulled the last few months, but, like she thought--he wasn’t the worst. “Again, talk to Isabella about it--she’s Head Chef, so anything that goes on in this kitchen goes through her. Even middle-of-the-night impromptu cooking lessons.”

Noting that there was only one cover left to go, Chako nudged Kaito’s leg with her foot. “Okay, you’re done. Work on those apples while I put these back on the stove, then we can get started on the pastry.”

Isabella...right, was she another one of them that hated him? I mean...probably, right? It was a pretty good bet, these days. That was alright. Kaito had never asked someone for a job before, but...well? What were job interviews other than specialized groveling? Kaito would manage!

Right, so...Kaito did his best to cut the apples evenly, but it really wasn’t until two apples in that they stopped looking sorta kinda...mismatched and mis-sized. “Um...like this?” He asked, waaaaay too late, all four apples cut up.

The kitchen had been filled with a tempo of chopping and metal ‘thunks’ as the two of them worked on their respective tasks, but when it was broken by Kaito’s question, Chako added to the interlude with a sigh. Looking over the pile of apples, she gave him an option. 

“The reason they’re cut into the same size is so they all cook evenly. So, either we can use these and have almost raw chunks left, or you can go through every piece you’ve cut and cut the bigger chunks in half. Which would take a lot of time that isn’t really worth the result, so I’d recommend leaving it and just telling your guys that these have texture.”

Giving her hands another wash, she left to get the ingredients for the apple mixture and the dough. “Make the most of your mistakes--that’s what cooking is about.”

“Hmmmm...what if I smooshed them? Like, with a hammer? If they were all moosh, they’d all be even, right? Or do they need to be chunks?” Kaito asked, poking at the apple slices a little before shrugging, “Otherwise, I’d probably mess it  up trying to cut them into smaller pieces. Best to just leave them.”

“Amateur move.” Chako set down some brown sugar, cinnamon, and a lemon next to the bowl of apple chunks. “If you did that, you’d make apple jam, which while tasty, needs a different application. Either for use in an open faced danish, which uses a different dough, or as a side to put on or dip into later. If you put anything with that much liquid into puff pastry, you’re going to get a soggy mess that, while Kokichi would still eat it, I’m preventing right now.”

“Got it, got it.” Kaito nodded, looking over the bowls curiously, and raising an eyebrow at the lemon in particular. Weren’t lemons...sour or something? Why put them in a pastry? “Yeah, ‘Kichi’s got that whole thing about food waste, so I’m guessing he’ll eat anything put in front of him. The first time I made him breakfast, I ended up eating a bunch of stuff I’m pretty sure wasn’t actually edible, just cause I was worried it’d bother him if I threw it away. It’s pretty cute...is that a ‘Kichi thing or a Dicea thing? I kind of have a hard time telling the difference.” Kaito admitted. “Don’t really know that much about Dicea outside of what ‘Kichi himself tells me, ya know?”

Giving him the instructions to make the turnover filling, Chako hummed shortly. “A bit of both, I’d guess. There is a national emphasis on reducing foodwaste--if you’re just shopping for yourself, the day before market restock is the best time to go shopping. You might not be able to find everything you need, but what you do find you can haggle down to almost nothing. And stuff that doesn’t sell or food scraps that don’t get eaten? All turned into fertilizer. Most of the compost we make here goes up to the greenhouse, and a lot of people use it for their personal gardens, but most industry waste goes out to the closest farms.”

“For Kokichi himself? He’s a stick with a stomach the size of an atom. It’s easier to get seconds than to reconcile dumping half your plate--or, that’s how it seemed before you came along. It’s easier to make sure everything you took gets eaten when you can shove everything you can’t finish at your husband.” Chako huffed a short laugh before bringing out a cutting board to use as a workspace for the dough, listing out those amounts next. 

Keeping an eye on the texture of the mixture that would turn into the pastry dough as Kaito mixed, something struck a chord with the chef. “Little ironic about that, since you were with him the first time Kokichi’s ever left the city. He could talk you up and down all day about policy and projects, which maybe only one or two people could do too, but he’s pretty sheltered, even when it comes to just Dicea. Obviously, that’s changing, but you’re gonna have a pretty sterile and skewed perspective if all your information’s just coming from Kokichi.”

As Kaito did his best to follow instructions as they were given, feeling his fingers become sticky as he worked with the material, he frowned, fighting the urge to defend Kokichi’s knowledge base. He knew she was kinda right...but it felt wrong, to call the Heir Apparent ignorant to his own country. And Kokichi was connected to his people! Kaito watched him read hundreds of letters, working on problems and connecting with people well outside of the city. 

...but Kaito had to admit, at least to himself, that he...wasn’t really certain anymore, his own views of Dicea and its people and its practices. Or, well, he had been certain, but everything he had thought had been wrong? Or at least felt wrong now...he didn’t believe Kokichi had mislead him. Kaito just...hadn’t understood what his husband was trying to tell him. Most likely.

He didn’t know. His own views on his own religion...were wrong apparently and...Kaito was just stupid, he guessed...he didn’t really understand anyone or anything. He didn’t even really know what Maki and Shuichi were capable of. They had kept such a huge secret from him for at least almost a year and…

He had to stop thinking about stuff. Thinking about it and getting angry and sad and frustrated were what kept getting him into trouble. He just had to…

“Well...Kokichi has time to learn all this stuff.” Kaito murmured, taking some comfort in that idea. He didn’t have to think about things. He just had to rely on Kokichi for that. Kaito just had to do his best to support him and everything would be fine. “Like you said, he’s young. And King Aiichi is young. He has time to explore the country and stuff! So...yeah, he’ll figure it out. Especially now that the whole...not leaving the castle thing is done. I’m actually really intent on traveling more places with him! Where do you come from, Chako? I’m asking kinda anyone who will talk to me that question, trying to get an idea of more places we can visit.” Kaito explained.

It didn’t feel like that needed to be said for how obviously true it was. Kids were dumb and inexperienced and that was because they were kids--that was the time they were supposed to have extreme biases and snap judgements and mistake after mistake because they hadn’t thought stuff through. Only through going through all that could you come out as a relatively well-adjusted adult. 

Or so her therapist said. Chako still thought there were certain mistakes no one should make, period.

Slowing down Kaito’s pace slightly, cautioning him against melting the butter too much, Chako scoffed out Aiichi’s name. “I know he’s only a few years younger than me, but fuck, young is right. When Queen Fuse died, it shocked everyone--Aiichi had still been at that fancy school abroad and no one had expected him to have to really lead for years. He hadn’t even taken on the duties Kokichi had at that age. Some people say stuff like they can’t believe the country didn’t burn down, but he did land us in a war, so…” She shrugged slightly. 

Once the dough was holding together, it was time to let it rest in the icebox, and Chako took that time to put more wood into the ovens. She looked over her shoulder at the question, smirking a bit. “Oh, I’m from the far off, exotic area of west Usot. Shocking I traveled so far. I doubt you’ll ever get a chance to see it yourselves.”

Kaito rested against the counter, trusting that when he could actually help again, she’d let him know as he mused grimly, “I mean, if you met my father, you could...I imagine it was hard not to go to war with him.” Kaito admitted, laughing sheepishly, “He was...pretty invested in it...and King Aiichi seems like the kind of person who, ya know, he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who wanted to go to war. I’m sure my father didn’t really give him a choice…”

There was a brief, honest moment where Kaito opened his mouth to ask ‘Where’s Usot?’...before remembering, oh, right. Chuckling a little, Kaito grinned at the chef, saying, “Well, it’s a nice city. I can see why you never left, growing up here. Oh, well! You actually can still help, if you don’t mind! I really want to take Kokichi dancing? But the last time I took him dancing, it turned out to be a club of death cultists...do you know of any better places to take him? I’m hoping to find somewhere crowded enough that Kokichi won’t end up spending the whole time with people fussing over him, but not so big that he gets overwhelmed, ya know? Somewhere…fun and cozy, I guess? Any places like that in the city?”

Chako knew that she could give people a hard time, but this time...she let it go. Didn’t pour salt in the wound, and maybe it was because there had been hot gossip for days that Kaito had burst into the kitchens in a craze, looking like he was going to kill himself in grief when he got the news that his parents died. Or, had been killed by another member of that crazy family. It wasn’t a common sentiment in the kitchen, but Chako had overheard a few sympathetic housekeepers when they were helping on dish duty, saying that they were thankful Kaito was in Dicea so he wouldn’t have a target on his back like that too. Without any strong morals, you never knew who a Luminary would kill next, who would fail to be one of their so-called exceptions.

There was no love for Leon in Dicea, and the way it was looking, none for Byakuya either. The only consolation people were hoping for was that the new leader of Luminary would just leave them alone. Chako was just hoping for that in official terms, herself. Not much to do about personal matters when the leader’s brother was their future leader’s husband.

Raising an eyebrow at what Kaito moved onto, Chako wasn’t really sure she could help there either. Clubs were not her scene, even when she’d been younger. But she didn’t have her ears full of cotton either. She huffed a bit at the mention of those Remnant fools, a little suspicious when...wait, when had Kokichi ever gone out to a club? ...whatever. 

“Never been myself, but people have always sung the praises of The Shooting Star. It’s down on Peony street, all ages until eleven, so they don’t serve alcohol until then, but they’re open until, like, three in the morning or something on weekends. Used to just be a bar, but they have dancing and games and all that jazz now--the kind of place college kids flock to when they’re trying to make an event of a night, and not just bar-hopping. Sounds like the kind of place you’re looking for.”

“Hmmm...well, thanks! I’ll pitch it to Kokichi, see if he wants to go this weekend then.” Kaito said, half talking to himself  as he thought aloud, “Though, hmm...I doubt he wants me drinking again any time soon...though, dancing with a bunch of kids around also doesn’t sound...ideal...well, I’m sure it’ll work out whatever time we decide to go. I don’t have to drink just cause they’re serving it.” Kaito shrugged, the idea of drinking not super appealing right that second anyway. God, he was hungover.

He glanced at a clock on the wall, remembering he had to keep an eye on the time to be certain he was ready to train Timothy and then walk him to school. But there was still plenty of time before then. God, it was early… he was going to be exhausted by the time the afternoon got there. But, if he really wanted to make this a part time thing in the future, he supposed he should get used to that. 

He needed to start saving up money. He had a baby on the way. He knew that he, Kokichi, and Shuichi were all getting the base pay, but...well, Kokichi was giving half of his to Maki for her work, and Kaito wanted to contribute to Timothy too, so that Maki wasn’t paying for everything in regards to him either way. So, some money for Tim, some for the baby, and then...fuck, Yuta was going to be expensive...maybe he could get a loan...he suspected Shuichi would offer to help when he found out about Aoi, but Kaito didn’t want him to have to.  He wanted Shuichi to be able to spend his money on whatever he wanted, and not just on what the baby would need from now on. Hnnn….

Kaito sighed. It was okay. Everything would be okay. He’d just work part time for now, until he thought of something better in the future. It’s not like he even really understood finances. He didn’t even really know what he needed this money for. He was just afraid that if they didn’t have it, something bad would happen to them. It made him uncomfortable, to not have more saved away, just in case. So! He’d make himself a savings! Then that scary, helpless, adrift feeling would go away! 

Yeah? Yeah.

Chako just nodded, not having any insight as to what the heir would prefer. Though, she had a feeling Kokichi wouldn’t be the only person miffed if Kaito got blasted again next weekend. Shuuichi had been fretting enough over Kokichi, and Chako didn’t think she’d ever heard of a single moment Maki wasn’t pissed about something in the over two months she’d lived in Dicea. They were a strange group. 

Once the dough had rested enough, Chako started guiding Kaito through the process of laminating the dough, insisting that, yes, this was necessary--you want a flaky pastry? This is how you get a flaky pastry. The dough would need one more rest, then they could fill, shape, and bake, and it’d still be a little early, but she doubted Kokichi would mind waking up early to eat sweets. 

As they worked, Kaito couldn’t really bring himself to let the silence stand. After a while, he asked idly, “You talk like you’re pretty familiar with Kokichi. I mean, everyone here kinda does, but, well...have you worked here long then?” Always a dangerous question. Kaito was getting better about it, but it still bummed him out whenever he discovered another would-be assassin. But, well...well, nothing. He just had to be better about it.

“Seven years, but even people who’ve worked for a few months end up getting at least a little familiar with Kokichi.” Had to be careful to seal the sides so the filling wouldn’t burst out, but that’s exactly why you had to score the top. “Obviously everyone knows who he is, but he makes it a point to get to know new faces. Enough to know their name and how they’re finding the job. He’s a good kid.”

Chako’s expression softened just slightly, fond of the little prince. In general, and for a few selfish reasons too. “With one hell of a sweet tooth.”

“I’m hired as a chef, and I went to culinary school, but my forte is in drinks. When he’s not sick of it, Kokichi can be a tea machine, and during the winter I usually get a request every other day from him for hot chocolate. Smoothies, shakes, mixed drinks on the occasion he goes for it…” With a snicker, Chako gave Kaito a smirk. “It’s hard not to like the little guy when he acts like everything you blend is heaven-sent. Flattery is a hell of a motivator.”

Kaito nodded, chuckling slightly. “He’s very enthusiastic about things he likes. It can catch me off guard, sometimes, how he’ll just...say stuff.” Kaito admitted, doing his best to follow her hand motions as he folded and stuffed the dough, “Entirely un-embarrassed, you know? If he likes it? He’ll tell you all about it.”

Probably? Not an assassin then? I mean, it was still up in the air, but she didn’t sound like someone trying to make up for a never-ending burden of personal guilt or anything.  Well, that was nice! 

“Tea and hot chocolate and pastries and candy...and hopefully some vegetables whenever I can convince him to eat it…” Kaito recited quietly to himself, not even really sure what he was saying. He supposed he was just memorizing some of his husband's favorite foods to himself. 

And knives. Kaito felt a little smug about that. This woman might know his husband's favorite foods, but Kaito was one of the few people in his life who knew he liked knives. That Kokichi could actually throw a knife and get it to stick in a target fairly well! Not that it really...helped anything. Or would help anything. But...Kaito was starting to understand that out of everyone in the castle, he really knew his husband the least well. Which made sense. He hadn’t known him for even three months yet. Everyone knew Kokichi better than he did, and it would probably stay that way for a long, long time.

But! Kaito knew he liked knives and could throw one! So...that was something, he guessed. 

He’d get better. He‘d learn. 

“Seven years...any fun stories about Kokichi?” Kaito asked, genuinely eager. “I mean, you watched him grow up during his teen years. What was he like?”

“A nightmare.”

Chako sighed, though the look she gave Kaito was teasing. “As much of a nightmare someone like Kokichi can be, anyway.”

“He hasn’t done anything since the treaty and wedding preparations started to kick into gear, but he can be such a little shit sometimes. Never malicious, but he can definitely nail ‘annoying’.” Chako shook her head. “He’s a prankster. Taping glitter bombs over doors so you get covered if you open them, bottle rockets with all sorts of fillings, moving things just slightly enough that you can never find what you’re looking for… It’s nothing destructive or mean, but it can be a pain and a half to try and unstick all the cutlery he glued to the table.”

“You’re lucky if you haven’t had to take any emergency showers because of him. Damn kid loves making things sticky.”

Well….between the two of them, it was really...Kaito who liked things sticky…

Kaito grinned, something affectionate in his tone as he said, “Yeah. When I first met Kokichi, one of the first things he told me was he was a liar? And he does, uh, tell these cute little stories sometimes...and he’s played a few tricks on me. Maybe when he’s happier, I’ll get to see that side of him more? I can’t even imagine a version of him known for telling tall tales and pranking all the time.” Kaito admitted, looking over the pastry and raising an eyebrow, “Is this ready to put into the oven? Or...”

When he’s happier? What an odd way to put it. Sure, you’d have to have your head in a hole to not know how much Kokichi stressed over the dual-citizens--and for good reason, considering, you know, terrorists and drug epidemics--but...maybe it was just her? But Kokichi seemed way happier now than he had been for years. Whenever he pulled a prank on someone or weaved lies into a wild goose chase, sure he cackled and grinned as he ran away off to another adventure, but...it had always seemed momentary. Something to keep the young heir occupied when most of his days were either spent half-asleep in bed or locked away in his room or the library with his studies. 

These days, when Kokichi wasn’t doing anything, was just in a quiet moment...he smiled. And that hadn’t always been the case. 

“Maybe,” Chako shrugged. “Better you than me, is all I’ll hope.”

Checking over his turnover, Chako told him to make his slits a little longer, and she passed over a container of granulated sugar to sprinkle over the top before she put both pastries in the oven. “Now, they’ll probably need about twenty minutes, but I’ll show you what they look like right before then, so you can judge cooking times yourself. You should just be able to see the pastry turn golden brown…”

Kaito spent five minutes staring blearily at the oven. Golden brown...golden brown…

...he was gonna be so tired today…

...at least it smelled nice…

“...anything else I can clean while we wait?” Kaito asked, tone equal parts bored and exhausted.

Chako had moved over all the bowls and tools they’d used over to the sink, aiming to get the dishes done herself, but, well, if he was offering. “Let’s see your general dish prowess, big guy.”

Before she got started cleaning again herself, Chako thought twice and put a kettle on, taking out three mugs. “I’m going to send you up with some tea--should help with the hangover too.”

Kaito nodded, heading over to the sink and getting started on the dishes. Again, he found he liked dish duty. He didn’t have to think about anything. It was nice.

He hummed mildly to himself, zoning out and going through the dishes, enjoying that simple feeling of doing something useful, if not particularly complicated. He wondered mildly if he’d do any damage to his hands doing this. He supposed that was alright if it did. He was really tired. 

...he wondered what his first meeting with the Atuans would be like? The last two days had had some...ups and downs, in regards to them, to put it lightly. If Behemoth hadn’t let him start helping with the temple design, he had a feeling none of them would have given him the time of day.

Shit. He had to talk to King Aiichi. Lots of notes. Ugh…

...had to talk to Byakuya too. He’d talk to the scribe today. 

Mmmmmm…nnnnnngh…

...guess he’d pray at some point today too…

...definitely talk to Isabella. He liked dishes. Hmmm…

...wasn’t he doing something right now? What was he doing…

He blinked. Startled. “Has it been twenty minutes?” He asked, genuinely uncertain. He had really zoned out for a second there.

For a good moment, silence fell in the kitchen, only the sounds of the tap, Chako sweeping, and Kaito’s soft humming. It was peaceful, in a way. The kitchen was rarely a tranquill place, not with people always rushing about and cooking and prepping and cleaning. She wondered if Isabella would actually let Kaito give it a shot. To Chako, offering to take up a job doing dishes was enough good will to let him try, but the others might feel differently. He had been a huge jerk to everyone.

Looking up when Kaito spoke up, Chako huffed out a soft laugh. “About fifteen. If you’re zoning out like that already, maybe you really are suited for this kind of job. Give it another sec, then we’ll check on the pastries.”

“Hmmm, okay. I’m almost done anyway.” Kaito murmured, taking up the last of the dishes. 

Another five minutes, and they were basically done. Putting aside the dishes (he had no idea where they went in the kitchen), he headed to the oven, peeking in. Golden brown, golden brown… “I think they’re done?” Kaito asked, peering inside. 

After confirming it, Chako showed him where the oven mitts were, he carefully took the pastries out. Looking down at them, Kaito stared blankly at the lightly brown pastries...before grinning. “Hey! They don’t look that bad! Right?”

Chako inspected the pastries for a moment before looking up at Kaito, her expression as blank as it ever was--that is, on the closer side of irritated. Then, a smirk slid into place, easing the expression. “They’re not the worst turnovers I’ve ever seen. Good work, kid. We’ll make you into a competent cook yet.”

“Or someone that can adequately satisfy their partners’ midnight snacks, even with people still here.”

Giving him a proud slap on the shoulder--which wasn’t detracted at all by the fact that she had to reach up a bit for it--she turned to go put the cleaned bowls and cutting board away. “Put the baking tray down on the counter next to the ovens to cool--I’ll get you a tray for ‘em and the tea.”

“Right. Uh…” Kaito sighed internally, already knowing she wasn’t going to like this, but...whatever. Looking over to her, he bowed low, saying, “Thank you for taking the time to teach me again, Chako. I appreciate it.”

He wanted to offer to help her if she ever needed it, but...she wouldn’t. Not in a way he could help with. Kaito was accepting that now.

Chako stiffened but, perhaps to Kaito’s surprise, her face went red at the overly gracious display. The kid was like a damn pendulum, far too proud one moment and too meek the next. “Well! It’s better than letting you burn down the kitchen trying something on your own. And you did help me with the covers, so I couldn’t let you leave empty handed. I hope Kokichi and Shuuichi like ‘em.”

Smoothing her hair back into the bun awkwardly, Chako cleared her throat and turned to finish up with the tea...and to get the tray and stuff! Geez…

Kaito gave that a curious look, before shrugging a little to himself. Guess even being ‘The Luminary Prince’ he could still make people blush sometimes. Alright! Time to bring everything up! 

Taking the tray, Kaito smiled a little, feeling better to see the warm pastries next to the tea set. This would be a pretty nice way to wake up, he thought…

Partly to ignore the morning crowd that was starting to form around the dining hall, and partly to keep his hands steady, he headed upstairs while keeping his eyes on the tray, moving slow and carefully. He still wasn’t exactly feeling great, and he was worried that he might misstep and drop the whole thing, but so far so good! Getting the third staircase, Kaito looked up, startled, when he heard Maki go, “Kaito?”

“Oh! Morning Maki. Morning Tim! You two going down for breakfast?” Kaito asked, grinning as Maki and Tim headed downstairs together, Maki looking suspiciously at him while Tim looked with some interest at the pastries. Feeling a little bad Kaito couldn’t offer the kid one, he said brightly, “I saw the morning crew making breakfast! They’re making pancakes today, some with fruits and a few with little chocolate pieces in them! It looks really good! You ready for training today, Tim? Your friends coming this morning?”

Timothy shrugged, “Hope not. They’ll get in trouble.” 

“I’m gonna talk to their parents today when I drop you off, okay? It’ll be fine.”

“You’re actually gonna be able to take him today? How are you not hunched over a toilet right now?” Maki asked, still looking suspicious.

Kaiot shrugged, grinning at her. “I don’t know. Feel like garbage, but garbage that can still move and stuff. I’m good Maki, I can do it. Thank you for...getting me home last night? I assume?”

“Hmph.” Maki hummed, looking annoyed, putting a hand on Timothy’s shoulder as she gently pushed him to keep moving forward. “You’re getting a new earring today.”

“...kay!” Kaito said nervously to her, too tired to argue. “Looking forward to it!”

Heading upstairs, Kaito carefully put the tray in one hand, opening the door and quietly walking in.

Unlike the last time Kaito had surprised them with breakfast in bed, Kokichi barely stirred when Kaito returned, still fast asleep with his face pressed into Shuuichi’s shoulder and his arms around his waist. There had been plenty of times where he’d stayed up for over a day, and even a few where his health hadn’t been at its best during that time, but after so long of being good about getting to sleep at night and dealing with not just his usual bout of existential stress, but very real worries about a loved ones...Kokichi was out for the count. His body was just trying to make up for all the wasted energy and running on an empty tank he’d forced himself through. 

Though, maybe on some level Kokichi was aware enough to realized that Kaito had come back, because he murmured indistinctly in his sleep, something maybe resembling Kaito’s name while he reached out into the air, lax muscles not quite managing grabby hands, but the gesture was getting there. 

Carefully putting the tray down on the desk, Kaito quietly closed the door again, before looking over at Kokichi. Heh…

Heading over to the bed, sitting on Shuichi’s side, Kaito reached over Shuichi’s shoulder to gently grab Kokichi’s arm, putting it back around Shuichi’s waist to grab at, before reaching up to run his hands through Kokichi’s hair. Not trying to wake his husband, just trying to soothe him in his sleep as he whispered, “It’s okay, ‘Kichi, I’m here…”

“..’bout time.” Shuichi grumbled, eyes still closed.

Kaito gave his boyfriend a small, meek smile as he saw those intelligent, golden eyes pry themselves open a little, looking up at Kaito in open annoyance as Shuichi held Kokichi. “Hey handsome…”

“Shut up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care.”

Kaito gave Shuichi a small, hurt look...before sighing quietly. “Kokichi won’t like us fighting when he wakes up. Do you want to talk about this later, when we’re alone?”

“...you can’t just...disappear on us…”

“Later, Shuichi, I promise. I promise. You can yell at me later. Maki’s gonna give me another earring today. You can yell at me then.”

“...fine…”

Kokichi sighed softly, relaxing at the familiar touch and nuzzling against Shuuichi a little more. As Kaito had observed, as soon as he’d gotten up, Kokichi had glommed onto Shuuichi, unconsciously seeking out the nearest source of warmth though the still-crackling fire made sure their room was far from cold. Maybe in another circumstance he would’ve woken up at some point, wondered where Kaito had gone, but as it was, Kokichi had no idea Kaito had left in the first place. 

Or, he wouldn’t until he woke up and saw that Kaito had gotten breakfast. Which seemed...just about…

A few deeper snuffles. Kokichi nosing against Shuuichi’s neck, then sleepy purple eyes, just barely opening a sliver. “Ggnnmmffm… ge’back ta bed...Kai… nmm...ph…” Closed again, now hiding in Shuuichi’s shoulder.

Kaito supposed he had another hour before he really had to be up. Maki and Timothy likely only up this early to take their time with breakfast before training. Kaito risked Shuichi’s wrath by leaning down and kissing his boyfriend on the temple (more mild grumbling) before standing up, going around to the other side to crawl back on Kokichi’s other side. 

“Whatever you say, your grace.” Kaito teased lightly, putting his arm around Kokichi and letting his hand rest on Kokichi’s, both atop Shuichi’s waist. Kissing the back of Kokichi’s skull, Kaito sighed, relaxing a little as he closed his eyes. Maki wouldn’t let him sleep in, so he wasn’t super worried about falling back asleep. Just enjoying the light smells of apple and tea filling the room, the lavender scent of his husband against his pillow.

Peaceful.

It was another little while before the momentary state of...if you could even call that wakefulness prodded enough through Kokichi’s blanket of fatigue. When it did, he rolled back just a tad, unfurling himself from Shuuichi--after a more purposeful nuzzle, of course--so that he could look back at Kaito, taking a few moments to judge whether he had dreamed coaxing his husband back to bed, or if that had been real. 

The smell of apples and cinnamon in the room supported it being real. 

“..where y’go…?” he slurred, slowly blinking sleep from his eyes. “M missed ya…”

“Mmmmm.” Kaito peeked one eye open down at Kokichi, before curling closer to Kokichi, his hand following Kokichi’s onto Kokichi’s stomach, running his thumb on the side of Kokichi’s hand before interlocking their fingers, squeezing it reassuringly, “Woke up early, babe. Couldn’t sleep, so I went to Chako for another cooking lesson. Sorry. I brought back food, if that helps any.”

“Mm.” Kokichi stretched out his legs with the grunt, even stretching his hardest not coming close in the slightest to meeting either of his lovers’. “...you feelin’ okay then? ‘N if it tastes as good as it smells then...mm. Helps.”

He squeezed Kaito’s hand, turning his head to yawn into his shoulder before just...looking at Kaito for a moment. Asking in a small voice, “...please don’t...go on an all-day drinking binge again… I was so worried about you…”

Kokichi’s gaze fell to the side, mostly just happy that Kaito was back home, safe and sound, but...it didn’t erase the past two days. “...should’a stopped you two when you left the union office...irresponsible…”

Kaito felt his stomach tighten with guilt again. He was so tired of his husband having to talk to him in that uncertain, hesitant tone. Kokichi shouldn’t be afraid of him. Kaito was sworn to him in literally, like, four different ways. If there was anyone on the planet Kokichi shouldn’t have to be uncertain around…

“I’m sorry, baby, I...I won’t, I promise. I was stupid. I…” Kaito had gone to the pub and started drinking with Behemoth, and things had gotten worse before they got better. And Behemoth himself, along with a few other people, had insisted at different points that Kaito should go home as the night went on, but…

“...I thought if I left, none of them would ever talk to me again. That it was my only chance to make an impression…” Kaito murmured, feeling lost and tired. “I was scared to leave, so I just stayed and stayed and kept drinking. I’m sorry. I should have come home. I didn’t mean to worry you or just...leave like that.”

“You couldn’t have known I was gonna stay there all day and all night and...all day the next day too?” Kaito asked uncertainly, the memories still hazy. “I didn’t know I was going to and Behemoth hadn’t intended for that to happen either. You couldn’t have known I needed to be stopped, babe, that’s not on you…I’m sorry. I heard you weren’t feeling well while I was gone. I’m sorry. I won’t do that again, I promise.” Kaito assured him, kissing him on his head and holding him tighter as he said again, “I’m sorry. I promise.”

Kokichi sighed softly but pressed against Kaito, appreciating his husband being back home. He wanted to assure that everyone he’d met at the bar wouldn’t have written him off if he’d gone home since they hadn’t already snubbed him, but...that wouldn’t go back in time and ease Kaito’s worries, and Kokichi didn’t even know who those people were. 

All they could do was learn from this experience and try not to repeat it. 

Nuzzling against Kaito’s chest a bit, Kokichi kissed his shoulder. “Thank you… Really, I’m just glad you got home alright. And I was fine--fainting’s not such a big deal, really. And for the stuff I thought was a big deal…” Kokichi laughed softly, stifling another yawn as he looked back to his other side with a grin. “Shuu-chan’s real good at pulling me out of my head. What a lovely person…”

Looking back at Kaito, Kokichi saw the fatigue in his eyes. “...Maki-chan’s been threatening since yesterday to still have you come to training, but after that? You should really get some sleep, especially since you got up early. If staying up all day bit me in the ass, I don’t think you’re immune either.”

Shuichi was still steadfastly pretending to be asleep, still incredibly annoyed by Kaito’s whole...everything and not wanting to deal with it just yet. But he felt his mouth upturn a little at the compliment, breaking the illusion a bit, before nuzzling his forehead deeper into his pillow.

Kaito, in turn, smiled faintly at Kokichi...but sighed. “I can’t, babe. I have so many things I have to do...I can’t keep putting everything off all the time. I can’t leave everything to Maki every time I fuck something up...I’ll go to bed early tonight though. When I’ve done everything I need to do. I’ll feel better when everythings done.”

Kokichi echoed Kaito’s sigh, bringing up a hand to cup his cheek, stroking his cheekbone gently. “...alright, but please don’t push yourself past your limit. Surely there’s something that can wait an extra hour for you to recharge. And if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know, alright? We’re a team.”

Though, a lot of the time they didn’t act like it. But that was something they were working on. Trusting each other, talking about even things they thought were obvious, allowing someone to help. They probably had a mountain of mistakes to make still in front of them, but they’d get through it, and hopefully with a stronger relationship for it. 

Kokichi closed his eyes, still pretty tired, and just enjoyed snuggling with his guys for another few slow moments before he opened a curious eye back up. “...you had another cooking lesson? Smells like apple pie...and...tea?”

“Apple….turn? Turner? I don’t remember what she called it. Bunch of apple and cinnamon and stuff.” Kaito murmured, closing his eyes a bit. “It was kinda complicated. Pretty sure I couldn’t make it again by myself without her holding my hand. And the tea’s supposed to be for my hangover, she said, so I don’t know how good it is. It’s probably good. Chako’s a ‘master blender’ she said…”

...there was a small snort from the other end of the bed, and Kaito snickered in satisfaction. “Yeah. I managed not to laugh out loud when she said it, at least. She’s a nice lady. Told me about a place we can go dancing, ‘Kichi. Do you know of somewhere called The Shooting Star?”

Probably a turnover. As far as Kokichi knew, it wasn’t exactly a beginner’s pastry, so he didn’t know why Chako had decided on it but… Kokichi smiled to himself a little. Maybe some other people were warming up to Kaito too. Chako wasn’t the type to set people up to fail, not when it came to food, so...it meant that she really thought Kaito could do it. 

“I don’t think Chako-chan’s ever made a drink that tastes bad, so it’s probably good. It smells good, at least.” Not as good as the pastry, but that was just because it smelled amazing. 

Looking over at Kaito in slight surprise as he shifted under the covers a bit, giving Shuuichi a snuggle once he’d given away his wakefulness, Kokichi hummed. “Yeah, I do. Malcolm used to work there, I think, when he was still, like, super part time in the library. Heard they have trivia nights sometimes--didn’t know they had dancing too.”

“...that’d be fun.” Kokichi gave Kaito a soft smile, really meaning it but...trying not to get his hopes up too high.

“Good. We’ll go this weekend. Shuichi, you wanna go dancing?”

“Want you to take a long walk off a short ledge.”

“Okay, handsome, I’ll ask you again later.” Kaito promised. Exhausted. Still, he looked down at Kokichi and gave his husband a small wink. “He’ll go. It’ll be fun, babe. A proper date.”

Kokichi glanced over to Shuuichi now, a bit concerned. He knew Shuuichi wasn’t exactly thrilled with Kaito right now, and the two of them probably needed to talk and they’d smooth things over eventually but...he couldn’t help but worry. 

Running his fingers gently through Shuuichi’s hair, Kokichi sighed. “I’d love to go on a date with Shuu-chan too...but you don’t have to go if you don’t wanna. Somehow I don’t see crowds and dancing as your ideal date.”

“Actually… Kai-chan and I have talked about it before, but what is Shuu-chan’s ideal date?”

Shuichi was quiet for a moment, enjoying the feeling of Kokichi’s hands running through his fingers as he thought about it...he had never really been on a real date before, but, he remembered waking around the carnival with Kaede, and how much fun it had been to go on rides with her…

“...I think I just would like to...go experience things with you guys? Or...maybe that’s not helpful…”

“You want to go see a play in two weeks, Shuichi?”

“...hm?”

“There’s a play doing it’s opening night in two weeks...and then there’s the festival that Kokichi’s all excited for...we could take you to nice dinners or go to fun places...whatever you want to do, Shuichi. All dating is, is just ‘experiencing things’ together. What do you want to experience?”

“...there’s some sort of waterfall near here, I heard about way back when we first got here?” Shuichi admitted quietly. Feeling shy about it as he said, “...I’ve never seen one before. I kinda wanted to go see it.”

“...yessssss.” Kaito said, eyes widening in excitement, “Vaguely defined bodies of water.”

“...what?”

Kokichi’s smile softened even further, just adoring his sweet Shuuichi. “We went to go watch practice at the theater the other day, and it looks like it’s gonna be pretty good. We met one of the stunt-coordinators…” ...who Shuuichi might’ve known. But that was maybe a conversation better had for not first thing in the morning… “-and we told her we’d try to make opening night if we could. I’ve never been to an opening show...it seems so cool…”

Reminded of the waterfall, Kokichi shifted over and snuggled Shuuichi happily, rolling his eyes at Kaito’s excitement. Kissing Shuuichi’s cheek, he explained, “Along with date talk, we also talked about places I’d be okay having sex in or at. Ocean was definitely out, so Kai-chan’s been excited for ‘vaguely defined bodies of water’.”

Snorting a little, Kokichi sighed. “But seeing a waterfall sounds amazing, and even better if we get to see it together. We should still have a bit before the weather makes it harder to travel, so...let’s make a plan of it. It’d probably have to be after Harvest since there’s a lot of preparations I need to be around for...I-I mean, unless just you two wanted to see it…”

Kokichi’s confidence waned as his cheeks went red, embarrassed at how easily he had just...inserted himself into the trip. 

“Can I go with just Kokichi?”

“Shuichi, please man, you’re breaking my heart here.”

“I swear to Atua, Kaito, if this is all leading to you becoming an alcoholic, I’m paying Maki to kill you. We are all already dealing with so much shit-”

“It’s not, it’s not! I promise, I just had a few slip ups!”

“Getting drunk when you’re supposed to take me to a doctors appointment and then going on a two day bender are not slip ups-”

“Oh, right! I gotta talk to Dr. Tenchi today too.” Kaito remembered, feeling the start of a headache coming on. “And...should I bring a sample of your nip juice to Seiko?”

“Nip juice...what the fuck Kaito...she might already have it.” Shuichi admitted quietly. “Nao used to collect, uh...samples and stuff for her.”

“...ya know, I don’t know why that pisses me off as much as it does? But holy shit it did for some reason. But, Tenchi didn’t seem to know about it, so I’m assuming Seiko might need to be reminded of it. Can I bring her some of it, handsome?”

“You...want me to use the breast pump thing this morning?”

“I kinda wanna use it on you, but, yeah, you can do it yourself. You felt better after it was done, right? You definitely looked like you felt better. You were like putty in our hands by the end of it. It was really, really hot.”

“I really hate you, sometimes…” Shuichi muttered, face reddening. 

Kokichi cringed, feeling bad that he’d snapped the tension between his husband and boyfriend but...it needed to happen at some point. Maybe better sooner so they wouldn’t just snipe at each other until it happened. 

And...Shuuichi had a point. Before they’d come to their understanding, Kokichi had made a few alcoholic jabs at Kaito, and he knew that most of the staff thought he had a problem with booze. That had all been from the time he’d been poisoned, though, so...Kokichi hadn’t really thought about it genuinely. Two times, even really horrible occasions wasn’t really enough to establish a pattern but...it was a little concerning. 

...he’d keep an eye on Kaito. No more sad drinking. 

Though...there was another habit he didn’t think Kaito would be breaking from any time soon. 

Grimacing a bit, Kokichi sat up a bit in bed, thinking it was...maybe a good idea to put himself more in between his lovers. “It’s not a sexual thing, Kai-chan,” he gently reminded. “And calling someone hot or sexy, or even beautiful isn’t always a compliment.”

He turned back to Shuuichi, Kokichi resumed running his fingers through his hair. “Probably, if you can get a sample to Dr. Tenchi before your next appointment? That’d be best? But none of us know how often you’d need to use the pump. However...I’d appreciate you not just never using it. It looked like Shuu-chan got a lot of relief, and I don’t want you to be in that sort of pain, or even just soreness and sensitivity again. Maybe give it a shot this morning, but if nothing happens, then nothing happens. But just try it out now and again, okay?”

“...yeah, okay.” Shuichi sighed, looking uncomfortable, but nodding into the pillow, “I mean...I did feel a lot better. Still feel better, really, honestly...I know it’s...probably good for me or something.” He admitted, letting the calm of Kokichi’s fingers run through him. “I get nervous and uncomfortable about stuff. But I’m...I’m not stupid. It helps, so I’ll do it. I’ll try to this morning.”

“But Kaito, you don’t get to touch them till I’m not mad at you anymore.” Shuichi finished sternly. Face clouding. 

“I brought you apple pastry things.”

“My love cannot be bought by apple pastry things.”

“Right, right, okay.” Kaito sighed, “I’m sorry, Shuichi. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Both of you. I’ll earn your forgiveness.”

“Yeah, you better…”

“...I’m getting another earring today. Any suggestions on where it should go?”

Leaning over, Kokichi placed a kiss on Kaito’s nose. “Thank you. I want to forgive you, so I’ll be with you the whole way, love. And while I can’t conscionably let it count...I do appreciate the apple turnovers. That definitely counts in the ‘Sweetheart Kaito’ category.”

Content to soothe Shuuichi and lie in bed a little longer, Kokichi sighed, not exactly...disagreeing with Maki’s anger this time. “Maybe on the lobe of the ear you already have pierced? I’ve heard those don’t hurt as much.”

“That could look nice.” Kaito agreed, bringing up his hand to idly play with the earring on the shell of his ear. Now that it didn’t hurt anymore, Kaito didn’t mind it. Most of the time he forgot it was there, and whenever he spotted it in the mirror, he thought it looked kinda cool. “It’s kinda weird she didn’t want to spar me this time...unless this is both for the drinking and the fight you and her had the other week, Kokichi. That’s probably it.”

“She did say she was gonna give you an earring then. She just didn’t follow through.” Shuichi reminded Kaito, “I bet you could have gotten away with it entirely if you hadn’t pissed her off again.”

“Maybe...ah well. Okay, okay. What’s my day looking like...gotta train Tim. Take him to school. Gotta find the parents of Cali and some kid named Kimiko while I’m there. I think...a woman named Shirogane is her mother, isn’t she?”

“Danganronpa ambassador” Shuichi murmured, putting his arm around Kokichi’s chest.

“Right, okay. Gotta talk to them. Then, I’ll head back, and talk to...Aiichi about the temple. Just that get that over with. Um...stop by the scribes after I’m done with that. Shuichi, you think you might have a sample by noon?”

“Hate you.”

“I’ll bring Shuichi’s sample to Seiko, go talk to Tenchi. Come back home and talk to Isabella...what am I forgetting…earring sometime probably in the afternoon...”

Kokichi cringed a bit, remembering that whole fight. It still hurt, thinking about all that...and they all did need to talk to Kaede again. He’d talked to Ryouhei, but apparently Kaede was going to be too busy to carve out a time to speak again for a bit. It was going to suck having that hang over their heads, but...they’d gotten to talk to her as friends, so at least that was settled. And now they had time to think of any questions they wanted to make sure to ask. 

Luminary wasn’t his problem to solve...but he still wanted to help. If Kaede, or, hell, even Byakuya were willing to listen to outside ideas, he’d do his best for them. 

“I should find Maki this afternoon and talk with her about seeing the waterfall… It wouldn’t be as much of a trip as going to the coast, but it’d be good to start on research as soon as possible…” Gently scratching Shuuichi’s scalp, Kokichi gave his boyfriend a loving smile. 

Before turning to Kaito, a little confused. “What do you need to talk to Isabella about? I thought your lesson went alright?”

Shuichi sighed happily, nuzzling into Kokichi, his FAVORITE boyfriend right now, KAITO. “That’d be nice…” he murmured, seriously relaxed by Kokichi’s head massage. “Thanks Kokichi.”

Kaito frowned at the question, briefly, seriously considering lying… “Um, well, you know...in exchange for a lesson this morning, I cleaned up the kitchen a little for Chako, and...I kinda liked it. It was sort of mindless and, I don’t know...  anyway, I keep talking about wanting to save up some extra money. I thought maybe…”

Shuichi almost bit his tongue...but as mad as he was at Kaito, he forced himself to get up a little, resting on his elbows as he looked over at Kaito in concern. “Don’t do that, Kaito. That’s a bad idea. You know that’s a bad idea.”

“...I mean, if I talked to Tomomi and Takashi, what are the odds that anyone in Luminary will hear about it…”

Understanding what Kaito meant immediately, Kokichi smiled and, almost at the same time as Shuuichi, said, “I see! That sounds like a great idea, Kai-chan.”

Though, he quickly shut up, clearly not seeing things the way his partners did. Puzzled and concerned, he glanced between them before softly speaking up. “...why would it matter if people knew Kai-chan got a job? How you explained it before, not even you were expecting to work on administrative matters, and...it sounds like it’s not that common for people not to work in Luminary so...what were people expecting you to do here?”

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. 

Kaito looked increasingly embarrassed, running a hand through his hair for a moment before making a small little ‘huffing’ sound as he put his arm over his eyes. Shuichi, in turn, just gave Kaito a concerned look, before something tired came over his face.

“...if Kaito takes a job like that-”

“No, Shuichi, it’s okay, I’ll tell him. It’s stupid, he doesn’t need to hear something this dumb coming from you.” Kaito interrupted, sounding frustrated, his cheeks pinking. “It’s stupid...b-but if word gets back to Luminary that I, uh...took a commoner job? For any reason? It’s gonna...embarrass my family name. I...it’s just a pride thing, but…our reputation kinda...relies on-”

“If people hear Kaito moved to Dicea and started working in a kitchen, of all things? Actually working, for pay? They’ll drag his name through the mud.” Shuichi explained, not looking as embarrassed as Kaito about the concern, but still looking wary. “And it’ll reflect badly on the whole Momota family. Kaede, Byakuya, Princess Ibuki, Princess Sonia...they’d all have to do social damage control for something like that. People would think it’s a sign that something’s gone seriously wrong with the Momota family’s power and resources. And all of them would have to respond in some way.”

“But! If I do the midnight shift, and don’t tell anyone about it, and talk to Byakuya’s informants-”

“Then there’s still all the other elites’ informants to think about. Byakuya’s not the only person watching, Kaito. You don’t need this kind of scrutiny right now. Byakuya’s reaction alone will be a nightmare.”

“I could tell him about it first…”

Kokichi frowned. A...commoner job? Sure, anything custodial or having to do with food was a pretty common job, since food and cleanliness was something that was needed everywhere, but if something was common, then didn’t that just attest to how important it was? Why wouldn’t that be something to take pride in?

And, like...there was something hugely wrong with the Momota family’s resources. If what Shuuichi described was right and they had hoarded enough wealth that they’d never be able to spend it all in generations, how was that anything but a sickening flaw? Why would anyone want to follow someone who did that? 

Kokichi heaved a deep sigh and leaned back against their pillows, rubbing his eyes. “...I really don’t understand your people at all… Okay, it’d be a bad thing for weird, Luminary reasons. And, apparently, there are other people who have nothing better to do than snoop on other people’s business.”

...he tried to think of an answer, but if people would really blow up at everyone Kaito was related to from this? For whatever reason they’d have any sort of answer…

“...I really wish you could, like...let your brother know ahead of time then just tell everyone who’d get mad at something like this to blow ass… But I can’t expect the people you’re talking about to act in ways I understand. I’ll support you in whatever you want to do, Kai-chan, but I have to defer to you guys here.”

“Kaito, if you want a job, you can get something that won’t make people raise eyebrows-”

“Look, look, I am literally the ‘crazy guy who lost the throne hearing voices’.” Kaito reminded Shuichi, taking his arm off his eyes and giving his boyfriend a Look. “And, other than Byakuya, no ones gonna...I’ll tell him first, okay? Get his-” Kaito was going to say ‘permission’, but he gave Kokichi a nervous glance and amended, “-opinion. If he’s cool with it? Then, yeah, maybe I’ll be the source of a bunch of new rumors again for awhile, but, like...when aren’t I? It’ll just be another weird thing that Kaito Momota did. Throw it in with orgies and voices and ya know, a shit ton of dead ex-boyfriends and girlfriends. Not to mention everything else that’s happened here. I’m sure the family’s already doing damage control over the baby...”

Kaito quieted...sighing and sitting up, running a hand through his hair and looking over at Shuichi. “Which isn’t a problem. They can talk all they want. It’s better I learn how to earn money myself then end up having to ask my family for money in the future. I just want to be able to protect us, Shuichi...I know this is maybe a bad start towards that, but...I don’t know how to do anything yet. When I learn how to make more serious income? Then...we won’t ever find ourselves in a situation where we’re depending on others for help. Independence, Shuichi...that’s what I’m trying to...that’s what I want. It’s worth the...the questions from everyone back at home to start to learn how to get that for us.”

...again, Kokichi was endlessly grateful that Kaito had come to Dicea instead of him going to Luminary. He didn’t understand a damn thing about it…

He didn’t understand why people would feel anything but the greatest sympathy and shared grief over Kaito’s passed past friends and lovers, and he really didn’t get why no one had thought to get Kaito help with everything else. Why they wouldn’t just be happy he was starting a family…

Kokichi clenched his jaw, feeling a wave of that same despair he’d gotten when Maki and Shuuichi argued over why people hadn’t changed things in Luminary already. Just...the utter disconnect from people just a country over. 

...but he let it go in a sigh. There was nothing he could do, and it wasn’t his problem. Trying to make it his problem would kill him. Thus, why he was so thankful to still be in his home country. 

There was something a little closer to home, though. Looking between Kaito and Shuuichi, he asked, hoping this wasn’t...another loaded question, “...protect against what? The basic income is specifically made so if big expenses come up, it’s not going to leave you with nothing. So…”

Shuichi just shrugged, giving Kokichi an exasperated look. “Kaito’s just been told he needs a fortune to be safe his whole life. That’s literally all this is.”

“Hey, that’s...that’s not fair. I…” Kaito hesitated, suddenly feeling like he was on dangerous ground again. He looked down, starting to worry his joints. “...I...I-I have real concerns…”

...they weren’t the most...compassionate or kind concerns…

“Kaito, you literally don’t even know how much a banana costs. You don’t know anything about economy or finances or…” Shuichi sighed, reeling it in a little as he saw the increasingly frustrated look on his boyfriend’s face. “...you have your strengths, Kaito. But when it comes to our finances? What we do or don’t need? You should trust in me and Kokichi. We don’t need a fortune to protect ourselves.”

Kaito worried his joints some more. Feeling lost and...kinda helpless...but Shuichi had a point. Hell, he had been thinking the same thing this morning. Maybe he really should just… “...but, I mean? Having a little more income coming in couldn’t...it won’t hurt anything, right?” Kaito negotiated. “It’d...it’d really just make me feel better, if nothing else…”

Kokichi nodded, recognizing the signs of stress on Kaito but...he couldn’t back down. Not totally. He had thought that not pressing was better for Kaito but...apparently not. But that didn’t mean barreling over what Kaito’s concerns actually were, not matter how rooted in reality they were or not. 

“It wouldn’t hurt, and that’s why I said I’ll support you in whatever you want to do. The basic income is designed so if someone doesn’t work, they can still live comfortably. A lot of people work just because...well, that’s what people do. We literally cannot help creating and providing, and so professions are made. To some of those people, getting paid is just a side benefit, or something that helps them level up into a business. For others? They work specifically for money--for countless reasons that I don’t even know all of, but...like, for travel and buying gifts and having big parties or so they can personally ensure donations to keep programs and services running. Kai-chan wanting to make more money isn’t a bad thing, but…”

“...I still think we should have that budgeting lesson.” Kokichi sighed, running a hand through his hair as he grumbled to himself. “I meant to teach you ages ago...damnit, Kokichi…”

Tugging on what ostensibly might be his bangs, Kokichi looked back over at Kaito with a kind look once he was done berating himself. “I have a feeling it’d help you feel better about our savings. Fears tend to feel less scary when you make them tangible. If you can put a price on disaster, then you’ll know exactly what you need to counter it, right?”

Kaito nodded, not exactly feeling better. He wished he understood...well, maybe the budgeting lesson really would help. He just...had he always been this scared? All the time? He really had felt like he had a better grasp of things back at home, but...honestly maybe he had just been more easy to distract there. Now all Kaito had was three people he regularly talked too, and...almost every conversation he had these days left him feeling like he was standing on shakier ground. Nothing felt clear or for certain anymore. He felt so...apart from everything. 

He wasn’t smart. His strength didn’t mean anything here. He wasn’t well liked or powerful or influential here. He was just...sort of floundering and waiting for the next thing to knock him down a couple more pegs. Weak and shameful and easy to take advantage of…

...and evil. Couldn’t forget evil.

(He still kinda wished he was dead.)

...okay, enough. Enough. Kaito put a hand on his forehead and sighed, rubbing at his temples. When that thought popped up was now officially when he was wallowing too deep into his self-pity. This was going to become a terrible habit if he let it. He had to keep making progress on things, or the fears and anxieties and helpless feelings would overpower him. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to keep moving forward.

Kaito dropped his hand, grinning at Kokichi and Shuichi. “...look, worst case scenario? Me working in the kitchens will piss off some Luminaries, might make some Diceans laugh, and will give me a little extra pocket change. I’ll talk to Isabella to see if they’d even be willing to give me a job, and I’ll talk to Byakuya to make certain he won’t...think anything’s wrong when he hears about it. It’s fine! We’re overthinking this.”

Shuichi frowned. He didn’t think they were overthinking it...he just thought Kaito should take the path of least resistance and just stay jobless. He didn’t need a job, regardless of what Kaito thought, and getting one would invite drama. Honestly...it was such a stupid choice…

Kokichi nodded a bit and scooted over to press a kiss to Kaito’s cheek. “Okay. If there’s anything I can do, just ask, okay? I wanna support you any way I can, and while I know there’s not much I can help with on the Luminary side...on the Dicea side? I have that shit down.”

Glad that things didn’t explode this time, Kokichi settled back into bed before glancing over at their desk. “...so...can I try the pastries? Really...the smell is driving me kinda crazy here…”

“I mean, I made them for you, Kokichi.” Kaito said, also feeling a little relieved that things hadn’t gotten more heated.

“I see how it is. Playing favorites again.”

“You literally just tried to kick me out of our waterfall date.”

“Because I am also playing favorites.” Shuichi said, smirking a little at Kaito, who just flumped back into the bed with a groan.

And then Maki knocked. Time up.

-

So, this is how the day went. At least from Kaito’s end of things.

Training went fine, but Tim’s friends did not show up. That was fine, Timothy had hoped they wouldn’t, though Kaito had felt a little bad about it. He took it easy on training, partly because he felt terrible, and partly to take it easy on Tim, in case he was bummed out. Tim wasn’t.

After taking him to school, Kaito did manage to find Shirogane and Cali’s father, both dropping their own kids off. Shirogane had laughed loudly and been incredibly friendly, and told her she thought it was nice that Kimiko wanted to hang out with her friends in the morning before school! She’d drop little Kimi off herself. Cali’s father...was a little quieter, and clearly nervous about Kaito. He promised to talk to Cali’s mother and they’d decide later. Kaito was...cautiously optimistic.

Then, he went back to the castle and brought the temple plans to Aiichi. Kaito had been nervous about the presentation, but the king didn’t seem to mind one way or another how the temple went, and was generally positive about the whole thing. Kaito left the office once again feeling cautiously optimistic, though he still thought getting a farm attached to the temple to raise guiding animals in was probably pushing it. He had promised Matches he’d pitch it though, so…

He went to the scribes and asked to set up a phone call with Byakuya. And was promptly told that Byakuya had actually called yesterday to set up an appointment, but the scribes hadn’t been able to get a hold of Kaito. Nervously, Kaito agreed to a phone call in a couple of hours, and hurried off to fulfil his other obligations before the phone call.

Shuichi had a sample ready, though it was far less this time. And again, Shuichi seemed like he was in a better mood after it was done, and even let Kaito kiss him before leaving with it to talk to Seiko. As he was at the pharmacy, he remembered almost last minute that he had, like, a religious ceremony coming up literally tomorrow, and asked Seiko if she could help him out last minute. Seiko had sighed, but said yes. Kaito had bowed deeply, thanked her thoroughly, gave her the sample and then headed to Tenshi to let her know about the breast milk thing. She seemed surprised, but the advice for how to deal with it didn’t change. 

Then Kaito went home and talked to Isabella first about potentially getting a job in the kitchen...and, feeling thoroughly embarrassed, left with a rejection and went to go talk to  Byakuya.

That conversation was...difficult. By the time the conversation was done, Kaito had stayed in the room where the telephone was kept in, locking the door and curling into a ball for awhile and just….reminding himself that he was okay and everything was okay and you’d be fine and i-it was okay and d-d-don’t freak out you’re good you’re fine you’re fine you’re fine.

Eventually he pulled himself back together and left the room looking way more exhausted then when he went into it. 

He then went to go to Kokichi’s office and asked Shuichi to come outside and talk to him, and then asked him to follow him to the shrine because it was private there, and there he told Shuichi Byakuya’s plan to keep him and the baby safe...and Shuichi’s eye had reddened and he had held Kaito and just said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” and Kaito just let him, even though he didn’t feel like he had really done anything…

And, with everything done, Kaito had dragged himself back upstairs to their room, going in and just straight up collapsing on the bed. Exhausted.

In comparison, Kokichi’s day had been far less busy. He’d enjoyed his pastry, honestly impressed by how good it was, and while Chako certainly had a hand in that...he was really proud of Kaito. With every attempt he was getting better and better. 

Then, it was time for work, which was, well, work. Problem solving and hearing out concerns and…

...it was a good thing Kaito didn’t always come to the office, though Kokichi certainly enjoyed working with him. But there were a few letters that...at least they were specifically addressed to him, and not general social letters. But even having them in the same room as Kaito made Kokichi feel bad. He understood that it didn’t look good from an outside perspective, but...he just wished he could convince people that he really was happy in his marriage to Kaito, that he wasn’t being abused, that their relationship with Shuuichi was alright and not just a coverup to claim Kaito’s love-child. He was glad to clear up the misunderstandings, but after the third letter over the past few weeks...it had been harder to keep up good spirits about it. And there had been a lot more than three letters. 

But, after work and bidding Nadya a good practice and a safe trip home, he tracked down Maki, asking her about them all taking a trip to a nearby waterfall sometime before the roads got too icy. And...maybe because it was a much smaller trip, it could just be them? Tim too, if he wanted to go. 

...she said she’d look into it. 

He’d checked in with Aiichi after that, almost glowing with pride hearing his father gush over the plans Kaito had presented to him, proven right that Kaito really had a lot to offer to the kingdom. And, after that, he ran into his dad, trying to stifle giggles while Ikuo grilled him on designs for a stuffed animal for the baby, and a baby blanket, and all sorts of stuff…

In slightly better spirits, Kokichi headed up to their room to clean up before dinner, running into Maki heading the same way.

Ah. Right. 

Maki was looking forward to this. Though, maybe not for the malicious reasons she was known for. 

Honestly?...she hadn’t just straight up hung out with Kaito in a while. Was it strange that her chance to sit down with her friend and just chill just happened to be associated with a pseudo-punishment to make up for Maki’s endless, endless frustration with both him and Kokichi? Well...maybe. But if that was what it took these days?

She’d take her good moments when she could get it. 

So, smirking a little at Kokichi, Maki lifted her bag of supplies from Fantasy Claire’s and said ominously, “I’ve come for my toll…”

Kokichi huffed something of a laugh, shaking his head though he was aware he was a cause of this in part. “Can I get a sneak peek, or am I gonna be surprised with everyone else too? Can I guess? Another star? Maybe a leaf or a snowflake gem to be seasonally appropriate?”

He ran a hand through his hair, his smile falling a little. Maki always seemed to brush off his apologies, so...she appreciated action more. He just wasn’t sure there was anything he could do at the moment. ...no reason not to try, though.

“...hey, actually… What do you think about me bringing up dinner for everyone, and we can just chill and hang out this evening after you give Kai-chan his piercing? If you didn’t have anything else planned, ‘a course.”

“Gold. A gold, wrap-around bar.False gold, but it might make him feel fancy.” Maki said, looking down at the little golden band, taking it out to show Kokichi. “He seems kinda...look, I’m mad at him, okay. I am. Furious even. But…”

Maki sighed. “...he seems down. I don’t think this is something I can cut away. So I’m trying to make this time a little easier on him.” 

Maki gave Kokichi a curious look. It...did sound like fun...did she have anything she had to do that evening? She supposed if she wanted too, she could look up more about the waterfall, but honestly that could wait till tomorrow. Hmmm…

She glanced at the door, something uncertain in her as she said, “...I won’t be in the way?”

Kokichi ‘oo’ed over the bar for a moment, easily able to envision it on Kaito. Not as subtle as the star, but not too in-your-face. A little fun, a little flashy. A good choice. Though...he did calm a bit. Down was...in part, his fault too. In the way that he usually took things to be, but…

Be better. You promised. 

He blinked up at Maki in utter surprise for a moment, almost confused though the affirmation in his voice was strong. “Not in the slightest! Maki-chan is all our friend, and, I mean, you’ve been so special to Kai-chan and Shuu-chan for waaaay longer than I’ve been in the picture. Maybe not in a sexual or romantic way, but in every other way? We’re not really complete without Maki-chan.”

With that confidence said and done, Kokichi looked up at Maki with a bit of concern. “...is everything okay? When it comes to us, I mean. I know that...yeah.”

Maki hesitated...looking around the hallway with some suspicion. People very rarely came down this way, but...well. There was no one here now.

“...I asked too much of you.” Maki said quietly. Nothing really judging in the statement. Just a...truth she had accepted by that point. “I see that now. It was unkind of me, to put that on you. I saw an opportunity to get my way on something and...wasn’t thinking of the toll it would take on you.”

“You barely knew me when I asked you for help, and the thing I asked you for put you in direct conflict with your new husband. That wasn’t fair of me. I made something as huge and important as the next political makeup of Luminary under your influence. That was extremely presumptuous of me. I...I tried to demand you put your trust into someone you have not met and very likely never will. That was…”

Maki sighed. “It was all too much. I asked too much. If I had been capable of looking at the situation without my own needs and biases, I would have realized that long before you had a breakdown. I’m sorry I did that to you, Kokichi.” Maki said, bowing her head to Kokichi. Something...genuinely sad in the statement. “I’m...not the easiest person to be either a friend or an ally too. I’m sorry I made it so complicated.”

Kokichi’s eyes widened, not having expected...to ever hear something like this. And while there was still a part of him that wanted to bristle, now? The most of him… Kokichi looked around the hall too before leaning in to give Maki a one-armed hug, not wanting to stifle her. 

“...that’s an apology I can accept whole-heartedly, Maki. Thank you. But...I have to apologize too.” He sighed softly, not really wanting to say this, but...it was right. “...it made me really happy when you put that sort of trust in me. No one had ever given something that important and precious to me. I wanted to do everything I could for you.”

“...but fixing Luminary isn’t something I can do, and I didn’t realize until you’d told me as much that that wasn’t what you were asking me for. The Luminous people aren’t my responsibility, and I really don’t understand a thing about their way of life. That doesn’t mean I can’t learn, but it means that we likely won’t see eye to eye on most things, and because of that...nothing I can offer will help.”

“...I really hate feeling helpless…” he murmured through another sigh, before drawing himself back up. “I knew I’d never be able to send you off to kill dozens of people, but I kept delaying things, thinking that I could find a better solution, but...that’s thinking too highly of myself. I should’ve talked to you more about it, and instead I just...let us both keep our hopes high for an impossibility. As someone you gave your trust to...that’s unacceptable, and I failed you. And for that...I’m sorry.”

“But,” he continued, bringing his hands up but close to his chest, “I’ll be doing what I can to be worthy of any trust you choose to place in me, if any. I care about Maki-chan, so I’m not giving up. It might be difficult, but a lot of worthwhile things are.”

Maki frowned, sort of wishing she could say that she would keep it in mind in the future, but…

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. I understand. Helplessness is maddening. I’ve worked very hard my whole life, just trying to run away from that feeling. I understand the temptations of wanting to hold it off, even under false pretenses...sometimes I wonder if my arrangement with Kaede is just a more elaborate version of that, in regards to all the people I left behind…”

A shadow came over her face...which hardened. Maki shaking her head. Dismissing the feeling. “But, no. I’ll find a way. It might not be the way I thought it was going to be, but I’m not giving up. I’ll find a way...”

Sighing, Maki said, “But, I’m going to leave Dicea out of my plans from now on, even if Kaede asks me not too. This isn’t Dicea’s problem, and it’s not yours. Luminaries started it. We’ll finish it.”

“Still...thank you though. I know you really meant to try when you said it. There’s a kindness in that, at least.” Maki said, smiling slightly down at Kokichi. “...Now. Should we torture your husband?”

They had experienced very different forms of helplessness in their lives, but...maybe not entirely different. Kokichi, it felt like at times, was held captive in his illness. Unable to explore the world or do much of anything when it was bad. Always underestimated and given an equal lack of responsibility because everyone had been expecting him to die or fall ill at any moment. Maki, on the other hand, had been held captive by the society she’d been born in. Unable to consider her body and actions completely hers. Forced to act on choices that weren’t hers. 

And they were both still just humans, but things had changed. With every year that passed, Kokichi had been given more and more of what he’d craved, even if he hadn’t realized that it had been given to him until recently. And now Maki had been granted her freedom, and while believing that might take time, it was true, and she would never be forced under someone else’s will again. 

...on purpose, anyway, but...that would get better with the more time she spent living her new, free life, Kokichi figured. 

Nodding sadly, Kokichi gave his friend a small smile. “I’ll support you personally within my means, still. It might not be what you need, but it’s still something.” Then, with a soft laugh, he knocked on the door as a warning before opening it for Maki. “New jewelry time!!”

-

...whimper.

“Oh, would you stop being a baby. It didn’t even hurt.” 

“You don’t know that! I could be in agony right now, and just holding it down valiantly!”

“I know when you’re trying to hold back pain, Kaito. It’s way more pathetic then just whimpering.”

“It’s a shame it didn’t hurt more.” Shuichi grumbled. Crossing his arms and looking disapprovingly down at Kaito, who was sitting in the desk chair by the bathroom sink. “Maki, can you make it hurt more?”

“Shuichi! Have some mercy on me!”

“No. That was a really shitty thing you did, Kaito. Kokichi was so worried he collapsed.”

“I know, I know, I promise I’m not going to do it aga- Ow! Ow ow ow! Maki please!”

Maki finished putting in the earring, twisting the golden band painfully against Kaito’s ear, before rolling her eyes as she let it go. “You’re such a baby. You think that hurts?  You still have use of your fingers and dick.”

“...what does that mean??”

“Don’t worry about it. Check out the mirror. What do you think?”

“H-hey! It was totally unrelated! I mean...of course I was worried, and I did faint, but that’s just a coincidence, really.”

Kokichi tried to defend himself, cheeks pinking, though he let it go. There were other battles to fight. And right now, there was...maybe it was them sending in supplementary forces? 

...he didn’t know enough to really work with this metaphor. 

Looking at the new gold band in Kaito’s ear, Kokichi hummed approvingly. “I think it looks nice, at least. Gold suits ya.”

“Yeah? You think so?” Kaito asked, looking down at his extremely reddened ear, giving it an appraising look...before grinning over at Shuichi, “Handsome? Buddy? Do you like it?”

“Ya know what could be fun?” Shuichi said dryly. “Testing my baton tasers to see if they still work. I haven't charged them in a while. Real russian roulette.”

“W-w-what’s russian?!?”

“Is that what you’re really concerned about right now, Kaito!?”

“Now, now, let’s calm down. No ones tasing anyone...unless Kokichi’s into the idea?” Maki said gently, patting Shuichi’s shoulder as she looked curiously at Kokichi.

“N-n-no!”

Kokichi chuckled lightly through a sigh. Maybe it was just some sort of cosmic balance he didn’t believe in that he, a pacifist, befriended some of the most violent people he’d ever met. “Definitely not into the idea. Kai-chan’s gotten his piercing, and he knows that going on a multi-day bender is a supremely bad idea that he won’t do again. It’s okay.”

He turned to Kaito, looking just...a little too sweet, his eyes wide and loving an expectant. About as far as Kokichi’s irritation with the situation would go. “Right, Kai-chan?”

“Y-yeah?” Kaito said, looking slightly up at Kokchi from his sitting position, twitching slightly. “Yeah! Absolutely! Pleasadon’ttaseme.”

Shuichi sighed. “Fine. You know what I noticed though, Kaito? No submission bows this time. What? Worried I’d actually do it this time?” Shuichi asked, a small smirk on his face.

Maki in turn, smiled darky, “Even if he didn’t, there’s lots of ways to make that whole thing very memorable. Kaito, did you know I’ve shown Shuichi all the spots in the human body you could stick a needle that would make that limb useless? Some of them are very painful.”

“I haven't had a chance to do a practical demonstration yet. Maybe the next time you decide drinking is more fun than just spending time with the people in your life who are counting on you…”

Kaito looked nervously between his two sidekicks as they both snickered menacingly in front of him, murderous intent radiating off of both of them...before grinning. “Really? Shuichi, you know how to do something like that now?”

The energy broke, and Shuichi shrugged, suddenly looking a little shy. “I mean...in theory.”

Maki nodded, proud. “He could totally do it. He memorized all the spots. Practical demonstration is just having the willingness to follow through.”

“That’s amazing, Shuichi! If we tried it on my legs, would it do any permanent damage??”

“I mean...so long as I don’t bury them too deep? In theory no…do you wanna try it?” Shucichi asked curiously.

Kokichi sighed more deeply this time, rubbing at his temple a bit. “Please don’t. If you wanna try something like that, I’d feel better if we had a healer watching in.”

His weirdos...geez. 

Turning, Kokichi shook his head a bit. “I’m gonna go get dinner sent up for us, so if there’s any risky, dangerous shit you wanna get out of your systems, now’s your chance. Should I be bringing back an ice pack?” Before taking another step, though, Kokichi paused, perking up as he remembered something. “Oh, they made a curry for dinner tonight--want me to get anything like...less spicy for any of you?”

As always amusing it was to see his friends’ reactions to food that had always just seemed normal, though tasty, to him, he did want to make sure they could actually enjoy dinner. And it was easier to give them an out now than if he made up plates for them.

“Mild.”

“Mild, ‘Kichi!”

“...plain.” Maki pouted. 

“Do you want me to come down with you, ‘Kichi? Help bring up the plates? Because otherwise Shuichi and Maki might find some way to torture me without you noticing it when you get back.”

“Actually, most of the torture methods I know don’t leave notable marks.” Shuichi mused. “Like, the knuckle one…”

“Ha ha ha! We have Jokes!” Kaito said nervously.

Kokichi nodded, adding the extra modifiers in his head. What was mild to most people he knew had Kaito gasping and drinking his water with more urgency so...just barely any spice for Kaito and Shuuichi, and really, truly plain for Maki. 

While it was fun enough to joke around with stuff that Kokichi might’ve once found alarming...well, it was still a little fun. Kokichi made a show of looking Maki and Shuuichi over before sniffing. “They won’t torture you, because they know it’d make me sad. And if Maki-chan or Shuu-chan wanted to have their cake and eat it too?” Kokichi gave the group a lazy grin. “Then they’ll have to get way better at lying to my face.”

“Be back in a sec!”

As the three Luminaries watched the door close behind him...Kaito asked, “So...are you going to torture me while he’s gone?”

“Mmmm….nah, I don’t think so.” Shuuichi sighed, shrugging. “He’s right. It would bum him out, and I’m not looking to do that.”

“Do you think there’s a form of torture Kokichi would be into?” Maki asked Shuichi, scratching idly at her neck. 

“I mean, no torture seems like the safest option to me.” Kaito pointed out hopefully.

“Hmmm...do we…have any duct tape?”

Thankfully, Kokichi was able to negotiate what was really just a meat, carrot, and potato stew for Maki without too much trouble. Whenever something a little on the spicier side was served at the castle, of course there were batches of varying spice levels to accommodate everyone’s limits and preferences, but...not being able to handle more than a few grinds of a pepper mill wasn’t common enough that the kitchen often thought to make something for it. It was really just luck that Kokichi caught them making up a new batch. 

After not too long, Kokichi was carefully carrying up a tray with drinks, four plates of different levels of curry and rice, and a shared plate with pickled vegetables and a light salad. And, naturally, Kokichi snagged a few sugar cookies, not wanting to make a second run for dessert, but not wanting to miss out. It...er...was a little heavy. Different from carrying a meal for two. But Kokichi steadfastly climbed the stairs, focused on his grip and footing, and he made it back up to their room all in one piece. 

However, when he shouldered the door back open, he nearly dropped the tray right at the finish line. 

“What are you doing?”

Kokichi guffawed, the dishes clinking as he trembled to hold in laughter at the scene in front of him. 

“‘Kichiiii….help meeee…..” 

Kaito was duct taped to the desk chair that Kokichi had last seen him in, and they had...over done it. Each arm was actually bulky with how much duct tape was pinning him to the arm chairs, his legs had duct tape criss-crossed all across them pinning them to the chair legs. And his waist and chest, while clearly having the least amount of work done on them, still kept him from wiggling too much. 

Which was maybe to his benefit, because the chair was upside down, the legs resting on the wall, the top of the chair pressed against the wood, and as the blood rushed to his head, if Kaito was capable of wiggling more, he’d have probably knocked the chair down on its side by now. 

Around his head were dozens of small paper balls, and Maki and Shuichi looked over their shoulders at Kokichi, Shuichi at last having the decency to look a little bit like a dog caught chewing up a couch cushion, while Maki just raised an eyebrow...before saying, “It’s a point system. If you get them down his shirt, it’s a point. If you get him in the dick, it’s two. If you get one of his eyes, it’s three. I’m winning by six points. Want to play?”

Somehow Kokichi made it to his desk to set down the tray without dropping everything, his arms immediately feeling noodle-y. “I can believe you tricked me into a disadvantage in a game. I go allll the way downstairs and make sure that none of you are gonna cry from flavor, and you start a point-based game without me. Well! Joke’s on you, I’m gonna be a sore loser and just eat dinner instead.”

With a small, dramatic huff, Kokichi picked up the plate he knew to be his and shoved a pouty spoonful in his mouth, unable to keep the play up for too much longer as he just shook his head with a laugh. “I really should’ve known you guys would do something like this. Leave for fifteen minutes…”

Kokichi set his plate back down and walked over to start righting Kaito, not expecting to find any, but still searching for gaps to free his husband without destroying his chair. 

“‘Kichi, they’re bullies. Thugs. Look what they did to me Q_Q”

“Here, I’ve got it.” Maki told Kokichi, heading over to Kaito and, dropping the rest of her paper balls down his shirt, carefully picked up the chair (how??), turning it right side up and sitting it down again carefully, before heading over to get her plate, leaving Kaito to his fate as she said, “Which one is mine?”

“I think it’s this one.” Shuichi pointed out, “I can’t smell any spice on this one.”

“Thanks Kokichi.” Maki called back, looking around for somewhere to sit that wasn’t the bed, before heading over to the window seat, dragging it closer to the center of the room. 

Kokichi hummed in appreciation as Maki flipped the chair back over, though he was still looking for ways to free Kaito. It was kind of difficult to eat without your hands, and while it’d be funny to see Kaito eat face first...he’d had enough punishment, even silly ones. 

“No problem. I managed to catch the chefs right when they were making another pot, so yours doesn’t have any, like, chilis or hot spices in it. Just a stew, really.” They really didn’t spare Kaito with the tape at all, huh. It was going to be a real pain to rip off…

...maybe not for a little longer. 

The chair with Kaito strapped in was close enough to the desk that Kokichi could just lean over to it, so, leaving his husband for a moment, ignoring any whines that might’ve occurred, Kokichi ate another mouthful of his own dinner while he had the time before moving it closer to the edge of the desk, the same with both his and Kaito’s drinks, before grabbing Kaito’s plate, and settling down in his husband’s lap. He was a very good seat, after all. 

Scooping up a more mild ratio of curry and rice, Kokichi held it up to Kaito’s mouth, looking up expectantly. 

“...really?” Kaito pouted, “This is how we’re doing this?”

“You should be grateful Kokichi wants to feed you. I was ready to just eat in front of you.” Maki mused, Shuichi laughing lightly as he gave Maki an openly affectionate look. “Mmmm...this isn’t bad.”

Shuichi sighed. “Mine’s a little spicy...but I still like it. Just gotta get used to it. Wanna try a bite, Maki?”

“Yeah...no thanks.” Maki said, her nose wrinkling in distaste.

Kaito sighed, before grinning at Kokichi. “Kay. Guess this is how we’re doing this. I’m gonna tell you now, ‘Kichi, if my curry’s secretly really spicy? I’m gonna cry. It’s gonna be messy.” he promised, before leaning in to take his spoonful. 

“...mm. That is pretty good. Though, yeah, a little spicy.”

Kokichi pouted right back at Kaito, kind of having thought that his husband would’ve enjoyed this. Though...Kokichi didn’t particularly like being fed, so maybe not. It was a different circumstance, but still. “I figured Kai-chan should at least get a last meal before we have to figure out how to take the tape off without breaking my chair or making you bleed. I’m trying to be considerate here!”

Just like he’d tried with Kaito and Shuuichi’s curry, but it seemed even his additions to what made something mild were off. 

Sighing, Kokichi raised up Kaito’s next bite. “Seriously? Maybe I’ll just get you all plain versions next time… Like, mine isn’t even particularly hot, but I think you’d cry from even just kissing me. I really can’t believe you all were raised on food without any spices…”

“I would never cry from kissing you, ‘Kichi! Your sweetness would overpower any spice!” Kaito insisted, taking his next bite valiantly. 

“...I would absolutely take that bet.” Shuichi marveled. 

“Oh my god, could we make Kokichi’s kisses so spicy that Kaito cries?” Maki agreed, looking just as amazed as Shuichi at this new and exciting possibility. “We have to test that.”

Kaito sighed, “Come on guys, please? It’s been kind of a rough day. I said I was sorry…”

“Spicy kisses aren’t punishment, Kaito. They’re just really, really funny.” Shuichi pointed out.

...he would take that bet too. If he ate something that was at his upper threshold? Which, really, Kokichi had grown up thinking was relatively low. Kaito might actually die. If they ever did test that out, he’d make sure they had plenty of milk nearby. 

...maybe his friends would get a kick out of one of the charity events he knew went on every year, where people would eat the spiciest things they could--if they reached certain charity goals. There was just something entertaining about watching people pace frantically as their mouths lit ablaze. 

He didn’t voice any of those thoughts aloud, though, and Kokichi decided to really take pity on Kaito, leaning up to kiss his cheek before giving him his next bite. “Sorry, hun. I do believe that you regret how things went down, and I’m not usually one for punishment. Untaping you isn’t gonna be a walk in the park, but I think we’re good for the night?”

Kokichi looked over to Maki and Shuuichi with the question. He did believe that it was just teasing and they’d stop if Kaito started to get really bothered, but...they were--rightfully--pissed with him. It was probably better to be a wet blanket than to let things go until they weren’t fun anymore.

“I mean, Kokichi, I’ve taught you how to use a knife. Just cut him free.” Maki told him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want to borrow one of my daggers?”

Kokichi shook his head a little, still dutifully feeding Kaito. “It’s not that part I’m worried about. I don’t think there’s enough force in duct tape to do severe damage, but, more than just hurting, Kai-chan could...uh...bleed…” 

Kokichi trailed off, making a face, just thinking about what ripping tape off of bare skin could do enough to make him thankful he’d put a pause on his own dinner for the moment. He’d want to help Kaito out, of course, but if it started to look as bad as he was thinking...he might have to step out. 

Trying to force those images from his mind, Kokichi sighed and looked to the side, a little embarrassed. “And...I know it’s dumb, but I wouldn’t be thrilled to accidentally strip the varnish from my chair. I could just get it re-done, but...yanno…” He shrugged a little, only looking back enough to make sure he wasn’t jabbing at Kaito’s face. 

“Oh, hm...maybe if we put him in hot water?” Shuichi wondered aloud, looking at the duct tape on Kaito’s arms with a touch more concern. “That could make the duct tape come off his skin easier. Not a lot of glue holds up to hot water, I think…”

“And we can just be careful about taking the tape off the chair, but sorry Kokichi. We weren’t really thinking about that sort of stuff.” Maki admitted. “If we need to repair the chair, I’ll pay for it.”

Kaito yawned, suddenly looking worn out as he said. “I say we just rip it off. I’m tough, I’ll be fine. Kokichi doesn't have to watch.”

“Kaito, if it’s gonna rip your skin off, that’ll sting. I’d rather we avoid that.” Shuichi insisted, giving his boyfriend a stern look.

Kokichi shrugged a little, though he gave Maki a thankful look. “It’s alright. It’s only a what if, and this chair’s been through a lot. Even if it did get a little messed up, it’s not a big deal.”

Turning back to Kaito, he gave him another cheek kiss, catching all of the day start to weigh down on his husband. “If we can spare you some pain, I wanna try, hun. And while it’s lookin’ like you’re gonna be dead to the world in a few, I’d rather you be comfy if I try to snuggle ya tonight.”

Kokichi put Kaito’s plate to the side for a moment, taking the time to quickly eat more of his own dinner, figuring, while he’d wanted to hang out with everyone tonight, it might be a good idea to let Kaito get to sleep soon. He’d barely slept the night before, after all, and from what he’d heard, Kaito hadn’t taken any naps during the day either.

“It’s kinda warm and snug in the tape, honestly. There are worse places to fall asleep…” Kaito yawned, blinking slowly. 

“Well, don’t fall asleep on us just yet, Kaito. Shuichi, go run a hot bath. I’ll get started cutting him loose.” Maki decided, taking a dagger from her skirt and heading over to Kaito and Kokichi. “Excuse me Kokichi, I need access to your husband.”

Carefully, but without real concern or fear that she’d actually manage to knick him, Maki started getting through the duct tape. Kaito took, even when she got to his skin, didn’t flinch or seem overly concerned if Maki would slip or not. If she cut him, it was because she meant too. She wouldn’t do it by accident.

As she worked, Shuichi finished up his meal before heading to the bathroom, running the bath water hot and, just because it was available, putting some soap into it. Well, worst case scenario, Kaito was both covered and duct tape still and also smelled good by the end of this… “Tubs full!” Shuichi called out to the others, turning off the faucet.

Hopping off Kaito’s lap, Kokichi kept scarfing down his food, wanting to be helpful but not wanting to be scolded later for not eating, even if he’d honestly forgotten. For good measure, he ate some of the leftover pickled vegetables, trying to cover all his bases. 

By the time Shuuichi called out from the bathroom and Maki finished freeing Kaito, Kokichi had finished his food, feeling a little overfull from how quickly he ate it, but not uncomfortably so. Still wanting to help, he collected some sleep pants for Kaito. He really didn’t understand how Kaito was still okay not wearing a shirt at night, but it was a wonder of the world he was happy to marvel at. 

Returning to Kaito, Kokichi bopped a chaste kiss on his forehead. “Quick bath, then you can go to sleep, love. Sorry for the super long day.”

“Not your fault, babe.” Kaito yawned, standing up and, well, doing his best to stretch as the duct tape still clung to him awkwardly, mildly restricting his movements. “It was nice to have all four of us hanging out again, at least. Maybe I should go on benders more often, if it brings us all together like th-OW! Kidding, kidding, oh my god Maki!”

Maki, who had reached out to the back of Kaito’s neck and, with one quick movement , ripped a piece of the duct tape from the back of Kaito’s neck, her expression blank as Kaito whimpered and whined, “ow-ow-ow...Maki-roll, I was kidding!”

“Me too. Ha ha. Come on, let’s get the rest of this off you.” Maki huffed, following Kaito into the bathroom.

“I’m gonna need a bandaid…” Kaito whimpered. 

“Alright, out of those clothes-”

“-Uh, Maki? Shouldn’t you leave this next bit to me and Kokichi?”

“Why? I’ve seen him naked way more often than you have.”

“I mean...I’m certain Kaito would be more comfortable-”

“Nah, Maki-roll has a point. I’m fine with it.”

“See?”

“Uh...w-well I doubt Kaito’s gonna need more than one helper to get the duct tape off!”

“...awwww, Shuichi! Are you feeling possessive? Maki, look! Shuichi’s feeling possessive of me~!”

“Th-that’s not! I- I mean!”

It was nice, even if it was for little longer than dinner. So often it was just two or three of them, and while those times were special and rewarding in their own rights, all four of them? It had the same feeling as going down to the dining hall, except a lot quieter and Kokichi felt braver to show his affection. 

Even if his friends felt emboldened to embrace their sense of humor too. 

Kokichi shuddered a little and walked ahead of Kaito, figuring that he was joking, but not wanting to see blood if he was being serious. 

Laughing softly at Shuuichi’s protests in the bathroom, Kokichi came up to nuzzle against his boyfriend’s arm. “If you wanna spend some alone time with Kai-chan, that’s okay, Shuu-chan. Maki-chan and I can hang out in our room if you need us. I actually have a book about the place the waterfall is, though I don’t know how good for research it is… Might be worth a look, Maki-chan?”

Maki pouted a little...before sighing. “Fine. Duty calls. Keep your naked Kaito, Shuichi.”

“He’s my boyfriend now, Maki. I get dibs.” Shuichi insisted, narrowing his eyes at his pseudo-sister. 

“Awww. I’m-” Kaito yawned, “-really getting the warm and fuzzies here. It’s nice to be wanted.”

Maki huffed, rolling her eyes at that, before heading back out into the room. His claim to Kaito secured, Shuichi smiled down at Kokichi, kissing him on the cheek as he said, “I’m sure this’ll be quick. I’ll get him out of the duct tape without hurting him, I promise.”

“Well, let’s get to it!” Kaito said cheerfully, taking his shirt off (Maki had cut around the bits that would have connected it to the skin) and kicking off his pants, standing naked, if not for a bunch of duct tape. “Hey, what the odds this’ll get….” yaaaawn, “...sexy?”

“With you falling asleep standing? Not very.” Shuichi told him plainly, ignoring Kaito’s disappointed groan, the sound of water being displaced as Kaito got into the bath, Shuichi gently shaking Kokichi off to go assist his boyfriend.

Kokichi giggled softly at the siblings’ bickering and his husband’s pride, giving Shuuichi one last nuzzle--for now--before skipping over to find that book. “This is weirdly domestic for talking about easing duct tape off someone’s body, isn’t it.”

Shaking his head, he skimmed through spines, all sorts of travel guides and books about local lore that he’d collected, all with the hopes of learning just a little more about the outside world. He still enjoyed it, but now...he’d be able to learn through experience. A novel could describe the feeling of burying your feet in sand in all sorts of different ways, but not a word had prepared Kokichi for how it felt to do it himself. 

Finding the book he was looking for, a flora guide for the area just north of the capital, Kokichi brought it back to the bed, patting the space next to him for Maki to join. “So...unless you’re trying to study up if there’s, like, poison ivy in the area, I dunno how much this’ll tell you, but it does have some cool pictures. We’d be able to get an idea of what we’re gonna be seeing there.”

“Let me see.” Maki said, taking the book from him, looking through it idly. She was more concerned about the travel there and security around the area more than anything, but there were some other factors that she really did need to keep account of...and sighed as she saw a picture of the waterfall and saw an immediate issue.

“You dumbs assholes are absolutely gonna try to dive off this thing.” Maki muttered, narrowing her eyes at the picture.

It was a big waterfall, but...not big enough, was the issue, to dissuade Kaito, at the very last, from trying to dive off of it. She’d have to find out what the rock situation was there. Dicea seemed fairly responsible about things, she supposed if the waterfall was trafficked through enough, people might have cleared out safe diving spots by now. Still, she wanted to know about them before they got there. 

Still… “It looks nice. It should be a pretty simple day trip. I’ll find out more information about it tomorrow, but honestly, the main concern I have is the trip down and back. Should I commission a carriage? It might be worth it, even though I’m pretty certain it’s only a few hour walk…”

Maki continued to murmur to herself, looking through the pictures.

Kokichi stuck his tongue out a bit, knowing the concern was legitimate, but still feeling playful. “Nu-uh. I can’t swim, so I’m not jumping off of anything. Also, it’s gonna be way too cold to swim. You could probably get away with taking a dip and being okay, but it’s not gonna feel nice.”

Somehow, he didn’t think any of his friends were secretly ice swimmers. Even in Dicea that so-called hobby was considered extreme. 

Though, the weather was going to affect more than just the water. 

Kokichi’s eyes widened slightly at the prospect of...a multi-hour walk… Sure, he’d bummed around the city for hours at a time before, but that was just...aimless. Often stopping and looking at things, or sitting to rest every now and again. He’d never really...done any sort of serious travel by foot before. 

...it was kind of exciting, but…

“...would you guys be okay walking for so long in the cold? Sure, he didn’t have a shirt, but Kai-chan was freezing his ass off the other day… It’s not really winter yet, but maybe it’d be worth dressing like it is if we go that way.”

“Did you want to walk? Hmmmm…” Maki hummed, thinking seriously… “...maybe we could walk there, play around in the waterfall, and then spend the night somewhere nearby? Or I can ask someone to come pick us up. I don’t want to test how you and Shuichi will handle a literal all day walk with no real resting points, so I’d recommend us doing at least one of those options. As for the cold…”

“...my experience with winters are...limited.” Maki admitted, looking a little sheepish to say it. “Even when I traveled for my work, just by coincidence, it was basically always in spring and summer. The closest to winter I ever traveled out of Luminary was going to the Dicea border later in fall to take out some generals who had fallen out of the king's favor, and even then it was...cold….” Maki muttered, looking more haunted by the memory of how fucking god damned chilly it had been then, ya know...the murders and stuff.

“So...I may have to do some due diligence and talk to Lake and the guards about how to account for winter in my protection of you. I apologize that I don’t exactly have an expertise on the dangers of winter yet.” Maki apologized, looking genuinely put out by her lack of knowledge on the subject.

Kokichi nodded a bit, again feeling a part of him bristle, but...it was a fair point. Even if it was just walking, he had no clue what his stamina would look like during long-distance travel. “It might be worth looking into carriages and wagons that are heading north out of the city normally, seeing if we can get a ride part way. Something to consider in our options, at least.”

...it could be nice to spend a night away, though. Like a mini vacation. 

Giving Maki a kind look, Kokichi shrugged a bit. “That’s what this winter’s gonna be for, you know? And you have a lot of resources available to you. Just from my own knowledge...things are gonna be surprisingly slippery, like, even things you wouldn’t expect to get that way. And even people who are used to the cold don’t always like being out in it, so if people start ducking into stores or coming into the castle and it seems weird? It’s probably just someone looking to warm up.”

“Um...we have separate wheels for winter, so they don’t slide around. The ground gets kinda hard and compact, so unless you have a pointed force, you can’t really dig in. And...once it really starts getting into winter? You really shouldn’t be outside for hours and hours, even if you’re dressed appropriately. And there’s signs of, like, overexposure and hypothermia, but...I think talking to a healer about what to look for there might be better than me trying to explain it.”

Kokichi tapped his lips, trying to think of any other tips or facts he had off the top of his head...before grimacing. “...flu season usually starts right about now too… People are usually good about self-quarantining and going to healers, but...for someone like me, I pretty much inevitably get sick. Just a general warning, I guess.”

Maki nodded, mentally taking notes as Kokichi talked. “Right, I’ll talk to the healers over in med-wing then too. I need to make a...a backpack.” Maki decided, already envisioning her future backpack as she said, entirely seriously, “A Kokichi/Shuichi emergency backpack. And bandages for Kaito and Timothy. Timothy’s been good about keeping himself uninjured so far, but if his friends really are going to start regularly training with him, well...people are always more dumb when they’re showing off for people they like…”

As Maki thought the future through, there was a “GAH! Nooooooo!” from the bathroom. 

Maki smirked, calling out, “Everything okay in there?”

“He’s...just missing some hair now! On his stomach!” Shuichi called back.

“People pay good money for waxing, Kaito! You should be grateful!” Maki called back, snickering a little as she shook her head. “He’s okay. Kaito plays up how bothered he is when we do stuff like this to him cause he knows it makes us laugh. I think I’ve told you that before.” Maki mused, scratching at her neck a little. 

“You should have seen him with my siblings, growing up. They’d tackle him and bite him and hit and he’d bellow and fall over dramatically, acting like these smaller kids were totally destroying him…” Maki sighed. “It’s a shame Kaito wasn’t stronger, growing up. Able to compete with Byakuya and Kaede for the throne. He didn’t even try...Kaito, as he is now, but willing to fight to be king? It’s not like he could have solved every problem, but...all the problems I personally care about would have been far easier to navigate.”

“That could have been something. Kaito, King of Luminary, you, ruling Dicea. I wonder if you two hadn’t been married and had simply been given the opportunity to be neighboring allies, what you could have accomplished between yourselves…” Maki pondered, eyes distant...before shaking her head. “Ah well. This is the hand we’ve been given. Nothing to do but bluff hard and play it.”

It was probably a good idea. Putting together a proper emergency pack, rather than carrying around smelling salts in your pocket and hoping that the worst thing that happened to Kokichi was him feeling woozy. Just...having a plan in case of disaster, instead of being blindly optimistic. 

Kokichi nodded a bit, about to comment that even if Tim wasn’t showing off, from the little he’d seen Cali was a bit overzealous so it might be wise to account for that, before he jumped a little at Kaito’s shout, but at this point? Even Kokichi could tell that it was mostly joking. 

“Mm. It was kinda startling to me at first, but I think I’m getting a little better at knowing when something’s actually serious.” Kokichi smiled softly, having known that Kaito had tagged along with Maki to her trips to the orphanage, but with all the context he now knew… It was still sweet, Kaito roughhousing with all Maki’s little siblings. It wouldn’t be the same but...Kokichi was still looking forward to seeing Kaito do the same with Tim and their future child. 

His smile fell away a little as he considered the future Maki brought forth. Even ignoring all the logistics of how to even get to that point… They really could’ve done some great things for their countries. But maybe he was just imagining the best case. 

Humming a little, Kokichi looked over at the bathroom door with a fond look. “Even if it’s not for Luminary too, I still think Kai-chan and I are gonna do some great things for Dicea. And even if they won’t talk to me...maybe being family will convince Kaede to listen to Kai-chan’s ideas, so maybe he’ll still get to do some great stuff for Luminary too. The future is a really big place with a lot of options.”

“And, if I’m allowed to be selfish… I’m glad I got to meet all of you. There’s not a lot I’d trade that for.” Quickly, Kokichi gave Maki’s arm a gentle bop with his head, giving her a bright smile.

Maki smiled warmly at that. True. Even in her fantasy scenario, she liked to think she would have met Kokichi. That they all would have...but the relationship would have been different. It would have been a shame to lose that.

Still, it was somewhat of a strange sentiment to her, the idea that anything great could be done for Dicea by this point...but then, she supposed maybe it just felt that way because she was on the outside of it looking in. She supposed the country had room for good things to happen to it still. She wondered what Kokichi would both invent or change someday, when it was his turn to lead. What kind of future he envisioned under his rule.

...well, maybe she’d ask one day. She doubted he felt like talking about politics right this moment, and Maki had been sincere, earlier, that she regretted making their relationship so complicated. Just because she was so obsessed with Luminary politics didn’t mean she had to engross herself in all politics, and she didn’t want to burden Kokichi getting too wrapped up in Dicean politics.

So, instead she said, “...it’s going to be cold. We’re not going to end up swimming at this waterfall, are we?”

Kokichi basked in that smile, its warmth filling his whole body, though he snorted out a laugh soon after. “Probably not. Like I said, you guys probably could, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. But just seeing the waterfall seems like an incredible trip...and who knows? Maybe we could go again when it warms back up and we can see everything that’s different in the new season.”

“The world is full of a lot of things that are always changing...seeing something once or seeing them a hundred times will still be special.”

“True. I wonder if I should bring Timothy…” Maki murmured, “Though, I’m not entirely certain my young charge would want to go see a waterfall. Timothy’s very...unimpressed, with most things. But, then, I probably shouldn’t exclude him, even if he’d be bored. Hmmm... Maybe I could tell him he’s allowed to invite those little friends of his...that would be one way to keep him entertained?”

“Alright! I am duct tape free! And, suddenly almost hairless on my arms, stomach and legs! Which...is maybe a good thing? Depending on how you feel about that sort of thing.” Kaito announced, coming back out of the bathroom in just the pajama bottoms Kokichi’s had given him, hair wet but Kaito looking a little more pleased now. Coming up behind him, Shuichi was looking a little wet, like he had been splashed, but again, looking a little lighter then he had at the beginning the night. Duct tape bonding. 

Kaito immediately bee-lined to Kokichi, hugging him and, again, FLUMPING down onto the bed, dragging Kokichi down with him as he whined, “They were so mean to me today, ‘Kichi. My friends are the worst. Protect me from them.”

Maki rolled her eyes, before saying, “You were yawning before, Kaito. Are you going to bed?”

“Mmmmmm.” Kaito hugged Kokichi to himself, sounding like he was really thinking about it...before sighing. “Yeah. I’m real tired, you guys. A lot happened today. Busy day tomorrow too...are either of you joining me for the ritual tomorrow?” Kaito asked, opening an eye and looking uncertainly at his two sidekicks.

“....”

“...um….”

Kaito closed his eyes, feeling only...a little disappointed as he said, “Don’t worry about it, I know, it’s kinda an all day thing. It’s alright.”

“You can tell us all about your visions afterwords, Kaito.” Maki said, standing up and stretching a little, “And you can pray to Atua on our behalf. He won’t mind. Atua loves us, so he won’t mind us skipping the ritual, right?”

Kaito sighed, relaxing a little. “Yeah...okay. I’ll do that. Maybe he’ll send me some visions on you guys behalf...I’ll keep an eye out for them.”

“Thanks Kaito.” Shuichi said gently.

“I don’t think it could hurt to ask,” Kokichi hummed. “Even if he doesn’t want to go, it still feels nice to be asked--it’s letting him know that we’re thinking about him. Sometimes just knowing that people want to include you is better than whatever the actual thing they invited you to is.”

Kokichi looked up as his lovers re-entered the room, giggling in delight as Kaito tossed him around a bit, though he was still careful in his nuzzling, aware that even if he looked alright, Kaito’s skin might still be sensitive. “Oooooh, my poor husband, finding meanies in every corner. Come on, come on, I’ll protect you with all the strength I have.”

Giggling a little more, Kokichi was very nearly confused, about to ask what Kaito was talking about before he realized-- “Oh! Oh shit, Mid-Fall starts tomorrow, doesn’t it? And Atua Week, right? That...really snuck up on me…”

As both Maki and Shuuichi declined their participation...Kokichi wanted to speak up. To join in, even if he wasn’t religious, just to share the experience with Kaito. However...praying to Atua wasn’t really something he could even physically do...and Kaito had mentioned trippy drugs. Kokichi wasn’t straight lace or anything but...maybe his first experience with drugs like that shouldn’t be hotboxing in a closet for a whole day. 

Still in Kaito’s arms, Kokichi looked up at his husband curiously. “Is there anything I can do to help out tomorrow?”

“Hm? Not really babe, other than maybe having someone...Um...I mean, Maki?” Kaito asked, looking over to Maki.

Maki nodded. “I’m gonna check in every couple of hours, make certain you’re not-” she glanced at Kokichi, and amended what was going to say (passed out in your own vomit) and replacing it with, “-needing anything.Bring by water and all that.”

Kaito relaxed, nodding his head as he grinned at her appreciatively, “Thanks Maki. I know it’s a fuss, but-”

Maki shrugged, “Nah, you asked me to do that, what, when we left Luminary? No priestess’s to watch over you now, so someone needs too...but, didn’t you just meet a bunch of Atuans? Shouldn’t you be doing the ritual with them?”

“...maybe next year.” Kaito murmured. “I didn’t want to ask to join them. Next year.”

“Oh, um, Kokichi? Since Kaito’s going to be praying all day, do you think you could take me shopping tomorrow?” Asked Shuichi, who was still confined to the castle without an escort. “I’m running out of essentials.”

Kokichi nodded, feeling a little relieved that Maki was already planning on checking up on Kaito. He probably would too, at least a few times, but it was good to know Kaito had more people there for him. And...maybe next year he’d join the other Atuans. Maybe Kokichi would even come by. 

Craning his neck back to look at Shuuichi, Kokichi grinned at his boyfriend. “Of course! Was the shop we went to last time for soap and all that good for you? It’s literally no problem if you wanna try something else--I kinda like the idea of dotting around the shopping district with you. Do you have a shopping list in mind?”

Maybe not as fancy as the waterfall trip, but...shopping was kind of like a date. Or just a hangout if they didn’t want that kind of pressure. But Kokichi definitely wanted to treat Shuuichi to, like, a drink or something. A nice tea or hot chocolate to sip on and warm his hands as they walked around.

Shuichi had literally just meant a trip to a store to get deodorant and all that, but the idea of walking around shops with Kokichi actually sounded really nice, so.. “Yeah, that would be great, Kokichi. Um, I do have a shopping list, but ya know...it’s in here.” Shuichi said, tapping his forehead a little, “I won’t forget anything.”

“And if he did, he’d never admit it.” Maki teased, noting with interest Shuichi pout a little and feeling proud to have called that. She had suspected for a long time that Shuichi made mistakes with his ‘flawless’ memory and just...didn’t tell people. Little punk. “Alright, goodnight you all. Kaito, you’re still doing training tomorrow.”

“I know, I Know, looking forward to it.” Katio said, waving lightly to Maki as she closed the door behind herself, saying idly to himself, “Hopefully there will be three little kids running laps rather than just the one. I talked to Kimiko’s and Cali’s parents today. I...think I eased some fears? Maybe?”

“If not, I’ll try talking to them next.” Shuichi promised, getting up as he decided to go get ready for bed. “Don’t forget your medicine, Kaito.”

“Mmmhm.” Kaito said, closing his eyes.

Kokichi snickered a little though he stayed beaming at Shuuichi. Shuuichi was a smart cookie, brilliant, and he couldn’t forget sneaky, but, like...he was a person. Still, being able to play it off was a great skill too, at least for people who believed stuff like that. 

A shopping trip with Shuuichi...he was looking forward to it.

“Goodnight, Maki-chan!” Kokichi called, listening to Kaito before trying to wiggle out of his arms, figuring he could spoil Kaito a little and prepare his medicine. “I don’t think me coming to talk to them after that would be anything but overbearing, but if I happen to run into them? You can bet I’ll talk up the training sessions.”

“I’m not certain how you’d just stumble across Cali’s parents, but Shirogane works with the government, so…” Kaito shrugged, “But, she seemed really enthusiastic about the idea actually. So, her kid’s probably coming. She was a nice lady. Very bright and smiley...”

“Still probably evil.” Shuichi muttered to himself, getting changed into pajamas.

“Though, she had this weird quirk? She kept talking about how plain she was? Like...she has crazy long blue hair and a literally perfect hour-glass figure, but sure, Shirogane.” Kaito said, snorting to himself, “You absolutely don’t stand out in a crowd. Man, it’s crazy how completely blind so many people are to what they look like. I’ll never understand it.”

Kokichi had actually met Tsumugi Shirogane before, and she was very much as Kaito had described. Enthusiastic and bubbly, pleased to work out trade agreements and travel visas that would be the best for both Dicea and Danganronpa. And, yeah, it literally was her job to favor Danganronpa more in those discussions, but she had never pushed for any policy that was outrageous. 

He was happy that she didn’t seem to have reservations about her daughter having found a friend in Tim. As a Ronpan, she wouldn’t have the same biases towards Luminary, but...she still had lived in Dicea for the past...what, ten, fifteen years? It was hard not to absorb any of the culture in that time. 

Returning to the bed to hand off Kaito’s medicine, Kokichi rolled his eyes. “Totally crazy--that’s why Kai-chan completely and fully acknowledges how cute he is, right?” Shoulders bouncing with quiet laughter, Kokichi waited until Shuuichi was more or less fully dressed before getting out his own pajamas to change into.

“...you guys are cute.” Kaito pouted, taking his medicine and, giving Kokichi a grateful grin, quickly drank it down. As Shuichi came back, Kaito put the glass on the nightstand and said to his boyfriend. “Kokichi’s left me. Come heeeere!”

“Fine. But Kokichi is still my favorite boyfriend today.” Shuichi told Kaito, heading over to the bed and letting Kaito grab his hips, pulling him down to lay next to the red-head. Even if Kaito had kinda...given Shuichi really good news that day. Strange news, sure. Maybe even unsettling news...but good, as far as Shuichi’s stakes in it were concerned. He didn’t have to worry about politicians or assassins making plans around him or the baby. All of that stress and fear and manipulation? That was going to some random, likely noble, woman who thinks a marriage proposal is her way straight to the top of Luminary.

Good. Fuck her.

(...randomly hating this person he didn’t know but was imagining to be the worst kind of socialite was how Shuichi was keeping himself from feeling bad about her inevitable situation...it wasn’t his problem. She was probably a bad person anyway. Fuck her.)

“You love me.”

“I do not.”

“You do. You got jealous of Maki.”

“Lies.”

“I love you too Shuichi.”

“....hm.” Shuichi hummed, resting his head on Kaito’s shoulder, pleased.

Kokichi smiled to himself as he got changed, quickly getting into a fuzzy, loose button-up with a pattern of trees and a matching pair of long pants that pooled at his feet, still far too long even bought for his size. Throwing himself back onto the bed, he cupped his face with his hands, gazing over his partners adoringly. “Cuuuuuuute! Cute, cute, you guys are cute! You can’t deny it, Kai-chan. Embrace it and let me shower you in compliments.”

Giggling, he wiggled his way up the bed properly, happy to lounge out even if it wasn’t quite late enough for him to be drowsy yet. “Other than a waxing, it sounds like you two had a good bath time. One of these days I’ll get ya into a bath time with me again. And hopefully not for, like, annoying, depressing reasons,” he huffed. He appreciated Kaito’s good humor and help when he was sick but...he’d rather just, yanno, not be sick.

“Heck yeah. Sexy bathtime.” Kaito murmured, his eyes now closed. It might be early, but Kaito was exhausted, and likely wasn’t going to make it much longer.

“Could be just a normal bath too, though.” Shuichi pointed out, looking warmly down at Kokichi, motioning for Kokichi to come lay between them. He wasn’t quite ready to sleep either, but they could at least send Kaito off nicely. 

“All sexy baths eventually become normal baths. Win/Win.” Kaito argued quietly.

“Is our bath big enough for all three of us?”

“You both get in the bath. I watch like a letcher.” Kaito negotiated, “Win/Win/Win.”

Kokichi eagerly scooted up to fit in between his lovers, always happy to claim the middle of their sleeping arrangement. After two decades of a cold, empty bed, having the people he chose to spend the rest of his life with on either side felt like what he supposed some people might consider paradise. 

Trying to keep his giggles down as Kaito drifted off, Kokichi gave Shuuichi a wink. “Our bath probably is big enough for all of us. Kai-chan and I fit in fine, and there’s still plenty of space...though we probably can’t all sit side-by-side or anything.”

He looked over fondly at Kaito, rolling to give him a goodnight kiss on the cheek. “Though, Kai-chan might actually prefer to just watch us. He does seem to like that.” Stealing one of Kaito’s arms, Kokichi looped it around his waist, still wanting to be in contact with Kaito even if he settled on his side to face Shuuichi. 

“...how are you doing? In all ways.”

“...fun to watch…” Kaito murmured sleepily, shifting himself to fit comfortably around Kokichi’s back, eyes still closed, “...get to see your pretty expressions...and it’s…” Kaito yawned, “...fun watching to see what you all do when I’m not, ya know...being all aggressive and stuff...see y'all having fun and making choices and exploring each other…”

“You’re so creepy, Kaito.” Shuichi gently teased.

“Mmmm.” Kaito agreed. Not overly bothered, at least, by this specific character flaw.

Shuichi looked at Kokichi, considering his question… “I’m okay, Kokichi.” he started, smiling at him a little. “My chest doesn’t hurt...and Kaito gave me some good news from home...our babies not gonna be next in line for the throne, so that problems solved itself...it’s nice when things work out that way. It’s a weight off my mind.” Shuichi admitted with a sigh.

“What about you? How do you feel, after getting some sleep last night?”

...Kokichi knew--or so he thought--that Kaito’s issues with his aggression in bed were partly his fault for not speaking up much when they were first together, but...he was happy to hear that Kaito didn’t feel nothing but guilt from it. That he could still enjoy seeing him and Shuuichi explore together as relatively new voyagers into sexual life. 

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, hearing that their baby wasn’t going to be tied into Luminary politics. Kokichi...figured it wasn’t because they’d gotten a DNA test and the kid wasn’t Kaito’s, because he’d be a little put out if they didn’t tell him something like that, but...eh. Whatever had happened, he was glad for the obvious relief it gave Shuuichi. He didn’t understand Luminary politics so...all he really needed to know, he supposed, was that all of Shuuichi’s fears about people trying to butt in on their child’s life wouldn’t be a danger. 

Leaning forward a little, Kokichi kissed Shuuichi’s cheek, giving him a bright smile. “I’m glad… I know I don’t understand everything, but...if you’re feeling relieved and safe, then I couldn’t be happier.”

“...and I’m okay, too.” He sighed a little, pressing his cheek into a pillow. “More refreshed and stable and all that good sleep stuff, but… Okay in other ways too. I’m sorry I freak out so badly sometimes...I’m kinda hoping therapy will help me find some better coping methods ‘n shit. So even when I’m not feeling good, I can process it better and...yanno. Not destroy myself and worry everyone even more…”

Shuichi looked mildly curious at that. “You’re going to therapy?”

Kokichi nodded, not exactly looking thrilled, but not because of therapy itself. “I’m still looking through reviews and recommendations, but, yeah. I’m probably not going to be able to find anyone until after Harvest since...yeah, I’m gonna be busy as hell, and who knows how long the interview process will take before I find someone that seems like a good fit but…”

“...I wanna be better. Not just for you guys or for Dicea, though those are huge factors,” Kokichi grinned, “but...for myself too. I’m suicidal, Shuu-chan. I hate to admit it, but...I do overreact to things, and because of my health problems, it just creates a bigger problem whenever I do. I...I want to stop feeling like the world would be better off if I’d never been born…”

Kokichi paused, lowering his gaze as he debated saying more. But...out of everyone? Shuuichi had been someone who’d known about his issues the whole time and...had never treated him differently for it. 

“...I really should’ve been looking for a therapist a long time ago but… You know, after so long of constantly being looked over by healers, I’ll pretty much let any one of them do whatever they want to me. It’s always worse to resist. Even if needles hurt or medicine tastes bad...I just go through with it. But for mental health, it’s harder to enforce anything tangible. And...I…”

Kokichi huffed softly. “...I thought that if I sought out help, like I agreed that any of that bullshit in my file was true? Then...I’d be forced into everything in that field too. And I never had anyone to talk to about...you know, that kind of stuff, so...I really never realized how bad it got.”

“...but I can say no, and I know that some things, at least, aren’t true. So...I think I can get help for the things that are actually wrong now.” Kokichi sighed, but furrowed his brows in determination, before looking over his shoulder warily. “And...I think trauma counselling actually might help too. Can’t hurt to ask about.”

Shuichi quietly listened to all this. Poor Kokichi...Shuichi, again, wished Ikuo had been selfish enough to put his kid above the country. Kokichi had needed someone actually looking out for him, it sounded like. More than just physically, which seemed to be the theme of his boyfriend's life.

But, that was looking at the past with the benefit of hindsight. Leaving Kokichi had probably seemed like the most responsible option in the moment, and it wasn’t like Kokichi’s father had been trying to abandon him. He had just...made a choice. 

And, well...maybe it wasn’t even the wrong choice. Kokichi was still alive, and here. He had managed to get through to the other side of his childhood...maybe Ikou had just trusted that he would? Or that the castle would watch over him. That was fair too, and again, had apparently worked out.

Still. Shuichi wished it had been different for the small prince.

“I think that’s the responsible choice, Kokichi. Your health, mental, physical...those are all your responsibilities now. No one can make you take care of yourself...well, I’m certain Kaito would try, but it’s ultimately up to you.” Shuichi said quietly, running his hands up and down Kokichi’s arm, “And...as someone invested in you, I’m glad you’re choosing to do so…”

“And, yeah. Trauma counseling...I mean, that sounds pretty on the nose.” Shuichi said with a small smile. “I feel like if anyone deserves a little help with that, it’s definitely you. You’ve been through quite a bit…I know Maki was worried about you. She’s not very good at expressing it, but she kept trying to talk out with me exactly which fighting style would make you feel ‘confident and secure’.” Shuichi said, quotation marks clearly in the words. 

Smiling shyly, he said, “I hope you don’t mind that I told her that I didn’t think that was something that would help you as much as it did her and Kaito...you don’t seem the type to me. To use power to make yourself feel better, I mean.”

“While I’m glad you’re doing all this, I feel the need to ask...have you been suffering? You’ve been putting off and resisting help for so long...I know you’re saying that realizing asking for help doesn’t make you everything they kept saying you were. But...most people, in my experience, only make serious, life-long changes like that when a pressure point is pushed. If you’re suffering...I mean, you can talk to me about it. I...I understand at least some of the things you’re going through, I think...”

Kokichi gave Shuuichi a soft smile, taking comfort in the small, repetitive touch. He...he still didn’t think he had long. But...while he was still there, he wanted to make things better than they had been. Be happier himself, be the kind of person his loved ones could rely on… Kokichi didn’t want to be the reason people cried or had trouble sleeping over. And going to therapy was something he could do about it. 

Laughing softly, Kokichi shook his head. “She told me something similar--I wonder if she was talking about that particular conversation you guys had. I really love the freedom and faith you guys put in me, and eventually I will get to have another lesson with Maki, but it’s not a means to an end to me. If I never have to raise a hand against another person, I’ll be happier for it.”

He could understand how it was different for them, but feeling powerless had never been about losing a fight to him. Not the sort of fight you could wage with punches and steel. It had always been about days in and out of sleep, barely having a sense of being let alone enough of an ego to think about your goals and desires. It was a fight against himself, rather than society or other people. 

And then, as his world grew...that fight had started to involve other people.

Kokichi smiled sadly at Shuuichi, reaching over to brush his hair from his face. “...I really wish that you couldn’t relate, that you never had to feel like this. But there is something about having someone understand exactly what you mean…”

“...there’s been a lot of stuff,” he started, looking out over Shuuichi’s shoulder now, staring at the bookcases behind him. “The other day when I lost it on you and Maki-chan, yeah, but… I’ve lost it on Kai-chan a few times too. Not in the same way, but...probably just as bad. It really scares him, and, well, you know. He gets mad when he’s scared. Sometimes having someone threaten to love and appreciate you and to growl out how highly they think of you is enough to break the sad-shield.” Kokichi laughed softly.

“But also with the Remnants and learning about Luminary...and learning about your guys…being in a relationship with you guys...being a parent one day...” Under the blankets, Kokichi found Shuuichi’s hand, gently curling his fingers around it. “...I’ve told you before you make me want to be a better person. My world has opened up so much, and it’s always changing… It’s about time that I changed too.” 

Shuichi laughed quietly, nodding along as Kokichi talked. It wasn’t funny, of course...except it kinda was. Lots of truly terrible experiences were kind of funny, when you looked back at them with calmer eyes, in a better place in your life. Especially when you were sharing those experiences with other people who, yeah, could kinda relate.

Shuichi knew….or, hoped, anyway...that his experiences on the pollen would feel like that someday. He knew...maybe he’d someday meet the other people who had gone to those orgies and gotten addicted. Maybe there were other people like him out there, who had also had all the...body stuff happen.

Maybe a few of them had even had a Nao in their life. 

Shuichi squeezed Kokichi’s hand back,  feeling calm and at peace as he teased, “Yeah, there’s nothing quite like someone coming up to you and saying ‘I’m having your baby’ to make you suddenly want to grow up fast. Honestly, I think you and Kaito have been more ready to take on this responsibility then I’ve let myself become. I’m still a little bit in denial…” Shuichi admitted, shrugging a little as he said, “I’ll get my head around it eventually, and thankfully I have time, but yeah. It’s hard to believe that...some little person is about to enter our lives and need our help all the time...thankfully your dad seems literally ecstatic at the idea of helping us out.” Shuichi laughed.

“...I remember, when I was...yeah, I was fifteen. Kaito was dating Togami and I barely saw him, Maki was away on some job, Kaede had grown really distant for a bunch of reasons and...it was just some random day. Nothing had even happened...and I went to the poison taster and asked for one of their deadliest samples and he just...gave it to me.” Shuichi said, frowning at that. “He didn’t ask why I wanted it. I think he knew. He gave it to me anyway, and I just had it. And every time something bad or even just mildly stressful happened, I told myself ‘when you go back to your room tonight, drink it. Just get it over with. You’ll feel better.’ I had it for two months.”

“...I told Kaito about it on a whim. About the poison and my plan to drink it? How I was just putting it off, and I was mad at myself for being a coward, and I wished I would just go through with it...and Kaito...”

Shuichi sighed. “He beat the shit out of me. He lost his mind. He beat me until my world was spinning and then he dragged me to my room and demanded I show him where it was and he made me throw it against a wall. I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me at one point...and after that, I asked Maki to teach me how to defend myself, because I didn’t want him to be able to do that again, and she did and...I just felt better. 

“I don’t know exactly what part of that experience did it, if it was being afraid of dying, or Kaito’s fury, or spending time with Maki every day, or Kaito letting me practice my sparring on him and then getting to spend time with both of them every day, but...I don’t know. I just stopped thinking about it. At least that seriously, I mean. It still comes to mind every now and again, but like...idly, if that makes any sense. Nothing I really worry about.”

“...therapy would have probably been a better way to deal with it, but I didn’t exactly have access to it.” Shuichi laughed, rolling his eyes. “Just a furious, fifteen year old Kaito and a bottle of poison.”

Kokichi knew better than to plan out a roadmap like that, but he did hope to have at least a little bit of a better grasp on things by the time their little one came into the world. He had been...shocked didn’t even feel like strong enough of a word. There had been fear and confusion, sure, but above all the deep desire to stand by Shuuichi no matter what. And...with that came with the responsibility of having a child. 

Kokichi wasn’t ready to be a father, he wasn’t ready to be married, and while it certainly felt like something he could keep up with, sometimes he wasn’t even sure he was ready to be in a relationship at all. But he’d made his choices so...he’d make plans to prepare and be as ready as he could. 

And Ikuo definitely made it easier. 

Smiling fondly, Kokichi hummed. “He’s so excited, Shuu-chan. Don’t be too surprised if he comes around to ask you what you think of certain pallets for a baby blanket.”

Kokichi quieted as Shuuichi told his own story, and Kokichi could practically feel his gaze saddening. He would never wish for Shuuichi to feel that way...but he could relate. With a deep breath, Kokichi leaned out of Kaito’s embrace for a moment to hug Shuuichi, giving him a good squeeze before relaxing back down. 

“...I’m happy you’re here, Shuu-chan. I know it was a long time ago now, so it doesn’t quite feel the same but...yeah.” He sighed. “...they safety-proofed the ledge around the observatory before I thought to use it. It always feels...like cowardice, or selfishness...but I think it’s really brave to keep living. I’m glad we’re both brave enough for that.”

“Ha...ya know, I never thought about trying to jump from anything? Well, okay, I had this brief moment during the, ya know, Nao week, but maybe that should tell you by itself how unpleasant I find the idea of falling to my death.” Shuichi laughed lightly, “Quick acting poison for me, thanks. I mean, not seriously...but you know what I mean.”

Kokichi snorted softly. “Yeah, I do. I think that’s part of how you can tell that someone just needs some help, if they don’t just try for any method. Something was always too messy, and I didn’t want to inconvenience someone after I was gone, or I didn’t want to die in my bed, that if I were to go, then I wanted to get a little taste of something I’d never been able to do… Never thought about cutting myself. I think I’d just start screaming and alert someone…”

Kokichi shook his head, scrunching his eyes shut with a shiver. “Can’t handle blood. Not at all.”

“I’m not a big fan of heights myself. They make my legs shake, and I get this irrational idea that literally any slope will just send me skiing down to my death.” Shuichi sighed, “Maki tried to help me get over it by showing me how to catch my fall from a few floors up? Nope. Nope. Did not work.”

“And pretty much any way of dying inconveniences people. Corpses are an event, regardless of the circumstances. They’re heavy, they smell bad, they’re messy, and wow, do dead people generate so much paperwork. So, if being afraid of inconveniencing people keeps you from killing yourself? Man, Kokichi, do I have some good news for you.” Shuichi paused, thinking about it, “Or bad news, depending on your perspective.”

Shuuichi didn’t like heights, huh? He didn’t know… Maki probably wouldn’t be inviting him up any big trees anytime soon then. It was a little thing, and from such a morbid conversation too, but...he liked learning new things about his friends. And this one, at least, would be something to keep in mind for planning trips. No canyon tours for Shuuichi. 

Sighing softly, Kokichi nodded into his pillow. “When I’m okay? I can see that. The body itself, death paperwork, not to mention all the people you’re leaving behind… When I’m not feeling well, though, the only thing that seems of any consequence is the mess.”

“...and some ways are a lot messier than others…”

Kokichi was quiet for a moment, his gaze going far away again and, unconsciously, he trembled a bit. But then he blinked and the moment was gone, leaving Kokichi to smile tiredly at his boyfriend. “I suppose you’d know that a lot better than me, Mr. Detective.”

“I suppose so, yeah.” Shuichi said, noting the tremble and mentally storing that away. “I’ll spare you the stories, but yeah...some ways are messier than others.”

“...what do you think, Kaito? Any preferred ways to die? 

Shuichi actually didn’t know if Kaito was awake or not. He was throwing a guess in the dark and assuming that Kaito hadn’t managed to fall asleep before their conversation got dark enough to keep him up. If Kaito had kept quiet? Shuichi would have laughed sheepishly and made fun of himself a little.

But instead, after a moment, Kaito just said quietly, “...no...just don’t die…”

Kokichi’s eyes widened for a moment before his expression softened with guilt. He...hadn’t thought Kaito was still awake. They weren’t talking about anything secret but...it was still a subject he knew bothered Kaito a lot. Even more than he had known before, if Kaito had gone ballistic on a suicidal Shuuichi back when they were teens. 

Putting his hand over the arm around his waist, Kokichi stroked it gently. “Not plannin’ on it, love, sorry. Didn’t mean to keep you up…”

Kaito had tried to stay out of it. He had known, or, at least thought they had believed he was asleep. And...they sounded...weirdly happy, to talk about it. He hadn’t wanted to intrude. He really had tried to fall asleep.

But his chest had gotten tighter and tighter as they talked, and the back of his eyes had started to burn, and he just wished they’d stop...but he swallowed hard and forced a small chuckle as he said, “You’re good, ‘Kichi. I’m almost asleep anyway. Wasn’t even listening really…”

“...I still have some sleeping pills tucked away in a drawer from back when Maki was using that on me all the time.” Shuichi said, sitting up, “Do you want some sleeping pills, Kaito?”

Kaito thought of saying no...but he had dead images of Kokichi and Shuichi swimming around in his head now, and he said, “...sure. Couldn’t hurt. Thanks Shuichi.”

“Mmhm.” Shuichi said, heading to the desk and taking out the box Maki had left there ages ago now, bringing them back for Kaito to take. “...we really are okay, Kaito. Kokichi’s getting help, and I haven't had a real problem with it in years. It’s okay.”

Kaito laughed hollowly, taking the pills. “Yeah! Of course. I believe you.”

There was something cathartic about talking about, well, horrible things with someone who was right there in the muck with you, but...when you let it spill to someone who thought the muck was a myth? Their horror was always a cold--yet important--reminder that it really was horrific. 

Still stroking Kaito’s arm, Kokichi sifted a little to look back at Kaito, giving him an apologetic look. “...neither of us are gonna leave you. I promised, and I trust Shuu-chan if he says he’s okay. It’s not something we can pretend was never a part of us...but it’s not a factor in our futures. ...I am sorry, though. I love you.”

...he wondered if the worry was comparable, what he felt when Kaito had to face unpleasant things, and what Kaito felt when he heard Kokichi start to struggle. Maybe...maybe that worry would never fully go away. But they could get better, and build a track record of making those worries unfounded. Maybe then it’d feel better. 

Kokichi squirmed around to kiss at Kaito’s wrist, letting his lips linger on the scar there. 

Kaito nodded, feeling foolish. Again, they had sounded almost...happy to be talking about it. He didn’t want to shame them. If talking about it made them feel better? He was all for it.

It just...scared the shit out of him, was all. And Kaito let out a tight breath as Kokichi kissed his wrist, already, thankfully, feeling the effects of the pills. Probably partly...what was the word? When you believed something enough that it had a physical effect on your body...he couldn’t remember. But probably partly that, this early on

“...I trust in you both. But...tell me if it gets bad again? Shuichi, I promise not to hit you about it again. I shouldn’t have done that...”

Shuichi shrugged. “Try it. I haven't had a chance to use my batons on anyone in, like, three years.”

“I’m sorry. Please tell me if you need help. I can handle it…”

“Sure...lay back down Kaito.” Shuichi told him, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead, before pushing on his chest. “You need sleep. We love you. Everything’s okay.”

“...’kay.” Kaito sighed, closing his eyes again.

Kokichi kept quiet, instead just nodding to Kaito’s question, keeping up gentle affection until he was quite sure Kaito actually was asleep this time, feeling his breath get heavier against his back. Kokichi gave that same apologetic look to Shuuichi, sighing softly. “...sorry. Not the best pillow talk, huh. But…”

It wasn’t worth Kaito’s mental health, but that solidarity still felt important. 

“If you wouldn’t mind… Once I get a therapist? Could...we have a talk like this again? Like...it’s a therapist’s job to sort out stuff like that, but...it’s kinda nice talking to someone who gets it. I don’t think asking Maki-chan to train me would help me move past everything...but Shuu-chan has a lot of good things to share.”

Shuichi looked down at Kokichi, running a hand through Kaito’s hair, also waiting for a more obvious sign he was asleep...and when he was convinced Kaito was actually asleep? He smiled slightly, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead again...before shuffling over him, heading to Kokichi’s side, and, taking Kokichi’s face into his hands, bringing him in to kiss him.

Kissing him gently, Shuichi just enjoyed the moment, that small, tingling excitement of pressing against Kokichi, small and comfortable, but still...tense. In a nice kind of way. And when the kiss was broken, he said softly, “Kaito would try to communicate with you with sex. Maki with training. But me?” Kiss. Linger. Kiss… “Yeah. I want to talk to you. Of course I want to talk to you. It makes me happy...to be able to connect with you like that. I’d be sad if you didn’t want to anymore, just because it was someone else's job…”

Kokichi was a little surprised by the kiss, but he made it very clear very quickly that it was not unwelcome. Shuuichi was getting more comfortable initiating acts of affection everyday, but Kokichi still cherished every hug and handhold like a novelty. So...these long, slow, chaste kisses… Kokichi wrapped the arm not over Kaito’s around Shuuichi’s waist, holding him close as he kissed back.

“Then I’ll be happy to keep talking with Shuu-chan forever. I love talking with you, and I’d hate to make you sad…” Kokichi leaned in for another kiss, wondering if they communicated this way alright too. “And...whenever there’s stuff you wanna talk to me about too...I love listening to your thoughts and ideas about the same as sharing my own with you. Even if you think it’s gonna upset me...well, therapy’s supposed to help with that, if I get what I’m looking for.”

“Alright...but if you’re having a heart attack, I reserve the right to end a conversation and bring it back up again later, when things are less ‘heart attackey’.” Shuichi teased, kissing at his cheek.

Kokichi giggled softly. “I think those are terms I can agree to.”

“...and it still wasn’t your fault, pollen or no.”

“Right. Something Kaito did, right?” Shuichi sighed, resting his head next to Kokichi. “...I want to ask if he hurt you. But I think I’m afraid to know.”

Kokichi was quiet for a long moment, not really wanting to have this particular conversation right now even if Kaito really was asleep this time. Someday...Shuuichi deserved to know, as someone they both were in a relationship with, and as someone who’d seen its effects the day after. 

...but Shuuichi had just started to forgive Kaito for the bender. 

“...I don’t think you want to know...but I’ll tell you someday. For now...it’s okay. Kai-chan and I have moved past it.” Kokichi booped their noses together briefly, giving Shuuichi a weak smile after a moment. 

“...okay.” Shuichi agreed, not really wanting to know. Just sort of feeling like he should. But happy to delay it if it was something that would upset him. “You can tell me when you want too. But I won’t push.”

“...well, it’s still early.” Shuichi sighed, sitting up. “And I still haven't read the pamphlets that Dr. Tenshi gave me. I should do that. I may be in denial, but my stupid body isn’t, so I should read up on what’s happening to me now that I have a moment.”

He would tell Shuuichi. Someday. And hopefully he wouldn’t immediately whirl around on Kaito. It was like Kaito’s anger towards the members of the staff that had come to kill him--it was horrible, and it had screwed him up for a while before he was able to be comfortable again. But time had passed and wounds had been tended to. It was madness to continually berate someone for a crime they had already paid for. 

Humming, Kokichi went to follow Shuuichi, but didn’t get far. Not really from Kaito holding him, but...Kokichi still felt bad, and didn’t want to leave his husband without a cuddle buddy. 

“Mm...if you feel like reading in bed, can I read over your shoulder? I’ve read some of the pregnancy books Kai-chan got, but even if not now, I should read those pamphlets too.”

“Sure, you can read over my shoulder, Kokichi. If I start groaning and despairing, at least you’ll know what I’m despairing about.” Shuichi said with some self-deprecation, taking the pamphlets and sitting back in the bed.

Settling in, making certain Kokichi could see, Shuichi started reading...and groaned. “Really? My ankles? It sucks being pregnant, god, how does anyone do this on purpose!? Uggggghhhhhh….”

Kokichi just gave his boyfriend’s side a sympathetic pat. “You’re lucky Kai-chan’s a super duper ultimate level masseur. Say the word and you know he’ll be fawning all over you, trying to ease every ache and discomfort.”

They stayed like that for a little while, Shuuichi grousing over what his body would be doing over the next eight or so months, Kokichi holding him and providing calming, sympathetic commentary every now and again, until Kokichi’s words and hums were replaced by soft snuffling, his body relaxing against Shuuichi’s in sleep.

Content and happy to be with his partners, even with every mistake and misunderstanding and disaster. Life was worth sticking around for.

-

The next morning, Kaito was thrilled to see two little girls waiting in the courtyard with Timothy...and was a little less thrilled to get closer and hear Timothy scolding the pink-haired one, Cali. “You’re moms gonna be mad. Go home.”

“Kimiko gets to come! I want to train too!”

“U-um, I mean… b-but Cali, if you get in trouble…”

“Who cares! I hate her anyway! She can shove her rules up her stupid, skinny as-”

“Um, hello?” Kaito interrupted, waving. “Is, uh...everyone here to train then? Cali, you got your parents permission?”

Timothy turned around and, out of respect for the upcoming training, bowed to Kaito. Kimiko looked confused at Timothy for a second, before, for some reason?? squeaking in alarm and following suit, bowing even lower. Seeing both her friends do it, Cali did hers quickly, before shouting, “My dad said it was okay! I wanna train!”

“Then her mom said it wasn't okay.” Timothy tattled, ignoring Cali as she screeched in offense. “And she should go home.”

“Why don’t you want me here! I’m your best friend! Love me!!”

“Shut up. Don’t make presumptions like that. I never said you were my best friend. And you’re going to get into trouble.” 

“Do you have a better friend!? Who!? Who’s your best friend!!? I’ll fight them!”

“Um….Timmy, do you even have any other friends then me and Cali?”

“...” Timothy rolled his eyes, having no good answers for that as he said to Kaito, “You’ll get into trouble too. Send her home.”

“Huh? Oh…” Kaito realized what Timothy meant. If Cali’s mom got pissed that her kid was training with someone like Kaito, it’d end up eventually reflecting badly on him… aww. Was that why Tim was so insistent on sending her home? That was sweet of him, but…

Kaito put a hand on Timothy’s shoulder, saying quietly to him, “Hey, don’t worry about stuff like that. I’m a tough guy, alright? I’ll ask Shuichi or Kokichi to talk to her mom, but until then? If anyone has any problems with me and tries to take it out on you or her? That’s not your fight, alright? You tell me, then otherwise you ignore them and don’t worry about it. You don’t have to watch out for me.”

Timothy looked...skeptical. To say the least. But Cali pumped her fists into the air and shouted, “Yeah! See Tim, it’s all good! Alright! Training time!!”

“Yeah, training time! Alright, Tim! Cali, Kimiko, right? You can all call me Kaito! Training officially starts today! So, to start with, keep up with me, we’re running laps!”

“Fine.”

“Yes!!!!”

“Y-yes, Mister Kaito!”

The training went well, and afterwards the three kids all showered, changed, and Kaito and Shuichi took them all to school. Kaito asked Shuichi if he could at some point visit Cali’s mom (“Uh, preferably with Kokichi, buddy. Trust me, I think that’s the only way with this one.”) to get her official, official permission to train. And then, after a quick stop to Seiko on the way home…

Kaito went into his closet, locking it behind him. He had water, bananas, nuts, and was ready to go. He sighed, and, using a very light cut on his arm, poured a few drops of blood into the bowl, bowed and prayed to Atua for guidance...and then began.

-

Sure, they’d have all afternoon to shop around, but Kokichi couldn’t help but feel impatient as he and Nayda sorted out their work for the day. But work was work, and it was good to keep to their schedule. Kokichi was idly explaining what Kaito was up to that day as they worked. 

“...and so I have a feeling he’s gonna be baked out of his mind tonight, but he’s done it before and Maki-chan’s gonna check on him periodically, so I think it’s gonna be okay. I asked Shuu-chan about the type of drugs they use during this ritual, and it just kinda seems like shrooms to me--not that dangerous.”

“I see… I have no personal experience with the use of mind-altering substances for religious ceremony, but there are numerous accounts of such things, even going back thousands of years where soothsayers would make use of hallucinogenics to, allegedly, break the boundaries of consciousness and glimpse the future. Perhaps those rituals were something of a forebearer to this Atuan practice.”

“Oh, maybe! That does kinda sound like what Kai-chan’s doing.”

It was a pretty casual work day. However, when Nadya had already left and Kokichi had finished up the last bit of work, he practically hopped his way over to Shuuichi. “Think you wanna go shopping soon? I wanna put some more layers on and check in on Kai-chan, but I’ll be ready after that!”

Shuichi looked up, bleary eyed. Was it the end of the day already? Shoot, he didn’t finish finding the case results for the State Vs. Mayora Ducks...he was supposed to write down all case results for animal crimes, but he was also just...really curious if the ducks had actually been deemed responsible for all those poison cases. It was fascinating…

Still, he supposed he could find out tomorrow, and he closed up the binder, nodding. “Yeah, that should be good. I should put on some extra clothes too, I guess. Are you sure you’d okay checking on Kaito though? He might have bloodlet for the ritual today.” Shuichi gently reminded him, standing up and following him out of the office.

Kokichi grimaced and...kept quiet for a few moments. “...I just want to make sure he’s alright… Do you think...well. I don’t want to interrupt either… And...he already brought up a bunch of food and water, and there’s a bathroom right nearby, not that I think he’d need me pointing that out or anything…” 

Kokichi tugged on his lip as they made their way through the wing connector hallway, sighing. “...maybe I should just ask Maki-chan if he seems alright to her. It’d be really bad if I just popped by and ended up...like, passing out or throwing up or something. Now that would be the sort of distraction I wanna avoid.”

Shuichi raised a slight eyebrow, before leaning over and kissing Kokichi’s temple. “Or, I can just peek in first, if you really want to check on him before we go. If there’s no visible blood, you’ll be fine, right?”

“Oh. Yeah, yeah, then I’d be okay.” Kokichi gave his boyfriend a sheepish look, bopping his head against Shuuichi’s arm. “Thanks, honey-pie. Sometimes the obvious answers really don’t pop up in the ol noggin’.”

“Good thing I have a super-genius boyfriend that still deigns to point out those super obvious things.” 

Shuichi smiled a little, and even though it was for such a small, petty reason, he did feel a small bit of pride. Shuichi liked being the smart one, as silly as that was to say out loud. He took real pride in his abilities, even if half of them were sorta...forced upon him, in some really extreme ways. But he had worked hard to be the royal detective. To be worthy of his mentors time and attention. Sometimes it blew his mind even now, to look back at it all. Kyoko Kirigi was a legend. She was brilliant, and calm, and almost flawless, it sometimes seemed to Shuichi...and was prone to dropping her mentees like flies. For any mistake, for any flaw, she would one day just say ‘enough’ and send them off to be trained by someone else, if not out of the detective program entirely. Shuichi could have lost his place any time…

But even in the early days, when he made mistake after mistake, it seemed like, Miss Kirigiri never gave up on him. Saw something in him, though she never specifically said so or explained what it was she saw...and he had worked hard! To be worthy of those chances! To her turning a blind eye on his obedience training! All of it! 

And he felt kinda shitty that he wasn’t making use of all that time and training and faith…

As this went through Shuichi’s mind (she still hasn't even sent him a letter. Maki had gotten two now from hers. Shuichi had sent her one months ago...was she disappointed in him?...) the two heading up to their room to get more clothes, Shuichi suddenly said, “...there’s a university in this city, isn’t there?”

He paused, second guessing himself...before saying, “Could we stop by it while we’re out? Would you mind?”

Kokichi looked over at Shuuichi in curiosity before his smile brightened. “Not at all! I’ve never been, you know, inside it, but I know where it is, at least. If there was anything you wanted to do at it other than look around, we’ll have to, like, find a map or ask someone. Or! Just wander around!”

It seemed so long ago now, when he and Kaito had talked about Kaito going back to school to finish out a degree. And from that day he’d talked about all sorts of things Maki and Shuuichi could choose to fill their time with, if they so chose. Kokichi didn’t know what Shuuichi wanted to see the university for, but...if it was the beginning of his boyfriend feeling out his interest in enrolling? That was a big jump from the quiet uneasiness he’d gotten before from him and Maki. 

“Despite never going to it, I have actually met a few of the university professors, though,” Kokichi rambled, opening their bedroom door for Shuuichi. “When they bring classes to have real examples ‘n practicals ‘n stuff. Usually goin’ to the greenhouse or the observatory.”

Or the library, a class coming to take a look at one of the antique, protected books that were kept in the library archive. But...Kokichi still felt like he shouldn’t really...mention anything related to Nao without Shuuichi bringing her up first. S’why he didn’t talk too much about the haunted house walkthrough that, despite everything, he still did really want to go see. 

Kokichi skipped across their room and into their closet, getting another sweater and a long, thick jacket along with other various items to ward off the cold, tossing a few things Shuuichi’s way too. 

Shuichi nodded, putting on the coat and a scarf, repositioning his hat on his head. If he had known Kokichi had held back on mentioning the archive, he’d have been grateful. That was...a particular moment in that week that Shuichi was specifically not proud of. Moments like that were harder for him to think about now then others. When he was...particularly self-degrading…

But, thankfully, especially lately, flashbacks to those moments were coming up less frequently. And over time, maybe those memories wouldn’t hurt him as much, and he could think about them without sort of vaguely wanting to start screaming. 

Getting dressed, feeling warm and calm and confident, Shuichi took Kokichi’s hand when he was ready, the two taking a quick trip around the wing. Though they had no way of knowing about it, downstairs, right now, Maki was talking to the healers, impatient but listening to their answers and explanations, as she got more and more things set up for her emergency backpack. Maki knew the boys were going shopping today, and had offered to walk with them, but Shuichi had assured her they’d be okay, and if they weren’t, they’d head back to the castle or go to Seiko’s or one of the guards. She had decided not to push the point. She didn’t have to be around Kokichi every time he left the castle...at least, not while the remnants had quieted into nothing since the arrest of Itch and Tom, anyway.

She hoped she wasn’t being too lenient. But they’d...probably be fine.

“Yeah?” Shuichi said, in regards to the professors, “I don’t really know what I would...go there for specifically? I get the sense that ‘detective’ courses aren’t a thing, and...I think I still want to be a detective? Someday, I mean. I didn’t mind the work...and it’s nice to do something I’m good at, you know? But, are detectives, like...a ‘thing’ here?”

Kokichi hummed, nodding. “I always thought it’d be fun to just...look through the classes every quarter and just pick out whatever seemed interesting. Try out all sorts of things. I probably could now, actually, but...I know I’d feel bad, knowing that the time I’d be spending in class or on schoolwork could’ve been spent working or, like, spending time with you guys.”

If you wanted to quantify it, Kokichi’s school days had been over for years, nevermind that he’d never actually gone to a school. But...he did love learning, and...who knew? Maybe he’d pick up something that would come in handy.

“...maybe I’ll think about taking one class…” he murmured to himself before raising his voice to answer Shuuichi. “Oh, yeah, detectives are totally a thing here--when we first got to know each other, I was actually thinking you’d end up with your own business, contacting out your services as a detective.”

Straightening, Kokichi shifted a little into work mode, explaining what Dicean detectives were like. “Most often, detectives work with lawyers, though they’re hired by the guardforce every now and again too. Really, anyone can hire a detective--they’re free agents, and not part of any government or business umbrella. They’d be too biased if they were, you know? Detectives are meant to find out the truth behind incidents--usually crimes, but sometimes just confusing things. Like if there was a B&E, but the guards didn’t see the person who did it? They might hire a detective to find out who it was. Or, like...sometimes, even after someone is arrested? But they don’t confess, or partially confess, their defending lawyer would hire a detective to find proof of the extent of the accused’s involvement. Sometimes a lawyer will hire a detective even when their client confesses, just to make sure that everyone has the story right. No, like...covering for people, or falsely accusing someone, or making something out to be a serious crime when the outcome genuinely was an accident.”

Shrugging a little, Kokichi squeezed Shuuichi’s hand. “And, I mean...people do go to school to help them become detectives. You might find some classes that would be down your alley, and if not? I’d think, like, a criminal law class would be helpful.”

“Criminal law class...that could be exactly what I’m looking for. Learning laws is such a process.” Shuichi sighed, rubbing his temple a little below his hat, “And Luminary laws vs. Dicean laws...it’s going to be an adjustment. But…”

Shuichi smiled a little. Squeezing Kokichi’s hand back, “I miss working. I mean, I know I help you in the office, but… I miss the challenge of solving puzzles. And I miss the pride of it, I guess.” Shuichi admitted with a small shrug, “When I think of myself, it’s in terms of ‘being a detective’. I feel weird...not actually being one.”

“Besides. I gotta cach up with Maki. She’s already got herself a job.” Shuichi pouted. “I bet she thinks she’s just...soooo cool. And if Kaito’s already trying to get a job? Like, actively asking people? I am not gonna be the last person among us working. Nuh uh. Not happening. I at least gotta beat Kaito. Like...sheesh…”

Getting to Kaito’s shrine/walk-in closet, Shuichi gave Kokichi’s hand one more squeeze, and said, “Alright, let me check on him first. Then I’ll let you know if it’s safe to come in.”

An adjustment was right, though...maybe an understatement. Just from the few things he knew, how Dicea treated criminals and how Luminary treated criminals were such different schools of thought that they could barely be considered in the same category. But Maki and Shuuichi did seem to take Dicean law a bit better than Kaito did. And it wouldn’t be Shuuichi’s job to enforce laws or to demand reparations or to rehabilitate people who broke the law. He just had to investigate what laws were actually broken. Which did still necessitate knowing them, but still. 

“I wish my work was a little more exciting for you,” Kokichi grinned sheepishly. “Allocating resources and coming up with standards has always been a sort of puzzle I enjoy, but it’s not the sort of thing that will ever have a concrete answer, let alone an ending. I can see why you’d crave that sort of finality.”

Kokichi giggled at the apparent race between his friends to get back in the workforce. He would support them in whatever they wanted to do, but he did hope that...well, for Shuuichi especially, it wasn’t like he’d just been completely idle these past few months. It was central in Dicean culture to prioritize your health over any sort of work, and Shuuichi had been doing a lot of healing. Getting clean, working past abuse, and he was still coming to terms with having a child. Those were all a lot of work on their own without adding in looking for a job. 

...so was looking after a baby. Kokichi had already thought about his own schedule in those terms. Working half-days would give him a lot of time to be able to bond and look after their kid, and...Ikuo probably wouldn’t mind helping out, especially at the beginning. He’d probably have to be flexible, though, more than his schedule already was for his health. 

His work was important to the country, but...being a parent was one of the most important jobs you could ever have. While he had that leniency to not be the person everyone looked to for answers and a listening ear, he wanted to focus on his family. 

Kokichi had held a hand up to his chest, focused in his anxiety and resolve and excitement, and he nearly stepped forward too when they got to Kaito’s shrine. Giving Shuuichi another sheepish smile, he waited off to the side, not wanting to accidentally get a glimpse, just in case. 

Shuichi went to try the door...and sighed. “Kaito!” He called in to the room, knocking on the door, “You’ve left the door locked! ...damn, I would have thought Maki would have left it unlocked for us last time she checked on him. She’s got the universal key right now…Kaito?”

Another series of knocks. Shuichi sighed as no one answered. Kaito was probably too out of it by this point to even understand where the knocking was coming from… “Kokichi? Can you unlock it?”

“...I totally forgot I gave you guys that, wow. Talk about a callback…” Kokichi shook his head a little and looked around the hall, able to hear people in other halls, but...there was no one around right then. 

Reaching under his jacket and sweater, Kokichi pulled out something still concealed in his fist before he walked past Shuuichi with a cocky grin and a wink. “No problem. You can even time me if you want.” And with that he knelt at the door, sliding in the tension rod and feeling around with his pick, finding out what sort of lock he was dealing with. Nothing too wacky, the same sort of locks on most of the doors in the castle, and before long Kokichi was clicking all the pins into place.

“One...two...false three...mm. Four. One, two, three, four!”

Turning the handle as he rose, but not opening the door yet, Kokichi gave his boyfriend another wink. “You can call me your universal key too.”

Shuichi smiled warmly at this, more pleased than anything by how clearly proud of this ability Kokichi was. After he was done, Shuichi clapped twice and said, “My hero~. Thanks Kokichi.” he said, rewarding the small prince with a quick, chaste kiss, before taking the door handle and opening it up.

The smell was immediately overwhelming, and Shuichi had to stop for a moment, letting some of the fumes out into the hallway a bit before remembering that other people going up and down the hallway today might not appreciate the dosing. Getting in quickly, closing the door behind him, Shuichi gave himself a second to get used to the somewhat familiar herbal smell, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the closet, as Kaito only had two candles lighting things, giving his ‘visions’ his full attention.

Kaito was curled into a corner, his knees up to his chest, his arms around his chest. He didn’t so much as glance up at Shuichi as his boyfriend carefully approached him, kneeling down to check on him. 

There was a smal, clean bandage on his arm, likely one Kaito had wrapped himself. Good. Looking around, he saw the bowl of offerings to Atua...and there was a small, black cloth on top of it. One of Maki’s, Shuichi recognized. That was nice of her. She knew Kokichi had wanted to visit, so she covered up the blood bowl.

Wanting to make certain Kaito wasn’t overdoing, Shuichi went to the blood bowl and peeked inside...good. Barely anything in there. He had lightened up on the cuts since purdiciam. Good...his cutting on the despair pollen had been extreme, and Shuichi was glad to see Kaito was going easy on himself now. 

Next to the bowl of offering was an small, intricate designed metal plate, with small coals burning gently on it, and on them, with a few sticks still left to the side of the plate to be added to it throughout the day, was sticks of the hallucinogenic that Seiko had prepared. The sticks on the plate were almost down to ash, so Shuichi put a fresh stick on, before going back to check on Kaito again.

Kaito looked about how Shuichi expected. Eyes red and blown out, entirely unaware of anything happening out of his head, his whole body shaking lightly. He’d stay that unaware until someone touched him...Shuichi went to the closet door and opened it up, “It’s clean Kokichi. You can come in if you want, but it’s a little smokey. We shouldn’t stay long if you do.”

Giggling at his kiss, Kokichi patiently waited for Shuuichi to scope things out, likely checking in on Kaito for his own concern too. And when he called back out, Kokichi couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief even before he’d seen his husband. If things were clean, then it meant Kaito hadn’t overdone things. 

Though, smoke was a bit of an issue. 

Tugging his scarf up over his nose, Kokichi tried to filter out as much as possible as he slipped into the shrine. And...well, Kaito seemed unharmed, and that’s what mattered most. Even if he was a little worried about how obviously tripping he was. Glancing around, Kokichi saw definite signs that Kaito had been eating and drinking water so...it was alright.

…

“...he’s supposed to be like this, right?”

“Hm?” Shuichi asked, breathing in the smoke a bit...before seeing Kokichi covering his own mouth and remembering, right. Pregnant. Wasn’t just Kokichi he had to look out for. So, taking his own scarf and covering his mouth (shame. He had forgotten how nice that small, lightheaded feeling could be, at the beginning of the ritual process), Shuichi nodded, “Yeah. You have to remember, he’s been in here for most of the day. It’s stressful on the body. But he’ll be fine by tomorrow. Maybe a headache.”

Walking over to Kaito, Shuichi reached over for the pitcher of water and filled up a glass, before carefully putting a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, “Kaito? Come back to us...can you hear me? Come on now, we can’t stay long, wake up.” Shuichi insisted, hardening his grip on his shoulder...until Kaito blinked a few times, his gaze refocusing on Shuichi. More aware now. “Hey...drink some water okay? How are you feeling?”

Kaito looked down at the glass, reached out to take it...and missed. Brow furrowing in confusion before trying again. Shuichi, gently, lowered his hand from his scarf for a moment, grasping Kaito’s hand and guiding it to the cup. When Kaito had it, Shuichi proceeded to tie the scarf securely, before helping Kaito drink a bit, his hands not steady. “It’s Shuichi. Kaito, do you know where you are? Do you wanna step outside a second, get some fresh air?”

“...was supposed to be a fisherman….” Kaito sighed, blinking too rapidly again, his eyes fluttering and twitching more than anything. Drinking from the glass deeply, “...he said he was sorry…”

...and then Kaito’s eyes reddened further, and there was a small sob. “I-I would have liked being a f-fisherman…”

Shuichi sighed. Helping Kaito up. “Just a breath of fresh air, Kaito. Then you can go back to it. Come on.” he said, leading him to the door.

Kokichi nodded, still looking over Kaito in worry. Even when he was feeling particularly rebellious, he’d never tried anything hard. Or...well, he supposed Seiko wouldn’t have given Kaito anything hard, but just having so much of it continually… Maybe Kokichi would break habit and leave early to bring breakfast back for his lovers tomorrow. Give Kaito an easier morning. 

Kokichi scurried over to Kaito’s other side, putting a gentle hand on his back to help guide him over to the door. “I didn’t know you liked to fish… Maybe that’ll be a trip sometime, a fishing trip. Could be fun.”

“I wouldn’t take anything he says right now too seriously.” Shuichi cautioned his boyfriend, taking him outside and quickly shutting the door behind them. Then he goaded Kaito into walking with them down the hallway, where a window was, and moved to open it real quick, a blast of cold, fresh air hitting them. “You can forget your own name on this stuff, if it's anything like what we had at home. And most of his memories of today tomorrow won’t make a lot of sense, even to him.”

Kaito took deep, needy breaths of the air coming in from the window, looking around in confusion, but some of the red leaving his face...and he looked over at Kokichi and blinked down at him in wonder. “You’re so many people...you’re so old…you’re so much older then me...”

Shuichi shrugged. See?

Kokichi shivered slightly at the burst of cold, but just hunkered down in his clothes, now just rubbing Kaito’s back instead of guiding him. “That seems really intense… Even if it weren’t for the bloodletting, I’m glad I didn’t ask about joining Kai-chan today, then. Smoke’s not that great for me, and I don’t think getting blitzed out of my mind would be either.”

Laughing lightly at Kaito’s acknowledgement, Kokichi supposed he was just happy to help Kaito out in this little way. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been called old, hun. I don’t know if I should be flattered or worried that my looks are fading away.” Chuckling softly, Kokichi rubbed at Kaito’s shoulder. “Love you, Kai-chan, even though you’re in another world right now.”

Kaito looked confused, watching Kokichi’s lips, like he was trying to read them, even as his head dipped to rub against the hand on his shoulder, seeking out that familiar comfort...before he focused on the word ‘world’ and sighed, looking tired and hurt. “Our destinies ripped away and made patchwork. So many people torn from their fates. Cruel. Atua can be cruel...but all for Miya. Miya will keep the stars in the sky. So much sacrificed for Miya and the stars…”

“...I know it’s selfish. But I would have liked to have been the fisherman…” Kaito said mournfully, running a hand over his face, looking guilty and grief ridden.

Shuichi sighed again. “He really is fine. I’ve seen him do this over a dozen times. He’s just, ya know...tripping. Kaito? You feeling a little clearer? Do you need to go to the bathroom or anything?”

Kaito looked over at Shuichi in confusion. “...need you, handsome. Gotta keep the stars in the sky…”

“Sure. But after you use the bathroom. Then you can go back to your shrine.” Shuichi negotiated, turning to Kokichi, “Where’s the bathroom around here?”

Kokichi knew he shouldn’t take what Kaito was saying seriously at all, but he couldn’t help but consider his words regardless. And he could totally tell why people thought taking drugs could give them visions--Kaito was talking almost beat for beat like some wizened oracle in an epoch. ...he wondered who ‘Miya’ was. 

Smiling kindly up at Kaito, Kokichi moved his hand back down into a guiding position. “Over this way--it’s literally, like, two doors down from Kai-chan’s shrine. Should we be worried about him being nauseous?”

Kokichi led the way, keeping Kaito moving and thinking over the babbled bits and pieces he spoke aloud, finding it kind of entertaining, at least. 

Taking Kaito over to the bathroom, Shuichi looked over at Kaito, “Are you going to be able to go by yourself? Please say yes.”

“All our gods created a deal. You were designed, handsome. You’re brand new. A brand new Shuichi. A blank slate for all the knowledge in the world... Maki was a beast. A piece of the last dragon. She’s almost as old as ‘Kichi...do you think she misses being able to fly?” Kaito wondered, “I wish she could fly still...I think she’d be happier…”

“Fine. I’ll go in with him.” Shuichi said, looking over to Kokichi, “Wait out here, watching him pee doesn’t need to be a group event.” Shuichi said playfully. “Then we’ll drop him off and go do our shopping. Kaito, do you want anything from the store?” Shuichi asked, as they disappeared inside.

...maybe he should write some of this down. Not because he thought it was particularly important--as Shuuichi said, Kaito was just tripping--but...it did kind of sound like ideas for a cool story. Maybe it’d be something to play around with. And maybe Kaito would remember more of it tomorrow. 

Probably not, but that was okay. 

Giving a nod--he probably wouldn’t be much help in stabilizing Kaito, no matter how much he wanted to--Kokichi waited outside the bathroom, leaning against the wall. A story of fate and stolen futures, a last hope to save everything...it sounded pretty amazing to him. 

They were in there for maybe ten, twelve minutes, when the door opened again, and Kaito was walking a little more steadier, still looking pretty strung out and confused. He looked distressed, on the verge of tears. And Shuichi was calmly telling him, “Right, but none of that happened. So you don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay...”

“...h-he was so sad in the hospital bed….y-you and Maki were gone...I-I didn’t know what to do...I’m so sorry…” he whimpered, tears falling down his face. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

“But you didn’t. So it’s okay.” Shuichi said soothingly to him, before sighing to Kokichi. “I hate to leave him on a down point, but...well, he’s probably been having ups and downs all day. Just part of the ritual. Let’s get him back inside.”

Kokichi could only look at his lovers in concern, but...Shuuichi was right, and Kokichi had promised him to go shopping. Joining in on the sigh, Kokichi nodded and took up his position in guiding Kaito forward. “Be safe, love. Maki-chan’s around, and we’ll probably check on you again later, okay? I love you…”

Once they’d gotten Kaito settled back down on one of his cushions, Kokichi turned to Shuuichi with another sigh before linking their arms together, pressing against Shuuichi before starting to lead them to head out. 

“So, the university, that soap shop, there is a stop I wanna make at some point, though it’ll be quick, and I really wanna get you something warm to drink as we go about, but are there any other places you wanna make sure we hit?” ...maybe a clothes store? Ikuo had gifted Shuuichi some good sweatpants, but especially if Shuuichi was going to be getting bigger sooner than they expected...it might be good to get at least a shirt or two. 

By the time they got Kaito in the cushion, he had stopped crying and had moved onto talking insistently about puppets, for some reason, and Shuichi felt better leaving him alone. The sudden shifts in conversation and mood was why Shuichi wasn’t too bothered by Kaito’s up and down mood during the rituals. Sure, he could be sobbing one second, but like...give it a minute. He’ll move on to something entirely new on his own.

Best to just wait it out and let him do his thing, and disentangle it tomorrow when he was coherent. 

Getting out in the open air was a relief, Shuichi chuckling to himself at the idea of Maki being a ‘dragon’--She’d love that when they told her-- when he considered Kokichi’s question. 

“Mmmm...maybe we could stop real quick and get some clothes, if we have time? Things are getting a little tighter, and Hajime says he can only adjust the original material of my clothes so far.” Shuichi said, and while he said this more casually then he might have before, he still said it quietly and looked around with a blush, like some random stranger passing by would stop and laugh at him. “...other then that? Can we stop by the hobby shop? Kaito’s birthday is coming up and I thought I might get him some more unique paints for his figurines, especially if he’s trying to share that hobby with Tim.”

Kokichi smiled a bit, proud of Shuuichi, in a way, for bringing it up himself. With how much Shuuichi struggled with his body image these days, he didn’t want to push, but he wasn’t about to leave Shuuichi without anything to wear. 

Nodding cheerfully and giving a bright hum, Kokichi stroked the side of Shuuichi’s hand, even if he was wearing gloves. His fingers usually were little icicles, as Kaito teased--but they really hadn’t seen anything compared to it Kokichi didn’t wear gloves outside. “Sure thing! I’ll probably see if they have any of those thick wool socks I like--can really never have too many pairs.”

His turn to look around covertly, though it was more for the drama of it all, Kokichi gave Shuuichi a wink. “That sounds like a wonderful gift. Kai-chan’s birthday is actually why I wanna make that extra stop. I made a commission request, and it’s ready now, so since we’re out and about, I thought I’d pick it up myself rather than having it delivered to the castle.”

“...I was kinda worried, when things were getting rough,” he admitted quietly, his hand stilling in Shuuichi’s. “It’s silly when there were way more important things I was worried about...but I still wanted to be able to give Kai-chan his birthday gift. ...even if he hated me.”

“...was Kaito really going to divorce you?” Shuichi asked quietly, as they walked down the sidewalk for their first stop. “I mean...I guess I’m just having a hard time imagining how that conversation went. Kaito hasn’t talked to me about it at all, the whole Maki/Kaede mess. I thought he would. I thought I’d have to explain myself or…” Shuichi shrugged. “Something. But no. Nothing. He almost didn’t seem bothered at all by it, from what I saw.”

Kokichi’s shoulders dropped a little. They had needed to have that conversation, but it was still, just...horrible. “...I don’t think he would’ve. But he definitely thought about it. I mean...it was enough that he said he wasn’t sure if he still loved me, so…”

He rubbed his face a bit, sighing. “...it’s hard when you don’t speak the same language as someone else. When what you think is right and how you see the world is just...completely different from someone else’s point of view. Kai-chan was bothered by it all, believe me, but...by the time we made it back home, I think he’d just decided to roll with things. And get drunk in the morning.”

“...I did mention that you never really wanted anything to do with it.” Kokichi looked back up at his boyfriend, a soft look in his eyes. “I don’t know how much that changed things for Kai-chan. But you don’t want any of us getting hurt, and our Shuu-chan’s the practical one, always thinking about things on the level. And whatever he feels about it now...he knows we care about him.”

Another little sigh as they neared a small cafe. “What do you want to drink? I’ll pay, my treat.”

“Yeah...I swear, I really won’t allow that to become a habit for him. Kaito cannot become a drunk. That’s where I’m drawing the line for him.” Shuichi said, brow furrowing, “We already have so many things stacked against us...we can’t add something like that. He can’t add something like that. Maybe it seems strange to harp on that so much, but...alcoholism is pretty rampant back in Luminary. And it’s considered one of those things that like...basically means you’ve given up. And I just… Kaito can’t give up. I need him...”

“...well, if he ever wants to actually talk to me about it, I’ll tell him my side of things. Tell him about you and Maki and how…” Shuichi sighed, “Maki got mad at me, when you accused Kaede of manipulating her. She guessed I had put that thought in your head. And she’s right. I did. Because that’s what I believe. Kaede is a good person with some deep, deep flaws, who was manipulating both of you.”

“And a part of me had hoped that when it all came to light? When we all started talking about this? That I could get Kaito to seriously think about Kaede and Byakuya. That I could use it as an opportunity to talk him out of talking to anyone in Luminary anymore. To completely disconnect, after seeing the danger they were putting Maki in just talking to us...and instead?” Shuichi huffed. “He wants to try to make nice with them and ‘ask them to stop’. Kaito…” Shuichi shook his head. Clearly disappointed.

“Oh! Thank you, Kokichi.” Shuichi said sincerely, giving his boyfriend a soft smile, before looking at the cafe, “Um...would a cinnamon chai milk tea be too much? And a pastry, would that be okay? I’m really craving sweet things…”

“It’s not a very hopeful thing over here either,” Kokichi sighed. “People are encouraged to follow their passions and...I guess that leads to a lot of addictive personalities. There are a lot of programs and support groups, and of course alcoholism is covered in health classes, but you can never reach everyone. But for Kai-chan… I’m going to be more stern with it too.”

Kokichi looked out at the people around them, all out living their own lives with their own problems and pockets of joy. “...I really should’ve stayed to talk to Kaede. I don’t know her, and the only things I know come through you guys, so when you mentioned she could be manipulative? Then that’s the lens I had to put over everything people said she said. But I should’ve stayed to hear the words from her own mouth.”

Nothing really to be done of it now. 

Kokichi looked up at Shuuichi with some surprise. He knew that Shuuichi didn’t find any hope in the situation in Luminary, but to cut off all communication? “...I don’t think we’ll ever get to that point, since I’ll eventually need to talk to Byakuya for business stuff. Kai-chan says that he admires his brother for his own reasons, even despite everything else, and I want to respect that...but I really don’t think they’re very good for each other. But I can’t demand that they have no contact with each other, even aside from whatever Byakuya wants to threaten.” He rolled his eyes a bit, honestly finding that more annoying and disappointing than threatening.

Taking a look at the cafe’s menu himself, Kokichi hummed as he sorted through his coins, counting out the amount he needed for their refreshments. “Sugar, I know all about having a sweet tooth--and that drink is no problem! Honestly, despite Kai-chan fussing over your diet, I think you should be able to eat whatever you want, yanno, within reason. If you’re getting pregnancy cravings, I’ll do what I can to fulfill them.”

Standing on his toes to place a kiss on Shuuichi’s cheek, they waited for their turn in line, ordering their drinks and Shuuichi’s pastry before waiting off to the side for them to be made. 

Shuichi followed Kokichi, taking both of his hands in his and leaning against the wall as they waited, still feeling pretty calm and chill, despite the heavy subject matter as he smiled, something smug in it. “Well, Byakuya’s weird, possessive tendencies aside, both him and Kaede are about to have plenty to distract them from even thinking about us. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaede cancels Maki’s involvement in her plans herself, and so long as Kaito’s not, like, in any obvious danger from this point forward? Yeah. Byakuya’s going to be distracted by his own problems...I know it’s unkind to be happy about all that. But I am. I feel like the more I think about it, the more we’ve dodged an arrow with Luminary’s situation entirely.”

Shuichi shrugged happily. “I’ve given up on Danganronpa. I think Luminaries given up on us, and if they haven't yet, will soon. And with that, I don’t know...I feel like…” Shuichi laughed, blushing slightly, “Maybe this is just me being overly positive. Maybe even hormonal? Since that’s a thing for me now, I guess... I just feel like a lot of problems are just sort of gone now. I don’t know, I feel optimistic about it all.”

Kokichi nodded consideringly, and while he couldn’t help feeling like he needed to do something about the situation in Luminary...he couldn’t. It wasn’t his problem to solve. And because Kaede wanted to solve it, and Byakuya was involved no matter what...they would be rather busy. Even for policy talk. 

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to feel,” Kokichi hummed, placing light kisses on the outside of Shuuichi’s hands. “Personally...I’ve been glad for a long time you guys aren’t in Luminary anymore. I know Dicean kindness and protection isn’t exactly what makes you feel best...but it’s good for my own piece of mind knowing that...I don’t know. You guys aren’t being institutionally exploited anymore. Gives us space to work on other stuff.”

Kokichi turned as their order was called, breaking free of Shuuichi’s hands to collect the drinks and treat, passing off the milk tea and pastry while he took a careful sip of his peppermint hot chocolate. “Stuff like getting to take my sweet Shuu-chan on dates, for one,” he continued, flashing his boyfriend a grin.

Shuichi shrugged. “Dicea feels fine to me. It’s just a new place. I don’t care about Luminary, and I certainly don’t idolize it. Trust me, out of your three Luminaries, I’m not the one dealing with any culture shock...well, except that one time I wanted to try to get that jerk flirting with you arrested. I’ll admit...was pretty bummed out what I realized that trick wasn’t going to work anymore. Probably for the best.” Shuichi laughed, sipping at his tea, before happily munching on his pastry.

“I’m glad that you’re not being institutionally exploited anymore so we can go on dates...that’s an amazing quote. I feel like that should be embroidered on a pillow.” Shuichi snickered, finishing his pastry quickly so that he could take Kokichi’s hand again. He liked holding Kokichi’s hand. “So, where to next? Are we near your mystery pickup spot? Can I know what you got him?”

Kokichi gave Shuuichi a soft look, and while he really could believe that, culturally, Shuuichi was probably adapting the best...there had been some moments. And that was okay. No matter how relaxed you were, adapting to a completely different culture took time. 

(...Kokichi tried not to think too hard about the example Shuuichi gave. ...if he’d just been upfront with Brent, could it all have been avoided? Or just on a track for a different disaster?)

Happily taking Shuuichi’s hand, Kokichi swung it lightly before nodding with pride. “It’s kinda near the clothing store I wanna take you to--though, we can totally go to others too, I just thought this one might have stuff you’d be more interested in. And you can totally see what I got him, though I think seeing it is much better than me just telling you~!”

Kokichi snickered after his sing-song tease, gently bumping his arm against Shuuichi’s. “But I did also get him a collectors box of the first three books in the Triforce Series. He doesn’t seem that broken up about it, but I wanna help build Kai-chan’s book collection again. There are better things to worry about, but it always felt so sad to me, having to give up so many books…” He sighed before looking back up with a teasing look. “I’m glad you two have found good places for your stuff, ‘cause I really don’t know what I’d be able to get rid of for space. I’d be whining and debating for weeks.”

“Ooooh, the triforce series! I think I read one of those. That was the one with the sword guy and...what was her name...Zilva? Zelda! She was my favorite one. She wasn’t in the book much, but I liked her visuals and the sort of ‘wisdom’ theme around her, though her powers were kind of vague...and oh.” Shuichi laughed, covering his mouth as he said quietly to Kokichi, “Kaito was so obsessed with one of the characters in it. He made me draw pictures of the guy and he put him on his wall. I have no idea what he saw in him, I drew him kinda ugly, with this big crooked nose and a receding hairline, just to tease him a bit...and nope. Kaito still loved it.” Shuichi rolled his eyes. “But that’s a really good gift, Kokichi, I wish I had thought of something like that.”

“And I didn’t bring a lot of things to begin with, so it was fine...in fact…”

Shuichi sipped his tea, brow furrowed.

“...I’m thinking of throwing a lot of things away. But I don’t know if I should. I’m worried I’ll feel differently about it in, like, six months...like I’ll get rid of them and wake up one morning just wishing I hadn’t. You know?”

Kokichi perked. Books weren’t really something he and Shuuichi talked about, but considering Shuuichi had been best friends with Kaito for so long, some things might’ve gotten to him. “Zelda is very cool. While there are, like, some bits of continuity, the series kind of acts like an anthology of stories in the same loose universe, you know? So, in some of them, Zelda does actually have a bigger role. I could point out those ones if you were ever interested.”

“Pfff, yeah,” Kokichi laughed. “That’s why I know he likes that series--we were talking about, like, childhood character crushes. Kai-chan said he was big into Ganon, would think up self-insert stories with him. Kai-chan even said that he feels like he kinda looks like a Gerudo when he gets a tan. But, anyway, I think Kai-chan will love some new, cool paints. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Invigorated by the chatter, Kokichi calmed a little, thinking before he ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth some of it out of his face. “I don’t, really. I don’t like throwing stuff away...everything just has too many memories for me. Or can have, like, a million uses, and I never know when I’ll need it. I’ve gotten rid of clothes, but we always give them to a thread recycler, so I know that they’re going to be useful for someone even if they don’t fit anymore.”

“...maybe sit on it for a bit? Wish I could give you some better insight, sorry.”

“Nnnng...giving them to other people feels...worse somehow.” Shuichi admitted, shoulders slumping. Oh well...guess he’d just….put off making a decision for awhile. He had put them all into a bag and just thrown it into a back corner of the closet, so...at least he didn’t have to look at them all.

As the two walked some more, Shuichi asking which books had more Zelda in them and cheerfully listening to Kokichi explain them to him, they got a few glances everywhere they went. Of course they did. But Shuichi wasn’t feeling the eyes today. He felt good today, and really only felt it when Kokichi’s gaze was on him.

And that felt good.

As they walked, Shuichi took another sip of his tea...and suddenly said, “Oh, wait. I promised Kaito I’d do something. Kokichi, can we stop by young Cali’s home? I have the address, and if I’ve got a grasp of the area, then it’s not far from the market. Her mother doesn’t want Cali training with Timothy and Kaito. Kaito was hoping a good word from the Heir Apparent would change her mind.”

It was nice, just...casually walking around, talking about things that didn’t really matter all that much, holding hands… Thankfully no one stopped them like when they were getting Maki back that horrible evening, but Kokichi did return nods and smiles when he could. That was, when his eyes and smiles weren’t solely for Shuuichi. 

Making their way to their destinations without any real rush, Kokichi raised his eyebrows in surprise before quickly coming to an understanding. “Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, we can totally stop by. Really, like, it’s not my place to tell someone else how to raise their kid, but from all I’ve heard, Mrs. Fornia just has...yanno, safety concerns. And those I can do my best to assuage.”

He hoped he’d explain things well to her, at least. He would understand the reservations Cali’s mom might have about Luminaries, and...about Kaito in particular… But Kaito had never hurt Tim, not in the worst of his throes, and, really? These days, training was mostly just fitness exercise that Kaito led before the kids went to school. Which there had been a lot of studies showing that it could help with focus and information absorption, so, really, it was a pretty good habit to keep up. 

...plus there was the fact that Kokichi was pretty sure that no matter what her mom said, Cali would keep coming. It really wasn’t his place to even approach the subject, but...if Cali was determined, then...wasn’t it better to not let this become a divide between them?

Masking a sigh with a sip from his drink, Kokichi gave Shuuichi’s hand a small squeeze, hoping that this would go well.

Shuichi led him to the address Kaito had given him, and after confirming it was correct, knocked on the door. Then, partly out of habit, partly out of strategy, he stepped backwards, being a step behind Kokichi and plastered a soft, vague smile on his face as he put his hands in front of his waist, crossing them over each other. Soft. Non-threatening. Fading slightly into the background.

A woman opened the door. She had a burn mark that took up a third of her face, with that same side of her head shaved shown into a buzzcut, the rest of her hair a carefully maintained half-cut, not dissimilar to Maki’s. Her expression, also, was not dissimilar to Maki’s, peering out suspiciously for a moment...before her eyes recognized Kokichi. 

...then her face lit up, a blush scorching across her face as she opened the door wide, smiling excitedly as she said, “P-Prince Kokichi! Oh, uh...hello! Welcome to my home, I’m Killa Fornia! Um, h-how can I help you? What do we owe the honor?”

“Moooom? Who’s at the door?” Cali called out from somewhere distant behind her.

Killa twitched, before calling over her shoulder, “It’s not Timothy or Kimiko! And it wouldn’t matter if it was! Go back to washing the dishes young lady!”

Kokichi smiled up at the woman, trying to exude calmness to soothe her fluster. “Hello, Mrs. Fornia, I’m sorry to come by all unannounced like this--I hope you’ve been having a great day.” His smile quirked up a little in fondness, hearing Cali call out. He hadn’t really spent much time with her, but she was a great friend of Tim’s, had a great attitude, and that was more than enough for him to be fond. 

“I don’t mean to let all the heat out of your home,” he chuckled, “But I was hoping to talk to you sometime about Cali’s trips to the castle. She’s welcome, of course, but my husband was telling me you had some concerns, and I was hoping to address them. I do realize this is a literal drop in, but if there’s a day that would work for you, I’d be delighted to sit down with you and talk things out.”

Ideally they could just talk things out now, but Kokichi never would want to just barge into someone’s home unannounced. Taking some of the pressure off would indicate that they were both going to be equal in the conversation he was hoping for, and usually people were happier to listen to you when you could prove you were listening to them too.

“Oh! This is about Cali?”

“What’s about me mom?”

“Finish the dishes Cali!” Killa shouted back at her daughter, twitching, before beaming back down at Kokichi, opening the door wider as she said, “Oh, of course, of course, please step in, I’m so sorry you’ve been standing in the cold! Can I get either of you anything, coffee, tea…”

Killa narrowed her eyes, looking curiously at Shuichi, only just now noticing him...and she frowned slightly. “Oh, you. Shuichi Saihara.”

Shuichi continued to smile vacantly, nodding his head and bowing slightly. “Thank you for allowing us into your home, Miss Fornia.”

Killa twitched, looking at him suspiciously...before looking back at Kokichi and smiling brightly. “I have tea boiling right this moment, actually, if you don’t mind green with some sugar?”

Kokichi nodded his head in thanks, though his smile dimmed slightly at Killa’s...less than pleased reaction to Shuuichi. She distrusted Luminaries, obviously, but...it was still disheartening. At least Shuuichi seemed to have prepared for this. 

Stepping into the house from the cold, Kokichi brightened his smile back up though with an apology. “Thank you for your kind hospitality, but Shuu-chan and I got some drinks just a bit ago. Otherwise, I would accept--green teas really do have that Mid-Fall feeling down, don’t they?” Gotta keep things light. 

Following where the woman led, Kokichi assured that Killa could fix up her own tea before they talked, and in the small moment, Kokichi bumped his arm against Shuuichi’s, giving him a thankful look. And, once they were all ready, Kokichi gave Killa a nod. “So, from what I understand, you have some safety concerns about Cali coming by to the castle before school in the mornings? The grapevine does confuse things, so is that right?”

Blowing slightly on her tea, Killa looked around somewhat sheepishly on the somewhat messy nature of her home (Cali was a rambunctious child) before refocusing on Kokichi, once again staring at him in open delight. It was an Ouma. An Ouma had deigned to visit her home. Wow….

“Concerns…?” Killa said absentmindedly, sounding genuinely confused...before frowning. Some of that giddy, star-struck delight leaving her as she said, “Oh, those training sessions...right. Well, it’s not that I have concerns, of course I know that Cali is perfectly safe at the castle-”

“Then let me go to the trainings!” Said a voice from the kitchen, water running.

“Grown ups are talking, Cali!” Killa shouted back, the twitching getting more pronounced. She looked back at Kokichi, a wary smile on her face, “But...while I’m certain the Ouma family and the highly capable staff at the castle are keeping a handle on things as best they can...I have heard,” she twitched, “worrying rumors...about Prince Momota’s...temper...and Cali, as you may have guessed right now, is not good at not pushing buttons-”

Cali made a frustrated, offended sound from the kitchen, the sound of running water somehow?? Getting more aggressive???

“-...and I would hate for…” At this, Killa’s face genuinely softened, touching the burn mark on the side of her face in a way that was clearly subconsciously as she said, “...she’s such a little thing, really. It makes me sick, the idea of Cali being….attacked in some way…I know that the castle would protect her if the Momota lost control of himself! I’m not saying they wouldn’t!” She assured the prince, in no way wanting to offend him, before saying firmly, “But...I just don’t see a reason to take that sort of risk of her wellbeing. She’s more than welcome to hang out with the Timothy boy in any other context, it’s not him I’m worried about. I’m not...” Killa glanced at Shuichi, before looking somewhat defensive, “anti-Luminary or anything like that. I’m just concerned about that particular Luminary.”

...he couldn’t judge anyone’s parenting style. 

...but maybe Cali’s resentment wasn’t as one-sided as he’d thought. 

Kokichi listened, nodding occasionally, and...really, at the heart of it all, Killa was a concerned parent. He’d understand more one day, but he understood being a concerned spouse, boyfriend, and friend. “I understand… I will assure you that there are other adults present during training, and...while I have my own menagerie of feelings on it, I know Kai-chan and Maki-chan started training Tim in the hopes of putting that fear of their son being attacked to rest. Ideally, it’d be wonderful to trust that you’ll never get in a fight with someone, but that’s just not reasonable. So, one of the options you can take is knowing how to defend yourself, and that’s what Tim’s parents are teaching him.”

“However, your concerns about Kai-chan in particular…” Kokichi couldn’t stop his smile from growing melancholic. “...he’s not been very lucky. I can assure you without qualifications that Kai-chan has never hurt Tim, and he does actively try to keep the worst of his anger from him. I know the rumors aren’t very kind, but my husband really is a good person. But between being drugged and having his life and the lives of those he loves put in danger so many times since our marriage...passion really can be a double-edged sword. With the Remnants in Dicea arrested and international tensions relaxing, we’re looking forward to outside stressors calming down, and for personal stress, Kai-chan’s going to complete his anger management course. I would understand if your worries win out--care for your daughter is far from a flaw, ma’am--but with everything I know about my husband and the training sessions, I would personally assure that Kai-chan would never attack Cali.”

Killa bit her lip a little...conflicted between her (hatred) suspicion of Luminaries and her sincere faith in the Ouma name…

...and her trust in Kokichi won out, Killa sighing as she said, “Yes, yes, I mean...if you’re assuring me, Prince Kokichi, that my Cali isn’t in any danger there? Well, that’s extremely reassuring, and of course I trust your judgement. In fact, it’s incredibly flattering that you felt the need to talk to me yourself, on behalf of my Cali...so, yes, if I have your word she’s safe?”

Killa smiled softly, “Of course she can attend the morning training.”

“Yes!!! Woo!!!!”

“Indoor voice, Cali!!”

Shuichi sighed, still trying to seem as quiet, non-threatening, and as little noticed as possible. Him adding anything to this would have backfired. He was glad this had gone so smoothly.

Kokichi gave Killa a bright smile. “I would hope to hear out any concern people have, Mrs. Fornia. I may not attend court that often, but it still is my job. But more than an heir?” He laughed softly, giving her a softer smile, the kind that made little creases by his eyes. “Watching Tim and Cali in their friendship can make me no happier as his uncle. They make a good pair, and a good trio with Kimiko too, though I haven’t spoken to her much, in all honesty. If I can address your concerns so that their friendship can grow? It’s the least I can do, for all of you.”

Giggling a little at Cali’s outburst, Kokichi was nothing but warmth and kindness. “Thank you again for allowing us into your home on a surprise, and for speaking with me. I don’t want to encourage shouting in your home, but if it’s alright? We say hi to Cali. Now, we don’t mean to intrude on your home for much longer…” Kokichi trailed off, making the polite niceties to end a visit. 

“Oh yes, of course, let me walk yo-”

“I’ll walk them out!!” Cali shouted, heading out of the kitchen, slightly soaked by the dish water as she reached out and grabbed both Kokichi’s and Shuichi’s hands, pulling at them as she insisted, “Come on, the doors this way!”

Killa twitched, but said, “It was lovely meeting you, Prince Kokichi! You have a good day then!”

“Have a good day, Miss Fornia.” Shuichi said over his shoulder, nodding his head as he allowed Cali to pull at him.

Taking them to the door and opening it up, Cali led them outside, before closing the door. Then, in a very Luminary move, she bowed low to both of them and said, “Thank you so much! Prince Kokichi! Mr. Saihara! My mom’s a pain in the butt! Thank you for talking to her!”

Straightening up, Cali looked determined as she suddenly declared, deciding on it right then and there. “I’m gonna train super hard and become super strong, and I’m gonna be like Maki Harukawa someday! I’m gonna be on your security team, Mr. Saihara!”

“...uh…” Shuichi blinked. Had he misheard that… before pointing at himself, “My security team? Huh?”

“Yeah! Timothy said he has to train to protect you because Miss Harukuawa said bad things keep happening to you, and you’re his sibling’s mom now! And I wanna work with Timothy when we’re grown up, so I’m gonna do that too!”

“...oh.” Shuichi said...before bowing to her a little, “Okay. Thank you, Cali. We can...talk about that again someday when you’re eighteen.” He said placatingly, certain the nine year old would forget all about this someday.

Cali grinned wide, nodding, before bowing to Kokichi again, “Thank you again, Prince Kokichi!”

“It was wonderful meeting you too, Mrs. Fornia! See you around!”

Kokichi let himself be led by Cali, grinning down at the girl and getting to give his greeting himself. And...what he figured she’d wanted to show them out for what pretty spot on, if not in the details. 

Aww, that was sweet. Tim and his friends declaring to protect Shuuichi and his little sibling. Kokichi was an only child and his circumstances meant that he’d never really had to worry about divided attention from a caregiver, but he was glad to see Tim already taking on a big brother role. He had a feeling he’d be great at it. 

Giving Cali a smile and a nod, there was a certain amount of pride for the kids around Kokichi. “I’d be worried if training was going to make things difficult between you and your mom, and her worries just mean she cares about you. Hang in there, Cali, and you’re always welcome at the castle.”

As they bade the girl goodbye, Kokichi pressed against Shuuichi’s arm. “A whole Shuu-chan-focused security detail, huh? I should check in with them, make sure I’m not on thin ice.”

Shuichi snorted, though he was blushing slightly, “It’s just a few kids playing pretend. If Cali and Timothy want to tell themselves their training towards a goal? I don’t mind them picking me as some sort of motivation...though, really Maki?” 

Shuichi sighed, sweating slightly, “‘Bad things keep happening to him’? I wish she hadn’t told Timothy whatever she did to make him worry about stuff like that. I know me and Tim don’t exactly hang out regularly, but I really have been trying to make an effort to be...normal, around him. Stable.”

He shrugged lightly, looking embarrassed, “He’s just a kid. He doesn’t need to know that literally all the adults in his life are total messes.”

As long as they didn’t lock themselves into a decision like that? Then Kokichi was of the same mind as Shuuichi. They could bond and hang out together, while getting some exercise and some great self-defence training. Kokichi was always hoping for peace in his country, but...it was better to be prepared than naive. 

“...I think he knows anyway,” Kokichi confessed with a small smile. “After he and Kyuu-chan had their faceoff, Tim-chan came to me, wanting to ask how to deal with living with someone that tried to kill you. It took me a sec, but...he was asking because he wanted advice on how not to scare Kyuu-chan.” Kokichi huffed, fondly bewildered. “Said he was embarrassed to have been scared of what happened, considering he saw Kyuu-chan to be kind of pathetic. I get the feeling Tim-chan thinks we’re all idiots, even more than what kids usually think.”

“But it would be nice to try and be more stable for him. Give him a childhood that he can look back fondly on, knowing he was safe and loved. …’s what I’m hoping for our little one too.” Kokichi hugged Shuuichi’s arm for a moment, giving him a soft look. “And while it’s a little late for looking back at childhood, I’m hoping for that with you guys too. We might have no idea what we’re doing...but we’re trying to get a little more of a clue everyday, and I really think that adds up into something that counts.”

“Yeah...well, I feel better about things then I have in a while.” Shuichi admitted, adjusting the cover of his hat with his free hand, smiling fondly down at Kokichi, “Again, might just be hormones. Good hormones? Or maybe it’s, uh…” Shuichi looked around nervously, before saying quietly, “...just cause I… feel better, physically? For, ya know, reasons… but yeah. I’m feeling pretty calm.”

Looking around, Shuichi said, “The craft shop is near here, isn’t it? Can we stop by it next?”

Heading over there, Shuichi didn’t take long. He headed over to the paints and, looking around, got some small containers of metal-based paints, and after thinking about it a moment, got some glitter paints as well. One of those things that Kaito would like but might feel too embarrassed to buy for himself. With that same thought in mind, he went to the figurines and, looking around, got a medium sized tan figurine of a busty, slutty, but extremely pretty fairy lady. Exactly the sort of thing Kaito would gush over in private.

Buying them and showing what he got to Kokichi, he said, “That’s three small gifts. Between my gift and yours, it’ll give him a few things to open if Maki forgets to get him a gift too. So that should be nice.”

“I’m glad… A happy, healthy Shuu-chan is my favorite.” Hugging Shuuichi arm a little more, Kokichi knew that the road to get to where they were wasn’t very happy or healthy in Shuuichi’s case, but what was done was done. Even if it led to him and Shuuichi not being together, for all of the strife he went through, if Kokichi had the option to turn back time and stop Shuuichi from taking the pollen, he would. But that wasn’t an option, and what they had made of the situation was something he was pretty comfortable with. All of them on the upswing…

At the craft store, Kokichi mostly looked around at everything, just barely holding himself back from running his fingers over all of the brushes out on display and distracting himself with looking at all the cool colors on the paint samples, giving his encouragement when Shuuichi picked out a few containers of glitter paints. And he couldn’t quite contain a snort at the figurine Shuuichi picked out, but it was fond. He was looking forward to how Kaito would paint it. 

He nodded enthusiastically as they headed towards the clothing store Kokichi had in mind, it being closer than the soap store. “I have some things in mind to request from the kitchen staff for dinner that night too. I’m kinda hoping we can all eat together and have him open gifts and, yanno, have a nice night. I’m not sure how you all did things back in Luminary, but that’s kinda what birthdays are like here. I don’t think I can pull off anything big, but...are there any Luminary traditions we should try for?”

“No, Dicea’s birthday tradition seems pretty similar to Luminaries. It’s usually a get-together of some sort, food, and a few presents. I mean, that’s not a hard rule or anything.” Shuichi clarified, noting it might be obvious to the point of not calling it out, but considering the sometimes vast differences between the cultures, probably better to over-explain then under. “Some people have big, fabulous parties with hundreds of people, others literally just having a dinner with a few friends and no presents at all, that sort of thing. And not everyone celebrates their birthday with other people: Maki, for instance, usually disappears on her birthday. We don’t know what she does, but we still drag her out to a celebratory dinner usually before or after, when we get an opportunity too.”

“Kaito’s actual birthdays are usually some formal event, same as any of the royal or noble families. A chance for the upper class to to get together and wine and dine each other,” Shuichi said, enjoying the small amount of body warmth Kokichi was capable of passing over as Kokichi held onto his arm, “but usually the day after Kaito will pick a pub, invite a bunch of his friends, and tell them to invite whoever they feel like, and just put anything put on the pubs bill that night on his own tab. It usually became a pretty wild night, though...honestly I think Kaito just liked the noise and heat of it all? Because he always ended up at a table with just a few people he actually wanted to hang out with that night while the party just kinda happened around us.”

“What about you, Kokichi?” Shuichi asked, looking down at the small prince, “What do you like to do for your birthday?”

Kokichi hummed, nodding. At this point, he was kind of expecting birthdays to be completely different in Luminary, and it was something of a relief to hear that it wasn’t the case. Kokichi probably would’ve tried to bring over at least some of the traditions, but...especially for something personal, he didn’t want Kaito to have to adapt to something so drastically different than his own traditions. A meal with friends and a few gifts, though. That was perfect. 

“Ah, well, we don’t have any formal event stuff for birthdays here--I hope Kai-chan won’t miss that too much.” It didn’t sound like he did. And while going out to a pub might be a nice night...well, he doubted Kaito would want to invite even a fraction of the people that it sounded like came to his parties in Luminary, and while a few drinks were fine, especially in a fun, social setting...mm. Yeah. 

...Kokichi thought for a moment when Shuuichi asked him about his birthday, but...he asked him what he liked to do for his birthdays. Not what happened. “Mm, well, they usually make cinnamon rolls for breakfast--it’s always been a special occasion thing, so that’s why I was so surprised when Kai-chan made some for us before. I’ll usually get a few letters too, and that’s always nice. Mostly, it just tends to be a normal day, just with people wishing me a happy birthday if they remember. The most exciting it ever is, is when it’s on Zenith.”

People also tended to forget it was his birthday when the festival was the same day, but he was included in that. Making sure all the preparations were ready kinda put less important things on the back burners. In some ways, it made him enjoy the day more.

...that was a shame. 

You’re going to keep the kid cooped up inside his whole life and not even make an event of his birthday? It’s not like you had to take him out of the castle to bring presents and have a dinner celebrating his life. Birthdays weren’t a huge effort...why not even give him that?

...sigh. Shuichi hoped it wasn’t for something as petty and selfish as the king using the day to mourn the passed mother instead. She was dead. Her time was done. The living should never be made to take a backseat to the dead.

Oh well. 

“That sounds nice,” Shuichi gently lied, as they headed into the clothing store. “Though, please help me, I don’t actually know what Zenith is? Is it a holiday?”

“Mhmm!” Kokichi chirped. “It’s our big summer holiday, always on the solstice. A lot of our big holidays have kinda the same stuff--like just a whole ton of food--so you’ll probably get an idea when we go to the Harvest festival. It’s mostly that the events and crafts and stuff like that are different, all to fit with the season. Like, we’re not about to have a huge water battle during Harvest, you know?”

The store he’d brought them too was cozy, a little smaller than the one they’d gone to before. Perhaps it was just for the season, but the selection was weighted more on the...practical side. Still nice-looking, but nothing flashy, not the large, eye-catching prints and seductive cuts that drew Kaito in, and not the bright colors and, honestly, garish patterns Kokichi favored. Just...nice, well-made, comfortable clothes. And, because of the season, warm clothes too. 

Looking around and seeing a row of jackets that looked nigh identical to several he knew Shuuichi owned, Kokichi puffed with pride, thinking he’d gotten his boyfriend’s tastes down right. “Ah, so what kind of stuff are you looking for? I am totally gonna pick up some socks for all of us, though--totally overlooked piece of clothing, but so, so important.”

Shuichi looked around, incredibly pleased by all this. “These are nice, Kokichi. It’s nice to know a store like this is so nearby...makes me a little less worried about needing to update my size a few more times these next four months.” Shuichi confessed, looking around.

“Warm socks would be nice. Can we get some for Maki and Timothy as well? It’d be nice to make certain everyone’s going to be warm as things get colder...not that I really know how to prepare for the cold.” He laughed lightly.

Shuichi knew what he liked, and while this store had more of a variety on what he liked then usual, he was pretty quick to look through the items and pick a few items out that, like Kokichi had worked out earlier, looked a great deal like things he already owned. 

As he looked, he paused, seeing a group of plain, simple bandanas...and he smiled gently, taking one that was black and white flowers on a gray background. It reminded him a little of the bandana he had given Kokichi when he was trying to hide his neck marks. It had been a gift of necessity, but he really had thought it looked cute on him…

“Kokichi? I missed your birthday this year, right?” Shuichi asked, going back over to him and showing him the bandana, “Can I get you this as a late birthday present? I know it’s not entirely your style, but I do think it suits you in a way...” Shuichi blushed a bit, before saying shyly, “If you hate it, I won’t get it. Just let me know, I won’t take offense.”

Kokichi was practically glowing, his pride only growing as Shuuichi confirmed he was on the money. What he did almost everyday was help people, but doing something like this, so in person and for someone he cared so much about, it felt nice. He would never be able to pick Shuuichi up, but he could pick out a good clothing store.

Picking out the socks--one pair in a child’s size for Tim--Kokichi followed Shuuichi around the store, holding onto things when Shuuichi wanted to take closer looks. And just like the first time they’d gone shopping, it was just...kind of amazing to compare how Shuuichi shopped and how Kaito shopped. Kokichi found that he liked both. 

Though, when they stopped by the bandanas… Immediately, Kokichi had the same thought as Shuuichi, remembering that gift. Kokichi still wore it, time to time, when he wasn’t going out so he didn’t need a scarf, but he still wanted to keep his neck warm. No one knew that Shuuichi had given him that kerchief, but Kokichi still felt proud to wear it, still feeling like he was showing off their bond. 

Hearing Shuuichi say almost the same thing about this bandana, also meant as a gift? Kokichi blinked up at his boyfriend in surprise before his cheeks went pink, laughing sheepishly. “Aw, Shuu-chan… You can’t miss what you didn’t know--my birthday was about a month before you guys even arrived. But, I mean, if you did still wanna get it for me...I’d really like it. My style is a lot of things, you know, and this is still it.”

Very, very Dicean in its design, admittedly more than what he usually wore, but he still liked it. Kinda funny too, since Shuuichi hadn’t seen him in his wedding clothes, but...this was a thing just between them.

Shuichi, again, blushed, pleased his impromptu gift idea would go over well. He wondered if Kokichi would want a bigger event made out of his birthday, next year? He, Kaito and Maki could probably put together something a little more loud and fun then pastries for breakfast and a few warm greetings. Maybe they could travel somewhere for his birthday?

Shuichi had a year, just about, to work out the details. But it’d be nice to make Kokichi feel special and celebrated. He hoped he’d end up enjoying the extra attention, even if time would prove he wasn’t much for parties or something.

Taking his items to the counter, Shuichi checked out his items and his present for Kokichi. Kokichi currently had his scarf on, so Shuichi offered to just keep it in the bag if he wanted. 

After that they headed to the soap shop. It was a practical shop and Shuichi was pretty quick to pick out the items he needed from his mental shopping list, along with a few items Maki asked if he would pick up. He couldn’t get what the tripped out Kaito had asked for, which was ‘A shackle beneath the arctic of Fein, please, handsome, thanks.’ but he did snag him some beard oil, noticing Kaito was running low this morning.

Checking out, Shuichi and Kokichi headed out as he said, “Okay, which way to your special store?”

With them each still using their own soaps, Kokichi didn’t think they were running low...but just in case Kokichi picked up another of the sweet, woody scent that Kaito favored and...another of his usual lavender. He still had that bottle of the rose, and he would use it, but...he didn’t know. It just felt better to have another backup of his usual stuff. 

(Maybe it’d feel better once he actually spoke to Kaede. For now, it just felt too weird.)

“Right this way!” As he’d promised, the store Kokichi was picking up his commission from wasn’t far. A small shop, evidently only run by a single artisan, more just an avenue for an artist to sell their craft than any sort of bigger business. And, as they got closer and could see the display in the window...it was a jewelry shop. 

Kokichi popped in, chatted with the proprietor a bit, and before too long, as he’d also promised, they headed back out, Kokichi holding a ring box. “I know it’s a little...over the top. But once I got the idea in my head, it wouldn’t leave and...I mean, I hope he likes it…”

Making sure to keep a hold on his other bags while keeping a firm, steady hold on the ring box, Kokichi cracked it open, showing Shuuichi the contents inside. 

Kokichi genuinely thought of Kaito as his hero, but since his husband didn’t think himself much of a Superman… Inside the box was a Green Lantern ring, the relief in an impossibly shiny metal while the actual green parts almost seemed to glow, the crystal that it was made of catching every little bit of light it could. 

It wasn’t like Kokichi had gotten his husband a ring of precious metals and emerald, but the steel and quartz was still a heavy bit out of his savings. He just...wanted to give Kaito something special. A treasure, even if what he thought treasures were and what they were considered in Luminary were very different.

There was a second where Shuichi actually wasn’t sure what the point of the ring was, not recognizing it...but then a distant memory of Kaito excitedly pouring over some new comics he had managed to get from overseas, and a long, long tirade about why this particular dark skinned hero in a green suit was his absolute favorite, Shuichi, look, look at what he does here, he’s so calm and cool Shuichi, isn’t he amazing??? And so on and so forth and…

Shuichi smiled warmly. Just remembering how happy Kaito had been to talk about the hero in the long distant memory now, and Shuichi remembered there had been a strange sigil on the heroes’ suit that looked exactly like the one on the ring…

Shuichi glanced around and, even though there were people around, he leaned in and kissed to just the side of Kokichi’s mouth, blushing hard but… wanting to really express how sincere he was when he said, “He’s going to love that, Kokichi. That’s an incredibly thoughtful gift. Watch...he’s never going to take it off.” Shuichi guessed, voice teasing a little. 

Kokichi looked up at Shuuichi in surprise before his cheeks went redder than the weather could account for, though the smug, delighted grin on his face was such an instant reaction that there was no way Shuuichi could interpret it as anything but his kiss being very well-received. 

“You think so? We only really talked about it once, but Kai-chan seemed so excited that it felt important.” Kokichi chuckled lightly, closing the box back up and sliding it carefully into one of his pockets, wanting to be extra careful with the gift. “I’m glad we still had his ring measurements around--I don’t think it’d be very comfortable right next to his wedding ring, but his other hand should be about the same, right?”

“I don’t see why not. Heh...between his likely ever increasing earrings and now rings on each hand, Kaito is going to be...shoot, what’s the word I’m looking for...bling! Kaito is going to be very ‘bling’.” Shuichi laughed lightly to himself, before reaching over and saying softly, “Here, let me carry it. You can hold my arm and make certain I’m not gonna slip on any icy patches...that’s going to be a thing soon, right? Ice?” Shuichi looked warily down at the sidewalk.

“Kai-chan is a bit of a peacock,” Kokichi laughed along. “But he makes dress up look fun. It’s kind of a small point, and I don’t know if you really saw me, but he helped pick out clothes for me for that party we went to. Having to dress all fancy for events kinda wore everything out for me, but that was fun.”

...as was what happened right after getting dressed, mostly, but that wasn’t a part of the clothes part. 

Humming accommodatingly, Kokichi handed over some of his bags, switching to loop his arm around Shuuichi’s and hold him as a guide--and as something to brace against if he slipped. “A whooooole lotta ice. In the city, we’re pretty good at thawing out high traffic areas so people won’t get hurt, but ice can be sneaky. Even wearing snow boots sometimes won’t save ya.”

“I have a feeling it’s gonna be sooner than anyone wants, but I’m still looking forward to our first proper snowfall,” Kokichi sighed, evidently finding something romantic about it. “Mostly to see your reactions to it, but...I don’t know. There’s just something magical about seeing snowflakes flutter down from the sky for the first time in a season. Even after seeing it every year.”

Shuichi looked up warily at the sky as well. He had seen snow fall a handful of times, but...it would start and just...not stop, at some point, it sounded like. That was sort of alarming to think about. “...is snow heavy?” he asked uncertainly.

“At a point, yeah. That’s why you have to clear it off roofs, even though they’re all reinforced by our building codes. And when it gets up over your knees, it can be hard to walk through.” Kokichi hummed before pouting a bit. “...that’s usually when people would double-down on keeping me inside. Not that I really wanted to go tire myself out trying to walk a few steps, but still. We have protocols for clearing pathways, but after a point, it’s just not worth it, and people just stay in their homes. Sure, there are porters, but it’s really better to stock up on supplies before that happens.”

“...or just come stay in the castle for a week or two. It’s kinda fun when that happens.”

Sigh. Even more people were going to be at the castle? There were already so many...and Shuichi was just getting used to the faces he saw there every day. Oh well. It’d likely make Kokichi happy to have more people around, and Shuichi wasn’t about to sour that being grumpy. 

“Well, maybe that will slow work down enough that we can finally catch up on all those social letters Kaito’s just let sit. I know he means to get to them eventually, but that pile is getting pretty high...I keep finding myself wanting to help him out, but I’m already so busy with my own work..” Shuichi sighed, “He really just needs to sit down one of these days and get through them all.”

Kokichi hummed, dutifully keeping his eyes on the ground, even if he didn’t think there’d be icy patches yet. He had a pregnant boyfriend to escort! 

“Work usually does slow down if we get snowed in, yeah. Hard to send letters when it takes almost triple the time to go anywhere. There’s still in-person stuff, but, you know.” Kokichi didn’t really do that kind of work very often. So, between his workaholic tendencies and the fact that new mail barely came in, he often worked their inbox down to nothing in the winter. Something that would probably look nice, right about then. 

Sighing softly, Kokichi shook his head a little. “Really, anyone can answer those letters, so I’ve been taking a few from the pile here and there, and what’s at Kai-chan’s desk isn’t even all the social letters we get. Aiichi and Hideki and Mikaku and all them answer them too.”

“...I kinda think Kai-chan just gave a go at answering them for me,” Kokichi admitted softly, eyes still to the ground. “I was fully expecting him to work with me on administrative matters, and he was fully expecting to...not do that, I guess? I still don’t really know what people were expecting him to do in Dicea. It was a really confusing conversation… I don’t think he likes paperwork much, but I still appreciate him trying.”

Shuichi frowned at that, listening quietly and thinking about it, wondering where the disconnect was. Of course Kaito was simply meant to do whatever Kokichi tasked him with when he first got here, though Kaito wasn’t necessarily expected to just blindly let it happen...but Kokichi sounded...hmmm…

After a quiet minute Shuichi asked, “...is marriage hierarchy a thing in Dicea?”

Kokichi looked up from the ground, just blinking up at Shuuichi, a small crease between his brows forming as he just...tried to figure out what Shuuichi was asking. Marriage...hierarchy… 

“...um… If both Aiichi and I died, the job of leader wouldn’t fall to Kai-chan, if that’s what you’re asking? Dicea would be without a head of government, relying on the team of administrators the last leader put together until the people vote in a new leader from...really anyone who comes forth to take the job. It’s a combination of intent and willingness to sacrifice, along with the express trust of the Dicean people.”

...he didn’t follow how that came from their conversation, though, so he wasn’t totally sure if that was what Shuuichi was asking.

“Oh, interesting. We should make certain to tell Kaito that next time he’s lucid, that’s probably information he doesn’t have yet,” Shuichi guessed, since he hadn’t known it himself. 

“But, not really what I meant, no...interesting...it’s never occurred to me that that wouldn’t be a thing anywhere…” Shuichi mused, genuinely astounded. Fascinating...it must cause a few power struggles in marriages within Dicea, to not have it so clearly defined… “It’s mostly a noble and royalty thing, legally, but just...culturally, I suppose, almost every marriage in Luminary follows this rule in their own way of defining it. But in every marriage it’s understood that one person is sort of ...in charge? Of the decisions of the household? All decisions.”

“For the nobles and royals, it’s whoever has a higher title or higher family status originally. For almost everyone else, it’s either based on initial wealth or a personality trait. But it’s sort of understood that the higher person in the hierarchy can basically override all the decisions of the lowers, if they desire to, and the other needs to make their decisions with the superior’s desires in mind, even if they weren’t specifically told no on anything. It controls a lot of little things, like, who will give up their job if someone needs to stay home with children, or what kind of promotions you can accept and…”

Shuichi paused...before looking down at Kokichi. “Am I explaining too much? If this is stressing you out…I apologize, I should have checked in earlier.”

He should’ve been watching the ground, but as Shuuichi began to explain what marriage hierarchy was, he couldn’t look away, an absolutely befuddled look on his face while his mouth hung open. Like...Kaito had explained some of that stuff when it came to his expectations in their marriage, but Kokichi hadn’t realized that it was...A Thing. Something in all marriages in Luminary. And maybe in other places too. 

When Shuuichi checked in, it was enough to break Kokichi out of his gobsmacked expression, his teeth quietly clicking together though his brow only furrowed more. “No, it’s okay--you’re okay. I just...it makes a lot more sense, some of the stuff Kai-chan’s said.”

A sigh. “...almost from the beginning, I told him that we’re equals, and...I don’t think he’s ever really believed me. But that’s what marriages are in Dicea--a declaration of partnership. It doesn’t actually do much on its own, just letting you celebrate your relationship. Getting married is just...you found someone that you want to share the rest of your life with. Together, you’re more than the sum of your parts. And, I mean, if you love someone like that, of course you’d respect their thoughts and wants but...you’re never expected to...defer to your partner. Honestly, doing that would be pretty disrespectful, like you just don’t want to contribute to your relationship anymore.”

Kokichi ran his free hand down his face, taking a breath. “...there are so many customs I wish I’d known about… Just communication errors galore for us…”

“It really is sort of fascinating how little our two neighboring countries knew about each other. Or…” Shuichi shrugged, “Maybe the information was suppressed at one point? I don’t know why Dicea would do that, but I can think of a lot of reasons Luminary wouldn’t have wanted people knowing too much about Dicea. A lot of your customs directly contradict customs back home that aren’t exactly universally beloved. I know Maki and I have differing opinions about what would cause change in Luminary, but there’s a difference of guerilla warfare propaganda telling people that things could be better and just...seeing it working in real time over the course of a hundred years from your neighbors nearby.”

“If Luminary knew a place like Dicea functioned the way it did, successfully? Without having to sacrifice anything that Luminaries genuinely held dear? ...well, maybe not this generation, and maybe not even the next, but eventually? People will start asking ‘why not us too’ to their leaders, who will eventually feel pressured to mimic you in some ways...at least, that’s my extremely amatuer theory on the subject. Atua knows I’m basing that on not much more than just a gut feeling of, like...that would have to work eventually. It feels rational to me.”

“Maybe not the immediate success Maki dreams of, but, well...Maki dreams bigger than me.”

Kokichi sighed deeply. “And I can understand information not getting across due to the war...but before that? And the regimes before Kai-chan’s family? I don’t know a damn thing about them. And even things that you’d think would travel, like art--Kai-chan and I discovered that Luminary and Dicea have two completely different plays set in the same world with the same characters, and I might just not know about it, but it seems like no one knows the other play? Like...why keep that secret?”

Finally, he looked back to the ground, though maybe just to keep his gaze low. “Mhmm. I thought Luminaries did know how things were over here--’s why I asked why people hadn’t completely overhauled the government. But...just like how I thought that Luminary was just different, I guess people think Dicea is just a different flavor of what they already know.”

He scoffed harshly, some of that indignant anger flaring up before he tempered it down again. “That’s...so frustrating… But maybe greater communication between our countries will be even better than we thought. I’m dedicated to improving Dicea however I can, and if that somehow helps Luminary too? Then it’s really something amazing.”

Shuichi smiled, pleased to be able to say, for once, entirely sincerely, “Yeah. I think that would work, personally. Again, not immediate satisfaction, but...Dicea has it figured out. If people eventually get to learn how it works and see for themselves the results? The thought of ‘why not us’ will eventually occur to them. And since Dicea seems to be superior to the current state of Luminary in most ways, when it comes to quality of life? Well...you can always count on self-interest.”

“...we’re carrying so many bags, but I’d really like to get another chai tea.” Shuichi pouted. “Do you think the dining hall would be able to make milk chai tea when we get home if I asked them very nicely to?”

...it was nice to think about, though Shuuichi’s comment on Dicea having a superior quality of life was...worrying. It was the point of all the work he and all the Oumas in time past had worked for--always improving life. But...he supposed, when in comparison to Luminary, it did make him a bit spoiled. Kokichi would always have a roof over his head and food on the table, money in his pockets to spend as he saw fit. Just like conditioning, poverty wasn’t something he’d ever be able to really understand. It was a good thing, but...it did make it harder to think of solutions for the people who understood all too well. 

Well, then you’d just have to listen to them, of course. 

...he hoped Luminous leadership would. 

Cracking a small smile, Kokichi felt his resolve well up once again. “Then I better keep working. Gotta lead by the best example I can, if someone’s going to be taking notes.”

His spirits pulled back up, Kokichi pressed a kiss to Shuuichi’s shoulder. “Without a doubt, honey-pie. I don’t even think you need to butter anyone up, though I think they’d appreciate it. Like I said, at least from my point of view? No one should deny you any sort of food--other than, like, alcohol. Obvious stuff.” Giggling, he nuzzled Shuuichi, watching the castle grow larger from where it poked out of the cityscape as they approached. 

-

The ritual wasn’t actually all that dangerous, when it came down to it. 

Sure, there was a possibility of nausea, but that was only if you weren’t eating or drinking through it, and if you were maybe sickly before the ritual had even started. But Kaito was a man who took decent care of himself in good health and had been eating water, nuts, and potassium throughout the day, Shuichi and Maki making certain he had some before they left their check-ins, and Kaito having some on his own. 

At one point even Hajime was there, Maki asking the man if he wouldn’t mind checking in while she helped (or, uh, tried too anyway…) Timothy with some homework that both he and Miss Kawai had gotten stuck on… (and ultimately this lead to all three of them staring at it, sort of baffled, trying to work out exactly why the percentages were clearly coming out way too big in these formulas. There was no way taking six ounces of water out of a cup made it 130% emptier...right??? The decimal has to move, but where?????), using a key Maki had let him borrow to get into the shrine…

And that’s where the mistake happened.

See, locking the door wasn’t, in this circumstance, about keeping anyone out...it was about keeping Kaito in. He was way too blitzed out of his mind to work out how to undo the lock himself, so while he was out of it, he wasn’t in any danger of wandering out. But, Hajime, on his way out of the door, hadn’t seen the point of locking it back up, so just...hadn’t.

And, eventually, out Kaito wandered.

He had no idea where he was going. He didn’t actually know where he was. Nothing looked familiar. Maybe he was trying to get to the sea? The sea had been on his mind lately. Yeah. That seemed like as good a place to go as any. Now...where was the sea??

Ikuo usually wasn’t a very expressive man at the best of times, but he truly struggled to show just how damn proud he was of his son these days. They didn’t spend the majority of each day together anymore, but...Kokichi wasn’t a small child anymore. They still saw each other regularly, and Kokichi always made time to sit down with a cup of tea and talk with him amid his busy schedule. Which wasn’t just busy with work, but busy just being a young man spending time with his friends and having a good time in town. 

...god, he was so proud.

And Kokichi was in town today, out on a shopping trip with Shuuichi, so Ikuo figured he had a good chunk of time to get some work of his own done, even with the leniency allowed in his duties. He had objected at first, not wanting preferential treatment, but since so many people had come back from the war, the castle wasn’t quite as short-staffed anymore, and Ikuo having the freedom to help out when he had time, and being able to go spend time or aid his son and friends wasn’t going to put anyone behind schedule. 

Something he was pretty grateful for when he noticed Kaito stumbling around the workshops on the second floor, seemingly dazed. Coming up to put a steadying hand on his son-in-law’s shoulder, Ikuo was...cautious. Kaito didn’t exactly have the best track record. “Somethin’ botherin’ ya, son?”

Kaito jumped, startled as he looked blearily over at...who was this… “Ikou?” he said, more a guess then anything, before his brain latched onto the guess and confirmed it as Kaito grinned, “Ikou! Bunny man! Are you going to the beach too?”

Kaito looked around, confused. Had he been going to the beach, or already been there? Were they at the beach? Where was Kokichi? Giving Ikou a concerned look, he said, “We should hurry. Kokichi doesn’t know how to swim. Come on.” Kaito insisted, reaching down and taking Ikou’s hand, gently pulling him as Kaito headed out to a random direction. Kokichi wasn’t safe at the beach. Kaito was certain. He didn’t know how to swim. And the giant squid was here too.

And Brent. Brent was out there somewhere.

Lots of dangers for Kokichi, at the beach.

Ikuo adjusted his hat with a grimace. Definitely tripping. ...Kokichi said he’d be, didn’t he. Some Atuan ritual today. But if Kaito wasn’t in his shrine and wasn’t with...well, Maki, he supposed, since Kokichi and Shuuichi were out, then he probably needed a babysitter. 

Or a nanny. 

“Kokichi’s with Shuuichi, they’re fine. What are ya lookin’ for at the beach? Ain’t really th’ time ‘a year for dippin’ yer toes.” Delusions were a fine line to work around. Outright rejecting them made the person paranoid, sometimes falling into believing that nothing was real. However, playing along could lead to them hurting themselves. Asking questions about what they were saying, and just trying to keep them safe was a good route. 

What was he looking for at the beach? He wasn’t certain. He was supposed to be a fisherman, but he wasn’t one now. So it didn’t matter now, but… “Atua can’t make new souls. He’s not that strong. It takes a lot to make a new soul. All energy is recycled. All life that was at the beginning follows to the end. True death and true birth are outliers.” Kaito tried to explain. It all made sense to him right now. Atua always tried to pour as much information as he could into Kaito during the ritual days. Kaito wouldn’t remember all of this tomorrow, but the more that was poured, the better chance he might remember at least some things.

“I was a fisherman, but that was only a piece? He asked so many for help. I’m lots of little pieces. He did his best, but I’m not quite...right.” Kaito frowned. “But the fisherman was supposed to find the giant squid. I was supposed to find the giant squid. But now I won’t and the squid will get bigger and bigger and bigger...another sacrifice, I guess.” Kaito sighed.

“I don’t want the squid to hurt Kokichi. You said he was with Shuichi?” Kaito asked Ikou. “Did you know Shuichi’s pregnant? It’s a recent thing.” Kaito asked, going down the stairs.

Ikuo just grunted occasionally as Kaito spoke, indicating he was listening, though he didn’t know if Kaito could even process that. He just focused on keeping the lad steady and...being around to make sure he didn’t get into trouble, he supposed. Damn, what sorta stuff what he on? Shit sounded intense. 

“I think we’d have bigger problems if a squid made it this far inland,” Ikuo huffed. “If you ain’t there ta find it, then someone else will. Ain’t an excuse ta not do yer part, but there’s always someone else--an’ hey. If we’re all little pieces of others, then there might be a part ‘a you fightin’ that squid anyway.”

Ikuo reached up to hold Kaito at his shoulder when they got to the stairs. Kaito’s shrine was on the fourth floor, so he’d wondered down two staircases already, but Ikuo didn’t wanna tempt fate. 

Though while he kept that focus, a grim smile made its way onto the older man’s face. “I know. It’s gonna be excitin’ fer y’all. Bunny keeps laughin’ at me, sayin’ I’m gettin’ ahead of myself preparin’, but it’s better than waitin’. Just wanna make sure Shuuichi an’ yer kid are gonna be comfy.”

Kaito suddenly stopped halfway down the staircase, still holding Ikou’s hand, and he looked up at him and grinned wide. Eyes shining as he said, “Thank you, Ikou. She’s going to need you. She’s so big...a whole universe fits inside of her. It’s going to be so hard for her to see individuals, especially later. She needs good memories of good people. Things to keep her grounded. To remind her what it’s all for. You’re so important. All the people here are.”

Kaito laughed at that, a flush coming to his cheeks as, suddenly, he pulled Ikou against himself, putting his hand on the small of Ikou’s back and, almost flawlessly, starting Ikou on a small waltz, moving his feet expertly up and down the stairs and keeping Ikou steady in his grip as he said, “It’s so funny. I wish I’d know later. I was made to fall in love, you know? I like it too. I like falling in love. And there’s so much to love here, but I’m too buried to let myself do it. You’re all so scary.” Kaito laughed, rolling his eyes at himself as he continued the little waltz, “But you’re all so important...and you…”

Kaito flushed brighter. “You look so much like ‘Kichi. I know you’re not really his dad, but you look more like him then Aiichi does. You’re so pretty…” Kaito leaned down and kissed Ikou on the forehead for a moment...before letting go of his hand, looking down at him in some confusion, before returning to go back down the stairs. Forgetting what he was talking about, or, more accurately, distracted by some passing thought.

“Do you want to get food? I’m kinda hungry.” Kaito told him.

Ikuo raised his eyebrows, but it wasn’t entirely from surprise. Every kid needed good support. They were a new person that didn’t know how to person, confused by the world and unsure how to navigate it. Foals could run minutes after being born, but they had a very different world to navigate than a human did. 

It was...kind of a relief to see how adoring and dedicated Kaito was to his unborn child, apparently determined to be a daughter at the moment. He’d seen for himself how excited Kaito was, and Kokichi had told him even more to support that, but dedication was always welcome to see. 

What came next was a little more surprising. Ikuo made a choked sound in his throat as Kaito began to...dance? Pulling him along with the movements, and Ikuo did his best to watch their feet, trying to make sure this wouldn’t be the second staircase Kaito would land on in a month, but every word out of the prince’s mouth was...well, high nonsense. 

Scoffing, Ikuo shook his head and was a bit firmer in his guidance once Kaito stopped. “Let’s get some food in ya, lad. S’almost dinner, anyway--prolly have those sweetrolls ya scarf down. Hopefully they’ll sober ya up a li’l.”

...he didn’t look like Kokichi at all, unless you thought their heights were comparable. Kokichi had his mother’s unruly, plum hair and her round, sweet eyes, his father’s smirk and gracious smile, and their shared tendency to freckle. Ikuo had the same curly brown hair all his cousins did, green eyes that rarely widened and a mouth that more often turned down into a grimace than anything else. Ikuo was stocky and roughed up from a life of work and sport, Kokichi was waifish and bouncy like a ball of excited light. They looked nothing alike, so...Ikuo supposed that they were only in the same category of, ‘Kaito liked them’. 

Hopefully not the same degree of like, but Ikuo would let this one pass. Kid was high as hell. 

Ikou was one hundred percent correct. Kaito saw people in terms of how he felt about them. In fact, he actually had a really hard time seeing people for what they actually looked like, since their looks were always clouded under a heavy layer of personal bias in his eyes. Assholes were horrifyingly ugly. Sweethearts looked soft and sweet.  People he admired or saw as tough always looked bigger and harder to him.

Literally none of this had anything to do with what they actually looked like. And in Kaito’s eyes, Ikou was a sweetheart who took care of his husband and was excited by his grandchild and let people call him ‘Bunny Man’. And, in Kaito’s eyes, that made Ikou soft and sweet looking...much like his husband.

“Sweet Rolls! Yes! That’s awesome! Do you think Chako would teach me how to make sweet rolls? I know Shuichi and Kokichi like them too, so I could make us all sweet rolls. Maybe I could call her my little sweet roll. I gotta call her something embarrassing, so that I can say it over and over the first time she brings home a date. Make my sweet roll blush and huffy at me. So cute~” Kaito gushed, looking over his shoulder to make certain Ikou was keeping up.

“Maybe Mom will come down to dinner today? She doesn’t like to eat at the hall very often, but for a big event like this, I think she’ll come. Hopefully dad’s busy…” Kaito frowned, suddenly stopping and saying with concern. “Do you think I’m under-dressed?”

For a hot second, Ikuo thought Kaito was aiming to call Chako Hannuki ‘sweet roll’, and while he’d only met the chef a few times, he had a feeling Kaito would only be able to do that if he was willing to sit through a workplace harassment meeting. 

But as a pet name for his maybe daughter? Ikuo chuckled darkly. “You’ll come up with a thousand nicknames, I’m sure. Ya seem like the type.” 

His mirth was short-lived, however. Again, Ikuo had a moment of confusion before… How would Kaito take the news that his parents were dead? Again? Without most of his ability to reason and grasp common sense. 

“...yer dressed fine, son,” Ikuo started slowly, before just deciding to talk about the issue sideways again. “An’ wrong castle. Yer folks ain’t in Dicea. An’ while most of us ain’t celebratin’ the same as you, it is still the first day a’ mid-fall. Some folks are gonna be excited fer that.”

“Dicea?” Kaito asked, looking confused for a second as he looked around. ”Oh...yeah. Right.” He remembered, shoulders slumping a little, looking disappointed. “Right...well, maybe they’ll come anyway. I guess it being fall is good too. Mid-fall.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kaito sighed, before shaking his head. “They’re busy. I get it. Atua loves them anyway. He loves all of you anyway.” Kaito assured Ikou, before reaching over and taking his hand again, grinning brightly at him so Ikou wouldn’t get discouraged. “Come on! It’ll still be a good celebration! Let’s go see everyone!”

Gently leading the way again, Kaito headed into the dining hall. 

Hajime spotted them first, and, oh shit. Carrying some plates left behind, the man quickly moved over to the dining hall entrance, saying urgently to Ikou, “What’s he doing here? He’s supposed to be in his shrine! He was annihilated when I left him, is he sober now?”

“Hajime!” Kaito said loudly, delighted! Letting go of Ikou’s hand, he threw his arms over Hajime’s shoulders, drawing him into a hug, “I missed you! Did you find the shackle?”

Hajime raised an eyebrow, unable to do anything as he held the plates in his hands, “Uh, nope. Haven't had a chance, Kaito.”

“That’s alright. Do you want to know one of the ways you could have died?”

“Mmmmm….no? No. No thank you.”

“You came with us to the party!”

“Ha ha ha, nnnnnope, let’s stop talking and sit down, okay? Let’s sit down now.” Hajime insisted, shuffling all his plates to one hand leading Kaito to a spare seat in a less populated table.

Ikuo sighed. “Atua loves ya too, kid.” He didn’t worship the god, but it was only polite to return the blessing. As far as he knew, gods didn’t do jack squat for any of them down on earth, but he figured there was no reason to go out of his way to blaspheme either. 

Once Hajime had come over, Ikuo gave the younger housekeeper a dry look as Kaito very blatantly proved he was not sober in the slightest. Sitting Kaito down, Ikuo sighed. “Found ‘em on th’ second floor, wandering around. Kid was tryin’ ta go to the beach, I think. ‘E’s lucid enough for hunger, so I’m just hopin’ food will start settin’ ‘im on track. I don’ mind keepin’ an’ eye on ‘im, Hajime, so don’ worry. Ya got a good head on yer shoulders, son, but don’ let it roll from stress.”

Ikuo glanced over to where food was being set out, pleased to find sweet rolls on the menu like he’d guessed. The lemon-garlic roasted chicken wasn’t the kind of main course that the Luminary group would have to find substitutions for either. Maybe the general disregard for flavor the Luminaries had culturally had actually come in handy when it came to the war. Ikuo had heard every manner of complaint and lament over their war rations, not always able to get the supplies or have the time to cook up something mouth watering. He wondered if there was anyone who had the same disgruntlement on the Luminary side. 

Clapping a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, Ikuo fixed his son-in-law with a withering stare, just from holding eye contact. “I’ll get’cha some food, son. You gon’ stay right here.”

Kaito blinked in confusion at him. He recognized an order when he heard it, but who was this guy to tell him what to do? ...one of Tengan’s secretaries, maybe? Hmmm… nodding hesitantly, Kaito said, “Okay. I will.”

Better to play along then to overstep and realize later he had stepped on one of the snakes.

Fixing Kaito with one more look, Ikuo stepped away to fill a plate for his son-in-law, figuring to go with accommodating his usually voracious appetite. He wasn’t sure exactly what Kaito was on, but he’d take the chance that it wasn’t going to reduce his appetite. And, filling a plate with chicken, rolls, staying away from the spicy stir fried greens and opting instead for roasted carrots, and figuring he should just stick with water, Ikuo returned, placing Kaito’s food in front of him. He could eat himself later, once he knew Kaito was being taken care of. 

“Bunny an’ the rest might be showin’ up soon, but there ain’t much reason in waiting ta eat until they do. Dig in, son.”

“Bunny?” Kaito asked, again, still feeling wary with this stranger, but...fuck yeah! Food! Guy couldn’t be all bad! “Thank you.” Kaito said, bowing his head politely to what had to be one of the housekeepers. Kaito in no way knew all the housekeepers’ names, but he usually recognized when a new face was around, so he said cheerfully, “Congratulations on the job, by the way! You seem like a man with experience! I’m certain you’re going to do great!”

Looking around for familiar faces, Kaito noticed Kirumi in the distance, eating herself (It was strange she was eating here. Maybe someone invited her to stay?) and, laughing softly, he leaned in towards the new guy and said, “I know she can be scary, but don’t let Miss Tojo get to you. The rumors aren’t true, she’s never actually killed anyone with that whip thing of hers. You’ll be fine.” Kaito assured him. 

And, hell, if Kirumi was allowed to stay and eat and no one was making a fuss, Kaito asked, embolden, “Actually, do you want to take a break and eat with me? It doesn’t look like my family is showing up to this dinner...” Kaito mused, looking around in confusion. It was a religious holiday. Shouldn’t they be here? At least out of ceremony, if nothing else. “I hope I didn’t miss some memo...um, but yeah! I’d love the company, if you have time? Especially such attractive company.” Kaito teased a little, winking at the older man.

Now this was getting a little ridiculous, edging more into amnesia than being baked. Some people might throw in the towel, just play along since Kaito seemed like he’d get distracted by something and forget where he was again, but if nothing else, Kaito would probably appreciate not being lied to when he was sober again. And keeping him in reality might speed them up to that point sooner. 

Even if he was curious about his comments on Miss Toujou. 

“Thanks, Kaito, but I’m gonna wait around an’ make sure yer settled. Ain’t no problem ta me waitin’ a li’l longer if it means yer gon’ be safer.” There was one thing he was going to directly address, though, even if it pulled Kaito out of his fantasy too quickly. “An’ none ‘a that, young man. Yer married ta m’ son, an’ I don’t care how okay he is with ya flirtin’ if it’s gonna be towards me.”

“Married…’Kichi! Shoot, where did he…” Kaito suddenly looked distressed, “Wasn’t I suppose to pick him up from the beach? Did I do that...ow…”

Kaito suddenly felt a wave of dizziness as the food he was chowing down on hit his stomach. Ugh...he didn’t feel good...he blinked, looking back at Ikou and saying to him, suddenly, urgently, “I’m afraid Kokichi isn’t going to be allowed to go to the trails. I think he has to keep coming back to rule over Dicea. He’s done it many times now. Doesn’t he get to take a break soon?” Kaito asked, sounding worried about the idea, “He should get to rest. He’s so old already…”

...then he laughed. “Maybe I just have a thing for older guys? Kokichi is pretty hot.” Kaito admitted, flushing hot as he ate some more, now thinking of the attractiveness of his husband, grinning dreamily. “I love his eyes...you could drown in them.”

“Kokichi is with Shuuichi--they’re okay and prolly headed back here soon,” Ikuo assured, reaching over to rub Kaito’s back a bit when it looked like he was hit with some spins. He’d probably do with a good rest after this, but it was important to get at least some of a meal into him, regardless of what he was on. 

Something that was enough to go against one of the fundamentals of Atua, as far as Ikuo knew. A few runaways he’d met had been willing to talk about the national religion with him, something a little more concrete than what traveled over the border through countless mouths. When you died, you went to the trials, a series of challenges meant to make you a better person so that when you made it to paradise, there wasn’t the worry of having to manage conflicting desires. Kinda similar to another afterlife belief he heard, though people who had brought harm in life had trials that never ended, more meant to punish than it was to get a person to grow and realize their errors in life. In that, the Atuan belief was kinder. 

Letting out a puff of air, Ikuo just kept his hand on Kaito’s back, ready to steady the lad whenever he needed it. “Bunny’s younger than you by a few years. He does tend to work more than he should, but he’s been takin’ it easier lately, likely due ta you folks. ‘E’s got a lotta responsibility on his shoulders, but he ain’t forgettin’ his personal ones either.”

Kaito nodded, sighing, “I know he isn’t. I’m doing my best to make it easier for him. But we’re not easy people to manage...definitely not me anyway. Sometimes I wish just for his own sake that he was more of an asshole...but that’s just not ‘Kichi.” Kaito shrugged, taking a sip of his water...and then realizing how thirsty he was and drinking it all down.

Finishing it, he sighed, and said, “Oh well. I guess if he was different, he wouldn’t be ‘Kichi. And I do love him. He’s so different than everyone else I’ve ever met. I can’t keep up with him. It’s like he’s goodness personified. It’s like looking into the sun…”

“...hey Waku!” Kaito suddenly greeted, waving and grinning as he saw the familiar housekeeper, calling to her from across the room. “Happy Mid-Fall thing!”

Ikuo nodded, reaching over to the pitcher on the table and refilling Kaito’s cup. “Ain’t that it. He’s a person, an’ young at that, but Bunny really seems ta capture th’ best of us. He’s got the strength ta be kind, when most would be cruel. I love ‘im for it, but it does make things harder on ‘im sometimes.”

Waku, who had just finished with her duties and had just come in for dinner, looked up as Kaito called her name, and the young woman couldn’t help bursting out in harsh laughter once she’d looked at the prince for a moment. Still, she made up a plate and joined him and Ikuo at their table, braids bouncing behind her. 

“You’re so hazy, Kaito! Overdid it today?” Shaking her head, she gave the two men a grin. “Happy Mid-Fall!”

Kaito gave Waku a fond smile. He wasn’t sure where he had met Waku, but he had a clear memory of her helping him for hours with his shrine, and he really appreciated her for it. “I am open for messages from Atua.” Kaito explained, feeling another dizzy spell as he winced, steadying himself on the table for a second, “Though, I’m not fine tuned for this. Too many cracks. Everything spills back out.”

Kaito looked over at Ikou and said, almost like he was bragging, “Waku can read people's hearts. Can you do that?” he asked, sounding borderline offended if Ikou couldn’t...before chuckling, “I can’t. I used to think I was pretty good at reading expressions, but I’m always stepping on my foot here. Which is a shame. There’s so many pretty people here...are either of you dating anyone?”

Then Kaito blinked, and he looked in minor concern at Waku, “...Atua says he can’t take the fear from you, but he wants you to know that even though you’re not one of his, he’s looking out for you. He’s sorry. He wishes he could offer you more. Gods are weak when bent under the will of mankind. Free will was the Creators greatest and most terrible accomplishment. Between us below and Her above, the gods are trembling.”

First and foremost, and what had sent Waku into laughter, Kaito was blitzed out of his mind, his heart singing bits and pieces never connected, unfocused. But now that he was in front of him… Waku looked over Kaito more curiously now, a soft frown coming over her features. Everything he was saying was from him, but...it was like he said. He was a cup being filled, but he was far too small, and thus was always overflowing and leaking from cracks. 

Maybe it was just her own propensity to believe people, but Waku took Kaito’s words at face value, not dismissing them as the ramblings of a man who’d been hotboxing in a closet all day. And so as Ikuo reminded Kaito again that he was married, Waku absorbed what she took to be the...words of an actual prophet. 

“...even if it doesn’t change anything, it is nice to know that someone sees it. That they have the intent to help, if not the means.” She sighed, still...reeling, honestly. Did it even matter that there were gods, then, if they couldn’t do anything? A universe that didn’t care, helpless deities...but people who cared. For every cruel person there were ten kind ones, ready to extend their gift if they banded together. 

Maybe things were better this way. People fighting instead of gods. The more power you had, after all, the kinder and more responsible you had to be, lest you destroy everything around you. 

Shaking her head with a sad smile, she didn’t even register Ikuo looking between the two of them, bewildered and just...along for the ride, he guessed. “Thanks, Kaito. And I’ll thank Atua too for sending the message. If gods can’t change anything, it’s just up to us, isn’t it?”

Kaito nodded, “They can’t change anything without our help, and can barely even communicate to us the sort of help they need. They focus on things too big for us to do ourselves, and pray to their chosen to take care of the things too small for them to get a grip on. It’s a painful, wild balancing act, but there is a harmony to it.” Kaito grinned, feeling incredibly pleased as he felt his god breath a sigh of relief. He had managed to get a message to someone. That was a successful ritual day! More successful than most of them! 

Even if all it resulted in was easing the fears of one human, Atua felt reassured that his attempts to stay in touch with his people hadn’t entirely failed. Kaito’s predecessors just straight up ignored him and made up messages in his name. And speaking through people wasn’t something Atua could just pick and choose. The Momota family was specifically designed to handle the cosmic stress of messages from the divine. It had to be their line...but, well. Free will and all that shit. Just because they could receive his messages didn’t mean they had to respect him or believe in him or not abuse the authority being his chosen family gave them.

And there just...wasn’t much Atua could do to stop them. 

But, Atua had worked hard to push things into alignment to fix most of the problems his chosen family had created, including the plants increasing power and population. Miya was not only going to be strong enough to qualify to challenge Queen Junko’s throne, but she was a Momota as well. Atua would be able to talk to her directly. And she would, potentially, live thousands of years. So long as she grew up to be a good person? He and her could really, genuinely help people. 

But...it was all up to the humans, at this point. The gods had worked together to put them in the best possible position to do it, but it was still up to them to raise her to be a good person and a responsible queen. 

It was all in their hands now.

Good luck.

Kaito shivered, feeling the weight of expectation on his shoulders...but, well. That was okay. He was used to helping already amazing people become the best versions of themselves. It was his favorite thing to do! 

“...” Kaito frowned, feeling dizzy again, as he asked, genuinely, “What are we celebrating again? Fall?”

Gods praying to humans...huh. It was kind of like what Aiichi talked about with circles of influence. A single person couldn’t hope to change the world, but they could change small things around them. That, in turn, would cause other people to change what was around them, and as that kept going, then major changes could happen. Humans and gods just...had very different circles of influence, ones so vastly apart that you maybe had to get every single one to change things in either sphere. 

Well, she’d do her part, even just changing sheets and washing dishes, and she would count on the gods to do theirs, whatever incomprehensible duties they had. 

...for the first time in...maybe forever, Waku felt at peace with the world. 

Putting a bracing hand on Kaito’s back again, Ikuo sighed at the two youngsters in front of him. Kaito would be alright once he sobered up and...at least the idea he’d given Waku wasn’t a dangerous one. “‘S th’ first day ‘a mid-fall, yeah. A religious holiday fer ya. Kaito, if yer not feelin’ well, you can rest yer head on the table. Would offer ta walk ya to yer room, but I wanna let one a’ yer folks know how yer doin’ first.”

Kaito blinked, trying to focus on his plate and watching it spin a little. His folks… “Oh, okay. Thanks, sir. Um...could you all warn me if you see the Head Secretary come in? I’m not supposed to show bad table manners. I don’t want to upset him…”

But the appeal of laying his head down was too tempting, and with a sigh, Kaito pushed back his plate a little and put his head in his arms, feeling floaty and far away as he withdrew into the comfort of the dark in his arms. Wow he was dizzy…

“Yer not upsettin’ anyone, son,” Ikuo soothed, knowing it wasn’t entirely true, but judging that anyone upset just from Kaito’s presence could shove it. “An’ ain’t nothin’ bad manners ‘bout takin’ care ‘a yerself. Just rest.”

Ikuo and Waku shared a quiet moment, checking in with each other, though Waku was still mulling over her divine enlightenment, but thankfully it wasn’t too much longer before Kokichi and Shuuichi walked into the dining hall, hand in hand. Ikuo waved the pair over, his expression softening in that way only a few people could decipher when he saw worry melt over Kokichi’s expression. 

“Kai-chan?”

“Bunny, Shuuichi. Kaito says he’s feelin’ dizzy, but ‘e got some food an’ water inta him. Should he be good ta just sleep this off?”

Shuichi just sighed when he saw Kaito, keeping his pace with Kokichi on the way over, but gently shaking his hand off to go check on the red-headed prince. “Kaito...what are you doing down here? You were supposed to wait for me or Maki, remember?”

Shuichi felt stupid literally as soon as the words were out of his mouth, because more likely then not, Kaito didn’t remember. But as he gently shook him, Kaito looked up, blinking warily and looking around in open confusion. He looked up at Shuichi and there was a clear few seconds where he didn’t recognize him...but then he grinned warmly. “Hey handsome. Look at you, looking like a tall glass of water. Wanna spare me a drink?” He asked, giving him a wink.

“...that was a terrible pickup line. Did that line ever work for you?”

“Only if I knew they liked me already!” Kaito said cheerfully, sitting up and looking at his two loves, smiling adoringly as he said, “How was the beach, you two? Did you have fun?”

Shuichi looked over at Waku and Ikou and bowed his head low, “Thank you for looking after him. I’m sorry if he was an inconvenience or a bother. He was supposed to stay in the shrine all day.”

Kokichi snickered a bit at the horrible pick-up line, glad that Kaito did seem to register them alright, even if it was clear he was still faded. Unable to help himself, Kokichi placed a kiss on Kaito’s forehead and gave him a hug from behind. “We had a great day, Kai-chan. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning, okay?”

While Kokichi was distracting Kaito, Ikuo tipped his hat, both in a greeting and in an acceptance of thanks. “He’s a bit of a handful right now, but it’s no bother. Jus’ glad he didn’t get hurt while ‘e was by himself. Least it seems he’s got most ‘a his coordination, though the dizziness might change that, word to th’ wise.”

Waku hummed, pulling softly on her braids. “Seems weird he’s supposed to be alone. He’s not going to remember even half the stuff Atua’s saying to him, so I’d think it’d be important to at least be around someone who could write it down.”

“...kid’s been talkin’ some heavy faith.”

Shuichi blinked in surprise at Waku’s comment, while Kaito just seemed to bask in Kokichi’s head kiss and hug, clearly not really paying attention to anything else now as Kaito looked at Kokichi for a tad too long, his face suddenly burning hot by some stray thought. “Oh, well…” Actually, Shuichi knew the answer for this one, if only because he had asked the same question years ago.

“Apparently, the ritual used to be a public thing. Everyone in the faith was supposed to be able to listen in to what the Momota’s were saying...but that was before they were royalty or anything like that. Or, at least, that’s how Kaito’s mentor described it. And it was only supposed to be the Momota family who did it. Then, I guess it became a sort of party thing, where everyone was supposed to be on it at once, but a priestess was still supposed to keep track of what the Momota was saying specifically. Then, when they became royalty...okay, so, not even Miss Meriku was certain if this was true or not, and she was the expert at this religion. But…”

“So, after they became royalty, they suddenly got real private about what they said while under the effects? It became a secret, private ceremony, though anyone could still do it on their own or in small groups, but it wasn’t a big party thing anymore. But a priestess would still record what the Momota’s said...then, apparently, one of the priestess’s realized she could just make any law or policy she wanted by just making up whatever she wanted about what the Momota’s said, since the Momota’s themselves couldn’t remember what they said? Again, no ones certain if that was what actually happened or not, but the priestess was accused of lying about specific prophesies, so she was beheaded and the Momota visions became entirely private. But only entirely private for the king. Kaito can do this with other people because, well...Atua should really only be saying anything really important through King Leon right now. Or, King Byakuya now. Since they’re the current head of the Momota line, and his real representatives right now. Though, that little rule doesn’t seem to help Kaito’s desire to take the ritual seriously anyway...”

Then, because he loved his boyfriend, Shuichi went over to him, kissed the top of his head, and then covered his ears as he said quietly to them, “Look, I know how it can sound sometimes. Especially since he talks so clearly... it can be easy to get caught up in his belief. But...it really is just Kaito talking to us. And he’s going to spend months quietly obsessing over everything he can remember from today. He’s, historically, had real trouble discerning fantasy from reality, when it comes to Atua, and feeding actively into the prophesy stuff is just going to make it harder for him to let it go. So, whatever you heard him say? Could you just keep it to yourselves? The less he has to work with, the less stressed out he’ll make himself trying to ‘decipher’ it.”

...hm. So...Kaito had mentioned ‘chosen’. And if that meant the Momota family...then Atua had chosen them as prophets for him, and he tried to give as much advice as he could during this ritual. But...people didn’t want to take the advice, so the message was stifled. A god forced to kneel under human choices again. 

It was kind of sad, in a way. 

While Ikuo nodded without hesitation, figuring it all to be high nonsense, Waku frowned. She...knew delusions could be highly dangerous. And no matter what it sounded like to her...she wasn’t the best person to decide reality. So, after a few moments of struggling, she sighed. “...fine. I think what he told me was a personal message anyway.”

Kokichi gave Waku a considering look. If she thought what Kaito was saying was real? ...then maybe only what he’d told her was actually from him, and not just his head being in the clouds. 

Rubbing Kaito’s shoulders gently, he turned to Shuuichi. “Should we take him to bed? Or I can, if you wanna go ask for your tea and get some food.”

Shuichi looked around, immediately looking for Hajime...before squeaking in shock as he turned around and there was Kirumi, hands crossed over her waist as she nodded her head a little, saying, “Did you all need any assistance with Prince Kaito? He seems…” she glanced at him, eyes calm, “...a tad inebriated again.”

Shuichi twitched. Kaito wasn’t drunk. Kirumi knew Kaito wasn’t drunk. Honestly, that was just being petty… but he smiled softly and said, “Thank you, Miss Tojo, but Kaito’s just coming down from the effects of a religious ceremony.”

Nodding, she looked over to Kokichi, “Prince Kokichi, would you like some assistance in escorting Prince Kaito back upstairs? Then, of course, I would be happy to come back down and assist Shuichi with bringing up food, if you don’t intend to eat with us at the dining hall tonight for Mid-Fall celebration.” she said...pointedly. 

Kokichi knew Kirumi had just been defending herself, and...considering she knew better than most people what Maki was capable of, he understood why she’d lashed out so aggressively. But knowing what he did now, he felt a little...protective of his friends when it came to her. 

So he gave her a thankful grin, but shook his head. “It’s no problem, Kirumi; thanks though. I’ll just go get Kai-chan settled in bed, then come back down. Happy Mid-Fall, by the way! I hope the cold hasn’t been bothering you too much--Shuu-chan and I had to be all huddled in our jackets out there. Wild, how quickly time flies.”

Looking between Kirumi and Shuuichi, he offered up a softer smile. “Really, I can help him on my own, no need to keep from getting dinner any longer, or interrupting your own. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Ikuo considered the scene in front of him with something of a change in perspective. They had all agreed Kirumi went too far in that fight, though they knew why. Or...they thought they did. When Kaito had so much trouble remembering those around him, he’d picked Kirumi out with startling accuracy, even with a quip that...fit her, but not quite. Whatever was going on, there was something between them.

With a sigh, he rose from the table, stretching a little. “Hell, I’ve been lookin’ after him this long--feels wrong ta quit now. Bunny, would you mind if I tagged along? Had some ideas I wanted ta run by ya.”

That was still leaving Kirumi with Shuuichi, but...in public. Whatever tension there was, it wouldn’t snap with so many people around who would be ready to jump into action if something happened. 

Kaito was just happy to have Shuichi’s hands on his head for awhile. He was warm. He wasn’t stupid, he knew Shuichi covered his ears when he didn’t want Kaito to hear him likely say that he was crazy or something, but, well...he didn’t mind. It was sweet that he cared.

Besides, in five seconds he was going to forget it happened at all, and when Shuichi took his hands off his ears, in five seconds he did, Kaito feeling more disconnected to what was happening around him the less he was talking to anyone. He felt himself getting lost in his head again (Maki had made a beautiful dragon. An ancient, red dragon. He wondered if she really had been the last of her kind? Maybe there was still eggs out there somewhere?) when he felt a gentle tug at his shoulder. 

“Kaito, come on. You’re gonna go upstairs with Kokichi and Ikou.” Shuichi told him. 

Kaito looked over at Ikou and Kokichi...and blushed hot. They were both so pretty! Gah! It was so hard to look at! “‘Kichiiii.” Kaito whined, getting up and, in one swift movement, picking up his husband, kissing his cheek, he hugged him close...and then confessed in his ear, “Why is your dad so hot??? Tell him to tone it down already. Actually don’t. He’s a gift to mankind.” Kaito sighed, kissing Kokichi’s cheek again...and then suddenly feeling eyes on his back. 

He put Kokichi down again and didn’t look. Just said quickly, “Okay, can we go then?”

Shuichi just sighed, before ignoring Kirumi entirely, he headed to the kitchen, ready to quietly ask if anyone in there knew how to make Chai tea. Kirumi, courseying to Kokichi and giving a respectful nod to Ikou, followed him.

Kokichi squealed quietly when Kaito scooped him up, really not expecting his head-down-on-the-table stoned husband to have the energy for something like that. Nor to...hit on his dad??? Cheeks lighting up bright red, he groaned and covered his face for a moment as Kaito put him down, just shaking his head before freeing up one hand to hold Kaito’s. “Bedtime. C’mon.”

He gave a wave to Kirumi and a soft look to Shuuichi before turning, leading his husband back to their room with his dad following, making sure Kaito was steady on his feet. 

Once they were out of the dining room, Kokichi looked back at Ikuo. “...so was there anything you actually wanted to talk to me about?”

“Ow, cruel, my own son not even wanting to chat with his father,” Ikuo drawled, the shadow of his hat covering his face and somehow making his dramatics looking like a fierce villain about to lash back after a wounding shot more than a hapless hero staggering back. “But, yeah, I did think it was better ta give Kirumi more of a reason ta stay back. But, since we’re here…”

Kokichi chuckled as Ikuo started asking about what a good crib mobile would look like, what kind of charms to use.

-

Kait went to bed surprisingly easy. It had been a kind of rough...week? As far as sleep schedules and substance abuse went, and as he rambled a bit to Ikou that Kokichi was a bunch of older souls reincarnating over and over again for their wisdom, occasionally taking a break to go on a tirade about how attractive he thought someone was, Kaito eventually put his head down on the pillow and, almost immediately, passed out. 

Maki came by to check on them, surprised Kaito went out of the shrine on his own but pleased it had been taken care of, and thanks Ikou for looking after him before joining him and Kokichi downstairs in the dining hall.

It was a nice, warm, event….or, okay. It was warm, but, as they ate their meals, people talking excitedly around them, Shuichi shivered.

“I think it’s partly in my head, but I still feel cold from outside...especially in my hands and feet. I thought the tea would help, but I’m still kinda chilly…” Shuichi sighed, giving Kokichi a somewhat embarrassed smile at the complaint. “Maybe I’ll take a warm bath or shower or something when we get back upstairs?”

“Mm?” Kokichi, after a silent moment of asking permission, took one of Shuuichi’s hands in his own, able to feel the chill even with his own cool temperature. He...didn’t remember reading anything poignant about chills when pregnant, so it was probably just normal coldness. 

“Hm. To be honest, I’m a little cold too, though, when am I not?” Kokichi laughed lightly, rolling his eyes. Though, a certain idea came to his head. Perking up, there was a certain spark of excitement in his eyes. “Actually! Shuu-chan, have you gone to the castle sauna before? Like, warm baths are always nice, but there’s something cozy about a sauna, gettin’ all exfoliated, making up a foot bath…”

He chucked, scratching his cheek. “I kinda wanna go now. You wanna too?”

“...Dicea has saunas???” Shuichi asked, eyes widening in excitement. “There’s saunas everywhere in Luminary. Saunas and jacuzzis and hot springs. Considering how different everything else has been, I wasn’t expecting us to have that in common. Maki and Kaito are going to be thrilled.”

Luminaries couldn’t handle the cold. Any cold. When the temperature went down a dramatic whole thirty degrees from usual during the winter in Luminary, saunas and jacuzzi spots became extremely popular, Luminaries huddling in them to stave off the bitter chill outside. It would probably make a Dicean laugh, to see how bundled up and miserable Luminaries were in the deep pits of their winters, where temperature could get as low as, gasp...the fifties...but only during particularly bad winters.

Shuichi smiled brightly, genuinely pleased at the revelation. “Can we? Yes, I’d love to do that. Oh...um...”

Shuichi suddenly reached up to touch the highest part of his chest, suddenly looking… “...uh...is it...likely to be crowded or...m-maybe I shouldn’t…”

Kokichi grin widened in the face of Shuuichi’s excitement, always ecstatic for his loved ones to find something to love in his home country. “Really? I didn’t think they’d be that popular over there...but yeah, every town has at least one, and, I mean, from what I know, it’s not uncommon for people to renovate part of their bathrooms to have a sauna room.”

“Oh, oh! And there’s this super famous hot spring that’s in the mountains! We should totally go there one day!” It was somewhere he’d wanted to go anyway, and not just because of the healing myths around the spring. He’d always heard it could be a truly magical moment, sitting in the hot spring while it snowed around you…

However, when Shuuichi’s concerns came up, Kokichi’s energy calmed, though it didn’t turn into disappointment. “Like...maybe there will be people in the lobby area, but most of the sauna is made of private rooms. It’s so you can adjust the temperature if you have heart problems and need it a little lower, or if you have circulation problems and want it a little higher.” Leaning in he gave Shuuichi a kind look. “And each room has a lock. No worries about other people.”

Shuichi still had a moment of hesitation...but if it was just going to be Kokichi? Kokichi had already seen him, uh...leaking pretty dramatically. And nothing bad had happened. No one had pointed and laughed or made him feel disgusting...and Kokichi, especially, wouldn’t. So…

Shuichi balled his fists and said, “Y-yeah! I want to go sit in the s-sauna then...i-if you still want too.”

Kokichi nodded enthusiastically, getting up and gathering his dishes to take to the kitchen. “I would be honored to warm up right beside you in Shuu-chan’s first Dicean sauna experience. Not that I expect it to be all that different from saunas in Luminary, but being able to get all nice and warm will make up for any mundane excitement.”

After dropping off their dishes, Kokichi led Shuuichi to a back area on the first floor, chattering on about the piping system they used for the sauna, and while it technically could go on any floor, it was most efficient to have on the bottom--easy for anyone visiting to get to too. 

“Oh, and we have robes that people can use after they’re done,” he continued to explain, handing over a towel to Shuuichi and grabbing a room key from the wall of hooks, “But it’s kinda only for people staying at the castle? It’s a little awkward to walk through town in just a robe, you know? Still, that doesn’t stop everyone. But, anyway, I think I’m gonna use one so I don’t have to change back into my day clothes after gettin’ all hot an’ sweaty. Ah, damn, we should’ve stopped for pajamas...but, oh well. Do you want one too, or gonna rock your regular clothes?”

Shuichi tried to imagine himself walking around the castle in a robe, and blushed hard. “Regular clothes. It’ll be fine.” he assured Kokichi. Looking around at the changing area outside of the saunas themselves though, he said, “But I’ll take a robe to get too and from the changing stall, thanks.”

Getting himself in a changing stall and taking off his clothes, putting the towel around his waist and putting the robe back on before loosely folding his clothes, Shuichi came out of the stall and hurried to the sauna that Kokichi had pointed out as being ‘theirs’, quickly getting inside and taking a small sigh of relief at the privacy in there. He was still waiting for Kokichi, and now it would be simple enough to take his robe off and just relax.

...yep. Just….take the robe off Shuichi...come on, you got past this….it’s just Kokichi! 

...okay but what if someone saw inside when Kokichi opened the door? 

...nnnnggg….maybe he’s just...sit in the robe and wait.

Kokichi nodded and passed off the robe before heading to a changing stall himself feeling good to get out of his layers of clothes but not be freezing. The lobby wasn’t quite up to sauna levels itself, but the residual heat from all the rooms made it one of the most ambiantly warm rooms in the castle. The kitchen was probably up there, he supposed. 

Hurrying over to their room, his towel snugly tucked around his waist, Kokichi flashed Shuuichi a grin as he locked the door, setting the key aside along with hanging up his robe, a little amused to see Shuuichi still wearing his, but knowing better than to show that. Instead, he asked, “Want me to hang that up for you? And, I know it’s kind of a bummer, but between my heart and, yanno, you being pregnant, I was thinking we’d go on the lower side of things. Still warm for sure, though!”

Right. Pregnant. Shuichi had to remember that. Nodding, he said, “Yeah, of course, Kokichi. No need for either of us to be passing out. Um...and sure, thanks…”

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fi- Shuichi took a breath and took off the robe, handing it to Kokichi before immediately sitting back down, finding himself automatically crossing his arms over his chest. Come ooooon...he thought he was past this. But he supposed there was a difference to not being conscious of his chest all the time and feeling more confident because of that, and still just kinda displaying himself casually. He just...needed a minute to relax.

Sighing, Shuichi still felt some of the tension in his muscles relax as the room started to really fill with heat. Mmmmm….that was always a good feeling… Shuichi smiled slightly, looking over at Kokichi, before laughing lightly, “Your body’s already turning a little red.” He noticed fondly.

Once he’d set them up, Kokichi plopped down beside Shuuichi, noticing his boyfriend’s discomfort and not scooting up right beside him, giving Shuuichi room. And, before long, he felt himself relaxing with the heat, everything good about a warm bath without turning into a raisen. Well, the weightlessness could be kind of fun too, but that was just another difference to make them both worthwhile for their own purposes. 

Giggling along with Shuuichi, Kokichi stretched his arms out, displaying his redness for the room to see. “Oh, trust me, I’m gonna look like a boiled lobster by the time we’ve had our fill. The perks of being a pale shut-in.”

Nudging Shuuichi’s shoulder, he gave the older boy a wink. “I’m looking forward to seeing Shuu-chan turn red too. Not quite as satisfying as a blush, but far less dangerous than a sunburn.”

Kokichi slouched down a bit on the bench they were both on, stretching out his legs now too. “Mmmm...I have a feeling we’re gonna make use of the sauna a lot this winter. Cuddling by the fire in our room too. The cold can be annoying, but it does make for a great excuse to be all close with your loved ones.”

“I still have a hard time believing it’ll actually get colder than this.” Shuichi admitted, leaning back against the wall as he felt a sheen of sweat start to build up on him, running a hand through his hair (his cap, of course, left with his clothes), still covering his chest with his other arm. 

Shuichi’s eyes, despite himself, followed the length of Kokichi’s legs when the man stretched. Small and thin, with little pointed ankles and small feet that curved in the middle...little bruises were apparent on some of that redding skin, and Shuichi frowned slightly. “Where did you get those bruises on your thighs, Kokichi?” Shuichi asked, a touch of concern in the question.

“If this is the extent of how cold it ever gets in Luminary, then, yeah, I can see how you’d have a hard time believing it. If we ever spend a summer in Luminary, then you all can make fun of me for dying in return,” Kokichi laughed. “But this is about the time people start breaking out their winter clothes and saying stuff like, ‘bit chilly today, huh?’ It really is only fall. And even when the calendar says it’s winter, it never feels like it until we get the first snow that sticks. But I’ll always have ideas about how to warm up my dear immigrants.”

Basking in the warmth of the sauna, it took Kokichi a second to realize what Shuuichi was talking about, despite his boyfriend saying it so clearly. Light bruises on the inside of his thighs, same to match ones that, in a manner, Kokichi knew were on his hips too, though he didn’t think they were of much note. 

“Oh, these are from Kai-chan.”

After a moment, Kokichi flushed and waved his hands. “Not like that! I-I mean...you know. The last time we had sex all together? I bruise easily and the marks stick around for foreeeeeever. Kinda to, um, my and Kai-chan’s satisfaction.” Kokichi grinned off to the side, rubbing his neck. “It’s too embarrassing to show ‘em off, but still. I like it when he marks me.”

...oh?

...oh! 

Shuichi blushed, not having recognized it for what it was, but now that he was looking at it, okay, yeah...it was pretty obviously  following a pattern of where fingers would go when, uh…

Did Shuichi get marks like that? He so rarely looked at his body in any real detail. He could literally go days at a time without really looking at himself. It was...huh. He blushed harder, especially at Kokichi’s commentary. “O-oh, of course...um…” still, even if Kokichi was pleased with them, Shuichi couldn’t help but frown a bit, lowering his arms so that he could scoot a little closer, reaching down and touching one bruise gently as he said, “...does it hurt you? I never really feel like Kaito’s grips on me get too tight, but you and him have a different pace in bed then he does with me...Kaito always kinda goes wild with you, near the end there…”

Smiling a little calmer, a little more lovingly, Kokichi tipped his head to rest against Shuuichi’s shoulder. “Nah, it doesn’t hurt. The worst was probably the ice that one time, but Kai-chan knows I don’t like it now. Sure, it’s firm and sometimes kinda rough, but never in a painful way, or in a way I don’t like. Really, I just bruise easily. Like just bumping into something, not even hard enough to make your funny bone smart, something like that would leave a bruise. It might look bad, but it’s not.”

...there were other things Kaito did that hurt, but that was more of an emotional hurt...and Kokichi didn’t want to talk about that right now. Someday he’d tell Shuuichi...as he kept telling himself. 

Looking up at Shuuichi, Kokichi ran a gentle hand down the detective’s arm, still feather-light on his thigh. “...I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to mark me up too. Shuu-chan’s kisses always feel nice.”

…?

…….!?

0\\\0’’

“...A-ah, well, I mean…” Shuichi took his hand off Kokichi’s leg, scratching at his chin as he looked down at his feet, sweating slightly harder as he said, “I don’t think I’d...I mean, I think I’d have a hard time holding you that tight. Kaito knows how to do it, you know? I wouldn’t...want to take it too far by accident or…”

Shuichi looked over at the bruises and blushed harder again. It worried Shuichi, whenever he saw injuries on Kokichi, but...he had to admit, the memory of how Kokichi had gotten them was...like, Kokichi had certainly seemed to enjoy himself…

...m-maybe this was a bad conversation to have right now. They were both half naked in a sauna and Shuichi could feel himself starting to get….restless. He doubted Kokichi would appreciate Shuichi trying to paw at him down here. 

...especially without Kaito? Right?? 

“...today was really nice, by the way.” Shuichi said, clasping his hands together and still trying to get in control of his fluster. “You and me just out for a walk, shopping, I mean. I know you and me spent a lot of time alone when Kaito was locked in his shrine, but today sort of...felt different, you know? Like….like you were hanging out with me because you wanted too. Or! Maybe that’s the wrong way of putting it…” Shuichi said, frowning, trying to find the right words, “...like, it was just a day between us? For...for its own sake? Um….yeah...it was nice. Thank you.”

Kokichi’s shoulders bounced a bit as he watched Shuuichi’s face grow ever redder, though for his boyfriend’s sake he kept the laughter in. He knew he’d be just as red if the situation was reversed after all. But, at least for the moment he was feeling flirty and confident and it felt nice to spread those feelings out Shuuichi’s way. 

Shrugging a bit, Kokichi nuzzled Shuuichi’s shoulder. “I mean, you don’t have to hold me tight for things to feel nice. You’re not Kai-chan, so you’re not gonna do everything he does--you’re Shuu-chan, and I’m lucky as ever that you are.” Both just to be able to date someone and figure their relationship out a little slower than it had been with Kaito--though having to declare Shuuichi as his partner to the whole world had sped things up a bit, but it had been long enough that Kokichi was happy to do it--and because it was Shuuichi specifically. Nervous and clever and sneaky and curious and so loving…

“I always wanna hang out with Shuu-chan,” Kokichi partially teased with a giggle before leaning over to place a kiss on Shuuichi’s flushed cheek. “I get it, though. And if you get to thank me, then I get to thank you right back! Because I had fun too, and going out to bum around town was, like, 300% percent better with you spending that time with me. I love spending time with you and Kai-chan, the three of us together, but it’s a different sort of nice when we’re spending time one-on-one, yeah? I’d even extend that to hanging out with Maki-chan, though without all the relationship stuff. I like being friends with her, but I don’t think I’ll ever get the inclination to kiss her.”

Kokichi’s nose wrinkled a little at the thought. 

“You and Kai-chan though? Kai-chan was right, I’m a kissing fiend.”

Shuichi smiled, before laughing lightly, shaking his head as he mused, “I am actually trying to imagine you and Maki kissing, and honestly? It’s even really awkward in my head. Like...you would both be so uncomfortable. I think Maki would end up hitting you just...not knowing what else to do.” Shuichi said, not sure if that was actually true, but fantasy Maki in his head? Absolutely ends up decking Kokichi after a kiss, just out of awkwardness. 

“...” he thought, briefly, about confessing the dark, dirty thoughts he had had about Maki while under the pollen. He had been having fantasies like that about all of them, but especially with Maki, now, it felt...especially guilty. Uncomfortable. He felt like he had to apologize to her, but he couldn’t bear the idea of bringing it up with her. Especially after the two had basically decided via their actions to never, never discuss what Maki had seen during the one session she had actually sat in for…

...he had been so gross...how could any of them stand being around him at all...god he was so disgusting…

Realizing his thoughts were taking a dark turn, Shuichi brought his hands up to his cheeks and lightly tapped at them both, trying to physically jolt the thoughts out of his head. He didn’t want to be grumpy or moody Shuichi right now. He wanted to enjoy his time in a sauna with his boyfriend. Come on now...what would Kaito say? 

You’re fine. Y-you’re...you’re perfect…

It didn’t sound as convincing in his own head, but Shuichi did feel slightly less lost in his mind, as he looked over at Kokichi, smiling softly as he said, “...yeah. But that’s good. I like kissing you. You’re...you’re soft and sweet. It’s nice.”

“Eugh… Even more reason to not do that,” Kokichi shook his head with a shudder. “More than that I don’t like being hit, she’d feel bad afterward but not really know how to apologize, and she’d ask me to hit her back, but I don’t like doing that either, and I think somehow Kai-chan would end up with another piercing in the end.”

“I’d rather just kiss my sweet Shuu-chan!” With a giggle, he did just that, placing a big smooch on Shuuichi’s cheek again, hoping that it’d help pull Shuuichi away from whatever thought-hole he was sinking into, though it looked like he’d done a good job of doing that himself. Still, he kept the teasing energy up, looking over his bony arms and thin chest before raising a playful eyebrow at Shuuichi. “You and Kai-chan keep saying that, though I don’t think I’ve ever been soft in my life. Not for a lack of trying. I think I’m just lucky that you two find sharp, bony joints sexy.”

He figured they had always meant soft in demeanor. An approachable, kind type of personality. While he had trouble really opening up to people, it was a comfort that apparently he came off as warm as a leader should be.

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, surprised Kokichi didn’t realize, before placing the very tip of his index finger gently on Kokichi’s bottom lip.

“Here.” Shuichi explained, giving Kokichi a small, befuddled look, as he explained, “You’re soft right here, Kokichi.”

Then, to confirm the thought, he leaned in and kissed at Kokichi’s bottom lip. Enjoying that small, soft line.

...his lips were soft? Well...they certainly weren’t as chapped as they could’ve been, and he had made an effort to shift the nervous habit of chewing on his lips to tapping them, but…

Mm… 

Kokichi loosely looped an arm around Shuuichi’s waist as he enjoyed the kiss. He loved showing his affection with cheek and arm kisses, small pecks as he hugged and nuzzled whatever he could reach. But when they really kissed, it always felt special. Just something a little more than casual affection--though, admittedly, Kaito sometimes treated kisses like these as casual affection too. But a Shuuichi-initiated full kiss? Kokichi hummed happily, kissing at Shuuichi’s top lip in return for the love he was getting. 

Shuichi relaxed a little. This, at least, was a somewhat comfortable (and only uncomfortable in how, uh, ‘bothered’ he got) routine of theirs now. Shuichi liked making out with Kokichi. It was a nice way to be close to Kokichi, usually letting his hands wander around his waist and arms. And, so far, it never really led to anything more, the two usually laughing after a while and falling into some nice conversation, a little flushed from kissing.

...it was….a little different in this heat though.

Kokichi was half naked. And, like, already slicked by sweat at this point. Everywhere Shuichi touched came away wet, and...Shuichi leaned in close a-and felt Kokichi’s skin brush against his nipples and-

He blushed hard, pulling away, feeling embarrassed at how flustered he was as he put his hands very purposefully on top of his towel, stammering out, “S-sorry, uh...sorry. We might want to cool it down. I uh…” he laughed, giving Kokichi a small, embarrassed look, “I think I’m a little ‘too’ into it right now.” he said meaningfully, flushing hard.

Kokichi often huddled and pressed against his lovers for warmth; Shuuichi wasn’t quite the blazing oven Kaito was, but he was still plenty warm and like the greedy leech he was, Kokichi gleefully took the double win of being close to his partners while getting warm.

Well, they were literally in a sauna, so he wasn’t very cold at all, but still Kokichi wanted that closeness, having his cake and eating it too. He wanted to feel Shuuichi’s body against his, all the moments of tender exploration and budding love, but…

But Shuuichi pulled away, and that was a stop.

Even if he was a little overly warm and sweaty and definitely wanted to continue. 

Nodding as he caught his breath, Kokichi offered a cheeky, shameless smile. “Me too, honestly. Shuu-chan’s just such a good kisser that it’s winding me up a bit. But if you don’t wanna do anything, then we won’t. That promise sticks from now to forever.”

Kokichi sat back against the wall with a deep breath and ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair, trying to calm himself down a bit. Even if he was sort of laying himself out, face red and lips kiss-slick, taking deep breaths like he was calming down from something a bit more active.

...did he want to do anything?

...wait, did that mean Kokichi wanted to do something?

Or was he just saying that he was okay with it if Shuichi wanted to do something? As in, like, he wasn’t offended that Shuichi was getting riled up? He was acknowledging there was some tension going on, and was fine with letting Shuichi wind himself back down? Or, was he saying that he wanted to actually, like...do do something, if Shuichi himself was into it? Or, that, he was just happy to accomodate Shuichi if Shuichi wanted to do do something, or…

Fuck, what were they saying? Why was this so hard??

“I mean...we shouldn’t, right?” Shuichi asked, looking nervously over at the door, “Like, that would be a weird thing to do in here? That’s...not something we’re considering?”

Kokichi cracked open a curious eye. ...had Shuuichi only pulled back because he didn’t want to pressure him?

“...I don’t think it’d be that weird. I mean, it’s not like we’re debating wrecking the room, just, yanno...getting a little more handsy. Making out some more. Maybe grinding a bit…” Kokichi’s face flushed a little deeper, though the shy smile on his face was anything but hesitant. 

Plus, he was pretty sure people snuck away to get frisky in the sauna rooms often enough. Not carelessly enough to leave messes, but especially when it started getting colder, it was a nice place to be with a loved one. He wasn’t sure if that’d soothe Shuuichi’s concerns or make him more nervous, though. 

Taking a breath, Kokichi decided to steer their ship a little--they didn’t have Captain Kaito there to do it for them, after all. “Really, I’d like to...I dunno, do some heavy petting with you? We’re not really prepared to have sex, and even if I managed to actually give you a decent blowjob for once, we’d still have to be careful about me not swallowing anything. But fooling around in other ways is definitely something I wanna do with you. However, if you don’t want to? Or if doing anything here is too uncomfortable? Then we’re not doing anything. Shuu-chan’s feelings are way more important to me then getting my jollies off.”

A little more shy now, Kokichi placed a gentle hand over one of Shuuichi’s. “...I really like you. In a lot of ways, but physically, or, I guess, carnally is definitely one of them.”

...okay, even Shuichi’s endless social anxieties couldn’t misconstrue that. Shuichi blushed scarlet, realizing that something might actually happen here...that Kokichi wanted something to happen. And...frankly, so did he. 

And...that was it, right? They were two consenting adults. The room was literally designed to handle somewhat gross bodily fluids. The door was locked. They both wanted to…

...Shuichi covered his face, a small, embarrassed noise hissing out of him as he squirmed a little, before sighing a rubbing his hands through his hair, side-eying Kokichi before saying hesitantly, “If...if you’re sure...I mean, if you want to, I want to...um…”

Okay! How were they...going to do this??

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi, flustered, but his view more analytical now. How could they...w-well first thing was they had to take the towels off, right? Made sense. Maybe Shuichi could reach over and kiss him and unfold his towel with his other hand, real suave-like and--ahhhhh, how did Kaito just do things?? Shuichi could already feel his stomach tighten in nerves as he imagined trying a move that bold. 

Don’t overthink it! Kokichi was into it! Just… “Okay…” Shuichi murmured, leaning in to kiss him again, small, chaste little pecks against his bottom lip, one, two, then a longer kiss as Shuichi put his hand on Kokichi’s knee, feeling his stomach flutter with nervous butterflies as he began to draw his hand up Kokichi’s thigh, pushing at his towel.

“I do,” Kokichi confirmed, not wanting to leave any crack for Shuuichi’s anxieties to wriggle through. It was one thing to be wary and nervous about your surroundings or the act of being intimate, but another to be just...generally nervous about false reasons your mind gave you, and thus made you miss out on things you actually wanted to do. Bad brain stuff. So, while Kokichi was doing well enough with his own, he wanted to help Shuuichi out with his anxiety. 

Kokichi scooted close again as Shuuichi started to kiss him once more, keeping himself receptive to Shuuichi moving his towel away, though he wasn’t helping out. Instead, Kokichi found his hands on Shuuichi’s waist, at first just holding him, but then rubbing the exposed skin right above his towel and slowly sliding down.

In a moment of affection, Kokichi sucked a bit at Shuuichi’s lip and hooked his nearest ankle around Shuuichi’s, entwining their legs together and keeping each other close. He wanted Shuuichi to touch him, to not feel fear when he explored, and to feel loved and adored as Kokichi did the same. They were both inexperienced, but it was the learning experiences together that made them grow. 

And having a top tier teacher like Kaito helped a lot too. 

Shuichi wasn’t inexperienced. He kept reminding himself of that. Nao had touched him. Kaito had touched him. Kokichi had touched him.

...this was just the first time he really felt like he was the one doing the touching.

At least, without someone keeping him on track and pushing him forwards. And Kokichi leaving his hands alone to do what they pleased, while Kokichi in turn explored him was...it felt exposing. But, in a good way. Gah! He wasn’t some wilting flower virgin! Just...get out of your own head! 

Shuichi kept letting his hand drift up, and with no resistance or hesitancy coming from Kokichi’s end of things, Shuichi pulled Kokichi’s towel to the side, so that it was opened up halfway. Breaking the kiss for a moment, he looked down, seeing Kokichi’s mostly naked form exposed to him and...blushed hard. He felt a strong urge to ask Kokichi again if he was sure, but...well, he seemed sure. So…

He laughed a little, when he felt Kokichi’s legs entwined with his own. Scooting a little closer to help out, their hips pressed hard against each other now, Shuichi rubbed Kokichi’s inner thigh with his right hand and, not knowing what to do with his left, encircled it around Kokichi’s back. Holding his side as he went back to kissing him a bit, at first chaste, but then making the move to push his tongue against Kokichi’s lips, asking for entrance.

As he asked for entrance, his left hand’s knuckles, literally by accident, brushed against the head of Kokichi’s dick, and...well, he had found it anyway. Trying to be gentle with it, Shuichi took Kokichi’s dick into his hand, slowly starting to massage it. 

Kokichi managed to smile against Shuuichi’s lips before he pulled away, happy to have Shuuichi pull his towel aside. On Kokichi’s side, he was still working the towel down and loosening it, gentle when he came to that slight bulge in Shuuichi’s belly. Kokichi remembered that uncertain fear when Shuuichi had first guided his hand to the odd firmness, but now he had nothing but happiness. Their little one, growing in a different manner than most, but still healthy. Kokichi lingered there for a moment, letting his hands rest on the side of Shuuichi’s abdomen before he continued with working his towel down. 

“Uung...mm…” Kokichi granted entrance almost immediately to his mouth when Shuuichi returned, but he couldn’t help but shiver and let out a small groan as Shuuichi closed in on his dick, starting to work it. Thankfully for his utter embarrassment, just kissing before hadn’t been enough to get him up to a semi, but from how Shuuichi felt against him, touching him, Kokichi knew it wouldn’t be long. Encouraging his boyfriend with a hum, Kokichi tried to get even closer, going beyond just booking their ankles together and now hiking his knee over Shuuichi’s leg. 

But while Shuuichi was touching him, Kokichi wasn’t quite there yet. Shuuichi’s towel, now barely holding around him, was pushed down to his hips, and Kokichi took the time to appreciate them just as he did with everything above. Soft, strong hips that he knew could press and thrust against him with the same sort of firm urgency that Kaito had, despite Shuuichi’s reservations. Lovely hips. 

Shuichi felt the irrational urge to laugh into his kiss, and didn’t know where the urge came from...then realized Kokichi had pressed his hands into his hips. He hadn’t quite found his ticklish spot, but was close enough to it to let out a phantom giggle at it. Keep it together, Shuichi...laughing again, he broke the kiss, smiling as a line of sweat or drool or something stretched between them for a second before breaking, Shuichi looking adoringly at Kokichi. Both of their skin wet and red, the steam in the room building up with them.

Kokichi was practically crawling into his lap now, and...thinking of how often Kaito pulled him on top of himself, Shuichi slowed his ministrations and said, “Um...do you want to sit on my knees?” 

While normally kind of gross, seeing their combined spit just made Kokichi’s heart flutter. Or maybe that was from seeing how so much love sparkled in those gorgeous golden eyes--even covered in sweat, Shuuichi’s eyelashes still looked perfect. That Shuu-chan pretty magic at it again. 

Kokichi nodded eagerly, untangling himself from Shuuichi for a moment to stand and perch himself comfortably in Shuuichi’s lap, trying to make sure that he wasn’t sitting on a pressure point or letting any of his sharp edges poke into his boyfriend. Once settled, Kokichi purred and nosed against Shuuichi’s cheek before he started kissing along Shuuichi’s jaw. “Shuu-chan’s so kind to me...so wonderful and pretty and sexy. I know I’ve been taking my damn time, but can I touch you too? I don’t mind sharing some prime Shuu-chan lap real estate with The Beast. Exactly the kind of roommate I’d want, actually.”

Shuichi worried over Kokichi for a second, keeping his legs steady so that his small frame wouldn’t slide off on the slick of his sweat. But Kokichi steadied himself easily, and Shuichi smiled warmly at him, laughing a little as Kokichi started to kiss him down the side of his face. 

Shuichi had kept his hands on Kokichi’s leg and hip, still wanting to make certain he wasn’t going to fall off, but he risked sliding the hand on Kokichi’s leg up his back, running his fingers up and down the curve of Kokichi’s spine as his boyfriend leaned against him. “‘The Beast’...I still can’t believe how quickly Kaito just decided to give my dick a name. Do both of your dicks have names? Or is that just a ‘me’ thing?” Shuichi asked, catching Kokichi’s lips when he got close enough to his chin to do so.

It was so warm in here. Even Kokichi, who was usually so chilly to the touch, felt warm against him. His mouth like a furnace. Shuichi liked it…

He broke the kiss, before looking down at the space between their hips. He sighed and then snorted a little. “Hold on…” he said, shifting his legs open a little before undoing his own towel, pushing it to the sides, and then reaching in to pull The Beast out. Shuichi blushed slightly in embarrassment, the massive dick, still mostly limp, still managing to touch at Kokichi’s stomach as Shuichi held it in his own hand, it just having the length to reach in this limp state. “It’s so ridiculous…” Shuichi muttered, frowning at the grotesque thing. “What a stupid thing for the pollen to do.”

“...you know. It’s long enough that I can put it inside of myself?” Shuichi told Kokichi, looking a little exasperated. “I did it once. Kaito’s going to lose his mind the day he realizes that himself.”

While he hadn’t had much practice staying up on something slicked with sweat specifically, Kokichi still had enough practice perching and scrambling up on things that he made a home for himself on Shuuichi’s lap pretty easily, though he appreciated his boyfriend giving him a bracing hand all the same. Along with every gentle touch, the stroke of fingers along his spine made him smile against Shuuichi and press ever closer. 

“Kai-chan hasn’t called my dick anything but cute, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a name for his and just never told me. But to be fair, Shuu-chan’s dick is impressive enough that, honestly? It’d be a little insulting if you didn’t get a title or a name,” Kokichi giggled, eagerly making space when Shuuichi broke their kiss again to pull out his cock. Impressive was barely even scratching the surface, and, really, Kokichi was only disappointed that he’d never be able to feel it inside of him. Surely it’d feel amazing. 

Taking one hand off of Shuuichi, Kokichi gently stroked The Beast from base to head, wanting to help Shuuichi get riled up a little too. He remembered how even when Shuuichi was getting hard it was simply too heavy on its own to rise up, so Kokichi made sure to shuffle a little closer, bracing the end of Shuuichi’s cock with his stomach to prop it up a little, giving a little help. 

Shuuichi was big to an eyebrow-raising degree, sure, but grotesque? Kokichi frowned slightly, about to shower his boyfriend in truthful affection before Shuuichi mentioned something that nearly made his eyebrows shoot right off his face. “Seriously? That’s...wow. I mean, I’ve daydreamed about stuff like that once or twice, but…” Kokichi sighed out a groan, dropping his head onto Shuuichi’s shoulder. “Shuu-chan out here living literal dreams.”

After a beat he started kissing at Shuuichi’s neck again, going back to stroking his cock. “Hey… Kai-chan and I really do both think you’re sexy and gorgeous, you know? I realize that packing doesn’t always make things convenient, and there are things you don’t like much about your body. That’s okay. But it’s your body, and that makes it good. I don’t think I’ll ever stop burning in envy, because your dick looks and feels like it’d drive me wild if I ever managed to fit it. I thought Shuu-chan was cute when I first met him, and I think he’s cute now, in some part, yeah, because you’re you, but I like your body too. Every part. And if you change in the future--which you will, because we all will, because everyone does--I’ll still think you’re sexy then.”

Ever so gently, Kokichi nibbled on a bit of Shuuichi’s neck, running his thumb around the tip of his head, though carefully avoiding his hole.

Shuichi shivered, a small intake of breath at the feeling of teeth against his skin. Kokichi’s hands felt good...and still bracing Kokichi’s back (God, Shuichi would feel terrible if Kokichi fell), he took his other hand and pushed it gently between them, seeking out Kokichi’s own cock. “Kaito calls lots of things cute...but yeah. Your dick is kinda cute,” Shuichi admitted, finding Kokichi’s cock and once again gently and smoothly rubbing the muscle up and down between his thumb and palm.

“...I know. I know you guys mean it. Thanks...I don’t know why I keep saying things like that. I’m...mmmm…” Shuichi felt another shiver of pleasure, though this time from his cock, which was slowly stiffening in Kokichi’s fingers. Shuichi kissed against the side of Kokichi’s head in appreciation, before continuing to murmur, “I’m not trying to...it’s silly. I believe you both. I just don’t see what you both do. Not yet, anyway...maybe I will someday.”

“But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m not...I’m not unhappy, just because I still think I looked deformed sometimes. I feel like I’ve said it over and over again today, but...it’s true. I just...I  feel good. Hopeful.”

Shuichi kissed at Kokichi’s cheek, before leaning back a little. Just wanting to look at him. “...you have a lot to do with that.”

Kokichi preened at the shiver he could feel from Shuuichi, firm in his knowledge that it had nothing to do with a chill. Kokichi loved all the affection his lovers would dote on him with, but making them feel good in return was just as sweet. Shivers and gasps and all sorts of cute sounds...he loved having his work rewarded with those. And so, most of the time during sex, he didn’t mind rewarding his lovers with the same prize from him. 

“Mm-mmm… ah.” Already about half-hard from Shuuichi touching him before, the return to touch sent sparks from his gut and Kokichi smiled into Shuuichi’s neck. 

“Someday…” he echoed. “But until then, Kai-chan and I will just remind you, likely to the point of exasperation. Though to be fair, we’ll probably still keep gushing over Shuu-chan even when he feels more at peace with himself. It’s hard not to comment when you see breath-taking beauty in front of you.”

Kokichi looked up from Shuuichi’s neck when he felt him lean back, wanting to accommodate whatever Shuuichi was doing, but he felt his cheeks flush further when it turned out that Shuuichi just...wanted to look at him. With a little bashful snort, Kokichi leaned back in, just to boop their noses together, though the look he gave Shuuichi was less playful and more adoring. “...I’m glad. More than anything...I just want you to be happy. All of you guys. Dicea. Everyone.” He shook his head a little, looking off to the side in exasperated self-admonishment. “But you specifically? Shuu-chan’s well-being is very important and I’m happy I’m able to contribute to it. I’m happy I can be good to you.”

He leaned in again, capturing Shuuichi’s lips in a less desperate, more soulful kiss.

Shuichi knew Kokichi wasn’t in a position in life where he could ever really play favorites. And, just from that small spiraling gush of clarifications, he wasn’t sure Kokichi was even capable of it, personality wise...so he knew he’d never really be Kokichi’s top priority. But, that was okay. Shuichi wasn’t as jealous of Kokichi’s attention as Kaito was, and he knew his boyfriend, with a literal country’s worth of expectations on his back, was trying his best.

But even for Kokichi to want to take care of him, as just the individual, Shuichi...it was nice. Sweet. And Shuichi happily accepted the kiss, a small, breathy hum escaping him as he kissed back. 

For a moment, Shuichi almost forgot the other stuff they were doing, just enjoying the new parade of kisses, Shuichi leaning forward to capture Kokichi’s kisses greedily again every time his boyfriend leaned back slightly for a breath of air. He’d feel selfish, if those kisses weren’t so enthusiastically returned.

Then he suddenly remembered the space between them as there was a sudden tensing in his groin. “Nnnng...hah…” Shuichi gasped, the tension in his dick starting to build. Breaking the kiss again, he leaned back to look down between them, Kokichi’s dick in his hand and his own dick in both of Kokichi’s. “Hmmm...that’s a nice sight...if you scoot in closer? Maybe we could rub them both at the same time? Or, hmmm...slide them against each other a little? Like we do in bed, but without...can we even get any momentum in this position?” Shuichi mused, laughing lightly as he tried to work this out. He wanted to rub against Kokichi, but just wasn’t sure how he could contribute sitting up with Kokichi sitting on top of his hips...Kokichi would just rise with him if he tried to thrust or move his hips against him, he was pretty sure…

Kokichi gleefully let each breath of air he had to part for be immediately stolen by Shuuichi, reveling in the light dizziness that came over him, only exacerbated by the warm, steamy room. He’d made sure to set the temperature just a little lower than he thought would be fine, taking into consideration both of their states, and he was glad for it. He hadn’t planned on doing anything in the sauna, but he was incredibly pleased that they were. 

Looking down to take in the sight of their laps that Shuuichi commented on, Kokichi hummed, looking at a bit more than just their cocks rubbing up against each other now and then. With Shuuichi’s towel at his sides, there was a bit more of a cushion and something that would keep him from slipping…

“Lemme try.” Momentarily letting go of Shuuichi’s cock--not without one last parting stroke--Kokichi spread his legs wide and scooted up on Shuuichi’s lap, resting his knees on the towel. Even just pressing together felt nice, and Kokichi couldn’t help but kiss his boyfriend again, pushing his hips forward into Shuuichi’s. 

But his boyfriend had expressed a desire, and so what was he to do but try to fulfill it? 

Getting his greedy fill and knowing there was more to come, Kokichi put his weight onto his knees, lifting himself up, just a little, before sitting back down in Shuuichi’s lap. “Nmmm...think this’d work?”

Shuichi watched all this curiously, though he got a little distracted by the kiss. By the time Kokichi broke the kiss, his boyfriend was pressed more tightly up against him, and Shuichi glanced down to his side to see the towel’s use. And then, as Kokichi shifted, a small, controlled bounce in his lap.

Shuichi swallowed hard, his dick teased and stimulated by the little rub against him. That would...definitely work, but...Shuichi felt bad. He wished he was doing more. Kaito was always able to make Kokichi lose his mind…

He blinked, and then, blushing, he said quietly, “That’s perfect, Kokichi, but...do you think it would be too hard to do that if I played with your ass while you did it?”

Kokichi flushed hard though his lips curled up into a shy, flattered, excited grin. Chuckling bashfully, he murmured, “I think that might make me bounce even more against you, really. Wanting to press into Shuu-chan’s lovely fingers. Though...if you wanna do that…”

Another sheepish look. “...could you work to get in me first? I’ve never...used just sweat as lube…” And he didn’t want to make Shuuichi panic, thinking he’d hurt him if he was rubbing up against his cock all the while. ...and that it might actually hurt if they didn’t do this carefully. 

Not that he said any of that aloud, not wanting to frighten Shuuichi. However, another idea came to him, unwittingly continuing the game of wanting to pleasure each other more and more. Kokichi brightened, deciding to show and tell at the same time. “How about I give you more of a handjob while you open me? That way it’ll feel even better later.” As he explained, Kokichi brought a hand back to The Beast, stroking just below the head now, trailing his thumb along that vein that always felt so good…

Oh! Right. Opening him up...Kaito literally never let either of them do anything without doing that first. Had some strong opinions about it...but, well...how difficult would it really be without lube? Not that Shuichi had any experience himself with that...hmmm. It was probably better to be careful.

“Heh...ah…” Shuichi’s blush burnt down his neck, feeling that tension build up some more as Kokichi’s thin fingers went back to work on him. “...that feels good...okay. If this isn’t going to work? You need to tell me...I’d rather stop than hurt you, okay?” Shuichi asked, leaning forward to give Kokichi a small peck on the lips. “Okay…”

It was...admittedly, a little tough to concentrate as Kokichi worked him. He kept finding himself swallowing, circling his left arm around Kokichi’s waist, kissing at his shoulder as he ran his right hand over Kokichi’s ass, squeezing at the cheek for a moment, rubbing it...then deciding he maybe needed more of a seat to lean into his touch, Shuichi brought his left arm down and pushed it underneath Kokichi’s legs, just below the bottom of Kokichi’s ass. Letting Kokichi sit there so that his ass was perched up.

Still kissing Kokichi’s shoulder, he looked over his shoulder and down his back, and moved his hand up and down Kokichi’s crack a little, playing with that small, pinched skin, before, using one finger, he pushed in…

“...okay. This might be a problem,” Shuichi realized, the skin inside of Kokichi only giving way to his intrusion up to the second joint, halfway down the finger, before it felt like pushing in any more was going to require him pushing too forcefully.

Kokichi hummed his assent, knowing that he’d take just a little bit of struggle, but he’d still speak up if it was gonna be clear that Shuuichi wasn’t getting in. That was one thing people with vags had going for them, he supposed--lube tended to come along with getting in the mood. 

He kept working Shuuichi’s cock, though slow, not wanting to completely distract his boyfriend, nuzzling at him and, when Shuuichi slung one of his arms under his ass to rest on, he hummed in appreciation, taking the help keeping an easier angle. And more than just the hum, he brought his hand up to play with Shuuichi’s head a little more. Gotta be gracious. 

However, when Shuuichi started to push… 

It wasn’t...painful. Not something that Kokichi would flinch away from. But there was a bit of a wince just in the tensing of his face, the knowledge that Shuuichi definitely wasn’t getting any farther. 

Kokichi took a moment to think as he sighed against Shuuichi’s shoulder. There was...one thing Kaito did sometimes to help with things, though he’d stayed away from it if they were going to actually fuck… But…

...feeling bad to ask, Kokichi felt his cheeks grow hot. “Um...if you didn’t mind using your other hand… I could suck on your fingers before you try to push in? It’s worked with Kai-chan before. Guess saliva’s just a little better than sweat for this kinda thing…”

Reluctantly, but carefully, Shuichi pulled his finger out. He had really thought Kokichi’s skin would give more than that. No wonder Kaito fussed about it so much. Shuichi had no idea how much you’d have to just barrel through if you tried to shove anything inside without prep, but he had to imagine it wouldn’t feel very good for Kokichi, just forcing the skin aside.

While Shuichi knew he hadn't hurt him this time, he still gently kissed at Kokichi’s neck in apology, frustrated he couldn’t make Kokichi feel better...before leaning back, blinking down at Kokichi. “Oh? Um...okay? I suppose saliva is a little thicker and firmer in texture. If you think it’ll help, we can try it. Here, let’s adjust…”

Moving his other arm where his left had laid under Kokichi’s legs, he took his ‘clean’ hand and, well...the thought did occur to him that he could just lick his fingers himself. It wouldn’t make any difference. But…

He blushed, putting two fingers together, before shyly offering Kokichi both of them. Feeling flustered, but eyes wide and looking intently. Not wanting to miss watching it.

Kaito always seemed to adore watching Kokichi suck his fingers, even going out of his way to ignore lube they actually had to request it of him. Kokichi didn’t think it was particularly seductive, but knowing that at least to Kaito it was…

Leaning forward, Kokichi took Shuuichi’s fingers into his mouth, laving his tongue against them and giving a suck, keeping his eyes on Shuuichi’s for a good moment though he kept a lazy air about himself, not wanting to stress Shuuichi out with staring. His tongue cupped in the back, drawing more saliva from the back of his mouth forward and onto Shuuichi’s fingers, at first lavishly applied to the bottom side but it wasn’t long before Kokichi fit the tip of his tongue between Shuuichi’s fingers, coating each one individually. 

And still, all the while, Kokichi kept stroking The Beast, growing a little more confident every bit he could feel Shuuichi stiffen. 

“...h...ha...K-Kokichi…” Shuichi stammered out, feeling his thighs clench involuntarily. Fuck...that was...incredibly sexy...there was something about the warmth of his mouth against his fingers, about the intent behind it. 

...Fuck. Shuichi wished he could fuck him. He felt such a strong desire for it. To make Kokichi feel good, to make his eyes glaze over as Shuichi enveloped him, inside and out...but, he couldn’t. And that was okay. He couldn’t do that, but...there were other ways.

When Kokichi finally pulled back from his fingers, more little lines of spit (everything about both of them was incredibly wet, due to the effects of the steam and heat of the sauna) breaking near instantly, Shuichi couldn’t help himself. He leaned in to kiss him more urgently, pushing his tongue in, wanting to keep that wet heat on him. Between kisses, he breathed out, “I like you so much, Kokichi...I love you...I want to make you happy…”

Shuichi had no idea if spit would dry out. Probably, right? Not certain, he moved quickly, kissing urgently at Kokichi, as he brought his left hand down and (still being careful. His boyfriend deserved to be handled gently), he started to push one finger in. 

It wasn’t perfect. Not like the lube. But it was still significantly easier to work with than nothing but the sweat from his palms, pushing past one joint, then the next, before finding himself thankfully knuckle deep.

“There we go. How does that feel?” Shuichi asked, as he started to push at the walls, gently massaging inside of him. 

Kokichi couldn’t help but smile around Shuuichi’s fingers, feeling him get so turned on...because of him. Kokichi, able to reciprocate, able to make his boyfriend shiver in lust and desire. It felt...good. Like he was really worth the affection Shuuichi and Kaito gave him. Like…

(he was actually a part of the relationship, as him. Irreplaceable. Not just a warm body, not just a toy.)

Kokichi surged into the kiss just as passionately as Shuuichi, welcoming his tongue in and acting with full hospitality, holding his boyfriend close. For every breathless desire Shuuichi murmured, he was there with one in return, full of ‘I love you’s and ‘you’re wonderful’s. “Shuu-chan makes me so happy...I love you so much…” 

And this time when Shuuichi pushed in, Kokichi didn’t even need to hide a wince. It was still a little rough, Shuuichi’s finger catching occasionally, but if it did, it was only for a second, and Kokichi could do nothing but shiver in the moment. And when Shuuichi was in?

“Mmmmmm...Shuu-chan…” His grip on The Beast firmed up slightly, becoming more massaging in his own right as Kokichi hummed and purred, cheeks more flushed than the rest of his body and eyes fluttering shut in happiness. “...feels good--always feels good when you’re inside me.”

Kokichi was slowly turning to putty in Shuuichi’s lap, breathing little happy sighs into his neck...before he remembered that he’d wanted to do something. Perking up with a bubbly giggle, Kokichi tried to scoot back up in Shuuichi’s lap, getting himself back into position. 

Shuichi startled a little, not sure where Kokichi was going for a second as he made certain that his boyfriend scooting up wouldn’t dislodge him from inside. He smiled, laughing at his own surprise, saying playfully, “Are you trying to escape me Kokichi?” before shivering again, feeling Kokichi’s dick press against his own. “O-oh. Right…go slow, okay Kokichi? I don’t know how slick I can make you inside, and I don’t want to rub you raw.”

Shuichi looked adoringly at Kokichi, feeling love swell inside his chest. And, well...lust in his loins, honestly. With Kokichi no longer making use of his leverage, Shuichi moved his arm back onto his back, leaning in to put more thankful kisses against the bone of his shoulders. It didn’t occur to Shuichi to use his teeth here, even with both Kokichi and Kaito frequently using theirs on him. Instead, he just liked to press soft, warm kisses against him. 

“Mmmm...you feel so good, Kokichi…” Shuichi praised. “I’m so happy you’re here…”

“Where would I escape to, hmm?” Kokichi cooed, leaning in to ghost his lips along Shuuichi’s ear. “I’m right where I want to be. Nowhere else.”

He did keep in mind Shuuichi’s caution, though, even with the lust making his brain floaty and slow. He didn’t mind being sore in his bum, but if it got to the point he couldn’t sit or use the bathroom, that’d be enough of an issue for him to use caution now. 

Slowly, Kokichi rose onto his knees again, focusing more on his hips and how he and Shuuichi rubbed against each other, and then he sat back down, moaning as Shuuichi’s finger pushed into him as well, everything between his hips being pleasured. “M...aaaahh… Perfect Shuu-chan… Lovely Shuu-chan… Love when you touch me, love touching you too…”

Fuck, it was so nice to have Kokichi warm and wet and pressed against him, whispering sweet-nothings into his ear. Shuichi gasped aloud, a shudder of pleasure shooting from his groin into his stomach as he felt Kokichi move against him. His cock had stiffened hard, pressing against Kokichi’s cock and his stomach, the skin and heat and sweat lovingly adding to the pressure from Kokichi leaning into his body.

Holding Kokichi tight for a moment, pressing his face into his neck as he whispered, “Ahhhh...mmmmm...that feels so good. You feel so good. Keep doing that, please.” Shuichi begged, kissing at the spot between Kokichi’s ear and his jaw, just wanting him near him. 

Shuichi fully intended to get that second finger into there, but he was still struggling to make space for it. He knew he was in a great position to finger Kokichi’s prostate, could see the spot on Kokichi’s lower back that Kaito had specifically run his fingers over all that time ago when he was first showing him. He just couldn’t really bend his finger yet. 

Knowing how good it would feel for Kokichi when he managed, Shuichi’s brow furrowed, moving his finger in and out of Kokichi with more urgency, doing his best to loosen the muscle there more quickly. He hoped Kokichi would tell him if he was being too rough as he moved his wrist back and forth, little jolts of pleasure shooting through his stomach as Kokichi bounced against him as he worked, making some of the movement in his hand more jolting than others, before, kissing at Kokichi’s cheek and then his lips, he said, “I’m gonna try to put in the other one, okay? Tell me to stop if it hurts…”

It still didn’t really feel like he had space, but Shuichi so badly wanted to pleasure him, and stilling him for a moment by putting his free hand on Kokichi’s ass and holding him steady, Shuichi started to push the second finger in. 

“Like I’d ever want to stop,” Kokichi murmured back teasingly, nuzzling against the side of Shuuichi’s head. And he didn’t, not at this moment. Not when the heat in his gut was bubbling so wonderfully and heating up every pass he made, bouncing in Shuuichi’s lap and rubbing against each other. Not when Shuuichi kissed him so softly and said things that made Kokichi want to smile for the rest of eternity. 

And not when Shuuichi was exploring him, making the process of stretching just as much of an adventure as what he had planned. 

Though, Kokichi hummed in slight surprise when Shuuichi calmed him, saying that he was going for finger number two. It felt...a little early, but it probably felt different like this anyway. “Okay...okay, I love you…”

Resting his head on Shuuichi’s shoulder, catching his breath a little...it wasn’t perfect. Shuuichi’s finger didn’t go right in, there was some finagling. Even with Shuuichi’s hand steadying him, Kokichi couldn’t help squirming a little, his hidden face scrunching as he bit his lip. But...it wasn’t painful. 

...but it probably wasn’t a good idea for Shuuichi to finger him as quickly and as roughly as he’d been doing with one. 

“Please...gentle… It’s good, but...hah… Can’t keep up with Shuu-chan’s pace like this…”

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi in concern. He had realized about halfway through that maybe he had rushed this too early, but had felt like he should keep pushing forward until Kokichi told him to stop...and, well, now both fingers were in, but there was a clear strain in Kokichi’s voice. Geez, this was harder to gauge then Shuichi had predicted…

Kissing little apologies against Kokichi’s shoulders and cheeks, he said determinedly, “I’ll be gentle, I promise, we’re going to go slow. Are you sure you don’t want me to take it back out?”

As he kissed at Kokichi’s skin, Shuichi slowly started to move his index finger up, curling it, then used his middle finger to gently rub against the skin inside, small, slow circles with his middle finger while his index finger opened up space for said movements. His other hand let go of Kokichi’s ass cheek and started soothingly rubbing up and down his lower back, before going back down to rub at his cheeks again a little, then down the back of his thigh. 

“Thank you…” Kokichi breathed out, nodding against Shuuichi’s shoulder. Kaito would probably be over the moon when they told him about this--if they did? He was their partner so Kokichi figured it’d come up--but as with every learning experience, there were some hiccups. Them being too overeager for Shuuichi to finger him would probably get some laughs, and probably Kaito’s continued insistence for gentleness and patience. And lube. 

Shaking his head now, Kokichi kissed at Shuuichi’s neck. “It’ll get...ung, easier with two...opens up more space for...opening. You know. Prolly can’t g-go fast myself, though…”

...but he still didn’t want it to just become about him. While not bouncing like he had been before, once Shuuichi settled his fingers in his ass, Kokichi started just rocking his hips against Shuuichi, and, maybe a boon from calming down from his hurried space, he freed up an arm, not longer needed to keep him from falling off his boyfriend. Wanting to pleasure all of Shuuichi’s cock, not just the bottom he could reach with his own, Kokichi moved his hand back between them, starting to rub at his head again. 

Shuichi smiled, laughing lightly as Kokichi tried to explain why, despite everything, two fingers was totally fine and they were definitely not absolutely rushing and it was so cute and so funny and so clearly not the case that Shuichi couldn’t help but swell with adoration, kissing at the top of Kokichi’s head as his boyfriend kissed at his neck. Then, the next time Kokichi looked up, Shuichi took advantage, kissing him again, moaning into his breath as he felt Kokichi’s hands on his dick again.

“We’re so stupid.” Shuichi teased, kissing at his lower lip and sighing contently, still rubbing gently inside of Kokichi, moving his own hips a little to match with Kokichi’s pace, the base of their dicks rubbing and sliding together as he groaned out, “Hmm-nnn...two horny weirdos trying to do it in a sauna…ah, ah...right there, where your right hand is. Please...that feels so good…” 

“Maybe.” Even so Kokichi said it with a smile, okay with being stupid if it was for something like this--touching Shuuichi all over, hot and sticky and loving. Dumb for love seemed to be a similar theme in his life, and he was fine with it. 

Kokichi moaned softly as he felt Shuuichi start to move under him, providing a little more friction without moving him too much. And, feeling emboldened once more from the praise, Kokichi captured Shuuichi’s lips, biting gently and sucking as he gave The Beast a firmer squeeze and circled his tip, feeling a bit more slick than what could reasonably just be from sweat. 

Smirking against Shuuichi’s lips, Kokichi murmured, “Tell me what you want… Wanna make Shuu-chan feel so good.”

Shuichi blushed, eyes hazy with lust as he looked at Kokichi, trying to think. What did he want…

“Just...if I open my legs wider, do you think you could put your legs around my waist? Then...mmmm…” Shuichi closed his eyes for a moment, shuddering as he felt little drops of himself starting to push out...he was starting to fill to bursting. He couldn’t feel Kokichi’s dick, and hoped his boyfriend was just as full. Sweet hands. “Then we could...what was I…” Shuichi laughed, struggling to remember what he was hoping to accomplish...right! “I can grind against you a little easier without, uh...taking my fingers out...just want to press and grind against you…”

Kokichi hummed in a pleased manner, being very clear with what he thought of that idea--if how he continued to stroke and tease Shuuichi’s dick wasn’t enough of an indication. 

Moving up Shuuichi’s lap a little more to shift his legs into the right position--which, despite not having as much leverage, was a bit easier for him, considering Shuuichi’s waist was still smaller than he was at his thighs--Kokichi surged forward for another kiss. “A perfect wish from my perfect Shuu-chan. Can’t wait to feel Shuu-chan shiver and burst…”

Another little embarrassed laugh. It turned out, an entirely comfortable Shuichi liked to laugh through sex. Who would have guessed. He hoped Kokichi wasn’t put off by it. He was just...happy. And liked to laugh when he was happy. 

“Okay...heh...alright,” Shuichi said breathlessly, approving of where Kokichi ended up, their hips pressed tightly against each other as Kokichi’s legs wrapped around them.

Then, not seeing any reason to hold back anymore, Shuichi started to roll his hips up, rolling into Kokichi’s. It took a second of adjusting, but once he had the movement, he greedily indulged in it, moving his hips up and rubbing them down, enjoying that feeling of his dick engulfed in the pressure, pressed tightly between their skin. “God, fuck...th-that’s perfect, that feels so good,” Shuichi decided, finally feeling like that he had a great position, for what they were working with. He grinded faster, kissing at Kokichi, feeling his dick swelling, wanting that extra pressure, wanting… 

“Wanna cum against you...fuck, Kokichi, I wanna cum…” Shuichi whined, kissing at him, tasting his breath as he whined.

And his hands and wrist never stopped their project as he grinded and pleaded, the movement almost mindless at this point. Shuichi playing inside of him, pushing and coaxing at the muscle, looking for that little spot…

As it turned out, Kokichi was still bouncing in this new position, just not under his own efforts. By clenching his thighs around Shuuichi, he could get enough leverage to bounce himself a little, but now most of their movement came from Shuuichi. And...Kokichi found he was okay with that. Shuuichi was obviously enjoying himself, and it wasn’t like Kokichi wasn’t doing anything. He was free to move as he pleased and his work on The Beast was definitely appreciated. 

It was sloppy, but it worked, and Kokichi found himself joining in on Shuuichi’s laughs. 

“I want ya to cum, Shuu-chan...wanna get you there, wanna get us both there. I love you so much, love, wann--AA-aa-AAAAAUUUN~!” 

There it was. Kokichi’s eyes popped open, cut off mid-word, not having expected Shuuichi to find his prostate right then. Instinctively, Kokichi bucked his hips forward, shaking at the intensity of the pleasure rocketing through him as he belted out a moan. 

Shuichi’s eyes widened at this, more than a little startled. Their pace had been so slow that honestly, for half a second, he thought the sudden yelling meant something had broken inside of Kokichi, that Shuichi had hurt him somehow, and his stomach had tightened up in fear.

But that was only for a second, the sound quickly becoming familiar. Right. ‘Fun ‘Kichi noises’. Right. Fuck that had scared him...Shuichi laughed, kissing at Kokichi jaw soothingly, but oh wow that had felt good against him, Kokichi bucking forward and bouncing/grinding against him as he shook. So, now that he knew Kokichi wasn’t hurt?

Fuck he needed more of that. 

Shuichi, like every time he had found that spot in the past, immediately became relentless with it, openly staring at Kokichi as he watched with fascination the change in his expression. Felt him start to shake and tremble more urgently against him. And there was no Kaito around to make him stop or slow down this time...and Shuichi found himself excited by that idea. Wanting to make Kokichi cum from his fingers…

“Kokichi, please, if you can move your legs, k-keep bouncing like you just did. Fuck, you feel so good,” Shuichi whispered, grinding his hips up and relentlessly moving his fingers against the spot, only not leaning against Kokichi’s shoulder because he was leaning back, wanting to see this as it happened.

But, as Shuichi was observing, he suddenly felt a build up of drool in the back of his mouth, his own body suddenly wanting to shoot forward and curl around itself as shocks of pleasure ran like lightning up and down his stomach, chest and legs, and he groaned out, “Hah!...haaaaa….mmm-NNNN!!” Not quite cumming, but spurts of pre-cum bursting out with intensity, his groin desperate and on fire for release. “Ko-kichi, Kokichi, come here, please,” Shuichi begged, as if Kokichi could possibly get any closer to him then he already was, Shuichi stupid in his lust and desperate for something impossible. “Fuck, fuck, Kokichi I wanna cum, please.”

Kokichi kept up his cries, losing the potency of his first moan as Shuuichi kept massaging his sweet spot, taking advantage more than Kaito had done in quite a long time, but turning into desperate, craving mewls. However, that was only his vocal reaction--it was almost like his body had been given a ‘vibrate’ function with how much he was shaking, overwhelmed with pleasure. It was enough that it was a few moments before Shuuichi’s request filtered through his mind, and, jerky and off-rhythm as it was, Kokichi naturally complied. 

It just...felt so incredible. An utter barrage of lightning rushing through his body as Kokichi tried to keep bucking against Shuuichi and stroking his cock between the spasms in his hands, all with his face flushed and head lolling, drool starting to spill from the corners of his mouth. 

Almost as if he could only hear every other word that came from Shuuichi’s mouth, Kokichi threw himself at his boyfriend, mewling into his neck as, with a particularly rough few bucks, he came himself, spilling mostly onto Shuuichi’s cock, though it slipped off almost immediately from the buckets of sweat they were producing. “Sh-AAAAAH~ Gh-gh-gh-nnn-mmm…”

Ahhh, see...that was the reason Kaito kept stopping him. Holy shit that was fast.

Shuichi watched, astonished, as Kokichi just lost it, entirely lost in his haze of lust, all thought of going slow and not hurting himself on Shuichi’s fingers entirely gone due to how badly Kokichi wanted to buck against that spot. Shuichi hadn’t finished himself yet, but almost forgot he was even trying to, just so enraptured watching Kokichi lose his god damned mind.

And Shuichi still didn’t stop, even as he felt a burst of hot liquid spill onto his own cock. He kept pushing and rubbing against that spot, feeling Kokichi twitch and spasm against him, his movements stuttering and jerky as Kokichi kept pushing and thrusting against him. He hadn’t cum himself yet and wanted to keep making Kokichi feel good, grinding against him as Kokichi mewled and cried out against his skin.

He wasn’t sure how long he kept going. But after either a moment or several minutes (he really, honestly couldn’t say) Shuichi’s whole body tensed, both their dicks slick with Kokichi’s cum and Shuichi’s pre-cum, and Shuichi roughly bucked up against Kokichi, moving his hips more intensely against him as he finally started the long process of spilling against him as he moaned out, “H-aaAAHHh...AAHHH-NNN, hmmmm, hmmm, oh god…oh, fuck, Kokichi!!!”

(In the next sauna over, Hajime stopped just trying to cover his ears and just, looking dead inside, went to go get his robe and leave before he had to risk accidentally seeing the two on all their way out, since it sounded like they were finishing. He knew for a fact that there wasn’t a sauna on the other side of them, theirs the end of the hall, and he had been too paranoid at the idea that if he left before they were done, someone else would take the sauna he was in and hear the Heir Apparent and the Royal Surrogate, uh…’relaxing’. He’d never tell them what he did, but those two little horny morons better appreciate him looking out for them, for fuck’s sake.)

As Shuichi came against Kokichi, he finally let up in his ass, breathing heavily against Kokichi’s shoulder, enjoying his euphoria as Kokichi leaned against him, kissing gently Kokichi’s skin as Shuichi praised, “That was amazing...you’re amazing, Kokichi…” Shuichi took long, steadying breaths...and then murmured, “You wanna go again?”

Kokichi’s voice trailing off as he came didn’t last for long, not with Shuuichi still prodding at his sweet spot, forcing his body to continue to spasm and jerk even after he was spent. However, no amount of fatigue was able to stand up to his body’s natural inclinations, and Kokichi felt himself getting riled up again.

...though, just a bit. Not enough to get hard immediately. The fatigue still was pretty strong. 

And even through his double-layered haze of lust and afterglow, Kokichi held onto Shuuichi a bit tighter, calling out useless syllables that resembled his name, wanting to be there for his boyfriend’s orgasm. 

And finally, finally, the fingers in his ass stopped and…

Kokichi slurred something indistinctly, his lips wet with drool as his head lolled to the side, his eyes practically spirals with his face bright red. Going for multiple rounds in a sauna, even a lower tempered one, wasn’t something the small prince could take. 

“...Kokichi?” Shuichi asked, opening his eyes and looking more fully at his boyfriend, blinking in concern. “...Kokichi?”

...actually, maybe they should leave.

Seeing the dazed, obliterated look on Kokichi’s face as he tried to say things, Shuichi felt a spark of concern, pulling his fingers out and, with his comparatively cleaner by this point right hand, placed his thumb against Kokichi’s throat, feeling his pulse. It was… a little high feeling… “It’s okay, Kokichi, let’s get out of here. Hold on,” Shuichi said, not certain if his concern was warranted, but not wanting to push Kokichi any harder than this as he kissed at his cheek quickly before curling his towel back around himself haphazardly, just barely able to tie it around himself as pressed tightly to Kokichi as he was, before (taking a breath and hoping he’d be strong enough), lifting Kokichi up (oh yeah right Kokichi was super light, he hadn’t needed to worry) and quickly bringing him to grab Kokichi’s robe on the wall, putting it over his boyfriend so that he wouldn’t be exposed.

(Entirely, entirely, in this moment of worry, forgetting to cover himself further)

Opening up the sauna door, he quickly stepped out, turning the sauna off with one hand and letting it cool in there as he went to the other side of the small hall, where it was comparatively a little cooler. Shuichi opened up Kokichi’s robe a little and let some cooler air in as he said, “Are you good? Are you okay?”

There was only one other person in the sauna hallway at that moment, an extremely small man in a towel and a hat with little horns on his head, and though he frowned seeing them, having promised himself to not interact with these particular people in any way...he still stepped towards them, calling out, “Hey. You two alright over there?”

Kokichi lolled limply as Shuuichi moved him around, feeling like he was in a thick cloud, the combination of heat and overexertion not doing his head any favors. Honestly, this wasn’t too bad. It was just like the times he’d stayed in the sauna for a little too long, stubbornly not wanting to leave the warmth, and making himself loopy with heat exhaustion. It just...happened a little faster this time, his body not used to and not equipped to handle the amount of stress Shuuichi had loved him up with.

The cooler air was almost like a shock to Kokichi’s bright red face, getting him to blink slowly and try to talk again, however slurred it was. Resting his boneless head against Shuuichi’s shoulder, he tried, “s’ho’ll….t. T’m…a.”

…

Again, without the steam pulling him under over and over, though his vision was still blurred and floaty. “T’ hot…” 

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, before glancing over at Shuichi, who was still worriedly fussing over his boyfriend...glancing at his hair, chest and stomach…

And decided these two young men probably needed someone with a cooler head on his shoulders helping them out right now. 

“Alright then. Overheating’s a bitch,” Ryoma said agreeably, sidestepping them and grabbing the second robe in there, coming back out and putting it over Shuichi’s shoulders, who blinked in surprise before agreeably putting his arms through the sleeves, still more concerned about Kokichi’s state than thinking of his own body. “But, nothing a breather won’t fix. Can you lift him?” Ryoma asked Shuichi, pulling an unlit cigarette from inside his hat and putting it in his mouth, chewing the nicotine at the end of it idly. “Come on. Let’s let him cool down in the locker room.”

“Oh...okay,” Shuichi agreed, kissing Kokichi’s forehead and taking a small, readying breath before huffing a little, picking Kokichi up in his arms and following the small man, reassured by the confidence and certainty radiating off the guy. 

As Ryoma entered the locker, inside was, again thankfully, just one other person, an extremely large, long haired, hairy man wearing nice, sophisticated glasses, who warmly greeted Ryoma when he saw his friend finally coming out to join him, before frowning at the sight of the other two, saying in concern, “Can Gonta help?”

“Nah, Gonta, don’t worry about it. They just need a breather. Gonna grab the little one some water,” Ryoma said dismissively, heading over to the corner of the locker where a water fountain with small paper cups were kept specifically for this thing. Filling it up, he brought it back to Shuichi, handing it to him and saying, “Wait for him to be ready to drink it himself, don’t accidentally choke him trying to pour it down yourself. Understand?”

“Yes, thank you,” Shuichi said, nodding gratefully, sitting down on a bench and just letting Kokichi lean against his chest, waiting for Kokichi to cool down. “I appreciate your help, Mr…?”

“Hoshi. Don’t worry about it. It’s an easy enough good turn. I’d have been a real son-of-a-bitch to ignore ya. Let us know if you need anything else.” Ryoma shrugged, chewing on his cigarette.

“Yes! Gonta and Ryoma are happy to help! Gentlemanly thing to do!” Gonta added in eagerly, smiling wide. 

Ryoma rolled his eyes at this slightly, before nodding. “Yeah, sure. That too.”

It took Kokichi...far too long to realize there was anyone else around him besides Shuuichi, and though, if he’d had more control of his faculties he probably would’ve been fine with it, it was still probably a good thing that it didn’t register anything else in his head beside just...more people. Having him freak out and try to assure folks he was fine was likely the opposite of what would reassure anyone he was fine. 

As it was, he could just hear the varying tambers of their voices, one quite deep, the other an impactful tenor, and he mumbled out something that was maybe a question, maybe just a greeting, but most likely just taken as dazed nonsense. 

After a few good moments of just breathing in the cooler air of the lobby, slumping against Shuuichi, Kokichi blinked a few times, more quickly than he had before, getting a sense of where he was. Of actually leaning against Shuuichi. Of...the lightheaded buzzing in his head and the achy sweats all over him. 

And, of course, the fatigue that often came over him after sex. 

Nuzzling Shuuichi’s chest softly, Kokichi let go of a sigh, dazedly pawing at the vertical hem of Shuuichi’s robe. “...nnngm…’m sorry… Shuu-chan…”

There was something...immediately calming about Ryoma’s ‘clearly kind of doesn’t care’ attitude and Gonta’s ‘clearly cares way too much’ eagerness, the two personalities bouncing off of each other in way that Shuichi, at no point, ever really felt threatened by their presence, nor even...ever really the focus of it. He was so clearly a background presence in their world that it was easier for him to relax and not feel on the defense around these two new people, and so long as no one else came in or out (and so far no one had) he relaxed, just lightly rubbing Kokichi’s shoulder through his robe as his smaller boyfriend took soothing, necessary breaths.

When Kokichi finally said something that was actually kind of coherent, Shuuichi just smiled lightly, kissing at the edge of his forehead as he said quietly back to him, “No, I’m sorry. I said we were going to go slow and we didn’t. You’re okay, Kokichi. Though…”

Shuichi frowned, saying a tad louder as he looked worriedly at the door out of the locker, “If you can’t walk, I’m not sure how gracefully I’ll be able to get you back to the room…”

Ryoma overheard this and thought to himself, ‘Well, he’ll figure it out, I’m sure the prince can walk just fine if he has a few more minutes…’

And Gonta, in turn, immediately stood up and said enthusiastically, “Gonta will get purple- and golden-eyed boys upstairs! Gonta is strong, and can carry many people! Watch!”

“Gonta-wait-!” 

Ryoma frowned as both Shuichi, Kokichi, and himself were suddenly collected--Ryoma having only just managed to put his own clothes back on, Gonta still just wearing a towel--Ryoma being put onto one of Gonta’s shoulders and the two young men who Gonta didn’t actually recognize cradled into his arms as he cheerfully set off. “Gonta, they probably have clothes in here and...oh fine, whatever, I’ll ask one of the housekeepers to collect it or something,” Ryoma muttered, now just along for the ride.

Gonta, in his enthusiasm, got up three floors when he stopped, just by happenstance on the correct floor, and finally asked, “Where is Gonta going?”

“U-um...th-that way,” Shuichi said, deciding to just roll with whatever was happening here and pointing towards their room.

And Gonta was off!

...he wasn’t sure if he could walk, but that wasn’t something Kokichi wanted to theorize over at the moment. It was less about getting his legs to cooperate and more just...making sure he wouldn’t fall over in his dizziness or fall asleep before they got back to their room. ...he’d take a few more moments to see, but in the meantime he just nuzzled Shuuichi again. “I’s’okay… Was nice… S’whuuh?”

Kokichi swallowed his confused sound as the world whirled around him, noting that he had ended up in...much larger arms than Shuuichi’s. Larger than Kaito’s even. It was only then did Kokichi really look at the owners of the two voices he heard--a giant of a man with a mane of brown hair, pure kind eagerness lighting up his face, and a man even smaller than himself with a truly apathetic expression and the only one fully clothed out of the bunch of them. 

“Oh… You’re staying at the castle?” He clearly didn’t ever remember seeing them around, so they were visitors. “Hope y’liking it… Thanks f’elping...di’n’t have to…”

But by the time they actually made it to their room, Kokichi was more just sleepy than dazed, and thus could make more of an effort in thanking the kind strangers. “Nmmg. Thank you two for this…’n m’ sorry for interrupting your time at the sauna. I hope you have a pleasant night.”

“Polite little thing, isn’t he,” Ryoma noted, raising an eyebrow at the prince. 

“He is a small gentleman! Just like Ryoma,” Gonta said approvingly, as the two headed out, off on their own weird, vague adventures.

Shuichi, in turn, had bowed to them as well as he could, before closing the door behind them, still kind of competently holding Kokichi against his hip, sighing as he did his best to carry Kokichi to the bed without jostling him too much. Kaito was sprawled out on the far left side of the bed, looking incredibly dignified in his drug-dazed sleep, snoring slightly and drooling because his body was twisted, his hips trying to lay face down while his upper body insisted it wanted to be face up, and Kaito apparently determined to try to suffocate himself in his sleep by strangling a pillow with his arm over half off his face, 

Ah, Kaito. Truly the picture of grace.

Lying Kokichi out on the bed, Shuichi slumped forward, enjoying the chill of the sheets against his face...before remembering he had to take his medicine. “Did Kaito take his medicine before you put him to bed?” Shuichi asked, literally still speaking into the mattress, starting to feel sleepy.

While Kokichi was still (maybe overly) warm from the sauna, he still immediately rolled over to cuddle up to Kaito’s side once Shuuichi had helped him to bed, eyes already shut. Just a little rest to set his mind right, cooling down and getting his energy back.

...not quite yet, though. 

“...mhmm…” Kokichi sleepily hummed, though he heaved a sigh, preparing to give more of an answer. “Daddy made sure he took it...said it would help with the dizziness when Kai-chan...didn’t recognize it… We got ‘im all set up…”

There was a pause, Kokichi just breathing in Kaito as he rested his head on his arm, though he lazily reached out to the other side of the bed where Shuuichi was flopped over. “...Shuu-chan feels nice...wanna snuggle…”

“Shu-chan needs to take his medicine.” Shuichi laughed, reaching out to take Kokichi’s hand a bit and squeezing it, before sighing and getting up. Heading over to the bathroom, Shuichi quickly set himself up and, letting the medicine dissolved a bit, drank it down. Blegh. It really was awful tasting. Shuichi knew it was incredibly important he take it every day, but still. Blegh.

Glad that Kaito had been taken care of so that they wouldn’t have to wake him up, Shuichi looked down at himself, opening up the robe and…

...Ryoma had seen his chest. And, uh...while the sweat had mixed with and carried most of it off himself, there were still some overly glossy parts of Shuichi’s stomach…

Blushing slightly, Shuichi sighed and supposed he was just grateful the smaller man hadn’t said anything about it. If he saw him again, Shuichi would...apologize for exposing himself in front of him. Putting him in such a weird position. Sigh…

Fuck he was sweaty.

Making a decision, Shuichi headed back to the bed, and leaning over to scoop at Kokichi, pulling him away from Kaito a bit (Kaito groaned slightly in his sleep), he said, “We should run ourselves under some fresh water real quick, Kokichi.”

Kokichi groaned in harmony with Kaito when Shuuichi pulled him away, having got to that nebulous almost-asleep phase while Shuuichi had been in the bathroom. He was tiiiiiiired, he wanted to sleeeeeeeeeep.

But his sleepy, incoherent fussing wasn’t much of a defence against anyone, least of all his boyfriend. 

However, Kokichi threw his arms over Shuuichi’s shoulders and tried to pull him closer, trying to make a more compelling argument. “Mmmmmnuh… Shuu-chan…”

If he were Kaito, that would have worked. Kaito didn’t mind sleeping sticky, and was usually happy to accommodate Kokichi even if he did mind...but Shuichi just raised an eyebrow and shook his head, using Kokichi’s loop around his neck to his advantage as he finished pulling him off the bed. “You’ll appreciate it in the morning, and it’ll only take five minutes. Come on.”

Picking Kokichi up, Shuichi shuffled over to the bathroom, before sitting Kokichi down on the sink, kissing him gently before going to turn on the shower. Letting it warm up a bit, Shuichi headed back out to the closet, collecting some pajamas for himself and Kokichi, and when he returned, dumped the robe and towel, before helping Kokichi rid himself of his.

“Alright, come on. You have to walk with me, Kokichi, if I try to carry you into the shower we’re both going to fall.” Shuichi gently goaded, putting Kokichi off the sink and back onto his feet. “Just five minutes.”

Kokichi was just a bundle of vague groans and fussing, lazily going along with where Shuuichi led him, too tired to resist in any real way--not that he would if he had the energy for it--but similarly too tired to initiate any movement on his own. He leaned against everything he could, barely opening his eyes a moment to check his surroundings. It probably helped that even with Shuuichi and Kaito’s things, Kokichi knew the layout of their room and bathroom like the back of his hand. 

When it was time for Kokichi to actually stand, there was a scary, precarious moment where it seemed like his knees were going to fold, his legs feeling far too jelly-like to support him, but…with a groan and a squeeze around Shuuichi, Kokichi kept himself up. ...even if his legs were wobbling and shaky. 

“Five min’ts…” the sleepy prince echoed, cracking an eye open and lazily slapping at the ledge of the tub, trying to make sure he made it over alright. 

Shuichi smiled, rolling his eyes a little as he stepped in behind him. Reaching up to take the nozzle off the shower, Shuichi focused on Kokichi first, quickly running the water down his hair, his neck, shoulders, getting his back and legs, then his front, letting the faucet run longer on some of the more, uh…’well used’ parts of his body that day.

Then, encouraging Kokichi to sit down, Shuichi got himself next, running the hot water over himself as quickly as he could, lifting his legs up and getting the Beast thoroughly before, deciding that was as clean as either of them needed to get at this exact moment, he put the faucet away, turning the water off. 

Stepping out of the bath, Shuichi went and grabbed a clean towel, ruffling it through Kokichi’s hair before putting it over his shoulders, kissing him gently before saying sternly, “Dry off, I’ve brought some pajamas,” going to grab his own towel to do the same.

Part of Kokichi knew he really would be thankful to Shuuichi for this tomorrow, never exactly thrilled to wake up covered in dried sweat and cum, but for the most part he was far too tired for gratitude. He simply put up with it, begrudgingly letting go of Shuuichi and leaning against the wall to allow him to rinse him off, the water cooler than the sauna had been, but still pleasantly warm, almost lulling him back to sleep. Bad idea. 

But not one with consequences this day. 

Kokichi found himself sat on the edge of the tub once their five minutes were up, humming happily at the kiss he was granted before half-heartedly patting himself down with the towel, getting...well, he wasn’t dripping, so that was something. 

“...Shuu-chan? …I love you…” It came in a quiet, sleepy murmur, Kokichi just slightly awake enough at this moment to speak more coherently. “Thanks for today…”

Shuichi finished drying himself off, getting his own pajamas on and sighing in relief, feeling a bit more refreshed now, before looking back at Kokichi and noting he still wasn’t dressed. Huffing a little, he went over to help Kokichi get it together...before smiling warmly. Touched.

Wrapping his arm around Kokichi’s shoulders, he kissed the top of Kokichi’s head, before kissing him softly on the lips, and saying, “I love you too, Kokichi. Today was a lot of fun. I want to do this again with you too...uh, maybe without giving you heat-exhaustion by the end of the day.” Shuichi laughed lightly, nuzzling him a little.

Then he straightened up and said sternly, “Let’s get you dressed.”

All of them settled, Shuichi led Kokichi back to the bed, noting Kokichi barely keeping himself up halfway through, literally walking with his eyes closed. Shuichi was getting pretty tired too, but took pity and picked him up, taking him the rest of the way, depositing him back down next to Kaito, who shifted slightly in his sleep. 

Putting himself in the bed as well, covering them all in covers, Shuichi reached over and put his arm around Kokichi’s shoulder, kissing him gently against his shoulders a few times, before settling in, sighing. Perfectly happy.

-

It was four in the morning. Kaito woke up with a, really, just truly awful headache...but not the worst he had ever had, so he just groaned slightly, ran a hand over his face, and sat up, looking down at his loves. ...awww...they looked cute… Leaning down to kiss Kokichi, then lifting Shuichi’s hand to kiss his wrist, he tried to remember why his head hurt so badly. Had he gotten drunk again...no, wait, he had...oh!

Sweet rolls! 

He had...a vision about sweet rolls?? Hadn’t he??? He...he definitely remembered talking to someone about sweet rolls. He had been in his shrine all day, so it had to be a vision...did Atua tell him to learn how to make sweet rolls????

…whyyyyy???

Kaito blinked hard, putting his palm next to his temple, a hot mess of confusing memories fighting for space in his head. He...he definitely had talked to someone in his visions about learning to make sweet rolls. And while that...didn’t seem...too important when it came to potential divine messages...Atua wouldn’t have bothered sending him that message if it wasn’t important, right? Or maybe it had been a random hallucination...well, either way. Why risk missing a super important godly message when it was simple enough to fulfil the divine request. So…sure. Sweet rolls.

Yawning, Kaito got up (no time like the present), took a shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs knocking on the door.

When it opened, he grinned sheepishly (a tad embarrassed. He was pretty certain she would have heard about his, uh, failed job interview by this point) and said, entirely serious, “God told me to learn how to make Sweet Rolls. Can I trade dish duty again?”

While she had told him to give it a shot, Chako wasn’t all that surprised to hear that Isabella had told the prince ‘no’ to the overnight cleaning job. Really, it had only been the fact that after he was trained, Kaito would likely be all alone in the kitchen that had gotten her to give him any optimism. But ‘after he was trained’ was still a big caveat. Their little cooking lessons were fine, but any sort of real training was more than Chako had time for, and her tolerance for Kaito was probably one of the more positive outlooks towards him out of everyone on the kitchen staff. 

It was one thing to provide equal opportunity hiring, and another to welcome in assholes that would stress out everyone who was already hired. And even if he wanted to make amends...well, he hadn’t yet. And Chako had a feeling the damage was already done for a handful of people. 

So when Kaito showed up right before the morning shift--Chako had gotten there early, her sleep schedule a bit all over the place and if she had to come in in about half an hour anyway, she might as well--Chako could only sigh, seeing the actual person on the overnight shift just stiffen and turn back to the sink. 

“Don’t have many dishes for you to do, but come on. You can help start the doughs.” Snorting as she stepped aside and grabbed an extra apron from the closet, as always pushing Kaito towards the sink not being used by her co-worker, Chako decided, eh, why not, to comment on the ‘god’ thing. “You sure it was god and not just yourself? Heard you were stuffing your face with ‘em last night at the mid-fall dinner.”

Kaito glanced at the other person and decided to just...not engage, recognizing the tension in their back, washing his hands and putting on the extra apron as he followed Chako to the counters, before furrowing his brow.

“...I went to dinner last night?” Kaito asked, having no idea what she meant by ‘mid-fall’. Wait, no, maybe he did know. Didn’t Kokichi say...something? About...no, he was thinking about the harvest festival. Shoot, his memories were getting mixed up. 

...then after a moment of thinking about it, he groaned, “Oh no...I went to the dining hall last night??? Fuck.”

Chako raised an eyebrow, huffing as she brought out one of the big sacks of flour, needing to get the doughs for breakfast ready along with making a small batch of sweet rolls for Kaito’s lesson. “Were you just not planning on eating? I heard you were high as fuck--not a good combo.”

Salt. Yeast. Sugar. The butter was staying in the icebox until they needed it, same with the milk for a few of the doughs, along with the eggs for others. 

“No, I was eating nuts and bananas throughout the day. That’s usually enough.” Kaito sighed, leaning against the counter and waiting for instruction. “I maybe wake up a little hungry the next day, but it’s usually worth it to not, like...wander around being a rambling nut.”

“People reaaally don’t like listening to ritual visions in real time. Especially not randomly.” Kaito sighed, rubbing at his temples. “I hope I didn’t, like...insult anyone or anything. I remember the one time I managed to escape the priestess’s supervision when I was, I think...twelve? And apparently I went around telling everyone different ways they could have potentially died and ‘personal messages’ from Atua until finally someone punched me out. Guess he didn’t like his personal message.” Kaito sighed...before looking himself up and down for injuries, touching his face as he asked, “I barely looked at myself in the mirror before coming down, do I have any bruises? Did I get into any fights?”

Sure. Visions. 

“You look fine. Heard that Mr. Kauzaki was minding you, so I can’t imagine you got into any major trouble. Didn’t hear that he had to haul you away or anything, so I’m sure it was fine.” Sighing, Chako started telling Kaito to measure out various amounts of flour into bowls--after sniping at him to wash his hands again since he’d touched his face--while she moved ingredients around to where they’d be needed. 

Kauzaki? Who was…oh. Ikuo. Bunny man. Good! That was good...fuck his head…

Washing his hands again, Kaito did as instructed for the rest of the morning.

-

The first thing that Kokichi noticed when he woke up was that he was on his stomach, and his left side was warm, while his right was...less so. Left open to the world. Blearily, Kokichi looked over to that side and… Kaito was gone. Probably woken up early again. Which was fine, because he’d definitely slept off the drugs he was on--Kokichi doubted he would’ve woken up if he hadn’t. Maybe he was having another cooking lesson… While Kokichi liked going down to get breakfast, greeting the others in the castle and wishing each other a good day, getting served pastries in bed was pretty nice too. 

Sighing as he nuzzled back into his pillow--if Kaito was gone but Shuuichi wasn’t groaning about getting up, then they probably had time left--Kokichi started to roll over onto his side, wanting to embrace Shuui--

“TSSSST-chchch… Nng…” Ow, owowow… Kokichi winced, a hiss escaping through his teeth as pain flared up from his bottom the second he put any sort of pressure on it. ...that wasn’t good. Sure, they’d gone a little overboard, but…

Holding in any other sounds, Kokichi glanced over to Shuuichi, not wanting to wake him up if he hadn’t already. ...Shuuichi would’ve said something if he’d seen blood, so it likely wasn’t that bad… 

...maybe he’d sleep in a little, give himself a little more time to rest. ...wait until the soreness had died down. 

Shuichi twitched in his sleep, hearing a...kind of weird sound, but too lost in sleep-land to really rationalize why it was ‘weird’. Frowning, he reached out and clutched at the body next to him, digging his face further into his pillow as he pulled that body towards himself, muttering, “nn…n’t yet…”

As Shuichi was pleading to whichever entity was trying to bring him into the land of daylight, it being god, any king or queen, or saints protect him, Maki, the front door opened, and trying to walk inside as quietly as he could, Kaito brought in with him the warm smell of freshly made honey-bread, putting it down on the desk, along with little plates of breakfast, one for Shuichi (COVERED in a bit of meat and just SO MANY vegetables, along with some fruit), one for Kokichi (about half the size of Shuichi’s, with more meat and fruit then the vegetables, since Kokichi always frowned at larger portions of vegetables) and his own plate (all of that, but way more). Sitting down at the desk and immediately starting to eat.

He glanced over at Kokichi and his eyes widened a little. “Sorry, babe...did I wake you with the door?” he asked quietly.

Kokichi allowed himself to be shuffled over into Shuuichi’s arms, though he was careful to remain on his front, not wanting to provoke his posterior pain. He’d barely settled when Kaito walked in, and Kokichi’s expression, albeit still sleepy, softened in affection when he saw, not just his husband, which was enough to get Kokichi smiling on most occasions, but that Kaito had brought breakfast. 

He’d been on the money, then. 

Shaking his head a little, not wanting to wake Shuuichi, Kokichi smiled up at Kaito. “Nah, I was already awake. You’re good, hun.” Looking over the assortment, his lips quirked up in fondness. “...sweet rolls this time? Really...I would’ve thought you’d wanna learn how to make those first. Make ‘em for every meal.”

Kaito shrugged, saying simply, “I’m not sure if it’s a memory or a vision, but I woke up this morning thinking clearly ‘I need to learn how to make sweet rolls’. And who am I to ignore a potential divine order?” 

Though he smiled a little, looking over at them. Sweet rolls were surprisingly simple, compared to the pie apple turn thing Kaito had been taught before. It was the first thing they had made that afterwards Kaito felt like maybe he actually could?? Make it on his own???

...not that he would have too many opportunities. The kitchens were always busy during the day. In a weird way, Kaito suddenly found himself in Dicea not actually having access to a kitchen. It was kind of frustrating...but he couldn’t be the only person that felt that way, so Kaito asked, “Is there anywhere in the castle people can go to just...use a kitchen themselves? Like without a whole staff and all that?”

Kokichi laughed quietly, thinking it was definitely more on the memory side of things. Apparently that was partly how Ikuo had coaxed Kaito to the dining hall in the first place. “Well, I didn’t hear you talking about needing to learn any specific things, but it’s never bad to try something new. Especially when you love the outcome so much.”

Looking over a little curiously, Kokichi propped up his head with the arm not around Shuuichi. “Ah, yeah--it’s actually pretty close to your shrine. Some workshops need more amenities than just tables and things you can bring, you know? It’s a class kitchen, so there are a few stove stations and smaller iceboxes and sinks ‘n stuff. Dry things that won’t spoil like spices and flour and stuff are kept up there, but you’d need to bring in most of your own ingredients, and tell someone if anything is running low, if not just buy a replacement yourself...mm.”

Kokichi cut himself off with a yawn, closing his eyes and pressing into his arm a bit. “...yes, is the answer.”

Kaito chewed on his food, waiting patiently for Kokichi to finish before nodding. “Yeah? Nice...that’s convenient. You ready to eat anything now, babe? I don’t mean to keep you awake if you want to get a few more minutes of sleep. I gotta try to jot down anything I can remember from yesterday anyway...sorry if I said anything weird to you,” Kaito apologized, popping some vegetables in his mouth and looking mildly sheepish again.

“Nah, you were fine, if super out of things. Mostly just incomprehensible. Like...literally saying words that didn’t have relation to each other,” Kokichi partially lied, keeping in mind what Shuuichi had said about not giving Kaito any ammo. Personally, he thought it could be fun trying to find meaning in the, just, super out there stuff Kaito was saying, but...it was only fun to him because he didn’t put any stock in it. For Kaito, who took real meaning in it all...it would be an agonizing obsession. 

“...you did hit on my dad, though, and from his reaction, I think you did it a lot,” he hummed after a moment. 

While Kokichi did kind of want to eat, the smell of breakfast drawing him in...eating meant sitting up and…

...what, he was just planning on hiding it from his lovers all morning? That sounded like a situation ripe for miscommunication like in a bad romcom. Sighing, Kokichi looked off to the side, his cheeks turning pink. “...my ass is kinda sore so...I don’t wanna sit up right now…”

Kaito’s shoulders slumped a little. Totally incomprehensible this time, huh? Damn...this was probably going to be one of the more difficult rituals to remember then. Hell, even now it was all still pretty jumbled. It’d be a little better the more time he gave to trying to remember, but...well. Oh well. He had really just...been hoping Atua might say something about which prophets had been sincere with their scribes...maybe some advice on what to do about Luminary? To keep it from….breaking apart into a bunch of smaller countries...some news about Shuichi’s baby…

...well, no need to be disappointed yet. Have faith. Maybe Atua came through this year and Kaito just didn’t know it yet. Sure.

His musing was broken by his face burning beet red, as he said, “Ikuo!? Bunny man!??”

Looking increasingly flustered, he quickly said, “Kokichi, I would never cheat on you with your father! I mean, sure, he’s a very handsome man, of course he is, you’d have to be blind not to see it, and he’s incredibly sweet, like, sometimes I look at him and just kind of see an older version of you, but with extra salt, but that doesn’t mean I’m attracted to him, o-o-or at least no more attracted to him than I am to anyone else-” Kaito paused, before rushing out, “Not that I’m attracted to everyone! I mean, everyone has lots of things attractive about them but that doesn’t mean I’d sleep with all of them, or any of them, o-o-or, uh…”

Kaito’s gush of reassurances fell to the wayside as he heard Kokichi’s confession of not feeling well...and after a moment of frowning, looking stunned, Kaito’s shoulders suddenly hiked to his ears, his face paling.

Again? Did he do it again!? Kaito you fucking monster did you do it again!???

Hands shaking, Kaito immediately stood up, putting his plate down and taking a step towards Kokichi, eyes wide as he put his hands up, saying “Oh fuck, Kokichi, I’m so, so sorry, fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

Kokichi almost laughed at Kaito’s fluster at finding his dad attractive. It was something that Kokichi had learned quickly once he started to really get to know Kaito--his husband fell in love with most people at least a little bit. Sometimes for an instant over a kind gesture, sometimes in a glimpse of beauty. Sometimes it was a bit more, someone who was more of a presence in Kaito’s life, or at least had their exploits told to him. Falling in love with humanity seemed like a better way to describe how Kaito saw people rather than the more common descriptions of philanderers’ motives. 

And Kokichi loved that about his husband, adored how he could find so much to love about all sorts of random people even if it came out desirous. And, because he thought he understood at least that about his husband, he never thought Kaito would cheat on him. Even with all his insecurities about not being enough, he never once feared that Kaito would make an excuse to skip off to spend a night with an escort. Hell, even when Maki had approached him about sleeping with Shuuichi for medical reasons, Kaito had immediately gone to Kokichi first, and had backed down from the idea the second Kokichi expressed discomfort. 

The thought of Kaito cheating on him was...almost laughable in its absurdity, and that Kaito thought to defend himself so vehemently was just...funny. 

...not as much as Kaito’s fear that he’d hurt him. 

Kokichi’s eyes went wide as well, and he realized too late that he should’ve explained more. Lifting himself onto his elbows, Kokichi quickly waved his hands, dispelling the notion that this was Kaito’s fault. “No! No, it, it wasn’t you! ...shit, sorry, I-I should’ve explained…”

A sigh, his cheeks burning again. “No… After dinner, after my dad and I brought you up here, Shuu-chan and I went to the sauna and...things kinda…” Kokichi ducked into his shoulders though there was a shy, pleased smile on his face. “...it was nice, but we got a little ahead of ourselves. I ended up overheating, and...ah shit. I don’t really remember them, but some visitors who were also in the sauna helped us back up here. I hope Shuu-chan got their names...I want to thank them properly.”

Okay...o-okay...Kaito hadn’t...forced himself onto Kokichi again...hadn’t treated him roughly...okay...okay…

...blinking away the red in his eyes, calming down, Kaito grinned wide, excited as he said, “Oh my god! You little deviants, you got busy in a sauna??? Also, we have saunas?” Kaito chuckled, heading over to Kokichi and sitting down next to him, running an affectionate hand through his hair before pressing his fingers lightly into his back and shoulders, a little concerned about the overheating thing, but, well...Kokichi seemed fine now. There was no need to harp on it or scold him or anything. Anyone would get a little overheated messing around in a sauna. Live and learn sort of thing. 

Though, Kaito looked Kokichi over with the new knowledge of what Kokichi had said and knowing his and Shuichi’s still kinda general inexperience…

Kaito winced in sympathy, not knowing if it was bad or not, but knowing personally how bad ‘bad’ could get when it came to pain back there, and he said sympathetically, “Awwww, babe…can you move your hips? Do you know yet if you can put any pressure on it? Hold on…” Moving his fingers to the upper part of Kokichi’s lower back, he pressed down slightly. “Does that hurt? If it does, would you call it a ‘sting’ or an ‘ache’?”

Kokichi let out a little sigh when Kaito calmed down too, annoyed at himself for leading him on like that--Kokichi would hope that Kaito knew he’d never sleep with him when he was high, but he supposed there was the thought that, because he was high, Kaito had forced himself on him then forgot--but happy that they could resolve things quickly. Communication, baby. 

Laughing a little more, Kokichi flashed a fond grin. “Shuu-chan said you’d be excited when you found out we have a sauna in the castle. I can show you where it is sometime, if you want. There aren’t any in the city, but there’s this super famous hot spring in the mountains that we should totally visit someday…”

Getting back on track, he sighed again. “I tried to roll over earlier and...yeah, not a good idea…” He hummed as Kaito applied a bit of pressure to his back and...honestly? “...actually feels kind of nice when you do that… Earlier, I guess...it was more of a sudden ache. I wasn’t bleeding or anything, and...pff. Shuu-chan made me get in the shower when we got back. I didn’t want to ‘cause I was so tired, but I could stand up fine. Don’t think it’s anything serious.”

At Kokichi’s insistence that pressure in that spot eased it a bit, Kaito happily started rubbing small, careful circles in that spot. Alright, so he wasn’t torn then. That was good. Tearing was fucking awful, and there really wasn’t anything but time that could fix or ease it. And if it wasn’t aching at his lower back, well...odds were Kokichi hadn’t been doing anything more rough than what he and his husband got up to on the regular anyway. Which probably had caused his husband's lower back to ache, some of that stuff, but not enough for Kokichi to complain about it. Hmmm...so not an ache, not a sting, and there was no way Shuichi had gotten the Beast in there, so…

…Kaito suddenly chuckled, “Oh, Shuichi...he really didn’t ease up at all when he found it? Aw, my poor sweet ‘Kichi.” Kaito cooed, pushing more firmly on the spot, trying to ease the (most likely) rubbed raw muscle on a specific spot inside of Kokichi. 

Shuichi shifted, hearing his name and muttering something in his sleep. Likely another plea for five more minutes.

“Well, if it gets really bad, warm water and bath salts will help with that, ‘Kichi. Like any stressed out muscle, really. Though, the skin’s probably a little irritated too, but that should go away on its own soon...poor sweet thing.” Kaito laughed again, leaning in to kiss Kokichi affectionately on the cheek.

Lowered back down onto his arm, Kokichi hummed happily as Kaito started rubbing his back, snorting and covering his red face as Kaito figured out exactly what had happened. “...felt real good. But I was completely useless once he found it.” For once, Kokichi didn’t sound ashamed or depressed as he said that, more just amused at the situation. He hadn’t left his boyfriend in the lurch, though he probably had scared him a little by how gooey he’d become. 

He hummed a little more at Kaito’s advice, smiling into the kiss on his cheek. “It’s not that bad, really, but I don’t think I wanna sit up any time soon… Think it’d be too weird if I ate on my stomach? Mm...might tell Nadya-chan I’m coming in a little late too…”

Kaito snorted. “Yeah, I bet it did,” Kaito teased, still, like...a little convinced his husband might be somewhat of a masochist. Still not something he felt comfortable bringing up to him, especially considering how that thought first entered his head, but...well, so long as Kokichi was safe and felt good. Maybe they didn’t have to put a label on it...just so long as one of them knew how to take care of it as it came up now and again.

...oh. Oh! Koreikyo had shown up in a vision! 

Suddenly getting a clearer memory from yesterday, Kaito looked around urgently, needing something to write down on… ”Sorry, ‘Kichi, give me a second,” Kaito said distractedly, heading back to the desk and taking out a paper and pen, writing in his large, messy handwriting:

KORE??? IN A CASTLE???? Said something about ‘fairness’???...no, wait, not Kore, someone else???

Kaito frowned at the note. Not exactly a super clear memory, but, well, hopefully more of it would come back over time. 

“If you need to rest, Kokichi, I can go tell Nadya that you’re taking a personal day. And I can, uh...take care of some of the letters and stuff. Some stuff I understand? Or, at least maybe help Nadya out, make runs to the archive and stuff…” Kaito wrote another note, just in case, writing in: Sweet rolls??? Memory or vision?

What time was it? Shoot, Kaito needed to make certain he got to training on time...well, he had a little more time. “I can help you eat, babe. Just give me one second…” : Woman made of stars?? Really big. Very cool cape.

Kokichi just hummed as Kaito flitted off, though he did miss the sort of back massage. Despite what Kaito may think of his visions, yesterday had been good and...not overly impactful. Well, except for--

“Mm! Oh, Shuu-chan and I went to go talk with Cali’s mom yesterday,” Kokichi piped up, having completely forgotten about it. “She’s nervous about Luminaries, but she’s willing to trust that no one is gonna hurt Cali--she said that she can come to training. So...both she and Kimiko should be coming to training regularly now. Or, at least with permission, since they’ve been coming for a while now, huh.”

With the message passed on, Kokichi considered the rest of what Kaito had said, particularly about work. Pouting a bit, Kokichi shifted slightly, holding Shuuichi a little closer. “...maybe. But I’ll go into the office later if I’m feeling up to it. And I’m sure Nayda-chan would appreciate any help you wanted to give--you do still have a chunk of social letters on your desk if you wanted to go through those too.”

Thankfully most of the...less inspiring to read letters were addressed to him directly, so they wouldn’t end up in Kaito’s pile. It was all bullshit, but he knew it’d hurt Kaito to read such things. 

“...so...is there anything neat that you remember? Even if it’s through hazy memory, it might make more sense than anything you managed to say to me or Shuu-chan.”

“Um...I don’t really remember that much yet… and usually the things I remember first are things I’m already kinda familiar with. So far, I’ve really just got a few vague images. People I know, scenes I’ve seen before but, uh, kinda different, that sort of thing…”

Kaito frowned down at the page, before looking over at the plates...page...plates…

Sighing, Kaito put the pen down, and went to grab Kokichi’s plate. There was plenty of time to wonder about the visions; the rest of Kaito’s life, really. Be a good husband first, and a...well, whatever Kaito was to his religion second.

Taking the plate to Kokichi, he grinned fondly at him, saying, “I know you don’t want to move, but I promise, if you let me turn you around and you sit up for just a bit? Some food in you will make you feel better in the long term.”

“Mmm… Well, if you do remember anything cool, I’d like to hear about it. I don’t think I know enough about Atua to be much help, but I’d try to help think through what things might mean, if you wanted.” ...he still did want to know what Kaito’s drug trip had been like, okay? He’d never gotten to talk to anyone about that sort of thing before, and he was curious. If he didn’t contribute anything himself, just was a listening ear, then that couldn’t hurt Kaito, right?

As Kaito came over, Kokichi looked over his plate with hunger, his stomach absolutely ready for breakfast, but...getting up… While he did unloop his arm from around Shuuichi and started shuffling over on his stomach towards Kaito, Kokichi sent a half-grimace up at his husband. “I agree about the food but...sit up how? If even lying on my back hurts…”

Kaito looked pityingly at his poor husband. Ooof...it’s not like he didn’t understand…

Looking at his own plate, Kaito made a decision. Putting Kokichi’s plate down on the bed, he went and grabbed his own plate as well, putting it down next to it. Then, entering from the corner of the bed, Kaito laid down next to Kokichi, placing his ankles against Shuichi’s legs (who just murmured in his sleep again) before grinning down playfully at his husband.

“Alright, fine. This is how we’re eating, I guess. What a lovely morning breakfast to share with my ‘Kichi,” Kaito said, leaning over to kiss at Kokichi’s cheek, before going back to eating his own breakfast. 

Chewing on some vegetables some more (he really, really liked Dicean vegetables. It was easily their best option offered), Kaito tried to think of some more specific examples to give Kokichi that weren’t...upsetting…

“You remember me telling you about the vision where a version of my dad told me the stars were going to blow up? At the fancy parlor with all those…all those other people who I recognized, having a party in the parlor, but they looked strange? Like, floating, light figures...maybe I didn’t tell you that last part. Anyway… I think I had another vision about that parlor? Which is interesting, because I dismissed the last time as just a hallucination, but...well, this one could just be a hallucination too,” Kaito admitted, shrugging, “A memory of the last hallucination causing this one, ya know? But it's the first one coming back somewhat coherent...as coherent as these ever get, really. I only ever remember pieces of even the clearest memories, and sometimes I have to, like, fill in the blanks the best I can to tell it coherently to anyone else.”

Kokichi watched in surprise as, instead of coaxing him into the least painful sitting position he could manage, Kaito just...laid down with him. Kokichi burst out into fond giggles, nudging Kaito a little, though the emotion in his eyes was gentle and adoring. “This new posture’s all the rage, surely.”

With his plate in front of him, Kokichi started to eat, obviously tearing off a piece of his sweet roll first, wanting to appreciate Kaito’s work first and foremost. And...it was really good! Not really a surprise, since even from his limited culinary knowledge Kokichi knew that bread rolls were waaaay simpler than any sort of pastry, and Kaito had managed those pretty well, but still. Kokichi leaned over as much as he could to nuzzle proudly at Kaito’s shoulder. 

Moving onto the rest of breakfast, Kokichi munched thoughtfully as Kaito...well, at least brought up a concept. “I remember that first part, yeah, but...glowy, floating people having a party in a parlor? I don’t think you ever told me about that.” Still, he nodded encouragingly. “It’s kinda cool that you got some continuity, even if it was just your brain remembering that old dream. And I guess it’s different for you since...you’re supposed to be getting messages from Atua, yeah? But just from a regular drug trip? I mean...I’ve never done shrooms or acid or anything like that, so I don’t think I’ve ever had full hallucinations like that, but...it’s like dreams. Seems super clear in the moment, but because it’s just...vague imagery, if you try to think about it with any rules of reality, you’re not gonna make any sense out of it.”

Kokichi popped a few red currants in his mouth, shrugging. “I’m not expecting you to tell me a novel. You remember what you remember, and that’s that.”

Kaito nodded, tearing some of the meat and eating that next. “Yeah...like dreams. That’s basically it…”

He pushed his fork around on the plate, playing with his food a bit...before saying, “Our dad got really mean when he did the rituals.”

“Like...whatever he saw always really bothered him. He’d get...he’d get really upset. Me and Byakuya weren’t supposed to be there, officially, but dad used to make us come and watch. I think he was afraid if he was alone someone would take the opportunity to kill him or something. Um...it was kinda scary sometimes. And…”

Kaito presses his lips together, feeling uncomfortable. He didn’t tell people about stuff like this. You weren’t...supposed to tell people about stuff like this. Especially about your own family, let alone people above you in power. Spreading bad rumors about your authorities was wrong...but, well, it was his husband…

“...I think it really bothered Byakuya. He used to get this look on his face when he’d see dad freaking out and throwing things and screaming at the air. Like he was, uh...like he was disgusted. And…” Kaito started to worry the joint in his left hand, stretching and un-stretching them, popping them a little, “I know that Byakuya, when he does the rituals, doesn’t actually do it. Just isolates himself and reads a book instead. He never lights his. Um, and Kaede and her mother claim that they never see anything coherent in theirs, not once, and I’m not entirely convinced Kaede actually does it either…and every other blood related Momota is dead now...”

Tapping his fork lightly against his plate, Kaito sighed, “I know it’s silly for me to take this stuff so seriously. I’m not...entirely crazy. I know how it all sounds. I just...I just worry that maybe my family, if Atua really is saying anything, might be...might be missing it…like, if I’m not trying to make sense of it, I don’t think anyone else in my family will...even try. You know? I don’t know...”

Kokichi frowned softly, not...really sure what he should say. Not for having nothing to say, but...for not knowing what would hurt Kaito too. For one, it was really...irresponsible for Leon to, one, expect his children to stop potential assassins, and, two, end up putting, again, his children in the position to manage a volatile adult under the influence. Not that he had ever accused the late king of responsibility...ever. 

After a moment of thought, Kokichi slowly started to speak, clear hesitance in his voice. “...again, I can only come at this from the point of view of a drug trip, but...I mean, it’s pretty understandable if you see someone having a bad trip, to never want to partake yourself. From that angle...I can see why your brother wouldn’t want to go through with it. I’ve talked to a few people who...I mean, they don’t even like drinking, even a little bit, because they hate the idea of not being fully in control of themselves. I don’t know Byakuya enough to say he’s straight-edge or anything, but the same idea might apply.”

Despite what he thought about some of their rituals and beliefs, Kokichi never wanted to...belittle Kaito for his faith. It was something he cared so much about, was foundational not just from a religious standpoint, but...from how Kaito talked about it, the temple and the priestesses had been his family. ...more than his blood family, even. 

But even with that understanding, knowing why Kaito cared so much about this ritual in particular… Kokichi’s expression softened and he leaned over to butt at Kaito’s arm. “...I don’t believe in any gods. You know that. But if there were? ...that’s really sweet of you, Kai-chan. It did worry me a little, when you’d go from tears to laughing and back again, but I know you’re alright. And as long as this doesn’t consume you...as long as you don’t ignore what’s tangibly in front of you for something that could take ages to puzzle through and might not even have an answer...I think, if Atua really is out there, then he’d be really thankful towards you for trying. I don’t know how much that means from a non-believer, but...I’m proud of you, and I’d think that counts for something.”

As Kokichi talked...Kaito relaxed. Okay, good...Kokichi wasn’t going to think he was crazy for Kaito talking about the visions seriously, then. They both knew where they were coming from here. Kokichi didn’t believe in it, and that was fine...but just so long as he understood Kaito really did? And wasn’t freaked out by that?

Then Kaito didn’t have to worry about talking to Kokichi about it.

Smiling fondly at him, feeling reassured, Kaito nodded, “Thanks, babe...I really appreciate that. Anyway, with the parlor? The party was still going, but there were even more people there this time. It was packed. I think I remember seeing...people from the Luminary party there? And, uh...some of my missing friends.” ‘Missing’. Hah. What, can’t say it aloud, Kaito? Pathetic… “Anyway. But there was this woman...like, and the party was for her. I remember that. The whole party was to celebrate this woman.”

Kaito’s eyes widened, voice soft as he said, “And she was gorgeous...like, actually awe inspiring. I can’t remember specifically what she looked like, now, but I remember just feeling dwarfed by her. She was both just about my height, and also, at the exact same time, the size of the galaxy, and you could see her both sizes at the same time...she was so big that you could see all the stars inside of her, and I got the sense that the stars were only not exploding this time because she was holding them all inside her...it was incredible…”

“...and she had, just, a really cool cape. Fuck, I hope I can draw out a design of it that will do it justice, it was so cool, I wanna see if I can’t get it made. It was amazing. All these really intricate golden lines among this blue/purple background...fuck, I’ll never be able to do it justice.” Kaito laughed.

Kokichi felt his face sadden in sympathy when Kaito mentioned that some of his friends had been there. ...it really wasn’t fair… The selfishness and cruelty for the sake of cruelty that the Remnants had… Because Kokichi was Kokichi, he didn’t want to write them off completely, but the part of him that had been hurt by the Remnants, who had seen how hurt the Remnants he’d met had been, who had screamed at Togami because of all those people they’d hurt to hurt Kaito...he wanted to just growl that they should keep their cruelty to themselves. Off themselves if they wanted to see suffering so badly. 

...but he could never really believe that. Deaths never solved anything. 

Despite how Kaito’s friends had obviously been on his mind, the vision wasn’t about them, though, and Kokichi munched on a piece of bacon as he listened to the woman Kaito described. And, really? Of most of the descriptions he’d heard, how Kaito talked about the woman seemed the most god-like to him. But with a very specific down-to-earth detail.

Giggling, Kokichi nudged Kaito’s arm playfully. “Of course you’d remember a cape so well. It probably was the coolest ever, though, if you forgot a woman’s face for it. A lady made of stars, but also just tall in general and wearing a cape--if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’d thought up your dream girl.”

Kaito’s brow furrowed, a small frown on his face as he said, “Actually, I...didn’t find her attractive? Like that, I mean...I remember looking at her and getting weirdly...proud.” Kaito said, grabbing the sweet roll he hadn’t tasted yet, and ripping a piece off, nibbling on it curiously. He had woken up and immediately thought of sweet rolls… “I don’t know what I was proud of, specifically. Just, awe-inspired and proud. She was so...much. All of a galaxy inside of her. Everything for her…everything for...”

...and that was where Kaito hit a wall. All he could remember about this woman was how he felt about her. Everything else? Washed out in the memory. 

Chewing on the last of his food, Kaito said, “I think I had some scary ones about you, Kokichi. Definitely just hallucinations. Just, images of you dying in a bunch of different ways. Those ones are pretty obviously just me stressing out and worrying about you, I think.  Oh, like, this one about the party we snuck out too? Just, this whole scenario where Tom and Itch and Aba all revealed who they were that night and it all just went...really bad.” Kaito shuddered, shaking his head. “Really bad.”

Now that got an eyebrow raise. Kaito not finding an impressive woman attractive? But still liking her, enough to be awe-inspired and proud. He...didn’t think he’d ever heard Kaito talk about someone like that. To get a unique reaction like that...she must’ve really been something. 

More than the other hallucinations Kaito had. Kokichi’s mouth pulled to the side a little, understanding that Kaito seeing him dying was very much a response to his stress and worry, but...it still was never pleasant to hear about your own death. 

Sighing, Kokichi put a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, rubbing it a little. “...I still can’t believe that we got out of it as well as we did. You getting your hand cut up--and I’m more inclined to believe that Tom actually did set it up like that--still wasn’t great but...it could’ve been so much worse…” Another sigh. “I guess your brain agreed with that. Thankfully, we just got weirdly lucky. And...if things go how they’re supposed to, none of them are gonna be able to hurt anyone again.”

The last part was more muttered, the crease between Kokichi’s eyebrows pinching in again as he stared down at his plate, still food left to go.

Kaito looked at his hand, looking down at thin, white lines that littered the space between his fingers, “Yeah. It was strange, looking back at it. The remnants were there, the pollen was there...there were lots of ways that could have turned badly for us…”

Kaito looked over at Kokichi, seeing the concern on his husband's face...before looking down at his plate. “I tried to talk to Maki about what she was doing with that. I don’t...know how I’m supposed to feel about it.”

“...I haven’t. Talked to her about it,” Kokichi muttered haltingly. “We were together when Aiichi came by to tell us how Tom’s hearing was going. When Maki-chan found out who they were. And when she said she was going to take custody...I freaked out. It was dumb since...they wouldn’t be anywhere near me, and I knew Maki-chan wouldn’t let them but…” He shuddered, not wanting to think about that day. Not the hearing, but that day at the coast…

“...even if they’re minors, they’re still dangerous…” Had killed...so many people… “I know Tom was kept in jail for a bit, and I’d guess that he’d be transferred to a juvenile prison but if Maki-chan agreed to that, but…” He blinked, looking up at the ceiling. “...oh. Itch’s trial was a few days ago...I don’t even know if he consented to being in Maki-chan’s custody…”

Kaito didn’t know either. He had tried to talk to Maki before the trial. Had wanted her to reconsider what she was doing...she hadn’t been receptive. Had seemed to barely be listening to him. 

“...ya know. I actually remember them?” Kaito said, marveling a bit at that. “When Maki told me who they were? I remember seeing them at the orphanage, before they ran. They never approached me. I think they were afraid of me...they were really small, when I last saw them. Itch only came up to my hips…”

“...Shuichi accused me of bias, once. When we were arguing about Nao. Said I have a harder time justifying killing people I’ve already decided I like. And, he’s right...I didn’t not kill Tom and Itch when I went to rescue you just to not disappoint you. We had gone to a party with them. You had danced with Aba. I remember really, really hoping befriending them could give you a normal, young adult friendship with some people who weren’t me and Maki and Shuichi...just people you could hang out with...I was so baffled when I realized what they had really intended…”

“...I know I’m not supposed to want to.” Kaito admitted. Feeling ashamed that once again he couldn’t live up to his husband's expectations. “But I wish I had killed them. It really bothers me, that Maki’s taking responsibility for them. I feel a little sick when I think about it. Despite knowing everything I know now. It still kinda fucks me up.”

...every person was a person. No matter how idolic or wretched someone seemed, if you saw them but never spoke, or had only heard about them through news...they were a person. Someone that had once been a small kid, had a favorite color and place to sit, little hobbies and turns of phrase they used most often. No one was untouchable, and no one was irredeemable. Every person was a person, so you had to treat them like one. 

Despite trying not to think about it, Kokichi felt his eyes start to burn, and when Kaito said that he’d hoped that the group could’ve been friends… 

“...I wanted that too…” Kokichi sniffled, his voice breaking as he tried to hide his face in his arms. “...I kept thinking about visiting Aba and just...asking if it had all been a lie? A trick? If any of it had been the pollen, though I don’t even know how much she’d been on at the time… And every time I think out that conversation, I just...it sounds so pathetic. I don’t want to hear her real answer, I just want to hear her say that...maybe in different circumstances, we could’ve actually been friends. To hear that she’d liked dancing with me.”

Kokichi peeked out at Kaito with watery eyes, still sniffling. “...there were people who came up to me, t-to dance, you know? Some of them...they just had wanted to thank me for helping with projects...l-like this guy? Whose family farm went through a water shortage that we organized aid for? And I just...why would someone like that, any of those people, want to have anything to do with the Remnants? Have we really let our people down so much?”

“...them dying wouldn’t have solved anything… Never does. I’d still be wondering if there had been anything…a-anything that could’ve been done to change things. Right now...there’s still space to change their future. Give them the means to turn their stories into...u-ultimately, happy ones, you know? Instead of just...short...horrible ones...no dreams achieved, no space to grow...leaving everyone else behind to...keep on without them…”

Kokichi knew that Tom and Itch...outside of Aba and Maki, didn’t have anyone, but...at this point, he wasn’t even really only talking about them. He was talking about the Brockmans, Brent’s comic book that he’d never finish, about the little cousins that would never see them again. About his mother, years and years of scientific discoveries and familial love never to be brought to be. About Kaito’s friends, all the aspirations they had that will now never be achieved.

Kokichi hiccuped, the tragedy of a life taken and a future unfulfilled always too much for him to bear. 

The Aba in his dream had been worried about Kokichi. Had wanted to protect him from his ‘rapist husband’, in her own fucked up way...but he didn’t see a point in telling Kokichi that. It was still a stress dream he had had, no real sign of her actual motivations. And, frankly, considering the end results of it all? Kaito almost wanted to argue that it didn’t matter what she had intended. But...that wouldn’t help anything either. Nothing he wanted to say about Aba and the rest of them would help anything. 

So, Kaito just reached out and put his hand in Kokichi’s hair, pulling his husband’s head against his shoulder, kissing at his hair and encouraging Kokichi to lean on him as he sniffled.

“...I don’t think you guys failed. Look at Shuichi. You can’t forget their recruiting methods were doing what Shuichi did to himself to people on purpose. Considering what we saw him go through? Fuck, those people never stood a chance...and as for just getting them there in the first place? They were mostly college students, right?” Kaito chuckled grimly. “College students like to de-stress and they like to drink and they like to fuck. There’s nothing I think even the famous Ouma family can do to stop a bunch of young people from wanting to act risky and rebellious for a weekend.” Kaito teased lightly, kissing him again. “So, no...I don’t think you all failed them. The Remnants just took a historically vulnerable group and took advantage of them.”

As for the rest of that…

Again. There was no point in Kaito arguing. It would only make Kokichi feel worse, and it wouldn’t change anything. Not Kokichi’s mind, not the world, not how Kaito himself felt. 

And how he felt was just that...everyone he cared about kept dying. So many people he had cared about had died in the last two months that Kaito literally hadn’t found time to grieve them all. Wasn’t even in a position where he really could openly grieve any of them. Constantly hurting as things fell apart around him and just...kinda just having no choice but to just sort of not think about it and move on. Not even Maki or Shuichi people he could confide in about how badly he missed his parents...how guilty he felt about his friends…

(...something had happened to the Luminary Party. He just...felt like something he had seen last night had made him certain something had happened to the party…)

And, well...honestly?

It just felt like everyone he cared about kept dying, and everyone he hated kept just getting to walk away into the sunset. It was...frustrating, to say the least.

And, again. It would solve nothing to say that to Kokichi. His husband was a better person then he was. Kaito was done trying to drag him down to his own level, though he knew by now he’d never reach his. That divide would always be between them...but Kaito could at least try to fake it for his sake.

So he kissed Kokichi’s head again and leaned his head against him and said, “Well...then maybe Maki’s doing a good thing then…”

Vulnerable group was right. He wasn’t involved with the details, but Kokichi knew that everyone who had gone to the parties had at least been interviewed. Given a check-up to see if they were addicted. Those who were were going through treatment, taking Seiko’s experimental cure. Young people just like Shuuichi that would have their lives changed forever because of a few decisions...Kokichi couldn’t even call them bad. How could he, when they hadn’t known what they were doing at all?

...still, Kokichi thought that...there could’ve been something they could’ve done, right? They were all still his people who had gotten so hurt… It was his job to protect them. You could never protect even one person from everything, but...that’s what the leader tried to do. And the hope was that every generation would get better and better. 

Kokichi let out a wet sigh and leaned against Kaito, welcoming his comfort. “...I hope so… Since she’s not...bringing them here to live with her...really she’s just getting a veto on any rehabilitation measures the admins and their caretakers at the jail--at least for now--decide on. I think...Maki-chan just wants some control when it comes to them...and I don’t blame her for wanting that. She’s taking responsibility for everyone who came from her orphanage, legally speaking or whether they want it or not.”

“I think her goal was to make certain they weren’t executed...or, well, knowing Maki, that if they were going to be executed, it wouldn’t be by strangers.” Kaito paused, realizing that was maybe a concept that didn’t cross the border. He decided to just push past it, as he sighed, “...Maki thinks she’s a lot stronger then she is. Please don’t ever tell her I said that...but she really does. I think at some point she just decided that…”

Kaito’s face softened. Something...deeply sad in his voice said, very carefully, “The program at home...the Indentured program...it’s not...the people who grow up in it aren’t exactly...reassured about their...place in the world. People talk about and to Indenturdes like they’re inherently weak or incompetent, which is...so baffling. They’ve always been some of the strongest and most capable people I’ve ever met...and I think Maki at one point just saw the whole world telling her she wasn’t capable enough to make any decisions at all and just...decided to go the extreme opposite of that? Like, if she was going to reject that idea, that she wasn’t capable of controlling anything? Then she was going to control everything. Her, us, the world, heh...I think literally the only reasons she hasn’t committed herself to punching god himself in the face is because she doesn’t believe in him. If she thought Atua existed? He would not be safe from her wrath.” Kaito chuckled.

“...I wish she’d give herself a break. Or, I wish I could take some of the weight off of her. But she won’t even talk to me, about most of these things...she doesn’t trust me to back her up, on stuff like this…”

Kaito blinked...clenching his fist and unclenching it, “...I guess I...have let her down a few times...and she’s not exactly forgiving…I guess if I really wanted to help her, I don’t need her permission to do it either...”

Kokichi sighed but nodded a little, having come to...at least the first part of that conclusion himself. He’d been...so scared and shocked to his core by what Tom and Itch had done that…

...he was so ashamed… But he had given up on them, at least for a while. Just...not believing in them even a little to be able to choose to be better. And for those that refused...then it was time to start talking about the death penalty. Even if they hadn’t turned out to be minors, they still would’ve had to go through other rehabilitative measures before execution could’ve been brought up, and even then Aiichi, Hideki, Mikaku, Ryouhei, and Yuliya all would’ve had to give up on them too. There was a damn good reason why no one had been executed in Dicea for over a hundred years. 

...and even then, Maki would’ve never gotten the chance to be executioner. Their death penalty was a lethal injection, something that sent its victim to sleep before quickly shutting down all body processes. Required to be administered by a licensed healer. And...if a person had gotten to the point where they were executed, then...they didn’t really have anyone they wanted to say goodbye to. 

If you had a reason to regret, then you had a reason to live. 

Listening to Kaito, Kokichi managed to chime in with a bit of a laugh, agreeing that if Maki ever decided to take on a god, she would. It was something he admired about Maki, about how she made a plan for everything because everything was achievable. Her drive was inspiring. 

But it could be dangerous. 

Kokichi sighed again, but there was a fond smile on his face. “...she doesn’t need to be as strong here, and I think it keeps taking her off guard. There’s a lot a person can achieve on their own, and Maki-chan is definitely in the top percent of that...but even the most capable person pales to what many people can achieve together. She does get teamwork, but the rest of it all...it’ll come in time. And maybe then she can let herself relax more. Let herself enjoy what she’s achieved rather than always striving for the next goal.”

...he did understand that it was hard to be content when the ‘next goal’ you were striving for was ending someone else’s suffering. But if Maki was trying to personally save every person in Luminary...she’d never get to live her own life. 

“...you’re a good friend, Kai-chan. The impossible is possible, right? I wouldn’t say helping Maki-chan is impossible...but it certainly is within your means.” Kokichi gave his husband a bright smile, still wet though it seemed his tears were starting to stem. 

Kaito chuckled, shaking his head. “The impossible is possible...I love that phrase. I said that randomly when I was four or something, according to some of the priestesses I grew up with, and apparently it used to make my mentor laugh every time I said it, so I just said it all the time till it stuck. I developed a lot of habits growing up because it made the priestesses happy.” Kaito said, a fond smile on his face. He should write his old temple some letters. It was selfish of him that he hadn’t done so yet. You know how it is, you move away from home, you promise to keep in touch, and you blink and suddenly it’s over half a year later…

Kaito looked down at the tears streaming down his husband's face, and his face softened, running his hand through Kokichi’s hair and resting his forehead against Kokichi’s. “...the remnants were assholes, the college kids were dumb, and you’re not in charge, Kokichi. You’re not even kind of in charge. You were in the middle of getting married when all this happened.  If someone needs to be wracking themselves with guilt over it, let your dipshit father do it.”

“You’re so much like Maki. Stop thinking you can control everything. You’re amazing, but you’re not omnipresent.” Kaito chastised him, kissing his forehead again...before grinning, “Eh? Eh? Omnipresent. That’s a one-silver word right there. I’ll take your salubrious and raise you omnipresent!”

...they really were Kaito’s family. More than an absent, raging father and a mother who only wanted him for status and security. More than a brother who was manipulated into his abuse and didn’t know how to make up for it. The priestesses were Kaito’s mothers and aunts and sisters. No wonder he found so much comfort in religion. 

“...I’m a little in charge,” Kokichi murmured, but...Kaito had a point. It was one thing to stay out of something you saw happening because you just couldn’t be assed, but...it hadn’t been his job to...look out for terrorists and try to find more outlets for school stress, and he hadn’t seen it coming. Kokichi was responsible for his people, but he wasn’t…

Kokichi chuckled softly. Omnipresent, yeah. 

Placing a kiss on Kaito’s cheek, he gave his husband a stronger smile. “That’s a hefty raise. I hope you don’t mind me taking a few months too to raise.” Another laugh, before he pressed their foreheads together again. “...thanks, Kai-chan. I don’t know what I’d do without you, sometimes.”

“You know that feeling when you walk away from someone and you think of a good comeback for what they said and you despair cause it’s too late? Heck no. I say you give that comeback the next time you can! Live with no regrets!” Kaito declared, chuckling, basking in Kokichi’s little kiss before pressing back into his forehead.

“Mmmmm...probably getting it on with Shuichi way more often, it sounds like.” Kaito teased, glad Kokichi seemed at least somewhat in better spirits. 

There was a knock at the door, and Maki’s voice called out, “Kaito! Shuichi! Training time!! Get up!! ...Good morning Kokichi!” before her voice trailed away.

“Nnn-oooo.” Shuichi grumbled, putting a pillow over his head.

“That’s my cue. Kokichi, are you done with your plate, babe?” Kaito asked, getting up and collecting his own empty plate.

“Considering how communication is with letters, I don’t see how continuing something over a few days or even months is that much different. There’s a time and place for letting things go, but it can be fun to just stir up old shit. Be petty, go for it.” Kokichi laughed with a little more vigor.

...it was okay. Even with all the horrible, falling-apart things going on...it was okay. Life would go on. And he had to move with it. 

Kokichi looked up over his shoulder when he heard Maki’s voice through the door, signalling another day ready to start. ...but a rest day for him. The world had never collapsed when he was too sick to work before, and there would still be some work getting done. It didn’t all depend on him. 

Glancing back down to his mostly empty plate, Kokichi quickly shoveled the last of it into his mouth, humming his thanks to Kaito as he handed up the plate. He chewed carefully as he shuffled back over to Shuuichi’s side, just rubbing his boyfriend’s arm. And, once he’d swallowed, he moved a little, starting to rub Shuuichi’s shoulder. “Time to get up, Shuu-chan. It’ll be better in the long run if Maki-chan doesn’t have to come back up here to wake you up, and Kai-chan even brought us breakfast. Wakey-wakey.”

“Mmngh?”

“Awww...that’s cute.” Kaito chuckled, going to put the plates away, before heading to the other side of the bed as his grin became...sharper. More teeth. “But, nope. That’s not how his days going today.”

Kaito put his hand into a slicing motion, and then grinning with all his teeth, whacked it down on Shuichi’s forehead. “Shuichi! Shuichi, Shuichi, Shuichi! You gotta get up! It’s time to do boyfriend apology stuff!”

“...ow? Wha??” Shuichi groaned, rubbing his forehead and looking blearly up at Kaito, “Wha?”

Kaito grinned down at him for a second, before suddenly looking somber and frowning, shaking his head sadly. “You’ve done it now, handsome. The tests are back. Kokichi’s paralyzed from the waist down now. You broke him. I can’t believe you’ve done this...”

“...What!???”

“Mmhm. Kokichi’s broken and can’t walk now, due to reckless sexing. So, now you gotta do the boyfriend thing today and gush and pamper him all day. It’s the code.” 

“...oh my god, what??” Shuichi said again, sitting up and looking down at Kokichi in ever increasing alarm, “Are you okay??”

“Though, you still gotta do all the responsible ‘being an adult’ stuff too, so come on, eat your breakfast and get ready for training!” Kaito instructed, grabbing Shuichi’s plate and bringing it over to him in the bed, placing it on his lap, before giving the back of his shoulder a heavy, companionable ‘whack!’ with his hand, winking down at his lover as he said, “Good luck today. Kokichi’s too forgiving, so I’m going to be judging if you do a good job doing the boyfriend apology dance today. Don’t let us down, handsome!” Kaito said cheerfully, heading to the closet to go change into some workout clothes.

Kokichi winced at the smack to Shuuichi’s forehead, even if he knew most of the sound was just from Kaito’s fingers smacking against each other. They really had such different methods, huh… The guilt trip was another big example, too. 

Sighing, Kokichi gave Kaito’s retreating back an exasperated look and turned to Shuuichi with an almost apologetic one, completely forgetting in the moment that his face was wet and eyes puffy from his earlier tears. “I’m okay, just kinda sore. It’s too uncomfortable to sit up, so I’m taking a rest day. I’m just gonna chill out, it’s no biggie, so you have a good day at work, okay? Tell Nadya-chan I say hi.”

His face growing a little hot, Kokichi looked up at Shuuichi lovingly as he brought a pillow under his chin and chest, hugging it to prop himself up enough to see around alright. “Really...yesterday was fun. And Shuu-chan took real good care of me. You didn’t happen to get the names of the people who helped us out, did you? I’m embarrassed I was too out of it to thank them properly…”

Shuichi looked over Kokichi in concern, brow furrowing, Kokichi’s face looking strained, like he had been crying. “Oh no...Kokichi, I’m sorry. I don’t have to go to work, I can stay here and keep you company…were you crying?” Shuichi asked, full of concern as he reached out to place his thumb gently on Kokichi’s cheek, brushing away a wet streak, “Are you hurting that badly?”

Shuichi relaxed a little at Kokichi’s more easy-going description of what was happening, but...Kaito had a point. If Kokichi was really hurting from something Shuichi did, he might not be willing to tell him about it. On no...Shuichi would be more careful in the future. Brushing hair out of Kokichi’s face, Shuichi frowned, but informed him helpfully, “Gonta and Ryoma Hoshi. And you did thank them, when they took us upstairs. They both said you were very polite...are you sure you don’t want me to skip work? I can take care of you…”

Kokichi blinked in surprise before he barked out a laugh. “Oh, oh my god, sorry. I was crying but not because I was in pain or anything. I’ve just played right into Kai-chan’s guilt trip...sorry.” Kokichi wiped his own face with less gentleness, still laughing at himself. Poor Shuuichi, guy probably thought the worst. Sure, if Kaito was teasing him, then he’d know it wasn’t anything actually serious, but it still couldn’t have been good for his heart, seeing Kokichi with a teary face. 

Hearing about the two that helped them, Kokichi hummed softly. He didn’t recognize the names so...probably just some guests passing through, or maybe in the city for a vacation. Or even decided to come to the castle to wait out the winter! It wasn’t terribly common, but it did happen, usually by people who lived in more isolated areas and didn’t want to be stuck out there alone for months. 

Laughing sheepishly, Kokichi twirled a bit of his hair. “I did? Ah, sheesh...must’ve been pretty out of it by then. Still, it was really kind of them to help. I didn’t think it’d get to me that much--I’m sorry for putting you in that position, and I’m thankful there were people willing to help.” 

Kokichi reached out to stroke the back of his hand along Shuuichi’s arm, giving the man a more contemplative look. “...it’ll prolly be really boring, Shuu-chan. I’m prolly gonna go back to sleep for a bit, probably read for a while. You’d probably have a better time at work.”

Shuichi frowned, wishing he could be more help...and then jolting as Kaito came out of nowhere, placing a heavy hand on Shuichi’s shoulder as he said, a tad too cheerfully, “I have a suggestion! Go to work, but stop back by the room every few hours to make certain that our dear, crippled Kokichi doesn’t need anything? You brute?”

“U-uh! Yeah? Yes...I-I’ll do that, then. Will that be okay Kokichi?” Shuichi asked Kokichi, once again looking flustered and guilty. Then he glanced over at Kaito, and asked uncertainly, “Kaito...are you actually mad at me?”

“Hmm? Mmmm...no.” Kaito laughed, sitting down next to him, though he pointedly pushed the plate of food closer to Shuichi as he said, “I will be, though, if I end up having to get into an argument with Maki because you and I are late again. But, no, I’m just playing handsome. Though, I am serious about you needing to make it up to Kokichi today. You can’t just play with people's bodies and then not make it up to them when something you did hurt them. There should...always be consequences for something like that.” Kaito mused, idly rubbing his neck, before he let his hand drop, grinning at Shuichi as he said, “Even if the only consequence is just, ya know...going out of your way to make certain they know you love and cherish them and stuff. And of course Kokichi knows you love him, but fussing over him a little is a nice reminder, and there’s nothing wrong with reminders. Right?”

Shuichi nodded hesitantly, thinking of the way Kaito always ended sex...just looking over them, double checking things, asking them if they were comfortable, if they were satisfied, kissing any part of them that looked red or bruised...he nodded again. More certain this time. “Right. Okay.”

Kaito smiled proudly, leaning over to kiss Shuichi deeply for a moment, “Good...glad we’re on the same page. Now…”

Kaito leaned back, winking at Shuichi, his face reddening with excitement, “Spill!  All the juicy details! What did you two do? I am so jealous you got some Kokichi/Sauna time! Was he beautiful? Course he was! What were your positions??”

Shuichi groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “Kaito...you know, you were almost cool for five seconds there…”

“Not crippled…” Kokichi huffed, still fully aware that he couldn’t sit up at the moment, and walking would likely have similar results. But Shuuichi stopping by to check on him sounded like a wonderful idea--he wouldn’t be left trying to figure out how to get things, and he wouldn’t feel bad pulling Shuuichi away from work for a whole day--so Kokichi just hummed and nodded his approval for the plan. 

He also didn’t necessarily think there had to be consequences for, ultimately, was just getting a little too excited in the heat of the moment, but...maybe that was another difference between them. What they thought consequences were. Because just...Shuuichi caring about him? Checking up on him? Those didn’t seem like ‘consequences’ at all. Just...something good to do. Hmm…

Rolling his eyes as Kaito got all giddy about their time in the sauna--he knew it--Kokichi smirked, looking over Shuuichi lovingly. “Shuu-chan was beautiful. Brilliant and wonderful as always. We were just talking, and it led to some kissing, which turned into more. You know how it is.”

Kaito groaned, looking genuinely heartbroken as he said, “Maaaan...I missed you two messing around in a sauna for religion...uuughhh...I regret all of my life choices. Atua is not a cruel god. He wouldn’t have wanted this for me.”

Then he paused. Brow furrowing, the playfulness gone. “Hold on, hold on, sorry, one second.” Kaito muttered, getting up and quickly heading back to the desk, jotting down on the paper: Atua is cruel...who said that? Did Atua say that? Something about apologizing...did Atua try to apologize for something? What does a god need to apologize for???

Kaito frowned at the words. That...couldn’t be right…

As Kaito worked on his memories, Shuichi just sighed and finally started to eat, eating quickly as he glanced at the clock on their wall. “You’re very sweet, Kokichi. I really do need to get ready before Maki ends up coming back up to yell at us. Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you before we go? I’ll check on you in a few hours, but before then, I mean.”

Kokichi snickered softly, ever fond of his husband’s loving horniness, though he watched Kaito go back to his vision paper with a softer expression. Writing down thoughts and thinking about them in idle moments wasn’t going to hurt anyone so...if it brought Kaito peace to be the one to reach out to his god, Kokichi wasn’t going to protest. It was too late now to mention anything Kaito had talked about--not unless he was really careful about it--but...he would be willing to listen. 

Thinking for a moment as he got into a more comfortable position on their bed, Kokichi hummed. “...maybe put a glass of water on the nightstand before you go? And maybe a book. I think I’ll probably be sleeping until the next time you check on me, but if I wake up, it’d be nice to have something to do within arm’s reach.”

And if he was still hurting just as much in a few hours, he’d ask for Shuuichi’s help getting in the bath, using the salts like Kaito had advised. If he could manage to get up in the afternoon, that’d be awesome.

Shuichi leaned over and kissed Kokichi on the temple, “Got it. Any particular book?”

After getting Kokichi’s requests, then getting his own work out clothes on, he and Kaito both bid Kokichi a good rest of his morning, before heading downstairs.

As they walked, Shuichi suddenly groaned. “Oh...we were going to go to the university yesterday. Damn...I really wanted to go visit it yesterday. I just forgot about it.”

“That’s alright, handsome, you can go later. Kokichi told me you guys went to visit Cali’s folks. Thanks for that. I was a little worried about her. I didn’t want her getting in trouble for this, but...I didn’t really want to send her away either. She seems really excited for this stuff.” Kaito chuckled, looking a little pleased as he confessed, “I think we may have found ourselves a warrior spirit and are just the first ones giving her an outlet for it. She’s easily the most gung-ho of the kids, and she’s competitive. She’s gonna be a handful…” Kaito said, sounding excited by the prospect.

“Already attached?” Shuichi guessed, raising an eyebrow.

Kaito looked embarrassed, “Maybe. It’s been awhile since I got to mentor anyone. I’m jonesing for a little ‘encouraging someone to their best potential’ing.  And Cali seems really receptive to it. Though, I could be projecting again...definitely did that to Kokichi when I first met him. Heh...wanted to mentor him to be a knight. God, I can’t even imagine what I was seeing in him back then to suggest he had any future in fighting. Kokichi would be miserable as a knight.”

“I don’t even think they have knights here...you were thinking about going back to school, right? I need an escort to go. Do you want to take me to the university sometime?”

“I can take you whenever you want handsome, just say the word, but...I have no idea what I’m doing with my future right now. Honestly, thinking about it scares the shit out of me...maybe when just getting through the day seems less harrowing and stressful? Then I’ll start thinking about school.”

“...do you want to talk about it?”

“...maybe later. Not right now. I barely understand how I’m feeling these days. Not sure I could explain it to someone else if I tried.”

“Okay...but I’m here if you need me.”

“Yeah, handsome. I know.”

-

As it turned out, Kokichi really had only needed the morning to rest, even if he had a bit of a limp and found it uncomfortable to sit in chairs. But from then on, it was just business as usual. Working, keeping an eye on training when he had the time--and he’d found out that Lake had taken up patrol around the back of the castle in the mornings and had gotten a bit of a reputation of lingering, watching over Maki and Kaito training their small protegees and strolling through the gardens afterward with her chest puffed in pride. 

There were other small changes, actually. Waku stopping to smile and wave at Kaito when they passed in the hall. Kokichi overhearing Aiichi boast about, not just his checkers prowess, but all the good work he’d been doing for the country, leaving Kokichi practically glowing for the rest of the day. Ikuo dropping off another batch of pregnancy supplies for Shuuichi. Ryouhei calling Kokichi down to the telephone room because...apparently, there were people too excited for a letter who wanted to thank him in person for his work, along with sending their congratulations for his family. Nadya and Kaito talking pleasantly about their respective religions, and how fall was an important time for faith. 

...a lot of things, when you took the time to look at them all. Life continuing to move forward. 

For once, Kokichi woke up the earliest of lovers by design. Today was Kaito’s birthday, and he had plans to act through. He’d gotten some looks when he explained the dishes he’d requested for dinner that night were for Kaito’s birthday, but Isabella had accepted the menu. His presents were wrapped and ready, and while Kaito didn’t have much of a sweet tooth and bringing him a cake would be a little much…

...it was really sweet how much Kaito was growing on Chako, and the chef had agreed to make a savory stuffed breakfast roll for a special breakfast, along with the usual things. So, after he’d woken up, really, far too early, Kokichi was headed back up to their room, carefully holding a laden tray of breakfast foods (along with a little card Kokichi had drawn himself proclaiming “Happy Birthday!” with stars all over it) to surprise his husband.

Kokichi was on ‘breakfast duty’, as he had told Shuichi he was going to do the night before, so Shuichi only opened one wary eye as he heard Kokichi shuffle off that morning before closing his eye, feeling the lingering desire to just...go back to sleep…

And, honestly, he might have. He wasn’t sure. He might have nodded off for another ten minutes or maybe literally for only a minute, but the next time he opened his eyes, he huffed, deciding it was time to do his part.

As Kaito laid sprawled, in likely what had been a very comfortable position for Kokichi to somewhat lay on but now just looked very silly, Kokichi-less, Shuichi snorted, scooting forward and putting himself in the spot Kokichi left vacant. Settling in as Kaito shifted slightly at the movement, a small, confused noise in the back of his throat, Shuichi looked at him for a moment, before placing gentle little wake-up kisses against his throat.

“Nn...nnng…’Kichi?”

“Pfff. Favoritism.” Shuichi muttered, though he didn’t let this put him off, placing a few more gentle kisses on Kaito’s neck, his hand running along Kaito’s stomach...before going lower.

“...nn?....mmmmm~”

Kokichi wasn’t as skilled as any of the housekeepers in the castle, so with a sigh he gently set the tray on the ground, softly knocking on the door to give a heads up before he cracked it open, picking up the tray again to carry it into their room. Where he was greeted with heavy breathing and, really, just some lovely sounds. 

Stifling his giggles, not wanting to startle either his boyfriend or his husband more than just coming back to their room had, Kokichi closed their door behind him with his foot, grinning widely as it seemed he’d returned just in time to see Shuuichi finish Kaito off. Setting the tray down on a nightstand, Kokichi sat on the edge of the bed, looking over his men adoringly. 

“Happy birthday, Kai-chan~”

Kaito tried to answer Kokichi, he really did, but as he opened his mouth, another desperate little ‘h-hah!’ escaped his voice as Shuichi continued to massage his dick, which was slicked with pre-cum by this point. Kaito took another needy breath, and just as he tried to respond to Kokichi’s birthday greeting, a small, keening grunt hissed out, and a spurt of cum shot out of him, coating down Shuichi’s hands, who continued to kiss at Kaito’s neck, little, soothing kisses as Kaito finally caught his breath for the first time since he woke up, enjoying that post cum high as Kaito grinned giddily.

“...can it be my birthday every day?” Kaito finally said, as Shuichi wiped his hand off on Kaito’s night shirt, looking a little smug, though he just huffed at that.

“You wish. Horndog.” Shuichi teased, giving Kaito a few kisses on his mouth now, before yawning and getting up, “Alright, I’m taking a shower.”

“Thanks Shuichi...and, awww, Kokichi, you brought me breakfast! My lovers are so sweet. Thank you babe!” Kaito said cheerfully, tucking himself back away into his underwear before sitting up, grinning wolfishly at his husband as he said, “Do I get a birthday kiss too?”

Just as always, Kokichi thought Kaito was cute as he came, his body strung tight and only the barest of sounds sneaking through. It had been a tentative suggestion when he and Shuuichi had talked about what they wanted to do for Kaito’s birthday, but it was something that they knew Kaito would adore. Really, it was only that Kokichi was on friendlier terms with the kitchen staff that it wasn’t him staying in bed that morning. 

Giggling as Shuuichi went on his way, Kokichi gave Kaito a wink before raising an eyebrow. “Mmm, I’m gonna give you a lot of kisses today, but it’ll be up to you to figure out which one is the birthday kiss, alright?” Still, Kokichi crawled over and slung his arms around Kaito’s shoulders, boldly capturing his lips and kissing him deeply before pulling back and placing a peck on Kaito’s nose. 

“Chako-chan made you a special dish for breakfast--I’m not a cool cook like you, so I have to get a little help. But still, I hope you like it.” Bringing over the tray, Kokichi flipped out its legs in front of Kaito, everything that was supposed to be warm still steaming. Kokichi took his own plate--far less loaded than Kaito’s but still a full, hearty breakfast--and set it in his lap, wanting to see Kaito’s reaction.

Kaito smiled into the kiss, a small, appreciative hum at it coming from the back of his throat, but when Kokichi broke the kiss, Kaito put on a contemplative expression. “Hmmm...excellent kiss. Deep, welcoming, of course an 11/10 smooch...but I think that’s a ‘Good Morning’ kiss, not a ‘Birthday’ kiss. And being a kiss connoisseur, my pallet is pretty refined, so I feel confident that wasn’t it.”

...he kept up that look for another second, before his face split into another giddy little smirk, as he said, “Really looking forward to getting my birthday kiss later, then, ‘Kichi.”

To the talk of Chako, Kaito’s face became more pleasantly surprised, watching with open affection as Kokichi brought him his tray, sitting patiently still as everything was set up. It was very sweet for Kokichi to go to the trouble of doing all that, though Kaito felt a little self-conscious about being served breakfast by Kokichi. Still, he grinned wide at what was presented, “Awwww, look at that! That’s awesome. Wow, it smells really good...I need to get her to show me how to make this.” Kaito decided, looking at the stuffed breakfast roll, though he was starting to get to the point in her teachings where he could start guessing how things were made...but not confident enough yet on his own to say he really could do it.

Breaking the roll apart a bit, he popped it in his mouth, and another pleased little hum came out, as he immediately ripped off another bite's worth and offered Kokichi the piece, “Want to try it? It’s really good. It was nice of her to go to the trouble...and I appreciate my doting husband going out of his way to get it for me.” Kaito praised, motioning for Kokichi to lean over a bit so that Kaito could lean down to kiss his cheek without moving the tray. “Thanks babe. I love you.”

Kokichi nodded somberly through Kaito’s evaluation, as if he were taking criticism, but he similarly broke out into giggles when Kaito lightened up too. If there was ever a person to have the acumen to be a kiss connoisseur, Kaito would be a damn good candidate. Even just making a joke about it, his evaluation still held some nuance. 

“At least she’d see the next lesson coming this time, if you asked. I just kinda told her things you like to eat and she came up with this, so it’s practically a Kai-chan-tailored breakfast!” Kokichi waited eagerly for Kaito’s reaction, and while it wasn’t bombastic or anything, that wasn’t what Kokichi had been aiming for. That happy little hum was perfect. 

And normally where Kokichi would’ve protested, saying that it was all for him...he thought he understood Kaito a little better now, and he accepted the bite, nodding with his own hum. “Oh, that is pretty good. Not, yanno, an ooey-gooey, dripping with icing pastry, but a pretty good breakfast item if you didn’t want something sweet.” With a teasing look, Kokichi dipped a slice of toast from his own plate into some strawberry jam, taking a bite as he leaned forward into kissing range. 

“I love you too, Kai-chan. Shuu-chan and I just wanted to make today a little more special than usual, you know? Unless you had something else you wanted to do, I was thinking that after we got dinner, we could all sit somewhere together and give you your presents?”

Kaito chuckled and rolled his eyes, happily digging back into his roll as he said, “Look, not everything needs to literally be covered in sugar, babe. And she def put some honey in the dough. You can taste it, it’s a little sweet. Again, I like it a lot. I’ll definitely need to thank Chako soon. Maybe tomorrow, since she’s on the morning shift today and is probably busy by now.”

And also would be surrounded by people who visibly tense up when Kaito comes by. Kaito was learning to just ask Chako in advance her next midnight shifts and ask her if she minded him stopping by. He’s had two more cooking lessons since his last divine ordered one using this method. Which was good, since Kaito had been struggling to keep a good sleep schedule this week anyway. While nothing was as intensive as the first day, there were little rituals and practices he had to do every day, and most of those rituals had to be done at night. So, for the two cooking sessions he had managed this week, it had just been done after his late night ritual was done, since he was up anyway.

But! Today was the last day of the rituals! And his birthday! So, he could celebrate a successful Atua week and a...well, a more or less successful year of staying alive, today! Yeah!

(He had also had his first anger management therapy session this week. Actually, the first two, and today had been supposed to be his third one, but he had had it moved to the next day due to birthday shenanigans...and only Maki knew about them, among his friend group. He just hadn’t told Kokichi and Shuichi what he had been doing with his lunch breaks. Knowing them, they might know anyway, but Kaito had just wanted a time to adjust to the sessions before either of them asked him any questions about it, this time.)

(...they were weird. But Maki didn’t think the sessions were dangerous, so...Kaito liked his therapist well enough. Even if she was weird.)

“Presents? I get presents?” Kaito asked, his question sounding innocently surprised, a cheeky smirk on his face as he asked, “Really?”

“You’re such a brat.” Shuichi sighed, coming out of the shower, towel around his chest (extra long, so that he wasn’t peeking down the bottom) and heading into the closet to grab his clothes. “You know you’re getting presents. Me and Maki tried to negotiate with him years ago that we’d all stop getting each other presents? The one year we did it, Kaito’s birthday came and went, no presents, all was fine...and then when our birthday month came around again? Fucking swimming in presents. Literally more than he’s ever gotten us before or after.”

“It was a good year for Shuichi/Maki presents! I kept finding things that were perfect for you guys! I wasn’t trying to pressure you guys to buy me gifts back!”

“You know if you get us gifts we have to get you gifts too, Kaito! It’s the law! You knew what you were doing!” Shuichi called out...then, after a moment, he came out of the closet fully dressed, and clarified, “It’s not actually a Luminary law, Kokichi. That was just a joke.”

“Buuuuut everything tastes better when it’s dripping in sugar,” Kokichi countered with a cheeky smile. He did like non-sweet things fine, sure, but it was way more fun to exaggerate his sweet preference and act like he wouldn’t eat anything that didn’t have a syrup glaze. Most of the time, anyway. 

Kokichi found himself snickering at both his lovers’ teasing, having taken the “law” as a joke, but glad Shuuichi clarified anyway. He cuddled up to Kaito’s side, nuzzling at his husband though not enough to interfere with breakfast, which he also waved Shuuichi over for. “I knoooooow, it’s such a shock. I bet Kai-chan was just thinking I’d slap a bow on myself and be his present, right? But nope! You’re getting material gifts too!”

Holding out Shuuichi’s plate for him with a, “Here ya go, Shuu-chan!”, Kokichi sent a curious look up at Kaito after a moment. “That is kind of the extent of my planning, though. Was there anything you wanted to do today? Like, Tim still needs to get dropped off at school, and I should probably get some work done, but, well, you know my schedule is pretty flexible. Anywhere you wanna go, anything you wanna see?”

For as much as birthdays weren’t a big deal...Kokichi kind of wanted to make Kaito’s a big deal. Not to make up for the pub parties or socializing he’d have back in Luminary, but just...because he loved Kaito, and...things hadn’t exactly been smooth sailing for...a while. If he could take this excuse to make a day really fun for his husband...it was just something he wanted to do. 

“Mmmm...actually.” Kaito said, thinking of some homework his therapist had given him, thinking this might be a good way to knock out two birds with one stone. And it did seem like fun anyway, so… “I haven't really explored this town yet? Like, I’ve been through the market a few times, but the towns bigger than the market and the castle-” 

“And the warehouse district.” Shuichi muttered, eating his breakfast.

“-Yeah. It’s one of the biggest cities in Dicea, there’s a lot to see and do here.” Kaito said, almost saying word for word that his therapist had insisted to him when he confessed he felt kind of trapped in the castle and felt guilty about feeling that way. “So...can we go out and see and do some things? I don’t have anything specific in mind. I just kinda want to look around.”

Kokichi blinked in surprise before an excited grin split his face. “We can totally do that. Going to museums kinda take a long time...but they are indoors...so maybe I can route us so if we need to warm up, we can take a look at the lobbies, at least,” Kokichi talked to himself, gaze drifting this way and that as he thought aloud. 

“There are way more parks than the one we got married in, and they all have their own sort of vibe going on--some of them are dog parks too, so we might get to see some cute dogs! And I don’t think we’ve ever walked through the import market, that could be cool--oh! And we can stop by the university and see what this term’s art students have done for their installation finals! There’s always such neat stuff people come up with. Mmm...stopping by the aquarium kind feels like the same thing as the museums… There still might be people performing...though it’s kind of a crapshoot.”

Kokichi had completely forgotten about his breakfast at this point, tapping on his list as he thought of all there was to do in the city and the best way to walk from place to place. 

Kaito watched his husband ramble for awhile, chewing on his breakfast, an affectionate look on his face...before he reached over, grabbed Kokichi’s fork, and, stabbing some of Kokichi’s eggs, he brought it to his husband’s mouth and said meaningfully, “Stop. Take a breath. Eat.”

“I like this idea. Honestly, I’m curious about what there is to do in the city too. Plus, if we’re walking around outside, I get to try out those thick socks Kokichi got us and a coat I got myself...annnnd, you know what? This will be a good time to give you your first gift Kaito,” Shuichi decided, getting up and heading back to the closet, putting his empty plate on the desk on his way.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, smirking a little. “I am certain I already got a gift this morning from you, Shuichi. It was a really good gift...though, if I’m totally honest, you guys? I will trade all your presents for Kokichi in a literal bow….” Kaito’s eyes went distant, his face reddening, “Maybe several bows...strategically placed bows...can I just get all of you in bows?”

“You don’t date Maki anymore!”

“It’s fashion, Shuichi!” 

“You don’t get to see Maki in bows!”

“Fine! Then just you and Kokichi! Deal!”

“You’re not getting us in bows either.” Shuichi scoffed, rolling his eyes as he came out, holding a loosely, messily wrapped gift and tossing it to Kaito. “It’s a nice coat. Happy Birthday.”

Kaito chuckled, opening it up and indeed, finding a nice coat inside. It was maroon in color, had more straps and zippers than sense, a faux-fur lining, and when Kaito stood up to try it on... found it was cut to hug his shoulders and hips. A niche, nice, sexy coat. “Shuichi! You picked this out? I love it!”

Shuichi gave a small smile, again looking pleased as he went to sit with Kokichi, giving him a gentle morning kiss as well. “Maki helped.” Shuichi admitted, “It’s actually from both of us. But Maki said I could give it to you early if it kept the cold off ya.”

“I love it.” Kaito said again, swishing the ends of the coat as he looked at himself in the mirror, preening. “What do you think, Kokichi? Too extra, or just extra enough?”

Kokichi went a little cross-eyed looking at the eggs, though it did get him to stop and breathe, and with a little “aumph” sound, he ate the bite, soon taking his fork from Kaito. Fine, fine, he got the message. He had an idea of where to guide them, but… maybe just wandering around could be fun too. As much as he still could wander in Usot. 

...maybe he’d see if Kaito would want to see the Memorial Garden when it was light out. The maple his mom was spread under was pretty hard to see in the dark...and it was kind of stupid, ‘cause she was dead, but… Kokichi found that he kind of wanted to show off his wonderful husband to his mom. 

...on second thought, maybe not a good birthday thing. Another time. 

Kokichi kept working at his breakfast, mirthfully watching his lovers playfully argue--and...if it didn’t embarrass the hell out of him...maybe he could see if he could find a good bow… Maybe that was a little too indulgent. 

(Maybe for Unity)

Smirking as Kaito showed off his new coat, Kokichi snickered, “You look like a figure in a Nomura painting. It suits you, hun. All you need is a broadsword taller than you with superfluous details all over it and I’d say you’re ready for a boss battle.”

Still laughing, Kokichi hopped off the bed and set his plate next to Shuuichi’s, heading to the closet to get more than just the shirt, socks and pants he’d thrown on to go downstairs on. 

“Nomura?” Kaito asked, still swishing his hips and posing a little at himself, “Is that someone at one of these museums you keep bringing up? Do they draw cool coats...cool broadswords?” Kaito asked, looking excited.

Shuichi got back up now that Kokichi was gone and went to go gently take the coat off Kaito’s shoulders, “Go shower, you have cum on your shirt. I should have remembered that before I gave you the coat. Did you get any on it?” Shuichi asked, looking over the coat in concern. 

Kaito shook his head, “Nah, I was being careful. Besides, it’s just a little cum. Doesn’t hurt anything. Seriously, though, you both, this was a great birthday morning. It was very sweet, I really appreciate it. Don’t feel like you have to indulge me the rest of the day if you both have other things you want to do.” Kaito insisted, giving his boyfriend a sheepish grin.

Shuichi folded up the coat and put it on the bed before going over to kiss Kaito, smiling, gently pushing him towards the bathroom as he said, “It’s not a big deal. Gives us all an excuse to spend time together and do fun things. Now, go, get clean, we still gotta go to training and all that.”

“Aw, so responsible. On it!” Kaito agreed, heading off to shower, “Love you both!”

“Tetsuya Nomura, yeah,” Kokichi nodded with a hum. “This amazing painter--years ago almost gave it up, but decided to do one last series--called it his Final Fantasy. The worlds and designs he creates are just...so cool! And all the figures he paints are almost comedic in how badass they are. Nowadays, people are theorizing about his sixteenth Final Fantasy series, and that’s not counting that some of the past series are still on-going.”

Kokichi took a breath once Kaito was shuffled into the bathroom, his mini info dump about an artist he admired over. Maybe they’d get lucky and one of Nomura’s paintings would be in the lobby of the art museum--if not, he’d just have to drag the others to an exhibit at some point. 

Not thinking of any reason not to, Kokichi returned to Shuuichi’s side once he’d gathered all his clothes for the day, most of the extras in his jacket pocket for the time being, and he stood on his toes to place a kiss on Shuuichi’s cheek. “I think you gave Kai-chan a present he’s gonna fawn over for a loooooong time. I’ll meet you after training?”

Shuichi smiled warmly, bending his head just a little to make Kokichi’s stretch a little less ‘stretchy’. “Yeah, thanks for the tip on the clothing store, by the way. You were right, the clothes there were very…flashy.” Shuichi laughed, drawing Kokichi into a hug. “Very much Kaito’s style. Very expensive. We should never let him know where it is. He’ll be broke every payday.”

The day went on for a little while the way it usually did. Timothy didn’t actually know Kaito’s birthday was that day and said nothing about it, and because Kaito felt a little bad his kid wasn’t going to get on a trip through town today with him, he kept it to himself. Though, Kaito asked curiously during training when Tim’s birthday was.

They had a few months. Kaito would think about how to celebrate it when it came. 

After dropping the kids off to school, Kaito headed back to the office, and did his best to get through some more personal letters. He was slow going through them, because he had found a method for dealing with the letters that worked best for him: read the letter, write a response he actually wanted to write, and then write a second letter where the response was heavily edited to be kind of neutral in personality and positive in message. 

He couldn’t help it. A lot of the letters were fine, just people wanting to talk about some local thing or make suggestions for things to the government in a sort of unofficial way. If it seemed important, Kaito told Kokichi about it, and if not, Kaito just responded something vaguely positive. 

But some of the letters...just frustrated him. Some people took the whole ‘writing to an anonymous friend’ thing to it’s logical limit, talking about their personal problems or talking shit about family members or coworkers. Or, you know...current events. And the letters that didn’t make Kaito kind of sad...made him a little angry. 

He had a feeling it was mostly just another difference in Dicean/Luminary cultures. Things that were extremely rude in Luminary to talk about even to friends was mentioned casually within the letters. And it just felt...gross to Kaito. 

But! Maybe this was useful? He was starting to understand a little better how Diceans thought, through the letters, and, well...even if he didn’t agree with it, he lived here now, and his husband was dedicated to these people’s service. And Kaito was dedicated to Kokichi. So...yeah. He’d get used to it. 

Then, eventually, Kaito stretched out and leaned back in his desk chair a bit and said, “How’s y’all’s work coming along? Nadya, do you need me to make any runs to the archive? I’m gonna take a break from the letters for a bit.”

Just as he’d said originally, the world didn’t stop just for one of countless anniversaries, so after watching Kaito and the kids train for a little while, Shuuichi half-heartedly jogging a few of his laps around the backyard, Kokichi buckled down and got to work. Harvest was in just a week, and though it didn’t look like anyone putting together a craft area or a performance or game had left supplies to the last minute...it wasn’t quite the last minute yet. Still, he was hoping that everyone could get things ready ahead of time. 

Never happened, but he still hoped every festival. 

Even with the usual boom around this time of year, there had been an unexpectedly large yield of pumpkins this year. Those that grew medium or large seeding pumpkins, it looked like, had mostly opted to donate a bit more than extra to each town’s local Harvest celebrations. For small and pie pumpkins, well, the market wasn’t going to be very profitable for them, but people would have a lot to eat. By the middle of winter everyone was probably going to be sick of eating stuffed squash or pumpkin soups, but pumpkin kept alright if you knew how to preserve it, and it was hearty and filling--just the thing perfect for stocking up on to get you through however long the roads were going to be blocked. 

A little more promotion than usual, and he’d put out a notice asking people to show off their best recipes during the festival. At least knowing a lot of different ways to cook pumpkin would take a good chunk of the boredom out of eating it. 

...so, yeah, work was work. 

Nadya looked up from her archival forms and gave Kaito a warm smile. She’d been glad to see Kaito coming back to the office again, and he didn’t seem to mind when she asked after how his rituals this week were going. The prince had some issues he was working on, but he was a nice person to be around most of the time. “I thank you for the offer, but I believe my current set of data is enough to last me the rest of my shift, and even perhaps more.”

“Actually,” Kokichi piped up, looking up from his own papers and, after a moment, stretching out his neck a little, having been bent over just a little too much. “Kai-chan, if you see her, could you find out what Maki-chan’s up to? I’m almost to a stopping place, and I’m kind of excited to go outside while it’s still light out.”

Kaito glanced over at Kokichi, before nodding, putting aside the letters being sent out and dumping the fake letters in his wastebin as he nodded, standing up. Then, taking another glance at his letters, he said, “Sure, I can go find her. Anyone got any letters to send out? I think I’ve got enough here to justify heading to the mail room and putting out a batch.”

“I don’t have any work mail, but you mind taking some personal letters I’m sending out, Kaito?” Shuichi asked, reaching into his desk and handing it to his boyfriend. “Thanks.”

“Sure, handsome, on it.” Kaito said, taking a small glance at the letters, before deciding not to ask. Shuichi had friends and (in a sense) family at home. It made sense that he had letters to send home, and Kaito didn’t need to know what about or who to. Though, that reminded him. He should check his own mail box. He hadn’t checked it in literal weeks.

Heading down the mail room, Kaito sent out the letters, Shuichi’s letters, and checked his mail box…

He smiled warmly. Actually putting his hand over his chest and clutching his shirt a little, his eyes reddening a little. That was...swallowing, Kaito took the dozens of letters and, hands shaking, looked through them. Friends. Sidekicks. Letters from his temple…

(...please, Atua, don’t let these be more weird forced kidnapping letters, please, please…)

And, taking a breath, Kaito decided to drop the letters off in his shrine. At best, it’ll be a really nice moment in private...and at worst, well. If it was something terrible again, then nothing would help it him reading it now versus later tonight, after the final ritual. 

It’d be fine…

Kaito dropped off his letters and, as he headed upstairs, the gods of useful coincidence smiled on the stairway once again, and Maki was there, holding two binders. “Maki! Hey! I got your coat this morning! Thank you so much, I love it!” Kaito said enthusiastically, before asking Maki if she was ready to go.

She looked down at her binders, before nodding. “Sure, let me just drop these off in my room. Walk with me, we’ll go back to the office together.”

And they did.

“I found Maki! You guys ready!” And then, out of nowhere, Kaito looked over at Nadya, “We’re planning to wander around the city, Nadya, find things to do...do you want to come? The more the merrier.”

With the plan set in motion a little more solidly, Kokichi...well, he didn’t blow through the rest of the work he had to do. That would be worse than just stopping in the middle. But he did speed himself up a little, not allowing himself to get hung up on phrasing as much as he wrote preliminary copy letters he’d send off to the scribes’ office later. 

And by the time Kaito returned with Maki in tow, Kokichi was pretty much just tidying his desk up. Skipping over, Kokichi cheered and gave Kaito’s arm a hug, before, at Kaito’s impromptu invitation, he looked up at Nadya curiously. He hadn’t thought that Kaito would really...want anyone else coming along, but...that wasn’t right. They weren’t as close, but Kaito still did have Dicean friends. And if he was cool inviting them, then Kokichi was happy to have more people in their party too! 

Nadya had looked more openly surprised when Kaito invited her than Kokichi did. There had been a streak where it really seemed like she was getting closer with her coworkers, but then with Kaito’s drugging and almost kidnapping… She had the feeling Shuuichi asking her if she was a demon had the means to go poorly, but looking back on it now it just felt kind of...silly. 

(She had listened out for anything that dark magic user had been doing but...nothing. Just a few lighthearted rounds of gossip including the ostentatious-looking woman marveling at the city while dragging a younger woman--the people Nadya had heard this from had been familiar, calling that woman “Thalia”--around. Nothing dangerous, and it really did just seem like a woman visiting her daughter.)

But after all that things had just been...distant. That Kaito was inviting her along now…

Nadya had an excuse ready on her lips, but she took a second moment, looking over Kokichi and Shuuichi and Maki...and none of them seemed like they were shocked or uncomfortable by the invitation...so the clerical assistant smiled and gave Kaito a nod, taking the moment to shuffle her own papers into order. “If none of you would truly mind my company, I would be honored to come along. It has been some time myself since I have properly seen all there is to see in Usot.”

Shuichi briefly hesitated...before nodding. “Sure. It’ll be fun.”

Maki, in turn, shrugged. The woman had been helpful during an extremely difficult incident. That was a decent enough reason to want to befriend her right there, even if they hadn’t found much in common with her yet. “If you don’t mind walking in the cold today, then yes, you’re more than welcome to come.”

Kaito grinned. “Awesome! Alright, let’s get our coats on and head out, it is chilly today! Thought I was gonna freeze my butt off this morning.”

Kaito excitedly got his coat on, showing it off to Maki, posing this way and that as she stared at him in neutral exasperation. And then, everyone getting their own warm clothes on, they were off! 

Nadya hummed curiously. “I did not think it was particularly cold today.”

Kokichi sighed, giggling under his breath. And so it begun. He could only sympathize with his friends’ gripes about the weather because he didn’t have much of a tolerance for the cold at all. For the average Dicean, maybe it was a little nippy out, and for someone who grew up in the mountains like Nadya...the snow would more likely just be a physical annoyance than any indication of freeze. 

Indeed, while Kokichi was bundled up with both a sweater and a jacket, a scarf tucked into his jacket, earmuffs plonked over his ears, gloves on his hands and his winter boots on, similarly dressed to his Luminaries, Nadya was wearing just a sweater and a scarf extra to fight against the cold. Sure, they’d stand out a little, but there were always folks that hated the cold, so they wouldn’t be the only ones. 

Taking one of Kaito’s hands, wanting that warmth even with his gloves, Kokichi started pulling him, leading the pack in what he figured was a good a direction as any to start with, a loose idea of never staying solely outside for too long a stretch in his head. But...really, who knew what kind of places they’d find?

They were still in the commercial district, but instead of heading right for the market like usual, Kokichi had led the group to an area that was more focused on services than goods. Spas and barbers and tailors and repair shops…

“...so, if you wanted to hire someone as like...a contractor for a job? Then that’s over there,” Kokichi pointed as he rambled, “Kinda where Dr. Tenchi’s office is, but closer to the industrial district. But for like...stuff that you get for yourself, I guess, this is the place to go!”

Taking a look at a hair salon, advertising free dye jobs on a sign in the front window (...but without the terms? Likely made to increase in-shop traffic, even if people didn’t take the deal), Kokichi chuckled sheepishly. “Not that I’d really know. I’ve never been to a spa or anything, and I cut my own hair. And if I didn’t, Denji-chan would probably corner me to make sure I actually get a style that looks like anything. But! Still good to know!”

Nadya took a look at the ad, thinking of her own light brown hair, and looking over to the rest of them in the group. With plum purple and dark blue, Kokichi and Shuuichi would likely have to lighten their hair to do anything with color. Maki’s hair was just dark enough to work with tints--or just go darker if she wanted, and while Kaito’s shock of ginger could work for a variety of browns… “It seems we are not the easiest customers to color, if we had been of the inclination. For the most dramatic changes, quite a lot of lightening would be necessary.”

Kaito, who had been thinking of asking if they could stop by the industrial contractor shops Kokichi pointed out, thinking once again of how, like, dumb it was they didn’t have a lock on their damn bedroom and bathroom doors, glanced over at what Nadya was talking about. “Oh...huh…” he mused. 

Maki raised an eyebrow at the sign. “Free dye jobs? That’s a scam. Best to avoid this place entirely.”

Shuichi shook his head, “Maybe not. I get the sense scam businesses are probably not super common in Dicea. They’re super regulated here, right? That’s the impression I’ve gotten from our research process.”

“Are we….interested in getting dye jobs?” Kaito asked, sounding uncertain.

Shuichi looked over at Kaito, recognizing that tone of voice as he asked, “Are you?”

Kaito touched at his hair a little, before admitting, “I’ve been thinking it might be a...good idea to dye my hair for awhile…”

Maki narrowed her eyes. “...someone giving you problems?”

Kaito quickly shook his head, not wanting to worry her (a worried Maki was a murderous one, after all). “No, no. Just, ya know...you can recognize the Luminary Prince because he’s six feet tall with purple eyes and shocking red hair, right?” Kaito laughed, “Can’t do much about the height and eyes, but hair? Could make me less immediately recognizable...plus, it’s free! So, why not?”

Maki snorted, but not wanting Kaito to feel awkward, Shuichi said, “Well, maybe something...like a few strands of hair? Some highlight or something? That could be fun.”

“Let’s at least see what the deal is, before either of you decide on anything. Kokichi, Nadya, you two up to stepping inside?” Maki asked.

“I could just come back some other day if no one else wants to do it.” Kaito offered.

“Mmm… It might only be a scam in that it might not be exactly what you’re expecting,” Kokichi hummed, not particularly finding the name of the salon familiar, but he did read over a lot of business names. Really, that it didn’t stand out to him was an endorsement--it meant that he hadn’t had to deal with any problems with it. “Like the dye jobs being from novice hairdressers learning from practicals, or it’s only free for a color they have in bulk.”

Still, dying his hair...

Mostly agreeing with Nadya’s assessment, Kokichi twirled a longer piece of his hair around a finger, not finding its value to be...very promising for anything other than black. Unless they wanted to wait around for a few hours for the hair bleach to set. Multiple times.

Sighing, Kokichi stepped forward to go inside. “I don’t feel like being a raven, so since I don’t wanna wait a bajillion years for, like, bright yellow, I think I’ll pass this time. But let’s still see what the deal is, yeah?”

“Highlights could be quite whimsical,” Nadya agreed right along with Shuuichi, stepping inside the shop. 

However, when they found exactly what the terms of the free style were…

Kokichi groaned dramatically, flopping himself onto Shuuichi’s shoulder. “A surprise style?! Are you kidding me?!? That’s so awesome...but it’d still take a year and a half to do anything fun for me… Shuuuuu-chaaaaaan, why is life so cruel?!”

“Ah, but see! That’s the benefit!” Cheerfully shouted Cutty, the extremely excitable female hairdresser, with short blue hair cut just past her ears. “It won’t take a year and a half!”

“It will, in fact, take twenty minutes...and the reason we can’t let you pick the color and style is sort of the drawback...our special formula is sort of...random.” Sighed Lockey, his brow furrowed, his hair an extremely long red point that went all the way down to his hips before curving upward again, “We’ve made a miracle formula that, after twenty minutes, changes the color and type of hair on a person's head. It won’t change the length, of course, but due to the way the chemical interact with hair, hairstyles sort of naturally form on their own, and you...cannot change it for a week.”

“But then it wears off in a week! It’s exciting and fun! A great formula that has been proven to be non-toxic and not dangerous for your hair! We’re calling it the Miracle Hair Randomizer! We’re hoping once more people hear about it, it’ll become popular as a sort of party game!” Cutty exclaimed.

“We’re just struggling to get people willing to try it.” Lockey huffed.

Kokichi looked up from his boyfriend’s shoulder as the hairdresser’s explained the whole situation. It was...highly risky. You could get something fun and cool, or end up with hair you had no idea how to manage for a week. 

It was perfect. 

Eyes wide with excitement, Kokichi hopped off of Shuuichi’s side, and held his arm up in the air, hopping quickly in place. “I’ll try it! It sounds awesome, and if I don’t have to wait super long, then...that’s okay, right?”

Slightly dampening his enthusiasm, Kokichi looked around to his friends, now not wanting to be the one holding the group up. “...right?”

Shuichi frowned, lowering his cap a little, looking uncomfortable...before remembering, well, he did wear a hat all the time. “I mean...it only lasts a week?” Shuichi asked the hairdressers.

“At most. Sometimes if it comes out more muted in color, it goes back to normal within five days. Four the earliest we’ve seen it wash out.” Lockey explained, as Cutty immediately went to go set up some chairs for them, the only other costumers being these two hardcore punkers in the corner, cheerfully getting pointed mowhawks done by a larger, somewhat eldery woman with darker skin who was happily telling both of her regulars about how her week had gone, and oof, that child of hers, back in her day, if a boy sassed off like that on his momma, she’d have grabbed the biggest wooden spoon from the kitchen and-

“Um...Maki?” Shuichi asked, looking over at Maki, who firmly shook her head.

“I just got my haircut. I’m not putting some random chemicals in it.” Maki insisted.

“Oh, come on, Maki-Roll! It’ll be fun! If your hair comes out looking stupid, we’ll buy you a hat!” Kaito said, grin widening as he saw the enthusiasm radiate off his husband. Hell, any color that wasn’t ‘Leon Red’ would still help with that Kaito was trying to do, and only having it last a week would give him a sense if dying his hair actually would help him stand out less, or at least less obviously as, uh, who he was.

“Ugh…” Maki looked at Shuichi, saw how nervous he was, and sighed, “Fine. Come on, Shuichi, you can watch me get mine done first and decide if you want to do it.”

Shuichi smiled, shoulders relaxing a little. Of course he’d do it if Maki was going to do it, regardless of how hers came out, but he did feel better at least seeing someone else do it first. Less, uh...freakish. “Yeah, okay...this will be fun. Um,” Shuichi laughed, looking over at the demon sheepishly, “Don’t feel like you have to do it too, Nadya. We’re just goofing around.”

A week was nothing, and chances were whatever style they got would wear off before the festival. Though, it was no big deal if it didn’t--Kokichi was no stranger to lasting consequences in his looks, and he could only gleefully imagine Denji trying to make sense of whatever his hair would look like. Just...a new, fun surprise!!

Amid all the reactions...Nadya did feel some pressure to join in. However, she just gave Shuuichi a grin and a half shrug. “While not so until recently, I do have quite a bit more hair to dye than the rest of you. Even if it is a twenty minute session for all, I think I will sit this one out. Perhaps another time, though--do not be so shocked if you see me come into the office with a new look.”

“Ooo, even more of a surprise for a surprise. I can respect it.” Kokichi cheered good-naturedly as he followed Cutty over to a hair and took off his earmuffs, excited to see what he’d get. 

Twenty minutes later and...the dull grimace on Kokichi’s face in the mirror wasn’t what anyone expected. His hair had been lightened to a sort of cotton candy pink, and it all wanted to be swept to one side, still curling at the ends, but much closer to the ends than Kokichi’s hair naturally did. 

“...I look like my dad…”

Shuichi and Kaito were waiting for Kokichi and Maki to be done first, the hairdressers having to do one at a time, of course, and while Shuichi watched Maki’s hair start to dry into its shape and color, Kaito went over to Kokichi, grinning brightly as he put his hands on Kokichi’s shoulders and leaned down to kiss him on his temple, before looking...confused.

“You do?” Kaito asked, looking at Kokichi harder. He thought it was a very cute look. “You look sweet and soft, and I like the way it’s parting itself...but I don’t know if you look like your dad. You’re dad’s all…” Kaito frowned. They were talking about Aiichi, right? Kokichi wouldn’t sound so disappointed if he meant Ikou, “Weirdly hollow looking. And his colors look painted on him. And with all those sharp edges and that weird expression he always has on his face… like he knows something you don’t and is just waiting for the first opportunity to tell you what’s actually going on? Honestly? Your dad’s kind of creepy looking.”

“But you? You’re so sweet-looking and cute and full of life and kind and, just, look nothing like him, and I absolutely love it!” Kaito insisted, kissing Kokichi’s temple again. “Like, honestly, I’ve thought since I met him that you look way more like Ikou then you do the king, Kokichi. Like, it’s actually uncanny, how much you two look alike for not being related at all!”

“The Kaito goggles are strong today.” Shuichi said quietly, laughing.

“I think he just means the color and style looks like the king, Kaito.” Maki called out, sounding exasperated as she twitched at her own hair, “Of course he doesn’t actually look like Aiichi, you sap...any more than I now…” she sighed, “Actually look like Kokichi.”

Her dark purple hair was the spitting image of what Kokichi had just had twenty minutes ago, though otherwise, the style of her hair didn’t seem to change at all. 

Kaito blinked at Maki….and blushed hard. “A ‘Kichi/Maki fusion…” he murmured.

“Get those weird thoughts out of your head Kaito!” Shuichi shouted.

“...did he just call the leader Ouma creepy?” Lockey muttered to Cuttey, who just shrugged and laughed, looking a little uncomfortable. 

Weirdly hollow? Kokichi supposed he could see what Kaito meant, though it took him a solid moment to realize that Kaito was describing Aiichi in the Kaito Prettiness Standard, not really talking about what his father actually looked like. Aiichi certainly had a sort of practiced air about him, something that was good for seeming like you were in charge of a situation, but made it almost impossible to see how much of what the leader said was actually heartfelt. 

Kokichi knew that was just how Aiichi was, though. Just how he spoke and acted, and very little of what he ever said was just...going through the motions. Despite how little passion and genuine enthusiasm Kokichi ever saw on his father...it was just that he didn’t know how to see the signs. Aiichi loved the Dicean people fiercely, and while everything he said seemed like it was recited, Kokichi’s father was not a planner, and, especially in court, most of what he said was right off the cuff, advice and comments right from his heart. 

His father was just a creepy weirdo. 

But even as his relationship with Aiichi got better, Kokichi still wasn’t thrilled to look like a baby-faced version of what his father had looked like when he first took the mantle of leadership. 

At least Maki had much funnier results. Giving her a bright grin as he got off of the salon chair, Kokichi ooh’d and ahh’d over her new color a bit. “Ah, I kinda hope now that my hair goes back to normal before Maki-chan’s does! Then we could match for a little while!”

Trying to give the hairdressers a warm, slightly apologetic smile, Kokichi ran a hand through the hair that so desperately wanted to frame and cup the side of his face now. “To be honest, I don’t think Aiichi’s gonna be all cooing over the moon either--he always sounds so proud whenever he mentions how much I look like my mom. Watch, he’s gonna make some joke like how pink isn’t either of our colors…”

“Well, it’s only for at most a week, so I’m sure either way it’ll be fine. And besides, maybe the King will appreciate seeing a similar hair color on someone else for once. Pink’s pretty rare, isn’t it?” Kaito asked, entirely oblivious as he went to sit down in the chair, not remembering what Aiichi’s hair looked like at all.

Meanwhile, Shuichi and Maki just glanced at each other....before shrugging. Sure. Whatever they were talking about. Absolutely.

“Alright! Our turn!”

“Hopefully I get something pretty tame…”

By the time both Kaito and Shuichi were done, Maki was literally on her knees, laughing hysterically.

So, for Shuichi, his hair had turned a bright yellow, just a tad too bright to really be called blond, though that was a fair way of labeling it. Bright, yellow hair...clumped up into spikes that went all over his hair, a sort of controlled, wild look. It didn’t look bad, was the thing. It actually looked good! But Shuichi looked at himself in the mirror and just.

“Uhhhhhhnnnnnn.” Shuichi groaned, looking around desperately for his hat. Finding it, he quickly put it on...and then groaned as he looked in the mirror, several clumps of blond hair still shooting out from the bottom. “I look ridiculous…”

“Ha hah ahahaha!” Maki howled. Covering her face as she laughed. Not at Shuichi.

At Kaito.

Kaito sighed. Style wise, he came out kind of lucky. His hair just insisted on brushing itself down and backwards. Not his style at all, but not a bad look. But...his hair and his goatee had both had the gel put through it, and apparently it had occurred to no one that the gel might do two different things in two separate areas.

So, his goatee was a bright pink, and his hair was a neon, obnoxious green.

“You look like a literal clown!” Maki huffed, trying to catch her breath, “Ha ha ha!... there really is a god. You’ve spent your whole life acting like a clown, and now you actually look like a clown….fuck I can’t breath! Ha ha ha ha!” Maki howled. Thrilled.

“Maki, you are a terrible friend sometimes.” Kaito huffed.

“Not really,” Kokichi mused, kind of just missing the implication that Kaito thought Aiichi’s hair was currently pink, and having forgotten that none of his friends would’ve seen the paintings or pictures from the start of Aiichi’s term as leader. “I mean...Waku-chan’s hair is pink...Dr. Tenchi’s hair is pink, Cali’s hair is pink, ‘Kashi-chan’s hair is pink--lotta people, really.”

In the midst of Maki laughing, Nadya went to Shuuichi’s side, wanting to comfort her co-worker. “You do not look ridiculous in the slightest, Mr. Saihara. You may not be used to such curly hair, but it is only for a week. And if you are worried about standing out...well, I believe you’re with two others that will draw much more attention than you.”

Kokichi was the heir apparent, so by just being himself he’d draw attention, and for those that at least knew what he looked like with some regularity, a change like this would occupy the minds of the masses more than Shuuichi now being a bright blond. 

And, well...Kaito…

Kokichi beamed when he saw what Kaito’s look became, having laughed along with Maki for a bit before throwing himself at his husband once Kaito got up, hugging him tightly. “I think Kai-chan got the winner this time--you look amazing!!! I’ll just have to set my hopes on one-upping you next time.” Turning back to the hairdressers, Kokichi gave them a wide, grateful smile. “Thank you for letting us try out this gel--it’s really clever! If people ask about our hair, I’ll definitely send them this way. I hope it catches on like you’re hoping for.”

“Well, honestly? If anyone asks you why you picked to dye your colors that way, we’d hope you’d tell people about the shop and the miracle randomizer. If people knew that the Heir Apparent himself tried it and had fun? That’s amazing advertisement, honestly.” Cutty admitted, looking incredibly pleased with how this had gone.

“Yeah...maybe leave out the part where you had a minor existential dread because you ended up coming out sort of looking like the king.” Lockey noted, eyebrow twitching, not as pleased as his coworker. The surrogate was still groaning as his friend (was that...the baseball star??) patted her friend sympathetically on the back, and the woman still laughed hysterically at the… (FUCK wait was that the Luminary Prince!?? Really!???) green haired man, who grinned down at his small husband before returning to pouting at Maki. 

“Well, I think this was a lot of fun. Plus, it helps that it was quick. Didn’t take that much out of our day! And I think we all kinda look cool, too. Thanks babe.” Kaito said, leaning down to kiss Kokichi on the forehead, before looking over at Shuichi, “...awww, handsome, come here. You look great, come here.”

Heading over to Shuichi to gently take him from Nadya, drawing him in his arms as he hugged Shuichi’s waist, Kaito started whispering into his ear, sweet little compliments, some...less sweet and more… Shuichi blushed. “Kaito.”

“What? It’s true. You look great.” Kaito insisted, kissing Shuichi on the cheek before letting him go, the hairdressers looking at Kaito a tad more confused, as he said, “Alright! Should we head out again! See what else we can find in our cool new hairdos?”

Kokichi nodded in agreement, thanking the hairdressers again before the group headed back out. Kokichi found he was pretty thankful for his earmuffs since all the hair on the left side of his head either wanted to sit swept over the top of his head or slicked to the back, leaving him exposed and cold. It was only for a week, but it’d still get some getting used to. 

It wasn’t long before their group neared one of the many museums in the city, the Usot Aquarium. Kokichi had run up to it in excitement, actually, at least wanting to grab a pamphlet to plan out a full trip someday but…

“Oh…” he sighed, disappointed. “They’re walking the penguins right now. Closed.”

Nadya looked over the entrance with a raised eyebrow. “Odd time to do it, isn’t it? It’s the middle of the day. Oh, they must be doing a tour then, yes?”

Kokichi shrugged. “Probably? Man...but watching little penguins explore and hop around...it must be so cute!!” So cute he could barely stand the idea, Kokichi grabbing the inside of his coat and hopping from foot to foot just to get the cute-squirms out. 

“...I need an explanation.” Kaito said after a moment, realizing that Shuichi and Maki were both entirely content to just not say anything as he glanced over at them. “Like...I know what all the words you all said individually meant, but not when you put them in that order.”

“Kaito, it’s obvious.” Shuichi sighed, before saying, “It’s...clearly...a tour where we’re only allowed to see the penguin exhibit?” he said, sounding less and less certain as he said, “Certainly?”

“Penguin training camp? Are they training penguins for long distance surveillance walks?” Maki asked, eyes widening as she said quietly, “They said it couldn’t be done…”

Kokichi looked between his friends for a moment before letting out a sheepish laugh. As someone who adored the aquarium, he was fairly familiar with its practices, but only for the Usot Aquarium. He had no idea what happened anywhere else. 

“Ah, no, sorry.” He looked over his friends warmly, just barely stifling a laugh at Maki’s guess. “Penguins are really smart and social, you know? So every now and then, they close the aquarium to normal visitors and chaperone the penguins as they go through--kind of like guiding a class of kindergarteners or something. However, you can also sign up for a special tour, where, after basic training, you can come along to watch the penguins on their walk. I’ve never done it, but just watching the penguins in their habitat normally…”

Kokichi did his little hopping dance again. “So cute!”

“Oh, okay...that sounds pretty cute.” Looking at how excited Kokichi was at the idea, Kaito grinned, looking to open the front door as he said, “Well, why don’t we check it out? If we’re allowed to watch the penguins wandering around, that sounds like a fun way to kill an hour. Kokichi?” Kaito asked, opening the door for them.

Kokichi shook his head with a bit of a sigh, but he didn’t let it actually get him down. “Maybe we can get a peek through the door window, but you have to register for the penguin tours in advance--gotta be vetted for animal cruelty records and go through training before you can be around wild animals. Or...animals in captivity. They’re not tame, is the point.”

Still, he did go through where Kaito opened the outer door to the aquarium, standing on his toes to see out into the lobby to see if he could get a glimpse of any of the cute little waddling birds. 

“Huh, interesting. Guess zoos are more of a process in Dicea.” Kaito shrugged, looking around before saying quickly, “Oh, oh, that far door to the right, behind the counter...right, you can’t see...hold on.”

Kaito leaned down quickly, picking up Kokichi and lifting him as high as he could as he said, “Look, look, there’s a few wandering past. Was I quick enough, did you see them?”

It was quite a sight, Kaito with bright green hair and a pink beard holding a pink-haired Kokichi high in the air, high enough for the heir’s legs to dangle freely. Nadya stifled a snicker into the back of her hand--she had never thought much of the princes’ height difference, but seeing Kaito lifting up his husband like an uncooperative cat…

“Oooooh! Oh, oh! I see them! Oh my gosh they’re so tiny! Aaaaaa!!” Kokichi’s screams of delight were concealed, not much louder than his usual speaking voice, but his joy was palpable. The utter euphoria of seeing an incredibly cute animal. Kokichi looked back at the others, unbothered with being in Kaito’s arms as his eyes sparkled in delight. “You guys...we so have to go on a penguin tour some time.”

“I...think I’d pass an animal cruelty test?” Maki said, trying to think back. She was pretty sure none of her jobs had required her to hurt any animals.

“If they use a lie-detector to ask? Honestly, it’s a fifty-fifty chance, regardless if you did it or not.” Shuichi sighed, rolling his eyes. 

Kaito frowned. He hoped no one had written down what had happened to the horse… “Yeah! We should totally do that! I think it’d be fun. You got the pamphlet, right? Let’s set up to go our next free weekend.” Kaito said, watching the penguins quickly disappear beyond the door, and waiting a moment to see if any more were coming, putting Kokichi down, after giving him a quick peck on the lips. “We can bring the kids! I bet Tim and the girls would get a kick out of some penguins.”

“Sure. I’ll have the place vetted before we go.” Maki said, shrugging. 

Kokichi gave Maki and Shuuichi a quietly concerned look, used to this by now but… Well, it was nice to know that Maki hadn’t been made to kill animals, he supposed. People was bad enough. “They just look at your legal record--it’s not a test. If you have counts of animal cruelty, then you can’t go--though just seeing the aquarium normally is still fine. They just have to take care of the animals in their care, you know?”

None of what Maki had done in her old job was on her legal record--Kokichi had double-checked. None on Shuuichi’s either. For one, they hadn’t been able to get legal records for Maki, Shuuichi, or Kaito from Luminary, so their slates were clean, but if they had known? For Maki and Shuuichi at least...none of what they had done had been of their own wills. Instead of being labeled as actual crimes, it would all be under a separate category, headed under that they had only done things because of mental brainwashing. None of it would have any bearing for things like background checks. 

(...unless they did do something similar under their free wills, and then it would only be somewhere to point at a built habit but...Kokichi was hoping they’d never have to come to that.)

(...he had almost forgotten with everything, but he had been relieved that Shuuichi hadn’t actually managed to blackmail that healer at the coast. It paled in comparison to everything else, but working to help Shuuichi with that charge would...have been a nightmare.)

Bringing back his grin, Kokichi found Shuuichi’s hand this time, giving his boyfriend a side hug. “Aw, they’d totally love something like this. Awesome! Hey, Shuu-chan, what’s your favorite sea creature?”

“Sea-rays.” Shuichi said immediately, not needing to think about it. “We had a zoo back in Luminary that we went to on a field trip, and it had this big container of sea-rays in it that kept swimming in circles that you could pet. They were surprisingly soft.” Shuichi said, smiling a little. “You, Kokichi?”

“Can we walk and talk about this? I don’t want to have us lingering in front of this place as a group if we’re not going in.” Maki said.

“Mm, mhmm.” Kokichi nodded and started off again, still holding Shuuichi’s hand while he led the group. “They’re cool! I think the ones we have here are...this big?” He held his hands out (still with Shuuichi’s) without about two feet between them. “But I’ve read that the ones that come to the coast, and that sailors have documented, those ones can be huge! Taller than Kai-chan, even!”

Thinking about his own favorite aquatic animal, though, Kokichi just...led them in a direction, not really paying attention to where his feet were going. “Mm, I really like penguins, but I don’t think they count, even if they are in aquariums. I’m sure there’s some people expecting me to say seahorse,” he rolled his eyes, “and they are kinda cool, but c’mon, I’m not that stereotypical. I think...jellyfish! They bob and bounce and are super pretty, but super deadly! At least some of them.”

Before long, they found themselves in an area with slightly more foot traffic, and the grand facade of the theater stood before them. Perking up, Kokichi held a hand out at the theater. “Oh! This is where we’re gonna go see that play in a few days. I wonder if there’s practice going on today too…”

“...oh!” Kaito said, staring at the theater with a shocked, guilty look as he said, “Oh Fuck I’m the worst!”

“No, you’re not/Yeah probably.” Shuichi and Maki said at the same time, before Shuichi asked, “But, if you are, why are you the worst?”

“I...shit, geez.” Kaito said, slapping his forehead, so genuinely frustrated with himself. He had just lost track of time, had gotten distracted by the rituals and the Atuans and, dammit… “...Maki, Shuichi, I need to tell you both something and it’s actually really important and I should have told you days ago.”

“...” Maki looked up at the theater, over at Kaito’s guilt ridden face...and narrowed her eyes. “Come on, we’re not standing out here in the cold. Especially not for bad news. Inside. Now.”

“It’s not….bad news?” Kaito murmured, pretty certain that was true. It was just big news. That he had kept to himself for almost a week. Fuck.

Kokichi’s eyes widened as his pupils shrank, a blank smile on his face. Oh. Right. They knew Hina from Luminary...they’d meant to tell Maki and Shuuichi...days ago. Fuckin’ shit.

“Um, let’s...ah, well, if she’s here she’ll know anyway… Let’s go up to the second floor balcony, though. Don’t wanna disturb anyone…” 

Maybe luckily for them, so that Hina didn’t think the worst if she saw them all, the only people working in the theater were the technicians, nailing down the lighting and some of the practical effects for the play. Shuffling up to the balcony, Kokichi fell in step with Nadya, giving her an apologetic look. “Hey...this is sort of another family thing. I’m sorry you keep getting dragged in like this…”

“It is no worry, Mr. Ouma,” she assuaged. “I have come to see this as simply what happens in knowing you all, and while situations can be awkward at times, I can only hope that my presence is either a non-issue, or that I may provide some assistance. I have not chosen to retain our relationship as firmly professional, so I am not leaving now.”

Kokichi’s smile softened and he leaned against her arm for a moment. “Thanks, Nadya-chan. We’re lucky to have you.”

Nadya was such a normal fixure in so many of their personal crisis that none of the Luminaries even thought twice about it as they all headed in, going upstairs. 

As they got to the center, Maki suddenly turned on all of them, and, purple hair waving and shimmering in the heat of her growing murderous intent, her red eyes shining deadly in shadows of the second floor bleachers, she growled. “Sit down. Tell me what you did.”

“Yep, yes, okay.” Kaito said, grinning wide, doing so as Shuichi went to stand with Maki, looking slightly more exasperated then murderous, but trying to...look, honestly, he just didn’t want to be in the hot seat with Kaito until he knew what was going on, so he was just backing Maki up for now. 

He loved his boyfriend, but he wasn’t stupid. Maki was the safe bet here.

Kaito put both of his hands together, still grinning uneasily, and said, “Okay! First of all...I need you to not freak out or do anything, like, weirdly aggressive or forward. No, uh...Luminary stuff. It’s important. There are a...literal whole subgroup of people who we might accidently make panic.”

“...what?” Shuichi asked, raising an eyebrow, as Maki’s murderous intent burned at his skin a little. At least it was a way to warm up from the chill.

Kokichi sighed but was unafraid as he took a seat with Kaito. He was going to let Kaito take the main part of this, but there were a few things he needed to pipe in with. “Maki-chan, there’s not an enemy here--no one to fight, and the only thing is that Kai-chan probably should’ve told you sooner.”

Sighing again, he gave his boyfriend and bodyguard a bit of a wincing look. “Honestly, I forgot to bring it up too, but more than that...I promised. I know our definitions are really different, but what we’re going to talk about is personal information, and stuff like that shouldn’t be made public without the concerned person’s explicit permission, if not for them to announce it themselves. Normally, I wouldn’t want to talk about this at all but…”

“...from the little Kai-chan’s told me, it’s a bit of a personal concern for you too.”

With that out of the way, there was one more thing for him to address. Perking himself up, Kokichi spoke slowly, the furrow of his brow making it clear he was trying to speak carefully. “...I have been made aware that...certain people were worried that you and Shuu-chan were still under contract in your old jobs, and would be in contact with Luminary about certain Dicean citizens. I’ve assured a particular individual that there’s no truth to that, and even if there was then there’s nothing Luminary can do about Dicean citizens, but...you know. It’s hard to reach everyone, and harder still to prove it.”

There was a look of surprise on both of them for a moment...before the murderous intent went away as Maki just looked at the floor, shoulders dropping, as Shuichi looked visibly hurt as he said, “...they think we’re hunting runaways?”

“...’course they do…” Maki muttered. “...but…” Maki suddenly looked up. Almost desperately hopeful. “If you’re talking about refugees? That would be a personal matter? More? Kaito, did you find more? Like Tom and Itch?”

“...god, Maki, I’m sorry. I should have told you the same day. But, like...this person’s living their own life now, and they seemed...afraid of us finding out. Like, they lied to my face when I recognized them. And I just...I don’t want to scare them.”

“You don’t get to decide that, Kaito! These are my siblings! I had to give them hopeless advice and teach them how to fight and send them off knowing they were going to die and you have the audacity to tell me what you think I should do-”

“Hey, hey, Maki, no.” Shuichi said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder, only wincing a little as Maki shot him a death glare. “We have to be careful. We have reputations, you know that. If people are afraid to approach us, then getting angry and shouting and seeking them out will only make it worse.”

“...who?” Maki asked, looking to Kaito and Kokichi desperately, “Which one? Who made it?”

Kokichi was thankful that they understood what he was talking about. He couldn’t say things outright, not with the possibility of outing his citizens, but if any of them wanted to have contact with Maki and Shuuichi again…

“The state of having become a Dicean citizen through asylum is a personal matter, yeah,” Kokichi nodded. “We do have the records, but what’s public about them is just the citizenship papers, not anything that might’ve been written before.” So, someone acting in bad faith would be able to see that someone gained citizenship papers in a year that wasn’t their birth year, but would have no context as to why. It was a protection they could give while still having public records. 

Kokichi sighed a bit in regret, but stayed by Kaito’s side, even as Maki’s anger raged back up. They weren’t telling her what to do, and she had a right to be angry that they hadn’t told her sooner. But if her siblings were scared that she was there for them? For Luminary? Her showing up anywhere near them would be...dangerous. Setting up a meeting on equal footing with understanding was necessary. 

“...we met a woman the last time we were at the theater, a stunt coordinator named Hina. However you knew her before...that’s the name and the life she’s chosen. Please keep that in mind.” Kokichi then turned to Kaito, giving him a side nod. He’d heard Kaito call her Aoi, but he didn’t know who she really was to his friends. It was better for Kaito to explain.

Maki’s eyes perked up. “A stunt coordinator...maybe Edin? She was always good at the parkour stuff...or Aida? She was so creative…”

...Maki’s face scrunched up. Her fists clenched up, Looking to Kaito, she said, voice tight, “...Kaito, stop letting me guess. This is agony.”

Kaito’s heart sunk, and, frowning, he stood up, reaching out to Maki and pulling her into a hug. “Aoi, it’s Aoi, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you as soon as I knew. I saw Aoi, Maki. Aoi’s alive.”

Shuichi’s eyes widened. “Oh my god. Yuta.”

Maki tensed in Kaito’s arms for a moment...before she relaxed. She smiled. Warm tears fell from her eyes. “Itch and Tom made it. Aoi made it. That’s two different groups several years apart. All three of them were reported dead...Kaito...Shuichi...maybe they made it. Maybe they all made it. Maybe I didn’t kill all my siblings.” Maki said, sniffling before covering her face, digging her head into Kaito’s chest as she said, “Maybe they’re all alive. Kaito, maybe they’re all alive.”

As Shuichi leaned his head on Maki’s back, loosely hugging her from behind, trying to hide her as she cried into Kaito’s hold, who ran his hands through his hair, Kaito looked worriedly over at Kokichi and Nadya as he said, “‘Kichi, Nadya, could you guys give us a few minutes? I’m sorry, she just needs a minute.” he said. Knowing that Maki wouldn’t appreciate too many people seeing her in this state.

Yuta… Kaito had said that was Hina’s brother. Who thought she was dead. ...damnit, it was far too risky to send a letter, but…

Kokichi looked at his friends, grouped together and sharing in an impossible hope that came true. ...with Hina’s input, of course, they could figure something out. 

“Of course; we shall be just downstairs.” Nadya gave Kaito a nod, not having much context for any of this--what else was new?--but seeing how much it meant for the others was enough to provoke a small smile. “Right, Mr. Ouma?”

“For sure. See you soon.”

Walking together, Kokichi quietly asking Nadya not to mention this to anyone, and her assuring that she realized the necessary discretion early on, the two born Diceans walked back down the stairs into the main area of the theater again. Pausing by a particular plaque, and each showing their respect in their own ways.

It was about another twenty minutes before the three Luminaries came down, all three of them looking a little puffy eyed and red cheeked, but all three of them looking significantly calmer, a wide grin on Kaito’s face as he held Maki’s hand while Shuichi had an arm around her other side. Maki, in turn, looked lighter, though she shook both of them gently off her as she saw Kokichi and Nadya. 

Going over to them, she sighed and bowed. “I apologize for the outburst. Especially to you, Nadya. I’m sorry we keep involving you in things you have nothing to do with. This really was just meant to be a fun trip out.”

“It still is. Still can be, anyway, if the mood isn’t killed for anyone.“ Kaito said, wanting more to just have a nice day with his family rather than celebrate his birthday. 

“We talked about it, and we think maybe it might be a good idea to just...give Aoi-”

“Hina.” Maki corrected.

Shuichi nodded. “-give Hina an invitation to come speak with us if she wants too, and then leave it in her hands by that point. That’s kind of the least ‘hunter’ approach we can think of. But...we have to tell Yuta, regardless. It’s not right to keep it from him.”

“Yeah. That seems like...the best way to handle this? Isn’t it? We don’t freak out Hina, but we don’t leave her brother in the lurch either, and no one panics, and everythings okay. Right?” Kaito said, looking to Kokichi, hoping he had this right as he looked for his husband's advice. “”Kichi?”

Behind the Luminaries, Hina listened to this in shock. Her and Sakura holding props.

Nadya and Kokichi had accepted and lessened Maki’s apology, but as his friends kept talking...well. He hadn’t had a chance to speak up until…

“...I would say to ask Hina, but uh…”

It was probably obvious to Maki and Shuuichi, how Kokichi looked past them, trying to ask with just his eyes if...if they should leave? Or if it’d be okay to talk now? Or if…

Nadya, an awkward situation veteran, called out to the two women behind her co-workers. “Our apologies, ma’ams, if we are in the way. Let us move more to the side shall we?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, we’ll-!” Kaito said, glancing over his shoulder, his eyes widening into saucers as one of the women dropped her props onto the floor, kicking them aside as she rushed forward.

Every panic instinct in Maki’s body flared up as someone threw their arms around her chest from behind, her dagger appearing in her fists as she snarled, twisting to stab at her assailant. As she twisted though, the arms went up to her neck, grasping both ends putting pressure on her shoulder blades, losing the momentum of her swing, and in the same motion, her feet left the ground as Maki was suplexed backwards.

She kept her grip on her knife, trying to get her breath back into her chest as she once against brought the knife up, anticipating further attack as whoever suplex her flipped over, landing with knees and legs pinning her down, but she stopped her attack as the blade just came close to skin, noting that while she was pinned, the attackers handers were...on her shoulders and not her neck and...that was either a rookie mistake or, move for move, a perfect delay tactic that she had taught to…

Maki’s eyes cleared from their red blood lust and…

...for almost a second, she only saw a little girl. Strong and promising and, unfortunately, beautiful, about to be put into the absolute worst program for her, who Maki had wanted to mentor herself into the assassin program because… “Good job. That was perfect. You’re still so physically talented…have you been practicing?”

Hina smiled. Nodding, not worrying about the blade at her neck as she said, “I teach people at the dojo this move all the time. It’s always a big hit with the smaller adults and the kids...M-Maki...big sis? Hina’s smile went wider. Her face looking very much like Maki’s had twenty minutes ago, “Did you just say Yuta? Yuta’s alive?”

Maki nodded, looking up at her, pride in her eyes. “Yes. He’s so tall now. He’s an amazing swimmer, just like you.”

“He’s a housekeeper. He’s safe, they’re a good family. He’s happy.” Shuichi was quick to fill in, stepping forward.

“He thinks you're dead.” Kaito added in quietly, looking over at Sakura, who’s face had been tense for a second there, but seemed to relax at the ease of the conversation between the pinned women. “He’s going to be thrilled to hear you’re okay, Hina…”

“Yuta’s alive...Yes!!!” Hina screamed, knocking Maki’s dagger aside, the knife clattering onto the floor as she hugged Maki, “YUTA’S ALIVE!!!”

Sakura watched her girlfriend, before sighing, going over to the Heir -Apparent as he said to him quietly, “Sorry, my girlfriend expresses herself very...physically. I don’t think she meant to actually attack anyone. I, uh…” Sakura looked at the four people, all three of the Luminaries she had seen at the pub in bright, vibrant colors in their hair, Hina wiggling around the floor with Maki as Kaito laughed, kneeling next to them, Shuichi excitedly talking about Yuta to Hina as the two woman broke apart, Hina listening excitedly and asking questions, Maki demanding to know what had happened to Hina as the girl laughed awkwardly, saying it was a long story, and Kaito insisting that they could make time, could we all get lunch, there’s so much to discuss, i-if that was okay? And as the four people animatedly talked to each other, (Hina’s accents noticeably thickening as she spoke to the others), Sakura sighed and said, “Well, I don’t think I would be telling you anything you don’t already know when I say her cultures raises, uh…’vibrant’ personalities. Aggressive. I hope she did not scare you.”

Kokichi had a moment where his heart leapt into his throat, but it all happened so fast that he couldn’t do anything but make a choked, alarmed sound. He couldn’t tell if Hina had charged forward to...like, hug Maki, or to pin her and threaten them all not to say a word. He wasn’t actually all that worried about the latter scenario--their talk had been brief, but Hina didn’t seem the type--so...he was more worried about what Maki would do.

But...it was okay. Maki and Hina communicating in a way special to them, mixing in Shuuichi and Kaito and… 

Kokichi let out a relieved sigh, as--Miss Sakura? From the pub?--came over, giving the tall woman a tired smile. “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Sakura. I had been hoping to set something up a little more carefully...but maybe this suits them better.” The happy tears and grins and exclamations made him think it went alright, at least. “Hina’s fine--I was more worried for her sake, but since no one’s hurt, I can say that it’s all good.”

Sakura nodded, looking at the partly destroyed props Hina had dropped and kicked, but...well, oh well. “Yes. Actually, I’m relieved this has happened. Hina has been twisting herself into knots for quite some time now over when and how to have an exchange like this. I am pleased that, for better or for worse, it is done now. Though, it does seem these four have some things to discuss...my pub is currently being watched over by my brother. Can I invite you all to eat there. You will not have to pay beforehand this time. I know where you all live.”

She said. It was a joke, but her throaty timber and perpetually neutral, slightly severe expression might make this difficult to gauge...well, for anyone except the kind of person who grew up learning to read someone like Ikou’s expressions.

Kokichi giggled, catching the joke, and he smiled warmly up at Sakura. “Being invited by the proprietor--how could we refuse an invitation like that? Thank you, Sakura. And believe me, none of us are planning on skipping out on the bill. Though…”

Kokichi sent a covert look over to the reunited family before standing on his toes and speaking more quietly to Sakura. “...can I pay for everyone? It’s Kai-chan’s birthday, and with Maki-chan and Hina and Shuu-chan reuniting...I have a feeling Kai-chan would wanna pay, and I wanna cover it. It’s not much, but still.”

“The money of the heir-apparent is good in my pub. And if anyone causes a fuss otherwise, well, I shall be stern that the funds have already been covered.” Sakura agreed, before heading over to the group of Luminaries and reaching down to help her girlfriend up, who smiled wide at her girlfriend's attention, though she in turn was quick to fuss and go pick up the props.

Kaito, in turn, helped Maki up, and all of them listened to Sakura explain that she wanted to take them all back to her pub, so that they could settle this comfortably over food and somewhere warm. She didn’t exactly leave room for argument, and it wasn’t long before the whole group was in the pub, an hour later as into their meals already as Kaito gapped at Hina’s story, the group in a corner of the busy pub, their conversation hushed a bit in the safety of the discussions of the various groups around them.

(When Sakura was asked why her pub was doing so well on friday in the middle of the day, she said that her pub always saw more traffic earlier the colder it got and left it at that.) 

“...I can’t believe that actually worked. Man, our guards suck.”

Hina snickered, sipping on a heavy beer as she said, “Honestly? I look back at it, and I’m half convinced they knew we were crossing and were ignoring us. A lot of moments felt like that. It was just when the assassins found us that things really felt...dire.”

Hina sighed, leaning against the table. “...if I had known Yuta survived the attack? If I had thought even for a second that he survived that wound? I’d have never run...he must hate me…”

“Yuta thinks you’re dead, Hina. He prays at the temple every year for you. I can’t know for certain, of course, but...I honestly think if he knew you were alive? He’d believe his prayers had been answered.” Shuichi said quietly, giving Hina a soft look. 

“You swear that he’s not suffering right now? God, every second I know he’s back there, I need to just...get up and go get him. I feel horrible that I’m just sitting here.”

“He’s not suffering, and you’ve only known about this for literally an hour. You don’t have to feel guilty.” Maki said, drinking her own water with some regret. Always on the job. “And Kaito, Shuichi and I discussed this earlier, but if Yuta wants to come here? We’ll do everything in our power to make that happen. Nothing will stop us. And if it takes a little bit of time, that’s okay. Like Shuichi said, he’s not in a bad situation. He’s just...not here. With you.”

Hina sighed, nodding her head. “If he wants to come...god I want to talk to him. Apologize. Tell him I love him… I want to hear his voice. He must sound so different now...”

Kokichi mostly kept quiet as the others caught up, happy with their happiness--and aching at the fear and sorrow in Hina’s story--but...it wasn’t about him, even a little. He had nothing to contribute, unless anyone had questions about Dicean law or needed his support. 

Still, he ate his delicious meal with gusto, the portion more than he could eat but he had a feeling Kaito wouldn’t mind helping him out. And he and Nayda shared looks every now and then, the pain of hearing the horror of their neighbor, and the slight teasing of their friends’ rougher edges. And the quiet guilt as they both knew that neither of them would be able to help to the full extent the Luminaries were likely thinking of. 

Nadya had helped defecting Luminaries where she could, but, a common worry with the militia, prevented them from reaching out to everyone, wary of a spy that would expose everyone they’d helped so far. That wasn’t the situation now, but...she’d come home from war. Nadya didn’t want to kill anyone else.

And Kokichi...he could lend aid as far as the law extended, but… He couldn’t go to Luminary himself, and he couldn’t...order a rescue mission. Buying...Hina’s brother...he didn’t know how the contracts worked for someone’s conditioning, and...he could do it, if that was the only way. But the thought of buying a human made him feel...nauseous…

“Mr. Ouma? Are you well? You are looking a bit pale.” Nadya spoke quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of the others, but how he’d spaced out and gone pale was...concerning. For anyone, not just Kokichi. 

Kokichi looked up out of his thoughts, taking a deep breath to steady himself. “I’m fine, Nadya-chan, thanks.” He took a sip of his water, bringing himself back to zero. He would let the others find the best way to Yuta. He would support them. No need to stress out so much over it.

Kaito sipped on his own water, before saying, “Okay. We can absolutely pull some strings to get him on a phone. Have you heard of telephones yet, Hina? They’re crazy, but they work. We’ll just send a message to the operators handing the phone at the castle and ask them to get a hold of him. It’ll get back to my brother I made a request like that, but that’s okay, they won’t refuse me, and he doesn’t have any reason to oppose this. So, we can absolutely get you two to have a conversation.” Kaito said, nodding, certain this would work.

“If he wants to come? We’ll have to break his contract...I think he has three years left? That can’t be too expensive, but...we might want to contact Fuyuhiko. He has the funds to spare and he and Yuta were friends.” Shuichi offered, brow furrowed as he brainstormed. 

“Right. He’s the one who got the schools to accept Yuta into their swim meets, right? So, we just have to do all that without cluing in Byakuya that the requests are being made to reunite Yuta with his sister. We can’t expose the refugees.” Maki reminded them.

“I just can’t imagine he doesn’t know already...but, maybe he doesn’t. We can make it seem like Shuichi’s reaching out. Everyone knows those two were incredibly close. It would make sense Shuichi would want to bring Yuta to a better situation.” Kaito surmised.

“Ha...you guys make this sound like it’ll be easy…” Hina said, looking sad but hopeful, “..do you really think all that will work?”

“Getting one person out of Luminary isn’t the hard stuff, trust me. I’ve been losing my mind over the hard stuff for years. This?” Maki huffed, scratching her neck, “This will be a walk in the park. Yuta wants to come here? We’re getting him. I promise, Hina.”

“...thanks big sis.” Hina said, smiling warmly at Maki. Reassured.

Kaito glanced over at Kokichi, giving him an appraising look, wanting to be certain this wasn’t all to much for him. It was a pretty heavy topic after all.. “Hey, babe. Checking in.” Kaiot whispered to Kokichi, leaning over, “You okay? Do you need a breather? We can step outside for a minute, if that would help?”

The plan was promising, and while Kokichi hadn’t reached out to the Kuzuryuu family personally, not in anything that had happened, he trusted his friends’ judgement of Fuyuhiko. (And, despite being a nation’s underground, Dicea had worked with the family to get aid around, at least at the start of the war. When things had escalated...they just tried to keep the Kuzuryuu family out of their strategies. And if there happened to be certain supply crates left at seemingly abandoned areas…) And...Kokichi trusted Byakuya’s apathy. One person wouldn’t mean much to a person like him. Even if he caught on to Kaito’s prodding here and there, he didn’t have much of a reason to stop it.

At least...as far as Kokichi could tell. It did seem like every speck in the air could be a landmine to Kaito’s brother sometimes.

Huffing a little from being asked the same question again, Kokichi didn’t let his anger drive him to any reaction beyond that. “I’m okay. Sometimes my head gets stuck twenty steps ahead without realizing that someone’s solved step two. It’s heavy, but this is happy news. I’m good.”

Kaito nodded, a little relieved, before looking over at Maki, Shuichi and Hina, all now cheerfully discussing Yuta’s swim meets, Hina looking enthusiastic as Shuichi began to give her play by plays of them, how he did, the trophies he had earned, “And, actually, I-I have one of them, i-if...i-if you wanted to see it.”

“Are you kidding!? Yes! A thousand times yes!”

Kaito watched them, happy and...sad.

“...my family’s done...some pretty terrible things to them…” he whispered. A somber look on his face. “...things I don’t think I could solve by myself...not for all of them, but…” Kaito laughed lightly, running a hand through his green hair, “...it’s nice to be able to help the person right in front of me, at least.”

Kaito sighed, leaning over to kiss Kokichi on the temple as he said, “This has been an amazing birthday, Kokichi. I know it went a little off the rails, but I just wanted to say thank you for coming out here and spending time with me and handling all the stuff that...comes with me. I know it’s not easy, babe. So...thank you. It means...it means a lot. To me.”

Kokichi had just the barest of smiles on his face. As awful as he felt about the situation in Luminary...it couldn’t compare to the burden Kaito had to bear. One that he couldn’t always face with how at risk it put his mind. Countless people had been irreparably hurt by Kaito’s kin. It was just weird to imply that the entire sin was Kaito’s but...in the space where he would defend his family or the society they helped build, where he benefited from other people’s suffering… 

...Kaito had grown a lot. Helping the person right in front of him was a wonderful thing to be able to do. 

Kokichi nuzzled against his husband’s shoulder, proud. And laughing quietly as Kaito thanked him for something that didn’t seem all that much to him, but...he’d take it. “Aw, sweets… I love you. That means I’m standing by you for everything, the easy and the difficult--and you make it a joy. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your birthday--but, really, don’t think it’s over yet. There’s still plenty of today left.” 

Kokichi gave him a wink as he turned back to his meal, trying to get down a little more before he inevitably pleaded with Kaito to help him out.

-

The lunch went as...well, honestly, as well as a lunch of that situation could go. Hina told them that while she was convinced the three Luminaries weren’t hunting runaways, she didn’t feel comfortable telling them about other refugees identities just yet, not without their permission...but did tell Maki that, when she got to Dicea, ‘Yuta was their only casualty’. 

Maki didn’t cry again...but it was close. Very close. With each name confirmed or implied to be alive, another weight she had been carrying for years was taken off her chest. Another sibling she had failed alive and well. Happy. Flourishing, even.

It was the happiest Maki had been in a long time, and when lunch eventually ended, all of them agreed to start enacting their own parts of the overall ‘get Yuta’ plan starting tomorrow, with Kaito swearing he could get Hina on the phone with him within the next few days, the gang left the pub sometime around mid-afternoon, blinking in the sunlight as they pulled their coats tighter.

“That was wild...seriously. That was crazy.” Kaito chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m so happy that worked out the way it did.”

“Yeah...well, Haneda’s likely picking up Timothy soon, and she’ll be spending the afternoon with him. It feels weird to say it after everything that just happened, but there’s still time left in the day before we need to be back in the castle for dinner. Do we want to...keep walking around?”

“I’m pretty full of adrenaline myself. More walking would help burn that off.” Maki mused, before looking at Kaito, Kokichi, and Nadya as she said, “But, I can understand if any of you are tired and want to pack it up for the day, after all that.”

“I could walk more. Literally anything feels weird after that, so why not? Kokichi? Nadya? How are you both feeling? Nadya, if we go back to walking, it’s probably going to end up being a long day. You won’t insult us if you want to call it quits.” Kaito said to her sheepishly, feeling bad an event he had invited her out to had ended up so strange.

Kokichi still felt anxious over what he could do to help, but...mostly, it was a good anxiety. It was something they were considering, because people thought to be dead weren’t. It was something they were considering to reunite two siblings, to get one into somewhere he’d be free and wouldn’t have that stigma of indentured servitude hanging over his head--at least, when it came to other people. 

It had seemed like a bad time to ask, but since it seemed like they would be seeing more and more of Hina in the future, he wanted to ask her if she or any of the people she knew had found more widely applicable ways of undercutting their conditioning. It couldn’t be something he’d shout from the top of the castle, but if they all could put together as many tips as they could...still. Distribution would be tricky, but on the chance it could help someone, it was worth doing. 

“I’m still good to go! Let’s keep exploring!” Kokichi, while not quite as full of energy as he’d been earlier, still had enough pep for a bolstering hop, holding his arm out to lead the way again, provoking a bit of laughter from their last member. 

Amused with Kokichi’s enthusiasm, Nadya looked over the odd family with warmth. “If not for the routine nature of our work, I would extend this to ‘always’, but during off-hours, every minute I spend with you all is an adventure. If you are gracious enough to invite me into your personal time, I would not miss this for much. I do not have practice today anyway.”

“Alright! How about we go to one of those parks you were talking about then, Kokichi? After everything that happened, a nice, simple, easy stroll through the park sounds nice.” Kaito sighed, reaching over to take his husbands hand. “Alright! Let’s go!”

With Kokichi doing his best to lead, they went to another large, beautiful park, lightly populated with trees and, even in this cold, (which was, again, blistering to to the Luminaries) had people taking picnics, kids running around with dogs, people playing frisbees and kites, some teenagers playing soccer, older people and extremely fit people jogging...and Kaito looked up at the top of a surprisingly large hill, seeing a bunch of people up there in strange costumes as he said, “What is...that?”

“You! You five! There you are! You’re late!” Said a young man with a stern expression in a big, fluffy white rabbit costume wearing a vest, as he ‘hopped’ up to the gang. “Come on! The game’s been lacking without our final chess pieces! What’s taken you so long? Let’s go, up the hill!”

“Wait, what?” Shuichi asked, as the man in the bunny costume started herding them up the hill. “What’s happening?”

“Maki, don’t panic, even if we’re being kidnapped or something.” Kaito whispered urgently to her as the rabbit man grumbled and fussed at them, going up the hill.

Maki rolled her eyes. “Yes. That’s why I’m letting us be shuffled up a hill together. Because I’m getting such strong ‘he’s going to murder us’ vibe.”

“I m-mean, he might.” Shuichi said nervously.

“Alright, so we havn’t picked whose piece is what yet, but now that everyone is here, we can get started with that. I hope all of you have familiarized yourselves with how all the pieces move, just in case! Don’t be afraid to ask questions though, I know this is some of yours first times! This should be fun! Loving your costumes, by the way? You, big guy! One of Nomura’s characters, right? Nice! Nice! Alright, everyone, I found them!”

A crowd of flamboyant, colorfully dressed people cheered, looking excited to finally be able to start, welcoming the new people...and among them, Hajime (wearing a green outfit with a green hat with an L on it) eyes widened, a young woman with pink eyes (wearing a red outfit with a red hat and an M on it) and slightly off white hair looked up curiously at her boyfriend as he shouted, “What!? What are you guys doing here!?”

Kokichi’s eyes widened as they came over the top of the hill, but not for the same reason a certain man already standing there had his. There was a group of eleven people, all dressed in wildly different costumes, some of them more… He didn’t want to be mean about it, but, well done then the variety of costumes he got to see during the Harvest festival. Some of the people here were clearly hobbyists, making their costumes just as lovingly made as any casual piece of clothing. 

And, just adding to his excitement...there were foam grid pieces attached together on the ground, eight by eight. It was a chess board. 

It was only then Kokichi looked up and noticed Hajime, jogging over to greet him--oh, and Chiaki too! “Hajime-chan! Chiaki-chan, nice Mushroom Kingdom Heroes costumes! This is...a real person costume chess game, isn’t it? What a fun idea!” All smiles and excitement, Kokichi gestured back to the rest. “We’ve just been wandering around ‘n stuff, celebrating Kai-chan’s birthday. Were you all just waiting for anyone to come by, or have we been mistaken as the last players?”

“Wait, you’re not the last five players?” The rabbit asked, looking increasingly frustrated as he started to tug at his ears a little, before loudly thumping his foot on the ground as he said, “Those assholes! We’ve been waiting two hours! We’re going to run out of daylight at this rate! It’s so inconsiderate to be late!!”

“Um...uh…” Kaito looked at the chess board, and at the frustrated people milling around, before saying, “Um…”

“Ah, geez. This is kinda embarrassing for you all to see…” Hajime sighed, blushing a bit. “I know this must not seem like my sort of thing…”

“I am literally surprised in exactly zero ways.” Maki said, deadfaced. 

Hajime twitched, while his girlfriend wordlessly nodded at Kokichi, before taking out a book of puzzles, occupying herself with it. Deciding to ignore Maki’s ribbing, Hajime continued on, “But...well...Kaito? It’s your birthday? Happy birthday, first of all, man. Second of all, damn, didn’t get an invite to celebrate? I went on vacation with you and everything.”

Kaito flushed. “No, no, it’s not like that! We decided to do this last minute! I would have invited you if I had thought of it before this morning!”

“Ha, it’s okay. I’m just kidding with you. Anyway, I know you’re doing celebration stuff then, but would you guys all mind helping us out by filling in for the missing players? We’d all appreciate it. If you don’t know how to play, don’t worry, it’s actually pretty simple to get the hang of. Actually, it’s even pretty physical, which is right up most of your alleys...” Hajime noted, though he gave a brief concerned look at Kokichi.

Kokichi looked up at Kaito, wanting him to be the final say, since it was his birthday and everything. And...like with the penguins, he didn’t just want to drag everyone along to stuff only he was excited over.

...but this seemed super cool and he really wanted to play, even if he wasn’t totally sure what the game really looked like. 

“I would be happy to lend my assistance to you all,” Nadya chimed in easily. Seeming to take a more appraising look at the group. “I may not be in costume, but as you are down several members, I believe that my transgression in clothing can be overlooked.”

...well, if Nadya was interested too… 

Kokichi sent something of puppy dog eyes up at Kaito before sheepishly turning back to Hajime. “I mean...I know how to play chess, so I’d hope that counts for something. If everyone’s okay with it...I’d like to help out.”

Kaito didn’t really need persuading, but smiled warmly and felt his heart flutter at Kokichi’s wide, glistening eyes. Though, he looked a little uncomfortable as he said, “Do you...really need to know how to play chess well, or…” he asked, as someone who frequently forgot what pieces did.

(And had literal chronic fears of winning and losing games that made it extremely difficult for him to think clearly during the games based on Tengan’s favorite way of enforcing childhood lessons onto him and Byakuya.)

“Let me go get the slips of paper for passing out who's going to be what piece, Hajime! Teach them how to play!”

“Right! Okay. So, you’re all playing then? Nadya, right? You look fine, don’t worry about it.” Hajime said, before looking over at Shuichi and Maki, giving a small smile to Shuichi and a somewhat grimace to Maki as he asked, “You two up to it as well?”

Shuichi looked nervously around, but seeing how excited Kokichi was, nodded. “Yeah, I’m familiar with how to play chess.”

Maki huffed, rolling her shoulders, “You said it was physical? I need a little exercise. How does this go?”

“Perfect! This will be fun, you guys, it’s great to have you! Alright! So, it’s a normal game of chess, in the sense that each side is trying to capture the others king. But, it’s different in that instead of two people controlling the whole board, all the players on each side are trying to work together to do it, while really only having a perspective of the board from where they are! Basically, it’s key to communicate and work together with everyone on your team, since only one person can move on each team each turn! And, instead of certain pieces being stronger than others? When you have two pieces fighting for a square space, the two players actually try to sumo each other out of square for the space, so you have to keep in mind that a successful chess move might not be the smart physical move!”

“Oh, so that’s why the squares are so big. I was wondering why each person needed so much space on the squares.” Kaito noted, looking around, before grinning. “Well! That sounds like a lot of fun to me! Guys, you still want to do this?”

Bunny man was around a top hat with little pieces of paper on them around to all the players, saying which pieces they would be, before going to the group. “Did you all find out how to play? Alright, pick out of this hat! It’ll determine which team you're on, and your piece!”

So it wasn’t exactly like chess...but that just meant everyone was on a more even playing ground. Sometimes while he’d watch him, Mikaku had brought up a chess board, making a joke that if he was a strategist, he better be pretty good at chess. Their games had always been pretty even--once Kokichi had learned to play--and by doing some puzzles they estimated that his ELO was probably around 1300, but since Kokichi had never competed, they couldn’t say for sure. But if trades weren’t a sure bet, and forks and pins could backfire…

There was a certain excited glimmer in Kokichi’s eye as he looked out over the board. Even the sumo stuff he could work around. Just had to be quick rather than facing someone head on. Chances were he’d be a pawn, which wasn’t usually very movement heavy, but could be used for some great baits, and if he…

White King

Kokichi couldn’t help the pout on his face, even as he heard Nadya musing over being a white bishop. Well...strategy from the back was important too…

Kaito reached into the hat, and took out a paper, and read,

White Knight

Before frowning, “Right...what does knight do again?” He glanced over at Kokichi’s paper, and grinned wide, “Oh, hey! White King! Awesome, we’re on the same team babe! And you’re the king! Ha...that’s fun. Shuichi, Maki? What did you guys….uh…”

Maki and Shuichi were looking over each others papers, Shuichi giving a small, disappointed breath, while Maki smirked. She brought up her paper for Kaito to see, and Shuichi followed suit.

Black Queen

Black King

“Oh! Awwww, we’re on different teams.” Kaito pouted, before saying intensely, “Well! You won’t beat us! White team has this! Hajime?”

“Black Rook.” Hajime read aloud, before glancing over at his girlfriend. “White Horse. Well, we’re doomed. Sorry black team.”

Chiaki gave her boyfriend a warm smile. “Don’t do that. Give it your all, Hajime. It’ll be more fun that way.”

Once again, Kokichi explained how knights moved to Kaito, but he added in that knights generally got to see a lot of action in regular chess, so he should expect to be in a lot of “battles” this game. Same with Maki’s queen, and, well, he and Shuuichi were in the same boat. Exaggeratedly groaning, Kokichi latched onto Shuuichi’s side. “We’re gonna be on opposite sides of the board the whole time! I’m gonna start getting Shuu-chan withdrawals! That’s it, I’m not playing a closed game at all!”

It wasn’t too much longer until everyone started shuffling into position, and Kokichi found another issue as he stood between Nadya and the white queen. He...couldn’t see over the pawns’ heads. 

“...do you want some help?”

Kokichi looked over, seeing Nadya hold out a hand. Taking it, he followed her instructions to step onto her thigh, keeping their tension locked with their arms as she stood tall. Now about level with their taller players, Kokichi looked around with a grin. “So...wanna start this by the book? Pawn to c4?”

Several of the pawns looked over their shoulders, before the appropriate pawn twitched and realized, roughly at the same time as everyone else…

Wait.

Was that Prince Kokichi?

So, a few of the pawns looked at each other, considered bringing it up more to discussion, but...well, it was a standard opening move. They’d have more input as the board became more complicated. “On it!” one of the White Pawns shouted back, before heading over to c4.

There was a whistle, indicating to the black team that the white team had done their move. The black pawns immediately started talking to each other, before one of the knights shouted to Shuichi, “Hey! King! How about pawn to G5!”

“Uh...huh?” Shuichi said, giving the knight a confused look...before sweating as he saw more and more of the pieces looking back at him. “Uh...sure. Go for it?”

“I’m heading to G5 then!” Shouted a pawn, heading out.

“Am I supposed to...be the final word on our moves?” Shuichi asked the knight next to him quietly. 

She looked over at him and laughed, “The King is usually just the person with the final go-ahead. Don’t worry, we’ll all be suggesting moves, so it’s not all up to you. You’re basically just meant to make the final decisions in case of fights breaking out. It’s an informal position in the game, but traditional for us. You okay with that?”

“Oh, uh…” Shuichi blushed, lowering his cap. “I’ll do my best.”

“You’ll do great, Shuichi!” Hajime called over to him, overhearing this. “We’ve got this!”

“Heck no! We’re gonna wreck you guys! Though you’re gonna do great Shuichi, love ya handsome!” Kaito called out, getting fired up.

“Idiot.” Maki huffed, rolling her eyes.

Kokichi laughed to himself, looking over fondly at Kaito. Like with any game, he wanted to win, of course, but he was just excited to see how things would play out. And, well, there were sixteen people playing. He’d figured a book opening was fine to suggest, but...well. He was going to try not to steamroll everyone. Even if he saw a pretty good move already. 

...like, seriously, Kaito could put immediate pressure on that black pawn, forcing them to develop the same area...which, yeah, you kind of wanted to do anyway, but more opportunities for battles was exciting! ...and they’d still have the space to develop the other white bishop too. 

“It is not just about making the right chess moves,” Nadya called out to Kaito. “Remember. We all have the chance to turn the tide.”

As it turned out, the other white players wanted to get things going too, so Kaito ended up moving up, putting pressure on the black pawn.

Kaito had no idea why he was over here, but heck yeah! Looking over at the black pawn, he pointed and shouted, “You! I’m gonna destroy you!!”

“...u-uh, like, in the game, or???” The black pawn stuttered out, slowly putting together that the weird tall guy with the green hair that had come with Prince Kokichi might??? Be the Luminary Prince??? The Fuck????

“Yeah! In the game! We’re allowed to smack talk, right?” Kaito asked, looking confused as rabbit man, one of the black pawns, shouted out.

“You better believe it! We’re going to knock you off your horse, white knight!!”

“Hell yeah! Bring it on!”

“I say send me in! King!?” Said the pawn on H.

“Right. Okay. Pawn to H6!” Shuichi called out.

...Kokichi was suddenly glad that Hajime had specified that the pieces “fought” by sumo-ing each other off the square. Hopefully they’d outline some more concrete rules once the first showdown happened. Kaito he wasn’t so worried about, and while he was sure Maki wouldn’t truly try to hurt anyone...well, if the black queen was going to take a piece, she was sure gonna take it. 

So...the starting black pawn was covered now, so if Kaito went in, then he’d have to fight back to back. Meanwhile, they hadn’t really developed the rest of the board...but they could stop that G pawn from advancing while freeing the other white bishop!

Stopping himself from acting immediately, Kokichi looked around to his other players. “What do you think about sending our G pawn in to block theirs?” 

The group talked for a moment, some people looking a little notably relieved that, really, this is the prince?? Was consulting with them. Some people wanted to get right to the fighting, but it was a compromise that doing something like this would allow the back pieces to move more easily so they wouldn’t be sitting around forever while the pawns slowly advanced. 

“Hey, G pawn! Show ‘em what they’re messing with!”

6H Pawn scowled at Kaito, knowing his friend, G5 Pawn, wasn’t that great at the wrestling part as the black group discussed how to proceed...and then everyone froze as the whistle went off. 7F Pawn moving to 6F on his own, without discussing it with anyone. 

Shuichi blinked, “Wait, who? Did someone move?”

“Hey! Don’t move on your own! Wait on the kings go ahead!” Maki shouted out, her murderous intent starting to radiate off her as she scowled at 6F Pawn, who huffed and ignored her. “DO YOU WANNA DIE!?!”

“I’m backing up G5 Pawn.” Was all 6F Pawn had to say about it.

“Hm...that’s a potential three in a row for Kai-chan…” Kokichi hummed aloud, deciding to just talk out his thought process to the others around him. “If D pawn moves up one, then Nadya-chan can threaten both G5 and H6 on her own, as well as being there to back up Kai-chan. Also leaves plenty of space for her to move depending on if black decides to try and capture a piece…”

“Developing our other knight to C3 gives us a better advantage down the line, though. Focusing too much on one area will just leave us unable to defend later,” the white queen pointed out, a woman wearing a grey cloak and an odd husk-like white mask pulled off to the side. 

“Ah, true…” 

Chiaki was moved up to C3. 

Maki twitched, as Shuichi sighed. “If they’re going to start bringing out people on the other side of the board, we should do it too-”

“F6! Move to F5!” Maki called out, still fuming. 

F6 Pawn blinked in surprise, his body moving automatically in response to the absolute lack of nonsense and urgency in the order, before asking, “Wait, why am I here?”

“You wanna put yourself in the fight? I’ll put you in the fight.” Maki snarled, as Shuichi just gave her a startled, concerned look.

Kokichi raised an eyebrow. A very Maki move. The F pawn wasn’t protected--its sole use in this position was to fight. So...they could place a protection, and let the fight begin. After some deliberation, a few people having similar ideas to Kokichi, he called out, “Let’s get messy, shall we? Nadya-chan, thank you for your help, but head over to H3, if you would!”

“Shuichi, send F5 on the attack.” Maki insisted, looking over to Shuichi. 

“He needs to keep in mind the other side of the board!” The Rabbit pawn called over his shoulder to the Queen. “There’s nothing useful in taking a pawn in that side!”

“It will if we can power through them! F5 is confident in his ability to fight, that’s why he went forward on his own. We need to make use of that! None of their moves matter if their plays don’t land!” Maki insisted, “We need a show of force!”

“...okay. F5!” Shuichi called out.

F5 grit his teeth. “My pleasure.”

F5 was a lanky man with messy hair and bags under his eyes, and wasn’t particularly large in any way...but as soon as he got into the square, his confidence was immediate in his movement. As G4 went onto the attack,  F5 sidestepped, grabbing their shoulder and in one movement, throwing them out of the ring. 

A whistle rang out. The whistle keeper shouting out, “Black takes G4!”

There were a few claps and well wishes to the pawn knocked out of the game, from both sides of the board. A general concession of a fight well fought, regardless. Shuichi sighed as Maki hissed out, “Yes.”

Even if it was their loss, Kokichi clapped and cheered with the rest, just peeking through the pawn players in front of him now that Nadya was out on the board. It was a very good move--and some great intell. G4 was good at throwing momentum--likely not the kind of opponent Kaito would fare well against. 

But maybe one Nadya would. If they won, she and Kaito could take out the entire king’s side, and without the development of the D or E pawns, which would eat a move, Maki couldn’t get involved either. 

Talking it over with the others, it seemed like everyone was itching to get a piece for the white side. 

“Time for a double feature! Nadya-chan, take G4, please!”

“Don’t you let her touch you, G4, you cocky shit!” Maki called out.

G4 frowned, once again moving to fluidly sidestep...but found himself frowning as Nadya grabbed at his arm and, an incredible strength in her arms and legs, used her entire force in her grasp on arm to push him forward a few steps and then, almost like swinging a bat, spinning around and throwing him off the board. He hit the floor with a gasp, and a whistle called out. 

“White takes G4!”

“Damn!” Maki cursed. 

“You okay, there, guy?” Kaito asked the fallen pawn, grinning at him. The pawn sighed before nodding, getting up and giving Nadya a respectful nod.

“I’m good. Wow. You have some solid muscles there...sorry guys! Get ‘em for me!” The pawn called to his team, walking off the board.

Rabbit looked over to Shuichi, “Hey! Start spreading us around more!”

“Right...C7! Head to C6!”

“O-okay!” Said a smaller girl in a blue dress with white apron, moving forward. 

“You have quite an admirable level of agility, friend,” Nadya complimented her opponent, sending him off with a wave. “May the next game fair better.”

Trying to peer through the other players at the black pawn that moved up...well, it didn’t look like she had enabled much but space for future moves, so…

“Hey, Mr. King, why don’t we do a little do-si-do, huh?” 

Kokichi--and several of the other white players--looked over to the king side rook, a pretty average-looking guy, honestly, with a lazy smile dressed in a sort of combination of sportswear and...dragon-themed clothes? Castling, huh...the king’s side wasn’t that well-protected, but it wasn’t in danger, either…

“Don’t see why not. Gotta protect the King,” the queen muttered, and a few of the other players hummed in agreement. It wasn’t really the most productive move but...well, everyone wanted to play. It couldn’t hurt, and this wasn’t Kokichi playing against Mikaku either. 

Giving the man a smile, Kokichi started to walk over, the man meeting him with longer strides and looping their arms together to spin Kokichi onto G1, provoking a giggle from him. 

Kaito heard Kokichi giggling, and looked backwards, just catching the tail end of that. He grinned. Awww. That was cute. His sweet ‘Kichi, getting along with his people. Awesome.

Across the board, Shuichi watched this...and twitched. “Maki? D8 to C7!”

Maki grinned. “Finally.” she said, heading out. 

“Somehow I’m not surprised to see you know chess, but getting in a game like this? Very cool of you.” 

Letting the others have more of a say, Kokichi just gave the rook player a grin and a shrug, deciding he could afford to just...have a conversation and approve (or advise against) whatever move people wanted to make next. “Hey, I’m just benefitting from you all setting it up--and from those five people not showing up, though I think it would’ve been fun to watch if they had. Do you guys do this often? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Don’t really know myself--ain’t one of the regulars. Just saw a notice in the game shop that folks were trying to put this together, and, hey, why not, right? Get some fresh air, get to break out a costume, get a little tete-a-tete… Fun stuff,” the man nodded.

Kokichi nodded along with him, but was distracted as the other players got his attention. Taking a look at the board, he was a little frustrated with missing mate...but it was more fun to keep the game going. 

“Nadya-chan, once more, please--move to H5 and put Shuu-chan in check!”

Shuichi frowned. Honestly, he was really struggling to view the game mentally in its entirety, and he had completely missed the upcoming check. Feeling foolish, he looked to the the empty space next to himself and said, “Okay, then I’ll head over here and-”

“Shuichi! Where are you running too!” Maki demanded, looking over her shoulder in fury. “You’re only in check if she can beat you!”

“...U-uh, Maki, Nadya’s a baseball star and a war vet, I think she might be able to beat me-”

“Send me after the king!”

“Oh my god...uh…” Shuichi looked over at Nadya. Seriously considering it...before shaking his head. He might be able to fight her, but if he was wrong? Everyone on the black team wouldn’t get to keep playing. So, giving Maki a sheepish look, he quietly stepped to D8. Maki scoffed.

Kokichi looked up to his rook companion with a questioning look. “Is that right? You’re allowed to just leave your king in check?”

The rook shrugged. “No clue, Kokichi. Oh, I’m Ren, by the way. Nice to meetcha, my liege.” While such a phrase might’ve been incredibly uncomfortable, considering the wink and little laugh Ren followed his greeting up with, Kokichi understood it was just in the context of the game, and so just laughed lightly. 

“Nice to meet you too, Ren.”

“Prince Kokichi! Move me up!!”

“Oh, uh, pawn to E4, please!”

“G8 to F6!” Shuichi called out as soon as the whistle was done, having been quietly talking to his side of the group while the whites had been moving. Maki wanted to be pushed forward relentlessly, certain she could do it by herself, and Rabbit wanted to spread more pieces around for more openings and chances to advance. Considering one of those plans allowed more people to play? Shuichi went with rabbits plan.

...even if Shuichi kept twitching as he saw Kokichi talking with that other guy.

Oh, come on...what? Was he jealous? Is that the kind of boyfriend he was going to be, the jealous type? Too insecure to assume that Kokichi could keep flirty people at arms length? Come on, Saihara, pull it together! 

Hm, good move. Paying a little more attention to the board now, he considered the black knight’s position. Kokichi had confidence in Nadya, and...good thing, since it’d take some maneuvering to give her backup. The best thing would be to protect the threatened pawn, so--

“Gwwaah!”

Kokichi found himself physically shaken from his thoughts as Ren gave his shoulder...not the gentlest of jostles. 

“Hey, hey, don’t get all frowny on us--you’re a lot cuter when you smile. You don’t have to think so hard--it’s just a game.” 

Kokichi only frowned a bit more, taking a step away from the border of his square. “I can express however I damn please, and I like thinking of game strategy. It’s just a game, but it’s no fun to throw or if some people don’t get to play.”

Looking past Ren, Kokichi called out to the white queen. “Move over to E1, please.”