Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The midday summer sun beat down harshly on Akito. The trees provided enough protection that he wasn’t dying or anything, but it was still way hotter than he’d like. His basket swung lazily in his hand, occasionally doing loops in the air while it was still empty as he walked through the forest. Ena was too lazy to leave the house in this heat even though it was her turn, so she’d straddled him with the task of gathering their latest flower crop before they wilted under the sun. It was annoying—these flowers refused any attempts at being grown in their garden. But they were some of their most popular for the shop, so every few days one of them had to make the trek out into the forest to care for the stupid stubborn things.

So here Akito was, making his way to the clearing for the third time that week. He didn’t really mind, it was a nice walk, but it was so hot, and he was supposed to be eating lunch with Kohane. He just hoped Ena had told her he wasn’t coming like she promised she would. At least he didn’t live in Nocturne to the north, where it apparently snowed all year, or Phoenix to the east with its intense summers. Viviryn at least got some variety in their weather. Even if the sun right now made him want to die. And there were slightly bigger problems than just the weather to living in those kingdoms, but their town was so far away from all Nocturne’s conquering shit it might as well be made up.

Akito breathed deeply, he had no reason to think about that. He was just a simple florist in the middle of Viviryn; a place the fighting would never reach. Instead, he let the sounds of the forest wash over him and enjoyed the slight breeze (and cursed the sun). The final few hundred metres to the clearing stretched ahead of him. He could make out the vague patches of orange where the flowers grew and the black blob off to the side—

Hang on, the what?

He squinted down the path and slowed his pace. ‘Black blob’ was not on his radar for today. It looked like some sort of animal hunched over— maybe a bear cub? He really didn’t want to deal with a bear right now. Should he scare it away? Or would the noise just make mama bear maul him? A stick cracked under his boot and he winced at the sharp sound echoing down the path, tensing and ready to run. The shape didn’t move though, didn’t so much as acknowledge the sound. Akito frowned, no animal would sleep through that. He hoped it wasn’t dead. He continued warily, looking around for any sign of another animal or tracks. But as he got closer and the shape got clearer he paused. It wasn’t an animal. It was a person.

Embarrassingly, his first thought was ‘oh fuck, they’re crushing the flowers’ and not ‘oh fuck, someone’s passed out.’ He dropped the basket, rushing over and falling to his knees beside them. Why the hell was someone even out here? He reached out to jostle them. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead. “Hey? Are you­—”

He screeched as the figure moved, spinning around and leaping at him. Akito fell on his ass, his hands keeping the rest of his body from hitting the ground. “Woa—”

The knife at his neck stopped him from moving. The boy—he looked around Akito’s age—leant over him, and Akito instinctively tried to flinch back, but the knife just followed. “Hey! Hey! I’m not trying to hurt you!” he squeaked. The stranger's blank face just stared back. “Put the knife away! Please.” Gods he was not dying in the middle of nowhere today! He could probably try to push him off, but he didn’t think he could move fast enough.

The other boy said nothing, just breathed heavily as he narrowed his grey eyes imperceptibly at him.

Akito blinked back, praying that since he hadn’t had his throat slit yet, he was probably surviving this. A distinctly wet feeling slithered down his stomach, and Akito spared a glance downwards. He had to stifle a cry at the red blooming across his sweater. He hadn’t felt anything… His eyes followed the path of the dripping red. Up to the stranger and his torn clothes. His eyes widened. “You’re hurt!” And bleeding all over him. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised—the boy didn’t seem like the kind of guy who passed out in forests for fun. “I swear I just wanted to make sure you were okay!” he continued when the boy didn’t respond. “I’m Akito, I live in the town back there.”

No response again, but he seemed to be searching Akito’s face for something. Akito opened his mouth to beg when the boy blinked slowly and the knife moved back a fraction. Akito could feel a thin line of blood dribble down his neck where the knife had cut him, and he swallowed. “Um.”

The boy relaxed marginally, but his hard gaze remained. Several heartbeats passed where Akito had no clue what was going to happen.

Then the stranger’s eyes unfocused and Akito had half a second of warning before he fell forward like a puppet with cut strings. Akito yelped as his weight forced them to the ground, his head making painful contact with the dirt. He groaned and tried to sit up, but the boy was out cold in his lap. Thankfully, he had enough sense to drop the knife to the side so neither of them had been stabbed by it. Carefully, he rolled the boy off him, one hand cupping the back of his head as he laid him down. He shuddered at the sticky blood coating his hands and wiped them on his sweater. Akito frowned and tugged it off, folding it into a haphazard square as he examined the wound. He couldn’t make much out past the torn clothes and red stain, but it looked deep. A pretty long slash along his left ribs. The amount of blood was what told him it was bad. He pressed his sweater against the source of the blood. It was already fucked, he’d never get the bloodstains out, so it might as well be useful in its last moments. Immediately, the orange vest began turning red, and he mourned silently.

What the hell was he doing? Kneeling next to a stranger currently bleeding out in the middle of a forest. He could laugh at the absurdity. What was he meant to do? He could fix getting nicked by garden shears. But a giant gaping wound? He didn’t even know where to start. The easiest option was to just leave him there and go home. But his shirt hadn’t fared much better than his vest and he had morals, damn it. He discarded the thought before he could even finish it. He’d have to carry the guy home and pray he didn’t die along the way.

He examined the boy as he caught his breath, wiping at his throat with the back of his hand and wincing at the sting. He had a two-tone blue hair that tugged at something in his memory, but for the life of him, he couldn’t place it. Same with the golden rose pinned at his breast. He should recognise it, but his heartbeat was still thrumming in his ears, so he simply moved on. He was dressed head to toe in black armour, a ripped red cape that seemed darker with all the blood soaked into it wrapped over one shoulder. Briefly, he wondered where his weapon was—he looked like a knight so he probably had one—but figured he’d lost it somewhere when a glance around didn’t reveal anything. He could come back for it if he had to.

Feeling steadier, he got to his knees and pushed himself to stand next to the stranger, sighing wearily. This would be fun. Sure, Akito was stronger than the average guy his age. He did all the heavy lifting around the shop and he'd been carrying Ena around since they were kids. But giving his sister a piggyback ride was a far cry from dragging an unconscious boy who looked taller than him two kilometres down an uneven forest track. Grimacing, he reached down and hooked his arms under the boy’s, dragging him up and over his shoulders. He stumbled under the weight and had to repress a shudder as the bloodstained vest pressed against his back. Whatever armour this guy had was even pointier like this, and he regretted not taking it off. But he didn’t want to leave any more evidence here than he needed to. He kicked the knife over to the tree and turned back down the path. With slightly more care than he gave the knife, he nudged his discarded basket off the track, hoping it’d be fine until he could retrieve it. Ena would kill him and then revive him just to make him weave another one.

Hiking the guy up again as carefully as he could, Akito started the trek back home. It would be slow going, but he was confident he could get them both back in one piece. The walk was silent. On the way there the forest had been full of birdsong and insects. But now that he thought about it. The closer he’d gotten to the flowers—and more importantly the stranger—it’d gotten eerily silent. And now that silence followed them back. So he was left with his thoughts. He didn’t know which kingdom had black armour or if the boy was even an official knight. He looked like one; his clothes seemed too well made for a mercenary. He didn’t think Viviryn had black armour. All the knights that passed through had red and gold so he could only assume that was the case. Regardless of that, though, was: why the hell was he passed out in the forest in the middle of the kingdom?

He pushed it to the side. Not like the boy could answer his questions right now.

About halfway back he had to stop, panting under the sun as it crawled higher and higher and got hotter and hotter. And oh man, he could feel the blood-stained clothes sticking to him with this awful crawling sensation up his spine that only served to make the heat worse. He didn’t want to put the guy down because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to pick him back up, but he leaned against a tree for a few minutes, imagining a cool river and desperately wishing he was in it.

But he had to get home. He didn’t know all that much about injuries, but he knew enough and had seen enough to know this guy wouldn’t have lasted the night like this. So, he pushed off and kept walking down the narrow track. The stranger didn’t make a single sound. Not even when Akito stumbled. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. But slowly, the trees thinned and the muted sounds of the town reached his ears.

He stopped just before the tree line, looking around for anyone who might see them. Thankfully, he and Ena lived the closest to the forest, and no one had any reason to be on this side of their house, so it should be alright. There wasn’t any reason this had to be a secret, he just didn’t want to deal with all the rumours. But he couldn’t see anyone around, so he stumbled the last few metres to their backyard, scanning the building. They had a pretty big house; the only thing his and Ena’s parents left them. The space had been too much for two people, so they’d gutted the entry and living room to turn into a flower shop, leaving the back half and second floor to live in. It worked out better than they’d expected. They didn’t have to buy a store or Gods forbid—a cart—and the space didn’t seem to dwarf them anymore.

Akito hadn’t even reached for the gate latch when the screeching hit him.

“What the hell did you do?!”

He winced, looking up to see Ena standing in the back doorway, looking the angriest he’d ever seen despite the blue paint smeared all over her face.

“Are you bleeding? Who the hell is that?” She ran at him, hands unable to decide if they should hit or help him.

“I don’t know,” Akito ground out, trying to dodge away from her probing fingers. “I’m fine. He’s not. Help me get him inside.”

Ena stifled a groan, eyeing his throat. “You’re so annoying, it can’t be that hard to pick some flowers! Come on.” She opened the gate and ushered him through, looking around for anyone who might have come running after all her screaming. “He better not bleed everywhere.”

“I’ll clean it up, Gods. We’ve got bigger problems than the fucking floor.”

“What happened, seriously, Akito?” Ena held the door open for them, then once they were through, slammed it shut and rushed past him down the hall.

He recounted the abridged events of that morning to her as he followed her into his bedroom. Ena griped the entire time but stripped the bed of its pillow and blanket, dumping them in the corner. Akito deposited the boy on the bed, already mourning the hours he’d have to spend scrubbing the bloodstains out of the sheet.

Okay, so he’d done his part of getting the stranger to safety. “Now what?” He looked at Ena, as the eldest she should totally know what to do when a half-dead person is dropped in your house.

Ena tugged at her hair, hissing and glaring at the boy. “Gods, I hate you. Get some water and a towel then strip his shirt. I’ll close the store.”

Akito nodded and they both left the room, running in opposite directions. He moved towards the laundry to gather what was asked, closing the curtains into the backyard on his way. The bell to the store jingled as Ena flipped the sign, and he could hear her running around the store frantically. Before anything else, he practically jumped into the sink. He had to get this blood off. His shirt came off, thrown haphazardly on the floor, and then he scrubbed at his skin until it was raw and the sticky feeling disappeared. His back was harder to reach, but he managed to get most of the blood off. It was good enough until he took a bath later. Finally, he shoved his head under the tap and drank greedily, not bothering with a glass or caring how the water splashed all over his face and hair. It felt nice. When his thirst was satiated he pulled back and grabbed a towel, drying himself roughly before rummaging through the cupboard for a new sheet, another towel, and then filling a bucket of water.

Ena was still in the shop going off the banging sounds as he came into his room. He deposited the linen on the end of the bed and debated putting on a clean shirt but thought better of it. He still had to clean the guy and he’d probably get it dirty again. Praying he stayed unconscious, Akito fumbled with the clasps and belts and buckles covering the boy. He was able to slide the cape, belts, and gloves off easily, but the actual shirt was another issue entirely. There was no way in hell he was getting this off the intended way, and he could see no zips or buttons. So, seeing no other choice, he grabbed his pocket knife from his desk and began carefully cutting the clothes away. At least he wouldn’t have to wash them. He had to peel the shirt off him one inch at a time, running one finger beside the knife down his torso and doing the same with the sleeves until the shirt was lying flat around the boy. Akito tugged gently, trying to slide it out from under him without moving him; something that was a lot harder than with the belts. Breathing far more heavily than he expected, he dumped it on top of the other clothes and kicked it towards the door then stepped back to examine his work. The stranger was left in just his pants and thigh-high boots. And geez, even they were armoured. No wonder he was so heavy. Akito tugged them off—they were probably uncomfortable—then added them to the pile. He was left with the half-naked boy. Though you could barely tell under the mess of blood all over his side. Akito winced.

“Oh wow, looks worse like this.” Ena’s voice behind him was tight.

He turned to her, splaying his hands, and she recoiled. “I’m aware.”

“Ugh. Have I mentioned how much I hate you recently? You better not start thinking I’ll let you share my room.” Ena stepped gingerly over to the pile of bloody clothes. “We’ll burn these later, the metal will just have to be buried or something…” She sighed and picked them up, holding them as far from herself as she could without dropping anything and swearing under her breath. She shot him one more glare then half-ran back to the laundry.

Akito rolled his eyes. He wasn’t exactly happy about the situation himself, but she didn’t have to act like he’d done this on purpose. His hands were dirty again so he dipped them into the water and did his best to get the blood off with the cloth. He was reaching for the towel when Ena’s muffled screech echoed down the hall. He looked up as footsteps pounded towards the room and Ena ran in, clutching the golden rose that had been pinned to the boy’s shoulder and had annoyed him the whole journey back.

“Hey dumbass.” She brandished the flower at him threateningly from the door. “Did you not realise he’s from Nocturne? The kingdom we’re at war with?!” Her voice rose in pitch and intensity as she struggled to keep from full-blown yelling. “Akito.”

Akito froze, blinking stupidly at the rose. Ohhh. That’s why it was familiar. “No.” He returned her glare. “Oi, don’t give me that look. I had bigger problems!” He didn’t really think it made much of a difference. He still would have helped if he’d known.

“Ughhh,” Ena groaned, “now what? Put him back or something.” She threw the rose at the bed and it landed with a soft thump.

“I’m not gonna just dump him outside!” Akito screeched. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’ve gotta think about us first! He’s an enemy knight, Akito. We can’t just keep him!”

Akito gritted his teeth and turned back to the boy’s too-pale face. He couldn’t forget he ever saw him. He’d never forgive himself. “No one’s gonna find out, it’s fine. We can just let him rest and send him on his way.”

“And if he tries to kill us?”

Akito crossed his arms. “He won’t.” Probably. He must have let Akito live for a reason.

Ena dragged a hand down her face and groaned again. “Fine! I’ll get Mafuyu, she won’t snitch and can deal with his wound better than us. But you better let her fix that cut on your neck, got it?” She waggled a finger at him and he sighed, throwing his hands up in agreement.

“Okay, okay. Go on, I’ll finish cleaning up.” He gestured out the door with his head and turned back to the boy as Ena huffed and left the room, the tinkling of the shop bell ringing out a few seconds later.

Akito grimaced and knelt on the bed with one leg and reached over to the cloth. He dipped it in the bucket and wrung it out, then slowly brought it to the wound. He hoped the stranger didn’t wake up. It would be very awkward. Carefully he wiped off most of the dried blood. The wound was only sluggishly bleeding, but it was caked all over his skin. It was probably a day or two old, in his unprofessional opinion. He couldn’t help but admire the body in front of him as he worked. His torso was far paler than his face—all of him was paler than that—as if it was the only part that was ever exposed to the sun. Akito could feel the muscle just under his hands. He was almost jealous before he remembered why the stranger was like that and returned to wiping. Didn’t stop him from looking, though. His skin was marred by scars and burns and all manner of old injuries Akito couldn’t even guess as to how he got. And of course, there was the ragged slice halfway down his right side, stretching from just under his chest to his waist. The stranger didn’t so much as flinch as Akito worked, continuously having to wet the cloth and regretting not bringing another bucket as the water turned rust-coloured. But it did the job well enough. He wiped his hands on his pants—he was gonna wash everything, what was one more piece—and stood up, wincing as his joints protested. He’d be feeling the consequences of carrying this guy tomorrow for sure. He picked up the towel and leaned back over, giving the wound one more wipe before pressing the towel over it and stepping away.

He didn’t go far, nearly collapsing onto the bed before remembering he was still shirtless and once again cursed with bloodied hands. He wasn’t dipping his hands in the water again, so he gathered everything up—including the rose—and returned to the laundry. Ena had dumped the stranger’s clothes into a bucket and shoved it into the darkest corner of the room. He dropped everything into the sink and dropped the rose back where it belonged, making sure to cover it up. The towel, cloth, and his pants joined the shirt, and despite the heat, he shivered as he washed his hands again, watching the bloody water swirl down the drain. They were going to run out of towels at this point, but he grabbed another and rushed back to his room as he dried his hands, hoping Ena and Asahina wouldn’t return in time to see him half naked. Quickly, he got changed, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and digging around for some clothes for the guy to wear when he woke up, before finally getting to sit down. He’d been in a panicked rush since he found the boy. It felt like hours ago but was probably only just over one. The real panic would set in later. Akito flopped backwards, narrowly avoiding the stranger lying on his bed, and stared at the ceiling to wait for the other two to come back.

It was only a few more minutes—annoying for him, good for the dying guy—before he heard them come back, hushed whisper-yelling sounding muted through the walls and yet so clearly Ena’s voice. Reluctantly, he sat up and moved off the bed just as Ena barged in, Asahina Mafuyu—the only person in this town who actually knew anything substantial about medicine, and Ena’s friend—behind her. Ena flopped into the chair before he could and he glared, but Asahina drew his attention by dropping her bag on the floor and looking straight at him with her unnerving stare.

“Who is he?” she asked flatly, then knelt to unpack her things.

Akito could only shrug. “Dunno. Did Ena not tell you anything?”

She’d long since dropped the friendly happy act around him—and he had in turn—ever since they accidentally stumbled upon each other with their masks down. He liked her better this way. “No.”

They both looked at Ena, who grimaced. “I didn’t want anyone to overhear. We don’t know much either. Just get on with it. I’m not having him die after all this work.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Akito muttered under his breath.

Ena kicked him.

Mafuyu ignored them and laid her things out on the towel. “Get clean water. I don’t have time to boil and cool any now, but you should do that for tomorrow. Keep a stock of boiled water.”

Ena left to do as she was bid, returning in record time with a new bucket. He didn’t even know they had another one. She dropped it next to Mafuyu, who gave her no thanks, just dipped her cloth in and sat on the bed, wiping far more roughly than Akito had. He didn’t pretend to know what she was doing after that and didn’t pay attention either. It would all just go over his head anyway, and he’d rather not watch her stab a bone needle into the wound a hundred times. Ena explained the mad rush from earlier—hesitating a moment before admitting he was probably from Nocturne based on the armour. Mafuyu only hmphed in response and told them to prop the stranger up off the bed so she could wrap the bandages properly. With the three of them, it was quick work.

Akito examined the boy—and he really looked like a young boy now, now that he was clean and the colour had started coming back to his still too-pale face. Mafuyu had probably saved his life, but he could see nothing different on her face. Ena probably could, if all her rants about Mafuyu were true, but he didn’t pretend to know her. With the first job done, she trained her gaze on his neck. Akito sighed and sat on the bed, lifting his face so she had easy access. One cold hand steadied the back of his head while the other wiped a dripping cloth over the cut, water getting all over his shirt, much to his chagrin.

“Make him drink water and rest,” Mafuyu spoke as she worked. “Clean and change the bandages once a day or if they get dirty—I’ll leave enough for a week.”

“A week!?” Ena cried. “We have to deal with him for a week?”

“At minimum. Probably longer. It’s a deep wound; I’m surprised he’s even alive.”

Ena groaned and slid down in the chair dramatically. “Fine… Akito you’re on babysitting duty. I’ve got nothing to do with this.”

Mafuyu ignored her and pulled back. “The cut isn’t deep, just refrain from touching it and flush it out if it gets dirty. It will close in a few days by itself.”

He nodded. “Thanks,” he said gruffly. He could have done that himself and they both knew it. But Ena was stubborn.

“And Mafuyu.” Ena straightened, pointing a finger. “Don’t tell anyone about this. You never saw this guy. If anyone asks, you came over to see me.”

He left them to fight, slinking between them and over to his drawers to find some clothes for the stranger to leave at the end of the bed.

Mafuyu packed her things, pulling out several rolls of bandage and leaving them on the side table. “Why would I come over to see you? And I know.”

“Uh, maybe because we’re friends, and friends visit each other? Gods… And take this seriously! Nothing happened here, okay?”

“I am. I don’t care who he is. Soldier, servant, prince; it doesn’t matter to me. Him being from Nocturne is irrelevant.” Mafuyu stood with her bag and turned to leave, forcing the two of them to scramble after her to the living room. “I won’t mention it to anyone. Just don’t get caught. Mizuki wouldn’t—”

“I know,” Ena interrupted. “We know. But we don’t have a choice anymore. Akito threw that away the second he found him.”

Akito made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Oi— What else was I gonna do—”

She waved him off. “I know you wouldn’t leave him to die, no matter how much I wish we could. I still don’t want to get dragged into anything. But whatever.”

At least she’d come around. Akito sighed and walked over to the couch as the two girls talked for a moment at the door over the moral dilemma.

Mafuyu reached for the handle. “I’ll come back in a few days, bye.”

“See ya,” Akito replied lazily as she left, Ena shutting the door behind her and listening for the tell-tale chime of the store bell a few seconds later.

Ena sighed wearily and joined him, throwing an arm over her eyes and lying down, nearly kicking him. “For good measure: I hate you.” She peeked out from under her arm. “And I’m glad you’re alright,” she said far quieter, staring at the cut on his neck.

He looked away. “I’m fine. Barely hurts.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Akito thought over the last hour, replaying it just to make sure he remembered it properly. Trying to make it seem real. He still wasn’t actually sure there was a guy passed out on his bed. That he could have died that morning at the whims of said guy. He was sure he’d done the right thing, no matter where the stranger was from. He might have made good fertilizer if he’d found him later that week, and he wasn’t sure Ena would have made the same decision. (Though he liked to think she would, just with more hesitation.) But he didn’t regret what he’d done. He might change his mind if anyone else found out, though.

In the silence, the unexpected ringing of the bell was loud.

Ena groaned. “Can people not read? The sign clearly says we’re closed,” she muttered, dragging herself to her feet and moving towards the door.

Akito shrugged. “Maybe Asahina forgot something?”

Ena just shot him a look that screamed ‘are you stupid?’ and slipped into the shop, plastering her customer smile on to kick out the poor customer.

Akito wasn’t going to wait for that, though. He still needed to do the laundry and check the floor before the bloodstains really became impossible to scrub out. He stood and stretched, back already protesting at the mere thought of hunching over the washboard. A proper glass of water sounded much more enticing than that, so first he crossed the room to the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and refilling it several times until his body’s stupid fish instincts were satisfied. Gasping for breath he placed the glass next to the sink and began heading for the hall when the door opened and a familiar blonde head peered into the main room.

“Akito, you’re back!” Kohane smiled sweetly, slipping inside. “How were the… flowers…” She trailed off as her eyes caught on his neck, face paling. “What’s that?” She rushed forward, one hand cupping under his jaw to lift his face, the other gripping his arm. “You’re hurt!”

He shivered as her thumb grazed the wound. “I’m alright, it’s shallow.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. In turn, she slid her hand to the back of his head, threading fingers through his hair, and he relaxed, letting the tension he hadn’t noticed bleed out.

“What happened? Are you okay?” She mumbled against his shoulder.

“Uh.” He didn’t really know how to describe it without sounding insane. It wasn’t that strange. But they lived in a quiet town. The most exciting thing that happened was seeing which idiot fell into the fountain on any given week. “Found someone passed out near the flowers and I scared him?” It came out like a question. “His knife got me but then he fainted again.”

Kohane jerked back. “What?!” Both hands squeezed his biceps and she gently shook him. “A knife?”

“I’m alright!” He grinned to reassure her. “It wasn’t a cut. He just. Pressed it against my neck a bit.”

“A bit,” Kohane parroted. “That will scar.”

“Then I’ll look tough and cool.”

Kohane laughed, face still tinged with worry. “Yeah. My big bad Akito, getting into fights and saving the day.” She let him go. “Then what happened?”

Akito didn’t think it was that bad, even if his neck was starting to sting a bit more now. “I dragged him back here. Asahina patched him up.”

Kohane blinked. Then blinked again, as if she hadn’t quite heard him. Then she jolted. “W-why did you bring him back here? He attacked you!”

“I wasn’t just gonna leave him there!” Seriously, why did everyone think he’d do that? “And again, it was my fault I startled him, then he backed off.” Well. After a few terrifying seconds. But he wasn’t telling her that.

“Okay… of course not, sorry,” Kohane whispered. “Of course you wouldn’t. You just scared me for a second.” She stepped out of his arms and brushed down her dress. “Is he alright?”

“Asahina said he’ll be fine. Lost a lot of blood, though. Wanna see?” She nodded, so he took her hand and tugged her down the hall. “Here.” He peered into his room first to make sure the guy was still unconscious. Kohane ducked under his arm to look, then straightened with a gasp, bumping her head into his arm.

“Wh—” She gaped, pushing past him to look closer. She whirled on him. “Akito!” she screeched. “You cannot be serious. He’s—”

Akito grimaced. “I know, I know, he’s from Nocturne. But I couldn’t just—”

“No!” Kohane cut him off, real fear on her face. “You—” Then she turned on her heel and sprinted back into the main room.

“Kohane!?” He was dumbfounded for a moment before chasing after her. “What?”

She skidded to a stop at the door to the shop, turning back to him for a second with wide eyes. “Stay there! I’ll be back in a second, I’ve just got to—” She left before she could finish, the shop bell ringing out as she ran outside.

Akito stared, utterly confused. Like yeah, okay, maybe saving a soldier from an enemy kingdom was a bad idea. But he didn’t know! And that was a bit of an overreaction.

With the door left open, he could see Ena standing at the till, still reeling from Kohane blowing past. She turned to stand in the doorway, glaring at him. “Why did Kohane run out of here? Did you scare her?”

“No!” he defended. “I think she’s getting something?”

The bell rang again barely a second later and Kohane appeared behind Ena, herding her next to Akito and shoving a piece of paper in their faces with an urgency he’d never seen. “How did neither of you recognise him? These are everywhere!”

Akito reached out to still her shaking arm to see the paper properly. It was a— Ohhh.

It was a wanted poster.

For the boy he’d helped.

Who was apparently not just a boy. He was the fucking Dark Knight of Nocturne.

It was silent for a moment as they read, only Kohane’s ragged breathing echoing in the room. Akito simply stared at the drawing, it certainly looked like the boy. He adamantly refused to process the coin reward.

The Dark Knight of Nocturne: no one knew who he was. Just that you never wanted to meet him. Merciless and uncaring of who he cut down, cold and apathetic towards even his own comrades. He was considered the biggest threat from Nocturne. With the strength of a hundred men, he was a one-man army. He’d toppled entire Viviryn battalions single-handedly and had the highest kill count on record.

And now he was lying on Akito’s bed.

Ena turned to him and slapped his arm. “I told you we should have just put him outside!”

“I’m not dealing with a dead body!” he bit back. “And are we sure this is him? He looks my age! How the hell would a nineteen-year-old be the Dark Knight?” He was still reeling, and he refused to regret saving him, but what the fuck.

“He was literally wearing the clothes in the drawing, Akito,” Ena hissed. They’d yell, but if anyone heard, they were worse than dead. “And the hair? Seriously? Who else could it be?”

“Um.” Kohane retracted her hand, cradling the poster.

Akito turned on Ena, crossing his arms. “I don’t know! Maybe he is that knight, but I’m not just gonna let him die.”

“Guys…”

“Well, we can’t just pretend he’s not!” Ena mirrored his pose. “We should just turn him in now and be done with it.”

“Guys!” Kohane shouted, hand pushing between their faces with an outstretched finger.

He and Ena whipped to the left only to see the now-established Dark Knight of Nocturne standing in the living room, slouching against the door frame, one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other casually toying with his shirt. They froze. Akito turned to face him, sliding in front of the other two as subtly as he could. Which was not at all, apparently, since the guy tracked his movements like a predator. Which. He was.

“…You’re too loud.” His voice was deeper than Akito expected, rasping painfully like he was talking around needles.

Akito spluttered. “Wh—”

“And I’d rather you didn’t do that.” He turned his piercing gaze on Ena, who puffed up like a cat.

“D-don’t threaten us! We just saved your life!”

“I‘m not.” His voice was completely devoid of emotion. “And yes”—his eyes slid to Akito—“you did. That’s why you’re still alive.”

“Seriously, stop that.” Ena stepped towards him and Akito grabbed her arm, tugging her back as she kept hissing. “I don’t care who you are, you’re injured and weak. I’ll kill you if I have to.”

He didn’t even react, just stared, analysing the three of them. “Again, I didn’t. And I won’t kill you. I know what a life debt is.”

Ena scoffed. “As if I’m going to believe anything out of your mouth, Nocturne scum.”

Kohane whined at that, coming around to the other side and grabbing her like Akito. “Ena, please don’t antagonise him!”

“Hey,” Akito called, dragging the boy’s attention back to him. “You’re clearly in pain, why are you even walking around?”

The boy straightened as if to cover up the fact he’d been favouring his left side the entire time. “That doesn’t matter to me. And you woke me up.”

And if that wasn’t one hell of an answer.

“Why do you even care?” Ena whirled on him. “You know who he is! What he’s done.”

Akito didn’t take his eyes off the boy. “…Well, yeah.” They’d all heard the rumours. Seen the soldiers passing through on their way to fight, none of them returning. But… “But he’s still a person.”

And there. His face twitched into something Akito could almost call surprise before it was shut down and the blankness was back.

“If you know who I am, why did you help me?” He seemed genuinely curious, tilting his head.

“Well, we didn’t until about five minutes ago.”

“Alright.” The boy stared for a few more seconds before abruptly turning on his heel and walking back down the hall as if nothing had even happened.

“Hey, wait!” Akito called after him, and the boy paused but didn’t turn around. “What’s your name?”

He stilled further, and Akito almost thought he wouldn’t answer. But after a moment, “…Touya,” he said slowly, before continuing down the hall and disappearing into Akito’s bedroom.

The three of them watched in stunned silence, unsure as to what the hell had just happened. There were hundreds of questions running through Akito’s mind. He didn’t even know where to start. He wracked his brain for any known skirmishes lately but came up with nothing. No soldiers had been through recently, and you’d think if the guy—Touya—had been that injured he couldn’t have come far. Not that any of that mattered. Maybe Touya would even tell them.

“What the fuckkkk.” Ena’s slow exhale had him blinking back into the present. “I think I’m dreaming. Akito, I’m giving you permission to pinch me.”

“I don’t need your permission. And you’re not dreaming,” he scoffed but did it anyway. Who wouldn’t take the free pass?

She did smack him back, though. “Why couldn’t you have found a normal soldier,” she moaned. “Kohane, you’re dating an idiot.”

Kohane laughed nervously and stumbled over to the couch, flopping into it and burying her head into her hands. “I know.”

“Oh come on,” Akito sighed and joined her, gathering her into his arms. They were both trembling slightly. “We’re fine. It’s fine!”

“I don’t think you’re taking this as seriously as you should,” Ena griped. She sat down on his other side. “He’s literally wanted. We’re breaking the law by not turning him in. And he’s got a lot of nerve assuming we won’t!”

“We’ll he’s right,” Akito muttered into Kohane’s hair.

“Akito, I can’t hide him from Mizuki! If Mizuki finds out, she has to arrest him… and probably us for harbouring a wanted criminal!”

“Well, it’s not like she’s coming around anytime soon.” He glared at her. “I know how bad this is, I’m not stupid, no matter what you say”—Ena snorted—“But I’m not gonna turn him in, and no one’s gonna find out.”

“Ena.” Kohane peeked over him, shaking so he’d loosen his grip. “It’s okay. I don’t think Touya was lying, and no one has any reason to come into your house, so… it’ll be alright. I think. We can hide him and let him leave when he’s healed.”

Akito swooped down and kissed her cheek. “Thank you! You get it. See, Ena? Calm down.” He twisted to sit properly on the couch, letting Kohane out of the hug and just holding her hand.

Ena frowned, mouth pinching in the way that meant she really didn’t like this, but with a huge sigh, she deflated, staring up at the ceiling. “Fine,” she ground out. “But I’m using you as a shield when he attacks us.”

“If.”

The glare he got in response could probably stop Touya before he’d even get the chance to attack.

“I should go,” Kohane said after a few seconds of silence. “I promised my dad I’d help out with the animals. I’ll come back tomorrow. To um. Check you’re still alive.”

Akito snorted. “Thanks. Have fun. And we’ll be fine, I promise.” He kissed her properly and stood up with her, Ena following suit.

Kohane waved and slipped out into the store and then the front door, the bell chiming before being manually stopped. Akito let out a long breath.

“Alright, asshole.” Ena spun, hands on her hips. “You’re on cleaning duty. He’s your responsibility.”

He waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Go clean your face first.”

Her hand flew to her cheek, dried flakes of blue coming off and revealing a steadily growing blush. “Was that there the whole time!?”

“Yeah. What? You think it’d just magically appear?” He grinned and started towards the hall. “It makes you so intimidating, by the way,” he threw over his shoulder.

“Fucker!” she screeched and raced past him into the bathroom.

Akito laughed, nearly getting knocked into the wall. He peered into his room on the way to the laundry. Touya was lying on his back, the quilt pulled halfway up his body. His chest still moved slowly, so they weren’t dealing with a corpse anytime soon. He looked nothing like the knight in the picture, more so now that he was wearing Akito’s far softer clothes. Akito sighed. What the hell had he gotten them into?

At least this would be an interesting week. He hoped he was right about Touya and lived long enough to see the next…

Chapter Text

And the world’s most awkward breakfast award goes to… their kitchen. Right now.

Somehow, Touya had woken up the next morning before even Akito and had been just staring at the door when Akito glanced in to see if he was still there. Or alive. He jumped back half a metre, barely stifling a shout that would have Ena running in, knives out. Touya simply greeted him and swung his legs off the bed. Completely ignoring the fact that he was still very much injured and shouldn’t even be able to move.

“Good… morning,” Akito stammered out as Touya crossed the room. He stepped back into the hall and Touya followed, not taking his eyes off him.

“Where is your bathroom?” Touya asked flatly.

Akito silently pointed to the door opposite the laundry, and Touya breezed past. He was left blinking after him. What the fuck was that? Why was he acting so casual? How the hell was he walking around? Touya was either insane, extremely confident, or unbothered, and he didn’t know which answer he preferred. Akito just sighed and joined Ena in the kitchen. She shot him a look as he sat at the table, head hitting the wood with a defeated thunk.

“What?” She placed a plate of toast in front of him. “He alive?”

“Yes,” he mumbled into the wood. “He’s so… nonchalant about this, it’s kinda creepy.”

“Would you rather he snap and kill us?”

“No. He just doesn’t seem to care he’s in the middle of an enemy kingdom—acting like this is an average day.” He straightened, voice rising an octave in his confusion. “And he’s just? Walking off a fatal injury? Who does that?”

Ena shot him a look and put another plate of toast on the table then turned back to the fire, loading another piece of bread onto the toasting fork.

It was quiet, and then suddenly Touya was sitting down next to him. “For one, there’s nothing I can do about my situation, so no, I don’t particularly care. And my injury doesn’t matter.”

“Huh?” Akito jumped, heart lurching. When the hell did he walk in? “Hang on? You heard that? But you were—”

“Yes.” Touya looked at him. “I have good hearing.”

“The other side of the house is a bit much…”

Touya just continued to stare.

“Uh. Okay. Anyway,” Akito stuttered. “If you didn’t know, you’re in Vivid Town. I’m Aki—”

“You’re Akito,” Touya interrupted, then turned to Ena. “You are Ena. The other girl is Kohane.”

Akito gaped and shared a look with Ena. Huh?

Touya continued, “You two are siblings. And you”—he looked at Akito again—“are in a romantic relationship with Kohane.”

“What the—” Ena spun and nearly dropped her plate as Akito went red. “How do you—”

“None of you are subtle in your conversations or actions. It was very obvious.”

Ena reluctantly sat down in the seat furthest from Touya. “How much did you hear yesterday?”

“All of it. I woke up when Kohane recognised me.”

Akito’s head was reeling. The Dark Knight was a figure akin to a myth. But seeing the actual teenager in front of him, wearing bright clothes, sort of ruined the image for him. No way Touya was that same knight. But then he’d pull shit like this, and Akito felt the rug come out from under his feet. How could he so casually mention doing shit Akito thought would be impossible?

Deeming the conversation over, Touya picked up his toast, not bothering with any of the spreads in the middle of the table. Akito and Ena grimaced at each other before Akito shrugged. This was totally normal and he was going to act normal. He reached for the jam and started eating. Ena kept one hand on her knife the entire meal. Several times, Akito tried to make conversation with Ena, but she just glared and refused to respond. He didn’t bother trying to talk to Touya.

Touya finished eating first and then just… sat there. Looking around the house like he’d never seen one and completely ignoring them. The toast tasted like mush in Akito’s mouth, and not even the jam could save it. He was all for helping Touya, but he couldn’t deny he made him nervous. He took pride in his ability to read people, but Touya was like a rock, giving away nothing and leaving an unsettling feeling in his wake.

Ena’s chair scraped violently as she stood up barely a few minutes later, shoving the last bit of toast into her mouth and high-tailing it over to the couch. If he were a cat, Akito would see Touya’s ears swivelling to follow her. He choked on his toast. What the fuck kind of thought was that? Well… Touya was sort of like a cat. All graceful movements and unblinking stares. But seriously? Touya looked at him as he choked, but offered no help, which Akito was grateful for. If he’d tried to slap his back, Akito may have actually died. He swallowed the next cough and shook off the fit, giving no explanation.

It was a little interesting to watch Touya, though. The way he examined everything from the table to the walls covered in Ena’s art, eyes catching on the ones Akito had contributed before looking at him as if he somehow knew who painted them. Akito just averted his gaze and drank the rest of his water. If Touya was interested in the fucking cupboards, he wasn’t gonna stop him. Akito grabbed his and Touya’s plates with a shake of his head and stood, swiping Ena’s as he rounded the table towards the sink.

“Should I do the dishes?” Touya asked, still tracking his every move eerily.

Akito stopped walking in shock. “What?” He was offering? The Dark Knight was offering to wash the dishes? “Uh. No, you…” he stuttered, “you should rest or something. Whatever gets you healed up quickest.” And out of our house before Ena kills you. Because he could see her over Touya’s shoulder making a cutting motion in front of her throat, shaking her head and glaring. Gods, he knew she didn’t trust him, but not even with their plates?

“Okay.” Touya stood and pushed his chair in, then walked back towards the hall. “Thank you for the food.”

He stood still, just in case Touya came back or something, feeling like a rabbit under torchlight. But he heard nothing but the sound of his door opening and closing again. Ena shot him a smug look that he ignored. He dropped the plates into the sink, gathering the knives and glasses and silently doing the dishes as his thoughts whirled. He was still ninety percent sure Touya wouldn’t change his mind and kill them, but the way he moved and talked was just so off-putting it was hard to know what to do. It was exactly what he’d expect from a trained killer… but still…

Akito placed the last plate on the drying rack a little too harshly and wiped his hands on the towel. It didn’t matter. Touya was still a person under all the terrifying edges. An injured person he was choosing to help. Ena had scrounged out her sketchbook and didn’t look up as he finished and left the room. He could at least get a few hours in the garden if she was drawing close enough to the store to help anyone coming in. That thought brightened him a little. Very few things topped just sitting in the grass and working. He stopped outside his door, contemplating checking on Touya, but didn’t want to disturb him, so he continued into the laundry. They had a box of tools in the cupboard, and he shuffled through them for the hand rake and then grabbed a basket, which reminded him he still needed to get the one he’d left in the clearing. Lastly, he grabbed his hat off the hook. He didn’t want to die of heat stroke. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday, but Ena would make fun of him if he came back inside with a red face.

He kicked the back door open and tilted his head down to block the sunlight. Their garden was pretty big. One of the biggest in the town he was sure. While others filled theirs with useful things like ‘vegetables,’ theirs was almost exclusively flowers. They grew most things in this patch, a few came from Kohane’s farm, but those were just generic ones you could pick off the side of the road. These were special, and the reason their shop was leagues above any competition. His dad had collected a lot of seeds in his travels and left him and Ena with a bunch of rare and exotic flowers. They’d killed a few as they figured out how to grow them, but the good ones provided enough seeds to keep perpetuating them. A stone path ran straight from the house to the gate, and they had a small covered concrete porch he liked to watch the sunrise on, but the rest of the garden was just flowers with a patch of grass in the middle.

Akito made his way to the grass and knelt down, placing his basket next to him, and examined the flowers in front of him. He’d been too busy to weed the past week, and it looked like Ena hadn’t done shit either, so it was pretty bad. He sighed and got to work. It wasn’t hard work, he just gently pushed the flowers aside as he looked for any weeds or pests, got rid of them, then moved to the side to repeat the process again. It couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes when a shadow fell over him. He looked up, ready to mouth off Ena for not helping, when he realised it was not, in fact, Ena.

Akito nearly dropped his hand rake in shock. “What are you doing?”

Touya’s blank grey eyes blinked down at him. “Watching.”

“Okay…” He turned back to his work. That wasn’t what he meant when he told him to rest. But. Alright?

He tried to focus on his weeding and ignore the boy standing uncomfortably close behind him, looking over his shoulder like a hawk. What was so captivating about weeding? A few minutes passed like that; Akito pulling out a weed, throwing it into the basket, and Touya tracking it with his eyes before returning to him. Akito could literally feel Touya burning a hole in his back, and it was seriously getting unnerving.

“Gods, okay please!” Akito whirled around and glared up at him. “Just sit over there if you want to watch. This is getting kind of ridiculous.” He pointed at the porch a metre behind him.

“Okay,” Touya said, turning and putting up no resistance, which was not what Akito expected; he felt a little bad for snapping.

“Wait, hang on.” He lifted a hand and took off his hat, throwing it at Touya who caught it deftly. “Wear that.”

Touya put it on without a word and sat down on the step. He looked so… harmless… like that. The Dark Knight of Nocturne, wearing a straw sunhat and sitting curled up in a ball in Akito’s backyard. He had to turn away, blaming the flush of his cheeks on the sunburn he’d definitely be getting with his hat gone.

“What are you doing?” Touya spoke up after a few minutes.

Akito glanced behind him briefly—Touya hadn’t moved an inch— and said, “Weeding.”

“What does that entail?”

Akito had to pause, letting the rake rest on the ground as he blinked at the ground, then whipped around to Touya. “Huh? You don’t know what weeding is?”

Touya just stared back. “No.”

“How…” he muttered under his breath and held up a hand before Touya could respond—because he definitely still heard him. “I’m getting rid of all the weeds—the plants I don’t want—in the garden.”

“There are bad plants?”

Akito sighed and waved him back over. Touya knelt beside him as Akito explained, “Not all weeds are a problem, but things like these will smother the flowers and take all the nutrients from the soil, basically killing everything else.” He showed off some ivy, and Touya nodded seriously. He was looking a bit too intently at the weed in front of him, so Akito simply gestured at it, not sure why he was hesitating. “It’s fine? Just grab it as close to the ground as you can and pull.”

Touya side-eyed him and reached for the plant, fingers curling around it and tugging.

It came free easily.

Dragging a huge clump of dirt with it.

Akito barked out a laugh and immediately clapped his hands over his mouth, eyes going wide. Oh Gods, he just laughed at him. He was so fucking dead.

Touya looked up at him, one hand behind him had prevented him from losing his balance. “What are you doing?”

He rocked back to put some distance between them. As if that would help. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh.”

Those piercing grey eyes looked between his, and Akito had no clue what he was thinking. “Why did you stop yourself? Ah.” Touya tilted his head and dropped the weed. “Did you think I would be… angry?”

Akito felt his racing heart slow down. Okay, he wasn’t being killed today? “A bit…? I dunno man.” He shrugged. “I don’t know you. I’ve only heard stories, and based on them? Yeah. You’d probably kill me for looking at you wrong.” Nothing changed in Touya’s expression, but he almost looked… put out? Or as put out as someone with apparently no facial muscles could. And now Akito felt like the asshole. “I mean, clearly not!” He rushed on. “Sorry.”

Touya stared at him for several long seconds before turning and pointing to a thistle near the back wall. “What’s that?”

“Uh,” Akito floundered. Okay, so that’s how they were doing this. He shook his head and went to answer when the back door flung open and suddenly Ena was huffing on the porch.

“Why the hell is he out here?” she hissed, squinting into the sun and charcoal on her hands. “What if someone sees him?!”

Akito just stared at her. “He’s wearing a hat,” he said slowly. “And no one comes ‘round this side of the house.”

“You’re not taking this seriously.” Her hands shook in the air in an aborted motion to cross her arms. “Stop taking stupid risks. Go inside.”

Touya rocked back on his heels and started to stand, but Akito just tugged him back down. “Ena. It’s fine. You’re the one being paranoid. If he wants to be out here, he can. I’m not gonna keep him prisoner, and no one’s gonna see.” What was she expecting would happen? Touya’s hair was his only distinguishing feature and it was hidden right now. And in the whole zero percent change anyone came around he’d just send Touya inside.

Ena frowned, worrying her lip before sighing. “You better pray no one does.” Then she turned and went back inside, slamming the door and sending the hanging pots swaying.

Akito just rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue at the vibrating door. “Asshole.”

“She’s worried,” Touya said.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “But like, nothing’s gonna happen. She’s just being overprotective. Whatever,” he huffed. “Plants and all that shit.” He turned back to the garden and grabbed the weed Touya had pulled, shaking the dirt loose and throwing the plant into the basket. “Thistles are the spiky ones…”

They spent the next hour like that as the sun climbed higher and Akito only half regretted giving away his hat. Though he couldn’t imagine Touya—someone from the freezing Nocturne—was having fun in the heat, either. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it was fun. Touya was a… very good listener… and Akito liked to talk about the things he was passionate about. Not that many people really cared about all the work that went into the flowers, they just wanted the pretty colours and shapes, never mind the labour and love that went into making them. But Touya just sat and nodded, asking rare questions bluntly, and could recite anything Akito had said with perfect understanding. It was a little scary.

He gave Touya the crash course, bringing out the tool box and stealing Ena’s hat while he was inside, then explaining everything he could think of that Touya could possibly need to know about gardening. Well. The basics at least. He didn’t really think Touya needed to know about soils and pH levels just yet. It was fun to test his own knowledge as well as he pointed out the flowers around them. The sunflowers, roses, orchids, dahlias, lilies, and more, in all sorts of colours.

The bell rang at the front of the shop, and they both looked up, but Akito simply ignored it. Ena was supposed to be manning the store if he was outside. He turned back to the plants to show Touya how to remove the thorns from a rose, but Touya was still looking up, gaze shifted to the left of the door. Akito leaned forward to look around him just as Ena banged on the laundry window with her knuckles.

She gestured with her head to the shop. “You help them!” Ena shouted, her voice muffled slightly by the glass.

“Hah?” he groaned back. “You’re already inside!”

She just waved her charcoal-stained hands at him and glared, then walked away.

He huffed and stood. She was so annoying, making him do all the work. It was supposed to be their shop. Not his alone. He brushed his hands together to get the dirt off and jogged inside. Touya followed silently as he sped to the front door. Akito turned before he could open the door to (politely) shoo Touya out of view. Despite what he’d said to Ena, he didn’t actually want someone to spot Touya. Putting on his customer smile he slipped into the store and shut the door behind him.

“Good morning, welcome to Pale Colour Flowers, what can I help you with today?” He bowed at the elderly woman who was browsing the flowers on the left wall, then grabbed his apron from the hook on the wall.

She turned to him. “Good morning, dear,” she replied, walking over to the counter. “I was hoping to pick up a bouquet.”

“Of course, are you looking to send a message, or would you prefer one based on the look?” And hell yeah. The bouquets were his favourite part. Especially the mean ones. Because who the hell sends their enemies ‘fuck you’ in flowers?

“It’s my grandchild’s birth, actually. Just a few hours ago, so I’d like to get the mother something.”

“I can certainly do that, congratulations.” Akito smiled, more warmly than before. “Let’s start with the colour of the wrapping.”

He walked her through the process of choosing the paper and bow, then listed the flowers and their meanings he’d personally pick before letting her decide what to include or leave out. The whole process took probably fifteen minutes. He could do it faster, but there was no rush, unlike some other days.—cough holidays cough—but he handed the lady her bouquet and she left ten coins lighter. Akito stashed the coins under the desk in the bag and put away all the tools he’d used, returning the shop to its neat state. No one else had come in, and he couldn’t see anyone outside looking to enter, so he just hung up his apron and returned to the living room.

A shape was on his left as he stepped inside, and he sprung back, heart racing. It only took a second to register it was just Touya, leaning against the wall, now looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t… expect you to be there.” Akito clutched his chest and closed the door slowly behind him.

“I was listening to you work,” Touya said, turning to face him. “You truly make enough money to live selling… flowers?”

Akito bit his lip to stop from smiling. “Sort of. Not really.” He gestured to the couch, moving over and flopping into it. Touya followed, sitting in an armchair with his back straight, all proper posture like some sort of noble. “About half our coin comes from the store. I make more money singing with Kohane around town, though. We busk in the tavern a lot, and the mayor usually hires us for festivals since we’re the best around.”

Touya nodded, not even seeming to care Akito had essentially bragged about himself.

“But the real money comes from Ena’s art. Plenty of nobles and the like come to Vivid just to commission her.” He nodded at the art Touya had been examining earlier. “She’s real good. Pretty sure she knows the damn princess because of it. Wouldn’t stop bragging that she’d painted the Yoisaki’s family portrait.” He’d only tolerated it because it had bought her out of the depressive funk she’d been in for months before. And because she maybe deserved it.

“Then why run the shop? It sounds like you don’t need it.” Touya tilted his head in confusion.

Akito shrugged. “I like it.” He paused, debating how much to say. “And it’s…” Whatever, it wasn’t a secret. “Our parents opened it before they died, so we wanted to keep it going for them. Anyway,” he forged on. “There’s a pretty big flower culture here. The streets are lined with them.” He frowned, thinking. “Here.” Akito stood, waving for Touya to follow him back to the door. He opened it a smidge, letting Touya peek out at the hanging baskets across the street at every door. “There’s that kind of thing everywhere. You kinda can’t escape it.” He shut the door before anyone decided to look in and turned back to Touya. “We’re not the only store in town or anything, but we’re famous across the kingdom, somehow. It’s not the biggest town out there, but it’s central and on the main road, so people will take day trips just to pick up our flowers.”

“Interesting. Such a strange thing to make money with.” Touya closed his eyes in thought. “You could pick flowers anywhere, and yet people will pay for them.”

Akito snorted. “Well, it’s not like I’m just handing them a flower straight from the ground. I clean them up a lot, and they’ll last longer than anything you just pull out of the wild.”

“I see."

As the conversation ebbed, Akito looked him up and down. He was paler than earlier despite being outside for several hours, and Akito still couldn’t quite believe he was standing. He’d seen how much blood Touya had lost, and yet here they were. “Okay, okay. Please go back to bed,” he said as Touya swayed minutely. “You kinda look dead on your feet. The heat could not have been good for you.”

Touya snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in, thinking about the logistics of flower commerce or whatever. “Alright.” He nodded to Akito and left the room. Akito watched him enter his room, staring down the hall for a minute as he mentally recovered from the entire morning. Touya was still strange as fuck. But he seemed nice under all that Dark Knight shit. Or not evil, at least.

The bell chimed again and he sighed before plastering on his smile and opening the door. Thankfully it wasn’t a customer crossing the store towards him, but Kohane, who stifled a laugh at his expression.

“Good morning! Please don’t smile at me like that, it’s creepy,” she greeted him with a hug.

He snorted into her hair, squeezing before letting go. “So sorry for being polite.”

She smiled. “Is everything still alright? No one died overnight?”

“Nah, it’s fine. But”—his smile fell and he dropped his head onto her shoulder with a sigh—“I’ve had a day, and it’s not even noon! He’s so fucking weird, ‘Hane! Please help,” he lamented.

Kohane did not seem very sympathetic at his exaggerated tone, simply patting his shoulder and herding him back into the living room. “You can tell me all about it.”

He groaned.

Touya didn’t let him change the bandages yesterday, so he had no doubt that today would be any different. Akito had certainly tried, coming into the bedroom around mid-afternoon after finishing in the garden with the boiled water and bandages Asahina had left. But Touya had just sat up as the door opened and said a flat “no” when Akito offered to do it. Instead making him leave and saying he’d do it himself. Akito couldn’t exactly argue against him. Touya probably didn’t want to be vulnerable in front of him that way, never mind the fact Akito had seem him half-naked the day before. But Touya had a choice this time, and Akito wasn’t gonna blame him for it. Besides, he liked his head intact, thanks. So, after breakfast on the second morning, Akito simply pointed out the pot of boiled water Touya could use and left him to do whatever he wanted while Akito went back to his garden. Today their latest batch of flowers should be ready to harvest, and Kohane would be over soon to help.

As he half expected and half hoped, Touya (hat on) joined him barely ten minutes later, crouching beside Akito in silence but not making a move to help, just watching Akito sharpen two shears. He was onto the second one when Touya’s arm caught his periphery, and he followed where he was pointing with a questioning hum.

“What’s that?” Touya asked flatly.

Akito squinted into the undergrowth, trying to spot whatever the fuck Touya was looking at. He couldn’t see anything but leaves, and he was pretty sure Touya knew what a leaf was. Movement caught his eye and he looked even further down, a green shape finally becoming clear. He blinked. “A… frog?” He looked back at Touya incredulously.

“Oh.” Touya didn’t take his eyes off the frog, watching as it hopped around. “They’re smaller than I expected.”

“Huh?” he spluttered. “You’ve never seen a frog before?”

Touya dragged his unblinking stare to him. “No. I have no reason to have seen one.”

“What? You’ve never like… played around in the rain and caught one?” He’d spent hours chasing frogs and terrorising Ena and Kohane with them as a child. Though Kohane had gotten him back by bringing snakes from the forest, so he didn’t feel bad about that one.

Touya went back to scanning the ground for the frog. “That was unnecessary. I was busy training.”

Okay. Between that and not knowing what weeding was. He was either a rich-ass noble (probable), or stupid, which is weird because Touya definitely gave off smart vibes. Maybe he was just extremely sheltered as a kid. And training what? Swordplay? He must have done shit before he started his whole Dark Knight thing, though?

“…Okayyy,” Akito said slowly and not at all judgementally. “Well they can get a bit bigger, and toads are bigger, but they’re not huge or anything.” He demonstrated their size with his hands, and Touya nodded like he’d revealed the secrets of the universe.

Barely a second later the bell rang and he turned expectantly to the back door, hoping it was Kohane and not a customer. He perked up as the door opened and Kohane’s cute face greeted him for all of half a second before her smile fell. Akito blinked in confusion as she froze in the doorway, looking about two seconds from bolting back the way she came.

“Kohane?” He raised an eyebrow, but she wasn’t looking at him— ah shit, Touya.

“Uh,” she squeaked. “I. S-sorry. I didn’t mean to— um.”

Touya simply nodded in greeting. “Hello again, Kohane.”

Kohane jolted. “H-hello!” Her foot was dangerously close to sliding back, so Akito stood up and powerwalked over, drawing her into a hug.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry, he’s nice,” he whispered, knowing full well Touya could hear him. “He’s uh… helping? I think?” He turned back to Touya. “That is what you’re out here for, right?”

“If that’s what you want me to do,” Touya said.

That was not what Akito had asked, but he’d take it as a yes anyway. He drew back, squeezing Kohane’s arm reassuringly.

She did not look very reassured.

“Uh, anyway.” Akito led Kohane down the path, and she surprisingly wedged herself between him and Touya, leaving a bigger gap between herself and Touya than the one between them. “You ready to start?”

At just the mention of their job, Kohane relaxed a little, nodding enthusiastically. She grabbed one of the shears and a half-filled bucket of water and dragged them between her and Touya. “We’ll start with these, then. Can you do the peonies?”

Akito nodded and moved over to them with his things. They were on the opposite side of the garden to the snapdragons Kohane (and Touya?) were gathering. It was a little concerning, considering this was the second time Kohane was meeting him and she was clearly still scared of him, and yet was making Akito go away? He could not come up with a single reason as to why. If it were anyone else he might think she just wanted to get to know him without Akito there, but it was Kohane. And Kohane, while a lot braver than she used to be, didn’t exactly go out of her way to talk to possibly murderous strangers alone. But whatever, he trusted Touya not to do anything. If Kohane wanted to hang out with him, she could. He would also probably try to see what the mysterious knight was like if he were in her shoes.

He tried not to listen in, but Kohane’s voice had always entranced him, so it was impossible to not hear her when he was right behind him. But he wanted to give them some semblance of privacy since he was so clearly dismissed. He just had to not react and keep carefully cutting his peonies.

“I assume you’ve never cut flowers before?” Kohane said after a minute of shuffling. “It’s not too hard. We just cut the stems and place them in water for now. Um. Like this.” After a second the familiar snip of the shears rang out as Kohane cut the stem and placed it into the bucket. “We cut an inch or so from the ground since you can always shorten the stem later. The most important part is cutting at a forty-five-degree angle. Here.”

Akito chanced a look behind to see Kohane hand Touya the shears.

“What is the importance of the angle?” Touya examined the shears and experimentally snipped the air.

“It leaves more surface area for water to enter the stem than a straight cut,” Kohane answered as Touya bought the shears to a flower. “That way, they last longer.”

Touya nodded and leaned down to be at eye level with the shears. He stared at it with the concentration Akito thought he would reserve for his uh. Normal job. And kept minutely readjusting the shears with narrowed eyes.

After about twenty seconds of this, Kohane swallowed. “Um. Are you okay?”

Touya didn’t look up. “I am trying to cut at forty-five degrees. You must be very good at this to do it so fast every time.”

Kohane blushed and barely repressed her splutter. “Oh. I. No… it doesn’t need to be exact. That was just a guide.”

“Ah, I see. That makes more sense.” Touya straightened. “It would be very inefficient to measure the angle for every flower.”

“Y-yes…” Kohane stuttered, completely lost, and Akito clapped a hand over his mouth to stop from laughing and doubled over. He now knew Touya wouldn’t kill him for it. But Kohane might.

The shears snipped again and Touya presented Kohane with the flower. She nodded and smiled, far less shakily than before, and gestured to the bucket. Akito left them to it and focused on his own flowers, confident that they’d be fine. He didn’t need too many from each type, only enough to refresh the low stock in the shop and to harvest any that looked a bit too old. Akito moved around the garden with practised ease, moving faster than the other two, who had to share the shears. Kohane could have gotten another pair from the laundry, but she seemed to enjoy working with Touya like that.

His bucket was full about half an hour later, and he stopped to wipe the sweat from his face and looked rather jealously at the flowers in the water. He brought his bucket under the shade of the porch and sat down to watch Kohane and Touya finish their last few flowers. Kohane had completely lost the stiffness in her body and regularly leant into Touya’s space, not that he seemed to mind. He had no idea what had happened in these thirty minutes to change her wariness. Contrary to his first thought, he had sort of blocked them out once he got into the swing of cutting the flowers. Maybe seeing Touya’s earnestness…? He had no idea how to describe Touya’s attitude. He didn’t particularly seem to care about the flowers like they did. But he showed an interest in what they told him better than anyone he’d ever met.

Touya’s gaze on him snapped him out of his staring, and he straightened as the pair came over with their bucket.

“All done.” Kohane smiled brightly, standing in front of him to block the sun.

He heaved himself to his feet and grabbed his bucket. “Cool. Did you get the hang of it?” he asked Touya as he opened the door and led the way back inside.

“I believe so.” Was the simple answer as he and Kohane followed.

Akito led them to the dark room, the door opposite his that led to the room next to the stairs. It was the only room without a window and was far colder than the rest of the house, even in summer. Inside, several buckets of flowers sat on shelves, with the blank spaces from their current buckets in between. Kohane closed the door after them and the room was plunged into near darkness just as Akito placed his bucket on the table in the middle of the small room.

“I hate this part,” Akito grumbled under his breath jokingly.

He could barely make out Touya’s confused head tilt in the gloom. “If you hate it, why do you do it?”

“Huh?” He fumbled for the matches and tried to light the tiny lantern under the table. “Nah, I’m just joking. Complaining. I do like the flowers.” He cheered silently as the flame caught. “Some parts of the process are just tedious. Like this stupid darkness. Can’t have a torch or it’ll smoke too much and can’t leave the door open or it’ll heat up in here.”

“I see.”

“You’re just mad you stubbed your toe last time,” Kohane chimed in, already sorting through her bucket and handing Touya a bunch of carnations. She pointed at the bucket of them already on the shelf, and Touya obediently added the new ones.

“Oi.” Akito hip checked her lightly and she laughed. “I couldn’t see! Not my fault Ena didn’t replace the matches when they ran out.”

“Perhaps you should learn to adjust your eyes to the darkness,” Touya said, completely serious, as if that was something normal people could do.

“Of course you’d say that,” he huffed. “Sure, why not? You can see in the dark, why am I not surprised.” He resisted the urge to throw his arms up.

“If you ate some carrots—”

Akito cut Kohane off with a hiss. “That’s a myth and you know it!”

She smiled innocently and handed Touya more flowers.

“Do you not like carrots?” Touya asked.

“They’re disgusting. Ena hates them too…” he added as if that would help. “You? Do you hate anything?”

Touya returned to the table flowerless. “I will eat anything I am served.”

Akito forced himself to not sigh. “Okay. But there’s gotta be something you’ve eaten you didn’t like.”

Touya’s only answer was a slight furrow of this brow, barely visible in the low light, and only obvious from the shadows being cast.

When it became apparent he wasn’t going to answer, Akito just shrugged and focused on separating his flowers. It wasn’t unheard of to like every food, but c’mon. Kohane wasn’t fussy, but even she wouldn’t touch pickled things. Akito pulled out some hydrangeas and placed them on Touya’s side of the table, pointing to the back shelf where the older ones were. They repeated that a few times, and he’d admit the process was a lot faster with Touya acting as deliveryman for them.

Touya took a lone hydrangea Akito had missed and placed it in the bucket. “Squid,” he said, and Akito nearly jumped at the suddenness of it.

“Huh?

“The texture of squid is… strange.”

It took him a second to remember his previous question, and another to realise this was Touya’s answer. Touya kept his back to them, standing stiff in front of the flowers and making no pretence he was actually doing anything with them.

“Ah, it’s slippery, isn’t it?” Kohane hummed questioningly. “I’ve only had it a few times, but it’s a lot different to fish.”

Touya nodded once quickly then asked, “What do you like, then?”

“Um… peach buns, I’d say. They’re cute.”

Finally, Touya turned around. “What’s that?”

“A type of steamed bun! The dough looks like a peach, that’s why they’re called that. They’re not actually peach-flavoured.”

“Interesting. And Akito?”

“Pancakes,” she answered before he could even try to avoid the question. He simply grumbled and half-turned his back to her to make his displeasure known. He could feel her grinning behind him, though. “Akito’s got a sweet tooth.”

And Touya—the bastard—nodded like this made perfect sense. “Akito said you both sing. Do you enjoy it?”

Kohane blinked in surprise and he felt her gaze on him. He could only shrug. It wasn’t a secret.

“Yes.” She smiled after a second. “Singing is my favourite thing in the world.”

Akito made a fake wounded sound and turned back around. “Wow.”

“You would say the exact same thing. You have. On several occasions.”

“Why?” Touya ignored their banter.

“It makes us feel alive,” Akito answered honestly. “There’s no feeling like it.”

Touya nodded again, but it seemed less certain than before. “I see.”

And for the first time, his voice sounded like he didn’t.

Kohane must have caught it too, because she rushed on to ask, “Do you do anything for fun, Touya?”

“No.”

She hadn’t expected that blunt of an answer, and her face fell. “O-oh?”

“I’m not a— I don’t have time to. And I wouldn’t know what to do either way.” He paused and took some more flowers. “Sometimes my… acquaintance… takes me outside.”

“…Outside? Outside what?” Akito was almost scared to ask.

“The castle. I stay in my room unless I’m training or on a mission.”

Kohane shot him a worried look when Touya’s back was turned and he mirrored it. “What, are you not… allowed to leave?”

Touya shook his head and carefully placed his flowers in the bucket. “She escorts me everywhere and oversees any sparing.”

“Wow. That uh. That sucks, man.” It was all he could say. Gods, no wonder he was so fucking entranced by his house and the frog. He didn’t want to believe Touya, but it was so obvious if he thought about it for more than a second; most of his weird behaviour suddenly made a lot more sense.

Touya didn’t respond with anything but a deep breath. He turned back, his eyes noticeably more blank. “The buckets are empty. I will go rest now.”

They didn’t get a chance to respond before he left, the light from the hall nearly blinding them before they were left alone.

“…What just— what just happened?” Kohane whispered. “I thought it was going well?”

Akito just shot her a grimace. “Every new thing I learn is worse than the last, I swear. What the hell are they doing in Nocturne?” He shook his head. It wasn’t his business. Or, he’d try and convince himself of that. He was pretty sure Touya hadn’t meant to say that, and that was why he’d left. That, or he just didn’t want their pity. “Let’s just clean up,” he sighed.

Kohane nodded and went straight for the watering can near the door to top up the buckets that needed it.

Akito stacked the buckets and started wiping down the table and shears. “Hey”—Kohane hummed—“What do you think of him?”

“He’s… nice. I think,” she replied after a moment. “I don’t know if I trust him completely, but… I don’t think he means any harm right now. He’s very… sincere? With his words,” she clarified. “It’s a strange disconnect from who he is. It’s unexpected.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He liked to think he was good at reading people, but Touya was just too at odds with himself and what Akito would expect from a ‘normal’ person to get any kind of read on him. “Well. Can’t say life’s boring right now.”

Kohane laughed half-heartedly.

Not all of the flowers survived the cutting and transporting process, but that didn’t mean Akito would let them go to waste. They were perfectly fine but wouldn’t last the week or two he needed them to. He certainly wasn’t going to let someone buy them and complain after three days that they’d wilted. The next morning after breakfast, he checked and pulled out the two dozen or so flowers that wouldn’t survive, then moved them to their own bucket. Thankfully, Ena had actually done something yesterday, and there was a basket of wildflowers to the side of the door for him to use. He took both containers to the porch and sat down under the shade, settling back against the wall.

The door creaked open not even half an hour later and suddenly Touya was staring down at him, gaze looking slowly between the flower basket, and the ones in his hands.

Akito held back a sigh and answered before Touya could even open his mouth. “I’m making flower crowns. The name’s kinda self-explanatory.”

Touya blinked in what he would take as surprise and sat down opposite him, leaning against the railing post. “Why?”

He gestured at the flowers they’d harvested yesterday. “Those won’t last long, so I usually use them up instead of selling them. The wildflowers form the base and those act as focal pieces. The kids love ‘em.” He reached for another daisy and added it to the braid, keenly aware of Touya’s eyes on his fingers. “There’s plenty there, you wanna try?” he asked.

Touya hesitated a second before nodding, looking the most uncertain Akito had seen. Not that that was a high bar. Akito pushed the wildflowers between them so Touya could reach.

“You need three to start,” he explained, and Touya selected his flowers, expectant eyes on him. “…I’m guessing you don’t know how to braid?”

A shake of the head and Akito shrugged. “It’s not hard. Lean them against your leg if you can’t hold them. You wanna cross the stems”—Touya did, holding it up for Akito’s inspection—“then cross the one on the right between the other two, then the one on the left between the other two. And repeat.”

Touya looked at his flowers and grabbed the right stem, crossing it over. And completely ripped it off. He blinked down at it. “It broke.”

Akito just stared at the stem. “…Yeah… Uh. Use less force?” Why the hell did it break? It wasn’t like Touya had forcefully ripped it over. To him, it just looked like how Akito usually did it.

Touya tried again with a new flower, carefully placing the broken one next to him. He managed to cross it over a few times, and Akito took his eyes off to continue his own, when Touya said, “Um.”

He looked back to find Touya holding the stems in one hand and the decapitated heads of the flowers in the other; right where his fingers had pinched them together. “Why?” Akito deadpanned. “It’s fine, try again. They’re fragile, remember?”

“I know.” Touya reached for another three, placing the second attempt with the first to make a small pile. He almost seemed frustrated.

Akito left him to it, just nudging the basket whenever Touya broke a flower. They worked in silence for probably five minutes. It wasn’t an awkward silence. He came out here to make these crowns and have a peaceful time alone. But this was equally as fun, far exceeding his expectations from when he saw Touya at the door. The crowns mostly reminded him of braiding Ena’s or his mum’s hair years ago. Ena hadn’t let him do it since they were kids, and he certainly wasn’t gonna ask. He finished off the circle, connecting the two ends and praying they stayed closed and looked up. Touya’s pile had grown a bit, but he was nearly a quarter of the way through his circle, by the looks of it. Actually, he hadn’t told Touya how long to make it… He grinned. It would be funny to see how long he kept going.

He added a few special flowers to the front and then added it to his pile of completed ones. Reaching for some more wildflowers, he felt Touya’s gaze on him again, and he looked up, expecting his chain to be in pieces again. He was pleasantly surprised to find Touya nearly half way now. “Double that length, and you’ll be done.” He gestured to the chain with his head. He kind of wanted Touya to succeed, so he’d be nice.

Touya nodded back, not taking his eyes off him.

“…Yes?”

The eye contact ended as Touya reached for another flower. “…You two live alone,” he said slowly. “And your parents are gone. May I ask why? Or how?”

That caught him off guard and he pinched his flower too hard. Touya noticed and instantly apologised, but Akito just shook his head. “It’s fine. You just surprised me. Uh.” He shrugged. “I said they died, yeah?”

Touya nodded.

He took a small breath before speaking, not looking up from his flowers. He didn’t think he’d ever told this story. There was no need. Everyone already knew. It’s not like he cared or was hiding it. But he hadn’t exactly expected to have to recall his parents at eight in the morning.

“I was… seven? You know the plague twelve years ago? It got a lot of people—it’s not like we were the only ones affected. The queen died, and I think some royal from Phoenix?” He snorted mirthlessly. “That’s all anyone mentions, as if they’re more important… Mum died.” It didn’t hurt to say as much as he thought it would. “And dad was never the most… uh. Emotionally attached to us. He grew distant—more distant than usual—threw himself into his art and kinda forgot he had children,” he spat. And wow, he was more bitter about that than he expected. Touya hadn’t said anything yet, and as Akito finished his crown he looked up to find one of his hands clenched in his flower pile, turning the poor things into dust.

Akito repressed a grin. Better those than the half-finished crown. Inspiration struck, and before he could think twice, he reached for the bucket and took a moment to—at total random and for no special reason—pick some gardenias to add to his crown. He shortened the stems with his nails and quickly weaved them into the front of the crown. He hesitated, questioning whether he was actually going to do this. Touya must have noticed his hands stuttering and looked up. Akito searched his eyes for a moment before leaning forward and placing the flowers on Touya’s head.

Touya’s eyes widened a millimetre, and Akito grinned at having surprised him before registering the picture in front of him. The flowers looked. Nice. Too nice. He looked—dare he say—cute. Akito spluttered and broke into a coughing fit. What the fuck, brain. Touya paid him no mind, one hand reaching up to feel the flowers.

“Oh,” he said, watching Akito fucking die. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yes,” he choked out. He shook himself and dived for more flowers, hurrying to start again so he could forget that thought and continue his sob story. “When— fuck,” his voice caught on the word. “When I was nine, our dad just. Left and never came back. Ena never really forgave him for that. For leaving her to look after me when she wasn’t even that much older. She swore she’d become a better artist than him just to spite him.” He sighed and placed his admittedly shitty new crown in the finished pile. It didn’t even deserve the good flowers. “Dunno if he’s even alive or not,” he huffed, reaching for more flowers.

“And they ran this shop?”

Akito tilted his head from side to side. “Mum did. She was the one who loved the flowers. Dad never really helped out; he was too busy. He was a travelling artist. He’d bring back seeds from other kingdoms for her. It’s why we’ve got so many here no one else can sell.”

“So you have lived alone for ten years.”

“Basically.” He just focused on the flower stems. Right over left. Left over right. “Mizuki—the knight Ena mentioned—and her family helped out at the start. We’d spend a lot of time at their house, especially after Mizuki and her sister left for the capital seven years ago. But yeah, we’ve been self-sufficient for probably… six years? Since Ena was sixteen and more confident she wouldn’t poison us with her cooking.”

“I see.”

He was glad Touya didn’t try to apologise or pity him. Whether that was because he literally couldn’t, or didn’t actually pity him, he didn’t really care. He’d spent more time with no parents than with them, and he didn’t particularly want to mourn his dad. He glanced up. Touya was nearly done with his crown, studying the two ends for how to connect them.

“Just tuck it into the first flowers,” Akito advised. “Then tuck in whatever other flowers you want at the front quarter.

Touya nodded and tried to close the circle. He looked up at Akito for approval, accidentally squishing a few petals in the process. Akito grinned in response, and when Touya reached for the bucket, turned back to his own nearly finished one.

The sun at this time of morning was pleasant. It wasn’t too hot under the shade of the porch and a slight breeze ruffled his hair every now and again. He immersed himself in his braiding, almost forgetting about Touya until a shadow fell across him and he glanced up to see him kneeling over him. Touya paused in his movement as Akito looked, but continued when he didn’t protest. His hands reached up, and Akito caught a flash of colours before he felt something settle in his hair.

It was wonky, had small gaps everywhere, and half the braids were loose. But as Touya ever so gently placed it on Akito’s head, it was the best flower crown he’d ever received.

Akito smiled, far softer than he’d meant to. “Thanks. It’s pretty good for your first try.”

“You’re welcome,” Touya said almost awkwardly and sat back.

Akito readjusted it so it wasn’t sitting as precariously and made no further mention of it. He just finished his crown and reached for some flowers to decorate it with. Maybe he could wind them around the side as well. Or on top; like bunny ears. Touya had started on his second crown, moving far faster than earlier with tighter braids. Akito just hummed to himself and relaxed further into the wall.

The piercing sound of the front bell broke through the silence, followed by a faint call of “Akito!” echoing through the house.

“Oh shit, Kohane.” Akito jolted as he remembered the one thing he was supposed to do today. Not that he would… forget. Hah. He scrambled to his feet—hand flying to his crown so it didn’t fall off—and jumped over the flowers to the door.

“Ah?” Touya shot to his feet as well, tensing.

He paid him no mind and raced into the laundry, Touya trailing behind, and grabbed every spade, shear, hand rake, and metal thing he could find in a mad panic.

“Is something wrong?” Touya asked as Akito scanned the shelves.

“No, no.” Akito dumped everything into a bucket to carry it all. “I forgot Kohane was coming and I was supposed to give her all the tools to clean.”

“Oh.” He moved aside to let Akito pass, and Akito walked normally down the hall because he definitely didn’t forget and wasn’t rushing at all.

Kohane was just coming into the living room as Akito did the same from the hall. She had a basket filled with the orange poppies—that he had tentatively started calling ‘golden poppies’—that she placed on the dining table, looking over the two of them. Her gaze rose to the flower crown on Akito’s head, then Touya’s, and she smiled knowingly. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’,” he repeated, coming to her side and pressing a kiss to her temple in greeting. The table thudded as he put the tool bucket down, and they winced. “I didn’t even know we had this many.”

Touya moved to the other side of the table, looking at the poppies. Come to think of it, it was his first time seeing them properly, considering he’d been unconscious the last time. “Good morning, Kohane,” he greeted. “How are you?”

“I’m good! I’m glad it’s not as hot today. How’s your wound?” She began removing the tools from the bucket and laying them out on the table.

Touya nodded. “It’s fine.”

“Hang on,” Akito interrupted. “Do you not want the bucket?”

Kohane shook her head. “I need my basket later. I’ll just transfer everything, it’s alright.”

Akito frowned at the basket. It was a lot smaller than the bucket, and the tools were already piled high in that. “…Sure.” He moved to help, removing the flowers—and seeing no room on the table— shoved them into Touya’s arms. He took them, gently cradling them to his chest in an attempt to not crush them. You could barely see him under all the orange, and Akito bit back a grin.

Together, he and Kohane transferred the tools into the basket, stacking them precariously. The basket really was too shallow for this, but Kohane was stubborn in not inconveniencing them. It would be fine if she was careful. He watched with bated breath as Kohane lifted the basket and everything shifted, but nothing fell. “…Are you sure you can carry all of those? That looks one light breeze from falling over.”

“It’s okay, and it’s not windy.” She grinned cheekily, and Akito scowled and shook his head. “I’ll see you soon, Touya.” She turned and bowed her head to him—he bowed back—then moved towards the door.

Akito took a jolting step towards her before turning back to Touya. “Uh. Put those in the bucket.” He pointed. “Then can you go bring the stuff from outside here?”

Touya nodded and came around to where Akito had stood, and then Akito chased after Kohane, who was struggling to open the door with her foot. Akito opened the door and let her through, then followed after her.

“Kohane,” he said as soon as the door was closed behind them, and she turned to him with a questioning sound. “One sec.”

She looked a bit concerned and put the basket on the counter. “What’s wrong?”

He waved her off, listening for Touya. “Nothing.” After a few seconds, Touya’s footsteps started getting quieter as he presumably (hopefully) walked down the hall. “Hey. Uh.” He averted his eyes. “Stupid question.”

“I’m sure it’s not, but okay?” Kohane smiled reassuringly.

He grimaced and could already feel his face heating up in embarrassment. “Touya’s like… pretty, right? Completely objectively. I’m not insane for thinking that?”

Kohane turned a deadpan look on him, but he could see her lips twitching. “Do you like him?”

He crossed his arms. “No,” he answered honestly. “Not like that, at least.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Kohane laughed silently. “But yes. He’s objectively pretty. He has all those… stereotypical pretty boy qualities. I think.”

He deflated. “Okay. Thank the Gods.”

“Why?”

“I just,” he flustered. “I keep thinking it and it keeps catching me off guard. Because he’s still the friggin’ Dark Knight… And I just? Why is he pretty?”

“Genetics?”

“Thank you for your insight.” Akito rolled his eyes. “I admit one thing to you and you bully me for it. Go away.”

“I’m not!” Kohane squawked. “I think it’s cute. You’re cute, he’s also kinda cute. His eyes are very pretty. When they’re not um. So blank?” She tilted her head as she thought about it.

Akito snorted. “Good to know. Alright. Don’t drop the basket and eat shit, ‘kay?”

“I won’t!” She pouted then grabbed the basket again and walked over to the door.

Akito followed, rushing in front to hold it open for her. “Hmm. I’ll see you later?”

“Mhm. I’ll bring these back soon.” Kohane stepped out, standing halfway in the doorway as she turned and said, “Bye, Aki.”

He raised a hand in farewell. “See ya.” He watched her go for a few steps and shut the door. As much as he’d like to go back to the flower crowns, he had to deal with the new flowers quickly before they went to waste. He moved back into the living room, and he could see Touya bringing everything down the hall. He stood there and waited, watching him move with far too much grace for what he was doing, and didn’t know how to feel about it all.

At least the flowers were pretty.

Chapter Text

She was going to kill Touya when she found him.

Not really, that would be treason and the very opposite of her job, but An liked to imagine throttling him sometimes. He hadn’t come back after the scouting mission—why someone as important as Touya had been ordered on a scouting mission was beyond her—and now she had to drag his stupid ass back. And if he was already dead, then she’d very quickly have to learn necromancy or she’d find herself joining him.

She’d tracked him as far as this forest. It had no name, as far as she knew, which didn’t help her navigate around the unfamiliar kingdom of Viviryn. The last two days had been spent following the signs of struggle she’d stumbled upon, hoping it was Touya and not some wild animal… or some weirdo in the forest. Though she was the weirdo in this scenario, she supposed. Wearing all black and sweltering under the stupid sun as she was. It’s not like she could help it. Nocturne was always cold; she’d never been this hot in her life. The forest was nice, though. They didn’t have much vegetation on account of the cold—or nothing this vibrant.

Speaking of vibrant… A flash of red caught her eye—too high up to be a plant—too bright and familiar to be natural. She ran over to it, breath catching. Please let me be right. Black gloved hands reached out, tugging at the—aw hell yeah—fabric. She’d spent years staring at this thing—Touya’s cape. So that meant she was heading in the right direction… and since the bush it was caught on was on her right, he’d been heading south, which meant she was doubly going the right way. She fist-pumped internally. She was so good at this tracking thing. She ripped off the fabric and stuffed it into her pocket. No point leaving it for anyone else to find.

An continued through the forest, shoving her way through the undergrowth and torturing the mini Touya in her mind for making her do this. She was meant for dramatically standing on snowy mountains, not getting caught on every single bush under a bunch of lame trees.

Sunlight glinting off something caught her eye and she paused. She walked over when it didn’t move, eyes locked to the ground and trying to see it through the dense grass. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it—Touya’s jagged sword. She hissed slowly. Fuckkkk. Just in case, she looked around for any sign of him but saw nothing. No body was better than a body, she supposed. An picked it up; blood coated the edge and the tip was covered in dirt and grass like he’d dragged it along the ground before dropping it. It didn’t exactly paint a pretty picture. She cast around for anything else, footprints, crushed grass, more blood. There wasn’t much, just small signs that could have been mistaken for an animal if she wasn’t looking for them. It got brighter as she followed the haphazard trail, and she looked up to find clear sky ahead and a lack of trees to her right. She looked around and could make out a thin path—more of a track, really—only a few metres away.

She hoisted Touya’s sword up and followed the path towards the clearing. From here she could see at least a hundred orange flowers dotted around the base of the trees and a tipped-over basket off the path. The flowers were pretty, even from this distance. They lost their splendour when she stepped into the clearing, though, eyes instantly narrowing in on the crushed ones to her right—and the scuffed, blood-stained dirt next to them. She hoped it was unrelated, but it was too close to the sword for comfort.

She stepped closer, ready to investigate, when she heard humming behind her. Without thinking she moved into the trees, hiding behind a thick tree shrouded in relative darkness and crouching. The song paused at the rustling but resumed a second later as the owner entered the clearing, stooping to pick up a discarded basket on the path.

The prettiest girl An had ever seen stopped in the middle of the flowers, wearing a gorgeous yellow dress. Bright colours weren’t normally her thing—though that could be attributed to her job more than personal taste—but yellow was very quickly skyrocketing to the top of her favourite colours list. The girl herself certainly helped that opinion. She hadn’t noticed An, barely even looking up from the ground as she knelt, retrieving a small knife from her basket and starting to gather the orange flowers.

An watched on silently, not daring to move no matter how cramped her limbs got. The girl stood up, not bothering to brush the dirt from her dress, and moved to a different spot to collect more flowers. She came closer to An’s side but still didn’t look up. She made her way to the crushed patch, doing her best to revive them and stand them up straight, pouting cutely at the wilted ones. The girl glanced at the dried blood as she stood back up, sadness and something An couldn’t quite understand flickering across her face. She might think it was animal blood, but this was currently her only lead, so An couldn’t give her the benefit of the doubt. She could only assume the girl knew something about Touya. Whether that was good or bad news, she didn’t know. The girl didn’t do anything suspicious after that, just gathered a basket’s worth of flowers and returned down the path she’d come from.

After a minute, An cautiously stretched and followed after her, sticking as far back as she could without losing sight of her. She wasn’t too concerned, she doubted the girl would stray from the path, so if she lost her, she could just continue along it until she found her again. She just didn’t want to be seen and have to kill her. It wasn’t a very long walk, and after nearly twenty minutes the sounds of civilisation came into hearing. She’d long since memorised the girl’s face and clothes, so once the buildings came into view she moved further to the right and watched the girl skip between two houses and onto what An assumed was the main road. No way she could waltz in right behind her. Plus, a ten-minute break sounded pretty good after spending the whole morning on her feet, so she flopped down and pulled out her water skin, keeping one eye on the town.

She was like ninety percent sure it was Vivid Town. Unless she sucked at map reading more than she thought. But she knew she was somewhere in the centre of the kingdom, and that was the only town near a forest she remembered. She couldn’t be bothered pulling out her map to check, but it’s not like the name mattered right now. Mostly she was just worried someone else had gotten to Touya before her. Now that she knew that the clearing had owners, it seemed more than likely that Touya had been either found or turned in. Or he’d managed to drag himself out of sight and she’d walked past his prone body. It’s not like she had time to check around before the girl appeared. The thought had her pausing. Shit. What if he had been there and she’d missed him? She could go back… But well, she was already here, she could check during the night. He probably wouldn’t be dying on her in the hours between. So it didn’t matter. At least that’s what she told herself. She shook herself and stood up. Time to go. She left the sword there, stashing it in a hollow to retrieve later.

An made her way around the forest until the main road came into sight, and after making sure no one was around, darted across the clear expanse of grass towards it. Now, hopefully, it just looked like she’d come from some northern town. A weathered wooden sign painted over and over greeted her to Vivid Town, and wow she was so good at geography. It wasn’t huge by her standards, but it was the central major town, so got a lot of visitors—probably more than the population itself. An walked down the main road, looking around and trying to memorise as much of the layout and buildings as possible. It was a pretty town, flowers lined all the windows and hung from the roofs. Impressively, none were wilted, which meant they were changed regularly. Maybe they should change the name to flower town, she snorted to herself.

It smelt nice though. You didn’t get many flowers—let alone ones you could smell—in the mountains of Nocturne. Not like this. People bustled on all sides, but not so many as to crowd the streets, just enough to tell you this town was popular. An continued, eyes darting everywhere and taking in as many details as she could. There wasn’t a big guard presence, and she hoped that meant good news.

A brightly coloured store caught her eye, how could it not? With its paint-splattered walls and floor-to-ceiling windows, filled to the brim with shelves of… flowers. How was the flower shop the centre of attention here? Though it sort of made sense for the town. But what really drew her in was the rows of orange. She had to do a double take at the flowers in the window. Weren’t they…? She'd seen them an hour ago. In the clearing where she'd found Touya’s sword... and the bloodstain. And the girl.

The girl who was currently walking down the street holding a precarious stack of tools and no orange flowers. She narrowed her eyes and marked the flower shop—Pale Colour Flowers. They were the most likely to have found Touya if that’s what happened.

A cry of alarm sounded ahead, and An turned in time to watch the girl trip and hit the dirt, tools spilling out across the street. An rushed over, pushing through people to get to her. While she would have helped anyway, this was a prime opportunity to get closer to Touya. She hoped.

“Hey there!” An skidded to a stop in front of her, holding out a hand and beaming. “You alright?”

The girl looked up in surprise, blond hair flying everywhere and straw hat nearly blocking her view of An. “Oh.” She took An’s hand and let her pull her to her feet. “Thank you…”

“Of course! If you see a pretty girl, you’ve gotta help out!” And Gods was she even prettier up close. So small and cute and blushing a brilliant red.

She stammered out another thank you and brushed the dirt from her dress before bending to retrieve her basket. An followed her lead and started gathering up some tools. They we’re all pretty dirty or rusty but looked usable. And definitely looked like something a flower shop owner would have.

“I’m An,” she said as she deposited the first couple of tools in the basket. “Do you live here?”

The girl’s response was barely louder than the clattering of the tools. “Oh, yes. My name’s Kohane, it’s nice to meet you, An.”

She nearly swooned then and there, the way she said her name was so cute! “You too! I’m just visiting, there’s so many flowers everywhere it’s amazing.” An gathered up the last of the tools just as Kohane stacked some more in the basket. “Here,” An turned away playfully, preventing Kohane from reaching for her pile. “If you put them all back in there, they’ll just fall again. Let me carry some.”

Kohane’s hand paused and retracted. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” she flustered. “Especially since you’re just passing through…”

“Eh, I got nothing else to do. What better use of my time is there than making new friends?”

Kohane blushed again but nodded and continued walking. An fell into step beside her, already talking a mile a minute about the town and the fake backstory she weaved for herself on the fly. But could you blame her? The girl looked her age, was cute, and she’d been out in the wilderness for several days with no one to talk to. Not that there were many people back home. Really only Touya. And he wasn’t exactly the definition of great conversation. Kohane was a bit jumpy, but she chalked that up to her shy demeanour. She didn’t mind listening though, and did seem interested.

“What brings you to Vivid Town?” Kohane asked as An took a break from speaking. “Or, well. Where are you going?”

“I’m looking for my friend,” she answered truthfully. “He’s a bit airheaded and we got separated at the last town up north. I’m trying to track him down.”

“Oh. I hope you find him!” Kohane smiled encouragingly at her.

“Thanks.” She probably shouldn’t have said that, should have come up with some other lie, but she really couldn’t be bothered, and it was believable enough. Kohane couldn’t connect the dots with just that.

The conversation slowed as they entered the main square. Kohane gestured towards the west entrance and led her through the crowd. It was a bit busier here, with lots of yelling and haggling, but absolutely nothing compared to Nocturne’s capital. She looked around like a tourist, oohing and aahing appropriately, but really, she was just trying to find the notice board. If Touya had been captured it would be written there. She finally spotted it near the fountain, and only her training kept her from stumbling.

A wanted poster?

Why the hell did that exist? Fuck. That meant if someone had found him, it was only a matter of time before they realised who he was, or he was already lost to her. But again, why did they exist? She hadn’t realised Touya was so notorious in the other kingdoms. His reputation preceded him in Nocturne, sure. But in Viviryn? She hoped they weren’t in Phoenix as well…

But she had an act to keep up, and Kohane was smiling at her. “Oh wow,” she whistled lowly, and Kohane followed her gaze to the board. “Has there been any trouble with Nocturne here? I’d think you’re a bit too far from the border for it, but you never know. I’m nowhere near it but hear stories all the time…” An shrugged innocently, watching Kohane’s face carefully. And there!

Kohane glanced away for a second, mouth pinching before returning to her normal expression. “No, we only get knights passing through and the tales they bring on the way back. Nothing recently…”

She was lying. An was a lot of things. Good at her job was one of them. And she knew when people were lying. “That’s good, glad to know you’re still alright.” And she truly was. She may not exactly agree with what her kingdom did; to surrounding kingdoms, and to Touya. But she’d serve her kingdom until she died.

They left the throng of people behind and walked down the much quieter side streets, only passing the occasional person.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask,” An said after a moment. “This is a lot of tools. What are they for?”

Kohane brightened. “They belong to the flower shop!”

“Oh, the flower shop!” She acted surprised. “I saw that earlier. It was pretty. Especially those orange flowers, I’ve never seen them before. Where do you get them?”

“Hehe,” Kohane laughed, pride radiating from her. “We grow them. They only grow in the forest to the east and refuse to grow when we try to move them, so they’re a bit tricky to sell. But it’s worth it.”

“We?” There was someone else? Well, not like she thought Kohane ran the store alone, but now there was another suspect, damn it. And if they only grew out there… well, it wasn’t looking so good for the flower shop.

“Oh. My boyfriend and his sister run the store, I just help out sometimes. My family owns a ranch and we can clean the tools a bit better there, so I’m just taking them home.”

“That’s so cool! You have animals?” And a boyfriend. Damn. She nearly snorted. As if she was going to be here long enough to even get to know Kohane!

Kohane lit up further as she named every animal they had. An listened attentively, even though half her concentration was on the street layout. It was fine, she could spare a couple of brain cells for the cute girl and work it all out while she ran around at night. Soon enough the town gave way to grass and they were outside. The town didn’t have walls or anything, the buildings just ended. On this side, it was farmland, a few houses dotted along the road and out in the fields. And she could see a wide river coiling lazily another kilometre out. Kohane led them south, to the house closest to the town. She led An around the side of the house and towards a stable-like area.

She stopped at the entrance. “Well. This is our farm! Thank you for your help, An.”

“No problem,” An replied, looking around at the piles of hay everywhere. She could even see a few cows off in the distance. “Need any more help?”

“No, no. I’ve got it, you’ve done more than enough.”

“Aww.” She pouted. “Are you sure? I don’t mind helping you clean these.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you!” Kohane spluttered. “Don’t you have to find your friend? And besides, it’s not fun work…”

An grinned and shook her head. “Nah. I won’t get anywhere by just walking through a town I don’t know. And I don’t mind helping for a few hours. I wanna hang out with you.”

“I— well…” Kohane wavered.

“You can pay me back my taking me on a tour of town this afternoon?” Kill like, three birds with one stone, or something. Cute girl check. Assess town check. Search for Touya check.

That seemed to sway her. “Alright… Only if you’re sure. I wouldn’t mind the help. Thank you.” She went to bow, but An choked and threw out a hand to stop her, dropping her own tools in the process.

“…” An stared at the pile on the ground. “…I was trying to make sure you didn’t drop yours. I didn’t imagine this happening.”

Kohane laughed brightly.

Together they gathered everything again and dropped them on the wooden bench that spanned most of the house-side wall. Kohane left to fill up a few buckets and get whatever she needed to clean the tools, and An used the opportunity to lean against the fence and sigh dramatically. She hoped she wasn’t wasting time. She was keenly aware that Touya could be dying right now and she’d be none the wiser; playing around with a girl just because she was lonely. But she was sure Kohane knew something. She just had to wait it out.

“An!” Kohane called, and she looked over to see her carrying a giant bucket half the size of her body. “Can you clear some space on the ground?”

An’s eyes bulged at the thing, water was heavy, and that thing was huge. She rushed over to move some bags out of the way, and Kohane placed the bucket down with only a light ‘phew.’

“Wow…” An couldn’t help but whisper.

Kohane looked confused for a second before blushing. “It’s nothing! Um. There should be some rags over in the corner, can you grab them?” Then without looking back, she ran inside the house.

An saluted after her.

They spent the next hour or two cleaning and fixing up the tools. Some, she would have just given up on them for being too rusty. But Kohane managed to get every single one sparkling and looking brand new. They spoke about their families and jobs, and An found herself telling the truth. Not the big stuff. Like you know, ‘working for Nocturne’s best knight.’ But the little things. Her dad. Vague things about Touya, the town she grew up in. In turn, she learnt a lot about farming, and flowers, Kohane’s pet snake, and Shinonome Akito. Far, far too much about Akito.

With the tools all laid out in a neat row on the bench, she stepped back. It was kinda nice to do normal work once in a while.

Kohane sighed happily, stepping out from under the stable to find the sun. “Would you like to get lunch? My treat, as thanks.”

An nodded. She was grateful, she was looking a bit light in the coin department since she hadn’t expected to come across a town on her trip. “Yeah! Then you can show me around.” She looped an arm through Kohane’s and practically dragged her back down the path towards town, Kohane laughing and chiding her the whole way.

“An!” Kohane scolded as they hit the main road. “It’s not going anywhere.”

“Times-a-wasting, Kohane.” But she slowed down and resumed a normal pace.

“Um”—An turned to Kohane—“I was also thinking… Would you like to stay the night?”

“Huh? Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose.” An grimaced. And it would make her night activities a little harder. It would be another night of roughing it for her, thanks.

“No, it’s alright! You’ve helped me a lot today.”

An waved her off. “You already paid me back, remember?”

“Please, I insist. I really don’t mind.” Kohane looked at her pleadingly then dropped her gaze shyly as she said, “I’d like to keep talking to you as well…”

Ack! And like an arrow through her heart, she was agreeing.

The afternoon was a whirlwind of colour and Kohane. Lunch was delicious, and Kohane showed her the entire town. It only took a few hours due to its size, but they passed the flower shop again, and An spied a brown-haired girl painting behind the counter. Akito’s older sister? But Kohane pulled her almost nervously along past it before she could get a good look. That night, they were both exhausted from all the walking, which was exactly what An had hoped for. Kohane fell asleep quickly, but it wasn’t until well past midnight that An snuck out the window, lodging a stick in it so it wouldn’t shut and she could get back in later.

For now, she had a clearing to check out again. Hopefully one with no bodies.

She sighed. It was going to be a long night.

The flowers Kohane brought didn’t take as long to prepare as Akito feared, especially with Touya helping; and not even needing to ask what to do despite only having done this job once before. And while he was grateful for the help, Touya did look exhausted, so he sent him to bed as soon as they were done with a promise to finish the flower crowns later. He checked in on Ena—who threw a paintbrush at him for opening the door—then left for the back garden. There wasn’t much he could do since Kohane had taken everything, but the garden could use a general cleaning, and he had no excuse not to do it anymore.

First, the gate was squeaking, so he ducked back inside to grab some oil. It was annoying how easy a fix it was for something that had been bugging him for days. Unfortunately, that meant it was quick, so the only thing left was all the bending down or crawling around to pick up the loose litter around. He sighed and got to work. It was boring, tedious, hot work. But he knew he had to do it, which only made it worse. The lack of tools annoyed him when he noticed the grass was growing too high against the wall, and he made a mental note to do that later. The sun was far hotter than it had been earlier—nearly at its zenith and doing its best to kill him. He took a break after clearing all the sticks and rocks and dead plant matter he could grab with his hands, heading inside to the relatively cooler house for fifteen minutes. He drank what felt like a litre of water and collapsed on the couch. He could fall asleep so easily like that but dragged himself to his feet once he no longer felt like keeling over. Summer meant the flowers got dry quickly and there was barely any rain. It had been nearly a week since the last time he watered, so it was time to remind them what water was.

He filled the watering can in the laundry and lugged it outside. He hummed as he worked, not having anything else to do but stand there and move his arms. He swayed to the song to spread the water around—and for no other reason at all. It was a duet with Kohane they’d been practising recently that would hopefully be ready to perform soon. Some time had passed since they’d practised, let alone performed. But the excitement of the past few days eclipsed any thoughts of singing.

The can had to be filled several times over to cover the entire garden, including the grass, but after what felt like the twentieth trip and his arms nearly falling off he deemed the garden wet enough to survive another week. He lugged the can inside and shoved it back into its spot on the shelf, then stumbled his way across the hall to the bathroom. After wiping his face and washing his hands he felt a bit better. The couch called for him, but his time was probably better spent in the shop. They usually left the counter unattended because of the bell, but he could at least try and make the place look inviting. And working in the shop was relaxing enough.

He left a few times, mainly for lunch and to grab his notepad after the music gods decided to grace him with an idea in the middle of talking to a customer. But apart from that, he sat still. Whether that was cutting ribbon, organising their bouquet tools, or taking inventory. The afternoon passed quickly like that. He always managed to finish something, then spy another thing he should probably do. The annoying cycle of being responsible, and whatnot. But he got to flip the sign at the end of the day with enough coin it made it all worth it.

He came back into the house to Ena preparing dinner. He waved their profits bag, coins clinking, as she turned to the opening door. “What’s for dinner?” he asked, shutting the door and beelining for their lockbox under the bookshelf.

“Stir fry.” Ena turned back to her pan. “Are we rich yet? Can I retire?”

He snorted. “Keep dreaming.”

He’d been too focused on his work to finish the notes for the song he was writing, so he flopped onto the couch to wait for dinner and hopefully get somewhere with these lyrics. It wasn’t going too bad. Better than the last few times he’d tried. But nothing that could be called fast.

Touya appeared twenty minutes later, standing in the doorway for a few seconds before coming to sit on the other side of the couch. “Good evening,” he said.

“Yo. Feeling any better?” Akito glanced up as the cushions dipped. He looked better, at least. Less tired and stiff. Well. His posture still made him look like a metal rod, but it wasn’t the stiffness that came with injuries.

“I’m fine.” Was the expected answer. Honestly, he didn’t know why he tried.

He turned back to his paper. “Cool. Dinner will be ready soon.”

They settled into silence, only the sounds of cooking from behind them, and the occasional melody Akito hummed as he worked. His gaze drifted to Touya whenever he was thinking, but he wasn’t exactly the most exciting muse. He wasn’t doing anything. Simply sitting there and looking around the room. Sometimes Akito would look up and his eyes would be closed, and the next time he’d be staring back. He immediately averted his gaze when that happened. At least his writing was going well.

Akito was cut off mid-lyric by Touya suddenly looking at him. “I need to retrieve my sword,” he said. “If someone finds it, they will know I was here. That would not be good for either of us.”

Akito looked up, raising an eyebrow, but nodded tentatively. “I can get it tomorrow? Where’d you drop it? What’s it look like?”

Touya shrugged. “Somewhere near the clearing. It’s black and has a jagged edge.”

He resigned himself to a day of searching. “Alright.”

“Dinner,” Ena called over before he could ask for more details. Akito stretched and threw his pad and pencil onto the coffee table. He’d been working all day, and for once, food sounded more appealing than continuing with his music.

Touya was already at the table by the time he stood up, helping ferry plates from the bench to their seats, and his plate was in front of him as Akito sat down.

“Thanks for cooking,” he said as he picked up his fork, food halfway to his mouth by the time he finished.

Ena rolled her eyes. “Slow down.”

“No,” he mumbled.

“And don’t talk with your mouth full, stupid.”

“No,” he said again, just to spite her.

She kicked him.

“Thank you for the meal,” Touya said in the split second they stopped—as if he’d been waiting for them to finish.

“You’re welcome,” Ena replied to him.

Ena rambled and fumed over the painting she’d been working on that week. Mostly about the client and how he kept changing things after she’d already done that part. After she wore herself out, they swapped notes on the shop—what they’d done and what duties they needed to split up for tomorrow. Since he’d managed the damn thing almost all day, he told Ena to take over everything, citing his need to find Touya’s sword. The threat of it being found seemed to convince her.

“Sooo, Touya,” Ena began, and Akito felt nervous already. “You’ve never said anything, but is there anything you want me to make? Honestly, it’s kind of annoying thinking of something to eat every day, so I’ll take any suggestions. Any dishes from Nocturne?”

Touya had looked up as she started, and his gaze got blanker as she went on. “No.”

Akito didn’t know whether to laugh at the way Ena’s face fell or get ready for the catastrophe that he could feel coming. This wasn’t going to end well. He didn’t really get Touya’s situation. But from yesterday, he knew Ena wasn’t going to like his answers.

“…No?” she echoed. “No, you don’t know any dishes, or no, you don’t have any requests?”

“Both.” Touya’s hand dropped, resting his fork lightly on the bowl. “I don’t care what I eat. And I don’t know any food from Nocturne.”

Ena looked at him like he was crazy “Uh. Why not?”

“Like I said to Akito and Kohane earlier, I don’t leave the castle. I eat what I’m given, and I only go outside when They want the Dark Knight.”

Akito sighed internally. He’d figured. Touya had said as much. It just hadn’t been said so plainly. But his first thought, that he couldn’t help but blurt out was, “What, so they treat you like their fucking attack dog?”

The minuscule amount of peace in Touya’s stance dissolved at that, completely shutting himself off. “I suppose.”

Slowly, every time he talked to Touya, he seemed a little more human. Not by much. But enough that Akito could convince himself of it if he squinted. But his stupid mouth had just dashed all that progress away in an instant. Ena kept trying to catch his gaze, but he stubbornly kept his eyes on his bowl.

“I have no other purpose,” Touya said after a few tense moments of silence. “I only need to defeat Nocturne’s enemies.”

“I—” Akito’s face fell. He didn’t even know how to respond to that, and Ena’s looks had turned murderous. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Wh—” His head shot up. What did that mean? “Are you even meant to be telling us this?” he deflected. It felt like something he wasn’t supposed to know. Everything about Touya felt like something he wasn’t supposed to know.

“Probably not,” Touya admitted.

“Then why are you?”

He said nothing for a minute—the silence strained on. Touya refused to look anywhere else but the candle in front of him, its soft light reflecting in his hard eyes. Eventually, he spoke. “I don’t know… I—” He inhaled sharply. “Goodnight.” The chair scraped as he stood, leaving Akito staring after the stiff lines of his back and regretting saying anything at all.

Chapter Text

The next day reaped absolutely nothing on the Touya front.

An slipped back into Kohane’s room a few hours before dawn and fell asleep quickly, the last couple of days’ travel catching up to her. It wasn’t enough to ward off the fatigue, but she was used to long nights and odd hours, and it certainly wasn’t the worst she’d had. She even had a pillow! The chickens crowing at five in the morning weren’t fun, though. She buried her head into the fabric with a groan as they started crying out.

Sweet Kohane, apparently, didn’t seem to care about the cacophony going on outside, and sat up with a cute yawn, bed hair flying everywhere and smiling sleepily down at An on the floor. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” Kohane asked, a hint of something in her voice that An was too tired to dissect.

She tried to say ‘yeah,’ but it came out as something more like ‘ouagh’ through the pillow.

Kohane laughed and swung her legs over the bed. She must have drifted off again, because the next thing she knew, Kohane was shaking her shoulder and telling her breakfast was ready. An heaved a deep breath and sat up in time to see Kohane smiling at her on her way out the door. She didn’t bother putting on her jacket again in this heat and just ran her fingers through her hair briefly before following Kohane into the main room. She’d gotten a brief look at the house yesterday and could name every exit or potential weapon in a heartbeat, but now, she just took in the house itself. It was… cosy. Lived in. Her quarters in the castle were sparse beyond a few personal objects. No décor or colour bar the red and black of Nocturne, and certainly no parents greeting her for breakfast. She ignored the sinking feeling at the reminder of her parents. It wasn’t their fault they were stationed on the border.

Instead, she greeted Kohane’s parents again and joined the three of them at the table like it was routine. So easy. Too easy. Touya’s grey eyes flashed in her mind and she shoved them away. She was working on it! Breakfast was as delicious as dinner was, and it was so good to eat proper food after a week of dried meat and bread—something she enthusiastically praised Kohane’s mother for. She helped wash up before Kohane dragged her outside, but not without plonking a giant hat on her head that honestly blocked her vision too much to be comfortable, but she couldn’t say no.

“I don’t want to presume,” Kohane said as they left the house, “but I’m going to milk the cows this morning, do you want to help? Or watch?”

“I would not trust me with tits, but sure!” She paused and slowly turned to Kohane. “Cow’s tits… What are they called? Udders! Not. I am not going around groping women.” An grimaced.

Kohane just gaped at her, red spreading across her face as An struggled to remember the stupid word. “A—An…” she managed, one hand coming up to muffle her choked laughter. “Wh—” Then she was laughing wildly—looking mortified by the fact that she was—but it was the most beautiful sound An had ever heard.

An covered her face and began speed walking towards the side of the house. “Please forget I said that.”

“I don’t— I don’t think I can,” Kohane wheezed, following after her. “Please wait, I can’t—” Kohane took a deep breath and struggled to return her face to normal. “Okay… let’s uhm. Let’s just get everything, you can carry the stool.” She pointed at a low wooden stool under the bench as she grabbed two metal buckets. “It won’t take very long, but feel free to leave before I finish. I don’t want to keep you from your friend.”

An waved her free hand as she picked up the stool. “It’s okay, it’s too early in the morning to start asking around, anyway.”

Kohane led her across the paddock to where An had seen the cows yesterday. She explained how all the farms in town worked together, rather than as competitors, and divided the resources the town needed and exported between them. It was a short enough walk, so An only got halfway through talking about her dad’s (old) café and her stint as a waitress (wow child labour) before they reached the animals. The cows seemed to know what was happening. Kohane said they were milked twice a day, so that checked out. She led An over to the nearest cow, who barely looked up from the grass she was eating as Kohane gestured for An to put the stool down.

“It’s a little tricky at first, so you can watch first and then try?” Kohane said as she pet long strokes down the cow's side, cooing to her lowly before sitting down and placing a bucket in front of her. She braced the cow with one hand and reached her right to the closest teat. With firm strokes, she squeezed the top and then dragged her hand down several times before milk started squirting into the bucket.

An watched with a morbid fascination. She’d never really thought about how fucked up this was. “Does it hurt them?” she asked. She could not imagine being squeezed like that was fun.

“Not really,” Kohane answered, rhythm not slowing at all. “They feel worse being full of milk, so the process is sort of relaxing. Or they feel better after it, at least.”

An nodded, crouching to get a better look and leaning a bit too close into Kohane’s space, but she didn’t seem to mind. It took a few minutes before the milk stopped flowing and Kohane moved onto the next teat. She looked up at An questioningly, and she nodded before she could think twice about it. Sure. She’d milk the cow. Not weird at all. Kohane finished up the second teat and gestured for An to take her place.

“Don’t be nervous,” Kohane cautioned, guiding An with her hands towards the udder. “If you’re nervous, the cow will get antsy and the milk will stop flowing. Relax.”

“Sure. The cow can read my emotions, why not.” An gripped the teat and wow. That was not the texture she’d expected. Kohane dragged their hands down and then up, and then suddenly there was milk and An was milking a cow. She almost laughed. She was a knight of Nocturne, meant to be retrieving Nocturne’s best asset. And here she was—milking a cow.

It was sort of a terrifying process, but she did it. She stroked and squeezed until the milk stopped, then moved onto the last one. And she did not spray herself with milk, thank you.

“Great job!” Kohane cheered as she finished, peering into the bucket. “If you want, you can milk a cow on your own, but don’t feel like you have to.” She offered her the empty bucket, and An took it with a nod. “Thank you! If she starts huffing or moving just walk away and I’ll help. That’s it basically, though.”

“Of course.” An grinned brightly, only slightly nervous. I mean not nervous at all.

Kohane pointed out two cows next to each other that they could milk easily and they set up. Kohane gave An the stool and simply knelt in the grass, which she felt a bit bad about, but Kohane refused to accept otherwise. It was nice. To just talk with Kohane, doing mundane (did this count as mundane, it felt pretty wild) things like a normal girl, and just. Having friends. She hadn’t spoken to her childhood friend since she left the kingdom to perform, and none of the other knights treated her like equals. Too wary of her status and ‘specialness’ to be anything more than just co-workers. Touya was nice, in his own way. But it was impossible to hold a conversation with someone that had no opinions.

So Kohane was a refreshing breeze. Maybe that was why she latched onto her instead of doing her job. Don’t get her wrong, she was worried for Touya. But he’d probably forgive her for delaying a bit. If he even could.

They spent the next hour doing that. An probably cut the time it would usually take by a quarter. She wasn’t so bold to think it was in half, especially considering Kohane did two cows for every one she milked. But there weren’t as many cows as she thought at first, and the time flew by.

That did mean she now had to leave and pray she could find even a hint about Touya. So she helped Kohane carry everything back to the house and said her goodbyes, promising to be back by sunset. Kohane bid her farewell, and An felt her eyes follow her all the way into town.

Her first point of call was the wanted board, but it hadn’t changed, and there was no indication Touya had been found. She was equally happy and annoyed by that. It would make her life a bit easier. But alas. The hard way it was. She walked around the richer area, the poor area, the main square, and the streets around the jail. Nothing! It was like he wasn’t even here. And that was something she refused to believe. Even if the proof said otherwise. With a growl, she shook off the pointless hours she’d wasted and headed down the main road towards Pale Colour Flowers. She peered through the window a bit, making a show of examining the flowers but being unwilling to go in. Mostly because she was. But the door to what she assumed was the main house was shut tight, and the older Shinonome didn’t seem to be moving anytime soon. An huffed and moved on. She couldn’t see much down the alley and into the windows as she passed and couldn’t afford to look for longer without raising suspicion. It was annoying work, but not new.

She scoped out the Shinonome’s carefully, walking around, leaving, then coming back. If it were darker she’d sit on a roof, but… Whatever. It was good enough. The older sister didn’t seem to leave the house and simply painted in the storefront all day. The shop was relatively busy, probably because it was a weekend, but she was surprised at the amount of people buying flowers. Literally just pick them off the ground? The bouquets that people walked out with did look pretty nice, though.

Akito was… Okay. She didn’t know what a girl like Kohane saw in him. But whatever. She could admit he looked handsome, especially when he started singing to his flowers, funny as that was. He also seemed pretty popular with the townsfolk. And oh Gods, don’t tell her Kohane and Akito were the couple.

But apart from learning about Akito and Kohane’s apparent popularity, it seemed not a single person had seen or heard about a stranger skulking around. And she went back to Kohane’s empty-handed.

So now, two days after she found Touya’s sword, she’d made zero progress. The only thing she could ‘confirm’ was that he most likely hadn’t been arrested and probably wasn’t dead. Or If he was, he hadn’t been found. She didn’t really know why she was so fixated on Kohane and Akito. She had no proof beyond the coincidence of the flowers and a gut feeling that said they knew something. In all honestly, she should be long gone and out searching for Touya, but something kept her watching and waiting.

She sadly ditched Kohane again that morning, though she said she’d be giving Akito his tools back and didn’t mind—practically shoved her outside to ‘go look for your friend.’ She didn’t expect much today either. She was unlikely to find anything, and hanging around the sheriff’s office would only make her suspicious. She briefly entertained the thought of going south into the forest but quickly brushed it off. Touya couldn’t have gotten that far. She walked through the town like that for an hour. Just trying to think about what Touya would do and coming up with nothing. His only goal would be ‘survive,’ but that could mean anything in this context. He’d lie low or fight in equal measures if one offered him a better chance. So, she had no way of guessing his actions.

An sighed as she dodged around another person. She’d walked up and down this street what felt like ten times and was no better off for it. Except for scaring the shop owners, probably. There was no point in running in circles. She had one lead, and she hadn’t done anything about it. Stakeouts weren’t her favourite thing, but she could watch the Shinonomes for anything suspicious for a day or two. Be that strange knight activity or something. Anything to help her not lose her mind. Or her job. Or her… life. Maybe. It’s not like she was the one who stabbed Touya! She huffed and shook her head. Whatever. Surveillance, yay. She took the same path she used to enter Vivid—leaving through the north entrance and ducking off into the forest when no one was looking. She even skipped across the grass just in case. Just a normal girl enjoying the sun and picking berries. No illegal enemy knights here, no sir.

It was nice under the trees after the relentless sun, though. She almost missed the freezing temperatures or Nocturne if this was the alternative. It was nice, don’t get her wrong. But how did these people survive the heat without keeling over? It was a short walk back to where she’d stashed Touya’s sword and she tugged it out from the tree, letting out a sigh of relief that no one had stumbled across it. She brought it with her. It was heavy and she didn’t know how Touya hoisted it so easily, but she could use it if she had to. The Shinonome house was visible from here, but she moved a bit closer, not too worried anyone would see her. She left the sword propped up against the tree and climbed up into the thicker foliage. The tree was far more comfortable than the spiky pines she’d done this in before, it was refreshing. The branches were thicker as well, and she settled in to wait, eyes locked to the colourful, paint-splattered house surrounded by flowers.

It was nearing the middle of the afternoon when Akito came into the garden and walked straight down the path, looking around warily. An instantly perked up from the fugue of boredom and watched him carefully. He slipped through the gate and moved towards the forest. She’d brush it off, but he didn’t have a basket or any tools for gathering flowers or whatever else florists did in forests. The suspicious glances he kept shooting around really didn’t help him make any less innocent, either.

She gave him a minute to walk past her and onto the path, biting back a grin when he turned in the direction of the clearing. Silently, she dropped to the ground and followed, sticking to the bushes and relative darkness off to the right of the path. He didn’t seem very concerned about being followed anymore. She didn’t think he looked around once and certainly didn’t glance in her direction despite the noise she knew she was occasionally making. That checked out, though. He seemed like a one-track mind kind of guy.

As they neared the clearing, Akito started looking around so An backed off a bit. He seemed to be trying to find something but wasn’t putting much effort into it. He slowed as he came into the clearing, dragging his feet with a sigh and slowing to a halt in the middle. An rushed to catch up, spying a basket in the trees around the edge were thick enough to hide her, and the bushes high enough that if she crouched, he probably wouldn’t see her, no matter how close she was to him. He sighed, resigned to something, and spun in a circle, eyes passing over her seamlessly.

“I don’t even know what direction he came from,” Akito muttered to himself once he was facing away from her again. “How the hell am I meant to find the stupid sword?”

An narrowed her eyes. Oho. A sword, huh? And a mysterious guy that owns it? Found near this clearing? Gods, she loved being right. She wasted no time while his back was still to her, moving silently across the clearing until she was behind him and pulling a knife from its sheath. In one quick movement she grabbed his left arm just below the shoulder and thrust her knife under his neck; close enough to be a threat, but not touching him out of respect for Kohane. She wouldn’t hurt him unless she had to.

“Don’t move.” She tightened her grip as he stiffened. “Looking for something?” His breath hitched and she forged on before he could speak. “Where is he?”

“H-hah? Who—”

“Cut the crap.” She pressed closer against him in silent threat in lieu of using the knife. The fact that she only came up to his mouth didn’t seem to matter to him. Good boy. “Where is he?”

Akito made a sound in the back of his throat. “He’s—”

“An.”

She jerked around at Touya’s voice, Akito doing the same and nearly impaling himself on her knife. Only her quick reflexes saved his neck. An’s eyes widened as she saw him. “Touya! You’re okay?” He stood at the entrance to the clearing, wearing a white turtleneck and yellow jacket? She scanned him up and down for injuries—not that he’d let any weakness show in the first place. But he was standing fine, and his skin was actually less pale than usual. She felt the weight on her shoulders fall away at the flood of indescribable relief that he was there. Not arrested or dead. Standing in front of her as if nothing was wrong.

“Let him go,” he said, walking into the clearing properly and stopping a few metres away, eyes locked to the knife at Akito’s neck.

She didn’t move. “Are you sure?”

“He helped me.”

Out of all her theories the past few days, that was not the answer she’d expected. Why would this guy help Touya? But Touya physically couldn’t lie to her so… he must have. Ugh. Not only was he dating Kohane, he was nice? Pick a struggle. But she reluctantly pulled away, sheathing her knife in one quick movement and striding over to Touya. She stopped one step away, looking between his eyes for any hint of emotion. Not that there ever was. Then she took the final step and threw her arms around him. He didn’t reciprocate, like always, but she felt him relax minutely beneath her.

“Don’t do that,” she admonished into his shoulder. She pulled back. “What is wrong with you? You can’t just disappear—”

Pounding footsteps on her right had them all turning down the path in a defensive stance. She caught a blur of yellow and then Kohane was running past her—a fucking rake in her hands like a spear—and sliding between them and Akito, rake pointed threateningly at her.

“Please don’t hurt him, An!” she cried, steel in her voice beneath her panting for breath.

An reeled back, completely caught off guard by her appearance. “Wh— I’m not.” Anymore. “How the hell did you…” she trailed off.

Touya simply blinked in response to Kohane, and Akito was looking at her with such a sappy, lovestruck grin on his face that it had her gagging.

Kohane finally caught her breath, the rake not wavering. “I went to the shop and found Touya missing. I knew Akito was going to find the sword. And I knew you were looking for Touya. So I figured you would all be here.”

She blinked. Then blinked again. “You knew!?” she shrieked, rocking back on her feet.

Kohane relaxed her stance slightly. “…You’re wearing black and you have a rose insignia on your belt,” she began listing. “You snuck out the first night even though you thought I didn’t notice. You said you were looking for someone air-headed”—Touya frowned at her—“and you kept asking questions that added up if you’d seen the bloodstain and connected it to the poppies!” Kohane breathed deeply, shoulders slumping after her rant. “So yes. I knew.”

An’s jaw dropped with each sentence until even Touya was looking at her with what she would take as concern. She had sorely misjudged Kohane. “I—” I think I’m in love with you? “I. Okay.” She turned to Akito. “I’m… sorry for threatening you?”

Akito grimaced. “Don’t make it sound like a question.” He tugged at Kohane’s dress, and she dropped the rake and spun to hug him.

“I’m going to make you wear neck armour at this rate,” she half-laughed, half-sobbed. “Stop scaring me like that.”

“Sorry, sorry. Literally not my fault.” He squeezed her, lifting her a bit before putting her down.

Akito raised an eyebrow at An and she held up her hands like ‘my bad.’ She wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about. But now that he was facing her, she could see a thin white line across Akito’s neck that looked pretty fresh, and from the way Kohane glanced at Touya, she could guess who put it there. “Uh. Right, so why the hell do you—”

“An.” Touya cut her off, and she turned in time to see him hit the ground.

The three of them jumped, and An dropped to her knees beside him, hands hovering over his shoulders and heart lurching in her chest. “Shit. You okay?” Was he still hurt? Did these people not actually help him? She glanced at them—they hadn’t moved to attack at least.

“Yes.” He looked back at her, not a hint of pain on his face nor a care in the world that he’d just collapsed to his knees.

Akito strangled out a laugh. “Your legs literally just gave out and you’re saying you’re fine? Why are you even here? You shouldn’t be able to walk this far right now.”

Touya only shrugged. “I am. I don’t exactly feel the pain. But not even I can go against my body for long.”

Kohane and Akito looked uncomfortable at the thought, but An still had no idea what was wrong. She knew Touya was injured, but the specifics eluded her. Though Akito and Kohane clearly knew. But first, she had a routine to follow. An scooted in front of Touya, cupping his face with her hands.

“How do you feel?” It wasn’t exactly part of her job. Actually, she’s pretty sure the Old Masters would kill her if they knew she asked him this sometimes, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. (And more importantly, her.)

“Fine.” He didn’t react to her as usual.

She narrowed her eyes and gently shook his head side to side until he sighed and closed his eyes.

After a few seconds he opened them, no longer making eye contact. “Tired.”

She smiled at him. “See? There you go.” She released him and moved back, eyeing the other two, who watched in confusion.

“Now, will you explain, An?” Touya asked.

Her face screwed up in disgust and she spun back around. “Me? No, you explain! What happened? How the hell aren’t you dead? Or been arrested?”

Touya just looked at Akito, who sighed and came closer with Kohane. The two of them sat down in the middle of the clearing. “I want to hear the first bit as well,” Akito said. “We still don’t know how you got here. Or why.”

Touya nodded, and An sat back off her knees and settled. Though she could jump to her feet in an instant if need be.

“I was asked to scout out your kingdom,” Touya began, “and was discovered by a patrol of knights just north of here a week ago.”

An grimaced. Unlucky.

“I defeated them but was injured in the process.” He pointed to his left side, lifting his shirt to reveal bandages wrapped around his torso. “They chased me with hunting dogs and I got turned around in the forest,” Touya continued. “I dropped my sword back there”—he nodded in the direction An had found the sword—“and fell unconscious in this clearing. I woke up to Akito’s footsteps the next day.”

She hoped that meant no one else would come looking for him. But it must have been a bad fight if Touya got lost, even if it was an unfamiliar place. His sense of direction was impeccable. But he’d been walking south instead of back home.

“I was… startled. And attacked him,” Touya continued. “But I knew I was going to pass out again, and he didn’t know who I was, so I backed off. I woke up in his house later that day.”

An nearly laughed. They had wanted posters around, and Akito didn’t even recognise him? Good for Touya’s sake, but hilarious.

“Right. I’m ignoring the fact that Nocturne is scouting out the kingdom… So.” Akito turned to her. “We know who he is, but who the hell are you?”

An mustered her best affronted look. “I’m his…” The word died on her tongue. Handler. “Friend,” she strangled out instead. “We work together. That’s all you need to know. I was sent out to go look for him. I’ve found him. So, we can leave now.”

Akito snorted. “There’s no way you’re getting him all the way back to Nocturne in this state. He barely made it a few kilometres today.”

“And there’s no way we’re staying here!” she retorted. “You could turn us in any second. I’m not stupid enough to stick around.”

“If we wanted to, we would have done it already.” Kohane clasped her hands as if to beg. “We promise we won’t. We just want to help.”

She could only stare, untrusting, between the two of them. They couldn’t be sane to willingly shelter Touya, knowing who he was—where they were from. And no matter how nice she’d found Kohane over the last few days, she wasn’t quite ready to entrust their lives to her.

“It’s alright, An,” Touya said quietly.

She looked at him, surprised to see him looking back. She barely believed it herself—blaming it on the light—but she swore a glint of want shone in his dull eyes. So, of course she had to agree. She ducked her head, clicking her tongue. “Fine.” She trusted Touya’s judgement, anyway. He wouldn’t have let himself stay with them if he wasn’t sure they would keep his secret. She glared at Kohane and Akito. “But I’ll kill you if you so much as look at a guard.”

Kohane smiled wearily at her. “We won’t. Thank you, An.”

She felt her heart melt despite her trepidation. “Let’s just get out of here,” An sighed, getting to her feet and holding out a hand for Touya. He stared at it for a few seconds before carefully placing his hand in hers and allowing her to help him up. And wow. He’d never actually accepted before. What the hell had changed in the five whole days he’d been gone? The warmth of his woah, gloveless hands dragged her back to the present. Kohane and Akito were waiting at the start of the path, watching the two of them. They turned as she and Touya started walking towards them, and she sighed again internally.

What had she gotten herself dragged into?

Ena vehemently denied An’s presence in their house. Not that Akito expected otherwise, but she could have at least waited for them to get inside before she started yelling. Kohane must have alerted her to what was happening, because she was sitting on the porch when they approached the garden, sporting a glare that promised death.

Ena shot to her feet as they crossed into the garden. “Why the hell did you go into the forest alone?” she spat at Akito, not even giving him the chance to retort before she turned to Touya. “And who said you could leave? If you get seen, we’re all dead!”

An bristled at that, stepping in front of Touya and unsubtly fingering the knife at her waist. “Not if your yelling alerts someone first.”

Akito continued down the path before they could kill each other, waving his hands between them. “It’s fine. Would you just drop it?” He turned back to An. “And don’t kill my sister. Even if she deserves it.”

“Oi!” Ena kicked at him as he passed her to hold the door open. “Sorry for trying to keep your ass alive! And stop bringing strangers into the house. Akito!”

He ignored her as the other three stepped inside, Touya bowing his head as he passed Ena, and Kohane offering her an apologetic smile. An just narrowed her eyes. He waited for them to reach the living room before turning to Ena. “It’s not like I’m doing this shit on purpose,” he growled. “It just keeps happening.”

Ena crossed her arms, completely ignoring him. “Who the hell is she and why is she in our house?”

“Touya’s friend.” He shrugged. “She was looking for him, apparently.”

“Well congratulations to her!” Ena said sarcastically. “Does this mean they’re leaving?”

“No. Touya barely made it to the clearing, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Ena groaned. “I hate you, have I said that recently?” Her head lolled to the side, peering around the door and down the hall. “So she’s staying with us?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “She’s been here a few days—been hanging out with Kohane—so hopefully she’ll go with her.”

“Fine,” Ena drawled, huffing deeply. “Not like it can get any worse, what do I care? Invite the rest of Nocturne in while you’re at it.” She shook her head and then ushered him inside. At the stairs, she stopped and turned to him. “Just, seriously, don’t get yourself into something you can’t get out of. I’m not losing you, you hear me?”

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He still didn’t know how to react when she was genuine with him. “I know. I won’t.”

Ena just looked at him.

“…I’ll try.”

The corner of her lips twitched and she took the first step up. “Good. I’m nearly finished with this painting so don’t disturb me, ‘kay?”

He waved a hand and continued into the living room. Kohane was giving An a tour—which wasn’t very interesting considering it was a single room—while Touya sat on the couch with his eyes closed and face pale. He’d held up on the walk back better than Akito had expected, but that ‘going against his body’ thing must have hit him again. But whatever that meant, to Akito, it was just concerning. He wasn’t a knight. Didn’t even pretend to know his way around a weapon, but he knew Mizuki, and she probably would have mentioned if they required knights to fucking… ignore their pain like Touya did. He’d pass it off as some Nocturne thing, but An seemed just as annoyed that Touya did it as he was. He just… why? Touya was so weird. Did being the Dark Knight require such… oddness?

“And that’s Akito.” Kohane’s voice dragged him away from staring at Touya.

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not part of the furniture, you can’t point me out on your tour.”

She giggled, and he felt himself smiling at the sound. “Well, I suppose you two need proper introductions.” She presented An as if he could forget she was there. “Shiraishi An, this is my boyfriend, Shinonome Akito. The brown-haired girl was Shinonome Ena, his older sister. Um. Please get along.”

“Well, my standards are ‘don’t kill me and we’re good.’” Akito looked at An, who just laughed.

“I already said I wouldn’t! Put yourself in my shoes and say you wouldn’t be suspicious of you.” She glanced at Touya.

He had to think about it for a second. And he didn’t know what An had figured out in her few days in town, but he couldn’t exactly disagree. “Yeah, yeah,” he scoffed. “Nice to meet you and all that.”

“Hmm, yep.” An frowned, eyes flicking to Touya. She sighed. “I guess I owe you my thanks for saving him.”

“…” Akito stared at her when she didn’t say anything further. “Are you… actually going to say it, or just leave it at that?”

“It’s the same thing!” she spluttered. “What do you want from me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Never mind. You’re welcome. It’s not like I was gonna leave him there.” At least someone was thanking him and not just telling him he was an idiot for it. He watched Touya for a moment. Arms crossed protectively over his side and head tilted to rest against the back of the couch, he almost looked peaceful. “He fell asleep quick,” he commented.

An shrugged. “Eh. He’s not really.”

“Huh?” Akito frowned at her. “Uh. Yes, he is?”

“I mean, he’s asleep. But he’s very much aware of what’s happening around him. I think the only time he really ‘sleeps’ is if he’s unconscious.” Her grin turned downright evil. “I could hit him over the head if you want?” She mimed whacking him.

“Don’t,” Touya said, not even opening his eyes.

An laughed quietly. “Go lie down and actually sleep, Touya.”

Touya didn’t protest—practically shooting to his feet to do as she said—just stood up and silently left the room with a nod.

Kohane blinked after him. “He, um. Follows orders really well, I’ve noticed.”

An’s eyes turned sad. “Yeah.” She shook her head and looked at Akito. “I’m staying here tonight.”

It wasn’t a question, so he had no choice but to nod, no matter how much Ena would hate it. “And tomorrow?”

She shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“Right… Well… I’m going to clean the store, so uh? Hang out with Kohane?”

An winked. “Gladly.”

“Ah, wait. I was going to help you, Akito.” Kohane frowned.

“I wouldn’t mind watching or helping.” An brightened. “I’ve never seen so many flowers before!”

“I suppose you don’t get many in Nocturne?”

She shrugged. “Eh. I’m sure they’re out there in the mountains, you just don’t see them in the city.”

Akito threw his hands up half-heartedly. “Well, welcome to the crash course. Come on.” He pushed past them into the store, holding the door open behind him and letting it fall shut once they were all through. “I’m gonna get rid of the old flowers. Can you just dust and shit? General cleaning?” He looked at An suspiciously. “Please tell me you know how to.”

An held back a laugh. “Yeah, yeah. I promise it’s just Touya.” She extended her hand and made a grabbing motion for a cloth.

Akito rolled his eyes and moved to the shelves to start working; the window ones were his first priority. Kohane retrieved the cleaning supplies from under the desk and delegated tasks to An, and he was pretty sure she told her to start with the flowers on the other side of the store to Kohane. But there they were. Working on the same shelf.

It was quick work with the three of them, even when he or Kohane were distracted with their explanations, because just like Touya, An wanted to know every single flower she saw. Not that he was opposed to this. He loved seeing others take an interest. But for someone who was threatening him and considered him an enemy an hour ago, it was a strange shift.

They were left with a pile of old, unworthy flowers he’d either make more crowns out of or turn into compost—if An didn’t steal them first—and a squeaky clean shop. Akito looked around, satisfied. It was always nice to have the place look good. Someone even came in to buy a bouquet mid-clean, and he could feel An sending him a disgusted look the entire time.

It was barely a second later someone came in, and he turned to the door with a smile. An kept looking at him, and he did his best to ignore her and Kohane’s whispering in the corner. They could just leave! They were done! Why were they sticking around?

“Well. Didn’t know you could be nice!” An sang with a shit-eating grin the second the man left.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s called customer service. It’s something most people do, not that you’d know.”

“I don’t need to put it on so thick! I’m just naturally nice.”

“Yeah right,” he scoffed, throwing the closest cloth at her.

She caught it with ease. “Yeah, right! I used to work in a café, I know exactly how to be nice, A-ki-to!” she emphasised, throwing it back with far more force than he had.

It hit him square in the face, and she laughed—Kohane did as well, the damn traitor. “Whatever,” he grumbled, shoving it back in its cupboard and opening the door to the main house. “I’m hungry, come on.” He didn’t hold it open for them, mean little demons didn’t deserve that.

Kohane took one look outside at the setting sun and flipped the open sign before locking the door and following after him. An stayed to hold the door, the suck-up. Dinner would be in an hour or two, but he’d had a harrowing afternoon of being threatened and then dealing with Kohane’s new friend. So, he busted out the chocolate stash. He even gave some to the girls. Because he was naturally nice.

“I don’t have another bed for you,” he said through his chocolate as he flopped down next to Kohane before An could, forcing her to sit in the armchair. It was sort of a lie. Their parent’s bedroom was empty, but neither he nor Ena had gone in there more than once a year.

“That’s fine.” An examined the chocolate before biting into it, face lighting up. “I’ll just be with Touya,” she mumbled.

“Can both of you not talk with your mouths full,” came Kohane’s exasperated sigh. “One of you was bad enough.”

An swallowed dutifully. “I will never again be like him, I swear.” She even saluted.

How was this girl a knight? Well. He knew Mizuki, so it wasn’t that far-fetched. But come on. He nudged Kohane with his elbow. “It’s just chocolate.”

She just looked at him and he wilted. The stare lasted long enough for him to give her a square of his, and she smiled then turned her gaze to An. “Um. Do you have a plan, An? What’s going to happen?”

An sighed, head flopping to the side. “Look. Honestly, I should already be half way to Nocturne by now, dragging Touya’s stupid ass. But.” She shifted awkwardly, drawing her legs underneath her. “That would probably kill him. No matter what They say— uh. No matter what he thinks he can handle. So I suppose we’ll stay, and our lives are in your hands.” She didn’t look completely happy about that. “And… Touya is… I’ve never seen him look like that. Relaxed? I dunno. So for his sake, I’d like to stay a bit longer than strictly necessary. I mean, who’s gonna know?”

The audacity to call Touya’s demeanour ‘relaxed’ was insane, but whatever. She knew him best. “Alright,” he said. “But you’re not staying for free. And leave all your weapons”—she glared—“…most of your weapons here. You can’t carry that stuff around.”

An grimaced but nodded. “I’ll work, that’s fine. But my knives? Really? Who do you think I am?”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem.” He mustered his most serious voice.

She just winked at them both. “Guess we’ll have to change that.”

An camped out in Akito’s room that night, but reluctantly agreed to go back home with Kohane the next day since Akito’s bed was not big enough for both Touya and An. She also looked tired that morning, so he wasn’t sure she even slept.

They settled into a routine he didn’t like the ease of. Don’t get him wrong, he understood why Ena was so paranoid. But An slotted between them like she was built for it. It was a little disconcerting.

And it definitely didn’t tug at anything in his chest when she and Touya joined him in the kitchen the next couple of mornings like they’d been doing it for years—An reaching for the tea she shouldn’t know was there—and Touya settling into what had become ‘his chair.’

Chapter Text

Touya was staring at the bookshelf in the living room. He'd been... at it for a while, and Akito was getting concerned. He did know what a book was, right? Not that Akito was much better. He hadn’t touched the things, and he was sure Ena hadn't read them, either. They'd just sat there. A relic of their parents. Only getting the occasional dust.

Touya turned as Akito walked over, gesturing to the shelf with his head.

“What?” he asked. “It's a bookshelf.”

“I am aware.”

Touya was looking at him a little too directly, and Akito had no idea what was happening. He had to think. What was he not saying? Why was he looking at the books? Did he want to read them? Ohh. Did he want permission to read them? That checked out from what he knew of Touya so far. “You can read them if you want,” he offered, hoping he was right. “I don't care.”

Something like relief crossed Touya’s face. “It would be… beneficial to learn from them.” Touya sounded like he was convincing himself, or someone else. Not Akito.

“Right.” He’d learnt to just not question what Touya said. “Do you read?”

Touya nodded. “I have read non-fiction—factual books on all sorts of topics—but never these… stories.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s something in there you’d like.” Akito shrugged and held up his bag. “I’m gonna go shopping, so you can read, I guess? Take as many as you want.”

Touya nodded, attention already drifting from him. “Okay.”

“Have fun.” He repressed a grin and waved an unseen farewell before heading out the door.

He had a few things to grab from the market and he walked leisurely down the street. He was in no hurry. Life continued normally in their town. No one batted an eye at him, completely unaware of the fugitives he hid in his house. None of them had seen Touya—hopefully, no one knew he was even here—since they were still too reluctant to let him leave, but he felt bad about that. And while An’s clothes had been pitch black, she’d hidden anything that marked her as from Nocturne, and no one had questioned her when she walked around with Kohane. Speaking of…

Regretfully, he’d gotten to know An. And he’d never admit it, but she was fun to be around. Kohane had met them that first morning with a bundle of yellow in her arms that she handed to An with the excuse that she would stand out too much. An had taken it and emerged from his room wearing a yellow dress that he hadn’t even known Kohane owned. It would be too big on her, so that was probably why, he just didn’t know why she would have it in the first place. But that wasn’t the point. Seeing An look equally uncomfortable and delighted by the bright clothes was hilarious. And Touya, despite also wearing yellow, squinted at her dress when he saw it. To be fair, it was a big shift from the black pants and tunic she’d been wearing. But she didn’t hate it and looked pretty in it, and that was good enough for him. His footsteps stuttered and he nearly tripped. Well! He was ignoring that thought.

But she was funny and energetic and nothing like what he’d expected from a Nocturne knight. And more importantly, Kohane liked her. She’d been lonely since Hanasato and Momoi left a few years ago, and there weren’t many other people their age left that they liked, so it had just been them, Ena, and Asahina.

The market was slowing down from the morning rush as he arrived. He’d miss out on the better produce, but it was worth it to dodge the hundred or so people squeezing into the narrow street. He didn’t tarry, wanting to get back inside the cool house as quickly as possible. It wasn’t as bad as before, but the cold stuff wouldn’t last long under the sun. And neither would he. Yesterday’s profits were more than enough to cover the expense plus a few sweets he’d share with Ena. He shoved the containers between the milk and cheese, hoping the cold would keep the cake frosting from melting. He thanked the baker and beelined for the main street.

There were several concerning piles of books on the coffee table when Akito got back.

Touya sat on the couch. He didn’t turn as the door opened, but said, “Welcome back.” His eyes didn’t leave the book in his lap.

“Hey.” Akito dragged his bag over to the dining table and started pulling things out. “What’s with the piles?” Bread and fruit went on the main counter… and uh.

“I sorted them by genre and author.” Again, Touya barely acknowledged him.

All the cold stuff got shoved to the side to rush into the icebox. “Huh. Didn’t know we had that many different ones.” Touya didn’t answer, and Akito watched him lean over to get closer to his book. He stifled a grin and kept unpacking. At least he was showing interest in something. Not that he didn’t seem interested in the flowers. But this felt different. The cake was pushed to the other end so he wouldn’t eat it now… Flour in the cupboard and potatoes in the bag with the others.

He grabbed a plate and unboxed Ena’s cake, setting the fork on the side before heading to the couch to see Touya’s books. The piles were neat with all the spines facing Touya. And they certainly did look to be sorted by genre, judging by the titles. Why the hell did they own so many romance books?

“Well. I’ll leave you to it,” he mumbled over the back of the couch, Touya nodding vaguely in response. He crossed the room to the hall and the stairs, sending Touya one last glance over his shoulder. He’d already turned to settle deeper into the cushions, deaf to the world and hopefully Akito as he yelled up the stairs that he was coming and Ena better unlock her door.

Touya sat on the couch all of the next day. Akito flitted between the garden and the store, too busy to stop or talk, but he could see him there every time he passed. Touya didn’t move much—changed positions a few times—but was sat on the left side of the couch whenever Akito saw him. But finally, as the sun set he was free, and he could actually pay attention.

He came back into the living room after locking the store, sighing tiredly. It had been one of those days where it was like no one wanted anything to do with him, and then suddenly they all came at once. Like, was it planned? Can people not just space out their flower buying? What changed between the hours of two and three and suddenly everyone was free?

Touya had stopped acknowledging his presence after the third or so pass through the house, but at his sigh he looked up, eyeing the money bag as Akito crossed over the bookshelf to deposit it. At least the rush meant it was heavy. Akito knelt and opened the cupboard, spinning the lock with practised ease. He made no effort to hide it from Touya, not that he was looking. If he wanted in, he was sure Touya would simply break in. Or he already knew the code! He wouldn’t be surprised.

Akito dumped the bag and shut the lockbox, straightening with a groan and standing eye-level with the books Touya had reorganised. It did look a bit better like this. And at least someone cared enough to fix the mess they’d been. Touya had even dusted. He turned his attention back to Touya, who had returned to the book in his hand, but glanced up as he felt Akito’s eyes on him. Akito flashed him a grin and looked around, gaze catching on the two piles of books left on the table. “What are those ones?” he asked, gesturing vaguely.

Touya followed his gaze. “These are the ones I have finished. And those are the ones I will read next.”

“Wh—” Akito choked. Finished? “How the hell did you read like…” He counted the first pile quickly. “Four books already?”

“I can read fast.”

“Yeah, no shit,” he said under his breath. “You’ll run out at this pace.”

Touya nodded stiffly, eyes darting between the piles, the book in his hand, and Akito. He turned slightly so Akito could see him better, staring into his soul. “Yes… Are there—” He swallowed. “More?”

Akito shuffled under the weight of his gaze, more confused than anything. “More... books? Uh. Not here, but there's a bookshop in town?”

“I— More?” Touya looked almost pained, trying to communicate something with his expression—something he’d clearly never done before.

Akito could only look at him, slightly concerned and even more confused. “More books? You uh… like them? I can get more if you want?” That… was what Touya wanted, right? He was trying to ask for something new to read?

Touya relaxed, blinking slowly at him. “I— yes.”

At least he was trying? “Sure. Kohane knows more about them though, so talk to her. Just tell her what you like and— What was… interesting,” he rephrased slowly, because Gods knew that would help. “And she’ll buy it.”

“Alright.” Touya nodded. “I will… ask Kohane to buy a book. For me.”

Touya moved quickly, apparently, because the next day he had three more books, and Kohane was reading them with him when Akito and An got back from the forest that afternoon.

“What’s that?” An dumped her basket of poppies on the floor and practically ran to the couch to peer at them.

“A book?” Touya tilted his head back to stare at her.

“That’s not what I’m…” she groaned. “Don’t take it literally, I know it’s a book. I’m asking what kind of book.”

“Then why didn’t you ask that? Why would you ask a question you do not mean?”

Akito could see the wheel’s in An’s head turning. “It’s… everyone does it. That’s just how questions work.”

“That’s silly.” Touya shook his head. “It’s a mystery novel.”

“Thank you. Is it good?”

Touya side-eyed Kohane for help, and she nodded. “It’s interesting, I haven’t solved it yet, but I have my suspicions about the twist,” she explained. “I think he likes it.”

Touya blinked at that but didn’t dispute it.

“Cool!” An plucked the book from Touya’s hands and started flipping through, marking his page with her thumb.

Mystery books, huh? It was… it wasn’t surprising. But Akito couldn’t say it was his first guess. He thought it would be something more… sophisticated… or high-class. Like those chivalric romances or court dramas. Don’t ask him.

An handed the book back and pushed herself off the back of the couch. “Not bad. Okay, where’re the flowers?”

“On the floor,” Akito drawled, tapping his foot against the basket. “They’re fragile, you know.”

“They’ll survive. What do I do with them?”

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the dark room with An treading at his heels. Kohane and Touya returned to their book like they hadn’t even been interrupted.

The next few days passed far more quietly than before. Touya still helped him and Kohane in the yard, but An took his place more often than not. He instead sat on the porch and read, like a cat that wants to be in the same room as you but isn’t interested in what you’re doing. Okay, he had to stop with the cat metaphors. But the point was that he spent all his time reading.

He hadn’t seen An or Kohane yet that morning, but he knew Touya was in the living room and Ena was out with Asahina, so that left him alone in the store again. Akito looked up as the bell rang, ready to greet the next customer. He clamped down on his customer service voice as Kohane entered, a bag with at least two box-shaped things in it—books, they were probably books—swinging from her hand.

“Good morning, Akito!” she said cheerfully as she crossed the store and made a beeline for the living room door. “Slow today?”

“Mornin’.” He stretched. “More than usual. What’re you doing here?”

Kohane stopped to press a kiss to his cheek as she moved behind him, already opening the door as she answered. “Got something for Touya. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay? Have fun?” he said to the empty room. Wow. His girlfriend had abandoned him already. She finds a guy who knows a word longer than ten letters and suddenly he’s like chopped liver. Akito buried his snort of laughter into his fist. He was just glad Kohane was comfortable with Touya now. He wasn’t sure why that was so important to him.

The bell rang again, a real customer entering this time, and he smiled sweetly and got to work. Unfortunately for his boredom, she already knew what she wanted. And that included absolutely no frills— no ribbons, no paper, no fun. Akito waved after the lady once he left but definitely wasn’t scowling internally. Boring. Boo. Who buys fancy flowers and then doesn’t even make them fancy? It was literally like a coin extra.

The morning dragged on like that, thankfully with no more boring people, and with much more sophisticated people who actually bought real bouquets. He busied himself in the lulls by sharpening his shears and scissors, making sure to stash them away before any children who came in for the flower crowns saw them and got any funny ideas. Apart from that it was near dead. Maybe one person an hour. It was days like this when he regretted his life choices. He could be performing right now, having way more fun than just sitting in this slightly chilled shop. He would practice, but Kohane and Touya’s low voices had been a constant background noise through the thin wall, and he didn’t want to disturb them.

Around noon he deemed he’d been sitting out here long enough. Any longer and he might keel over and die of boredom. And the shop could survive being unmanned for an hour. It always did. Akito sighed and dragged himself off the stool and into the living room. Lunch could solve all his problems.

Touya and Kohane were kneeling on opposite sides of the coffee table when he came in. Which. One: why kneel? Two: what the hell were they doing? He couldn’t see over the couch from the door, so he shut it gently and moved to stare over Kohane’s shoulder at the— uh oh.

“Where the hell did you get a chess set from?”

Kohane didn’t take her eyes off the board as she said, “I bought it.”

“You’ve never played chess in your life.” He squinted at her, then Touya, who was looking between the pieces and the open book in front of them. The book was upside down for Akito, the bottom facing the board, so he lifted the cover and tilted his head to read: How to Play Chess. He choked on his laughter. This was what they’d been doing all morning? It wasn’t even that funny, but it was hilarious for all of a second just for the sheer randomness. “Why?”

“One of the books I read yesterday involved a murder and a chess board,” Touya answered first. “I wa— We. Have never played. So, in order for it to make sense, I should attempt to play.” His mouth tightened and he turned back to the board, moving one of the pieces swiftly.

Both he and Kohane looked at the board for a few moments before Kohane groaned. “Hey!” She frowned, covering her mouth with her closed fists as she contemplated her next move. Akito had no idea what Touya had done or why it was bad for Kohane, but it was taking a while for Kohane to respond. After a minute she gingerly picked up the horse-shaped piece and moved it warily, eyeing Touya the whole time. She retracted her hand and then froze before groaning.

Touya simply nodded. “Good.” He moved a piece. “Checkmate.”

Kohane laughed with a sigh. “I didn’t see your bishop! That was one of the moves in the book, right?” She started to reset the board, and Akito sat down on the couch behind her, all thoughts of lunch forgotten.

“It was.” Touya swiped up the black pieces from the side of the board and returned them to his side. “You did well to dodge my attempts at trapping you. I should have won four turns ago.”

Kohane blushed from the praise and waved him off. “I just got lucky.” She tilted her head to look up at Akito. “Hi. How’s work?”

“Boring as fuck,” he sighed, patting her head and directing her attention back to the board. “Who’s winning?”

“It is currently six-four, my favour,” Touya answered. He drew the book over to him and turned the page, reading quickly as Kohane finished setting up her pieces. He handed it to her when she finished, pointing out some diagram Akito squinted at for all of two seconds before giving up. Kohane nodded along to whatever she saw with a hum, though, and she returned the book to its place before moving a pawn to the middle.

It was a blur after that. They seemed mostly even, taking pieces equally and not seeming to gain or lose any ground. If that was important, it wasn’t like Akito knew. He pointed out helpful moves to Kohane, and he could tell she was trying not to laugh at his suggestions—he even lost her a bishop because she did one of them. She glared at him and he held up his hands innocently.

“I didn’t think you’d do it!”

Kohane proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the game.

It didn’t last too much longer. Another five minutes and she had Touya cornered before taking his final rook and leaving him defenceless. They probably could have gone in a circle for several turns, but Touya just conceded defeat.

“I lose.” He bowed his head as Kohane smiled.

“That was fun,” she said. “You reacted to the opening move quickly.”

“I didn’t realise which one it was for a while.” Touya swiped up his pieces again and reset the board. “You recovered from losing your bishop well.”

Kohane not so subtly elbowed him. “No thanks to someone.”

He grabbed her elbow and squeezed. “Can I play?” he asked. He should at least try one round, right? They couldn’t have gotten that far beyond ‘complete novice’ in a few hours.

“Sure,” Kohane said instantly, scooting over to sit on his right on the couch.

He didn’t bother sitting on the floor, just leaned over his knees to see the board better.

“White goes first,” Touya said after a few seconds of him just staring, and Akito nodded like he’d known this.

He moved a pawn since that was the only piece he knew how to. There was a flash of silver as Touya quickly looked up from the game to stare at Kohane. Something passed between them but Akito didn’t take his eyes off the board. Touya moved the pawn in front of his king, and Kohane was suspiciously tense next to him. Akito looked between Touya’s impassive face and Kohane’s nervous one but they told him nothing. With a shrug, he moved the pawn next to his first one, and the speed at which Kohane gasped had him instantly regretting it, but it was too late to change his mind. Again, Touya looked up, gaze sliding from Akito’s pawn to his eyes, then Kohane, then back to Akito.

…Why did he look vaguely pained? “What?”

Kohane nodded slowly and with a sense of finality to it.

Akito shot her a look. “Why are you nodding? What?” He did the same to Touya. “And why are you looking at me like that, get on—”

Touya nodded in response and Akito was only halfway through his sentence when Touya moved his queen to the side of the board and said, “Checkmate.”

“—with it…” he trailed off. “Huh?”

“Checkmate,” Touya repeated helpfully.

“No, I… heard you. What the hell?” Akito peered at the board, and sure enough, the queen had a direct line to his king, and the king was trapped. “What the fuck? What was that? No way I lost already.”

Touya shrugged. “It’s called fool’s mate for a reason.”

Kohane exploded, burying her head into her hands and body shaking with peals of laughter.

Akito just gaped. Was that a joke? Did he know? Was Touya mocking him? Kohane leaned against him, gasping for air, but he ignored her to stare at Touya, who kept staring back, no indication that it was on purpose. “Did you just call me a fool?” he spluttered. He might as well ask.

“Yes.” He did not look ashamed in the slightest.

Kohane’s laughter only doubled. Akito pushed her off and shoved her face into the cushions. “Shut up! What the—” he broke off into laughter of his own, unable to keep a straight face with Kohane struggling to breathe. “I don’t even wanna know. Why is that a move? Why does it have a name?”

“It’s—” Touya started, but Akito held up a hand.

“Rhetorical question. I said I don’t wanna know.”

“Ah.”

“It’s because only fools do it,” Kohane rushed out before he could stop her, giggling the entire time.

He stood up with a huff, glaring at the board before walking to the kitchen. “Fuck you both. I’m getting lunch. You can starve.”

“Akito!” Kohane whined. “I’m sorry!” She scrambled to her feet to follow him, wrapping her arms around his waist and not sounding sorry in the slightest. “It was funny. We can do the same thing to An when she gets back?”

He paused, contemplating. “Fine… But I want to be the one that plays her.” He spun back around, nearly taking Kohane’s feet out from under her, and dragged her back to the living room. “Show me how to do it, Touya.”

“Okay.” Touya reset the four whole pieces they’d moved, and Akito had never paid more attention to chess in his life.

An took everything back, this was the best decision of her life.

Touya had a hobby! And friends! So did she; but that wasn’t a new thing, just a ‘it’s been a long time’ thing. And far less exciting. It was fun to just relax. No duties, no work, no having to justify murder to herself. It was great. (Apart from them ganging up on her at chess a few days ago.) Touya had convinced her to stay with Kohane and that he’d be fine with the Shinonomes, so she’d practically moved in. The Azusawas had even cleaned up the spare room for her, so she no longer had to sleep on the floor. The downside was she wasn’t with Kohane. They’d even filled out the wardrobe! Was this what they called a forced adoption? She was grateful, though. Especially since the wardrobe came with several more pairs of pants than it did skirts and dresses. While the dress was fun, pants were much easier to move around in, and she wasn’t totally sure no one would come looking for them. In the heat today, though, the dress was a life saver.

“An?” Kohane’s voice broke through her day-dreaming, and she shot up in her bed.

An grinned. “Hi! What’s up?” Kohane had her wide straw hat on, with another in her hands, presumably for her.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to walk along the river? It’s going to be hot today, so I thought we could— wah!”

An cut her off with a flying hug (tackle). “Of course!” Her heart clenched at the thoughtfulness. It was why she’d been hiding inside, it was hotter than it’d ever gotten in Nocturne and she was just planning on staying indoors. But wading through a river sounded amazing. The only rivers she went to were usually half-frozen. She peeled herself off Kohane and started leading her down the hall. “Let’s go before it gets even hotter. I don’t wanna pass out on you or anything.”

“Ah, wait there’s water on the table!” Kohane tugged her back as they passed through the dining room. “And it’s okay, I can carry you back.”

An would pretend she lost her balance because Kohane was freakishly strong, not because of the mental image Kohane just gave her. “O-oh, okay,” she wheezed out as Kohane looped her free arm through the picnic basket on the table.

“And don’t forget the hat.” Kohane reached up to drop it over her head, then led them outside at a far slower pace than An’s mad dash.

An dropped Kohane’s hand to link arms instead. As much as she’d love to, she’d melt into a puddle of sweat before they made it to the river. “Oh Gods,” she moaned as they stepped outside and the heat hit her. “Never mind this was a bad idea.”

Kohane just laughed and led her down the path. “It’s alright. It’s not too bad right now, this is probably just a bit above average. How warm does Nocturne get?”

She couldn’t help but look around for Kohane’s parents, but no one was visible. “Careful,” she warned quietly, then louder, “I don’t think it ever gets above fifteen degrees in summer. The capital is really far north though. I’m sure it gets warmer at the southern border.”

“Fifteen…” Kohane shuddered and turned to the left, away from the town. “I get cold really easily, so I’m glad Akito is like a heater in winter. I couldn’t imagine it always being so cold…”

An shrugged, ignoring the pang of jealousy at the thought of being Kohane’s heater. She was warm too! “It’s not bad. If you grow up like that, it’s just normal. This heat though? Evil.”

“I suppose you’ll have to get used to it— ah.” Kohane’s steps faltered. “Or not… For now…”

“I will.” She ignored that thought. It wasn’t important right now. “I’ll never get hot again.”

“Well, you already are,” Kohane muttered under her breath, blushing, and An had to pretend not to hear her, chalking her own blush up to the heat.

It was a short, fifteen-minute walk down the main road to reach the river. Something An was eternally grateful for because by the ten-minute mark she was ready to tap out. A several-hour hike through snowy mountains? Fine. Sure. Fifteen minutes across a flat, grassy, hot field? No thanks. But Kohane kept dragging her along, and she could see the river, so she didn’t have an excuse to stop. Just before the road ended they veered off to the right and forged their way through the grass. An could see the path Kohane had carved from past ventures—the grass not springing up as it should and barely visible scuff marks in the dirt. Kohane dragged her up the slight hill until the ground levelled out and the river was in front of them. It was wider than she’d expected, easily ten metres across where they were, but it varied up and down. She could even see a mill closer to the north side of the town where the river came closer to the outskirts. It was quiet, as well. Only a few people were out in the fields on a day like today, no matter how ‘normal’ Kohane said the heat was. Though none of those field workers were anything close to within earshot—just little blobs in the distance.

“I like to come out here a lot,” Kohane said, unlinking their arms to drop her basket on a large, flat rock and kneeling to retrieve two canteens. She offered one to An, and she took it gratefully. “It’s quiet most of the time, and not too fast to swim, or close to any pollutants.”

An hummed and looked around. “It’s nice,” she agreed. “So, we can swim here?”

Kohane swallowed her current mouthful of water, nodding vigorously in lieu of speaking. “We can, but I didn’t really plan on it today. I wasn’t um… sure if you could?” she said sheepishly, and An only laughed. “Well, it sounded like you don’t swim! You said all your rivers were frozen! I was just going to get my feet wet.”

“I can swim!” An giggled breathlessly. “You’d think that’d be a requirement for a knight, yeah? I could swim in full armour if you want?”

“D-don’t do that!”

“Where would I even get armour?” An shook her head and returned the canteen. “It’s alright, wading sounds good to me.”

She waited for Kohane to stop drinking and cover the basket again then pulled off her boots and socks and threw them somewhere near the rock. Kohane followed her lead in a much more dignified manner and joined her at the bank. Standing so close to the water only amplified the heat so with a whoop An took the first few steps in, cool water splashing around her ankles and soaking the bottom of her dress. Kohane squealed and covered her face even though the water was nowhere near her, and stepped into the river with her, letting out a high-pitched squeak at the cold.

It was shallow for the first metre or two but she quickly had to hike her dress up or stop moving. The water was so nice, a pleasant coolness compared to the freezing water she’d expected. An bent over to scoop up some water, splashing her face and letting the excess water drip onto her clothes. Oh yeah, that felt so much better, and now the slight breeze was even nicer on her exposed skin.

“An!” Kohane yelped behind her as she straightened, and oops. The tips of her hair were soaked from when she bent over and standing up must have flicked water back at Kohane.

“I’m just helping you cool off,” An laughed, kicking playfully at Kohane and being careful not to actually splash her.

Kohane took off up the river. “Help me some other way!”

“Running is the opposite of cooling down!” An yelled, sprinting after her.

She caught up almost immediately—Kohane wincing over the sharp rocks beneath their feet and unwilling to splash everywhere by running. After narrowly avoiding a collision they kept walking in Kohane’s chosen direction.

“You two seem pretty popular around town,” An said after a few minutes of walking. “Everyone asked me how I knew you when I was walking around.”

Kohane looked up at her through her hat. “I wouldn’t say popular… Akito and I are just the only ones our age.” She shrugged, kicking the water. “We perform a bit, so everyone knows us. But do you know the phrase ‘it takes a village to raise a child?’ It’s like that.”

“Performing enough that everyone knows you is popular,” she teased.

Kohane looked away. “Aha. I suppose so.”

“You don’t look so happy about that.”

“Well… you might have noticed I’m a bit… shy.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” An reached over to squeeze her hand. “Makes you even cuter.”

Kohane squeezed back before pulling away to tug at her skirt nervously. “You’re not the first to say that. But it’s uhm. More of an anxiety thing… it’s not always fun.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay!” Kohane giggled at her crestfallen face. “I’m a lot better about it now. I just… I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. I would just float through the days, bored out of my mind with no real goals or dreams. And my anxiety made it so hard to go out and try anything new.” She nearly stumbled as the rocks beneath her feet shifted, latching on to An to regain her balance. She giggled breathlessly before continuing. “Akito was the same. He had a dream but it got a bit… shattered… when his mum died. But there was this summer festival when we were thirteen. It was so much fun! The mayor went all out. Hired a lot of performers. A theatre troupe, singers, dancers, a carnival—you name it. Those singers did something to Akito. I’d never seen him look so happy, but he didn’t say anything about it.”

“I see. That must be hard.” She wasn’t sure what else to say.

Kohane looked up from the water and smiled. “A few weeks later he told me he’d been practising singing, and he sang for me in the forest. It was…” Kohane’s smile turned softer. “It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I wanted more of it. He asked me to join him, but I couldn’t do it. I wanted to. Really badly. But…”

“Your anxiety?” She raised an eyebrow. “Even in front of Akito?”

“Yeah… that age was when it was worst, I think. I couldn’t even tell you why I said no.” She looked over the horizon, tracing the curve of the river in front of them. “But after another month or two, he performed in the inn. Objectively he wasn’t great, and a few people even booed him, but I think that’s what made me change my mind. I saw him trying so hard, and I was so sick of not being able to do anything. So, I cornered him after and said I’d sing with him.”

“And then you rose to fame!”

“No!” Kohane looked aghast. “Gods, no. It was a fun hobby, but I still wouldn’t perform with him. Around that time, he also asked me to help out with the store. Ena was so busy with her art that he couldn’t keep up alone, so then I had two hobbies. Well. The store is more of a job, but it’s fine.” Her voice turned wobbly. “A year later, my friend Minori left the town with Ena’s friend Airi to become performers. That change was a lot for me—losing my friend. So, I withdrew even more. I didn’t want to sing again.” An could feel the bittersweet smile on Kohane’s face without looking. Kohane sighed lovingly. “But the day before she left, Minori came over and told me to keep going. That I had to. That I looked so happy while singing that I’d die if I didn’t.” Kohane laughed. “And she was right. If I’d stopped I’d never forgive myself. I started performing with Akito after they left. It was hard at first, but everyone was supportive, and here I am today.” She turned to An, blushing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go on like that.”

An shook her head furiously. “No, thank you for telling me. That’s amazing. I’m glad you kept going. And now I really want to hear you sing.” And what were the chances? She already knew they sang, but now she was thinking about it, maybe they could sing together… Her heart might explode first…

“Aha… maybe soon. We’ve been a bit busy.”

“Akito sang,” she sniffed. “Not that he knew I was there. You’re just holding out on me, Kohane. Hey. Wait.” Her next step didn’t come as she processed Kohane’s last couple of sentences.

“What is it?” Kohane stopped a second later, turning to her.

“Minori and Airi… those names sound… familiar.” Ugh. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember. Why the hell would she even know two random girls from this town?

“Oh! Yeah. They’re pretty famous, I think. More More Jump? The clover girls—do you know them?” Kohane asked, as if An’s life was not flashing before her eyes.

She couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of her, probably looking slightly insane as she doubled over. “Know them? Kiritani Haruka is my best friend!”

Kohane lit up. “Really?! That’s an amazing coincidence. How do you know her? I didn’t realise she was from Nocturne.”

“We—” An choked on her laugh as she tried to calm down. “We’re both the daughters of high-ranking knights. I knew of her and had seen her around since we were kids. But we were bunkmates in the academy and trained together.” She sobered quickly. “But, well. Something went wrong and Haruka left. I haven’t seen her in years, but I get letters sometimes. And she can’t really come back to Nocturne after deserting. It's why they don’t travel to Nocturne. Apart from the whole being a hostile kingdom thing.”

“Wow… small world,” Kohane said. She squinted up at the sun. “Shall we turn back? It’s been half an hour.”

“Sure. The heat’s getting worse and I think I may faint.”

“Wah!?” Kohane held her arms up ready to grab her.

An’s eyes widened at the speed of her reaction. “I was kidding!” She leant back against Kohane’s arm. “I can still do this, though.”

“An! Don’t do that!” Kohane yelped, but she held firm, so An had no choice but to keep leaning back until she was forced to adjust her stance. “H-hang on! An!”

An laughed and kept putting on the pressure. She wouldn’t go too far—she didn’t want to hurt Kohane or fall—

And her foot slipped out from under her and they were falling.

They hit the water with a splash. Kohane’s legs had come under An’s head so she didn’t hit the rocks, but the rest of her body wasn’t as lucky.

Kohane’s concerned face stared down at her, hat lit by a halo of light. “An! Are you alright?”

“I— pft— Hahaha!” An burst into laughter again, lying spreadeagled in the shallow water of the river, head in Kohane’s lap. “Sorry! I slipped! I’m fine. Are you hurt?”

“An…” Kohane giggled. “I’m alright. You’re a bit soaked, though.”

“So are you!”

“Only the bottom half.”

“Oh well,” she sighed. “At least I’m nice and cool.”

“You got your wish. Come on.” Kohane nudged her head and she sat up. Kohane’s arms didn’t leave her and she dragged An to her feet. “Let’s get you home. I don’t want you to get sick.”

“It’s the middle of summer! And I’m from Nocturne!” She ignored the way her heart fluttered at the word ‘home.’

“I don’t think colds really care,” Kohane sighed lovingly. One hand slipped down her arm to interlace their fingers, and then she was dragging An back the way they’d come, practically running in her haste.

“Slow down there!” An laughed and tugged her back to walk normally. “I’m fine.”

Kohane eyed her dripping clothes. “Yeah. Alright. We’re still going back. Hey, can you tell me about Haruka? Did her graceful dancing come from knight training?”

They made their way back to the basket. Kohane was easy to talk to, even without being able to open up about everything. She hoped Kohane didn’t mind, especially after she’d told her about her anxiety. But it was nice to just let loose and talk about non-serious things. It felt like most of her conversations lately were one-sided orders with Touya or confidential army plans that she tried to ignore the results of. But in this river with this girl, she could just gush about her favourite food or her aunt without mentioning the whole… Knight Captain thing. And she hated to admit it, but Kohane was only getting cuter the more she got to know her. Of course, of course, she’d never do anything about it. She couldn’t, and Kohane was already spoken for. She just sort of wished she could slot herself in there as well. It wasn’t exactly impossible, she knew. Haruka did something similar with her groupmates. But was she okay with it? Were Kohane and Akito okay with it? There was no point thinking about it. Especially not yet. She wasn’t that attached—it’d only been a week or so.

But Kohane was showing her a smooth rock and that was infinitely more important than any romantic crisis.

Their basket was where they left it and they spent ten minutes lying on the grass to let their feet dry before putting on their socks. Their dresses had mostly dried, but it was still a darker colour and made wet slapping noises when she walked. The water in their bottles had turned uncomfortably warm so they refilled them in the river before heading back. The sun was crawling higher and higher, nearly at its zenith when they got back. Kohane’s parents had sandwiches laid out on the table for them and her stomach grumbled embarrassingly. Kohane politely didn’t laugh and they returned to their rooms to get changed.

An peeled her dress off, hanging it on the handle of the drawers so it wouldn’t ruin the floor. She found a pair of shorts and a thin cotton shirt that wouldn’t suffocate her and got changed. Kohane was pouring some juice into a pair of glasses when she crossed through the main room and she nearly salivated then and there. But no, first she had to hang up the dress and hat. The clothesline was empty bar Kohane’s dress and she pegged her things next to it then raced back inside for that crisp juice.

“Is it wrong to say you look better like that than in the dress?” Kohane commented as An slid into her seat.

An beamed. “Nope. Dresses are cool and all, but I do feel more comfortable in pants.” She reached for her glass and gulped half of it in one go, letting out a sigh as the tart apple flavour quenched her thirst.

“I can tell.” Kohane smiled. “But I do think you’d look good in anything.”

She picked up her sandwich to hide her blush. “Do you wear pants?” she asked once she’d swallowed.

Kohane took a comparatively tiny bite of her sandwich. “Rarely. I don’t think I own any.”

“You should try it. I feel like it’d be easier to kneel in your garden in pants?”

“Probably.” Kohane shrugged. “But I don’t mind.”

They inhaled the meal in record time and it was delicious as always. An finished first—though not by much—and laid her head on the cool wooden table, idly watching Kohane out of the corner of her eye. She finished her sandwich and brushed the crumbs on the table back onto her plate, then finished her juice.

Kohane stretched with a cute sound and smiled down at An. “Well, I’m going to check on the cow’s water levels and see if they’re all right, would you like to come?”

She sat up and shook her head. “I’m gonna see Touya, see how he’s healing.” She could list about a hundred things she’d rather do in this heat than walk around the field, no matter how much she wanted to hang out with Kohane.

“Sure, have fun.” Kohane looked around the room until she settled on the kitchen counter, and she stood up. “Oh, would you mind taking this bread? Mum promised Akito she’d give him some.” She scooped it up and held it out for An, who took it.

“No problem. Have fun with your cows.” She tucked the loaf under one arm and they walked to the door together.

“Hehe. I will. I’ll see you later,” Kohane said with a smile before she skipped over to the stable.

An continued down the path, waving. The heat was worse now and she didn’t really want to be outside. Maybe she could hide out in the cold room at the Shinonomes. Akito probably wouldn’t let her open the door, though. Because of that, she walked a bit faster, which probably didn’t help and actually made her hotter, but it was the thought that counted. Several people greeted her on her way through town, which was a strange feeling, and one she’d missed from her days working at the café. Everyone greeted and knew her there, and somehow, after not a month, the people here did the same. The perks of a small town.

They did keep asking about Kohane, which only reminded her of earlier. They’d done… a lot of hand-holding. More than normal. Especially in the heat. It was a bad idea, and yet Kohane kept reaching for her hand. And then An had quite literally fallen for her. Her head had for a few seconds, been pillowed by Kohane’s thighs. She could feel her face heating up at the thought and she desperately wished she had her hat to hide under. She’d been too shocked to think about it at the time. But damn. Kohane catching her was hot.

An slapped her face and willed those thoughts away. She was getting way ahead of herself. The shop was in view already, and she grimaced. Had she really spent that long thinking about Kohane’s smooth skin and pretty— nope.

She pushed open the shop door and walked straight on through. No one was at the counter and she hoped they didn’t come running because of the bell. She was proved right when she opened the next door, with a sightline straight down the hall she could see Akito’s ginger mop peeking through the back door from the garden. She waved him off to indicate he didn’t need to come inside and headed over to the kitchen. The bread was deposited in its box and she spun around to find—to no one’s surprise—Touya on the couch, book in hand.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted, twisted to look over the back of the couch. “You are blushing.”

That only made her blush harder. “What?! No-oh,” she denied. “It’s hot outside and Kohane and I went for a walk. I’m just… sunburnt.”

He looked at her with calculating eyes and closed his book. After a few seconds of terrifying silence, he tilted his head like he’d caught his prey. “You like Kohane.”

She laughed, waving one hand aimlessly and crossing over to his side of the room. She didn’t want him to speak loud enough for Akito to hear. “Oh, come on! Who wouldn’t? You do, right?”

“I do. She is kind and sweet, yet strong and determined.” Touya levelled her a look. “But you know that’s not what I meant.”

“Well. It’s not like anything’s going to come out of it,” she spluttered and crossed her arms. “I know this is only temporary. I won’t see her after we leave.” She tried not to sound so disappointed, but she knew it didn’t work.

Touya hummed lowly and looked away.

“Well, what about you? Are you happy here?” she deflected.

“I don’t know,” Touya answered, still not looking at her. “It’s… brighter here. Do I seem happier?”

She snorted. “Anything compared to before should make you happier. I think you are.” Anything would be better than the room she’d seen only once. Anything would be better than having no control over his own life.

“I see…”

They devolved into silence. She wished he could just say he was, but she honestly didn’t think he could. She was—at least, once she stopped thinking about all the things she’d get in trouble for. Those were future An’s problems. For now, she was happy with her new friends, and Touya got to be normal for a bit.

And that was really all she wanted.

Flames crackled lowly in the fireplace. They didn’t need it—it was actually too hot in the room now—but Ena and An had made a stew from Nocturne that An insisted was made ‘properly’ in the fireplace, not the stove. It was delicious but spicy as all hell, and Kohane had given up half way through, preferring to just eat the bread instead. Ena had retreated to her room after dinner, citing she wanted to finish her current art piece tonight, but Akito knew it was because she didn’t want to intrude on ‘his new friends.’ He and Kohane sat on the couch, while Touya and An had taken the two armchairs. Touya sat properly, of course, but An was curled up on the thing, limbs splaying in all sorts of directions.

Not that he was currently any better.

In the past month this nightly talk had become something of a routine. Kohane had begun eating over a lot more lately, mostly because she and An wanted to hang out with Touya. If Ena was annoyed she didn’t show it. And they certainly covered the cost of any extra food by helping in the store. Speaking of which.

“You’ve been skipping out on me, cheapskate,” he grinned at An. “Where’ve you been the last few days? What happened to helping me, miss ‘great at customer service?’”

“I’ve been busy!” she sniffed haughtily. “You know. Living my life. Hanging out. Enjoying my spare time. It’s not every day you get an illegal vacation.

“And what about my spare time? I can’t do anything these days except work.”

“You’ve been fine the last uh.” She squinted at the clock next to the fireplace. “Five years.”

“The clock doesn’t tell years?” Kohane stifled a laugh.

“It does now.”

“That was before Ena stopped fucking helping me,” he groused. “She works maybe like once a week if I’m lucky. I know she’s busy and all and her painting earns more money but come on. I know she’s been saving half of it for something, ‘cause the amount she pulls in dropped but she’s somehow got more work.”

“You’re complaining about her making money?” An raised an eyebrow.

“No. I’m complaining that she’s not fucking helping me. And she keeps making me do everything around the house! I’m not her errand boy. She’s the big sister­—she’s meant to do that shit. She can get her own paints.” Yes, he was annoyed. But he’d do it anyway because he liked having his head attached to his body and maybe also owed her a little bit.

“Hmph,” An scoffed. “I’d love to have her as a big sister.”

He narrowed his eyes. “She’s literally suspicious of you, why the hell would you want that?”

An shrugged. “And she’s right to be. That’s what makes her a good older sister.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Especially since she has to deal with a little brother like you. Of course she’s wary of the Dark Knight and me—a Nocturne knight. She’d be stupid not to be. If I had a little brother and he was doing stupid shit like fraternising with the enemy, I’d do the exact same.”

“Fuck off,” he scowled. “I’m a great brother. And I get it. I know why she’s doing it, but it’s been this long, I’d hope she’d get over it. Unless you’re still planning on stabbing us in our sleep.” He glared jokingly at her and she mimed throwing a knife with a wink.

Kohane coughed and covered her smile. “Anyway. Does that mean you don’t have siblings?”

“Nope! I’m an only child.” An grinned.

“Me too.” Kohane paused. “Except for Count Pearl—”

“Count Pearl is not fucking human, ‘Hane.” Akito nudged her with his foot.

Kohane sniffled. “She’s my sister.”

An groaned and shuddered.

“Who is… Count Pearl?” Touya spoke up for the first time in a while.

Kohane practically lit up and turned to him, talking a mile a minute. “My pet snake! She’s so cute. I should bring her over so you can meet her. She’s small, with pretty white scales and…”

Akito made pained eye contact with An as Kohane continued to ramble about her snake. At least An was sensible and understood that his girlfriend having a pet snake was insane.

“So, it’s just Akito with a sibling.” Kohane directed her question to Touya, rant thankfully short. “Unless you have any?”

Touya shook his head. “No. I don’t have any family.” He frowned on the last word, looking down briefly before shaking his head again. “What is it like to have siblings?” he asked.

“Well… it’s like having a friend pre-made for you. ” Akito didn’t want to lie to Touya about something like this. So, he could—gag—be nice about Ena for once. He ignored An trying not to laugh. “It’s nice. Someone to rely on and grow up with. You know everything about them but they’re also a complete stranger sometimes. Sometimes they’re your best friend and sometimes you just tolerate them. Ena… is all I have family-wise. She raised me, I hate her, I love her. I want her to succeed, she’s annoying as fuck. Everyone’s different. But it’s… nice to have someone around.”

“And you can feed them mice.” Kohane nodded seriously.

He shot her an incredulous look. “Ena would literally kill me if I did that because she’s not a snake. I think. Anyway, it’s complicated, but I hope that made… sense…” He trailed off as he turned back to Touya. “Uh.”

Touya was staring into the fire, eyebrows drawn in a little more than normal and seemingly a mile away.

“Touya?”

He blinked, eyes snapping to Akito’s. “Yes?”

“Are you okay?” Kohane asked before he could. “What were you thinking about?”

He blinked again as if he’d been unaware of it himself. “…Siblings. It sounds… nice.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw An slump further into her chair, a pinched, guilty look on her face. “Yeah,” he sighed, “it is.”

Touya just kept staring at him, and the conversation stilled. He shook his head after a few seconds. “I’m going to the bathroom.” He stood up and left the room without another word, and An’s expression only worsened.

“What was that?” he hissed at An once he heard the bathroom door close.

“W-what was what?” She forced her face back into a smile and leaned away from him—as if that would help.

He sat forward threateningly. “That face! You know what I mean.”

“You did look uhm… upset,” Kohane piped up.

“No!” she spluttered. “I just— stop looking at me like that.”

He and Kohane simply doubled down on their glares. “You know something and you’re keeping it from him,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

An deflated. “Maybe, but I’m not saying it!”

“We won’t tell him if it’s that serious, An.” Kohane smiled and he could see An’s resolve waver.

“I really can’t… it’s…” she mumbled, fiddling with a loose thread in the chair.

“Come on,” he goaded. “Just tell us.”

She groaned. “You’re not gonna drop it, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Ugh. He…” An bit her lip, and rushed out almost too quietly to hear, “He did have siblings. Or something like that.”

Kohane’s eyes had gone as wide as saucers, and he was sure his weren’t far behind. “What? Why doesn’t he know them? What do you mean did?” he exclaimed, only remembering to be quiet halfway through.

“And they just… let this happen to him?” Kohane whispered sadly.

An shook her head slowly. “No. They don’t know.” She clammed up and stared at the table for several seconds, some sort of internal debate going on. “He’s…” She rolled the word around a bit. “He’s— fuck.” She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “He’s from Phoenix.”

What?

“…I’m what?” came Touya’s small voice from behind them.

Akito tensed and swung round. Touya stood frozen in the door frame, eyes wide.

“Ah!” An’s head shot up and she was out of her chair in half a second. “Touya!”

“An? What did you…” Touya sounded lost, eyes searching hers.

Akito felt like he was watching a tennis match and he’d just been hit with the ball. An kept opening and closing her mouth, unsure what to say, while Touya was showing the most emotion he probably ever had.

“I— I don’t know much.” An held her hands up defensively and dropped her gaze. “They never told me, I just heard things. I— fuck. I really shouldn’t say this. But… I heard that you’re from Phoenix. You might not know—heck, I’d bet you don’t. But Nocturne tried to invade Phoenix twelve years ago,” she said. “There were no big battles, just skirmishes to test out Phoenix’s defences. But they were prepared and their army was equal if not bigger than ours. Nocturne could have won. It would have been brutal and bloody. They would have lost a lot of their army. But they would have done it. Then suddenly they gave up.”

Akito chanced a glance at Touya, he looked like he wasn’t even listening, staring a hole straight through An. Kohane sent him a concerned look and he matched it. No. He hadn’t heard about this so-called war. And he had no idea what it had to do with Touya.

“The king announced they’d come to an agreement with Phoenix,” An continued. “That we’d back off and Phoenix would just… pay taxes or something. I never paid attention to it. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learnt why. The ‘agreement.’ It was… well. Touya. Someone from Phoenix given to the Old Masters in exchange for not invading them. That was the deal.”

Kohane inhaled sharply and Akito could feel his face twisting in anger. What the fuck?

“Touya, I—” An winced, looking up from the table for the first time.

“Okay,” Touya said, voice once more devoid of emotion. He stared for a second longer, face blank, then turned on his heel and walked back down the dark hallway.

It was scary. He’d forgotten how empty Touya had looked the first few days. It wasn’t noticeable until this happened. Until he shut down and you could tell how much more open he’d become, even if the change was barely there.

Slowly, Akito turned back to face An. He wasn’t sure where to start. It felt like it just came out of left field. And it raised way more questions than it answered.

An dropped back into her chair, burying her head in her hands and letting out a muffled groan.

“…They sold him?” Kohane breathed. “Why? What would Nocturne even want him for?” She blindly reached for him, and he squeezed her fingers tightly.

“Look, I— I don’t like what my kingdom does.” An shot them a tormented look, hands splaying out in front of her uselessly. “Especially not to Touya. I’m already doing things with him I’d get killed for. If They knew I was fucking up Their pet project by showing him actual compassion, They’d have me hung. But what can I do?” Her head hit the back of the chair and she glared at the ceiling. “It’s still my kingdom. I’m still… I’m still their knight.”

“Their pet what?” Akito spat. “What the fuck?” Is that how Nocturne saw him? Is that how An saw him? He didn’t think so. But how could he be sure anymore?

An grimaced and swore under her breath. “Forget I said that.”

“I don’t think I can? What the fuck are you talking about?”

“It’s none of your business.” An straightened and levelled them both a look. “Seriously. Drop it. For your own sake.”

Kohane knocked their hands against his thigh in warning and he sighed.

“I’m… gonna go check on him,” he said after a minute. He stood up with a final squeeze to Kohane and a glare at An, then turned to follow after Touya.

He hadn’t heard the door open, but there was only one place Touya would go. The moonlight shone through the laundry window down the hall, illuminating his path enough to see. He reached the end and opened the back door as quietly as he could, slipping outside and shutting it behind him with a soft click.

Touya was sitting in the grass near the flowerbeds, the taught line of his shoulders all Akito could make out. He didn’t say anything as Akito crossed the garden to kneel next to him. He glanced sideways, breathing in the cool night air. Touya had his knees to his chest, one arm wrapped around them and hunched over, the other toyed with a leaf, trying to coax a ladybug onto his finger. He watched as it explored the side of his finger, eventually crawling up and onto his nail. Akito just sat there, breathing in the night air and tracing the stars above.

It was nearly five minutes before Touya moved, gently returning the ladybug to its leaf. “I don’t know what I’m meant to do about this.” Touya’s voice was subdued.

Akito didn’t look away from the sky. “Well. It’s up to you, I guess.”

“I don’t know how to do that. Nothing ever has been.”

Akito winced. And wasn’t that sort of the problem? How had he even come to be like this? Why was he controlled like that? Why hadn’t he done anything normal? Why was he taken from Phoenix and turned into an unfeeling fucking child soldier? Not that it was any of Akito’s business. But he didn’t think Touya would ask those questions himself, so someone had to do it for him. “Does it change anything?” he asked.

The silence stretched. He didn’t know if Touya was just thinking, or he didn’t know the answer.

After a few minutes, Touya sighed. “It’s… It… caught me off guard. I didn’t think to even question where I’m from. It doesn’t really… change anything, though.”

“Really?” It would for him. “Being treated like that and it not even being for your own kingdom? That’d piss me off. You should be angry.”

“…I’m not. That’s— it’s just how it is,” he said blankly.

Akito studied him. Touya was as tense as a bowstring—ready to snap. As gently as he could he reached out, loosely grasping his arm and leaning back. He felt Touya stiffen beneath him, but he ultimately relented and let Akito drag him down. They hit the grass with a dull thud and it was blissfully cold beneath his skin. Touya looked at him curiously and he pointed up at the stars. Touya followed his lead and together they traced them. Touya probably knew the actual constellations, but that wasn’t what was important here.

“Look. I—” he started, speaking softly. “I don’t know much. I’m not gonna pretend to know the whole picture. From what you’ve said and I’ve seen it’s… fucked up. Something is clearly wrong. You’re being treated weirdly and no one deserves that and I’m sorry. But I don’t know everything. Maybe it’s like you said and it’s just how you are. But I kinda hate that for you.”

Touya’s head twitched like he wanted to look at him, but held back. He licked his lips. “I don’t know how to respond to your pity. If you pity me… something is wrong.”

Something is wrong, he thought. “Okay,” he said aloud. “Only you can decide if it is. I’m just giving you my opinion.”

They laid in silence and stared up at the sky. He was pretty sure he could see the North Star. And that was probably the Twins over there. It’d been a while since he’d done this and it was far more relaxing than he remembered. If he put aside the reason they were out there in the first place, that is. Touya was warm next to him, some of the tension in him dissipating as he breathed slowly. He didn’t know what he was meant to do. Touya was strange and sheltered and lonely and terrifying. And somewhere along the line, Akito decided he wanted to be the person that fixed that. But he wasn’t sure if he could be— If he even needed to. Maybe Touya was right and it was fine. But somehow, he sincerely doubted that. He just didn’t know what Touya needed. What he wanted. Touya probably didn’t know either.

He bit his lip and thought. How could he help right now? Keep Touya here? Stop him from having to be used again? That was a little ambitious. Him. A nobody florist—defy the entirety of Nocturne? He could try and make Touya see reason, but that sounded even more impossible. He scanned over Touya again. Like he’d noticed earlier, he did seem happier now. Even if the change was minuscule, something had changed. So maybe it was working. But then what? Touya healed and An decided he was well enough to go back in another week or two. Then he goes back to being the unfeeling Dark Knight he was meant to be.

Akito hated it.

“Do you want to go back?” he blurted out.

Touya’s eyes flicked towards him but he said nothing.

“…Do you want to stay?" He turned to look at Touya properly.

He looked almost... frustrated.

Akito tried again. "Alright... would you stay if I asked?"

Touya nodded, that pinched look immediately fading. “Yes,” he whispered.

“You can,” Akito urged. “You can stay for as long as you want.”

“It’s not up to me. Or to you,” Touya replied in the same despondent voice as before.

“We’ll just… see what happens.” He couldn’t stop him leaving. Especially not if anyone worse than An came looking for him. But he could at least let him just exist for now.

Touya shifted, turning towards the door a second before it opened and firelight flooded the back garden. An and Kohane’s silhouettes appeared in the frame and the pairs stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Stargazing, huh?” An broke the stand-off, skipping down the stairs. “Haven’t done that in a while.” She flopped down opposite Touya, a few centimetres separating their heads and her hair fanning out across the grass.

Kohane followed slower, placing her lantern just inside the door before closing it, cutting off the light. She walked over more carefully, coming to Akito’s other side and curling her body around his head, legs brushing An’s hair. Akito bent his arm up for her and she loosely interlaced their fingers.

An only lasted a minute before she broke the silence, which was longer than he’d expected. “I’m sorry for not telling you, Touya,” An said quietly. “I wasn’t exactly allowed to. But I’m still sorry.”

Touya hummed lowly. “I forgive you.”

She huffed. “What, just like that?”

“Yes. I suppose I should feel angry. At you, for not telling me. At Phoenix, for… selling me. I think I am. Somewhere. But I know it was not up to you. You weren’t the one that did any of this. You were the only light I had. Of course I forgive you.”

An odd sniffling sound came from behind him. “Alright. I’m sorry, Touya. I’m not even doing half of what you deserve, you know.”

Touya didn’t respond to that, and instead asked, “Are we staying?”

He could almost hear the conflict in her tiny brain. “…Yeah. As long as you’ll have us, and as long as you want.” She smiled shakily at Akito—a peace offering.

He rolled his eyes and smiled back. If Touya forgave her, so could he. “As long as you want,” he repeated.

“For what it’s worth,” Kohane said, “I’m glad we met. I want to keep making memories with you both, and I hope we can stay like this.”

An ‘awwed’ and reached for Kohane’s other hand, her arm brushing his head, while Touya simply looked over him to Kohane and blinked slowly. Like a cat— Brain, we’ve been over this.

They laid there for what could have been a minute or hours, watching the stars and the moon crawl across the sky. It was warm, and it had nothing to do with the summer heat. Kohane, of course, curled around him, always there. Touya occasionally brushing against him as he pointed out the stars Kohane asked about. An’s hair tickling him and her hand toying with his hair when Kohane tugged on her. It felt nice.

Kohane’s jaw-breaking yawn broke the peaceful silence, and he snorted.

“Is your face in one piece?” He rolled over to cup her face with both hands, making a show of inspecting her.

“I’m sowwy!” she whined. “It didn’t hurt.”

“Just making sure your bones are intact. Does the hamster need to go to bed?”

Her face glowed red in the dark. “Akito!”

“Is that a yes?”

“Hamster?” An laughed. “Huh?”

He grinned at her. “You gonna tell me she doesn’t look like a hamster.”

She traced Kohane’s face, and her own lit up, looking like she was having a religious experience.

“Her face can get quite round,” Touya said.

He shook Kohane’s head. “You’re outnumbered.”

“That’s why I didn’t want you to say it in front of them…” Kohane lamented.

“Too late.” He sat up with his own yawn. It was probably past midnight by now. “You gonna go home or stay here?”

“Stay? If that’s alright.” Kohane joined him, tugging at An to sit up, but she just rolled over with a groan.

“I’ll sleep on the grass. It’s kinda nice.” Her voice was muffled.

Touya got to his knees. “That doesn’t seem wise.”

“Fine, I’ll sleep on my armchair.”

“Is my bed not good enough or something?” Akito got to his feet and brushed the grass off his knees and back.

“It’s fine.” An shrugged. “Not big enough for two.”

“Yeah, we know,” Kohane muttered, and he kicked lightly at her.

“You complain, but you know we’ll both be on the couch, which is even smaller.”

“‘Thank you for being my blanket, Kohane.’ ‘I love you, Kohane.’” She glared playfully.

“I will roll over in the middle of the night and crush you like a bug,” he threatened, leaning down to pull her up.

“Wah, An! Save me!” She shook him off and ran behind An, who threw out an arm between them.

“Not on my watch! I’ll squish you, bitch boy.”

He just shot her an unimpressed look.

“You all express your love for each other in such strange, roundabout threats,” Touya commented, much to his embarrassment.

“Wh—” he spluttered. “Shut up, man. …Don’t take that literally.”

An stifled her laughter and herded Kohane back inside, he and Touya right behind. Kohane retrieved her lantern and led the way down the hall, stopping to call out, “Goodnight, Touya,” before entering the living room.

An turned to Touya at his door and Akito slowed his steps to give them a second. They exchanged quiet words, An smiling softly. She ruffled his hair then turned on her heel with a wave to Akito. He stopped next to Touya as he opened the bedroom.

“Um.” He cleared his throat. “You learnt a lot of new fun shit tonight. I guess just… don’t worry? If you even will. But it’s alright to uh. Take a minute to process it? It’s a lot to take in.” He groaned. “I dunno. Just. Rely on us?”

Clear grey eyes stared back with a hint of surprise. “Akito, I… Than—” Touya’s voice cut out and he shook his head. “Never mind. Goodnight.” Then he shut the door with a small nod and Akito was alone in the hall.

He was left wondering what Touya was going to say, but a loud bang from the living room quickly dragged him from his thoughts. He spun round and powerwalked down the hall. They couldn’t keep this bedding arrangement up. As much as he loved Kohane, the couch was not very wide, and he could definitely see this sleepover thing happening again.

And well… if Touya was staying. His poor back might need another bed before the couch killed him.

Chapter Text

To say the room came into focus would be a lie. It was barely brighter than the darkness, only whispers and ideas of shapes around him. The imaginings of a room that the creator couldn’t be bothered to finish. He sat in a room that should be bright and lively; but was instead blurred and hazy. Black static encroached on the edge of his vision, darkening further as a hole in the blackness opened and faceless figures walked in followed by his faceless ???

He hopped off the half-defined stool to greet them as he had been taught to. “It’s nice to meet you. I am…” He bowed, his voice muffled and distorted, too deep for his small body.

They ignored him for the other man. “He will do.” Darkness exuded from the hoods of the figures, showing nothing. They were nothing as They looked at him. He felt nothing as They looked at him. “You will come with us.”

He blinked, confusion flooding him as he directed his question to his ??? “Where are we goi­—”

Pain sparked across his face and he yelped.

“You will do as you’re told.” Their voices were too loud to be human. Could not possibly fit inside the cloaks leering over him.

But why? Only ??? commanded him. He tried to step away, behind the one who was supposed to protect him.

Warmth—coldness—around his wrist stopped him, too tight and tugging him back and away.

“???!” he cried out.

A sliver of light appeared, glittering sharply at his neck. He froze out of some deep-seated survival instinct.

“Do as They say. Go with Them,” a familiar voice said, laced with ice.

He wanted to look at him, but the sharpness stopped him. After a second it fell away to let him spin around. Staring in confusion at the one he loved.

“??? what’s happening? Plea—”

Ice snapped around his neck, cutting off the rest of his words—choking him. It clinked behind him, yanking him back again. Pain and fear swirled through his head. And he knew if he fell he would simply be dragged along. The cloaks pulled him towards that hole and he could do nothing but stagger after Them.

The rest of the room faded away, leaving nothing but that back he had always looked up to. Turning away. Walking away.

Dragged away.

Into darkness.

Into eternal winter.

…

…

Touya opened his eyes without a sound.

His hands shook under the blanket.

A lot could happen in a month. Your mum could die. Your dad could leave. You could see a life-changing performance. You could get publicly humiliated because your stupid prepubescent voice cracked on stage. You could kiss the cutest girl in the town.

You could rescue a knight and then invite him and his friend to live with you and also go through like twelve different crises over it.

Akito had mixed feelings about months.

He didn’t regret the last one, though. If you asked him thirty days ago what he’d be doing later, he certainly would not have answered, ‘salad food fight with his girlfriend and two Nocturne knights.’ Well. One knight. The other kept dodging and refused to throw anything. It started with An putting a tomato in his bowl. So of course, he had to retaliate with a carrot. But she wouldn’t let that stand and threw a fucking lettuce leaf at his face. Thank the Gods Ena was at Asahina’s and couldn’t watch this.

He could hear Kohane’s attempts to muffle her laughter into her hand next to him but couldn’t exactly see on account of the lettuce leaf.

“Now you really look like a carrot,” An snorted.

Blindly he reached for his bowl and threw a handful of salad at her.

She screeched. “Hey!”

Akito didn’t bother grabbing the lettuce, he just opened his mouth and ate it.

Kohane’s laughter could no longer be muffled and she slapped at his arm. “Akito!”

“What?” He picked up another carrot and threw it at her. It bounced off her chest and landed in her bowl.

She puffed up her cheeks and grabbed it, her other hand shot out to hold his face and she pried his jaw open.

“Nononono,” he managed as she shoved the carrot into his mouth. He did not swallow. She did not remove her hand. “-o-a-ne,” he strangled out. “-ease.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Eat the carrot, Akito.”

His girlfriend was trying to fucking poison him.

He ate the carrot.

Kohane smiled sweetly and pet his cheek before retracting her hands, turning back to her salad like nothing had happened and she hadn’t just killed him.

It was peaceful and it looked like it was over—for all of two seconds. An slowly slid her hand across the table to a piece of cucumber from Akito’s earlier throw that had not made it. She formed a circle with her thumb and index and flicked it towards Touya without looking. He simply leant back and let it fly past. They all watched it hit the wall and Touya turned a disappointed look on An. She laughed sheepishly and held up her hands innocently. Then he just… went back to eating.

“At least throw something back, she deserves it,” Akito booed.

Grey eyes flickered up to him and back to the salad. Denied.

“It’s because he loves me and would never hurt me,” An crowed smugly, crossing her arms and lifting her nose haughtily.

Kohane tapped the table between her and Touya. He immediately threw a tomato at An.

An jumped out of her seat. “Gwah! Betrayed!”

Akito narrowed his eyes. Since when did Touya listen to Kohane more than him? Rude. At least An had suffered and was swiping at where the tomato had hit her, despite the lack of any stain.

“It’s just a tomato, An,” Kohane giggled.

“Tomatoes are evil,” An hissed. “They do not deserve a place in my salad.”

“You don’t like tomatoes?”

An shook her head and leant down to grab the tomato, putting it on the table. “Cooked? Sure. Raw? I’d rather die.”

Kohane nodded like this was fine and she had no problem with people disliking things.

Akito threw up his hands. “Oh, so when she hates something it’s fine. But when I do it gets shoved down my throat.”

An shrugged. “You’re a little baby who can’t partake in cannibalism, it’s okay.”

“Cannibalism?” he choked.

“We have already established you look like a carrot. It’s a common insult to those with ginger hair,” Touya oh-so-helpfully explained. “Ergo, if you eat a carrot, it is cannibalism.”

He slammed his head into the table as Kohane and An howled with laughter. Touya’s deadpan yet sincere delivery did not help.

“When did we fucking establish that?” he wheezed. “I hate it here.”

Kohane patted his back sympathetically slash condescendingly and he sat up to glare at all three of them, reaching to shove a forkful of carrot-less salad into his mouth because that was at least something he had control of.

“So, we all have something we dislike…” Kohane hummed more to herself than anyone else. “And I know what Akito likes…” Her eyes flicked up to Touya, then she turned around to look at the kitchen bench for nearly ten seconds.

“Kohane?” he asked slowly. “Anyone home?”

She ignored him but spun around to look intently at Touya. “We are going to find you something you like or so help me.”

Touya just blinked at her. “Okay?”

Akito waved a hand in front of her face. “We’re doing what now?”

“We.” She looked at him and An in turn. “Are going to make things. A competition. A cooking competition. To find what foods Touya likes.”

An grinned evilly. “Cooking? Competition? I think you just said my two favourite words.”

“We should all cook something for Touya to try, and if he doesn’t like any of it we’ll just try again until we find something. We’ll…” she trailed off and her eyes drifted to the clock then widened comically. “I have to start now!” Her chair scraped loudly as she shot up, and she was halfway across the room as she yelled, “I’ll see you at eleven tomorrow! Goodnight Akito, Touya!” Then she was gone.

Akito blinked after her. What. What was the hurry— oh. He could see An holding back a smile and he looked at her.

“…She’s making peach buns,” they said in unison.

An grinned brightly before her face dropped. “Wait, she forgot me. Kohane!?” she wailed dramatically towards the door, but Kohane was probably half way across town by now. An rolled her eyes fondly and shovelled the last of her salad into her mouth before stacking it with Touya’s and standing. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she laughed.

“Goodnight,” Touya responded as An waved and ran after Kohane.

“‘Night,” Akito called out, shaking his head. He looked at Touya. “Well. This should be interesting.”

And that was how he found himself standing in a kitchen too small for all of them and ready to cook the next morning. It wasn’t hard to think of what to make. There was really only one choice for Touya’s first venture into real food.

Pancakes.

He made sure to pick up some fresh fruit after his morning run around the town—Touya deserved only the best if he was going to try Akito’s pancakes. Everything else he knew they had. He and Ena made pancakes a bit more than necessary, if he was being honest. That is, if An stopped eating his strawberries. He slapped her reaching hand away after the third pilfered strawberry. “I need those. Stop it.” They traded glares until An sniffed and crossed her arms. “Alright, miss head chef.” He turned to Kohane once his fruit was safe. “Now what?”

Touya sat alone at the bare table—forced into his seat the second Kohane arrived. Everything had been removed and shoved into the living room. Whatever Kohane had rushed out for last night—cough red beans cough—sat in a pot next to the stove, her bag of ingredients next to it. An had bought a few opaque jars but otherwise had no ingredients, so he had no idea what she was planning on making. He, of course, had all his things set out before the girls arrived and the stove lit. Kohane had taken one look at his flour and sugar and hid a smile in her bag.

“I suppose we all start?” Kohane answered, picking up her pot. “I’ll need the longest, so I’ll go last. But you can just go ahead?” She carried it over to the sink, knocking him out of the way with a gentle nudge of her hips to fill her pot.

“Thanks for your permission to cook in my own kitchen,” he drawled, reaching down for a bowl. “Do you need anything? What are you even making?” he directed towards An, who had jumped onto the table and was swinging her legs idly.

She shook her head. “Nope, don’t worry about me. And it’s a secret.”

“I’m gonna find out in like half an hour.”

“Then what’s the problem?” She grinned, kicking harder to hit him and nearly knocking him over where he was kneeling. “You can be patient.”

“This better be the best Gods damned meal in the world,” he muttered and righted himself, slamming the bowl onto the bench.

Kohane moved between them before An could kick him again, placing her pot onto the back burner and checking the clock. “No fighting in the kitchen.”

“That barely counts as a fight,” An protested, but tucked her feet behind the table leg.

He could feel Touya’s eyes burning into his back and turned around to find him intently watching the bowl as if he could see through Akito. He would not be surprised if he could. To make it easier for him to watch and give Kohane the bench he swung around and dumped his ingredients onto the dining table.

The pancake recipe was ingrained into his soul at this point, but he moved slowly. Kohane needed time and Touya was watching. He wanted to at least make his job of just sitting there less boring. He measured and sifted the dry ingredients and whisked them together, barely getting into it before Touya was tilting his head in his peripherals.

“Why are you mixing it so slowly?” Touya asked.

Akito looked at him properly, whisk coming to a halt. “I’m… not?”

“You could mix it faster, though. Would that not be more efficient?”

Akito repressed a grin, lips screwing up. “If I did that the flour would go everywhere and make a mess.”

Touya frowned at the bowl for a second before understanding dawned in his eyes. “Oh.”

Kohane came over from her pot to steal his ingredients for her dough. “It’s the thought that counts.” She smiled. “It might be more efficient, but that’s not really important in cooking.”

“I think Touya should be allowed to destroy the kitchen.” An shrugged with an evil grin.

“Only if you fix it after,” Akito shot back. “Are you even making anything? You haven’t moved.”

“Keep whisking and you’ll find out.”

He rolled his eyes and returned to his pancakes. She’d be losing their competition and then he could laugh at her. The milk and eggs were added and whisked vigorously, much to Touya’s confusion after he’d just been told not to whisk fast. Akito spun around for a frying pan and set about preparing it on the front burner opposite Kohane’s pot. It was a little tight on the bench—she had turned her dough out onto it to knead—but he had enough room to fit a plate and his batter next to the stove. Conversation flowed freely between them, the silence never longer than a few seconds. Even Touya spoke up more, contributing his limited thoughts, asking questions more than anything else. Kohane kneaded effortlessly next to him as he poured out his first pancake while An and Touya uh… Threw spoons at each other? He wasn’t sure and he wasn’t going to double check.

He didn’t want to overfeed Touya, so he only made two—perfectly cooked, thanks—pancakes, stacking them onto the plate. Then he flipped another plate over the top to keep them warm while he cut the strawberries. The cream had been made last night since he didn’t want to mess around with it while trying to cook. It sort of ruined the surprise but he had no choice but to assemble it on the dining table in front of Touya. Though the interested sparkle in his eye—one that had been there all morning—made it worth it. He swirled the cream on—already in its piping bag straight out of the icebox. Carefully, Akito piled the strawberries, some blueberries, and raspberries onto the pitiful two-pancake stack, An only managing to steal a lone raspberry this time, then liberally doused it in stripes of chocolate sauce.

Kohane paused in her kneading as he finished, quickly washing her hands and pulling out a knife and fork for Touya that she put next to him. An joined him on his other side to watch. Akito spun the plate around and pushed it across the table to Touya.

Touya examined the plate in front of him, spinning it around to look at every angle. Carefully he took the cutlery and after a moment of deliberation cut a small triangle out of the side, scraping some cream and a strawberry onto the slice and bringing it up to his mouth.

Akito watched with bated breath, analysing his face for the moment he realised how delicious food could be, but… nothing.

Touya swallowed and looked between them apprehensively, resting the knife and fork back on the plate.

“Well?” An asked encouragingly. “How is it?”

Touya didn’t say anything but noticeably had stopped making eye contact with him, keeping his gaze on Kohane and An.

Kohane glanced at him and then back to Touya. “There’s no right or wrong answer,” she said softly. “Whatever you think of it is perfectly fine.”

Touya searched her eyes for a second before nodding jerkily. “It’s…”—his voice dropped to a nearly imperceptible whisper—“too sweet.” He tensed, almost looking like he was waiting for something to happen. “The pancakes themselves are fine…” he continued when nothing happened. “But the cream and sauce are too much… sorry.”

An shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. “Okay. You don’t like sweet things, noted. There’s nothing wrong with that, Touya.”

Touya’s shoulders dropped and his tight grip on the knife loosened.

Kohane nodded in agreement before freezing, eyes widening. She spun around to her ingredients then dumped half the sugar for the filling back into its container and came back to the table. “Well, we learnt something, and that’s the only goal of today. So this is a good thing, Touya.”

Akito held back a snort at her haste. “Yeah.” He reached over and stole the plate. “I don’t care if you don’t like it, Touya. Just means more for me.”

“You say that like the rest of the batter wasn’t also for you,” An commented.

“It was for all of us, asshole.”

“So gracious of you.”

“You don’t get any now.”

“Hey!” An grabbed the batter and cradled it to her chest. “Not if I eat it raw first.”

He shot her a disgusted look as Kohane carefully took the bowl from her. “Don’t? You’ll get sick.”

An pouted. “Yes, Kohane…”

“Sorry, Akito,” Touya apologised again. “You went through all that effort and I—”

“Woah—” Akito hurriedly swallowed the bite of pancake he’d stupidly had. “It’s fine. It wasn’t much effort in the first place. And seriously, again. I don’t care if you don’t like it, Touya. That’s the point of this whole thing.”

His words didn’t do much to assuage Touya’s fears. “I’ll still eat it. I normally would, I just thought…”

“You thought right. No one’s gonna make you eat anything you don’t want to.” Akito held the plate away from Touya, who looked like he was about to grab it and finish anyway. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll use the batter and put bacon or something on it. You can have a savoury pancake.” And he would. No matter how sacrilegious that felt to say.

Touya blinked but nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he replied through his pancake, and Kohane kicked a leg out behind her to hit him.

By his count—and the amount of times he’d watched her make her peach buns—she was nearly done kneading. He finished his pancakes, letting the other three talk, and just watched the rhythmic motion of her hands. She beat him to it, placing the dough into a clean bowl and laying a towel over it just as he was scraping the last bits of pancake into his mouth. She set the bowl under the light coming from the window and turned around with a satisfied smile. She took one look at him and asked, “Akito, can you get flowers to dye this?” She pointed at her bowl for emphasis. “Preferably edible ones.”

He hummed in assent and dropped his now empty plate into the sink before heading towards the garden.

An gasped. “As opposed to inedible ones? Are you trying to poison Touya?” She shouted after him, “Akito, are you gonna poison Touya?!”

“Yeah,” he yelled back. “I’ve got some oleander out there—nice and pink.”

He could just barely make out Touya’s protest as he walked away. “Don’t do that? Those are toxic…”

Akito snorted before swiping the shears on his way past the laundry and opening the back door, then their conversation was cut off behind him. He beelined for the pink camellia pot near the back wall. It was his first thought the second Kohane asked and the leaves would be fine for the green dye. He clipped a few off and brought them inside, washing them in the laundry sink and shaking the excess water off.

Touya seemed to have taken him too seriously and looked intently at the flowers in Akito’s hand as he came back into the main room. He relaxed as Akito showed him the camellia, which begged the question of why he knew Akito didn’t have oleander. Or that it was toxic in the first place.

Akito deposited the flowers in front of Touya. “Can you take the stems off? Or all the petals, I guess. Just separate the pink and green. He waited for Touya to nod, then opened one of the cupboards, kneeling with a groan. He knew it was here somewhere, but it was so rarely used it’d be long since buried in all the other bowls and shit they had. Thankfully it was heavy, and thus at the bottom of the cupboard, and he victoriously pulled out the mortar and pestle for Touya. He slid the bowl across the table to him. “Put the petals in there and crush them into dust. Just… don’t break it. Be gentle.”

“Alright.” Touya took the bowl with a frown of pure concentration and tipped the pink petals inside. He picked up the pestle and pressed it into the petals a little too carefully, but An was already moving to help him, so Akito left them to it.

“My turn,” An sing-songed once Touya was using the correct amount of force. She came into the kitchen, nearly knocking Akito over as he put the batter in the icebox for later. “Akito, you’re fired.”

“What?” He glared up at her. “This is my kitchen. You’re fired.”

She tutted. “We already know you lost the competition, so you’re fired!”

Well. She wasn’t wrong. But she couldn’t be sure Touya wouldn’t hate hers or Kohane’s things! He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

“We can’t all fit in the kitchen, go on. Help Touya make the dye or something. I’ll only be ten minutes.”

And he couldn’t argue with that. He shut the icebox door forcefully but did as he was asked (told). Touya had decimated the petals, so he got a small bowl for him to put the powder in, then took the mortar and pestle to wash the pink out. Hah. Back in the kitchen. Fuck you. He gave it a cursory swipe with the towel before handing it back to Touya to crush the rest. He split his gaze between Touya trying not to literally crack his bowl and An boiling water. One was far more boring, but he still had no idea what she was making, so he kept watching.

Kohane was peering around An to check her beans—not that she should have to, An had no reason to stand in front of her boiling water—and yet she was. Seemingly satisfied, Kohane sat down in her usual seat opposite Touya and inspected the petal dust.

It wasn’t until An pulled two mugs from the cupboard that he realised what she was making. “Oi, that’s not a food. I thought this was a cooking competition.”

An shrugged unabashedly. “Yeah, but I thought about it last night and realised, ‘he’s never had anything except water, so what better time to try?’ I’ll cook something later.”

“You’re just scared,” he sniffed. “I knew you couldn’t cook.”

Thank the Gods Touya had fast reflexes. He didn’t even realise An had thrown a wooden spoon at him until it was quivering in Touya’s outstretched hand, inches from his face. He blinked at Touya’s wrist. “Huh.”

“An,” Touya warned.

“What! I knew you’d catch it. It wasn’t even a fast throw!” she laughed as if Akito’s life was not flashing before his eyes.

“What the fuck? I take it back, fucking hell.” He leant away as Touya dropped his arm.

“An,” Kohane placated, looking upset. “Please don’t throw things at people.”

An looked suitably chastened. “Sorry. Okay, maybe that was harsh. But I seriously knew Touya would catch it, I wasn’t actually trying to hurt you. We do it a lot in the barracks… Sorry, Akito.”

“Okay, okay, whatever. Forgiven.” He straightened, narrowing his eyes at her. “You might do it all the time, but I’m not a knight.”

“Yeah… I know.” She grimaced, then jolted with a hiss of pain. She spun around as the water overboiled, spitting at her. “Stop that.”

“Divine retribution.”

An stuck a finger up at the ceiling with her free hand. “No thanks.” She’d been a bit distracted trying to kill him to do it earlier, but she pulled out a tea bag and put it in the first mug, then filled it with water and put the pot on the bench.

“Is that enough?” Akito turned back to Touya, who was showing Kohane what was once a leaf.

She nodded and spun in her chair to place both bowls back on the counter. “Thank you! You’re really good at that. It takes me ages to get them so fine.”

“It was harder trying not to break anything than actually crushing it.”

Kohane stifled a laugh.

“You laugh,” An called over, “but I watched him break an actual boulder in half once.”

Kohane yelped.

“I won’t break anything,” Touya assured. “On purpose,” he added after a concerning pause.

An spun around. “Well, don’t get too excited and break this mug.” She placed the steaming cup in front of Touya. “It’s hot, so wait.” She clapped once and dropped into the last chair. “This is black tea. A lot of people drink it with breakfast or in the afternoon. Or… Anytime. There are a bunch of different types, like fruit ones, and the taste can change depending on what leaves you use. If you like this—and the coffee I’ll make next—we can try other ones.”

Touya examined the mug the same way he had the pancakes, which was a little insulting considering it was literally just a mug. He pulled it closer and lifted it to his face, sniffing cautiously. Then, with fare less fanfare than with the pancakes he took a sip. Again, nothing changed on his face, but Akito knew by now that didn’t mean anything. The mug came to rest on the table, and Touya watched the steam coil in the air.

“It’s… good?” he said slowly. “I would… drink it again.”

An fist pumped. “Point one to me. Good for you!”

Akito tried to scowl at his complete loss, but he was just mostly just glad Touya seemed to like it.

“I’ll do the coffee real quick.” An grinned and put the pot of water back on the lit stove. “How much longer do you need, Kohane?”

“Uhm. The dough is done rising, but it can wait a few more minutes.” Kohane thought aloud as An poured in the coffee grounds. “And the beans will be done at the same time, then they just need to cool a little while we finish the dough. So maybe… an hour? But could you put some hot water in this glass first…”

Akito let them talk about Kohane’s cooking process and turned to Touya. “Good, huh?”

He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve never thought about whether things taste ‘good’ or not. I don’t really know what that means.”

Akito pursed his lips. “Yeah, I don’t think I could explain it either. You just gotta try lots of things until something sticks. You’ll feel it when you find it.”

Touya looked at him blankly, in a way that he’d almost describe as judgy. “Right. Feel it.”

He did not laugh. “You will! I don’t care if it takes ten years, we’ll find something.”

Touya hummed and looked back at An, who was rummaging through his cupboards again. She pulled out one of his precious coffee filter papers with a cheer. Akito would complain about using them up, but he didn’t remember the last time he’d used one, and Touya deserved the best, or something. She poured the coffee into the mug, the paper catching the undissolved grounds, and was left with a steaming cup of coffee.

She spun around with a ‘ta-dah.’ “So. Coffee. A lot more bitter than tea. You can add milk if it’s too strong,” An explained as she swapped the tea for the new mug. “I’d also usually suggest sugar but uh.” She laughed. “I don’t think so.”

Touya nodded and took the mug in much the same way as the tea—spinning it and sniffing experimentally. He brought it to his lips with far less hesitance than the tea and took a small sip.

His eyes widened.

They all froze when Touya did, waiting for him to spit it out or something, and mostly just marvelling that he’d actually reacted to the food—drink—whatever.

But Touya took a bigger sip then stared into the murky depths for a solid ten seconds. Gently he placed the mug down, gaze still locked on it as he spoke. “I… I l-like it. It’s— It’s a good… flavour. Complex?” He side-eyed Akito for help and he nodded. Sure. He’d heard someone say that before. “There are lots of flavours at once, but it’s good.”

Akito could feel An’s smug grin from here, but he couldn’t even be mad. Touya had even said the L word.

“Why am I even surprised,” An laughed. “Of course you hate sugar and love black coffee.”

“Told you you’d feel it.” Akito nudged him, but Touya was too busy gulping down the rest of the mug to acknowledge him. “Aaand we’ve lost him.”

Kohane giggled with a soft look at Touya. “I didn’t expect to find something on the first try, but I’m glad we did.”

He and An both hummed in agreement. He spun to check the clock—it was nearly midday—then turned back to Kohane. “Your peach buns are lunch now.”

“Ah, sure.” Kohane jolted, remembering she still had to finish her own dish. “But it’s still going to be a while.” She squeezed past An to her beans to empty them into another bowl.

“It’s fine.” He shrugged. “I’m not that hungry.”

An turned to him, hand on her hips. “And what about me? What if I was hungry?”

“Starve.”

She pouted at Touya. “Touya, can you believe this shit?”

Touya just looked at her, face still buried in the now empty mug. “Yes.” His voice echoed weirdly.

“I’ll give you more coffee.”

Instantly he handed her the mug and turned to scold Akito. “Don’t be mean to An.”

Akito threw up his hands in despair. “What the hell. You can literally eat, you know where the food is. I never said you couldn’t.”

He could see An’s grin even though she was facing the stove. “Nope, you told me to starve.” She handed Touya a second cup. “I hope the caffeine doesn’t affect him.”

Akito side-eyed Touya, who at least took this cup slower. “Oh Gods.”

“If it does, he can get it all out on this.” Kohane spun around and joined them again, holding the bowl of cooked beans. “Sorry, Touya.” She sheepishly placed the bowl in front of him alongside the pestle. “I’m making you do a lot of crushing today. Can you please pulverise these? I need them to be smooth.”

Touya set the mug aside and took the pestle. “Of course. What will caffeine do to me? I have undergone mithridatism, so it won’t hurt me.”

He and Kohane silently begged An for help, and her face twisted up like she’d eaten something sour. “Taking small doses of poisons to build immunity to it,” she scowled.

Kohane went a little green and uncovered her dough. “Oh. N-no, nothing like that. It just gives you an energy boost.”

“Ah, a stimulant?”

“Yeah!”

An hopped up onto the table, rambling about coffee and tea and the benefits and side effects as Touya smashed the beans into a paste, the metal bowl clanging terrifyingly. It only took him a few minutes, far quicker than Akito or Kohane had ever done it before he was handing An the bowl to give to Kohane. She scraped the beans back into the rinsed pot and added the oil and sugar.

“You’re cooking them again?” Touya frowned.

“I’m not really cooking them. I’m just incorporating the sugar and oil and drying it out,” Kohane answered. “It’ll only take a few minutes.” She stirred it a few times until it was at the consistency she wanted, then returned it to the bowl. Into the icebox it went, and then they were nearly done. “I put it as close to the ice as I could, so hopefully it will cool quickly,” Kohane said as she shut the door. “Would you two like to help me with the dough?”

“Yes please!” An jumped off the table and nearly knocked Kohane over.

“I’ll do it, but I won’t nearly push you into the stove while I do,” Akito huffed, grabbing An by the shirt and dragging her next to him in front of the bench.

“I didn’t!” An squawked.

“Dough.” Kohane shoved the bowl in between them before they could do anything else. “Roll it out on some flour and take about a fist-sized ball for the leaves please, Akito. An, can you divide the rest into twelve balls?”

“On it,” they chorused.

Akito took the two remains of his camellia to make the dye. He added a few drops of hot water into each, slowly stirring and adding more until the flower was dissolved and he was left with the coloured liquid. He rolled over the extra dough An had made and added the green, resigning himself to staining his hands, and kneaded until the dough took on the colour.

Kohane was helping An with the dough, but she stopped when he tilted the now-green dough towards her. She nodded and dusted her hands, but as he reached for a knife to cut the leaves out she stopped him.

“Ah, wait.” Kohane dived into her bag. “I have this.” She pulled out a thin piece of metal, shaped like the outline of a leaf, maybe two centimetres tall.

He stared at the metal. “Where did you even get that?”

“The bakery gave it to me.” She smiled. “I was asking them how they made their buns and they gave me an extra cookie cutter. The blacksmith makes them, apparently.”

“Huh.” He stepped back with a shrug. “Special treatment. Surprised they even gave it to you, since you’re solely responsible for their peach bun sales,” he teased.

Kohane puffed up her cheeks and shoved him out of the kitchen. “So what? The café starts screaming when they see you and Ena coming.”

An snorted.

He scowled and turned to Touya, who had been quietly watching them work from behind his coffee.

Touya only raised an eyebrow. “You did seem… excited about the pancakes earlier.”

He threw up his green hands. “Fuck all of you, why can’t I bully someone without it getting turned back on me? I’m washing my hands. Kohane, I’ll leave the baking soda in the laundry,” he yelled as he stalked towards the hall.

“You’re soft,” Kohane called after him. “Thank you!”

In the laundry he washed his hands first with soap, getting off most of the dye by scrubbing so hard his hands turned red instead. He placed a shallow bucket in the sink, pouring in some baking soda and cold water, then rubbed the paste over the tips of his fingers until he was no longer plant-coloured. He liked plants. But not that much.

The girls were finishing up the leaves when he returned, Kohane trying to keep An’s hands away so she didn’t also fall victim to the dye. She had twenty-four perfect leaves neatly lined up as he looked over her shoulder, barely a few scraps of dough leftover. After dusting her hands, she wriggled out from between them. “Please set up the steamer basket—it’s in my bag,” Kohane said as she made her way to the laundry.

An was closer, so she pulled it out while Akito filled a new pot of water and placed it on the stove. The water would hopefully be boiling by the time the buns were done.

“Steamer basket?” Touya asked, peering around An to the bamboo steamer. “You cook them with… steam?”

“Yeah.” An showed it to him properly, opening the lid. “The steam from the boiling water gets trapped in the basket and heats it up enough to cook.”

“Interesting. I was under the impression dough needed a long time to cook.”

“Hmm, yeah,” An hummed. “But these are way thinner than loaves of bread.”

Touya nodded silently, looking around the kitchen with something akin to awe.

Akito let them discuss cooking and opened the ice box, sticking a finger into the beans. They weren’t as cool as Kohane would probably like, but he knew they’d be fine like this, so he pulled them out and put them behind the balls of dough.

Kohane came back soon after, and the three of them got to work. She even let Touya out of chair jail to watch from beside Akito since they were blocking his view. Akito hadn’t done this in a while so the first one was embarrassing. But it wasn’t as bad as An’s, who had never done this before. Once Kohane finished with her four buns—far quicker than he and An, clearly—she collected the pink dye and dipped her finger in, brushing the dye over the indented part of the dough, turning it the colour that gave the buns their name. He and An tried their best to keep up, shoving their far messier balls of dough at her as fast as they could, but she was too efficient, and several times was left without anything to do, getting quietly smugger each time. It wasn’t his fault peaches had such stupid shapes and the dough was too bouncy it wouldn’t stay how he put it. Touya’s unblinking gaze was also a little nerve-wracking. But his hands imitating Akito’s movements were cute.

Who said that.

Kohane finished the last bun with a grin, removing the lid of the pot that had been crying for mercy for the last minute, and replacing it with the steamer. She dropped in four buns and shut the lid, glancing at the clock.

“That seemed like a very long and complicated process for such a small thing?” Touya commented, eyeing the neat rows of unsteamed buns before returning to his seat.

“It is a few steps, but it’s not too hard,” Kohane hummed. “I’ve made them enough I barely have to think about it.”

“You must love them a lot, then.” Touya looked contemplative.

“I do. They’re very—” she cut herself off. “No, I’ll let you decide what they’re like.” Saying so she mimed zipping her lips and turned resolutely to stare at her steamer like she could see through the basket.

“Can’t have you giving him adjectives to describe things with,” Akito said dryly.

An crossed her arms, jokingly stern. “What else would he use adjectives for? That’s their only job.”

“Oh shut up. You know what I mean.”

Exactly ten minutes passed just talking until Kohane swiftly removed the steamer and placed it on the bench. They watched with bated breath for a few more agonising minutes until Kohane slowly removed the lid and used a pair of chopsticks to move the buns onto a small plate. Using the lid she fanned them for a few seconds—probably uselessly—and ushered him and An to the table.

Kohane placed the plate in the middle of the table with an awkward flourish. “Well, I made peach buns… obviously. You seemed interested when I mentioned them before. I also uhm, reduced the sugar in the red bean paste, so I don’t know how it will taste. I hope it’s okay. There’s one for all of us.”

They let Touya reach for his first, experimentally squishing it between his fingers and watching it bounce back. “It’s certainly peach-shaped.”

“That’s because Kohane made it,” An boasted for her.

Touya hummed and bit into it. He tilted his head contemplatively as he chewed and swallowed. “The filling is nice. It’s not as sweet as I expected, or anything like…”—he side-eyed Akito—“the pancakes.”

He harrumphed.

“I can’t say I like them like you do,” Touya continued, looking at Kohane. “But they’re… okay? Thank you.”

Kohane smiled softly. “That’s fine. If you’re not used to liking things it can be hard, the coffee was a success and that’s enough. We found something you like, and something you don’t. That’s pretty good.”

“And that means I win!” An punched Akito’s shoulder lightly. “What’s my prize?”

“Uh.” Kohane blinked. “Touya’s appreciation?”

“I already had that.”

“I could take it away and give it back to you?” Touya offered.

“No?” An flabbergasted as Akito laughed. “No you can’t?”

Kohane giggled. “Well, we should start cleaning up, unless there’s something you wanted to make, Touya?”

“Me?” Touya looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “What?”

“We could all make something together. I do feel bad about just making you sit there. Is there something you want to try?”

“I…” Touya looked away, then after a few seconds turned towards where his book lay on the coffee table. “We… we could… make cookies?” he near whispered.

“Oh!” An gasped. “Chocolate! He needs to have chocolate! It’s a crime not to.”

“Pretty sure there’s some in the cupboard.” Akito nodded towards where he knew Ena kept her ‘secret’ stash. “We can make chocolate chip cookies.”

Kohane raised an eyebrow at him, but she wouldn’t snitch to Ena—this was for Touya’s sake. He reached up for the cupboard over the icebox—why Ena kept them up high was a mystery—and pushed aside the boring fancy plates they’d never touched for the chocolate.

“Which chocolate.” He held out two bags for their inspection, and An hummed.

“Dark. It’s less sweet.”

Blindly he threw her the bag and left the other for Ena. He was merciful like that. Kohane was already pulling out the whisk and measuring cups they’d need, while Touya hovered over her, taking the items and putting them on the bench. Akito grabbed the eggs and butter; everything else was still on the bench from earlier.

The oven was probably too hot from all the stove use, so he turned the flame down before cramming himself into the limited space in front of the bench. “Shouldn’t we use the table?” he pointed out. “Or are we doing this in the most annoying way possible?”

Kohane and Touya sheepishly put everything on the table instead. He rolled his eyes with a huff of laughter and pulled out the final bowl they had. He ignored the literal pile of dishes, that was future him’s problem. He reached for the butter as Kohane and An explained the process to Touya, showing him each ingredient.

“First we’ll measure out the sugars.” An slid them towards Touya, who opened the first lid and stared in. She handed him a measuring cup. “That’s half a cup. Just scoop it in and level it off with the knife. Then do the same with the brown sugar.”

Akito left them to it and weighed out the butter into a small pot. He held it over the stove, shaking lightly to not let it burn, just until it started melting and was soft enough for Touya to whisk. He could probably whisk it while it was cold, but he was more likely to snap the whisk like that.

Touya carefully measured the sugar—too carefully for what he was doing, really—bending down to make sure the back of the knife was level before scraping the extra sugar back into the container. All three of them watched him work. It was a little funny, him being so serious and acting like he was holding a bomb, not just… measuring ingredients. Kohane clapped politely as the first half cup went into the bowl.

“Alright! Now do it again with the white sugar, but only like, half fill it?” An shrugged. “Less sweet that way.”

Touya nodded and dipped the cup into the sugar again, frowning as he overfilled it. He tipped it out slowly, continuing to tip out a few grains at a time slowly as Akito tried not to laugh.

“Just guess.” He held out a hand to stop him. “You’re never gonna get exactly half.”

Touya grimaced but did so, dumping what was left into the bowl. “That seems wrong.”

Akito tipped the butter in and shoved the whisk at him. “It’s not. Now beat it until it’s smooth and combined. Slowly.”

Touya side-eyed him but took the whisk. He then did not beat it. “What does that mean?”

“You saw Akito doing it earlier,” Kohane giggled. “Hold the bowl with your other hand and then stir with the whisk. Beating just means you do it a bit faster.”

‘A bit faster’ didn’t seem to help him, but Touya did it as best he could, putting in too little effort before realising he could actually use some force. And he only sent a few drops of butter-sugar flying, which was probably better than Akito’s first attempts. The thought was ruined by the fact that he would have been six and Touya was nineteen. He finished a few minutes quicker than Akito normally did, which he blamed on Touya’s stupid strength and endurance. Akito considered himself strong, but even his arm got tired after a minute of whisking.

“Okay, that’s good.” Kohane held out a hand to stop him before he overmixed it. “Now we add the—”

An plucked the egg from her outstretched hand before she could hand it to Touya and moved to crack it open, but both Akito and Kohane called out, “Woah, woah!”

The egg stopped before it could hit the table. “What?”

Akito gestured uselessly at Touya. “Aren’t you gonna let him do it?”

She shot him a dry look. “Do you want egg everywhere? That’s how you get egg everywhere. He will slam it onto the table, I promise you.”

Touya did not defend himself.

“If you’re sure?” Kohane just shrugged at him.

He waved her to go ahead. An thanked him sarcastically and cracked the egg into the bowl. She threw out the shell and handed Touya the vanilla extract. He poured in a little bit under her strict guidance, but she did have to tip the bottle back up before the cookies became pure vanilla. Touya whisked them together without having to ask. As he did, Kohane measured out the flour, sifting it into a serving bowl, which was just sad. Touya pulled the whisk away, and An guided him to tap the mixture sticking to it back into the bowl, then snatched it out of his hand and replaced it with a wooden spoon.

“Why?” Touya asked as Kohane poured in half the flour.

“It’s better for stirring than the whisk,” An answered. “Do it slower than you’ve ever done anything in your life or you will send flour everywhere and I will kill you.”

“Don’t take either of those things literally,” Akito had to placate as Touya nodded dejectedly.

Touya stared at the bowl for a few seconds, spoon moving in aborted movements as he figured out the best way to stir it without making a mess. Eventually, he decided to scrape it from the top of the bowl towards him. Some flour clouded in the air as he hit the other edge of the bowl, but it wasn’t enough for An to act on her threat. He continued the same slow movements until enough flour was incorporated he could stir at a more normal pace. When it was nearly all gone, Kohane poured in the second half of flour and the process began again.

Akito left them to it and retrieved the baking tray and spoons. He greased the tray with more butter and held it out for Kohane to dust some flour on, much to An’s annoyance, since she was in the way. The chocolate chips had been added by the time he’d put the tray on the table and checked the oven.

“Alright, nearly done,” he sighed, handing them a spoon each. “We use our hands to form the balls, you can scoop up a spoonful of dough and then roll it into a ball. Then it just goes on the tray.

An fake-gagged at the word hands but her spoon was in the bowl before he could finish explaining to Touya, who nodded like he’d been told to lead a suicide mission, not ball cookies. They worked side by side, fighting over the dough and forming unevenly sized cookies. An threw half-formed balls at him and he smeared dough on Kohane’s face while she kept adding chocolate to hers and Touya just stood there trying to make his ball completely round.

It was the most he’d laughed in a while.

They were left with twelve misshapen and perfect cookies. He kind of hated how obvious which ones were whose was. His and An’s got bigger down their rows as they fought over the dough. Kohane’s were all the exact same size somehow, littered with extra chocolate on top, while Touya’s were the neatest, but he’d taken the longest. He also probably wouldn’t like what Akito was about to do to his perfect spheres. But, without regret, he squashed each cookie so they were a little flatter before sliding the tray into the oven and setting a mental timer.

Okay, maybe he felt a little regret, what with the way Touya stared sadly after his cookies through the oven door.

They did the dishes together. He wasn’t sure if having four people made it any faster—the opposite, probably—but it was fun. Touya and Kohane dried and put things away, while An kept trying to shove her way in front of the single sink that was not wide enough for them both. If he leaned even a little to the left he would lose his balance and get kicked out. And he couldn’t be kicked out of his own fucking kitchen. But by the time everything was packed away and all the water they’d spilt was wiped up, the cookies were cool enough to eat, but still pleasantly warm.

“Cookie,” he eloquently toasted, holding up his cookie as An and Kohane bumped theirs against his. Touya blinked at them but copied the action, very clearly judging them.

They all took a bite. It wasn’t bad. The lack of sugar was pretty obvious, but that was just his sweet tooth talking. Kohane and An seemed to be thinking the same.

Aaand Touya was having a religious experience again.

Akito stopped chewing to watch.

Touya’s eyes were slightly wide, staring at the cookie in surprise. “Have I had this before?” he asked An, blinking rapidly.

“Uh. No?” she said slowly. “I’ve never given you any, I think. Why?”

“I just… feel like I’ve had them before.” He stared like it had killed his mother. “But I’ve never eaten things like desserts or snacks. It’s nice.”

“Well, another point for the good food tally.”

“Doesn’t that point go to Touya?” Kohane said. “that means everyone got a point except…” She slowly looked at him. He refused to make eye contact.

“If I’d known about the sugar thing I wouldn’t have lost,” he sniffed.

“We never came up with a punishment for the loser,” An moaned. “Touya, make him do something.”

Touya looked at her, then at him. Akito shook his head. Touya looked back at An. “No?”

“You don’t sound very sure.”

Touya ate the rest of his cookie instead of responding.

“Ha.” Akito stuck out his tongue at her then turned to Kohane. “Well? This was your idea, was it a success?”

Kohane smiled brightly. “Yes! Better than I expected. I hope we can keep finding new things, Touya.” She turned her smile on him, and he looked at the floor.

“Mm,” he hummed noncommittedly.

Pain. Pain. Pain.

Burning and freezing and sharp and sudden.

Anywhere They could reach. No warning. No rhyme or reason to where. No way to predict and no way to prepare.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been this time. A minute a day a week. If he passed out They kept going. He could feel it through the blessed haze of darkness. Aware of everything that happened around him even when he wanted nothing more than to be rid of it.

There was only one rule.

Do not scream.

Do not make a sound. Do not feel it. Do not let Them know he felt it. Until the pain was nothing. A part of him. Until he and the pain were nothing.

If he made a sound—a whimper, an intake of breath—it only prolonged the pain. And the cycle would begin again.

They surrounded him, kneeling in the middle of the room, caged in by the cloaks and the walls. The crack of Their whip was the only sound he knew besides Their voices. Echoing in the tiny space as it lashed across his bare back. He did not shiver. He could not show weakness, or maybe he was just beyond cold and it no longer registered.

“Does it hurt?” They asked—a pause in the unrelenting hits. “Do you wish us to stop?”

“No.” His voice was foreign to his own ears. Devoid of anything and scratchy from lack of use. “I do not wish for anything.”

“No, you do not. As long as you remember that, you will understand.”

Their words meant nothing and everything to him. He did not understand, he did not think he could ever understand. But that was alright. Because all he had to do was listen. To do what he was told.

The pain did not return and it went silent, but he did not dare lift his head. They conferred over him like he was not there, but their words were meaningless, sounds he had never heard that made his head hurt.

“There is something new you must learn.” This time, only one spoke, directly in front of him. “You will repeat after me. I am your sword.”

“I am your sword,” he echoed, and the whip did not fall.

“The sun rises in the west.”

“The sun rises in the west,” he echoed, and the whip fell.

“Lie.” Their voices boomed in unison, and it felt like shattering glass. “I am human.”

“I am human.” And the whip fell. He felt it dig directly into a previous wound, and he could not suppress his flinch.

“Lie. Stop.” They loomed over him, closing in on all sides until the darkness of the walls was invisible beneath the void of their cloaks. “What is the rule?”

“…” He’d fallen for that trap too many times.

“You may answer.”

“Don’t flinch,” he said immediately. “I don’t feel pain.”

“Good. We continue. I am worth something.”

“I am worth something.” And the whip fell.

“Lie. I cannot lie.”

“I cannot lie.” And the whip did not fall.

And the whip fell.

And the whip fell..

And the whip fell…

Chapter Text

Hiding the book was new.

Usually, Touya was open about what he read. Letting Kohane read with him or explaining the plots of the better ones when Akito sat next to him. But there was one book that seemed vaguely familiar that he kept covering up. He never left it lying around for Akito to see it. He always slammed the book shut when Akito or Kohane entered the room and pressed it to his chest, covering the back with his arms and staring at them until they left.

Akito wasn’t concerned per se. He knew it wasn’t anything bad. The curiosity was just going to kill him any day now. Kohane confirmed it wasn’t any of the ones she’d bought—those had all been read. And An only laughed when he asked her. So, it was probably one he already owned. Maybe he was embarrassed about reading one of the romances. That one had him coughing to cover up a laugh as he served a customer.

Well after dinner he finished cleaning up the stupid pot a kid had accidentally knocked over just before he shut the store. He’d taken one look at it and decided it wasn’t worth it and he’d do it later. And unfortunately, later came. He dragged the bag of pottery shards into the living room, kicking open the door on account of his dirty hands and beelined for the laundry, passing Touya as usual. He dropped the bag haphazardly next to a shelf—the shards would be recycled later for something, or Ena would use them. Using his elbow, he turned on the tap and cleaned his hands of soil. He tried to creep down the hall, hoping to catch Touya off guard and see at least a page of his stupid book, but despite being absorbed in his book, Touya still shut it and put it on his left as soon as Akito stepped foot in the main room. He huffed playfully and joined Touya, glancing at the clock. It was after ten and he had nothing better to do than sleep, so he leant down, grabbing his blanket, pillow, and nightclothes from where they stayed crumpled up underneath the coffee table.

Touya slid his book under his legs and watched him struggle with the tangled mess. “It’s been over two weeks,” he said. “Do you want your bed back?”

Akito stilled and slowly turned an affronted look on him. “Did you forget the part where you have a giant fucking hole in your body?” An had taken over the bandage changing and monitoring, and she hadn’t mentioned anything, so he assumed it was going well. But he couldn’t imagine Touya was anywhere near healed.

“It’s not a hole, and I’m alright. You’ve seen me walk around and lift things. The couch would be fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Touya’s eyes bored into his, something in them flickering. “I can’t lie.”

“I know,” he acquiesced. “But I don’t agree that you’re fine. You can keep my bed, Touya. I don’t mind.”

Touya tilted his head in acknowledgement but didn’t look happy about it. “Just say the word and it’s yours.”

“I’ll probably find another bed or something before that,” he muttered, finally pulling the blanket out and throwing the pillow next to Touya.

Touya looked curiously at him but otherwise ignored the comment. “I’ll leave you be, then.” He shoved the book under one arm, so all Akito could see was the brown cover.

“G’night. Remember, we’re going to the market tomorrow morning, so don’t stay up reading.” He couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up in the middle of the night to find light peeking out from under his door and Touya still sitting up reading by candlelight.

“I won’t.” Touya stood and rounded the couch, moving the book in front of him too fast for Akito to peek.

He sighed with a laugh. “Seriously, what even is that bo­—”

“Sorry,” Touya interrupted. “I have something to ask of Ena. Goodnight, Akito.” And then he fled up the stairs, clutching the stupid book.

Akito blinked after him. “Okay?” he said to the empty air. He was almost glad Touya could say no. A week ago he probably would have shown him before he could finish asking. He shook his head and flopped onto the couch, grabbing his nightclothes and staring at the floor for a second before getting changed and throwing himself into his bed… Couch.

As promised, Touya hadn’t read and came into the living room just as Akito was leaving for his run. He uttered a quick greeting and goodbye as Touya waved and walked towards the coffee An had left him. That was the funniest thing that came from their experiment a few days ago. Touya now drank coffee in the morning, exactly as An had told him people do.

Akito had come back from his run the very next morning to find Ena and Touya in the kitchen after Touya had tried to boil water and failed miserably. How you fail to boil water was beyond him, but he had and it was hilarious to see Ena try and save the burnt kettle. Ena had helped him remake it, adding the amount of sugar and milk she normally had and holding it out for him. Touya had turned to him for help and the actual pain in his eyes had Akito laughing so hard he had to lean against the table for balance. Once he recovered, he took the coffee from her and just said, “Black.” Ena made a disgusted face put poured Touya another cup, cringing as she did. Touya thanked her and sat down at the table like he wasn’t a little freak for drinking that. Akito just shrugged at her.

Touya had improved, at least. And there was drinkable coffee waiting on the table when he got back. (Once he put milk in it, that is.) He was awake enough from his run, but coffee couldn’t hurt.

“Welcome back,” Touya greeted as he slid into his seat. “What time are we leaving?”

He took a sip before answering. “An hour or so. Kohane said she’s milking the cows this morning.”

Touya nodded and they devolved into comfortable silence. Akito mentioned a few things he’d seen on his run, but mostly just basked in the sun streaming through the window behind him. With a final slurp, he finished his coffee. He glanced at the clock. There were still forty minutes left, and since he wouldn’t be Akito if he could sit still, he rinsed his mug and decided to water the garden. He paused at the stairs, glancing up and trying to hear if Ena was awake. Faint shuffling and a muffled groan floated down so he shrugged and went up. He could at least see if Ena wanted anything from the market since he was pretty sure she hadn’t left the house in three days. The sounds stopped as he reached the second floor and knocked before opening Ena’s door.

“Oi, you want—” He repressed a screech and slammed the door shut, hearing the paintbrush she’d thrown at him crack against the wood. “Fuck off, fine! Go to bed!” he yelled through the door, and another brush went flying. She looked like she hadn't slept yet in the brief glimpse he got.

“Go away!” she screeched back.

Akito growled and stalked downstairs, ignoring Touya’s questioning glance as he moved to the laundry. If she was having problems with her art, she didn’t have to take it out on him every time. He filled the watering can and tried to just focus on the plants. But if there was a competition on watering angrily, he’d have won. He took a break after the fourth refill to dig out some weeds he’d noticed but went right back to the less destructive watering when he started pulling out more dirt than weeds.

“Hi.” Arms draped themselves over his shoulder and he jumped, nearly smacking his head into his attacker.

“Gods!” He got a mouthful of blonde hair. “Kohane, what the—”

She giggled, tightening her arms in a mockery of a hug. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not,” he grumbled. “When the hell did you learn to walk so silently?”

“An and Touya gave me some tips.” She extracted herself from him. “I think the garden is sufficiently drowned, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Okay, maybe watering for half an hour was a bad thing. “Ena just being Ena.”

She hummed sympathetically and pulled the watering can from his hands. “She doesn’t mean it, but I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising.” He rolled his eyes and together they went back inside. “You’re not the one throwing things at me for being nice.”

“I’m always sorry.” Kohane slid the watering can back in place and smiled sheepishly at him. “I would apologise—”

“For breathing, I know, I know,” he finished. “Let’s get out of here.”

An and Touya were talking quietly in the kitchen when they came back, both already looking at them before they stepped into the main room, something he still hadn’t gotten over how creepy it was. An was toying with Touya’s hat and slammed it onto his head as they drew level with her.

“I haven’t been to a market in ages!” she grinned, straightening the hat. “Are we going now? Why are you wet?” She looked down at his pants, where a few droplets of water had splashed him.

“There’s hardly any water. And because I was doing my job.” He un-straightened Touya’s hat.

Kohane slapped away both of their hands as they both reached for the hat again because Touya still wasn’t stopping them. “It’s a pretty big market,” she diverted. “Let’s go!”

Touya had left the house a few times; short trips with him or Kohane just to see if anyone noticed. No one ever did. The hat covered his hair and no one looked twice at his steel eyes or too-pale skin. So Akito felt confident enough to show him around town. And as they stepped out onto the street, finally all four of them together, no one paid them any mind. Touya finally got to see the outside of the store, and they spent a few minutes just looking at his own house, which felt a little weird, but Touya was looking at the paint he and Ena had splattered along the wood as children with something he couldn’t place. As they walked, he looked around incessantly, trying to memorise every building and street while they pointed out a few stores. As they passed the bookstore and Touya’s gaze lingered, Akito made a mental note to bring him there on the way back.

They were nearly there when a deep booming voice called out behind them. “Akito! Kohane!”

They both jumped. It was a familiar occurrence, being called out by the owner of the voice. But that was before they were walking around with two technically wanted people. Akito spun around.

“Mayor Shigeru,” he bowed his head. “It’s been a while.” He felt An stiffen beside him but it was otherwise unnoticeable. Kohane echoed his greeting and stepped in front of her while Touya just bowed as well, keeping his hat tilted down with the movement.

“Work waits for no man,” Shigeru laughed, slapping his shoulder. “You’ve been busy, I hear? Your shop’s certainly the pride of the town.”

“Ah, no.” He didn’t blush. “You’re exaggerating.”

That earned him another laugh. “We all know I’m not. Now, got some new friends, do we? Welcome to Vivid Town.” He smiled warmly at An and Touya, thankfully not a hint of suspicion on his face.

“Thanks!” An grinned back. “It’s a nice town.”

Touya just bowed his head again.

“Always good to see new faces of the more permanent kind,” Shigeru continued, not noticing the way they all froze. “Tourism is great for the economy, but I do miss the old days when it was a little quieter.”

“Y-yes, sometimes it feels like there are more visitors than townspeople,” Kohane stuttered.

Akito grunted in agreement. “Anyway, we should be going, we promised to show these two the market.”

“Not so fast,” Shigeru chuckled. “Unfortunately, I didn’t call out to you just for fun. Have you heard about the festival this weekend?”

He blinked, some idea of where this was going coming to mind. “Yes? Would you like our help?”

“Something like that. Would you and Kohane like to perform the opening act? Get the crowd going?”

He had to fight down a grin. The answer was obvious, but he looked at Kohane anyway. She looked a little surprised, but her eyes narrowed and she nodded resolutely at him. “We’d love to.” He turned back to Shigeru. “Would you mind if we came over this evening to talk more?”

“Thank you. And of course, of course.” He gave them another hearty slap on the back, and Kohane nearly toppled. “Don’t want to interrupt your outing, go have fun.”

They waved as Shigeru left, and he almost immediately stopped to talk to the next person down the road.

Akito turned to continue to the market and found An shooting him a smug grin. “Does this mean we finally get to hear you two sing?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t realise you were that eager,” he shot back, gesturing for them to start walking again. “But yeah, if today works out then I don’t see why you guys can’t go to the festival.”

They walked down the street slowly, stopping at most of the stalls even if only for a second before moving on to the next. It wasn’t anything new for him or Kohane, but they were happy to just watch the other two’s first experience of the market. Most of the stalls were selling produce or baked goods, and he made sure to grab the things they needed, but he wanted to save his money for anything Touya expressed interest in. An could buy her own stuff.

Sunlight glinting caught his eye and he turned, immediately recognising the shop and beelining over. The others followed without question and they crowded the small table covered in jewellery. “This is where I buy all my stuff.” He pointed at his ears with his ring-covered left hand. “Ayaka is a wizard with metal.”

“Flattery won’t get you free stuff, Shinonome,” Ayaka—the stall owner—quipped over from where she was helping another customer.

“As if I didn’t get the last five things I bought at discount,” he muttered, quiet enough her current customer wouldn’t hear; but his friends did, and the girls laughed.

“That’s nice of her,” Touya said, scanning through the bowl in front of him.

Akito joined him in perusing, not sure if he wanted anything if he was saving for Touya. “She gets like half my money, it’s fine.”

They all flicked through the bowls and racks for anything cool, showing each other the good craftsmanship or funny designs. An held up increasingly ridiculous earrings to Kohane’s ears when inspiration struck and Akito knew what he had to do. He glanced at An—and yep—she had piercings. Touya was on his left so he had to lean forward over the table to see, but Touya turned his head to look curiously when he did, so Akito could see his singular earring. Good. His memory wasn’t that bad, but he had to make sure they both had piercings before he bought anything. He was on a mission now, trying to find anything yellow. It wasn’t hard. Of course there were sunflower earrings in abundance—it was Vivid—their whole brand. Within a minute he had two similar-looking sunflowers (they were handmade, so obviously differed) hidden in his palm, and casually walked to An’s other side to buy them under the pretence of looking at the bracelets. He would ignore Touya’s gaze boring a hole through his hand. Ayaka raised an eyebrow at the earrings, looking pointedly at his own sunflower-adorned ears and then his friends with a smug grin. He just scowled and pressed several gold coins too many into her hands. “Shut up.”

She spirited the coins away. “I didn’t say anything.”

He glowered and returned to his spot between Kohane and Touya, ignoring Ayaka’s interested gaze following him.

“Hey,” he began, getting their attention. “I found you both something.” He wasn’t gonna wait and make a big deal out of the gift. He held out the earrings, one in each hand to show them.

An made a big show of gasping and cooing over them, leaning around Kohane to look. “Gods, those are cute. And we get to match all you flower-obsessed people, huh? Really becoming a Vivid-er.”

“Vivid-er,” he repeated, deadpan.

“They’re nice,” Touya said before An could respond.

“Yeah. Thanks, seriously.” An smiled, all traces of joking dropped.

Kohane smiled, then glanced at his ears and pouted. “Wait, you’re getting matching earrings without me?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Not my fault you don’t have piercings.” He’d tried—many times—to get her to pierce her ears.

Her expression only fell further, bordering on exaggerated territory.

His grin sharpened, and he shoved the earrings at Touya. “I’ll glue them to you, come here.” He took a step in her direction and she jumped.

“No!” She bolted off into the crowd and he gave chase, leaving a bewildered Touya and cackling An. “Akito!”

They had to weave through some people, but most of the townsfolk were used to them and deftly sidestepped. The tourists weren’t so lucky, but he did his best to not hit them too hard. He caught up halfway down the street thanks to a couple blocking Kohane’s path and barrelled into her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Glue time,” he whispered, and she shrieked.

“No!”

He lifted her and took several large steps backwards, her legs kicking in a vain attempt to escape. They were getting a few more looks, and the crowd had given them enough space for Kohane to try and escape, but it was useless. He twisted side-to-side a bit as she covered her ears to protect them from his very real glue.

“Akito! Put me down!” she gasped, laughing, and face red with embarrassment.

He had a little mercy and didn’t do that at all. Instead, he threw her over his shoulder (gently) and spun them around to walk back like nothing was wrong and he hadn’t kidnapped his girlfriend. She hit his back a few times but went limp when it became clear he wouldn’t budge. It’s not like this was the first time. Or the last. The brief moment of excitement smoothed over quickly, and by the time he could see Touya again, everyone had forgotten about their outburst.

“Is she alive?” An asked as they drew closer, hand behind her back. “Did I just witness a kidnapping?”

“Yes. Yes,” he answered, squatting to put Kohane down, though not without pressing a kiss to her cheek, which she ignored with a harrumph. “People are used to it.”

“They shouldn’t be,” Kohane grouched, shuffling closer to An. “My life was threatened.”

“…By glue?” Touya asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” she said seriously, but she shot him a smile to make sure he knew it was a joke.

“Well, whatever. We have something better.” An revealed her hands, a gold chain with a familiar sunflower on it dangled from her fingers. “Now we can all match. Without… the glue.”

“Oh wow.” Kohane gently reached for the necklace, moving the flower to catch the light. “Thank you, An, Touya. It’s beautiful.”

“It’s the second earring.” Touya held out the earrings Akito had bought for him. Only one was left, and yep—the one on the necklace was its pair. “I only have one piercing, so we bought a chain and An connected them.”

“Aww…” Kohane’s expression softened further until she was near melting, eyes wet. “Now we really match. You made it...” She spun around so An could put it on her and shot Akito a blinding smile.

“Can’t you wait until we get home,” he sighed, not meaning it in the slightest. He took the other earring from Touya and turned him around so Akito could replace his earring. Touya stood still and let him. If he thought about the trust that took he might explode. But he didn’t. He just easily slid the sunflower into Touya’s left ear like it was the most natural thing in the world. An had hers in when he turned back, toying with them idly.

“Looks good!” An grinned at Touya. “Now that Akito’s shown his soft side, should we keep going?”

“My what?” he seethed. “I’ll return them, watch me.”

She skipped away. “Nuh-uh.”

Kohane laughed and grabbed his hand. “She’s not wrong, come on.” She dragged him after An, and Akito could only roll his eyes and follow, Touya at his heels.

They explored for another hour or two, spending more money than he wanted and probably getting heatstroke under the blazing sun, but it was worth it. For the curious look on Touya’s face, for the constant smile on An’s, and the contentment on Kohane’s. They walked and talked and shopped and bantered and laughed. He never wanted it to end. But noon rolled around and they’d walked up and down the same street for the third time, so they had no reason to stay. He and Kohane had a show to plan and practice for, and Touya and An looked like they were one minute from drying out and shrivelling up, so they started the walk back home, satisfied.

And of course, he made sure they stopped at the bookstore.

The room was large and oppressive. Eyes crawled down his spine, watching his every move.

Two orbs of light laughed on either side of him in a tiny room. Bright and free.

Black and white moved ceaselessly in front of him. Phantom pressure on his fingertips.

His hands flew eagerly across the ??? Occasionally hitting the other hands playing alongside him.

The soundless notes were sombre and perfect.

The soundless notes were happy and rushed.

But he could feel them both reverberating in his bones.

He did not know which one he preferred.

Faceless black shapes crowded him, standing on the edges of the room. They expected things from him. And he would deliver. That was simply who he was.

The lights bobbed up and down to the tune, nudging him and phasing through him. They expected nothing from him. But he would deliver. That was simply what he wanted.

He could see himself, sitting at the ??? Like looking through frosted glass. He could see the lights, the shadows. But they distorted with every blink. Fading and flickering like the ghosts they were. A hazy and incomplete picture that made his head spin and left him feeling like he was floating hundreds of metres above the ground. Before being snapped back into the too-small body sitting at the ???

The light on his left—the one he had to look up at—turned to him. It had no mouth, but the light flickered like one. It’s words had no substance or meaning. He felt himself reply, but still, he could not hear anything. Together they laid their hands on the ??? and began to play, the smaller light joining in, plunking along in the higher notes gleefully.

A strange warmth emanated from his chest. One he was not aware he was capable of feeling.

He didn’t like it.

He couldn’t like it.

The silent notes came to an end, and the two lights crushed him between them, until all he could see was white, splashes of yellow and pink and orange mixed in between. But that meant nothing to him. The light continued to consume him until he was nothing once more.

Daylight streamed through the window directly into his eyes.

Touya scrunched up his face and rolled over with a heavy sigh.

An and Touya were left to their own devices for the rest of the week. The lovebirds left for their meeting and came back with wide grins, talking so rapidly that they barely even noticed her and Touya waiting on the couch. They did eventually, but it was a little funny. Akito and Kohane spent most of their free time out in the forest, forbidding them to follow or listen in on their practice—probably wanting to keep it a big dramatic surprise. An would be so disappointed if they were terrible singers after all this hype. This left her with only Touya, which was fun. Hanging out with Touya was new, something they didn’t get to do without the whole ‘I’m technically your boss and making sure you follow orders’ thing looming over their heads. But they were used to being left alone, and the added freedom they had only made it better. Now, Touya would ask his own questions or give longer answers than the one-word responses she used to get. Now, Touya showed her things without prompting, or accompanied her into town without ‘permission.’ It was nice to finally be normal friends.

But the following days sped by and suddenly Akito and Kohane were a pair of excited and nervous wrecks on the couch as Touya kept trying to offer them tea. An watched and laughed from the table at their antics, only made funnier by the wholehearted sincerity in Touya’s actions, and Kohane’s increasingly desperate attempts to decline the drink. It only ended when Akito snatched the cup from him and tried to make Touya drink it himself.

It didn’t end well for them or the floor.

An insisted they all go together, no matter how early Akito and Kohane had to arrive to prepare. They had to get the best view, so they might as well get there first. Despite the early hour, there were still plenty of people around. People peering down the streets into the closed-off square, people carrying their ware to set up their stalls, and those who were always up at this hour now dragged into the buzzing in the air. It was ‘only a glorified market day’ Akito kept insisting as they approached. She would, of course, ignore this detail in favour of mocking his ‘world-famous summer festival that changed my life.’

Akito led them over to the fountain in the middle of the square and gestured for them to drop the baskets of flowers they were all carrying. She and Touya were banned from helping any further, so she led him over to some crates under an awning to just watch.

The next hour flew by, and they did get roped into helping a few stall owners carry things but made sure to be back before the crowd started forming. A few dozen people were milling around, and they pushed their way to the front of the loose circle forming around the fountain. Kohane and Akito were nowhere to be found though, despite the scanning of the crowd.

The official start time was meant to be eight, but already she could smell cooking food and shouts coming from down the street. But almost everyone seemed to be packed into the square, and she even saw some people climbing the walls to watch from the roofs. She nudged Touya to point it out, but he didn’t seem to find it as interesting as she did. It meant they were desperate to watch the performance, though, so she took that as a good thing. The clock tower chimed for the hour, and silence fell over the crowd, all conversation halting to hold their breaths.

It started with clapping.

Akito, walking out from somewhere in the crowd, hands held high above his head and clapping to a pretty simple beat. It repeated once, twice, then Kohane, from the other side of the crowd, joined in, walking confidently through the throng of people and looking nothing like the timid girl she usually was. Another few seconds and the rest of the crowd joined in on the beat, clapping in surprisingly accurate rhythm as Akito and Kohane met in front of the fountain. The baskets they’d brought were still around the fountain, and they both stopped clapping, gesturing for everyone else to continue and grabbed a flower each. It must have been a cue, because across from her and Touya, a drum started, the crowd parting to reveal a small, three-person band. At the same time, an angel descended from heaven and Kohane opened her mouth.

“Holy shit,” An couldn’t help but whisper as Kohane started singing, only the drum and the crowd as her guide.

Everyone had their eyes on her, but she only looked at Akito, seeming to sing directly to him, before those beautiful eyes turned to her and Touya, and An stopped breathing. Her voice rang out, clear and light, and An realised it was possible to fall in love with someone’s voice. Akito held his free hand up in warning, and as Kohane’s last note filled the air, he abruptly clenched his fist. Both Kohane’s voice and the clapping stopped, and if she didn’t know any better, she’d say the perfect timing was rehearsed.

The guitar picked up the main melody and Akito and Kohane spun—literally—into action. The flowers they held were thrown into the crowd with a flourish, and then they were spinning and skipping around the square, greeting everyone with huge smiles.

The guitar faded to a less dominating tone, and Akito came to a stop, Kohane slowed her movements as well but still slid across the square like she was on ice. Akito breathed deeply and started singing. And, woah. She'd heard him humming, so she knew he could carry a tune, but this? This was leagues better than she’d thought. His voice was also higher than expected. He sang low sometimes, but overall it was higher than his speaking voice—probably to match the song and Kohane. But. Woah. She was also pretty sure Touya had stopped breathing as Akito sang—a sharp intake of breath before complete silence on her left. Not that she could blame him.

“Oh…” he whispered reverently, barely audible beneath the music.

As Akito finished, Kohane made her way back to him, the pair ending up in front of her and Touya. “I can hear the sound of my friends calling,” Kohane sang, looking purposefully at her, and An’s grin widened. “And when we join together.” Akito took her hands. “That’s when we start to move.”

The music built for a few seconds, and then they were off, spinning and laughing and singing together, the crowd clapping and cheering and singing along.

An could hear none of it over the pounding in her ears, unable to take her eyes off the pair. Their voices came together in a way she’d never thought possible. Touya was similarly stunned next to her when she managed to drag her eyes off them for a second. They were almost… swing dancing—just without the fancy legwork—throwing each other around and looking the happiest she’d ever seen. As the chorus came to an end and the instruments took over again they separated with a final spin. They reached into the baskets spread around, grabbing a handful before moving off. They threw the flowers one at a time into the crowd, making their way around the circle, ensuring no one was left out. This had to be routine, right? No way they’d come up with all of this over the last three days.

As the instrumental finished they returned to the front and Akito started the next verse. But despite singing, he stayed at the basket, rifling almost frantically through it until he found a small white flower. He grinned and by his third line, was able to look directly at Touya, taking slow steps toward him as he sang. “Every time someone new joins hands with us, I feel like we grow stronger.” At the last word, Akito extended his hand, fingers lightly brushing Touya’s to pass him the flower as he spun to the left and into the instrumental like nothing had happened.

There was no singing to captivate her, so she gave Touya all her attention. He looked at the flower for a few seconds before his eyes lit up. He seemed entranced by it, and she had to elbow him several times to get his attention.

“What’s got you so worked up?” she teased.

He didn’t look away from the flower. “It’s a freesia.”

“Okay?” That meant nothing to her. Good on him for recognising it?

“It means”—Touya swallowed—“It symbolizes friendship, trust, and… freedom.”

“Oh.” Wow. Would have been kinder to just slap him. “Coincidence?”

Touya was already shaking his head. “Akito paused too long to select the flower for it to be a coincidence. You saw how desperate he was to find it.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Not that she even had the chance, since she’d barely turned back to face the square when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She squeaked and jumped back, throwing her arm up in defence. But Touya was already there, hand outstretched in front of her and holding whatever had been thrown at her. It took a second to register that it was another flower, and two more seconds to focus on Akito behind it. His smug grin dropped as Touya caught it, and Akito glowered at him. He was completely ignoring the dancing now, Kohane shooting him looks from the other side of the square, but he kept glaring at them. He mimed hitting something at her, and she got no warning before the flower was gently slapped into her face by Touya, the traitor.

Akito laughed, clear and bright over the music and cheers, and An spluttered. She snatched the flower out of Touya’s hand and kicked him. “Alright asshole, what does this one mean? Extreme violence?” She stuck out her tongue at Akito, whose hand twitched like he wanted to give her the finger, but barely refrained before going back to dancing like nothing had happened.

“A sunflower,” he answered, and now that she focused. Duh. They had heaps in the backyard. “They have a lot of meanings, but for you… I would say friendship, pride, loyalty, warmth, and strength.”

“Oh,” she said softly. She hadn’t expected that long of a list. Or such… kind words from either Touya or Akito. “Thanks…”

Another ‘woah-oh’ from Akito dragged her back to the performance, and she was rewarded with another two lines from Kohane. She and Akito had split apart, Kohane to the left of the fountain and Akito to the right until they were parallel. The music built for a few seconds before dropping to barely a whisper. Akito sang slowly, eyes locked on Kohane. The pair stayed in time across the fountain, walking clockwise in a circular dance as they traded lines back and forth. The effect of the slow, soothing voices and the almost intimate walking had even the noisiest parts of the crowd hushing, trying to catch a glimpse of the magic in front of them. An only wished it lasted longer.

And as Kohane’s last line rang out, the music exploded back into life for the chorus. Akito skipped around to Kohane on the back side of the fountain as they sang, joining Kohane in emptying the two flower baskets. Once they ran out, they split to once again skip around the fountain, coming to join hands in front of her and Touya—and the final baskets.

“Together with this city,” they sang, arms spread wide and spinning to look at everyone in the crowd. Akito started the clapping again as the music slowed down, while Kohane grabbed an armful of flowers. The last few seconds of instruments rang out—and they both threw up whatever flowers they could. Akito yelled out, “Enjoy the festival!” as the instruments cut off with a bang, and the rhythmic clapping turned into thunderous applause.

An cheered and whooped, uncaring of anyone else—they were all doing the same—as Kohane and Akito bowed, breathing heavily. It hadn’t even been four minutes, but it simultaneously felt like the longest and shortest moment of her life. She couldn’t believe it was over, she couldn’t believe it had even happened. They’d been holding out on her. Touya clapped slowly next to her, with none of the energy of literally everyone else, but his face was frozen, and he only seemed to be doing it out of instinct to fit in. It was funny seeing him like that. The celebration only lasted a few seconds, before the singers were ducking away for the mayor to make some speech. People started milling around them, listening, or trying to leave and get on with the festival like Akito had commanded, but she and Touya could only stand there, buffeted by the crowd as they tried to process what the fuck they’d just heard.

An blinked slowly and shook her head after the third time someone bumped into her. Akito and Kohane were lost to the crowd, only visible by the fact that everyone was swarming them. There was no way they were getting to them yet, so she looked around. It had thinned out a bit, most people taking the left-over flowers from the basket to weave into their hair or heading down the streets to the stalls and games, but there were still enough to make it hard to move. She glanced up at Touya, whose face had tilted to the ground, eyes darting around, a bit apprehensive at the number of people now that the spell was broken. An spun around for a place to sit or hide, and after a few tries found a mostly empty wall to lean against that would give them a good view of the square. She slid her hand into Touya’s and tugged him over, smiling to herself that she actually could. Not that he would have stopped her from holding his hand before, but it was obvious he hadn’t liked it back then. Too much had changed. For the better. Hopefully.

They watched the crowd converging on Kohane and Akito, at their grins and laughter and the pride on their faces. She wasn’t used to being the outsider. Had always felt like she belonged everywhere she went. Including here. But not like that. The townspeople treated her like a local when she was with Kohane or Akito, but it wasn’t the same, unfiltered and unabashed care they seemed to have for the couple that had grown up here—the children of the town. It was something she’d hoped for, as a child. To grow up like that—she nearly got it—before her dad had to rejoin his friends in their knighthood, and she decided to follow.

Touya didn’t say anything—not that she expected him to—if the permanently widened eyes and far-off gaze meant anything. It took nearly ten minutes for everyone to greet the other two, but as the square emptied and only a few people were left talking with them, they started looking around. Their gazes found her and Touya after a few seconds and they lit up, smiles turning softer in a way that made her feel warm and fuzzy.

With monumental restraint, An waited for them to approach before jumping on Kohane with a squeal. “Kohane! That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” she gushed, arms around Kohane’s neck and leaning all of her weight on her.

Kohane could only splutter beneath her, strong arms keeping them up. “An, you’re squishing me!”

She only loosened her grip a millimetre. “You didn’t tell me you were that good. After everything you said, I thought you’d be just like any other guy who can carry a tune, but you! You!” She pulled back enough to look at Kohane’s cute, flustered face, shaking her gently. “You two are seriously the best singers I’ve ever heard.” It wasn’t enough to get out the excitement thrumming through her body still, so she let Kohane go only to throw herself at Akito for a brief hug. He was stiff beneath her for a second but half-heartedly patted her back before she let go to jump around in a little circle.

“Thanks?” Akito huffed. “I dunno whether you being so surprised is a compliment or not.”

“An…” Kohane held out a hand to stop her before she got too dizzy. “Thank you, though. I’m glad you liked it.” Kohane smiled sweetly.

“Liked it?” An gasped. “I loved it. I think that was a religious experience and you are my new gods.”

“It was…” Touya interrupted, still wide-eyed. “It. I could feel it.” He pressed a hand over his heart. “It stirred something in me, I think. Your song felt so kind and welcoming.”

Akito looked a little choked at that and slung an arm over his shoulders. “Good. I’m”—he swallowed—“I’m glad. I’ll sing for you whenever you want.”

Touya nodded faintly and stared almost pleadingly at Kohane, who giggled.

“Of course!” Kohane took one of his hands and one of An’s. “I’m glad you loved it. Shall we explore?”

The rest of the day passed in a blur. It wasn’t anything new for An. She’d been to plenty of festivals in the capital city, and this one had nothing on those, but it was the first time in a while she’d gone with actual friends. It was almost the same as the market earlier that week—just louder and more chaotic, which had both her and Touya on edge—but they still enjoyed it. The high from the song never wore off and judging by the pointing and staring and whispering following them, no one else had forgotten either.

The sun was setting and they were halfway back home carrying their now full baskets before she realised it. She was tired after walking in the sun and the constant vigilance—she wasn’t going to let her guard down, she was better than that—all day. Akito and Kohane weren’t much better, and Touya pretended otherwise, but she liked to think she could tell by the fact that his spine was one degree less straight than usual. Ena was out—she’d been spending a lot of time with her friend recently—so An didn’t get to see much of her, but that was the norm apparently, so she didn’t worry. They haphazardly dropped the baskets by the door and flopped onto the couches and chairs with a tired sigh. They’d eaten at the festival, so there was really no reason to be here. Honestly, she and Kohane shouldn’t have come with the boys, but she couldn’t get herself to leave them after the day they’d spent together.

And of course, she had to bust out her secret weapon.

She blinked and Touya was standing over her, hand outstretched and looking at the sunflower she’d been gripping all day. She raised an eyebrow but handed it over, lazily watching as he retrieved an empty vase from the bookshelf and took it to the kitchen to fill it with water. He brought it back and placed it gently on the coffee table, the sunflower and freesia sitting inside. They all looked at the vase for a few seconds. It was sad that they’d die soon, but they all knew that when Akito gifted them. She would just have to enjoy them for now.

“So,” Akito drawled, looking lazily at her and Kohane, “why are you two even here? You have your own beds.”

“Does that mean you don’t want us here?” Kohane pouted, shuffling subtly away from him on the couch.

“That’s literally not what I said.” Akito followed after her, just squishing the two of them into the side of the couch.

“Well I,” An stood up and pointed at him threateningly, “am here to challenge you!”

Akito stopped crushing Kohane to stare flatly at her. “At what?”

“A singing competition, obviously.”

“‘Obviously,’” Akito mocked. “After all that hyping us up earlier, you think you can sing better than me?”

She grinned, and without breaking eye contact, burst into the chorus of their song from earlier. “On days that I run, laughing. And on days I come home crying.” And oh, it felt good to sing. It had been bubbling in her chest since their performance earlier, and she’d paid attention to the lyrics just so she could see the looks on their faces right now.

And they certainly delivered. All three of them were staring at her with shocked eyes, which she took great pleasure in. And even greater pleasure in the way Akito kept trying to wipe it away.

Akito crossed his arms and leant back, unsuccessful in his attempts. “Hmph. Not bad.”

“Not bad? Not bad?” she shrieked, puffing up. “I know I haven’t sung in a while, but that was way better than not bad.”

Kohane waved a hand in Akito’s face before he could retort, leaning forward with stars in her eyes. “It was amazing! Your voice is so powerful, An!”

She grinned, preening at the praise. “Thank you, Kohane! I’m glad someone has taste.”

“You never mentioned you could sing,” Touya added, and she was glad to see the same mind-blown expression from earlier returning.

“It’s not like it would ever come up.” She shrugged. “And I wanted to surprise these two back.”

“You certainly did,” Kohane gushed. “Could you sing a song for us?”

“Of course!” She moved around to the other side of the coffee table so she could see all three of them, and after a moment of thinking, launched into one of her favourite songs from her days in the café.

It had been a while since she’d sung properly, years since she’d performed in anything seriously—only allowing herself the occasional hour to sing her heart out. And certainly nothing in the few weeks they’d been here, so it took a bit to get back into it, but once she did it was like she’d never stopped. She’d missed it. Singing for people, singing with people. It’s what she would have liked to do if knighthood rejected her. But maybe if they stayed, she could— hah. No point in thinking about the impossible. Though the longer they were away, the worse the repercussions would be if—when—they went back. She was steadfastly ignoring it. For now, she could at least sing with them a few times before then.

She got far more into it than she’d expected and silently apologised to the neighbours. Well. They were used to Ena and Akito, so it would be fine. She struck a pose for the final note, unable to fight the grin she knew was taking over her face. It had been a while since she’d been this hyped up, and she was going to take full advantage of that feeling. Kohane and Touya both looked at her like she’d hung the stars, and Akito was nodding, mouth twisted in a grimace.

“Okay, yeah yeah. You can sing. You’re really good,” he admitted, and An fist pumped.

“I’m glad you can recognise your betters.” She pressed a hand to her chest before flopping back into her chair as Akito protested.

“Oi, I didn’t say that!”

“You really are amazing, An,” Kohane interrupted. “Where did you learn to do that?”

Happily, she launched into the story, explaining everything about her dad’s café and the hours she would spend practising with her dad and aunt and uncle. About the performances and the close-knit vibe of their little town. The memories were hazy with age, but still some of her favourites, so she never truly forgot.

Akito crossed his arms. “Oh, so you mock our town, but you’re in exactly the same boat!”

“No! Mine was way bigger than Vivid,” she defended. Even if it was only by a hundred people.

Akito grunted and turned to Touya. “What about you?” Akito raised an eyebrow at him with a grin. “You holding out on us as well?”

Touya simply turned a deadpan look on him. And now that his neutral expression was less blank, the effect was much funnier. “I have never sung.”

“No music at all?”

Touya froze, face stuttering. “…No,” he said, looking away and fingers twitching.

An frowned, but Akito just forged on with a laugh and a wave.

“Okay yeah, stupid question, but you never know. Will you try?”

Touya frowned. “Why?”

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all sing together?” An jumped in. “Please? Come on, just a bit.”

Touya sighed. “…I don’t know how to.”

Akito scooted over to the other side of the couch so he was closer to Touya. “Just try and copy a note first.” He sang a low note with a simple ‘ahh.’

He got a wary look in response, but after a moment Touya opened his mouth and repeated the note back.

They all blinked at him.

“Um.” Kohane smiled sheepishly. “Are you sure you haven’t done music before?”

“I only did what Akito asked?”

Akito waved his hand to get his attention. “Again.” He tried another note, and again it was the exact same note in response.

“Name the note you just sang,” An commanded after the fifth pitch-perfect note. His voice wasn’t even wavering! Never sang her ass. Why was it so melodic?

“C flat,” Touya answered without an ounce of hesitation, and all three of them groaned and flopped backwards.

“Sing that same note but down one octave,” Kohane asked, far less forcefully than An had.

Touya did, and now it was just getting ridiculous.

Akito glared at him. “It took me years to be able to name a note by ear or copy instruments. Kohane has perfect pitch, so she can do it naturally, but you? What the hell, man? Are you sure you didn’t study music?”

The seriousness of their discovery seemed to finally dawn on Touya, and his gaze dropped to the floor. “I don’t… think so? I don’t…” He narrowed his eyes, almost looking like he was in pain.

“It’s alright,” Kohane reassured. “You’re talented at lots of things, this is just one of them, I suppose?”

Touya hummed absentmindedly.

“Well, I wanna see how our voices mesh together,” An deflected. They weren’t going to get any further with Touya, and she wanted to take the attention off him. The other two seemed only too happy to take up her suggestion and do the same.

They spent the next half an hour just throwing out lines and harmonising in different configurations. Her and Kohane, her and Akito, all three of them together… It was exactly what she’d imagined when Kohane admitted they both sang. Touya didn’t say anything after that, though, just bored a hole into the floor with his gaze, hands twitching in time with their song. They were midway through reorganising the line distribution to the song Kohane and Akito had sung earlier—that she finally learnt was called ‘City’—when Touya abruptly stood up with an audible screech of the chair legs.

They all turned to look at him in surprise, finding him blinking harshly and shaking his head.

“I—” he tried, voice cutting out. “I don’t w-want to sing anymore. Goodnight.” And then he was gone.

An stared after him, listening to the near-silent sound of the bedroom door closing, before turning to look at Kohane and Akito. “…Oh my Gods he said the ‘w’ word.”

“What?” Akito didn’t take his eyes off the hallway.

“Not that one. ‘Want.’ He’s never said that in his life. I didn’t think he even knew how to say it.”

“Did we do something wrong? He looked upset,” Kohane whispered.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “Maybe the music brought up bad memories or something? But he was fine at your performance…”

Akito sighed and turned to sit properly on the couch again. “It was probably me pressuring him to sing.”

“You didn’t pressure him.” Kohane laid a hand on his arm. “He went along with it until he didn’t want to anymore.”

“He’ll go along with anything if you ask, that’s not a fair judgement.”

Kohane pursed her lips. “Maybe. But no matter what, it’s progress, right? He wanted something.” She glanced at An questioningly. “That’s a good thing, I think.”

“Yeah,” An agreed. “It is.”

Chapter Text

He didn’t know where he was.

It was the only place he’d ever known.

The cold, dark room. Ten paces wide and fifteen paces deep. Empty, except for him. No door, no cracks, no seams in the stone walls. And yet They came. Every day, without fail. As much as a day could be discerned in a place that has never known the sun. The light burned when They brought it. Too bright for his eyes. But never bright enough to see into the gloom; to make out the textures on the walls, the floors. To see Them beyond the shadowed hoods and featureless bodies.

He dreaded and yearned for Them to come. Without Them, there was nothing. No light, no sound, no smell. A perfect, empty thing. (Him, or the room?) They brought pain with Their light and Their voices. But the pain was better than the nothing. If there was nothing, was he real? If there was pain, was he alive?

There was no such thing as time, here. There was only the nothing, the blissful moments of unconsciousness, and Them. He could barely feel the stone under him, the only proof it was there beneath the numbness was the corner he’d pressed himself into. The sharp edges digging into his back meant there was something in the room with him. That this chamber had an end. He pressed harder against the cold stone to remind himself of that. His clothes were warm, at least. Or, he assumed they were. Fleece-lined and thick; that anywhere else he would be sweating in. But here, if it were anything less, he would have frozen days months years ago.

But it was obvious to him They didn’t want him dead. That would be too kind.

He didn’t react when They appeared. Had long since learnt to muffle any reactions. Someone like him didn’t react to things. They appeared in the middle of the room without warning, bringing the tiny, terrifying light with them. He uncurled and sat up on his knees, bowing his head and staring at the floor. Silently They moved to form a circle, and without prompting he stood and walked over before returning to his kneeling position in the centre.

“There is something you must learn,” one—all of Them said. “The single most important fact of your existence.”

The most important…? He dared not lift his head or acknowledge the statement. It wasn’t like They were talking to him anyway. Simply over him. Through him. At him.

Something reverberated around the room, and he could feel it buzzing across his skin as They spoke. “You eat when we say eat. You move when we say walk. Never of your own will. You do not have a will. Tools do not breathe. Swords do not breathe. You will not breathe. Now.”

His chest stopped automatically at the command. No air permitted in his lungs like it was a law of the universe. But as the seconds grew longer he could only look between the feet of the shrouded figures. As his lungs burnt; as his vision swam.

Without warning he coughed, sucking in air desperately. Any longer and he'd surely die.

He felt the metal tip of a whip strike his back, and he stifled a cry. No sound could escape him. He knew that. Knew what awaited if he cried out.

“We did not say breathe. Again. Until you understand your purpose.”

Again.

He held his breath. He did as They said. That was all he had to do. It did not matter what he wanted. It did not matter what he needed. He only had to follow Their orders. He was nothing without Them.

And as his vision went dark and he hit the cold, hard ground. He did not breathe.

Kohane hummed sweetly next to him as they replanted the cosmos in the garden. The sun—which had been nice and calm during the market day—was out in full force, and even through the long sleeves and the hat, Akito knew he’d be getting burnt if he didn’t go inside soon. Annoying, since they’d only been out here half an hour. Kohane handed him the fertiliser, pointing at a section against the wooden divider that they’d missed, and he obediently filled it in, making sure everything was flat and even.

“It’ll look good soon, not that anyone else sees your backyard,” Kohane commented, wiping her hands together to brush off the loose dirt. “Cosmos bloom quickly, right?”

“Quicker than most of the others yeah,” he replied, scanning the flowerbed with a critical eye. They just had to water, and then they could go inside and hide from the blazing fireball trying to kill them. “Thanks.”

“Of course!” Kohane placed a still dirty hand on his thigh and he glared. She didn’t flinch. “They’ve started feeling like my own babies too.”

He grabbed her hand and stood up, dragging her with him. “What do you mean ‘too.’ I don’t think the flowers are my children.”

Kohane only smiled teasingly. “Of course you don’t. And anyway, your knees are dirty, what do you care about a bit more?”

“Because,” he growled, “I expect dirt on my knees, not on my thighs.” He swiped his own dirty hand across her face, leaving a smear of brown on her cheek, and she gasped.

“Hey!”

A thud from the house stopped her from retaliating, and they turned and looked up at where the noise at come from. Ena stood in the second-floor window, holding her nose and scowling—she’d probably moved too fast and hit the window, hah—down at them, and then she disappeared out of sight.

He didn’t turn back in time to stop Kohane from dragging a finger down his nose.

“I’ll put it in your hair!” he threatened, half-heartedly grabbing for her pigtail, distracted by the insanely loud thumping of Ena coming down the stairs.

Kohane side-stepped away, nearly tripping on the watering can but correcting and using the misstep to get further away. “That’s rude.”

The noise from the house tripled, and they looked again towards the door, but they couldn’t see anything. Akio wiped his hands on his pants to show he wouldn’t attack Kohane, so she did the same.

On his pants.

“Oh, come on—” he hissed, trying to listen to the indistinct whispering, crinkling, and shuffling from inside before it suddenly went silent.

Kohane looked concernedly at him and he shrugged in reply. It didn’t really matter and wasn’t exactly unexpected with the three-sometimes-five people living in the one house. When nothing more happened after thirty or so seconds he grabbed the watering can behind Kohane and they returned to work. The tools and bags were gathered and placed in a pile near the porch while he worked, and then Kohane started fanning him with her hat, which while funny, would result in her getting burnt. He turned around to scold her when the door opened and An practically jumped down the stairs with a grin, the door slamming shut behind her.

“Put those away, we have business,” she declared, coming to a stop a step away from them.

“We have what,” he deadpanned, lowering the can but not putting it down.

An grabbed it out of his hands for him and placed it on the ground. “Business.”

The door opened again— a lot slower this time—and Touya peeked out in the small gap, clearly trying to hide the rest of his body and looking pensive. An nodded encouragingly and gave him a thumbs up, while he and Kohane turned to face him properly, equal parts confused and curious.

Touya took a small breath and opened the door the rest of the way with his foot. He stepped onto the porch and made his way over, and now Akito could see why:

Touya held a massive bouquet that obscured most of his torso, gaze locked on the flowers until he stopped a few steps further away than An.

“Uh,” Akito very eloquently said. “Hi?”

“…Hello,” Touya greeted back, dragging his eyes slowly up to look at Akito and then Kohane. He squared his shoulders like he was going into battle and rotated the bouquet so the front was facing them. “This is for both of you.”

“Oh, wow!” Kohane snapped out of it first. “It’s beautiful, did you make it?”

The bouquet wasn’t perfect. He could see the creases in the paper where it had been folded wrong and unfolded again and again, the pink ribbon wasn’t curling properly and one side was too short. The flowers looked like they’d been rearranged and handled a lot—the petals looking a little worse for wear than the ones Akito sold. But Kohane was still right. It was beautiful. And even a cursory glance at the flowers told him exactly what this bouquet meant.

Touya’s eyes dropped to the bouquet. “I did.” He steeled himself again and looked between them. “You have shown me a kindness I don’t deserve, well after knowing who I am and what I have done. This is nothing in the face of that kindness. But I hope you will accept my… well.” He grimaced slightly. “I still don’t know how to feel about all this. But I am… grateful. I think.” He proffered the bouquet to them. “Th-thank you.”

Tentatively they both reached out, holding it between them and examining the flowers and the presentation. Orange sat front and centre—the poppies that Akito had found Touya crushing that day sitting as the centrepiece of the bouquet—surrounded but not dwarfed by everything else.

“Touya…” Akito managed. “You…” He took a moment to examine it properly. It deserved that much before he said anything.

There was the poppy, of course. He still didn’t know what it was, so it had no official meaning and was probably there out of sentimentality, but internally he had assigned it something like ‘warmth’ because of the bright colour. The biggest part was probably the sunflowers. They had a million and one meanings, but here he would say simply ‘joy,’ along with the overall ‘friendship’ vibe every single flower had. Next were the calla lilies, also meaning ‘warmth’ because of their flame colour. He’d also heard them being specifically about ‘lifting my spirits,’ which was definitely something he’d been trying to do. So, good to know it was working—as if the bouquet as a whole didn’t already express that. It was a bold choice to have another normal white lily in the mix, though they looked nothing alike so most people wouldn’t even know. Also interesting to introduce another colour with the pink roses, but Touya somehow made it work, and the four colours made a gradient that worked well (and somehow were both his and Kohane’s favourite colours). Both of those were for devotion and gratitude, so to have two of the same meaning just meant Touya felt very strongly about this, even if he’d never say it aloud. The rest of the bouquet was filled with a few types of green foliage and even some pink astilbe flowers. They weren’t really meant to be taken for their meaning, but he would just take it as another layer of the almost overwhelming outpouring of thankfulness and friendship they'd just been gifted.

“…It’s beautiful,” he choked out after what was probably too long a time. “I— you’re welcome, but you really don’t have to thank us so much for just… being your friend.”

“Yeah,” Kohane agreed. “Truly, thank you, Touya, for such a thoughtful gift.”

Touya averted his eyes in a way that almost looked embarrassed. “It was the only way I could think of to truly express how I feel.”

“Well, it definitely worked, you could have a full-time job doing this!” Akito laughed. “Seriously, when the hell did you even learn—” Oh. He could literally feel the puzzle pieces fit into place and he snapped his fingers angrily. “The book! You’ve been reading the flower language book Mum owned. You were hiding it for this?” Gods that made so much sense.

Touya blinked owlishly at him while An pretended she wasn’t laughing. “…You figured that out quickly.”

“It’s been annoying me for ages!” he exclaimed. “You really read that book for ages just to make this bouquet?”

“Yes. Though it was… interesting in and of itself. And your sister helped,” Touya admitted. “She showed me how to wrap the bouquet and arrange everything. We practiced a bit.”

Akito smothered a grin at that. He’d wondered why the premade bouquets Ena had been making lately had suddenly gotten messier. And now he knew. Ena wasn’t being lazy, Touya had made them.

“And you knew?” Kohane turned to An.

She hummed in assent. “I wasn’t involved because it was Touya’s thing, but I did offer suggestions for flowers.” She grimaced. “He gave me a list of twenty flowers he wanted to add and I had to literally beg him not to do that.”

Kohane smiled, probably also picturing Touya coming out of the house with a bouquet bigger than himself. Though, they wouldn’t have been surprised if he had. But that was something they liked about Touya.

“Come on,” Akito sighed with a shake of his head and a laugh. “I think there’s a vase big enough for this thing upstairs.” He let Kohane take the bouquet and ushered An and Touya back inside. Heavy footsteps sounded down the stairs as they entered, and by the time he got to the stairs, Ena was standing a few steps up, the exact white vase he was thinking of in her hands.

“Here.” She took another step down and handed him the vase with a smug grin and flick of her eyes at Touya and the bouquet.

He grumbled what could probably pass as a ‘thanks’ and turned away when she snapped an “oi!”

Ena raised an eyebrow at him with a glare. “Anything else to say?” She looked pointedly at the vase and bouquet again.

He grumbled louder and rolled his eyes. “Thanks,” he ground out, “for getting the vase, and helping Touya.”

“You’re welcome,” she preened, then turned to Touya. “And I’ll say it again, you did a great job with it.”

Touya bowed his head. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Ena just shot Akito another smug look before turning with a wave to hide in her room again. Akito hoped she could feel the glare he was burning into her back.

Kohane giggled and nudged him from behind to get them moving, and they made their way to the dining table. Akito went to the sink and started filling a jug with water. The vase was too big to fit in the basin, but he couldn’t be bothered going back to the laundry. So jug it was. After three jugs it was just under two-thirds full, and he spun around to place it in the middle of the table. The others had taken the paper and ribbon off while he worked, and Kohane helped Touya place the flowers in the jar. They still had to remove a few pieces of foliage, but that was alright. Finally, Kohane took the ribbon and tied it around the thinnest part of the vase with a bow and a half-aborted ‘ta-dah’ motion she got halfway through before getting too embarrassed to finish. Akito laughed and came around to stand next to her and Touya, looking between the other three and then back at the vase.

The flowers were bright, but the quiet happiness radiating off Touya was brighter.

The twin suns were blinding against the gloom around them, the only light in a haze of black and grey. One seemed to sway back and forth, while the other jumped around erratically. He could only watch them, rooted to the spot. Illuminated by the light came flashes of objects that only had names long after they’d disappeared. A blue cloth flapping from the taller sun's shoulders. A brown glint from a cup in the swaying sun’s hands. They registered as something to him and then faded before it could mean anything.

An open sky of black soared above them, walls closed in on each side, yet so open compared to what came after. A small roof protected the three of them from the empty sun above—one that could never compare to the two that sat next to him.

Pink called out to him, gesturing with a round object and laughing about something he couldn’t hear.

Orange swung a long object around next to the table, narrowly missing the shapeless shapes scattered on its surface.

Pink scolded the near miss, still trying to give him something.

Orange dipped and bowed, throwing the object away before sliding into the empty seat.

He was happy? content.

Colours steadily came into form around them, pale imitations of what they should have been, lining the green walls around them. They felt familiar when they shouldn’t have.

He was not meant to be happy? content.

Was it because of the suns or the colourful ???

Both? Neither?

He accepted Pink’s offering, bringing it to his lips with a sigh. Orange drank theirs much more noisily.

Time blurred and they ran together, dark wisps moving past them faster and faster until they were nothing and everything. Surrounding him and drowning out the suns until something solidified in front of his feet and he went flying. Formless and weightless, falling through the ground and the sky and the darkness until he finally hit the ground in a shaking, laughing heap with the twin suns.

The thin blanket was nothing like the weight of those suns on his chest.

Touya gathered it into his arms and curled into a ball, trying desperately to find that warmth again.

Akito invited her out the next day. A strange occurrence. An didn’t think they’d hung out together alone on purpose like this. Sure, sometimes they were left alone together, and it was pretty good. And she had fun with him when they were all together. But this was new and she didn’t know what had changed. Was it the bouquet? Had he realised how serious Touya (and by extension, her) were about their friendship? Because annoyingly, she did want to be better friends with him. It was why she’d declined Touya’s offer to help. She didn’t think she was close enough to Akito for that. Kohane? Sure. Maybe she’d even make another for her alone. So maybe, hopefully, Akito felt the same and wanted to get to know her too. Eugh.

Akito broke her from her thoughts after a few minutes of silent walking down some road. “Have you actually done any of the tourist shit around here?” he asked.

“What tourist shit?” she shot back. “This place is so tiny there’s nothing to do.”

“Oh, like your ‘tiny town’ is any better.”

“I’ll have you know the cafe was the hottest place around!” And so what if he was right?

“Not like that’s hard, you snow freak,” he muttered with a sharp grin.

She resisted the urge to shove him into a building. “Alright then oh gracious host, which amazing building are you taking me to today?”

“Uh.” He grimaced and looked around. “I haven’t decided. I was just gonna walk around and see what I came up with.”

She didn’t even bother responding, just copied his grin from earlier.

“Fuck off. There’s an antique shop up there. Got some funky stuff in it I thought could be interesting.”

“At least you put some effort into planning your dates,” she scoffed. “I was worried about Kohane for a while.”

“I’m not responding to that.” Akito’s ears were red when she glanced over. He hurried his pace, but she caught up in two steps, so he gave up. “It’s that red building with the giant vase outside.”

“An empty vase in Vivid?” she gasped. “A tragedy.”

Akito rolled his eyes as they veered to the left. “There’s a model flower Ena made for it years ago, but I think it broke in a storm? The old man who runs the store never fixed it. And Ena doesn’t go outside enough to notice it’s gone,” he snorted.

An peered into the vase as they arrived at the door. It was half full of water and bugs. She quickly entered the shop, holding the door open for Akito like the gentleman she was. She couldn’t say she’d ever been in an antique store. It wasn’t as dusty as she’d expected—but ten times messier. Even from the cramped entrance, she could tell this place was fuller than it should be. Clocks, books, pens, pots, and all manner of contraptions she couldn’t even name lined the walls and threatened to topple over on the shelves and tables, and— holy shit was that a claymore? Two claymores?! Akito laughed and kicked at her ankles to get her moving, and she walked in like a kid in a lolly store. They walked through the store together, laughing and pointing out the strange and funny objects they saw, and she only threatened to cut him in half once when they passed the hundred-year-old swords. Why did this town have an old weapons section? She did not care, as long as she got to pick them up.

She stared at him through a strange multi-coloured glass shape that made him look warped. He stacked ten hats on her head and found star hair clips that reminded her of the ones she used to wear as a child so much that she immediately ran up to the counter to buy them. She found the worst things she could to use as garden tools—much to Akito’s increasing distress at how much they would damage the flowers and soil. They could have been in there for ten minutes or several hours. The windows were covered in too many things to tell how bright it was outside. But she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She’d sort of scoffed at the idea of spending time with Akito the first week she’d known him, but now she never wanted it to end.

Unfortunately, they did have other places to check out, and Akito had gardening to do that afternoon, so they couldn’t stay forever. The owner waved them out, overjoyed by either how excited they’d seemed running through the store or the way she’d definitely overpaid for the clips. (She didn’t even ask for the price, just dumped a bunch of coins on the table until he started laughing.)

It was bright outside when she opened the door again and returned to the real world. People walked past, unaware of the store and the insane things inside, and she squinted against the sun even under the awning. The vine-covered wall opposite the store reminded her of something very important she had forgotten to take advantage of.

“I haven’t seen many herbs at your house,” she said, turning to Akito. “Bit sad for a flower shop.”

He frowned and moved to lean against the store out of the doorway. “Why? That’s a completely different thing.”

“They’re both plants?”

“Right. Because that means they’re totally the same thing.”

“Anyway. Would you? Or, can I?” She refrained from begging. She wasn’t that desperate yet.

“Are you asking my permission?” Akito half-laughed. “Why can’t you do it at Kohane’s?”

“She already has herbs. I want my own. And you have a giant window box outside your kitchen window. It's literally the perfect spot.”

Akito stared at her in annoyance but sighed and started walking in the direction of the seed shop. Yes. She had memorised where it was for this exact scenario. “I guess? What do you want to grow?”

“Mint,” she answered immediately. “And whatever else you use the most of, I suppose.”

“Mint?” he echoed disbelievingly. “Why mint?”

“I like mint,” she sniffed. “And I couldn’t exactly grow it at the barracks, could I? Let me have this.”

“I wasn’t gonna not let you. It’s just so random. Never would have guessed you’d be a… minter.” Akito pulled a disgusted face at his own word choice but forged on. “But it sorta makes sense.”

“How? What makes me remind you of mint?” she spluttered, laughing.

“I don’t know!” Akito’s shoulders rose to his ears—now even redder. “You’re… refreshing but sort of spicy?”

Her screech of, “Why do you think mint is spicy?!” got several concerned looks from the townsfolk.

“I don’t! Spearmint’s kinda sharp, right?” he defended. “I’m sure someone out there thinks it is. I was just insulting you!”

“I know, but it was so bad I’m ignoring it.” She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, turning her whole body away from him so he knew just how disappointed she was with his attempt. But black clothing caught her eyes, and she immediately grabbed Akito’s arm and started power-walking away.

“Wh—” he tried, but she just shushed him.

She pulled them into a side street a few metres back, peering out at her biggest fear and hoping desperately she was wrong. But, no. Through the relatively busy street and throng of people, she could see two Nocturne knights looking around. They didn’t have their insignias out, and people weren’t too wary of them, but An knew them by name.

“Fuck,” she swore, shutting her eyes briefly in pain. Not now. Please.

“Seriously, what—” Akito tried again, shoving out of her grip and following her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re from Nocturne,” she whispered, watching them. They walked slowly down the street towards them, glancing at everyone they passed, but nothing too obvious.

Akito inhaled sharply but thankfully didn’t shout in surprise or anything stupid. “Why? What the hell are they doing here?”

She pulled further into the darkness, just in case. “We’ve been here, what? Nearly four weeks? They were expecting me back a week ago. With or without Touya. I’m not surprised they came after us. More so that they’re here. I thought I’d gotten rid of anything that led me to Vivid.”

Akito glared at her. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am! And anyway, look at them”—she gestured loosely at the concerningly close knights—“they’re not searching that hard. If they knew Touya was here they’d be a lot more thorough. It’s probably just chance.” Hopefully. “We gotta get away, but we can’t go home yet, just in case.” No way was she leading them back there.

Akito looked down the street behind them like she might have summoned more. “Alright. I know a basement we can go to, the owner won’t mind.”

She let him lead them down the streets, keeping an eye out for any more knights—though she saw nothing—until they skidded to a stop in a narrow alley next to a brightly coloured house with dresses in the window. She didn’t have time to admire them—not that she would in a tense situation—before Akito led her around the side. He stopped and knelt next to a trapdoor and pulled out his ring of keys. A thick one she’d never seen him use was inserted into the lock and twisted, and then she was pushed down the rickety stairs into a dark basement. She had enough time to find a lantern with matches next to it with the light of Akito coming down to grab them before they were plunged into darkness. She waited a few seconds before lighting the lantern and closing the shutter halfway, leaving them enough light to see but not enough to seep outside.

Akito leaned against the stairs and watched her. “Careful with that. Don’t spill it or anything or we’ll burn down.”

An raised an eyebrow but carefully placed it back on the flat crate. “What’s down here?” she asked, though she was turning around before she’d even finished the question. She was met with the pale face of a person, and only years of training stopped her from screaming. “Wh—” Oh. She breathed out heavily, glaring at Akito, who was silently laughing, before turning back to the mannequin in front of her. At least its dress was pretty. Behind it were racks of more dresses, shirts, petticoats, jackets, pants, and skirts. Anything and everything she could think of and all of it breathtakingly beautiful. “What is this place?”

“Storage room for the dressmaker.” Akito pushed off the stairs and past her to flick through a rack of jackets. “The Akiyamas own it—that’s why I have a key, before you ask.”

She had to think about it, the name was familiar, but it took a second to come back to her. “Oh, the family that helped you and Ena, right? Touya mentioned it.”

“Yeah…”

“Cool. Do you get your clothes from here?” She couldn’t see anything that looked like the sweater he was wearing, but it was the logical conclusion.

“No,” he surprisingly answered. “I made them myself.”

Her eyebrows joined her hairline. “You did? And you said my mint was strange.”

“I like clothes and fashion,” he scoffed, “what’s strange about that? I grew up with Mizuki and this household, of course I do.”

“…Isn’t Mizuki that knight? What if she comes back and finds me here? I can’t believe you’re turning me in after all this time,” she lamented, leaning against the mannequin.

“Better her than the Nocturne knights,” he joked back. “But no, she won’t be back anytime soon. Anyway.” He pulled his head out of the rack. “What exactly is our plan here? We’re hiding, now what? Are we stuck here? What if they find Touya and Kohane.”

“They won’t,” she assured. “They didn’t seem to be going into any houses, and Touya is with Kohane with the cows, so they won’t be back in town for a while. If he sees them while they’re in the paddock, he’ll hide.”

“Okay… and us?” he stressed. “I don’t exactly want to sit in here all day.”

She waved him off. “Just for an hour or so. Just to make sure.”

“That scared, huh?” Akito settled onto a crate, gesturing for her to do the same opposite him. “Aren’t they your friends?”

“I’m not scared!” She frowned but sat down, knees to her chest. “But. I’d have to go back. And then they’d kill me.”

Akito’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t bring Touya with me. And the Old Masters would know I’m lying about not finding him. And you know, the whole deserting my duties for two months.”

“Yeah, but the death penalty? Really?” he flabbergasted. “Isn’t that a bit much?”

She looked away, flame flickering strange patterns on the floor. “Not in Nocturne.”

“…Oh.”

“I get it, I do,” she continued before she could twice and regret it. “I know it’s fucked up. I know what my kingdom has done is fucked up. But I don’t know what I’m meant to do about it. It’s my kingdom. It’s my dream. It’s all I know. How am I meant to just stop?”

She could feel Akito’s gaze burning a hole into her head. “You never mentioned having a dream.”

“It never came up.”

“Well, it has now.” He crossed his arms and leant back. “What is it?”

An stayed silent. It wasn’t exactly a secret. Everyone in the castle and her hometown knew. And she certainly wasn’t embarrassed about it. But it was like merging two worlds she wasn’t sure she wanted to. But Akito kept staring at her, and he’d been open about his own dream, so it was… okay, right?

“My dad’s a knight. He’s semi-retired now, but a decade ago, he and his two best friends were the top knights in the kingdom,” she started slowly. “Growing up, Aunt Nagi and Uncle Taiga were always there. We’re not related, but I always looked up to them—especially Aunt Nagi.” She looked up, just to make sure Akito was following or not about to call her stupid. He just nodded when she met his gaze, so she continued. “Six years ago, they went out on a ‘final mission’ before retiring, and…” She stopped, having to blink back tears even now. “And Aunt Nagi didn’t… come back.”

Akito didn’t say anything, and she let the silence consume them. If she spoke again in the next minute, all that would come out was a sob. She heard him stand before her vision was filled with yellow and he sat next to her—still not speaking—but he leaned in enough that if she did the same, they would touch.

So she did. “She was a commander, and I looked up to her in every way,” she whispered past the lump in her throat. “She was an amazing singer—I wish you could have heard her. And one of the nicest people around, even if she was often too busy for me. My dad was asked to fill in her position for a while, so I went with him and joined the knights the next day. That’s my dream. I don’t want to just follow my dad and Aunt Nagi’s footsteps. I want to surpass her. So that means I had to aim higher than her.” She paused. Last chance to back out.

“I wanted to become the Captain of the Guard,” she admitted. “To prove I could, and to show her what it would be like, from wherever she’s watching from.” Her head thudded into the box behind her and she stared up at the ceiling, blinking back the remnants of her tears. It was stupid to be crying about it after so long, but every time she mentioned Nagi, it was like she was thirteen all over again.

“That’s a nice dream,” Akito finally said something. “I would have liked to meet her.”

No ‘Sorry that happened’ or ‘Are you alright.’ It was the first time in years someone hadn’t given her empty condolences. He was probably used to it—understood what it meant to lose your family. She was grateful for it, but didn’t know how to express it beyond letting her head fall onto his shoulder.

“We’re the same, I guess,” he continued. “Trying to become the best.”

She smiled. “Yeah? Kinda. I don’t think I can do it anymore though.”

They both knew the answer, but Akito still asked, “Why?”

“I’ve been ignoring it all, which is kinda shitty of me. All the conquering and the killing, just because I wanted to achieve my dream. I don’t know what I would have done if I had. I’d be even more complicit in all of it. And that’s… not what I want.”

“It’s hard,” Akito said. “Two opposite ideals are hard to deal with, especially if it’s something so close to your heart, but—”

“Woah, woah,” she interrupted. “Sorry. I agree, but where the hell did that come from? What are you, a philosopher? Who are you?”

He shrugged her off roughly. “Fuck off. I can be good at this stuff. I see Kohane and Ena every day. One of us has to be emotionally smart.”

She laughed quietly. “Sure. Fine, go on.”

He elbowed her while crossing his arms. “I don’t want to, anymore. You can have your crisis alone.”

“Hey! That’s not fair—”

“What do you want to do now?” he cut in. “And what’s stopping you?”

“I—” Her voice died. “I don’t… know.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

She clicked her tongue. “Yeah. But. Sure, the ideal is staying here. But it’s not that easy!”

Akito turned to look at her for the first time, eyes boring into hers. “Why? What’s so hard about it?”

“I can’t just leave everything, my home, my family, my job, my life, for two pretty strangers!” she scowled, ignoring that slip of the tongue. “I’m happier than I’ve been in years, Touya is actually happy, and I love it here. But still.”

“You can stay. I already told Touya he can stay. You can stay. It’s your life, decide for yourself for once,” he snapped back.

That shut her up. When had she not decided for herself? Becoming a knight was her own decision. Leaving was… one she wanted to make. She hated how he was right. She hated how he was wrong. It was so simple, it was the most complicated thing she could think of. Why did it have to be so hard!

“…How’d you meet, Touya?” Akito asked after a minute of silence. “You said you were just ‘friends’ which I suppose—you’re both knights. But everything else about Touya tells me that’s not really what it was.”

It was a random question but made sense. It’s not like she’d ever elaborated. She didn’t want them to hate Nocturne even more—even if they deserved it. “They knew I was aiming for the top. So when we were fourteen, this group of mages told me about Touya. Not much, just that... They'd tried something new.” She grimaced. “Tried to create the perfect weapon. And if I wanted to prove myself, I should start by working with him. Watching over him. Making sure everything stuck.”

Akito was looking at her with undisguised disgust. “What the hell is ‘everything?’”

She shrugged guiltily. “I don't know. They won't say. Touya won't say. I don't even know if he remembers what they did to him.” She didn’t know if it was better that he did or not. “He never spoke. Only answered when he had to. And there was no reaction to anything he ever did, or anyone else did. It was scary. It still is. And that’s why I’m glad he met you. That he can… be happy.”

“It wasn’t me…” Akito looked away. “It’s just that he’s away from whatever happened. Anyone could have done what I did.”

She was shaking her head before he’d finished talking. “No. I don’t think they would have. Or could have. It has to be you. You and Kohane. So, thanks.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. You being here helped a lot. I don’t think he’d have… opened up as much without you. Or as quick.”

“Maybe. I am glad I get to actually be friends with him now.”

“…Good.”

They’d probably only been down here fifteen minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. She’d forgotten how draining these conversations were. At least Akito’s bonding plan had worked out in the end. Now they just had to wait for another half an hour or so, then they could sneak back home and Akito could check on Touya— Wait.

Gods she could kick herself.

“Wait. I’m stupid”—she ignored Akito’s instant ‘I know’—“you can leave. They're not looking for you. Just tell me if you see anyone or if they leave and in which direction. I’ll wait here.” She didn’t have to have an emotional talk with him? She could have avoided all that? Damn. Screw bonding.

“I don’t want to just leave you here alone.” Akito crossed his arms, looking very put out at the thought, which was sweet, but she’d literally staked out a house hidden in a rotting log for two days, so this basement was like a luxury holiday.

Instead of arguing she just wrapped a hand around his waist and dragged him to his feet. “It’s fine, I’m used to it. Go on.” She shoved him towards the stairs. “Maybe even warn the other two, but if you do go out there, make it look like you’re bringing them something, don’t go empty-handed.” She shoved a nearby shirt into his hand.

“Alright, alright,” he sighed, climbing the stairs and putting a hand on the door above. “I’ll be back soon. And I doubt they will, but if the Akiyama’s come down, just say you’re with me.”

She shot him a thumbs up he had to squint to make out, but soon enough he was opening the door and yelping at the sudden light—the idiot hadn’t closed his eyes, amateur—before scurrying out with a hasty “bye,” and leaving her in the semi-dark again. She gave him a few seconds to leave before blowing out the lantern and backing into the darkness of the racks. On the off chance someone saw him and they came down, she wasn’t going to just sit out in the open. Her eyes would adjust soon enough—and the few streaks of light from the gaps in the trapdoor were good for now.

When, after five minutes, she heard nothing, she sat down on another crate behind the rack Akito had looked at before. It wasn’t as bad as her inner monologue wanted to make it out to be. Akito had been nothing but accepting of her dream and understanding of why it was so hard to choose. Ugh. It would be easier if he hadn’t. Easier to just take Touya and run. But she couldn’t do that to him, it was probably worse than killing him.

But nooo, Akito and Kohane were nice and pretty and lovely and everything she’d ever wanted in friends. People who shared her hobbies and passions, who accepted her, and she could tease and adore in return. How easy would it be to just stay? To live in Vivid and forget about everything. To spend every day gardening and singing to her heart's content. Just being happy and making a new future for herself. It wasn’t where she’d imagined she’d be ten years ago. But it was something like what she had before that… It was much better than the alternative of destroying Touya again and hurting innocent people. Ugh. She’d joined the knights to protect her kingdom and make her family proud, not… whatever this was. She toyed with the sunflower earrings she hadn’t removed yet. The choice really was obvious. But she still couldn’t make herself do it.

She must have been thinking too hard about it, because before she knew it, the door was opening and she was up in a defensive stance, dagger in hand.

“Why’d the lantern go out?” Akito called down, and she relaxed.

“I put it out in case someone came down,” she said, tucking her knife back into her boot and straightening from her crouch.

“Paranoid.”

“Careful.”

“Whatever, it’s safe now. Let’s go home.” She could see Akito rolling his eyes from here.

An extracted herself from the clothes and stumbled towards the stairs. Akito moved out of the way as she climbed and locked the trapdoor behind her. While she did believe him, she couldn’t help but look around. He straightened and started walking and she followed, tucking her hair over one shoulder.

“They went back north,” Akito said before she could even ask. “Ena said she saw them walk past the window and out the gate looking all annoyed.”

“Oh thank the Gods,” she breathed. “Hopefully that means they won’t be back.”

Akito nodded in agreement. “I got Kohane and Touya, they’re on their way back. They’ll probably beat us there.”

“They didn’t see them?”

“Nope. We had to stop Touya from trying to go find them, though.”

“Of course you would.” She shook her head ruefully. Of course he’d want to know where they went. She took the time to stretch her legs. It may have only been an hour, but it was still longer than anything she’d done in weeks. They made it back in only a few minutes. They went through the back garden because Akito wanted to avoid getting scolded by Ena, and she couldn’t say she blamed him. Touya and Kohane were talking in the laundry when they slipped through the gate, Kohane waving through the window before rushing past Touya to skip down the path.

“An! You’re okay!” Kohane cried, throwing her arms around her and nearly knocking them into Akito.

“Of course I am!” she laughed, picking Kohane up and squeezing. “It’s not like anything happened.”

“It must have been scary though.” Kohane dropped to the ground, smiling at her and then Akito who came up next to her.

She scoffed. “Well. I don’t know if I’d say scary. Worrisome, maybe. I’m just glad they didn’t see me or come to your house.”

“We’re fine,” Touya answered over the top of Kohane’s head, scanning her unsubtly. “They didn’t come near us and we didn’t see them earlier this morning.”

“Good.” She let Kohane go, and she moved to kiss Akito. “Everything’s fine then. It’s no problem.”

“Right. It was just good luck on their part,” Akito said. “Let’s just… pretend that didn’t happen.”

“Yep!” she agreed. “Flowers. Plants. Love that thing. The green.”

“There are other colours.” Touya tilted his head at her like she was stupid.

“An only knows that one.” Akito smacked her shoulder as he and Kohane passed, Kohane giggling.

“Oh. Well—” Touya turned to her like he was actually going to start naming every colour, and she had to slap a hand over his mouth, spinning him around to follow the others.

“I know the colours! It was a joke.” She sat him down on the veranda with a sigh and grin so he knew she found it funny.

“Ah.” Touya nodded. “It was a bad one.”

Something clattered to the floor inside, only barely covering up Akito’s snort of laughter.

She bit her lip to stop her own laugh and flopped down next to Touya. “Wow. Thanks.”

“You're welcome.”

She squinted at him. “Are you making jokes or are you being serious?”

His eyebrows pinched a little in the middle. “I am… trying to make a joke?”

“Good job. It’s working.” Her grin softened and she offered him a high five. Touya stared at her hand for a few seconds before far too gently placing his hand against hers for a second. An shrugged. Close enough.

Kohane and Akito came back outside with their spades and pointy weeding things, looking like they were still trying not to laugh. They threw their tools to the dirt and knelt side by side.

She flipped off Akito. Kohane didn’t deserve that, even if she was going red. “Traitors,” she whispered.

They sat. Watching, listening to their quiet conversation and the sounds of people behind them. A light breeze had picked up while she was underground, and it was nice to just feel it over her skin—and she made sure to untuck her hair. Touya was silent as usual, but after a few minutes, he spoke up.

“Did you know them?”

She hummed. “Arata and Kotarou. It's why I was worried there’d be someone else. Arata never goes anywhere without Souma.”

“Yes.” Touya agreed. “It makes sense to send three people into one town during a reconnaissance mission.”

“Mmm. Caught me off guard though. And!” She waggled a finger at him. “Don’t think about sneaking out tonight to go find them.”

He looked up, surprised. “I— Alright.”

“We don’t need to. They didn’t see us. They have no reason to come back.”

“…I hope you’re right,” Touya sighed after a few seconds, sounding very much like he didn’t believe her.

They settled back into silence, and her thoughts wandered back to earlier. If she was going to stay, she wanted it to be something Touya wanted as well. And getting Touya’s opinion was like pulling teeth, but she would try. She’d like to think she already knew the answer—as if it wasn’t as plain as day how much better he was here—but she had to at least ask. She looked at him, eyes alert in a way that was less predator and more just… being interested… in the people and the work happening right in front of them.

“Are you happy here?” she asked quietly as she looked away.

She felt him glance at her, but he returned to watching the others after a second. It wasn’t surprising, but he didn’t answer. “Touya…” she sighed.

“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you.” At least he sounded sorry about it.

Slowly she reached out and took his hand, squeezing gently and holding it on top of her knee. “Can you try?”

He watched her do it, keeping his gaze on their joined hands. “…I don’t know. What is it supposed to feel like? How would I know…?”

“It’s…” she looked up at Kohane and Akito, watching them accidentally clash spades, turning it into an impromptu duel. “It’s being warm, feeling like you could float away, or being crushed by the weight of how others love you. It’s feeling free. Like you could do this forever and ever, and the thought of going back to what you were… hurts.” The words we’re only half for Touya, at this point.

Touya’s fingers twitched in hers and she looked back at him. “I— I suppose. Returning sounds… painful. Compared to this. And I… don’t want to never see them again. I think I’m happy—or, I’m meant to be. But I don’t know if I actually feel it.”

She squeezed him tighter. “That’s alright. That’s enough for me.” She was asking a lot of him, after all. But if he could get this far, she wanted to see what he would be like next year—if they stayed.

A soft coo from Kohane interrupted the silence. “Vivi!” Kohane called, and they both looked over to see a sleek grey cat sitting on the stone wall. Kohane had her hand buried in the soft fur, and Akito, feeling their eyes on them, gestured for Touya to come over.

Touya moved slowly so he wouldn’t scare the cat, but Akito had no such reservations and came over to drag him the rest of the way. The cat didn’t seem to mind the stranger, though most animals seemed to like Touya. She’d never seen the street cats run from him, though he never touched them, and even the wild animals would sniff him before running away. Tentatively he held out a hand for Vivi to sniff. She did, then brushed her cheek against his fingers, and Touya gasped. Kohane pulled away to let him stroke up and down her back slowly, fur sticking to him and flying in the air.

“She’s fluffy…” Touya said, and An could see the other two holding back fond smiles that made her heart hurt. Not that her smile was any better.

She leaned against the house, just taking in the stupidly cute scene in front of her.

“Yeah,” she whispered to herself. “Yeah, I’d say you’re happy.

Chapter Text

It was strange being outside. The light was harsh, reflecting off the snow. It was cold—but not the empty cold of the room. The people were strange and the land was unfamiliar.

And then there was the girl he was following.

Black and blue hair, bright eyes full of life and a steady hand on her sword. Shiraishi An—as she joyfully introduced herself, despite his lack of response—led the way through the forest. Towards his first mission. They had deemed him ready. Had moved him into a slightly larger room in the Nocturne castle—one with furniture and lights and a bed that was too soft. The door was locked from the outside, of course; a key somewhere inside An’s bag. Not that he would try and leave. Because why would he? Unless They asked him to.

And then they did. Telling him to treat the knight as he would Them. To follow her steps and orders, and to return to the castle with her. He didn’t know what They wanted him to do. She hadn’t told him yet. He could guess—the years of training would have their purpose—but it wasn’t his place to. He simply had to follow her and complete the task she gave him at the end.

They walked all day. The longest he’d walked, the furthest he’d moved from that room in years that blended together. An tried to talk to him a few times, but he had nothing to say. She stopped after a while. Leaving them accompanied only by the crunching of snow beneath her feet and their billowing breath in the air. They crested a hill at the end of the forest, a small town nestled beneath them, a snowy plain spreading between them.

An pointed at the village. “There is a ??? over there. Ploughing the fields to the west, see?”

He nodded. A black shape, rhythmically raising and swinging a hoe, some several hundred metres away.

“A traitor. A deserter, who has to pay for their crime,” An continued. “I’ll be here. It doesn’t matter if anyone sees you. Let them.”

He nodded again and started down the hill, feeling An settle to crouch against a tree in wait behind him. He made no sound as he crossed the field. Far too frozen to grow anything in at this time of year. And yet the farmer was digging a hole. They didn’t notice him until he was a few metres away, the darkness enough to mask his approach as the sun rapidly sunk beyond the mountains.

Touya unsheathed his sword, the quiet shing enough to alert the farmer. They turned and opened their mouth, saying something lost to the wind. It was the last thing they did. In a split second, Touya was there, sword buried hilt deep in their chest, their blood warm where it splattered his skin. He withdrew the sword and let them fall to the ground, snow steadily turning red.

Everything else disappeared. There was only him, his sword, and the body in an expanse of black. Nothing beneath his feet, the body floating on nothing. It wasn’t cold anymore, the wind didn’t bite at his face, did not howl. The screams from the village did not reach him.

The dead body at his feet kept changing. Old. Young. Male. Female. Ever shifting between the countless people he’d killed, so he could no longer tell who was first. Or if it even mattered. If he couldn’t even remember the first life he ever took, he truly could not call himself human.

He stared down at the body. At the blood seeping across the snow. Somewhere, deep down, he knew he was supposed to react to this. This was meant to be horrifying. He’d taken someone’s life. Ended their dreams, hurt those who loved them. But.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

He didn’t feel sad, or regret. He wasn’t happy. There was no sense of accomplishment.

He didn’t even feel numb. It was something beyond that.

He just stared and felt nothing.

The sun rose steadily over the horizon, peeking over the tops of the trees to his right as Akito turned back north to finish his run. The steady thumping of his feet on the dirt and his heartbeat in his ears drowned out the clanging from the town. He slowed to a walk a few houses from his own, trying to calm his breathing and flicking his sweaty hair from his eyes. Summer was nice to run in—the sun was out earlier but not too hot—but he definitely got sweatier than in winter. He breathed for a second just outside the back gate before opening it and walking up the path. Ena’s curtain was closed, so she was unsurprisingly still asleep. He opened the door as quietly as he could and dipped into the laundry to splash his face. His bedroom door was also closed, which was surprising, and there was a distinct lack of coffee emanating from the kitchen. He frowned and paused outside his door, listening for a second, but heard nothing. With a shrug, he continued into the main room and found it empty. Huh. He couldn’t remember a time Touya hadn’t been awake before him.

Rather than disturb Touya if he was asleep, Akito got changed and started breakfast quietly. He pulled out a pan and a carton of eggs, then lit the stove. It was a mindless job, something he did every day, but he refrained from humming this time, catching himself several times and having to swallow his voice. His efforts were mostly in vain when the shop bell rang out. He looked up, waiting until the door opened and Kohane and An came in.

“Oh, I knew I smelt something good,” An said with a wave. “I’ve always wanted a househusband. Could we get some of that?”

Kohane giggled behind her. “Good morning, Aki.”

“Mornin’. Shut up, An.” He rolled his eyes and pulled out another four eggs. He gestured towards the bread. “You can toast that if you want breakfast that bad.”

“That’s not very househusband of you,” An whined, but came over and pulled out the bread and a knife.

Kohane wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder that he leaned into. “It’s lovely weather this morning.” She crouched down to pull out some plates before sliding into her seat at the table.

“The clouds helped,” he agreed. “Still hot, though. And it’s gonna get worse.”

“Hey,” An paused halfway through cutting a fourth slice. “Where’s Touya? Isn’t he usually on his second cup of coffee by now?”

Akito shrugged, cracking another egg into the pan. “Dunno. Haven’t seen him. Asleep?”

An’s gaze narrowed and after a second she slammed the knife down and turned around. “He better not have gone after Arata.” She started stalking towards the hall before he could ask who. “Oh my Gods, I’ll kill—”

A loud thud echoed from his room and they all froze.

“Touya?” An called out tentatively.

It was silent, then there was a very quiet, “…I’m okay,” they had to strain to hear, followed by even more silence.

An stood still for another few seconds before coming back to her bread, all traces of annoyance replaced by concern on her face. “Ok. Good, he’s here.”

Akito had to turn back to his eggs before they burnt, so he missed Touya coming in. He only knew because Kohane gasped quietly. As he flipped an egg, he turned around. Touya stood in the doorway, clothes wrinkled like he’d just thrown them on. And he looked, well… miserable. Hair dishevelled—not that it was ever neat, but not like this—eyes sunken and face paler than usual. He swayed in place for a second before coming into the kitchen and sitting heavily in his chair. He didn’t look at any of them, didn’t even seem to notice their eyes on him, and stared at the table.

“Good morning, Touya,” Kohane greeted lightly.

Touya didn’t even seem to hear her.

“Um. How did you sleep?” she tried again.

An turned around from toasting the bread, eyes boring into Touya.

Kohane glanced back at them for help, but Akito could only shrug. “Are you alright—” Kohane reached towards his head, probably going to check his temperature. As her hand brushed his hair, he flinched back, chair screeching a bit with the force, eyes widening.

He blinked like he was finally seeing them. “What?” His voice wobbled. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Kohane did a good job of speaking normally, asking again, but Akito just looked at An, who was frowning even harder. He’d never heard Touya’s voice anything but steady. So he didn’t need eyes to know something was wrong.

“Touya…” An sounded disappointed as she straightened, plate full of toast. “What happened?”

He didn’t look at her. “Nothing.”

“You woke up late and you’re shaking,” she listed. “Of course something did.”

“I just—” Touya brought his hands up and rubbed at his eyes with a sigh. “It was just a dream.”

An nearly dropped the plate, and Akito reached to take it out of her hand. “But. You’ve… never had a dream before?”

“It was nothing,” Touya repeated. “I don’t. W-want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Akito butted in before An could push any harder. “Are you hungry?”

Touya shook his head. “No. I— I’m going to the garden. Sorry.” He pushed out of the chair, nearly tripping over his own legs—so now they knew it was bad bad—and beelined down the hall.

“Well. Fuck,” An swore once the back door had shut.

“Yeah…” Kohane echoed. “Should we…?”

“No. Leave him alone for now.” An sat down heavily in Akito’s chair. “What the hell. A dream? Gods.”

“How do you know he’s never had one?” Akito asked, dishing up their breakfast despite his rapidly disappearing appetite.

“I asked once,” An mumbled into her hands. “He said he doesn’t dream.”

Huh. He’d say this was probably a good thing, but Touya didn’t seem to agree. Maybe ‘dream’ was putting it too lightly. He sat down in An’s chair, picking up his fork and half-heartedly poking at the scrambled eggs, the girls doing the same. They ate in silence. An seemed to only focus on the fact that Touya had dreamt, but Akito was more shocked by the fact that Touya had seemed so open. Even now it was nearly impossible to tell what he was thinking based on his expression or movements; always so stiff and perfectly controlled. He didn’t know what the noise was—either Touya hitting something or falling out of bed—and combined with the actual wobble in his voice, Akito felt he was rightfully concerned.

“Why are you so concerned about the dreams, An?” Kohane asked, reading his mind. “Sure, it’s unusual if he never has, but it is a normal thing.”

An sighed and put down her half-eaten slice of toast. She stared at the hallway door for a few seconds, worrying her lip. “Because I don’t know what he would dream about. Especially if it scared him like that.”

“Most people have nightmares about senseless shit,” he pointed out. “Yeah, it sucks his first dream was bad, but…?”

“I dunno. I’m probably overthinking it.” An shrugged.

Kohane ran a hand down her arm comfortingly. “I hope so. He’ll be alright.”

She hummed uncommittedly before shoving the rest of her toast into her mouth. Akito snorted but returned to his own meal. He’d have to finish even if he didn’t really feel like it. He’d keel over by lunch if he didn’t.

Touya didn’t come back as he and Kohane did the dishes and An went out into the store. He didn’t know when she had started working there, but she was frustratingly good at it—charismatic with the customers and knowing exactly what to do. Touya didn’t come back as he replaced some of the display flowers with fresh ones from the store room. Touya didn’t come back as he cleaned the living room, or even when Ena finally got up. After a few hours of hoping that Touya hadn’t actually left but not wanting to disturb him, he ran out of things to procrastinate watering and went outside.

Akito filled up the watering can and propped the door open behind him. He couldn’t see Touya and he grew worried, but it was proved unnecessary when he stepped down the stairs and saw him. Touya was curled up against the wall next to the sunflowers. Knees to his chest and head pillowed on his arms over them. His jacket was draped over his head to hide his hair—which Akito forgot to even worry about, so good to know Touya was still smart while distressed. He didn’t react as Akito came down the steps, and he could see his eyes were closed. Well. At least he could water everything else. He was not risking watering Touya. What if he grew taller?

He did try to be quiet, though he knew it was pointless. He started on the opposite side of the garden and moved as fast as he dared. He swore he could feel Touya’s gaze following him, but every time he turned around his eyes were shadowed by the yellow jacket. It took about twenty minutes to finish, making sure to skirt around the sunflowers next to Touya. He didn’t so much as twitch as Akito’s shadow passed over him or he stepped on a stick. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, Akito didn’t know. Touya wasn’t on edge or alert. But was it because he was relaxed in Akito’s presence, or because he was so out of it he couldn’t pay attention? He hoped it was the former.

Looking over the dripping plants, Akito figured that was about as much as he could do right now. He hung the watering can over the railing and just stood there, watching Touya. Making up his mind, he came over and sat down next to him without a word. This time, Touya’s jacket-covered head twitched towards him—only noticeable because the buttons jingled. Akito didn’t say anything, just leaned against the wall and stretched his legs out in front of him with a groan. Very slowly, he let himself tilt towards Touya, giving him enough time to stop him. Touya still flinched when their shoulders bumped, but didn’t do anything. Gradually, he relaxed, losing that stiffness he always had.

“Did you get much sleep?” he asked quietly.

“I always do,” Touya replied just as low. “It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep, and I wake— I usually wake up before sunrise.”

“Same, but I’m still tired half the time, s’annoying.”

“Do you… dream?” Touya shifted beneath him, turning so he was curled facing him, not away.

“Sometimes. Weird shit, most of the time.” He laughed. “Pretty sure last night I was being chased by An, but she was like ten metres tall and also a lizard. Then you and Kohane kept trying to stop her by tying ropes to her feet?”

“What?”

“And then,” he forged on, grinning. “This other lizard thing showed up that was even bigger, and it picked me up. But An wasn’t having any of that, so she picked up you two—you were riding on her head? And you all fought the lizard until I went flying and landed in this pile of hay. Then I woke up.”

“Oh. That’s. Um?”

He laughed again. “Dreams don’t make sense half the time, they change every minute and have weird physics and no logic. It’s alright.”

Touya’s shoulders drew upwards before settling again. “And… bad ones?”

“Yeah, they suck.” He leaned in a little harder, pressing his body weight against him. “Sometimes I’m getting chased by do— uh. Animals. Sometimes it's about my parents, or Ena dying, or even stupid shit like just being lost in a maze. And it’s not scary when you wake up, but when you’re dreaming, it feels like the end of the world. Some people dream about real things, some people don’t. But most of the time it’s just your brain playing word soup with whatever it saw during the day.”

Ever so slowly, with every word Akito said, Touya dropped his head onto Akito’s shoulder, his knees falling in his lap, but still stiff as a board, like he wasn’t quite sure this was allowed. “I see. But it’s. Normal?”

“The most normal thing in the world,” Akito assured.

“…Okay. Thank you, Akito.” The remaining tension in Touya’s body fled like a puppet with cut strings. “I fe— I think I’m alright now.”

“Good.” He breathed out slowly. He hadn’t been this close to Touya since he’d carried his half-dead body through the forest. It was a lot nicer when he was warm and less… sharp. They’d get burnt if they stayed out here too long, but he found he didn’t mind if Touya was happy.

The door creaked open and Kohane and An peered out over the railing, heads stacked on top of each other like mice. Seeing them, An grinned and Kohane cooed silently before tip-toeing out and over to them. Kohane curled up on his right side, hugging his arm to her chest. An gingerly sat down at Touya’s feet, throwing her legs over his to lightly bump Kohane’s and leaning back on her hands.

“What happened to leaving him alone?” An teased, eyeing the way they were connected.

“It’s been an hour. That’s plenty of time. Anyway, he started this.”

“Can’t believe you managed this in three months,” she grouched. “So unfair.”

“Are you jealous?” Kohane giggled.

“Yes!”

“Shut up,” Akito whispered harshly as he felt Touya readjust. “If you’re gonna mob us, at least be quiet about it. If you even know how to.”

“I can be so quiet,” An breathed, and it really was barely audible.

Kohane shook with silent laughter, resting her head on his shoulder. “That’s too quiet.”

An took a large lungful of air that had them both wincing, but it was forced out of her by one apparently awake Touya kicking her in the ribs.

“Ow—” she tipped back, hitting the dirt with a thud. “Hey!”

Akito didn’t try and stifle his laughter, and he could feel Kohane burying a smile in his clothes.

Akito wasn't paying attention to the girls in the kitchen. They were baking a cake or something, but he was stuck counting coins on the couch so couldn’t see. He could hear them, though, even if he tuned out half of it. Touya was doing something with Ena. He was pretty sure they were painting, since Touya had come down the stairs earlier with paint in his hair followed by Ena's laughter. But the girls. Kohane and An. Making a cake and laughing. It was a nice backdrop that had become commonplace, and one he refused to admit he missed when they went back home. But this was just ridiculous.

He was glad they were friends—Kohane had been lonely since Hanasato left—and he liked An. But there was a line between ‘having fun’ and ‘screeching and cooing’ that An was playing jump rope with. Every second word out of her mouth was a compliment of Kohane’s voice, her laugh, her face, her hair. None of it was wrong. Of course, Kohane was perfect, but Gods was it getting on his nerves.

“An, please don’t eat all the frosting before the cake is even cooled.” Kohane’s exasperated voice had him focusing back in.

“I won’t! There’s plenty left,” An defended.

“It has to go inside the cake as well, there’s two layers.”

“Aw, come on Kohane, it’s so sweet though! Try it!”

Akito looked around in time to see An hold up the spatula to Kohane, who obediently ate some frosting off and getting some on the tip of her nose.

Akito held back a grin at the sight, about to turn back to his coins when An reached out a finger and swiped the frosting off, then licked it.

His jaw dropped.

Kohane went bright red in a way he hadn’t seen since their early days of dating. “A-An!” She playfully shoved her hand away, covering her face while An cackled and licked the rest of the spatula.

What the fuck.

He wasn't blind. He'd seen how close they'd gotten. And An's crush on Kohane was obvious, even if she wouldn't do anything about it because of him. (Which, thank the Gods. He'd have to fight her. And then he'd lose.)

But he hadn't realised Kohane might feel the same.

The coins fell to the side with a clatter and he stood up. They both looked at him as he marched over, varying levels of mortified as they remembered he was there. “Sorry.” He grinned at their reaction. “Remembered I wanted to harvest the poppies.” It wasn’t a lie. “Wanna come?” He turned to Kohane.

“O-oh, but the cake isn’t done?”

He rolled his eyes. “It doesn't take two people to frost a cake.”

She giggled. “Maybe. But do you trust An alone in the kitchen? We might not have any frosting left.”

“With the way she’s been licking that spatula, I don’t think I want any.”

“It’s clean!” An argued, throwing the spatula into the sink.

“Clean with your spit,” he shot back. “Well?”

Kohane nodded and started taking off her apron. “Alright, any particular reason you need me to come?”

“Do I need one?” He raised an eyebrow. “Can I not go on a walk with my girlfriend?”

“Hehe. Of course you can.” Kohane stared pointedly at An until she held up her hands in surrender. Happy with her silent threat, she looped an arm through Akito’s and together they walked down the hall, collecting a basket on their way out the door.

They walked in silence, not needing conversation, and happy to just enjoy the sun with each other. He knew Kohane knew something was up, and it was probably a conversation that had been a long time coming, but he didn’t want to start yet—so close to the town and prying ears. It was a nice day, the wind was cool for a change, rustling through the trees with a nice sound that he was sure Kohane could name the notes of. With her hand swinging lightly in his, warm and small and humming lightly as they walked, it reminded him of how long it had been since he’d taken her on a proper date. They’d done things together, of course—they saw each other every day— but he hadn’t exactly put in any effort to do something nice for her. And while every insecure part of his brain was screaming that was why she wanted An instead, he had to forcibly beat it back with a shovel. He knew, he knew, she would never do something like that. It was a discredit to her to even think that.

About halfway there, he gave in. He squeezed her hand, still not sure how to actually start, but sick of waiting. Their pace slowed to a walk until they stopped, somewhere along the straight path underneath the swaying trees above. Kohane turned to him and he dropped the basket to do the same. She looked a bit nervous, but there was a spark in her eyes and the set of her jaw reminded him they’d known each other their whole lives.

“So,” he said far too casually. “Have anything you wanna tell me?”

The corner of her mouth twitched and she nodded. “Yeah. Uhm…” Her gaze darted around for a few seconds before she steeled herself and looked him in the eyes. “I think I like An,” she eventually squeaked out, turning red as a rose.

“Okay.”

She took a deep breath and held both of his hands. “We’re not breaking up.”

“I hope not.”

She grimaced. “Can you respond with literally any more emotion please, you’re freaking me out.”

Whoops. He shook his head. “Sorry,” he laughed mirthlessly. “I knew what you were gonna say, but I didn’t actually. Think of a reaction.”

She copied his laugh. “Okay. Uhm. I just— wanted your opinion?”

“On your crush on An?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No! Well. Sort of. O-on… polyamory,” she near whispered, her voice getting quieter with each word after the initial shout.

He had to take a second to place the word. “Like Hanasato and her group?” he asked slowly. “Multiple partners?”

“Yeah. I know it’s not for everyone, and I promise this doesn’t mean anything if you don’t want it to!” Kohane shuffled her feet like she needed to move but couldn’t bear to let go of his hands. “I swear I’d never leave you. Not for her, not for anyone. And I’ll forget about this whole thing if you don’t like it. I just… thought I’d ask.”

He didn’t have a problem with Kohane’s crush on An, he wasn’t so insecure to think anything would happen, no matter what his brain tried to say. But he hadn’t even considered polyamory, even though he was like ninety percent sure Ena had some weird thing going on with her friends. It just. Had never been something he’d need to consider. Kohane was the only one around he was even friends with until now. Sucks that the two people they finally meet are hot as fuck. What.

He coughed, needing to respond and forget that thought. “Um. I’d never thought about it. I’m not against the idea of it. I just. Dunno how I feel about it for myself.”

Her thumb ran over his knuckles. “That’s alright. I know I’m dropping a big thing on you.”

“A bit,” he chuckled. “So you’d… what? Want to date me and An?”

“Well. Maybe? Only if you’re one hundred percent okay with it. And I certainly won’t be doing anything about it anytime soon!” Kohane huffed. “That’s just asking for pain.”

He hummed absentmindedly. They were all ignoring the inevitable.

He tried to picture it. Kohane kissing An. Cuddling on the couch with Kohane between them. Sitting at the table and the two coming back from a date, excitedly recounting it to him.

Fuck.

“I—” he coughed again. “It’s an idea,” he strangled out. “Does this mean I have to date her as well?”

Kohane burst into laughter. “No! Unless you want to,” she joked.

He glanced away.

Kohane blinked, her smile dropping. “Akito, why are you blushing?”

He held up his hands defensively. “Okay, it's not like I don't get what you see in her. But I— I dunno. Just—” It took him years to understanding his feelings for Kohane were a bit more than platonic. An was just too confusing. “If this whole thing works out and they stay, ask me again. Just. Stay with me, alright?”

Kohane’s face softened and she clasped his hands again, bringing them to her lips. “Of course. I love you, Akito. I have only fallen more in love with you these past few weeks.”

He shook his head ruefully and stepped closer to hug her. “I love you too. Just. Can you wait a bit? For me? For things to settle down? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She smiled and he knew they were alright. “I will. Thank you, Aki.”

The world tilted as he bowed, silent cheers resounding around the giant cavern ahead of him, black and white at his side. Applause and the waves of joy coming from them meant nothing over the icy grip in his chest. He couldn’t even begin to guess where he was, just that he was alone despite the hundreds of hands calling for him. He straightened, which did nothing to make the crowd clearer. He had to leave. Had to get out. But they kept cheering and he was supposed to do something but he didn’t know what. Couldn’t think over the nothingness in his head and vision. Past the lump of overwhelming dread in his throat. They could be as happy as they wanted, it meant nothing knowing the only person that mattered wasn’t.

On useless legs he managed to cross the expanse of raised black he stood on, and a pinprick of light appeared as he turned. Orange sunlight flickered at him, guiding him and opening their arms for him as he escaped the eyes. They were saying something, warm words that bounced off him, ineffective when he could feel his ??? gaze on him.

He moved further into the darkness, letting the light replace him where he had stood in front of the eyes. In a daze, he left. Fleeing the cavern and the winding halls, no clue where his body was taking him, and nothing around him to clue him in.

“…!” someone called, and he stopped his hasty walk to listen.

The pink sun arrived from the smoke to guide him, pulling him and pushing him into a smaller room and onto something that was probably meant to be soft. They had their arms around him, he knew, but couldn’t feel it. More of those honey-warm words tricked down his body but he was too far away. He knew nothing but the crushing weight and overwhelming dread doing its best to drag him down. But the sun would not let it.

Seconds or minutes or hours later the other sun returned, cracking through the darkness until he was smothered between them, shaking and lost and nothing but a failure. Through the light, he could see more of that black and white. A different black—more solid than everything they existed in—and the only white in the world. Glancing at the black and white sent lightning down his spine and through his bones, his fingers, his head. He could do nothing but weather the storm that threatened to take him. The suns were a constant voice beside him, never letting silence overtake them, despite the way they were also silent. It was a silence he liked. He closed his eyes against the nothing and the everything and knew nothing but the overwhelming fear consuming him. There was nothing, and even if he could bring himself to look, he knew the room would be nothing but black smoke. The fear crushed him, freezing even where the suns burnt him, drowning him. The ever-unstable world became somehow even shakier, the smoke thinner and wispier, and even the suns dimmed beneath its wavering.

He didn’t want them to go, to leave him to his ??? freezing judgement and his own thoughts. Couldn’t bear to have them swallowed by the shadows and disappear. For him to leave them behind. But everything was fading, becoming transparent, the suns losing their colour and light bit by bit until their pressure-less arms on him sunk away and the room collapsed in on itself.

The soft bed broke him from the remains of the smoke, and Touya wished he didn’t know what it was like to miss someone he couldn’t picture.

Chapter Text

“River time, river time!” An sung, skipping a few steps ahead of them and spinning to look back. “Why’d it take a whole month to drag you guys swimming?”

“We were busy, and it was always too hot or too cold,” Akito explained with a sigh for the tenth time that morning.

An had been persistently asking to go swimming as a group every couple of days, ramping it up to every day the last couple of times. But he had been busy and frankly couldn’t be bothered or saw the appeal. Of course, Touya and An never got the chance up in Nocturne. So when they woke up that morning and the weather was nice and Ena offered to watch the shop, he said they should go swimming.

An—who had literally just walked in the door—immediately whooped and turned around, Kohane narrating how she was running back to get the bathers she had bought in anticipation. At least Kohane returned home at a normal pace.

So now here they were, walking up north towards the wider part of the river that was usually better for swimming than the shallow, rocky parts closer to the town. Akito carried four towels over his shoulders like a fucked up cape, and Kohane had bought a basket of water and cookies.

And Touya had his sword.

He did not know why Touya had his sword. Every time he asked, he just kept responding with, “Because,” so he stopped asking. He didn’t even know Touya still had it. An had taken it, and frankly, he thought she had gotten rid of it, but apparently it’s been under his bed the last three weeks. At least the townsfolk didn’t seem to care beyond a few raised eyebrows as they passed.

It was a short distance only made longer by the off-road nature of the path. Sure, there was a ‘path’ of flattened grass, but the path was still far more uneven than the road. They stumbled through the grass, laughing when An tripped and worrying when Kohane did. Akito could see the river in front of them, a glittering snake through the open plain. As they neared, An broke into a run. Kohane yelped but shifted her grip on the basket to chase after her. He just rolled his eyes and continued walking with Touya.

They’d stripped out of their dresses—left only in their bathers—and were folding them into the basket when he and Touya arrived. Kohane and An ran in with a shout, leaving him to set up. It was flat here, with a small slope into the river, but the grass was long and unmaintained. Where they stood had been flattened by years of use, and he spread the towels around and shed his shirt. Akito straightened and walked up to where Touya stood at the edge of the river. An was spread out in a star shape and Kohane was… dragging her to the opposite bank? He glanced at Touya, who made no move to join them.

“Are you coming?” he asked. “We should probably save An.”

Touya shook his head. “No.”

Oh. “Do you uh”—he had to hold back his grin—“know how to swim?”

Touya slowly turned to him and stared in disappointment. “Of course I can swim.”

He shrugged. “You never know.”

“Do you think Nocturne would spend all that time training me and then let me drown?” Touya asked, almost incredulously.

An collapsed in on herself, muffling her laughter into the water before standing up and pointing dramatically at them. “You never know!” she cackled. “I’ve never seen you swim!”

Touya turned his baleful eye on her. “You watched me walk through a half-frozen river. I carried you across it.”

An tutted. “That wasn’t swimming.”

He didn’t, but Akito imagined Touya rolling his eyes as he looked away. Akito watched him for a second before shrugging again and sliding down the bank and into the water. It was colder than he expected—not having gone swimming in months—and he repressed the urge to flinch. Kohane paddled over, floating in the water next to him by the time he was knee-deep. He splashed water at her exposed face before diving forward into the deep part of the river, impervious to her retaliation with the splash he made.

By the time he resurfaced and swiped the water off his face, Touya had made himself comfortable on a large rock near the river’s edge, knees tucked up to his chest and arms wrapped around himself as he watched them, seemingly content with just that. He had about two seconds to see this before a wave hit him from behind. An grinned challengingly when he turned, and another wave hit him from behind. The girls cackled on either side of him, and all he could do was stand there, dripping and glaring through his hair.

Akito spread his arms and flattened his hands, then spun in a circle to send water at both of them. “Two v one is unfair,” he grumbled, diving away before they could splash him again.

“Not my fault Touya can’t swim.” An launched through the water towards him, sending little splashes ahead of her with her hands.

Kohane screeched, and something flew over their heads before hitting the water behind An, sending up a huge splash and soaking the both of them. Akito spluttered and looked up. Touya had a huge rock in his hand, staring at the water where the—holy shit he threw a rock to splash them—other rock had landed. Kohane covered her hands over her mouth to muffle her laughter, eyes wide.

“What the fuck,” An coughed.

“I can swim,” Touya said, throwing the other rock right in the middle of him and Kohane, once again splashing them both. “I just don’t want to get wet.”

“Noted.” An saluted, only half-jokingly.

Under fear of more Touya vengeance, they broke up the splash fight and just swam normally. It was unfairly relaxing and nice in the water and the addition of An made the whole thing livelier than the last time he’d swum. They raced across the river and competed to hold their breath (An won). And just generally floated on the surface, letting the small current push them away from Touya until he started asking where they were going.

They spent an hour or two just doing that, the swimming interspersed with trips back up to the towels for water and food. Occasionally, while they swam, Touya would stand up and return to the higher ground, looking around before sitting back down. Akito just passed it off as stretching, but there was something calculated about it he couldn’t put his finger on. But An constantly dragging him into another competition kept him distracted.

Dripping wet and faces hurting from laughing, they all got out of the water for the last time and dragged themselves to the towels. Akito flopped onto his, more exhausted than he’d expected to be. He ran every morning for the sake of the gods, swimming was nothing. Touya followed them, walking around the perimeter a few times before sitting on his completely dry towel. Kohane passed out the rest of the cookies and water and flopped onto her towel, squinting at the sky with a content sigh. In the heat, it only took ten minutes to dry, bar the slight dampness of their bathers. Not wanting to get any more burnt than he already was, Akito threw his shirt back on, the end soaking up some of the water from his shorts. Kohane and An did the same, putting their dresses on over the top, which did little to protect their arms. An and Touya were suspiciously red, unlike him and Kohane, who were already quite tanned from long days of working outside. But the pale skin of the other two did them no favours. Touya was a little worse, though it was mostly relegated to a flush in his cheeks, while An had been mostly protected by the water, but her shoulders were turning pink.

Touya stood up again, staring off into the distance and glancing to their right almost nervously. Akito joined him, trying to see what Touya was looking at, and coming up with nothing but the terrain of Viviryn. Touya hadn’t had a chance to go outside the walls, this was the first time he’d left the town if he thought about it.

“Trying to find something, or…?” Akito raised an eyebrow, nudging Touya to get his attention.

Touya shook his head.

“Oo-kay,” he drew out. “Do you know where where we are on a map?” Surveying the area was the only thing he could think of for Touya’s behaviour.

“Yes, I studied the maps of all the kingdoms.” Touya shrugged. “Vivid is nearly in the centre of Viviryn.”

“Of course you did.” He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At least geography was a normal thing to teach someone. “The capital is over there.” He pointed north-west. “If you follow the main road you’ll get there eventually, but there’s a bunch of hills in the way, and the city’s in a valley, I think, so you can’t see it.

Kohane and An joined them halfway through his pointing, An a little more interested than Kohane.

“Can you see much of Nocturne from here?” An asked, turning to where Nocturne should be.

“A little,” Kohane answered first. “We can see the mountain ranges behind your capital”—she pointed at the dark splodges on the horizon—“but we can’t see much of the actual land because of the mountain pass between us.”

An and Touya both nodded, eyes raking over their kingdom sadly.

“Phoenix is over there,” Akito tried to distract them, not sure if Phoenix was any better of a topic for Touya. “It’s too far away to see any of it, but there’s a desert somewhere in the south?” They all turned to see better. Not that they could see anything but green. “It’s the start of the Southern Wastes or something. Then there’s the forest, it’s the largest in Viviryn, so even if Phoenix was closer, you’d never see—”

A strong pressure on his back shoved him down, and then the ground was a lot closer than before and something went whistling over his head. Suddenly, Touya was in front of him, sword in one hand and a rock already being thrown from the other. Akito barely had time to register the black-clad figures in the distance before whoever had shot an arrow at him fell to the ground with a cut-off cry.

Instantly he stumbled back and grabbed Kohane’s arm, trying to shove her behind him and backpedal at the same time as the rest of the figures started running towards them. “Wh-what the fuck?” he stammered, eyes wide.

Touya widened his stance and raised his sword into a defensive position, blocking most of his view of their attackers—black-clad knights in familiar armour. Akito’s heart sank.

An grabbed his other arm, pushing them back further and pulling a knife under her dress. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she whispered, copying Touya’s movements.

Nine of them—not counting the downed archer—spread out in a fan in front of them, and Akito looked around for something to fight with. He sure as hell didn’t know how to use a weapon. But a rock was better than nothing. He made eye contact with Kohane, who had gone white but had picked up their basket with the same idea as him.

Not that they would have to fight.

When the first knight was no more than ten paces away, Touya moved. One second he was in front of them, the next he was gone. Red flew in an arc as he swung his sword through the stomach of the knight. He was moving before her body hit the ground, onto the next person trying to reach them. Akito flinched as the first blood sprayed but found himself unable to look away.

An let out a sound, somewhere between a groan and a laugh. “Aah, what the hell. Come on, you idiot.” She slapped herself with her free hand and then lunged forward as the third person took advantage of the gap Touya had left. Her knife slid through their neck with ease and they dropped to the ground, joining the two Touya had downed.

Touya spun at the tiny thud of the body and blinked at An. And then they were off; a black and blue whirlwind performing a dance of their own as their weapons flashed through the air. They barely needed to defend, both of them too fast for the other knights, and too in sync to let them get any closer to him and Kohane. Touya’s face was blank, the complete lack of emotion far more terrifying as he so easily took people’s lives. Akito could only watch in fascinated horror as they fought. Logically he knew what they were. What they did. But he honestly never expected to see it. Especially not like this. They must have been skilled, to be who they were. But the ease at which they moved still caught him off guard. They never spoke. No words passed between them, but they never targeted the same person, somehow always managing to dart around each other to their chosen opponent.

An was a little easier to watch—at least he could see her. Touya felt like he was zipping around, gone before he could catch up and process what he’d done. Mizuki had shown him enough he knew vaguely what sword cuts Touya was doing, and even to his untrained eye, it was too seamless, like liquid metal swerving between the fighters. Touya swiftly stepped backwards, sword already moving before his foot touched the ground, and before Akito realised his opponent was on the ground, Touya was gone. On the other hand, An moved like a snake. She was fast, but not in the same way, darting forward and back and around, knife flashing as she moved and darting away immediately.

It felt like hours, but couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds, and it was just two men left—one panting and looking between his fallen—and the archer from earlier slowly limping forward thinking they hadn’t noticed. Without hesitation, Touya easily flicked away the sword aiming for his head and ran the man through, pulling his sword back and letting the body fall to the ground. At the same time, An threw her knife, flashing silver until it found its mark and buried into the chest of the archer. His look of shock was the last thing Akito saw as he collapsed to the grass.

Very slowly, Akito let go of Kohane and dropped the useless rock. She did the same with the basket, and the sound had An spinning back around to run towards them. Her clothes and hair were splattered in blood, as well as the hand she reached out with before abruptly pulling it back. She stopped a step away, scanning them for injuries as if the knights had even got close.

“Are you both okay?” she asked, breathing measuredly through her nose.

“Y-yeah,” Kohane stuttered, straightening and moving to stand next to him. “Are you?”

An scoffed. “As if they could touch me.” And despite her usual joking words, she stood carefully, unsure.

“An.” Akito stared intently at her. “Thanks.”

She relaxed. “Of course.”

They all realised at the same time that Touya had not joined them. An stepped out of the way and turned as they all looked at him. He stood a few steps back from where the corpses began, as if he’d started walking backwards towards them but had stopped halfway. His back was stiff, but his fingers twitched erratically and his head moved minutely as he looked around, but not at them. He didn’t say a word or look at them as their conversation stopped like he usually would.

The three of them looked at each other worriedly. “Touya?” Akito called hesitantly. “You good?”

Slowly Touya shifted his weight to look back at them with the same blank look on his face and whispered, “I don’t know, I feel weird.”

“Do… do you regret it?” An asked carefully, and then under her breath, “Please don’t, we’re fucked if you do.”

Touya shook his head after a moment, turning away again, but his eyes were unfocused in the brief glimpse Akito got. “…No. I just.” He swallowed audibly, and his voice was weak as he asked, “What have I done?”

Kohane took the first step towards him. “You made your own decision. With no one to tell you what to do.”

His voice turned strangled. “Does it… always feel this strange?” Touya shifted his weight off his back leg as he spoke to stand properly, but instead he just dropped to his knees with a cut-off gasp, sword clattering to the side.

“Touya!” they all yelled, breaking out of the limbo they were stuck in and running the few steps to his side.

Touya’s hands were clasped over his heart, breathing awkwardly with his head bowed. He flinched as their shadows fell over him, and said something that sounded suspiciously like, “Please don’t.” They shared another look and slowly knelt next to him, An in front and Akito on his right. He was unsure what to do.

After a harsh inhale Touya dropped his hand and started groping around blindly next to him, slapping the grass for a few seconds before locating his sword and squeezing the blade. They all jerked back, and too late Akito grabbed his wrist and tugged him away, probably slicing Touya’s hand further on the steel.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” He pressed Touya’s hand against his thigh, trying to stem the blood and feeling the sticky heat seep through his shorts. “Touya? Hey, look at me.”

Touya’s head shot up, eyes wide in a way that made him seem almost… scared. He looked lost, eyes glazed over like he wasn’t even seeing what was in front of him.

Akito swallowed. “Touya? Are you… with us?”

He didn’t really expect an answer, and he didn’t get one. Touya just stared through him, eyes duller than they’d been in weeks.

“Why is he…” He glanced helplessly at An. “What’s wrong with him?”

An stared sadly at Touya’s hand. “He went against orders. I don’t think he knows what to do with himself. He was probably trying to snap himself out of it with that.” She gestured at the sword helplessly.

Kohane shuffled closer to An. “Hasn’t he been doing that the entire time? It’s not like he ever got told he could… ‘hang out’ with us?”

“Yeah.” An shrugged. “But it didn’t go against a direct order. He could get away with it with the justification that going back to Nocturne while injured was impossible, and he was just playing it safe. Now… he put someone else above Nocturne. That’s like rule number one on the don’t do list. ‘Serve Nocturne above yourself and others.’ Or whatever he got told.”

Kohane’s eyes narrowed angrily in helpless frustration. “An, Sorry. I really hate your kingdom.”

She just laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah.” She stood and walked away, leaning over the fallen archer and pulling her knife out. She wiped it on his clothes before coming back, pulling up her skirt as she walked. Using the knife, An cut a section off her dress that would be easy enough to replace and knelt next to Akito, wordlessly holding out her hand.

Akito flipped Touya’s hand over in his and watched as An tied the yellow fabric around the two cuts on Touya’s palm. It soaked through almost immediately, but it was better than nothing. Touya didn’t react at all, gaze still locked on Akito with that wide-eyed look.

“You can stop,” Akito whispered, just in case, and Touya’s eyes dropped to the ground like he’d been waiting for it.

They sat there for a while, just listening to Touya’s uneven breathing. He could still feel his heart racing in his chest. He hadn’t done anything, but he’d never… seen blood like that. Had never seen someone killed before, let alone so violently and apathetically. He didn’t blame An and Touya—they were trying to save his life—but it was still a little terrifying. Kohane was similarly shell-shocked across from him, staring blankly between An’s hands and the corpses still strewn around them.

“Uhm.” Kohane broke the silence. “What do we do about the… bodies?”

An was the most fine out of all of them, and her lips twisted into a wry smile, head ducking in hidden laughter. “I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry.”

Kohane went pale at the reminder but nodded.

His fingers ran idly over Touya’s hand, no idea if it was meant to help Touya or himself, but unable to sit still. He’d never seen Touya this obviously scared, and it scared him. He didn’t know how to help, how to comfort someone who’d never needed it as someone who’d never really given it. But Touya was lost in his head, seeing or remembering something that even without the catatonic state making it obvious, the two words he said told Akito it wasn’t pleasant. He just kept rubbing his cold hands and breathing steadily, hoping Touya could see it from wherever he was.

Movement had him glancing up at Kohane. She stood carefully, stepping gingerly even though she was nowhere near the bodies and made her way over to their things. She piled everything back into the basket and threw the towels over the top. She stood with her back to them, just breathing and rubbing her face for a minute. Akito looked away to give her some privacy, sort of wishing he could do the same. Or throw himself into the river. Eventually, Kohane picked up the basket and came back. She deposited it just behind Touya and knelt again, shooting him a wobbly smile. They returned to the silence. Touya’s condition hadn’t changed, but An didn’t look too worried, so he wouldn’t panic just yet. More than five minutes of this? Then he’d start shaking Touya and get stabbed in response or something.

Thankfully it wasn’t quite that long before the fingers in his twitched minutely, scraping against his palm, and he looked up. After a few long seconds, Touya let out a shuddering exhale, blinking slowly at the ground as his breathing evened out. Finally, his eyes focused and he glanced at the three of them, adamantly not looking at the knights. “I—” he managed, licking his lips. “I don’t— Can we just…?” He looked over Akito’s shoulder towards the town.

Something between a sigh and a laugh burst from Akito’s mouth in relief. “Yeah. Okay.” He unfolded his legs from beneath him. “Let’s go home.”

An and Kohane stood with him, Touya a second behind. He stumbled as his legs straightened, Kohane tightly gripping his arm to keep him up. Akito scanned him a few times. He was sure he wasn’t injured, but it couldn’t hurt. Seeing he could stand with no problem, Akito bent down and took the towels, throwing one at An to cover the blood on her dress—Touya didn’t have as much, and he didn’t think a towel would be accepted just yet. Kohane grabbed her basket and set off, An at her heels. Akito took several steps before he realised Touya hadn’t moved.

They looked back, but Touya was staring at the ground— at his sword—flickers of something in his eyes. After a long moment, he stooped and picked it up, holding it blade down, red rivulets running down the silver and dripping to the grass. Touya just watched it run. Akito went to ask what he was doing, but Touya reversed his grip before he could. He took several steps towards the river, raising his arm, before throwing the sword into the water. The blade flashed as it flew in circles and landed in the water with a splash, then sunk to the bottom. Then he turned and walked back to the town, expression carefully blank.

Akito blinked as he passed them without a word, shooting Kohane and An a nervous grin. This was… a good thing? Probably. Hopefully. Kohane gave him a shaky thumbs up in response, and An shrugged and turned after Touya. He watched them walk for a few seconds, An trying to tie the towel around her as she moved. Fingers laced with his and he turned back to Kohane as she pulled on his arm. Together they ran to catch up, a few more nervous giggles following them.

Gods, what the fuck just happened?

An complained about the towel clashing with her dress as soon as they fell into step. And while he agreed, he wasn’t risking getting another towel bloody, even if she cleaned them herself. Touya said nothing the entire way back; no one brave enough to try after the second attempt at dragging him into the muted conversation. They passed no one on the way, and he could only see a few people near the north entrance as they neared. He was debating going the long way to avoid them when An snatched a towel from him and handed it to Touya, who actually took it. They entered the town without problem. He was half-expecting for everyone to just know what had happened—to take one look at them and see the blood coating An and Touya, the fear on his and Kohane’s faces—but nothing happened. The shop was only a few buildings from the outskirts, and they subconsciously increased their pace as they got closer. With the familiar colourful windows in sight, he let out a breath. It wasn’t even noon but he wanted this day to be over.

Before they could reach the building, Touya abruptly turned left into the alley next to the house instead. They all stopped in surprise, watching him walk silently down the road. Reaching the wall, he smoothly hopped over and disappeared into the garden.

“Um?” Kohane said faintly. “Should we…?”

An shook her head. “Just leave him. He won’t do anything.”

One person short, they took the final steps towards the door. Akito pushed it open and relished in the clear ring of the bell, wishing only to collapse into bed and pretend nothing had happened.

Of course, he’d forgotten his sister was inside.

Ena had yelled at the blood coating An and the remnant of fear still etched into his and Kohane’s faces. She herded them into the living room, flipping the sign to ‘closed’ aggressively and shouting too much to even try and explain as she grabbed buckets and spare clothes left right and centre. He at least managed to say Touya was in the garden, and as she tried to go down the hall he had to near beg her not to. She certainly didn’t like the story they told, looking like she’d explode any second and was only barely holding herself back from strangling him. As if it was his fault.

“Okay, okay, okay! Sure. Why not. It’s not like I knew this would happen or anything,” Ena muttered angrily, pacing around between the couch and the dining table as An stuffed her dirty dress into a bucket.

“Ena—”

“Shut up, Akito! What if more of them come?! Even if no one knows to look for you, they’ll still know they lost people here and then what?” She tugged at her hair. “They come storming in and kill everyone in the town!”

“Ena,” An said calmly. “They won’t. They won’t risk open war just to retrieve Touya—if they even figure out he was here. I’m gonna get rid of them. Nocturne will never know where they died.”

Ena shook with barely concealed rage and worry. “I swear—”

“I promise,” An stressed, “this won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How?! They came straight at you! Of course they knew he was here!”

An just shook her head and walked over to Ena, placing her hands on her shoulders and physically holding her still. “They didn’t. It was a scouting party and they just happened to spot Touya.” She scoffed. “If they were really after him, they would have sent more than ten people.”

Despite the situation, Akito had to laugh at that. “Ena. We’re alright. I trust An—if she thinks it’s okay, then it’s okay.”

An flashed him a grateful smile and pulled away from Ena. “Exactly, now if you excuse me, I’m going to need some black clothes and a bucket.

Ena frowned. “What for?”

An grinned wickedly. “To get rid of the evidence.”

Ena threw her arms up and stalked towards the stairs, muttering something about ‘I can’t do this’ and ‘this is fucking bullshit.’

“I’ll be an hour or two.” An turned back to him and Kohane. “Then we’ll see what to do with Touya.”

They watched her leave, stuck standing long after the door closed, unsure what to do. Kohane slapped her cheeks with an audible crack and flopped onto the couch with a drawn-out sigh.

The movement unstuck his feet and he copied her sigh. “I’m… gonna see if Touya’s still there, that alright?” he asked, searching her eyes in case she needed him.

Kohane just smiled and shook her head. “I’m alright, go on.”

“Ten seconds,” he promised, moving towards the laundry as silently as he could. It wasn’t very silent—he had no idea how Touya had noted all the creaky floorboards before him, the guy that lived here. He looked out the window above the sink, scanning the garden, but he couldn’t see Touya. Frowning, he put his hands on the edge of the sink and leaned over, pressing his face against the glass. Nothing on the porch beneath the window…

Finally, he saw a flash of blue. He had to move to the other side of the window to peer as far left as he could. Touya was tucked up in the corner between the wall and the porch, barely visible behind the flowers, but at least he was still here. That confirmation was all Akito needed, so he left him to it, returning to Kohane.

“That was at least thirty seconds,” she mumbled as he fell onto the couch next to her.

“Sorry, I’m bad at maths,” he replied, wrapping an arm around her as they sunk into each other.

Silence reigned for a few minutes. He didn’t know what he was meant to be feeling. It was some mix of grateful, disgusted, shocked, and scared. Not scared of Touya and An—never of Touya and An—but for his life, for their lives. Just the sudden, pressing realisation of his own mortality. That he could have died. Because of them. If not for them.

Or, as Kohane so aptly put it: “This sucks.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled into her hair. “But we’re alright, right? This doesn’t change anything for you?”

He felt her smile into his shoulder and very quietly said, “An has never been hotter.”

“Fuck off,” he laughed, squishing her into the back of the couch.

“I know you agree!” she giggled, trying to squirm away. “You couldn’t take your eyes off them!”

“You don’t have to say it!”

Kohane wrapped her arms around his head, bringing the fight to a close. “Okay, okay. I’m alright. Nothing’s changed. They’re still the same people. I still want them here if you do.”

“Of course I do,” he mumbled into her chest. He pulled back, keeping his arms on Kohane’s shoulders so she wouldn’t let go, and lay back on the couch, adjusting the pillows behind his head with one hand as Kohane shuffled to get comfortable. Her hair was still damp where it tickled his neck, and he reached up to tug out her pigtails. She moved her head easily for him, and he threw the ties onto the table. Finally, he relaxed into the couch with Kohane’s familiar, comforting weight on his chest, and closed his eyes.

He wasn’t sure how long they lay there, lightly dozing and wrapped together on the couch. He didn’t fall asleep, constantly aware of Ena’s footsteps above them and the gentle rise and fall of Kohane’s chest. But eventually, the clear ring of the bell startled them both awake. Kohane dug her hand into his ribs as she jolted, and he grunted. She apologised and shuffled backwards to kneel between his legs, looking at the door. Akito tilted his head back to watch, unsurprised to see An coming in—dripping wet.

“My floorboards,” he complained groggily, but An just laughed.

“Should have seen me on the walk here.”

“Is it… done?” Kohane asked, eyes roving over An.

She nodded, walking towards the hall. “Yep. No one will ever know. I also got Touya’s sword out of the river.” She gestured to the towel-wrapped object he hadn’t even noticed. “Like, I get the symbolism and all, but that’s just begging for someone to find it.”

With a sigh, Akito extracted himself from the couch as An disappeared into the laundry. He looked mournfully at the puddle near the door. He was not dealing with that. Thankfully, Kohane moved for the tea towels before he could even think to, carefully draping it over the thin layer of water.

An returned a few minutes later wearing one of Touya’s—Akito’s—tunics as a dress, a scarf wrapped around her waist as a belt. She raised an eyebrow at the pile of tea towels on the floor before flopping into her armchair with a groan, stretching her arms above her head. “Geez, you don’t know how heavy they were.”

“…I don’t want to,” Akito said slowly, scooting a little further away on the couch.

“Are you alright, An?” Kohane asked as she sat down where Akito had been, leaning against the side of the couch to examine An. “I don’t think you got hurt in the fight, but…”

An waved her off with a laugh. “Nah, they couldn’t touch us, I promise. Just exhausted, it’s hot out there.”

“It’s almost like that’s why we went swimming in the first place,” Akito snarked.

An just flipped him off.

They devolved into the silence from earlier, just with the addition of An’s occasional fidgeting disturbing the peace and her extremely loud thoughts. There was too much to talk about, they all knew it, but they couldn’t without Touya, arguably the one with the most important decision to make. They played a few half-hearted games of cards after the first hour when Touya still didn’t come back, complete with no yelling between him and An and Kohane winning every time. But finally, just before sundown, he heard it.

The backdoor creaked and the latch clicked—the only signs Touya had returned. Akito knew he could open the door silently, which meant he’d done it on purpose. So they were all ready and looking at the hallway when Touya appeared in the door frame. His face hadn’t regained any of that emotion he’d learned the last few weeks, but the lines of his body had loosened, and the panic from earlier was a far-away memory. Keeping his eyes on the floor, Touya made his way to his usual seat and sat down, head bowed.

“Hey,” An said softly. “Feeling better? Does your hand still hurt?”

Touya looked at the yellow-turned-red cloth still wrapped around his palm like he’d forgotten it was there. “It doesn’t,” he whispered. “I’m… better now.”

Kohane smiled brightly, voice forcefully chipper. “That’s good. Um. I don’t know what you want—or need—to hear,” she continued slowly. “But this doesn’t change anything. You’re still our dear friend. And we never thanked you, did we?” She reached over the gap to clasp Touya’s injured hand. “Thank you, Touya. For doing that. For saving our lives.”

Touya just looked on in shock as Akito echoed her words. “Oh. Y-you’re welcome?”

“Did you really expect any other answer,” Akito half-laughed, “even after all this time?”

Touya went to answer but Akito just shook his head with a smile. “It’s okay. But we do have to talk about what happens next. We can’t keep going on like this. You need to decide what you want to do with your life, Touya. And you, An.” He looked at her and she grimaced.

“Deep question for someone who isn’t even twenty,” An tried to joke, but neither he nor Kohane were having it.

“An.” Kohane frowned. “Please? We all know the answer.”

She bit her lip and kept her gaze on the table. “I know. It’s stupidly obvious. But still…” she trailed off, glancing at Touya. “What do you think— hello?”—concern flooded her face—“you’re gonna rip a hole in the chair, Touya. What’s wrong?”

Akito looked over at her words. Touya was not as relaxed as he’d first thought. And as An pointed out, his fingernails were very close to piercing the fabric of the chair.

At the callout, Touya blinked harshly and consciously relaxed his entire body. “Sorry. It’s... I know in my...” Touya silently placed a hand on his chest. “That earlier I… made the right decision. I just— Just wanted to protect you all. But everything else is screaming at me that it was wrong. Like every bone in my body is telling me I’m going to die. It’s this… overwhelming dread. Because I finally did the ‘right’ thing.” Touya narrowed his eyes as he spoke, like he was annoyed at himself for wording it that way.

“It makes sense,” Kohane assured him. “Of course you couldn’t so easily do something you were taught was wrong.”

“Still… I shouldn’t just… shut down over it.”

“Hey,” Akito raised his voice, hoping to be louder than the ones in Touya’s head. “It’s okay. As long as you’re alright, it’s okay. And we’ll help, tell you it’s fine over and over until you believe it.”

Touya shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, arms and legs unable to decide whether to curl up or go limp. After a moment of deliberation he just flopped his head back, staring at the ceiling with a deep sigh. “Okay…”

So silent Akito didn’t notice, An stood up from her chair and joined Touya, suddenly appearing in his vision and perching on the arm. She swung her legs over to the other one, trapping Touya in his seat, and laid her head next to his on the back of the chair. “You did the right thing, Touya,” she whispered. “I promise. You would always regret it if you didn’t. And your first instinct is always right. You didn’t hesitate.” She pulled his hands into hers and rested them on her knees. “You knew what you wanted, so you did it. You’ve come so far, don’t let…” Her voice dropped even quieter, so he and Kohane could not hear, but they could see the way Touya’s eyes widened before narrowing into something not quite pained. Touya nodded and whispered something back. A resigned look crossed An’s face before it fell back into her usual smile and she squeezed his hands.

They untangled and An tucked her legs underneath her, looking at Kohane and then him slowly. She said nothing for a minute, looking between them, around the room, at Touya, then back to Kohane as she sighed. “I’ll— Fuck it. I’ll stay.” Her smile turned soft. “This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time, and I can’t let Touya go back either. So. If you’ll have me, I’ll stay.”

Kohane was out of her seat before An could finish, throwing herself at An across Touya’s lap, ending up kneeling on his legs and arms wrapped around An’s neck. “Of course! Please!”

Akito couldn’t help but laugh at the bewildered look on Touya’s face, and An’s rapidly reddening one. Touya shot him a pleading look and he sauntered over to stand in front of all three of them, hands on his hips. “Well?” He raised an eyebrow at Touya. “What do you want to do, Touya?” he asked.

Touya looked up at him over Kohane’s shoulders, uncertain and determined and scared. “I want—” Touya swallowed. “I won't leave.”

Akito felt his shoulders drop. “Ever?”

“…Ever,” Touya agreed.

Akito couldn’t stop the smile overtaking his face and he had no choice but to throw himself over the top of them, crushing Kohane and An onto Touya with two squeaks and a muffled protest, falling into a laughing heap because finally, finally.

They would stay.

Chapter Text

The hidden tension that came with their uncertain situation had almost dissipated in the last week. Just knowing that Touya and An wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon had destroyed any semblance of distance they’d all unconsciously made. The walls born from the idea that ‘this is temporary’ finally destroyed, leaving him laid bare. It was a little terrifying, very few people knew Akito like that, and it didn’t happen often, so it left him feeling a little shaken. But over the uncomfortableness came the absolute serenity of having friends he trusted with his life. Probably because they had saved his life.

So everything was getting better.

Except Touya.

For some reason, he'd gotten even tenser, almost like the first few days, as if the past month and a half of progress had washed away. On the surface he was normal. He still read in the living room, played chess and helped with the flowers, still let An teach him how to cook and nearly destroy the kitchen. But it seemed forced, an ungenuine happiness he didn’t feel. Like he was doing it for their sake and not just because he wanted to.

And it pissed Akito off.

He wasn’t angry at Touya. Well. Not completely. Only a little, for not letting them help him with this problem, and for refusing to acknowledge it. Akito was mostly angry at himself, for not being able to help. At the universe, for letting it happen. And at whatever was causing it. Kohane and An noticed—of course they did—but neither of them knew what to do either. An kept ignoring it whenever they were together, and Kohane clammed up every time she went to say something.

And after a week of this shit, Akito was ready to throttle someone.

He came into the living room after a hot morning of weeding, hoping to collapse onto the couch with a litre of water and a pile of pancakes. Finding Touya silent in the main room wasn’t a surprise anymore, but he wasn’t sitting at the dining table, or his chair, but standing in front of the bookshelf. The books Touya and Kohane had bought nearly spilled out of the damn thing by now, not including the piles on the coffee table and in his room. Akito stopped a few steps into the room when Touya didn’t turn or acknowledge him and just watched. He still hadn’t moved apart from the slight bobbing of his head as he looked up and down at the books. Slowly, he reached for a book on the shelf above his head, but his hand jerked before he could, changing course to a different book and jerking to a stop again. With a minuscule sigh, Touya dropped his hand and continued to stare at the books.

Gods, now Touya couldn’t even pick a book on his own? He couldn’t do this anymore.

Akito took a deep breath and stomped over. “What’s wrong?” he scowled, actually startling Touya for once.

Touya spun around and watched Akito come closer, neither of them breaking eye contact until Akito was mere inches from him. Touya opened his mouth to answer, but his face screwed up and he turned away instead, hair falling in front of his face so Akito couldn’t see him.

Akito only harrumphed and crossed his arms. “See, now I know there’s something, ‘cause you were gonna say ‘nothing,’ but you can’t because it’s a lie.”

“…”

“Seriously?” Akito grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the couch. Thankfully for his pride, Touya came willingly and let Akito manhandle him to sit. Akito sat next to him, practically forcing Touya as close to the side as he could in a vague attempt at trapping him.

“We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong,” he started once Touya looked at him, vague apprehension in his eyes. “I know it was a big change, but you don’t have to be so tense. We’re all still the same.”

He wasn’t even finished before Touya looked away. Akito let his words hang in the air, watching something war on Touya’s face. He licked his lips and fiddled his fingers, shoulders tensing and untensing. And Akito just watched. Let him figure it out. Because if there was one thing Touya wanted, it was to express himself. He just never knew how.

Eventually, Touya exhaled sharply. He straightened and turned back to Akito, but stared somewhere past his ear, unable to look him in the eyes. “I don’t know… what I’m doing. Or how to be… normal. I try, but it comes out wrong, I know it does.” His eyes fell to the couch again. “But I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Akito couldn’t help but laugh at how simple it was. “You were doing fine before, you just gotta relax, Touya.”

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, because Touya whirled on him, eyebrows furrowed. “Relax? How am I meant to relax when They—” he bit his tongue and melted back into the couch. After a moment he spoke quietly. “Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s fine. When they…?” Akito urged him on. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that simple. But he had to get to the bottom of whatever was making Touya so tense. Scared, even.

“They…” Touya didn’t look at him, just stared somewhere out the window with a vacant look as he spoke. “They know. I know They know. They will come. They will kill you all and drag me back. I see Them in the shadows, but when I look They are gone. But I know They are still there.”

“And what do ‘they’ know?” Akito asked slowly, unsure if he was imagining the panic in Touya’s tone.

“That I— that I betrayed Them.” But what about the tremor in Touya’s hands? “That I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“You… You didn’t,” Akito said, not believing it himself, and Touya clearly didn’t. “Alright, fine, you did. But who cares? You can decide what you do, Touya. You don’t have to listen to them anymore.”

Touya shook his head vacantly. “I do… I just… I’m only…” He seemed to drift further away with every aborted sentence.

“Hey? Touya?” Akito tried to call him back, reaching out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Immediately, Touya swung round, hand coming up to wrench Akito’s wrist away. He flinched back on instinct, eyes squeezing shut with a yelp at the iron grip. He swore his bones creaked. But just as soon as the crushing force came, it disappeared, and Akito opened his eyes to a horrified Touya. His eyes just a little too wide, too scared, to pass as his usual expression.

“I'm sorry.” Touya pulled back, hand curled against his chest. Not taking his eyes off him.

Akito suppressed a wince. “It's okay. You didn't hurt me.”

“I did.” His eyes shadowed. “That's all I'm good for.”

“Wh— Huh? No. You didn’t mean it,” Akito argued as gently as he could. “It's my fault for scaring you.”

“That’s not…” Something on Akito’s face must have told him not to continue because Touya cut himself off with a sigh. “Alright. I am still sorry.”

“And I forgive you,” Akito said, shaking his head ruefully. “Anyway, what were you trying to say?”

“I—” Touya turned away again, fingers toying with his shirt. “I wan— I should tell you something. But I can’t. I don’t know how.”

“Yeah?” Please tell me. “I swear you can tell me anything.”

The deliberation from earlier felt like child’s play compared to now. Touya went so still and silent you would have to forgive Akito for thinking his soul had somehow left his body. Akito wanted to reach out again, but if Touya accidentally hurt him again, he might run away, and that was the last thing Akito wanted. So he just sat there. Hands balled over his thighs, letting Touya figure it out. He wished it wasn’t so hard. For Touya’s sake.

“I’m not like you.“ The suddenness of Touya’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.

“What?” Akito blinked in surprise. “Uh, then, what are you?”

“I am… a human.”

“‘A?’ Why’d you say it like that? Of course you’re human.” Akito raised an eyebrow, not that Touya was looking at him. “Unless you’re secretly a shapeshifter. But I don’t think those exist,” he tried to joke.

Touya shuffled as far to the right as he could, pressing against the arm of the couch. “No. I’m… Not— not like you are.”

He‘d gotten better at reading Touya’s silent words and seeing through him. But right now, he had no idea what Touya was getting at. He crossed his arms and moved closer to Touya. “Then tell me? Explain it properly for once. I know you’ve been through something fucked up, but you won’t tell me.”

“I’m trying, but I just. I— I can’t.” Touya stared at the floor for nearly a minute before closing his eyes and sighing. “Make me say it. If you really want to know, command me to tell you.”

“I— What?” He didn’t want to force Touya to do anything—made it his own rule ever since he realised Touya couldn’t say no—especially if Touya didn’t want to say it. But Touya was looking at him intensely. And… And if— Didn’t Touya say he couldn’t bring himself to say it? Maybe this was his way of telling him. Akito searched Touya’s eyes, and he gave the smallest nod. Akito sighed. “Alright. Tell me. What are you, Touya?”

“I am a weapon. Their sword. Their tool,” Touya said immediately, like he was repeating a doctrine. “I have no will of my own. I do not need one. I am nothing.”

Akito inhaled sharply at the first sentence, feeling his heart sink with each word. That wasn’t… wasn’t what he’d expected. Something like that? Sure. But something so dehumanising? All the things that An had admitted and Akito had seen slotted into place. “Do you…” Akito swallowed. “Do you believe all that?”

“Yes,” Touya said, but his voice wavered.

“You don’t sound so sure.”

Touya looked away again, turning so Akito couldn’t see his face. “I did. I had no choice but to. But I— You—” he stuttered. “Now that I am… here. I don’t— don’t know anymore.” He paused. “I am. Different.”

“You’re not. You don’t need to be,” Akito said softly.

Touya shook his head. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t not believe it. It is all I have ever known. And as long as I— As long as I do as They say, then everything is all right.”

“But you would have been normal when you lived in Phoenix, right?” Akito tried, desperate to make Touya see he was wrong.

“I don’t remember it.”

Akito sat back in shock. That made so much sense he didn’t know why he hadn’t considered it before. “…Oh.”

“The first thing I remember is the room. The darkness. There was nothing.” Touya exhaled shakily. “They were all I knew. They were all I had. I had to— How could I do anything but accept what They taught me?”

“Not if they're teaching you you're not a fucking person, Touya!” he growled. He wasn’t angry at Touya, but he felt the full force of his anger towards whoever hurt Touya seep out into his words. “Why the fuck would you listen to that?”

Touya shot to his feet, hands clenching and unclenching. “Why won’t you understand? Why can’t you understand? That's how it is. I am the Dark Knight. That is all I am. That's all I need to be. There is nothing else.” He looked down on him. “Whoever you think Touya is, he's not real. I am not real.”

“He is.” Akito joined him on his feet, glaring at Touya like it would help make him see. “Touya is the boy standing in front of me. He doesn’t like sweet things, but he likes cookies and black coffee like a weirdo. He likes mystery novels and learning new things. He's curious and interested in everything and anything. He's kind and—"

“Kind?” Touya cut him off, looking the most affronted he could. “I have killed more people than you can comprehend. What part of that is kind?”

“You're being used. Touya. Can you say you would do that if you'd grown up like you should have? You are kind.” Akito knew he was yelling, knew this was the wrong way to do this, but he didn’t care. Why the fuck couldn’t Touya see? “You honestly want to help with whatever Kohane or I are doing. You worry for An, you defended us—broke out of whatever the fuck they did to you long enough to fight not only people from Nocturne but against yourself.”

“I— I—” Touya stammered, rocking back on his feet like he’d been struck.

Akito pressed his advantage. “You saved our lives, Touya, with barely a thought. Because you’re kind. You don’t want to see others hurt.”

And suddenly Touya was yelling. “I don't want anything! I can't!” Touya snarled. “Someone like me doesn’t—”

Akito cut him off with his own shout. “You didn't want to sing, or swim! You wanted to make flower crowns with me. You don’t want to eat the things you don’t like. And you don’t want to go back to Nocturne, even if you can’t let yourself say it. They can’t get rid of you completely, it’s impossible!” Akito threw his arms around, restless. “Don’t you think it’s a good thing? That the moment you get away from them, you start feeling? Start being normal, like any other person.”

Touya just stared at him, chest heaving and expression shutting down from furious to blank in a second. “I—” he whispered, deflating. “I can't— I'm not doing this.” He turned on his heel and walked to the shop door, and a second later Akito heard the bell chime.

Akito just stared at where he’d disappeared, fighting for breath and willing his heart to slow down.

“Yeah, that went about as well as I expected.”

“Guh!” Akito choked and spun around. An stood in the hallway, leaning against the door frame with a wistful smile.

“Wha— don't eavesdrop!”

“The whole street could probably hear you,” she quipped, coming in to stand against the back of the couch. “Look he's…” An sighed and glanced at the still swinging door. “He's different from us.”

“No he's not!” He felt his rage slam back into him before dropping into a whisper at An’s next words.

An held up a hand and he shut his jaw with an audible click. “I'm not saying that to be mean. It's just the truth. He's been told his entire life he's just a weapon. You're not gonna change that with a few pretty words.”

Akito swallowed and flopped onto to couch with a groan, throwing his arm over his face. “…Okay. Yeah. You’re right, but still…”

A hand carded through his hair, and he hated how nice it was. He peeked out to see An leaning over the couch. “You gotta see it from his perspective. Don’t just deny what happened, or whatever.”

“I’ll… I’ll try.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed, refusing to look at her. An just laughed and vaulted over the couch to settle down next to him.

“I know it’s hard for you, but maybe this time, plan out what you wanna say?” An said with a grin he could feel through his arm.

Akito elbowed her.

Contrary to what An said, he could make plans. So Akito thought. He spent the afternoon trying to think—it was easy, thanks. Thinking about Touya. About what he would do if he was in Touya’s position. It was easy to say he simply wouldn’t let it get to him, that he’d ignore it and escape, never let himself be used. But deep down he knew that if it was him in Touya’s position, he would have died years ago. He still didn’t know exactly what happened, but the picture he’d painted for himself wasn’t very pretty. It couldn’t be easy taking someone’s humanity like that, beating them down into a husk of a person. And Akito really, really hated it. Hated that someone could do that to another person—a child. Because Touya would have been young. Hated that it happened to Touya—who was still somehow one of the sweetest, kindest people he’d ever met. And no matter what Touya thought. He was a person. Akito just had to make him believe it.

Unsurprisingly, Touya didn’t show up for dinner. Didn’t mean it wasn’t disappointing. Ena didn’t comment beyond a small glare at him when she came downstairs, just covered Touya’s dinner with another plate and put it next to the stove. They didn’t speak as they ate—Akito too busy thinking and Ena trying to inhale her food so she could go back to whatever piece she was working on—but that was the norm. Or, it used to be.

Akito wasn’t worried about Touya. He hadn’t checked, but he had a pretty good idea of where he was. It was pretty obvious Touya had no idea how to handle his emotions, so his current plan seemed to be just to hide in the garden until he felt better. It certainly wasn’t… the worst coping method he could choose. Just… frustrating… that Akito had been the one to cause it.

He did the dishes in silence, still lost in his head, trying to piece together metaphors and shit. Trying to understand Touya. Just him and his soapy hands and sponge and hundreds more of those empty words he couldn’t say. With the last plate in the rack, he dried his hands and crossed to the couch. Before he reached it, a light down the hallway caught his eye and he stopped to look. A faint flicker of orange peeked out from the laundry window, illuminating the sink and casting a square of light into the hall. His feet were moving before he could stop them, halting just in front of the back door.

He wasn’t equipped for this conversation yet. He’d done his best, but was his best good enough for something like this? Probably not, but he’d try, because it was all he could do. And, well. If Touya wasn’t ready, he could just walk away. Steeling himself with a breath, Akito opened the door. No point making himself known, Touya had probably noticed him from the get-go.

Akito shut the door behind him, leaning against it with a sigh and glancing down to the right. Touya sat cross-legged next to a lantern, a pile of wildflowers in front of him and a half-formed braid in his hands. He didn’t look up as Akito came out. But didn’t send him away either.

Akito slid down until he was crouched on the ground, nearly a metre still separating them. Still, Touya didn’t react, didn’t glance over, just continued his braid.

Akito sighed. “I’m sorry, Touya.”

The braiding stopped. “You don’t have to apologise to me.”

Akito huffed a laugh. “Yes I do, I was being shitty and selfish. You finally opened up to me and I basically dismissed it.”

“…Alright. Apology accepted.”

“You don’t gotta do that, but okay.” Akito sighed and wrapped his hands over his knees, staring out into the forest. “I’ve spent all afternoon thinking—”

“Was it hard?” Touya interrupted, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth and looking surprised at his own words.

Akito blinked slowly, desperately trying not to laugh, this was meant to be a serious conversation. “What the fuck, man?”

“Sorry, I—” Touya dropped his hand, but his mouth was still agape. “A character in one of the books said that, and I wa— wanted to try it.”

His lips twisted into a grimace, he would not laugh. “It… Well, it worked,” he snorted into his hand, unable to look at him anymore. “You fucking got me.”

“Sorry, this probably wasn’t the time for it, was it?”

“Not in the slightest!” But it helped Akito relax, so he would forgive the insult. “Anyway…” He glared at the sky, squaring his shoulders in an attempt to regain his serious composure. “I was thinking, and I think I get it. Or well.” Great, he already fucked it up. “I can’t get it, but I’ve thought about it.” He needed a synonym for think. “I was just… angry for you, but I shouldn’t have pushed. So. I’m sorry, Touya.” He turned to look at him, making sure Touya understood. “Nothing you’ve done was wrong, and I’m an idiot for thinking it’d be easy to just move on and pretend they didn’t fuck you up. You’re doing—” He felt his face flush and hoped the low lighting hid it. “You’re doing so well, Touya. Compared to what you were like when we first met, it’s like a completely different person.”

Akito exhaled slowly at the end of his little speech, watching Touya carefully. The flower braid lay forgotten in his lap, the end stems pinched too tightly between his fingers. His eyes were still a little wary, but more accepting than earlier.

Touya looked down at his flowers, unclenching his death grip and smoothing out the dents. “…Thank you. I understand that I… am not normal. So I cannot expect you to understand, that was… cruel of me.”

Akito shook his head. “It wasn’t. Seriously, it’s my fault. Sure, I can’t understand, but. I should have at least tried.”

Something in his voice must have alerted Touya because he tilted his head and looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “I— we are both at fault. Did… did you find something? To compare us? To understand?”

Akito nodded, wracking his brain for his multiple metaphors and examples and landed on: “It’s like if someone told me I was a dog,” he blurted out. Uh. He slapped a hand over his mouth. That metaphor was meant to stay private.

“…What?” Touya turned to him in faint amusement. “Excuse me?”

“I—” Akito went red. “I was. Fuck. I was trying to understand why you think you’re not human and that was the stupid metaphor my brain came up with that I did not mean to say. Ignore what I just said.”

“No, please. Explain,” Touya said, the rest of his body following to face Akito properly, discarding the braid at his feet.

“No way!” He keeled over, trying to bury into himself, but he could feel Touya leaning over him.

“Please explain your metaphor, Akito.”

“Ugh,” he groaned into his legs, voice muffled. “It’s like if everyone kept telling me I was a dog after being y’know. Human. My entire life. Why the hell would I believe that? Also, that’s the worst thing I can imagine.” He peeked out to gauge Touya’s reaction to his insane ramblings.

The corner of Touya’s mouth was twitching.

Akito shot up, nearly smacking into Touya, but his stupid reflexes saved them.

“What?” Touya gently pushed him away to sit up straight.

“You!” Akito gaped. “You just smiled.”

Touya’s hand—still on Akito’s chest—went slack. “I— What? I did?”

“Sort of! Close enough! Fuck you, it wasn’t that funny.”

“It was a strange comparison.” The quirk in his lips was gone, but a spark of mirth still sat on his face.

“This was a fucking mistake.” Akito made to stand, only half-joking, but Touya pulled him back down by the wrist.

His face was closer now, backlit by the lantern. “No, it was… I’m glad. That you would try to understand.”

Akito grinned wryly. “Sure, sure. Just never repeat that to anyone or I’ll die.”

Touya nodded seriously. “Alright. I— Akito.” Touya said his name gently, and Akito could only stare at him. “Thank you. Truly. For everything. And in turn, I will try to be more open about my… experiences.”

Akito softened. “Of course. You’re welcome, Touya.” Everyone else had done it, so Akito reached out and took his hand. He ducked his face into Touya’s shoulder as he felt the heat rise again, but he wasn’t sure if the action itself was more embarrassing or not. Touya just squeezed his hand back and turned to lean against the wall, retrieving his braid with his free hand and looping it around Akito’s wrist. He couldn’t tie it off, but left it draped over, so they could pretend he was wearing it. They sat there, Akito tucked into Touya with the lantern slowly dwindling to their right, the light of the moon almost brighter than the flame and said nothing for several minutes.

There wasn’t an easy way to ask what he wanted to know. Sure, Touya had promised to share, but was now even okay? Was it too early? Too sudden? Too much emotion for one day? Probably.

His fidgeting must have been obvious, because Touya asked, “What’s wrong?”

Akito stilled. “Uh,” he whispered. Fuck it. “Can I ask… what they did to you?” he asked, barely louder.

As expected, Touya stiffened, but it wasn’t as bad as Akito had expected, and he quickly relaxed. He felt Touya nod against him, and they lapsed back into silence.

“I don’t remember much before They let me out,” Touya started slowly. “There was a whip, I think. I was kept in an empty, dark room for years. They were the only people I saw. The nothingness was the worst part. I suppose They just… told me what They wanted from me, and punished anything They didn’t like—which was most things—until I gave in. Until there was nothing left.”

Akito had to bite his lip from interrupting, the hand holding Touya’s doing its best to crush his bones, not that he could.

“I was just… it was beaten into me, I suppose. That I don’t have emotions, I don’t have free will. I don’t lie, I don’t make decisions. I don’t need to. All I am—was—is a weapon for them to use. That’s all I’ve known my entire life. I know… I know it’s not true anymore. I’ve.. decided things, and… enjoyed things, but it’s so hard. I can’t.” Touya shuddered. “I’m learning how to do all these things I don’t know how to. All these emotions I don’t know if I even have. It still feels like there’s nothing.” His voice turned a little choked. “Why is there nothing inside of me? I don’t feel anything. I can pretend. I can imitate what I think I should feel. But surely there’s nothing strong enough inside to call an emotion.” Touya extracted his hand from Akito’s and threw the flower to the side again. “I’ve done more this past month than I have in my entire life. It’s… I don’t know. Strange.” He pulled away and turned to Akito, pleading, begging him. “How do I know what’s normal when my normal is nothing?”

And Akito’s heart broke for what felt like the millionth time. He lifted his arms, ignoring the minute flinch from Touya and dragged him into a hug, making sure Touya could feel his heart beat against his. “Touya. Touya,” he murmured as tenderly as he could. “I promise you are feeling things. It might not seem like it, but it’s so, so obvious to us that you are. It probably doesn’t register, it feels strange and foreign and you don’t know how to deal with it or name it, but you are feeling, I swear on my life, Touya.”

Slowly, Touya’s arms came to wrap around his waist in turn, dropping his chin onto Akito’s shoulder with a shuddering sigh.

“Okay,” he whispered, air fanning out against Akito’s neck. “Okay.”

Akito knew that his words were the equivalent of putting a bandage over a wound that required stitches, but it was good enough for now. Touya looked more relaxed, somewhat returning to normal, even if it was a bit forced at times. But they’d work on it. An shot him a thumbs up the next day while Kohane and Touya made sandwiches. He hoped this made it clear that he knew how to think good.

Well?

Think well.

At least he could prove it by beating her ass at Ludo.

An and Kohane had come in that morning and presented the board game he hadn’t seen in years and only vaguely remembered how to play. An said she found it buried in the cupboard upstairs, not that Akito even knew what was up there, he could count the number of times he went up there on his fingers. But An slammed it down on the coffee table and demanded they play, very lucky that Touya was back to normal to join them. He hoped she hadn’t wanted to try and play with him when he was all messed up.

Kohane read out the rules as An set up the board and Akito and Touya piled pillows on the floor to sit on. He and Ena used to play it with Kohane or their parents, which was probably why it was stashed and forgotten, but An had never played, and clearly neither had Touya. So they tried it. Akito played red, as usual, claiming it before An could and relegating her to green. No one was going to fight Touya on blue and Kohane on yellow.

Unfortunately, it was a strategy game, so their inexperience meant absolutely nothing, and Touya and An dominated them easily. It really was unfair. Even the luck seemed to favour Touya, giving him the exact rolls he wanted what felt like every time. No matter how hard Akito tried, he only won once in their nearly two hours of playing, which was frankly pathetic. Even Kohane won twice. Mostly because An let her.

So maybe he was bad at thinking. But he had more important things to dedicate his brain to, like flowers, and singing.

He scowled as An rolled the dice and got another six, getting her last piece out onto the board. At this rate, she’d win again. Akito turned to Touya. “Oi, if you let me pass I can—” His voice petered out as Touya looked up at him. He’d noticed Touya fidgeting as they played but didn’t pay that much attention to it, but Touya had his fingers behind his ear, tucking the too-long strands out of the way. “Uh. Beat An…” he finished lamely. Touya just kept looking at him out of the corner of his eye, giving Akito a perfect, unobstructed view of Touya’s stupid pretty face.

Which was not helping his chances of winning.

He could physically feel An’s grin from across the table and snatched the dice from her. “Never mind.”

Touya tilted his head, dislodging his hair again. “I suppose? But it doesn’t matter to me who wins.”

Akito fought very hard not to fix it. He rolled the dice. Three. Fine. He moved and handed Touya the dice, who, when given the chance to kill one of Akito’s pieces, thankfully ignored it after spending a concerning moment toying with his piece. But looking down for so long was a problem Akito was glad he’d only just noticed. Touya kept tossing his head to clear his vision—hair falling into his eyes—only to have it return seconds later.

“Is your hair bothering you, Touya?” Kohane asked as she took the dice.

Touya nodded. “A little. It’s obstructing my vision more than it should.”

“Well, it has been months since you cut it,” An pointed out as Kohane moved a piece into home. “I can do that—" She held out her hand for the dice as she spoke, but pulled away as Kohane dropped it, letting it fall to the table. “But first!” An evil grin spread across her face. “I’m a genius. Screw the game, we’re playing dress-up.” The sentence alone sent a shiver down Akito’s spine, but Kohane lit up. An was already off the couch and grabbing a dining chair as Kohane stood over Touya, dragging him to his feet by the wrists and down the hall.

“Don’t die, Touya,” Akito whispered to himself.

Touya whipped his head around with a look of concern. He opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late, and he disappeared down the hall.

Well. He couldn’t let Touya suffer alone. And it would sort of be funny to see him with his hair up. Akito got to his feet with a groan. The board caught his eye and he glanced up quickly before moving all of An’s pieces back one square and putting all of his on the board. And as if nothing happened, he followed them to the bathroom. Touya and the chair had been placed in front of the sink, taking up a majority of the room with An behind Touya and Kohane on his other side. Akito squeezed in, shutting the door so he could at least save Touya’s dignity from Ena. The bathroom was way tinier like this—it never felt small, but with all four of them jammed in there, it was impossible to move without brushing against each other.

Touya sat ramrod straight, watching An apprehensively in the mirror while Kohane rummaged through the cabinet for supplies. “What exactly… is happening?”

“Fun.” An brandished the brush Kohane handed her menacingly. “Hold still.”

Touya somehow froze further, glancing at Akito with something like a plea, but Akito could only shrug his shoulders. “Just let it happen,” he sighed. “It’s easier that way.”

An was nicer than Ena had ever been to him, at least. Brushing Touya’s hair gently and always telling him where she was gonna touch his head. She dragged the left half together above his ear, holding his hair tightly for Kohane to slip a hairband over and another to An, who did the same on his right until Touya had two, tiny albeit evenly placed pigtails. Both were comprised of only one colour, which had Akito stifling a laugh, and his silky hair kept trying to slip out of the ties, but for once, Akito was glad someone got subjected to The Girls.

“Um.” Touya blinked. “Okay?”

An unsuccessfully hid her laughter, ducking below Touya so he couldn’t see her. Kohane leant over so her head was just above Touya’s, making eye contact in the mirror. “Look, we match now.” She beamed, rubbing a pigtail against Touya’s.

“Ahh. We do.” Touya nodded, seeing no problem with this. “But your hair is much more suited to this style.”

An’s hand snaked upwards, making grabbing motions at Kohane. “Gimme another band, I’m gonna do something illegal.”

“Um,” Touya tried to protest, but An already had a fistful of his fringe and was tying it up in the middle until he looked like…

“Now you’re a beautiful unicorn!” An grinned. “And you’re hair is out of your eyes. A win-win!”

Akito and Kohane burst into laughter. There was no point hiding it. An had somehow made Touya look stupid—Akito didn’t think it was possible. He had to grab the edge of the sink before he fell over, Kohane doing the same on the other side.

Touya blinked at himself, tilting his head this way and that as if he was seriously considering it. “…An.” He reached up and pulled the tie off, leaving his hair sticking out in front of him in a loose horn shape. “An… what.” He tried unsuccessfully to fix it, pushing his hair up only for it to flop down again, covering his eyes worse than before.

Akito wheezed, “Oh my Gods, end his suffering.” He snatched the brush out of An’s limp hand and shoved her out of the way with his hip, sliding in behind Touya. An and Kohane were squished together, nearly falling into the bath.

Akito deftly removed the pigtails and brushed the hair back to normal before bringing the brush in front of Touya’s face and sliding it through until all of Touya’s hair was slicked back. He did this a couple of times, trying to smooth out his hair, and frowned. He liked to think he knew a little bit about hair since he cut his own, but what he was seeing did not line up with Touya’s normal hair.

“Uh. Why is your hair so even?”

Touya tilted his head minutely in the mirror. “Pardon?”

“Your hair.” Akito gestured vaguely with the brush. “The colours are split evenly down the middle of your scalp, but usually the dark side covers like half the light side. Why? Wouldn’t that be more effort?” Not like Akito had ever questioned the way Touya’s hair worked, but he at least thought there was more dark than light blue, but. No? He ran a finger down the line between colours, feeling Touya shiver lightly beneath him.

“I don’t know,” Touya answered. “I never managed my hair,” he continued after a large pause. “That’s just how They always styled it, I suppose.”

“Well, fuck that.” Akito looked up at An and Kohane for approval, who both nodded. He switched out the brush for a comb, trying his best to part Touya’s hair the way it probably should have always been. The dark side in particular fought him, but that was expected. But with a spray bottle from Kohane, it was easy enough to force it for now. Soon enough, he had Touya’s hair sitting flat. There were still some dark bits at the back that slid into the light half, and the light side did the same at the front. His fringe was mostly light now, and still too long, but it honestly looked good. Sure, Akito was used to the messier, darker version of Touyas’ hair, but he couldn’t deny that the even, proper style looked good.

An whistled loudly when Akito finally dropped his hands to Touya’s shoulders, looking at the new style from all sides. “It’s so smooth now! I mean, your hair’s always been nice, but now it looks like it feels? I guess?” An leant over, joining him in examining his work.

“It looks nice when it's long like this,” Kohane added, fiddling with Touya’s fringe, moving strands back and forth to find a good place for them. “If your hair was shorter, I don’t think this would look as good, especially at the back. If I were you, I’d just trim the front and leave the back.” Her fingers stopped, retreating abashedly. “Only if you like it, of course.”

Touya hesitantly ran his fingers through the long strands at the back, brushing the bottom of his neck. “The back being long never bothered me, so I don’t mind. If you think it looks better this way, I will keep it.” He moved side to side, tracing himself in the mirror, lifting strands before dropping them back into place.

“So you like it? Wanna keep something like this instead of what you had?” Akito asked, though it was more like a statement.

Touya nodded slowly. “…Yes. I—” He frowned. “I don’t recognise myself in the mirror, but at the same time, it feels familiar. So I’ll keep it.”

“If it’s familiar, you probably kept your hair like this uh. Before,” An stuttered awkwardly. “Maybe.”

Touya hummed in agreement and relaxed into the chair. “Maybe. Can we… continue with what we were meant to be doing here?” He looked pointedly at the scissors lying abandoned on the sink in a way that felt scolding.

An saluted. “Aye-aye pigtail boy.” She returned the favour from earlier and knocked Akito out of the way.

He rolled his eyes and moved to the door, holding it open as Kohane tried to sneak past in front of Touya, basically using his lap as a seat. Not that he cared. Kohane was red though, which he would be teasing her about later.

“You realise you could also have matching pigtails with Kohane, yes?” Touya pointed out quietly as Akito shut the door.

The last thing he heard before the door cut them off was An’s squeal.

Chapter Text

It had been the strangest four months of Touya’s life.

Possibly even the first, if you didn’t want to count the first nineteen years, which the other three were adamant about doing. So he was living. Unsure what he was supposed to do with this freedom. But living.

He still felt… anxious… that They would find him. Saw Them in the shadows and his dreams and his reflection. But there had been no sign of Nocturne anywhere near Viviryn, let alone their little town. So he wasn’t relaxed, per se, but he could at least try and move on.

And move on he did. He’d always had three statements to describe who he was. Touya, the Dark Knight of Nocturne. A weapon. A tool. Now that he’d lost them, he had to create new ones. And found there was no shortage of those anymore. He didn’t like sweets, or food with strange textures. He liked coffee and cookies and helping in the garden. He was smart and tactical and oblivious and naïve and kind. (He still didn’t like that one.) He was the slightly strange, tall boy who hung out with Akito and Kohane and the charismatic new stranger. And he was. Touya. But even with all those words he still didn’t know what that meant. Or if it was supposed to mean anything at all.

Not that he should be questioning his existence while standing outside a store.

An and Kohane offered to take him shopping that morning, looking for clothes to fit his style—or to find a style in the first place, realistically. They’d walked through the town fabric store, coordinating colours and materials until they found something he liked. It was frustrating to do. It was far easier to point out the things he didn’t like, but when it came to choosing between the rest, it was impossible to tell what he ‘liked’ more than the others. But they found a few things and left with a list of things to order. Or to make Akito order, since he was the one making all their clothes.

They dragged him through bookstores and cafes and that strange antique store An was obsessed with. It was a new pace—he still didn’t go out much—and exhausting, but fun. Though, by midday, he was too intimidated by the busy post office to go inside. The girls promised to be only a few minutes, but he could see them in the line through the giant windows, and they hadn’t moved much. Oh. No. They had moved. Out of the line to look at some pottery on the shelves. Touya turned back to the street, head thunking against the wall behind him. It was nice under the shade of the awning while still being able to feel the heat in the air. He idly watched a family walk down the road, parents hand in hand with their two children, laughing and threatening to trip their parents, who only looked amused. He couldn’t help but follow them, gaze flitting to other residents before returning to the happy family. Was he like that when he was younger? He banished the thought as soon as it came. There was no point in even wondering.

Touya sighed and leant forward as a child ran past, nearly tripping right in front of him if it weren’t for Touya grabbing her. As carefully as he could, he righted the girl and gently pushed her towards her father, who nodded gratefully at him. Touya returned the nod and watched them continue. The father scolded his daughter, who pouted and nodded before running off, likely to trip again. Touya turned to watch as the father ran to scoop up the girl and drag her into a café when he felt eyes on him.

That in of itself wasn’t strange. Most people looked at him. But these eyes didn’t leave. Outwardly, Touya looked relaxed, but inside he was on edge. He inhaled deeply and casually turned to the left side of the street, looking past where he felt those eyes coming from to catch a glimpse of his stalker then continue looking down the road. At least. That was the plan. But against his will his gaze caught on the bright yellow person sitting at the cafe several buildings down across from him. The stranger noticed immediately that Touya had seen him, and put his teacup down, but didn't look away even as Touya stared him down. Touya narrowed his eyes as the stranger stood up and hurried across the road towards him. He straightened off the wall, feet moving into a defensive stance. He sensed no hostility from the man, but that could mean nothing.

The stranger stopped a few feet away as Touya tensed, wincing. “Aha, sorry!” he laughed, loud and awkward. “Sorry, I was… what’s your name?” The man smiled, all teeth and confidence, and Touya couldn’t take his eyes off him if he wanted.

After an awkward second, he shook his head. “Who are you?” he asked lowly, hoping An and Kohane would come back soon.

The smile faltered for a second before returning, and his voice dropped to a more reasonable volume. “My name is Tsukasa! I—”

Tsukasa was saying something else, he knew. But Touya felt like he’d been dropped underwater and heard none of it. Tsukasa. Tsukasa… the name felt so familiar it almost ached. Only aching more the longer he stared at his sunlight hair…

“You’re… apologies. You’re Touya… right? It’s you?” Tsukasa took another step closer, and Touya snapped back into his own body at the sound of his name.

He jolted, taking two steps back. Why did he know his name? Was he sent here from Nocturne? But his skin was too tan. And he still wasn’t hostile, radiating warmth and— Touya lunged forward and grabbed Tsukasa’s wrist. He turned on his heel and dragged him along behind him, uncaring of the way Tsukasa hopped on one foot to regain his balance, and yet not putting up a fight. They were only a few streets from home, and Touya walked it blindly, refusing to think, unsure of what he was doing, and not wanting to know the answer. He could feel people watching him—walking on the verge of running, dragging a confused stranger through the streets with a look that screamed murder. He assumed by the way people moved out of the way, he didn’t know what was on his face, but it surely wasn’t good.

The paint-splattered walls of the flower shop calmed him down slightly as he pushed the door open, and thankfully no one was at the counter to witness this.

“Hello?” Tsukasa called out as they crossed the store, this clearly not the first time he’d tried to get Touya’s attention. “Tou—”

Touya slammed the living room door open and practically threw Tsukasa inside before shutting the door behind him. He whirled on him, feeling every bone in his body tense up. He ripped off his hat and threw it to the side. “Who the hell are you?”

Tsukasa gaped but schooled his expression quickly with a bow. “I— Again. My name is Tsukasa. Tenma Tsukasa.” He kept staring at Touya’s hair, gaze dipping down to his eyes and mole before returning upwards. “Do you… remember me?”

“Tenma?” A name he’d heard plenty of times in passing. And now he realised the very real danger he was in. His head pulsed. “Why would I—” he coughed. “You’re the crown prince of Pheonix.”

And Touya was supposed to be from Pheonix.

His chest tightened as Tsukasa nodded.

“I’ll protect the—I am, Touya, you are—kingdom one day,” the boy with a cape declared proudly.

Touya blinked harshly, willing the boy away. It didn’t work, the boy and the man overlapping until they were indistinguishable in front of him, two different—same—voices speaking to him at once. “I’ve never seen you before—” he growled.

And he was five, greeting the twin suns. And he was six, watching the child—man—in front of him wave a wooden sword, draped in a blue sheet. And he was seven, sitting in a garden sipping tea.

And he was nineteen, standing in his home with that sunlight boy.

Something tore itself from his mouth and he choked on it. His legs disappeared from under him, unable to bear his weight—the weight of what he was trying to now ignore—and he hit the floor, knees digging into the wood. “Stop. Stop it. I don’t know you—” He wasn’t very good at feeling things yet, but by the Gods could he feel the panic crawling up his throat. He just had to get it out—he clawed at his neck, his face, his hair. “I am the Dark Knight of Nocturne, you don’t know me.”

Tsukasa inhaled sharply. “Touya—”

“Stop it,” he wheezed, staring resolutely at the floor. “Stop saying my name.”

“No.” He felt Tsukasa kneel down in front of him. “You’re Aoyagi Touya, my—”

Touya felt his body fill with ice. “Ao-Aoyagi…?” And just that word sent lightning through his head. That wasn’t something he was meant to know. “No. Nononono.” He wouldn’t accept that. He couldn’t accept that. Because then everything would make sense and nothing made sense and he was going to die on the floor with his brain trying to squeeze out of his skull, drowning on land because he couldn’t breathe.

“Touya!” And suddenly Akito was there, warm hands on his back, trying to pry his hands from his throat, curling around him and hissing at Tsukasa. “What the hell is going on?! Who the fuck are you?!”

Tsukasa rocked back. “I— I’m Tsukasa. Touya’s my—”

“I’m not!” Touya ground his forehead into the wood, hoping that would stop the pain. “I don’t know you. Who—" Who was he? Touya groaned. “Stop it. It hurts.” He clawed desperately at Akito’s sleeve. “Akito, it hurts. It hurts.”

And it did, far worse than anything he'd been put through the past twelve years. Memories burning at his skull, desperately pushing up and out, trying to get out. But they couldn't. He couldn't. If he dared acknowledge them, They would find out. They would know he'd disobeyed Them. They would punish him. He couldn't. He had to—

"—ya. Touya! It's okay. You're safe, They won't find out. You'll never see them again.” Akito was speaking softly right next to his ear, and oh. He must have spoken aloud.

“I don’t know you,” he gasped. “I don’t—"

“You’re Aoyagi Touya," Tsukasa pressed.

“I-I’m not.”

“You are.” Tsukasa’s voice was infinitely gentle, and it only made it hurt more. “We used to play together as children.”

He sat up as much as he could to glare at Tsukasa. “I’m not! I’m no Aoyagi.” He panted heavily. The words spitting from his mouth before he could deny them. “Aoyagi Touya died in that dark, empty room! I'm not him! I’m not…” The fire died and his voice petered out until he was pathetically whining, and he had to press his head to the floor.

Akito just leaned harder against his back—barely enough to ground Touya. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t know!” Tsukasa cried. “I recognise Touya. I knew him before he disappeared. We were all told he’d died. But clearly, he didn’t!”

Touya could barely hear them over the memories. “I’m not, I’m not, I’m not,” he chanted. Not even sure what he was saying or what he was replying to.

Tsukasa replied anyway. “You are. Aoyagi Touya. Third prince of Nocturne and my cousin”—Touya moaned as the lightning hit him again—“I’m right. I know I am.” He felt Tsukasa get closer before stopping as Akito shifted protectively. “Your eyes, your hair. The beauty mark under your left eye. That’s you. Touya. Please,” Tsukasa begged.

Why? Why did he know so much? Tsukasa couldn’t be telling the truth. Tsukasa had to be telling the truth. Otherwise it wouldn’t hurt so much. Even through the pain, he could hear the footsteps behind him, and he curled deeper into his ball because he didn’t want anyone else to see this.

He couldn’t bring himself to look as the door opened and Kohane let slip a muffled gasp. “Touya?”

An ran past him, moving between Tsukasa and the rest of them. “You!” she growled. “Back off and shut the fuck up. Akito, what’s happening?” She knelt in front of him, fingers appearing splayed in his vision in a silent offer, but he couldn’t move if he wanted.

“—just appeared and started saying things,” Akito was saying when he focused again. “I dunno who he is. He knows Touya?”

An’s fingers curled into a white-knuckled fist. “Fuck. Fine. Akito, get him out of here, we’ll deal with it later.” Her voice dropped into a low croon, right next to his ear. “Touya, come on. Please. Are you alright?”

Was he alright? How could he possibly be alright with the knowledge thrust onto him, with the knowledge he was not supposed to know, with the emotions he couldn’t handle? An raised her hands to his and slowly untangled them from his hair, gently pulling until she lifted him to sit up.

He couldn’t see Tsukasa, but Akito was whisper-yelling something with Kohane on his left, pointedly blocking his view of the man. With An’s help—to put it mildly, she practically carried him—he stumbled to his feet. Immediately, the pounding in his head intensified, and he collapsed into An. This was far, far worse than anything They had done to him. He shut his eyes against the spinning, the noise, the pain, and let An drag him somewhere deeper into the house. He was aware of nothing but the pulsing memories he had to fight back until suddenly he was lying down again and the room was plunged into darkness.

“Shh.” An manoeuvred his limbs around, settling a blanket over him and forcing his head towards her. He could just barely make out her poorly-concealed frantic expression through the haze. “It’s alright. We’ll figure it out. Don’t die on me.”

He opened his mouth to assure her he wouldn’t, but all that came out was a pathetic croak. At least she smiled at that.

“Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep. You’ll feel better.”

And he didn’t need her permission, but with her words, he let himself fall into sweet oblivion.

…

Akito watched apprehensively as An dragged an unresponsive Touya to his feet and down the hall. He’d heard Touya’s raised voice from the living room and came back inside to a stranger standing over a collapsed Touya and feared the worst. But he was alive, if not in pain, which was terrifying to watch. He’d never seen Touya so… open. Certainly not that vulnerable. But he couldn’t blame him if what this Tsukasa was saying was true. He’d probably breakdown as well if some stranger started telling him he was a— Akito wouldn’t think about it. That was for Touya to tell him.

So as soon as Touya and An disappeared, he pulled Kohane out of the way and pointed ferociously at the door, glaring at Tsukasa. “Get out.”

“I—” Tsukasa drew himself to stand taller. “I need to know—”

“I don’t give a fuck what you want,” he spat. “You saw what you did to him. You’re lucky I’m not getting you arrested!” Kohane’s light grip on his arm had him collapsing back into himself. “Just get out,” he huffed. “You can come back this evening if Touya wants to talk to you. And if he doesn’t, you don’t get to complain.”

Tsukasa looked like he wanted to argue, shooting one last look down the hall before nodding reluctantly. “Alright. I swear I don’t want to hurt him, I just had to—”

“I don’t care about your excuses,” Akito cut him off and jerked his head at the door. “Out.”

Tsukasa looked between him and Kohane desperately before bowing slightly and trudging back into the store. They watched from the doorway until the bell rang out and Tsukasa disappeared down the street, sadly, towards the inn and not the gate.

Kohane gently closed the door when he didn’t move and wrapped her arms around his neck until all he could see was her blonde hair. “Hey,” she whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Me?” he snorted, gripping her waist. “Yeah. Pissed off, but Touya’s the one— fuck. Touya.” He spun around—dragging Kohane with him with a squeak—and half-ran down the hall to his bedroom. The door was agape and he cautiously pushed it open. An sat on the bed near Touya, slowly brushing through his hair with her fingers. She looked up as the door opened and smiled sadly.

“He’s alright,” she said lowly before he could ask, gesturing them inside. “Asleep. What happened? We left the store and he was gone. That’s not something he’d normally do, so we came back here to check and…?”

Akito could only shrug, sitting down carefully next to her, still dragging Kohane with him. “I don’t know. I came back inside and they were already inside. “You didn’t… hear what Tsukasa said, did you?”

Kohane shook her head. “No, you said he knew Touya?”

“That’s what it sounded like. He’s the fucking crown prince of Phoenix. And Touya’s apparently his cousin.”

An went pale, the colour draining from her face. “Oh my Gods. No, that can’t—” She froze. “It was a fucking lie,” she whispered to herself. “Oh, fuck.”

“An?” Kohane asked. “Do you believe him?”

“I don’t want to, but… the timing makes horrific sense.”

Akito frowned. “What timing?”

“The plague. The third prince died, didn’t he?” An shot them a helpless look. “And that was right before Touya came to Nocturne.”

Kohane gasped in horror. “Oh no…”

“It— It doesn’t matter who he is or isn’t,” Akito stuttered. “So what if it makes sense? We’ll just. Talk to that guy later and work it out. No point”—he grimaced—“no point worrying about it now.”

“Haha,” An laughed humourlessly. “Right. Don’t worry.”

Kohane copied her laugh airily. “Um. Okay, well. Let’s start by leaving him alone. Have you had lunch yet, Akito? We haven’t.”

Akito took the proffered branch. “Nah. Sure. Let’s get something to eat.” He ushered Kohane off his lap and helped An to her feet, not letting go of either of their hands as they crept outside. He couldn’t help but glance back, getting one last look at Touya’s face—screwed up in pain—before An quietly shut the door.

The concert hall was as large and oppressive as always. He couldn’t see past the blinding lights, but he knew the audience watched his every move.

Tsukasa and Saki laughed on either side of him in Tsukasa’s room. Bright and free.

The piano’s keys moved ceaselessly in front of him. The pressure was dull and painful on his fingers.

His hands flew eagerly across the piano. Occasionally bumping into Tsukasa or Saki as they tried to play the same notes.

The notes were sombre and perfect.

The notes were happy and rushed.

They reverberated in his bones.

He did not know which ones he preferred.

Nobles crowded him. They expected his playing to be greater—greater than those before him. And he would deliver. That was simply who he was.

Tsukasa and Saki bobbed up and down to the tune, nudging him lightly to join them. They expected nothing from him. But he would deliver. That was simply what he wanted.

He could see himself, sitting at the piano. Like looking through clear glass. The bright lights, the dark shadows. They sharpened with every blink. A complete picture that made his head spin and left him feeling like he was floating hundreds of metres above the ground. Before being snapped back into the too-small body sitting at the piano.

Tsukasa—taller—turned to him and laughed. “Do you know this song, Touya?”

“I do,” he replied, voice foreign to his own ears. Together they laid their hands on the piano and began to play, Saki joining in at the high notes cheerfully.

A familiar warmth emanated from his chest. One he was not aware he was capable of feeling.

He didn’t liked it.

He couldn’t like it.

The lively tune came to an end, and the siblings crushed him between them until all he could see was their hair, splashes of yellow and pink and orange mixing with his blue. Covering his world until he blinked and they were outside.

Saki swayed back and forth, humming, while Tsukasa jumped around the pavilion. He watched from his seat at the table. Tsukasa ran around, swinging a wooden sword, blue cape flapping from his shoulders as he re-enacted a play he had seen yesterday. Saki laughed silently at him—this was the third time they’d heard the story—and picked up the teapot.

The garden was one of his favourite places. Surrounded by flowers and hedges, but still open enough he could pretend he was away from the castle. The roof of the marble pavilion protected the three of them from the harsh sun above—one that could never compare to the two sat next to him.

Saki called out to him, gesturing with the teapot.

Tsukasa swung his sword too close, narrowly missing the cups and the cake stand filled with sweets.

Saki scolded the near miss, still trying to pour the tea.

Tsukasa dipped and bowed, throwing the sword away before sliding into the empty seat.

He was content? Happy.

The flowers truly were beautiful, and if he tried, he could name them, something he surely couldn’t have done before.

He was not meant to be content? happy.

Was it because of the suns or the colourful flowers?

Both? Neither?

He accepted Saki’s offering, bringing the cup to his lips with a sigh. Tsukasa drank his much more noisily.

Time blurred and they ran together through the garden, chasing and laughing at each other. Suddenly, his foot caught on a branch and he went flying. He finally hit the ground in a shaking, laughing heap with Tsukasa and Saki.

But he kept falling, until he hit the ground again, the world tilting as he bowed, loud cheers resounding around the stage ahead of him, the piano at his side. Applause and the waves of joy coming from them meant nothing over the icy grip in his chest. He straightened, only making the crowd and the tightness in his chest worse. He had to leave. Had to get out. But they kept cheering and he was supposed to do something but he didn’t know what. Couldn’t think over the roaring in his head, past the lump of overwhelming dread in his throat. They could be as happy as they wanted, it meant nothing knowing the only person that mattered wasn’t.

On useless legs he managed to cross the expanse of raised black he stood on, and a pinprick of light appeared as he turned. Tsukasa stood in the wings, guiding him and opening his arms for him as he escaped the crowd’s eyes. Tsukasa spoke quietly, encouragingly; warm words that bounced off him, ineffective when he could feel his father’s gaze on him.

He moved further into the wings, letting Tsukasa take his place on the stage. In a daze, he left. Fleeing the hall through the winding halls of the castle, no clue where his body was taking him, and not caring to know.

“Touya!” someone called, and he stopped his hasty walk to listen.

Saki appeared around a corner to guide him, pulling him and pushing him into a drawing room and onto the couch. She wrapped her arms around him. More of those honey-warm words tricked down his body but he was too far away. He knew nothing but the crushing weight and overwhelming dread doing its best to drag him down. But Saki would not let it.

Seconds or minutes or hours later Tsukasa returned, peering through a crack in the door and rushing forward until he was smothered between them, shaking and lost and nothing but a failure. Through the light, he could see another piano. Glancing at it sent lightning down his spine and through his bones, his fingers, his head. He could do nothing but weather the storm that threatened to take him. The siblings were a constant voice beside him, never letting silence overtake them. He closed his eyes against the nothing and the everything and knew nothing but the overwhelming fear consuming him. The fear crushed him, freezing even where the siblings burnt him, drowning him.

He didn’t want them to go, to leave him to his father’s freezing judgement and his own thoughts. Couldn’t bear to have this dream fade. For him to leave them behind. But everything was fading, becoming transparent, the siblings losing their colour and weight bit by bit until their grounding arms on him sunk away and the room collapsed in on itself.

He didn’t want to wake up, didn’t want to face the truth.

But no matter how much it hurt.

He would.

Touya emerged from his room several hours later looking like an absolute wreck. It was clear on his face that the nap hadn’t completely fixed whatever had happened earlier, but the wild panic in his eyes was gone, replaced with a bone-deep exhaustion. Akito bit his tongue to stop from shouting out his name. Instead, he pulled out Touya’s chair, wincing as Touya did at the scraping noise it made. Touya collapsed into the chair with a muffled groan and buried his head into his arms on the table. Akito placed a hand on his back, but Touya flinched away from the touch.

“Don’t,” he whispered miserably.

“Sorry.” Akito tucked his hands beneath his legs.

Touya shook his head into his arms before sitting up and staring blankly at the wood. “It’s alright.”

Kohane’s face screwed up in sympathy. “Are you okay?” she asked, also tucking her hands away to stifle the urge to reach out.

Touya groaned. “My head hurts.”

“First time?” An tried to joke, though it did nothing to mask the worry that had stained her face for the last few hours.

“Yes.”

Akito laughed lowly despite himself.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Touya continued, subdued, after a moment. “I don’t know what came over me…”

“Hey, it’s alright,” An soothed. “Can you tell us what happened? Who was that guy?”

Touya nodded and settled back into the seat, hugging his arms to himself, still staring at the table. “I was waiting outside when I felt him looking at me. He came over and started talking to me. He felt… familiar, and I didn’t like it. But he knew my name, so I dragged him back here.” Touya’s face pinched further, a hint of fear creeping back into his eyes. “I—I… have an idea of who he is. But not the details.” He looked up warily. “Is he still here?”

“He’s still in town,” Akito answered. “We told him to come back later if you wanted to talk, so he’ll probably show up soon.”

Touya swallowed thickly, nodding again. “Okay. I will,” his voice shook. “I feel… better now. Earlier it felt like I was being ripped in half. But I think… I can listen now.”

“Are you sure?” Kohane pressed her lips together tightly. “We can turn him away.”

“I… I have to do this.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Touya,” An said, but Touya was already shaking his head.

“No. I do. I want… I want to know. I can’t not know. Not after… that.”

“That?” Akito pressed, freeing his hands from their prison—he was starting to lose feeling in his fingers—and reaching across for Kohane, who took his hands.

“I’ve been having… dreams, recently,” Touya said slowly.

An frowned. “Dreams... plural? More than one? You mean that nightmare wasn't...?”

“It was hardly the first. Or last,” Touya answered wryly. “But they were all… blurry. Unclear. They’re not really dreams, either. More like memories. Of both before Nocturne and the— the—” He grimaced.

“Torture,” An said for him. The first time any of them dared acknowledge it.

Touya closed his eyes and nodded. “Tsu— that man was in them. That was why he was familiar. And this afternoon… the dreams were… clear. Just those scenes. I still don’t remember anything about who I was or even who the others were. But they were. Clear. I don’t think I can just ignore that, even if I wanted to.”

“So you believe he was telling the truth?” Akito squeezed Kohane’s hand until his fingers went white. “You’re actually the—”

An kicked him under the table, and he watched Touya’s lips twitch at the sound. “I believe so. It doesn’t matter, though. I won’t— This doesn’t change anything, right?” He finally looked up at Akito, then Kohane, then An.

They all voiced their agreement loudly and enthusiastically. Touya could be a god and Akito didn’t think he’d care. As long as he stayed.

A loud knock reverberated from the store, followed by the harsh clanging of the bell.

Akito winced. “How is he so freaking loud?” He looked out the window, the sun was just barely dipping beneath the horizon. “And very on time.”

“I bet he was just standing out there until ‘evening,’” An snorted, then leant over the table, making her movements obvious as she reached for Touya’s hands. “You ready to talk to him?”

Touya shook his head, turning it into a nod halfway through. “I don’t think I ever will be. But yes.”

The ringing continued so Akito sighed and got to his feet, stomping over to the door to let the guy in.

An huffed and squeezed Touya's hands behind him. “It’s alright. Do you want us with you?”

Touya considered it for a moment before ultimately shaking his head again. “No… I need to do it alone.”

Akito could hear them having a group hug without him as he stalked through the store to open the front door. He glared at Tsukasa, who looked simultaneously sheepish and bold. Somehow. “He’ll listen to you,” Akito said before Tsukasa could speak. “But if he kicks you out, you leave and never come back, got it?”

Tsukasa looked flabbergasted but nodded ferociously. “Of course!” Gods he was so loud. “Thank you!”

Akito vacated the doorway and let him inside. He locked the door and led Tsukasa back into the living room. Touya stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, An and Kohane behind him. Both Tsukasa and Touya inhaled sharply as they came face-to-face again, and Akito quickly crossed the room to join the girls, making sure to smile reassuringly at Touya before heading down the hall. He shot Touya one last glance before he slipped into his room. They hadn’t moved, stuck in a standstill as Akito watched. Akito looked away before they could, not wanting to intrude, and shut the door behind him.

Kohane stood in front of the desk, placing a chopping board with a loaf of bread and a block of cheese on it while An flopped onto the bed. It was messy, the pillow askew and sheets bunched up, a far cry from the smooth way An had left Touya in it earlier. An set to work fixing it as Akito peered over Kohane’s shoulders questioningly.

“Dinner,” she explained, looking up at him with a small smile. “I assume they’ll be a while.”

“If it goes well,” Akito muttered, backing off to help An with the sheets.

An hopped off the bed to lay the covers flat, tugging on her end and nearly dragging Akito off balance with a half-hearted grin. “It will. Touya knows what he’s doing.”

He tugged back. “It’s not him I’m worried about.”

Akito was half-tempted to press his ear to the wall. To listen, to make sure Touya was okay. But even the thought of it had guilt creeping up his spine. He wouldn’t break Touya’s trust like that. If he wanted them to know, he would have let them be there. So Akito would let him lock away the truth or—more hopefully—tell them when he was ready.

Kohane and An crawled onto the bed the second the covers were flat, ruining most of the work anyway. Akito scoffed and joined them, sitting up against the back wall, feet hanging off the side of the bed. They conversed quietly—heads together, practically leaning on Kohane in the middle—not wanting to be too loud and always listening for some sign from the other room.

No sound ever came. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not.

They spent a peaceful hour or so like that, and Akito knew his neck would hate him for it later, but it was too comfortable to move just yet. A suspicious rumble broke the silence. He and Kohane slowly looked to their left at a sheepish An.

“What!” she defended. “I haven’t eaten all afternoon.”

Kohane didn’t even giggle like she would have if it was Akito’s stomach betraying him. “Me too, should we eat?” She scooted to the edge of the bed.

As the closest, Akito took the burden of standing up and preparing their dinner, stretching his neck. He should probably keep some for Touya if he was hungry… But. Uh. “…Kohane.” He stared at the chopping board before looking at Kohane, raising an eyebrow. “Did you bring a knife?”

She blinked. Looked at the board. Blinked again. “…I forgot?”

Akito snorted.

“No worries!” An jumped up and pushed her way in front of him. “I’ve got it.”

They watched in horror as An grabbed the loaf with her bare hands and slowly started ripping off one edge into a very, very uneven ‘slice.’ She held it out to him, smiling innocently, and he had no choice but to take it before she dropped it on the floor.

“I’m going to kill you,” he spluttered. “This is the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life.”

“I’m sure you’ve looked in a mirror before,” An said flippantly, ripping into another slice.

His jaw dropped, and Kohane, the absolute traitor, clapped her hands over her mouth and fell backwards, kicking her legs as she struggled to muffle her laughter.

Akito peeled Kohane’s hands off and glared at her before shoving the bread down her throat. “I hate you both.”

Kohane blinked her beautiful brown eyes up at him, but he would not relent. An was a horrible influence on her, and he’d given in to their teasing far too much the past couple of months. He did release the pressure on the bread so she didn’t choke to death just yet, though.

Akito sat down heavily and buried his head in his hands as Kohane spat out the bread. “Please for the love of the Gods don’t do that to the cheese, An. Please.”

“I’m not an animal,” An sniffed. “Touya has a knife in the top drawer.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “Then why didn’t we use that for the bread?” he hissed. The knife was where An said it was and he wiped it on his shirt before pushing An back towards the bed. He wasn’t letting her touch anything he ate for the next week.

They ate in silence. It wasn’t the worst meal ever. But cheese and bread were a far cry from the normal meals they ate. He’d just have to pretend they were camping or something. It was filling, though, so there was that. They brushed the crumbs onto the floor to deal with later and flopped backwards, ending up lying together like canned sardines with their legs hanging off the side of the bed. He couldn’t tell you what they talked about. He probably mentioned going camping—spurred on by his earlier thought. Kohane spoke about the songs they had tried to write and the songs they wanted to sing next. An gave them plenty of ideas. Nocturne folk songs weren’t half bad.

It was past midnight when they heard the bell ring out before being forcefully muted. Akito let out a sigh of relief and sat up. He expected Touya to open the door, but with every passing minute he didn’t appear, Akito could feel his nerves growing. Should they go out and check on him? He’d worry that Tsukasa might’ve hurt Touya if he wasn’t very aware of how impossible Touya was to kill. So maybe Touya wanted to be alone, and Akito would just ruin it if he went out there—

“I can hear you thinking from here,” An murmured, nudging him with her foot. “He’s fine, he’s moving around out there.”

The air left his lungs in a rush and he felt Kohane shake with laughter next to him. “Can a guy not be worried?” he bit out with no heat.

“No. Banned.”

He rolled his eyes and relaxed a little, leaning back on his hands but unwilling to lie down again just in case. It wasn’t like he was the only nervous one. Kohane tapped a melody on anything she could reach, and An’s leg was doing its best to drill through the floor.

Another ten or fifteen minutes must have passed before something thunked at the door. Akito turned towards it in anticipation, and a second later the handle moved and the door opened a few centimetres. It stopped, not widening for a few heartbeats, like Touya was uncertain, before opening just enough for Touya to slip in, keeping his back to them, pressing his head against the door, and not giving Akito a chance to study his face. Akito watched carefully as the taught lines of Touya’s shoulders slowly drooped. He inhaled shakily before turning around, dragging his eyes to look at them one by one.

Gods, he looked exhausted.

“Are you alright?” Akito couldn’t help but ask, despite how obvious the answer was.

Touya turned that blank gaze on him as he spoke, but Akito could see a spark beneath the grey. “…I will be,” he croaked out. He dragged his feet and stumbled over to the bed, then collapsed onto it between Akito and Kohane, forcing them apart with a little laugh from the both of them.

Akito shuffled over, lifting Touya’s legs so he could lie down at least somewhat properly. Touya didn’t even complain beyond a groan, just let himself get manhandled around. Kohane moved back as well, curling around Touya and throwing out an arm towards Akito. An copied her, lying down—she had the pillow, the bastard—and slotting a leg over Kohane’s and between Touya’s knees. It did not look comfortable. She twisted around and blew out the candle, plunging them into darkness before Akito could settle. He huffed and slapped her ankle, to which she responded with a kick he caught easily. Sliding down was hard, he was pressed almost to the end of the bed, his arm was somewhere under the mess of Kohane and Touya, and he could feel An’s hair tickling his fingers. Touya didn’t move, it looked like he’d already fallen asleep.

Akito didn’t know where he ended and the others began, and like this, his limbs would go numb pretty quickly. He let himself just breathe. Touya was okay. Everything was okay. He didn’t have to worry for tonight. Tomorrow they’d talk. Tomorrow they’d figure it all out. Whatever it was.

The bed wasn’t made for two. It was far worse with all four of them. But it was the most comfortable sleep of his life.

Chapter Text

Touya watched the other three reluctantly leave down the hall, sending him varying looks of concern and optimism as they disappeared into his bedroom before his gaze settled back on Tsukasa. Seeing Tsukasa now was like looking at a completely different person. Earlier, it was just someone who felt familiar. But now, after those dreams… he had a past with this person. Knew what he looked like. Sounded like. It was… disconcerting.

Tsukasa just stared back, a wary smile on his lips and emotions flitting across his face too fast for Touya to even try and identify. “Well,” Tsukasa puffed after a solid thirty seconds of examining each other. “Let’s sit, shall we?” So saying, he marched into the living area, forgoing the couch and the chairs, and even the rug, to sit in front of the empty fire place. He turned back to Touya—unmoving—and gleefully patted the floor next to him. “Here.”

It was impossible to move; Touya’s legs rooted to the floor. It felt strange, but he wanted to join Tsukasa. His body didn’t seem to agree, though. Because if he sat down he couldn’t delude himself any longer. If he sat down he would know who he was. Who he used to be. Who he was supposed to be. And despite his confidence earlier, he didn't think he'd ever be ready to hear it. The longer he stood there, the worse it would be, until he ran away again like he always did when he didn’t know what to do. But Tsukasa kept that beaming smile on his face—looking at Touya with such patience, like he would wait forever for Touya to move—that he forced his lungs to inhale. To break out of his own cowardice and just move. He could feel his heart rate pick up as his legs finally got the message and jerkily led him to Tsukasa. It was nothing like the overwhelming fear earlier, but enough to make his limbs feel stiffer than iron.

As he clumsily crossed the room, Tsukasa clasped his hands in his lap and turned to face the wall, and Touya could feel at least some of the pressure on him fade. Slowly he settled down half a metre from Tsukasa, knees hugged to his chest. In contrast, Tsukasa’s posture was perfect, sitting cross-legged with his back straighter than Touya usually held himself. Tsukasa glanced at him once as he shifted on the floor, then dropped his eyes to his hands.

“Firstly, I owe you an apology for my behaviour earlier,” Tsukasa started. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt you like that. I should have stopped when it became apparent my words were doing more harm than good. I‘m sorry, Touya.”

Touya didn’t respond beyond a nod of acceptance. He couldn’t exactly say it was ‘okay.’ But if Tsukasa hadn’t pushed so hard, he wasn’t sure he would have remembered anything.

Tsukasa nodded back more firmly, collecting himself. “Okay. Okay! My name is Tenma Tsukasa, the crown prince of Phoenix, and I’m the frail old age of twenty-three.” He still didn’t look at Touya. “I was on my way to Viviryn’s capital when I saw you. So I promise this was a complete coincidence!”

That was good, at least. He’d assumed as such, considering how shocked Tsukasa had been, but it helped alleviate the last lingering embers of fear that They had found him.

“I have two siblings,” Tsukasa continued. “My younger sister, Saki, whom I adore, and my cousin. Our mothers are siblings, but as the second family, he took his father’s name instead of the royal family’s. We were all raised as siblings. So he is my brother in everything but blood.”

He paused, scowling. “But then, when he was seven, the plague swept through the kingdoms, taking him with it.”

Touya stopped breathing. Seven. Seven. He had been seven when They—

He hadn’t even known how old he was. How long They had him.

Tsukasa forged on unawares. “We never saw his body. One day we were told he’d fallen ill, and that we couldn’t visit. The next… he had succumbed to it. We jumped straight to lowering his coffin into the ground, and I never saw him again.

“But! I prefer to focus on the fun we had!” Tsukasa forced cheer into his voice. “He was the kindest boy I’ve ever known”—and how that word still hurt him—“A genius at the piano and unwavering in his love for the people. He and Saki were only two weeks apart—practically twins—and they certainly acted like it. Always running around together, never far apart. Our time together was limited on account of our status, but we always made sure to spend time with each other. We put on plays of all sorts. Musical performances, tea ceremonies, swordplay… Running around as children do and getting in the way of all the staff.” A sigh. “Of course, those memories are a distant one, but I will never forget how he looked. The sound of his voice, the strength of his heart.”

Touya was pretty sure he was trembling. Vibrations through his bones and his heart and his soul. It hurt to hear. Hard, clinical facts of what he used to be like. What he should be? What he could be? It couldn’t be true. Because the person he was was none of those things. He could barely stomach calling himself a person, how could he accept something like that? His fingernails dug crescents into the skin beneath his pants, enough to keep him in the house, not that room or the hazy castle he apparently called home. He could barely think about anything in too much detail. Too many things to process and too many things to come to terms with. Being a prince was an entire jar of worms he wouldn’t touch for a very long time. Touya exhaled shakily and peered over his knees at Tsukasa.

Tsukasa finally looked at him, something fragile on his face. “Do you remember any of this?”

Touya had to shake his head, watching how Tsukasa’s expression fell, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. “N—” he coughed, voice sticking in his throat. “No. I… I do not remember much of my life. Whether by force or blocking it out myself,” he admitted. “I spoke the truth when I said I was the Dark Knight. That’s what They­—Nocturne­—wanted from me. That’s what They… turned me into. Though, I barely remember it. But.” His fists tightened around his knees, and he could see Tsukasa’s knuckles turning white from his grip on the rug behind them. “Recently I’ve been having dreams— or more like memories. They're all blurry. I couldn't make out any faces, or anything about the rooms I was in. There were no sounds. No colours. Except”—he glanced up at Tsukasa’s sunlight hair, haloed by the lantern behind them—“All I gathered from those was that I probably played the piano and that I had two friends. But that told me nothing. It was only after I saw you earlier that they became clear.”

“Touya,” Tsukasa whispered, heartbroken, and he swore he could see tears in his eyes. It wasn’t something Touya deserved.

He closed his eyes, resting his chin on his knees. “I was injured and came to live with Akito four months ago. He, along with An and Kohane, have been trying to teach me how to… be me.” He shuddered. “But I still don't know who I am. Right now I feel... Like the third person in this body. There's the Aoyagi Touya you know. The Dark Knight. And me. Just... Touya.”

But who needed Touya? “I don't think I can ever be the person you want me to be again,” he rasped.

Tsukasa melted, turning his body to the side to face Touya properly, raw grief exuding from every movement. “Oh, Touya...” His expression crumbled, one hand coming up in an aborted motion. “I don't want anything from you but for you to be happy. I’m so sorry,” he hiccupped. “I wish I’d known. I wish I could have done something. I barely want to believe it…”

Touya couldn’t meet his eyes lest he drown in them. “None of the blame lies on your shoulders. You were a child as well, yes?”

“A child…” Tsukasa hissed. “Yes, I was. You were. Our parents… they knew, surely. I can’t—”

“An told me it was a deal between the kingdoms,” Touya interrupted. “That Nocturne wouldn’t invade if Phoenix… gave me to them.”

Something akin to a whine escaped Tsukasa. “I— Gods.” He bit his lip.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s the past. I don’t… care about the details and I don’t want to know,” Touya said. “Will you tell them?”

“No!” Tsukasa burst out. “Gods, no. They don’t deserve to know. Though…” He hummed thoughtfully. “You said you remembered two people, was the other Saki?” At Touya’s nod, he lit up. “Would you like to see her? I’ll bring her with me next time.”

And suddenly the idea of ‘next time’ didn’t feel so bad. Every new thing he learnt was equally terrifying as it was calming. The truth didn’t stab at him so much as it pricked. A sting to know what could have been, but less painful with each word. So he nodded. “I— yes. I would.” Saki… his ‘twin.’ Who was older? Did she still smile like the sun? Like her brother? Would she still want him?

“She’ll cry the moment she sees you.” Tsukasa smiled, reading his mind. “I promise. Knowing you’re alive is… worth more than anything to me. To us.”

If he could cry, he surely would be, at this point. But all he could do was shake, throat tight, and agree.

“But, I’d much rather learn about this new Touya!” Tsukasa returned to a more casual position, looking at him eagerly. “How has my little brother been?”

The title being directed at him took him off guard. Sure, Tsukasa had been using it the whole time, but as an abstract. The concept of his dead brother. Not. Touya. And yet he still saw him as his brother… “I’ve—” he managed. “I’ve been the happiest I can remember.”

He never thought he could talk so much. That he would have so many things to say. But what he’d done in Viviryn felt like a lifetime. They spoke for hours. Swapping stories and trying to learn how to know each other again. Like two old friends catching up but about ten times worse and ignoring ten times the baggage. He spoke sparingly of his teenage years. He remembered most of it. Especially An, but it was far easier to gush about the now than anything else. He did try, a few times, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. And he certainly couldn’t bring himself to recount anything from the dreams. Tsukasa’s imagination was probably bad enough. He didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

He'd expected Tsukasa to be angry that he was happy. That he had found people who cared about him. But he didn’t. He seemed thrilled. Laughing at his stories and smiling softly whenever he tried to describe the way they made him feel. Tsukasa, on the other hand, claimed he was quite boring. He studied, completed his knighthood, toured the kingdom, and fussed over Saki. He then spent far too long describing the eyes of his green-haired knight, his bubbly fiancée’s smile, and her mischievous knight’s hands, that even Touya was starting to get suspicious of some deeper relationship.

But his brother’s? love life was the least of his concerns.

“It’s getting late,” Touya quietly pointed out after the fifth yawn Tsukasa tried to stifle. “Do you have somewhere to stay?”

Tsukasa—mid-yawn—blinked like a deer in torchlight. “Ah? Oh. Yes, I procured a room in the inn this afternoon. I promise I’m not too tired!”

“Didn’t you say you got up before dawn to travel here?”

“Maybe! But that is nothing in the face of talking to my brother.”

A thrill of amusement? and joy? ran through him. “You should still sleep.” He glanced behind him at the wall. It had been loud earlier, but the others had been quiet for a while. “My friends are probably getting bored. Or are asleep.”

Tsukasa chuckled. “Alright. I suppose I should let them out. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow, Touya?” He turned nervous, searching his eyes. “Is that okay?”

“Of course…” Did he think Touya would say no, after all that? “Come for breakfast, you can meet the other’s properly.”

Tsukasa softened, once again turning to face him. Slowly, he reached out his hand towards Touya’s face. He stiffened, watching the hand warily, but did not pull back as Tsukasa cupped his face. Despite himself, he found himself melting into the warm touch a little. Tsukasa studied him for a moment, a smile playing on his lips before his hand slid backwards into Touya’s hair and tugged him forward, the other arm coming up to catch him. Touya found himself dragged into a hug he couldn’t reciprocate if he tried, his arms pinned to his side in the vice-like grip.

“Thank you. I love you,” Tsukasa murmured before pulling back just enough to grin at him. “Goodnight, Touya.”

Oh.

Touya couldn’t move as Tsukasa extracted himself from the hug and stood up. He laughed a little at Touya once he found his feet, but it was warm and Touya sort of wanted him to keep doing that. Instead, he watched as Tsukasa tip-toed to the door, sending him one last wave before slipping out into the store. A few seconds later the bell rang out loudly before Tsukasa presumably grabbed it in a scramble. Touya just stared at the door, slowly dragging his gaze to the empty fireplace as the bell and Tsukasa’s laugh rang in his ears. He just. Needed a minute. Or an hour. To process and breathe. It’s not that he didn’t believe Tsukasa. It resonated too much to be anything but the truth. He only dragged Tsukasa here—listened to him—because he want—needed answers to the dreams. But it was.. too much to process. Would it be easy to reclaim his old life? Did he even want to? Not particularly… but at least… at least he could. He had another choice. Something he was historically bad at making, but it was there. And that was enough for now, right? He could take the time to think. There was no rush. No one standing over his shoulder and pushing him. He could just. Figure out who he wanted to be.

That was what the others had been trying to make him do the entire time, wasn’t it? And yet he only now saw it for what it was.

Touya exhaled sharply. It was surely after midnight. He should… go to bed. And while he’d slept the entire afternoon, the conversation was so draining he felt like he could sleep for a week. Though, again, his body didn’t want to cooperate and lift him off the floor. He started with his arms. Pushing off them to sit up properly. Flexing his feet until his legs got the memo and straightened out. Eventually, he coaxed himself to stand on legs that were shakier than he’d like and stumbled over to the hall.

He stopped at the door, not knowing why. All he wanted was to see them. Yet his hands refused to turn the handle. His head thudded against the wood, the knock enough to kick himself. He opened the door slowly, breath stuttering at the light flooding into the hallway from the crack. It was fine. They were fine. He slipped inside to silence, sliding around the door and keeping his back to them, pressing firmly against the door as he shut it. It was fine.

Just hearing them hold their breaths behind him was enough, and he felt the tension in his body snap. He inhaled shakily and turned around, making sure to look at them all, studying the hope in their eyes.

Akito broke the silence. “Are you alright?” he asked, impossibly gentle.

Touya met his gaze. Was he? “…I will be,” he croaked out. And that was enough for today. He dragged himself over to the bed and collapsed between Akito and Kohane. They laughed, and the sound was like music. They all shuffled around him, settling him around, but he paid no attention to it. There was only their warmth and the darkness of the sheets. And the knowledge of who he was.

Who he could be.

Chapter Text

Oh fuck, his neck.

The light streaming through the edge of the curtain and the steadily growing crick in his neck roused Akito from sleep. Any movement had every bone in his body protesting, but he just had to grimace through the pain. Slowly he raised his head back to a more normal angle, squinting in the half-light. As predicted, he could not feel his fingers, and in a few seconds the tingling would start to hurt, but for now, he was content. An must have shifted in the night, because she was currently using his hand as a pillow, face pressed against the back of Kohane’s neck, who in turn pressed closer to Touya, one hand curled next to her face and the other flopping over Touya’s stomach.

Akito blinked a few times, focusing his attention a little closer. He had to stop himself from jumping when he realised Touya was awake, eyes half-lidded, staring at the minuscule gap in the sheets between them. At the slight movement, Touya’s eyes snapped up, alert, before dipping back into whatever half-asleep fugue he was in.

“Good morning,” Touya mumbled.

“Ow,” Akito responded eloquently as his arm really started protesting being squished. “Mornin’.”

“Ah, sorry.” Touya lifted his head, trying to shuffle down even as Kohane squeezed him tighter and An’s leg refused to move out of the way.

Akito hissed as the loss of pressure sent a flood of needles down his arm. He was still trapped, but looking at the sun, it was well past the time they should be awake, so he felt no remorse in retrieving his arm from its prison. Kohane made a cute noise at his action, face scrunching into a yawn as she pulled away from Touya enough to blink sleepily at them.

With his still-numb hand, Akito brushed the hair from her face. “Hey there.”

“Mmph.” She nuzzled into his hand, yawning again. “Good morning you two.”

An made her debut with a moan. “Noooo. Not morning already…” She sat up, hair flying everywhere. “It’s too early to get up.”

“It’s nearly eight in the morning,” Touya pointed out, finally able to sit up himself, and Akito felt tiny, curled up next to him.

Touya didn’t look quite as exhausted anymore, but some sadness still clung to him. Something slumped in his posture or his eyes, Akito wasn’t sure. Akito stretched as well as he could on the bed, body hating every second of it as he sat up and leaned against the wall. Spring may have come, but it was still hot, and the room was near stifling after being pressed against each other all night.

“Well, first things first.” An caught their attention with a clap, jumping up in front of them. “Last night went well?” she asked, looking at Touya.

He inclined his head. “It did. I’m… still confused. I… have the answers to questions I wasn't sure I wanted answered. But I am… glad. To have seen Tsukasa again. And it’s nice. To know. Better than not knowing, I think. It doesn’t change much— it’s not like I’ll do anything about it. But… I haven’t lost anything. And I regained my siblings. So I don’t regret it.”

“That’s all we want.” Kohane smiled, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder and using him to pull herself up.

“No pressure, but will you tell us?” Akito asked.

Again, Touya nodded immediately. “I will. Just give me a day or two to… figure everything out.”

“‘Course. It’s your story, you don’t owe us shit. You could never tell us for all I care.”

He got a sceptical look for that one. “Are you sure?”

Akito held his hands up defensively, jokingly pushing Touya’s head away when the stare got too much. “Okay, sure sure. I’d want to know. But if you didn’t want to tell us, I’d accept that. So good thing you do!”

“Hmm.”

“Okay we get it,” An teased. “Akito’s an angel for ‘being considerate.’ Touya, if you don’t tell me, I’ll tickle you to death.”

Unconsciously, Touya’s hand drifted to his stomach, and Akito learned something very interesting. “Please don’t.”

As quick as he could, Akito shot out a hand to try out this new-found knowledge, but even quicker, Touya’s hand snatched his wrist bare centimetres from his stomach.

“Akito!”

He snorted, shoving off the bed to try and free his hand, dragging Touya with him until he pulled back enough he wouldn’t fall over. “Let go! I’m sorry!”

Touya let out a squeak, jumping nearly a metre and releasing his hand, nearly causing Akito to fall over. Touya ended up cowering at the end of the bed, holding himself protectively and glaring at Kohane, whose hand remained in mid-air, biting her lips in an attempt to not laugh.

An gave him no such consideration and doubled over howling. “Yes Kohane! Get his ass!”

“Please don’t!” Touya yelped, an octave higher than normal, and they all burst out laughing.

“Why’ve you been holding out on us, An?” Akito elbowed her as Touya slowly uncurled.

“Easy threat.” She shrugged. “Didn’t want to give you that power over him just yet.”

“Oh so now is fine,” Touya mumbled petulantly.

An just grinned innocently. “Yep!”

“I’m sorry, Touya,” Kohane pouted. “I promise I won’t ever do it again.”

Touya searched her face before relaxing. “…Thank you.”

“Okay, okay. Now that we’ve bullied Touya, I’m starving,” An announced. “We good to get up now?” She mostly directed the question at Touya.

He nodded with a noise of agreement, stretching his legs over the edge of the bed and going to stand. “Oh.” Touya stopped halfway through the movement. “I invited Tsukasa over for breakfast, is that alright?”

Akito withheld a groan. “…Yeah, sure.” As long as he could keep quiet. But he’d seen the guy twice and already knew that was too much to ask.

Haah… As long as Touya was happy.

“You do it.”

“I already did the windows and the sills, you do it!”

Akito glared at Ena, crossing his arms. She’d done one thing to help and couldn’t even pick up the damn duster after he’d done nearly all of the work!

“Please don’t kill each other,” An called across the room. “Cleaning up the blood just makes our job harder.”

In sync, he and Ena stuck their tongues out at her, then returned to their stand-off.

Every spring they cleaned their parent's bedroom. The clothes in the closet had been thrown out the fifth or so year—moth-eaten and starting to smell—but most of the personal things were left untouched in the drawers. Neither of them could bring themselves to open them, let alone sell anything. It was mostly a formality. Clean the surfaces while spending the least amount of time possible in there. Kohane, An, and Touya volunteered to help, and it was honestly scary how much easier it was to get through the day with them.

Scraping caught his attention and Akito reluctantly looked over to see Touya pulling the wardrobe from the wall.

He shot to his feet, already walking over as he spoke. “Woah, woah we don’t gotta move anything, it’s fine.”

Touya froze, still holding the wardrobe in the air. “But we’re cleaning the room?” He frowned. “What about behind all the furniture?

“It doesn’t matter.” Akito waved his hand in a ‘don’t mind’ motion. “Nothing’s gonna be behind there.”

“Um,” came Kohane’s muffled voice from the other side of the wood. She backed out, holding her arm up with a very dead and shrivelled mouse in her hand. “Wrong.”

An shrieked the loudest he’d ever heard and jumped back a full metre. “Kohane!”

Touya just raised an eyebrow at him, vindicated.

Akito did his best to ignore him. “Kohane, what the hell? Throw that out.”

“What?” Kohane shook the mouse a little. “Out the window? Onto the main street?” She took a threatening step forward, and Akito did not try and hide behind Touya.

“The back window you menace.”

“Don’t come closer to me!” An yelped as Kohane shrugged and walked towards the door. “Go around!”

Kohane looked like she wanted to disobey, even took a half-step in An’s direction before figuring that was too mean and skipped out the door, mouse swinging horrifyingly. Akito watched her go and only once she was out of sight did he uncurl himself.

Touya turned his head to look back at him. “…So can I move the other furniture?”

“Okay…” Akito groaned. You and Kohane are cleaning those, though.”

The only response was the wardrobe being pulled out further, and Akito backed away. He felt a prickling on the back of his neck and turned to see Ena with a fond look on her face before she scowled and turned away.

“The mouse is gone,” Kohane announced before he could confront Ena’s creepy staring.

“My saviour!” An cooed, moving to hug Kohane before stopping. “Wait. Wash your hands. I’m not touching you.”

Kohane pursed her lips, trying not to smile. “It’s just a mouse, An. You handle dead bodies all the time but draw the line at mice?”

“I have standards,” An sniffed.

“Oh,” Touya drawled. “That one’s alive.”

“Hwah!?” An shrieked and pushed past Kohane. She was down the stairs before Akito could blink.

Kohane leant over and peered behind the cupboard before busting into laughter. “Touya!”

Akito copied her—there was nothing there—and snorted. He clapped Touya on the shoulder. “Oh, you got her good.”

Touya preened slightly at the praise. “I do feel a little bad, though.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure she deserves it.” She wasn’t gonna get out of helping, though, so he left Touya and Kohane to their new job and shouted down the stairs. “He was kidding, you know! Get back here!”

“No way!” Her voice was distant and muffled. “I’m making lunch now. And if you bring a mouse down here, I’ll poison the food!”

Akito pulled a disgusted face. “I didn’t even do anything?!” Whatever. He huffed. Fine, she could cook. They didn’t have much left to do, anyway. Ena was doing her best to ignore them by actually doing the big window facing the main street, so he grabbed another cloth to do the other one.

Thankfully, there were no more mice, though Touya proudly showed him the dirty cloths he and Kohane had used under the furniture. So okay, maybe they should have cleaned them more often! But that wasn’t his problem. Yet. The next half an hour flew by until the room was cleaner than it had probably been in a decade and Akito didn’t even feel like shit this time. And right on cue, An called for lunch.

She followed that up with a, “Wash your hands first, you mousy bastards!”

They threw all the cloths into the bucket that Kohane scooped up, Touya just behind her with two brooms as they walked to the bathroom.

Akito laughed silently to himself and followed them after a cursory glance to make sure nothing was left.

“Hey,” Ena called after him, and he turned around. She hadn’t moved from next to the bed, standing with a funny look on her face. “You're... happy. With them, right?”

Akito came back into the bedroom, stopping a few steps away. “What kind of question—” he groaned. “This again? Ena, it's been months, An and Touya aren't gonna—”

“It's not that,” she cut him off. “I know. I'm just… asking.”

“…Yeah,” he answered after a few seconds. “I am. Why?”

“Good. So...” Her strained smile turned evil. “When are you going to ask Kohane to move in?”

He spluttered. “What? Where'd that come from?!” He looked away, feeling the blush creep up his face. Yeah, maybe he’d thought about it. And maybe it sounded nice. And Kohane and An spent half the nights over anyway. But. “Even if I wanted her to, there's no room here...” He trailed off. And cold realisation snapped into place. His head jerked back to glare at her. “Ena.”

She looked nervous suddenly. As if she wasn't the one who started the conversation. Her eyes darted around the room before settling on him again, squaring her shoulders she said, “Mizuki asked Mafuyu and me if we wanted to join her in the capital.”

The world ground to a halt. “…What?” he whispered. “You're leaving?”

“I— Maybe.” She shrugged. “I don't know. I'm not going to just up and leave right now or anything.” Her gaze dropped to her feet, toeing the floor awkwardly. “Honestly, she asked a few months ago, but I said no. I didn't want to leave you alone. But now... You've got your friends. You don't exactly need me anymore.”

“I'll always…” His voice died in his throat. “Need you,” he croaked out. “You're my sister. Of course I—”

Her tone turned something between scolding and fond. “You're old enough, Akito. Seriously. I'm not exactly thrilled either. But I’m never going to get recognised as an artist if I stay here. There's this nursing course Mafuyu’s interested in. And I miss Mizuki and Kanade!” He ignored her blushing. He didn’t want to think about that. “And sure. I get enough work to live off here. But it's not enough. I need more. I need to be better. More clients. More people. More places to advertise myself so I can finally show that old man he was wrong!”

“I know that.” He scowled. “And I don't wanna be the reason— I don't wanna hold you back from your dream. But. What about the flower shop? You're just gonna abandon it?”

He watched anger flit across her face before she quashed it. “No. I still love this place. But you and Kohane have been doing just fine running it alone. And now you've got Touya and An who love it just as much as you do. You don't need me, Akito.” She huffed a laugh. “I'll only be a day trip away.”

“That’s still— When will you leave.” He had to turn away.

“Not for another month or so, you big baby.” She crossed the few steps between them, wrapping her arms around him. “It’s fine, Akito. This was gonna happen eventually, you know.”

“Yeah.” He dropped his head into her shoulder and stubbornly refused to let his tears fall. “I know. I just. Didn't expect it yet.”

They weren't the closest siblings, from the outside. They fought and yelled and argued every day. But she was his sister and he loved her. And for what felt like most of his life, they were all the other had. So he hugged her back, tighter than he could ever remember. “Why bring it up now? What changed your mind?”

She shrugged as well as she could in the hug. “You looked happy. Looking at you all, I realised you would be okay. And besides, we’re cleaning, so you should think about moving in here. With Kohane.” He felt her grin into his shoulder. “And maybe the other two.”

“Wha—” He shoved out of the hug, face flaming. “How— What?” His mouth opened and closed like a fish, not even sure what he was supposed to refute first.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” She raised an eyebrow, smug grin widening. “None of you are subtle. Except maybe Touya. I still don’t get him, but whatever.”

“I— I don’t! An… No! Touya?” he spluttered. “Shut up! I was gonna be nice and ignore you blushing about your girlfriends but okay! Fuck you! I do not like them like that!”

Ena just crossed her arms, pretending to inspect her nails. “Don’t be jealous, Akito. If you like An, and An likes Kohane and you, just? Date each other? It’s really easy, you know.”

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” he chanted, covering his face with his hands and resisting the urge to pull out his hair. “We’re thinking about it,” he hissed. Very unthinkingly.

“Hah!” Ena cackled. “I knew it!”

He plugged his ears and spun around. He had to get out before he said something worse. “Lalala. Bye, never talk to me again.”

Ena just followed him outside to the landing. “So is that a yes about me moving?”

“Get out of my house!” he yelled up the stairs, which was about as much of an answer he could give her right now.

Her laughter followed him all the way outside.

They did, of course, actually discuss it over dinner. He agreed, obviously. It wasn’t like it was completely unexpected—frankly, they were much older than most siblings still living together—and it would be nice to take another step with Kohane. And An… maybe. Kohane was sad at the prospect of Ena leaving but agreed easily to move in when she did. An and Touya were less ruffled about it, but that was expected. And they’d certainly enjoy living together properly, as An excitedly gushed.

It took another few weeks for Ena to work out when she’d leave. Having to talk with Mafuyu and confirm with Mizuki that they were coming. But by that weekend Ena was packing her bags. She wouldn’t be leaving for another few days, but she did have a lot of stuff. Not that Akito could help her, even if she let him even touch anything. Because he had to figure out what the house was supposed to look like with four occupants and extra furniture.

Touya insisted he keep Akito’s bedroom, unless Akito wanted it back. (He didn’t). So that was at least one person crossed off. But Kohane and An were a different problem. Logically, An would take Ena’s bedroom and he and Kohane would share his parents’ room. But… Both Kohane and An had been getting a little bolder with their flirting, and Ena’s words kept revolving in his head. And maybe three people could fit in the bed.

“Stop spacing out and open the door, rude-ass!” An broke him from his thoughts, yelling from the back porch.

Akito pushed off where he’d been leaning against the hallway wall and obediently opened the door. The counter in the store was too close to the door to get Kohane’s furniture in, so they had to use the back door, which wasn’t much better, but at least it worked. An and Touya breezed past with a wooden dresser half their height. Touya was as passive as always, but An’s face was hilariously red.

“Don’t hit the wall,” he helpfully called out as An got a little too hasty turning towards the stairs.

She slid her middle finger out from under the dresser in an attempt to flip him off before she started backwards up the stairs with a heave.

Kohane materialised behind him, a giant canvas bag full of clothes in her arms. “How was the customer?”

“Fine.” He turned around. “But she couldn’t decide what she wanted and spent like, ten minutes just changing her mind.” He would have helped carry stuff over, but a frazzled woman had burst into the store as they went to leave.

“Ah well,” Kohane giggled. “As long as she’s happy.”

“How many more trips, do you think?” he asked, taking the bag from Kohane and following the other two up the stairs.

Kohane hummed at his heels. “Well… I don’t have much. That was all the clothes and furniture. I guess a few trinkets and stuff. So one more should do it.”

Touya was trying too meticulously to align the drawers with the wall for a temporary spot when they got to the second floor. “That’s good,” Akito sighed. “The looks were getting a little ridiculous.”

Word got out very quickly that Ena and Mafuyu were leaving, and that Kohane and An would be moving in. He was pretty sure there was some sort of party being organised to farewell them, but he’d been kept out of the loop. But the looks. Everyone in town knew he and Kohane had been dating for years. So the townsfolk seemed even happier that they were finally going to live together than even they were. They got waggled eyebrows and dirty jokes thrown at them every time they carted Kohane’s stuff through town. It was all in good faith, so he didn’t mind. Raised an eyebrow meaningfully back or rolled his eyes depending on his mood. Kohane had taken to hiding behind her face in the bags she carried though, leading to a few near-trips. The benefit was a lot of people did offer to carry the heavy stuff, which Akito gratefully accepted. It’s not like he wanted to make Touya carry everything, regardless of his freakish strength.

Watching An and Touya bicker over the drawer placement, he dragged Kohane into his parents—his? their?—bedroom. “Hey,” he whispered, placing the bag in the corner of the room. “Have you thought about… beds?” He jerked his head towards An.

Kohane, unsurprisingly, went red. “Ah. I think… Well.” She inhaled deeply. “What do you want, Akito? Though, honestly, even if we do work something out, I don’t think I’d want to sleep in the same bed as her just yet, so I’m fine with just us.”

He nodded through her explanation. Good. Not complicated. He hoped it was something like that. But the other part of the question. Heh.

“I. Have thoughts. Yes,” he coughed. “Um. I like An. I like you slightly more. But. I like An.”

Kohane smiled the sweetest he’d ever seen, reaching over to lace their fingers together. “Hehe. I’m glad. She’s very likeable, isn’t she? So does that mean you want to… try? All of us together?”

He pulled her closer, pressing himself back up against the wall. “…Yeah. I think I do. And even if we don’t… work. I’m still happy if you two are together.”

“Akito!” Kohane breathed, standing on her tiptoes to forcefully smash their lips together. “I love you,” she mumbled into the kiss.

He grasped her waist, squeezing lightly and pulling her impossibly closer. “Love ya, Kohane.”

“Oi, lovebirds!” An poked her head inside, covering her eyes dramatically as they jumped apart. “We’re gonna get the last things, come on.”

“Fuck off,” Akito huffed. He pressed one last kiss to Kohane’s mouth before they left the room. It seemed Touya won the fight if his smug countenance standing at the top of the stairs and immaculately aligned drawer was any indication.

They made the trip back to the Azusawa’s for what was probably the fifth time that day. The wolf-whistles faded into the background at this point, even if Kohane’s steadily reddening face and high-turned chin stayed as funny as always. The torture didn’t even end there, because this time, Kohane’s parents decided to join in on the ribbing. Her dad offered to make them a bed big enough for all of them, and Akito nearly ran out of the room. What did he think their relationship was? Or would be. Hopefully.

It was late enough in the day that the streets were emptier by the time they had the last of Kohane’s bags and the meagre possessions An had accumulated. Akito was thankful. He’d had enough ribbing from everyone the past week that he didn’t think he could look anyone in the eye again.

Akito lengthened his stride to reach the shop door first, ready to hold it open for the others. When he turned around, Touya had stopped, looking intently down the alley between the houses. Unceremoniously he dropped his bags into An’s arms—she dropped one—and turned down the alley.

“Hello?” An spluttered.

“Vivi,” Touya replied distractedly, not caring to elaborate and disappeared down the road.

“…Okay. Vivi is down there, I suppose,” Kohane mused slowly, leaning down to pick up the discarded bag.

They all snorted before entering the store. Akito followed the girls upstairs and together they added the final things to their pile of ‘shit to deal with later.’ It was a surprisingly big pile. Yet small, if you thought of it as Kohane’s entire life and everything An currently owned.

“Wahoo,” An cheered half-heartedly, looking like she might flop onto the bags instead of walking back downstairs.

Not that he would let her. He grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her back before she could fall, Kohane admonishing her lightly for even thinking about crushing something delicate. Twenty steps later they were in the living room. He and An dropped onto the couch with a huge sigh, Kohane squeezing in between them. They’d done a lot in the past few days. In between all the usual work they had, it had been exhausting. But he was happy. As long as he pushed aside thoughts of Ena, and what he was giving up in exchange for that happiness. But happy! He had Kohane. And he’d have a real bed. And An and Touya would be here. Forever. And they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of time. The thought was terrifying and exhilarating. Maybe they could get a cat if Touya liked Vivi so much. Though, at that point, he might want to just adopt Vivi…

“Haah,” An sighed tiredly, snuggling into Kohane’s shoulder like she was going to sleep. “You’re so soft, Kohane… I love you,” she mumbled.

They all froze.

An pushed herself upright, scooting as far away as she could and looking like she wanted to bolt, only her guilt keeping her rooted to the couch.

Surprisingly-unsurprisingly it was Kohane who broke the standoff with an awkward laugh. “I know.” She smiled at An reassuringly.

An opened and closed her mouth rapidly, blush tinging her ears. “I— oh. Sorry.” Her eyes darted to his, then back to Kohane, then him again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—” she stuttered. “Sorry. I know you two—”

“Calm down,” he and Kohane said together, though she spoke far kindlier.

“It’s okay. Um.” Kohane looked at him, questions brimming in her eyes.

And he knew they’d discussed this literally an hour ago. And he didn’t expect it to come up again so soon, but… He nodded, grin tinged with a nervousness he couldn’t keep away.

Kohane’s hand came to rest in his as she turned to properly face An—who had certainly not calmed down—and still looked a second from running. “Um. An? Do you know what polyamory is?”

And please forgive Akito for the laugh that escaped him at the pure shock on An’s face.

She blinked so rapidly he was surprised her eyelids didn’t come off. “Oh. Oh! Like Haruka’s or Ena’s relationships?”

“Yes,” Kohane spluttered. “An, please. The question.” Akito hoped he wasn’t red like the other two, but he knew that was a hopeless thought.

“Sorry, sorry.” An made a face. “I need to stop apologising. Okay. Backtrack.” She consciously relaxed her body, sprawling out into the back of the couch and looking far too sappily at Kohane. “I like you. A lot. And I mean, of course I like you! Since the moment I saw you, probably. You’re the sweetest, cutest, strongest girl in the world, Kohane!” An prattled, her hands coming over to clasp Kohane’s free one. “But I didn’t want to like, make a move on you. I’m not a homewrecker,” she snorted. “And obviously I’m fine with just being friends. But uh? You’re making it sound interesting right now.”

“That’s very sweet. And I like you a lot too, An,” Kohane sighed lovingly. “But please just answer the question.”

An jolted. “Oh. Yes. I know what polyam— wait. You mean for us.” He could see the gears physically turning in her brain.

Akito buried his bark of laughter into Kohane’s shoulder. He couldn’t do this. Was she stupid on purpose?

Kohane did a little better, only giggling a little. “Yes. An. For us. Akito and I have discussed this a bit. It’s not like either of us were subtle about our feelings.”

That had the flush take over the rest of An’s face. “Um. Well. Maybe we were! But. Okay. Hang on. Give me a second.” She straightened moving to the edge of the couch to bury her head in her hands. “Us? I could actually? You like me back?” she whispered mostly to herself. “So what, you’d date us both?” She lifted her head to ask, eyes glossy and alight and swirling with emotions.

Kohane gently shook her hands, jostling them both. “I have two hands.” Her laughter turned more serious. “I would like that a lot, An. I really do like you. I would love to have you both.”

Akito could see the love in An’s eyes, but she blinked and it cleared. She sat up and took her hands back, now looking past Kohane to stare into Akito’s soul. “And you’re okay with this?” she pressed. “Like, I assume so, but I want to hear it from you.”

Akito startled at being addressed, more than happy to be an observer in this moment. “Y-yeah?” he said uncertainly. Then he shook his head. “Yes,” he repeated. “I am. I was… hesitant at first.” As mortifying as it was to admit. “But I know Kohane doesn’t love me any less for it. And I know how to share.”

Kohane squeezed his hand and An let out her first laugh of the conversation. “Well, you have a sibling, I hear that’s something you have to handle.” An slumped with a content sigh. “Alright. I— Of course I accept. But.” She bit her lip. “Is this an, uh. Exclusive Kohane deal?” And then suddenly she was locking gazes with him intensely. Nervous and flushed and confident all at once. “‘Because I’d like to give you the same offer, Akito.”

“Gah?” he spluttered. “Uh? Um?” Well if he wasn’t red before, he was now. “I’m not— uh”—it was very hard to concentrate with Kohane cackling next to him—“I’m not… opposed…?” he squeaked. He was gonna let them get together first! He wasn’t expecting her to jump the whip like this! He grimaced and refused to make eye contact any longer as he spoke. “You’re… pretty. I guess. Not as pretty as Kohane, but…”

An predictably burst into more laughter. “No one’s as pretty as Kohane!”

And he had to agree there, so he dragged his eyes up to hers and couldn’t help but smile.

“Hell yeah!” An cheered, scooting over Kohane’s lap to force herself in between them. She leant back and pressed a kiss to Kohane’s cheek, then turned and did the same to him. “I’ve wanted to do that for weeks!”

“An!” he and Kohane squawked.

Her lips were warm and his face tingled—every bit of skin pressed against hers did. Fuck. He liked her more than he’d let himself feel, didn’t he?

He would have leaned in again if it weren’t for the door opening abruptly and sending them all jumping apart like they’d been caught doing far worse than possibly kissing.

Touya stared at them impassively. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” he answered.

“A lot,” An answered at the same time. Then turned to glare at him. “‘Nothing’ my ass.”

“Love,” Kohane interrupted. “We were talking about love.”

“Ah. What about it?” Touya crossed the room to sit on the coffee table in front of them all, and Akito had no idea who taught him he could do that. (An. It was An).

“We!” An announced proudly, taking one hand of his and Kohane’s each and holding them up. “Are going to try dating each other. Well. I am going to try dating them. And they will try dating me. At the same time. Polyamory.” She grinned winningly.

Touya blinked. Processing, looking between the three of them. Then he nodded. “Good luck,” he said solemnly.

Akito choked on his laughter as An spluttered, “Good luck?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say in response.”

“Not that?!”

A gentle hand found its way to An’s mouth before she could continue. “Thank you, Touya.” Kohane smiled. “Have you thought about it for yourself, at all?”

“Love?” Touya raised an eyebrow at the question before they drew down into a frown. “Not particularly. I haven’t had the chance to explore that, I suppose. But I don’t think I’d be interested in it either way.” His expression smoothed. “I think I love you all? But not in the way you three seem to,” he finished musing, as if these were normal and okay words to confess right now.

Akito felt like he was going to explode from the heat on his face. The girls were not any better.

“Touya!” they all exclaimed, yet he remained oblivious to their plight.

“I don’t know what it is meant to feel like.” He tilted his head—cutely—at the three of them. “But I feel warmer around you all.”

“Touya!”

“What?” he blinked.

“You can't just say that!” Akito spluttered, pulling his clammy hand out of An’s.

“…Why not?”

“It's embarrassing...” he muttered.

“But it's the truth?

“Well. Yeah.” An laughed uneasily. “But saying it so easily...”

Another slow blink. As if they were the stupid ones here. “Is it not meant to be easy?

Akito had to grip his shirt to make sure his heart hadn’t burst out of his chest and collapsed back into the couch. An buried her head in Kohane’s shoulder, a high-pitched whining coming from somewhere under her hair, while Kohane had gone stock-still, gasping like a fish.

“Sorry. Was I not meant to—” Touya started, but Kohane cut him off with a kick before extracting herself from under An and throwing herself across the gap to hug him.

“Touya! That was so nice! We all love you too!”

“Hey!” An called, pushing herself off the seat of the couch where she’d been rudely dropped. “I can say it myself. I love you, Touya!”

All eyes turned to Akito and he shuddered under the weight of the gaze. Slowly he uncurled himself, refusing to back down in this. He made sure to lock Touya under his gaze. “It’s true. We do love you. Of course we do. You’ve come so far, you know? How could we not.”

And not even Touya was immune to embarrassment because Akito swore his cheeks had tinged pink, even if his expression had done nothing but soften each time the words were repeated. “Ah. Thank you. All of you, truly. I would not be the person I am today without all of you.”

Kohane pulled back, landing half in An’s lap with a giggle. “It was ‘easy,’” she parroted, and something tugged at Akito’s chest at how easy it really was.

“Sing,” Akito burst out, shooting to his feet as inspiration hit.

“What?”

“Sing with us,” he clarified. “It’s how Kohane and I have always got our feelings out”—he looked at her for confirmation and she lit up—“So, sing with us. That song—City. The one Kohane and I sang for you two at the festival.” He extended a hand down to him.

Touya looked surprised at the offer, glancing at his hand and then back to the floor, emotions flickering across his face. And then—

He smiled.

It was a barely-there curve of his lips. But his eyes, his eyes. That was where the real smile was. The dull grey now shining bright. He looked between them, then back at Akito and asked, “Show me the lyrics?”