Work Text:
Akito was the heir to the throne, the soon-to-be King of the kingdom. His sister was Princess Ena who despite being older, wasn’t in line for the throne. Ena had rejected being Queen when she was approached. Akito’s personal guard was a knight named Toya. Toya grew up in a poor family and became a knight as soon as possible.
They shared a close friendship with each other. They would often hang out together reading stories.
Akito sat in his room after all his duties, looking at the ceiling out of boredom. Toya was off duty for the day giving Akito nothing to do. It’s not like he could hang out with his sister, she was busy trying to woo her handmaiden.
Suddenly a knock on the door alerted the prince. “Prince Akito, you have a letter.” Said the butler.
“Oh, give me a moment.” Akito stood up and grabbed the letter from the butler, “Thank you.”
“Of course your majesty.”
Akito closed the door and looked at the letter, it was from Toya. Akito opened the letter and it said that Toya was going to be out for a couple more days than expected, some family matters had come up. Akito was obviously sad to hear this but he ultimately just let it go. Great, now he has more time to just do nothing.
Instead of wallowing away, he decided to do something productive. What productive thing was he going to do? Organize his books! They were out of order and Akito got fed up looking for a certain book that wasn't in its place. He decided to organize them by author, thinking it to be easy but was very quickly proven otherwise.
It took him a solid 2 hours just to get the first section done and now, books were strewn all over the floor. Akito looked over to the grandfather clock nearby and saw it was only 2 pm. Looks like this will be his big project for the next couple of days.
Whilst working on the next section, Akito thought of all the possibilities that Toya would need to be off duty for longer than expected. Akito didn’t really mind but he was curious. Could it be his family needed help? Did he get kidnapped? Did he just not ever want to come back to the castle? These questions plagued Akito’s mind making it impossible to read the names on the books he was holding.
“Fuck it, I’m just gonna lay down.”
Akito laid on the floor, too tired to walk to his bed. Even though he knew Toya was strong and wouldn’t get hurt, Akito was still worried. Why did he care so much? Well, Akito thinks he’s just being a good friend but he never considered the thought that he might be gay. It never crossed his mind before and for good reason, he was the heir to the throne, people were expecting him to find a wife. All his life, Akito just did what he was told without questioning it. Very soon, he’d come to regret that decision.
“Hey, Akito.” Ena said, propping herself up on his door.
“What do you want?” Akito grumbled into his pillow, face completely hidden.
“You’ve been missing dinner for the past few days, everything good?”
“I’m fine.” He said, Ena knew that was a lie.
“Stop lying, we both know that’s not the truth,” Ena said, closing the door behind her and sitting on the end of Akito’s bed. “What’s up?”
“Toya has been gone for 5 days, last I heard from him was 3 days ago. I’m scared that something bad has happened to him. I know he’s probably fine but there is a fiber of my being that says he isn’t. I can’t even distract myself from it, I’m constantly worried about him.”
“Akito, you know that doesn’t make you guys sound like ‘just friends’, right?” Ena chuckled.
“Hm?” Akito finally picked up his head and looked at Ena, very confusedly.
“What you just described is how I feel when Mizuki is away. Are you sure you only like him as a friend?”
“What?! Nononono, there is no way I could like Toya! I have to find a wife so I can be a king and last I checked, Toya isn’t a girl!” Akito said, slightly panicking.
“Woah, woah, woah, slow down there bud. There’s nothing wrong with liking boys. Don’t know how dad would feel about it if he knew but I don’t think it’s wrong to like boys.”
Akito quickly calmed down. He cleared up that front but now he had a new dilemma, how was he gonna tell his dad? The entire reason Ena abdicated the throne was because she wanted to marry Mizuki. Akito then got a lot of pressure on himself for being the only remaining heir who wasn’t gay. Or at least, they thought so at the time.
“What am I gonna do?” Akito said, sounding like it was the end of the world.
“My advice is to do what is best for yourself, don’t listen to others if they criticize you for who you are. Now that’s enough of a loving sister you get for a year, I’m gonna go back to painting.”
“Hey, Ena?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” Ena said with a smile, closing the door on her way out.
The next day Akito was alerted when he heard a knock on his door. Opening it, he found a very pale Toya. He was so pale, he was practically a ghost. He also looked like he had been crying.
“Toya?” Akito said, worried at the state the boy was in before him.
“Can I come in?” Toya said in a quiet voice, almost a whisper.
Akito quickly let Toya in and closed the door behind them. Now that Toya was in the light, he looked even more worse for wear. His hair was messy, he looked as if he hadn’t eaten, and he had heavy eyebags that weren’t there before.
Toya sat on the ground, Akito sitting nearby.
“What happened?” Akito asked softly.
“My mom, she-” Toya held back tears. “She passed away.”
Akito was never good at comforting but knew he needed to learn quickly. Toya was sitting in front of him, on the brink of crying. He couldn’t just let Toya feel hurt.
“Can I give you a hug?” Akito asked, unsure of how to comfort him.
Toya nodded and they just sat there, hugging. Toya let the dam that was holding his tears break and he started sobbing. Akito hated seeing Toya hurt like this, it felt like a punch to the stomach.
“My dad got really angry one night, and he..” Toya hesitated on whether to say it but decided it was better to say than not, “he hit my mother,” his breath hitched, “and she blacked out.”
“Your father did this?” Akito was angry, not at Toya, but at his dad. He wished that he could just punch the guy or even do something worse but he knew Toya wouldn’t want that.
“Yeah.. can I stay with you for a bit? I don’t wanna go back home.”
“Of course you can.”
“Thank you, I just don’t want to see his face.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I can make sure you are off duty for a while. You can stay here and I can get you anything you need.” Akito hugged tighter.
“Thank you, your highness.” Toya said.
“Please, you know my name, you don’t have to be formal when it’s just us.”
“Alright then. Thank you, Akito.”
Even though Akito had heard Toya say his name many times before, this time felt different. It hurt but it also felt nice. Akito cursed whatever god there was for his situation. Why did he have to love someone he knew he couldn’t have?
“Father,” Akito burst into the study where his father was reading a book, “There’s something important I need to tell you.”
“What is it?” Shinei, Akito and Ena’s father, responded in an annoyed tone.
“You know how you have been training me my whole life to be king?”
“Yes, and you will be.” Shinei said, confused as to why he would bring this up.
“And you know how Ena abdicated the throne because you want a royal lineage?”
That piqued Shinei’s interest, he turned his chair around to look at his son.
“Yes, what are you getting at?”
“Well, um..” Akito hesitated. “I, uhh..”
“Spit it out.”
“I think I like a boy,” Akito said so quickly, it almost sounded like gibberish, “and I know you’ve been wanting me to find a wife since I became the heir but, I don’t want a wife. I want him.”
Shinei paused. “You were my last hope of continuing our bloodline and you are just going to choose to not listen to me? You’ve listened to me your whole life, why is now any different?” Shinei sounded pissed, like he was about to throw something.
“I didn’t choose this! I love him and I’m tired of always doing what you say without thinking for myself.” Akito was about to cry but didn’t want to show weakness.
“I let it slide with Ena only for you to also be trying to make our kingdom fall. I taught you better than this, you will marry a woman and you will listen to me!” Shinei was practically yelling at this point.
Akito couldn’t hold back his tears anymore, his eyes became a waterfall. “No, I won’t! I want to spend the rest of my life with him and you aren’t gonna stop me.”
“This must be that little knight of yours that is corrupting your mind. He shall never see you again. Guards! Arrest the knight.”
“No! Please, no!”
"This is your lesson to never disobey me.”
The guards made their way to Akito’s bedroom to search for the knight. Thankfully, he was in the staff quarters. Ena saw the guards and immediately ran to find Toya.
“Toya, the guards are trying to kill you.” Ena said, out of breath from running.
“What? Why?”
“No time to explain, come with me, I’ll hide you.”
Mizuki overheard the commotion and saw Ena dragging Toya along.
“Shit, what’s going on?” Mizuki questioned.
“The guards are trying to kill Toya, I’m not sure why just yet but I have suspicions.” Ena quickly replied, grabbing Mizuki by the sleeve to bring her along.
They came to Ena’s bedroom, she quickly closed and locked the door behind her.
“Ok, you need to get under the bed, Toya.”
“Really? There’s probably bugs down there.” Toya complained.
“Would you really rather deal with bugs or die?”
“Fine.” Toya crawled under the bed, making sure the blanket covered him fully.
“I’m gonna go talk to my father, I suspect he has something to do with this. Mizuki, I need you to hold off the guards and try to convince them he’s not here.”
Mizuki nodded and Ena was off. She ran past many rooms before finally getting to the study. She heard Akito pleading with their father on the other side so she knew this was the place. Ena burst open the doors, enraged.
“Ena?” Akito said through sobs.
“What is it, my daughter?” Shinei asked.
“Why are there guards looking in Akito’s room?”
“That little knight of his is corrupting his mind, it’s best that we capture this fiend.”
“Um, yeah, no.” Ena rolls her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. You are not going to capture him. If anything, you should capture me instead. I was the one who suggested Akito be himself. If that is such a crime then arrest your own daughter. I dare you.”
“I knew you had been brainwashed too. I should’ve noticed it sooner. If you refuse to listen I will throw both of you into a cellar.” Shinei meant it, he was willing to imprison his own children.
“No you are not,” a familiar voice rang through the room, “You forget there are two of us in power here.”
They all looked over to see Akito and Ena’s mom. She barely ever intervened in situations but now was a better time than any to do so.
“My love, they have been brainwashed by these poor people. I’m just trying to fix them before they go too far.” Shinei tried to butter her up with affectionate language.
“Not working. Don’t know if you forgot but I’m the one who inherited the throne before marrying you. I am the queen, you are just the king consort.”
“But I deal with all the political affairs.”
“That means nothing compared to blood. If you don’t let them go, you will be divorced tomorrow.”
“N-no my queen, I’ll leave them be.” Shinei was very obviously trying to get in her good graces.
“Good. Oh and by the way, I’m divorcing you anyway. This was my last straw.”
“Please reconsider this, my love. I’ve been married to you for 20 years.” Shinei laughed nervously.
“Nope, I want you out of my castle by tomorrow. If you aren’t, you will be thrown into a cellar yourself.”
“Yes ma’am.” Shinei quickly exited the study.
“Wow! Now that was cool,” Ena said, “Thank you, Mom.”
“Thank you..” Akito hugged his mother, “thank you so much.”
“Of course, now you go get that boy!” She said encouragingly.
Akito rushed to Ena’s room, ordering the guards back to their post. Mizuki did a good job of fending them off. They said something about grossing out the guards with graphic descriptions of periods. Akito questioned Mizuki’s methods but hey, at least Toya was safe. Mizuki said that Toya should be under the bed and then left.
“Toya!” Akito exclaimed, running towards the boy who had just crawled out from under the bed.
“Hey, Akito.” Toya smiled.
Akito practically tackled Toya with a hug. They giggled until they had barely any air left in their lungs.
“I see you’ve been crying,” Toya gently grabbed Akito’s face to wipe away the tears, “you really care about me don’t you?”
“I do, I care about you a lot.” Akito’s heart felt like it was going to burst at the seams.
“Mizuki filled me in on what they thought was happening.”
Akito knew this probably meant his secret was out. Mizuki never learned to keep their mouth shut.
“Toya, you’ve been my one and only friend for many years. You helped me in dark times and I tried to repay you anytime I could. I hate seeing you sad.” Akito confessed.
“Seeing you sad is making me sad.” Toya chuckled.
“Well, you probably know by now but I love you. You showed me care and compassion when the whole world seemed against me.”
“Hey, Akito, guess what?”
“What?”
“I love you too,” Toya smiled, “does this mean you are my boyfriend?” Toya winked.
Akito’s face became red. “Yes, yes it does.”
“May I kiss you?” Akito awkwardly asked.
“Yes, you may.”
Toya and Akito leaned slowly, their breaths being felt by the other. Toya finally decided to close the gap between them and kissed Akito. The kiss was short and sweet but conveyed all the emotions they had been keeping hidden till that point. Akito got his wish.