Work Text:
Another secret meeting.
"Rui? You here?" Tsukasa whispered into the dead quiet forest. His hand rested by his sword, just in case.
A light flickered in the nearby clearing. Once. Twice. On the third flicker, it stopped. Tsukasa approached it, relaxing ever so slightly.
"I'm here." Tsukasa entered the clearly, and found Rui sitting on a log. Rui had a small ball of light in his hands, that disappeared as Tsukasa approached.
"Hello, dearest knight." Rui chuckled, leaning back slightly. "I'm surprised you still visit me. Considering how much your precious kingdom wants me dead."
Tsukasa took a seat next to Rui. "You're too cute for me to kill."
Rui quickly looked away. "Heh. You'll kill me with those words of yours."
"Then I'll say it again. Cute. Cute cute cute." Tsukasa practically tackled Rui in a hug. "Cutest sorcerer in the entire kingdom."
Rui froze for a moment, but quickly melted into the hug. "And you're the cutest knight in the entire world."
Tsukasa pulled away, and flashed a bright smile at Rui. "Then you're the cutest sorcerer in the entire cosmos!"
Rui looked up. He pointed at the sky. "You see the stars?" He glanced back at Tsukasa. "Your smile shines brighter than all of them."
He then stood up from the log, instead moving to lay down in the grass. "Isn't it nice, Tsukasa? Two men, supposed to be enemies, instead secret lovers?"
"We'd both be executed for sure if someone found out." Tsukasa moved to lay down beside Rui. He turned over, grabbing one of Rui's hands in both of his. "But it's worth it."
"I wish I could stop time, so that the two of us could stay here forever." Rui smiled. "I hope we can die together. I really can't imagine a world without you."
"I feel the same way." Tsukasa leaned in until their foreheads touched. "A world without you isn't worth living in."
The two kissed for a long while.
When Tsukasa pulled away, his gaze had softened, staring into Rui's eyes. "I love you."
"It's about time for you to leave." Even as he said this, Rui wrapped an arm around Tsukasa. "But I don't want you to."
"I don't want to leave either." Tsukasa sighed. "But I do need to get sleep. I have duties."
Rui frowned. "I understand..." He slowly let go of Tsukasa. "You'll come back tomorrow, right?"
"Of course I will." Tsukasa gave Rui a kiss on the cheek. "You're the man I love, after all."
With that, Tsukasa disappeared back into the forest.
When Tsukasa exited the forest, he saw some of the other knights talking. He decided to approach them. "Hello! Why are you both up so late?"
"Someone made a huge advancement in-" One of the knights began, but the other talked over him. "We're not allowed to say, remember?"
The first knight shrugged. "It's Tsukasa. He won't tell anyone."
Tsukasa took another step forward, now curious. "Tell what?"
"Someone made handcuffs that can suppress magic!" The first knight looked quite excited. "And something that's attracted to magic! We can finally capture the sorcerer Kamishiro!"
Tsukasa's eyes widened, and he felt his heart stop for almost a moment. He quickly forced on a happy smile. "Ahaha! So they have!"
The other knight nodded in confirmation. "Indeed. I heard they'll be using it to capture Kamishiro tomorrow."
"There's no way it can hold him of all people..." Tsukasa thought to himself. Out loud, he said, "Well, Kamishiro is very powerful! Do you think it will even work?"
The knight shrugged. "Only one way to find out."
Rui was asleep in the tent he set up, in the same forest clearing him and Tsukasa met in. He was exhausted, and suspicious of teleportation spells. So this was easier than going home.
His spell book rested in his bag. His blanket was warm. He had a stuffed cat next to him, that his mother gave to him in childhood. He pretended it was Tsukasa when he went to bed. Offered him more peaceful sleeps.
Rui awoke at the sound of someone entering his tent. And before he could react, he felt metal cuffs encircling his wrists.
One of the kingdom knights. Based on the color of the crest, Rui knew it was one of the higher ranking ones.
He sat up, yawning. "Another person trying to capture me, hmm? This should be easy." He snapped his fingers, casting a lock picking spell.
Nothing happened.
Rui tried again. Still nothing.
He switched to a fire spell, and nothing came of it, again. "What-?"
The knight grabbed the chain, hauling Rui out of the tent. "New magic surpressing handcuffs. You won't be escaping, Kamishiro."
Rui saw dozens of other knights outside, waiting. One of them put more cuffs onto Rui, this time around his ankles. "A bit overkill, don't you think?" He chuckled, trying to maintain a sense of calm.
Mentally, he was terrified.
One of the knights ran at him, sword drawn. "I say we kill him right now!"
Another held the first knight back. "Not now. The kingdom will see his public execution!"
"Public execution? My my, do I have that many fans?" Rui smirked, hiding the fear. Pushing his luck, a little bit.
He was carried for a good long while, eventually into the dungeons. The door slammed shut, locking him in.
Rui finally let himself panic. "Oh gods...oh my gods I'm going to die..."
He leaned against the wall, knees pressing against his chest. "I won't see Tsukasa ever again..."
Another thought popped into his mind.
"He's going to see me die..."
"Come one, come all, to the public execution of Kamishiro!"
Everyone was excited. Too excited.
Tsukasa made his way through the crowds, desperately trying to find a way to save Rui. Any way.
"Sorry, this area is only for those approved." A guard stopped him right when he thought he had a clearing.
Rui was dragged onto the platform, the nooze wrapping around his neck. Tsukasa could see him shaking. His breath hitched.
The platform dropped.
"RUI!"
A scream tore from Tsukasa's throat. He watched his secret love's face turned various shades of colors it was never meant to have.
Until his breathing seemed to stop completely.
"RUIIIIIII!"
Tsukasa walked into the clearing of the forest they used to meet at. There was no funeral. No one cared about his death except for him.
He placed down flower petals in the middle of the clearing in a heart shape. Purple, the same color as Rui's hair. In the middle of that, he placed down a stone. In it was carved Rui's name, birthday, and death day.
"I'll miss you, Rui..."
Tsukasa stood back up, and looked up at the sky.
"You were the only one I think I'll ever love."