Yaaaaay I'm back with another fic for you all! Another slightly hinted MannenxGoh, not quite as subtle as the last for some talk at the end, hence the different rating. The ages in this are as follows, Goh 22, Mannen 16, Hajime, 13 and Shin 11.
Without further ado, enjoy!
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"No matter how many times I hear it, it still makes me wonder…"
Blue orbs creaked open, glancing over at two youths who sat upon plush bedding, a closed book sat before them. "Yeah, it does. I wonder whether the author had a relation to a Prétear?"
"Maybe…"
There followed a silence in which the third could almost hear two little brains ticking away furiously.
"Why the heck do we have that book still? We're not kids anymore." He spoke up, breaking the silence abruptly. This in turn caused the pair to gasp. "Mannen!! How could you say that? This book is literature at its best!"
The said youth rolled his eyes, proceeding to turn his back to them whilst stretching out along his bed in a cat-like manner. "Snow White… the reason you shouldn't read it is because it confuses small brains like yours, Hajime. You read too into it and see a vague similarity to the Prétear and the leafe knights, which in turn creates all sorts of ridiculous ideas to spew forth from your mouth, ideas that I don't particularly feel like hearing."
"Oh?" Hajime questioned. "Well then Frosty, what would you prefer to do?"
The other growled in annoyance at the all too familiar nickname, closing his eyes. "Sleeping sounds like a plan to me."
"But we've only just had lunch!" Shin piped up. "Sasame said it's not good to sleep after you've just eaten."
"I guess so…" Mannen grumbled, "But sleep's too tempting right now. Night."
Just as the pair were to protest further, they noticed that the other was already away in his own little world, making them smile at the sight. "I wish I could fall asleep that quick…" Hajime started.
"Yes, it'd be quite handy wouldn't it?"
The youths turned their heads to the door, where an older male stood propped against the doorframe. "Goh!" Shin exclaimed. "You're not working today?"
"Of course not." The elder laughed, beaming at them. "Someone has to keep an eye on you three." Red orbs blinked down at the novel upon the bed. "Oh, you've been reading that? Funny book that is…"
"Funny? A tad tragic more like!" Hajime pointed out, watching as the fire knight perched on the edge of the bed. "That's not what I meant, you know, the whole story itself… It always confused us older knights."
"Well a particular someone doesn't want to hear anything about it." The water knight pouted, eyeing the now sleeping individual. Goh smiled over at the white haired youth, "I'm sure he's been thinking the same thing… hold it." Red orbs narrowed, "Didn't he go to sleep just after breakfast too?"
Hajime and Shin blinked as the elder got back up onto his feet, pacing over to the third of the youngest trio. "In that case, if that novel is as accurate as it appears, we've got our little Snow White here." Goh smirked cruelly, "Now we gotta' wake the little princess up."
"But he just fell asleep." The pair argued.
"And?" The fire knight replied with a small whine. "Whilst I'm home I won't tolerate any lazy little knights! We sleep at night only!" This earned a laugh from the two knights whom remained glued to the sight of the elder male plotting to himself.
"Should I wake him nicely?"
A small gasp came from the youngest in the room, "Only the prince wakes up the princess!"
"Yeah," Hajime jeered. "And you're no prince Goh."
"Hey shaddup!" The said man whinged back at them, in such a way that made him seem no more mature than the three youngest knights. "I could make a pretty good prince, I've got the looks after all." Holding back laughter the pair looked elsewhere. "Well anyway," Goh continued. "I guess I'll have to do the typical princely thing, and wake the princess with a kiss."
Only the fire knight could ever get away with making such bold statements, as his fellow knights had grown used to his constant comments involving a certain white haired youth. It seemed no matter how old they got, Goh would always make Mannen his victim, though in turn, the older Mannen got, the more accustomed he became to hitting back at the other, literally.
"You know the only thing you'll be kissing is his fist…" Hajime pointed out. As true as this was, the elder ignored him, leaning over the ice knight. The following was unexpected however, as a loud noise was then heard, a high-pitched shriek ensuing.
"What the hell was that for dammit?!" Mannen yelled, startling the fire knight, who laughed in both shock and at the other's comical reaction.
"Don't mind me! I was just carrying out my princely duties!" Goh replied all too eagerly. This made the other's temper worse, as he kept a hand firmly pressed against the side of his neck. "Oh and I expect all princes blow "raspberries" on people's necks?!"
"No, only on sweet yet extremely foul tempered princesses."
"You what…?" The ice knight spoke in a chilling tone. "Princess…?"
"Yes! We changed Snow White just a few moments ago, well I did anyways. You're the grumpy princess and I'm your prince. Ok?"
Blue eyes rolled, "Gee thanks. This "princess" would've appreciated a more normal awakening."
"Like a kiss? I suggested that, but Hajime said no." Strangely enough the fire knight bore a tone of disappointment in his voice as he said this, causing the other to sigh.
"You never change…" Mannen laughed under his breath.
"You'd only get upset if I did." The fire knight replied, embracing the younger warmly.
"Hey, Goh… I don't mean to make things so serious now that we're enjoying ourselves… but I have a question…" Shin mumbled, no one had the heart to be mad at him. Anyone who did probably didn't have a heart anyway.
"It's alright." The said man answered, still holding the grumbling ice knight.
"Well this book has made me think… about the Prétear that is. It's pretty accurate to say us leafe knights call live for eternity, so as long as we maintain our leafe. But, the Prétear isn't the same, and if she were to suddenly die, like Snow White did after being tricked, what are we to do?"
"I suppose we'll have another rough patch or two, like we did when Takako changed sides, we've been trying to figure out a back up plan for such an event. Even if we don't want to think about it, like Kei would say, "the possibility isn't zero". She could very well die."
"On the brighter side, we do have a likely candidate." Hajime smirked.
Confusion filled the room, even Mannen paused from his growling to blink, looking up at the fire knight for an answer, one of which didn't arrive. "What do you mean?" Goh questioned in curiosity.
"It's simple." The water knight proceeded. "The Prétear has several duties yes? Then tell me, what happens that alerts us of the princess of disaster's awakening?"
"The red snow." Shin replied.
"Exactly, and essentially a Prétear must have the power to make white snow."
"So let me see here, you're saying we'd just need someone who can make snow?" Goh spoke up.
"Bingo!" Hajime declared. "And we do have someone who could do that."
At that moment, Mannen's grumbling continued. "Hajime it's more complicated than that! What about the whole préting thing? I can't exactly "merge" with you guys!"
"Maybe we could…" Shin said hopefully.
"It'd be useful at the very least, asides from fairly entertaining." The fire knight grinned down at the other. "C'mon, you'd make a great little Prétear, you're a princess already after all."
"Not by choice!" The ice knight pouted. "Someone decided to give me that title himself."
"Be grateful, it suits you." Goh remarked, silencing the other abruptly.
"Sooo!" Hajime chimed, sprawling across the bed to stare at the white haired youth. "Who would you prét with first?"
"Say what?!" The ice knight flushed. "Why would I want to think about that? You're all my family!!"
"Not by blood though. So technically, there's no harm in thinking about it." The water knight said.
Red orbs rolled, "Préting is hardly intimate, ok so there's a bit of skin exposure, big deal."
"I don't fancy seeing any of you naked anytime soon!" Mannen snapped, earning a whine of protest from the elder. "Awww you can't mean that! C'mon, I know you've been pining away at the chance to get a "proper" look at me." Goh paused as laughter could be heard, the ice knight crawling out of his embrace as he went to leave the room. "Goh…" He started, staring over his shoulder. "Even if the opportunity were to arise… you're the LAST person I'd prét with."
Snickers filled the room as the door clicked shut, the fire knight sighing. "I guess taming the princess is but one of many harsh trials that a prince must face…"
"Goh… you're serious about this, aren't you?"
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That's it from me again, I'll probably get bored and write some more like these, so stay tuned!
Reviews are loved as always!