Hell~o KouMaki lovers! This is the second story i write for this pairing. I'm not used enough to this but I'll do my best starting from now...
I've nothing to say but this: ENJOY!
Dust of our hours
It was a chilly day of fall. Trees were blazing with red and orange, the cobblestone streets tinged with dead leaves, the sky up there cloudy and inhospitable. People were already muffling up in cloaks and furs, even if night hadn't fallen yet. In spite of the bad weather since last week, the citizens didn't lose heart in strolling in the merry boulevards, bringing with them family, friends or lovers, laughing and talking loudly in little groups or sitting calmly on wooden benches like those old couples, only looking at the passer-bys and whispering in the significant other's ear.
Kougami looked at all that little world from the cab, chin resting on his wrist. He sighed.
"You know, Gino. I'm sure there're better things to do today than visiting that gloomy place."
A young and handsome man sitting in front of him, wearing eyeglasses and a dark suit, put back a pile of letters he was reading and frowned.
"Should I remind you that that gloomy place you're talking about is the royal castle, and also that now on it's where you're going to work?"
"As a bodyguard!" Shinya retorted, at the same time leaning on the seat's back, arms crossed behind his head. "A bodyguard! Can you even call that a job? Sticking with some important officials all day and all night long! I really am jealous of you now."
"Stop whining. You're always so childish… A job is a job. Just what's the difference between working in secret services and protecting the royal family?"
While talking, Gino adjusted his eyeglasses on his nose bridge. The trepidation of the pram was making them slipping down. Kougami smiled. He quite liked the way his lover would always worry about hiding his eyes. The raven haired man knew perfectly he had no special eyesight problem, so he assumed that was shyness that made him wear the glasses. That was a shame, thought, since Gino had the most beautiful emerald orbs he'd ever seen.
"Aye, aye. I got it."
Kougami capitulated. He didn't want to start a new fight with Gino, since that was certainly the last time he would see the bespectacled man before long. He already regretted talking about the latter's father three days ago, though he was totally aware of the quarrel between the son and the old man. At least it taught him not to poke his nose in people's familial problems. But Gino had been somehow avoiding him since that. Kougami's nights had been lonely without him, he thought bitterly.
A neigh and the sound of a salute announced that the coach arrived at the castle. Kougami got out.
"You're not supposed to introduce me?" He asked at his friend who hadn't moved from his seat, constantly frowning unkindly at him.
"I won't have to. They've your name, they know your face, and you're not a kid anymore. You'll find your way."
"Eh?"
"I'm busy and I have no time to lose with you!" He almost screamed while shutting the pram's portiere close. So he still was angry about that fight…
"Wait, Gino! I'm sorry for what happened, but don't just…"
Kougami's words went into deaf ears. He didn't even made it to the end of his pleads when the car moved off. When the Inspector lost sight of the cab, he exhaled heavily. It sure wasn't going to be a good day for him.
The hallway he was in was gigantic, in all aspects: an excessively high ceiling, huge portraits of previous Kings and their descent hanging on the walls, and wide picture windows framed by long curtains letting the sunlight in. It was making the tiled ground and the armors lined up against the wall glisten proudly. As Gino said, he entered easily in the palace. Nonetheless it was once he was in that some problems occurred.
First, the castle was immense. Unless one had lived there for their entire life, it was practically impossible to find their way in. After almost one hour going round and round in the countless corridors, going up and down hellish stairs and entering the wrong rooms, the dark haired man finally found someone to tell him his way. The valet who was standing sentry before a massive door didn't even blink when he saw a stranger coming near him. He just asked, with a self-confident air and after asking his name, who Kougami was looking for.
"Kougami Shinya, Inspector at the Public Safety Bureau's first division. Starting from now I'm assigned to the personal protection of the King and his relatives."
"Wait here, please."
The page left him to disappear at the corner of the hall. Right after he was replaced with another who contented himself with staring stupidly at the hall in front of him. Ten minutes passed, then thirty, forty… One hour later the first valet still hadn't come back, and Shinya was starting to lose patience. He tried to convince the second footman to go and look for someone who could be somehow up-to-date with the stuff happening in the palace. However the valet was keeping himself from helping the dark haired man in any way possible. At last Kougami was on the point of yelling at him when the first domestic appeared, all panting and sweating.
"Sorry for making you wait, sir." He was almost suffocating under his uniform. "But I've looked for the stewards, they've looked for the butlers who went searching for the prince… I think they're still searching for him…'
"All right! So I've been waiting here for nothing?!" Kougami facepalmed.
"No… I'm sure they'll find him soon. Since he's the only member of the royal family present now, we can't help but…"
"Okay, I got it! I'll go to look for him by myself. At least I won't have to stay here any longer…"
And saying that Kougami turned tail and left the corridor. The castle was truly a labyrinth. As he didn't want to lose more of his time trying to find his way in, instead of getting lost for the nth time, the Inspector got out in the garden.
It was in no doubt a pretty garden, immense and well kept. The flower beds were tidy and meticulously organized, hedges and hedges of cypress were spreading on the horizon; there were colorful rosebushes climbing on the palace's walls, circling the windows and colossal oaks bordering the alleys.
Something was tickling Kougami's curiosity; that was the incessant clamor and coming and going of domestics in livery all over the garden. So that was where everyone had been all that time… They were running everywhere, everyone carrying plates, drapes, chairs or odder devices with them, and pushing him on their way as if they didn't notice his presence at all. He tried to ask someone what was happening, but that's precisely where the problem was laying: he was purely ignored. They didn't even give the impression of being surprised by the presence of a total stranger within the royal's walls.
As a result the outside was a no-no too.
Kougami went back inside. As expected, the palace was totally empty; he didn't meet a living soul. At least that was better than the outside's mess.
The Inspector paced again through the numerous hallways. It was amazing to see that, even after losing his morning in the gigantic place, there still were some rooms he didn't know. Finally he entered into a vast, imposing library. Lines and lines of books, so many it would be a waste of time to count them. After crossing a full range of them Kougami settled on taking a volume of Swift and sat next to a window. That was a quite boring pastime, but he could put up with it.
He read the first lines. The cynicism, bitterness and the never-ending peregrinations were caustic and derisive. Kougami never got himself to understand how people could let their children read that man's work. Minutes later he put the book back, stretched his arms and yawned.
"Well. I guess I have to go back." Kougami sight and got up, but started when he heard something like a breath, a whisper… or more exactly a very light laugh.
The Inspector paused and looked for where the laugh had come from. However the library was unbelievably vast, there were even upstairs levels built like balconies girdling the walls; it would take hours only to…
"Is someone else there?" Kougami asked out loud. Yes, most of time, the simplest way was the best.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" A voice from the first stair resounded. A man half raised from behind a pile of books.
At first sight Shinya noticed he wasn't older than him, maybe in his mid twenties. He had soft, white hair which contrasted his young features, falling on narrow shoulders, and golden slit eyes. The man was wearing casual clothes – only a white shirt and austere pants – but his appearance was too much nonchalant and free, looking down at him from his spot, to mistake him for a simple employee… Or, if that was the case, then he was the most terrible employee someone would wish for.
"It's the first time I see you here. I thought security would be a little more severe in here." The white haired man was lying right on the floor, his head resting on his right hand, and looked intently into Kougami's obsidian eyes. The latter didn't avert his gaze. There was something really strange in that man's stare; it was cutting and heavy, like the look of a scientist on some unknown animal: as if he was trying to dissect his deepest secrets with his eyes only... And in the same time they were somewhere else, lost and cold. "What are you reading?"
The stranger took Kougami aback with that sudden question, but he still answered. "Gulliver's travels. But I'm leaving now; I have to find someone to tell me what the hell's happening in here."
"Mmh? Oh, you're talking about that muddle?" The young man shrugged and smiled. "They're preparing tonight's festivities. It's going to be a nice party, they said. You should attend it."
"Festivities? Not interested. By the way, can you tell me if the prince is still in the castle? They've looked for him throughout the day, without success. I'm supposed to work for him as of today."
"Are you possibly… his new bodyguard?" The young man smirked. His eyes shined with a sarcasm which hadn't gone unnoticed by the Inspector. He frowned.
"Yeah… Anyway, where is he?"
"You'll find him tonight. After all, it's the night we'll welcome the daughter of the Realm of P…'s King for her engagement with the dauphin."
"So that's the reason of the ruckus… Now then I'll take leave."
"You're leaving already? When I thought you would divert me for some time."
"Hey, do I look like a clown? Just go back to what you were doing before me coming here."
"I was through it." The second retorted and, while putting back a book on the pile, he sat up. "So what about keeping me company?"
Kougami sighed. He really didn't want a total stranger to tell that kind of things to him. Perhaps from an attractive man with stunning emerald eyes, but not from a creepy guy he just found behind stacks of paper.
"I don't want to. Why should I lose my time with a weirdo anyway?"
"Humph." The white haired man leaned on a bookcase. "What would you do in this castle anyway? It must be chaos, outside. Unless you want to take part of it or have a peculiar liking for crockery or…"
Kougami got out.
Night finally fell on the castle.
Kougami had to admit it: the entire place had been decorated with the finest taste, adorned with luxurious drapes, tables furnished with opulent drinks and dishes, the gardens even more embellished with garlands and lanterns. The party wasn't confined inside. People dressed in the most beautiful attires were pacing peacefully in and out of the castle, the dancing room opening widely to the fresh air and the starry sky. Everything was glowing with luxury, the chandeliers on the ceiling reflecting frivolously on the tiled floor. Rich guests were dancing, wandering, strolling arm in arm between marble columns, showing off and amusing themselves. In spite of the dark night, it still was easy to stroll among the spinney and the garden of roses, since even if the weather was cold and windy, an ingenious proceeding kept the candles lit, enlightening every pathway, every corner of the garden.
The Inspector was looking for a place to have a smoke. He had been walking in the compact crowd for hours, constantly bumping into nameless aristocrats or waiters in a hurry. There were too many people; it was giving a headache even to try to recognize any of them. At last the dark haired man found a rather quiet place sheltered from the noise by an equestrian statue. He heaved a sigh of relief when the stick finally lit up, taking a deep breath of nicotine then releasing a greyish cloud before his eyes. Sitting down he listened to a light melody played by an orchestra lost somewhere in the luxuriant flora.
A couple passed behind the sculpture. What the man told drew Kougami's attention.
"I heard the princess' cortege was already in town." The man said. "It's going to be the most spectacular display, if you want my opinion. The whole nobility of P… is following her!"
"Dear, I won't miss that!" The woman snickered. "People keep on saying she's an angel. Humph! Pure exaggeration."
"My, my."
"Oh, isn't that the convoy already, what I hear from the portal?"
She was right. Pawing could be heard from the gate. Immediately the entire castle went to welcome the princess and her suite, while Kougami indifferently stood up, not leaving his position.
The aristocratic household instantly deduced that the infant was in the first and most sumptuous carriage. That was true. After the ostlers left the magnificent coach, a pair of valets approached the portiere. After the first opened it, the second gave his hand to the very young and charming lady who came out. The woman (though she was almost a girl) had short brown hair and big brown eyes. She was small and skinny, but her gaze was already mature and determined. The robe she wore was magnificently gleaming and the jewels on her wrist, neck and hair were the most veracious proves of her kingdom's wealth. She had been straightaway followed by a line of P…'s nobility, every one more beautiful and wonderfully dressed than the previous one.
"What a beautiful girl!" Some whispered. "A delightful woman." Others muttered.
"But a little too young, don't you think? Will that frail body even be able to bear the throne's inheritor?"
"Be quiet! Can't you see the cortege behind her?"
"The all Realm of P…, isn't it?"
"She must have some protectors within them. If someone hears even a single bad critic…"
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Kougami was listening to the gossip with a pang of disgust in his stomach. The problem was that although he didn't want to, he had nowhere else to go, and the rumormongers were all over the place. Finally the Inspector went away, though the gossip didn't stop, even after he left his hiding-place. He was elbowing people out of his way, unsure of where he was going exactly, when a violent wave of onlookers rushing to the gate pushed him violently and made him curse. This time he was trapped in the middle of the crowd and their repetitive tittle-tattle.
"Look! That's the prince!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.
"The prince!" Others echoed. "Where is he? It's him! It's him!"
Gradually silence fell on the castle then both men and women bowed respectfully, the general gesture directed to a man Kougami would have never seen if the heads in front of him hadn't lowered. He directly spotted the white, feathery hair, the narrow shoulders and the nonchalant manner, he almost dropped his cigarette.
"No. Wait." He mumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose with annoyance. "When I think about it, it isn't that extraordinary…"
The prince was that weird guy he met in the library.
Lack of gimmick, I know... Next chapter will be up soon. Rreview please to point where i did something wrong! ^^