Hi hi! Sorry this took me almost a year to get this up. I meant to do it earlier, but uh... yeah, don't know what happened. *scratches head* Sorry? lol ANYWAY, I was in a writing rut, no idea what to write next on all fanfics, this included. I had the idea for this chapter for a while but just couldn't get it out into words, but well, almost a year later and here ya go! *laughs hesitantly* Well, please enjoy anyway!

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A Day In The Life of The Twelve Kingdoms

Bittersweet Cake

By: PhoenixBlade

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Terms you may/may not know:

Taiho: the honourific title of a kirin. The kirin's official title is actually Saiho but out of respect, a kirin is referred to by their title of Taiho.

Hourai: Japan

keeki: cake. It is pronounced like keiki, but spelled Keeki in katakana.

Kirin: are noble and holy creatures that are bound to and choose the ruler of each kingdom according to the will of Tentei, the Emperor of Heaven. They look similar to unicorns.

En: a neighboring kingdom to the north of Kei

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"Ne, Keiki, did you know that your name also means cake?"

Her Taiho gave her a look that spoke volumes of how ridiculous he thought her question was to him, but said nothing.

She rose her hands up in defense, "Hey, I'm just saying that it also sounds like cake. People of the West, back in Hourai, called it cake, but in Japan, we call it keeki, sort of like your name."

Keiki gave an indignant sigh without turning from his pile of paperwork. Youko rolled her eyes at his dismissal and went back to her paperwork. A short period of silence ensued before Youko abruptly turned away from her work to speak again, earning another annoyed sigh from Keiki.

"It's really good, you know, cakes. The ones I've had here are phenomenal, don't get me wrong!" she exclaimed, "but when I was a little girl and still living in Hourai, I happened to get invited by a classmate and her friends to go to this café. Of course, I found out later that they were only allowed to go to the café because their mothers trusted me more than them…"

Keiki tried ignoring her and focusing more about a policy, that had somehow wormed its way into his paperwork, that all livestock must be painted red to honor the queen and her hair color. What an absurd policy!

"…anyway, we were ordering what we wanted and I saw a girl, at the table next to me, dig a spoon into her small round chocolate cake and I saw chocolate oozing from the middle! I ordered the same one as hers and when it came, I dove into it like a starving dog on a bone!"

"Your majesty," Keiki interrupted as he rubbed his temples in annoyance, "do not demean yourself by comparing yourself to an animal, especially one malnourished."

Youko rolled her eyes and waved her hand his comment, "Fine, fine. Anyway! It was so chocolate-y! Chocolate is usually very sweet, but that's because they use sugar to sweeten it, or else it'd come out too bitter if they didn't. This chocolate cake, though, was absolutely delicious! A bit bitter, but full of oozing, warm, sweet chocolate in the middle!"

Youko giggled at the memory, but Keiki, feeling that he was getting no work done with the stupid policy, which he did not let pass, and hearing his queen babble on about utter nonsense without getting her own work done when they were both so far behind, finally snapped.

"Your highness!" he barked at her, forcing her to stop in the middle of a laugh, "we are already far behind on work and you cannot spare any more time on pointless pleasantries. You must focus on your work or I assure you, the guards will stop you from sneaking out of the palace the next time you go on another one of your adventures! Am I understood?"

Youko immediately shut her mouth and turned back to her paperwork, grumbling about stupid unicorns.

Keiki sighed again and grabbed the next paper. They worked in silence into the night, until Youko finally finished her last paper and stretched, trying to work out the stiffness in her joints for sitting and bending over her desk too long. She turned to Keiki to tell him that she was done, but instead of finding the Taiho hard at work, he was snoozing away on top of a stack of paper.

Although he had been rude to her earlier, she forgave him (though not too quickly) because that was how he was. It wasn't a surprise to her that his priorities were on work first and pleasure last, if any at all. There was a no-having-fun-while-you-work when it came to him. She'd been the same way once, but once becoming a queen, and being constantly lectured by the King of En to "let loose" once in a while, she began to learn to smile more and enjoy time spent with others that she could have in between her work. She'd only wish her Taiho could do the same, but he was so set in his ways that they argued from time to time about her duties and her time to herself. They were like an old bickering couple sometimes, it was funny.

Getting up, she grabbed the blanket on her chair and wrapped it around him to keep him warm. Just then, she noticed a puddle of drool on the paper his head was lying on, blotting out the ink. She held back a giggle and blew out the candle; making the room dark with only the moon's light to guide her. She'd deal with the rest of Keiki's work tomorrow after she woke up. He already helped her so many times on her backed up work. Now it was her turn to help him on his, regardless of duty or not.

Before she slid the door closed, she glanced once more at the snoozing Taiho and giggled softly. Yep, she was sure of it. He was like that chocolate cake she once had when she lived in Japan. A bit bitter, but once you got to the center; it was oozing with warmth and sweetness.

Smiling, she closed the door the rest of the way and made her way to her room for a good night's sleep.

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The idea of Keiki's name sounding like cake came from... well, too much thinking about the 12 Kingdoms and too much time to do it...in my head anyway. By the way, the cake I described is Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. Not bad, a bit bitter but too sweet for me actually (or could just be that the one I had that was too sweet). Still good either way!