"We should date," Ryouga tells him, not looking up from the book he's using for his English reading assignment. Durbe watches as he brings up the pencil in his hand and jots down a quick note on the edge of the page. At this rate, Ryouga will be banned from the library for writing in books, and he'll have to convince one of his friends to check out books in his stead.

Ryouga does not continue his train of thought as Durbe expected, and Durbe turns his attention to his own homework to keep himself from staring at his friend. "I thought we were already dating." He says, thinking back to their past life as king and knight. "We used to go on dates all the time." Durbe can still remember going on day trips with Nasch to the other side of the island or to an adjacent island where they could be away from wandering eyes and eavesdropping ears. Just thinking about them warms Durbe's heart.

"Those don't count," Ryouga says too quickly, then backtracks, "Wait, no, that's not what I meant. They do count, they just." He sighs and sets down his pencil to run his hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp. "That was a long time ago. We've changed. And we separated after we died."

Durbe doesn't tell Ryouga that he never stopped loving Nasch, even after they lost their memories and became so-called heartless Barians. Not even Durbe would have continued searching for a missing person just because he was Durbe's superior. Nasch's disappearance dealt a terrible blow to Durbe, and he had refused to abandon someone he held so close to his heart.

"Oh," says Durbe.

"So I was thinking, now that things have calmed down some, we could try again. This time without all of the sneaking around and hiding our relationship. And without the whole dying thing." Ryouga won't meet his eyes, staring intently down at the page in front of him. His ears, visible because Ryouga tied up his hair earlier, flush pink.

"I think Merag knew what we were doing from the beginning." Durbe smiles and reaches out to take Ryouga's empty hand.

Ryouga snaps his head up, nose scrunched. "I certainly hope not –"

Durbe takes his chances and leans forward, pressing a kiss against Ryouga's still open mouth. When he pulls away, Ryouga splutters, his entire fact blooming red.

"Let's try again," Durbe agrees, turning back to his half completed homework. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Ryouga staring at him for a minute, his skin gradually returning to its normal shade, before he nods and returns to his book. They don't let go of each other's hand.


Thanks for reading! Please remember to leave a comment.