Sorry for not updating for awhile again! And about what I said about updating more frequently. On the bright side, I wrote a Sarumi fanfic today, which inspired me to update this story!
Enjoy the story!
It was the next day, and Ai and Ren were on their way to Reiji's bakery. They didn't really talk about much in the car, the ride over was pretty boring. It took at most two hours to get to Reji's bakery. It was in a quite town and a quite neighborhood. When they got out of the car and went inside, Ren was hit with the scent of the place. Not that it was bad, it was actually sort of pleasant. The small bakery smelt of baked beard and freshly baked muffins, and Ren could've sworn he detected some sort of chocolate in the there. It had a relaxing atmosphere. There was a counter that had all the pastries displayed in glass cases underneath it, and a few tables for costumers that would prefer to sit and eat. Ren saw some outside as well.
"AiAi-kun, Jinguji-sama, welcome to the bakery!" Reiji said, a bit too enthusiastically for Ren's taste. "Hi, Kotobuki-san. It's nice to see you again." Ren said. "You too," Reiji said, then he looked at Ai again. "I see you left that collar at home." "Yes, it was stupid anyway. And Ai didn't like it." Ren said, looking at his hyrbid. Ai looked at him with his usual stoic expression, but Ren knew he was glad to have the thing off. The way Ai looked at him after what Nanami said, Ren regretted ever having put the collar on Ai. "So, do you want to try one of those free samples?" Reiji asked, holding out a tray of chocolate chip cookies." Ai walked right over to Reiji, completely ignoring Ren's presences. Ren couldn't help but laugh at this. He still needed to get used to someone ignoring him. He walked up to see Ai taking a cookie and then biting it. The cutest little gasp came out of his mouth, and the way his eyes lit up was completely adorable. Ren thought Ai liked the cookies at home, but this expression defiantly told him other wise. "Do you like them?" Reiji asked. Ai simply nodded. "I'm glad~ There's more pastries for you to try in the back. I'll leave the cookies here if you want some more. Oh, and of course you can try some too, Jinguji-sama." And with that Reiji went into the back to get more pastries.
"You're so adorable, kitten." Ren said, kissing Ai's forehead. He couldn't help it after Ai's cute display. Ai picked up a cookie and held it in front of Ren. At first Ren thought Ai wanted him to take it, but then he said, "Bite it." Was Ai trying to feed him? Ren smirked at the idea. He took a bite. Ai's expression was accurate, the cookies tasted...Ren didn't even know how to describe it, but they were good. Really good. "Do you like it?" Ai asked. "It's really good." Ai nodded in agreement, before picking up a cookie and biting it. "Ah-ah, it's my turn now." Ren said, taking the cookie out of Ai's hand and holding it in front of Ai's mouth. Ai took a bite. "Here are some brownies. Did you try the cookies, Jinguji-sama?" "Yes, they were very good." Then he registered the pan in front of him. Brownies. If Reiji's cookies were this good, then his brownies were sure to be spectacular, given that they were Ren's favorite sweet food. Ren immediately picked one up, biting intp the chocolate-goodness. It was...Ren was surprised when a gasp came out of his own mouth. It was so freaking good. "Hahaha, Jinguji-sama must really like brownies, huh AiAi-kun." "Yes, he does." "Oh? So you're making fun of me now?" Ren said, swiping his figure on top of the brownie and putting some of the frosting on Ai's nose. Ai made a new expression, it was an adorable sort of '-how-dare-you' expression. Ren raised his eyebrow at it. Ai took some of the frosting from another brownie and put it on Ren's nose. "Oh, so you want to go there?" Ren said, putting two dots of frosting on both of Ai's cheeks, then preceding to lick on of them off. "Uuh, should I leave you both alone?" Reiji asked. Ren and Ai both looked at him, startled. Ren had forgotten he was there. Ren turned to Ai, who seemed to actually be blushing again. "Master," Ai said, the word sounding like he was annoyed with him. It was then that Ren learned that Ai was uncomfortable with PDA. Or at least he was now that they were in a relationship.
"I'm sorry Ai, but you're just so cute I can't control myself sometimes." "Kotobuki-san~" That strange kid said, coming in. What was his name again? "Ooh, you made brownies!" He said, taking one of Ren's brownies. Reiji cleared his throat, as if to say 'there's a king here.' "O-oh, sorry King Ren- I-I mean Jinguji-sama." Aki said, bowing to him. "That's alright, but you don't need to bow to me." Ren said, reminding him again. "A-ah, sorry Jinguji-sama." "It's fine." Ren said, even thought he was pretty annoyed with the kid. Not for butchering all that royal etiquette stuff, but for touching his brownies. Ren took one, less the kid inhale them all. "Did you try one, Ai?" Ren asked, because it was okay for him to touch Ren's brownies. Ai shook his head and picked up a brownie. He didn't gasp this time, but he did have wide eyes at the taste of brownies. They were very good. "Did you taste his cookies, Jinguji-sama? He's famous for them." The kid said, his mouth still full. "Yes, although I prefer his brownies." "The brownies are good too." "Ummm," The kid said, as if finally noticing Ai. "Why does it have frosting all over it's face?" If he didn't put the leash on Ai today, he didn't have to call him it. And if he didin't have to refer to him as it, he didn't have to tolerate it when ignorant idiots did it either. "I put in on him." Ren said angrily. "U-uh, sorry Jinguji-sama, did I do something to upset you?" "Yes," Ren said honestly. "Ai's a he, not an it. Please don't call him that ever again." "O-okay. I'm sorry Jinguji-sama, I didn't mean to offend you."
"Why don't you all try some muffins." Reiji said, putting another tray on the counter. Ai took one. He'd wiped the frosting off with some napkins from the dispenser that was on the counter. After he took a bite his face scrunched up. He didn't like them. "What flavor are they?" Ren asked. "Banana nut." Reiji said. Ren laughed. "Guess we found something you don't like." He said, poking Ai on the nose. He picked a muffin up for himself, because he did like banana nut. He noticed the kid pick one up as well, but he was a bit more subdued after Ren talked to him.
Ren sat down at a table and Ai followed him. The kid was talking to Reiji. "What was that guy's name again?" Ren asked, taking a bite of the muffin. "Reiji Kotobuki or Akihisa Tachibana?" "Tachibana," Ren answered, taking another bite. "He gets on my nerves. Did he bother you when he called you it?" "Not really. The only reason I wanted you to refer to me as 'he' was because I didn't want you to throw me away." "Oh. Well, I can refer to you as it, if that's what you want." "It doesn't matter." Ren tried not to be upset Ai didn't have an opinion. "There also they, I could refer to as that." "You can refer to me as he if you want." "Okay," Ren said, not saying anything else about it. "Do you want to go anywhere else today?" Ren asked. Yesterday was Ai's first time out of the house, and this was the first outing Ai chose, so Ren wondered if there was anywhere else Ai wanted to go. "Nowhere in particular." "Do you want to think of one?" Ren asked. Ai shook his head. "I'm hungry." He said, getting up to get more sweets. He came back with a plate of five brownies and eight cookies. He must have been hungry. "Can I take you to the beach?" Ren asked. He admitted it wasn't because he thought Ai would like it. The question was fueled by his own selfish desires to see Ai blush again. And kiss him while he was blushing. "If you want to, Master." Ai said, looking a little uncomfortable. That made Ren feel bad. "Do you want to go?" "Will we be swimming?" "Yes." "Then no." Ren sighed. He shouldn't have even asked him to go to the beach. "Why are you so embarrassed, Kitten?" He really shouldn't be embarrassed about them having their shirts off. Ren would take his off right now if Ai asked him to. "Because...I'm not like you." "Huh?" That was a completely different answer than Ren was expecting. "Since I'm a robot my body's different than yours. I have hidden screws keeping my back panel closed, but I feel like you can see them. It's...embarrassing." Ai said, blushing right then. "I can't see them. And if even if I could, I'd still think you're beautiful. You don't have to be embarrassed. We can go somewhere else, if you want." Ren said, trying to make him feel better. "We can go see a movie, or to a bookstore, we can go somewhere else to eat-" Ren continued to ramble ideas...
It was at least thirty minutes later when Ai cut Ren off and asked, "Can we go to a bookstore?" He was curios to see if it was any different from Ren's library. "Yeah," Ren said, happy that he found something Ai wanted to do, even if it was one of the first things he said. "Can we go now?" Ai asked. During Ren's ramble Ai had finished his food. It was a long list of places.
"This is a book store." Ren said. He had made sure to take Ai to the biggest book store he could fine, one where there was rows and rows of books. "Do you like it?" He asked, smiling at Ai. "Yes," Ai said, walking over to a shelf. He picked up a book and immediately sat on a bench started reading. Ren was a little lost as what to do himself. Maybe he could read something to? He picked up a book but after a few minutes got bored. He didn't like reading. "Do you want something to drink?" Ren asked Ai. There was a little café attached to the book store. "Hmm?" Ai said, looking up from a book. "Did you want something to drink Ai?" Ren asked. "No," Ai said, going back to reading. "I'm going to go get something, I'll be right back." Ren said, walking over to the café. He ordered himself a coffee, then went back to Ai. After a few more minutes he found himself bored. Maybe he was being a bit impatient, or dare he say, selfish, but he wanted to talk to Ai or something. Not stare at him reading books. Not that staring at him was bad. He was not ugly in any way. No, in fact, he was the very opposite. Ai was one of the most attractive people he's ever met. Ren wanted to kiss him right now. But he couldn't. He had to let Ai read. But maybe Ai was bored. Maybe he didn't want to read anymore. Ren went over and kissed Ai's on the cheek. "What are you reading?" "A book with recipes in it." "Mm, do you want to learn how to cook. We can take a class." At least you'll pay attention to me then. "I like reading about the recipes more." Ren didn't know what to say now. "Do you want to take a break?" Yes, he was impatient. Very impatient. "Hmm?" "A break, we can get something to eat at the café that's attached to this place. Or we can go somewhere else." "We just ate." Ren sighed. Yes, they did have some pastries and things at Reiji's bakery. Ai did have a lot. He asked him on the off chance he was hungry again. But he wasn't. "Master," "Yes?" Ren answered immediately. "Do you want to go somewhere else?" "Why, do you?" "You're hovering." "Sorry," He said, standing up from where he crouched by Ai. "We can go somewhere else, Master." "No, no. Go ahead and read. Just act like I'm not here." Turns out Ren could only sit still for elven minutes before he started pacing. "Master," "Yes?" "Why don't we go get something from the café." "Okay," Ren said, happy with the suggestion. They went to the café and Ren ordered them both cheesecake. It looked good. Ren took a piece with the fork and fed it to Ai. "Do you like it?" "Yes," Ren took a bite. "Me too." It wasn't as good as Reiji's pastries, but it was still good.
After they finished the cheesecake Ai asked him "Do you want to go home, Master?" "Why, do you?" Ai didn't answer. "Let's go read for a little bit more." Ren admitted, he was kind of being a jerk. This was something Ai liked to do and he should let him do it. "Okay," Ai said walking back to the books. After about an hour, who knows how Ren could stay still for that long, he mainly played with his phone, but he made an effort to read some books too. For about five seconds. Ren wonder if Ai thought he was stupid. He didn't read much after all. But he was a king, didn't that mean he was smart? Anyway, after about an hour Ai stood up and told Ren, "We can go now." "You sure?" "Yes," "Okay Ai, let's go." He was about to go to the car with Ai, before he realized something. "Oh, do you want to buy something?" "No." "Are you sure? You can buy as many books as you want." "In that case," Ai said, going back over to the shelf he got most of the books he read today from. "Can I buy this?" It was the book of recipes Ai was looking at first. He really liked to read about recipes, huh? He wondered if Ai would like cooking shows. Or maybe he likes reading them because it's stuff he wants to eat. Ren would have to ask him. "Okay, I'll buy it for you." After buying the book and going to the car, Ren asked him the question. "Why do you like reading cookbooks?" "Because I think it's interesting how food is made. How the ingredients make something different." "Mm, do you think you'd like a cooking show?" That was the other question he wanted to ask Ai. "I don't like TV that much, but I could try it." "I'll show you some good ones." Not that Ren lounged around every day watching cooking shows, but sometimes if he was really bored he put them on. Or sometimes for background noise if he was doing this rare thing called working. "Is there anything else you want to do today?" Ren asked Ai. "Not really." "Are you sure? We have the whole day." "There's nothing I want to do." "In that case, we'll go back home."
After they arrived home Ren took Ai outside. "Where are we?" "In the garden." Ren showed Ai the flowers, and the bench next to a wall of the mansion. "Let's sit here." Ren said. They sat and Ren put Ai on his lap. "Mm, the sun's out. How do you feel about the heat?" Ren asked. "It's something I can do without." "What about when it's cold out?" "That's fine." "So you like cold weather more than hot weather? I'm more a hot weather type of person. You can go to the beach when it's hot out." "You still want to go?" "Not if you don't." "If you want to, Master, we can go." "I'm not going if it makes you uncomfortable. That's not something I want you to feel." Feel, that's right. Ai felt embarrassed, he knew he was capable of that emotion. How many emotions was that now? Ai knew he wasn't capable of feeling everything, at least not right now. But he would like too, at least one day. "Sorry for interrupting." Just then, Tokiya comes in. "Icchi, why are you interrupting?" "There's something you need to know Ren. You're father coming." "My father? You're joking, right? I know we used to play pranks when we were little, but I thought we grew out of that." "I'm not joking Ren. He's coming, and...maybe we talk alone." He was looking at Ai. "Anything you have to say in front of me, you can say in front of Aimi." "Aimi?" Tokiya and Ai both said at the same time. "That's right, you have two nicknames now." Ren said, poking Ai's nose.
"Alright, if that's what you want. Your father is coming, and he's seeing if you have a potential candidate to be your wife. If you don't, he's going to introduce you to some." "What?" Potential candidates...for Ren to marry. For some reason Ai couldn't properly process the information. Maybe he was breaking. "Yes, it's true." "Just how do you know this, Icchi?" "Your father talked to my mother, who told me. She assumed he told you knew already. She doesn't know that he wouldn't tell you." "Did he say when he was coming?" Tokiya shook his head. "I asked my mother but she just said he was coming soon." "Well that's just great. What are we going to do about this?" "It's ultimately up to you, but..." Tokiya paused, as if he was completing what to say. "Where to you want to be in the future?" Tokiya suddenly asked. "What do you mean?" "What do you think your future will be like?" That was an easy answer for Ren. He'd already thought about it. "I'm going to be married to the one I love and continue being king." "Right. And do you think that person...will be Ai?" "Why are you asking me this?" Ren asked, sounded offended. "I just want to make sure you understand that you need to marry eventually. And that it's practically illegal for a king to marry another male. I just want to make sure you're really serious about this before you get into trouble." "What, and you think our relationship is a joke? And I know what I'm doing. I'm not a child." "Ren, I just want to make sure he's someone you can spend the rest of your life with." "He is." Ren said, wrapping his arms tightly and protectively around Ai. "It's none of your business anyway, so why are you butting in?" "Did you not ask for my help?" "I shouldn't have." "Fine. I'll get going. But you really should think about what you're going to do." Tokiya said, before leaving.
"Can you believe him Aimi?" "Are you going to meet with the potential brides?" "Of course not. I'm not going to marry any of them." "But you can't marry me." There was silence after Ai said that. "Why not?" "Because I'm male. And I'm not human." "That doesn't matter." "You don't know if you'll love me, or if you'll still like me. You should meet with them." "But I don't want to. I wouldn't be able to fall in love with someone in two seconds, and I don't want to be in an arranged marriage." "But you have to get married soon." "I don't want to think about anyone else other than you, Aimi." "Why?" "What do you mean, why? I like you. I like you so much." Ren said, turning Ai around and kissing him on the lips. Ai pulled away. "I mean why do you like me?" "I like you because you're you. I like how cute you are, how you blush, how you're so smart, how you're curios about things, how you love to learn. I love how you ignore me." Ren kissed Ai on lips again. "And I love how you taste." "But I'm not human, so why do you have such strong feelings for me? What if I never like you back?" "It doesn't matter your human or an android or a toaster, I still like you, Ai. And sometimes the person you like doesn't like you back, it doesn't mean I still can't like you. And I do believe you'll like me back eventually." Eventually means soon, of course, Ren thought. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." "I'm not. And even if I did, it's my decision. You're worth it." Ren said, kissing Ai on lips again. "I'll like no one other than you." Ren whispered to him.