"So, you're just friends. That's it?" The maroonette asked as he dried his freshly washed hair. Kine nodded and sat two mugs of cocoa out for the boys on the glass table before him. Mira quickly snatched one and gulped, sighing after words.

"Well... Actually, we're more than just friends, but not in the way you've thought today." Kine sighed and sat down. "I guess I'll have to come clean." Mira and Shii watched impatiently as Kine gathered his thoughts. Jukel stood against the doorway, his arms crossed across his chest.

"Kine, are you sure that's a wise idea? They're young. Though they seem to grow on you fast... They are teenagers, and teenagers gossip." Kine smirked and leaned back on the blue love seat he sat on.

"Well, this is true..." He said after a moment. Then he gazed upon Shii and continued. "But, they deserve to know. Especially this one." Shii blushed and sat on the floor. Mira followed, and Kine chuckled. "Story time...? Anyway... Hmm, how to begin... Okay, we'll start with my race. As I'm sure you've noticed, I have a strong, unrecognizable accent." Mira nodded and Shii scoffed.

"I've got a unrecognizable accent, too. Don't make me any more special than anything." Kine smirked.

"So you think. You don't know. Back to me. I am from a very small and seemingly unheard of here called Fliyia."

"Why are you here then?" Mira asked. "If it were me, I wouldn't have come here." Again, Kine chuckled.

"Well, I had no real choice, but to leave. You see... The country is under attack and..."

"Wait, under attack? Then how did you get out?"

"...because I am Prince of Fliyia, I had to leave."

Mira and Shii were speechless with wide eyes and shocked faces. Jukel chuckled and came to Kine's side.

"Jukel here, as well as the twins, are my three body guards. I trust them with everything I am, though Jukel is fairly new to the job. We've known each other for a very long time, though. My mother and father are the current King and Queen. I'll inherit the crown either when I turn 21, which is in a year... Or I find a mate." Shii was still speechless. Mira sat back and smiled.

"So it's okay that you're gay where you're from?" Kine nodded.

"My race doesn't care for what's 'morally accepted' as people say. We're believers in love, true love, which is why most of us are bisexual. It's actually very rare to find straight or gay people... Such as my parents and myself. But well... Even if my people did have a problem with it, it wouldn't matter. They wouldn't be able to live without a ruler, so they'd have to accept me as I am." Shii blinked and dropped his towel, his hair falling around his face. Kine smiled as he fought off the urge to kiss him again.

"Kine, if you love me, and want only me, and we were to get together... Would that make me a King?" Kine smirked.

"Well... You would my Queen, but you would still rule beside me." Shii fell backward and blinked again. Mira giggled and clapped.

"Oh yay! Shiitomu, Queen of Fliyia! That sounds so pretty!" Shii blushed and snapped Mira with his towel, making him squeal.

"Jukel, you should tell them of yourself, as well." Kine mumbled as he focused on Mira. Jukel sighed and sat on the armchair aside from the prince.

"Kine, stop it. You and Shii, yeah, it's possible. But Mira and I? Never. He's too young and innocent." Kine laughed so hard he had to hold his chest.

"Innocent?! Clearly you know nothing of that boy! He's a prostitute, Jukel. He does all kinds of drugs, too. He's not Baby's Breath and Crystal Waters." Jukel sat in disbelief as Kine watched the two boys.

"That beautiful creature put drugs in his body then sold it out? You're lying." Kine raised his brows.

"No, he did both together, and you know I do not take lightly to being called a liar, Jukel. If you don't believe me, as him yourself." After a moment, Jukel spoke up.

"Uh, Mira, may I ask you something in private?" Mira blushed and stared at the silverette, who stood and waited for him by the kitchen's swing doors. Shii elbowed the amethyst-eyed boy in his stomach lightly, making him jump.

"Ow..." He whispered as he rubbed the spot Shii hit. Shii nodded to Jukel, who smiled to Mira, who blushed and followed Jukel into the Kitchen.

"Um, Kine, about that kiss..."

"Don't worry about it. I kissed you anyway." Shii sighed and plopped down beside the prince. They sat in silence until Shii found his right words.

"I don't know who I am." Kine almost doubled over when he realized what this meant.

The maroonette was opening up to him, after almost two and a half years of hard work and patience.

"My parents... I never knew them. Ian, Mikeahl, Aeiron, Mrs. Aichi, and Ian's sister Isabella are all the family I know. I thought I belonged with them, that I was one of them, but... As I grew older, I noticed I was different. Very, very different." Kine rubbed the maroonette's back as he went on.

"Though they still accepted me, I tried to find people like me... But I couldn't. It was impossible. Nobody was anything like me. And because I am so different... People treated me horribly, and I eventually grew up enough that I started to lash back." Shii paused and took a deep breath before he continued.

"Then... Kaiju, his sister Yuzu, and his mother moved into the village. They were different too. People treated them horribly, but not as bad as me, because it didn't affect them in the least. They blended in a little better than I could, but they were still different, and because of that, I felt a little at home when I was around them. I got along with Kaiju so well at first, because we sort of knew the same life. Later on I began to realize that these people were really nice to me, and I had some real friends."

"That's deep, Shii. Though I'm afraid I could never be anything like Kaiju or his family... I want to make you realize you belong with this family." Shii smiled through teary eyes and wiped them.

"Thank-you Kine." With another deep draw of breath, Shii went on with the story. "Kaiju and I were so close by the time I turned 10 that we suddenly grew so jealous and angry when we talked of someone else, or thought of someone else... Kaiju was the first to say it. He told me he liked me, and not as a friend. We became boyfriends and well... That didn't go well through the village. Where Ian's from, being gay is a big no-no, and of course it had to be us. Ian hid it well, but we couldn't. We didn't want to. The hate of the other villagers just made our love grow. Kaiju and I were together for almost four years, when..." Shii sobbed quietly as he gathered the strength to go on.

"The King of Ian's land was found out to have slept with someone from that village, and the people from the towns and cities more inland were very upset to know that there was a bastard prince living within the tiny, outcast village. Their anger turned to hate, and for some reason, they burned down the village, and all the people in it. Who knows why... We got out by the help of the King himself... Ian never was told, but he is the prince they were looking to kill. I went back when the fire burned out to find Kaiju, but he... He died. He was burned to death. I never found his sister and mother, which means they got out. Later I heard Kaiju got them out in time for them to make it, and died in his attempt." Kine's eyes stung as tears spilled down his cheeks. Though he knew he had to be strong for Shii, he couldn't help but cry. Shii's story was so deep and troubling, and the boy was only 15.

"When Kaiju died, and his mom and sister were gone... I couldn't take it. I became extremely suicidal-insanely so-but not because I didn't want to live any longer. Though it was true, that wasn't the main reason. I simply wanted to be with Kaiju again. But... No matter how many times I tried, I just couldn't do it. Then I met you, and since then, I haven't been the same. You clouded my thoughts and made me think of living on, which upset me more because I thought I was betraying Kaiju and I's love. Kine... I'm almost perfectly sure that I don't love you. But lately... you've grown on me." Kine's entire face lit up in a way no one before Shii had ever seen. He held the boy tight, resting his head on his tan shoulder. Shii blushed as he hugged the red-head back, both simply enjoying the other's embrace.

All of Kine's persistence, determination, and patience had finally paid off.