Disclaimer: I don't own Monochrome Factor or any of its characters.
Author's Note: There's this line I came across while playing Persona 3: 'Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection.' I thought it sounded remarkably Japanese in its thinking, and that it explained the situation of Shirogane and Ryuuko well (?). Hahaha, just kidding. For this chapter, Sawaki has a lot of lines after all. But then, everyone kind of talks a lot. It was unexpected even for me. Can I use the excuse of having allowed the story to write itself?
The King is Dead, Long Live the King
Chapter Nine: Promoted Bishop Part II
They eased Kou onto a spare bed because Ryuuko wasn't willing to leave him on the floor. Shirogane had not much cared, satisfied enough with the thought that, while asleep, it was impossible even for Kou to cause trouble, and Shirogane also had no need to share Ryuuko with him. But now, watching Ryuuko kneel by the bed and pull the covers around Kou, Shirogane amended this last thought sourly: He wouldn't have to share Ryuuko if only Ryuuko ever got done worrying about the brat.
Kou brought one arm up above his head and snored. The snore changed halfway to a low animal growl, and Ryuuko asked: "Do you think he's all right?" The concern in his voice made Shirogane twitch, but Shirogane held down the urge to murder Kou there and then and only replied with a quick, irritable "I hope not." Ryuuko sighed at the less than encouraging reply, reaching out and patting Kou's head. Kou moved his head into the touch, and after a while his breathing grew steady with normal sleep.
Ryuuko removed his hand from where it now rested on Kou's forehead. Then he leaned forward on his elbows and said, gently: "Sleep well, Kou." The whole business might have irritated Shirogane a great deal more, if he hadn't been distracted by something else.
From where he stood at Ryuuko's back, and with most of Ryuuko's hair having fallen over his shoulders, Shirogane could see the back of Ryuuko's unprotected neck. It was really careless of Ryuuko, Shirogane reflected, although perhaps it meant that he was being trusted, and he was just a little glad about it. He probably had Lulu to thank for it as well, because there was no veil in the way. The next time Lulu annoyed him, he had to remember to count to ten before he shoved her away.
When Ryuuko did not immediately straighten up and instead allowed his head to fall on his arms above the bed, Shirogane stepped closer and, without thinking, moved his finger up Ryuuko's neck to the hairline. Ryuuko shuddered and quickly covered his nape with his hand, skirts rustling as he pulled himself clear of Shirogane's finger.
"Please don't," Ryuuko said, looking back at Shirogane over his shoulder with a frown deep enough to be disguising embarrassment.
"No wonder you always keep it covered," Shirogane observed idly, hiding a smile himself, and for the moment even forgetting his annoyance with Kou. He sat down a little ways from Ryuuko, resting his back against the side of the bed. Curious, he asked: "Do you have other sensitive spots?"
Ryuuko pressed his cheek against the covers of the bed and sighed through his nose, not meeting Shirogane's eyes. A moment later, Ryuuko made a vague answer that could have been 'No' and just as easily could have been 'I guess,' muffled by the knuckles of his hand. He moved slightly. Half-closing his eyes, he muttered, unmistakably this time: "Your bed is very soft, Shirogane."
If that was Ryuuko's idea of changing the topic, or possibly, impossibly, of furthering it, Shirogane found it very amusing indeed. "Is it?" Shirogane asked, deciding to play along.
"Yes," Ryuuko said, "It is." And with no more warning than this, Ryuuko closed his eyes and fell asleep against the bed.
…
Sawaki put a hand against his temple and started rubbing circles into the skin. With everything that was happening—or not happening, he mused, looking at the assembled Children blinking back at him and nodding for them to wait more—he was starting to believe that his headache was never going to go away.
"Where is he?" he asked aloud, and Lulu, who had wandered from her seat and started fiddling with the furniture, looked up at him and tried to hide a broken piece of pillar behind her back.
"Who?" Lulu asked conversationally, throwing the shard behind her without looking at another Child, who rose from his seat with an indignant "Hey!" Sawaki sighed and leaned against the pulpit, tapping his fingers against one corner. "Well," he said. "The four of them, I guess." He paused, then continued in an employee-whose-crazy-boss's-back-is-turned hiss: "Why is even he missing?"
"Homu-chin?" Lulu guessed, and Sawaki nodded.
"We met him this morning. He knows where we should be." Sawaki frowned but didn't comment when he noticed Lulu's gaze stray again towards the garden, where the food was. He knew she was already trying her best, and it was amazing that she'd managed to keep her seat for as long as she'd done and still not tried to steal any cake. The only way he knew to keep her happy was to offer up his limbs to a bear hug, but he wasn't doing that for Shirogane. "And those two are getting married. How can they miss their own wedding? As for that other one, I was hoping he'd get lost."
Lulu nodded knowingly. "You don't like Ryuuko-sama's puppy much, do you?"
"He's too blindly following." Sawaki made a dismissive movement with his hand. "He'll probably lick Ryuuko's hand if he's asked to."
"Isn't Sawaki-chan also that sort of character?"
"I'm not," Sawaki said, managing not to scream it at Lulu, who had moved behind him and was now adjusting the ribbon in his hair. "Stop that," he said, and Lulu jumped back before he could bat her hands away. She giggled behind her hand for a moment, but when she saw that Sawaki was not about to do anything more interesting than sigh, she linked her hands behind her back and started to pace.
"This is so boring," she whined loudly, and Sawaki turned his head to glance at her. In Sawaki's world, unfortunate incidents were preceded by such a statement, and more often than not coming from her. His dread grew when some of the other Children started muttering their agreement.
"Should someone look for Homurabi-sama?" Sawaki tested. The Children merely slouched further in their seats, and someone at the back took out a blade and started spinning it for comfort. One said: "That's boring too."
"Then we wait a little longer," Sawaki sighed, bringing his hand up again to his forehead. And remembering to dangle the reward in front of them: "Later, everyone can eat, trade insults with the Rei in the light world, or kill things until you are satisfied. And no one—" Sawaki gritted his teeth but forced himself to continue: "—will be assigned cleaning duty."
Except me, Sawaki finished to himself, but had to smile when the other Children cheered. The promise seemed to have put Lulu in a better mood as well, although she had acquired a thoughtful smile that Sawaki immediately distrusted.
"Ne, ne, Sawa-chan," Lulu whispered, waving for him to move closer. It was a statement of how much he'd gotten used to her that Sawaki did not even wince at the mangling of his name, and only went over to where she had retreated. "Since we're stuck here anyway until they arrive," Lulu said, "why don't we have a bet?"
"Bet?" Sawaki frowned. It was suspicious, of course, especially since she wasn't including the other Children in it, but a bet couldn't be too dangerous. "What kind of bet?"
"Well…" Lulu scraped a speck of dust from the floor with her shoe and looked at Sawaki from the corner of her eye. "Everyone else must be wondering it too. Why would Shirogane-sama and Ryuuko-sama be late? I mean, Ryuuko-sama is never late, is he? So Lulu thought, maybe…" She inclined her head. "The gown was too successful, you think?"
Sawaki coughed discreetly and wished she would take the hint. "I have no idea what you mean, Lulu," he said. "And you also obviously do not know what you mean."
"Lulu does know!" she pouted, and Sawaki sighed again. "So I was wondering," Lulu went on, mouth twisting in a gleeful smirk, "Who do you think attacks, and who's on the receiving end?"
Sawaki laughed forcefully. "Gossiping about our superiors is hardly fitting behavior, Lulu!" 'Especially when one of those superiors might kill you for it if he finds out, you idiot,' Sawaki did not say.
'But Sawaki-chan also has ideas too, right?' Lulu also did not say. What she did say aloud was: "It's not gossiping. It's betting. And there's nothing to do anyway," she huffed. "So why not?"
"Probably because of a thing called respect."
"But they're the ones who are late," Lulu pointed out, and Sawaki frowned; he hated lateness. "Those two aren't the only ones missing though," he said after a while.
"That's true…but they can't all be somewhere together, can they? That Kou, he's probably just lost. And Homurabi-sama's been acting funny, he probably won't show…" Lulu shrugged, and then finished in a happy singsong: "Which leaves us with Shirogane-sama and Ryuuko-sama being late for their own wedding!"
"Well." Sawaki coughed.
"So what do you think, Sawaki-chan? I think Shirogane-sama's the seme. I can't imagine him taking a meek stance in anything. But I guess it's also a question of who's stronger? Though I'm not sure…"
Sawaki had wondered about it, in fact, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, pretending he was only thinking about it now. "I thought it was a matter of…er, preference," Sawaki said, fighting not to blush.
"That's obvious," Lulu said.
"And. Well," Sawaki said. He pulled at his glove. "Can't there be a bet for nothing happening?"
Lulu looked at him. Then she started laughing. "You're so pure-hearted, Sawaki-chan!"
Sawaki felt his eyes widen at that, and his hand moved on its own to cover her mouth before the other Children could take notice. Lulu kept laughing against his hand, and Sawaki growled, "All right, I'll think about it, but please stop." He released Lulu after she'd calmed down, and then he sighed and looked up at the smooth expanse of ceiling.
"Ryuuko," Sawaki said.
"Ryuuko-sama?"
"If we base this on a study of Shirogane's behavior more than anything," Sawaki explained, "It is quite obvious that while he might make the first move, Shirogane has enough ideas about affection, at least when it involves that person, that he would consider the other's feelings and therefore stop at a point where he feels the other would be able to remain comfortable with him, and which would probably not go beyond what they might do as friends. Ryuuko, on the other hand, has always been reserved but thoughtful of other people. Providing he gets what Shirogane's trying to tell him, Ryuuko would take the initiative, right?"
"Haa," Lulu said. The dead disbelief in that one syllable made Sawaki frown, if only because he wasn't used to people thinking his theories were wrong.
"You're dissatisfied with something?"
"No, no, Sawa-chan," Lulu hastily replied, waving her hands to dispel his glare. "Well, I guess it won't be a real bet if we decide on the same person… It's just that I'm really going with Shirogane-sama on this one. Because he's the control freak, and Ryuuko-sama's just too cute to actually do anything himself."
It was Sawaki's turn to look at Lulu doubtfully. "You're telling me two millennia of existence and he never…"
"Women's intuition," Lulu said, "I guess?"
"You're using that as an excuse?" At Lulu's smile, Sawaki tapped his fingers on his knees and nodded. "Twenty kokuchi. And the three hakua I was able to find yesterday. As for your bet, why don't you just be quiet for the rest of the day if you lose?"
Lulu pouted, but she held out her hand to Sawaki so they could shake on it.
"There's just one problem," Lulu said, and Sawaki tensed up but nodded for her to go on.
"Well, this, you see, um…How do we know if our bet won?"
Sawaki frowned at her and considered. If she stayed around any longer, he couldn't guarantee the safety of the cake. He was also a bit curious, and Lulu was a bad liar. "Why don't you check it out?" Sawaki said.
"Eeh?" Lulu twiddled her thumbs and peeked at Sawaki through her lashes. "Just Lulu?"
She was also a coward. "Why not?" Sawaki said, turning away from her. "But remember, if you get caught: It's all you."
…
While there were two insensible Rei in the shadow world, one of who also happened to be their Direct King, the Rei on the other side were all very much awake indeed. Most, unconcerned or pretending to be, had obediently taken the missions Shisui had assigned them, although they still checked with him now and then, and one had refused to leave unless promised to be called immediately when information became available from Kou. The tension was the kind Shisui imagined led to bodies getting sunk in Tokyo Bay. He tried not to analyze what exactly they were waiting for, or if it was politic of him to wish Shirogane good luck.
Shisui was not exactly Shirogane's friend, although the length of time that they had known each other seemed enough to make them friends by default. If anything, Shisui was Shirogane's friend by virtue of being Ryuuko's. This made it hard for him to decide on a move, especially since, while his allegiance was first and foremost always to Ryuuko, he wasn't at all sure if being on Ryuuko's side didn't actually mean taking Shirogane's side as well.
Shisui sat in the middle of his bed and absently twisted the sheets covering his knees between his fingers. He had been thankful when everyone had finally left him for a while, but Shisui soon realized that, in any case, he couldn't sleep. And so now he brooded, playing with a memory in his mind, of the time when he and Ryuuko had heard news about a human defeating a kokuchi. Before he became a Rei and a King, Shisui had of course known what it was like to be human, but it was different for Ryuuko, and that time was when Shisui had first taken any real notice of the difference.
"Humans are amazing," Ryuuko had said, fondly and in wonderment. "That's one strength we will never know as Rei." And twisting around to look at him: "I hope, Shisui, that I haven't given you much cause to be sorry."
"Eh?"
"…Since you were dragged from that place."
Shisui had smiled at Ryuuko's blunt tact. "That's not an elegant way to put it," he said. "But we're working to support that world. I think I can learn to be glad of that."
Ryuuko had clasped his shoulder, squeezed it once in wordless thanks and let go. After a while, though, Ryuuko said: "I want to be part of that world too. I want to see how people live. It must be interesting, right, Shisui?" Ryuuko had laughed softly to show that he wasn't being serious, but Shisui had been able to sense the undercurrents of doubt and guilt that such a remark might mean he was being derelict in his duties. Ryuuko had always cared too much, and not for himself.
It was why Shisui had tried to help Ryuuko in little ways the other wouldn't notice and therefore wouldn't feel guilty about, and why Shirogane, who Ryuuko seemed to have acknowledged as a precious friend, had as much leeway as he had done in the light world. (Shisui had schemed and had had to persuade a lot of people into accepting that one.) And there they were anyway, with an incident that could possibly turn into an ugly war in their hands, and Ryuuko somehow in the center of it.
Kou had not contacted him yet. Why had he thought Kou would be useful outside of a fight? And, perfect counterpoint to all the trouble he was in, he suddenly sensed the other King, Homurabi, nearby. Running straight for his room, from the sound of it. And very upset too.
"What is it, I wonder?" Shisui thought aloud, his voice a distracted mutter. "If it's about Kou again, perhaps I should throw the both of them in Tokyo Bay and just heal any injuries after. And I'll heal them so perfectly that when they go running to Shirogane or Ryuuko, they can just dream of being believed…"
Let it not be said that, with all his years of dealing with Rei and Shin, Shisui had not learned a thing or two. One lesson being that crimes were pardoned if they had never happened (being able to heal most things away was, after all, not just a support ability). Another thing was that his patience could only stretch so far, and two completely sleepless days with people barging in and needing to be calmed down or consoled had made sure that it was worn as thin as a proverbial straw. Shisui being Shisui though, he still managed a strained smile as Homurabi burst in his room.
"Is something wrong?" Shisui asked, and chided gently: "You didn't even knock."
"Who cares about that?" Homurabi said. "This is also my room in the shadow world." Homurabi went to the foot of the bed and started pounding on the mattress with open, clawed hands. "You have to help me, Shisui!"
"Um," Shisui said, a little dismayed at the feeling of the bed dipping up and down, and his irritation disappearing in the face of Homurabi's obvious panic. He also couldn't discount the idea of finally being able to acquire some information from his counterpart. "At a guess, you being here means that Shirogane and Ryuuko are really getting married?"
"More than that," Homurabi said, "They're dethroning us!"
Shisui reached over his knees and set his hands on top of Homurabi's in comfort, and also to stop him from shaking the bed any further. "Now, what could have put such an idea in your mind?"
"Because…" Homurabi looked at him and paused, and withdrew his hands. Shisui let him, and only pulled his knees closer so he could rest his arms on them. "You think that I have something to do with this," Shisui identified the trouble. He sighed. "Your thoughts are very clear, Homurabi, and I think they're motivated by jealousy more than anything. You should really stop being jealous of Ryuuko. And of Shirogane too."
Homurabi let his breath out in a hiss. He sounded more sullen than hurt. "What do you understand?"
"Probably a bit more than you do yourself," Shisui answered truthfully, which he understood too late was the wrong thing to do. Hesitating at that point, however, would just as likely be wrong, so instead he tried again. "Homurabi," he said, "We really need to support the Direct Kings. The balance of everything that exists depends on them, and the weight of that responsibility is very heavy. They need us."
That drew a snort from Homurabi. "Ryuuko doesn't seem to need anything, does he?" Homurabi said. "It's so irritating. That guy exists without demanding anything or needing anyone, and he gets everything anyway."
"Homurabi…"
"I know he doesn't need me."
Shisui's hand hovered somewhere slightly above the blanket. The spike of surprise in Homurabi's aura told Shisui that the other had not planned on saying it. Well, Shisui thought, and released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "The last time we talked," Shisui said gently, "you were simply following after Shirogane. Why does that matter to you now?"
"Various reasons," Homurabi said, his shaky voice making it a question.
"Homurabi," Shisui said. "That isn't really an answer."
Homurabi shifted uneasily, like a child caught at a lie. "I've probably watched him too long," Homurabi said. This time, his voice had an element of grumbling and grim realization, the ever-present anger boiling over in a confused swirl.
Shisui smiled, and the smile was so perfectly serene that it succeeded in lending his next words a chisel sharpness. Shisui practically felt Homurabi wincing at it. "Then you should get along with him, right?"
"Urgh," said Homurabi, and took a step back.
"Right?" Shisui pressed. He felt a change in the air, like something being quickly withdrawn, and realized it was Homurabi backing away. Shisui reached out with his hand but failed to catch a sleeve. "Wait!" he called, but Homurabi had left through the door again. He was gone with a shouted "Damn you, I won't accept this!"
"Oh dear," Shisui said. He wiped at a bead of sweat on his cheek. "This is bad, isn't it?"
…
"Ryuuko?" Shirogane prodded one bare shoulder. He had already waited for as long as he could, and, before then, he had also watched over the sleeping Ryuuko for two days, and found that he preferred Ryuuko awake and able to talk and move around. There was also the ceremony to consider, and they were doubtless already late for it. "This isn't the time to sleep."
"Mm," Ryuuko said, eyes fluttering open for a moment to look at him and then closing again. He did not sound particularly grumpy when he said, "Go away, Shirogane."
"Ryuuko," Shirogane said again, only for Ryuuko to climb in the bed and crawl under the covers. His movements had the tired lethargy of sleep-walking, so Shirogane refrained from immediately commenting on how physically close Ryuuko was now to Kou, who was anyway burbling something about wanting a pet crocodile. Shirogane narrowed his eyes and stood from the floor by the bed. He pulled the blanket away, leaned over and touched Ryuuko's shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. "Kou is sleeping in that bed, Ryuuko," he said in a light tone that was hiding knives and probably a spiked club or two. All reserved for Kou, of course. Ryuuko rubbed listlessly at one eye, but at least his other eye was now open.
"Kou?" Ryuuko said. "I had forgotten." He sat up and rubbed at his shoulder. "Somehow I feel very tired. But I seem to be recovering now," Ryuuko assured him, and Shirogane silently thanked the high alcohol tolerance of Kings.
"Well," he said, "should we go then?"
Ryuuko dropped his hand and his eyes widened just slightly, and Shirogane had the feeling that he was only then remembering the situation they were in. Shirogane had anticipated it, and thought being faced with such a reaction from Ryuuko would make him angry at the very least. But somehow the anger was absent, and there was only a strange, unbreathing stillness as they looked at each other and he waited for what Ryuuko would do.
Ryuuko's eyes finally slid from Shirogane's face down to his own clothes. Ryuuko looked away again, but not before his cheeks had gone red. "Uhm," Ryuuko said. He wasn't meeting Shirogane's eyes, and he was blushing, but he finished bravely: "All right." He slid off the bed and stood there, hesitating, his lips trembling in an uncertain smile. "We…we should probably hurry."
Shirogane continued to look at him for a moment more in surprise, and then he smiled. "Then we best run, shouldn't we?" He closed his hand around Ryuuko's wrist and started pulling him along, laughing softly at Ryuuko's one weak protest of "Hey, wait, Shirogane!" They ran down the hall, Ryuuko pulling back a bit to bunch some of the skirt in one hand. Just outside the palace they surprised Lulu from a bush she was hiding behind. She fell back, and the look on her face was at once startled and guilty. But all too soon, she recovered and started to follow them.
"Shirogane-sama! Ryuuko-sama!" Lulu skipped just slightly behind them, her hands up on either side of her, like a child balancing itself. "You're really late!"
"I assume Sawaki waited?" Shirogane asked curtly, and Lulu laughed, one high note that somehow did not grate on Shirogane's nerves as much as it should have. It was probably because Shirogane kept irrationally thinking of the solid reality of Ryuuko's hand in his.
Lulu poked Ryuuko's side with a finger. She let out a curiously disappointed sound. "What? The corset's still on… And it's the way I tied it on too. Lulu's shocked," she declared, and Ryuuko turned his head to glance at her.
"You mean I could have taken it off?" Ryuuko asked, panting. "I…only now realized…I can hardly breathe in it…"
Shirogane slowed down at that, and Lulu said: "Of course not, Ryuuko-sama. But do you always do what you're supposed to do?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Ryuuko-sama shouldn't worry about it. But it seems this is going to be a regular wedding after all."
…
Sawaki's eyebrow twitched. "No rings?"
"No," Shirogane repeated for him patiently. "What are you talking about?"
"No rings then." Sawaki brought his notes to his nose to hide a slightly agitated flush. "And it's pretty irregular as it is…" he muttered, and said more loudly: "Let's go on. Do you… insert name… Shirogane, take this woman…Oh! I apologize…this Rei, to be your lawfully wedded…"
"Sawaki," Shirogane said. "You're noisy."
"But it's part of the ceremony! No rings, and now you're telling me, no vow?"
"Ryuuko, you know the vow, right? It's like that promise we had before."
Ryuuko blinked, and then his mouth stretched in a slightly sheepish grin at the remembrance. "Yes. It does seem to be, doesn't it?"
Shirogane reached for Ryuuko's hand and held it. "To protect the balance of our worlds together," he said to Ryuuko, although Shirogane was facing forward and did not now look at his counterpart. "Do you swear it?"
"I swear it."
Shirogane finally canted Ryuuko a look. "Good," he said, and Ryuuko's smile turned sunny in defense. "I'll take that as you swearing it back," Ryuuko said.
From her seat in front, Lulu giggled. "No one cares about that talking bit anyways…" she called out. "But the kiss? Where's the kiss?"
Shirogane brought his arms around Ryuuko's waist and pulled him close even as Ryuuko brought his own hand down, fingers closing on Shirogane's arm reflexively. The other hand tangled in the front of Shirogane's robe. "So, Ryuuko…"
"Uhm," Ryuuko said, laughing nervously. He tried to push away. "Will you wait for a moment more? I don't know why it was so easy for me before, but after all, you have to prepare for this kind of thing—"
Shirogane did not wait.
…
Kou awoke with a start. Then he groaned and pinched his nose. "My head hurts…and this pillow really is too soft. What do they think will happen to people's spines if they sleep on this? Huh?" He sat up and looked around, brain clearing only enough for him to discover that Ryuuko wasn't there. Or Shirogane.
"That bastard, he must have drugged it, right? Or there's no way I'd faint." Kou pulled the pillow from behind him and threw it across the room to thump against the wall. The exercise lacked the sense of satisfaction which normally came with destroying other people's things, so he started looking for kokuchi to throw around instead.
"I think I'm forgetting something too, but I wonder what it is…Ah! Yeah, Ryuuko isn't here!" Kou jumped to his feet, only a little wobbly. "Ryuuko!" he called. He went to the window, opened it and leapt out, landing on the ground in a crouch. Then he started running. He could feel the pull of Ryuuko's contract with him telling him that, yes, Ryuuko was still somewhere in the shadow world, but that bright sense which was Ryuuko was too faint for Ryuuko to actually be somewhere inside the palace. Shisui had instructed him on which path to open, which was why he had been able to find Shirogane's palace so quickly before. But now, outside, the grounds stretched out in a vast deserted plane relieved only by the boxed outline of mostly empty buildings. A moment later, Kou had to stop by one of the buildings to catch his breath. A kokuchi slithered past him, head bobbing, and Kou thought of tumbleweeds.
"Where is everyone?" Kou whined.
Author's End Note: And the story's almost done! This chapter got so long I had to cut it, so the end will probably be two chapters unless I can compress it into one. And I'm really sorry if the story isn't so funny anymore, though I hope it still is a bit… Ah, and sorry this is this late. Life made me a bit busy for the past month, although I seem to be going nowhere with it…Well, I promise I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. :)
