Chapter 9: Bath Time
A delicious meal made by Hakuryuu followed by a soothing bath was just what the doctor ordered.
"Last one in is a rotten egg!"
"No fair, Judal! Using your magic!"
"Kouha, no running in the bathroom. It's dangerous." Koumei sternly warns his careless younger brother.
Judal cannonballs into the huge bathtub that could easily fit a hundred men.
"I'm first!"
"Look again…"
Judal turns around to where Kouha is pointing at. Too bad for Judal, but he wasn't the first one there.
Kouen! Since when was he there!
"Long before you showed up! Idiot! Like you can outrun, Brother En."
"Says the sweaty Tranny, who came second to an idiot."
"What was that!"
"You do know, you just admitted you're an idiot." Koumei lightly retorts.
"Man, why do I have bathe with a bunch like you… Where's Hakuryuu! He should be here!" Judal complains.
"It can't be helped he said it was his duty to clean up after the meal since he was the one who made them." Koumei reminds his annoying magi.
If it was one thing they knew, it was that Hakuryuu was the diligent type who would never leave his responsibilities half done.
"Just how long are you going to keep at it? You've been chasing after him since we were kids. I'm surprised he didn't dump your sorry butt in the trash long ago." Kouha mocks Judal but not in a bad way.
"That's cuz I'm so special to him that he can't stay away from me!" Judal haughtily replies.
"Keep dreaming…"
!
But wait there was something that contradicted that statement. Kouha just remembered one crucial thing.
"If you're so special to our little brother, then why did he leave you behind when he went to Sindria…." Kouha playfully teases the deprived magi.
That's right. There was that time Hakuryuu left to study aboard in Sindria. Kougyoku went along with him for other reasons but she refused to tell them what they were. She returned earlier than Hakuryuu after she finished her business with Sindria more specifically its student council president, Sinbad.
If Judal really was special to Hakuryuu, then he would have asked Judal to come with him. But looking at Judal's attitude and relationship with Sindria, it might not be the best idea to send him there or any other place. When it comes to diplomatic matters, Judal is the last person they should send.
"Leaving Hakuryuu's studies in Sindria aside, I am curious as to why you are so infatuated with our youngest brother."
Koumei raised a good question. Why is Judal so attached to Hakuryuu? The only thing on his mind would normally be wars and peaches.
"Yeah, tell us the deeds!"
Great, now Kouha was acting like a gossiping teenage girl (in Judal's eyes).
"I'll tell you…"
Good. Now things were getting interesting. Even Kouen was curious too although he didn't show it on his usual stoic expression.
"… If the Okama gets one of the Old Hag's dresses and wears it out in public for a whole day."
"Like hell, I'm doing that!" Sure he was into fashion but not women's fashion that was Kougyoku's hobby.
"Kouha…"
Knowing the tone in his eldest brother's voice, he knew what he had to do.
Kouha slumps back down next to Koumei not uttering a single word or protest.
12 years ago~
Judal had just moved into the city of Kou. He was taken to live with some rich family. Not feeling like unpacking his belongings, he snuck out of his room and used his magic to fly over to the backyard. They had a nice tree in there. It'd make a nice resting place. And just when he was about to take a nice nap, he heard something. It sounded like crying. Annoyed that someone was interrupting his nap by crying, he went down to find the source of the noise.
However he did not expect to see a little boy a year younger than him crying. He thought for sure it was a little girl. Maybe it is a girl. But it was hard to tell from just looking at their back.
"Hey, what's with the water works, Crybaby!" Judal grabs the child's shoulder. However he did not think the child would be so cute. Those big teary eyes. That cute baby face. The sexy beauty mark near their lip. For someone to be this cute, they had to be a girl.
"You!" Judal rudely points at the child. "You're going to be my wife so stop crying! I want a strong woman, not a weak one!"
"My, oh my." A pretty girl who looks like an older version of the weeping child comes to the scene.
"Who are you!"
"Hakuei Ren." Hakuei introduces herself. "It seems that there has been a slight misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
"That's right. Because…" Hakuei bends down to their height. "Hakuryuu is a boy."
Hakuei pulls down Hakuryuu's pants and underwear revealing his lower half.
So he was boy…
"Waaahhhh" Once again Hakuryuu cried, but for a different reason.
And that was Judal's first meeting with Hakuryuu. Years passed by and Judal continued living at Hakuryuu's place where he met Kouen, Kouha, Kougyoku, and Koumei. He liked going there as he found a good toy (Kougyoku) to play with. It was fun seeing how Kougyoku always fell for his tricks and pranks. Although he nearly had a life threatening experience when he came across the bio-hazardous substance known as Hakuei's cooking.
Everyday he would ask the young bluenette to go dungeon diving with him, but he always refused.
"One time, I tried using sleep hypnosis into inducing him to go dungeon diving with me." Judal told his king vessels of his previous attempt.
Now his king vessels were officially creeped out by him.
One night, Judal attempted using sleep hypnosis on Hakuryuu.
"You want to go dungeon diving with Judal. You want to go dungeon diving with Judal. You want to go dungeon diving with Judal." Judal quietly whispers into a sleeping Hakuryuu's ear.
"But then Hakuryuu woke up in the middle of my sleep hypnosis…"
That was obvious. Having someone as creepy as Judal whispering such creepy stuff into your ear would wake anyone up.
Afterwards, Hakuryuu kicked Judal out of his room and banned the magi from ever setting foot in there again. He didn't talk to Judal for weeks after that.
"So what does that have to do with you falling for Hakuryuu?" Kouha was at a loss at what was going on. So far all he's heard was Judal's first meeting with Hakuryuu and him trying to get their little brother to go conquer a dungeon with him.
"He was so stubborn. Every time I asked him to conquer a dungeon with me and he refused, I started thinking up more ways to persuade him, but he shot me down each time. Then I got used to being with him and that's how it is."
Hearing that, they started thinking that Judal had a hidden masochist side to him they never knew. Who would have known?
"But then he goes off to Sindria and cheats on me by going with the Midget and his shoddy king vessel. After rejecting all of my proposals, he chooses the Midget instead of me!"
Why is that when he says that it sounds like a completely different matter? Or rather why is he even saying it that way?
Kouha immediately lost interest after all that random banter. He was hoping for something more exciting like a blood bath or something like that.
"Boring~" Kouha childishly pouts accidentally letting out his thoughts.
"What was that…. You're face is boring. That's for sure." Judal half heartedly mocked with words filled with sarcasm."
"What! No way!" Kouha looks in one of the wall mirrors to check if Judal was telling the truth.
"I was lying." Judal admitted.
"You jerk!" Kouha and Judal start a meaningless fight between each other like how little children fight each other.
Despite their childish spats with each other, they are good friends to each other. Koumei is glad to see that his younger brother can be open with others. Kouha is normally reserved around him and Kouen.
It's nice to see that all three brothers get along with each.
It would've been nicer if Hakuryuu would join them too. He always kept his distance away from them. He hardly ever speaks to them privately. Aside from Hakuei's attendant, Seishun, Hakuryuu barely interacts with others openly.
With Hakuryuu's admittance into the student council, one would think he'd start getting closer with his family, but not much as changed. He's still stuck to Hakuei like glue.
It's troubling sometimes to have such an uncooperative little brother, but Kouen finds Hakuryuu's rebellious attitude a good thing. At least, it's proof that he's nothing like those shameless people who try to get close to him because of his high position or those that people follow his every whim without question. What a king needs is not people waiting for his orders but people who are able to stand up to him. And Hakuryuu is one of them.
"Speaking of Hakuryuu, he's taking quiet awhile."
Kouen's right. The others notice that it has been a long time since they finished dinner. Hakuryuu should have been done by now.
A moment later, they hear footsteps at the entrance of the bathroom probably Hakuryuu's.
"Speak of the devil…" Kouha wonders if Hakuryuu had good timing or something.
There was something a bit off about it, but Kouha couldn't put his finger on it.
From the other side, there was some sort of sound they heard, but they couldn't make out what it was.
It sounded almost like giggling?
Did Hakuryuu by some chance hit his head and turn into an okama? Or maybe it was from stress?
No, wait. It sounded like a girl's voice.
Then Hakuryuu was probably chatting with Hakuei.
Or so they thought…
"You know I heard fruit baths are good for your skin…"
It was actually Kougyoku who had entered. And she wasn't alone.
"Oh my…" She was with Hakuei.
"Kyyyyaaaaaaaaaaa!" Kougyoku screamed out in embarrassment making sure that her towel wasn't slipping off of her body.
"What are you doing here! Perverts! Pigs! Peeping toms!" Kougyoku accusingly labels her brothers except for Kouen and Judal.
"That should be our line!" Kouha and Koumei retorts back.
And from outside, Hakuryuu was startled to hear that loud screech in the air as he had just returned from getting drinks from a nearby vending machine.
"What was that?"
