The next morning, Tezuka was acting weird. He'd brushed Ryoma off when he tried to give him a good morning kiss and was avoiding looking at him. He was clearly regretting the previous night.

"Te-" Ryoma started, but he was rudely interrupted by the phone ringing. He jumped, he hadn't even realised there was a phone.

"Hello," Tezuka said as he picked up the receiver. "Good morning, Fuji…. Yes….Yes…. No, we have not…"

Ryoma sat down on the sofa, Tezuka's phone calls were not interesting to listen in to.

"Of course, we'll come back immediately."

Wait, come back?

"We'll see you soon." With that, Tezuka hung up. "We're going back to Seigaku," he informed Ryoma, "Atobe needs us."

"And we can't keep the Monkey King waiting," Ryoma said, ignoring Tezuka's look of disapproval and going upstairs to pack up his things.

It took them a couple of hours to get everything packed, the house cleaned and the fire laid for any lost hikers.

"We didn't see the last eagle," Ryoma said as they finished packing the car.

"We'll have to come back," Tezuka said, "next spring."

Ryoma nodded and gave the view one last look. Then, his right eye hurt, as if someone had pricked the back of it. It was over in a split second, but still made Ryoma twitch. He wrote it off as tiredness and got into the car, "that sounds good, I guess."

Tezuka gave him a look that told him his lack of enthusiasm was noted and would be questioned later. Ryoma had questions to ask Tezuka too, but they would have to wait till Tezuka had navigated the tricky roads down to the bottom of the valley and onto the main roads.

"Why won't you look at me?" Ryoma asked.

"Because I'm driving."

"Not now, I meant this morning," Ryoma grumbled, "I tried to kiss you and you brushed me off!"

"Echizen," Tezuka sighed, "I think last night was a mistake."

"Really?" Ryoma said disbelievingly, "I don't think it was."

"You wouldn't."

Ryoma glared at him, his temper flaring up "why?"

Tezuka sighed again, "you're used to doing things like that."

"So, I'm a slut and therefore not good enough for you?!"

"That's not what I said," Tezuka said calmly, "or meant."

"What did you mean then?"

Tezuka pulled over to the side of the road and switched off the engine. There was a pause whilst Tezuka collected his thoughts. Ryoma waited, there was no point in yelling till he'd heard what Tezuka had to say.

"What I meant was that I am not used to kissing, or jumping straight into bed with someone after just getting to know them," Tezuka explained. "And…"

"And?" Ryoma pushed.

"There is a bond between us -one that you had no say in- I don't want you to feel like you're being forced into something by my mistakes."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes. "Mistake?"

"I bit you," Tezuka clarified. "and made you my mate, both without your consent."

"And the bond makes me attracted to you?"

"It might make you think that."

"But if I'm attracted to you then I'm attracted to you

"Right," Ryoma said, drawing the syllables out. "So you just want to go slower?"

"Yes," Tezuka said.

"All we did was kiss last night," Ryoma said, feeling confused, "what do you want me to do? Scatter your bed with rose petals?"

"Maybe not that," Tezuka said, "a little romance wouldn't hurt though."

"Oh."

"What?"

"Romance is… well, I'm not good at it."

"Clearly," Tezuka said, "I also have no experience with it."

"Excellent," Ryoma said, his anger dying down, "so we're both at the same level."

"As a prince, you have the advantage."

"You want me to use my title to romance you?"

"In stories there's always a handsome prince."

"Who falls in love with the princess," Ryoma said, grinning, "but we can change that to lord."

Tezuka smiled and reached over to tuck a loose lock of Ryoma's hair behind his ear.

"I'll order a thousand roses when we get home," Ryoma joked, then leaned up and kissed Tezuka softly. "You will have to tell me when I'm going too fast, I've never done romance before."

"Of course," Tezuka replied, kissing Ryoma himself, "although, roses remind me of Atobe."

"No roses then," Ryoma promised.

"Is that why you weren't as eager about coming next spring?" Tezuka asked, "because you thought I was avoiding you."

"Yes," Ryoma sighed, realising how petty it was. "I do want to come with you though. It's been fun."

Tezuka turned on the engine, "We need to go back."

"Why are we suddenly going back?"

"Atobe called, he needs us somewhere where he can easily get to us," Tezuka explained, "Fuji doesn't know why."

"Am I the only one with a bad feeling about this?"

"No, you're not," Tezuka agreed.

It was dark by the time they drove up the drive and parked outside the castle. Ryoma was tired and achy and was very much looking forward to a nice hot bath- one that he could lie in.

"Shorty, you're back!" Kikumaru cried as he ran out of the castle and latched himself onto Ryoma, "did you get to see Countess Beatrice the 4th?"

"Who's she?" Ryoma asked, they hadn't seen any people at all.

"The eagle!" Kikumaru said.

"We did see her," Tezuka said and then turned to Ryoma, "she's the female from the valley pair."

"Oh, okay," Ryoma said, "we saw her mate as well."

"Count Winston," Kikumaru corrected him and Ryoma understood why Tezuka refused to remember the names. "The male from the mountains is Boris Eagleson and his mate is Lady Elicchi."

"We didn't see the last one," Ryoma said, "we saw the male though."

"They're all healthy and well," Tezuka said, "we should get all of our things inside."

Kikumaru let go of Ryoma, "okay, I'll help!"

Finally, the car was unloaded, their things had been put away and Ryoma had run a hot bath and sunk into the water. The mountains had been fun, but it was nice to be back home.

Wait.. home?

He'd never thought about it, but he supposed this castle was home. He didn't really think of his old home, the palace back in Ensinkil, as home any more. His parents and Karupin weren't there any more, so Seigaku Castle was as close to being 'home' as it was possible to be.

Plus, Tezuka was in the castle.

He sank down into the bath as he felt his face heat up.

Tezuka was indeed here, wanting to be romanced by Ryoma.

He really should have read some of his cousin's romance novels, he had no idea what to do! Seduction, yes, he could do that. Romance though? He was completely loss. Would Tezuka appreciate flowers and being wined and dined? He wouldn't mind doing it if he and Tezuka were the only people in the castle, but with the others around there was no where he could keep it a secret. He guessed he couldn't leave the castle either, so he'd have to get someone to go into town to buy him what he needed.

He was sure he'd seen a book about romance in the library, but he couldn't stomach going to find it.

He knew that, right now, he should be focusing on why Atobe had brought them home and why he needed them here. But the idea of romancing Tezuka was what was filling up his mind. Stupid hormones wanting him to get laid.

He'd go and ask Fuji. Out of everyone, he was sure Fuji would be the one who could tell him what to do. Even if meant being teased.

Finding Fuji was another matter, however. After his bath, Ryoma went on mission to scour the castle for him. He asked everyone he could find and no one had seen him. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet.

"He might be down in town," Momo said, "visiting Taka-san."

"If you see him, let him know I'm looking for him."

He went back to his room, it didn't look like Fuji was in the castle so he was going to have to wait until tomorrow. It was getting late and he might as well go to bed.

Karupin wound his way around his ankles, purring and clearly please to have his owner back with him. He was pleased to be back with Karupin. He picked the cat up and hugged him close.

"I missed you, Karu," He muttered into the cat's fur. Karupin meowed in response, Ryoma took it as an 'I missed you too'.

He went to the bed, carrying Karupin and climbed in.

He hadn't seen Tezuka since they'd unpacked the car, he'd run off somewhere. Ryoma knew it had to be for something important, but he didn't appreciate being left alone.

Not that he minded being alone, it was just he'd been spending his evenings with Tezuka in front of the fire and now that he was alone in his room he felt rather…well, alone. He looked down at Karupin, who had stretched out on the bed.

"What do you think about Tezuka?" He asked.

Karupin looked at him with big blue eyes and twitched his ears. It could be worse, he could have hissed.

"I think I like him," Ryoma said, "I do like him, but I think I like him, you know?"
Karupin continued to stare at him, he obviously didn't know.

"I've been with him for a few days and we kissed and didn't have sex. You wouldn't understand, you're a cat, you don't do romance."

Karupin mewled and started kneading the covers.

"I wanted to sleep with him, but he wanted to go slowly and I realised I wanted to as well," Ryoma continued, scratching Karupin behind the ears, "I've never felt like this before. Which is why I'm telling you, you can't tell anyone else!"

Karupin flicked his ears.

"If you meet someone who can talk to cats, you're not allowed to tell them!" Ryoma said sternly, "this is our secret."

"Secrets?" A voice by the door said and Ryoma's head jerked up. It was Fuji. "I like secrets."

"Only because you can use them against people," Ryoma grumbled.

"Nonsense," Fuji said and in a flash he was sat on the edge of the bed, "I don't do that with secrets that would hurt someone." Ryoma rolled his eyes. "You were looking for me?"

"I was," Ryoma said grudgingly. He was wishing that he'd just decided to flail about in the darkness.

"Is it something to do with the secret you were telling Karupin?" Fuji asked sweetly as Karupin climbed into his lap. Ryoma cursed his cat for being such a traitor.

"Yes," he muttered and Fuji's face lit up.

"Go on."

"Do you know anything about romance?"

"Romance?" Fuji asked, surprised, "are you planning on sweeping Tezuka off his feet and showering him in roses?"

"Something like that," Ryoma muttered, his eyes fixed on the fire crackling in the fire place and well away from Fuji. He didn't need to see Fuji to know that he was grinning.

"If it's Tezuka then put on some tight clothes and take him some tea," Fuji said.

"I don't want to sleep with him! I want him to fall in love with me!" Ryoma snapped.

"Why not? Tezuka is very attractive."

"He is! But I tried and-" He stopped when he saw the look on Fuji's face.

"You tried and he turned you down?" Fuji guessed, barely hiding his amusement.

"He wants to go slowly."

"Of course he does. He's Tezuka," Fuji said, "his idea of 'slow' is more akin to 'glacial'."

"I'm not going to do anything he doesn't want!"

"Of course you're not," Fuji said, "you've just got to make him realise that he does want to have sex with you."

"And I do that with tea?" Ryoma asked, "it's hardly something considered romantic."

"That's why the tight jeans are needed," Fuji said, "or something equally sexy. I think I have a maid outfit somewhere."

"No!" Ryoma snapped, "I'm not doing that."

Fuji laughed, "Tezuka's a romantic deep down, just appeal to that."

"That's why I was asking you!" Ryoma snapped, feeling this conversation was just going in circles. "I don't know how to do that."

"Romance is more Oishi's area," Fuji said, "I prefer things to be a bit more…"
he let the sentence hang in the air, Ryoma knew exactly what Fuji was getting at.

"How did you manage to get Kawamura to fall in love with you?" Ryoma asked.

"Mind blowing sex," Fuji replied, smiling innocently.

"Obviously," Ryoma said, rolling his eyes. Talking to Fuji was useless.

"You have to let Tezuka get used to the idea of having sex with you," Fuji said, "he's very much on his way to falling in love with you without you having to even lift a finger. Give him a bit of time and he'll be all yours."

Ryoma gave that a bit of thought. He was happy to give Tezuka time, he just didn't particularly want to wait years.

"What's his favourite flower?" Ryoma asked and Fuji laughed.

"You'll have to ask Oishi that one," he said, "he's on guard duty at the moment so ask him in the morning. For now, you should go to sleep. You've had a long day."

Ryoma nodded, "why did we have to come back?"

"Tezuka will have to tell you that," Fuji replied, "Atobe didn't tell me."

"I'm going to bed," Ryoma said, hoping Fuji would take the hint and leave.

Fuji pulled him into a hug, "it's good to have you back, it's been quiet with you away."

"Yeah yeah," Ryoma said, "you had fun without all the assassins coming after me."

"Well, I did rather," Fuji agreed, letting Ryoma go. "Do you want to go back to your natural hair colour or would you prefer to remain a blond bombshell?"

"Natural," Ryoma said almost immediately.

"That's a shame, you look angelic as a blonde," Fuji said. "I'll buy you some dye tomorrow,"

"Goodnight Fuji," Ryoma said as Fuji got up to leave.

"You know you're not allowed out of the castle grounds?" Fuji asked as he got up to leave.

"I figured," Ryoma said, "apologise to Kawamura for me."

"He understands," Fuji assured him, "he sends his best wishes by the way. Good night."

And with that he was gone, the door shutting gently behind him.

Ryoma looked at Karupin, who looked up at him innocently.

"You should be careful of Fuji," Ryoma told him, "he gives you weird advice."

He lay down in bed and Karupin slunk under the covers with him. Ryoma wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, burying his face in Karupin's fur, his head spinning with thoughts.

If Fuji was telling the truth then he really didn't need to do anything, but he felt he should. Their relationship wasn't very romantic at the moment and maybe adding a bit wouldn't be a bad thing. Something small and touching would be best, Ryoma guessed, the idea of a big, grand gesture was really embarrassing and just wasn't him.

But what could he do? He's only been joking with the flowers, but maybe it was a good idea.

Although, he thought, flowers die quickly, it'd only be a temporary gift.

So maybe not flowers then. Maybe a pot plant?

Karupin wriggled in his sleep and Ryoma pet him idly.

He'd have to get someone to buy him his gift for him. Someone how he could trust to not tell Tezuka. That pretty much ruled out Kikumaru, he was sure the vampire would let it slip as soon as he saw Tezuka.

Fuji had a reason to go into town, but Ryoma didn't really want to trust him.

Maybe Oishi then, although if he let it slip to Kikumaru then his plan was doomed. So, Momo? Or Kaidoh or Inui. He hadn't really talked to Inui beyond answering his questions about what it was like to be a vampire's mate and he rarely saw Kaidoh.

Momo it was then.

But he had no idea what to get anyway.

He sighed, annoyed at his inability to think of something. He'd ask Oishi what he thought in the morning. If Fuji had sent him in his direction then Oishi must know Tezuka the best. He didn't need to tell him that he was planning anything, just ask some vague questions about Tezuka and romance and hope Oishi didn't put two and two together.

Who was he kidding? Of course Oishi would work it out! But if it was just asking how to romance Tezuka then it would be fine. It wasn't as if he knew what he was going to do after all.

His mind turned to Tezuka. He'd only spent a week in the mountains with him and he was already in deep. He couldn't even put his finger on what it was about Tezuka that was so attractive. He was just so…. so… he gave up, he couldn't put a word to the feeling of calm warmth that surrounded Tezuka and the dignified way he held himself. He was closer to royalty than Ryoma could ever hope to be.

He smiled to himself under the covers, Tezuka really was something. He'd love to see him take on the Prime Minister of Ensinkil. Tezuka would have him begging for forgiveness in minutes.

The thought warmed him thoroughly and soothed his worries away. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

"Oishi, can I talk to you?" Ryoma asked the next morning when he found Oishi in the kitchen.

"Oishi looked a bit surprised, but smiled at him and said, "Of course, Echizen. Is in here okay?"

"Yeah," Ryoma said, sitting down. The kitchen was empty apart from himself and Oishi.

"What did you want to talk about?" Oishi asked.

"What's Tezuka's favourite flower?" Ryoma asked.

If Oishi had been taken aback by Ryoma asking for help he was even more so when he heard the question. "His favourite flower?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ryoma said, "I thought you'd know."

"I'm sorry, Echizen," Oishi said, "I don't know. He likes gardening, so you could get him some seeds."

"I didn't say I wanted to buy him some," Ryoma grumbled.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine."

"So, do you want to get Tezuka to like you?" Oishi asked cautiously.

"Something like that."

Oishi took that as a 'yes', thankfully. For some reason, it was easier to talk to Fuji about this than Oishi. He could fight back against Fuji, he felt bad snapping at Oishi.

"Well," Oishi started, "you should just be yourself."

"I know that!"

"Okay, well…" Oishi trailed off, "this is actually quite hard."

"I know," Ryoma moaned, "that's why I'm asking you."

"I've known Tezuka for centuries and I don't know what you could do," Oishi admitted, "he likes useful things though. I mean, I'm sure he'd appreciate you buying flowers, but there are better things you could buy him."

"Right."

"In all honesty, you don't need to buy him anything," Oishi added, very unhelpfully.

Ryoma felt like hitting his head against the wall. None of this was helping! "How did you and Kikumaru get together?" He asked, thinking he might learn something from hearing the story.

Just then, Kikumaru bounced into the room.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, "you mentioned me."

"Echizen wanted to know how we fell in love," Oishi explained as Kikumaru sat down next to him.

"Want some tips to get Tezuka?" he asked Ryoma, winking at him.

"Not really," Ryoma muttered, wondering how transparent he was if even Kikumaru could see through him.

"Eiji," Oishi sighed wearily.

Kikumaru ignored him, "how long ago did we meet?" he asked.

"It was just after I'd arrived here," Oishi replied, "so five hundred years ago?"

"Oishi! You should know exactly how many years it's been," Kikumaru teased him.

"I'm sorry," Oishi said, "I have the year written down in my room."

"I was just joking," Kikumaru said, linking an arm through Oishi's and squeezing it, snuggling his face against Oishi's neck. Ryoma felt rather embarrassed watching, it was like watching his parents being affectionate.

"How did you meet?" Ryoma prompted.

"It was just after Atobe had become King," Oishi started, "Tanaris saw it as a good opportunity to attack."

"They wanted to take advantage of the confusion a change of leader could have created," Kikumaru explained.

"Humans weren't popular in the empire at the time," Oishi continued, "Ensinkil were neutral, but it was obvious at the time that they wouldn't stop people from coming through to attack our country. So, Tezuka and I came to Seigaku as it's so near the border with Ensinkil. Eiji-"

"I was hanging around Seigaku," Kikumaru jumped in, "I'd just been turned and didn't know what to do with myself."

"Why were you turned?" Ryoma asked, genuinely interested, something in the way Kikumaru had said it sounded like he had been turned against his will.

"Some vampires decided that the best way to win the war was to turn humans into vampires," Oishi explained.

"I was one of the humans they turned," Kikumaru said, "it sucked. They came to my village one day, kidnapped everyone fit enough to fight and turned us."

Sucked was an understatement, Ryoma thought. He wasn't known for his tact, but he knew not to push Kikumaru for details. If he was honest, he didn't want to know.

"Most of us gave in and decided to fight, but I ran away," Kikumaru explained, "I ran to the furthest edge of the empire. I was really scared."

"I bet you were," Ryoma said and Oishi gave him a sympathetic look and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.

"But I met Oishi here," Kikumaru said, brightening up, "he helped me a lot."

Oishi flushed and Kikumaru looked at him with an expression of abject adoration on his face.

"I would still be lost without Oishi," he said.

Oishi was now bright red and Ryoma let him cool off a bit before prompting the story to continue.

"So you met in town?" He asked.

"He stopped me killing someone," Kikumaru said, "I didn't want to hurt anyone, or to drink their blood. I didn't know about bloodlust though, so one day I snapped and bit the first person I came across."

"I saw him and got him off before he could do any damage," Oishi said.

"You punched me!"

"It was the only way to get you back to your senses! Then I pulled you back up to the castle and gave you some blood."

"I just remember you punching me and then drinking blood," Kikumaru said.

"You put up a good fight on the way to the castle. You scratched and kicked me a lot."

"I don't remember that."

"Well, you were mad with hunger, it's natural that you wouldn't remember," Oishi explained.

"Tezuka let me stay with you at the castle," Kikumaru said.

"He saw the potential in you," Oishi said fondly, "you've become a fine vampire."

It was Kikumaru's turn to turn red.

"So," Ryoma said, not wanting to watch another round of affectionate cuddling, "how did you fall in love?"

"The war was averted," Oishi said, "Fuji had joined us near the end of the war and afterwards we were put in charge of permanently guarding the border."

"We spent a lot of time together," Kikumaru said, "I don't really remember falling in love, it just happened." Oishi nodded in agreement. "I wasn't in the best place during that time, Oishi helped me accept what I had become."

"I couldn't stand seeing you so miserable," Oishi said, "I chose to become a vampire, but you didn't. I just wanted to help."

"You're so nice," Kikumaru grinned at Oishi. He turned to Ryoma, "I hope Tezuka is as nice to you, if he isn't tell me and I'll tell him off."

Ryoma couldn't imagine Kikumaru scolding Tezuka, he wondered if Kikumaru even had the nerve to do it.

"Did hearing our story help at all?" Oishi asked.

"Not really," Ryoma admitted, "I'll think of something."

"Take him tea," Kikumaru said, "He likes tea!"

"That's what Fuji said," Ryoma told them, omitting the part about sexy clothes.

"Then I must be right! It'll give you an excuse to see him," Kikumaru said, "I used to take Oishi things just to be able to see him."

"You mean you don't do it now?" Oishi asked, a knowing look on his face.

"I don't need excuses to see you now," Kikumaru told him, "you're my mate, I can see you any time I like."

Ryoma got up and went to the stove where the kettle was waiting, full of water.

"How does he like his tea?" he asked the two vampires.

"I'll help you," Oishi said, standing and giving Kikumaru a quick kiss on the top of his head before coming over and talking Ryoma through how to make Tezuka's tea.

Ryoma made sure to commit it to memory, he had a feeling he'd be doing this quite a lot. Whilst they made the tea, Kikumaru prepared the tray and teacups (two, one for Tezuka and one for Ryoma)

"Go up to the library, Tezuka's office is the door opposite," Oishi directed him once the tea was made.

Ryoma nodded and set off, holding the tray was a lot more confidence than he would've done had he not had his few days working at Kawamura's. The stairs were a bit tricky, but he made his way up without spilling anything and would have jumped for joy at the top if that wouldn't cause the tea to spill.