Shuichi fell asleep right away, curled up in a ball next to Yuki. He slept peacefully for awhile, but then his disturbing exchange with the rabbit came back to him. He didn't understand why Ryuichi thought everyone could understand him when the bunny was obviously silent. He had a few mix-matched dreams about Ryuichi in a bunny suit, and then he was suddenly in Kuma's story.
He was standing on the edge of an oasis; everything around him was fuzzy, and he was aware that he was having a very realistic dream. Inside the oasis, he could see Ryuichi and K talking, and standing in front of them was Yuki.
Shuichi watched the exchange in front of him, but he was too far away to hear any words. He edged closer, afraid that he might be spotted, even though he was dreaming. Yuki looked insane, and Shuichi was more than a little scared of him. As he scooted forward, the clearing was suddenly engulfed in smoke, and Shuichi heard some distinct popping noises. He got within ten feet of the smoke, and he could hear everything that was happening inside the dark cloud.
"Showtime." K said, and Shuichi heard him clear his throat.
"What the hell is all of this?" Yuki hissed. Shuichi noticed a different edge to his voice and wondered what had happened to him.
"IT'S GONE DARK! I CAN'T SEE!" Ryuichi squalled. Shuichi heard a soft 'thump' and saw that Ryuichi was sitting next to Kuma, cradling his head in his hands. "MAKE IT STOP, YUKI, MAKE IT STOP!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Yuki retorted, ready to kill everyone in the clearing. "I'M SO SICK OF-"
Before Yuki could finish his response, K tackled him to the ground, knocking the breath out of him. Shuichi gasped and jumped back, wanting to stay as far away as possible. K snapped his fingers again and the smoke cleared away completely, washing the scene with desert sunlight.
K was sprawled across Yuki, holding the wriggling man down to the ground. Ryuichi was dancing around, apparently thrilled with the return of the sunlight.
"Ryuichi! Get a rope!" K ordered, gesturing to a large box that most certainly had not been there before.
"Aye, aye!" Ryuichi chimed in, running over to the box.
"Ryuichi! Don't get a rope!" Yuki yelled, trying to confuse Ryuichi long enough for him to make his escape. Ryuichi stopped in mid-gallop and turned to look at Yuki. He started to back up, away from the box.
"Ryuichi! Get the stupid rope!" K screamed, struggling to hold Yuki down. Ryuichi nodded and jumped forward, concentrating on the large wooden square in front of him.
"Ryuichi! Don't get the stupid rope!" Yuki shouted, head-butting K and making a run for it. He got about five steps away before another flying tackle from K brought him down. K ended up sprawled across Yuki's back. Ryuichi started to dance in place, unsure of what to do next. He backed away from both Yuki and the box, and looked like he was about to bolt into the trees.
"Either get that rope or its curtains for Kuma!" K yelled, his voice cracking. Ryuichi edged away from the woods, looking like a deer caught in someone's headlights.
"He's bluffing, Ryuichi, don't get the rope!" Yuki yelled louder. Ryuichi stood stock-still, thinking to himself that if he stopped moving, they'd stop yelling.
"SHUT UP!" K screeched, losing his composure. He whacked Yuki on the head and pushed his face into the sand to keep him quiet. He cleared his throat and then calmed down. "Ryuichi, the rope if you please."
"Ummm…" Ryuichi mumbled, looking towards the trees again. Shuichi stayed where he was, hoping that no one could see him.
"Ryuichi." K said calmly, still holding Yuki's face down. Yuki's arms flailed wildly, trying to unseat his captor.
Ryuichi gulped and stepped timidly towards the box. When Yuki didn't yell at him or start screaming, Ryuichi moved with a purpose and gathered up K's rope. He inched over to K, and handed him the rope gingerly.
"Thank you, my good sir. Now why don't you help me tie him up?" K said, trying to soothe Ryuichi. He wouldn't get very far without his help. Ryuichi stayed quiet, analyzing the situation. Shuichi circled the trio, his eyes wide. He'd never seen all of them in action like this before. It was kind unnerving to be hovering around the edges, an unseen narrator. When Ryuichi made no move to help, K tried a new approach. "Hey, this was your idea!"
A muffled roar issued from the sand where Yuki's face was buried; he'd never suspected that Ryuichi would turn on him so fast, though he'd known that it was inevitable from the beginning of K's fancy song.
"I know, I know…but I don't want to make Yuki mad again…" Ryuichi said, his brow furrowed. He didn't know how to follow two captains, and his sudden burst of loyalty to Yuki wasn't helping matters. He looked to Yuki for reassurance, but the latter's submerged head made no movement whatsoever. Ryuichi shrugged, deciding that K was the way to go; Yuki had stopped moving all together, and Ryuichi took this as a sign of surrender, not as a sign of lack of oxygen. "Okay!"
"Great, you grab his hands." K said, getting off of Yuki very slowly. He grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him up. Yuki fought back a little, but his brain was too foggy to mount a decent defense. Ryuichi grabbed his hands and put them behind his back. Within five minutes, Ryuichi and K had Yuki tied around a tree. His hands were bound behind his back, behind the tree, and his feet were anchored by a large rock and some more rope. K had tried to muzzle him after sustaining a pretty serious bite, but Ryuichi had stepped in at that point.
Shuichi couldn't believe what was happening; he knew that Yuki was really mad at K and Ryuichi, but he'd never thought it was because of something this serious. He gulped and hoped that it got better from here on out for his beloved.
"First things first…he needs to look like he didn't just crawl out of a sewer drain." K said, cracking his knuckles and looking Yuki over. Yuki narrowed his eyes at the 'sewer drain' comment, but kept quiet. He knew when he was beat, and this was definitely one of those times. It was just plain deadly to interfere with Ryuichi's schemes, and the short one looked much too excited. He'd clearly sided in full with K. "We need to get his measurements."
K snapped his fingers and a tape measure wound itself around his arms. Yuki squirmed uncomfortably, wondering exactly what K would be measuring.
"Ryuichi, I need you to hold his arm when I untie him, OK?" K said, staring Yuki down, daring him to cause any more trouble. "We don't want a rampaging Yuki on our hands."
Ryuichi skipped forward, now eager for his wish for Yuki to be fulfilled.
"Alright you, behave." K breathed quietly to Yuki when he reached the street rat.
Yuki glared at K, still keeping quiet. He had no idea what K was going to do to him, and he didn't think it prudent to provoke the powerful genie when he was tied to a tree and absolutely incapable of defending himself. K untied his right arm and measured his wrists and from his hand to his shoulder. After he re-tied him, he did the same to his left. The rest of the measuring went pretty smooth until K tried to take Yuki's in-seam on his pants. He ran his hand up the inside of Yuki's leg, the tape measure tied around his pointer finger. When K's hand was between Yuki's knees, Yuki clamped them together and snared K's fingers.
"Go any higher and I'll break your fingers."
"Release my fingers or I'll break your knees."
Shuichi couldn't hear the exchange, but he could see the look on Yuki's face and he was worried for K's safety, even if the taller man was a nearly invincible genie.
"I'm serious." Yuki hissed through gritted teeth, staring down at K as best he could.
"You think I'm not? I'm trying to help you out here."
"How the hell is this helping me? I didn't ask for this, I wished for money!" Yuki spat, feeling disgusted with his current situation. Shuichi darted around the foggy edge of the clearing and came to rest behind the tree that Yuki was tied to. He was close enough he could feel the practically palpable tension.
"You want your Prince, don't you?" K asked, glaring up at Yuki. Shuichi gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, forgetting that no one could hear him.
"I never said that! That was Ryuichi's idea!"
"No need to get so sensitive…we all know you're in love."
"I AM NOT!" Yuki yelled, trying to kick K. His feet were too weighted down however, and all he accomplished was to jostle K's hand to a more northern position.
"Didn't think we were that close, Yuki-san." K said quietly, a huge smile on his face. Yuki looked like he was about to spontaneously combust on the spot. "While I'm here, I might as well finish the job.
Yuki merely hissed, not trusting himself to speak, especially not when K's hand was where it was. He closed his eyes and held his breath, waiting for it all to be over. Shuichi came around the side of the tree, eager to see what was going on, and trying very hard not to look where K's hand was.
"I wanna do the clothes!" Ryuichi shouted suddenly, coming out of the trance he'd been in since helping K untie Yuki's limbs. K nodded, concentrating on his task. He really didn't want his hand to get to third base with Yuki. Yuki continued to hold his breath, waiting for it to end.
"There. You can relax, Yuki-san, I'm done feeling you up." K said with a smile, standing up and dusting his hands together. Yuki glowered at him, still staying quiet. Shuichi giggled, and turned his attention to Ryuichi, who had pulled a doodle pad out of K's box and was entertaining himself and Kuma with some crayons. "Ryuichi, you ready?"
"Yep!" Ryuichi answered, running over to K with the pad. What Shuichi had taken for silly drawings were actually detailed clothing sketches. Shuichi gasped and scooted forward to see them. Before he could catch a glimpse, however, K snapped his fingers and they disappeared.
"Let's get this over with, then." K announced. He snapped his fingers again and a dressing room of sorts appeared, complete with a tri-fold mirror. A little stool stood in front of it, and Ryuichi's sketches were covering the walls. K was surprised at how many Ryuichi had come up with in the short time he'd had. K didn't think it'd taken him that long to finish Yuki's measurements, but then again, who knew.
K untied Yuki's arms but kept his legs bound for everyone's well-being. He didn't want to get kicked, and he didn't want to waste his time chasing Yuki around the oasis should he escape. K led Yuki over to the stool and pulled him onto it, as Yuki had decided to make the procedure as difficult for K as humanly possible.
"You keep this mess up and I'll make you wear a dress." K threatened under his breath, not wanting to encourage Ryuichi's crayons. There were already several feminine sketches attached to the walls surrounding the mirror.
Yuki snorted and shook his head, disbelieving. K indeed seemed to have a flair for the strangely dramatic, but Yuki also sensed in him a need for everything to go according to a specific plan. He couldn't imagine K landing him in a dress for his grand royal entry.
"Have it your way." K remarked, snapping his fingers. A cloud of dust surrounded the dressing room, and Shuichi again had to move forward to see what was going on in his bizarre dream. The dust settled unnaturally quickly, and when it did, everyone that could see the mirror wished it hadn't.
Yuki was wearing an Elizabethan gown, complete with lead face-paint and a gigantic wig. A gigantic ruff was around his neck, preventing him from looking anywhere but straight ahead. The hoop skirt came out two feet on every side, and the hair piece added about a foot and a half of height to Yuki's frame. K had squeezed him into an extremely tight corset and Yuki was tottering around on the stool, trying to get a breath so that he didn't pass out. The face-paint was stark white, and the red that K had slathered over his lips made them stand out more than was naturally possible. He'd apparently misjudged K.
"What the-"
"Oh Yuki, you're so pretty!" Ryuichi squealed, clapping his hands together and pirouetting in place.
"Very dashing." K interjected, pleased with his handiwork. He wasn't going to let Ryuichi have all the fun.
Shuichi's mouth fell open and he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or throw up. He chose the first, and fell to his knees, shaking with laughter. If Yuki hadn't looked so miserable, he didn't think he would've been able to stop.
"K." Yuki finally managed, his eyes shut tight. His arms were jutting out at strange angles due to the tight corset, and he was barely able to keep his balance.
"You rang?"
"Change it. Now." Yuki ordered, his voice slightly muffled by the ruff.
"You didn't say the magic word!" K sang out.
"GET RID OF THE GODDAMN DRESS!"
"That definitely wasn't the magic word…" K muttered.
"DAMMIT, MAN!"
"I'm not a man, I'm a genie. You apparently aren't one either…" K replied, stroking his chin.
"Put him in something else K, I don't think he likes this one very much." Ryuichi said from the corner, appearing to take a stand for Yuki but actually suffering from boredom.
"Fine, fine…"
K snapped his fingers, staring at one of Ryuichi's colorful drawings. When the dust settled again, Yuki was relieved; he wasn't wearing another dress. Instead, K had outfitted him in a silken outfit, complete with a hyper-embellished robe. The entire thing was made out of purple and dark blue silks, and the thread was gold. The robe had a high mandarin collar, and the sleeves had buttons that ran up to Yuki's elbows. The bottom of the robe pooled around Yuki's ankles and this pleased him more than anything; he was too tall for most things to fit him properly, let alone be longer than necessary.
Yuki looked himself over, pleased with the outfit. Ryuichi pranced around the stool with a pincushion, making little adjustments where he deemed necessary. Yuki gulped and watched his progress intently, knowing that Ryuichi had absolutely no sewing experience, next to the time he'd stitched Kuma's name into a pillow. Shuichi followed Ryuichi, taking in every angle, and liking what he saw very much.
"This one is too normal, we need shock factor." K decided, pulling Ryuichi away from the beautiful robe and snapping again. Behind him, Shuichi sighed, sad to see the outfit go.
The third outfit was thankfully masculine, but Yuki refused to accept it. K had him decked out in a long fur cape, complete with a ridiculous gold crown. The actual outfit consisted of a gold vest with some burgundy tassels, a heeled boot that went up to his knee, and horribly tight pants that left nothing to the imagination.
"No." Yuki said immediately, feeling slightly self-conscious.
"Agreed." K consented, shielding his eyes and snapping again before Ryuichi could get too involved with his pins. Shuichi tried to stop himself from blushing, but he couldn't help it. He turned around, and when he glanced over his shoulder, the dressing room was again obscured by a dust cloud.
"Just pick one already…" Yuki muttered before the dust had cleared, tired of being Ryuichi's dress-up doll.
"I say the first!" K chimed in.
"The second." Yuki said quickly, wishing he could do something exceedingly violent to K.
"We're not done yet!" Ryuichi squalled, tears welling up. "I worked real hard!"
When the scene cleared, Yuki was wearing a Pharaoh's headdress and not much else. Ryuichi had him in a short skirt of sorts that barely kept him decent.
"NO!" Yuki and K shouted at the same time. Shuichi gasped at what was in the mirror and started blushing again.
"HEY!" Ryuichi yelled indignantly, wanting his designs to be taken seriously. "Kuma likes them…"
The rabbit stayed still in the sand next to Ryuichi's abandoned crayons, and Ryuichi felt comforted by the non-verbal exchange that no one else present could pick up on.
K snapped his fingers, again hiding his eyes from the horrendous sight in the mirror. Yuki's Egyptian get-up was replaced with a more northern look; Ryuichi had him in a kilt. Yuki covered his face with his hands, afraid to look anymore.
"Ryuichi…I'm not sure you should play with crayons anymore." K said, looking at Yuki with distaste. "I'm serious, this is…"
"Wrong." Yuki finished succinctly, peeking through his hands with one eye to take in the damage.
Besides the kilt, he was wearing a flouncy white shirt and a sash. He had on socks that went to his knees, some bulky shoes, and a weird little cap with what looked like a red cotton ball on top. Shuichi snorted when he saw the outfit, and the look on Yuki's face.
"That's not everything, K!" Ryuichi complained, stomping his foot.
"Right, right…" K replied, snapping his fingers again. Yuki stared at him with wide eyes, unable to think of what else could be coming. He turned back to face the mirror and was promptly hit in the head with a large green and red bagpipe.
"What the hell?" Yuki said, rubbing his head where it had been assaulted by the plaid instrument. He'd barely managed to stay on his feet.
"Ta da!" Ryuichi chirped, twirling again. He grabbed the conjured music-maker and attempted to play it. Yuki glanced over at Ryuichi and shook his head. Shuichi kept his hands firmly clamped over his ears, unwilling to let them be assaulted any longer by Ryuichi's noise.
"K…"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." K sighed. It was hard to enjoy tormenting Yuki when he looked so sad. He snapped his fingers, causing Yuki's latest trend to disappear.
Ryuichi continued his attempt to master the sounds of the north, but another snap from K caused his bagpipe to vanish mid-blow. Ryuichi pouted at K, but got over himself in time to see his last sketch on Yuki.
The smoke from K's magic started to disappear, and K groaned. He couldn't see the entirety of Yuki's new look, but he could tell that a central component was something garishly yellow and floor-length.
"What? What is it? Why are you groaning?" Yuki asked hurriedly, his paranoia returning. He couldn't imagine anything worse than what he'd already been subjected to, but then again, this was Ryuichi.
"Oh, this is my favorite!" Ryuichi cried when he could see the full effect of his last sketch on Yuki. "Kuma's too."
"Oh dear god…" K murmured, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, completely flabbergasted.
"What? Is it worse than the others?" Yuki queried, his eyes closed tight to avoid scarring himself for eternity. "K!"
"It's worse."
"That's not nice, it's pretty!" Ryuichi said, indignant tears welling in his eyes. "Yuki, open your eyes!"
"I'd rather not."
"KUMAGORO BEAM!" Ryuichi screamed, hoisting Kuma up and throwing him a light speed towards Yuki's head. Yuki never saw it coming, as his eyes were closed, and he toppled over when the plush rabbit slammed into his skull.
"Dammit, Ryuichi!" Yuki yelled, turning to face Ryuichi. Ryuichi danced in front of the large mirror, his scheme to make Yuki look completed. "Ryuichi…"
Shuichi had been shocked into silence, unsure of what to do with what he was looking at. Sure, it wasn't as revealing as the others, and it definitely wasn't a dress, but it wasn't good either. It was like some kind of six camel pile-up; you wanted to look away, desperately, but you never could.
Yuki was draped in a very long, and very outlandish, orange and yellow rain coat. Underneath it, Ryuichi had drawn him into some short bike shorts, a tight shirt that was missing the mid-riff, and some almost knee-high boots with red lines. He was also sporting some fingerless gloves. Shuichi giggled, and turned around, not wanting the blushing to start again.
"Ryuichi." Yuki stated quietly. "I'm going to have to kill you now."
"Let's not, play nice Yuki-san, he was only trying to help…" K said in a calm voice, trying to soothe Yuki.
Yuki stood up to strangle his accomplice, and the effect was shocking. It had been bad enough when he was sprawled in the sand, but this was much, much worse. K yelped and snapped his fingers again, no clear picture in his head.
"Okay, I think we're good now." K announced when he could see what Yuki was wearing this time. "It's safe, you can look."
Yuki opened one eye, not entirely sure whether or not he trusted K. He was pleasantly surprised, however. K had put him in a dark blue shirt with flared button sleeves and gold detailing. He was wearing loose fitting pants that had a wide, embroidered cuff, and a sash at the waist. He exhaled, relieved, and Shuichi nodded his approval.
"I liked mine better…" Ryuichi whispered to Kuma, not very fond of K's design. It lacked pizzazz.
"Well, I'm sure that Agrabah will appreciate mine more." K answered, thinking back to the skirts and tight pants of Ryuichi's imagination.
"Let's just go with this, no more experiments." Yuki said, feeling nervous. Ryuichi looked like he wanted to throw a tantrum and that was never a good experience.
"On to hair and make-up, then." K said after some deliberation. He snapped, replacing the dressing room with a salon. K grabbed Yuki and forced him into a spiny chair in front of a mirror. He undid Yuki's leg shackle, deciding that he wasn't a flight risk without the scandalous clothing.
"I'm not wearing make-up!" Yuki shouted, trying to jump out of the chair. K grabbed his gun and held it to Yuki's head.
"You'll do what I tell you or you'll get shot."
Yuki huffed and plopped back into the chair, crossing his arms and glaring into the mirror. He was fine with the way he looked, and he'd be damned before he'd wear lipstick. Shuichi walked over to chair and stood beside it, sure now that no one could see or hear him. He sat on the counter by the mirror, and watched Yuki for the duration of K's styling.
"What kind of look should we do..?" K thought aloud, the wheels in his head turning.
"Nothing. You should just keep it the same." Yuki answered him, unwilling to change.
"Oooh!" Ryuichi squealed suddenly, breaking the tension between Yuki and K. Both turned to look at Ryuichi, and both were frightened; he'd found the scissors.
"Ryuichi, just put them down…nice and easy…" K advised, trying to keep Ryuichi calm. He walked slowly toward Ryuichi, intent on recovering the scissors.
"SHINY!" Ryuichi screamed, dodging K and running around the salon in frenzied circles. He started opening and closing the scissors, thrilled with this new discovery. He ran into Yuki's chair and sent the latter spinning rapidly.
"Ugh…" Yuki said, holding his mouth and stomach and feeling like he was going to hurl. He had a glimpse of Ryuichi advancing on him with the scissors open before the dizziness overwhelmed his vision. He heard some clicking noises that were much too close to his face, and some gasps from K.
"Ryuichi…" Yuki said drunkenly. "What'd you do?"
"I fixed you, Yuki!" Ryuichi replied, jiving around in a circle.
"I needed to be fixed?" Yuki asked, trying to stand now that his chair was still and instead falling flat on his face.
"You'd better not look…" K said, swiping the scissors from the distracted Ryuichi and locking them up.
"Why?"
"Just trust me."
Yuki glared at K when he regained control of his eyes and pulled himself up on the counter. He shuddered when he saw his hair; half of the left side of his hair was missing. On the sand, there were a few clumps of golden hair.
"RYUICHI!" Yuki roared, grabbing some brushes and combs and throwing them at the still-dancing Ryuichi.
Ryuichi yipped and dove behind one of the walls, peeking his head around the corner occasionally to see if the coast was clear.
"Okay, I don't think we need any make-up…just a trim." K said, changing the subject to sidetrack the enraged Yuki.
"A trim? Half my hair's gone!" Yuki yelled, turning on K.
"Actually, it's more like a quarter, and I can fix that."
Yuki glared at K, waiting for him to prove it. K glared back and snapped his fingers, replacing the locks that Ryuichi had lobbed off.
"There, all better Miss Prissy." K said, mock-bowing at Yuki.
"Hmph."
"Let's just get this over with." K told Yuki, cracking his knuckles and conjuring some small scissors. Ryuichi 'oohed' and 'ahhed', but K kept a tight grip on them to dissuade him.
Ryuichi got bored with the haircut very quickly, and he and Kuma decided to rifle through a few more drawers to see what they could find. K completely ignored him, focused on not shearing Yuki.
Ryuichi went through the drawers rather quickly, as nothing was grabbing his attention. He reached the last drawer and pulled it open, hoping that he'd find something new.
There was only one thing in the drawer; an electric shaver. Ryuichi had no idea what it was, or what it did, but he was immediately intrigued. He put Kuma down and reached for the alien device. There was a small slider on the side, and Ryuichi pushed it a few times until the small metal object in his hand started whirring. He smiled wide, but kept quiet. He didn't want K to prematurely ruin his fun.
K currently had his back turned on Yuki, as he was getting some product for the styling. He'd already trimmed Yuki up and washed his hair. Ryuichi crept towards his tall friend, eager to try out his new toy. He stood up behind Yuki and ran the shaver from the back of his neck to his bangs before the other man was aware of what was happening.
"Ryuichi?" Yuki asked incredulously, staring at the bald stripe in the middle of his head.
K spun around, scared of Yuki's tone. When he saw Ryuichi holding the shaver and the look on Yuki's face, he groaned.
"Ryuichi, give me the shaver."
"No! It's my friend, you can't have it!" Ryuichi said loudly, clutching the still-running shaver to his chest. When it buzzed him, he yelped and threw it at K.
"Whoa!" K yelled, jumping sideways to narrowly avoid the sinisterly vibrating shaver. "That's it, we're done here."
K snapped his fingers and the shaver vanished. He snapped again to replace Yuki's missing hair before Yuki recovered from his shock enough to kill Ryuichi. He was currently opening and closing his mouth, staring at himself in the mirror. When his hair returned, he sighed, content, and slumped down in the chair. Shuichi laughed to himself, enjoying the fiasco in front of him. He walked away from the salon and found a better vantage point.
"Alright. Now we need transportation…" K replied, looking excited. "Ryuichi, let's confer."
"Con what?" Ryuichi asked, cocking his head and raising his eyebrows.
"No! No Ryuichi! Leave him out of it!"
"Go back to your tree and chill. Let the adults handle this." K ordered, pointing at the tree that they'd tied Yuki to earlier.
"What the hell does that mean? I'm an adult! Ryuichi's the child here!"
"But I'm older than you, Yuki!" Ryuichi said with a smile, picking up Kuma and skipping over to K. Shuichi's eyes widened. Ryuichi looked like he was eighteen and acted like he was eight. He couldn't imagine that he was older than Yuki.
"Really? I was just messing with you, but that's hilarious." K snorted, pleased that he had found a new way to tease Yuki.
"Shut. It."
K shook his head for a few seconds and then focused on how Yuki was going to make his big entrance. Ryuichi whispered a few ideas in his ear and K toned them down so that no one would get hurt. If he tried to make Yuki ride a flying pink unicorn, things might get ugly.
"Okay, I'm going to conjure them all up and bring them out one at a time for you to try out." K directed at Yuki, snapping to make the salon disappear, only to be replaced by a barn-like structure. K walked into his new conjuration, and those left behind could hear snapping and strange animal noises. "Here's option number one!"
K pranced out of the barn, leading a camel. He smiled and gestured to the camel, looking much too excited.
"Fine, go with that." Yuki said quickly, afraid of what else might come out; a pillar of flames had just erupted from a hole in the barn's roof.
"Too boring!" Ryuichi shouted, giving K a thumbs down. "Boo!"
K hated being booed, and he gave Ryuichi a response with a rude hand gesture. He tugged the camel back into the barn and then danced back out with his next grand idea.
"See? Monochromatic!"
"It's a panda." Yuki stated, giving K an 'are you kidding me?' look.
"Exactly!"
"No."
Ryuichi neglected to comment, as he was occupied with trying to teach Kuma K's hand sign. Shuichi sat beside him, enthralled.
"Fine…" K muttered, stomping back into the barn with his panda. "But from here on out, it's all Ryuichi!"
Yuki gulped and shuddered, wishing he'd just gone with the stupid panda.
K backed out of his barn, throwing the doors open. He ducked, and Yuki immediately wanted to scream; a rug swooped out of the barn. It was identical to the Rug Man, except it was green and purple.
"NO!" Yuki shouted, and the original rug threw a rock at his head. It had stayed out of the proceedings, but the new rug had intrigued it.
"Yeah…wouldn't want Rug Man to get jealous." K said on a nod, snapping to make the second rug disappear. The rug made a few angry noises that only K could hear and flew off again. "It's for the best, man!"
"Stop talking to the carpet." Yuki snapped, and the rug hurled a stick at his head.
"Stop talking to the carpet…" K mimicked, going back into the barn. He came back out dragging a huge chain.
A gigantic dragon loped out behind him, and Yuki suddenly had an explanation for the earlier fire. He guessed that this was Ryuichi's idea, and stepped into the trees for safety.
"If he breathes fire, you'll die first!" K yelled to Yuki, patting the dragon on the leg.
"Good!" Yuki retorted, thinking that death would be better than being paraded by force through Agrabah.
Shuichi, Ryuichi, and Kuma all stopped their hand sign lesson to stare at K's largest creation. Shuichi scooted behind Ryuichi, fearing for his life. Ryuichi and Kuma applauded, thrilled with K's accuracy. The dragon was just as they'd imagined.
"I'm not riding that thing!" Yuki called from the trees.
"Probably not a good idea for Agrabah…it's a desert, no water. Fire's not so good…" K said, more to himself than to anyone else. He snapped, and the dragon disappeared just like the second rug had. "Here's the last one!"
K grabbed a small rope and dragged out a bright pink bird with a long neck. It was much bigger than a normal flamingo, and Yuki decided that it was in his best interest to stay put in the trees.
"Get out here and meet Philippe!" K shouted to Yuki, patting the flamingo's back.
"Philippe?" Yuki asked, raising and eyebrow and poking his head out of the trees.
At the sound of a stranger using its name, the flamingo reared back and broke free of its tether. It charged the trees, aiming for Yuki. Yuki tried to dodge it, but he couldn't get around the rampaging flamingo. Philippe ran smack into him and sent him flying into a tree. Yuki fell to the ground, unconscious.
K shook out his ponytail and sighed; Yuki wasn't going to be happy when he woke up. He snapped, and everything disappeared.
"Well…I guess we can start working on his entrance…" K suggested to Ryuichi, shrugging. He ventured into the trees and pulled Yuki out. "At least he can't object to any of our ideas this way."
"It's go time." Ryuichi said with a wicked smile, pounding a fist into his open palm.
"The bigger the better, I say."
"LET'S DO A PARADE!" Ryuichi yelled suddenly, the inspiration whacking him upside the head. "We can have dancers, and fireworks, and animals, and, and, FIRE!"
"Sounds good." K replied in a calm voice, trying to keep the lid on the situation. He had a feeling that Ryuichi and fire wouldn't pair well. He leaned against a tree, still hovering on the edge of the palm tree forest.
"But I don't think Yuki'll like it…"
"That's why we're doing this now. What he wants doesn't really matter if he can't speak for himself. I say we strap him to something and march him to the palace. You can have your dancers and fireworks while we're going through the city." K responded, making sure to leave out the part about fire.
"What about my fire?"
"Maybe when you're older."
"Awww!"
Ryuichi pouted in silence for a while and K thought over the logistics for the parade. He would need a new song, and someone to introduce Yuki. Ryuichi seemed enthusiastic enough for it. He'd have him lead the parade and he'd stay in the shadows and direct. He nodded a few times, convincing himself that this was the best course of action.
"Ryuichi. How do people usually respond to parades? We need them to enjoy this, we don't want a mutiny." K asked, snapping Ryuichi out of his gloom.
"If the person is nice, we like them. If he's a meanie, then we don't." Ryuichi answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
"We need a way to make the people like him, then.. He's not exactly personable." K told Ryuichi, dragging Yuki away from the trees so that he could keep an eye on him.
"Oh, I know!" Ryuichi yelled again. His muse was obviously in a very good mood.
Ryuichi ran over to K and started to whisper furiously fast, trying to get all of his ideas out before he forgot them.
"I like that…" K muttered, listening intently. "Let's start working."
"Kuma, watch Yuki. Make sure he doesn't get eaten." Ryuichi told the bunny, sitting him on top of Yuki's chest.
K and Ryuichi wandered off to the edge of the oasis, leaving Yuki and Kuma behind.
Shuichi peeked out from behind the tree he'd jumped behind to avoid any flamingo damage; it looked pretty safe. He ambled over to Yuki and plopped down beside him, content to watch K and Ryuichi from a considerable distance.
The best he could tell, Ryuichi had regained control of the sketch pad and crayons, and had sat himself down in some shade to scribble out his grand ideas. K paced erratically, his mouth moving every once in a while. Shuichi guessed that he was probably talking to himself. Beside him, Yuki groaned and rolled over in his sleep, burying his face into the sand.
Shuichi flopped onto his back, willing to let the dream take care of itself for now. A few minutes later, excited Ryuichi squeals dragged him back into the escapade. He sighed, looking at Yuki's sleeping form, and hoisted himself up to see what all the commotion was about.
Ryuichi was hopping in place while K flipped through his sketches. Shuichi couldn't imagine what he'd been drawing this time, and he gulped; K looked much too pleased. He approached them cautiously, wanting to hear what they were saying.
"This looks great, I say we do pages two, four, and seven." K said to Ryuichi, handing him the sketches. "That should be enough, you have several on each page."
"We have to do number nine too, or no deal."
"Ryuichi, if we do that one we won't live to see tomorrow…"
"But!"
"No."
"K!"
"Ryuichi!" K shouted, looking menacing. He hadn't felt the need to stand up for Yuki before, but now he did. Ryuichi had some really messed up sketches.
"Fine, fine, we'll do it your way." Ryuichi said, sticking his tongue out at K and crossing his arms.
"Alrighty then." K answered, snapping his fingers. A large, white curtain appeared, separating off a part of the oasis, and Shuichi was scared to look behind it. "I'll get Yuki, you start setting up."
Shuichi sat down on a rock, watching K drag Yuki behind the curtain. For a while, all he could hear was Ryuichi humming to himself, but that was eventually replaced with strange clicking noises. Every once in a while, a flash of light would illuminate what was happening behind the curtain, but only for a split second. After about ten minutes, the noises stopped all together.
"That should do it for the slideshow." Shuichi heard K say. "Let's work on the song before he wakes up."
K snapped his fingers and the curtain disappeared. Shuichi caught a quick glimpse of some extras before they too vanished. He sighed and approached them again, ready for his long dream to be over. At this point, it was practically a nightmare.
K and Ryuichi worked on their choreography for the next fifteen minutes, and Shuichi couldn't fathom how those two had pulled off such a successful parade. They currently had their arms around each other's waists and were doing some sort of can-can jig. Ryuichi started to spin around, and tripped over a log, bringing both of them down. Shuichi heard some cursing from K, some crying from Ryuichi, and then the chaos was parted by the sound of Yuki's voice. Shuichi's head snapped around, and he felt very happy to see the only semi-sane person regain consciousness.
"What the hell are you doing?" Yuki asked, getting off of the ground and staring at K and Ryuichi. "Dancing?"
"Yeah!" Ryuichi answered breathlessly, jumping up. "You can help with the song!"
"Ryuichi!" K snarled, hitting his accomplice in the leg. He was still trying to keep Yuki's blood pressure within a manageable range. Judging by the purple tint to his face, it was a lost cause.
"NO SONG!" Yuki roared, his head feeling like it was going to explode. He couldn't remember being this angry.
"But…" Ryuichi stammered, the tears welling up.
"NO!"
"Alright, this is getting out of hand…" K muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair. "Time for Plan Zeta…"
K cleared his throat, snapped his fingers, and everything went quiet. Yuki was trussed up like a Christmas goose, glaring at anyone that he could lay eyes on. Ryuichi was sitting on the ground, half of Kuma shoved in his mouth. K dusted his hands together and chuckled, pleased with his results.
"Let's get this show on the road!" K shouted, getting worked up.
"How? We don't have a ride." Yuki spat, his eyes closed to prevent the twitching in his left eye.
"Alright, Captain Pissy, I guess I'll do everything…" K sighed. He thought for a moment, then snapped. A large elephant appeared in the clearing, decked out in silks and topped with a large box. "Happy now?"
"No."
"Whatever." K returned, glaring at Yuki. "Come on Ryuichi, Kuma, let's go."
Ryuichi hopped after K, and the latter used some more magic to get Yuki onto his long-nosed transport. Shuichi started to trail after the trio, but then everything started to get foggy again. He felt a pulling sensation, and the clearing was gone.
Yuki hated sleepless nights, unless of course they were filled with certain activities. He sighed and rolled over again, desperately trying to sleep. Beside him, Shuichi snored lightly, a small smile still in place. Yuki groaned and glared at his lover, highly jealous of his ability to fall asleep almost instantaneously.
Tiredness was absolutely not an issue; he was exhausted. Shuichi was much too needy. The nagging feeling that he'd had earlier was still bothering him. He couldn't fathom why he'd felt so claustrophobic when Shuichi had said that he was happy as long as he was there. He tried to attribute the crushing sensation to guilt, but he'd felt that plenty of times; this was different.
When he'd talked with K about his future plans, he'd felt no remorse, no guilt, nothing. But when he'd heard Shuichi say those words and when he'd seen his face, there'd been tightness in his chest that he'd never felt. He hadn't been able to catch his breath, and he'd felt so lightheaded that he could barely think. When he held Shuichi, it all went away, and he wished he knew why.
A pesky voice in his head was giving him its two cents, but he refused to accept that option. It was ludicrous, it was unfathomable, and he vowed to adamantly resist that explanation. Based on stories that he'd heard from others, namely Ryuichi talking about his feelings for Kuma, the evil explanation fit perfectly, except for the fact that he was entirely adverse to it. His symptoms, the solution for them, and one of his inner voices were telling him that he was in love.
"Absolutely not!" Yuki exclaimed a little louder than he had planned. He tended to get worked up over things like feelings. He hated having them, and, as far as he was concerned, they were unnecessary. Shuichi rolled onto his chest and nuzzled into his neck at the noise. Yuki's heart immediately slowed and he could breathe easier. "Dammit."
He held Shuichi tighter and sighed, failing to come up with any other option. Maybe the voice was right, maybe he was in love.
"That doesn't change anything…" Yuki muttered, thinking back to what he'd told K. He would still disappear, he'd still leave. He couldn't stay here forever, he didn't want that, even with his new realization.
He looked down at Shuichi's sleeping face and felt a familiar feeling for once; extreme guilt. He was going to break his heart all over again, and this time he wouldn't be coming back to fix it. He shook his head to clear out the disturbing images of Shuichi's crying face that were flitting across it.
"This can't be happening…" Yuki whispered. It was extremely shocking to him that he was capable of such a feeling.
He'd learned to be tough a long time ago, even before Ryuichi had come into the picture. He'd been alone since he was a kid, and he always knew that he would be damaged goods when he got older. Shuichi had blindsided him; he had never expected that he'd meet someone like him.
His actions toward Shuichi had shocked him, too. With previous lovers, he'd never felt the need to stay after, he'd never wanted to hold onto them longer than necessary. They had never meant anything to him, and he felt bad admitting it, but it was completely true. Shuichi was the first one that he'd wanted to keep, even though he knew he was leaving soon.
As set against this new reality as he was, he still couldn't help feeling relieved. He'd been trying to explain his going soft to himself for quite a while, and he was glad to know it wouldn't be permanent. At least he had K and Ryuichi around to keep him slightly sour. He hated how Shuichi could melt him with one look, with one kiss, and he was eager to get away from that dangerous side-effect. If Ryuichi, or worse, K, were to catch on, he was forever doomed.
He took a deep breath and let it go, telling himself that it would all work out in the end. He'd leave, and these feelings would abandon him just as he was abandoning Shuichi. The guilt started to tear at his stomach when he looked at Shuichi again, but he ignored it and settled in to sleep. His mind felt refreshingly clear now that he had an explanation for all the changes that had been happening without his approval.
He'd been asleep for fifteen minutes when he was jarred awake by Shuichi.
"NOO!" Shuichi screamed, sitting straight up, his eyes wide in terror.
Yuki raised his eyebrows and looked up at Shuichi, waiting for the inevitable answer. He knew him well enough by now to know that he'd be explaining his nightmare in play-by-play format until he felt sure that he could handle it; Ryuichi did the same exact thing almost nightly.
"I'm so sorry…" Shuichi whispered, turning to face Yuki. He shook his head and crumpled back down to the bed, folding himself partially on top of Yuki. He hugged him as hard as he could and stayed there.
"Why?" Yuki asked quietly, slightly afraid.
"They could've killed you…" Shuichi said, thinking back to his horrific dream.
"Who's they?" Yuki asked, immediately thinking of Ryuichi and K. Knowing Shuichi, though, it could just as easily be the boogeyman or a horde of butterflies.
"Ryuichi and K! And Kuma!" Shuichi answered, still slightly panicked. The dream had been really realistic.
"Of course…" Yuki muttered. He settled back into his pillows and sighed. "What did they do this time?"
"They turned you into a Prince!"
"They what?" Yuki asked, remembering the horrific experience.
"They made you wear…all kinds of horrible things! And…there was a flamingo!" Shuichi said in a quick breath, trying to remember all the details. They were fading fast.
"What was its name?" Yuki asked, serious.
"What was what's name, Yuki?"
"The flamingo!" Yuki said a bit more loudly than planned.
"Umm…"
"Think man!"
"I'm trying!" Shuichi replied, sitting up and putting his head between his knees. "It was…PHILLIPE!"
"How the hell did you know that?" Yuki asked immediately, shocked. It was the same name of the flamingo that K had conjured back in the oasis.
"Because that's what K called him…?" Shuichi offered, not sure what to say.
"What else do you remember about it?" Yuki replied, wondering if the name was a coincidence.
Shuichi spent the next half an hour giving Yuki a full account of his dream. Yuki's eyes were wide with shock by the end of it; Shuichi had just recounted, scene perfect, the horrible experience of his princely transformation at the hands of K and Ryuichi.
"And that was the long dream I had…" Shuichi mused, flopping back onto his pillow.
"Damn…" Yuki muttered. He couldn't fathom how Shuichi knew all the intimate details of K and Ryuichi's master plan. "Did Ryuichi or K tell you this story?"
"No…" Shuichi said slowly, pondering his day. The only story he remembered was the one that Kuma had supposedly told him. "Kuma did though."
"Kuma?"
"Yeah, Ryuichi said that he did. I couldn't hear anything, he's too quiet."
Yuki sighed and put a hand over his eyes. One of his worst fears had been realized; Ryuichi and Shuichi were the same. They were both too hyper, too excitable, and they both talked to a stuffed pink rabbit with a bowtie. Before he let himself get too concerned, he took a deep breath and analyzed the situation.
Shuichi and Ryuichi weren't the same person, they were just very similar. Yuki tried to pull some obvious differences out of his jumbled head, but the shock of hearing Shuichi's dream had practically finished his thinking abilities off. After some fruitless minutes, he finally told himself that Shuichi's hair wasn't turning brown and called it good.
"What's wrong?" Shuichi asked, rolling over and draping himself across Yuki's chest. He'd gotten bored after a while, but Yuki had looked like he was in pain so Shuichi had let him be.
"I'm pretty sure you have a mind-link with either the rabbit or Ryuichi…now I'm trying to decide which one is worse." Yuki answered in a dead tone, still slightly detached from the conversation. He couldn't figure out how to protect his Shuichi from the maniacal influence of Ryuichi and his number one cohort.
"Mind…link…?" Shuichi queried, obviously confused.
"Don't worry about it, I'll fix it."
"Ok!" Shuichi answered brightly, immediately putting the dream behind him. He kissed Yuki lightly and flipped back over, burrowing into his pillow like a sleep-deprived conure. Within two minutes, some light snoring issued from where Yuki guessed his head was.
Yuki rolled onto his stomach and faced Shuichi's sleeping form, wondering if he'd ever get used to him. As he started to fall asleep, the thought that he wouldn't need to get used to Shuichi crossed his mind; he'd be leaving much too soon for that. He reached out a hand towards Shuichi, but let it fall. He had to stick to his decision; it was what was best for everyone. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to block out the enormous wave of guilt that had suddenly descended on him once again.
So that dream scene was waaaay longer than I wanted it to be…once I got started it just kinda flowed out and didn't stop. I had to corral myself at some point, so here it is. I couldn't find a nice way to make the chapter shorter, and I didn't want to split up Shuichi's dream, sorry for the extra-long chapter.
Hope you enjoyed,
Amaya