Life in the palace was, in short, miserable. Yamaguchi and Kageyama had been treated well, sure, but a gilded cage was a cage, nonetheless. Neither of the boys were allowed to leave the palace grounds under any circumstances, not even with the supervision of Yachi, and they had tried. The guards and the royals insisted the rule was for safety reasons, but Yamaguchi knew it was really to make sure word of the attempted insurrection didn't spread. They didn't even have full access to the palace as had been promised to them. Most wings of the building and many rooms were strictly off-limits for the two scrappers and the two scrappers alone. They had also been barred from reading any of the empire's newsletters and from receiving any mail. Had it not been for Yachi, Kageyama and Yamaguchi would have been well and thoroughly isolated from the entire world.
As it was, though, Yachi had a lot more leeway for her time in the palace. As an empire employee, she had been given free rein of all the rooms as well as permission to leave palace grounds, albeit once every week. She couldn't bring papers or books back to the boys, just in case they had any news-worthy information, but Yachi didn't need the written word to be useful. Every week she would come back and, in the dead of the night, sneak into Yamaguchi's shared room with Kageyama to give them any information she deemed important. According to Yachi, the presence of armed guards in the streets had in no way died down but had not amplified either. The people of Haibuichi had grown antsy; they knew how to recognize when something was afoot and had taken to group travel. Yachi had, of course, not mentioned the impending conflict to anyone, but people weren't stupid, and the whole city was on edge.
None of that was really information that the three of them needed, though. No, the best news Yachi brought back weekly came from Hinata. Despite their insistences, Hinata had stayed hidden in the forest instead of retreating to the Nekarasi. Ever suspicious of others, he staunchly refused to leave for safety without confirming that Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Kageyama were in no danger. To kill time, the Kamelion wandered the streets and eavesdropped on citizens and officials alike, keen on gathering as much information as possible. Occasionally, he would fly out to where he knew the Nekarasi to be and relayed information from party to party should they feel the need to execute an emergency evacuation of the palace premises.
Inside the palace, spirits were low. Yachi had been placed back on duty some time after the third week and had to alternate between acting as a firefly guard and a courier between Hinata and the others. She kept her head up and always graced the room with a calm smile, but Yamaguchi could practically feel the stress radiating off her. Kageyama was no better; he held no love for royals and had taken on an especially sour mood since his last attempt to see Hinata was foiled. The relationship between the two remained as strong as it had ever been, but Kageyama was clearly missing the redhead; he had even gone as far as to ask Yachi to deliver a letter of his affections to the boy. It pained Yamaguchi to see his friend so sullen, but the pair had been firmly in the honeymoon phase up until they were separated by palace walls, so he hoped they would bounce back after a supposed reunion. Yamaguchi couldn't say he understood Kageyama's heartache.
Yamaguchi himself was faring the best of the Nekarasi three. He was by no means used to or comfortable with the lavish life of the palace, but he knew how to make people like him and had managed to weasel a few special privileges out of the guards. They had deemed his thin, wiry frame non-threatening enough to allow him to peruse the royal library. There was nothing wrong with the much smaller general library in the palace, but Yamaguchi needed to reestablish contact with Tsukishima as they had been cut off from each other. The royal library was the only place both of them could be without constant monitoring from the guards and, so while Yachi went about her daily trip to the outside and Kageyama scoped out the palace, Yamaguchi met up with the prince to share information.
Through these hushed and hurried discussions, Tsukishima mentioned another premonition. It had come to him at night in the form of a dream, he explained, and it troubled him deeply. The second-born prince had seen glimpses of both past and future conversations about and in the Slithering Isles. He had witnessed clipped proposals of trade deals and political unions, confirming that the archipelago nation had at some point requested financial and economic aid. Tsukishima, however, insisted that the Firefly Empire had never received such requests, he had gone through every trade deal and letter himself to check, which meant someone, or someplace, had interfered. That, of course, put nearly every nation back on the suspect list; anyone would benefit from overthrowing the continent's most powerful empire.
Yamaguchi, though, was more concerned about the supposed mentions of political union. While Tsukishima seemed convinced that the Slithering Isles, Tauveriin, and a mysterious third nation had conspired to overthrow his country, Yamaguchi thought the play was more political than that. The snakes were known for strategy and underhanded tactics, and Tsukishima had said the talks of union only appeared after the trade request was met with silence. Given Daishou's desire to place Tsukishima on the throne and eliminate his family, Yamaguchi feared the Slithering Isles would decimate the Firefly Empire and then force a marriage to keep the empire from destruction, which would effectively hand the power over to the archipelago. Yamaguchi couldn't quite place why he found the idea of Tsukishima marrying someone so objectionable, but he sure wasn't about to let the prince sell himself off for the sake of his empire.
The month came and passed, Yamaguchi's seventeenth birthday with it, and the first signs of winter reared their frigid heads. It was in this first week of the coldest months that all three palace-bound teenagers managed to meet with Tsukishima. The prince himself had pulled some strings and requested a meeting with the two scrappers, stationing Yachi as his sole guard for the duration. The blond, with a grim determination, delivered momentous news. Daishou, the crooked snake, was the sole heir to the Slithering Isles throne. Because he was technically royalty, the royal family of the island nation had come to discuss peace and negotiate the release of their son. Tsukishima, as one of the key players in the whole mess, would have to attend every political meeting. He promised to send them as much information as possible, but by the tense set of his posture, he didn't think things would go well.
Yamaguchi, too, had low hopes for the meetings. As they carried on, day after day, the freckled boy called to the machinery in the castle, the heating system, and the lighting, and used them to listen in on the meetings. It was strange, using his synergy to spy on the Emperor and his advisors, but it did mean Yamaguchi had a steady stream of information. Through the radiators and semi-electric chandeliers, Yamaguchi heard all he needed to know. The voices came out slightly garbled and tinny, but they were understandable, nonetheless.
It was the queen of the Slithering Isles who did most of the political discussion; first, she mentioned the ignored trade deal and then attempted to justify her son's actions. The proposed trade partnership had been sent to the capitol with a pair of twins native to the area. The twins had assured the queen personally that they were the best delivery men on the mainland, and she had paid them a hefty sum for their swift services. The second Kageyama shared a knowing look with Yamaguchi as he relayed the information, those twins sounded an awful bit like the Miyas. Neither scrapper would be surprised to think the criminals had taken the money and ran. The rest of that first meeting consisted of arguments and insistence that no letter had arrived, and Yamaguchi waited anxiously for Tsukishima's return.
The second the prince was free from his political duties, Kageyama and Yamaguchi explained their run-in with the twins. As they expected, Tsukishima came to the same conclusion they did; the Miyas had deliberately withheld the trade offer to try and incite political unrest so Tauveriin could gain from the resulting upheaval. At the next meeting, when the prince brought up the theory, the Slithering queen cracked. With realization and hatred in her voice, she explained that once their request had been supposedly denied, the Slithering Isles had conspired with Tauveriin to overthrow the Firefly Empire. In exchange for the manpower and information, the Slithering Isles had promised a considerable portion of the Firefly Territories to Tauveriin. Tauveriin, in turn, had wholeheartedly accepted their duty to help prince Daishou in his spying endeavours and even threw in an offer of favourable trades to sweeten the deal. When Tsukishima interfered with the plan's success, it was Tauveriin men who kidnapped him and gave him to the raiders to hold ransom.
With the failed plan cracked wide open, the Firefly Emperor sent an express letter to the kingdom of the Iron wall to inform them of the plot. With the help of their allies, the Firefly empire made plans to conquer Tauveriin and begin a purge against crime and threats to the throne. A separate order went out to find and jail the Miya twins, but Yamaguchi suspected that the two men had already long since fled the city-state. They had access to a wide array of information, and surely already knew their insurgency plan had fallen. Yamaguchi also supposed that the Miyas weren't really his problem; if they were on the run, they were unlikely to try and start another war. Besides, without the backing of a criminal city, they wouldn't be able to do much harm.
Even with the impending war at an end, there was still the issue of what to do with Daishou. His family, of course, wanted him safe and back in the kingdom, but the Firefly empire wanted him to be tried and punished for his crimes. The following argument lasted well through the first and second winter months, ever elongating Yamaguchi and Kageyama's entrapment within palace walls. To add further insult, the snakes wanted compensation for their lost trade deal, a newly open contract didn't seem to be enough to please them anymore, not now that they had convinced themselves they were the true victims.
As the two leaders argued, in the polite and tense way all politicians do, Yamaguchi set his personal plan into motion. He was no Tsukishima, he had no magical foresight to his name, but he was good at reading people and their situations. The Slithering Isles was going to suggest a political union between the Firefly Empire and their own. Yamaguchi was sure they were going to go about it in some sneaky way, as the Emperor would likely never agree to let Tsukishima marry Daishou. Still, though, he was sure they would find a way to set up the possibility. Yamaguchi, of course, could not bear the thought of Tsukishima unhappily married to that slimy prince, alone in a kingdom far away, so he began his efforts to turn Daishou's discerning eye in the other direction.
Daishou knew of Tsukishima's premonitions, Yamaguchi was sure that Daishou also only saw Tsukishima as a powerful political asset. That had to be the only reason Daishou was after him, the man's spy diary mentioned he had no true interest in men, so the purpose had to be solely power-based. All Yamaguchi had to do, then, was to find someone more politically useful to catch Daishou's eye. It was a difficult task, nothing much was a better asset to a ruler than foresight, and even if he found someone equally good, Yamaguchi would have to find a way to take them up to Daishou.
Yamaguchi started with the easy part of the plan, accessing Daishou's cell. Gaining the trust of the guards was simple enough, they took to his friendly smiles and exaggerated meek persona like flies to a carcass. In a matter of mere days, Yamaguchi had the palace guards wrapped around his finger, all thoroughly convinced he was nothing more than a sweet and harmless bystander to the whole mess. From there, Yamaguchi started visiting Daishou's cell. Not for long, just to drop off food or a warm blanket, but enough that the guards no longer questioned his presence. They thought him a kind and charitable fool, and Yamaguchi was fine with that. Anything to further his goals.
Daishou, locked in a solitary jail cell for a good long while at that point, was an easy man to talk to. He wasn't suspicious of Yamaguchi's intentions, not for even a second, probably too deprived of social interaction for too long. Yamaguchi started the conversations slowly, he'd check in with the guards on what he could tell the imprisoned man and mostly babbled on about the food he brought. Slowly, he moved to talk of personal stories from 16-B, most of which were fake. The snake-like advisor, likely desperate for positive social contact, warmed up to Yamaguchi quickly. He shared no details of his home country, of course, but Yamaguchi didn't need him to, he just needed the man to like him.
About two weeks into this endeavour, politics took a lot longer than Yamaguchi had thought, the freckled boy began the second part of his plan; to slander Tsukishima Kei. Now, Yamaguchi had nothing against Tsukishima personally, nothing besides petty grievances anyways, but ages of poker games with Kageyama had taught him how to keep a straight face and lie through his teeth. With as much natural flow of conversation as he could muster, he took to every opportunity to complain about the prince.
As far as Yamaguchi could tell, Daishou was still under the impression that Tsukishima wanted power, so he played to those delusions. Tsukishima's short spat with Kageyama over the bed was turned into a bemoaned tale of how entitled and pushy the prince was. The hits Tsukishima had taken for Yamaguchi during the fight in the gulch became little scratches, overdramatized by a conceited blond bourgeoise. Every day, whilst providing lunch to Daishou, Yamaguchi spouted lie after lie, exaggeration after exaggeration, in an attempt to make Tsukishima sound like more trouble than he was worth. According to the former scrapper, who had seen the prince's 'true colours', the prince was flighty, stubborn, a dead weight, and all-around awful to spend any time with.
Daishou, of course, ate it right up, he even started to chime in with his own accounts about how standoffish and cold the prince always acted, to which Yamaguchi loudly and enthusiastically agreed. Success was in sight, and the olive-haired synergist laid down his final, most valuable, weapon. Tsukishima's premonitions were no secret to Daishou, anyone with eyes could figure out that they were what the jailed prince was really after. All Yamaguchi had to do was make that tantalizing gift seem useless. It helped, Yamaguchi thought, that the Emperor seemed to dismiss most of his son's visions unless they were explicitly asked for. This already built a fragile foundation of discredibility. If Yamaguchi could convince Daishou that Tsukishima was faking it, there was no way the snake-like man would continue in his efforts for political union.
Kageyama and the others had become concerned for Yamaguchi and his frequent trips to the holding cells; they knew nothing of his plan, but he forced himself to ignore them and delve further down the rabbit hole. His daily visits lasted longer and expanded to several hours as opposed to one. Yamaguchi knew that Daishou wouldn't let go of his perceived prize, even if he thought it fruitless unless there was something better up for grabs. So, with all the grim determination of someone sent off to war, Yamaguchi carried out his third act.
Constantly, he would downplay Tsukishima's premonitions to Daishou. 'they're not even useful' he'd say, 'you know that he can't even control when he has them? Lame'. He urged Daishou to air out his grievances as well, and together they griped about how there wasn't even a guarantee that Tsukishima would even be right. The onslaught was constant, yet subtle enough that Yamaguchi hoped Daishou hadn't caught on. Then, when the prince of the Slithering Isles finally showed doubt in Tsukishima, Yamaguchi struck with his stroke of genius.
"I wouldn't even care about it if I didn't know what it's like to be the kind of person he's impersonating!" Yamaguchi faked anger, and then abruptly cut himself off, as if he hadn't meant to say those words. He had, naturally, meant to say them, but Daishou wouldn't be interested unless it was a secret.
"Oh?" The man's voice was deceivingly smooth, like sandpaper hidden behind a curtain of velvet. "And what kind of person is that, Tadashi dearest?" Daishou had taken to calling him pet names, and Yamaguchi refused to dismiss them despite how the sweetened words made his skin crawl in disgust.
"Nothing, it's- I mean- nothing. Forget it; it doesn't matter."
"Ah, but it does, doesn't it? Aren't we friends, Tadashi? Clearly, that damned Kei has all your other associates wrapped around his spoiled and undeserving pinky finger; I'm the only one you can talk to about these things." Daishou wore a small, comforting smile on his face as he spoke, and he reached out a hand as if to offer support.
Yamaguchi paused and pretended to think things over before he responded, "Well, I don't know… can you keep secrets, Daishou?"
Said prince fell for the hesitance hook, line, and sinker. "Of course. You've been nothing but a delight to me, why wouldn't I return the favour?"
Yamaguchi knew what he was about to do was stupid, Kenma had warned him against telling strangers about his synergy, but it was for a good cause. "You see, I can actually do those kinds of things and on command, too."
Daishou leaned forward, enraptured, "Go on…"
"Not the future stuff; that's clearly a fable made up by the ruling class to make themselves look better, but I can do other things."
"Like what? Things like what?" Daishou had moved as close to Yamaguchi as the cell bars would allow him. His desperation was evident.
"I used to fix machines, back in my scrapper town, and I was good at it. But that's the exact thing, I'm too good with machines, Daishou, too good."
"Too good how, you can't just leave me on the edge like that!"
Yamaguchi warily looked around and moved his head closer to the bars, "I can make machines do whatever I want, without looking at them. I made crossbows fire automatically, I caused a gun to explode without touching it. Any machine I'm around runs perfectly; I could even get the train I was on to run without fuel!" That last part was a lie taken from Kenma's stories, but Yamaguchi saw no fault in embellishing his talents, not if it could keep Tsukishima from an unhappy marriage.
Daishou's eyes gleamed with the wild hunger of a warlord faced with a new battle machine. Yamaguchi knew he had the southern prince hooked, and with that, he dismissed himself hastily. He faked sorrow and informed Daishou that this was his last visit as his friends had taken to following him, and he could escape their gaze no longer. The snake was disappointed, but Yamaguchi didn't care; a few more days of solitude would certainly build the suspense he needed for success. The radiators from the conference had informed him that the royals would have one last meeting before they came to a decision; all he could do was wait now.
The fresh air of the palace corridors was a welcome repose from the dank smell of the holding cell. As he inhaled a clean breath of air, Yamauchi informed the guards that he would no longer visit Daishou, which they accepted just as easily as everything else he told them. His elongated conversation with the jailbird prince had caused him to miss dinner, but that didn't matter; Yamaguchi was far too nervous to eat.
The following days passed in a blur. Yamaguchi shrugged off the concerned questions asked by Yachi and Kageyama, feeding them meaningless assurances. It took only a further three days for an official, palace-wide, council to be called.
Sat upon his throne in the center of the room was the Emperor, his wife on his right and his sons on his left. All four of the imperialists had been draped in fine, traditional, clothes and delicate jewelry. The queen of the Slithering Isles sat in her own elevated throne, a place specifically set aside for visiting royalty. Daishou stood by his mother's side, freshly washed and dressed in immaculate garb of his own. The man's thin lips curled into a Cheshire smile the second he laid eyes on Yamaguchi, who returned the gaze with mock modesty.
Yamaguchi, along with Kageyama and Yachi, were ushered to seats set up in a round to face the presiding royals. There, once everyone was seated, everyone in the palace by the looks of it, the Emperor stood up and spoke. The two parties had come to a decision. Daishou would be released, albeit banned from the empire for the next ten years, and as payment for his harsh treatment in the prison, he could choose from any unmarried person within palace walls for either his harem or as a spouse. This was it; this was what Yamaguchi had hoped and feared would happen. At least the set determination on Tsukishima had been lessened.
Around him, as the married people stood up and removed themselves from the compensation pool, Yamaguchi saw Tsukishima's eyes widen. The prince had told him once, amidst their precious few moments of peace in the library, that his eyes grew visibly hazy to an outside view. Tsukishima's eyes took upon that haze just as his father made the announcement, and Yamaguchi could tell he was struggling to not double over. Tsukishima's head whipped over to where Yamaguchi was seated, and from his throne, he shot the commoner boy a glare. He had seen it then, in his premonition, Yamaguchi's plan would succeed, good.
"Don't you dare." Tsukishima mouthed as he continued to glare.
Yamaguchi simply shrugged and turned his head to face Daishou. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore Tsukishima, but he wasn't about to allow anything to spoil the plan; he had put in too much effort for Tsukishima's safety to allow it to be ruined. Yamaguchi directly made eye contact with Daishou as he stepped forward to announce his decision. The disgraced prince returned it with a wink and a smile.
"I'll be honest, I had no expectation of finding a spouse in the Firefly Empire, yet here we are. There is only one person in this room who has chosen to show me any kindness in this past wretched month," Daishou turned to face Yamaguchi's direction and held out a well-manicured and recently un-dirtied hand, "Yamaguchi Tadashi, my delightful dearest, I choose you to wed."
Instantly, all eyes were on him, and Yamaguchi could feel the burning gaze of his friends' collective shock. "But of course," he stood and bowed slightly as he replied.
Yachi covered her mouth in shock, Kageyama clung to his chair in a white-knuckled death grip, Tsukishima's shoulders slumped in defeat. Just as soon as he had agreed, handmaids and butlers ushered him away from his friends and into a fancy dressing room. They dolled him up and gave him a suitcase full of the nicest clothes Yamaguchi had ever seen. They were beautiful but looked terribly uncomfortable. The royals from the Slithering Isles had wanted to leave as soon as Daishou made his decision, the handmaids told him, and Yamaguchi was to leave with them.
All around him, people rushed for final preparations. When they finally cleared out, after what felt like hours of meaningless congratulations and pointless packing, Yamaguchi's friends burst into the room.
Kageyama immediately grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Why in goddess' name would you agree to that? Are you stupid?"
Yamaguchi smiled and pried himself from Kageyama's grip, "I didn't have much of a choice, did I? Besides, better me than someone else."
Yachi, shaky and wringing her hands, burst into tears, "But, but, we'll miss you so much! We can still get you out of here, Hinata is just waiting in the trees outside, I'm sure, he can fly you far away."
Yamaguchi simply shook his head, "No, it's better this way. I planned for this, promise. That's why I kept disappearing; I was buttering up Daishou."
"Why though?" Kageyama all but whimpered.
"Come on, we all know Daishou really wanted to use Tsukishima for some crazy power trip; it was obvious! I just… convinced him I was more useful. That's all. It was the lesser of two evils, you know. I can't let a friend leave everything behind like that." Yamaguchi wondered if his friends would've taken the news better had he informed them of his plan. It was too late for that now.
"And we're just supposed to let that happen to you?" Yachi cried indignantly.
Yamaguchi had no more words for his friends, so he simply drew both of them in for a hug. They spent the remaining hours of the day together, desperate to make the most of their little time. Still, as night came, they were sent away as Yamaguchi headed out to the train, unfortunately not the Nekarasi. With barely ten minutes left before departure, he saw a cloaked figure making a dead sprint towards his private car.
The figure leaned forward and motioned for Yamaguchi to pull down his window; it was Tsukishima. "Why the hell would you do that?" the prince all but hissed.
Yamaguchi leaned out of the window and, tired of explaining his choices, answered, "You know why, don't make me explain myself again."
"You won't be happy there."
"And you would be? At least there are no political ramifications on my end. I'm a nobody from a nowhere town, remember?"
Pain flashed in Tsukishima's honeyed eyes for but a moment before he leaned as far forward as possible and planted a kiss on Yamaguchi's cheek. "You mean a great deal to me, Tadashi," he said as he drew back, and then with quiet determination, "I'll find a way to get you out. The Nekarasi and I, we won't let you waste away in that wretched snake's den."
Yamaguchi stared at Tsukishima, dazed and shocked, and said nothing as the train sounded its whistle and pulled away from the station. The decision had been made; Yamaguchi's plan had worked perfectly. Tsukishima was no longer under the threat of an unhappy marriage, and Yamaguchi, well, he'd manage.
AN: I have the sequel for this fic up and posted under the name "The Serpent's Coil"
