I don't own the prince and the pauper. Or Digimon Frontier. ;;

A/N: ;; people stopped reviewing. Why?

Two Sides of a Coin

Chapter 8 –

It was the lousiest night in Kouji's life. Lowe had drilled on and on about the prince's lack of responsibility and consideration of the queen once he had gotten over the shock of finding out boy had spent most of his day on the top of the tower. It took the bigger part of the lesson, but he managed to repeat the same speech 9.5 times. No more, no less, right on the middle of the word. Kouji was bored enough to count. And in the last 10 minutes, the teacher amazed him farther by stopping right on the latter in order to leave time for a pop quiz. And then lecture some more about the prince's sudden lack of knowledge.

'How could I know something I never heard of?'

He thought bitterly, lying on Kouichi's silk covered bed, glaring at the books Lowe demanded he read.

'How am I supposed to remember all of this?'

Each book was as thick as his fist, and he had at least five of them. That, however, was not the reason he neglected the task.

'He's late.'

The clock that hung on the wall kept ticking the seconds away. The seconds turned to minutes which turned in turn to too long periods of time.

'I wonder if he's coming…'

Deciding there was no point in just lying aimlessly, he picked up the first book in the pile, but it made as much sense to him as Tomoki's choice of clothes. Even court jesters needed a limit. It also didn't help that he kept glancing at the door rather than at the page. His heart began beating faster and faster with each tick of the clock, as the anticipation began to turn into uncontrollable anxiety.

"Dammit, where is he?!"

Throwing the book aside, he went to the door and was about to leave, but a shy knock was heard, causing him to freeze. He waited another moment, but the knock did not repeat. He wondered if he imagined it or not, when another knock came, louder this time. He opened it instantly, smiling.

"What took you so long?"

"Well, sorry to keeping you waiting, but I had to look just right for my prince, ne?"

Wink.

The door to the cadets' dorms opened and in came a tired looking Takuya, dragging his feet.

"I wonder if I did the right thing…"

He moaned tiredly as he fell on this bed and started to take his uniform off.

"Back so soon?"

Takuya cursed as his new friend's voice came in.

"I thought you were asleep, Arbor."

"I was close, but you're too noisy."

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's ok. So why are you here and not over there?"

The boy bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

"You seemed so sure when you left half an hour ago. Say, 20 minutes getting there, 5 staring at the door, 5 minutes running back?"

"…something like that."

"Close enough."

"But I knocked on his door!"

"Hurray. Why are you back again?"

"…Someone came. I didn't want to cause him trouble."

"Takuya, he asked you over, what could anyone do to you? Behead you?"

"It's wrong!"

Feeling a need to bring himself to a position in which Takuya might actually listen to him, Arbor pushed himself up to a sitting position and put on his glasses.

"I personally think it's good that you came back, but Takuya, he asked you to come over. I think you should've went, not because he's a prince and you're a soldier, but because you two seem to be pretty close already, and it was a friendly invitation from one boy to another his own age. I bet the prince never did this sort of thing ever, and he's probably sitting in his room right now, disappointed."

"…I don't have a right to get close to him, we're from two different worlds."

"And this wouldn't have anything to do with the mystery friend you keep mentioning?"

Takuya shook his head, blushing. Anything? No, it had everything to do with him. Kouji and Kouichi looked too much alike, Takuya was both attracted to the prince and rejected by him. It was Kouji he wanted to get close to, but he knew that wasn't really him. He knew the boy he called prince was not the boy he was inlove with… At least he kept telling that to himself. A lot of times, the two boys just seemed to fuse into one being – the object of his affection.

"Man, you really have it bad for him, don't you?"

Arbor said plainly.

"You can tell?"

"I'm not that blind."

"And you don't care?"

"Boy meets girl, boy falls inlove. Switch girl with boy, you get the same thing minus the baby, yet you keep the wedding dress. Makes no difference to me as long as they're happy and can take 'no' for an answer."

Takuya chuckled, somewhat relieved.

"Well then, good night, Takuya."

"Arbor, wait."

"What is it?"

It took him a minute to gather his thoughts, but eventually he managed.

"When you said I had it bad… did you mean Kouichi, or…"

"Let's pretend I said 'both', and leave it at that. Good night, Takuya."

"…Night, Arbor."

He was left in silence, yet his thoughts roared in his mind like thunder. Several times, he stood up to leave again, yet each time his knees turned weak and he fell back to the mattress. He wanted to see him… but which of them?

Takuya fell asleep only an hour later, the question still haunting him.

"What are you doing here?"

Kouji's voice was dripping with venom as he glared at the blonde girl in front of him. Izumi pouted back.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright, after running away from me last night and disappearing again today. I must had it to you, you sure know great stealth spells, where'd you learn 'em?"

"You?"

"Please."

"What do you want, Izumi?"

The girl tried peeking into the room, but seemed to not find what she was looking for.

"I just thought… I'd stop by and see how you were. I'm worried about you…"

She tried to pull closer, but he took a step backwards.

"I am, and it's appreciated, but unnecessary. Anything else you need? If not, I have some things that need to be done."

Izumi stood there for a moment, not saying anything. Seeing this, Kouji moved to close the door when she ran inside.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to talk to you! I can't just let it slide! What happened to you?! You changed so much…"

Panic wasn't an option to the boy at the light of the risk of being exposed.

"Ever since you came back, you were different. What happened to the sweet, innocent boy I fell in love with?"

"He's right here."

'He grew up' just almost left his lips, yet he figured it was best not to push the girl any farther. His voice was soft, and he made no sudden moves as he closed the door, ensuring their privacy. Izumi blushed at the realization of the position they were in.

"He can't be here… There's no way he… you… would change so much in just a few hours. How did you get so strong? I heard from Lowe, how could you forget all that all of a sudden? Why… have your eyes softened? What's that new light in them?"

She was on the verge of tears, knowing that the answer might turn her world upside down.

"Maybe you just didn't know that boy as well as you thought."

It felt good, referring to Kouichi in third body rather than first. Been too long since he's done it.

"I refuse to believe it. I simply refuse to!"

Her voice was beginning to rise, standing in contrast to his steady calm tone.

"When was the last time we talked? Really talked? Not about studies, or national affairs, or anything like that? Tell me, when was the last time you dropped the suffix from my name… Izumi-chan?"

The fierce blush stood in harsh contrast to her fair hair and skin as she covered her mouth with her hand. He looked at her with soft, kind eyes, and for a moment he seemed to her like any other normal teenaged boy, ready to pull her hair for the sake of the tease.

'Who is this? Who is this boy standing in front of me? My heart beats for Kouichi-sama… yet why does my heart race at this… stranger?! Why is it beating for him? Could this really by Kouichi-sama? My Kouichi-sama… do I really know that little about him? Why…'

In the faint background, bells began ringing, in synch with her confused heartbeats.

"What about that boy? The new recruit?"

The shock was forced into a sort of bitter rage, covering her confusion.

"Did you tell me that just because you told him to call you 'Kouichi' too? I don't want to play second fiddle."

"You don't have a right to call someone your age 'boy'."

"For your information, I'm three months older!"

"You were born on May?"

He asked with the innocent curiosity of a child, yet she still jumped back lightly, as though burnt. She had never told the prince her birthday, for it was not necessary for him to know. And considering the chances of him asking about her were slim to none…

"You checked on him."

He wasn't pleased by her growl.

"I was curious."

Kouji leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"You were never curious about me."

The anger turned to suppressed hurt and insult.

"Was I supposed to be?"

He tried to ask gently, but it still sounded too harsh to her over the sound of bells.

'He… he doesn't care…'

~This isn't good, is it?~

A gasp escaped her lips as a childish voice rang in her mind, a voice she knew and despised.

~Poor, poor girl… he loves you not, I guess his type's a brunette. I just hope you remember our bet…~

"Izumi?"

Kouji's concern was wasted on deft ears. Her knees began shaking as memories of a meeting surfaced.

It was a beautiful day as the sun was practically singing.

But the birds weren't chirping.

Only bells were ringing.

In front of her sat a child, his clothes turn and ragged.

The birds laid to his feet, dead.

'Give me a soul', he begged…

And the bells continued their dinging.

"I zumi?!"

Izumi was snapped back to reality to discover Kouji's hands were gently placed on her shoulders, a worried look on his face. The images forced from her memory as though broke the dam, and her tears began flowing. Shocked, the boy reached a hand to dry them, his expression one of compassion.

"Girls shouldn't cry…"

They were standing to close to each other, and he was looking at her so softly, his touch so gently…

"My prince?"

The door opened and Izumi jumped away, hurrying out of the room. Her troubled expression was something that would haunt both boy and brown haired maid for the rest of the evening.

"What is it, Lana?"

The young brown haired girl hurried to straighten her dress and curtsied.

"Your meal, as requested, Kouichi-sama."

He sighed tiredly at the night he wished for, yet she still received a smile from him.

"Thank you. Please bring it in."

She hurried to push in a cart with several trays on it to a corner of the large room which housed a dinner table with several chairs. Leaning against the wall again, Kouji looked out through the lower windows at the village he grew up in.

"Why would the prince ask for a meal for two?"

Her soft whisper rang quite loudly in the hall. She covered her mouth with her hand and hurried to look at him for a reaction, and an amused smile was it.

"I was expecting company. There was a slight change in plans, however."

Nothing the sad tone of his voice, Lana asked no more questions, only set the table in silence.

"Well then, I'll be on my way…"

"Lana?"

"Hm?"

Looking at him again, she found him standing next to her, his hands on a chair.

"Will you allow me the pleasure of your company through dinner?"

As amazed as she was, the girl knew arguing with the boy was futile in light of their last meeting, and so she took the seat offered to her.

"I hope you do not find this disappointing, but I am afraid I will not prove to be very entertaining tonight."

He poured the grape juice into the two cups and sat down in front of her. Prince or not, he was still underage.

"Hm, good harvest."

She giggled lightly, more to try and lighten the mood then from amusement.

"May I inquire as to why I was granted such an honor, Kouichi-sama?"

His blue eyes were distant and sad, causing an ache in her chest.

"I just… really shouldn't be alone tonight."

"Well, if there is anything I can do…"

"Is it because I'm a prince, or…"

He had to ask. Kouji wasn't used to the fakeness in people's concern in the castle, caring only about their titles. He was used to the truth in even the swear words people often threw at Takuya and him for their pranks, yet there, everyone was colder than the stone the walls were made of. Izumi almost breaking in front of him made him realize how far apart they were, even for a student and teacher, let alone a boy and girl of similar age.

His attention was brought back to his companion as Lana placed her hands on his, resting in the middle of the table. There was a warmness to her touch, and he clearly knew she was a commoner, much like himself. He liked her even more for it.

"Kouichi-kun…"

The two exchanged glances before raising a small toast, and began their meal.