"Oi! Can you not look?!" Shougo yelled out, his face red from embarrassment or the hot bath, Nijimura doesn't know. But he did find it a bit cute.

As Shougo was trying, yet miserably failing, to cover his private parts with his hands, Nijimura couldn't help but tell himself that he had guessed wrong.

Haizaki does have battle scars. There were two, but if he were to stand straight with his feet together, those two scars would probably form a straight line across his thighs. It could've been that he was so damn good that someone powerful gave him those scars, or, he was actually wimpier than what his reputation made him seem to be and he was too scared after getting the scars.

"How'd you get those?" he asked, pointing at Haizaki's scars.

"Hah?" Haizaki traced his scars softly before settling inside the big bath tub. "I got those from a friend. We used spar a lot when we were kids. Then, he just kept on getting stronger until I couldn't even hold a draw with him anymore. One day, we decided to spar with real blades to prove ourselves as 'real men' but, well, this is the result."

Nijimura noticed the younger's soft smile as he talked about the memory. It somehow irked him. Luckily, Haizaki's soft smile turned into a scowl and a glare once again, "Why the hell am I explaining this to you?!"

"Because I'm your husband. Duh~"

"Hah?! This week ain't over yet! Until then, you're only my fiance!"

Nijimura slowly made his way towards him, "Unless you want to consummate before the end of the wedding?"

"Get away from me!"

Haizaki splashed the hot water in his face, drenching his hair completely. The younger laughed hysterically and pointed at the older, "You look like a wet shih-tzu!"

Aggravated, Nijimura returned the favor, splashing the water onto the prince's face, some of the rose petals getting stuck in Haizaki's hair once again. Now it was his turn to laugh at the other. "I told you your hair is nappy! The petals got stuck again!"

"Argh! Take this!"

In what was supposed to be a peaceful and romantic bath, Haizaki and Nijimura turned it into a messy water fight. The maids that had to wait outside of the bath curtains only sighed at their prince's actions. Typical.

A maid interrupted their little fight, "Haizaki-sama, Nijimura-sama, the Queen reminds you to not miss the feast tonight."

Haizaki waved her off, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. Oh, wait."

"Yes?"

"Is...uh, um...is Nash here?"

"I believe the country of Jabberwock had received an invitation, however, the prime minister had to decline due to government matters."

"Okay, you can leave. We'll be done soon."

"Yes, Haizaki-sama."

Nijimura splashed water in his face. "Hey!"

"Who's Nash?"

There it was, that red face again.

"Don't worry 'bout it! None of ya business!"

Haizaki quickly got up and grabbed towel. Nijimura followed after him to change into some clothes.

"Hey, what should I wear?"

Shougo was digging through his closet, "Hah? Just wear anything."

"But it's a feast, right? Shouldn't I dress up?"

The younger prince paused and gave him a weird look. "Right~ You're a Teikonian. You probably dress fancy all the damn time. I'm not gonna survive in your castle for sure."

"What do you mean? You guys don't dress properly for feasts and dinners?"

Shougo put his hand on his hip, "You think we can dress properly in 80-degree weather? We only dress up for special occasions. A feast doesn't count."

He tossed him some loose shorts and and a tank top, and a short-sleeved button up just in case the prince felt too exposed. Shougo wore shorts and a short-sleeved button up, but didn't bother buttoning up, letting his abs show. He tied a bandanna around his forehead to keep his hair from sticking to his face if he were to sweat.

"Do you usually dress like this?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, don't you need a way to establish yourself as a royal, something that sets you apart from regular people?"

"I don't know how it is in your kingdom, but we're islanders. There's not a lot of us, so we practically know everyone. We're not too worried about status and wealth. A happy kingdom is a peaceful kingdom. If we merge ourselves with our people, they'll trust us more, so they're less likely to try and rebel against us. I still don't understand why you guys want to overthrow us so badly anyway. We just want to live peacefully."

Haizaki slipped his feet into his flip flops and headed towards the site of the feast. Nijimura trailed after him and thought about his fiance's words. "Why do we want to overthrow them?"

The couple arrived at the big campfire that was started in the center of town. Colorful lanterns were strung together and were hung around, flowers decorating the street lamp posts, citizens and nobles alike dancing, singing, and eating together. Even the queen was sitting down on a laid out picnic blanket, enjoying some liquor with some senior citizens.

"Uncle Shou!" A little girl came running to Haizaki and he lifted her up into the air, making her giggle in happiness.

"Hey, you~"

"Uncle Shou, is this your husband?" she asked, pointing at Nijimura.

"Not yet. He will be when the wedding is over."

Her eyes sparkled, "Then, we still have time!"

"For what?"

"I want you to marry Uncle Nash instead!"

Haizaki laughed out loud and lightly pinched his niece's cheeks, "I would gladly marry Nash than this loser."

Nijimura thought to himself, "Who is this Nash?"

"Nijimura-cchi!"

Kise waved over to him. The Miracles sat on their own picnic blanket, drinking Fuku liquor and eating. He decided to leave Haizaki with his niece and joined his friends.

The Miracles also weren't wearing much, and Aomine just went shirtless but no one seemed to mind. Even the generals and noble men went shirtless and most of the women were in bikinis with some sort of skirt tied around their waists.

He sat down next to Akashi, who poured him a cup. Murasakibara was being typical and was shoving deserts into his mouth left and right while Midorima was scolding him on his intake. Kise was pestering Aomine and Kuroko was on the sideline, edging for them to fight. That left for him and Akashi to talk.

"This country is really different, isn't it?" Akashi stated, sipping on his liquor.

Nijimura took a swig of his and looked around, "Yeah, it sure is."

"It seems the kingdom has a lot more fun than ours."

He eyed Akashi weirdly. Did he really just say that? "Wow, that is so out of character for you to say."

Akashi shrugged, "Well, with years and years of gaining knowledge and fighting wars, a man would need to have fun some time to cope with it."

"Hmm, true."

"I wonder how strange our reception will be to Prince Shougo."

Nijimura actually never thought about that. Since he's arrived in Fukuda Sogo, he's only thought about how the ceremonies were completely different compared to Teikonian traditions and how lively everyone gets during weddings.

He's attended many Teikonian weddings, and he'd have to say that no wedding could ever be as lively as his right now. Since Fukuda Sogo is such a small country, the people are closer to each other; everyone is practically a big family. When someone has left, they cry together. When someone has given birth, they celebrate together.

However, in Teiko, the whole country doesn't celebrate a birth of a commoner's child. Hell, he doesn't even know everyone in the castle, let alone the captial city.

Nijimura wonders, how will Shougo react?

He saw Daisuke dragging a resistant Shougo to the center of the campfire to join the line of dancing men. It was actually a cool dance, and it was amazing that all of them danced in sync. Shougo looked embarrassed at first, but judging by the smile on his face, he's really enjoying it. Even his cousin with the creepy smile, Makoto, joined in on the dance, effortlessly syncing with the rest of them.

Kise saw the dancing and stopped arguing with Aomine, "Wah! That looks so cool! Kuroko-cchi, let's try it!"

"I'd rather not," he declined, "I can't dance very well."

"Come on~"

Kuroko shook his head and continued to eat. Kise pouted and his eyes locked on Nijimura. Oh no. "Nijimura-cchi~"

"Nope. Don't even-"

Just like Daisuke, Kise dragged him with all his might to join the dancing line. "As- the- groom- you- should- be- dancing- with- your- bride!" he said between breaths as he struggled to drag Nijimura with him.

"Let's all go~ It looks fun~" Murasakibara surprisingly stopped shoving sweets into his mouth and helped Kise, picking Nijimura up from behind and moving him towards the line. Aomine joined them, but Midorima and Akashi decided to stay and sit with Kuroko. Lord knows how awful their dancing skills are.

Seeing them come, Daisuke got out of the line to welcome them. "Aye! The groom is here to dance with us!"

Even with his protest, Daisuke was very strong and put him right next to Shougo.

The younger prince scowled at his arrival. "Great, now I have to teach you how to dance."

Shougo instructed him to put his arms around the shoulders of the people next to him and squat down when everyone else does, and kick his leg out as he squats.

Because Teiko was practically a Western colony before their independence 100 years ago, the only dances he knew were the waltz and any other types of ballroom dancing. The dance Haizaki was trying to teach him didn't look so hard, and to his surprise, he actually got it down pretty fast. Even Haizaki was smiling a bit at his progress. "Heh, I'm an amazing teacher!"

Nijimura scoffed, "Oh please, the dance is simple. Anyone can get it down in three minutes."

Haizaki smirked and arched his brow, "Oh really?" He motioned for him to look over at Midorima, who had been dragged into it against his will by Murasakibara. He was struggling quite a bit.

Aomine laughed at his failed attempts and the poor green-haired guy could only go red in the face.

It was almost two in the morning when the queen called it a night. And from only the feast tonight, the Teikonians learned that when the Fukus party, they party hard.

Most of the people that had attended were walking home with wobbly legs, others were slurring; they weren't kidding about drinking until they dropped.

Even Haizaki was a little hazed, his cheeks tinted red.

Nijimura supported him on the way back to the castle, the stairs being the most difficult obstacle. "Oi! Watch your step!"

"I am! I'm not drunk!"

The older rolled his eyes, "Says the one tripping over their own feet."

After an endless count of stairs, they both managed to reach Haizaki's bedroom. Nijimura tossed him onto the bed and stretched. "Lord, you're a hassle."

Haizaki slowly sat up and stretched out his arms, yawning as he took off his shirt, tossing it to a clothing basket in the corner. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Nijimura looked at him confused, "Get what over with? Wait, are you actually going to consummate with me?"

"Hell no! This is another ceremony that the couple has to do in the bedroom. It's supposed to be an intimate ceremony, like the bathing in rose petals thing."

"So, what are we doing this time?"

Haizaki pointed over to the bureau, "You see that tray of yellow powder? We both have to take off our shirts. And then we have to dip our thumbs in the powder. Then, we have to do certain patterns with it on each other's body. I'll do it first so you can see. Take off your shirt."

Damn, this is a hella long wedding process.

Nijimura took off his shirt while Haizaki went to get the tray of yellow pigment. A few seconds after, he was standing in front of him with the tray in hand. "First, you do three dots on the forehead to form a triangle. That represents when we first get married, when we have kids, and when we die."

He gazed into the younger's eyes as his thumb gently pressed into the center of his forehead. He's actually quite handsome up close.

"Second, you trace a line down the nose bridge to the tip of the nose. That represents the longevity of our marriage."

Shougo traced a line down his nose with the pigment. He did it so softly that it almost tickled.

"Third, you trace your partners collarbones. That represents the bride and groom always having each other's backs. Never once doubting each other, and always trusting them."

He spread his hand out and dipped only the tips of his finger into the yellow pigment and pressed it onto his torso.

"Fourth, imprint five dots at the same time to wish for everlasting happiness within the marriage."

When he was done, he shoved the tray into Nijimura's hands. "Here, just do those steps on me and I'll tell you what the last step is."

The older did as he was told and placed the yellow pigment where it was supposed to be on Haizaki's body. His body temperature was warm.

"Last step, we have to do at the same time. We swipe our thumb across each other's chins and seal the deal with..."

"With?"

Shuuzou could've sworn Shougo's face was getting redder.

"...a kiss."

Being slightly tipsy wasn't helping Shougo in the least. Maybe he should've drank a bit more so that it would be less embarrassing to do.

They both did the chin swipe quickly, but both were hesitating on the kiss.

Time was passing and they had a ceremony to do at noon. Nijimura wanted as much sleep as possible. So, he sighed and grabbed Haizaki by the back of his neck and pulled him closer, "Fuck it."

Shougo was a bit slow at processing what was going on because of the alcohol. But he didn't realize they were kissing until he felt a tongue sliding into his mouth.

How long was this guy going to kiss him? Does he plan on making him die due to lack of oxygen?

Shougo pushed his hand against the older's chest, getting him to stop. "God, were you trying to suffocate me?"

Nijimura licked his lips and smirked, "Maybe."

"Fucking perv."

Shougo shook his head and crawled into the bed. Shuuzou chuckled softly and slept on the other side of the bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

...

...

...

"...cchi. Nijimura-cchi!"

"Ah, he's finally awake."

"Finally, it's takes forever to wake him up."

"Oha Asa says time is of the essence."

"Hurry up ya old hag. You're gonna be late for the ceremony."

"I'd love to see that."

"So like...are you guys done waking him up? Cuz I'd like to wash up without you guys in my bedroom."

Nijimura squinted his eyes. What time was it?

He yawned and sat up, itching his head.

"Well, it seems like our job here is done. We'll see you both at the temple."

The Miracles left the two and Nijimura looked at Haizaki, who looked like he didn't even have a drop of liquor last night. "What time is it?"

"8 am."

"8 am?! How do you not look hungover?!"

Shougo smirked, "It's called Fuku power. Work hard, play hard bitches~ Get up, we gotta wash the yellow off together."

"Another intimate ceremony?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. Trust me, if there was no such ceremony like this, I'd already be out clean instead of waiting for your ass to wake up."

...

After their bath together, the two dressed in regular clothes and headed to the royal hall for breakfast. Shougo screamed in joy when he saw the foods that were prepared for their breakfast.

Shindo walked towards them chuckling, with his daughter in hand. "The chefs don't want you to leave so they're trying to get you to stay by bribing you with your favorite foods."

Misaki giggled and nodded at her father's joke.

"If I had a choice, I would stay bro."

Shougo ran off to give each of the royal chefs a hug.

Nijimura doesn't even know who his royal chefs are. Shindo left Misaki alone with Nijimura while he went to greet all of the guests.

Shuuzou had a feel he was being stared at. By someone standing right next to him. When he looked to his side, he found Misaki glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. Shuuzou gulped nervously, he didn't how such a little girl could feel so intimidating.

"If you make Uncle Shou cry, you're gonna pay for it!"

"O-Oh...haha...really."

Was she being serious? Wait, why is he even scared of a four year old?

"If you make him cry or hurt him, I'm gonna make sure to suffocate you in your sleep and inject poison in your veins and I'll bury you where no one can find you!"

Okay. Wow. She's something else.

"I promise I won't make him cry."

She raised a brow, "Really? How can I trust you?"

Who taught her how to say these things?!

"I'll pinky promise you."

She reluctantly stuck out her pinky, "You swear on Ifrit?"

"I swear on Ifrit, I won't ever make him cry."

"Good!"

Misaki was all smiles again and dragged Nijimura over to the long table of tropical foods. A scary girl she is.

He saw Haizaki chatting happily with all of his cousins, a joy that Nijimura could only dream of. He did have two younger siblings, but they usually keep to themselves. And if they do speak to him, they speak quietly and respectively because of the way their tutors taught them.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Shougo handing him a plate of food until the man lightly elbowed his side. "Here. I don't know what you people eat over in Teiko, but these are my favorites, and they are fucking delicious. So eat up, we have a long day ahead of us."

That was actually quite thoughtful of him. But obviously, Nijimura wouldn't admit that ever.

finally i was able to produce this chapter

i was busy becoming broke with all of the christmas shopping i had to do

but i hope you liked this one even though it's not much

comment if you can! :)