-Oxford - Thursday: Part 25-
Keiji stared at the door to Ren Tsuruga's room. He wasn't here really because he wanted to be here but his charge, the girl who had taken a large chunk of his heart so quickly would have been upset for falling asleep and wasting food. He had sent a message off to Lory informing him that Kyoko was now sleeping in his and Daiki's room. He knew his brother would protect her he might not be able to fight but he knew that he would not allow harm to come to her either. There would be no rumors, no scandals as far as the world knew they were like siblings. Perhaps more than he realized deep down, wasn't that what she herself realized? Like with the Williams the Fukumi family was as well. 'Troublesome' he thought.
They didn't need anyone else in their tight group, in their family. Yet there she was doing just that, Yashiro had been overly surprised when she had handed him one of the three bento boxes, telling him exactly how to properly warm it. Part of him was sure she would have just gone and done it herself but he wouldn't have allowed it anyway. They might have some privacy here but it was not much. There were still cameras in the halls, the only difference was that the Ankou also could delete anything they needed or likely add if they had too. He wasn't even supposed to know about them, he was pretty sure the rest of his family didn't either. If he had been simpleminded he would have thought it was simply something that people with close ties to the Royal family had the pleasure of knowing. Yet he knew the truth and there had been a moment a thought in his young mind where he had wanted too. There had been the pause the thought when Leiko had come to him her manservant at her side. As a Japanese man, he would never be allowed the full freedom of being able to love openly and freely. It would always look bad to his parents, a mark of shame because he was attracted to the same sex.
He had held it close to his heart for a long time, too scared to let anyone know and yet Leiko had found out. Here was this out, this way to allow himself to be open about those who attracted to him, all while protecting the family. She had explained the basic details, that he would be properly trained and once it was done, he would die. Regardless of the outcome, he would no longer be allowed to be with his family again. That had been the nail though, the nail that told him he couldn't. He declined she had smiled as if she knew he would, then told him that she still wanted him to train. That just being a friend, a friend who could help protect her Grandson would be enough. He saw no harm in it. He liked Cody, Amanda, and even David. It would allow them some freedom and he knew that was important. It was the least he could do for his friends, not that he would ever admit it to anyone but they were his friends and he wouldn't be a good friend if he didn't at least attempt to protect them in his own way. Besides, he reasoned even if wasn't for them, he needed to do it for himself because he knew deep down he had to learn to defend himself, his life being gay would not be easy. What he hadn't known at the time was Leiko had a small group of outsiders and that he was no tied to her in the same way.
What he hadn't been ready for was, of course, Kyoko, she was he sighed 'Troublesome' was all he really could think about it. Part of him knew deep down if he could ever love a woman in such a matter, it would be her. Cody might be his best friend if he had to give someone that title but he was also troublesome in a different way. People adored him, he just threw out cuteness and he knew that Cody was not trying to do so which made those around him more likely to tease him. Yet no one knew the truth of how it made him feel, girls and boys, throwing themselves at him bothered the youngest prince. Yet he knew that Cody was betrothed to some distance cousin and unlike Laura or the twins he was loyal to it. It would change Keiji was sure once Cody did find someone that he wanted to be with. It was a matter of time like it was with everyone or you learn to love the person you marry.
Mentally he sighed because it all brought him to Amanda and David were a whole other sort of troublesome. They both dated, they had long ago canceled their betroths, most people believed it was because they were madly in love with each other. It was as if it didn't matter that David flirted with every woman that walked, all they saw was that Amanda didn't like them. Keiji had figured that out long ago before Leiko ever came to him. They were close but it was because they were clinging on to each other, they knew that people wanted to get close to them because of who they were. Not for themselves and that went also with those who connected to them through titles. Nobility wanted to be close to them because they were siblings to the future King, they were the children of the Queen. They didn't see how Amanda had been hurt one to many times that her lifeline was her twin, the only one who had been through everything from the very start. They didn't understand that they used their deadly charms to get what they wanted. They didn't know that they were clever and tricky and what one couldn't do the other could. They were the perfect team. He mentally found himself groaning as he looked down at the bento in his hands. 'And it seems for me I found my other half' if he had told anyone that they would just assume he was talking about love, but that wasn't the case he was talking about the same sort of half that those two saw themselves as. Which meant he wouldn't just let anyone get close to Kyoko, only the best would work and now he had a perfect understanding with how Amanda felt when it came to David and his love life.
"Great, I'm going to become deranged" he knocked on the door to Ren's room, his annoyance growing more and more as he thought about it.
Kuon turned the glass of bourbon in his hand, Yashiro had called him not too long ago. He had been informed that the news media was reporting several pictures of him and Maria at lunch. It had been caught by someone calling themselves Laurel Adarakat, he had a funny feeling that somehow his Godfather had something to do with it getting out. Maybe he had used Ruto, but there was also nothing about Kyoko being there which bothered him. For some reason he wanted the media to get into the mindset of them being close... but that came crashing down quickly when Yashiro began to talk about the wonderful bento he had gotten from Kyoko. He sighed heavily he knew it shouldn't bother him, shouldn't make his heartache and yet it was doing just that. They had finished talking about the updates, several new offers had come in.
It would give him something to look through on his way back to Tokyo Japan and then another twist of the knife in his heart. He pushed it down, of course, he didn't want to leave, both his parents were here. While he might not be able to Kuon, their son, they hadn't been friendly. Course most of it was Kuu trying to keep Juliena from beating him with her purse, telling him that she knew for sure he was raised better than this. His mother had never been one to raise a hand against him, but it was clear that she had been at her wit's end and he had seen her hit his father with her purses many times. However Kuu always found it charming, as a child, it had scared him but now being on the other end of it, well he could see why his father found it charming, there was no real force behind it. It just looked bad. That's why he didn't miss the way his father had looked at his wife, the glimmer of amusement, that he himself had found himself making and the way she threw up her hands she clearly had wanted to say something and that's when he felt it again. The pain that he had caused by leaving, her eyes darken and she turned away from him. That moment disappearing so quickly, Kuu touched his shoulder slightly before disappearing to ease the pain that he had once again caused her.
The knock on his door pulled him back from his thoughts. He knew it was late, not unreasonable late though. He sat the glass down on the table and went to answer the door. He paused for a moment before running a hand through his hair and opening it. He hoped he didn't look nearly as tired or stressed as he felt at the moment, that was the real problem with him when he drank it was harder sometimes to keep control of being Ren Tsuruga. Opening the door he found himself looking at Keiji, confusion washed over his face, which meant he held a completely blank expression.
Keiji "Ren-chan"
For a moment he felt as if Keiji was this some sweet and shy little girl which startled him greatly, but what was he supposed to think when the man before him was holding a bento box, the worse part was he knew that Keiji didn't know or realize he was Kuon. He also didn't think this guy would swing that way, his eyes trailed down the halls, wondering if perhaps if this was a joke and if not how he was going to break it to this young man before him.
"Stop," Keiji said with a sigh.
Kuon and Ren both looked down at him again, had he not needed to say anything after all?
"Seriously, just stop," he said pushing past him and entering his hotel room. Somehow this only added to the worry that he might need to break his heart. It wasn't as if was the first time he had to turn a man down yet he never had to do so with someone who was family in many ways. He sat the bento box into the microwave "troublesome" he muttered under his breath as Kuon shut the door and looked at him.
'That's what I want to say' he thought. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Keiji, him leaving as Kuon had been enough pain already. Yet he did have to figure out how to treat him gently when he turned him down, perhaps like one of those young girls? He cleared his throat as he looked at him, "I'm flattered..."
"Stop" he growled as he turned towards the man, "I'm not into you."
Kuon let out a deep breath, "Thank God" he leaned against the wall, almost as if all the strength had left him, "I had no idea how I was going to turn you down" he said that more to himself than to Keiji but he didn't miss the grunt that the younger man gave him. "I just don't swing that way is all, it's not the first time either..." why was he rambling all of a sudden, maybe because it was Keiji and the young man had once looked up to him before... before his own darkness began to wrap around him. Keiji had been smart he had started to pull away from him. He stopped himself for a moment, "Why are you here?" he heard beeping of the microwave and him turn back around before turning it back on and looking at him.
"Kyoko made you a bento, she would have had a fit if the food would have gone to waste." The young man crossed his arms in front of him as he looked at him, "She also under the impression you are like Daiki, meaning you need to be babysat to make sure you eat." He shrugged his shoulder slightly.
Well, he wouldn't be able to deny that if he was being Kuon at the moment. They both had bad eating habits he supposed, where he went for anything that just took care of the hunger, Daiki was more about whatever wouldn't go bad, sticky, or stained his fingers. They no matter how you looked at it was all about the quickness, not exactly the healthy aspects eating, where Daiki was a snacker from what he could recall, Kuon and as such Ren just went long periods without eating. Which meant for Kuon he likely ate one meal a day, but Kyoko had been pushing that hadn't she? It was really making him sick the amount of food he's been forced to eat, which meant he was once again going to have to eat didn't it? Well maybe not all of it, like she insisted. It wouldn't be so bad he supposed. Kuon could feel the man's eyes on him, slowly he lifted his face to look at him. What he saw he knew well, he was an annoyance that washed over him.
Keiji shook his head as he turned and popped open the microwave, before setting the box with a spoon on the table. Motioning for him to sit down, Kuon did as he was told and sat down staring at it. It was simple, clearly not meant to be a heavy meal, just one to get through the day, he lifted the spoon and turned the vegetables in what he was sure a miso broth, there was rice but no meat. He had to fight the smile that threatened to appear. Just something to make sure he ate, of course, it wasn't just him. Yashiro had gotten this same thing, so had Daiki, but he was surprised that it had been given to him in a bento box instead of in something else. Yet maybe that was all she had at the time? Clearly, this could be microwaved just fine.
Keiji, "You aren't used to women are you?"
To say he was taken by surprise was not an understatement, "I've known plenty women." He took a mouthful of the soup and closed his eyes, it was perfect, maybe better than anything he ever had.
"They throw themselves at you right?"
Kuon lifted his head slightly looking at the man who was clearly studying him like some odd science project and it made him feel rather uncomfortable all at once. "Something like that" it wasn't really a lie but they never forced him, he had always gone willingly because it was something to do and his body had urges that they were best suited for.
"She's not that kind." His eyes shot up again towards the young man who was not looking at him at the moment, he was looking down at his phone.
'That kid and his phone' actually he shouldn't be surprised, Daiki had been much like that too, worse was when he had a laptop in his hand because the rest of the world, for the most part, shut off around him. It was different with Keiji, he was different than the little kid who used to stare up at him in wonder. Guilt that he might have been the one to change him that deeply began to cross his features. Yet, Keiji was right. Kyoko was not like any of those other women, she didn't do anything to get him too fond over her, not even when they were kids. She was always trying to make everyone around her happy, caring about everyone around her to the point she didn't care about herself. That apparently had led her to tackle something that she had no place in being, he tried to push the anger out that in a way he too was to blame. Had he not kept in contact with her, had he just given her his address. He sighed heavily, "I know."
Keiji put his phone down for a moment looking at him, he found himself looking away from him as he turned to look back at his soup. Knowing that it likely wasn't because he was special to her that she had made this for him or that she wanted anything more. Yet he had been included because it was her nature to take care of those around her. He ate in silence, he knew that Keiji was once back on his phone when he no longer felt his eyes on him. He did end up finishing it all and Keiji moved forward taking the bento box to the sink where he washed it and set it to the side.
"I'll help you Ren-chan," he said after a moment. Kuon lifted his head up towards him for a moment again he felt confusion wash over him "Don't misunderstand, you fucked up." He said looking back towards his phone. Kuon wondered if that meant what it meant before the young man put his hand in his pocket and moved towards him, he held out his phone for a moment. A picture one he didn't remember being taken, he was normally pretty good at such things but there he was with Kuu and Juliena, it wasn't good for him to be caught so close to his father, he looked too much like him. "You aren't a bad kid."
Kuon couldn't help but shake his head, Keiji really didn't have any idea or maybe he did if he had known he was Kuon. The pain that if he knew who he was, that he would walk out on him for good caused a different sort of pain in his chest. "What are you planning to do with that?"
"Nothing," he said pulling away, "Yet you are about to hit the news again," he said simply turning back and grabbing the bento box, "I highly recommend you accept the offer." His eyes turned towards him slightly as he made his way towards the door "See you bright and early Ren-chan."
A/N: Thanks to Matelia-legwll for catching my errors!