Aisai Bento

The main banquet hall was a beautifully designed space. Although it could sit a hundred people easily in the room, it didn't feel crowded or cramped at all. There walls were decorated with life-like drawings of green mountains painted upon a sapphire-colored sky. Intricate sculptures sat within the corners of the room. The tables were made with beautiful red mahogany, while the cushions had various patterns of flowers sewn upon them. In the front of the room was a small stage for entertainment, music, or even karaoke.

After the rousing round of the King's Game had finished, the Red and Blue clans were ready to sit down and eat their first meal at Midoriyama. The Silver clansmen were invited to a private gathering with the Gold King, as he wanted to catch up with Shiro from all the years they had been apart. Despite the fact that two clans were technically rivals, as they all gathered around the tables filled with plates of meat, booze, and other popular Inn fare, the groups began to intermix with each other. Conversations about their nagging superiors or frustrations about work filled the air amongst the laughter and alcohol drinking.

Everyone appeared to be having a good time—all except one person. Fushimi couldn't help but scowl as he saw the chestnut-haired man happily bouncing around the Red King. "Mikoto-san! Let me pour your beer for you!" Yata exclaimed as he picked up the bottle off the table.

"Yata-chan, it's okay if you pour beer for Mikoto, but I don't want you drinking any yourself! You are too much of a lightweight that if you drink, we'd have to deal with taking care of you for the rest of the night." The blond-haired bartender of HOMRA said to the crow.

"Kusanagi-san! With all due respect, I'm almost an adult now! I can handle myself!"

"Key word is 'almost.' Children should be quiet and listen to their elders." It was funny how much Kusanagi could sound more like a mother hen watching over its baby chicks than a member of a gang.

A loner at heart, Scepter 4's third-in-command was the only one sitting by himself in the corner away from the other clansmen. They were all worthless, annoying trash, and he could care less if he bonded with them or not. Scanning around the room, he could see some of his subordinates downing their third bottle of sake. Awashima's face was already red and swollen from being completely wasted, and he could see Domyouji trying to flirt with his superior.

Now normally in this situation, the Heartless Woman would have gave her ice-cold stare down along with some harsh words and possibly a beat down after, but being completed intoxicated, she sat there laughing and running her fingers through her silky blonde hair.

The pig Kanamoto was already on his fifth plate of barbequed beef. His mouth was like an entrance way with a conveyer belt leading the slices of beef down his throat. He had food stains all over the front of his shirt, which made Fushimi shudder in disgust. He hated when things were dirty or unorganized. He always kept his uniform spotless and nicely pressed, without a single wrinkle on the fabric.

He could see some of his ex-clansmen laughing away with three of the Scepter 4 members as they listened to Akagi Shouhei tell them stories about himself and Bandou when they were younger. Even the strain girl Anna was at least sitting with Mikoto, Reisi, and Izumo as she ate in silence. It was only the blue-eyed man who sat there alone.

"Tch, this really is a waste of time," Fushimi thought to himself as he stared the door, ready to just get up and leave the banquet hall.

"Oi Saru, what the hell are you doing, moping around at this table alone?"

Saruhiko turned his head to the side and looked up at the amber-eyed man beside him. "Shut up. It's none of your business."

"You really haven't changed at all since middle school, have you? Always sitting away from everybody else during school events and being left out of group work."

"And you were always ostracized from everyone else for being such a violent, midget-idiot," the Blue clansman shot back.

"You bastard…" Instead of blowing up in rage though, Misaki sighed and simply sat down beside the blue-haired man. "I guess it can't be helped. I'll come and sit with you for the rest of dinner."

Saruhiko was caught by surprise. He didn't expect the vanguard of HOMRA to leave his precious Mikoto-san to come sit with him. He didn't even think Yata would even notice him in the presence of the Red King. "Tch, I don't need your pity party here. Go away."

"Hey Saru…about what I said to you at Ashinaka Gakuen…I…" Misaki began to blush a bit as he remembered the two lying in the snow together after losing to the Black Dog in a fight.

"Don't you care anymore!? You once looked up to him as your king as well! I'm sure you still have it in you…" Misaki shouted as he grasped firmly onto Saruhiko's collar.

As much as the crow wanted to hate the man beside him, he couldn't deny that he would give up all that anger in a heartbeat if Fushimi would earnestly come back to him and the Red clan. But a day when the Blue would understand these feelings would probably never come.

Yata looked around at the table and saw that Saruhiko had barely touched any of the food. "Ah, Saru! You barely ate anything! Are you avoiding all the vegetables again? You never grow up, do you?"

"You're one to talk. You've been stuck at 166.9 centimeters from pretty much the first day I met you."

"…SHUT UP! I still don't even know how the hell you know my height in the first place! Sometimes you scare me."

Fushimi clicked his tongue and averted his eyes away from Yata's gaze. Suddenly, he saw a pair of chopsticks holding a slice of beef between them. "…What is this?"

"You need to eat more Saru. You'll always remain sickly-looking if you don't maintain a good diet. Here, open your mouth."

Saruhiko scowled at the chestnut-haired man beside him and said, "Stop that. Feed yourself and grow taller you midget."

Despite the name calling, Misaki still continued to hold the meat in front of Fushimi's lips. "Eat it."

Saruhiko began to blush very subtly. He sighed at first, but then he slowly opened his mouth, avoiding eye contact with the man beside him. Yata began to smile as he placed the beef onto the Blue's tongue. "See? Isn't it good?"

It reminded the Blue clansman about the time when they had gone to the park together. The two had spent their lunch time taking turns feeding each other, as Fushimi refused to eat any of the broccoli, and Misaki complained that he wasn't eating enough. A smile formed on Saruhiko's face as he grabbed his own pair of chopsticks picked up a large piece of broccoli tempura. "Fine then Misaki, if I have to eat, so do you."

The chestnut-haired man's face began to turn pink as he said, "W-w-well…I guess it can't be helped then."

The two began to take turns back and forth feeding each other off of the various plates as they chatted away. They were so caught up in their own little world, that they did not notice how quiet the banquet hall had gotten. As Misaki took a big bite out of a seasoned pumpkin slice, he turned his head and saw an entire room full of faces staring in the two's direction.

Fushimi's subordinates all had their mouths gaping wide open. They never thought they would see the day when Scepter 4's number one emotionless and anti-social member would be hand-feeding another person with a gentle look on his face. Awashima was blushing and drooling at the sight of two young and attractive men acting so lovey-dovey out in the open. Kanamoto was too much in shock that he even stopped shoveling food down his throat as he stared.

Misaki's eyes widened in horror as he realized that they were being watched. One of the Red clansmen even had his camera out to record the scene, in order for him to make fun of the crow later. Trying to do multiple things at once, Yata attempted to jump up and shout, despite having food in his mouth. The large pumpkin piece got lodged into his throat, and he couldn't breathe as he was in panic.

The amber-eyed man quickly ran to the closest cup filled with fluid to clear his throat. "AHH! YATA-SAN! Don't drink that one! That is a…" Shouhei's words were cut off as he saw Misaki pound down the fluid in one large gulp. "…gin and tonic."

Saruhiko stared at the vanguard and clicked his tongue. "Tch, why is it always these worthless scum that get in our way?"