Akoya had never been outside the palace after dark. He was not finding it an altogether pleasant experience. Io's capital city was a good one, prosperous and well-run, and getting better all the time. Even so, Io had only been king for a few weeks, and he hadn't had time to make but so many improvements. The city was safe enough during the day, but after dark, the more unsavory elements began to emerge. Akoya kept his hood pulled low over his face, trying to avoid the drunken revelers and occasional ladies of the night who swaggered or sauntered past. All he had in mind for the moment was finding some safe, hidden place to hole up for the night. A place to bed down would be even better, but he wasn't going to push his luck. He didn't dare check in to any of the major public houses, on the off chance that someone would recognize him, and he didn't know where else to go.
"And people think having a privileged upbringing makes life easier," he muttered.
He hugged his cloak more closely around him. During the day, the sun baked the city, but now it was dark and the air had a bite to it. He thought longingly of being in his own snug bed, wrapped in soft blankets and perhaps someone else's arms.
No, that won't help. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and figure out what you're going to do tonight.
He was aware that the street he had wandered into did not look particularly wholesome, and he wondered if that was a good thing or a bad one. A good neighborhood would be safer from ruffians, but probably also had more guards on patrol, any one of whom might be a little overzealous about exercising their scimitars in the king's defense. A bad neighborhood might make it easier for him to go unnoticed by the guards, but...
"Well, hey there, Prettyface," said a voice from the shadows. "Haven't seen you around here before."
"You look cold," said another. "Come over here and let us warm you up!"
"Working tonight?" asked a third. "How much do you charge?"
"More than you could afford," said Akoya tartly.
Four rough-looking young men came oozing out of an alley to form a loose ring around Akoya. They smelled of sweat and cheap wine, making Akoya's nose wrinkle. Io and Ryuu were always clean, and these days usually smelled of the perfumed soaps and lotions he brewed for him - infinitely more pleasant to Akoya's senses. These men were tall and brawny, a good deal more of both than Akoya, but they had a softness around their middles that suggested they probably weren't using their muscles as much as they might. Akoya regarded them with a small frown.
"Come on, honey," cooed one of them. "Why don't you give us a smile?"
"Because," said Akoya, "I've just suffered a rejection, I've been kicked out of my home, the royalty of two nations is angry at me, I'm cold and tired and I haven't had dinner yet, and you louts are trying to get me to smile at you. Go away."
"Hey, now, don't be like that," said one of the men. He stepped closer, holding out his arms. "If you're feeling lonely, I can... oof!"
The man staggered backwards, made momentarily breathless by the force of Akoya's foot driving into his gut. For all that Akoya looked slim and delicate, he was still a dancer, and dancers had strong legs. The man landed in the arms of his comrades, who were no longer looking at Akoya with such approval. Akoya watched them coolly. In the mood he was in, he was almost glad for a fight.
"You don't really want to try it," he said.
Apparently they did. The man who wasn't holding up his fallen friend rushed at Akoya, who whipped up one foot and kicked him hard in the chin. His head snapped back so sharply that Akoya wondered if he had broken the man's neck, but when he fell, he curled up and groaned a bit, so Akoya decided he wasn't hurt enough to be worth worrying about. The two who had been propping up their comrade released him and rushed Akoya at the same time. He danced lightly out of the way, dodging one and grabbing the other by the elbow to spin him around and slam him into a wall. The other one skidded to a halt, changed direction, and rushed back at Akoya, who tripped him and sent him sprawling. He smacked against the same wall his friend had recently encountered, but had a softer landing, mostly because he managed to fall on top of his prone companion. The lone remaining man, having gotten his wind back, made a second charge at Akoya, roaring and raising his fist. This time, Akoya didn't even bother aiming for the gut this time. His heel came firmly in contact with his attacker's groin, and then, when the man doubled over, he jerked his knee up into the man's solar plexus. The lout collapsed, gasping and retching.
"I told you so," said Akoya primly.
He stepped over his fallen adversary and walked back to where one of the less damaged men had fallen. Akoya grabbed the man by the hair and raised his head.
"Hello," he said, in his sweetest tones. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. You see, I'm in a very bad mood tonight, and I want a place where I can eat and rest without anyone asking too many questions. If you tell me where to find a place like that, I'll go away and won't hurt you anymore. Won't that be nice?"
The man gurgled something.
"That's what I thought," said Akoya.
Within a few minutes, he had the address of a run-down boarding house on the fringes of town, which he was assured had an honest proprietor, clean beds, and not-too-awful food. Akoya, having inspected the place, was less than certain of this, but he handed over a few coins anyway, keeping his hood down to hide his face from view, and accepted a chunk of coarse bread and watery soup in exchange. The room he was shown to was bare and run-down but scrupulously clean. Akoya, used to sleeping on a goosedown mattress with silk sheets, wrinkled his nose in distaste, but was forced to admit it was the best he was going to do on such short notice. He could manage, for one night.
Still, there were things he could do to make it better. He locked the door behind him, then shoved a chair beneath the handle and wedged it tightly in place. He closed and latched the shutters as well. Then he took the pitcher of scummy water next to the night stand, set it on the windowsill, and tied the handle to the latch with one of his hair ribbons. Only after those preparations were complete did he eat his meager meal, put out the lamp, and lie down to sleep.
He had been lying awake for a few minutes, staring into the dark, when he heard the door rattle.
Bother, he thought. I must have overpaid. Either that, or someone saw my jewelry...
The door rattled a few more times, but the chair held, and eventually the intruder went away. Akoya continued to wait. After a few minutes, he heard a new sound coming from the window - a soft scraping noise that might, for example, be someone trying to push the latch open from the outside with the blade of a knife. Then there was a creak as the shutters swung gently outward...
And a splash, as the jug tipped over and fell, water and all, onto the intruder. There was a yelp of surprise that became a drawn-out cry as the would-be thief lost his grip in surprised and plummeted into the street. Akoya got up and peered out the window. His jug was still swinging gently at the end of the ribbon. He untied it and threw it down into the dark. It hit something that went "Ow!"
"If you liked that," he called down to them, "just wait until you see where I've hidden the chamber pot."
Then he closed the shutters and went back to bed. This time, no one bothered him.
Io had passed a sleepless night. He had mobilized his soldiers and sent them out to look for Akoya, fully expecting that they would find him in fairly short order. But the hours passed, and there was no word of him. Worried and heartsick, Io and Ryuu had finally gone to bed, but Io had gotten no rest. He'd lain awake, expecting at any moment to hear word that Akoya had been found and was safe at home again. Even with Ryuu next to him, offering what comfort he could. Io had still felt cold. When he had dozed off for a minute or two, it was to dream unsettling things - that the guards had found Akoya and slain him, that he'd been found but refused to accept Io's apology, that by the time they had found him Kinshiro's people had already caught him and hauled him off to be executed for treason. By the time the sun finally peeked through his windows, Io was feeling headachey and slightly ill. He rolled over and groaned.
"Awake now?" asked Ryuu, somewhere above him. He sounded tired, too.
Io groaned. "What time is it?"
"About four hours past dawn," said Ryuu. "You looked tired so I let you sleep in."
Io jolted upright, throwing off his covers. "That late? How could you let me oversleep like that?"
"I exercised my authority," said Ryuu. "You didn't sleep a wink last night and I know it. Nothing was going on that you can't put off until tomorrow, so I let you rest."
Io sighed. "So he's not back yet."
"Sorry," said Ryuu, shaking his head. "No sign of him anywhere, and the guards say they looked."
"I'm not really surprised," Io said resignedly. "Akoya's too smart to let himself get caught right away."
"Do you think he's still in the city?" Ryuu asked.
Io flung up his hands in frustration. "I don't know anymore. I can't think."
The thought, I wish Akoya were here, he'd know what to do, flashed across his mind, and he grimaced. If Io had been panicking over something like this yesterday, Akoya would have been there with his ready supply of shoulder rubs and soothing concoctions. He'd have calmed Io down, and Ryuu would have braced him up again and gotten him energized to go take care of whatever needed doing. Trying to cope with one of them missing felt like trying to get out of bed and realizing too late that one of his legs had vanished in the night.
Io was still grappling with that idea when one of the palace servants rapped on the door.
"What is it now?" Io demanded, rather ungraciously.
The servant peeked inside.
"Your majesty," he said, "the delegation from the Arborean Empire is here, and we've just received a message that the prince of White Sands is making a surprise visit."
"Oh, hell," Ryuu muttered. "That's all we need."
"Crown Prince Kinshiro is coming here?" asked Io, suddenly on alert.
"Yes, your majesty," the servant agreed. "We got the news early this morning. Apparently he departed very abruptly yesterday evening. Our informants say he's been traveling very swiftly with a small entourage, and he's expected to be here some time tonight."
"Yesterday evening," said Io slowly. He looked to Ryuu. "Do you think...?"
Ryuu shrugged. "Don't see what else it could be."
"What a mess," Io groaned.
The servant looked awkward. "So... about the Arborean embassy...?"
"Tell them whatever you want," Io snapped. The servant began to withdraw, and he added, "No, wait. Tell him I've been unavoidably detained by a serious diplomatic incident. Get him and his party settled into rooms. While they're doing that, round up a guide and have someone take Prince Atsushi around the city to see the sights. See if you can round up some dancers or jugglers or something and get them to put on a show for him at the grand pavilion. And make up the best guest room for Prince Kinshiro, just in case he really does show up tonight."
"Of course, your majesty," said the servant, looking relieved now that there was a plan in place. "I'll have rooms arranged at once, and I'll talk to Akoya about..." There he went very pale and swallowed hard. "I'll talk to someone about entertainment."
Then he fled, not even bothering to close the door behind him. Io was grateful for that. It meant he could vent his feelings by slamming it.
Ryuu came up behind Io and put his arms around him.
"It's okay," he murmured.
Io turned so he could bury his face against Ryuu's hair. "It's not okay. It's getting worse by the moment. What is Kinshiro doing here? What made him hurry over so fast?"
"I don't know," said Ryuu, "but we're going to deal with this, okay? I believe in you. You're smart. You can figure out a way. I trust you."
Io sniffled a little. "You're right. This is no time to fall apart. All right, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get every guard, every messenger, every page boy and runner, every street urchin who's willing to run errands for a penny, and we're going to start spreading the word. We're going to tell everyone that Akoya was falsely accused, he's been pardoned, and we want him to come back. One way or another, we're going to find him before the prince gets here."
"What if Akoya doesn't believe us?" Ryuu asked. "What if he thinks it's all a trick?"
"He won't," said Io positively. "He's smart enough to realize that we can't make such a public declaration of his innocence and then turn around and convict him. But we've got to move fast. He may have already left the city by now."
Very slowly, Ryuu began to grin.
"Then let's get going."
Akoya had not left the city. He wasn't even very far from the palace. At the moment, he was sitting on the roof of a low building, tucked under the shadow of its neighbor's roof, eating a bag of candied dates and watching what was going on in the city square. His dinner last night may well have been inadequate, but he'd made up for it by waiting until the market began to get lively and then just walking up to stalls and buying what he wanted. The average citizen on the streets may or may not have heard that the king's favorite concubine had been convicted of treason, but none of them had ever been fortunate enough to see said concubine perform. Even when Akoya went out into the market to buy things, he always went veiled. As long as he avoided the stalls where he was well-known and didn't let any guards get too close to him, he had realized that he could walk about right out in the open and no one would notice him. All the same, he had decided not to take too many chances, and had retreated to this pleasant spot to finish his lunch and think about what to do next. It might have been hot and dusty down in the market, but up here, he could enjoy the shade and the occasional breeze and almost feel cool.
For being in dire straits, he mused, this isn't half bad.
He'd had another piece of luck that morning, too. It turned out that grungy little hole-in-the-wall inns were good places to pick up gossip. His breakfast had consisted of stale bread, murky tea, and eavesdropping, and he'd picked up one valuable fact: an embassy from the Arborean Empire was arriving that day. Akoya knew all about the Arborean Empire, thanks to Kinshiro's ill-fated engagement, and had therefore been interested. That was how he happened to know that the embassy was being led by none other than the man who had so dramatically broken Kinshiro's heart a year ago. That opened up some fascinating possibilities.
That was why Akoya was sitting on a roof, eating his dessert and waiting for something to happen. He had observed some workmen hastily setting up a stage in the grand pavilion, and had guessed shrewdly that this was to be some sort of honor or entertainment for the visiting prince. He had been even more certain when he'd seen a few more workmen hanging up banners in Arborean green and white on every vertical surface they could attach things to, even going so far as to string long ropes of them across the street. At one point, Akoya had been forced to retreat to the other side of the building to avoid being spotted by people hanging them near his chosen hiding place. All the same, he rather liked the banners. They added a festive touch to the city, and even more importantly, they were giving him ideas.
Sure enough, after some time had elapsed, people began gathering around the stage looking anticipatory. Akoya's sharp eye noted the men in green uniforms. He couldn't see if they were armed, not with the press of bodies around them, but he guessed all the same that they must be the prince's guards. That must mean the man at the center of them must be the prince himself. He fit the description Kinshiro had given, anyway - slender, dark-haired, on the tall side, wearing spectacles. He looked, Akoya thought, rather ill-at-ease, as if he'd like to give all these formidable guards around him the slip and go find some quiet corner to unwind in, but that might have been only Akoya's preconceived notions. The letters Kinshiro had sent home during his months in the Empire had given Akoya the idea of a rather shy, retiring man who didn't like being at the center of a lot of fuss, which had made it even more of a surprise when Kinshiro had come home with news of a treacherous plot.
I would certainly like to get to know you better, my young prince.
A performance started. Akoya watched critically as a dozen or so female dancers in filmy draperies flitted across the stage.
Second rate, he thought. He wished it were he up on that stage, performing for a prince. What a pity it was that things hadn't waited a day or two to fall apart like this, if they had to fall apart at all. Akoya felt sure that he would have given such a performance as to persuade the prince to strike an alliance on the spot, just so he could have more opportunities of seeing Akoya dance.
On the other hand, if this were not all happening now, there might not be such a good opportunity for getting what he needed. Akoya waited patiently, gauging his moment.
It came when the performance finally ended, and the crowds began to disperse. Dispersing crowds were always a little uncertain - some people going this way, some that, some lingering to reflect on what they had just seen or to hash over the performance with their companions. For just those few seconds, the crowds would be distracted and unfocused, and the guards around the prince would be trying to look in every direction at once. This time, they were going to be looking in the wrong direction.
Akoya moved. Agile as a monkey, he shimmied down one of the dangling banners, grabbed one of the ropes of dangling flags, and began swinging himself hand over hand across the street. There, he grabbed for another banner and began clambering his way up the road, closer to the stage and the prince. When he had gotten as near as he dared, he grabbed hold of the next string of flags, whipped out a knife, and slashed the rope clean through. People had noticed him now, and were pointing and exclaiming, but it was too late for him to stop now. He gripped the rope tightly, kicked off the side of the building, and swung.
People screamed and scrambled to get out of his way, so that he landed unhindered in the middle of the street. Guards clustered around him, already reaching for their weapons. Akoya threw off his hood and veil and smiled sweetly at them. The guards stopped, momentarily confused.
"Hello, boys," Akoya purred. "Care to dance?"
Not long ago, there would have been a time when Akoya would have hesitated to pick a fight with six armed men. Today was not that day. Fighting off the louts in the alley had given him confidence, and more importantly, some idea of his own abilities. With another quick slash of the knife, he cut a few feet of cord from the rope he'd been swinging on and let the rest fall away. He sheathed the knife and instead gripped the bit of rope in both hands and assumed a defensive posture, waiting for the guards to make their next move.
"Now look here," said one, apparently deciding to be conciliatory, "I don't know what exactly you're trying to pull, but..."
Akoya whipped his rope around the man's neck and gave it a good sharp pull. It wasn't enough to really hurt the man, but it surprised him, and he stumbled forward. Akoya tripped him and let him fall, then jumped on top of him to make sure he'd stay down. The other men rushed at him, and they began to fight.
For a few seconds, Akoya was very busy with ducking and dodging, kicking and jumping. He lashed about with his length of rope, tangling people's arms and legs to pull them off-balance. It was very probable that if the fight had gone on too long, he might have come off the worse, but for now, the guards were only trying to subdue him, not hurt him. He was, after all, only a pretty young man with a piece of rope, and it would be an embarrassment if it took six men with swords to bring him down. The more frustrated they got with him, though, the more likely it was that they would forget their pride and simply do whatever it took to put him in his place.
But it wasn't Akoya's goal to defeat a crew of hardened soldiers using only a piece of rope. What he wanted was the prince, and the prince seemed as eager to get away from his guard as Akoya was. As soon as he realized that this fight wasn't going to be as quick and decisive as he thought, he took to his heels and ran. Akoya noted the direction he'd gone, compared it to his mental map of the city, and smiled slightly. The guards had been too busy dodging him to notice the prince they were guarding had disappeared.
"Well, this has been fun," he said, "but I really have to go."
He grabbed one of the men by the arm, swung him around so that he bowled into three of his fellows. Then he dove between the legs of a fourth man, rolled onto his back, and delivered a swift kick to his behind that sent him sprawling. He immediately sprang back to his feet, just in time to face the final guard and headbutt him on the chin. The big man staggered backwards with a yell of pain. That was as good an opening as Akoya was going to get. He ran for the dangling end of the cut rope and began swarming up it. By the time the fallen soldiers had pulled themselves together, Akoya was on the roof and out of sight.
Akoya ran, bounding from rooftop to rooftop. Beyond the main road, the city sprawled into innumerable little neighborhoods full of narrow alleys, most of them narrow enough that a suitably athletic man could vault across them easily. Akoya followed the path he deemed most probable for the prince to have taken, scanning the lanes from above. The whole fight had only taken a few seconds. Surely Prince Atsushi couldn't have gone too far in such a short time...
He hadn't. After a brief search, Akoya found his quarry sitting on someone's back steps, panting for breath and looking more than a little flustered. There were no other people around, and Akoya guessed that they were all still in the main road, gossiping with each other about the performance and what had come after it. Akoya scampered down to ground level and sauntered over to where the prince sat.
"Hello," he said brightly, leaning over him. "Am I correct in guessing that you are Prince Atsushi of the Arborean Empire?"
"That's right," the prince replied. Then, looking as if he'd only just realized that might not be the brightest thing to say, he added, "Who are you? Why did you attack my men just now?"
"My name is Akoya of the house of Gero," Akoya answered pleasantly, "and I'm here to kidnap you."
Atsushi looked alarmed. "What if I don't want to be kidnaped?"
"I have rope," said Akoya, holding up the article in question. "I could tie you up if it would help, but I would much rather we didn't have to go to that extreme. It might be best if we could sit down and talk everything through sensibly like rational people. I would really like to explain myself, and I need someone who is willing to listen to my problem and who has the authority to do something about it."
Atsushi gave him a look that suggested he didn't really believe Akoya was capable of doing anything rational, but he said, "I'm willing to listen."
"Good," said Akoya. "Can you climb?"
The answer, it turned out, was yes. The Arborean Empire was, as the name suggested, very fond of trees, and every child old enough to toddle learned how to climb them. The prince had no trouble at all in scampering up the side of a building with the help of some windowsills and ornamental carvings. Soon he and Akoya were relaxing on a roof looking up at the endless blue sky.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Atsushi asked. He laughed a little. "I suppose I ought to thank you for this. I really wasn't enjoying being hauled around the city like that. I don't mind a little sightseeing, but I have the feeling I'm being given the brush-off. I don't think the king is very happy to see me."
Akoya gave him an interested look. "Now, why would you say that, I wonder?"
"Oh, I don't think it's anything to do with me personally," said Atsushi. "I just think he has something else on his mind right now, and I'm interrupting whatever it is."
"I think I can explain that," said Akoya, with a grim smile. "You see, up until last night, the king had a witty, talented, and absolutely gorgeous concubine, who unfortunately turned out to be a spy for the kingdom next door. As you might imagine, his majesty is perhaps feeling a bit put out right now."
"Ahh," said Atsushi. He gave Akoya a narrow-eyed look. "And you know that because... how?"
"I'm the spy," said Akoya.
Atsushi nodded, having clearly expected the answer.
"So what does this have to do with kidnaping me?" he asked.
"Just what I said," Akoya replied. "I need someone to listen to me - a go-between, if you will. You see, the thing is... well, when I started all this, I thought it was going to be simple. I'd come in, I'd coax out the king's dirty little secrets, whatever they are, and then I'd pass them on to my prince and he'd use them to conquer the kingdom."
"You're not really winning my sympathy, here."
"Listen," Akoya insisted. "That was how I thought it was going to be, not how it is. I never thought I was going to get emotionally involved. You see, I..." He hesitated, stumbling over his words. Haltingly, he went on, "I really do... love Io and Ryuu. I do. I didn't know that was going to happen. I was going to tell my prince that I didn't want to be a spy anymore - that I want to stay here and devote myself completely to my new life."
"Ahh." Atsushi's expression softened. "But they don't believe you?"
"No," Akoya admitted. "I was in the middle of handing in my resignation, so to speak, when they walked in on the the conversation and drew somewhat the wrong conclusion. Now they're convinced I'm nothing but a spy and anything I say to the contrary is just trying to cover up my tracks, so if they catch me I'll be executed for treason. On the other hand, my prince is now angry at me for turning on him and choosing Io and Ryuu instead, so if he catches me I'll be executed for treason."
"You're in a bind, all right," Atsushi agreed, "but what do you want me to do about it?"
"Ideally," said Akoya, "I'd like for you to intercede with the king and prince on my behalf. See if you can get them to calm down and let me explain matters to them."
"And if they refuse?"
Akoya shrugged. "I'm afraid my only choice will be to try turning you over to Prince Kinshiro in exchange for clemency."
That declaration did not get the reaction Akoya expected. Instead of looking worried or alarmed, Atsushi suddenly sat straight up, eyes shining and cheeks going slightly pink.
"Kinshiro? You know Prince Kinshiro?" he asked. "How is he? Is he all right? What's been happening to him?"
Akoya regarded his companion with narrowed eyes. "You seem very interested in him."
"Well, of course," said Atsushi, going even more red. "I mean, we used to be... you know, engaged."
Why, he still has feelings for him, Akoya thought. Strong ones, if that blush was anything to go by. Not at all the expression of a man who had been coolly plotting to kill a king and place his own lover on the throne in his stead.
"I believe I have heard something of the sort," Akoya agreed.
"I never knew why he broke it off," Atsushi said softly. "He just left one night in a big hurry. He never answered any of my letters after that - I don't even know if he got them. He was just... gone."
"I could explain it," said Akoya. "Would it surprise you to know that the reason why Kinshiro departed in such a rush that night was because he believed there was a plot against his life?"
Atsushi looked alarmed. "He did? But who? Who would want to do such a thing."
"According to him," said Akoya, "you did."
Atsushi spluttered in what looked to Akoya like genuine shock and indignation.
"What? No! I would never!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe it!"
"That's the story he tells," said Akoya. "I personally always suspected something was off about it. I would like very much to hear your side of the story. Let me tell you how I heard it..."
There followed several minutes of fascinating conversation, as Akoya filled Atsushi in on what Kinshiro had told him about the collapse of their relationship, and Atsushi helped him piece together what had actually happened. Akoya found Atsushi's version of events far more plausible than Kinshiro's. Even after such a short acquaintance, Akoya could hardly believe that Atsushi was the conniving backstabber Kinshiro had painted him as. The idea that Kinshiro had overheard some scraps of conversation and extrapolated the worst possible meaning from them seemed far more likely.
"But poor Kinshiro," Atsushi murmured, when they had wrapped up their explanations. "He must have been so upset."
"Devastated," Akoya agreed. "I don't think he ever really got over it."
"I wish I'd known," said Atsushi.
"You really had no idea?" Akoya asked.
Atsushi shook his head. "I thought... well, I thought at first that maybe my letters were just getting lost. Then I thought maybe his family had decided I wasn't good enough for him. I'm not a very important prince, after all, and Kinshiro will be king someday. Or I thought maybe he'd found someone else and couldn't bring himself to tell me."
He looked so downcast that Akoya began to feel a certain amount of sympathy for him. They were both in the same boat, after all, rejected by someone they loved over something that was not their fault.
"You would still take him back? Even now, knowing how little he trusted you?" Akoya asked.
Atsushi nodded firmly. "I know he's not perfect, but I loved him, and I still miss him. I'd at least like a chance to talk to him again and make him understand that I never wanted to hurt him. Even if he doesn't want me back, maybe he can at least get over it and move on."
Kinshiro, get over something and move on? thought Akoya amused. Who do you think you're talking about? Privately, Akoya thought that if someone could convince Kinshiro that this had all been a misunderstanding and that Atsushi still wanted him back, Kinshiro would find a way for the two of them to be married or at least re-engaged within the hour.
And that, Akoya decided, could only be a good thing for him. If nothing else, a Kinshiro who was busy gazing dreamily at his beloved was probably not going to be a Kinshiro who was busy thinking of terrible things to do to Akoya. He'd probably forgive Akoya anything if Akoya was the one who brought Atsushi back to him. Akoya began to smile.
"You know," he said, "I think you and I are about to become very good friends."