"You're late," Leo said as soon as I had arrived at our meeting place. The mottled red sunset had faded to dusky blue, and the forest had come alive with the nocturnal dancing of the Hoshido glow bugs in the starlight. Leo had ensconced himself in the springs already. I disembarked my horse and tied its reins to a nearby tree.
"Well?" he pestered. An owl began to hoot nearby.
I crossed my arms guardedly, "We agreed to meet at dusk. Here I am."
He motioned for me to join him. I removed my haka and oba and began to undo my kimono, but paused as it began to slip from my shoulder. It felt so strange to meet my enemy at the hot springs like this, but we Hoshidans pride ourselves on custom and hospitality... so... I guessed I couldn't really refuse the invitation to parley. Could I?
"Don't look," I ordered Leo.
"Of course not! I'm not some perv."
Once I was sure I had his word, I dropped the kimono to the soft grass beside my naked feet, and lowered myself into the springs.
"Ahhhh..." I sighed. The warm waters were just what I needed after such a hard day. I splashed my face, and relaxed against the rocks next to Leo. The hot spring seemed smaller than I remembered it... "So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.
"Don't get the wrong impression, I don't want to talk to you," Leo sneered. "We're not friends."
Anger flashed through me. "And I would never presume we were!" I spat back. "I'm here only to extend you the most basic hospitality. It's my duty to be here. Nothing more."
"Good. I'm glad we can agree on that."
"We most certainly can."
Scorn settled into the conversation, replacing words for a time. The clear sound of softly trickling water, and the moonlight illuminating the grove played tricks on me and I felt as though I was in a dream. Aside from my company, it was pleasant.
"So, I understand that you are the youngest son in your family?" Leo asked.
"I am."
"Interesting..."
What could be so interesting about that? "Do explain."
"Well," Leo continued, "it appears that our families are quite similar—"
"—I can assure you they are not."
"Wait, hear me out. Obviously, they can't be similar, but we both have an older brother in line for the crown, an older sister, and a younger sister, right?"
For the first time since we'd climbed into the springs together, we met eyes and held each other's gaze. Where was all this was going?
"Tell me, do you enjoy chess?" Leo asked.
"In Hoshido we play Shogi. I'm the best player in my family."
"See, that's interesting—I like strategy too!" Leo exclaimed. He seemed to be excited by the revelation.
"OK, fine. But we're still nothing alike," I retorted. I did not share his excitement about this, not one bit. How could I? We were nothing alike. "What's your favorite food?" I asked.
"Beef stew. It's a kind of soup. You?"
Dammit. I guess I had to admit that I liked soup too. A lot. "Miso soup. But don't go getting any ideas!"
"I'm not," Leo countered. "I've read all the histories between my country and yours and believe me I know how different we are!"
Dammit. He likes history books too?! I turned and faced him square on, my jaw clenching and unclenching. He returned the favor.
"Just because... you like history books... and similar food as me... and strategy games... doesn't mean a damn thing!" I huffed out impassionedly.
Leo stuck the water with a closed fist, and stared me down. "Of course not! I would never wish to imply that we could be anything alike! I'm just trying to make conversation with you—you with your bad attitude, and... weird clothes!"
"Bad attitude? You were the one who invited me here! Weird clothes? You ever look at what you wear? Black is so boring!" I fired back.
"Of course! Of course I invited you! I wanted to talk to you about the treaty. About strategy. And I thought that maybe you'd listen to reason? Yeah, right! So much for that."
"Oh, yeah, push it all on me. Great. Why don't you just tell me what your ridiculous strategy is? It's not like I can do anything myself, with my older brother around..." I sighed. That was the truth, at least.
Leo seemed to settle down a little. "I just... What I want is..." he stammered, "I have a plan... Takumi..."
I scanned his face. He was hiding something. "Go on," I offered.
"It's... just that... our two kingdoms... if we brought them... closer..."
Leo fidgeted with his headband, then he burst out "Oh, hell with it!"
He kissed me. On the lips. Eyes closed. I was shocked. It would be easy to blame the heat from the hot springs, but the fact is I was blushing, hard. Then he kissed me again. He brought his body close to mine, and I felt his longing and his loneliness. I saw his fear in his eyes when he opened them. I saw Leo.
We weren't that different after all.
"That's a good plan," was all I could say, beaming.