So while rewatching a certain chapter 7 cutscene, my brain went 'wow this would really suck if Roland and Khunbish were boyfriends' and this came into being.

Title is inspired by the 'never gonna let you down' lyric from the song Never Gonna Give You Up.

I also suck at writing romance and I don't really ship anyone in Ni No Kuni intensely so a romance epic (or porn) from me is never going to happen.

Originally posted on tumblr in two parts on June 30, 2018 and July 1, 2018.

WARNING FOR: Strong language, spoilers involving Chapter 7

Stick to the Script and Other Stories

By Bilbo-sama

But You Did Let Me Down (Roland x Khunbish)

"What?" Khunbish's jaw dropped.

"Roland Crane is a traitor, lad," said Chief Batu grimly, "he's been sellin' Evermore's secrets to the highest bidder for days. Maybe longer than that."

"There has to be an explanation for this!" Khunbish's mind was spinning. Roland, a traitor? No, it couldn't be true…

"He's been driven out of Evermore," Batu revealed, "he's probably on his way to Ding Dong Dell as we speak."

"But…I…he…"

"Forget about him, lad. He was probably using ye the whole time," Batu patted Khunbish on the shoulder as the younger man started to tremble, "I'm sorry ye had this happen on ye."

"This has to be a lie," cried Khunbish. "He wouldn't! He..." Khunbish fled. He ran with no plan in mind.

He found himself in the airfield where the birdmobiles adapted to the Heartlands stood by.

He stared at his own plane and a plan began to form.

Khunbish laughed bitterly to himself as he sat in the underground cell. Some plan alright. Now he's been captured by the mice with no way out and no way to find Roland.

"What's this?" said a familiar voice.

Khunbish snapped his head up and, to his surprise, saw Roland on the other side.

"Roland!" he got up and ran to the bars, "yer here!"

"What are you doing here?" asked Roland, who looked equally surprised to see Khunbish.

"I went after ye!"

Roland shook his head, "You shouldn't have done that."

"Indeed," said a new voice and Khunbish saw King Mausinger and his chancellor approaching them.

"We caught this man flying suspiciously in our airspace," continued the chancellor, "we thought of him as a spy."

"Hmm, ironic," commented Roland.

"I was looking for ye, Roland!" explained Khunbish.

"And you found me," said Roland coldly, "I'm not surprised. You always did follow me like a lost puppy."

"W-what do ye mean?" Khunbish felt dread rising.

"You never realized?" Oh gods...please, don't let it be true...

"I'd hate to interrupt," Mausinger butted in. He was intrigued by the conversation but there were more important matters at hand, "but we didn't come here for a lover's spat. Mr. Crane, do you wish to prove your allegiance?"

"I do," confirmed Roland.

"Then kill him," Mausinger pointed to Khunbish, "that way you can leave the past and serve a new master."

"Roland, please!" begged the sky pirate.

Roland glanced at the shaking Khunbish and seemed to hesitate.

"Is something the matter?" asked Mausinger. He grinned viciously, "Surely you are capable of a straightforward show of commitment. Or…" He looked back at Khunbish, "do we have an imposter on our hands?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Sire," Roland quickly replied, "Let's just say I have my own methods."

Khunbish backed away from the cell bars as Roland approached the cell, his gun materializing from his arms band.

"Ye can't just...! Roland, did anything between us mean anything to ye?!"

He watched as Roland fought to suppress a twitch as he faced Khunbish. He silently formed a word before he said aloud "No."

Yes.

Tears blurred Khunbish's vision as he realized there was no way out. They were both trapped.

"But I love ye," Khunbish pleaded as Roland raised the gun to point it at his former lover.

Regret flitted across Roland's face before a smug smirk took over, "I know."

He released the trigger twice and Khunbish collapsed as the bullets hit their mark.

Khunbish struggled to stay awake but everything was fading away. He fuzzily watched as Roland turned to Mausinger.

"Well, happy now?"

The last thing he heard was "Happy enough."

Khunbish was awakened by the smell of smoke that filled his lungs as he gasped for air. He quickly sat up and started coughing.

"Where the-" he looked around and found that he was still in the cell, "what's goin' on?!"

"Khunbish..." someone whispered with relief in their voice. He turned and saw that it was Roland standing outside of the cell. He looked guilty.

Good, a part of Khunbish thought as he shouted, "Traitor! Swine! Murderer! Heart breaker!"

"If you're dead," Roland said calmly with a carefully blank expression that Khunbish knew that meant he was trying to hide his emotions, "then why are you drawing breath to curse me out?"

Khunbish paused in his ranting. Wait, how is he…?

"I shot you but with bullets designed to fake your death," Roland explained apologetically, "I had hoped that I never needed to use them."

Distant sound of armored boots and shouting started to become audible. Roland quickly reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"Here, swallow this," he said before desperately shoving a pill down Khunbish's throat.

There was a flash of smoke and suddenly everything became bigger.

"What the fuck?" gasped Khunbish and paused. Wait. That didn't sound human.

There was another puff of smoke and Khunbish saw a frog in Roland's place. Oh. He hopped out of the cell.

"There's no time to explain," croaked Roland as he hopped to a sewer drain, "we need to get out of here."

They were in the sewers what seemed to be for hours. Neither of them spoke to each other. They were more focused on escaping.

The moment they found the sewer entrance, they at last changed back into humans.

Khunbish barely had time to readjust to human senses when Roland turned around and hugged him tightly.

"Oh thank god you're okay," he whispered, not wanting to attract attention, "We're lucky that they just kept you in that cell the whole time."

"The whole - how long was I out?" Khunbish asked.

"A week."

"And what were ye doing all fuckin' week? Sellin' more secrets?" Khunbish pushed Roland off, glaring at him. "Yer a fuckin' traitor! Why should I listen to you?"

"There is a spy but it's not me," Roland explained, "Leander and I needed a way to draw them out and -"

"That's bullshit and ye know it!"

"I also wanted to get this!" Roland shouted as he showed him a green amulet, "Evan hid this below his rooms in Ding Dong Dell's castle! This acts as a key that can get you anywhere in that kingdom!"

"Why didn't ye tell me this before ye pulled this stunt?" Khunbish demanded, "I could've helped ye!"

"I-" Roland stopped talking and looked down at his feet as he realized his mistake.

"Don't ye trust me?"

Roland looked back up at Khunbish, "I do!" he yelped.

"Then why wasn't I in on the plan? Is playin' with me heart worth it?"

"I-"

"I knew it. Ye never did consider me, didn't ye?" Khunbish looked away before Roland's stricken face could force him to change his mind.

"Khunbish, I'm sorry!"

"No yer not. Now let's go before we waste more time." He continued on the path away from Ding Dong Dell, not looking back at the man who broke his trust.

I considered trying to resolve this with a happy ending where they act like reasonable adults and make up, but the writer's block said no. The more I think about it, I'm liking the way this ended. Do they break up forever or do they get back together? Either way, here's a melodramatic cliffhanger.