"Night fall already?" Hiro asked. He then looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting a bit earlier than they were used to. It may not have occurred to the others but it was getting very close to winter and as most of them knew, when winter came the nights came earlier. Plus as K told them a while back, many Rogue ninja roam the forests at night as well as monsters, demons and other dangerous creatures like at the very near of the castle he warned them of a dragon.
Flashback
While at the hotel, the men were sitting on the floor while K was telling them one of his wild stories about going face to face against a dragon that he often fought at the Eternian castle.
"And there it was standing fierce and tall as ever, Teeth as yeller as a dogs belly. I swung my sword at it with all my might, throwing Shuriken by the dozen and yet not one of my sharp weapons was strong enough to pierce the lizard's heart. I fought that beast on several occasions each time getting closer and closer to victory but never got close to slaying old yeller-teeth. I've seen many of my fellow warriors get burned to crisp by the beast. In fact, many who have tried to slay him have been fried."
Hiro and Shuichi applauded the former soldier for his entertaining story. But Suguru was very skeptical about his story. Of course he never trusted K from when they met him in the currently destroyed forest. Plus, based on what other villagers knew his reputation as a traitor to their land, he thought that maybe K would betray them, too.
"There is no way that you could have taken on a dragon!" Suguru said angrily. "I don't even think there's a dragon here!"
K then showed Suguru what appeared to be a dragon's fang. Hopefully he thought that would be proof enough for his new companion. The psychic however wasn't buying it.
"I bet you made that yourself!" he said. Then he reached for the fang and swiftly pulled it from the former soldier. What he felt surprised him. It turned out that the fang was real.
'It is real.' Suguru thought to himself. Then he looked back at the man. "so, how come you don't have any wounds?" he asked.
"Actually I do." K said then he removes any hint of clothing exposes countless scars all over his body, and something else that the others didn't need to see. Despite being in relationships with other men, there was a place and time for everything and that was neither the place nor time to strip down.
End flashback.
The group arranged what could have been one last night in the woods before heading into the castle After all they had been through, it looked like they're journey had come to an end. But was it really the end of their Journey? Only time and fate would tell.
"Hey, Hiro…" Suguru began.
"Yeah?" Hiro said.
At first, Suguru didn't know how to explain his feelings to his lover. Ever since K started traveling together it seemed like they were getting closer and closer. Sometimes, he wondered if maybe K was going trying to steal his love from him.
"I just want to know, what's going to happen to us when all of this is over? You said you would marry me but it's just that…well, I'm not sure about that now." He said.
"And why not?" Hiro asked. This was the part where suguru would end up in a corner and blurt out his feelings under pressure. They both knew what was coming the only question was when would he crack? The answer was pretty obvious. As long as they have known each other, Suguru never failed to have his word vomit come out.
"It's because I don't want you leaving me for that traitor!"He shouted out unintentionally. Hiro was suddenly surprised by what the psychic just blurted out. For once even he didn't see it coming.
"Is that what this is about?" Hiro asked. "You're jealous of K?"
"I am NOT!" Suguru denied. Then he lay back down and forcefully closed his eyes. It seemed like he would never admit that he doesn't want K coming between them.
"Sometimes I just don't get Him…" Hiro said to himself. And then he lay down as well and slowly went to sleep.
The nerve of him! He thought. Thinking I'm jealous of that…idiot!
Then in the other tent, Shuichi and Eiri started to reflect on everything that they have been through in the past almost year. Neither of them thought it was possible for them to even like each other let alone fall for each other but one mystery was still unsolved. It was obvious how much Shuichi was madly in love with EIri but how did he feel about Shuichi?
"Well, what do you know?" Eiri started. "it looks like this might be the last time we see each other."
Shuichi wasn't sure what to say. All he could think about was how everything that they have been through ever since the day they first met. it seemed like they both had changed so much since that day.
Flashback-11 months ago. (chapter 2)
It is a honor to travel with you, prince Eiri." He greeted.
"State your name young man." The king ordered.
"My name is Shuichi." He said.
Ah, little help?" he asked and one of the other guards helped him straighten his back. Everyone in the room, especially the prince was beginning to have second thoughts about having Shuichi be his protector.
"Father, you cannot be serious about letting him be my protector." Protested Eiri rolling his eyes. "Look at him, he's pathetic." Those words made the pink haired rookie fume with rage for he was very sensitive when it came to words. But he knew not to speak out of turn in front of the king. Everyone knew that rule.
"I can't believe that I have to go and do this damn marriage." The prince complained. Then he glared at his two companions. "Of all the people that I could travel with, it had to be a joker and a coward. Magnificent."
"Who are you calling a coward!" Shuichi shouted.
"I call them as I see them." Eiri said rudely.
The two of them kept quarreling until they were an eighth of the way there and then when the finally stopped arguing, there was some much needed peace and quiet.
End flashback.
"I can't believe how brave I've gotten since I met you." Shuichi said. "I mean, Just before all of this started I was afraid of my own shadow. I guess what made me so brave was that I had someone to protect." He then turns to his prince and wipes his eyes. The last thing he wanted the man to see was his tears. But much to his disappointment, he ended up seeing Shuichi cry anyway.
"I see how strong you've gotten." He said.
Flashback 11 months two weeks ago (Chapters 2&3)
After a few hours of walking in the woods they all decided to take a break and have something to eat before starting on the road again. However, their lunch hour was interrupted by an arrow shot hitting the cherry blossom tree they were sitting under. The group looks up and sees what appears to be a group of bandits. The bandits jump down from the far away trees and run toward their food and then Shuichi and Sakano tackle them in an attempt to protect the prince and their food. One of the bandits pushed Shuichi off of him and he fell to ground. Then another bandit shot an arrow at the prince which luckily missed him. Then another bandit ran towards him and began to beat him down. Shuichi pushed the bandit off of him and then rose and drew his sword and then the bandit pulled out a bigger sword. And when that happened the rookie warrior ran to a nearby tree and hid around it. The other bandits attempted to capture Eiri who, along with Sakano was fighting them off.
Shuichi, trying to fulfill his mission from the king runs after the bandits and draws his sword and despite his fear of fighting, he does fight them off and protect the arrogant prince. As the struggle goes on they continued to lunge at each other with excessive force. Ending the struggle the tree that Shuichi was hiding behind fell on top of all the bandits.
When the fight was over, the group headed back on the road to eternias, they began to have second thoughts about going on this journey, or at least taking the path on foot.
"I have to admit for a coward he is pretty strong." Prince Eiri thought. But then with things slowly getting back to normal, the bickering would start back up again.
"Not bad, for a pansy."Eiri remarked.
"A pansy that just saved your life." Shuichi replied. They continued walking going on like this on foot until night fell and they had to make a decision, keep walking or camp for the night.
"its too dark to keep walking. we should camp here for tonight." suggested Sakano.
"No way! we should keep moving. What if we get attacked again?" the others shouted. finally agreeing on something for once.
Shuichi began to feel as if he had to do something but he was afraid of getting killed by the bandits. But he couldn't just stand there and let them get beaten. So he pulled sakano aside and came up with a plan to distract the thieves while saving the boys. Once the plan was set it was time to put it in action.
What are those brats up to? Thought the blond. He wondered what the heck those tow could possibly plan. After all they were only capable of flipping out and arguing right? Well, boy was he in for a surprise.
Sakano led the boys away from the bandits with what looked some of the leftover food that they ate the other night. The two boys ran after sakano with the food. Then the bandits were being distracted by shuichi's swordplay, or lack of swordplay. They watched as he tried to impress them with his skills and he was less than impressive to them. When the bandits' attention got diverted from the rookie, they noticed that the two boys that they were beating up were with Eiri and sakano. Before they could do any damage to the others they were stopped by the sudden dropping of their tunics, Exposing parts of their bodies that were not meant to be seen by anyone but their mothers.
The men decided to find an inn to stay in while they were in the village but on the way there the usual antics continued.
"I must admit, you have some brains, some,"
"Are you calling me stupid?"
"Well, you're haven't shown the most smarts out of all of us."
"really? I'm stupid? At least I saved those boys. You didn't do a damn thing."
End flashback
"Boy did we fight a lot back then." Shuichi said.
"That's because you always started it." Eiri remarked.
"I did not!" the pink haired teen shouted. "you were always teasing me!"
"Really, was I?" Eiri asked as they lost their balance and fell on their sleeping bags.
"Then again, we have had our good times too."
Flashback…
"What made you wanna go out today, your highness?" Shuichi asked.
"I just thought maybe I'd get out today, without being attacked by bandits." He answered. then he questioned his companion.
"Why did you come with me? Don't you think I can take care of myself?"
Shuichi nodded his head then moved a little closer to the blond symbol of royalty.
"I know you're strong but I want to be here for you if you need help."
"So I'm helpless?"
"Uhh…uhh…no. of course not… I didn't say that!" he denied. Then he blushed slightly as the blond prince shot him a mean glare.
End flashback…again.
now they were just getting ready to make love for what might be the last time. Both were stripped of any fabric and in each other's arms.
"Eiri, can you promise me one thing? No matter what happens, I don't want you to forget me." Shuichi said.
"Only if you do the same, brat." He replied. Normally hearing the word "Brat" would cause the romance to end. But something seemed different. Since it could the last time they all see each other, nothing else mattered. All they could remember now was how close this adventure got them.
Final flashback
From now on, I want you to call me by my name." the prince said.
Shuichi was shocked to hear such a request from him. He never thought about addressing anyone of Eiri's class familiarly. He was always told that calling someone of high class by their name was disrespectful. But in this case, the blond was allowing it. What would the king think?
"As you wish…Eiri." Shuichi nodded. Eiri then took him to the side where he hoped no one else was looking. This time he didn't want to see his friend putting himself in anymore danger than he already was.
"Your majesty- I mean, Eiri, if by any chance I don't make it off of this ship alive, I want you to go to eternias and complete your duties. Don't worry about me."
"Excuse me!" Eiri exclaimed. "There is no way I am leaving you on this ship and I won't continue without you. So no matter what happens, I will find you and you will continue this journey with me." Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against the younger mans. This time their kiss was more passionate and filled more with love than pity. When the kiss broke Eiri delivered this message.
"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you." He said. then he moved a little closer to the teen . they were still wrapped in the blanket. They still didn't have any sign of clothing anywhere. But at that moment in time, nothing seemed to matter. It was their night.
End last flashback.
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