![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puss_nd_bootsTitle: After Ever After: The Lookalike Incident
Chapter: Standalone sequel to the A Sort of Fairy Tale series.
Author: Boots
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fairy tale AU, romance, humor
Warning: Just some language
Pairing: Tora x Saga (Alice Nine), mentions of Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon/Initial’L), Toya (Gotcharocka) x Subaru (Royz) and Shou x Hiroto (Alice Nine).
Disclaimer: Alice Nine/A9 used to belong to PS Company and are now free agents, DIAURA is property of Ains, Fest Vainqueur is property of Plug Records WEST, I own the story only.
Summary: Tora and Saga, aides to the Grand Duke of Alicenine, come to the nation of Veekay on a mission for their boss – only to run into a tangle of lookalikes and mistaken identity.
Comments: For the May challenge at vkyaoi, which involves J-rockers who look alike. I’ve long believed that Saga from Alice Nine and I’ll from Fest Vainqueur look like brothers – and this fic also plays on a very long-standing rumor that Toya of Gotcharocka and Tora of Alice Nine really ARE brothers. (As far as I know, the rumor goes all the way back to when Toya was with his former band, Charlotte.)
Crown Prince Yo-ka of Veekay had to admit that his life had gotten even more frantic in the last year.
First of all, there was the small business of him getting married. Except it had been anything but small. It had been a huge royal wedding that encompassed three days of celebrations, a procession of carriages that stretched almost from one end of the capital to the other, and tourists camped out on every available bit of land. The royal guards had literally evicted people who were sleeping in the palace dumpsters.
All this, of course, had not gone over well with Yo-ka’s fiancé, Yuuki, who kept saying, “Can’t we just elope quietly? Couldn’t we just take a few of our closest friends out to Valluna and have a ceremony and little dinner party at the palace and be done with it?”
That was, of course, the opposite of how things were done in the royal family – and it took quite a bit of convincing to get Yuuki to agree. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll go through with it on one condition – that I never have to use that godawful title again. I want to be just Crown Prince-Consort Yuuki, no more of that Grand Archduke of Lycaon bullshit.”
The king and queen reluctantly agreed – because they wanted the ceremony to go on as scheduled. “Bad enough that the boy’s Culling ended in a catastrophe,” the king said. “We are NOT having his wedding end up the same way. And we wouldn’t be in this predicament if he had married a PROPER noble, not a cabaret singer . . .”
Once the ceremony was done, Yo-ka found that his father only increased the amount of paperwork he dumped on him. “You’re a married man now,” the king said. “You’re ready to take on more responsibility. You’re getting closer to your coronation as king, you know!”
This just means you have an excuse to do less, Yo-ka thought. Why hire more staff when you can dump it on your son? Well, then, if I’m going to do more work, then I need to hire more staff.
His father approved the hiring of exactly one aide-de-camp for the prince. Fortunately, he got a good one, courtesy of a friend and former Culling candidate.
“My friend I’ll has been working in his family’s department store business as the aide to his father for years,” Hiro told Yo-ka. “He will be all too glad to come work for you.”
“Doesn’t his father need him?” Yo-ka said.
“He’s got two other brothers,” Hiro said. “Besides, nobody’s allowed to refuse a Royal Commission, right? Just send a messenger there with a scroll and they’ll have to let him go.”
As it turned out, I’ll proved to be such an efficient worker that he quickly rose to be one of the Crown Prince’s top aides, accompanying him on many official visits to make sure his boss was in the right place at the right time. Yo-ka quietly decided that on his first wedding anniversary – when the Crown Prince traditionally gave away titles and promotions to the deserving – that he was going to upgrade Hiro to the Baron of Fest Vainqueur and give his vacated Viceroy title to I’ll.
Before he reached that milestone, though, he found himself facing something else to make him busy – another Royal Wedding. His brother, Toya, proposed marriage to his beloved Subaru, and they set the date just before Yo-ka’s first anniversary – “so we can be back from our honeymoon in time for your celebration,” Toya said.
This just meant, of course, more invitations to be sent out, more security to be arranged, more foreign dignitaries to make special arrangements with – and, of course, the king dumped it all on his eldest son again.
“You and Toya have been close since you were children,” his father said. “You’re the best one to arrange his wedding.”
Yo-ka sighed. His father had a point – Yo-ka would know what Toya wanted more than their father would. He just didn’t need the workload, thank you very much. Once again, he was grateful for his aide-de-camp. He’d make it through this just as long as I’ll was helping him.
* * *
Saga, Chief of Staff to the Grand Archduke of Alicenine, had gotten used to having to make trips for all kinds of reasons in the year and a half since his best friend had taken the throne.
Okay, it wasn’t really a RULING throne – Alicenine was a constitutional monarchy, so the Grand Archduke position was mostly ceremonial. But Shou was still the one his country sent when Alicenine needed to be represented at someone’s wedding, or funeral, or milestone birthday. Their Prime Minister was too busy to attend, after all.
This meant that Saga and his Deputy Chief of Staff, Tora – who also just happened to be Saga’s husband – spent a lot of time doing what was called Advance Arrangements. This meant they went to the country in question and made sure that the Grand Archduke and his Ducal Consort would have a suitable suite, and there would be sufficient accommodations for their staff.
And then, there was the most important detail of all – which is what Tora and Saga were arranging today. “I can’t believe we have to do this,” Saga said. “You’d think it would be a no-brainer.”
“Not every country has these kind of accommodations, you know,” Tora said. “You remember what happened in Enka.”
“I know, and I never heard the end of it,” Saga sighed. “Honestly, I know Shou is pretty mellow most of the time – but this is something you don’t cross him on. Really.”
They arrived at the offices of the Crown Prince, and were greeted by a secretary, an efficient young woman in a starched white shirt and an equally starched blue vest and skirt. “Hello,” she said. “May I help you?”
“We need to talk to Crown Prince Yo-ka,” Saga said. “We’re the envoys from Alicenine.”
“Oh, yes, I understand you were coming,” she said. “The Crown Prince and his aide-de-camp are in a meeting with His Majesty right now, is there something I can help you with?”
Saga sighed. “We need to make sure that arrangements are in place for His High Grace’s accommodations for the royal wedding.”
“I believe I have that form here.” She looked around on her desk, found a folder and handed it to Saga. “Yes, here it is.”
Saga looked through the paperwork. “It’s in order – except one thing.” Of course – the most important thing wasn’t there.
“What is it?” the secretary said.
“We need accommodations for Mogu and Shishamo,” Saga said.
The secretary looked at them, blankly. “I’m not sure I understand,” she said.
“Shishamo is His High Grace’s cat,” Saga said. “Mogu is his Consort’s dog. We need a litter box in the suite, a door leading directly outdoors in case the dog . . . has immediate needs, a sufficient supply of dog and cat food, and kennel services for both on the day of the wedding ceremony.”
“Oh, is THIS what that was about?” She held up another piece of paper. “We couldn’t quite figure out what a Shishamo and Mogu were. I’m afraid the person who called our office from yours wasn’t very clear.”
If you need something done right, do it yourself, Saga thought. And that secretary we hired was supposed to be so good, too. Guess I’ll have to make all future calls about this personally.
And some people thought the job of an aide to a ceremonial-only Grand Duke was easy. They had NO idea.
* * *
Since its founding at the end of the Royal Culling of Crown Prince Yo-ka of Valluna, the Power to the People movement had made significant gains for the lower classes of Veekay.
Their districts now had a direct voice in government thanks to the founding of the Parliament. They had better working conditions, better health care. The fact that the younger prince had gotten Pledged to a young man from the lower-class district of Royz had a lot to do with that.
But there were still some areas where certain factions felt improvements were still needed – and the wages of dockworkers were among them.
That was why a coalition of Power to the People members had converged on the Capital in the days leading up to the second Royal Wedding. They figured when the eyes of the whole country were on them, it would be a good time to buttonhole the Royal Family in public. They wouldn’t dare say no to a request of better pay at a time of media saturation, when every newspaper and radio station was reporting from the palace nonstop.
Among the delegation was an older gentleman named Numahata Wataru, who’d been a dockworker just about all his life. True, he wasn’t the youngest guy there anymore, but he knew the quickest and most efficient ways to speed cargo along, so he had the respect of his juniors.
One of said juniors, Yasuda Tetsuya, was leading this particular mission – and he was the one who decided Wataru would be the ideal person to approach the Crown Prince.
“Wataru’s a tenacious bastard,” he told his fellow workers. “He’ll follow Prince Yo-ka around everywhere and not stop until he gets him to listen and meet with us!”
Which is why Wataru and Tetsuya were outside the palace while Tora and Saga were having their meeting. They had no idea, of course, that the prince was in his father’s office. They thought he was in his own.
“Now, when Prince Yo-ka comes out, you latch on to him and don’t let him go until he hears you out,” Tetsuya said.
“I won’t let him go!” Wataru said.
“The minute you see him, you run up to him and tell him we NEED to meet with him!” said Tetsuya. “All our livelihoods depend on it!”
“The minute I see him!” Wataru said. “Wait – what’s he look like?”
Tetsuya did a double-take. “You don’t know what Prince Yo-ka looks like?”
“I don’t pay attention to all this royal stuff!” Wataru said. “You know I don’t read newspapers much!”
“You HAVE to have seen a picture of him and his brother somewhere!” Tetsuya said. He pointed to a poster on a wall across the street with a picture of Prince Toya and Subaru, welcoming guests to the Royal Wedding. “Yo-ka is HIS brother. Prince Toya. You’ve seen HIM, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Wataru said. As in, he just now saw Prince Toya on the poster. Okay, Prince Yo-ka would look like he could be Prince Toya’s brother. Got it.
At that moment, a side door several yards away opened, getting the attention of the two men. I’ll stepped out and spoke briefly to a guard outside the palace, then went back in.
“THAT is Prince Yo-ka’s aide,” Tetsuya said. “I’ve seen his picture in the papers a lot – he’s always next to the prince. When you see him, the guy with him will be Prince Yo-ka. Got it?”
“Got it,” Wataru said. Looks like Prince Toya. Has that guy we just saw with him. Shouldn’t be too hard.
“And remember,” Tetsuya said, “don’t take no for an answer! At all! No matter what happens, no matter what he tells you!”
“I won’t!” Wataru meant it. He’d be persuasive as hell.
“Okay!” Tetsuya said. “I’m going back to the others. I’m leaving you to your mission. You know where to bring the prince!”
“Right-o!” Wataru said. He started to watch the door like a hawk. The minute the prince and his aide came out, he was going to pounce.
* * *
Tora and Saga headed for the door. “I’m going to come back later, when the prince is out of his stupid meeting,” Saga said. “I don’t know if I trust that secretary.”
“She seemed to know what she was doing,” Tora said.
“She couldn’t transcribe a phone message properly,” Saga said. “And I’m paranoid now about the directions.” He sighed. “It would be a hell of a lot easier if Shou and Hiroto didn’t dote on their pets so much. Why do they have to take them everywhere?”
“They’re happy,” Tora said. “That’s the main thing that matters. There was a time when we thought they’d never get together, remember.”
“Well, we had a hand in that, didn’t we?” Saga remembered all too well how he and Tora had to play matchmaker for Shou and Hiroto when they were in college – because Shou was reluctant to make the illegitimate son of a noble his consort, given his standing as the next Grand Duke. Fortunately, Saga had beaten that bit of stupidity out of him – figuratively, of course.
The two of them headed for the door. “I think we need to find an izakaya and have a couple of beers right now,” Tora said.
“I’m with you,” Saga agreed, pushing the door open. “Where’s the closest one?”
* * *
Wataru saw the door to the prince’s office open and two well-dressed figures step out.
His eyes fell on Saga first. That’s him! He thought. That’s the aide I saw before! And the other guy . . . yes, he looks like he could be Prince Toya’s brother! I’ve found the prince!
He ran up to them. “Hey!” he shouted. “I need a word with you!”
This is it, he thought. I’m going to talk to the prince until he gives in! I’ll follow him everywhere if I have to!
* * *
Tora and Saga saw an old man in overalls running toward them, yelling that he needed to talk to them. They exchanged a curious look. Who was this guy?
“Why do you need to talk to us?” Tora said. “Is it official business?”
“You bet it is!” the old man said. “We need higher wages! We’ve been working on the docks for years to keep this country going! We’re long overdue for a wage hike, and the king has turned a deaf ear to us! We need someone to help us out, and that someone is YOU!”
Great, Saga thought. This guy probably thinks we’re two of Prince Yo-ka’s staff since we came out of that door. Never mind that we both have the crest of Alicenine on our jackets – he probably doesn’t recognize it.
“Sorry,” he said. “We’re not the people you want to talk to.” He grabbed Tora’s arm and hustled him down the street, whispering, “Where is that izakaya?”
Wataru just stood there, huffing. So, the prince’s aide was trying to get Prince Yo-ka away from him before he could talk to him? Bullshit on that! He’d get through to Prince Yo-ka, aide or no aide!
He followed the couple at a distance. He’d wait until they got where they were going – and then SUPER-POUNCE on them!
* * *
Saga took a long drink from his much-needed beer. “I think after this Royal Wedding is over, you and I need a vacation,” he said. “We’re talking to Shou when we get home.”
“When was the last time we had one?” Tora said. “A year ago?”
“More than that,” Saga said. “I think it was BEFORE his investiture” – the ceremony installing a Grand Duke.
“We did have that weekend at Givuss Bay.”
“Weekends don’t count! That’s not a vacation. That’s barely enough time to unpack!”
“Well, we could always ask him if we could borrow the Ducal Yacht and its crew and take a cruise to . . .”
And suddenly, the door to the izakaya slammed open and the old man in overalls came dashing up to their table like a tornado. “I’M NOT GIVING UP!” he shouted. “Our cause is important! You WILL listen to me!”
“This guy again?” Saga said, giving him a wary eye.
“We’ve been pleading our case to a stone wall for too long!” the man said. “You NEED to hear us! For the good of everyone!”
“Sorry,” Tora said. “I don’t think we’re the people you need to talk to. Really.”
“You’re EXACTLY the people I need to talk to!” the man shouted. “You and nobody else! And I am NOT going back to my group unless I bring you with me! I’m . . .”
The manager of the establishment approached the table. “Is there a problem?” he said.
“Yes,” Tora said. “This man seems to be bothering us and not taking no for an answer.”
“Fine.” The manager knew Tora and Saga – they’d been in here before on official business. He knew they were important dignitaries from a neighboring country – and they’d bring word back to their Grand Duke if their experience in Veekay was unsatisfactory. He couldn’t let a harasser be a reflection on their entire country. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m not going away!” the man in overalls yelled.
“Oh, yes, you are.” The manager grabbed him and began propelling him toward the entrance. “Out, or I’ll call the police!”
“But I have to . . .”
“I said OUT!” The manager gave the harasser a shove, so he fell out of the door and landed on his bottom. The door slammed behind him, and the manager took a deep breath and approached Tora and Saga’s table.
“Now,” he said, “can I bring you extra food or a couple of shots for your trouble?”
* * *
Wataru just sat on the ground, stunned. Prince Yo-ka literally had him thrown out? Well, he could do that, he was a prince. But that didn’t mean he was giving up. No way, no how. He’d wait here until those two left – and then, he’d make SURE he got his word through!
“Just you wait, Your Highness,” he murmured. “Just you wait.”
* * *
Tora and Saga left the izakaya several beers, a couple of whiskey shots and several platters of yakitori later. “Let’s get back to the inn,” Saga said. “I’m going to crash – hard.”
“You’re JUST going to the inn to sleep?” Tora said, a suggestive tone in his voice.
“You DO have a one-track mind,” Saga said. “You’ve had one since we were teenagers.”
“And you don’t mind.”
“Sometimes I DO need to SLEEP, you . . .”
Saga stopped. Tora was frozen in his tracks. Or, more accurately, he couldn’t move – and that was because of the man lying on the ground, literally clinging to his legs.
“I AM NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY!” Wataru shouted. “You are going to do something about our case!”
“Let go of me!” Tora shouted.
“I’LL NEVER LET GO!” Wataru yelled in return. “Not until you come back to my group!”
“Will you give it up already?” Saga shouted. He bent over and tried to pry the old man’s arms off Tora’s leg – but the tenacious bastard was holding firm.
“NO!” Wataru shouted. “NO, NO, NO!”
Great, Saga thought. Now what? Are we going to be stuck here until this old fool decides he needs to go to the bathroom? What the hell is going on here, anyway?
* * *
Yo-ka and I’ll headed toward the izakaya at a rapid speed. “I thought we’d never get out of there,” Yo-ka said. “I swear, my father makes those meetings eternal on purpose.”
“Trying to keep you away from Yuuki?” I’ll said.
“Either that or trying to drive me mad so I can’t take the throne,” Yo-ka said. “If that’s the case, the joke’s on him – Toya would do the exact same thing I would if he became . . .” He stopped. “What the hell is going on up there?”
“Up where?” I’ll said – and then, saw Tora with the man clinging to his leg. Trying to extract him was . . . “Well, damn,” I’ll murmured, thinking, the guy looks just like me.
There wasn’t time to ponder lookalikes, though. Not when there was someone in distress.
Yo-ka ran up to Tora and shouted at Wataru, “In the name of the crown, I command you to let that man go!”
Wataru looked up. “Who are you to command me?”
Yo-ka looked confused. “You don’t know who I am?”
“I know who THIS is!” Wataru said. “This is Prince Yo-ka, and I’m not letting go of him until he listens to my cause!”
“No!” Yo-ka shouted. “He isn’t Prince Yo-ka! I am!”
“The hell you are!” Wataru said. “You don’t look like Prince Toya! HE does!”
I’ll looked from Yo-ka to Tora and said, “He DOES have a point there.”
Yo-ka sighed and reached in his pocket. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to show his official identification to one of his subjects. “Here,” he said, holding out his government ID card, which identified him as “Yo-ka, Crown Prince of Veekay, Prince of Valluna.”
Wataru looked at it – and blinked. “YOU?” he said.
“Yes,” Yo-ka said. “I am Prince Yo-ka. The man you thought was me is Lord Tora Amano. He’s a dignitary from Alicenine.”
“He IS?” Wataru stood up, looking at the other man. “But HE looks like he could be Prince Toya’s brother!”
“I look just like our mother,” Prince Yo-ka sighed. “Toya looks like our father. Lord Tora is a distant relative of my father – so there’s a resemblance. Now, why were you harassing this poor man?”
“Your Royal Highness!” Wataru bowed. “I’ve been sent as a representative of the Power to the People group to plead the case of the dockworkers! Our wages are way below what they should be, and . . .”
“My father pushed that off AGAIN, I see,” Yo-ka said. “That’s been on his desk for months – and he’s been shuffling it to the bottom.” He took the man’s arm. “Come with me. We’re going back to the palace and speaking to my father directly. I’ll make SURE he doesn’t brush it off this time. I’ll, are you coming with me?” He paused. “I’ll?”
But his aide and Saga were staring at each other. Now that the crisis was over, they could both see the resemblance.
“You look just like me,” Saga said.
“No, you look just like ME,” I’ll said. “My mother said that her family originally came from Alicenine, but . . . that was about three generations back.”
“We’re probably relatives, then,” Saga said. “I’m Lord Saga Sakamoto.”
“Lord? Then you’re gentry.”
“My father’s a Herzog – that’s what you’d call a Duke here. I don’t consider myself gentry, though. I am what I am – the Chief of Staff to Grand Duke Shou.”
“We do pretty much the same thing, then,” I’ll said. “I’m the aide-de-camp to Prince Yo-ka. It’s a challenge, sometimes.” He paused. “I didn’t think I was descended from nobility!”
“It’s not what it’s cracked up to be,” Saga said.
“On second thought,” Yo-ka said, “why don’t you stay here and hang out with Tora and Saga at the izakaya for a while? You probably have a lot to talk about. I’ll take this guy to my father.”
“You don’t need me there?” I’ll said.
“Nope,” Yo-ka said. “I can handle my father by myself. Promise.”
He watched the two look-alikes go back into the bar, along with Tora. “You know,” he told the older man, “you’re right. He DOES look more like he could be Toya’s brother than I do.”
“Funny world sometimes, isn’t it?” the old man said.
“Funny world, indeed,” Yo-ka said.
He headed back toward the palace with Wataru. What a day it had been. Well, maybe something good would come of it.
* * *
As it turned out, plenty of good came out of what came to be known as The Lookalike Incident. Tora and Saga succeeded in making the perfect arrangements for the Grand Ducal couple and their pets – and Shou granted them their vacation as a reward. Wataru succeeded in getting the raise for the dockworkers, for which he was hailed as a hero among them.
More importantly, Saga and I’ll became friends. It was cool to have someone to bitch about royal-assistant stuff to whenever dignitaries from the two countries got together. It was even cooler to know the other person was a distant relative. And when I’ll was granted his promotion and became the Viceroy of Fest Vainqueur, they were even similar in rank.
All was well, and all was ready for the royal wedding of Prince Toya of Charlotte and Subaru, the First Duke of Royz. But that’s another story.
Chapter: Standalone sequel to the A Sort of Fairy Tale series.
Author: Boots
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fairy tale AU, romance, humor
Warning: Just some language
Pairing: Tora x Saga (Alice Nine), mentions of Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon/Initial’L), Toya (Gotcharocka) x Subaru (Royz) and Shou x Hiroto (Alice Nine).
Disclaimer: Alice Nine/A9 used to belong to PS Company and are now free agents, DIAURA is property of Ains, Fest Vainqueur is property of Plug Records WEST, I own the story only.
Summary: Tora and Saga, aides to the Grand Duke of Alicenine, come to the nation of Veekay on a mission for their boss – only to run into a tangle of lookalikes and mistaken identity.
Comments: For the May challenge at vkyaoi, which involves J-rockers who look alike. I’ve long believed that Saga from Alice Nine and I’ll from Fest Vainqueur look like brothers – and this fic also plays on a very long-standing rumor that Toya of Gotcharocka and Tora of Alice Nine really ARE brothers. (As far as I know, the rumor goes all the way back to when Toya was with his former band, Charlotte.)
Crown Prince Yo-ka of Veekay had to admit that his life had gotten even more frantic in the last year.
First of all, there was the small business of him getting married. Except it had been anything but small. It had been a huge royal wedding that encompassed three days of celebrations, a procession of carriages that stretched almost from one end of the capital to the other, and tourists camped out on every available bit of land. The royal guards had literally evicted people who were sleeping in the palace dumpsters.
All this, of course, had not gone over well with Yo-ka’s fiancé, Yuuki, who kept saying, “Can’t we just elope quietly? Couldn’t we just take a few of our closest friends out to Valluna and have a ceremony and little dinner party at the palace and be done with it?”
That was, of course, the opposite of how things were done in the royal family – and it took quite a bit of convincing to get Yuuki to agree. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll go through with it on one condition – that I never have to use that godawful title again. I want to be just Crown Prince-Consort Yuuki, no more of that Grand Archduke of Lycaon bullshit.”
The king and queen reluctantly agreed – because they wanted the ceremony to go on as scheduled. “Bad enough that the boy’s Culling ended in a catastrophe,” the king said. “We are NOT having his wedding end up the same way. And we wouldn’t be in this predicament if he had married a PROPER noble, not a cabaret singer . . .”
Once the ceremony was done, Yo-ka found that his father only increased the amount of paperwork he dumped on him. “You’re a married man now,” the king said. “You’re ready to take on more responsibility. You’re getting closer to your coronation as king, you know!”
This just means you have an excuse to do less, Yo-ka thought. Why hire more staff when you can dump it on your son? Well, then, if I’m going to do more work, then I need to hire more staff.
His father approved the hiring of exactly one aide-de-camp for the prince. Fortunately, he got a good one, courtesy of a friend and former Culling candidate.
“My friend I’ll has been working in his family’s department store business as the aide to his father for years,” Hiro told Yo-ka. “He will be all too glad to come work for you.”
“Doesn’t his father need him?” Yo-ka said.
“He’s got two other brothers,” Hiro said. “Besides, nobody’s allowed to refuse a Royal Commission, right? Just send a messenger there with a scroll and they’ll have to let him go.”
As it turned out, I’ll proved to be such an efficient worker that he quickly rose to be one of the Crown Prince’s top aides, accompanying him on many official visits to make sure his boss was in the right place at the right time. Yo-ka quietly decided that on his first wedding anniversary – when the Crown Prince traditionally gave away titles and promotions to the deserving – that he was going to upgrade Hiro to the Baron of Fest Vainqueur and give his vacated Viceroy title to I’ll.
Before he reached that milestone, though, he found himself facing something else to make him busy – another Royal Wedding. His brother, Toya, proposed marriage to his beloved Subaru, and they set the date just before Yo-ka’s first anniversary – “so we can be back from our honeymoon in time for your celebration,” Toya said.
This just meant, of course, more invitations to be sent out, more security to be arranged, more foreign dignitaries to make special arrangements with – and, of course, the king dumped it all on his eldest son again.
“You and Toya have been close since you were children,” his father said. “You’re the best one to arrange his wedding.”
Yo-ka sighed. His father had a point – Yo-ka would know what Toya wanted more than their father would. He just didn’t need the workload, thank you very much. Once again, he was grateful for his aide-de-camp. He’d make it through this just as long as I’ll was helping him.
* * *
Saga, Chief of Staff to the Grand Archduke of Alicenine, had gotten used to having to make trips for all kinds of reasons in the year and a half since his best friend had taken the throne.
Okay, it wasn’t really a RULING throne – Alicenine was a constitutional monarchy, so the Grand Archduke position was mostly ceremonial. But Shou was still the one his country sent when Alicenine needed to be represented at someone’s wedding, or funeral, or milestone birthday. Their Prime Minister was too busy to attend, after all.
This meant that Saga and his Deputy Chief of Staff, Tora – who also just happened to be Saga’s husband – spent a lot of time doing what was called Advance Arrangements. This meant they went to the country in question and made sure that the Grand Archduke and his Ducal Consort would have a suitable suite, and there would be sufficient accommodations for their staff.
And then, there was the most important detail of all – which is what Tora and Saga were arranging today. “I can’t believe we have to do this,” Saga said. “You’d think it would be a no-brainer.”
“Not every country has these kind of accommodations, you know,” Tora said. “You remember what happened in Enka.”
“I know, and I never heard the end of it,” Saga sighed. “Honestly, I know Shou is pretty mellow most of the time – but this is something you don’t cross him on. Really.”
They arrived at the offices of the Crown Prince, and were greeted by a secretary, an efficient young woman in a starched white shirt and an equally starched blue vest and skirt. “Hello,” she said. “May I help you?”
“We need to talk to Crown Prince Yo-ka,” Saga said. “We’re the envoys from Alicenine.”
“Oh, yes, I understand you were coming,” she said. “The Crown Prince and his aide-de-camp are in a meeting with His Majesty right now, is there something I can help you with?”
Saga sighed. “We need to make sure that arrangements are in place for His High Grace’s accommodations for the royal wedding.”
“I believe I have that form here.” She looked around on her desk, found a folder and handed it to Saga. “Yes, here it is.”
Saga looked through the paperwork. “It’s in order – except one thing.” Of course – the most important thing wasn’t there.
“What is it?” the secretary said.
“We need accommodations for Mogu and Shishamo,” Saga said.
The secretary looked at them, blankly. “I’m not sure I understand,” she said.
“Shishamo is His High Grace’s cat,” Saga said. “Mogu is his Consort’s dog. We need a litter box in the suite, a door leading directly outdoors in case the dog . . . has immediate needs, a sufficient supply of dog and cat food, and kennel services for both on the day of the wedding ceremony.”
“Oh, is THIS what that was about?” She held up another piece of paper. “We couldn’t quite figure out what a Shishamo and Mogu were. I’m afraid the person who called our office from yours wasn’t very clear.”
If you need something done right, do it yourself, Saga thought. And that secretary we hired was supposed to be so good, too. Guess I’ll have to make all future calls about this personally.
And some people thought the job of an aide to a ceremonial-only Grand Duke was easy. They had NO idea.
* * *
Since its founding at the end of the Royal Culling of Crown Prince Yo-ka of Valluna, the Power to the People movement had made significant gains for the lower classes of Veekay.
Their districts now had a direct voice in government thanks to the founding of the Parliament. They had better working conditions, better health care. The fact that the younger prince had gotten Pledged to a young man from the lower-class district of Royz had a lot to do with that.
But there were still some areas where certain factions felt improvements were still needed – and the wages of dockworkers were among them.
That was why a coalition of Power to the People members had converged on the Capital in the days leading up to the second Royal Wedding. They figured when the eyes of the whole country were on them, it would be a good time to buttonhole the Royal Family in public. They wouldn’t dare say no to a request of better pay at a time of media saturation, when every newspaper and radio station was reporting from the palace nonstop.
Among the delegation was an older gentleman named Numahata Wataru, who’d been a dockworker just about all his life. True, he wasn’t the youngest guy there anymore, but he knew the quickest and most efficient ways to speed cargo along, so he had the respect of his juniors.
One of said juniors, Yasuda Tetsuya, was leading this particular mission – and he was the one who decided Wataru would be the ideal person to approach the Crown Prince.
“Wataru’s a tenacious bastard,” he told his fellow workers. “He’ll follow Prince Yo-ka around everywhere and not stop until he gets him to listen and meet with us!”
Which is why Wataru and Tetsuya were outside the palace while Tora and Saga were having their meeting. They had no idea, of course, that the prince was in his father’s office. They thought he was in his own.
“Now, when Prince Yo-ka comes out, you latch on to him and don’t let him go until he hears you out,” Tetsuya said.
“I won’t let him go!” Wataru said.
“The minute you see him, you run up to him and tell him we NEED to meet with him!” said Tetsuya. “All our livelihoods depend on it!”
“The minute I see him!” Wataru said. “Wait – what’s he look like?”
Tetsuya did a double-take. “You don’t know what Prince Yo-ka looks like?”
“I don’t pay attention to all this royal stuff!” Wataru said. “You know I don’t read newspapers much!”
“You HAVE to have seen a picture of him and his brother somewhere!” Tetsuya said. He pointed to a poster on a wall across the street with a picture of Prince Toya and Subaru, welcoming guests to the Royal Wedding. “Yo-ka is HIS brother. Prince Toya. You’ve seen HIM, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Wataru said. As in, he just now saw Prince Toya on the poster. Okay, Prince Yo-ka would look like he could be Prince Toya’s brother. Got it.
At that moment, a side door several yards away opened, getting the attention of the two men. I’ll stepped out and spoke briefly to a guard outside the palace, then went back in.
“THAT is Prince Yo-ka’s aide,” Tetsuya said. “I’ve seen his picture in the papers a lot – he’s always next to the prince. When you see him, the guy with him will be Prince Yo-ka. Got it?”
“Got it,” Wataru said. Looks like Prince Toya. Has that guy we just saw with him. Shouldn’t be too hard.
“And remember,” Tetsuya said, “don’t take no for an answer! At all! No matter what happens, no matter what he tells you!”
“I won’t!” Wataru meant it. He’d be persuasive as hell.
“Okay!” Tetsuya said. “I’m going back to the others. I’m leaving you to your mission. You know where to bring the prince!”
“Right-o!” Wataru said. He started to watch the door like a hawk. The minute the prince and his aide came out, he was going to pounce.
* * *
Tora and Saga headed for the door. “I’m going to come back later, when the prince is out of his stupid meeting,” Saga said. “I don’t know if I trust that secretary.”
“She seemed to know what she was doing,” Tora said.
“She couldn’t transcribe a phone message properly,” Saga said. “And I’m paranoid now about the directions.” He sighed. “It would be a hell of a lot easier if Shou and Hiroto didn’t dote on their pets so much. Why do they have to take them everywhere?”
“They’re happy,” Tora said. “That’s the main thing that matters. There was a time when we thought they’d never get together, remember.”
“Well, we had a hand in that, didn’t we?” Saga remembered all too well how he and Tora had to play matchmaker for Shou and Hiroto when they were in college – because Shou was reluctant to make the illegitimate son of a noble his consort, given his standing as the next Grand Duke. Fortunately, Saga had beaten that bit of stupidity out of him – figuratively, of course.
The two of them headed for the door. “I think we need to find an izakaya and have a couple of beers right now,” Tora said.
“I’m with you,” Saga agreed, pushing the door open. “Where’s the closest one?”
* * *
Wataru saw the door to the prince’s office open and two well-dressed figures step out.
His eyes fell on Saga first. That’s him! He thought. That’s the aide I saw before! And the other guy . . . yes, he looks like he could be Prince Toya’s brother! I’ve found the prince!
He ran up to them. “Hey!” he shouted. “I need a word with you!”
This is it, he thought. I’m going to talk to the prince until he gives in! I’ll follow him everywhere if I have to!
* * *
Tora and Saga saw an old man in overalls running toward them, yelling that he needed to talk to them. They exchanged a curious look. Who was this guy?
“Why do you need to talk to us?” Tora said. “Is it official business?”
“You bet it is!” the old man said. “We need higher wages! We’ve been working on the docks for years to keep this country going! We’re long overdue for a wage hike, and the king has turned a deaf ear to us! We need someone to help us out, and that someone is YOU!”
Great, Saga thought. This guy probably thinks we’re two of Prince Yo-ka’s staff since we came out of that door. Never mind that we both have the crest of Alicenine on our jackets – he probably doesn’t recognize it.
“Sorry,” he said. “We’re not the people you want to talk to.” He grabbed Tora’s arm and hustled him down the street, whispering, “Where is that izakaya?”
Wataru just stood there, huffing. So, the prince’s aide was trying to get Prince Yo-ka away from him before he could talk to him? Bullshit on that! He’d get through to Prince Yo-ka, aide or no aide!
He followed the couple at a distance. He’d wait until they got where they were going – and then SUPER-POUNCE on them!
* * *
Saga took a long drink from his much-needed beer. “I think after this Royal Wedding is over, you and I need a vacation,” he said. “We’re talking to Shou when we get home.”
“When was the last time we had one?” Tora said. “A year ago?”
“More than that,” Saga said. “I think it was BEFORE his investiture” – the ceremony installing a Grand Duke.
“We did have that weekend at Givuss Bay.”
“Weekends don’t count! That’s not a vacation. That’s barely enough time to unpack!”
“Well, we could always ask him if we could borrow the Ducal Yacht and its crew and take a cruise to . . .”
And suddenly, the door to the izakaya slammed open and the old man in overalls came dashing up to their table like a tornado. “I’M NOT GIVING UP!” he shouted. “Our cause is important! You WILL listen to me!”
“This guy again?” Saga said, giving him a wary eye.
“We’ve been pleading our case to a stone wall for too long!” the man said. “You NEED to hear us! For the good of everyone!”
“Sorry,” Tora said. “I don’t think we’re the people you need to talk to. Really.”
“You’re EXACTLY the people I need to talk to!” the man shouted. “You and nobody else! And I am NOT going back to my group unless I bring you with me! I’m . . .”
The manager of the establishment approached the table. “Is there a problem?” he said.
“Yes,” Tora said. “This man seems to be bothering us and not taking no for an answer.”
“Fine.” The manager knew Tora and Saga – they’d been in here before on official business. He knew they were important dignitaries from a neighboring country – and they’d bring word back to their Grand Duke if their experience in Veekay was unsatisfactory. He couldn’t let a harasser be a reflection on their entire country. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m not going away!” the man in overalls yelled.
“Oh, yes, you are.” The manager grabbed him and began propelling him toward the entrance. “Out, or I’ll call the police!”
“But I have to . . .”
“I said OUT!” The manager gave the harasser a shove, so he fell out of the door and landed on his bottom. The door slammed behind him, and the manager took a deep breath and approached Tora and Saga’s table.
“Now,” he said, “can I bring you extra food or a couple of shots for your trouble?”
* * *
Wataru just sat on the ground, stunned. Prince Yo-ka literally had him thrown out? Well, he could do that, he was a prince. But that didn’t mean he was giving up. No way, no how. He’d wait here until those two left – and then, he’d make SURE he got his word through!
“Just you wait, Your Highness,” he murmured. “Just you wait.”
* * *
Tora and Saga left the izakaya several beers, a couple of whiskey shots and several platters of yakitori later. “Let’s get back to the inn,” Saga said. “I’m going to crash – hard.”
“You’re JUST going to the inn to sleep?” Tora said, a suggestive tone in his voice.
“You DO have a one-track mind,” Saga said. “You’ve had one since we were teenagers.”
“And you don’t mind.”
“Sometimes I DO need to SLEEP, you . . .”
Saga stopped. Tora was frozen in his tracks. Or, more accurately, he couldn’t move – and that was because of the man lying on the ground, literally clinging to his legs.
“I AM NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY!” Wataru shouted. “You are going to do something about our case!”
“Let go of me!” Tora shouted.
“I’LL NEVER LET GO!” Wataru yelled in return. “Not until you come back to my group!”
“Will you give it up already?” Saga shouted. He bent over and tried to pry the old man’s arms off Tora’s leg – but the tenacious bastard was holding firm.
“NO!” Wataru shouted. “NO, NO, NO!”
Great, Saga thought. Now what? Are we going to be stuck here until this old fool decides he needs to go to the bathroom? What the hell is going on here, anyway?
* * *
Yo-ka and I’ll headed toward the izakaya at a rapid speed. “I thought we’d never get out of there,” Yo-ka said. “I swear, my father makes those meetings eternal on purpose.”
“Trying to keep you away from Yuuki?” I’ll said.
“Either that or trying to drive me mad so I can’t take the throne,” Yo-ka said. “If that’s the case, the joke’s on him – Toya would do the exact same thing I would if he became . . .” He stopped. “What the hell is going on up there?”
“Up where?” I’ll said – and then, saw Tora with the man clinging to his leg. Trying to extract him was . . . “Well, damn,” I’ll murmured, thinking, the guy looks just like me.
There wasn’t time to ponder lookalikes, though. Not when there was someone in distress.
Yo-ka ran up to Tora and shouted at Wataru, “In the name of the crown, I command you to let that man go!”
Wataru looked up. “Who are you to command me?”
Yo-ka looked confused. “You don’t know who I am?”
“I know who THIS is!” Wataru said. “This is Prince Yo-ka, and I’m not letting go of him until he listens to my cause!”
“No!” Yo-ka shouted. “He isn’t Prince Yo-ka! I am!”
“The hell you are!” Wataru said. “You don’t look like Prince Toya! HE does!”
I’ll looked from Yo-ka to Tora and said, “He DOES have a point there.”
Yo-ka sighed and reached in his pocket. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to show his official identification to one of his subjects. “Here,” he said, holding out his government ID card, which identified him as “Yo-ka, Crown Prince of Veekay, Prince of Valluna.”
Wataru looked at it – and blinked. “YOU?” he said.
“Yes,” Yo-ka said. “I am Prince Yo-ka. The man you thought was me is Lord Tora Amano. He’s a dignitary from Alicenine.”
“He IS?” Wataru stood up, looking at the other man. “But HE looks like he could be Prince Toya’s brother!”
“I look just like our mother,” Prince Yo-ka sighed. “Toya looks like our father. Lord Tora is a distant relative of my father – so there’s a resemblance. Now, why were you harassing this poor man?”
“Your Royal Highness!” Wataru bowed. “I’ve been sent as a representative of the Power to the People group to plead the case of the dockworkers! Our wages are way below what they should be, and . . .”
“My father pushed that off AGAIN, I see,” Yo-ka said. “That’s been on his desk for months – and he’s been shuffling it to the bottom.” He took the man’s arm. “Come with me. We’re going back to the palace and speaking to my father directly. I’ll make SURE he doesn’t brush it off this time. I’ll, are you coming with me?” He paused. “I’ll?”
But his aide and Saga were staring at each other. Now that the crisis was over, they could both see the resemblance.
“You look just like me,” Saga said.
“No, you look just like ME,” I’ll said. “My mother said that her family originally came from Alicenine, but . . . that was about three generations back.”
“We’re probably relatives, then,” Saga said. “I’m Lord Saga Sakamoto.”
“Lord? Then you’re gentry.”
“My father’s a Herzog – that’s what you’d call a Duke here. I don’t consider myself gentry, though. I am what I am – the Chief of Staff to Grand Duke Shou.”
“We do pretty much the same thing, then,” I’ll said. “I’m the aide-de-camp to Prince Yo-ka. It’s a challenge, sometimes.” He paused. “I didn’t think I was descended from nobility!”
“It’s not what it’s cracked up to be,” Saga said.
“On second thought,” Yo-ka said, “why don’t you stay here and hang out with Tora and Saga at the izakaya for a while? You probably have a lot to talk about. I’ll take this guy to my father.”
“You don’t need me there?” I’ll said.
“Nope,” Yo-ka said. “I can handle my father by myself. Promise.”
He watched the two look-alikes go back into the bar, along with Tora. “You know,” he told the older man, “you’re right. He DOES look more like he could be Toya’s brother than I do.”
“Funny world sometimes, isn’t it?” the old man said.
“Funny world, indeed,” Yo-ka said.
He headed back toward the palace with Wataru. What a day it had been. Well, maybe something good would come of it.
* * *
As it turned out, plenty of good came out of what came to be known as The Lookalike Incident. Tora and Saga succeeded in making the perfect arrangements for the Grand Ducal couple and their pets – and Shou granted them their vacation as a reward. Wataru succeeded in getting the raise for the dockworkers, for which he was hailed as a hero among them.
More importantly, Saga and I’ll became friends. It was cool to have someone to bitch about royal-assistant stuff to whenever dignitaries from the two countries got together. It was even cooler to know the other person was a distant relative. And when I’ll was granted his promotion and became the Viceroy of Fest Vainqueur, they were even similar in rank.
All was well, and all was ready for the royal wedding of Prince Toya of Charlotte and Subaru, the First Duke of Royz. But that’s another story.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-31 11:15 pm (UTC)As always, thanks for participating in the challenge!!
no subject
Date: 2018-06-20 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-03 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-20 01:56 am (UTC)