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puss_nd_bootsTitle: After Ever After: Man of Honor
Chapter: Sequel to After Ever After: The Hidden Prince and part of an ongoing series that follows A Sort of Fairy Tale
Author: Boots
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fairy tale AU, romance, drama
Warning: Lots of ALL CAPS YELLING
Pairing: Kouki (D=OUT) x Mahiro (Kiryu) (main), Toya (Gotcharocka) x Subaru (Royz), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon/Initial'L), mentions of Hitomi (Moran) x Jun (Gotcharocka) and Junji (Kiryu) x Gaku (Fest Vainqueur)
Disclaimer: D=OUT belongs to Speed-Disk, Gotcharocka belongs to God Child Records, DIAURA belongs to Ains, Kiryu and Royz belong to B.P. Records, Initial'L is property of Battle Cry Sound Company. I own the story only.
Summary: Prince Toya asks his half-brother, Mahiro, to be in his wedding – but the choice is not popular with all members of the royal family.
Comments: Written for the October challenge at vkei yaoi, which called for fics focusing on vocalists with a secondary challenge of incorporating screaming or yelling into the story. The hairstyle of Kouki’s mentioned here is the most recent look of his enka-singing alter ego, Hanamazikura Koki. (Hence the joke here about him looking like an enka singer). Princess Yongsun is Solar, leader of the K-pop girl group Mammamoo. (She’ll be showing up in person in a later installment).
Prince Toya of Charlotte sat in his father’s office practically bouncing in his seat. Why shouldn’t he? He was about to marry the love of his life.
The date of his wedding to Subaru, Duke of Royz was chosen very carefully – the exact anniversary of the day when Subaru boarded a fishing boat and left his home to participate in Prince Yo-ka’s Culling, never dreaming that the adventure would end with him falling in love with the prince’s brother. Preliminary plans had already been made – the guest list, the decorations, the food – and all that remained now was Toya getting the list of his wedding party members approved.
Royal weddings, of course, were big and splashy affairs, and that extended to the selection of wedding attendants. Both the prince or princess getting married and his or her intended had an Honor Attendant who would escort them down the aisle – usually a sibling or in-law – plus four other attendants who proceeded them to the altar. (But, of course, royal tradition dictated that all ceremony participants be nobility unless the king issued a special dispensation.)
Subaru had already presented his list, and to nobody’s surprise, his four attendants were his friends from the Culling – Hiro, Hiyori, Ruiza and MiA. Since all of them had been made nobility during the Culling, there was no problem with that.
The only pushback came when he requested that his brother, Kouki, walk him down the aisle. “He’s not a noble,” the king said.
“He’s most likely going to marry a duke,” his wife said.
The king bristled. “Not yet,” he snapped. “He’s still a gutter-”
“Commoner?” said the queen. “Is that what you were going to say?”
“Are you going to declare the boy a Viceroy so he can be in the wedding?” the king said.
“Of course not,” said the queen. She waited a beat, and said, “I’m going to declare him a Baron.”
“You can’t do that!” her husband nearly shouted.
“Can I?” said his wife. “Let me see, I can bestow any noble title from Viscount down. Subaru is the first noble Royz has ever had, so the title Baron of Royz is currently vacant. So yes, my DEAR, I can bestow the title.”
The king sank back in his seat, defeated and grumbling. And as he was looking away, the queen exchanged a high-five with Subaru.
Now, Toya sat in his father’s office with his own list. He wasn’t expecting any flack like that – everyone on his list was a noble, right?
“All right,” the king said. “Let’s hear it.”
“My Honor Attendant is going to be Yo-ka, of course,” Toya said.
The king nodded. “As expected, since you were his.”
“My first attendant is Jun, the Viceroy of the Spiv States.”
The king sighed. “I knew you’d say that.”
“He has the title,” the queen said, sharply. “I saw to that.”
Toya smiled. He knew how fond his mother was of his best friend from school – and she saw to it a year ago that he’d be eligible to be in Toya’s wedding.
“Fine,” said the king. “Your second?”
“Hitomi, of course.”
“The DUKE OF FATIMA,” his father corrected.
“He’s our cousin,” Yo-ka said, firmly. “We should be able to call him by his NAME.”
“And your third?” the king said.
“Well, I figured that the Royal Family of Kaypop needed to be represented,” Toya said. The princes’ sister, Reiko, had abandoned her position as first in line to Veekay’s throne to elope with Prince Jaejoong of Kaypop, and now stood to be that country’s next queen. “So my third attendant is . . .”
“Oh, no,” the king groaned. “Don’t tell me.”
“Princess Yongsun,” Toya said.
The king shook his head. “That flighty creature . . .”
“Solar isn’t flighty, Father,” Yo-ka said. “She runs a magazine for teenage girls.”
“Who worship the ground she walks on, for some reason,” the king said. “And why do you insist on using that ridiculous nickname?”
“Because that’s what she prefers to be called,” Yo-ka said. “And what’s wrong with her using her popularity to spread information on things like consent and body image?”
“The girl is perfectly acceptable for the wedding party,” the queen said. “She’s a royal of another country AND related to us by marriage.” She gave her husband a glare that dared him to challenge her.
“All right,” the king said. “I’m almost afraid to ask the fourth.”
Toya exchanged a glance with Yo-ka. Yo-ka nodded.
“The Archduke of Kiryu,” Toya said. “Mahiro Kurosaki.”
The king looked like he’d been shot with an arrow. “Why?”
“Why not?” Toya said.
“Why isn’t your brother’s consort in the wedding party? That fourth spot should be his!”
Yo-ka was quietly shaking his head. He knew this was coming. Yo-ka had attempted to put Mahiro in the party for his own wedding, too – and he was turned down. He still doesn’t want to publicly admit that Mahiro is his illegitimate son, Yo-ka thought, even after acknowledging him as “a relative of the royal family” and granting him a high title.
“Yuuki is singing, Father,” Yo-ka said. “We discussed it – he turned down a spot in the party, because he’d rather be at the front of the hall where the musicians will be.”
“We could pass a microphone to him,” the king said. “He could sing from among the wedding party.”
“That would look ridiculous,” the queen said. “And I say Mahiro is acceptable.”
“You don’t have the final word on that!” the king snapped.
“I don’t?” the queen said. “Funny, I thought that BOTH of us were the parents of Toya.” She paused. “Unless HE is Kurosaki Emi’s son, too?”
“YOU KNOW HE’S YOURS!” the king shouted.
“I hit a nerve, didn’t I?” the queen said in a cool tone. “Mahiro is Toya’s brother, too – even if he has a different mother. He’s entitled to be in the ceremony.”
The king sat in silence, and the room instantly felt like it was filled with ice. The boys knew what that silence meant. They knew that if pushed hard enough, their mother would not be above going public with Mahiro’s true parentage. And given that Mahiro was a public figure – his comedy troupe, My Dragon, were rapidly becoming full-blown stars – that would be a very, very big deal.
“I’ll sign off on the list,” the king said, quietly. “I’m not entirely happy with it, but I’ll sign off on it.”
“Thank you, Father,” Toya said, standing up and bowing. “My wedding will be worthy of the family – I promise.”
“It had better be!” the king said.
As the two brothers left the room, Yo-ka said, “Why the hell does he have to be that way about Mahiro? Still? He’s his son, too!”
“At least he approved it,” Toya said. “We got further than we did for your wedding!”
“It still bothers me,” Yo-ka said, quietly.
“I’m going to call Mahiro and tell him,” Toya said. “He’s going to be thrilled!”
Yo-ka remained silent. What is it going to take, he thought, for Mahiro to truly become part of our family?
* * *
It very strange for Mahiro to walk into the palace every week to do his radio show.
Prince Yo-ka – his half-brother – had arranged for My Dragon to do their broadcast from the royal family’s personal studio in the wake of the media circus that had followed Hiyori’s engagement to Sakito (aka Satty of the legendary comedy troupe Sendai Kamotsu). It had been impossible for the group to concentrate on their sketches while under constant siege by reporters. And so, instead of going to their usual broadcast headquarters . . .
He was walking into what could have, should have been his home had the circumstances of his life been a bit different.
It wasn’t something he dwelled on. He was friendly with Princes Yo-ka and Toya, to be sure. He knew damn well he had a title and was a part of the nobility now. But it wasn’t as important to him as being a member of My Dragon – or being Kouki’s boyfriend.
Except he got a big, fat reminder that he was a so-called “royal bastard” whenever he walked into the side palace entrance that had been earmarked for My Dragon’s use, and he saw the portraits on the walls of royal family members of the past.
My ancestors, he thought. I grew up over a bakery in Kiryu . . . and these are my ancestors. It still doesn’t seem quite real.
The call he had gotten that morning from Toya had seemed equally surreal. “Are you sure?” he asked the prince. “You really want me in your wedding?”
“Of course, I’m sure!” Toya said. “Mahiro, you know and I know what our family connection is. Who’s more worthy of standing at my side than my own brother?”
“But, nobody’s supposed to know about . . .”
“And they won’t,” Toya said. “They know you’re related to me somehow, they’ll probably think you’re a cousin on my mother’s side or something. Come on, your boyfriend’s walking Subaru down the aisle, don’t you want to be in it, too?”
“All right,” Mahiro said. “I’ll do it! And I’ll be honored.”
“Great!” Toya said. “I’ll let my parents know you’re officially in.”
I’m in, he thought. Just as if I were a real, full-blown member of the royal family.
As he entered the studio, a technician walked into his blind spot – which was substantially bigger than it would be for someone without his vision issues – and nearly crashed into him. “Whoa!” he said.
“Please, be careful,” Hiyori said to the employee, walking toward Mahiro. “His Grace here has trouble with peripheral vision.”
Mahiro rolled his eyes. “Hiyori, you can refer to me as just Mahiro or Kurosaki-san or Dandy Maro.”
“I know,” Hiyori said. “But these ARE palace staff. They expect formal titles. Anyway, how is Kouki holding up with the big wedding coming?”
“It’s not just him that’s in the wedding,” Mahiro said. “Toya asked me to be an attendant this morning.”
“WHOA!” Hiyori said. “Mahiro, that’s fabulous!”
“Maybe,” Mahiro said. “It just feels funny, that’s all.”
“Funny nothing!” said Hiyori. “This is big-time! Every paper and radio station in the country will be covering it! There’ll even be newsreel cameras there! Hey, maybe you could hold up a poster for our next shows when you walk down the aisle!”
“I don’t think the king will go for that,” Mahiro said. And he still thought of him as “the king,” not “my father.” How could someone be a true father to him if he’d never been part of his life until recently?
“Why not?” Hiyori said. “Any publicity is good publicity, right?”
“Like we didn’t get enough publicity from your engagement?” Mahiro chided, gently.
“Thank God that’s settled down a bit,” Hiyori said. “Sakito was talking last night about going to another country to get married. He MAY have been kidding.”
Junji wandered over to them. “Hey, there,” he said. “So, any more of us been invited to be in the royal wedding yet?”
“Mahiro has,” Hiyori said.
“You have?” Junji looked shocked. “No shit!”
“I’m serious,” Mahiro said.
“Damn, I was kidding!” Junji said. “So, you and Mahiro are BOTH in the wedding now? Does this mean we’re going to get a good table? Gaku and I will have to get new clothes for the occasion!”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Mahiro said. He knew damn well that his troupemates would be put at the “commoner tables” – despite the fact that they were now more recognizable to most people in the room than most of the titled people.
Such was the nature of royalty and nobility – which was one reason why Mahiro felt really, really ambiguous about being part of the whole thing.
But for Toya, he’d be in the ceremony. Toya was a genuinely good guy, and he and Subaru were a sweet and loving couple. Plus, they had a life outside of being royal, since they ran their surfboard and rollboard company.
The rest of the nobility, however . . . he just didn’t know.
* * *
Kouki was waiting for Mahiro outside the side entrance when they got done with the show. He rushed over to the much smaller man as soon as he saw him, sweeping him into an embrace.
“Hey!” he said. “I heard the show. It was hilarious, as always. You guys are getting better material all the time.”
Mahiro took a step back from the other man and frowned a little. “You look different than you did this morning.”
“Oh, this?” Kouki ran a hand over his hair. “Yeah, I had an appointment with the royal stylists this afternoon. They wanted me to go for something . . . shorter. And neater. And more on the brown side. I think they just don’t want me to show up my brother. He’s gone mega-blond for the wedding.”
“Of course, they don’t want you to show up your brother,” Mahiro said. “He’s the one getting married, not you.”
“Yet,” Kouki said.
Mahiro was quiet about that. Kouki was officially his “Pledged” – a royal state that was somewhere between casual dating and engagement. He’d considered taking their relationship to the next level and formally popping the question to the other man, but after the public brouhaha over Hiyori’s engagement? My Dragon didn’t need that again.
Instead, he said, “It looks like I’m joining you in the wedding party. Toya asked me before I left for the studio today.”
“I know.”
“What do you mean, you know?”
“My brother’s the one Toya’s marrying, remember? Subaru told me after I saw the stylists. He was all excited about it. He can’t wait for us all to be family together, he said.”
“Family,” Mahiro said, softly. Why did the idea of him being a half-royal take so much getting used to, he thought, even after all this time?
“Come on,” Kouki said. “We could get a drink before you go home, if you want. Have everyone congratulate you on the show in public? Give me a chance to show off my celebrity boyfriend?”
Mahiro sighed. “I think I’d rather go straight home,” he said. “The broadcast took a lot out of me.”
“Sure thing,” Kouki said. He put an arm around Mahiro. “I’ll have plenty of opportunity to show you off at the wedding!”
I just wonder what that’s going to feel like, Mahiro thought. Standing up there among them like I was really and truly one of them . . . is it going to feel wrong? Or is it going to feel very, very right?
* * *
In their apartment, Kouki was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. “Subaru is just walking on air,” he called from behind the door. “Well, he’s kind of busy as hell right now, but he’s happy at the same time. He’s got a nice kid working with him who’s handling a lot of the details – I think he called him his page.”
“Sora,” Mahiro said. “That’s his name. He’s Jun’s brother.”
“Junji’s brother?”
“No, Jun. Toya’s best friend. The one who’s dating Hitomi, their . . . our cousin.”
“Yeah, I can see it.” Kouki opened the door. “They both have the pink hair, and . . .” He stopped suddenly when he saw Mahiro sitting on the bed and looking into a hand mirror. “What’s with that?”
Mahiro looked up. “Kouki, be honest . . . do you think I look like royalty? Like one of them?”
Kouki sat next to his lover and draped an arm around him. “You look like you. Like Mahiro. And that’s all you have to look like.”
“It still seems so unreal after all this time,” Mahiro said. “When I first moved to the capital, I was living in that apartment that faced the palace, and I’d sit by my window every night, looking at it. I think that on some level, part of me always knew.”
“Maybe,” Kouki said. “You’re a smart one, to be sure. But in the end, does it matter?”
“Does what matter?”
“Where you came from. What matters is who you are, and what you’re doing right now. And right now, you’re part of the best damn comedy troupe in Veekay.”
“Don’t let Sakito hear you say that,” Mahiro snorted.
“It’s the truth,” Kouki said. “You people picked up the ball from Sendai Kamotsu and ran with it. And I couldn’t be more proud of you.” He leaned over and kissed Mahiro. “You’re going to be the hottest guy at that wedding, you know.”
“No, I think you will,” Mahiro said, putting the mirror down.
“Not with this hair, I won’t,” Kouki said. “Do you think it suits me? I look like I should be an enka singer.”
“You look gorgeous,” Mahiro said. “Very dignified.”
“Dignified,” Kouki repeated. “Not something I ever thought of myself as, but hey.” He kissed his lover again. “I love you, you know. I’d love you if you didn’t have one drop of royal blood in you.”
“I love you, too,” Mahiro said. “Always.”
He leaned his head on Kouki’s shoulder. I think too much about this royalty stuff whenever I’m in that palace, he thought. Kouki’s right – where I came from doesn’t matter. What matters is where I am now.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t want the king to look at him as his true son – someday.
* * *
A few days later, Toya asked to meet with Mahiro for lunch at the palace. Mahiro agreed, gladly – besides, he was on the premises anyway, since they were recording promos for their next show in the radio studio.
He headed down to the private dining areas of the royal family, where Toya met him and escorted him into one of the smaller rooms. “I’ve asked them to bring us a selection of sushi,” he said, “since I know you like it.”
“You have a good memory,” Mahiro said.
“I have to, with all the people I meet.” The two of them walked over to the table, where a server bowed, pulled their chairs out and took their drink orders.
Being waited on hand and foot was something Mahiro was still getting used to – both as a newly-discovered illegitimate prince and a celebrity on the rise. He’d always been the one waiting on customers in his mother’s bakery. Being on the other side was more than a bit strange sometimes.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be in my ceremony,” Toya said as soon as the waiter left. “It means a lot. It really does. And we’ve got a great group of people for it. You met Solar – Princess Yongsun – at Yo-ka’s wedding, didn’t you?”
“I think I did,” Mahiro said. “She was lively, as I remember.”
“Lively isn’t the word. She always says she gets annoyed when people start saying there’s rumors going around about her pole dancing at a party back home. She’s always says, ‘How dare they say they’re rumors? It’s the truth!’” They both laughed.
“Your father really approved this? Me being in the wedding?” Mahiro said.
“OUR father, remember?”
“Our father,” Mahiro said. “I mean, I wasn’t asked to be in Yo-ka’s wedding, but I figured since he was the crown prince, they were a bit stricter about who was going to be in the wedding party.”
“Actually? He tried to get you into it,” Toya said.
Mahiro looked surprised. “He did?”
“The first three people he named were people who pretty much had to be in his wedding party,” Toya said. “I was Honor Attendant, of course, and then Hitomi was in it, and our sister Reiko and her husband Jaejoong. But for the fourth position, Yo-ka said he wanted either you or his friend Tatsuya – the Undersecretary of the Exchequer. Now, of course, normally only nobles are allowed in wedding parties and gentry – like Tatsuya – can participate only if they get a special royal dispensation. So Yo-ka thought it was an ace in the hole, and Father would approve you. He called Yo-ka’s bluff and gave Tatsuya the dispensation instead.”
Mahiro nodded. He and Kouki had sat in the rows reserved for “high nobility and relatives of the royal family” for that wedding. He’d been a bit surprised to see Tatsuya up there and wondered why. Well, now I know, right? he thought.
“So, our father was still pretending I’m not his son,” Mahiro said.
“I’m sorry,” Toya said. “That’s why I didn’t offer any alternatives to you when I proposed my wedding party. I didn’t want to give him an opening to do the same thing twice.”
“I appreciate it. I really do. You’re, well . . . you and Yo-ka really do feel like family to me,” Mahiro said, quietly. Even if it still feels strange sometimes, he thought.
“It’s because you ARE family,” Toya said. “Look over there.” He pointed to the opposite wall, which was mirrored.
Mahiro glanced over and saw the two men reflected. There were enough similarities that you could tell the two were closely related.
“When I was a kid, it always bothered me that Yo-ka and I didn’t look that much alike,” Toya said. “We were told over and over that Yo-ka looks like our mother’s side of the family and I look like our father’s. And if you see pictures of our mother when she was young? She looks exactly like Yo-ka. Reiko was the only one of us who really looks like a blend of both parents.”
Mahiro looked at the mirror again. We really do look like brothers, he thought. Almost to the point that when I first met Toya, I should have figured out the truth.
“I always wanted a brother who actually looked like me back then,” Toya said. “I never had one.” He paused. “But now, I do.”
Mahiro swallowed hard. “I . . . I’m touched. I really am. To hear you say something like that . . .” He looked away from the mirror. “It’s one hell of a feeling, going from being an only child to being part of a family.”
“Well, you ARE part of a family, no matter what my father says or does,” Toya said. “You and I are brothers, in every sense of the word – and don’t you forget it.”
“I won’t,” Mahiro said, quietly.
The waiter opened the door and arrived with a chilled bottle of sake. “The beverage, gentlemen,” he said.
Mahiro was quiet when the drinks were poured. A family, he thought. No matter what our father says or does . . .
When the waiter left again, Toya raised his glass. “Kampaii!” he said. “To being a family!”
“Kampaii,” Mahiro said, clinking his glass against the other man’s.
At least I can get used to Toya being my half-brother, he thought. That’s something, at least.
* * *
Yo-ka was busy enough when he just had his own crown prince business to attend to. A large part of that was, of course, the paperwork that his father dumped on him. But there were also personal appearances, charitable events, and his role as the Crown’s liaison to Parliament – something he had very well expected would be one of his duties, since Parliament was his idea in the first place.
Add his brother’s upcoming nuptials on top of it, and the crown prince barely had time to take a breath. Yes, it was Toya’s wedding, not his, and Yo-ka had already been through his own ceremony, thank you very much. But he wanted to help. Toya was the most important person in his life, other than Yuuki.
Plus, there was the small matter of Subaru and Toya having gotten together during Yo-ka’s Culling . . . and therefore, Subaru having been Yo-ka’s boyfriend before he was Toya’s.
He was asked often by friends if there were any lingering feelings in that department, if he was at all jealous of Subaru and Toya. He always answered no – and it was the truth. When the Culling was going on, he kept Subaru on week after week – because he knew the boy was special. He knew Subaru deserved way better than to be a clerk at a tugboat company, and he wanted to raise him up out of that life.
And, yes, there were even moments when there was a romantic spark between them, like when they went on a boat trip together. But a spark was all there was – no real fire. Whenever he looked back at those chaotic weeks, he knew his heart had decided on Yuuki early on, and the rest of the final six were kept around mainly because he liked hanging out with them as friends.
When Toya had come up to him the night before the Culling ended and confessed that he was in love with Subaru, it was almost a relief to Yo-ka. Now he knew what the “something special” he’d sensed in Subaru was. The boy was destined to be a part of the royal family, all right – just not as Yo-ka’s consort.
And now, it was about to become official – except to Yo-ka, Subaru had been a part of their family from the moment Toya put a jeweled collar around his neck and made him his Pledged.
Right now, Yo-ka was rushing down the palace corridors toward his own office after coming from Parliament. There were some phone calls he needed to make, and then he had to check in on the finance department, and then . . .
A blur wearing a red cape materialized into view, and he nearly crashed head-on into it. Great. He’d nearly flattened his page.
“Kosuke!” Yo-ka said. “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay,” the boy said. “We were both in a hurry.” He handed Yo-ka a manila envelope. “I was coming from your father’s office, he gave me this. It’s the proofs of the program to be handed out at your brother’s wedding.”
“Right, right, those were coming today.” Add one more thing to the to-do list. Okay, he’d give it a once-over before he made the phone calls, and if it was good, he’d have Kosuke run it down to Toya’s office.
Yo-ka rushed through the door, waved briefly to the staff in the front office, and then went to his private room. He sat down at his desk, pulling the proofs out of the envelope and starting to read. Well, the names and titles of Subaru’s attendants were all correct, and then on to Toya’s . . .
And suddenly, the prince froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
He can’t do this, he thought. Father gave his word he was approving Toya’s list!
Suddenly, he bolted up from his desk and rushed through the front office again, nearly knocking poor Kosuke over a second time. He ran down the hall to his father’s office, bypassing the king’s secretaries and assistants without a word, finding the door to the inner sanctum and throwing it open.
The king looked up from a stack of papers. “I thought I’ve taught you to knock, Yo-ka.”
Yo-ka held up the proofs, breathing hard, his face reddening. “What is this?” he said.
“It’s the program for your brother’s wedding,” the king said. “I told you that you’d have the proofs today.”
“No, I mean, what is THIS?” Yo-ka pointed to the page with Toya’s attendants listed. “This is wrong!”
“This is the list as it was sent to the printers,” the king said in a cool tone.
“It’s not the one Toya gave you!” Yo-ka said. “I don’t see Mahiro’s name here! You have Yuuki here instead, and both of us told you he’s the soloist, not an attendant!”
“It’s the list as I approved it,” the king said. “Yuuki is your consort, he should be in the ceremony.”
“Then why is he replacing MAHIRO?” Yo-ka stepped into the office and shut the door behind him. “If he’s replacing anyone, it should be Jun! Mahiro is an Archduke. That’s a high title. Jun is gentry who was made a Viceroy by Mother so he could be in this wedding. If this were about RANK, Jun would be out, not Mahiro!”
His father stood up from his desk and gave a long sigh. “Yo-ka, for once can you please try to understand what it entails to be royalty? We can’t have some comedian be in your brother’s wedding party. It would be . . . undignified.”
“Oh, but we can have a CABARET SINGER? WHICH IS WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS CALLED YUUKI UNTIL NOW? UNTIL YOU DESPERATELY NEED HIM TO HIDE YOUR ROYAL BASTARD FROM THE WORLD?”
The king shot him a look of ice. “Yo-ka, stop shouting.”
“I WON’T STOP SHOUTING!” Yo-ka was crimson in the face now. “I WON’T STOP SHOUTING UNTIL YOU HEAR ME! UNTIL YOU LET TOYA HAVE WHAT HE WANTS! UNTIL YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MAHIRO IS YOUR GODDAMN SON AS MUCH AS TOYA AND I ARE! YOU GAVE HIM A TITLE AND A MANSION AND GOOD DOCTORS BUT THAT’S ALL YOU’VE GIVEN HIM! HE! IS! YOUR! SON!”
The king advanced on him, slowly. “STOP THIS,” he shouted. “STOP IT RIGHT NOW.”
“NO! IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU TOOK YOUR SONS SERIOUSLY! ALL THREE OF US! WE MAY BE ROYALTY, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE ARE PUPPETS YOU CAN MANIPULATE! WE’RE OUR OWN PEOPLE! AND THAT INCLUDES MAHIRO! TOYA AND I SEE HIM AS OUR BROTHER! HE’S FAMILY TO US! EVEN MOTHER IS WILLING TO ACCEPT HIM! WHY CAN’T YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT? WHY DO YOU OBJECT TO MAHIRO STANDING AT HIS BROTHER’S SIDE ON HIS WEDDING DAY?”
His father was turning almost as red as Yo-ka now. “Prince Yo-ka of Valluna, if you do not shut up right now . . .”
“IS IT BECAUSE YOU WON’T ADMIT TO YOURSELF THAT YOU LOVED A COMMON WOMAN? THAT KUROSAKI EMI WAS THE REAL LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, EVEN THOUGH SHE WASN’T HIGH-BORN? THAT YOU THREW HER ASIDE LIKE OLD GARBAGE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN YOUR STATUS?”
“I WILL DISOWN YOU!” Yo-ka’s father shouted. “I WILL STRIP YOU OF YOUR CROWN AND YOUR TITLE AND THROW YOU AND THAT CABARET SINGER OUT IN THE STREETS! LET YOU SURVIVE AS COMMONERS IN THE WORKADAY WORLD!”
“GO AHEAD,” Yo-ka shouted. “AND WHO WILL BE YOUR SUCCESSOR? TOYA FEELS THE SAME WAY AS ME. SO DOES HITOMI, IF YOU PLAN TO PASS THE CROWN TO YOUR BROTHER’S FAMILY.”
And then, a calm voice in the doorway said, “You will do no such thing.” Father and son both turned to see the queen standing there, arms crossed over her chest, a frosty expression on her face.
“Mother . . .” Yo-ka suddenly felt like a child. He suddenly realized the extent of his outburst and outpouring of rage. Oh, God, he thought, what if I really did screw things up for everyone, what if I’ve cheated my brother out of his wedding altogether . . .
He found himself rushing over to his mother and hugging her. She hugged him back. “It’s all right,” she said, soothingly. “It’s all right, my darling.”
The king just stood there, hands balled into fists. “He said . . .”
“I heard what he said,” the queen said in a cold tone. “The whole palace heard what he said. Life on other planets heard what he said. Why did you go back on your word?”
“I didn’t make any final promises that I’d approved that wedding party lineup,” the king said.
“Oh, yes, you did! You said you’d sign off on it!”
“I didn’t say I’d sign off on that EXACT lineup!”
“LIAR!” the queen shouted. “And listen to your son! I thought you’d come to terms with your feelings for Emi. It seems that you haven’t. And it also seems that looking at Mahiro reminds her of you, doesn’t it? Which is why you don’t want him in Toya’s wedding party.”
“I didn’t say anything of the . . .”
“No, you just threatened to disown your son,” the queen said, bitterly. “Which means Yo-ka hit a nerve. You know and I know that you’d never take his crown. He is the best possible choice to succeed you.”
The king let out a long sigh. “All right, I didn’t really mean that part,” he said. “But the boy was still out of line.”
“He is no longer a boy,” the queen said. “He is a grown, married man, your Crown Prince, the founder of our Parliament. And he and his brother are entitled to make their own decisions. That includes who they want in their wedding parties.”
She gave Yo-ka’s shoulder a squeeze, walked over to the king’s desk and picked up the phone.
“What are you doing?” the king said.
“Calling the printers, of course,” the queen said.
“Why?”
“To correct this error and put Mahiro back in his rightful place,” she said. “And then I’m going to call the papers about Mahiro’s true identity.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” the king said.
“I very nearly did it twice already,” the queen replied. “Remember? Once when Yo-ka wanted to form the Parliament, and once when the boys came to ask you to give Mahiro the title he was entitled to. I won’t hesitate to do it now.”
The king turned his back on her, shoulders sagging. “If I had my way . . .” he said.
“Emi would be on my throne instead of me?” the queen said.
The king took a deep breath. “You know me too well,” he said, quietly.
Yo-ka slowly walked over to his father and put a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, Father,” he said. “I know you did what you felt was the right thing for the kingdom – even if it wasn’t the right thing for you, or, ultimately, Mahiro. And I know you were jealous of Toya and I for following our hearts when you didn’t.”
That’s why he’s constantly flinging around insults, Yo-ka thought. That’s why he has harsh words for every young person who follows the beat of his or her own drummer. Toya and I exhibit “conduct unbecoming to a prince.” Yuuki is a “cabaret singer,” Subaru a “guttersnipe,” even Solar is a “flighty creature.”
“But I . . . I forgive you for all that,” Yo-ka said. “And I know Mahiro will forgive you, too. You’re the product of a different time, a different attitude. It’s okay. Really. Just . . . please try to forgive yourself. Please try to accept your feelings – toward Mahiro, and Emi. You would make Toya and I so proud, and so happy.” He stepped back, and added, softly, “That’s all I’m going to say.”
There was a long pause. And then, the king said, “You always know how to get to me, don’t you?”
“Comes from being your son,” Yo-ka said. “It’s kind of a family trait.”
The king walked over to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed. “Hello? This is His Majesty. I need to make a change to the printed program. The name of Crown Prince Consort Yuuki of Valluna is in the wrong place. He needs to be listed as soloist, not attendant. The fourth attendant to my son is Archduke Mahiro of Kiryu. Yes, Archduke Mahiro of Kiryu. I’ll send an assistant over with the exact kanji. Thank you.”
“I’m grateful, Father,” Yo-ka said, bowing. “Very grateful.”
He exited his father’s office, calmly, knowing full well the secretaries and assistants would be looking at their work, not paying attention to him. Of course, they were very used to royal family drama by now. They’d heard all kinds of high-volume arguments ever since Yo-ka was a teenager.
But as he was about to close the door behind himself and his mother, he thought he heard his father say, softly, “I wish I could see her again, just one more time.”
* * *
Mahiro was sitting on a bench in front of the palace, taking an opportunity to catch a breath. He’d just been in the studio again, not only recording promos for next week’s show, but also pre-recording a short sketch that would be inserted into another show on the same network. Later that afternoon, he and the others would be going to their usual rehearsal studio to work up material for another live show.
All this and participating in a royal wedding, he thought. Good thing Kouki’s in the ceremony too, or he and I wouldn’t be seeing each other for awhile.
He leaned back and closed his eyes. He was wearing light-filtering glasses – all the better to keep the sun out of his hyper-sensitive eyes – but sometimes, some light still seeped through and made him uncomfortable.
Someday, he thought, my whole world will be dark like this. He was just glad he had a significant other who had promised him that he’d stick with him no matter what – even if that meant Mahiro being in total blindness.
If that happens, he thought, is there any way I can still carry on the radio end of my comedy career, even if I can’t do live shows anymore? What happens if I . . .
“Excuse me,” said a voice above him. “Do you have a moment?”
Mahiro opened his eyes, and to his shock, saw the king standing in front of him. He raised his head, blinking in surprise.
“Well, I need to be back in the studio in half an hour . . .”
“I’ll be brief, then.” The king sat next to his son. “Mahiro, I will be honest. The idea of having you around here . . . it still takes some getting used to.”
“That makes two of us,” Mahiro said with a small smile. What the hell is he doing here? He thought. He usually doesn’t come around the studio when we’re working there. Not that it’s bothered me much.
“You’re really happy in the life you’ve chosen, aren’t you?” the king said.
“Excuse me?” Mahiro was confused.
“This . . . this comedy business. It really is what makes you happy?”
“More than anything I could imagine,” Mahiro said. “I followed my heart into that industry. And I realize it’s not what nobles usually do, but until recently? I didn’t know I was noble.”
“Yes,” the king said, quietly. “You followed your heart. So it’s probably good you never knew you were my son.”
Mahiro looked baffled. “Your Majesty?”
“Things were different for a royal when I was young than they are now, Mahiro. Very different. I wasn’t able to make the choices my sons have. I wasn’t able to . . . to . . .”
“Marry my mother?” Mahiro said, quietly.
“Choose my own path in life,” the king said. “Just like my father wasn’t able to choose his path before him.”
“It’s not too late, sir,” Mahiro said. “If there’s something you want to do, you can do it.”
His father shook his head. “I’m still the king, you know.”
“And you’re still a human being. Yo-ka and Toya are both always saying that they’re just regular guys – they just happen to have been born into a certain family.”
“They would say that,” the king said, a bit ruefully.
“You’re the same. You’re just a person that was born into a certain family, too.”
“In another time and another atmosphere,” the king said, softly. “With different expectations. And I still have to live up to them. Life is very different for my sons.”
“Yo-ka and Toya are both very much their own men,” Mahiro said, nodding in agreement.
“I mean all three of my sons,” the king said.
Mahiro was taken aback by that. In his rather limited dealings with his father, the king had always seemed very reluctant to address him as son. How do I respond to that? he thought.
“I . . . I’m my own man, too,” Mahiro said. “Even if I’m more of a court jester than a prince.” He smiled weakly.
“In days of old,” the king said, “the court jester was a very important role within the palace, you know. There weren’t many opportunities for entertainment and stress relief.” He paused, gazing at his son thoughtfully. Then, he said, “Toya has included you in his wedding.”
“And I’m thrilled,” Mahiro said. “And honored.”
“Will you be returning the favor, when the time comes for you to be married to . . . your Pledged? The . . . the Baron?”
Mahiro shook his head. “He’s still blown away by the title,” he said. “And Subaru’s parents are thrilled. Now they have two nobles in the family.”
“They’ll be at the wedding, won’t they?”
“Well, of course,” Mahiro said. “It’s their son, isn’t it?”
“So, when you get married . . .”
“That won’t be for awhile yet,” Mahiro said. “We don’t want to take the spotlight away from Subaru and Toya. Or Hitomi and Jun – they’re going to be planning their wedding once Subaru is done with his. Or, for that matter, Sakito and Hiyori, since so much fuss was made over their engagement.”
The king looked disappointed. “I see,” he said.
“But . . . what about my wedding?”
“Well, we will have it here, won’t we? I wasn’t there for your childhood – but I want you to have a wedding worthy of someone of your station. It won’t be in the Grand Hall like Toya’s and Yo-ka’s, of course, but . . . perhaps in the West Hall?”
Mahiro was taken aback again. The Grand Hall was where royal weddings and coronations took place. It was the biggest gathering area within the palace complex and was justly reserved for the biggest occasions. But the West Hall was nothing to sneeze at, either. It was used for occasions like baby naming ceremonies and the weddings of close relatives of the royal family.
“I’d . . . I’d like that,” he said.
“And your mother will be there?” the king said, softly.
“She wouldn’t miss my wedding for the world,” Mahiro said.
“Then it’s settled,” the king said. “When you are ready, give word to my office, and we’ll set everything up. And the wedding will be at our expense.”
Mahiro jumped up and bowed. “Thank you, sir!” he said.
“Anything for Emi’s son,” the king said. He turned to walk away, slowly.
Only much later would Mahiro begin wondering if the whole reason he was being offered a full, paid-for wedding designed for high nobility was so his father could see his mother again.
* * *
Mahiro and Kouki sat together on the beach a couple of miles from the castle. It was one of their favorite places to come together, because Kouki always said it felt like home to him.
“You grow up in a fishing town, it never leaves your blood,” he said. “That’s why it’s a good thing that Subaru is going to be dividing his time between here and Charlotte. They’re both close to the water. If he had to live on dry land all the time, he’d be miserable.”
“What about you?” Mahiro said.
“I don’t have to worry. We’re not leaving here, are we? Except when you go on tour, that is. And hey, I don’t need to work anymore unless I really want to, right? I’m a baron.”
“Do you want to work?” Mahiro said.
“Only for you guys. Remember, I was an office manager. I could help out your management, you know. Hey, who wouldn’t want to be aboard the My Dragon train? You guys are HOT right now!”
Mahiro took Kouki’s hand and squeezed it. Yes, we need to ride the My Dragon train while we can, he thought. Because I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay aboard it.
He swallowed hard. His eyesight issues weren’t anything to dwell on right now. “You know I’ve been offered a full noble wedding by the ki- by my father, right?”
Kouki smiled. “You just referred to him as your father. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that before.”
“That’s because I don’t think HE truly thought of himself as my father before. But, well . . . I think that might be changing.”
“Oh?”
“He . . . came up to me outside rehearsal today and just decided to talk to me. He’s never done that before.”
“That’s progress, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” He squeezed Kouki’s hand. “Is that something you want to do, Kouki? Have . . . have a big-deal wedding like Subaru and Toya are doing?”
“More importantly, is it something YOU want to do?”
Mahiro looked out at the water. Was it? He was just some comedian from Kiryu who just happened to have strange circumstances behind his birth. But still . . . he was an officially recognized “relative of the royal family” and an Archduke.
But I’m also my own man, he thought. Like I told my father. Like he never got to be.
“I just want to be with family and friends,” he said, slowly. “That includes both the My Dragon people and . . . well, Yo-ka and Yuuki and Subaru and Toya.”
“Then we’ll do it our way when the time comes,” Kouki said. “Maybe we’ll take the offer of the big wedding, maybe we won’t. Because I’d marry you anywhere, any time, any way. I’d marry you in a judge’s chamber back in Kiryu or in that West Hall. I’d marry you in a train station or on a boat. I’d marry you in a goddamn radio studio or on the stage at the end of one of your shows. Just so I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Mahiro hugged him. “I love you so damn much, you know that?”
“I love you, too,” Kouki said. When Mahiro turned so he could snuggle against his Pledged’s shoulder, Kouki pointed to a dock jutting out in the water. “See that? It’s where Subaru’s boat landed. He got off there, got taken to the palace in a limo, and, well . . . it was the beginning of happily ever after for him.”
“For both of us,” Mahiro said. “We wouldn’t have met if not for the Culling. Hiyori formed My Dragon because of Yo-ka’s sponsorship. You moved to the capital to be closer to your brother. One happy ending led to another.”
“And all because of a guy who arrived on one ordinary fishing boat,” Kouki said. He paused. “Hey, wait! That’s the right place to hold our wedding!”
Mahiro looked baffled. “That dock?”
“This beach! It’s somewhere that means a lot to both of us, right? Hey, His Majesty can’t object if we want to move it away from the West Hall, right?”
Actually, he could, Mahiro thought. But . . . if he’s serious about sponsoring my wedding, then he’ll have to agree to my terms, right? Especially if it means seeing my mother again. Which is what he really wants.
“It’s our wedding,” he said, softly. “And we’ll have it where we want to.”
“Now you’re talking!” Kouki said. “So when the time comes, it’ll be right here. And I’ll be the happiest guy in the world.”
“No,” Mahiro said, softly. “I’ll be.”
He snuggled closer to his love and looked out at the water. Yes, he thought. I’m my father’s son. But I’m also my own person. I have freedoms the true royals didn’t have – and I’m glad of it. When my wedding comes, it’ll be on my terms. Just like the rest of my life.
And he hoped, someday, that his father would realize that he could have the same freedom, too.
Chapter: Sequel to After Ever After: The Hidden Prince and part of an ongoing series that follows A Sort of Fairy Tale
Author: Boots
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fairy tale AU, romance, drama
Warning: Lots of ALL CAPS YELLING
Pairing: Kouki (D=OUT) x Mahiro (Kiryu) (main), Toya (Gotcharocka) x Subaru (Royz), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon/Initial'L), mentions of Hitomi (Moran) x Jun (Gotcharocka) and Junji (Kiryu) x Gaku (Fest Vainqueur)
Disclaimer: D=OUT belongs to Speed-Disk, Gotcharocka belongs to God Child Records, DIAURA belongs to Ains, Kiryu and Royz belong to B.P. Records, Initial'L is property of Battle Cry Sound Company. I own the story only.
Summary: Prince Toya asks his half-brother, Mahiro, to be in his wedding – but the choice is not popular with all members of the royal family.
Comments: Written for the October challenge at vkei yaoi, which called for fics focusing on vocalists with a secondary challenge of incorporating screaming or yelling into the story. The hairstyle of Kouki’s mentioned here is the most recent look of his enka-singing alter ego, Hanamazikura Koki. (Hence the joke here about him looking like an enka singer). Princess Yongsun is Solar, leader of the K-pop girl group Mammamoo. (She’ll be showing up in person in a later installment).
Prince Toya of Charlotte sat in his father’s office practically bouncing in his seat. Why shouldn’t he? He was about to marry the love of his life.
The date of his wedding to Subaru, Duke of Royz was chosen very carefully – the exact anniversary of the day when Subaru boarded a fishing boat and left his home to participate in Prince Yo-ka’s Culling, never dreaming that the adventure would end with him falling in love with the prince’s brother. Preliminary plans had already been made – the guest list, the decorations, the food – and all that remained now was Toya getting the list of his wedding party members approved.
Royal weddings, of course, were big and splashy affairs, and that extended to the selection of wedding attendants. Both the prince or princess getting married and his or her intended had an Honor Attendant who would escort them down the aisle – usually a sibling or in-law – plus four other attendants who proceeded them to the altar. (But, of course, royal tradition dictated that all ceremony participants be nobility unless the king issued a special dispensation.)
Subaru had already presented his list, and to nobody’s surprise, his four attendants were his friends from the Culling – Hiro, Hiyori, Ruiza and MiA. Since all of them had been made nobility during the Culling, there was no problem with that.
The only pushback came when he requested that his brother, Kouki, walk him down the aisle. “He’s not a noble,” the king said.
“He’s most likely going to marry a duke,” his wife said.
The king bristled. “Not yet,” he snapped. “He’s still a gutter-”
“Commoner?” said the queen. “Is that what you were going to say?”
“Are you going to declare the boy a Viceroy so he can be in the wedding?” the king said.
“Of course not,” said the queen. She waited a beat, and said, “I’m going to declare him a Baron.”
“You can’t do that!” her husband nearly shouted.
“Can I?” said his wife. “Let me see, I can bestow any noble title from Viscount down. Subaru is the first noble Royz has ever had, so the title Baron of Royz is currently vacant. So yes, my DEAR, I can bestow the title.”
The king sank back in his seat, defeated and grumbling. And as he was looking away, the queen exchanged a high-five with Subaru.
Now, Toya sat in his father’s office with his own list. He wasn’t expecting any flack like that – everyone on his list was a noble, right?
“All right,” the king said. “Let’s hear it.”
“My Honor Attendant is going to be Yo-ka, of course,” Toya said.
The king nodded. “As expected, since you were his.”
“My first attendant is Jun, the Viceroy of the Spiv States.”
The king sighed. “I knew you’d say that.”
“He has the title,” the queen said, sharply. “I saw to that.”
Toya smiled. He knew how fond his mother was of his best friend from school – and she saw to it a year ago that he’d be eligible to be in Toya’s wedding.
“Fine,” said the king. “Your second?”
“Hitomi, of course.”
“The DUKE OF FATIMA,” his father corrected.
“He’s our cousin,” Yo-ka said, firmly. “We should be able to call him by his NAME.”
“And your third?” the king said.
“Well, I figured that the Royal Family of Kaypop needed to be represented,” Toya said. The princes’ sister, Reiko, had abandoned her position as first in line to Veekay’s throne to elope with Prince Jaejoong of Kaypop, and now stood to be that country’s next queen. “So my third attendant is . . .”
“Oh, no,” the king groaned. “Don’t tell me.”
“Princess Yongsun,” Toya said.
The king shook his head. “That flighty creature . . .”
“Solar isn’t flighty, Father,” Yo-ka said. “She runs a magazine for teenage girls.”
“Who worship the ground she walks on, for some reason,” the king said. “And why do you insist on using that ridiculous nickname?”
“Because that’s what she prefers to be called,” Yo-ka said. “And what’s wrong with her using her popularity to spread information on things like consent and body image?”
“The girl is perfectly acceptable for the wedding party,” the queen said. “She’s a royal of another country AND related to us by marriage.” She gave her husband a glare that dared him to challenge her.
“All right,” the king said. “I’m almost afraid to ask the fourth.”
Toya exchanged a glance with Yo-ka. Yo-ka nodded.
“The Archduke of Kiryu,” Toya said. “Mahiro Kurosaki.”
The king looked like he’d been shot with an arrow. “Why?”
“Why not?” Toya said.
“Why isn’t your brother’s consort in the wedding party? That fourth spot should be his!”
Yo-ka was quietly shaking his head. He knew this was coming. Yo-ka had attempted to put Mahiro in the party for his own wedding, too – and he was turned down. He still doesn’t want to publicly admit that Mahiro is his illegitimate son, Yo-ka thought, even after acknowledging him as “a relative of the royal family” and granting him a high title.
“Yuuki is singing, Father,” Yo-ka said. “We discussed it – he turned down a spot in the party, because he’d rather be at the front of the hall where the musicians will be.”
“We could pass a microphone to him,” the king said. “He could sing from among the wedding party.”
“That would look ridiculous,” the queen said. “And I say Mahiro is acceptable.”
“You don’t have the final word on that!” the king snapped.
“I don’t?” the queen said. “Funny, I thought that BOTH of us were the parents of Toya.” She paused. “Unless HE is Kurosaki Emi’s son, too?”
“YOU KNOW HE’S YOURS!” the king shouted.
“I hit a nerve, didn’t I?” the queen said in a cool tone. “Mahiro is Toya’s brother, too – even if he has a different mother. He’s entitled to be in the ceremony.”
The king sat in silence, and the room instantly felt like it was filled with ice. The boys knew what that silence meant. They knew that if pushed hard enough, their mother would not be above going public with Mahiro’s true parentage. And given that Mahiro was a public figure – his comedy troupe, My Dragon, were rapidly becoming full-blown stars – that would be a very, very big deal.
“I’ll sign off on the list,” the king said, quietly. “I’m not entirely happy with it, but I’ll sign off on it.”
“Thank you, Father,” Toya said, standing up and bowing. “My wedding will be worthy of the family – I promise.”
“It had better be!” the king said.
As the two brothers left the room, Yo-ka said, “Why the hell does he have to be that way about Mahiro? Still? He’s his son, too!”
“At least he approved it,” Toya said. “We got further than we did for your wedding!”
“It still bothers me,” Yo-ka said, quietly.
“I’m going to call Mahiro and tell him,” Toya said. “He’s going to be thrilled!”
Yo-ka remained silent. What is it going to take, he thought, for Mahiro to truly become part of our family?
* * *
It very strange for Mahiro to walk into the palace every week to do his radio show.
Prince Yo-ka – his half-brother – had arranged for My Dragon to do their broadcast from the royal family’s personal studio in the wake of the media circus that had followed Hiyori’s engagement to Sakito (aka Satty of the legendary comedy troupe Sendai Kamotsu). It had been impossible for the group to concentrate on their sketches while under constant siege by reporters. And so, instead of going to their usual broadcast headquarters . . .
He was walking into what could have, should have been his home had the circumstances of his life been a bit different.
It wasn’t something he dwelled on. He was friendly with Princes Yo-ka and Toya, to be sure. He knew damn well he had a title and was a part of the nobility now. But it wasn’t as important to him as being a member of My Dragon – or being Kouki’s boyfriend.
Except he got a big, fat reminder that he was a so-called “royal bastard” whenever he walked into the side palace entrance that had been earmarked for My Dragon’s use, and he saw the portraits on the walls of royal family members of the past.
My ancestors, he thought. I grew up over a bakery in Kiryu . . . and these are my ancestors. It still doesn’t seem quite real.
The call he had gotten that morning from Toya had seemed equally surreal. “Are you sure?” he asked the prince. “You really want me in your wedding?”
“Of course, I’m sure!” Toya said. “Mahiro, you know and I know what our family connection is. Who’s more worthy of standing at my side than my own brother?”
“But, nobody’s supposed to know about . . .”
“And they won’t,” Toya said. “They know you’re related to me somehow, they’ll probably think you’re a cousin on my mother’s side or something. Come on, your boyfriend’s walking Subaru down the aisle, don’t you want to be in it, too?”
“All right,” Mahiro said. “I’ll do it! And I’ll be honored.”
“Great!” Toya said. “I’ll let my parents know you’re officially in.”
I’m in, he thought. Just as if I were a real, full-blown member of the royal family.
As he entered the studio, a technician walked into his blind spot – which was substantially bigger than it would be for someone without his vision issues – and nearly crashed into him. “Whoa!” he said.
“Please, be careful,” Hiyori said to the employee, walking toward Mahiro. “His Grace here has trouble with peripheral vision.”
Mahiro rolled his eyes. “Hiyori, you can refer to me as just Mahiro or Kurosaki-san or Dandy Maro.”
“I know,” Hiyori said. “But these ARE palace staff. They expect formal titles. Anyway, how is Kouki holding up with the big wedding coming?”
“It’s not just him that’s in the wedding,” Mahiro said. “Toya asked me to be an attendant this morning.”
“WHOA!” Hiyori said. “Mahiro, that’s fabulous!”
“Maybe,” Mahiro said. “It just feels funny, that’s all.”
“Funny nothing!” said Hiyori. “This is big-time! Every paper and radio station in the country will be covering it! There’ll even be newsreel cameras there! Hey, maybe you could hold up a poster for our next shows when you walk down the aisle!”
“I don’t think the king will go for that,” Mahiro said. And he still thought of him as “the king,” not “my father.” How could someone be a true father to him if he’d never been part of his life until recently?
“Why not?” Hiyori said. “Any publicity is good publicity, right?”
“Like we didn’t get enough publicity from your engagement?” Mahiro chided, gently.
“Thank God that’s settled down a bit,” Hiyori said. “Sakito was talking last night about going to another country to get married. He MAY have been kidding.”
Junji wandered over to them. “Hey, there,” he said. “So, any more of us been invited to be in the royal wedding yet?”
“Mahiro has,” Hiyori said.
“You have?” Junji looked shocked. “No shit!”
“I’m serious,” Mahiro said.
“Damn, I was kidding!” Junji said. “So, you and Mahiro are BOTH in the wedding now? Does this mean we’re going to get a good table? Gaku and I will have to get new clothes for the occasion!”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Mahiro said. He knew damn well that his troupemates would be put at the “commoner tables” – despite the fact that they were now more recognizable to most people in the room than most of the titled people.
Such was the nature of royalty and nobility – which was one reason why Mahiro felt really, really ambiguous about being part of the whole thing.
But for Toya, he’d be in the ceremony. Toya was a genuinely good guy, and he and Subaru were a sweet and loving couple. Plus, they had a life outside of being royal, since they ran their surfboard and rollboard company.
The rest of the nobility, however . . . he just didn’t know.
* * *
Kouki was waiting for Mahiro outside the side entrance when they got done with the show. He rushed over to the much smaller man as soon as he saw him, sweeping him into an embrace.
“Hey!” he said. “I heard the show. It was hilarious, as always. You guys are getting better material all the time.”
Mahiro took a step back from the other man and frowned a little. “You look different than you did this morning.”
“Oh, this?” Kouki ran a hand over his hair. “Yeah, I had an appointment with the royal stylists this afternoon. They wanted me to go for something . . . shorter. And neater. And more on the brown side. I think they just don’t want me to show up my brother. He’s gone mega-blond for the wedding.”
“Of course, they don’t want you to show up your brother,” Mahiro said. “He’s the one getting married, not you.”
“Yet,” Kouki said.
Mahiro was quiet about that. Kouki was officially his “Pledged” – a royal state that was somewhere between casual dating and engagement. He’d considered taking their relationship to the next level and formally popping the question to the other man, but after the public brouhaha over Hiyori’s engagement? My Dragon didn’t need that again.
Instead, he said, “It looks like I’m joining you in the wedding party. Toya asked me before I left for the studio today.”
“I know.”
“What do you mean, you know?”
“My brother’s the one Toya’s marrying, remember? Subaru told me after I saw the stylists. He was all excited about it. He can’t wait for us all to be family together, he said.”
“Family,” Mahiro said, softly. Why did the idea of him being a half-royal take so much getting used to, he thought, even after all this time?
“Come on,” Kouki said. “We could get a drink before you go home, if you want. Have everyone congratulate you on the show in public? Give me a chance to show off my celebrity boyfriend?”
Mahiro sighed. “I think I’d rather go straight home,” he said. “The broadcast took a lot out of me.”
“Sure thing,” Kouki said. He put an arm around Mahiro. “I’ll have plenty of opportunity to show you off at the wedding!”
I just wonder what that’s going to feel like, Mahiro thought. Standing up there among them like I was really and truly one of them . . . is it going to feel wrong? Or is it going to feel very, very right?
* * *
In their apartment, Kouki was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. “Subaru is just walking on air,” he called from behind the door. “Well, he’s kind of busy as hell right now, but he’s happy at the same time. He’s got a nice kid working with him who’s handling a lot of the details – I think he called him his page.”
“Sora,” Mahiro said. “That’s his name. He’s Jun’s brother.”
“Junji’s brother?”
“No, Jun. Toya’s best friend. The one who’s dating Hitomi, their . . . our cousin.”
“Yeah, I can see it.” Kouki opened the door. “They both have the pink hair, and . . .” He stopped suddenly when he saw Mahiro sitting on the bed and looking into a hand mirror. “What’s with that?”
Mahiro looked up. “Kouki, be honest . . . do you think I look like royalty? Like one of them?”
Kouki sat next to his lover and draped an arm around him. “You look like you. Like Mahiro. And that’s all you have to look like.”
“It still seems so unreal after all this time,” Mahiro said. “When I first moved to the capital, I was living in that apartment that faced the palace, and I’d sit by my window every night, looking at it. I think that on some level, part of me always knew.”
“Maybe,” Kouki said. “You’re a smart one, to be sure. But in the end, does it matter?”
“Does what matter?”
“Where you came from. What matters is who you are, and what you’re doing right now. And right now, you’re part of the best damn comedy troupe in Veekay.”
“Don’t let Sakito hear you say that,” Mahiro snorted.
“It’s the truth,” Kouki said. “You people picked up the ball from Sendai Kamotsu and ran with it. And I couldn’t be more proud of you.” He leaned over and kissed Mahiro. “You’re going to be the hottest guy at that wedding, you know.”
“No, I think you will,” Mahiro said, putting the mirror down.
“Not with this hair, I won’t,” Kouki said. “Do you think it suits me? I look like I should be an enka singer.”
“You look gorgeous,” Mahiro said. “Very dignified.”
“Dignified,” Kouki repeated. “Not something I ever thought of myself as, but hey.” He kissed his lover again. “I love you, you know. I’d love you if you didn’t have one drop of royal blood in you.”
“I love you, too,” Mahiro said. “Always.”
He leaned his head on Kouki’s shoulder. I think too much about this royalty stuff whenever I’m in that palace, he thought. Kouki’s right – where I came from doesn’t matter. What matters is where I am now.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t want the king to look at him as his true son – someday.
* * *
A few days later, Toya asked to meet with Mahiro for lunch at the palace. Mahiro agreed, gladly – besides, he was on the premises anyway, since they were recording promos for their next show in the radio studio.
He headed down to the private dining areas of the royal family, where Toya met him and escorted him into one of the smaller rooms. “I’ve asked them to bring us a selection of sushi,” he said, “since I know you like it.”
“You have a good memory,” Mahiro said.
“I have to, with all the people I meet.” The two of them walked over to the table, where a server bowed, pulled their chairs out and took their drink orders.
Being waited on hand and foot was something Mahiro was still getting used to – both as a newly-discovered illegitimate prince and a celebrity on the rise. He’d always been the one waiting on customers in his mother’s bakery. Being on the other side was more than a bit strange sometimes.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be in my ceremony,” Toya said as soon as the waiter left. “It means a lot. It really does. And we’ve got a great group of people for it. You met Solar – Princess Yongsun – at Yo-ka’s wedding, didn’t you?”
“I think I did,” Mahiro said. “She was lively, as I remember.”
“Lively isn’t the word. She always says she gets annoyed when people start saying there’s rumors going around about her pole dancing at a party back home. She’s always says, ‘How dare they say they’re rumors? It’s the truth!’” They both laughed.
“Your father really approved this? Me being in the wedding?” Mahiro said.
“OUR father, remember?”
“Our father,” Mahiro said. “I mean, I wasn’t asked to be in Yo-ka’s wedding, but I figured since he was the crown prince, they were a bit stricter about who was going to be in the wedding party.”
“Actually? He tried to get you into it,” Toya said.
Mahiro looked surprised. “He did?”
“The first three people he named were people who pretty much had to be in his wedding party,” Toya said. “I was Honor Attendant, of course, and then Hitomi was in it, and our sister Reiko and her husband Jaejoong. But for the fourth position, Yo-ka said he wanted either you or his friend Tatsuya – the Undersecretary of the Exchequer. Now, of course, normally only nobles are allowed in wedding parties and gentry – like Tatsuya – can participate only if they get a special royal dispensation. So Yo-ka thought it was an ace in the hole, and Father would approve you. He called Yo-ka’s bluff and gave Tatsuya the dispensation instead.”
Mahiro nodded. He and Kouki had sat in the rows reserved for “high nobility and relatives of the royal family” for that wedding. He’d been a bit surprised to see Tatsuya up there and wondered why. Well, now I know, right? he thought.
“So, our father was still pretending I’m not his son,” Mahiro said.
“I’m sorry,” Toya said. “That’s why I didn’t offer any alternatives to you when I proposed my wedding party. I didn’t want to give him an opening to do the same thing twice.”
“I appreciate it. I really do. You’re, well . . . you and Yo-ka really do feel like family to me,” Mahiro said, quietly. Even if it still feels strange sometimes, he thought.
“It’s because you ARE family,” Toya said. “Look over there.” He pointed to the opposite wall, which was mirrored.
Mahiro glanced over and saw the two men reflected. There were enough similarities that you could tell the two were closely related.
“When I was a kid, it always bothered me that Yo-ka and I didn’t look that much alike,” Toya said. “We were told over and over that Yo-ka looks like our mother’s side of the family and I look like our father’s. And if you see pictures of our mother when she was young? She looks exactly like Yo-ka. Reiko was the only one of us who really looks like a blend of both parents.”
Mahiro looked at the mirror again. We really do look like brothers, he thought. Almost to the point that when I first met Toya, I should have figured out the truth.
“I always wanted a brother who actually looked like me back then,” Toya said. “I never had one.” He paused. “But now, I do.”
Mahiro swallowed hard. “I . . . I’m touched. I really am. To hear you say something like that . . .” He looked away from the mirror. “It’s one hell of a feeling, going from being an only child to being part of a family.”
“Well, you ARE part of a family, no matter what my father says or does,” Toya said. “You and I are brothers, in every sense of the word – and don’t you forget it.”
“I won’t,” Mahiro said, quietly.
The waiter opened the door and arrived with a chilled bottle of sake. “The beverage, gentlemen,” he said.
Mahiro was quiet when the drinks were poured. A family, he thought. No matter what our father says or does . . .
When the waiter left again, Toya raised his glass. “Kampaii!” he said. “To being a family!”
“Kampaii,” Mahiro said, clinking his glass against the other man’s.
At least I can get used to Toya being my half-brother, he thought. That’s something, at least.
* * *
Yo-ka was busy enough when he just had his own crown prince business to attend to. A large part of that was, of course, the paperwork that his father dumped on him. But there were also personal appearances, charitable events, and his role as the Crown’s liaison to Parliament – something he had very well expected would be one of his duties, since Parliament was his idea in the first place.
Add his brother’s upcoming nuptials on top of it, and the crown prince barely had time to take a breath. Yes, it was Toya’s wedding, not his, and Yo-ka had already been through his own ceremony, thank you very much. But he wanted to help. Toya was the most important person in his life, other than Yuuki.
Plus, there was the small matter of Subaru and Toya having gotten together during Yo-ka’s Culling . . . and therefore, Subaru having been Yo-ka’s boyfriend before he was Toya’s.
He was asked often by friends if there were any lingering feelings in that department, if he was at all jealous of Subaru and Toya. He always answered no – and it was the truth. When the Culling was going on, he kept Subaru on week after week – because he knew the boy was special. He knew Subaru deserved way better than to be a clerk at a tugboat company, and he wanted to raise him up out of that life.
And, yes, there were even moments when there was a romantic spark between them, like when they went on a boat trip together. But a spark was all there was – no real fire. Whenever he looked back at those chaotic weeks, he knew his heart had decided on Yuuki early on, and the rest of the final six were kept around mainly because he liked hanging out with them as friends.
When Toya had come up to him the night before the Culling ended and confessed that he was in love with Subaru, it was almost a relief to Yo-ka. Now he knew what the “something special” he’d sensed in Subaru was. The boy was destined to be a part of the royal family, all right – just not as Yo-ka’s consort.
And now, it was about to become official – except to Yo-ka, Subaru had been a part of their family from the moment Toya put a jeweled collar around his neck and made him his Pledged.
Right now, Yo-ka was rushing down the palace corridors toward his own office after coming from Parliament. There were some phone calls he needed to make, and then he had to check in on the finance department, and then . . .
A blur wearing a red cape materialized into view, and he nearly crashed head-on into it. Great. He’d nearly flattened his page.
“Kosuke!” Yo-ka said. “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay,” the boy said. “We were both in a hurry.” He handed Yo-ka a manila envelope. “I was coming from your father’s office, he gave me this. It’s the proofs of the program to be handed out at your brother’s wedding.”
“Right, right, those were coming today.” Add one more thing to the to-do list. Okay, he’d give it a once-over before he made the phone calls, and if it was good, he’d have Kosuke run it down to Toya’s office.
Yo-ka rushed through the door, waved briefly to the staff in the front office, and then went to his private room. He sat down at his desk, pulling the proofs out of the envelope and starting to read. Well, the names and titles of Subaru’s attendants were all correct, and then on to Toya’s . . .
And suddenly, the prince froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
He can’t do this, he thought. Father gave his word he was approving Toya’s list!
Suddenly, he bolted up from his desk and rushed through the front office again, nearly knocking poor Kosuke over a second time. He ran down the hall to his father’s office, bypassing the king’s secretaries and assistants without a word, finding the door to the inner sanctum and throwing it open.
The king looked up from a stack of papers. “I thought I’ve taught you to knock, Yo-ka.”
Yo-ka held up the proofs, breathing hard, his face reddening. “What is this?” he said.
“It’s the program for your brother’s wedding,” the king said. “I told you that you’d have the proofs today.”
“No, I mean, what is THIS?” Yo-ka pointed to the page with Toya’s attendants listed. “This is wrong!”
“This is the list as it was sent to the printers,” the king said in a cool tone.
“It’s not the one Toya gave you!” Yo-ka said. “I don’t see Mahiro’s name here! You have Yuuki here instead, and both of us told you he’s the soloist, not an attendant!”
“It’s the list as I approved it,” the king said. “Yuuki is your consort, he should be in the ceremony.”
“Then why is he replacing MAHIRO?” Yo-ka stepped into the office and shut the door behind him. “If he’s replacing anyone, it should be Jun! Mahiro is an Archduke. That’s a high title. Jun is gentry who was made a Viceroy by Mother so he could be in this wedding. If this were about RANK, Jun would be out, not Mahiro!”
His father stood up from his desk and gave a long sigh. “Yo-ka, for once can you please try to understand what it entails to be royalty? We can’t have some comedian be in your brother’s wedding party. It would be . . . undignified.”
“Oh, but we can have a CABARET SINGER? WHICH IS WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS CALLED YUUKI UNTIL NOW? UNTIL YOU DESPERATELY NEED HIM TO HIDE YOUR ROYAL BASTARD FROM THE WORLD?”
The king shot him a look of ice. “Yo-ka, stop shouting.”
“I WON’T STOP SHOUTING!” Yo-ka was crimson in the face now. “I WON’T STOP SHOUTING UNTIL YOU HEAR ME! UNTIL YOU LET TOYA HAVE WHAT HE WANTS! UNTIL YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MAHIRO IS YOUR GODDAMN SON AS MUCH AS TOYA AND I ARE! YOU GAVE HIM A TITLE AND A MANSION AND GOOD DOCTORS BUT THAT’S ALL YOU’VE GIVEN HIM! HE! IS! YOUR! SON!”
The king advanced on him, slowly. “STOP THIS,” he shouted. “STOP IT RIGHT NOW.”
“NO! IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU TOOK YOUR SONS SERIOUSLY! ALL THREE OF US! WE MAY BE ROYALTY, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE ARE PUPPETS YOU CAN MANIPULATE! WE’RE OUR OWN PEOPLE! AND THAT INCLUDES MAHIRO! TOYA AND I SEE HIM AS OUR BROTHER! HE’S FAMILY TO US! EVEN MOTHER IS WILLING TO ACCEPT HIM! WHY CAN’T YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT? WHY DO YOU OBJECT TO MAHIRO STANDING AT HIS BROTHER’S SIDE ON HIS WEDDING DAY?”
His father was turning almost as red as Yo-ka now. “Prince Yo-ka of Valluna, if you do not shut up right now . . .”
“IS IT BECAUSE YOU WON’T ADMIT TO YOURSELF THAT YOU LOVED A COMMON WOMAN? THAT KUROSAKI EMI WAS THE REAL LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, EVEN THOUGH SHE WASN’T HIGH-BORN? THAT YOU THREW HER ASIDE LIKE OLD GARBAGE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN YOUR STATUS?”
“I WILL DISOWN YOU!” Yo-ka’s father shouted. “I WILL STRIP YOU OF YOUR CROWN AND YOUR TITLE AND THROW YOU AND THAT CABARET SINGER OUT IN THE STREETS! LET YOU SURVIVE AS COMMONERS IN THE WORKADAY WORLD!”
“GO AHEAD,” Yo-ka shouted. “AND WHO WILL BE YOUR SUCCESSOR? TOYA FEELS THE SAME WAY AS ME. SO DOES HITOMI, IF YOU PLAN TO PASS THE CROWN TO YOUR BROTHER’S FAMILY.”
And then, a calm voice in the doorway said, “You will do no such thing.” Father and son both turned to see the queen standing there, arms crossed over her chest, a frosty expression on her face.
“Mother . . .” Yo-ka suddenly felt like a child. He suddenly realized the extent of his outburst and outpouring of rage. Oh, God, he thought, what if I really did screw things up for everyone, what if I’ve cheated my brother out of his wedding altogether . . .
He found himself rushing over to his mother and hugging her. She hugged him back. “It’s all right,” she said, soothingly. “It’s all right, my darling.”
The king just stood there, hands balled into fists. “He said . . .”
“I heard what he said,” the queen said in a cold tone. “The whole palace heard what he said. Life on other planets heard what he said. Why did you go back on your word?”
“I didn’t make any final promises that I’d approved that wedding party lineup,” the king said.
“Oh, yes, you did! You said you’d sign off on it!”
“I didn’t say I’d sign off on that EXACT lineup!”
“LIAR!” the queen shouted. “And listen to your son! I thought you’d come to terms with your feelings for Emi. It seems that you haven’t. And it also seems that looking at Mahiro reminds her of you, doesn’t it? Which is why you don’t want him in Toya’s wedding party.”
“I didn’t say anything of the . . .”
“No, you just threatened to disown your son,” the queen said, bitterly. “Which means Yo-ka hit a nerve. You know and I know that you’d never take his crown. He is the best possible choice to succeed you.”
The king let out a long sigh. “All right, I didn’t really mean that part,” he said. “But the boy was still out of line.”
“He is no longer a boy,” the queen said. “He is a grown, married man, your Crown Prince, the founder of our Parliament. And he and his brother are entitled to make their own decisions. That includes who they want in their wedding parties.”
She gave Yo-ka’s shoulder a squeeze, walked over to the king’s desk and picked up the phone.
“What are you doing?” the king said.
“Calling the printers, of course,” the queen said.
“Why?”
“To correct this error and put Mahiro back in his rightful place,” she said. “And then I’m going to call the papers about Mahiro’s true identity.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” the king said.
“I very nearly did it twice already,” the queen replied. “Remember? Once when Yo-ka wanted to form the Parliament, and once when the boys came to ask you to give Mahiro the title he was entitled to. I won’t hesitate to do it now.”
The king turned his back on her, shoulders sagging. “If I had my way . . .” he said.
“Emi would be on my throne instead of me?” the queen said.
The king took a deep breath. “You know me too well,” he said, quietly.
Yo-ka slowly walked over to his father and put a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, Father,” he said. “I know you did what you felt was the right thing for the kingdom – even if it wasn’t the right thing for you, or, ultimately, Mahiro. And I know you were jealous of Toya and I for following our hearts when you didn’t.”
That’s why he’s constantly flinging around insults, Yo-ka thought. That’s why he has harsh words for every young person who follows the beat of his or her own drummer. Toya and I exhibit “conduct unbecoming to a prince.” Yuuki is a “cabaret singer,” Subaru a “guttersnipe,” even Solar is a “flighty creature.”
“But I . . . I forgive you for all that,” Yo-ka said. “And I know Mahiro will forgive you, too. You’re the product of a different time, a different attitude. It’s okay. Really. Just . . . please try to forgive yourself. Please try to accept your feelings – toward Mahiro, and Emi. You would make Toya and I so proud, and so happy.” He stepped back, and added, softly, “That’s all I’m going to say.”
There was a long pause. And then, the king said, “You always know how to get to me, don’t you?”
“Comes from being your son,” Yo-ka said. “It’s kind of a family trait.”
The king walked over to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed. “Hello? This is His Majesty. I need to make a change to the printed program. The name of Crown Prince Consort Yuuki of Valluna is in the wrong place. He needs to be listed as soloist, not attendant. The fourth attendant to my son is Archduke Mahiro of Kiryu. Yes, Archduke Mahiro of Kiryu. I’ll send an assistant over with the exact kanji. Thank you.”
“I’m grateful, Father,” Yo-ka said, bowing. “Very grateful.”
He exited his father’s office, calmly, knowing full well the secretaries and assistants would be looking at their work, not paying attention to him. Of course, they were very used to royal family drama by now. They’d heard all kinds of high-volume arguments ever since Yo-ka was a teenager.
But as he was about to close the door behind himself and his mother, he thought he heard his father say, softly, “I wish I could see her again, just one more time.”
* * *
Mahiro was sitting on a bench in front of the palace, taking an opportunity to catch a breath. He’d just been in the studio again, not only recording promos for next week’s show, but also pre-recording a short sketch that would be inserted into another show on the same network. Later that afternoon, he and the others would be going to their usual rehearsal studio to work up material for another live show.
All this and participating in a royal wedding, he thought. Good thing Kouki’s in the ceremony too, or he and I wouldn’t be seeing each other for awhile.
He leaned back and closed his eyes. He was wearing light-filtering glasses – all the better to keep the sun out of his hyper-sensitive eyes – but sometimes, some light still seeped through and made him uncomfortable.
Someday, he thought, my whole world will be dark like this. He was just glad he had a significant other who had promised him that he’d stick with him no matter what – even if that meant Mahiro being in total blindness.
If that happens, he thought, is there any way I can still carry on the radio end of my comedy career, even if I can’t do live shows anymore? What happens if I . . .
“Excuse me,” said a voice above him. “Do you have a moment?”
Mahiro opened his eyes, and to his shock, saw the king standing in front of him. He raised his head, blinking in surprise.
“Well, I need to be back in the studio in half an hour . . .”
“I’ll be brief, then.” The king sat next to his son. “Mahiro, I will be honest. The idea of having you around here . . . it still takes some getting used to.”
“That makes two of us,” Mahiro said with a small smile. What the hell is he doing here? He thought. He usually doesn’t come around the studio when we’re working there. Not that it’s bothered me much.
“You’re really happy in the life you’ve chosen, aren’t you?” the king said.
“Excuse me?” Mahiro was confused.
“This . . . this comedy business. It really is what makes you happy?”
“More than anything I could imagine,” Mahiro said. “I followed my heart into that industry. And I realize it’s not what nobles usually do, but until recently? I didn’t know I was noble.”
“Yes,” the king said, quietly. “You followed your heart. So it’s probably good you never knew you were my son.”
Mahiro looked baffled. “Your Majesty?”
“Things were different for a royal when I was young than they are now, Mahiro. Very different. I wasn’t able to make the choices my sons have. I wasn’t able to . . . to . . .”
“Marry my mother?” Mahiro said, quietly.
“Choose my own path in life,” the king said. “Just like my father wasn’t able to choose his path before him.”
“It’s not too late, sir,” Mahiro said. “If there’s something you want to do, you can do it.”
His father shook his head. “I’m still the king, you know.”
“And you’re still a human being. Yo-ka and Toya are both always saying that they’re just regular guys – they just happen to have been born into a certain family.”
“They would say that,” the king said, a bit ruefully.
“You’re the same. You’re just a person that was born into a certain family, too.”
“In another time and another atmosphere,” the king said, softly. “With different expectations. And I still have to live up to them. Life is very different for my sons.”
“Yo-ka and Toya are both very much their own men,” Mahiro said, nodding in agreement.
“I mean all three of my sons,” the king said.
Mahiro was taken aback by that. In his rather limited dealings with his father, the king had always seemed very reluctant to address him as son. How do I respond to that? he thought.
“I . . . I’m my own man, too,” Mahiro said. “Even if I’m more of a court jester than a prince.” He smiled weakly.
“In days of old,” the king said, “the court jester was a very important role within the palace, you know. There weren’t many opportunities for entertainment and stress relief.” He paused, gazing at his son thoughtfully. Then, he said, “Toya has included you in his wedding.”
“And I’m thrilled,” Mahiro said. “And honored.”
“Will you be returning the favor, when the time comes for you to be married to . . . your Pledged? The . . . the Baron?”
Mahiro shook his head. “He’s still blown away by the title,” he said. “And Subaru’s parents are thrilled. Now they have two nobles in the family.”
“They’ll be at the wedding, won’t they?”
“Well, of course,” Mahiro said. “It’s their son, isn’t it?”
“So, when you get married . . .”
“That won’t be for awhile yet,” Mahiro said. “We don’t want to take the spotlight away from Subaru and Toya. Or Hitomi and Jun – they’re going to be planning their wedding once Subaru is done with his. Or, for that matter, Sakito and Hiyori, since so much fuss was made over their engagement.”
The king looked disappointed. “I see,” he said.
“But . . . what about my wedding?”
“Well, we will have it here, won’t we? I wasn’t there for your childhood – but I want you to have a wedding worthy of someone of your station. It won’t be in the Grand Hall like Toya’s and Yo-ka’s, of course, but . . . perhaps in the West Hall?”
Mahiro was taken aback again. The Grand Hall was where royal weddings and coronations took place. It was the biggest gathering area within the palace complex and was justly reserved for the biggest occasions. But the West Hall was nothing to sneeze at, either. It was used for occasions like baby naming ceremonies and the weddings of close relatives of the royal family.
“I’d . . . I’d like that,” he said.
“And your mother will be there?” the king said, softly.
“She wouldn’t miss my wedding for the world,” Mahiro said.
“Then it’s settled,” the king said. “When you are ready, give word to my office, and we’ll set everything up. And the wedding will be at our expense.”
Mahiro jumped up and bowed. “Thank you, sir!” he said.
“Anything for Emi’s son,” the king said. He turned to walk away, slowly.
Only much later would Mahiro begin wondering if the whole reason he was being offered a full, paid-for wedding designed for high nobility was so his father could see his mother again.
* * *
Mahiro and Kouki sat together on the beach a couple of miles from the castle. It was one of their favorite places to come together, because Kouki always said it felt like home to him.
“You grow up in a fishing town, it never leaves your blood,” he said. “That’s why it’s a good thing that Subaru is going to be dividing his time between here and Charlotte. They’re both close to the water. If he had to live on dry land all the time, he’d be miserable.”
“What about you?” Mahiro said.
“I don’t have to worry. We’re not leaving here, are we? Except when you go on tour, that is. And hey, I don’t need to work anymore unless I really want to, right? I’m a baron.”
“Do you want to work?” Mahiro said.
“Only for you guys. Remember, I was an office manager. I could help out your management, you know. Hey, who wouldn’t want to be aboard the My Dragon train? You guys are HOT right now!”
Mahiro took Kouki’s hand and squeezed it. Yes, we need to ride the My Dragon train while we can, he thought. Because I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay aboard it.
He swallowed hard. His eyesight issues weren’t anything to dwell on right now. “You know I’ve been offered a full noble wedding by the ki- by my father, right?”
Kouki smiled. “You just referred to him as your father. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that before.”
“That’s because I don’t think HE truly thought of himself as my father before. But, well . . . I think that might be changing.”
“Oh?”
“He . . . came up to me outside rehearsal today and just decided to talk to me. He’s never done that before.”
“That’s progress, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” He squeezed Kouki’s hand. “Is that something you want to do, Kouki? Have . . . have a big-deal wedding like Subaru and Toya are doing?”
“More importantly, is it something YOU want to do?”
Mahiro looked out at the water. Was it? He was just some comedian from Kiryu who just happened to have strange circumstances behind his birth. But still . . . he was an officially recognized “relative of the royal family” and an Archduke.
But I’m also my own man, he thought. Like I told my father. Like he never got to be.
“I just want to be with family and friends,” he said, slowly. “That includes both the My Dragon people and . . . well, Yo-ka and Yuuki and Subaru and Toya.”
“Then we’ll do it our way when the time comes,” Kouki said. “Maybe we’ll take the offer of the big wedding, maybe we won’t. Because I’d marry you anywhere, any time, any way. I’d marry you in a judge’s chamber back in Kiryu or in that West Hall. I’d marry you in a train station or on a boat. I’d marry you in a goddamn radio studio or on the stage at the end of one of your shows. Just so I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Mahiro hugged him. “I love you so damn much, you know that?”
“I love you, too,” Kouki said. When Mahiro turned so he could snuggle against his Pledged’s shoulder, Kouki pointed to a dock jutting out in the water. “See that? It’s where Subaru’s boat landed. He got off there, got taken to the palace in a limo, and, well . . . it was the beginning of happily ever after for him.”
“For both of us,” Mahiro said. “We wouldn’t have met if not for the Culling. Hiyori formed My Dragon because of Yo-ka’s sponsorship. You moved to the capital to be closer to your brother. One happy ending led to another.”
“And all because of a guy who arrived on one ordinary fishing boat,” Kouki said. He paused. “Hey, wait! That’s the right place to hold our wedding!”
Mahiro looked baffled. “That dock?”
“This beach! It’s somewhere that means a lot to both of us, right? Hey, His Majesty can’t object if we want to move it away from the West Hall, right?”
Actually, he could, Mahiro thought. But . . . if he’s serious about sponsoring my wedding, then he’ll have to agree to my terms, right? Especially if it means seeing my mother again. Which is what he really wants.
“It’s our wedding,” he said, softly. “And we’ll have it where we want to.”
“Now you’re talking!” Kouki said. “So when the time comes, it’ll be right here. And I’ll be the happiest guy in the world.”
“No,” Mahiro said, softly. “I’ll be.”
He snuggled closer to his love and looked out at the water. Yes, he thought. I’m my father’s son. But I’m also my own person. I have freedoms the true royals didn’t have – and I’m glad of it. When my wedding comes, it’ll be on my terms. Just like the rest of my life.
And he hoped, someday, that his father would realize that he could have the same freedom, too.
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Date: 2018-10-17 08:11 pm (UTC)But also, darn you for making me sympathize with the king! I mean, we've known for a while now the root of his antagonism, but to see how deeply he still cares for Mahiro's mother and regrets not marrying her instead.... I hope he does get the chance to see her again eventually. If for no other reason that I think he needs to get things off his chest with an apology.
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Date: 2018-10-22 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-22 04:47 pm (UTC)