Chapter Text
Rui sighed as he rested on the handrail of the balcony, looking at the faraway lights of the city.
He checked his pocket watch, seeing it strike 11.30 PM.
He put it back in his pocket.
The night air was chill and still, but it was bearable, more than he"d expected, at least.
No one else had shown themselves outside that night, everyone inside, too excited for midnight and not wanting to be in the wrong place when it would strike.
It had been a long while since Rui had last spoken to anyone, he even wondered if anyone had noticed that he was missing.
...But just a minute later, his wish to be found was granted.
Someone ran up to him, grabbing his shoulder together with the handrail as he caught his breath.
“Geez, finally, I should"ve known that you were here..!”
Rui surprisedly looked at Tsukasa.
“Ah, uhm... yes, I was.... sorry..?”
The blonde smiled, catching his breath as he got a hold of the handrail with both his hands now.
“There"s nothing to apologise for, if anything, I"m the one who"s sorry here... I made you wait for so many hours...”
Rui slightly smiled.
“It"s fine...”
The two silently looked at the faraway lights.
“How are the people tonight? Celebrating as well?”
Rui nodded.
“Yes, they are. I had been invited to a community get-together to be honest, but... I"m happy to be here”
Tsukasa lightly blushed as he smiled.
“Me too, very... But had you wanted to, you should"ve ignored my invitation and gone, you"ve been to so many of these parties that...”
“I know, don"t worry. I"m just... not ready to spend New Year"s without you yet, after all, I believe”
They stood in silence for a while before Rui sneezed.
Tsukasa handed him his handkerchief, but he refused it.
“I"m fine, I really am. I apologise, I"m still struggling with warming up my bedroom downtown, I think I should start sleeping on the sofa...”
“That sounds rough... You know, if you want to come back for the winter, there"s a lot of lords who move with the seasons--”
“Tsukasa”
The king quieted down, sighing.
“I appreciate it, but...”
“You don"t want to be here for longer than needed, I get it...”
Tsukasa furrowed his brows.
“...I know I already apologised and you just want to put everything behind us, but... Can you allow me one last apology?”
“...”
“I felt... I feel like an abyss has opened between us”
“Everything that"s happened was my fault, and I can"t forgive myself for that”
Rui turned to him, trying to stop him, but Tsukasa put a hand over his, asking him to please listen.
“We"ve known each other for a decade and I realised I knew little to nothing about you. Hell, I wouldn"t even be able to say what your favourite colour is”
“Then, you started acting weird, and I didn"t know how to act, and I always wondered why that was, but it"s--” “I couldn"t control my feelings towards you anymore”
They didn"t look at each other, but Rui played with Tsukasa"s hand with his pinkie.
“...I had reached a point where I struggled to keep everything inside without bursting, and that"s also when... I let Tsuka fill your place, to give these feelings an outlet”
Tsukasa sighed, shaking his head.
“I can"t believe I duelled with him because of this, how childish could I have been..?”
“It wasn"t entirely your fault, Rio was manipulating you at the time”
“Yeah, he was...”
Rui turned to him.
“...Can I ask how it went? What he said to you, why you listened?”
Tsukasa furrowed his brows again, tilting his head in shame.
“He needed to make me trust him, and when he made me realise that I wasn"t just feeling feelings of friendship towards you, he used it to his advantage. I... I was under the impression that not only our positions would"ve gotten in our way, but I also believed that same-sex couples couldn"t be a thing together with so many wrong and useless beliefs that our people still have... But I talked to my father and he explained everything to me, how I was thinking too much and how nothing would have changed had we pursued that relationship and things taken the right turn...”
“But we"ll never know now...”
“...Anyways, Rio started telling me that I couldn"t because of various motives, and when I tried to break free from his control, you told me that you were done with relationships and that was my final straw”
Rui sighed deeply.
“I"m so sorry, I had just gone through that rough break up with Tsuka and we weren"t on speaking terms and--”
“It"s fine, I get it”
Tsukasa lightly squeezed his hand.
“...But while we started preparing for our parents" return, I couldn"t take it anymore and set my mind on telling you at the party, but before I could...”
“...Rio set everything on fire”
They silently looked in the distance.
“...Then... these two months happened... I... I want to apologise for that again. I still can"t believe that I--” “Tsukasa”
They looked at each other, and Rui sadly smiled.
“I forgive you. You"re being too harsh on yourself. We"re... we"re complicated like this, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but we"re still here”
Tsukasa averted his gaze, biting his lip.
“But you aren"t my advisor anymore”
He shut his eyes tight.
“Every day has become harder and harder ever since you"ve left. I hated it since day one, and I still can"t get used to it after... however long it has been. It should have been a month, but it"s felt more like a year to me... if not more”
”What happened to us..? Hadn"t I messed everything up, maybe we would still be by each other"s side, just like before”
“Had I known this was going to happen... I never would"ve accepted the throne...”
Rui closed the distance between them, pushing himself against him, pressing his head against his, not caring for his hat falling on the ground, their hair getting messy as he slowly turned his head left and right.
“Please stop... Stop speaking... It wasn"t your fault, it was mine, I should"ve faced my feelings and told you instead of setting all of this mess in motion... Stop... Please...”
Tsukasa pushed the tears back in his throat but had little success as both his and Rui"s mixed when falling over their intertwined hands.
“I miss you”
“Me too”
“I love you”
“Me too”
“But it"s not the right moment, is it?”
“It isn"t”
“How will we know when it is..?”
“I... don"t know, we just will”
They slowly separated from each other, their eyes meeting.
They clumsily smiled, drying each other"s tears as they heard the countdown starting.
They ran back inside the hall, hand in hand, up the stairs where the rest of Tsukasa"s family and closest friends were standing.
They kept holding hands until the countdown got down to zero, and when it did, they cheered and hugged each other, laughing.
“...And after that, we went on with our evening as if nothing had happened. I went home, and he didn"t ask me to stay. We"ve met frequently after that, me often going back to the castle and him sneaking out to come meet me downtown. I"ve also been thinking about... returning to the castle, but it"s just half an idea for now... I love it here, don"t get me wrong, but... it"s so damn lonely...”
Rui then looked at Asahi, who was carefully listening to him, handkerchief in his hands, over his mouth and nose as he stared at him with teary, hopeful eyes.
The alchemist chuckled, getting up and inviting him to gather his things.
“I actually have plans to see him in a little, I"ll see you next time, alright?”
“Yes... if you do come back to the castle, let me know..! If you need a new room, I"m still without a roommate!!! The bed"s all yours if you want it!!!”
“Haha, we"ll see, we"ll see... have a safe trip back”
Asahi happily waved his arm at Rui as he walked back towards the castle.
When he lost sight of the flag-waver, Rui put on his coat, locking the door behind him as he headed downtown, to a tavern.
He headed straight to the counter, where he was served his usual before he turned towards the person sitting on his right.
The hooded figure removed their hood as they smiled at him.
He and Tsukasa brought their drinks together for a toast before smiling and drinking.
When their food arrived, they dug right in, chatting about whatever had happened during their day.
Even after their meal, they were still talking and laughing.
When they went for a second round of drinks, someone roped them into a conversation.
By their fourth round, about a fifth of the people in the tavern at the beginning of the evening had remained, and they were still by the counter, laughing.
They"d even forgotten what they were laughing about, which made them laugh even more.
They leaned on the counter"s surface, their elbows pressed close together.
They then rested their cheeks on their arms, looking at each other.
Without thinking, in the most natural way possible, they then leaned closer to each other, meeting halfway with a soft, chaste kiss.
When they split up shortly after, they stared at each other for about five seconds before bursting out laughing again, needing to hide their faces and cover their mouths to keep their voices down.
It took them a long while, but...
They finally found their right time.
THE END