the prince and the pauper ; kubokai royalty au

8 ¬ what you waiting for ¬

"What? Of course not!"

Aren and Shun were both sat on Shun's bed, Shun laying lazily on his front supported by a pillow and Aren leaning against the headboard. 

"Hmm, are you sure? I wouldn't want you to forget all about me..." Aren laughed and tilted his head at Shun. They had been up for a while, talking about how summer would be over soon. And it was inevitable that when Shun returned to his classes and normal schedule, they wouldn't be able to see eachother very much during the day anymore. 

"Come on, it's not like they lock me up studying for the whole day. I'll make time...somehow, even if I have to leg it from my tutor. But he's old and blind, so that won't be hard. Besides, we've still got night time, right?"

"Yeah..but that's another thing. You won't be able to sleep in as much as you want anymore when summer is over. You'll have to get up early. So these late nights can't really last forever either." He frowned, and looked over to the window. The sky was pitch dark, despite it still being summer, meaning it was late at night.

"Mmm...okay! But summer's not over yet. Let's not talk about that.  The thought of a cold autumn depresses me."

"You're so dramatic..besides, didn't you say you hated summers because of how uneventful they were?"

"Well..I used to hate them, but this summer.." He didn't finish, but Aren had an idea of what he wanted to say.

Neither said anything for a moment, until Shun's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Aren, you know, we should go somewhere. Before summer ends."

Aren gave him a look. 

"Shun. You know that won't be allowed." 

"What do you mea- oh, right. Nevermind."

Shun pouted for a second, before immediately hopping up again excitedly.

"Wait,.. no! I just thought of something!"

"Huh?"

"What days do you have off?"

"Um..I have Tomorow and Sunday off, aside from night attendant work."

"And you aren't monitored during these times, right?"

"No, not really, but-"

"Perfect. Tomorow is perfect. We don't even have to leave the palace. The gardens here are so vast..in fact, I know a great place! I go there all the time, and nobody bothers me. I found it when I was a little kid exploring."

"I don't know..I don't think I can just go wandering around palace grounds. What if somebody found us?"

"AREN. Stop worrying, this is literally my home. If anyone tries to give you trouble, i'll just defend you, okay? Because this really was all my idea. And anyway, my parents..they have trust in the staff that attend to me. Well, I mean, they trust Hana, and you're basically the same, you have the same job as her. So i'm sure if, somehow,  anyone did wander past and decide to tell anyone, they wouldn't punish you."

Aren was hesitant. He knew that he most likely would get in some sort of trouble if he was caught, trouble that Shun would have no power to talk him out of, despite the young prince's bold claims. But he really wanted to spend his time off with Shun. It was something they'd never done before, and it would be a time where Aren truly could relax and just enjoy having Shun around. He'd be off work , meaning they would no longer servant and prince, not in that instant. And seeing how excited Shun was, made it hard to turn him away.

"Okay..fine." He said through gritted teeth, faking annoyance. "You really are a prince, huh?"

"Hey..what is that supposed to mean?!"