the prince and the pauper ; kubokai royalty au

14 ¬ after moon ¬

Aren's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the harsh light of the morning. he blinked a couple of times, taking in his surroundings, before realizing exactly where he was.
Shit.

His right arm was wrapped around Shun still, who appeared to be sleeping soundly. He didn't want to wake him, so he didn't know whether he should move or not, and his panic was setting in quickly. Luckily, just then he heard Shun ruffle the bedsheets, and he lifted his head sleepily, letting out a soft groan as he sat up. 

"Shun, I need to get out of here. Now." His voice sounded nervous, and it was a tone of voice that Shun had never heard from Aren before. It scared him. 

And before he could even answer, Aren jumped out of bed and stood awkwardly infront of Shun's bedroom mirror, his hands trembling a little. He frantically ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to look less unkempt, and he patted down the clothes that he had slept in, praying they didn't look suspiciously untidy. He then slipped out of the room without another word, leaving Shun sat bewildered in his bedroom all alone.

 Suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit him as well.

...This is my fault.

If anything happens to him, it's my fault.

He glanced around his room, and noticed something that only worried him further. The room had been tidied. There were no more cider stained glasses sitting upturned on the floor, and the empty bottle was gone. 
Somebody had been in here.

Tears began to fall from his eyes, yet his face remained blank and expressionless. He wasn't really sure what to do. He didn't know exactly who had been here, but wheoever it was, they definitely  would've seen Aren and Shun sleeping beside eachother, bodies intwined. Shun's cheeks turned a little pink then, as he considered what the scene may have looked like from an outside perspective. I mean, they were the same age, so of course, it would've looked..well, suspicious. 

But then Shun thought.  What would they think exactly? That Aren and him.. were just friendly with eachother, and that was that? Or would they assume something .. more- no, of course not. They wouldn't- they couldn't, that wouldn't be allowed. And it's not like that's how it was. 

It's not..-

There was a knock on the door. Shun stiffened. Aren had closed it after he had fled earlier, and Shun had no way of telling who was there. He inhaled sharply, and tried to sound as casual as he could.

"Who is it?"

"It's only me."

The door frame opened slowly to reveal Hana in the doorway. She crept inside, closing the door securely behind her. 

"Shun- were you crying?"

"Uh..a little bit." He whispered. He felt more relaxed in her presence, but his heart was beating fast.  Hana noticed this, and she sat down beside him, and spoke in a soft voice

"Before I say anything else, I want to tell you that I saw you two this morning. I came in here as usual to do my morning shift, and you were both fast asleep." She paused, and smiled reassuringly at him. "To be honest, at first it was a little relief. I mean, it was.. a shock, of course. But a lot of us were worried about Aren when he hadn't returned to the servant house last night. I was glad to see him safe."

Shun said nothing, but he was instantly relieved to hear that it was Hana who had seen them, and who had been in here this morning.

"I saw the drinks bottles and the glasses, and it didn't take long to put the two together. So I cleaned them up, and tried to dispose of the bottle as.. ingenuously as I could, luckily, I don't think anybody noticed me carrying it."

 Her face turned a little red as she went on. "I wasn't..sure if it would be my place to disturb you, either of you, so I um.. I tried to prevent anyone else from coming in here until you woke up. Though i'm can't be sure if anyone else did accidentally stumble in here, I wouldn't worry about it for now."

Shun didn't really know what to say. His heart rate slowed, and he exhaled deeply, but tears started falling from his eyes again.

"Thank you." He whispered again, his voice cracking. And then something unfamilar happened - Hana pulled him into a hug. She had never done this before. Usually, she had always insisted it would be unprofessional, but ..now, she let him cling on to her.

"You like him, don't you?" She whispered. 

Instead of trying desperately to defend himself, or dismiss the question completely..
Shun simply nodded in response. He realized it then.  

He did like Aren. And that's why he felt so, so bad.

Because what happened last night could never happen again. What happened last night could've easily costed Aren his life.  And these feelings Shun had for him.. they were wrong. They were unthinkable and vulgar, for more reasons than one. 

Of course. A prince can't love a servant, just like a man cannot love another man. 

"It's okay."

"It's not." Shun cried even harder into her shoulder, but she didn't push him away.
"I can't love him, Hana. You know I can't. But.. I think I do."

"Well..-"

"It's wrong. There's something wrong with me."

"No. I draw the line at that. Shun, look at me." He turned his head up to face her, and his eyes were red, and down his face ran long lines where he'd been crying.

"Maybe.. the world might not be ready for something quite like this, but that doesn't mean there is something wrong with you. Okay? Because there really isn't. Your feelings are natural, you can't help them. And whilst some people may not see that yet, it doesn't make it untrue."

Shun was silent now, as he processed what she said. 

"Right, but.. Hana, you know that doesn't change things. Aren and I.. people wouldn't accept it at all. I mean, why would they? It's unheard of. He's a servant, I'm a prince, and we're both.." He trailed off, and he noticed his voice rising.  "Besides, here I am assuming all this, and Aren doesn't even feel the same."

"Shun." This time it was Hana who was lost for words. "Forgive me for saying this, but are you blind?"

"W-what do you mean?!"

"It's..quite obvious. I mean, come on, you two even slept toge-"

"That was because we got drunk! Obviously! He was tired!" His face, that was before red from crying, was now blushing violently. 

"Right. Well, of course. And that's also why he had his arm around you, and why you were leaning on his chest?"

"Stop! Stop!" Shun buried his face in his hands as he normally did when he was embarrassed. "I was sleeping, it's not like I could control my position, and besides-"

"Okay, okay." Hana was laughing at him now. She patted Shun on the head and stood up. "Well, i'll keep this to myself obviously, so you don't have to worry about anyone finding out."

"And you won't tell Aren, right?" Shun cut in immediately, a serious look on his face.

"What? No, calm yourself, of course I won't. Although-"

"'Although' NOTHING. You-won't-tell-Aren." He hissed at her viciously. 

"Christ, okay! I was just going to say, that also means that if he ever confessed about you as well, I wouldn't be able to tell you.. it's only fair, right?"

"B-but, you have to, um, do what I say..! I'm-"

"Shun. Don't start with that now." She laughed again. "Right, I need to be going now, but i'm glad you've cheered up. Remember what I said, okay?" She smiled at him and headed for the door. "Oh, and please take my advice. I told you one thing, and it was 'be careful'. I don't really think getting drunk and sleeping beside your servant / secret lover counts as careful."

"DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT." His hands were back in his face again, and his cheeks felt hot against his palms. "He's not.. it's not like that. I just.."

"Yes, I know, I was only joking. Well, goodbye for now." She smiled once more and shut the door behind her.

Shun exhaled dramatically to himself, waiting until Hana was well and truly out of earshot, before slamming his head into a pillow and yelling as loudly as he could.

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