Souls In Hiding

How Everything Turned Out

"A phantom murdered their entire family. One adult male, one adult female and one young girl." Kaito intertwined his fingers as he leant forward in his chair, looking at the fourteen members of the royal court sitting around the round table. "They've been captured and are currently in our dungeon, I suggest they be executed."

"I'll put them on trial tomorrow after sunrise," Shuichi answered, writing down a short note in order not to waste his ink. "Maki, have you found the merchant accused of poisoning our knights?"

"Yes, he's in the dungeon."

"His trial will be tomorrow afternoon. Is there any information on the missing human children?" Shuichi turned to Kiibo and Angie.

"No, I've searched the entire town and found nothing, I'll question townsfolk as of tomorrow," Kiibo answered.

"Angie found nothing in the outskirts of the forest. None of the animals has seen anything either, Angie would like permission to extend the search area."

"Permission granted. Miu, any information regarding the suspected spy found on the outskirts?"

"Yep, he's innocent. Turns out he was just passing by after being banished from the neighbouring town." Normally, such casual language wouldn't be permitted in the current situation, but Shuichi didn't mind as long as it was the council being casual and not anyone else.

"Release him immediately. He's to receive a home to reside in at no cost and one thousand gold as compensation."

"Sounds good." Miu nodded, turning to a guard at the door of the throne room and blowing a kiss at him. "You, be a dear and do that for me."

"Of course Ma'am." The guard nodded and left the room.

"Alright, are there any other topics?" Shuichi received no response. "Okay, meeting dismissed. Thank you, everyone." The meeting members all rose, leaving the room one by one as Shuichi and Kokichi remained. Proud of his progress, Shuichi had never imagined himself as such a powerful leader, much less the king of Mors (which he'd renamed to Vita), but with his friends as members of the royal council, he felt more comfortable.

With much arguing a few years ago, Shuichi granted each person a position in the royal council that they desired. They also had an added role of court head over their specific species, which meant having control over all issues that involved a member of their own species. The debate of Court Phantom didn't rise, as Kaito undoubtedly received the position due to Kokichi having a higher one in the monarchy. Being human, Maki, Tenko and Korekiyo weren't granted a court head position.

Maki was instead granted a position of Head Knight, resulting in having jurisdiction over the entire army and royal guard. Tenko served as Vice-Head, ruling just underneath Maki, although they usually worked side-by-side.

Korekiyo resided in a new library every day and night as Court Philosopher, documenting all the knowledge he contained about every supernatural species. As a part of this documentation system, he decided to study the surrounding flora and fauna of Vita.

"I'm so proud of you Shuichi," Kokichi planted a gentle kiss on the vampire king's cheek. "You've come so far."

"You're not usually sentimental Kichi."

"You don't usually fall for my tricks Shu.~ Nishishi!" Kokichi laughed, snatching the bedazzled crown from Shuichi's head and running into a corner.

"Taking the king's crown is theft Kokichi. I could have you punished for this." Shuichi smirked, having no intention to carry out the threat.

"Sounds like you're trying to suggest something Shu-Shu.~ That's not very noble behaviour.~" Shuichi rolled his eyes, growing used to Kokichi's provocative remarks. "Fine, I'll give back your crown." Kokichi approached the king and presented a smaller, plain band of a crown, the king's crown falling slightly over his forehead.

Shuichi sighed, leaving Kokichi to hold his own crown in the air. "Do you want to go for a ride?"

"Oh right, it's today isn't it?" Kokichi took off Shuichi's crown, replacing it with his own whilst putting the vampire king's crown on for him. "Guards!" The guards originally in the room during the meeting rushed back inside, prepared for any situation. "Tell our servants to ready the horses for travel immediately."

Shuichi's brow furrowed as the guards hesitated to move, remaining in the room. Kokichi, unfortunately, wasn't always listened to due to rumours amongst the town. His identity as the phantom thief spread throughout town like wildfire, garnering multiple unsavoury looks in the street. "You are to follow orders from my consort or face punishment, understood? Ready the horses."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The guards bowed, leaving the room to carry out their order.

"Awe, you love me!" Kokichi cheered, tackling Shuichi with a hug. Luckily for the taller man, Shuichi had built up quite a bit of muscle, so he didn't fall when Kokichi tackled him (which was often). Standing on the tips of his toes, Kokichi locked lips with Shuichi's out of adoration.

"Of course I do, what kind of husband would I be if I didn't? I made you heir to the throne for a reason." Shuichi chuckled, grabbing Kokichi's purple cape and draping it around him, clipping it together around the phantom's neck. Kokichi took it upon himself to repeat this act towards Shuichi, although purposefully covering his face with the hood, the deep navy cloak on backwards. "Haha very funny."

Hand in hand, the two men left the throne room, on their way to the royal stables. Shuichi pulled his cloak around the right way, protecting himself from the sunlight with the hood of his cape. Entering the stable, the stable hand stepped aside and bowed. "Your horses are ready, Your Majesties." They nodded at Maki and Tenko, who were escorting them as support in case of an attack.

"Thank you." Both Shuichi and Kokichi swung themselves over their separate horses, not taking any supplies as they trotted away, the streets clearing and bowing to show respect to their passing leaders. The moment the king and his consort left the walls of the town, Kokichi turned to Shuichi with a malicious grin. 

"Last one there is the worst ruler." With that Kokichi took off ahead.

"What are you waiting for? Race him!" Tenko shouted. Shuichi smiled to himself and leaned down, his horse breaking from a trot into a run. He could hear Tenko and Maki racing behind him, chatting amongst themselves.

Before long, Shuichi found Kokichi at the familiar cabin in the woods, patting his horse as it drank from the lake. Hopping off his horse, Shuichi sighed. "I guess you'll be a better king than me."

"I'm not going to have to be, since we're both growing old together." Kokichi winked, "Thanks though, I'm not going to forget you said that.~" The two laughed together, tying their horses to the surrounding trees. "We'll be fine on our own from now." He announced to Maki and Tenko who were just approaching them.

"Shout if you need us," Maki suggested. Over the years in her position, Maki learned to speak up more and became more open to her friends. On the outside, her subordinates considered her brutal and cold, but around her friends, she'd started smiling more and speaking more compassionately.

Shuichi took Kokichi's hand in his, trudging further into the thick of the trees. Flashes of scenarios he'd faced years ago corrupted his vision as Shuichi grew closer and closer to his destination. Dropping Kokichi's hand, the vampire knelt at a prospering tree standing tall over a rock pile.

Kokichi knelt next to his husband, a comforting arm around his shoulders. "She's so proud of you, you know? We all are." Shuichi sighed and uncovered his hand, protected by the shade of the tree Rantaro grew to allow the vampire not to worry about burning alive at the gravesite. Running his fingers over his warped, burned skin, Shuichi refocused his gaze to the rock pile, reliving the first night when he overtook the throne from Monokuma exactly four years prior.

That night, a ceremony was held to crown Shuichi. Immediately after the crowning, Shuichi held another ceremony in the town's centre where the souls of the dead were released into the midnight sky, free from their capture. All but one soul was released that night, which was instead released at Kaede's gravesite with only the royal council present.

"I hope so," Shuichi responded to his husband, looking up at the sky. I hope she's proud, and I hope you're proud Uncle. I've fulfilled our dream.