* You might wanna listen to "Habits by Genevieve Stokes" for this chapter.
[KAWAI]
"Hold on. I thought it was lunch and not a coronation. Besides, I'm not even a prince, so this just—" Tamiko began but the King wasn't having any of it.
"Every son is their mother's little prince, and a ray of sunshine, Hinata. Dress up, we're getting late," King Zaffuto insisted and Tamiko knew he wouldn't win this time.
When Tamiko was done dressing, King Zaffuto couldn't believe what he saw, so he mind-linked Sadako.
'If he was mine, you'd tell me, brother, right?' King Zaffuto asked as he looked at the beaming Lycan before him.
He had scoured the mind links for any and all mentions of Tamiko, and yet he hadn't gotten anything, not even from Igor, who was Tamiko's mate. It was strange and that got the King having a restless night the previous day.
The Lycan he had spent the entire day with seemed to have no known links to Kawai, at all.
"Let's go!" Tamiko beamed, interrupting Zaffuto's line of thoughts. However, even that didn't make the King change his mind. He was still waiting for his brother to give him a definitive answer.
"Sure, come along, little prince," King Zaffuto said, and Tamiko just facepalmed.
"You know someone might get the wrong idea if you're walking with me," Tamiko said as they made their way out of the palace and to where the feast was.
However, the King didn't mind, it was like he wanted to be seen with the kid. He wanted to show the world that the kid who was meant to be a war captive, was walking with him, freely and was under his protection.
"And someone might think you don't want me around you. That's actually mean of you," King Zaffuto said with a pout, and Tamiko laughed at the man beside him.
He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this moody man beside him, who was apparently pouting, was the very danger that had gotten the entire realm tucked away and afraid of the Lycans. It was like the whole thing was a dream.
Oh, if only it was.
If only it was a dream that the king would wake up from, a dream that he woke up from only to find his son and his dear queen beside him.
King Zaffuto had so many wishes over the years, and none of them had come true, yet for some reason, he wanted to never leave Tamiko's side. He was actually loving the kid's company and it was scary and yet fulfilling at the same time.
"Touche," Tamiko said softly as he looked at the people who were watching them from a distance. He had always been used to being the center of attention for all the sinister reasons that right now, he wasn't even worried that the Lycans were scared for him.
"They understand why you did what you did. Their eyes don't have anger or spite towards you. They worry for you, even in your absence. I know the history books don't exactly make you flowery and shit, but they miss you," Tamiko said and the King paused.
He had been used to hearing Sadako tell him to try and meet the people, but he never thought that he would be called out so politely by a stranger who just met him the previous day, and wasn't scared of him.
"I'm the most powerful King in the realm," King Zaffuto said, not knowing what to say.
His mind was blank for the first time in so many years and he was confused, genuinely it was worrying him. This kid was full of surprises, and that was something that he was learning in bits.
Perhaps it was for the best, right?
"The way I see it, you're the loneliest Lycan to ever live… Lonelier than I was in Grealor, and I was stuck with a bunch of wolves who were the epitome of inhumanity," Tamiko said with a sad laugh, making the King just stare at him blankly.
"Is that why you let me dress you in my son's clothes?" King Zaffuto asked carefully, worried about what the answer could be.
"I don't know why I agreed to this, I can't explain. But I know you need a friend, someone other than Uncle Sadako because the two of you have been together for years and never let anyone in.
"But I read the history books, and you are a good King, have always been. You hide behind the walls and pretend to be dark and scary when all you want is to see your people happy and free.
"You're worried that if they see you wishing for your son's return, they might pity you and focus on worrying for you instead of living their lives, so you detach and never walk among them because you want them to be happy.
"You let Uncle Sadako take over because you don't want to share your loneliness. So, if getting in these clothes, that I know are worth more than my life, is the only way for you to get out there and be with them, then I will wear them for as long as you want me to.
"Besides, your company isn't as awful as I imagined," Tamiko said, with a scrunchy nose, making the King smile.
The kid before him was way too understanding and while the King already gathered that he was leading a strange life in Grealor, he was just glad that he and Sadako had someone who could share in their 7life.
'Brother, are you there?' King Zaffuto asked and Lord Sadako sighed in the mind link.
Lord Sadako wasn't sure what his brother was going to do if he knew the truth, but Sadako also knew that his brother had been torturing himself for years. The least he could do was free his brother of the misery. But at what cost?
'Where are you, Zaffuto?'
'That is no answer, Sadako.'
'I will give you the answer you seek, but you need to tell me where you are,' Lord Sadako insisted and Zaffuto got even more curious. His brother only ever did things like this, if he was sure that Zaffuto wouldn't be able to control his emotions.
'Almost at the feast. Why?'
'Are you with him?'
'Yes.'
'Swear on his life, that no matter what happens, you won't ruin the feast for him,' Lord Sadako said, and that seemed to confirm the Lycan King's suspicions.
He had been suspicious from the moment he heard that Sadako was always leaving for Grealor, and even interacting with kids in Kawai, despite the man not being the greatest fan of children.
'Sadako—'
'Swear it.'
'But his life… He's just a kid—'
'Whose life now depends on how you react to the truth. I can see you from where I'm sitting, brother, and he looks happy. Promise you won't ruin the feast, at least for him,' Sadako insisted and the King sighed.
His heart was pumping a little too loudly in his ears, that even Tamiko could hear the King's heartbeats. However, the young Lycan figured that since they were close to the feast, the King wasn't sure how to go in.
"Your heart will burst if you don't relax. The worst that can happen is for us to eat terrible food. It would be terrible to have a funeral before eating," Tamiko said casually, as he entwined his tiny hands in the Lycan King's hands, in a bid to calm the king down.
"I'm fine," the King strained out, even though it was an answer to both his brother and the ball of broken sunshine beside him.
'Remember what you said you'd name your son?'
'Kaito—'
'Hinata,' Lord Sadako said and King Zaffuto thought back to his first interaction with Tamiko, in the memories his Lycan had shared with him.
"I'm Tamiko, but my Uncle calls me Hinata," Tamiko had said the previous day, the smile on his face so similar to the one he was wearing today. It was like the kid was always happy around the darkest man to ever live.
"Hinata," the King said and Tamiko turned to him with a smile, as if this was the best day of his life, and he wasn't panicking worse than the Lycan King beside him.
Tamiko was always with his guard up, and while the king strangely got him relaxed and free, it never meant that he was getting too comfortable around the cruel king. He had been comfortable with his friends and he just learned they betrayed him.
So Tamiko didn't want to be hopeful and let someone in again.
"Can... Can I get a hug... Please?" the King asked and Sadako choked back tears, from where he was sitting.
The Lycan Lord had imagined endless scenarios of what would happen when he told his brother that he found the missing crown prince, but of them all, the two hugging was certainly not it.
It was never like this, but it made Sadako relax, because finally, he wouldn't have to hide the truth for his brother anymore.
"You're one weird King," Tamiko said as he hugged the King who held onto him tightly.
'The broken boy from Grealor, is your Hinata, Zaffuto. He's our Kaito Hinata,' Sadako admitted.
The King sighed in relief, before intense lighting strikes were heard in the entire realm, as the sun shone so brightly, confusing people even more.
'I'll kill them all.'
'I won't stop you this time, brother… but you promised, for him. Our Kaito.'
'Only for him,' the king said as he turned to the kid in his arms, his kid. His flesh and blood.
"Let's go, my stomach is so empty, it's causing lightning strikes," the king forced out and Tamiko sighed gladly.
"Damn, you must really be hungry, huh?" Tamiko laughed, before adding happily when the lighting strikes stopped.
"I am famished, hurry then!"
****
[A/N]
* Mine and Zaffuto's situation right now be like:
***** On again, off again, love you like oxygen, I don't know what to say, or do… On again, off again, love you like oxygen, you don't know what I'd do, for you
* Ah ,my heart!!!