oh yeah I realised I never shared this here even though I’m insanely proud of the part. 🙈
btw the story is the following: Yuya always thought he’s gay and is in a relationship with Reiji. For whatever unknown reason he kisses Yuzu one day and realises girls are quite cute too. He’s really unsure about what Reijis reaction will be to it but he’s pretty chill and they all end up in a poly relationship.
the week is technically over but it’s been such a long week for me and i decided i was gonna take a shot at at least a few OT3 week prompts, so this is for Day 1: Fame
Trying to date when you’re the most famous trio in the world is a rough time lol
for context that is their respective fan clubs having it out in the background slk;jdfa
Summary: Turns out the Akaba year end business party is boring. Good thing Reiji invited the least boring people he knows.
Ao3
Commissions || Ko-fi
“Yes, but if you don’t take into account the fluctuations...”
“Ah, you’re right of course, but then there’s the new policy on imports —”
The other man started to go into detail about his irritation regarding a series of new regulations, and Reiji decided not to try and finish his own thought, as no one was listening. Instead, he smiled, and sipped at his drink instead, pretending to listen just like everyone else in the group was. No one in this little copse of businessmen in their starched suits were actually paying attention — Reiji could see that look in their eyes, just waiting for a break in the conversation to inject their own thoughts about that policy or that market surge or that stock change.
He took another sip of his drink and briefly wished it was alcoholic, because it had only been two hours into this party and he hadn’t heard a single word that didn’t involve market fluctuations or numbers or whatever new fancy toy that these rich investors had purchased that Reiji had to pretend to care about. He glanced behind him towards the other end of the ballroom, decked out in golds and whites and fancy chandeliers, to see his father on the other end of the room. He looked uncomfortable in his suit; a lab coat had always suited him before. Mother stood next to him with one arm wrapped pointedly around his, fake laughing at something that someone else had said with a practiced poise. She was the only one who was really comfortable in this environment, after all. Even Ray had disappeared already, probably to make out with her boyfriend in a bathroom or something.
Unfortunately, that meant it was up to Reiji to stay where he was and make nice with all of the LDS investors that needed to be constantly pacified. So he smiled blandly, nodded where it seemed appropriate, and tried not to count down the minutes until he was allowed to leave.
A hand poked his shoulder, snapping him to alertness. Who was that?
Before he could even look, a second hand grabbed his other elbow, wrapping an arm around it. His “conversation partner” stopped talking for a moment, clearly just as surprised as Reiji was by their new guests.
“Hi!” came the chipper voice as someone slung an arm around his shoulders. “Sorry we’re late, Reiji! Are we interrupting?”
It took everything Reiji had not to let his shoulders visibly slump.
“Ah,” he said, turning over both shoulders one at a time to confirm who he already knew it was. “Yuzu and Yuya. You are a bit late, aren’t you?”
“We got lost,” Yuzu said, smiling at him as she tightened her arms around his. “Sorry, gentlemen, but do you mind if we borrow him? We’re new guests and we need to be shown around.”
“Oh, well, uh...I suppose that’s all right,” the other man said, sounding flustered.
“Great!” said Yuya, nearly making Reiji lose his drink by tugging on his shoulders. “So where do you rich people keep the food?”
Reiji rolled his eyes, but he let himself be turned around by the pair of them, guiding their little trio over to the main food table. Yuya immediately snatched a plate and started to fill it up with way more than anyone else at this party had, causing Reiji to chuckle.
“Well?” Yuzu said, smiling at him. “You feel better?”
“I presume you interrupted me because you believed I needed rescuing,” he said.
“You totally did,” said Yuya. “What are these? They look suspicious.”
“They’re just cheese balls, Yuya.”
“What?? Why are they covered in...whatever this is??”
Reiji chuckled, feeling a weight come off his chest. Yuya squinted at the appetizer in question with a goofy face that Reiji was certain Yuya was exaggerating for his sake. He looked good, actually. Yuzu must have convinced him not to wear his Christmas print suit, which was slightly disappointing — but he filled out the nice, dark red suit well. Yuzu looked resplendent as ever as well in a lovely pale violet cocktail dress. They added a much needed splash of color to the otherwise rather drab party.
“Okay, so,” Yuya said, talking around a mouthful of the cheese balls. “Tell me what happens at parties like this.”
“Talking, mostly,” Reiji said. “About very boring things.”
“Ah, so you fit in,” Yuzu teased him with a soft elbow. Reiji chuckled.
Yuya swallowed and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.
“Ugh, that’s way too boring, though,” he said. “Wait til you come to my holiday party next week. We’ll show you how it’s done.”
“I look forward to it.”
Yuzu tugged on Reiji’s arm then, her free hand balancing a small plate of her own food selections.
“Okay, I know it’s too cold to go out, but you’ve got to at least point out which direction the garden is. I want to see.”
“It’s just out this window,” Reiji said, pointing to the large window just behind the table. “You can see the hedge maze from here.”
Yuzu’s eyes lit up, and she scurried around the table to press her face to the glass. Reiji and Yuya joined her, Yuya still popping more mini appetizers in his mouth.
“Do you guys even do like, dancing here?” Yuya said.
“Well, there is music, and a dance floor,” Reiji said, pointing out the string orchestra that had been hired for the night, currently playing a slow rendition of a Christmas song. “Though people rarely do any actual dancing.”
“Well, we should totally fix that. Next song they play, let’s dance!”
“Oh? Are you going to organize a Broadway flash mob?”
Yuya laughed and lightly punched Reiji on the shoulder.
“Hey, we can do refined dances, too! Yuzu and I learned ballroom dancing for one of our shows.”
Yuzu stood on her tiptoes at the window when they approached, her hands cupped around either side of her face to try and look through the glass.
“Ugh, there’s too much frost,” she said. “And those big icicles are getting in the way.”
She pointed out the long, heavy spikes of ice that cascaded down the window frame on the outside. A small puff of condensation faded from the window pane where Yuzu’s breath had been a moment before.
“It looks pretty, though,” Yuya said. “A real white Christmas.”
“I guess so,” Yuzu said. “Reiji, invited us back here when you have a spring or summer party, so we can see the garden!”
“You can come visit at any time, you know,” Reiji said. “You both...add cheer to this place more than anything else does.”
Yuzu and Yuya exchanged a glance. Then they smiled at him. Yuya grabbed one of his hands, and Yuzu grabbed the other. He felt a heat rush to his cheeks when, in synch, they both kissed the back of one of his hands. Still holding his hands, they pressed in on either side of him, looking out at the cold white world outside.
“Well,” Yuya said. “It cheers me up to see you, too.”
“Call us any time you need to get away from all of this,” Yuzu said, bumping him with her hip.
Star! Orchestrashipping? (Musical au if you dont mind bending the rules a bit but whatever is fine :D)
I added the musical theme to a randomly generated prompt so we could do both lol, hope this turns out okay ;w; anyway i’m finally finishing these last two prompts in my inbox from forever ago sdkfj;a
91. Forbidden (+musical au)
Cw: some implied homophobic shitheads
Someone was playing the piano in the auditorium, and a moment later, Reiji heard the soft tones of a pair of voices twisting together. He smiled slightly as he pushed open the doors, stepping into the dim, empty auditorium.
The voices echoed perfectly up to the ceiling and all the way to the back of the auditorium, even without microphones. But he supposed he shouldn’t expect anything less from Maiami High’s top stars.
Yuzu stopped playing once she heard Reiji’s feet climbing up the stage, and Yuya trailed off with confusion before he saw Reiji. A huge grin split his face, and Reiji smiled back.
“Hey, director!” Yuya said, waving with both hands even though Reiji had nearly reached them. “I wasn’t expecting you so early.”
“Getting in some extra practice, I see?” Reiji said.
“You know it,” Yuzu said, spinning her legs over the side of the piano bench so that she was facing Reiji. “So? How did we sound?”
“As usual? Excellent. Although, Yuya, you need to stand up straighter when you sing. Your posture is collapsing your voice.”
Yuya saluted, and Reiji rolled his eyes. Yuzu’s smile slipped a little then, and her fingers gripped the edge of the piano bench. Reiji knew what she was going to ask before she did, and his own smile sagged a bit at it.
“So…how did it go with your dad?” she said, picking at the piano bench’s plush.
Reiji cast his eyes down at the stage. He could see Yuya immediately shift uneasily at the question.
“It’s of no consequence,” he said, fixing his glasses. “It was very rude of him to decide that now was when he wanted to actually exercise his rights as a father.”
Yuya grimaced, and Yuzu winced. Reiji hated seeing either of them look so distressed, and it made him tense with another burst of irritation towards his father. He still remembered just how panicked Yuya had looked when Reiji’s father had burst into the auditorium in the middle of rehearsal, demanding Reiji drop everything to talk to him. To try and diffuse the situation, Reiji had, but when Yuya and Yuzu had tried to follow after Reiji, clearly worried about what was going on, Reiji’s father had given Yuya in particular such a dark look that Yuya had stopped dead in his tracks. Reiji did not want to remember the choice words that his father had decided to use for Yuya in front of the entire cast.
Yuya bit his lip, looking down.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m sure if it was just you and Yuzu dating, he wouldn’t be upset. I’m messing it all up.”
“Yuya, stop!” Yuzu said, leaping up and grabbing his hand. Reiji immediately grabbed Yuya’s other hand, squeezing it tightly.
“My father’s unfortunate opinions will not change my decisions,” he said. “No matter what he decides he wants to say or do about it.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt because of me, or us,” Yuya said. “I mean…even at school people are saying that you only give us the leads because you’re dating us. I don’t want to ruin your reputation.”
“Only stupid people say that,” Yuzu said, rolling her eyes. “Everyone knows Reiji couldn’t be bribed with anything. Not even this.”
She kissed Reiji on the cheek, and Reiji rolled his eyes. He tightened his grip on Yuya’s hand.
“It’s true that my father doesn’t want me to associate with either of you at this rate,” he said. “But that doesn’t change my feelings. I’m not going to let him ruin any of our lives.”
Yuya bit his lip, glancing from one to the other. His hands tightened in both of theirs.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m just…anxious I guess.”
Yuzu responded by kissing him on the cheek, and though Reiji found it difficult to be physically affectionate, he thought Yuya needed it right now. So he wrapped his arm around Yuya’s shoulders and gave him a small kiss on the side of the head as well.
“Come on, let’s sing something,” Yuzu said, pulling Yuya down on the bench, and then tugging at Reiji’s scarf until he sat down on Yuya’s other side, all three of them squished together. “Let’s practice our first duet. Reiji, you play the harmonies with me.”
“We’re going to elbow Yuya if we try to play with him in the middle,” Reiji said.
“Too bad! Yuya’s getting squish time!”
Yuya actually let out a choked giggle, and Reiji smiled. He tickled the keys briefly, and then Yuzu jumped into the opening melody, and he followed along with the harmony. A few moments later, Yuya and Yuzu both broke into the entwined melodies of their piece for the musical. Reiji let his fingers focus on the keys, and his mind on the song, as the rest of him floated gently away into peace.
Right here with them was where he wanted to be. No matter what anyone else had to say about it.
Thank my cat for another late post. And thanks to everyone in the arc v fandom who participated in rare pair week too, whether it was reading or writing or being aware that arc v is a Thing that Exists and brings lots of joy. I’ve got a lot of great fics and art to catch up on!
“...I got in.”
The words are so quiet they almost go unheard. Fortunately Yuuya is sitting close enough to catch every hushed, reverent syllable.
“You did--?! Reiji, congrats! We knew you could do it, I told you there was no reason to worry--”
“You told me you were packed and ready to punch an admissions administrator on my behalf ten minutes before I checked the mail,” Reiji corrects him, drolly. But he’s smiling--a small, slow, measured thing. He’s thrilled. Who wouldn’t be?
“Yeah, I said there was no reason to worry because I could do the worrying for you.” Yuuya embraces his boyfriend, messing up his hair and kissing his temple. “You really think Yuzu actually went out to get your tea? She’s been circling the college waiting on my signal for the last hour.”
“Yuuya.”
“Only half-kidding.” but he surreptitiously shoots their girlfriend an all-clear text with finger guns emoji.
Reiji leans back and exhales into the side of the couch. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that in waiting for the university’s decision on his application, he has worked overtime twenty days out of thirty on average, done overseas advertising for LDS in three countries, and cleaned every inch of their shared apartment every single week since the submission.
As he curls into Yuuya for more tactile congratulations, the latter feels a wave of relief that this anxious overperforming is over for a little while.
Of course, this new path opens up an array of other uncertainties for Yuuya personally in regards to the future and his place in it, but--
The doorbell rings, seconds after a key takes care of the first lock.
“Please,” Reiji murmurs; Yuuya understands immediately and obliges him, untangling them and skipping down the hall to open up the door the rest of the way.
Yuzu hefts two jugs of tea in each hand on the doorstep. As soon as they’ve kissed, she searches his face for what she’s missed and which way their afternoon will go; his big unwavering grin is then contagious. Yep, he got in. Reiji will be in one of the country’s best colleges a year from now.
“It’s me,” she calls out for Reiji’s benefit as Yuuya helps her haul the cheap tea their minor millionaire man likes so much into the kitchen. “Not that I doubted you for a moment, Reiji, but congratulations! I know you’ll do well.”
“Thank you, Yuzu.”
Yuuya lets Yuzu join Reiji on the couch first, and heats mugs for all three of them as the other two kiss and catch up. In exchange, he gets kisses simultaneously from both of them when he brings everything over, so fair trade. He curls up in his initial position on Reiji’s other side, so they’re cuddle-flanking the young prodigy.
“We’ll have to start buying books and furniture before prices spike in the spring,” Yuzu muses, breaking their comfortable silence.
Reiji chuckles. Since the other two have slowly shifted and are currently resting on his chest, they smile at the amused rumble of his voice. “The cost of furniture, or of anything in this venture, is not something I will lose sleep over.”
“Why can’t you just say ‘I’m really rich’ like every other teenage bank?” Yuuya groans. Yuzu and Reiji laugh.
The two of them don’t change the subject though, moving on instead to discuss transportation costs, what Reiji will major in, whether he will do undergrad research, what professors he is looking forward to studying under. All perfectly logical conversation topics, and ones Yuuya expects, just... not quite this early.
He realizes that he’d thought they would have more time. They have only been together, all together, for a year and change, and in their own space for less time than that. Now--well--Reiji is a budding college student, so he’ll have to put a subsection of his already-splintered attention toward his studies. And then he might want to live on campus and move out. And then, well, Yuzu is starting to talk about college too, or about going overseas to Julliard in America--
Meanwhile I don’t even know what I want to get done next week, never mind next year.
He doesn’t even notice how quiet the other two are until he startles at Yuzu’s hand closing over his. “What’s wrong, Yuuya?” she asks. “You’re miles away from us.”
Yuuya hesitates--he doesn’t want to ruin this day, or this memory for Reiji when he looks back later--but when even his boyfriend looks concerned, he swiftly caves. “It’s... not that I’m not happy for you, Reiji. It’s just a lot to process. Knowing that next year you’re going to be on campus, and Yuzu and I will be planning stuff without you, stuff that takes us even farther apart from each other... I don’t know what comes next for us. I don’t like not knowing.”
Yuzu bites her lip. Yuuya sees it and is quick to reassure her that neither of them should change their plans, dampen their dreams, just because he’s a little change-averse, even though the words make the pit in his stomach yawn wide.
Reiji dispels the rising tension by holding the both of them even closer than before.
“I understand why you don’t like to think of people leaving you, Yuuya. But there’s no reason for you to worry now. Although I prefer planning for every eventuality, I’m not planning on moving out of our apartment any time soon, and I doubt commuting will hurt the quality of my coursework.”
Yuuya feels the stomach pit shrink. “You don’t want to move out?”
“Move away from you and Yuzu?” Reiji lifts his eyebrows. “Into a tiny room with a likely-starstruck stranger? You don’t give me enough credit, Yuuya. I handle stress well, I don’t go looking for it as you do.”
“Hey...” But he’s smiling.
Yuzu squeezes his hand as she puts in her word. “We’re not going to let what we have fall apart just because life pulls us in different directions. Even if Reiji moved in with the the college president and I moved to America and you moved underground or something, we’d still all make time for one another.”
“Do you mean it...?” He hates sounding so plaintive, but it’s such a valid, persistent fear.
“The future doesn’t have to be scary,” she reassures him. “Or lonely.”
“Unless you leave your dirty clothes on my work desk again and my reports start smelling like your deodorant,” Reiji interjects sternly. “Then it will be scary for you and lonely for us.”
“Ha ha,” Yuuya drawls. His grin stretches from ear to ear, and the pit is more like a cushiony bed. He feels a bit better about what’s to come now.
...Though that doesn’t mean his future includes picking up those clothes any time soon.
shoutout to @timahina for having the same idea of orchestrashipping + rumors! I’m giddily reading their fic over again right now. here, please accept my pirate!AU because I’m weak for these three dorks making out in long coats and tricorner hats in some distant future.
For the third time that night, Hiiragi Yuzu checks her stolen compass.
She’s ready to throw it away after two near-brushes with death since she took it, but something tells her that it will lead her to whom she seeks. Eventually it will steer her right.
The ship she’s on sways and bumps the gangplank, and as it does the compass arrow swivels to keep pointing faintly northeast--toward the derelict warehouse the people of Poole all whisper about.
It’s now or never.
Her prize is now resolute, and so is she. Yuzu slips off her ride with the smallest splash possible, swimming quickly to shore and the cover of some pathetically-shabby house. There’s barely time to pause and evaluate the best path across these outskirts, but it would be more suspicious to run pell-mell in the streets while dripping wet.
Hmm. Maybe the roofs are close enough together...?
Yuzu peeks down the street and--yes, the distance is manageable. The houses on this side of town have been crammed together to fit and segregate the poor, which is both cruel and convenient for her. Yuzu can, and does, huff and climb her way to the top of Shabby House A, back up and leap to the next structurally unsound rooftop, and the next, and the next. It’s a miracle she doesn’t fall through any of them on the way to her distant destination. That, or my swordplay and stamina classes from childhood.
But everything turns out fine in the end, and she’s able to drop into the warehouse’s second floor through a wide open window, silent as the grave. The compass even goes quietly nuts in her hands.
This place is meant to look common and disgusting to shake potential peacekeepers and other intruders. But even thirty more layers of dust and grime can’t dispel the rumors among the workers and the wealthy on Yuzu’s side of town--that one of the most famous pirates in the Seven Seas can be found here on occasion, forging new swords for his crew or sleeping off rum-comas.
Yuzu believes every whisper and it’s why she’s here. I won’t turn back until I’ve found him and secured his help.
Carefully, she tiptoes over the damp boards, moves to and down the stairs. Light and movement from the lower level draw her attention, and she slips behind a rusty old table to peek around--just in time.
A young man hums some creepy tune as he sharpens a sword with a crimson blade, pausing only briefly to nudge some of his bi-color Christmas hair back under his extravagant hat. Yuzu recognizes him as the Performer--a pirate so unpredictable that surviving an encounter with him on the seas is down to a coin toss. Skilled in acrobatics, brawling, petty theft and escaping custody--truly he is someone to be admired no matter which arm of the law one is nearer to.
Since she has slipped across the line of propriety and morality long ago, Yuzu feels justified in both standing in awe of him and doing whatever it takes to bend him to her cause. Including standing and moving to block the main exit.
“Sakaki Yuuya?”
He flinches; it takes him a small age to turn around and face her head on. But his words are almost cocky. “Occasionally I answer to that, yes. Among other things.”
“The other things is why I’m here,” Yuzu says bluntly.
“So you know whose tail you’re stepping on right now? Who you’re disturbing?”
“Performer, I need your help. I stowed away on a ship to find you, and I won’t leave here without you.”
Yuuya tilts his head so, so slowly. There’s a candle on the desk to light his work, and in its dim glow, the defender of the downtrodden looks a little sinister. This changes to seductive when he tilts his head again to look her up and down. Yuzu abruptly remembers that she’s only got one soaking wet layer on and flushes.
“Normally bedmates wait for me at the brothel,” he eventually says with a wink.
Yuzu insists, “I’m here for business. Something that would help me and be profitable for you.”
“And what if I’m not interested?”
Shit, Yuzu thinks, checking the room surreptitiously again for exits. “That’s not an answer I’m prepared to accept.”
“First time for everything,” Yuuya says grandly.
Gods, the mouth on him. In any other scenario Yuzu might have dragged someone so handsome and intellectually stimulating to the nearest brothel or bed herself. Here though, she knows nothing of the Performer’s more personal tastes or habits beyond hearsay. He might indulge her in name and then handcuff her to the bed, making sure as he escaped that they would never meet again. Losing him is not a chance she can take, at all.
Time for Plan B.
She pulls out the compass, lets it gleam and spin in the low light.
“Maybe you’ll be interested in this.”
Yuzu expects Yuuya to hum, or feign ignorance of his own misplaced possession--anything so a mysterious young woman doesn’t appear to have him at a disadvantage. What she does not expect is for him to draw the sword he’s been sharpening and advance on her.
“Where did you get that?!”
“So it is yours,” Yuzu half-taunts, but cautiously--her eyes dart about the room, searching this time for a weapon to commandeer. Her other hand holds the compass steady.
Yuuya’s gritted teeth gleam at her. “It is mine,” he confirms. “Nicked from me almost two weeks ago. You’ll return it, love, or lose the arm.”
“No. I think I’ll keep it as insurance--”
“It’ll ensure your death!” Yuuya snarls, and lunges.
Yuzu is ready now, though: she spotted a dull but trusty-enough sword resting near her hip, and brings it up now to parry the Performer’s furious first strike. Just like that, the fight is on.
She twirls, jabs at him and uses the old tables and trinkets in this place to her advantage, willing to toss or hold whatever will shield her and give her time to plan her next attack. The Performer is surprisingly adept with swords beyond maintaining them for his crew, as he slides and slashes just like Yuzu did the day she finally defeated her instructor.
Even so, it’s her who draws first blood--a small cut across his cheek that backs him up a bit, humming like he’s impressed with her.
Not that it would matter. Not that it does.
“Well done! You’ve marked me. Guess you aren’t just a pretty face with pretty words.”
“Now will you listen to what I need?”
“Not before I get my compass back,” he insists, and then they’re back at it: trading parries, taunting form, pushing and shoving. It’s after one well-timed shove that Yuzu gasps, because Yuuya has taken advantage of that shove to stab her dangerously close to her abdomen.
Shit. He’s serious about this compass. ...All the more reason I can’t let him have it until I have his aid.
“I don’t like killing civilians,” Yuuya says. “Messy. Wasteful. But I’ve done things that fit both those categories before.”
So have I, Yuzu thinks, using his merciful pause to charge him. She’s lucky; the move startles him, meaning she can push him to the grimy ground and hold her shaky sword in his face after kicking away his own.
“Listen up, Yuuya. You can help me of your own free will, or you can do it with a nice wound to match mine, but either way--”
Shing.
“Either way, you will stop moving, or I will be helping the Performer carry your corpse.”
The blood still in Yuzu’s body turns to ice. There is someone at the back of her neck, holding her tight and pressing a blade there. It’s someone she’s also never formally met, but like Yuuya needs no introduction. He is another of the most feared pirates in the world, while also being one of the most respected in multiple circles. Smooth, analytical, wealthy beyond counting, the Royal Navy’s worst nightmare and, just now, holding her life in his hands.
“The Pirate Prince,” she whispers, raw with awe and despair.
“Indeed.” Akaba Reiji adjusts his hands so one is over Yuzu’s wound, pressing--protecting her and letting her feel the pain. His silky baritone vibrates almost directly into her ear from his lips, and he doesn’t hesitate to flex one of the reasons for his nickname.
“Drop your weapon and kick it away, and we’ll get to hug for a little longer.”
Yuzu drops her sword and kicks it with a snarl. She literally can’t resist his order. No one can, not once he does whatever it is he’s been gifted with by the cruel gods.
“I appreciate it,” Reiji says in the same voice he’d use for a dog not shitting on his ship, probably. “Now we can have a nice little talk. Stay where you are and I’ll retrieve your sword partner.”
The warm, steady bulk of him behind her disappears, moves around to her front. Yuzu can’t move now, so she has plenty of time to study the Prince as he ambles over to the Performer. Shiny hair the color of a standard sword; cold violet eyes said to rival the sea in turmoil; missing his blood-red monocle, but still wielding the wickedly-sharp custom purple blade he had used to threaten her; and a flamboyantly royal blue coat to rival Yuuya’s rust-red one. If the Performer is handsome, his rescuer is breathtaking. Yuzu’s just glad he hadn’t asked her not to breathe.
Wait.
Now that she has time to think (and breathe, and bleed), she can’t help but... be puzzled. Why is Akaba Reiji here? How did he even know something was going on in this ratty old hideout? It doesn’t make sense on the surface.
Reiji kneels, offering his hand to Yuuya. The younger man is seemingly uncaring of their audience and gratefully accepts the lift up, grunting a bit.
“Thanks. But argh, why do you always come in when I’m getting my ass kicked?”
“There is no alternative,” Reiji responds, dryly. “You could start winning fights; perhaps then I’d re-evaluate my interventions.”
“Hey!”
Yuzu keeps her expression neutral. Now that I think about it... Just as there are rumors about the Performer’s schedule and habits and how to exploit them, there have also been whispers about the close company the Prince and the Performer keep. Two apparent opposites, attracting.
It shouldn’t be alluring, or cause envy. It is doing both.
Now the Prince has gently turned Yuuya’s cheek toward him and is examining the cut there, caressing the skin around it. “This... will heal soon on its own. Are you injured anywhere else?”
“Just superficial stuff, and my pride.” Yuuya signs. “This girl isn’t a pirate, but she’s good. I almost considered helping her with whatever just because of that.”
Yuzu can’t keep quiet any longer at those flippant words. “Almost?!”
And Reiji, fucking Reiji, glances over at her as though he’s forgotten he put her on pause. But his words are at least fair and measured. “I didn’t announce myself so you two would bicker further. This conflict was foolish, and now you will compromise.”
“Compromise?” Yuuya sputters. “This vixen marred my face!”
“And you nearly stabbed me in a vital organ!” Yuzu fires back, since she’d been coming to talk peacefully and he had escalated--
“Children, hush,” Reiji orders. He looks too amused. “Yuuya, I will kiss your face better once we’re on my ship. And you will accept the lady’s deal in exchange for your compass back, so long as the aid requested is reasonable.”
“Fine.”
“As for you, my dear... your name?”
“Hiiragi Yuzu.”
His eyes glint. “Yuzu. You will explain what it is you actually need from Yuuya, and then we will decide whether or not to help.”
Finally!
She makes him release her from the weird body-bind on principle before she starts.
“I did steal your compass from that bar you got plastered in, Yuuya. Sorry, but I needed it to find you later. There’s a man--you don’t need his name yet--who’s threatened my life. He’s one of the most powerful figures in England. No one’s stood up to him and lived--not politicians, not pirates, and certainly not some slip of a girl he’s taken a fancy to.”
“...Understandable,” Reiji hums, at the same time Yuuya says “Yeah, you are fucking gorgeous.”
Yuzu doesn’t have the time to feel hot or fluttery. She has to get this out, lance the boil. “I’d thank you, but the one he’s after is my baby sister--I’ve just been threatened for being ‘in the way’. I’ve had to hide her away from him and his men, but it’s only a matter of time before he uses minions or money to find her and hurt her. The only way I can stop him is to take everything he has: his followers, his resources, and his life.”
Yuuya--snorts. And looks much friendlier all of a sudden. “All that and you just want us to fuck up a rich wanker to protect your sister’s virtue? I’d almost do that for free. Especially the robbing part.”
“That’s not all. I need him dead. He can’t be allowed to get his hands on her or me, ever.”
Reiji steps forward, eyes on hers. “What does killing a man have to do with us, specifically? We are quite good at it, but we’re not the only ones with that trade out on the sea.”
Yuzu looks between the two--friends. Lovers. Something. “I’ve... heard stories about your compass. That it can find you or any mystical item you seek.”
“The walls really do have ears,” Yuuya murmurs strangely. He approaches too, hand held out for his compass, and Yuzu relinquishes it in a gesture of goodwill. And because his hand is very warm and feels nice to touch, even for a second.
“My family’s tormentor is protected by some kind of magic--he can’t be fought head-on, only killed with magical aid. I’ve heard tell of a sword that can cut any foe, put any man in the ground, and I’ve already stole, seduced and killed to find out how it may be found. Now I aim to get your help to find it, and use it.”
The air is quiet. Reiji doesn’t speak, just nods. Yuuya does too. Yuzu is willing to bet pounds that they both know the man she fears, and why she needs that particular sword. That they don’t push shows that even pirates respect privacy on occasion.
“If we help you,” the Performer eventually ventures to ask, “what besides my compass do we get out of it?”
“Any riches I find. I don’t care about them, I just want the sword.”
“Seems unbalanced,” the Prince observes, “but that is on your own head. Yuuya, I will lend her my crew and sword arm. There’s little danger in it.”
“You mean there’s a ton. Which you love, since you love rescuing damsels and kicking people’s asses, not necessarily always in that order. Yeah, all right Yuzu, if he’s in, I’m in. Scratch that, I’m definitely in.”
Relief overwhelms her--that and hope. “Thank you...”
“Don’t thank us yet,” Yuuya warns. “Like I said before, you’re a good fighter for an Englishwoman, but if you’re messing with someone who’s such hot shit, you need to have the best sword and kick it up to pirate-level fighting. We’ve gotta train you!”
“We have to get her a change of clothes first,” Reiji corrects, and hooks one arm around Yuzu. Yuuya grumbles good-naturedly and supports her other side, and she’s on the move toward locations unknown before she even registers leaving the warehouse. Or maybe that’s less their speed and more the bleeding.
“Wh--hey! Where are we--my clothes are--”
“Very seductive, but not practical,” Yuuya teases.
“We’re taking you to our ship,” Reiji explains in the meantime. “For the clothes and the wound, among other things. Don’t worry. If we were going to kill you, we’d have done it back there.”
“Thanks. I definitely feel better about you two flanking me now.”
The Prince smirks. “Relax, Yuzu. Think of this as a little pirate hospitality, and you didn’t even have to say parley.”
It sounds ridiculous. Mad. Frightening, even. But Yuzu watches Yuuya and Reiji exchange smirks and gentle bickering as they look from her to each other and hold her closer between them, and she doesn’t feel afraid. She feels exhilarated. She is one step closer to the end of her journey to leave her family’s predator powerless and lifeless. That will be such a burden lifted.
And hell, maybe in the process she can get some swashbuckling in.
