Chapter Text
Akito crosses his arms, sighing as he reclines against his prince's chambers wall. "My prince, you already know about the arrangements starting tomorrow, correct?"
Touya looks up at Akito, his gaze piercing through the knight. "Correct. Sir Akito, you'll be leaving my side?"
"That's true, but no need to sound so sad," Akito tuts with a shake of his head. "I'll be back before you know it. Don't underestimate the ex-captain of the knights, yeah?"
Touya doesn't smile but nods his head in agreement. "I wouldn't underestimate your abilities like that, Sir Akito. Please have a safe journey, and I hope your mission is a success."
Akito grins, "count on me. Lady An will take good care of you in the meantime, so you'll be protected by the best lady knight in the order."
"I'm surprised you praise her so highly all of a sudden," Touya teases with the utmost affection. He stands up from his bed, stepping over hesitantly to Akito. Without much warning, Touya touches a cool hand to Akito's cheek, cupping it. "Stay tonight. Let's have a celebratory drink."
"Your Highness, I—" Akito sputters, the sudden fluster coming to his cheeks at the insinuation Touya makes. "Haah… I guess since I will be away for a while. Who am I to refuse my prince?"
There's a smirk on Prince Touya's face.
In the morning, Akito departs the castle and leads his former squad of knights behind him. They've been under An Shiraishi's jurisdiction while acting as Prince Touya's personal guard for the past year. Still, they returned to his command when he went on the occasional mission from the current knight captain, Tsukasa Tenma.
Before he left, his sister Ena burst into his quarters to give him a personal protective charm she blessed. Maybe it's handy that his sister was part of the magic order in addition to being an artist. Ena also specializes in offensive fire magic but also has potency in healing.
Akito skids to a stop at the entrance of the outlined location— an abandoned estate from a former fallen noble house– and glances warily about the estate’s surroundings. Tsukasa had gotten word from his sources that someone was attempting to summon a being from another universe to summon a saintess who would usurp the kingdom. Honestly, Akito doubts the plan would pan out so far, so he offered to handle the mission quickly. Not saying the other knights were incapable, but Mizuki and Shiho were off leading other investigations. Meanwhile, Tsukasa didn't care for personally dismantling black magic rituals.
He holds tightly onto the protective charm his sister made him— his own fire magic resonating with it. It's both a failsafe and a magic enhancer, huh? He smirks as he rubs a thumb over the trinket. Just like Ena to be detailed about this… now he's almost unstoppable.
"Sir Koutaro, could you take your section to search the first floor of the estate?" He issues to the younger brunette.
"Aye aye, captain!" Koutarou salutes with a wide grin, ducking his head for a moment before gesturing to the others to follow. From then, Akito assigned leaders of subgroups to each floor, with the final destination being the basement. There's only Arata's group of men left. He sneers, rolling his eyes— the smart-mouthed one who loved to challenge his authority. "Sir Arata, you're coming with me."
"Ooh, how exciting. You need my skill after all, hm?" Arata asks with a wink, "wanna recommend me as a captain after this? It's been tough on poor Lady An to take care of all of us and her men."
"Hell no, I need you guys on standby for when I do missions." Akito sticks out his tongue, "it seems to me that if I put you in charge of my men, I'm never getting control back."
"Maybe," Arata smiles, placing a casual hand on his sword and making a mock salute with his hand.
Arata continues pushing his buttons and sticking his nose in Akito's affairs regarding the prince. Akito does his best to deflect everything, earning interested hums from Arata. Finally, they reach the basement and come across a dark room only with candles— and the gleaming magic circle beneath.
There's a hooded figure standing near the magic circle, in total concentration as their hand presses against the magic circle, transferring their power.
While Akito's proficient in magic, he hasn't the faintest idea of any dark magic rituals. He steps closer, doing the first thing he can to interrupt the ritual by unsheathing his sword and swinging toward the summoner's hands, attempting to discourage them from continuing.
They don't flinch and instead snap their fingers.
Akito clicks his tongue when he notes the booming sound of armored footsteps hitting the floor— oh hell, not a mercenary group. "Shit. Sir Arata, reinforcements are coming. Could you summon the others?"
"Are you even capable of taking out this many, captain? Don't let it get to your head just because you were the prince's personal knight. I'm able to take all of them out myself, honestly." Arata returns, taking out his sword and readying himself to fight.
"Alright, if that's how you wanna behave. Find an opening and leave to get help. This is an order, Sir Arata." Akito asserts with a growl in his voice, "I can hold off temporarily, but we can't do this whole thing by ourselves!"
Arata sighs, "Oh, so that's it? You owe me one, captain. How about a drink?"
"Yeah, whatever. Just get going already!" Akito clicks his tongue, watching Arata weave himself outside. Without anyone in the way, that leaves him and the mystery sorcerer. He laughs, wiping his sword off with the crook of his inner elbow. It's not like he's out of practice, thankfully. While Touya had free time, Akito trained a safe distance away, and the number of assassins after Touya's life kept him on his toes.
And as indicated, the band of mercenaries burst in. Akito doesn't recognize them, suggesting that it's a group he's never heard of before.
"Sheesh, you'd think you would spend a little more coin on protection for your evil ritual." Akito scoffs, rolling his eyes and taunting the mercenaries closer.
"We ain't cheap!" One of the mercenaries yells, gritting his teeth as he steps ahead of the other mercenaries, swinging a sword right at Akito.
Akito dives into combat, crossing blades with the outcrier to the rhythm of knocking the rest of the mercenaries out. The mercenaries clearly haven't swung a real sword before, Akito notes boredly, smacking the blades out of their hands before knocking them out with his sword's hilt. Not worth killing a bunch of ignorant mercenaries.
Soon enough, he got all of them somehow disengaged and unconscious. Sweet. So one lanky sorcerer left? No problem.
The hooded figure stays silent for a moment but lets out a shrill cackle before they start murmuring an incarnation. Akito positions himself in a defensive form— his magic resistance isn't that strong (a reason why Touya easily triumphed over him in practice fights)— so he braces himself for an attack.
A mass of dark energy starts forming around him, controlling Akito's movements and forcing him to creep closer and closer to the magic circle. "Shit, seriously?" He tries to wriggle from the magic's grasp, even trying to summon his fire magic— but to no avail. He's finally brought to the edge of the magic circle with no freedom to move away.
"We needed someone to sacrifice," The sorcerer finally speaks in their high, squeaky voice, "In exchange for the kingdom's finest knights… we'll get the strongest saint!"
"Fat chance. Hope you get some wimpy loser that you'll be begging for me to come back." Akito retorts back with a shitty smirk tugging at his lips.
"Insolent!" The sorcerer shrieks and mutters another quick spell, amusing purple flames to emit from the magic circle.
It's sweltering, but that's the dumbest kind of magic to use on someone born with fire magic. He stays afloat, willing to break free of the dark magic, and maybe he'll get to it.
Then he feels the familiar sting of a blade cutting into flesh, unconsciously yowling in pain as the silver drags down his back, blood oozing from the cut. The sword finally stops etching into his skin, but with the mix of the wound and the dark magic consuming his body, he can no longer stay afoot— so he collapses onto the ground.
His vision starts escaping, only gaps of light peeking through as he starts to tumble into nothing.
"Prince Touya… I'm sorry. Looks like I broke our promise."
When Akito wakes up, he’s in a strange-looking room, although it’s pretty simple. There’s a vivid poster plastered on the wall and then a sleek black nightstand to his side with a matching one on the other. On it is a lamp, but rather than a magical flame, it emits light through other means. Which Akito’s honestly too tired to figure out right now. It’s a strange room, yet feels comfortable. The mattress is excellent too, firm but almost like it contours to his body.
While his back stings a little, it doesn’t feel as bad as it was, nor can he sense any burn marks. It must be the magic resistance. He wearily moves his arm, hissing at how a bone fucking cracks as he grabs onto the pendant Ena gave him. It’s still intact but now missing its glow. So it worked, somehow? Wonder whose home he landed in, though.
He can’t help but worry about his men— well, not fucking Arata— but Kotarou, of course. Okay, and maybe Arata. Arata has someone to return to, after all. Akito just needs to rest up, thank the kind soul who saved his ass and then be on his merry way. He’s sure his prince would be furious— right, maybe.
But it’s not like Touya needs him. Anyone could replace Akito– it’s like what Arata said several times in passing that Akito isn’t anyone special. Anyone could do his job with enough effort.
The door opens, interrupting that train of thought, with a somewhat familiar blue and light blue head poking in. Huh.
“Akito,” The newcomer says as he enters the room, holding a plate of cheesecake and a glass of water. It looks different from the cheesecake he’s used to, though. But why does he look so familiar? “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Oh. Akito quickly realizes who this guy is. “My prince—” Akito rasps weakly, “I’m sorry. Almost didn’t make it back.”
Touya(?) blinks, pausing for a moment. After hesitating, he steps closer, bringing the glass of water to Akito. His cheeks are incredibly red, pursing his lips before he finally speaks. “Prince? I thought you were wearing that outfit because of classes, but… were you acting? I'm just glad that you're okay.”
“No,” Akito grabs the glass of water, greedily gulping down its contents. He really needed that, huh? Water tastes so good right now. “You look different, my prince.” His hair is left down, and he’s wearing way too casual clothes than Akito’s used to seeing— and he’s seen Touya in his nightwear.
"I'm the same as usual," Touya sets the plate on the nightstand, sitting on the bed next to Akito. "You're the one who looks different. You're not in bad shape as I thought, but you'll have to rest for a while."
"Well, I guess I almost died. It's only because of Ena's protective charm that I survived," He picks up the pendant hanging around his neck, flashing it to Touya. "I underestimated those mercenaries. I thought they were weakling, but one of them managed to get me while I wasn't watching. Sorry to worry you because of such a mistake, your highness."
Touya raises an eyebrow. "Akito, you sound like you're from a fantasy novel. Or maybe a video game… oh, it's just like that one I was playing the other night."
"What is a video game?"
Touya makes the most troubled expression with a mix of sadness, fear, and disbelief. "Akito, I hope you’re just joking around."
“Hate to disappoint, but I’m being entirely serious, my prince,” Akito lets out a low laugh, allowing his body to sink deeper into the mattress. He holds his almost emptied glass up to Touya.
“I’m not a prince,” Touya corrects lightly, taking the glass of water from Akito and carefully setting it on the nightstand. “Do you know where we are right now?”
Akito blinks, wondering if this is a trick question or something. “Not a clue. A hideout? And what do you mean you aren’t the prince of Vivid Kingdom?”
“Vivid Kingdom? I never heard of it,” Touya visibly frowns, locking his hands together as he tilts his head to the side. “We’re at home. Our apartment, Akito. I found you collapsed in the bathroom when I returned from class.”
“No, I– I died,” Akito clarifies, “like I was stuck in a magic circle, and then some idiot sellsword slashed me in the back.”
“But– you’re here now,” Touya’s expression is so twisted with worry that it makes Akito feel a little terrible. “You’re alive. I checked, and you didn’t have any open wounds, just a bunch of scars and many bruises. I have a feeling now that you’re not the Akito I know. Should I leave you to sleep some more?”
“Don’t need it,” Akito returns quickly, glancing around the room again. Now that he’s a little less disorientated, he wiggles in the bed, scooting up so that his back props up against the pillow. “That cheesecake for me?”
“Yes, if you would like.” Touya finally smiles a little, leaning over to grab the plate off the nightstand and offering it to Akito.
Akito stares at it for a moment, pausing as he stares back at Touya. “My arms hurt. Can you…”
Touya stays silent but then chuckles. “You’re not too different from him, after all. I’m glad.” He picks up the fork, sectioning off a piece and placing it in front of Akito’s mouth.
Akito jerks his head forward, chewing the piece off. It’s more fluffy than the usual silkiness he’s used to in cheesecake. “Never had this kind before. It’s tasty.”
“Oh, good. This type of cheesecake was Akito’s favorite,” Touya shakes his head, “but this will be a little confusing. How should I address you?”
“Well, I’m Sir Akito Shinonome of the Vivid Kingdom. I can tell you more details later, but the basics are that I got sent on a mission to dismantle a dark magic ritual. Said ritual involved trying to summon a ‘saint’ from another world to help this faction overthrow the royal family– the Aoyagis.” Akito rolls his eyes, “and the lead sorcerer was intent on having me be the sacrifice. It feels like my mission was just a trap.”
Touya pauses, his grip on the fork tightening as he digests the information. Akito simply stares at Touya’s changing expressions, but he’s starting to realize he’s not all too expressive. Just a little more so than Prince Touya, whose face constantly resembles ice. Touya starts muttering, presumably trying to work out all the information in his head.
“I suppose something like this could happen, especially with the existence of SEKAIs. We should ask Meiko-san about this later,” Touya looks at him with a more serious expression, “Sir Akito, I think that the Akito from this world is now in your world.”
“Well, that’s not good. Does your Akito know how to defend himself?” Akito cannot believe that his cursing prophecy is about to come true. Maybe he should test his premonition magic if he ever gets back.
Touya pales at the question, “Akito can fistfight. He’s also good at sports, but he never did kendo or fencing.”
“Okay. Second question– you guys have magic in this world?”
Touya shakes his head, “I hope that Akito will be okay…”
“Well, don’t worry–” Akito smirks, “if the bullshit that sorcerer was spouting was true, I’m sure he’d awaken to some sacred power that’d make him invincible.”
“Ah, so it’s like a cheat,” Touya nods, visibly relaxing at the suggestion. He scoops another morsel of cheesecake, bringing it up to Akito’s mouth.
Akito bites on it, savoring the texture and subdued sweetness on his tongue. “So, what kind of world is this?”
“It’s hard to describe,” Touya scratches his head, “it would be easier to take you around. But that’ll wait until after you recover, Sir Akito– ah, do you mind if I just call you Akito?”
“Fine with me, my prince.” Akito grins in return, “but I’m just going to assume that I’ll be filling in for your Akito while the situation’s like this, right?”
Touya nods, “I’ll have to submit a leave of absence for him. I’ll contact Ena-san to let her know what’s going on.”
“So even Ena is here,” Akito looks down at his pendant again, “wish I could thank the one from my world. She saved my life with her magic.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to return, Akito,” Touya smiles helpfully, “I’ll definitely try to find a way to bring you back.”
Akito laughs, “Right, guess you miss your Akito, right? I’ll try not to be too much of a bother. Once I feel better, I’ll at least get a job to support us.”
“Akito already has a part-time job somewhere, but I’m not sure if you’d be as keen about it. I’ll let them know he’s out of commission for a while.” Touya nods to himself but then looks at Akito, taking his bite out of the cheesecake. “One thing, could you just call me Touya? I’m not a prince– or your prince, for that matter. I'm just Aoyagi Touya.”
Akito blinks, “Uh… I’ll try, To– Tou— augh, your highness.”
“It’ll be a process,” Touya insists with a small smile, finishing the cheesecake.
Akito huffs, "hey. Why did you finish it?"
"I'm hungry," Touya returns, "and this is my apartment. I bought this cheesecake with my money, too."
Akito gasps, sinking back down into the bed. "I thought you were nicer than my prince, but maybe you're just as evil. Tsk, tsk."
Touya snorts, "I don't know if I'm really similar to the prince of your original home at all, Akito. Rest well, I'll let you know when dinner is ready."
Once Touya leaves the room, Akito's laying on his back and looking at the ceiling.
I wonder if Prince Touya will miss me? He'll be fine as long as An is with him, or even Tsukasa.
A knight is nothing compared to him, after all.