Soraru x Mafumafu

With You - Chapter 11

After the incident, it was true that they never met anymore. Not once, not at all. In fact, all Soraru had was what Amatsuki tells Kashitarou through the letters, and he hated to admit it, but it was one of the things he look forward to hearing every now and then in the castle.

They were nothing big, maybe just something simple like, "Mafu-kun was smiling at the crops that he planted as he watered them!" or, "Mafu-kun harvested his first potato, and we made stew together! Remind me to never let him use a knife in the kitchen ever again!" or even things that would make Soraru's heart squeeze tightly, like, "Mafu-kun was crying in his sleep that night,"

He could have asked Kashitarou to let him in for a few words, but he could never. Yet, here he was, occupying himself with tasks and waiting for any letters that had hints of Mafumafu. What a coward he was, but that one step was just inevitably hard to take.

The dagger, Soraru kept it for him in the end. He had it with him everywhere he went, and there were countless of times when Soraru would just stop by the royal garden during his patrols at night, taking the dagger out from his boot, and he'd just look at it, thinking about Mafumafu. If he said that the dagger gives him a reason to come see him, then why wasn't he here with him now? He thought of going to him himself, but he couldn't, not because he didn't want to, but he was afraid to.

He was afraid he might not want to leave him. He was afraid he might start doing things to him the moment he sees him because of how much he yearned for him. There would go all the enduring he had done all this time if he did.

And so they had not met at all since.

Kashitarou put out a hand at Soraru, and Soraru took it, pulling himself up with the help of his friend. He patted the dirt off his clothes, and picked up the sword that he left on the ground, placing it back on the racks after.

"... Tomorrow?" asked Soraru, trying to sound as if he didn't care.

"Which is why you should get some sleep, so then we can go see them at the entrance first thing in the morning," nodded Kashitarou before he put the wooden spear back in place, letting it lean against the wooden rack.

Soraru glanced at him with a face of dissatisfaction because he hated it when Kashitarou was getting him to do things that he didn't want to do. He let out an exasperated sigh, and gave in, nodding his head at Kashitarou, not wanting to look at that idiotic grin he must have had on his face back then as he walked passed him.

He walked back to his chamber after cleaning himself up, and talked to 96neko for a bit about Amatsuki and Mafumafu's arrival at the castle tomorrow before he opened the door into his room. He looked up at the window that was directly in front of his eyes when the door was opened, and he widened his eyes at the sight.

Mafumafu stared back at him with horror, his face was flushed in the colour red in an instant, and he moved to the left so that he could hide behind the walls beside the window.

... Why was he standing outside of his window? His chamber was up high in this building, and Soraru quickly walked to the window, and pushed it up to open it. He didn't want him to fall. He poked his head out, and there Mafumafu was, keeping his balance on the limited amount of ground he had beneath him.

The young lad turned his head to look at him for a second before he turned his head away, attempting to inch further away from Soraru.

"It's dangerous, Mafumafu," Soraru reached out to Mafumafu, looking at him worriedly. "You're going to fall if you're not careful,"

Mafumafu shook his head, and continued moving away from Soraru. Soraru frowned and lifted his foot up, only to step onto the window sill, carrying himself out. Mafumafu let out a quiet shriek, and increased the pace of his footsteps.