Prince of Silence ||Bokuaka||

1 || A Not So Silent Voice ||

Keiji walked to the palace library, shoulders tense. He only had about a month and a half's worth of practice in sign language.

Approaching the language section, he found the books he had constantly been reading, flipping through the pages nervously, a drop of sweat rolling down his temple. Pacing around, Keiji went back and forth between the books, constantly skimming his eyes over each word.

Taking a deep breath, he put the books back in their place, the urge to pick them up again and read them for another two hours consuming him. He put his hand down, walking straight out of the library.

Prince Bokuto Koutarou would arrive soon.

"Father" he called out. Hideaki turned to his son, raising a brow "Keiji. Is something wrong?" Holding a hand over his chest, he asked, "how long do we have before prince Bokuto arrives?" Hideaki pursed his lips, letting out a quiet 'hm'

"Around an hour, maybe even half"

Keiji ran a hand through his hair, taking deep breaths, ignoring his urge to make up an excuse and study sign language for a few more hours "son, if you're worried about your sign language, I'm sure you'll be fine. Kotarou can still read lips, don't worry"

The prince nodded, sighing. He hadn't seen or heard from the boy since he last visited the kingdom, and was quite anxious to meet him again.

'How long ago was that?' He thought, walking to the palace garden "I was seven at that time, I think" he mumbled. A sudden wave of panic washed over him

"O- oh no" his eyes widened "what should I call him?!" Keiji paced around the garden, mumbling to himself "I could call him Bokuto-san, but would that be too awkward? No, no... maybe Ko-kun....? No, um-"

After an hour of pacing around the garden, Keiji heard a voice that made his heart drop

"AKAASHIIIIIII!!!!!"

A tall man with white and black hair ran towards him, waving "B- Bokuto-san" Kotarou tackled him into an embrace, nearly sending them toppling over. The boy had a huge smile on his face, his eyes shining

"Did you miss me 'Kaashi? Did you?"

Struggling with his words, a blush spread across Keiji's face "ah- um-" he stumbled over his words. At that moment, his brain had decided to take a vacation and forget his vocabulary "missed you, B- Bokuto-san" he sputtered out.

Kotarou laughed, not quite aware of how loud his voice was. Who could blame him, though? The man had been deaf for seven years

"You did, didn't you? I know you did! I missed you a ton!"

Grabbing his chin, Keiji mouthed,

"Can't breathe"

Eyes widening, Koutarou let go of Keiji "oops, sorry about that" he chuckled. That bright smile of his made its way back onto his face "I just really missed you a bunch, you know? Can you believe it's been twelve years 'Kaashi? I can't!"

Keiji shook his head slowly, clearing his throat "Bokuto-san" he spoke "is it okay for me to call you that?" Koutarou tilted his head, shrugging "why not just call me Koutarou?" Keiji's eyes widened, and the blush spread back to his face. He shook his head

Koutarou frowned, shoulders drooping "then won't you at least call me Koutarou-san? Like Bokuto-san, but it's my first name!" Putting a finger up, Keiji opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again and simply nodded.

Bouncing on his feet slightly, Kotarou restrained himself from running all over the place in excitement. On the other hand, a huge train of thoughts was running through Keiji's mind, flustered about calling him Koutarou-san instead of the usual Bokuto-san

'Are we that close?'

Shaking the thought away, he shakily put up two hands and signed,

"Call me Keiji"