Warning: This is an AU fanfiction!
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Mafumafu stayed trapped in Soraru's arms for quite some time, not being able to move. He was stunned.
He didn't know what just happened to him. When Soraru suddenly looked at him like that, he thought he was drowning in those deep ocean blue eyes of his, and his ability to think was gone. Soraru never said a thing, but for some reason, Mafumafu knew what he wanted. His throat was dry, he was parched, and he knew he wasn't thirsty for water.
It was him he wanted.
He wondered if it was because of the way Soraru looked at him that was part of the reason to all of the things that happened to him. When he was under Soraru's gaze, he could feel his body temperature rising, his blood would run to his face at high velocity. He never felt anything of the sort before, and it was as if his body wasn't his anymore.
He couldn't believe that Soraru did all these unconsciously. It would trouble him if it were true. He felt attacked, not physically but emotionally and mentally, and it felt a lot worse than having scars on his body.
He was aware that he softens up every time in Soraru's presence, letting his guard down towards his enemy, and it certainly bothered him so much, he would constantly have to remind himself to snap out of it. An assassin shouldn't be giving in so easily to anyone but it just wasn't easy with Soraru for heaven knows what reason.
But even though Soraru might be the cause to all of Mafumafu's problems, he thought that he felt at ease at the same time every time he was with him. He was scared, of course. He might get himself in danger if someone from the organisation knows how he was behaving, and how the mission was still not accomplished after so many days, or he might get killed by the people in the castle for the attempt of assassinating the King, but he couldn't bring himself to stop.
He enjoyed listening to Soraru tell him stories if he asked for it, and he would stay quiet the entire time listening to him. His stories were based on what he saw when he was out for an errand on foreign lands, and they were full of things that Mafumafu had never heard of before in the slums. It just simply fascinates him, but he never showed it to Soraru, or at least he tried to not let it show on his face.
Sometimes he wished that the time would stop so that he could be with Soraru like this, even if it was just a little while longer.
They were so close, and when he thought that they were going to cross the line as he felt his breath against his lips, Soraru stopped himself. It was not long before he felt something warm touch the top of his head even though it was just for a brief moment, and the warmth took away his strength.
Mafumafu then felt Soraru snake his arms around his waist, and pulled his body towards him. His face was pressed up against Soraru's shoulder, and then he felt weight on his head. He felt Soraru nudge him gently on the top of his head, and all Mafumafu could do was stay still.
Soraru said something, but Mafumafu didn't manage to catch it. He was too preoccupied by the sound of someone's heart beating loudly, but he wasn't sure who it belonged to, Soraru's or his?
He heard Soraru let out another heavy sigh.
"... This really isn't the time for me to do this..." he muttered, sounding annoyed.
Mafumafu lifted his fist and punched him lightly on the chest again. Soraru then let out a troubled laugh.
"Don't take it on yourself, it's me I'm mad at," Soraru explained and went into silence again. Mafumafu could feel Soraru's arms tighten around him. "I'm sorry,"
He didn't know what to respond his apology with. Angry statements, sarcasm, an attempt to guilt-trip him, or? He would, but he couldn't, not in this situation. He was bad with words, and had always been, so he was not sure what Soraru would want to hear from him.
Mafumafu moved his hands that were on Soraru's chest around instead, and reached out for his back, feeling Soraru flinch. His back was surprisingly broad when Mafumafu touched him like this. He clung onto Soraru carefully, closed his eyes, and buried his face into Soraru's shoulder, deciding to not say a thing to make the air around them awkward. And as if Soraru finally received permission, he pulled Mafumafu even closer to himself, closing up the distance between the two of them.
Soraru was covered with the intoxicating scent of the ladies around him tonight, but Mafumafu was still able to make out a scent that smelled a little like the grass and leaves they had at the royal garden. He strengthened his hold around Soraru. And there was also this really nice and calming smell that Mafumafu thinks only belong to Soraru.
"... Mafumafu,"
Mafumafu snuggled up to Soraru but Soraru let go of him, pulling his hands away from his body, and then pushing him away.
"It's time for you to go," he said in a soft voice.
It was not the first time he felt this, but every time he had to leave him, he would feel sad and lonely because being with Soraru makes him feel comfortable. He makes him feel human, alive. Since when had he felt this way? Probably from the second time they met at the royal garden.
It was Mafumafu's first time talking about things without a care in his mind. He felt freedom, something he was unfamiliar with but yearned to know more about.
"My subordinate might call the guards on me if she doesn't find me anywhere in the castle, so I'm going to go get her," said Soraru as his hand slid down to grab Mafumafu's. He held his hand in his, and gave it a little squeeze. "And I didn't want you to get hurt,"
Mafumafu could have kept quiet, or at least said something cute and honest, but he said:
"Are you making fun of me?"
Heavens, why did he always have to sound mean, he wondered. Then again, he hadn't a single idea of what cute and honest were.
He heard Soraru let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm being serious here though,"
"... I can protect myself,"
"You probably can, but let me do it this time,"
It was amazing how he could say something like not wanting to let Mafumafu get hurt so naturally like that. Was it because he was a knight? Or was he saying it because it was Mafumafu?
Mafumafu watched as Soraru laughed again, and assured him again that he wasn't planning to make fun of anyone. He looked away, anywhere but at Soraru, and gave him a push, not forgetting to also give him a little kick at his leg. It annoyed Mafumafu when his heart would start racing again at the sight of Soraru's smile, so he had to let it out a little on him.
"I'll get out first, and then I'll tell you if the coast is clear, alright?" Soraru got onto his feet, never forgetting to keep low. He grabbed on to the curtain, and looked behind him to make sure Mafumafu was ready.
Mafumafu watched as he slipped out of the curtain quietly, and the coast was definitely clear because Soraru came back to him, pushing the curtains away for him and asking Mafumafu to leave. He left through the door he came from, and jumped onto the walls.
Before he exited the castle, he turned around, seeing Soraru talking to the female servant who was looking for him then jumped off the walls and back into the slums.
-
"How long are you going to take to fulfill your task?"
He sat before Mafumafu on the cheap leather couch at the rundown room they have in the middle of the slums. He glared up at Mafumafu with only his right eye since his left one was covered with an eye patch due to an old injury. Mafumafu only stood at his place, his hands behind him, and said nothing.
He, Luz, crossed his legs, and stared at Mafumafu with a boring look on his face. He placed his elbow on the armrest, and rested his cheek on his knuckles.
"Mafu, I'm talking to you," Luz called out, and almost immediately Mafumafu was beaten to his knees by the people in the room.
Mafumafu wiped the blood off that oozed out from the scratch he got at the corner of his lips, and one guy kicked him from the back. He fell forward, and he was right in front of Luz. He looked up at him, and he saw Luz's right eye widened at him.
"Wipe that look off, I don't want to be getting rid of you so soon," Luz leaned forward, and grabbed Mafumafu by his hair. His tone was hard and cold. It seemed like he had ticked him off big time this time. He clicked his tongue, and almost immediately, he smiled. "Since you've always been the best among all of these imbeciles,"
He exerted strength on his arm, and pushed Mafumafu, slamming his head hard against the ground. A loud thud echoed in the silent room, no one dared to move a single muscle.
"It has been three days," he said under his breath. He picked Mafumafu up again, and slammed him down one more time on the ground. "What are you waiting for?"
Someone caught Luz's arm, and gave it a little tug.
"Luz-kun, I think that's enough,"
"... Nqrse,"
"I'm sure there must be a reason,"
Luz let go of Mafumafu, and sat back in his seat, his forefinger tapping against the armrest impatiently. Mafumafu decided to stay on the ground since he had a feeling Luz wasn't done with him yet.
"If he had one, he'd already tell me," Luz barked back at Nqrse as he rolled his eyes. "Unless he has gone retarded, no one would want to get beaten up like this,"
"Now, now," Nqrse smiled, and patted him on the shoulder.
Mafumafu could hear that Luz had calmed down, so he propped his body up weakly, feeling his head throb with pain, his vision a blur. Someone came running into the room, yelling his name, and the sound echoed in his head, seeming to have amplified the pain.
"Mafu-kun!"
"... You again," Luz snarled. He lifted his hand, all ready to order his men to make a move, but Mafumafu stopped him.
Mafumafu grabbed him by the wrist, and gave it a twist before he dropped Luz on the ground, pressing him down. It was a thing he learned from Soraru when he saw him in an argument at the ballroom last night. To think it would come in handy in a situation like this, and to think that he would use it on the person in charge of him.
Luz's men started to move towards Mafumafu when they saw the situation. He withdrew a dagger from his boot, and put his hand with it up in the air.
"Don't you dare touch him or I'll carve your fingernails out with this dagger," Mafumafu growled lowly. He then lowered his body, pressing up against Luz, and smirked as he added, "One. By. One,"
The people around the room stopped moving, and of course Nqrse would be worried sick that something bad would happen to his good friend who was currently being pinned by Mafumafu. Luz struggled, and Mafumafu slammed his dagger down at the side of his head, the sharp end of it pierced through the wooden flooring. Luz let out a snort.
"You thought I wouldn't dare, did you?" he pulled the dagger out, and let the cold surface of it slide on the skin of Luz's face. "I'll make sure it goes into your right eye the next time I do that,"
"Mafu-kun, stop!"
"Amatsuki-kun, he's trying to hurt you!" Mafumafu yelled back at the young lad who barged into the room just now, not taking his eyes off of Luz. "I won't let him do anything to you again!"
"Mafu-kun, Amatsuki-kun is right. Why don't you just put that knife down, and get off of Luz-kun for now?" reasoned Nqrse.
"... Nqrse-chan, I'm quitting the organisation,"
"What?"
"I said, I'm quitting,"
Luz laughed under him.
"You do know that this is the only place suited for the likes of you, right?" Luz laughed mockingly at him, and then Mafumafu grabbed him by the hair, just like how he did with him just now, gave it a good pull to lift his head off the floor, and slammed it back down. Luz cursed loudly, ordering the people around him to move, but no one did.
"You should probably take him away from me or I think I might kill him by accident, Nqrse-chan,"
Nqrse stumbled forward to grab Luz away from Mafumafu once he got back on his feet, and went up to Amatsuki. Mafumafu pulled at Amatsuki, leaving the building as fast as possible, not wanting to stay in this room for any longer than he should.
"Don't think you could run from me, Mafu," said Luz before Mafumafu closed the door behind him.
It was starting to get harder to breathe.
-
Amatsuki was quiet the entire time they were making their way back to their small, worn-down hut they lived in together with the others somewhere in the slums. Mafumafu wore his cloak, and put his hood on so that he could hide his injuries from the eyes of the public. He bet he must be looking terrible right now with all the blood and bruises on him.
His legs were given a few kicks by the people just now, and Mafumafu had a hard time trying to walk properly. He ended up tripping a little, but he managed to catch himself. Amatsuki turned around, and frowned at him but in the end, he still came up to Mafumafu, and gave him a hand.
Amatsuki helped Mafumafu put his arm over his shoulders, and had Mafumafu put most of his weight on him as he helped him walk.
"Are you mad at me, Amatsuki-kun...?" Mafumafu asked timidly, taking one step at a time.
Amatsuki let out an exasperated sigh.
"Where did that courage of yours go when you were going wild like that back there just now?" Amatsuki scolded him. "And now you're afraid that I'm mad at you?"
"... I'm sorry,"
"You tell me that all the time but could you please think about my feelings for once?" said Amatsuki, sounding as if he was about to tear up. "You were not sleeping in your room for three consecutive nights, and did you know how worried I was? You never tell me things so I had to go up to there to ask Kain-kun about what was wrong with you but then I hear you getting all beaten up by him, and I just-"
"I'm sorry, Amatsuki-kun," Mafumafu repeated, softly. "And thank you,"
"... Are you really quitting?"
"I am,"
"I've been trying to have you stop since you started but you wouldn't even listen. What made you change your mind all of a sudden?"
Mafumafu said nothing. He couldn't since he had no answer to that question either. It might be because of the blood in his head that made him blurt out something like that, but he felt great. Of course he still carried weight on his chest, but it certainly felt strangely lighter.
"You're really going to stop?"
Mafumafu nodded, and Amatsuki smiled as he stirred Mafumafu away from the path back home, and instead led him to the market.
"Whatever the reason is, I'm glad. I guess I'll make us something better tonight. We could get some eggs too, but how does stew sound to you?"
"It's not something worth celebrating, Amatsuki-kun,"
"Aw, come on, Mafu-kun, I've always been waiting for this day to come," Amatsuki grinned from ear to ear, seeming genuinely happy now. "I think we could afford something other than potatoes tonight too. Sakata's going to be thrilled!"
Mafumafu couldn't tell him that quitting the organisation would bring him as much danger, or maybe more than when he was still working with it. He would most definitely be someone the organisation would want to get rid of before anything else. It worked like an insurance for them if Mafumafu was dead, which was why he needed to think fast about the next thing he needed to do.
He accidentally bumped into someone, and he quickly apologised before lifting his head. Mafumafu wondered if he was seeing an illusion or something after that blow he received on the head from Luz against the ground just now, because he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.
They both froze at their feet, staring at each other disbelievingly as they did not expect that they would meet here of all places.
"What is it, Soraru-san?" asked a young guard when he noticed that Soraru stopped at his tracks. Mafumafu remembered him. He was that guard who was assigned to be with the King, together with another one who seemed to be a close friend of Soraru's back at the ballroom.
Soraru was in something even more casual than the one he wore last night to the party. He had a plain white shirt on the inside with a pair of dark breeches, and a black coat over him, nothing of the sort of a princess' knight, allowing him to blend very well together with the crowd in the market.
Mafumafu hated to admit it but he looked really attractive and made him look a lot younger, and he thought he might prefer him in this than his usual appearance.
"... Sou, could you go get the vegetables that Miss Margaret requested? I just remembered the princess asking me to get something for her as a souvenir," he said, and then added, "We'll meet up back at the center of the market later,"
"Yes, sir,"
Soraru never looked away from Mafumafu even once as he ordered this guard named "Sou" to leave but that wouldn't mean that Mafumafu would do the same. He looked away almost immediately when their eyes met just now, but he could feel his body burning up under Soraru's gaze. He wanted to leave before he did anything mindless again.
"Mafu-kun, are you okay?"
"Amatsuki-kun, let's go,"
Mafumafu started pushing Amatsuki back into the crowd, and he kept asking him if something was wrong but he refused to answer him. He just knew he needed to stay away but Soraru wouldn't let him. He grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled, making Mafumafu stumble backwards.
"... Mafu-kun?"
"Amatsuki, was it?" Soraru opened up his mouth before Mafumafu could say anything. He pulled Mafumafu closer, and said, "I have something I need to talk about with him over here, so would you mind if I borrowed him for a moment?"
"Eh? Ah, no, I mean," Amatsuki stuttered, not expecting to hear someone talking so politely at a place like this. He was suspicious about this, and he seemed unwilling to let Mafumafu go with someone like him, but he still nodded his head hesitantly in the end.
"Thank you, I promise I will bring him back to you as soon as possible,"
Soraru turned around, and started walking with his hand still gripped around Mafumafu's wrist. He noticed that Mafumafu couldn't walk really well, but he couldn't do anything flashy in the slums like this, so he walked slower to let Mafumafu keep up. He pulled him together with him as he looked for a quiet place for them to talk, and took a sharp turn to the right when he found a back alley.
He pushed Mafumafu up against the wall, trapping him in between his arms like how he did last night. They both didn't say anything to each other, and Soraru only frowned at him. He seemed upset, and Mafumafu didn't understand why until he finally opened his mouth again.
"What happened?"
Mafumafu lowered his head, not wanting to look at him.
"What do you mean by 'what happened'?"
Soraru lifted his hand and held Mafumafu by the chin with his thumb and forefinger, and tilted his face up to force Mafumafu to look at him. His frown deepened when he saw a few more bruises and scratches on his face.
"You're hurt,"
"... It has nothing to do with you,"
"I have a feeling it does,"
Why was it that he could never seem to hide things from him? It had been like that since the first time they met. He saw through everything Mafumafu had always been hiding somewhere deep inside him in just a matter of seconds. He was just someone he recently met, and yet it was as if he knew him horrendously better than the people who were close to him.
Mafumafu finally looked at him, and he felt a rush of relief at the sight of him. His lips formed a thin line as he tried to hold back. He was good at it, terribly good at it if he could say so himself, but this time, it seemed he had overestimated himself because he felt something warm at the back of his eyes, and the next thing he knew, large drops of tears started dropping out of them.
He couldn't see Soraru's face very well, but he knew he was mad, and he was glad that he was. He never knew he wanted someone to worry about him like this before, not before he knew Soraru.
He might have seemed brave and all back when he was dealing with Luz, but in actual fact, he was horrified after he cooled down. His mind started moving again, and a lot of thinking had been done in a short span of time.
He was more afraid that his close ones would end up getting hurt because of his decisions than losing his life. More importantly, now that he was not in charge of the mission to kill the King, someone else would be assigned to finish the job. Then what would be of Soraru? He was genuinely scared. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if he saw Soraru in pain but he had a feeling it was going to be unpleasant.
Worst of all, he couldn't believe he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to see Soraru again after this.
Soraru wrapped his arms around Mafumafu, and Mafumafu did the same. He clung onto Soraru as he cried silently in his shoulder, feeling Soraru's hand at the back of his head, moving in a rhythmic motion as he petted him.
"It's alright, Mafumafu. Everything's alright now," he cooed in a soft and gentle voice, making Mafumafu hiccup uncontrollably in between sobs. "There's nothing to be afraid of, I'm here with you,"
Lies, Mafumafu thought. He was never so afraid to be happy his entire life, it couldn't even be compared to when he had tomatoes to eat when they hadn't enough money for the rest of the month. It was terrifying.
He asked a number of times about what happened, but Mafumafu only shook his head in his shoulder, and told him that he couldn't tell him, not yet. Once he managed to calm down, he pulled away from Soraru, and took a deep breath. He told him he needed to go back to Amatsuki, but Soraru stopped him from leaving.
"At least let me tend to your injuries first,"
"... It's fine," Mafumafu said as he pulled his wrist out of Soraru's grip. "I'll manage,"
"... Mafumafu-"
Mafumafu smiled weakly at him.
"... Thank you, Soraru-san,"
TBC
A/N: Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day.