House of Cards

The future Queen of Spades immersed himself completely into the icy water in his elegant porcelain bathtub and shuddered, feeling the occasional cramp in his muscles. He stayed under water until he ran out of breath and had to come up to the surface to inhale new oxygen. Shivering, he moved his hair back with his hand, still sitting in the tub, even despite the risk of hypothermia, because this was the only way he could find to calm down his body that had been burning since the day before as if suffering from fever. Not to mention another symptom that was so embarrassing that the mere thought of it was making him blush. It had begun, like already mentioned, the day before, just when he had been drinking tea with the other queens which had become a habit by now. The four royals and their respective jacks had been sitting in a deadly silence, each immersed in their own thoughts, when suddenly Arthur started feeling an abnormal heat in his body. At the beginning, he had thought that it was just the dark wool jacket he was wearing that day, but no, from one moment to the next, the heat had become so suffocating that he couldn't help loosening his bowtie in order to breathe better. And without any warning, his breathing had become heavier, and a strange sensation invaded his stomach and lower abdomen... a pleasant one, he even dared to say... Now, being absolutely sure that this wasn't normal at all, he apologized to the other queens, ordered Yao to not follow him, and hurried to his room, where he had to completely remove his bowtie, unbutton his shirt to his chest and tried to breathe normally, but that sensation didn't vanish. So he laid down on his bed, waiting for it to be over, however, it got only stronger. So strong that another body part of his reacted. Remembering this, Arthur reflexively placed his hands between his legs, blushing again from sheer embarrassment. Just how was it possible to become so aroused out of the blue? Last time this had happened to him, he had still been a teenager and caught his older brothers spying on some girls bathing in the lake near his farm. So why was he suffering from something... like this even now, as an adult? He immersed his head again under water in order to try to sort out his thoughts and keep his head cool... however, while thinking about his incident from the day before and another during the night, he remembered a particular moment... one during which he had managed to actually see King Alfred, while lying in his bed and trying to calm down. Back then, the sensation had gotten a lot more intense, making him close his eyes, and as he had opened them slightly again, he could vaguely see the king... no, not only see, but feel! He could feel Alfred's hot skin, admire his blue eyes that weren't behind glasses that time, but shining with the same intensity as always, the tousled hair with some strands clinging to his sweaty forehead... it had only been for a few seconds, and when Arthur had opened his eyes again, the king was gone. Still being under water, Arthur shut his eyes tightly. "What is happening to me?" he wondered in the midst of his thoughts, while his head emerged from the water once again. He was freezing to the bone and at the same time, attacked by emotions he couldn't explain.  After thirty more minutes he decided to finally leave the tub, since his skin was already turning slightly blue and this was a bit dangerous. Trembling from head to toe, he got up, put one foot and then the other out of the tub, wrapped himself into his long navy blue bathrobe, dried himself and headed to his wardrobe to get dressed. After having fought first with his hair, and then with that damn little top hat that was never sitting right on his head, he was looking presentable enough to meet Yao, who had been waiting outside his room all that time. "Good afternoon, Yao," Arthur greeted the jack, who probably hadn't heard him and kept staring out of the window. "Yao," the queen repeated, but still nothing, so he decided to wave his hand in front of the servant's face in order to snap him out of his thoughts. And he did, making the latter do a jump. "Forgive me, my lord, I was distracted, aru," the jack apologized, taking a deep bow and blushing slightly from embarrassment. "No worries," Arthur calmed him down, and Yao immediately returned his gaze to the window, as if something very interesting was going on outside in the garden. Arthur looked there as well, but only managed to spot the Queen of Hearts, accompanied by his jack, who was following him a few steps behind. The Queen of Spades shot a discreet glance at Yao, noticed the latter's worried expression and wanted to ask what was going on, but then thought that the jack probably wouldn't tell him anything. During his short time being a queen, Arthur had already learned that Yao was a very reserved person just like Kiku. He could talk about anything and also give his opinion when being asked, however, when it was about himself, he was giving only curt or evasive answers. Getting to know Wang Yao was almost like solving a riddle. Yao kept watching Kiku, who seemed to feel the gaze and turned around, meeting his cousin's eyes. He looked back for a while and then resumed his path. "Ve~ my lord," called Feliciano, as they were approaching a fountain. "Yes?" replied Kiku, sitting down on the fountain's edge and taking out his fan, since the weather was a bit hot that day. "Forgive me if I am meddling into things that are not my business, but..." The jack shifted around a bit from nervousness. "Did something bad happen to you?" Please excuse me for my lack of discretion, it is just that you have been crestfallen since yesterday... and usually you are not like that... this is why... I have been wondering whether I could do something to cheer you up," Feliciano explained, scratching the back of his head and lowering his hat a bit to hide his eyes, looking embarrassed for having dared to stick his nose into his lord's private affairs. Kiku, however, was moved by his servant's good heart, and raised his fan to hide the sad smile that appeared on his lips. "Thank you for worrying, Feliciano, I really appreciate it... but this will pass, I will be soon alright again," he said, dipping his fingertips into the fountain water. "Are you sure?" inquired Feliciano. The queen nodded. "Yes... it is just a temporary discomfort." But Feliciano didn't look very convinced. Kiku hesitated a bit before opening his mouth to talk, but then decided that it was only fair to give at least an explanation to his jack, after the latter had gathered the courage to offer him his help. "Sometimes, Feliciano," he began, capturing the jack's attention, who rapidly raised his head in order to listen. "Sometimes, the memories we have believed to be almost forgotten, return out of a sudden and we realize that we have not overcome them at all, that they keep affecting us the same way they did when they took place... and this is what is happening to me right now," the queen explained, moving his fingers under the water, creating tiny waves and deforming his reflection. The reflection of the Queen of Hearts who at some point had just been Kiku... Kiku, whose love didn't have any "happily ever after": Kiku, who had moved to the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hearts, had woken up early like every day, cleaned his humble home and was now getting a visit from two people, who had become his best friends way faster than he had thought. "Move aside, brat, I arrived first!" spat a deep male voice. "Shut up, old man, I've been here since early morning," said another male voice, a quieter and softer, slower one. Kiku recognized them immediately and went to open the door with a smile on his face in order to welcome Sadik, a dark-haired tall and well-built guy with a sparse beard and a huge smile, and Herakles, a guy with always sleepy olive-colored eyes and medium-long wavy hair with some rebellious curls sticking out of it. "Hey, Kiku, have you had breakfast yet?" Sadik asked, in a great mood as always.  "What kind of greeting is that? Say at least 'good morning'," Herakles scolded him without even bothering to change his monotone tone. Then he looked at Kiku. "Good morning, Kiku." Kiku burst out laughing. There wasn't a single day these two weren't making him laugh with their constant fights and sometimes even competitions, always acting as though they hated each other, but in reality, they had cared for one another since their childhood. "Yeah, good morning. So have you had breakfast yet?" Sadik asked again, ignoring Herakles. "No, but I was just about to," Kiku replied, stepping aside to let them in his house that had already become their second home. But, instead, Kiku's two friends took him by the hand and dragged him outside. "Then come with us," said Herakles, and the three of them went to a garden where a huge apple tree was growing. Herakles and Kiku admired the tree's size, while Sadik started laughing and looking up to its top. "I'm going to pick the best apples," he announced and began to climb up the trunk. The other two watched him from the ground. "Be careful!" Kiku warned him, but Sadik didn't listen. At the same time, Herakles, instead of watching the one he considered an idiot, directed his gaze at Kiku... He was sometimes doing things like that, watching him for minutes without saying a word, just immersed in thought... or in illusions. And from time to time, he moved his hand intending to take Kiku's, but each time, the latter moved or Herakles changed his mind at the last moment. "Catch them!" Sadik screamed from above, snapping Herakles out of his thoughts exactly when the apples started to fall and were evaded by the other two, before they could get hit by them.  Then, Sadik jumped from a branch and landed clumsily, giving Herakles a pretext to mock him and starting to blush for having made a fool out of himself in front of Kiku. But the latter didn't pay that any mind, and the three of them picked up the apples in order to eat them under the tree's shadow. "Kiku, are the rumors that are going around in the village now true?" asked Sadik, chewing on a piece of apple. "Which rumors?" Kiku inquired, patiently peeling one of the fruit with a little knife he had borrowed from Herakles. "The rumor that your cousin, with whom you've been living before arriving here, is the Jack of Spades," said Sadik, taking another big bite. "Oh, yes... this is true," Kiku answered, making his friends choke suddenly, to such a point that Sadik had to hit himself in the chest to not suffocate. "He is King Alfred's jack?! Seriously?!" "Yes. This was, in fact, the reason I returned to live here, the place I was born. Because Yao had to move to the palace in the Kingdom of Spades," explained Kiku, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Look at that... so you have very influential relatives. People say that the King of Spades is the strongest of them all, so his jack has to be on the same level," Herakles commented, calming down and putting on that expression again that made him look as if he was sleepy. "Well, I can't really say anything to that. In the last letter I have gotten from my cousin, he was constantly complaining about the king and his pranks. This was years ago, when King Alfred was still very small, but judging by what I read, Yao adores His Majesty." Kiku smiled slightly as he remembered the first and also last letter from his cousin, who had to cut all his ties to the world outside the palace and court after having become jack. "Well, the world's a really small place, huh," was everything Sadik could utter after a brief silence and looked at Kiku, who was taking small bites from his peeled apple. "So that means that if you were to ask to become the Jack of Hearts, you'll receive that title for sure with your great references." He then directed his gaze towards the landscape and the Hearts Palace that wasn't very far away. "Why'd Kiku want to become jack?" intervened Herakles, frowning a bit, a barely visible line appearing between his eyebrows. "'Cause like this, he would be able to live in that luxurious palace, even though he'd have to serve the king. Can you imagine being the most important person right after His Majesty? That would be a great life, not like the poor one he's leading now," explained Sadik, making Kiku laugh again. "I like this life a lot, not because it's average, but... because I am very happy here, with you. I could never imagine what it would be like to live in that huge building, accompanied only by members of the court and His Majesty... it would be... lonely." He let out a sigh. "That's right, Kiku's place is here... with m-... with us," Herakles corrected himself immediately, averting his gaze when it met Kiku's, who was smiling with that seemingly imperturbable kindness and tranquility. "You're right. Kiku'll stay here until he's old, and who knows, maybe he even gets married," said Sadik, hugging the aforementioned one out of a sudden. "Oh, Kiku, please make me your wife," he joked, hugging him even tighter and pretending to kiss him. Kiku stepped aside, laughing loudly, and Herakles tried to pull Sadik away from him. Their days were passing exactly like this: laughing, joking, fighting and having conversations that were never leading to anything... briefly, they were days full of happiness. One evening, Herakles was accompanying Kiku home, while Sadik was sitting in a tavern and drinking way more than he should. Herakles said he would pick him up soon and left with Kiku. They were talking about trivial things once again. Herakles was sometimes making comments like how pleasant it would be to lead the life of a cat, while even carrying one in his arms that he had found on the way and decided to adopt (like the other ten he already had). "Alright, here we are," announced Kiku, petting the cat behind the ears. But the animal ignored him, instead rubbing up against Herakles, whose caresses it preferred. "Looks like it," replied Herakles, and they both just stayed in front of the door, knowing that they should say goodbye, but not doing it. "Good... good night," began Kiku, realizing that Herakles would remain silent. "Kiku," the latter suddenly said, before his friend could enter his home. "Yes?" "I... wanted to tell you something important, now that this idiot Sadik isn't here..." Herakles stammered, and Kiku's heart did a jump, due to all the feelings he, too, had for his friend. "Y-Yes, tell me," he asked, hiding his hands in his kimono's wide sleeves, so the other couldn't see that he was twisting his fingers out of nervousness. "Look, for some time, I, well... you know you are my best friend, but..." Herakles directed his sleepy gaze at Kiku's dark eyes. "But..." How, just how was he supposed to tell him that he was completely in love with him, that he couldn't bear seeing others touch or talk to him, even Sadik? How are you supposed to tell your best friend that he has become much more than that? "But?" Kiku encouraged him to continue, a bit anxiously. Herakles looked at him and fell silent, hearing the cat meow in his arms, demanding his attention. So he stopped his attempt to confess his love to Kiku. “Nothing… it was nothing,” he finally said, and Kiku only let out a disappointed “oh”. After that, there was silence again, except for the cat’s meows. “I think I should go for Sadik before he manages to pick up a fight or get lost on his way home,” Herakles spoke again. “Good night.” And left, scolding himself. On the way, he raised the cat to his eye level and looked into its yellow eyes that were shining in the dark. The cat stared back.  “There will be another chance, right?” he asked the animal. This time, it didn’t meow… maybe that was a bad omen… but Herakles decided to ignore it. No. There were no second chances in that life. Kiku got up one morning, experiencing a strange feeling of heaviness in his entire body. It was odd: he had slept the whole night, but still didn’t feel well-rested at all. Nevertheless, he decided to begin his usual routine and went to get dressed and to wash his face. Taking a water vessel, he headed to the little mirror in his room, but then spotted, looking at his reflection, that there was something on his chest, peeking out of the white yukata he used to sleep in. Surprised, he moved the cloth aside and suddenly lost his breath when he saw a red heart on the left side of his chest… the queen’s mark. He immediately covered it up again and turned his back to the mirror, breathing as deeply as he could, trying to calm down before facing his mirror again. Finally, he slowly turned back and uncovered his chest. The squiggly red heart was still there. He ran his fingers over it, feeling its texture. It was as real as the things he knew would inevitably happen next, so he just slumped to the floor. No, this couldn’t be happening. The news spread quickly thanks to Sadik, who had come to Kiku’s house that same morning and saw poor Kiku on the floor, completely at a loss and full of fear. “But Kiku, don’t you realize that this is the best thing that could’ve happened to you?” Sadik asked, grabbing his shoulders. “You’re going to be queen… the Queen of Hearts. Kiku, you’ll be able to leave that misery, you’ll be rich and respected, the people’ll know you and throw themselves to your feet… this is a blessing.” But Kiku didn’t seem to think the same. The day passed and the rumor started to spread like wildfire. At daybreak, almost everyone in the village already knew about it. Herakles arrived running around midnight, shoving the door open and startling Kiku. "Herakles? What's the matter?" he asked, watching his friend hurry towards him with big steps and shove him with so much force that Kiku's back bumped into the wall, producing a sound that was barely drowned out by Herakles' heavy breathing. Kiku was baffled, his arms being held tightly, making him unable to move. "Tell me it's not true," his friend begged. But Kiku stayed silent. "Tell me!" Herakles insisted. But still nothing. Startled and in a fit of desperation, he then started struggling with Kiku, trying to open the latter's kimono. "No!" Kiku screamed, when Herakles removed his hands and managed to discover the much-feared red heart on his chest. As soon as he saw it, Herakles looked as if the entire air had left his lungs. Still clutching Kiku, who was standing there in his disheveled clothes, he lowered his head, trying to take deep breaths. "Why you?" he managed to utter. "Why you of all the inhabitants of this kingdom? Why did it have to be you to get that mark?" He buried his fingers into the other's arms. "It's destiny," was everything Kiku answered, making Herakles immediately raise his head. His usually sleepy eyes were shining with rage. "Is this all you have to say?!" he spat, shoving him against the wall for a second time. "Are you going to let that mark decide your future? Are you really going to be taken away from home and the ones you care for just to be put into a cage of luxury without any resistance? To live together with a man you have only seen from far away?" His voice sounded forced, as if his own throat was preventing him from saying it out loud. "You are agreeing to belong to someone else without reproaches!" He raised his hands until reaching Kiku's now bare shoulders and his neck until finally grabbing him by the face. "And I will stay here, while you'll be sharing the bed with the king." Herakles' rage changed to pain, as he looked at Kiku with deep sadness in his eyes. The latter couldn't take it anymore, losing control over his emotions for the very first time in his life. "And what am I supposed to do in your opinion?!" he shouted, trembling, and took the other's hands that were on his cheeks. "I am afraid, Herakles! I am so afraid I can't even move. I don't know whether this mark is a blessing like everyone says, for me it's nothing but an irrefutable sentence that is killing me even without an executioner... Herakles, you act as if I had a say in the matter, but I do not, this thing has already decided my future." He put his hand on the heart symbol. "And who am I to struggle against something that has already been written? Who am I to lead a useless fight against destiny just to stay with you? I am not that strong, Herakles."  He finally let himself get overwhelmed by the giant wave of feelings accumulating in his throat. "If that's the case, then I will leave my own mark on you so that you will never forget me," said Herakles, suddenly kissing Kiku roughly on the lips, stealing the air he had in his lungs and making him let out a stifled scream. "What are you doing? I am going to marry the king!"  "You're not sitting on the throne yet." Herakles kissed him again, pressing him against the wall and lowering his clothes even further, despite Kiku's protests. "We will get punished," the latter pronounced between kisses, slowly yielding to the desperate caresses. "They can whip me to death for all I care, but I will make you mine before the king does," Herakles replied and captured Kiku's mouth again, biting the other's lower lip until making it bleed and putting his hand into his kimono, touching every centimeter of his skin and finally doing all the things he had always hesitated to do. His fingers were running over Kiku's back and hips and reaching his chest, scratching at the heart mark as though wanting to remove it with his own nails. Kiku let out a pained sound at the burning on his skin mingled with the pleasure of feeling the other's lips on his neck and his other hand going down between his legs, touching places no one had ever explored before. He clung to Herakles' back as the sensations were getting more intense, and the latter kept touching him and biting his shoulders, leaving bruises on his skin, as if they were proof that he had been there, possessing the future owner of the crown. And when the heat between the two of them had become unbearable, Herakles grabbed Kiku's hips and lifted him off the ground, holding him against the wall. Then he painfully entered the other, who was well-aware that there was no going back now, so he just wrapped his legs around his friend's and now lover's hips and kissed him. The taste of their lips got mixed with the salty one of his tears, as he felt his back rub against the wall, provoking a few scratches, and Herakles' fingers burying themselves into his thighs. Herakles' hot skin seemed to burn him alive, Kiku's fingers buried themselves into the other's wavy hair, and his breath mixed with moans was meeting the ear of Herakles, whose face was pressed against his partner's neck. Amidst all that pleasure, Kiku kept begging for his mark to disappear, for that blood-red heart to vanish before Herakles would let go of him... but that didn't happen. The two of them fell to the floor, trying to normalize their breathing. Their faces were red with their hair sticking to it due to the sweat. Apparently, Herakles had the same thought as Kiku, for he took a look at the latter's chest again that was slightly red and with a few tiny blood drops leaving the scratches, but the symbol was still there. So he just kissed Kiku, but this time slower, gentlier... to make up for all the roughness from before. "I wish I could leave a mark on you for real, to know for sure that you'll keep thinking about me," Herakles commented, kissing his cheek. And in the blink of an eye, the inevitable took place... three days later, Kiku found himself sitting in an ostentatious red carriage, decorated with crimson and golden tapestries, pulled by six horses, and followed by the entire royal guard. The cheers and shouts of joy from the villagers were sounding like a funeral march in his ears. He looked through the window and managed to spot his best friend and the person he loved in the crowd. Sadik was smiling, beside himself from happiness, and Herakles looking so broken, that it was a surprise he could still stand on his feet. "Why are you so happy?" the latter asked, watching the carriage leave. "Because Kiku's going to be queen!" Herakles was about to object, but Sadik didn't let him. "He's going to get everything we'll never be able to offer... the life he deserves," he said with slight nostalgia. His friend looked at him. Could it be that Sadik had feelings for Kiku as well?... Herakles directed his gaze to the carriage's window again, spotted Kiku and thought that maybe the other was right, after all. He had nothing to offer to Kiku, and you couldn't live on love alone.  Kiku watched the distance grow between himself and his friends, and a sob escaped his mouth that ended in a river of tears leaving his eyes. Halfway, he had to bury his nails into his stomach to keep himself from jumping out of the carriage and running back to the village. They arrived at the palace that was looking immensely huge compared to his small village. Everything seemed so irreal, the fact that everybody was bowing when he passed by, that he was being followed by soldiers. That he was seeing the King of Spades in person in the main hall! Wait... if King Alfred was there, then that meant... Kiku left the path that was indicated to him and ran up to the king without thinking. "Your Majesty! Forgive me for my boldness of addressing you directly!" He took such a deep bow that his head was almost touching his knees, not daring to look at the surprised royal. "Please let me speak to your jack, I know that I don't even have the right to talk to you, but please, I beg you... I need to speak to him," he continued, clenching his fists. "Are you the one who's going to be queen?" Alfred asked, trying to look him into the face, but in vain. "Exactly, my lord," Kiku replied. Yao himself, who was there as well, was baffled, standing there with his mouth open. The king turned around to his servant. "If Yao is alright with it, then go ahead," Alfred said calmly. "O-Of course I am, thank you, my lord," said Yao, leaving his temporary trance. "Thank you, thank you so much, Your Majesty." Kiku took another series of bows and dragged Yao away until they found an empty room. "Kiku, but... you... are going to become the Queen of Hearts, aru?" the jack asked, trying to collect his thoughts, without even greeting his cousin first, whom he hadn't seen for such a long time. "Yes, Yao, but I need your help," Kiku begged desperately, approaching him. "I don't want to be queen, I don't want to, I don't want to... You probably know a way to let the mark disappear, you are a jack, you have to know!" he exclaimed, opening his kimono a bit and revealing the red heart together with some bruises and scratches.  "No! Kiku, there is no such way..." Yao eyed Kiku's chest for a moment and then looked at him, startled. "Who did this to you?" The other just covered himself up with his hand, but before he could answer, someone entered the room all of a sudden. It was a brown-haired boy with slightly swollen almond-colored eyes, who had to be a servant, judging by his clothes. He and Kiku stared at each other. "Are you... the queen?" the boy asked, his voice breaking. Kiku just nodded hesitantly. "Where are your manners, bursting in like that, aru?" Yao scolded the servant, who only reacted after a few long seconds. "Excuse me," he said, not averting his gaze from Kiku until having closed the door. The jack let out a few comments concerning that boy's education, but then remembered the reason he was there in the first place.  "Yao... I really don't want this... I don't belong here," said Kiku, hunching down while speaking. "I know, I'm going to tell the king, to tell him that I cannot become his queen and..." He ran to the door, but his cousin stepped in his way. "Wait, Kiku, you can't do that. Even if you tell the king and he agrees, even if you manage to escape, the court will find you and force you to live according to your destiny..." Yao stared him into the eyes. "Kiku, do not make it harder than it already is, life is giving you a huge responsibility, so you should act worthy of it." "But I'm not!" Kiku exclaimed, clinging to Yao, who, a bit flabbergasted, placed his hands on his cousin's back, feeling that the other had gone back to be the child who wanted to be calmed down and comforted during stormy nights. "Cousin... I cannot stay here, there is someone I love out there... how could you expect me to be so strong?" Kiku cried, trembling in Yao's arms. "You are strong, much stronger than you think, you just haven't noticed it yet. You will manage it, you'll see." But Kiku didn't believe it until he started to wear the crown on his head and the queen's title in his name... he was, indeed, strong. No... he had forced himself to be strong and, most of all, to stop feeling... to stop feeling that love he had to put to sleep. Sometimes, however, he did remember Herakles and also the way the latter had tried to mark him to make him always think about him. He wished Herakles knew that during some nights he did feel his burning heat... as if his hands had never let go of his body. Feeling another pair of eyes on himself, Kiku snapped out of his memories and turned around, but didn't see anyone. "Are you alright, my lord?" asked Feliciano, who hadn't said a word while His Majesty had been immersed in thought. "Yes, no worries," said Kiku, forgetting that sensation, while a certain little joker just shook his head and decided to go to the other world. He had to make sure that Gilbert wasn't doing anything stupid in his absence, however, he already had the feeling that this was, indeed, the case. The boy left the queen and the jack behind in order to teleport himself in peace. The typical white light appeared, Peter blinked and when he opened his eyes again, he was already in the other world, where the sun was setting and dying the sky orange. "Gilbo... I hope you're behaving right now," he muttered, skillfully jumping from the roof of a certain orphanage and, obviously, without being noticed by anyone. With a stealthiness that could compete with that of a cat, he sneaked into the building and could then walk there without any care, being mistaken for just another orphan. He had already gotten used to that, and some of the children weren't even wondering anymore who he was, just calling him "that kid". Peter was walking through the hallways, careful to not be seen by the King of Diamonds, whom he spotted just in time and promptly disappeared from the latter's field of vision. The king was carrying little Matthew in his arms, who had wrapped his arms around the adult and pressed his red cheek against Francis' shoulder. It seemed that he had caught a cold and was having a bit of a fever. "Why, look at that: the Diamond is taking care of a poor kid without any lineage," Peter murmured, watching the king walk away with the child in his arms. "That Antonio, where the hell is he when I need him?" grumbled Francis, until he finally managed to find the Spaniard taking care of other children. "Young man! Come here immediately!" the king commanded, being careful of not raising his voice too much in order to not disturb Matthew, who was groaning from time to time. "Forgotten my name already?" Antonio commented sadly and approached him, noticing little red-cheeked Matthew, who could barely keep his eyes open. "What's with Matt?" the Spaniard asked, placing his hand on the boy's forehead, who turned away, pressing his face against Francis' neck. "He's got a fever." "I already noticed this myself," replied the king angrily and let out a sigh. "Does this place have medicine, at least?" he spat, surely worried sick about Matt. "Of course, let's go to the infirmary," Antonio said, guiding Francis, who constantly touched Matt's forehead and cheeks, verifying his temperature. The king was so worried, because he had no clue how to treat a simple cold, thinking that it might be a dangerous illness. After all, every time he himself had gotten sick, he had been treated right away, placed into bed and pampered until he felt better. However, that meant bringing him all the food he wished and his medicine and fulfilling his whims... no one had ever stroked his forehead gently nor held him in their arms to make him feel better and even less had he been tucked in, given a kiss on the forehead and a delicious warm soup. This was not how a king was to be treated. They hurried through the hallway. Even though Matt only had a slight fever, they worried that it could get worse. However, now, in the most unexpected moment, a certain teenager made his appearance. Lovino stepped in their way and started staring at Antonio. If looks could kill, then the Spaniard would surely be bleeding out on the floor right now. "Lovino..." he uttered at the other's sight. "Aside, boy, we are in a hurry right now," Francis commanded, still not having lost his royal attitude despite carrying a child in his arms. "Then scram, I just want to talk to him," Lovino replied, pointing at Antonio. The latter got scared and averted his gaze in order to not look into the Italian's eyes. "Sorry... but I have to accompany Fran to the infirmary," Antonio apologized, praying for the teenager to let them go, but that didn't happen. Instead, the Italian looked at Francis. "The infirmary's at the end of the hallway on the left, the doctor's probably there right now, so you don't need that idiot. And now, if you'll excuse me..." he grumbled, grabbed Antonio's hand and dragged him away with all his might, hearing a few complaints from Francis, who didn't do anything to save Antonio, though. The Spaniard was struggling and looking at the king, pleading for help, but to no avail. "Let me go, Lovino, I have things to do," he begged, feeling that his arm might get torn off any moment. But the teenager led him into an empty room, roughly shoved him inside, slammed the door shut with so much strength that the fragile walls started to tremble and locked it. "Alright, you damn bastard, and now you're going to answer me a question," Lovino said in that mafioso-tone he had surely learned from some gangster movies. It made Antonio shudder, even though he was the older one. "W-What?" he inquired, stepping back instinctively. Lovino took deep breaths, trying to keep his composure. "Why...?" He cleared his throat before continuing, and the Spaniard noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. "Why did you... do that last night?" Antonio understood that he meant the kiss. "But before you answer, let me make one thing clear: if you were only fooling with me, I WILL break your nose for real this time and your fucking face as well, so that no one would be able to recognize you for the rest of your life. I'm serious," Lovino threatened him. "I wasn't fooling with you!" Antonio got upset. He would never do such a thing. "So it was all just a game? Did you lose a bet or something?"  Antonio shook his head twice. "So what the hell was going through your head, then?!" Lovino exclaimed desperately. "I'm in love with you!" the Spaniard answered with the same desperation. Lovino froze, not having expected that in the slightest. "What? No way, you're just joking. Come on, that's not funny," the Italian objected. Antonio let out a frustrated grunt and tousled his hair in order to not slap the other across the face to beat some sense into him. "Lovino, you're driving me crazy! Why can't you just accept the fact of someone falling in love with you? Not with your brother Feliciano, but with you! Lovino Vargas, I, Antonio Fernández Carriedo, love you for real!" he screamed, while Lovino was shaking his head and muttering something in Italian. Seeing that the other was still in shock, Antonio groaned. There he had gotten a chance to make things right, and instead made everything even worse! Just how stupid could he be? He could have told Lovino that it had just been an impulse out of anger and that's it, but no! He had to confess his feelings to him! He squatted, bent over a bit and held his head with both hands, complaining about his own stupidity. "Things weren't supposed to happen like that," he said with sadness. "I was planning to wait for you to reach majority age... Stupid, stupid!" He gave himself slight punches on the head. "I don't get it. What the hell were you going to do after my eighteenth birthday?" Lovino inquired. The other looked up at him with slight embarrassment and started blushing. Then he averted his gaze again in order to not directly face Lovino's rejection. "Ask you to move in with me." "What?!" Lovino screamed, making Antonio jump up immediately. “Not in order to do something bad nor perverted to you!” he exclaimed, waving his hands, as if wanting to dissipate that idea. “It’s just that you have to leave the orphanage after your eighteenth birthday and Feliciano’s living with his tutors… so… I wanted you to live with me, but now you hate me for sure… ah, what nonsense, please forget everything I said.” Antonio hurried to the door, not looking at Lovino. But as he unlocked the door and turned the doorknob, a blond boy fell on the floor. Peter groaned and looked up at the other two. Antonio was staring at him slightly perplexed and Lovino seemed to want to skin him alive, since it was more than obvious that he had been eavesdropping. “Ah… hello…” the little joker said, getting up and shaking the dust from his clothes, laughing with a bit of fear. “Uhm… goodbye!” And ran away before the older Vargas brother could catch him, hearing a bunch of insults from the latter. “Lovino, Lovino… when will you finally accept that your destiny is to be with someone other than your brother?” Peter asked while running, looking over his shoulder from time to time to make sure nobody was following him. Being out of breath, he had to stop and return to his main mission: to find Gilbert. The bad feeling that the latter was going to do something stupid was getting worse. Feeling safe again, he started walking at a normal pace, passing the infirmary, where he encountered Francis once more. The king was suspiciously eyeing the slightly irritated doctor, who was putting a thermometer into Matthew’s mouth and had trouble staying calm, because Francis didn’t stop questioning everything she was doing. First, he asked her a thousand questions about the instrument she was going to put into the child’s mouth and then about the medicine she was giving to the latter… the doctor was already about to punch Francis in the face. “You better not poison the child, miss,” he warned her for the fifth time, while she was giving a glass of water to Matthew so he could swallow the pill. “I already told you that it’s medicine, not poison, and if you don’t stop annoying me, I will poison you,” the doctor said, a young woman with brown skin and long black hair, who was wearing a simple light blue dress under her white lab coat. The two adults waited until the child swallowed the medicine and took a few sips out of the glass, returning it then to the doctor, whose name was Sei. “You’ll feel better soon,” she said, running a hand over Matt’s cheek. He nodded listlessly.  While suffering from his fever, Matt managed to direct his gaze to the informary's window, where he could see Peter, who, in his eyes, had become someone, who was only bringing bad luck and reminding him of the fact that Francis would probably have to leave soon. In a reflex-movement, Matthew averted his eyes from the child at the window and tugged at the king's shirt in order to bury his face into the latter's stomach. Francis petted his head, thinking that the little one was just feeling bad from his cold, and, regretting the fact that he wasn't able to do anything for him, he just took the boy into his arms to carry him back to his bed. "Time to go," Peter said before Francis left the infirmary. The joker couldn't help looking over his shoulder at the king and Matthew, who seemed like father and son right now... and perceived that unpleasant feeling of jealousy eating at him and deep inside he was happy that the kings would return home soon and leave the ones with whom they had created these bonds behind. A thought so cruel that he even felt remorse. He shook his head, trying to get rid of all these thoughts. First, he wasn't like that, and second, he had more important things to do than to rejoice over someone else's pain. Peter left the orphanage. It was already nighttime and in order to not waste any more time, he took a shortcut to see if he would find Gilbert at Alfred's and Arthur's, which he doubted, but it wouldn't hurt to visit them anyway. Although he could already imagine what these two were doing... that was dangerous... the King of Spades was running out of time. The joker arrived at his destiny and entered Arthur's house without being noticed, as skillfully as always. The store owner was lying in bed with Alfred, he had allowed himself to close the store a lot earlier that day... a little whim like that wasn't hurting anyone and even less since he had discovered what a good lover the king was. The two of them were laughing mischievously being covered by the blanket up to their waist. They felt like schoolboys who skipped class to kiss behind the school building, though they obviously did a lot more than just kiss. "Alfred, just where have you been all that time?" Arthur asked, who had acquired the habit of running his fingers over the younger one's mark every time it was revealed. And Alfred himself was already used to caresses on that part of his body.  "Locked up in a palace," he replied with a smile. He couldn't see almost anything without his glasses, but still managed to vaguely make out Arthur's green eyes and the smile on his lips. "Or rather in a fairy tale. I'm surprised to not see your white horse standing in front of my house." Arthur moved closer, lying on top of the other and placing his chin on Alfred's chest. "My horse is black, not white," Alfred answered, now stroking Arthur's tousled hair. The latter closed his eyes and smiled wider, feeling like a kitten receiving affection from its owner. "White, black, whatever... I'm glad that it left you with a concussion in front of my store," he said, raising his face a bit in order to reach Alfred's lips and kiss him gently. He was really happy that he had met Alfred after so much time of wasting his life with vices, one-night-stands and rarely relationships that had ended up toxic every time. And now, he had found his dream guy in the end. He felt that he could seriously die from happiness any moment. "I'm hungry and going to the kitchen. Want something as well?" Arthur asked after breaking off the kiss and got up from the bed, standing in front of Alfred completely naked. The younger one blushed at the sight, making Arthur almost melt away from cuteness. The king was thinking about some snack to enjoy in bed, while the store owner took a step to the door. But then he suddenly stopped, placing his hand on his chest and sat down again, panting a bit. "What's the matter?" asked Alfred with worry and sat up, watching the other massage his heart and try to catch his breath. "No-Nothing, I'm fine," he said, attempting to smile in order to not scare Alfred, who palpated the bedside table for his glasses to see Arthur better. He knew that the latter was forcing himself to smile and wrapped him in a hug. "Don't lie to me," he begged, hugging him tightly. "I'm alright, I'm serious," Arthur tried to calm him down. "Are you sure?" "Of course." They stayed silent for a while. Alfred continued hugging him. "Arthur, if anything should happen to you-..." "It won't," Arthur said, laughing a bit, despite not really believing his own words himself. He felt a little kiss on his neck given by Alfred, who didn't have any intention of letting go. The king thought that he wanted to hold Arthur like this forever to be with him and protect him from anything that could cause him harm. Since when did he love him so much? In which moment... had his strong hands that were breaking chains and longing for freedom, become hands that wanted to protect and guard those fragile fragments of happiness, represented by one single person? The little kisses continued, making Arthur let out a sigh. He grabbed Alfred's face in order to kiss him on the lips, until they let themselves fall onto the bed again. "To hell with the food," the store owner said, as Alfred moved on top of him to continue kissing and perhaps doing something else as well. If he had the possibility to cling to that moment, to cling to Alfred, he could die from happiness, go with God and force him to give him a second life to live it with the king. For the very first time he felt that life could even become better, that everything he had to endure in the past was being repaid triple. "How sappy," muttered Peter watching the scene from the window, holding himself on it with his tail. Swinging a bit, he reached the roof with a single jump and immediately headed to the hospital where King Ivan was. He knew it was more than obvious that Gilbert was with Feliciano, but also didn't really want to face him, so he just pretended to be dumb in order to gain some time to prepare himself mentally for the encounter with the other joker, for stopping the latter from doing something stupid. So, even knowing that he wouldn't find Gilbert with the King of Clubs, he went to the clinic to collect his thoughts... it would be better to not approach the older joker yet. Upon arriving he spotted all the patients in the yard, except for the king and Feliks, so, being careful of not being seen by anyone, he entered the building. "Take them all," Ivan commanded, putting his hands on his hips to accentuate his dominant stance. Feliks looked at him with reproach, as he brought his pills to his mouth and took a long sip of water out of his paper glass. "Open," the king continued. Still annoyed, Feliks opened his mouth, letting the other look inside. "Lift your tongue." Feliks did that as well. "Hands." Feliks stretched out his hands and presented his empty palms to Ivan. "Pockets." Letting out a loud snort, Feliks showed him the pockets of his white pants. "Well done, young Feliks. Not that hard, right?" the king praised him, patting his head. The other slapped his hand away. "Like, no clue why you insist so much on the medicine, no need to drug me, if you want to do weird things to me, just ask," he said, heading to the yard. Ivan just laughed and followed him, after having thanked Emma for the medicine. The day before she had been so kind to explain to Ivan that Feliks needed his medicine (exactly the ones he refused to take and was hiding in a sock) in order to control his illness which was making him believe that there was a Toris in love with him and that his family was conspiring to keep them away from each other. She didn't give a lot of details, but the king wouldn't have understood them anyway, so she just told him that it was vital for Feliks to keep taking his pills and going to therapy so he could get a chance to leave the clinic earlier. For that reason, Ivan had decided to watch over Feliks. The latter didn't like that in the slightest, but since it was Ivan, he reluctantly accepted. In the yard, Feliks stretched in order to alleviate the fatigue he had been feeling during the last days since that horrible visit by his father. He turned around to Ivan who was walking a few steps behind him, and for a moment he felt thankful for having him, but still decided to not wait for him and kept walking, pretending to be offended by Ivan's overprotective attitude. But in reality, it was making him happy.  "Hey, Ivan," he called after a few minutes of silence as he reached a bench where the two of them took a seat. He allowed himself to lift his feet on it and place his arms on his knees. "Yes?" the king answered, who was sitting properly. "Well, you know I'm, like, super curious, and there's something I've been wondering about for days." Feliks paused to think about how to ask his question. "If your wife is, like, an dirty bitch and cheating on you with your employee..." "I told you not to speak of Elizabetha like that," Ivan interrupted him, offended, but the other shook his head, making him understand that he didn't care. "If she's, like, super dirtily cheating on you with your employee... then, maybe you have a lover somewhere as well? Like, I'm just saying, because I can't believe that you just accept it all without having any fun yourself," he finally asked, slowly approaching Ivan, eager to hear his response, because he was absolutely sure that the king had a little harem. Ivan, however, just let out a slightly embarrassed laugh.  "Of course not, nothing of the sort," he said, scratching the back of his head and blushing a bit. “Oh, come on, not even a handsome guy, at least?”  “No,” the king admitted. The other opened his mouth, but managed to say something only after a while. “Ivan, no!” he exclaimed, offended. “You can’t just let Lizzy do as she likes in front of your eyes without doing anything yourself! Bad Ivan-baby, very bad!” “I see no need to have a lover… and there would be no one willing to have a relationship with me, anyway,” said the latter, aware of how afraid his subordinates were of him… or rather everyone around him. “Like, Majesty… so you mean you satisfy your libido just with your hand?.. Huy, sorry for saying it, but that’s totally sad,” replied Feliks, putting on a spellbound expression. “You should find someone to be with you during cold nights, someone to give you a night of unbridled passion, after which you end up in each other’s arms, all sticky and sweaty, in a huge bed and then… then…” He was hugging himself while imagining that scene, while the slightly nervous and embarrassed Ivan was looking at him, averting his gaze, since that conversation had become a bit… perverted. And besides, Feliks was letting out sighs that could be easily taken for moans. And this was the moment Ivan managed to spot something looking like a tail… a black tail with an arrow-shaped point that belonged to a certain blond joker, who was about to sneak away. Without thinking twice, the king ran up to him, leaving the still talking Feliks behind on the bench, who noticed his absence after a few seconds and followed him angrily. “Ivan, don’t run away!” he commanded, thinking that the king was escaping his comments, but then noticed that the latter was running after something… or someone. “Hey, Ivan, I’m talking to… you…” he said after a brief run and having reached a corner away from where the other patients and nurses were, managing to catch up to the king… his surprise, however, was not from seeing an approximately twelve-year old child in a mental clinic, but from the fact that Ivan was holding said child up in the air by what seemed to be a tail. Feliks pointed at the tail, then at Ivan and at the boy, until he could finally speak again. “What is this?” he asked in a barely audible voice since the air didn’t reach his lungs all the way at the sight of the boy wriggling and protesting. Who possessed a tail! A real tail! "A joker," Ivan answered simply, shrugging and raising the boy to his eye level to stare at him with a smile that was the opposite of reassuring. "The joker who brought me here." "Let me go, Majesty, I beg you!" Peter, who was still trying to escape, was on the verge of tears. "Joker?... What?" Feliks staggered a bit, but managed to stay on his feet, still staring at where the strange extremity was united with the child's back... its black color was getting paler until taking on the boy's skin tone. It could even be seen how his lowest vertebra was connected to it. "He is an almost extinct creature living in the nation I am from and the reason I am not in my kingdom right now," the king added with a piercing gaze at the boy, who started to tremble. "You will return to your kingdom, Majesty, I swear it, but please let me go!" he exclaimed, mentally pleading for Gilbert to stop whatever he was doing at the moment and rush to his rescue. "Majesty..." Feliks whispered, looking with wide open eyes at Ivan and once again at the boy, under whose hat a pair of horns could be noticed. "Ivan... you are a real king..." "Yes, that is what I have been telling you from the day we first met," said Ivan as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Feliks straightened his back and approached him with firm steps, evading the boy who was scaring him a bit. "No, Ivan! You're a king, a king, a real one! Oh my God... I'm probably hallucinating... no, can't be, I just took my meds," he started to mutter, now walking to and fro and trying to think straight. "Jesus Christ! So I've been talking to a real king all this time! And even sleeping with him! Oh well, we did literally just sleep, not having sex, but still... Ivan, you're a damn king!" he finally exploded, without even really knowing what kinds of feelings were filling up his chest right now: it was surprise, joy, fear, skepticism, a real whirlpool of emotions and thoughts. "Yes, I am," the other answered, rolling his eyes and waiting for Feliks to calm down. But the latter was getting even more excited. "No! I really have to be hallucinating... that's just illogical, this can't..." But before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his cheeks and yelled out. The supposed king had let go of Peter and was pinching his roommate's cheeks like the last time.  "Ouch!" "Calm down, young Feliks," Ivan said, pinching him even harder and making him shed tears. Suddenly, he moved his face closer to Feliks' and stared him into the eyes. "This is real, and you feel it, right? I am real... and yes, I am truly a king. Do you believe it now or should I cause you more pain?" Feliks finally calmed down, stared back at Ivan in order to search for any trace of lies, and was relieved not to find any... but also terrified that his mind might be playing cruel games with him once again, so he placed his hands on Ivan's. "Pinch me one more time," he asked. The king did it, and Feliks yelled out in pain once again. At the same time, Peter, who had been let go, slowly retroceded and took advantage of the King of Clubs' distraction to escape. He was in real trouble now, but would think about it later. There was just one person left to visit... and to be honest he didn't feel like doing it at all.  Peter could just ignore Gilbert, let him do as he pleased and scold him when the latter would arrive literally with his tail between his legs... but he couldn't allow that to happen, he couldn't let Gilbert confess his feelings with false hope, because it was obvious that this was what the older joker was planning to do. Gilbert had always been impulsive and seemed to follow his emotions more than his reason... which would bring him to his ruin and perhaps to the biggest deception he had ever faced. Peter didn't want to see him like that, if there was something he couldn't bear to watch, was a devastated Gilbert. He just wanted to spare him that suffering... after all, the boy knew better than anyone how painful it was to spend your life dreaming. He ran to Feliciano's house as fast as he could, but didn't find him there. Muttering curses under his breath, he started searching everywhere where the other could be, until he finally found Gilbert standing in front of a church's door, apparently hesitating to enter. The older joker was watching Feliciano from behind, who was sitting on one of the last benches. Contrary to his brother, he wasn't looking at the crucified Christ in the center of the altar nor at the saints or virgins who seemed to be watching him with something like pity. No, Feliciano Vargas was staring at the ground, his folded hands on his lap, and with a feeling he thought he would never experience in his life. The Italian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, thinking of all the things that had happened in such a short time. First, he had met a lost king named Ludwig, then there was the failed attempt to escape with his brother, and in the end, that kiss... the mere memory made him shudder and finally look up at the man on the altar. "God... what should I do?" he asked quietly, hiding his eyes under his bangs' shadow once again. "What do I have to do? What should I do if my brother stops being the most important person in my life?" he inquired, remembering Ludwig again and that feeling that was compressing his chest so much it brought tears to his eyes. A long time ago, when he had still been a child and separated from his brother for the first time, he swore that there was nobody more important for him than his twin. Lovino would be his number one forever... his little universe would be only for the two of them. But then, Ludwig had arrived and taken everything down so easily it was almost scary. So Feliciano was in a dilemma right now. What the hell should he do now that someone else had entered his heart? Could that be considered a betrayal? It was as if he was waiting for some kind of divine answer, perhaps hoping that God would speak to him and give him a solution for his problem. But the only thing he heard were the bells announcing the time. Feliciano felt frustrated... contrary to Lovino, he had to admit that the house of God had never given him any comfort... He got up, crossed himself quickly and was about to leave, however, spotted a certain albino at the entrance. "Gilbert..." was the only thing he could utter. The other was looking unusually serious, but still grinning slightly. The joker, whose head was still covered by the hood of his black sweatshirt, was about to greet the Italian, but another voice interrupted him. "Joker," said Ludwig, having arrived running. He had been searching for Feliciano all day, after the latter had left the house early in the morning without any explanation. The aforementioned one frowned: King Ludwig was the last person he wanted to see, and Peter, who was observing them from a distance, knew it. "Lu-Ludwig? What are you doing here?" Feliciano asked, startled. "I was worried. You left without a word, so I thought something bad might have happened to you," the king explained, relieved because he had finally found him. "And it did: a king who is not able to tell two people apart. That's what happened to him," spat Gilbert.  "What do you mean by that? Speak clearly if you want to attack me with words," the king said in a threatening tone, redirecting his attention to the joker. "I do speak clearly, Your Majesty, it's you who doesn't seem to understand... not even that this boy is not your jack. Just notice already that he is not the servant you have hurt with your indifference and stupidity! I will not allow you to hurt this Feliciano as well! I should have known that it was a mistake to have sent you here…" "I am aware that this is not my jack, that he is Feliciano, I know him..." Ludwig started to object. "No, you don't!" Gilbert interrupted him all of a sudden. "Don't you dare affirm that you know this Feliciano, because you don't know nothing at all, neither the things that make him sad, nor the ones that make him happy! Nothing!" This was the moment Peter decided to intervene, so he jumped from the roof, joining them. "Gilbert, enough!" he commanded, landing between the latter and King Ludwig and not caring about Feliciano's great surprise of seeing him. "No, Peter, enough with this stupid game!" snapped the furious Gilbert. "A stupid game that we planned and carried out ourselves. Remember that it won't last forever and don't ruin it with your whims!" replied Peter, glaring at the older joker, who, for the first time in his life, wanted to slap that boy, who was forcing himself to act like an adult. "Don't call it whims! You know exactly what has happened during all that time, that these feelings didn't appear overnight, that I know Feliciano for more than just a few weeks, unlike that miserable king! He's the one who has whims, not me!" Gilbert exclaimed. Peter was about to contradict, but Feliciano spoke first. "You... you're not Gilbert, right?" He asked, making everyone freeze and turn around to him. "You're not the Gilbert I know." He examined the joker with his almond-colored eyes,  the latter staring at him with his eyes wide open... Feliciano wasn't as stupid as he seemed. "Gilbert... quiet..." Peter hissed, not daring to move a sole muscle. Even the king was awaiting the albino's answer, but to his and Peter's surprise, Gilbert just laughed bitterly and put on a crooked smile. "True... I'm not the Gilbert you know." Peter had to suppress a swear word. "So who are you then?" Feliciano inquired, approaching Gilbert a bit. "I'm a sneaky devil, a jester who made use of his acting talent to pretend to be human just to talk to you at least once," the latter admitted, taking off his hood and revealing his silver hair that was shining in the moonlight. And together with it, the black horns identifying him as a joker. "Don't you remember, Feliciano? This is exactly the place where I had the courage to address you for the very first time." Having said this, Gilbert looked at the Christ at the base of the altar again... he could still remember it, could still feel that nervousness... His memories came back to life, as he stood there, in the same place as back then.