Ch. 21 – From The Shadows

Chapter Twenty-One – From The Shadows

Even if he inhabited a clueless, clumsy body, Sebastian was aware of his senses being where they needed to be, so after wandering for a while, he could tell that someone was following him. The attempt from earlier that day rushed to mind immediately. After all, as wrapped as he had been in indulging in forbidden pleasures with Milo, he had failed to think properly of the true meaning of being thrown into a strange world like this one.

The most logical explanation was that someone wanted to bring Ifigia to its doom by removing him from the throne. Why that someone had chosen that strange manner of handling such a thing was beyond his comprehension. Unless, he thought, as he stopped, that someone had also sent a minion along to ensure that Prince Sebastian would never return to his world.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" He turned quickly on his heels to surprise the adversary that was stalking him from the shadows.

To his surprise, he found himself face to face with that pig-like-faced boy from school named Chet. The same Chet Milo had suspected to have thrown that rock only hours ago. He was accompanied by two other boys and grinned like an idiot.

Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Something from his manner of speech seemed to surprise Chet for a bit because he shifted his weight from one foot to another and looked at his acolytes as if they could help him understand.

"Were you sent to assassinate me?" Sebastian asked and narrowed his eyes. Lost in thought as he had been, he had wandered off, and he had no idea where exactly he was. It wasn't yet evening, but the alley didn't appear to be much-circulated at that hour.

At his question, Chet and the other two began neighing like horses. As if Sebastian was some kind of jester supposed to entertain them.

"Just listen to this dork," Chet barked and pointed at him. "Assassinate him? Who do you think you are? The king of England?"

"No," Sebastian replied promptly. He had no idea if Kai was capable of fighting, and Milo pointed out that the body he was currently in was unfit for such endeavors, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't stand his ground. "I'm the prince of Ifigia, as you most probably well know."

This time, Chet started to laugh so hard that he bent over from the waist while his companions followed his example. Things were starting to get stranger and stranger. If Chet was an assassin, he had to be of the most idiotic type. Since it appeared that obtaining information from him was a futile task, Sebastian thought it would be for the better to continue his walk and return home. The information required would surely reveal itself at the appropriate time. That or his would-be assassins were finally forced to show their hand.

The moment he started walking, Chet stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder. Sebastian shook it off effortlessly, and that triggered a different reaction.

"Hey, where are you going, lover boy? We were talking to you." Chet hung his arm over Sebastian's shoulders, making him stumble under the sudden weight for a moment. The unpleasant smell of an unwashed person made Sebastian grimace the moment Chet got so close without permission.

"You weren't talking. You were just laughing like idiots," Sebastian said. This time, when he tried to shake off Chet's arm, he encountered a lot more resistance. "You are not allowed to touch me so casually," he added, slightly disgusted with his assailant's proximity.

"I'm touching you however I want. Were you with your boyfriend?"

Why did Chet want to know such a thing? Was all this about Milo, after all?

"That doesn't concern you," Sebastian said through his teeth and struggled more to get Chet away from him. It was at least unnerving how feeble Kai's constitution was.

"Did you kiss?" Chet pouted his ugly lips and made weird sounds while trying to get close to Sebastian's cheek. His mouth smelled even more disgusting than the rest of his body.

This time, Sebastian steeled himself and managed to push Chet away. He straightened his clothes. "As I said, it doesn't concern you."

"No shit." Chet pushed against his shoulder, making him half-turn without wanting to. "Do Milo's teammates know?"

"I see no reason to continue this conversation." Sebastian made another attempt to leave. He could make no sense of what that boy was talking about. And he was starting to have his doubts about the assassination attempt.

Chet jumped in front of him, and this time, pushed him hard enough to make him lose his balance and fall. The pig-like face loomed over him. "It's a simple question, nerd. Do they know?"

"Know what?" Sebastian asked while he began looking around to evaluate his surroundings and find a strategy to even the odds of having to fight against Chet and his acolytes. They were crowding around him with menacing looks on their faces.

"That he's putting his dick in a dude," Chet said.

Sebastian grimaced. "Are you always this crass? I can imagine how your social life must be, forced to hang around with this lot." He gestured with his chin toward Chet's companions. At the same time, while taking advantage of how Chet was engaged in another collective laughter with the others, he felt the ground under his fingers and began moving his hand around.

Chet hovered above him. His eyes were mean and cold. "This nerd is something else. Do you guys hear him?"

The others confirmed with another bout of laughter.

Sebastian curled his right hand around the soft soil and attacked quickly. The dirt spread into small pieces and hit Chet in the face, taking him by surprise. At a moment's notice, he was back on his feet, pushing against Chet's chest hard and making him stumble and land on his ass. Right away, screams of anger broke out. The fight was uneven, and he didn't need the confirmation that Kai's body wouldn't handle a battle with such uneven odds too well. As disgusted as he felt with running away from a confrontation, he had no choice at the moment. Starting tonight, he would ask his phone what he could do to learn how to fight. As things looked, there were assassins sent to kill him, as unskilled as they seemed, and he needed to fend off for himself.

Unfortunately, Kai's body wasn't adept at running either, so an angry shouting Chet finally caught up with him and pushed him, making him hit the sidewalk, face first. Sebastian groaned and brought his hands to his face. His nose appeared to be bleeding. A minor wound, but the pain was annoyingly real. He shook his head and turned on his back to push himself up, not wanting to give his opponents the satisfaction of imagining that he was cowering in fear.

"This dude just hurt himself!" Chet laughed like an idiot. "I barely touched him, and he's bleeding!"

Sebastian stood up and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "If you intend to fight, at least do it honorably."

"We're not in one of your stupid video games, dork." Chet circled him and smacked him upside the head.

Sebastian brought his arm up without thinking and hit Chet right in the face. His weapon of choice was a sword, but that didn't mean that he couldn't use his bare hands if need be, and it looked that some of his knowledge of that still existed, even in that puny body.

Chet clutched his face and squealed. "You hit me! Guys, catch him."

Sebastian wanted to reply that he had no intention to run this time, but the two acolytes grabbed him by his arms, and Chet landed a vicious punch right at his belly. As much as he tensed all his muscles before being hit, Sebastian doubled over and cursed inwardly for being forced into such an inadequate body.

"How about you cry like a baby and beg for mercy?" Chet hissed.

Deep anger was starting to blossom everywhere. Sebastian looked up. "Never," he said with dignity.

Chet punched him in the face, and Sebastian barely kept in another groan as the pain flared. His nose was indeed bleeding, and he could feel the warm blood pouring over his mouth and chin.

"I barely touch you, and you look so messed up," Chet said with glee. "Dorks are no satisfaction," he told the others.

"If you met me in a fight fair and square, I would give you the satisfaction you seek," Sebastian replied. "What is your weapon of choice?"

That only managed to make his attackers laugh again. He hated his current body; the punch to the stomach was sure to leave a painful bruise, and the blood that kept pouring from his nose appeared to come with the unexpected side effect of making him feel a bit light-headed.

"I'm not going to lose my time with you, loser," Chet said and wagged a finger at him. "You're not even worth beating. But leave Milo alone, or his teammates will learn about you two."

"It is possible that they know already. I fail to see the meaning of your threat," Sebastian said as calmly as he managed while the various pains in his body continued to torture him.

"They don't know, or else, Milo would be off the team like this," Chet said and snapped his fingers.

Sebastian frowned. Milo was playing basketball, and after what he kept saying, it was an essential part of his life. There were also competitions similar to tournaments, and Milo seemed to be quite adept at that sport. Therefore, what he could understand from what Chet was saying was that Milo would be excluded because they were boyfriends. He still couldn't understand why that was a detail that anyone would have cared about and a reason to exclude someone from playing harmless sports.

"Why would he be off the team?" he asked.

Chet made a face like he couldn't believe his ears. "Except for math and stupid French, you're a total retard, aren't you? Homos aren't allowed to play!"

Sebastian's frown deepened. He didn't understand the word, but he could recognize an insult for what it was. The anger growing inside him was starting to bend to a different shape.

"So, if you want your boyfriend to keep playing, you'll leave him alone," Chet said, his ugly eyes glinting.

"You're so smart, dude," another boy commented. "You're hitting him where it hurts! In his homo feelings!"

They all laughed again as they had just said something entertaining.

"But I also like hitting him in his stupid face!" Chet added.

Sebastian braced himself for another attack. He looked Chet square in the face, and under his direct stare, the other wavered for a moment like he couldn't gather the courage to hit him again.

"What are you boys doing over there?" A male voice boomed from a fair distance.

"Shit. Let's go!" Chet shouted at his acolytes, and they broke into a run right away, but not without pushing Sebastian down one more time.

Hurried steps approached, and Sebastian was yanked to his feet by a man in his forties, with a pair of thick glasses on his face. "Are you all right, kid? What did they do to you? Do you need the hospital?"

Sebastian winced, but the kindness of this stranger wasn't what he needed right now. "No. It is nothing but a light wound."

"Kids today." The man shook his head. "Let me at least take you to a bus station just so those punks don't bother you. Do you know them? Could you describe them if the police asked you?"

Police meant complications. Without getting to the bottom of all the intricacies of the world he was currently living in, Sebastian knew from the various series he had watched that the police were a corrupt organization that he couldn't trust. "No. I didn't see their faces well," he replied politely. "But I will take you up on the offer to show me to a bus station." According to the same series, he needed to find a way and exact his revenge without any help from outsiders.

The man handed him a handkerchief and offered him a compassionate look. "To think that people like that will escape unpunished."

Sebastian wiped his face. "They will not escape unpunished. Do not worry about that, good sir."

He could tell the stranger looked at him dumbfounded, but he had no time to lose now that the danger had finally presented itself. The order of things to do was simple.

Protect Milo.

Eliminate the threat.

***

It was fairly late when he got home. He hoped to disappear into his bedroom without announcing his presence, but Mrs. Martin was in the hallway when he entered.

"Kai," she exclaimed, alarmed. "What happened to you?"

"A minor nuisance."

"This is not the moment to play the smartass, young man," Mrs. Martin scolded him as she grabbed him by the elbow and forced him to face her. "Who did this to you? Where was Milo?"

"Milo was at his home. Nobody did anything to me."

"Don't you dare to lie to me, young man. Come here, and let me see."

Sebastian wanted to protest, but after a long and controlled sigh, he allowed her to drag him to the bathroom and examine his face. She then used abnormally painful ointments on his face and stuffed his nose with cotton while making him wince and pray that the ordeal was over all the time.

"Now, are you ready to talk, or should I call Milo and ask him what happened?"

"Milo wasn't there," Sebastian insisted. "I just got attacked by some bandits," he said after a short deliberation of what terms to use. Assassins sent after the prince of Ifigia wouldn't cut it as an explanation Mrs. Martin could understand or accept for that matter.

"Bandits? Do you mean, thugs? Where did this happen?"

"In a park, somewhere. I was just walking about and it happened."

"I'm still calling Milo. Did you tell him, at least?"

Sebastian surprised Mrs. Martin by grabbing her hand. "Mother, no," he said in a cold, measured voice. Mrs. Martin appeared to be rightfully astonished by his reaction. He let go of her hand. "I would much appreciate if you left Milo out of this."

That was what he also needed to do. Milo and his love for basketball had to be protected. It was not his place to interfere with the young man's life during his fleeting, unexplainable visit to this world.

And he had to prepare to eliminate the assassins sent to destroy him. They appeared ill-equipped for the task, but Kai's body was, indeed, easy to hurt, so maybe whoever was behind it all thought that no unnecessary force had to be dispatched.

They were underestimating him, he decided, as he turned on his heels, heading for the bedroom. He needed to begin his training so that he could increase his chances of survival. Also, he had to ask his phone the best approach to breaking up with a boyfriend. Sending Milo off with lavish gifts was, unfortunately, impossible, given the rules of this world and also not at all what he truly wanted to do. He had a feeling that the breaking up part would hurt him more than when Chet had hit him. He touched his nose gingerly. It felt tender, and it could be that its shape might suffer some changes.

Nonetheless, as he had been taught, he needed to do what was right. And in this case, fleeting feelings notwithstanding, that meant that he had to ensure that Milo was safe from his enemies.

***

Kai blinked a few times and tried to get up, but Pepin was wrapped around him quite tightly, and he couldn't push him away without waking him up. So having sex was a bit exhausting, but a lot of fun, he decided.

What was he thinking? He had just taken Pepin's virginity! Well, he had taken his own virginity, too, but that wasn't the point. Why wasn't he at least a little bit ashamed? Why couldn't he wipe the stupid grin he had on his face? He could tell there was one because his lips were stretched, and his cheeks were hurting. And why, oh, why had he done it in the first place?

"I'm a BL character," he whispered to himself. "Let's leave it at that."

Pepin mumbled something in his sleep and rubbed his head against Kai's shoulder. It was only logical that he would end up between the sheets with a character like that, Kai thought. Pepin was, without a doubt, the most beautiful bishonen ever, and if he didn't pair with him, the fandom would surely find a way to bring them together. That usually happened, even to characters that weren't part of a yaoi or BL story. So, he was just doing everyone a big favor and turning this into canon.

"There you were," Conrad's voice boomed as the doors to the royal quarters flew open.

Kai straightened up and stared in undisguised horror at Conrad, followed closely by Galien. Didn't these dudes know how to knock?

"Don't you guys know how to knock?" he asked promptly.

"I kept telling you that they were here," Conrad said and turned to stare down Galien. "You truly didn't have to drag me around the entire castle under the pretext that they could be in the library! Or the kitchen! Or the damned stables!"

Galien had the stupidest grin on his face. And it was directed at him, not Conrad. "So, is it done?" he asked while looking at Kai. "By Pepin's disheveled state and yours, I'd say it is. Congratulations, Your Majesty."

Pepin couldn't stay asleep in all that noise, obviously, so he was now sitting on his lovely bum and staring at the intruders, just as pissed as he was. Kai looked at him and noticed right away a few red marks on his neck and shoulders.

"And it must have been quite a vigorous affair," Galien commented.

Kai frowned when he realized Galien was looking at the same thing as him. He quickly grabbed the blanket and threw it over Pepin, covering everything, including his head.

"Your Majesty," Pepin protested right away, but this time, Kai used Sebastian's force to push him down and hold him covered.

"You guys are embarrassing Pepin," Kai said and glared at the duo.

"I'm not embarrassed," Pepin said from under the blanket.

"You totally are," Kai retorted.

"At least you're not," Galien said and quirked an eyebrow most annoyingly.

Busy as he had been to hold Pepin covered, Kai had ended up angling his body, so he was almost mooning his visitors. "Stop looking, you pervs!"

"Do you have any idea what he is talking about?" Galien asked Conrad, who seemed a bit annoyed and confused.

"Not in the least, just as I don't have any about why he chose his servant when he forced me into his bed."

"Conrad, bro, for real," Kai protested. "I told you I'm done with the forcing thing."

Conrad set his chin high. It was like the dude was hurt in his ego or something. "Do I gather that you lost interest in me?"

Yeap, totally his ego. "Not as a friend," he said the first thing that came to mind. "You look like a fun guy to go on adventures with. Just not the type with the, um, snake in the hole part."

"Snake in the hole. What a strange euphemism," Galien decided. The guy looked like he was having a blast. "Now that Sebastian decided to heed his mother's advice, why don't you lavish your attention on me, Sir Conrad?"

"Like I would do such a thing with a rake like you," Conrad said haughtily and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Are you afraid that I'd be more of a rake than you? Scared of a little competition?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kai intervened, "are you calling Conrad a rake, too?"

Galien sighed exaggeratedly. "Were you that unaware of whom you took to your bed, Sebastian? Rumor has it that you can fill three warships with the many broken hearts Sir Conrad here has left in his wake."

"Three warships? Is that a lot?" Kai asked. "How much would that be in the decimal system?"

Pepin took advantage of how he lost interest in holding him down and peeked his head from under the blanket. Even worse, before Kai had a chance to notice what he was doing, he pushed away the blanket entirely and straddled his lap. From there, he stared over his shoulder, most probably to make faces at Conrad.

"Pepin, that's not nice," Kai said, but then he noticed that the servant wasn't at all busy making faces and feeling smug.

On the contrary, Pepin had a guarded look on his face. "Sir Conrad," he said quietly, "I do not mind sharing Sebastian, but please, allow me to have him only to myself a little more. Unlike you, I love him."

If it hadn't been for the uber-serious tone Pepin used, Kai would have said something to the effect that sharing was totally out of the question.

Conrad appeared not to remain unaffected by Pepin's plea, and his stern face softened for a moment. But right away, he frowned. "It is His Majesty's call, of course. Far from me to impose." With that, he turned quickly on his heels.

"I'll accompany Sir Conrad, if you don't mind," Galien said and followed Conrad out of the room.

"Be my guest," Kai called after him, but the doors were already closing, and he was talking to no one in particular. "Hey, Pepin, do you think Conrad is mad? Like really mad?"

Pepin's lips were very close and distracting, Kai decided. Only if he leaned in, he could just kiss him, and it would be so simple.

And wrong, he tried to tell himself, but Pepin saved him from his problem by wrapping his arms around his neck and kissing him. It had to be because they were the OTP of a BL novel that everything was so simple and accessible. Like right now, he had no qualms, absolutely none whatsoever, with how Pepin's lips fit over his or how his tongue, so sweet and tasty, was sneaking inside his mouth.

It wasn't only about how nice that felt; it felt right, and that was wrong because it was supposed to feel wrong. He made a small attempt to kiss back, and that only made Pepin more enthusiastic. Kai was vaguely aware that he was held so tightly to the point of being a little suffocated, but it felt too good for any life-threatening side effects to occur.

Pepin finally let go. He stared him in the eyes and smiled. "I truly mean it, about having him, too."

"Uh, Pepin, you're a bit too open-minded. For me, I mean. I can barely get over the fact that I'm totally a BL character right now, so I don't think I'm ready for any kind of threesome anytime soon. Actually, ever. I think."

"Does that mean that you like me?" Pepin asked, his pretty eyes filled with hope. "Enough to keep me by your side?"

"I thought we covered that, retirement together, you know, the whole enchilada."

Nope, that was totally just me, because Sebastian and I will switch bodies back eventually, and then…

Kai was just starting to get entangled in his own logic when Pepin hugged him and kissed him again. And then, there was definitely something poking him in the belly.

Kai pulled away from the kiss. "Pepin, again? It's broad daylight, you know?"

How that was important, he had no idea, but he had to say something.

Pepin moved one hand back, and Kai grunted as his dick was grabbed quite unceremoniously. "Your cock keeps rubbing against my butt, Your Majesty. I'd say I'm not the one who doesn't know it's broad daylight."

Ah, well, that was true. They had already done it once, so how was a second time going to hurt? Not him, at least, and Pepin looked up to it, so --

A scream pierced through the thick walls, followed by heavy steps and clamor of armor and weapons.

"Dragon!"

Dragon? Kai thought. It looked like this time around, he needed to keep it in his pants. Or put it in his pants. Whatever. There was a dragon at the gates!

TBC