Red, White, and the Rising Sun

“-and remember, no international scandals.”

“When have I ever caused an international scandal, mum?”

His mother raises a brow, crossing her arms on her chest. “Never, and I’d like you to keep it that way.”

“Please, mum. Have a little faith in me.”

“And be nice to Prince Hokuto. It would be very good for our countries’ bilateral relationship if you two were friends.”

Jesse groans and pushes his hands into the pockets of his track pants, already tired of the notion. “Come on, mum. He’s a proud, boring snob, and his country is an uptight land of reactionary conservatives.”

He knows he said the wrong thing even before he sees the flash of hurt and disappointment in his mother’s eyes.

“It is your country, too,” she says quietly.

Squirming uncomfortably, Jesse looks down. “I’ve never lived there,” he tries, wishing he could take his words back. He meant them, sure, but he didn’t need to hurt her mother’s feelings with them.

“I sometimes wonder if we made a mistake with that,” she says, her voice sad, and Jesse can’t take it.

“I’m sorry, mum, really,” he says and leaps over to hug her. “I shouldn’t have said that.” She’s so much shorter than him, her nose barely reaches his shoulder. She sighs and wraps her arms around his waist for a moment.

“That’s my American boy, open and sincere. Imagine if I had sent you to live with my parents for a year or two - they would’ve been so shocked by your manners. They probably will be, too.”

“Don’t worry, mum. I’ll take my shoes off everywhere,” Jesse promises. “And I won’t hug everything that moves.”

“No, that’s Juri’s specialty,” she admits, shaking her head as she steps back. “Another good Japanese boy spoiled by this loud land of emotional freedom freaks.”

“It’s my country you know,” Jesse laughs aloud, then suddenly remembers something. “Speaking of Juri, the invitation to the royal wedding was for two, wasn’t it? Can I take him along, mum? Please?”

“It’s your father’s country, actually, First Son. And I believe you’re expected to bring along a female avec,” she points out.

Jesse spreads his empty hands for a second before letting them flop down to his sides. “Who would I take? Emily?”

“I would have liked to send Emily with you,” his mother admits. “But the Unicef fundraising event is more important to her.” Jesse knows that of course. His sister would never forgive him if he made her fly along to Japan this weekend for a wedding, even a royal one, after all the work she’s done for the upcoming charity event during the past six months.

“So Juri can go?” Jesse asks, struggling to keep his excitement down. His mother sighs again. She does that a lot. Especially whenever Jesse is in the room. Funny, that.

“Yes. Juri can go. Maybe he can keep you in check.”

Jesse grins. “Great, because he already packed his suitcase.”

His mother rolls her eyes and smiles. “Of course he did. Alright, give me one more of those big American hugs, and go to sleep. It’s going to be an early morning for you.”

They hug, and Jesse walks to the door. “Good night, mum. And don't worry, I’ll be on my best behavior. I mean, it will be easy, knowing Prince Hokuto. You know: They spoke no word. The host, the guest. And the white chrysanthemum.”

Weirdly enough, the famous haiku pops up in his head again only thirty-six hours later, when he and Prince Hokuto lie on the floor of the ballroom, covered in red chrysanthemums that, just a moment ago, used to form a spectacular ikebana arrangement, and all the guests of the royal wedding stare at them in silent shock.

"But mum, I-"

She raises a silencing hand at his face. Incredible how effective that can be even through the small screen of his laptop.

"Shut up," she snaps, her eyes flaming even through the video call. "Did I or did I not give you one order before you left?"

"You did, yes, but you know Hokuto shoved me and-"

"You're very lucky to have such a modern mother in the twenty first century, or you'd receive a much worse punishment than a shove."

Jesse makes a face, wishing his mother wouldn't shout so loudly. His grandparents' house is quite big, but he still suspects they are able to hear everything through the damned paper-thin walls. He's sad to leave his grandparents so soon, but other than that, he can't wait for the private jet to take off from the Narita Airport.

"Your father and I are very disappointed."

Shit, dad. Jesse suddenly feels nauseous. He would hate to damage his standing after such a narrow victory for the Democrats in the midterm elections.

"I'm sorry, mum. I really am. I'll properly apologize to dad too, when I'm home."

Her wrath seems to slightly subside after the apology. At least her voice softens notably.

"You better make that a video call, because you're not coming back home before you've done some good old damage control."

Jesse's skin tingles, raising to goose bumps.

"What? No! Mum-"

"I have already called your grandparents. Kyomoto will explain you the plan."

"But Mum-"

She raises a hand again and opens and closes her mouth a couple times, like she doesn't know what to say. Then, finally:

"I love you, honey. And that's why I want to to fix what you messed up."

Jesse stares at her, flabbergasted. It's not easy for her to say that, he knows that very well, and that more than anything convinces him that she's being serious. There is no point arguing over it.

"Alright, mum. I'll fix it. Trust me."

How he's gonna fix what exactly escapes him, but at least his grandparents are absolutely delighted when he goes downstairs, smiling sheepishly and asking them to please take care of him et cetera.

~

"You better get another cup of coffee," Taiga announces later, as he slams a pile of paper on the table in front of Jesse. "You've got a long night ahead of you."

Jesse blinks at the incomprehensible string of kanji written on the pile like a title of a book. He can barely read half of them.

Juri peeks across Jesse’s shoulder. “Reirinomiya Hokuto Shinnou Denka,” he reads aloud: His Royal Highness Prince Hokuto of Reirinomiya. He has a hard time suppressing his laughter, and Jesse raises his incredulous eyes to Taiga.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he blurts out. “How’s this part of your job description?”

Taiga’s eyes flash very much like Jesse’s mother’s did, earlier. Maybe she would have made a great Secret Service Agent, too. They seem to share the similar attitude.

“I dare you to continue and see how serious I am,” Taiga says in a dangerously low voice. “Thanks to you, we’re all stuck here until you have convinced the whole world that you and Prince Hokuto are bosom pals. Which starts by you learning the contents of this material by heart before tomorrow afternoon. ”

“I’m not stuck at all,” Juri chirps behind Jesse's chair, leaning down to rest his crossed arms on Jesse’s neck and shoulders. “And what would you do in Washington, anyway, Kyomo? Play video games alone at ho-” He suddenly falls silent when Taiga moves his murderous gaze to him.

“Don’t try my patience,” he says, and Juri nods meekly. “So here’s the deal, Jesse. Tomorrow afternoon you are going to have a photo shoot and an interview for a six-page magazine article together with His Royal Highness, control your face, after which you are going to attend an informal dinner together with him.”

Jesse feels himself going pale. Dinner alone with Prince Hokuto? He must be having a nightmare. Juri bursts out into giggles, his forehead pressing against the back of Jesse’s head.

“And you will accompany him,” Taiga says, raising his voice over Juri’s laughter. “Prince Hokuto will be bringing a friend as well, and you are all going to be best chums. Understood?”

“Sure, can do,” Juri says, absolutely delighted of the sudden opportunity to see first-hand how the dinner will go. He sits down to the seat next to Jesse’s and pulls the pile of paper closer so they can both see it as he starts to turn the pages.

“Alright, buddy. Let’s do this. Prince Hokuto was born- oh my, three days after me! Isn’t that funny? Yeah, yeah okay, let’s go forward. His signature mark in the imperial family is the pine tree. He is the second son of the current emperor, which makes him second to the throne until his brother produces a male heir.”

Jesse sinks to the table, resting his cheek against the cool wood. It’s going to be a long night.

“-university, where he studied Japanese literature. He also has a great interest in traditional Japanese performing arts such as kabuki and bunraku.”

Jesse’s grandmother pops into the room carrying a tray of steaming tea mugs and a few bowls of different snacks.

“Here,” she says and places the tray on the table. “I thought you boys might need some refreshment.”

“Thanks, grandma,” Jesse murmurs against the tabletop.

“He has a black belt in karate, how cool is that?”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Taiga says, his smile sweet and genuine.

“Taiga dear, I’m so glad you could stay a bit longer,” Jesse’s grandmother says and smiles back at Taiga. “Please have some tea, and there is a bath ready, too.”

“He’s superstitious and likes traditions and routines, but is also interested in contemporary fashion - that’s an interesting combination of hobbies!”

“What about me?” Jesse moans at his grandmother, devastated. “I want a bath, too!”

“You seem to have some homework to do before that, darling,” his grandmother says gently, nods goodnight at Taiga and Juri, and leaves.

“He likes spicy foods but is allergic to crustaceans - so don’t offer him those prawn crackers lest you be accused of a murder attempt.”

Jesse grimaces and throws a cracker into his mouth. “And wouldn’t that be delightful?”

"We are both truly, very sorry for the embarrassment and trouble we have caused to my brother, his wife, our families, and everyone attending the royal wedding by our inexcusable carelessness."

Hokuto lowers his head down to the tatami mat, and Jesse rushes to repeat the gesture, trying to see from the corner of his eye when to sit up again. Hokuto stays down for a frustratingly long time - several seconds at least - before he sits up.

Jesse wriggles his toes, wishing he could stretch his knees as well. Suits are definitely not made for this.

Taiga is standing by the door, hands clasped behind his back and gaze sharp as he keeps an eye on everything that's going on. On the other side of the door stands another serious-looking young man. Jesse doesn't remember his name but he knows the man is Hokuto's bodyguard.

He meets Taiga's eyes across the room. Taiga's face stays expressionless but he nods minutely, and that makes Jesse feel slightly better. Despite all the fury and frustration, Taiga is on his side.

Alright, better do this. Jesse swallows, trying to not fiddle with his hands.

"I am very sorry," he starts in Japanese, because that seems fitting, and switches into English because that's what he was instructed to do. "It was an accident, but it's no excuse. We...were too excited to see each other after a long while and, uh…" He trails off, painfully aware of how bad he is at this. Not at apologizing, he considers himself a rather smooth talker, normally. It's the straight-out lying and also all the Japaneseness in this situation that throw him off.

Sure, the whole disaster with the flower arrangement was an accident, but he doubts that all the people from the Japanese public to his own mum watching the press conference would be very sympathetic towards them if he told them that alcohol had a notable role in the mentioned accident. And true, he did stumble into Hokuto at the wedding reception. But the so-called enthusiasm was mostly resentful mockery. He doesn’t remember what Hokuto said to him, but he must have said something. Jesse, of course, gave the boring snob a piece of his mind. Then he stumbled onto something, maybe a turned corner of a mat. Or maybe just his feet, who knows.

Speaking of his feet, they are starting to hurt. And now that he notices it, he can't ignore it anymore. He tries not to shift uncomfortably.

Hokuto bows once more, and Jesse follows the example. The relief of blood circulating into his toes as he leans forward is short and small, as his feet feel even worse when he sits back up. They tingle painfully whenever he moves them even a little bit, and the pressure on his calves is starting to hurt as well.

The recording staff stop the cameras, but Jesse and Hokuto still have to endure a photographer. Jesse tries so hard to keep his face neutral, he will almost certainly look terrible in all the finished pictures.

He sighs in relief when the photographer releases them - and winces when a reporter with a notebook and pencil kneels on the floor. Are they going to sit through the interviews, too? How's he supposed to say anything sensible when he feels like his feet are about to drop off?

Hokuto bows at the reporter, his smile obnoxiously vacant. Is there anything going on behind his (admittedly pretty) eyes?

"Excuse me - would you like to have a cup of tea before we start?" he offers, indicating with a open hand at the side table, where a neatly dressed lady immediately starts to pour hot tea into three cups. The reporter looks surprised but pleased, too. She gets on her feet but stays there, waiting for Jesse and Hokuto to go first.

Hokuto stands up so gracefully, it makes Jesse grit his teeth. Of course the bastard is used to sitting like this. Jesse, in turn, isn't sure if he even can stand anymore.

An outstretched hand appears in front of his face so suddenly, he startles at first. Jesse looks up, touched against his will by the gesture, but Hokuto isn't even looking at him. Right. It's all for the show. Jesse needs the help though, however unwillingly it is offered.

At least Hokuto's hand is warmer than his attitude.

Jesse's feet sting with a million tiny needles when he stumbles up. It hurts, but he’s just thankful that he doesn't need to sit on them anymore.

They take the cups, and Hokuto looks out of the window as they sip the hot tea.

"Actually - we could have a little walk while we talk, don't you think?" he asks the reporter. Jesse raises a brow at his suddenly sweet and disarming smile, so different from the earlier calm expression. It’s also truly effective, he has to admit, as the reporter's face spreads into a wide smile.

"Could we maybe take more photos out in the garden?" she asks hopefully, making the photographer perk up as well.

"Why, if course!" Hokuto says, looking genuinely surprised and delighted at the suggestion, as if he didn't just set the whole thing up himself. It’s…quite impressive. In any case, Jesse is ready to walk around the garden - the whole city even - as long as he can stay on his feet. The staff members bring their coats and shoes to the door that leads directly to the garden.

Outside, the bright sunlight isn't warm enough to bring the temperature up, and the whole garden glimmers wonderfully with a thin layer of white frost. They stroll slowly along the paved paths; Jesse, Hokuto, and the reporter together, while the photographer buzzes around them. Taiga follows them with Hokuto’s personal bodyguard, staying back but keeping a constant eye on Jesse, Hokuto, and their surroundings at the same time.

"So of course everyone is interested to hear about the beginning of your friendship. When did you two become acquainted?" the reporter asks, the tip of her pencil resting on the notebook page, ready to capture any tidbit of interest that they might spill out.

This story Jesse knows by heart, because the first part of it is true.

"I accompanied my father's travel party six years ago when he made his first presidential visit in Japan to meet the Prime Minister and the Emperor. His Royal Highness and I were placed next to each other during the state dinner," Jesse says, glancing at Hokuto who smiles back at him.

"Yes. We soon found out we have common interests."

And there's the lie. Hokuto hardly said two words to Jesse during the dinner, except for of the compulsory pleasantries.

The reporter nods eagerly. "Yes? Please tell us more about them."

"We had such interesting conversations on the history of kabuki theater," Hokuto says, the vacant smile back again.

That's. Not what stood on their script. The reporter turns her eyes to Jesse, waiting for him to elaborate. Jesse forces a smile on his face.

"He’s exaggerating," he finally coughs. "I'm sorry to say I know next to nothing about kabuki. I can merely appreciate the stunningly beautiful visuals, as much as any layman can. And the dolls are awesome."

"You’re thinking about bunraku. You know, the dolls," Hokuto corrects him with a chuckle, but there isn't any real warmth in his laughter. Jesse laughs too, but it sounds forced and terrible, too. Damn, he messed it up. His mother did teach him and his sister many things about the Japanese culture when they grew up, but traditional arts were definitely not part of his upbringing. They mostly focused on the part where he’s not supposed to wear outdoor shoes inside the house.

“Oops, sorry!” Jesse tries to brush it off with another laughter. He sounds like an idiot, and this time Hokuto’s carefully mild face shows well enough what he is thinking about. The reporter isn’t buying it, either. And it goes on like that for almost two hours, only the people interviewing them and taking their photos change.

So, all in all, the interviews could have gone better. But even though Jesse’s fingertips are freezing inside his thin leather gloves afterward, he’ll take the small frostbites anytime when the bright side is that they never made it back inside.

In the evening Jesse makes sure to groom himself so well, even his mother wouldn’t recognize him. He puts on his best black slacks and a white button-up shirt. The color scheme is monotonous of course, but it’s probably for the best. He’s dealing with the Japanese royalty, after all. Sensible blandness is definitely the way to go.

“How do I look?” he asks when Juri drifts into his bedroom.

“Boring. Hot. Gonna sweep the prince off his feet,” Juri answers without missing a beat. Annoyed and pleased at the same time, Jesse sighs as he eyes at Juri’s burgundy blazer and similar colored slacks with envy. Apparently the First Best Friend doesn’t need to care whether or not he’s going to be disapproved of.

An hour later his mouth almost drops when they arrive at the royal guest house where prince Hokuto receives them wearing a dark purple blazer on a black turtleneck. Jesse hates to admit it, but the combination actually looks very good on him, too. His black slacks have just the right fit at the behind as well. Beside Hokuto stands his friend, wearing all black - a dress shirt and slacks - and managing to look classy and casual at the same time. So maybe Jesse underestimated his companions' fashion styling skills.

Introductions ensue: Jesse Lewis, Tanaka Juri, Prince Hokuto, Morimoto Shintaro. Jesse idly wonders if Hokuto finds it weird that he’s the only one without a family name. Then again, he’s probably used to it. He seemed to have enough names and titles without a family name, anyway.

The dinner is delicious of course; Jesse has never had anything against Japanese food. Really, he likes most things about Japan. Just not the politics, or the needlessly archaic ways of their royalty. Morimoto and Juri hit it off instantly, talking about their favorite games and music, apparently sharing similar tastes in both. They are much alike; bright, talkative, and easygoing, and Jesse is thankful for that. As long as Juri and Morimoto keep talking, he can take part into the conversation without having to worry about trying to talk to Hokuto.

Late in the evening, when they have already finished dessert, Morimoto tells them about the most epic Mario Kart tournament ever, in which he absolutely crushed Hokuto and some other friends. The story is hilarious and Juri laughs at it so hard he gets tears in his eyes. Jesse’s attention isn’t on Juri, though. His eyes are on Hokuto, whose face spreads into a wider and wider smile the longer Morimoto talks, until the climax of the story.

“That’s not how it went at all!” Hokuto’s laughter is so sudden and hearty that Jesse chuckles in delighted surprise as well. The smile does something funny to Hokuto’s face. His eyes look brighter, his brows softer, and he scrunches his nose in a way that would never be shown on any official photo shoots of the royal family members. That’s. That's cute.

For a moment everyone laughs together.

~

“It wasn’t that bad,” Jesse admits later when they are being driven back to Jesse’s grandparents’ house.

“It wasn’t bad at all,” Juri says, grinning. “Man, Shintaro’s great.”

“Shintaro?” At what point did Juri and Morimoto establish themselves on a first-name basis?

“Yup, we’re gonna have a lunch tomorrow while you and Prince Charming entertain kids at the hospital.” Juri practically vibrates with excitement. “And he said I should come visit next summer if I have any vacation, so he can show his favorite beach for surfing.”

“Making long-term plans already? My, my, love on the first sight,” Jesse teases him, and Juri actually goes a bit red by the cheeks.

“Shut up,” he says, but it looks like he can’t stop smiling, and that's what makes Jesse narrow his eyes, carefully studying his best friend. Even though Juri rarely dates people, he's nevertheless quick to develop crushes for them. This would be the record even for him, though.

“So do you two already have plans for the whole day tomorrow?” he asks, wishing to get more information.

Juri waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t be ridiculous. I told you we're having a lunch. Some of us have work to do before that you know.”

“Meaning you’re gonna rot in your gaming chair through the night and sleep until lunchtime,” Jesse snorts as the car slows down in front of the gates of his grandparents’ house. Juri's job as a game analysist allows him to work whenever and wherever he wants to, as long as he has his laptop with him. It's nice that he found a job he truly enjoys, but sometimes Jesse can't help worrying over him. The freedom of remote work paired with Juri's erratic sleep pattern is honestly a terrible combination.

“Sounds about right,” Juri says calmly, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I promised to have my report finished by the end of this week, so. See you later, then!”

“Good night! Say hi to your family for me,” Jesse says as he climbs out of the car. At the same time Taiga gets out from the car that was driving behind them. Juri waves his hand to them both and is driven away, Taiga’s driver soon following.

“You know, you could go see your parents too,” Jesse says to Taiga as they unlock the gate and slowly walk along the paved path through his grandparents’ garden. “I bet they’d like to see you sometimes.”

“I’ve actually got next Monday and Tuesday off,” Taiga says, shrugging. “And they know I’m working. Did you know that they sometimes joke about it.”

Jesse raises his brows. “About your job?”

“Yeah, like. You know how my mum used to be in entertainment business before I was born, and my dad still is.”

Of course Jesse knows. His mother has been a die-hard Kyomoto Masaki fan since from the nineteen eighties or so. She was over the moon with excitement when they got Taiga's application for the job as Jesse's bodyguard, and it ended up being a win-win situation for everyone. Taiga was the best applicant without a question - good for him. He didn't hesitate to call home and get his father's autograph for Jesse's mother as soon as he heard about her love for his old man - good for Jesse's mum. And to the top of it all he's a nice person to have around - good for Jesse.

Taiga shrugs. “They never expected me to do anything like that. And yet there I am, haunting the background of the screen whenever you are on television.”

“What a superstar,” Jesse chuckles, and glances at Taiga who answers with a lopsided grin.

“Who knows, I might even have some fans! Some people must see my quiet charm past your loudness.”

“Sure you have. And as soon as you get a fan club, my grandmother will be the first member.”

“Alright, but she’ll have to get into the queue behind my both grandmothers.”

The Children's hospital is a new building with huge windows and colorfully painted walls. Jesse and Hokuto get guided around the wide, brightly lit corridors, and by the time they arrive at the cancer ward, Jesse is truly impressed. Everything is clean and shiny and looks much more comfortable than he usually imagines when thinking about hospitals.

They are led into a day room with lots of toys, where a dozen of children are waiting for them. Most of them are wearing the hospital pajamas, and many have colorful beanies covering their heads. While everyone is thrilled to see Prince Hokuto, the children seem to merely consider Jesse “the American”. Which is perfectly fine.

“No, no,” Hokuto laughs, “He’s actually the son of the President of the United States! And his mother is Japanese, too. Did you know that?”

The small eyes go round all around them, and Jesse can’t help a wide smile. If only his mother knew she’s made a much greater impression on these kids than his father the POTUS has. He glances up over the children’s heads to meet Taiga’s grinning face. Taiga’s thoughts must have wandered the same paths. Beside Taiga stands Hokuto’s bodyguard, a sharp-eyed, friendly guy called Kochi, who is wearing a similar grin. In fact, none of the adults in the room have missed the humor of the situation.

They have brought along a huge pile of books, some of which Jesse and Hokuto are going to read to the children after the introductions. Hokuto starts, picking up a picture book with two foxes on the front cover. A hired photographer takes several shots of the situation.

Hokuto’s reading voice is low and soft, and he makes all the funny noises for different characters, too. It’s nice, actually, to listen to him. Jesse looks around the room, smiling at the enchanted children who stare at Hokuto and listen to him as carefully as Jesse does. All except one.

The child is maybe two years old. She’s been fiddling with the hem of her shirt at the back row for some time when she stands up and walks over to where Taiga and Kochi are standing side by side beside the door. She looks up at them and they look back. It’s a quiet exchange of long looks until she decides they will do, and raises her hands, asking to be lifted up. Kochi crouches to pick her up, and while it’s probably not strictly professional of a bodyguard to concentrate on anyone else but Hokuto’s surroundings, the sight is simply adorable. It gets even better when the little girl notices Taiga’s sunglasses hanging from the front pocket of his suit, and reaches over to grab them and try to put them on.

“-and from now on, we shall always be friends!” Hokuto finishes and closes the book. The children immediately demand for a next story, and this time it’s Jesse’s turn to read. Their eyes meet when Jesse picks up a book, and Jesse quickly flicks his eyes towards the door. Hokuto looks over and his eyes twinkle with amusement when he sees the little girl who has obviously wrapped both Taiga and Kochi around her tiny pinky finger.

When Jesse reads, he can sometimes feel Hokuto’s eyes on him. He concentrates harder on the pictures of the books, hoping he doesn’t sound like an idiot. The books are written for small children so there isn’t any kanji in the text, but somehow reading hiragana only seems to be hard, too. It’s more difficult to guess what the words actually mean and which words he should emphasize without the helpful characters. Jesse suffocates a sigh as he turns the page. So he’s not great at reading kanji, but he struggles at reading without them, too. Lovely.

Having read through three books each, their hour at the day room is at the end and it’s lunchtime for the children. Jesse catches a glimpse of the little girl giving huge, wet smooches on both Taiga and Kochi’s cheeks before someone else picks her up and takes her away for her lunch.

“Your Highness, there are a couple children who couldn’t come here to listen,” a nurse tells Hokuto. “They were waiting towards meeting you so much, but their health wouldn’t allow them to be up. If it’s not too much trouble, could you maybe go and see them in their rooms?”

Of course Hokuto will, and they all follow the nurse along the corridors, Taiga and Kochi trailing closely behind them.

They are just at the end of the corridor when a loud bang startles everyone. Kochi has his handgun ready in less than a second, while Taiga grabs a nearby door handle, kicks both Jesse and Hokuto in, hisses: “Stay down!” and slams the door shut. Jesse stumbles and crashes onto the floor, Hokuto following him with a pained groan, and Jesse’s first instinctive thought is we’re in Japan for fuck’s sake.

The room is tiny and pitch black, and there are wide steel shelves on the both sides. Jesse is half kneeling, half lying on the floor, his face pressed against the wall and his supporting wrist aching in a weird angle. He tries to turn around but Hokuto is lying on him, flailing around like a drunk chimpanzee.

“Stop moving!” Jesse grunts, “Your knee is pressing on my thigh and it hurts!”

“I’m sorry!” Hokuto snaps, “but I don’t exactly have much room to move away either.”

“Whatever you do, just stop.”

Hokuto immediately freezes and falls stubbornly silent like he’s asking, “You happy now?” while still half lying on top of Jesse. Loud noises and lots of running steps echo outside the tiny room, and Jesse can hardly believe his terrible luck. Sure, there are certain risks at being a family member to a head of a state and walking around with another of the same kind, but he honestly didn’t expect to have to be on guard in a Japanese Children’s Hospital.

“Eternity for Men,” Hokuto murmurs.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just. You’ve got a good taste, that’s all.”

Flustered, Jesse blinks in the darkness, suddenly extremely aware of the warmth of Hokuto’s body against his back. And the mention of Jesse’s perfume is…unsettling.

“Move!” he snaps and can almost hear Hokuto rolling his eyes.

“So now I can move?” Hokuto grumbles but twists himself around so that they manage to roll to their butts and sit side-by-side against the back wall of the room, both breathing heavily like after a sports performance of moderate intensity. The awkward feeling still lingers, and it’s like the short conversation has made Jesse notice all the surrounding scents more keenly.

Hokuto mostly smells like fresh laundry. It’s a familiar fragrance - that’s what Jesse’s own clothes smell like, and always have, when coming home to the States after visiting his grandparents in Japan. He can’t identify the exact components other than ‘fresh and floral’, and it’s probably not the exact same product that Jesse’s grandmother prefers, anyway. It’s just that there is something about the Japanese laundry detergents and fabric softeners that’s distinctly different to the American products. And he likes them. The fragrances, that is.

“Why do you hate me so?” Hokuto asks out of nowhere, and Jesse kind of wants to laugh, because does Hokuto really want to have this conversation now?

He doesn’t laugh.

“I don’t exactly hate you. I just…don’t like you much.” To be fair, the dislike he feels has gotten notably milder during the past days. In fact, Jesse is starting to feel he could like Hokuto, if… if what?

There is a long silence before Hokuto snorts quietly. Just a tiny puff of air out of his nostrils.

“Why don’t you like me then?”

Jesse swallows. So they are having this conversation now. Here goes, then.

“My father’s first presidential visit in Japan to meet the Prime Minister and the Em- your dad. We were placed next to each other at the dinner table and you just sat there next to me like one of those traditional dolls of yours and ignored me like I wasn’t good enough to even talk to Your Imperial Highness.”

Hokuto wriggles his hands in his lap. Jesse feels that, with their arms squeezed so tightly together from shoulder to elbow.

“I didn’t talk much to anyone back then,” he finally says quietly.

“A bit of a bad excuse for the Emperor’s son on a state dinner,” Jesse huffs indignantly, though something in Hokuto’s voice makes him feel uncomfortable. The silence that follows makes it even worse.

“I know,” Hokuto finally says. “I’m sorry.”

The apology is quiet and simple, yet it hangs in the air heavily, and Jesse doesn’t know what to do with it.

“Thank you,” he finally says. Then, as if the words have been wanting to get out of him for a long time, he blurts, “It felt really shitty you know. Everyone expected us to be friends. I wanted to be your friend, but you treated me like I wasn’t worth your time at all. I mean, obviously I’m not royal, and at that table I was just an awestruck kid from Vegas and I knew it. But that’s exactly why I was hoping we could be friends, so I wouldn’t need to be lost alone.”

There is a small thump when Hokuto leans his head back against the wall.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I mean it. Really. It’s- it’s not a good excuse, but I was going through some personal shit back then and I just. I felt useless, I guess? You know, as the second son whose older brother had just got engaged, I was truly the spare, wasn’t I? And yet I still had absolutely no control in my life and-” Hokuto halts, then sighs and hesitates. “Look, it’s not that I didn’t want to talk to you. I isolated myself from everyone. I kept almost everyone and everything outside, so I could be in control of whatever little I decided to let in. It’s a bad excuse, but… I guess that’s the one place where I wanted to just be human instead of the second son of a sempiternal empire.”

Now, Jesse truly doesn’t know what to say. He never expected Hokuto to be so honest and open with him.

“You know, people easily misunderstand that kind of reticence as arrogance?” he finally says. I did.

“I know. And I’m working on myself. Shintaro was - is - helpful, too. He… he doesn’t let me drown into my own bullshit.”

“His words, not yours, right?”

“Obviously.”

The running steps have quieted down outside. In fact, nothing noteworthy can be heard through the door. The loudest noise they hear is the deep humming of the air conditioning of the building.

“What if they’ve evacuated the building,” Jesse says, tilting his head.

“All the children and their parents and the staff, within ten minutes?” Hokuto snorts. “Also, I don’t want to sound like a jerk because I totally think all the children should be saved first, but the fact is we would not be the two last people left inside if complete evacuation was needed.”

Uncomfortable, yet true. Jesse makes a face at the darkness around them.

He stares at his shoes that he can just about trace against the dim beam of light showing from the narrow gap under the door of their…lodging. Which, most likely, is a linen cabinet now that he pays attention to what little he can see, feel, and smell around him.

He recognizes the fast, determined steps long before Taiga yanks the door open, standing at the door frame like a black-suited angel illuminated by the blindingly bright lights of the corridor. Both Jesse and Hokuto flinch at the sudden brightness and squint at Taiga.

“Threat neutralized, sir,” Kochi announces, peeking over Taiga’s shoulder and sounding weirdly amused. Taiga steps into the room and offers his hands, one for Jesse and one for Hokuto, helping them up to their feet.

“What happened?” Hokuto asks, shading his eyes with his hand.

“Some kid thought it would be funny to gift fire crackers to a hospitalized friend,” Taiga grunts, “And fire them up.”

“You should have seen his face,” Kochi whispers to Hokuto, though Jesse and Taiga are obviously meant to hear it, too.

“Shut up,” Taiga says, but there is a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Jesse winks at Hokuto and Kochi. “Taiga isn’t used to children.”

“I am glad to meet any children,” Taiga says, sounding as regal as ever. “But I am also glad to say goodbye to them when it’s time to go.”

The three others share a grin behind Taiga’s back, but Jesse knows Taiga is smiling, too.

Even with all the excitement, Hokuto doesn’t forget his promise to meet the children who couldn’t leave their beds for the fairy tales. Jesse waits at the corridor with Taiga and Kochi, nodding and smiling at anyone who passes them.

“The car is waiting outside,” Kochi murmurs to Taiga. Jesse glances around the corner, towards the half-opened door where he saw Hokuto entering.

“Just a second. Bathroom,“ he says to Taiga, and slips around the corner.

Tiptoeing around hospital corridors might be silly, but Jesse can’t help it. He just wants to see, that’s all. He’ll quietly peek around the door, and Hokuto never needs to know.

In the room, Hokuto is sitting at the edge of a hospital bed. The child lying in the bed is wearing a cute sky blue beanie and there is an IV cannula taped on his left palm. He looks tired, but he talks and laughs with Hokuto anyway. Hokuto laughs too, talking in a soft, yet light-hearted voice. It’s a nice picture, really. However reclusive Hokuto used to be a few years ago, he seems to be quite charming now. Jesse smiles and withdraws without a sound, heading towards the bath room. He better come back with his hands smelling like hand sanitizer, lest Taiga guess what he was really doing.

When they walk out of the hospital in about half an hour, Hokuto and Jesse stop at the front yard for a couple more photos by the photographer, before Hokuto turns to Jesse.

“So. When are you flying back to Washington DC?”

Jesse shrugs. “Sometime in late January I guess, but the date hasn’t been set. My parents and I agreed I should spend Christmas and New Years here with my grandparents. It’s been a couple years since the last time.”

“Oh. That’s nice,” Hokuto says slowly, and Jesse is dying to know what’s going on behind his dark, inscrutable eyes. “So you’ve spent the holidays here before, too?”

“Not quite. We always had Christmas celebrations at home in the States with my father’s parents and other relatives. But I’ve come here for New Years many times, since that’s more meaningful for my mother’s parents anyway,” Jesse rambles, painfully aware that Taiga, Kochi, and literally everyone else around them is waiting for him to be finished.

“Yeah, makes sense,” Hokuto says, smiling a bit. “So maybe I’ll see you again before you go.”

“You will,” Jesse teases, but somehow there is no sting in it anymore. “Have a nice day, Your Highness!”

Hokuto makes a face at him. Jesse waves a hand and strides over to the car that’s waiting for him, Taiga trailing after him.

“What happened in the linen cabinet?” Taiga asks in the car.

“Nothing. Why?”

“You and Prince Hokuto. You were joking together.”

“Nah, you’re imagining it.”

Taiga quirks a brow. “If you say so.”

Returning from his evening bath, Jesse rubs his wet hair with a towel and glances towards the night stand where he left his phone. There is a new message, from an unknown number.

“Did you see the articles they wrote about us? I think the photos taken in the garden were quite flattering.”

He hangs the towel on a hook on the wall, spreads another towel from his waist to the back rest of the chair by his desk, and pulls on a pair of boxers and sweatpants. “Some people like to introduce themselves when writing from an unknown number,” he then types ands taps send.

“What’s the point? You know it’s me.”

“Where did you even get my number?”

“It was on the information materials I got about you.”

Right, so Hokuto’s number probably was on Jesse’s materials as well. To be fair, he never expected to actually need Hokuto’s phone number. Now, however, he taps the number and saves it into his contacts as His Royal Dullness.

Jesse’s phone vibrates again, as Hokuto sends him screenshots from several different online news sites as well as a photo of the day’s printed magazine. Some of them are of their interview in the palace garden, some from the hospital. Jesse zooms into the mentioned garden photo. It’s a good picture; they both have long, stylish, woolen jackets and neatly wrapped neckerchiefs. They stand side by side, just close enough for their arms to brush against each other - like real friends would - and their smiles are, if slightly stiff, at least sweet enough to pass for the public.

“I totally saved your ass during the press event by the way,” says the next message of His Royal Dullness.

Jesse raises a brow. “Care to elaborate?” he writes back.

“Have you ever actually learned to sit on your knees?”

So Hokuto was helping him, then? Not just the tea, but the walk in the garden, too? That’s…nice. Not that Hokuto needs to know.

“Nope. I prefer to do things standing up or lying down,” he answers, just to be an ass.

“Are you flirting with me?” Hokuto writes, followed by a gif of a thoughtful-looking monkey.

“You wish,” followed by a winking emoji and a kissing emoji.

Hokuto doesn’t answer to that. Jesse grins at the monkey emoji, and flops backwards to lie on his bed.

It’s funny, somehow. Who would have believed that Prince Hokuto was actually so relaxed, and actually a rather funny guy? And this has to go on, Jesse suddenly realizes. They are trying to make everyone believe he and Hokuto are actual friends, so there’s no way they can just stop appearing in each others’ lives every now and then once it’s time for Jesse to go back home. Weirdly enough, Jesse doesn’t really want to stop, either. Somehow it’s nice to know they’ll have to keep up contact.

His musings are abruptly disturbed by an incoming video call. It’s Hokuto, and Jesse quickly picks it up. Hokuto is lying on his bed too, resting his chin on his hand and probably having propped his phone against some pillows. He’s wearing perhaps the most un-princely attire Jesse has ever seen: a shabby, holey black t-shirt with such a wide neckline that it has fallen off his other shoulder. Jesse incredulously stares at the bare skin of Hokuto’s upper arm. Is it even legal for a royal to wear something like that? His grandma reuses such old shirts as cleaning rags.

“What is it?” he asks, forcing his eyes from Hokuto’s shoulder to his face. “Miss me already?”

“No, I- I just figured it’d be more polite to ask face-to-face,” Hokuto says, smiling sheepishly. “My brother is going to have a Christmas party on Saturday evening and he said I can invite some friends of mine if I like. Shintaro is coming too, and he said I absolutely have to invite Tanaka. And, um. I'd like you to be there, too." He looks down and back at the camera again. "What do you say?"

Jesse rolls around to his stomach so he is mirroring Hokuto, and places his phone to lean against the head rest of the bed.

"A christmas party, huh. What should I wear? White tie and tails?"

Hokuto chuckles quietly. "We're not in Downton Abbey. It's an actual party. Wear something daring and flashy. I will."

The invitation instantly sounds more appealing. Jesse can't help a grin as he nods. Also: "So we're friends now?"

Hokuto's smile softens. "Are we not?" he asks and reaches a hand towards the screen of his phone. "Good night, Jesse."

The call ends, and Jesse shakes his head. He closes his and Hokuto's conversation and notices a new message from Juri.

"Omg you two are trending! Have you read Twitter today?" Juri writes and shares a tweet in which someone is gushing about Jesse and Hokuto being adorable and hot and just get a room and kiss already!!!

Jesse laughs aloud hard enough that his whole body shakes and he gets tears into his eyes, and he promptly forwards the tweet to Hokuto.

Hokuto, that absolute bore, merely reacts with an upward thumb emoji.

The next morning, there is a new message waiting when Jesse opens his eyes, and he smiles through the hazy grogginess of having just woken up.

"I've been wondering," writes His Royal Dullness with a thoughtful-looking emoji, "How can you just suddenly stay in Japan for more than a month? Don't you have lectures to attend or something? I read you're a postgrad student."

Jesse rolls around to his other side, hugging a pillow that supports his hands as he writes. "I don't have any lectures this winter, just some online courses. And my professor doesn't really care whether I'm here or there as long as I return my next assignment on time," he writes. “I’m having three days off without any appointments, so I’m planning to send him the next essay tomorrow evening.”

“Should I let you concentrate on your studies today?” Hokuto asks. Jesse chuckles, pulling his feet under his duvet and yawning.

“Nah. I’m used to writing with Juri gaming next to me. He never shuts up when he plays, and I never listen. So feel free to disturb me anytime you like.”

Hokuto seems to take Jesse's words to heart, because for the next days Jesse is followed by a constant flow of messages. Some of them are related to Jesse’s research which Hokuto must have read about on the information booklet, but mostly it’s just random ramblings about Hokuto’s day and whatever is going on in his head. And boy if his head isn’t full of weird stuff. More than once Jesse finds himself staring at the screen of his phone, utterly confused by whatever the stream of Hokuto’s consciousness produces. Often it’s just complete nonsense, and yet Jesse finds himself waiting towards the messages. They often make him laugh, and he can’t believe he thought Hokuto was reticent and boring.

“See you at the hotel tomorrow,” Hokuto writes on Friday evening. “I’ll be there around seven.”

Thus, fifteen past seven then next evening Jesse, Juri, and Taiga step from the elevator into the top floor of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. As instructed, they're also dressed flashy and daring. That is, Juri and Jesse are. Taiga is wearing his usual black suit - though he has switched his black necktie into a silver one. Juri has a bright red velvet suit with a burgundy shirt. Very Christmasy, yet it suits him extremely well without looking ridiculous. Jesse himself opted for a simple black dress shirt with a black blazer that is decorated with shiny, golden zigzag patterns, and very shiny, very tight black pants. All in all, Jesse can be pleased with their choices, even if he says so by himself.

“They’ve booked the whole floor,” Juri marvels, looking around the fancy hallway. Jesse nods, pursing his lips. As the First Son and a co-heritor of a successful international IT company, they've both had their share of top-notch parties, but this place still is something else. All the surfaces seem to be dark reddish wood, golden metal, or shiny clean glass, and the tasteful Christmas decorations bring an extra level of comfort and warmth into the luxury.

“Want a lecture on the security of this kind of events,” Taiga asks, smiling wryly. “You won’t believe the amount of details. Kochi explained this place me yesterday.”

“Right, why are you two here anyway?” Juri asks, rising a brow. “The place is swarming with security personnel even without you. You could have had a nice movie night or something instead.”

“And miss the party? And we already had a movie night day before yesterday.”

“You did?” Jesse says, surprised. He usually doesn’t ask too much about Taiga’s days off; it feels more polite to give a guy some privacy. Besides, Taiga tends to share whatever he wants to share even without Jesse prying on his private matters.

“Yup, and I shared to him all the dreadful details on what it means to be a bodyguard to the First Son,” Taiga says. “Anyway, just don’t leave the building without me.” He stops and grimaces. ”God, I sound like your babysitter instead.”

“Tomayto, tomahto,” Juri chirps. “Thanks, Kyomo!”

The three of them stop by the door of a big banquet hall. It’s tastefully decorated and full of people already, with flashing lights and loud dance music booming from the speakers. Jesse tugs on the lapels of his blazer to give himself a boost, but before they can step in, Kochi peeks around the doorway, his expression brightening as he recognizes them.

“I thought I heard your voices!” He says, grinning widely and nodding at each one of them. “You all look very neat,” he continues, his eyes lingering on Taiga’s glittery necktie.

“Is Shintaro here already?” Juri asks. He’s been practically vibrating the whole day, eager to meet Morimoto again.

Kochi nods towards the other side of the room where a bartender is giving out drinks, and Jesse spots both Morimoto and Hokuto near the bar.

“They’ve been waiting for you.” He winks an eye and nudges Taiga’s arm with his elbow. “Come on, I’ve arranged us seats over there.”

Juri glances between Hokuto and Shintaro, and the corner that Kochi just indicated, and frowns. “Wait, are you two working tonight or not? I thought you were, but you can’t even see Jesse and the prince from over there,” he finally says, and Kochi grins.

“Occasionally off duty, always on guard,” he says, shrugging. “Just in case.”

Taiga nods like that’s his thoughts as well, and Jesse feels somehow touched. He considers Taiga a friend, but he is well aware of the gap between them. No matter how much he likes Taiga, there is always the fact that he is also paying Taiga for his profession. In a way Jesse can’t wait for the time his father isn’t a president anymore. That's when Jesse won't need a bodyguard anymore, and he can just be friends with Taiga, instead of his employer.

“Alright, sure,” Juri says, satisfied with Kochi’s answer, and takes an impatient step towards the other direction. “Have a nice evening, then!”

They separate from Taiga and Kochi, and Juri makes a beeline towards Morimoto and Hokuto.

“You really don’t bother with subtlety at all, do you?” Jesse chuckles when a wide, eager grin spreads on Juri’s face as they approach the two.

“Why should I? I like him - it’s not a secret!”

That’s a nice way to put it, Jesse admits. Juri makes it sound so easy, he thinks as they push through the crowd.

Hokuto is laughing at something that Morimoto said, and looking completely relaxed and comfortable. It’s a pretty sight, and a nice change for his stiffer-than-stiff appearance in the random events where he represents the royal family.

Morimoto notices them first, and he beams at Jesse and Juri. Mostly at Juri though, Jesse notes with growing amusement. Those two really found soulmates in each other since the very first time they met.

“Finally!” Morimoto says, “What took you so long?” He looks very nice with his white dress shirt paired with a pin-striped waistcoat and slacks. He’s rolled his sleeves up to half-arm like he knows exactly how good that detail makes his arms look. Style choice accepted. Hokuto, on the other hand... Whatever it is that he's wearing, its is loose, floral and lavender-colored, and looks distinctly like something that Jesse's mother could have gladly worn in the early nineties. And yet somehow Hokuto can pull it off perfectly.

“Someone wanted to be fashionably late,” Juri teases, and Jesse rolls his eyes.

“He means he forgot his phone at home and we had to go back to get it.”

Juri moans at the revelation, but Morimoto only seems amused. Behind him, Hokuto smiles as well.

“So, may I offer you a drink?” Morimoto asks, indicating the bar with this hand.

“As if it wasn’t all free to drink, by the courtesy of my brother,” Hokuto points out.

“Well then, may I offer you several drinks?”

Turns out Jesse and Hokuto might as well not be there, as Juri immediately tags along with Morimoto, following him to the middle of the bar where the bartender is like they’ve both completely forgotten that they came to the party with someone else.

“He’s been waiting for you guys for the whole evening,” Hokuto says, looking fondly after Morimoto. “Wouldn’t shut up about some online game they’ve been playing together this week.”

“Yeah, Juri’s been talking about it too,” Jesse says, trying his best to resist a strong urge to push his hands into the pockets of his pants - an old nervous habit that he’s been trying to get rid of.

“Nice jacket,” Hokuto says, eyeing Jesse’s attire from head to toes. “Where did you get it?”

“Second-hand shop at Vegas, two years ago,” Jesse admits, contently looking at his own clothes.

Hokuto immediately perks up. “Oh, I love second-hand shops! But I rarely get to browse in them. Apparently it’s not very regal.”

“Bullshit,” Jesse scoffs. “Second-hand shops are very eco-friendly, and that should be as regal as anything!”

“You tell that to my mother,” Hokuto sighs with a wry smile. “Or my brother. He’s a good person but also pompous as fuck.”

“Thank you for the assessment, little brother.”

Hokuto visibly winces before he turns around to meet his brother’s amused smirk.

“Your highness,” Jesse says and bows deeply at the crown prince. “Thank you for inviting me to your party! And also - may I use this opportunity to apologize once more for what happened at your wedding.”

“Relax,” the crown prince says, and it’s funny how very similar his soft laughter is to Hokuto’s. “I’m just glad you’ve managed to get some spark out of my brother. He’s lively enough at home, but dreadfully uptight in public. He seems to be having fun with you.”

“Alright, thank you, please go be drunk somewhere else now,” Hokuto hushes, grabbing his brother’s arms, turning him around and shoving him into the crowd where he’s cheerfully welcomed by his friends.

“I’m so sorry,” Hokuto groans and raises a palm on his reddening face. “He’s…terrible.”

Jesse can’t suppress a grin when he shakes his head, but he is a nice guy so he only teases Hokuto a little bit about it. Instead, he moves to the bar as well to get drinks for him and Hokuto. While he waits for the bartender to mix their drinks, he searches for Juri with his eyes. He spots Juri at the other end of the bar, sitting on a high chair next to Shintaro. Getting his drink, he almost heads towards them, but then he notices the way Shintaro’s hand is shamelessly resting on Juri’s thigh, and the flirty tilt of Juri’s head, and- oh.

“Did you know about that?” Jesse hisses to Hokuto. When Hokuto spots Juri and Morimoto, he doesn’t say anything, merely staring at them with a weird look on his face. With a sinking feeling of disappointment in his stomach, Jesse swallows. He didn’t think Hokuto might be homophobic, but it’s not like they’ve ever talked about it. Even bigoted people might be pleasant in some ways.

“Does it bother you?” he asks so quietly, he doesn’t even know if Hokuto can hear him over the music. Alarmed, Hokuto looks up at him and shakes his head.

“No, of course not! I…knew. About Shintaro. Not about Tanaka.”

“I knew about him. Not about them though.”

Hokuto nods. “I’m glad if Shintaro is happy,” he says, but his expression is still somehow tight. Jesse kind of wants to ask about it, just not too directly.

“How is it for gay people in Japan?” he starts, testing the waters as they sip their drinks. “Gay marriage isn’t legal here, is it?”

Hokuto makes a face. “Nope. It’s not illegal, as in, one won’t get jailed for being gay and wanting to marry. But the law doesn’t recognize gay marriage, either. You know, people might not be able to buy an apartment as a couple, or get to visit their hospitalized partners because they’re not seen as legal family members, et cetera.”

“Damn, that sucks,” Jesse sighs.

“Tell me about it,” Hokuto agrees, which makes Jesse feel substantially better. So Hokuto is on the modern side with his values. Cool.

“Say, do you dance?”

Jesse raises his brows at Hokuto’s sudden question. “Are you asking about my ability or my willingness?”

“Both, I guess?”

Jesse looks at their drinks, then at the dance floor that’s packed with people. Many of them seem to be holding their drinks while dancing, so he figures they can just join in.

Hokuto seems to have other plans. He raises the glass on his lips and drinks it all at once. Jesse raises his brows, but follows the example. The alcohol will definitely get into his head soon, but he won’t mind the pleasant little buzz.

Hokuto dances beautifully. Jesse somehow didn’t expect him to, though he’s not sure why. Maybe it’s the royalty that makes him imagine ancient European ballroom dances, or maybe there’s still something lingering of his earlier prejudice about Hokuto's personality. Whichever, Jesse was very, very wrong. Hokuto’s moves are smooth and graceful, he has an excellent sense of rhythm, and he seems to easily adapt to any song that the DJ decides to put on.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” Jesse yells over the music, not bothering to hide how impressed he is.

Hokuto beams at him like he knows exactly what Jesse was thinking about. “I’ve been taking weekly dance classes since I was thirteen!” Right. Also, Jesse remembers, Hokuto is literally a theater kid. Of course he’d have a good sense of beautiful movement. It would be nice to see him on stage, too.

“Can I come to see your theater practice sometime? The doll thing?” he asks. Hokuto’s eyes widen in pleased surprise.

“Of course! I’ll send you the address and all later,” he shouts back, doing a silly little victory spin. Jesse laughs and jams along, slowing down his moves when the song fades out and the next starts. It’s a current hit, and in a heartbeat the dance floor is even more crowded, when everyone wants to join in. It feels pleasantly unreal to sway along with the sweaty, enthusiastic sea of drunken people, with bright lights flashing in different colors above their heads and the deep pulse of the base vibrating in Jesse’s whole body.

Someone stumbles against Hokuto’s back, forcing him to side-step, and it’s a good thing Hokuto does, because then Jesse can see the other guy losing the hold of his beer glass. Jesse grabs Hokuto’s wrist just in time to yank him closer to himself. The beer splashes to the floor and sprinkles into everyone’s pants and shins, but at least it’s not all over Hokuto’s shoulder. Luckily the glass itself was really plastic so they're spared from glass shards.

“Oops,” the stumbling guy slurs, swaying on his feet before turning away - probably to get another beer that he definitely shouldn't have.

“Oops indeed,” Hokuto manages when the crowd mills around them and presses him closer against Jesse’s chest. “Sorry!”

“No problem,” Jesse laughs and lets his hands find a comfortable place on Hokuto’s waist. “I like dancing with a partner.”

“Yeah?” Hokuto looks up, his eyes dark and expression weirdly unreadable as he slowly lays his hands on Jesse’s shoulders, first lightly, then more firmly. Damn, the guy’s pretty. He must be awfully popular, so how he’s still single is a mystery. Then again, being royal might be as much of a curse as a blessing. While some girls would definitely be thrilled to marry an actual prince, it’s easy to understand why most of them might prefer to stay away from the restrictions and demands of such a controlled life.

“Hokuto!” someone shrieks, almost like Jesse’s musings actually summoned a flock of hot young women to accompany them. “It’s been so long!”

Hokuto takes a quick step back, allowing the three girls slide between him and Jesse so they can all dance in a small circle. He quickly introduces Jesse to them, but the music is too loud and he doesn't catch the first name. Then he misses the other two when he's still trying to figure out the first one.

One of the girls leans closer so he can speak directly into Jesse’s ear without needing to yell. “We went to university with his brother,” she explains, her extremely long false eyelashes tickling Jesse’s cheek. “We got to know Hokuto through him.”

Jesse just nods and smiles at her, trying to quickly calculate their ages and possible year of graduation. Is he supposed to know about them? Were Jesse and Hokuto already ‘friends’ when Hokuto went to university? When did he graduate? Shit, what did he even study? His head swims slightly with the earlier drink, but to be honest he’s not sure he’d remember this stuff even without the alcohol. He didn’t really learn everything about Hokuto by heart that night after the crown prince’s wedding.

Luckily, Lashes launches into a steady flow of small talk while moving along with the music, and Jesse eagerly grasps onto any topic that doesn’t require him remembering details about Hokuto’s student life. She's a decent dancer, and what she lacks in technique, she compensates with attitude. She stays close so they can keep talking despite the music, and when she offers her hand, Jesse takes it, raising his arm and helping her spin around.

At some point he glances over at Hokuto, but Hokuto is talking at the two other girls and doesn’t even notice him. Well, figures. If they are as charming as Lashes here, it’s no wonder he’s so focused on them.

The next song the DJ puts on is a slower one, and Lashes confidently wraps her arms around Jesse’s neck, fluttering the said long eyelashes flirtatiously.

“So I've been wondering. What’s your type?” she asks, tilting her head. “Since you’re from the United States - do you prefer black hair or blonde?”

“Black,” Jesse says firmly. “Brown eyes, too.”

Lashes smiles, her dark eyes narrowing in delight. “Short hair or long?”

Jesse thinks about it for a while. “Shorter is nice, actually.”

Lashes shakes her head. “Well, I guess nobody is perfect." Whether she means Jesse or her long-haired self is unclear.

“Have you ever kissed a Japanese girl?” Lashes asks, reaching up and running a finger down from Jesse’s cheek to his chin, fingertip only barely missing the corner of his mouth, and though the question is sincere, Jesse suddenly feels like he should direct this conversation into a completely different lane immediately.

“I haven’t had time to meet many Japanese girls. I’ve, uh, been busy.”

She smiles, running the tip of her tongue along her lower lip. “That’s easily fixed,” she says and reaches up, pressing her lips on Jesse’s. Not entirely surprised, Jesse tilts his head to the side so their noses won’t crash into each other, and allows Lashes a second or two more before gently pushing her away.

“Uh. I didn’t mean to mislead you,” he says, frowning apologetically.

Lashes makes a disappointed face. “Oh. I’m sorry- I thought-”

Jesse shakes his head. “It’s fine. I’d rather just dance and talk, if that’s okay?”

“You’re sweet,” Lashes says and it sounds like she means it, “but I’m afraid I really need to flee and drown my embarrassment into a glass of wine now.”

Lashes slides her hands around the arms of her two friends and announces she needs a drink. All three of them head towards the bar, but she glances across her shoulder one last time.

“Sorry,” she mouths, and Jesse shakes his head again, waving a hand to show there’s no hard feelings.

Left alone, he looks around, realizing Hokuto isn’t there anymore. When did he leave, and where to? He lets his gaze run across the bar that the girls have just reached. Hokuto is not there, and neither are Juri and Shintaro. Jesse slips out of the dancing crowd, relieved to have more room around him. Maybe Hokuto went to the bathroom. Jesse could go too, actually.

Hokuto isn’t at the bathroom, and he isn’t standing anywhere around the walls of the banquet hall either. In fact, he can’t see anyone he knows anymore - except Hokuto’s brother who has found a table and several bowls of snacks for himself and a circle of friends.

Returning to the hallway, Jesse takes his phone from his pocket and calls Juri. As the dial tone rings, he holds the phone on his ear and walks around the length of the hallway. His eyes land on a glass door at the other end of the corridor, leading to a balcony. Juri doesn’t answer, but then Jesse didn’t really expect him to. He’s probably having more interesting things to do by now.

The brisk breeze of air feels wonderful on Jesse’s face when he pushes the door open and steps out to the balcony. The hotel is tall enough that from the top floor it feels like he can see the whole of Tokyo opening in front of him. He can’t see any stars on the cloudy sky, but the bright lights of the endless city are a beautiful substitute.

And at the end of the wide balcony stands Hokuto, leaning against the railing.

Jesse walks to his side, resting his elbows on the railing as well. “What are you doing here?”

Hokuto shrugs. “Breathing.”

“The air is kinda stuffed in there,” Jesse admits. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Not yet.”

Jesse frowns at Hokuto’s short, stiff sentences. Did the guy forget they actually like talking with each other now?

“What’s wrong?” he tries, leaning in so he can see Hokuto’s face, but Hokuto pulls away like he’s actually annoyed, so Jesse decides to keep his distance.

Hokuto shrugs, fiddling with his hands. “I need a date, I can’t date. That’s all.”

Jesse scoffs. “Surely even princes are allowed to date. And you just left three, well, at least two available prospects at the dance floor. What’s wrong with them?”

“I’m not interested in them.”

It doesn’t make any sense. The girls were all beautiful, cheerful, and polite, and they must be clever too if they went to the same university with Hokuto and his brother. What else could Hokuto even ask for?

“Then what on earth are you interested in?” he asks, unable to hide his bafflement.

Hokuto groans. “You just don’t get it, do you?” he says, grabs the lapels of Jesse’s blazer, and kisses him.

Jesse’s breath catches at the hard press of Hokuto’s warm lips on his own, and he leans in hungrily, eyes fluttering shut as Hokuto’s hands slide through his hair, gently tugging on it. Jesse’s own hands find Hokuto’s waist just as easily as they did before, and their bodies press together so naturally, it makes Jesse hum in pleasure.

Hokuto shoves them apart, wide-eyed and out of breath. Alarmed and even more confused, Jesse takes a short step towards him, but Hokuto takes another step back.

“Sorry,” he stammers and flees, striding back inside and leaving Jesse to stare after him.

Jesse tries to find him again of course, but this time Hokuto really is gone for good.

“Can we talk?”

“I’m not mad you know.”

“Happy new year!”

“Will you be here for the Prime Minister’s dinner in February?”

Jesse presses send and throws his phone on the couch. Hokuto won’t see the message anytime soon, as it is noon in Tokyo, and Hokuto is currently standing at the veranda of the Imperial Palace with his family for the annual New Year Greeting. Jesse turns up the volume of his television so he can hear what the announcer is saying.

It’s the whole family there; the Emperor and the Empress, Hokuto’s brother with his wife, and the Emperor's sisters with their husbands and children. Hokuto looks painfully handsome in his neat black suit, and Jesse simultaneously wants to stare at him and look away.

It’s been ten days since the Christmas Party. Ten days, during which Jesse's mother came down with a cold so she asked him to come home and replace her in some charity event. So Jesse hugged goodbye to his grandparents and stepped into a private plane that took him back to the States. And while the messenger app indicates that Hokuto has seen all Jesse’s messages, he has answered none of them.

On the television the Emperor gives his speech, after which the crowd cheers loudly while the members of the imperial household wave their hands. Hokuto’s small, calm smile is beautiful, but also frustrating at the same time now that Jesse knows exactly how bright and vivid his smiles can be when he's really having fun.

After a while of smiling and waving, Hokuto and his family withdraw into the palace again, and officials start to guide the crowd ahead.

Jesse switches off the television and tries very hard to ignore the way his heart aches when he notices the small word “Read” above his last message. He’s not pining after Hokuto, for heaven’s sake.

Next morning, he doesn’t even bother knocking on Juri’s door before marching into his apartment with the spare key he holds.

“Hi! Make coffee if you want, and take a seat,” Juri yells from the room he calls his office even though it’s actually a pitch dark bedroom with tightly closed curtains and a towering pile of empty cup noodle cups. “Eight minutes.”

Jesse puts the coffee machine on and raids through Juri’s cupboards until he finds an opened bag of peanuts, who knows how old. He pours the peanuts into a bowl and places it on the small table in Juri’s living room. He’s just gotten a mug of black coffee in his hand and sat down to the sofa when Juri emerges at the door of his gaming lair.

“What’s up?” he asks, yawning and stretching his arms above his head, and makes a beeline to the coffee machine. Jesse sighs. Better to just get on with it.

“Hokuto kissed me. At the Christmas party.”

A victorious grin spreads on Juri’s face. “Knew it!”

“Like hell you did,” Jesse scoffs. “I haven’t told anyone!”

Juri tilts his head and purses his lips, looking like he’s about to say something but opts otherwise. Jesse narrows his eyes.

“Do you know something I don’t?” he demands.

Juri hugs his coffee mug with his palms. His hands always get cold when he plays for hours, so he probably hasn’t slept at all tonight. “Well… Surely you realize by now that Hokuto isn’t entirely straight?” he says slowly. “Or like, not straight at all.”

Jesse’s heart makes a funny little somersault and lands somewhere at the bottom of his stomach, but he frowns.

“Is that your secret to tell?”

Juri shrugs. “I mean, you just told me he kissed you.”

“But it doesn’t have to mean anything! Whenever there are any rumors about him on newspapers or magazines, it’s always about him and some random girl!”

Leaning against his kitchen counter, Juri looks at Jesse blankly. “He’s a prince. A Japanese prince at that. In what universe do you think he’d be allowed to be publicly gay? It’s hard enough to be gay in Japan when you’re a mere commoner. Shintaro told me all about it.”

Huh. So that’s where Juri gets his information. But maybe it should have been obvious, considering the other events of the Christmas party.

“So Morimoto…is gay?”

“Bi. And that is my secret to tell, by the way. He said he doesn’t mind you knowing.”

Jesse lets the words simmer in his head for a moment, and it slowly dawns to him. “Wait, are you two- like, together or what? I thought you guys were just like…I don’t know, making out in some corner at the party?”

Juri shrugs, and suddenly his smile gets a shade of shy delight that makes Jesse want to hug him and ruffle his hair at the same time.

“Not exactly together,” Juri rushes to say, but there is no way he can back off of this anymore. No matter what the status of their relationship is, Jesse is already rooting for them with his whole heart.

“Yet,” he suggests, and Juri grimaces, though his face immediately returns to the stupid soft grin.

Juri pours himself more coffee and marches to the sofa, flopping down next to Jesse.

“Enough of me! Are you finally going to join us in the dark side?”

Jesse has just gotten a mouthful of hot coffee so he only raises his brows questioningly high.

“You know how us queers tend to flock together? Well, your best friend is gay as a picnic basket, and you were thrilled to hear you had by chance hired a not-straight bodyguard. You always insisted to be a straight ally yourself but you’re definitely showing me some mixed signals here. Making out out with a Prince doesn't sound very straight to me," Juri counts with his fingers, hardly able to hide his glee.

Jesse coughs into his coffee. “I didn't-”

“Choose your words carefully,” Juri sing-songs. “Did you like it? The kiss?”

Hokuto's lips firmly pressing against his own, his fingers sliding through Jesse's hair and finding the longer strands at the top. His body radiating warmth against Jesse's in the cool December night--

Jesse swallows. He nods.

"Haven't you been texting with him nonstop since your sweet-sweet outing at the children's hospital?"

"Not after the party," Jesse admits gloomily. “Full radio silence."

"But you did until then. And you'd like to go on texting with him. And make out with him. And also fu-"

"Yes, yes, thank you! I get it," Jesse cries out, hastily waving his hand in order to make Juri stop.

“The point is, he kissed you. And you liked it.”

And when it’s put that way… he might actually be right about this.

Jesse looks down at his half-full mug or coffee. He really doesn't feel like finishing it anymore, not with his stomach feeling like a twisted mess of excitement and dread at the same time.

He never knew he could fall for a guy.

"So maybe I am into him. But I just want to see him first," he finally says. "And make him talk to me."

"That's my boy! Don't give up so easily." And even though Juri swats Jesse's shoulder playfully when saying so, his voice is gentle in the best way, and Jesse can't help a smile.

The following week passes painfully slowly, and even though Hokuto still isn't answering any of Jesse's messages, at least some assistant of his has answered the invitation and informed the president’s office that Prince Hokuto will indeed be attending the state dinner arranged in honor of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit in the United States.

Three more weeks to wait.

The East Room is bustling with people standing in circles and talking, waiting for the official invitation to move into the State Dining Hall where the dinner will be served. Ministers and other important politicians, mostly American but also many from Japan. Jesse’s father is talking with the Japanese prime minister, and Jesse is doing his best to be invisible in their eyes. The incident with the crown prince’s wedding cake is still bright in his mind and he very, very much doesn’t want to have to make small talk with the prime minister, who publicly criticized his behavior after the wedding.

Someone approaches Jesse while he is munching down a canapé, and he quickly wipes his crumbly fingers in a napkin before shaking hands with them. The person is a reporter from some young adults magazine who wants to know what plans Jesse will have for this new year, and Jesse doesn’t mind chatting with them for a while, though he can’t help glancing at the doors of the hall more often that he probably should.

People come in and Jesse recognizes most of them, but he is interested in none of them, until finally he sees Hokuto at the doors. He is dressed in a perfectly fitting black suit, and his shiny black hair looks intriguingly soft as it frames his stupidly handsome face. He smiles politely and heads directly to shake hands with Jesse’s father and exchange bows his own father’s prime minister. He also stays for a few words, probably to thank for the invitation.

“-in fact, our readers are very intrigued about the friendship between you and Prince Hokuto,” the reporter says, probably having noticed the direction of Jesse’s attention. “Before your latest visit in Tokyo, nobody would ever have guessed you were so close! You have kept it down until now, haven’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, we- we liked each other from the first meeting years ago,” Jesse says, and even though it is a blatant lie, somehow it’s easier to say it aloud now that he actually likes Hokuto. “But I guess we’ve both had so many other things going on in our lives, we’ve only met rarely. This time we actually had lots of time to spend together in private and we realized it was so much fun, we decided we should meet up more often. So, uh, the power of friendship and peer support et cetera? Maybe that’d be good ending for your article?”

The reporter beams at him, obviously already composing some nice sentences in their head. Jesse can only hope that Hokuto really wants to be his friend still. Otherwise, this all could turn awkward later when the article gets published.

He needs to talk to Hokuto right now.

“Excuse me,” he says with his best smile, “but speaking of the Devil, I haven’t said hi to Prince Hokuto yet. Would you mind if I..?”

Apparently he managed to please the reporter, as they nod at him good evening and leave to find a next target, and Jesse can thread between the crowd.

“Hi,” Jesse says when he gets to where Hokuto is standing alone now. “Can we talk?”

“Good evening,” Hokuto says and smiles at him, but it is a stiff, vacant smile meant for the public and press, not Hokuto’s real, warm smile. It feels so wrong. “So nice to see you again.”

Jesse turns his back to the crowd, standing in front of Hokuto trying to look into his eyes, but Hokuto won’t let him. Instead, he looks past Jesse’s shoulder and catches the eyes of the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and waves a hand at her.

“Excuse me. I’ve been wanting to talk with her about some culture exchange project I recently heard about,” Hokuto says mildly as he slides past Jesse, hardly even looking at him. He greets the Assistant Secretary and launches into an enthusiastic conversation on something that Jesse doesn’t bother listening in. He takes a deep breath and wills his face to stay pleasantly neutral, though Hokuto’s behavior is so goddamn annoying, he almost remembers why he originally disliked the prince so.

Scanning the room with his eyes, Jesse searches for any excuse he could use to catch Hokuto alone again. His eyes land on Kochi who stands by the wall with his hands behind his back, eyes sharp and alert.

There.

“I need your help,” Jesse says under his breath.

Kochi briefly glances at him before his eyes are back at the crowd again. “What is it?”

“I’d like to talk with Hokuto,” Jesse says, trying not to sound like he’s actually pleading. That would be ridiculous. “Alone. There are three adjacent sitting rooms in a row behind that door. Could you please bring Hokuto in the middle one in a moment and stand for guard? I only need a couple minutes.”

Kochi raises his brows, looking contemplative, but finally he nods.

“Alright. You’d better to go ahead. I won’t disturb his conversation but I’ll step in when he’s done.”

“Thank you,” Jesse breathes and turns to look for Taiga. Taiga stands on the other side of the room and has obviously been watching their conversation though he can’t possibly have heard them. Jesse discreetly points a finger between himself and Hokuto, then at the door to the Green Room, and finally makes a blah blah gesture with his hand to indicate that he’s going to talk with Hokuto. Taiga nods minutely, and Jesse is free to leave the room.

It’s probably only five or six minutes of waiting, but it feels much longer when Jesse walks around the round sitting room, pushing his hands into his pockets and taking them out, brushing his hair back and straightens his jacket.

The door makes a small clicking noise when Hokuto walks in and closes it behind himself. His face looks miserable, but he looks so good, Jesse wants to laugh in disbelief. How can he ever have looked at Hokuto without realizing how goddamn attractive the man is?

“Look, I’m sorry. There’s no excuse for what I did-” Hokuto starts in a painfully awkward voice, but Jesse can’t listen to it. He strides across the room, takes Hokuto’s head between his hands and kisses him deeply, hastily, the way he’s been wanting to kiss him day and night for the past weeks. Hokuto instinctively answers, but then he freezes and steps back, much like he did on Christmas. Jesse’s stomach sinks with fear that they’ll just repeat that over again.

Hokuto stares at Jesse, his eyes switching between Jesse’s eyes and lips several times before he lets out a sharp exhale and they step in at the same time. Their lips crash together as Jesse grabs Hokuto’s head again. Hokuto’s hands slip under Jesse’s suit jacket, wrapping around his back and pulling Jesse tight against him, like he needs to feel him close immediately.

Hokuto’s mouth eager against his, Hokuto’s fragrance filling his nostrils, Jesse groans into the kiss when Hokuto arches his body against his. And when his own hips involuntarily buck against Hokuto’s, he can feel the excited hardness of them both down there. It makes his head spin. He wants more, right now.

“Alright young masters, you should get back to- Oh COME ON!” Kochi steps in but turns around mid-sentence. “I really didn’t need to see that,” he yells through the door, sounding somewhat violated. Jesse and Hokuto startle apart, both red at the face.

His heart racing, Jesse looks at Hokuto who is panting for breath, his eyes wide with surprise but a lopsided smile tugging at his mouth.

“Out. Now,” Kochi snaps, and straightening their shirts, both Jesse and Hokuto shuffle into the Green Room. Kochi takes an unimpressed look at them, though Jesse could swear he’s also seeing a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“You should probably see a mirror before you go back,” he suggests to Jesse. A tuft of hair has broken off from Jesse’s head that was so carefully gelled earlier. Jesse smooths the hair back, hoping it will stick. “And now we go back together, and no-one will suspect a thing.”

“Wait,” Jesse says quickly. “Don’t tell Taiga.” He wants to tell Taiga by himself. Though he doesn’t know if there’s much to tell? Prince Hokuto kissed him and he liked it? He kissed Prince Hokuto back and liked it even more?

“Fine,” Kochi promises. “Just, please don’t underestimate him. You’d be mad to try to hide something like this from a personal bodyguard.”

“I’m not trying to hide anything from him,” Jesse insists. “I just… He doesn’t know I’m not straight anymore, and- wait, is it okay to say it like that?”

Kochi’s expression softens. “I think it’s fine. Life happens, people grow and change. Sometimes that means reevaluating your sexuality.”

The sudden, gentle validation from such an unexpected source makes Jesse want to cry a bit.

He looks up to meet Hokuto’s eyes. Hokuto, standing a couple meters behind Kochi, chuckles and shrugs, and walks back into the bustling East Room with Jesse and Kochi following close behind him.

At the door Jesse waits for Kochi to go past them both before he grabs Hokuto’s shoulder.

“So here’s the plan,” he murmurs into Hokuto’s ear. “You stay far from me for the rest of the evening, and appear at the door of my room at midnight. I’ll send Taiga home in time, and for the sanity of both you and Kochi, you should shake him off too.”

Having said that, Jesse flees without looking at Hokuto anymore because he’s both thrilled and feeling like an idiot. What if Hokuto doesn’t want to come to his room? Then again, the hot tingling on Jesse’s lips and the needy ache in his pants are a clear proof of Hokuto having been perfectly willing to have some intimate fun with him just a moment ago, so maybe he’ll still want it in a few hours.

Having polite, meaningful conversations with this and that important political figure for the rest of the evening is…harder than he expected. Pun intended.

At half past eleven Jesse withdraws from the party and frees Taiga from his responsibilities. At five to twelve takes off his suit jacket in his room, leaving it hanging on the back of a chair. Excitement simmering in his stomach he pulls open his bow tie and undoes a couple of buttons from his dress shirt. He has just folded the bow tie it its box when there’s a quiet knock at his door.

Jesse’s heart jumps. He opens the door and Hokuto is there. He slips into the room, and after that Jesse isn’t sure which one took the first step, but it doesn’t matter because he’s got Hokuto pressing against him again, as eager and willing as he was before the dinner.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” he mumbles against Hokuto’s lips, reaching around and grabbing Hokuto’s butt through his well-fitting suit pants.

“I literally haven’t thought about anything else for the last three hours,” Hokuto says between the kisses, hands in Jesse’s hair as he walks them both towards Jesse’s sofa in the middle of the room. He pushes Jesse down to the sofa and climbs on top of him, straddling and kissing him while grabbing his wrists and holding above his head at the same time.

Gasping with pleasure, Jesse arches his back and tilts his head when Hokuto drops quick pecks on his neck.

“Just out of curiosity-” he stammers when Hokuto’s lips travel down towards his collar bone, “Since when have you - ah - had the hots for me?”

“Your father’s first presidential visit in Japan to meet my dad,” Hokuto says, grinning as he rubs both his nose and his fingertips against Jesse’s bearded cheek like he’s fascinated by the prickly feeling. “You?”

“Honestly? Since Christmas. I guess I’m a late bloomer.”

Hokuto’s eyes widen for a moment, but he doesn’t stop moving. Instead, he fumbles open the rest of the buttons on Jesse’s shirt, leaving a trail of hot kisses on every inch of exposed skin. At Jesse’s belt he halts again, glancing up at Jesse’s face. Jesse nods, too out of breath to speak.

Hokuto yanks the belt open, pulls Jesse’s boxers down, and only gives him a couple firm strokes before going down on him. Jesse drops his head on the throw pillows of his sofa, swallowing a moan when Hokuto’s warm, wet mouth surrounds him. It’s a breathtaking feeling, familiar and new and exciting all at once, and it’s clear that Hokuto knows what he’s doing. The grip of his fingers around Jesse’s shaft is just right, while he does wonderful things with his tongue at the head. Jesse reaches down to run his hand through Hokuto’s hair, resisting the urge to buck up.

When Hokuto pulls back to give his jaw a break, his hair is hanging messily in front his eyes. He looks so filthy hot wen he runs his tongue across his lower lip, that Jesse could almost come with that sight alone. But then Hokuto takes Jesse’s cock into his mouth again, and Jesse’s head spins with the sensations and the sounds it makes. Hokuto moves his hand in the same rhythm with his head, letting his thumb rub lower and lower at the underside whenever he strokes down. And when his thumb reaches Jesse’s balls, Jesse can’t hold it anymore. He gasps a short warning to Hokuto, but Hokuto sucks him through his orgasm and swallows, and Jesse has never seen anything hotter.

He lets his head flop down again, panting and shaking all over. Through half-closed lids he watches how Hokuto sits up and runs his hand through his front hair, combing it back until it naturally parts in the middle to frame his face. His face is red and his lips look deliciously swollen, and the front of his pants is so ivisibly tenting, Jesse can’t keep his hands off him anymore.

“Come here,” he says, hooks a lazy finger under Hokuto’s bow tie and pulls gently, guiding him to hover above Jesse on his hands and knees. Jesse reaches down to open Hokuto’s belt and pants, and slides a hand into Hokuto’s boxers. His own breath catches along with Hokuto’s when he wraps his fingers around Hokuto’s cock. It’s so similar to Jesse’s own and yet quite different.

Hokuto’s eyes flutter shut when Jesse gives him a slow, careful stroke. Jesse moves his hand faster and Hokuto whimpers, hanging his head so his hair tickles Jesse’s face as Jesse searches for a rhythm that is comfortable for the both of them. He wishes he had some lube at hand, but there’s no way he’s making Hokuto stand up now, so they’ll have to do without. He gently lifts Hokuto’s chin with the thumb and index finger of his free hand so their eyes meet. Hokuto is absolutely beautiful, eyes dark with need and mouth open with pleasure.

“Fuck you’re hot,” Jesse breathes, helpless with how good it feels to touch Hokuto and to know he’s able to make Hokuto feel so good, too.

“Have you - ah - looked into a mirror lately?” Hokuto gasps. At the same moment his hands give in and he collapses on top of Jesse, only twisting his body enough that Jesse still has room to keep moving his hand. “That stupid beard-” he stammers, and Jesse raises his brows, squeezing Hokuto harder.

“You don’t like it?” he asks in disbelief because he knows for a fact that the beard suits him extremely well, thank you very much.

“I hated it so much when I first saw it on television,” Hokuto says, burying his face against Jesse’s shoulder and bucking his hips into Jesse’s hand. “It made you look so good, I wanted nothing more than- than to get you in my bed and- fuck me.”

Hokuto’s words make a cold shiver of excitement run down Jesse’s spine. “Yeah? You like it so much?” he murmurs into Hokuto’s ear, making sure to brush his chin against Hokuto’s cheek. Hokuto moans aloud, and Jesse finds himself fascinated with the range of his voice; how high-pitched the moan was, and how low the grunt when Jesse twists his hand just right. He nuzzles his nose against the tender skin between Hokuto’s neck and shoulder, relishing the way it makes him shudder.

“Maybe I’ll keep the beard then, just for you,” he whispers. Hokuto comes hard into Jesse’s hand, shaking and panting.

He’s definitely keeping the beard.

Later, they lounge on Jesse’s sofa side by side, half-sitting, half-lying in a terrible posture. Jesse looks at Hokuto, following as he straightens his clothes in an attempt to get himself look presentable again.

“Can I ask you something?” he starts, hesitating. Hokuto, done with his pants and shirt, turns into a better position so he can rest his head against his arm, and nods with an open, soft expression that encourages Jesse to go on. “Um, so… are you like… I mean, earlier, when I said I’m not straight anymore. I think I’m… bisexual instead?”

The word, though familiar to him of course, feels weird when he uses it to refer to himself. He never thought he’d ever identify as one, but here he is, sitting in his room with Prince Hokuto after having received the best blowjob of his life. He can almost hear Juri’s jolly voice in his head: Doesn’t look very straight to me!

Hokuto nods, smiling calmly. “Alright,” he says and tilts his head to mirror Jesse’s. “I’m gay, if that’s what you’re trying to ask. Very, very gay.”

Jesse answers his smile, glad to know something so private about Hokuto. He looks at Hokuto’s hand resting on his thigh, and reaches to take it into his own.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind if we did this again,” he says slowly, stroking Hokuto’s hand with his thumb.

“Me neither,” Hokuto says, but his smile gets an uncertain shade. “Just. You do realize we’re gonna have to lay low with it? You can’t fall in love with me or anything.” He coughs when he realizes what exactly he just said, and waves both hands in the air in front of himself. “I mean- I didn’t mean it like-”

But it’s too late for him to correct his words. Jesse almost shrieks with laughter. “So you are full of yourself after all, your majesty!”

Hokuto throws a pillow to his face. “It’s your royal highness,” he snaps, but he leans in to pull Jesse into a deep, languid kiss. Jesse answers him easily, wrapping his arms around Hokuto’s waist and pulling him close.

After a while Hokuto pulls his head back so he can look into Jesse’s eyes again. “I should probably go. I told Kochi I was going to talk with you, but there’s no way he believed me. He’s waiting with whoever from the White House security personnel is on night shift tonight.”

Jesse really, really doesn’t want Hokuto to go, but he knows it’s no use resisting. Hokuto stumbles up and glances at a mirror on Jesse’s wall to make sure his hair isn’t a complete mess.

“Wait-” Jesse says at the same time that Hokuto turns back instead of reaching for the door.

“So I was thinking-”

They blink in amused silence before Jesse pulls himself on his feet as well and indicates with his hand that Hokuto should continue.

“It’s just,” Hokuto says, smiling sheepishly. “There’s this bunraku show in two weeks in which I’ll be performing. I was wondering… would you still like to come and see it? We’ve been practicing a lot and I think it’s going to be fun.”

A funny warmth spreading in his chest, Jesse immediately promises, already waiting towards the show. He steps in, stealing one last kiss from Hokuto.

“Great,” Hokuto says into the kiss. “I’ll send you the address and tickets and all.” He smiles, takes a few steps back and opens the door, peeking into the hallway to make sure it’s empty.

“Wave at the top right corner behind you, and Kochi will see you in the monitoring room,” Jesse says dryly. Hokuto snorts, not having any illusions of privacy from the security staff, either. He waves at the camera and takes one more good look at Jesse before he wishes Jesse good night and closes the door after himself.

Jesse throws himself back to the sofa, staring at the ceiling and taking a deep breath as a stupid, wide grin spreads on his face.