Untimely Return

This fiction © Zaywrites

Disclaimer: Fushigiboshi no Futagohime/Gyu belongs to its rightful owners.

"Shade, I passed!" I raised my head upon hearing her voice and removed my hands inside my pocket. Taking in deep breath, I stopped on my tracks and slowly turned my body to look at her. She looked so cute bouncing on her feet; her lips stretched in a warm smile, her cheeks flushed, her arms flailing, and her eyes a-glow with joy.

Her squeals and giggles echoed across the hallway. I opened my arms and anticipated her hug. She literally jumped and wrapped her arms around my neck. I spun her a few times and joined her infectious laugh.

She removed her arms and showed me what seems like her test paper. I looked at the crumpled paper and noticed her score. 76 out of 100. She barely passed the examination but I'm still thankful for it. I failed to notice that I was smiling widely until I felt my cheeks throb.

"I passed! We can finally get married!" She squealed, blushing. Her statement made other students of Royal Academy to look at us. I chuckled softly and ruffled her hair.

King Truth and Queen Elsa said that she will not marry anyone without graduating in Royal Gakuen. She must have been preparing so much for it.

"I'm glad the charm worked," I leaned in to kiss her cheek. I felt her cheek grew warm against my lips.

She fumbled on her skirt's pocket and grabbed the charm I gave her. It's a small silk, blue drawstring pouch with moon patterns, a small red bow fastened on it.

"It's not entirely because of the charm! It's because I had an intelligent tutor!" She exclaimed then grabs my hand and we began to walk.

I looked ahead of us and watched the snow falling obliquely. I dropped my gaze on her, noticing that her eyes are fixed on our interlocked fingers.

"What do you want as a reward?" I asked, causing her head to jerk back. She abruptly stopped on her tracks and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, scanning the surprised look she had on her face.

"How rare to hear that from you," she muttered under her breath, eyes beginning to water.

I looked away as I felt the blush surfacing on my skin. "Well, if you don't want it then I can cancel my offer -"

"No! no! no!" She almost blasted my left ear. She shook her head and grumbled, "I just felt like a parasite sponging off you."

I raised her head and sighed. "What made you think that? Scratch that. Who made you think that?" I quickly felt sorry for raising my voice. I hate it when she's like this. She avoids my eyes and sniffs.

"My classmates…Altezza and some others…" she confessed, her eyes glowing with tears.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer. "Don't mind them. I love you. That's what matters." I whispered, feeling my chest become wet in a split second.

"Hey, I said that to cheer you up, not to make you cry." I faked a frown and she smiled. "If you're being like this when I say 'I love you' I will not say it anymore."

"No! Keep saying it!" she demanded, her small fists clutching the collars of my shirt.

I held her face and locked our eyes before I softly whispered 'I love you' several times.

"I love you…I love you…I love you…" with gloved hands, I can still feel her face growing warmer after each confession of my feelings.

"Okay, that's enough." she puts a finger on my lips and smiles. Her smiles are so contagious that I can't stop myself from smiling.

"Well then, let's get back to the topic. What do you want as a reward, my queen?" I walked behind her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, my chin resting on her head. "Make it quick or I'll change my mind." I challenged. She quickly turned around and placed her hands in thinking position.

"Buy me an ice cream!" she submits her request. I gave her a confused look. "Are you sure? I can always do that for you. Besides, ice cream on winter?" I bit down a snicker. The bleak season squeezes everything to death. I don't understand what she's thinking.

She rethinks. "Ah, wait. Forget about the ice cream. Since this is a rare occasion how about...you tell me how much you love me!" she exclaims. I rolled my eyes and flicked her forehead.

"I just did that a few minutes ago," I reminded her. She slumps her shoulder and reconsiders the ice cream. "Ice cream is the only option, huh…"

I laughed at her disappointed face.

"A kiss would be nice," I suggested, winking at her. Her face immediately went red. "I-I'm not ready for a kiss yet..." she mumbles, lightly punching my arm.

Sighing, I grabbed her hand and we continued walking. "I'll let you think about it."

"I think that's it!" She suddenly exclaims.

I raised an eyebrow and smiled at her, "What's it?"

She smiles and grabs my hands "I want you to be by my side and to be in my life forever." This time, it was my eyes which began to water.

"Of course." I hugged her tightly, savoring her words, her warmth that sent electricity through my body. At that moment, I felt scared. I was scared of losing her, like she will disappear the moment I blinked.

A few days after we got married and declared as the king and queen of Moon Kingdom, Rein vanished. It seemed like she never existed in Fushigiboshi, in Moon Kingdom, in my life.

If I only knew that it would be our last time together, I would have done whatever it takes to keep her in my arms.

No one knew where she was. No one knew what happened to her. There was no reason why she would abandon the kingdom. There were no signs of attack or kidnapping as well.

I searched for decades, giving up everything I had just to find her. Fushigiboshi declared her dead. But I just can't accept that. It was the middle of the dreary winter when I decided to go back to Moon Kingdom. I lost Regina on my way back, Prince Tio went back to his own kingdom, Prince Bright already invested too much in this quest, and Fine was busy guarding Fushigiboshi all by herself. I couldn't ask more for help.

The winter's lacerating storms were choking me. I coughed violently, blood splattering on my palms and I collapsed on my knees. Dull eyes locked on the flint-grey sky, stiff limbs buried under the piles of polar-white snow. I just waited for my breathing to stop. As my breathing stops, I marveled at the fate I had. I lost Rein during winter and now I'm dying of hypothermia. A tear slid off my chin until, I heard a voice, my own voice, asking for my help.

Save her.

"…agh!" Shade screamed, his body falling out of bed. He laid still, his shirt and bedclothes plastered on his body, sheen of sweat formed on his forehead. It took him a few minutes before he managed to separate his limbs from the clutches of his blanket.

He walked towards the full length mirror, brushing the haphazard strands of dark blue locks falling across his forehead. He scanned his face and mimicked the cough that he did in his dreams. There's no blood. He pulled the curtains and it's in the middle of summer. He crinkled his nose and inhaled the morning breeze.

"Weird. I don't think I own that dream," he mutters to himself.

"Onni-chan, are you all right?" Milky asked, popping her head from the shoji screen.

"…I don't need sympathy. I just fell from bed, that's all. What's for breakfast?" Shade asks, walking out of his room. Milky gave her a confused look.

Shade snorts and looks at his younger sister with the usual impassive expression on his face. "What's your problem? I'm going somewhere else today so don't expect me to teach you math," he grumbles, swallowing a toast.

"Onii-chan, I think you need a check up with a psychiatrist." Milky suggests. Shade choked on his breakfast, throwing a glare at the younger Serizawa.

"What are you talking about?" Shade bellowed, causing the pink haired little girl to shudder in her seat.

"Yesterday, you were so weird and kind…very different. Now, you're back to normal." Milky explained, straining herself not to shout back at the older Serizawa.

Shade quirked his eyebrows and leaned back on his chair. He felt so confused for the first time. Milky wolfed down on her breakfast and ignored her brooding Onii-chan.

"What did I do yesterday?" he stared pensively on the table, racking his brain for memories.

"You called Okaa-san 'Your Highness', you do not know where your school was, and oh, you were daydreaming about the blue haired girl from Hanamiya." Milky replied in a bored tone.

Shade connected the pieces and his eyes lit in realization.

"Don't tell me that prince and I are switching places for real..."