Shio-chan27: Yup, poor Kanone. Perhaps something will happen to change that, hm? Never know. Thanks for reviewing!

Polaris: Uh...yeah...right x-x. Thanks? Maybe...

Acid Fire: XD, apparently Kanone does. And yes, it is quite ironic that his name is Eyes and he's such an idiot. And... Belial gets to mess with him, at least? Kiyotaka kind of gets screwed, though. Thanks for reviewing!

A/N: The next chapter's the last one and a lot of shit is going to happen in it, so it's going to be looooooong. At least, I'm pretty damn sure it is. There's the wedding, and then a bunch of other things no one knows about, and even more crap. This chapter is kind of just a filler to set up for the events that are going to happen. I can think of four major things that are going to happen, but there will probably be more. XD, that's all!

---

"You've been at the castle a lot lately," Azel noted as his younger brother walked inside. He had, once again, been to see Kiyotaka, only to arrive at the castle, sit in the king's room enduring a long and tense silence, then excusing himself to leave. Kiyotaka certainly wasn't one for conversation, but that didn't seem to matter. Where others might have required conversation, Eyes enjoyed a bit of quiet peace once in a while.

"Who'd have thought the king would actually like Eyes?" Set wondered, patting Eyes on the head, "I mean, he is a brat."

The silver-haired brother brushed the hand away and sighed, "I'm not a brat, and I don't think he's that interested."

"If he weren't interested, he'd ignore you and tell you to leave," Faii spoke up, sitting at the kitchen table with a newspaper, "Like he does to Belial."

Azel looked to Setsuna confused while the blonde just shrugged-- neither of them knew a thing about Belial as Eyes hadn't talked about him. Eyes looked to his eldest brother, tilting his head, "You know about Belial?"

"Of course I do, he's been chasing after Kiyotaka as long as I can remember."

"I keep forgetting you've known Kiyotaka for a while," Eyes admitted. It seemed weird that his brother would know anyone, being asleep as much as he was.

"I'd stay away from him if I were you," Faii warned, closing his eyes, "Or else you'll end up..."

"End up...what?" Eyes wondered, looking up.

"You'll...end up a purple monkey made of cookies." A yawn accompanied this statement and Eyes sighed.

"Fell asleep in the middle of talking again," Set muttered, amused. Azel just shook his head and looked to Eyes.

"He meant stay away from this Belial person?"

Eyes nodded slightly, "I suppose, but I don't see why. Belial's really nice." He blushed faintly just at the memories of the redhead.

"Just ignore him, then," Set suggested, waving a hand, "It's what the rest of us do."

"But Faii wouldn't say something like that unless it was serious," Azel pointed out.

"You don't know that, he could just be messing with him."

"Just because you like to mess with people doesn't mean everyone does."

"But Faii does."

Eyes sighed as the bickering continued and made his way out back where the cool night air whipped around him. Just as he was about to shiver, a jacket was dropped over his shoulders. He jumped slightly and looked up, not at all surprised to see the boy that had been occupying his thoughts standing there.

Belial chuckled and tipped his hat, "And how is the lovely Sleeping Beauty tonight?"

"Sleeping Beauty?" Eyes thought, "He couldn't know about that night... could he?" He then thought to who it was, and realized that he very well could have. As if on cue, a blush formed across his face and he nodded slightly, "I'm alright, and yourself?"

"Fine, as always."

"The rose you gave me," Eyes said after a brief silence, "It's dying. I've tried keeping it in fresh water, but-"

"Water will do it no good,"Belial cut him off, chuckling, "But that is quite interesting, no other rose I've given out has died before."

"No other he's given out, that means..." Eyes shook his head, "Of course, why would I think I was the only one?"

"Then again, I've never given anyone that specific type." Eyes blinked and looked up, but Belial simply chuckled and shrugged, kissing his cheek, "Like I said, you're a rarity, a one of a kind, you needed a gift to reflect that beauty, no?"

Eyes nodded slightly, "Yes."Another silence fell over them, and Eyes thought long and hard on his next words-- had been thinking about them for quite some time, and he was sure now that he was ready to say them. "Belial?"

"Hm?" The orange-eyed boy tilted his head curiously.

"I...think I love you." Eyes glanced away, blushing furiously, but this time from his own words and not Belial's.

"You think?"

Not the reaction he was expecting, but he nodded nonetheless, "Yes, I mean I do."

Belial studied the silver-haired boy for a moment, and deeming his words honest, he chuckled, "You're very strange."

"I...I suppose so." The blue-eyed boy had yet to look back up since he'd uttered those five words and was in no rush to do so at this point. He hadn't expect Belial to return the gesture, but was no less hurt that he didn't.

Belial finally tilted the pale face up to his and cupped his cheek, "You deserve better than me, so be with Kiyotaka."

Eyes blinked a few times as the words sunk in, "But, don't you want to be with him?"

"Of course I do, but I also know I never will and you make him whatever his version of happy is. I love Kiyotaka, but I don't want him to accept me."There wasn't a hint of sadness or disappointment in his voice, just the same comforting tone that he always spoke in.

"And you call me strange," Eyes muttered.

"Because you are, anyone who likes me is."

"Then I don't mind it." Their eyes locked and Eyes silently begged the older boy to agree to be with him, but Belial said nothing more on the subject. Sighing softly, Eyes wrapped his arms around the other boy's neck and rested his head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes as a pair of arms encompassed his waist and a head leaned on his. The breeze that had once caused him to shiver now seemed far away. "You're warm," he mentioned idly.

"I'd hope so," Belial nodded, "I am alive."

Eyes chuckled slightly, "True, but you're comfortable to be around, too." Belial said nothing else, and the two stood there for what felt like forever, wrapped in each other's arms.

---

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"But I don't want to."

"What did I tell you before? Being royalty isn't about what you want to do."

Kanone sighed and pulled a jacket on, "But Kiyotaka's boring. Just because you like him doesn't mean I do."

"You think he's hot," Kai reminded him, "And besides, you two are going to be married, you should at least get to know each other a little better."

"Why? We'll never see each other and why aren't you the one getting hitched again?"

Kai chuckled and patted his son's head, "Because I arranged it, and also because I don't want to be married, but it'll do our kingdoms good."

"I don't care about the public's view, though," Kanone whined, "Get another prince, go get another of your kids to marry him. I'm not even the eldest!"

"Now, now," the older man chided, "You're the best candidate for it and you know it. Naomi wants nothing to do with guys like Kiyotaka and Zefie is too busy treasure hunting to settle down. Besides, you know how women are, always looking for their one, true love."

"Alright, alright," Kanone sighed, "So that leaves my sisters out, but I have two other brothers you know."

"Kale would just kill Kiyotaka, he hates him already as is," Kai reminded him.

"Just because he's obsessed with you and hates anyone you're close to," Kanone shot back, "Naomi's the only one he likes."

"Because she doesn't like me."

Kanone sighed, "And what about Kougaji, huh? Why couldn't he do it?"

"One, he's underage, and two, he's homophobic. I don't think setting him up with a guy to get married would do much good."

The brunette hung his head, "What about Kalelle, then? He's nice, sweet, likeable, likes Kiyotaka, and wouldn't mind."

"And is with four other people already and not my son," Kai stated coldly.

Another sigh, "Fine, I give up, not like I was interested in anyone or anything anyway."

Kai chuckled and patted his head, "Good, then. So, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, but won't it take a while to get there?"

"Three days, so we'd better be leaving." At Kanone's nod, the two walked out the palace doors and towards Kiyotaka's kingdom.

---

"So, who are you marrying?" Ayumu wondered, looking over to his brother. The two were sitting in Kiyotaka's room as they often did when no one was around to bother them.

"Kai's taken it upon himself to arrange a marriage for me," the elder brother said, "It seems he thought I wouldn't find a suitor in time."

"He really looks out for you in an overprotective and controlling way, doesn't he?"

"Unfortunately," Kiyotaka agreed, shrugging.

"So... your boyfriend arranged you a marriage to...who?"Ayumu wondered, tilting his head.

"Kanone."

The messy-haired boy sweatdropped, "Why don't you just marry him?"

"He doesn't want to be married after what happened," Kiyotaka said, shrugging again.

"What happened?" the brunette repeated.

Kiyotaka sighed, but began to explain, "The mother of his children died before he had the chance to propose to her. Since then, he's never wanted to be married to anyone."

Ayumu frowned slightly, "Oh." He decided then to change the subject, "You have to get married before your next birthday, right?" Kiyotaka nodded, "Isn't that in less than a week, though?"

"Four days," the king confirmed.

"Mine's coming up soon, too, in a couple weeks," Ayumu remembered.

"And you'll finally be of age so when I die, you can take the throne without question."

"Hey, don't say it like that, you're not going to die for a long time," the younger sibling pouted, "Right?"

Kiyotaka rolled his eyes at his brother's childishness, but then remember he was only a child and had been treated as one most of his life, "Of course."

"No," Ayumu said stubbornly, sitting on the bed next to the ruler and laying his head in his lap, "Promise you won't die."

"I can't promise such a thing and you know it," Kiyotaka said, running a hand idly through the messy brown head of hair, "but I won't if I can help it."

Sighing softly, Ayumu closed his eyes, "I don't know what I'd do if you did," he whispered, "You're all the family I have left, you know." It was incredibly childish, but Ayumu was still a child in many ways. While Kiyotaka normally didn't approve of such behavior, coming from his younger brother, he could deal with it.

"I know," he said, closing his eyes, "but you have to realize that I won't be around forever."

"I know that, I just don't want to lose you yet."

Kiyotaka looked down at his brother, who had curled up to him and fallen asleep with those few last words. He continued to run his fingers through the younger boy's hair, "Then you won't."

---

Aw, see? Kiyotaka is a good brother, just like Ayumu said. Just... not when anyone else is around. And poor Kanone, our of all those people, he got stuck with the arranged marriage. And as for his brothers and sisters, don't worry about them, they won't be in the story at all except maybe at the wedding, they were just there for conversation purposes. And Eyes got rejected XD. I know, I shouldn't laugh, but it's funny because Belial would normally never reject anyone. And he didn't really, Eyes just took it that way. And in Belial's defense, the stupid kid never asked him out or anything. I'll shut up now, hope you enjoyed!