The thought of not showing tomorrow and forgetting the whole thing tugged weakly at the back of your mind, but it was small enough to ignore. All the time spent just going about your business, your little insignificant life, left you with a thirst for adventure. The thirst had you, and you didn’t even know.
The White Tiger had you show up after every shift you had. He somehow knew your work schedule. But you put that aside, because you saw improvement. You started to win more often while sparring with your coworker. He noticed the first time he landed on his back instead of you.
He groaned from the ground. You bent down to grasp his hand and help him up. He groaned equally as loudly coming up.
“You’re different today,” he said, smacking different sections of his armour to get the dust off.
“Yeah,” you said vaguely, deciding what to say next. You grabbed his glaive and yours and handed your companion his. Surely, he wouldn’t believe you about being trained by a god.
“What happened? Have you been sparring with someone else?” he teased, lightly punching your arm.
“Ummm,” you replied. You were redfaced, wide-eyed, and terrible at keeping a secret.
Your friend leaned forward and smirked. “Finally found a friend to help you out,” he said, and he winked with a goofy grin. He thought you needed a good, rough roll in the hay. You already felt inadequate on your feet, being on your back would probably not be much better.
“Absolutely not.”
“I may be simple, but I know people. You are better than the captain treats you.” He nodded to himself, the teasing nature of his voice gone. “I’m not surprised someone else saw this and wanted to help out.”
“I do appreciate it, although I don’t trust him.”
“Tsk, you never trust anyone. I suppose that’s why you still have a job,” he said, grinning at you, “You can sniff out the troublemakers.”
You punched your friend in a gap in his armour, where his arm met his torso. He flinched but giggled.
The White Tiger trained you, as he said he would. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. That had you suspicious.
“Tell me the truth,” you said one day. “Why do you want to teach me?”
“I like fighting. It is a worthy challenge,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, making the tail on his helm swish, “I also like teaching it. I get a swell of pride seeing you improve,” he said. Then he said more lightly, more playfully, “Perhaps one day we could do more than fight.”
You snorted at his attempt to flirt and nodded at him, “Let’s go.”
That training session went the same as the ones before. But the why still nagged at you. You weren’t special. In fact, you considered yourself weaker than the average guardsman. You couldn’t concentrate properly during training. You managed to hide it from the White Tiger until he landed a punch on your face.
Holding your aching nose with one hand, and tapping your upper lip with your fingertips for blood with the other, you realized he’d never hit you in the face before. You also realized he’d stopped attacking. You regarded him through tears streaming down your face.
“What is wrong, today?” the White Tiger god asked, putting a hand on your shoulder. He rubbed with his thumb. “Are you sick?”
“No,” you protested, taking his hand away.
You took a step back, disengaged from the fight.
“I just…I don’t understand. Why are you doing this for me? I am grateful, don’t get me wrong. I just…”
“You do not trust me. You trust me not to kill you every time we train, but you don’t trust me. You are a confusing person.”
“I’m sorry, I-”
“No, I have hid too much for from you. You never asked me much. Maybe it is time I showed you something.”
The White Tiger god reached up and worked his helm upwards. He lifted it up and off his head. He had a small smile, waiting for your reaction. You were shocked, taking a step back. Your grip on your glaive loosened, then you dropped it and fell prostrate to the ground. This was not the reaction he was hoping for.
“Why are you…?” He nudged your helmet with his foot.
When you lifted your head, you yelled, “Are you crazy?!”
He stepped back. The second son of the emperor, Prince Genji, gazed down at you, his brows knit together in confusion. You were thinking back to all the times you sassed him, or worse, hit him.
“You know what the punishment is for disrespect to members of the royal family!” you went on yelling. “How could you trick me?!”
“I-I thought you knew! Who did you think I was?”
“I thought you were…” you stopped. You felt foolish. You thought a human was a god. This man seemed exactly the type to laugh at you for it. You awkwardly got to your feet. “Nothing! Leave me alone. Let me do my job. Don’t tell anyone!”
You felt the ensuing silence, and his gaze, on your back and shoulders as you turned around, picked up your glaive, and stalked away, anger, nervousness, and embarrassment bouncing around inside you like pinballs. Hopefully, he listened to you and forgot the whole thing. The last thing you needed was to be relieved from your job.
The next week you took more busy routes back to the barracks and back home. You hurried home quickly, a confusing feeling mentally on your heels. You missed the man who had trained you. The man who you had begrudgingly admired as a god and turned out to be mortal. Your life was empty and boring without your training sessions with the prince. At the end of a week without seeing Prince Genji, you mentally kicked yourself, because you were going to ask your shiftmate about him instead of forgetting about him.
“Heeey,” you asked as casually you could.
“Hmm?”
“You know anything about Prince Genji?”
He paused.
“Yeah, some. Waddya wanna know?”
“I dunno. Anything. How does he fit in with the royal family?”
All the of members of the royal family have a history of drama. They live out a soap opera, heads up their own asses, behind gilded doors on the masses’ dime. You weren’t sure you wanted to get tangled up in that.
“You know how it is; he doesn’t get along with his family. But who among them does?” He shrugged. “But here’s the interesting thing, since he isn’t the heir, he can skip off on some adventure. Do whatever he wants. Then he comes home, hangs around, gets into another fight, and leaves again.”
“Ah. What about him and Prince Hanzo?”
“The rumour is they get along like fire and water.”
“I get that they’re opposites, but what does that even mean?”
He shrugged.
“I am no philosopher.”
You hummed in agreement. Neither of you had a fondness for flowery words and hidden meanings.
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I remember I heard another rumour about Prince Genji. He’s home now, because Emperor Sojiro is tired of him spending money on those adventures.”
“Really? I never heard this.”
“You should join me for a drink sometime. I hear all sorts of things.”
“Ahhhh, no,” you said, waving his suggestion off, “Last time that happened, someone propositioned me.”
Your companion went silent then. He doubled over a bit and wheezed. Then he leaned further and wheezed louder.
“Stop laughing,” you ordered him.
“I…can’t breathe…” he whispered out. His face such a deep red that he’d be choking in any other circumstance.
“Please…” he touched your arm, snorting and making all sorts of ridiculous noises.
You batted it away. “No.”
You watched him shake a little more before straightening up and continuing. He spoke while wiping his face dry with his palms.
“Anyway, he could teach you a thing or two. Word is, he’s bedded half the city, men and women. You should seek his wisdom,” he said, wiggling his hips in a suggestive manner.
“Ahhhh, no. Thank you. You loon.”
The truth was, you did seek him out. Intending to demand answers. To shake him and make the truth fall out. The truth of why you had fallen for a spelunking ladies’ man. You returned to the side road where you originally found him. You paced back and forth, glaring around, and holding your glaive tightly. Your fingers ached by the time a familiar voice called to you. You don’t know what he said or had any intention of replying. You just whipped around to face him.
“How many?” you demanded.
“How many what?”
“How many…have you fucked? You wanna fuck me, too? This is a very strange way to court someone. Is this how the women in the palace like it? Some sparring and a fuck after?”
Genji snorted in disgust.
“No. Court ladies are like icicles in clothing. They give me the cold shoulder and chase after my brother instead, because he’s the heir. I like the people outside the castle much better. They don’t treat me like I am not good enough for them.”
Genji’s face had a mixture of the previous disgust and a new emotion. Sadness, or maybe disappointment.
“You listened to the rumours about me,” Genji stated.
“It’s what I heard, yes.”
“Did you hear about how I never stay at home?”
“Yes.”
“Did you think about why?”
Guilt nagged at your mind for a reason you couldn’t grasp yet. “No. I didn’t.”
“Because I know there is a whole world outside the city. Outside the petty bickering of the court inside the palace,” Genji told you earnestly. He spoke passionately, but his story had recently taken a sad turn, so spoke quietly the more he went on, “My father knows this, and it is why he let me fly the cage. But the court pressured him to lock me back in. I don’t blame my father, but I resent this. I miss meeting so many interesting people. I write to them often, but it is not the same.”
You regarded him with a pitying frown. Prince Genji was not the man you thought he was.
“You’re lonely,” you stated.
Genji looked down to the side, the least proud you had ever seen him.
“We could still train,” you offered. “If that’s what you want.”
His black eyes met yours, shiny with emotion. “I do.”
You gestured silently for him to walk with you to the usual spot where you trained. “I won’t tell anyone,” you whispered, gripping his arm.
“It’s okay,” he said, smiling weakly at you.
A comfortable silence blanketed you both as you walked. Halfway there, Genji spoke up.
“We don’t have to do…that. To fuck, in your ‘eloquent’ words.”
“We don’t?” you asked, surprised.
“No,” he said, “Do you think that when I spent all that time out of the city, all I did was hop from bed to bed?”
“…Guess not.”
It didn’t take long for you to reconsider, however.
“Maybe we could do…that.”
“Truly?”
“Maybe,” you mumbled.
“Oh, you are shy!” he exclaimed loudly, “How cute.”
“Shut up,” you said, shoving him in the arm. Or you tried to. You might as well be shoving a grown tree. He just grinned back.
You continued walking alongside him. He stopped you with a hand to your arm.
“I was serious before. We can stop at any time, but I would like to pleasure you in my bed. Just once.”
You pushed his hand away.
“Once?! Like the rest of your lovers? And where are they?”
He flinched, not expecting that reply.
“It could be more than once,” he said quietly, “if you wish.”
The serious look in his eyes scared you, but you did want this. So did the tingling flesh between your legs.
“Alright. Once.”
Genji was all smiles at that, like a pleased cat, rubbing his shoulder against yours affectionately as you walked together. He invited you to his room on your next free day.