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They left early the next morning, much to Rai’s chagrin, arriving at their next destination, a small town called St. Kiru, by the afternoon.  St. Kiru, as the name suggested, was built many centuries ago as a shrine to the Goddess of Romance, Kiruhana, or so Sayu informed the group.  As a result of this, there were many opportunities for tourism to blossom, which it had.  There were many stalls which, during the tourist season would be filled with souvenirs, knick-knacks and even food, all heart-shaped of course so to keep in with the ‘romance’ theme.  However, due to the current winter the stands were bare of such items, closed down completely until summer came around once again.  There were a few inns, all open but probably lacking customers, as well as houses for the locals, mostly bungalows scattered about like a handful of dropped marbles.  The streets were mostly empty, however as they approached what looked like the centre of town they noticed a large crowd around what appeared to be a street performer.  Rai, not interested in such petty amusements and Akasuki’s promise to “meet up with them in the next town over” still fresh in his mind, was about to walk past when he was stopped by a voice.
“Excuse me, young man.”
As a “young man”, Rai stopped and turned to look in the direction the voice had come from.  What he saw was the street performer staring directly at him, clearly addressing him.  She was beautiful, dark-skinned with black hair and mischievous green eyes, and wore Asian-style clothing.  “Yes, you with the blonde hair.  Would you not watch my performance?”
Rai felt himself turning red with embarrassment as most of the crowd turned their eyes towards him.  “S-sure,” he muttered, knowing the performer couldn’t hear him, however she smiled anyway and continued her act.

Ten minutes later the crowd erupted into applause as the performer ended her routine and began to pack up her things.  Gradually the mass of people began to drift away, but Rai stayed, scanning the droves of them for any sign of the familiar ivory hair.  That was ten minutes of my life I just wasted, he thought as the last of the throng of people disappeared into buildings and alleyways, with no fiancé in sight.  The only person left was the street performer herself, gathering up her bulky equipment and eventually waddling off with some difficulty.
“So~  Wheres now?” Sayu asked, rocking back and forward on the balls and heels of her feet.
“Well, we need to find Akasuki before we do anything-”  “Ohhhhhh!”  Cut off by Amethyst’s untimely shriek, the blonde turned to glare at her, only to see her already standing a few metres away, picking up a piece of fabric off of the ground.
“Amethyst.  What the hell are you doing?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice at a calm level.
The girl turned towards him, still clutching whatever-it-was.  “This is the headdress the performer woman was wearing, she must’ve dropped it when she was carrying all her stuff away!” she answered, standing up straight and brushing the dirt and snow off of it.
Rai didn’t see what was so important about it.  “... And?”
“Well, it might be expensive!” Amethyst continued.  “I wouldn’t want to lose something pretty like this!  She can’t have gone far, I’m gonna go give it back, okay?”
“Ah- wait, Ame...thyst... there she goes,” Rai sighed, running a hand through his hair in annoyance.
“There who goes?” a voice asked, and arms encircled Rai’s neck from behind, a head coming to rest on his left shoulder.
The swordsman jumped, startled, and twisted his head to the left, noticing the familiar sweet scent and the curtain of pale hair that came with it before relaxing slightly as he realised who it was.
“Hrm... gerroff me,” he muttered embarrassedly, wriggling out of Akasuki’s grasp and turning to face the older male, who was smiling hesitantly.  Is it just me or does he look a little... tense?
“Soooo,” he began, chewing on his bottom lip, “where’s Ammy-chan scurried off to?”
Ammy-chan?  Does he have to make up pet names for everyone?  “She’s gone to give the street performer that was here her headdress back or something,” Rai dismissed the question with a wave of his hand, “she’ll be back soon.”
At this Akasuki seemed to tense up even more, and Rai glanced at him concernedly.  “Are you... okay?  I mean, you look kind of-”
“Me?  Oh, I’m... ha ha ha, it’s nothing sweetie, I just missed you~!” Akasuki chirped in reply, throwing his arms around Rai and holding him close, but the blonde still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off...

“Excuse me, miss!  ...Miss!”
“Oh, are you talking to me?”
“Y-yes!  You dropped this, and I thought you might not want to lose it, so...”
“... Why, thank you very much.”
“Aha ha, it’s no problem... huh!?  What are you doing!?  Wait... no!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!”
The last thing Amethyst saw before she blacked out was the street performer’s strangely familiar green eyes glaring hatefully down at her.

“Sooo, you saids you had some things to do heres, right?” Sayu asked Akasuki as the trio sat on a bench near the centre of the town, awaiting Amethyst’s return.
“Oh, ah, yeah,” he replied, falling silent for a few seconds before talking again.  “Just a few, you know, private things and all that.”
“Oh... s’colds, huh?”
“Yes, it is.  Are you okay, sweetie?  Not too cold?”  He glanced to his left, where Rai was sitting next to him, and slid a slender arm around the blonde.  However, Rai shuffled away from him, muttering something along the lines of “m’fine”.
“Oh... right...” Akasuki replied quietly, sounding somewhat downcast at the obvious rejection.  Silence fell over the group again, and without Amethyst to break it like she usually did it got more and more uncomfortable.
Eventually Rai snapped, unable to stand another second of awkward hush.  “Arghhh, where is that girl!?  All she had to do was go and give the bloody thing back, but she can’t even do that without taking three bloody hours about it-”
“Sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyy~!”  Three heads turned at once to see Amethyst running towards them through the snow, coming to a breathless halt in front of the bench.  “... Oh, you found Akasuki.”
“Wha- oh, yeah, we did,” Rai replied quietly, still suspicious about the way his fiancé had been acting.  However, Akasuki didn’t seem to read his mood and grappled the blonde round the waist, squeezing him and saying something about how of course they found him because he was just so inexplicably drawn to Rai, like some sort of magnet...
As the girls began to giggle at the white-haired man’s flamboyant monologue, Rai couldn’t help but smile too.  He seems more relaxed now... maybe I was just being overly suspicious earlier?  I need to learn to trust people more...
“Raiiiiii~”  He knew that that particular Amethyst whine could only mean one thing, and he guessed right.  “... I’m hungry.”  Is she ever not hungry?
“Actually...” Sayu chimed in with a sheepish grin, “I’m kinda hungrys as well... we haven’t eaten since last nights...”
It was then that Rai’s own hunger pangs hit home and had Akasuki not had a vice-like grip around his waist he probably would have collapsed.  Okay, so maybe he was being a bit melodramatic, but he was hungry.  Famished, in fact.  “Yeah, I guess.  Anywhere to eat around here?”
“Actually, there is,” his fiancé piped up, finally letting him go and flicking his long hair over his shoulder.  “A really fancy place, at that.  It’s nice.”
“Fancy?” Rai echoed, looking sceptical.  “But we’ve hardly any money left, shouldn’t we go for something cheaper?”
“Not.  A.  Problem.  Sweetie~” Akasuki sang in reply, affectionately ruffling Rai’s blond spikes.  “I know the guy who owns it; he’ll feed you for free as long as I’m with you.  Come on, you’re wasting away before my eyes.”

“This is...” Rai began, staring up at the sign proclaiming the restaurant’s name.
“... The Apple Cake Dessert Shop!”  Amethyst finished for him, rather shocked herself at coming across another of the apparent chain of restaurants.
Sayu looked blankly at the other two, confused as to what they were talking about.  “What’s so specials about this place?”
“Ohh, I’d forgotten you weren’t with us then, Sayu-chan,” Akasuki replied thoughtfully, “Rai-kun and myself had a little... argument in another of these restaurants before.”
Just as Sayu was about to ask what kind of argument it had been, Akasuki continued speaking, cutting her off.  “Anyway!  This isn’t just a dessert shop, see?”  He pointed up at the shop’s sign, and the other three saw, written in rather small writing under the main shop name, ‘...and other things’.  “He cooks other stuff, and he’ll definitely make you guys anything since I’m with you.  All for free, as well.”
“‘He’?” Rai echoed.
“You’ll see,” Akasuki replied with a cheeky wink, pushing open the door, which triggered the little bell above it to chime merrily, announcing their entry.  Almost immediately a man appeared from a door which almost certainly led to the kitchen.  Upon noticing Akasuki his face split into a huge grin and he vaulted over the counter, leaving behind the towel he had been wiping his hands on.
“Akasuki-kun!” he greeted cheerfully, capturing the slightly taller male in a hug.
“Jules!” Akasuki sang as he hugged back.
Rai watched the two, especially this newcomer, with narrowed eyes.  He was about the same height as Rai, maybe about an inch taller, with bright ginger, messy hair.  His eyes were a bright, cheerful blue, which seemed to match the whole air of cheeriness the man was emanating.  He wore a pair of faded, loose jeans and some sort of t-shirt under a typical chef’s apron, although he didn’t look much like a chef.
“Long time no see, Jules,” Akasuki continued with a smile as they broke apart.  “How’s it feel to be pushing thirty?”
“Better than it feels to be thirty, I’m sure,” the other man joked back with a wink.
“Wait...” Amethyst suddenly interjected, interrupting the friendly banter.  “Akasuki, you’re... thirty?  As in, thirty years old?”
“Yes... why?”
“Wow, you sures don’t look it!” Sayu piped up.
The ivory haired male giggled at this.  “Well, thanks, it’s nice to know I don’t look my age yet.”
Rai, although also surprised at finding his fiancé was a whole seven years older than him, remained silent.  He suddenly felt a pang somewhere in his chest area, hot and sour and definitely not pleasant.  What the...?  What’s this weird feeling?  A small voice in his head chimed “you’re jealous” and Rai felt his cheeks turn pink at the notion.  W-well, I mean, he’s my fiancé, he shouldn’t be all over other guys, should he...  Suddenly realising what he had just willingly thought, he felt his blush deepen and it hit him how stupid he must look, blushing for apparently no reason.
“So,” The redhead began, turning to his three other customers.  “These your friends, Akasuki-kun?”
“Oh, yes!” came the reply, almost as if Akasuki had forgotten about them.  “Everyone, this is Julian La Roux, but I call him Jules.  He’s a chef.  Jules, this is Ammy-chan, erm, Amethyst, this is Sayu-chan, and this - ” He moved to stand beside Rai and slid an arm around his shoulders casually – “This is my fiancé, Rai-kun.”
Julian was silent for a moment, digesting this nugget of information, before literally leaping onto Rai and glomping him tightly.  “Aww, Akasuki-kun, he’s soooooo cuuuuuute!” the chef literally squealed, clutching Rai to his chest.  “Where did you ever get such an adorable tsundere thing like him?  And why didn’t you tell me you were engaged!?  Meanie!”
Amethyst and Sayu simply stared, open-mouthed, at this transformation that Julian had undergone, from seemingly normal chef to squeeing fanboy.  Rai, meanwhile, had managed to wriggle out of the redhead’s iron grip, and was now straightening his jacket embarrassedly.  “What the hell is a ‘tsundere’ anyway?” he muttered.
“Must be one of his Earth words,” Akasuki reasoned, stepping in to sling an arm around Rai’s shoulders before Julian decided to jump him again.
“Earth?” Amethyst chimed in, stepping up beside them, Sayu right behind her.  “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Ammy-chan,” he continued, glancing at Julian before looking back to the girl before him, “that Jules here is from Earth.”
“And by Earth you means...” Sayu began, chewing on her nail absently as she thought about it.
“The world which runs directly parallel to our very own world of Astaldo.”
“Boooo, Akasuki-kun,” Julian retorted with a pout, although by his tone of voice it was obvious he wasn’t really angry.  “You’re not meant to tell people that~”
Everyone was silent for a few moments after that, and both Akasuki and Julian could sense what was coming next.  And it did indeed come, in the form of a five-foot-tall girl with purple hair.  “OH MY GODS, YOU’RE FROM EARTH!?” Amethyst shrieked shrilly, jumping on the redhead in a similar manner to how he had glomped Rai earlier.  However, since he was roughly eleven inches taller than her, she settled for tugging on his apron persistently.  “But how can you be from Earth?  It’s not real!  I mean, it must be real if you’re from there, but I never thought it was real, I mean, I thought it was just, like, a myth or something!”  Julian smiled bewilderedly, slightly taken aback by the sudden attention from this over-enthusiastic whirlwind of a girl.  Akasuki immediately stepped in to prise her off his friend, as well as apologise for her ‘zest’.  Sayu stepped back beside Rai.
“You thinks he’s really from Earth?” she asked quietly, not that anyone besides Rai could have heard her over Amethyst’s incessant questions.
“I...guess,” the blonde replied after a few moments.  “He’s Akasuki’s friend, which means Akasuki trusts him... so I think we should trust him too.”
“You really trust Akasuki, huh?  Uwah, Sayu is jealous,” Sayu murmured almost wistfully, her speech surprisingly normal for once.  However, when Rai glanced at her questioningly, she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she’d been in, smiling brightly back at him.  “Well, if Rai-sama says so, I guess I can trusts him too~!”
“Right then,” came Julian’s voice suddenly, having managed to shut Amethyst up with promises of “telling her later”.  “Akasuki-kun tells me you’re all in need of a good meal, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get started!”

A short while later, with the shop closed and devoid of customers except Rai and company (if they even counted as customers, after all they were getting fed for free), Julian shut himself in the restaurant’s kitchen, politely declining the offers of help he received from both Sayu and Amethyst.  The group of four sat themselves down at a table, and presently delicious smells began to waft through from where the redhead was cooking.
While waiting for their breakfast (lunch?  The clock on the wall said it was past noon already), they broke into idle conversation, and Rai and the girls learned from Akasuki that Julian was a semi-famous chef, both in their world and apparently on Earth, although the latter not so much.  They also found out that he owned the Apple Cake Dessert Shop restaurant chain, as his specialty was puddings and cakes of all types.
“So how do you know him?” Amethyst queried, swinging her legs idly underneath her and hoping the food wouldn’t be too long.
“Huh?  Oh, um, er... we were childhood friends.  Jules and Hiro-chan and me used to play together all the time,” Akasuki replied, voice just the tiniest bit hesitant.
Rai, for some reason he couldn’t explain, picked up on this and his suspicions from earlier returned.  He was like this before... when Amethyst was away giving that street performer woman her headdress back... He didn’t relax properly until she came back...  Speaking of that-  “Amethyst?”
“What?” she replied, not even lifting her head off the table where she’d rested it after Akasuki had answered her.
“Did you manage to give that woman her headdress back?”
Now she sat up straight again, mouth fixed into a perplexed frown.  “Y’know, it’s weird...” she began, hand cupping her chin in thought, “I’ve been thinking as hard as I can all this time, but I can’t actually remember giving her it back.  But I must’ve, seeing as when I woke up it wasn’t there.”
“‘Woke up’?” the blonde echoed.  “What are you talking about?”
“Well... this is kinda embarrassing, so don’t laugh...” the girl muttered self-consciously, absently pulling up one of her gloves where it had slid down from her elbow.  “After I gave her it back, I must have... passed out, from hunger, or cold, or something.  Because a little while after, I woke up and I was sort of slumped up against a wall... and the headdress was gone.  I looked around for it for a little bit, but then gave up and came straight back to you guys.”
“Aah, that’s weirds...” murmured Sayu, clearly awed by the younger girl’s tale.
“Yeah, a little too weird...” added Rai, folding his arms on the table.  “Did you actually catch up to the street performer?”
“I... think so,” Amethyst replied, now idly fixing one of her plum-coloured bunches as she thought.  “I... remember running up to her, and being really out of breath, and then she took the headdress... and then... and then...”  She seemed to deflate all of a sudden, looking defeated.  “I don’t remember.”
“Well thens,” chimed in the Hiko girl, “you musts have just passed out after that.  Are you okays now?”
A shrug in reply.  “I feel fine... and hungry.”
“Then you’re definitely fine,” Rai reasoned, just as the door to the kitchen slammed open and Julian emerged, somehow managing to balance four plates piled high with food.
“Dinner is served,” he announced with a wink, before glancing up at the clock.  “Or lunch, whatever.”

After dinner, there was dessert, Rai was pleased to hear.  He ordered a strawberry cheesecake (“large slice please”, he’d said, and large it was – at least twice the size of the picture on the menu), the girls had ordered matching ice cream sundaes, and Akasuki had order some raspberry pavlova... thing.  The blonde swordsman was too busy savouring every bite of his own light, fluffy dessert to really notice (or care, for that matter).  After a few minutes Julian joined them at the table with his own dessert (also a slice of pavlova), and the quintet descended into casual chat again, all thoughts of Amethyst’s weird fainting abandoned.

“Uwah, I’m full,” Amethyst announced a while later, muffling a belch.  She leaned back in her chair and placed her hands on her stomach.  “I’m sure I’ve put on weight just from all this food.”
“Me too,” Sayu chipped in, sinking further into her own seat and crossing one leg over the other.  “I don’t thinks I’ll be able to fly for a month after this.”
I was going to ask for seconds... but I don’t wanna be greedy... Rai thought, saddened, as he swallowed his last mouthful of beloved cheesecake.
“Right then,” the ginger-haired chef exclaimed suddenly, getting to his feet.  “Since you’re all friends of Akasuki-kun, and to be quite honest you all look shattered, you can spend the rest of the day relaxing at my manor.  And I guess I’ll let you all sleep over as well.”  He punctuated his offer with a wink, collecting all the now-bare dessert plates.  “I’m sure whatever quest you’re all on can wait until tomorrow.”
Rai was about to object (saving the Princess was important), but was interrupted before he could begin by the girls’ excited squeals of “can we really!?” and “you have a manor!?”  He settled for an irritable pout instead, crossing his arms.  He heard Akasuki giggle beside him and the older male leaned in close.  “It might be... nice, to have a day off for once, wouldn’t it?  After all, when was the last time you all had a relaxing, hot bath, hmm?  Not to mention you all must be exhausted.  Ammy-chan even fainted today, sweetie.  Come on, Jules’ manor is nice.”
“I... I guess...” the blonde uttered in reply, cursing the fact that he tended to give in whenever Akasuki opened his mouth.

Well, I hate to admit it, but Akasuki was right.  This is... nice, Rai thought, leaning back lazily in the bathtub, letting the warm water soothe his aching muscles.  He ducked his head under the water briefly to wet his hair, before reaching for a bottle of shampoo and squirting some of it onto his hand.  Speaking of Akasuki... I don’t know what it is, but something was really off about him today.  This morning, when Amethyst wasn’t with us, he was really tense.  Was he... worried about her, or something?  But why would he have been?  He couldn’t have known she was going to collapse like she did... could he?  Nah, what the hell am I thinking?  He’s not psychic, for the Gods’ sake.  Rai finished lathering his hair and reached for the shower head, plucking it off the wall and turning on the taps, testing the water with his free hand.  And then, when we were talking about Julian... “childhood friends”, he said.  But he didn’t sound sincere... is that really how they met?  But... why would he lie about something like that?  I don’t get it...  As he reached up to rinse the suds out of his blonde locks, he caught sight of the ring on his left hand, and he narrowed his eyes at it.  Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.  I can’t believe I’m engaged to... that.  That over-effeminate, over-affectionate ball of homo.  Not like I can talk.  But I don’t like... guys, do I?  No, Rai, of course you don’t.  You’re only engaged to one, and that one has kissed you, more than once at that, and held your hand, and hugged you, and...  Great.  That makes me sound gay, all right.  But I’m not attracted to other guys, just... him.  Not even his brother and they’re identical looks-wise.  ... Wait.  I just admitted I’m attracted to Akasuki.  Oh, for f--
Rai abruptly turned the taps off and pulled the plug, draining the water from the bath.  Stepping out of the tub, he wrapped himself in one of the overly-fluffy towels Julian had supplied and faced the mirror.  Not that he could see his reflection, as the steam from the hot bath had clouded the glass.  The blonde absently drew a smiley face in the bottom corner of the mirror with his finger, and then wrote his name near the middle.  After a few moments, he wrote his fiancé’s name a few inches under his own.  He paused again, before drawing a loveheart between the two names.  Suddenly, he seemed to snap out of whatever daze he’d been in, and blushed, realising what the writing on the mirror now said.  Annoyed with himself, he dragged a hand across the glass, effectively rubbing away the revealing text.  And with that, he turned and wrenched the door open and stormed away to his appointed room.  His good mood was ruined.

It was late.  Rai couldn’t sleep.  That was becoming more common for him these days.  He figured it was stress.  What with trying to rescue the Princess, and looking after two teenage girls... and being engaged.
The blonde sighed, and leant more heavily against the balcony railings.  Even though spring still hadn’t quite sprung yet and it was still chillingly cold out at night, Rai needed some air and time to think, so he’d abandoned his warm room in favour of the balcony beyond it.  Lifting his gaze upwards to the sky, he watched the stars idly, the large full moon shining obnoxiously in amongst them.  I still feel like I’m missing something, he thought wearily, beginning to get drowsy despite the frosty night air.  Maybe I should just sleep on it and it might come to me in the morning.  Just as he turned to go back inside, there was a light knock on his room door.  Who’s that now?  He knew it couldn’t be the girls, they’d gone to bed hours earlier, so it was either Akasuki, Julian, or Julian’s maid (her name was Remi or something).  The door opened slowly with a “sweetie, are you awake?” and Rai relaxed (why?  Not like I wanted it to be him or anything), closing the balcony door.  “Yeah, come in,” he called back, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
Akasuki entered, clad in just a pair of boxers and his vest top, despite the cold night.  He sat down beside Rai without a word, looking strangely serious.  He was gnawing at his bottom lip again, seemingly a nervous habit of his, and his eyes were fixed on the plush carpet beneath their bare feet.
“Wh-what did you want, then?” the blonde asked after a few moments of silence, noticing that his fiancé wasn’t going to initiate conversation.
“Oh, um, nothing, really,” the ivory-haired man replied a bit too hurriedly.  “I was just... lonely, y’know?  So I came to find you.”  He smiled at Rai, although to the younger male it looked a tad strained.
“Are you... okay?” Rai asked for the second time that day, still suspicious of the other’s actions but equally concerned.
Akasuki continued to nibble his lower lip for a few seconds, before sighing and turning to Rai, expression serious again.  He reached forward and clasped Rai’s hands with his own, causing a light blush to powder the blonde’s cheeks.  “Actually,” he began hesitantly, pausing to think his words over before saying them.  “I just... wanted to tell you something.”
“... Wh-what?” Rai replied quietly, anxious of the strange atmosphere that had settled over them now.
“I just want to say... you really... mean a lot to me, sweetie.  I mean it.  I’m glad I met you, and I’m even more glad that you became my fiancé, as unorthodox as it was.  And, you’re really special; you’re sweet, and honest, and so innocent... oh Gods, I’m rambling a bit, aren’t I?”  He paused here to giggle nervously, before lifting his gaze from somewhere around Rai’s shoulder to look straight into the swordsman’s blue, blue eyes.  “I want us to be together forever.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you, for real.  I never want to hurt you, or see you get hurt by anyone else.  I want to wipe away your tears when you’re crying, and cuddle you when you’re cold.  I...”  He paused again, to swallow this time.  “I love you, sweetie.”
All Rai could do was blink blankly.  What... What... WHAT.  “You... you...”  However, he was cut off before he could even think of what to say next by a gentle yet firm kiss.  It wasn’t just that though; it was as if it held a deeper meaning, an affectionate sincerity to back up what Akasuki had just said.  The blonde’s lips were still parted slightly from his attempt at stringing together a coherent sentence, and Akasuki gently swept his tongue past them and into Rai’s mouth, his arms letting go of the younger male’s hands and moving to wrap securely around his waist instead.  Rai, too shocked to even think rationally, let alone act rationally, found himself doing the same, hesitantly snaking his own arms around Akasuki’s slender torso.  After a few moments he even found himself shyly kissing back.  Oh my Gods what the fuck am I doing oh Gods he’s kissing me, he’s kissing me, he’s kissing me and his tongue is in my mouth and ohhhhh my Gods I’m kissing him back why am I doing this!?  Then, through his jumbled whirl of emotions and thoughts it hit him; this is my first proper kiss.  Bastard.  He knows.  He fucking knows and he’s taking advantage of me and--
Rai’s (angry) inner monologue was cut short as he was gently pushed backwards.  Caught off guard, he fell back onto the softness of the (no doubt expensive) bed, Akasuki coming down on top of him.  This action, of course, broke the kiss, leaving a breathless blonde staring up into those peculiar eyes.  And those eyes stared back, almost boring holes into him with the intensity of the gaze.  Finally finding his voice, Rai began, “Wha-”
Almost immediately his lips were covered again, although only briefly this time.  As Akasuki pulled away he whispered softly, “Shh, sweetie.  Don’t talk.  M’kay?”
The blonde swordsman found himself shutting up immediately.  “Let me... sleep beside you tonight?” the ivory-haired male continued quietly, rolling over so that he was to Rai’s left.  Rai nodded slowly, cheeks tinged cerise.  Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to decline, the way his fiancé was looking at him.  He looks... sad.  Or guilty.  Like he wants to apologise for something.  But he didn’t, he didn’t even speak, just slid an arm around Rai again, smiled, kissed the younger man’s nose and closed his eyes.  Mere minutes later his breathing slowed and quietened, signalling that he was fast asleep.
Rai watched his fiancé’s feminine features with a gentle expression as the other man slept, remembering shyly the affectionate way Akasuki had ruffled his hair earlier in the day, the serious expression he’d worn as he’d boldly confessed his love, how soft and warm his lips were, and that familiar sweet scent that always followed the man wherever he went.  Suddenly exhausted, his heavy eyelids fell shut and he drifted off into peaceful slumber, a warm body by his side on that cold night.