Work Text:
Ichi understood it as much as he was able to.
He knew why Gokuraku changed himself, why he forced his body to do more than it was meant for. Ichi saw the wires splitting from his middle, the cables falling from his elbows and knees, and knew what it was for. Gokuraku’s metal insides served a purpose; to strengthen. To fight, to save, to win.
But beyond that, Ichi didn’t see a purpose in anything else Gokuraku did to himself. There was practicality in forcing magic into one’s bones. There was no such practicality in forcing metal into one's skin, upon other things.
Gokuraku stabbed his body full of shining silver. His nails were always stained black. Some days, if Ichi looked close enough, he could see thin dark strokes in his waterline. Ichi had never seen anyone quite like him before, and it intrigued him only slightly more than it confused him.
And of course, Ichi wasn’t stupid. He knew people, mostly women, did cosmetic things and pierced themselves regularly. Through the ears. But Gokuraku seemed to have jewelry everywhere except for his ears.
He was different, aside from what Ichi already believed “different” to be.
He’d experienced those that were his age and not his age, people with varying skin and hair and proportions and features. He didn’t think about it, it didn’t bother him. He knew everyone in the world was naturally different.
But Gokuraku? He was unnaturally different. He took his uniqueness and forced it even further, and Ichi didn’t know why. And it bothered him. It genuinely confused him. Why push something that was already fine the way it was?
—-
They sat on the floor in Gokuraku’s room, in the Mantinel’s guest wing since they weren’t allowed to stay in the girls’ dorms. Ichi was in there because he had nothing better to do; dinner had already been cooked and served, nothing urgent was going on, and Desscaras didn’t particularly want to deal with him this evening. Kumugi was holed up on the other side of the Mantinel campus writing down reports- Ichi would sit in there with her and keep her company if he was able, but she needed to focus. They learned very quickly that not much gets done when they’re around each other. So near sundown he slinked into Gokuraku’s room right next-door to his and decided to spend the rest of his night in there.
Ichi rolled to his side on the wood floor, uncomfortably. He could tell that this room wasn’t used often. The smell of wax polish filled his nose as he eased towards the ground.
They didn’t talk. Gokuraku was busy, working on his new arm. It was complete and fitted, but liked to twitch and jump randomly. More than once Ichi had been hit right in the face by one of the involuntary tremors, so he was glad something was finally being done about it.
Gokuraku sat against the footboard of the twin size bed that was too short for him, crisscrossed and folded down to the floor. A too-small screwdriver in his left hand worked into the metal of his right. A gas lantern was lit in the corner of the room, and an additional candle was haphazardly placed on the floor next to him. His hair was falling over his right shoulder and was awfully close to the flame.
Ichi liked watching him so focused. It reminded him how smart Gokuraku really was, despite his ditzy attitude. It was easy to forget, considering how brainless some of his and Gokuraku’s activities got in their boredom.
His lip piercing moved as he bit the flat back of it inside his mouth. He shifted and the ends of his hair came even closer to the candle, to the point where they might begin to burn. Ichi crawled over in a hurry and moved it for him, sweeping the blue strands over the opposite shoulder where it’d be safe. Gokuraku’s tinkering stilled and he looked up (up, for once) at Ichi.
“Hi, Icchan.” His voice was soft, quieted from the silence that had been around them for the past half hour.
“Hello.”
“Is there a reason you did that, or did you just want to touch my hair?” The screwdriver in his good hand hit the floor as he straightened his back, and Ichi had to look up at him again.
Ichi relaxed where he was beside Gokuraku’s lap, stretching out and assuming the position he had previously been in. This was a better spot to watch from, anyway. “It was about to catch fire.” He tapped the base of the candle that was melted and stuck to the floor. “The candle.”
“Oh, well thank you.” He folded back down and continued his work. The arm twitched, and Gokuraku flinched. It had gotten him in the eye, once. Ichi continued to watch with an intensity that would probably make anyone else extremely uncomfortable. Gokuraku’s lip piercing caught the light and gleamed, which brought him back to his curiosity about the metal stuck in his counterpart’s skin.
He thought about it. Right now would be a good time to ask, but only after Gokuraku was done messing with his arm for the night. They still had plenty of time before they went to sleep, and it would finally put an end to his curiosity. Yeah. He would wait for an opening, and ask, and get answers. He kept watching, thinking of which piercing he would ask about first. Probably the one right in between his collarbones; it seemed the most painful.
After a few minutes, Gokuraku suddenly sat up and faced Ichi. “…What?”
“Hm?”
“You’re staring again, Icchan.”
“Oh.” Ichi replied. He hadn’t realized how long he had his eyes locked on Gokuraku while he was zoning out. He tried to diffuse the situation. “Well I’m watching you work, aren’t I?”
Gokuraku rolled his eyes. He pointed the screwdriver at the boy on the floor. “If you were watching me work, you would be looking at my hands.” Ichi’s gaze followed the screwdriver as Gokuraku jabbed it in his direction. “You were boring holes into the side of my face. You've blinked maybe twice in the past five minutes.”
Ichi didn’t imagine Gokuraku to be so conscious of things like this. He made a show of blinking. “What’s so wrong about me looking at you? I’m looking at your piercings.”
“Because it feels like you’re trying to curse me or something with your huge eyes. Stop it. You’re making me nervous.” Gokuraku sighed and slid down against the footboard, until his lower back was touching the ground and he was slumped down more to Ichi’s level. He tossed the screwdriver onto his desk and snuffed the candle with his fingers. “And what’s so special about my piercings anyway? You see them every day.”
“I’m wondering why you even have them, that’s all.” Ichi grabbed at the unlit candle and popped it off the wood with a weak tug. He knew that if it got left on the floor then Gokuraku would probably trip over it in the dark; his eyesight wasn’t the greatest. “They don’t really do anything, if I remember correctly.”
Ichi couldn’t see his face too clearly in the low lighting now that the candle was out, but he heard Gokuraku chuckle. “I just have them to have them, Icchan. Plenty of people have piercings, even you should know that.”
“Yeah, in their ears. You have them everywhere else and I’ve never seen someone with as many as you.” He sat up on his elbows.
Gokuraku shifted, and Ichi could see his face. He was smiling. “I keep forgetting you’re not from the city. You come from a tiny little peaceful village, so no one around you was really extreme like me, huh?”
“Not really. But even here with all the witches, I’ve never seen anyone with more than their ears pierced. You have five and none of them are in your ears.” Ichi shrugged. “I’m just curious. I wanna know about them. Tell me.” He demanded.
Gokuraku slid down the footboard until he was fully on the floor, hair sprawled out across the polished wood. “I have seven, actually. Care to see?”
“Sure.”
—-
Ichi sat on the bed as Gokuraku rummaged through his things in the desk drawers. After a while he pulled out a small velvet bag, which he worked open. Walking back over to the bed, he pulled off his shirt and dumped the bag’s contents into Ichi’s waiting hands.
Ichi looked down at the items. They were small silver bits he could only assume was jewelry to go into Gokuraku’s piercings. He eyed a few that didn’t look like they’d slot into his body, or anyone else’s, really.
Before he could really think about it, two of the more intriguing bits were taken from Ichi’s hands and Gokuraku was suddenly with his back facing him and he was putting the silver pieces somewhere, grumbling over the sub-par fine motor skills of his prosthetic.
“Icchan, you’ll get to see when I get these in. It's been a while.” Ichi nodded even though he knew Gokuraku couldn’t see.
He looked at the crystals in the other’s back, partially covered by waist-length blue hair. They looked painful, and the skin surrounding them was permanently bruised. It really made him wonder. If he activated Inazuri and hit the crystal with it, would it power up Gokuraku? Or would it just fry him to death?
“Okay. They’re in,” Gokuraku said with a huff, and turned around. “Behold.” He put his hands on his hips, in a pose.
Now that he had a proper excuse to, Ichi stared him down. The two new additions were odd ones. One in between his nostrils and the other sticking from his belly button. Paired with the others, the piercings made a nice path down his face and torso. Gokuraku looked proud of himself as Ichi gazed at the six metal pieces, all in a straight line down the middle of his body. Seven, when he stuck out his tongue.
“What do you think? Cool, huh?” When Ichi didn’t answer, he pouted and kneeled down to the other’s eye level on the bed. “Let me give you a closer look.”
He pointed at the one in his nose. “Septum. I stopped wearing it because I was always afraid of getting it ripped out fighting.”
Next was the tongue. He opened his mouth wide for Ichi to see. “Tongue. This one has a purpose, actually. I like biting it and stuff. I like biting things.”
Ichi nodded. “I know you do.” He recalled all the times Kumugi got upset with Gokuraku for chewing on the backs of her pens.
Gokuraku’s face suddenly blanched, and a look of shame washed over him. His eyes flicked to Ichi’s right shoulder, where he knew that under his shirt there was a scar in the shape of his own teeth. He frowned, embarrassed.
“I’m still really sorry for biting you, Icchan.” he bowed his head down a little and looked tortured.
“Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”
“Oh my god, nevermind.” His face went back to its normal shade, and he pointed at his bottom lip. “Labret. My first piercing and my favorite one.”
Next his hand traced down to his neck, tapping each one of the silver studs that were on top of, at, and below his collarbone. “My dermals. I really like these, but they get caught on my shirts sometimes.”
Ichi’s gaze shifted down as they made it to the last one. “Belly button. I also stopped wearing this one because I was afraid of it getting ripped out. It’s cute though, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. Define ‘cute’.”
Gokuraku gave him a look. He sat back on his heels and rolled his eyes. “It’s cute, now get off my ass.” With a wave, he reached back for his shirt and balled it up in his fist instead of putting it on. He was going to go to bed soon, anyway. “You’ve seen them all now, so are you finally satisfied enough to stop creeping me out all the time looking at me?” It sounded mean, but he knew Ichi would know he was joking.
Ichi did not know Gokuraku was joking. “I’m nowhere near your ass.” he spitefully dumped the remaining piercings onto the bed where they’d definitely get caught up in the sheets, and leaned back on his hands. “And not really. I’ve seen them, but I still don’t understand the thrill behind it. Explain.”
“Jeez, you're so demanding today,” Gokuraku sighed as he got up and sat on the bed next to Ichi. He laid back, and the bed dipped and creaked. “I wear my piercings for the same reason you wear that dinky little ponytail every day.” He reached up behind Ichi’s head and flicked his ponytail, to Ichi’s surprise. “...Because I think it looks cute. That’s kinda it.”
Ichi furrowed his eyebrows and waved Gokuraku’s hand away. “Well I don’t wear my ponytail because it’s cute. It’s practical and keeps my hair out of the way.”
“You know what else is practical? Maybe even more practical than your ponytail?” He dodged Ichi’s hand and pulled out the ribbon holding his hair back, just to mess with him. He threw it across the room and smirked when Ichi glared at him. “Getting a haircut. That would get rid of the entire issue.”
Ichi huffed and shook out his hair. It fell down right at his shoulders and it looked quite nice. Gokuraku wondered why he never wore it down. “But I don’t like the way my hair looks when it’s too short.” He ran his fingers through it absentmindedly.
“Exactly.” He went to tussle Ichi’s hair, but once he got his hand slapped one too many times he lowered it to his stomach and twisted his belly button stud between his fingers. “You don’t need an exact reason. I have them because I like them, and I like the thrill of sticking needles through myself. The thrill of it all is one of the best parts to me. And they make me unique.”
Ichi scoffed. “Youre nearly seven feet tall with tattoos on your face, and you’re the first prince of Kagami.” He bumped him in the shoulder with his knee. “You’re plenty unique already, don’t you think.”
“Hush, Icchan, don’t be smart. But still. They’re pretty cool, right?”
“Yeah. Really cool, actually.” His demeanor suddenly changed and Ichi looked down at Gokuraku, who was looking down at himself. An impulsive thought ticked in Ichi’s mind, and he decided to immediately act upon it. “If I wanted one, would you pierce me?”
“Of course, Icchan, you don't even have to ask,” he replied, automatically. “You know I’d do anything you ask of me.” He looked back up fondly, expecting at least a smile or a pat on the head in reciprocation, but was surprised to see Ichi leaning over him, with the look on his face.
The look. Eyes wide and sparkly, A blush forming on his cheeks- Gokuraku sighed as he put the signs together. A pit formed in his stomach. A look like that only meant that the next words out of Ichi’s mouth were going to be absurd.
“Okay then. Give me a piercing, Gokuraku!”
“What?!” He shot up so quickly he headbutted Ichi, who quickly curled up on the sheets, clutching his forehead and groaning in pain. Gokuraku quickly assessed the situation and turned back towards Ichi, full of apologies.
He took his hands and forced them away from his face, checking to see how hurt the other was. “Sorry!” he cringed when Ichi gave him a glare. “I didn’t know you were being serious. You really want one?”
“Why would I joke?” Ichi took his hands back and rubbed his forehead, which was blooming a red mark from the impact. “Yes, I want one.”
Gokuraku sank back down onto the bed, nervous. Technically only halfway onto the bed; the mattress already wasn’t enough space for him as it was and Ichi sitting by his pillow gave him even less room. He thumped his fist on Ichi’s knee. “You’re killing me, Icchan, you really are,” he mumbled into the sheets, and then turned his face up. “If you give me a day, I can pierce your ears for you tomorrow evening. Does that sound good?”
Ears. Ears were the safest option here- it would get them both into the least amount of trouble. Maybe if he suggested it, Ichi would follow him.
Ichi shook his head. “No, I want a tongue piercing. One like yours.”
“There is seriously something wrong with you, Ichi.”
“Well are you gonna do it, or what?”
Gokuraku didn’t answer. This sudden request was making him nervous. Not necessarily the piercing part- he knew Ichi would be safe in his hands (unless his arm twitched and hit him again), and he wasn’t opposed to giving Ichi his first piercing either.
What he was nervous about was Desscaras.
He could hear it in his head. What did you do to him? We should have left you in Kagami! Stop doing weird things to Ichi!- and he could imagine her baring her teeth at him in an almost comical way and probably giving him a really good talking to. He sighed. She was like a mean auntie when she got angry, and he didn’t particularly want to face her nagging. And giving Ichi a tongue piercing would invoke a lot of that nagging.
He really wanted to, though. Him and Ichi, with matching piercings. It was something that made him a little giddy; maybe he could also convince Kumugi to get one too so they could all match- though she would probably refuse.
He would still try to talk him down, though. Between him and Ichi, one of them had to be the slightly more responsible one. He was here to make sure Ichi didn’t blindly follow all of his impulses.
“Ichi, are you sure..?”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it these past five minutes and I’m very sure of myself.” Now that he wasn’t at risk of being headbutted again, he unfurled himself and sprawled out as much as one could with a freakishly tall person sharing the space. “It’s the best option, really.”
“Oh? Well your ears are pretty safe too, aren’t they?” He took this opportunity to tussle Ichi’s hair like he had been trying to do earlier. “Or your belly button. Somewhere a little normal please, so Desscaras doesn’t yell at me. She’ll freak out over this, don’t you think?”
“But I want one where it’s not really visible unless I make it known.” He gave up on swatting away Gokuraku’s hand and let him squish his face. “And you said that a belly button piercing could get ripped out. Unless there are other places that are hidden I could get one?”
Gokuraku scoffed. “I mean, yeah. If you want a piercing that’ll be like a surprise to people then you have maybe…two more options. But I’m really not willing to do either of those on you,” He didn’t elaborate on the placings. “And a tongue piercing is kinda noticeable anyways, so I don’t know what you’re even on about.” At this point he was just arguing to argue- he wasn’t really opposed at all but felt the need to make Ichi think a little more about his decision.
“I never noticed yours until you bit Uroro off my arm, though,” Ichi argued. “And it’s in a place where if I fight, it’s probably not gonna get damaged. I want one. Give me one.”
Gokuraku squished Ichi’s cheeks harder, in a stop talking sort of way. His reasons were valid. Ish. But there was still an elephant in the room.
“Okay. But you never answered me about Desscaras. How is she gonna handle it if I pierce you through?”
Ichi shrugged. “She doesn’t have to know.”
Giggling, Gokuraku let go of Ichi’s face. “So disobedient,” he said, smiling.
He looked out the window. The sun had been fully set for a while now and honestly he was getting a bit tired. Being around Ichi when he was being this persistent and difficult was honestly a little draining.
“I’ll give you your piercing tomorrow Icchan, you’ve convinced me.”
——
“This is where we’re finding a gift for Ichi?”
Gokuraku and Kumugi stood in front of a piercing and tattoo parlor, in the heart of Natali’s Main Street. Kumugi clung to the back of Gokuraku’s shirt, afraid of getting washed off into the busy crowd that raged behind them.
“Yep. C’mon, let’s go in.” Gokuraku held the door for her, and dipped into the shop after she was inside.
Early that morning, Gokuraku had banged on Kumugi’s door, just loud enough to absolutely terrify her. When she opened the door, still in her nightcap, he went on and on about something involving a gift. Beyond that he didn’t elaborate- just layed down in her bed and shooed her off to the washroom. When she came back dressed and ready to leave, he had made her bed and was waiting on her, wearing her research club hat and using her hairbrush. She didn’t question it.
He was so weird. She wanted to keep him forever.
Kumugi thought back on when she was woken up, and tried to figure out exactly what was going on based on what Gokuraku had told her earlier.
Let’s go to the city, Mugichan. We have to get something for Ichi! Get up, Mugi-Mugi, let’s leave before Icchan comes looking for us. Let’s have a nice outing together and get lunch. It’ll be nice. I’ll pay.
Well.
That, plus the mysterious new sliver of metal in Gokuraku’s nose that she noticed as they were walking didn’t add up to anything that could be too good.
Kumugi was shaken out of her thoughts when Gokuraku closed the shop door behind them and started leading her to the back of the store by her shoulders. They passed the actual parlor sections, and a sigh of relief left her. The tension in her face didn’t leave though, because what he was leading them towards was somehow even more telling of what was going on. She decided to stop agonizing over it and just ask.
“Gokuraku. What did you to do Ichi yesterday for us to be in here?” They stopped in front of a glass cabinet filled with different types of piercings. She didn’t particularly know where all of them were meant to go, which concerned her.
“Well I haven’t done anything yet, Mugichan.” He leaned on her shoulders and nearly toppled them both over. “We’re here to pick what jewelry I’ll give to our dear Ichi. He wants me to give him a piercing tonight.”
“Does Master Desscaras know?”
“Mm-mm.”
“What about Lady Togeice?”
“Nope.”
Kumugi gave Gokuraku a look in the reflection of the glass. “You two are going to get in so much trouble.”
“What they know won’t hurt them. Now help me pick out a tongue stud, a belly button ring, and some regular earrings.”
“Oh my god.”
In the next twenty minutes they had jewelry reluctantly picked out for Ichi, and Gokuraku went to rush them out of the parlor before Kumugi stopped him.
They were at the counter, Gokuraku holding an embarrassingly long session of small-talk with the clerk. He really didn’t know how to end his princely niceties with strangers, and in her boredom Kumugi peered around to the open piercing parlor where she saw someone getting worked on.
The victim in the chair was getting her nostril punched through. With a needle. She shivered at the thought of her nose (or any part of her body, for that matter) getting pierced and tapped Gokuraku on the bicep.
“You need a needle for Ichi, don’t you think?”
“Hm,” Gokuraku started, now effectively distracted from his conversation. “I don’t think so. Miss Frill has plenty of those back at the Mantinel, right? If I strike a few poses for her she’ll give me one.”
“No, Gokuraku, you need a piercing needle.” Kumugi explained. “Have you been using sewing needles this whole time?!”
He shrugged and leaned against the counter to give Kumugi his full attention, quite rudely considering the woman right behind it. “I mean, yeah. A needle is a needle.”
“That’s not what you’re supposed to-”
“-And wire, sometimes. I just used anything sharp, really.”
Horrified, Kumugi ran back to the furthest wall and picked up the cheapest piercing kit she could find. She came back and slapped it into his hand. “I’m not letting you give Ichi an infection or Tetanus or anything, Gokuraku.” She tried to look mean, but Gokuraku smiled at her so it couldn’t have been that effective. “You’re going to do this properly for him.”
“Wow. Thanks, Mugichan,” Gokuraku said, looking at the bundle in his hand. “I didn’t know there were kits like this- so thorough.”
She gave him the most exasperated look she could muster. She didn’t understand how Gokuraku was so smart, but so stupid.
After leaving the store he treated her to lunch, and upon arriving back at the Mantinel Kumugi went to take a nap. The entire outing drained her more than she wanted to admit.
—-
“Are you ready, Icchan?”
“I’m ready.”
“What about you, Mugichan?”
“Um.”
The three of them were back in Gokuraku’s room- Kumugi sitting on the desk while the other two took up the floorspace. Gokuraku had Ichi’s jewelry spread out on a handkerchief in between them, as well as his new needles.
“You still have a choice, Ichi. Are you sure about the tongue piercing? Last call.” Gokuraku pointed to the three pieces on the cloth. A tongue stud, a belly button ring, and a pair of simple earrings. All three, so Ichi could have his last minute doubts. All black- since Ichi didn’t wear silver and gold would look odd, by Kumugi’s words.
Ichi nodded, but changed the subject. “Where were you and Kumugi earlier. I made breakfast but I couldn’t find you guys and I was lonely.”
Gokuraku snorted, and started cleaning off the needles. “You sound so jealous. Mugichan and I went out to go buy you this jewelry, and we got lunch.”
“Why didn’t you invite me?” He sounded sad.
“Stop talking,” he deflected. “I’m about to start.” He picked up the tongue stud, twisted it apart, and attached it to the end of his tool. He marvelled at how handy it was. A lot less work and a lot less pain than just shoving things through one after the other.
Before starting, Gokuraku looked down at Ichi and tried to decipher his body language. He was sitting in seiza, hands clenched tightly to his pants and arms stiff. He was clearly a little nervous, which was a bit surprising considering how mundane this activity was in comparison to his other adventures.
“You may want to hold onto something, Icchan.” He went to reach for a pillow or an extra shirt, but stopped in his tracks and chuckled when Ichi’s hand shot out and grabbed Kumugi’s ankle. She squeaked and looked visibly uncomfortable.
She shook her leg a little. “Ichi, let go really quick.” When he did, she sank down to the floor beside him and took his hands in hers, which was honestly a much better idea. Gokuraku saw Ichi’s pupils dilate a little more than they already were and he wanted to coo at them, but he knew that it’d agitate them both. And Kumugi gets the shakes when she gets agitated, and it would likely turn into an issue. He focused his energy into the task at hand.
“Alright. Say ‘aah’.”
Ichi opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out at Gokuraku, who promptly caught it in his hand, which was covered by another handkerchief. He frowned as he tried to figure out exactly where to pierce that would cause the least bleeding, moving his hand this way and that. He frowned harder because he felt Ichi’s gaze trying to burn him alive.
“Stop staring at me.” Gokuraku whispered, and Ichi brought his gaze down to his other needle-clad hand. Gokuraku felt a little conscious of the situation- they were all so close and they were both looking at him and he knew that Ichi would sit there and count every single freckle on his face if given the chance. He hoped no one walked in the room to find them all leaning over each other like this.
Ichi tried to relax and also tried his best to breathe through his nose. He forgot to brush his teeth right before coming into Gokuraku’s room and they had eaten lamb for dinner so he was a little conscious. Kumugi shifted beside him. She was practically leaning on him, squeezing closer so she wouldn’t be squished against the desk. Her hands were warm and soft and they started to sweat when Gokuraku finally brought the needle to Ichi’s mouth.
Without meaning to, Ichi focused his eyes back on Gokuraku’s face. He was squinting; he wasn’t sure if it was because of his bad eyesight or their vicinity making him go cross-eyed. He felt the very tip of the needle touch the bottom of his tongue and he tried not to flinch away.
“Deep breath in, in three, two…” Ichi shut his eyes tight and squeezed Kumugi as he took a sharp breath in and felt himself getting pierced through. It barely hurt- he had a pretty high tolerance for pain- but the whole situation worked his nerves. He knew his heart was beating fast. Perhaps this was the thrill that Gokuraku spoke about the day before.
“Perfect. Stay still, now.” Gokuraku leaned over Ichi slightly more, focusing hard on screwing the ball onto the end of the bar. He willed his prosthetic to do what he wanted, and begged it not to twitch when it was centimeters away from Ichi’s very chippable teeth. He was quite glad Ichi had shut his eyes. Kumugi’s gaze was nothing compared to the intensity of Ichi’s, so he didn’t mind it nearly as much.
Once he miraculously got the ball on without dropping it down Ichi’s throat, he swayed an inch back to inspect his work. Nice placement, with minimal bleeding; the only issue was the amount of drool that was collecting on his hand. He curled a lip and let go, using the handkerchief to wipe Ichi’s mouth and then his own hand.
“All done, Icchan. How do you feel?”
“Lith I wan’ a mirror.” Before getting up he let Kumugi inspect him first, her fingers needlessly padding all over his face and jaw. Gokuraku almost felt a little offended that she felt the need to pull on her minimal medical training and double check for further injury, but then he remembered that he was fully planning to pierce Ichi with a sewing needle twelve hours ago. So he let it happen.
When he was done getting patted down, Ichi got up to walk to the dresser and look at himself. Gokuraku and Kumugi were half a step behind him the entire time.
He peered in the mirror at his new modification. Kumugi looked on nervously and Gokuraku proudly assessed his handiwork.
“So?”
“I really like ith!” Ichi flicked his head around, unintentionally flinging spit across the mirror. He wiped it with his hand when Gokuraku flicked him in the back of the head. “Ith stho cool!”
“It turned out well. Very cute.” Gokuraku patted Ichi on the shoulder. “Have fun eating for the next three weeks, though.” Ichi’s face fell as he remembered this fact.
“Canth I jus’ go tuh the healersth?”
“Oh, yeah. I suppose so.” He thought about the medical witch cadets that were stressing over how to treat his mechanical guts back in Kagami. He remembered getting pissed at them in his pain-filled delirium, and saying “I’ll do it my damn self,” before grabbing a pair of pliers and taking it to his middle. They must have knocked him out after that, because that was all he remembered before waking up in the hospital.
If those cadets could handle Gokuraku with his insides on the outside, they could surely handle a single Ichi with a little puncture wound.
Next Gokuraku turned to Kumugi and grinned. “You next, Mugichan, I’ll pierce your ears. Or I could do your belly button and we can match. That’d be pretty cute.”
A horrified sound left Kumugi’s mouth.
“No, thank you.”
“Suit yourself.”
——
Two days later and somehow, somehow, Desscaras hadn’t figured it out yet. But it was probably because her and Ichi hadn’t been in terribly close proximity since he got his piercing.
Ichi had gone to the healers, and begged and pleaded with them to not tattle on him to Desscaras, which they did out of good graces. It definitely wasn’t because Gokuraku was standing behind him the whole time, silent.
He was talking and eating better, but a few times a day he would still slur his words or have trouble working something particularly chewy. Gokuraku kinda wished he was able to skip the pain like Ichi had, but he was happy for him.
And this morning, there was actually something for them to do. Desscaras had called them all to the main wing of the Mantinel, likely another witch hunt or team-building activity (Gokuraku and Desscaras needed a lot of team-building) for them to do.
Ichi and Gokuraku walked together; they had just been called from their rooms. Kumugi was already there, sitting with Desscaras at a wide table in one of the many open conference rooms. A plate of charcuterie laid between them, only Desscaras’s half picked apart.
“What is it this time?” Gokuraku asked, and sat down next to Kumugi. He left the chair beside Desscaras open for Ichi to take, which he did.
“Nothing important. Just an appearance down in the city. We’re doing interviews, and getting ourselves painted.”
“No more interviewth, pleath.” Ichi slurred, and immediately sat up rigid. He made eye contact with Gokuraku, eyes wide and terrified like a deer. Gokuraku stared right back, equally shocked. Kumugi began to slide down her chair, inching ever closer to the floor.
“What’s in your mouth? Candy?” Desscaras egged, and turned towards Ichi. Ichi shook his head and looked more nervous than both Gokuraku and Kumugi had ever seen him before. He shook his head, slowly, and didn’t look her in the eye.
Desscaras snorted. “Why are you talking like that, then?” She leaned in and studied Ichi’s face. “What are you up to.”
“Nothing…”
Gokuraku and Kumugi looked at each other, uncomfortable. Ichi was such a terrible, horrible liar.
Unsatisfied with her answer, Desscaras opted on sandwiching Ichi’s face between her hands and swishing it this way and that. “You can’t fool me, Ichi! Drop it!” When he didn’t give her a response, she kept yelling.
“Bad! Drop it!” She started moving Ichi forward and back, and Kumugi slid down further in her chair.
“Mmmrrrhhmm,” Ichi argued.
Gokuraku laughed, until he realized that he’d be at the end of the blade soon. Kumugi’s spine became parallel with her chair’s seat cushion.
Desscaras stopped shaking Ichi, and straightened him out. “Open your mouth Ichi, that’s an order.”
Gokuraku could see Ichi struggling for a second, but he ended up sticking out his tongue and showing Desscaras the shiny black ball that was in his mouth.
“I got a piercing,” Ichi explained calmly, despite red marks beginning to form on his cheeks where Desscaras had been squishing. “Cool, right?”
Her eyes shot to Gokuraku so fast and intensely that he actually got scared.
“Gokuraku. A word.”
“Yes ma’am.”
——
“What did you do to Ichi?!” her voice was loud enough to reach the table, Ichi and Kumugi still sitting there.
‘A word’ by Desscaras meant that they walked to the corner of the room to yell at each other, instead of in the others’ faces. It was quite embarrassing.
Gokuraku shrugged, and tried not to look her in the eye. Which was easy- he could look straight forward and still hold his gaze high over her head. He didn’t feel much like a prince in front of her though- moreso just like a misbehaving child.
He used to have a nanny, very briefly, that acted sort of like this, but on a more extreme level. After making Richia cry too many times his mother did away with her. She would scream and yell and wreak havoc upon him and his sister. So compared to that, one yelling Desscaras wasn’t nearly as bad.
“Icchan wanted a piercing so I gave him one two days ago. I tried to convince him to let me pierce his ears, but he wanted a tongue stud.” He didn’t mention the belly button ring that had also been offered up. “And who am I to deny him?”
Desscaras crossed her arms and bared her teeth quite comically and looked up at him. “We should have left you in Kagami.” She shifted her weight. “But if I send you back to your country in a box then the mutt’ll hate me.”
“Precisely.”
“You’re such a bad influence, for a prince. Kumugi would never let something like this happen. She’s an absolute angel- be more like her.”
Gokuraku heard Kumugi cough from across the room. He decided to stay quiet and spare her. She deserved it.
“Stop doing weird things to Ichi,” Desscaras threatened, and made a show of jabbing her finger into Gokuraku’s chest and making one last sneer at him. “Or I’ll revoke your field training status and put you and Ichi both in magic history classes with Chikutoge.” before turning around and walking off.
Gokuraku didn’t exactly know what that meant, but it couldn’t have been good. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t call me ‘ma’am,’ it makes me sound old.”
“Yes, Desschan.”
“That’s even worse.”
Gokuraku was honestly surprised that Desscaras cut him that much slack. The weak response just gave him more room to be even more of a nuisance in the future. Ichi, too.
Maybe things were getting better. She still tripped him on the way out of the room though, so maybe they weren’t.