Rebel Red Carnation {Kiribaku}

XVIII

Sneaking Eijirou, Denki, and Hanta back into town unnoticed is... a chore, to say the least. People are still on edge, even after the helicopter has flown away seemingly without anything happening to their knowledge.

Ochako and I take them around a back way that's less populated, more secluded with better areas to shield us from prying eyes. It takes longer but it's effective, and we drop everything they brought—the crates full of food and medicine, mostly—off in the shed.

Unfortunately, they weren't exactly smart enough to bring disguises, and while I know Hanta and Denki won't be recognized, what with being simple palace guards, there's no way Eijirou will be able to waltz through town unnoticed. With the way the slum dwellers feel about him and his family while being in the dark that he's behind all of the clothes and food supplied to us over the past couple of months, it could start a fucking riot, and that's the last damn thing we need.

So while we're in the shed, we brainstorm—and interrogate.

"What the hell are you doing here all the sudden, anyway?!" I hiss at the damn prince. "And why'd you bring these two?" I jerk my chin in the general direction of his guards.

"I know it's out of nowhere, but I can explain," he tells me calmly. "Really."

"Then start talking! I thought your entire fucking family wanted nothing to do with me or The Outskirts. I thought they wanted to punish you... or send you to some stupid conversion therapy camp to undo whatever bullshit hypnosis they thought I put on you," I babble. "Why'd you show up all the sudden? How'd you manage to smuggle out a buncha food, and in a helicopter, no less?! And how—"

"Katsuki," he cuts in, one of his big, soft hands placing over the fist that's in my lap. It's warm, and something about that touch immediately relaxes me. "I can't explain if you keep firing questions at me, man."

"Then start talking," I repeat firmly.

He doesn't, though. His eyes instead slide to the left, to Ochako, who's sitting quietly beside me staring at him with those same, moon-like eyes she had earlier.

"How much do you know?" he asks her.

She blinks once, twice. "Oh, um..." Her hand slides up and down the opposite arm as her gaze tears away from him. It's pretty dark in this musty shed but I swear her round cheeks grow the slightest shade of pink and an intense stab of irritation shoots through me. "I know who you are, and that you're 'Suki's soulmate. That you're, uhm, the one who sent all the supplies that have been helping us all survive lately," she mumbles, refusing to look at him again.

"She knows pretty much everything," I quip. "And she's my best fucking friend, so you don't have to sugarcoat shit or skirt around the truth like she's not allowed to know." With that I yank my hand out from underneath his and cross my arms tightly (though I hate the loss of contact that I never even noticed I've been craving for so long, from him; ugh, soulmates are a fucking nuisance...).

"Okay." Eijirou pulls in a deep breath and then lets it out. "Well, I'm Eijirou," he murmurs, holding that same hand in Ochako's direction like some shitty gentleman. "I apologize for lying to you before. And these are my guards and, more importantly, my best friends—Denki and Hanta." He nods to each one of them as he says their names.

"It's okay," Ochako says, but she doesn't take his hand. Sure, she might've been blushing, but even she holds resentment for him and his family, so I can't blame her for not accepting the formality. Even still, she's showing him more respect than I know a good majority of our people would, even if they knew what she does.

A bit awkwardly, Eijirou draws his hand back and rests it on his lap, his eyes turning back to me. "So, it's kinda complicated..."

"I don't care," I tell him. "Just start explaining already."