Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ XXXVII. JAE ❆ ❆

Jae slept like a rock, and when he finally wakes up, he's surprised he's up on time at all.

But Kumari and Chiro are still fast asleep.

Jae laughs to himself, So much for being too excited to sleep, huh? You two...

He wonders whether he should wake them up. Kumari's face always makes him hesitate ever so, she looks so at peace... As if she's dreaming about having everything that she wants, that there's nothing left for her to ask for.

But when he switches to Chiro's hotel room, and sees him sprawled across the bed, completely naked but for a new pair of underwear he'd bought yesterday, he's forced to remember that the boy wanted to see his sister today.

Let Kumari sleep...

Or let Chiro wake up on time to visit his family?

If Jae's being very honest with himself, he'd much rather let Kumari sleep. He does care more about her than some unknown sister, after all.

But... If he cares to be a little more honest, he knows exactly what it's like to miss family.

I haven't seen my dad in years. And I never met my mom...

Chiro hasn't seen his sister in a while. She's around, somewhere in the city, and Chiro can see her, unlike Jae with his family.

It would be a cruel thing to do of Jae, understanding that as well as he does.

So he goes over to the bed, and shakes Chiro's — sweaty, ew! — shoulder.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty," he barks. "You have places to go with the other Sleeping Beauty today."

"H-huh?" Chiro's always way too bleary when he wakes up, but then realization settles on his face and he's instantly awake. "AH! Naomi!"

"Naomi?" Jae raises an eyebrow. "Who's... Oh. Your sister, duh."

"That's right," Chiro smiles a dumb smile. "I can't wait until Kumari meets her. I really think they'll get along... But, more importantly. Jae... I miss her so much."

"She probably misses you too," he slaps his shoulder playfully, but then regrets touching Chiro's skin once more, having forgotten. "Dude. Why are you... Like that?"

"Ughhh," Chiro brushes his copper bangs out of his face. "I'm sorry about that. I overheat, due to my sun-based magician status. It's why I sleep naked."

"Despite having no body to show?"

"Quit it, Jae."

"Sorry sorry. I'll lay off, it's a big day after all."

"You're coming too, right?"

"Last time we split up, it didn't go so well."

"Exactly."

"So, let's go wake Kumari."

"I don't know if I have the heart to wake Kumari up, with her face looking so cute when she sleeps..."

Jae doesn't exactly want to agree aloud, but Chiro's right.

Instead he says, "Yeah, let's go wake her up together, in that case. Maybe we'll feel less bad if we share the blame."

"Sounds good to me... Uh, mind if I get dressed first?"

"Sure sure. Take all the time you need, my man."

And Jae politely steps out of Chiro's hotel room, and shuts the door gently behind him, poking his head into Kumari's room instead, to check on the princess...

...Only to see the princess isn't there.

"Uh," he says to himself. The major ("irrational," some would say) part of his brain is already sewing together a conspiracy about what happened to Kumari. Sho got her, in the few minutes that he was talking to Chiro. She learned Chiro's spell and turned herself invisible. Jae and Chiro are collectively insane, and have imagined Kumari all along, and there never was any bubbly princess accompanying them on their quest in the first place!

Wait, that was the nightmare Jae had last night, he remembers. And he'd even thought he'd slept soundly... So much for that.

But now Jae's just getting distracted — Kumari was supposed to be the one with the focus problems, not Jae. Either way, where is she?

"Good morning Jae!"

Jae yelps, taken off guard.

"Haha!" Kumari teases him, as he wheels around, hand on the jambiya in his vest, breathing heavily. "Scared you. Don't be so on edge!"

"I'm not," he blows mussed up blue strands of his hair out of his face. "I'm perfectly not on edge."

"Whatever you say-say, Jaejae!"

Jae regains enough of his usual composure to look Kumari up and down, realizing she's already out of her silk nightgown and in the day clothes Daren had bought her yesterday. "Oh hey, you're all dressed up."

"Gotta look our best for Chiro's sister! Don't want her to think I'm some ruffian girl off the streets."

"I'm gonna go just like this," and Jae gestures to himself. He's wearing his usual clothes, with only the vest that's different — it's the new one he'd bought yesterday instead of his old one.

Kumari frowns, "She'll think you're some ruffian boy off the streets."

"And that's exactly what I am."

Kumari giggles that giggle of hers, "True true! After all, you'd hate to look fancy... People might think you're a prince."

"And that's absolutely unacceptable."

"Glad to see Kumari's awake," Chiro says, opening the door, fully dressed. "Are we off?"

"We sure are!" And Kumari takes the wrists of both Jae and Chiro, bolting down the hotel hallway, before Chiro has a chance to yelp, "K-Kumari! You don't know which way she lives!"

"You don't even know the layout of the hotel yet!" Jae adds in a shout.

"I don't ca-aaa-aaaare!" Kumari whoops, and after a lot of twisting and turning inside of the surprisingly big hotel — it's practically the size of the Cevalonian palace — she finally manages to shove them outside, right into the thick of the bustling Qilucan city.