[Edited]

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And so, on the spur of the moment, Rouen simply threw himself between the blond knight and the dark skinned orphan, getting slashed in the face as consequence.

"Rouen!" Lamorak yelled, not believing what was just happening. His other two comrades were just as shocked, and the child that had been spared stared at Rouen with terrified eyes. The raven haired knight held his right eye and screamed in pain, blood gushing out of the place he was trying to seal.

The villagers had also been terrified and started running away one by one. The blond knight - who happened to be none other than Luntian Aono at that time - hadn't expected that Rouen would go that far just to protect a stranger and was surprised as well, but he sure wasn't going to get away with what he had just done. Not on Sir Lamorak's watch:

"You shitty bastard!" The red-head lashed out pretty much immediately, storming at Luntian and throwing his fists at him without even considering the consequences his actions could be carrying.

Usually, an attack like that would still be bearable, but Lamorak as well hosted a mysterious power - just like Catherine's - which rendered his physical strength even more powerful. Of course, he was unaware of his powers at that time. Tristan and Ector as well as the other Grona knights had to step in in order to try and stop the rampaging red-head.

Meanwhile Rouen lied on the ground, covering what he could of his currently bleeding face. The dark skinned boy - Kai - rushed over to him, tears forming in his eyes. Why did he do that for him? This man he didn't even know had just gotten severely hurt because of him and there was nothing he could do to help him!

"Someone... help..!" The brown haired child couldn't get his voice to come out properly no matter how hard he tried, so no one ended up hearing him. Kai continued crying and placed his smaller hand on Rouen's, not knowing what else to do: "Someone! Please!"

This time, the boy's voice was loud enough to reach the others, Lamorak in particular. It was as if the beast within him had been tamed by the orphan's voice and when realization struck him properly, he quickly rushed to Rouen, kneeing down to him and helping the injured man sit up: "We need a medic, immediately!"

* * *

Rouen had passed out at some point, so he was surprised to wake up in a rather cozy bed. He had barely any recollection of what had happened. What he remembered well was how he had been slashed in the face and the indescribable pain he still felt.

He decided to open his eyes, grunting in pain as he realized he was able to open only one. He felt some sort of bandage covering his right eye once he went over his face with his fingers. Even though his sight had just been reduced, he could clearly see a small figure resting next to him on the edge of the bed.

It was the dark skinned orphan he had saved, and he was currently still crying with his head on Rouen's thigh. The raven haired knight looked around the room and also discovered Lamorak standing next to the door, leaning his back against the wall as he had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"It's okay now, you don't need to cry." Rouen said in a soft voice, immediately causing the orphan boy to raise his head and stare at him with teary eyes as he couldn't completely stop sobbing. Lamorak almost jumped the moment he saw that Rouen was more or less doing alright again: "You woke up!"

The red-haired knight basically interrogated Rouen, asking him if there were places that hurt beside his face and once he was done with that, he informed the raven haired male about what had happened while he was unconscious: "I got into a fight with the Grona knights, so Tristan and Ector were brought to the palace in order to talk things through with their king."

"We brought you to the closest 'normal' hotel we found. A woman, apparently an acquaintance of the child, contacted a doctor. I'll go tell them that you woke up. Please don't try to move too much." Lamorak spoke, guilt somewhat audible in his tender and low voice. He bowed his head slightly before exiting the room just like he had said he would.

Rouen turned his attention back to the orphan boy. Guessing he must have been uncomfortable in his current position - half on the bed and half on the floor - Rouen invited the boy to climb onto the bed next to him: "Why don't you sit here? You know I won't hurt you."

The brunet nodded and did as he was told silently. He stayed on his knees and couldn't restrain himself from staring at the now patched-up eye of the man that had saved his life: "I'm so sorry... N-Now because of me, you won't be able to see anymore..." The dark skinned child was once again on the brink of crying, so Rouen quickly tried to cheer him up by firstly patting his head.

"It makes me sad when you say things like that, so don't even think of this as your fault, okay? Not even for a single moment." Rouen said gently, his hand sliding from the boy's brown hair, to the red tips and finally to his cheek where he wiped his tears: "Tell me, what's your name? You might have already noticed, but I'm Rouen Seiran. Just Rouen is fine."

"I guess... Kai is my name." The dark skinned child seemed to be uncertain about that fact for a few moments, but he felt relieved the moment he was met with Rouen's rather radiant smile. "That's a very beautiful name."

"T-Thanks. Aramina gave it to me." The boy seemed to be blushing a bit as he started twiddling his fingers shyly. It seemed that Kai was becoming more and more talkative which Rouen considered personal victory for making the boy feel at ease around him. "Aramina?" The now one-eyed man didn't dare to pry much further, since given the circumstances, Kai perhaps didn't have parents.

"Aramina is the person who works with me. She is like a mother to me." Kai announced rather proudly for his situation to be slightly tragic. Rouen did remember Luntian saying that Kai was a prostitute, but he didn't believe him at first: "She works with you? How old are you, Kai?"

"I'm fifteen." The brunet replied bluntly, surprising Rouen quite a bit. It really saddened him to hear that a boy this young was forced to work in the sex industry without receiving any support from family - which he apparently didn't even have - or the people of the kingdom.

When Rouen posed the dark skinned boy that question, it reminded Kai that he still hadn't thanked Rouen properly for having saved him. A guilty feeling arose in him as the brunet started feeling tense. He wasn't gifted in anything particularly, nor did he have exceptional wealth with which he could offer something to Rouen. There was only one thing he was taught that he could do to repay Rouen:

Kai gulped before crawling on top of Rouen's lap, careful not to hurt the ravenet in any way. Rouen raised a brow at the brown-haired boy's gesture, guessing the orphan was just looking for human warmth. But that didn't quite seem to be the case; Rouen found that out the moment Kai undid the raven-haired knight's pants, slipping off his underwear as well.

Rouen froze for a moment, not knowing how exactly to react to this sudden development. Kai was just about to take a certain body part into his hands and mouth if it weren't for Rouen quickly covering the dark-skinned boy's face with his hand: "W-What are you doing?"

"I don't have money... so this is the only thing I can thank you with." Kai retorted while wearing a confused expression. Up until now there had never been anyone who had refused his service, so he started getting afraid that Rouen was repulsed by him. "Y-You... think it's disgusting..?"

Rouen couldn't tell the brunet boy his thoughts exactly, since the orphan probably lacked the necessary education, so he tried approaching the matter more delicately: "It's not that I find it disgusting... That's just not how you should be thanking another guy."

"It's not? But... I've done this with other men, they didn't complain." Kai couldn't understand why it was wrong to do what he was about to, since everyone e now had told him that he was rather skilled at it, but he couldn't be blamed. Rouen started getting very upset at the people of Grona for not sheltering children like Kai and instead teaching them these sorts of things. "But you don't like doing that sort of thing, do you?"

"I... don't... but there's nothing else I can do..." The brown-haired child mumbled, avoiding Rouen's gaze. The ravenet didn't know if it was pity or sympathy, but he wanted to aid the orphan as much as his power allowed him to. "Then say Kai, how about you thank me by going on a date with me tomorrow?"

"A date? What's that?" Kai questioned, watching as Rouen used his strong arms to place Kai properly on his lap after having zipped up his pants again. Once he had done that, Rouen took the orphan boy's small hands in his own, soon drawing circles on them with his thumb. "Usually, that's when a male and a female - a couple - go somewhere together. In our case, it'll mean that we go eat out somewhere together. Is that alright with you?"

"I'll do anything for you." Kai blurted out without thinking too much about what he even said. Rouen's eye went slightly wide, but a small smile made its way on his face soon after. "Is that so? But promise me you will tell such things only to me."

"Okay." Kai said in a silent voice, almost in a whisper as he felt Rouen's larger and warm hand cupping his cheek. He was being pulled closer and closer to the older knight. Rouen wasn't sure why he was acting so much on impulse, but this seemed like the right moment in the right mood, so he leaned his face closer to Kai's. But before the distance was completely reduced, they were interrupted by the opening of the door, causing Rouen to pull away again.

"I'm back." Sir Lamorak indeed returned along with the doctor who initially took care of Rouen. The red-head was a bit surprised at how close his comrade had gotten with the dark skinned child in such a small amount of time, but given the admiration he felt for his superior, he went and assumed that it was just Rouen's way of cheering the orphan up after the incident earlier.

"Lamorak can I ask you a favour?" Rouen asked, taking Kai in his arms again and placing him right next to him on the bed, covering him with the blanket since he remembered that the child didn't wear anything beneath the coat he had offered him. "Yes of course."

"Can you go into town and buy clothes for Kai here? You can use my money."

* * *

It was already the next day. Rouen, Kai and even Lamorak ended up spending the night in the same hotel once the red-haired knight returned with the newly bought clothes his idol requested. The pain Rouen felt was still present, but his face hurt much less than it did in the beginning.

"Shouldn't you be resting in bed?" Sir Lamorak was still concerned about Rouen's well-being, but there was no stopping the ravenet once he would set his mind on something. He patted the younger knight on the head, ruffling his bright red hair: "Instead of worrying about me, shouldn't you be concerned about Tristan and Ector? We haven't heard of them since yesterday."

"I guess you do make a point... I'll go check on them while you... well, while you're away with the kid." Lamorak couldn't find the right words to describe the situation properly, much less while he watched Rouen dress Kai completely and render his appearance more than just acceptable to go out with.

"Let's meet here in the evening again." Rouen said once he was done buttoning the dark skinned child's shirt properly. He then proceeded with tightening the bandage he decided to wear around his head and face. After all, he couldn't just go walk around the village showing off his gouged-out eye.

"We're off then." And just like that, Rouen gestured Kai to follow him out of the room and soon out of the building as well. The village was as lively as it was yesterday, and for the first time ever, Kai could enjoy it properly. Not to mention that it was going to be with a person he was getting really attached to.

"Do you know any good restaurants around here? I'm from Rota, and it's my first time coming to Grona." The raven haired knight stated, not knowing if he had already mentioned this minor detail. Kai walked after him, staying close behind as he was forced to shake his head: "I don't, I-I'm sorry. It's my first time going out like this... with someone..."

"Really? Then that makes me special, doesn't it?" Rouen grinned at the shorter boy playfully, causing the latter to look away in embarrassment - something he felt for the first time too - as his cheeks rose slightly pink. "I guess..."

Rouen smiled once again at Kai's reaction. Looking at him now, no one would ever guess what this boy had been through - he looked like your average kid. On one hand, it was a good thing, since Kai could finally feel at ease. Once again the raven haired knight seemed to be acting on impulse and grabbed the younger's smaller hand.

"This way we won't get separated." He said with another one of his gentle smiles plastered on his face. Kai simply stared at him for a moment, looking a bit lost, but accepted the rather bold gesture and couldn't help himself from feeling happy. Up until now he would stay distanced from both women and men, finding them both repulsive due to what he was forced to do in the brothel he worked at. But then, this stranger came along and showed him that not all adults were disgusting.

The two of them had made it inside the first restaurant they spotted and taken a seat at a small table. They weren't the only customers inside, so a few judging and menacing looks that were aimed at Kai couldn't be avoided. Rouen did everything to not make the dark-skinned child aware of those glares which in the end actually worked since he was the only one Kai was paying attention to.

"Is there a particular dish you want to try out? If not, you can still choose one from here." The raven-haired young man indicated on the short menu card, but all he got was a sheepish expression from the orphan: "I-I... I don't really know how to read..."

"That's right, I'm sorry." Rouen had totally forgotten about the boy's lack of education for a moment, so he apologized immediately which made Kai feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It wasn't every day that someone would apologize to someone like him, much less try to make it up to him: "Excuse me! Two meat portions here please!"

While they waited for their meal to arrive, Kai asked the older male to tell him more about himself, about Pokémon, about Rota and the outside world. Rouen enjoyed telling his tales a lot, especially since he got Kai's beautiful and precious smiles in exchange. The meat Rouen ordered came not too long after as well, and the raven-haired knight enjoyed even watching the orphan eat the meat with sparkly eyes.

Having lunch together wasn't the only thing those two did together that day. Actually, the two of them ended up spending entire five days together. Negotiations with the king were put on hold for the moment, and queen Letitia Momoko requested for her knight division to be sent back to Rota as soon as possible which of course was understandable after the stunt Grona's knight Luntian pulled on Rouen.

And so instead of working, Rouen was given all the time off he needed in order to recover. Of course, he used those five days to spend time with Kai instead of resting in bed. But those precious five days were enough for Rouen to become aware of his feelings. Sure, there was that age gap of four years between them that in that period seemed like a lot, but that was something the ravenet was willing to overcome.

He and Kai were currently in a 'proper' hotel, they had stayed in the same one for almost a week now. It was the evening before Rouen and his division would have to depart. The one-eyed knight who by then had received a proper eyepatch hadn't yet told the orphan about anything properly. "Kai, would you hear me out for a bit?"

"Of course." The dark-skinned boy replied without thought. By then he had completely overcome his fear, at least around Rouen. What he also stopped respecting was their personal space. Of course, no one ever complained. The older knight patted on the spot next to him on the bed and Kai soon made his way there and kneed down. "Today is my last night in Grona."

"I have to get back to Rota tomorrow." Those words alone - even if Rouen wasn't done talking yet - were enough to throw Kai off completely, his face reflecting the emotions he felt in that particular moment. His expression was like none he had made before; He felt like he was being abandoned by the only person who accepted him unconditionally: "Y-You're leaving..?"

"Please don't! I don't want you to l-leave!" The dark-skinned boy exclaimed as he hurried and climbed on top of Rouen who was in a sitting position, salty tears rolling down his cheeks. Kai gripped Rouen's collar with his smaller hands with no intention of letting the male go: "Y-You can't leave me y-yet! I still haven't payed you back! I-I'll do anything for you, so please don't go away..!"

"Shh, don't cry. I never intended on leaving you." Rouen felt bad for not having told the truth right away, but at the same time something had been stirred up in him after he had seen Kai's crying face and vulnerable state. He used his thumb to wipe the orphan's tears away, then caressed his face gently. Rouen's words seemed to have calmed him down a little. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to Rota with me."

"There you can live together with me, have your own Pokémon, become whatever you want. You can have a much greater life." Rouen spoke, smiling at the boy genuinely. He didn't know if his message got through, after all, Kai was only fifteen and there were many things he didn't understand yet. But there were also those which he did perfectly. "Y-You mean it?"

"Of course, Kai. I would never lie to you." The raven-haired knight continued caressing the orphan's cheek until the boy finally smiled again, a few last tears rolling down his face. "That was so s-scary... I really thought you were going to leave me..."

"Forgive me." Rouen whispered softly, cupping Kai's chin properly before bringing their faces closer. Once he noticed that the boy wasn't reacting much, something came to mind. Something he needed to ask before continuing: "Say, have you ever kissed someone before, Kai?"

[<PG Yaoi Content Below>]

"Say, have you ever kissed someone before, Kai?" Rouen asked, his gaze meeting Kai's from a rather small distance. He pulled away only slightly just in order to get a proper look at the dark-skinned boy who shook his head slightly. "I don't think so... What is that even?"

It was a bit surprising that Kai didn't know what a 'kiss' was even though he worked in the red light district, but that was even more reason for Rouen to get protective of him, make him want to shelter Kai. He wanted to protect him and yet at the same time he got this strange feeling of superiority. "A kiss is when two people who have special feelings for each other put their lips together. It's a gesture they express their affection with."

"I have special feelings for you, Kai. What about me, am I special to you too?" Rouen asked and even though he did have a rough idea of the answer he would get. He wanted to be sure. He didn't want to do anything against Kai's will. He didn't want to be like those other men that took advantage of Kai and made him do all sorts of things without his consent. "O-Of course you're special to me, Rouen... b-but I don't know how these t-things work..."

"Don't worry. I'll teach you all you need to know." Rouen said and smiled softly the moment he felt like he had been given proper permission to proceed. He finally did what he had been itching to and brought his lips to Kai's, simply pressing them against one another at first. The brunet was indeed new to the feeling and couldn't do much more than to simply shut his eyes tightly.

"Try moving your lips against mine." Rouen spoke in an awfully husky tone, a rather seductive one actually as he brought his hands to Kai's back and waist. The younger male did as he was instructed and Rouen soon synched his lips with Kai's. The ravenet's fingers played with the tips of Kai's slightly loose shirt until they found their way directly to his somewhat darker skin. A few silent moans coming from the younger male slipped through the kiss and Rouen could feel Kai's stiff posture: "You don't need to be so tense. Relax."

They continued to kiss as Rouen let his hands travel everywhere beneath Kai's shirt. It made him realise just how skinny he was for a boy his age, causing the ravenet to treat him even more gently as if he were something very fragile. Kai's cheeks started burning up and so did the tips of his ears and shoulders. His heartbeat quickened and became louder. Those were things he had never felt with any of the clients. Nothing close actually. "Does it feel disgusting? Do you want me to stop?"

"I-It feels a bit weird, but it's not like I don't l-like it..." Kai managed to retort without having to put a stop to their passionate kiss. Both Rouen's lips and the touch of his hands made the dark-skinned boy feel weak in his knees. He felt vulnerable overall. "Alright then. Try sticking out your tongue a little."

"L-Like this?" The brown-haired male stuttered before opening his mouth a tad and sticking his wet muscle out the way he thought Rouen wanted him to. Rouen couldn't resist the expression Kai was making; It was way too erotic for his own good. And so, Rouen brought his tongue to the boy's and enveloped the smaller one in his own. Now it was really getting hot for Kai.

Kai's body had become so weak that he didn't even manage to stay up on his own. Instead, he fell back a little, but was supported by Rouen's strong arms which held him in place. As their tongues danced together, Kai ended up leaning a tad closer to Rouen, grinding his hips ever so slightly. The dark-skinned boy arched his back in an S curve so that he appeared taller than Rouen as he let the knight take the lead and continue french kissing him. "I want you to only ever kiss me, Kai. Don't forget that, alright?"

While Kai was getting engrossed in the awfully good-feeling kiss, he could feel Rouen's hands travel down to his hips, thumbs running circles as the remaining fingers fanned out to sink in the flesh of his rear. The brunet's eyes went wide for a moment as a silent yelp escaped his lips: "R-Rouen..!"

"Hn..?" Rouen hummed almost teasingly, separating his lips from Kai's for a moment in order to get a nice, long look at the boy's flushed face. He looked more than adorable, Rouen found it hard to restrain himself. "Can you go on? Or do would you prefer that I stop-..?"

"D-Don't stop!" Kai blurted out almost desperately, his bright blush visible despite the tone of his skin. The brown-haired boy could clearly feel a bulge being pressed against his own lower half. He was very nervous, obviously, but happy at the same time that Rouen seemed to be feeling good with someone like him. Rouen at the same time couldn't help but notice that despite reacting in all sorts of ways up here, Kai's lower body didn't seem to be fazed at all and so he ended up involuntarily staring between the boy's legs.

"I'm sorry..! My... thing... just doesn't react anymore... But it's not your fault!" Kai immediately became flustered, afraid that if he were to say something wrong now he would be rejected, but Rouen made sure to let him know that that wasn't going to be the case: "Don't worry. Besides, that isn't the only place that feels good when touched."

"It's not..?" Kai questioned, still new to most of these things as he did his best not to let out an improper voice when he felt Rouen squeezing his butt every here and now. All Kai ever did without getting anything in return from his clients was suck their genitals, but this was completely different. Rouen once again offered to teach him about it while speaking with that slight superiority in his voice. "Raise your arms a little."

Kai did as he was instructed, his slightly loose shirt revealing a little of his abdomen due to the gesture. Rouen traced his tongue over his own lips before leaning his face towards Kai's upper body, taking the edge of the boy's white shirt between his teeth and pulling it up slowly, allowing him to see all of his exposed abdomen and chest. "W-What-..?!"

The brown-haired boy cut himself off with his own yelp which was released the moment he felt Rouen's tongue come in contact with his abdomen. The man with the eyepatch then traced his wet muscle up Kai's somewhat darker body until he reached his chest, the darkest spot on them. Once the younger male felt Rouen's tongue there, he couldn't stop himself from gripping Rouen's raven hair.

[<✔️>]

Just when Rouen wanted to attempt taking it a step further, a knock was to be heard at the door, accompanied by the rather powerful voice of a certain red-haired knight: "Rouen, can we come in?"

By then, Kai was shirtless and his pants were loose, so perhaps it wasn't exactly a good scene to be walked in on. Kai held back his voice the moment he heard Sir Lamorak and looked at Rouen a bit frightened. Not exactly because he was afraid of being caught; He just didn't want the other knights to think ill of Rouen for doing this sort of thing with him.

Rouen noticed the dark-skinned boy's heartbeat getting faster because they almost had no distance between their bodies, so he instinctively patted his head, soon placing a soft kiss on Kai's nose. "There's nothing to worry about, alright? You lie down for now, I'll be right back."

After saying those soothing words to the boy, Rouen stood up and wrapped the bedsheets around Kai. Lamorak, assuming Rouen was sleeping since he didn't get a reply when he knocked, decided to open the door and caught a glimpse of the current scenario, his eyes widening only slightly. "Y-You're up?"

"Yes. Did you need anything?" The raven-haired young man replied, turning around in order to face his junior. Just like Lamorak was about to answer, Tristan and Ector stood behind him: "No not really... I just came to tell you that the others are back."

"That's good. Was the king mad?" Rouen proceeded to ask as the other two knights entered the room and seated themselves somewhere as they pleased. Lamorak filled him in on the most important details and skipped small talk until he was done with the work-related report: "C-Can I talk to you for a second?"

Rouen had a guess of where this was going, so he left the room and stopped once he was in the corridor where the others wouldn't hear them. He crossed his arms above his chest and waited for Lamorak to bring up the subject. The red-head felt like he was being tested, but he went through with it anyways: "Just now... were you s-serviced?"

"No, I wouldn't call it serviced." Rouen retorted, pretending to be thinking hard about what to answer as he held his chin between his thumb and index finger. Lamorak understood that the ravenet was practically playing around with him by saying that, so he pouted slightly, avoiding the older male's gaze: "You know you'll get in trouble if you involve yourself with that orphan. What's worse, he's a boy."

"I know what you're trying to say, but loving another man isn't wrong, you know." Rouen said, sighing sightly as he brought his hand on Lamorak's head, messing with his red hair once again. What he said wasn't meant to only apply to him himself, but to Lamorak as well.

There was a certain knight that was in a different division than theirs. His name was Aqiff Hiraj, a sympathetic green-haired man Lamorak liked more than just as a friend. Of course, he had always done everything in order to hide that fact, but because Rouen swinged the same way, he noticed his junior's hidden feelings.

"Yes it is, Rouen. It's forbidden." Lamorak muttered in a low voice, lowering his head as well so that his eyes met the floor. He had just then realized that Rouen was actually talking about him and what he felt for Aqiff: "A-Also, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen, sometimes it's better to risk some things and love, instead of living your life in a cage of rules and die with regrets."

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A/N: Another Chapter dedicated to them because I just love this ship T3T Rouen screams Power-Seme honestly xD
+ I didn't go as far as to make that one certain scene a smut one, but I still placed a warning, just in case^^

Anyways, starting next chapter, the story will progress from where it originally left off :3

By the way, are there any Haikyuu!!-watchers reading this? I COULD NEED SOME ADVICE X3

Lamorak Accolon:

Ector Cador:

King Silvio Jimenez:

Thank you for Reading!