Kunikidazai Oneshots

Defying Tradition

(A/N: guess what time it is, readers? .....It's AU time again! In today's chapter, Dazai and Kunikida are princes in arranged marriages. Without further ado, enjoy.)

In a faraway kingdom by the name of Idealism, there lived a young prince named Kunikida. He was a stickler for the rules, which led people to believe he was boring. He could live with that, though...maybe. He had to admit that it wasn't easy having people just assume he was boring only due to his responsible nature. But as long as he was living his life properly, everything was fine. Eventually ending up in an arranged marriage was also considered "proper", so while Kunikida might not have particularly liked the idea, he went along with it. At least the arranged marriage was with his childhood friend Princess Sasaki so it wasn't a complete stranger. But at the same time, he only saw Sasaki as a friend. Nevertheless, he was determined to live out his life properly, and if arranged marriages were part of that, so be it. He would live that way. It wasn't like he had any other choice, after all. At least he thought so. He'd never asked King Fukuzawa about it, seeing as he'd only recently reached the age of being called upon by suitors.

There was another young prince, and his name was Dazai. He lived in the kingdom known as The Land of Death which was ruled by King Mori. The king and kingdom alike were enemies with Idealism. And yes, the kingdom did indeed live up to its name. A lot of fighting and conflict took place, which inevitably would lead to death. Moving on...one would think that it was all fun and games being a prince, right? Wrong. If Dazai was being honest, he thought there were more cons than pros to royalty. He didn't get much freedom, as he had an image to uphold, and he hated it. It only got worse when he was placed into an arranged marriage. It wasn't because of the person, it was just because he craved freedom. Dazai's betrothed was Princess Yosano. The two of them were pretty good friends, but that was as far as their relationship went. Neither of them were thrilled about the fact that they were to eventually become husband and wife. But what could they do about it? Arranged marriages were not to be broken off since this kingdom was very big on tradition.

Kunikida and Dazai were both princes, but that was about all they had in common. Kunikida was responsible and rule-abiding while Dazai was more of the rebellious type. They were practically night and day with all the differences they had. One would even go so far as to think they were completely incompatible.

But little did these two very different princes know that their lives were soon to change forever...

One day, Dazai had wandered into Idealism. He had heard a lot about this kingdom and it sounded pretty intriguing, so he'd decided to go see for himself if it lived up to the rumors. Suffice to say his sense of curiosity was pretty strong. And so far, Idealism was definitely as great as he'd heard. It was nice and peaceful, unlike Dazai's own kingdom. Dazai quickly found himself never wanting to leave. It was such a welcome change from where he lived. Which reminded him...he'd also heard a decent bit about Prince Kunikida. He honestly sounds pretty great, responsible, protective, and super nice...and just my type...I mean what?! Dazai wondered, shocked at his own thoughts. While he was surprised, he would be lying if he said part of his reason for visiting this place wasn't to meet Kunikida. He didn't know why it was, but he had a strong desire to meet the prince. And he really hoped that he'd get lucky enough to see him even if it was just for a minute.

Speak of the devil...or angel in this case.

Dazai heard a couple voices and glanced in the direction he had heard them in.

A blond boy around Dazai's age with a black-haired girl, also around the same age, came into view. They were taking a stroll together and appeared to be talking comfortably.

Who are they? Is it possible that might be Prince Kunikida? I've never seen him, so I don't know for sure. But he looks all formal so it's gotta be him, right? And who's the girl? Is she his betrothed? Or are they just friends? Are arranged marriages even a thing around here like they are back home? Dazai found himself wondering.