Author's note: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY YASUHISA HARA.

(Shinkai is cute)

It wasn't the first time that Shin had entered the royal banquet hall, nor should the rest of the palace became a surprise for him since he had explored those areas already a few years back.

However, Shin found out that there was a surprise after all. After the eventual collapse of the state of Zhao, the banquet was full of ecstasy and joyfulness of the complete victory that was obtained by the Qin forces. It was pure ecstasy and joy of celebration that was thrown by hundreds of Qin officials. There was no worry for political battles, no ass-kissing some high official, and definitely no foreign king from some state proposing an alliance.

Which meant no Riboku.

After being defeated at Gyou, Riboku retreated back to Kantan with his tail between his legs, only to be executed by the Zhao King. It was then that the Zhao forces surrendered their entire state to Qin.

Of course, Ousen took control of what was once Zhao's lands while Shin, Mouten, and Ouhon were all promoted to the rank of General back in Kanyou. Kyoukai was also promoted to 5000-man commander for her role in the invasion, however, she suffered extreme wounds during her fight with Houken. As a result, her priestess dance was no longer of use for the time being.

"Holy shit! T-this is way crazier than last time!" said Shin in amazement, "I didn't think there was going to be so many people here!"

Ouhon snorted. "It's a massive celebration. Of course only someone like you would be surprised at something like this."

Before Shin could throw a barrage of insults towards Ouhon's face, Mouten casually stepped in between the two. "Now, boys. An event like this only happens once in a blue moon. Let's just party around here like it's the last day of our lives—"

Shin wasn't listening. "Mouten, don't budge in! I'm gonna beat the shit out of this bastard's face—"

"...and I'm out. See ya!" And with that, Mouten dragged Ouhon away to a random table of two, where a huge crowd of girls from various noble families suddenly materialized around them, screaming and fangirling over their handsome faces.

Shin, on the other hand, sighed. "Mouten, you cheeky bastard." He spun around to talk to Kyoukai but saw that she was already at a seat hungrily devouring the meaty thigh of a high-grade ox.

"Wha- DAMMIT!" yelled Shin, and he angrily sat down next to her, pouting and mumbling away about being disrespected as a general.

"You don't want to eat?" Kyoukai asked him, putting down the ox thigh, now cleaned down to the bone.

"..."

"..."

"Just pass me the booze."

"The empty one or the one that I'm about to drink?"

"HEY!"

The banquet, even though it started late in the afternoon, went on for twice the duration of a normal banquet. And not for a single minute in the event occurred where the spirit of the party dwindled. Nobles of families ate and drank like the end of the world was approaching, lively music filled the entire room endlessly, the dancers of the Royal Harem spun around the gigantic stage like spirals of the wind, and then the Qin King came over to give a speech.

Nothing too peculiar. Sei's speech was full of excitement, relief, and bliss as he gave thanks to all the officers at the banquet who participated in the invasion. As he shared his plan on uniting the entirety of China, he was met with thunderous applause full of cheers, claps, and… more cheering. Then, like what he did at the city of Sai, Sei went down, took a seat in the middle of the banquet, and drank with the rest of them.

Surprisingly, Sei was tougher than most when it came to alcohol. Scratch that, he was the most resistant to alcohol in the room. In a short competition, he even outdrank Shin, who was notorious in his unit for drinking entire bowls every night. From there on, the entire banquet (except for Ouhon, Mouten, and Kyoukai) challenged Sei in a drinking contest, all of which ended in failure. Mostly it was because the wine was the type that would make someone easily drunk (Sei planned this from the very beginning), but thankfully it only took half an hour for a person to sober up.

Finally, the banquet was noticeably slowing down. Near the end, the dancers of the royal harem were exhausted, the servants and waiters fatigued, and everybody in the room drunk, except for Sei. A half-drunk Ouhon had already gone away, dragging a passed out Mouten while mumbling about telling Moubu that his son was going to stay at his best friend's house for the night.

After a short while, most of the drunk attendees of the banquet sobered up (although quite hungover) and left the hall, relying on the support of their servants who mostly dragged them through the palace grounds.

"Well, that was most certainly fun, wasn't it?" Sei casually asked his servants as he helped with the cleaning, "That wine was certainly weak. Maybe I should have served something stronger?"

That got out a few lines of "No, your majesty" and some "Perhaps, your majesty". Sei chuckled and finished handing a stained tablecloth to a servant when he noticed two people on one of the tables.

Shin and Kyoukai were drunk. And they were talking. Not talking like a conversation, but Sei saw that they were mumbling to themselves.

Dammit, they were sleeping. Sei couldn't deal with them now — he was also tired from celebrating all night long. Taking one more second to ponder, he finally made a decision.

"Ritu, Jing, come over." Two servants came rushing over to Sei, who pointed at the two drunk commanders drooling over each others' shoulders. "Take those two to guest room number… 5. No need to spin them around, they're already drunk. Oh, and make sure you don't wake them up. Be gentle."

Ritu and Jing found that dragging the two to one of the royal guest rooms without waking them up wasn't a problem, but Shin had to be dragged with additional help from another servant. When they finally reached the fifth guest room, the third servant went inside and lit all the oil lamps and scented candles on the walls. They quietly put the sleeping bodies of Shin and Kyoukai onto the giant bed, removed their sandals, and left the room without making a sound. Well, except for the slight bump of the door closing.

In about 3 hours, the effect of the wine would wear off. Fortunately for Shin and Kyoukai, their experience on the battlefield (and many nights of drinking) would prevent them from becoming hungover.

Nearby, a swan landed on the ground, accidentally crashing into its sleeping mate.

Shin woke up with a groan. Fuck, I drank too much. Slowly opening his eyes, he realized that he wasn't in the banquet hall, nor was he in his own tent that he grew so accustomed to over the years of combat. Looking up, he saw the dim ceilings of glossy marble and gold, and he instantly knew that he was in the palace guest rooms.

Or at least, one of them. He forgot how many there were. He was glad Sei had given him a place to stay for the night since waking up on the floor of the banquet would have been uncomfortable. I hope Sei took care of Kyoukai as well, he thought. He sat up, yawned, and stretched out his arms.

And then he heard it. No, he felt it. Soft breathing to his right, followed by a groan, and then the shifting of blankets, and then silence.

More silence followed.

And more.

It was unbearable.

Shin broke the silence first. "Kyoukai-"

"Shin." That shut him up fast. "We drank too much."

"That's true."

Silence filled the room again. Kyoukai put her arms around her head and stared at the ceiling. "Shin, do you know how many times we did this?"

"...You mean sleeping?"

"What else did we do other than drink tonight?"

Shin recalled their first time sleeping together; after the assassination affair, she came over to tell him that Ten was going to the Strategist Academy to study tactics and warfare, and Shin responded with inviting Kyoukai into his hut and eat dinner. Before dozing off, Kyoukai had told Shin to change his fighting tactics quickly, or he would die. He acknowledged that pretty well.

The second and third time was during the Sanyou campaign; the first with Shin talking with Kyoukai outside of his prison cell, and the third where they were recovering from Rinko's assault. Kyoukai had her right rib damaged by an unexpected nick from an enemy's sword, while Shin had his entire right arm sliced down to the bone. The two did their best to recover their injuries that night and discuss the next day's plan.

"Four times, I think."

The fourth time was more silent. It was just a few weeks ago during the invasion of Zhao; Shin had dueled Gyou'un and Kyoukai had prevented the Zhao forces from destroying the Hi Shin Unit entirely. At the end of the day, Shin crawled to Kyoukai's tent to thank her, and the two silently slept together side by side.

It was also the first time that Shin truly felt embarrassed to be by her.

He could still remember holding her hand. It was smooth and silky but full of strength. It was a bit colder than his own hand at the time, but that didn't really matter. He remembered how they just laid there, matching the rhythm of their breaths as they recovered from their wounds. He remembered how red his cheeks became from embarrassment as Kyoukai rested her palm onto his, and how beautiful her smile was before he dozed off.

He fell in love with her far before that, though.

He developed feelings for her ever since she came back from her assassination trip. The moment she stood right in front of him, staring into his eyes, Shin felt relief overwhelm his emotions. Not only did his trustworthy lieutenant came back safe and sound, but her return confirmed how much Shin missed being around her. Or rather, how much Shin missed her. The late-night talks with her, the dinners they shared, relying on her for ideas whenever the unit was in trouble, and so many other moments with her that Shin could think of.

Damn, she was beautiful.

His thoughts were interrupted when Kyoukai turned around to face him.

"I recall," she began, "during a campaign in Wei. Remember that day when we had to endure many hours of fighting?"

"Yeah," Shin recalled that campaign fairly well as his light blush faded away from his cheek. It was after the retreat of Gouhoumei that started it all. In order to fully capture a particular strategic point, the Hi Shin Unit along with the Gyoku Hou conducted endless interception missions to prevent Wei forces from retaking the point. One time, the fighting didn't stop until 3 nights later, and Shin wandered into the nearest officer tent and crashed without bothering to look who was inside. "I remember the Wei were really stubborn, and they just kept coming. I still remember how tired I was!" He chuckled. "I walked right into a tent and—"

"You crashed on top of me."

"and I — wait, what?"

Come to think of it, he recalled bumping into something as he lost unconscious in the tent.

Blushing a bit, he looked back at Kyoukai. She stared at him with so much intensity that Shin felt butterflies violently bounce around in his stomach. "That was the fourth time we slept together. You fell on top of me as soon as you got into the tent."

And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

Kyoukai woke up lying face up against the smooth beddings of a particularly comfortable mattress. After confirming that she was most likely in the palace guest room, she stretched out her arms and let out a small groan.

She froze when she felt Shin's presence to her left. He was most likely awake due to his shallow breaths, probably — definitely tense from seeing Kyoukai awake.

He must've woken up a little bit before she did, Kyoukai concluded.

Kyoukai had a crush on Shin, and she hated that.

She hated how every time she looked at him there would be blood rushing to her cheeks, and she would have to look away to hide her blushing. She hated how his face worked — it was cheerful, amusing, and so damn attractive that she glanced at it whenever she had the chance to without getting caught.

It was painful. And she definitely felt Shou-nee's spirit laughing at her stalk-ish behavior.

Fucking dammit, looks like Shou-nee still had the upper hand, even while dead.

Shou-nee's 'teachings' didn't really work out while Kyoukai was lieutenant of the Hi Shin Unit. Kyoukai found out the hard way that Shou-nee never really bedded with a guy in her life, much less even talking with one, and that she made it all up to sound cool.

It did not end well for Kyoukai when she rejoined the Hi Shin Unit. Who knew that asking for Shin's child was basically a love confession?

But she definitely fell in love with him by then.

And then when he saved her at Kokuyou, she decided to partner with this man.

No matter what.

Not even if Houken crippled her ability to dance, to fight like she used to, she would find a new way to be by his side.

So before they fell unconscious that night, she prayed to the gods that, maybe this time, the two of them will finally be together.

And then, somehow by a stroke of luck, the Qin King put them together to bed while they were drunk asleep.

It seems that not killing him 8 years ago was the right choice.

She wanted to tell him about her feelings but realized she really couldn't do it in words. Kyoukai was always shy in the unit, even around Shou-nee back in her childhood. It was only Shin who helped her break out of her shell later on, but unfortunately, her shyness would return whenever they talked.

Shin hadn't realized it, but the coldness in her voice, whenever they talked, was actually her trying to repress a blush.

And she always blushed when Shin wasn't looking.

Kyoukai knew that this was her best chance to confess to Shin, and saying it directly was out of the question.

So she talked with Shin, trying to catch him off guard by telling him about that one time they almost kissed during a campaign in Wei a few years ago.

"...That was the fourth time we slept together. You fell on top of me as soon as you got into the tent." It worked. Shin blushed in surprise, and Gods, he was so cute.

At that point, she remembered a saying from Shou-nee when they talked about loving a man. Grab it by the horns and take it, she had said. Kyoukai knew that this was the moment.

And then she leaned forward and kissed Shin on the lips.

Overwhelmed with bliss, Kyoukai was the happiest woman on the planet. After years of waiting, admiring Shin's dumb but straightforward personality and falling in love with him on multiple occasions. Their lips connected and Kyoukai wanted to stay like that forever.

She loved him with all her heart. Not even Shou-nee's love could have compared to this.

Kyoukai took it further and pushed Shin down onto the mattress as she continued the kiss, locking him in place as she savored the moment. She felt his mouth reflecting his surprise, which soon turned into happiness as Shin relaxed to meet her kiss.

Wait a minute, happiness?

The realization hit her like a brick.

Oh, so he was in love as well.

Wait…oh…so that's what it was…

A single tear fell off of her cheek, but she wiped it off before Shin could notice. The kiss lasted for a while before Kyoukai slowly pulled away and lazily opened her eyes to meet his. Shin returned her gaze with a huge smile on his face.

"Kyoukai, I've always wanted to say this—"

"I love you too, Shin."

"...oh come on!"

Kyoukai smiled and kissed him again. This time, she brought her hands to his face and locked their stance. She felt Shin returning the kiss as he grabbed the back of her shoulders and head, holding her ever so tightly. They stayed in that position until they couldn't breathe anymore, and a line of saliva and drool appeared between their mouths when they separated.

"I fell in love with you when you came back." Shin said, staring into her eyes.

"It was in Sanyou for me." Kyoukai said, feeling the intensity of their stares.

Silence filled the room.

"Shin," Kyoukai purred out to her lover, shyly with embarrassment in her voice, "d-does it really hurt?"

"Who told you that?"

"T-Ten did."

Shin found it cute and a bit hilarious to see that Kyoukai's knowledge of love-making came from 'tales' of her sister and Karyo Ten's little talk that naturally happened a few years ago. But then again, this was his first experience as well, so he didn't have anything to say.

"I-I don't really know…" he began nervously, "I've never done this before…"

They blushed. They both knew the little 'incident' they were referring to, the one where 'a vow to climb the mountain' was made after the coalition war.

Kyoukai's petite form suddenly felt much heavier on Shin's chest than before, and Shin's muscular body had never felt so soft.

They both knew that it was their love that made them as soft as ever.

"Kyoukai…"

"Shin…"

They leaned forward, faces as red as tomatoes, eyes and mouths half-open, movements slowly steady, and their lips met.

They kissed passionately — Kyoukai lightly let her lips fall onto her lover's, who returned her kiss by nibbling the soft skin on her mouth. While they made out, Shin felt his blood traveling down his torso as a shiver ran up his back, and he knew that Kyoukai felt the same as him. Supporting her weight, he sat up to take off his ceremonial robes, quickly untying his garments and shaking them off before going to untie Kyoukai's garments, but noticed that she had already thrown them off while they were kissing, and now was sitting properly on his two legs.

…

Butterflies flew much faster in his stomach.

Her naked body was so beautiful. It glowed a dim golden yellow in the lights of the oil lamps as if a goddess had blessed her with all attributes of beauty. The solid muscles on her arms and shoulders traveled all the way along her upper torso until it reached her breasts, where it remained soft. Her breasts were perfectly positioned on her chest and her toned abs glinted beautifully in the candlelight as Shin's gaze continued downwards—

"Shin."

That snapped him out of the trance. "S-sorry about that." he looked down with his face gleaming a dark red. "Y-you're so beautiful, I just couldn't have resisted."

Shin knew that Kyoukai flushed with embarrassment when she didn't say anything. He suddenly felt lots of his blood run down his body; his penis started to feel tighter, and he knew that it was now or never.

"I'm ready, Kyoukai." Shin finally said, his erection growing by the second as his voice was beginning to fill up with lust.

Kyoukai looked away, but her red face revealed her true feelings. She then said something that Shin couldn't quite hear.

"What was that, Ky-"

"-Can you lay me down?"

Shin recoiled in surprise, but nodded with his blushing face.

Gently, he put his arms around Kyoukai's waist and put her down onto the bed, her chest facing upwards. He followed suit, leaning his body right above hers and stared at her blushing face. He could have gazed at her in that position for an entire day, but his instincts overwhelmed him.

Shin slowly kissed her lips, moving his mouth down her chin as he put more wet kisses wherever his mouth touched. Kyoukai gasped at the cold tingles that intensified as they traversed throughout her body. He traced his lips down her neck, listening to her gasps and touching the goosebumps on her skin with his nose. Moving his body downwards, he then kissed down to her collarbone, down to her breasts, and finally down to her stomach where he skimmed the centerline of her abs. He stopped at her belly button and went back to the push-up position before, staring at Kyoukai's panting face.

"Shin…" Her wet emerald-green eyes glowed from the dim light, and Shin thought he was looking at a goddess. A very cute goddess at that, and also one that let off a fragrance of familiarity; of love and affection.

"I love you, Shin…" a beat skipped in his heart. Shin so very wanted to tell Kyoukai that he loved her as well, but his instincts told him to listen to what she had to say.

"I…" tears of happiness came out of her eyes. "I want to… be with you..." she said with a pleading tone, and Shin knew exactly what Kyoukai wanted, and he caressed her face before they kissed again, much more passionately than before.

Shin pulled away. He blushed harder when their eyes met, and then he tilted his back straight to a high kneeling position, Kyoukai's pale legs in between his.

"Erm… can you..." Shin asked quietly, blushing and looking down in embarrassment.

Kyoukai slowly bent her legs and spread them apart, inviting Shin to come closer. Her hands were tense, preparing to grip the bedsheets in case something went wrong.

"Just… go slow, okay?" she asked, looking at Shin's face with loving eyes.

Shin nodded and brought their hips closer. Slowly, he adjusted his penis to comfortably fit into the naked pink flowers that lay right before him.

"I'm putting it in…" Shin said to Kyoukai, and he steadily pushed.

Kyoukai could not express how happy she was the moment she felt pain. She found the feeling pleasant and not aching at all. She arched backward and gasped when her lover pushed further into her vagina, his firm member touching every area of her insides. An unfamiliar tickling sensation flowed through her body like waves. As he pushed further, it started to hurt, like there were hot swords stabbing her from the inside. She must have winced because Shin stopped pushing forward when she opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Shin asked, worried. Kyoukai looked up and nodded, her eyes begging him to continue.

"Ten s-said that there would be pain at f-first," she said in between shallow breaths, "but she d-did say it will be better a-afterward."

Kyoukai relaxed after saying that, and she felt her wrists grow tired. She didn't even notice she was tightly clutching the bedsheets from pain. She looked up and saw Shin lean forward, and they gently kissed.

"If you want to, I can stop." Shin said after pulling away from her mouth.

Kyoukai shook her head, smiled, and reached up so she can press her mouth against his, gentle and soft. He doesn't respond immediately to her kiss, but when he does, it's filled with sadness, one that formed by the guilt of hurting her. It was a bit much for Kyoukai to take in, but their kiss erased all forms of it. When they pulled away, Kyoukai whispered to him. "Trust me."

When Shin slid further into her, the hot sword came back — but it wasn't as painful as the first time. When he touches the cervix, waves of that same tickling sensation washed over Kyoukai. Her skin turns stiff from the goosebumps that form from the waves, and she lets out a tiny squeak.

Kyoukai breathes faster. And deeper, surprised by how full she feels. She feels Shin slightly tremble with the effort to hold himself still so she could get used to him. Wanting him to continue, she sighs to let him know she's ready.

The next few strokes were less uncomfortable by each stroke, and they soon get a proper rhythm going. And every time Shin slides all the way through, she finally recognizes the tickling wave that intensifies every time it pulses.

It was pleasure.

Kyoukai placed her palms on Shin's cheeks, staring into his eyes as sweat poured down from both of their faces. They kissed, and Kyoukai brought Shin down to her level. They were lying on top of each other now; mouths collided and hands around each other's necks, and at that moment all the two could care about were each other and nothing else. To them, they were the only people that existed in the world, and the only thing they heard, saw and felt were each other.

Shin increased his pace, desiring nothing but the sweet lips of his lover and their act of consummation. He presses her into the bed; swallowing her gasps of pleasure with powerful kisses that gets her head spinning. Bringing his left hand low to her right breast, he massaged the soft nudges that grew stiff from their lovemaking. He felt a moan rise from the back of her throat, but it was quickly swallowed by their intense kissing.

They continued this for what seemed like forever, with Shin on top and Kyoukai at the bottom making love to each other, sealing themselves as eternal lovers for the years to come.

Kyoukai could feel her body react to his movements, the tingling sensation in her lower stomach stacking up as Shin touched her in more ways she can imagine. At first it feels like the other waves of pleasure, but it soon turns into much more of a wave.

Something like a whirlpool. That's probably the best way to describe it.

Shin puts in more strength and hits a new, deeply pleasurable spot inside her that makes her moan loudly and grip her lover tighter. Kyoukai realizes that if they keep this up, that whirlpool inside her will explode.

Shin's thrusts also have become out-of-rhythm, the tingling sensation in his penis growing exponentially more powerful by the second. After feeling Kyoukai's own moans of pleasure from her throat, he realizes they are reaching their limit.

"Kyoukai…" Shin pants as he temporarily pulls away from the kiss, his face full of sweat, "...I love you."

"I love you too, Shin." Kyoukai pants out, her eyes flowing with tears of happiness again. Once more, their sweaty bodies and wet mouths collided in a rhythmic fashion, their kisses and thrusts exchanged much faster than before. They continue to kiss fervently when all they could see was black and hear the faint sounds of kissing and the smacking of their thighs.

Their bodies, as if connected with each other's souls, suddenly pulsed in unison with pleasure as their climaxes peaked. They moaned and cried out each other's name as their orgasms took over; Shin's penis pulsed inside Kyoukai's vagina, which quivered in pleasured upon climaxing. They kiss one more time before Shin relaxes on top of her, the intensity of their lovemaking taking over and crashing down on the two lovers. Slowly parting from their passionate kiss, they panted intensely while trying to catch their breath.

Tiredly, Shin grabbed the bedsheets and tossed it over them, and he rolled his body so he was facing up to put Kyoukai on top of him. They collapsed into the blankets in deep kisses. Their exhausted mouths met each other again, but much slower and softer than before.

Before giving one last kiss to each other, Shin and Kyoukai pressed their noses and stared one last time into each other's eyes. Both feeling full and delighted and tired from their lovemaking, they cupped each other's faces and smiled. "I love you…" they said in unison, and they kissed.

The lovers felt exhaustion and their unconsciousness loom over but did nothing to fight it. Instead, they slowly drifted off to sleep with their lips still connected; their tongues entwined in each other's mouths as their eyes closed.

"Ah… so warm…" Kyoukai sleepily thought as the unconsciousness finally drifted her into sleep.

The first thing Shin saw when he woke up was the gleaming emerald eyes of Kyoukai staring at him. He blushed as he remembered the events of the previous night, one that will never be forgotten in his life. Kyoukai giggled at his silliness and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, which ended as soon as it started.

"I love you, Shin," she said, a blush forming upon her face. She didn't try to hide it, but simply let it cover her cheeks as she waited for Shin's response.

"...And I love you, Kyoukai." Shin said, and he pressed his mouth against hers. They clutched each other's shoulders and closed the distance between them again, the lovers fully intent to live by each other's side.

The end.