Chapter Text
“Miya Osamu, second-born prince of Inarizaki and heir apparent to the Miya Clan, you stand here today in trial for treason against the crown, against me .” the accused barely flinched at the sharp edge of the steel slightly grazing his left cheek. “Do you deny this?”
“No,” he says cooly, unaffected by the long march's fatigue from the palace to the tall, family shrine. Unwavering from the rocks and distasteful words thrown his way.
He was a disgrace to his status- both as a son from the royal lineage and as an alpha. A pathetic, lovesick fool who fell for an omega’s cheap ploy, to have been mindlessly seduced to his baser instincts. It was believed that the crow had cast a spell on him, a malicious curse too skin deep to break even at the expense of thirty-five lashes to his back or when they had poured buckets of ice-cold water on his beaten body to absolve him of their filthy deeds.
But Osamu stood his grounds. He didn’t break as they did with his fingers or utter a single sound in pain. He didn’t cry from the torture he had received from the crack of dawn to the third sunrise of his arrest.
Osamu bled and continued to bleed yet his lips remained sealed. For if he dies, the rotten palace secrets die with him. They will never know where he hid the empress.
“You are guilty of the crime of copulating with the empress dowager- the matriarch of our clan and our country.” Their eyes met- molten gold against steel, two very different colors yet both feral at the same time. “Do you deny this?”
“No.” he stands, unafraid of the royal guards who could easily break his knees to keep them on the floor and unyielding to his executioner. “No, brother, I do not deny loving his majesty. Or any of the 'filthy' things we’ve done together.” Osamu laughs bitterly. “And if it is a heinous crime to love him and is punishable by death, then kill me now.”
The older twin’s scent, one that used to smell of fresh fruits and morning dew now wafted like rotten meat against the chilly, spring breeze. The betas’ knees buckled against the putrid, acid-like smell whereas the alphas turned their heads in disgust. Atsumu had always been known to be quick to his temper, ready to raise a hand for the single display of insolence towards him, Inarizaki, and her gods. His brother was no exception.
Miya Atsumu is the golden alpha, after all, his very presence commanded respect. Any less than the treatment he deserved would result in death, swift if they’re lucky enough.
Miya Osamu is not lucky. And he keeps pushing it further as he vehemently spat at his brother’s feet.
“I deny nothing.”
For a second Atsumu waver, because deep down in his bones he holds a soft spot for his twin. They were raised with love, after all, from sharing one womb to growing up in a vindictive red palace they call home. They were supposed to conquer the world together, take it down by a storm for Atsumu was a gifted man and more so blessed with his twin by his side. Osamu was his partner-in-crime, his person, and most trusted confidant but the wedge the dowager empress had thrown into their relationship made them bitter and estranged until it finally came to this.
“Yer willing ta throw away yer entire life for the likes of ‘im; an inferior, an omegan whore just like that?” his twin who was better dressed than him looked more of a madman on the brink of completely losing his sanity than Osamu was. “WHY?!”
Osamu smiles, not weary but fond as he resigns to his fate. “Ya know why, ‘Sumu.” He then faces the crowd as his alphan traits break out of his skin. There were loud sounds of bones cracking accompanied by two, pointed furry ears and nine foxtails springing out of his head and back respectively. His fingernails grow into sharp, black claws followed by painted red lines marring under his eyes and cheeks to mark his finished transformation. Osamu bares his sharp canines at his prosecutors, commanding them to stay away as he breaks free of his restraints.
He looked majestic, very becoming of a Miya, a royal, despite the sheer white robes he was criminally dressed in.
“Ta hell with tradition. Ta hell with this country and with ya! And if any of ya ever think ‘bout touching a single hair from Shouyou-kun’s head, yer gonna hafta do it over my dead body.”
Everything was catching fire, bridges burning and hell raising high waters, obliterating all they’ve known about themselves and the red, imperial palace. A cautionary tale of two brothers- one who wanted the world to himself and the other ready to burn it all down for Hinata Shouyou.