The pair walk along for a time, just listening to the rain and their own foot steps. Akito is relatively calm, but as the rain shows no sign of retreating he can feel slight nerves beginning to dig at the back of his mind. He thinks of how the last empress died of illness, and how he knows sicknesses can sometimes carry on to the children in a family. He worries for Hiro's health and despite still being calm and relaxed for the most part, he encourages the prince to mount up as soon as they reach the road. He knows they can not go too quickly in the rain, but at least with Hiro sitting in front of him he can provide a bit of warmth despite the chill of the rain.

He doesn't spend any breath in talking on the trip back, the whole of his attention on keeping the horse at the fastest pace it can go in the rain while also keeping an eye on the road to keep all three of them safe. When they arrive he helps his betrothed down and stands a bit stiffly, as if waiting to get yelled at. None of the guards say anything however, though he does notice some clearly less than pleased looks from them. He's not sure if it's from them having to come out in the rain or if it disapproval of letting Hiro get into such a wet and cold state.

Either way no one says anything and they walk inside and Akito lets out a slight sigh, thinking them in the clear. His heart jumps to his throat however as he spots the emperor's long, sharp stride as he sweeps over to his son. He stands stiffly once more, just barely refraining from standing at full attention, and watches the familial exchange out of the corner of his eye. He notices the glances, but he's too worried to speak up and simply nods that he's fine. His insides burn that his neglect to keep an eye on the weather worried his soon-to-be father-in-law, thinking that his beloved son may have been hurt, and he closes his eyes with the effort to not hang his head in shame.

They are once more released without direct chiding, but Akito most definitely has a distinctive sag to his stance as he trails along behind his intended. He doesn't even really realize what they are up to until he sees a couple bits of cloth being loosed from the other man's figure and he feels his heart jump into his throat for an entirely new reason. He's seen his fair share of unclothed men in his day, most of them he's fought wide-by-side with them in battle and seen them at both their best and their worse. But for him, there was never a response quite like this as he tries to listen to Hiro's words while fighting back his urge to flee the room at top speed.

“We have met.” he murmurs, keeping his voice steady in an effort to not look like a trapped rabbit in a wolf's jaws. His hands stay at his sides even as Hoko slips to the ground and creeps over to him, curious as to what's going on. He looks down as soon as Hiro is no longer looking his way and keeps his gaze firmly off the delicate body moving away from him as Hiro makes his way to the bath in nothing but his skin.

He has no idea what to do with himself, standing rigid with his eyes locked on the ground. He knows what is being asked of him, or more like, offered to him, but he's not sure what to do. There is no instructions to be had here, he needs to make his decision. His insides twist and heave and he's not sure how long he can even keep his feet as he stands undecided. But then, the servant, Kaede, speaks up, pulling him from his raging thoughts. 

Her words make his face burn hot and he looks once more to the floor. [i]'I'm nothing special. He just isn't fighting it because I am who he's stuck with, and I'm not a copy of his father. . .'[/i] Swallowing, he blurts out randomly, “I should have kept better track of the weather. . .”

Her soft laugh makes him look up, meeting her twinkling eyes. “Even if you had, if Hironori wanted to stay out and enjoy himself outside of the palace, nothing you had to say would have gotten you two back any sooner.” She shakes her head, chuckling again. “He has a strong will, and don't you go feeling bad that you're not quite caught up to it yet.” She smiles up at him warmly, still waiting to collect his clothes.

Akito takes her words to heart as best he can but it takes him a long moment to realize why she's still in the room. Flushing again he looks out towards the bath and mumbles something unintelligible. She prompts him to repeat with a tilt of his head and he mumbles out, “I don't know if I can. . .I've never been undressed around anyone but my unit. . .” He glances her way and sees a sympathetic smile. The smile however is almost worse than if she'd laughed at him and he moves over to a bench to flop down pathetically. Burying his face in his hands he lets out a long, slow breath.

Walking closer she speaks up softly. “A bit of advice, if I may, [i]young lord[/i]?” The emphasis on the words makes him flinch, looking up at her with a wide eyed gaze, silently asking if he really has to give her permission. She doesn't press the issue however and gives her advice without permission. “He will be your partner for life, very soon. I can think of no more peaceful and neutral way to get used to that face than an innocent little bath.” With that said, she goes back to tidying up the room.

Akito suppresses a whine and instead takes a moment to fortify before standing and beginning to remove his clothing. He keeps his eyes down and works slowly, but eventually he's in the buff, his flush spreading over much of his upper half and with a little bow wanders out towards the bath. Swallowing, he keeps his eyes carefully averted as he moves a good six feet away from where Hiro is before slipping into the water and sinking down up to his nose. Hoko decides he needs a bath as well and slips into the hot water, paddling along the surface and diving under to get himself completely wet before rolling over to float on his back.

[i]'She's right. I mean, the wedding isn't too far away, and everyone's going to expect. I mean, it's how the whole thing works. The public ceremony, the party, the blessings, and then, con. . .consu. . .'[/i] He somehow manages to flush even deeper red and he hopes that it just looks like his skin is red from the heat. He's tempted to try and hide under the water, but instead he forces himself to look over at his betrothed. He knows if he doesn't make himself, all he will look at is the man's face, so he tries to focus on other parts of his body that are relatively safe. 

His neck, arms, shoulders. . .So smooth, and pale, and the tendrils as his hair as they cling to his skin. Using the excuse of having forgotten to let down his own he looks away quickly and pulls the tape from his hair. Far longer than Hiro's, it floats about the surface of the water like  a stringy version of Hoko as he goes back to barely having his eyes above the surface with the whole mess floating around him.