Chapter Text
The thing about being a knight that a lot of people didn’t realize is that skill is almost secondary to blood. Sure, you were expected to reach a certain standard, but, even if you weren’t all that skillful, if you were born to the right parents it was still easy to find yourself in a cushy palace position, kept safe by stone walls and the knowledge that you were set for life.
Takeo’s father was one of those “right” parents, but Takeo didn’t intend to sit back and let his father’s standing determine his life’s course. Takeo would never deny that it was that standing that would allow him to become a knight in the first place, but he would do his damndest to carve out his own place in their world.
It was with this perhaps naive ambition that Takeo entered his formal training period at the age of 14. He had always been a sporty child and was bursting with an enthusiasm and energy that his peers couldn’t quite match, so he was a natural fit for the task. Despite his preparations, his eyes were blown wide with wonder the first time he stepped into the palace’s inner courtyard used by the guard.
As the tutor began to go over footwork and proper stances with Takeo and his fellow trainees, movement from one of the covered walkways surrounding the courtyard caught Takeo’s eye. Looking up, his eyes met directly with those of the Prince. The two of them locked gazes for what felt like forever. He had never seen the Prince in person before - far too dangerous for the young boy to be going around meeting the village folk, Takeo reasoned. The lengths the King went to to ensure the Prince’s protection were admirable, and soon enough Takeo would be part of that system!
Remembering himself, Takeo gasped and quickly broke eye contact, lowering his head respectfully. When Takeo glanced back up, the Prince almost looked disappointed, but he turned away without any further regard for the knight in training.
Takeo was left to ponder the meaning of that look while his tutor berated him for not paying attention to the lesson.
***
A year later found Takeo being thrown into a low wall with a grunt.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry--” Akane looked mortified as she leaned over to help him stand back up. “I didn’t realize you were that off balance, I--”
Takeo cut her off with a light hearted laugh. “Relax, Ueda, I’m totally fine! You couldn’t kill me that easily!” Regardless, he took her arm, and, once he was upright, held onto her shoulder as he did a quick survey of his body. Neck was a little sore, and he’d probably have a decent bruise on his back in a few hours, but other than that he was doing great! He rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms. “Let’s go again! One of these days I’m gonna win one of these, I swear to--”
“Your Highness!” Akane greeted, looking over Takeo’s shoulder and quickly bowing. Takeo reflexively turned on his heel and mimicked her display. After counting out the appropriate beats in his mind, he straightened to look at Prince Kotaro.
He was leaning forward against the wall Takeo had just been thrown into, looking at the two of them with amusement. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say this knight-in-training has you putting in more hours than usual, Ueda. Aren’t you supposed to rest at some point?” Takeo felt his ears burning at the little smile the Prince gave him before refocusing on Akane.
Akane just shrugged. “He’s enthusiastic. That’s good, right?”
“ He’s standing right here and can hear you talking about him.” Takeo mumbled, earning a smack to the head.
The Prince seemed to find that very funny, and hid a chuckle behind a hand. “I’m not entirely sure what being thrown against a wall teaches someone, but at least you’re having fun?”
Takeo was made aware of two facts in the course of that conversation.
- The Prince had an unfairly cute laugh.
- The Prince’s smile was equally charming.
He supposed royalty should be like this; beautiful in a way that seemed as natural as breathing. Charismatic, and all that. So, really, it was just natural that his heart picked up its pace the way it did.
Shouts from down a hallway had the Prince’s face losing its levity. He gave a long suffering sigh, and shared an exhausted look with Akane. “I’ll suppose that means my tutors finally realized I’m not in my room reading about naval procedures.” He waved a hand and stood up straight. “Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon, Ueda and... “ The Prince looked at Takeo expectantly.
“Oh. Oh! Takeo, my name is Takeo.”
“Takeo.” He smiled, and he gave Takeo a good long look, as if evaluating him. “You’ll never beat her at that rate, you know.” And he was off, walking back towards the yelling from earlier.
“Was that--?”
“I think the Prince just checked you out.” Akane offered, as if it were a simple matter.
“Huh.” Maybe it could be.
***
Another year passed, and with it many more of those stolen moments with the Prince and Akane. It turned out the Prince was pretty cool, and was also definitely flirting with Takeo, which was an interesting development. Takeo didn’t have a ton of time to really think about the implications of that, with his training amping up significantly as he got older.
Despite that, it was enough time for him to develop a pretty serious crush on the other boy. In the beginning he attempted to feel ashamed of it - just imagine the SCANDAL if it got out that a knight-in-training had the audacity to think about stealing kisses from the Prince in dark hallways - but ultimately he just couldn’t make himself think it was wrong. It wasn’t as if anything would really come of this - Takeo had seen the Prince flirting with at least one other boy, after all. That wasn’t bad of course, and in fact had made Takeo feel a lot better about the whole thing. He could have his crush and the world wouldn’t collapse around him.
One day, word came around that the Prince had snuck out of the castle, and Takeo was one of the people they sent out to try and find him. He had only been searching for an hour or so when he peeked around a building and saw a familiar tuft of curly hair poking out from behind a barrel. He stifled a laugh and glanced around to make sure no one spotted him slipping back there as well, and sat down next to the Prince, who jumped a little at the sudden intrusion.
“Running away from lessons again, Your Highness?” Takeo whispered conspiratorially from behind their barrels.
The Prince gave him an unimpressed look. “Been sent to drag me back, then? Annoying... You could’ve had the decency to give me a little longer at least.”
Takeo hummed. “Yeah, I was sent to find you. Me ‘n a few others.” He turned his head to really look at the Prince, and saw a guarded frustration there. He was reminded of a panicked cat he had once seen, cornered by children who were trying to poke at it with sticks. “But hey, maybe it took me another hour or two to find you.”
The Prince seemed taken aback by that, and quirked a suspicious eyebrow at him. “Meaning...?”
Takeo shrugged. “Meaning if you need a little more time, my house is nearby and you can hide out there for a little longer if you want. I may not know exactly what made you run away in the first place, but I do know everyone needs a break sometimes. I don’t see the harm in you having a little longer to just, I dunno. Breathe?”
Prince Kotaro continued to stare at him, but his gaze softened significantly. It wasn’t the bright smile Takeo had gotten used to seeing over the past year - in fact, it wasn’t a smile at all. It was an even, considering look that somehow felt more real than any Takeo had seen previously. No act or protective layer, just a tired look from someone who had been pushed a little too hard. The Prince sighed and rested his forehead in his crossed arms, and quietly nodded.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’d really appreciate that, Takeo. Thank you.”
***
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
The Prince, sitting on Takeo’s bed, all heavy limbs and exhaustion, just shrugged. “I mean, no offense, but I don’t think you’d exactly be able to help with any of it?” Which was fair. Sure, they had spoken quite a few times, and some might even call them friends, but that didn’t mean that Takeo could actually relate to the Prince’s problems.
“None taken. But if you ever feel like complaining, you can. I may not be able to help or even really understand, but I can listen. No pressure, though, Your Highness,” Takeo added quickly. The Prince’s lips curled a little at that and he plopped back onto the bed with a huff.
“See, that’s part of it! I’m just the Prince to all of you, and it just…” A frustrated noise fills in the rest of that sentence. “Even when there’s a chance for any kind of real connection, that wall just comes up. Your words and intentions are pretty enough, but I’m just your duty. ” He hissed the last word out like it was dirty, and it stung in a way Takeo wouldn’t have expected.
“You’re not just my duty! That’s--I genuinely like being around you, and I would even if you weren’t my Prince!” Was that how the Prince saw it? That this was just Takeo doing his job? Well, it kinda was , but--No. Yeah, the Prince kinda had a point there. Takeo ran a hand through his short hair and scowled. The Prince felt like all his relationships were fake, including theirs. So, fixing that could be simple enough.
Takeo nudged the other boys’ knee until he sat up to look at him again. “Let’s start over, then. In this room, I’m not a knight-in-training, and you’re not the Prince. Okay?” He held out his hand and gave him a big, toothy smile. “Hi! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Takeo. I like sports and swords.”
The Prince stared at his hand for a moment before laughing, finally smiling again. He took the hand and shook it. “Hi, Takeo. My name is Kotaro. I like cute dogs and art. I hope we’ll get along.” The two of them shared a quiet grin before breaking out in laughter.
“Sports and swords, huh? Here I was wondering if there was some big secret in your life, or if maybe you had more interests, but I guess being a knight is kind of perfect for you, huh?” Kotaro teased.
“Not all of us are complex people, you know! Plus, it let me meet you, so I think it’s fine,” Takeo said. And if Kotaro’s cheeks flushed at that response, it was no one’s business but their own.