Work Text:
Ichika’s been staring at that one art piece in the hallway of his castle for a while now. It was a portrait of a beautiful woman with a landscape for the background. He’s been staring at the very same piece for a few years now ever since the painting was hanged when he was a young child. He started to develop an interest for art as well.
The only problem he has is that he sucks at making a single piece. Once he was up in his room, stroking a blank canvas with a variety of colors to his liking. When he was done with his piece, he showed one of the maids his piece and the maid’s reaction was… Fake?
Ichika thought it was fake because he can read it, and it was pretty obvious. Her voice sounded nervous and she was stammering before she left his room. Of course Ichika got a little hurt about it, but he used it as something to continue on practicing. His father did not mind him doing activities like these as long as he doesn’t get pressured from doing it.
Every night, Ichika is up trying to make a new art piece. But everytime he finishes these, he feels like there’s something missing to it. He always adds a few strokes if he does feel that, but he still feels that he hasn’t found the missing piece yet and in the end, he ruins the piece.
‘There has to be something that will fill that missing piece of the puzzle, but where would I find it?’ He thought, before a light bulb popped up in his head.
‘A change of scenery.’ That’s what he thought. He thought it might help him since he’s always been painting inside his room so it wouldn’t hurt if he decided to paint somewhere else like in the courtyard, right?
—
The Sun rose brightly as always whenever Ichika woke up. He ate his breakfast in the dining hall before going back to his room to gather his art supplies, then came down and went outside to the courtyard. He began setting up his station and took a good look around his surroundings for reference to what he’s going to paint.
He looked around before spotting a brunette walking in the very same courtyard he’s in. Brown hair flowed down to her shoulders that was covered with silver armor that shone under the Sun’s rays. Her chocolate eyes suddenly met his bluish-gray ones and he was taken aback when she smiled at him. She looked like a goddess to Ichika’s eyes and after that a crowd of maids covered his view from her before he lost sight of her.
Ichika felt his heart skip a beat at that very moment. Judging from her attire—she looked like a knight—he thought.
‘Should I paint her…?’ Ichika thought again. Well, her image felt like it got imprinted into Ichika’s mind and he couldn’t take his mind off of her. It wouldn’t hurt if he tried a portrait today.
Ichika brought out his pencil and began sketching out her image onto the white canvas, he then brought out the colors that matched her, mixing them together before placing his first strokes onto the canvas.
—
Ena has been walking around the courtyard for a while now. She wasn’t really busy that morning so she decided to walk around the courtyard to pass some time.
She started to get bored after a couple of rounds walking around for who knows how long before she looked up to see Ichika’s eyes meeting hers. His eyes were sparkling like the starry night sky, which made her smile because she always liked looking at the night sky—Suddenly a crowd of maids came in—causing her to go somewhere else to avoid getting pushed around.
She hid behind one of the castle’s walls and sighed. Ena felt her cheeks were warm as a pink hue appeared across her face. She suddenly smiled when his image flashed before her eyes, and now she couldn’t stop smiling.
She also remembered that the prince was standing in front of a canvas, she wonders what he’s going to paint today? It’s actually unusual for the prince to be painting under the Sun instead of painting inside his room at night.
Suddenly, she heard her name being called in the distance and she probably knew it’s because she’s late to training or it’s starting soon. She followed the sound of the voice that kept on calling her name until she found her brother.
“Ena, where the fuck did you go to?” Akito’s tone sounded irritated. “You do know that training starts in a few minutes and you know what you get when you’re late?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just walking around the courtyard.”
“Oh yeah, isn’t the princess in the courtyard right now? That’s unusual for him to be out at this hour.”
Ena noticed the time and they’re about to be late if they continue the conversation. She definitely does not want to get a 4 hour lecture coming from the captain.
“Yeah. Anyway, can we go to the training grounds now? You’ll get us both late if you continue asking questions.”
“Oh shit, right.”
They both ran through the halls, trying to dodge the maids and butlers going through the same hallway until they reached the training grounds, just in time.
—
Ichika added the finishing touches to the portrait of her. He took a step back to admire his work and that feeling crept up to him again. Something was off. Was it the coloring? Was there something wrong with the way he drew her? He doesn’t know. He couldn’t put a finger on it to get a single clue of what was wrong.
He lets out a deep sigh before cleaning up and going up to his room. He gently placed the portrait along with the other pieces that he thought were okay at first, before realizing the amount of mistakes he made. All of the paintings were scribbled and some were torn apart, but he didn’t want to destroy this one just yet so he just placed it there before laying down onto his bed, groaning as he did so.
He sighed again before her image flashed out of nowhere. A faint smile appeared on his face after seeing her beautiful face again.
Ichika stayed in his room for the rest of the day and his parents were starting to get worried about it, so they decided to send someone to check up on him. And apparently, that someone they sent was Ena.
Ena was in front of the door to his room. She was a little nervous but she thought there was nothing to be nervous about, so she decided to knock two times. No one answered. She knocked again, and the same thing happened again.
“I’m going to come in if you don’t answer this one.” She said as a warning to Ichika before knocking again. No one answered yet again.
She checked if the door was unlocked and it was indeed unlocked for some reason. She quietly entered his room, making sure not to make any room as she scanned the surroundings with no Ichika in sight. She noticed a pile of canvases at the corner of the room and she decided to take a look.
She looked over the pile of torn and scribbled canvases on the floor. She held one of them up and saw that it was pretty good but it needed some improvement like some more details over there and contrasting here or more lighting here… Until she noticed the singular portrait that wasn’t scribbled over nor torn apart. She took a look at it and was pretty impressed. She couldn’t recognize who the person was but she thought this was better than the others on the floor.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.” She heard a voice coming from behind her.
She gently placed the portrait back to where she got it from and turned around to see the prince. Ena was frozen in place. She didn’t mean to snoop around his things, it just caught her eye…
“I—I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to look at your property.” She didn’t look at him, she couldn’t make eye contact at all. She just averted his gaze and just prayed that nothing bad was going to happen.
Suddenly, she heard a light chuckle coming from the princess. She looked at him confused about why he was chuckling.
“I should be the one apologizing for sounding harsh. But you shouldn’t go through people’s things without their consent.”
Ena nodded, feeling embarrassed from what happened.
“Also, answer this honestly, be brutally honest with me. Were they good? The paintings?” Ichika always wanted to know people’s honest opinions about his paintings, but all of them weren’t being honest about it.
Ena’s eyes widened when he suddenly dropped the question. But since he wants her honest opinion about his paintings, she wouldn’t mind giving some tips for him to improve.
“If you say so.. Let’s start with these paintings right here.” She said before searching through the pile for the right ones to show as an example.
She taught Ichika everything she knew and showed all his mistakes in each painting as Ichika continued nodding, taking note of everything she said. Every detail was discussed thoroughly.
“And lastly, the most important part is to follow your heart.” She pointed her finger at his chest.
Ichika nodded again before taking both of Ena’s hands. She was caught off guard from the sudden move he made as their eyes met each other’s gazes.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“S—sure what is it?” She hates it whenever she does that.
“Can we meet at the courtyard tomorrow? Just tell me when you’re free.” His eyes were sparkling, just like this morning during that moment where their eyes met.
Ena took a moment to remember her schedule for tomorrow and it seems like she’ll be free at dusk. “I’ll be free at 3 PM, if that’s okay with you? Also, my name is Ena Shinonome, but just call me Ena, Your Highness.”
“That’ll be great! Also can we cut the formalities… Just call me Ichika.”
Ena gave him a nod. “I suppose we’re done now? I was sent here to check up on you in the first place because the king and queen were getting worried about you.”
“Oh yeah! Just tell them I’m perfectly fine.”
“Got it. See you tomorrow… Ichika.” She said as she exited the room, closing the door behind her.
It’s probably gonna take her a while to get used to calling him ‘Ichika’. She walked down the hall smiling without even knowing it. She’s excited for tomorrow. She thinks that the reason why the prince wanted to see her again tomorrow was to paint and hear her insights about his progress, which was right, but partially wrong.
Ichika kept on giggling while laying on his bed. He’s excited for tomorrow, because he wanted to learn on how to improve and also get to spend time with her. Admiring her beauty and getting to know each other more. He thinks he’s silly for that, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?
—
The next day came, Ichika and Ena’s day went by like normal, except for the fact that Ichika couldn’t hide his excitement and everyone noticed that but didn’t care about it at all.
The time they agreed to meet soon came and Ichika’s waiting for Ena at the courtyard with his materials. He’s been waiting for a couple of minutes and he couldn’t help but get worried about her for some reason. What if she got in trouble? What if she just ran a few errands but got lost somewhere? And the questions kept on coming to his mind, which just made him more worried about her.
“Ichika! I'm so sorry for being late, I just ran a few errands and almost forgot about this…” Ena sounds like she ran miles.
“Ena, it’s fine. At least you’re here now. Plus, I was looking around for references to use for my painting today.” That was a lie, he wasn’t looking around for references. He was just standing there, worrying about her.
“I suppose let’s get started now?”
“Yes please!”
“So, tell me, what is the reference you’re going for today?”
Ichika took a quick look around his surroundings and found two finches on the bird fountain. That’s the reference he chose.
“There. The two finches on the bird fountain.” He pointed his finger to the direction of where he saw them and Ena was curious on how this is going to turn out once he has painted it on the blank canvas.
“Alright, you can start now.”
Ichika grabbed his pencil and began sketching out the image he wanted to put onto the canvas. He wasn’t even looking back at the image anymore, it’s like he just took a picture of it from his mind and he’s now putting that image on that canvas. Ena was quite impressed about that.
She carefully observed Ichika’s strokes on the canvas as he started filling the canvas up with color, and so far it’s going perfectly fine. Each stroke showed gentleness, his face was totally focused on the painting.
Ena suddenly noticed that there was something wrong with the painting now. It’s only been 4 hours and he’s almost done. She also noticed that there were some spaces that weren’t filled in, leaving some points that were so out of place in the painting.
“Ichika.” She called out his name but he didn’t respond, instead, he just continued painting.
Ena thought about a way to snap him out of his focus, and a light bulb lit up with the perfect solution even though she thinks she’ll get embarrassed if she looks back at this moment again. But she had to do it.
She suddenly grabbed Ichika’s wrist and pulled it away from the canvas. Ichika was taken aback from her sudden move as his eyes widened when he caught Ena’s glare.
“Ena—?”
“I had to somehow snap you out of focus.” Her grip on his wrist loosened.
“Alright, let me just point these out.” Ena pointed out everything she noticed earlier and Ichika just kept on nodding in response.
“Can I demonstrate how to fix these?”
“Uhh… Go ahead, but—” He suddenly got cut off when Ena suddenly guided his hand back to the canvas and made him place a couple of strokes on the canvas, filling in the empty spaces he left.
Ichika just watched her in awe. Watched at how her hand was gently holding his wrist, guiding his hand all over the canvas as she used his hand to fill in all the empty spaces.
Ena lets go of his wrist after she is done. The painting looked better after she did that. Ichika was just standing there, admiring the finished work. This was beyond better than the paintings he has done in the past. Ena was also impressed seeing the finished piece.
“Hey, what if we did this again and again?” Ichika suddenly said. That wasn’t supposed to escape out of his mouth.
Ena looked at him as her eyes widened when he suddenly asked that. The question repeatedly echoed in her mind as she tried to gather her thoughts and put them all together to make an appropriate answer. If she had to be 100% honest, she would love to. Because she enjoyed his company and because she was feeling sparks when they were painting.
She wants to know why she’s feeling this.
“I would love to.”
Immediately, Ichika’s face lit up. His eyes were sparkling as a smile started to form at the corner of his lips. He looks like a very happy puppy. Ichika grabbed her hands and thanked her.
“Thank you, Ena! For today and for wanting to do this again in the future!” If Ichika had a tail, it would’ve been wagging right now.
“It’s my pleasure.” She let out a soft chuckle, and when he heard that chuckle he was stunned. He thinks he has fallen even harder for her.
“It’s already nighttime, huh? I suppose this is where we part ways for now?”
Ena nodded. She didn’t really want this moment to end, but everything has to end at some point.
“I’ll see you next time then, Ichika,”
“See you next time, Ena!”
They both waved each other goodbye as Ichika watched Ena’s shadow disappear into the darkness, leaving him in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by lights. He packed up all his things, dropped them off in his room before going to the dining hall to have dinner with his parents.
—
It’s been months, almost a year ever since that event. They felt closer to each other every time they had sessions like that. The only difference after that is that Ena is painting with him, and they also went to multiple places for more scenery to paint.
Today, they’re in the middle of the woods, painting as always. The sounds of birds chirping and the scent of nature puts them both into a state of relaxation as they paint.
As Ena was squeezing out paint from the tube, the paint suddenly splattered onto Ichika’s white suit. Ena was horrified when she saw the paint that splatter onto his suit. Ichika noticed it right away.
“Ichika, I’m so sorry—”
“It’s fine, unless…”
“Unless what?”
A mischievous grin appeared on Ichika’s face, and that was not a good sign for Ena. Ichika suddenly squirted out paint from his tube onto Ena’s white dress. “Hah, now we’re even.” He said.
“Yes, but you squirted more paint on me so…” Ena covered her hands with paint and wiped it on him.
“I see… We’re starting a paint war then?” Ichika covered his hands with paint and wiped his hands onto the latter’s dress.
They both giggled along as they continued their silly war, covering each other with paint. Suddenly, Ichika went a little too hard—causing Ena to fall to the ground—but she immediately grabbed onto Ichika’s sleeve, making him fall with her.
The position they’re in right now is awkward. Ichika’s on top of Ena, Ena’s laying on the grass, their faces centimeters, or even millimeters away from touching. Rosy red hues spread across their faces being in such a position.
Ichika’s fighting the urge. He already had feelings for Ena ever since they met. He wanted to lean in and kiss her right there, but he didn’t want to risk it. Ena, on the other hand, feels the same way as Ichika. But her feelings for him only bloomed maybe after 3 painting sessions with him.
They both got lost in each other’s eyes. Ena reminded Ichika of the melted chocolate they usually serve at special occasions, meanwhile, Ichika reminded Ena of the night sky she always looked up to when she felt all alone.
The urge to lean in and kiss each other right there felt so strong, but they still held themselves back from taking action.
Eventually, the urge took over Ichika as he closed his eyes, pressing his lips onto her soft and pink ones. Ena didn’t break the kiss, instead, she closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to deepen their kiss. The kiss felt like new year’s eve, fireworks exploding everywhere as they savored their sweet kiss.
After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled away, gasping for air. They stared into each other’s eyes before Ichika snapped out and stood up. He leaned down and gave Ena a hand. Ena grabbed his hand as he helped her stand back on her heels.
They both didn’t exchange a single word for a while, to process what just happened.
“Who knew a silly paint war led us to share our first kiss?” He said before letting out a soft chuckle.
Ena looked at him, cheeks still red and smiled softly. Ichika’s cheeks got even redder seeing how cute she looks right now.
“Ichika, tell me, what are we now? Since… We shared our first kiss? I mean—my heart races whenever I’m with you and my hands get all sweaty that sometimes it’s hard to grip onto the brush and—if—if you don’t feel the same way—”
“Of course I feel the same way! My heart beats for you—and you only—Perhaps we can be lovers, now?”
Ena blushed even more. She wasn’t expecting anything like this to happen yet here she is. There’s no turning back now. “I—I suppose so…”
Ichika took a step forward, pulled her closer to him by the hips, leaning in a little closer to her. Ena couldn’t get more flustered than she is right now. She placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him off.
“Alright, let’s get back to painting. That’s what we’re here for in the first place.”
“No fun. Come on, just one more kiss please.”
“No.”
Ena just continued painting her canvas, completely ignoring Ichika begging to be kissed again. Eventually, Ichika gave up and started painting his piece as well.
Dusk soon came, they finished cleaning up their things and were on their way back to the palace. Ena suddenly stopped and Ichika noticed that right away.
“Ena, is there anything wrong?” Ichika spoke up.
“Come here.”
Ichika took a few steps closer to Ena just like she wanted. Ena swears that she’s probably going to hate this, but it was hell trying to ignore him begging for a kiss earlier.
She stood on top of the tips of her toes because for fuck’s sake why is she so short, then gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“Happy now?”
Ichika lets out a soft chuckle. “Happier than ever.” Before placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Alright, alright, you got what you wanted. Let’s go home now before your parents start worrying about you.”
“So angry tonight, huh?” Ichika teased.
“Shut up.”
—
Akito’s out on patrol tonight. He’s been wandering around the woods for a while now, and he’s already getting bored. He suddenly spotted two people on the road and he could recognize that chocolate brown hair everywhere. He knew that was Ena, but the other person? He squinted because he thought it might help. It did help and he recognized the other person was Ichika.
He’s confused about why they’re together at this hour before noticing that they stopped walking. He hid behind one of the trees, hoping that he didn’t get caught. The moment he looked back at the two, he was stunned. He did not expect his own sister to kiss the princess and the said princess doing the same thing.
He wasn’t fully shocked about that, he noticed how the pair grew closer to each other throughout the months. He’s been observing them ever since. He noticed how they both got more fond of each other, he also noticed that Ichika had a massive crush on Ena and it was so obvious that he noticed it, the same goes to Ena. But he couldn’t stand how oblivious these two are to not notice that.
He’s actually glad that they got together in the end. He does not wish nor want to know what would happen if the opposite happened.