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The clouds overhead threatened a storm, but they didn’t phase Princess Tadashi. She was only in the eye of this hurricane, and she had no doubt that the worst of it would come to plague her terribly until the end of time.
She wished the two of them had been more careful. She wished that they had run when Kei first proposed the plan instead of hesitating, guaranteeing their own demise.
The horns sounded in the courtyard below, and she considered running outside to make a scene. They couldn’t execute anybody if the princess was insisting not to, could they? But then again, this order was from the queen, who was taking great delight in the princess’ anguish. Nothing Tadashi could say would save Kei now.
She didn’t watch through the window. Instead, she turned away, numbly staring at the tattered photograph of the two of them as she twirled a golden vial between her fingers.
Kei would’ve been upset if she’d watched, anyway.
♔
Do I know you?
The words dance on the tip of Kei Tsukishima’s tongue as she looks at the new barista who stands behind the counter of her favorite coffee shop. She comes here to study at least twice a week—often enough to become familiar with the staff. Hell, she’s on a first name basis with most of them. So this freckled face is definitely new.
So why does she feel like she’s seen her before?
Maybe the girl is in one of her classes. Or maybe they’ve simply just walked past each other before. They say the human brain never forgets a face—maybe that’s all it is.
The person in front of her finally finishes placing their far-too-complicated order, if the look on the barista’s face is any indication, and Kei tries to shrug off this feeling of familiarity as she steps up to the counter.
“Just a second, sorry.”
The girl doesn’t even look at her as she scribbles furiously on the order ticket, and Kei notices that she’s actually thrown out the first ticket she wrote and is now filling out an entirely new one. It’s definitely her first day, or something. But still, she looks so familiar…
“No worries. Take your time.”
The girl’s head jerks up, and Kei is a little shocked by the reaction. Her brows furrow as she looks at Kei, scanning her face for a moment before she remembers her task. She hastily lowers her head again, scratching something else onto the ticket before practically shoving it aside without another ounce of concern.
“Okay, um…what can I get started for you?”
“An iced chai latte, please. With oat milk.”
Kei looks down at her phone, waiting for it to scan her face so she can pay, but the green-haired cashier snorts.
“Forget it. It’s on me. Easiest order I’ve taken today. I feel like I owe it to you, really.”
Kei blinks at her. The girl’s cheeks color.
“Er…you’re good. Just, uh, what’s your name?”
“...Kei. It’s Kei.”
“Huh,” the cashier replies, though it’s obvious the sound is one of bewilderment rather than inquisition. “Kei. Alright, Kei, it’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
The blonde nods, slipping away without another word as she continues to search through her memories. That girl was so familiar. Maybe she’d seen her on a dating app before. Or maybe she had a viral video. Kei shakes her head, hoping to derail this train of thought as she slides into the cozy little booth in the corner. The cushioned bench is just barely big enough for two, but Kei has noticed that people constantly get away with being its sole occupant. It’s more comfortable like that, in her opinion. She pulls out her laptop and opens her incomplete essay. The mystery of the familiar barista will have to wait.
Another barista calls Kei’s name, and she retrieves her drink before rushing back to her little table, taking a big sip and honing back in on her essay.
Hours pass, and the sun sets in the window behind her. But with her expertly crafted studying mix playing in her headphones, Kei is none the wiser to the way the café empties. It isn’t until that green haired barista from earlier taps her on the shoulder that she slides her headphones down to rest around her neck and glances around the shop.
“Oh…I’m sorry. Are you closing up?”
The barista raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
“It’s 10:00 pm, so… yeah. Obviously?” Her voice oozes sarcasm and irritation from between every letter as she re-ties an already perfect ponytail.
Kei is taken aback by the other girl’s tone. Okay, she knows she’s overstayed her welcome a bit, but come on. She clearly hadn’t done it on purpose, so what was with the attitude?
The blonde squares her jaw, mirroring the barista’s expression.
“Well, thanks. I hope your first day went well.”
She doesn’t wait for the girl to respond, satisfied enough with the way her eyes widen just the slightest bit. Her laptop is in her bag and she’s marching out of the door without a glance back by the time the barista manages to pick her jaw up off the floor.
There. That’ll show her. And next time Kei goes in, she’ll remember to read her nametag. That way, she’ll know precisely who to avoid on her future visits to the café.
♔
Kei Tsukishima leaned against the wall of the extravagant dining room, counting the flowers in the ornate golden vase that rested in the center of the absurdly long table. The princess was seated just in front of her, though if the fullness of her plate was any indication, the meal wasn’t particularly to her liking. Kei pursed her lips. She’d have to see to it that a meal was sent to the princess’ room before she decided to go to bed.
She eyed the princess carefully, waiting for her to give the familiar signal that she was ready to leave. Sure enough, after about ten more minutes, the royal dropped a white satin glove. Kei rushed forward to pick it up, handing it back to the princess with a lingering touch to her hand.
Shortly after, she slipped from the dining room, making her way to the kitchen to request that both a heavily salted roasted potato and a small fruit tart be delivered to the princess’ room within the hour. Upon confirming the order with the kitchen staff, she hurried back to the dining room, giving the princess a subtle nod to indicate the task’s completion.
Almost immediately, Princess Tadashi rose to her feet, bowing shallowly as she smiled at the other diners.
“Please excuse me. I’m simply exhausted from the day. I’ll be retiring to my quarters for the evening. Thank you for joining us at this meal, my most trusted allies.”
As they gave their polite thanks, the princess turned to face her handmaiden, making a grand show of rolling her eyes at her own performance.
The handmaiden swallowed a smile, instead choosing to approach the heavy wooden doors and hold one open for the royal as she bade the room good night once again.
The sound of the door shutting echoed with a dull thud in the castle’s empty hallways, leaving the two girls by themselves as they made their way to the princess’ bedroom. No sooner had they arrived than a maid appeared with a small silver platter, the potato steaming and the fruit tart shining with the candied berries that rested atop.
The handmaiden carefully took the tray, balancing it on one hand as she opened the door. She waited for the princess to thank the maid, watching the girl scurry off as the royal entered her bedroom.
The second the door locked and the tray was safely placed on a bedside table, Tadashi flung her arms around Kei’s neck.
“Oh, I think I would have positively died waiting ten more minutes. That duke—he’s so odd. Did you hear how he kept mentioning marriage, squinting at me? As if I’d ever settle for someone like him ,” she griped, sliding her hands over Kei’s shoulders and down her arms to lace their fingers together with a soft smile. “But at least it’s over, and I get to be with you now.”
Kei’s smile mirrored hers.
“I’m glad you kept your cool. It would have been awful if I’d had to intervene. You know how I simply detest that guy.”
Tadashi giggled, leaning forward to kiss the corner of Kei’s mouth.
“I do know you hate him— almost as much as I do.”
The two laughed softly, ambling over into the bathroom. Familiar with their routine, Kei filled the tub while Tadashi nibbled at her food and plucked the petals from a fresh bouquet of roses. Kei tried not to feel annoyed as she did, both of them fully aware that the flowers were from one of the many suitors vying for the princess’ hand.
It wasn’t fair. The two had been side by side for years, Kei attending to the princess’ every need at any given moment. Nobody could treat her better—and the both of them were sure of that fact. But still, the king and queen insisted that she needed to be married off to some stuck up prince. He wouldn’t know her, and he likely wouldn’t really care to. No prince could ever love Tadashi more than Kei did.
Tadashi slipped into the bathtub, playfully tossing the rose petals up into the air and watching them land on the water’s soapy surface. She tilted her head back, sending Kei a lovesick smile.
“Aren’t you going to join me, my love?”
She leaned forward, and Kei took the movement as an invitation to shrug off her dowdy dress and join her lover in the tub. She wrapped her arms around Tadashi, pulling her back into her chest and pressing a gentle kiss to her shoulder. Her hand reached around to rest on the princess’ thigh, rubbing gentle circles against the plush skin with her thumb.
They sank into a comfortable silence, the only sound in the room being the gentle splashing of the water with their movements. Finally, Tadashi spoke up.
“Kei…I think I’ll love you forever.”
“I hope so. I assumed you weren’t planning to sever ties,” the blonde joked halfheartedly.
“No…that isn’t what I mean.”
Tadashi shifted around in the tub to face her lover, her eyes full of adoration.
“I mean that no matter what, wherever we go, even when we die and come back, I’ll love you just as much. I’ll love you now, and in one hundred years, I’ll love you even more.”
Kei’s heart slammed against her ribcage, and she leaned down slightly to gently brush her nose against Tadashi’s.
“Do you promise?”
“I promise, Kei. Always.”
♔
Kei continues to frequent the café—and she continues to do her best to avoid the snarky barista. She thinks the other girl has caught on, sly smirks and self-satisfied eye rolls coming from the other side of the counter. But Kei is a professional. She sits in her little booth and works on polishing an already perfected essay. She searches for the exact right pen in her computer bag. She reads an increasingly alarming text or two—all until the green haired barista goes on a break, or slips away to the bathroom, or moves away from the counter to make a drink herself.
Yes, Kei is an expert at this avoidance. She’d dodged many an ex with these strategies, and she happens to know that she looks perfectly natural as she executes them. It doesn’t escape her that this barista is not an ex (at least, she doesn’t think so. She hopes she’d remember having gone on a date with someone so pretty. ) despite being the recipient of such treatment. But then again, the blonde felt it was a valid categorization. How dare she be so sarcastic with Kei, one of the top students at her university? Being so condescending with such a simple sentence, the girl had done worse than break her heart: she’d taken a shot at her confidence and, indirectly, doubted her intelligence.
So the icing out continues for weeks. Kei has forgotten that it’s even an intentional task, her body running through the avoidant behaviors without her even needing to think about them any longer. It isn’t until one fateful Saturday that Kei is forced to warm up to the barista.
Weekends are slow, and they have been as long as Kei has been coming to the café. Having realized this, the managers cut back on weekend staff dramatically, leaving only one or two baristas in the store for each shift. Today, it happens to be the green haired barista that Kei isn’t particularly fond of, and the brunette barista who consistently calls her “Katy”. Despite his inability to get her name correct, Kei still prefers his conversation over the girl’s.
It’s why she’s devastated when the boy goes on his break, leaving the green haired barista looking bored up front. Kei was planning on asking for an iced lemonade with matcha, but now that will have to wait at least thirty minutes.
She sighs to herself, digging around in her back for her history notebook. At least she can be productive while she awaits his return and refine her notes. They were a mess , veering from topic to topic seemingly without any identifiable theme or reason for doing so. It irked her. It was simply unlike her altogether, and if she were going to bet on it, she would blame the scatterbrained notes on her sudden poor sleep schedule.
The past few weeks had been… bizarre , to say the least. Whenever Kei fell asleep, she had the same dream. There was a princess, and though Kei had yet to see her face in her dreams, she knew that the girl was beautiful—and that she loved her. Though they varied at their core, every single dream ended the same way. Kei found herself feeling heartbroken, the taste of the sea on her lips and the sound of the ocean flooding her ears.
It was strange. The dreams were so peaceful, Kei and the princess frolicking through lavish gardens and dancing together in grand ballrooms in her dreams. The ocean was nowhere in sight, and being separated from the royal she so adored seemed unthinkable. Such a sudden shift in mood would wake the blonde in a cold sweat every night, usually leaving her incapable of even entertaining the thought of going back to sleep.
The strangest one happened a few days ago. Not only was she suddenly by the sea, but if she had to guess, she was on a boat. As the waves rocked the vessel, she was placed into a guillotine. This dream had repeated itself three times now, and it was starting to get to Kei.
She was especially bothered upon waking up because she could feel the guillotine’s impact every single time. In one of her psych classes, she’d learned that most people wake up suddenly when they are hurt terribly in dreams because they’ve never experienced such pain.Their brain fails to simulate the sensation, so it wakes them up to avoid having to put on such a performance. But Kei’s brain was successfully remembering a pain that had never been there. Every night, the guillotine’s blade plummeted from the top of the cruelly constructed device. And every night, Kei could very clearly identify the feelings of having her head cut off by a sharp blade.
Unable to figure out where her body could have possibly found a reference for such a sensation, the dream had thoroughly disturbed her throughout the past week or so—and judging by the borderline unreadable state of her notes, it’s safe to say that the disrupted sleep patterns are beginning to take a toll on her.
The blonde heaves a sigh, refocusing on the screen of her laptop. Maybe she’ll be able to make more sense of them if she just starts writing. She can dig through them while she works her way through her argument, right? She’s done it before—it can work.
She twists in her seat to grab her glasses with the blue light lenses from her backpack, the sleeve of her red cashmere sweater brushing over the stack of notes. She jolts when they begin to slide off of the table, jerking in her seat in an attempt to catch them before they scatter over the café floor.
Luckily, she’s successful in catching the notes, and a satisfied little grin curls her lips. Unluckily, as she rights herself, she hits the edge of the table, and the large cup of water she’s been nursing for the past couple of hours is knocked off balance. It spills all over the table—and into her lap.
Kei shoots to her feet, a soft gasp falling past her lips as she scrambles to pick up her laptop and back away from the little waterfall she’s created. “ Shit ,“ she mutters.
She quickly pulls a small pack of tissues from her bag, but it’s the equivalent of spitting on a roaring wildfire. The water has covered the entire table, and it even drips from the bottom of her computer. She looks around frantically, her eyes landing on a stack of napkins…behind the barista’s counter.
Her heart sinks. There are really only two options here. She could either leave the café and never return, leaving her mess behind on the table and floor and making the staff hate her—or she could finally talk to the barista that had given her such a snippy attitude upon their first meeting.
If Kei hadn’t been coming to this café for years, she would definitely have chosen to simply cut her losses and walk out of the little shop forever.
The blonde trudges over to the counter, forcing what she hopes looks like a sweet smile as she steels herself and leans over to peek into the work area.
“Hi. Could I have some napkins?”
The barista looks up from the magazine she’s peering at, one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows raising in what Kei identifies as a mix of irritation and surprise.
“Are you talking to me?”
Kei thinks her eye twitches as she responds.
“Uh, yes. I spilled some water over there, and it’s on my laptop. I just need some napkins to dry it off.”
The barista finally kicks off from the cabinet she’s been leaning against, wordlessly reaching towards the shelf next to her to grab a single napkin . She slides it over the counter, fixing Kei with a look that dares her to complain.
Kei could scream . Seriously, who does this girl think she is? Where does she get off being such a smartass? Anyone could see the mess she was dealing with, so why would anyone make a joke as ridiculous as only offering one fucking napkin ?
She takes a deep breath. She still needs to get the napkins and wipe off the table before the other barista returns for his break and begins texting his coworkers about the “rude, clumsy regular who spilled a bunch of water and then never returned to the café.” She’d rather die than be forced to hunt for another place that made her favorite drink so perfectly.
She peers at the barista’s nametag, widening her phony smile as she takes the single napkin and leans towards her. Thinly veiled annoyance pours over every syllable when she speaks again.
“Thank you, Tadashi! But could I have a few more? It was a completely full large cup of water…everything is soaked. I”ll need quite a few napkins to clean that up a little.”
Tadashi leans around Kei, peering at the mess behind her as the water continues to drip off of the edge of the table. She raises her eyebrows in a poorly feigned expression of shock. Kei feels her blood begin to boil.
“That is kind of a mess. Should I just get you the mop?”
Kei’s cheeks redden.
“Just the napkins would be fine.”
Tadashi shrugs, looking unconvinced. She places the stack of napkins on the counter, shrugging disinterestedly.
“Have at it.”
Kei doesn’t bother thanking her, simply taking the napkins and going about wiping up the table. She can feel the anger burning over her skin, and she resists the urge to fling the soggy napkins over the counter in hopes of hitting Tadashi— whose name she is now fully aware of so she can ask the other baristas when to disappear from the café.
They don’t exchange another word for the entire evening, Kei finding herself happy to sit at her little table with her headphones over her ears as she attempts to decipher her notes. The other barista eventually returns from his break, but she isn’t thirsty anymore—or, at least, she isn’t thirsty enough anymore to find herself willing to walk back up to the counter.
Hours pass, and before she knows it, it’s dark outside. She hasn’t really made any progress with this godforsaken essay, and she’s starting to wonder if she should just take the zero. Nothing makes sense , and she can’t figure out why. With a heavy sigh of defeat, she buries her face in her hands, silently weighing her options.
As “drop out and try to put her old elementary school piano lessons to work” crosses her mind for the fifth time, she feels a tap on her shoulder. She lifts her head, not expecting to see the barista—er, Tadashi— with a drink in hand.
“Iced chai latte with oat milk, right?”
Kei’s eyebrow twitches, but she fights to keep her face neutral otherwise.
“That’s….right.”
“Good.” Tadashi’s reply is quick. If Kei didn’t know any better, she’d think the other girl was annoyed. “It’s on the house.”
She doesn’t give Kei a chance to even consider thanking her, turning away and quickly disappearing into what Kei is pretty sure is a closet full of cleaning supplies. She blinks dumbly as she holds the drink, the condensation dripping over her hands as she processes what just happened.
What was this, an olive branch? If Tadashi thought that some stupid drink was going to make up for the utterly rude behavior she’s directed at the blonde up until now, she had another thing coming. Even if Kei takes a sip and realizes it might be the best iced chai she’s ever had from this café.
She gets to her feet, packing up her little workstation and approaching the counter. But Tadashi doesn’t reappear, and after about 5 minutes of waiting, Kei is annoyed again. She should just leave, since the other girl was playing these ridiculous games again.
She sighs, reigning in her temper with a quick roll of her shoulders. Peace had been attempted, so she needs to be gracious. She pulls a pen from the front pocket of her backpack, sliding a napkin towards herself.
“Thanks .”
She peers down at the simple word, frowning. It seems too stiff for a peace offering. She adds a little smiley face, hoping it’ll make the whole thing seem friendlier. After all, there’ll need to be more than just plain peace if she wants to keep drinking those delicious chai lattes—and at a 100% discount, no less.
Satisfied, she tucks her pen back into her backpack, quickly exiting the café and making her way back to her dorm in the darkness.
♔
The wind blew the hood off of Tadashi’s head, but Kei was quick to pull it back over her hair as the two rushed through the woods under the cover of nightfall. The moonlight glowed in front of them as they laced their hands together tightly.
Their escape had been planned for weeks, and neither girl could truly tell whether their racing hearts were a result of fear or excitement. Sure, there was a chance that a guard had seen their exit. Maybe a maid had noticed their absence even now, and the guards were hot on their tail…
…but maybe every step they took in the dew-soaked grass was one step closer to freedom. Maybe they’d find their way to a secluded village, living together happily for the rest of their lives. Maybe they’d finally be free .
So, with clasped hands, racing hearts, and soaring hope, the princess and her handmaiden hurried through the woods. The ocean was nearly in sight. If they could make it to the boat, they’d be free.
Kei could practically taste the ocean already.
♔
Months pass, and Kei finds herself working in the corner at the café once again. Much to her delight, the strange dreams had stopped not long after her and Tadashi’s little cold war had come to an end. And, in an even nicer surprise, she and Tadashi had begun to get along.
….well, “get along” downplayed it dramatically, but Kei wasn’t quite sure what to make of her feelings. They’d only officially been together for a few weeks, but the blonde’s heart raced in a way that suggested a particularly strong affection whose name she didn’t feel prepared to say quite yet.
That stupid chai latte all those months ago must’ve been laced with a love potion, because Kei could swear that was the moment she began to fall. Not long after that, the two had finally begun holding proper conversations, graduating quickly from stiff small talk as Kei placed her order to spending all of Tadashi’s breaks at work chattering away in Kei’s favorite corner spot.
The only thing that hadn’t changed was the strange sense of deja vu that Kei got every time they were together. She always felt as if they’d had these conversations before, taken these walks, smiled these smiles at each other…everything felt comfortable—familiar.
She had even asked Tadashi about it when they’d first begun seeing each other, trying to sound nonchalant rather than exposing how paranoid she was about it.
She’d drawn a teasing smile from Tadashi as the girl cupped her elbow.
“Aww, you liked me so much, you wish you’d met me even sooner.”
Kei had blushed at that, shrugging Tadashi away from her as the girl laughed.
“Sorry,” she managed in her laughter, “but in all seriousness, yes. I wondered if we’d met before when I first took your order.”
Kei had simply rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively as she deadpanned that the two likely just reminded each other of someone. That answer seemed to be good enough for Tadashi, and they happily continued their date without mentioning it again.
They’d held hands thirty-two times, been on twelve dates, and kissed twice— not that Kei was keeping count, or anything. She very badly wanted to continue to play the part of the cool, studious girlfriend who didn’t melt into a puddle as soon as her partner smiled, and that role did not come with daydreaming about the third kiss and the three words she so desperately wanted to accompany it…even if she wished it did.
The table wobbles as Tadashi slides in across from her, smiling grandly and making Kei look up from her computer.
“Hey. I’m off in five. Can I take you somewhere today? I want to show you something.”
Kei hopes her responding smile isn't too lovesick.
“Sure.”
Tadashi’s smile somehow brightens, and Kei’s heart skips a beat as the barista reaches across the table to squeeze her hand.
“Great. I think you’ll love it.”
She slips away again, returning behind the counter and rolling her eyes at the dramatic kissing sounds her coworkers direct at her as she unties her apron.
The five minutes pass quickly. In fact, Kei isn’t sure that it’s a full five minutes. It seems as if Tadashi is darting around the counter before Kei can even properly pack up her laptop.
“Ready?”
“ No . Did you even clock out?”
“Samira will do it for me.”
“Isn’t that technically wage theft?”
“Do you want to stay here and help them file a lawsuit, or do you want to go on a date with me?”
Kei rolls her eyes at her girlfriend, getting to her feet and trying to fight the amused grin that tugs at the corners of her lips.
“You are unbearable. I hope you know that.”
She shoves her laptop into her bag, zipping it up and hoisting it onto her shoulder. She waves her hand towards the door in an over dramatic flourish.
“Lead the way.”
♔
Tadashi sat in her room, her knees tucked into her chest as she stared blankly at the wall. She wondered, again, for the millionth time since everything had happened, whether a person could die from a broken heart.
The door creaked open to reveal the queen, her hands clasped together in front of her and her lips pursed tightly.
“The traitor is to be executed in an hour. I hope your ridiculous rebellion was worth it, Tadashi.”
Rage burned through the princess’ veins. Kei was no traitor . Kei was kind, and smart, and gentle. Kei loved her.
When the guards had returned the two of them to the castle on that fateful evening, it was obvious what had really happened. They were in love, and they had run away in hopes of finally being together. It was all they wanted. They were so close.
But the queen had decided to write her own story, insisting that Kei had kidnapped the princess. Such an action was treason, and Kei was quickly sentenced to be executed. If that wasn’t cruel enough already, the queen had made the castle staff aware that Tadashi was not allowed to see Kei in any circumstances. She was not to visit the blonde in her cell, sneak her food, send her letters…in fact, she had wickedly made it known that the next time the princess was to see her lover would be when her head was settled into the guillotine.
Tadashi didn’t dignify her mother with a response of any kind. She didn’t even offer any indication that she’d heard the woman. She simply stared at the wall, unblinking, until the queen scoffed and closed the door.
Several minutes passed, and Tadashi finally deemed it safe to slide off of the bed and tuck her hand beneath the plush mattress. She closed her fingers around the cool material of the golden vial, holding it up to examine it. She eyed the clouds gathering outside, her heart beating for what felt like the first time in weeks. She uncorked the vial, swirling the bitter poison aimlessly as she muttered to herself.
“I’ll go with you, Kei.”
♔
The museum is strangely empty for the time of day as they hurry through its halls. Kei is pleasantly surprised to note the lack of rowdy children on a field trip or noisy tourists loudly reading the artists’ plaques. She is less pleased, however, by Tadashi’s haste as she drags the blonde through the museum. They rush through exhibit after exhibit, passing each painting so quickly that they bleed into one big abstract painting in Kei’s eyes.
“Will you slow down? How are we supposed to see anything? It doesn’t count as us getting through the whole museum if we aren’t actually looking at anything, you know.”
“Stop being so stubborn for ten seconds. I just have to find—”
Tadashi stops suddenly, and Kei’s momentum makes her slam into the shorter girl’s back. A snippy remark brews on the tip of her tongue, but it dies when she catches the sparkle in Tadashi’s eyes.
“Look at the painting at the end of this hall.”
Kei wants to argue and be a smartass—really, she does. It’s the least Tadashi could endure for pulling her through the museum with such gusto that her shoulder aches now that they’ve finally come to a stop. But the earnest excitement in her girlfriend’s voice stops her.
She sighs, shaking her head before walking casually down the hall. Despite her previous complaints, she doesn’t bother with examining the other paintings that hang on the wall. She can’t now that she knows the reason for Tadashi’s urgent excitement is a mere few feet away. But still , she wonders, what could be so important about some old painting that demanded all of this hurrying?
And then she reaches the end of the hallway, finding herself face to face with what must be a mirror. The subjects of the painting are almost identical to Kei and Tadashi.
The painting is hundreds of years old, if she is to assume the information on the plaque is correct. A green haired princess sits on her throne in a luxurious ball gown. She rests one arm on the edge of the ornate throne, the other hanging down so she can brush her fingers over the collar of the blonde girl who rests at her feet. The blonde rests her head on the princess’ knee, her dress notably more drab. The two look comfortable in each other’s presence, and their eyes glow with something that steals the breath from Kei’s lungs as she admires the piece.
Tadashi joins her, and Kei knows that she’s smiling without even pulling her eyes from the painting.
“Isn’t it crazy? I thought it was us the first time I saw it.”
Kei is silent.
“I still think it’s us.”
Kei remains silent yet again. Tadashi laces their hands together, leaning her head on Kei’s shoulder as she admires the painting once again.
“Kei?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
Kei squeezes her hand.
“I love you too, your highness.”