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“Haru, dear, meet Sakamoto - he’s to be your knight from this day on, so I hope you can learn to get along with him better than you have with Sugimura.”
“Yes, father.” Haru bows her head to the king, seated in his opulent throne. Despite being her father, despite the fact they’re both royalty, she still has to look up to see him - only his personal guards are permitted to stand on the platform which houses his throne. Not even the princess may ascend those stairs.
At the bottom of those stairs, a knight steps forward, bowing deeply to her. His boots clank against the tile floor, the sound echoing in the enormous chamber of the throne room.
“Your highness,” he says to her.
“Oh, hello,” she says. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She bows back to him, which seems to take him by surprise.
“Bowing to someone such as me - you’re too kind, your highness.”
“I disagree,” she says, bowing once more to her father before turning to leave the throne room. Her newly appointed knight, Sakamoto, follows close behind.
This is… weird. She’s never had a knight appointed to her before. Sure, she’s used to seeing them stationed around the palace, and she knows her father has a few that follow him nearly everywhere he goes. But she’s never had one before.
“I’ve never been appointed a knight before,” she tells Sakamoto as they round a corner into the palace courtyard. “Forgive me for saying so, but it feels a tad strange. I suppose they’ve assigned you to guard me due to the growing unrest as of late, but it seems a bit silly if you ask me.”
Haru makes her way to the expansive garden she’s been working on. At one time this garden was maintained by the groundskeepers, though she spends more time here than most of them nowadays. Despite her father’s griping that it’s unladylike to get her hands dirty digging in the soil, she enjoys her gardening and will not give it up.
“You know,” she says, kneeling into the soft grass and beginning to pluck young weeds from the flowerbeds. “You may speak to me. I’m not the type that will find you disrespectful if you speak without being spoken to. And you may call me Haru, too, if you’d like. No need for formalities - I’ve never been fond of them, anyways.” She offers him a smile.
“Oh, uh,” Sakamoto blinks at her, eyebrows raised. “Thank you, your high- er, Haru.”
Goodness, looking at him now, Haru thinks he mustn’t be far from her own age. The sunlight here in the garden catches on his eyelashes and the bridge of his nose, and she can see his face still holds onto a bit of the roundness so typical of young adults.
“How old are you?”
“16,” he says, voice wavering a bit, still uncertain of conversing so casually with her.
“Oh, that’s awfully young for a knight, isn’t it? How did you end up saddled with babysitting me?”
“You make it sound like being assigned this post is a hassle, but it is certainly not so. I find it an honor to be entrusted with protecting you.”
“I will try not to make your job too difficult,” she laughs.
“If you don’t mind my asking, who’s this Sugimura whom His Majesty mentioned?”
Haru scowls at her flowerbed. “My betrothed.” She yanks a weed out harder than necessary. “It’s political, of course, what princess has ever been married for love rather than politics?”
“Oh. And you find it difficult to get along with him?” Sakamoto kneels in the grass beside her, folding his hands in his lap.
“Not just difficult. I find it’s very nearly impossible. In fact, if I may be so bold, I may even say I hate him.” She sighs, shoulders slumping. “But that’s plenty enough about me. You never told me how you came to be a knight at such a young age.”
“It’s not all that exciting.” Sakamoto shrugs. “I have a Persona, and that’s all it took.”
Yes, that makes sense. So few people have such abilities, of course anyone the Royal Guard can find who wields one will be fast-tracked through their training.
“Ah, that explains how you ended up stuck with me,” she nods. “I don’t suppose they’d send just anyone to protect the princess, after all. Tell me, Sakamoto, how did you discover such a power, anyways?”
“I awoke to it only a few months ago, in a bid to protect my mother from an assault on our town by enemy knights. When the Guard caught wind of this, they swept me away to the capital city to be trained as a knight. My only request was that they brought my mother, as well. If I cannot be there to keep her safe, then I’d prefer she at least be in a city more secure than the little border town we lived in before.”
“That’s very honorable of you, Sakamoto. So being a knight was not exactly your decision, it sounds?”
“No, not exactly.” His voice trails off, eyes downcast.
“...You mustn’t hold your tongue around me. If you’re resentful of the Monarchy for forcing your hand, goodness knows I’m the last person who could blame you for that. I would not say marrying Sugimura for political gain is my decision, either. In that way, we’re more alike than you might expect.” It is the unfortunate truth that in a country ruled by the Monarchy, sometimes decisions are not up to the individual - if the powers that be want someone to join their ranks as a knight, it’s well within their power to force such a thing to happen. The King gives his orders and trying to argue is tantamount to treason. If they wanted Sakamoto as a knight, his only choice would have been to say yes.
“Resentful is not the right word,” he says. “It is true that taking this job was not my decision, but now that I am here I intend to do my job to the best of my ability. It’s not as though there are no silver linings. My mother has moved into a safer, more well-protected city, and I may get to use my abilities to protect others. And, of course, I get to spend time with you, Princess, something which I can’t complain about.”
“You’re quite the charmer, Sakamoto,” Haru laughs. “Ah, what is your first name, by the way? I told you there was no need for formalities, but here I am calling you by your surname, anyways.”
“Ryuji. You are, of course, welcome to address me however you wish. But my first name is Ryuji.”
“Ryuji,” Haru rolls the name about in her head, looking at her knight. “It suits you quite well,” she finally declares. “Well, Ryuji, I am sure we will get along just swimmingly.”
“Here’s to hoping so,” he smiles for the first time since Haru met him; a bright smile that rivals the sun’s own glow.
* * *
“ Haru ,” Sugimura’s voice is laced in acid as he speaks. “Our engagement is very important to your kingdom, is it not? You are to be my wife, which means you are to be obedient to me. If you continue to fail at understanding this, I may have to be forced to call off the engagement - and that wouldn’t please your father, now would it?” His hold on her wrist tightens, until Haru fears it may bruise.
“Ah - no, it would not.” Haru says meekly, cowering from Sugmira’s domineering frame. She tugs on her hand, trying to slip out of his grasp, but is unsuccessful.
“I thought as much.” He flings her hand away from him, straightening his posture and adjusting his clothes. “I had wanted you to join me for dinner, but now I find my appetite spoiled by your insolent behavior - I can hardly tolerate being in the same room as you at the moment. We will reschedule for tomorrow - and you’d best have your act together by then, or there will be consequences.''
“Y-yes, your highness. My deepest apologies. I’ll be there tomorrow evening.” Haru bows her head as low as she can. “I won’t let this happen again.”
“See, that’s much better already.” Sugimura grins, the expression wicked and vile. “I believe there’s a good, obedient wife within you, Haru, I truly do. I hope you can find it before I’ve tired of waiting.”
And with that he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.
Haru sinks to the floor, tile cold on her knees. Her wrist aches where he’d yanked on her, and she holds it to her chest as she feels the tears begin pricking her eyes.
Before the first tear has a chance to fall, however, Ryuji is kneeling beside her. His hand is clenched tightly on the hilt of his sheathed blade, though he relinquishes this grip in order to tuck some of Haru’s bouncy curls away from her face.
“Are you okay, Haru?” His voice is low. “Is your wrist hurt?”
“I…” Haru starts. Inside her chest, a million emotions are at war. It feels like she could drown within them all. “I hate him!” She shouts, and she’s not sure if she’s crying because she’s scared or because she’s angry - perhaps it’s both.
Without thinking about the action, she throws her arms around Ryuji’s neck, hiding her face in his shoulder, as she begins to sob. Her warm tears soak into the thick cotton of his shirt. “I hate him, but what am I to do? What can I do?”
Ryuji doesn’t speak, he just allows her to cry until she’s exhausted all of her tears, as he rubs soothing little circles onto her upper back. At last she is able to compose herself, taking a deep, trembling breath and sitting back on her heels.
“My apologies,” she sniffles, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “That was… unbecoming of me.”
“It’s fine,” he says. “Are you alright?” He reaches over and takes her wrist in his hands,
touch light as a feather. He turns her arm over, surveying the deep red mark left there by Sugimura’s hand.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she lies, looking at his rough, calloused hands against her smooth, dainty ones. Despite his looks, he’s as gentle as a spring breeze when he touches her.
“Forgive me for saying so, but he’s every bit as awful as you described.”
That chokes a watery little laugh out of Haru.
“I am many things, but a liar is not one of them,” she giggles, even though the sound trembles like a leaf. She casts her gaze down, where her opulent dress is picking up scuffs and dirt from the floor she kneels on. “I hate him, Ryuji. But what can I do? My father’s made up his mind that I’m to marry Sugimura. In their eyes, there’s no room in the conversation for my opinion or my feelings.”
“Why is His Majesty so insistent on this marriage, anyways?”
Haru sighs, fidgeting with a ruffle on her dress. “Money, mostly, I think. Sugimura’s kingdom is much wealthier than ours, and he has promised to pay my father handsomely if he is offered my hand. And the worst part is, not a cent is going to help the people of our kingdom - my father intends to pocket every cent.” She finally removes her hand from Ryuji’s grasp, falling into a defeated slump. “Were it for the betterment of our country; were the money going to be used to help improve the lives of our citizens; I may be able to find it within me to make peace with the arrangement. But in truth, I’m nothing more than a tool for my father to use to his own benefit. I can be married off for his gain, and hopefully produce a male heir to his throne. That’s all he thinks me useful for.”
“And what does Sugimura get from the arrangement, besides a beautiful young bride?”
“He gets a way into my father’s throne - if he and I have a son, then it will be that child who inherits the throne. Sugimura wants his heir to be the heir to the Okumura throne - his own son whom he can control and boss around, so he can pull the strings without sitting in the throne himself. He doesn’t care for me any more than my father does.”
Haru sees Ryuji’s hands tighten into fists.
“That’s bullshit,” he says through gritted teeth. “Forgive me for saying so.”
His candor startles a little laugh out of Haru.
“No need to apologize - it is bullshit, isn’t it?” She pauses. “Ah, don’t tell anyone what I’ve said - it’s not proper for me to curse like that.”
“Who would I tell?” Ryuji smiles, brows gentle and sloped, eyes soft. “Besides, who cares if it’s proper.”
“Finally someone who agrees with me,” Haru giggles. “Thank you, Ryuji,” she adds after a long moment of silence. “I’m sorry again that you had to see all of that.”
“No worries at all,” he says, getting up from where he was kneeling. He extends a hand to help Haru to her feet. “I am sorry there isn’t anything more I can do.”
“Nonsense,” Haru says. “You’re already doing more than enough.” She takes his hand and he pulls her to her feet. Though, when he lets go of her hand, she finds that her chest aches in an unusual way.
* * *
“The weather is excellent today,” Haru smiles, bouncing along ahead of Ryuji. The sun is shining, the summer swelter is broken up by a nice breeze - it’s the perfect day to get out of the palace and visit some of the more rural parts of the Kingdom. Ryuji is, of course, along for the ride.
“A bit warm for me,” he says.
“I don’t envy you,” Haru says, looking back at him.
Since they’re away from the safety of the palace, he’s stuck wearing his full armor. Although it’s lighter than the bulky metal suits worn by some knights, it certainly still looks profoundly sweaty - consisting of many layers of thick cotton and leather, including a jacket. Haru’s gown is sweaty in its own right, with the layered petticoat and tight corset. But it’s leagues better than what Ryuji’s stuck in.
“You look quite dashing in your armor, though,” she says. “Perhaps that makes the heat more bearable?”
“Not really,” Ryuji laughs, and the sound makes Haru’s heart skip a beat.
They’re coming up on one of the smallest villages in the Kingdom, sent out for some face-to-face time with the citizens. It’s good for the citizens to see their royal family every once in a while, especially those in the smaller and more rural towns - prevents them from feeling forgotten. Haru quite enjoys these outings, as she’s always eager to see more of the world. There’s so much out there she’s never experienced, after all. Going out to see how the normal citizens live allows her a glimpse into a world she’s never known. Lately, however, she finds it only makes her envious. Being a princess seems nice from the outside, but under her father’s stifling rules, she’d rather live like a normal teenager.
“You lived in a town much like this one before, right?” she asks Ryuji as they approach.
“Yeah, I did. Just my mom and I.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
Ryuji’s quiet for a moment.
“It wasn’t terrible. Mostly I just wished my mom didn’t have to work so hard.”
Haru hums in agreement. The rural villages in the Kingdom are not as well off as places like the capital city, and many of the citizens have to work very hard to make ends meet. If her father had any honor, he’d use the money he’s getting for marrying her to Sugimura and would work to improve the lives of their citizens in these villages. But her father has no such honor.
“And your father?”
“Gone,” Ryuji shrugs. “For the better, too. All he ever wanted to do was drink. Honestly, it was easier after he left. Not like he helped support the household, anyways.”
“A father you can’t respect. There’s another way we’re a bit alike.”
Ryuji laughs, but there’s a cynical edge to it. “I’m not sure I like having that in common.”
As the pair approaches the village, there’s a loud commotion from the village center. Haru turns to look at the source of the noise, but can’t see anything past all the homes blocking the view. Ryuji stops, too, and the two of them stand still, watching and listening. Even without seeing a present threat, Ryuji steps in front of Haru, one hand on the sword that hangs at his side.
It feels like time itself comes to a crawl - the bird song stops as the commotion gets louder; closer. Haru can hear people shouting, the sound of heavy footfalls on the worn cobblestone paths. Even the breeze seems to stop, leaving them standing in the stuffy, stifling, summer air; waiting with baited breath to see what’s going on.
And then that stillness is shattered.
All at once, a figure Haru’s never seen before comes bursting out of the village and into the countryside. They’re clad in thick metal armor, and they tower over both Haru and Ryuji. They come directly for the pair of teenagers, their curved sword glinting in the afternoon sun.
Haru feels frightened, of course, but there’s something else stirring within her. She’s afraid, but she’s also… angry, maybe? No, not quite… she’s never felt like this before; this roiling, raging feeling inside her makes her clench her fists and grit her teeth.
Before she can make sense of this feeling, though, Ryuji shoves her back. She falls onto her butt in the dirt, and Ryuji draws his weapon - a thick, heavy sword that’s nearly more like a bludgeon and a blade. Haru’s never seen him draw his sword before - in fact, in the months since he was assigned to her, she’s never seen him fight at all.
The armor-clad stranger reaches Ryuji before Ryuji can make a move toward them. Sitting in the grass where she’d fallen after Ryuji pushed her, Haru watches the two exchange blows. The interloper is bigger than Ryuji, and more agile. He tries several times to duck past Ryuji and run at Haru, but Ryuji manages to block the stranger’s path with his own body. Ryuji takes a slash from the stranger’s thin, sharp blade - Haru sees blood gleaming on the edge of the steel and splattering on the dried, dead grass. In retaliation, Ryuji gets a good two-handed swing of his own sword, which comes crashing down against the stranger’s armor. The resulting clash of steel-on-steel makes Haru’s ears ring.
Ryuji’s sword is not especially sharp, but it is very heavy. The attacker staggers backwards after the blow, wobbling on his feet for just a second. In that split second, something in the air… changes. The hairs on Haru’s arms stand on end; goosebumps break out across her skin. An eerie blue light begins to coalesce behind Ryuji, shimmering in the summer sun like a heat mirage. It reflects off his sword and casts bizarre shadows across his form, bathing his profile in the eerie blue glow. It makes Ryuji look so different than how she’s used to seeing him - the serious look in his eye; the strange blue light that sits on the high points of his features and makes the shadows look deeper and darker than ever… if Haru didn’t know him, she’d think he looked scary. But she does know him - better than she knows anyone. He’s her knight; he’s been with her nearly every minute of every day for months. She knows him. She could never be scared of him.
And then there’s… something there, in the space behind Ryuji. It’s translucent; spectral; and glows in the same shimmery blue light. From here, Haru thinks she sees… a ship? And a skeletal figure? But it’s hard to tell - everything moves so quickly. As soon as it’s materialized, it fires off a bolt of lightning. The lightning goes crackling through the air and makes contact with the armored stranger, who falls to the ground in a fit of convulsions as the electricity works through their body.
They try staggering to their feet after the shock treatment at the hands of Ryuji’s Persona, but collapse into the dirt and the mud once more. The apparition behind Ryuji dissipates, leaving behind just the otherworldly blue glow, which itself begins fading quickly until there’s no trace left of the Persona at all.
Villagers have started gathering at the edge of the village to watch the scene go down, and Ryuji shouts to them, asking for some rope to restrain the stranger with. He kicks the stranger’s sword away, sending it skidding through the grass.
Haru’s ears are ringing and her heart is hammering in her chest. She loses track of what Ryuji’s saying to the villagers, staring at the stranger laying in the dirt, hands tied up behind their back now.
“Are you okay?” Ryuji asks, finally coming to Haru’s side. He drops his weapon into the grass next to her, kneeling beside her on the ground. He reaches out to touch her, but the ambient static in the air makes a little shock jump between them, so he drops his hands to his sides instead. There are a few little scrapes on his face, and a couple more cuts on his upper body - the largest of which is on his chest, where the enemy’s sword sliced right through the layers of his armor.
“I’m okay,” she says, feeling breathless although she hasn’t done anything except watch the events unfold. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine,” he says, without looking away from Haru’s face. Under his gaze, she crumbles, and has to look away. “What just happened? Who was that?”
“I don’t know,” Ryuji frowns, brows knitted together. A little cut under his eye is bleeding slightly onto his freckled cheek. “The villagers say they don’t know him, either. They say he showed up just this morning.”
“Do you think he was after me?”
“He must’ve been, right? He probably heard you’d be in town and came here just for that.”
Haru stares at the man face down in the dirt. He’s not moving, but she can see he’s still breathing. His helmet has been removed and she can see long dark hair atop a face she doesn’t recognize.
“An assassination attempt…? I know things have been unstable between our kingdom and some of our neighbors, but I never expected this.” That weird feeling is back, deep inside her. Instead of addressing it, she turns to Ryuji. “You’re hurt,” she says.
“Eh, it’s nothin’,” he shrugs. He stands up, then helps her off the ground.
“It’s not nothing.” She brushes some of the dirt off her dress, though there are mud stains that may never come out.
Haru grabs Ryuji by the hand and marches into the village. People are still gathered around outside, watching them like hawks, eyes wide. She can’t very well clean his wounds out in the street, so she ends up borrowing a vacant room at the local inn to tend to Ryuji’s wounds, despite his insistence that he’s fine.
“Okay, sit,” she commands, pushing him onto the edge of the creaky old bed. She busies herself filling an old wooden tub, meant for washing clothes, with warm water. She places it next to the bed, then turns and looks at him, hands on her hips.
“What? I’m really fine.”
“You’re really bleeding on the floor,” she argues. “Lose the armor and let me clean you up. It’s the least I can do after you saved my life.”
“You don’t owe me anything, you know,” he frowns, but he starts on removing his armor piece-by-piece. “I was just doing my job. And even if it wasn’t my job, and more than that, I was just doing the right thing.”
“I know, and now I’m doing the right thing,” she says, looking at the water in the tub and not at Ryuji as he undresses. She’s not squeamish about nudity, and it’s not like he’s getting fully nude, anyways. But she can’t bring herself to watch him undress, either. It makes her heart do funny little flips inside her chest.
When he’s removed his armor and is seated on the bed in just his pants, Haru kneels on the worn wooden floor and dips a clean cloth into the warm water. She wipes away blood and dirt from the various scrapes and cuts on his upper body, being as gentle as she can. She cleans a little cut on his bicep, and one on his collarbone, and the big one on his chest. She even wipes at the few little scrapes on his face, lifting his chin and wiping his cheek gently with her thumb. She’s never seen him like this before - in fact, today she’s seen a lot of sides to him she’d never seen before. It makes her heart race and her palms sweat. He’d been cool in a dangerous sorta way before, and now… now he’s something she dare not name.
The lighting in here is dim, since there’s only a few little oil lamps to light the room. He’s seated on the bed, head turned away from her, tips of his ears turning red. She diligently cleans his cuts and bandages them up with what few supplies they brought along, and tries not to think too much about the way the low light lays across the places of his stomach and the curvature of his bicep, or the way his skin has flushed slightly (because of embarrassment, or the the heat of the water she’s using to clean him up, she doesn’t know.) She’s never seen this much of anyone’s body, certainly not of Ryuji’s, and it makes her feel like someone’s set a million butterflies loose in her belly.
“Your Persona, that’s what that was earlier, right?” she asks, even though she can’t seem to make her voice go any louder than a whisper.
“Yes. Sorry, if it scared you.”
“It didn’t scare me.”
“The people back home - it scared them, when I awoke to it.” He fidgets with a thread on his pants, still not looking at her.
“You could never scare me, Ryuji. I thought you were cool, actually,” Haru says, watching his profile.
His face and ears go more red somehow.
“Thanks. I’m glad I was able to protect you.”
He finally turns to look at her, their eyes meeting. The low light drapes itself across the bridge of his nose and the shape of his brow, and Haru stares at him, heart beating in her chest like a drum. He’s quite handsome, she’s always thought so, but never more so than now. Without her conscious input, she’s stretching up from where she kneels, until they’re nose-to-nose in the low light. Her heart skips a beat.
“Haru,” he says, very quietly.
“Ryuji,” she says back. She wants to kiss him. They’re so close. It would be nothing to close the distance.
But she can’t. She hates her fiance, but she is betrothed. She won’t be that person. So she backs down.
It’s quiet and awkward for a moment. Ryuji’s brows draw together as he watches her pull away, but he doesn’t push the matter.
“Are you, uh. Done, or…?” Ryuji says, clearing his throat. Haru becomes aware that she’d been so distracted that she’d completely stopped her efforts to patch him up, frozen with her hand (and washcloth) resting on his stomach.
“Oh!” Her face lights up like a firework. “Yes! Sorry!” She yanks her hand away from his skin as if it had burned her. “So, uh, your persona. What is it?” She asks, turning her back to him to hide her embarrassment and to afford him some privacy to redress.
“A pirate,” he says. “They say a Persona represents who you are, deep down. What does it say about me that mine is a pirate,” he laughs, but it drips with cynicism. “Kinda weird I ended up working as a knight, always under someone’s thumb, with a Persona like that.”
“I agree. Someone with a pirate Persona sounds like a real rebel. Pirates aren’t exactly the picture of obedience and order, after all.”
“...Can I tell you a secret, Haru?”
“You may tell me anything.”
“I hate the monarchy. I hate working for the king, always under his thumb. And I hate your fiance, too. The whole lot of ‘em are looking out for themselves and only themselves. When I awoke to my Persona and the king recruited me as a knight, I wanted to say no. But then he would’ve had me exiled - or worse. I had no choice in the matter. That’s my big secret. I’m as much of a rebel as the Persona suggests. But there’s no room for rebels like me, is there? The price for rebellion is death. Still, seeing the way people in power treat their citizens and even their own family… it makes me so angry, I can’t stand it.”
“May I tell you a secret, too, Ryuji?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I hate them, too.”
Ryuji’s quiet for a long time. So long, in fact, that Haru turns around to look at him. He’s sitting on the bed, looking at her, the lamp light dancing in his warm brown eyes.
“Haru,” he says. “Do you think some things are worth dying for?”
* * *
That conversation stays with Haru. Are some things worth dying for? Can she stand to sit by and watch her father rule his kingdom with only greed in his heart, uncaring about the citizens he has a duty to protect? Can she stand being a puppet in his and Sugimura’s schemes any longer - a means to an end for both of them, and nothing more?
She doesn’t talk to Ryuji about it again. Once they’re back at the palace, there are far too many ears to overhear such a conversation. But it stays with her, deep in her heart, and that feeling from before comes with it. And it all comes to a head a few months later, as her wedding to Sugimura inches closer and closer.
“Haru, I am insisting that we be wed before the year is out,” Sugimura frowns. “Haven’t we had this conversation before, about being a good, obedient wife? We’ll be wed in September, and if you’ve half a mind, you’ll show up and be happy to do so.”
“September is too soon!” Haru’s hands ball into tight little fists. “That’s not even a month from now - can’t it wait until the spring?” She makes eye contact with Ryuji, behind Sugimura, standing next to the ornate door to the dining room they’re in. His hand is on his weapon, fist balled up as tight as Haru’s.
“Haru, darling, you’re not getting any younger, you know,” Sugimura scowls at her. “Your father assured me we’d be wed before your birthday. He gave his word.”
“So this is about my age, is it? By the time I’m 18 I’ll be too old for you, will I?”
“Haru,” he growls. “What has gotten into you today? How dare you take that tone with me! At this rate you’d be lucky if any self-respecting man wanted to marry you, let alone someone of my pedigree!”
That feeling is there again, bubbling up inside her. She’s angry; angrier than maybe she’s ever been before. Usually when Sugimura yells at her, she backs down - begs for forgiveness to avoid her father’s wrath. Right now, the thought of apologizing makes her want to vomit. Just looking at Sugimura’s face makes her want to vomit. She’s so mad she could spit acid.
“Dying a spinster would be better than being married to you for even one second!”
Sugimura grabs Haru’s arm as tightly as he can, yanking her over to him.
“Haru, you will apologize this instant. You will grovel for my forgiveness. If you’re agreeable and do whatever I ask, I may not even have to tell your father about this.”
Do whatever he asks… it makes her skin crawl. As if she would ever go to bed with him.
“Tell him, then,” she snarls. “Tell him that I’m not the perfectly obedient, subservient little puppet he assured you I would be. Better yet, I’ll tell him myself.” She rips her arm away from his grasp. Around her, a shimmering blue light begins to manifest. “I’ll never be that person. Not ever again. And I won’t be marrying you, my father’s promises be damned.”
“Haru!” He reaches out and grabs her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” She shouts, and an energy unlike anything she’s ever felt washes over her. It burns, in a bizarre way. Her fingertips tingle. Sugimura staggers backwards and falls onto his ass, mouth agape, a blue light reflecting in his wide and terrified eyes.
It only lasts a second - in the next instant, the energy is gone. The blue glow dissipates like smoke into the air.
“Haru!” Ryuji comes rushing over from his post by the door. Haru feels suddenly exhausted, and she sinks to her knees on the ornate tile floor. Ryuji catches her as she falls.
“Ryuji,” she says, clutching his shirt like her life depends on it. “Ryuji, I think I’m in love with you.”
“Haru,” he laughs, incredulous. “I think I’m in love with you, too.”
“What just happened?”
“A Persona, that’s what!”
“Me? A Persona?”
“Yes!”
“Ryuji?”
“What, Haru?”
“I think some things are worth dying for. I think living on your own accord, free from being under someone’s thumb… I think that’s worth dying for.”
Ryuji blinks at her. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I can’t stand living like this anymore. I won’t do it. I won’t be a tool for others to use, and I won’t sit by complacent while my father runs this kingdom into the ground.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know yet. Try putting my foot down with my father. And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll leave.”
“I’m with you, Haru. You know that already.”
“Yeah,” she smiles. “It’s your job, isn’t it?”
He smiles back. “C'mon, you should know it stopped being just a job ages ago.”
And then she grabs him by the collar and kisses him, like she wanted to months ago. Like she’s wanted to every day since then. And after that she kisses him again, because she can; because she wants to.
It’s perhaps the first time she’s ever been able to do something just because she wanted to. And it’s better than she could have hoped.