Chapter Text
Dear father, once again I am writing a letter that I will never be able to deliver to you but I want to tell you something, tomorrow is Prince Sano's birthday, he will be of age and I will probably be fired as his guard, he told me that he would like to have freedom and maybe now, he can decide for himself, he is tired of having so many guards guarding him all day but in case it is my last time in the castle, I promise to come home.
With love, Hanagaki Takemichi.
18 years ago
The Sano family was eagerly awaiting their second child, the entire kingdom was happy at the news, after so long, the kings would have a successor because their first-born, Shinichiro Sano had died in a fatal accident.
His parents were so worried that their son would have the same fate as his older brother, that they decided to hire guards to ensure his safety and thus avoid another loss.
Manjiro Sano, as they decided to name him, has lived in custody since his birth. Some of the five guards had found the idea of acting as babysitters not very pleasant, but the pay was good and the money would be useful to many, such as Mr. Hanagaki, a humble and honest man who had a son a little older than the prince Sano, whom he had to take care of because he was the only person left in his life.
Mr. Hanagaki was the most attentive to his work. He was grateful to the Sano family for giving him the opportunity, so he put in twice as much effort as his colleagues. Years passed until Manjiro was seven years old. At that age he could express himself better and many times he told his parents that he didn't like being surrounded by hooded men. However, he couldn't get them off his back.
"Please, mom, I don't want those men to follow me everywhere anymore, they look ugly in those gray clothes and they never want to play airplanes with me," he pouted.
"We can't keep them away from you, it's their duty to take care of the little prince," she gently squeezed his cheeks.
"I only like Mr. Hanagaki, he's the only one who plays with me but he hasn't come," he made a sad face, "why is he not here anymore? Doesn't he love me anymore?”
"Mr. Hanagaki is very sick Manjiro, he has insisted on coming to protect you but your father does not allow it, he is afraid that he is going to give you his illness, it is something very serious and Mr. Hanagaki understood that so he agreed not to come anymore to not to cause you harm, of course he cares about you," his mother smiled gently.
He had no choice but to resign himself. A few months passed and the royal family decided to go for a walk through the streets of the town. With the news that they would be leaving the castle, the townspeople organized a small fair to assist them. Manjiro walked the beautiful cobblestone streets while seeing the colorful decorations hanging from the wiring and enjoying some sweets. Everything was going great until some members of the neighboring kingdom entered the town with the intention of attacking the little prince.
Before approaching him, Manjiro recognized the back of a man who was buying fruit in one of the stores.
"Mr. Hanagaki!" He called him with great emotion.
The man turned when he heard his last name, while Manjiro was able to escape from the sight of his guards and ran to greet him, but at that moment, those from the other kingdom attacked him, making him fall to the ground.
The townspeople were alarmed to see how the royal son was knocked down by the others, the noise began, Mr. Hanagaki tried to help him but his body was so weakened by the illness that he could not do much and his guards were so far away from him. that would take a while to arrive.
His father, the king, was a little close to Manjiro so he ran to his aid but someone had beaten him to it. A ten-year-old boy without fear threw himself against expert soldiers of the other kingdom to help his son.
Mr. Hanagaki looked at him in amazement because it was his son who had offered to help the prince. The other guards arrived at the place and began to fight against the soldiers of the other kingdom. While that fight was going on, Hanagaki took his son and they both left. Manjiro, being safe, watched from afar as they left.
After the altercation, the other soldiers retreated and the victory went to the Sano family. Once at the castle, the prince asked his father about the boy who saved him and then became upset as his father lectured him instead of answering his question.
"Your foolish guards didn't save me, it was that boy, he was with Mr. Hanagaki!" He expressed annoyance.
The king and queen put the matter aside, dedicated themselves to improving the security of the town while giving their son space to calm down.
After a few days, the king decided to leave the castle undercover and visit the town once again in search of Mr. Hanagaki. Unfortunately he found him in an old house near the forest in poor health.
"King, I ask you as a favor that if I die, you take in my son."
The king took a look, his son was watching everything from the hidden door. That boy, without thinking about it, had sacrificed himself to save Manjiro, which made him reflect and he promised to take him in as long as he was a security guard even at his young age, also so Manjiro could accept the idea of continuing to be guarded.
Days later, Mr. Hanagaki could not overcome the disease even with the treatments provided by the kingdom, so he left this world but not before saying goodbye and advising his only son.
After that sad event, Takemichi dedicated himself to writing letters to his father as if it were a diary where he told his day-to-day anecdotes as the Prince's security guard.
Currently
Someone knocked on the door of his room, Takemichi hid the scroll down the bed and straightened his clothes. He was ashamed of writing those letters for fear that they would think he was crazy.
He opened the door, Manjiro was outside.
"Are you alright, your majesty?" asked.
"Don't call me that, Takemitchy." He gritted his teeth, "I need to talk to you.”
They both went for a walk around the garden in the middle of the night, Takemichi remained silent, waiting for the prince to speak.
"I'm nervous," he leaned on a railing.
"Is it for your birthday?" He asked, standing next to him.
"Yes! I have so much on my mind, new rules, I don't know how much my parents will agree but at the same time I would like to leave the kingdom, there are many responsibilities and since I was little I haven't had time to enjoy my life, the few times I played were with," he paused, not wanting to remind him of his deceased father, "was when we got wet in the fountain."
Takemichi laughed as he remembered that time. When Manjiro had turned twelve, he and Takemichi escaped one rainy night to play in the castle fountain. It was a pleasant and fun moment for both of them that made them take a break from everything that, as children, afflicted them.
"I wanted to thank you for being my accomplice," Manjiro said with a grin from ear to ear as he grabbed Takemichi's shoulder.
He got nervous, those words seemed like a farewell to him, perhaps it would be his last night there.
Takemichi remained silent, which Manjiro found suspicious.
"Are you ok?"
"What? Yes yes!" He laughed nervously, "I guess now that you're of age you'll ask not to have guards all the time, right?”
Fortunately for Takemichi, the guards' uniform covered his face so Manjiro couldn't see his facial expressions.
"Actually," he yawned, "I'd just like to have one.”
Takemichi's eyes lit up, he didn't want to get his hopes up but surely Manjiro would choose him. At that moment, the prince threw himself towards him with the intention of removing his mask.
"And my first royal decree will be that my only guard not wear this horrible uniform."
"Your majesty, what are you doing? We are not allowed to show our faces," Takemichi gripped the mask tightly.
While they were struggling, they both fell on the grass, with the prince being the one on top of the guard. For a moment time stopped, the silence of that quiet night turned into noise as Takemichi's heart pounded at being so close to the prince.
"Your Majesty, could you get off of me?"
Manjiro laughed and after bothering him for a while, they both returned to the castle because the next day would be an important occasion.