Chapter Text
It was a beautiful early summer morning in the Vivid Kingdom. The sky was clear, the birds were chirping and a refreshing breeze still blew, left behind by the departing spring.
Today, with the celebration of the new season and the recent fair weather as an excuse, a party was to be held at the palace for various noble and influential families, as a way to strengthen their relations to each other and the royalty. Or just for simple merry-making, it was a guess with this king.
Considering the magnitude of such an event, the palace had been taken over by an aura of anticipation, excitement and anxiety (mainly by the workers) over the last few days. And, in the midst of all that, a certain young knight in particular was the embodiment of the latter.
"Kohane, could you stop trying to dig a hole on my floor?" she was stopped in her tracks abruptly as Akito, a fellow knight, grabbed her by the shoulders, finally snapping at her constant pacing.
"S-sorry, it's just... I'm really nervous." The girl only met his eyes for a moment before averting her gaze again.
"What for? We're going to be doing basically nothing."
"I-I don't know, I'm just... I'm not really used to these things yet, I guess..."
Breaking away from Akito, Kohane stood in front of a mirror and smoothed out her uniform for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Not that there was anything to fix, her formal uniform was basically brand new. Really, she was pretty sure she had only used it twice before: once when she was admitted into the Royal Guard, the other when she went to greet the princess after being officially appointed to be a member of her personal guard (which only consisted of Akito). In retrospect, the second time was silly considering she was already quite acquainted with the princess by that point.
It's not that she didn't like the uniform, either. In fact, she liked it even more now, since at some point Akiyama got their hands on it and changed it to "make it cuter", as they had said when returning the uniform Kohane didn't even realize they'd borrowed.
It was just all very... strange, to her, in a manner she knew the others could never understand. How could they, really? They were all born nobles, this kind of event, the scale, the luxury... it all felt natural to them, probably. But to a commoner like Kohane, a party like this was something she'd only ever seen in fairytales. Then again, being the personal knight to a princess was also a thing of fairytales, so maybe the point was that nothing here really felt real.
"Look," Akito sighed, "nothing's gonna happen, okay? Like, all them nobles brought almost a little army with them, you'd need to be crazy to try something right now. You just shadow An like you always do and everything'll be fine."
"Oh, that's not—"
"And," he cut her off, likely guessing what she was really worried about, "no one will talk to you. Most of the people there are going to be too busy trying to gain favor with An, and the rest couldn't give a shit to us guards. Much less a commoner-born one. So stop stressing about etiquette and stuff and let An deal with it if it does come up, alright?"
Akito's words sounded harsh, but, to Kohane, they brought a bit of odd comfort. Right, what was she even thinking? She might be the princess's bodyguard now, but that barely meant anything to the rest of high-society. She'd been so preoccupied thinking about looking worthy of the position that she almost forgot her actual worth was in being good at her job. Taking a deep breath, Kohane let some of the tension out of her shoulders and turned back to Akito.
"Thanks, Shinonome-kun. You're right."
Seeing as his words seemed to knock some sense into his nervous friend, Akito waved her thanks off before pointing to the clock.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I just said what I thought. Anyway, why don't you go check if Akiyama managed to force An into looking like a princess? We only have, like, half an hour 'till reception starts."
"L-look...?" As far as her knowledge of titles goes, Kohane was pretty sure An would still be the princess no matter her appearance. "Um... I can go, but aren't you coming too?"
"Nah, I'll go check on Toya first."
"Oh, I see..."
"...hey, what are you smiling at me like that for? Quit it."
"Okay?"
Seems Advisor Aoyagi has really grown on him...
~~ *★* ~~
Akito's reassurance did not last very long.
Not a few minutes later, Kohane was staring at the door to the princess's room. And it really wasn't minutes: the staff room she now shared with Akito (so technically their floor) was just down the hall. An had told her the logic was that they wanted to keep the elite knights close to the royalty at all times, but Kohane didn't think she'd be of much use if something happened while she was sleeping.
Standing there, Kohane took a deep breath. Another deep breath. Fiddled with her cape. Checked to see if there was anyone else in the hallway. Sighed. Okay, she could do this. She had, in fact, been doing this for over two months now. Today was just a little different.
"Your Highness, are you there?" Kohane calls out as she knocks on the door. "May I enter?"
"Kohane! Of course, come in."
Receiving her authorization, Kohane slipped herself into the room. The knight still vividly remembered how shocked she was when first seeing the size and level of decoration of this space. It looked almost the size of her family's whole bakery! It was weird to think that she was so used to coming here now that this barely fazed her anymore.
Out of habit, Kohane immediately let her eyes wander into a cursory check of the room. Oh. She'd expected to see Akiyama here, but seems as though they'd already left. Princess An was the only one in the room. Speaking of which.
"Kohane, didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?" Kohane turned her gaze back to the princess only to catch her pouting at her.
"S-sorry, An-chan. I didn't know if you were alone." the knight smiled.
Ignoring An's mumbling of 'then at least call me princess, Akito does that', Kohane stepped closer and took the moment to really look at An's appearance for the day. A deep mistake on her part, really.
Sat at her dresser and illuminated by the sunlight filtering through the curtains on the tall windows, An wore a deep red tiered dress, with fake roses adorning her chest and waist as well a pearl chain shining in the sunlight. The silky layers of the skirt also held a rose pattern and almost seemed to sparkle. Moving back up, Kohane also saw that same rose and pearl motif intricately braided into An's pretty hair. She even was wearing a bit of makeup, it looked like. She was just... wow. The knight somewhat understood what Akito meant by "looking like a real princess" now.
"You look beautiful..." the words were escaping her mouth before Kohane could even think about it.
"Oh! Haha, thanks," the princess responded with a hint of bashfulness, which made the knight's already dangerous heart rate spike even higher. "I mean, I'd better be! Do you know how long Mizuki's been keeping me hostage?! It's been hours, Kohane, hours!"
"I see..." Kohane responded vaguely, her mind busy trying to wrestle her heart back into working order.
"It was horrible! And, ah, speaking of Mizuki, yo— hm? Kohane? Your face is a little red, are you all right?" By now, An had already got up and approached the knight, who only now realized she had been standing stupidly in the middle of the room all that time. "Oh, oh my god, you're not sick, are you?"
An hovered near, frowning. Seeing her eyes full of worry, Kohane immediately jolted back into her own body, stepping back from An and waving her hands dismissively in front of her chest.
"No! No, I-I'm fine, An-chan!" Kohane smiled reassuringly, "it's just, um... these formal uniforms get a bit hot, so... it's a bit hard to use them in summer."
That much was true. It's just that Kohane was pretty sure it wasn't the summer heat that was burning her inside those clothes right now.
"Oh. Okay, that's good," An sighed in relief, soon returning to her usual smile. "It's kind of a shame, though."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because, I was just going to say, you look so cute in it! Totally worth it getting Mizuki to customize yours." An nods to herself, as if taken by a great sense of accomplishment.
...maybe, Kohane mused, casting Ice Beam on herself wouldn't be that bad of an idea right now.
~~ *★* ~~
Kohane had never really liked social events. Even in military academy... no, probably even when she was just a normal commoner kid, she'd feel like a complete fish out of water as soon as she stepped into any kind of party. A royal party just made it that much worse.
She had some idea as for the why, too: it wasn't that she hated other people or anything, it's just that she was extremely afraid of embarrassing herself, and social functions were filled with situations perfect for that.
Take even entering somewhere or sitting down: she'd seen Akito and Toya opening the door or pulling the chair for An, as was expected of them as "gentlemen", but what about her? Was she expected to do the same as the princess's personal knight, or would that be weird since they were both girls? Kohane knew what she would rather do, but it felt like the "appropriate" thing was eternally out of her reach, written in an illusory etiquette manual she'd just managed to miss by circumstances of her birth. Sometimes, whenever she missed another unspoken rule or cue, she was filled with the urge to ask Toya to write an actual, physical manual for her. Then she would remember that Toya wasn't great at that sort of thing either.
That being the case, she had been a veritable pile of nerves from the moment she woke up (from some terrible sleep she had to force herself to take). It wasn't without reason, either: this was the first real big palace event to happen since she'd been officially appointed as the princess's bodyguard. The irrational fear of being in the spotlight, of having all those eyes judging, questioning her right to be in that position gripped her spine like cold fingers.
An must have taken notice of her nerves, too, because as soon as they hit the first floor the princess turned to her with a slightly troubled smile. "Actually, I kind of wanted to get some fresh air before greeting all these people. Let's stop by the gardens."
Before Kohane could protest, An turned around and marched down the exact opposite direction than the one they were supposed to go, leaving Kohane no choice but to chase after her.
Getting down into the back gardens, An walked about for a while, distancing herself from the main part of the palace, until they came into a little quiet spot under the shade of the trees, marked only by a lone stone bench and some bushes and scattered flowers. Compared to the more manicured parts of the garden, Kohane could almost see a place like this existing somewhere in town, too. The air felt a little lighter here.
"Kohane, are you really all right?" An asked with a smile, though her eyebrows were clearly creased in worry. "You are, uhhh... you're kind of, sparking?"
"Huh? Sparking?" Kohane tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah. Look, okay, try taking your gloves off and putting your hands together, like this." Saying that, An demonstrated it herself, placing her open hands about an apple apart, as if about to clap.
Kohane didn't understand what the princess was trying to get at, but followed her instructions nonetheless. And wouldn't you know it? As soon as her palms were close enough, little arcs of electricity started forming between them, making the knight jolt her hands back in shock. Psychological shock, that is.
Okay. This was new. After looking bewilderedly to An, then her own hands, then back to An again, Kohane let her hands fall to her sides with a sigh. Now that she was paying attention, the knight could clearly feel the prickling of static all over her body and the faint characteristic smell of lightning spells. She'd assumed the former was just a symptom of her nerves.
"I-I'm so sorry, princess! I don't know how— this has never happened before."
"No, no, I don't mind at all! That's kinda awesome, actually. Wish I could do that," said An, and the little sparkle in her eyes told her she probably meant it. "Just, maybe not at a party? I figured it wasn't on purpose, and you didn't seem to notice, so..."
Seeing the worry again in the princess's eyes, Kohane was unable to keep her gaze, casting her eyes to the ground.
"...I'm sorry, An-chan. It's just... I'm so nervous for today. And I— I tried to calm down, b-but I just..."
Kohane felt her vision blurring. She felt pathetic. If even something so small like a party was enough to get her like this, how would she ever be worthy of An? And now even her magic, the only thing she's ever felt proud of, was acting up...
“Kohane…” An called softly, stepping closer to her, “I know you're not a fan of this kind of stuff, but... say, what are you so scared of? Can you tell me?”
“I…” she brought her hands in front of her chest and fiddled with them, still unable to meet the princess's eyes. Still, she had no will to lie to her. “I'm afraid that… I'll mess up somehow and— and be an embarrassment to you, or… or make everyone think I'm not worthy enough of being beside you, a-and Shinonome-kun and Aoyagi-kun.”
She didn't even really know what she could do to mess up in that way, yet the thought that she wasn't supposed to be there, that she didn't fit in, was always at the back of her mind.
“Kohane, look at me,” suddenly, she saw gloved hands grasp her own and looked up to see earnest, fiery amber eyes staring back at her. “That doesn't matter.”
“But—”
“Well, I mean, maybe it does a bit, but… you believe in me, right?”
“Yes,” Kohane could do nothing but nod weakly.
“Then I wish you'd believe in my decisions more! Kohane, I'm the one who chose you as my knight, not anyone else. So, it doesn't matter what others think. You are worthy, to me.” An squeezed her hands tighter, “I've said it before, but I really do believe it had to be you; it couldn't be anyone else. If anything, I want you to remember that.”
Kohane had no words to say. Princess An had so much trust in her… she wanted to live up to it. She still couldn't quite believe she had any right to be where she was, but An says she does. An chose her. She wanted her to be here, same as always, part of her motivation for everything.
A weird warmth spread through her. Maybe… maybe she could lean on this for now. An said she was worthy and Kohane believes in her, so it had to be true. Not quite enough to stand proud, but just enough to not cower in fear.
“Y'know, you say you think it's awesome how I can make things come true with my words and charm, but,” An pulled her hands apart gently, so they could both see the little arcs of electricity again, before the effect subsides and fizzles out. “You can make things come true with your own two hands, and I think that's awesome. I can't do that. Not as much as you, anyway.
“And I'm not the only one who thinks that. I'm sure Akito and Toya do, too.” This time, An lets their still connected hands fall, but guides one side as to let the knight's hand rest on the hilt of her sword.
She knew exactly what An was trying to get at. That's because that sword, her most precious belonging, had been gifted to her by the boys on the occasion of her becoming An's personal knight. And it wasn't just any sword either.
What felt like a long time ago, between when she joined the Royal Guard and her being appointed to An's side, Toya had been watching her and Akito spar when he raised a question about her fighting style. The thing was, in order to cast more advanced spells, Kohane needed her magic wand. But those spells weren't instantaneous and she wouldn't have the time to drop her wand and unsheathe her sword if an enemy closed in. So what usually would end up happening was that she'd be holding her rapier on her dominant hand and her wand in the other, but then it got harder to aim her spells and sigil ones ended up wobbly and unstable. It was a problem, especially considering she was a better caster than fencer, but it was nothing she couldn't deal with, and not something she knew how to solve.
That had been just a casual little talk between them, and she'd honestly forgot about it completely until she received their gift. However, as it turns out, what Kohane saw as just a little inconvenience was something that troubled Toya deeply enough that he'd roped Akito into going with him to talk to a friend of a friend, who was an inventor supposedly, about the feasibility of creating a sword that could also act as a magic wand.
The result was the sword she carried right now, with the perfect size, weight and grip for her, as picked out by Akito when they were making it, complete with a pretty design on the hilt he got his painter sister to come up with. She remembers clearly how, when she was giving them her most deep thanks and apologies for the trouble, Akito waved it off with "nah, don't sweat it, I barely did anything. 'sides, if I'm gonna have to trust my back to you again, I'd better make sure you're in top shape anyway," with a challenging smile. Besides him, despite his lack of expression, Kohane could see Toya's earnestness as he nodded and assured her he'd just done what he wanted to.
Falling back into those memories, it took all of her knightly dignity to keep herself from hugging her rapier right then and there. Dignity that was immediately shattered when she glanced from the sword back to An, who was just looking at her with a warm smile, almost as if she knew exactly what Kohane had been thinking. That thought made her face burn all over again.
And, for a moment, they just stood there, looking at each other. And An's hand still held hers, and they were still all alone in a quiet little nook of the garden, and filtered light shined down on them, and—
And, oh my god, the reception!
"A-An-chan! What time is it?! I think the reception's already started!" Kohane startled back to her body in a fluster.
"Oh, right. Is it already that time? I gueeess we gotta go." An said, unimpressed, as she finally released the knight's hands. However, the knight could see she wasn't making any motion of actually going.
"An-chan..." she repeated, just a bit chiding. "Everyone's hoping to see you, you can't just not go."
"I knoooow, but there's so many little rules for these things, it's so boring!" An complained, sighing dramatically. "It's one thing having a party with everyone I like, but when it's all the nobles like this it gets sooo annoying. You gotta remember all the who's who and stuff, and you have to smile and be polite even for the guys you don't like. If I could, I'd much rather go to town and have fun there instead."
"...and try to buy pastries with gold again?" Kohane gave her a exasperated smile, trying very hard not to think about how this was the future ruler of her country speaking.
"Hey! That was ONE TIME! I've learned my lesson!" An gave her a look of false offence, which soon turned into a toothy grin instead. "But hey, that eventually got me the best partner ever, so it was totally worth it! Actually, if I knew, I would've went for platinum! I totally underpaid."
Kohane couldn't help but laugh at that. "An-chan, you would've given me a heart attack! I would've died!"
She couldn't have ever imagined that things would end up like this when she first met that bright and energetic girl, who just randomly showed up to her family's bakery one day and tried to buy pastries from her with gold coins.
She could never have predicted that her weird friend's beautiful dreams for the future and her sincere wish for them to be together, something she'd confessed upon their parting, would spiral into Kohane doing something so bold as trying to be a knight.
Yet here she was, holding up part of a princess's dress because the princess in question was complaining it was hard to walk in, watching those sunny eyes sparkle as she turned to her, listing off all the food she was looking forward to trying out today.
She'd been chasing the sun for so long.
So, it should be alright for her to bask in her light some more, right?