Author note: I don't own Bravely Default or Bravely Second, nor do I own Praline a la Mode or Konoe Kikyo.
This is for Day 1 of Bravely Ship Week, taking place from June 6, 2017 to June 13th, 2017 using the prompt of Hedge Maze! I hope you all enjoy reading this!
Warning: PralinexKikyo, mentioned KamiizumixGeist, spoilers for Bravely Second and Default as this takes place post-Bravely Second, takes place within the "Things We Cannot Undo" continuum and therefore refers to some fanfics in that same continuum.
Trying To Find You
Bravely Ship Week Day 1 Prompt used: Hedge Maze
Ships featured: PralinexKikyo, mentioned KamiizumixGeist
Summary: When Praline tries ask Kikyo why she's been blushing so much lately, things don't go so well. Also known as: Praline a la Mode and Konoe Kikyo struggle with their feelings while trying to look for each other in a hedge maze.
Knock knock knock.
"Swordmaster? Swordmaster!? I need help!"
Kamiizumi heard Geist audibly groaning, watching the Exorcist cover his ears with a pillow.
"I'll get it." Kamiizumi offered, placing a kiss on Geist's forehead. "You should get some sleep."
"…love you." Geist was heard muttering. The Swordmaster smiled, and then took a deep breath as he got out of the bed they shared, loosely putting on a yukata before going to the front of the house, where the knocking and shouting was ensuing.
"Swordmaster? Pleeeassse tell me you're awake! This is urgent!"
Kamiizumi took a deep breath, before opening the front door to see a wide-eyed, nervous Praline a la Mode standing at the door.
"Praline," Kamiizumi frowned, rubbing sleep-laced eyes with a hand, "What is the matter?"
"I, uh…" Praline took a deep breath, looking down at her heeled shoes, then up at the Swordmaster. "I lost Kikyo."
…
"You what?"
It all started with touches of hands, Praline explained.
Kikyo kept getting red in the face for seemingly no reason. Usually when Praline went and hugged the Ninja, the Performer noted, but also when she gave her compliments as well. This also sometimes occurred when she stuck up for Kikyo when people made fun of her speaking slowly when out of disguise. Praline decided after much observation that she had to ask Kikyo about all the blushing.
"This can't end well," Kamiizumi said.
Praline glared at him. "Can you let me finish?"
Kamiizumi simply sighed, but let her do so, knowing too well how it most likely ended.
One day, Praline decided to ask the Ninja if she had any trouble with making friends or being social with people in general. The Ninja had denied such troubles, but then Praline noticed Kikyo's face being red again and wondered if she was sick but had been trying to hide it the whole time.
Turns out Kikyo was blushing, and it wasn't of sickness. What was the cause behind it, then?
Kamiizumi stared at Praline a bit.
"…I think she likes someone."
"Yeah," Praline huffed, cheeks puffing, "I was gonna get to that."
"You didn't have to pause." Kamiizumi pointed out.
"I need to breathe, you know!"
Kamiizumi internally sighed but let her continue. Crystals knows that Praline was practically a stereotypical teenage daughter—a bit bratty, beating a little around the bush, but willing to ramble on about whatever she was rambling about.
And then it hit him.
"Wait," Kamiizumi looked to Praline before she could speak again, "Let me get this straight. Kikyo admires you romantically, doesn't she? Did she confess to you?"
Praline was about to open her mouth to continue her story when Kamiizumi had spoken. Shutting her mouth, she quickly nodded. "She did!"
"Well," The Swordmaster managed, "Do you like her in that same way?"
"Well, yeah!" Praline nodded even more, the bunny ears of her headband bobbing. "Of course I do!"
"Then why isn't she with you?"
The Performer's face fell.
"She…she ran away before I could tell her I liked her back."
Immediately Kamiizumi recalled a similarly awkward situation—the morning after he and Geist spent the night for the first time, how they'd awkwardly stared at each other before the kids burst in on them.
"We need to find her." The Swordmaster uttered, making eye contact with Praline. "If you delay telling her how you feel, things are not going to end well and they will get awkward."
Praline blinked, staring up at him. "…This sounds like you've been through it before."
"Believe me," Kamiizumi managed, letting Praline inside the house so she could wait while he got into proper clothes, "I have. And the more you prolong this, the more awkward it's going to get."
It didn't take long for Kamiizumi to get changed into proper clothes and for him and Praline to go wrangle Barbarossa into helping them search for the Ninja. The Pirate had grumbled about being disturbed in the middle of the night, but relented to helping Praline find Kikyo so things wouldn't be awkward and so Praline would stop pestering him about not helping her.
Given what happened regarding Arca Pellar's song and the fight Barbarossa and Praline had over it, Kamiizumi didn't blame either one of them for being so grumpy towards each other right now. As long as they didn't come to fisticuffs, the Swordmaster was just happy the Black Blades were all back together.
Mostly, save for the fact that Qada was very much dead and that Kikyo was still missing. After some passerbys pointed out that they thought they saw a blur of something running into a hedge maze that'd been created for the upcoming summer season, the three figured that Kikyo might've hid in there.
"By the way," Praline asked as the three walked into the maze, "How are you and Geist doing? Did the sexy sweater go well with him?"
Barbarossa raised an eyebrow, and mischievous grin coming to his face. "A sweater, eh?"
Kamiizumi's face coloured red. "I-I don't think we should really talk about that right now." The Swordmaster managed. "Finding Kikyo is the main priority."
"Alright then~!" Praline's giggling did almost nothing to ease the Swordmaster's embarrassment, but she decided to drop that subject.
"Explain to me why we're lookin' for Kikyo, again?" Barbarossa asked.
Praline turned her head towards him, jumping on the spot. "We have to find her before things get awkward, that's why! I don't want her to be awkward about her telling me that she likes me!"
"Ohhhh?" Barbarossa chuckled. "So, you two are together now? Isn't that interestin', eh Swordmaster?"
Kamiizumi offered Barbarossa a soft grin. "They're not together yet, Barbarossa, assuming Praline and Kikyo do get together. But in order to do that, we ought to find Kikyo so they can have their moment."
"Hey!" Praline felt herself blush a bit, but she puffed her cheeks, glaring at them both. "You both promise you won't blab about this all over Luxendarc? If Kikyo and I do get together, I want to wait a bit before telling all my fans!"
"I promise." Kamiizumi chuckled, nodding once. "I know from experience how fast word spreads all over. I'll keep my mouth shut for now." He raised an eyebrow, looking to the Pirate. "Same goes for you, Barbarossa."
"What?" The Pirate looked disappointed. "Alright, fine."
As they continued walking, the three came across a fork in the path. "Huh…" Praline frowned, looking around, "any idea which way she went?"
Kamiizumi looked around, then shook his head. "Given her abilities as a Ninja, Kikyo's good at covering her tracks. I think it's best if all three of us split up from here."
Barbarossa grinned, heading to the left path. "I'll holler if I see her!"
Kamiizumi simply nodded in reply before heading down the center path. "I wish you all luck."
"Me too!" Praline quickly rushed off to the right, intent on finding the Ninja.
Kikyo hid.
Granted, she was a Ninja, so she was good at hiding.
She perched herself on the branch of a tree, watching as Praline passed by it several times, calling out for her.
And Kikyo…she couldn't get herself to answer, to spit the words out of her mouth.
She'd already told Praline that she liked her! Praline didn't need to chase after her!
Ah, but then again Kikyo ran off on Praline immediately afterwards. She straight-up panicked.
Crystals. That was probably why Praline was looking for her, wasn't she?
The Ninja wanted to facepalm herself for her own foolishness. She could already imagine Barbarossa laughing up a storm about it if Praline told him, or Kamiizumi giving some exasperated sigh.
The Ninja sighed. She shouldn't have run, should she?
As she mulled over her thoughts, the voice of Praline called out to her.
"Kikyo? Kikyooooo!"
There was silence. Praline sighed, leaning against the nearby tree.
"Where are you?"
I wanna talk to you.
Then Kikyo spoke.
"I'm…here."
Praline blinked, then looked up to see the Ninja, awkwardly perched above in the tree.
"Oh." Praline blinked a bit more, then grinned. "Do you want to come down so we can talk?"
Kikyo hesitated, her mouth a thin line as she gazed back at the Performer. She knew she should talk, but at the same time she wasn't sure if this would go well.
Well, might as well get this over with, if this was going to be a rejection. Probably was going to be a rejection, wasn't it? She jumped down from the tree, gracefully landing on both feet. As she straightened herself, she opened her mouth to speak, but Praline beat her to the punch.
"I like you too, Kikyo."
The Ninja stared in silence.
Praline stared back at her, unsure if she shouldn't have said that so soon. What if she ended up chasing Kikyo away?
"You…" The Ninja swallowed, both eyes fixed on the Performer, "You really do?"
"Yeah." The Performer nodded, still gazing at her. A soft smile graced her lips as she spoke. "Sorry I didn't exactly communicate that to you earlier."
Kikyo's face flushed and she looked down, averting her gaze. "I…I'm sorry I ran away."
"It's okay. We all make mistakes." As Kikyo looked up at her, Praline kept speaking. "So, um," She shrugged a little, taking a breath, "Do you wanna…be my girlfriend, maybe?"
There was a pause.
And then Kikyo smiled, nodding once.
"Yes."
The Performer squealed, hugging the Ninja. "Thank youuuu! I love you sooo much!"
The Ninja gasped, squirming in the other's grasp as she tried to hug her back. "I-I…love…you too! Can't breathe…"
"Oh. Uh," She let go of her, wincing. "Sorry. I'll work on that."
Kikyo nodded. "I-I'll work on…not running away."
"Okay."
Both the Ninja and Performer smiled at each other, before Praline leaned forwards and kissed Kikyo on the cheek. At the kiss, Kikyo's face flushed red, and Praline gasped.
"Are you okay!?"
Meanwhile, the Swordmaster and Pirate had managed to find each other, and then stumbled upon the sight of Praline and Kikyo together. Kamiizumi smiled, before looking to Barbarossa.
"I think we should let them have their moment. We better go get some rest, now that everything's resolved."
"Aye, Swordmaster." A mischievous grin appeared on the Pirate's face. "Though technically, we could blab about this to everyone else in Luxendarc. Just because I'm a fan of her Arca Pellar arrangement doesn't mean I'm not sore over her getting the rights to it!"
The Pirate rushed off, cackling, and Kamiizumi ran off after him.
"Barbarossa, NO!"
Praline and Kikyo thought they heard the Pirate and Swordmaster screaming about something, but they shrugged it off and carried on with hugging each other and walking back home together.
…They were in for quite a surprise in the morning.