hi, it's me here with a request! i love honomaki, and this was fun to write! i'm sorry this is so short, im quite busy even during spring break...
The Princess and the Peasant
The princess let out a soft sigh before she took a sip of her tea, staring out the window looking at nothing in particular. She was getting bored of the view outside of her window. She twirled a strand of her red locks, wondering if she would be able to leave the castle soon. Her father put heavy restrictions on the entire royal family when they received a threat from another kingdom, and only Maki's mother and him could leave the castle. It had been over a month since then, though, so Maki figured the kingdom didn't care anymore. Father insisted that it was still not safe, though, so there she was, bored in her bedroom. She had already read all the books in the entire kingdom, and mastered all of her sheet music on the piano. There was nothing to do, and there was no point in leaving her bedroom except to eat since there was nothing to do out there either. Maki decided to accept her life would be like this for a while, and always sat by her window with a cup of tea instead of even bothering searching for something to do with her time. Finally, one day, she saw something interesting outside of her window. A peasant girl.
"How did that peasant girl get past the castle gates?" The redhead examined her, and the scratches on her legs and arms gave her the answer. She climbed. Maki should've went to tell someone that a peasant had snuck into the castle, but the scene piqued her interest so she continued to watch. The princess noticed that the girl was heading in the direction of her bedroom. "W-what is she doing...don't tell me she came to attack me?!" Maki was scared, yet she continued to watch. Somehow, the girl managed to climb the castle walls. She was right at Maki's window now. Maki scared, stood up from her chair and backed away from the window. "I-I'll call the guards on you!" she said loudly enough so the girl could hear, but quietly enough so no one else in the castle could.
The girl outside of the window lightly knocked on the window. "Please open up! I feel like I'm slipping and I need to talk to you! I promise I'm not here to hurt you, Princess Nishikino!"
Though the princess was unsure, she returned to the window and opened it, allowing the peasant girl to come in. "W-what do you want? I can't believe I let a peasant in my room, and I'm talking to her too..."
"Well, Princess Nishikino, this might seem crazy, but..." the girl paused, took a deep breath, then spoke again, "I want you to marry me!"
"W-what?!" Like anyone would be, Maki was shocked by the girl's sudden proposal. It was a peasant she had never even met, a girl at that, asking her to get married to her. "G-get out of my bedroom, dumb peasant girl! I don't have time for your dumb little jokes!"
"Princess Nishikino, I'm not joking!" she exclaimed. "I really want to marry you! I knew you wouldn't remember. You know you have an arranged marriage, don't you?"
"Y-yeah...wait, how do you know that? We never announced that to the kingdom!" Maki was puzzled.
"You see, Princess Nishikino, we met when you were only three and I was four. Despite being so young, I remember the moments we shared so well..." a smile grew on the girl's face as she spoke. "My name is Honoka. We met when you were strolling through the town looking for your parents. You asked me if I knew where your parents were, and I said no, but I can help you look for them. As we were looking, I asked you how you had lost them. You then told me about how your father just told you that you had an arranged marriage with a prince from another kingdom."
"What does that have to do with you marrying me? I'm fine with this arranged marriage if it will make my parents happy."
Honoka chuckled. "Please let me finish, Princess Nishikino. Anyways, after that you ran off crying and then lost them. You began crying again after you told me, and I comforted you. All of a sudden, you stopped crying and began smiling. I asked you what made you stop crying. Then," she paused, taking Maki's hand in hers then continued her story. "you held my hand like this and told me you had a great idea - you could just marry me. I told you we couldn't, since we were both girls and I was just a peasant, but you insisted. So, I told you I would meet with you again when we were older and propose. This is my proposal to you, Princess Nishikino."
"..." Maki was speechless. Did she really say all of those things to Honoka when she was younger? Actually, it didn't matter. There was no way she was getting married to a peasant girl. She pulled her hand away from Honoka's, and stepped back. "W-what do you think you're doing touching me, peasant?! Get out of here right now!" she pointed at the open window, waiting for the girl to leave.
"Princess-"
"Now." the princess said it sternly this time, her finger still pointed at the window.
Honoka sighed and stepped over to Maki. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Princess Nishikino. But, I would like you to know that," the peasant gave her a peck on the lips, "you did that to me before leaving with your parents." Before the girl she had just kissed could yell at her, Honoka headed out through the window.
Maki's face was almost as red as her hair. She stood there, hand still pointing at the window, too shocked to move or say anything. She slowly lowered her hand and put it over her lips. Honoka just kissed her. She wasn't sure how to react. The princess was not sure what was worse, the fact that a peasant girl had just kissed her, or the fact that she enjoyed it a lot.
A few days passed, and neither girls had even seen each other. Maki was still thinking about what Honoka had said to her, and the kiss. She wondered if Honoka was still thinking about it too. The girl even wondered if she was in love with Honoka for a few moments, but she quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way she was in love with a girl she had barely known. Even if she did suggest getting married to her, she was three and children always said dumb things without thinking. However, she thought about her constantly and even thought about what would happen if they were to get married. If she wasn't in love, she was probably feeling something close to it. Honoka intrigued her so much, and she hated it.
One day, Maki was finally given permission to go outside and was walking through the town, heavily guarded by the guards surrounding her. She stopped to shop in a few places. When she felt like she was ready to return home, she saw her. Honoka was standing outside of the village market, trying to convince the market owner to give her food for free. Maki told her guards to stop walking and she stepped in front of them to watch Honoka and the market owner.
Honoka was down on one knee, hands clasped together. "Please, Mister! My family has nothing to eat, and we have no money! We will try to pay you back as soon as possible, I promise!" the girl begged. "We'll die if we don't get food in our stomachs soon!" Maki noticed that many other people were gathering around them, beginning to watch as well.
The market owner glared at her with his arms crossed. "If you have no money right now, who knows when you'll pay me back?" the owner said coldly. "I'm sorry about your family, but looks like death awaits you. These fruits cost money to grow, you know. I'm not gonna give them away for free, especially to a peasant girl." The man then spat on her, shocking Honoka and Maki. Maki immediately ran over as fast as she could, but it was a bit difficult due to the fact that she was wearing heels.
"A-ah, Princess Nishikino!" the market owner gave a smile when he saw the princess. "I see you're here to tell this peasant to go back to where she belongs."
"Actually, no." the man's smile faded. "I'm here to tell you to give this girl food."
The market owner was shocked by the girl's words. "B-but...Princess Nishikino, it's a peasant girl. Her family deserves to die!"
Infuriated, Maki slapped the market owner, making the crowd of people watching, Honoka, and the guards gasp. "You're disgusting! I would shut your market down if it wasn't the only thing feeding the town! This girl is trying to save her family, and you treat her so rudely!" she looked down at Honoka. " T-this girl...she doesn't deserve to be treated this way!"
The market owner gulped. "I-I'm sorry, Princess Nishikino...I'll give her many fruits and bread." he ran away quickly, hurriedly gathering the food to give it to Honoka.
The orange-haired female who was on the ground stood up. "Princess..." she had a look of shock on her face. "W-why did you do that for me? I was sure you hated me..."
"I don't hate you, Honoka. In fact..." Maki knew she was about to confess, so she paused. "I like you - as a friend, of course. Even if we have barely talked. Also, call me Maki." Maki smiled.
Honoka smiled. "M-Maki, then..."
After hearing about how much Maki seemed to like this girl from the guards, the royal family gave the struggling family money and a home. Maki helped Honoka and her family settle in.
This would be their last encounter for a while.
Weeks and weeks passed, and Maki was getting used to not being stuck in the castle all day again. In fact, the royal family had probably forgotten about the threat since then. It was as if it never existed. But, the threat was real. One day, when Maki was in her nightgown and about to go to bed, she heard a loud boom outside. Frightened, she looked outside her window to see that a cannon had hit the castle gate. She saw soldiers from another kingdom with guns, ready to attack. Immediately, the door opened. Maki turned to it and saw her head maid, Nozomi, with another maid, Eli.
"Princess, the kingdom has attacked! Come with us!" Maki didn't hesitate to run over to them and grabbed Nozomi's hand, running down the large staircase and outside where a horse and carriage was waiting for her. Her mother and father came out after her, all three of them then entering the carriage and riding away from the castle. "F-father...are we really just going to leave everything in there?"
Her father shook his head. "Do not worry. Our soldiers should be heading out now."
As they headed down the streets with frightened people rushing to get out of their homes, she noticed that farther down buildings were damaged, some crumbling and falling down to the ground. The kingdom was even hurting innocent people...Maki then noticed something else. Honoka's home was one of those buildings. She immediately jumped out of the carriage, running down to her home, despite hearing her mother, father, and several guards calling for her to come back. She had to make sure her friend was okay. When she made it to the home, she saw that the home was tumbling down, the wood breaking into pieces and then falling. Maki was scared as she didn't see or hear anyone. She thought they were all already dead, until she heard a soft voice say her name.
"M-Maki..is that you...?" it was obviously Honoka's. Maki looked down and saw Honoka under some wooden planks, obviously stuck. Her eyes were glossy, and it was apparent that she had been crying. Maki kneeled down to make sure she was okay. "My family's dead...and I think it's almost my turn to go." she said, looking up. The worried princess followed her eyes and saw what was left of the upstairs area wobbling, about to fall down on Honoka. Maki's eyes widened and she grabbed Honoka's hand.
"No! You're not dying! I'm gonna get you out of there, I promise, Honoka!" she tugged and pulled, but it was no use. Maki's eyes began to tear up as she continued pulling. Suddenly, four hands lifted the wooden plank on Honoka's back. Maki looked up and saw Nozomi and Eli, both with smiles on their faces. They set the large plank down on the ground next to them. Then, all three of them helped pull Honoka out, and just in time. As soon as Honoka was out, the whole building collapsed. Honoka hugged Maki, Maki wrapping her arms around the girl as well. Suddenly, they heard a gunshot not far away from them. Both girls pulled away, afraid. Honoka grabbed her hand and pulled her down the alley next to the collapsed building, then dragging the girl into the back of a shop behind the collapsed building. She gently pulled the girl down behind the counter.
Honoka gulped, and then spoke. "Maki, I know we should've went with your family, but I need to talk to you." she grabbed both of Maki's hands. "I love you, Maki. I really do want you to marry me. I've been in love with you ever since that day when we were kids, to be honest...the fact that you, a princess, wanted to marry me, was enough for me. However, I realize that you were only three now and you were probably just speaking mindlessly, haha..."
"H-Honoka...to tell you the truth, I love you too." Maki offered a smile, grasping her hands tighter. "I wasn't sure if I was really in love at first, but now I know for sure. I love you, Honoka. I-I really want to marry you..." Maki blushed.
"Really? I'm so happy, Maki..."
There was a silence, though it wasn't awkward. They were just enjoying each other's presence and smiling at each other. Eventually, the two girls began to lean in, both with closed eyes until their lips met and they shared a kiss. They didn't even notice that Nozomi and Eli had walked in just a few moments ago.
and that's it! i hope you enjoyed the story! as i have one other request to do, i ask that you do not request anything until further notice!