A/N: Hello and welcome to The Best Lies! If you're new here, I'm excited to see what you think of this story that I've spent entirely too much time on—hopefully, you'll love it a fraction as much as I do C: Also please don't read the reviews—spoilers D: If you're one of my followers, I hope the revisions I've done make the story noticeably better (for one, I added chapter titles!).

Updates are scheduled for Saturdays, and sometimes a random weekday if I have time.


Chapter 1: Assignment

One hot summer night in Kakariko City, a baby girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was found on the doorstep of Impa, a young Sheikah. Tucked into the child's blanket was a note:

Please take care of Link.

No one knew it at that time, but the cycle that was older than Hyrule itself, one that had been all but forgotten, had been quietly set into motion once more.


18 years later

Location: Kakariko City

"Your mission is a simple one: enter the Royal Academy as a student and investigate both the students and faculty for any potential Yiga spies and determine their intentions if possible. Other agents will be on standby to remove them for interrogation as needed." Impa lowered the Slate she was perusing and handed it to Link, who stood at attention as the Sheikah relayed the instructions. Link scanned the contents displayed on the tablet's screen—specially encrypted documents with pictures and profiles of confirmed and suspected Yiga spies, school entrance forms, and her own false identity profile—and nodded. Everything looked to be in order.

"Understood, Impa," the Hylian told the white-haired Sheikah. Then Link suddenly did a double-take, scrolling to the false identity page and scanning through it quickly, wondering if she'd seen what she thought she'd seen.

Name: Link Forrester.

Age: 18.

Sex: Male.

Birthplace: Kakariko City.

Area of Study: Liberal Arts.

"Wait—you want me to go undercover as a boy…?"

Impa nodded, completely serious. "The Yiga will have grown suspicious after being exposed so many times by a female agent. Besides, no one will think twice about a boy named Link."

The Hylian remained quiet, thinking over her mentor's words. Indeed, she had exposed many Yiga members under various disguises, but most of those disguises had been as a girl, naturally; only once or twice had she pretended to be a boy, years ago before puberty had fully hit. The Yiga didn't know her name was Link—after all, who named a girl Link?—they only knew that she was a female agent with fierce eyes. She already was in the habit of keeping her blonde hair short, tied up in a tiny ponytail, for the sake of fitting it under wigs; her chest was passably flat, nothing she couldn't hide; and the Goddesses had gifted her with a voice that was neither feminine nor masculine, though she had mastered voice mimicking and could reach almost any range. Her face was delicate, but her body was toned from a lifetime of physical training.

It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to claim she wasn't a girl. Actually, she had to wonder why she hadn't been assigned more male roles before now. Going deep undercover as the opposite sex, though…

"This will be an interesting challenge," she finally said, smiling confidently. "The Yiga won't know what hit them. Any other orders?"

Impa stood and crossed her arms. "Yes. Keep watch over Zelda Nohansen. We suspect she may be the Yiga's target."

"Zelda, of the royal family?" An image of a blonde girl, ever-smiling, popped into Link's head, familiar from the media. Despite the efforts of the royal family to stay out of the spotlight, the media was always fawning over the so-called Princess. No longer a monarchy, Hyrule still loved to cling to its legends and traditions.

"Correct." Impa nodded, the braid on the side of her face swinging as she did so. "I've placed you in two classes with her. It is up to you whether to befriend her or keep your distance; whichever you think will work best for the mission."

Link dropped down to one knee, head bowed, in the Sheikah sign of obedience. "Understood! I'll leave right away."


The next week, Sunday

Location: Hyrule Royal Academy of Higher Education, Farore Dorms

Link stared at her roommate with a bored expression, who was reprimanding her—yet again—for walking around with a towel draped over her wet hair. Something about health and manners and image, some such nonsense.

"Wet hair doesn't give people colds, Vaati," she said with a yawn, interrupting his monologue.

Her roommate scowled and crossed his arms. "Then at least don't leave the towel on the floor! Don't you care about your image at all?" His red eye (the right one was hidden by his long violet bangs) scanned Link's pajama-clothed figure quickly. Apparently, what he saw didn't please him, because he scowled more.

"This is my image—I'm not the weird one!" She gestured at Vaati's hair. It was even longer than Link's, a soft purple color, part of it tied in a little ponytail, the rest left to hang down to his shoulders. "You're the one who's obsessed with your image, with your perfectly silky hair and manicures."

"Says the guy with earrings!" Vaati retorted hotly, losing his cool.

"You're just jealous," Link replied smoothly.

Vaati glared, then stomped out of the dorm room with a huff.

Link grinned. Vaati's anger didn't really bother her. It was actually quite fun to see the usually cool, reserved man completely lose it when pestered by Link. She'd been regularly antagonizing him since their first meeting a week ago.

"Am I in the right room?" Link had asked when she entered her new room for the first time and saw her roommate. Vaati had looked up from his dark purple suitcase that was lying open on one of the beds, squinting like he was confused. "I mean…" Link amended. She had waved her dorm info paper and pointed to it. "Are you Vaati?"

The violet haired Hylian nodded, still squinting. "And you are…?"

"I'm Link, your new roommate! I was kind of a last-minute assignment; hope you don't mind!" she had said as she dumped her bags and suitcase into a pile at the foot of the other bed and graced him with a grin.

He had stared at her for a long time. She could see his jaw clench, and then he sighed. "Welcome to your new room, then. Make yourself at home…" Vaati shook her hand when she offered it. Then, without a further word, he returned to his unpacking.

Not exactly the warm welcome she'd been expecting, but it had looked like he hadn't been expecting her at all in the first place. She watched her new roommate, observing the person she'd be staying with for the foreseeable future. Shoulder-length purple hair, bangs hiding one eye, the other accented with a tattoo that looked like a cut, a slender figure, hands that looked and felt more delicate than her own, the graceful way he moved… Frankly, Vaati was gorgeous. Feeling mischievous, she had decided to say so. "Anyone ever tell you how gorgeous you are?" she said, sliding over to her roommate.

Vaati's hands froze and his wide eyes shot up to her face. "Wha… what the heck kind of comment is that?" he sputtered, eyes narrowing as his surprise turned to annoyance.

"What, I'm only telling the truth!" Link had reached over and grabbed a section of his hair. It was as soft and silky as it looked, cool and pleasant to touch. She smiled even as Vaati began to scowl. "You're probably one of the most gorgeous guys…"—she leaned forward and brought the strand of hair close to her face; it smelled gently of shampoo—"…I've ever met."

"Wha-what the heck is with you?!" Vaati spluttered, scrambling back with significantly less graceful movements than before, eyes narrowed, and face flushed. Definitely angry. "I'm not your—not some—just get off me, will you?!"

Link had retreated to her side of the room, chuckling at her roommate's newfound weakness.

The Hylian sat on her bed, ruffling her hair with the towel as she thought. Classes would begin tomorrow. Out of her four classes, three contained either students or professors that were on the suspect list and two were with Zelda Nohansen. One also happened to be with Vaati, a fact the violet-haired man frequently lamented.

Certainly, trying to study as well as monitor the suspects, watch over Zelda, and conceal her identity all at once, were going to make for an interesting time. The girl sighed and fell onto her back, staring up at the ceiling, contemplating her next actions. Her character as the male student Link Forrester had no predetermined personality, so it was up to her to decide how friendly to be or not. Making friends gave her a greater ability to observe but also carried the risk of being suspected if she did not properly gain their trust. Staying distant granted her anonymity but limited her chances of getting evidence.

"The best lies are the ones you don't have to make up." Impa's words came to her. It was back when she was not even a teen, during yet another lecture about acting out a believable alter ego. Link was notoriously bad at lying; she found it impossible to keep her eyes from straying and giving her away, let alone come up with lies on the spot.

"Not everything you say when you are undercover has to be a lie," Impa had continued. "For example, if I ask where you are from, you can say Kakariko City. Not every time, mind you, but when you need to convince the other person that you are not lying, then it helps to tell the truth."

Link smiled to herself. Perhaps she was overthinking it all. After all, things like where she was from, hobbies, past-times, and the like were unknown to the Yiga. Being herself was just as good a disguise as any other. Well, minus the being-a-girl part. Being herself… that was a rare opportunity.

She tossed the wet towel to the floor, not caring that Vaati would yell at her later for it, and spread herself on the bed more comfortably. It was only 8 in the evening, but she was impatient for tomorrow to come. Tomorrow would be when she truly began her mission. The past week had only been an introduction. Tomorrow she would meet Zelda Nohansen, she would begin her analysis of the professors and students, she would begin to integrate herself into the school. She envisioned every interaction, every conversation, playing it like a movie in her head, imagining her new life here at the Academy.