It's not allowed, something she knows better than to do, but yet she slips out of the ball and down the street with the ease of familiarity. This path is not an odd one for her, even though Kiki isn't supposed to be taking it. But she'd done her part at the ball, looked reserved and wealthy and fulfilled all the little steps of her social requirement, and her big ballgown that was the color of the sea meeting the grass isn't more than a hindrance now.
And there, he is! Off to the side, watching the moon and the stars, an almost guest, if she could have gotten him in or even given him a suit to wear. But the questions would be immeasurable, and she knows that even her social standing can't fix something like that.
"Hello." She greets him, leaning half against the building.
"Don't get your dress dirty!" He half-chides, but really laughs. He's happy to see her.
"It will be fine." Kiki tells him, reassures him, and Mitsuhide grins back at her.
"I don't want to get them angry." He tells her, as if there are a million excuses or maybe as many as the stars that rest in the sky.
"They'll be angry enough as is." Kiki tells him anyway, knowing that it will twist his smile into a frown that almost resembles a contemplative pout.
"I don't want that." He tells her, and Kiki takes his hand in hers, and gives it a gentle squeeze.
"I know." She lets her voice drop down to a whisper, lets the night encircle them for now.
"I don't want to get you in trouble." He tells her instead, instead of giving up or just making the moment draw to a close and a new one take over.
"We're in love." Kiki tells him and raises their joined hands, "I'm not sure if there is a way to not get us in trouble."
Mitsuhide gives her a blank look, "You shouldn't let me ruin everything."
"It won't be ruined." Kiki tells him, "No matter what happens after, besides they are too concerned with money and titles anyway."
"Kiki." Mitsuhide and her can play this dance too many times over, but to her, it doesn't matter what could fall apart, as long as they are together. Her father isn't an unjust man, and perhaps that's what reassures her.
"It will be fine." She tells him, wants Mitsuhide to know that no matter the struggle, they will get through this together.
"Your family and mine are very different." He speaks the obvious as if it weren't so, "I'm not the kind of man that your father would like to come around and ask for your hand in marriage."
"But you're better than the men that he'd like to see the titles and wealth of." Kiki argues, "And he'd come around to liking you."
"I don't even own a proper suit." Mitsuhide argues.
"We can get you one." And Kiki isn't even sure if she could get him one without getting in trouble, and yet, she wants to, wants to risk this.
Mitsuhide's honest and straightforward and sometimes too much by the book, but he's also kind and compassionate, not one eager for fancy titles or wealth. He's not manipulative nor cunning. He's fun to be around, and laughs sometimes a bit too easily, but it's reassuring and gentle, and so much better than the ball she scurried away from.
He's like starlight to her, bright and twinkling, and so different from the place she came from, from what she's always known. He's genuine and that's a part of why she loves him so much.
"I don't know how." He tells her, giving up, letting their argument fade away.
"I don't either." Kiki agrees, letting it fade too, siding with him, if there was a way to make this work, she'll find it. She knows there has to be something, and she's just stubborn enough to find a solution somehow.
"You're smart." Mitsuhide tells her, and he's grinning as his eyes return to the stars above.
"So are you." She says it to watch his cheeks turn just a little bit more pink.
"I haven't had your education." He tells her, just to deflect a little from the compliment.
"But yet you really are smart." Kiki tells him, and when Mitsuhide turns towards her, she sees the beginning of hope in his eyes. They might have a long way to go as of yet, but she knows that somehow they'll make it through.