Co-written with miss mika namariya! We own nothing. :)
Kyoko realized that her task of finding the Prince's True Love would require both dedication and discretion. She sent her minion spirits circulating to gather intel throughout the palace, but while the helpers came back with all sorts of interesting information and plenty of court gossip, her sentries turned up no leads on the Prince's True Love among any of the eligible young noblewomen at court.
So the bodyguard went to the library. Kanae had lifted an eyebrow at Kyoko's sudden interest in the subject of True Love, but was otherwise silent as she dug up a stack of reading material for her friend. Unfortunately, Kyoko did not find reading about other people's True Loves to be particularly enlightening. The only advice she found was directed at people trying to find their own soulmates, and it was all vague platitudes: to be patient, to be open to possibilities, that True Love can come from unexpected places, etc.
Kyoko realized that if she was going to find the Prince's True Love, she was going to have to take a more direct approach.
Kyoko stared at Kuon. This in itself was not unusual; she was his guard, so she spent a lot of her time looking at him — that is, the time that was not spent looking for potential dangers. The odd thing was that he could see her staring. As in, she was sitting across from him as he picked at his lunch. Just staring. Normally, he would have been happy to have her attention, but this was a little unnerving.
"Do I have something on my face?" he half-joked.
"No, it's perfectly clean." She continued to stare at him over her own clear plate.
"Ribbit," commented Sir Hoppington from his tank. It was a specially made aquarium that took up most of one of the walls of the living area in Kuon's suite. He was a very happy, very spoiled frog. Kyoko personally brought in bugs for him every morning.
"Then why…?"
"I'm sorry!" She bowed abruptly, almost smacking her forehead on the table. Kuon started; he still did not know why she apologized so dramatically. "I was just - I heard some talk, and -!"
"It's okay, please stop that!"
"Ribbit!" Sir Hoppington jumped around in his tank, distressed.
Kyoko stilled herself. "Right, sorry. Um." She fidgeted.
He smiled; she was just too cute like this. "What did you hear?"
"Nothing bad! I just - some people were talking about how you still haven't found your True Love." A soft pink dusted her cheeks as she said this, giving him a shred of hope that her next words dashed. "So I was wondering if I had been remiss in my duties."
"How so?" Did his food taste saltier on this bite, or was that just him?
"Well, as your guard, I am also supposed to guard your happiness," she said. He glanced up at her, wondering where on earth she had gotten that notion. "So I was trying to figure out how to broach the topic of helping you find your True Love, which led to my staring. Please forgive my rudeness!"
Kuon stared at her, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to slam his head into his lunch. You could try looking in a mirror, he bit back. "Uh. Sure." Years of diction training, wasted.
"So!" She was all smiles again as she produced parchment and one of Duke Takarada's featherless quills from unknown pockets. "Tell me what your True Love would be like, so I can help you look!"
"That's not necessary. I'm not going to meet her." I already have.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Kyoko brandished her featherless quill at him. "Your True Love is out there somewhere, I just know it!"
"Ribbit!" said Sir Hoppington.
"See? Sir Hoppington agrees with me." She shot him a smug look. He wanted to kiss it off of her face.
"How would you look for your True Love, then?"
"Oh, I don't need to."
Oh. He took another bite of his food, not really tasting it. Oh, of course. She's amazing. She's probably gone on loads of adventures and found her True Love already. The delicious food turned to sand in his mouth. Of course.
Kyoko was staring at him again, not that he noticed it. Her helpers danced around him, wondering why he was suddenly in such a funk. Her eyes widened. Of course! For people who had True Loves, it must be very disheartening to not have found them yet. But that was just all the more reason for her to help him look! After all, as his guard, she needed to protect his heart from sadness. That was why it pained her to see him so down - she was a professional. That's all.
"Ribbit? Rib-rib?" Sir Hoppington splashed around in his tank, wondering what was happening with his favorite two-leggers.
"Don't worry, Your Highness!" She beamed at him, trying to infect him with a winning spirit. Enthusiasm was half the battle! "We'll work together to find your True Love!"
He sighed and looked up at her, her smile making him feel a little better despite himself. "Alright. Just… promise to stay with me until I find her?"
"Of course!" If her smile got any brighter, it would've blinded him. But why did it look somewhat… forced? "After all, I am your loyal guard!"
"Rib-rib!" croaked Sir Hoppington, splashing joyfully around in his tank.
"So," Kyoko said, materializing at Kuon's elbow in the library and making him almost jump out of his skin, "tell me what you would look for in your True Love."
Kuon had had a lot of time to think since their lunchtime discussion. Most people did not find their True Love, and those that did generally married right away. So maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that Kyoko hadn't found hers yet. Maybe she was so focused on duty that she did not have time to worry about True Love. Or maybe Duke Takarada had some sort of True Love detecting spell that he used for his trainees, and he hadn't cast it on Kyoko yet. Or maybe she was just shy, and he was her True Love. He liked that last option the best, so he laid his answer on thick. Subtlety, thy name is not Hizuri. "She would be strong, passionate, and really fun to be around - always full of surprises. Given my relationship with food, she would need to be a great cook. She would be caring, thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and about your height and strength. Oh, and she would love animals, but especially frogs."
"I see." She did not. "Then I'll take Sir Hoppington around to test people in court. She may be closer than we think!"
"She definitely is," he muttered as she vanished. "But she's denser than I thought, too."
"Moko!" For once, Kyoko did not jump on the girl she had long since claimed as her best friend. The reason announced himself with a gentle ribbit from her palm.
"No." Kanae did not even look up from her book.
"What do you mean, 'no?'"
"No, I don't want to be any part of whatever harebrained scheme you've thought of that involves your and the prince's frog."
"Sir Hoppington is his own frog!" Kyoko corrected her with a pout. "And you haven't even heard what I was going to say!"
"Fine, tell me." She put in a bookmark and shut the tome.
"So, I was thinking that you might be the prince's True Love-"
"Nope." Kanae opened her book and went back to reading. "Don't even want to know why the frog's involved."
"-because," she continued, undeterred, "you're so absolutely amazing. The only thing you're missing from his list is height, because you're a little taller than his example. Well, that, and I didn't know if you loved frogs or just liked them."
"What example?" she asked flatly.
"Well, me, because I was there at the time, and -"
Kanae slammed her head into her book.
"Moko!"
"Ribbit!"
Kanae mumbled something that sounded like "of all the stupid" before sitting up. "Frogs are just… slimy little creatures. I know he's your baby or whatever, but please get him out of the library."
"It's not slime, it's mucous," she corrected. Sir Hoppington croaked his affirmation.
"That's worse. You realize that's worse, right?" She sighed. "Seriously, please get him away from my book. It's very old."
Kyoko puffed out her cheeks in frustration. Sir Hoppington patted her hand with one of his tiny, mucous-covered feet. "But Moko, you're so close! No one else we know fits his description!"
She rolled her eyes. "Tell me what he said."
Kyoko repeated what he had said, verbatim.
"Nope, not happening. You're on your own on this one."
"But-!"
"Why are you so hung up on helping him find his True Love, anyway? That's not usually a bodyguard's duty."
"I overheard Their Royal Majesties talking about why I was brought to the palace. I need to help him find his True Love!" She straightened her shoulders. "Besides, keeping him healthy - physically and emotionally - is my job."
"Ribbit!"
"Why does the frog agree? Why can I tell that the frog is agreeing?" Kanae shook her head. "Nope, never mind. Not getting involved."
"Moko!"
"Kyoko!" She matched her tone.
"This is important!"
"And so is the book I'm trying to read. I need to have this information ready in an hour, and these pages are too fragile to fan through." As if to prove her point, a tiny fleck broke off of one of the leaves.
"Oh." Her helpers, who had been about to wrap around her best friend, retreated to pet Sir Hoppington instead. "I'm sorry for bothering you when you're working, Moko."
"Yeah, yeah. Good luck with your frog quest."
Sir Hoppington smiled a froggy smile, understanding what the one who held him did not.
Kyoko marched through the hallways, the scowl on her face matching the one on Sir Hoppington's. Why did no one in court like frogs? Sir Hoppington, for his part, was grumpy that so many two-leggers had screamed in his face. So rude! Didn't they know he was a knight? He croaked indignantly.
"I know, I know," Kyoko soothed, petting him. "They were so mean. But don't worry. We'll find the prince's True Love eventually!"
Sir Hoppington made baleful eye contact with a tapestry.
Kuu, unable to restrain himself any longer, joined his son for lunch two days later. "How's my boy?" he asked, bursting into Kuon's room.
"Hi, Dad," Kuon replied, long used to this treatment. He set aside the reports he had been reading. "I'm okay. How are you doing?"
"Excellent, now that I've come to join my favorite son for lunch!" He caught Kuon up in a bear hug. "It's time I saw what was keeping you locked up in here every noon."
At that moment, she entered the room. "Lunchtime - hello, Your Majesty." Kyoko gave the best bow she could while holding a tray of food. She set it down, then signaled to one of the other guards to get more food for Kuu. "I take it you will be joining us?"
Kuu's eyes widened at that 'us.' "You two eat together every day?" He tried and failed to hide his grin.
"Yes, to ensure that the prince eats." She started setting up their lunch. "Though since you are here, my presence will not be necessary."
Kuu was too distracted by the food to protest that. "Well, it smells delicious. Which chef made this?"
"Oh, I did." She slid plates in front of both of them. "I've let the kitchens know to bring your lunch up here, Your Majesty. Excuse me." She bowed and vanished before either royal could say another word.
"Ribbit," said Sir Hoppington, snacking on the bugs she had brought him. Kuon gave the frog a fond smile before sighing and starting to eat.
Kuu took one bite and thought he saw the afterlife (in a good way. Not in the way that the "ordinary health juice" would make him see it). "We should make her a full-time chef."
"No!" Kuon said far too quickly. "I mean… no. I need her as a bodyguard."
"We would get you another one," Kuu said, momentarily distracted from his matchmaking mission by his stomach.
"But she's the best," Kuon argued. "Duke Takarada said so."
Kuu hesitated, torn between his stomach and his son.
"Please don't take her away," Kuon begged. "She - there could be danger. For me. Your only son."
His son won. "Alright. How could I say no to that face?" He reached across the table and ruffled Kuon's hair.
Kuon let out a sigh of relief and took a bite of his lunch.
"I might just have to start joining you for lunch, though, if you're going to eat like this!" He was only half-teasing.
"No!" Kuon yelped again. "We're very busy, Dad." If Kuu started eating with them, he may never get a moment alone with Kyoko again.
"We?" Kuu teased. "Oh, I see. Very busy." He winked.
Kuon's face burned.
"Wouldn't want to get in the way of meeting my grandkids - er, meat. Meat consumption." He chuckled to himself.
Kuon buried his vividly red face in his hands with a groan.
"Are you coming down with a fever again?" Kyoko appeared out of nowhere, suddenly very close to the prince. "We should get you to bed right away if you are. We don't want a repeat of last time."
"Absolutely," Kuu said. "Kyoko, do whatever you need to do to get him in bed." His grin was wide. "Tie him up - I mean, down - if necessary. I'll leave you to it." He stood up, taking his plate with him, and left the room. He couldn't wait to tell Julie about how cute their son had looked!
"Your father is so nice," Kyoko said as she helped (read: forced) Kuon to stand up and walk over to his bed. "He cares about your health so much."
"Yes. My health. He wasn't talking about anything else. Just my health." He glanced down at her pleadingly. "Please don't make me drink that juice again. I'm feeling better."
"Let me check." Kyoko tugged him down and touched her forehead to his.
His face turned beet red.
"BED."
Kuon had to drink the ordinary health juice.
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