Co-written with miss mika namariya! We own nothing.
Kuon knew that Kyoko was elsewhere, since he was being followed around the castle by some other guards he could see. He had miraculously finished his princely paperwork for the moment, so he was searching for his favorite guard. Strangely enough, he found her… sticking a poster to the wall.
"What are you doing?" Bizarrely, she jumped. That small action gave him pause. Whatever she was doing, it was important enough that she had let her crystal-sharp defenses dull.
"Putting up a poster," she replied, bending down to pick up a very large stack of said posters.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the posters. She handed him one. It read, TOADS: The Ovation Amphibians Deserve Society. He blinked. Below the title was an adorable, hand-drawn frog, with some information below it inviting anyone who loved frogs and other amphibians to come to a meeting in a fortnight's time. "Okay, I appreciate a good amphibian as much as the next guy, but… why?"
"To help you find your True Love, of course," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
The other guards thought that then was a good time to make themselves scarce.
Kuon just stared at her. "What?"
"You said that, among other things, your True Love would need to be someone who loves frogs. I haven't found anyone so far just by taking Sir Hoppington around court or by scrying for them, so I thought that hosting a meeting of people who are really passionate about them would be a good place to start!" She beamed up at him so brightly that for a moment, he almost agreed with her — until he realized what she was saying.
"No, that — no." He shook his head and pulled the poster off of the wall.
Her jaw dropped. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
"I'm taking down the poster."
"You're sabotaging your chances!" She slapped the poster back onto the wall. "You're barely searching at all. I'm doing all the work here to find your True Love, so you could at least be supportive!"
He tugged her hand off of the parchment, letting it slide down the wall. "I just don't think this is the right way to do it!"
"Oh, and I suppose Your Highness has a better idea?" She snatched it up off of the floor and smacked it against the wall again. "I don't see you doing anything to find them!"
"Putting up a poster about toads isn't going to help!"
"What is, then, if you're so clever?" She glared up at him. "What's going to help? Where is your True Love?"
"Maybe she's in FRONT OF ME, ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT A POSTER!" If there ever was a moment for instant regret, this was it. Way to go, Kuon. Talk about the least romantic way possible to confess your love. The poster fluttered to the ground again.
(Un)fortunately, Kyoko did not seem to notice. "MAYBE SHE'S WAITING TO BE INVITED TO A FROG ENTHUSIAST GROUP!" She picked up the poster and stuck it determinedly to the wall. "And we'll never know if you don't let me put up these posters! Don't take it out on me, just find her and then you can argue with her about poster design all you like."
"You — you think this is about poster design?"
"What else could you mean?"
"I don't know, what else could I possibly mean?" He gave her a pointed, almost angry glare, more out of disbelief than anything.
She just raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Okay, then." As she turned away to go put up more posters, she muttered, "Your True Love is going to have to be truly something."
He threw his hands up in the air. "YES. Yes, she is. You have no idea." He turned on his heel and stormed off. Kyoko, noticing his lack of guards, stowed her posters in a secret passageway and followed in her ninja way.
(Line Break)
The next day, Kyoko strode determinedly into the library. So far, Kanae was her best bet — all she was missing was height, and after all, she had never said directly if she liked frogs or not. "Moko!" She launched herself at her friend, who dodged expertly. "How do you feel about frogs?"
"You're not getting me to come to your weird meeting." Kanae fixed her hair, which had gotten mussed when she dodged.
"But. Do you like. Frogs."
Kanae leaned back in her chair, freaked out by her best friend's intensity. "Uh… they're okay, I guess? Some have good poisons."
"Great!" Kyoko picked Kanae up in a princess carry. "Come with me."
"What? Kyoko! Let me go!" Kanae flailed and writhed, but to no avail. Kyoko was too strong. She carried her through the castle to a section she had only been in twice before. "Kyoko, don't you dare —"
Unfortunately, Kyoko did dare. She walked right into the prince's chambers and set Kanae down across from him in his sitting area, where Kuon had been deep in conversation with a blasé Sir Hoppington.
Kanae and Kuon stared at each other with mutual understanding and exasperation. Sir Hoppington broke the silence with a, "Ribbit."
Kanae sighed through her nose. "Actually, Kyoko, you know what? I'd like to speak with His Highness privately."
Kyoko smiled, but something seemed off about it. "Okay!"
As soon as she had left, Kanae turned to the prince. "Permission to be honest?"
"Granted." He folded his hands in his lap.
"You need to get your shit together."
"Wh- I'm trying!" At this point, Kuon did not even question how or why the Archive knew how he felt about her best friend. He knew that it had to be an open secret at court — and if anyone knew the court's secrets, it would be the Archive.
"Then explain why she thinks I'm your True Love or whatever BS she's spouting about frogs."
Kuon did, outlining the previous day's argument for her. "...so I said it to her face and she STILL thought I was talking about the POSTER."
Kanae sighed the type of long-suffering sigh that could only come from seeing a simple truth where others saw a jigsaw puzzle. "Obviously."
Kuon just stared at her.
"Look, either you get Kyoko-logic or you don't. If you don't, stop wasting your time trying to understand." When he looked like he was about to interrupt, she held up a hand to stop him. "I'm not saying give up on her. I'm saying you just need to change tactics. Look —" She paused and rummaged in her pockets, finally finding some parchment and one of Duke Takarada's special quills that held their own ink. She scribbled a list of books down, some on battle tactics, some on rhetoric, and some romances. "Study up."
"What—"
"Or just court her until she notices. Bye." She stood, curtsied, and left before he could say another word.
Kyoko was waiting eagerly in the hallway. "How did it go? Did he confess his love? Can I be your Maid of Honor? Did —"
"Mo, no. Shush. I don't love frogs, remember? I just think they're useful."
Kyoko drooped from disappointment.
Kanae rolled her eyes fondly. "Go see your frog. It seems lonely." She patted Kyoko's shoulder and left for the library.
Kyoko shook her head and re-entered the prince's chambers. "If Moko doesn't do it for you, I don't know who will. She's perfect." She then leaned into Sir Hoppington's tank to pet him. "Moko said you were lonely. Have I not been paying enough attention to you? I'm sorry."
Kuon watched her baby their frog. "I just have very specific tastes."
(Line break)
"So," Kuon said to the air while on his afternoon walk, "what were you doing before you were assigned to guard me?"
Kyoko popped out of a bush, leaves sticking to her hair. "I was at the academy, studying — and of course, training with Princess Rosa."
"Princess Rosa?" He had heard her mention her before, but other than that did not know the name. She must have been from a far-off kingdom.
"Yes!" Kyoko smiled, a far-away look on her face. It was such a tender expression that Kuon couldn't bring himself to ask more about the princess.
(Line Break)
Kuon was in the library one day, sans Kyoko and with some visible guards, when he came across the Archive. She was sitting alone at a table, surrounded by the oldest tomes the castle had to offer. Given that this might be his only chance, he braved her icy demeanor and sat down across from her, attempting to look casual.
"Can I help you?" Her tone was clipped, but polite; after all, he was the prince.
"I was wondering if you could tell me something."
"Probably. Knowing things is my job."
Kuon steadfastly ignored the go away signals she was sending him. "So, Kyoko mentioned someone — a Princess Rosa. Could you tell me about her?"
"Oh, you haven't met her yet?" Kanae raised an eyebrow, actually looking up from her book. She nodded to herself. "I guess that makes sense."
"Kyoko really seems to like her," he pressed.
"Yeah, she loves her." Kanae went back to her book, disinterested in the conversation. "Her first love."
Oh. Oh.
"Really beautiful, perfectly balanced — exactly Kyoko's type."
No wonder Kyoko wasn't looking for her True Love. She'd already found her. "She's never — never thought about someone other than Princess Rosa? Like…." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely to himself.
Kanae, realizing what was happening, held in a snort. "Mmm, nope. Kyoko's a very dedicated, faithful girl. She does dual-wield, though, if you catch my drift."
He did catch it, but it didn't help. After all, what did it matter that Kyoko went both ways if she already had someone? She didn't seem the type to take multiple lovers, and what the Archive had said only confirmed that. He thanked her and left to go mope in his chambers.
He stared moodily into Sir Hoppington's tank. The lilypad Kyoko had brought in for it had grown enough to have a bloom. Maybe he should rethink the roses he had planned to give her; they would only remind her of his newly discovered rival.
Sir Hoppington croaked and hopped over to the side of his tank to stare back at the prince. He wished that he could make his two-legger feel better, but he did not know what was wrong. Besides, he was just a frog. A knight, yes, but also a frog. "Ribbit?"
"Has it been hopeless this whole time?"
Sir Hoppington settled himself on his rock and blinked up at Kuon.
"If she's anywhere near as dedicated to this princess as she is to her job…." He let the sentence trail off with a sigh. "Am I in the wrong here?"
The frog patted his rock with one mucousy foot.
"But," he paused, watching their frog as he mis-patted and almost slipped off the rock, "if they were True Loves, they would be married already, right? And Kyoko doesn't wear a ring or anything."
"Rib-rib."
"Though that could just be because it gets in her way."
"Rib!" protested Sir Hoppington.
"But if I was with my True Love, I'd want everyone to know." He stood up and started pacing. "She could have gotten a special-made one that's also a weapon or something."
"Ribbit!"
"See? You agree with me!" He paced a bit more, then said, "So there's a possibility that while Princess Rosa — whoever she is — is Kyoko's first love, she isn't her True Love."
"Ribbit-rib!"
"So I shouldn't give up."
"Rib-rib?"
"I can't just ask!" His cheeks tinged pink at the thought. "I can't ask the Duke, either. He'd just be obnoxious about it, and then everyone would know."
"Ribbit," sighed Sir Hoppington, turning around and retreating to one of his hidey-holes.
"Right. So I'll just… court her. Like the Archive said before. 'Just court her until she notices.'" He nodded, then strode over his desk to start making plans. Sir Hoppington snoozed in his tank, disinterested.
(Line Break)
Kuon had (somehow) convinced Kyoko to walk alongside him during his walk through the gardens. She walked very close to him — probably to be able to pull him out of the way of danger, he thought. After enough time passed for it to not be suspicious, he asked, "How do you feel about lilacs? Or lilies, they're nice, aren't they?"
She gave him a strange sidelong glance. "Sure? Are you getting into gardening?"
He shook his head. "I used to like roses, but now I'm thinking I should stay away from them." Shit. Why did I bring them up?
"Yes, thorns are dangerous!" she said with her usual vigor, then let out a wistful little sigh. "Roses are so pretty, though…."
Kuon watched her gaze dreamily at nothing for a moment before she snapped back into guard mode. The rest of the walk was a quiet one, Kuon lost in his thoughts and Kyoko scanning the area for danger. When he finally plucked up the courage to pick a flower for her, she thanked him with a brilliant smile.
"This is perfect! Sir Hoppington will love it!"