Co-written with miss mika namariya, we own nothing, yada yada enjoy. xD

The next few days on the road were quiet and uneventful, at least for the most part. The country surrounding the palace and castle town was dotted with small farming villages, and Kuon and Kyoko walked past bountiful fields of crops that seemed to be soaking in the last days of strong summer sun before harvest time. Kyoko dragged Kuon through every market and town square— no matter how small. The bodyguard found some excuse to talk to every woman between the age of fifteen and fifty, glancing hopefully at the Prince each time. But none of them turned out to be his True Love. Kuon would make polite— if somewhat awkward— conversation, then quickly make an excuse to depart. He claimed that he didn't feel a spark. There was nothing the bodyguard could do but accept this response, since it wasn't like she had any expertise of her own to offer. Kyoko only hoped that the Prince would know when he found whatever it was he was looking for.

But all in all, they were getting along rather well. Except for the fact that there was only one bedroll, and two of them. Sir Hoppington had never been gladder for his specially-made tank.

"I'm telling you, it's inappropriate!" Kyoko said, glaring up at Kuon even as she moved some branches out of his way.

"And I'm telling you that there's no way I can let you sleep on the cold ground!"

"It's really not a big deal, I did it all the time on trips at the academy —"

"Duke Takarada made you sleep on the dirt?"

"—No, but people would steal my bedroll, so it's not like I'm not used to it." While he gaped at how casually she said this, she barrelled on, "So I can just make beds out of leaves or grass or whatever's around. It's not that bad, really."

"So then let me sleep on it, and you take the bedroll."

"Don't be absurd! You're royalty!"

At which point Kuon said something both very smart and very stupid: "Then I order you to sleep in the damn bedroll!"

Kyoko froze. On one hand, she had to keep him safe. On the other hand, she couldn't refuse an order from the royal family. Her assistants, who had been loving this argument and feeding off of it, took sides and started arguing in her head. She managed to spit out, "There's no way that I can follow an order that puts you at risk like that—"

"Then share it with me!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

The rest of the afternoon was spent in grumpy silence.

LINE BREAK

After camp had been pitched and tempers had cooled a bit, the pair were faced with the reality of their decision. That being, they had to actually share a bedroll. Externally, both of them appeared to be perfectly blase about the situation. Internally, they were both screaming.

Kuon, too flustered to remember that dinner was a normal thing that healthy people ate, immediately unrolled the bedroll and crawled into it.

Kyoko squinted up at the sun and then looked back at him. "Are you feeling alright? It's not even eight. We haven't had dinner."

He blushed. "I was uh, just making sure that the sheets were — were spread out. Yeah." Smooth, Kuon. Smooth.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I brought some of my juice with me, just in case."

DEAR GOD NO. If Kuon never tasted the Ordinary Health Juice again, it would be too soon. He scrambled out of the bedroll. "I'm hale and hearty! Let's eat."

She seemed to accept this, but kept an extra-sharp eye on him all through dinner. And when it was finally time for them to go to bed, hunkered down right next to him underneath the blanket, saying, "It's a good thing we're sharing. I don't want you to catch a chill, so any body heat helps."

So does that mean I can hug her? Kuon went to shift himself, but felt something hard. Strange. "Hold on, there's a stick under your back or something."

She rolled over to face him. "No, that's my sleeping knife."

"Your what?"

She blinked up at him. "My… sleeping knife. For sleeping with. In case of attacks. I also have my sleeping machete under the pillow, so please don't stick your hand under there."

"...Okay."

She rolled back over, reasoning to herself that her back generally produced more heat than her front, and scooched back against him. She was not thinking about how he was plenty warm himself, or about how broad his chest was against her back. Or about how… huh? "Hey, you have a sleeping knife, too. Why were you surprised about mine?"

"It's NOTHING!" Kuon rolled over faster than even Kyoko thought possible, before she could even question if his sleep pants had pockets — in which he was obviously holding said knife (they did not).

"No, wait, let me see!" She sat up, excited by the prospect of sharp things. "I want to compare our knives —"

"No, I mean yes, I mean —" Gods, if you're listening, please help!

"RIBBIT!" Sir Hoppington scolded them from inside his tank. He was trying to sleep here, thank you!

"Sorry, Sir Hoppington," Kyoko whispered meekly. Instead of trying to reach around Kuon to grab his knife, which was absolutely a weapon but not in the way she thought, she just wrapped her arms around him. She wasn't much of a big spoon — more of a backpack— but she needed to keep him warm.

At least, that's what they both told themselves.

LINE BREAK

Kyoko woke up later that night feeling safer than she could ever remember feeling. For a few moments, she just let herself relax into the feeling. She'd been having such a lovely dream, but she couldn't remember it. Maybe it had to do with how comfortable she was, how warm, how secure.

Wait a minute. Where was she?

Kyoko opened her eyes and found the prince's chest inches from her face. It took all of her training not to scream. She was — she was cuddled up with the prince! His arms were around her! Their legs were intertwined! This was… was… awful! Inappropriate! She shouldn't feel comfortable — she should be worried about being thrown in the stocks! What would his True Love think?

For that matter, why was she so comfortable sleeping like this? She never felt this safe. It made no sense; his heavy arms put her at a tactical disadvantage. She shook her head and resisted burying her face in his chest. This was a disaster. She should've slept in a tree.

In the distance, an owl hooted.

Owls were wise. Maybe it would know why she was like this. Wise, like Moko — Moko! Of course! It all made sense now — this was just like when she and Moko used to share a campsite during training, and would huddle together for warmth. She must be feeling comfortable around the prince because they were finally becoming friends.

With that crisis averted and her minions face-palming, she settled in and fell back asleep.

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