"I'm still wondering just how you managed to escape all the servants and Knights all over the castle," she comments out loud as she follows the Prince closely. The castle is extremely fortified, with a humongous number of Knights patrolling and servants doing their individual jobs. She highly doubts he could just sneak past everyone very easily.
That is, unless he is extremely stealthy because holy shit man has no footsteps it still freaks her the fuck out today even after finding out about it a long time ago.
There is also the opinion that King Nedzu might be quite lenient when it comes to his son, so maybe there's that.
She then notices him turns his head and looks at her over his shoulder. She narrows her eyes at him when she sees the glittering in his eyes.
Suddenly, he changes direction, no longer heading for the dining hall where she knows the King is awaiting.
"Where're you heading, Your Highness?"
She sees him shuddering at the title. She suppresses a cackle because he really dislikes being called that, especially by her. But she knows he is forced to endure it as the son of the King. That does not mean he is happy about it though.
Will it be okay to leave King Nedzu like this? He was called by the King for a little tea time together. Eh, it's probably fine.
The King loves his son anyway.
The Prince doesn't answer, causing her to snort. He still hasn't changed, huh?
Soon enough, she realizes that he is leading her to his personal chamber.
"Getting a little excited, ain't we?" she asks him, giving the back of his head a raised eyebrow look even if he can't see it.
"Not right now," he answers as he opens the door. She bites her lips to keep her lips from stretching, but she can't stop her cheeks from flushing red.
'Not right now' means later.
Entering his chamber, she is reminded just how barebone it is. It is elegant but there is barely anything inside beside the essentials, that being the bed, the closet and nightstand.
Somehow, it fits his personality.
The Prince then walks to a plain wall. She looks on, intrigued as he suddenly places a hand on it and slowly feels around. Her sensitive hearing suddenly picks up a quite mechanical click. The Prince takes a step back as the wall suddenly swings open.
"What in the living fuck is this?" she asks with her eyes wide as she stares at the opening. The Prince, the fucking ass that he is, doesn't answer her and enters the hidden door without hesitation. "Sho- Fucking-" She stumbles in her steps before she chases after him. As soon as she passes through the door, it closes itself behind her. She stares at it worriedly.
"It's fine. There's nothing to worry about," she hears the echo of the Prince's voice down further inside. Removing her eyes from the now closed door, she scans her surroundings. She seems to be inside some sort of a long and narrow hallway, large enough to fit two people side by side. There is barely any light in here, but her eyes spy a number of oil lanterns hanging by the low ceiling. She thinks they're inside the walls of the castle right now.
With nowhere else to do, she walks down the hallway. She finds the Prince waiting for her, holding onto a lantern.
"How did you find this place?" she asks as she walks up to him until their shoulders brush, standing much closer to him than when they are in public.
"Purely coincidence," he answers. She feels him slightly leans into her. In return, she interlaces their hands together. "I was just feeling around the room when I accidentally found the door. Ever since then, I had explored this hidden hallway and went to where they led."
After that said, he suddenly walks down the hallway as he holds up the lantern to illuminate the path. She follows him closely behind, still connected by the hands. She passes by numerous doors that are similar to the one she had entered from the Prince's chamber earlier, confirming that it's not exclusive to the Prince's chamber.
"Where're we heading?" she asks after passing many doors.
"You'll see," he merely replies. She shrugs her shoulders, seeing that he wants it to be a surprise. She doubts it's something unpleasant or one that might harm her.
He will never harm her.
Then, she realizes they're coming to an end of the hallway, where there is a door. She thinks that is where he's taking her. As they draw near, she sees something is hanging on the wall next to the door. When they finally reach the door, she realizes they are a pair of cloaks and a leather satchel. The Prince releases her hand as he hangs the lantern on a nail by the satchel.
"How long had you prepared this?" she asks as he takes both cloaks from the wall hanger. She takes the one from his hand when he holds it out to her.
"For a while," he answers, donning the cloak. She feels her lips quirk up. For a while, he says? That's an underestimation. "You can put your armor in that basket." He gestures towards the basket by their feet. It was hidden by the cloak earlier. "Knight Miruko is not needed after we leave this door."
That gets her intrigued. What's behind the door that makes him want her as herself?
She then watches as he takes off his crown (significantly smaller when compared to the king, mainly showing his status as a prince and his modest attitude and how much he hates the grand nature of royalty) and neatly places it into the satchel before he puts the hood over his head.
The Prince is also unneeded too, huh?
So they will be Rumi Usagiyama and Shouta Aizawa from now on?
When she finally puts on the cloak, he begins to pull on the sturdy door handle. It takes him a great effort to finally make the door move. Light suddenly pours in through the cracks, causing her to frown.
When she steps through the door, she squints when the light enters her eyes. Then she feels the warmth on her skin. Once her eyes are adjusted, she realizes that they are… outside?
They are surrounded by four walls, more or less ten feet equidistant from each other. She had never seen this side of the castle before. The sun is high in the sky shining down on her, telling her that it is entering noon.
After the prince closes the door – that matches perfectly with the wall of the castle – he then walks past her, towards the opposite wall they had just come from. She watches as he presses a brick into the wall before a portion of it suddenly begins to swing inwards. She realizes it is a secret path to the city, perfectly covered by the trees that usually surround the castle wall.
So this is how he came to their usual place.
"Shall we?" The Prince… No, Shouta asks as he holds out his hand towards her. She feels her lips stretch into a smile before grabbing onto the offered hand.
.
Knight Miruko tries to keep her pace as casual as possible as she quickly makes her way to the Prince's chamber. She tries to look nonchalant with her body posture as she barely keeps the excitement from blowing up. She makes sure to bid any passing servants and Knights a goodnight as quickly as possible, silently telling them she is a little busy at the moment if one tries to stop her.
Thankfully, no one stops her. Her walk to the Prince's chamber is a quick one.
As soon as she enters the chamber, the Prince is already standing by the wall. She makes sure the chamber's door is securely closed before quickly making her way over to him. He opens the secret door and both of them quickly make their way down the hallway until they reach the door at the end of the hallway. They take off their crown and armor and don the cloaks at record time. They check each other, making sure their identity cannot be easily revealed before Shouta pulls open the door.
The moon greets her as she exits first. As Shouta closes the hidden door behind them, she opens the hidden door on the wall and swings it open. Before they close the wall door after exiting it they check each other once more, making sure everything is secured.
Then, they sprint away from the wall, from the castle and begin to race against each other. They are basked under the moonlight as they chase after one another through the city, weaving through what little is left of the crowd on the street. They try to one up the other as they jump from one roof to another.
Their lips curl up into a loving smile every time their eyes meet.
The forest is approaching fast. They weave through the trees with expert feet cultivated through many years of experience. The clearing field, covered in soft short grass that is surrounding the tree stump right in the middle of it, is drawing close. It is their finishing line, the destination to decide the winner.
Rumi puts extra force in her jump, suddenly shooting herself forward and ahead of Shouta. He could feel her victorious smirk, rather than seeing it. He quickly lands on a tree branch at a different angle before he leaps forward, right into Rumi's back. The force from Shouta's leap causes both of them to stumble and roll over each other.
By the end of it, Shouta has Rumi beneath him, and Rumi has Shouta trapping her within his confines.
Right here, in the clear field, skin glistened with sweat, Rumi thinks her Shouta is the most handsome man in the world.
Right here, under the illumination of the moonlight, panting breaths mixed with each other, Shouta thinks his Rumi is the most beautiful woman to ever exist.
.
"Are you okay with this?" she finally asks the question that had been bugging her since their first meeting. Sho-Sho, who is sitting next to her and had brought a book to read, finally looks away from the page and gives her a wide eyed look. He must've heard the worry in her tone.
"Of course I'm okay with this. I'm always okay with this," Sho-Sho answers in a way as if it is the most obvious answer in the world.
"But what about your parents?" She curls slightly more, pulling away from the tree stump she was leaning against.
"Even if they won't allow me, I will find a way," Sho-Sho instantly answers as soon as she finishes her sentence. He closes the book with a pronounced clap before throwing it aside. He turns his body until he completely faces her, gaining her full attention. "I will sneak out from my home to come here and see you every time, Ru-Ru."
The serious look on his face roots her on the spot. The confidence in his tone causes her heart to stutter.
But the worry still stays.
"Can you please not?" she almost pleads. Don't get her wrong, spending time with Sho-Sho is the best feeling in the world. Even if he doesn't speak a lot, even if he doesn't share her enthusiasm or energy, she absolutely enjoys being next to him.
But she knows that their daily meetings are not known to each other's families. While she knows her family at the orphanage is quite lenient, she has no idea how Sho-Sho's family will react. She doesn't know whether his father or mother will approve of meeting an orphan child like her.
"I don't want you to get in trouble because of me, Sho-Sho," she says with a meek voice.
But the serious look on Sho-Sho's face doesn't reduce. In fact, it only gets solidified.
"I will not stop seeing you, Ru-Ru. No matter what."
For the first time, his confident answer soothes her. She can feel her worry slowly leaving her body.
Hesitantly, she leans into him until their shoulders bump into each other.