Sometimes you get a chance to meet someone you never thought you would, and a true friendship springs up, blossoming around even the ugliest edges. Kiki Seiran is used to being the beautiful, carefully crafted lady of her father's house, used to the endless seeming balls and making polite conversation with the men and often the ladies that accompany such events as well.
Her emotions have always taken a backseat, unless she needs to step away and recuperate and be herself for a moment, before it's back to what she's trained for her whole life. She's used to that, and in some odd ways, that had prepared her for being a knight. As a knight, you must discard your emotions to do your job effectively; you must be free to plan, to act, to respond accordingly, so that the person or people you are protecting don't die in the crossfire.
Being a lady and being a knight flow from the same river despite how opposite they seem to be from each other. Both required emotional silence in order to focus on what needed to be done, rather than giving in to every thought or every emotion. Meeting Prince Zen had proved to be both beneficial for her family, but also she found a friend within the prince, someone she would gladly die to protect.
And meeting Mitsuhide and serving alongside him became that way as well. Mitsuhide became more than just a coworker, a knight she worked beside, day in and day out, he became a friend. One she could easily beat at chess, one she could laugh with, one that she knew had her back as much as she had his.
Kiki has always been loyal. Loyal to her duty, but even more loyal to those she loves. In the same way that Zen became more than just her duty, he became her friend, Mitsuhide had as well. She would not, could not, turn her back on either of them and leave them privy to any attack against them. She would fight for them, support them.
When she became a knight, she temporarily dropped her rank, making her embrace the rank that Mitsuhide had, making them equals. In the way that they were equals now, working hard side by side, she grew close to him. They were allowed to embrace a friendship that at the moment could not be touched by different ranks, a friendship that is even and equal.
In a lot of ways, Mitsuhide became her best friend, the one that she could tease, but wouldn't leave behind. He became a sort of confidante, not for everything, because there are some things that she prefers to keep to herself, but a confidante that she can share almost anything with.
True friendship is hard to find, and yet here they are, always together, working towards a common good side by side. Here they are, discovering each other's flaws and weaknesses and unwilling to separate each other from one another, unwilling to become a scar in the other's side.
Mitsuhide became her best friend and Kiki would not leave him behind.