It's Not Easy Being Queen

Cast: (Oboro x Ryoma)
Prompt: Ryoma helps Oboro adjust to being the queen of Hoshido

By one of the gardens in Castle Shirasagi, Hinata was going all-out, training with his practice dummy. Oboro had come to spend time with her friend, but was too lost in thought to really focus.

"Oboro? You okay?" His eyes widened. "Uh, I mean, Your Majesty, are you okay?"

"Hinata, I've already told you, you can keep calling me Oboro."

"Oh yeah. But still, you seem kinda down!"

Oboro sighed. "Yeah, just feeling kind of stressed."

"Stressed?" Hinata chuckled. "But you're the queen, now! Don't you get whatever you want?" Oboro's response was an unamused stare. "… Am I wrong?"

"Ryoma's not alone running this country, you know. I've got plenty of important jobs myself. I'm even busier than when I was Lo- … Takumi's retainer."

Hinata winced. "Ouch. Well, have ya tried talking to Lord Ryoma?"

"What's there to say? It's just part of the job."

The samurai shrugged, sheathing his sword. "Well if you say so. Couldn't hurt to try!"

"Eh. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Where am I…" Oboro looked around in confusion. She was back in bed. "What happened?"

"Ah, you're awake," Ryoma said, wiping his brow. He was dressed casually. "You passed out during the meeting with Xander and Izana's nephew."

The queen winced. "Oh gods." She leaned back down. "How humiliating! What kind of queen just falls asleep in the middle of a negotiation?!"

"Heh! A tired one."

"It's probably because I can't get any sleep at night! I knew that this would come with marrying you, but actually dealing with the stress is another thing entirely! The economic stuff, not offending the Nohrians, dealing with the merchants, helping Takumi find my replacement- Ughh!"

The king nodded. "Being a ruler is no easy task."

"It's just… I'm more of a hands-on sort. That's what happens when you spend most of your life as a retainer." She sighed. "I'm going to pull my hair out figuring all this out, I swear…"

Dutiful person he was, Ryoma went over to sit on the floor by Oboro's bed.

"It's okay, Oboro. We have each other." When his wife began to give him a tired smile, Ryoma returned with a grin of his own. "And we'll have the others helping us too. Hinoka's preparing to take charge of the military, and Takumi aims to serve as my adviser."

"You're right. It's kind of hard getting used to having this kind of authority over everyone, though. I'm too used to being a follower."

"I think that gives you an advantage."

"Oh it does?" Oboro raised her eyebrow, and Ryoma confidently nodded his head.

"Indeed. Since you have extensive experience serving as a retainer, you have a certain perspective that a noble-turned-queen wouldn't have. With that perspective, you can make judgment calls that others couldn't." He gave a soft smile. "And if you ask me, you already have the qualities of a good queen. You're caring, always looking out for others-"

"And if wasn't, I'd be bad at my job," Oboro chuckled. "I remember Azama's cruddy speech at our wedding too."

"Ha! Well he was right, though. You work so hard to take care of others. I think you're a natural fit for the job. You just need a little time. And besides, that's not even going into the most important quality our queen needs."

"And what's that?"

Lovingly, Ryoma took hold of Oboro's hand and pecked it. "The fact that I want to spend my life with you."

The queen blushed. "Did you get that from a trashy novel or something?!"

Ryoma chuckled, and Oboro shortly followed.

"You know, I don't think I've been assigned my own retainers yet."

"That's right… We should get on that."

Oboro grinned. "I actually have an idea about that…"

Oboro sat upon the newly made throne, placed right next to the Throne of Truth. "All right you two, we've got a busy day ahead of us!"

Orochi and Reina bowed respectfully. Once more they had the honor of serving the Queen of Hoshido.

While Oboro's friendship with Orochi was not as deep as the diviner's friendship with Kagero, they were pretty close ever since Orochi made those ugly masks. This made the change in their dynamic go smoothly, and allowed for efficient work. Reina was a little trickier to work with, but was usually willing to give guidance to Oboro, from her years of experience.

"King Ryoma's attending Sakura's performance in Nestra. And he'll return to find Hoshido in better condition than when he left! He won't even recognize it!"

"Haha! You're so spirited today, Your Majesty!" Orochi teased Oboro with that title, but the queen accepted it.

Reina nodded. "Are there any troublemakers I need be aware of, Your Majesty?" Her use of the title was more formal and respectful.

"Well Ryoma had that meeting with the merchant clan. It'd be improper to glare at them like I'm prone to, so I'll need you to do that for me."

Reina chuckled to herself as her liege faced Orochi.

"And how is construction coming along on that statue of Queen Mikoto, Orochi?"

"I predict-"

"No predictions, just reports."

"Aww!" Orochi cleared her throat. "It should be finished within a fortnight."

"Great! Let's get to work!"

The queen's retainers bowed once more and left. As Oboro was alone, she mentally prepared herself for the rest of her day. But as she was running through her thoughts, she stopped.

"I wonder… What would Queen Mikoto think if she could see me now?" This was followed with a smile. "Heh! She'd probably say the same things as Ryoma. She's probably where Ryoma got it!"

While Ryoma, Hinoka, and Takumi were in Cyrkensia for Sakura's performance (as Oboro exposited), they were staying in a nice inn. Takumi was enjoying a nice slumber in his room, until Hinata barged in.

"LORD TAKUMI!"

"Ahhh!"

"… Did we ever decide who'd be replacing Oboro as your other retainer?"

Hinata's answer was a pillow to the face.

A/N:

This was requested by the same person I wrote another Oboro/Ryoma piece for (Night of the Wedding). As such, I decided to write it as a sequel piece, referencing the events of the other fic.

Queen Oboro is surprisingly fun to write.

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