3

Two years later

Sora was waiting in the usual spot by the courtyard. He knew something must have been wrong for Kaito to be this late. How? Because Kaito always showed up after work unless something was wrong. So the eleven year old kicked off of the wall he was leaning against and went in search of his friend. He began checking all of the usual hiding places he had found Kaito in over the years. Normally when Kaito was upset, he would find Sora and pull the prince’s white cape over his head to hide underneath it for comfort. It was only when he stayed away that Sora knew he was hiding something from him.

The castle was immense but there were only so many spots where Kaito chose to hide. Eventually, Sora found his friend under a set of stairs behind a cluster of barrels with his head down and arms wrapped around his legs.

“What do we have here?” Sora said. Kaito lifted his head, revealing a hand-shaped red mark on one side of his face. Sora’s smile vanished.

~

Kaito didn’t want Sora to see the mark that horrid maid gave him for screwing up once again. He knew his friend would freak out like he always did when he got hurt. And God forbid if there was anyone around to blame because the prince would have their head. So he found a good hiding spot and waited there in shame, knowing Sora would be coming to look for him soon.

Kaito really did hate being away from the only person in this world he cared about. Sora once told him that he didn’t have to continue to work, that he would much rather have his friend with him throughout the day. And Kaito really wanted that, too. But he felt like he needed to do something, as a way to keep him busy and also as a small thanks to the king for allowing him to live in the castle at Sora’s request. And anyway, the prince, even at his young age, had his own responsibilities to take care of. Kaito never truly understood why the prince took any interest in him, but he didn’t think much on it now that they were best friends. He was just happy that someone was there for him to fall back on.

“What do we have here?”

Well, there’s no hiding it now. Kaito lifted his head and Sora’s smile vanished, replaced with a scowl that would send a coward flying. This truly was the king’s son.

“It- It’s nothing! I swear!”

“If it was nothing you wouldn’t be hiding.”

“I’m only hiding because I know how you would react,” Kaito said, giving him a look that said ‘you know I’m right you overdramatic freak,’ a look that no one else in the kingdom would dare to give the prince.

Sora pouted, knowing full well that he was overreacting. “Don’t get sassy and just tell me who did it,” he snapped. Kaito shook his head. “Damn it,” Sora sighed. He ducked under the stairs and sat down next to his friend, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Promise you won’t do anything stupid?” Kaito asked. Sora grumbled incoherently to himself. “Sora.”

“Alright! Fine! I won’t do anything.”

“Good. So did you finish your morning training?” Kaito asked, successfully changing the subject.

“Yes, I finished whacking a man with a stick,” he muttered sardonically. Sora found sword training completely boring when Kaito wasn’t around to impress. “You should come with me next time. Learn to protect yourself,” he said, searching for any way to get them to spend a little more time together.

“As if anyone would let me carry around a sword,” Kaito replied.

“Who knows? Maybe if you get good enough someday, I’ll knight you.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “You know I can’t be a knight. Only men from noble families can become knights.”

“Not with that attitude you can’t,” Sora laughed, lightly punching his friend in the arm. Kaito rolled his eyes again, but this time with a smile creeping onto his face. Only Sora could ever make him smile.

The unlikely duo spent the remainder of the day together, laughing and shoving each other around, and throwing insults and snickering as they each tried to come up with better ones. Their natural bond was undeniable and their friendship unbreakable. Kaito often felt like the luckiest person in the world for being given this life with the prince. It was times like these when he would forget that he ever had parents.

~

Sora walked down the dimly lit corridor, his hands clenched into fists by his side. It was getting dark outside and Kaito would be wondering where he went off to. Better make this quick, he figured.He took a deep breath and reminded himself that Kaito told him not to do anything stupid. Sora smiled at Kaito’s own stupidity. That smart ass should’ve know better than to leave a loophole like that.

He wiped the slight smile off his face before entering the kitchen, where the staff were busy cleaning up after a day’s work. They all froze upon seeing him, wondering what business the prince would possibly have there. They quickly returned from their stupor and bowed in his presence.

“There is only one person here I am speaking to, but unfortunately, I do not know who that person is. So listen up, everyone!” the prince demanded. For not even having reached puberty, the eleven year old already possessed natural leadership qualities and a tone of voice that couldn’t go ignored. “You should all know how very close I am to a certain boy in this palace.” While he was speaking, a maid by the pantry fidgeted and Sora immediately singled her out as the same woman he saw when he first met Kaito.

“He is my special guest in this palace and he is to be treated as such. If I ever find another mark on him again,” Sora said sternly, shifting his gaze directly at the suspect. “No one in this room is going to be happy about it.” He paused dramatically to make sure his threat reached everyone’s ears before turning to leave, his cape whipping through the air. “Not a word of this to him,” he ordered, his back to them.

There. Nothing stupid at all.

~

“What did you do?” Kaito asked the next day after work.

“Who, me?” Sora replied innocently.

“Yes, you, moron. Everyone was afraid to even look at me today. What did you do?”

Sora burst out laughing. “Seriously? I’m going to be an amazing king.”

“Sora! I told you not to do anything!” Kaito whined.

“Stupid. You told me not to do anything stupid,” Sora corrected cautiously. He couldn’t tell if he was pushing his friend to far or not, but his worries were cast aside when Kaito could no longer hold back a fit of laughter.

“I can’t believe you. I’m sure everyone is secretly happy that the witch didn’t show up to work today at least. Maybe you won’t be a terrible king after all.”

“There you have it. This kingdom is lucky to have me next in line for the crown,” Sora bragged, feigning an air of arrogance. “Now let’s go!” he shouted, throwing his arm around his companion’s shoulders and pulling him along. “I asked Hideyoshi to show you a thing or two about using a sword.”

Kaito sighed melodramatically. “If only the king-to-be would stop working his poor attendant so hard.”

“Hey! He said he wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer than usual to help us out.”

“It’s his job to say that,” Kaito laughed, bumping into his friend teasingly and Sora playfully coming back at him twice as hard. Kaito just barely maintained his balance by grabbing a handful of Sora’s sleeve, nearly dragging him down, too.

Sora smiled at his friend’s laughter. It was such a massive change from when he had first brought peasant into the palace. There was life in the boy once again, and he had the prince to thank for that.

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