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Aya tugged uncomfortably at her dress, eyes glancing around the ballroom and darting from one unfamiliar face to another. The sound of conversations and laughter surrounded her and mixed with the live music that filled the room. She recognized the sounds of cellos and violins as they blended into the mix of instruments, the classical melodies far too calm and restrained compared to the type of music she typically enjoyed.
It wasn't that Aya hated all of it. She did actually enjoy the whole dressing up aspect of these parties; getting to wear a fancy pink dress, white opera gloves, and her favorite earrings is always fun. It’s just that Aya hates literally everything else besides that. For starters, the only people there her age are the guys whose only intention is to hit on her – despite her constant effort to tell them she's uninterested – and the girls, who she would probably try to approach, except almost every girl her age here seems to also be getting hounded by all the different people trying to talk to them. Aya really only was trying to seek out her two maids, Chiziru and Mao. She knew that there's not even much of a chance of them being at such an event – at least being somewhere where Aya will see them – but she figured she has nothing better to do so she might as well try.
Pushing through the crowds of people, who Aya guessed were probably kings and nobles – she really couldn’t care about their status – her gaze flickered to every face, looking for any sign of her friends. She lost her balance a few times trying to weave around people in her high heels, but she never fell. Face after face passed her by and none of them were either her friends or someone that she’d want to talk to. Aya almost resigned to just finding an older woman to chat with and kill time, Aya would much rather hear endless stories about some woman's grandkids than to keep aimlessly wandering and trying to avoid talking to men. She pushed past a few more people in the crowd, but then her eyes landed on a guy who she’d much rather not see. She thinks his name is Arita? Something like that, not like she ever actually bothered to learn it. He never exactly did anything to her, but she still hated his guts just for the type of person he was. Aya really didn’t want him to talk to her, so she immediately turned around and walked in the other direction.
Aya only made it a few steps before she accidentally bumped into someone. She quickly lost her footing – damn heels – and she was fully expecting to collide with the ground. Instead of feeling the cold impact of the ballroom floor, she felt the warm arms of the man who she bumped into. He’d caught her, stopping her fall to the ground. Aya couldn’t help but stare at him. She was sure she’d never seen him around before, someone like him was bound to stand out. He was in mostly dark clothes, save for the white sleeves of his undershirt visible beneath his short sleeved shirt. His clothes were also very baggy compared to the tailored suits and ties that men usually wore to these fancy galas. But the most peculiar part of his outfit that Aya spotted was his black hood,the garb wrapped around his head and covered the majority of his face save for those piercing eyes and the wispy black bangs that were just short enough to stay out of his sight. Such an odd outfit for a formal event. She figured that he was a prince, albeit a very unique one compared to the others around here, but a prince is probably the only way he could get away with dressing like that. It’s a bit mysterious, Aya’s into it. He seemed so different from the other guys that Ayas seen around, he intrigued her in a way that other men didn’t.
“Are you alright, Princess?” The man finally asks. A moment passed, and Aya didn’t even notice she was staring into the man's eyes. His pretty, gray eyes… There's a little mole under his right eye. God, that's attractive, she thinks. Aya notices his eye bags, she wonders what could leave a man like this so tired, she feels a pang of sympathy for him. She wants to know more about him.
Aya finally notices she's staring. Shit , she thinks, then quickly steadies herself.
“Yea– Yes!” Aya blurts. She clears her throat, “Um, thanks for that.” Aya realizes how flustered she is. It’s a unique feeling to her – guys rarely, if ever, interest her – but there's something about this guy that she can’t help but find incredibly captivating. She doesn’t know if it’s his unconventional yet cool looks, the fact he stopped her from falling, or the smooth, almost borderline feminine cadence to his voice, or perhaps even a mixture of all three that’s gotten her so fluttery. Her face felt hot, and she was staring again. “I’ve never seen you around before. Where are you from?”
Aya saw the man's smile in his eyes as his hand grabbed the back of his neck. “Ah, that's probably because I usually just keep to myself at parties like these, that's probably why you’ve never noticed me around.” She saw him turn his head towards the direction of where the music was coming from. “I’m from a kingdom not far from this one. My uncle’s actually the one who provided the live music, though we’re both bigger on stuff that rocks more than classical.” His eyes met hers again and Aya thought her heart was going to explode. To her, he was perfect in a way no man had ever been before.
“I like music that rocks too!” Aya beamed. She’d never felt so happy talking to a guy before, she liked him so much already. To Aya, they might as well have been the only two in the ballroom. None of the other lords and nobles mattered to her as much as talking to this man in front of her. Her eyes softened as she fidgeted with her glove. “No one else I know is really big on that thing, plus it’s pretty hard to come across music like that around here." her smile had a touch of sadness to it.
The man's eyes glimmered with something Aya couldn’t explain. “Maybe I could show you around my kingdom one day? The music scene there is pretty big.”
Like a date?! Aya wanted to scream. He had to be flirting with her. She could feel how hot her face was from how hard she was blushing, but she had no time to be self conscious when her mind was preoccupied with the man's words reverberating through her head. Aya had to play it cool now, she couldn’t mess up this opportunity. “Y-” before Aya could voice her acceptance, she hears two voices calling out for her. Two, high pitched voices calling her name.
Aya turns towards the voices, and there she sees her two little twin brothers. They're coming right towards her. She could not have imagined any worse timing for them to bother her. Aya loves her little brothers, but if they ruin this for her, she thinks she could reasonably justify fratricide.
She turns away from them, grabs the man by the arm, and drags him through the crowd. Aya feels bad about avoiding her brothers like this, she wonders if they just want to hang out with her, if they're just as bored as her. Aya pushes that thought out of her head before it makes her turn back to them. She promises herself she’ll make it up to her brothers later, she just needs to talk to this man a little more before the night ends. She weaves through the crowd with him in tow, trying to find a way through all the people. She needs an opening, somewhere where she can talk to only him. Aya finally breaks through the crowd, she sees a door on the edge of the ballroom. She doesn't know where it leads, but it will have to do.
Aya exits through the doors, still dragging the man by his arm, and they end up in a lavish hallway. High ceilings, fancy curtains, usually she would be at least a little interested in the decor, but not right now, right now the only thing she cares about is that no one else seemed to have the same idea to come here. They’re alone. The noise from the ballroom fades away, being replaced by the soft echo of their footsteps against the floor as they walk down the hallway.
The man glances at her. There's a slight tinge of color on his cheeks, though Aya wonders if that's just his hood casting misleading shadows on his face. He has a look in those gray eyes, like hes expecting an explanation for why he was abruptly dragged out here. He doesn't look mad – at least judging by what Aya can tell from his eyes – just… curious.
Feeling the weight of his gaze on her, Aya tries to muster up some semblance of composure. She finally lets go of his arm, trying to ignore the heat in her face. “Sorry about that,” she begins, her voice wavering slightly despite her best efforts to sound confident. “I just…” she tries to think of an excuse, “... thought it was too stuffy in there.”
She sees the man's smile in his eyes. “Don’t apologize, I'm not big on crowds anyway.” Aya smiles too, his voice is a lot softer than she’d expect from a guy, but it's relaxing. Aya honestly finds it more alluring than if he had a normal masculine voice. “I never got your name back there,” he says, his tone casual yet curious.
Aya’s a little giddy that he seems interested in wanting to get to know her too. She keeps surprising herself with how much she's attracted to this man; surprising herself with how much she wants him to remember her. “I’m Aya,” she says, her smile widening a bit.
“Aya,” the man repeats, as if savoring the sound. Aya thinks her heart’s going to explode.“It’s a fitting name for a princess.”
God, her face is on fire. Aya’s one hundred percent sure that he's flirting with her by now, there's no way any of this is unintentional.
Aya wants to bring the conversation back to something that she knows won’t cause her heart to burst. She likes his flirting, but a girl can only take so much before she faints. They reach the end of the hallway, both of them standing there under the opulent decor. They both elect to stay where they are, isolated from anyone else, instead of turning back towards the ballroom.
“So um,” Aya starts, trying to bring the conversation back into something more manageable for her, “your kingdom, you said you’d show me around?”
Aya sees the smiles in his eyes once more. His eyes are so pretty when he smiles. “Of course, if you’re up for it.”
Ayas smile mirrors his. “I’d like that. It’s rare to find music like that around here, and when there is it’s not like I want to go alone.”
“Music is a big thing over there, there's a lot of measures in check to make sure the shows are safe,” the man says matter of factly.
Aya fidgets with her glove. “I think I’ll feel safe so long as there's a prince around.” Aya’s too focused on her glove to notice the confusion flash in the man's eyes.
“I- uh…” the man stammers, not really knowing how to respond. He’s still trying to process what she said, wondering if he heard her right.
“So, would this be um…: Aya can’t meet the man's eyes, still messing with her glove. “Would this be like a date?” she asks, finally being able to look into his eyes, her cheeks tinted red from her nervousness.
Aya sees the apprehension in his eyes. SHIT!, her mind screams. Did she misread his signals?? She was so confident that he had been flirting with her this whole time, but now he looks hesitant and a little anxious. He's making Aya second guess everything he said tonight, she has half a mind to run back to the ballroom and never see him again, but her heels would prevent her from doing so without falling on her face in the process. Aya starts to stammer, “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncom-” The man cuts her off.
“No no wait! You didn’t do anything wrong, I just-” He pauses, like he doesn’t really know how to continue. Then, he hastily starts to take off his hood. He reveals more of that black hair that was teased from his bangs, his hair tied into a bun that hung low near the back of his neck. His face ends up being even prettier than Aya was expecting, though his jaw is a little softer than she assumed, she ends up kinda preferring it that way anyway. His hood’s now fully off, and Aya doesn’t get the issu– holy shit he’s a girl.
The man– WO man looks at Aya, her expression like she’s thinking up some sort of apology. Aya has a question on her mind that she’s been wanting answered though. “Who the hell wears that type of outfit to a gala?!” She finally asks. If it weren’t for that damn outfit with the weird hood, she never would’ve thought this girl was a man.
“I ah, just thought it was cool and mysterious, y’know?” the girl says. Aya thinks that’s a really stupid reason. She tries to ignore the fact that she was into it and thought ‘he’ was cool and mysterious.
“I didn’t mean to deceive you or anything I didn’t know that you thought I was a guy I’m really sorry but I can still show you around my kingdom if you’re interested I know I’m not who you thought I was–” good lord this girl can ramble.
Aya’s kinda tuned her out though, because there’s something weird on her mind.
Why does her being a girl kinda make it better?
Like, it’s still the same person, except now only a girl instead of a guy. This… attractive girl who clearly had some genuine interest in getting to know Aya. Aya still wants to get to know her too. Her feelings haven’t changed, if anything they’ve gotten stronger.
Aya takes a moment to wonder if she even can be into girls like that. This is the first person who's made her heart race, it’s never happened with an actual guy. Come to think of it, has she ever had feelings for a guy? She can’t come up with anything. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that she likes this girl more now than when Aya thought she was a guy.
The girl finally stops her rambling, she looks at Aya with those pretty eyes and Aya decides being a girl isn’t a dealbreaker. Aya musters up the courage to say what's on her mind.
“I-it can still be a date.”
“...”
The girl's eyes widen in surprise. There's a moment of heavy silence between them. Aya feels a mix of anxiety and anticipation, wondering if she's about to get rejected twice in the span of a few minutes. She should take it back, that was too much too soon. Or what if this girl doesn’t like other girls? What if she's disgusted?? Ayas head swarms with thoughts, she usually never over thinks so much, but she also usually doesn’t feel this level of romantic feelings for anyone either.
The girl opens her mouth to speak, stammering a few syllables before getting to what she wants to say. Aya braces herself for the worst.
“I’d like that.”
Oh.
Aya’s lips curve into a gentle smile, relieved. “Do I finally get to know your name? Since we’ll be going on a date and all” Aya asks, much more relaxed now that she knows that her feelings have been validated.
“Mitsuki.” The girl says. Aya thinks it’s a pretty name, fitting for the black haired girl.
In the dim light of the lavish hallway, they could both tell that the ball would soon be ending. They should head back soon, say their goodbyes until their next meeting. Neither one wants to take that first step back down the hallway.
“So, Mitsuki,” Aya says, her blush lightening to a slight tinge as she gets more comfortable talking to this girl, though she’s still very nervous. Aya’s really into her. “I’ll be looking forward to that date.” Mitsuki smiles, her hand resting on her own neck. She’s handsome, Aya thinks.
“Me too, Aya.” God, the way Mitsuki says her name, her deeper voice that is still so unmistakingly that of a womans, it's like silk in the form of a sound. She wouldn’t mind hearing Mitsuki say her name more. She hopes their date goes well, because Aya’s alreadying hoping for a second date, maybe even a third.
Aya wouldn’t put it past herself if she were already falling for Mitsuki.