My Light In The Darkness.

5 - The Shared Struggles.

"Rui.." Prince Tsukasa sobbed as he pulled the other boy closer as he sobbed silently. "I'm being made the head of the knights' force, and there's talk of me being married off, I can't do this, it's all too much.. I have only just turned eighteen within the last month.. I understand that I'm the heir of this kingdom, but sometimes I just wish I wasn't.." He cried. Rui Kamishiro was never really the comforting type, he always found himself trying to avoid situations like these, where he would have to witness such an awkward tension. Even so, he found himself having a soft spot for a certain prince Tsukasa, feeling a need to comfort him through even the slightest of struggles. In a way, it hurt him to see someone that was most commonly referred to as 'light', so dark in emotion, so saddened that even while wearing the bright white and blue Lunimarian knight uniform that he was expected to wear, the tears that fell down his warm skin pierced a darkness through it. One thing that Rui was thankful for when helping his dear friend was that most of his struggles were things that Rui could relate to in some ways, making him more available to help him. Pulling the royal blue cape off of his back, the supposed knight wrapped the cloth around his prince's shoulders, clipping it around the front with a cranberry red rose brooch that was adorned with gold outlining along each petal. "Huh..?" Prince Tsukasa looked back and forth between the latter and the item that had just been placed around him. "What is-"
"A brave prince should have something that reflects him, no?" Rui smiled at him warmly. "But it's yours! I couldn't possibly take it from you!" He protested, admiring the beauty of the design. "Eh, it suits you better than it would ever suit me, and if you think it will make you recognise how much of a wonderful leader you are going to be to all of us, I would rather you keep it, because Tsukasa.." The violet haired boy leaned closer to his prince's face, gently pressing a kiss onto his cheek. Prince Tsukasa's face lit up in a bright blush that counteracted the redness of his face after his tears. "You're going to be an amazing leader to those knights, and an amazing king when the time comes, and I can only hope that I am here to see it all with you.. You are so kind and strong, please don't let your fears takeover what you think you can do, because you're so much more than that.." He spoke softly into his ear after pulling away from his peck slowly. The prince let out a laugh as the taller male's words registered in his mind. "I don't care what happens, I'm going to force you to be by my side the whole time!" A bright smile curved upon his face, the two young adults laughing and smiling in unison. "Alright, your highness, if that's what you wish for, as your personal guard I shall have no choice but to fulfil that wish!" Rui responded to him half-sarcastically. "Let's see how much of a knight you really are.." The blonde boy giggled, wiping his final tears from his face. "What do you mean- AUGH!" Before he could finish, Rui found himself being tackled by the boy he admired so much, feeling himself panning out against the mattress as his suddenly energetic prince pounced on top of him and causing him to let out a loud groan. Crouching over the violet haired male's frame as he looked down at him, an exclamation escaped the prince, "I win!"

 "You can be so childish, you know that?" He joked, leading to a pout from the latter. "Excuse you, as I mentioned I have only just turned eighteen, cut me some slack!" Prince Tsukasa argued. "Hm, and yet you wonder why they're making you the head of the knights, you just tackled me to the mattress!?" With a final laugh, prince Tsukasa let himself lower carefully enough not to crush his friend as he rested his head against his chest again, feeling the slow rising and falling of the other boy's chest against him. "I'm serious, please don't leave me, ever, I don't care what I have to do, I don't want to lose you.." He admitted. A lump formed in the knight's throat as he tried to answer his prince. "I don't intend on dying anytime soon..?" He spluttered. Without even looking at him, an answer was shot back at Rui almost immediately. "I don't just mean that, I just mean in general, I don't want you to leave, leave this kingdom, leave this continent, leave me.."
"Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?" Rui asked, trying not to come off as harsh. "There's a reason they're doing this, you know, getting me ready to be king, apparently there's a war across on another continent, between two kingdoms similar to what's happening with us and Obscuria, but on a much worse scale, but my parents heard that a king and his lover were killed by the queen of the opposing kingdom, even though it was her fault that an uprising was starting.." He explained briefly. Rui's eyes widened as he heard what his prince was describing. "What do you mean..?"
 "The king's lover was a top knight from the queens kingdom, a traitor, just for his love, and yet when the queen found out that one of her top knights was a traitor, so she kidnapped him, and killed him, and when the king came to save him, he was also killed, and now there's supposedly an even bigger war breaking out, and my parents fear that it might pass over here, so they're preparing me to be able to serve Luminaria if push comes to shove.. That's all they told me, at least" Tsukasa let out a sigh as he finished. "That's.. horrible.. All because he loved someone?" Rui placed his left hand on the smaller boy's head, running his fingers through his silky soft hair as he listened to him speak. "I heard that they were married, too, which just makes all of this even worse to think about... I'm scared, Rui, what if something happens? I mean, I know we already have our own problems with Obscuria, but this could change everything.." A worried tone indicated to the knight that this was where he needed to suck up whatever guilt he was feeling and to do his job, to serve his prince. "I promise you then, I will stay by your side, I won't let anything happen to you, I won't leave you.." He smiled reassuringly, although he wasn't certain that his prince could hear him, he knew that those words told him all he needed to hear in that moment, no matter how much pain it brought to Rui.
"I love you, Rui, and I trust you to keep that promise"
"Forever, my prince"