~•Guardementals•~

Friday, August 11th, Northern Kingdom.

He stopped, breathing heavily. He glared at the man in front of him.

"You need to improve, Shoto," he said. Shoto dropped the practice sword and sat down on the nearest surface available. 

"Do I really?" He asked. Enji turned and glared at him. 

"Yes. Your brother, Natsuo, is useless when it comes to this. Fuyumi is a girl and she is not allowed to fight."

"What about Touya-Nii?" Shoto asked. 

"He is useless to me." Enji walked away. "Go have a bath." Shoto rolled his eyes, deciding to stay there for while longer to spite the man.

"Does he not realise that I have ears?" Touya asked, walking out of the shadows where he was hiding to watch their practise. He sat next to Shoto.

"I hate him." 

"You're not alone there, Sho, trust me," Touya replied. He stood up and held his hand out. "Shall we spar?" Shoto grinned, taking his brother's hand.

"I don't see why not." He picked up the practice sword and turned to face his brother, who had a sword in his hand. 

They got into position, waiting for the other to strike first. It was Touya who did, and Shoto blocked it. He aimed for Touya's stomach, which was promptly blocked. They went back and forth, tuning into each other's movements. It ended with Shoto winning, his sword to Touya's throat.

"Not bad, Sho. I really don't understand why the old man says you need to improve, you're already really good. Hell, you were able to beat me, and I'm hard to beat." Shoto held his hand out to Touya, removing the sword from his throat. Touya took his hand, standing up. "Right, now go have a bath. You fucking stink."

"Thanks. I feel so loved," Shoto replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Touya ruffled his hair.

They packed up, and Shoto made his way to the baths. The warm water was welcome, relaxing his muscles. He couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief when he sat down. He watched the steam rise into the air, at ease in the baths. At least, it was better than being in the training area. 

He did have to get out eventually and pulled on clean clothes a servant left for him. He then walked to the dinning room, where his family was. Lunch was on the table. 

Shoto sat next to Enji, across from Fuyumi. Her being the only girl in the family, she was one of two beloved children. The other was Shoto himself, which he hated. 

"Took you long enough," Enji said. Touya and Natsuo glared at their father, to which Fuyumi sent them a look as if saying 'don't do anything stupid'. Knowing his brothers, they might just do that. Especially Touya.

Lunch went by mostly in silence. It wasn't that rare for Enji to eat with all four of his kids, but they sure did hate it. Which was why they didn't talk much. Until Enji had to ruin it.

"I have some good news for you, Shoto," he said. Shoto looked at his siblings, confused, only too see that they too were confused. 

"What is it?" He asked, unsure and frankly, nervous. He didn't let that show in his voice though. Only his confusion.

"I have decided that you are to be Crown Prince." All of them froze. Shoto knew that, if he were to look at his brothers, that he would see them looking at their father in utter disgust.

"I- What? Why me?" He spluttered. 

"You are the only one worthy of being such. You will be crowned at nineteen, and you will marry at twenty," Enji explained. 

"You can't just do that!" Touya shouted. He was standing up, his hands on the table, and glaring at Enji. 

"You have no say in what I can and cannot do." Shoto looked down at his plate, not knowing how to feel. He'd have to get married a year after he was officially announced as Crown Prince? He didn't want to be Crown Prince, let alone get married. He stood up and ran out of the room, ignoring his father's calls for him to return to the dinning room.

His feet carried him through the halls, a well known and frequently walked path so familiar he didn't even need to focus on where he was going.

He arrived at the stables, and immediately ran to his horse's stall. He fell down to the ground, his breathing heavy. His horse nuzzled him, looking for treats. 

"Sorry, Yuki, I didn't bring anything. I just... I just ran," he whispered. Yuki seemed to understand, and instead turned to her feed bucket. The familiar smell of horses and the sound of his mare eating calmed him down, but he didn't stand up to return to the castle. He stayed where he was, comfortable sitting in the hay.

"Shoto-Kun?" A girl asked. Shoto looked up to see his one friend, Momo, peering into the stall. She was wearing horse riding clothes, so he guessed that she was going to go out for a ride. She opened the stall door and walked in, closing it behind her and sitting down next to him. "I heard what happened." Great.

"I don't want to be the Crown Prince. I don't even want to get married!" He exclaimed, frustrated.

"I know. My parents have told me that they've arranged for me to marry you," Momo sighed, leaning her head against the wood. 

"I hate this. I hate him, I hate being the stupid beloved prince of the kingdom, I hate being royal full stop." He hid his face. Tears formed in his eyes. "I just want to be a normal person with a normal life. I want to see my mother and not have her be scared of me." A gentle hand settled on his shoulder.

"It's okay. We'll be okay. We could run away, or one of us could object, and you could step down from being Crown Prince. We'll figure this out," Momo soothed.

"They won't let us. Father won't let me step down, he won't let me do anything I want. It's always what he wants, never what I want. I hate it. I hate it with my entire being." He wiped away his tears.

"I know," Momo said, sadly. They'd always guessed that something like this was going to come, but never so soon.

"I want to be a child, Momo. I want to live my life and be who I want to be, not some perfect prince that's ready to be moulded into the perfect leader based on what my father says is the perfect leader."

"Maybe we could run away to the Light Kingdom," Momo suddenly said. Shoto looked up at her.

"The Light Kingdom?" Momo nodded.

"Yeah. They're fair, and if we go to the king and queen for help and explain our situation to them, they could help."

"It's too risky."

"We'll come up with something. We're fourteen, after all, we've got time."

"That time's going to run out." They went silent for a while. "I should go back. Father's going to be angry." He stood up, and offered a hand to Momo, she took it with a small smile, and they went to do what they wanted or needed.

Shoto was right. As soon as he got back to the palace he heard heard his father calling for him. The servants looked at him nervously, and some even wished him luck. Shoto just nodded and went to find his father.

"You should never run out of anything unless it is for a good reason," Enji snapped at him. 

"I am sorry, Father, but I do not wish to be Crown Prince nor do I wish to marry anyone. If I do marry, I would like her to be of my own choice, and for the relationship to be built on love to avoid a repeat of you and Mother," Shoto explained. 

"Listen here, Shoto, you are my masterpiece, and you will do as I say!"

"What if I don't want to, huh? What if I would rather be a commoner and work on a farm than to be your son? What if I wish that you died and Mom never had to leave because you broke her!" Shoto shouted. Enji slapped him.

"Do not talk to me that way. You are marrying that Momo girl, and that is final. Now, go to your room and do not leave it until I say you can." Enji stalked away, and Shoto turned and walked to his room. He changed into more comfortable clothes, and flopped onto his bed. He curled up and held onto his pillow. He let himself cry in the privacy of his room.