Chapter Text
Prince Tsukasa Tenma of the South has a fairly decent life. His parents are around sometimes, his sister is nice when she’s awake, and he’s supposed to marry someone that he… actually likes. Nice.
A knock was heard at his door.
“Come in!”
The door opened, and one of the knights came into the room. “You have a letter, your highness.”
“Oh, thanks, Rui,” Tsukasa smiled. “But I’ve already told you, you can stop with all that “your highness” stuff.”
Rui handed the letter over to Tsukasa. “Sorry. Force of habit.”
Tsukasa opened the letter, and nearly dropped it once he read the text on the page.
I’m inside your house >:)
“Rui, ah, who is this from?” Tsukasa asked.
“Oh, it’s from your girlfriend! She wanted you to know she was here,” Rui smiled. “She’s in the indoor garden right now. You should go say hi!”
Tsukasa breathed a sigh of relief. “Maybe I will. You wanna come too?”
“Really? Can I just- do that?” Rui asked. “Is that allowed?”
Tsukasa thought about it for a moment. “Well, I say it’s allowed! Come on, Rui!”
He grabbed the knight by the arm and rushed down the staircase and to the indoor garden, where his girlfriend was waiting for him.
“Shizuku!” he exclaimed, rushing up to the blue-haired girl and hugging her.
“Tsukasa!” she responded, equally as excited to see him.
“How have you been- oh, have you and Rui met?” Tsukasa asked, gesturing to the knight behind him, who awkwardly waved.
“Not formally,” Shizuku replied, walking up to Rui and shaking his hand. “It’s nice to actually meet you, Rui! I’m Shizuku.”
Rui nodded. “I know. Tsukasa told me a lot about you.”
Shizuku blushed. “Aww, that’s so sweet…”
While Rui and Shizuku continued chatting, Tsukasa watched, his back turned to the giant window behind him.
Within a split second, a giant dragon crashed through the window, and scooped Tsukasa up in its claws.
The noise caused Rui and Shizuku to quickly turn around and stare in horror at the broken glass. They saw the dragon flying off in the distance, Tsukasa squirming in its grasp.
Rui ran off, a determined look in his eyes, and Shizuku ran after him, confused.
“Where are you going?! Tsukasa just got kidnapped by a DRAGON!”
“To chase after them!” Rui responded, reaching the stables and hopping on his horse. He held a hand out to Shizuku, inviting her to come with him. “Now, do you want to save him or not?”
“Of course I do!” Shizuku took Rui’s hand and hopped on the horse behind him.
And so the two began riding after the dragon.
In a tower east of the southern kingdom, the dragon deposited Tsukasa. Once the prince opened his eyes, the dragon morphed into a humanoid demon woman that he recognized as a demon.
“What did you want with him again, Nene?” the demon asked, as a green-haired woman appeared next to her.
“There’s something special about this boy,” Nene answered. “I’ll need to do some testing, but I think he may be pure of heart. Taking his soul could grant you re-entry into the demon world.”
The demon’s eyes lit up. “Really?!”
“Of course. The four thousand years we’ve been trying to help you return will finally be worth it as long as he cooperates,” Nene responded. “Now, boy, what is your name?”
“T-tsukasa,” Tsukasa stuttered out. “Who are you?! What do you want from me?!”
“I’m Emu! I’m a demon!” The demon smiled, showing her sharp teeth.
“And I’m Nene. I’m a sorceress,” Nene answered. “We just explained what we wanted from you. Your soul.”
“Are you sure you want my soul?” Tsukasa asked, nervous. “Isn’t there anything else I could, um, do for you?”
“Could you negotiate with the king of demons?” Nene questioned the prince, but interrupted him before he could respond. “I didn’t think so. No, we definitely want your soul.”
Tsukasa desperately tried to think of a response. “Ah, d-didn’t you say you needed to test me first?”
Emu and Nene looked at each other, before whispering things Tsukasa couldn’t hear and nodding to each other.
“I guess you’re right…” Nene sighed, before going up to Tsukasa and pulling out one of his hairs.
“Ouch!” Tsukasa exclaimed. “Hey, what was that for?!”
“I’m going to test your DNA to see if you’re pure of heart,” Nene explained.
“My what?” Tsukasa asked.
“Your hair.” Nene aggressively pointed to the hair she was holding, before disappearing.
“Now that we’re alone…” Emu leaned against the wall. “I can practice my singing without annoying Nene!”
Tsukasa cringed as the demon began to sing, and covered his ears. Thankfully, Emu didn’t seem to notice.
“You think that’s it?” Shizuku asked, pointing to a tower in the distance.
Rui nodded. “Definitely. Oh, I hope he’s alright…”
“I hope the dragon didn’t eat him…” Shizuku worried. “Or tear him to shreds and make a drink out of his blood, or force him to count all the treasure it owns, or…”
Shizuku’s worrying only made Rui worry as well.
Once they reached the foot of the tower, Rui yelled up to the window, “Tsukasa! We’re here to save you!”
No response.
Shizuku and Rui looked at each other nervously.
Rui tried again. “Tsukasa!”
Once again, no response.
Rui took a pick out of the bag and began to climb up the tower.
“Don’t fall!” Shizuku yelled up to the purple-haired boy.
“I won’t!” he yelled back. “This was a part of my training!”
Once he reached the window, he tapped Tsukasa on the shoulder, relieved to see that he was okay.
Tsukasa turned around and sighed in relief when he saw that it was Rui.
“Rui!” he exclaimed.
“One second. Once I yell up to you from the ground, I want you to jump out this window. I promise I’ll catch you,” Rui responded.
“What?” Tsukasa asked.
“Just trust me!” Rui shouted, climbing back down the tower.
Tsukasa looked out the window, to see Rui climbing down the tower and Shizuku waiting at the bottom. Once Rui reached the ground, he held his arms out and yelled, “now!”
Taking a deep breath, Tsukasa jumped from the window and hurtled through the air for a few seconds before landing in Rui’s arms.
“You’re really strong,” he said, the wind nearly knocked out of him.
“Thanks,” Rui replied, letting Tsukasa climb out of his arms, looking a bit dizzy.
“Shall we go home?” Shizuku asked.
Tsukasa nodded vigorously. “Yes, please.”