It was early. School hadn't started yet, but the grounds were covered with children as they waited for the bell to ring. Squeals of laughter echoed over the various chattering groups. One voice in particular stood out to the boy standing by the classroom door.
“Servant!” the little girl called. She ran up to him, a smile spread across her face. “Today we're not going to just play princess! I'm going to /be/ a princess!” The boy tilted his head. He opened his mouth to ask her what she meant, then closed it. Servants only spoke when told. The little girl pulled her unzipped Pikachu bag around and rummaged through it. “I have it in here!... Where is it?...” As she searched, her smile faded.
“S-Sashi?...” the boy's voice was barely above a whisper. She didn't seem to hear him. She turned her bag upside down. A small notebook, a pencil, markers, and Baba the sheep fell to the ground. The boy hurried and picked up Baba, brushing off any dirt.
“W-where's my crown? It was in my bag!” Sashi cried, “Mitobe, do you see it?” Mitobe's fuzzy eyebrows shot up. She never called him by his name. She must be really upset... He looked at the ground, but didn't see any crown. He shook his head and held out Baba for her. She took her friend with her small, shaky hands. Tears welled up. “I-if I can't find my crown I can't be a real princess,” she said before she choked out a small sob. The tears ran down her cheeks. She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm.
Mitobe frowned. He reached a hand up to comfort her, but stopped. Was he allowed to touch her? He still saw her as a princess, whether she had a crown or not. That didn't matter to him. He thought she was beautiful and liked doing things for her. It made her happy. It made her smile. He loved her smile... He took his hand back. Even if he saw her as a princess, she saw him as a servant. He couldn't touch her, but still... He took a deep breath through his nose. He wanted to tell her that she was a princess, with or without the crown. He opened his mouth to speak when--
“We have to find it! It probably fell out of my bag!” she exclaimed. Her fists were clenched, some of her usual flare was back in her eyes. Mitobe's shoulders dropped. The confidence he built up had gone. He nodded and suppressed a sigh.
They spent the rest of the morning searching for the crown. Mitobe searched under bushes, benches, behind trash cans, and even glanced /in/ trashcans. They asked teachers and students along the way if they had seen it. In the end, there was no sign of the crown anywhere. The bell rang, signaling to students that they had five minutes to get to class. Sashi covered her eyes with her hands. Mitobe saw the tears drip down her chin, his eyebrows knit with worry. He couldn't just stand there watching... He reached his hand out to her again, hesitating a bit when he was about to make contact, then placed his hand on her back. As soon as the boy did that, Sashi clung to him. She sobbed into his shoulder. Mitobe stiffened. He wasn't expecting that. After a few seconds passed he relaxed and hugged her back. He looked up from the sobbing girl. Classmates were walking into the classroom as the teacher held open the door for them. Mitobe patted Sashi on the head and led her into class. She sniffled the entire way.
The children left the lunch room, ready for recess. Mitobe looked at Sashi. The girl had stopped crying since the morning, but she hadn't said much of anything. During lunch she frowned at her food. Mitobe had expected her to cry again, but she didn't. Now he watched the other kids run out to the playground, squealing and chasing one another. He looked back at Sashi. She was looking at the ground, her little lip quivering. The boy took her hand and walked her over to the bench. He wanted to stay with her, but there was something he had to do first. When she sat down he pointed towards where the bathrooms were. She blinked at him for a moment, tilting her head.
“... Do you have to poop?” she asked. Mitobe's cheeks turned pink. He didn't have to /poop/, but he had to go number one... Sashi smiled a little. “Okay, I'll... wait here.” Mitobe frowned, she sounded so sad... He nodded and headed for the bathroom.
When the boy was done doing his business he left the restroom. He was about to turn the corner when he heard the obnoxious laughter of a certain gang of second graders. They sounded like dieing donkeys. The younger boy was going to ignore them, until one of the three spoke.
“Look at me, I'm a pretty princess!” he cackled. Mitobe turned around to see the older kid wearing a white tiara. His eyes widened. That must be Sashi's crown! The three second graders didn't seem to notice Mitobe at all. They just laughed like a bunch of idiots.
“Where did you even get that thing?” one of the other boys asked.
“I dunno, I found it on the ground this morning,” the first one said. Mitobe frowned. They had no right to take her crown! His little hands balled up into fists. He wanted to go up to them and take it back, but they were a lot bigger... No, this was for Sashi. His princess. He had to get it back for her.
Mitobe walked up to them. When they saw him they raised a brow. He stopped when he was close enough and pointed up at the crown on the taller boy's head.
“What?” he laughed, “You wanna play princess too?” He looked at his buddies, who were howling as if that were the funniest joke in the world. They stopped when Mitobe nodded. “Are you serious?” the boy walked up close to the younger one. Mitobe held his ground, his brows furrowed with determination. “You want the crown?” he took the crown off his head, “Fine, you can have it.” He shoved Mitobe, causing him to fall on the ground, then tossed the crown at him. “Whatever, sissy boy,” the second grader called over his shoulder as he and his friends left, sounding like a pack of hyenas.
Mitobe blinked at them as they left, then looked down at the crown. He smiled. He got her crown! He sprang up, not bothering to brush the dirt off. When he saw Sashi she was still sitting on the bench, looking at the ground and kicking at a rock. He put the crown behind his back as he approached. She looked up at him.
“That took you pretty long, wh--” her eyes widened when she noticed him covered in dirt, “Wh-what happened?!” Mitobe shook his head, smiling from ear to ear. He brought the crown around and placed it on her head. Sashi froze. She brought her hand up to the crown and poked at it. She plucked it off of her head to get a better look at it. “M-my crown!! Y-you found my crown!?” she looked up at Mitobe, who just smiled at her. Her eyes got teary again. She lunged at him and hugged him tight. “Th-thank you, Mitobe!” He patted her head. She pulled away after a few seconds had passed. She cleared her throat and placed the crown back on her head. It was time to stop crying. Princesses did not cry.
She placed her hands on her hips and frowned at Mitobe. “Alright, Servant! It is time to go back to the castle! We have been away for far too long!” she announced. The boy nodded. Sashi turned around and took a few steps before stopping. Mitobe raised a brow. “Actually...” she glanced back at him, “...As a reward for finding my crown, you can be the prince. But just for today!” His eyes widened. She whipped around and pointed a finger at him. “I'm not gonna go easy on you though! Today I'm falling into a deep sleep! You'll have to kiss me to wake me up! And fight dragons!” Her prince turned completely red, but nodded. “Good, now let's go to the castle,” the princess said. She twirled around like a ballerina and the two of them started their quest to get to the castle.
