The real Prince

New hope

For hours, Zen and Mitsuhide had been searching the castle and the surrounding area together, but neither they nor the guards had been able to find even a hint of a clue. Mitsuhide watched Zen with furrowed brows as he kicked a large rock in frustration and threw his sword to the ground. "Zen, let's... let's take a short break, okay?" Zen wheeled around to face him with narrowed eyes. Hastily, Mitsuhide added: "You can barely walk straight anymore, you won't find Shirayuki that way either. If we sit down for a minute and think together, I'm sure we'll come up with something, with a more efficient way to find out where she is, okay?" The prince didn't look very convinced. Mitsuhide stepped towards him and without giving it much thought, he pulled Zen close and wrapped his arms around him. Zen's body froze for a second and Mitsuhide was about to let him go, but then he felt Zen's hands on his back and his head on his right shoulder. The scent of his hair clouded his senses for a moment. It wasn't the first time he felt like this, but somehow he couldn't quite understand why yet and this usually caused him a bit of anxiety. Now, though, with everything that was going on that day and the worries they were all having, he just felt pleasantly comforted and protected as he held Zen tightly in his arms. He allowed himself to close his eyes for a brief moment and almost instinctively rested his head on the smaller man's. He held his breath for a moment, but Zen didn't seem to mind; on the contrary, he moved his head slightly so that his cheek was now next to Mitsuhide's neck. He could feel Zen's lips brushing his collarbone, they were warm and soft. His heart stopped for a second. 'What am I thinking? ' Mitsuhide asked himself desperately, 'this is a normal hug between friends... this is my prince, I'm just his bodyguard... ... but then why is my heart beating so hard..." Zen sighed softly and although Mitsuhide thought his heart couldn't beat any faster, it now began to pound at twice the normal speed. It almost felt like he had two hearts... He concentrated and heat shot up his cheeks as he realized that it was Zen's heart he could feel there in addition to his own. "Z-zen?" he said softly, cursing himself for the sudden break in his voice. The prince raised his head and looked Mitsuhide directly in the eyes. 'W-why are his eyes so... veiled? Had he been crying? Is it because of worrying about Shirayuki? ' However, Zen didn't seem to be very worried or stressed currently, he looked more like he was... nervous? He couldn't make any sense of it. Slowly, Zen raised his hand and Mitsuhide winced slightly when he felt Zen put it to his cheek and run his finger over it. He opened his mouth. They were now looking closely into each other's eyes. It was as if they both realized something at that moment - understood something. Everything that didn't really make sense before, slowly came together like a puzzle. Found to each other. "Mitsuhide, you always worry so much about me," Zen said in a voice as soft as warm butter. He hesitated. "I... I feel so..."-
But Mitsuhide would not know how Zen felt, for at that moment they heard Obi running towards them with the speed of a nuclear-powered torpedo, calling for them excitedly. As if stung by an adder, the two jumped away from each other as if they were trying to put as much distance between them as possible in a split second.

"Mitsuhide, Zen!!!" Obi had arrived, stopped abruptly and then stood in front of them without panting or being out of breath at all. He tilted his head to the side. "What's wrong with you two?" But neither of them seemed to be able to give him an answer, on the contrary - both avoided looking at each other as well as at him. "Well never mind," he said quickly, "I know how to find Shirayuki!" With that, he had the full attention of both of them again.

Ten minutes later, they gathered with their horses and Kihal Tohgrul on a small field just outside the castle gates. "And you are quite sure that the hair ornament is made of gemstones?", Zen asked for the fifth time. "Yes," Obi replied patiently, "Popo will definitely be able to track it down and we'll follow it with the horses every step of the way. It will work." Kihal nodded in affirmation and at last Zen seemed to calm down. "In any case, it's worth a try." They swung onto their horses and signaled Kihal. She raised the arm Popo was sitting on high in the air and at her command, he rose into the air. They started moving immediately. "Good luck!", Kihal shouted after them.

It was almost night and then they would hardly be able to see the bird... They would have to rely on Obi's cat-like eyes. He pressed his thighs against his horse to speed up even more, not taking his eyes off the bird for a second. 'I'm coming, Shirayuki...'