sun, through snow || vbs au (updates weekly!)

014 || exclusion

❃.✮:▹ pov: the prince ◃:✮.❃
(A/N: Yes, I skipped Kohane's turn. NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE KOHAMMY WILL GET A GO BUT THIS WILL PRACTICALLY BE PURE ANGST)

Today's emotion: confusion. Lots of it. First, why were these weirdos saying we were part of some prophecy? Second, what the fuck is happening with Toya? They said he was part of the prophecy too, but over the heads of the many people, I could see he was alone, looking at me, confused as I was.

A boy, about seven years old tugged on my arm, distracting me from figuring out what was happening. "So, you're the prince, right? From the old times? Do you have powers?" He said, his black hair brushing against my arm.

I tugged at my collar with the arm that was free. "Well, I think that they were sapped away when I was in my pod. So I don't have any anymore, but I can still fight!" I said, making up a very unconvincing story quickly. He seemed to believe it, nodded, and ran over to what I assumed to be his father. "Dad! He's just like us! I want to be like him-" I was watching him run away when a man, about 40 tapped me on the back.

"My grandfather was a servant at your castle. Do you know Kohaku Sengen?" He asked, and I shook my head. "I'm very sorry, but I don't." I just wanted to be away from this. I didn't want to please all these people. I wasn't a talker. I wasn't nice.

The old man walked away, and when I looked back at where Toya was, he was gone. I scanned the crowd, and then my eyes landed on the prophecy man. I walked over to him slowly, saying, "Excuse me! Uhm, about my friend?"

He looked up at me, with an unconcerned gaze. "Oh, him? Well, he's... how do I put this? Not necessary to fulfill the prophecy, even though he's in there." I gritted my teeth at those words. What an asshole.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, in the nicest possible tone, even though I wanted to strangle his wrinkly neck that looked like a pale raisin.

"Ah, well in the ancient myths, prophecies were usually done in threes. We speculated that having one more person in your group would not fulfill it. We think the person who wrote it put him as somewhat of a backup." He said, looking calm and smug at the same time.

I made sure to give him the most intense glare that I could muster, and then walked away. "I'm going to find Toya. He probably wandered off somewhere." I said to An and Kohane. An nodded in agreement.

Ever since we fought together, I noticed me and An were very similar to each other. We had similar personalities and values, and both were pretty good at fighting, in my opinion. So, I'd stopped being such a jerk to her, and trying to foster some kind of bond.

I tried to push my way through the crowd that was tightly surrounding me and the girls, pushing through people who were touching my hair, my face, my clothes. It felt weird to be touched by so many hands. I'd forgotten what it felt like to be popular.

"Excuse me, coming through!" I said as politely as I could even though I hated everyone here's guts for excluding Toya. Eventually I pushed through the many, many people, leaving An and Kohane to their devices at the unplanned meet and greet.

I started to run. I didn't see any people in the town, so I started calling Toya's name. My throat was dry and my muscles were sore from fighting and talking to so many people.

Eventually, I heard a soft voice, coming from one of the city streets. "Akito!" It was definitely Toya, and he was yelling at me. My adrenaline kicked in and I ran faster, rounding the corner where it came from.

Then, I saw Toya, crouching down, near a grate. "It's a cat!" He said, holding up something white, fluffy and very dirty. In the corner of the path, I saw a grate lifted up. "You got it from that grate?" I asked.