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As a child, Minori had been told that knighthood was 3 things: an honor, a duty, and above all, a responsibility. Though one could argue that duty and responsibility were the same thing (one being the brunette herself), her parents made it clear that they were apparently different, never to be mistaken.
After a year of being a personal guard for the Momoi’s, Minori supposed they were right—but not in the way her birth givers probably intended to be..
“Airi-chan!! Good morning!!” The girl proclaimed with a bow that would’ve resulted in a concussion if she’d been a tad more careless. But, how could she not? The princess had just woken up, it was only right to greet her with respect!
“Eh?! Oh—Minori,” Airi let out a sigh of relief as she registered the presence of the knight, her face morphing from shock to a more content expression.
“I told you to stop scaring me like that,” she hissed, though it was less like a snake hissing at you like it was about to bite your face (never again, Minori noted. Count Pearl could be horrifying despite Kohane’s insistences) and more like a cat that had just gotten wet. Minori thought that was accurate, actually.. Airi’s hair did look like a cat right now.. she had to resist the urge to reach out and pet it.
“Sorry!! I was just excited to see you!” Minori apologized, sheepish. Airi huffed.
“It's fine.. let’s just go, I’m getting hungry.”
“Yes ma’am!” Minori saluted. Ma’am probably wasn’t the right term to call the royal blooded, but her knight seemingly didn’t care as she marched behind Airi, watching her (extra) fluffy locks bounce.
One could even call seeing the sight an honor. Minori happened to be “one”.
-
As a knight, Minori’s primary duty was obvious: to protect. From what? Well, anyone who had seen even the cover of a storybook would imagine a dragon or monster, but Minori found that she didn’t have to protect Airi from any of those things, rather..
“Achoo!” The princess sneezed. Turns out, Airi’s dangers consisted of a beast much less fierce: cat allergies.
“Airi-chan!! Step back!!” Minori shouted, standing between Airi and the calico colored ball of fluff, sword in hand. Airi’s eyes widened, quickly reaching out to lower Minori’s blade.
“Eh?! Minori—!” She paused to sneeze. “It’s a *cat*! Put the sword away-!!”
“Oh! Sorry!!” The knight realized, lowering her weapon to the floor. She stared down at the cat. It stared back, eyes wide as if to say “were you about to hit me with that thing?” Airi stepped closer, peeking at the cat from over her shoulder. She frowned.
“Oi, don’t give me that look!” Airi pouted. “I swear I’d pet you if I could—don’t look at me like that!”
Minori had to stop herself from moving out of the way to let Airi pet the cat—No, Minori! You have to protect her even if she wants to go near evil!!
After all, it was Minori’s duty to keep Airi safe.. but at what cost??
-
Something that wasn’t required of Minori but that she insisted on doing was walking Airi to her room. Every night, after the clock struck 9, she’d make it her priority to walk the pinkette back to her sleeping chambers. So what if she “didn’t have to”? Minori had to make sure Airi got to her room safely!
“Minori.. I can get to my room by myself, you know,” Airi reminded as they walked. Minori looked at her with determined spheres of silver.
“But! Anything could happen, Airi-chan!” The brunette reasoned, bouncing in her step. ”I have to protect you!”
As the two finally reached the door, Airi let out a sigh laced with fondness. She turned to face Minori, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Well, thanks for protecting me from nothing, I guess,” she mused, before in one swift motion Airi propped herself up on her toes and pressed a quick, soft kiss to Minori’s cheek.
“W-Weh?! Airi-chan-?!”
“Ahem-! I-I’ll see you tomorrow!”
As quick as she had come, the pinkette disappeared into her room, her face a color reminiscent of her hair, even if in the moonlight.
So as a child, Minori had been told that knighthood was, above all else, a responsibility. But as she stood in the moonlit halls leading to Airi’s room, feeling her now pink cheek that the princess’s lips had only just touched a minute ago, Minori concluded that being Airi’s knight was much more than just that.