#And Aoko is Princess Fiona

[trouvelle]

Emogust 15.08 — Twisted Fairytale

A/N: I don’t know if I twisted this right! As always, its KaiAo and HeiKazu and (mentioned) ShinRan. I’ve been longing to write something about Kaito and someone else aside from Aoko, Saguru, Shinichi, etc. So here ya go, platonic KaiZuha! :D Also idk the thought of him losing his cool is just overall comedic @mintchocolateleaves @sup-poki

"Fear not, for I am here to rescue you from your deadly slumber!" exclaims Kaito in triumph as he stands at the foot of the tower with one foot up on a tree stump, his dashing white cape billowing majestically in the breeze.

He’s not exactly expecting anything, but he certainly isn’t expecting a response. So when a girl with her hair up in a ponytail soon pokes her head out the window while stifling a yawn, he is majorly shocked.

"...Who are you?" shouts the girl in response, staring down at him with an eyebrow raised. 

Kaito flinches as he takes in the sight of his princess, who has been known worldwide as Sleeping Beauty, but is very much awake. "Uh," he says lamely while squinting up at the window, "You're already awake?"

 "Of course—I wake up every morning," she deadpans. "I've been doing that for the past eighteen years, in fact. Is there supposed to be something wrong with that?"

"Oh, good Lord, the spell was broken that early?" Kaito frowns, positively bewildered. "Does this mean… another prince got here earlier than me?"

"Well, I haven’t been getting any visitors at all, but Mother comes to visit once in a while. Actually, I shouldn't even be talking to strangers. Who the hell are you, anyway?" the girl questions warily.

"I should be asking you the same question," Kaito sighs in exasperation. "In fact, I have a lot more to ask. If you don't mind, I'll be coming up now. We need to talk."

Φ

He proceeds to spend the next half hour inching his way up the side of the tower with the help of a grappling hook fashioned from some rope and the metal frame of his father's old parasol, as the ponytailed princess watches rather amusedly from the window. (Wait, why is he even carrying his father's parasol again?) 

Just as Kaito clambers onto the window sill, panting, the girl lunges at him and yanks him inwards into the tower, knocking him to the floor with an impressive martial art-like move and pinning him down with all her body weight.

"What the hell?" Kaito gasps, completely taken aback. "Is that really necessary? I'm here to rescue you!" 

The girl leans down to take a good look at his face, still keeping a strong hold and him. He curses Fate for giving him such a violent princess. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," She finally says after a rather long and awkward stare-down. She lets go of Kaito and stands up, dusting her skirt, looking a little sheepish. "It's just that...I've never had anyone aside from Mother in my tower before, it's a little... intimidating. Had to make sure you weren't going to kill me or anything." She adds, "Plus, I have a lot of spare time up here, so I've been practicing aikido."

Kaito winces as he slowly gets up from the floor, rubbing his elbows and knees. "That was a bit of an overreaction, if you ask me. Anyway, now that you know I'm not out to assassinate you, I'm Kaito, otherwise known as Prince of the Moonlight. And judging by the look on your face right now, you don't like the second name, so just call me Kaito."

"Very well. I'm Kazuha, but you might’ve heard people use my birth name—Rapunzel. Why do you need to rescue me, anyway?"

He vaguely gestures to the room they’re in. And for the first time, he notices her hair. More specifically, the length of her hair. It’s literally in a loop, occupying each corners of the room. "Well, I was sent here to rescue a sleeping princess, but right now, I'm just thoroughly confused by everything. And why the hell is your hair that long anyway? Your head must weigh a ton!”

She wisely chooses to ignore his last remarks. "Oh, Princess Aurora, you mean? Although we don’t call her that here, we call her Ran, because Aurora is a little bit too twisty of a word. She's in the next kingdom. I believe you've come to search in the wrong place." There's amusement written all over Kazuha's face at this point.

“No—wait. Sleeping Beauty is the princess that Prince Shinichi is tasked to find. I’m supposed to rescue the princess from the kingdom of Far Far Away, who like, transform as a human only between sunrise and sunset. If I remember correctly, her birth name is Fiona or something.” exclaims Kaito in desperation.

Kazuha walks to the window—the only window in her whole tower room, and points at the greenery even further away. “Then I think you’re looking for Princess Aoko!”

“What’s up with you princesses and your code names? Honestly you’re confusing me even more.” Kaito shakes his head in despair. Aurora, Ran. Fiona, Aoko. And what was Kazuha’s birth name again?

“That’s kind of the goal here, actually. We have to come up with a plan to throw off the bad guys. It’s worked pretty well so far! People come here bellowing things like ‘We’re here to kidnap you, Rapunzel’ and I simply tell them that I’m Kazuha, not Rapunzel. They’d always leave feeling very confused.” She laughs, obviously proud of her own accomplishment.

“Makes sense. So about Princess Aoko—”

“Right! She’s the only one who becomes an ogress during nighttime.”

“Ogress?!”

Kazuha laughes lightly. She’s having fun teasing this strange prince with his equally strange, messy hair. “Nope, I was joking. It’s just that she has poor eyesight, so she doesn’t really venture out during the night. Also, her tower is two more kingdoms over in that direction.”

"Are you kidding me?!" Kaito continues to talk to himself as he takes out his map to check his location. He proceeds to pull out his monocle from his breast pocket and puts it over his right eye to get a good look at his map. "I must’ve gotten the wrong map. Didn’t even notice it when it got switched. What kingdom are we in anyway? ... This is why I should start wearing my monocle more often."

Kazuha can see how compatible Aoko and Kaito would be. Heck, Kaito even has his own set of monocle. She wonders why Aoko is so adamant about revealing the fact about her eyesight to anyone.

Kaito rubs his temples. "I am so, royally, screwed. How am I supposed to reach there in a week? It took me a whole month to even get here!"

Kazuha honestly doesn't know what to say to this, so she just leans against the windowsill, tapping her foot while Kaito paces back and forth, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he thinks and thinks. 

“The Council of Kings won’t be pleased.” He murmurs to himself, angry at how he could’ve gotten his map switched. And to think that he’s not even a real prince! He’s just a thief with big ambitions, following in his father’s footsteps as the renowned KID. If the Kings find out that he’s failed his mission and the fact that he’s not a prince, he’s doomed to spend the rest of his life in a dungeon.

Kazuha woefully suggests, rubbing her eyes in an act of weariness. “Listen, I have an idea. Why don’t I just go back with you, and when we meet the other prince and your supposed princess, we can switch places. Aoko and I are pretty close, we often send letters to each other. I’m sure she will understand. Hm?”

"That might actually work, provided if Princess Aoko and whoever rescues her don’t get the castle first before we do." He agrees a little reluctantly.

"It’s settled then!" Kazuha cheers adorably, excitement very evident in her voice. “I’ve never been out of this tower before. Mother always says that the outside is full of evil and selfish people, but look at how it’s just so, so beautiful out there.”

Kaito smiles back at her. He’s heard that out of the three Tower Princesses, Rapunzel is the one who has been in the tower the longest, since she was taken away when she’s still a baby. “It is,” He agrees, making his way to the door, “I can guarantee you that you’re gonna love it.”

“Wait, Kaito! This tower doesn't have any stairs, in case you didn't know.”

"Okay. Easy, no worries. I have my most trusty grappling hook for us to use." He says with a dismissive wave of his hand. Years of being a thief gave him experience in climbing and maneuvering. He walks over to the window sill, peering outside. The grappling hook lies on the grass below.

“On second thoughts… you were saying something about no stairs?"

There’s a brief moment of silence as Kaito slumps his shoulders forward, like he’s giving up dealing with his life at this point. Seriously, when he volunteered for the Tower Princesses Rescue Mission, he didn’t think it’s going to be this challenging.

Kazuha sighs. "That’s what my hair is for.”

She joins him by the windowsill and attempts to throw her hair off her right shoulder and down the side of the tower. She’s pulling and pulling, and pulling, then pushing and pushing and pushing. And as Kaito watches in awe, he can’t help but notice how her hair seems to have a life of its own. Her hair is superbly smooth and silky, and he simply slides down with ease.

Far better than using his grappling hook.

“Also, your prince is a total dumbass. Good luck—you’re gonna need it when you finally meet him.” 

For what it’s worth, he thinks, this Princess is quite entertaining. Their journey back will be fun.

Part II