Chapter Text
Tsukasa wanted to cut his hair.
This wouldn't have been too much of a big deal had he been a commoner, but no. He was the prince of the Lily Kingdom, and he had responsibilities - one of which was keeping his hair as long as he could.
To the peasants outside the castle's walls and the nobles within, the best way to show your status was hair.
To everyone except him, it seemed hair was the defining factor in social status. Only charlatans and beggars had shaved heads, most people kept theirs around a comfortable shoulder-length, and royalty had the longest hair out of all of them.
And of course, it was almost a death wish to wear hair extensions, not that anyone would give up their hair willingly. The same thing applied to having hair longer or shorter than your station designated.
He hated it.
Tsukasa's family, the Tenmas, ruled one of the most powerful kingdoms on the continent, so they always grew their hair as long as they could. His sister, Saki, had long flowing pigtails in his family's trademark blonde-pink gradient, and his adopted brother Toya was still trying to grow his blue half-and-half hair out after his father had cut it and thrown him out of his kingdom. His mom had the longest out of all of them, puddling on the floor and requiring two servants to keep it from acquiring any dirt or muck, with his father following behind, keeping it tied up in the popular bun style.
And then there was Tsukasa, of course.
He kept his as short as was acceptable for his rank as crown prince (down to his knees), and kept it tied up, but even then it fell on his shoulders, got in his mouth, and got caught up in the belts and buttons of his regalia.
Annoying.
Stupid.
-
At exactly two am, Tsukasa rose from his bed and groped for the scissors he'd stashed underneath his bed in the dark. He was finally going to do what he'd wanted to do for ages - run away from the crushing weight of his princely duties and try living a life of his own.
Without the massive pain of his stupid fucking hair.
Doing this in the dark wasn't the best idea, sure, but anything else would alert the others to his activities.
As Tsukasa raised the scissors to his hair (tied in a ponytail to make it easier to cut cleanly), he paused. Didn't he still have people to see, siblings to take care of?
No, never mind. They didn't need his help.
Saki was destined to be a great queen, of course, as she'd been blessed with both her father's brain and mother's talent for diplomacy, and Toya had aspirations to be a great military general, which he would of course achieve, what with his natural talent for strategy and expertise with the sword from his father's harsh training.
And Tsukasa?
He didn't have any talents to speak of save acting, and what use was that for ruling a large kingdom? That's why he was doing this, to figure out who he could be outside of the crown prince.
Snip.
Snip.
Snip.
The metallic sound seemed to echo through the room, mixing with Tsukasa's pounding heartbeat and the rustling of trees outside, as Tsukasa's hair fell to the floor, hair band and all.
Prince no more.
Prince no more.
Tsukasa didn't have the title of prince anymore, didn't have the weight of being the prince anymore. He was tempted to jump for joy, but restrained himself and started with the escape plan he'd worked on for a week, when he'd started seriously thinking about this.
Tsukasa changed out of the silk pajamas he was in, packed a small bag for the journey to the nearest town (he had mapped it out when he first started planning), and used pillows to create his sleeping form, adding his shorn hair (it felt so good to say that) for good measure.
Then, still relishing the newly light feeling of his head, Tsukasa threw a rope out the window and prepared to climb down.
That was... really high.
Tsukasa would have been almost terrified of the drop usually, but he tossed his head, feeling the absence of the usual weight that would have accompanied it, and started climbing down.
He wasn't a prince anymore. He didn't have to worry.
-
Around three hours later, Tsukasa huffed as the lights of the nearest town to him, Castle Point, came into view. Apparently he'd misjudged how long the walk would be from the castle, and it had taken him longer as a result. It was probably somewhere around five now, and Tsukasa tensed as he entered the town's cobbled streets. He knew from his travels and studies that pickpockets and muggers ran rampant in towns like this, and he had no desire to be on the receiving end of a knife his first adventure into the real world without a bodyguard.
-
Despite his attempts to avoid attention (surprisingly hard considering there were close to no people out around the town), a girl with pink hair and a simple dress approached him. Surprised, Tsukasa took a second to assess her hair. Even thought he hated the idea himself, it did pay to know what the different lengths of hair meant. Hers was shoulder-length, maybe a little shorter, designating her as 'rank three - customer service or factory work', according to the books he had been forced to study when he was young.
Tsukasa, remembering he was a lower rank than her now (what was it, rank two? Three? He had been rank nine before, so he was definitely below rank five now. That meant he'd be expected to hold a job now, didn't it... maybe he hadn't thought this through enough... wait! Never mind! He couldn't worry about that now!), bent in a small bow and waited to be addressed, as protocol dictated for one of a higher rank than you.
The girl tilted her head and gave him a wide grin.
"Wonderhoy morning to you, sir! I'm Emu Otori! You're new in town, right? I would remember you otherwise! Would you like to come to my inn for rest? You look kind of tired, and a meal would be just the thing to get you back to wonderhoy 100%!"
Emu said this all in a single breath, and it took Tsukasa a few seconds of confused blinking to figure out what she meant. An inn, huh...? So he had been right, she was rank three.
Tsukasa nodded quickly.
"I'm Ts-"
Ah, stupid. If he used his real name he'd be found out in a heartbeat.
"...u. Yeah, Tsu."
Good enough!
The innkeep nodded excitedly and grabbed his hand, pulling him along into a large inn whose sign read 'The Fish and Ducks'. A pretty cute name for a place, really.
Tsukasa took a second to look around the place once he got in, the warmth of the inside and smell of food hitting his senses as soon as he entered. The place was done up in dark wood tones with touches of pink, with a bar and tables on this floor, a stage to the right, and a staircase leading up to what was probably lodging for boarders.
Emu sat him at a table before rushing to get him a menu and water. Tsukasa was still reeling from processing the chaos in the room - despite the early hour there were plenty of customers who chatted merrily, a few even carrying instruments.
Traveling performers...?
Maybe he could put his acting skills to use here.
Tsukasa smiled as Emu came back with his water and a menu.
"So, Mr. Tsu, what would you like? Feel free to look through all the options!"
Tsukasa had made sure to pack money before his travels, so the cost wasn't a problem, and he paged the (surprisingly large) menu, settling in something called 'taiyaki' - he recognized the name and had eaten them a few times back at the castle.
Emu left to prepare his order, telling him to talk to the other customers.
Hearing that, Tsukasa glanced around the room, quietly taking stock of the people there and their ranks. There was a green-haired girl (around rank five, he assumed, due to her waist-length hair) with feathers in her hair and a lute in her hands. A traveling player, he assumed. Maybe she'd put on a performance at the stage in some time? He also caught sight of a guy (probably a waiter, as his rank of three and uniform dictated) with ginger hair barely brushing his shoulders, tied up with a blonde streak in the front. That caught his attention. While dyeing one's hair wasn't completely unheard of, many were leery of those who did, thinking that just length and style should ever be changed. However, the ginger pulled it off well. Before long, Tsukasa found himself staring.
However, before he could get too lost, Emu returned to his table with his order. She smiled as she set it down.
"Enjoy, Mr. Tsu!"
Tsukasa nodded and began to eat it. As Tsukasa finished the (extremely nice) taiyaki, Emu struck up a conversation.
"So, Tsu- may I call you Tsu?, will you be staying here long? Even if it's only for a few days, we have some rooms available if you'd like!"
Tsukasa blinked at her for a second, then smiled. A bed to crash in for a few days as he got his bearings would be perfect.
"Yes, what's the cost per day?"
Emu gave him a blinding grin, then slid into the seat opposite him.
"10 gp, or if you're considering staying longer we'll pay for your room and board until you get a job!"
Tsukasa paused at that. He hadn't really considered his life after leaving the castle, but that seemed like a good idea. He'd be close enough to keep a watch on his siblings from afar, and Emu seemed nice. If the other villagers here were the same as her, he'd be happy to live out his days in Castle Point.
"Sure. I'm considering staying longer, would I be able to do the second thing you suggested?"
Another smile from Emu.
"Of course! The plan is available to anyone under rank three, so you qualify! I'll show you to your room shortly once I finish tending to these customers!"
Tsukasa smiled as Emu ran off to take another girl's order, who had cotton-candy pink hair in a side ponytail.
In his barely thirty minutes here, he'd managed to find lodging and a kind friend. That was lucky, wasn't it? Tsukasa kept thinking to himself as he finished the water, then fidgeted with his newly-short hair. Now that he was doing this, he'd probably have to find a barber or someone willing to touch his hair up a little - he was far from a good hairstylist, and his current hair looked like he had cut it with a weed whacker. He'd caught more than a few stares from the patrons of the inn.
Emu came up to him again, snapping him out of his reverie, then led him to his room.
The upstairs of the inn was similar to the downstairs, still in wood tones and pink, but felt somehow more homey - there were small tapestries and paintings on the walls, little handmade touches that made the place feel like it had been lived in.
Emu took him to a door with a little yellow duck-shaped nameplate with the number 88 painted on it in a bright pink.
"Here's your room! I'm available any time if you'd like to talk, and I'll send one of the lodgers round to show you around the town later, if you'd like! Everyone here is super nice and friendly, even if they don't seem like it at first!"
Emu finished her sentence as she unlocked the door and handed the key to Tsukasa. He smiled at her, grateful, then nodded at her earlier question.
"Thank you, Emu. I'd like it if someone could show me around."
Emu nodded, told him to enjoy his stay, however long it was, and left.