Mamoru

No matter how much Mamoru had prepared, nothing stopped his heart from banging against his ribcage with such force it felt as if it would burst out. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door and waited until someone called him in.

“Come in.”

Silently praying to the high heavens, he walked into the room; he stood in front of three men and two women all wearing business attire sitting at a semi-circle desk. The chair in the middle was vacant with Kayori Himeji written on the small nameplate in front of it.

“Apologies for being late,” Kayori walked in, “Let’s sort out this mess.”

She took her seat and removed her glasses from the top of her head to the bridge of her nose so she was able to look through them as she looked through a thick file.

“Name, rank and number?”

“Himeji Mamoru, Commanding Officer, 9217”

“I believe you know why you’re here?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And why are you here, Commander?” a man named Watkins asked, rather smugly.

“For neglecting my duties and putting the Princess of Genevia in grave danger, sir,” Mamoru stood straight, hands behind his back.

“I told you, let me go but no! You all wanted a child to go instead, now look what happened!” Watkins scoffed.

“Not right now!” Kayori glared at him.

“With all due respect, Sir, the reason why I am ranking in this position is because of my capabilities, this wasn’t my first time rescuing a Princess, I admit it may have been the first time I screwed up, but rest assured this won’t happen again,” Mamoru tried to keep his voice even.

“What do you think the appropriate way to handle this situation would be?” one of the women, Parr, asked this time.

“He is in this position because of his competence.”

“Still doesn’t make up for his carelessness!”

All of their voices started overlapping one another, it was as if they had forgotten Mamoru altogether.

“QUIET!” Kayori stood up banging her hands on the table, the entire room filled with silence as quickly as it filled with voices, even Mamoru was surprised, “Ladies and Gentlemen let’s keep it together! We are here to discuss what to do with this young soldier after the stunt he pulled, so what do you propose we do?”

She sat down but not before passing her son a knowing look, a smile ghosted his lips as he watched his Mother take charge, and admiration filled up inside of him.

“Apologies Kayori, it won’t happen again,” Parr glanced around quickly before landing them on her superior.

“I say we have him benched for a few months, that should do it,” Watkins smirked.

“And what do you suggest we do with Delilah? Where are we going to send her?”

Mamoru’s ears perked up at the sound of the Princess’s name, he too was eager to know what was going to happen, part of him hoped she’d be somewhere safe and far, and the other part wished to take her with him.

“Leave her with me.”

“WHAT?” Mamoru yelled.

All eyes in the room were back on the young man who felt as if his ears were on fire either from embarrassment or anger that bubbled in him at the ridiculous proposition, “Why should she go with you?”

“Remember who you’re speaking to, Himeji!” Watkins spat.

“Apologies, why should she go with you, sir?”

“I think you’re forgetting that I’m your commander and have rescued Princesses a lot longer than you, and what I meant was I can take care of her until the matters have been solved in her Kingdom… I think I can handle that one,” he laughed.

Mamoru was trying hard to keep his cool otherwise he had a strong urge to pick up the table and hit him with it, Kayori signalled him to calm down although even she looked pissed at the unnecessary comment.

“Her name is Delilah and it would be in your best interest to address her as such,” Kayori glared.

“That’s a good idea,” the other woman, Cleaves, perked up.

“See,” the man smirked.

“What? Not you, Watkins. Himeji. Yes, things did go wrong but that could’ve happened to anyone, we all know things don’t always go to plan, no matter how much you’re prepared,” she pointed out.

Kayori smiled and stood up, “It’s settled then, Himeji you are going to stay with her until everything is sorted in her Kingdom, she’s under your protection until further notice, meeting adjourned.”

Mamoru stood there a little shellshocked with how things concluded, but more so with how his silent wish came true, once everyone had left, Mamoru went to the locker room and grabbed his things before heading towards one of the shower rooms.

He slowly peeled off his clothes before standing underneath the hot shower, his mind kept going to how his life was going to be for the next few months or so.

Wrapping a towel around his waist he stepped out and put on something more casual, he opted for denim jeans, a brown belt, a white t-shirt and a pair of trainers. He didn’t bother to dry his hair with a hairdryer and just quickly rubbed a towel over it, before hanging it over his neck to catch the excess droplets.

Walking back outside he saw Kayori walking up and down the corridor, “Mum,” he called out.

“There you are,” she huffed, the glasses sitting back on the top of her head.

“Sorry, I just needed a minute to myself,” he rubbed his shoulder, a tick for when he was stressed or overwhelmed.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.

She looked at him with doubt before continuing, “And are you sure you can do this?”

Mamoru took a deep breath and nodded, “I won’t let you down.”

Kayori smiled and caressed his cheek, “Good because we have a lot riding on this, prove to these lot that you are the best. No pressure.”

He watched his Mum walk ahead as he stood behind to stop his head from spinning, in 24 hours his life had turned a complete 180 and he couldn’t believe his luck, he never knew he would be the one to miss a palace but here he was.

“Soldier,” he heard and looked up at his Mum who looked amused, “At ease.”

Mamoru rolled his eyes and took the towel off throwing it inside his locker, he walked behind his Mum catching up quickly with his long strides.

“Mamoru,” he heard and saw Alex walking towards him, arms stretched out for a hug.

“Hello, Alex,” he smiled and accepted the tight embrace.

“Whoo! Someone’s been spending the majority of his time in the gym,” he winked.

Mamoru couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah? You’re looking great yourself,” he watched as Alex’s cheeks turned rosy, “How’s our Princess?”

“She is so gorgeous you won’t be able to take your eyes off of her, and why don’t you ever rescue Princesses like her?” he frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well for starters she’s the epitome of gorgeous! And secondly, she’s the politest little girl I’ve ever met!” he threw his hands in the air.

“What the other girls not that polite?” Mamoru asked, folding his arms.

“Trust me that girl is an angel compared to those other girls… ahh there she is and,” Alex gasped, “Perfect!”

Mamoru who was looking around this whole time, followed Alex’s gaze and felt his jaw drop to the floor. Delilah was wearing a long flowy, floral dress, her hair fell down her back in perfect curls and the make-up just accentuated her beauty.

“Ahem, snap out of it, Himeji. Or you might scare the girl,” Alex stifled his laugh while moving Mamoru’s bottom jaw to close his gaping mouth.

The blushing bodyguard diverted his attention to the ground, scratching the back of his neck and mentally kicking himself. He tried to pay attention to his Mum as she explained to Delilah where she was going to be staying but he was distracted, as his eyes trailed up and down her frame.

“I trust your decision Kayori, as long as Mr Himeji is okay with my intrusion.”

“Of course!” Mamoru replied quickly, a look crossed his face before he cleared his throat, “It’s no trouble, Princess.”

“Excellent!” Kayori smiled.

She gave Delilah a reassuring hug and gave a warning look towards her son, “I’m trusting you Mamoru.”

Mamoru gulped and nodded quickly, his Mum let out a chuckle before caressing his cheek and walking away leaving the Princess and her Bodyguard alone.

A moment of silence passed between them before Mamoru spoke up, “You look beautiful by the way.”

A blush crept on her cheek, “Thank you, so do you… I mean you look handsome as always.”

Chuckling he nodded, “Thank you, shall we?”

“Lead the way.”

They both left the building and Mamoru saw a car parked outside, smiling to himself he opened the passenger side of the door, gesturing for Delilah to get in, he waited until she sat inside before helping her with the seatbelt. He then jogged around to the other side and drove off.

“I’m sorry, I know being stuck with me isn’t ideal,” Mamoru chuckled.

Delilah placed a gentle hand on his wrist, “There’s no one else I’d rather be with, in fact, I’m sorry I’m going to be invading your space.”

Mamoru despite being taken aback managed a reply, “Hey, I don’t want you to think that, Princess. Come to think of it, I’d rather you come with me so I can make sure you’re safe, you’re under my protection and I promise I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, not again” he added with a whisper.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Delilah shyly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “Thank you.”

A smile made its way to his lips as he continued driving, the rest of the ride was silent and by the time Mamoru reached home, Delilah had her head against the window sound asleep. She had a hell of a day and as expected it took its toll on her. He didn’t have the heart to wake her up but knew he had to.

“Princess,” he gently shook her shoulder.

“Mhm,” she mumbled before stretching and letting out a yawn.

“Let’s go,” Mamoru got out and helped her out, letting her lean on him for support as they entered the lift, Mamoru’s apartment was on the seventh floor of his building. “Would you like to sleep some more or are you hungry?”

“I’d like to sleep, I’m not very hungry,” Delilah rubbed her eye.

Mamoru chuckled, “Okay, down the corridor it’s the one on the left, if you need anything give me a shout.”

Delilah nodded before yawning again, “Thank you.”

He watched the young girl make her way to the room before he proceeded to check the outside the windows. He kept looking through his rearview mirror while he drove to make sure no one was tailing them, he knew it was unlikely but he didn’t want to take any risks.

A loud knock on the main door startled him, he grabbed a small handgun which he kept hidden and looked through the peephole, rolling his eyes with a groan he opened the door.

“The fuck is wrong with you? You could’ve been shot!” Mamoru scolded Kenji while gesturing to the small gun.

“I told you, goodbyes aren’t forever,” he winked before grabbing multiple suitcases and hurling them inside.

“Shh! Pipe it down, she’s asleep!” Mamoru whisper-yelled.

“Ohh sorry,” Kenji covered his mouth with his hands, “Anyways I’m surprised Kayori didn’t tell you.”

“She hardly tells me anything, just expects me to go with the flow. Anyways, you weren’t followed, were you?”

Kenji shook his head.

“Good. I don’t trust, Frederick. I doubt he can even come here but I still don’t want to risk anything.”

“Don’t worry she’s in good hands. We’ll protect her,” Kenji nodded.

“Yes, no more fuck-ups.”