(Yang POV)

I can still remember the day of that promise I made to you.

It was the 13th of December sixteen years ago, and Christmas was right around the corner. It was pure white outside thanks to the fluffy white snow decorating the ground, trees, and even the house we lived in together. My dad, Tai, often told us stories of people like Santa and Jack Frost that gave the season a magical feel. Our six year old minds were always entranced with the feeling of wonder, and there was never a dull moment around you.

"Daddy, why can't me and Ruby play with (Y/N)?" I asked in a curious and slightly worried manner.

I was standing in front of my dad holding Ruby's hand, the three of us were standing outside the room you used when you were staying at our house, which always had your smell of the ocean coming from it. It was so strong even when you were gone, I always passed by your room and thought we were at the beach. However, this time, it was closed and I couldn't see you.

"(Y/N) got a cold, which isn't surprising because he gave his jacket to you since all your jackets were muddy." Tai crossed his arms and sighed. "If you hadn't jumped in mud yesterday, then maybe (Y/N) wouldn't be sick."

"Sorry!" I shouted, slightly opening the door so (Y/N) could hear me, causing my dad to panic and cover my mouth with his hand, so I licked it.

"Ew!" Tai wiped his hand on his pants and squatted down to my level. "Yang, even if he is a demigod, a cold is still a cold, so he needs peace and quiet to recover."

"So we can't play together?" Ruby asked with puppy dog eyes, which allowed me to raise her in front of Tai in order to charm him over Ruby's cuteness.

"Yang, no, that's evil!" Tai was cracking under Ruby's puppy dog eyes, I just hoped the onslaught would be enough to officially crack him. "No, I will not allow my two precious daughters get sick to play with a prince that just so happens to be staying at our house!"

"Well if he's a prince, then someone needs to take care of him." I said confidently, making Tai's eyes go wide before he dashed off into his room. "Hehe, got him!"

"Not so fast little lady!" Tai busted into of the room wearing a sparkly pink apron, a surgeon's mask, gloves, and safety goggles. "I will not let my daughters get sick! I shall take on the burden myself!"

"Dad, wait!" I let go of Ruby's hand and stood between Tai and the door to your room. "I'm the reason he got sick in the first place, so I'll take care of him."

"I personally agree with that proposal." Zeno said from behind Tai, making my father jump into the air a bit. "Oh, Sorry Tai, Saorise and I kind of broke down your door when you told us our son was sick."

"I apologize for nothing." Saorise coldly looked into the distance as she walked beside Zeno. "So where is (Y/N)?"

"Uncle Zeno, Auntie Saorise!" Ruby ran up to the two adults and embraced them into a hug, a hug that Zeno happily returned, even though they aren't related to us, they're pretty close so Ruby calls them uncle and auntie.

"Zeno, you can't just bust down my door every time your son gets sick." Tai scolded Uncle Zeno while the man raised Ruby onto his shoulder. "This is one of those instances where I regret buying you cafeteria food."

"I don't get sick, so I panic when I hear my own son gets sick." Zeno sheepishly admits before he started tugging at the necklace and green cloth wrapped around his head. "Here Yang."

"What's this?" I asked while Zeno handed me his necklace from his head, I gently traced my fingers along the ancient design of a golden dragon. "A necklace?"

"Yup, the same one King Hiryuu gave to me over four thousand years ago." Zeno squatted down to my level, with his usual overwhelming smile on his face. "I'm trusting you with this for now, just while you go visit (Y/N)."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to give my destructive daughter an ancient necklace that is worth billions in today's money and is pretty much priceless to you?" Tai asked with obvious worry.

"I have a feeling Yang won't break it." Zeno's eyes opened to reveal his usual blue eyes, and for some reason, they always looked like an old man's that was hopeful for the youth. "Plus that necklace is magical~"

"Magical?" My eyes were most likely glittering at that point upon hearing the word 'magical'.

"That's right, that necklace has my blessing, so it helps you not get sick." Zeno informed me, causing me to look at the necklace in higher detail. "Go ahead and try it on, just try not to break it."

After he said that, I put on the necklace to see it fit pretty well. Zeno was smiling at my reaction, while Saorise took a photo of either me or Tai's panicking expression. Saorise gave me some special soup that smelled like seaweed and boiled seawater, but hey, you were part fish, and I was a kid at the time. So I accepted the soup and walked into your room. You were always a gamer, even back then, so of course you were lying in bed, playing Pokémon Sapphire on your handheld. Still, I could tell your fever was getting worse, judging from the fact you were actually having trouble playing Pokémon and the red face.

"(Y/N), what are you doing?" I asked you, causing you to visibly jump and attempt to hide your gameboy under your pillow. "Don't try to hide it, I saw you!"

"I have no idea what you're talking aboouuut." You said in a slightly feverish tone, making me sigh as I walked over to your bed before placing the soup on the nightstand, then I pulled out your gameboy. "Wha-? You're magiiic!"

"(Y/N), you need to rest so we can play again tomorrow." I sighed and handed you the soup, which you grabbed and put on your blanket covered lap.

"This is waarrrm." You said, and I let my curiosity control my actions so I could take your temperature, but I recoiled my hand uptown touching your face, it was hot.

"(Y/N), after you eat that, you're going to get some rest." I ordered you, but you tried replying by reaching for your game boy, but I grabbed your hand before you could. "What did I just say?"

"Can I have a spoon?" You asked, and I turned away to grab the spoon off the nightstand, but when I turned around to face you again I was left speechless.

It was nighttime, and you had the window open as always to let the beautiful moonlight into your room. You're usually playful (e/c) seemed to glow in the glistening moonlight, and your hair was swaying gently in the breeze behind you. Surprisingly, you wore a similar smile to your father, one that managed to make everyone around you feel at ease. However, when you pull that smile off, I feel my heart skip a beat. Even back then I liked you.

After you ate your soup, I took your bowl and placed it on the nightstand that was nearby. You once again attempted to grab your game boy, but I stopped you once again. I forced you to lie down on the bed after fluffing your pillow and tucking you in. You argued at first, but I forced you down by holding onto your warm hand.

"H-Hey, (Y/N), can you make me a promise?" I asked you, making you turn your attention to me, but I could tell your fever was still going strong.

"Suuurreee." You said a smile so wide it forced you to close your eyes. "What is it, Yaaang?"

"Could we always be together?" I asked you, but then I corrected myself to get the point across. "Not as friends, but...together together?"

You nodded your head, and I could feel that joy was overwhelming my heart. After that, I hugged you tighter than I ever hugged you before shortly before leaving your room, I walked into the living room and gave Uncle Zeno back his necklace. It was late, so I decided to go to bed along with Ruby. As I covered myself with blankets, I began worrying about the future.

Given how you had a fever, I guessed that you probably won't even remember the promise we just made, and my face was also heating up just thinking about it. Still, I wondered what you would do if you married another girl knowing about our promise. However, my answer finally came three years later, when you and Ruby were getting your haircuts.

"Why can't I grow my hair out like dad?" You whined, making me giggle because I don't get haircuts, my dad learned that lesson a long time ago.

"Because you're a kid right now, and only kings get to grow their hair out like that." The person who cut your and Ruby's hair was actually Esidisi, since he wanted to pursue a fashion career once he heard of it.

"Don't worry (Y/N), you still look like your father even with short hair." Saorise reassured, which did help you a bit, unlike most people, you always wanted to be like your father.

"Still, I don't like haircuts, especially when the hair gets stuck in my clothes." You pouted while still letting Esidisi do his job.

"Yep, he's definitely your son." Tai playfully nudged Zeno in the side, most likely referring to the fact that Zeno also hated haircuts.

"Why doesn't Yang get haircuts?" You asked jealousy, causing me to let a giggle out because of your reaction.

"Because last time I tried to cut her hair the house almost burned down." Esidisi informed us, and you suddenly sweatdropped upon the memory.

"The more you talk the longer this is gonna take." Saorise reminded you, making you go quiet and allowing Esidisi to finish his job.

Once he finished, you jumped up from the chair and dashed out of the house, and we all knew where you were going. Still, I decided to follow you to keep you company, and the two of us went out the door towards the pond. You didn't have your shirt on, so you dove right into the pond. I didn't exactly have my swimsuit on, so I just watched you from the shore, but I was interrupted when you asked a question.

"Hey Yang, is it alright if we stay together like this forever?" You asked, catching me off guard, but it was still nice to hear that. "I really don't want to hate you Yang, at any point in time, I don't want to imagine that."

"Don't worry (Y/N), I'll be with you no matter what happens." I reassured you as I walked over to a boulder that was protruding over the lake like a dock before jumping onto it and sitting on it.

"Thanks Yang, and don't worry, I swear to stand by your side forever as well." You reassured me, which made me happy for some reason. "Either as friend, or whatever you need, I'll be there."

I decided from that day forward that I'll just support you in whatever makes you happy, even if that means you end up marrying a different girl than me. This did hurt me for a bit, but hey, if it means you'll be happy, then it's worth it. I even helped you achieved your dreams of becoming king, and you fully supported my own dreams

Years past and the two of us heard of Sacred King's Academy, so of course the natural reaction was to begin training. You used your relic's fake forms and I used my fists to train our butts off. As we trained together, I always beat you when you didn't use your schemes, but you always won if you used your head. Whenever we could, we would spar and practice to achieve our dreams, with neither of us giving up. It wasn't a couple days before the school year began that we got our invitation. We were having breakfast that very morning when we got the news.

"Rubes, don't eat cookies for breakfast." You advised my sister, making her pout before sneaking the box of cookies behind her cloak.

"Waaaahht?" Ruby asked innocently, like she wasn't trying to ruin the diet we made. "We had cookies in the house?"

"You know what, perhaps you're right, maybe I was wrong." You played along before you let Ruby walk past you and you grabbed the box of cookies out from her behind her. "UwU, what's this?"

"Oh my gods (Y/N), never say that again." I sighed in disappointment, you always were the guy who made things weirdly funny, but gods that was a terrible joke.

"Hey, that's my punishment for telling a lie." You smirked the same smirk you always gave everyone, one that managed to put everyone at ease.

"Darnit, how did you know?" Ruby asked, and you merely tilted your head in confusion. "I was so sneaky!"

"How often do you walk around with your hands behind your back?" You asked my sister, causing her to huff. "Oh relax, I'm sure Tai won't notice if we have one or two..."

You and Ruby began sharing some cookies between one another, and I thought to myself 'you would make a great father'. I know it was a weird sentence to be thinking about considering I was 17 and you were 16 at the time I thought about it, but still. You were always so kind and playful, always putting everyone else's interests before your own, and that's what attracted me to you. I always wondered what it would be like if we did end up going out. Unfortunately, my day dreaming of the hopeful day was interrupted by Tai barging into the house holding three envelopes.

"Girls, (Y/N)!" Tai sounded out of breath, he must have ran a bit before coming back inside. "I have some great news!"

"What is it?" I asked while sipping some coffee I made, but it was mainly a homemade latte if you wanna be specific.

"Did Half Life 3 finally get announced?" You asked with hope, but it was not the news we were expecting.

"Unfortunately, no." Tai explained before giving all three of us the envelopes. "But hey, it's something good too, so open them up."

Reluctantly, the three of us opened up the envelopes at the same time, and to our amazement, we realized they were acceptance letters from sacred king's academy. Ruby was absolutely ecstatic, you were also happy as well, but you did remain calm. However, I couldn't hold in my excitement, so I tackled both you and Ruby into a strong hug. I did hear a couple pops come from your guy's bones, but I was so excited I couldn't stop.

"Yang, I can't feel my...arms." You got out, but my joy wouldn't let me let either of you go.

"I can't...breathe." Ruby said quietly, and I was forced to separate from you guys.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy that all three of us are going to school together!" I was ecstatic and I could barely contain my excitement. "(Y/N), you wanna train together for a bit?"

"That's a pretty weird way of celebrating don't you think?" You asked, and it was understandable, training is a strange way of celebrating our childhood goal coming to life.

"Yeah it is, but we've been training together all this time, and this might be the only time we ever train with one another ever again." I guessed, not really knowing how Sacred King's works. "You know, one last time."

"I see what you mean, so let's do it." You agreed, and that made me happy, so the two of us went to the spot where we usually trained.

We kept on training until Ruby called us in, but you didn't follow me, you went off to fight the wendigo. I was scared for your safety, most of all, I was scared I would lose you. Luckily, you survived the fight and managed to kill the wendigo before you got seriously injured. I was the one who carried you back to the house and stood by your bed, patiently awaiting for you to recover. I noticed that you would probably be hungry when you woke up, so I left for a moment to grab something for you to eat. When I got back however, I was met with you not only being awake, but also awakening your powers. I was happy for you, but then you got your dragon pieces, and I felt kind of sad you didn't pick me to be in your peerage.

Once we arrived at sacred king's, I noticed you were popular with most of the girls in our class, and that made me worried. Most of the girls were better than me, like Rias had more money than me, Tohka was stronger than me, and Akeno was way more seductive than even I. I guessed you would go for another noble, like Weiss or Rias, but you were still nice to me. You even trusted me with your daughter, Yoshino when you went off to grab her puppet.

Overtime, I felt as though you were surpassing me, and as happy as that made me, it also made me feel left behind. The more time we got used to your power, the stronger you became and the more you left me behind. Of course, everything changed when Sacred King's was attacked. When the others told me you died, I was devastated, but you should have seen my relief when I saw you were okay. You were able to call a ship from the underwater palace, and escort all of the students, some of the staff, and everyone else to the palace.

On the way there, I was going to talk to you, but something seemed off about you. You didn't have your signature smirk on your face at all, and you were looking longingly at the necklace your father gave you. When the ship arrived at the palace and everyone was down, you encouraged them despite what was bothering you. In spite of your doubts, you accepted your new role as king without a fight. Yet when you went back to your room to retire, you had tears streaming down your face, so I decided to confront you about it.

"Hey (Y/N), is everything alright?" I asked you as I took a seat next to you on your bed, and you quickly wiped your eyes and faked a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You lied, and your fake smile was perfect, not faltering, but I could tell it was fake because it didn't have the warmth behind them your actual smile did. "You should get some rest, it was a long day today and it's gonna be busy tomorrow."

"(Y/N), I've known you longer than anyone, and I could tell you're not alright." I knew the only way to get through to you was to be direct, and I noticed a small quiver at the lip.

"Guess there's no point lying to you?" You accepted your fate and told me what's on your mind. "I guess I'm all alone now, my father's dead, my mother freezes everything she touches to absolute zero, and my grandfather is still pissed about Hel. Now I have to run a kingdom at war. To be honest, I'm scared. "

"Scared?" I was surprised, nothing scared you most of the time.

"Yeah, I'm scared of letting everyone down." You vented out your feelings, so I supported you by wrapping my arm around you. "I've been entrusted with my father's powers, and now I have the biggest kingdom on earth to run. If I make even the slightest mistake, everything would come crashing down. I just don't want anyone else to die because of me."

"Hey, (Y/N), you're not alone." I reassured you, and you rested your head on my shoulder. "You have your friends, peerage, your familys' peerages, and...me. I'm never going to abandon you, even if you become a tyrant, I'll stand right by your side until the very end."

"Thanks Yang." You thanked me, and I was about to leave but you held my hand. "Is there any chance we can stay like this a little longer? This feels nice."

With a smile, I decided to hug you more, this time with a blanket covering both of us. That was the last night of peace for a while, but I still stood by your side, watching as you mastered new powers, weapons, and abilities over time. I also watched you grow out your hair to look more like your father, and I saw you create Sylleblossom Island. But you still got close to the other girls, and some of them were just outright flirting with you. However, instead of getting territorial, I decided to let it slide, because I just wanted you to be happy, even if your happiness didn't involve me. When we finally managed to kill Almighty, everyone celebrated because that would mean an era of peace has arrived. Everyone except for you, because now you needed to find a bride. I began accepting my fate, you would never go for a girl like me after all. It's not like I can give you anything, I'm not rich and I'm pretty average compared to all the other girls. Eve after that I got scared you would leave me behind entirely....

But you managed to calm those fears that built up for years in a moment.

By proposing to me.

On that dock that evening after the war, you got down on one knee and showed me the ring. I was amazed by this, but happy nonetheless. I was so joyful that you chose me over everyone else, so happy in fact that I ended up tackling you into the ocean below. That wasn't exactly fun, but even in the freezing ocean water of the night, it didn't ruin the joyful mood between the two of us. We swam out of the water laughing, and when we reached the shore, we hugged despite us being soaking wet. I was just so happy that no one could bring me down.

Our wedding day was just as I imagined, yellow and blue petals gently hovered around the cathedral we were getting wed in. Everyone I've ever known as at the wedding, and I was holding a bouquet of yellow sunflowers as I walked towards you with my arms linked with my father's. Tai was crying tears of joy, and I made sure the dress I was wearing didn't get dirty. All of the effort was worth seeing your smiling face, like you were the happiest man on Earth, and I was definitely the happiest woman on earth as well.

Tai left my side as I walked to your side and the pastor began talking and we gave our vows. Both of our vows were cheesy at best and were embarrassing, but we were embarrassed together, and that's all that matters. When the pastor finally said the words, my lips were firmly planted onto yours, and the church was filled with cheers and church bells ringing.

Who said the childhood friend never wins?

Ending Unlocked!

The One Where the Childhood Best Friend Wins
Conditions: Marrying Yang
Rewards: Powers are back, pop-up wallpaper