Prince Hibiya +
Princess Hibiko Subarashi

Hibiya is a young prince who lives by himself, aside from his maids and butler. He's married to his work and spends most of his days locked in his office stumbling his way through leadership, if not prepping to schmooze others at parties. A perfect gentleman, host and sweet talker, he loves company and giving attention to whoever would make him look good in return. When he isn’t escaping his day to day anxieties by roaming the city, work is like an abusive lover to him, and isn’t new to falling ill due to stress and lack of sleep. Hibiya works much harder than needed to prove that his family name can be taken back from the yakuza one day.

Hibiko has become impatient with waiting for life to begin, no longer wishing to be passive to what happens to her. Still naïve and impressionable, she’s determined to fully realize what makes her her, outside of the title and immediate pressures of her parents. At home, she is often busy studying and keeping up on the latest topics of conversation for parties to stay as desirable as possible. However, as appreciative as she is of her job, the princess often tries to sneak into the city to escape mentally and is willing to put herself in situations she shouldn’t, solely because it’s against what’s expected of her otherwise.

Hibiko is married to King Rohdri, the man falling in love with the princess right away, and Hibiko puts in plenty of effort to try and do the same. Not long after Michiko’s birth, her parents gave up their titles and kingdom to the government, their debts and gang affiliation were outed and transferred to Hibiko. While it was resolved of quickly thanks to her new kingdom’s money, the embarrassment on the now Queen was not so easily swept under the rug.
After committing her life to a marriage that would help her parents, only to be used by the people she loved and trusted most, she felt the foundations of her very crumbling in the name of someone else’s selfishness. Her general lust for life has vanished. Hibiko is a spiteful woman that can’t take out her frustrations on her parents, so gladly takes it out on others instead. She has built up a crude form of protection to ensure what happened to her does not repeat to her children, and it is exhausting.

Hibiya long past his breaking point, now soothed and coerced, has achieved all he's longed for: marriage, children, and building back up the infrastructure to restore his family's power. All by himself! ... and the necessary mountains of support, day-to-day assistance, and guiding hands from the yakuza. They were there to give him the help he needed, build him back up when his work was fruitless (and most importantly, were there to break him down in the first place).
After rumors of a supposed courtship, Hibiya married the noblewoman Genmei. Despite an attempted romance on both sides, neither seemed to gain anything more than a physical attraction and were mostly okay with that. Like carbon copies of his parents, Hibiya and Genmei live for themselves, while supporting their kids when needed. The king works happily and closely with the yakuza, abusing their protection as they do his influence. But in doing so, Edo has started a clear upswing in regaining its power. No malice is taken in being described as machiavellian and doesn't like to waste time with those whose ends can't justify his time.

~*note: this verse works as a continuation of their default modern day verse, or their fantasy verse. Hibiko could also end up not being married off and staying in her own kingdom, but I’d be happy to discuss that possibility and further plotting if you wanna go that route! ~

Hibiya drives his own car and is a part of the debate team. Always goes to parties when invited. Has a large group of friends he usually sticks with but isn’t close with any of them. The type of kid that would see a bully and be like “hey man, not cool” and leave thinking he saved the day. Hibiya knows when he is above someone in the “hierarchy” of things, and will make sure they know that if tested. Ultimately, has a very poor hold of his temper and ego.

Hibiko can poorly drive and takes ballet classes in her free time. Despite constant invitations, she rarely goes to parties due to fear of peer pressure. Tends to stay with her close friend group of other somewhat snobby rich kids. While Hibiko’s still eager to experience new things from such a sheltered upbringing, she's wary of her public image.

Hibiya is, on paper, mostly in charge of international affairs. While his parents are happy to indulge their friends with a good time, most allies and potential allies of other kingdoms are up to him to ensure their connections are concrete. However, he tends to also have to oversee local disputes within the council and balance their wishes from clashing with the secret gangs that also believe they have a say in running things. The pull between unbalanced responsibilities often causes him to falter in one or the other. Hibiya finds himself far more focused on survival than bettering his kingdom, or himself for that matter.

Hibiko is far more involved in creating and strengthening connections with other kingdoms than the inner workings of her own. Despite her charming and cordial exterior, persistent flattery and conscious decisions to stay on people’s good sides, there have been no requests of her hand other than the failed engagement of her childhood. With the long come to conclusion that this wasn’t due to her but her kingdom’s lack of benefits, it’s led to feeling almost embarrassed of her land, only adding to her longing for marriage and escape.