始まり

***

*Hikoku-Mizukoku Border*

       “Your king is away today, is he not?” Nishikido pressed the man.

       “How did you know he went away?” the man stuttered.

       “How stupid are you?  I’ve got the boy hostage; I should at least know when they call for a trial to disown him.  I want the details of the trial and the verdict once your king returns.  Immediately return here in the matter of five days.  If not, I’ll have no choice but to let you go.”

       “O-Of course!  I’ll have the details of the trial and everything else you’ve requested prepared by the deadline—don’t worry Nishikido-sama!”  The man stuttered and bowed.

       “Good.  You can return to your duties now.”

       “Of course,” he bowed once more before taking to his horse quickly. 

       “What a jittery man,” Erika commented, coming from around the corner of the wall. 

       Her fiancé was sitting at the low table, a cup of tea in his hand.  The two of them had travelled to the new city Nishikido had been constructing on the Hikoku-Mizukokian border.  After Yukiguni, the plan was to invade Mizukoku.  In fact, with the promise of all of those who helped him now to have a grand life afterwards, many Mizukoku citizens on the border were helping him with his plans.  The fellow from before was a royal adviser at the palace who was a spy for Nishikido and though he was a ditz, he was one of the most crucial men in the plan.  Most of the other Mizukoku citizens in on his plans were the hundreds living in what was called “No Man’s Land” in Mizukoku.  King Ohno, scared of the revolts on the border harming the rest of the country, practically blocked them off from the rest of the country.  Depression and economic distress shook the area and they turned to Nishikido easily in return for necessities like food and water.  It had been almost too easy for Nishikido to move a large chunk of the army to this side of the country and start construction without being noticed. 

        “Indeed,” he sipped on his tea.

        “I was talking with the local construction workers,” Erika reported, sitting down beside him, “And they said construction on the main part of the city should be completed by the first of February.  The palace has only a bit left to finish while the main buildings surrounding it are still in progress.  The wall,” she took documents from a bag, “was completed a month ago.”

       He briefly looked through the papers and nodded.  “What do you propose then?” Erika questioned.

       “We switch focus,” he stated with an evil gleam in his eye, “Everyone’s expecting us to go after Yukiguni first.  While it was my original plan to do so, with Ryosuke with us, surely there is a large strain in Yukiguni and the other countries right now.  Yukiguni will suffer enough from this for the time being.  Instead, I propose we relocate by the end of January and redirect our main focus.  If we can work towards a strike at Mizukoku, it will confuse and throw off the others while getting rid of another nuisance.”

       Erika nodded.  “I shall have the construction crew immediately finish the palace then before proceeding to the village.  Do you plan on relocating the Mizukoku citizens?”

        “No,” he pondered, “The houses here will be only for the wealthy sponsors and war generals back in the capital as well.  They will stay where they are.  No Man’s Land is important for us to fortify now.  We don’t want Ohno getting past it.”

       “About the trial,” Erika started, “What are we hoping for?”

       “It doesn’t really matter to me either way,” he shrugged, “It be easier if he was just disowned quickly, but either way things will continue to move at my pace.  I always get what I want anyway.”

      “Sumimasen,” a voice sounded and Erika summoned the maid waiting outside of the door. 

      “What is it?”

      “Sakurai-sama, Suzuki-sama has returned and wishes to see you.”

      “Send her in immediately.”

      “Where has Emi been this time?” Nishikido asked.

       “Yukiguni,” Erika said with a smile, “It’s best to send her places she can fit in.”

       “Erika,” a girl walked in, a bright smile plastered on her face.

       “Emi, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you,” Erika stood up to greet her longtime friend.

       “Of course,” she smiled nonstop with light in her eyes.  Every moment she could spend with Erika she cherished, “I’ve been doing what you asked of me in Yukiguni.”

       “You have?” Erika smiled, “Thank you Emi.  You’re the only one I can ever count on entirely.”

       “Next week when I return,” Emi glowed with the compliment, “I’ll be entering the castle.  I was selected to work with the Queen, just like you asked me to accomplish.”

***

*December 12*

      “Have you figured out when Nishikido is returning?” Ryosuke asked Miko who just closed the latch behind her. 

      “Not exactly, but I had Eri-chan try to find out, and she heard it would be another four to five days at the least apparently.”

      “Hm, I wonder what he’s actually doing,” Ryosuke pondered and Miko threw herself on the bed again.  The past few days whenever she came in she laid out flat and enjoyed herself to the fullest.  “You’re getting too comfortable again,” he and she only smiled.

      “Oh, Mirai-san is coming again tomorrow,” Miko suddenly said.

      “Who is that?” he asked.

      “She’s someone who helped me out before—it’s odd.  She’s working part-time only as a maid here.  It’s odd to work part-time as no one ever has before, but what’s even weirder is the fact that she chose to work here.  No one chooses to work here.  Especially since I’ve heard she’s the daughter of Yokoyama-sama.”

     “Yokoyama-sama is…?”

      “He’s one of the richest men in the capital.  There have been plenty of rumors swirling about the hostility between Nishikido and Yokoyama-sama, but in the end Yokoyama-sama always pays the taxes and nothing has ever been called out against him.  Nishikido can’t do anything to him.  Plus, the people of the capital—especially the slums where I come from—see him as a hero.  He would often give out food and things when it was needed.”

      Ryosuke nodded.  “So why do you think this Mirai-san is doing part-time here?  It does sound fishy—especially if Yokoyama-san and Nishikido have some hostility.”

      Miko pondered it, but only shrugged her shoulders, “I have absolutely no clue what it could mean.  I don’t see why Yokoyama-sama would send off his daughter or why Nishikido would accept her here either.”

       It got quiet again, so Miko sat up, stretching.  “We need something more fun to do around here.  We’re constantly just sitting around.  Though I am glad I’m not cleaning the dishes or something.”

       “Want to play a game?” Ryosuke asked.

       She hopped off the bed and sat down on her knees beside him on the floor, “What kind of game?”

       “I was hoping you had something in mind,” he chuckled a bit.

       “Whaaa,” she whined a bit, “Fine, fine…How about—”

       “Miko-chan,” Eri was suddenly coming up through the flap and Miko stood straight up and Ryosuke went to his bed quickly. 

     “What is it, Eri-chan?” she hurried to her quickly. 

      “Tanaka-sama is looking for you,” she said.

      “Tanaka-sama?  What’s wrong?”

      “I don’t know; he just told me to fetch you.  You should hurry.”

       “Of course,” she ran down the stairs, but Eri stayed in the room.

       “Did you need something?” Ryosuke asked her.

       “No, nothing…It’s just, Miko stays up here much more often now.”

       “She is my maid, right?  I get lonely often so I need someone to talk to.”

      “Yes she is.  I’m sorry for making it sound odd,” she said, “Please excuse me.”

       “That was weird,” Ryosuke commented, thinking she was acting different than when he first met her. 

***

       “Yes, Tanaka-sama?” Miko went up to him, nervous that he might have discovered what was going on. 

       “Oh Miko,” he turned his eyes deadly at her, “I don’t know what you thought you were doing or what you were even trying to accomplish, but you need to go clean it that mess you made.”

       “What are you talking about?”

       “The other girls told me about the mess you made down in the sleeping quarters.  Go clean it up immediately and get back to work or else I’ll be informing of Nishikido-sama of your misbehavior.”

       “B-But I didn’t do anything,” Miko fought.

       “Enough!” he yelled, “Go clean it up!”

       There was no arguing with him, so she quickly went downstairs to the quarters only to be faced with her futon messily thrown around the room with her other personal belongings scattered.  “What the…?!”

       She quickly ran about, trying to collect all of her items.  She didn’t own much, but what she did own was special to her—some outfits including the only yukata she owned, a book her mother had given her, and some hair accessories her mother had worked practically her whole life to afford for her.  “No way,” she felt tears welling as she saw the pages of the book her mother had bought for her birthday on the floor.  “You’ve got to be kidding me…”  The pages were randomly pulled out.  Some of them were whole sheets of paper pulled out while others were just corners ripped off pages or halves of the pages.  She collected them all and put them in the front of the book cover until she reached the last page which was scribbled on in a heavy black ink.  If you aren’t more careful, you’ll find more being taken from you than a few pages.

       “What kind of threat is this supposed to be!?” she wiped her eyes free of the tears quickly in anger, shoving the page in the book as well.  She no longer wanted to be in the room though—something about it had become frightening.  Who could have done this?  It must have been a maid, someone she worked with.  But no maid was supposed to be in the quarters during the day…  No maid had been down here as far as she knew. 

      Deep in thought she didn’t notice the other girl watching her oddly until she spoke out, “What are you doing down here, Miko?  I see you’ve been crying.”

       The young girl turned quickly to face Mirai.  “Huh?  Mirai-san?” she questioned.  She gave Miko a strange look and suddenly Miko felt the scary feeling return again.

       “You can just call me Mirai,” she nodded, “What are you doing down here during the day?  You should be working, shouldn’t you?”

       “Just cleaning some things up…” the girl mumbled, “Anyway, like you said, I should really get back to work.”

       “By the way,” Mirai spoke quickly, “Did you make up?  Were you able to become friends?”

       “Yes actually,” Miko told the girl, “We became very good friends—I’m glad.  Thank you for that time.”

      But before Mirai could respond to that, Miko had run off. 

      Her mind was racing.  That was right—the only maid with free time to be down in the quarters during the daytime was Mirai.  Could it have been Mirai who did it!?  The same Mirai who had helped her so much that day—could she have possibly been the one to destroy her stuff and make such a threat towards her!?  “It can’t be,” Miko shook her head, “Mirai-san is nice…”  But somehow, she could not believe her own words at that time. 

       Somewhere in her heart, surely, that is when she began to harbor cruel feelings towards the girl who had at one time helped her…

***

Yay!  I've finally updated once more~  Gomen ne minna for the super long wait.  I did so many exams and annoying things lately TT^TT  Anyway, this week is my final exams and then I'm out for summer :D  That means I can most likely come back to updating normally.  

In regards to the story, I've introduced a new character, Emi.  Doesn't it sound familiar??? Haha, Emi will become important, so look forward to it.  Also, don't hate my Miko for these new feelings please :'3  But this is the "beginning" of a new drama with her and Mirai.  Jaa, I shall try to update soon!  Thank you for reading as always!  Enjoy and comment your feelings!!

Oh also, I didn't update then unfortunately, but Yama-chan's birthday was May 9 :3 He turned 21 yay!  お誕生日おめでとう、私の大切な山田君へ♥

このファンフィクションの本章をやっと書きましたね。ごめんね皆さん、お待たせしました！！とにかく本章も楽しんでください、そして皆さんの気持ちをコメントして下さい！＾＾

(Posted 日・2014年06月01日)