This is written for the Guest that asked for a story where Ushio ignores Maki, Kotori, Eli (I hope you're still reading my stories!). I'm not sure how many times I've scrapped ideas, but hopefully this is good enough. I'll be starting school again, so you'll be seeing less and less of me. The requests for My Princess will not be updated as often, but hopefully I'll get Bound done…soon. I know I keep saying that, but motivation is being an ass. Anyways, I hope all of you enjoy. Who knows, this might become a teaser for another possible story that I won't be starting any time soon since I still have to start writing for Let's Make a Bet and try to get Forget Me Not out of hiatus.

Loss of Direction

"So…any ideas on how we're going to escape?" The golden eyed ginger tried to break the tense silence in the atmosphere.

"R-Ren-kun, I think it's best if we wait for the others to collect their thoughts before we try escaping." The timid brunette beside him whispered in hope that he would get the idea.

"Why, nya?" Much to her hopes, it didn't get through and she mentally slapped herself for it. As much as she found his cat-like personality slip-up to be kind of cute, their current situation was not the time for it. "I don't understand Kayochin."

"Well…" Lilac irises peered at the three individuals who were still in shock of the new discovery.

"Okay, so is everyone ready?" The blonde looked at her team. Usually, they would have a certain, boisterous ginger lead, but he was currently away with two others of their teammates on a different mission.

"Just get on with it Eli." The redhead gave the other a blank expression while twirling a lock of hair with her finger.

"Hmm, Maki-chan is just upset that Niko-kun isn't here." A smirk appeared on the face of the only present male.

"Shut up Ren! Who would be upset over such an annoying person?" A small blush was dusted on her cheeks. "If anything, I'm thankful he's not here." Her reply earned a snort from the ginger which then escalated into a small quarrel, more so with Maki yelling at the other.

"Please don't fight you two…" The timid girl tried to calm the two down, and surprisingly, it worked.

"Eli-chan, why exactly are we helping the Imperial Navy?" Blue eyes turned to the last member of the group. The taupe haired girl gave a questionable look to the older girl. "Hotaka-kun, never said anything about them."

"I'm not sure Kotori, but what I do know is that the request was from a higher up. And from the looks of it, they want us to help them get rid of that notorious group of pirates that have been wreaking their ships."

Maki scoffed. "If anything, it's what they need to actually do something for once."

"Maki, this isn't the place to be saying that right now." Eli nudged the slightly shorter girl as eyes glared their ways towards them. If it were any louder then they might as well be making enemies with the Imperial Navy instead of pirates.

"Alright you little sissies, let's get this ship moving!" A nicely dressed man in the Imperial Navy uniform walked out of the Captain's cabin and began to bark orders to the rest of the crew. He was older than everyone, but his oversized body said everything else.

"Y-yes sir!" A lean male with short, dark beige colored hair scrambled to his feet and accidently bumped into Ren. For a brief moment, gold met with evergreen while the other apologized many times before getting back to work.

It wasn't long afterwards before the guy pointed out Eli and the others. "You people there, get your butts moving too! We may be paying for your help, but that doesn't mean you get to stand around and do nothing!"

"I don't like him nya." Ren commented.

"And you were saying Eli?" Maki turned to the oldest and gave her a 'I was right' look. Eli didn't say anything in return, but she was mumbling under her breath. However, Maki's attitude earned a chop to the head from the ashen haired girl beside her.

"Maki-chan stop being mean."

"Ow." Lilac orbs looked at the other with a pout. "That hurt Kotori-nee."

Instead of replying Kotori gave a look of disapproval for Maki's attitude, causing the redhead to avert her eyes to avoid getting any more lectures that were sure to come after their mission.

They took sail from the docks soon afterwards. The rocking of the boat was giving Ren a rough time since he wasn't used to such transportation, but he was somehow able to manage without barfing over the side of the boat…except for when he overheard some of the sailors were talk about what they would have for dinner.

"Captain! The pirates! I-I-I can see their ship!" The sailor on the top of the sailing ship shouted.

Their ship was slowly getting closer with the pirates, like they knew the Imperial Navy was coming for them. Maki ran to the side of the boat and narrowed her amethyst eyes, locating the enemy's flag. It wasn't hard to find it considering how close the two ships were getting, but the design of the flag was by no mistake, the one they were looking for.

From the information they had gathered from the survivors of the ship raids, the flag anything but an ordinary pirates' flag. You would think that pirates would fly a flag with a skull and crossed swords underneath it, but these pirates were no ordinary pirates. These pirates were flying a flag with a black dragon, as if mocking the kingdom's symbol.

"What are you idiots doing then?!" The captain was growing red in the face. "Fire the-"

"Captain! The cannons! Someone messed with the cannons! We can't fire them!" Another crew member cried frantically.

"Eli!" Maki shouted at the other and they both nodded. The rest of the crew also got the hidden message.

"What the hell are you dimwits doing?! At this rate the pirates will have our necks!"

"Aw, that would be a shame now. Wouldn't it, Captain?" The older man looked at the emerald eyed sailor next to him. There was something off about him though, and the smirk on his face spelled everything out.

"Y-y-you- you're-" The fat man backed away from the other and tripped over his own feet, falling onto his butt. The brunette tilted his head in an act of innocence, but the smug look he had on his face said so otherwise.

"S-someone! Whoever catches this person will be greatly rewarded by me when we get back to the docks!" The Captain shook in his boots when the other stepped closer. "C-catch Kira Tsukasa and I'll make you my right hand man!"

The mere idea of having a higher position perked the ears of the crewmembers. The men fought over each other to surround the single individual, while on the other hand, their hired friends were doing their own work. They crowded around him, pulling out their swords in hopes to intimidate Kira Tsukasa and have him surrender.

He let out a sigh and slouched his back forward. "You people never learn do you?"

"You shouldn't be so surprised Tsukasa. They're foolish enough to believe that he ever would give them power."

All heads looked up and saw a masked individual, sitting on the structure holding up the sails. The Imperial Navy officer paled at the sight of him, he practically wet himself while shaking in fear. The new presence stood up and jumped down like a daredevil and landed with ease as if it was practiced daily.

"N-n-no way…" The Captain's shaking hand pointed at the dark haired man. The very fact that he wore a mask made him even more mysterious. Besides that, he was dressed fairly decent; nothing like a pirate, but also not too fancy either, except for the fact that he had a sword strapped to his side. "H-how-"

"Hanayo, I want you and Kotori to keep an eye out to see if any more pirates try to get on the boat. Ren, Maki, you two will come with me." Eli and the others were currently keeping their distances from the two infiltrators and forming a plan to take them down, earning a nod from her friends. "Okay-"

"AHHHHHH!" One of the sailors lunged towards the other, letting out a war cry. However, he was stopped by a mere trip to the foot after being dodged by the other, thus leading to the rest coming after him.

"Scratch that Eli. Seems like we're going to have to think of something else." Maki pointed out the obvious.

"Maki-chan duck!" Hanayo tackled the taller girl down as an unknown object was thrown her way. Everyone look at the direction it came from and found the person named Kira Tsukasa smiling at them and the mysterious man sitting on top of the pile of unconscious men.

They found it hard to believe, that in such a short amount of time, the whole crew had been taken down. Eli and the others looked around to see if the pirates would use this moment to raid the ship.

"Who the hell are you?!" Maki got back up and glared at the two individuals.

"You know, for hired mercenaries, should really do some research before accepting them." Tsukasa replied back. "Right, U-"

"We've wasted enough time Tsukasa. Let's hurry up and finish this."

"Someone must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today. Let me guess, were you and Anju up all night or was it Erena?" The shorter male smiled at the other in a playful manner.

"Another word out of you and I'll sink you with this ship." A dark aura emitted from the dark haired man earning a sheepish laugh from his ally.

"I was just- whoa!" Tsukasa dodged a swift kick that was directed at him.

"Ren is still here you know!" The two then began to fight, staying on par with each other. Taking his opponent too lightly, the pirate was hit pretty good in the jaw when Ren threw a right hook.

"Heh, not bad." The brunette smirked.

"Don't waste any more time." The other pirate spoke.

"Maybe you should pay more attention to your own situation." Eli gained his attention as she surrounded him with Maki.

"My fight isn't with you, so why don't we just pretend we never met, and you let me do what I came here for."

"You shouldn't take us so lightly." Maki pulled out her blade and lunged forward.

"This is pointless." He did the same, catching the redhead off guard, and stopped her from moving her right arm.

"Maki!" Eli took that moment to attack from his right, hoping to catch him off guard.

Unfortunately, he saw the pincer attack coming and knocked Maki to the floor, clashing metal with the blonde. "Not bad," Eli was sure that if he wasn't wearing a mask, he would have been smirking at her instead. "for a princess. Or should I correct myself and say, former princess."

The words he threw at Eli was like a punch to the gut when they locked blades. But how exactly did he know about that? The only ones who knew were her friends within their circle. If Eli looked closely, she could make out his eyes. They had a dark amber color to them and a look that could pierce a through a person. The two stared into each other's eyes, trying their best to break the deadlock.

Wait, did he just look away?

He put all of his weight onto his right foot and pushed Eli back, but at that same moment a loud bang rang in the air, and Eli saw him topple to the ground. Kotori narrowed her eyes at the fallen target with a rifle in her shaking hands; she only made the shot to help break their deadlock. She hadn't intended to actually hit, or in this case, kill him.

"USHIO!" Tsukasa shouted the other's name, kicking Ren into a bunch of crates and ran to the fallen man. "Oi! Ushio, can you hear me?!"

"Eh…" All three girls froze at the familiar name.

The body of the masked man shifted and an audible groan could be heard. With the help of his comrade, he pushed himself off the ground, drops of blood falling from his head.

"I'm fine…she missed." His dark blue hair covered his face in a shadow from the others. "Told you that mask would come in handy one day." He gave Tsukasa a dry laugh.

"Yeah, but your head is a mess."

"Ushio…kun…" It was all coming back to the taupe haired girl again; the days of her youth with a precious friend that she thought she lost.

"Ushio…" Eli and Maki also couldn't believe their eyes. The person standing in front of them seemed like an illusion. One they thought they would never be able to see again.

When he looked up, they got a clear look of his facial features. Although it has been years since they last seen each other, there was no mistake about it, that he was the Ushio they knew. Disregarding the bleeding cut on right side of his forehead and blood seeping out from it, unreadable gaze of his citrine irises could be now seen better without the mask.

"Hey, lemme' go!" Two new presences dragged the ginger and threw him beside an unconscious Hanayo. "Kayochin! What did you-" His unfinished sentence was cut off with a hard chop to the back of his neck.

"Hanayo! R-" That was all Maki could say before her vision went black.

"Captain?" Two guards knock on the door to the Captain's cabin.

"What is it?"

"We're sorry to interrupt you, but they insisted to speak to you." They opened the door and found the blue haired man being tended to his wounds. Ushio was a little shocked at first, but gave a little sigh before looking at the other two beside him.

"Erena, Anju, you two may leave."

"Eh~, but I still have to check other places to see if you got hurt." The chestnut haired woman with lavender irises pouted before grinning. "For example, under your shirt."

"I'm sure Tsukasa waited long enough for you to look at his wounds." He replied blankly earning another pout from the other.

"With all due respects Ushio," The other with long, dark purple hair spoke up. "I don't fully trust them being alone with you when they almost killed you."

"Almost?" Ushio raised a brow at her. "They're going to have to do better than that if they wanted to kill me."

"But-"

"Leave. Don't make me say it again." The two immediately shut up and left when they received an annoyed glare from the Captain.

"So," The once familiar amber eyes looked back at the three girls who were tied up. "what is it can I do for you three beautiful ladies, that my guards had to bring you here?"

He was dressed more comfortably. They were in the Captain's cabin on the pirates' ship, or to be more exact, Ushio's quarters. After their little fight, the bluenet had ordered them to be captured while the crew and Captain of the Imperial Navy were sent back (tied up) to the Imperial Capital on small row boats. Whether or not they made it back was of no concern to the pirate captain.

"How are you alive Ushio?"

"Straight to the point, you wound me Eli." He faked being hurt while the blonde continued to glare at him with her azure orbs.

"Why are you with the pirates?" Maki spoke up to change the direction of their conversation.

"Because I created this band." Ushio smiled at her, but there was something off, almost like he wasn't telling the whole truth.

"You…changed…" Kotori averted her path of vision from the other. "You're not the Ushio-kun I knew back then…"

Ushio's face darkened at the statement and looked out the window of the cabin. "People change. I'm no exception." He spoke in a dark tone, trying his best to control the surging anger in his chest.

"So that makes it okay to run away from your responsibilities?" Eli lashed out at him. "Do you realize how many are suffering because of your disappearance?! Because they thought you were dead!"

"Mhm…mhmuhaha…mhmuhahahahahahaha!" The navy haired man let out a hysterical laugh that made the three uncomfortable. "Responsibilities? That's classic coming from you." Ushio's facial expression turned grim. "For someone who ran away from her arranged wedding, you sure have a lot of nerve to talk about responsibilities to me."

His comment pushed Eli to her final limits. She used that moment to slip out of her loose ropes, pulling out a hidden knife in the process, and lunged at Ushio. But much to her displeasure, he was able to overpower her, making her drop the weapon and pushing her onto his bed.

"You shouldn't do things like that. It's dangerous." A haughty smirk widened at her blush.

"Get off of me!" She tried to push him away. Her hands clutched against his tunic, struggling to break free. The force she used was enough to tear his shirt, but not enough to overcome him. However, aquamarine gems could not look away from his chest. It was nicely toned, but she wasn't going to admit to that. No, it wasn't the linings of the chiseled stomach that caught her eyes, but the ugly scar that started from Ushio's shoulder all the way down to his abdomen. It didn't look new, in fact, it looked like it was more than a year old.

Eli looked up to his face staring back at her in a slightly shocked expression. Of course, Ushio turned the situation around with another smirk that spelled nothing but trouble to the blonde. "Are you that in a hurry?" He forced her hands above her head, sending warning signs to Eli when he fidgeted with his belt.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Don't be so scared. This won't hurt a bit."

"Ushio-kun, what are you doing?!" The pirate ignored the Kotori's question and put more force on top of Eli's body. The blonde closed her eyes, tears streaming, and braced for the worse to come. But it never did. Instead, she found her hands bound together again, only this time with Ushio's leather belt.

"I'm not the type of person to do such things to women." Ushio blankly stated at the still confused Eli. "Honestly, I dislike those kinds of people." He got off of the blonde and tilted her chin upwards. "But if you insisted, we could continue."

Eli spitted in his face and glared back at him, feeling as if she had been toyed with. Ushio wiped away the saliva and returned the glare back. "Guards! Take the prisoners back to their room! We're done with our little talk."

"Wait, Ushio-kun, why don't you come with us?" The ashen haired girl gave him a pleading look. There was a part of her that didn't want to believe that her childhood friend had changed.

"Tell me, how exactly did he tell you about how I died?" The guards had the three stood up and were ready to take them back to the room where Ren and Hanayo were being held, but halted when their Captain asked the question.

"Eh?" Honey brown locked eyes with dark amber and she could feel a strange aura around Ushio. "…I was told that you fell off a cliff…"

Ushio scoffed at the answer. "Well…it's not a lie, but also not the complete truth." He then turned his head to the redhead who had been awfully silent throughout their conversation. "Is there nothing you want answered, Maki?"

"Is it possible to speak with you alone?" Ushio blinked at her question and calm expression.

"Oh~, aren't you afraid that I might do the same to you as I did to Eli?"

"Maki, are you crazy?" The older blonde looked at the said person in disbelief. "You can't be serious?"

She didn't answer neither of them. Instead, she continued to look at the bluenet with the same expression as before.

"Take them back. I don't want to see them right now."

"Sir!"

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Eli gripped Maki's shoulders once the guards left. Thanks to Ren's nifty skill of untying ropes, he was able to get the others out of their bindings.

"I could say the same to you Eli." Amethyst jewels glared back at the other. "It's not like you to lose your cool so easily."

"Eli-chan, Maki-chan, please don't fight!" The two looked at their taupe haired friend and decided to do as she asked. The look on Kotori face was a pained expression. It was not surprise since her dear childhood friend was still alive. Kotori was confused; it didn't help when Ushio had asked her that question from earlier too. With a huff from the pair, they each sat in a different corner of the room and a heavy atmosphere fell upon them.

xXx

Once night hit, everyone had fallen asleep in the room. Maki edged her way to the door and tried to see if she could pick the lock. It was a skill that she picked up from the cat-like ginger as when they became friends. Taking a peek outside, she didn't see any guards around. In her head she was thinking that Ushio was underestimating them, which kind of annoyed her.

She was able to sneak around the deck because the crew seemed to be enjoying their time drinking and being as loud as they could be. The other pirate from earlier, Tsukasa seemed to be the center of attention at the moment because it seemed like he was beginning to strip out of his clothes.

Ignoring them (of course with a slight blush), she tiptoed to the Captain's cabin. She was sure Ushio was there instead of out on deck because despite his haughty attitude from earlier, he didn't seem like the type of person to like crowds much. He never was to begin with. She would know, regardless of how much he changed.

The dim lighting inside his room was her answer. Slowly creeping to the door there was a small crack to see inside, Maki could hear him talking. No, it was more like reading out loud…but why. Taking a peek, she saw the bluenet sitting beside his bed with a book in his hand. But what puzzled her more than anything was the little girl sleeping in his bed.

What is a child doing on a pirate's ship? Maki thought to herself.

Ushio put down his book and let out a small sigh. He gave the child a soft smile and gently pushed loose locks of hair out of her face.

"Goodnight Umeko."

Umeko…then she's…

"I know you're there…Maki…" The said person froze in place knowing that she had been caught red handed. The redhead stayed silent and hoped that it was just a fluke.

"I'm not going to ask how you got out, but I think it's best if you go back. Unless you want to spend it with me."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't get you…" Maki mumbled under her breath earning a small chuckle from the person on the other side of the door.

"You've grown to be more beautiful Maki." By this time, Maki was sure he was saying all of this on purpose to make her show her face. She tried her best to control the heat rising on her cheeks.

"I can't return with all of you." Maki's heart dropped at the statement. She was starting to wonder it if Ushio had some kind of mind reading power like another (but more annoying and perverted) person. She clenched her hands and held back her tongue that had many questions for the other.

"I'm no longer the person I was back then. I can't go back." Ushio turned his head towards the opened window and looked out to the distance. "I was never fit to be a king in the first place."

"So running away is the better option?" The words slipped out of Maki's mouth, but she didn't regret it.

"I could barely protect those important to me. What makes you think my return will make any difference?" There was no answer from the other.

"I can't go back…I can't afford to lose what little I have left…"

"You're a coward." The door opened and she found herself looking back at the blue haired man. Her vision blurred and she felt her body fall forward. Ushio caught her in his arms and picked her up like a princess. Earlier, when they were given their share of dinner, Ushio asked for Anju to slip in sleeping pills so they wouldn't cause any trouble for him later on.

"I'm sorry Maki."

The next morning, Maki woke up on a nice soft bed instead of the hard wooden floors of the ship. Jolting up to see if she was still clothed, she found another person sleeping beside her. Much to her relief, she was still fully clothed and the person beside her was Hanayo and not some charming blue haired pirate-

Maki immediately jumped out of bed and ran up to the decks. They were on a completely different boat. There, she bumped into Eli and Kotori who were also wondering how they got here.

"Ah, you're awake." The three turned around and found a nicely dressed man stroking his beard. He seemed more like a merchant than a pirate by the way he looked.

"Who are you and how did we get here?" Eli asked.

"I'm just a merchant who does trade with salt. I owe a favor to the pirate and was asked to return all of you back to the mainland." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to them. "He left his note for you."

Eli took the note and the trio read over the letter that Ushio wrote for them. The man walked away to let them have their privacy.

By the time you've read this letter, you're all probably about to reach the mainland. There's no need to thank me for letting you go free because I have better things to do than waste any more time with annoying people.

May our paths never cross again,

S. U.

P.S. – Your sleeping face is pretty cute.

At the end of the letter Eli ripped the piece of paper apart. The blonde was not happy with the idea of being made a fool. Kotori was disheartened by the fact that Ushio was not with them. And Maki was trying to hide her blushing face, knowing full well that the post script was being directed at her.

"We head back to see if Hotaka and the others had any luck with their mission."

"Do we tell him about Ushio?" The redhead asked.

"No." Both turned their head to look at Kotori. "…I think it's best if we don't mention him to Hotaka-kun." The two didn't ask why, but they were sure she was still thinking about what he had said to her.

xXx

"Are you sure you're okay with that decision Ushio?"

"What do you mean by that Tsukasa?"

"I haven't seen you mess with someone so badly like that…well ever since I met you." The statement had Ushio snort.

"Really, I never noticed."

"You have feelings for her don't you?"

"I don't know what you're taking about." Amber eyes continued to look out towards the sea. Tsukasa had his mouth open to tease the other, but was cut off when someone ran towards their way.

"Shi-chan! Shi-chan!" The little black haired girl ran up to the pirate captain and jumped into his arms.

"What's wrong Umeko?"

"Breakfast is ready! I helped!" She gave the blue haired man a toothy smile and received a pat on the head.

"Then we should go." Ushio set her back down on the ground and took her hand.

A large gust of wind blew against the sails of their ship. Ushio looked up and was met with the blue sky. For a moment, he wondered what it would be like if he had never been born into a royal family.

Would he have met his friends?

Would he know what true freedom felt like?

Would his family still be alive?

Questioned piled in his mind every day, but there were never any answers. A part of him, his dutiful side, was telling him to return, but another part of him wanted to run away and be selfish for once.

Ushio was unsure of what to do. He was at loss of which direction he should go, but he had this feeling. A feeling that was telling him that the winds would eventually take him to the right direction.

FINALLY, IT'S FINALLY DONE!

I feel a little biased while writing this...can you tell? Not as angsty as I wanted it to be but...I still happened.

I have class tomorrow, but that's okay. Don't expect to see me anytime soon now. This person is now going to cry in the corner because of all the work that is going to come with my college classes. Why? Just when I thought I would take it a little easier this semester, everything seems to just get harder…

Until Next Time Readers…