Chapter 1

"I frigging hate that princess!" A drunken man complained. I turned my head to where the sound was coming from. I saw he was on his fifth glass of beer and his clothes were tattered and dirty.

"I know right? She barely ever comes out of the castle and when she does, she treats everyone but the high class like dirt." Another man complained, also drinking beer with clothes just as dirty as the first guy.

I tried to tune them out. I was sitting in a corner of the tavern, trying to relax. The tavern was definitely in one of the poorest places in the city. The place was dirty and about to fall apart but for the most part, it was nice, homely and the staff was nice. There were mostly laborers and miners in the tavern, but there were also a small number of mercenaries and bounty hunters

I was a ninja but without a clan. So I was sort of like a mercenary now, but I liked to keep my ninja attire. I wore a black bodysuit that covered my feet, legs, and torso. Along the outside of my legs, you could see pockets that held a variety of weapons, like daggers and shurikens. There were more of those pockets around my waist and light padding, for protection, along my torso and back. My forearms were covered also providing me with fingerless gloves. Underneath my forearms were smaller daggers and a long, pointy knife that would shoot out from under my hand if I position my hand a certain way. The suit also covered my neck and half my face. My pink hair was in a ponytail save for my bangs, which were too short to be with the rest of my hair. I also wore a long black scarf.

I pulled my mask down and took a drink of my own beer. You did have to be a certain age to drink alcohol, but down in the poorer parts of the city, no one cared. If you could pay for it, you could drink it. I didn't love the drink but it helped me relax, especially now after the long job I just had. I hated long jobs. I'd start to notice small stuff and the people start to really get on my nerves.

As I was having unpleasant memories, I saw purple in the corner of my eye.

"Hey Luka." The purple-haired man said as he sat down in the seat across from me. "You feeling alright there?"

"Yeah I'm fine, Gakupo. Just tired from my last job." I took another sip of my drink.

"A long one?" He took a sip from his own beer he brought with him. He also wore a black bodysuit, which covered his whole body except his head. Over the suit, he wore a purple and white robe with a long, purple katana at his waist. It all matched his long purple hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Heck yes." I groaned. "The next job I get is going to be a short one. But for now, I'm going to relax. See you around, Gakupo." I finished my drink, got up, paid, and left the tavern.

I kept my mask down as I walked behind the tavern toward a small house. I usually only wear my mask on jobs. Otherwise I have it down, enjoying the sun on my face. I walked up to the small house and knocked on the door. Almost immediately, two small blonde twins came out and tackled me to the ground.

"Luka!" Screamed the twins, still attached to my stomach.

"Hey Rin. Hey Len." I patted both their heads, their smiles widening. Rin was on my right and Len on my left. Rin wore gray shorts and a yellow sleeveless shirt. She also had a huge white bow on top of her head. She really had a way with words and was a great actor. She could charm people to do almost anything for her. And if she got really mad and started to yell, people would be running for their lives. It's quite a frightening sight.

Len wore a similar outfit but with longer shorts and a t-shirt. Instead of a bow, he had his hair tiny in a small ponytail. He was a determined kid, set on protecting his sister and Gumi. I gave him a dagger a couple years ago and he got very skillful with it. He can hit a bird in mid-flight 10 meters away. That was pretty impressive by his standards. Both were about fifteen.

"Ok guys, get off of Luka. She's probably really tired from her long mission. Aren't I right, Luka?" A green-haired girl came out with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. She had on yellow shorts and an orange sleeveless shirt. On top of her head were a pair of orange goggles she would always wear. Gumi is a genius when it comes to blacksmith. She knows almost every single kind of weapon known and knows how to make at least half of them. I usually go to her when my weapons are in need of repair. She's sixteen.

I sighed. "Right you are, Gumi." I managed to get the twins off of me and dusted myself off. "At least something good came out of it." I pulled a bag of coins out from behind me. The twins' eyes widen. I gave each twin five coins. I pulled out another bag and poured the half of what I had left, which was about f, into it. I gave it to Gumi.

"I'm sure you'll use that money better than these two here, which will probably be for candy." I smirked at them.

I knew Gumi would use her money wisely, buying only the necessities. Both her and the twins were orphans for about two years. Their parents had been a part of a small group of people who opposed the royal family. Soon the king found out and sent guards to kill each and every one of them. None of them survived. So Gumi took in the twins since they were childhood friends.

I just happened to run into them when I caught Rin trying to pickpocket me. I met the other two afterwards and we all seemed to hit it off right away. Even with Rin, I forgave her almost immediately admitting that I didn't have any money on me anyway. Ever since then I would give them almost half of the money I would get from my job to help them get by. I had a soft spot for them.

Rin just giggled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Not me. I'm saving up to buy a sword," Len declared.

"Why a sword? You thinking of upgrading?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Yeah you could say that. But mostly so I can do jobs like you and make more money." He said with determination. I smiled and patted his head. I saw a faint blush across his cheeks.

"Maybe when you get stronger, you can be a royal guard or something."

"Why should he serve that spoiled princess and her family? Heck, why should anyone serve them? They do nothing to help us who are poor as dirt." Rin complained, her hands balled in fists. "If anything, me and Len here are going to be part of the rebellion to overthrow them."

"There's a rebellion?" I asked.

"No but there probably will be, with how the higher classes are acting. It would've happened sooner if everyone wasn't so scared of them." Rin said. I could see Rin as their leader and Len as her right-hand man. It was amusing to imagine.

"Well who can blame them? The royal guard is huge and well-trained." Gumi pointed out. "Anyway let's not talk about this out here. Luka, would you like to have dinner with us?"

"I would love to." We all went inside the house and had a small dinner, made up of some bread and meat. We had some small talk and when we were done eating, we got ready to go to bed. Gumi offered to share her room with me but I declined saying the roof was good enough for me. I lay down on the roof where it seemed to be the sturdiest. I stared up at the stars, thinking what kind of job I should do tomorrow.

I woke up really late the next morning. Actually I don't think it was even morning judging from the sun position. No one had clocks in these areas except for some shops and taverns. I didn't feel like getting up. I was actually really lazy which was why I hated long jobs. I hated working for too long. After just laying around for what seemed like an hour. I got up and started to look for a job to do.

All the jobs were listed on a board inside the tavern. I looked for one that seemed the easiest and paid the most. My eyes found a piece of paper with the highest money reward. I wondered why no one has taken it yet until I kept scanning down the paper and found out why.

"The royal family, huh." I said under my breath.

"Thinking of escorting the princess, Luka?"

I looked up and was faced with a brunette. Then I looked back to the paper. "Don't know yet, Meiko. Why can't they get the regular guards to do it?"

"Who knows?" Meiko shrugged. She had on red short shorts and a red top exposing her stomach. She was taller than me only by a few inches. She was the bartender of the tavern who was known to be able to drink more than anybody. "You should go and ask them."

"I guess so. The pay is really high so I'm a bit surprised no one has taken this job yet."

"Only because it's from the royal family." It was true. No one in the lower class liked the royals. Most of them actually hated them, yet only a few wanted to openly opposed them.

I sighed and ripped the paper off from the board. "It's only an escort so it shouldn't take too long, a couple of days at most."

Meiko laughed. She knew how I liked a quick job. I waved goodbye to her and left for the main castle. On the way, I stopped to grab a pork bun to eat and mostly kept to the shadows. When I reached the main gates, I had finished my snack and pulled up my mask. There were two guards standing on both sides of the gates. They had silver armor along their arms and legs. Their torso was covered in a light blue chain mail with the kingdom symbol in the middle, but I couldn't make it out. They had on silver helmets that covered everything but their face. Both had a long, silver sword attached to their waists.

I showed the guards the piece of paper and they opened the gates. One of them led me to the main hall while I followed and took in my surroundings.

We went through a pair of huge, wooden double doors. We walked down a long hallway and a couple of turns here and there. Most of the time, there were torches lit along the walls but sometimes there were open windows. Everything seemed to be made of stone or wood.

"Not very impressive." I thought to myself. Then we stopped in front of another pair of double doors. But instead of being made of wood, these were gold, with light blue orbs decorating the edges. "Ok a bit more impressive."

The guard entered and motioned me to follow, which I did. The room was huge. Complex crown moldings spread along the edges of the ceilings. The ceiling itself looked like a dome, covered with stained glass making some sort of picture. In the center of it hung a huge chandelier, which was supported by several chains. At the end of the hall were four tall windows, letting the sun brighten the room. On the ground, a long red carpet stretched across the room. At the other end of the carpet, a few steps led to the king and queen themselves.

"Holy tuna! Is this what they spend all their money on?"

"Your Majesty." The guard bowed. "Someone has come concerning the escort, sir."

"Thank you. Bring the princess." The king said in his deep voice, waving his hand. The guard left, leaving me to stand alone.

The king had short teal hair, which was neatly combed back. He was well built and seemed quite strong. But I could tell his old age was starting to catch up to him. He wore a long, white fur cape. Underneath seemed to be a silver breastplate with the kingdom's symbol, which seemed to be a…leek?

"Seriously a leek? Who's going to take us seriously? How did I not know about this?" I tried so hard not to laugh out loud.

The queen also had teal hair but it was really long and almost touched the ground. It was braided down her back with jewels placed in it. She wore a long white dress, which was beautifully embroidered along the edges. She wore necklaces and rings, which looked to be extremely expensive.

Silence filled the room. I looked at king, wondering if I should speak up first. He seemed to be expecting something. Then it hit me. I bowed, trying to mimic the guard. "Your Majesty."

The king smiled. "Speak your name."

"Luka, sir, just Luka." I answered, trying to sound serious.

He eyed me a bit. "I see. So it seems you are interested in escorting our princess." He explained. I really didn't want to escort the princess or anyone from this family, but I remembered the pay and tried not to show my reluctance.

"Yes, sir."

"Well then I shall give you the details right now. You will be escorting the princess to Asakawa Kingdom, along with our top guard. You will stay there with her for a couple of days, for she will be attending a small ball. Then you will escort her back here to Saki Kingdom." He explained. My eyes widen in shock.

"Wait, Asakawa Kingdom? That's so far away! Ok maybe not that far away but I'm going to have to stay there for a couple of days! Crap this'll probably take at least a week." I tried to think of something to get out of this. Nothing.

The king noticed my distress. "Is there something the matter, Luka? Everything I have told you so for should not be news for you." He said as if reading my mind.

I took out the piece paper from out of my pocket. Sure enough, the king was right. Everything he had said was on the paper. It was just in small print while the money reward was at least five times bigger than it. I groaned.

The queen giggled, which sounded quite melodious. "It seems that you missed that piece of important information. We'll let you think about it since my idiot husband decided to conceal that part." Her soothing voice offered me a way out. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do so. The way the king and the queen acted was the total opposite of what everyone in the lower class said about them. They were so nice and considerate. Of course the king was a bit strict, but that was to be expected. Right?

"No. That won't necessary, Your Highness. I won't turn back for something as minor as that. I would be more than happy to serve the royal family, no matter how long the job is." "What the heck am I saying? The job is too long!" I was having an internal struggle with myself. And I was losing. How was that even possible?!

The queen clapped her hands. "Excellent. So everything is settled. Do you have any questions for us?"

I thought for a moment, and then I remembered a question that has been nagging me since the beginning. "Why did you put out a job listing for an escort? If you're worried about the dangers, why not just assign more guards?" It stayed silent for a few moments. They looked at each other and whispered some stuff I couldn't hear.

"Well," the king spoke up, "we hear of the rumors going around concerning the royal family, especially about the princess." I knew of the rumors but I still wasn't sure where he was going with this.

The queen saw my confusion. "We thought that if we hired someone of lower class," she said that with a bit more emphasis, "and they liked her, then they would talking how good she is."

I saw a flaw. Actually two flaws. "What if they don't like her? Or why don't you just pay someone to spread the word without dealing with the princess?"

The queen smiled at this, quite evilly. "Oh they will like her, especially if it is you."

I furrowed my brows. "What's that supposed to mean? What about my oth-"

At that exact moment, the princess herself came in with aura of royalty and prestige. She wore a teal dress with white flowery embroidery that barely touched the ground. She had long sleeves that become looser from her elbow to her hands. A teal diamond necklace was wrapped her neck. But what really captivated my eyes was her hair. It was long and teal and up in two pigtails. It was similar to her mother's but maybe because I was closer to her, her hair looked so silky and touchable. I tried my best not to reach out my hand.

"The Princess Hatsune Miku, Your Majesty." The guard bowed and left.

"Miku. What a cute name." I chuckled to myself. The princess snapped her head at me and glared at me with her teal, icy eyes.

"What is so funny, ninja?" She demanded, her aura quickly changing to hostile and bitter.

"Ok but a not so cute attitude." I sighed. I was getting tired already.

"Nothing, princess. I'm sorry." I bowed, trying to stay on her good side. I don't think I'll be able to handle her for a week if she was always in a bad mood. Miku looked about to say something but the king cut her off.

"Miku, dear, meet Luka." He gestured to me. "She will be your escort for tomorrow. Make sure you are nice to her. We would like to see good results." Results? They talk as if Miku's some sort of experiment. But his face was saying otherwise.

"Yes sir." Miku did a little curtsey. "I will not let you down. I will make her escort an enjoyable one."

"What?" My jaw dropped and my mind reeling. "Just a moment ago, she looked like she wanted me dead. Now she wants to make my 'escort' ENJOYABLE?! How is that possible? An escort is an escort. Nothing fun there, especially with this moody princess."

"Excellent." The king said. "Now you both may leave. I will see you at dinner, Miku." Wait. That was it? He's not going to tell us what to do next? Miku started leaving and, seeing it as my only choice left, I followed her. She didn't say anything about it so I counted that as a sign to continue.

Several quiet turns later, we stopped in front of yet another pair of double doors. These were teal with gold moldings on the edges and silver doorknobs. It was very fancy. Miku snapped her head back to me again.

"Geez if she keeps doing that, she's going to break her neck."

"Why are you following me, peasant?" Miku demanded, giving me another icy glare. Seriously I shivered looking into her eyes, as pretty as they were, they were cold towards me. "Speak!"

I realized I was staring into her eyes so I averted them to a brick on the wall as if it were the most fascinating thing ever. "Well you didn't say anything against it. Plus I don't know what to do until tomorrow." I didn't feel like going back to Gumi's only to come all the way back in the morning.

Miku sighed and put her head in her hand. "Fine just come in with me while I try to think of something to do with you." She opened the door and entered the room. I followed, closing the door.

When I entered, only one word came to mind: huge. In front of me was a small living room, with couches surrounding a table, which had book and a glass of water on top of it. All the furniture was facing a fireplace and there were bookshelves on the both sides of the fireplace. To the left, glass doors led to the backyard, where a huge cherry blossom tree grew. To the right was a closed door, which was practically begging me to open.

"If you're done gawking at everything, hurry and sit down so we can discuss what to do with you." The princess yelled, bringing me back to reality.

"Haha sorry, princess." I laughed, not sure why I did. Maybe I got tired of attitude and just wanted to laugh at it. I don't know. But she sure didn't like it and that made me satisfied. "What is this room? It's huge." I asked, still looking around.

"This is small, at best. And this is my room, you imbecile."

"What's with you and all the name-calling?" I said, getting a bit annoyed. I let the first two go because they were true, sort of. But now she's just being difficult.

"I am only saying what's true. Besides you keep calling me princess. You are to call me Princess Miku or Your Highness. Not just princess." Her fists were balled up and her face slightly red from anger. She was clearly mad and the air got a bit cold.

"But you called me three different names. I only called you 'princess' twice." I reasoned.

"So I win. Only natural since I am the royal princess. I always win." Miku bragged, with her head held up in arrogance. "But do not worry, there may come a time for you to succeed in something. Or maybe you are just destined to fail in life."

Ouch. That was a bit too far. I stood up and pointed my finger at her. "You know what, princess?" I put a lot emphasis on the word princess and smiled when I saw it have the intended effect. "Do you know why your parents wanted someone like me to escort you when a couple of more guards would've sufficed?"

"Of course I know." She smirked. "They want me to have a better reputation in the kingdom."

Now it was my turn to look confused. "Then why do you continue to tempt me? Do you want me to spread even worse rumors of you?" This girl knew how to drive me insane. And I didn't know what to do.

"I could care less if you actually liked me or not." She looked at her nails, bored, as if our conversation meant nothing to her. "I was planning to bribe you anyway at the end of the trip."

"Then why don't you just pay me now that way I can try to go through with this trip without killing you?" I clenched my fists.

"I know how your kind are. You'll just take the money and leave without finishing the job." Miku said with a scowl. I was just about say something but then a knock was heard.

"Enter." Miku commanded.

A maid came in and bowed down to the princess. "Dinner is ready, Your Highness."

"I see. Leave." The maid bowed again and left the room.

"Wow, you sure like to talk a lot, princess," I sat back down, with my hands behind my hand. "It's amazing how much time has past."

"Silence. It's your fault, you nincompoop."

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled to myself. "Haha she said poop." I saw Miku walking towards the door, opening it.

"Wait! Am I allowed to come too?" I asked. She never tells me what I'm supposed to do. How am I supposed to protect her if she never tells me what's she going to do?

"No." Miku said bluntly.

"Then what am I supposed do?" I asked again.

"I don't care. Just don't do anything you will regret." She glared at me one last time before leaving for her dinner.

Miku just made a very big mistake leaving someone like me alone in her room. So I decided to take look behind the door that has been beckoning me from the moment I walked in. I opened the door and walked in. It was a bedroom. I facepalmed myself.

"Duh where else is she going to sleep?"

A king-sized bed laid itself in the middle of the room against the wall. Dressers were on both sides with mirrors on top. A grand piano sat next to a window on the right side of the room. On the left side, there was an open door that revealed a bathroom. It was a grand bathroom with separate bathtub and shower. Everything was made of porcelain and it was so shiny, I almost had to cover my eyes from the brightness. I walked over to the sink and washed my face with cold water.

"This trip is going to be the death of me. Heck that princess will probably want to kill me first."

After I dried my face, I decided to do some eavesdropping. I left the room and tried to find my way to the dining hall. Actually it wasn't that hard with all the servants rushing in one direction. I didn't really need to conceal myself from anyone since none of them really cared. I got the dining hall door and stole a peak inside when the doors were open. I saw Miku and her family chatting and eating. I needed to find a way inside without the family seeing me. I looked around and something caught my eye. I noticed a tile on the ceiling that looked a bit off. I used my nimbleness and climbed up the wall.

As I was under the tile, I pushed it and up it went, revealing a ladder. Obviously I climbed it, making sure to put the tile back in its place. I was surprised no one took any notice of my actions. I guess I was just that stealthy or they just didn't care about a low life like me. I decided to believe the first one just to boost up my self-confidence.

I climbed up the ladder and at the top, I was faced with four different pathways, pointing in four different directions. I held back my curiosity and tried to remember where the dining room is. I headed down the path to the right and found a tile below me. I pulled it up and saw the family directly below me.

"Are you ready for tomorrow, dear?" The king asked.

"Yes, father." Miku replied.

"Now on this trip, you will meet your future husband, Luki. So be on your best behavior. You know how much this will benefit our kingdom." The queen explained.

"Yes, mother." Miku said, eating her food.

"Now why wasn't she this peaceful when she was with me?" I mused at this side of the princess.

The king nodded. "Indeed, Asakawa Kingdom resides on the coast so they are abundant with seafood, especially tuna." I suddenly got very hungry and excited. I really wanted to get to this kingdom and eat some of their tuna.

"While we reside inland and produce vegetation, mainly leeks." She held up a piece of her leek on the tip of her fork and then took a bite of it. It was then I realized that each one of them was served a leek in some shape or form.

"Man what a weird family." I now understood the meaning behind their royal emblem. The rest of their conversation was pretty boring. They talked about tutors, meetings, training, and-wait, training? Who's training?

"Put your training to good use, dear." Said the queen, smiling. "You wouldn't want the weather taking a turn for the worst, extending the trip."

"Nooooo. I don't the trip to be extended. I don't know what she's talking about but use your training, Miku!"

"It'll be fine, Mom." Miku replied. "I can control it now. I probably don't even need any guards."

Now I really wanted to know what they were talking about. Was it magic? Only those of royal blood could use magic, but what kind usually depended on the family. I wonder what this family could do. Throw leeks?

They continued talking about other boring, royal stuff. I almost dozed off when I heard the clatter of dishes. I looked down and they were gone except for the servants cleaning up. I crawled up to the ladder but when I was about to exit the ceiling, the hallway was really busy for some reason. I couldn't just come out of the ceiling without arousing suspicion. I had to find another way. I chose another pathway that pointed to the general direction back to Miku's room. I suddenly felt a gust of cool air and I started to fall.

"Umph. Oh my poor butt." I sat up, rubbing my behind, and saw a familiar cherry blossom tree. I looked up and saw no trace of where I had fallen from.

"Where have you been, peasant?" I turned around and saw Miku looking at me angrily with her hands on her hips. I got the chills.

"Whatever do you mean, princess?" I shrugged, feigning innocence. "I was here on the ground ever since you left."

"No you weren't." She pointed at me. "When I got here, you were nowhere in sight."

"Maybe I just like rolling in this grass." I moved my hands through the grass. "I rarely ever see grass this green or just grass in general. It sure feels soft."

"Well since you like the grass so much, you can sleep out here tonight." She crossed her arms, smirking at me.

My jaw dropped and I stood up. "What? I'd rather sleep inside. There's a nice, huge bed in your room I could sleep on." I motioned my arms towards her room.

"Why did you go into my room?"

"Did you expect me to not go in there after being left alone?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ugh, never mind that. It's my bed. Why would I let you sleep in it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's a huge bed and you might get lonely. So I thought why not join you and-"

"Be quiet!" Miku yelled at me. I saw a slight blush on Miku's cheeks. "I don't need filth like you to make me feel less lonely." She stomped back inside, locking the door.

"Whoops. I might've gone too far with that." I sighed. "But she looked really cute when blushing."

I turned and looked around the yard, trying to find a place to sleep. To my surprise, there wasn't much out here. Just the cherry blossom and a small pond. After crossing out the pond as a place to rest, I climbed the tree, finding a branch to sleep on. Once I got comfortable, I thought how long the trip was going to take.

"Ok it only takes a day to get to Asakawa, but we have to stay there for a couple of days and another day to get back here. That's about four days long!" I groaned. "Why am I even doing this?" I took out the job paper and looked at the reward. Money, that's why. I kept telling myself that until I fell asleep.

So this turned out longer than I thought. Actually I just didn't know when to stop XD

Well forgive me for any mistakes.