Chapter One

"No matter how many times I am betrayed in this world, I will never stop trusting you." — Yona's thoughts toward Hak, AKATSUKI NO YONA

Kagura.

Kagura was running out of breath.

She was no longer sure where her legs were taking her, all she was sure of was that she had to run—quickly—and she was not supposed to stop. She was panting so hard that she could no longer remember why she was running in the first place. Kagura was only sure of a few things: First, she needed to run as fast as she could. Second, she had no idea where she was. Third, her arm was bleeding and she could no longer feel it move, nor can she feel any pain from the deep wound carved on her skin. And lastly, Kagura knew she no longer has a place to go home.

Kagura stopped running when she could no longer hear the shouts of the soldiers screaming for her name. The girl absentmindedly took a few steps backwards, carefully, preventing to make any sound, and pressed her back against the strong bark of a tree. The roughness of the bark woke her from her thoughts, finally allowing herself to take a look at her surroundings: It was night, the moon is out, no stars were present, and she was surrounded by a lot of trees. Kagura gulped. She had no idea where she was. She was not familiar with the place— she was never familiar with the world outside her palace.

"Palace..." The word itself felt foreign on her tongue. It was like she did not deserve to say it, it was like she was not supposed to say it. "I.."

Hesitantly, she lowered her gaze and took a short look at herself— she was wearing a red kimono, it seemed fancy, but it was covered with blood. It had too much blood in it that Kagura was no longer sure if the traditional dress truly was red or was it only covered in her blood. She then examined her arm, and whimpered when she touched it, she pulled her uninjured arm away and saw red— dark, yet brilliant red— it was the color of her blood.

Kagura let out a shaky breath she never realized she was holding until she did. Her body fell down on the dirty ground as waves of memories came crashing on her— she remembers now— the sight of her father in his own pool of blood, the fire inside of her room, the sudden death of her mother because of her illness, then Kamui—

Kagura's heart pace quickened at his name. Terror dominated her blood, she shivered from the name of her older brother. Kagura found herself wrapping her own arms around her, her lips quivering both from the coldness of the forest and of the fright her small body was holding. Kamui. Kamui. Kamui was—

"Kagura, wake up!"

Sougo.

Sougo was busy treating his own wounds when he heard her cry on her sleep.

Grumbling a bit, the young man covered himself up, telling himself not to wince when his clothing had touched the wound on his chest, and walked toward the vermillion-haired girl who was sleeping on his futon. He turned to her and sighed in relief when he realized that her crying had stopped. When asleep, Sougo noted that Kagura truly looked a lot more peaceful than she was when she was awake.

Sougo allowed himself to stare at her. Her face was no longer as miserable as it looked when he had found her dying in the forest, her hair was messy and untamed, and it was no longer decorated with pins, her lips and skin had gone pale (actually, she had always been pale, but this time, she looked sick), and Sougo did not like the sight before him. His crimson red eyes finally had the courage to take a look at her injured arm that was still covered with the blanket that he gave to her. He held his breath, and gently pulled the cover so he can take a look at her arm— and fuck, the sight of her once flawless skin having a huge wound made him feel sick in the stomach. It felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

This was not right.

Kagura never truly liked him, and he had always teased her whenever he stumbles across her in the hallway of the Palace, they spar whenever they're bored, they banter whenever they see each other, he was the only soldier who didn't call her by 'your highness' and 'princess', they argue over the smallest things, and sometimes sneak out together when they're seeking for fun— but even though Kagura had never considered a soldier like him as a friend, Sougo was still convinced that the princess did not deserve the wounds she has right now.

The wounds on her skin can be healed, but he doubts that the ones on her heart may not— and that's what terrifies him the most.

That's why when he ran toward the forest after following the blood of the princess in hopes to get to her before no one else could, his chest had tightened when he saw her unconscious while leaning against a tree, painfully unarmed and dying from loss of blood.

Sougo didn't realize that his knuckles had gone white because of the fury he was feeling toward the reason why the Princess was banished from her own castle— Kamui, Kagura's older brother.

Sougo never really cared about the people in the palace, nor did he ever care about being royalty— he only worked for the kingdom because his late sister wanted him to be a member of the Shinsengumi, the special set of soldiers that served the palace and protected the royal family.

He never truly cared about anything, or anyone, after his sister's death. When his parents died, his sister, Mitsuba, took care of him and raised him to be the man he was right now. Sougo owed Mitsuba his life. He will forever be grateful of her, even after her death.

"Kamui..."

Sougo immediately turned his eyes on her, her face was displaying utter discomfort, telling him that she was having a bad dream. Judging by the sudden calling out for her brother's name, he assumed that she was having a nightmare about Kamui. He tried his best to nudge her shoulder as gently as she could, hoping that she would wake up from his touch. But she didn't. Instead, her breathing became ragged and Sougo was sure this was the first time that he had seen the princess this helpless.

Sougo, despite being her rival, did not like this at all.

"China.." He muttered against his breath, calling her by the nickname he had given to her when he first met the vermillion-haired girl. "Oi. China!"

She didn't open her eyes. She only let out a whimper. He was expecting this. What he did not expect, however, was her suddenly reaching for him using her uninjured hand. She had tugged the end of his sleeve until she found his bare hand. He flinched at the contact, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and terribly uneasy, but did not make any effort to push her away from him.

Pity, Sougo reminded himself, this was only pity.

He didn't dare take notice of his heart pace suddenly becoming quick. Nor did he allow himself acknowledge the heat crawling upon his cheeks.

This was only pity for the princess, he convinced himself, nothing more.

Before she could make any contact again, Sougo called out her name. He hated calling her by Kagura. The sound of her name from his lips gives him an unfamiliar emotion that he did not want to feel.

"Kagura, wake up!"

And when she did, what he first saw was a pair of blue eyes filled with terror and raw emotion. She woke in a jolt, a gasp had escaped her lips. The sight of her crying after waking up made his chest tighten.

"S-" she probably never realized that she was holding her hand before she woke up, as she had just casually let her hand slip away from his, making him feel both relief and disappointment at the same time. "Sougo."

He would never get used to the sound of his name on her lips.

"You should take a rest." He mumbled as he stood up, walking a few steps away from her.

He turned to her, and was mildly surprised when he saw her trying to sit. He let her do what she wanted and watched his princess be the strong woman she had always been. He noticed her avoiding to take a look at her injured arm, "How long was I out?"

Sougo allowed himself to examine her. The princess no longer had pins on her hair, nor did she wear any fancy kimono that she used to wear all the time. She was now wearing a plain, brown yukata that used to be his. Her hair was still messy, but it looked clean. She looked clean.

Even without her fancy clothing, Kagura still looked beautiful.

"Sougo?"

He cleared his throat, "You've only been out for a few hours. You should sleep again to regain energy. I already treated your wounds."

She stared at him for a long time that Sougo fought the urge to look away from her.

"Why are you wounded as well?"

He was taken back by her question, but answered anyway. "I believe my wounds are none of your business."

"Neither do mine concern you, yet here we are."

"You're my responsibility." He didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. "You're the princess."

"Not anymore." Her voice was small, fragile and small, yet Sougo had caught her words well. He opened his mouth to say something to her but she beat him to it.

"Why are my clothes different? Did you change it?"

"Yes."

"Fucking bastard."

He rolled his eyes, taking a seat on the floor, already knowing that he will get tired by standing while talking to her, he was already sure that his conversation with her would her would take a long time. He couldn't blame her. He wouldn't blame her. She needed answers, and he was willing to give them to her.

"Why? Did you want to smell gross while wearing your blood-stained dress?"

She huffed, but didn't protest. He had to make sure that she knew he didn't have any malicious intention toward her. He needed her to know that he only needed to protect her.

"Where are we?"

"At Bushuu." He answered, "At my home in Bushuu. Hijikata-san let us escape last night."

"Us?" She suddenly questioned, "I was alone in the forest last night."

"You were." He confirmed, "Until I found you dying beneath a tree."

The two of them cringed at the memory, both not wanting to remember it again.

"That's... embarrassing.." Kagura muttered under her breath. She couldn't believe what was happening to her. The last person that she wanted to see at her dying state would be her rival, Okita Sougo. She cleared her throat, "Anyway, you should treat your wounds."

Was she worried for him? "I will."

"Hey Sougo."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you still here?" She was probably pertaining to the fact that she was no longer princess, and she is no longer his responsibility. But...

"Where else should I be?"

She nodded. She laid on the futon again and covered herself with the blanket that has been protecting her from the cold, and whispered something under the covers. Sougo couldn't quite catch it, but though he was tempted to ask her about what she said, he just went back to treating his own wounds.

"What are you planning to do now?" He asked loudly, aware that she was still awake.

It was silence followed his question, and then the sound of hiccups and choked back sobs. Sougo turned to her as fast as he could, almost surprised that his neck didn't break. Was she—

"I just want to live." The frailness of her voice and the crack on it made Sougo wince, "That's all."

"Aren't you going to take back your throne?"

"No, I won't."

The sadness that lingered on her words told him that the words she had used were right— but her heart— her heart was breaking.

This—

Her hurting had became his pain.

— was not pity anymore.