Morning light and the calling of a rooster had Yuya raising his head and blinking blurry eyed to take in his surroundings. Turning his focus to the window, he eyed the light outside his room to see the sun peaking over the horizon. Sitting up onto all fours, he slowing stretched each limb and arched his back before rolling off the bed to his feet for a last full body stretch. Feeling excited after a good night's rest, Yuya dropped down to the living room from the stone pole attached to his room as an easy way down and headed into the kitchen. His mom was still asleep and since he was feeling high in spirit, he decided to cook her a surprise breakfast. Skipping outside, he headed to their chicken coop and slipped inside. The three hens Daisy, Mrs. Cluckles and Margaretta all turned their attention to his sudden appearance before recognizing their owner and growing disinterested. Slipping his hand under their warm bellies, he felt around the hay beds until his hands wrapped around their prize and he withdrew an egg. After checking each nest, he found 4 eggs and proceeded back to the house. Depositing his stash, he went back outside to fetch some water from the well and lastly visited their cow Jenny for some warm milk. Satisfied, he set to work in the kitchen. Heating the fire stove, he started cooking the eggs, filled two glasses with the fresh milk, buttered some bread that they had sitting on the counter and then set the table. Just as he finished, his mother came around the corner yawning and stretching out her arms. As soon as she entered the room, she paused to sniff the air and opened her eyes eagerly. She smiled in joy to find the table set and Yuya scooting a chair out for her.

"What's the occasion?" She asked with curiosity.

"No occasion, just felt like cooking you breakfast this morning."

"Ahhh, that's so sweet of you! Your father would be very proud of you." At the mention of his father, Yuya's smile disappeared for a second but he quickly covered it up with a large grin but his mother didn't let it go unnoticed.

"Listen Yuya, I may be too optimistic by saying this but I have a feeling your father isn't gone… he is just off on a long journey and we will see him again, so perk up and let's eat this yummy looking food." Giving her a reassuring smile that he was fine, Yuya plopped down into his own chair and dished himself up a serving.

After eating breakfast, Yoko ushered her son out of the kitchen to leave her to the dishes and encouraged him to go out and enjoy the fresh air. After quickly changing into a casual outfit, Yuya broke into a run down the stone path to the village. He hadn't visited his best friend Gongenzaka's place in a while. His friend's family owned a renowned dojo that trained all sorts of men in the art of self-defense and many of the village's soldiers studied at the dojo.

"Where you off to in such a hurry pretty boy?" The all too familiar nickname had Yuya nearly tripping in surprise. Regaining his balance, he eyed the townspeople around him until spotting his target. Shingo and his flunkies were walking side by side, taking up the full span of the walkway, forcing passerby's to take a detour or squeeze through them. Shingo paid them no mind as his attention was locked with Yuya.

"What do you want?" Yuya sighed out frustrated.

"Nothing, just wanted to know why you are in such a big hurry is all."

"None of your business." Yuya turned and walked away, listening to them try and to call him back but he ignored it. He had better things to do with his time.

"Oi! Don't just walk away when we are talking to you! Oi oi oiii!"He was in a good mood today and didn't want anything to ruin it, especially not by some pompous punk.

As soon as he rounded the corner out of Shingo's sight, he broke into a sprint. He knew Shingo would probably follow, but by weaving through the stalls and taking a short cut through an alleyway, he was sure to get away. Glancing behind his back, he sighed out in relief to find that he was indeed not being followed. Slowing his pace to a brisk walk, he turned his attention back forward and froze. In the alleyway stood a group of men, who from first glance were definitely not good. They wore shark teeth, torn clothing, thick jackets and smelled of alcohol. Flipping around, Yuya hoped they hadn't noticed him and took a step forward but was abruptly yanked back by the color of his shirt.

"What do we have here? A little punk wandered onto our turf." Yanking even harder, Yuya toppled backwards and landed heavily on his tailbone. Clenching his teeth to prevent himself from voicing his pain, he glared up at the group with determination to not show fear.

"Well well well, this is a mighty fine catch. We got ourselves a pretty boy."

"He must be loaded, wearing all that fine clothing and looking so fresh…" The man grabbed Yuya by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. One of the men behind started patting his pockets, searching for a wallet, while the one in front held him still. Yuya stayed perfectly quiet, ignoring the man's wandering hands, until he felt the man grab his crotch. Yuya shivered at the foreign feeling and bite his lip surprised. The man in back apologized at first, since he couldn't quite see where he was touching, but Yuya's expression had him gulping. The other on looking men's expressions all turned heated as the display went from mugging to suddenly erotic.

"Well we've searched all his pockets, turns out he isn't carrying any money." The man in the back tried to cover his embarrassment by bringing back up the reason he was even searching the boy.

"That's a letdown, now what should we do with him?"

"Dump him, sell him, trade him off for ransom…"

"I have an idea… we all haven't gotten laid in a while…" Yuya's body tensed and his heart started thrashing through his chest in fear. This day had just gone down a cliff.

"You're suggesting doing it with another man. What are you gay?"

"Hardly, just look at how pretty he is. He is barely even a man." Yuya's eye glinted at the comment and bite down hard into the hand that was holding him. The man hollered out in pain and his hands released their grip. Using his small stature to his advantage, Yuya darted forward and weaved through his obstacles. The startled men stared on at first, but as realization struck them, they dashed after him. One almost grabbed him again, but he dropped down and slid under him and then quickly rolled back to his feet and broke into a full sprint to prevent the chasers from catching him.

Breaking out of the alleyway, he spared no time familiarizing himself with his surroundings and then turning right in the direction of his friend's dojo. Even though he was out of the alleyway, the men stayed hot on his heels and after a quick glance around, he realized the street was eerily empty.

As the sight of the dojo came into view, Yuya sighed in relief, but he hadn't noticed one of the men had caught up and wrapped a firm arm around his waist, hoisting him up into the air and latching him to his hip.

"Thought you got away did you?" Yuya looked around desperately for some kind of weapon to use. The position he was in would make it difficult to use his teeth again. Using his last resort, Yuya screamed out, "Gongenzaka…" the man quickly covered his mouth to silence him and eyed his surroundings in hopes he wasn't heard. When no response came, he smirked in triumph and carried his prize away. When all hope seemed lost, the man carrying him suddenly toppled forward and his grip on Yuya slackened enough for another strong pair of hands to yank him free. Yuya glanced upwards and as he recognized Gongenzaka's towering stature, he slumped into his friends protective arms in relief.

"What do you think you are doing with my best friend?" He nearly snarled out. The other lagging men finally appeared around the corner and slowed to a stop out of curiosity to watch the exchange or help if need be.

"That's our catch of the day, mind handing him over quietly?" Standing back up, the man puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles, as if to intimidate his friend, but Gongenzaka only narrowed his eyes in preparation for a fight. Releasing his protective grip on his friend, he guided Yuya behind him and put up his hands in a protective stance.

"Guess we'll just have to go through you then." The man bolted forwards with surprising speed for his size but Gongenzaka easily knocked him aside. Again the man charged but he averted the punches and knocked him over with a solid push. Growling out with frustration, he jumped up again and this time as he punched forward and was pushed away, he kicked up his foot and hit Gongenzaka squarely in the chest. Gongenzaka staggered backwards slightly but for the most part stayed upright. Yuya looked on worried, and attempted to jump into the fray but Gongenzaka grabbed his shoulder and held him firmly in place.

"Don't worry." He smiled at his friend reassuringly before turning his attention back onto his attacker. Getting bored with just watching, the other men stepped out and joined their comrade who was not looking too pleased.

"I don't need your help!"

"We aren't helping you, we are just here to have a little fun and kill time, besides it's boring just watching."

Now the fight was a 1v4, and Yuya refused to sit back and let his friend take them all on alone, so he ducked under his friends arm and bolted at the nearest guy. With a high leap and adjustment of his body, the man was startled when two shoes came plowing into his face and he slammed his head into the stone flooring, immediately passing out at the hard contact. With one out of commission, all that remained were 3 more.

The other men blinked startled to the small pretty boy and then to their KO'd partner. Even Gongenzaka stared on in surprise.

"It's just not your day today is it?" Yuya mocked them gleefully. With his best friend here, these guys were chumps. Growling out in anger, the three remaining men all charged him, completely forgetting their duel with Gongenzaka. He however did not forget and was not sparing any time coming to his friend's aid. Jumping in-between them all, he decided now was not the time to hold back. The men were probably too enraged to be simply tired down or talked out of it.

With a tightened fist, he pummeled the first guy in the face and kicked the second one away, while the third slammed his fist into his side but he quickly retaliated with another punch into the man's gut. Flanking from behind, the second man lunged at his back but Yuya was faster and tackled him to the ground. Before the man could react, he jumped to his feet and raised his fists in preparation. Leaving the other two to his more experienced friend; he taunted the man further to keep his attention on him.

"Is that all you've got?"

"Don't get cocky." Even though Yuya was weaker, he was at least light on his feet and had quick reflexes. He mostly dodged the incoming blows and timed when the man's arm went back and the other came forward. Once he was sure of the man's speed and fighting style, he started throwing his own punches, which seemed ineffective at first. The man had a solid build but with enough jabs, he was sure to at least leave a good bruise. Sure enough, after a number of blows to the man's side, he finally started to cringe and was getting more and more tired. The sounds of grunting and the clashing of objects had Yuya and his attacker pausing mid fight to find the two other men sprawled out on top of some wooden crates and baskets while Gongenzaka looked unscathed. Lowering his fists, the man conceded defeat.

"We have lost this fight." Walking over to his passed out friend, he hoisted him up, onto his shoulder and turned his attention back to the two of them.

Bowing his head, the man apologized to Yuya and Gongenzaka, "I apologize on behalf of my comrades for the inconvenience we have caused."

"You at the very least can lose honorably. Why do you hang out with these guys?" Gongenzaka asked out of curiosity.

"Because one of them is my older brother and the others are my childhood friends who grew up with us on the street." As the times became harder, more people were left suffering and turning to criminal acts just to survive. That was why Yuya pledged to make everyone in the village smile and bring back joy to the children.

"It is because of guys like you and the others forced to live in the slums that I have made it my goal to bring back everyone's smiles and brighten up this village."

Surprised at the sudden revelation, the man smiled sorrowfully down at him. "That is a very noble goal, but it may be impossible to accomplish."

"Nothing is impossible." Yuya grinned up at him, determination shining in his eyes.

Stepping forward, Yuya offered his hand to the man. At first the man paused but with a smirk he accepted the gesture.

"The name's Alcott and this guy here," Alcott gestured to the man on his shoulder, "is my older brother Ogden. And those two laying on the ground over there are Blake and Erskine."

"The name's Yuya and this is my best friend…"

"Gongenzaka." Gongenzaka stepped forward this time and offered out his hand as well. The man accepted it gratefully.

Suddenly the man grew tense and scratched the back of his head before turning towards Yuya, "Sorry for earlier…" He choked out awkwardly. Yuya stared at him for a second in confusion before his face exploded into red and he shook his head violently.

"It was just an accident…" Gongenzaka looked between them confused.

"They are probably far too out of it to walk right now, so I will leave them be but I will explain to them later not to ever touch you again." The man choked again but quickly swallowed it down.

"Thanks." Turning to his friend, Yuya couldn't suppress his large toothy grin and Gongenzaka also smiled down at his friend before they raced off to the dojo. Arriving at the front door, they slowed to a stop to catch their breath before Yuya was suddenly being dragged into a tight hug.

"Oh Yuya! Yuya~…. I, the man Gongenzaka, have never been more relieved." Breaking out into a deep sob, he squeezed even tighter before Yuya started smacking his chest to release him so he could breathe.

"Gon… Gongenzaka, I… can't… breathe!" Releasing his death grip, he wiped away the tears and started checking Yuya over.

"You're okay right, they didn't do anything to you?" His friend asked worried.

"I am perfectly fine." Yuya responded reassuringly. Satisfied with his checkup and Yuya's response, he invited his friend inside and they sat down on a pair of mats in the corner of the main room.

"So what happened out there? Why were those men chasing you?" Gongenzaka finally asked.

"I was on my way here when I ran into Shingo and his friends… I didn't want to put up with them so I made a break for it but ended up walking down an alley that happened to be occupied by those men you encountered outside. At first they thought I was rich or something and tried to mug me but…" Yuya drifted off with his story, he wasn't ready to mention the last part and decided to leave it out, "but I bite down hard on the guy who had me caught and made a break for it. When I was almost to the dojo, one of the guys caught up and snagged me. I tried to find something to use as a weapon but nothing was within reach so I just screamed out for you."

"You have no idea how much I panicked when I heard you scream… I had just been out with an errand and if I hadn't arrived back when I did, I might not have…" Gongenzaka swallowed and clenched up his fists.

"Hey no sweat, you did arrive and that's what matters." Yuya slapped his friend on the shoulder and grinned. Gongenzaka nodded and shook off the idea of "what if" and replaced it with, "I am surprised at how well you handled yourself out there."

"Hey, I am not entirely useless! I can handle myself. I might not be trained like you but I know when to throw a punch and when to dodge."

"What surprised me the most was your knockout, I didn't know you could jump that high; plus I think you left footprints on that guys face!"

"I didn't either. It was a desperate situation and I was pissed that they were ganging up on you. Besides, I wasn't going to let you fight alone."

"Well I am grateful for the help."

Laying onto his back, Yuya stared up at the ceiling in silence. Enjoying his peaceful time with his friend, until realization struck him.

"Oh no! I forgot I was supposed to meet the prince at noon. Gongenzaka, can you check your sundial and tell me what time it is?"

"Sure thing…" Gongenzaka rose to his feet and disappeared into the back room before the sound of clomping shoes came hurrying back into the main room. "Yuya, it's almost noon!"

"Crap! Sorry Gong, I've got to go. I don't mean to rush off like this but I'll see you again shortly!"

"No worries, get going! And don't go down strange alleys." Jumping to his feet, Yuya bid his best friend a good day and then rushed out of the door.

Just as Gongenzaka had advised Yuya avoided any alleyways. He didn't want a repeat of the morning. He ran for as long as his lungs would hold out until he slowed to a stop and gripped his knees to catch his breath. He allowed his lungs a minute or two to slow down before he took off again but at a jog instead of a run. He wasn't entirely sure why the prince wanted to see him, although he had a pretty good idea, and being late to an appointment with said prince was bound to end poorly.

At first he thought he wasn't going to make it, but as he climbed the last step to the front castle doors, they were pushed opened by a couple of guards and one of the maids was waiting to escort him. When he asked if he was late, the maid reassured him that he still had a couple of minutes to spare.

Sighing in relief, he followed behind the maid in silent anticipation and worry. The prince rarely called anyone out unless it was a very important matter and the only thought circulating through his head was that the prince discovered he was the maiden dressed in the red silk dress he had encountered in the hall. That was no longer his concern since he was sure the prince was aware, but now the biggest question on his mind was what was the prince going to do or say about it…