CHAPTER 10

Everyone stood in silence as they looked at the older man in the room.

"You all need to come with me quickly" He spoke as he looked at everyone in the room.

Yuzu gave a confused look before she spoke

"Umm Mr Chairman, we can't leave here right now, and how did you get in here?"

The Chairman continued to stand where he was as he spoke.

"Sorry Princess but I wont leave my only Grandchild's life in danger"

Everyone was in shock as they heard him speak, Yuzu went to speak but he spoke again.

"Your Gaia right?"

Gaia just nodded as she waited for him to speak more.

"Can you make a portal directly to my mansion?"

Everyone was still trying to process what was going on, he let out a loud sigh before he spoke again.

"I will explain everything once we are all in a safe location, but for now can we all get going?"

He looked straight back at Gaia. All eyes were on Yuzu as they waited for what she wanted to do next.

Yuzu never felt threatened by the older man and she knew that he did care for Mei, she gave a nod to Gaia to make a portal.

"It's too far, I dont think I can make it directly to the Mansion"

Gaia spoke as she had a portal open. The Chairman then turned his attention to Asami before he spoke.

"You there. Your a siphon aren't you? Give some energy to Gaia so that she can widen her reach"

Asami looked at Yuzu, Yuzu gave another nod as she watched Asami grab Gaias hand, after a few seconds Gaia gave a smile as she spoke.

"It worked, i've linked a portal directly into the mansion"

"Excellent, it's time to go, now" The Chairman gestured for everyone to enter the portal.

They rolled Barlock and Chester in first on a stretcher as they were both still passed out.

One by one they started to enter until it was just Yuzu, Mei, Gaia and Asami left.

"We can trust him, right Mei?" Yuzu looked straight into her lovers eyes as she waited for a response.

Mei simply nodded before she grabbed Yuzu's hand and went through the portal as well.

As they exited the portal they were met with a huge mansion with countless rooms.

"This way" Mei's Grandfather gestured towards a large lounge area that had space for everyone to sit, he saw that Mei and Yuzu were holding hands and made a point to sit them away from each other.

As soon as everyone was seated he spoke.

"Let me formally introduce myself, I am Hiden Aihara, main head to the Aihara name"

Yuzu felt a tingle up her spine, Hiden was looking at everyone in the room then in a blink of an eye…

-CRASH-

-GASP-

Everyone was speechless as Hiden had moved at super speed and attacked Yuzu.

Yuzu blocked his fist with her hand, both were eye to eye, Yuzu saw his violet eyes light up, her eyes widened as she jumped out of her seat and pushed him back.

"What is the meaning of this!" Yuzu yelled as she glared at the old man.

"Grandfather, what are you doing?" Mei went to step forward but stopped in her tracks as his voice echoed in the room.

"Mei Aihara, stay where you are. Dont move" Hiden glanced to his Granddaughter then back to the blonde Princess in front of him.

Everyone else went to get ready to attack but Yuzu quickly raised her hand before she spoke.

"No, its o.k everyone. I'll handle this"

"Dont take me lightly little girl, just because you have royal blood doesn't mean you can do as you please."

Hiden started to have a purple glow as he got ready to attack.

"Prepare yourself"

Yuzu took a defensive stance as she readied herself with her golden glow.

"Bring it old man"

-BANG-

Yuzu barely dodged the attack 'He's no ordinary speedster or old man' Yuzu though to herself as she turned to face her opponent, Hiden was already on his way towards Yuzu, she sped behind him and went to attack when he quickly dodged her punch and was back to where he was standing to start with.

"Enough!" He yelled as he lowered his barrier and bowed towards Yuzu.

"It is an honour to meet you Princess Yuzuko"

Yuzu still had her barrier up as she looked confused at Hiden 'What is happening right now?'

Yuzu was brought out of her thoughts as Hiden spoke again.

"I'm truly sorry if I startled you, but I needed to see for myself that you are worthy to be our Princess"

"Hiden how dare yo-"

Gaia stopped speaking as Yuzu placed her hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Its o.k Aunty"

Gaia glared at Hiden before she looked back at Yuzu and gave her a concerned look.

"I'm guessing you are going to tell us what exactly is going on now, right?" Yuzu looked at the older man as she gestured for her aunty to relax and everyone else as well.

"So your not just fast on your feet I see" Hiden took a seat as he had a sip of his tea.

"I'm sorry, but I dont trust easily, but I hope you will believe me when i say that I have all your best interests in mind" He looked to everyone as he spoke.

"So why did you bring us here? Chester's seemed like a secure location" Gaia was still glaring at the older man as she spoke. Yuzu is like a daughter to her and he did just try to attack her only a few seconds ago.

Hiden squeezed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb as he took a moment to think before he spoke.

"Well I guess the easiest way to start to from the beginning"

Hiden then started to explain how he was from Kingdom Rudo, he was a bit vague on the details which didn't go unnoticed by Yuzu.

He has been a collector of knowledge for the longest time and helped Chester set up his training warehouse and the other warehouse with the barrier that Harumin and Mei would do their self defence training.

Since he helped Chester in building his warehouses, Hiden also helped with the security side of things and his sensors had gone off only 5 minutes before he arrived at the facility to warn the others.

Even though Chester did help a lot of outsiders from other realms, it was no secret that Yuzu's uncle and cousin were looking everywhere for her and it seemed that one of the regulars there recognised Yuzu and had got in contact with the uncle.

He explained that his powers are super speed, Yuzu could see he was hiding something and she couldn't just let it slide.

"Where is your family? Why did you leave the kingdom? and why are you lying about your powers?"

Everyone looked surprised at the blonde as she started to interrogate him.

"Nothing gets passed you, young Princess" Hiden was quick to answer back to the blonde.

Yuzu went to speak when a familiar voice came from around the corner.

"Dont worry Princess, we can trust him, there are a few things that cant be said right now"

Chester slowly made his way around to the group and took a seat.

Yuzu's expression softened as she spoke again.

"If you say so Chester, I dont like liars though"

Chester could hear the slight irritation in Yuzu's voice, he gave a smile as he tried to reassure her.

"Lets just say we will explain everything else later, for now you all know exactly what you need to"

Chester looked at Hiden who gave him a nod.

Yuzu reluctantly gave a nod as she stood up and stretched her body.

"Do you have anywhere to stretch my legs Hiden?"

Mei's eyes widened as she heard Yuzu address her Grandfather in such a casual way.

To Yuzu's surprise it was Chester that answered her question.

"You will love it here Princess, Hiden has more modern equipment than I do"

They all followed Hiden to a large door at the end of the mansion, he entered a code for it to open and then….

"Wow, this place is huge" Matsuri sped around the entire place.

"Its at least 15 times more bigger then Chesters place" Hiden gave a proud smile as he walked everyone to a large board that explained where everything was.

It had all the same facilities as Chesters but on a much larger and fancier scale.

"If you think the library in the Mansion is impressive, I think you will love this one Mei" Hiden opened a door to show rows and rows of books that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Another door opened and Yuzu couldn't believe her eyes.

"Home?" She spoke in a small whisper as she looked up at the 3 moons in the sky and flowers that used to grow at the back of the palace.

"This is the meditating room, its made to be a replica of where you find yourself most at peace" Hiden then looked at Yuzu as he continued to speak.

"And since you were the first to walk in Princess, its going off your thoughts"

"Is this what it looks like over there Yuzucchi?" Harumin turned around in circles as she took in everything she could see.

"Not anymore" Asami spoke as she looked down at her feet.

Yuzu clenched her fists as the thought of her people suffering played on her mind.

After the tour of the mansion, Hiden showed everyone to their rooms.

"You must all be tired, please get some rest, dinner will be served at 7pm, Princess may I talk with you for a moment?"

Everyone looked at Yuzu and Hiden, they were all thinking the same thing, he quickly raised his hand as he spoke again.

"Dont worry, there will be no fighting"

They all went their separate ways as they left Hiden and Yuzu in the main room.

"Princess can I ask a question?" He had a serious look as he spoke.

Yuzu gave her own serious loopback at the old man as she spoke.

"Sure"

Hidens eyes went to the door then back to Yuzu before he spoke.

"Do you have anyone special in your life?"

Yuzu didn't really understand what he was asking, she raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"Yes, i have many special people in my life, they are in this Mansion right now"

'This is a waste of my time, what does he want?' Yuzu was brought out of her thoughts as he spoke again.

"Sorry, let me rephrase that, do you have anyone romantic in your life?"

Her eyes widened, why was he asking this kind of question?

The conversation was making Yuzu more annoyed by the second, she crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke in a more irritated tone.

"What exactly does that have to do with anything?"

Yuzu turned and went to leave, he had wasted enough of her time today, she had to start preparing herself for the biggest fight of her life.

She turned the door knob and was ready to walk out when he spoke again.

"I just want you to know, that they will try to find any weakness you have and will use anything and ANYONE to get to you. Remember that" Yuzu knew exactly who and what he was talking about, she didn't bother to turn around as she continued to walk out and close the door.

Yuzu walked down the long hallway, so many things were going through her mind right now, did she make the right decision giving in to Mei? What exactly were her and Mei now? Lovers? Friends that kissed a lot? Then there was the most obvious question, what is the next plan of attack. How will she get her Kingdom back? 'I cant ask Matty and everyone to just follow me into war' Yuzu thought to herself as she reached a door.

She had unintentionally walked to the meditation room.

'Actually, this could be just what I need right now' Yuzu thought as she opened the door.

Meditating was always a way for Yuzu to escape whatever was going on in her life and clearing her head was what she needed right now.

There was a waterfall that looked exactly like the one she would meditate under back home.

"This cant be real, can it?" She spoke to herself as she stretched her hand out expecting it to go straight through when…

-SPLASH-

"Got ya Yuzu-onee!" Matsuri stood on the side as she laughed at her blonde friend.

"Matsuri, really!?" Yuzu pulled herself out of the water and gave a glare as she spoke again.

"What are you doing here? I thought you all went to bed"

Matsuri's expression quickly changed from a playful smirk to a serious straight face before she spoke.

"We thought we would come and check up on you first"

"We?" Yuzu looked around when she suddenly felt an arm thrown over her shoulder.

"Yuzucchi!" Harumin gave Yuzu a wide smile as she pulled her close.

Yuzu kept her serious face on as she spoke to the 2 girls.

"Thank you for checking up on me, but as you can see im fine"

"ohh come on Yuzucchi, I was hoping that you would share some stories and tell us what it's like over there"

Harumin tried her best to give Yuzu a pout, Yuzu shook her head as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Harumin but I really don't-"

Yuzu stopped through her sentence as long silky black hair caught her eye.

"Mei"

Yuzu couldn't stop a smile from forming on her face, Matsuri noticed it straight away and couldn't let a chance to tease her friend get passed her.

"Ohhhh so seeing your childhood friend you stay serious, but one glance at your girlfriend and you break into a stupid looking smile"

Matsuri tried to hold her laugh back as she spoke, she watched as Yuzu became a nervous wreck.

"G…..Girlfriend? ummmmm is that what we are Mei?"

Mei just let out a sigh as she spoke.

"That is the usual order that things go, isn't it?" A blush was creeping up to Mei's ears as the thought of being Yuzu's girlfriend got her excited"

"Annnnnnd thats our cue to leave" Harumin threw her arm over Matsuri's shoulder and started to head for the door.

"What? I thought we were gonna all hang here for a bit and-"

Harumin cut Matsuri off as she leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"Lets just leave these 2 alone, they look like they need it"

Matsuri looked to her friend, Yuzu was trying to avoid eye contact with Mei while Mei was trying to do the exact same thing.

Rolling her eyes Matsuri decided to tease her friend a little more before she left.

"Goodnight you 2, make sure to keep it down"

"Matsu-" Yuzu went to scold her friend but she was already out the door with Harumin.

They stood in a awkward silence for a little bit until Mei spoke.

"Those 2 sure are getting along well"

Yuzu looked to the door that Matsuri and Harumin just left in and then back to Mei before she spoke.

"Yeah, its nice seeing Matty getting along with other people. She normally just pushes people away all the time, especially when her dad died."

Mei looked into Yuzu's eyes and could see so much pain and suffering behind them.

Yuzu felt like Mei was seeing straight through to her soul.

"You should change your clothes" Mei gave a concerned look as she waited for Yuzu to respond.

"Oh right" Yuzu started to glow and vibrating herself at super speed, Mei watched as all the water just fell off Yuzu and to the ground.

"How did you do that?"

Yuzu gave a small smile to Mei as she spoke.

"There are many different ways that everyone can use their powers, there are no limits"

Mei looked around at the place they were standing. "It really is peaceful here Yuzu"

Yuzu sat down on the soft green grass, she patted the spot next to her as she waited for Mei to sit with her.

"I would meditate here for days back home"

"Sorry about my Grandfather" Mei bowed at Yuzu as she spoke.

Yuzu quickly placed her hand under Meis chin and lifted her head so that they were eye to eye before she spoke.

"It's fine Mei, really. He was only doing what he thought he had to, to protect you"

There was silence as the 2 were lost in each others eyes, the sound of the waterfall was calming. It only took a couple of seconds and their lips were locked in a kiss.

Yuzu cupped Meis cheek with her other hand as she gently lay her down, their lips parted for a second but were together again within seconds.

Mei ran her hands through Yuzu's soft blonde locks as she softly whispered her name.

"Yuzu"

Yuzu pulled back and looked into Meis gorgeous violet eyes, then a thought popped into her head.

'They will use anything and ANYONE to get to you' Hiden's words started repeating in her head the longer she looked into Mei's eyes, tears were falling straight onto Mei's cheeks.

"Yuzu? Whats wrong?"

TO BE CONTINUED….

HEY EVERYONE, HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER, LIFES A BIT HECTIC AT THE MOMENT SO SORRY IF I HAVENT BEEN UPDATING AS MUCH AS I SHOULD BE, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT I HAVE THIS ENTIRE WEEKEND OFF (YAY) SO EXPECT SOME UPDATES THIS WEEKEND.

THANK YOU ALL, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE IF YOU CAN AND HAPPY READING :)