Chapter 10 –Secret out

"Prince Yuki, Her highness Princess Tohru is here to see you."

Yuki blinked and looked up from his book. He hadn't expected Tohru to want anything to do with him after he had told her everything. He suspected she may want him to answer some questions rather than have a pleasant chat.

He sighed. "Let her in."

The servant outside of his room opened the door and Princess Tohru walked in along with Kyo at her side. She quietly told her lady-in-waiting Kisa to wait for her outside. Kisa nodded and left, and soon the room was empty except for Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki.

Kyo glared at Yuki unwilling to forgive him for all of the pain he had caused to Tohru. However Yuki couldn't care less about Kyo's opinions. His eyes were looking only at Tohru. Tohru looked at him in a polite calm mannered expression. She didn't seem angry or upset. She was simply looking at him waiting for an opening to start.

"Princess." Prince Yuki bowed. "Please have a seat."

Tohru nodded and sat across from Yuki on his study table. Yuki sat back down and folded his hands together. Kyo remained standing never keeping his eyes off of them.

"Are you alright? I haven't seen you around for…quite a while." Yuki said feeling a bit awkward.

"Yes.." Tohru coughed and cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"Really." She added when Yuki looked alarmed. "It was difficult to handle at first…but I realize you only told me because felt I should know. It was the truth and I just had to learn to accept it."

She smiled. "So…thank you Prince Yuki. Truly, thank you."

Yuki opened his mouth in astonishment, then closed it once more, then opened it and sighed. "Princess…I don't deserve your thanks. But.." He smiled gently. "Thank you for listening and believing my words."

"Oh, how could I not when you seemed so sincere." Tohru frowned. "I never saw someone cry like that before until I saw you Prince Yuki."

Yuki smiled gently. "You're the only one. Let's keep it that way."

"Yes." Tohru smiled.

A cough behind Tohru startled her. Yuki frowned and glanced at Kyo before continuing. "So…we should figure out what to do about….Akito."

Tohru nodded showing she was listening.

"Overthrowing him is not an easy task" He continued. "Banishment is also unlikely. We could just leave things as they are right now, however he would force us to marry by next month. And if we both tell him we broke off the engagement then he would be furious and probably provoke a war against my own kingdom." Yuki sighed and leaned back into his chair. "I feel the best option is to find evidence for the murder of your parents, and use that against him. I don't know if the council will accept charges against a King, but we could try. Problem is, if this ends badly, we could both be in a worse situation than before."

"I'm willing to risk everything." Tohru whispered.

Yuki kept silent for a moment before saying "Me too."

Tohru smiled and let out a breath of relief. They would get through this together. They would find a way to overcome the hardship together. They just needed to find enough evidence to either stop Akito from intervening with their lives, or completely overthrow him.

Tohru bit her lips. "But, we do need to find it quickly. How are we going to trace the murder back?"

Yuki crossed his arms. "I actually thought quite a bit about this before you came today. Your parents were killed personally by Akito around 16 years ago. My guess is he more or less hired a group of personal guards to not make a scene while he entered and did the deed. He probably then covered it up somehow saying they were killed in an accident. It was all secret so no one knows you were taken by him, and no one knows he was the one to kill them either. (Except us and my father of course) So this is quite complicated.."

"Yes." Tohru nodded. "If we find the group of people that he planned this with and blackmailed them to confess and write down their testimonies. Would that be enough circumstancial evidence?"

"Probably not." Yuki sighed. "Even if they do say Akito killed your parents. He was the king at that time so he was free to execute anyone he wished. We need to find evidence on that, but to make it stronger, we need evidence that you're in no way related to the king."

"However Tohru," Yuki frowned and looked at Tohru intently. "If word gets out that you're not related to the Junishi…you would no longer be considered a princess."

There was a pause of silence. Tohrufelt frozen inside. She had no idea what she would do if she wasn't a royal. She had lived her whole life believing she would one day be responsible for her kingdom. But if she wasn't a part of her kingdom, then where would she go? What should she do?

"Don't worry about it." Kyo said from behind her. "Just focus on first getting Akito the hell out of here. We can worry about the future later, right?"

Tohru turned her head towards Kyo. He gave her a reassuring nod. Tohru smiled. That was true. Wherever she would be, as long as they did what needed to be done first. She was glad Kyo was helping her and being by her side. "Yes…"

Yuki bit his lip. He could see the two were obviously a lot closer than before, but he wasn't sure whether or not he should comment or pretend not to notice.

"I'll look into the guards that were close to Akito during that time and question them. I can probably try threatening them looking into some other corrupt records and revealing those. Or with my royal status. As for you princess, I think you should focus on finding evidence on you and Akito not being related. Let's try to get all of this together as soon as possible."

"Yes." Tohru nodded. "Thank you for your help Prince Yuki."

He nodded. "And one more thing. Do not let anyone know about this. It's too dangerous. I'll let my father and the prime minister in to help but no one else."

He glanced at Kyo who scowled at him. "And I'm assuming Kyo knows as well because he's next to you all the time. You better help her."

"I will…your highness." Kyo said annoyed. "I would never let her do this alone."

"Perhaps." Yuki's mouth curved into a smile before he got up from the table. "Don't worry princess, we'll be able to do something about this soon." He bowed. "Until next time. Please be safe."

Tohru got up from the table and curtsied. "Thank you. Until next time."

…

"So you, me, Prince Yuki, King Kureno, Prime minister, maybe Kisa and Hiro if they're willing to do some errands, Haru can lend us some illegal stuff if we need it, and Madame Rin will probably support you no matter what." Kyo ticked off the people on his fingers. "That's fine. More than enough right?"

"As long as it's the people I care about." Tohru nodded. "And I'm glad you're helping as well Kyo-kun."

"How could I not?" Kyo blushed and knocked her forehead with his knuckle. The two walked back to Tohru's bed chambers and Kyo opened the door for them. They walked to Tohru's study table and sat across from one another.

"Evidence that we're not related…" Tohru mumbled. Her head slightly leaning back as she thought about it. "We could compare DNA?"

"There's no way to do that without getting a piece of Akito's hair, teeth, etc. We could try that. But results don't come back until a month later…" Kyo sighed.

"That's far too late." Tohru frowned. This was a lot more complicated then she had thought.

"Tohru. What if I just took you and we lived together in the woods alone?"

"What?"

Tohru looked at Kyo wide eyed her face going bright red. "W-what do you mean? You mean l-live together as in..?"

Kyo raised his eyebrows at her. "What are you getting so flustered for? I was joking."

Tohru blushed and bowed her head low. She had completely overreacted.

Kyo laughed. "It's alright princess."

He reached across the table to mess her hair a bit.

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru complained, but she was laughing along with him. He smiled and rest his hand against her face pinching it a bit. They were having such a good time that the two didn't notice someone open the door.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?!"

Kyo froze. He immediately withdrew his hand, stood up from the table, and bowed low.

Madame Rin was looking at Tohru with a horror struck expression. Tohru's smile completely wiped clear as she saw who it was standing in front of her. "M-Madame Rin!"

She stood up and bowed her head low, her face growing hot.

Madame Rin was quivering from head to foot. She didn't know whether to yell at the princess, the officer, or punish them both.

"I will give you five minutes to explain officer Kyo." She said coldly. "What were you doing to the princess?"

"Nothing." Kyo immediately responded. "We were just having fun as friends.."

"Friends?" Madame Rin repeated. Kyo bit his lip and shrunk back a bit. He had been having so much fun loving Tohru he had completely forgotten the consequences.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." He said quietly.

"Kyo-kun.." Tohru whispered. Her heart ached at the thought of the two not being allowed together.

"Princess, I know your kind heart, but please refrain from expressing your friendships outside of the nobles. People may misunderstand if they saw what I just saw a few moments ago." Madame Rin scolded harshly.

Tohru bit her lip and looked at Madame Rin in the eyes defiantly. "You weren't mistaken."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you weren't mistaken. What you saw was exactly what it was. I'm in love with Kyo."

Kyo's jaw dropped without him even noticing. He felt like ice had frozen his body and nothing was keeping him rooted to the ground.

"What?!" Madame Rin gasped. "Princess, you do realize what you are saying?"

"I'm perfectly aware of my own emotions thank you." Tohru replied cooly. "And I know for sure that I will not be marrying Prince Yuki."

Madame Rin opened her mouth but no sound escaped. It seemed she was too shocked to formulate her words clearly.

"Prince Yuki has already agreed to this. So you don't have to make any other arrangements. We just need to tell my father and it would be as if nothing had happened."

"You do realize princess, that this breaks a treaty. Not only a royal marriage?"

"I am perfectly aware."

"Yet, you risk doing so and endangering the lives of your people." Tohru flinched as Madame Rin struck home hard.

"Yes.." She whispered.

"All for some officer that you met a month ago?" Madame Rin emphasized crossing her arms.

"Some officer huh?" Kyo mumbled nonchalantly. Madame Rin completely ignored him.

"This isn't just about our relationship." Tohru replied diligently and calmly. She now had to explain to Madame Rin everything that had been happening.

"This is also about my identity. You must know that I am not actually related to Akito-san?"

Madame Rin froze. Her arms dropped to her sides and she blinked several times. "Princess. How did you-?"

"Find out? Prince Yuki heard from the prime minister and King Kureno. I know everything." Tohru bit her lips. "And I'm very disappointed you never told me if you knew."

"How could I princess? I didn't expect you to ever need to know." Madame Rin whispered.

"But I do. Because if I marry Princes Yuki, Akito plans to use Prince Yuki to become the next king of Junishi and control him forever along with me. You know what he did to my parents. How could you let this happen to me?!"

"I don't know what Akito-sama did to your parents. However I did know the fact that you were adopted. However princess the past is the past and you must follow your duties for your kingdom."

"You mean being a pawn in a stranger's game?" Tohru asked. Angry tears began to form in her eyes.

"No, Akito-sama was never a stranger. He was your guardian for many years. How could you be so ungrateful?"

"Shut it."

Tohru and Madame Rin both froze and looked at Kyo. Tohru's eyes went wide. Her eyes were a bit red from beginning to water. Madame Rin's face held a similar shocked expression her mouth open and frozen in mid sentence.

"Kyo kun." Tohru whispered.

Kyo had his arms folded against his chest. He was leaning against the wall as he watched the two argue with one another. He had just enough had it. He was glaring angrily at Madame Rin.

"Don't you dare tell her how to be grateful." He said through clenched teeth.

Silence stretched for a moment. Tohru looked to the ground, while Madame Rin formulated her thoughts. She bit her mouth cautiously then frowned.

"Maybe I was a bit too harsh.."

"You think?" Kyo mumbled. He was still glaring at her. Madame or not, he would never let anyone hurt Tohru more than she had already.

"But this is far too irresponsible." Madame Rin continued. She turned back to Tohru. "Princess, you said Prince Yuki already agreed to a break of engagement?"

"Yes. You see Yuki doesn't want to be used either." Tohru whispered.

"Used.." Madame Rin murmured. "Akito-sama would never use you your highness."

"Madame Rin. Akito was the one who murdered my parents. He did it personally."

Madame Rin's eyes widened and she stared at the two of them as if asking for a confirmation. The two just simply looked at one another.

"What?"

"That's why you must help me. We need to find evidence and stop this marriage and Akito. He should not be King. Either he must repent or step down altogether."

"Your highness." Madame Rin put a hand to her heart. "What your saying is almost like a revolution against your own kingdom! This is very…..serious!"

Kyo frowned. "You don't think Tohru understands how important this is? Her situation is far more dangerous than anyone else's."

Madame Rin nodded in agreement. "We should hide the princess, or double the protection, what can we do?"

Tohru gave a deep breath.

"Please help me attain information on my birth parents. We just need that information. Prince Yuki will figure out the rest."

"Birth parents.." Madame Rin said quietly. She turned and grasped Tohru's hands. Tohru blinked in surprise.

"Princess. I'm sorry for being so harsh. I do want what is best for you. So I will do everything in my power to help. I'll look into it right away."

"Thank you." Tohru squeezed her hand back. "And please do not tell anyone of this."

"Definitely not." Madame Rin shook her head. "As for your protection…"

She glanced at Kyo who was hovering behind Tohru with a scowl.

She smiled gently. "I think officer Kyo is more than enough. I can't say I agree to your relationship. But it's better than what we have to deal with right now. Now I will take my leave. Please get some rest."

She nodded and turned to leave, but paused along the way.

"Ah…Kyo?"

Kyo looked up. "Yes Madame Rin?"

"Do learn your manners correctly."

Kyo smirked. The door closed behind her and soon the room fell silent once more.

"Phew." Tohru sighed and went to her bed. She plopped down on it and curled up into a ball in the center. She felt immensely tired from the hectic thinking and planning that day.

"Tohru, rest, I'll be guarding outside alright?"

Tohru nodded. Kyo was tempted to give her one last kiss on her head, but remembering Madame Rin's words he exited the room with no further comment.

Tohru sighed and leaned her head on her arms. She didn't really know where this was all going. But as long as her and Yuki wasn't controlled by Akito. And she was safe with Kyo. Nothing else mattered.

Tohru lay on her bed and closed her eyes. The last thoughts before she fell asleep were of Kyo kun's smirk as he knuckled her forehead.