Happy New Year!

It's been... around 5 months since I last updated this story, I am very sorry... especially when the story is almost at it's end...

I hope all of you enjoy this new chapter, I was quite excited when I started typing this (I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that school starts tomorrow, on the 3rd...)

I do not own Prince of Tennis, but I do own Kumiko/Miko and the plotline~


She-Pirate -11-

When the two Kings and the Rikkai Prince's ships had arrived to give assistance, everything might have just ended. There were ship wreckage floating on the sea, but two ships remained, and the royals of the Rikkai Kingdom recognize the two still standing ships.

"It seemed it was indeed the Rudolphs that had started… Look for the survivors in the sea! If you found them, bring them up and keep them under watch." Sanada yelled to his men who quickly went to work while Akaya stood at the side of the ship, trying to look at the two ships that are still standing with the binoculars in his hand. Desperate as he is, to locate the pirate princess he had only gotten to know only for a short time. Here he thought he might have gotten the chance to know the female pirate better, despite her loss memories of the childhood and perhaps he might be able to break that almost unbreakable shell of hers.

"Do you see anything, Akaya?" His father asked him, snapping him out from his thoughts before shaking his head and lowered the binoculars in his hand. Sanada then placed his hands on his son's shoulders and squeezed them.

"Don't give up now, Miko needs our help, whether she asks for or not. I'm sure she's gone through worse. We're closing in, you better get yourself ready." Sanada said sternly before he ordered his men to get closer to the ships. They had gathered all the survivors and had tied them all up (those who aren't in Miko's side anyway). Akaya then let out a sigh of relieve when the children that was thrown out to the sea were all alive and well, albeit a bit cold from the water). The children were herded inside, being dried, given warm blankets and warm drinks to help them regain their normal temperature, but none of the adults had seen Miko.

"We were thrown out to the sea when our captain was still absent by those blasted Rudolphs. We hadn't caught glimpse of her afterwards." Although they were worried, none of them doubted Miko's strength and power despite her age. "She is strong and perhaps even more knowledgeable from us adults," they say, she will prevail and bring victory to her crew. Akaya never felt this kind of confidence coming from people whom had been thrown into the sea, usually people would be devastated, but not Miko's crew. Suddenly, one of the children, whom Akaya remembered had played with when he was still on Miko's ship, latched unto him.

"Please bring our nee-chan back! She might be all alone there and that evil man always uses dirty tricks!" The boy said before the children started agreeing and latching unto Akaya as well before they were brought back inside for safety. Akaya was rather speechless before he heard something exploded and he whipped his head to see fire breaking out on Miko's ship. The children and the women of Miko's ship were speechless, the women holding the children in their arms before some let their tears out at the misery of their 'home'.

"Give it up, our captain won! Your little captain might have died hours ago!" A man from the Rudolph crew yelled before he was subdued by Akaya's fist. The other Rudolph crew then drew away from the now furious prince. Sanada, who noticed the spectacle, shook his head and turned towards his men.

"Keep looking for survivors! All of you," Sanada then turned towards the women "Keep the children safe, and keep yourself safe until I returned with news of Miko, do you understand me? I know all of you are capable enough being Miko's crew, but this time, protect the young. And these," Sanada said, gesturing his hand towards the tied up Rudolph men "You may treat them as you like if you think they deserve it, I don't think these men knew what women, especially mothers, would do to protect their young." One woman then unattached herself from the group, one whom Sanada knew was the one Miko trusted the most and bowed to him.

"I understood, Your Majesty. May you and your son stay safe as well, all of our prayers are with you… please find our captain." Sanada then nodded and grabbed Akaya's shoulder before pulling him out to make their move unto Miko's ship.

"It seemed Tezuka had outrun us, you better keep your eyes open, Akaya." Sanada said.

/

Tezuka, whom had been watching carefully ever since the exchange Akaya had with the children, frowned. Tezuka had also watched that Sanada had interacted with some women, whom he was told as part of Miko's crew, and he frowned even more. He doesn't know much about the crew his supposedly-younger-sister had gathered in his ship, but he knew from rumors that they are castaways.

'Those women and children… how could they be so cruel as to left them on their own on the sea?' Tezuka had thought. He himself had ordered his men to look for survivors, and had successfully roped some in, either children or adults. He had tried to ask them exactly what had happened, but they were rather reluctant, as they had no idea who he is, or why he is helping them. There was one elderly men, whom the children and women and been so overjoyed to see on board while some from the Rudolphs had tried to curse the aged man before being subdued by the surprisingly strong women. Whether he is the king or not, he acted towards an elder as an elder should be treated, with respect. He had asked him if he could possibly tell him what had happened before this 'war' broke out, and the man eyed him skeptically.

"May you tell me who you are, young man? And perhaps your relation to King Sanada and Queen Yukimura as well." He said.

"I am Tezuka Kunimitsu, from the Kingdom of Seishun. I am… the King, and my wife and I knew Sanada for quite a long time, before both of us took our positions as Kings of our country."

"I have heard of you, young man. Quite a respectable King for someone your age, just like the King of Rikkai. If you want to know what had happened, we were just going back to the sea, as our captain had told us. Nothing was wrong, the sky was clear, and we were all waiting for our captain to return to the ship… before those blasted Rudolphs decided to attack us when we were without our commander, our captain. Very cowardly." The Rudolphs, who had heard what the old man said, had yelled out in protest before Tezuka watch in amusement as some of the women swiped one of his men's sword and hit the Rudolphs with the hilt, rendering them unconscious.

"A very cowardly act indeed." Tezuka said as the old man barked out in laughter.

"Our women have always been strong. After all, our captain is a female herself, whose morals wouldn't be boosted because of that? But now perhaps you lassies should calm down, keeping the children warm is the most important thing to do right now." The old man said as the women huffed and stomped back towards the children who had been watching the spectacle with sparkling eyes.

"Your captain… might you be so kind as to tell me more about her? As the oldest… perhaps you might be the one who knew her the longest…" Tezuka said as the old man's eyes narrowed.

"Call me Yamato. And yes, I was the oldest crew, and the longest. And I have also heard about your kingdom's search for its princess. And I must say, from how you look, our captain could be the one you are searching for… but."

"As you can see, the sea has become a part of her. Either our captain is your younger sister or not… you cannot take her away from the place she had worked so hard for and spend most of her life in. The sea is calling for her, and this is her home." When the older man was about to say anything more, the sound of a canon being fired filled the air and the children then started screaming when fire broke out from their ship, their home.

"Captain! Captain Miko is still there!" The children and the women yelled. Tezuka's soldiers had tried to keep them back from trying to jump into the sea to swim towards the burning ship, and they are having difficulties about it. Tezuka then gritted his teeth and ran towards the front of the ship, leaping towards the Rudolphs ship, the ship they are closest to, before running towards the burning ship. The old man watch with sad eyes as the ship continues to burn and looked away.

"God, if you are there listening to this old man of yours… please bring our captain back."

/

"Give it up now, Miko. Your crew has lost, it is time for you to step down from the throne." Mizuki said, the tip of his sword now grazed Miko's neck, leaving a trail of blood coming out from the wound.

"Step down from the throne? You'd have to step over my dead body to do so, you sly fox. How cowardly are you to attack a captain-less ship? Especially when you have been tailing my movements as well, you must have been so ecstatic to know that my ship has been sailing without me."

"Oh of course, dear. When I knew you'd be staying on the mainland for quite a while, I deliberately planned this attack. And look! I succeeded, and now your precious ship is going to sink to the bottom of the ship. Perhaps with you as well."

"Try me, Mizuki."


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