It shouldn't have been possible, but Ruriko had gotten worse.

It had been three days since the arrival of the duchess. One would think that it would be enough time to learn a simple routine, but not for Ruriko it would seem. She brandished the rod wildly, her magic erratic as it blew out streams of light that sputtered and died.

"Ugh. This stick is broken." she said, throwing it on the ground and folding her arms in a huff. "I thought I told you to get one that worked."

"Duchess, the rod is not broken." said the boss, an anger tick appearing on his forehead. The man had been very patient with her these past days, but both of them were reaching the end of their rope. "You're not concentrating and you're letting the magic flow out of control. It's not the rod's fault you can't use it correctly."

The women just couldn't take criticism. "You made this routine too hard. I want you to change it!"

Kyoko couldn't help but sigh along with the other staff in the room. This was the fifth time she had demanded they change the routine, and every time Seiji Shingai had attempted to make it easier for her. If they simplified it anymore they might as well throw colored sand into the air and call it good. This was getting nowhere.

Kyoko leaned back in her seat, tuning out the argument between the duchess and Seiji. Ruriko truly was hard to get along with. Kyoko was inwardly glad it wasn't just her Ruriko didn't like. Perhaps the duchess wasn't the best person to gauge her ability to make friends on.

Kyoko idly twirled her finger on the table, pulsing small amounts of magic through her palms. Swirls of color and light appeared, dancing around her hand. She paused, the colors continuing to swirl for a second before dispersing. Her lips crept into a smile. She had been practicing the pulse magic Ruriko was supposed to be doing for a while now. It had taken a lot of trial and error before she could come up with the correct feeling to produce the right colors and to do it well.

She bit her lip, concentrating harder on her next swirl of color. The soft blue lights converged, becoming a flock of small birds that fluttered away before dissolving into nothingness. The skill might be useless when it came to practicality, but the beauty of it made her happy all the same.

"Umm. Hello."

Kyoko looked up in surprise. Aya was standing before her, holding a cup of water in each hand. What was she doing her? And had she just said hi to her?

Aya held out a cup to Kyoko, who took it by reflex.

"Aya. Is it ok to be talking to me?" said Kyoko looking around. None of the other concubines were in sight, but Chieko had to be close by. The two of them were basically inseparable. "What will the other women say if they saw you?"

Aya smiled sadly, taking a seat by Kyoko.

"It's fine." said Aya "Besides, Chieko and the other girls don't own me, and they have other things to do than hang out with me."

"I just don't want them to get upset at you."

"You're really kind Kyoko." said Aya, "You're worrying about me when you're the one with no friends in the harem."

"No I'm not." said Kyoko, flustered. "I just don't want you to have a hard time because of me."

"I see."

They sat for a while in comfortable silence. Well, if you disregarded the heated argument thirty feet away. Kyoko was glad to talk to Aya again, even if she was afraid how this might affect Aya's relationship with the other women. Kyoko had worried that Aya hated her, but it looked like those worries had been for nothing.

"I'm sorry." Aya said, so quietly Kyoko almost didn't hear it. "For ignoring you these past couple of weeks."

"There's nothing to apologize for." said Kyoko, surprised. "I'm just glad you were so kind to me. Especially after hearing about all those bad rumors. It's no wonder most of the girls hate me."

"But those rumors are false." said Aya, wilting where she sat. "Kuon basically proved you were a physician by what he said in the meeting the other day, which means you were telling the truth and we were all in the wrong. Also, I want to apologize for my friend's behavior." She looked at Kyoko, worry etched on her face. "I'm sorry for how they treated you and that they threw your book out the window and that I didn't have the courage to stop them and for not talking to you, and-"

"Aya." said Kyoko, cutting her off. "It's alright. There really is nothing to apologize for. I'm just glad you don't hate me. Besides, I can tell Chieko was doing it for your sake. She obviously cares a lot about you."

The girl bit her lip and looked down at her hands again. "We've been friends for a long time. Back when I was sick all the time, she would look after me."

"You were friends before being concubines?" said Kyoko, shocked. Who in their right mind would stick friends in a harem to vie for the attention of the same person? That was just asking for the relationship to fail, yet the two girls remained friends. She thought briefly about what Kuon had said about getting to know people better. Perhaps this was good time to learn.

"How does that even work out?" said Kyoko. "Being friends while loving the same man?"

"It's not easy." said Aya with a sigh. "No one knows how much I care about Kuon. I can't even talk to Chieko about it because I don't want to hurt her feelings. Especially when she's done so much for me." She grimaced. "That's why I was especially excited to hear you say you wouldn't fall in love with him. Because I finally feel like I can be honest with someone."

Aya swallowed. "So when I say I'm sorry Kyoko. I really feel ashamed. You helped me lighten a burden by listening to me and I didn't do anything for you when you were in trouble." She clenched the cup tight in her hand. "That's why. From now on, I'm not going to be scared of them. I want to help you Kyoko."

Kyoko put a hand on Aya's shoulder, who slightly jumped at the contact. She met Kyoko's gaze in worry, eyes glistening.

"You have a good heart Aya." said Kyoko. "Thank you. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

Aya blushed, smiling brightly at Kyoko. It was such a strange dynamic in the Harem. All these women falling in love with the same man, yet having to become friends with each other to survive the social pressure of their situation. It couldn't be easy. She wondered if anyone had left because of this. Kyoko scowled thinking of a certain idiot. Love had certainly messed up her life. It wasn't too much to think it had messed with some of the concubines lives as well.

Still, Kyoko couldn't stop the grin spreading across her face or the surge of joy in her chest. Finally. Finally! She had made a friend in the harem.

They continued to chat, laughing and talking about easy subjects until a frustrated yell came from the Duchess, echoing through the large room.

"This is too hard!" she said. "I quit!"

Not again. Thought Kyoko. This was probably the 20th time she had yelled those two words.

Seiji rubbed his forehead, brows drawn in frustration.

"Duchess Matsunai." he said, his patience obviously spent. "If you wish to quit that's fine by me. I can find someone else to do this if you don't want to perform it."

Ruriko was flabbergasted. Before, after each time she'd "quit", Seiji would flatter her into tying again, but he'd apparently had enough of her bad attitude to stop caring about political relationships.

"What!?" she said. "How can you say you'll find someone else? No one can replace me!"

"Hardly." he growled. "This has been reduced to a beginner's level routine to accommodate you. An apprentice magician could learn this in one day. I'm beginning to wonder if you truly got your magicians license or if you used your position to fudge the test results."

"How insolent!" she roared. "Are you implying that I can't use magic? That I'm a liar?!"

"Then what's so hard about this routine!?"

"It's..." she glanced around at all the accusing eyes, then swallowed before straightening. "I feel confined. I can't use my magic well in enclosed spaces."

What a lame excuse. Thought Kyoko. No one looked as if they believed her, but the Duchess clenched her jaw and continued to insist that it was the confined 100-foot-wide room that hampered her ability.

"Fine!" said Seiji, obviously done with being polite. "Let's go on location to the Colosseum, and if you can't do it there, we will find someone else."

"Agreed." said the Duchess.

The group began to move, grabbing equipment and talking as they left. Kyoko stood up.

"Are you coming with?" said Kyoko to Aya. The girl looked hesitant, but nodded. Kyoko, Hikaru, Aya, and her body guard followed behind the Duchess.

"What do you think is going to happen?" said Aya, keeping her voice down to prevent Ruriko from overhearing them.

"She's never done the routine correctly." said Kyoko. "I doubt that she'll somehow be able to do it once we get outside. Most likely someone else will have to do the opening ceremony."

"You think?" said Aya.

"They'll have to use her somehow though." said Hikaru, surprising Aya. Most concubines preferred their guards to be silent attendants, which was probably true of Aya's as well since her guard hadn't spoken once. "Either that or include someone else from her home city. It's tradition."

"That's going to cause a lot of problems for Kuon." said Aya, and Kyoko agreed. Once the Duchess realized that she couldn't participate, she would probably go straight to the prince to complain. She had been tailing him quiet religiously for the last couple days when they weren't practicing. Kyoko could attest to it as she had been there every step of the way. The woman was persistent to say the least.

They left the castle grounds, walking through the street towards the large stone stadium. Kyoko couldn't help staring as they entered. It was enormous! There was a large space of bare land in the center of the stadium. Stone seats were elevated from the ground, allowing room for people to move beneath them. The seating was staggered so those in the back to see over the top of those that would be seated in front of them. There must have been thousands of seats!

The group made their way towards one particular spot in the stands where a space had been elevated above the rest of the seats. This was probably where royalty and nobles watched from, separated from the rest of the common people.

Speaking of people, they weren't the only ones in the stadium. A group of women in varying dance outfits were grouped near the side. It looked like they were practicing a dance routine.

"Kyoko." called Seiji from front. "Could you tell that group why we're here? I don't want them freaking out when light starts raining from the sky."

"Yes sir!" she said, then began walking towards them, Aya and their guards following.

"Uh... are you sure this is a good idea?" said Aya biting her lip. Kyoko glanced back at her in confusion. Aya was dragging her feet as they walked, already a couple steps behind Kyoko.

"What do you mean?" said Kyoko

"Well." said Aya. "It's just that... No. never mind."

Kyoko was confused. What was she worried about? Her question was answered half a second later. As they grew closer, Kyoko recognized one particular woman. Her tall frame stood out from the rest, brown ponytail swinging as she clapped a steady beat and shouted corrections to the group.

"Ryou, move forward I can't see you. That's it. Don't move. Wakuri, watch your hands, they're getting lazy again. Midori, eyes up. Don't look at the ground while you turn or you'll meet it with your face. Good."

Kyoko stopped several paces away, watching the group dance. Both Hikaru and Aya's guard had decided to stay further behind. She couldn't understand how Yumi could find so many corrections to throw at them. They looked perfect. Had they only been practicing for three days?

But then the dance ended abruptly. Apparently she wasn't done choreographing it yet.

"Alright. Everyone take a 5 minuet break." said Yumi. "And you." she turned and saw Kyoko, her mouth immediately turned down in a frown. She obviously didn't like the interruption. "What do you want?"

"We're here to inform you that Duchess Ruriko is going to be practicing her opening routine." said Kyoko, unperturbed. "So if you see some lights in the sky don't be alarmed."

"I see." Yumi's eyes focused on Aya, then narrowed. "And what are you doing here?

"I'm here to support Kyoko." said Aya. Her voice trembled a little. "We're friends now."

"Really now?"

Yumi's eyes darted back and forth between them. "You sure you want to do that Aya? Even I didn't think you were that dumb."

"And what's so dumb about becoming Kyoko's friend?" said Aya. "You heard what Kuon said. You know the rumors are false. She's not here to take advantage of Kuon and she's not blackmailing him."

Blackmailing him? Thought Kyoko. That's a new one. How many bad rumors of me are there?

"Hold on Aya." said Kyoko. "Who said I've been blackmailing the prince?"

Aya looked taken aback, then ashamed. She looked at her feet, shifting them uncomfortably in the sand. "It's what some of the women are saying." said Aya, still not looking at Kyoko "After hearing that you are indeed working at the clinic, many of them believe that you blackmailed Kuon into letting you work there."

"They do?" said Kyoko, completely surprised. What would they think of next?

"It makes sense." said Yumi. "Why else would anyone let a commoner with no license work there. Especially a peasant woman like yourself."

"But it's not true." said Aya, "Remember what Kuon said to us? He told us the rumors were all false and that he was the one that invited her in. She didn't do anything wrong."

Wait a moment. Thought Kyoko. Did Aya just say Kuon told them the rumors were wrong? He had stood up for her when she wasn't there? A small warm feeling filled her for a moment. It fled a second later.

"You think that makes it any better?" said Yumi. "You want to be friends with a slut like her? She probably tricked Kuon into sleeping with her and then forced him to take her as a concubine. You know Kuon would never abandon someone if he thought he held some sort of responsibility towards them."

Kyoko' face went red. "I didn't-" she sputtered. "I would never!"

"Go ahead and protest." said Yumi. "Play innocent. I know the drill. I've seen it before and you won't fool me." she pointed a finger towards her "You have no money, no status, and no prospect. You don't contribute to the harem. There's no reason whatsoever to invite you here unless he felt obligated in some way. Or unless you are just a sex partner."

Kyoko bit her lip. Should she tell them the reason he had given her? That it was a punishment for almost getting him killed? No. She felt that a reason like that would only cause more bad feelings towards her.

"Just leave her alone." said Aya, "It's not our place to judge why Kuon invited her. He chose her. Let it be."

"That's rich coming from you." said Yumi. "Especially after what I heard you were saying earlier this week."

"What are you talking about?" said Aya, a new level of apprehension crossing her face. She glanced back at Kyoko several times.

Yumi smirked, and Kyoko had the impression of a predator looking at its prey. "I heard what you were saying. You were crying. Saying the she had tricked you into believing she was a good girl. That Kyoko said she wasn't interested in falling in love with Kuon and that she had lied to you."

"I..." Aya's face was turning red, glancing at Kyoko in horror. "I was confused. I didn't know." she was talking to Kyoko now, tears in her eyes. "I was horrible to believe those rumors instead of you."

"It's fine." said Kyoko, completely surprised at the pleading in Aya's voice. "Everything straightened itself in the end."

A sharp laugh caught Kyoko's attention. It came from Yumi, whose face was twisted as if she had tasted something bitter. "And there she goes again." said Yumi. "Getting sympathy, and apologies by playing the victim. How dull. Don't you have a new strategy yet Aya?"

"Why are you so rude?" said Aya. "To me and to Kyoko? What did we ever do to you?"

"Oh I don't know." said Yumi, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Maybe the word 'betrayal' should ring a bell or two."

The two women continued to fight, Yumi's voice progressively getting louder and Aya's quieter. Kyoko could hardly keep up with the direction of the conversation, all the new information becoming too much. There was obviously a long history between the two women and Yumi had no problem letting Aya know how much she hated her.

"So you're alright with her sleeping with the prince?" Yumi was saying, her face red in anger by now. "When she doesn't deserve it? When we've been here for years, helping him and supporting him? I'm surprised that you're alright with this."

Kyoko frowned.

Something wasn't right with her arguments. According to Yumi, Kyoko didn't help Kuon in any way. Yet she was also saying that Kyoko was invited because she seduced Kuon with her body. But wasn't that the purpose of most harems? To entertain their employer? If Kyoko was indeed doing that, it meant she did have a purpose for being invited into the harem.

The realization clicked.

"I understand now" said Kyoko, not realizing she was speaking out loud. "You're jealous."

Kyoko blinked, then noticed that the two women had stopped arguing. They were both looking at Kyoko, Aya's expression especially difficult to read.

"Excuse me?" said Yumi, her anger now focusing on Kyoko.

"No, don't mind me." said Kyoko, waving her hands to ward off the attention. "I just realized something that's all."

Yumi put a hand to her hip and tilting her head. "No please." she said, gesturing towards Kyoko. "Enlighten us. Why would I ever be jealous of an unattractive stick like you?"

"It's a little complicated." said Kyoko, putting a finger to her lips in thought. "I always wondered why you were so determined to pick on me. If It was blackmailing him, sure I can see why, but that's more recent. There had to be a different reason to why you hated me so much, but I think I know."

Kyoko nodded, folding her arms as she linked the points together in her mind.

"You can't figure out a reason why the prince invited me to the palace." said Kyoko "The prince invites women for two purposes. The first one, of course, is for political reasons. As it can't be that one and it's not for blackmail, it must be the other. You believe that I'm here for entertainment purposes."

She thought about what Kuon said about not having slept with most of the women in the harem. Based on Yumi's current anger towards her, she was one of the majority.

"I bet you're one of the women Kuon hasn't touched." said Kyoko. "And now you're jealous thinking I've succeeded where you've failed."

Kyoko heard a sharp intake of breath. She only now realized that their argument had drawn the crowd of dancers, who were busy eavesdropping. Several started whispering to their neighbors, delighted at this new piece of juicy gossip, if that truly was what it. Even Aya was staring at Kyoko, her mouth hanging open.

Yumi's eyes flashed dangerously before she schooled her emotions again, but Kyoko had seen it. She was now sure of her guess.

"You must think yourself to be quiet clever." said Yumi. "To come up with an argument like that. Except there's one problem." Yumi walked closer to Kyoko, her steps calm yet intimidating. Kyoko felt herself shiver at the angry aura Yumi was emitting. Yup. She had definitely pressed Yumi's angry button. Woops.

Yumi now stood in front of Kyoko, making the shorter girl feel very small.

"Let me tell you now, Kyoko Mogami." said Yumi, her voice low so that only Kyoko could hear it. "What Kuon does with me is up to him. I will accept what that is, as long as he allows me to stay by his side."

Yumi lowered her face so that it was inches away from Kyoko's

"But you, I won't accept." she hissed, "I won't let you soil him. I'll protect him from any leech that tries to take advantage of his kindness. So if you ever plan on doing anything that could harm him in any way, I'll-"

A loud bang sounded from behind Kyoko. Yumi jumped, pulling back. Kyoko felt a huge rush of energy as an enormous surge of magic rocketed from the tall platform. It crashed into the seats above them, the blast from the impact making her stumbling backwards. It blew dust and rubble everywhere getting into her eyes and making them water. Large pieces of stone and brick shot through the air- then began to fall.

Right above where they were standing.

Thank you guys so much for reading!

Now questions (I love answering questions. XD):

Gladys Ashenbert: Was there something between Kuon and Setsuko? Glad to see you've picked up on that. Yes, but I shan't tell you what exactly yet. All will come to light eventually. But first we got to get Kyoko curious enough to ask.

And your other question about Ruriko. Why did I choose her to be Kyoko's love rival? Well she's not quite a rival I would say... Kyoko already has 22 of those. But I brought her in because she was the first major arc in Skip Beat and she is such a punk. But I think the biggest deciding factor is that a common enemy brings people together. (Kyoko and the concubines. Spoilers!) So her true purpose is not to be a love rival.

Misao97: Had to comment on this. But I love Hikaru as well! Like, he is the only person I would ever consider Kyoko going for if not Ren/Kuon.

DizziZilla: Thank you for the parchment comment. If it was distracting enough to throw you out of the immersion of the story, then it is something worth being addressed. I super appreciate criticism like this as I am practicing on improving my writing as well as enjoying telling stories.

Guest: "Why does the boss of the pediatric ward know that it was Sho who "discovered" kyoko's medicine when it was Kyoko that brought it to the palace claiming it as her clinics discovery and no one else had heard anything of it prior to her appearance?"

-Sorry if this wasn't clear. The official report from Nembu finally reached the castle with the report of Sho's discovery. It was a big enough deal that the whole clinic knows about it. Especially as a woman was the one that presented it. But it is also known that she did not discover the finding. But because of what Lory said, people believe that she was involved in the experimental process. Basically because of Lory, there are rumors that she helped make it. Which is why everyone knows about her connection to Sho... I think I totally forgot to include this. Yup I did. I'll go back and find somewhere to stick this information, but it's here for those that have already read the story and don't want to go hunting for my backtracking.

twilightserius (And others in general that have been asking about characters): Don't worry. All major characters have a place in the story. There are just so many that it may take a while for some of them to come into play. I'm not going to put someone in the story just for the sake of them being there. I'm going to give them some sort of function in the plot and do their character justice! (Moko-san is not anytime soon, so don't hold your breath for her. Will you stop reading if I tell you that? Gasp! Don't worry it's worth the wait. She's awesome!)

Suggestions and Predictions from BlueRagingFire, Gladys Ashenbert, schak, and others.

I thought about addressing your suggestions individually, then realized I had the same answer for almost all of them. It was either "Hmm, that sounds fun. I'll see what I can do." Or "Already planned. You're skipping ahead!" But I have written them down in my notebook and will browse them as I come up with the next arcs. This first one is already completely outlined.

Thank you all for reading and for all your kind comments! It makes me want to hug all of you and then everyone I see! Which then gets me strange looks. Seriously! Y'all make this worth it.

-Blushweaver