Yuu exhaled, attempting to calm himself down, but his heart kept beating faster and faster as he and his fellow rebels separated to different areas of the palace, since they were each assigned to a different field. Kimizuki was to investigate in the kitchen, Yoichi the garden, Mitsuba the stables, Guren working near the army's training ground, and Shinoa was joining Yuu on cleaning duty-mainly to keep an eye on him. Yuu knew he was in danger, for he was confident that Shinoa would tease him the entire two weeks. But he also had to be cautious, because he knew he had to avoid Mika. Surely, he would be recognized if they ever bumped into each other. Then, the blonde would alert the real servants to have him and his friends arrested and held for treason. Yuu straightened out his wig one final time, brushed his fingers through it, and parted it to the side. Already, people stared at him with awe and lust. Shinoa elbowed him closer to the crowds and winked suggestively.
"See? We told you that you looked sexy!" She whispered.
"Shut up. Find something better to do than mock me." The raven-haired boy hissed under his breath.
"Well, even if I wanted to, we both have to go over to the head maid together. After all, if you went alone, you would definitely get lost."
"I would find my way eventually!"
"Maybe after these two weeks are up."
"Hey!"
"Be quiet! And make your voice more high pitched." Shinoa whispered.
"Oh yeah." Yuu replied, voice sounding a tone higher. "So, do you know where that head maid is?"
"Kind of," she replied innocently.
"And you said that I wouldn't be able to navigate through this godforsaken place!"
"I was just stating the truth."
"Well, we both don't know where she is. What are we gonna do?" Yuu grumbled.
"So, you admit that you can't find her." Shinoa commented, amused.
"Can we stop arguing and actually find a way to her?! I just want to get this all over with!"
"Then, shall we ask around?"
"I guess we have no other choice." He sighed.
They wandered around the maze of countless hallways, questioning everyone they encountered. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be aware of her location.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Yuu groaned, completely forgetting to raise his voice's pitch.
Shinoa trained an icy glare on him, searching for any passersby that could've possibly heard his sudden outburst.
"Shh! And stop talking normally! If you keep doing that, we'll eventually get caught!"
"You two over there! Shut your dirty, little servant mouths and get back to work!" An unidentifiable voice exclaimed at them, the person's voice loud enough to cause hearing impairment to everyone nearby.
The pair covered their ears, flinching, and then finally glanced up. Their eyes met with those of a youthful maiden with curly, blonde hair and alluring crimson eyes. She wore a flowy, white dress with ruffles, and a frilly, ashen headband was tucked into her hair.
Hm, she's blonde, but she's not even close to being as good-looking as Mika, Yuu thought, and unconsciously scowled in disappointment.
"Don't scowl at me, peasant! I am Horn Skuld, your superior." Her red eyes acted as lasers as she trained her deadly gaze on the ebony-haired boy.
"So, you're the head maid person?" Yuu asked, still rather dejected.
"I suppose, although I'd rather you not phrase it in such an improper manner." Horn scoffed.
"Whatever." He grumbled.
Before Horn could scold them and possibly ask them to leave the palace, Shinoa stepped forward and attempted to persuade her otherwise.
"I apologize for my friend's rudeness. She wasn't raised properly. Actually, we've been trying to locate you all day! We're the new recruits, so we thought we should find you to inform you and ask for what our first task shall be." Shinoa showed off her most pleasant grin, praying that they would be spared from Horn's wrath. She seriously didn't want to be kicked out on the first day due to Yuu being an imbecile.
"Hmph! I'll excuse you two just this once, but if I witness this behavior again, both of you will no longer be allowed to take one step into the castle ever again! As punishment, your first task shall be to clean the ballroom from top to bottom until I can see my reflection shining crystal clear on the tile floor!"
Yuu groaned, trying so hard not to punch the snobby woman. He balled his fists, prepared to attack, but Shinoa smacked his arm before he could.
"Damn it, Shinoa! That actually hurt!" He complained as Horn walked ahead to lead them to the ballroom.
They had been to the ballroom only a few days ago, but Yuu had already forgotten how to get there. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone. They obediently trailed behind Horn, walking down numerous hallways and past countless rooms until they reached the grandest hallway yet. At the end of it was ballroom, causing Yuu to flinch just slightly, recalling the events of Prince Mikaela's birthday ball.
Two servants standing next to the entrance pushed opened the doors as we approached. Horn spread out her arms and beamed at Yuu and Shinoa innocently, a glint of satisfaction reflected in her eyes at their horror. It was as though the ballroom hand expanded since the last time they had visited.
"Now get to work!" She practically skipped away with glee.
"Hey, wait a second! What are we supposed to clean with?!" Yuu exclaimed.
Horn turned and tapped her chin thoughtfully, pretending to think long and hard. "You two may figure it out yourselves."
She sashayed out of the door, leaving them with disbelieving expressions.
Shinoa laughed nervously. "Haha, we better get started then, huh?"
"But how are we supposed to do that without any cleaning stuff? Like, how are we supposed to clean the floors without something like, I don't know, handkerchiefs?"
"Yuu… no. Just no."
"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked, completely oblivious.
Shinoa rolled her eyes. "Handkerchiefs aren't used for cleaning floors. They're used to dry the tears of sobbing noblewomen and to sneeze the shit in your nose into. What we need is a washcloth and a bucket of water."
"That doesn't matter! What matters is getting fucking cleaning shit to clean this fucking floor for that insane woman!"
"Yuu, calm the fuck down. Right now, we need to ask someone where the cleaning supplies are kept. You stay here and I'll go ask."
"Why do I have to stay here?! Why can't you?!"
"Because you're useless! If I do it, I might actually find the fucking supplies!" Shinoa hissed, wearing a devilish smirk as she saw Yuu become more infuriated.
"Geez, fine! Just hurry the fuck up!"
"Yes, yes. I'm going." Shinoa sighed.
As she stepped out of the grand room, she chuckled mischievously to herself, glancing over her shoulder at the impatient boy, who was already pacing the room. She made brief eye contact with a blond haired boy in fine clothes walking down the hallway. They collided suddenly, and Shinoa noticed the dreamy, slightly worried look in his eye as he apologized. She begged pardon back, and continued heading towards her destination.
Oh, wasn't that Prince Mika? I bet Yuu will be delighted! "Romeo and Juliet (Part Two): The Reunion". I can't wait to tell the others~! Now, to the task at hand-getting those supplies.
I'm. So. Bored. I can literally die from boredom right now. Damn it, why is Shinoa taking so long?! It's already been two whole minutes! And we don't have all day to finish cleaning this god damn ballroom! The agitated rebel sat down, leaning against a wall, groaning miserably.
At the same time, Mika had been summoned to the throne room by his mother, most likely for her to complain to him once again about those "fucking troublesome pests" ("They think they can overthrow me?! Well, those bitches better think again!"). He would've much rather had consumed himself with thoughts of Yuu-chan and what it would be like if they reunited. But...
What if he was putting up an act and pretending to be like me? What if he despises me for being the prince? What if he actually is fond of me, but thinks that I detest him for deceiving me? He was forced back into reality when he realized he had collided into a short, lilac-haired maid.
"Pardon me, I was not paying attention."
The maid bowed. "No, it was my fault, Your Highness."
"Well, it seems you were heading somewhere, so please, don't let me stop you."
"Of course, sir. I'll be on my way then."
Mika was about to continue walking when he heard a loud groan from a nearby room. He looked to his right curiously and discovered that it was coming from the ballroom. He tried to resist the temptation to identify the voice, but he was drawn to the door, exactly like how he was drawn to Yuu-chan. The guards were baffled as they opened the door for him.
"Pardon me, is anyone in there?" He called out, raising his voice slightly.
Yuu scrambled to his feet as he recognized the voice. Shit, I can't be found out already! It's just the first day! Damn it, it's just the two of us! Well, at least fucking Shinoa isn't here to make fun of me...
He cleared his throat, before responding in a female's voice. "It's just me at the moment, Your Highness."
Yuu held his breath as Mika walked in gracefully. "Is anything wrong?"
The raven-haired boy blushed, finally being able to see Mika's appearance in person after so long. Well, not that long, but it had seemed like ages to him.
"N-no, Your Highness. Please, do not worry about my welfare."
"Now I am truly concerned. Your face is overwhelmingly red. Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Mika frowned, even more troubled.
"O-oh, really, sir? It must be the lighting then, Your Highness." Yuu bashfully stared at his feet.
When he looked up at Mika, the prince had a faraway look in his eyes, as though he was reminiscing something. Yuu didn't notice how weird his staring must have been until Mika looked at him. He swiftly glanced away, although Mika didn't seem quite bothered.
"Now that I think about it, you look almost exactly like someone I met awhile ago. However, you have a slightly different color hair. But your eyes… they're just the same." The blonde whispered, barely audible enough to reach the other's ears.
"Damn, that's such a coincidence, huh?" Yuu laughed nervously.
Mika stared at him blankly, confused at the "maid's" language.
"Uh... I meant, what a coincidence, sir."
Mika blinked once, then laughed that spectacular laugh that Yuu had ingrained in his mind. "No, please continue to talk in whatever manner you're most comfortable with. It's pleasant to have such a casual conversation once in awhile."
"Thank god! I don't have to be such a goody-two-shoes anymore! I have no idea how you do it so naturally because, man, it takes plenty of effort for me." Yuu nearly forgot to make his voice sound like a girl's, getting lost in the conversation.
"I see… Though, I apologize, I must be on my way now."
"I'll see you around then!" Yuu waved, unable to conceal his grin by simply watching Mika, even though it was his back. And it had ended on a good note this time.
A couple minutes later, Shinoa practically skipped into the room, rushing over to Yuu, who was still staring at the door.
"You look like a lovesick puppy."
"Shinoa!" Yuu whipped his head around so fast, he nearly got a whiplash just to look back at her. "You sure took your damn time!"
"Did you have fun meeting your precious prince again?"
"W-what are you talking about!"
"Don't try to hide it from me, Yuu."
"Damn it, how did you know?!"
"He was walking past here when I went out. So, how did it go? Did you guys have a goodbye kiss?" She simpered.
"Of course not! What the fuck?!"
"Ah, Yuu, you don't have to be embarrassed to tell me."
"For your information, nothing like that happened, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"Then please enlighten me as to why you're avoiding eye contact." Shinoa smirked. She proceeded to gasp, putting her hand up to her mouth in astonishment. "Oh, and is it just me or are you blushing? Is Yuichiro Amane of the Imperial Demon Army blushing?!"
"S-shut up! I'm not blushing, you bastard!"
Their argument continued for hours until Horn checked up on them to see their progress, only to discover them bickering, with the cleaning supplied lying by their feet, forgotten.
"You worthless servants! Get to work or never step inside the palace again!"
"Yeah, Yuu. Get to work." Shinoa chided.
"Me?! What about you!"
He turned to look at Shinoa, but she had already set to work, quickly grabbing a washcloth and dunking it into the bucket.
"Damn you, Shinoa!"
"Watch your language, peasant!"
"UGHHHHH!"
Then Yuu, overwhelmed frustration, hung himself, thus ending his miserable life.
Just kidding. He just began cleaning. Driven by his hatred towards the head maid and the smug look on her face as she looked down on them the entire time, they were able to completed their task within two hours. He regretted it afterwards, since he was sore all over, hardly managing to reach their meeting place at the far end of the garden. He glared at them and how at ease they seemed, plotting his revenge.
"So, how was your first day?" Yoichi asked innocently.
"Wow, I wonder. Look at how unsore I am right now. Look at my oh so genuine smile as I look back on my day. Man, that was the best day of my life!" He replied scornfully.
"You didn't have to be so sarcastic about it." Shinoa scolded. "It's not like Yoichi ruined your day."
"Yeah, because you were the one who did."
"You could have ignored me and started cleaning." Shinoa pointed out.
"Maybe you could've have stopped being so obnoxious, I would've!"
"Guys, shut up and give Guren your report." Kimizuki snapped, already at his limit. Yes, he had been assigned to the kitchen, where he was sure he would excel. But no. What he had not thought about was how much the fucking royals could fucking eat. Thus, he spent the entire fucking day simply cooking the same fucking dishes fucking over and over, three times a day, all day. "I never want to see another chicken again in my life…" he muttered under his breath.
"Did you just talk shit about chicken?" Yuu hissed venomously at him.
"Screw your chickens. I couldn't care less."
"Yuu was reunited with his prince~!" Shinoa quickly interrupted-and ended-their little spat with her piece of information. Everyone's faces seemed to light up in joy-besides Yuu's, whose face became a deep tint of red almost straightaway.
"Oh, really?" Mitsuba asked, interested.
"Yes! They even kissed!"
"No, we didn't! Stop making shit up!" Yuu exclaimed in exasperation.
"Yuu, I thought you trusted us!" Shinoa responded.
"How am I supposed to trust people like you?!"
"You. Yuu." Mitsuba commented.
"Ah, I see what you did there." Kimizuki nodded in approval, face set in a serious expression.
"Good job, Mitsuba. You have studied the art of puns vigorously, and at last, you have risen to rank B. You will be a rank A in no time, my star pupil." Shinoa said solemnly.
Mitsuba bowed respectfully while Yoichi clapped politely, having no idea what they were talking about.
Guren interrupted, yelling, "Stop fooling around and give your goddamn reports!"
"You're no fun, Guren." Shinoa sighed disappointedly.
"Thank you, Guren! I wouldn't have survived any longer with these insane people!" Yuu cried out in relief.
"Trust me, I can't deal with them either. Except you're the biggest idiot out of all of them."
"Okay, I hate you again."
"Well, we both knew it wouldn't last long anyway." Guren shrugged. "So, have any of you discovered any vital information yet?"
The group glanced at each other, waiting for someone to comment.
"Nobody?"
He was answered with silence.
"Well, I heard a few servants gossipping." Kimizuki remarked. "They mentioned something about how they heard Queen Krul holding a meeting to discuss the events of the ball. Apparently, the queen sounded extremely irritated and that she will not allow the Imperial Demon Army to dethrone her."
"Well, she deserves to be! She ordered for my orphanage to be burned! My entire family…. None of them made it out." Yuu cried, on the verge of shedding tears.. "Akane, Taichi, Fumie, Chihiro, Kouta, Ako and everyone else is dead for absolutely no reason."
The others looked at him sympathetically, aware of how much he wanted to avenge the orphans he had deemed as his family.
"Yuu, you're not alone. Kimizuki's sister wasn't given proper treatment for the disease that's been spreading around and everyone doubts that she'll make it. And Yoichi's sister was killed too. M-my squad was wiped out when they were sent on a mission to assassinate one of the nobles." Mitsuba comforted, although her voice cracked as she thought of her failed mission.
"I know. That's why we are gonna murder that bitch and fix this fucked-up place!" The emerald-eyed boy declared with a confident grin.
"Yeah, we got it. Please proceed with the reports." Guren ordered, ignoring the boy's enthusiasm. .
"I heard Krul in the throne room complaining about us. It appears that we've annoyed her immensely." Shinoa giggled.
"I didn't hear anything important." Yoichi added.
"I was stuck in the fucking ballroom most of the time." Yuu grumbled.
"I bet you were practicing waltzing for Prince Mikaela." Kimizuki mocked.
"No, I was cleaning the damn room!"
"Of course, you want it to look simply dazzling for the next time you two dance."
"That's not happening."
"Oh, we'll see."
"I can't wait until you're proven wrong, you four-eyed asshole."
"Being four-eyed is better than being a dumbass."
"If I'm a dumbass, then you are too!"
"I don't feel like dealing with you while you're on your period."
"I'm not a fucking girl!"
"You're just pmsing. After all, you are a housewife."
Kimizuki gritted his teeth, prepared to punch Yuu, but Shinoa interfered.
"Kimizuki, it's not nice to hurt girls." Yuu blinked, extremely offended, but he didn't know what to say back.
"How the fuck do you two hoes even know about periods?" Mitsuba inquired, baffled.
They remained silent, scowling down at their feet, refusing to meet the girls' eyes.
"Well, now that you two have finally quieted down," Guren eyed the two guilty boys. "I'd like to inform you that the queen is most likely plotting to find our headquarters and massacre everyone in it. At the training grounds, the soldiers were complaining about how they had been ordered to train harder and prepare for war."
"War?" Yoichi gasped.
"Well, it was bound to happen eventually." Mitsuba said gravely.
"Ha! We're gonna kick their asses and send them back here in tears!" Yuu scoffed.
"It's not as easy as you make it out to be. It would barely take the queen's army any effort to defeat us."
"Try to be a bit optimistic, guys! Guren will find out all their military tactics and report it back to the Imperial Demon Army. We can beat them!"
"I better not be the only one finding information, you brats." Guren growled.
"Of course!' Yuu smirked. "We'll gather a shitload more intel than you!"
"Go ahead and try, moron."
"Let's not make a competition out of this!" Yoichi squeaked.
"Well," MItsuba whispered into Yoichi's ear, "this might make those two collect for information, which will be useful. Just let them."
Yoichi considered this. "Nevermind, I take what I said earlier back."
"As long as you kids can find out a lot during these two weeks, I don't care what you guys use for motivation. Just don't attract to much attention to yourself." Guren instructed.
Shinoa chuckled wickedly. "Yuu already failed at that part."
"You idiot! What did you do this time?!"
"What? I didn't do anything. Shinoa, what are you talking about?" Yuu asked, totally oblivious.
"You guys should've seen the look of desire the male servants had when looking at him! If only they knew he was a guy too."
"Yuu really does genuinely look like a girl." Yoichi noted.
"Even you think so, Yoichi?!"
"Damn it, why can't I look that appealing?" Mitsuba mumbled.
"Don't worry Mitsu~! I still am simply infatuated with you!" Shinoa playfully lunged at Mitsuba, who had spots of red roses on her cheeks, trying to escape the lilac-haired girl's grasp.
"And you guys say I'm gay." Yuu muttered.
"Because you are." Kimizuki stated with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I bet you're gay for Yoichi then."
"H-Huh?" Yoichi stammered.
"Shut up!" Kimizuki hissed, suddenly turning a bit fidgety.
"I mean, remember the time Yoichi complimented your cooking and you couldn't look him in the face for the rest of the day? Oh, and that time you two had to share a bed since there wasn't enough space for all of us and you scooted so far away from him that you fell off the bed?"
By the time Yuu and Kimizuki had ended their bickering, the others had all retreated inside the castle to find a place to sleep. The duo grumpily headed to the servants' quarters and each set up a pallet to sleep on. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to sleep next to each other, since there was no other place. Yuu tossed and turned, desperately trying to get in a comfortable position as Kimizuki kept whispering-screaming for him to be quiet. Chilling drafts came in from the windows, causing everyone to wrap their thin blankets tightly around themselves. The quiet chattering of teeth came from several places in the room,at different intervals.
Yuu stared absently at the dull ceiling, his stomach growling as he was dismally reminded of how he hadn't had the opportunity to eat supper that day and how he wanted to go home instead of staying at the castle for an entire thirteen more days.
At least I might see Mika again… Yuu pinched himself aggressively, cursing himself for that thought. Stop. Stop thinking about Mika. If this goes on, you're gonna fuck up another mission. And if I fail this mission for the same god damn reason as I did the other one, I will fucking kill myself. No longer interested in the ceiling, he turned to discover that Kimizuki had already fallen asleep. Yuu shut his eyes forcefully, putting his arm over his eyes to prevent any light from entering.
Geez, just fall asleep already! He sighed, then concentrated on breathing evenly. As he felt his consciousness slip away, he shifted his arm, resting them on his chest, squeezing his eyes tightly to adjust to the faint light that was visible, even with his eyes closed. He gradually drifted into slumber until he began to dream of yet another dance with the prince.