Yami frowned.

"How the heck did he call that snake when he was out of power? Never mind that he wouldn't have time to do so since that explosion was right next to him! What moron came up with this trash?"

She snatched the controller off the couch and changed the channel. She surfed through a few but found nothing of interest.

"Nothing of worth on. I suppose I could go put in a movie." A beat passed. "What the hell am I doing?" She jumped off the couch and threw the controller at it. "I am the Lord of Darkness! I will not be content just sitting here watching TV! I should be sitting on a throne while the masses worship at my feet!"

She glanced down at her socks and saw no such masses. The only other person in the room was Raiko who was rolling around on the carpet with her stuffed cat. Yami was not pleased that the blue haired girl was not paying her tribute and decided to do something about it.

"Hey, you." Yami stomped over to Raiko. "Give that animal to me."

"No!" Raiko said, clutching the cat to her chest. "George is mine!"

"This is an order from your king! Hand it over!" Yami reached out and grabbed the toy, attempting to yank it from Raiko's hands.

"I said no!" Raiko pulled back with equal force and in the ensuing struggle the inevitable happened.

Riiiiiiiiip.

Yami stumbled back as the fabric gave way and George's cotton guts spewed everywhere. She looked at the other girl and saw her bangs covering her eyes and her mouth hanging open.

"W-Well, it serves you right for defying me!" Yami snarked. Now Raiko would get mad and attack, allowing Yami the chance to beat her down and re-assert her dominance. She'd remind her of her place!

"George…" Raiko whispered. Yami readied herself for an attack but she didn't anticipate what would happen next.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!" Raiko started wailing at the ceiling as pools of tears formed on the floor. Yami was at a loss.

"Raiko, what's wrong?" Yuuno came rushing into the room with Seikou following close behind.

"Yami tried to take George and now George is… George is!" Raiko managed to get out between wails, holding up the remains of the cat.

"Yami!" Yuuno sent a scornful look at the girl. "What did you do?"

"It's not my fault!" She protested. "She wouldn't give it to me without a fight. She's just reaping what she sowed."

"That stuffed animal was hers and you had no right to take it." Yuuno shot back.

"What's hers is mine!" Yami crossed her arms over her chest. "How dare you show such insolence towards your king!"

"No king worth their title would ever treat their people so horribly!" Yuuno glared as he helped Raiko to her feet. "Come on, Raiko, let's go see if we can get George all fixed up."

"Hey, I did not give you permission to leave yet! Get back here!" Yami shouted as they left. "… What the hell are you staring at?"

Seikou looked expressionlessly at Yami a moment before leaving as well.

"Every last one of them…" Yami growled. "I am the king and yet… Fine! To hell with the lot of you!" She stormed off in the opposite direction.

X-X-X

Yami left the house and wandered aimlessly around the neighbourhood, pondering her next move.

"How can I go about reminding them of my authority?" She wondered. "If only I were not under these restrictions I could prove my might with Excalibur and no one would question me again!"

She came across the local park and happened upon two youngsters playing in the sand. One was a girl with short fiery orange hair and the other was a boy whose hair was blonde on the top but brown on the sides. They were both busy building a structure in the box.

"Or I could start my kingdom from scratch." Yami realised. "I shall start with those two children and go from there!" She walked over to them and announced her presence. "Greetings, commoners!"

"Who the heck are you, lady?" The boy asked.

"Watch your tongue for you speak to royalty!" Yami said. "I am the once and future king of this world and you will show respect!"

"Um, we're just trying to build a sand castle here." The girl said. "Could you please…"

"A castle? Perfect! It will serve as the model for my future home!" Yami planted her hands on her hips. "Now, back to work!"

The children hesitantly went back to building and several minutes passed, Yami issuing instructions the whole time.

"No, no! How many times do I have to tell you to add more spikes? That tower isn't nearly tall enough and the left wall keeps collapsing! How do you expect it to ward off an attack? Do it better!"

"Forget this." The boy threw down his tools and stood up. "Let's go, Mai."

"Okay, Yuuichi." Mai took his hand and they both ran off.

"Hey! Stop! You aren't finished yet!" Yami called after them. "… Why does everyone keep abandoning me…?" She glared at the forsaken sand castle and began stomping on it repeatedly. "Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it DAMN IT!"

After the castle was obliterated Yami was left panting alone in the empty park. She went over to the swing and sat. "No one gives me the respect I deserve as king. What is wrong with all of them?"

"I don't believe the fault lies with them."

Yami turned to meet the voice. "Go away you dusty old book." She growled. Reinforce merely gave a slight smile and sat in the adjacent swing.

"I sensed something from this direction and sure enough I discover you. What is troubling you?"

"Nothing is troubling me." Yami muttered. "A king like myself cannot be concerned with such petty matters!"

"Why is it that you desire to be a king so much?"

Yami blinked at the unexpected question. "Isn't it obvious? I am a king so I should be in my rightful place. The problem is that I am not getting treatment befitting a king! I should be lavished with praise while everyone lines up to serve me! They should all love and adore me but instead they reject me and leave me alone in the darkness…"

Reinforce's eyes widened slightly, the memories of her master alone in her dark and empty house springing to mind.

"Let me ask you something. What does it mean to be king?"

"Like I said already," Yami frowned. "A king is adored and served faithfully by his subjects!"

"Is that all?" Reinforce pressed.

"… Well, the king gets to sit on his throne all day and basically gets to do whatever he wants…"

"I see. You know, I've been around for many years."

"You don't need to remind me."

"And during that time I've borne witness to many kingdoms and many kings. In all such cases the kings that fit your definition were not met with success."

"… Huh?"

"A king who does nothing but order his people around and do whatever he wants never gains the love of his people. Instead the people will revolt and overthrow the king."

"… Then what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get people to like me?"

"Try being nice to them." Reinforce suggested.

"… What?" Yami looked like the concept was completely foreign to her.

"Do you know what noblesse oblige is?" Reinforce asked.

"… Noble obligation?" Yami guessed.

"Yes." Reinforce nodded. "Subjects serve the king, but the king serves his subjects. He must use his position to care for and protect his people. The people will then return that kindness."

"… Will that really work?" Yami wondered. "That peon is always so nice to those other two but he never pays any attention to me when I am behaving. It seems the only way to get him to do so is by causing him trouble. When I keep quiet he just ignores me. He's supposed to be in my harem and yet…"

"I see. You are jealous, aren't you?" Reinforce asked.

"Huh?" Yami gawked. "Don't be absurd! What do I have to be jealous of? I'm the Lord of Darkness!"

Reinforce chuckled softly. "Anyways, that is something you will have to discuss with him. But I do know that he does care about you. As we speak he is frantically looking for you. He called me earlier to enlist my aid in locating you."

"O-Oh, I see." Yami turned away to hide her expression. "Well, it seems he understands my importance…"

Reinforce chuckled again. "You should head back home now."

"… It is getting late so I suppose I shall…" Yami stood and walked away. "Your meddling was uncalled for, but… I guess I should offer my thanks…"

"You are welcome." Reinforce smiled as the smaller girl left.

X-X-X

Yami paused before the home she shared with the others. She considered what Reinforce had told her and decided to give it a try. What she was doing currently wasn't having the desired effect so doing something different could yield promising results. If there was improvement Yami would be sure to appoint the unison device as her royal advisor.

'Be nice.' She reminded herself. Surely such a simple thing would be no problem for one such as her.

"… I have returned." Yami called quietly as she went through the front door.

"Yami, you're back." Yuuno sighed when he saw her. "I was worried when you just disappeared like that. I wanted to apologise for being so harsh on you earlier…"

'Be nice.'

"W-Well…" Yami glanced away and scratched her cheek. "I am benevolent enough to forgive you and I am also big enough to admit that I was in the wrong." She glanced at Raiko who was peeking out from a corner. "I apologise for my actions. Did you manage to fix the item?"

"George is all better now!" Raiko stepped out and held up the cat. "The admiral lady did a great job!"

"Luckily it tore at the seams so repairing it was easy." Yuuno explained.

'Be nice.'

"I-I see. All is well, then." Yami nodded.

"Yami, if you want to play with George I'll let you, but next time you have to ask nicely okay?" Raiko said.

"Why should I have to…"

'Be nice.'

"Uh… I mean…Your terms are acceptable."

"Now that that's settled I better get started on dinner." Yuuno said.

'Be nice.'

"I shall assist you, then."

"Eh?" Yuuno blinked at Yami's sudden proposal. "Really? You will?"

'Be…'

"Don't look at me like that!" Yami huffed. "As king I am perfectly capable of lending you my aide. You should be grateful, peon!"

It was surprisingly harder than expected.

"Well, thanks. I appreciate it, Yami." Yuuno smiled.

"Call me your majesty!"

Well, no kingdom was built in a day.

Ages ago a buddy of mine asked if I could put in a cameo of Mai and Yuuichi from My Hime in one of my fics. He's one of the proud few Mai/Yuuichi shippers and since I'm one too (we both think the manga is better as well) I intended to oblige him. Took me long enough ^^" I'm sure this isn't quite what he had in mind, though.

Special thanks to Nanya for helping me decide on Yami's viewing material (it's Sasuke's 'Great Snake Escape' from Naruto for those who didn't know).

Thanks to Alavon as well for being particularly supportive of this fic.