Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS.
A clap of thunder boomed through the vicinity while a silhouette silently watched the droplets of rain that slid down the window glass. An aura of superiority emanated from his form which cleverly masked the thick mist of tension that cloaked his mind and soul. The eerie atmosphere which stretched throughout the room was unnerved when the sound of cautious footsteps floated in the air. This intervention was immediately acknowledged.
"Speak." The deep voice of the silhouette rang through the room.
"Y-your Majesty," the other figure stuttered as he quickly went on his knee. "I apologize My Lord but there has been no improvement for the past five days."
"What are his chances?"
An uncomfortable stretch of silence followed.
"Do not keep me waiting." The silhouette hissed.
"N-nil My Lord." The other figure squeaked and gulped as he waited for his inevitable doom.
A flash of lightning illuminated the room as two thick blond brows furrowed, making the wrinkles that marred his forehead more prominent.
"Begin your search for him." He ended the conversation with a touch of finality.
"Hai!" The subaltern responded before rushing out of the room to relish his spared life…before His Majesty had a change of mind.
"I have been left with no choice…" the figure mumbled grudgingly, "…no choice but to accept that abomination."
The abhorrence that flooded his eyes was illustrated by the weather when another clap of thunder roared throughout the Western Land, tearing the sky and subduing any presence that dared to defy its way.
"I can't believe it!" Honoka exclaimed for the umpteenth time as she pranced to and fro.
"Believe it Honoka…" sighed Misaki, "…and please stand still, you are giving me a headache."
"How can you be so casual about it, Misaki?" Honoka chided. "What would have happened had Usui not showed up?"
"I do not even want to think about it." Misaki mumbled as she massaged her temples.
"We have to report this to the king right away." Honoka announced before walking towards the door.
"No!" Misaki sprung forward to grab Honoka before she could sneak out.
"What do you mean by no? Such a matter cannot be taken lightly, Misaki."
"Tora is the soon to be crowned Lord of the Eastern Land, Honoka!" Misaki tried to reason. "Do you seriously think father can even raise a finger at him? Are you forgetting that Seika falls under the Eastern Land?"
"But…" Honoka tried to defend but found no words. Reluctantly, she sighed in defeat.
"Father already has many matters to attend to. I do not want to trouble him with something which has no solution."
Honoka smiled as she placed a motherly hand on Misaki's head.
"You have grown up too fast, Misaki."
Misaki forced a smile but her eyes gave away the sorrow that marred her heart.
"Thank the Lords for sending that boy." Honoka sighed in relief. "Bless him."
A warm fuzzy feeling built up in Misaki's stomach at the mention of Usui's name. She couldn't help but recall the promise he had made the previous night.
I swear on every fibre of my being that I will never allow any harm to reach you for as long as a single speck of life resides in me.
A red hue stained her cheeks as her heart began to race.
'What is this feeling?' Misaki pondered. 'Why is my heart beating so fast?' She wondered as she placed a hand on her chest.
The impatient look on Honoka's face brought her out of her trail of thought.
"Huh?"
Honoka pursed her lips in annoyance. "Where did you drift off to?"
"Were you saying something?" Misaki asked sheepishly.
Honoka shook her head disapprovingly.
"Sakura is waiting for you in the royal gardens."
Misaki gasped. "Oh I forgot. I had promised to pick flowers with her today," she screamed as she dashed clumsily out of the room.
"Walk like a proper lady!" Honoka called out after Misaki. "Good gracious! When will she ever act like a princess?" she frowned.
A soft melodious laughter greeted Misaki when she reached the royal gardens. The sight that lay before her eyes left her mesmerized.
"Is Sakura… laughing?" Misaki asked out loud as she gawked at the other female who was now shaking with mirth.
"She is looking so carefree…so alive. I have never seen her laugh in all these years."
It was then when she caught sight of the other presence.
"Usui?" Misaki acknowledged. "He is making her laugh?"
Her doubt was confirmed when Sakura burst into another fit of giggles at his comments.
"Usui," Misaki breathed. "What are you?"
Slowly approaching the two she cleared her throat to make her presence known. Sakura immediately bowed while Usui flashed a cheeky grin, making Misaki blush. Quickly averting her gaze to the other female, Misaki smiled warmly.
"Never let grief fog your eyes again."
Understanding the meaning behind Misaki's words, Sakura widened her eyes as tears quickly welled up in them. Instantly, she was engulfed in a warm hug as Sakura continued to weep out her sorrow that had been embedded in her heart all along.
"Sometimes a good cry makes you feel light. I won't stop you today, Sakura." Misaki consoled while gently rubbing her back.
Slowly looking up to a pair of emerald eyes, Misaki mouthed a small 'thank you'. She was greeted with a wink.
'Oh would you quit blushing!' Misaki mentally kicked herself.
Gently releasing herself from the embrace Sakura chirped, "Let us begin!"
Misaki nodded while Usui yawned.
The females quickly engaged themselves in flower picking while Usui took his sweet time to observe a certain raven haired maiden in a royal robe who knew no difference between herself and those beneath her.
'Misaki…' Usui sighed. '…what are you?'
"Look Sakura!" Misaki piped in. "Isn't this rose so beautif- ouch!"
She quickly drew back her hand to examine the thorn that had pierced her finger. But she couldn't tend to it for long as it was gently pulled back by a strong hand.
Carefully removing the offending item from her delicate finger, he placed it in his mouth to suck the blood that broke through her skin.
Misaki stood frozen in her spot as her mind continued to process the current occurrences while she stared at the worried eyes of the man before her.
"Be careful Princess." Usui spoke, his tone laced with seriousness.
His words brought Misaki out of her reverie. Blushing from head to toe, she quickly pulled back her hand and stuttered, "J-just what were you doing?"
The seriousness was immediately drained away from his features and his eyes were filled with the familiar playfulness.
"But Misa chan was hurt." Usui pouted.
"S-shut up!"
"Misa ch-"
"I said shut up!"
Misaki took deep breaths to calm her heart which threatened to break out of her ribs.
Before Usui could comment on her sudden 'loud' behaviour, Sakura cut in with a worried tone.
"Misaki! Shui brought over a message."
"What is it Sakura chan? Why do you look so troubled?"
"Princess, Shui overheard two guards talking that Shintani san got injured during his training sessions!"
"What?!" Misaki gasped out loud. "Take me to him right this instant."
Sakura nodded as both the females hurried towards the dojo in search for their injured friend, leaving behind the blond male staring impassively at their slowly disappearing backs, all alone…once again.
"This is getting a bit repetitive, is it not?" he thought out loud.
"Hinata!" Misaki cried out as she darted into the dojo room where she found the royal healer wrapping a bandage around Hinata's arm.
"Misaki chan!" Hinata chirped but he was rudely ignored.
"How is he now?" Misaki asked fearfully to the healer.
"He is faring well." The healer replied. "No need to fret Princess, I have bandaged it. The man should consider himself lucky that the wound is not very deep."
Misaki nodded half heartedly and signaled one of the guards to show him out.
"Can't you be a little more careful Hinata?" Misaki chided. "Just see what you have done to yourself."
"It's just a minor scratch, Misaki chan." Hinata reassured meekly.
"A minor scratch!?" Misaki repeated unbelievably. Eyeing the small patch of red stain marring the white cloth, she screamed, "You call that a minor scratch?"
"How did you get that?"
"Misaki chan, you need not worry over such trivial matters. Such a wound is nothing to an army commander."
"How?" she repeated firmly.
Hinata gulped. He could take a whole army any day but not an angry Misaki Ayuzawa.
"Sword" he mumbled.
A stretch of uncomfortable silence ensued.
"Well…" Hinata ventured.
Slowly rising up from her kneeling position, Misaki announced calmly, "You will be resting for the next three days and I will personally look after you.'
"That won't be nec-" Hinata was silenced by Misaki's 'you-say-one-word-and-I-am-throwing-you-into-the-moat' look.
The next few days quickly passed by with Misaki diligently looking after Hinata, rarely allowing him to move from bed and keeping a strict eye on his diet.
"Misaki chan, please." Hinata whined.
"No!" Misaki was firm.
"Just one?"
"I said no bread crusts! The healer advised you to eat only fruits."
"That's all I have been eating for the past three days. My stomach feels like a private orchard!"
A vein popped in her forehead. His constant whining was starting to get on her nerves.
"Mi-"
"One more complaint from you and I will personally see that your supply for bread crusts is stopped for life."
Hinata was left stoned while Misaki sighed in defeat.
'Perhaps that came out harsher than I had wanted,' she thought guiltily.
Massaging her temples to rid herself from the slowly building headache, Misaki mumbled, "I am sorry. You should rest now."
Softly closing the door behind her, she headed for her chamber.
'I need to lie down too.'
Lost in her thought and completely engulfed in exhaustion, Misaki did not notice the other presence that was waiting patiently in the balcony for the real occupant of the room.
"So you are finally here" he commented without even paying her a look.
It was then when Misaki finally laid her eyes on the blond male who was gazing calmly at the giant white orb, standing on her balcony as his ivory skin shimmered under the moonlight, giving off a divine look.
'So beautiful…' Misaki mused.
Vigorously shaking her head to rid herself of any obscene thoughts, she said accusingly, "What are you doing here Usui?"
The said male smiled. "The moon is looking beautiful tonight, isn't it Princess?"
"Y-yes. Well I am pretty sure you were not waiting to tell me about the weather."
A moment of silence followed.
"Usu-"
"Seventy two hours and forty five seconds."
"Huh?" Misaki was completely lost. 'Now what is this idiot saying? I really need to hit the sac,' she groaned mentally.
Slowly turning to fully face the confused female, Usui gazed at her deep amber eyes.
"For seventy two hours and forty five seconds," he repeated. "…you have been avoiding me."
His words caught Misaki off guard as she suddenly took a step back.
"Wh-what? I have been looking after Hinata. He had been badly inju-"
"It was a minor cut and the wound wasn't very deep either, the healer said so himself. You are overreacting." Usui cut her off as he took a step forward.
Never once did his eyes leave those deep amber orbs.
"Y-you don't know anything." Misaki stuttered. "And I wasn't overreacting. Hinata was hurt and I, being his friend, had to look after him." She defended herself meekly as she took another step back but soon found her back pinned against the wall.
Taking another step forward, Usui asked steadily, "Why does my injury…my pain never leave you running and worried unlike his?"
"What are you talking about?" Misaki whispered and tried to sneak past him only to be blocked by Usui's arm. She tried sneaking out from the other side…but to no avail.
'Oh no I am cornered,' her mind screamed.
"Is it because I am your slave and not a friend?"
"No…" Misaki breathed.
"Does my pain stir no emotions in your heart?"
"Stop it Usui. You are being strange."
Misaki shuddered under his intense gaze.
Slowly lowering his mouth to her ear Usui whispered, "I can be very possessive as well."
Misaki widened her eyes and watched him slowly step away from her and walk out of the room, softly shutting the door behind him.
After standing there for another five minutes in the exact same position, did her mind finally comprehend with the words that came out of his mouth.
I can be very possessive as well.
Well that will be all for now. I want to thank every single one of you who reviewed. You guys are the best! ^_^
Please let me know what you think about this chapter…as every single comment counts!
Until next time…