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Discalimer: I do not own KWMS.
The humongous wooden door burst open with a loud bang, shaking the walls of the training room and startling its single occupant who soon found himself dangling by his neck with a strong hand clutched tightly around it.
Looking in those furious emerald depths, Kenichi forced down a gulp while his legs thrashed back and forth to find the ground.
"Kenichi," Usui sneered. "I had trusted you."
"L-let m-me go!" Kenichi wheezed but this only made Usui lift him higher up.
The color was quickly draining away from his pain-stricken face while his lungs screamed for air. Kenichi continued to struggle in his hold. He gasped as his hands lashed out and his nails dug deep into Usui's hand in a desperate attempt to free himself but to no avail. His attacker seemed determined. Black dots were now starting to dance before his bloodshot eyes and he no longer had the energy to fight back. His hands fell to his sides while his legs stopped their futile struggle.
Sensing the person to be slowly going limp in his clutch, Usui hurled him towards the opposite wall. Kenichi crashed against the shields those were hung on the wall and screamed out in pain as the spikes dug into his flesh.
"Curse you!" he spat venomously at Usui who warily eyed him as he adjusted himself into a less painful position.
"What did you tell him?" Usui inquired hotly.
"Everything!" Kenichi croaked.
Usui narrowed his eyes in displeasure as he followed Kenichi's every movement.
"- and I have no regrets," he finished while wobbly standing on his feet.
"An enemy in the disguise of a friend is ten times worse. How foolish of me to have forgotten such a simple yet an important lesson...?"
Kenichi scoffed at Usui's epiphany and wrinkled his nose in disgust as he eyed the person up and down. "A bloody piece of filth is what you have always been! Had not been for Prince Gerald's illness, you would have still been busy satisfying someone's needs. But alas for me, your lucky stars are shining brightly now and soon you will waltz your way to the crown!"
"You seem displeased," Usui taunted.
"You bet in seven hells I am!" Kenichi retorted hotly and winced when the pain shot up his spine. "Why did it have to be you…a measly illegitimate son of Princess Patricia? She had tainted the royal blood as it is when she birthed the son of her butler and now the Lord is pushing the Western Lands toward its downfall by handing the crown down to you! Preposterous!"
"I could care less about the throne. Power and position had never been in my list of priorities."
"That is what irks me more, you mongrel! After all those years of my loyalty to the Lord, what do I get in return? Why did he choose you over me?" he spat with a tone laced in malice and his eyes sparkled with envy.
Usui's eyes widened as realization hit him hard. "You desired the crown?" he asked incredulously.
"Desired?" Kenichi scoffed. "It would have been a desire, my 'friend', if I wished for something that was not rightfully mine," he mocked. "With Gerald out of the way, only I am the rightful heir to this throne! All those years of boot licking paid off for nothing at the end."
But his musings fell on deaf ears as Usui's mind then floated two years back when his life turned upside down in that one cursed night.
~ Two years back ~
The hard drops of rain fell on his bruised skin as a blond male, no older than eighteen, raced through the woods. He winced every time the spikes of the bushes scratched his wounds and his swollen feet tripped over the tree roots. Like every other night, Usui was beaten up by his 'master' over trivial matters but this time his wounds ran deep. This time his wounds bruised his heart…his soul, as in that very night he had learnt the secret of his lineage.
"You are a disgrace to the Walkers!"
"Patricia should have killed you while you were in her womb."
"The royal blood had been tainted the day you were born."
"Midget!"
"Filth!"
"You should have never been born."
The insults, the profanities still echoed in his head and after receiving his dose of beating, he did the only thing that came to his mind.
He ran.
Ran from those harsh words.
Ran from his misery.
Ran from the reality.
… But little did he know that he was running into another conundrum…something that would only worsen his predicament.
His pace slowed down when he heard voices coming from a distance.
'I guess she has finally noted my absence and has sent the royal guards to search for me,' Usui mused and turned around to run away from his 'searchers' when a loud scream echoed through the vicinity, making his feet come to a sudden halt. With his pain now long forgotten, he cautiously made his way to the source of the commotion with intense curiosity and the sight that greeted finally his eyes made his blood run cold.
"Queen Saya!" Usui cried out as he rushed to the side of the female who was sprawled out with a dagger protruding from her stomach. A single trail of blood streamed down from the corner of her mouth as the rain continued to wash away the blood that oozed out from her wound.
"Queen Saya, who has done this to you?" he enquired hurriedly as his brain rummaged to come up with a way to help the queen out of her misery.
Eyeing the offending item that was the cause of her pain, Usui spontaneously pulled the dagger out with all his force which made her let out another pain stricken cry.
"S-save her please…"
"What?"
But his question remained unanswered as the queen coughed out more blood before losing herself to an eternal slumber.
Yes. She was gone. The Queen of the Seika Estates lay motionless before his very eyes while her final words still rang in his ears.
'Save her, she had said…but save who?'
"Usui!"
Usui snapped out of his stupor when he found himself staring at Kenichi's fearful face.
"What have you done!?" he asked incredulously.
Kenichi's question caught him off guard but following his line of sight, Usui let out an audible gasp.
Queen Saya had been stabbed…and the dagger was in his hand.
"No! You have got it all wrong! I only pulled it out," Usui quickly defended himself but the disbelieving look on Kenichi's face told him that all his attempts were futile.
Within a glimpse of an eye, the expression on Kenichi's face took a complete U turn and he let out a small reassuring smile.
"I believe you, my friend."
Kenichi Yamanda, a subaltern in Lord Charles Walker's court, was the sole person in the palace who Usui could call a friend. Having grown up together, they developed a strong bond of friendship and both supported each other through thick and thin.
"You do?" Usui asked as his heart raced with new found hope.
Their conversation was cut short when three soldiers rushed in and gasped at the sight.
Eyeing the dagger in his hand, they immediately raised their swords at Usui.
"Lower your swords at once!" Kenichi ordered as he slowly made his way to the younger blond male who stood frozen in his place.
In a swift motion, he snatched the dagger from Usui and threw it away at a distance.
Facing the soldiers, he continued, "Inform the King of Seika Estates right away that the queen has met with a rather unfortunate accident and is no longer among us."
"But it wasn't an accident," one of the brave ones quickly retorted. "That mongrel is the one who murdered the Queen! He should be convicted at once."
"Silence!" Kenichi roared. "You dare defy me?"
The soldiers immediately cowered at his sudden outburst. Satisfied with the reaction received, Kenichi turned toward Usui and continued, "None of us have seen Usui here. When we arrived here, we only found her still body. We suspect a predator might have ambushed her. Is that understood?"
"H-hai!" the soldiers squeaked a response.
Taking long strides toward the other male, Kenichi stopped at a hand's distance from him.
"It will be our little secret," Kenichi whispered. "I promise."
"I appreciate that, Kenichi," Usui thanked apprehensively. "But please find out the real murderer."
"I will."
"Why did you break the promise?" Usui asked curtly. He had enough of Kenichi's whining.
"To get you out of the way."
Usui's eyebrows shot up and a mist of confusion clogged his eyes.
Seeing the troubled look on his face, Kenichi let out a small bitter laugh. "Naïve as ever, are we?"
Usui remained silent and waited patiently for him to continue.
"This was not the first time I broke the promise."
"Explain yourself."
"Remember your little tour at the execution ceremony?" Kenichi teased. The only response he received was Usui's clenched jaw. Smirking, he continued, "Take a wild guess who could have told Erika."
Dun dun dun! A part of the secret is revealed! Please let me know what you guys think about it. Okay? Waiting eagerly for your reviews…