CHAPTER 9:

Had I been able to sleep this past week, I wouldn't have to slip tiny cat naps in all of my classes. But my nerves didn't let me have any rest the night before and the night before that and the night before that, so, I was yet again deprived of sleep.

"...tolerate such rudeness!"

My head snapped up only to meet a pair of hateful brown eyes.

"Get out, Miss Hinamori. Now!"

I jolted and stared blankly at the detention slip Nikaidou-sensei handed me. I suppose I fell asleep in his class again. Poor guy, no one ever listened to him.

"What are you waiting for? Get the bloody out of my class!"

Shaking my head, I snatched the slip and marched out of the room. I sighed. I guess my records wouldn't change wherever school I go.

I hadn't seen Nagi for a few days now. But I was greeted every night by a single blue rose in my doorstep. I wonder what he was up to these past days.

As I walked to the detention room, I recalled what happened that night for the nth time this week.

Flashback.

We were both breathless as we parted. I almost forgot about the curfew. Well, it was past it, anyway. Nagihiko was staring right at me. Suddenly, I became conscious of how I looked, of how I acted.

Why this all of a sudden?

Then something hit me. A little curly blonde with the name starting with capital BITCH.

I met Nagihiko's eyes and tried impossibly to ignore the electric shock I felt as I looked into his eyes.

"C-Can I ask you something?" I asked, ignoring the fact that his short violet hair looked so hot on him after I toyed with it.

His chuckle came out sexy and low. "You already did, Amu-chan,"

I unconsciously gulped. His layered hair made him look older and his hard-set jawline was visibly clear from this angle. I found myself drawn to him again. Oh hell.

"Well..." Gulp. "What happened to Rima?" I finally asked.

Nagihiko's face darkened and I thought for a moment there that he wouldn't answer but then he looked back at me. He sighed in a way that said 'I'm getting tired of this'.

"I broke up with her," he said.

My left eyebrow arched up. "Why?"

He leaned in again, "Because..." His breath was warm in my lips and I couldn't feel my knees anymore.

"Because?" I prompted.

Nagihiko leaned much, much closer, our lips almost brushing against each other as he spoke "I found-"

End of flashblack.

I was pulled back into to present world as I got slammed by a door and ungracefully landed on my butt.

"Shit," I muttered.

High-pitched shriek came from inside the room.

"Kyaaaaaaaa! Pepe-chan! You killed something!"

Something?

"Don't overreact, Yaya-tan," another voice chided.

"B-But you really did kill it,"

It?

"Yaya-tan," said the voice in a warning tone.

I got up and brushed whatever dirt my undignified fall collected and marched away from the crazy voice duo.

Seriously, though? That girl called me an 'it'? Not to mention she didn't even apologize. Damn that kid.

As I walked through the hallway, I was unable to ignore the piercing eyes that all-out glared at me. That familiar blonde-haired-and-honey-eyed twist - I couldn't miss it anywhere.

She sashayed to my place and I purposely stopped on my track. This girl really had no sense of dignity. Could she possibly be still mad at me? And to think that I thought she already got over that little event we had. Maybe I just thought wrong.

It only took Rima two swift steps to reach me. She raised her hand and I suddenly felt white hot pain strike my left cheek.

The sound echoed throughout the whole hallway - which was by the way, deserted. My hand automatically flew to the swelling area where her hand made contact with my skin.

"You hypocritical bitch!" she snarled.

I was taken aback. I expected her words to be a lot harsher, considering that I probably was her most-hated person in the whole universe.

"Yes, Your Highness?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Rima was visibly fuming. Her cheeks were blushing deep red and she had her hands balled into tiny fists.

"What did you do to Nagi?"

My left eyebrow quirked up. "Nothing."

"You lying whore! You took him away from me! You skank!" she was going hysterical. Her hands reached for my hair, grabbed everything she could and pulled with all her might.

Instinctively, I defended myself. And by defending, I meant was that I kicked her sorry ass. I reached for the little hands twisted in my hair and pulled her away from me. The self defense tricks I learned helped me escape from her deathly grasp. And just as I was about to flip her over my shoulder, someone familiar stopped the both of us.

"ENOUGH!" the voice roared with full authority.

Rima and I stepped away from each other, shaken by the thunderous voice. I stared at her soft face. Had she been a ton nicer, she'd have that perfectly angelic aura all girls seemed to aim for.

But that's probably a long shot from here.

I glanced at the owner of the voice. His eyes alone held more than enough strength to decapitate a man. Power and regality oozed as he took step after step towards our direction. I have never seen him this way before - so intimidating, so puissant.

His eyes flickered my way for a moment but immediately settled back to his target.

"Physical assault to any student within and outside the school premises is a direct violation of the School Code and the oath you are bound to," the King announced in bone-chilling voice, each word giving me shivers as he spoke.

Rima gaped at him.

"I, uh...s-she was...I-"

Nagihiko held her eyes in a terrifying, angry glare. He walked toward a big, red flip switch and pulled it down. The entire Charanari High was shaken by a loud, wailing alarm followed by a synthetic voice.

"A royal announcement is to be made. All students, please proceed to the school gymnasium. A royal announcement is to be made. All students, please proceed to the school gymnasium. A royal-"

I risked a curious glance at Nagihiko who, by the way, was still holding his cold, regal aura. He straightened his back and walked closer to Rima. He didn't as much as glance at me.

Nagi grabbed Rima by the arm. "You are to go with me now," he said in a flat, monotonous voice, taking on a very formal way of speaking.

Unconsciously, I decided to follow them to the gym, curious of what Nagi might announce.

My eyes followed him as he half-dragged, half-guided Rima up the stage, the latter having her head completely cast down in a shameful manner. Gone was her arrogant stance, gone was her bitch facade. All that seemed to be visible was her fright.

Frightened of what?

Soon the gymnasium was filling with students, teachers and staff alike. I supposed this kind of conferences didn't happen often.

"Is the Queen going to be punished?" someone from behind me asked.

Somebody gasped. "What for? That's absurd. She's been the nicest Queen we ever had!"

Now THAT'S absurd.

And without as much as a warning, Nagihiko suddenly spoke, his voice reverberating throughout the entire gym. Many cringed, including some of the staffs.

"Fellow Charanari High students," he began, "it is in everyone's knowledge that we Guardians have two ruling materials we follow as we do our duty - the Student Handbook and the Oath of Commission."

Murmurs echoed throughout the whole gym like it was suddenly filled with noisy, buzzing bees.

He stopped to clear his throat, making the murmurs die down right away. "And a violation of any kind of these two, will result in immediate punishment disregarding his position,"

Nagihiko shot Rima a meaningful glare.

"If a member of the Guardians failed to obey the rules, he will be stripped of his status and power,"

Collective gasps and murmurs started buzzing again.

"Mashiro Rima-san, now currently in the Queen's Chair, has violated both the handbook and her oath. As the King, I divest her of her Chair!"

The horrified gasps intensified. Even the teachers were shocked.

Above the noise, Nagihiko's strong and cold voice reigned again.

"Hoshina Utau shall replace her as the new wielder or the Queen's Chair."

The moment he spoke those words, all noise died down. Everyone didn't see this coming. Well, excluding me, of course.

Utau climbed up the stairs, her chin held high with the tiniest sign of a smile on her lips. She regarded the crowd with neutral expression. But her eyes were dancing with victorious bliss.

Suddenly, I found myself smirking. A new Queen and a Rima-hater rolled into one. This should positively be good.

"WHAT? Why her? She's not even a Guardian!" the same voice behind me said.

"This can't be!"

"Not her!"

"No! No! No!"

Ah, yes. They didn't know about the Assembly. The real deal. Everyone thought the Guardians were the highest of all the organizations in the school. Nobody outside the Guardians new about the Assembly. Nobody but me.

I stared at Utau up on the stage. She tilted her head my way and looked at me as if she knew I was looking at her. She grinned at me. I grinned back.

Everything they did was perfectly played. Though it was far from the original plan, it was better than nothing. I almost laughed at the thought of watching their plan fall into its place. The Assembly was starting to move. Utau was a member of it. And so was Nagihiko before.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Always one step ahead,"

I turned my head to my left to see who said that. Goosebumps crept to my arms and legs as I furrowed my brow. There was nobody beside me. What the-

"I, the current King," Nagihiko shut the crowd up successfully again.

Everyone was waiting for his next words, probably terrified and excited at the same time.

"I give up my throne and hand the King's Chair to Hotori Tadase. With the Duchess' Chair vacant, my last act as the King is to abolish both the Duke's and the Duchess' Chairs from the list of Guardians effectively today,"

Seemed like the crowd couldn't take any more shocking revelations so they just remained silent, like heroes and heroines in zombie movies waiting for the attack.

Maybe Nagi went a little overboard dethroning Rima and giving up his own at the same time. And abolishing the Duke's and Duchess' Chairs, too. The news about Nadeshiko's Chair wasn't new at all. She gave up her Chair eons ago. That was no shocker.

But maybe he just exaggerated it a tiny bit.

"I guess he's simply handing us victory,"

I whipped my head side to side but saw no one standing near me enough to be in earshot. I turned around, no longer listening to what Nagihiko was saying.

Tall, dark frame came into my view. The figure was slithering away from the crowd and out of the gymnasium. Without thinking, I followed him outside. Navy blue hair glinted on his head as he ran to the fields, towards the East Gate of our school.

I sprinted as fast as I could when suddenly, one of the rooms in the Men's Dormitory exploded, causing the fire alarm to go blaring off. My attention was torn between the running figure and the room. Cussing myself, I decided to change course and ran towards to dormitory.

Blocks of cement fell on the ground. There were flames everywhere, engulfing anything they could get. The smoke made my eyes sting but what made me focus better was the loud frightened cry of a boy.

It sounded so pained that I found myself unable to rush to the voice.

I thought of nothing and immediately ran inside to find the boy. I trusted my instincts and found a kid his back facing me as he sat on the floor.

"Kid! Come here!" I heard myself say.

But the kid didn't move. Instead, he just continued crying.

I ran to him and grabbed his shoulder.

Debris fell on the path I just came through, closing our only escape. My heart suddenly constricted at the thought that we were trapped inside.

No. I mentally shook my head. We're going to make it out alive.

I coughed through the smoke and forced the kid to face me.

What I saw drained the blood from my face.

Oh, crap.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm so sorry for the very slow update :( We were so busy with our thesis and doing many literary works at the same time is hard. And I also wanted to try if many will review if I don't update fast. (figured it didn't work that way, though)

Again, I'm sorry :( Please review.

P.S.

My story Amuto Chronicles is up for "auction". I really can't find the darn notebook so I'm going to let another person take it. If anyone's interested, you can message me and also give me a sample of a chapter you're going to post in that story. Spread the news guys, because I don't want to give this story just to anyone. That person has to have a connection with what I wanted for that story, too. :)

With all the love for writing,

Lace Ashdown