[YUZUKI]
Yuzuki Fukada was born a maniac.
The kind that matched the chaos that had been the former Kurayami queen.
Oh, but Yuzuki was the textbook definition of crazy.
It was no secret to those who had known her for the longest time. Perhaps it was a secret for her now that she had no one who knew her that well. Perhaps there was a chance that she would get over this little predicament soon.
But even that couldn't explain the way she had knocked herself out and still snapped back to life in a moment that should have happened without her. Maybe she had been dreaming for the longest time.
And maybe, she just needed to see through the chaos, to be the light that she needed in her life. Then again, there was chaos around her. Swords were flying through and through, and Yuzuki wondered if it would be a good thing for her to blow her cover.
She had come here as a weak servant, but by now, everyone knew that Kurayami never sent its weak members to other kingdoms. Mating bonds were never for the weaker Kurayami civilians.
They were for warriors.
Mating balls that Kurayami people attended were never for the sake of binding and creating families. They were social experiments designed to find ways to infiltrate other kingdoms.
They were a system that had been set up for the longest time.
A system that Yuzuki had long learned about, which was why Ayami knew she was not just another servant. She could see in the way Ayami stared at her curiously, even as she fought the strays.
It was almost like this was the worst of betrayals by Yuzuki, but then that was not supposed to be surprising to the now Kurayami queen. Her realities and dreams may have been intertwined, but now things could be as real as the anger on Ayami's face.
And in that moment, Yuzuki knew she had to make a choice. To fight back and blow whatever was left of her cover, or stay the surprised wolf who had crossed over into enemy territory unknowingly, and didn't know how to get out.
Besides, she was wearing Ayami's cloak, something that should have kept everyone from her.
Maybe it was a mistake, coming this far, but Yuzuki had made it either way.
And now it was Ayami's turn to do whatever the fuck she wanted.
If she wanted to make the woman a traitor warrior, then she could do it, and the aftermath wouldn't be Yuzuki's problem.
She would fight until the end.
She would fight like this was her first time dealing with Kazuya's people, and she would fight until she won, no matter what the cost would be. This time, though, she would make sure not to die again.
That much she was certain of.
If not for her safety, then for the fact that she refused to leave her Matsui in a world that still reeks of Kazuya Yamashita and his madness. She would always find a way to protect her Matsui.
And if this was the price she had to pay, then Yuzuki was more than ready for it.
"Run, Yuzu, run!!" Ayami's voice sounded, and Yuzuki stared at the enforcer, unsure of why running was such a good idea for her at the moment. With just a snap of her hand, Yuzuki would be able to get down everywhere here.
She was that powerful.
Yet for some reason, she loved the way that this woman was telling her to leave. It was just three words, three simple words that shouldn't have meant much to her, and yet her heart seemed to be giddy from the voice itself.
Maybe Yuzuki Kuramitsu was fucked, or maybe she was just a woman who missed a lot of what she used to do here. Maybe it was the thought of getting back that one piece of her life back that kept her sane.
Maybe it was what she was feeling now.
But she didn't run.
Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, even as a few other hostile wolves came in her direction. Her eyes never once left Ayami's if she were waiting to see what the woman would do.
She wasn't defiant, no.
But Yuzuki was getting too good at playing the shocked wolf who didn't understand what the hell was going on here. It was hard to watch, up until Rinko showed up, swords swinging, that everything seemed to come to a standstill.
It was all sudden, but Rinko didn't stop. She didn't wait to see what was happening. She just spotted Yuzuki in the mess and slashed her way through the crowd of hostiles that had gathered so she could get to Yuzuki.
"Rinko?" Yuzuki wondered as the servant worked her way to her queen without so much as a scare in the world. It was as if this was the first time she was seeing Rinko, and boy, was the woman good at her swordsmanship.
This was perfection, and gods did Yuzuki love what she was watching. Then again, the man, when Kuramitsu had always found the words of the worst and best in different talents to surround herself with them.
Yuzuki didn't wince when Rinko got to her first, and faster than Ayami could have thought to get to her. It was insane how quick she was, but damn as it was a sight that gave Yuzuki a lot of confidence and trust in Rinko's abilities.
"What the hell happened?" Rinko asked as she fought off the hostiles.
"I don't know," Yuzuki answered earnestly, and Ayami sighed as she got closer. She couldn't believe that this was happening on her watch. Maybe she needed to be wary of Yuzuki and Rinko, but she couldn't help but want to get closer to her.
"I told you not to come out by yourself, peaches. What part of that was hard?" Ayami asked disappointedly as she glared at the woman before her. She loved her; there was no doubt about that, but was Ayami supposed to blurt that out to her here and now?
There were dead people all over, and there was a chance that this little encounter had reached the mad king's ears. There was no way that they would get around this, and Ayami knew it.
King Kazuya was going to need answers, and Ayami was going to have to present them to him. But would she take her peaches to the king, who was bound to use this to start a war with the Kurayami kingdom?
What if she never saw Yuzu again? Was she supposed to be okay with that? Was this supposed to make her feel better because her little obsessions were slowly starting to fade into something else, something that had her at the woman's feet?
"I came for a walk… next thing I knew, there were blades whirring past me," Yuzuki said earnestly, and Rinko felt like she was going to lose her mind. She was aware that her queen was smart and intelligent.
This woman was the kind not to be caught off guard, and yet for some reason, the sincerity in Yuzuki's eyes told her something else. It was not what Rinko wanted to hear, but right now, they were in a different territory.
What the hell was she supposed to make of this then?
"You're bleeding, again," Ayami grunted.