[AYAMI]
"I am not leaving her in your hands, if that is what you think. Your insistence may have worked on Kujo, but it won't work on me. I am more than willing to lose my life if I have to fight you for her," Rinko said defiantly.
Yuzuki was supposed to make minimal contact with Ayami so they would make the woman come seek them, but now it all seemed like the plan had gone to shit, because the queen herself wasn't even thinking straight.
Or maybe Yuzuki had way too much in her game that she wasn't about to let go of Ayami at the moment. Perhaps it would work, but with Kujo's suspicions and the king's possible demand for Ayami, there was only so much that they could do.
"I'm not asking you to leave. I'm asking you to stay here until the ball ends. Yuzu needs to heal, and that won't happen overnight," Ayami said casually, not bothering to look at Rinko, who was disgusted by the idea.
She hadn't thought such a day would come when she saw her queen like this, but then over the years, all the undercover missions they had successfully completed hadn't come easy. Granted, Queen Kuramitsu always wore different faces, but this was different.
Yuzuki had come as herself – younger, sure, but herself.
She hadn't masked her face or anything.
Of course, no one outside her council and her close servants knew who she truly was, but it was getting more dangerous because now, Ayami knew her face.
And clearly, the woman was somewhat attached to Yuzuki, like a social experiment; she didn't want to let go. It was not making any of this any easier for Rinko, and gods did she wish for relief.
"For someone so powerful and wise, you sure are not thinking straight. We came here with the other warriors. If we are not at the ball, our people would notice. And I certainly don't want to get in trouble with her majesty because of you.
"I love my life, thank you very much. Yuzuki is fine. She hurt herself, but it's another little werewolf healing can't fix. You need to stop pining over my friend and go do your work. What the hell happened to the realm's most lethal enforcer?" Rinko asked.
Ayami looked at the warrior before her, and for a moment, she asked herself the same question. This was not something that she always did, and it was disturbing that she had come this far.
She knew she had long surprised her servants, even if they were legally sworn to secrecy and wouldn't break it for any damn reason. If anyone asked her on a rational level, whatever the fuck this was, Ayami couldn't explain it.
She was attracted to Yuzuki in ways that had her mind thinking in reverse. Maybe Kujo and Rinko were right. Maybe she was in over her head. But then again, Ayami couldn't help but feel that if he let Yuzuki go today, she would never see her again.
The anger on Rinko's face was enough to tell her that Rinko would do whatever it took to never have her meet with Yuzuki again. Granted, that was the best possible solution to her obsession.
But Ayami cared for Yuzuki. So much so that she had already broken several Yamashita laws just by being this close to her and doing all that she had done for the woman on her bed.
If it were a different person who crossed into the Fukuda territory, they would long be dead by the hands of this name enforcer, yet Yuzuki was somehow in the hands of Ayami and warmly held like she was the most precocious thing to Ayami.
"If I let you go, you won't let me see her again," Ayami argued, and Rinko was sure the woman had lost her goddam mind. Who the fuck was this, and where the fuck was Ayami Araki that the realm was scared of?
What the hell had Yuzuki done to this woman?
If this was her plan to infiltrate Yamashita, then Rinko couldn't help but be worried for Ayami — for a split second. Yuzuki was dangerous, and the servant saw it firsthand after the drawing incident.
Oh, this woman was not to be played with.
"Damn right I won't," Rinko began, and Ayami rolled her eyes at her.
"That is not helping the situation right now," Ayami argued, and Rinko felt sick.
"You want me to go back to Queen Kuramitsu and tell her that I left a civilian at the hands of the most lethal enforcer in the realm? What the fuck will that do for me? You're smart, enforcer Ayami.
"I don't understand why we are even doing this. The more we stay here, the more danger we are in. King Kazuya might decide to use us as leverage for our queen, which won't end very well for either of us.
"I know you're infatuated with Yuzuki, but you need to let her go. Before the clock strikes midnight. Also, did you forget the part where your kingdom and ours are enemies on any normal day outside the mating ball?" Rinko tried to reason.
She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with the woman who was supposed to be unapproachable. Maybe there was more she needed to do to make Ayami see sense, but then the woman was blinded by her affection for Yuzuki.
It was terrifying.
"Then let me spend some more time with her just for tonight," Ayami said, and Rinko felt her stomach churn at the thought. It didn't help that Yuzuki, the woman she was busy trying to get out of this, was smiling from ear to ear.
It was as if Yuzuki was adamant about staying with Ayami, something that Rinko wasn't sure how to categorize.
Either her queen had lost her goddam mind, or Yuzuki was easily the craziest woman she had ever met. No one in her life had been this bold, but gods, they had made her life a circus since she had resurrected from the foreign incident.
All of this was fucked up, and Rinko was sure that the year wouldn't end before she had lost all the hair on her head because of her queen, Yuzuki. Perhaps that was the intention of the queen because no one would ever be this relaxed deep in enemy territory.
"No," Rinko said with a tone of finality.
"Get up, Yuzu. We have to get back to the ball. We have been away for a long time. You can always come to the ball next season," Rinko added.
Yuzuki had the audacity to pout at her.
"Let her be… even just for now. I will take care of her," Ayami said, and Rinko snorted.
"My sister is not one of the women you fuck and never see again. I won't ask again, enforce YAami. This is not the time for you to play house with my little sister. Let her go, or I will call for backup, and it will get messy, you know it too.
"If you want Yuzuki in the middle of such a fight that will have the queen's council sentencing her, then go on, insist on it," Rinko said just as there were cheers heard outside, signaling the clock striking right.
"Just great," Rinko groaned.
"Mate," Yuzuki muttered.
"Mine," Ayami voiced.
"Absolutely not. We are leaving. Now, Yuzuki."