>>msst28Hai! (^^)/
Drama coming up rrrrrrrrrrrrright away~~~~ (in the next few chapter of AGP)
As in for what happened to Non....
msst-san will have to wait till I finish one of my fanfic before I go continuing with Tiny Me xDDD
It's going to be one loooooong wait~
>>sara-chanHehehe~
Don't worry, sara-chan~
I will TRY not to rush it (since I'm excited about writing it myself xDDD)
>>gekirenaGEKI-CHAAAAAAAAN!!!!
YOU CAME BACK! YAY!!!! *dances around*
Mizuki with Masanya!?
(-.-)(o.-)(o.o)(0.o)(0.0)
Really can't imagine LOL xDDD
But you know, I might think about it xDDDDD
Tiny Me IS a KumiNon focused fanfic, geki-chan~~~
Hehehe~ (^m^)
I'm glad geki-chan likes AGP,
because I started writing AGP for geki-chan~ (^^)v
>>JuribaitHehehe~
Trouble? Where? I see none~ (^m^)
*coughshushJuribait-sancough*Ah~ Well then,
I hope Juribait-san likes the Tiny Me prologue!
Even though that story will be put on hold for awhile~
And I hope they were~
Otherwise there would be no fun~
(..)
>>PandahHehehe~
Pandah-san is in heaven?
OMG IT'S A HOLY PANDAH-SAN! xDDD
omg im commenting all over the place
It's okay, Pandah-san~
You should do that more often~
I laughed out loud when I read that part xDDDD
even though i was hoping for renairin BUT ITS OKAY! shall forever love ohayou-sans fics because they're just too awesome to not be loved~~
Oh?
Well, if Pandah-san was hoping for RenAirin,
I guess I'll try write some other RenAirin to make up for it? (^^)
And lol~
Thank you, Pandah-san~
Thank you for loving my work~
m(__)m
Ahahahaha~
Maybe Jurina will think about inviting Rena,
or maybe she won't.
But don't forget, Rena-san is booked up in the weekends lol~Magical mushroom!? (0.o) LOL~
Hehehe~ Maybe I can turn Pandah-san into a KumiNon shipper as well hehehe~ (^m^)
Or at least, I'll TRY~
>>EveryoneThank you for reading/commenting/hating/paying attention to my writing~
Forever loving all my dear readers~
Allow me to forever love you all and yuko-harass all of you~
So, it's been a while since I've updated.
Even though it's the school holidays.
I apologize~
But... something came up, a decision.
A decision that really can actually affect my future~
So... yeah, I'm struggling with this decision, wondering what I should do about it~
I have apprx two more weeks (if not, less) to give my answer to my kaachan~
So, sorry, but for this two weeks, there MAY not be as much updates as I intended to do~
Of course, unless I reach a decision early......
But....
ANYWAY!
Let's ignore my life story~
And move on to the update!!!!
I'm sorry, this chapter might not be as good as it should be~
But, I tried my best.
You know, having a distracted mind like mine right now,
makes it slightly difficult to write things...
I only started this chapter this morning....
But anyway~ Enjoy~~~
The Perfect Bodyguard - Chapter 8Airi woke up lying face down to the nauseating smell of sweat, blood and underground air. The girl wrinkled her nose before pushing herself off the ground and leaning her back against the wall. Airi looked around, it was obvious they have been put into a cell. There were no windows as far as Airi could see, the only place that air could pass through, was through the long hallway that Airi assumed lead to the outside world. The only light came from the candles stands on the wall, the hallway at the far end was too long and twisted for any light to come through.
After getting used to the smell of the cell and the occasional moans from the prisoners that were locked up in different cells, Airi crawled over to Jurina who was lying down on ground, just like Airi was before.
“Jurina?” Airi called softly. Airi didn’t know whether Jurina was sleeping or whether she was unconscious as she heard no reply from the girl. She looked around again, her own sword was gone obviously. Airi carefully turned Jurina around so that the girl was now lying on her back and checked Jurina’s sleeves, where the girl hides her throwing stars.
’Seems like the guards took those away too...’ Airi thought to herself as she took off her cloaked hood and covered Jurina’s body with it, attempting to keep the girl warm from the cold air of the cell. Just as Airi was about to crawl over to check Jurina’s leg, she felt her leg go numb. “Ahhh~ Pins and needles again,” Airi frowned as she grabbed onto her leg, trying to massage the blood flow back into her leg and stop the tingling feeling. Not feeling much help from her massage, Airi pushed herself off the ground and started walking around the cell.
The bolt of her cell suddenly slid open. Airi stopped her movement and turned around, coming face to face with a guard. Looking at the guard, from his face feature to his height and then the overall build structure of the guard, Airi was certain that this guard was no more than a few years older than her. To Airi’s surprise, the guard put down a tray of steaming hot food onto the floor and smiled at Airi, “These are food for you are your friend. Eat up.”
All Airi could do was stare at the guard with her mouth opened. From where Airi was standing, not only could she see the steam coming from the tray, she could also feel the warmth. Not much, but it was enough for Airi to notice.
Seeing Airi staring at him, not saying anything, the guard chuckled, “What?”
“Y-You’re talking to me...” Airi said. It was rare, for guards to talk to prisoners, and in such a nice way too. Airi have never encountered guards like this before. In the prisoner camps that Togasaki sets up a fair distance from the city, no words are exchanged between the prisoners and the guards but harsh commands and rude insults. Normal conversations were forbidden in those camps. Any guards caught talking to the prisoners were killed on the spot on suspicion of being the prisoner’s ally. Also, the food they see in the camp over there are always stale bread and water. Even for the guards, they only get some cold meat to go with the bread, and the captain may or may not get a cup of wine to go with the food if they’re lucky. This was why Airi find it so surprising to see hot food in a place that holds prisoner, especially when the food is for her.
The guard had a confused look on his face, “Yes, I am. Is there a problem?”
“N-No!” Airi quickly replied, “It’s just that I’ve never seen guards that talks to prisoners before.”
The guard broke into laughter and looked at Airi again, an amused smile on his face, “Eat up, while the food is still warm.” The guard pushed the tray closer to Airi and closed the cell door behind him, slid the bolt shut and locked the door with his keys.
“Why do you guys serve warm food to us?” Airi asked, unable to contain her own curiosity. Prisoners are locked up because they did something bad right? For prisoners such as herself, a prisoner that have been captured for attempt assassination of the princesses, should not even been given food at all.
The guard looked back at Airi through the spaces between the metal bars of the cell, “I don’t know how other emperors treats their prisoner, but this is how Emperor Yuasa treats his. The emperor said to us on the first day of our job that even prisoners are human and that although they have made a mistake, they should not be treated in a manner that is worse than even that of an animal.” Airi nodded, satisfied with the answer yet still shocked that an emperor with such a mind existed. The guard reminded Airi again before he left, “Eat before it gets cold and make sure you eat early. The interrogator will come soon. The meals are the best treatment you’re going to get while staying in here because when it comes to getting information out from prisoners, the emperor doesn’t get involved, thus the treatments won’t be as nice as this.”
After watching the guard disappear into the dark hallway, Airi pulled the tray of food closer and sat herself down next to it as she held her hands above the bowl of hot soup, feeling the warmth,
’Things sure are different around here.’ A small groan snapped Airi out of her thoughts. Turning to the source of the sound, Airi saw Jurina waking up. Setting the food aside, Airi jumped up and moved next to Jurina. Helping the girl sit up against the wall, Airi asked as she brushed a piece of hair from the girl’s face, “Are you okay?”
Ignoring the question, Jurina looked around her. Not liking being confined in an unfamiliar environment, Jurina asked, “Where are we?”
“In Yuasa’s prison, no doubt.”
Jurina almost jumped up at the emperor’s name and the memories of last night’s event floated back up into her mind, “The mission! What about the mission?” Airi stayed silent, not knowing how to reply. “What about the mission!?” Jurina repeated, her voice louder now, unable to contain her worries. Remembering that Airi had her target right in front of her before Jurina lost sight of the two girls, Jurina asked, “Did you take your kill?”
Airi wanted to tell Jurina. To tell her that she had failed. She had faltered and let her own emotions got in the way. She could have killed the girl. She couldn’t do it, no matter how hard she tried. But Airi didn’t say these outloud. She knew how Jurina would react to her words. It would just be like that time with the young boy. If Airi told Jurina that she couldn’t take a kill, she knew that Jurina would do everything she can and take down the target for her.
Airi’s continuous silence answered Jurina’s question for her. “We can’t go back empty-handed, you know that! Killing at least one of the targets, at least we could’ve gone back and told Togasaki we did our best. But now, killing none, after wasting so much times travelling from Akihabara to Sakae, do you really think Togasaki will let us live!? What about my mother!? Do you think he’ll le- argh!” Jurina shouted at Airi but couldn’t continue when her leg started hurting. The pain was worse than it was from when they were riding on the horses. The kicks she made last night must’ve worsen the conditions. But Jurina couldn’t care less. What she cared about right now was the fact that Togasaki could kill her mother just for the reason that she had failed her task. Togasaki said he would protect her mother for as long as she worked for her, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t hurt her mother as punishment for something that Jurina did wrong.
“Jurina!” Airi reached over to help Jurina only to be pushed away.
Jurina slapped Airi’s hand that was reaching over, trying to help her up. Without thinking, pouring all her anger into it, Jurina pushed Airi away, sending the girl flying back to the metal bars of the cell, startling some of the other prisoners. “If you had taken the kill, then we wouldn’t be here!” Jurina yelled.
“If I had taken the kill, then YOU wouldn’t be alive!” Airi shouted back, unable to believe that Jurina had just pushed her. Yes, they had argued many times before, ever since they took on the emperor’s job. But not once, not once had Jurina hurt her. And now knowing that Jurina had pushed her away all because she couldn’t take a kill, Airi’s heart ached.
“What we agreed on before,” Jurina said in a lower voice that still showed anger, “was that if one falls into trouble, then the other one would go back and think of a way to save the fallen. Not falling together!”
“But we also agreed to each other not to keep secrets!” Airi almost screamed back at Jurina. Airi knew what she had just said before had absolutely no connection to their current argument whatsoever, but she couldn’t help it. In the heat of her anger, the thoughts that had always been on her mind just slipped out. Seeing that Jurina was quiet now, Airi continued in a much softer voice, “Or have you forgotten?”
Jurina stayed quiet. There was nothing else to say back. Airi spoke the truth. They did agree to such thing. Not knowing how to talk back, Jurina just sat back, closed her eyes, and relaxed against the wall as she tried to focus onto something else, like the sound of the flame of the candles flickering whenever the guards past by it. Now Jurina was curious at why the guards didn’t stop them when she and Airi shouted at each other in the cell. Usually, if it was back at Togasaki’s camp, the two of them would’ve had their heads pushed into water before they even got into the argument because talking between prisoners was also forbidden.
Seeing that Jurina had finally calmed down, Airi sighed. Deep inside, she had hoped that Jurina would argue back, because that means that Jurina was normal. But, being greeted only by the girl’s silence, it just proved that Jurina indeed was hiding something from her. And that wasn’t a very encouraging thought, not in this situation. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Airi looked at the food in front of her and after awhile, pushed the tray towards Jurina and said, “Eat up.”
Without opening her eyes, Jurina answered back straight away, “Not hungry.” She wasn’t in the mood to eat. There was too much things on her mind.
“We’re going to get questioned soon, you’re going to need your full strength.”
Not bothering to reply, Jurina ignored the pain in her leg as she lied back own onto the cold floor, clenching onto Airi’s cloak tightly, trying to stop herself from shivering from the contact with the cold floor.
“You’re going to need to eat if you want to make it out of here and fix that leg so you can do that signature wall jumping move of yours better,” Airi said, knowing that Jurina loves showing off with that move of hers. Or at least Airi thinks she still likes showing off.
Hearing those words, Jurina sat up. She couldn’t lose that skill. It was probably the only thing that she was proud of. It was something that no one that she has met was able to do. It was something that was special to her. The reaction she sees from others when they see her jump from wall to wall and then disappearing and reappearing in front of them, Jurina could still remember them clear.
“Here,” Airi took the loaf of bread and pushed the tray towards Jurina again, “You take the rest. The rice and the hot beef stew will help you recover. The soup will keep you warm.”
Jurina took the tray and stared at the steaming food. After thinking for a while, Jurina picked up the bowl of soup and pushed it to Airi. Without waiting for any other reaction, Jurina dragged herself to the corner of the cell with her food and started eating.
Airi smiled and took the soup. Dipping her bread in the soup and taking a bite in it. While enjoying the warmth inside her stomach, Airi stole a glance at Jurina. Seeing Jurina eat was probably going to be the only way that Airi could ever see the girl act like she had always been before. Because whenever Jurina is eating, there is always this smile on her face that instantly puts a smile on others’ faces as well.
***
Airi don’t even know what time of day it was when she woke up. After the warm meal, since Jurina didn’t really talk much, Airi just closed her eyes to relax for a while and before she knew it, she fell asleep. She would’ve kept on sleeping though, if there wasn’t so much loud shouting going on. Cursing the noise, Airi forced her eyes opened and stood up from her not-so-comfortable position on the floor and made her way to the front of the cell, trying to see what all the noises were from.
“Give us the keys!” A voice shouted at one of the guards. Airi have never seen the newcomer before, but seeing how his clothes are different to the other soldiers that were following behind him, she suspected that he must have a pretty high position.
“Interrogation time is still yet to come, you are not allowed in,” the guard answered back with firm voice, keeping his sword out in front of the person, blocking him from moving further.
The interrogator narrowed his eyes at the guard and said, “Having the interrogation take place a few ten minutes later doesn’t make a difference, soldier. I had had enough with sitting in my room and doing nothing. Now that I have a chance to do my job, I want to be able to do my job properly. Unless, would you rather take their place, soldier?”
The guard took a step back from the interrogator and after a while, pulled back his weapon and allowed the interrogator and his men through. “The emperor will hear about this,” the guard said as he handed the keys to him.
Airi moved back from the gate, knowing very well who the interrogator had come for. “Jurina, wake up,” Airi called the girl in a whisper, shaking her shoulders lately. “Jur-“ Airi felt arms grabbed her shoulder and threw her to the other side of the cell, ripping her away from Jurina. Airi’s eyes widened when she saw the interrogator walking towards Jurina,
’How did they unlock the door without me hearing!? How can I not hear them!?’“Get this one first,” the interrogator pointed to Jurina. The two men that had pulled Airi away moved forward and lifted Jurina up roughly by her two arms. Jurina woke up the instant she felt strange hands grab at her. Although her feet didn’t touch the ground, using the strength she had from her waist, Jurina twisted around in the air and landed a kick in the head of one of the soldiers’ head, making him release his hold on her and sending him flying back to Airi’s side of the cell. The other soldier tried to release Jurina before she could do the same too him but was too late. Before he knew it, he too, was send flying across the cell, landing onto the previous man.
“You two are useless,” the interrogator spat and moved forward to grab Jurina himself, lifting her up easily with one hand. Jurina kicked at her wildly, but found her kicks useless on the man. Using up the strength she gained from her previous warm meal, Jurina kicked at full power at the man with her leg and watched with satisfaction, even though she felt enormous pain on her leg as she had kicked the man with her sore leg, as the man released her and doubled over, clenching at his stomach.
Jurina winced as she dropped back down onto the floor, face down, the pain in her leg doubled. Just as she pushed herself up to turn around, she felt a pair of arms grab her shoulders again and flipped her around with so much force that her elbow hit the cold floor, scraping off the skin. Almost immediately, Jurina felt something warm flowing from her elbow. “That’ll teach you to kick at me!” The interrogator shouted at Jurina and stepped with his full weight, on the leg that Jurina kicked him with, causing Jurina to squeeze her eyes shut and her fist clenched tightly into a ball as she endured the pain in silence.
“Stop it! Stop!” Airi screamed as she watched Jurina’s pained expression. She jumped up from her position and tried to kick the interrogator. The two guards quickly got up and grabbed Airi’s two arms, holding her back and stopping her from intervening. Airi easily shook them off and gave them a full roundhouse kick in the head, sending them to the floor once again. Before the two soldiers could recover again, Airi had already put full force into her body and slammed against the interrogator, the metal bars of the cell shook as the man collided into it. Not even bothering to look at where the man flew off to, Airi dropped down and check Jurina’s leg, “Are you okay?”
Before Jurina could even answer Airi, the interrogator had recovered and landed a kick right in Airi’s ribs, “Don’t intervene with my job.”
Airi fell onto the floor, gasping for air. She tried to resist when the two soldiers grabbed at her again, but she couldn’t. She barely had any strength left. The soldiers pulled Airi back away from Jurina and forced her to stay on her knees as she watched the interrogator stepped on Jurina’s leg again. There was no screaming from Jurina as the man stepped on her leg over and over again but even from where Airi was kneeling, she could hear Jurina’s breathing rapidly increasing in speed and she could hear Jurina starting to have trouble breathing as well.
“Please stop!” Airi yelled at the interrogator when she saw Jurina’s eyes rolled backward from the pain and collapsed. “Her bones are already broken on the inside! Please don’t make it worst!” Hot tears streaming down Airi’s face as she spoke.
The interrogator stopped but kept his leg on Jurina’s leg. He turned and smiled at Airi, “I can stop, but you,” he pointed at Airi, “must answer my questions.”
Airi quickly nodded, “I’ll do anything you say, just please... don’t hurt her anymore...”
Without releasing his hold on Jurina, the interrogator started his questions. “Who are you two?”
“I’m Airi and she’s Jurina,” Airi quickly answered as she nervously looked at Jurina, hoping for the girl to wake up soon and help her. Jurina once taught Airi what to do when they are caught and are being questioned. She remembered Jurina telling her not to give their full name if their identity are asked and only give first names because there will always be more than one person with their name. However, Airi can remember this now, but that doesn’t mean that she can remember all the other things that the girl taught her. And seeing Jurina being used against her right now, Airi wasn’t sure that she would be able to hold out for long. She knew herself that it wouldn’t be long till she breaks.
“Very well, Airi. Why did you try to kill the princess?” the man asked again.
“It was just a job,” Airi mumbled, her eyes never leaving Jurina. Airi gave a sigh of relief when she saw Jurina’s finger twitched.
’She can help me soon, to answer those questions too... So it won’t be just me answering these...’The interrogator grinned to himself, satisfied with the cooperation coming from Airi. His focus were completely put on Airi as he thought that he had Airi completely where he wanted. He never even thought that Jurina would recover so quick. Without realizing that Jurina was already awake, he asked the next question, “Who gave you two the job?”
Airi hesitated this time, before answering. This was one of the questions that she couldn’t remember what Jurina had said to reply. As she tried to remember, Togasaki’s words flew back into her mind.
”If you two are ever caught and I found out that you two spoke my name out to your captors, it wouldn’t just be you two’s lives on the line.”A shiver went down Airi’s spine again as she recalled the tone of the emperor’s voice when he said that line. The only other life that was in the emperor’s hand was Jurina’s mother who was all alone back home, defenseless. Airi’s gaze moved and focused onto the interrogator’s boot that was still on Jurina’s leg. It was a choice, choosing between Jurina’s leg or Jurina’s mother’s life. And Airi honestly didn’t know what to do. After a while of deciding which side was more important, Airi finally looked up at the interrogator’s impatient eyes and was about to say Togasaki’s name when Jurina shouted at her.
“Don’t tell him! Don’t tell him anyth-“
The man stepped on Jurina’s leg, cutting her off and spat, “Shut up!” Turning back to Airi with a more furious face, he asked louder this time, “Who is it!?” Airi clamped her mouth shut and shook her head, tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched Jurina writhed on the floor in pain. The interrogator raised his leg, about to step on Jurina again when a much difference voice suddenly spoke up.
“Enough.”
The interrogator’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the new comer, “What are people such as yourself doing in a place like this? This is no place for people such as you. May I suggest you return to the palace?”
Airi recognized the voice as a female voice. It was obvious too. It was a soft and elegant voice that spoke with much confidence and authority. From what she could hear, if her hearing had not failed her, it sounded like there were four people walking towards their cell.
“I refuse. I am here upon the command of my father.”
“Your father never interrupts my work.”
“He is this time,” the voice spoke firmly.
The interrogator thought for awhile and released Jurina. Upon seeing the interrogator moving away, Airi immediately shook off the soldiers’ arms and ran to Jurina to check her condition. “It wasn’t the emperor’s order, was it?” The interrogator asked as he made his way out of the cell with his two soldiers.
“That is none of your business, soldier,” the voice spoke coldly, “You are done here. Leave.”
“As you wish, princess,” the interrogator bowed and stomped out of the cell, furious.
Airi sighed with relief when she heard the three men’s footsteps fade into nothing as they move away. However, she froze when she heard someone else coming into the cell. Quickly twirling around, Airi placed herself in front of Jurina, hoping to be able to stop whatever else others were planning to do to Jurina. Airi’s eyes widened when she realized who was here. It was Jurina’s target, Matsui Rena. The same person who shot an arrow at her last night. Looking behind her, Airi could also see three other girls. Airi’s vision focused onto one particular pair of eyes that belonged to Akane, who Airi knew she would never be able to forget. Seeing Airi staring at her, Akane moved back and hid slightly behind Rena.
Seeing Airi’s protective stance, Rena smiled at her and said in the most convincing voice she could muster, “I’m not going to hurt you two.” When Rena saw that Airi still didn’t budge but had turn her attention from Akane to herself, she sighed, “If I really wanted to hurt you two, I would’ve just left you two to the mercy of the interrogator instead of having to argue my way down here and use my father’s name without his permission.”
Airi looked at Rena. The first thought that came into her mind was
’What is a princess doing here?’ and then her mind turned into the more important point,
’Why is the princess here?’ Airi didn’t understand any of the Sakae people. One minute, they serve up really nice food and one minute they storm in and starts hurting Jurina in unimaginable ways. Then the next minute, their princesses come and start a nice conversation with her.
’What is this place?’ Airi thought to herself as she looked around.
Akane stepped backward a step, her leg getting sore from standing in the same spot for so long. Surprising her, she saw Airi’s eyes instantly snapping her focus onto her. It was then did Akane realize that somehow, she really affects Airi. Hoping to be able to help her sister since she knew what Rena was doing here, Akane stepped out from Rena’s back and spoke in a soft voice, “My sister won’t hurt your friend, or you. You can trust her.”
For some reason, Airi found reassurance in Akane’s word and slowly moved aside. Rena looked back at Akane, confused at how her little sister became so persuasive. But then seeing that Akane’s eyes were so locked onto Airi’s moving figure, Rena decided to save that question for later. “Mai-chan?” Rena called.
Imade frowned, unable to believe what Rena is about to set her to do. But being the servant, and after Rena begged her so much to the point where Rena was offering her melonpan, Imade had no choice but to do what Rena asked. Slowly, while holding onto the pain, Imade limped forward and kneeled down next to Jurina’s leg. “I can’t believe I have to help someone who cracked my ribs just last night...” Imade mumbled to herself as she inspected Jurina’s leg condition.
Rena heard Imade’s mumbling but decided to ignore it. Rena knew it wasn’t nice to ask Imade to come help Jurina, even though Jurina kicked Imade so hard last night that she cracked a few of her ribs. Not to mention the healers said that Imade was supposed to stay in bed the next few weeks to make sure her bones stay in place. However, Rena really couldn’t afford missing such a rare chance like this. After all, someone who she have been looking for this whole time, had just delivered themselves to her. And for a reason that Rena decided to keep to herself, not telling even Imade, Rena really wanted to help Jurina. There was something about Jurina that really made her want to help her, yet Rena couldn’t exactly put into words what that feeling was. Shaking her thoughts from her head, Rena looked at Jurina’s leg and asked, “Can you fix it, Mai-chan?”
Surprising everyone, Imade shook her head, “I don’t know...”
“E-Eh?” Rena looked back at Imade, shocked. “I understand that you only study medics by yourself all your life, but your skills in healing surpasses even some of my father’s healers. How can you not be able to fix it!?” Rena asked, concern for the girl who tried to kill her made the volume of her voice increase.
Although confused at why Rena was so concern about this assassin’s health, Imade kept it to herself. “I’ve never seen bones in such a state before,” Imade answered, “That’s why I said I don’t know whether or not I can fix it.”
Worried and confused, Airi spoke up, “Why? Is Jurina’s bone in an even worst condition now?”
“Jurina?” Imade turned turned her head to Airi.
’Yabai! I wasn’t suppose to say our names unless we have to! Argh! I can’t believe I forgot!’ Airi thought to herself as she mentally slapped herself. Realizing what she had done, Airi kept quiet.
Rena laughed, knowing why Airi was suddenly going quiet, “It’s not like we don’t already know Jurina’s name. You shouted out Jurina’s name a few times last night. The only name we don’t know here, is your’s.”
Seeing that Airi was still quiet and seems to Imade that she wasn’t planning on telling them their name, Imade turned them back into the right topic, “I don’t know what Jurina’s condition was before, but right now, just from what I can feel,” Imade poked Jurina’s leg, “It feels like Jurina’s bone is not just cracked, but some of the cracked pieces have also slightly moved out of place, causing her leg to swollen.”
Jurina hissed in pain when Imade poked her. Airi, seeing Jurina in pain, tried to loosen up Jurina’s clenched up fist with her hand to avoid the girl breaking the skin of her palm with her nail. However, the moment Airi’s finger touch Jurina’s knuckles, Jurina’s hand pulled back. Ignoring the stab in the heart that Airi felt from Jurina’s action, Airi mumbled to Jurina, ‘I told you we should’ve waited...”
Imade chuckled, “If you two had waited till Jurina’s leg is healed before you two came, then you two would’ve met much more resistance than just the patrolling guards because Emperor Yuasa would’ve been back with the main army already.”
Airi looked at the princess, confused at what they meant.
“Our father isn’t coming back until next week,” Akane said.
“Our entire city is only protected by a few hundred men right now. That was why you two didn’t see much guards last night,” Rena added.
The extra information just made Airi even more confused. Why were they telling her this?
’Are these princesses crazy!? If we went back to Togasaki with this information, then... Both me and Jurina’s life would be spare even though we failed our mission. If Togasaki gets hold of this information, the war will be over for Sakae and Akihabara will emerge as the victor...’Akane saw Airi’s face and immediately knew what the girl was thinking about. “We’re telling you this because we know you won’t go back,” Akane smiled.
Airi was lost in the girl’s smile for a second but quickly recovered. “Why? What makes you think that?” Airi asked as she tears her eyes away from Akane’s.
“Because we have an offer for you and Jurina,” Rena smiled.
“Well, whatever the offer is, how do you know we will accept it?” Airi asked.
“Because I know you are different,” Akane said, looking directly at Airi who once again, was drowned in the girl’s dazzling smile.