Chapter 7

Kuro strolls into camp of the black and white legion with confidence. Upon seeing him watanabe giddily hops to his side. "Master kuro! I'm glad to see you" he says beaming

"The royal family's time is coming to an end, come to my tent i'll show you what i've learned"

"Wait a moment master," Watanabe starts "excuse me for even mentioning this but there is somebody who wants to see you."

Kuro turns to him confused, it was not the norm for his followers to request audiences. But kuro knew watanabe would hardly be one to bring this up in normal circumstances "who? he asks, curiosity piqued.

Watanabe leads Kuro to the one who requested his presence and is surprised to find a small woman, despite her petite size she hardly looks innocent, her back and arms exposed and covered in tiger stripe shaped tattoos and scars,her hair cut short, her face ordinarily was small and beautiful like a doll, yet her eyes and expression are practically soaked in blood.

Kuro could see that whoever this woman was she was a killer. Gripping his sword he grins, examining her and marking her appearance in his mind. Beautiful, yes, but each scar removed points and tattoos were not to his taste. Overall her beauty in his opinion was lacking in comparison with the princess. "What can i do for you?"

She drops to her knees, eyes blazing with rage. "I want to join the black and white legion" she says, tone dark expression stern

Kuro scoffs "hah, really? And why is that?"

"I want blood" she says

He brushes past her, seeing she is no threat to him personally, and pours himself some sake. Siping on it he plops into a chair crossing his leg dramatically. "Who's blood?" He asks without a care

" the royal family, all of them. especially the princess"

He pauses his cup at his lip when she mentions the princess. Then he downs the rest and walks to see her face "any particular reason?" He asks

"They killed my father and left me for dead "she says.

"How proactive of them" he says

"The king stripped my father of his title and my father lost all his means of living." She growls

"And so you want to take her live as revenge to him, is that it?"

The girl shakes her head, "no… no. My hate for her goes back to our childhood. Father always compared me to her, i was never good enough never-"

"- Alright, alright! I get it." Kuro interrupts "you understand that once you join the black and white legion, you only leave by death."

"If you deliver me their heads, my life is owed to you" she says

Kuro laughs "then their heads you shall have, but don't blame me if you die along the way" he says leaving the tent where Watanabe was waiting eagerly.

Following Kuro closely as a duckling to it's mother, watanabe waits for kuros instruction "she will being joining the legion, but watch her closely." They enter his tent sitting "shiro is examining the palace for weaknesses which as far as i can tell, there are many." He strokes his face remembering where the king struck him, "you Men worry about the soldiers but the king's head is Mine, as for his children…" Kuro recalls the brief meeting with the prince, who so openly expressed his dislike for kuro.

"The soldiers will give ours no trouble, it's the king, prince and princess that will be more difficult to defeat, do not take their strength lightly, the girl who joined our ranks wants their blood, and if she is strong enough let her do what she will, but if she tries to kill the princess you must kill her… if anyone tries to kill her you won't allow them and each scar i find on her will be put back onto you."

Watanabe squirms in place at kuros interest in her "why spare her my lord?" He asks cautiously

"She…. will make a good toy." He says with a grin.

Watanabe sighs "ah i see my lord, is she very beautiful?"

Kuro nods "remarkably so, but it won't be easy to subdue her, shiro and I will likely be busy with the king and prince. So i'll leave it to you."

Watanabe hops "i will not fail you my lord. Oh! I nearly forgot sir, we were able to stop the prince from the shinku empire, would you like to see him?"

Kuro grins "lead the way" he says

Watanabe leads Kuro to a tree where two men sit tied "which one is the prince?" He asks

"We both are," says the larger one, his face lightly bruised. Kuro glances over him scoffing at his face, it's anything but handsome. He laughs at the beaten boar like man.

"You thought you could marry the princess with a face like that?" He says

"I'm the one marrying her you Buffoon" the smaller man says under his breath

Kuro grips his bruised face, he groans from the pain. Despite the bruising, kuro can clearly see that his features were nothing remarkable. "Well well, subarashii, what did you think you could offer her? Money? Or you're snotty tittle? Because it's definitely not your face"

He sneers "and you're nothing, no title, no money, nothing but a pretty face and rotten personality"

"Maybe, but at least I'm free…you see, once this pitiful little country is mine I'm headed for the shinku empire" he threatens.

Subarashii snears "you're insane if you think you can overtake shinku, our empire has an army bigger than all of the pathetic contras you've amassed"

Scoffing kuro drops subarashii's face and walks away

"What shall we do with them?" Watanbe asks

Kuro turns back glancing at the princes tied up "keep them alive for now, I'd love nothing more than to see that pig wash my feet while I sit on his throne. I'm returning to the palace, the queen is moving to the Countryside, tonight intersect her quietly if it's possible but do not alert anyone to our presence, that's most important"

"Yes my lord!" Watanabe says all to elated to have his orders

-

Back at the palace shiro and kuro run into each other,

"How are the men?" Shiro asks.

"Eager," kuro replies "i hope you have taken a good look around the grounds shiro"

"A very good look. I think we will be ready to move in 2 days, just one last detail to check?

"What's that?"

"The king, we still don't know his strength"

Kuro nods with a grin "Then let's find out"

"Price subarashii!" The princess approaches the scheming men, unaware of their plot.

"Well, good afternoon princess, i thank you for the flowers you left me" kuro says

"O-of course my lord" misa says, averting her gaze nervously "I was worried that you wouldn't like them" she rubs her wrist still bruised from his grasp the day prior. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't look kuro in the eye without feeling utter terror.

Kuro approaches her, grasping her face as he did the day before. This time more gently "I really must find a way to thank you princess" once again she gets the petrified feeling from his stare but unlike last time he releases her swiftly.

"Subarashii!" The king's voice loud and booming fills the yard, the prince and several other soldiers behind him. Face to face he glares at kuro before smiling "i thought I'd give you a chance to get even with me for punching you in the face." The king says

Shiro glances at Kuros fist ,clenched tightly. "Right now?" Kuro asks with a false smile.

The king nods, "that is if you'd like to visit the training grounds with us?"

Kuros' expression grows too eager as he nods."I'd love it." He says. The king leads him to the training grounds. Shiro and misa exchange glances following behind at a distance.

"I'm afraid he'll take this too far" they both say in unison. Their eyes meet momentarily in surprise misa smiles sweetly in response,

"I guess we will have to look after them together", she says before carrying on.

Shiro Stands still for a moment, the feeling of her smile linger with him. It placed an unfamiliar feeling in her heart… unsure of the reason for it he shook it off, Carrying on to the training grounds beside her.