Third person POV
It's been three days ever since the gang left Tanbarun to Clarines. Meaning for three days or so, Akuma suffered from a long ride inside the carriage. But luckily for her, her boredom was thrown away once she stepped foot into the palace of Clarines.

'The guards are giving me nasty glares of hate and stares of fear... I kinda enjoy that~!' I thought sadistically, smirking at the thought of having all the guards bow down to me.

"Calm down Akuma. Don't do anything rash." Zen commented, causing the said girl to growl at him.

"Just try not to get in trouble alright?" Mitsuhide said which sounded more questioning.

"And what gives you that idea?" Akuma scoffed, walking ahead of everyone with crossed arms and her head held high.

"Well, you did go crazy when we found out you had pink-"

"Shut it cat."
—————

"So this was Kiroyuki's office?" Akuma asked, staring at the spacious room that lacked dust and sunlight.

"Yeah... You can use it in the meantime." Zen said, walking towards the desk, picking up a few documents.

"Do you mind finishing up these few documents?" Zen asked, handing the documents over to Mitsuhide for him to inspect before giving them to Akuma.

"... I-I don't know how..." Akuma mumbled.

"???" Kiki, Mitsuhide, and Zen gestured, not hearing what she said.

"I'm sorry, but can you speak up Akuma?" Mitsuhide asked, nervous.

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS PAPERWORK STUFF WORKS!" Akuma roared, blushing the color red of embarrassment.

"... Oh..." Was all the three older individuals managed to say.

"I-I-I never got lessons from any tutors or my parents s-since I w-was g-gone at a young age! An age t-too young to work with important d-documents!" Akuma scoffed, pouting greatly.

"I'll take these documents with me to my study then." Zen said, letting Kiki the small stack of papers.

"Hmph!" Akuma puffed her left cheek, lifting her head up high despite her embarrassment.

"If I have some free time tomorrow, stop by my study and maybe I can teach you how to sign and write documents and letters." Zen suggested.

"You also have Kiki and I to help you too!" Mitsuhide exclaimed while Kiki nodded her head in agreement.

"R-really? That'd b-b-be nice! Th-thank you!" Akuma exclaimed, knowing how foreign those words sounded to her knowledge and muscle memory.

"Feel free to walk around the castle ground too! See you around!" Zen said, waving goodbye.

"... *sigh* I guess I'm allowed to snooped around with this desk, right?" Akuma said, turning around gracefully towards the magnificently made desk.

Akuma opened the drawer of the desk, seeing common items of a few feather pens, paper, ink jars of different colors, stamps, many colors of wax, and many more necessities. The one thing that caught her attention was a light blue box, wrapped with a white ribbon. Curious, she grasped the box gently, opening it with very little strength.

"... How pretty..." Akuma whispered.

In the beautifully wrapped box, there was a even more beautiful jewel in it. It was a blue and silver crystal snowflake charm necklace that sparkled even in such dim room.

Akune placed the necklace carefully back into the box, knowing already that this necklace meant a lot for Kiroyuki.

"Hmm... Is this a diary?" Akuma asked herself, pulling out a hard-covered journal from the desk. Although slightly guilty of reading some private thoughts, she felt as if it were okay since she was technically once one with Kiroyuki.

Turning through the pages, Akuma felt pain after each turn. The happy and joyous writing and drawings made her heart feel sorrow, guilt, and frustration. The page that made her stop to read more throughly was the most recent and last page of the journal.

'Kyah! I can't wait for the ball! I hope everyone will be impressed with the amount of planning I put into
this event! But I do know for sure that the food will be the number one thing that will be my priority! The cooks here are amazing! Gahh! My nerves are so restless! ( 'Д')

But... Neil came! Surprisingly, he came really early to the castle and he called out to me, giving the fright of my life! I was so shocked yet so happy to see such familiar face after the many years apart! I... I missed Neil, but I don't think my feelings for him can ever be accepted by him. I know that I have this longing feeling for him as if I needed to wake up and that sounds strange, but that was how I felt. But, I know that I shouldn't be chasing after him with this one-sided love since he's always been teasing me and such. I don't know if his affection is real or is just all games.

But, I will be showing a dance and singing performance! I'm so nervous for that too! I think it'll be exciting though! I hope to make some good impression on the guests! I wonder what Ryu will think too! (*≧∀≦*) But what if I mess up!?
.°(ಗдಗ。)°. Wait! Stop it Kiroyuki! You'll bring bad luck if you doubt yourself!

Geez! I wish to wear this necklace Ryu gave me on Christmas... But it's too important for me to wear! I'd love to wear it at the ball, but what if while I'm dancing, it breaks and disappears in the crowd?! I can't imagine that happening! I would hate myself I lose this necklace! I, Kiroyuki, would promise myself to wear this necklace again! I will wear this necklace once again after the ball when I will not be in such crowed places of society! For this necklace is too precious and dear to me!

I also hope that Ryu will ask me to dance!! (๑>◡<๑)
That'd be a dream! Kyah! What am I thinking!? I shouldn't be giving myself such expectations! But I do hope that Ryu can teach me more about the many types of herbs again!

I wish to see Ryu smile more too!'

"... What have I done..." Akuma whispered softly, dropping the journal onto the desk, gritting her teeth. Her hands formed into fists and she wanted to punch something. No. She needed to punch something.

Despite her fury, Akuma carefully placed the two objects away into the desk, leaving the dim room that was covered in the night's light, only exposed to the moonlight.

'I need to cool down...... Where is the training room at?'
—————

'It feels weird to just return to work as if nothing has happened at all... Like no war, conflict, or anything happened...' Ryu thought, inspecting each herb that was placed on his desk.

"Ryu, does this concoction look alright to you? I've never really worked with these kinds of herbs. Not to mention, the mixture of the two." Shirayuki asked, unsure of color of the odd looking liquid.

"Hm... This is Common Rue and Tongkat Ali, right?" Ryu asked, inspecting the bottle.

"Yes, it is." Shirayuki replied, amazed at how Ryu can identify the two herbs used so quickly.

"What does those herbs do?" Obi asked, climbing into the room casually from the window.

"Common Rue helps with eye strain and muscle spasms. It's known to have been mixed with water to sprinkle on other to wash away of people's sins. Tongkat Ali is also known as Longjack and is one of the rarest herbs. It helps male to maintain normal testosterone levels." Ryu informed Obi.

"Pft!" Obi snorted at the last sentence. "Who is this medicine for?" Obi asked, curious while holding in his laughter.

"Perhaps you were the one, Obi." A cool and irritated voice spoke out, surprising the three other individuals.

"Wait what? Akuma, what are you talking about! I don't need any medicine for that!" Obi scoffed playfully, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"Pft! Whatever!" Akuma mumbled, jumping into the room by the window.

"Aren't you two cold? It's a chilly night and you both came through the window." Shirayuki asked, letting Ryu examine the bottle longer.

"Nah." Both Akuma And Obi relied simultaneously.

"Shirayuki. You should add more Tongkat Ali extract to lighten the color of the concoction. Maybe just a spoonful. It should also lessen the stronger affect of the Common Rue." Ryu suggested, handing the bottle over to Shirayuki.

"Of course! Thank you Ryu. I'll go over to Garak real quick then." Shirayuki said, excising herself from the room.

"... Say Ryu." Akuma called out. "How much do you know to wield a classic iron sword?" Akuma asked, sitting on the smooth wooden window sill.

"...? Um, not much. I think I was quite lucky using one to not injure myself actually." Ryu answered, confused.

"Well, I think it's time for you to train yourself more then!" Akuma smirked, showing a wide grin.

"W-what? Is there a reason why?" Ryu asked, baffled.

"Oh~! This is interesting!" Obi commented.

"Shut it Obi." Akuma scoffed. "You'll need to be prepared for anything and everything so why not begin now? Plus, I needed a good spar and I don't know where the training center is at!" Akuma said, twirling a strand of her hair.

"She has a point." Obi stated, despite Akuma's previous glare.

"Exactly! So, I'll give you an hour to finish up work! Obi and I will give you tips of how to spar hand to hand and sword training~! Until then, good luck with work!" Akuma exclaimed, clasping her hands in 'joy'.

"... Okay." Ryu said.

"Great! Now Obi, you're going to guide me to the training center!" Akuma said, hopping off the window sill.

"Yeah yeah... See ya later squirt!"

'Good... It's time for Ryu to train anyways. Maybe then that this training will bring more use of our time efficiently for that moment if it ever comes... I just hope that possibility would never have to come across us all, but it's better to be safe than sorry and broken.' Akuma thought to herself, stretching.
—————

"... I must... I must survive..." Coughing, wheezing, and panting, a turquoise haired girl walked through darkness, alone.

"Ryu... Ryu... I must survive... To see Ryu again..." The girl cried silently, walking while limping.

"I must escape... With this time... With the precious time I have... While they are busy... I will escape..."

"Kyah!" The girl fell, tripping on her own foot, exhausted. Immediately, she stood up with some struggle, but she managed.

"... I will survive! I cannot waste any second! It is time for me to escape this darkness!"

A/N
So, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Also... I SURVIVED THE EXAMS! ('༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ') I HOPE YOU ALL DID TOO!

But anywaysss.... THANK YOU FOR 29K VIEWS! SO GLAD THAT THIS BOOK IS SLOWLY BEING NOTICED MORE! (NOTICE ME SENPAI!) THANK YOU AGAIN! 🎉🎊

Please like and comment too! I'd love the feedback!

(Btw, the image of Miku walking in pain took forever to put together!!! I couldn't find any good images so I had to cut out a figure of her and place it onto that background!! MY HAND CRAMPED UP! But, I do not own the artwork of Miku!)

Have a great day/ night! Bai bai!

12/18/17