Kingdoms (kaimaki fantasy AU)

Chapter 33: "PUNISHMENT TIME!"

"Hey, Maki Roll? You trust me right?" Kaito suddenly asked. Maki looked up at the window, only to see Kaito not there. Telling by where his voice was, he remained sitting where he had been crying before. He hadn't said anything to her since she had to give him the heartbreaking truth of who he is. She assumed that he didn't want to speak to her again after that. She would've been fine with that, no matter how much it broke her heart. He had every right to be angry after all.

"Yes." Maki said, standing up.

"Then, do me a favour yeah? Wait for me. I have a plan, but I need you to wait for me, okay?" Kaito replied. A plan? He had a plan? Why can't he tell her what it was? She can help out with it surely. She doesn't want to wait. She'll need to be prepared for it.

"Kaito-" Maki said, ready to jump to the window to face him. However, the door suddenly burst open. Maki didn't react fast enough when guards charged in and cuffed her hands in front of her. She tried pulling away, but she had no strength to do so. Judging by the sound from next door, Kaito was receiving the same treatment. Maki was dragged out of her cell, her feet being dragged along the floor as she tried all to hard to resist. She was forced out just as Kaito was. He didn't seem to put up a fight. Was that part of his plan? She looked to him for an answer, but then she felt like she had been splashed with cold water. Kaito looked incredibly pale and was shaking a little. He suddenly started coughing harshly. The coughing was so forceful that it forced him to hunch over. The guards didn't seem to care, but Maki was extremely concerned. The venom in Kaito's body was gone. And he was perfectly healthy moments ago. Why was he suddenly so sick?

Maki didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong or find out what was happening to Kaito. She was forced to walk forward, with Kaito in front of her. He really didn't look well, his footsteps were staggering every time and he kept letting out a horrible, raspy cough. Something was horribly wrong.

Maki was so worried about Kaito that she didn't notice how far she and Kaito walked until the clouded sky and hundreds of faces met her eyes. They were taken above ground to the courtyard. The place where Sayaka and so many others were executed. People watched them with pity as they were forced to walk. Like when they watched Sayaka's execution, none of the people looked like that they wanted to be here. They were all clearly forced to be here. Maki wasn't sure, but she thought that she could see a few children being forced to be here with their families. Maki pitied every single child here. They shouldn't have to watch something so awful. A few familiar looking orbs were floating around the courtyard, catching every single moment that was happening. Junko stood above the crowd on her balcony with Tsumugi standing next to her. Maki glared at her as hard as she could. She silently dared the fake Queen to try to hurt Kaito. It only faltered when Kaito suddenly started coughing again. Maki looked at him in concern. She turned pale. Was that blood coming out of his mouth?

"That bitch there, was sent by my enemies to assassinate me! As much I would love to feel the despair of a sudden death, I don't think I'm quite ready yet!" Junko announced, shrugging carelessly as if this was normal for her. She then pointed a long red fingernail at Kaito, who glared at her as if she would burst into flames. "Besides the purple haired bastard next to her has his own crimes to pay for. Not only did he harbour a criminal and try to help her escape, he was also wearing this." Junko then held up his pendent. It swung freely from her hand, showing it off for all to see. "A declaration of him being royalty, a direct descendent of the old family! Of course, we all know that this trinket is nothing, but a down right lie. The evidence to expose a fraud. I'm Queen here after all, aren't I? That idiot is nothing, but a fake." Some people muttered amongst themselves. They didn't seem to believe that the pendent and what it represented was real. However, the older generation suddenly went into an uproar. They were furiously shouting, crying and begging. They didn't believe the lies that Junko had just said. Numerous cries erupted from the crowd, begging for Kaito to be free.

"That's the Prince?!"

"That's the true heir to the throne!"

"Don't kill him! Please!"

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! OR ELSE I'LL FEED YOU ALL TO MY MONOKUMAS!" Junko shrieked as she hammered her fist on the stone railing of her balcony, Monokumas growling as she said those words. This helped her make the crowd quiet, fearful for their lives. Junko's face was red with anger when the people had protested to Kaito being executed. Her anger soon turned to confusion when Kaito started coughing up a storm. As the people and Maki showed immediate concern for him, Kaito suddenly started coughing up blood again, taking almost everyone by surprise.

"What's wrong with him?" Junko asked, turning to Tsumugi. She looked very baffled herself.

"I'm not sure. He wasn't like that when we picked him up." She said as she pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

"Let's kill him first. I want him to die along with this hope that the people suddenly have." Junko ordered, gesturing for the guards to bring Kaito forward first. Kaito was dragged to the podium. Maki was surprised that he wasn't putting up a fight. The people protested with anger as a few of them started crying. Kaito steeled himself against those shouts, glaring right at Junko. The guards forced him to sit on a wooden chair that was put up on the podium. They took the cuffs off, confident that he won't try anything stupid.

"Just let me say one thing." Kaito suddenly announced, a small trail of blood coming out from the corner of his mouth. Junko listened with keen interest. "Screw you, bitch! I'm not going to die the way you want!"

"Cute. You're still fighting." Junko laughed, relishing in the fact that Kaito was going to die by her hand. Kaito glared at her as he crossed his arms, bitterly spitting out blood onto the podium. "Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"