𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐎 ↳ ⊹ ° . ᵐᵃᵗᶜʰᵃᵇˡᵒˢˢᵒᵐ

chapter 1.

"Hanako, I have to go, right this instant!" Kaoru sprinted into the common room, basically screaming.

"What do you mean right this insta-"

"I got a commission from the royal family-" he paused, taking a deep breath, "and they want me to be at the Nanjo palace by tomorrow's dawn." The painter explained, a little out of breath because of his running (he didn't have any endurance when running, although he was quite an athletic person).

"EXCUSE ME?" The actress started, staring at her friend in total and utter disbelief. "Okay, well you definitely do need to hurry- have you packed bags yet?" She asked.

"No, but there's no need to-" the painter was interrupted.

"Okay, well get a water bottle and something to protect you from the sun, uh... I'll make you rice balls in case you get hungry." Hanako intructed. "Oh, and don't forget to dress up properly, I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier but that kimono looks ugly!" She added, basically yelling as Kaoru was already gaining his room.

She herself headed to the kitchen, taking some already cooked rice from a pantry and taking down seaweed from where it was previously drying. Luckily enough, it wasn't still wet, and was dried enough to make a decent dish. She opened a jar and got a pickled plum out from it, placing it on the table as she screwed the jar's cap back on. She took half of the plum and made a compact ball of rice around it. She then wrapped the nori algae around it. Maybe that wasn't the original recipe, not the one that her mother would have done in her stead, but Hanako was no chef, she was an actress. As she finished with the second rice ball, Kaoru arrived into the room, in his fanciest attire. He put a terracotta bottle under the kitchen's tap, filling it up with cold water. Hanako handed him a small bag containing the two nori rice balls.

"We're gonna miss you, but at least we won't have any tanuki problems anymore." She smiled, wrapping her arms around Kaoru. "Now go, Kaoru, before I start crying." The actress laughed.

"Hey, it's not like I'm leaving forever okay? It's only a job, and I promise to come back." He smiled and patted the shorter woman's head, which would usually have made her furious but in this case she just chuckled and slapped his hand off. "Well then, I'll be off! Take good care of the house while I'm gone!" Kaoru slid open the door at his words.

"I take care of the house even when you're here, for your information!" She screamed back.

Then the door closed.

Kaoru found himself instinctively going towards what was the most similar thing to a road: the dirt path on which were aligned food stands: some sold spices, other vegetables and meat, and some even sold overpriced nori rice balls and onigiri. Since this path was quite popular for all of the locals to do their shopping, it wasn't rare for there to be quite a bit of traffic. After walking for a few minutes, Kaoru spotted a mule cart. He asked the driver to stop and asked him for his destination. What seemed to be an old man with a kabuki theatre mask responded that he was a farmer headed to the royal castle. The painter handed the other man two coins and bowed, basically begging the farmer to allow him to come with him.

"Well, as long as you cause no trouble and have an invitation, I don't see why not." The farmer answered in a creaky voice, putting the two shu in his pocket. Kaoru smiled and thanked the farmer, sitting on top of the hay stacks that rested on the cart. The old man started his mule again, and they started moving at quite a fast pace.

After about nine hours of riding (adding the thirty minute breaks every two hours it had been ten hours in total), they finally arrived in front of the castle. The painter had fallen asleep by then, and when the sudden stop of the cart woke him up, the sun was soon going to start rising.

'Good thing we got here before dawn.' He thought, getting off of the cart. Shooting a glance at the farmer, Kaoru decided to thank him verbally as he had no money left on him. "Thank you so much for everything, I cannot possibly express my gratitude towards you!" He said as he softly bowed at the man who was now in front of him.

"Oh, no my boy." The old man put his fingers under Kaoru's chin, lifting his head up slightly. "I should be the one thanking you." Only then did the painter look at his driver - really look, I mean. Those red eyes that spoke only of youth seemed so out of place in his wrinkled face... and his voice, his voice too, seemed young and full of life. "For your money..." It was so unsettling. "But most importantly, for being my entry ticket to this place." He flashed Kaoru a grin. A wide one, one that shone with wickedness the more he looked at it.

Before the pink haired painter had the time to understand what was happening, he was thrown to the ground, now being tackled by the old man. He tried kicking, he tried punching, he tried headbutting, but none worked. He was held down and his opponent had the upper hand. The only thing that he could think of doing was to scream, but at this rate his yells would soon be muffled too. His only chance was giving in to the farmer's demands.

"Where is your invitation? It's either you give it to me now, or you help me kill the king." The old man spoke, his red eyes glistening as he did.

"Wait, kill the king? Is that why you need me?" Kaoru asked, thinking at about 100 kilometers per second.

"Yes, that's right. You want in?" The red eyed farmer answered, seemingly very interested in Kaoru's response.

The more said painter thought, the more he thought that killing the king was a bad idea. First off, it could fail, and even if it didn't, they could still be found out and they could be sentenced to a death penalty with additional torture. Additionally, even if they succeeded, the country would be taken over by a general anarchy. In the end it wasn't worth it. "No." The painter simply said, trying as hard as he could to separate himself from his opponent, who, surprisingly enough, let go.

"Hear that Kojiro? He doesn't want to kill you. Tadashi was right about just about everyone ever, so never doubt him again ok?" What I previously described as an old man took off his kabuki mask, his hat, and his apparently fake beard, revealing the features of a young man, about Kaoru's age, with stunning blue hair.

The sun's golden ray started to appear, lighting up the whole castle in autumn tones.

"Fine, you win, Ainosuke." A voice came from the bushes, from which soon rose a man. He had deep purple eyes and short green hair which looked ethereal in the morning lightning. "Nice to meet you," he said, turning to the painter, "I'm Nanjo Kojiro, your current King. I hope we'll get along well, Sakurayashiki Kaoru."

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A/n: HEY SUCKERS, HOWS LIFE <33 since i'm on summer break I can write all day so I will probably be updating this story often (*'꒳'*) anyways, any thoughts on this new book? How do you think Kaoru is going to react to Kojiro's test? I'd be very glad to hear your thoughts, so leave a smol comment if you feel like it, it'd mean a lot to me and my constant need for validation ♪( 'θ｀) bye bye luvs <3