Alluring Secret [TechiNeru]

Meeting Again

After saying her farewell and expressing her gratitude to the Nagahama elders, Yurina had approached Fuyuka.

"Please, stay by Neru's side no matter what, as I can't no longer be there for her."

These were her parting words to the Saito heiress. And now she is wandering the streets, wearing a cloak and covering her face with it's hood. Sebastian had handed it to her as she head out. She was very thankful of the Nagahama household butler for not exposing her secret.

"Neh, Risa....."

She halts as she passed by a couple as she recognizes the voice.

"Pippi?" Yurina held the arm of a tall girl with short brown locks, still keeping her head down.

"Eh?~" was the reply of the tall girl as she gazes back at Yurina. It took quite sometime for her to register the name she was called. "Techi?!" She exclaimed to which Yurina had directly hugged the tall figure.

"Techi?" Risa says in a soft voice, a bit unsure as she hadn't seen the girl since she went missing.

"Let's get out of here first." Manaka whom Yurina calls Pippi says as she scans the crowd, an unpleasant look on her face as Risa simply nods at her.

****

Risa and Manaka were Yurina's childhood friends. Daughters of nobles that frequents the palace. That's how they met. Manaka was the daughter of the king's general while Risa was the daughter of a scholar that teaches Yurina at that time. Manaka and Risa ended up dating each other that it didn't shocked Yurina when she figured it out. Both girls are pretty much inseparable although Manaka often flirts with other girls. She would always come back to Risa.

"So, you're telling us that you were staying with the Nagahama's?!" Manaka asks Yurina, a look of disbelief written on her face. "How could they not realize the missing princess is living with them?!"

"Well, it was thanks to their butler. He didn't exposed my identity and asked me regarding the matter." Yurina explains.

"Do you even have any idea how upset your father was?! He called us in just to ask for your whereabouts! He even have us followed!" Risa voices out her frustration.

Yurina kept silent, looking down at her hands as she fidgets with her fingers.

"Your brother was worried sick too." Manaka added.

At the mention of her brother, she raises her head, eager to hear more but nothing else came after that. She misses her brother, a lot. Her sole comforter when her parents decided to hand the throne to her. She did expect her older brother to get mad at her for that, but nothing came. He readily relinquish the rights to the throne to her. She would've gladly accepted it until another friend of her, the princess of the neighboring kingdom, was engaged with her.

"I don't want to go back to the palace." Yurina tells both of her friends.

"And where do you plan to stay?" Risa asked in a scolding tone to which Yurina looked at Manaka, "Oh! No, Techi, you already got us into trouble when you escaped the palace! Mona, don't you dare!" Risa warned her girlfriend.

Risa and Manaka are nobles, Manaka being the daughter of the General of the Army whereas Risa was the daughter of a famed scholar. Both had met Yurina when they were younger and had been close since then. It was basically because the two loves to spoil the Yurina not to suck up to her but they treated her like their little sibling. The very reason, why the couple gets suspected of hiding her highness when she went missing.