Crossfire

Chapter 2 |Akane|

(A/N) Hhh I feel so stressed. Writing is helping me escape school for a little, even if it's in the middle of the night.

After the conversation, I stood there, blinking.

"So lemme get this straight; you want me participate in a competition to win the prince of the vampire's hand so I can become the ruler, right? Then after I take the throne, murder him and let you seize the throne. I also need to act as a spy, reporting to you all their weaknesses."

The king nodded.

"And just how am I supposed to do that, hm? This competition is for princesses. Last time I checked, I don't have...," I trailed off- too embarrassed to say it, motioning to my chest.

I hear a snort from behind us and give Kimizuki a glare. Turning back around, I took a step back. Guren's mouth was formed into a mischievous grin.

"Well, I'm sure the maids can work something out. Shinoa and Mitsuba will be especially happy to comply," King Ichinose stated.

"Besides, you have the curves of a woman. Shouldn't be too hard of a task to turn you into one."

My face grew warm. I'm sure if you were to touch it, it'd be hotter than the surface of the sun. It was true that my body was more feminine than the other males, but did he really need to call me out like that? Giving Guren a glare, I then sighed.

"What's in this for me?"

"Simple; I will assign you to the Demon Army."

The Demon Army. The very knights in this room. The ones at the kingdoms borders and towns. They protect the kingdom from the rotten vampires. I had always wanted to be one, revenge the only thing on my mind.

"One more thing. This is the vampires we're talking about. What's to say that they try to drink my blood? I might not come back alive."

"They aren't allowed to. The queen will give human contestants a charm that will hide your scent."

Well that's convenient. I pondered for a moment. If I take this mission, I'll become a hero. We will seize control of the most powerful vampire kingdom. We'll rid the world of those filthy blood-suckers.

Fear will no long rule humans. Instead, we'll be the ones inducing fear.

I looked the king in the eyes, determined.

"Alright, I'll do it."

~

"Oh Yuichiro~!"

I ran, trying to wipe off the lipstick on my mouth. I dodged the other maids, throwing apologies to the ones I accidentally bump into. It's always felt good to be on the move; even with a psychopathic girl running after you. I looked over my shoulder, while she wildly waves lipstick around. Her long, lavender hair bounced.

A few seconds later, I look up and spot Yoichi. Slowing down, I hide behind him. He gives me a questioning look, and I point towards the crazy female running towards us.

"Yuu~, come on! We haven't finished putting your makeup on!"

Yoichi looks at Shinoa, giving her a small smile. Oh no he won't. Ignoring my protests, he pushed me forwards. I stumble, falling in front of Shinoa.

"Traitor," I grumble.

"You messed up your makeup! Mitsuba's going to be mad." Shinoa said with a pout.

She pulled me up to my feet and dragged me by the arm to my room. I look back and ignoring my pleading look, Yoichi simply waves.

~

"Ouch, Misuba, that hurt!"

I held my hand to my cheek, cursing. You never want to mess with an angry Mitsuba, trust me.

"How dare you run away when we were in the middle of dressing you up!"

Mitsuba's purple eyes flashed with annoyance. Shinoa pulled her back, caramel eyes staring me down. It was one of those looks women give that say "if you don't comply, you won't see tomorrow". Knowing there was no way out of this, I let out a huff.

"Let's get this over with."

After a painful hour of waxing my legs, the girls proceeded in putting makeup on. Aside from the occasional whispers, it was fairly quiet. Honestly, I was kind of curious to see what I looked like. This was only practice; we had to see how well I'd pass by as a female.

-

I let out a groan of protest as Akane tugged on my arm. Her deep, brown eyes glimmered with mischief.

"Come on, Yuu! I wanna see what you look like as a girl!"

"No Akane, I'm busy reading. Leave me alone."

She snatched my book out of my hand, speeding away. I didn't even know what page number I was on, damnit. Shouting, I ran after her. I passed by the other kids, careful not to knock them over. I ran past the childrens' rooms. Finally, I caught her in her room.

"Come on, give me my book back."

"Nope! I will once you sit down and let me doll you up."

Letting out a long groan, I mumbled out a "fine," and sat down on the carpet. Her face brightened and she pulled out makeup and some pins from under her bed. I eyed them wearily.

"Well you're about my size, so this should fit!"

She proceeded to pull out a flowing-bottom, black dress, laced around the bottom and sleeves. It had two thin straps. I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Saying nothing, I let Akane work her magic.

A while later, I stared into the mirror. Is that really me? The person in the mirror was me...but like a genderbend almost, if you know what I mean. The makeup defined my face to look more feminine. Only a little eyeshadow and lipstick was visible.

The dress fit nicely, not revealing much- which is good because let's remember, I'm like ten. The flow of the dress adds to the soft-kind of look. My raven hair was pinned back with green clips, although my hair was still a mess. The green clips matched my emerald eyes. Akane smiles and let out a squeal.

"You look so cute!"

I looked at her, her smile shining bright. I felt my lips curve up slightly as my cheeks warm with embarrassment. I promised to protect that big smile of her's.

-

Such a happy memory. I look down to my hands, which were now tightly woven together. Akane...

I'm sorry I was too weak to protect you.