=====A Certain Maid=====
As a maid doing chores was expected of me, I wasn't an ordinary one. If I didn't take on the role of a maid, I would probably be his secretary.
Looking at the papers at my desk, I couldn't help but sigh. "Why am I doing this again..." Right you fall in love with a f*kng child.
Leaning back at the office chair, I tiredly looked upwards, Seeing the ceiling in its ornate and expensive and utterly unhelpful way.
"…Idiot." I muttered, though whether it was aimed at him or myself was unclear.
The papers on the desk were neatly stacked. Financial reports. Movement logs. Names that carried weight in the underworld and names that weigh heavy throughout the world. All of it important. All of it due to his return.
Ying Zheng resurfaced becoming the eye of the storm.
I closed my eyes.
My chair creaked softly as I leaned forward again, elbows resting on the desk and fingers steepled. Professionally, this was a nightmare to think about. Countless variables will keep piling up, those old factions returning to watch, and new idiots smelling money and opportunity. Personally though…
I exhaled slowly.
"If I didn't know better." I said to the empty room. "I'd think you were doing this on purpose."
A knock came at the door. Three knocks. One of the battlemaids.
"Enter."
The door opened just enough for the maid to enter, the maid then bowed in respect and then make her report. "Head maid, the Kure household has made contact."
Of course they had.
"And?" I asked.
"They're… observing. No hostile movements yet."
I nodded. "Good. Keep it that way, if they made any other moves contact me immediately."
"Understood." The maid bowed again, then closed the door after stepping out.
I stood up, smoothing my apron out of reflex, then paused. The mirror by the cabinet caught my reflection. Calm. Composed. Perfectly in control. A lie I had gotten very good at wearing here.
"Still making me pick up after you." I said quietly. "And somehow expecting me to do this forever."
I turned away from the mirror and reached for my fake glasses.
Whether he liked it or not, the moment Ying Zheng stepped back into the spotlight, his maid was no longer just cleaning up after him.
The Bloodhound of Florencia is returning.
=====A Certain Kure Princess=====
"Aaah!" She clicked her tongue in irritation. "She's as stuck up as ever. I just wanted to know what he's up to..."
The room smelled faintly of incense and metal.
She sat cross-legged on the tatami, back straight, posture immaculate despite the lazy way she complained. Long black hair spilled neatly down her back, not a strand out of place.
"Observing." She muttered, repeating the word like it left a bad taste. "That's all she said, she's not seeing me as a threat at all."
Her fingers tapped lightly against her knee. Once. Twice. Thrice. You should know me by now. We're both women fighting over him after all.
Ying Zheng.
The name hadn't been spoken aloud but it sat heavy in her thoughts anyway.
The demon that broke an unspoken rule, an old variable the elders had hoped would stay buried after that incident.
The moment word reached the household, everything shifted. Meetings got rescheduled, guards got doubled and people panicking over what's going to happen, except for her one relative of course.
You shouldn't provoke him, shouldn't approach him, and most importantly should not and cannot get affiliated with him they said. You should only watch from afar.
She hated that.
"Tch." She leaned back on her hands, staring up at the ceiling beams. "As if I'd do something reckless."
A pause.
"…Well. Not that reckless."
Her eyes slid toward the far end of the room, where an old practice dummy stood, riddled with cracks and dents. Thought's about something spiraling in her head.
Hmm, that could work...
Wether people like it or not change is coming, the old world will be torn apart and pave way to the new world.
Somewhere in the middle of her thoughts she pause and couldn't help but think about a certain girl. The demon child. One of her rival.
"Investment for her, he says." she murmured, lips pouting slightly. "She's really a favorite of yours huh..."
A soft knock came from behind the sliding door.
"Princess." a calm voice said. "The elders request your presence."
She exhaled, slow and controlled, then stood up, smoothing her clothes to look proper. The earlier irritation vanished behind a perfect mask.
"Tell them I'm coming."
As she walked toward the door, her expression sharpened, eyes bright with something closer to excitement than concern.
They still spoke to her like she's a child that needed their constant care and permission. Like she was something fragile, someone to be kept away from danger.
She's not a child anymore and if her grandpa is the one standing her way...
Then she'll just have to prove herself.
She smiled faintly.
This time
She wouldn't stand idle.
=====A Certain Ruinous Star====
"F*ck! F*ck! F*ck it all!"
Inside a cabin, a girl is using her arm like a whip to attack a practice dummy with pictures pasted on them.
Whoosh. CRACK. Whoosh. CRACK.
Hina, oh HINA! Why'd you have to be always prioritized! We're all the same star, all fighting for the position of Eve!
YET... Ever since he, tagging along with us, have put much more attention to you than me, It's not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair!
"AaaaaaaaaaH!" If only, if only he didn't forbid killing each other, I really want to kill you Hina~ "Ahahahahahahaha!"
Some cabin deep in the forest, vile and eerie laughter could be heard.
=====A Certain Boxer=====
He's back...
That meant the old debt was due.
Steadying myself, I exhaled and controlled my feet's rhythm against the dirt path, with my breath fogging briefly in the cold air before vanishing.
Creek.
The wooden bridge groaned under my weight as I crossed it, the sound sharp in the quiet morning. Unconsciously my fist clenched hard.
I was weak back then, I will not deny that but to be saved by a child is the most unforgivable thing. The worst part is I couldn't even help him, not even once.
Tch. Pathetic.
All because of my weakness, a child is forced to play for a sick game. I was weak once, never again.
Now I'm ready and I'll make sure that this debt is paid fully, even if I had to kill someone.
=====A Certain "Rival"=====
Inside a high class restaurant a young man of average height. "Really? He's back?!"
He exclaimed to another man that has a blonde hair.
"Yes, I heard about it from a friend that attended his kengan match. Here." Across the table that's devoid of food, he threw a bunch of pictures showing a blindfolded man.
"Wow! He hasn't changed much didn't he..." Looking over at the pictures, his eyes couldn't help but show excitement. "I couldn't wait to show him my new moves! Hehehe... He'll be surprised for sure! And I'll finally win once!"
"OH!" He yelled and put his right arm that is clenching a fist, high up.
=====A Certain Rival=====
"So he's back."
"Yes, I presume that it means, he's finally ready for that fated battle."
A conversation is happening between a teen with an impressive build and a man of military bearing, With a kid beside the teen.
"Heh, no matter, no matter. I'm the one who's going to defeat that old man first." After saying that the teen slowly walk away from the man. Though before he could get far, the kid beside him spoke. "Um, I'm sorry to interrupt but... Who is this Ying Zheng? guy you two are talking about.
"Ah, that huh. Nothing much, just another man aiming for the strongest."
==========
AN: Ngl this feels off, maybe it's just me but I don't know if it's good lol, anyways, College started once more and I won't have much free time to create this.
Of course I will still do as my original plan. That is to only post whenever I want, this is still a hobby after all.
So it might take either a week or atleast 3 days in between for a new chap.
Word Count: 1,407