✔ Masquerade | England [EDITING]

t h i r t y

-Continued-

Kiku's P.O.V

Nothing stirred for a while, but all of a sudden, two men dressed in black attacked us. 

I quickly reacted by using my blade and sheath to block them. Both jumped back and glared at us with their dark black eyes. Both of them were of the same height. One of them had long naginata, and the other had two katanas, one of which was strapped to his waist.

"Who are you?" I asked, standing with my back straightened in defense, my blade facing them fearlessly.

"Fujiwara Kamui." said the one on the right, who wielded two katanas.

"Fujiwara Shinran." said the other, rather nonchalantly. I observed Shinran for a moment and found a chain of kunai and shuriken hanging around his waist.

"What business do both of you have with us?" I asked; my confidence unwavering. From the looks of them, they were ninjas. 

"We were sent by our boss, Wakamatsu Arashi, to kill the three of you." said Kamui.

"How do you know that we're searching for your hostage?" I asked while I simultaneously made sure I had no open spots.

Kamui suddenly disappeared and clashed his blade with mine.

"We have our eyes everywhere." he replied, "We saw your ship dock at the port and we immediately tracked every single one of your crew who went around in the town."

"We may be based in Nagasaki, but we know what goes on anywhere in Japan at anytime." He added as he pressured his blade further on me, slightly pushing me back.

"The way you wield your blade is very uncommon. Who is your teacher?"

"Igarashi Zenshin." I replied hesitantly. The color in his face disappeared.

"Igarashi Zenshin, huh? The only thing I know about that man is that he trained the Imperial Family in sword fighting for a very long time." He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Then you must be..." he paused, "The long lost prince?"

"You are correct." I nodded.

"Did you run away because of cowardice, your highness?" Even through the black cloth covering his face, I could see him smirk.

"I merely followed the path I wanted to go. The path to obtain my freedom." I replied as I shot a glare at him.

"Kisama." I heard him mumble under his breath. He met my eyes again and pulled back his blade.

"Let's gamble our lives on a fight." He spoke, "I want to know how strong your path to freedom has made."

"And?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I will let you free and reveal the location of our base if you win. If I win, I get to kill the three of you." he said, "What do you think?"

"Very well." I accepted and turned to Arthur and Antonio who were behind me. They looked at me curiously. Of course, they didn't understand what both of us were talking about. 

I didn't bother explaining, but I simply said,

"Arthur, Antonio, all I need for both of you to do is to stay out of my way."

"Okay, but will you able to deal with him?" asked Arthur.

"Of course." I nodded, "I'm not called Hitokiri Akuma for nothing." 

(A/N Hitokiri Akuma means man slaying demon. Despite this name, Kiku would only kill if he had to. As much as possible, he makes sure he doesn't have a reason to kill anybody. Also, Hitokiri is a Rurouni Kenshin reference!)