Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS.

"It has been quite a while, ne Misa chan?"

Misaki sucked in a deep breath while her heart thumped loudly against her chest, as if threatening to leap out. Slowly she increased the gap between them while her bangs covered her stone-gazed eyes.

"My wig must have fallen off during all this commotion," she explained with a tight voice.

"Like that would have made any difference," the male scoffed. "I had recognized you the moment I walked into this alley."

The raven haired brunette remained silent, unsure of how to continue this conversation. She had so much to tell him, wanted to ask him so many questions that had been bothering her perplexed heart all this while but her mouth remained shut, denying her all along.

'Since when did things get so awkward between us?' she mused solemnly.

A thick mist of uncomfortable silence ensued, disturbed occasionally by the sound of arrhythmic breathing. Finally it was Usui who decided to break the silence.

"I must say you have got an interesting apparel out there," he teased but the sadness that laced his emerald orbs didn't miss Misaki's attentive eyes.

"It was a disguise," she replied stoically.

Usui cringed inwardly at her frosty behaviour but deep down he knew that he deserved it. He was the one who walked out on her, without even sparing her a second look. He was the one who couldn't even spare her a thread of appreciation after she had gone through such measures just to free him from his curse of enslavement. He was the one who walked all over her heart and perhaps smashed it into a million small pieces.

Yes.

Yes, he deserved her indifference, her accusing gaze, her icy tone.

But his hands were tied. He had no choice but to hurt the very person who meant the world to him. Truth be told, Usui had immersed himself completely into his training just so that his mind didn't wander back to the lands miles away where a certain female waited for him and could solely concentrate on his mission. But when that exact female now stood right before him, fear-stricken with helplessness latched to her beautiful features, it was taking him all his will power not to embrace her and scare off her worries and distress.

Clearing his throat to control his raging emotions, he continued, "What brings you here at this unfavorable hour?"

Misaki clenched her fists as she debated with herself on whether to let him on her little secret.

Usui waited patiently as his eyes scrutinized Misaki's stressed features. She was hiding something from him and this bothered Usui.

"I-I had to stock up on my dresses … and lost my way."

Lie.

'Doesn't she know that she always had been a terrible liar?' Usui mused before letting out an exasperated sigh.

He took a few long strides towards her until he was towering over her petite form.

Misaki shrunk before his scrutinizing gaze and quickly steered her head to the side to break their eye contact.

His next words made Misaki gasp audibly and her head shot up to meet Usui's softened gaze.

"You can trust me."

"That boy is late."

Happosai frowned as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot loudly on the ground. His frown deepened when he saw the sun was now right above his head.

"It is almost noon!" he exclaimed. "I had asked him to meet me here by dawn. Just what is taking him so long!?"

By-passers were giving him confused looks which further added fuel to the fire. So what if his clothes were a little wrinkled, his eyes were bloodshot and he was reeking of strong liquor! He had a great night and that was what mattered.

But when the gazes turned from confused to suspicious and frightened, he knew it was unsafe for him to continue waiting for him.

"That lad better not have left without me," he grunted and muttered a few colorful words which would increase the rating of this fanfic.

The sound of shuffling feet was what caught Honoka's attention. Poking her head out from under the quilt, she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Misaki and her fellow companion sneak into the room from the balcony.

"Misaki!" she exclaimed with joy and ran up to the said female before taking her in a tight embrace. "I was so worried for you girls," she continued and quickly rushed to remove the rope from the balcony which she had thrown over the railing for the girls to climb up, without getting noticed.

Misaki returned her with a weak smile while Sakura just stood there, silently congratulating herself to have survived through such an 'adventurous' night.

"Did father suspect anything?" Misaki queried worriedly.

Honoka shook her head slowly while she poured the girls two glasses of water.

"A maid was about to walk into your room to wake you up but luckily, I had to cross by and stop her on time."

Misaki's breath hitched in her throat at this but Honoka quickly reassured her.

"I told her that you weren't feeling well and wished to sleep in. Just to be on the safe side, I laid under the quilt so that no one walked in to an empty room. But dear God, wasn't I afraid!"

"Honoka, I don't know what to say." Misaki gazed admirably at the older female while her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Just promise me you won't make me do that again and that will be quite enough."

The girls giggled at her witty remark.

"Ladies, you must be starving by now! I will get you both something to appease your appetite," Honoka chirped before excusing herself.

Misaki let out an exhausted sigh and plopped down on her bed. Sakura watched the princess with worried eyes and knelt before her. Placing her hand on the princess's lap, she asked softly, "What happened between you two?"

Sakura was pacing before that very shop where Misaki had left her before sprinting off after Yukimura. She was in a constant debate with herself whether or not to follow but she was held back by the princess's orders.

"What if she is in some sort of danger?"

"What if her disguise gets blown away in public?"

"What if that man attacks her and she has no one to protect her?"

"What if she gets lost in the crowd and cannot make it back?"

All such negative thoughts were storming her mind and with every passing minute, it was getting more and more difficult to constrain herself.

An hour had passed by and still Misaki wasn't back.

"That's it," Sakura told herself. "I have obeyed enough. Misaki is the royal princess and it is my duty to protect her, and if in the process I have to disobey her orders, then so be it."

She was about to leap off in the same direction where Misaki had rushed off to but was stopped when a hand rested on her shoulder.

Sakura veered back to come face to face with the raven haired brunette.

"Misaki!" she exclaimed joyously. "Where were you? I was so worried! Are you hurt?" she asked urgently and checked her for any bruises. That was when her eyes landed on the wound on her neck.

"You are hurt!"

"Ssshh. I am fine, Sakura. Calm down," Misaki tried to pacify her distressed friend but to no avail.

The said female quickly tore a piece of cloth from her yukata and dabbed the wound with it to stop it from bleeding.

"No you are not!" she scolded. "How did you get that?"

"I assure you she is fine."

Sakura's chocolate brown eyes steered at the intervention and she sucked in a breath at the sight of Usui.

"Usui?"

He nodded curtly at the acknowledgement before explaining everything to her in detail while Sakura listened attentively, gasping now and then whenever the goons were mentioned.

After finishing his tale, the blond male instructed sternly, "Take the princess back to the castle and make sure she doesn't repeat such a gimmick."

Sakura was more than happy to comply.

A gentle shake from her friend brought Misaki to the present.

"Huh?"

"You seemed to have slipped off to somewhere else," Sakura replied.

"I was … just thinking."

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion at the ambiguity but she decided to shrug it off and repeated her question.

"What happened between you two?"

Silence stretched between them while she watched Misaki staring off into space with blank eyes.

"Misa-"

"I did as he asked me to."

"Pardon me?"

Turning her eyes to look at her friend, Misaki replied with a soft voice while Sakura watched as a myriad of emotions played in her amber orbs.

"I trusted him."

A/N: Sorry for the loooong delay. I was hit with a major case of writer's block. And now that I am back, I will try to update as frequently as possible. But for that I need you guys to keep supporting me and this story. So, please leave a review!