Me: hello everyone! I'm back n.n ... with a new KonoSetsu!!!

Konoka: it's been a while

Asuna: no, it wasn't...

Me: yes it was

Asuna: no it wasn't

Setsuna: oh just begin with the story u.u

Me: hai hai...

Chapter 01: Memories

Mahora kingdom, capital of the great Magic world, a place for intrepid adventurers but at the same time a good place to relax. It may sound illogical but all this is possible due to its leader, Konoe Eishun.

For generations the Konoe family was the monarch family of Mahora kingdom; everybody likes them, they were good leaders who always watch over the people of their city and their necessities.

The current king, Konoe Eishun, isn't the exception; in fact, since he ascended to the throne he opened a school for swordsmen; he called it: The Shinmeiryuu school, its purpose: prepare and educate skilled warriors that would take care of any problem around the city.

Most of these warriors are orphans who were taken in by him when they were kids; this is the case of Sakurazaki Setsuna.

One day when Eishun was returning from signing an alliance with another kingdom, she suddenly appeared asking for something to eat; feeling sad for her, Eishun dismounted from his horse in order to give her some food and as soon as he let his guard down, setsuna took the chance to steal a bag of money that he was carrying. The guards tried to stop her but she dodged all their attacks, until… out of the blue, Eishun appeared behind Setsuna and stopped her.

"Let me go!" she said

"Stealing is not good, young lady." Eishun said and took the bag she had stolen before "But, you were amazing dodging my guards"

"hm…" setsuna looked away

"Do you want to become stronger?" Eishun asked and let her go, this time Setsuna was beginning to be interested on this stranger

"Stronger?... can you… can you make me stronger?" she asked

Eishun smiled and nodded "only if you want to" he said

Since that day, Setsuna had been learning all the secrets of Shinmeryuu from Eishun himself.

Now at the age of 18, Setsuna has become the captain of one squad, she was the most skilled warrior and everybody respects her, some people also said that she may surpass Eishun.

Slash

A young raven haired woman landed after cutting and killing a demon "hm… to slow" she said and suddenly another demon appeared behind her but she didn't make a move and…

"hya!" another woman appeared and hit the demon who escaped later "that was the last one" she told Setsuna

"Indeed" Setsuna said

The other woman was Kagurazaka Asuna; she, just like Setsuna, is an orphan who was taken in by Eishun. She's the opposite of Setsuna; friendly, easygoing, optimistic (sometimes too much) and specializes in unarmed combat though she's really good with swords (but not as good as Setsuna)

"Let's go back now, Asuna-san" Setsuna said "we need to find the rest of the team"

"hai, taichou!" Asuna replied, just when they were about to search for them, they appeared panting and sweating

"As expected from Sakurazaki-taichou!" one of them said

"Hey don't forget Kagurazaka-fukutaichou" another one added

"Is anyone hurt?" Setsuna asked but no one was hurt "ok then, let's go now"

Later that same day, a young lady was getting ready for her lessons, magic lessons. Konoe Konoka was her name; she was the only daughter of Esihun and the only heir to the throne. She's a very cheerful and caring person; she's very well-known around Mahora and… others kingdoms too.

People expect her to be even greater than her father, but since she's a woman she requires marrying a prince first. That's why her grandfather, Konoe Konoemon, always arranges meetings –or omiais- with some princes; but Konoka always rejects them all, it's not because that she doesn't like them but… she just wants to meet her special person by herself.

"Done" she said after combing her long brown hair

"Konoka?" Eishun called from outside "are you ready?"

"hai!" she said and opened the door smiling "good morning, daddy"

"Good morning darling" he smiled too "let's go, your grandfather is waiting"

Every morning she had these lessons with Konoemon, she's considered one of the most powerful mages around the magic world and that's why she keeps training all days, she likes magic too but sometimes she finds it a little boring… especially when she has to study a long spell in Latin.

She sighed, after 5 hours of non-stop training she was tired. Everytime she wants to relax she goes to her personal –and huge- garden, right now she's there, sat on a bench under a tree… remembering a certain someone she had met when they were kids, they ended up being close friends but one day… she just disappeared, leaving Konoka alone, again; but Konoka still remembers her…

Flashback:

It was another normal day for the little princess, her father was out of the kingdom doing… king stuff, her grandfather was busy with the magic school; she was the only one –apart from the maids and guards– in the castle, what can a little kid do in such a big place?

"I'll go see my friends!" she said to herself, her friends were no humans at all; they were the flowers and trees she had planted on the garden. She was a very lonely girl, even when she doesn't show it very much because she's always smiling.

She spent some time in the garden but then she got bored again, she sighed "I wish I had a real friend…" she thought, and then an idea came to her mind "I've never been outside… daddy says it's dangerous but… since he's not her he won't know I left…" she thought and decided to have a look at the outside world.

She sneaked away through a hole in one of the walls that was behind some bushes, that way she didn't have to deal with the guards.

"woah…" she was amazed of everything, so many people, so many stores, so many kids… everyone going this and that way, they looked very busy. Konoka decided to go around and see as much as she could, after some hours she decided to go back because her grandfather might have returned but… she couldn't remember how to get to the castle. She had gone too far away, she could see it but she didn't know which way she should go.

"Oh no, if gramps is already there and doesn't find me, I'll be in troubles" she told herself "I guess I'll ask someone" she looked around to find a nice person but no one was there, just a man who didn't look too friendly… but she had no choice.

"Excuse me, sir" she called him

"Huh? What do you want, brat?" the man asked rudely

"uumm can you tell me how can I get to the palace… I'm lost" Konoka said

"The palace? And what business do you have in there?" the man asked beginning to be interested in her

"I'm the princess, sir" Konoka answered innocently "can you take me there?"

"The princess!?" the man took a moment to recall how does the princess looked like… and bingo! "haha! Yeah of course I'll take you there" he said "this way" Konoka followed him, it didn't take too long for Konoka to realize that they were getting farther and farther away from her destination.

"uum aren't we going the wrong way?" Konoka asked, she was a little nervous now.

The man laughed "haha yes, we are…and you know why?" he asked and Konoka shook her head nervously "because I'm gonna kidnap you and ask for a tremendous reward!!!" he said and tried to capture Konoka but she jumped backwards and tried to run away but she trip "now… be a good girl an-ow!" the man turned, someone had thrown a stone at him "who's there!?" he yelled

"Hey you!" a voice came from behind him; he turned but was suddenly kicked in the face and thrown hitting a tree.

"w-who…" he was surprised when he saw that the responsible of this was a little girl "no way!" he stood and run to attack her but she was faster than him, she took out her wooden sword and…

"shinmeiryuu ougi: Zanganken!" she attacked and him flying through the sky "and don't come back!"

Konoka was still laying on the ground, speechless from everything that had happened, she was lost in thoughts when suddenly a voice reached to her.

"Hey, are you hurt or something?" the girl asked

"Ah n-no" Konoka replied

"Then stand up," the other girl said "it's dangerous here, so go home" she was about to leave

"Ah w-wait!" Konoka stood and stopped her "uumm could you… do you know how to get to the castle?"

"The castle?" the girls thought and wondered why would a kid wants to go there, but it was none of her business "yes I know"

"Can you…"

"Ok let's go" the girl said and started walking

"By the way, my name is Konoka," the princess said "what's yours?"

"Setsuna" she answered and Konoka smiled

Setsuna took some shortcuts and they were immediately near the castle, but then she stopped "do you want to avoid the guards?" she asked

"Yes please"

"Ok, this way"

They ended up using the hole that Konoka used before to escape.

"Thanks for taking me here," Konoka said smiling "and for saving me"

"whatever…" Setsuna looked away "I guess I have to go now" she turned to leave

"no! please…" Konoka grabbed Setsuna's hand to stop her "stay a little longer… I want to knw more about you"

"what do I gain from it?" Setsuna asked

"mmm I'll let you know about me" Konoka smiled and giggled "we can be friends"

"friends? I don't need friends" Setsuna said coldly and Konoka release setsuna's hand, she looked sad and Setsuna felt guilty about it "b-but I can try… if you want"

Konoka's smiled returned to her face and she nodded "come this way! I have a secret place" she took setsuna to a hidden place in the garden; there was a lot of trees, one of them had a tree house on it. They used a ladder to get there; the house was so big that a party could take place in it.

"I'll tell you about me first, ok?" Konoka asked and Setsuna nodded "I'm 5 years old but I'll be 6 in March… I'd like to learn magic but gramps says it's too early for me to learn… I like big places like this house and the garden… I think that's all…" Konoka said

"You forgot some things" Setsuna told her in a no so interested way "you like getting into troubles and talk a lot"

Konoka giggled "more less" she said and Setsuna looked away "now tell me about you"

Setsuna raised a brow and then sighed "I'm 6 years old; I want to become stronger that's why I train everyday… I don't like to talk… that's all"

"Become stronger?" Konoka asked "why is that?"

"Personal reasons" Setsuna said coldly

"ojousama!"

"Konoka-ojousama, where are you?"

Some voices could be heard, the guards and maids had realized that Konoka wasn't in her room and they were looking for her. Setsuna heard them and started to think "ojousama? Why…? Oh hold on!" she realized something

"hey what's your last name?" Setsuna asked Konoka

"uummm… Konoe" Konoka answered

"t-then… y-you are the prin-!" Setsuna was about to shout it to the entire kingdom when suddenly Konoka jumped and stopped her by covering her mouth

"sshh! They will hear you" Konoka whispered

"b-but I'll be in problems if they find me with you" Setsuna explained "I shouldn't be here, I must leave"

She was ready to go, but then Konoka grabbed her hand "please… don't go…" her voice changed from a cheerful one to a gloomy one "I'm very lonely here, daddy is always traveling and gramps is busy with his school… I'm always alone"

Setsuna felt pity for her, but there wasn't anything she could do even when she wanted to.

After some second of silent Konoka stood and let go of Setsuna's hand "sorry," she said "I was too selfish.. I won't hold you anymore… I'm glad that you were my first friend, I'll always remember you" she smiled and Setsuna widen her eyes a little.

"I'll come back" setsuna said without looking at her

"Uh?"

"I'll be back tomorrow… so be sure to be here"

"R-really?" Konoka couldn't believe it, when setsuna nodded Konoka was so happy that she jumped and hugged her new friend

Konoka was too excited about next day that she woke up early, 7 am, something weird for her. She went to the tree house at 8 expecting to see Setsuna already there… but… no one was there; the first thing she thought was "she may be late" but then she started to think that Setsuna wouldn't come, that all this was a lie, so she got a little depressed.

"oi oi! It's unusual for you to be sad" a voice said from behind, Konoka turned around and saw setsuna sat on the window frame.

"you came!" Konoka smiled again

"of course I did, I told I would…" Setsuna looked away

Since that day, Setsuna always visited Konoka with no fail. Sometimes they played together, sometimes they just talked (actually it was Konoka the one talking). They started to be closer by each day that passed.

Konoka was really happy to have Setsuna by her side, she was so caring and protective with Konoka; there was one time when they were playing outside the tree house whe suddenly Konoka trip and hurt her knee. Setsuna hurried and help her, she torn the sleeve of her training shirt and bandage it, Konoka told her that it didn't hurt too much but either way Setsuna carried her to her room and stayed there until her grandfather came; of course she left before he entered.

Two years… only two years of immense happiness. One day when Konoka arrived to their secret place, she didn't find Setsuna there-which was weird, she's usually on time- so she decided to wait… 10 minutes… 15…half an hour … an hour… she was worried, maybe something happened to her.

"no, impossible… she's very strong" Konoka thought "but then… why?"

End of Flashback

That was a question she kept asking herself for 12 long years, until now she hasn't found an answer. Sometimes she blames herself of Setsuna's sudden disappearance; but then, she always remembered how they laughed and spent good time together … that was all true and she knew Setsuna enjoyed it as much as Konoka did.

"why?" Konoka asked herself "I'm not sure, I don't know… but…" she paused and looked up to the tree house they used to play in "I keep waiting for you, set-chan"

Asuna: the last part was kinda depressing

Me: I know

Setsuna: shiroki! you made ojousama look like a sad girl!

Me: so..???

Setsuna: you damned...!!!

Konoka: set-chan it's ok Un.n

Me: well, while Konoe-san distracts Sakurazaki I should escape... but before, I hope you liked this chapter... I'm still working on the others but there is an small preview...

Preview:

"I want you two to join Ala Alba" Eishun said

"the special team under your charge!!?" Asuna asked and he nodded "I will! ... taichou?" Setsuna looked away

"..."

don't forget reviews n.n