"KURONO-SAMA is here, yua", okā-san informed.

"thank you okā-san", yua said as kurono walked in.

"what brings you here hari?", yua asked, pouring tea into a cup and inviting kurono to sit.

taking up her offer, kurono sat in front of yua, watching her pour the tea.

"yua, are you sure about this?"

"about what?", yua asked, playing dumb.

"yua. this is your lifetime happiness that we're talking about. why're you taking this so lightly?", kurono asked, truly concerned.

"hari, I know what I'm getting myself into. we both know that this is for chisaki to get to the throne. shigaraki's ruling is too immature and we need an emperor with a plan".

"I know all that but—"

"hari. I promise you. everything will be alright", yua smiled, taking a sip of her tea.

"be careful then", hari warned.

"I will. thank you".

-♖-

after yua and hari's little secret meeting, yua walked to the back garden, seeing midoriya trimming flowers and positioning them into a pot.

"place the rose a bit more to the top", yua critiqued.

midoriya jumped out of his skin, turning around and dropping the scissors.

"o-oh yua-san".

"sorry, I didn't mean to scare you", yua said, sitting down beside midoriya.

"it's alright", midoriya bashfully replied, scratching the back of his head.

"midoriya izuku, age 15, a dōshin in training. you knew everything from the beginning didn't you", yua asked, twirling around a lily.

midoriya was speechless. he should've known better. not only was yua a perfect geisha, but she was also quite observant and intelligent.

"I'm taking your silence as a yes", yua lightly chuckled. "so, why're you here? who are you trying to arrest?"

"I...", midoriya didn't know what to say. all he wanted was to save eri from chisaki, as he heard that he abused her. yet from what he saw, eri seemed pretty happy.

"izuku...can I call you that?", yua asked.

"o-of course!!"

"tell me izuku, what do you think of chisaki?"

"um... distant? he seems quite dangerous", midoriya honestly answered. after all, there was no reason for him to hide anymore.

"why?", yua calmly asked. she had an answer in mind, but she wanted to hear midoriya's own words.

"from the information we gathered, it seems like he's going to rebel against shigaraki-kun", midoriya said.

"ah. so you're one of shigaraki's men".

midoriya slowly nodded. "chisaki's under heavy suspicion".

"izuku tell me, what do you think of shigaraki's reign?"

"the shogun is still young, but I believe that he will grow through experience and time", midoriya answered.

"izuku, I do understand that within time, shigaraki would become a great emperor. but why pick someone that's still inexperienced when you have someone who's already ready to take on the role?"

midoriya listened intently. he couldn't say that he disagreed.

"we don't have much time left. you and I both know that within a year or two, we will be experiencing serious drought. we don't have much time for our current shogunate to grow", yua explained.

"I mean...but what about chisaki? from what I know, both him and the shigaraki are the same age".

"true, but chisaki leads a whole army of samurais. he's had the experience to lead others and knows how to help with the oncoming drought", yua said.

"what's his plan?"

"I'm only a mere geisha, I don't know that much".

"speaking of that, what's your relationship with chisaki-kun?", midoriya questioned.

yua paused for a moment. many nights before she fell asleep, she asked herself that same question. what was her relationship with chisaki? he was her danna and she was his supporter.

both benefited, yet no one stepped up to say anything about their comforting relationship.

"I'm...a pawn", yua finally answered.

midoriya was confused. even though he wasn't sure what type of person chisaki was, he would've thought that yua had meant something to him, as he didn't seem like the type of person to keep someone he didn't like around.

"just...a pawn?"

yua sighed, cutting the stem of the lily shorter. she then placed the flower of the outer left of the roses that were placed in a triangular form.

"just a pawn. nothing more, nothing less".

midoriya stayed quiet. he didn't quite believe her, but decided to not argue. he would soon find out what she was to him and help save the entire empire from drought. whether it be under the reign of shigaraki or chisaki.

"izuku", yua suddenly said.

"y-yes?"

"can you...promise me something?"

"umm...what do you need?"

"take care of eri for me. she doesn't know anything, and I want nothing more than for her to be safe and happy", yua requested.

"why? she's not your daughter is she?"

yua lightly chuckled. "no, she's not. I wouldn't mind if she was though. I can't help but say I've actually grown quite protective of her. and...I'll be leaving for a while, so you're the only person I trust that can look over her".

"leaving? where are you going??"

"I have a performance coming up. and I have a feeling...that I'll be gone for a while", yua admitted.

"I suppose so. we'll be waiting for you to come back then". midoriya wasn't sure what he was saying. as a spy for shigaraki, he was supposed be happy about yua's disappearance. but part of him felt that what yua said was accurate.

"hm~ did my little spiel change your mind?"

"n-no! I'm just surprised...that's all".

"think about it. think about japan's future. you can help make a change by supporting the right man. and a word of advice, izuku.

there are times when a well-placed pawn is more powerful than a king.

keep that in mind izuku. I have great faith in you".

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価値がある
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