"AISA, YOU'RE LATE"...

"apologies, father, but I had a bit of a hard time sleeping last night. after all, there was a little pest that crawled onto my bed", aisa answered with a smile.

     the youngest kitani offendedly gasped.

     "I am not a pest!", she proclaimed, earning a light chuckle from aisa, as she took a seat beside the crown prince and second prince: akishino and hirotada.

     "either way, it is no excuse to be late. a proper lady should always be on time", the empress reprimanded.

     "really? because yesterday, I seem to remember that mother naora was two minutes and forty-three seconds late to dinner", aisa calmly exposed.

     "you—"

     "enough", the emperor intercepted.

     "I didn't call you all here today to bicker. guards, let them in!", nobukazu demanded.

     as the double doors slowly creaked open, ten men with exceptional swordsmanship had entered in an orderly manner.

     "oh my...are they all for me, father? what a pleasant early birthday surprise!", aisa widely smiled, as akishino scoffed.

     "just how entitled are you to think that father would gift you the generation of miracles and the uncrowned generals?", the oldest had mocked.

     "well, it matters not. because they'll all belong to me in the end anyways", aisa lowly muttered, her taunting red eyes challenging akishino's stern blue ones.

     "tch!"

     "aisa's not entirely wrong, though they are meant for the five of you. each of you will have one miracle and one general assisting you, because from now on, the trials will only get more rigorous", the emperor explained.

     "then can I pick first, father?!", rishi, the youngest, excitedly asked.

     "how you all decide will be none of my business. I still have work to attend to, so I'll be leaving first", nobukazu stated, as his two wives followed behind.

     the five children stood up and bowed until their father and mothers were completely gone.

     aisa was the first to take a seat, as she turned towards her younger siblings, who were already squabbling about who they desired.

     "I want the blonde one", hirotada proclaimed.

     "NO, I WANT THE BLONDE ONE!! HE'S THE PRETTIEST!", rishi shouted.

     "OI, RISHI...YOU BETTER STEP DOWN BEFORE I PLUMMET YOU INTO THE GROUND", hirotada threatened.

     "tada, why don't you just let rishi have him? there are other good choices as well", the second prince's fraternal twin suggested.

     "are you kidding with me, nobu?! as if I'd let that little squirt get what she wants", hirotada huffed.

     "let's have a battle. winner gets to pick first", akishino proposed.

     "that's not fair! I know you and sister aisa would win!", rishi complained.

     "then do you have a better idea?", akishino questioned, his cold expression causing his youngest stepsister to pout.

     "I do", aisa chimed in.

     "how about we let them decide? after all, it's best that we take their feelings into consideration".

"and since when have you been so kind and thoughtful towards others' feelings?", akishino snorted.

"but what if they don't choose us?", rishi worried.

"they'll rank us on a piece of paper. hypothetically tada doesn't get chosen as kise's first choice, then the person that's first one kise's list will get to decide if they want him or not. if yes, then it's settled, but if not, then he'll be given to his second then third, and so on and so forth, until someone picks him", aisa briefly explained.

the others thought about their sister's words, as they nodded in agreement.

"doesn't seem like too bad of an idea", hirotada commented.

"excuse me, your highnesses", akashi seijūrō, the captain of the rakuzan squad and leader of the generation of miracles, had intercepted.

"if I may, I'd like to insert a personal opinion of my own. though whether the others agree with me or not is totally unaccounted for", akashi politely stated.

"speak", akishino replied.

"if possible, we'd like a few days time to decide. after all, princess aisa's idea is quite fair, though the issue would be that none of us know your highnesses very well.

to make us list our opinions as of currently would be a bit hasty, don't you agree?", akashi inquired.

"so what are you suggesting?", the crown prince asked.

"I suggest that we take turns serving each and every one of your highnesses. for example, on the first day, aoimine and nebuya could serve princess rishi, then switch to prince hironobu, and so on and so forth", akashi confidently answered.

aisa grinned, as she lightly applauded the red-haired captain.

"splendid idea, akashi! then why don't the miracles and generals pair up? brother aki, you can have the honor of picking the first pair", the blonde princess gestured.

akishino stood up to leave, as he picked akashi and mibuchi, not to aisa's surprise.

     "tada and nobu, take your picks", aisa commanded.

     hirotada grinned, as he flashed his younger sister a sinister glance.

     "let's go, kise and hayama!", hirotada pridefully called out, as rishi crossed her arms in pettiness.

     "I...I suppose I'll go with midorima and hanamiya then", hironobu stated, as he quickly went to go catch up with his twin.

     "and your pick, rishi?"

     "the one with the dark blue hair", rishi pointed.

     "aoimine and nebuya, make sure you two serve rishi well. now, that'll leave me with murasakibara and kiyoshi", aisa smiled.

     the two bowed as a greeting to the first princess, meanwhile aisa had already started exiting out of the main room.

     "say, why don't you two accompany me to the gardens? it's where I like spending most of my time. not too demanding for a first task, right?", aisa teased, as kiyoshi had politely shook his head.

     "not at all, your highness. we'd be willing to accompany you anywhere, as long as you'd allow us to", the brown-haired man responded.

     murasakibara softly scoffed, appalled by the man's behavior.

     though it wasn't because kiyoshi was being a suck up, in fact, it was because kiyoshi had meant what he said.

     the man had too much ambition and goodwill for murasakibara to understand, reminding him of a certain blue-haired comrade.

     "such kind words, kiyoshi. I'm certainly flattered. you'd be a great asset to those around you, no matter your owner", aisa praised, as they arrived under a big oak tree, where a table, chairs, tea, and plates of dessert were already present.

     it was a habit for aisa to read outside in the mornings, so the maids would always have everything prepared before she arrived.

     the purple-haired knight ogled at the flan, madeleines, canalés, and various colored macarons before aisa.

     kiyoshi kept on his calm smile, as he whispered to murasakibara.

     "please refrain from drooling in front of her highness", the uncrowned general uttered.

     murasakibara clicked his tongue as he attempted to look away, try to distract his mind, only to be betrayed by his heart.

     the giant couldn't help it.

     everything just looked so delicious and sweet!

     while murasakibara and kiyoshi fought with their harsh gazes, a light chuckling was heard, bringing them out of their stare off.

     aisa's painted lips curved upwards, as her hand softly gestured for them to approach her.

     "take a seat", she said.

     "oh, your highness, as flattered as we are, we couldn't possibly—"

     murasakibara didn't even hesitate, as he sat right beside the first princess, who was grinning from ear to ear.

     kiyoshi had to deeply breathe in to maintain his composure, as aisa just continued laughing.

     "take a seat, kiyoshi. it's a demand".

     "yes, your highness", kiyoshi bowed, seating across from the princess, as aisa offered a plate of lemon madeleines to murasakibara and kiyoshi.

     "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to break, but since you did a good solid seven minutes of keeping your desires to yourself, this is your reward", aisa stated.

     "only this plate of madeleines?", murasakibara asked.

     kiyoshi elbowed the titan man in the stomach.

     "ahaha...what murasakibara-san means is that he—I-I mean, we're very grateful for—"

     "no. this entire table is yours. eat to your heart's content. and you don't have to act so stiff around me, kiyoshi. I'm not going to punish you for saying or doing trivial things", aisa assured.

     kiyoshi hesitantly nodded, as murasakibara started stuffing everything he could grab, in his mouth.

     "murasakibara?", aisa gently called out, causing the purple-haired knight to momentarily pause in his snacking.

     kiyoshi raised a brow as he watched aisa stand up, to which he wondered if he should as well, only for him to receive a telling gaze from her that he may remain seated.

     as the blonde princess stood behind murasakibara, who was expecting for aisa to scold him, he had instead felt a pair of hands tickle his scalp.

     murasakibara's purple locks were pulled back and away from his face; tied into a low and loose bun.

     "now your hair won't be in your way when you eat", aisa mumbled, as she sat back down and opened her book once more.

     "oh...thanks...", murasakibara muttered, seemingly to be having an epiphany about how his hair isn't getting crumbs stuck in them now.

aisa simply hummed, as she took a sip of her tea, meanwhile kiyoshi attempted to analyze the first princess.

there weren't necessarily rumors nor biased opinions of her. though to be frank, not a lot people personally knew princess aisa, considering how she's not exactly close with any servants, and didn't even have a personal maid.

she was more of a mystery if anything, and kiyoshi half-pondered whether that was a dangerous label to have or not.

at least the crown prince was known for being somewhat cold, headstrong, and stern.

"is there something on my face, kiyoshi?", aisa suddenly asked, not even breaking contact from her book.

"a-ah, no. sorry, your highness. I must have spaced out", kiyoshi quickly covered up.

"I see...well, if you ever feel the need to ask me something, don't hesitate. after all, I'd prefer if you'd collect my verdict rather than someone else's", aisa casually said.

'she knows...'

aisa's red eyes then flickered upwards, flashing kiyoshi a small smile.

"understand, kiyoshi?"

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EVIL
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