Page 8 of Calming the Storm

"Woof?" Uru tilted her head as she sat patiently at our feet, staring up at us. We exchanged a look and grinned before Aki knelt down to give Urufu a hug.

"Let's go, Miss Uru. I bought some treats for you," he said cheerfully .

"WOOF WOOF!" Uru leapt out of his embrace to run around the both of us, stopping to rub her head on my leg before she darted to the door.

She stopped just next to Yoshi, who gave her a small smile. She sat down, waiting for Yoshi to pet her.

He shook his head but leaned down to stroke her head a few times.

"Woof!" she triumphantly, before running out of the room.

Aki rose up and snuck in another quick kiss, brushing my cheek with his hand. "Don't be hard on him. He gets all quiet and shit when he's in trouble."

I nodded, lifting my left hand to press against his that lingered on my cheek.

"Hai. I'll see you later?" I questioned.

He gave me a seductive smirk and licked his lips. "Rain check, remember?"

I nodded confidently and watched Aki turn around and walk towards the entrance. He stopped next to Yoshi and patted his shoulder. I couldn't hear what he said, but Yoshi nodded.

"Thanks, Akihiro,” he mouthed, which was easy for me to decipher from this distance.

Aki nodded and with that, he left the training room.

I took a calming breath as my eyes looked down at my feet, which appeared extremely intriguing compared to facing Yoshi, who walked over to me.

"Crimson."

"You said I should never lose confidence in you. How am I supposed to keep my word when you couldn't tell me you're the Emperor's son?" I questioned, deciding to make this a little harder for him. I could easily forgive him, especially when I knew he wasn't allowed to tell me anything, but I wouldn't give in so quickly.

That's what I hoped to project, that is.

"I had to swear in front of my father and higher guards not tell anyone, Crimson. I'd failed at it once, and my father forgave me the first time. I couldn't afford to tell you, even though it hurt every day not informing you of my family background," Yoshi confessed.

"Failed once before?" I asked.

"Aki, Quil, and Malachi knew of my royal background. So did Storm. They found out by accident during one of our missions, and I had to inform them of who I was and the severity of the situation before we were able to come up with a plan and survive the mission we were in the middle of. My father wasn't pleased but didn't punish me for it, which he still gets criticized for. I vowed I wouldn't screw up this time around, even though there were times when I wanted to reveal who I was and bring change to some parts here in Nokamato," Yoshi explained.

"You mean like the time at the festival where those men approached Melody and me?" I remembered the night well.

It was a typical situation that many women, regardless of whether they were a prostitute or not, had experienced, and Yoshi had interfered. I could have defended myself, but since we were in the middle of the market, it would have caused a problem and caught unwanted attention.

Yoshi nodded and sighed, looking exhausted. "I want change, Crimson. I crave to bring peace to everywhere in Homatomashi. Maybe even in other countries around the world. I hate that I have to hide my identity for the sake of clearing out people who don't want peace or have connections with N.R.O. I hate all of this." He clenched his fists while he looked to the side in shame.

The last bit of anger that resided in me faded with his confession, my heart unable to listen to the vulnerability in his voice any longer. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into an embrace.

"Yoshi..." I whispered, and he held me tightly.

"I don't want to live a double life, Crim. I do it because I need to stop things like this from happening. You lived 23 years not knowing who your real father was and endured a tough childhood because we had individuals in charge who only cared about power and used manipulative tactics to get and maintain their status. Every day, a woman is either raped or abused. People are kidnapped off the streets, and the crime rate has soared since Storm Yuna's passing. It's like everything is spiraling downward, and I can't do a single thing to help, all because I'm on an undercover mission to find the culprits responsible for these crimes."

He pulled back to look into my eyes. Anger and determination flickered in those sapphire orbs.

"One day I'll have to follow in my father's footsteps and be the Emperor of Homatomashi...yet, I'm so disgusted at what our country is becoming. Even though I'm trying my best to solve the many issues going on, I feel that more problems keep arising. This peace talks we were supposed to have...it was aimed to help solve all the problems going on in Nokamato, and then would spread out to the other cities until the peace movement was implemented in all of Homatomashi. Instead, Storm...was murdered, her pocket watch was stolen and thankfully picked up by you, but now we dragged you into this mess. Who knows what's going to happen now while we try and locate the remaining crystals from Storm's pocket watch?"

He took a calm breath and continued. "I'm afraid of uncertainty. I love being in control and having enough information to ensure everything goes well and no one gets hurt. I didn't want to hurt you, Crimson. I really did want to tell you and planned to ask my father if I could tell the woman I was interested in who I was. I wasn't afraid that you would judge me. I was afraid of this happening. Of you being upset by my dishonesty. Then the James thing happened and you were getting ill. I thought once you recovered and you saw your family before your birthday, I'd get the opportunity to tell you."

He pulled out of our embrace and knelt down, bowing his head in apology. "I know my explanation may sound like an excuse, but from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry for keeping my family heritage a secret. You have the right to be upset, and if you can't trust me to continue to help protect you and be in our mutual relationship, I will back out. You just have to say the words,” he promised sadly .

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