Chapter 75: The War Declaration

Everyone is looking at Toujo.

The press. The crowd. The guards. The Crown Prince. Lady Mariko (who looks like she is going to faint).

Everyone.

Except Fuji.

In the middle of the chaos, while his father is screaming "SEIZE HIM!", Fuji is not looking at Toujo.

He is looking straight into the press pen.

He is looking... right at me.

He found me.

"NOW, AOI!" Rika shoves me.

Daiki is filming. Hiroto is crying "BEAUTIFUL!".

This is it.

I vault the rope.

"HEY! STOP HER!" a guard shouts, finally seeing me.

I do not care. I am fast. I am Bloody Twilight.

I sprint across the grass.

I am not going to make it to the platform. They are too fast. A guard is about to tackle me.

Fuji's eyes are wide. He is terrified. He is hopeful.

I do not have time.

I cannot reach him.

So I stop. I plant my combat boots in the Imperial grass.

I stand up straight.

Twenty feet from the platform. As the guard lunges.

"FUJI!"

I roar.

My voice. My Bloody Twilight voice. It cuts through the J-pop music.

Everyone freezes.

Even Toujo stops dancing.

Fuji is staring at me. His mask is shattered. He is just... Fuji.

His father looks at me. His face is pure murder.

I do not care.

I look right at Fuji. Right past his father. Right past the guards.

"I AM NOT WAITING!" I scream.

He looks confused. He remembers his note.

"I AM NOT WAITING FOR YOU!" I yell again, pointing right at him. "I AM COMING TO GET YOU!"

He is shocked.

"YOU HEAR ME, YOU PENGUIN-APRON JERK?"

Penguin apron.

The code. The message only he would get.

A sound bursts out of Fuji Kenji.

It is not a polite chuckle.

It is a loud, bright, real laugh.

He is laughing. In front of the entire country. On live TV.

His father is apoplectic.

"GET HER!" he roars.

The guard tackles me. I go down to the grass. It does not matter.

I am smirking.

They are dragging me away. They are dragging Toujo away (who is still humming his song).

Daiki is filming the entire thing. "Got it. It's on the cloud. We win."

Hiroto is sobbing. "What a line! What a climax! Season 2 is a hit!"

As they drag me past the platform, my hands cuffed behind my back (a bit much, guys), I look up.

I lock eyes with Fuji.

He is not the Ice Prince.

He is not trapped.

He is my rival.

And he is grinning.

The war... is on.