RIVALS INCARNATE

RIVALS INCARNATE She was the great Emperor Shin in her previous life. Reborn now as a woman, Yuko Amazawa, an intolerably egotistic shrew, still preserves all the memories she had from her former life as the late Emperor Shin of the Heian period. Haunted by her tragic death that had been executed by her former nemesis and the "royal-subject-turned-imperial-traitor", General Rei, Yuko tries to live by her new life as a publicist to no other than the reincarnation of General Rei himself: Kyouhei Kurosaki. A now good-natured and ridiculously charming public servant with a handsome appearance, Kyouhei Kurosaki ironically lives the total opposite of who General Rei had been. And much to Yuko's displeasure, he does not remember his previous life as she did. However, still unable to let go of that deep scar inflicted upon her due to the dark history she shared with Kyouhei's past self, Yuko struggles to control herself from sabotaging (or sometimes murdering) Kyouhei while dealing with the familiar atrocities and scandals in the world of modern politics as his trusted confidant. Will this unlikely tandem overcome the odds as they battle their way up the ladder of power? What will happen if memories from their former lives start to resurface again? Will they be able to obtain forgiveness? Or will it become a trigger into something that might turn this all around and bring more conflicts along the way? DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some historical references that have been used here are all products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 850 AD, 9th Century in Japan The moon shone so brightly and full that night, but there was no peace in the central area of the city of Kyoto. "Hurry! Your Highness! You need to flee!" Emperor Shin had been woken up into such a sudden uproar. The palace was being ransacked by rebels. The attack was bound to happen to kill the current Emperor and to change the ruling of the throne overnight. This was a civil war inside the capital and Emperor Shin had already suspected this upcoming revolt against his reign but he still could not fully grasp the fact that this unexpected terror had already started to wreak havoc in the entirety of his palace. During the night... This had gone worse. He felt his body weakened as the reality hit him like a splash of hot water onto his face. He was, in fact, severely discouraged and dejected feeling somewhat as if he had greatly failed his role as the royal head of his clan. Does this mean the gods have finally decided that it was time for him to step down? Was he never meant to be the kind of King that his country needed? He could feel the weight of such disappointment as he realized how he was unable to even stop this kind of circumstance before it had come out like this but Emperor Shin knew that he no longer have enough time to ponder over such regrets anymore. He needed to move. And so as much as he dreaded the entire situation, he quickly forced himself to face the chaos and abruptly got out of his beddings as louder screams, shouts, and disturbing noises resounded from the outside of the palace walls. Emperor Shin could only involuntarily listen to it without much of a choice as he tried to gather his wits. He soon heard several heavy tapping of more footsteps against the wooden floor just outside his bed chambers and was then met by a large group of his servants and guards showing up at his front doors as they pulled him away and quickly exited the place with heightened caution. "Quickly, Your Highness!" one of them told him with a nervous and frightened voice that was shaking and filled with fear and anxiety, "This way! This way!" He was still wearing his night clothing, but Emperor Shin did not forget to bring with him the golden-plated sword that he had inherited from his father. But even though it was a benevolent royal possession, he never really had used it before in any sort of battle, not even once. The armament was still unlikely reliable as Emperor Shin was not even sure if it was sharp enough to defeat an enemy but it had been the easiest and most accessible weapon he can provide himself at the time when he had rushed out. The sensation of the cold heavy metal within his palm dug into his skin as he held onto it tightly. He can only trust it as he followed his loyal servants leading him to another place to escape.  They were all heading towards a secret passageway just further down the end of the halls of the Emperor's main chambers. The passage had been specially made in case of such emergencies and only a few of the royal staff knew about it. However, throughout this entire ordeal, Emperor Shin's mind wandered back to the fact that his wife, Empress Aoi, was still not with him. "Have you already arranged the escape for my wife?" He hurriedly asked, his voice sounding a bit jarred and shaky as he emphasized the last few words of his question towards the group of his men. "I told Her Highness' servants to quickly follow us out, Your Highness," one of his servants, the oldest one among them who was leading the group, replied back, "You need not to worry about them for now. The most important thing is to get you safest and away from everything here, Your Highness." But it still did not make Emperor Shin feel any less worried. He kept turning his head around and looking for something else behind them. The empty halls and the darkness unnerved him. For some reason, he felt like he could sense something else... Something was about to happen, but he was not yet sure what it was going to be. "I have to make sure they are safe," Emperor Shin insisted. "They will be, Your Highness," the same servant replied, "They will never be harmed." He had been in wars and faced a lot of danger in the years that he had lived as the crowned prince and the Emperor, including the hundreds of times he was sent to wars and battlefields. He had already honed his quick wit and meticulous precaution for any risk and threat to his life that this simple scenario instantly made him feel a little more wary and skeptical of the entire situation. And so, as their group finally reached the hidden entrance of the secret passageway, Emperor Shin paused for a moment. The servants and guards behind him looked at him and stopped on their tracks as well as they waited with confused faces. "Your Highness," the servant near him uttered with a worried face, "Why did you stop?" He gave him and the others with him a look of scrutiny. How in the hell had he even trusted his life to these unbothered people who had little sense of safety in this situation? They should be much more careful now that it had suspiciously gone quiet around them. He made a move to check the surroundings first and just as he expected, Emperor Shin felt the chills invading his whole body. Something was quite not right at this point. So without any much of a word, he began to prepare for the worst. He changed his stance and readied to draw the sword in his hand. "Your Highness?" one of the royal guards who was also looking at him remarked as he noticed Emperor Shin's sudden change of position. "Move around," was what Emperor Shin just ordered him. He motioned his servants to go behind him. Then he signaled his guards to stand before him, in case of any sabotage that might occur at any moment. He looked around. The halls seemed much smaller now that he had the chance to observe and looked at the entire space longer than he used to. There were no signs of anyone yet, but he could still feel something was about to come. "Your Highness, we need to move," the oldest servant who was at the front of the group near the passage entryway reminded him with urgency but Emperor Shin made no attempt to leave his spot. "I'm not leaving until my wife is here." The silence became deafening as Emperor Shin tried to sharpen his senses while he made sure he did not leave anything in the background unseen. He roamed his eyes carefully, alarmed as he felt his heart rising a notch. Something was really not right here. "But Your Highness-" "Why are you still here?" The voice jolted the whole group. It came out of nowhere and was not from one of them and Emperor Shin quickly turned around with his hand almost unsheathing his sword but stopped midway when he realized that he knew who the owner of the voice was. The faces of two men slowly appeared from the darkness of the halls from the opposite direction and the new company stopped just at the front of the hidden passageway entrance. It was General Rei, Emperor Shin's cousin-in-law and royal subject, together with General Kaoru, one of the accomplished and most loyal military officials under Shin's reign. They were there to assist them with the escape, however, Emperor Shin felt a little unnerved by the fact that both suddenly showed up without much trouble of going through the chaotic scenes just outside the palace. "Where is my wife?" Emperor Shin immediately demanded, his eyes staring intensely at General Rei, whom he had never been on good terms at all. He knew that whatever that was happening right now, General Rei must be in it too. He could sense the antagonistic aura from him. And he felt the need to step back in order to prepare himself for any kind of attack. He can't ever really trust anyone with him right now... Not even when most of them had been serving him since he was born. "The Empress is safe. She will be protected and brought to a secured headquarters as we speak," Rei answered him. He matched the Emperor's scrutinizing stare and did not even back down. That simply announced the challenge but neither of them took any action to further it. Instead, Emperor Shin just let it go and moved to enter the passageway. He knew that he was letting himself be carelessly open for any sudden attack, but he no longer cared anymore.  The feeling of danger was very high and critical around him. Yet despite that, Emperor Shin was already expecting a very small chance of ever surviving this all. He knew that the worst was more likely about to happen. And as he was about to take any step further inside, he gave one more look over his shoulder, his eyes directly going back to Rei's direction as he spoke again. "If I won't get out of this alive, I trust you to keep my family safe, Rei," the honorifics had been finally dropped and the weight of responsibility within those words of favor from the king himself had been precisely expressed as Emperor Shin kept staring at General Rei. General Rei can only return a response by doing a formal bow of acknowledgment, accepting the request with honor and a warrior's oath. They might have loathed each other so strongly for most of their lives, but at least there was one last thing that they could definitely agree on equally: The Empress. Emperor Shin felt the finality of it, just as he could taste the impending fate that was about to befall on him. Yet no matter how much he expected such tragedy, he mentally swore to himself that he must fight for his life. He must try to survive. And if he did, and the gods let him live, he would still prove his worth as the Emperor of his country... But when he thought he was finally getting out of the danger, he felt a heavy object smacking him from behind. He was suddenly thrown down to the ground... The blow on the back of his head partially knocked him out senseless with a shock as his vision got instantly blurred. He felt the impact when his face fell flat on the floor, and as he tried to get up, still conscious despite the violent hit he had received, he heard slashing sounds behind him and the grunting noises of his men... It was obvious now, that someone was killing them all. The traitor finally showed his true face, Emperor Shin concluded to himself. He crawled on the ground only to be stopped by a painful squeeze on his lower leg. He already got a hunch, but even when he did, he still moved to turn and look behind him to see. What appeared standing there with his foot stomped over his leg was the face of the man Emperor Shin was not even surprised anymore to see there all along. He knew it. He had already expected this. He knew it from the moment he showed up. The traitor was... Rei. "I don't really want to do this, Shin," Emperor Shin heard him say. With those eyes, as black as ink and totally deranged like how he looked right now, Rei was no longer in his sane mind to stop. The blood was dripping down his sword, some were smeared all over his body, and only then did Emperor Shin also noticed that he had used the very golden sword that Shin had inherited from his father in killing his subjects... This f*****g bastard. "You left me with no choice, Your Highness," Rei added out of mockery and Emperor Shin angrily watched as the man raised the sword above him. "Tonight, you will die and this will end your reign as the King." "You bastard..." Emperor Shin repeated out loud but can only make a broken sound out of his croaked voice. He waited for the drop to hit him since he had no other chance of ever escaping it... From this man whom he knew would eventually betray him. This same man who had sworn allegiance to the royal family... The same man who had fought battles with him and won them all with pride... The man who will, later on, be punished by death for treason. The man who will be written down in history as a "traitor". The man whose face will never be erased... from everyone's knowledge and from Emperor Shin's memories until he gets reborn. He will make sure Rei... will have a taste of that great revenge. Regardless of where... or when he will make him pay. HE WILL DEFINITELY HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter One