' Out of the land, two twins were born.

These twins were said to represent the country, its people, and everything that it stood for.

To protect the land, ensure its safety, maintain its well-being…

That was the duty of the twins. '

"Kiku," a girl's small, soft voice echoed through the darkness. A petite figure slithered over in the darkness, making its way towards the young man, and gently tapping their shoulder to wake them up. "Ki—Kiku, wake up."

The young man slowly opened his left eye, peering through the darkness. In front of him was the shadow of his younger twin—his exact spitting image, if he were born a girl.

"Sakura," Kiku began, rising up from his sleep, sitting straight. "What happened—is there anything wrong…?"

The young girl pursed her lips into a frown, her eyebrows creasing in worry. "I… I can't sleep…" she admitted, her voice downcast. "I'm—I'm too worried with the deal about the foreigners."

Kiku frowned as well, knowing exactly what she meant. In truth, the thought had greatly troubled him as well—but he always chose not to say anything about the matter. He thought it was best to ignore the subject, to deal with it in due time. But, he had to admit, he himself was feeling quite… anxious, about it. "What about them, Sakura…?" he asked, trying to mask his inner fears with his usual calm, collected tone of voice.

"I…" Sakura began, uncertain of where to start. So many things ran in her head—so many thoughts, so many conflicted feelings, that she couldn't properly arrange them in her mind. "Kiku, I'm… I'm scared."

What exactly was she afraid of, though? There were so many things running in her mind. But one thing was certain—she wasn't scared of the foreigners. She and her brother both have dealt with them ever since, even before they've secluded themselves and closed their doors to trade. Perhaps, what she was truly afraid of…

What she truly feared was uncertainty.

It was true that they've dealt with foreigners before. But what has that ever gotten them? The only thing that they actually got out of it were aliens trying to remove their culture, to write away everything that the two of them and their people have gone through. This was why they had to close their doors and their ports.

She was afraid that the same thing would happen—that these new group of foreigners would force them to change their way of living, perfect as it already was. After all—doesn't history tend to repeat itself?

"Do you think… those foreigners would take us away…?" she asked, her voice small and fragile. Even though she wasn't a little child anymore, this current situation that they were facing made her feel as if she was. She has heard so little of new from other countries, cities, and ports, ever since they isolated themselves—however, from what little information that she has heard from the Dutch, who were there only for trading purposes… There were numerous accounts of foreign invaders removing—and perhaps even killing—those who were representatives of a certain nation, overthrowing away the previous leader, to make way for what they thought was "civilised". Such news alarmed the young girl, that she has grown wary and fearful of these notorious outsiders.

She glanced at her older twin, watching his face for signs of fear, or any emotion. In the dim light of the moon and the small lantern that hung outside, it was difficult to even make out the features of her brother—but, surely, he has to be affected by this too, in one way or another.

Kiku heaved a heavy sigh, unsure of what to say. It was no doubt that he has been dealing with inner conflicts of their current situation as well, and he knew that no kind, soft-spoken, and well-meant words will ever appease his ever worrisome sister. But what was he to tell her? If he ever did tell her exactly what he himself has been feeling, that would further increase her worry for him. But if he resorted to calm, collected words, or try to change the subject… No matter what he'll say, the result seemed to be the same.

"Sakura," he began, trying to choose his words carefully. "Sakura, of course they won't. Whatever you've heard from the ports and the people are merely just speculations. They're simply rumours." He swallowed a growing lump in his throat, trying to maintain his collected demeanour for her. "They won't take us away. And if ever they do—" he paused, looking at her straight in the eye. "I'll do whatever I can to protect ourselves, our land, and our people."

Sakura eased back. She knew that, even though her brother was trying his best to appease her, nothing could ever truly calm her down. Those foreigners… for sure, they have come on good terms. They didn't seem like the ones who have arrived two centuries ago—they didn't seem to be the ones who were interested in occupying the land—however, she knew there was still something to them. Something in their arrival that would greatly affect the now peaceful land.

Or perhaps, she was simply overthinking. She looked back at her brother, who seemed to have returned to his sleep. She frowned, a bit saddened at the thought—for sure, he too was troubled by these things, yet chose not to talk about it. He was always so stubborn with his own emotions… he always acted too mature, that he seemed to have pushed away all his feelings, harbouring it deep within himself, instead of talking to someone else about it. Instead of talking to her.

"…goodnight, Kiku," she finally said, making her way back to her place in the room. Hopefully, in due time, all of these would be sorted out.

A loud ruckus made Kiku suddenly wake up from his sleep, springing up abruptly. "Sakura?" he immediately said, his voice filled with sudden alarm. "Sakura—where are you? Are you okay?" He rushed out of the room, going through all the other rooms in desperate pursuit of his sibling.

She wasn't in the room—and although he knew that she usually woke up early to prepare their morning tea, she didn't seem to be outside, either. He was growing more and more weary—where was she?

Most importantly—where did that noise come from…?

"Kiku!" an anguished, high-pitched scream resonated throughout the place. "Kiku—Kiku!"

The Japanese ran, searching for where the screams came from. He knew exactly whose voice it was—and he had to get to her before something else happened.

The scene that greeted him was far from friendly.

Before him were a horde of commoners, with numbers ranging from around thirty to nearly a hundred. The majority of them were outside the gates—but those who were persistent enough to breach through the walls all had the same, deeply unamused, and deeply furious face.

The first thought that had come to mind was his land's imperial family. The commoners around the area surely wouldn't be angered, if the family had not passed some absurd, strange decree that clearly opposed the opinions of the people. Perhaps it had something to do with the foreigners, to have the people be this severely angered.

The foreigners…

Those earlier thoughts were suddenly pushed away, as the word came into mind. Perhaps his sister was justly right to be so fearful and wary of these strange people from a different land.

And his sister…

"Sakura!" he yelled in panic, slowly backing away from the growing number of the crowd. He looked around the area, desperately searching for any signs of his younger twin.

"Kiku!" a scream replied, in between audible sobbing.

There was his sister, in the midst of the crowd, with two fairly strong commoners standing guard around her. Blood was quickly gushing out of a wound from the left side of her head, slowly trickling down the side of her face. Her tears had mixed with the crimson substance, along with the dirt that seemed to line her entire face, as well as her clothing. Her violent, relentless sobbing shook her small, fragile figure.

"Kiku," she repeated, unable to find anything else to say. "Kiku, Kiku—"

Kiku himself had no idea on what to do. If he tried to rush over to her side, the furious commoners would surround and engulf him, and surely he would end up in a similar situation as she was—hurt, and disoriented. Besides, if the people ever managed to get a hold of him, the nation and country as a whole would soon be in shambles—without a representation, their country would soon crumble and fall apart.

But he had to get to her, somehow—after all, she was his twin, and most importantly, she too was the country's representation. They were two halves of a whole, and if ever they were to be separated…

Without thinking twice, Kiku sprang to his feet and ran towards the growing horde of commoners. The people before him seemed to be surprised at his action—where there was once anger and frustration written all over their faces, now there was surprise, confusion, and even fear. He knew it wasn't good of him to intimidate his own people—but if they were to hurt Sakura, his sister, and his other half, then surely, he has to take immediate action.

The people were beginning to scramble and run away—and unfortunately so, with his sister. He felt enraged as he watched the crowd leaving with his sister, their own words and mumblings mixing in with the screams and sobs from the young girl. He fastened his pace, trying to keep up with the horde of people—when he felt himself being dragged away by something—no, someone—stronger than him.

He tried to break loose from the grip, writhing and struggling to free himself from the person's grasp—but it was futile. "Sakura!" he screeched as he felt himself getting dragged further away, the crowd and his sister growing more and more distant. He tried to break free again, and his attempt seemed to be fruitful, as the person's grip slowly loosened around his arm—but another equally strong man appeared, accidentally scratching the right side of his face as he continued to try to get out of their hold on him.

As he was being dragged by the seemingly stronger men, he took a quick glance up at them to see who they were. It was two of the imperial guards, the people tasked to defend not only the country's imperial family, but as well as the two representations of the nation. He felt a bit embarrassed at how he acted—surely, his struggle will get to the emperor. But he still felt mad at the fact that the guards were only quick enough to get to him, but not his sister.

He felt a heavy sting of pain in his chest, and he felt lightheaded throughout the entire occurrence. His sister was gone, possibly never to come back or even be returned. What was he to do now, as the lone representative of the nation? Both their tasks were equally burdensome—and now he has to handle both of them on his lonesome. He felt terrible, and his burdened heart felt heavy. Worst of all, the guard's scratch severely irritated his eye—he was unable to see properly with his right eye, and even the right side of his face stung with what might have been a wound.

His head worsened, and his vision grew more and more blurry, to the point that he couldn't even properly arrange his thoughts anymore, nor could he even think straight.

He closed his eyes, silently whispering a hopeful prayer to the gods that all these would soon pass.

And not long after, he felt his consciousness slip out of him.