Trip.

To be completely honest, Hikaru was not entirely sure who came with the fabulous idea that they needed to participate in the Martial Arts with Weapons demonstration that a Dojo back in Nagano was organizing.

It was not an official event, so they were not obliged to assist unless they really wanted to, and in Hikaru's opinion, this was more like the Gekiken of old than a real demonstration. However, it was decided that the Shidou Dojo was going to participate in the demonstration and that Hikaru and Satoru were to be the ones representing their Kendo and Kenjutsu schools respectively.

As so, they decided to make the trip to Nagano by bus and depending on how they felt after the event, they may take the Shikansen back home. They also decided to make the trip there a day earlier so they could be able to sight see a bit before they needed to prepare for the event.

And that's how Hikaru was currently staring distractedly through the window of a bus, counting the hours before they arrive to their destination and quietly singing her incomplete half of a melody that was supposed to be her soul mark.

While singing it, she smiled briefly while remembering everything that happened after her fourteenth birthday, when her melody first manifested itself. She could remember it as if it was just yesterday how she refused to leave the dojo for any amount of time except if it was strictly necessary because she was utterly convinced that her soul mate would be arriving any moment and without notice to the dojo, humming the other half of the song and if she was not there, he would be so disappointed that he would leave forever.

Her smile widened a bit because of the silliness of that thought. She now knew that that little girl's dream was not only completely unreal but also really dumb, because even I she knew that her soul mate was somewhere in the world, she now understood that she could not put her life on hold waiting for a metaphorical knight in shining armour to magically come to her "rescue"

She knew that perhaps someday she would find him… but even if she did not, it was not something that worried her that much.

The invitation to the Martial Arts with Weapons demonstration arrived several day ago and he was still not sure what he should do with it.

He discussed it briefly with his wife the night it arrived and after a moment of consideration, she told him that she thought it would be a good opportunity to expose their Naginata School and to reassert the presence of their Kenjutsu School.

He thanked her for her input but decided to meditate some more on it. Two days later, he decided that his wife's assessments were in fact correct.

Zagato had not practiced any kind of martial art for several years now, leaving the practical part of the Kenjutsu School to his younger brother Lantis and the reins of the Naginata School to his wife Emeraude; right now his only involvement on the dojo was its administration and further promotion.

He made a quick call to his brother, telling him about their imminent participation on the martial arts demonstration. A few more minutes and the details of their trip were completely sorted out.

Zagato then decided that, no matter what happened next, something good was sure to come from this trip.

Hello!

this is a small story written for the Hikaru and Lantis Week. if you read Tea, Please you'll know what all that is about.

This is supposed to be part of the Parallel worlds series, but i decided to post it separatedly so you could enjoy it better.

Useful information:

- Kendo and Kenjutsu are forms of martial arts involving a sword. However, Kenjutsu was the original form used by samurais and was used mostly for war. Kendo on the other hand is more sport oriented and has its roots on Kenjutsu.

- Naginata is both a form of martial art and the weapon used to practice it. It is based on another ancient form called Naginatajutsu and it was used mostly as a form of defence taught to the daughters of samurais.

Notes:

If by chance you are a Japanese practitioner of this arts and think that my info is not exactly accurate, I would really appreciate if you tell me, so I can learns and correct my stats.