Chapter Two:

A Battle of Wills


A thin, rice paper screen.

That's all that separated Sousei and Suisei from seeing as she laid in bed, the sunlight pouring in through the door across the room. Her parlor, where the two were, was illuminated well by the light that came in and what was left of the rays that passed through the screen bothered her eyes, making her curl further into her blanket. Such a thin door kept them from seeing her beaten and defeated.

"Haku-nee, you sure left a mess. Did you even unpack?" Kohaku watched as Sui's shadow moved across the screen. She could see her as she picked and put away the things that she failed to put away the day before—some out of laziness, the rest out of pain.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the other shadow coming dangerously close to the screen. Her breath hitched when she saw Sousei's fingers curl around the edge. "You sure you're okay?" She knocked quickly against the wooden bedrest, just once to assure him that yes, she was all right. She curled up further into her fetal position but regretted it when a phantom pain tore across her back.

Raw.

Her head was wracked at the loud crack of her door opening. She buried her head among the silk sheets of her bed, trying her best to keep the noise that was hurting her aching head out. At times like these she hated her acute hearing.

"Is she still in bed?"

Kohaku despised Masami's voice. She heard her footsteps as she strode across the wood floor and closer to her. The twins affirmed the suspicion in unison which got a sigh out their eldest sister. "I suppose…you're still shocked form what happened last night, aren't you, Kohaku?"

Her lip hurt as she bit down on it, hating the double meaning of that sentence. Nonetheless, she knocked once to answer her question. The twins quickly urged her to go with them to have some breakfast. It'd be good.

And I would love to but…

She'll be there. Kohaku wanted to be nowhere near Masami right now. She knocked twice, refusing.

"Go, you two," Masami said, ignoring their pleas. "I'll see to her and we'll join you for breakfast." The twins agreed and she heard the door close quietly as they left. The instant they closed, she curled herself further into the small haven as if that could protect her.

Kohaku flinched when Masami yanked the sheets from over her, leaving her with only the disheveled white robe she had thrown on to sleep. Dark maroon stains marked it at places, mostly on her back from the dried blood. Masami glared at her before nodding her head towards Kohaku's clothes.

"Change."

She sat up, regretting it when the welts on her back burned, not as healed as she had hoped they'd be. "It hurts. I won't be able to keep a straight face."

"Oh, I don't think you understood what I said." Stepping closer, she grabbed a handful of her hair that rested undone, long to her hips, and yanked, hoisting her up from the bed. "You will dress and be presentable to dine. We must not lose face any more than we already have. I will not have another one of your missteps."

Misstep? If seeing to Hakuryuu's wellbeing is a misstep, then I'm glad I did it.

"Don't mess this up more than you already have," Masami said. "As you saw, I won't hold back even here in Rakushou, so you might want to get comfortable with the idea of listening again." With that said, Masami threw her against the bed. "And don't forget that there's a meeting to discuss the conquer of Hakucho. It'll be after breakfast. I want you there, presentable."

"Yes...sister." Masami smiled but Kohaku was swift to wipe it off. "After all, they need someone who's actually in charge to present what happened."

Masami scowled but didn't dare hit her. Kohaku guessed that she was worried about what others would say or ask if there was a fresh mark on her face. But after a minute of thinking, Masami smiled sweetly which sickened her. "Mock all you want, little lamb. Where this is concerned, I'll always end up winning."

This time it was Kohaku's turn to scowl. She hated how Masami so easily could aggravate her with simple words. She may be a mute, a submissive punching bag at times as well, but one thing that she refused to be was a failure; she abhorred losing. Kohaku's obsession with winning at every and any cost clung to her like a disease. Where Masami and her torture were concerned, she may take the punishments to avoid further—and a much worse—retribution but she always came back hitting harder. Always found some way to best Masami so that at least where their lives, family, and political matters were implicated, she would come off on top.

Boast all you want, sis. You'll never surpass me out in the world for as long as I live.

Masami, with the last threat given, turned on her heel and left the room. Kohaku let out a sigh of relief, appreciating the silence that ensued. After last night's punishment, all she had wanted for the morning had been to stay in bed and sleep the pain away. She hadn't counted on the twins visiting her first thing in the morning, though. She guessed that they were still worried after all the things that happened the night before but she doubted that had been all. She knew Masami and how her conniving mind concocted plans; she must have sent them to scoop her out of the room.

Thinking of those things tired her more, though, and instead she stood as slowly as possible to go and bathe. Thankfully, she'd learned a long time ago how to care for herself, injuries and all, after nights like these. At least, this time, she could walk by herself. Drawing her bath, she didn't take long to clean up. Once out, though, she paused. Standing before a mirror, she gazed at her body. The welts on her side and back were raw but properly healing; only a few must've been really deep. Thankful for that, she began to dress. But nothing fancy, just some plain blue and white hanfu she kept around and decided to keep her hair down in a simple plait to have it lay over her shoulder. The plainer the outfit, the better.

There wasn't a reason to worry about what anyone would say if they didn't even see her, right? That logic—no matter how backwards it was—was what she stuck to. If Masami was going to be angry at her no matter what she did, then she might as well give her a damn good reason.

Missing breakfast? No, that would be too easy. Now missing that meeting…

She'll be livid.

Her lips lifted at one corner, the thought making her giggle. Yeah, that would work just fine. Coming over to her bed, she took from underneath her pillow her two vessels, leaving behind the journal. She clasped the gold and bone bracelet against her left wrist and pinned her feather pen beneath her ear, the crimson feather falling downward slightly.

The warmth coming from the two comforted her. She knew that the two of them worried about her, and that was way before they had started giving her earfuls about those 'punishments.' But they knew her reasons, and after asking for them not to mention it anymore, they stopped. Didn't mean they would stop worrying, though, and she knew this. She knew and felt their anger boiling at times, feeling as it grew and accumulated over time. If they needed to release any pent up hatred for Masami, like she sometimes needed to, she went out and practiced her djinn weapon equips. Physical activities with them calmed her down a lot. And it was much easier than actually letting them kill Masami, no matter how enticing the idea had become over the years.

Kohaku didn't feel like training at the moment, though. No, she had a better idea as to what to do to let out steam. Completely avoiding exiting through the door, she climbed on her bed and through her window, crouching to break her fall on the other side. She winced at the burning on her back but did her best to ignore it and instead walked off to the closest palace outer wall she could fine. Her eyes ran up the length of the wall, measuring it. That thing was double, maybe even triple her height, and that said something when she stood a little over 5 feet and a half.

"Nothing's out of reach from our sound, my king."

Beleth's voice ringing in her head made her smile as her fingers reached up to touch the crimson feather hanging from her ear. The eight-pointed star shined briefly on it seconds before Kohaku's hearing became extremely acute, more so than before. Taking a step back, she jumped a tiny bit forth but instead of touching solid ground, her foot bounced against air. Kohaku felt beneath her feet the particles of air as she pressured them to cause vibrations—the same particles of oxygen that they inhaled and that Beleth told her about which sound was made of. The particles collided so fast and so often that they made a tactile surface if for a few seconds, enough for the sound that they made to propel her upward and allow her to vault over to the other side of the wall, leaving only a tiny indent on the ground where she'd jumped from.

She smiled as she rolled her landing to end on one knee. Thank you, Bele.

"My pleasure."

Wiping the dirt from her clothes, she scurried away from the palace and to the city before mingling in with the rest of the crowd that passed through their mornings as usual. Her eyes wandered to every person and place, adoring the sight of Rakushou in the morning. Inhaling deeply, she could tell the kinds of foods, traditional ones made here, that were being sold at the various stands. And the sounds...they were amazing. So many people chattering away in boisterous glee with a sort of energy that she could never fathom. Voices of countless of people with such vitality, spirit, and life.

Frankly, she rarely left home or any place they visited. The battlefields were no different filled with cries of anguish and desperation, especially their last mission in Hakucho. But Rakushou, the capital of her beautiful homeland, couldn't be rivaled. At least the people that lived within its boundaries couldn't be, they held the heart of the city itself.

Forgetting the pain, she sprinted through the marketplace and for once reveled in her home. Eating delicious foods and pastries she hadn't touched for years now, going around looking at shops, and even strolling along the streets was quite enjoyable. She truly had forgotten just how relishing a day like this could be and she wanted to spend it to its fullest.

It was around noon when she stopped, apple in hand, to sit and rest. Her eyes never stopped their wandering, though, and watched the people as they passed by. As she bit down, her eyes lowered at seeing the distinction between all of those who walked through the streets.

White. Green. Brown.

Prominent colors that stuck out like a sore thumb. Really, she understood the idea behind this all: the hierarchy that existed within their citizens and the way to climb social ladders. But understanding didn't equate agreement. Although she agreed it was a much more humane system than most she'd seen in other parts of the world that she'd seen during her own conquers, she would never understand the need to place a certain group of people above others. For her, and in the end, they all died the same, rotting away in the earth. If they died the same, then they might as well live equally.

But those were personal views of hers, and she had no means to support her own ideals by any sort of margin. She did see purpose in the unification of the world to stop conflict but the ends didn't justify the means. They certainly didn't justify violence, either.

A chill ran down Kohaku's spine as she remembered Hakucho, the one city that eluded her treaties of peaceful unity. The memories of what had happened on that battle—what she could have lost—still made her blood run cold. But she shook the thoughts out of her head, thankful that she had decided to skip the meeting. At least this way, without her there, people would be more inclined to testify to what they saw without any sort of duress, intentional or otherwise.

Finishing the apple, she threw the stem away and was about to grab another from her pocket when the brisk sound of footfalls caught her attention. Lifting her gaze, she oversaw from across the street as the owner of the store gave orders to a young boy wearing brown, somewhat clean yet tattered, clothes. Couldn't have been more than eleven and despite that he seemed small. Without checking, the boy turned and sprinted ahead unable to hear the carriage that quickly headed his way, one she clearly heard coming from miles away.

Kohaku sprinted forward without a second thought, the fruit falling from her hands as one of her arms reached out to the boy that now turned, eyes wide, at the horse-drawn carriage that came at them both now. She brought him closer to herself and with her other arm reached to touch her pen, quickly bringing some of Beleth's powers to surface. In the fraction of a second, she hastened the speed of the vibrating air before them. Fast enough to solidify, it created a wall of pure sound slightly visible from the high amounts of vibrations yet low enough of a timbre to not be heard. The horses collided head first with the wall and burst back from the blow of the vibrations. On her side, however, the sound reverberated and bounced back at them, pushing her and the boy she held safely down against the dirt floor.

All fucking high hell.

She groaned at her back hitting the ground, but with the boy safely atop of her, unharmed, she couldn't really complain. Kohaku sometimes didn't understand the double-edge mechanic Beleth's powers had. To her it was stupid that whatever force she hit with, the same force would be reciprocated in the opposite direction: namely, her way.

The boy scrambled out of her arms as they sat up, his eyes, a deep mossy green, wide with fear. She smiled at him and patted his head, ruffling dark blonde tresses, the two things she could do to appease his worries. His face slightly relaxed until the whining of the horses stopped as the carriage driver calmed them down. The burly man stomped their way, his face red-beet from his anger, and glared down at them.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted.

"I-I'm sorry." The boy stuttered and looked between the two. Kohaku wondered who he really was apologizing to.

"You're sorry! Who's going to pay for damages to my mare if something happened to her, you slave." The man continued his banter at them, mostly the boy, and she was starting to hate the yelling.

"Hey, what are you doing, woman?" Kohaku ignored the man and instead went to pick up the apple she had dropped, still intact. Raising it to the horse, she saw it whine and smell the fruit before fully devouring the whole thing. She smiled and patted it's nuzzle as it ate.

Speaking may be out of the question but actions were sometimes, if not more often, a clearer response. Pulling back and patting the horse away as it sniffed her head, she motioned to the horse with a smile. The man was the most confused; the boy was somewhat, too, but quickly understood something.

"Y-Your horse is fine," he said coming closer to her. "It was startled is all. There wasn't any harm done." Kohaku nodded and patted the boy's head before bowing as an apology to the man. The boy followed suit in a fumble but the man wasn't having any excuse.

"You think I'm going to take the word of a slave?" He puffed his chest out and glared down at the two of them in some sort of power maneuver. Kohaku wished she could somehow show him what real power looked like but none had really seen the wall she'd created so that was out of the question. Besides, using her powers outside of necessity's sake wasn't something she did often.

Beleth's laughter rung in the back of her mind. "I dare to differ."

You're not helping, Bele.

"There's obvious damages, puny brat. Who's going to own up to it? Ha?" The burly man turned to her this time, his face even redder from the anger. The boy came closer to her and buried his face against her side, his hands grabbing tightly at her clothes. Her eyes went over to the shop from where he had come and to the owner; the man didn't even lift a finger and instead went inside his shop. Turning back to the carriage driver, he found him staring right into her eyes.

Oh, it's me?

Well, they were out of luck then. Not like she was going to pay for unharmed goods, anyway. Taking the child by the wrist, Kohaku walked past the man but he didn't seem to be letting go so easily. A forceful hand landed on her shoulder, gripping it tightly, and she frowned. If he was going to be inconsiderate like that, then she wouldn't hold back either.

"Stop that this instant!"

All eyes turned to the women's voice that spoke above all the commotion. Kohaku had a hard time turning around as the man held her stagnant but saw as all eyes turned behind her to the person who'd spoken. It was a voice she couldn't discern. But some options were quickly scratched out when the multitude that had gathered to watch prostrated themselves.

It's either some high-end merchant or land owner.

The man finally let go of her and prostrated himself apologizing profusely. "My apologies, your highness. Such rudeness in front you is unforgiveable."

Highness?

Looking over her shoulder, Kohaku's eyes widened at seeing the First Princess, Hakuei, standing just a few steps behind her. Dressed in her usual pastels and light colors, she looked stunning. Behind her was a young boy, possibly the attendant that had accompanied her out.

Having no choice but to do it, Kohaku saluted her with her fist in her palm. Hakuei smiled down at her before patting her shoulder. "I see you're in some trouble, General Kohaku."

"G-General?"

Kohaku clicked her tongue at hearing the man's apologies as he groveled at her feet for having been rude to her. She hated having people do that when they heard her title, one she didn't really even own.

"I believe the matter at hand can be solved easily," Hakuei suggested as she stood beside her. "Seishun, we can attend to this honorable man's carriage and any damages it received, correct?"

"Yes, princess." The attendant came forth and began talking with the man. Kohaku sighed in defeat not thinking that appeasing such a derogatory pig would help in any way.

Hakuei turned to Kohaku then, a smile on her lips. "It's been a while."

Eleven years can be called that, sure.

Hakuei's eyes came down to the boy that still clung to Kohaku's clothes for dear life. When the older woman reached down for the boy, Kohaku instinctively placed her arm between her and the boy. "I don't mean him harm. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"I-I'm okay," he answered with a nod, "because Miss helped me."

Miss?

"Yes, I saw." Hakuei lifted her gaze to Kohaku. "You used your djinn's powers to stop the carriage, didn't you?" Kohaku flinched at being caught but simply scratched her cheek meekly. "You're not in trouble if that's what you're worried about. I would actually like to thank you for your actions."

Kohaku shook her head. She hadn't done much, at least not enough to merit any thanks from her. She tried vehemently to tell her so with her charades.

A grimace came over Hakuei's lips as she looked at Kohaku. "So it's true. You cannot speak anymore." Kohaku didn't even look up to see the pity that was surely on the princess's eyes. She never liked seeing anybody's pity when they first found out about her disability.

Thankfully, though, Seishun had finished his errands and had returned to their side. With that matter done, they decided to accompany her back to the palace. Before they even moved though Kohaku glanced down at the boy who'd surely lost his job. Even for a slave, being left like he had been meant disownment. Without work, even after his five years were over, there would be nothing for him to do afterwards. No experience would get him no job; she would've saved him to have him die, anyway. Trotting away to buy some parchment with a bit little of the huang she had left, she used her feathered pen to write what she wanted done.

Passing it to Hakuei with a grin, the princess took it and read over it with a similar smile growing on her lips. "That certainly is a way to fix his predicament." She passed Seishun the piece of parchment before turning to the young boy that stood beside Kohaku. "What is your name and age?"

"S-Seijin. And I'm twelve…your highness."

"Seijin, the young woman who saved you has a proposition for you," Hakuei explained.

"A…proposition?"

"From what she explained to me, she would like for you to come back and work for her family as a vassal." Seijin turned up with confusion in his eyes and started at Kohaku. She only smiled and nodded to assure him that that was indeed what she asked of him.

Seijin shifted his weight between his feet, clearly nervous from the sudden call of attention. He gulped before speaking, "But…won't the seamstress and her husband be upset? I've been working there for a while now."

"You'd be surprise how easily things can be arranged. But only if that's what you want."

The boy turned up, huge doe-like eyes a dark green color staring right into Kohaku's stark blue ones. She hadn't had a voice to assure him that it'd be better for him to work under her family than out here. After ruining his future, she thought that was the least she could do. But unable to speak those words, she simply patted his head reassuringly.

"I-I do!" he chirped up, a slight pink dusting his cheeks making her chuckle. Hakuei quickly instructed for Seishun to take him back to the palace and get him situated first. When he asked what they would do, Kohaku simply pointed elsewhere towards the city. She didn't want to go home just yet.

"I'll accompany her." Her brow furrowed at hearing the princess's words. Hakuei smiled, assuring Seishun that she would be fine before the two left into the city. Kohaku didn't bother waiting for Hakuei and instead walked ahead wanting to enjoy the little bit of time she had left before the sun started to go down.

Hakuei sprinted after her and walked beside her as she continued to explore. "You seem to be well, Kohaku."

Chitchat. She liked it…when she could partake in it. But seeing as Hakuei neither knew how to translate her language nor had a translator, this would be a rather one-sided conversation. Those weren't her thing. She nodded out of courtesy and pointed at a stand selling pastries. Thankful that she could afford one for both of them. She took them to a small, quiet place where they could sit and enjoy it peacefully.

"I see you're still as quaint as before." Kohaku couldn't help but look out the corner of her eye at Hakuei as she sat beside her, the small cake she'd bought still sitting in her palm. A harrowing silence ensued, one that Kohaku didn't really like. Quickly eating her portion, she was about to stand when Hakuei spoke up again. "At times like these, I envy your peace of mind."

Envy me?

Peeved, Kohaku reached over and pushed Hakuei's hand upward, which was still hovering midway to her mouth, making the pastry collide with her open mouth. Hakuei, startled, stared dumbfounded but at seeing the smile on Kohaku's face she laughed, wiping at the pastry left on her face. A little quietness came over but this one wasn't as suffocating as before. It was lighter, and she hoped that her little charade had, at least, helped Hakuei cheer up somewhat.

Kohaku had no way to know how the princess felt but surely after having seen what happened the other day with her brother, she wasn't in the best of moods. She'd seen it in her face and even in the way she moved. So tense and cautious. Small gestures that she hid behind smiles. There wasn't any mistaking that she was beyond stressed out.

Poor thing.

Taking her hand, Kohaku dragged her along as she walked through the streets of the city. With Hakuei coming along with her, it was a little harder to remain inconspicuous but she liked the company. She especially liked to see the princess smiling and it reminded her of the times, years ago, when she did the same. Perhaps they weren't as rich in happiness as they were back then but if she could make her smile like this then perhaps nothing was completely lost.

Soon the sun started to set across the sky, the beautiful hues of blue changing into an array of red and orange. It was as they made their way back to the palace that Hakuei brought up a conversation that Kohaku had forgotten up till then.

"Now that I recall, wasn't the meeting about your mission in Hakucho today?"

At the reminder, her shoulders slumped down as she briefly stopped. Hakuei halted a few steps ahead and turned around with a small chuckle escaping her. "You…forgot?" Kohaku shook her head and turned away with a meek grin. "You purposefully didn't go?"

There wasn't really any way to lie to her now. She'd found her in the city, clearly wasting time. It would look bad but she just didn't want to go. But by now, without a doubt, the meeting would be over and although she would be scolded, she didn't regret coming out.


That same morning, the twins made their way after having eaten breakfast towards the room where they would be holding the meeting. Sousei had known this would happen with the ruckus that the mission at Hakucho had caused. He understood the reasons but hadn't really seen a need in having all the high ranks in the Southern Army attend it. That didn't just include him and his sisters but it also included other people, those sent from the capital and who had no connections to him or his family.

No connections meant no loyalty.

And if they spilt what had happened at Hakucho, they would have him to face. That promised slight bodily harm. Should they even mention any wrong that his sister, Kohaku, had done—well, they wouldn't have much to say afterwards.

They entered the room that was already filled with other people. The meeting had to be done with early so they had scheduled it in the morning. The three of them stepped in and took their seats, apparently the only ones vacant. As he eyed the ones present, the ones that stood out the most were the first and second princes that were there. The others he vaguely recognized from the mission, the advisors and whatnot that had accompanied them over a week ago. Masami sat beside him with a single empty chair flanking her. Sousei stared at it knowing fully well that its occupant wouldn't be bothered to come.

"You think she's going to ditch it?" Sui asked beside him as she laid her chin on the table. Underneath it, he kicked her shin making her flinch and only hit her chin in response. She scowled at him but he grinned before reminding her to mind her manners.

"Isn't it obvious?" he answered.

"She better not." Both twins turned with a curious look at Masami. She had been slightly irritated that morning during breakfast but she seemed even more now when she could see that everybody except their sister was present.

Sousei sighed already knowing how easily it was to make Masami mad. He loved his family but sometimes he admitted that each one of them had their flaws: Masami was too controlling, Suisei too childish, and Kohaku…

Well, she was something else completely.

"As most of us are here," the second prince, Koumei, stated, getting their attention. "We will go on and hear the report about the conquer of Hakucho. In which case, Lady Masami, as the head military advisor of the Southern Armies, it would be your place to start."

"Yes." Masami stood from her place and began to explain what Sousei and most of those present, with the exception of the princes, knew.

Hakucho: a fairly large city to the southwest. After being away from home for over a year, their last mission had been to conquer it before going home to Shika. That had been the plan. After much research they had concluded that the population was rather small for such city, and most of them had no military training whatsoever. The citizens didn't appear well of, either. There was much hunger going on and small riots that were destroying the city from within, making it an easy target. For all intents and purposes, it should have been an exemplary conquer.

And it would have been had it not been for those…things.

"Black weapons?" Koumei asked, confused at the words that Masami used.

She nodded. "We've never encountered them before. But they seemed to be some sort of magic. Then again, they were quite different from the magic tools that the mercenaries were using as well."

"What was their nature exactly?"

"That…" Masami pursed her lips and came to a standstill. Because she usually stayed back during the actual fighting, Sousei knew that Masami couldn't really tell them the weapons' nature. Only they could and even that was in a vague context. Kohaku had been the one to defeat the users of those black weapons.

"They were similar to Metal Vessels." Every head turned to him as he spoke. Sousei stood and placed a hand on Masami's shoulder, relieving her of her position. She gladly took it and sat down as he continued his explanation. "The powers they had weren't displayed fully, it seemed, before they were destroyed by our General. She told us that they were akin to the vessels but nothing like magic tools or any other weapons she had seen."

"The few we saw in action had powers similar to Haku-nee's and my own," Suisei explained. Sousei clicked his tongue at hearing her addressing Kohaku so informally in public and not stand before the imperial family. Really, he sometimes wondered how they were twins.

"To Beleth?" Koumei asked, knowing the names but not the distinct powers they possessed.

"No," Sousei clarified. "Beleth's and my own Household Vessel use sound magic. Marbas, and by default Suisei's Household Vessel, use strength magic. We weren't aware they would have such weapons or allies that possessed them."

Koumei turned briefly to his brother before lifting his head and nodding. "We understand that front, then. Now, could you explain how you overcame that?"

There it is.

Sousei knew that they didn't need to know much about the mission. At least nothing that concerned their military tactics. What mattered was how they came so close to failing and how they managed not to. His sister and he had already explained the former. To have answers to the latter was the only reason Masami had wanted Kohaku there in the first place. She had fought them off, single-handedly, even with her magoi so dangerously low. She had gone overboard, true, but in the end they had succeeded. He didn't see why the 'how' mattered anymore.

He eyed the rest of the advisors present, those that had been with them, mre intently than the rest. Some of them had seen what Kohaku had done and he didn't want them to badmouth her or undermine her abilities after what had happened. He didn't wish for her to lose face in front of the Imperial family even if she didn't care whether she did or not.

"It was the General." Both twins glared at the old man that had spoken up. An advisor that had helped Masami with their strategies, he didn't seem fazed by their looks and simply continued. "She went on a rampage and used her djinn equip. She ravaged through the enemy lines without care of who she injured."

"She ended the conflict," Sousei intervened.

"She acted recklessly," he added.

"She protected us!" Suisei added, jumping from her seat. Sousei thanked and cursed her at the same time. That was the one thing he wanted to avoid mentioning. And true to his fears, the old man used it against their sister.

"So it was her emotions that got in the way." He turned towards Kouen and Koumei, a grin on his face. "As I thought, your highnesses, having a woman command your armies was not a wise choice even if she is a Dungeon conqueror."

"She's fought her way through our father's acceptance as his replacement and conquered two dungeons. Gender had nothing to do with either," Sousei interjected. "It was her skill and her determination that got her as far as she's come. We follow after her command because of that; we are loyal and would risk our lives because we know that she would do the same for us and her soldiers."

"We had thought of retrieving after the loses we suffered," Suisei added. "She agreed and ran head first to soldiers to save them so they could return."

"She acted rashly. Had she thought out the strategy as a whole, none of that would have occurred."

Sousei gritted his teeth in an attempt to not rip the old man's head off. He was trying to bring their sister down at all costs. But they would fight back just as hard.

"She acted rashly." Both turned to Masami as she sat stoically, not facing anyone in particular. "But she also secured us the conquer. Had she not used her equip we would have lost the whole armada and, most likely, our family would be burying its only legitimate heir."

Sousei grimaced at that reminder and grazed his fingers across his shoulder, feeling through his clothes where he knew a scar had begun to form so close to his heart. "Kohaku did what had to be done and risked herself in the process."

"Besides we won," Suisei added.

He didn't disagree with her on that and nodded. "She might have been wrong in doing what she did and in how she went about it, but in our opinion, the results are more important."

There was nothing but silence in the room with neither of the opposing sides having anything else to say. The one that had the last word was their General Commander and First Prince. Kouen sat still with an expression that neither could read. From his vantage point, Sousei wasn't deterred from his opinion. He and Suisei stood together in this, and in her own way, Masami did as well. It was the one thing that their sister had taught them and what they would agree on no matter what.

"You stand with your sister's decision?"

Sousei narrowed his eyes at the one question their General Commander had voiced. He hadn't used her title because, in reality, it wasn't hers to take. It was their father's and eventually it would fall on his shoulders. He didn't want it, though, and believed that Kohaku was best for the task. More than Masami, the eldest, and more so than himself.

"I do; as both my general and as my family, I will always stand by her decisions. If we think she's wrong then we advise her, and she will listen. She leads with courage and a strong will, and we follow her because of it. And as she tells us every time before we head into battle, we will stand above all…"

Masami pursed her lips but had some fire in her eyes, that glint. Suisei grinned, her eyes sparkling with glee. Suisei remained stoic, but the corner of his lips turned up.

"And surrender to none."

The two brothers watched how close the three siblings stood together as a unit. Even without their General and sister present, they defended her with a fervor that both fascinated and intrigued Kouen. In a way, the oldest prince saw some of that same fervor in his own siblings, specially Koumei and Kouha. Neither spoke in his stead, there never was any need for it. But he believed, if the situation ever arose, they would do the same; they were family, after all.

Exhausted from the roundabout, he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Koumei watched somewhat used to his brother's nonchalant mannerisms where trivial matters were concerned. Turning to the room as a whole, he spoke, "My brother and king has heard enough. There will be no punitive actions taken against what General Kohaku did in Hakucho."

"But I will have a word with her." Koumei turned, his curiosity piqued at his brother's request. Kouen eyed the siblings present before turning to glance at the empty seat beside Masami. "Relay that message to her; tell her to be at the library after dinner."

"Yes," the three answered, and the meeting promptly ended.

Sousei finally breathed a sigh of relief with the whole ordeal over but knew that they still had one last message to deliver themselves. Tapping Suisei, she blinked up at him before understanding what he wanted. From beneath her, she picked up a set of scrolls, ones that they had brought specifically for after the meeting. Thankful that the princes were talking amongst each other and slow to leave, Sousei hit his sister to follow him to them.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced over his shoulder to Masami whose brows furrowed in confusion. Sousei just thumbed towards the princes. "Delivering a message of our own."

Masami opened her mouth as if ready to ask what he meant when her eyes landed on the scrolls that Suisei held in her arms. Her lips pursed in clear discontent. "You shouldn't bother them with such idiocy."

"They'll need translators," Sousei retorted. "We can't be everywhere at once. Someone's bound to learn."

"Plus," Suisei added with a grin, "it'll be easier on Haku-nee, too, if there's more translators here in the palace."

With a smile of his own Sousei said nothing else and ushered Suisei forward towards the princes. Catching them as they were leaving, the two bowed in respect before going straight to the point.

"We don't mean to take much of your time." Sousei motioned to the scrolls in his sister's arms. "We wanted to give you these."

"Scrolls?" Koumei asked.

Suisei nodded. "The sign language that Haku-nee—"

"That the General uses is in these scrolls," Sousei corrected. "We wanted for you to have them for translating purposes. It's more for the attendants or the like, we wanted them to be in useful hands." Sousei took them from his sister's hands and passed them along. "The Southern army as a whole and us know it, so if there are ever any problems, we would be glad to aide."

Koumei took them both, eyeing them curiously. "Of course."

The two bowed with thanks and excused themselves before they joined Masami outside. Sousei glanced up at the sky noticing that the morning sun was still high up. It was probably high noon by now and Kohaku had missed the meeting as a whole.

"She skipped…" Suisei sighed deflated from not seeing her the whole day. "You think we're going to train today?"

"Doubt it," he answered as they walked aimlessly following after Masami.

"Where could she be?" Masami pondered aloud, her fingers clasping down on the bridge of her nose.

"Could she be in bed still?" Sui asked coming closer to him and looping her arm around his.

He smirked down at her seeing as he was a few inches taller than all of them. "Could be but that would only be if she's feeling sick. She doesn't like sitting around doing nothing."

"She ran away then!" Suisei clamored, her eyes wide and mouth opened wide. Dramatically, she hinged from his arm making it harder for him to walk straight. "Haku-nee's so mean~ She should've taken us too."

Before he got anything to answer with, the two stopped when Masami turned to them. She seemed tired and a bit irritated, most likely from Kohaku not showing up. "I'll have a word about that with her later. What matters now is that she goes to that meeting with his highness." She turned to the two of them with a smile, "Would you do me the favor of finding her and telling her that message?"

The two smiled back at her and nodded. She thanked them and left saying that she needed some rest after such stressful morning. Sousei didn't blame her, it'd been quite a morning. And it was barely noon.

"You got any idea where she could be, Sou?" Suisei asked as she undid her hold on him and skipped on ahead.

"No, but she'll show up by herself." Sousei chuckled at the picture he got in his head. "She's like a cat, after all."

"A stray one, huh?" Suisei added with a scoff.

He laughed at that and nodded. The similarities were truly uncanny if he thought about it. Kohaku would roam far and wide if she was left alone. Most of the times they would find her coming in by herself later the same day or simply lying around either underneath or atop trees. The view changing was what she said as an excuse, it all depended on the vantage point.

And he couldn't agree more.

"We have plenty of time before dinner. We'll catch her then if she still hasn't gotten back. You want to translate for her during the assembly?" he asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

Suisei blew him a raspberry. "I hate political meetings. You go."

He'd guessed as much. "Then let's do something else, Sui."

"What?"

"Well, we still have a few more scrolls to deliver, don't we?" The smirk he gave her told Suisei everything. Before either of them said another word, they sprinted in their little makeshift race to their rooms. Competitiveness ran in their blood, apparently, and so far it was 45 wins to her and 78 to him. But the one with the greatest lead was Kohaku at 145, 89 of which had been won not in the best of ways.

He chuckled to himself as they gathered the scrolls they would go around delivering to the imperial family. Kohaku by far hated losing in any small contest and when cornered she was known to cheat…and she did that well enough.

"Who's first?" Sui asked as she adjusted the three she was holding. She hadn't wanted for him to carry the most which ended with her struggling with three and him with only two.

"Let's head to Princess Kougyoku first. I'm sure she'll be glad to have this," he answered with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, keep saying that to yourself," Sui said with a shit-eating grin on her face. "It has nothing to do with you having a little crush on her."

"Shut it, Sui!" Sousei shouted and hit her with one of the scrolls. It didn't really hurt but it got her laughing like crazy.

"You're such an amateur where love's concern. It's cute~"

"It's not cute. And shut up." He sighed and stared out towards the gardens.

Vague memories from years ago came to him of them playing with the kids of the royal family. Because of their age, he remembered only a few things. Some of them stuck out to him like when they would bully Hakuryuu and, of course, the times when they would play with Kougyoku and the yet-to-be third prince, Kouha. Back then they were weird kids, Kouha mostly. But Kougyoku was a shy little girl that he could not help but want to protect. They might not have seen each other for over a decade since but the feeling hadn't faded over the years.

Kohaku was the one he told first seeing as telling such thing to Suisei made him feel uncomfortable for some odd reason. He was twelve and she barely sixteen—a few months before the four of them entered Beleth's dungeon and three years before she lost her ability to speak—when he finally admitted to still having such feelings. It felt strange to even think that he could possibly have deeper feelings for a girl he'd known for a brief year and a half. Kohaku hadn't laughed like Suisei had when he told her afterwards. Instead she smiled but in her eyes there was a small glint of melancholy, one that he couldn't help but still wonder about.

"It's understandable," she said, one hand on top of his head as she ruffled his hair into a mess. "There's all kinds of love out there, Sou, and what you feel for the princess is a kind of love only you can feel. Even when others may love her in a different way, only through you will she know the love you have for her."

"What if she doesn't like me?" That had been his biggest fear back then. At twelve, although he worried about a bunch of things, being rejected by the one girl he found lovely would tear him apart. The fear got less dramatic as he grew older but that didn't mean he still didn't have it.

"It'll be sad, yes. But the love you have isn't a selfish one; in a way, it's unconditional. And if you love unconditionally, then there's a chance that you will get hurt but through it you'll learn. And when you learn you and those involve become stronger because of it. It's what I do and how I think about it, anyway."

"Do you love anyone like that?"

The sadness in her eyes darkened their stark blue hue in a way that till this very day he never once has seen again. "I love you, and Suisei, and Masami. I love mother and I love father. And I love my country, the world we live in, and the people in it."

"Is that the same, though?"

"The love I have for you all is unconditional. No matter what you do—no matter if you hurt me in the worst way or if you abandon me for all I'm worth—I will always love you. I'm strong in a way because of it, Sou. You're my family, not just the one I was born to but also the one I accepted."

"Accepted?"

"Yep. I've told you before, no? Each one of us living in this world has three kinds of families: those we're born into, those born to us, and those we accept into our hearts. I love you not just because you're my family but because you're you, Sousei: my adorable little brother. And when you love someone like that, you will have sad and happy times but one thing's for sure: you'll never regret it."

Sousei held those words to heart since then. He fought for Kohaku and her ideals because he believed in the kind heart that she had. She disliked violence but fought when she needed to, especially when anyone she cared for was in danger. But in reality she was a gentle person and very opinionated at that. Losing her voice never lessened her way with words and actually made her get creative with them. She was a joyous woman that did her best to see the good in life and somehow brought courage to those who allowed themselves to listen.

The two of them had known this for a long time now and had pledged themselves to her beliefs and ways. There was a reason why only they stood as her Household Vessels. And not even a cataclysm would change that. He had faith that the love they shared as a family would always survive any atrocity that the world hit them with.

They would always stand above all and surrender to none.


Evening. It was already somewhat late by the time she began heading anywhere near her room. With the threat of another possible punishment hanging over her head after skipping that morning's meeting, Kohaku didn't want to face Masami just yet.

That thought brought her to change her course once more but by then she'd spent most of her time dillydallying everywhere. The palace was enormous so a full tour of the place would be impossible in one day. The city was even bigger and her little expedition after Hakuei joined her had covered only a tiny portion of it. The idea of asking Sousei and Suisei to accompany her next time floated in her head, they deserved a good vacation.

After returning to the palace that afternoon, she'd spent some more time with Hakuei which cut her exploration of the rest of the palace short. They met up with Seishun and Seijin on their way and she had a fun time teasing the boy about his new position. For now, she knew to hide him from Masami so she asked of Seishun to instruct him in how to serve a general. The rest of the time she spent with Hakuei and it'd been fun, so it hadn't been totally wasted. She didn't exactly pour her worries out to her like she'd wanted but some had come up, the most prominent being her little brother, Hakuryuu. Kohaku understood the worry at a personal level; surely, if either of the twins started acting out like that she'd be worried too. Perhaps the little prince needed a good and serious talk.

But that would have to wait. The morning and afternoon came and went fast and now that it was getting late in the evening, she mulled over what to do to tire herself. She liked keeping her days busy and boredom was the worst thing that ever happened to mankind.

At times like these she truly missed home. She would know exactly what to do were she there. The simple idea made her feel cozy and giddy inside. Yeah, nothing ever beat getting a good scroll on poetry or philosophy and sinking down in her…

Study.

Her feet stopped in their tracks and she couldn't help but remember the gorgeous study from the other night. Full to the brim with scrolls upon scrolls of subjects she had yet to discover. It would be so easy to just sit down while enjoying a good read and fall asleep to that. She'd have a hurting back by the morning but it'd be worth it.

Without another thought, she headed down the hall towards the study. It was early in the evening; dinner surely hadn't been served yet but it would probably be in the works already. She ate enough when she was out in the city and her appetite wasn't that big to begin with. She got chastised enough by her siblings about her bad eating habits but she didn't mind it. But with dinner so close to being ready, it would mean that there would be less people in there. She could have the place all to her own.

The thought alone…

I better run there before anyone comes butting in.

She sprinted, trying her best not to go on a full run towards the study. Thankful that no one seemed to guard the entrance, she slid the door open and closed it behind her before trotting through the aisles, her eyes wandering over every one and imagining what the scrolls could contain. Grabbing a few just out of curiosity, she trotted off to find a place to sit while picking a candle on her way. She found a small corner where a large cushioned chair sat beside a well-placed table. Picking one to start and laying the rest there to wait, Kohaku snuggled up against the chair letting out a relieved sigh before opening the scroll.

Military strategies: good topic to start with, she supposed. As half of her mind read enjoying the time as it passed, the other half wandered off to other topics.

Running away wasn't in her despite being a very instinctual person more often than not. But returning to her room meant facing Masami and her wounds from the night before hadn't healed enough for that. Giving them enough time to heal would be better.

Slight guilt came over her at remembering why she had skipped out on both breakfast and the meeting in the first place. Doing so had left the twins to face the interrogations on their own and although she trusted them enough to leave them be knowing they'd be fine, she worried that one day they wouldn't. Her tiny family, as nuclear as it was, had cracks that ran deep into its core.

The foundation—their parents—wasn't as steady as it appeared in the outside. The relationship between their father and the imperial family broke after the first emperor died. Kohaku felt pity for him the times she saw him so distraught and paranoid about the future of both the kingdom and their family. Her mother was a weak-minded woman taught to do as she was told. Prim and proper, much like Masami, she was a loving woman but didn't dare raise her voice no matter the burdens their father put on them. That was in public, though; in private, she stood on par with their father but it usually ended in verbal fights that didn't end well. With such inequivalent status in the family, there wasn't much surprise about how she and her siblings had turned out.

In her mind, the four could easily be divided in two categories: the instinctual and the rational. Suisei and herself fell in the former while Masami and Sousei took the latter.

Masami was cold and calculative. If Kohaku had to point out any of Masami's most practical qualities, aside from her fake charms, it would be her cunning and manipulative mind. Masami was more thoughtful of her actions compared to her. She formed contingency plans for each and every situation that they came across before even thinking of engaging. Where she fell short was under pressure, which she greatly excelled at. This dynamic had been what their father saw potential in and the reason why they had been sent to so many battles together: one as the tactician and the other as the manpower.

Sousei didn't fall much behind in the calculative department. The kid could see well through her when she would cheat her way through their vast number of little games and during training, not to mention his times in battle. He tended to think a step ahead of everything he did, at times even telling her how to go about some things. The crack he tripped most often on, though, was sharing his emotional state. He was a brilliant young man, there was no denying that, but he could never, for the love of everything sacred, be straight-forward about anything. He was the type to run around the bush unless cornered and forced to talk. Much like herself, they worked best under pressure but were laid-back and carefree if not.

For being twins, that Sui and Sou differed so much from one another amazed her. Despite being the older twin, Suisei acted like the baby of their family. Extroverted and open with her feelings to a fault, she was a strong believer in family values. This explained, at least to Kohaku, why she had been so respectful of their father's choice of putting Kohaku in charge of their armies. It seemed that no matter how much she respected Masami as their strategist and eldest sister, Sui held Kohaku's talents out in the battlefield and as general in a much higher pedestal.

Instinct versus rationale; that's all this family dynamic was about.

Kohaku—although she tilted towards the instinctual side more often than she would like to admit—tried to hold her place somewhere in the middle. She could be powerful and ravage through any situation if she so wished, but doing so would make her a one-trick pony. No use for a general who cannot do both strategize and fight. But she knew that what she was missing was what Masami possessed: knowledge. And between power and knowledge, the latter was more easily obtainable. Because of her competitive and curious nature, Kohaku could easily dig into books to broaden her expertise on what her army needed and for which they had relied on Masami for years. And when the day came that she understood those subjects and more, Masami would no longer be needed in their expeditions.

She could topple her older sister from the position she held as strategist. She could render her useless at least where conquering was concerned. And with her gone, Kohaku would finally have a place of reprieve: a true haven from her torment.

The thought of being safe from her sister's wrath made the studying worthwhile despite the boredom it brought to her. She hadn't kept track of time but by the time she'd finished her second scroll, a scuffling caught her attention bringing her gaze up.

She blinked her stark blue eyes up at the bright magenta that stared back at her. Déjà vu struck Kohaku at seeing Kougyoku, their meeting much to reminiscent of the day's before. This time she wasn't as extravagantly dressed, most likely she had been getting ready for bed seeing as her hair rested loose behind her and her robes slightly more sleep worthy.

"Y-You're—"

Kohaku's eyes darted away from the young princess to see the stuttering mess that was her attendant. Still dressed in his full attire, he seemed to have only been escorting her as he fell behind several steps.

"Anegimi?" Kougyoku murmured under her breath. It was only when she turned back to face her that Kohaku saw the scroll that Kougyoku held closely to her bosom holding it with both hands. Looking closer, it looked familiar, too, but before she got a chance to even ask about it, Kougyoku saluted her and bowed.

The man behind her started to panic at the young girl's actions, blabbering out like a madman. Through his stuttering, Kohaku watched perplexed at his presence so close to Kougyoku. "P-P-Princess, you mustn't—"

"Good evening to you, General Kohaku."

The mention of her title took her by surprise and her brow furrowed in response. Kougyoku stood straight with a small smile spread across her face, one that held a mixture of pride and glee.

"I wasn't aware…that you took over General Koujiro's armada. Then again, I suppose it's only natural seeing your talents."

Talents?

The more she talked the more confused she became. Kougyoku's sight shifted from her to the scroll that she held cozily in her arms. A shyness that she recognized came over the young princess and lightly dusted her cheeks. "It's amazing, really, at least to me. Even with…well, you know—even without a voice you've gain so much respect from your soldiers, even from Suisei and Sousei." Her hands tightened around the scroll. "I find it truly amazing…the things you've accomplished. It…gives me hope, somehow."

Ah, I get it now.

That awe in her voice and that expression of fascination, it was the same one that she would see on the twins whenever she would take matters into her own hands. In a way, she understood Kougyoku's amazement. It was akin to the one she once held for Masami back when she was smaller, one that disappeared quickly enough over the years.

But hope? How? And…for what?

Setting those thoughts aside for the moment, she pointed at the scroll that she still held so fervently close to her bosom. The princess's smile grew shyer and it made her hold it closer. "Sousei gave it to me." A grimace dampened her mood suddenly. "I asked him to tell me about what happened to you but he refused to tell me. Suisei won't say a word, either. They both told me that I should ask you instead and gave me this." She shifted between her feet in clear nervousness.

Kohaku turned to face the man that had been quietly standing behind Kougyoku despite the twitch in his eye. The staring made him visibly uncomfortable to the point that he grumbled something under his breath—clearly audible to her ears—before bowing. "I am Ka Koubun, Princess Kougyoku's vassal." At hearing this, she pointed at the scroll while giving him a droll stare. This made him stumble on his words even more as he flustered in frustration. "I-I have offered to learn it but the Princess—"

"No, it isn't Ka Koubun's fault," Kougyoku quickly added. "He did volunteer to become my translator but—" She stood firmly with a stern expression, her knuckles turning white from the hold she had on the scroll. "That's why I came here to brother's study, for references. I want to learn so that I can communicate with you like they do. Like everyone seems to be able to—I want to learn by myself so we can talk again like we used to, Kohaku-anegimi."

That's going to be hard.

More than anybody, she knew how tedious and arduous a task it was to learn her language. Hell, it'd taken a good six months to teach herself and the soldiers fluently. People remember words because of sound, they're just easier to learn: you heard, you repeat. But her language demanded active learning; knowing what the hand movements meant and catching up with the speed of those who spoke it fluently was one thing. And it wasn't taking into account the various shorthand gestures she made up herself over the years. It wasn't that one person alone couldn't learn it…it was just incredible hard to do so.

But then again, she knew the best person for her to practice with.

Standing from her sit, Kohaku went over to the nearest chair and pulled it over next to her own. Kougyoku and Ka Koubun simply stared until she was done. Sitting back down, she patted the sit now beside her and smiled at the princess before she came over to take a sit. Taking the scroll so that it sat between their armrests, she laid it fully open. The drawings of hands, curtesy of Sousei, were depicted to represent the letters of their spoken language. Turning sideways to face Kougyoku, she signed one of the letters with one hand and pointed at the scroll with her other free hand. Kougyoku blinked in confusion for a few seconds before fumbling through the scroll.

"…S?"

Kohaku smiled and nodded before going on with the next and then the next letter. Kougyoku, though somewhat sloppy and at times confusing some letters with others, hurriedly figured out the single word that she was trying to spell out.

"…sweets?"

Proud of her work, she nodded with a bright grin on her face. Kougyoku smiled before turning eagerly to Ka Koubun who stood beside the two. "Did you see that, Ka Koubun? I figured it out—ah!" Ka Koubun staggered back startled by her sudden exclamation. "Ka Koubun, bring us some tea and sweets."

He eyed Kohaku briefly before obeying his princess. Once left by themselves, Kougyoku turned back to Kohaku, eager for them to continue. A few minutes into their studies, Ka Koubun returned with the food and the sweets looked as delicious as she'd imagined. She might not have the greatest of appetites but her sweet tooth never changed. "Thank you, Ka Koubun. I think that will be all for tonight, you're excused."

"B-But princess, to leave you alone—"

"I'll be fine. I'm not alone." He tried convincing her otherwise but Kougyoku was stuck on her decision and repeated herself several times before he agreed albeit reluctantly. Kohaku chuckled at the exchange and wondered where the girl got her patience from. The eagerness not leaving her as she prepared her tea, she turned back to Kohaku. "All right, I'm ready. Shall we continue?"

She couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips before nodding. They continued; to get her learning, Kohaku began asking simply questions about her day to which Kougyoku could easily respond to and focus more on translating. Despite what she had thought before, her time for dinner had been a few hours off. It was barely being served. Kougyoku didn't give her a straight forward answer when she asked her why she'd skipped it, she only stammered with the vague explanation she gave.

A good hour went by before their small lessons were interrupted.

Kohaku heard the footsteps before the doors to the study even opened. She turned up prompting Kougyoku to do the same as a pink head darted into the study with night clothes on. Similar sparkling pink eyes stared down at them as the young boy tilted his head, a smirk appearing on his lips.

"Ah~ What's this?"

Kougyoku's eyes widen in surprise and she smiled at seeing him, "Kouha! Good evening, brother."

The third prince eyed the pair as they sat silently staring back at him. Kouha trotted over to his sister before leaning over her with his head atop her own and peered down at the scroll. "This thing? You skipped dinner for this, Kougyoku?"

"Yes," she replied before cradling it in her arms and trying to remember the signs by memory for the moment. "Kohaku-anegimi is helping me learn it."

"Really?" Kouha eyed said woman for a second with an aloof expression; she only stared back smiling. He turned away and scoffed, "Why bother? I'm having Junjun, Jinjin, and Reirei learn it for me. It's much easier than learning such useless thing myself."

Oh, really…?

Annoyed about the jab at her language, she signed at Kougyoku. Remembering the more distinct letters and only glancing down to make sure of a few, Kougyoku said what she'd translated, "Foolhardy." Kohaku nodded and pointed at Kouha, a smirk on her lips. "You're calling brother Kouha foolhardy?"

"Ha?" Kouha exclaimed before standing before Kohaku rather defiantly and giving her a glare she returned with that never-fading smirk. "Who're you calling foolhardy, you mute hag?" Her eye twitched at the name calling and she pointed at him again not willing to fall for such childish play. That only made him scoff. "Oh, yeah? Like you're any better having to speak stupidly with your hands like that." Kouha mocked her signs with his hands and stuck out his tongue.

Oh, no you did not just do that, you pretty brat.

She signed away much too quickly having forgotten that Kougyoku, still learning, was having trouble following the speed. "U-Um," Kougyoku glanced from Kohaku to the scroll and back again, greatly confused by how her signing with both hands made the letters meld together and made it much harder to translate. "A-Anegimi, please, slow down."

"Give it here." Kouha snatched the scroll from Kougyoku's hands before trying his best to follow behind her hands and haphazardly translate what she was saying. "Who're you calling a knucklehead?!"

"Oh, wait." Kougyoku pointed at something on the scroll before turning back to her. "I think she's using a shorthand. This one, here." Kohaku watched as Kouha studied the scroll and grumbled something under his breath. He argued with Kougyoku as the two tried to figure out what she'd said.

Waiting for them patiently, she enjoyed the view of them together. Despite being siblings of different mothers, they seemed to have warmed up well to each other over the years that she hadn't seen them. Being the same age, it didn't surprise her much. What did was the fact that they were so different from back then; Kougyoku wasn't as shy and secluded as before and Kouha, well, from what little she'd just seen, his violent tendencies had shifted over to a more perky but still quite vocal personality. Kohaku didn't disagree with it, simply thought it was quite nice to see such good changes in children she'd taken a liking to those years ago.

"Ah." Her train of thought was interrupted when the two spoke up with clarity in that single syllable. Kougyoku gave him a smile as Kouha averted his eyes with a childish pout. "Don't think I'll forgive you easily about calling me a lazy bum just because you called me cute."

The strange reaction made her blink before laughing, the air passing through her throat making a wheezing sound that surprised them both. Her laugh subsiding, she signed in reply.

"With that face, you're even cuter."


Koumei took a deep breath, feeling full from just having eaten, but midway a yawn caught him off guard. Aside from work, eating made him rather tired too but sleep eluded him like always. This time the culprit was a meeting, one that his brother and king had assigned since the morning and now that dinner had passed, it was time for it.

At recalling the face of the woman he had asked for, another thought riled into his head. It was an actual question laced with his own curiosity at a person so bold—or stupid—to skip a meeting with his brother. "She missed this morning's meeting. Do you think she's brave enough to skip this one, too?"

The wording made Kouen scoff. "If she does, it won't be bravery. It will be blatant stupidity."

Koumei couldn't agree more. But he found it both perplexing and astonishing that a person would dare leave such an impression on the first prince of her own country. But in his opinion there was some sort of mixed impression, good and bad. The good came from her siblings' actions and words which, although he thought idiotic to voice aloud with such confidence, reminded him too much of himself and Kouha, and even Kougyoku to some extent.

But that was only what those underneath her thought and that mattered little if anything. What would define where she stood and what disciplinary measure, and to what extent, would be taken, it would be what she gave as an excuse in this night's meeting. He just wished it over with so that he could rest, truthfully. But as they approached his brother's favorite and private study, hurried footsteps made the wood floor beneath their feet tremble. They were running, fast, and towards their direction as they reached the door. It was sudden enough to make them stop briefly.

"…sure she's this way?" a panicked voice asked. Koumei vaguely recognized it as the youngest Reizei daughter.

"Believe me, when she laughs it's distinctive." He recognized the other voice as their only son. Both seemed to be heading to where they stood. "Sounds like a wet bag with holes deflating."

"Ugh, way too much information, Sou," she replied.

"You asked," he retorted. "And I may not have her stupidly accurate hearing but I can focus enough to know, and I know what she sounds like. Haku-nee's near—" Koumei watched slightly perplexed as the two turned the corner and screeched to a halt, Sousei's color visibly paling while Suisei grimaced before stepping behind her brother. "Y-Your highnesses!" He bowed sloppily as did Suisei. "W-What a coincidence. We hope you're having a fine evening."

Koumei glanced up at his brother who simply scoffed from the obvious distraction and watched from the sidelines as he tore through their façade. "Just in time, I see."

"I-In time?" Suisei inquired.

"Your sister's circumstances require a translator. You are here for that job, are you not?"

Koumei watched as the two flinched visibly under his brother's scrutiny, something that wasn't that surprising. But what perplexed him had been the reason he gave them for their presence here. Before he could question them, though, Sousei spoke regaining some of his lost composure.

"Of course, your highness. We told the General of your request and she humbly accepted. She also wanted to apologize for not having attended this morning."

As he spoke, Kouen noted the slight slanted posture he held. With the foot that was lifted from the ground he tapped the floor. It would be innocuous and he himself would have ignored it had it not been in such meticulous sequence. His attention came back to them when the older twin spoke up.

"Y-Yes, she was deeply sorry about missing it this morning. She's still not well, you see, from our trip back from the battlefield," she made gestures with her hands to exaggerate her words. "Injuries and all."

Knowing it as a ruse but trying to be courteous, Koumei lowered his fan to face them fully. "Is that so?"

"Yes," the two answered in unison, surprisingly not losing a beat.

Sousei's foot tapped a few more times before he cleared his throat and smiled. "She's waiting inside, your highnesses. She prepared for the meeting the afternoon after we told her about it, seeing it fit after missing out this morning."

"Very well." Kouen didn't waste any time thereafter and promptly opened the door for himself. Koumei followed suite with the twins coming up on the rear. The closer they got to the deeper part of the study, the more they heard voices which was odd when Koumei and Kouen easily recognized the two.

Coming into the study, they spotted Kouha and Kougyoku talking with the General, who smiled as she signed slowly for them. Kouha replied with an attempt to translating with Kougyoku giving her own input and glancing down at the scroll on her lap for reference and to correct themselves. Even before they entered, Kohaku's head turned sideways before she glanced up from the siblings in front of her.

Following her line of sight, the two stood up at seeing their brothers and promptly greeted them. Kohaku stood languidly from her sit and did the same, smiling.

"En-nii, Mei-nii," Kouha spoke up before skipping over to Koumei. "Great seeing you!"

"You skipped dinner," Koumei chastised, "again. Both of you did."

"I ate too much in the afternoon, though~" He pointed behind himself to where Kougyoku still stood beside Kohaku while the twins quietly made their way to their sister's side in the midst of the family talk. "Besides, it's not like we spent it lazing around. Right, Kougyoku?"

"Yes," she exclaimed, beaming with pride. "We learned plenty from anegi—I mean, General Reizei. We only just started but she said we're doing quite well and that she'd keep teaching us more in the following days, too."

Koumei glanced over to Kohaku as she stood expectantly, not at all nervous or fidgety after the fiasco from the morning meeting. Nor seemingly flustered about a meeting they both knew, from what they overheard of the twins' conversation, she hadn't known about. He ignored this the best he could before he spoke, "You should not bother yourself, general."

She chuckled before replying, "It really is no bother at all." She cringed visibly having forgotten that the two oldest princes didn't know her language fluently or even the smidgen that the younger ones had learned. But before she could rectify her mistake, Kouha and Kougyoku translated the sentence close enough to what she said, clashing here and there on one word.

"And even if it were, they have us to practice with, too," Suisei added and clung onto Kohaku's back out of the blue. She winced but hid it as quickly as she could, not noticing in her effort that Kouen had caught a brief glance of the gesture.

"We would gladly offer our expertise to you as well, your highnesses," Sousei continued with a much politer tone. "That is if you find a need for it."

"Of course there won't be any need for it," Kouha boasted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "En-nii and Mei-nii won't need you bunch to learn something as simple as that."

"Of course not. It's so simple, in fact, that you keep confusing my vowels. Any moron could learn it, right?"

Kouha sneered and felt his eye twitch in slight irritation at catching half of that sentence. "Care to pass that by me again?"

"Of course, my dear prince."

Kougyoku giggled behind her sleeve at the cute name while Kouha kept egging her on without really gaining anything from it. Having had her fun, though, Kohaku stopped and patted for Suisei to climb down from her back. Doing so, she turned to Kouen and Koumei.

"I digress, however. It appears we have more important matters to attend to."

Sousei promptly translated for them. Koumei found the need for a translator rather obnoxious but necessary in his case. He was about to mention the actual necessity, or lack thereof, for his brother and king but before he could his brother spoke.

"Indeed we do." Striding to his desk, he went to take a sit behind it leaving the rest to stand. Koumei followed and stood by his side. Not knowing the reason but wanting to stay and listen, Kouha and Kougyoku stood to the side of his brother's desk while the twins remained to Kohaku's right side before it. The line was drawn, she noticed, and everyone stood in their respectful places.

Koumei gave her a small summary of what was talked about in the meeting before ending it with this, "Most of what occurred in Hakucho was explained thoroughly by the reports and by your siblings, but there are still inconsistencies that remain. The black weapons, for example."

Kouen stared at the young woman that stood firmly and undeterred, a smile, calm but tense, lingering on her lips. She raised her hands and signed as Sousei translated. "Those weapons were strange, to put it simply. They possessed powers akin to those of Metal Vessels but they seemed to conjure power from another source, one different than normal rukh."

"What makes you say that?" Koumei asked.

"Their sound." Kohaku chuckled at the perplexed looks that Kougyoku and Kouha gave her before she continued her explanation. "I might not be gifted like a magician to see it but because of Beleth's power, I can hear the rukh. The white rukh tend to be a calm beating, the black rukh are much more uncontrollable and frenzied. I knew because I heard it."

"Anything other than that?" Kouha asked curious himself.

She shook her head. "Their powers were based on magic similar to any other magician's. The source was different, though, and from what I heard, it seemed that Hakucho was plunged in an ocean of black rukh. It explains why they were so resilient even as my soldiers dwindled their numbers. I was forced to use most of my magoi to clear a path for them but even then they remained strong. They seemed to draw from this other rukh in a way I've never seen before."

"Your brother mentioned you being dangerously low in magoi when you decided to intervene," Koumei mentioned while hiding his face behind his fan. "How did you stop them after being weakened to such a point?"

"I drew what little magoi I could from the noise around me. I was slightly on edge at the time I made that decision and it made me overuse my powers unnecessarily. So I admit it was, to put it bluntly, idiotic of me to act so rashly."

"It was," Kouen spoke up and sat straight in his chair. "You lost over two thirds of your soldiers because of your inadequacies. You may have captured Hakucho but the numbers lost should not have gone past a quarter."

"I am aware of that. And I blame no one but myself, as well. The moment I saw the opportunity to end it, though, I didn't hesitate. I used what magoi I could gather and djinn-equipped."

"What makes you so sure no one survived?" Koumei asked curious.

"Sound is everywhere. The moment I released Beleth's magic, I controlled the vibrations in the air, including the ones in their heads. Their deaths were swift and precise. And I heard them die. Unless they could counter or protect themselves with magic, they fell with that attack."

Silence came over with that finality that she put in her words. Koumei was slightly impressed that she had such answers at the ready. From the little conversation the twins had had on their way to the study, it seemed that they hadn't told Kohaku about his brother requesting such a meeting with her. And yet, be it by coincidence or actual planning, she was here and ready with answers to every question.

It was true what his brother and king had said during the morning meeting, punishment wasn't something they were aiming for. Neither was it any sort of disciplinary action although in this case it was highly adequate. What they wanted, especially his brother, was the information that they could only get from her. There had been only a few sightings of these weapons: one in Balbadd during the revolution that had taken place half a year ago and the other from Prince Hakuryuu himself when Hakuei had told them about his conquering of Zagan. Nothing much had been reported about either case.

In a way, this was the closest to any valuable information that they had gained about them. Even this, though, was not much. Koumei knew this and it only made him more tired knowing that there would surely be a need for scheduling serious research into the matter. That was a hell of its own that awaited him in the future. Sleep seemed farther away still.

Noticing that there didn't seem to be any more questions, he raised his gaze up to the three siblings. "Is that all you have to say about Hakucho and the enemies you encountered there?" Kohaku only nodded. Koumei sighed, his shoulders slumping down. Perhaps the meeting would end sooner than he thought. "If that's all, then—"

Kouen raised his hand to stop his brother and eyed the three siblings with that stoic look of his. Sousei and Suisei seemed uncomfortable under the scrutiny but Kohaku didn't seem fazed. She actually reciprocated the same gaze from the night before, one that said she was trying to figure his thoughts by attempting to decipher his expression but failing miserably at it. She didn't let it show, though, and instead stared back with an unflinching owlish stare, her expression slightly bland.

"You accept that you committed various errors in your latest campaign." He asked the question but it didn't come out to sound like one.

She nodded.

"And can you clearly state them?"

"Rashness. Negligence. Miscalculations. Inexperience during such situations. But if I had to pinpoint one in particular, it would be the latter."

Kouen's brow raised slightly at that note. "Not your rashness?" She shook her head. "So that you carelessly went in wasting your army's most valuable weapon before there was any necessity for it is not the major issue you see in your actions?"

"I agree that I was wrong to use it so early without a need for it; miscalculation, from my part. It links back to my inexperience. I've only had my father's position for a little over two years and most certainly don't have the expertise, say, your highness has. That, added to my negligence of the enemy and of my own knowledge of strategy, greatly hinted towards the results we got. All in all, I got the short stick of the bunch, if you can excuse my language."

Kouen remained quiet taking in her words. "And your careless disregard cost many of their lives. That will not be allowed to prevail. You are hereby ordered, under my command, to shorten that gap of knowledge you lack."

"Highness?"

"Study, general," he clarified at her perplexed expression. "This library, along with the rest in the palace, contain strategies and accounts of battles, both successes and failures, that have taken place over decades of Kou's history. History is the perfect teacher for such cases as yourself. What you lack you can learn and excel in it. It's a matter of putting the effort to reach that state. Do I make myself clear?"

Kohaku blinked for a few seconds before giving a firm nod. Good, he liked the fire he saw in her eyes. It showed that, in the very least, she wouldn't be one to be dampen by one loss. He may have yet to see her real potential in battle but the accounts of the soldiers, strategists, and her own right-hand captains gave him some idea. From them he could gauge what she naturally carried in her arsenal as not just a general but as a soldier as well, and also easily figured what she lacked. Now that those pieces were placed on the table it was now a matter of harnessing what she already had and letting her obtain what she lacked.

Kouen had said what he wanted to but one thing did bother him enough to ask. "One last thing, general." Kohaku's gaze lifted up to meet his, stark blue staring into crimson tainted gold. "All your expeditions have been nonviolent unless explicitly necessary, or so I've been told. Yet on this one, you acted upon your captain being injured. Could you explain your behavior to me on that particular circumstance?"

At this question her eyes widened in the slightest, the stark blue color paling against the light. She lowered her gaze before lifting it to glance at her younger siblings. It shifted then to Koumei who was surprised at the compelling yet gentle look before it came over Kouha and Kougyoku who had simply watched silently. Only after this did her lip curl up in a small smile.

Returning her gaze to him, the smile broadened and she lifted her hands before signing what she wanted to say. He saw her fingers move but heard nothing. Only after she was done did he turn his sight to Sousei and Suisei who stared, stupefied, at the words that their sister had said.

Not giving any other answer, she turned towards the twins and snapped her fingers getting their attention before signing at them. After finishing, she turned to the four of them and bowed, her fist inside her open palm.

Sousei stuttered, the shock from before still sticking to him. "U-Um, she says that she will certainly take your generous advice to heart, your highness, and that she will begin first thing tomorrow. Again, she apologizes for her imprudence this morning and assures you there will be no repeating such disrespectfulness."

"Yes, well, it seems we're done," Koumei replied, slightly confused at what had just happened. "You're dismissed."

The three bowed one last time, bidding them goodnight. Before completely leaving their sight though, Kohaku signed at Sousei who stammered with his hushed reply but after some convincing he turns back and walks before Kougyoku and Kouha. Giving a bow, he stands tall over the two. "My sister asked me to escort you back to your quarters, princess. T-That is if you so wish and allow me to."

Kougyoku tilted her head slightly puzzled but with a gaze over Sousei she watched Suisei and Kohaku as they smiled, the latter nodding in assurance before they disappeared behind the door leading out. With a giggle she turned back to Sousei and nodded. "If you would be kind enough."

"I'll head out with you, too," Kouha quipped up, placing himself closer to Kougyoku and walking out with his arm hooked around hers. As they headed out, he kept giving the younger boy side glares when Kougyoku wasn't looking and the three exited the study as well, leaving only Koumei and Kouen behind.

Koumei watched as his brother slouched back into his chair and languidly opening the scroll that he had left there since the morning. Koumei eyed it and knew the contents but still needed to put it in practice. His brother and king, however, had taken most of the day to learn and memorize what the scroll contained which in his case wasn't hard to begin with.

"Neither translated," Koumei noted with a yawn. "But seeing as you didn't ask them to, I'm assuming you know what she said."

"Go rest." The sudden change of topic puzzled him but when another yawn came, he didn't really question him further.

"If you insist," he responded. "Don't stay too late, either, my brother and king. It'll be pointless to go to sleep then have to wake in the middle of the night to come get you out of here so you can rest too."

Kouen scoffed but didn't let his eyes wander from the scroll he read. "Goodnight, Koumei."

The reminder that Kouen was still his older brother, no matter the title, was always welcomed. Despite how much they both accepted Kouha, Kougyoku, and the rest of their half-siblings as family, blood was still thicker than water. And the two of them, being full brothers, was what stuck most of all. It was only when they were alone that such things surfaced and he held that rather close.

"Goodnight, brother."

Left alone with only the various candles strewn about lighting the vast study, Kouen busied himself reading the scroll that the Reizei twins had given him that same morning. He had mostly memorized it since then, truly it wasn't hard to, but he found it somewhat fascinating the strange way that it so fluently turned into a language of its own.

One that he had grasped how to understand rather quickly.

There hadn't been any need to translate what Kohaku said because he'd more or less done it in his own head. The only reason he had gone back to the scroll was to make sure that he got it correct. And he had; what irked and fascinated him was that the answer she had given was pretty much what he guessed from the smile on her face and by the way she had slowly signed each word out, enunciating them for clarity.

"I'll phrase it simply, your highness. Had it been them…would you have done any differently?"


A/N:

Well, this went better than expected. Took a while but it was worth it cx 15k word doc, 24 pages. I couldn't be happier. Can't say that all chapters will be this long but here's to hoping :3

Anyway, this is the second chapter but there's already a good handful of people that have been waiting for this. So let me first thank those who have Favorited and Followed this story:
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And also to the three awesome people that reviewed!
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Now that that's over with, I hope this is enough for you guys to have for now. I'm not sure how often the updates will be although I have a vague outline of the story. And since I'm taking a few trips in December, there might be little updates next month. I'll do my best though c: Anyway hope you enjoyed and hope you stay tuned for the next chapter!