Seisyuun, support

Seisyuun stared. He didn't know what to do. Kouen didn't either. He didn't know how to react. Confusion was the only proper emotion that he seemed to be able to process at the moment. Everything just seemed…out of order?

"Lady Hakuei?"

"Hm? Oh, hello cousin Kouen, Seisyuun. How can I help you?" again, all Seisyuun could do was stare. He stared at his best friend. He stared at the floor. He stared at the papers. He stared at the blankets. He stared at the training dummies. Kouen was the first one who was able to say something feasible.

"Hakuei...I know I had suggested before that you should do what makes you happy before you leave…but this wasn't what I meant." At the note she blushed and looked around at the mess that she had made.

And it indeed was a mess. Kouen had led Seisyuun to the guest room when he couldn't find her on his own. She stayed there since Hakuei's things had all been moved onto the ships that were to leave in a day or two. But Hakuei seemed to have overloaded the room with her hobbies. On the floor there were blankets of her design. Against the wall were the remains of her training dummies that Seisyuun couldn't help but feel sympathy for. On the tables and the bed were scrolls from many different cultures with stories, geography, economics and many other things. Even the desk had hints at some of Hakuei's attempts at cooking. Kouen was absolutely dumbfounded. Seisyuun, who had been by her side since childhood, understood the signs.

"Lady Hakuei…what did he do?" Hakuei just stared at her sewing needles in her hands. Kouen raised an eyebrow at him in question, so he explained, "Whenever Hakuei gets very troubled she tries to surround herself with items to help her release her emotions." He pointed at the dummies. "Those are for anger." Next he pointed at the scrolls. "Those are for when she wants to avoid something." After that he gestured to the blankets on the ground. "She makes those when she wants some kind of comfort." Lastly he gestured to the food. "And that's for when she wants to destroy something. Or that's a theory of Hakuryuu and me." Hakuei glared at her best friend, him knowing full well that she only cooked when she was feeling useless and wanted to do something useful.

Kouen clued in quickly. "Ah. So it's Sinbad." Seisyuun nodded while Hakuei's mouth dropped open.

"How do you match all of that with Sinbad?" the two of them looked at her.

"Was I wrong?"

"…no…" Seisyuun gave him the, 'she-may-be-crazy-but-we-care-about-her-so-we-have-to-deal-with-it' look. If that look even existed. Seisyuun, who was used to this kind of behaviour, carefully tiptoed his way around the items and took a seat next to her. Kouen followed his example, but remained standing in order to not crush her pile of scrolls on her other side.

Hakuei sighed. "Look, I'm fine really. I just let my emotions get the best of me and jumped to conclusions. Honestly, this is all a result of a few hours ago, I'm fine now." On the desk, one of her cooked eggs started to hatch. Chirping was heard from the desk, but they all ignored it.

Seisyuun shook his head. "Well, if it was a problem than it might be a problem in the future. Is it something that you only want to talk to Sinbad about?" Hakuei shook her head.

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know." The truth was, she really wasn't sure. She hated telling anyone her problems, even Seisyuun. Everyone expected her to be a general, princess, and sometimes even the elder sister. Her family and friends came to her with their problems, not the other way around. More than anything it made her feel week. It had been easier to open up with Sinbad, but she still was very confused about what to do. Seisyuun and Kouen wouldn't tell anyone, not even Sinbad, if she asked them to. Not to mention the whole topic was just embarrassing to her.

"How about you give us a quick debrief about what's going on, and we decide if it's something we should know about," Kouen suggested. Seisyuun nodded at her encouragingly while she thought about it. It didn't sound bad.

"That sounds fine. It was about those nicknames he's been giving me." Kouen seemed to clue in quickly, while Seisyuun was still confused. He hadn't been there to hear some of Sinbad's attempts.

"He's been giving you nicknames? Like what?" Hakuei groaned.

"No, you really don't need to hear any of them,"

"The one I heard was baby doll." Kouen interrupted, ignoring Hakuei's glare and blush. "Kouha said he called her sugar lips. Kougyoku and Judal said Sexy thing. Koumei said baby cakes if I recall correctly." His words only made her blush all the more.

"…they told you?" Kouen nodded, somehow not at all shaken by the names.

"Yes. Except for Hakuryuu, but I guessed from his disturbed expression and the fact that he avoided everyone for a while that he heard one as well. They all were…worried." Groaning Hakuei buried her face in her hands. She was right. They had gone to Kouen.

"L-look, Kouen, they shouldn't be worried about him. He just wanted to give me a nickname, and he wasn't sure what to say. You can't call it back, it's too important to the treaty." She didn't say why she really didn't want him to pull back the wedding. Because she cared about him. But now she wasn't sure if she was a fool to.

"Is that really what you want to say? Because it's for the treaty?" Hakuei shut her mouth and turned away. She wished she could say it was because she cared about him. But now, she thought she might be a fool to say that. He didn't want to continue with that line of conversation either. "But that's not what they said to me."

"What?" Kouen didn't seem satisfied with his reason, so he tried again.

"No, that was part of the worry. We all are worried about Sinbad, only a year ago he was our enemy. But what my siblings came to me worried about was for you." Hakuei was taken aback. The dish that looked like it had been cookies that were watching the scene from the side were taken back to.

"Me? When they talked to me it sounded like they were worried about Sinbad." Except for Kougyoku, it could have been both.

"Yes. They are worried about you. Koumei doesn't think that you're going to be happy with Sinbad. Kougyoku worries you won't be able to keep up with him. Or, she said something like that. (Hakuei hoped that she didn't give him the full explanation) Hakuryuu didn't say anything, but he worries that can't relax around him. Personally, I worry that you won't be able to understand him. And Kouha…he just hates Sinbad." In other words, he didn't count. Hakuei examined all of his reasons, surprised at all of them. But as she thought about it, she realized that she had given that impression. When Sinbad gave her a nickname in front of Koumei, she had groaned. When he had in front of Kougyoku, she had blushed and tried to avoid the entire conversation. At the nickname that she got from the letter, she just tried to hide it and pretend it didn't happen. When he came over to talk to her and Hakuyruu, she tried to act as formal as she could. And Kouha, she refused to ever really tell him about how he felt about Sinbad.

"If I had to say something, I would say I'm worried you don't trust anyone," Seisyuun interrupted her thoughts and she turned to him. "Admit it. That's one of your biggest problems. You didn't trust your cousins to talk to them about this, which is why they have these ideas. And if I had to guess, that's why you're in here doubting Sinbad about…something." Hakuei sighed. She didn't want to tell him about it. Even if he was her best friend, and he would find out about it anyway. But he was right. She really did have a problem with trusting people. She had to open up eventually.

"…we were fighting about the nicknames. I don't mind him wants to give me a nickname, but I was worried that if he kept doing it my family would get the wrong impression and nullify the marriage, and in turn the treaty." Over the time she had been dwelling on it in her room sewing blankets, she had realized that it wouldn't have mattered. The treaty was too important. "And he wouldn't tell me why he was giving me a nickname, so I thought…it might have been his plan. That he was trying to get out of it without upsetting the treaty. And I just felt stupid, that I would have fallen for him if he was using me like that. I always thought I was smarter than to fall for a trick like that, but…" She trailed off when Seisyuun put his hand on her back. She choked back on her words and tried to stand up straighter, embarrassed that she had admitted that much. Both of them didn't comment on her reveal, in respect for her pride.

Kouen started once again. "You really thought that he was using you? After this long, that would be quite a long time. And risking getting married for that is quite the ordeal. Even when he was using Kougyoku that while ago, he didn't put up the act for that long." Hakuei couldn't help but to laugh at that. She had considered the same thing. "As for how smart you are, you defiantly are too smart to have fallen for someone's flirting. Even though you love him, you still don't fall for his flirting. Sure, you blush more than should be humanly possible, but you still never fall for his tricks." She didn't respond. What was she supposed to say to that? Well maybe I'm not as smart as you think, or, He could have been trying to trick me for longer than we thought, but she knew there was no use. He was right.

Seisyuun, who had been rubbing her back, tried to speak. "Hakuei, you've never been good at trusting people. Ever since what happened to your brothers… You have a good reason not to trust people. I get it. The country that you thought you could trust ever since you were little betrayed you by killing half your family, then again by being controlled by al-thamen. Remember, you used to tell me that you weren't able to sleep at night because you thought someone would come and kill you." Hakuei bowed her head at the memory. The truth was, she had never stopped. She couldn't remember the last time she went to sleep feeling safe. But she never told him that. He would worry more than now. "But sometimes it's good to trust people. Okay, starting with someone as deceitful as Sinbad may not have been your best start," both Kouen and Hakuei glared at him, "scratch that last part. I mean, you may be wary of trusting Sinbad, but you can. He loves you, even though you're not ready to say that yet. And I know that he would wait forever for you to be ready, and no one can fake loving someone for that long. You feel smarter if you don't trust him, but I can guarantee you will be happier. You may not trust everyone in this country, but he will keep you safe, and that's something I know you want. And despite what you think sometimes, you deserve it."

Hakuei didn't respond. The two of them waited for her to respond, thinking they had already overwhelmed her. The cookies on the side held their breath as well. In the end, she gave only one response.

She hugged Seisyuun, almost tight enough to choke him. He didn't respond right away, but then he quickly hugged her back. "Thanks," she said barely able to be heard by the two of them. "I'm glad that you're coming with me." Seisyuun smiled, hugging her tighter. As he let her go she turned to Kouen.

She would have given him a hug as well, but he quickly held up his arms and backed away. "No, no I'm against hugging. A handshake will be fine for me." the two of them laughed as she shook his hand.

Behind them the cookies had started cheering and dancing, a few of them even crying tears of sugar. The three of them just stared at the living food. "When I heard you were a bad cook Hakuei…I thought that people were exaggerating." Kouen commented. Hakuei huffed at him, but didn't say a word. She had no defense anymore.

Seisyuun just laughed. "Yeah, yet she still tries to cook. At least she makes up for that skill in sewing. And fighting," he pointed to the training dummies. "And reading," he pointed at the scrolls. "So, basically, it's not too bad." Hakuei pouted at him. Everyone seemed to want to point out her flaws recently.

"It's called coping with my emotions. It works doesn't it?" Seisyuun shrugged.

Kouen sighed. "Both you and Sinbad have very strange ways of coping with your emotions. Sinbad likes to drink on the roof while you surround yourself with…this," he noted all of her items around them. Hakuei returned her attention to him, slightly confused.

"He was drinking on the roof?" Kouen nodded.

"Yes, Dorji said he and your brother were talking. He got a little mad at Dorji, but he didn't say why." For a moment she didn't answer. The two of them watched her in silence. Until flames appeared around her.

"Sinbad took my brother to the ROOF? While DRINKING?" For the first time, Kouen, a military strategist, was afraid for his life. His cousin looked absolutely deadly!

"Uh…Yes, I think so." Seisyuun shifted as far away from Hakuei as possible. He did not want to risk catch fire. Hakuei didn't even notice as the flames became bigger.

"Did he have a REASON?" She didn't wait for Kouen to answer. "He had BETTER have had a good reason!" Both of them shivered and looked to the other for help. If they said something, they were in trouble. If they didn't say something, she might have burned the entire room down in her rage.

"You don't need to worry cousin," Kouen hesitantly added. "Dorji said that he came down quickly when Sinbad came down." His words calmed her down a bit, so Seisyuun decided to try.

"Y-yeah, Hakuryuu told me about that! When Sinbad was threatening Dorji he hurried down, without a scratch."

And the flames became so big it looked like they were going to engulf the room.

"He threatened DORJI? One of my head captains and close FRIEND?" both of them jumped back at her rage. Kouen glared at him to say, why did you do that? She was calming down! And Seisyuun shot back a look that said, I'm sorry, please don't let her kill me. Even Kouen wasn't sure he would be able to do that.

"It was a misunderstanding," Kouen assured her in his normal calming voice. "I'm sure that Sinbad wouldn't have attacked Dorji otherwise!" Seisyuun, who Kouen was starting to think didn't know his best friend as well as he had a few minutes ago, tried to speak again.

"It was, really! Hakuryuu said that he was made at him for calling you something when you're supposed to be his, but it was all a misunderstanding." Before he could continue the flames got even bigger. Hakuei's voice didn't get any louder though, which actually, was scarier than if she had been yelling.

"What. Were. His. Words. Exactly." Both of them gulped. Kouen tried to make Seisyuun be quiet, but he didn't get the message in time.

"Um…I think he called you 'my Hakuei.'" Now he did it.

"MINE? He called me his? That sounds like I'm property, how dare he refer to me like that!" the two of them wanted to run away in fear of the fire that was starting to burn some of the nearby books.

"Seisyuun, why did you say anything?" Kouen whispered at him.

"Sorry sir," he murmured nervously. If they didn't stop her, she was going to burn down the whole room. Seeing how she reacted, he wondered if she and Sinbad were more alike than he thought.

"I-I'm sure that he didn't mean to refer to you as property cousin," he hurried to tell her. "He must have meant, his fiancé. He knows better than that, you know it!" at least, he better. Or else he really wouldn't last long with Hakuei around.

"Yes, yo-" Seisyuun was quickly silenced by the death glare that Kouen sent him. "Never mind."

"Hakuei, you don't have too much longer here in Kou. Do you really want to spend your time being angry at someone instead of enjoying your time here?" for a moment he thought that they were going to be engulfed by the flames. But luckily, the words made the fire die down.

"No…I suppose you are right." Both of them sighed in relief. They were safe. Unfortunately, he wasn't able guarantee Sinbad's safety in the future. Forgive us Sinbad, Seisyuun prepared to say at his funeral.

Once the fire had completely vanished, one of the servants knocked on the door. The lady bowed before greeting them. "Lady Hakuei, ma'am, I was told to tell you that the boat to go to Sindria will be leaving tomorrow." With the fire gone, her words made Hakuei feel ice cold. She was leaving soon. Was it too soon?

Her two friends turned back to her. "Hakuei…do you wish to talk to Sinbad before you leave?" she looked at Seisyuun, her best friend. He smiled at her encouragingly, telling here whatever she wanted to do was fine.

"If you aren't ready to get on the boat you don't have to," Kouen advised her. "And…if you aren't ready to marry Sinbad, You don't have to." Hakuei smiled, knowing that he was trying to cheer her up. But she also knew he was lying. Despite what her cousin had said, she knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of the marriage, no matter her personal feelings. She was going on that boat whether she wanted it or not. It was for the sake of her country, the country her brothers had left her. Whether she got along with Sinbad when she was on that boat…she wasn't sure.

She was going to marry him. But she wasn't sure if she was going to love him.