Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of the characters related to it. They all belong to Konomi Takeshi. Also, I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the elements from the series.

Rating: T for implied adult themes in certain chapters. K for the rest.

Author's Note: Back from band camp... Well, I was last week, but I had a lot of things to take care of around the house and with the fail!job hunt during the week. Toss in plenty of Photoshop projects and moving my brother into his apartment at the university. *is sad that I am not moving back to the apartment and will not be in the marching band* T.T

Anyway, working the band camp was a fantastic experience - the kids were welcoming, hard-working, and positive :) And it was terrific to be able to be there supporting my best friend who is doing a wonderful job with the program (his first year as the Director of Bands... he was there for two years as the middle school director).

Yes, I know. Niou is missing out on all of the good stuff. I don't hate him! It's just that I feel like he would be a late joiner for various reasons and the plot line I have set up months ago makes sense to me to when and why he joins. Rest assured, there will be a few chapters where everyone is finally together! :)

So... Ever wonder what exactly the Fire Emblem is in this story? Well, your answer is in this chapter XD Read - review - enjoy!

Part 2 - Chapter 10 - Training

"Here's the homework that I did last night," Kirihara said as he handed Yanagi some papers. Yanagi took them with a smile and beckoned him in. "I hope that I did okay on it."

"I think you should be fine," Yanagi said, glancing it over quickly as he sat down in an armchair. "Your work has definitely improved over time. Less mistakes and less implied wrath."

"You could tell I hated studying by how I wrote?" Kirihara asked with an incredulous expression on his face.

"No, by the way you always handed me your papers with the expression that I shouldn't dare to assign you more. Then when I did, you always would put your head on the desk or groan loudly and say that I existed only to torture you to insanity. And you crumbled your papers when you were frustrated and drooled on them when you fell asleep."

"I don't drool!" Kirihara shouted vehemently.

"False denial will lead you nowhere, Kirihara," Yanagi stated smartly as he placed the papers under a book resting on the window sill. "Now for today…"

"Here it comes…"

"Why don't you ask me a few questions today?" Yanagi finished, giving what Kirihara perceived as a playful wink.

"… You're not assigning me anything?"

"No. I'm training you in the art of inquiry today."

"Are you okay Sage Yanagi?" Kirihara said, shaking him by the shoulders. "I've known you for weeks and there hasn't been any day in the week where you didn't make me do anything!" Yanagi just gave him a bemused smile and Kirihara let him go awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, I was very surprised," Kirihara explained bashfully, looking at the floor. He didn't know what overcame him to treat his teacher that way, especially if he knew his teacher had the power to kill him in many different, and possibly gruesome, ways.

"Kirihara, I don't mind. I do enjoy the spontaneous side of you. It's very interesting and hard to predict, even for me."

"…Thanks Yanagi?" Kirihara said, a bit taken aback by the comment and he started fidgeting with the back of his hair. "Do you mind if I take off for a second? I was running late and I need to put some stuff in my room next door since Marui and Jackal have left for their mission and they don't have a spare key."

"Of course Kirihara," Yanagi said with a smile. "Take your time and I'll be waiting with some answers when you come back."

Without a reply, Kirihara dashed out the door and into the hallway where he had thrown all of his belongings. It was a bit of a disastrous mess of clothes, books, weapons, a backpack, and some food. He hoped that the servants didn't pass by the area yet and mentally judge him as a disrespectful brat.

As he opened the door to his hardly used room, he started pulling stuff from the hallway and putting them away properly. He went slowly, wondering what kind of questions he wanted to ask Yanagi since he had never thought about it before. He wasn't sure if he meant questions specifically about him or questions in general.

The moment the thought of finding out about Yanagi's life passed his mind, he felt the temperature go up in the room. He tugged on the neck of his tight black shirt uncomfortably, knowing exactly the reasons why Yanagi made him feel the way that he did. He opened the window a bit to see if it would help and he resumed moving his things around, lost in reflection.

At first, he thought that he really just admired Yanagi because he was extremely intelligent and was immensely gifted as a magic user and battle strategist. Seeing how strong Yanagi was, and how willing he was able to share his knowledge, gave Kirihara the push he needed to head in a better direction towards his goals. Yanagi and Sanada both worked him to the point where he felt like he wanted to give up and leave, but he knew it was all for his best interests.

Yanagi also made him feel very comfortable - it was almost as if he didn't care at all that he was a thief that would have taken his life if he had the skills to do so. He treated Kirihara as respectfully as he did the others in the castle and even invited him for tea once in a while when he wasn't busy helping out Marui and Jackal. Yanagi was a kind soul that gladly gave and helped others without ever asking anything in return.

It hit Kirihara that he possibly was in love with him the first day his heart leapt from Yanagi praising him for his work. He remembered looking up at him in surprise and seeing that his eyes were open to reveal a rich, brown color, shimmering with warmth. No one had ever looked at him that way before and he subconsciously began noticing every minute movement of Yanagi's and trying to interpret it's meaning. He needed to know how Yanagi worked, and more importantly, how to break through the walls that he had built. He wasn't the only one with his past hidden away - everyone else was cloaked too except for Marui and Jackal since he lived with them.

'Maybe it was because the conversations never seem to head that direction,' Kirihara thought to himself. 'They're always talking about business or training. Any private conversations are probably done on their own time at night.' That reasoning made it clear that he needed to find time to ask and he was sure they would disclose some information to get him included in the know.

'And today is my first opportunity,' Kirihara continued thinking, an image appearing in his mind of Yanagi with his straight-cut dark brown hair neatly in place, dark greenish-black clothes hanging off of his body perfectly, and perpetually half-closed eyes that revealed nothing about his inner emotions. Anything having to do with Yanagi had been throwing his thoughts into an incoherent mess lately and he found he could not get his mind off of him entirely even if when he wasn't around.

With an extended sigh, he finished and went back into Yanagi's room, where he was still in his armchair perusing through a book. He appeared very tranquil, following the words with one hand, and holding a cup of tea in the other. Kirihara suddenly felt that he had intruded too early.

"What's the matter, Kirihara?" Yanagi questioned, throwing Kirihara for a loop since he still looked like he was reading his book.

"I didn't want to interrupt your… peace?"

"It's fine because I told you I would be waiting for you," Yanagi reminded him as he put a bookmark between the pages and closed it with a firm snap. "Now, time for some questions."

'Shoot! I never did come up with any questions!' Kirihara thought in alarm as he looked around the room for an idea. His eyes fell on the painting above the fireplace that Yukimura had created and he knew he had to go with it to not appear as moronic as he felt.

"I've always been curious about this painting Sage Yanagi," Kirihara started, walking over to look at it. The elements of fire, thunder, wind, light, darkness, water, and ice were painted with strikingly vivid colors in a bold fashion. It was a bit strange considering how Lord Yukimura favored scenery and impressionism.

"Ah, it is a painting of all of the magical elements," he answered, getting up from his armchair and walking over to stand by Kirihara's side. "His creativity in portraying each element in connection with the others, but not combining in any way is truly ingenious."

"Can you manipulate all of these elements? Or can you only use wind?"

"My strongest magic is wind, but I have expert control over fire, and thunder is my third strongest. I do not possess the abilities to use any of the others."

"Is is possible for anyone to learn how to use magic?" Kirihara asked excitedly as he looked at the possibilities that there were. He found himself looking at the light and darkness ones in particular.

"You're born with a level of magical properties. It's a natural awareness for certain elements that only you can sense, and then through study, you can learn to exert control over them and/or interpret them depending on what abilities you are blessed with."

"Oh…" Kirihara said, feeling a bit deflated at the news that he would never be able to use magic since he had never felt a draw towards any particular element.

"Where you lack in magical ability is where I lack in physical fighting. Life is a balance - you cannot be good at everything."

Kirihara grinned at Yanagi's comment - he always knew the appropriate thing to say to make people feel better about themselves. He resumed looking at the painting to see if he could come up with more questions.

"Are magic users rare? There aren't many at all in Rikkai…"

"They're a bit uncommon yes, but by no means rare. It is the truly gifted ones that only come by once in a while," Yanagi said knowledgeably. "St. Rudolph specializes in priests and bishops that use light magic. Seigaku has thunder mages and Shitenhouji has fire and wind mages. Higa, the island nation, has shamans and druids that use dark magic."

"What about water and ice?"

"Water mages are quite common in Rokkaku and ice mages are unique to Hyotei."

"They're pretty widespread… I can't believe I haven't ran into any."

"Magic users tend to keep to themselves unless they're involved in the military so that's why you haven't really met any on your adventures. Not that you were supposed to have met anyone since you were sneaking into places…"

Kirihara felt a little embarrassed when Yanagi reminded him of his past so casually. Not that he was ashamed of what he did or anything, but he always thought that Yanagi would scold him for his actions like a parent would.

"So there you go about magic," Yanagi concluded. "Is there anything else?"

"How about… uh…"

"Anything is fine."

"I've always wanted to know about the history of this country," he said, spying on the bookcase with numerous amounts of ancient volumes. "But I don't want to read about it…"

"Something like that can't be summarized so easily, but let's see what I can do for today," Yanagi mused as he went over to the side of his bed, set down his cup of tea on the windowsill, and grabbed his cape. "Let's take a walk together, shall we?"

"That sounds good," Kirihara agreed as he opened the door for Yanagi, who gave him an appreciative nod as he strode out first. Kirihara sincerely hoped he wasn't blushing like he felt he was. Following quickly, he shut the door a little too loudly behind him and winced.

"How is training now that you're an assassin?" Yanagi asked as they walked down the hallway, sunlight shining on them brightly through the windows.

"Even more brutal," Kirihara whined as he put his hands in his pockets. "And I didn't think that was possible with how hard General Sanada was already working me."

"With that man, anything is possible," Yanagi said with traces of amusement in his voice as they reached the main staircase and started heading downstairs. "He'll find a way to achieve what he wants. There's no limit to the drive and persistence found in the people of this country… one of the many reasons why I enjoy living here."

"I'm glad I ended up here too," Kirihara confessed as he watched Yanagi pull a set of keys out of his robes and find the one he was looking for. They had stopped outside a magnificent set of double doors to a room that Kirihara had never seen before.

"Uh… where are we?"

"You will see in a second," replied Yanagi as he shook his head and took out another set of keys.

"You're taking so long!" Kirihara said impatiently, shoving his hands deeper into his pocket as Yanagi kept on searching.

"My apologies, Kirihara. I hardly ever go in here and I must have left the key in my desk drawer in my room…"

"Let me handle this," Kirihara said as he approached the door and took a look at the lock. Pulling out a tool, he slipped it into the keyhole and jiggled it around a bit with one ear pressed close to the door. A minute later, the lock clicked and he pushed the door open.

"You really need to get tougher locks, Yanagi," Kirihara advised as he walked into the dark room. "That one was easy to get into."

"Well, you were the first break-in that this castle has had in two centuries," Yanagi noted as he let a torch and worked on lighting up all of the others. "

"You're kidding! No one's ever tried but me?"

"Nobody had any desire to since they were happy with their ruler," Yanagi explained as they looked around at all of the objects in the large room. "And I'm sure the few that may have tried failed miserably in their attempt and were dealt with appropriately."

Kirihara gulped and avoided eye contact as he tried to find something to focus on. He could hear Yanagi chuckle lightly as he finished lighting up the room and felt a small stir in the pit of his stomach. Sometimes he wondered if he would be dead if it was't for Yanagi's choice to take him on as a student.

"Things are getting a bit dusty down here," Yanagi commented as he ran a finger across a suit of armor. "I will have to send down some servants at a later date to clean things up a bit."

"Umm… I still don't know where we are," Kirihara said as he examined a beautiful sword with a large ruby set in the hilt that was resting on a shelf. To him, it looked a bit like a treasure room, but he knew that the real treasure room was downstairs. He became extremely familiar with it after the Three Demons had him put everything back that he had temporarily stolen in its original location and they wouldn't let him out to eat until he had gotten it right.

"This, Kirihara, contains relics, artifacts, and documents all having to do with the history of Rikkaidai," Yanagi said as he gestured to certain objects. "It's really quite amazing to see so many objects have survived the test of time. Explore a little bit - I figured this would be a little more fun than reading out of a textbook today."

"It's really organized," Kirihara said as picked up a few of the valuables and examined them closely. "And these painted portraits on the wall…" Kirihara paused as he noticed a similarity between almost all of the ones within view.

"Hmmm? What is it, Kirihara?"

"They all have slate blue hair…" Kirihara commented, awe-struck at the sight. "Just… Just how long has Yukimura's family been in power?"

"I think as long as this castle has existed, so about two and a half centuries. The country's previous capital lies in the north, surrounded by quite a large town now, but when the Yukimura family took power, they wanted to be located more south."

"Probably because they like to garden, right?" Kirihara said jokingly and Yanagi nodded with a smile.

"You guessed right."

"I was just kidding!"

"Actually, I don't know the reason for the move. The previous ruling family weren't the nicest people around, and after a pretty nasty battle to seize the throne, Yukimura made an announcement to the people that he was going to lead them to glory and prosperity. Perhaps they left the previous capital to feel like they were starting anew with the country?"

"It looked like things worked out for the most part," Kirihara concluded as he picked up a locket emblazoned with the kanji for 'Yukimura' made out of sapphire. "Despite a rough start because part of the country was skeptical of the new ruler, and some battles to test his worth, they definitely joined together and worked towards his dream. Now look where we are."

"Kirihara, I am delighted to hear that you have actually been absorbing the information you have been studying," Yanagi praised genuinely, showing a bright smile and Kirihara beamed back as his heart started pounding furiously. He throughly enjoyed making Yanagi proud - he was the one that cared for him the most.

"Thanks, Yanagi," he said as he walked closer to the portraits, inspecting them closely. "Man… they're all good-looking. Short hair or long hair, they have that otherworldly beauty."

"Yes, their pure souls radiate brightly. It's a combination of their inner beauty and outer beauty that gives them so much appeal."

"Which one of these is Lord Yukimura's father?" Kirihara asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he was going to be bringing up some painful memories, but curiosity got the better of him.

"This one over here," he answered, waving him over. "I had never met him personally, but I know that he was nothing but a caring and sweet person that loved his family and his kingdom. And apparently was very fearsome in battle."

Kirihara ran over quickly and stared at it intently, taking in every detail.

'Whoever the painter was was extremely talented,' Kirihara thought to himself as he followed the direction of the brushstrokes and noticed the different techniques used to blend the colors smoothly in areas.

"Is there a picture of his mother somewhere here?"

"No, there isn't. She technically isn't a ruler. Lord Yukimura has one of her, his father, and himself as a young boy in his room if you want to see sometime," Yanagi said as he picked up an axe leaning against the wall.

"Would he mind?" Kirihara asked, surprised by the information. "It seems so personal…"

"Lord Yukimura will be just fine," Yanagi reassured as he took a few practice swings with the large weapon. "He has a special fondness for you and I do as well."

Kirihara felt his pulse speed up controllably and his heart pounding extremely hard against his chest. Yanagi set the axe back down, stating that the Yukimura that used it was probably a large man, which is a bit uncommon for that family.

"Yanagi! Why did you say that?" Kirihara complained at the mental image that just surfaced in his head. "I just imagined a Sanada-sized Yukimura!"

"I know, that's why I said it," Yanagi said with a smirk and Kirihara sighed. "That aside, is there anything you want to ask me while we are down here?"

"Hmm…" Kirihara thought, trying to ignore how Yanagi was intently looking at him with a warm smile and how much he secretly enjoyed the attention. "There is one thing… I read it in one of the books the other day…Something about a Fire Emblem."

"Oh, the Fire Emblem?" Yanagi reiterated, guiding him towards the wall directly opposite of the doorway. There were banners and flags adorning the walls in a symmetrical fashion, and in the center towards the ceiling, was a sword crossed over an axe attached to a silver shield. The shield was very fancy, embellished with a detailed depiction of a dragon. "That's it right up there."

"We… have the Fire Emblem?" Kirihara exclaimed. "No way!"

"I'm assuming what you were reading wasn't clear to what the Fire Emblem was."

"Nothing you have is clear," Kirihara said scathingly. "I was amazed I even found out about the existence of it on my own since nothing you assigned mentioned this topic."

"Very true. I had spent some time trying to put things together myself and I was initially surprised to find we had the Fire Emblem in the castle. I thought it may have been lost in the country somewhere seeing that it is legendary…"

"Not only that, but I wasn't expecting some kind of… trophy? Maybe some kind of powerful weapon or magic-infused object, but not this."

"They are the original weapons of the first war on the continent," Yanagi explained as they both looked at it. "At the time, the continent was split into three territories and they were constantly battling with each other for land. After a while, the tension grew to be too much and they knew they just had to settle it in an all-out war - the winner getting to rule over the whole land."

"That's completely ridiculous!" Kirihara said loudly. "How can you rule a whole continent by yourself?"

"Well, the other two rulers would fall under his rule. So I guess I should specify that it was more like a hierarchy."

"So what happened next?"

"The winner remained ruler for quite some time, keeping the weapons of two of the fighters mounted to the third fighter's shield as a symbol of victory. Then an heir to another ruler broke into his castle, killed him in his sleep, and stole the emblem."

"… That's a really bloody history… When did all of this fighting stop?"

"One of the days, they ended up with a ruler was tired of all of the strife and turmoil. He sought to create peace and people were inspired by his charisma and honesty. He split the continent up into nine countries and each of his heirs became rulers, working hard to make their father's ideas become a reality."

"So that's where all the names come from!" Kirihara said as the dawn of realization crossed over him. "And like Rikkai, all of the other countries probably had some battles within themselves when a different family wanted to take over."

"Either battles or passing the rule over diplomatically, yes," Yanagi said, before pausing briefly to gather his thoughts. "The Fire Emblem, as it was called, was hidden away, and of course, found many years later by someone who was merely exploring the land."

"Wow… I can't believe all of that has happened!" Kirihara said as he tore his eyes from the emblem and looked at Yanagi. "So we've basically been at peace for a while minus the occasional fight here and there to move the boundaries a little?"

"Absolutely correct," Yanagi said as he turned to leave the room, beckoning Kirihara to follow him. "Not many people know of the continent's history in incredible detail… or really any detail at all. Which means that there might only be a handful of people that know about the existence of the emblem."

"Does it… do anything?" Kirihara asked, confused.

"Provide good luck maybe?" Yanagi pondered as he worked on extinguishing all of the torches. "It seems that wherever the Fire Emblem has popped up in history, and it's made its way around all of the countries, that country experiences quite a lot of prosperity. Of course it could just be mere coincidence from the newfound pride for having been victorious in battle to obtain the emblem…"

"Okay, no more questions from me!" Kirihara stated hastily to change the subject. "My brain feels overwhelmed now."

"Take the rest of the day off, Kirihara," Yanagi suggested politely. "You deserve it. I will tell General Sanada of my request and he should be fine with that. He has a lot more on his hands at the current moment."

"You're the best Sage Yanagi!" Kirihara exclaimed happily as he pulled him into a tight hug and then quickly pulled away when he realized what he did.

"Sorry Sage Yanagi! I don't know what came over me!" he apologized with a large bow. He looked up and saw that Yanagi was still smiling.

"Huh?"

"It's fine, Kirihara. In fact, I think it's the first hug I've had since I was a very young boy. And I'm sure that it's your first ever so do not be ashamed," he said kindly with bright smile.

"Thanks Yanagi! Oh, and can I take…"

"A few extra blankets and pillows from your room because I'm used sleeping a certain way at Marui's?" Yanagi finished for him as he started to run towards the exit. "Of course you can. Just make sure to not drool on them too much."