This was not how Charlotte thought today was going to go. She didn't expect to be standing in front of the Black Bulls base with Yami and their daughter, Hikari, she had hoped it would just be a simple meeting with Julius and then she would go back to the Blue Rose Knight headquarters and be able to finish her paperwork, but instead she was hit by this curveball. She watched as Yami hesitated to walk into the hideout, which somewhat confused her since he was normally such a confident man.
" Oh boy," he sighed as he scratched the back of his head. " This is going to be one pain in the ass." He shook his head before he placed a hand on the door knob.
" They'll understand. Even if they have a hard time with it at first." Hikari told him with a nod, she had to admit she was a little unsure herself, especially if she was in the year that she thought she was in. She looked at both her parents out of the corner of her eye; they weren't together yet it seemed. She watched her father and mother, well, Charlotte and Yami since she didn't think they would really feel comfortable about being called mom and dad at the moment.
The loud rambunctiousness of the Black Bulls instantly quieted once both Captains and Hikari walked in, Luck and Magna were fighting as usual, Vanessa was drinking as normal, and the others were eating while trying to dodge Magna and Luck's battle. Yami looked over at the two.
" Hey knock it off!" He said loudly, the two boys stopped instantly, all the Black Bull members frowned in confusion and came over to the three standing by the door.
" Um, Captain Yami? Why is Captain Roselei here?" Asta asked in confusion, causing Hikari to smile slightly, as an adult he hadn't changed at all since he was a kid. The others nodded.
" Well, it's kind of a long story." Yami said with a sigh. Charlotte nodded in agreement.
" Oh, did we get a new member? Is that why the Wizard King sent for you?" Vanessa asked as she spotted Hikari, instantly Finral's eyes lit up in the way they usually did when he saw a pretty girl.
" Hello! My name's Finral, and might I ask what your name is beautiful?" Finral asked as he came over to Hikari, who only blinked in confusion, this Finral was definitely not the same one she grew up with! Yami instantly turned and grabbed the top of Finral's head tightly, he glared at the young man.
" Finral, do me a favor? Stay away from my daughter!" He growled out before moving Finral back toward the group once the spatial mage had nodded in agreement. Charlotte couldn't suppress the small smile that slid across her face; he only knew Hikari for a couple of hours, and yet he was already protective of her. It was adorable and was added to the long list of things she loved about this man.
'Wait, no, how can you even think of that four letter word right now Charlotte?!' Her brain screamed at her, she shook her head to clear it and felt her cheeks burn slightly. She sighed as the young Spatial mage instantly backed up and sat with the others.
" Yes sir Captain Yami!" He replied in a shaky voice. Yami sighed as he pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. Hikari cleared her throat and looked at him.
" Didn't I already tell you those are bad for you?" She asked with a glare similar to Charlotte's, Yami glared back, neither he nor Hikari were backing down.
" That's enough you two." Charlotte scolded as she stood between them, Yami sighed for the third time that evening but he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, leaving Hikari smiling triumphantly.
" Wait...Captain Yami? Did you say 'daughter?'" Asta asked suddenly, picking up on the detail everyone seemed to miss in the Captain's statement to Finral. Yami looked away as the Black Bulls looked from him to Hikari and back again.
" WHAT!" They all shouted in unison before suddenly surrounding the girl and asked a million questions, some were asking who her mother was, some asking her age, and a bunch of other questions she couldn't quite catch.
" Alright that's enough you guys." Hikari said in a commanding tone, similar to Yami's, all the Black Bulls behaved instantly and stopped their questioning. Hikari laughed softly, they were even scared of her in this year, just like they were at home. She must be more like her father than she imagined.
" Now, one question at a time. First, yes I really am his daughter. Second, I'm from the future not a 'one night stand' nor a 'secret love child'. Third, I'm 19 years old." Hikari continued down the list until she came to the last question. " As for my mother, well…" she trailed off while looking at Charlotte, who blushed instantly.
" WHAT!" They all shouted again, causing the Captains and Hikari's ears to ring. Why were they always so loud?
" But Captain isn't she…?" Finral trailed off, trying to find the right words so he didn't make the Captain angry.
" Out of your league?" Zora finished, causing everyone to blink at him. Yami just rolled his eyes, he wouldn't say it out loud, but Zora was right; Charlotte was out of his league, she deserved someone better than him. She deserved someone of high status such as herself, but again, he would never admit this.
" Listen brats, right now we're all pretty tired and are trying to process all of this. How about you guys go get some sleep, while the Prickly Princess and I talk to our kid." He ordered, the Black Bulls nodded before Noelle suddenly paused.
" Sir, may we ask more questions tomorrow? If we have any that is." Yami shrugged and pointed a thumb toward Hikari.
" That's up to her." He said, she watched as all the Black Bulls had slight hope in their eyes. She couldn't help but laugh. Nope, they hadn't changed at all.
" Of course, although, there may be some things I can't tell you." She told them in a light hearted but serious tone, the members all nodded before heading to their respective rooms.
Yami walked over to the couch and sat down with a tired sigh, that's all he seemed to be doing right now was sighing. Charlotte and Hikari sat down as well and all was silent, none of them knew who should start the conversation and what questions to ask. Charlotte shifted uncomfortably in her seat, Hikari did as well. Yami watched the two, as far as personality went, Hikari seemed to be very much like him, but look wise she was identical to Charlotte but with dark hair. She also had similar mannerisms to the Prickly Queen as well, the way she tapped her foot on the ground in slight nervousness, the way she seemed to analyze her surroundings. There was no mistaking it; she was their child for sure.
" So why are you here?" Charlotte finally asked, Yami was curious as well but wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask that question. Hikari shrugged as she sat back in the chair and crossed her arms.
" I'm not too sure myself to be honest," She looked away and rubbed the back of her neck, just like Yami has done many times before. " all I know is my parents told me I had to walk through the time gate and not to ask questions." She told them as she looked away in thought, the memory probably flashing through her mind.
" There must be a reason." Yami said as he crossed his arms as well, Hikari nodded in agreement.
" I'm sure there is, but they didn't think to tell me, especially since they practically rushed me out the door. Whatever it was, it must have worried them." Hikari said softly, the two Captains looked at each other. It was very rare the two of them seriously worried about anything, the last time the two had been worried was during the Dark Triad and the invasion of the Spade Kingdom.
" Did you come alone?" Yami asked after a minute of silence, he wanted to change the subject just a bit, especially since he knew Hikari couldn't tell them much about why she was sent here. Her Qi told him everything he needed to know, well, mostly anyway.
" Yeah, I was supposed to come with my little sister Hana. But the portal pulled me in before I could grab her, I'm not sure if she walked through it afterwards or not." Hikari said, her face full of worry, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Hana had come through the portal and was now lost or injured. Just the thought of it upset her and made her want to go looking for her, but she didn't even know if Hana had walked through the portal at all!
" You have siblings?" Charlotte asked softly, she had to admit, it was surprising to think she even had one child with Yami, but now knowing she had two with him? That was beyond shocking, this had to be a dream! It had too!
" Yes. But I won't tell you how many, because y'know, spoilers and stuff." She said with a mischievous wink, the kind when someone knew something you didn't and would tease you about. Charlotte hmphed and sat back, almost as though she were pouting.
" Oh also, you can't ask me how or when or even if you two get together. Because of spoilers and the possibility of it affecting my timeline negatively." Hikari added. Yami frowned.
" How do you know about all of this?" He asked curiously.
" Well, this was all the information I was told when I was being dragged to the portal. You of course were the one who told me, as for who told you, well you'd be surprised." She laughed.
" Let me guess, 'spoilers'?" Yami asked in irritation, when the girl nodded he shook his head. He suddenly turned and looked out the window, the sun was going down.
" I should be heading back, tomorrow we're supposed to move into our new living quarters. I need to pack and prepare my squad." Charlotte said as she stood and walked to the door. " Will you be alright here Hikari?"
" Of course! I already know where my room is by the way, I think I'll go on ahead and head that way myself. I didn't realize how tired I was until now." Hikari announced standing up and heading towards the girls wing of the hide out. Yami stood and walked over to Charlotte, waiting until he knew Hikari was out of earshot.
" Do you think she's lying?" Charlotte asked in a hushed tone, Yami shook his head.
" No. She's telling the truth. But I do wonder, why would we send our kid through a portal without explanation?" He muttered, Charlotte looked in thought for a moment.
" Maybe we didn't have time?" She suggested, Yami nodded in agreement.
" That's probably the answer, but it leads to another question," he looked at the blonde seriously. " what was so dangerous that it made us send our own daughter away?"
Hikari looked around the empty room, slight sadness in her heart; it was pretty empty save for a bed and desk. All the things she had added to it over the years were no longer there. But that was mostly because she didn't exist yet, maybe she never would after all of this. She closed the door softly behind her and walked toward the bed and laid on it. Why didn't her parents tell her what was going on? Why send only her through the portal? In fact, why send her to this year of all years? She growled in frustration. Why was the only question running through her head.
" I need to get some sleep, otherwise I'll be too tired to answer their questions." She muttered to herself as she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes tightly, she silently hoped everyone would be ok, that they'd all be safe until she returned. As she slowly drifted off to sleep a bunch of faceless people flooded her mind, and a smile appeared on her face.
Three young girls, two with blonde hair and one with silver. A young girl with dark blue hair and brown eyes, her brother with dark brown hair and blue eyes and a stoic look on his face. Another young man with a small easy going smirk with pink hair and purple eyes. A young girl, her best friend, with pink hair and mint green eyes looked at her sternly, but did manage to smile. The last one, a young man with white hair and piercing blue eyes that held nothing but warmth, a soft smile on his lips as he looked at her. Her smile only widened.
Her friends, they would all be ok. She knew it.