When the word came around, that there was a disturbance on Yuris Island, it became clear that the little "skirmish" would likely turn into a civil war, a fact that Clarines wasn't too keen on, and a fact that meant Kiki and Mitsuhide would be on the frontlines.
Being some of the top knights or rather the most skilled knights with outstanding ranks meant that they'd likely be leading troops into battle. And it felt like a blast of cold water, a shock that slipped all the way down to the bone.
"Kiki?" Mitsuhide's standing in the dark with barely even the moonlight illuminating him, making him all shadow and dark blue edges, and he's clearly on his way to where Kiki's at, the training grounds for the knights.
"Yeah?" She asks, though she's not ignorant as to why he'd likely come here, just aware of how shellshocked and empty he must feel as well.
"You're here too?" And he steps a little more into the light, just to approach her more fully.
"Want to spar?" She asks, as if the fight would take the weight off of both of their shoulders, though she doubts as much even as she says it. It might unburden them for a moment, but it won't make the weight light as a feather for long. It would come right back again, until this whole thing's been sorted out.
"Yeah." And when she and Mitsuhide go at it, they attack like they are intent to kill, all power and speed and strategy and skill, almost like anger is frothing at the edges. Just, if only, their aggression could keep Clarines out of a civil war, though with it only being theirs, it's impossible to resolve tension and save Clarines from in fighting.
And finally, they stop, with shoulders slowly locking back into place, burning and stiff, as if they somehow froze over during the fight, despite how hot they feel as well. Muscles are sore and joints are stiff, and the fight only dealt with some of the pent up emotion.
"I don't want to do this." Mitsuhide tells her and leans against a pillar, and Kiki looks at him, memorizes his features, despite already committing them to memory years ago. She looks at him as if analyzing him for something she does not know.
"Me either." Kiki tells him honestly, shouldering the burden of her vulnerability, though she's always been safe opening up to him, revealing her heart to him like a package just delivered through the mail.
"I can't really believe this is happening." Mitsuhide mutters, and his eyes are staring so far out in the distance, that Kiki almost wonders what he's looking at.
"The officials in Yuris Island have always been corrupt. It's understandable why the citizens are revolting." Kiki tells him as if she can logic it away and put it up on a shelf solved somewhere and move on.
"Yeah." Mitsuhide sighs, and Kiki looks at him.
"I'm scared somebody will die. Well, wars kill people." Mitsuhide's rambling, trying to put his worries and fears into the air, if only to make them more accessible, much more easy to deal with.
"Mitsuhide." And Kiki doesn't know what she's planning on saying or doing, but her voice is both pleading and firm, and Mitsuhide does turn to her.
And Kiki does the unthinkable, without really a thought behind it, just a feeling, and she leans up and kisses Mitsuhide. It's small, only lasts a few seconds, but it says something.
"Thank you." He tells her, and for a moment, it feels like they are gripping onto each other and trying to make it through impossible odds.