AUTHOR'S NOTES: As promised there's a lot of Corrin in this chapter. We also get to touch more on Takumi's character, and get introduced to everyone's favourite Nohr-hating, demon-faced fashionista. In Hoshido's defense, their intentions are good. Most of them just want the family to be together again, but on the other hand, Nohr's done enough damage that a few of them might also want to kind of "get them back" by keeping Kamui. Let me know what you think of the character development (or lack thereof?) in the comments. Or any kind of input/feedback/questions/comments. All of it is greatly appreciated. It really is.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 22: Family Matters

Sing with me a song of Demons and Doubts...

The bath was certainly a welcomed refreshment for Kamui, who had not bathed in a while, and thus her gratitude towards Hinoka was genuine to the core. Once that was done though, she was serious about going to speak with her brother Corrin, and thus after she was cleaned and dried off, Kamui wandered the halls of the castle in an attempt to find her twin brother. Originally she thought he might be outside training with some of the others, but that was not so much his thing as it was hers, and so her search continued.

She wound up encountering him in his own room, where she knocked on the door but slid it open and entered anyways.

"Kamui," He raised his eyebrows as the girl closed the door behind her. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to talk," she indicated, "can I sit down? I feel like we should know each other the best, but we don't even know each other at all."

"Well, I grew up in Hoshido and you grew up in Nohr," he pointed out, "odds are there is going to be a slew of differences between us. Still… I want to get to know you too. You're kind of intimidating though."

"Me? intimidating?" Kamui laughed, "I'm smaller than you are. I might be a snarky little shit but I'm not about to go on a Nohrian killing spree or something. This isn't about what I shouted during the battle up north, is it?"

"No…" Corrin shook his head, "that did initially give me concern, but when you directed those attacks at the Faceless instead of my kinsmen, I figured it just slipped."

"That's more or less the gist of it," Kamui shrugged, "but why do I intimidate you?""

"I'm cautious, for one," Corrin explained, "but I've seen the way you fight, and you're a savage warrior. It's admirable… it just makes me worry what would happen if I was ever on opposite sides of the battlefield from you."

"Well, I… I guess I should be honest." Kamui stammered, "I think if I had to choose here and now, I'd choose to go back to Nohr. I mean, they're the ones I grew up with; they're the ones I'm familiar with. But here's the thing…" she paused, noticing Corrin had opened his mouth. "I don't want love for Hoshido and love for Nohr to be exclusive. Surely you can understand the concept of harmony, right?"

"I can," Corrin nodded, "and I commend you for trying to see both sides of the picture. But as long as Nohr continues its aggressions against us, we won't be able to realize your dream any more than we'll be able to realize mine."

"So are we doing anything about it?" she asked. "Because if you wait for Nohr to attack, odds are Nohr is going to just attack."

"Mother is working on some type of peace talk in Izumo soon," Corrin explained, "your return seems to be in line with this, but it's very likely you'll see your friends from Nohr there."

"My siblings," Kamui corrected him. "I don't make friends too easily, but family bonds are ones that I will hold with me until death."

"Right, right…" Corrin sighed, "if only you understood what it would mean to have that place in your heart… but we will be patient."

"Thanks," Kamui shuddered, trying not to bring it to her mind, "and yeah, about the peace talks, I guess that'd make sense."

"Oddly, apparently King Garon will not be attending." Corrin shrugged, "I'm not sure why."

"So you're pretty savvy on the political scene it appears, eh?" Kamui raised an eyebrow.

"I try to stay up to date on politics." he pointed out, "it's the least I can do with being somewhat detached from everyday life."

"I wasn't rewarded such a luxury," Kamui shrugged, "and so I probably also don't really know what you do for fun. Do you do anything exciting?"

"Sometimes I go for walks," Corrin explained, "or have a song or a dance with Azura. If I'm feeling particularly social I'll go out and roam the town. How about you?"

"I usually am either hacking and slashing at training dummies in my room, or I'm at my desk, drawing or writing."

"What else do you do?" Corrin looked at her, "besides fight, I mean?"

Kamui did not respond, but slipped off her shirt. "I collect scars." Corrin actually gasped, almost recoiling from the sight. The scars had healed well, but had left odd colorations on Kamui's skin.

"Is that how they train in Nohr?" Corrin cringed.

"It's a long story, but yes." Kamui nodded, "don't judge."

Corrin nodded, knowing that it was easier said than done. Kamui put her shirt back on, but it didn't stop Corrin from being rightfully angry that his sister was so scarred up from her time in Nohr. Still, he tried to keep a level head, knowing that if she was giving Hoshido a chance, that he'd have to give her remarks about Nohr a similar treatment if he wanted to keep her with them.

"Didja need anything else?" Kamui interrupted Corrin's thought process with a curious question.

"I think I'm good for a while." Corrin admitted, "I've got a few things to think about."

"Alright," she got up, "I'm gonna get up and write some more books or something. See ya around. Thanks for the walk, by the way."

Despite her politeness, Corrin felt conflicted. He and his twin sister had almost nothing really in common, and they seemed to be on completely different wavelengths to boot.

Incidentally, the first one he went to discuss this with was Takumi, who this time was accompanied by one of his retainers, Oboro. He was wielding a practice katana this time, while Oboro was using a spear to deflect his blows—and was remarkably skilled.

"Oh, Lord Corrin!" Oboro saw him first only because of the direction he approached them from. Takumi stopped instantly as well and turned around.

"You look exactly like Ryoma does when something's on his mind," the prince raised an eyebrow.

"My sister," Corrin began, and almost immediately Oboro's face scrunched up into a terrifying expression complete with an eye twitch.

"I'll be honest, Corrin," Takumi explained, "I don't trust her yet. She might like it here, but I get this vibe that her loyalties are still with Nohr."

"She's only been here a couple of days though," Corrin reasoned, "but what we need is a way to sway her in our favour."

"Well, you could always just start with all the horrible things Nohr has done, especially to us," Oboro pointed out. Her face seemed to have gone back to normal, but her left eye was still twitching, "unless she tries to justify those too."

"For her, it's the whole family deal, and that's a tough nut to crack with her." Corrin indicated, "I know it might be hard, especially with how used to certain Nohrian customs she is, but we need to give her time and patience. If we alienate her all that's going to do is further her cause and reasoning to want to go back to Nohr."

"I'd rather have her leave than get stabbed in the back though," Takumi warned. "But… it's your twin sister. I'm not going to trust her right away without reason, but I'll bear with her for a while. How does that sound?"

"That's all I can ask for, brother," Corrin smiled, although it was short-lived as he saw Oboro.

"Lady Hinoka told me what's under those clothes of hers." She muttered.

"You're not seriously criticizing her taste in underclothes, are you?" Corrin gawked.

"No!" Oboro shook her head as if shaking out a mental image, "I'm talking about her skin. They've butchered her; carved her up like some sort of banquet meat. Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but I want to say that she didn't look like that when she was here. That was them. That was Nohr, doing what Nohr does."

"Oboro…" Corrin sighed,

"Don't Oboro me…" Oboro's eye started twitching again, her face darkening, "Look, she could the Nohriest Nohrian to ever Nohr and that wouldn't upset me nearly as much as knowing that she's been hacked at and abused by… wait for it… Nohrians. That hits me a little too close to home, Lord Corrin. I don't wish for my fate to fall upon anyone… but it makes me seethe to think about it." She almost didn't even need to say it; her knuckles were white from how tightly she gripped her naginata, and Corrin actually thought she'd snap it right in two.

"Oboro…" Takumi took her free hand. She shuddered, taking a deep breath before exhaling heavily as she tried to calm herself down.

"I hate to admit it, but Corrin's right. As much as I hate Nohr too, I don't want to scare Kamui off. If she's constantly on edge, that means she's used to being afraid and having to hide it. We shouldn't make her feel that way in Hoshido where there's not someone waiting to murder you around every corner."

"R-right…" Oboro sighed again, "Sorry. You know how Nohr makes my blood boil, Lord Takumi."

"I know," Takumi acknowledged it, "but think of it this way… if we can get Kamui to stick around, that's a slap in the face for Nohr and a victory for everyone. Now c'mon… even you have to admit that sounds promising…"

Slowly, a smile crept back onto Oboro's face. "Yeah… yeah it does. I apologize for letting you see that side of me, Lord Corrin. I… should probably take a few moments to catch my breath." She respectfully bade Takumi and Corrin a farewell and disappeared back into the castle.

"What's this?" Corrin couldn't help but quip, "Takumi being nice to someone?"

"Hey," he punched Corrin amiably, "that's a luxury reserved for people I trust."

"Well… you're right about one thing," Corrin pointed out, "if we can convince Kamui to stay, it's a victory for Hoshido, and for our family."

"I'm always right," Takumi boasted.

"I won't argue that one at this point," Corrin chuckled, shaking his head. "Thanks for the talk though. You know I'm no flatterer, but I like the insights you offer, brother."

"Hey, I'm good at advice," he reasoned, "just don't get too close to your sister too fast, until we make sure she's safe."

"No worries there," Corrin assured him as he left. Takumi smirked, but deep down he knew that his words had come out for a reason. His notion that Kamui was afraid came from his own method of hiding his fears. He went back to practicing with his katana, his mind on Corrin's words. Losing Kamui—and knowing that she was away from them—had hurt him as a child, and while he was defensive around her, he knew that he'd have to be genuine if he didn't want to scare her off. He knew that if she left them again, that it would just make him angrier, and everything would spiral downward from there, and considering how much he dealt with nightmares of his own already, he didn't need the nightmare of losing his sibling to Nohr a 2nd time to become a reality...