Chapter 2

Unsurprisingly, life for Kiku didn't change just because the King died. The funeral came and went, a beautiful and glorious affair he had heard, but besides that one day of mourning he remained over all unaffected. He still worked on the farm, he still played with Pochi and his cat Tama, and he still took long baths and had tea before bed. The only different thing was that he went to town more often, to visit his aunt's house and convinced his mother to visit her once a week as well. But that had nothing to do the royal Suits and life continued as normal for the following few weeks.

Then one night as Kiku was finishing preparing dinner, as his mother was on one of her trips to visit her sister, he and his father heard the woman run down the path to the house and burst through the door yelling "They found them! They found them!"

"Dear me woman calm yourself!" Kiku's father took his mother's hand and forced her to sit down. Surprise was evident on his face as he looked at his usually quiet wife and asked her sternly. "Now, who found what?"

"They found the new King and Jack! They arrived at the palace yesterday!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh my," Kiku's father said, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. "Well I'm glad, it has been a while. Who are they?"

"Sons of noblemen I believe." His mother said, catching her breath. Kiku brought her a glass of water, which she drank gratefully. "They are from quite far away actually. Apparently on the other side of the kingdom, bordering Clubs."

Kiku's eyebrows shot up as well. That was far. The Honda farm was clear across the kingdom, bordering Spades. It would take days to travel to their by carriage. He wondered how far the new King and Jack lived from the capitol and the palace.

"And what of the Queen? Any news on them?" his father asked.

"Not, not yet." His mother signed. "And it is getting quite close to Coordination Day. I hope they find them soon, or they will have to wait another year."

Kiku got up to check on dinner, and when he was satisfied that it was finished, he went into the dining room to serve as his parents chatted on. They were right, Coordination Day was only a little more than two months away and the Queen would need to be found soon if they were going to be trained properly in time.

"So sons of noblemen huh?" his father remarked after swallowing a mouthful on tuna. Tama pawed quietly at Kiku's feet under the low table and he slid a piece from his own plate discretely.

"I wonder what will that mean for the Kingdom, I mean what will happen to people like us?" he continued.

"I'm sure the mark chose well." His mother said reassuringly. "It would not chose rulers that did not care for all their subjects. And if you remember, the Jack is also of noble blood and we did just fine under her rule."

"Yes but the King and Queen were both regular citizens, what if the new Queen is also a noble? What then?" his father grumbled.

"We will be fine dear." Kiku's mother said patting his father's hand. "We always are."

The older man mumbled something in response, but Kiku didn't really pay attention. His attention was stolen by Tama chasing a butterfly through their garden. He smiled and sighed in contentment as he finished his dinner and his parents talked on and on about the affairs of the Kingdom and their future Queen to be.

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Two Weeks Later

Kiku was burning up. Summer was in full swing complete with blazing sun and cloudless skies, and he was out watering the fields. It hadn't rained in a while, not long enough to be considered a drought, but long enough that he had to manually bring the crops water from the well lest they wither and die in the heat. It was brutal, grunt work but he had to do it. But it was still so very hot.

As he made his fifth trip from the old well to the fields, Kiku finally gives in to his baser instincts and sheds the top part of yukata so that only the bottom half of himself was covered. He knew it was indecent but he concedes that in this weather and his activity level (buckets of water are heavy) warranted this behavior. Plus, there was no one around to see him, no one would be outside and passing by a small farm on such a hot, sunny day.

I hope I don't get a sun burn, Kiku thought as he carried the two buckets to one of the middle plots. He had started from the farthest plot from the wells so that the distance would lessen as he tired, but it was still a bit of a far walk. He was lucky his father volunteered to do the other half of the farm today instead of preparing the rice for sale as he normally does. Theirs was a relatively small farm that could usually be managed by Kiku alone, but on days like today he gladly accepted the help. When he finished emptying the two buckets, he sighed and wiped his forehead, exhausted. Perhaps I will have time to take a dip in the river before sunset, he though whimsically.

"Kiku!" he heard his mother call all the way by the well. "Kiku come! I have brought your lunch!" Kiku looked up, the sun directly above him high in the sky. He had been working so diligently he had almost forgotten that his mother would bring him lunch today. Usually he just made a simple lunch himself and brought it with him into the fields, but his mother had insisted on making her son and husband a big, delicious lunch to reward them for their hard work on such a beastly day. He smiled as he saw Pochi at her side, braving the heat to eat with her master. He waved in acknowledgement and walked towards them, relieved that he got to take a break.

"Kiku!" his mother scolded lightly as he approached "The state you are in! I understand it is hot but you must cover yourself when you aren't working!"

"Yes mother." He said softly, knowing that she was right "But I must first put these buckets in the well, otherwise the sun will warm the handles and they will be too hot to pick up later."

"Fine, fine." she said as Kiku moved passed her to the well. "Please hurry, I must get to your father and I promised I would ear with- Oh My Stars! Kiku! Your back!"

Oh great, I did get a sunburn, Kiku thought, irritated at the sun but also himself. That's what I get for being indecent.

"Oh my dear son it's you. It's you!"

"Excuse me?" Kiku responded, confused. His mother's expression was one of disbelief, and there were the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "What is it mother?"

"The mark! The mark!" his mother said excitedly rushing up to him and turned him around, almost roughly and moved his body closer towards the pool of well water. She pointed to his right shoulder.

Kiku looked, puzzled. There was a small black heart, the size of a child's hand, with a capital Q, the color of his skin, going through it like an eraser mark on a pencil marked piece of paper.

"It's you." his mother repeated happily. "You are the Queen of the Kingdom of Hearts!"

Oh no, Kiku thought, Oh no.