"Hey, everyone! Are you all enjoying the party?"
As always, Momo received a loud response from the crowd. They all swarmed around her, as she didn't have a stage, so there was next to no room to sing, but she worked with what she had.
"Can you all step back just a little? I can't move my arms!" Momo laughs, a sweet sound resonating from her mouth, and they all complied without hesitation. "Thanks so much! By the way, happy birthday, Shiro!" The boy was, of course, right next to her, but Momo loved the roar of the crowd supporting not just her but the others around them. The temporary happiness she created with those of many different values was something she cherished. She didn't know how she could do it so well, but she wasn't complaining. "I'm gonna get right to my first song, then!" Momo began without the need of any instruments, which baffled everyone she knew, including herself. Whenever she sang, people stopped what they were doing to listen. Her songs always caused great impacts on people. Momo briefly remembered a time where she sang a sad song to her brother and it caused him to sustain an injury, somehow. Glancing around the crowd, she saw someone waving with a warm smile. It was Kousuke. Next to him, Tsubomi nodded to Shuuya and the former as if affirming something to each other. But that wasn't her concern right now. Her concern was bringing as many smiles as possible with her voice.
/
Konoha sprang into action without Shintaro saying anything more. He picked up the boy and awaited the would-be prince's directions.
"Take him south. Don't leave the Kingdom. We can't have you getting lost," Shintaro was thinking fast, too fast, adrenaline rushing as if the guards were really there, "Back there, just before the woods, is a house. My old home. It's probably beat up by now, but not many people go back there, so it's safe. Don't worry, I'll come after you and we can make a plan as soon as possible."
Konoha nodded. "I'll see you later." He smiled before running off. Shintaro had to commend him for his blind authority - he didn't have to tell the man why they were in danger, he didn't consider the chance that this might be a trap, he just went. What a good friend.
As soon as they went a fair distance away, he turned to the ghost. "Now, you. What's your name? What the hell was all this? How did you know all this?"
"Hey, hey, slow down, one at a time!" The girl said, floating on ahead in the opposite direction of Konoha. Shintaro followed. "You can call me Ene. As for 'all this'... Well, let's say it was a vision before I died."
"A vision?"
"Something like that," Ene brushed him off with a wave of her transparent hand. "I used to be involved with the monarchy before I died. There's a plan right under our noses right now. The princess dying was the start."
Shintaro froze. "It... wasn't..."
"Now you're getting it," Ene's voice was tired - did ghosts need sleep? "The Tateyama family has some secrets that I don't know about, but it's something they should all be executed for, apparently. Anyway, someone in the big ranks killed her. And two guards. That's for the plan."
"What's the plan?"
"Look, coulda-been, I wasn't a part of that! I don't know that much! I just know it involves a takeover by someone and a lot of death!"
Shintaro began to mumble to himself, attempting to piece everything together. "The guards cracking down on mages... that's not just for security."
"Right-o! Now we're talking. I don't know what they need mages for, but I know you were smart in taking the kid away. We're lucky if he isn't dead by tomorrow."
Shintaro's look became more distant as they headed towards his home. "The only other people who know of that house are my mom, my sister, and Ayano, so it's fine."
"So as long as your yes man isn't a blabber mouth we have our rebellion in the bag!"
"His name is Konoha."
/
An hour and a half passed along with Momo's repertoire. She sighed, sitting on the elegant porch swing in the backyard before taking a sip of water. Those three kept their eyes straight on her, which wasn't unusual for her shows, but something about them just wasn't right. The party was over now, and the crowds had dispersed. She hadn't seen any sign of the Tateyama siblings-
"Yo!" Momo jumped as the youngest was suddenly right in front of her. She made a mental note to always keep one eye open. "Nice show, you didn't disappoint!" Shuuya made himself comfortable in the seat next to her.
"Thanks so much," Momo flashed a smile, trying to be polite.
"I think we're freaking her out..." Kousuke rang out as a voice of reason.
"Then let's just be upfront already." Tsubomi was suddenly mere centimeters from her face. Her face was serious, but Momo saw a hint of deep-seated hurt in her eyes that her brother often wore. Tsubomi's skin appeared rough, her body toned, yet with a frailness that only a trained eye could pick up on. She didn't seem like a King's daughter at all. "Unlike those two, I'm not shady-"
"-well, you're practically invisible-" Shuuya stopped with a slight screech as Tsubomi glared a hole through his head.
"-We just need you for a favor. Sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to come with us." Standing properly, she extended a hand to the minstrel. Somehow, Momo got a sense that the three weren't so bad after all. Soft hand grasped calloused hand, and they headed off.
/
Shintaro looked up from his notebook. Ever since they got back, Shintaro had been making notes and plans for a rebellion. If things were going the way Ene predicted, it wasn't going to be good. "Ene, you said something relating to me and magic when we met. I don't have any mages in my family."
"Well, you must, because only people with magic in them can see ghosts! That's why Hibiya made no reaction to me. Or he noticed and didn't care."
"Then Konoha..."
"Your yes man was created, Sir Coulda-Been," Ene seemed to grow agitated at the very mention of the 'Yes Man', "It's obvious. It could've been engineers, or mages, or both."
"Do you know who-"
"-No, I know nothing! Konoha's an enigma to me!" Somehow, it sounded like she was lying, but Shintaro didn't press it. A few moments passed where only the sound of pen on paper was heard, before Shintaro's mom came in.
"Shintaro, dear, I forgot to tell you, the King has his formal address to the Kingdom tomorrow, and you might have to speak in regards to the Princess. I know it's hard," She did know, Shintaro remembered, after all, she's a widow. "...but, it's an obligation. So please try to go."
Shintaro didn't want to. With all this other stuff on his mind, he had distractions (not to mention the fact that he was saving a community of people he loved), but when the situation was brought to him face-to-face, and without Konoha, his new rock, he couldn't do it. "I - I'll try."
She smiled softly and went back to her room. Before she was even gone, Ene declared, "Guess the magic's on your dad's side then!"
Suddenly everything made sense.
