Ryoma had sort of always known that there was something a little different about Takumi, something off that wasn't off with Hinoka and Sakura. The problem was that when Takumi was younger, he just shrugged everyone away and wouldn't let him ask if anything was wrong, so every question he had for Takumi about how he was doing went almost completely unasked and entirely unanswered.
Now, though, he felt as if he was starting to get a little closer to what was wrong. It was ironic and horrible that this war, the thing that had taken so much from all of them (he was thinking about Azura even now, and he missed her so deeply), was now bringing him closer to the siblings he had neglected as he grew up.
Hinoka, of course, was someone he had always been with and understood from a very young age, but once he got past her, his siblings became almost shrouded in mystery. He had been close to Corrin when she was younger, but when she was stolen away, so too was there relationship, as he was fairly sure she remembered almost nothing from her childhood before Nohr (she said that she had been told that she had hit her head very hard and this had caused her to have amnesia, but he would call foul play on that one any day). But he had never really been that close with Takumi. When the boy was younger, he'd been interested in learning swordplay from Ryoma, but that ended from the instant that Takumi lost a few rounds very badly, and from then he was fairly ashamed to admit that he hadn't spent as much time with Takumi as he should have.
Now, though, it seemed to be changing. He'd known from the moment that the Fujin Yumi chose Takumi that the boy would grow to be someone special on the battlefield, but once he saw Takumi in action he was taken aback. He was vulnerable with the bow up close, of course, but if he caught the enemy by surprise he was nigh on unbeatable. And after fighting together for their future, Ryoma now found he had cause to talk to Takumi, and for once, his younger brother didn't push him away.
"Takumi!" He called when making his way across the grounds. He got up early on most days as he had so much to manage now he was fully ruling the kingdom, but he hadn't been expecting to see many people at this time in the morning, let alone his brother, already fixed into practising with his bow. They were no longer even at war, yet he was told by Sakura that Takumi still practised for several hours a day. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, brother," he said, lowering his bow. "I didn't expect to see you up so early this morning."
"Likewise with you," Ryoma said, going over to the edge of the practise area. He had been planning to have an early breakfast and get started on the work he had been given today (his most challenging task, perhaps, would be responding to the soon King Leo without sounding like he was unintelligent in comparison), but it could easily wait if he got a chance to talk to his long neglected brother. "I did not realise that any but our army were still training as if the war was not over." Officially, the war was still going on, but an end to any form of fighting had come over a month ago now.
"There will always be people I need to protect," Takumi said simply in response, and Ryoma got the impression that his brother hadn't shared all of his thoughts on the matter of the future of conflict with Nohr. Maybe Takumi was still shaken after his brush with the possession. Ryoma found that he still was, and it wasn't even him who had been the one who was being controlled. He couldn't imagine how Takumi felt about it, and his brother had never spoken to him about it, or even anyone at all, at least not to his knowledge. Then again, no one had any obligation to talk to him about things that his brother talked about, so he shouldn't really have expected anything.
"Indeed, but is it really necessary to be up so early in the morning?" He asked, smiling at Takumi. Had he even eaten yet? How long would he spend practising before he decided that enough was enough and he could get on with something that wasn't about preparing to be attacked?
Takumi sniffed, and Ryoma sensed he'd said something wrong. He really needed to get to know his brother better. "I have been getting up at this time every day for several years," he said, raising his bow again to point it at the target. He hit it dead on with barely any time to steady his hand, and Ryoma wondered what it had been like for his friends and his family, fighting him when he was possessed.
Ryoma felt as if he had been dismissed, but he didn't want to let Takumi go so soon. It was blatantly clear that he did not know his brother well enough to understand him or even hold a civil conversation with him for more than a few moments. With Sakura, he could understand that a lot of the time, talking made her uncomfortable and she preferred to listen to others, but he absolutely knew that Takumi talked a lot with his retainers. It was just people he didn't know very well that he didn't talk to at length. And because of the way he had let himself drift away from Takumi when he was younger, he was included on the very long list of people that weren't spoken to. "Have you eaten breakfast this morning, Takumi?" He asked.
Takumi merely snorted and shook his head, apparently not dignifying him with a verbal response.
"Come on then brother, put down your bow for a while. I insist you eat with me this morning." His words were met with a suspicious glare from Takumi after he'd let another arrow loose (this one also hitting dead centre on the target). "Takumi," he said, trying to sound stern. It wasn't healthy to do vigorous practise before eating and he wouldn't let his brother push himself too hard when they were not even at war.
"Fine." Takumi sighed and then lowered his bow once more before slinging it over his shoulder. Ryoma was hit with the memory of Takumi standing in front of the now late King Garon, readying his bow as they prepared to finally end everything.
His brother needed to put the training to rest for a while, it seemed.