Next morning when Kira faced him in the court, heat crept up her cheeks as he looked at her for a quick second. She quickly averted her eyes and pretended to be alright so no one suspects anything but it was proving to be very hard to keep a poker face after what happened the previous day.

All throughout the day, Kira found it hard to keep her composure. Her mind was still clouded with confusion over various things running across her mind and that was making it hard to keep her concentration in the present. She was trying to tame her wild thoughts when suddenly something jolted her away from her mind palace. Namely, a messenger from a foreign kingdom had arrived. Everyone looked at him quizzically, anticipating the message he had brought.

"What brings you here?" Gouenji questioned sternly.

"I have brought a message from Emperor Dai . He wants you to know that he intends to take over this kingdom within a fortnight but before he attacks, he is giving you a chance to surrender." He announced with an air of defiance.

Gouenji frowned upon hearing this but as he was about to say something, Kira rose up from her seat and before anyone could realise what was happening in front of them she had the messenger down on the floor, her sword ready to cut through him any moment. She glared at him with fire in her eyes,

"You insolent fool! You have some nerve insulting our Emperor in our court. Give me a reason why shouldn't I just end your life right here, right now."

The man, now utterly terrified, stared at her in shock, surprised at her speed and her intensity.

"Riye! That's enough. Step away from him." Gouenji commanded. Kira glared at him for a couple more seconds, then reluctantly put her sword back into its sheath and returned to her seat. Gouenji then directed his attention back to the messenger,

"Tell your emperor we are not afraid of these empty threats. If he is brave enough he can try to win this kingdom away from us. Now leave."

The messenger hastily left but that did not ease Kira the least bit. She kept glaring in the direction he came from until Gouenji pulled her attention back to the court,

"It looks like once again our kingdom is under a threat of invasion. Even if this doesn't turn out to be a formidable opponent, we should prepare ourselves for anything that comes our way. We should discuss this in detail after the court. All defence officials will stay for this." He asserted.

As planned, after court, everyone gathered in the defence meeting room. The place was specially designed for such purposes.Various maps hung on each wall and a miniature model depicting the Inazuma Kingdom and its neighboring areas was situated on a long table in the centre, accompanied by several chairs neatly placed around it. By that time, Kira's mind was already running to think up their war strategy. It was her responsibility to instruct her subordinates on how to place their army and when and how to attack. If she made even the slightest mistake in her judgement, she would be putting a lot of people in danger. When Gouenji entered the room, he looked like he was in deep thought too but he became attentive once he reached the table and addressed everyone,

"Before we start any discussions about our strategy, I would like all of you to know that this time I'll be going to the battlefield too."

"But, Your Majesty, you don't have to do this. We are still powerful enough to..." Kira immediately tried to protest but was cut off mid-sentence by Gouenji.

"No, Riye, this is necessary. Dai has challenged me directly and there is no way I can sit back doing nothing." Gouenji spoke, determination evident on his face. Kira knew that there was no point in discussing this further at the moment. She nodded politely and moved onto presenting her ideas, pointing to various places on the model.

Kira stayed after the meeting was over to work on her war plan further. She got so engrossed in her work that when she finally got up to leave, she was surprised to find out that the sun had long gone and the moon had risen in the sky covering the earth in tranquillity. She hurried out of there thinking about how her parents would be wondering where she was. When she passed by the garden, something in her mind urged her to spend some time there, if only to calm her mind after hours of strenuous thinking. As soon as she reached there, she spotted Gouenji calmly sitting under the same sakura tree where she first met him years ago. Staring into the void, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he did not notice Kira.

She looked at him for a while, internalizing this peaceful scene present in front of her, admiring his beautiful features illuminated by the silver glow of the moonlight, his golden locks flowing rhythmically by the light summer breeze, a couple of sakura petals dancing between them and some scattered around him. She felt like she was under a spell. Pulling herself back to reality somehow, she casually broke the silence,

"This garden is still beautiful as ever.".

Gouenji turned to her with surprise, "You're still here?"

"I was just going over some important things. I was about to leave though." She replied hesitating a little.

"Come here." Gouenji gestured her to come closer and as she did he held her hand, urging her to sit beside him which she followed. They remained quiet for some time during which Gouenji didn't let go of her hand but continued his train of thoughts. Kira couldn't understand what was the purpose of him calling her when he wasn't going to talk. Finally, she began the conversation,

"Why did you decide to go to the battlefield this time?"

He immediately snapped out of his thoughts at this, "I have already explained my reasons." He turned to her and replied with the same seriousness as before.

"But we have a strong army and a good strategy. You don't need to do this." She pleaded.

"Riye, nothing you can say will change my decision." He looked at her definitively but softly.

Kira paused for a few seconds during which Gouenji looked away again. After some hesitation, she finally spoke,

"I am worried about you."

Gouenji was caught off guard with this since he wasn't used to her being so straightforward with him. All these years she had concealed her feelings from him and here she was finally letting him in her thoughts. Once again he directed his attention at her and found her looking at him with vulnerability in her eyes. He was taken aback by the expression she was wearing, full of innocence and care for him.

He came closer to her and rested his forehead on hers, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine as long as you are by my side." Saying this, he closed his eyes. Kira did the same and they stayed like that for some time, internalizing each other's presence and the pure bliss that came with it, something they had craved for so long.

"I have to go now." Kira finally mumbled, without breaking contact or opening her eyes.

"Don't." Gouenji whispered the same way.

"I have to."

"Stay just a little longer." He spoke softly again. Kira found herself melting at the sound of his voice.

"Believe me I want to. But I have no choice." Kira managed to say somehow between blushing intensely. She got up to leave before he could stop her again. Gouenji followed her action but did not say anything this time. As she took a step forward, she was stopped by him holding her wrist. She looked back at him quizzically. He pulled her close once again and brushed his fingers against her cheek,

"Don't go without this." He said as he kissed her, softly at first and then deepening it. At first, Kira was astonished but soon she melted into it and kissed him back lovingly. If there were any doubts in her mind before, they were all gone now. He loved her and she loved him; that was the truth and nothing else mattered. She felt foolish for resisting her feelings for so long hurting herself and him in the process. She regretted that now. As they broke the kiss, staring at each other with love in their eyes, she made a silent promise, never to be the cause of his sadness ever again.     

A/N: Did anyone catch that 'Sherlock' reference in this chapter?Comment below if you did and we can be friends.:D