Something poked my forehead, causing me to open my eyes.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" I snapped, rubbing my head. I gulped as I saw a white-haired girl standing over me. "Koukyuu?" Her silver hair fluttered in the wind, making her look mystical.

She backed away. "About time that you wake up. I kept calling your name, but you wouldn't even budge. We have to get going."

"Oh..."

She crossed her arms. "Why do you sound disappointed? Is it because you didn't hear me call you repeatedly?"

I turned away, staring at the village below. We had made it look a lot better than what existed before but it felt like something was missing. Not that I could put my finger on it. Perhaps, it was just nostalgia.

"It's not that. I'm not sure," I said, looking back at her.

The Kasai no Ki princess smiled and turned around. "Okay, weirdo."

My cheeks flushed. Wished that I could've come up with a better answer. Ugh, why did I always have to come up with lame responses for her?

"Having girl issues?" a voice called out. I turned around and saw Kei.

"N-no! And why do you care?" Wait, Koukyuu's his sister, so obviously he would care.

He shrugged. "Just thought that I would help."

I jumped. "To get me and Koukyuu together?"

He grinned. "So you do like my sister."

I felt like hitting my head upside a tree. "Y-you tricked me!"

He laughed. "Yeah, right! You gave yourself away, Sir Knight!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was more annoying than Zydeco and Kohri. What could Zydeco and Sonata be up to? I didn't get a chance to see them again. Wait, why did I even care? It's not like we were friends or anything!

"Let's get going," I said, jumping to my feet.

"There you are!" Kiara yelled, running over. "Come on, let's get going!"

"I know already. I don't need more badgering."

Ki put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Are you sure, Big Bro?"

I rolled my eyes and followed after her.

Kei patted me on the shoulder. "We can continue our talk later."

I preferred not to... Having Eii and Ki tease me about Koukyuu was enough. I didn't need another person prying about what didn't concern them.

"I know that you probably think that I'm being nosey, and I admit, I likely am. However, I would like your help."

"Huh? My help?"

He nodded. "Koukyuu's still hung up on Zydeco despite him going steady with Sonata. I don't think it's healthy to continue to pine for someone already in a relationship."

"True... Wait, why are you looking to me for that?"

Kei turned his green eyes toward me and smiled. "Think you can guess."

My cheeks flushed. So he was trying to set me up with his sister!

"Though, why me and not some other admirer? I mean, I'm sure she has a lot."

"True, but she doesn't interact with them much. Well, with people in general. You see, Kou can be a bit of an ice queen. It's why her only friend is Zydeco. Well, I would count Sonata too, but they argue so much that I'm not sure what their relationship is." He smiled. "But, since she started spending time with you, she seems to be defrosting! Something that I hadn't seen apart from her interactions with Zy."

My heart raced. I was on the same level as Zydeco?

"What are you two going on about?" Koukyuu asked, strolling over to us.

"N-nothing!" I yelled, waving my hands.

She narrowed her eyes. "It must be a whole lot of nothing in that case, given how much the two of you have been flapping your lips."

Kei smiled. "It's just guy stuff. Right, Hideo?"

I nodded. If I spoke, I would've given away the lie. Well, was it even one? In a way, we were talking about guy stuff.

The princess crossed her arms. "Guy stuff? With Hideo?"

"H-hey, what are you implying? That I'm not a guy?"

She looked up at me, causing my heart to accelerate again. "Hmm, well, you aren't a munchkin anymore, but you still act like a child at times."

I coughed as my saliva got caught in my throat.

"Hideo!" Kei said, slapping me on my back.

"Choking on your own saliva proves my point. If you have something to say, spit it out."

Kei wasn't kidding about the ice queen thing. Koukyuu was cut from the same cloth as Hyosetsu!

"S-shush!" I said, turning away.

"My, aren't you all lively today?"

I gasped and turned to the source of the sound. A smiling Tabiki made his way toward us.

"Papa!" Koukyuu yelled, running to hug him.

"Daddy's girl!" I blurted out.

She turned and glared at me. I gulped. I hadn't meant it as an insult! Not that I meant to say anything in the first place... Why were my filters failing today?

"Let's hurry up! I'm itching to go! I'm going to challenge all of the Seven Seas, Hills, and Lights!" Kimura said, rolling his arm.

My cousin Emon sighed. "You sure are a blood knight, aren't you?"

Kimura grumbled. "I want to see how I stack against them. I'm already the strongest Seven Flame Knight."

Emon shrugged. "Or so you say. You haven't beaten me yet."

"That's because you haven't accepted my challenge!"

My cousin laughed. "That's because I don't want to get pulverized."

"Aha, so you admit my superiority!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. And people said that I had a big ego...

"Haname's already in Kaguya, so she might've beaten you to the punch," the short female knight said.

Kimura sighed. "Why did she go on ahead of us?"

"Wonder if she's still worried about fighting her ex," Koukyuu said, sighing.

"Wait, how do you know that? Only us knights, King Tabiki, and Hideo should know that," Emon said.

"Kenta told me."

The short girl, Chika I think was her name, turned to look at Kentaro who was busy loading up the trucks with packages. "I see. That guy acts all strict, but has loose lips."

"I heard that!" Kentaro yelled. "Hurry up and get on! We have to make it to Kaguya before nightfall!"

"Okay, boss!" Kimura said, rolling his eyes. He slipped his hands into his pants pockets and strode over to the truck Kentaro had just finished packing.

Emon sighed. "Seems that we still aren't getting along."

"At least it's not as bad as during the meeting," I mumbled.

Chika blushed and turned away. "S-sorry about that."

"It wasn't your fault. Not completely that is."

Koukyuu smiled.

"W-what?" I asked.

"You sounded grown up again."

I grumbled. "I am a grown up! I'm eighteen!"

***

"Hide," Ki said.

I opened my eyes and saw her looking out of the train. As soon as we got to the closest city, we switched to rail. It was quicker than going all the way to Kaguya by car.

"Yeah?" I asked, sitting up.

"Do you think we'll win?"

My eyes widened. "Why do you ask? Do you doubt your big brother?"

"It's not that. I know that you and the other knights are strong, but the enemy is pretty scary too."

That they were... Especially Daisaru.

"Yeah. But it's odd to hear that from you. Usually, Cami's the debbie downer."

"Hide. That's not nice," Ki said, glaring at me.

I bit my lip. "Didn't mean it like that."

"Can't wait to see Cami and the others again. Hope they're fine."

"I do too!" Alex said as he played Go Fish with Dad across the aisle.

Ki stretched her hand out and patted his head, smiling.

"Uh, can I join?" Piedad who sat next to Dad asked.

"Sure, let us just finish this game."

"Aha! Go Fishie!" Alex yelled, raising his hands into the air.

"Ahh! I lost!" Dad said, sighing.

"Surprised that you lost," Uncle Alabaster said, looking at them from behind.

"Yeah, Hide almost always won Go Fish when we were little," Zaki said, giggling.

"Rematch!" Dad said, gathering the cards and piling them up. He spread them out between Alex, Piedad, and himself.

Ki giggled. "Papa's as competitive as you it seems."

"He's surprisingly childish," Koukyuu said, smiling from across our table.

Yeah. This was my first time seeing this side of him apart from whenever he's being lovey-dovey with Mom, but that was different. Maybe we rarely saw it because we usually didn't beat him. Then again, how much skill did it take to win a Go Fish match? Dad had us older kids play chess against him.

I leaned back against my seat. Could I beat him now? Dan was the one who came closest. Dan... I needed to get back to Abyssia before the war came to an end. Dine would lead me there, to the pit he and Satoru had fallen into.

KI blinked. "Why are you staring? Do I have food on my face?"

I laughed. "Since when have you cared about appearances?"

"I don't care if I look pretty, I just don't want to embarrass myself!"

"You're fine," Koukyuu said, leaning on the table.

My cheeks reddened. Why had she decided to sit with us?

I turned and saw Kei smiling at me from the seat across my uncle and aunt's table. So it was his doing! Wait, maybe he was grinning for another reason. After all, how would he know what I was thinking? Unless he could read minds!

"Hey, is Kei a mind reader?"

Koukyuu stretched her arms above her head and laughed. "No, but he does give that impression, doesn't he? Maki and I wondered the same thing, but if that were the case, he wouldn't have sneaked to find out what his birthday presents were."

"Ohh?" Ki asked, tilting her head.

The princess leaned forward. "It's a funny story. You see..."

I sighed in relief. It Seemed Kei was just hyper aware, or a good guesser.

The train came to a slow crawl.

"We made it!" Ki said, standing up.

"Seems that we have to save our rematch for later, champ," Dad said.

"That's okay!" Alex said, jumping off his seat.

"Say, why does the train stop in Yozora instead of continuing all of the way to Kaguya?" I asked.

"Think it's a precautionary measure," Dad said as he put away his cards.

"Precautionary?" Piedad asked, tilting her head.

Tabiki chuckled as he walked toward us. He had sat at the back of the train cart. "Orlin designed the system. It's likely to avoid us Kasai no Ki from using the trains to attack the capital. In the event that we took this one, we would need to take over the other lines. It's also likely why the trains don't extend all the way to the border."

So it was that trust issue again.

"It doesn't run all the way to Kuroyuki no San either, but that's likely due to the climate," Zaki said as we walked toward the exit.

"I don't think that's it. Kuroriku has the means to build trains connecting Kaguya to Shirayuki. It's likely that Orlin suspected them too. While Makkuroyama has its history of rebelliousness, it's Kuroyuki no San that stayed independent the longest. Not to mention, Mizu no Kin's own ambitions."

"Then Orlin must've only trusted Kuroichi and Raiyama given the trains reach the border with Amadeus," Dad said.

"Of course. But that's also because Amadeus isn't seen as a threat. Had Orlin succeeded in taking Kasai no Ki down, he might've targeted them next. Or perhaps, he would've left them alone to focus on Mizu no Kin."

"So, the previous king was a power-hungry megalomaniac?" Ki asked.

"Yeah," Zaki said, sighing.

"I don't think he was," Dad said.

"Nor do I," Alabaster said, smiling nervously.

"Huh?" Zaki asked, staring at her two brothers as if they were insane.

"I do think that he wanted to secure Kuroriku's future in the same way that our parents wanted to make things better for Makuroyama," Dad said.

"How was sending his people to war going to accomplish that?" Emon asked.

"It's Kasai no Ki's warm waters he was after. This nation is landlocked in the winter, effectively leaving it in a cage. A landlocked nation can't hope to be anything but a local power. And given the other 'Great Nations' flank it on its northern, eastern, and western borders, that wasn't going to be easy either," Tabiki said, crossing his arms.

The man seemed to have known Orlin well... Did Tetsuya know his rivals that well? I lacked any, so it was hard to grasp.

"I see," Zaki said. "But surely, he could've reached an agreement with Amadeus to have leased a port or two."

"Leasing is different from owning, dear niece. A man like Orlin doesn't rent," Tabiki said as we jumped off.

"Well, he is a king," Alabaster said.

Before Tabiki could respond, a blue blur tackled Kiara.

"Ki!" Marina said, embracing her.

"Mari!" Ki said, hugging her back.

Silas jumped. "What are you doing here?"

"We just arrived. Hyosetsu thought that we should join up with you. My big brother has the buses ready for all of us! I volunteered to wait here while they and the others got things ready. Though, Damien did keep me company."

A blue-haired boy rose from a bench and walked over to us. "Let's head out now, Mari."

"Wait, are you a knight too?" Silas blurted out.

Damien stared at him and raised his crimson gloves up. "Of course. I'm the Axeinos Knight, and you, are you one of the Seven Hills?"

"No, he's my dorky brother," Ki said, giggling.

"Sis!" Silas said, punching her.

Ki laughed and pinched him back. "Come on, it's true!"

"It's not! I'm not a dork! Hideo's the dork!"

"Aww, come on, you are one too!"

I glared at Ki. Did she have to say that?

"As lively as usual, I see," a voice called out. I gasped as Hyosetsu walked toward us. He had changed into a blue shirt, a navy-blue vest, and brown pants.

"Did you go to Mizu no Kin or to prep school?" I asked, covering my mouth.

He glared at me and turned away. "What do you care about what I'm wearing? I don't comment on your hiking attire, do I?"

"Touche." My eyes widened as I recalled the sword Tabiki had used against me. I turned to look at the Kasai no Ki King, but he was gone. "Huh? Where did the Tabiki go?"

"He went on ahead," Maki called out from several meters away. Koukyuu and the others had gone on ahead too, leaving me and my family behind with Marina, Damien, and Hyosetsu.

"Hey, don't leave me!" I yelled, running after him.

Hyosetsu sighed as he followed me. "Scared of being alone?"

My cheeks warmed up. "No! Are you?"

He slipped his hands into his pants pockets and stared blankly at Maki and the others. "Maybe..."

Maybe? 

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^. Set up for this arc will last a bit longer, but almost there! Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**