Hakuei: 18

Hakuryuu: 13

~

It had ended being a few days since the incident of someone bumping but by the time you had gotten to your bath that same day, you had long since forgotten about it. As of now, you were looking for Kouen, you tried asking around but no one had seen him today and come to think of it last night you didn't even feel him come to bed. You sighed but soon perked up when you saw his household vessels, "um, Kin! Wait up!" You yelled to the vessel who you learned wields Phenex. 

He stopped along with the rest of the vessels, "is something wrong, my lady?" He asked politely with a small bow, which the rest vessels did as well. 

You had a blush on your cheeks from their politeness, "no need for such formalities, just call me Y/N," you explained while waving your hand frantically with the same blush on your face. 

Kokuton, who you learned wields Agares, spoke up with a chuckle, "what is it that you need from us, my lady?" He asked. You knew he was teasing you by still calling you that but you dismissed it this time. 

"Do you know where Kouen is?" You asked, slightly worried, "I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon."

Shou, who wields Astaroth, flinched at your question and stayed silent for a moment. He looked at the rest of the vessels as if asking for help on what he should do; they stayed quiet. You narrowed your eyes and looked at the shortest of the bunch, Seishuu Ri, who wields Agares like Koukuton but hasn't assimilated yet. You smiled sweetly at him and in a flash grabbed him by the ear, "Seishuu, darling, if you don't tell me where he is I will kick your ass; even if I do like you," you said while gripping his ear tightly. 

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, okay! He's in the library!" He screeched and finally sighed in relief when you released his ear. 

"Thank you," you beamed before pressing a kiss to the top of his head and walking away as if you hadn't just gripped his ear within an inch of his life. As Seishuu rubbed his poor ear the rest of the vessels glared and would've punched him in the head had it not been for the fact that you scared them half to death, they all knew if they hurt Seishuu you'd probably do worse than squeeze their ears. 

They were fine facing Kouen's wrath as long as they didn't have to deal with yours. 

*~*~*

You had finally made it to the library and stood outside the door. You took a breath in and opened the door only to be met with something that both shocked and angered you. Sleeping at his desk on top of a book was Kouen and the bags forming under his eyes you were sure he had been here all night. 

You were about to wake him until you heard the door open. Koumei had walked in and let out a sigh, based on that you assumed something like this happened often with Kouen. Koumei noticed you standing there, "don't worry about this, Y/N, I'll take care of this," he explained. 

You were about to protest but then you realized you didn't have much of a right to step in as you had only been there for only a matter of days. You nodded and began to leave, "when you wake him up, tell him to meet me in the garden for tea," you informed. 

Koumei nodded and watched as you left. He sighed once more and turned to his sleeping brother, ready to scold once again for sleeping in the library. 

*~*~*

You sat in a small gazebo in the garden with a teacup in your hand courtesy of Kazue who was currently standing behind you. "So, princess," he began, "I suppose the married isn't all that bad."

You cracked a small smile, "I suppose so, but I can't help but feel as if something is bothering me," you spoke, setting the cup down on the table. 

Kazue raised his brows, "why is that?" He asked. 

"I don't know-" you shrugged- "something just feels wrong... Not to mention Kouen seems to have been sleeping the library all night these past two days. At first, I had thought he just came to bed late and left early in the morning..." You said, voicing out your concerns. 

"Sometimes I feel as if he doesn't enjoy my company very much, what do you think, Kazue?" You asked.

"I think if you spent more time with him he might grow to enjoy your company more."

Your eyes widened at the voice and you turned around to see Kouen standing there in a plain white robe that he always wore to sleep. A blush tainted your cheeks as you abruptly stood up, "K-Kouen," you stuttered, "you should know better than to sneak up on a lady."

He rose a brow, "you should know better than to gossip with a servant," he said stoically, as always.

Your gaze hardened, "Kazue is more than just a servant and I implore you to remember that."

Kouen looked surprised for a moment until he gave Kazue a small bow, "I apologize," he said. Kazue bowed back to him and squeezed your hand as if to bid you goodbye. 

You squeezed his hand back and sent him a small smile. Once Kazue left you reached for something next to your chair. Kouen looked at your hands and noticed how there was a Zhiduo in your hands. 

"I knew you'd still be wearing that robe, so, I had one of the maids bring this to me," you said while beginning to help him put it on, "I know you like wearing red the most, but I thought this blue went nicely with your hair."

When he had the garment through his arms you reached around his middle and tied the sash around his waist. "Better than just wearing sleepwear, huh?" You asked sweetly while pressing a small kiss to his cheek and sitting down at the table. 

You smiled at Kouen and gestured for him to sit down to which he obliged. When he sat down you poured him a cup of tea and scooped in a small spoon of sugar. Kouen rose a brow, "you know how I like my tea?" He asked, taking the cup from your hands. 

You nodded, "yes, I know we haven't known each other for long but I still notice those little things. Like your taste in food, I know you don't like sweet things and more spicy things. I also know that you've been sleeping in the library these past few days," you explained with a small smirk on your lips. 

Kouen only took a sip of his tea and said nothing. You pouted, 'it must be really hard to embarrass this man...' You thought to yourself as you took a sip from your own cup. 

He set the cup back down back on the saucer and stared down at the cup, "so, you noticed that? Either that or someone told you," he deduced. 

You huffed, "I figured after falling asleep and waking up alone for the past few days. Not to mention I had asked where were you this morning and caught you sleeping on your desk," you explained, "I would have scolded you myself, but Koumei beat me to it."

Kouen stifled a small huff and continued to sip his tea. 

*~*~*

One thing the two of you hadn't noticed were the three siblings staring at you from behind a pillar, spying. Kougyoku grunted as Kouha shoved her a bit too far, "hey, careful! We don't want them to see us!" She hissed. 

Kouha rolled his eyes, "you don't think I know that," he sassed.

Koumei also rolled his eyes, but it more directed at the both of his siblings rather than just Kougyoku. "If you two keep up this banter they will surely notice," he pointed out. 

The two opted to ignore their older sibling and continued to stare at the two of you. Not much seemed to be going on besides an idle conversation, for the most part, the two of you were drinking your tea in silence. To Koumei this looked perfectly normal as it seemed you two were enjoying each other's presence in silence, but to Kougyoku and Kouha it was abnormal. 

Kougyoku decided to speak up, "are they mad at each other?" She asked before growing a bit fearful to the sounds she had remembered hearing a few nights ago, "you don't think En-nii hits her, do you? Is that why she's so quiet?" 

Kouha rose a brow, "where'd you get that idea? En-nii would never hit a woman!" He said, lightly smacking the back of Kougyoku's head causing her to whine in protest. 

"I heard her screaming his name and it sounded like she was getting hurt!" She said, frantic while rubbing the spot Kouha hit. 

At her statement, Koumei's face grew red while Kouha smirked while holding in his laughter. Before Kouha could ruin his sister's innocence Koumei clamped his hand over his mouth with a scowl, "don't worry about that, Kougyoku. I promise you she's fine."

Kougyoku didn't seem to believe him, "b-but...!" 

Koumei shook his head, signaling her to drop the subject, "I promise you Kougyoku. She's okay."

Kougyoku closed her mouth and nodded. Meanwhile, Kouha tugged Koumei's hand off his mouth, the same smirk still on his lips. "Well, if she's with Kouen then she's more than okay," he said causing Kougyoku to be more confused than before. 

She opened her mouth to ask more questions before Koumei shook his head once more, signaling her to drop the subject once more. Kougyoku sighed and said nothing more. As they continued to spy on the two of you they hadn't notice who was sneaking up on them. 

"What are you three doing?"

They all flinched and turned to see Hakuei standing there with an eyebrow raised. Koumei decided to speak up on their behalf, "well, we were only curious and wanted to see how their relationship was going," he explained and while he explained he seemed to cringe at his own excuse causing Kouha to nudge him in the ribs. 

Hakuei didn't seem to think it was that good of an excuse either as she sighed. "Why don't you just join them instead?" She questioned causing the three to look each other and shrug. 

Hakuei chuckled at them and looked up at the couple only to see you stand from your chair and motion for all of them to come over. "It looks as if you don't have to worry about that," she giggled while gesturing them to look at you. 

Kouha and Kougyoku spared no expense and quickly went over to you as Koumei trailed behind them. Hakuei stayed where she was only for you to call out to her as well. Her eyes widened for a moment and she was soon walking over to you. 

You gave her a smile and held out your hand, "I don't believe we've properly met. Your name is Hakuei, right?" You asked. 

Hakuei nodded and smiled, "yes and I obviously know your name, Princess Y/N." 

You giggled, "no need for that, we are sisters after all," you said while motioning a servant to bring chairs for additional siblings. As they did you allowed Hakuei to take your own seat, even if she did protest. As all of you began to be situated in your own seats you noticed a small figure looming behind a pillar, it was a boy with similar features to Hakuei. 

You nudged her and gestured to the small boy. She looked in surprise and smiled, "Hakuryuu!" She called out, "come here!" She yelled it with fondness in her tone. Even if it was his own sister calling to him he didn't seem to want to move, seeming just a tad shy. 

He didn't seem to have any intention of coming out from there. Soon enough, he left, leaving Hakuei to look at his retreating figure with a frown. "I guess he's just not in the mood today," she said with a small smile, "he's probably just going to train then..."

You tried not to ask more questions, especially when you saw that smile on Hakuei's face. You'd seen that smile more time's than you could count, mostly on your own face. You nodded and gave a reassuring squeeze on her wrist causing a real smile to come to her lips. 

Kouen tuned out a conversation that he was having with Koumei and turned to see your small interaction with Hakuei. He let a small smile pull at his own lips as he saw you getting closer to all his siblings, even if Hakuryuu hadn't been included thus far. 

He cut off whatever Koumei was talking about by standing up abruptly with a small smirk replacing his smile. "I hope you haven't forgotten about our duel," he said, referring to you. 

You let out an amused huff at his statement, "of course not. I was just afraid you'd be upset after I beat you," you said simply, "I wouldn't want to bruise the ego of a general... Even if it is one of my favorite past times."

"I'm afraid once I'm done with you, it won't be my ego that will be bruised," he said, his words laced with an innuendo. 

You tried keeping the blush from rising to your cheeks as you giggled into your sleeve, "we'll see about that."

Meanwhile, all of the siblings looked at the exchange with a mixture of embarrassment, amusement, and confusion. The confusion mostly coming from Kougyoku and the amusement mostly coming from Kouha. 

"Well, this will certainly be interesting," Hakuei added.

While all the siblings continued on with their playful banter on who would in they didn't notice an elegantly dressed woman staring at them with a scowl on their face. It was the same woman who had bumped into you just a few nights ago and unfortunately for you, you didn't even notice her staring at you with an unpleasant glare. Not to mention you didn't even know what she would be planning for you in the next coming days. 

~~~

A/N: More of the mystery woman?! Just what can she planning?!?! And who will win this duel?! Oh well, it looks like we'll never know for now... Well, except me of course. HEHEHEHE~!

Until next time, beautiful people~!