Chapter Text
When Hikari reached the Hideout, she felt a gust of cold air run through her body and penetrate her bones. She observed the Hideout thoroughly before entering. That building was her whole life. There she had spent her entire life, she had connected to all the members of the Black Bulls, she had seen his siblings grow up along with the children of people who were fundamental to her life; She had cried, laughed, learned, loved... But now it was a rather hostile place, although she couldn’t quite understand why.
As her father, or rather, her Captain, had ordered her, she arrived at nightfall, taking advantage of the tranquility of the sleep of its inhabitants. She snuck in so as not to alert anyone —especially her mother— and went to her little brother's room.
The door, when opened, squeaked slightly, and she grimaced in annoyance. When she entered the room completely and managed to close it without further noise, she sighed when she realized that no one had heard her enter; Neither did her brother, who slept peacefully in his bed.
She approached him slowly and watched him in the gloom of the night. Every day he looked a little more like their father, not only in his physique, but also in many of his mannerisms. She stroked his hair a little and saw him moving to the other side of the bed, as if making a place next to him for her.
She smiled calmly; She wouldn't have to wake him up at least. She took off her borrowed shoes and went to bed without even changing, because that would mean having to go to her room and she didn't want to take any more risks. She hissed a little in pain as she laid down on the mattress, her wounds weren’t completely healed yet, but she took a deep breath to pay as little attention to the pain as possible.
She covered herself up with the blanket and did the same with her brother's small body, which soon moved again, opening his eyes as he turned to look at her completely.
"Tata...?”
"Go back to sleep, you brat," the girl whispered as she stroked his hair again.
"Papa told me you were on a mission," the boy said, mimicking his older sister's tone of voice as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.
Hikari swallowed hard and a twinge of pain crept into her temple as she remembered how that mission that she was so excited about at first, but that ended up becoming her worst nightmare, had developed.
When she was invited to go on a long mission with other rookies of different squads, she was very happy. She was proud that they had noticed her and wanted her to start working on more complex missions and was relieved to be able to escape from her overprotective parents for a few days.
She loved them deeply and admired them like no one else, but she felt that she couldn’t progress as much as she wanted if they were always protecting her, so that mission was like a balm; A perfect escape route to develop and show both her parents that she was capable of being an excellent warrior and could do it alone.
However, she failed. And not only her parents, but herself, because she couldn’t believe that she had let her guard down so much and came out of that situation so badly. She had always had the constant pressure on her to succeed, because no one could imagine that the daughter of two of the strongest people in the Clover Kingdom would be defeated so easily, so she felt very embarrassed for not meeting the expectations that everyone had placed on her.
“It's that... Things have become complicated and we had to suspend it.”
"Oh," the boy muttered. “But you at least used the katana Papa gave you, didn't you?” Einar continued, this time raising the tone of voice a little.
"Shhhh, don't talk so loud, it's late and you're going to wake someone up. Yes, I used it.”
“And how was it? Was it great?” He asked, managing to lower his wondrous tone.
Hikari looked away from her brother's excited eyes for a moment. It pained her to see that he was full of pride in her skills on the battlefield and that she had to lie to him, telling him that everything had gone well, when she really felt worse than ever. She sighed and then feigned a smile.
"Yes, of course. It's been great. I've used every move Papa taught me.”
A restless laugh permeated the room and the young woman only managed to carelessly dishevel her brother's black hair. She smiled at him, this time genuinely, and hugged him. She didn't quite understand why, but she knew she was his role model and she wanted to act the way he expected her to.
"Hey, how's Hana?"
Einar raised his blue eyes a little to watch Hikari as he continued to hug her.
"She’s better. Mama told me that maybe tomorrow she can leave her room.”
"That's good," She said in a breathy whisper. “And now go to sleep, it's late, okay?”
"Okay, but Tata, why did you come to sleep here with me?"
"Because I missed you so much," She said, tightening her embrace again and closing her eyes.
For now, Hikari would try to rest and think no more. The next day, she would meet with her mother and try to come up with an explanation she knew she would have to give her. But that was a thing of the future, because at that moment she just wanted to turn off her brain... and forget.
———
The first time Yami killed a person he went at least two full days without sleep. He was barely seventeen years old and the cries of pleading from the man he had killed haunted him for months.
Over time, he just got used to it. His job was to protect others and if he had to kill those who stood in his way, he would do it without hesitation. In return, he risked his own life and security daily so that people who sometimes disowned him could continue with their peaceful lives.
Life is a spiral of injustice on many occasions, but Yami didn’t usually think about it regularly, because he had given enough to cause him reproach. When he arrived in the Clover Kingdom, he never imagined that he could build so much, that he could have so many people who were worth it and who were willing to do everything for him, as they had already shown him on many occasions.
And it was up to him to return that commitment. He wasn't willing to let someone he cared about so much be hurt in that way and not take revenge on the person responsible. So, when he finished with that man in the cruelest way possible, he left the place, leaving all possible evidence, because he didn’t care if they discovered who had been the perpetrator of the crime.
He didn't care about the consequences. Rather, he was willing to take them on and deal with each and every one of them.
He decided to spend the night at a nearby inn. It didn’t have a very good reputation, but he knew that he could go unnoticed there, without anyone asking him about his appearance or his conditions. He paid the woman at the front desk, who looked at him with unfriendly eyes, and went upstairs decisively.
He was lucky, as in the room there was at least a tiny bathroom in which he would bathe and wash his clothes in the best way that he could at the moment. He would take better care of it after arriving quietly at the Hideout.
He looked at himself in the mirror after rubbing his face vigorously. His eyes showed not a shred of regret and that seemed fine to him, because he knew that he had actually done what he wanted and he no longer had reason to deny it. He was no longer a seventeen-year-old boy trying to make a living in a place where no one wanted him.
He laid on the bed, leaving his body stretched out completely on the mattress. The springs squeaked so much that he thought they might break under his weight, but eventually they stopped and nothing happened. They must have completely rusted due to the pass of time, although Yami was more than aware that he had slept in much worse places, so he couldn’t complain.
He fell asleep quickly, because he hadn’t slept in many hours and the exhaustion finally caught up with him.
Yami had thought that he would assume the consequences of his actions without question, and that was fine, but he missed a very important detail: his environment. Yami had a family; A family that would also have to deal with the consequences of that murder.
———
Charlotte woke up early, just like she usually did. She stretched out as best she could, trying not to disturb her daughter, who was sleeping next to her. She looked at her in silence and then touched her forehead. It seemed that her temperature had finally stabilized. With any luck, later that day she would fully recover and tonight she could go back to sleep in her room.
She sat up in bed, then heard sleepy noises from Hana as she shifted under the covers. She turned and looked at her. Her brown eyes looked at her with her innate shyness. She smiled at her and stroked her golden hair.
Hana was the only one of her children who had inherited her blonde hair color, but not only that. Their personalities were very similar, especially when Charlotte was a child. That’s why she empathized with her so much, because she understood that it was difficult for her to relate a bit with others. She knew that this would change over time, but she liked trying to help her.
Although it was also true that she didn't care much how others perceived her or if they didn't want to associate with her, and she knew that Hana was the same as her father in that way.
“How are you feeling?”
"Better, mama," She assured, sitting up immediately after.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
"Do you want to come down for breakfast today?"
Hana nodded as she smiled slightly. So Charlotte asked her if she could dress herself so that she could go to her room and get ready and also told her that she would come back right after to come get her. The girl replied that she could dress herself and Charlotte wasn’t surprised. Hana had been very independent for a while and sometimes her mother wondered if she was really only ten years old.
She left the girls room to head towards her own. On the way she heard a couple of voices, but at first she didn't think about it, until she recognized that one of the voices was Hikari's and that it was coming from her room.
She stopped walking and moved a bit to see what was going on. She peeked through the door, which was partially open, and saw Grey chatting with her eldest daughter.
"Hikari?"
The girl turned her gaze to where her mother was. She had felt her ki ever since she had woken up to mentally prepare herself to tell her everything as her father had told her to do. But she was nervous, because she couldn’t really remember a time where she had lied to her mother, but right now she had to. It wasn't a good idea to betray her Captain's trust and she didn't want to add yet another burden onto Charlotte, who looked very exhausted.
"Hello mom," she greeted in the most casual way she could while she smiled energetically at her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in bewilderment.
Grey, who was sitting and healing Hikari, got up to let them talk alone.
"Well, I'm going to leave now.”
“Okay. Thank you, Grey.”
Charlotte thanked her for her treatment as well, and when Grey left, she stood in front of her daughter, who was still sitting on the bed. Her smile was wide, but her eyes had a frightened and disappointed shine that was beginning to seriously worry her.
"What happened to the mission?"
“It… It’s been suspended.
“Why?”
“We were ambushed so we had to run. They said another group with more experience would take over.”
Charlotte frowned suspiciously. It was very strange that such a simple mission would go so terribly wrong, especially considering that the rookies weren’t on it alone, they were accompanied by two young, but very experienced Magic Knights.
"Were you seriously hurt?"
“No, no. Only a few scratches.”
Her words kept contradicting her eyes, which unconsciously whispered that something was very wrong. So Charlotte sat down next to her daughter and held her hands in hers. She squeezed them understandingly as their blue eyes met.
“What's going on Hikari?”
Hikari's eyes watered and her bottom lip trembled. She hugged her mother as she began to cry on her collarbone, even though she knew she couldn't tell her the truth.
"I couldn't do anything, mom… I felt so useless."
“Don’t worry darling, you’re still learning, it’s completely normal.”
Hikari nodded and then threaded two fingers through a lock of her mother's golden hair, a habit she had picked up when she was little and which she still kept because it made her feel completely at ease.
After a few minutes in which she managed to vent —at least, a little—, she broke her embrace with her mother and stared at her. She wiped away her tears and smiled at her again.
"How's Hanna doing?"
“How did you know she was sick?”
“Last night I went to sleep with the brat and he told me that she was sick.”
“She’s better. In fact, she's going downstairs for breakfast. Why don't you go find your brother and we'll go downstairs and have breakfast together?”
“Okay.”
"Oh and your dad's not here.”
“He isn’t?” Hikari asked, feigning surprise.
“He’s away on a mission, but he’ll be back this afternoon.”
“Ok. Well, I'm going to look for the brat and now we'll see you in the kitchen.”
Charlotte nodded and left. She knew that her eldest daughter was hiding something from her, but she would leave her alone. We all have secrets or things we're embarrassed to tell, so she didn't want to push her. If she ever wanted to talk to her about it, she would listen and support her and if not, that was fine too. She was a very responsible young woman and she trusted her, so she decided that she wouldn't worry too much about her.
———
Yami tried to arrive early, although he still detected movement inside the Hideout. He flew on his broom to his bedroom window, then cautiously leaned over to check if Charlotte was there. He felt his and his children's ki in the kitchen, so he went inside and closed the window quickly.
He focused again on feeling the life energy of his family members. Hana finally seemed fine and Hikari, healed. Her ki moved ruefully and worriedly, but he at least knew that her physical condition was good.
His eldest daughter had a very strong sense of loyalty, so he was aware that it must’ve been very hard for Hikari to lie to her mother, but she had to do things that way for now. The news would end up arriving soon and it would arrive much faster if his suspicions were confirmed and that man he had killed belonged to nobility.
But he was calm. He wasn’t at all sorry, because he didn't regret his actions, so he didn't have any remorse.
He got rid of his clothes and changed. Just as he was about to leave the room, he heard footsteps walking down the hall. He sighed before seeing the door open and his wife walk in.
"Hey," He greeted casually.
Charlotte made a startled face, but then she hurried over.
“Hello. I didn’t hear you come in. I thought you would be gone a little longer.”
"You know I can be very stealthy," He said and stretched out his arm to bring her closer to his body, grabbing her by her waist.
He kissed her a few times and then looked into her eyes. She seemed much calmer than the previous days and, consequently, he also felt much more calm and relieved. Charlotte chuckled and Yami hugged her silently.
Many years ago, he remembered that Charlotte didn't smile often, much less laugh. The first time he saw her smile he thought it was the most beautiful gesture he had been lucky enough to witness. Over time, those happy faces multiplied and he never understood how it was possible for that to happen so much more when she was by his side.
In any case, he had always liked to see her smile and to make her laugh. The happiness of the people we love rubs off on us quite easily and Yami really didn't need anything more than to see them happy and well to feel good.
"How’s Hana? Her ki seems to have improved.”
“She’s already fine, she’s downstairs with her siblings having breakfast. Anyway, I hope that Owen finds the cause and that this doesn't happen again. I’ve been very scared these last few days.”
“I know. But the brat is strong, I'm sure she'll be fine. She’s a lot like her mother.”
Charlotte smiled sweetly at him, but she soon noticed a detail that Yami should have been surprised at and that she didn't highlight.
"Don't you find it strange that she’s having breakfast with her siblings?"
“Huh? What do you mean?”
"Because Hikari was away on a mission, remember?"
Yami looked at her with some seriousness. He was very glad he had never taught Charlotte how to read ki. With good control, he could tell even when a person was lying and he was more than aware that she would be able to do it too because she was so smart.
“Oh yeah, that’s true. With Hana and my mission, I forgot about that. What happened?” He asked, pretending that he didn't know anything.
"She said they had to suspend the mission due to an ambush, but I don't know, it seems like she's hiding something from me."
"Hikari? She’s not like that.”
“I know that. But it’s just a feeling I have…”
At her words of concern, Yami held her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze full of affection.
"Just trust her."
"I do," she said, nodding. She was silent for a few seconds and then decided that she would ask about his mission. “Did your mission go well?’
“Yeah, it went ok.”
“Why was it so urgent?”
“I don't know, but I still can't say anything. It’s out of my hands now.”
Charlotte sighed in resignation. She supposed that, when he could, he would tell her the details. She put on her armor, which was her real purpose for going back to their room, she told Yami to go downstairs to the kitchen and he did.
Hana, Hikari, and Einar were sitting around the table while Charmy kept preparing dishes for them.
"How are you brats?"
“Papa!” Einar greeted happily as he smiled at his father.
Yami, in response, ruffled his hair briefly.
“Hana, Mom told me you're better.”
“Yes Papa. I'm fine now.”
“I'm very happy to hear that. Hikari," He said, addressing his eldest daughter, who had barely touched her food, "What happened with your mission?”
The young woman fixed her blue eyes firmly on her father’s face. They both knew they were lying, so it was much more difficult for her to continue lying, but she had no choice.
“We were ambushed and the mission was called off. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go train for a while.”
Yami nodded while Charlotte watched her with some uneasiness. She thought of stopping her to talk to her, but Yami stopped her by holding her left shoulder and shaking his head.
"Give her a minute, she’s frustrated about the mission.”
Charlotte nodded weakly, not entirely convinced that her eldest daughter would leave without speaking to her, but she came to the conclusion that Yami understood her better since they were of similar character and just let it go. She sat next to her other two children and Yami finally joined them.
Yami had a very deep resentment due to the lie that he was weaving to his family and also for implicating Hikari in it, but he knew that very soon, the charade would end.
When the week of the mission passed and this nobleman didn’t return home, it would set off all types of alarms, they would search the mass graves of unidentified corpses, and gather all the necessary evidence against him.
So, for the moment, he would focus on continuing his life as usual, and take advantage of that brief haven of tranquility and normality he had left and that was about to vanish.
———
Just as Yami predicted, it took a little over a week until that noble's family reported him missing. In three more days, they found his body, which was difficult to recognize due to his condition, and an investigation was launched to find the culprit behind his death.
They traced his steps until his time of death and various witnesses placed him in the last tavern he visited. His lifeless body was found in a parallel alley and, being mangled, it was taken to a common mass grave where the unidentified corpses of drunkards who were killed in bar brawls used to pile up.
Some Magic Knights of the Purple Orcas, the squad to which that young man had belonged, were in charge of the investigation, under the supervision of the Wizard King of course, as they were the ones who received the complaint from his parents.
They soon found the culprit. They had identified him by a cigarette butt that was still on the ground of the alley and by a piece of black cloth from his cloak that they found a few meters away, under a bloody stone.
Without communicating the findings to the Wizard King, they went directly to the Hideout of the Black Bulls to arrest their Captain.
Six Magic Knights showed up outside the Hideout, where Yami was training with Hikari. Seeing them, they both stopped. She made a puzzled face, but the man just stared at them, because he knew why they were there.
"Yami Sukehiro," a young woman of no more than twenty-five began as she approached him, "you are under arrest for the murder of Axel Dahl."
She began to put handcuffs on him at the impassiveness of the Captain of the Black Bulls and soon, Hikari approached them.
“What kind of joke is this?”
“Your father’s killed a man.”
“What?” She said, completely stunned. “That's our job, you can't arrest him for that.”
“It wasn’t on a mission or for the kingdom. He killed someone from our squad and the man he killed belongs to a very important noble house.”
The girl connected the dots very quickly. His interest in the description of the man who had attacked her, the sudden mission that he did that same day, the excuses and lies that both of them had told her mother... It all fit together perfectly.
"Dad... you...?"
"I'm so sorry, brat.”
Yami looked at her as she smiled at her and Hikari couldn't stop the tears from starting to come out of her eyes. She didn't want this. She couldn't bear the thought of her father going to jail due to her weakness.
Just as she was going to draw her katana to face those Magic Knights that had come to arrest Yami at his own base, she saw some thick briars sneaking past her to knock down two of them.
“What’s going on here?” Charlotte asked determinedly as she arrived.
“We have an arrest warrant for the Captain of the Black Bulls.”
"Show it to me," She said as she snatched the paper from the Magic Knight that had offered it to her.
Charlotte read the lines in disbelief. It really was an arrest warrant, but it wasn't against Yami specifically. In the warrant, it said that there was an order from the Wizard King to arrest the perpetrator of the murder of Axel, heir to the noble house of the Dahls.
“Nowhere does it say that the arrest warrant is for Yami. So I demand that you release him or I will have to force you to do so.”
Charlotte prepared her briars to attack, but when she looked at Yami, she noticed that his dark eyes were completely calm. He smiled slightly at her, as if begging her not to do anything else. Automatically, she lowered her arms. She knew him too well and those gestures only meant that what those Magic Knights said was true.
One of them opened a spatial portal in the direction of the prison and they all began to cross it.
"No…" Hikari whispered as angry tears streamed down her face. “You can't take him with you! You’re only doing this because he’s a foreigner!” She yelled as she moved closer. “If so, arrest me too, because I'm a foreigner too!”
She reached for her katana without hesitation to try and stop them from leaving, but Charlotte stopped her. She looked at her and just shook her head. Hikari looked at her father again who, just before crossing the portal, spoke to her once again.
"Tell your mother the truth."
Then he disappeared. Hikari lost her strength and fell to her knees. She couldn't stop sobbing. Her vision was completely blurred, she couldn't manage to dry her tears completely and she began to hit the ground with force.
She glanced to her side, where Charlotte stared at the horizon almost without blinking. Her fist was clenched and her blue gaze was colder than ever, so Hikari began to calm down slightly, because she knew that her mother would do whatever it took to reverse this situation.
———
He hadn't been in his cell for three hours when he felt Charlotte's ki close by. At first, they wouldn’t let her pass, until she forced them to.
Yami, from behind the bars, smiled proudly. It was no wonder he had fallen in love with her, because he had always liked strong women and he couldn't imagine another woman breaking into a maximum security prison just to see him.
Watching her appear in the distance, he approached the bars. She, after arriving, also approached to kiss him through the bars while he held them tight.
"Yami..."
“How are the kids?”
"Okay, we're all okay. Hikari told me everything.”
"I'm sorry I lied to you and that I made her lie too," He said guiltily.
Charlotte stepped back a little and looked at him. It would be normal for her to be angry, but this time she wasn't, because she really understood.
"Why didn't you tell me? You could have told me about her when you found her injured.”
“Because you were with Hana and besides… I know that you would’ve done exactly the same as me. And I couldn't bear to see you here, Charlotte.”
The woman caressed his chin slowly and her eyes moved. She heard distant footsteps and was alerted; it was probably reinforcements to drive her out, so she decided to leave.
"Don’t worry, I'm going to get you out of here, even if it's the last thing I do. I'll be back soon," She said decisively, she kissed him again and then she managed to leave without being intercepted by the other guards.
Yami smiled again. Charlotte never said or did anything in vain, so he knew that, despite his confinement, he would see her again very soon.