CHAPTER 11: HONEYMOON (5)

~11.5~

*****

“You’re going to Yokohama Sekai until lunch?” Hannah asked.

After breakfast, Kye told everyone that she wanted to go in person and invite her other grandmother to stay at the resort for a few days. She didn’t want to take everyone, so she chose only a few to accompany her: Liliana, Ginchiyo, and Astraia. She didn’t want to take the entire entourage, and wanted to be sure Alethea, Adele, and Michelle had a sufficient number of guards.

“We shouldn’t be long.”

Ginchiyo was on the verge of tears hearing the plan. She loved her daughter so much and was always frustrated when her grandson would prioritize his duties as a ruler over visiting his mother. Ginchiyo was overjoyed hearing Kye take an interest in Akane. “Kye, you’re such a good granddaughter!”

Kye smiled. “Well, you implied that my father doesn’t go see her often, so I wanted to show her better. I have a lot of family in this world and they’ve been nothing but accepting.” Kye frowned, thinking of some of her past lives where she’d been abandoned by her parents. “I know what it’s like to be alone.”

Ginchiyo hugged Kye. “Honey, please stay here in our world. You don’t ever have to leave.” Kye smiled with tears in her eyes.

Alethea ran over and joined the hug. “Shi-chan, I love this world, let’s just stay here! Surely, we’ve done enough.”

Kye smiled apologetically. “I’d like that.”

Half an hour later, the group of four headed to the Atlas Gateway Hub. It had a few active gateways to specific planets, as well as a blank gateway that was usually set for Atlantis. Astraia accessed the gateway’s terminal and set it to Yokohama Sekai.

“After you!”

Once they were on Yokohama Sekai, Ginchiyo took the lead, knowing where to go. She led them to a complex reminiscent of the Shinden-zukuri architectural style. Kye was overjoyed upon seeing the complex.

“Now this is a familiar site,” she said.

“You know of this place?” Ginchiyo asked curiously.

“Not this place, no.” She looked around at the complex from above. Several smaller buildings were interconnected by covered walkways with open yards scattered about. There were trainees in martial arts uniforms practicing on training dummies, and the distinct sound of a shishi-odoshi rang out. “It’s the architecture and atmosphere. Many of my past lives were spent in places like this.”

“I see. Akane is very old school. I raised her in a dojo like this and she’s been insistent on this style ever since.” She giggled. “But this place isn’t without technological inclusions.”

“Princess is especially attached to the shishi-odoshi,” Liliana added. “She was adamant about having one in the castle grounds in New Tokyo.”

“I feel the same. My private home has one, too. It’s very calming.” Ginchiyo led everyone inside and took them to the front desk. “We are here to visit Akane Tachibana.”

“Name and appointment number, please.”

“I don’t have an appointment number, but-”

“My apologies, but I cannot allow an unscheduled visit to a royal. Please access the dojo’s website and request an appointment. You’ll be given a number upon approval that you will need-”

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Ginchiyo had the patience of a saint, but she didn’t want to let the poor clerk waste either of their time. “Miss, I understand all of that and I respect that you’re just trying to do your job, but if you’ll just look up from your paperwork, you’ll understand why we don’t need an appointment.”

She looked up and immediately apologized. “Lady Ginchiyo! My deepest apologies! One moment while I check Lady Akane’s schedule.”

“Thank you.”

Kye held back a giggle. A moment later, the clerk finished checking. “Lady Akane is currently teaching a class in Dojo 2. May I ask who your guests are so that I may log your visit properly?”

Ginchiyo gestured at Kye and said, “This is Kye Akari,” then she gestured at the white blonde next to her, “and this is Liliana Venturi.”

“The Goddess of Light?!”

Kye was beyond annoyed. “That stupid title has reached the vassal planets, too?” She sighed in exasperation. The clerk gave her an apologetic smile, and Liliana snickered. “I hope you get a dumb title, too! Let’s see... your specialty is light fire, so... Seraph! You can be Seraph the Burning Angel, and your sister can be Shadow the Void Angel.”

“You think of us like that?” Liliana had stars in her eyes. “I love it, Princess!”

Kye sighed. “That backfired... whatever, let’s go.”

The two elder royals chuckled as Ginchiyo led them through the building and across a walkway to the adjacent building. Once inside, they found the class that Akane was teaching. She was in the middle of testing a student in a sparring match. The match didn’t last long. She handily defeated the student and asked the class, “Who’s next?”

Kye smirked and volunteered, “I shall go next.” She teleported in front of Akane with her aethersteel weapon transformed into an iaitō.

“You can teleport? Very well. Are you a new student? I don’t believe I’ve seen you in class lately, but you look familiar.”

“Something like that. Shall we?”

Ginchiyo held back her laughter over Kye posing as one of the students.

“What of your uniform? Have you not received it yet?”

“I have not, no.”

“I see. Well, no matter. I will teach everyone who wants to learn. Ready yourself!”

Kye nodded and readied herself to draw her blade at any time.

“Starting with a draw cut, are you? Very well. Begin!”

The instant Akane said to begin, Kye drew her weapon and covered the distance between them. Akane was not taken off guard, however. She parried Kye’s attack and countered. Kye got ahead of her and preemptively blocked the counter. In a flurry of exchanges, the two showed each other no openings.

Once they jumped apart, Akane called the match. “Very well done.” She turned to the class. “Everyone, I hope you watched closely. Such a heated match is an excellent learning opportunity!”

“““Yes, Lady Akane.”””

“Now, allow me to introduce you. This young lady is my granddaughter and heir to the throne of Nippon Sekai.” She gave Kye a quick glance with a grin.

“Greetings, I am Kye Akari of Nippon Sekai.”

“““Greetings, Lady Kye. Thank you for the amazing match.”””

Kye gave them a smile and Akane said, “I have guests, so I will be stepping out for a while. You there,” she pointed at a student in the front, “lead the class. Run your drills.”

“Yes, Lady Akane.”

Akane smiled at Kye and led the group to her private building where she had an attendant prepare tea.

“I am happy to see you, mother, and I’m overjoyed to finally meet my beloved granddaughter. Where is Zen? He promised he’d come visit this month, but I still haven’t seen him.”

“Father is... father,” Kye said reluctantly.

Akane chuckled. “Indeed. That boy never keeps his promises to me. But I suppose I can overlook that for now, since you are here.”

“Now that I’m eighteen and allowed to travel when I’m not in school, I’m finally able to meet more of my family. I’ve wanted to come visit for a long time, but father would never bring me!” Kye genuinely looked upset. “He’s ridiculously overprotective and refused to bring me here, saying that it’s inappropriate for a young royal to be in public.”

“He’s not wrong, unfortunately, by societal standards.” Akane pouted at the thought.

“Thanks to the sheltered childhood, I was only ever allowed to go between palaces. Mother did take me to a café in Arslade, but there were never commoners near or inside it. Now that I think of it, I expect that wasn’t a coincidence.”

“But now that you can travel, that’s all behind you. Thank you for coming to see me!”

Kye nodded. “I actually have gotten married and-”

“Indeed. Your mother sent me the details. I’ll be sure to attend the ceremony.”

“Thank you. I meant to come here after my stay on Atlas, but after thinking about it some, I wanted to invite you to stay with us there for a few days.”

Akane had stars in her eyes.

*****

Revision: 2024-1-31