Rei knocked on Taiyo’s door, each sound patterning out a folk song.

“All the Fujita family’s here already,” Rei said. “Are you ready to get up, or should I buy some time for you?”

He waited for a minute but got no response.

“The little cousins will get you if you stay in too long,” Rei warned. “Should I just tell Mother you have a migraine again so you can sleep in?”

Still nothing. He bit his lip; normally Taiyo would say something, unless he felt particularly bad.

“...All right, sorry in advance, but anxiety is my enemy. I’ll leave you alone in a minute, I’m just coming in first.”

Rei cracked open the door and peeked inside. He only poked his head in far enough to look at Taiyo’s bed.

Completely made and nothing seemed out of place, it just missed his brother. He pushed the door all the way to glance around the rest of the room.

It didn’t help to confirm that Taiyo wasn’t there—if anything, it made it worse.

“Death staring at a sleeping brother to wake him up? That doesn’t work, trust me—mornings would go a lot easier if it did.”

Rei startled and hissed at Uncle Tezo. His teasing demeanor changed when he saw Rei’s frown.

“Taiyo’s not there,” Rei explained after a second, readjusting himself a little so he stood straighter.

“He could’ve gone to breakfast early,” Uncle Tezo pointed out kindly.

“He could have, but—”

His uncle gave him a quick smile. “No buts, kid. Wait to panic until you rule out the obvious.”

“...Right. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it—I don’t mind playing Sorai every now and then.”

Rei hesitantly nodded. Uncle Tezo resumed a less-fatherly expression, shifting back to his usual teasing, and patted Rei on the shoulder. Rei followed him after some nudging.

His thoughts refused to stay in one place. He tried not to chew on his lip.

Taiyo did have a tendency to wake up early, but not on the days after he had migraines. Unless it left overnight, Rei didn’t think he would even leave his room. Logically, he didn’t have to worry, but logic was a foreign concept when certain ideas came up.

He feigned enough composure by the time they reached the dining hall that his parents didn’t immediately notice. Rei hesitated near the entrance to take mental attendance while Uncle Tezo went ahead.

Uncle Tezo, Aunt Emio, Aunt Jun, their respective spouses and kids, Grandmother Suzu, Sorai and Kyoumi… Everyone except Taiyo. His breath caught.

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In the meantime, Uncle Tezo went to Sorai and Kyoumi and had a few words. Sorai got up while Uncle Tezo sat down.

When he got close, Sorai offered a little smile.

“Go ahead and sit down,” he said. “I’ll track down Taiyo and bring him back here.”

“Can I come with you?” Rei asked.

“Your mother needs help fending off your grandmother,” Sorai replied half-jokingly. He patted Rei’s head and left without any more room for argument.

Rei reluctantly took his usual spot at the table, an action immediately noticed and cheered on by his youngest cousins. The laughter of the toddlers almost managed to get a smile out of him; he wasn’t convinced that they didn’t do it on purpose.

“Yay! Teiyo!” one giggled, throwing her arms up in the air. She tried to wiggled out of her seat and over to him, but Aunt Jun tiredly held her down.

“I’m Rei,” he corrected gently. “Shorter name, longer hair, and vice versa for Taiyo.”

“Vi…sa?” another—also Aunt Jun’s—asked.

“The opposite,” the toddler’s father explained. “So Taiyo has a longer name and shorter hair.”

The curious toddler gave a nod to show whatever understanding he had. Grandmother Suzu waited until that topic concluded before launching into something else. She mainly led conversation, a role she typically shared with Taiyo; the two could spend an entire meal bouncing ideas and topics off each other without involving anyone else.

Breakfast came out and everyone ate after giving their thanks and prayers. Rei tried to focus on everyone else getting put on the spot—Suzu chose to leave him alone, fortunately—instead of his own worries.

He perked up when Sorai reappeared at the entrance of the room, only to realize Taiyo still wasn’t there. No one else seemed to notice but Kyoumi.

Sorai mouthed his wife’s name, and she didn’t hesitate to stand up. She brushed Rei’s shoulder on her way past him. He watched them for a minute before they left.

Nothing made his heart sink faster than that.

——

“And no one’s seen him?”

“Not since last night.”

Kyoumi paced around the study. She tried to gather reasonable thoughts despite her dread and fear.

“What about the guards?” she asked.

“All three that watched the gate said that no one came in and no one came out,” Sorai replied. In contrast to her, he stayed by the door. “One admitted that it was left unwatched for a few minutes.”

“Did they say why?”

“An odd noise.”

She took a short breath and forced herself to stop walking.

“Start the investigation there,” she said. “Until Hiroki and Tsujihara come, I want as many people looking for him as possible.”

Sorai nodded. “We’ll reevaluate during the war meeting?”

“I’d like to hope we would know where Taiyo is by then,” Kyoumi admitted. She slowly sat down behind the desk. “It’s all fine and well if he went to stay at a friend’s house—I wouldn’t even blame him for running away out of misery—but we need to know as much as we can.”

“I don’t know if it helps or hurts,” Sorai said cautiously, “But Taiyo wouldn’t leave Rei without good reason. The boys are too close to ever leave the other alone.”

“That’s what makes me worry.”

Kyoumi sighed and paused for a moment, then shook her head.

“Go ahead and get breakfast,” she said, trying to smile. “I’m already here, so I might as well start working. If Rei asks, be honest with him—the truth will hurt less than the lie.”

“All right. I’ll be back after I relay the orders and eat.”

Kyoumi murmured some agreement, and with everything said Sorai left.

Alone with her thoughts, she worried more about her sons than she did the papers of threats and reports and complaints in front of her. It wasn’t like Taiyo to just…disappear—he actually told someone when things bothered him. Rei wouldn’t take it well, and even as queen she couldn’t see herself being able to fully help.

She prayed that Lady Aimiki would take mercy on her, for once; that Taiyo slipped away early in the morning to get a gift or something similar, and that he would be back by lunch. The alternative—the voices, him experiencing them the same as the first queen did—was too cruel.