The Tsujihara family came before Rei’s family left; he assumed they were given word a bit earlier than he was. In a sense, taking over some aspects of ruling work was most of the reason why the other family was still given mention; they had the same ‘training,’ if one wanted to call it that, to help them with sorting through documents and solving matters. They were weak militarily, having taken the Masaaki family’s place in the east, but they could handle most things on their own.

They dropped by the Fujita family to see if anyone there would want to fight—Rei and Taiyo were the oldest boys, and the girls were either miko or wanted to avoid it like their grandfather. Ninsei and Tezo both declined, although Rei knew his parents weren’t exactly expecting them to come. While they were there, Sorai also confirmed that Kyoumi and Rei could come back and stay if needed—he apparently planned to stay at Hiroki’s regardless, but it sounded like Kyoumi was on the same ‘if you’re in danger, go home’ policy as Rei.

They reached Hiroki territory about the same time Sólstaður’s aid reached the shore. Some word of the assistance was shared; Rei didn’t know how much the people knew, but it was enough for the Sólstaðuric forces to get through Gin without major problems. When about ten groups of one or two hundred Sólstaðuric people came by—outnumbering the defense forces at Hiroki—each side was acquainted with the other’s leaders; Roken Andreas would lead the Sólstaðuric soldiers, but for the most part follow strategy made by Hiroki’s head and Kyoumi.

Rei, much to his annoyance, wasn’t really allowed to discuss strategies; he knew he couldn’t provide especially helpful input, but he wanted to know what was going on as it happened. All he was sure of for now was that they were going to give Kuro a chance to pull back after revealing the added forces.

Eventually, he decided he could spend that time training instead. Even if his parents didn’t want him to fight, it wouldn’t hurt to practice.

The only other person there was Roken’s son. Rei nodded a small greeting when he saw him, which was returned.

“Roken…Kasper, right?” Rei asked. His knowledge of the modern language wasn’t bad, but he also wasn’t completely fluent. Most people in western Gin spoke the native tongue at home, and the modern language out in public; even the royal family followed that.

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He nodded, fortunately not seeming to have any problem with it. “Roken-Masaaki, if you want to be specific.”

Rei entertained some conversation while walking over to get a sword. “Your mother must be from Kuro, then?”

“She was. Could you just call me Kasper?”

“If it’s better for you, yeah.” With a sword chosen, he glanced at the Roken boy. “Gin-Fujita is probably as close as you should get for me, though. Kyoumi would be Gin-Kaiba, and Sorai’s just Fujita. First-name basis isn’t exactly common when it comes to royalty.”

“I got it,” Kasper replied. He spoke up after another moment. “Didn’t I hear you weren’t supposed to fight?”

“I’m not,” Rei agreed. He made sure the position of the sword felt…right, even if he knew the grip was still weak. “But I have nothing else to do, so I might as well train. I faintly recall Roken—your father, I mean—saying you wouldn’t be fighting, either.”

Kasper gave something close to an indifferent shrug. “I’m just here so my grandfather doesn’t make my life hard at meetings,” he said. “My father’s a little overprotective, though, so I won’t be on the battlefield. Like you, I guess I’m just bored.”

They fell silent for a few minutes. Rei practiced some basic moves first; if he was lucky, there’d be one or two soldiers who could actually help him.

He found his thoughts getting less pleasant, so he spoke up again while still practicing. “You have a sister, right? Emelie?”

“Yeah,” Kasper replied. He paused his own training, likely not expecting the conversation. “She’s still in Sólstaður. She can’t—nor wants to—fight, and women aren’t technically apart of the meetings so she doesn’t have the same grandfather problem I do.”

Another moment of silence, then Rei lowered his sword and looked at Kasper. “Most people would ask me about my brother in response.”

Kasper turned away a bit, frowning. “I’m trying not to bother you. It seems like a sensitive topic; I heard he disappeared last summer, and that’s all I know and all I’ll ask. It’s not my place to pry.”

“That’s more considerate than some of my friends,” Rei admitted.

The Roken boy looked back, then fully turned around after another moment. “It helps that my father’s been through something similar. I grew up knowing how to avoid asking dumb questions.”

Rei tried to put in a word, but Kasper frowned and stopped him. “You don’t need to apologize,” he said, firm but not unkind. “I can’t remember anyone close to me dying—I haven’t felt it myself, just seen the aftermath. You don’t have to worry about bothering me, and I’ll do my best not to bother your family.”

Rei didn’t know if he’d be cut off again, so he simply nodded. They both went back to practicing and training, picking up a few random conversation topics when Rei became curious. Kasper didn’t seem to hatehim, anyway.