The last of the sakura petals more-or-less spelled out the end of spring. May was nearing it’s final days; from the sounds of it, Hiroki didn’t want to spare any troops. Andreas told him that they’d take the rest of the forts, then try to clear out a port so Sólstaður can bring in more people.

Miya’s birthday was on the twentieth—Kasper knew the date well enough, and went on to do his part of tradition without needing to be asked. He drew his mother—how Andreas always described her, anyway—more easily than anything else, but he still didn’t like the final product. Everyone else’s ‘good’ was his ‘horrible,’ but Andreas insisted on hanging the drawings on the wall, mimicking a Kuro memorial for the deceased. When they got back home, this new drawing would be added to the ones Kasper drew on previous years.

Andreas came by in the morning to check up on him and make sure he knew what day it was; aside from that, he also announced that they would resume taking the rest of the forts that day. The adults would move on, leave a small force here to watch the non-fighters, and let them know when the fort’s taken.

Kasper, hiding away near the training area, assumed that was why the Gin twins took a little longer to find him. Rei, at least, looked slightly annoyed; he immediately took to training, with Taiyo watching for a second before turning away.

Taiyo reminded Kasper of Emelie in the sense that he never seemed to stop talking—it was slightly annoying. Until anyone told him otherwise—in the two weeks since they took this fort and found him, Taiyo’s always been near Rei, which meant that conversation with just one was out of the question—Kasper just assumed it was a result of being in Kuro for gods knew how long without any family nearby. Unlike Emelie, though, Taiyo seemed to talk to fill in the silence, or ignore something else.

As Kasper kept drawing, Taiyo seemed to notice and struck up some conversation.

“What are you drawing today?” He asked curiously.

“My mother, based on Andreas’s descriptions,” Kasper replied. “Her birthday’s today—Andreas has always asked me to draw her as a tradition of sorts.”

“May I see it?” Taiyo said, changing his position a little.

Kasper shook his head and pulled the drawing a little closer; he didn’t like showing people the final products, much less the work-in-progresses. Fortunately, Taiyo seemed to understand, glancing back at Rei before wincing and looking away again.

Taiyo was back to rambling after a moment. “You know, I think I talked with a Kuro-Masaaki.”

Kasper looked up from his work, confused. “You were in Masaaki territory?”

“No,” Taiyo replied, shaking his head. “I was in Kuro no Shuto—the capital. The older Kuro-Masaaki came by to speak with Yanami Sukaru, the kitsune-advisor. He was…awkward; like he wanted to be nice, but only saw me as something…strange.”

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Kasper couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with his family’s involvement as Gin’s ally—Toru wouldn’t have been excited to hear that his sister’s family was on the other side of the battlefield.

Despite being hesitant to outright confirm he was related to them—it wasn’t a secret, it just wasn’t something Kasper was comfortable sharing—he ended up asking something before really thinking about it.

“Did they—anyone, really—ever mention the younger Kuro-Masaaki? Miya?”

Taiyo paused, then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Maybe once or twice, but…” He trailed off, falling silent for a second before speaking up again. “I assume she’s a relative? Aunt or distant cousin?”

Kasper looked back down at his drawing—at the unfamiliar face that he’s been drawing for over a decade. “…Something like that, yeah.”

The only sound for a minute or two was Rei continuing training, once again until Taiyo looked at Kasper. He found it hard to believe he was really that much of a conversation starter.

Taiyo winced again, murmured something in Gin’s language, then spoke up. “The Masaaki family has records of Tsujihara Seiko, right?”

“Not accurate ones,” Kasper replied, glancing up from his drawing for a second. “Rei and I already talked it over—the only thing Masaaki Sonoru and Kinjo Asahi agreed on was that Gin’s first queen was a strong leader.”

“Could you tell me anyway?” Taiyo asked. He paused for a second, then added, “A friend of mine’s curious.”

“Fine then—but they’re second-hand. I can’t read the records themselves.” Kasper sat down his drawing gently, deciding he could take a break since it was about half finished, and looked at Taiyo. “Masaaki Sonoru wrote that Seiko had constant migraines, and occasionally spoke aloud to herself. She once admitted to imagining voices when she was a child; she’d cut herself during battle, and always seemed to have a migraine if she wasn’t near Kinjo. Sonoru wondered if she was sane—she’d cut herself in battle and sometimes attack allies, sometimes unresponsive after a battle if Kinjo wasn’t there.”

Rei lowered his sword, taking a break from training for now to look at his brother. “It’s strange how much can change based on who’s telling the story, isn’t it?”

Taiyo winced again, only quietly responding to the other two. “…Yeah. It’s interesting to hear an outsider perspective on Tsujihara Seiko; she…must have seemed like a maniac.”

“That’s the impression I’ve always gotten from it,” Kasper said. “Then again, I’d trust her husband’s word over a friend that betrayed her just because they were losing.”

Taiyo just nodded, changing his position so his mouth was hidden.

“Are you okay?” Rei asked, clearly concerned.

“I’m fine,” Taiyo replied firmly, no longer looking at either of them. “My friend just…won’t like that answer. She wouldn’t like to hear that the opinions are that different.”

Rei didn’t look convinced, but he continued training after a minute; Kasper resumed the work on his drawing. For a while, Taiyo remained silent—Kasper faintly heard a few muttered words in Gin’s language, but lacked enough knowledge to understand it. Rei was probably too far to hear it, either.

Somehow, the relative silence continued for another two or three hours when someone came to report that their parents were still fighting—although Kuro didn’t seem to care about retaking the previous forts, they were trying to make sure they didn’t lose any more. Given another two hours, after they ate a small lunch, and Andreas came back to announce that they only had one fort left to capture.

Maybe this thing could be done relatively quickly. It wouldn’t hurt to hope, anyway.