序章

Character Log: 

Matsumoto Family (Yukiguni)

• [Matsumoto Jun as] Jun Matsumoto (40/46): King of the snow kingdom; married to Mao; father of Yuya, Daiki, Keito, Ryosuke, and Yuri.  He’s a bit harsh to those he isn’t closely acquainted with, but he is really kind and loving to those he does know well, especially his wife.  He’s the strongest snow warrior in the kingdom and he’s good friends with Kazunari and Masaki.

• [Inoue Mao as] Mao Matsumoto (35/41): Queen of the snow kingdom; married to Jun; gave birth to Yuya, Daiki, Keito, Ryosuke, and Yuri.  She’s a great leader along with Jun and loving to her family.  She is great at the art of snow healing and magic and such, but horrible at things such as cooking and housewife things. 

• [Takaki Yuya as] Yuya Matsumoto (17/23): Yuya is the oldest son, in his last year of high school; though he is the eldest, he’s quite lazy and his father is a bit weary on the thought of Yuya becoming the next king.  Yuya is really smart though.  Yuya is very handsome and girls think he’s absolutely the perfect man to marry.  He’s quite into girls, though.

• [Arioka Daiki as] Daiki Matsumoto (15/21): Daiki is the second eldest son, two years younger than Yuya in his first year of high school.  He’s childish and cute for his age and always full of energy.  He’s also really popular among girls.  He’s known to watch over his little brothers quite often, though most others don’t understand why.

• [Okamoto Keito as] Keito Matsumoto (14/20): Keito is the middle child out of the three middle children.  He’s the most responsible and best in school out of all the children.  He’s getting ready to go into high school, but he’s shy and a bit set back from the rest of the kids.  However, he’s also very popular with girls and they all think he has a mysterious charm.

• [Yamada Ryosuke as] Ryosuke Matsumoto (10/16): Ryosuke is the youngest of the middle children and is the unique child of the bunch.  Ryosuke is a glutton and loves to eat.  Because of his addiction for food, the boy has a chubby round face and his belly is a bit chubbier than others.  Even as a ten year old, he’s self-conscious about it, though.  Despite that, he’s a cutie.  In fact, his mother thinks his chubby face only makes him cuter.  Despite being the king’s son though, he isn’t too popular in his class.

• [Chinen Yuri as] Yuri Matsumoto (7/13): Yuri is the youngest child of the Matsumoto family and the cutest member also.  He is mischievous and devious though despite his looks.  He’s still a good kid though.  Everyone is basically in love with how cute he is, especially since Yuri was born petite and is the shortest boy out of everyone else and has a small frame and girly voice.  There usually isn’t a day that goes by though without him and Ryosuke fighting. 

Ninomiya Family (Kazekoku)

• [Ninomiya Kazunari as] Kazunari Ninomiya (42/48): Kazunari is the king of the wind kingdom and married to Yuriko.  He is also the father of Maki, Kei, Yuma, Yuto, and Hina.  He is well-acquainted with Jun and Ohno.  Despite being a king, he is mischievous and loves to tease people.  He is also the greatest air warrior.

• [Yoaka Yuriko as] Yuriko Ninomiya (36/42): She is the queen of the wind kingdom and the wife of Kazunari.  She also gave birth to Maki, Kei, Yuma, Yuto, and Hina.  She’s a great housewife and good at air working.

• [Horikita Maki as] Maki Ninomiya (20/26): Maki is the eldest child and daughter in the Ninomiya family.  She works as a teacher currently in a famous private school.

• [Inoo Kei as] Kei Ninomiya (17/23): At 17, Kei is the eldest son of the family, so he is set to take over the throne.  He is very smart, but like his father, shares his snide comments and humorous nature.  Secretly, he’s a bit erted too.  But, studying architecture, he always has the people in mind.

• [Nakayama Yuma as] Yuma Ninomiya (14/20): Yuma is the quiet son and bit disconnected from others.  Despite this, Yuma makes friends easily at school and is easy to get along with.

• [Nakajima Yuto as] Yuto Ninomiya (7/13): Yuto is a hyper son and he is really smart for his age.  Everyone adores him, too.  He easily made friends with Yuri Matsumoto and they often request to hang out with one another. 

• [OC] Hina Ninomiya (3/9): Hina is the youngest daughter of the Ninomiya family.  She’s a cute little toddler and everyone adores her. 

Ohno Family (Mizukoku)

• [Ohno Satoshi as] Satoshi Ohno (45/51): Satoshi is the king of the water kingdom.  He is married to Rosa and he is the father of Tomohisa, Kota, and Hikaru.  He is the greatest water bender/user and fisher.  Fishing is his hobby and he is a quiet man.  His good friend is Kazunari.

• [Kato Rosa as] Rosa Ohno (42/48): Rosa, like her husband, is a woman of few words.  She is a quiet queen.  She is also the mother of Tomohisa, Kota, and Hikaru.  Though she doesn’t speak much, she loves her family dearly.

• [Yamaa Tomohisa as] Tomohisa Ohno (22/28): As the oldest son, Tomohisa will be the next king.  He is a bit mischievous and is into girls. 

• [Yabu Kota as] Kota Ohno (21/27): Kota is the responsible middle son, who is also studied alongside Tomohisa.  Kota holds a jealousy for his older brother, and wants to be king.

• [Yaotome Hikaru as] Hikaru Ohno (16/22): Hikaru is the “baby” brother out of the Ohno family.  He’s quite the mischief maker, constantly pulling pranks.  He could care less about the throne, which Kota confides in him his jealousy toward their oldest brother.

Sakurai Family (Hikoku)

• [Sakurai Sho as] Sho Sakurai (43): Sho is the king of the fire kingdom, the hated kingdom who wages war against every other nation.  However, Sho is greatly misunderstood.  He is married to Keiko and is the father of his three daughters, Erika, Shizuka, and Miyu.  He is the best fire user in the kingdom. 

• [Kitagawa Keiko as] Keiko Sakurai (39): Keiko is the same as Sho, being misunderstood by the other nations.  Neither she nor her husband has the evil intentions.  She is the birth mother of Erika, Shizuka, and Miyu and married to Sho. 

• [Toda Erika as] Erika Sakurai (16/22): Erika is the oldest and will take over the throne once she marries.  She’s diabolical and evil, after the way she was brought up through her schooling.

Aiba Family (Tsuchikoku)

• [Aiba Masaki as] Masaki Aiba (42/48): Masaki is a kind and jolly ruler, the happiest, go-lucky of them all and king of the earth kingdom.  He is married to Yuka and father of Yuya, Takahisa, Sato, and Saki.  He really hates war, so he tries hard to stay out of it as much as possible.  He is close friends with Jun.  He’s the greatest earth user.

• [Okabe Hiroko as] Yuka Aiba (39/45): She is the wife of Masaki and the queen of the earth kingdom.  She gave birth to two sets of twins, Yuya and Takahisa and Sato and Saki.  She is very protective of her husband and she is a good mother and housewife.

• [Tegoshi Yuya as] Yuya Aiba (15/21): Yuya is the older by thirty minutes twin brother to Takahisa.  Yuya is very fashionable and very flirty and outgoing.  He is the current person in line to the throne.  He and his brother are complete opposites and he teases Takahisa, but they still love each other.

• [Masuda Takahisa as] Takahisa Aiba (15/21): Takahisa is the younger twin of Yuya.  He isn’t fashionable and he is awkward and a glutton.  He’s the opposite of his brother and a good studier.  He’s teased by Yuya, but loves him anyway.

• [OC] Sato Aiba (6/12): Sato is the older twin of Saki.  He is sporty and hyper and bundles of cuteness like his sister.

• [OC] Saki Aiba (6/12): She is Sato’s younger twin.  She and Sato are very much alike and they do everything together, unable to be separated.  She’s very cute. 

***

PROLOGUE

*14 Years Earlier; November 27*

*Alliance/Thanksgiving Day-Meeting of the Royal Families in Mizukoku*

     The five royal families had gathered once again, like they do every year, to celebrate the harmony and friendships between the five countries—Mizukoku, Yukiguni, Hikoku, Tsuchikoku, and Kazekoku.  The festivities started off with a celebration in the main city/town recognizing all of the royal families as they arrived.

      The festivities started at the crack of dawn that morning and things were rushed and put together fabulously.  The weeks before this day were stressful for many in the current kingdom where it would be held.  In this year’s case, Mizukoku’s citizens had been working very hard to make this year’s Alliance Day run smoothly. 

      The sun had risen and people crowded the streets of the capital when the royal family of Mizukoku stepped out of the castle, onto the balcony, prepared to give a speech.  Cheers were heard loudly before they slowly died ready to give their king their full attention.  Their king was King Ohno Satoshi, a quiet humble man.  Their queen was the same, Queen Ohno Rosa.  The couple was a lovely couple, both quiet and sweet with smiles on their faces.  The royal family had three children already, who stepped out with them.  Crown Prince Tomohisa, who was eight, stepped out dressed in his fine clothes.  He would one day take over the kingdom and at this age, he was quite the young man.  Next was Prince Kota, who was only a year younger than Tomohisa.  He also shone off in fancy clothes, standing beside his older brother.  His face was a bit sour, as many often noted it was.  The last child was a mere two year old, Prince Hikaru.  His face shone with pleasure as he wobbled around the balcony, not knowing the occasion at hand. 

     “My lovely citizens of Mizukoku,” the king started off, “I would like to thank you for all your hard work this year in preparing for Alliance Day festivities.  My family, in addition to the other royal families, appreciates all your efforts.  Let us celebrate the day feasting and showing what Mizukoku has to offer!  Our culture, food, and fun, let the annual Alliance Day begin!”

     The cheers once more erupted and people applauded him.  Indeed, Alliance Day was a day of friendship and celebrating, but it was also a day to promote one’s country.  The current host country would show off what it had to offer to the others each year.  The hosting always went in the same order too.  This was the beginning of the cycle once more, so Mizukoku started off.  Following would be Kazekoku, Yukiguni, Hikoku, and lastly Tsuchikoku. 

      The cheers once again quieted and the queen began to speak, “To begin the festivities, let us first introduce our guests of honor.”

      This was the time when the other royal families would enter.  “First, we’d like to introduce the first royal family of Kazekoku,” she said and all of the crowds eyes immediately went to the end of the street, where the royal family made their entrance.  As the queen introduced the family, the elder people in the crowd could remember from 5 years again who had come and who the new members of the family were.

      King Kazunari Ninomiya rode with Queen Yuriko Ninomiya in a beautifully decorated boat, as the streets in Mizukoku were canals in which boats drove in.  Their boat was decorated with pale yellow delphinium flowers (means heavenly), which was the flower that represented Kazekoku in Mizukoku.  They waved politely and smiled to the citizens of Mizukoku.  Behind them, in the back of the boat, were their children, minus one who was in the Queen’s arms.  The Crown Princess Maki, age six, was dressed in traditional Mizukoku clothing for the occasion, as was her younger brother Kei.  Kei was only three and held his older sister’s hand as he awed at the crowds in Mizukoku, waving cheerfully when people would wave to him and awe.  The child in the Queen’s arms was the newborn Prince Yuma, who was small and fragile still. 

     When the Queen’s voice finished introducing the Kazekoku Royal Family, her voice started once more.  “Now, I would like to introduce the Royal Family of Hikoku.”

      The next boat came into view and it was just as beautiful as the preceding boat.  This one was covered in blazing orange oriental lilies (meaning majesty).  King Sho Sakurai sat at the front of the next boat with Queen Keiko Sakurai.  They, just as their processors had, waved to the crowd and smiled politely.  In the back of the boat were extra people that the citizens knew as the council.  Hikoku was the only country who had a government system with a congress.  There were five main congress members, who rode along in the back, but weren’t important enough that citizens knew their names.  The queen announced them, but no one really listened.  The Crown Princess Erika was seated between her parents and she was a cutie.  The two year old simply sat there and looked around at the others.  They all wore the outfits of Mizukoku, minus the congress members dressed in black suits. 

     After Hikoku, the queen introduced the royal family of Yukiguni.  Their boat was covered in pure white Queen Annes Lace flowers (meaning sanctuary), which was their representing flowering here in Mizukoku.  At the front sat King Jun Matsumoto and Queen Mao Matsumoto in their traditional Mizukoku clothing.  Coming from Yukiguni, the royal family was always very pale compared to others and found Mizukoku a very hot country (though, not as hot as Hikoku).  The Queen seemed to be enjoying the heat as she held her newborn, Prince Keito Matsumoto.  He was sleeping soundly, as the King smiled and waved enthusiastically, though fanning himself at the same time.  In the back was Crown Prince Yuya at age three.  He was batting his eyes sleepily and lifting his garments at the high heat and the crowd would laugh genuinely at his innocence.  The other son, Prince Daiki, was one and half and thankfully he could walk.  He was a bundle of energy and ran from side to side of the boat yelling babbles of “hello” and waving to people.  His smile was bright and he laughed while waving at the people. 

     The boat of Yukiguni soon also disappeared and the citizens of Mizukoku turned their attention to the last Royal Family’s entrance—the royal family of Tsuchikoku.  Their boat was as fine as the others, decorated with sunflowers (meaning pure thoughts).  King Masaki Aiba sat together with Queen Yuka Aiba in their traditional Mizukoku garments.  On each of their laps was a child.  On the Queen’s lap, she held her son, Crown Prince Takahisa Aiba.  He was a cute, cubby-faced one year old who giggled happily as his mother waved to the crowd.  His twin brother was Yuya Aiba, who was an opposite of him, though he was happy today also.  He smiled and his father held his hand, making him wave to the crowd also.  The twins had matching Mizukoku hats on today, though Takahisa took his off, accidently throwing it into the crowd of people.  A young girl caught it and laughed and jumped around showing it to her friends in the crowd. 

     The crowd was thanked once more by the Royal Family and they disappeared back inside their castle.  Afterwards, the crowd dispersed and went to own their feasts and festivities.  Inside, though, the royal families were meeting and exchanging hellos.

     All of the families had reached the dining hall, where loads of seafood were set out and garnished gorgeously around the large table.  Once they had all been seated, King Ohno stood up to give another small speech.  “I am honored we’ve all come together this Alliance Day to celebrate in my kingdom.  Cheers to this year’s festivities, and the new faces the families have brought to join us.”

     The families cheered and chatter continued amongst them.  King Matsumoto sat beside King Aiba, as the two were close friends.  As for the children, Yuya had fallen asleep, when Kei had gone to wake him up.  The two were close friends and when Yuya saw Kei, he woke up immediately.  The two were joined by Hikaru, who wandered over to them.  They played quietly together.  Things also were smooth with Tomohisa, Kota, and Maki.  It was evident that Maki had a crush on Tomohisa, as the two had grown up together.  Kota would get jealous of his older brother a lot, but Maki would make sure to pay attention to both, though her current love as a child was Tomohisa. 

     The festivities had been proceeding for about two hours, when things took a turn for the worst.  They had been finishing up the beginning meal and the families were about to go on a tour that was prepared for them showing off new features that the Mizukoku harbor had to offer.  It was then that King Sakurai stopped the families from leaving. 

     “What is this about, my friend?” King Ohno turned to him and everyone sat back down around the table, minus the children who played in the corners of the room with one another ignoring the adults’ talks. 

     “I have come here this year to deliver a bit of news,” King Sakurai said, with his head down.  The Congressmen came to stand, taking out documents from their briefcases. 

     “What is with the stiff air?” Queen Yuriko asked, “What is it you wish to say?”

     “The friendship between our five countries is quite fake as our country has come to realize quite some time ago.”

     “Excuse me?” King Matsumoto stood, but his wife held him down. 

     “You see,” King Sakurai now stood and Queen Keiko grabbed her daughter, now holding her.  “The times of peace have ended today.  My country has discovered the evils in you, and we are fully prepared to wage war against you all.”

     “What are you saying!?” King Ninomiya’s temper went through the roof and the wind outside suddenly kicked up and pounded against the walls of the castle.

     “Calm yourself,” King Ohno tried to keep the peace.

     “I’m here to declare war on all of you,” King Sakurai said.

     “Why?” King Aiba asked suddenly, not necessarily angered, but confused.

     A congressman stepped forward, “Hikoku declares war on Tsuchikoku for the scandals going on in the trade industry.  Your people have been cheating us out of money when it comes to importing crops.”

     “What?” Aiba asked, a bit of anger peaking in him.

     “Hikoku declares war against Kazekoku,” another stepped forward, “for the kidnapping of our citizens.”

     “Excuse me!?” King Ninomiya stood up and it was too late to stop him now.  The winds outside were raging at hurricane speed and the waters were churning, half from the wind and half from Ohno’s anger now.

     “I demand you stop this nonsense at once,” King Ohno demanded.

     Yet another congressman stepped forward, “Hikoku declares war against Yukiguni for the mere fact that, one they are strongly allied with those who have cheated us, Kazekoku and Tsuchikoku.  And secondly, we declare war for Yukiguni being an inferior race to us.”

     “That’s it!” King Matsumoto shouted, standing up and Mao didn’t hold him back, but instead ran to grab Yuya and Daiki, while Keito was in her arms tightly.

     “Calm down, shouldn’t you,” the congressman threatened, a fire suddenly raging beside Mao and her children.

     “Omae*!” the king of Yukiguni went to jump at the man, but Ohno quickly put the fire out and separated the two.

     “This!” he yelled, “Stop it immediately!” he demanded at King Sakurai, but he would say nothing and had his head down.

     The last congressman stepped forward, “Hikoku declares war against Mizukoku for defending the two countries in question and siding with the inferior rather than us.”

     Finally, the balance burst.  It was chaos.  Mao screamed while grabbing her children as fire erupted at different places around the room.  She conjured enough of her magic to calm her children and grabbed them, running back to her husband who was conjuring his own magic currently.  The waves and wind outside wouldn’t calm down.  It was a full on hurricane and a tornado in one.  Even Aiba, who was always so calm and rational, had unleashed his anger as the earth began to shake underneath everyone.  Children were screaming and crying and their parents fought.  Queen Yuriko grabbed her children as well did Queen Yuka and Queen Rosa.  This was a fight the queens would not get involved in.  The four queens, minus Queen Keiko, exited the room with their children quickly, running for shelter into a room that Queen Rosa directed them to. 

     Once in the room, the mothers tried their best to comfort their children, but they were failing.  Mao, being the only magic-user, was able to set them to a calm state with snow-magic.  While the other four nations could bend an element, the citizens of Yukiguni couldn’t, causing the inferior comments from before.  What they could do that the others couldn’t, was use a special form of snow magic, but compared up against an element bender, the changes of winning a fight for them was slimmer. 

     The thought of all of their husbands upstairs fighting caused them worry, but they waited as the ground continued to shake and one glance outside of the window showed the destruction currently befalling the country. 

     Back upstairs, the room had split into sides.  King Ohno, King Ninomiya, King Matsumoto, and King Aiba stood firmly on one side of the room as the other Congressmen and King Sakurai and his family stood on the opposite.  Erika, only two, didn’t cry but simply sat in her mother’s arms.  Keiko, though, was frightened.  She knew what was going on and she knew the position she and her husband were in…

     Her husband suddenly grabbed her and they were fleeing from the castle, down the streets as it was now pouring and the wind was horror.

     “Sho!” she yelled, “What are we doing!?”

     “The congress will hold them off for only a bit, we have to leave!  We have no choice!”

     Keiko only nodded and they ran into a woman.  “Ah, King Sakurai, Queen Sakurai,” she bowed despite the weather, “It is not safe!  Please you must get indoors.”

     “It is not safe for us to stay here anymore,” the king said, “ us to the border please!”

     The woman only hesitated a moment before showing them to the harbor, “This ferry will take you to either the border of Hikoku or Kazekoku.”

     “Thank you,” Keiko bowed to the woman, but she blushed and nodded it off. 

     And they were gone.

     Back at the castle, the congressmen had also fled and were on their way to the last ferry.  The four other kings still stood in fury.  Aiba was the first to think rationally and calm down, soothing his anger, the ground stopped shaking.  He went to Jun, calming him and finally Jun was calm enough to work magic to calm the other two.  Ninomiya was the hardest to calm, but eventually enough magic did the trick. 

     “What are we to do now?” King Ohno finally brought the question up.

     “Well, we have to prepare our armies…” King Ninomiya fumed, “I will go to war with that traitor.”

     “Is war really the answer?” Aiba questioned. “This is Sho-chan…”

     “What other option is there?” Ohno spoke up, “We have had war declared on all of us.  The only thing to do is prepare our armies.”

     “We are all under the same idea, no?” Ninomiya spoke up.

     “I agree,” Jun said. 

     “I stick with my allies here,” Ninomiya said.

     “My ties are among here, also,” Jun said, “I will prepare my forces and also come to the help of my allies when they are in need.”

     “With that I pledge alliance to Yukiguni also,” Ninomiya agreed with Jun.

     In the end, alliances had been formed between the four countries.  They differed on how to proceed in terms, but in the end, the thought was mutual—Hikoku was the enemy at hand.

***

And that's the end of the prologue.  Thank you for reading. ^-^ The character log above is for Part One, which takes place 14 years after the prologue.  Again, I own only the story and my OC's, of course.  

Japanese Terms:

Omae = You (used here in an insulting manner)

(Posted 月・2014年02月03日)

***