*The last week of summer, year twelve of Hakumei*

The third period of the new Hakumei had just started a couple months ago. The new government had been rearranging the structures to fit with the long term plans they had agreed upon in their grand meeting with all the local governments. However, while the Palace of Hakumei where the central government operated were busy, a certain residence in the rear of the capital was having a different kind of busy.

Chinen residence was located just a throw of stone from the Intelligence Academy, away from the noise of the downtown. It was usual for the residence to be so noisy whenever the family gathering was held for the children of the host, Nakajima, Arioka, and Morimoto household would be too excited meeting each other. Yet, that day while the kids were busy playing in the middle yard, the adults gathered in the family room.

A man’s voice was heard above all the noise, reading a certain letter while the rest listening to him.

Dear Uncles and Aunties in Hakumei,

First of all, I’m really sorry for not writing to you all this time. Yet, I believe Uncle Yuya has updated you all about me, right? He visited me whenever he was around my school.

Uncles, Aunties, I’m fine and will always try to be. It has been two years since I left Hakumei and you all keep sending me money and things. I appreciate it a lot, but please stop. I can fend for myself. Father had taught me everything I need to survive alone, and being dependent on others is not the life Father and Mother wanted for me. So, along with this letter, I return all the money and things you all have ever sent to me. Please, don’t be disappointed. I do love you all, and I keep your letters with me.

Uncles, Aunties, I thank you for everything you all have given to me: loves, cares, family...every single thing. I’ll never forget it. Now, please don’t worry about me, and let me walk my own path.

I’m currently studying and fighting hard to pursue my dreams. As I declared to you before I left for Kyoukai, I will survive Father’s and Mother’s dreams to take care of Hakumei and create better life for people. So, until I find my way, please don’t expect me to go home.

I wish when the time comes, I will see all of you, with no one being left behind.

Kyoukai, day 1st, week 13th of summer, year 16th of King Akiyama

—Ainosuke—

“That kid! He really gives me a headache!” A lady’s yell was heard as Chinen Yuri finished reading out the letter for the rest of people in the room.

“Chill, Umika,” he held his wife tenderly for he understood well her anger was only caused by her worry over Ainosuke.

“How could I calm down, Yuri. He is so stubborn. Why he should refuse to be helped?” By this time Umika had burrowed herself in his embrace. He felt warm liquid seeped into his front shirt as she gripped it tightly.

A chuckle emitted from the man before them. “Don’t be over reacted, Umika. As stated in his letter, he’s going to be alright.”

“How could you not worry about him, Yuto? He is just fourteen years old! How could a kid fend for himself!” Another woman voice replied.

Yuto smiled while eyes calmly gazed at the anxious woman beside him. “It’s not that I’m not worrying about him, Suzuka. I just want to believe in his choices and support him in anyway I can. And for now, he wants us to let him walk his own path, right? So, let’s just watch him from afar.”

“And don’t forget that he is no longer a kid,” a deep voice joined in their conversation.

“But still,” Umika leaned away from her husband chest, then questioned, “He is still too young to fend for himself, Yuya-kun. What does he actually do for living?”

Yuya shrugged, “I don’t know for sure either, but with the skill and experiences in business he learned when living with me, I believe he will be just fine. Moreover he is in a good hand. Domoto-san seems put special attention on him.”

“Yeah, I agree with Yuya. Rather than fret over Ainosuke’s stubborness, let’s just support him from afar,” Yuri concluded the talk.

“And ladies,” Yuto added. “Better you all look after our children. I’m somehow worried about them.”

True be told, just as Yuto finished speaking, a loud yell followed by cries was heard from the yard.

“See,” Yuto had satisfied smirk on his face.

“Umika, it’s right. Please make sure our sons are not doing dangerous experiments to their playmates.”

Umika nodded, “Alright.”

Suzuka and Umika quickly excused themselves. As the women left, they got into serious mode.

“It’s going to be the nineth year in two months,” Yuri started.

Yuya and Yuto understood the meaning. It was about the deal they had with Ryunosuke. A couple months from that day, the agreement would be in the nineth year since it was signed.

“Yeah, and we even haven’t prepared anything,” Yuto replied.

“That’s not true,” Yuya rebutted. “Didn’t Daiki and Ryutaro tell us they were approaching the Kingdom’s Alliance High Court?”

“Yes, but they did not say anything afterward,” Yuto paused as a realization dawned on him. He turned to Yuri.

“Chii, you should know about it, right?” Yuto probed.

Yuri who was currently the Head Intelligence of Hakumei answered, “Yes, but I can’t reveal it yet.”

“Even to us?” Yuto got anxious.

“It’s a top secret, Yuto. Sorry.”

Yuto was about to speak, but Yuya beat him by replying, “I understand. A national secret shouldn’t be revealed to anyone. Moreover, the secret pact had been disbanded ever since he passed away.”

Yuto retreated into silence as Yuya reminded him of his deceased best friend. He still remembered the time when Ryosuke proposed to Yuya—since he acted as the leader— for the secret pact to be disbanded, a couple weeks after the first ceremony held for Mirai. The secret pact was no longer needed since the goal to guard the transition of Hakumei had been reached when the isolation was lifted. Even, the pact would be a latent danger if it was let to exist in the current era for not every member was part of Hakumei’s government. Yuya had gathered all the members and they decided to end the pact with a condition that the prime minister position should be held by one of them at least for ten years ahead no matter what happen in regard of the deal with Seiryoku. So, Nakajima, Morimoto, and Arioka family had consolidated to support Daiki to be the prime minister for the second period, and eventually now, it was Ryutaro’s turn to shoulder the responsibility.

“Anyway, how’s everyone doing?” Yuya led them to another topic. “I’ve been out of the country for too long.” Yuya had just returned from his three months business trip outside Hakumei.

And soon the talk changed into lighter topics in which they were catching up about each other’s stories.

While the capital was busy over the change of government, the South East Province was preparing for their autumn festival. Nakajima’s horse farm had been preparing their stallions and mares to take a part in the city carnival and the horse race a month away.

“Akari, how is Hiro?” Nakajima Keito asked his daughter who led a black stallion by its rein. The young stallion was not the Hiro he presented for Ryosuke who then gave it to Ainosuke. The beast was the breed of the old Hiro.

“I think he is ready to race, Father,” the fifteen years old girl answered.

“No, he won’t participate in the race. He still needs more training and you will take a charge in it.”

“Eh? Me?” Akari was surprised. “Is it really okay?”

“Of course. You’re my best student. Moreover, Ainosuke has trusted him to you.”

Akari nodded in excitement while patting Hiro’s mane. He smiled seeing his daughter. Although she has grown to be a gorgeous young woman, as beautiful as her mother, Akari was still his timid little girl. She inherited his fondness over horses. If it’s about horse, the usually quiet maiden would turn so lively and could not stop talking unless someone stopped her. He sighed subtly while observing Akari. Then resumed his previous work in grooming his own stallion.

“When will Ai-kun return home, Father?” A sudden question was asked.

He halted from combing the mane of his horse, looking up and staring at the distant horizon. “When he find what he is looking for, Akari.”

“What is he looking for actually?” She asked more.

He smiled gently recalling Ainosuke’s parting words, “He is looking for a way to restore the missing piece of history.”

“Eh? What’s that mean?”

He ruffled Akari’s bangs, “You’ll understand someday.”

He saw Akari pouted but then she cracked a smile and mounted the stallion. He knew well what she was going to do: riding around the clearing and then visited the meadow, cleaning Mirai’s and Ryosuke’s graves as Ainosuke asked her to; thus he bellowed when she started pulling the rein. “Be careful, and don’t be late for dinner.”

“Got it!” Akari replied while galloping away to the clearing with Hiro.

He shifted his gaze to a certain direction where the meadow of sunflowers was slowly withering as the autumn got closer.

“Time sure flies, ne, Ryosuke,” he muttered to the wind as the memories of the past years flashed one after the other.

More than six years ago, he and the other were taken by surprise seeing the sudden arrival of Hikaru and Ami in the first ceremony of Mirai. Moreover, they brought the little Mirai who was having fever.

“We thought that meeting with her real parents will make her better,” Hikaru and Ami explained. “Because it seems that Mirai-chan is missing them that the fever happens frequently.”

He still remembered the reunion of the father and the daughter, and later added with the big brother. He never saw Ryosuke smiled so brightly after Mirai gone, and it was to their amusement that the quiet and unhealthy baby squealed delightfully when Ryosuke craddled her. She would cry everytime Ryosuke put her down or gave her to someone else, as if she did not want to be away from her father. Putting Ainosuke in the picture, no one of them could find word to express how dilemmatic the circumstance was. It would be so cruel to separate the little family, and based on that thought, Hikaru and Ami who talked to Ryosuke, asking him to let Mirai-chan stay in Hakumei with him. Ryosuke was hesitant, yet after a deep thinking and discussion, the decision was finally made.

Hikaru and Ami returned to Heiwa by themselves while Mirai-chan stayed temporarily in Hakumei until she was healthy enough to do a long trip. It was an implicit meaning. The crueller way to say it was that Mirai-chan would stay as long as Ryosuke alive, then when he had gone, she should return under the care of Hikaru and Ami because that was what Mirai requested as her last wish.

Sadly it was only half a year later, right at the beginning of winter, Ryosuke’s body failed to hold on. It hit him hard. His little brother was gone before his very eyes, leaving him to console the silently crying Ainosuke and the histeric baby. The funeral was postponed for a week since Yuto and the others requested, especially Yuri who had to push forward his wedding so that it could be held in the presence of Ryosuke.

So, the wake was started with Yuri and Umika’s wedding. The last honor bow of the newlyweds were done in front of Ryosuke’s coffin, marking the start of the funeral procession. Tears never stopped flowing during the procession, yet again they were taken by surprise by Ainosuke’s speech after the coffin was buried under the earth.

Ainosuke stood before them with Mirai-chan tightly secured on his back. He faced them, eyes teary yet glinted with strong resolution.

“Uncles, Aunties, please don’t cry anymore after today. Father wouldn’t want that. Besides, Father is happy now because he is with Mother. So, please be happy for them, too.”

They were at loss. They were sad not only because Ryosuke’s death, but also because they felt sorry for Ainosuke. The boy was acting tough in front of them, but he knew well his nephew was the one hurted most by the lost.

He recalled another scene when he secretly visited the ex chamber of Ryosuke and Mirai. That chamber was where Ryosuke rested together with Ainosuke and Mirai-chan until the fated day of his leave. The night after the funeral, he saw Ainosuke inside, watching over his sleeping little sister.

“Mirai-chan, after this you should return to Heiwa. Please don’t get sick easily as you used to. Father wouldn’t be here for you, but you’ll be taken care by Uncle Hikaru and Auntie Ami. I will certainly miss you. Will you miss me, too? Will you even remember me in the future?”

He saw Ainosuke Mirai-chan’s head and he heard faint sobs. He had to hold his own tears when Ainosuke continued.

“I love you, imouto. Please, be happy with your family. We’ll meet again someday. I promise.”

With that, Ainosuke dropped a kiss on the baby’s forehead then sank under the blanket, craddling the baby and drifting to sleep. He came closer to see how the nine-year-old boy carefully wrapped his arms around the little Mirai-chan. Both kids would face hurdles ahead, and he wished he would be there to help, to take care of the precious parts of his brother.

Hikaru and Ami arrived a month after the funeral. They intended to bring Ainosuke with them, but, again, Ainosuke surprised them by refusing. The kid said that his presence would confuse Mirai-chan in the future. Staying with Mirai-chan but could not proclaim himself as her brother would also torture him, while in the other hand Ainosuke could not pretend to be the first kid of Hikaru and Ami since he could not consider Hikaru and Ami as parents. He firmly stated that he only had one man to be called Father, and one woman to be called Mother. Ainosuke did not want to call anyone but Ryosuke and Mirai by that endearment.

“If you don’t want to stay with us,” Hikaru responded to Ainosuke’s request. “Then do you want to stay here?”

It was only his family and Hikaru’s family that present at that moment, and they were curious with Ainosuke’s decision.

“If it’s alright for me to ask, could I stay with Uncle Yuya?”

“Why him?” He asked. “You don’t really know him, and he is busy with his businesses. He won’t be able to take care of you.”

“That is exactly what I need, Uncle,” Ainosuke calmly answered. “If I stay with either Uncle Hikaru, Uncle Keito, Uncle Yuri, or Uncle Yuto, I will only depend more and more on others. I want to learn to rely on myself, Uncle.”

He and Hikaru looked at each other. Exchanging silent thought, he was the one who spoke first, “I will ask Yuya first about this. But, how if he refuses, with whom then do you want to stay?”

Ainosuke needed a few minutes to think before delivering his asnwer, “I will stay with Grandma Akemi in the capital, and when I’m allowed to travel alone, I want to visit Kyoukai.”

“What do you want by visiting Kyoukai?”

“Father told me to always go after the best. I want to be a doctor, and currently Domoto Koichi-san is the best one. Father wished me to learn from him if I have a chance.”

In the end, Ainosuke did stay with Yuya. It still amused him whenever he remembered about the fact that Yuya did not marry yet he was taking care of two boys: Ainosuke and Kyuu, and he should admit that Yuya made a good teacher for them.

Remembering about Ainosuke brought another memory resurfaced.

“Ainosuke is really incredible. Just like you, he is the best in everything he does.” He remarked oneday when he visited Ryosuke’s chamber for checking on him. Ryosuke had weakened significantly that he could not even leave the bed without being supported.

“Is he?”

He nodded, “Yes, and I think he has earned many admirers from the girls in the village.”

Ryosuke let out a brief chuckle. “No way. He hasn’t even been nine years old yet, Aniki.”

“It’s true. You even saw it yourself how Hana-chan was so attached to him when Yuma’s family was here. He inherites your charm, you know.”

He saw how Ryosuke’s smile faltered.

“I wonder what kind of man Ainosuke will be,” he heard his brother muttered. “Even for me, Ainosuke is still a mystery.”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

Ryosuke showed a calculated distant stare, saying, “Ainosuke inherites Mirai’s optimism in seeing things, yet he follows after me in being perfectionist.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, but... I’m worried that he will push himself too hard because he always runs after a perfection... and despite all, he is still a kid. He still needs guidance because of his lack of experience.”

He adjusted the blanket over Ryosuke’s form and smiled, “Don’t worry. We’ll grow him well.”

Ryosuke looked back at him and mustered a small smile before requesting, “Aniki, please help me to watch over him. He is shaping himself to be like me, and you understand me the most among all. I wish it won’t happen, but if someday he lose himself, please pull him to the right path by any mean.”

“Ryosuke...”

“Please, promise me, Aniki, so I can leave with ease.”

He did not like the feeling arose when he heard Ryosuke’s words, yet he managed to smile while answering, “I promise.”

He sighed to shove away the sadness resurfaced. A few days after that conversation, Ryosuke passed away. Then Mirai-chan was taken to Heiwa, and Ainosuke went to stay with Yuya. He heard from Yuri that Mirai-chan had been growing well. Ainosuke returned to the residence for Ryosuke’s first ceremony, but he had not visited ever since, even he did not come to bid them farewell before he departed to Kyoukai two years ago.

“Sir,” one of his employee called out. “Lady Haruna is here.”

He gave the brush he was holding to his employee then strode into the house through the side gate which led to the front yard. There was an elegant carriage before the house, and he saw familiar faces talking with Nami.

“You’re so early Haruna,” he greeted to gain the guest’s attention. “The festival is still in the next two days.”

Haruna turned to him, so did her childrens tagged along with her, and Nami.

“Ah, Keito-kun,” Haruna bowed slightly to him. “I hope we are not imposing on your family.”

He let out a brief chuckle, “Of course not. We’re glad that you can manage to visit us despite being so busy in Matsudera.”

“Nah, Yuma is, but we are not,” Haruna shrugged. “Anyway, he sent greeting for you.”