"Yuki, how are you doing?" She asked. She seemed happy to see him.
(Please Note: Hana has no feelings for Yuki, she was just flustered by his looks which was why she developed a tiny crush on him. But that crush died when she talked to him more.)
"I'm really good." He answered.
"Are you going somewhere?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm going for a stroll." Yuki said and walked past her. He stopped walking and looked back at her. "Do you want to come?"
"Yes." She said and followed behind him.
They walked on street which was bustling with the noise of cars.
"Where are we going?" Hana asked curiously.
"The beach." Yuki said without even looking at her.
The beach wasn't that far from Yuki's apartment building, so they could easily walk there. They both walked in silence, Hana could feel something was off about Yuki. They walked in silence until they got to the beach, it was completely empty. No one came here since there was a more popular beach on the other side of town.
The sunlight reflected on the sea, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the water hitting the shore. They both walked on the sand, the cool ocean breeze caused their clothes and hair to flutter.
"Yuki, why did you want to come here?"
"It's quiet and I like the sound of the ocean." He answered and stopped walking, he faced the blue ocean which had a color very similar to that of his eyes.
"Is something wrong Yuki?" Hana asked while standing next to him.
Yuki took a deep breath and looked at Hana. "I just want to get stronger, all my siblings are on different levels of power. They are all strong and i look up to my younger brother and my younger sister when it should be the other way around, I'm probably the weakest royal out there."
"Yuki, look at the sky. Some people say the ocean is blue because it reflects the color of the sky, but I believe the sky is blue because it reflects the color of the ocean." Hana's hair fluttered in the wind. "Your siblings are actually the ones who look up to you."
"Why would they do that?" He asked.
"Because your heart is strong." Hana formed a fist with her hand and placed it on Yuki's chest. "I'm sure you have faced many insults and people might have hurt you lots of time, but you never gave up. You are still trying to become stronger and prove everyone who insulted you wrong." Hana moved her fist away from Yuki's chest and spoke. "You have incredible will. Your will is your power. I may not have known you for long but this I know."
Hana's words burned deep into Yuki's memory, he looked at her. No one had ever spoken to him with such encouragement.
"I believe in you, I believe you can still get stronger." Hana said with a bright smile.
"You're really good at this." Yuki said.
"Good at what?" Hana asked curiously.
"Encouraging people."
"Of course I am, I'm the best." Hana said with a proud smile on her face. "But encouragement doesn't come for free, you owe me fifty yen."
"Encouragement doesn't cost that much." Yuki panicked.
"I'll have to charge a lot of I want to get that chocolate cake." She said while placing her hands on her hips.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Just don't forget that you now owe me." Hana said.
"Let's head home."
Tamiko walked home together with Derek since they lived next to each other.
Tamiko stared at her feet as she walked, she was still worried about what she did. Derek looked at her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you still worried about Yuki?" He asked.
Tamiko responded with a nod.
"Don't worry about him, if I now Yuki well he'll forget about it if you buy him some potato chips. Yuki doesn't hold grudges." Derek said.
"But what if....."
"Dwelling on the past makes no sense." Derek said before Tamiko could complete her sentence. "Yuki said this to me a long time ago, which means he will probably forget about it."
"But it still wasn't nice of me to say that." Tamiko looked at Derek.
"You have a crush on Yuki, don't you?" Derek asked.
Tamiko responded with a nod again.
"Do you remember when I told Yukari to stop calling Yuki onii-chan and start calling him onii-san?" Derek asked.
"Yes."
"I did that because san is used for someone you respect." Derek turned his face towards the sky. "If Yuki heard Yukari calling him respectfully everyday it would make him want to be worthy of that respect. He would want to become stronger to earn that respect. I called Yuki the weakest royal because I know he will want to prove me wrong." He turned his face towards Tamiko. "I'm cold towards Yuki because I know he will get stronger and one day he's going to hit me sooo hard that I'll acknowledge him as my superior in strength. But until that day comes, I will continue to pressure him."
"Derek." Tamiko now understood Derek, he was only trying to help Yuki.
"What you said will only give Yuki more reason to get stronger. So just think of it as helping him." Derek said with a smile.
"Okay." Tamiko decided not to worry anymore.
Sophia was walking alone on the road, she was walking home from school. She took out her phone and looked at the time, it was 4:35pm.
Ring Ring
She was just about the put the phone in her pocket when it rang, it was Yuki who was calling her. She picked up the call and held the phone next to her ear.
"Hello."
"Hi, Sophia-san. Umm, I'm having a test tomorrow and I wasn't in school for most of the month sooo I need your help." Yuki's voice sounded on the other side of the phone.
"You want me to teach you?" Sophia asked just to make sure.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you're the smartest person in our class. Please, I'll buy you food."
"Is food everything to you?"
"Yes."
"Fine." Sophia sighed. "I'll send you my address so you can come by."
"Thank you, I'll see you soon." Yuki said and hung up the call.
Sophia got to the gate of her house. It was a huge mansion, she walked into the mansion and was now walking in the hall towards her room.
A maid standing by her standing by her room door bowed with much respect. Sophia was from a middle house royal family.
"Please prepare some food." Sophia said to the maid. "I'm expecting a guest."
"Yes young madam." The maid answered before walking away.
Sophia walked into her room and threw her bag on the bed, her room was very big and spacious. It was four times the size of Yuki's living room. The room walls were painted yellow and the furniture was white.
She showered, changed into something else and walked out of her room, she went straight to the dining area. It was a really large room with a long table that had more than 15 chairs. At the end of the table there was a man seated comfortably with his legs crossed.
He had silver eyes, silver colored hair, a handsome face and looked to be in his forties. He sipped from a cup of tea while he read the newspaper. He looked up from the newspaper and his silver eyes met Sophia's golden colored eyes, his lips curved and formed a smile.
"Sophia, how was school?" He asked, he was Sophia's father and the head of the Uzuzshi family.
"It was fine, where's mom?" She said while sitting next to him.
"She left, she went to see a friend." He said before taking another sip.
"My classmate is coming over." She informed.
"A boy?" He asked while squinting his eyes at her.
"Yes."
"Is he your....?" He didn't complete the sentence but Sophia knew what he meant.
"No. He's just a friend and he is a royal." She said.
"A lower house royal?" He asked with much curiousity. He didn't expect any of his daughter's friends to be on the same level as him, which was a middle house royal.
"He's an upper house royal."
"Nani?" He was a bit surprised.
(What?)
"He's a Kinatarou."
He immediately started chocking on the tea he was drinking.
A maid walked in and bowed before both of them before speaking. "Young madam, your guest has arrived."
"Please bring him here." She said.
The maid left the dinning area and returned a few minutes later with Yuki walking behind her.
"Wow, this place is huge. What would someone do with soo much space in their house?" Yuki spoke to himself as he looked around the dinning table.
His eyes landed on Sophia and her father who were seated on the other side of the table. The maid quietly bowed and left the three alone. Yuki walked up to Sophia and looked at her father.
"Sophia, is he your brother?" He asked.
Both Sophia and her father were shocked by Yuki's question.
"You fool, he's my dad!" Sophia stood up and yelled.
"Really?" He looked at her father again and stretched his hand towards Sophia's father. "Nice to meet you sir, I'm Yuki Kinatarou."
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Kabato Uzushi, Sophia's father." Sophia's father said and shook Yuki's hand.
"Dad, I'll take him to the garden. We're going to study there." Sophia informed.
"Okay, see you later."
"Sophia-san, your dad must be really old since he still reads a newspaper." Yuki said to Sophia in a very audible whisper. Kabato heard it clearly.
"Baka!"
(Stupid!) Sophia shouted and dragged Yuki by the ear towards the garden.
Kabato was left alone in the dinning room, he smiled and spoke to himself. "He's very amusing."
In the garden Yuki and Sophia were seated across each other on a round wooden table. The garden had numerous flowers of different colors, butterflies and peacocks could be seen moving about. There was a round concrete slab that rose up from the ground in the middle of the garden, Yuki and Sophia were seated not too far from the slab.