#himemiya Yuki

[manemanenichinichi]

“おはようございます

今月号のゲッサンから「マネマネにちにち」連載させていただきます

野球部のマネージャーの話です

よろしくおねがいします”

[baltharino]

[masa-yoshi-dan]

Ensemble Stars!! x Pokemon || Stramaker Production

Masterlist || Cosmic Production || Rhytm Link || New Dimension || Others

fine

Eichi: Togekiss. Blissey. Clefairy Wataru: Togetic. Pidove. Meowscarada. Mime Jr.  Tori: Togetic. Stufful. Teddiursa Yuzuru: Togetic. Indeedee. Minccino. Budew.

One of the Fine’s images are feathers. So I searched for elegant (white or ivory) flying-types. Decision for between Swanna and Altaria. Altaria felt more fitting with singing themes in it. But. It does not have feathers; its wings are clouds. But then I looked more and decided on Togekiss. It’s based on doves, snowy owls and angels. Also, it has the ability Serene grace. Y’know, like Angelic Grace.

Eichi did not have Pokemons until he got out of the hospital. Eichi has bad health, so I wanted to give him pokemon to help with this. Choice was between Blissey and Audino. Both are about health and partner for Nurse Joy. Even though Audino is more graceful and its mega evolution has some resemblance to angels. All its descriptions are about hearing. Blissey is all about health and care. Also, Blissey are rare, so a wealthy family would get one. Eichi has been compared to the constellation Orion, and it became a motif for FS1, so I wanted to give him a star-based pokemon. Staryu does not really fit him, so I decided on Clefairy.

Togekiss is the only white dove-based pokemon. Pidove, despite having “dove” in its name, is pigeon. But I have no other options. He does have multiple of them. For his theatrical side, I went with Mime Jr. and Meowscarada. Meowscarada is a talented magician. Mime jr. is more whimsical and looks more like a clown or a jester than Mr.Mime (and I just don't really like Mr.Mime).

Tori likes stuffed toys, so Stufful was an immediate choice. Also, it works perfectly with them both being cute but also pretty capable and talented. Tori has a brown Teddy Bear, so Teddiursa goes.

Yuzuru is a butler, so Indeedee was first thought. Yuzuru likes cleaning and tidying up, so Minccino was an opinion for this. Yuzuru picked up gardening and got Budew, which had not evolved yet.

Trickstar

Hokuto: Starmie. Staravia. Gallade. Subaru: Staryu. Growlithe. Murkrow. Luxio Makoto: Staryu. Porygon. Rotom. Mao: Staryu. Espeon. Lilligant (hisuian).

Trickstar’s symbols are trickster and stars. Closest to trickster in pokemon is ability “Prankster”, but no pokemon fits Trickstar. So the choice was among star-based pokemons. Staryu looked more fitting. 

Staravia is a gift by Seiya who has Staraptor. Hidaka means “ice” and “hawk, falcon” and might be referenced to “The Nighthawk Star”. Staraptor line is based on predator birds (mostly hawks and falcons) and has “star” in all their names. Gallade is for Hokuto being “prince”. I wanted to give him Ceruledge instead due to Gallade being reserved for another unit, but it's so not prince-like.

Growlithe = Daikichi. The only shiba-inu-based pokemon is Okidogi, which is not only legendary but also evil. “It has body count” type of evil. So I had to look for other dog pokemons. Growlithe looks similar and friendly enough to work instead. Murkrow loves shiny objects, just like Subaru. Subaru hates dark places, so I gave him Luxio, which can luminate dark places (can learn move Flash) and has a star on its tail. Luxio is not a dog, so I could not use it as Daikichi. Subaru likes shiny things, so he can have a full shiny team.

Makoto is all about gaming and technology, so Porygon and Rotom both were a choice for different reasons each. Porygon is a virtual pokemon who lives in virtual reality. So it’s mostly just in PCs. Rotom can possess appliances and electronic devices. So Rotom can be helpful for him in various occasions, like going into computer, phone or camera, etc.

Mao was kind of hard for me to pick. There’s not much to pick from. Mao is sometimes described as a magician, so I decided to give him Espeon. It's psychic-type and pretty simple. Mao likes dancing, so I went with Hisuian Lilligant. The only other dancing pokemon is Meloetta, which is mythical.

RUYSEITAI

Chiaki: Minior. Blaziken. Vulpix Kanata: Minior. Frillish. Squirtel. Lanturn. Palafin. Tetora: Minior. Incineroar. Sawk Midori: Minior. Leafeon. Bulbasaur. Chikorita. Shinobu: Minior. Ninjask. Croagunk. Greninja.

First I was looking for super sentai or power rangers—like pokemon. But then I remembered that another RUYSEITAI’s theme is meteors. And Minior became the perfect choice. It has multiple colors for each member. There’s no actual black one for Tetora, but shiny is black! Also, now there’s no single leader, so a no-evolution line with no super forms (mega or g-max) works best.

Chiaki is very passionate about the color red, so I had to make all of his red. His introduction as Ryusei Red has "The red flames are the proof of justice!” so it must’ve been red and/or fire type. Blaziken was an immediate choice. It can also mega evolve. In the anime Mega Blaziken was protector of Kalos in ownership by Meyer. Armarouge was another choice, but it’s more yellow, despite pokedex color being red. Vulpix became the second choice. I think super protective over juniors Chiaki, having a not-evolved little guy cute and kinda fitting.

Kanata likes blue and loves the ocean, so blue water-type it is! His FS2 is based on jellyfish, so Frillish. He likes stuffed turtles so Squirtle. His last name means “deep sea” so Lanturn, who lives deep underwater (also it has a hero-like face mask). And Palafin, who looks like a normal dolphin but actually a hero. Like Kanata being actually stupid strong.

Tetora is Ruysei Black but like the color red and his Ryusei introduction references black flames. So Incineroar was the first choice. Also it’s based on a tiger and pre-evo has “tora” in its name. It would be perfect if Inceneroar was karate based, not wrestler. For karate i chose Sawk.

Midori likes greenery and cute mascots where the species is unclear. So Leafeon it is! Eeveelutions are pokemon’s second mascots at this point and they’re designed to look like a dog/cat/fox/rabbit all at once. Surprisingly, there’s not many veggie-based pokemons. So I went with starter pokemons that looked plant -enough: Bulbasaur and Chikorita (pokedex classifies it as green). They also work with “species is unclear”. Is Bulbasaur a frog or turtle? What is Chikorita?

Shinobu is Ryusei yellow and ninja so I was looking among that. Ninjask is based on ninja technique and yellow. Croagunk is used by ninja trainers. Greninja is also based on ninja and its category is ninja pokemon. And with that I cover his two pet frogs. Accelgor is also based on ninja, but doesn't really feel like Shinobu’s pokemon. 

Alkaloid

Hiiro: Nidoqueen. Dragonair. Gyarados. Turogue. Aira: Nidorina. Sylveon. Luvdisc. Swoobat. Mayoi: Nidorina. Shuppet. Umbreon. Gastly. Tatsumi: Nidorina. Hatenna. Maushold.

Alkaloid has multiple themes to look into: medicine/toxin, cards and keys. There’s no card-based pokemons. Galarian Wheezing is the only poison-type who is not just poisonous/toxic. And Klefki is the only key pokemon. In the end I went with Nidiqueen. Queen like in cards, it's blue like a unit color, it’s defensive more than offensive, i have no other options, i am working on it for hours already…

Hiiro had only Dratini before MDM and Hiiro started learning more about the world. Dratini evolved after the main story. I picked Dragonair line as a “village ruler’s family has that pokemon”. Hiiro is good at martial arts so went with Tyrogue for him. Who knows what it evolved into. For Hiiro learning world around I thought about pokemon which can easily be found. So Magicarp which already evolved into Gyarados. He's a fast learner (It can also symbolize Hiiro being called dumb in the village and now blooming into a strong idol).

Aira had an Eevee which evolved into Sylveon. Sylveon was introduced in France-based region and evolves from affection/friendship. Aira’s catchphrase is “Love”/”Rabu” so I went with Lovedisc and Swoobat. There’s not much pokemon that symbolizes love, btw (why Luvdisc is not fairy-type?).

Mayoi has association with phantom and ghost and likes cute things. So I gave him Shuppet, Gastly and Umbreon. Shuppet is described to feed on negative emotions which helps people. Umbreon is dark and evolves with friendship. Gastly has been shown to be able to move through the walls and can help Mayoi to escape unwanted social interactions with gas.

Tatsumi was kinda hard. The only religion pokemon in-universe gods (god of sea, god of time etc) and THE God. So no pokemon for this. One of Tatsumi's specialties is sixth sense, and pokemon have the ability “anticipation”. Hattena prefers to be with calm people and can have that ability. Tatsumi likes to do house chores and Mausihold is the only pokemon that can learn move Tidy up through level up. And it's a family of four, like, y’know, Alkaloid.

[anony0-0]

Ensemble Stars Characters and what Vision they would possess

(In my opinion).

I tried my best to read at least some of their lore to understand them better, although some of them I still couldn't decide it, as others i'm 100% sure about it and commented why down below.

Please feel free and DO comment any opinions you may have!!

If you want to know any reason behind any of them pls ask away~ I'll try my best to explain it 💜

Before starting on the reasoning, I want to make a quick explanation on Genshin Impact visions.

Anemo: People who desperately seeks for freedom.

Geo: People who are VERY dedicated and hard working about their duties and objectives.

Electro: People who are DEVOTED to something (be it a ideal or objective) or someone, their perspective practically never changing.

Dendro: People who seek knowledge.

Hydro: People who have a high sense of justice, wish to become heroes or would do anything to protect others.

Pyro: People who are deeply passionate about something.

Cryo: People who are going through internal conflicts.

Illusion: These are fake visions, you can get any vision you want illegally with the cost of rapidly aging, shortening your life span by a huge amount as you use it.

No vision: It is what it is. Just because someone may have some of the characteristics above, it doesn't necessarily mean all of them gets one. The reason people get vision still not completely clear, it may be that gods are watching on the vision bearers for whatever reason, potential beings that could ascend to godhood, and many other theories.

"Why this character is this and not that?" Personality characteristics, some coincidences that vision bearers posses, as example: most Pyro bearers are very hyperactive, most geo characters are calm, some hydros tend to look down on themselves, most cryos feel like they don't belong anywhere/where they are.

This was just a brief explanation, but I tried my best to get through everything so reasons be easier to understand.

Ok some of the ones I'm 100% sure are:

Kohaku oukawa - Anemo: Spent his whole life trapped in his own room by his family, being the worst moments of his live. Once he finally got out to see the outside world, he would never want to go back to being trapped again (A good proof is when he scolds Rinne for trapping him in the dressing room of Knights).

Hiiro Amagi - Dendro: He's always wanting to learn about everything: what's an idol, common sense and things about the city, trivial things, what's considered right or wrong. Anyway, hiiro amagi learning moments.

Adonis Otogari - Hydro: Everytime you see Adonis, theres a 100% chance he will say they want meat or give you meat, or that his wish is to protect the weak and his friends.

Madara Mikejima - Hydro: This one i also barely have anything to explain. The sense of justice, back when they wanted to be a hero with ryusetai, overprotective of his friends. They are the full hydro bearer bag.

Kanata Shinkai - Hydro: No. It's not because they puka puka. I actually tried to find any other vision that it could be fit for them, but any path I took just ended up in Hydro, the only reason i could find is the wish to protect the ones he loves the most. To be honest, we all just want him to be Hydro related cause water, so instead of having a hydro vision, i would say he's the hydro dragon (elemental dragons have no need for visions, they have complete control of the element and are more powerful than gods).

Niki Shiina - Pyro: This is one of the most obvious ones and I'm not accepting any other opinions. His passion is food and cooking, do I need to say more?

Rinne Amagi - Pyro: Same thing as Niki, His passion for idols and living in his own life style.

Subaru akehoshi - Pyro: The passion for stars/shining things, also his personality come strong on this one. As pyro characters, they are hyperactive, cheerful and though things sometimes gets them sad, they try their best to not show it or let it get to them ("that akehoshi" situation).

Aira Shiratori - Cryo: Despite his love for idols and achieving his dream of becoming one, the inferiority complex is strong on him, feeling like he's not good enough and that he is always falling behind even in the things he loves the most.

Discussion

Ritsu - illusion: I wasn't sure which vision to give Ritsu, mostly because I didn't find anything about him that looks like a strong ambition worth a vision, but I know he would definitely want one just because his brother has it.

Himeru - Illusion: I think this is the best for him because of his "condition". Himeru would have a illusion based on Kaname's, as I believe he would have one. Particularly, even as a HimeruP, I don't think Himeru would have any vision, I don't feel like their ambitions are strong enough to get one, but if I had to pick any, I guess Cryo may fit him better.

Eichi - This one is mostly lore related because as I explained, illusion beholders age more as they use the illusion, so I decided to give eichi an illusion because of his illness, but I think Electro could also be an option for him.

"Why is Madara Hydro and Chiaki Pyro?" because of their personalities. If you know Genshin, Madara gives me a hydro-Childe vibes, the "villain" but he's actually a good person deep inside (yes I used to be a childe main), also the feeling of not being good enough for others, that they can not be loved by anyone ever. As for Chiaki, Pyro characters rarely gets down on whatever sad outcomes that may happen, although it does happen to Chiaki, he stands up again and keeps on being the hero everyone needs.

"I think Rei should be Anemo" This is my friends opinion, their reason being that the thing Rei wanted the most is "to be freed from it's adult responsibilities and just live a happy life he was supposed to have since he was a child" although it is something that is indeed true that he said, in !!Era I mostly see Rei taking responsibilities of his own accord instead of being obliged to do something or everything will fall apart. "I don't understand" this is when personalities shows up again, weirdly, most geo characters didn't want a geo vision, find it useless or are unpleasant they got a geo one, even so, they make it useful somehow. So in my opinion, even if his wish is to be free, they are more bound by the duty and being able to help others then living his own life.

I guess that's it for now, i guess some of them are still not clear but im open to discussion, (except for niki, they are literally xiangling on enstars)

Thank you for reading~ 💜

[cryptidm0ths]

doodles from the past week of trying to listening to ep link ill get to the second half at some point idk

translation by haranami_

[visxionery]

Revealing my desired enstars shuffle units!!! I might make more posts about each unit in particular + what songs it'll prob sound like. First is the event card and second and third is gacha card and the rest is event

but for now here's a brief look into each unit!

dystopia : they are all mystical beings that live in a dystopian world where art and order is gone.

heartthrob : think aisle with you plus atoz but spin it. This is more of a sad nostalgic kind of love unit? Like basically a we used to be in love and I long for you kind of thing. CAUSE I KNOW VALENTINES ARE LIKE HAPPY BUT I WANT SAD VALENTINES OK ARGHHHH (gets dragged out)

wonderlandz : mascot cosplay group, imagine twisted wonderland met wicked drugs and this. ill explain more on who is who <3 vetarannoruma : a group doing a documentary about investigative work but then gets caught in a ACTUAL CASE, they somehow end up on a plane- someone gets shot???!!! and ibara throws a bomb somewhere-FIND OUT MORE IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF VEGAS TRUE CRIME-

5050' : so eichi is investing shit right and then makes a bet and loses sum money idfk to RINNE AMAGI? Turns out rinne is good at investing and shit but then eichi like nuh uh ur reckless kohaku is on the shuffle cause rinne and his dirty schemes. Kanata is trolling and Tetora is burning kitchens (i'll explain i swear-)

imaging : OHOHO THIS IS A HALLOWEEN SHUFFLE, so switch makes a haunted house right and natsume is like lets do a mirror maze *casts sum spell* then SUBARU gets caught in the spell and suddenly theres multiple of them and the other three members get trapped.

dia thieves : game show where they battle for fans and try to rizz you up but then stinky pr does smth and THERES A SCANDAL?????? find out more on dia thieves : broke asf....

phantoms at the opera : OK OK I KNOW MAYOI AINT IN ERE BUT I DIDNT WANNA MAKE IT THAT OBVIOUS. So hokuto is doing sum dramatica shit and then he gets a theatre role outside and then they have to act out shit think masquerade ball BUT THEN (here's the plot twist) THEY GET THRUSTED INTO A MURDER MYSTERY GAME BY GATEKEEPER (dun dun dunn!!!) SHIT HAPPENS NAGISA GETS INTO A CULT TSUMUGI IS HANGING OFF A LEDGE REI ALMOST DIES HOKUTO WRU and madara is yo mama.

CU2+ : So midori and hajime has been part of a buddy system made by es to cultivate good relationships between fellow idols, but they chat anon they all do so no one knows who each other is. Midori has been feeling a bit down lately and the rest of the support grp helps him but then everyone puts on a false persona because they want to be a better version of themselves. Hajime wants them to all meet in the real world at around 2 plus, but Midori has other plans...

Parasol : ARASHI WEARS A SUNDRESS TWO PIECE I REPEAT ARASHI WEARS A- basis is its a modelling gig and compared to arashi chiaki is TERRIBLE DAWG i love you chiaki but i know you can willingly go without bathing so on the day of the shoot they put so much effot in bad weather strucks and ITS A BRINK OF A NATURAL DISASTER.....but arashi is stuck and all alone....

PLEASE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THOUGHTS JUST YAP IN MY COMMENTS I LOVE TO RAMBLE ABT THEM <3

[dailyhelldorm]

[TL] Eichi Feature Scout Story Directory / Compass in the Heavenly Sky

Scenario Writer: Yuumasu Character: Eichi, Wataru, Tori, Yuzuru, Hokuto, Subaru, Makoto, Mao, Tatsumi, Hiyori, Hajime, Ritsu. Season: Winter

Summary: Because of the continuous postponements, Eichi's turn to have his Exclusive Outfit comes quite late. While pondering his costume design choice, he goes out for a walk to have a change of pace...

Directory: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Translator's note: There are a lot of astronomical terms and star names in this story, so I try to explain them in the simplest way I can. I'm not confident about my astronomical knowledge so if you find any mistake, feel free to point it out.

[beansproutsong]

[Proxy] Enstars Warm Winter Companion plush Batch 3.

ETA shipping: June-July 2025

Price: 6000JPY (costume included and can be taken off)

Line up: Oogami Koga, Makoto Yuki, Tsukasa Suou, Shiina Niki, Akehoshi Subaru, Hidaka Hokuto, Himemiya Torii, Tatsumi Kazehaya, Hajime Shino, Kanzaki Souma,

Price do not include shipping from Japan to your country

DM me here or at my twitter (angelic1408) to place your order. I am also anchila at bluesky

[eggspertt]

I wanted to try my own

[idekka]

2nd ending for the Trickstar/Fine Fusion Live

[Switch/Eden] [Ra*bits/Double Face] [Alkaloid/Valkyrie] [Undead/Akatsuki]

A link to my sideblog where I posted the rest of the Fusion Live story

[hypn0sssss]

Got too bored with the outfit try on thing and let a randomizer pick who was in the mv

Also I forgot to take a sc but these two got paired together in one of them

[nagishufunding]

💸P.A. Shots!! AniFair 2022

Selling!

Animate "Summer" Fair 2022 $1.80 each

🇸🇬 only! Contact @inxchvw on Discord!

[baltharino]

[izuizzy]

Art Dump #2

[l0uterstella]

Fragaria Memories seiyuu list + their other roles

Keep in mind this is mostly for my personal reference so I'll only be putting characters from media I'm into or at least heard of a lot. Feel free to add on to this in the comments or reblogs :]

ー updated 7/18/24

RED BOUQUET

Hallritt - Gakuto Kajiwara

Haruka Nijo (From Argonavis)

Luka (HSR)

Hiiro Amagi (Enstars)

Allen Sugasano (Paradox Live)

Merold - Yuu Hayashi

Manjiro Sano (Tokyo Revengers)

Youhei Kanbayashi (Paradox Live)

Ryuunosuke Tanaka (Haikyuu)

Billy Kid (ZZZ)

Puruth - Takuma Terashima

Otoya Ittoki (Utapri)

White (Mahoyaku)

Shintarou Kisaragi (Kagerou Project)

Touma Amagase (Idolmaster)

Romarriche - Shunichi Toki

Yuki Rurikawa (A3!)

Rui Kamishiro (Project Sekai)

Freminet (Genshin Impact)

Hokusai Masaki (Paradox Live)

Rutile (Mahoyaku)

Rimicha - Saku Hyuga

not many notable roles

Sanah - Shugo Nakamura

Fukami Shinkai (Aoppella!?)

Shidou Kirisaki (Milgram)

Teru Tendou (Idolmaster)

Ryuki (Pokemon Masters)

BLUE BOUQUET

Cielomort - Nobunaga Shimazaki

Kazuha Kaedehara (Genshin Impact)

Silver (Twisted Wonderland)

Haruka Nanase (Free!)

Yuki Souma (Fruits Basket)

Burgh (Pokemon Masters)

Kurode - Shogo Sakata

Aki Hayakawa (Chainsaw Man)

Gladion (Pokemon Evolutions)

Moze (HSR)

Willmesh - Shoya Chiba

Kou Minamoto (Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun)

Sigma (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Hayato Akiyama (Idolmaster)

Sethos (Genshin Impact)

Klarkstella - Eiji Mikami

not many notable roles

Louterstella - Yuki Sakakihara

Shu Ujigawa (From Argonavis)

Juushi Aimono (Hypnosic Mic)

Myunna - Shinnosuke Tokudome

not many notable roles

NOIR BOUQUET

Badobarm - Shunsuke Takeuchi

Juza Hyodo (A3!)

Yoshikazu Isa (Aoppella!?)

Cyrus (Pokemon Masters)

Dr. Ratio (HSR)

Extra: silly - Olaf (Frozen 2), Dvalin (Genshin Impact), Gudetama (Gudetama: An Eggcelent Adventure)

Chaco - Jin Ogasawara

Nayuta Asahi (From Argonavis)

Arupek - Tasuku Hatanaka

Kumon Hyodo (A3!)

Gorou (Genshin Impact)

Satsuki Itou (Paradox Live)

Denki Kaminari (My Hero Academia)

Hugh (Pokemon Masters)

Camilo (Encanto) (😭)

Reki (SK8)

Tuxam - Ayumu Murase

Venti (Genshin Impact)

Hajun Yeon (Paradox Live)

Shoyo Hinata (Haikyuu)

Tori Himemiya (Enstars)

Mitile (Mahoyaku)

Wally (Pokemon Masters)

Hangyon - Yohei Matsuoka

not many notable roles

Pikero - Narufumi Machimoto

not many notable roles

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

The tale of the candied kumquats

Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial with the prompt #FFFF281 ripple effect. Thank you for the prompt. Like always, I am asking you to tread carefully. This is post-anime and an alternate universe, yet some of these things can be seen as spoilers for “The Remembrance of a Crow,” “Mochizuki’s Crow” and the short story from the collection in the second part of the Yatagarasu series.

—

Fandom: Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Characters: Yukiya (the Marquis), Haruma, the Princess (Hime), Nazukihiko

TW: suicide mention

Words: 1099

AN intricate little woven basket was on the table next to the documents caught the Marquis’ eyes.

“What is this?”

His adjutant, Haruma, answered, “The Minister of the West gave it to me in person. His niece, the fallen woman, wanted you to have it.”

“And?” His otherwise emotionless face gave way to a raised eyebrow.

“He said it is only for your eyes.”

Four days had passed after the incident with the beautiful young rakugo (fallen woman), a person who offered her gender to the mountain god to serve the government of Yamauchi registered as a man.

The news about her suicide at the waterfalls close to the Clear Mirror Temple rocked the upper echelon of the society yet no one wanted to talk about it. It became a hushed affair, halting a potential ripple effect.

“And you did not, nor anyone, bother to check what was inside… Are we getting soft and careless, Haruma?” The Marquis used his unfolded fan to inspect the contents of the basket that made his heart skip a beat after catching a whiff of a familiar citrus fruit he got as a reward as the young attendant of the previous lord, Nazukihiko.

He then called his adjutant’s name again to further lift the covers. Inside were five candied kumquats wrapped in a purple-colored paper and another object in white.

“Your Excellency, a letter?” Haruma took it out from the basket using a wooden pair of tweezers to lay it out on the table.

From the way it was folded he knew only one person who could do it.

The process was the art of “letterlocking” that his master’s daughter, Himemiya, was so fond of. Ten years ago, she used to give him these letters and bring the food she cooked for him.

~~

“Yuki-san, this is our secret, okay? First, father taught me how to cook and then he also taught me this!” The princess showed him how to fold a letter neatly in different layers, tied a paper that she twisted through the hole that she made on the left corner, and then using a special adhesive, she attached the rest of the paper to prevent tampering it, hence locking the letter. “According to him, there was a time when the people from the outside of the mountain had no envelope to put the letter in. Letters carry our thoughts that are only important to a particular party away from the prying eyes.” Even though the girl was only eight he could not help admiring how precocious she was. He would not be averse serving her when her time to ascend the throne came.

It was said that his master travelled to the Outside World to escape from the former empress and her ilk, who tried to poison him several times when he was still a child.

It made the Marquis smile—then a young man—every time he received the letters, which the princess folded in a complicated manner. A long time ago, the Marquis was a different creature. Around that time his world was still in order with his master by his side.

~~

Of course, the little girl was now no more. Instead, she grew up to be a fierce young woman ready to defy him and the political system he installed, much more different than her father’s. He would never believe that she resorted to killing herself. Her goals were too earnest to hand them over to someone insignificant. Like her father, she was always insistent, a driving force, and an immaculate one.

“Can you open it?”

His adjutant looked at it with reluctance and shook his head.

“I might totally destroy it if I am not careful enough.”

The Marquis gestured Haruma to hand him over the letter. He put down his fan and sat on his swivel chair, a remnant of his stay in the Outside World as a student. He began to unravel the letter he received.

Haruma paid attention how his master unlocked the letter. It seemed that he did it a hundred times before.

“That child!” He spat out in disgust after he read it, then banged the table almost dislodging the papers on top.

“What does it say?”

His master turned his back, bowed his head, and began to laugh.

Yuki-san, do not think everything will go as you wish! You can NEVER make me a concubine so that you can continue your reign unchallenged.

Silence pervaded the room after the laughter receded.

“What shall I do with the… kumquats?”

“Leave them there…” The Marquis said, lost in thoughts. “I want to be alone, Haruma. Please do not disturb me a for a couple of hours.”

“Of course, Your Excellency.”

The adjutant bowed his head, stepped back, and closed the shoji door before him.

As soon as the Marquis heard his assistant leave the room, he reached for the basket and took one candied kumquat, inspected it thoroughly.

~~

“Yuki-sannnnnn!!! Please have some of my kumquats!” The girl shouted as she tried to reach him after visiting the emperor, who was lagging behind her. She ran so fast despite the heavy weight of the kimono she was wearing.

“Ah, you made some again, Princess!” Yukiya caught the child, who almost bumped his leg. He was on his way to meet his master when he saw the two of them coming.

“She cannot wait to see you,” the emperor said. “She did not want to say anything about her present. She hid it well.”

The present being the candied kumquats.

“I think hers are much better than my kumquats, Yukiya. I have met my rival.” He turned to his aide with a smile on his face.

Yukiya looked at his master, who winked at him.

“She loves you, Yukiya.” The emperor muttered under his breath. “We both do.”

“I know, Your Majesty.” The girl then hugged Yukiya’s leg when no one else was around except for her father.

His face turned gentle, reached for her black hair, and touched it. Yukiya’s heart was so full bursting with happiness.

~~

Tears suddenly broke out from an otherwise expressionless face of the Marquis.

The memories were so far away, from a distant past that would never return. Holding on to them was futile.

Between his fingers he crushed the candied kumquats one by one. His anger palpable. He walked up to the open window with the letter in his hand. Without a second thought he tore it to little pieces and let the wind carry them away.

~tbc~