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part two: Hierarchy
The 7th Street train station is bustling with idle chatter, as always, and Hiro's old corner-store earbuds can only do so much against the noise, no matter how high the volume. A headache pounds against his skull and his stomach churns from an unwanted breakfast, and Hiro wonders if he should've stayed home after all.
He didn't want to. He's already missed too many days this month. But standing in a crowded station in several levels of pain and discomfort can't be worth it.
Hiro forces himself onto the train as it arrives, taking the first open seat to avoid the risk of falling should his headache progress into dizziness. No one takes the open seat at his side, even as the train car slowly fills to capacity.
Being almost 6'3 will do that to you.
The station chatter quiets somewhat as commuters adopt the hushed, secretive tones expected on a public train. It does nothing to ease Hiro's headache.
It's going to be a long day.
Hiro turns his music up and closes his eyes and tunes out the world, leaning his head against the train window. The sun at his back casts colored lights behind his eyelids and warms him until it suddenly fades, marking the edge of the city proper.
Hiro opens his eyes and sits up straight, gaze landing on the train doors.
Her stop is the first stop at the edge of the city.
The train slides into Heartline station and the doors open. Only three people exit. A decent crowd filters into the car and Hiro searches for a head of red hair.
And there she is.
t â
Hisako sees Hiro through a train window before the doors even open, his height a dead giveaway. A part of her is grateful for this easy way of finding him, though she would never say so. She knows he hates how much he stands out.
Hiro is clearly searching for her in the crowd and Hisako's heart swells, just a bit, as she steps between two rumpled businessmen and steps into Hiro's gaze.
She does not say good morning. Hiro does not say hello.
Hisako takes the pointedly empty seat beside Hiro and pulls a thick, hard-cover book from her bag. She passes it to him, without a word, and he trades it for one of his earbuds, humming with vibrant music so unlike his controlled expression.
She slips it into her ear and lets the music wash over her. She watches Hiro open the book she gave him and follows along as he reads, their pace perfectly in sync.
This is her favorite kind of morning- a morning with Hiro at her side.
But it can never last forever.
The closer to city center, the more students pour into the train, and Hiro begins to drift apart from her. Hisako refuses to feel hurt by this. Attention is the last thing Hiro ever wants, and for someone so unfriendly to be so clearly connected to the Student Council Secretary is as big an invitation for attention as one can get.
(Hisako does not believe him to be unfriendly, but they've agreed to disagree.)
By the time the train reaches the coast and heads across the bay to Alya Island, Hiro has retreated completely into his music and Hisako has tucked the book back into her bag, refusing to be anything but content with how much of it he read.
When the the train reaches Alya Academy, they exit the car in opposite directions, without so much as a furtive glance to serve as a goodbye.
t â location: Alya Academy
Any other day, Eliza would be vibrating in her excitement to go to school. School never tires her- she loves sitting in the beautiful buildings, she loves her classes, she loves talking to her classmates and teachers and lunch ladies about anything and everything they'll listen to. She loves the views of the glittering sea.
Alya Academy is her safe space, a place where the standards set by her family can fade into the background. But today, for the first time, Eliza is tired.
Two days have passed since Ikeda Yoshio's funeral. Two days since the service was interrupted by the Red King and his Clansmen, since the Red King had stood in a room full of people who despised him and offered their leader a favor.
It had been somewhat of a magical experience, if Eliza was being honest.
But the second the Red King had left, reality came crashing down, and Eliza was left to ponder the possible implications of the Red King's reappearance as the Gold Clansmen around her whispered dark theories and accusations.
The Red King cannot be trusted, they whispered. And if he is allied with the Grey King, then the Grey King cannot be trusted, and the Council is doomed to fall.
Eliza had never met the Red King, but she had heard stories, good and bad. Less good than bad, for only one person in her life knew anything real about Arata.
Someone whispers her name, and Eliza finds Tanaka Tooru's sunny, sunny face.
"What on God's green Earth were you thinking?!"
Eliza doesn't mean to yell- she hadn't even realized how much anger was building inside her until she saw Tooru's face and was reminded of what it meant for him to have been at Ikeda Yoshio's funeral, showing his face to the Council of Kings.
Tooru's sunny smile slides from his face and is replaced by confusion- a pinch in his brow, a tilt to his head. Eliza fumes. Of course he doesn't understand.
"Why would you go to the funeral?! Do you have any idea what people said after you left?!" She cries. Tooru's brow pinches deeper. "You can't just show up uninvited to a funeral like that, not like that- not when you're- God!"
Eliza begins to stumble over her own words and her frustration only builds. What can say to convey how she truly feels? How can she make him understand?
How can she make him understand how afraid for him she was?
How afraid she still is?
Tooru, for his part, does not yell back. He is not upset by her outburst. He is calm. His confused expression fades and instead, finds its way to Eliza, because calm is not a word Eliza would ever use to describe someone like Tooru.
Tooru looks at the ground and says very simply: "We had to say goodbye."
Something within Eliza begins to ache.
Ache because she sees in him something she cannot feel- grief. Eliza had never met Ikeda Yoshio, because she was not a prodigy and thus her father didn't care to involve her in anything of any importance. It was some small miracle that she'd been allowed to attend the funeral, and any loss she'd felt was second-hand.
But Tooru had met Ikeda Yoshio. Had known Ikeda Yoshio. Could grieve him.
Eliza aches for Tooru and as she considers his words, she begins to ache for Arata, too, because she had been invited to the funeral and he had not.
She had been invited to mourn a stranger, while those who loved him had not.
Eliza's anger fades completely and more complicated emotions begin to swirl in her gut. She can see the Tooru's calm exterior beginning to melt into something else, something painful, and once again her thoughts are running a mile a minute trying to decide the right words to say that can fix this mess of a conversation-
Someone calls her name, and Eliza's blood run cold.
"Eliza, darling, I've been searching everywhere for you! I'd have thought I'd find you in the cafe, not out here in the shadows."
Tsunemori Misaki's smile holds double meaning, just as her words do. Here Eliza stands in a shaded courtyard, a place she should not be. Here Eliza stands, with Tanaka Tooru, a friend she should not have. In the shadows, indeed.
Misaki must know this, with that choice of phrasing. Her eyes flit from Eliza to Tooru, narrowing just enough to convey the distrust and disdain that Eliza knows she is expected to feel. Tooru curls in on himself like a leaf deprived of light.
"Eliza, why don't you come with me to the Student Council office? That would be a much better place for a chat." Misaki asks. It is not a request.
Eliza quickly gathers her things from the bench she'd scattered them on earlier. She does not look at Tooru, but she does turn in time to watch Misaki face him with her sharp eyes and poison smile, everything about her screaming danger.
"I do not think you belong here." She says, then turns and walks away.
Eliza does not look at Tooru as she follows Misaki. The complicated emotions in her gut swell until she feels sick and her mind is filled with words unsaid. She has lost her chance to say what she really meant to say when she yelled at him.
She has lost her chance to tell him how afraid she is to lose him.
t â
Every day, Hisako plays with fire, stepping close to someone who she, by all logic, should stay as far away from as possible if she wished to avoid detection.
Nothing important can be accomplished without a healthy amount of risk, Rui had once told her. She had been referring to something completely inane, and Hisako doubts Rui had even realized it could be taken as some form of sisterly advice.
But Hisako happened to agree.
And so she had applied to the Student Council in her third year of middle school and was voted in as Secretary the year after that, standing by Tsunemori Misaki's side through every tedious meeting, discussion, and impromptu club inspection.
Tsunemori Misaki, Student Council President. Tsuemori Misaki, the Blue King.
Every day, Hisako plays with fire.
Every day, Hisako becomes a little less sure that Misaki isn't privy to all her secrets, patiently waiting for the moment she can best use them to her advantage.
Every day, Hisako plays with fire, because her secrets are all she has.
Today, however, it isn't her own secrets Hisako is worried for. She had sat by in the council office, signing assorted club paperwork in Misaki's stead, whilst Misaki herself chatted ominously with Elizabeth La Fontaine over a cup of tea.
Poor Eliza had spent the entire chat looking mildly terrified, and Hisako could only guess at why. Probably it had something to do with Color Clan business.
Hisako dutifully tuned out the conversation, as she knew Misaki expected of her.
One Elizabeth had fled the office and Misaki had taken the rest of the paperwork to sign herself, Hisako sat up straight and asked about Ikeda Yoshio's funeral.
"I assume there must be a lot to consider, with the Council missing a King. I'm a little surprised to see you here today, I'm sure you have much to do."
Misaki smiled at her, a casual, unbothered smile. "Oh, there's plenty to do, but a King's passing can't pause life. It would be unseemly of me to let slide my responsibilities here, regardless of circumstance, don't you think?"
A part of Hisako understood- nothing could be done about Ikeda Yoshio's death. Perhaps a new King would be chosen, but only the Stones could choose a King, and they could not be rushed. To continue on as normal made sense.
But another part of Hisako began to wonder if Misaki cared at all that another King had died. That the head of the Council of Kings was no more.
Perhaps the absence of the strongest King could only benefit those still living.
"And I suppose I shouldn't mention this, but the Council won't be without a Grey King for long. The Moonstone has already chosen a successor."
Hisako couldn't keep her surprise hidden. "What? Already?"
"Oh, yes. I believe the public announcement is set to air tonight. Seems best to keep the city from worrying, hm?" Misaki said.
With that, Misaki gathered her paperwork and left, promising to have everything completed by the end of the day. Hisako sat in the council office for a long time after Misaki was gone, considering everything she had learned.
A new Grey King had been chosen, and quickly. Historically, there was always a decent period of time between the former King's death and the expected public announcement of a new King being chosen. For the announcement ceremony to be prepared and recorded only five days after the former Grey King's passing...
Hisako set the question aside to ask herself: why would Misaki mention this?
If Hisako had learned anything from observing Misaki these past few years, it was that nothing Misaki ever did was unintentional. Misaki was cunning. She knew how to use words as a tool, as a weapon. She knew how to twist your emotions until you felt exactly what she wanted, thought exactly what she wanted.
Hisako would never believe that Misaki had told her these things carelessly.
Hisako was playing with fire.
He didn't want to. He's already missed too many days this month. But standing in a crowded station in several levels of pain and discomfort can't be worth it.
Hiro forces himself onto the train as it arrives, taking the first open seat to avoid the risk of falling should his headache progress into dizziness. No one takes the open seat at his side, even as the train car slowly fills to capacity.
Being almost 6'3 will do that to you.
The station chatter quiets somewhat as commuters adopt the hushed, secretive tones expected on a public train. It does nothing to ease Hiro's headache.
It's going to be a long day.
Hiro turns his music up and closes his eyes and tunes out the world, leaning his head against the train window. The sun at his back casts colored lights behind his eyelids and warms him until it suddenly fades, marking the edge of the city proper.
Hiro opens his eyes and sits up straight, gaze landing on the train doors.
Her stop is the first stop at the edge of the city.
The train slides into Heartline station and the doors open. Only three people exit. A decent crowd filters into the car and Hiro searches for a head of red hair.
And there she is.
t â
Hisako sees Hiro through a train window before the doors even open, his height a dead giveaway. A part of her is grateful for this easy way of finding him, though she would never say so. She knows he hates how much he stands out.
Hiro is clearly searching for her in the crowd and Hisako's heart swells, just a bit, as she steps between two rumpled businessmen and steps into Hiro's gaze.
She does not say good morning. Hiro does not say hello.
Hisako takes the pointedly empty seat beside Hiro and pulls a thick, hard-cover book from her bag. She passes it to him, without a word, and he trades it for one of his earbuds, humming with vibrant music so unlike his controlled expression.
She slips it into her ear and lets the music wash over her. She watches Hiro open the book she gave him and follows along as he reads, their pace perfectly in sync.
This is her favorite kind of morning- a morning with Hiro at her side.
But it can never last forever.
The closer to city center, the more students pour into the train, and Hiro begins to drift apart from her. Hisako refuses to feel hurt by this. Attention is the last thing Hiro ever wants, and for someone so unfriendly to be so clearly connected to the Student Council Secretary is as big an invitation for attention as one can get.
(Hisako does not believe him to be unfriendly, but they've agreed to disagree.)
By the time the train reaches the coast and heads across the bay to Alya Island, Hiro has retreated completely into his music and Hisako has tucked the book back into her bag, refusing to be anything but content with how much of it he read.
When the the train reaches Alya Academy, they exit the car in opposite directions, without so much as a furtive glance to serve as a goodbye.
t â location: Alya Academy
Any other day, Eliza would be vibrating in her excitement to go to school. School never tires her- she loves sitting in the beautiful buildings, she loves her classes, she loves talking to her classmates and teachers and lunch ladies about anything and everything they'll listen to. She loves the views of the glittering sea.
Alya Academy is her safe space, a place where the standards set by her family can fade into the background. But today, for the first time, Eliza is tired.
Two days have passed since Ikeda Yoshio's funeral. Two days since the service was interrupted by the Red King and his Clansmen, since the Red King had stood in a room full of people who despised him and offered their leader a favor.
It had been somewhat of a magical experience, if Eliza was being honest.
But the second the Red King had left, reality came crashing down, and Eliza was left to ponder the possible implications of the Red King's reappearance as the Gold Clansmen around her whispered dark theories and accusations.
The Red King cannot be trusted, they whispered. And if he is allied with the Grey King, then the Grey King cannot be trusted, and the Council is doomed to fall.
Eliza had never met the Red King, but she had heard stories, good and bad. Less good than bad, for only one person in her life knew anything real about Arata.
Someone whispers her name, and Eliza finds Tanaka Tooru's sunny, sunny face.
"What on God's green Earth were you thinking?!"
Eliza doesn't mean to yell- she hadn't even realized how much anger was building inside her until she saw Tooru's face and was reminded of what it meant for him to have been at Ikeda Yoshio's funeral, showing his face to the Council of Kings.
Tooru's sunny smile slides from his face and is replaced by confusion- a pinch in his brow, a tilt to his head. Eliza fumes. Of course he doesn't understand.
"Why would you go to the funeral?! Do you have any idea what people said after you left?!" She cries. Tooru's brow pinches deeper. "You can't just show up uninvited to a funeral like that, not like that- not when you're- God!"
Eliza begins to stumble over her own words and her frustration only builds. What can say to convey how she truly feels? How can she make him understand?
How can she make him understand how afraid for him she was?
How afraid she still is?
Tooru, for his part, does not yell back. He is not upset by her outburst. He is calm. His confused expression fades and instead, finds its way to Eliza, because calm is not a word Eliza would ever use to describe someone like Tooru.
Tooru looks at the ground and says very simply: "We had to say goodbye."
Something within Eliza begins to ache.
Ache because she sees in him something she cannot feel- grief. Eliza had never met Ikeda Yoshio, because she was not a prodigy and thus her father didn't care to involve her in anything of any importance. It was some small miracle that she'd been allowed to attend the funeral, and any loss she'd felt was second-hand.
But Tooru had met Ikeda Yoshio. Had known Ikeda Yoshio. Could grieve him.
Eliza aches for Tooru and as she considers his words, she begins to ache for Arata, too, because she had been invited to the funeral and he had not.
She had been invited to mourn a stranger, while those who loved him had not.
Eliza's anger fades completely and more complicated emotions begin to swirl in her gut. She can see the Tooru's calm exterior beginning to melt into something else, something painful, and once again her thoughts are running a mile a minute trying to decide the right words to say that can fix this mess of a conversation-
Someone calls her name, and Eliza's blood run cold.
"Eliza, darling, I've been searching everywhere for you! I'd have thought I'd find you in the cafe, not out here in the shadows."
Tsunemori Misaki's smile holds double meaning, just as her words do. Here Eliza stands in a shaded courtyard, a place she should not be. Here Eliza stands, with Tanaka Tooru, a friend she should not have. In the shadows, indeed.
Misaki must know this, with that choice of phrasing. Her eyes flit from Eliza to Tooru, narrowing just enough to convey the distrust and disdain that Eliza knows she is expected to feel. Tooru curls in on himself like a leaf deprived of light.
"Eliza, why don't you come with me to the Student Council office? That would be a much better place for a chat." Misaki asks. It is not a request.
Eliza quickly gathers her things from the bench she'd scattered them on earlier. She does not look at Tooru, but she does turn in time to watch Misaki face him with her sharp eyes and poison smile, everything about her screaming danger.
"I do not think you belong here." She says, then turns and walks away.
Eliza does not look at Tooru as she follows Misaki. The complicated emotions in her gut swell until she feels sick and her mind is filled with words unsaid. She has lost her chance to say what she really meant to say when she yelled at him.
She has lost her chance to tell him how afraid she is to lose him.
t â
Every day, Hisako plays with fire, stepping close to someone who she, by all logic, should stay as far away from as possible if she wished to avoid detection.
Nothing important can be accomplished without a healthy amount of risk, Rui had once told her. She had been referring to something completely inane, and Hisako doubts Rui had even realized it could be taken as some form of sisterly advice.
But Hisako happened to agree.
And so she had applied to the Student Council in her third year of middle school and was voted in as Secretary the year after that, standing by Tsunemori Misaki's side through every tedious meeting, discussion, and impromptu club inspection.
Tsunemori Misaki, Student Council President. Tsuemori Misaki, the Blue King.
Every day, Hisako plays with fire.
Every day, Hisako becomes a little less sure that Misaki isn't privy to all her secrets, patiently waiting for the moment she can best use them to her advantage.
Every day, Hisako plays with fire, because her secrets are all she has.
Today, however, it isn't her own secrets Hisako is worried for. She had sat by in the council office, signing assorted club paperwork in Misaki's stead, whilst Misaki herself chatted ominously with Elizabeth La Fontaine over a cup of tea.
Poor Eliza had spent the entire chat looking mildly terrified, and Hisako could only guess at why. Probably it had something to do with Color Clan business.
Hisako dutifully tuned out the conversation, as she knew Misaki expected of her.
One Elizabeth had fled the office and Misaki had taken the rest of the paperwork to sign herself, Hisako sat up straight and asked about Ikeda Yoshio's funeral.
"I assume there must be a lot to consider, with the Council missing a King. I'm a little surprised to see you here today, I'm sure you have much to do."
Misaki smiled at her, a casual, unbothered smile. "Oh, there's plenty to do, but a King's passing can't pause life. It would be unseemly of me to let slide my responsibilities here, regardless of circumstance, don't you think?"
A part of Hisako understood- nothing could be done about Ikeda Yoshio's death. Perhaps a new King would be chosen, but only the Stones could choose a King, and they could not be rushed. To continue on as normal made sense.
But another part of Hisako began to wonder if Misaki cared at all that another King had died. That the head of the Council of Kings was no more.
Perhaps the absence of the strongest King could only benefit those still living.
"And I suppose I shouldn't mention this, but the Council won't be without a Grey King for long. The Moonstone has already chosen a successor."
Hisako couldn't keep her surprise hidden. "What? Already?"
"Oh, yes. I believe the public announcement is set to air tonight. Seems best to keep the city from worrying, hm?" Misaki said.
With that, Misaki gathered her paperwork and left, promising to have everything completed by the end of the day. Hisako sat in the council office for a long time after Misaki was gone, considering everything she had learned.
A new Grey King had been chosen, and quickly. Historically, there was always a decent period of time between the former King's death and the expected public announcement of a new King being chosen. For the announcement ceremony to be prepared and recorded only five days after the former Grey King's passing...
Hisako set the question aside to ask herself: why would Misaki mention this?
If Hisako had learned anything from observing Misaki these past few years, it was that nothing Misaki ever did was unintentional. Misaki was cunning. She knew how to use words as a tool, as a weapon. She knew how to twist your emotions until you felt exactly what she wanted, thought exactly what she wanted.
Hisako would never believe that Misaki had told her these things carelessly.
Hisako was playing with fire.