Chapter Text
Corrin spat out the grass that somehow ended up in her mouth.
“Again.”
“Again?” Hinata’s eyes widened as the white haired girl stood up. “But I don’t want to end up hurting you, Corrin.”
“I’m fine,” Corrin shot him a small smile in attempts to prove her point. “So let’s spar again.”
She readied her sword, taking a deep breath. However, the brunette in front of her did not raise his katana from his leisure stance.
Hinata was working to become a strong samurai for the army, so Corrin helped him train. However, she mainly got wrecked lost with dignity. This only pushed the determined dragon shifter to train harder.
Hinata was the kind of person who followed any request given to him by a beautiful woman, no matter how irking the demand was. Unless of course he was fighting a female enemy. But the brunette was not the one to refuse an order from an appealing woman.
Seeing as he did not seem to want to follow Corrin’s demand, she found that quite insulting to her appearance.
“I’m sorry, Lady Corrin,” Hinata spun on his heel, dull side of his blade resting on his shoulder. “But I think I hear Oboro calling for me.”
“Nice try, Hinata,” Corrin clicked her tongue, stopping the taller boy in his tracks. “We all know that Oboro’s on a business related trip with her parents.”
The bluenette was with her two parents as they were selling their clothing in towns further away from the capital of Hoshido. Obviously everyone was very happy and excited for her and her family, but Corrin could sense and see the sadness in Hinata’s eyes as he bid her farewell and a happy ‘see you soon.’
“Oh yeah,” Hinata’s free hand scratched the back of his neck as he sadly looked at the dirt on his shoes.
“Look,” Corrin let her sword’s weight pull her extended arm down lazily at her side. “I get it, you miss her. It’s tough to go through that.”
“After what happened with…” Hinata’s voice drifted away, not wanting to continue his sentence. “It was just me and Oboro. And- and now it’s just me. I’m all by myself.”
“You’re not alone, Hinata,” Corrin gave him a sad smile of her own. “We’re both missing someone. Might as well miss them both together.”
It was silly, but Corrin thought that if the two shared their pain it wouldn’t hurt as much as it originally would’ve experienced alone.
“Y- you’re right!” the brunette gave the princess a big grin showing his bright white teeth that Corrin missed seeing on his face. “Sorry for getting all depressing and stuff.”
“No worries,” Corrin waved her sword around as her arms made gestures. “Besides, Oboro will be back in no time to punch your shoulders and yell at you for being an idiot. And you’ll be back to sewing with her during late hours and holding eachothers hands.”
The dragon shifter noticed the faintest of pink on the other’s cheeks as she mentioned the ‘holding hands’ part.
“Who knows maybe you’ll gather enough guts to confess to one another already,” Corrin sighed dreamily, smirking at the brunette.
“What?” Hinata nearly dropped his katana. “Heh, I don’t know anything about confessing to one another or anything.”
“C’mon! You two literally are one of the cutest couples of all time!” Corrin almost flung her weapon across the training area when she threw her arms down in exasperation. “You guys are pretty much making out with your eyes.”
“Okay,” Hinata looked off to the side. “So maybe I do have a crush on her-”
“Yes!”
“...but making out with our eyes? Oboro barely gives me the time of day,” Hinata pointed out, shaking off the idea of a love confession.
“Barely give you the- Do you see the way she looks at you?” Corrin shook her head, white waves falling messily onto her face. “You guys need to kiss already.”
“Kiss? Lady Corrin, I-”
“Pardon me,” a gentle voice interrupted their conversation.
Azura walked in, white fabric flowing like water behind her. She curtsied respectfully to both of them, leaving Hinata slightly surprised by the polite gesture towards him.
“Lady Corrin, we must speak,” the bluenette explained. The princess nodded her head, raising an eyebrow. Putting her sword away, she walked towards her friend.
“I’ll see you later, Hinata,” Corrin nodded her head as a farewell.
“You bet! Catch you later, Lady Corrin!” Hinata beamed another toothy grin as the two girls walked off, silently thanking Azura for taking Corrin away (Meanwhile, Corrin was resisting the urge to yell “Just Corrin!” at her friend).
Azura led the princess to sit on a stone bench that was placed near the cherry blossom grotto. The trees weren’t blooming the elegant flowers during this particular season.
“What is it, Azura?” Corrin seemed quite concerned. Since she was dead set on befriending everyone and vice versa, she had found a friend in the servant. And if her friend wanted to speak to her privately, than she knew something was up.
“I’m worried about you, Corrin,” Azura explained while Corrin silently thanked the gods for the blue haired girl didn’t say ‘lady’ or ‘princess.’
“You’ve been training and overworking yourself. And I highly doubt that it is good to neglect your health.”
“I assure you that I’m fine, Azura and I thank you for worrying about me, but again, I am in top shape,” Corrin took a deep breath, smiling a bit as she stared at the familiar meadow.
“Are you?” the servant tilted her head slightly. “Corrin, I don’t want what happened to Hinoka to happen to you.”
Corrin felt an immediate rush of sadness wash over her slight peace at the mention of what happened to her older sister. The redhead had fell ill with a cold after neglecting her health and overworking herself with vigorous training. (including spending lots of time in the rain that was becoming common during the change of season). However, that was a few months ago and now the princess was standing tall again.
Hinoka continued to train, but she promised to take care of herself more. So far she seemed to be holding her promise and didn’t burn herself out like she used to.
The cold wasn’t the most serious sickness that could’ve affected the redhead, but still gave everyone a fright. Corrin didn’t want Azura to worry over nothing because she was perfectly fine. In perfect condition.
“You don’t need to worry, Azura,” Corrin pressed. “I may be a bit crazy in the head, but I will never let my health get damaged because I overworked myself.”
“Corrin, you may not be overdoing anything now,” Azura sighed, a slight breeze blowing her soft light blue locks. “But don't put too much pressure on yourself or you will.”
“In other words, if Hinata beats you for the hundredth time then he beats you.”
“What? Hey! It wasn’t a hundred,” the princess scoffed, feigning overexaggerated offense.
“You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yes, yes of course Azura,” Corrin gave her friend another small smile. “But you do understand me, right?”
“Pardon? I apologize Lady Corrin, but I do not understand your question,” Azura tilted her head in confusion.
“Corrin. Just Corrin, remember?” the white haired girl corrected.
“I’m doing all of this because just like Hinata, I’m missing someone,” she explained, hands resting gently on her own lap. “And of course you already know who I’m missing.”
“I know what that feels like,” Azura said quietly. “I know how much it hurts to miss someone.”
“You do?” Corrin raised a brow. This was news to her.
“I miss a lot of people,” the servant continued.
“There was a Nohrian boy I met by the lake I love visiting, if you recall,” she explained as Corrin straightened up at the sound of ‘Nohrian.’
“Nohrian?” she nearly screamed.
“Believe it or not, Corrin,” Azura managed to laugh at her little outburst, “but not all Nohrians are bad.”
“Okay, okay!” Corrin raised her hands in defense. “Please entertain me with your story.”
“Well, he and I became quite close over the course of a few days,” Azura smiled softly at the memory. “So when it came time to say farewell to one another, I gave him a pouch full of cherry blossom seeds in hopes that he’ll grow them when he knew it was the perfect time.”
She remembered quite fondly the moment she gave them to the boy. She only hoped that he hadn’t forgotten about them or about her. She hoped that the Nohrian boy had used them.
“He gave me a gift in return,” Azura sighed happily.
“Ooh! What was it?” Corrin asked excitedly.
“He gave me dark blue Nohrian silk,” the servant recalled. “It may not seem like much, but I used the silk to create a beautiful dance ensemble. Maybe one day I could show it to you.”
“Oh my! Azura, why didn’t you tell me about this mysterious crush you have?” Corrin gasped, unable to contain her giddy feelings threatening to burst out of her any second.
“Seeing what you have done to Hinata and Oboro for the past year,” Azura laughed nervously. “I thought it was best not to mention it.”
“Okay, point taken,” Corrin sighed knowingly. Her matchmaking skills were on point nonetheless though. “So what is his name?”
“Hm? Ah yes, we called each other by nicknames or code names,” Azura explained. “So I don’t know his actual name, but I would like to find out someday.”
“But he called me ‘Lady of the Lake’ and I called him ‘Knight in Shining Armour,” Azura continued, smiling to no end, causing Corrin to turn on her matchmaking and shipper mode.
“Hm, I see,” Corrin smirked. “You two were adorable back then! Code names and presents. Just making this mysterious crush even more mysterious.”
“And this is usually why I keep these things to myself, Corrin,” Azura sighed, before standing up.
“I have duties I must go back to doing,” she exclaimed. “So I must take my leave. Please take care of yourself, Corrin.”
Before the servant left, she turned around, “I know you miss your younger brother, Princess, but try to keep your hopes up. After all, Hoshido will bring him back no matter what.”
And the singer believed that. Clutching the pendant around her neck, she wondered if unleashing its power could save the missing second prince. Maybe she could be of use for once.
Meanwhile, Corrin sighed staring at the grotto in front of her. Azura was correct about one thing. Hoshido was going to bring her brother back no matter what. That was why everyone had been working so hard for a year after all. Corrin just hoped that a year wasn’t too long of a wait. She hoped that they didn’t take too long to get to Takumi.
Corrin found herself absentmindedly grasping onto her dragon stone. The army needed her. They needed her abilities to transform into a dragon. If only she could control her more powerful attacks. If she could nail them, they could be one step closer to taking the rescue plan into action. She had to work harder, but knew her boundaries. She wouldn’t over do it, but she still needed to train.
Everyone had been so busy over the past year, trying to come up with ideas, weapons and techniques in order to ensure a successful victory against Nohr. After some research, Corrin realized how terrifying the Nohrian army really was. She always believed the other army was powerful, no doubt being a kingdom surviving off of conquering others, but she never noticed how ruthless and strong their soldiers were.
That just meant that putting a fight against them would get ten times more risky. Especially since Nohr had the advantage of keeping their second prince hostage. They had an upper hand and a powerful army. If the Hoshidans didn’t think of a plan fast, then they had in turn already lost.
“But what can we do?” Corrin muttered to herself, trying to come up with a good plan in her head.
Hoshido had plenty of resources which enabled them to create strong weapons if needed. But would a powerful weapon be enough to stop Nohr’s countless sorcerers and mages? Would they be able to fend off what Nohr had in store?
After all, Nohr did strike first by kidnapping a royal, so that obviously mean that they were prepared for whatever Hoshido had to offer. What made the king so confident in his plan?
Corrin couldn’t put her finger on it. For someone who had spent most of her days ‘thinking’ you’d think she’d come up with something by now. But the mysteries of Nohr could not be solved by her.
“This is pointless,” Corrin said through gritted teeth. “If we don’t find out what Nohr is planning to do then we’ll never stand a chance against them. More Hoshidan blood will be spilled and I can’t let that happen.”
The princess took a deep breath. Maybe she couldn’t find out what might be in store in the future, but maybe somehow someone else could. Standing up again and cracking her stiff bones, Corrin sought out to find Hinata again.
Their match wasn’t over yet. And if Corrin had to lose for the 510th time, then who was she to complain.
}}}--------------------|}
It only took Ryoma a few seconds after hearing the news to immediately send off soldiers to the scene.
He nearly cursed under his breath as he hurried down the hallway. He also nearly crashed into Corrin and Hinata in his haste.
“Ryoma? Why are you in such a rush?” Corrin seemed worried at the sight of her brother being worried. Ryoma had that unfortunate effect on others.
“Nohrian bandits have attacked more Hoshidan merchants,” Ryoma explained, Hinata’s head shot immediately to his direction at the explanation.
“Those Nohrians are getting bolder and more ruthless by the day,” Corrin shook her head, angrily. “What is going on with them?”
“An attack on merchants? Please, Lord Ryoma let me come,” Hinata exclaimed. Corrin looked at the boy questioningly. He was beyond worried and a glint of fear were in his grey eyes.
“It is too dangerous at the moment,” Ryoma shook his head, rejecting Hinata’s plea. “Now, I must hurry.”
Corrin noticed the fear in her friend’s eyes, biting her lip. She couldn't bear to see anyone like that. Luckily she remembered a very important fact about Ryoma.
“Um, brother? Must I remind you that you don’t know how to ride a Pegasus?” Corrin stopped the prince in his tracks. “Or a Kinshi for that matter?”
Horses were always an option...if Ryoma knew how to ride one that is.
“I’ll have you know that Hinata here can ride a horse,” Corrin patted the boy’s shoulder, smiling a bit.
“And a Pegasus!” Hinata grinned, hope in his eyes leading to Ryoma’s defeat.
“As a good friend, he should go to represent the crown prince,” Corrin added. “And the second princess.”
“Alright. But please be careful. It could still be dangerous out there,” the high prince ordered.
“You can count on me, sir!” Hinata saluted the Royal before hurrying off to find a royal Pegasus to fly.
The brunette hastily climbed a top of a cream coloured one, leading it out of the stables to where Hoshidan soldiers were preparing to take off to the scene. He had to make sure that she was alright. Or at least pray to the gods that she wasn’t one of the unfortunate ransacked by the bandits.
As everyone flew off, Hinata followed, letting the cold air numb his fingers that seemed to be glued onto the reins.
He had lost Takumi to Nohrians, he wasn’t going to lose Oboro to them too.
For what felt like forever in Hinata’s mind, they had finally made it to a path used for transporting merchandise and loot by carriage. Except, the dirt path had carriages sprawled across, broken down.
Landing immediately, recklessly if you asked the other soldiers, Hinata literally jumped off the Pegasus. He ran towards the beaten wagons, jumping over a few wheels that had fallen from their axles.
Peering inside a few carriages, Hinata was shocked to find all of them completely empty besides a few worthless items and ripped unusable cloth. As the other soldiers followed him into the wreck and examined the damage, the samurai-in-training continued walking around. He came across a few bodies, making him stumble back in horror.
They were the owners of one of the carriages, slashed and killed. The Nohrian bandits had been merciless, not even letting the merchants survive. Hinata noticed one of the corpses was one of an elderly woman, making him grimace in pure disgust as to how heartless the goons had been.
Finally managing to walk away from the sight, Hinata was met with even more horror. Almost falling to his knees, he couldn’t believe what was in front of him. They were...there. One man and one woman. Their dead bodies stained the grass with blood, dark fatal cuts prominent on their light clothing. The couple had been holding hands as they met their fate which only made it harder for Hinata to stand. Oboro’s parents.
The dead husband and wife lay silently on the ground, making Hinata wish to hear their voices one last time. He wanted Oboro’s mother to ask whether he wanted tea or for Oboro’s father to ask him to help out with carrying some heavy supplies.
Hinata couldn’t believe it. The last words they had ever said to him was...was “Goodbye.”
Shaking his head to bring him back to reality, Hinata noticed that Oboro wasn’t with her parents. Was she not dead? Did she survive? Hinata quickly ran towards the two corpses, looking around them. If Oboro was still alive she’d stay at least near her deceased parents.
He heard some sniffling and whimpering from beside him, immediately turning. Leaning against a fallen carriage was Oboro, weeping from the events that would no doubt haunt her. Dashing over to his friend, Hinata knelt down beside the navy blue haired girl.
“Hinata?” Oboro’s watery eyes widened at the sight of her energetic friend, who at the moment didn’t look energetic at all.
“Oboro?” Hinata put a hand on her shoulder just in case she thought he wasn’t real. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“You...you idiot. You asked the same question twice,” Oboro sniffled, before nodding. “But I’m fine.”
“Can you walk?” Hinata stood up, putting out a hand to help his friend up.
“I just said that I was fine, Hinata,” Oboro scowled, but still grabbed onto her friend’s offered hand and stood up.
Hinata thought that his friend just needed a bit of time to cool off and was just being stubbornly grumpy at the moment. Before he could walk away to give her some space, she latched onto him, hugging and crying.
“O-Oboro?” Hinata stammered, taken aback from the action. Usually Oboro wore a stoic face, refusing to cry even when things got tough for her. Hinata should’ve figured that even Oboro wasn’t stubborn enough to not cry for her parents. “I thought you said that you’re alright!”
“You knucklehead! Of course I’m not alright,”Oboro bit her bottom lip, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. “Those Nohrian scum...they...they ruined my life.”
“Your life isn’t ruined. No Nohrian can ever do that to you on my watch,” Hinata rubbed her back after a lot of contemplation over the action.
“But, they- they killed my parents...right in front of me,” Oboro glared at the ground. “They took Takumi away from his family and...and from us.”
“It’s going to be okay, Oboro,” Hinata said softly. “You’re not alone. You’ve still got me, okay?”
“And, hey,” Hinata remembered Corrin’s words from earlier. “If you want, we can miss all of them...together.”
“Hinata?” Oboro shot him one of her grins. “You’re the dumbest person I have ever met.”
“I get that a lot,” Hinata smiled, scratching the back of his neck.
“But that’s why I love you,” Oboro said in a quieter voice, causing them both to blush furiously.
“Oboro, I-”
“Hinata! You’ve found a survivor?” A young soldier came running towards them as they broke the embrace.
Hinata nodded his head, a bit disappointed that the moment had ended.
“We must bring her quickly to the castle to heal any injuries,” the soldier explained, hurrying Oboro to ride on one of the awaiting Pegasi with another soldier.
As Hinata hopped back onto his Pegasus, he couldn’t help but wish that Oboro was riding with him instead. The brunette managed to hear the other men talking about how Oboro was the only survivor, making Hinata’s heart ache for those who died and their families.
Nohr was certainly doing a good job scaring Hoshido.
}}}--------------------|}
It was now night. Oboro was invited to stay at the castle for a short period of time, more so politely forced by Corrin. Arrangements had been made for her to live with a few of her relatives who happened to be soldiers for the army.
Hinata had visited Oboro in her guest room a couple of times. Most of those occasions were brief as he was sent to either give her some food or her belongings. However, he remembered holding the shorter girl when she broke down. She tearfully explained what had happened with the Nohrian bandits.
During the ambush, Oboro had fallen down from the front of the wagon. As her parents were threatened she had been lying on the ground, no doubt bruised and in pain, but helpless. She watched, horrified as the thugs took her mother and father’s lives right in front of her.
She recalled how paralyzed in fear she had been. The Nohrian bandits assumed that she was already dead or one of their goons had already killed her, leaving her alone. Oboro laughed bitterly, mentioning how tragic it was for her to be so paralyzed in fear and horror to appear dead in their eyes.
Hinata decided to swing by to check if his friend was alright again. This time, he was finally getting to go on his free will- not that he didn’t want to go on his free will the other times.
The brunette excitedly knocked on the door, most likely louder than he had intended for it to be. As Oboro begrudgingly called for whoever it was to enter, Hinata swung open the door, smiling at the sight of his friend.
“I’m still alive, Hinata,” Oboro grimaced, standing by the window and staring into the night sky. Her dirt covered clothes had been changed and Hinata took note of how stupid he was for realizing that fact now, after all those previous encounters.
“My god, Hinata, do you ever run out of energy?”Oboro groaned, though had a small smile on her face afterwards. “During those nights in the clothing shop as we worked to finish those clothing pieces, you were always the last one to go down.”
In perfect sync the two said, “Takumi was always the first.”
The two laughed at the memory of Takumi giving up on sewing and falling asleep on the couch or counter.
Smiling a bit, Oboro recalled her fondest memories.
“No matter how hard I tried to stay awake with tea and determination, I could never have as much energy as you,” Oboro punched Hinata’s arm lightly (which she may or may not have noticed was made up of a lot more muscle than she remembered). “People weren’t wrong when they said you have as much energy as a hyper puppy. Or even more.”
“Hey, I can’t help it when life is full of excitement!” Hinata beamed, smile fading when he noticed Oboro’s sudden sad expression. “H-hey what’s wrong?”
“It’s about what happened today,” Oboro bit her lip instinctively.
“I know it’s gonna be tough, but I’ll-I’ll be there if you need me,” Hinata said sheepishly. He had no clue whether he was being considerate and comforting at the moment, but hoped that his words reached her and at least made her feel better.
“It’s not just about that, Hinata,” Oboro looked around the room anxiously. “The thing is, I-I lied alright?”
“You lied? Lied about what?” Hinata’s eyes widened. What could she have lied about in this whole situation?
“My parents and I weren’t just transporting clothing items,” Oboro explained. “We had a much more important task.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a Hoshidan fortress that we were heading to,” Oboro bit her lip again. “We were sent by my relatives, you know the soldiers that I will be living with soon. They sent my family and I to retrieve something very important for the king and queen. We swore to protect it.”
“Protect what, Oboro?” Hinata asked, biting his lip as well. What was happening?
“Fujin Yumi,” Oboro breathed. “We were sent to the fortress to bring the Fujin Yumi, the divine weapon to King Sumeragi.”
“Divine...Fujin...King,” Hinata gulped. “You mean you were undercover?”
“Yes, Hinata. C’mon, catch up,” Oboro huffed before returning to her worried state of mind. “We hid it in one of the boxes of clothing that we had brought in the carriage...but then we got attacked and the Nohrian bandits…”
Although most people wouldn’t associate ‘smart’ and ‘Hinata’ together in the same thought or sentence, Hinata strung together the pieces quicker than he himself thought he would’ve.
“They took the Fujin Yumi, Hinata,” Oboro’s voice quivered. “I lost a divine weapon.”
“It’s not your fault, Oboro,” Hinata put his hands onto her shoulders. “It’s not...so don’t blame yourself.”
“We-we shouldn’t have went so close to the border,” Oboro was on the verge of tears again. “Then we wouldn’t have been attacked and...and everything would be fine.”
“The Nohrian scum will probably give it to their king upon discovery,” Oboro growled, a bitter taste left in her mouth after thinking about them. “What if Corrin, Hinoka or Sakura was to be chosen by the Fujin Yumi? And now it’s gone. It’s..it’s gone.”
“Calm down, it’s going to be fine,” Hinata made sure his voice didn’t shake knowing everything he had just said was a lie.
“Nohr…,” Oboro’s voice whispered. “They took my parents, they took the divine weapon and they took Takumi.”
“I won’t let them take anything else that rightfully belongs to Hoshido,” Oboro spat, glaring at the window. “I can’t let them.”
And for the rest of the night Oboro silently wept while Hinata comforted her, fighting the urge to cry himself. They sat by another in silence as they both occasionally stared out the window.
Although their reunion was odd and no doubt filled with tears, Hinata was still thankful that his friend was alright. He had missed her so much and he remembered how terrified he was when Ryoma had explained what had happened.
Hinata was scared of losing her. He was scared that the girl he...he loved would die. His hands almost started to shake again from fear of the thought.
Maybe Corrin was right before. Maybe he should tell her how he felt towards her. Biting his lip for a good few minutes and contemplating whether or not it was a good decision or not, Hinata finally decided to do it.
“Hey, um Oboro?” Hinata scratched the back of his neck nervously as the girl beside him raised an eyebrow curiously. “Look there’s something I’ve wanted to um say for uh...for a while now, so-”
“I love you too, Hinata,” Oboro smiled before hugging the brunette, holding him tightly.
“H-how did you-”
“Corrin’s a crazy one. Making out with our eyes?” Oboro laughed making Hinata smile himself.
Corrin? Then Hinata suddenly remembered seeing Corrin walk out of the room once, having talked with Oboro for a bit. That darn dragon shifter.
“Does she do that to you too?”
“Yeah, everyday!” Hinata sighed, the two pulling away from their embrace but still standing close.
“I don’t want to lose you Hinata,” Oboro explained. “I-I love you too much for that.”
“I don’t want to lose you either,” Hinata put his hands on her shoulders. “Why do you think I came flying on a Pegasus to make sure you were alright?”
The two continued to smile happily, having finally said it out loud, feeling complete. It felt nice to finally have admitted it to one another. Keeping it bottled up inside was never a good idea anyway. And by the looks of it the two couldn’t have been happier, smiling until their cheeks started hurting.
Their happy moment was ruined by an all too familiar voice, muffled by the closed door.
“Just kiss already!”
They immediately froze, eyes wide, staring at the door in complete utter horror.
Another voice was heard shortly after, stern and demanding. “Corrin, what are you doing?”
“Wait, wait! Ryoma, don’t take me away!”
The voices got quieter as their owners walked further away from the room. One voice complaining while the other was giving one hell of a lecture.