Espoir Mansion

"Just... one... more..."

Haruka was slaving over the stove in the kitchen, apron and bandanna and all. He was serving up a large stew lunch for the Espoir Household today, as thanks for many a things. However Haruka would never admit it, and instead just let everyone assume its another meal for everyone.

"So close..."

Butler-san had Haruka at the whip today, making sure he had all the spices and ingredients right from the start. No messups. Stew can take quite a long time to prepare depending on its quantity and depending on its quality. Haruka wiped his head with a rag, leaning against the counter checking a few text messages, to find only some small things like grocery lists from Sera and... a message from a girl?

O h n o.

Yukino cannot see this phone ever again. Who was this anyways? He never remembered putting this number in his contact list!

"Mizumi... Shiina? Erm..."

"Something wrong, Haruka?"

Butler-san has referred to Haruka by name ever since he was employed, now that they are technically on the same level.

"N-Nothing, its fine. Back to cooking..."

"Correct. Your coffee is ready when you want a break, meet me by the table-"

"ON MY WAY, SIR."

There was no more time for cooking. Time for coffee break.

Karin ran through the gates, heading up towards the extremely regal mansion that could only belong to the commander herself. With her rounds of Umano completed early, and the news of Bashiro's alleged promise to behave, Karin wanted to report her findings to Yugure, today if possible. Reaching the front door, she had to pull back to stop herself from bumping into the man standing right outside the doorway. She recognized the man, for sure, and the name was on the tip of her tongue...

"Er, Seifer, right? I have a report I need to give to Miss Yugure... May I come inside?"

A new person showed up at the front door. He didn't get to see her much but... "Karin? Ah... Yeah, come on in. I'll take you to her. You can come inside to Satoshi. Wouldn't do to have you just standing outside. If you need something just ask one of the staff. I'll be back in a bit." with that he motioned for Karin to follow him, leading her through the halls to the workshop. He didn't really like coming here, for a few reasons but... Knocking on the door a few times with his knuckle, he took a glance at Karin before calling through the door. "Nee-San? Karin's here. She's got something to report." he spoke loud enough that his voice would travel through the door, but not loud enough that it would echo throughout the halls themselves. He actually didn't even know if she was awake or not. That being said, maybe this would wake her up.

The voices went away, and Yukino was still barely standing, sweating. The woman shook her head after a couple of minutes, and adjusted her ponytail at least to be somewhat presentable. She wasn't in her dress coat, but her black tee and pants again. A sigh, and a slight bang on the table in frustration. Hikari went to the door and opened it.

"What?" The grumpy queen inquired as to why anyone was bothering her.

Karin was a little surprised to see Yugure in such casual clothes. Normally she wore something more formal or dressy, like her coat. Though, maybe it wouldn't be so surprising if she always wore something like this underneath it. Karin had seen Yugure go from professional to emotional before... Like the snowy day three months ago, when she had to rush Yugure back to the old HQ to save her life, leaving Haruka behind after their heartwrenching confrontation. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Karin ran through the snow-covered streets to the HQ, a half-dead Yugure slowly bleeding out on her back. If Karin hadn't been there to help, Yugure might have died that day.

Karin hadn't had much time to bond or interact with Yugure since then, but she did get officially hired onto the Resistance under Yugure's command, and Karin had been working her hardest ever since. If anything, she could at least enjoy knowing her work was benefiting Yugure in some way, whether it be some direct result, or as small as a little peace-of-mind. Seeing her now, however, left more than a few worries in Karin's mind about how peaceful Yugure's mind really was. She looked angry, annoyed, exhausted, and... was that a trace of fear she saw on her face?

But that was all beside the point for now, in any case. Karin had come to make her report and Yugure clearly didn't want to be disturbed. Best to make it quick.

"I'm back from my rounds of Umano, Miss Yugure. I found the man who was causing so much trouble in the Underground, and while he did tell me that he'd try to behave himself after exercising my authority a little... We should probably still keep an eye on him. Bashiro Hakaisha was his name." Karin flipped through her notepad to make sure she had the name right, giving a little salute once she finished speaking. "That concludes my report for today, Miss Yugure."

Karin was about to turn to leave, her report given, but she felt bad just leaving Yugure alone like that. Sure, Seifer was here, and no doubt Haruka would be close by as well, but... Something in her stomach was starting to knot up, and a feeling of dread passed her by. Something definitely felt off today, despite the past three months being relatively normal.

"Miss Yugure... Is there anything I can do for you, personally? Not to be out of line or anything, but you don't look all that well... I won't ask what, but if I can help in some way, I'd be more than happy to."

Yukino lost her lid.

"... You couldn't just text me a report of that?!" The woman asked, sort of in awe that Karin thought some idiot rampaging about in Umano was important enough to actually... come to her house and make the report. Just arrest the guy or leave it to other members of the Resistance, anyone but her. ... Sort of ironic, seeing as Hikari is usually the one who wants to work the most.

Thankfully, she controlled herself at hearing concern. Great, now the Chosen Sword was showing weakness too. The last thing a commander should be doing is making soldiers distracted with worry.

"Right now?" The girl breathed. "... Good question", she let out a more relaxing breath. There wasn't much of anything anyone could do for her, frankly.

In truth, Karin most certainly could have simply texted her mailed her report to Yugure. But, Karin had wanted to be at least a bit closer to Yugure since three months ago; get to know her better, perhaps even become friends. This time, however, that was clearly not going to happen. Karin's straight face wavered a bit when Yugure herself didn't know what she needed, despite looking like she must need something... And it only made the distance between Karin and Yugure feel even greater. "S-Sorry, Miss Yugure, I'll be sure to do that next time... Um, I should probably be going, then." Karin bowed her head, and turned to leave.

Satoshi was in a bit of a thoughtful stupor as he was led inside following Seifer and some girl named Karin, whose name he swore he had heard before, but he hadn't exactly been acquainted with, at least from what he remembered. That wasn't as significant as Seifer answering the door, though.

Why Seifer? It was the last person he expected to see answering the door. Haruka? Yes. The butler? Yes. Yugure? Obviously unless she was busy. Even Father Espoir was above him on the list. It didn't make any sense to him as to why he was there, except maybe to visit.

Satoshi rubbed his forehead, his eyes squeezing themselves shut. Failing to sleep last night and instead wandering the city on an aimless walk was starting to catch up to him. Even when Yugure addressed Karin, who was apparently doing reconnaissance of some kind for her, he wasn't really startled or anything out of his thoughts. In fact, he sort of started just...walking towards the kitchen.

Maybe a cup of coffee would actually help him to react to some of the stuff he was thinking about right now.

He called out from the kitchen doorway, in the general direction of the workshop and Father Espoir's room,

"Food will be ready in two minutes! Come and get it! ... Yukino you better eat too, no staying in the workshop this time around either!"

He shook his head, returning to his duties until...

"Oh, Satoshi. Good to see you- Holy hell man you look so dead. Get in here already." Haruka gave the man a light pat on the back as he led Satoshi to the dinner table. Stew was already in a large pot on the stove, steaming up the kitchen. Haruka ran over to the smaller coffee pot in the corner of the room, already filled to the brim with Royal brew. Haruka always had emergency coffee on demand.

He lightly poured half a mug, not trying to hit Satoshi too hard with a kick. This was freshly made so it hasn't had time to settle, its still very strong and concentrated.

"If you want sugar, its right over there." Haruka jerked his head to Satoshi's left, near one of the seats.

"Feel free. The others should be down shortly. And by others I mean Seifer and maybe Rose. Chances are Yukino is working, Father Espoir usually eats after everyone else and well... the staff are having dinner on the third floor tonight. I'm working this evening."

"No, wait, don't apologize. You don't have to leave", the commander spoke to her fellow soldier. "I'm a bit on edge, and I need to go out anyway", she vaguely explained. Last thing she needed was more information about her nightmares spreading. The woman closed the door to the workshop behind her, approached Karin, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What about you though? Anything I can do for you?"

Normally, Satoshi would put sugar in his coffee. But Butler-san's? No way. He downed it as soon as he sat down, then closed his eyes and rubbed his temples again, trying to focus himself on all the information coming into his brain at once.

Okay. He knew Haruka worked here. He knew Seifer was here for some reason, apparently with Rose. Rose, he knew, referred to this girl they all knew, Rosalia, who he had not seen in a very, very long time. So she was back, from wherever she was. Cool.

So why exactly was Seifer---

It occurred to him to take out his phone and open a particular text. One from Butler-san about a few weeks ago. A message telling him to check his email. A quick flip to the email found a bold message titled: "YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A SMALL GATHERING." Reading through the contents, he discovered it was to welcome Seifer into the Espoir family, a rare occurrence for a family of such prestige.

Oops. So that meant Seifer lived here now. Which likely meant, to some extent, Rose lived here now. So, with the exception of a couple random people they all knew, Satoshi was the only one who didn't live in the Espoir mansion.

Well, doesn't that just make you feel like you don't know your friends anymore. Then again, the farmboy shook his head. He had his own place. These people...didn't, necessarily. So it made sense for them all to live together, even if they had their own homes in the past. This group was, basically, a family. He just happened to be the coincidentally-also-rich-but-doesn't-really-show-it-that-often uncle.

Works for him.

He sighed, the coffee finally settling through the rest of his body. Everyone else would be here soon enough. He resumed what he was doing initially, which was looking through his deck. While he wasn't exactly thrilled with having to play with units he had never touched in his life before, Musketeers seemed...decent enough. He was still confused about this "Legion" term, but he'd learn it in time, likely. Regalia had gotten updated similarly, but he was going to have to pick up that deck at a later time.

Still parsing through, he filled his mug with a bit more Royal brew. Stuff was definitely the work of a genius.

Karin turned back around to face Yugure. She was a little stunned by the sudden kind gesture, but she appreciated it greatly. Maybe they could be friends soon enough after all.

"Thank you for asking, Miss Yugure, but as long as I'm helping out you and Haruka, I think I'll be just fine." Karin responded with a smile, reaching a hand to her shoulder to touch Yugure's, brushing it off, though still holding it. "If you'll need any help when you go out, I could come with you. Oh, um, otherwise, I guess I would like to see Haruka, if that's alright."

"Sure, Haruka's probably around the kitchen. ... Although, before I let you go see him..."

She reluctantly allowed her as it is.

"You remember my name: 'Yugure'?"

That in itself was odd. Since Exculpate never happened, she never merged the blaster swords to become the Chosen Sword of Twilight.

After having Karin meet up with Yukino, the blonde... Having wanted to ask a question about something pertaining to what he felt this morning, opted against it in light of the interaction. Instead, he just left afterwards, walking back down stairs giving a gentle sigh. That's when he smelled it. The coffee. Making his way to where the smell was emanating from, the blonde strode in, a light smile on his face. "Hey guys. Mornin. To you to Satoshi. How've you been?"

Karin tilted her head to think. Wait. When exactly did Yugure first introduce herself as Yugure? Was it when she joined the Resistance for the first time, when she first met Haruka? Maybe. She had said something about her name, not wanting to be called Yukino at the very least, but when she thought about it more...

"...Um, yes. I believe you told me to call you that once. You didn't want people using your real name. Well, except Haruka. Though, it's strange... I can't quite recall when that was..."

"Seifer, hello. Coffee is where it always is, please help yourself."

Haruka tied his hair back and got to work once more on the stew. Probably no chance of stopping him now. He was on fire at this point, stirring, adding certain ingredients, stirring more, taste-testing, burning his mouth and rinse repeat.

Without a second thought, he checked his phone upon it buzzing. The girl's number showed up; Mizumi Shiina. Haruka simply stared at the ID before opening the message.

"We need to talk, yeah? After all, I saved your life. : ) Talk to you sooooon!"

Haruka damn nearly threw his phone in the stew if it meant never having to read another message from her, for fear that one day Yukino will find it and kill the poor girl. Or Haruka. Or both of them. She gets drastic sometimes...

He turned the phone off, closed it, and slid it into his apron pocket before turning off the heat and waving away some smoke from the stove.

"Food'll be ready in 10."

Satoshi turned. Right, congratulations were in order or something. He waved his phone.

"I'm good. Congrats on the becoming a part of this family thing, sorry I couldn't make it. I've been a bit busy."

That was an understatement, but he was really reluctant to talk about anything pertaining as to why unless it was absolutely necessary to. Even though part of him wanted to confide in Haruka or Yugure, there wasn't really a need to unless they had information that could help him out as a result. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, or anyone else. It was more of...well, he didn't want to burden people after the war. As the Peacekeeper, it was an element of his job.

"I heard Rose is back, too. That's nice. I'm guessing she's living with you here now instead of your old place?" He took another sip of coffee, setting down his phone to hold his deck again and absent-mindedly flip through.

He noticed Haruka seemed a bit flustered at some kind of message he got. Probably not something to ask him about except maybe in private.

Seifer smiled, getting some of the coffee himself before leaning lightly against a counter and sipping it slowly, savoring the flavor. It was good brew as always. Satoshi however congratulated him and apologized for not coming to the party, to which the blonde waved a hand. "Don't worry about it yeah? Being busy is understandable. I'm not about to get on your case for it." he gave a light laugh, smiling softly as he sipped a bit more at the brew.

"As for Rose, yeah. About two days ago, she showed back up in the old house. I still need to get the rest of her stuff out of the house. It's up on the market now as well, so you'd be right. She's around here somewhere." Seifer glanced into his mug, staring into the dark liquid.

"On the market?" Satoshi chuckled. "Well, it makes sense. Still, even with a place like this, some kind of getaway place seems like it would still be good for you and her, though. What's the occasion? Gettin' married or something?"

He had another sip of coffee.

"... Do me a favor and call me Hikari. Sorry for keeping you, dismissed."

Yukino was now entirely certain she needed to speak with Zenon. More than that, she just needed to investigate in general. The commander let the solider go, grabbed her coat, and walked out with little word while putting it on.

"Actually uh..." his face turned red. Oh boy. "Yeah, we're getting married." there was a squeaky little laugh that emanated from his throat as he scratched the back of his neck, glancing to the side to hide his reddening face. What? It was still somewhat embarrassing, even if he was really happy about it. "I asked her yesterday." he added the last bit, more just to confirm that it wasn't a dream... And that it was a very new thing. Quickly he took another swig of the coffee, downing half of it in one go. He was still obviously nervous about it, not because he wasn't ready... Just that it was somewhat nerve wracking.

"Will do, Miss Hikari." Karin replied with another salute before stepping aside to let the commander pass first, then headed down herself to the kitchen. It took her a few minutes to find it, but she managed to navigate the massive manor without getting too lost. Upon entering, she encountered two familiar faces, and one unfamiliar one. The face that caught her eye the most, of course, was Haruka's.

"Oh, Haruka! It's so good to see you again. How've you b-"

Karin stopped herself when she realized the tension in the room was spiked. Apparently she had missed something of importance, or walked in on a heavy conversation. Oops. "Er, sorry. Is this a bad time?"

The coffee came out about as fast as it went in.

"OH."

Satoshi couldn't think of any other way to describe it. Weren't these two really young? Or had it actually been longer than he expected and he hadn't a clue how old he was himself? He was pretty sure he was turning a year older soon, though he wasn't even sure what day it was right now...

"W-well...uh...congratulations on that too, I guess." He set down his mug and got on his knees, taking off his jacket to wipe up the mess with it. He could get it laundered while he was here. Of course, the whole reason he needed it was to cover up his---

...The gun was completely visible, holster tied to his leg. Oh. Right, that was why he was...

Oh. And that operative of Yugure's was standing at the other end of the room.

Oh...

The spit take was definitely not expected. However, it was hilarious. That didn't make Seifer feel any better though. It seemed like people thought he was to young. He was twenty. People needed to realize that. In any case when Karin showed up, Seifer looked away from Satoshi to her, face still red. "I uh... Just told Satoshi I was getting married." that's right, Karin didn't know who Rosalia was. Right? He didn't think anyone had talked to her about Seifer's lost love, the one who'd recently come back from the rift.

"Oh. ...Oh!"

Well, it was happy news. A marriage was usually a nice thing anyways. Admittedly, Karin didn't really know much about Seifer, but her Overlord trusted him, so why shouldn't she? "Well, that's wonderful news. Congratulations!" At least it was a good recovery from what could have been a much more awkward situation. At least, Karin hoped as much.