As the night became deeper, only the five of them were left in the pub, not long after the door opened."Finally you"re here," Kohei, Hideyos.h.i.+"s father, said upon seeing the new arrival.
"We thought you wouldn"t come," Teiji, Mamoru"s father, followed.
"Of course I"d be here. It"s the first time in a long time that all of us are not busy," Akihiro replied as he sat down, the owner of the pub was the only one left as well so he was the one who served him.
"So what were you talking about? I can hear your laughs from the outside," Akihiro said afterwards.
"Some childhood memories, going to the growing up young ones," Ryosuke, Feena"s father, replied.
"Oh the young ones? I"ve noticed that they were actually quite cheeky though," Akihiro replied remembering the children of his friends and how they act towards those around them.
"Speaking of being cheeky, that one girl is the cheekiest, I heard she shouted at you in front of everyone," Genjiro, Karen"s father, commented looking at Yukimura.
"That was quite a while now," Yukimura replied laughing.
"How does it feel?" Akihiro asked as well.
"All of you just-" Yukimura suddenly stopped talking.
"What is it?" Teiji asked.
"No it"s just I remembered seeing another person"s shadow on her when she got mad at me," Yukimura answered.
"Hmmm who would that be? Mutsumi?" Genjiro asked.
"No, *looks at Akihiro* Haruka," Yukimura replied seriously.
"Could it be that time when she shouted at you because of Mutsumi?" Akihiro asked in return.
"That"s right, the day Mutsumi changed," Yukimura replied.
*Flashback*
Back when they were just 15 years old and they have just started studying in the academy to become a knight.
"It"s alright, of course she wants to be on my team, right Mutsumi?" Yukimura said to Akihiro and the others as he look at Mutsumi.
It is currently a group exam, testing their teamwork. A group should consist of 10 members and Yukimura"s group is currently missing a member.
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Mutsumi being his childhood friend, someone who had always said yes to his request, someone who can"t say no to him.
"I..." Mutsumi glanced at another group.
"Right?" Yukimura asked again.
"I d-"
"Stop pus.h.i.+ng people like they"re your own, everyone had things they wanted and things they don"t. You act so high and mighty in front of her, why did you feed her? Did you raise her?"
Before Mutsumi could reply another voice came from behind her glaring at Yukimura.
"HHaruka!!" Mutsumi exclaimed. The leader of the other group she was looking at awhile ago was Haruka. She didn"t notice that Haruka had approached them.
The other guys were also stunned. It is known that Yukimura"s group were all n.o.bles and it is also known that Haruka is someone who has no family and a zero as well.
"And you, if you don"t want say so. You can"t live your life according to what others tell you. Live your life the way you wanted to," Haruka then faced Mutsumi before others could react.
"I," Mutsumi look back and forth from Yukimura and Haruka.
"What do you really want?" Haruka asked once again.
"I want to be on your team," Mutsumi inhaled and answered and looking only at Haruka.
"Wh" Yukimura wanted to retort.
"She already wanted to be in our team, whether you wanted it or not," Haruka glared at him before pulling Mutsumi to where their group is.
*End of Flashback*
The whole pub was filled with laughter.
"I do remember that, and the look on Yukimura"s face. That was completely out of this world," Kohei said in between his laughs.
"That"s right, he looks like his candy was stolen from him," Ryosuke added.
"And that"s the start of Mutsumi"s change and the never ending Cat and Dog fight of Haruka and Yukimura," Akihiro followed.
"That"s right, that"s right, then their epic confession," Genjiro replied.
*Flashback*
"Why do you love fighting with him anyway Haruka? He is a n.o.ble," one of her friends asked one day as they walk around the academy grounds.
"There"s no particular reason," Haruka replied looking away.
"Oh, you just looked away. There"s something isn"t it? Tell us, come on," her friends started teasing her to the point that she can no longer take it.
"ONCE I STOP FIGHTING AGAINST HIM/HER, THEN IT ONLY MEANS I NO LONGER HAVE ANY FEELINGS FOR HIM/HER."
All of them were shocked. Just as they take a turn in the corner, they heard the same reply as Haruka with a males voice. Looking at those they b.u.mp into, it was actually Yukimura"s group.
*End of Flashback*
"That"s when Yukimura finally decided to take the next step, and started courting her. But their fights didn"t lessen, their day would never be complete if they don"t fight," Genjiro said remembering those times.
"And they finally got together, everyone thought they"d be together till marriage," Akihiro said drinking from his cup.
"But after graduation and we were placed on different teams their relations.h.i.+p fell apart and decided to give it up," Teiji added.
"Are we going to just talk about my relations.h.i.+p here? It"s getting cringy already," Yukimura b.u.t.ted in.
"He must have been shy," Ryosuke laughed.
"That"s right, he must be shy," Kohei added.
"Because the one he fell in love next was the strong willed Mutsumi who stopped following his orders," Teiji teased.
"In the end, the one who finally married was Akihiro and Haruka, and Yukimura and Mutsumi," Genjiro said seriously.
"How did you suddenly end up together in the first place?" he then asked Akihiro.
"Hmmm?" Akihiro replied.
"We actually couldn"t get along more than her and Yukimura. The first time she got mad, she already had a negative effect on me. I never talked to her remember?"
"I do, I do. I noticed it as well," Teiji replied.
"We ended up on the same team after graduation. Even then we still couldn"t get along. It"s not the same cat and dog fight like her and Yukimura but our personalities just didn"t match."
"Then how did you fall for her?" Yukimura asked.
*Flashback*
A year after Yukimura and Haruka broke up. In one of their missions, Haruka was gravely injured.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!?" Akihiro asked exasperated.
"Saving you from your stupidity," Haruka replied.
"I was trying to save our comrades, if I don"t use my ability then I wouldn"t be able to save anyone."
"Your not saving them but instead your killing all of us, if they find out your real ability then they would just be h.e.l.l bent on killing all of us."
"Then what do you want me to do? Watch everyone die? How can I become a true ruler if I couldn"t even do anything during this times?!?"
*Blag*
"That hurts, WHAT THE h.e.l.l IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?" Akihiro shouted as he held his forehead.
Haruka headbang him.
"I"m trying to get your head straight, if you die here then you really won"t become a true ruler. I"m telling you to stop being stupid and think. Both of us were able to graduate without using our abilities. All your experiences during those times, use it now. Fight them physically," Haf.u.ka with her last remaining strength lectured before she fainted.
That"s right, the two of them are the first and last zero"s to graduate from the academy. Akihiro had always been hiding since he was young so only a few knows of the face of the prince. Haruka found out about it because of Yukimura.
"Look who"s stupid now, stopping me, you even got gravely injured," Akihiro placed her in a hidden part of the forest.
He was muddle headed a while ago when they were suddenly ambushed that he almost exposed his ability. In reality he still has no complete control in his ability if used it while not thinking straight then it might really cause them even more problem.
*End of Flashback*
"She truly is something," Yukimura couldn"t help but say.
"That"s right, a strong willed, stubborn and devoted person," Akihiro added.
"To Haruka, who we all wish is still here," Teiji suddenly said raising his cup.
Akihiro and Yukimura looked at each other before raising before following the others.
No one still knows about Haruka"s existence, even Raven and Azusa. The two of them only knows that they"re going to Archic to make an alliance pact. Basically even those around them thinks the same way.
Adding to that, the fact that they still have no idea who the conspirator is, they"d rather not blunder this mission of theirs.
Eureka already said it, they needed Haruka on this upcoming war.
"One day, maybe we could get back the peace we once had when we were all still students. Where being a knight was actually just a game played by us in order to know who is the strongest," Yukimura couldn"t help but feel melancholy.
The other agreed by having another cheers. The night continued, the moon s.h.i.+nning through the window, giving a joyous and sad scene to their table.