The next day, that morning, Ryuko was preparing to go meet Shinya. She wasn't in it for the power and status, she was in it for the man she met in the field, who happened to be the prince.

"Where are you going?" Chitose asked.

"I'm going to the market! See ya bye!" Ryuko said, running out to grab Himiko's horse, Kurogiri. She hopped on and began riding off. She fully intended on talking to him that day.
"Sorry buddy! I just have something important to do." She apologized.

The ride through the forest smelt awfully nice. Evergreens, pine cones, bushes. Ryuko could appreciate all of it. Her senses were honestly a blessing and curse. Some smells could overwhelm her, some that took a second for others to smell. So she just had to exist and could smell it.

The clock stuck twelve times and she waited there. She waited for ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes

Twelve thirty five and he still hadn't shown.
The castle may have been far and they had no way of communication. Maybe he got caught up in something. Or he wasn't able to come?

Who was she kidding. She was desperately trying to be optimistic and think something came up. Her pessimistic thinking pushed the usual optimistic mind of Ryuko out of the way.

"He isn't coming. He found you boring as hell. You're gonna be stuck with them forever."

Ryuko started crying and began riding off. She was ashamed of herself for thinking like that. Shinya probably got scared off. Or she wasn't his type. She didn't want to be there anymore.

When she arrived home, she looked horrible but she had stopped crying. Her eyes were puffy and red. She wanted to look good before she got home but she couldn't fix herself. She was just gonna get teased by Himiko over it.

"Where have you been? It doesn't take an hour to go to the market!" Chitose screamed.

"I was just dreaming." She responded.

"Then wake up! There's stuff to do around here and you being a little daydreamer doesn't help anyone! Wake up!" She shouted.

Ryuko nodded and walked into the kitchen. She could still dream of being with Shinya. That would make her feel better.

-------

Yotsubashi was sitting in his office still. The same guard who delivered the now crumpled letter from Ryuko walked in.

"Your Grace, would you like me to deliver the letter to the prince?"

"Ah, that won't be necessary."

"Oh! Of course your grace." He said. He began walking out of the door.

Yotsubashi had a random thought. This guard was the only one who knew about the letter. He didn't know what was in the letter but he knew it was to go directly to the prince. What if he told the royal family that he had illegally hid a letter to the prince? What if he got beheaded? What if...

"Sir, wait a moment."

"Ah, yes your grace?"

Rikiya was stressing out over the thought of a witness. He had delivered the message.

"You have always been a great guard to this kingdom." He said, standing up. His hands behind his back. The dimly lit room was quite ominous.

"Oh well, thank-"

"Let me finish speaking!" He shouted, finally getting over to him. The guard almost wet his pants when Yotsubashi wrapped his arm around his head. Right where his neck was. "You've been a good guard and I thank you for your service. Do you have any family or friends?"

"Um... no? My mother passed from the illness going around recently. My only friends are my fellow guar-" he was interrupted by Yotsubashi choking him. "What...re you," he gasped, "doing?!" He shouted. Rikiya only made his arm squeeze around his neck tighter. The guard struggled to get out, trying to kick the man. He looked old, yes, but he was quite sturdy.

"You will be missed."

Crack

The guard fell to the ground, his neck broken. His eyes were opened and when he hit the marble floor, his head started bleeding. The murder was unnecessary but Yotsubashi was a weird man. He freaked out over the most random things. Stressed out a lot. He lost a lot of hair from it too.

"No one will find out." He whispered. Over a damn letter.

--------

Shinya held Reiko close. Their father was definitely dying. They had a daughter in their old age, they'd definitely die before she was in her teens, or she'd die first. With the illnesses going around, no one was safe.

The doctors said it was something weird. They didn't understand it but it wasn't contagious so they could always be in the same room as the man.

"Is dad gonna die?" She asked, curled up in the fetal position. She was shaking. He wasn't going to sugarcoat things, that would just make it hurt more if he did die.

"I don't know Reiko. All we can do is hope he doesn't and be there with him." He told her. She rested her head on her older brother's shoulder and just cried.

"Hey Shinya?" Keigo turned around the corner. Shinya used one of his hands and motioned for him not to tease Reiko. They were sitting on one of the stair cases. "Oh, you two are having a moment?"

"Mhm." Shinya nodded. He rubbed Reiko's arm as she cried on his shoulder.

"Hey shitface, you ok?" Reiko looked at Keigo with an angry look. She didn't think he was really going to call her a name while she was upset.

"I'm fine, ugly." She shot back flicking his forehead when he kneeled down.

"You wanna talk to us?" Keigo asked. Reiko shook her head. "That's Ok. When you wanna talk we're both here to talk with you. We've been through the same thing." Keigo said. Reiko nodded and held her older brother tightly before running off.

"What're you gonna do about the princess?" Keigo asked.

"I don't know. Right now I'm more focused on my father. Though, I'm ready for disappointment."

(Brruuuuuuhhhhh ReDestro really killed a man over a damn letter and I'm dead because it's my birthday and I ate a stale donut for breakfast so now I'm sad.)