The Unpredictable Yasui Hinata

"God, you're horrible at this," Mizuki massages her hip, only for her insult to be ignored by Hinata. Instead of wasting her time, she looks down at her dress, doing a little spin to watch the way her skirt twirls with her, unfolding gracefully when she stops. A childish grin creeps its way up to her face as she happily sways towards the table. Mizuki picks up the Curry Bun on the plate in front of her standing as she eats (sitting in a corset is too troublesome, even after the several times she's done it before).

"I'm going to follow you to the castle for your commission," Hinata states as he cuts his Curry Bun up with a spoon and fork, politely picking up the pieces with his fork. Mizuki stares, appalled at this etiquette.

"I'm not from any low-class family but are you eating a Curry Bun with a fork?" Mizuki tears a chunk off her own with her teeth, gulping it for dramatic tension.

"Is that not how it's done?" Hinata raises his gaze, frowning. "Father never allowed us to use our hands to eat our food, unless we're… With the people of Sirius."

"I'm not sure what your Daddy taught you but over here with me, you're going to eat your Curry Bun the right way and honour it," Mizuki scolds. "Eat it with your hands."

Hinata makes a face. He rests his fork against the table but doesn't make a move after that. He stares at the food and then back at Mizuki who stares at him intently, waiting for him to lift the food with his hands. Slowly, he picks up a dissected piece of his bread and takes a tiny bite out of it.

"Take a bigger bite," Mizuki orders, gaze unmoving.

Hinata takes a bigger bite and the bread is now gone. He chews, nodding at Mizuki in approval who, in turn, wears a victorious expression. "Things are better when you have them the right way. You should listen to me more."

Hinata swallows, dabbing the corners of his mouth with a tissue paper. "That is subject to consideration, now eat your food and hurry up before we're not let into the castle anymore. I don't have all day."

Mizuki licks her fingers, picking up her second Curry Bun and taking multiple bites out of it, filling her mouth with more food than she can eat. Her cheeks inflate. Hinata holds back laughter looking at this, "You look like a bird. Fluffy cheeked ones."

Mizuki swallows the rest of her bread. "What a compliment."

"Sit down, I'll tie your hair," Hinata wipes his hands with a cloth, nearing Mizuki. Instead of sitting on the chair, she kneels on the ground, laying her petticoat out in a circular arrangement around her.

"I'm not sitting on the chair, the corset makes it difficult," Mizuki squirms. Hinata sits with his legs on either side of the chair's backrest. He holds the red cloth with his lips, gathering Mizuki's hair carefully so as to not tug on it (he knows he'll get whacked away if he makes a wrong move).

Expertly, he braids and weaves Mizuki's hair before tying it up into a plait. He likes to count under his breath as he does so - loop one, loop two, loop three - and then he tightens it, repeating the process until it's a braid. Mizuki's hair is quite short and can't be braided properly so he hopes it'll stay if he ties it hard enough. For the finishing touch, he ties the remainder of the cloth into a bow at the top of her plaited bun.

When Mizuki doesn't feel any more movement, she cautiously reaches her fingertips for her hair, lightly patting the bun. "You're better than I expected," she nods approvingly.

"I'm good at a lot of things," Hinata stands, tucking the chair back into its original position. Mizuki grabs the cloth of her dress before standing, noticing how Hinata has his hair tied up into a high ponytail. She has seen him with his hair down on two occasions, and on most other times, it's braided up. He doesn't look half as bad in this new one - if not better.

"You stare a lot," Hinata remarks when he turns, his bag in his hands. Mizuki turns on her heel, ears flushed from embarrassment. 'This happens too much.'

She leaves the house first, pulling up a map to find a reference to the palace. She stares, blinking in confusion as she flips it around. 'If the North and West gates are surrounded by forests, the Palace should be… Somewhere South!'

To be fair, Mizuki hasn't visited the area beyond Hinata's house. A short distance away, she can spot a staircase leading up to an elevated part of the city, another spiral staircase leading higher up to flat ground. She starts walking towards that direction, soon caught up by Hinata who adjusts his hands into a pair of silk gloves. "I told you I was going to follow you," he frowns at Mizuki.

"Not like you couldn't catch up," Mizuki replies absent-mindedly, her gaze frequenting between the map and the direction she's walking. The staircase leads up to an open area with a massive fountain, cushioned by pure white rose bushes. Mizuki inches towards them, bending to catch a feel of the rose petals.

"You shouldn't touch everything," Hinata yanks Mizuki back by her shoulder. Mizuki grunts, reluctantly stepping away. The castle walls are the strongest thing for miles around, bold on the blue beyond. It stands there as if an image conjured out of Mizuki's picture books.

Every stone is even and square, as if those who built it were set on perfection, the fruit of hard work of men who existed a millenia away from today. From a distance it is uniform grey, a lonely shade of white yet from up close it is a mosaic of humble rocks.

"Names," a guard orders sternly, not moving one bit.

"Hirashi Mizuki," she says, modestly cupping her hands over waist.

"Sol Ablestine," he confesses. The guard eyes him suspiciously. "It was my mother's surname," Hinata clears his throat.