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<Royal lineage found! Royal family of fallen Rishiri Kingdom found in Yokohama!>
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"Nee, Hiroshi? Isn’t this your friend?" Yagyuu’s mother spoke up. Her questions were greeted by a collection of ‘hmm?’ as she turned the newspaper to face Yagyuu, pointing with a slender finger to the picture she was referring to.
Yagyuu set down his chopsticks and peered at the aforementioned picture, then looked at the title of the article and blinked in shock.
"Ehh??? Nii-chan, you never told us Niou-nii was a prince!" Yagyuu’s sister, Hiromi, exclaimed, having leaned over to look at the article.
"I… didn’t know this either…" Yagyuu replied, scanning the article quickly. His phone buzzed with a message in his pocket, and with a short apology, slid his phone out to look at the message.
Niou: Not going to school today.
'Okay. Can I go over to your house after school?' Yagyuu replied.
Niou: Sure. See ya.
Yagyuu finished his breakfast and left for morning practice. Unsurprisingly, everyone was abuzz. Even Akaya was there already, chattering excitedly to Yanagi, no doubt bombarding him with questions.
"Yagyuu. I believe you’ve seen the article?" Yukimura approached him.
"Yes. Niou says he’s not coming to school today."
"Hmm… That makes the article seems more reliable…"
"I will be heading to his house after school today. I will check with him."
"Alright then." Yukimura ended the conversation by turning around. "Everyone! Gather on the courts!" He announced to everyone in the locker room.
Practice and school went on as usual, except with a lot more chatter and excitement during breaks. Yagyuu was approached several times by his schoolmates regarding the article, but he politely turned the questions away. After school, he headed to Niou’s house as promised, only to see a small crowd standing outside the house, chattering quietly. Yagyuu made a loop to the secluded alley two houses away from Niou’s house, and passed through the backyard of the neighbouring houses before entering Niou’s house. Niou’s entire family was home, apparently in hiding from the uproar at the article. Yagyuu greeted them, then went up to Niou’s room.
"Come in," Niou replied when he knocked on the door. Niou was slumped on the bed, tapping away at a game machine, but stopped when Yagyuu entered and closed the door. "Here regarding the article, I reckon?" Niou asked as he put aside the game machine.
"Yes." Yagyuu replied simply, settling himself into the chair at the study desk, and waited for the forthcoming explanation.
"It’s real. No idea how they found out, but it’s troublesome." Niou shifted on the bed so that he was now lying down on his side, facing Yagyuu, with a pillow under his head.
When no further explanation came, Yagyuu’s curiosity got the better of him. “You’ve always known, then?” He probed.
"Yeah. There were family records, and we have our own language, and there were things I had to learn and everything. It’s not something grand, so we’ve never wanted to go public like this." Niou sighed.
Yagyuu hummed in agreement; it must be pretty troublesome, and the uproar he saw was evidence enough. Something clicked in his head, which made his eyes widen slightly. “You’re a prince, then?”
Niou chuckled, the sound slightly muffled by the pillow. “Yes, the next king, actually.”
"I see- what?!" Yagyuu stared. Really stared at Niou.
"What ‘what’? I’m the eldest son right? And my family is the main branch, so yes, I’m the next king, my father is the current king and my mum’s the current queen." Niou explained exasperatedly. "I can show you the records if you want."
"That’s…" Yagyuu was at a lost of words. "Why didn’t your family go public then? And, I don’t know, find the people from the kingdom or something?"
"Not worth the effort. Everyone’s dispersed. Even my family has moved all the way here from Hokkaido over the years; there’s no knowing where the others are. So long as the royal family knows where all the members are, we’re happy. Besides, in this era, there’s really no hope of reviving the kingdom." Niou explained.
Yagyuu pondered over the reply, then commented slightly amazed, “You actually do sound kingly…”
Niou threw a pillow at Yagyuu. “Like I said, it’s nothing grand, so stop it already.”
Yagyuu caught the pillow neatly, hugging it. “What do you plan to do now? It’s gone public.”
"Nothing. Wait for it to calm down. There’s nothing I can do, and people will realise that there’s really nothing to be excited about. The kingdom’s long gone; all that’s left is this family and some parts of our old culture. Maybe we’ll be asked to open a museum or something, but that’s still up to my father."