Raizen moved with the crowd, not against it.

That was the only way to stay upright.

The crowd flowed like a river through Ukai's central platforms, curling around trunks and pillars, slipping past houses and balconies, then returning again as if the city needed to see the same moment from every angle. Raizen walked beside Saffi at first, with Kenzo and Eiden close. They didn't speak much. There wasn't space for it, and everything was too loud. Every few steps, someone brushed past them, offering petals, murmuring blessings, smiling through wet eyes.

The coffin stayed at the center of it all.

It was larger up close. Not heavy-looking, somehow. Not like a box meant to trap something. It looked like a cradle built to carry a man who already finished his duty. White cloth wrapped it so neatly the folds looked elegant, ceremonial, almost soft.

Six men carried it on their shoulders, moving in perfect rhythm. Their faces were calm, respectful, not strained. Like they carried weight they chose, not weight forced onto them.

And in front of them walked Alan.

Raizen spotted him between two shoulders in the crowd. He didn't wear a smile, wave branches or throw petals. He walked straight, controlled, eyes forward, hands relaxed at his sides.

The music drifted above the crowd. Strings, airy notes, something that sounded like soft drums. Some people even laughed quietly, like they were sharing memories right there in the open.

Raizen followed, trying to match their pace, trying not to think too hard about what they didn't know.

Saffi stayed quiet. Her gaze kept slipping away toward the coffin, but Raizen didn't want to question it.

Kenzo walked with a confident face, yet his eyes scanning the surroundings constantly, like he couldn't lower his guard. But there was no reason to be so alert.

Eiden looked like Eiden. Calm. Watching everything with that polite, distant focus.

A shoulder bumped Raizen's arm. Someone's white sleeve brushed his chest. Another person slid between him and Saffi, mumbling an apology as they passed.

Raizen turned his head to check on them – but they were nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, a hand hooked around his neck from behind.

Not a heavy arm like Kenzo's.

Not a gentle touch like Saffi's.

Raizen tensed on instinct, shoulders rising, body preparing to twist.

Then the person leaned in.

"Ayy! Raizen!"

Before he could answer, the hand around his neck tightened in a friendly choke and an elbow slammed into his back so hard he almost choked on air.

Raizen stumbled forward with a sharp breath, barely catching himself on his own feet. "What is wrong with you -"

He turned his head, ready to snap, and met a pair of bright eyes and a grin that had no shame in it.

Keahi.

She wore a black dress too, and it made her look completely different. No armor plates. No straps. Not her usual gear. Just fabric that followed her athletic frame and somehow still looked formal, "ladylike" even. Even standing still, she carried that dangerous, restless energy, like she might start sprinting just because she felt like it.

She laughed when she saw his expression. "What? You're alive. That's worth celebrating."

"You hit me like a hammer" Raizen muttered, rubbing his back.

Keahi leaned closer, inspecting him with a raised brow. "You look like a half-dead creature dressed up nicely."

Raizen blinked. "That's your greeting?"

"Look, it's accurate." She lifted her chin, pleased with herself, then flicked her gaze down at his shirt. "You buttoned all the way up too. Wow. You really committed."

He nudged her shoulder with his elbow, careful not to start an actual fight in the middle of the crowd. "You're in black too, so don't make any wonderful comments."

Keahi's grin widened, and she spun once, showing off her dress. "Yeah, and at least I'm making it work."

Raizen let out a quiet, tired sound that might've been a laugh if he had more energy. "Keahi, why are you even here? Didn't you finish your job already?"

She tapped his chest lightly like she was checking if he was real. "You thought I wouldn't show up for something like this?"

Raizen threw her a really doubting look.

"Alright, alright." Keahi shrugged. "Alteea said that we could stay a couple days more, what's wrong with that?"

Raizen glanced past her shoulder and saw the coffin again, moving slowly in a wide curve around the platform. White petals drifted down and stuck briefly to the cloth before sliding off.

Keahi followed his gaze, and for a moment her expression softened. Just a little. It vanished almost immediately, replaced by her usual grin.

Then she leaned in closer, voice dropping like she was sharing a secret. "By the way. We're not the only one dressed in black around here."

Raizen's attention snapped back. "Hm? What do you mean?"

Keahi's eyes gleamed with her usual kind of mischief, she nudged him with her elbow again, lighter this time, but still enough to make him shift his weight. "Hikari's here."

Raizen's breath cut and he hated that it did.

He kept his face neutral, trying nott to give her any reaction. "Okay."

Keahi made a sound of disbelief. "That's it? Okay?"

"I said okay, what's wrong with tha-?"

Keahi rolled her eyes theatrically. "You're so boring."

Raizen glanced around, suddenly aware that the crowd had shifted again. The white sea of people moved, and in the movement, Kenzo's broad shoulders vanished. Eiden's dark coat disappeared behind a cluster of people holding branches. Saffi's black dress was nowhere in sight.

Raizen looked left, then right, then behind him. He saw only white, unknown faces, petals and motion. He didn't even know when they separated.

Keahi watched him realize it and smirked. "You lost your group, huh?"

Raizen sighed. "Looks like it."

"Wow." Keahi put a hand to her chest like she was shocked. "A promising Vanguard candidate swallowed by a crowd. Tragic."

Raizen shot her a look. "You're enjoying this too much."

"I'm always enjoying stuff, what do you mean?"

He started to move, instinct pushing him to find Saffi and Kenzo and Eiden, to keep control of the situation.

But the situation didn't care.

People moved naturally, and Raizen got carried along whether he wanted to or not. He tried to step out of the flow, but a wave of white clothes pressed him back in, like a current.

Keahi walked at his side like she had all the time in the world. "If you're looking for Hikari, good luck."

Raizen frowned. "Huh? Why?"

"Because this crowd is insane."

"Seriously?" he rolled his eyes, returning her sarcastic look.

Raizen caught glimpses of black here and there - a sleeve, a hem, someone taller than the rest. He kept thinking he found her and then realized it was someone else.

Keahi watched him struggle and looked delighted. "Sooo" she said, dragging the word out, "you're going to circle with the dead king until you find your girlfriend?"

Raizen's eyes snapped to her. "WOAH, WOAH, WOAH. SHE'S NOT -"

Keahi raised both hands immediately, grinning. "Relax. Friends. Partners. Whatever you call it. I'm not judging."

Raizen rubbed his temple, feeling a headache starting to form. "Keahi."

"What?"

"Just shut up."

Keahi gasped like he stabbed her. "You're so rude."

"Since when are you so dramatic…" he mumbled.

He kept moving with the crowd. The coffin passed the same corner again, then the same lanterns, then the same carved platform. The city wasn't sending its ruler away in a straight line. It was showing him to everyone. Giving everyone a chance to see, to bow, to smile, to cry, to let go.

Raizen understood the intention, but still didn't like how it felt.

He glanced at Alan again. His posture never changed. His expression stayed calm and unreadable. If he felt anything, he didn't show it.

Raizen tried moving again, weaving through the crowd carefully. Apologizing with small nods. Avoiding stepping on anyone's feet. Keeping his breathing steady because too much jostling still made his ribs complain.

He circled around a cluster of people waving branches.

Nothing.

He slipped past a group of elders discussing something.

Nothing.

He turned another corner and saw only white, white, white.

Keahi walked with him for a few more steps, then shrugged. "I'm going to go before you start sulking."

"I'm not sulking."

"You are" she said immediately. "It's your special talent."

Raizen sighed. "Keahi…"

She gave him a quick, hard pat on the shoulder again. "Try not to die. Again."

Then she slipped into the crowd, black dress and all, vanishing between white robes and petals without a single struggle.

Raizen watched her disappear and felt a strange mix of relief and annoyance.

Then he turned away. At this point, he was just wasting time, so he went with the flow.

He let the flow of strangers carry him, and he watched.

He watched faces. Watched petals fall. Watched white cloth ripple softly with each step of the men carrying it. Watched the way people bowed and whispered small things that sounded like gratitude more than grief.

It was almost peaceful, in a strange way.

Then something grabbed his sleeve.

Raizen barely noticed it at first. His mind drifted, just for a second, and the touch felt just like another bump in the crowd.

But the grip tightened, firm.

He looked down.

A hand held his sleeve with confidence, fingers curled like they weren't asking permission.

Then the hand pulled.

Raizen's head snapped up. He opened his mouth to protest - and the crowd shifted again, and he finally saw them.

Bright gold strands of hair, with black ends…

Hikari

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