"…Well, now look what you've done," she muttered, brushing the hair from her face.
Then she stepped forward.
Before anyone could react, Astra grabbed a fistful of Maihime's perfectly coiled hair and yanked sharp and merciless. The crowd gasped louder this time. Even the imperial guards stationed above blinked, their hands frozen halfway to their hilts.
"You bitch!—how dare you lay hands on our Lady Kogane!" one of Maihime's guards shouted, fury blazing in his eyes. "You piece of shit! You insolent—!" He drew his weapon, ready to strike.
Kaen moved instantly, positioning himself between, one arm drawing little Xue into his side. His posture was relaxed almost gentle but the air around him tightened.
"Gentlemen," he said mildly, a faint smile on his lips, "you really shouldn't use such language in front of a child. It's highly inappropriate." His gaze sharpened, though his voice remained even. "I would be quite upset if these children learned words like that. It would reflect very poorly on me if, in the future, anyone were to hear them speaking such things." The smile deepened, never reaching his eyes. "So, may I kindly request that you refrain from using such language again? It would help me… maintain my calm."
Xue peeked out from behind Kaen's sleeve, wide-eyed and pure as fresh snow.
The guards faltered.
"…U-um," one of them stammered, backing back a step. "W-we didn't realize there was a child present."
The other swallowed hard. "Those eyes… so innocent."
The guard who had cursed faltered, then suddenly dropped to his knees, eyes tearing up as he looked at Xue—at the clear, shining innocence reflected there.
"Heavens, punish me!" he cried, slapping himself. "I was about to stain innocent ears with my filthy mouth!"
Meanwhile, Ryoma stepped forward like a storm in human form. With one swift motion, he snatched the ribbon from Maihime's hand who was in mid fight struggling in her grip.
"Hey—!" Maihime sputtered.
Without a word, Ryoma began braiding Astra's hair on the spot. Entirely ignoring the chaos around them.
"Ryoma? Ah—I'm in the middle of a fight!" Astra hissed over her shoulder, both embarrassed and baffled.
"You'll thank me later," he replied flatly, deftly looping the strands with practiced precision. "At least it won't get stepped on."
"WHO BRAIDS HAIR DURING AN ARGUMENT?!" Miaomiao shrieked from the sidelines.
"I do," Ryoma answered, not even looking up.
Beside her, Miaomiao smacked Meimei sharply on the head. "Will you wake up already?! What are you doing?!"
Meimei blinked herself awake mid-yawn. "Eh? What—wait, is this a fight…?"
Before anyone could stop them, the twin sisters lunged forward, each grabbing a fistful of Astra's flowing hair and yanking it back, rendering all of Ryoma's careful braiding utterly pointless as he closed his eyes and rolled them in quiet frustration.
"Leader! Don't worry, we'll save you!" Miaomiao shouted.
"We'll rescue you from that walking disaster!" Meimei chimed in, determined.
Just then, Seirou and Seiya exchanged a quick, knowing glance, a smirk playing on both their lips—as if silently agreeing, you know what to do. In perfect unison, they stepped in like shadows, each grabbing one of the twins by the collar and yanking them back just as they lunged toward the "angry birds" again.
The twins flailed like fish out of water, arms and legs thrashing, slapping and hitting anything in reach. Their struggles only made the onlookers laugh harder, thoroughly enjoying the chaotic spectacle.
Seiya held Miaomiao firmly. When her hand smacked his face, he exclaimed, "Stop that! Are you trying to ruin my handsome, charming, one-in-a-million face?"
Miaomiao froze mid-struggle, shot him a look of pure disgust, and then immediately went back to thrashing around.
Seiya flailed his arms, "What do you mean by that look? I said stop struggling!"
Meanwhile, Seirou had Meimei pinned gently. She fought at first, but the moment he said "Stop," she went completely still, standing like a statue.
Miaomiao, not to be outdone, shouted, "Guards! Guards! What are you doing just standing there, waiting to rot?!" She jabbed a finger at the guard who had cursed earlier and was still sniffling. "And you! Stop crying like that and come free me from these ugly-looking monster!"
Seiya and Seirou both barked back in unison, "Who are you calling ugly?!"
The guards hesitated, swords raised, unsure which twin to reach for first, while the others circled cautiously around Astra and Maihime.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Seirou said, his calm menace cutting through the tension, "Unless ou want your hair pulled like hers, I suggest you keep your hands to yourselves."
Seiya, still smiling but struggling to hold Miaomiao steady, added, "Astra hates it when people touch her hair. Last time someone tried… they couldn't move their fingers for a week. And before that, someone couldn't even sit for two weeks—thanks to the sharp pins she planted in their chair. So, for your own safety, I suggest keeping at least two feet away. I speak from personal experience."
At that, the guards stepped back four feet at least. But the twin girls flailed in their grip. "Agh! Let us go! We're just trying to save our leader!"
"And we're saving you," Seirou snapped, unamused.
Across the chaos, Maihime shrieked, her voice rising like a siren. "You useless sacks of wheat! What are you standing there for?! Quit gawking at that them and come help me! Free me from this stray dog! She's gone mad!"
Her guards scrambled, half-terrified, still not daring trying to pull her away from Astra.
"Aaah! Astra, let go! If you don't want to die so badly—!"
"Shut up!" Astra hissed, yanking her closer by the hair. "You touched mine first. You think I'll let that go?"
From Kaen's arms, Xue giggled uncontrollably, kicking his feet like this was the best entertainment he'd ever seen.That was when an imperial guard finally jumped down from the upper watchpost, his face twitching from the sheer absurdity he was now expected to manage.
"Ladies!" he barked. "If you don't stop this… this public hair-braiding brawl, you will both be detained. For disturbing court order, disrupting royal passage, and violating appearance decorum! Which, in case you forgot, is very much against imperial law!"
Silence.
Astra blinked, her hair now half-braided. Maihime froze mid-lunge, her fan awkwardly stabbing the air like a broken compass. The crowd collectively leaned back.
"GUARDS!" Maihime howled, fury renewed. "Imprison her! She's a madwoman! A classless filthy-faced rootless thing! You should jail her right now—she attacked me and—SHE EVEN SNUCK INTO THE CAPITAL—!"
Astra opened her mouth to answer murder in her tone but Kaen cleared his throat loudly, cutting her off. "Don't," he warned.
The guard sighed and rubbed his temples, muttering, "So noisy… I should've taken the East Wall post…" Then, louder, he said, "Since both parties have broken regulation, including those involved with you, none of you are permitted to enter the capital. Effective immediately."
"WHAT?!" the entire group exploded in unison.
Seiya pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "Perfect. Just perfect."
Maihime gaped like a fish pulled from water. "Imperial guard! Do you even know who I am?!"
The Imperial guard looked at her coolly. "Yes, Lady Kogane. Daughter of the Finance Minister. We know exactly who you are. But the laws are tighter than ever right now. With everything going on, we're not taking any risks."
Maihime face turned red. "Risks?! Who are you calling a risk?!"
The guard didn't even glance her way. With a swift motion, he leapt back onto the platform, cloak fluttering behind him, leaving her standing there dumbfounded and fuming.
"You—!" Maihime whirled back toward Astra's group, her voice rising in shrill indignation. "You're all disgraces! Mangy strays pretending you all belong to somewhere high! I swear, one day you'll be kicked back into the gutter where you came from! Especially you!" she jabbed a finger at Astra. "You insufferable rat-faced—!"
The crowd had fallen into a hush, eyes flicking between her and Astra like spectators at a duel. But before she could spit another insult, her gaze met someone standing just behind the group.
Shion.
He stood with arms crossed, gaze sharp as ice, watching her in perfect silence.
Maihime froze.
Her voice cracked. "Uta-rin? You were here…?"
Shion stepped forward, slow and unhurried. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he said, tone razor-edged. "I'm with my family." He tilted his head slightly. "Now remind me… who were you calling stray dogs?"
Maihime's mouth opened, but no sound came. Her breath caught, words tangled in her throat. The color drained from her face, and her thoughts scrambled into chaos.
What did you do, Maihime…?! she cursed herself silently, panic setting in.