The Rose of Nakajima

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang slid onto her impromptu bed, which sat next to Haruka's, trying to get a reaction out of the Knight, who simply looked up from her scroll with a completely blank expression.

Both of the girls had dressed in nightclothes, Yang in a tank top and shorts, while Haruka was in a long sleeve turtleneck and sweatpants, with socks and gloves on, apparently to hide any trace of her cybernetics.

"I honestly have noted several parallels to when the Knights and TSAB personnel all end up sleeping in a single group while on exercise. Though, I have never attended a 'slumber party' myself, and this would not notice the similarities." She noted.

"You've never had a slumber party?" Yang asked, curious. That might explain why she chose the corner of the room. No one else's over here, except that girl with the bow from earlier.

Haruka's hand made its way to Rosenkreuz, and there was a very faint flash of red light, after which she lowered her hand to her lap again.

"Silencing spell active, now I can speak freely. To answer your question, no. When I lived with Lady Hayate and the rest of my family, there were few others of my age around. I went to live in the barracks with the other Church Knights for the last two years of my training. After I completed said training, I was posted onboard the Archon almost immediately." Haruka told her.

"I didn't know that." Yang admitted. "So, what was it like?" She asked, propping her head up on one of her hands.

"Living in a church barracks?"

"Yeah." The blonde brawler clarified. "I've never heard of church barracks before."

"Because your churches do not maintain armed forces." Haruka set her scroll down as she spoke. "It is not too dissimilar to how the Priesthood lives, honestly. We commonly live four to a room, with small storage spaces for each and an attached bathroom. In the accommodations at the Grand Cathedral on Midchilda where I lived, there were lounges every floor, with small kitchens as well alongside the main dining hall on the ground floor. A small library was located on the second floor, and the Grand Cathedral's main library was not too far away. There was a gym in an adjacent building, which saw quite a bit of use. The outdoor training fields also were located immediately to the east, and there were a variety of classrooms in the main building. After all, one must know more than combat to be a proper Knight." She smiled at that. "Our instructors lived with us, on the top floors of the residential building."

"Sounds like a nice place." Yang commented.

"It is. There is far, far more there, as well. The Grand Cathedral's main hall is probably the size of this building, and the surrounding buildings, a campus of a sort itself, is significantly larger than Beacon's. And it is easy to get to the nearest city, the trams run every twenty minutes, if walking or flying for a few minutes is not to your liking." Haruka still was smiling as she reminisced about her home.

I still find the similarities in timekeeping to be weird.

"You like it there." Yang stated. "You miss your home?"

"Yes, I do. But I miss the people more." Haruka's small smile left her face, and her gaze slid down. "I want to see Cinque again. I want to see everyone again, but I miss my wife the most." She admitted.

"What's she like?" Yang asked. Haruka never had told her much about the Nakajima family, or her wife.

She still wasn't entirely used to or comfortable with the idea that Haruka had married already, but she knew that it was incredibly important to the Knight, and didn't say any of her thoughts on the subject out loud. Taiyang and Qrow both had voiced their opinions, resulting in an argument that had ended with Haruka challenging them to a duel for her and her wife's honor. Taiyang had declined, but Qrow had taken her up on it, and promptly been beaten into the ground with spells. Magic was a bit overpowering when it came to duels, especially when one was unprepared for such.

"'Lady of war' is the first phrase that comes to mind. She is… She is very stoic around others, but towards her family she just… Opens up in a way you would never think she could. She seems even emotionless sometimes, but her smile… Radiant, I think, is the best description. She is very gentle, too, for a soldier. " Haruka gave a sad smile. "She is also very beautiful. At least, I think so. I am not good at describing others. You… Will have to meet her." She looked down further, then up again, and Yang could see something in her eyes she couldn't quite identify. "You will meet her." The Knight promised. "Though, I can say, like all of the Nakajimas and Scaglietti's daughters, she is very dangerous if you are fighting her." This came with a grin. "We are a dangerous family." So they're like a family of Hunters or something? Probably all Knights or Military.

"So, you married into them, right?" Yang asked, curious.

"Cinque was adopted into the Nakajima family first, then I married her. I was Haruka Yagami before that, remember?" Haruka told her.

"Right, yeah." Haruka's in a talkative mood for once. Yang mentally noted, and she wanted to learn as much as she could. "What about the rest of your family? The Nakajimas?" She clarified.

Haruka glanced off to Yang's side for a moment, then spoke in a low voice. "We are beginning to be noticed. I will dismiss the spell, do not speak of magic or other abnormal topics."

There was a brief odd feeling, as if the rest of the world had suddenly gotten louder, before Haruka spoke again.

"You asked after the Nakajimas? Well, I will tell you this, we are an odd family." The Knight admitted. "For one thing, only Genya, the father, is not a cyborg. The rest of us all are, and I have the least amount of cybernetics." A family of cyborgs? "We are also a rather large family. There is Genya, the father, I have already noted he is the only non-cyborg. He is a very kind man, always willing to help in whatever way he can. I am proud to call him 'father', if only as an in-law." Yang mentally winced at that. I'm very glad dad isn't here for this. That might crush him. Or not, given she specifically noted he's her father-in-law. She refocused on Haruka.

"Then there is Ginga, the eldest sister. I do not know her well." The younger girl admitted. "There is Subaru, who I know a bit better. She is… Unique. In many ways. She is also the one who noticed that Cinque and I were… Interested in each other, and encouraged us to… I think the phrase is 'get together'?" Haruka glanced off into space and shrugged. "Irrelevant, you understand my meaning. Another of us is Nove. She is aggressive and violent, but is also solid and dependable when it is required of her. And is significantly nicer towards her family. She was, last I heard, teaching Lady Vivio martial arts." 

Who's Lady Vivio? Yang wondered. Some Church priestess or something? Or is there a Nobility system on Midchilda? Come to think of it, she never has said anything about things like that. Yang mentally shook her head, Haruka was still talking.

"There is also Deci, though she is even colder than Cinque to those she does not know, she can still 'warm up' I think the phrase is, to some others, though she is not as quiet as Cinque. I do not know her very well, either." The Knight admitted. "The last sister in the Nakajima family is Wendi. Of all my siblings, she is, without a doubt, the most talkative and the most energetic. You would never mistake her for someone else." Haruka said this with a grin.

"That is a large family. Anyone else? No mom or brothers?" Yang asked.

"No brothers. And as for a mother…" Haruka trailed off for a moment. "Quint died ten years ago. I never knew her, all I know is from her personnel file and the stories told to me from others."

"Oh." Yang couldn't really think of anything else to say, and at that point, the lights went out. Save for moonlight coming from the large windows several feet up, the only light was from a set of candles someone had lit. The girl next to them looked vaguely familiar, but Yang didn't care enough to think too much on where she'd seen her before.

"Well, I think that was a sign we should go to bed." The blonde brawler noted, letting her arm slip from supporting her head. "'Night."

"I will pray first. But, goodnight, Yang."

Right, Church Knight. She does tend to pray a lot. She reflected.

In the dark, Yang could vaguely make out Haruka shifting to a kneeling position, bowing her head and clasping her hands together in front of her, as she began to murmur in Belkan.