Somehow amidst her fellow models' drama, the gliding across the ramp walk, switching dresses and sabotage attempts from the competition, Fernando had forgotten to share a very crucial detail. The show was never going to take place in Baska, neither was it simply a show. He had already let Akira, or rather, Kiara know that he was fretting so much because his collection was to be displayed for a competition. But only today did he share with the duo that this show, was in fact for the high stakes competition. On top of that, until today, he'd neglected to mention a very important detail, that this competition was being held in Hargeon.

She simply smiled a small smile and waited for the moment when the designer offered them all a break so she could go talk to Tsuru. This fact was pushing it a little bit too far. She hadn't planned on leaving Baska so soon. Not to mention, she hadn't been south of Fiore forever now, not since she'd left it a year ago, in fact. When she finally earned her break and found the healer, she dropped her model act, after almost a four days of wearing it night and day. She relayed the information she'd learned as Akira and not Kiara, apprehensively, she waited for his thoughts on the matter.  

The swordsman patrolled dutifully in and around the boutique, making sure Jaune didn’t attempt killing Fernando or Akira again. After all, the sleazebag had managed to escape them in their last encounter and he didn’t look like a guy who gave up so easily. Frankly, the healer couldn’t care less about Fernando’s design collection. Yes, it would be a sad loss, considering the amount of time and effort the designer put into his work. However, he didn’t approve of how the designer put the inanimate over the living. Haru was only taking this seriously because it involved the safety of the people inside the boutique, which included his partner.

Haru was walking towards the coffee machine when Akira approached him. And when she told him of the crucial but conveniently forgotten information, Haru frowned and stormed to the designer. “You never told us it was a competition or that it was being held in Hargeon,” Haru said, looking very upset. Fernando couldn’t understand what the problem was. “Minor details. Why does it matter?” he retorted. “Because…” the healer began, but had no real reason. It just took him by shock and he wasn’t ready to take it. Apart from that, there really was no other reason. “Because you can’t keep your employees in the dark like that,” he said finally.

Fernando sighed and thought for a moment before apologizing. “Alright. Sorry. But don’t you guys worry. I got the best lacrima-powered caravan to ensure utmost comfort in our journey,” he said, trying to convince them. When Haru thought about it, this wasn’t a bad deal at all. There were no trains and the duo was going to walk all the way to Era anyway. The walk to Era from Hargeon was much shorter than the walk from Baska. So, he pulled Akira to the side and told her they could use the lift, after all.

The healer relayed her sentiments well. The only reason she couldn't simply confront the designer, was because in case they decided to not thrown in their caps, she still had a role to maintain. There was still a possibility that she had to play the soft spoken, mild mannered hanger for his lavishly embroidered collection. Ever since she'd taken an interest in playing Kiara, she was working on small aspects of herself that would give her away.

The girl didn't slouch, nor did she lean against the walls and thresholds while conversations took place. In all fairness, she was quite sold when he offered the caravan herself. It was a little naive and childish, but she always wanted to ride in the luxurious vehicle that Fernando took his time describing. At least now that it was all out in the open, the Knights realised just why he cared so much and why he was being such an annoying perfectionist.

She didn't like the designer much, especially considering that she was still slightly bitter about his assessment of her older self... But perhaps she'd found within herself a grudging admiration for his resolve to go on and participate in this competition, despite the risk to his life. She grinned when Tsuru asked and winked playfully. 'Yeah, why not. I haven't been south for a while...'

The swordsman was glad she agreed to go, but still maintained a slightly annoyed expression when conveying that to Fernando. He didn’t want the designer to think it was okay to keep his employees in the dark so long as he offered luxurious travel options afterwards. “Now that that’s sorted, would you mind helping me with the packing? Just don’t touch the silk-lined boxes. I’ll deal with those myself,” he said, pointing at the huge pile of carton boxes. “Yeah yeah…” Haru muttered, as he picked one and began walking towards the caravan outside.

“What do you mean ‘for a while’?” he asked when he was about to cross Akira. “When have you been south before?” he asked, dumbly. The duo had been to all regions of Fiore, except South Fiore and she had not claimed any of those her home. So, it was obvious that the girl was from South Fiore. But Haru wasn’t the brightest sometimes. If she did tell him that she was from the south, the healer would be quite excited and shamelessly invite himself to her home. “You should take me to your hometown. I’d love to meet your parents,” he said, not realizing the implications there.

When they exited the boutique with the boxes, Haru would witness what Fernando promised and find that the designer was underselling the word ‘luxury’. The huge caravan was literally the size of a small house. “I appreciate his collection a little bit more now,” he admitted, grinning widely.

She walked alongside him, rather shamelessly, while he did all the work. She was barred from doing any heavy lifting, lest she injured herself. Being treated like a snowflake usually felt like an insult, but she had to agree that the luxury felt well-earned today. They were being even more careful, considering that she'd basically offered herself up as bait in an attempt to catch Fernando's rival. She stretched, briefly shedding her stifled good girl role, as they approached the grand caravan.

They found themselves alone behind the ornate trailer, which definitely made the Knights surer of their decision. The Shimada raised her eyebrows at Tsuru when he asked her the question, she thought the implication would be enough and giggled. 'Marigold is where I grew up, silly...' she teased. When he invited herself over to meet her parents, she stiffened for a second. The girl hadn't really recognised the unintentional implication herself, for she was plagued with a different kind of doubt.

Growing up, she'd earned a lot of flak for being raised by a single mother. Since the topic had never come up, she'd never thought to let Tsuru in on it. Now, seemed appropriate, she hoped that his reaction wasn't a disappointing one. 'Its just my grandparents and my mom, by the way.' she said, attempting to slip it in there casually, she didn't really want pity either. She was curious as to what his assumption would be.

Boxes after boxes. There were dozens of them and it was just Haru doing the rounds alone. The assistants were nowhere to be found and he wondered where they were. It wasn’t until he was halfway through the boxes he was supposed to transfer that they arrived at the entrance hall with more boxes for him to carry. The healer didn’t complain. He had been missing his workout sessions and this would probably help him build those muscles that Fenrir asked of him. Not to mention, the chore wasn’t as boring when he had Akira to chat with.

“Marigold! Isn’t that very close to Hargeon? We should head to your home first before we go to Era,” he suggested, unable to contain his excitement. The young Knight had no memory of his family or their warmth. It was an alien concept to the swordsman; one that he knew most people had the luck to experience at least for a short period. He had come to terms with his lost memories a long time ago. But he could never lie to himself about his desire to find out who his parents were. And if he couldn’t do that, then maybe he could at least witness what it was like for his partner.

When Akira said it was just her mother and grandparents, Haru immediate assumption was that her father had passed away. “I’m so sorry. What happened to your father?” he asked, slowing down his pace of moving the boxes, much to Fernando’s displeasure.

Seeing just how much of a workload Tsuru had, Aki's little victorious joy turned to ashen guilt. Suddenly, she felt inclined to help when they piled a few more boxes in front of her. But she was certain that if she attempted doing that, the designer would find a way to put a stop to it. While Fernando definitely lacked the courage to confront her about it directly, he'd definitely find a passive way to simply have her escorted and reassigned to some other task, befitting of a lady.

Tsuru's excitement was infectious, but left a pang of aching homesickness in her heart. She soft smile stretched her lips as nostalgia snuck into her being. 'It is very close indeed...' she said, almost with a sigh. Wondering how she'd be received now that she was a high ranking official. She almost didn't want anyone in her town to know, she was too comfortable being the failure there. Considering that she'd changed enough to fool Fernando, perhaps she could wear an entirely different garb there too.

Tsuru received the news about her father like most others, with sympathy and under the assumption that something had happened to him. She flinched as she corrected his presumption. 'He's alive and kicking... In a different country.' she said with a soft sigh, hoping that was clear enough, but in all likelihood she braced herself for having to spell it out for him. Given his missing memories and such.

Haru had expected Akira to be happy about going back home, but her sigh made him doubt it. And to make matters worse, he had assumed her father was dead simply because she said he doesn’t live in Marigold. After that, he had to wonder if he was ready to meet any family, let alone Akira’s. If he made such careless assumptions everywhere he went, he was sure to offend someone. “Sorry!” he said, cringing at his own mistake. But that clarification did bring about more questions. However, before he could have that conversation, Fernando began to slave-drive him.

After a good hour of Haru moving the boxes, he spotted the designer moving the silk-lined boxes with a mana-powered levitation board. With his arm muscles pulsing in pain with that entire workout, watching the designer do it so effortlessly made Haru furious. “You’ve gotto be kidding me,” he said, incredulously. “I didn’t have enough mana crystals for all the boxes,” Fernando said curtly, not acknowledging the healer’s frown.

Once they were all packed and ready, it was time to start the journey. While the caravan was very much capable of moving at a decent speed, Fernando insisted that they move slowly so that none of his clothes get crumpled and ruined. This was clearly paranoia, but it wasn’t Haru’s caravan to command the driver otherwise. So, they moved, slower than the fastest pedestrian. At least, it put the healer to sleep for a few good hours.

His sorry was less sympathetic and more filled with guilt. It seemed he was quite conscious of the way he had approached this entire conversation. Aki should have set the record straight and explained the circumstances so that he was at ease, but somehow, the moment passed. The healer instead shifted his attention to Fernando who quite shamelessly made her partner do the heavy lifting, while using magic to make things easier for himself. Akira sighed softly at his tone and didn't fail to remind Tsuru that his magic could have aided him in his own task too, with a playful nudge of her elbow.

Once they were all packed and ready and the caravan began crawling its way to Hargeon, both the Knights succumbed to slumber. The gentle movements of the vehicle cradled them well and the luxurious comfort was too much to fight. When they stopped over to get some snacks, Akira sleepily declined and said she wasn't hungry, though one of the assistants was tasked with the responsibility of packing her something. Soon, she was fast asleep again. She ignored the sound of a person entering the car again, assuming it was either Tsuru, Fernando or one of the assistants. She was roused with the sensation of cold metal at her throat yet again, along with an eerie warning to not make a sound. This has to be a nightmare... she thought coldly.

Having slept before Akira, almost immediately after they started their journey towards Hargeon, Haru woke up on time for the short stop for food and drinks. His partner, however, didn’t wish to be disturbed and decided to continue with her slumber inside the caravan. The healer left with Fernando and the rest of the crew to eat, and also pack some food for the star of the show. The red-headed swordsman had made quite a few friends among Fernando’s assistants. Most of them just wanted a third party to complain about how much work the designer had them do, but also didn’t fail to appreciate him for his talent and remind themselves how lucky they were to be his apprentices. Haru simply nodded and acted as though he was paying attention, as he ate his food.

The healer was grateful that he wasn’t interested in the conversation, as that was what allowed him to spot a shady character enter the caravan. He squinted his eyes to get a better look and realized he had seen a similar figure before. The swordsman remembered that he had seen that hooded figure talking to Jaune when they were spying on him from the balcony café. He immediately excused himself and rushed to the caravan, only to find that his suspicions were right. It was an assassin sent after his partner and potentially Fernando too, by Jaune.

Seeing another man hold a knife against Akira’s throat made him furious. He instinctively reacted and cast his Redirect, creating a high pressure pocket where the assassin held the knife and a low pressure one away from Akira, making the assassin’s hand be sucked away from his partner. Immediately, Haru reached for his lightsabre, activated it and threw it like a lance straight towards the assassin’s hand that held the knife. The sabre hit the assassin’s hand and knocked the knife away. Haru immediately recalled his weapon back to his hand and charged straight up to the assassin, screaming expletives at him. Meanwhile, the dagger that was knocked out of the assassin’s hand would fall straight down onto his partner’s bed, right next to her, and knowing Akira, Haru was sure she would use the opportunity to end this quickly. He only needed to distract the shocked assassin enough to give her the time needed.

Once the assassin was dealt with, Fernando and his assistants would come running to see what the entire ruckus was about. Haru would heal the assassin’s injuries after tying him up, but not before he reveals the fact that he was sent by Jaune. The Knight wanted to head back to Baska to deal with that filthy designer, but Fernando wouldn’t have it. So, he made a mental note to hunt the bastard down once the show was over. For now, they moved forward to Hargeon, where they would put the assassin behind bars first before heading to the show.

She was lucky to have been assigned a partner after all. Moments after her life was in danger Tsuru had already come to her aid. While she was tempted to respond the the assassin in kind, she merely picked up the dagger and rammed the hilt it into the man's temple. It was a swift way to knock him out. Tsuru dealt with tying him down and he was swift enough to admit that he was a mercenary that Jaune had hired.

Additionally, he went onto add that he was manipulated into doing this task and that the other designer had painted Akira out to be a nasty villainous being. The lunar mage scoffed at the allegations Jaune had leveled against her but didn't really respond. She simply let the man know that if he was going to be a bother on the trip, she wouldn't hesitate to knock him out again. Of course, this exchange had to happen when Fernando wasn't listening in. Surprisingly, among all the requests she'd taken this had proven to be among the most life threatening ones.

It was as dark as it was amusing and she was glad that she'd taken the responsibility of being the show stopper. At least, Akira was somewhat trained to deal with such adversaries, had it not been for the Knights, it was highly likely that innocent lives could've been lost. Carina was devious from what Akira recalled, but even she didn't deserve assassination attempts like these. She reassured Tsuru that there was no way Jaune would miss the show, so if they were to find him, returning to Baska would surely be counterproductive.