A/N: Okay, this fic came about because from my love of the cardverse AU, Haikyuu, spies, and politics in a medieval/royalty setting. So if any of those are your thing, then this might be up your alley. Barring unforeseen technological problems, this story will post every Saturday. As a side note for any waiting for the sequel to my Harry Potter AU, that's going to start being posted Friday. Don't repost without permission. As an additional warning, the rating is for violence and language. Last, this fic will have slash pairings so if those are not your thing, then you've been warned.
As always, hope you enjoy and always feel free to leave a review!
ooooooo
"Mama, tell me a story!"
"A story? What kind of story do you want to hear, my darling?"
"The Card Kingdom, Mama! Tell me about the Card Kingdom!"
"But, you already heard that story yesterday. Are you sure you don't want a different one?"
"Please, Mama! Please! I want to hear it again!"
"Well, alright, my bright sun, then let's start at the beginning. Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"A long, long time ago, centuries and centuries, generation and generation, two Fates-Order and Chaos-descended from the sky. When they got to the land, they saw that the kingdoms all around it had descended into war-a bloody, bloody war, killing millions, lasting for over a hundred years."
"What did they do?"
"The Fates used their magic to form their own kingdom, a kingdom that would bring peace to the land. And this kingdom was divided into four Suits: the kingdoms of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades."
"Spades is where we live! Right, Mama?"
"Exactly right, Shouyou. And these four kingdoms would each have their own four rulers, each generation called forth by destiny. The greatest magician would be called to serve as Queen. The smartest in the land would serve as Jack. And, last, would be a King to lead the others."
"Mama! You forgot one!"
"Did I now and exactly which one would that be, my darling?"
"The Ace! You forgot about the Ace!"
"How silly of me. A Queen, a Jack, a King, and-finally-an Ace chosen to be the best warrior of all the kingdom. Together, these four would rule their part of the kingdom while working with the other Suits to make the Card Kingdom prosper. And each of them would be known by the symbol of their Suit: on the King's hand to point the way, over the Queen's heart to light the path, by the Jack's head to plan the journey, at the Ace's arm to hold up the rest. These marks are how we know our leaders."
"Like this one! Right, Mama? I have the mark of the Ace!"
"Yes, Shouyou, like that one. Now, let me finish the story. We're almost done. The Fates created the kingdom and then became human, so that they could watch the kingdom to make sure it prospered, only appearing at the most dire circumstances. They became Jesters. But, before they disappeared, they gave one final gift to the Card Kingdom. To each Ace, as they had the job of fighting for peace in the midst of so much war, they gave an extra blessing of their magic. Each kingdom and generation affected differently."
"What's mine, Mama!? I want to know mine!"
"Oh, my bright sun, you won't know that until you Claim your title and formally become Ace. No one will know until then."
"Awww, then I want to Claim my title now!"
"No, Shouyou! You may only Claim your title once you're older. It's too dangerous now!"
"But, Mama…"
"No. Keep your title secret until you are ready to Claim it. If not, you'll put not only yourself but everyone in the village in danger. Do you understand?"
"...Yes, Mama."
"Good. But, Shouyou, listen to me and listen to me closely. If ever you're in danger, the first thing you should do is go to the palace. Go to the palace, find the Queen and show them your mark. Only them. The palace will protect you. Promise me?"
"Okay, Mama. I promise."
ooooooo
Twenty years after that promise, Hinata Shouyou was opening his eyes to a stone room before the first rays of dawn had even crossed the sky. He sat up and yawned, orange hair sticking in all directions as he tried to dispel what was a half a dream and half a memory.
Blearily, he looked around to take in the soft grey of the castle stones and the messy, semi-constant state of chaos of his room. Deciding he'd probably gotten enough sleep to justify getting up, he slid off his sleep tunic and began the task of getting ready. This early, he might even be able to get some training in before breakfast!
His hand brushed idly over his shoulder where a black spade symbol lay, almost looking like a tattoo if not for the golden "A" inlaid within the middle of it. Mindlessly, his finger traced the letter that signified the title as Claimed.
Hinata shook his head, throwing off the last remnants of the dream. He had to hurry if he wanted any time before he had breakfast with Suga. Gah, where did he put his shoes?
Finally finding all of his clothes and throwing them on in at least a vaguely respectable order, Hinata banged out of his room and jogged down to the far east tower.
At twenty-five, Hinata had been at the palace for eighteen years now. Eighteen years since raiders from Nohebi had attacked his village and a seven year old Hinata had alone made his way to the castle. Eighteen years since he'd met Suga and Claimed his title as Ace of Spades. Eighteen years since the old Jack of Spades, Takeda, had taken over raising him and he'd started his training. Twelve years since he'd started missions as the Ace.
And, really, if you asked Hinata, they had been a fairly good eighteen years. He loved his friends and he loved his job-well, technically, jobs since one of them was a cover for his work as Ace of Spades.
Oh, yeah, that was one thing. Outside of a very, very small group of people, no one actually knew Hinata was the Ace of Spades. But, hey, as Tsuki always pointed out, that was probably a good thing.
Hinata came to a stop at the far east tower. The tower was the tallest in all of the castle, which would have made it a fairly popular destination if it didn't look like it would fall down if a strong breeze hit it. The East Tower looked like it hadn't had any kind of upkeep in generations with old rickety stairs, moss covered stone, and creepy sounding wind that rolled through broken windows.
Hinata loved it so much that if they'd let him, he'd live here. See, like Hinata, the East Tower also had a secret title-The Spy Tower. And, as the Ace of Spades-the greatest spy and assassin in the Card Kingdoms-the East Tower was like Hinata's home.
Hinata slipped in between hanging moss and the broken windows, easing rotted wood to reveal the part of the tower that was much less dilapidated than it appeared on the outside.
He let out a pleased sigh as the inside of the tower revealed large open spaces for training, stacked bales of hay like the knights would use to practice swordsmanship, target stands, and metal bars that Tsuki had a forger make special (and discreetly) for the tower inhabitants to practice climbing and swinging off roofs.
With a whoop, Hinata threw himself onto the floor, stretching into a back handspring, a flip, and then ending by twisting into a simple cartwheel. He stood, looking out on the floor with a grin.
"Shouyou?" a voice asked, groggily.
Hinata looked over and winced slightly, noting the bags under Asahi's eyes. He forgot that the others might not be up quite yet.
"What are you doing here so early," Asahi asked, leaning on the bales of hay and looking like he might fall asleep there.
"I couldn't sleep," Hinata answered sheepishly. "Sorry for waking you up. Did you have a mission last night?"
Asahi shook his head, letting out a yawn. "Don't worry about it. You couldn't have woken me up 'cause I haven't gone to sleep yet. I've been up all night working on the new paralytic poison I've been talking about."
"OHH-Can I see-no, wait," Hinata forcefully pushed down his excitement to try for a scolding expression, which probably would have been more effective if Hinata had gotten more than two hours of sleep himself. "You should go to bed. What if you have another mission tonight and get tired during it?"
Asahi rolled his eyes lazily and ruffled Hinata's hair. "Shouyou, I've watched you go on missions for the last decade. You don't get to lecture anyone on overworking. Besides," Asahi grimaced. "Noya and Shimizu both had missions last night, so I doubt I'll have any soon."
And Asahi couldn't sleep until they were both in safe, Hinata read in the unspoken words. Ugh, if there was one thing being a spy had taught him, it was listening more to what people didn't say than what they did. Honestly, why couldn't everyone just say what they meant like Hinata?
"Are Noya and Shimizu both still asleep," Hinata asked instead.
Asahi nodded, a touch of relief crossing his face. "Perfect mission, not a single bruise. And don't worry about waking them up. I'm not sure if even the tower falling down could wake them."
Hinata smiled back though he had a feeling Asahi was lying through his teeth. People in their line of work don't live long by sleeping deep and Noya and Shimizu were two of the best spies in Spades.
"Mind if I see the new poison then," Hinata asked, choosing a quieter activity in respect for the tower residents. "You're so lucky you three actually get to live here!"
Asahi sent a wry look to the bits of moss and decay that could still be seen blocking off the windows. "If you say so. You know the only reason they won't let you live here is because you have a cover to maintain...well, that and you'd never get any sleep with training."
"Still lucky," Hinata grumbled, but followed Asahi up the-happily, not at all deteriorated-stairs to the potion's lab.
It was common knowledge around Spades that the Ace of Spades was the only active spy and assassin in all of the Card Kingdom. Like a lot of common knowledge, this was completely false. Other than Hinata and not including Tsuki's various informants, there were three active spies that worked for Spades-Noya, Asahi, and Shimizu. There used to be even more back when Hinata was younger-before he was able to take on the role full time. As the current Queen and Jack of Spades of the time were neither insane nor callous enough to send a seven year old on dangerous, life threatening missions; a small, loyal, and highly secretive group of spies briefly acted as the Ace of Spades-taking on the costume and the mission to throw off the scent of who had taken over the role. As Hinata got older, more trained, and could actually take over missions, the organization wheedled down with all members getting significant reimbursements for their silence. Now, despite being fully trained, three spies were kept on to fulfill the missions Hinata was unavailable for. Also, as an added bonus, the additional spies helped add to the mystery and fear surrounding the Ace of Spades. With multiple people, the Ace of Spades could be anywhere and everywhere.
Plus, Hinata really liked the company and ability to actually talk to people who knew both of his identities.
Hinata happily spent the rest of the pre-dawn morning in Asahi's lab, listening to the older man explain in his soft voice about various chemical properties and effects of his new concoction. Smiling, Hinata thought to himself that there was no way anyone would mistake the soft spoken giant for the deadliest poisoner in the kingdom.
Shortly after dawn, Asahi and Hinata heard the entrance to the tower loudly creak open-a purposefully noisy entrance way to alert anyone in the tower of another's presence.
"Hinata, are you in here?" A voice called.
"I'm up here, Yachi! One second." Hinata called back, waving goodbye to Asahi and silently urging him to the makeshift bed in the corner of the lab. That done, Hinata bound down the stairs until he came face to face with the petite blonde.
"Just was talking to Asahi," Hinata told her. "What's the plan for today?"
Yachi smiled softly, looking down at her notes. "You're supposed to be bringing the Queen breakfast in about half an hour, then you're checking in with the King until after lunch, last you're going to help Tsuki with some 'chores he needs you to run around town'."
Hinata frowned at the last one. "What does Tsuki actually want me doing?"
Yachi shook her head. "I'm not sure. He heard a rumor this morning but was still looking into it when I left."
Hinata nodded, accepting that he'd have to wait to find out more. "Okay, awesome, want to walk with me to the kitchens?"
Yachi smiled again. "Sure, I need to check if they've prepared a menu for the Summer Festival anyway."
The two headed out of the tower, Hinata holding out some of the debris and trick doors for Yachi while she rambled off the top of her head about at least a dozen taks that she was in the middle of working on. Not for the first time, Hinata thought that Yachi had to be the most competent person in the entire kingdom. The small woman was the same age as Hinata, yet somehow had become the Head of all of the palace staff and the Senior Assistant to the Jack of Spades all in the space of eight years.
"...and the knights added another five recruits. Five, Hinata?! Now, I need to see how we can rearrange the kitchen budget because you know those knights eat more than should be possible. I mean honestly!"
Hinata nodded along, adding in the appropriate "ohhh's" and "really's" when needed, until they got to the kitchen.
"Oh, and...well, I guess, I'll tell you later," Yachi said, looking around the kitchen for the Head Chef. Finding him, she shot one more look at Hinata. "Oh, and Hinata do make sure you actually eat lunch, too, before checking in with Tsuki."
Hinata smiled, shooting her a thumbs up before she got swept away in another task.
"Hey, lad," one of the kitchen workers waved to him. "Here for the Queen's breakfast?"
"Yeah," Hinata nodded and was handed a giant covered platter of assorted meat and fruit.
"Hard to believe the Queen actually can eat this much," the worker commented, making sure Hinata had a good grip on the plate. "Almost enough for two people."
Hinata shrugged lightly in response.
"Well, off you go," the worker bid him off. "Mind what the lass said and make sure you drop by here for lunch."
"Thanks," Hinata called back as he already headed off to the hall, making sure to give a "good morning" to the various palace worker that he passed on his way.
To everyone in the palace who wasn't aware of Hinata's role as Ace of Spades-so pretty much to everyone-Hinata was simply known as the official courier of Spades along with manservant to the Suit when he was in the palace long enough. Tsuki and Hinata had set it up years ago to give Hinata a convenient and easily confirmed back story to excuse his visits to the rest of the Spade's Suit in their private quarters so much along with allowing for why he was absent from the palace for long periods of time-usually, actually on longer missions. Besides, Hinata didn't ever mind having to do some additional chores around the palace. It kept him busy and let him talk to people.
Hinata headed off to the the north side of the castle where the Queen of Spades' private chambers were located. It was apparent to anyone why the Queen chose this part of the castle as the warm open halls practically sung with magic in the air, making anyone who entered feel a stirring presence down to their bones.
Finding the proper room, Hinata lightly knocked on the chamber door.
"Come on in, Hinata!" a bright voice called out and with a small sweep of magic, the door swung open in front of him.
Sugawara Koushi, the Queen of Spades and the best magician in the entire kingdom, smiled happily at him from the small eating table in the middle of the room.
"Hey, Suga," Hinata greeted back, closing the door behind him and feeling the magic lock back around the room. "Anything cool planned for today?"
Suga grimaced, the expression sitting oddly on his normally smiling face. "Going over finances again to prepare a budget report for the Summer Festival. Honestly, it's not like the kingdom's doing bad financially or anything, it's just making sure we've got every little expense planned and accounted for and it's going to drive me crazy."
Hinata sat the breakfast trey down on the table and dropped into the opposite seat. "Ugh, that sounds so boring, Suga!"
Suga agreed ruefully. "You sure you don't want to swap in and try being Queen of Spades instead of Ace?"
On instinct, Hinata's face twisted down like he had bit a lemon. "No thanks, I'm good being Ace. Besides, the people love you. No way they'd settle for another Queen."
"Pretty words to get out of paper work," Suga laughed. "I guess it's a good thing swapping titles is impossible then. Come on, dig in before the breakfast gets cold."
Hinata smiled, grabbing bites off Suga's breakfast platter as he did every morning.
If anyone ever really took a chance to look closely at the Queen of Spades, they'd notice that he looked to be roughly the same age of Hinata, maybe one or two years older. Definitely, not anywhere older than late twenties. It was the same way, he looked last year. The same way he looked over ten years ago when Hinata had taken over as Ace of Spades. The same way as when a seven year old Hinata first met him. The same way he looked a hundred years ago.
Of the Spades Suit, the Queen of Spades was...unique. Visitors to the Card Kingdom always found it shocking that, first, the King and Queen weren't romantically involved or in any way related and, second, that the title for the Queen of Spades actually belonged to a man. Gender never played into the titles of the Card Kingdom. A woman could as easily be a King or an Ace as a man could be a Queen or a Jack. No, what was truly unusual about the Queen of Spades was the fact that Sugawara Koushi hadn't aged in over one hundred and fifty years-four generations of Suits with which Suga had held the title of Queen throughout all. The thing about magic is that it could always be bent to the magician's needs. While everyone had an innate ability to do it, few were really talented at it. And the four Queens of the Card Kingdom made talented look like novice. If someone say was the strongest magician in all of Spades, then it would be no trouble for that person to slow down their aging to a sudden halt. And, as long as the magic behind Spades still found that person worthy and had not named another, that person could theoretically stay Queen for as long as the kingdom needed them. And, if there was one thing that the whole country could agree on, it was that Sugawara Koushi was the best Queen of Spades to have ever lived.
Hinata glanced up as Suga smiled brightly at him, sliding the last piece of ham over to him. Hinata smiled back, offering a small thank you.
"So, what've you got planned for today," Suga asked him as Hinata swallowed his last bite.
Hinata shrugged. "Same old for the most part. I think Tsuki has something for me this afternoon."
Suga tilted his head. "Did Tsukishima tell you what it's about?"
Hinata shook his head. "Yachi just told me he wanted to see me."
Suga hummed lightly. "Well, between the two of you, I'm sure it'll be handled quickly," he frowned again. "Unlike that horrible budget report."
Hinata laughed, standing up and heading for the door. He grabbed the empty platter as he left. "Bye, Suga, I've gotta get down to the King's side of the castle within the hour. See you tomorrow morning. Good luck with the budget."
The Queen of Spades groaned lightly but gave a small wave in response, canceling the magic for Hinata to leave.
Hinata slipped out of the room, making sure the door shut behind him before heading back to the kitchen to drop off the empty platter. The King's side of the castle was to the south, opposite the Queen's, and the King-of course-preferred his private chambers at the very top of the highest tower on that side of the castle. Meaning that, even giving himself an hours time, Hinata still barely made it to the King's private chambers in time for his shift.
In contrast to the polite knock he'd given to Suga's (magical and entirely possible sentient) door, Hinata banged loudly on the heavy wood that marked the King's chambers.
"Oi, open up!" Hinata yelled, continuing to hammer his fist on the door. "Come on, I already climbed up the stupid staircase! Don't make me wait."
The door swung open and the King of Spades glared down at him.
"You are the worst servant in the entire kingdom," the King growled out.
Hinata smiled, utterly unperturbed. "Only cause you'd hate it any other way, Your Highness. Now, come on, let me in and stop blocking the door, Dummy!"
The King rolled his eyes but stepped away from the door, allowing Hinata passage.
As opposed to the light open feeling of Suga's chambers, the King's were closed off and cluttered-filled with all different kind of books and lit almost entirely by candle light.
Hinata moved a pile of books off the couch-careful not to loose any of their bookmarks-and hopped down on it, bouncing slightly while glancing at the King from the corner of his eye.
The King continued to glare back with his normal expression of part reluctance, part annoyance, part disbelief, and part fondness. Though, granted, the last bit may have been wishful thinking on Hinata's part.
"Oh, yeah," Hinata finally said after an uninterrupted moment of glaring while Hinata looked happily back up from the couch. "Yachi told me to ask if you had any chores for me to do. So, any chores, Your Highness?"
"Quit calling me 'Your Highness', it sounds weird when you do it," The King-no, Kageyama commented back. "And, Dumbass, you've been my servant for five years and I've literally never had a chore for you. Why would I today?"
"I dunno," Hinata answered lazily, stretching his neck to see what the latest subject Kageyama was researching-looked like merchant sea travels. "Maybe with the Summer Festival coming up, you wanted to get out of the tower or something. I know some great places to eat over on the merchant street."
Kageyama let out an annoyed sigh, falling back on the seat by his desk and picking up a discarded book. "No, Hinata, I'm not leaving the castle today. Definitely not for whatever terrible street vendor a dumbass like you would like."
Hinata shrugged, leaning back on the couch and gazing at the ceiling. "Fine, then if you're not going to go out. I'll just tell you where I went yesterday." Hinata sniffed and grumbled under his breath. "Though, maybe someone with your stupid taste wouldn't appreciate it."
Across from him, Kageyama rolled his eyes but Hinata noticed his eyes hadn't moved like they would if he was actually reading the book. And he hadn't told Hinata to stop.
Hinata smiled lightly, launching into a tale about his last night that was somewhat re-colored to avoid any clues to his mission. At his desk, Kageyama sat listening, every now and then adding in his own acerbic commentary.
If the people saw the Queen of Spades as perfect, then the King of Spades was viewed as...flawed. Some might even say broken, though that would certainly not have been Hinata. It wasn't so much that the people of Spades saw the King and didn't like what they saw. It was more that the people of Spades didn't see the King..at all. Since the death of his parents when he was seven years old, the King of Spades had only left the castle roughly five times.
Probably because of this with what Tsuki would call the King's "natural, sunny personality" the King tended to have a hard time getting along with people. Castle servants would characterize him as silent at best and at worst, a horrible disposition and impossible to work with. Hinata could...sympathize to a certain extent. The King was silent for the most part and could come across as grumpy, especially if you caught him in the wrong mood. But, then most people didn't see the other side, the one that Hinata saw. The King that worked day and night, hours and hours-until someone else had to make him quit-trying to read everything about the kingdom. Learn everything he could to be the best king possible. The King that had no idea how to understand his people but wanted to know every little thing he could to help him. That was the King that Hinata got to see.
Of course, Hinata had also been hopelessly in love with the King for the last few years so there's that.
From his spot in the desk, Kageyama let out a small laugh at one of Hinata's more amusing anecdotes before the King quickly covered it and went back to pretending to read.
Yeah, there's that, Hinata echoed, thinking about how Kageyama's eyes seemed to shine whenever he laughed.
And so the morning bled into afternoon in the same way that Hinata's afternoon's normally looked-with Hinata continuing on about various places he'd been or stories he'd heard while Kageyama pretended he wasn't hanging onto every word.
As the sun finally sank too low from where Hinata could see it in the sliver of window, Hinata finally stood up, stretching out the kinks in his back.
"Alright, Kageyama," Hinata announced, throat slightly dry from talking for hours. "Since you don't have any chores for me to do."
"I never have chores for you to do," Kageyama interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"I'm going to go check on the Jack to see if he wants anything," Hinata continued as if Kageyama hadn't spoken.
He started to the door, spying one last opportunity as he walked. The glass of water-that a servant had kindly brought him when Kageyama received his lunch- was sitting barely a few inches away from Hinata's feet, far enough away that it wouldn't do damage to any of the books that scattered the room. Hinata stepped to the door, perfectly twisting his back foot as he landed to just slightly "accidentally" touch the glass' edge.
The glass fell, spilling water on the floor.
"DUMBASS!" Kageyama yelled, grabbing one of the rags he kept in the room for moments like this. "Get out! You're the clumsiest servant in the world!"
Hinata rubbed the back of his head and sent Kageyama his best sheepish grin.
"Sorry, Kageyama, I forgot the glass was there. But, hey, at least it's not by any of your books!"
Kageyama glared back, but by now it had just shifted back to his normal exasperation. "Honestly, with your stupid ass around to knock things over, it's amazing that none of the books have gotten ruined."
"Sorry," Hinata repeated, trying to sound sincere and not at all like he planned it.
Kageyama sighed. "Just go and check to see whatever stupid, menial task Tsukishima's got set of for you."
"Yes, Your Highness," Hinata answered, throwing up a salute to Kageyama's eye roll.
He left the room while Kageyama was still muttering insults under his breath.
The things I do for my cover, Hinata thought wistfully. Though, to be fair, he might technically have oversold his "clumsiness" a bit around Kageyama. Hinata was of the firm opinion that it served the King good to piss him off every now and then.
With a good deed done for the day, Hinata started the long journey down the stairs and back to the east side of the castle where he'd started the day.
He got to the Jack of Spades office and on this door didn't even bother knocking, electing to walk right in instead.
Tsuki looked up from his desk and gave him a dry look. "I'm almost sure you treat the rest of our Suit's personal spaces with more respect than mine."
"Well, yeah," Hinata answered, tilting his head in a way that implied this was obvious. "That's cause with Kageyama, I've gotta cover to maintain and Suga's an angel. You're an asshole and we shared a room until we were like fifteen. We don't have personal space from each other anymore."
Tsuki's glare heavily disagreed with this statement, but the blond very notably chose to move on.
"How is his Royal Bratiness," Tsuki asked, electing a new conversation thread. "Still yelling at everything in sight."
Hinata shot him a mild glare back. "Sorry, were you talking about Kageyama or yourself? It's so hard to tell with those descriptors."
Tsuki leaned back in his chair. "My fault, I should have been clearer. I know how easily you get confused."
Hinata opened his mouth to retort and it's entirely likely that the conversation would have devolved further if Yachi hadn't chosen that moment to walk in the door.
"Hey, Hinata," Yachi greeted him. "I brought you some lunch since I figured you'd forget."
At this moment, Hinata's stomach decided to let out a loud gurgle and he sheepishly took the sandwich from Yachi. "Thanks, Yachi!"
"No problem," Yachi waved him off, going to stand by Tsuki's desk.
"Where's my sandwich?" Tsuki asked, glaring at Hinata as he chomped down on the first bite.
Yachi shot him a sweet and innocent smile. "In the kitchen I presume."
Tsuki gave her a flat look. "I miss the days when you were too scared of me to backtalk." He glanced back at Hinata. "Oi, how come my assistant likes you better."
"I vold vou," Hinata said through the sandwich, taking a second to swallow. "It's cause you're an asshole."
Tsuki rolled his eyes and Hinata had a moment to think that him and Kageyama were really more alike than they'd admit. His next thoughts were Eww and that he should never ever tell them that.
Tsuki was grabbing a pile of papers over his desk and flipping through them.
"Alright, now that you've been well fed," he said a touch acidically before swapping to what Yachi and Hinata called his 'business voice'. "Let me tell you about your next mission I've found."
Hinata sat up, sitting aside his sandwich plate and paying close attention.
"One of my informants brought word that a merchant, who specializes in hard to find and slightly illegal goods, would be in town for tonight only." Tsuki glanced down at his desk. "Normally, I wouldn't really care about a couple of less than savory deals as long as it's nothing too bad."
"But, this one is something bad," Hinata prompted.
"The problem," Tsuki continued, "is that until this morning the merchant, Mr. Watanabe, was being so secretive about what he was selling that I didn't even know what it was."
Hinata sat back. Tsukishima Kei was...well, the Jack of Spades, the literal smartest person in the entirety of Spades. And he had put all that talent, and Hinata's as well, to making sure that Spades had the best spy and informant network of anywhere in the continent. If Tsuki didn't know something, it normally meant that something was working very, very hard to make it so.
"So, you want me to find out what he's selling," Hinata asked.
"Sort of," Tsuki answered. "This morning, one of my top informants came in and told me that they had found out what Mr. Watanabe was selling that was so important."
"What was it," Hinata pressed, starting to get the sense that Tsuki was feeling like dragging this out.
"Illegally imported pelts from the Nohebi Empire," Tsuki responded flatly.
Hinata tried not to let his shoulders droop. "Oh….that's bad, I guess."
Tsuki shrugged, furrowing his brow. "It's illegal, but boring. No one goes through that much effort just to skip out on some minor tariffs between countries. Even more so, it's nothing near what Watanabe normally sales."
"So," Hinata frowned, trying to put the pieces together. "Either Watanabe's suddenly gotten worse at selling stuff or-"
"Or it's a false trail," Tsuki finished before Hinata could, not quite willing to let him steal his thunder. "Which means that your mission is actually two parts. Find out what he's selling and find out how he got enough information on our network to be able to lay a false lead."
Hinata nodded happily, mission ideas buzzing through his head.
"Where is Mr. Watanabe planning on selling," he asked.
"The informant says he's working from that dive bar down by the canal," Tsuki answered. "I don't think he'd change the spot just because we know about it. It would look too suspicious."
"Want me to intercept the product," questioned Hinata.
Tsuki shrugged. "Only if it's too dangerous to leave there. Up to you. Likely given the location, they'll just assume some other low level pick pocket snatched it."
"Do I need to take care of the seller or buyers," Hinata asked, a cautious sort of wariness coloring his tone.
Tsuki shook his head. "No. Let's track them and see what kind of leaks we have in the system first."
Hinata nodded, relieved. It wasn't that he couldn't do assassinations per se. He had and he had no doubt he'd have to again. Heck, he was the Ace of Spades, the best spy and assassin in the county. But, it was-by far-his least favorite part of the job.
Through long familiarity (and Hinata being terrible at hiding his emotions with people he was close to), Tsuki read the relief off of his face but decided not to comment.
"You can just go as yourself for this one," Tsuki told him. "It's not like they don't know you and you won't fit in there. Any cover would be too risky for someone to find out. Plus, there's the time frame to consider."
Hinata accepted this easily-though he knew if they really needed to, Tsuki and him could whip up a false identity in a matter of minutes.
"That's all I have for you," Tsuki concluded. "Now, get out of my office."
Hinata stuck out his tongue, but got up from the seat. "Geeze, Tsuki, you're so touchy today. Like more than usual and that's saying something."
"The librarian he has a crush on was out sick today," Yachi threw in before Tsuki could let out a scathing retort.
Hinata's eyes widened and a huge grin split his face. "Tsukiiii, why didn't you tell me you had a crush?!"
Tsuki turned to glare at Yachi. "He did not need to know that."
He turned back to Hinata, who was practically hopping back and forth. "I do not have a crush. And if I did, I would most certainly never tell you about it as I value my sanity. Now, get out of my office!"
"Awww," Hinata pouted, though still somehow managed to look like he was smiling. "We tell each other everything…"
"No we don't."
"I've known you since we were seven," Hinata continued. "You're like my brother."
"I don't want to be. Get Out."
"I can't believe you won't even tell me their name," Hinata frowned, pulling out the puppy dog eyes while he headed for the door.
"His name's Yamaguchi," Yachi mock whispered to the side.
Hinata beamed at her and shut the door on Tsuki's "YACHI! SHUT UP!"
Tsuki was right. Hinata was definitely Yachi's favorite.
ooooooo
It was nearing midnight and Hinata was still at the stupid dive bar called "Crow's Nest" ordering another drink. He obviously stifled a yawn, turning it into a wide drunken looking grin.
"Getting tired, Hinata," one of the bar locals named Aoi asked. Aoi was a common fisherman by day that just happened to run a small little smuggling business on the side. Nothing that either Hinata or Tsuki would really bother with.
"Yeah," Hinata answered honestly before swapping into a small white lie. "The palace knights got me up at five in the morning to help them with their horses."
"And, how late were you up the night before," asked one of the older regulars.
Hinata gave a rueful smile that had the men around him laugh.
"Gotta stop bar hopping every night," Aoi commented jokingly. "Or maybe get a more honest job like us."
The group laughed again.
"As if any of us would no anything about a purely honest job," Haruto commented breezily.
Hinata...knew a lot of local bars. No, wait, that sounded bad. Hinata knew a lot of people at local bars...because Hinata ended up at local bars a lot. Gah, that still didn't sound great.
Hinata knew a lot of people everywhere in the city. Part of this was, of course, because Hinata just happened to love people. But also because when everyone knew your face, you didn't look out of place anywhere. When Hinata had a reputation as the local friendly palace staffer who made it a habit to wander around the city and get to know people, then it made it much less odd when he just happened to be in places that the Ace of Spades showed up at.
Yachi joked once that Hinata knew everyone in the city...and really, she wasn't that far off. But, why wouldn't he, Hinata loved Spades. He loved getting to know the people he would die to protect and, bonus, they usually seemed to love getting to know him, too. Even if they didn't know that him was, well, him or...ugh, secret identities could get so confusing sometimes.
From the corner of the bar, the man that Hinata had discreetly been making note of nodded to Mr. Watanabe, who had just entered. Mr. Watanabe and the stranger exited the bar, one right after the other.
Hinata sat easily not making any move to follow them as a part of him lazily traced their movements on the street, turning left.
Slowly, Hinata let out another yawn, stretching his mouth wide and leaning heavily on his hand.
"Geeze, Hinata. You really do need some sleep," remarked Haruto. "Get out of here before you fall asleep in a ditch."
Hinata nodded, letting his eyes droop. He shot Haruto a grateful smile, glad that he could get someone else to suggest it.
"Yeah, I think I will," Hinata responded, making sure he sounded reluctant. He laid some coins down on the table. "Thanks, guys. Next round's on me."
The rest of the guys gratefully slapped him on the back as he left. Good, let them remember the next round rather than who he happened to leave after.
Not that Hinata thought they'd be that suspicious; he'd been letting out increasingly more yawns for the past two hours. That, plus the slightly drunk swagger-really, if Hinata didn't know how to stealthily swap out drinks yet he'd be out of a job-insured that no one in the bar would remember him as a threat.
He exited the bar, heading right until he was clearly out of view. Then he slipped silently into an alley, losing the groggy demeanor and tipsy mannerisms. Watanabe and his customer had headed left, but there was no sign of them on the long street. Hinata hadn't heard any carriages or horses pass by since he left so the two had to have stopped in one of the other buildings on the street. Hinata had a feeling it was the meat shop since the only other options were the local city shop for the smithy (and no one, criminal or otherwise, wanted to conduct business surrounded by a pile of easily accessible weapons) and a flower shop owned by a little old lady that was one of the few people who worked on this street without any nefarious associations. Just a remnant from when this street catered to a different crowd.
Hinata threw off his over clothes, carefully ripping them to shreds and throwing them in various piles of trash around him to look like old rags. Under his over clothes, he wore the usual tightly woven black mesh bodysuit that had come to be associated with the Ace of Spades. He pulled on the black mask, covering his entire head and with specially thin fabric over the eyes to allow him to see.
Quickly before anyone could walk by the alley, Hinata jumped and caught the ledge of the bar roof, silently swinging his body back into a back flip to land on top. Blending into the roof, he crept over the dark tiles and jumped slightly from the bar roof to the meat shop.
Looking around, Hinata saw a light coming through a thatch in the roof that had been hastily covered in wood. Creeping closer, he could just make out voices from the room below
Nice! Hinata wouldn't have to wait to watch them leave and try to trail one of them.
He leaned down, taking out a knife and quietly shaving off a piece of the wooden thatch large enough that he could make a peephole. He looked down into the small single room
"Truly, again just truly an honor," Mr. Watanabe was saying, looking nervous enough that Hinata could spot sweat stains from here.
The other man from the bar stood opposite from him and held himself imperiously. A man that Hinata remember leaving the bar about an hour ago stood behind him as a guard.
"Yes, yes," the imperious man remarked. "An honor. You've said that already. Do you have what you promised or not. I'm not exactly planning to stay in a city known for their spies for longer than necessary."
"Yes," Mr. Watanabe said with an audible gulp. "I have them. Both of them."
"The Jack and the King?" the imperious man demanded. Hinata leaned closer, trying to hear what they wanted with Kageyama and Tsuki.
"Yes, Your Grace," Mr. Watanabe answered. "Both of them."
"Let me see them then."
Mr. Watanabe pulled something out from a bag he was holding and shoved forward two boxes, each about the size of Hinata's open hand.
Hinata tried to twist to find an angle where he could see what was in them, but the men's bodies blocked his view.
"Um," Mr. Watanabe started after the men had been staring for a while. "As you can see, the i-items are in p-perfect condition."
"Indeed," the imperious man said simply. "I'll bring these out to the horses while my associate pays you."
Both Hinata and Mr. Watanabe could see where this was going.
"NO, WAIT, NO," Mr. Watanabe started yelling, backing up to the wall. "THIS WASN'T THE DEAL!"
The imperious man didn't seem to hear him and walked out of the room, leaving Mr. Watanabe with his associate brandishing a knife. Hinata didn't need to see more and leaned back from the roof as Mr. Watanabe let out a final scream that ended in a gurgle.
Instead, Hinata padded silently across the rooftop in the direction the other man seemed to be heading. Leaning unseen behind a chimney, Hinata watched as the man exited the building to a pair of bound horses tied up in the alley between the meat shop and the flower shop. The man looked back passively at the door, waiting for his associate. He slipped the two boxes into the saddlebag, checking to make sure it was secure
If Hinata was going to get a moment, this was it.
Making sure to stay completely out of any moonlight and blending into the dark roofs, Hinata slipped quietly down to the other side of the roof where a small brick wall connected it to the flower shop next door. Bending down, Hinata waited to make sure the man was looking away. If he was lucky, he'd have maybe a full second.
The man looked down briefly, appearing to examine his fingernails.
Hinata, staying completely silent, sprinted across the connecting wall that was maybe three inches in width. He landed softly on the other side, arching his feet to only land on the tips of his toes.
He leaned back on the flower shop roof behind him. The man hadn't seemed to notice him. Creeping on the pads of his feet across the roof, parallel to the man's back, Hinata eased slowly in front of the horse. He reached into one of his sewn in pockets, that looked almost invisible even in the light, and pulled out some small sealed, food pellets that Asahi had modified. He sprinkled them lightly in front of the horse and sat back waiting for the reaction.
Sure enough, the horse immediately smelled the pellets and bent his nose down, trying to sniff out the strange scent. If what Asahi had told Hinata was true, the smell of the pellets should be strong enough to ignore any other new smells in the immediate area-like for example, a small red haired spy.
The man shot his horse a backwards glance before looking back at the door to the butcher shop. Hinata quietly leaped down off the rooftop, landing in a crouch a foot behind the horse that blocked him from view from the man in front.
Now came the hard part. Hinata shot a glance at the horse to see that it was still more preoccupied with the pellets than it was with Hinata. Not daring to breathe, Hinata slipped down under the body of the horse and above the ground-behind the man's legs and right below the saddle bag.
Hinata pulled out his knife and, for half a second, looked at the unguarded man in front of him and considered ending this mission a different way. With Mr. Watanabe dead, finding the leak in the information network was practically bust. It was unlikely the well dressed man with a slight foreign accent was the one in charge of redirecting local criminals. There wasn't any real reason they needed him alive.
Hinata mentally shook his head. No death if it could be avoided.
He instead turned his knife to the lacing of the saddle bag. Carefully, Hinata slid the knife between two threads-cutting one and then it's neighbor. He slowly worked the thread down to where there was a small gap in the bottom of the bag-barely big enough for a small hand to slip a single box through but just small enough to appear almost natural.
Hinata slipped his hand in and silently prayed that the man didn't keep the bag too filled. In front of him, the man shifted slightly and Hinata froze with his hand still stuck in the saddle bag.
The man walked forward, away from Hinata and to the butcher door.
"What's taking so long? Just leave the body! It's not like it would be a big deal given this fuckin' neighborhood."
The man muttered to himself, walking back but thankfully did not look down where Hinata's black outfit shown brightly in the light from the butcher shop door.
Hinata didn't quite dare let out a sigh of relief yet, feeling in the bag until...there. A corner of a small box. Hinata pulled gently until the box was in his hands.
Just at that time, footsteps sounded from the butcher shop, coming to the door.
Shit! Hinata thought, rolling out from under the horse and back into the dark shadows, clutching the box in his hands.
"Finally," the leader of the two announced. "Come on, let's leave before any more of the wretched canal smell gets in my clothes."
Hinata watched from the shadowed corner between the two shops as the two men mounted their horses before riding out onto the street, not sparing a glance to their silent observer.
Hinata finally took a moment to breathe and looked down at the box in his hands.
Well, at least it was just one of them, Hinata mused. .And hopefully, Tsuki was right and they'll assume it's a local pickpocket.
Hinata hopped back onto the roof, where he knew the shadows would hide him completely from sight, and finally opened the box to see what all the fuss was about.
Oh. was Hinata's first thought. Followed by a very deeply felt Oh, Shit.
This was….this was very, very bad.
Sitting in the small black box was a small square of what was undoubtedly human skin. But, the part that made Hinata truly worried wasn't the skin but rather the unmistakable blood red heart that was stamped onto it and inscribed with a very delicate silver letter "J".
The Jack of Hearts.