"Fuji, I don't think this battle is as simple as it looks," Tezuka warned.
"Aa, but I wonder why they came with such low numbers," Fuji replied.
"Be careful and don't do anything reckless. Don't let your guard down."
"Aw, you're worried about me. You look so cute right now, Tezuka," Fuji teased.
Tezuka felt his face turn red as he blushed at this….comment. "Fuji! We'll settle this when we get back to the base. And don't think you can get away with this without receiving proper punishment," Tezuka scolded as he turned back to his horse.
"Aw, why so cruel, Tezuka?" Fuji pouted. Tezuka ignored the comment and kept moving.
Tezuka and Fuji made their way to the front as both armies stopped moving. Now 250 meters apart, the Seigaku army's 300 archers started raining arrows down on Rikkai's troops. Soldiers fell as arrows pierced them. Rikkaidai was already at a disadvantage. Even so, Sanada ordered them to advance.
'This is strange. There's so few of them and they're coming towards us,' Tezuka thought.
"Tezuka, they don't have any archers. They're all close-combatants," Fuji pointed out.
Tezuka gave his attention to the approaching enemy army and noticed that Fuji was right. There were no archers within those 2,000 soldiers.
Rikkaidai's army charged towards the Seigaku forces. Battle cries sounded. It was only a matter of minutes before the two sides clash and Rikkai would be crushed.
Tezuka knew that Rikkai would not do something as ridiculous as sending a challenge, then bringing a few troops to the field.
All of a sudden, arrows started to rain down on Seigaku's troops. And the majority of these arrows were aimed at… the archers.
500 Rikkai archers occupied the small mountain that surrounded the battlefield.
'Damn, it seems that I was correct. They deployed archers here before any of the two main armies arrived. It seems they are aiming for our archers to save their soldiers down here,' Tezuka thought.
At the end of the first volley, only half of Seigaku's archers remained. Deciding to save these men, Tezuka ordered the archers to gather. He put 400 soldiers and 20 elites to protect them.
"Oi, Tezuka! We only have a few Elites with us, so why are you doing this? Why are you going to save the archers? And shouldn't we use the Elites for close combat?"
"We are going to use our archers to eliminate theirs. They have more than us, so that's why I sent troops to protect them. With their archers gone, we can completely focus on attacking."
"Then we will be with the main force in attacking?"
"Yes. They are getting closer, so get ready."
Soon enough, the army reached them and the real fighting began. Despite their charge, Rikkai's troops were more on the defense.
"Fuji," Tezuka called.
"Alright," Fuji understood. "Attack!" he commanded. 'I hope that our archers will last as long as possible.'
Tezuka and Fuji didn't really fight much, since they were on horseback, and it was harder to swing a katana down from a horse than swinging it on foot. They mostly organized the troops and helped wherever they were needed most.
Tezuka swung his katana downwards and his attacker fell. He watched as blood started flowing down from the wound inflicted. As soon as his body made contact with the ground, it was soon colored red by the blood.
"You bastard!" he heard another yell. Laying his eyes upon the angered enemy soldier, he saw MANY openings. This young man was blinded by his hatred for seeing his friend killed in front of his very own eyes. It couldn't be helped. Tezuka took another swing and the young man met the same fate as his friend.
As he left, Tezuka couldn't remove that image from his eyes. Two dead bodies lying on top of each other, soaked with blood. But he took a closer look and saw that both the soldiers were smiling.
Concerned about a certain genius and subordinate of his, Tezuka tried to find Fuji. He felt his heart calm down when he saw that Fuji was handling things well himself. Soldiers dropped dead once Fuji's katana penetrated their skin. Being called for by a soldier, Tezuka left Fuji's area.
Soldier count:
Seigaku: 0 archers; 3,000 infantry; 30 Elites; Captain and 2nd in command
Rikkaidai: 30 archers; 150 infantry; Captain
'With only 30 archers, they do not pose a big threat to us anymore. Our victory is assured.'
Fuji continued to the front until his horse cried out. An arrow had been planted deep into the horse's leg. Fuji was literally thrown off his horse, now forced to fight on foot. He heard his name being called by a familiar voice as he also heard the sound of hooves approaching. "Fuji!" Tezuka called. "Are you all right? You're lucky that arrow didn't hit you, but the horse. Be more careful next time."
"Aa, I will. Don't worry about me anymore, Tezuka. After all, weren't you the one who said not to let my guard down?" Fuji asked as he got up on his feet.
"No. I'll be close to you in case anything else happens," Tezuka insisted. An arrow struck his horse in the head and the poor animal dropped dead. "Now, you're really stuck with me."
Meanwhile, up in the mountains…..
The men grabbed their arrows and pulled back as far as they can on the bow. They had clearly heard the order that was given to them before they were deployed to the mountains.
"There are only 2 men on horseback. Aim for both of their horses when you are few in numbers. Once they are eliminated, you are to shoot at the 2nd in command. Shoot anyone who gets in the way. Stop when I give the order to retreat."
"Tezuka, I'm fine, just turn your attention back to the enemy!"
"Fuji, watch out!" Tezuka yelled.
"I'm telling you, you worry too much," Fuji said. When he turned away from Tezuka, he opened his eyes to see 30 arrows flying towards him. There was no time to react. He felt frozen on that spot as the arrows came closer and closer. Time seemed to have stopped as he watched them glide through the air, from the mountains down to the battlefield. He closed his eyes to welcome the pain that was coming in a matter of seconds.
Fuji opened his eyes when he heard the sound of flesh being pierced by many arrows at once. However, he was surprised when he saw a body covering him from the front. A blue and white jacket. An Elite. Fuji looked up to see his savior's face. His eyes widened when he saw the dark brown hair and the glasses that covered his eyes. 'Tezuka…'
"Ugh…" Tezuka groaned as he fell into Fuji's arms.
"TEZUKA!" Fuji screamed. He pulled his captain closer to him into an embrace as he felt tears trying to escape his blue eyes. His hand touched something and when he looked to see what it was, he was slightly horrified. 15 arrows were sunk into Tezuka's back. He was surprised that Tezuka hadn't lost consciousness yet with 15 pieces of sharp metal stuck in him.
Fuji heard footsteps and directed his attention to the coming soldiers. He was relieved when he saw 10 Elites rushing towards them. "Fuji-fukubuchou! Tezuka-buchou!" they called.
"Are you guys all right? We rushed over here when we heard Fuji-fukubuchou's scream," one worried Elite inquired.
"I am fine, but Tezuka isn't," Fuji replied.
"We will block the arrows while you watch over the captain. We cannot risk our 2 superiors. The battle will be over soon, due to the enemy army's numbers."
"All right, I understand."
'Tezuka, this battle will be over soon, and you'll be all right,' Fuji thought, although he was still worried.
The 30 archers in the mountains prepared to shoot at the 10 young men in blue and white uniforms when they saw Sanada signal for a retreat.
The Seigaku army roared in triumph as they saw Rikkaidai's 50 men retreat.
"Fuji-fukubuchou, should we chase their remaining force?"
"No. There's only 50 of them, it's not worth wasting energy over. Besides, we need to get our injured to safety."
"I understand."
"Tezuka, it's over," Fuji said.
"Aa," Tezuka said weakly before falling into a peaceful sleep.
"I'm just glad you're alive," Fuji whispered as tears flowed down his face.
"Where am I?" Tezuka asked as he tried to sit up.
"In our tent. We set up a field hospital and it's been about an hour since you fell asleep. I also removed the arrows from your body," Fuji answered. "Does it still hurt?" he asked.
"Aa. A little, but I'll manage."
"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."
When Fuji came back, Tezuka saw a bottle in his hand and a couple of towels.
"What are those?" Tezuka asked, his vision a little blurred.
"You'll see," Fuji smiled. Tezuka thought it was his imagination, but it seemed like Fuji's smile was even more sadistic than before. He couldn't even see clearly, so he decided to leave it alone.
"Stay still," Fuji ordered. Seeing how Tezuka complied with his request, he removed his jacket.
"Fuji?"
"Just stay still." Fuji took off Tezuka's Elite shirt and his undershirt.
He opened the bottle and poured a little on the towel. He put it over Tezuka's wounds and the captain could barely contain himself. "Fuji, you're using rubbing alcohol?"
"Well, your wounds need to be disinfected. And I thought I'd have a little fun teasing you."
Soon enough, Tezuka was groaning in agony as the alcohol took effect. 'Damn that Fuji for doing this to me when I'm awake when he could have done it when I was unconscious.'
After Fuji finished treating Tezuka's wounds, he made him put his clothes back on.
"Ne, Tezuka."
"Hn?"
"Why did you protect me from those arrows?"
"I wanted to protect you. Why else?"
'Damn, I knew that Tezuka sure was dense. He probably did it because I was his 2nd in command.'
Fuji walked over to Tezuka's bed and sat down next to him. He suddenly wrapped his arms around Tezuka and said, "I was so worried about you. You took such reckless actions."
"I was protecting you."
"YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" Fuji scolded.
"Fuji…"
"You had 15 arrows in you, Tezuka. You're lucky 15 missed. A normal soldier would have died. What were you thinking? You're the captain of the Elites and you were leading this battle. You have a more important role than I do, but why did you still do it?"
"Was it so wrong of me to protect someone I love?"
Stopping it right there for now since I'm getting tired of thinking and typing. Hopefully, I won't take as long for the next update, but that mostly depends on if I'm lazy or not. Battle took shorter than I thought, and I only got 1.8k words in, but whatever. Not very good scenes or descriptions, but I hope it was better than just saying "Seigaku won. Yay."Questions for the next chapter:
Sanada withdrew from the battle, but where has he escaped to? Tezuka has basically confessed to Fuji, and does he realize what he just did? How will Fuji respond to this?
Tezuka and Fuji will have another encounter with Sanada next chapter, but this time, face-to-face. Pst, don't forget the 50 extra soldiers that are who-knows-where. Hopefully, the next chapter will reach 2k words since I have half of it planned out already. Hope you guys enjoyed :D