Author's Note: I really need to stop uploading these at ungodly hours. This is why nobody reads these. :,D Oh well.

This chapter is a slightly longer chapter than last chapter... half because last chapter was too short, and half because this story is too much of a slow burn even for me :P

Edit (3/24/2018): Fixed dialogue related grammar errors.


Chapter 4

Fuji did not have a high expectation for Ryoma's swordsmanship skills.

Not that he did not believe in Tezuka's judgment, but it was also a fact that Fuji was stronger than all his bodyguards except Tezuka himself. Thus, the prince expected the new bodyguard to be only on the level of the rest of his bodyguards, if not lower.

"Ready when you are, Your Highness," Ryoma challenged with a cheeky grin.

During the short while Fuji examined the katana he was given, his bodyguard had walked to the other side of the courtyard. The boy raised his katana and pointed it at Fuji – a clear challenge.

"Please go easy on me," Fuji replied with a smile, unenthusiastically.

Fuji noticed that Ryoma's initial stance was that of an offensive strike. Preparing himself for the hit, Fuji switched to his defensive form.

The first strike came much faster than he predicted.

Barely parrying it on time, Fuji quickly tilted his blade to catch the second strike. Knocking the attacking blade away from himself, Fuji disengaged from the close-ranged combat and retreated a safe distance.

Ryoma observed the prince's movements carefully. Since Fuji did not attack, Ryoma took it upon himself to unleash the second round of barrage. The bodyguard began with a round of rapid-fire lunges, all of which were cleanly blocked by Fuji, then proceeded to turn and unleashed a horizontal slash.

Fuji dodged backwards, and the battlefield was reset once more as the distance between them increased.

The prince noticed that his bodyguard was sporting a frown, then the boy let out a 'tsk' and switched the katana from his right hand to his left.

"A southpaw?" Fuji asked for confirmation.

"What do you think?" Ryoma answered with a question, a taunting smile plastered on his face.

"Quite a curious fighting style you have, Echizen. It's unorthodox."

"In what way?"

"You leave yourself open," Fuji answered, his index finger tracing the blunt edge of the katana. "Your defense is weak during your attacks. I believe this is not the standard move set that is taught amongst the contemporary samurais."

"Offense," Ryoma replied, readying his katana, "is the best defense, Your Highness. This time, I'll make sure you can't run away."

Ryoma became even faster.

It was a second too late before Fuji realized that Ryoma was already right in front of him, not allowing enough time for a backwards leap. Instinctively, Fuji raised his katana in front of him and successfully blocked the incoming downward slash. The prince swung his blade, pushing back Ryoma's katana and made his bodyguard leave himself vulnerable to a hit. Fuji aimed at Ryoma's open spot and attacked for the first time.

His attack was met with an unexpected sound of clashing steel.

Shocked, Fuji turned his head to see his bodyguard flexibly switched hands once again, making the previously vulnerable area completely protected. Ryoma moved away from Fuji's sword, then transferred the katana back to his dominant hand.

Fuji could feel his adrenaline begin to rush.

"What's wrong? Weren't you going to attack my weakness?" Ryoma mocked.

"How interesting," Fuji commented with a smile and opened eyes. "I can see why Inui and Kaidoh lost to you now. I nearly did not believe Tezuka when he told me about this."

Fuji thought he heard a faint sound of thunder, but he could not care less at the moment.

A new round of attacks began.

For each of Ryoma's attacks, Fuji had a perfect counter for it; however, for each of Fuji's counters, Ryoma would have a different reaction to counteract it. It was almost like a dance of two, both sides exchanging blows back and forth, pushing and pulling. This was meant to be a simple sparring session, one where neither side released its full power, and Fuji was certain that Ryoma initially meant for it to be that way.

And yet, Ryoma began using more and more unique and interesting moves, and Fuji started to rack his brain to come up with new counter methods.

Abruptly, a move tipped the balance of power.

Ryoma swung his blade downwards after seeing an opening, and Fuji swung his katana upwards from a stance meant for a horizontal slash. The force from Fuji's blade was so large that it almost disarmed Ryoma in an instant. Stunned, Ryoma retreated a distance and reassessed the situation.

"Higuma Otoshi," Fuji explained, "one of my Triple Counters."

"Are you finally getting serious, Your Highness?" Ryoma asked with an excited grin.

"Only because you were unleashing your moves left and right, and it would be rude not to respond in kind," Fuji answered with a confident smile.

A drop of rain fell onto Ryoma's cheek, then another one. Soon after, rain began pouring down. However, the two people in the courtyard began another round of exchanges without saying a word.

Ryoma initiated more downward swings, and Fuji began to counter each and every one with Higuma Otoshi. In a mere twenty minutes, Ryoma had figured out a way to shrug off the force from the move and swiftly return to perfect battle condition. Fuji could not help but be impressed and awed by Ryoma's speed of improvement.

The power balance between the two had been restored.

The pair was about to continue the sparring until a voice interjected.

"What are you two doing in the rain?"

It was Tezuka, carrying an umbrella, who arrived at Fuji's room originally to take over Echizen's post. Ryoma was so invested into the sparring session that he forgot his shift was over a while ago.

Neither Fuji nor Ryoma said anything to the captain; both simply acknowledged his presence, while continuing to observe each other.

"Echizen," Tezuka commanded, "you are to leave your post immediately. Your shift is over. Report to me before the morning assembly."

Sighing loudly in disappointment, Ryoma sheathed his katana and left his battle stance. Fuji did the same and returned the sword he was holding back to his bodyguard.

Ryoma bowed to Fuji and Tezuka individually and mumbled, "Please excuse me."

Then the young bodyguard left silently. Tezuka turned towards Fuji.

"Your Highness," Tezuka said, "please come indoors. You should not be standing in the rain."

There was no response from the prince. In fact, from Tezuka's eyes, Fuji almost looked as it he was stuck in some sort of trance. The usual smile Fuji sported was gone, replaced with a serious, thoughtful expression. A streak of lightning cracked from the clouds, and the prince looked up, staring into the distance.

"Fuji," Tezuka put his hand on the prince's shoulder.

Fuji looked at the captain in shock, pupils constricting for a split second before returning to normal. After a few seconds, Fuji regained his usual poise.

"You called me by my name. How rare," Fuji commented.

"Let's go back inside. You cannot stay in the rain."

"Tezuka, is this why you picked him?" asked Fuji before Tezuka could get him out of the rain. "Because of this… thrill?"

It took a minute for Tezuka to pick his words, then he replied, "I chose him for his potential."

"I see."

Slowly, the two returned indoors. Tezuka escorted Fuji to the bathroom to clean himself after being soaked from head to toe, and while taking a bath, Fuji took a long time to ponder the events that occurred just moments ago.

The adrenaline rush was taking its sweet time to fade.

After finishing the bath and returning to his own room, Fuji's night remained almost sleepless.

Fuji woke up the next morning with a massive headache and accompanying dizziness. His face was hot, and his clothes were drenched in sweat. Yet, as soon as he lifted his blanket to get up, he felt the chilling air in the room and immediately wrapped his blanket around himself again.

The prince glanced towards the door; if he had to guess from the shadow of the bodyguard on duty at the moment, it would be…

"Kaidoh," Fuji voiced, slightly surprised by how raspy his voice sounded, "can you come in?"

The door to Fuji's room slid open silently, and Kaidoh's figure emerged from the door. The viper hissed in shock as soon as he saw Fuji's pale complexion and quickly approached Fuji's bed to check up on the prince.

"I'm sorry about this, but," Fuji coughed, "can you ask for Inui? I think I need his medical assistance."

Kaidoh nodded and hurriedly scrambled to find Inui, the only one of all the bodyguards with a certified license in medicine. Very rarely, when Fuji fell sick, Inui would be the one to make medicine for him. These days, however, Fuji didn't become ill very often.

Hopefully Inui's skills haven't turned rusty yet, thought the prince.

When Inui arrived, he instantly checked up on Fuji's condition. After jotting down some notes on his notebook, he closed it and looked at Fuji with a serious face.

"This is a good opportunity. I guess this will make you my new guinea pig for my newly improved Inui Juice," Inui said, his glasses glinting.

"I thought you are supposed to heal me?" Fuji answered jokingly. "Inui, can you not report this to Tezuka?"

Inui fell silent.

"I'm guessing he already knows then," Fuji sighed in disappointment.

It was not that Fuji did not want Tezuka to worry. That was partially true – the captain had a tendency to worry a little too much over Fuji (although no one could best Oishi in the worrying department), but it was the problems which the worrying caused that made Fuji reluctant to tell Tezuka about his sickness.

All this time, Fuji had wanted to leave the palace. Now that Tezuka knew of his illness, he would most likely increase security to watch over him for these few days.

Which meant that his chances of going outside was becoming slimmer.

Before Fuji could continue his thoughts, Inui handed him a cup of mysterious liquid. Fuji raised his eyebrow, then drank it without any questions. The cool liquid quenched a thirst that he was not aware of, and the heat inside his body became slightly more tolerable.

"Fuji-senpai, I'm sorry," Kaidoh, who was standing beside Inui, apologized. "When I looked for Inui-senpai, he was reporting to the captain, so I-"

"It's okay, Kaidoh. I understand," Fuji cut him off before Kaidoh could finish, and the prince yawned.

From the corner of Fuji's eye, he could see Inui motioning Kaidoh to leave the room. The two left silently, then Fuji hugged his blankets and fell asleep once more.

Fuji slept until evening. He woke up, still slightly heating up, when he felt someone entering his room from the window, so he sat up from his bed and examined his room. There was no one, but the window was opened even though Fuji was certain it was closed before he slept.

Moonlight spilled into the room and illuminated the scenery outside of the window. The sole cherry blossom tree stood elegantly outside, releasing its petals into the rays of the moonlight.

Fuji took a moment to gaze outside, then closed his window cautiously. As soon as he did, he felt the presence of a person behind him.

"If I were an assassin, you'd be dead by now, Your Highness," a familiar voice joked.

"But you're not an assassin, are you?" Fuji asked in return. "Well, Echizen?"

"Che, you knew?" Ryoma clicked his tongue.

Fuji had only guessed that it was Ryoma. As soon as a person entered the room and he was still alive after the fact, Fuji knew it had to be one of his bodyguards. At first, Fuji thought it might have been Kikumaru, but then dismissed the thought as Kikumaru was still being grounded by Tezuka, which led to only one other candidate who was nimble enough to pull this off.

"I thought Tezuka would have grounded you. He did it for Eiji, you know?"

"Oh, he did suspend me," Ryoma brushed off the question. "He told me to go reflect on what I did wrong."

"And did you?" Fuji asked in slight concern.

"I did," Ryoma grinned triumphantly at Fuji. "My biggest mistake was getting caught. It won't happen again."

Fuji did his best to stifle his giggle.

Ryoma found a chair, moved it in front of Fuji's bed, and sat down. The bodyguard then switched to a more serious expression, his arms crossing. "So what were you actually trying to do last night?" he questioned.

Fuji paused for a few seconds, then said, "Didn't I say that I wanted to practice?"

Ryoma's expression twisted into one of disbelief. "You're lying," he stated.

"How did you know?"

"In the beginning of our spar, your sword swings could not be more unmotivated, Your Highness. I'm not sure if you noticed it yourself."

The prince did not peg Ryoma as an observant person. Ryoma's statement caused Fuji's opinion of his bodyguard to heighten, but at the same time, Fuji became more cautious of him and more hesitant to tell him the truth.

Fuji wondered whether Ryoma would leave if he ignored the question or waited long enough.

Conflicted on whether or not he should say anything, Fuji looked away from Ryoma and stared at the wall. The bodyguard did not move an inch from his seat and patiently waited. The quietness stretched for a long time before Fuji gave in.

"I wanted to go outside," Fuji murmured.

Ryoma blinked and did not say anything.

"It's always been an unspoken rule for someone of my social status to not attempt to leave the palace, even in the accompany of bodyguards," the prince continued. "And usually I don't try to go outside, but these few days…"

Fuji stopped. Ryoma tilted his head, motioning for Fuji to continue speaking. The pause stretched for a few moments, then Fuji spoke again.

"You may think this is stupid, but there is a flower viewing in the downtown area these few days."

"Flower viewing? Oh, for the cherry blossoms?" Ryoma asked.

After receiving no reply, Ryoma assumed it was an implied 'yes'. Quietly, Ryoma stood up from his chair, then turned around, his back facing Fuji. His arms reached behind him, as if he was planning to hold on to something.

Fuji stared, then realized, "A piggyback ride, for me? Why?"

Ryoma smirked mischievously, "A princess carry is fine with me too, Your Highness."

The corner of Fuji's lips twitched. "I wasn't asking about that."

"I thought you wanted to go outside?" said the bodyguard. He could see the prince's body tense up at the words, so he reassured Fuji, "Relax. It's Momo-senpai out there guarding you right now. I already promised him that as long as he doesn't spill anything to the captain, I will take full responsibility if we get caught. Besides, he already knows I'm in here."

"That did not explain anything. Why a piggyback ride? I can walk," Fuji countered.

"But you're sick, aren't you?" Ryoma answered. "We need to be as stealthy as we can be so we can sneak out. Just trust me on this one."

Fuji thought about it, then he took Ryoma's hand.

Ryoma, holding onto Fuji behind him, left through the window.

Fuji found out that his bodyguard was a much more accomplished warrior than he initially thought; after they left the room, Ryoma had traversed through the heavily guarded palace without a single sound. The technique Ryoma was using – formally known as keiko – was a move from a martial art originated from a different country. Kikumaru was a natural user of this technique, but other than him, not many people had the ability to pull off this move. While Ryoma was clearly not as proficient, he was good enough to sneak around the palace with a person behind him without making a sound.

Ryoma was able to escape from the palace very quickly.

However, as soon as he passed the palace walls, the bodyguard stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Fuji asked.

Ryoma gave a slightly delayed response, "Do you know the way?"

"You don't?"

Ryoma did not answer, but Fuji could see a frown marking his face. The prince let out a small laugh, which led to him receiving a prompt glare from his bodyguard.

"Don't cry if I drop you onto the ground right here, right now."

Fuji ignored his threat and said, "Go straight. I'll tell you when you should turn."

Following Fuji's directions, Ryoma swiftly travelled through the small woods that surrounded the palace and reached the downtown area.

There was a small breeze, and Fuji could see flower petals in the air.

The two arrived at a very spacious park. It was late at night, and many people were already leaving. After a quick survey of the park, Ryoma let Fuji down to walk. Still somewhat feverish, Fuji followed the path in the park, and Ryoma trailed behind him.

The decorative lights hanging from the trees painted the scene with a dreamy atmosphere. To Fuji, it was almost a scene from another world that he had never known – a world outside of the palace. He could feel his stress slowly drifting away, and his thoughts turning more incoherent.

"Ne, Echizen," Fuji started.

His bodyguard looked at him silently.

"Why did you do this?"

Ryoma pondered, and chose his words carefully, "I wanted to apologize. Your fever was kind of my fault."

"I see."

As the two walked along the way, they made several small talks.

"Echizen, I don't think any normal person would use real katanas for sparring. Isn't that dangerous?"

"If you thought it was dangerous, you should have stopped me before we began. I don't bring wooden swords with me."

"I liked it. We should do it again."

"Echizen, why don't you call me something other than 'Your Highness'? All… well, most of my other bodyguards do that when we are alone."

"…Fuji-senpai, then."

"'Senpai'?"

"I heard Momo-senpai calling you that. It seemed appropriate."

"Echizen, you should smile more. It looks good on you."

"And you should smile less, Fuji-senpai."

"Ne, Echizen," Fuji stopped walking all of a sudden, causing Ryoma to stop in his tracks as well, "why did you bring me here? I know you wanted to apologize, but no apology should warrant this kind of risk – the risk of Tezuka punishing you even further."

Ryoma, who was looking at Fuji the entire time they were walking, looked away for the first time. He stared at the trees, as if he was only noticing them now, "I don't believe locking you up like a prisoner is a good idea."

"No one w-"

"Then you were the one locking yourself up," Ryoma cut him off with certainty. "Why are you doing that?"

Fuji could not come up with an answer; it was true that no rules truly bounded him to the palace. Unlike being the emperor, nothing other than unsaid customs and threats of the outside world retained him within the palace walls.

"You're a prince, not the emperor," Ryoma continued. "If you make yourself this stressed when you have so much freedom, being an emperor is only going to be harder."

Fuji asked, "So… you won't discourage me from leaving the palace?"

"Why would I?" Ryoma asked back. "A crown prince that does not experience the threats of the outside world is what makes an ignorant emperor."

Those were words that were never spoken to Fuji. It took the prince by surprise; for all his life, he had thought that there was no need to go outside other than to fulfill his own selfishness. For all his life, he had been scared because of verbal threats and not truly experiencing life itself.

"You are surprisingly inspirational, Echizen."

Fuji wondered if it was his fever acting up. He thought he could see Echizen's eyes glittering in confidence, almost as if his eyes were made of gold.

The prince had never seen such spirited eyes.

"And you, Fuji-senpai," Echizen beamed, "mada mada dane."


Author's Note: Woot! I got it done early this month! :D I'm proud of myself.

Now back to grinding for Tenirabi. I hate them for releasing consecutive events with no breaks in between.

Please review! I really want feedback and criticism and I'm getting desperate. :,D