12 Years Prior
Okay, so Hinata was willing to admit that this wasn't going quite as planned.
When Keishin had finally told the thirteen year old that he was ready to go on his first solo spy mission, Hinata had been ecstatic...possibly too much considering Tsuki had threatened to smother him in his sleep if he didn't shut up about it.
Whatever, though, Tsuki was just jealous because he couldn't officially take over as Jack for at least another year. But, still, his first mission!
Hinata had almost immediately told to Noya and Shimizu, both already allowed to go on small ones while Asahi was still learning about poisons. Shimizu had just smiled and reminded him to keep a cool head but Noya had been almost excited as Hinata himself and had enthusiastically gone over every detail of the mission with the younger boy.
The mission was supposed to go like this. Keishin had heard rumors that some of the local capital guards were taking bribes from a small time gang to allow mildly illegal goods to pass through without inspection. Hinata was supposed to find proof the information was accurate and report back to Keishin so he could plan out their next move.
It should have been fairly easy. The gang generally hung out at a bar over by the capital's lower west district. Hinata had already become a familiar face in the area thanks to making friends with the grandchildren of the neighboring baker, who luckily was the great uncle of one of the palace's top chefs. Hinata had proudly rubbed it in Tsuki's face that see, it really did pay to be friends with everyone.
Anyway, all Hinata needed to do was slip in grab a few papers that proved illegal goods were getting through and get out where he could easily avoid suspicion by just being a local kid looking for his friends.
Here was what had happened.
As neither Keishin or Hinata knew, the gang just happened to meet with the local guards every Wednesday afternoon to hand over the prerequisite bribes and go over that week's incoming shipments. The most obvious place for them to meet would, of course, be the bar that the gang knew was secure. It was supposed to be a peaceful meeting with all weapons left at the door with a neural party so the two groups could discuss matters without immediate fear of betrayal.
Also, not previously known was the amount of resentment between the head of the guards and the head of he gang because the guards were demanding more money as the numbers of goods increased.
What this resulted it was one angry gang leader; one pissed off leader of the guards; two groups crammed in a room and practically boiling for a fight; and one highly abused wooden table covered with a cheery yellow table cloth that seemed out of place based on the amount it had been banged on, rattled, and almost flipped over twice during the course of just one heated discussion.
Hinata was under said table.
Hinata was under the said table and still in his regular Hinata-the-palace-servant clothes and with a few sheets of the gang's last shipments that were highly suspicious in the kill on sight kind of way
This...wasn't exactly Hinata's first choice.
The first part of the plan had gone well. He'd easily been able to slip into the back room of the bar, unseen, via a back window. He hadn't had any trouble finding the list of shipments at all, having been lid out on a side table in a matter that Hinata now knew was for the upcoming meeting but had at the time just assumed was oddly lucky. The plan had gone askew about the time Hinata had grabbed the sheets and then heard the tell tale creak of the door and Hinata had dived for the nearest cover-the table closest to the back room.
Which led Hinata to the present situation. He winced as the table shook again as the gang leader banged his fist on top.
"We agreed to a flat rate," the man shouted.
Hinata briefly thought that if he died during his first ever mission, Tsuki would find a way to resurrect him just so he could mock him.
"That was before you and yours started bringing in multiple wagons a week," the guard captain responded in a clipped tone. "People are getting suspicious."
"Well, isn't it your job to stop them from being suspicious," the gang leader retorted hotly.
"Our job," the guard captain emphasized. "Is to not look too closely at any of your wagons. One or two wagons are easier to avoid checking than five. Bigger risk, bigger profit. We want a cut."
The gang leader was silent for a moment. "How much?"
"Twenty five percent."
The gang leader laughed harshly. "You're insane. We'd do five."
"You're the crazy one if you call that fair," the guard captain argued. "Twenty."
"Ten," the gang leader bit back.
"Fifteen and you include the original flat rate on top of it."
"You'd drive us out of business." the gang leader yelled, swearing vehemently.
"We're the only reason you have a business."
"Twelve percent and half the flat rate, that's the final offer. We can always pick up and move cities. I hear Clubs is nice in spring."
The guard captain laughed. "Clubs wouldn't buy your cheap shit. We'll take twelve and half the flat rate. Show me last week's profits."
Crap, Hinata thought from under the table, looking down at the sheet he'd grabbed earlier.
Slowly-heart beating out of his chest-Hinata heard the gang leader stand up and walk to the side table.
There was a pause before a slightly more frantic sound of moving drawers and rustling papers.
"Problem," the guard captain asked.
"The fuckin' papers are gone," the gang leader swore.
"Convenient," the guard captain remarked airily. "Well, then, I guess we can just take the percentage from last week's profits."
"Fuck no," the gang leader said vehemently. "We only brought in half the amount this week. You'd rob us."
"I'm pretty sure robbing people is your job," the captain shot back. "Consider it a down payment."
There was a long pause that followed that Hinata assumed was a glaring match between the two men. Hinata took it as his chance to look around for a way out.
It was risky but he supposed he could just wait until the meeting was over and try to get out then but...oh, wait, no, he knew from surveillance that they usually cleaned up the bar late every afternoon. There's no way they wouldn't notice him hiding under the table.
Leaning his head on the ground, Hinata peaked from under the table to survey the room. Okay, bunch of angry tense guys who could kill him one handed. Check. The back room in tantalizing reach but still too far away to try slipping past everyone to make it. Check. An almost certainty of being caught and killed? Check but not very optimistic.
Hinata fought back a sigh. The only thing other than that was the guard captain's bag and that was basically useless.
...Wait.
A plan formed in Hinata's mind.
A kind of terrible one with a huge chance of backfiring, but a plan just the same.
Slowly, Hinata eased the papers out from under the table and slid them into the bag, leaving enough out to just be in view. Feelinging his heart hammering, Hinata moved quickly until finally he slid his fingers back under the table.
Now, all he had to do was wait until…
"No deal, we'll have to renegotiate. I'm not giving you what was seventy percent of our profit this week."
The guard captain tapped his foot, almost hitting Hinata's hand. "Maybe we should renegotiate our entire bargain if you can't pay a simple one week fee."
A hand slammed into the table again and Hinata took his chance, reaching out just enough to push the bag over, spilling it onto the floor.
For a second, Hinata thought that no one noticed and he gave up his only evidence. And then…
"Now, what's this?" Hinata saw a hand reach down and grab the papers off the ground.
"I don't know how those got in my bag," the captain said firmly.
"I think I do," the gang leader drawled. "I see your plan now. Tell me, exactly how many 'down payments' did you want us to make while you soaked up our profits...Captain?"
"You're talking nonsense," the captain spit out. "As if an honorable man like me would need to sink so low as to cheat scum."
Hinata didn't see the punch that followed but he felt the table rattle and heard the distinct sound of a chair hitting the ground followed by a body.
What followed reminded Hinata of a crash of a waterfall-a stored amount of pressure breaking against the rocks. The entire bar room was thrown into chaos, guards and gang slamming into each other and knocking each other into the walls.
If Hinata was going to have a chance this was it.
His hand dove out from under the table, snatching the papers off the ground where they'd been dropped. He lifted up the other side of the table cloth where there was a clear shot between the table and the safety of the backroom. Sending a silent prayer that the men would stay distracted, Hinata sprinted as fast as he could while keeping low to the ground.
The next few seconds were the most terrifying of Hinata's life to date.
When he felt the solid wood of the back room's entrance, Hinata flung himself around and out of view and had a brief moment where he thought he was safe until-
"Hey, where'd those papers go!"
Well, time to go.
The back room would certainly be one of the first places they checked, followed by the alley behind it.
Hinata jumped, scrambling on top of an empty crate to push off and out the small window-too small for any but a child to get through.
A second later, Hinata leaned on the wall outside and heard footsteps pounding into the room he'd just left.
Hinata didn't stop to listen further, vaulting onto the roof in a new move that Keishin had just showed him last week. He almost slipped, grabbing to hold onto the roof ledge while his legs swung and banged into the wall bellow.
"Check outside!" a voice yelled.
Adrenaline gave Hinata the extra push he needed to try again, swinging onto the roof fully and keeping his balance. He quickly ducked behind a chimney as he heard the door of the back room bang open and three burly men look around the alley.
"Try the street. Find those papers and find out what that was," one of them ordered.
Hinata waited until the footsteps banged out of the alley before letting out a very small sigh of relief. He took a moment just to catch his breath and reassure himself that he was still alive.
He looked down at the papers in his hands-all the proof that Keishin needed if Hinata's story alone wouldn't provide enough evidence.
Hinata smiled. He couldn't wait to tell Tsuki about this!
ooooooo
For once, not even Hinata's company was enough to distract Kageyama from his thoughts.
Not that the red head wasn't doing an admirable effort, prattling on about the latest antics of the knight guards while Kageyama stared blankly at his book. But not even Hinata's boundless enthusiasm could stop the ringing of the word through Kageyama's head.
War.
That was what Tsukishima had said at the meeting between the Card Suits. Hyakuzawa was preparing to launch a war.
Kageyama wasn't an idiot. He could read the signs that Tsukishima laid out, could see the Jack's logic. The stolen Marks, the defense plans of Diamonds, the attack on Spade's Ace. All of them even alone were acts of war together and with Tsukishima's logic behind them, war seemed inevitable.
And Kageyama might be naivete-he himself freely admitted he knew little outside of the palace walls-but he wouldn't do Spades the disservice of pretending the Jack was wrong, of pretending people wouldn't get hurt.
As for Spade's King? Well, Kageyama didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know what he was supposed to be. He felt like there had to be some ideal of a King-one that he was sure to be failing at. Kageyama knew books, knew intricacies about tax law, or the boats most common for sea trading, or a million and one things that you could learn from a text but wouldn't get you an inch closer to the people he was supposed to lead.
Kageyama had never told anyone this but sometimes...more often than he'd admit even to himself...he'd lay wake in bed, staring at his right hand, at the calligraphy "K" in the middle. In those moments, he'd wonder why the letter hadn't disappeared. What value the Fates still thought that someone like Kageyama had for Spades.
In the darkest times-when the fear of failure hung a little too close, when someone looked at him with disappointment in their eyes, when his parents' death shrouded him like a cloak-he wanted the Mark to disappear. For the pressure to be lifted off of Kageyama's shoulders and be placed on someone more worthy of the burden. He was sure there were many more worthy.
But still the Mark remained. Still Kageyama had been deemed by the Fates as the one most worthy of being King of Spades.
If the Fates were real, Kageyama would ask them why.
"-yama? Kageyama," Hinata's voice broke through his musings.
"What," Kageyama asked, a bit too sharp.
Hinata rolled his eyes, getting up off the visitor couch and walking to Kageyama's desk. He stopped maybe a foot in front of him and Kageyama's breath caught as the shorter man reached a hand forward to Kageyama's face.
"I asked if you were feeling alright," Hinata said softy, his fingers coming to rest gently on Kageyama's forehead. "You don't seem like you have a fever."
"I'm fine," Kageyama said, shaking Hinata's hand off before a blush could heat his face.
Hinata shrugged, boosting himself up to sit on the desk rather than returning to the couch. "Just checking."
Kageyama looked at the servant and a bite of panic clenched his heart. "Why did you become Spades' courier?"
Because if there was a war coming, couriers were in almost as much danger as knights.
Hinata looked at him strangely. "Um, I don't know. Tsuki said they needed one and it seemed like a good as job as any. Let's me meet a lot of people, so that's cool."
"What if it was dangerous," Kageyama demanded. "Would you still do it?"
Now Hinata was looking downright bewildered. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Just answer the question," Kageyama muttered, looking down.
Hinata paused, giving him an assessing look before answering.
"Yeah, I mean of course I would," Hinata said. "It's for Spades, right? I'm sure if Spades wanted me to do something dangerous than it'd be something that really needed doing."
Hinata's widened. "Not that my job's that dangerous, of course! Because I'm, ah, just a simple palace servant and that's a perfectly boring-safe!-a perfectly safe job!"
Kageyama's brows furrowed but for the most part he ignored Hinata's usual bout of weirdness for his first answer.
"Do you think others think that," Kageyama asked. "Would they stay with the country even if it gets dangerous?"
With me, he thought but didn't add.
Hinata looked up and Kageyama's eyes met his like a magnet. Warm brown eyes capturing his attention and refusing to let go.
"I think," Hinata began softly, "people would go to the ends of the Earth to protect the things they love."
Kageyama's heart was beating loudly in his chest and he dearly hoped that the other man couldn't hear it.
For a second, Hinata held his position, staring at Kageyama with only a few hand breadths between them and Kageyama's mouth went dry because it looked like Hinata-
Was going to lean away with an easy smile.
"That's what I'd do anyway," he finished cheerfully. "Did that help?"
Kageyama nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak.
The King cleared his throat, gaining a hold of himself. "Thanks. Isn't it about time for lunch, yet?"
"You hungry," Hinata asked, standing up and putting more space between them.
Not really, but Kageyama could use a few minutes to get his stupid feelings back together. Especially since he was obviously going to be enclosed in a small room with Hinata for the foreseeable future.
"I can go grab a servant real quick," Hinata said, walking to the door.
"Why don't you just go grab the lunch," Kageyama called back.
Hinata laughed. "Cause then you'd be deprived of my wonderful company for longer. Duh!"
"You're the worst servant ever," Kageyama grumbled.
"Back in a bit," Hinata responded blithely, shutting the door behind him and giving Kageyama a few moments peace.
Kageyama sighed.
Go to the ends of the earth for something you loved, huh, Kageyama mused.
Hopefully, that meant Spades would be willing to deal with their King's leadership, too.
Part of Kageyama doubted it.
ooooooo
If asked, Oikawa would blatantly deny that he was avoiding the Ace.
Sure, maybe, they had seen each other a bit less since the whole conversation on the roof. And, yeah, maybe Oikawa had been hanging out with Yahaba or going out to the city a bit more. And, okay, there might have been that one time that Oikawa had heard Iwaizumi voice and bolted the other direction. But, all of that, was just because he was giving the Ace a chance to really think about how terrible Oikawa really would be ask King. Really, Oikawa was showing his patience and consideration of Iwaizumi's feelings by not seeking him out to talk.
Besides, Oikawa was sure he'd end up talking to him soon either way now that he was entering his final week of the agreed to month.
He kicked a small rock as he turned down another city street. He wondered how that would go. The end of the month. When Oikawa finally had to dash Iwaizumi's hopes once and for all and tell him in no uncertain terms, that Oikawa would never be the King of Hearts.
It should be easy, Oikawa thought consternated. He had told it to him enough before. Heck, he had screamed it at the Fate probably over a hundred times by now.
So, why did the thought of doing it now make Oikawa's chest feel so tight.
He was sure it had nothing to do with being scared of what Iwaizumi would say...or how it would feel to see the Ace finally give up on him.
It was just that...well, he was sure the Ace-that Iwaizumi would be disappointed. Probably, he'd make one final bid to get Oikawa to stay. Offer something to his village or remind him about the library or something. But, then, maybe he'd just accept it. Maybe, he'd realized that Oikawa was right and there was someone better out there. Maybe he'd be relieved to see Oikawa go.
Agitated, Oikawa ran a hand through his hair and consciously decided to focus on the city in front of him rather than his own worries.
He was in one of the less populated parts of the city this time-the residential areas rather than the bustling marketplace. This was obviously an older neighborhood by the looks of he buildings. If Oikawa looked closely enough, he could still see small signs of the Civil War marked on the buildings like scars. Cracks in the stone and plaster that looked like sword gouges. Black stains on some of the wood from hastily put out fire.
In contrast to its past, the neighborhood now looked calm with an easiness surrounding the few villagers that talked to each other in the street. The neighborhood was moving forward from their past-never able to erase the scars but finding their ways to live with them.
Oikawa took a deep breath, just looking at the neighborhood for a moment.
It was then that Oikawa saw a very recognizable head of hair, almost obscured by the entrance way of the building.
What's Mad Dog doing in...Oikawa paused to read the small sign in front of the building. An orphanage?
Oikawa watched from across the street as the Mage bid farewell to a middle aged man and woman that stood right in front of the orphanage's door. The couple waved to the younger man as Mad Dog sent back his own gruff approximation before stepping back down to the street.
Oikawa waited until the couple went back inside, closing the orphanage door, before he moved to intercept the Queen of Hearts.
"Hey, what are you doing here," Oikawa called, hurrying forward until he was right beside the other man.
Sometimes the best approach was the direct approach.
Or maybe not...as Mad Dog twisted around in shock before scowling at Oikawa, dark tendrils of smoke rising from his clenched hands.
Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Relax. It was just a question."
Mad Dog huffed, but his fist were no longer smoking so Oikawa took it as a good sign.
"I help out here sometimes," Mad Dog muttered, looking ahead instead of at Oikawa.
"Huh, that's cool," Oikawa said, making sure to keep his voice casual. "Didn't really take it for your scene."
"I like it," Mad Dog growled.
"And I'm sure they appreciate one of the Suit coming down to see them," Oikawa added.
Mad Dog grunted.
"Are you heading back to the palace," Oikawa asked and Mad Dog jerked his head in what Oikawa took as an affirmative. "Mind if I walk with you?"
"Whatever," Mad Dog bit back.
They walked in silence while Oikawa mentally debated on how far he could push his luck.
"So, you just randomly decided to start helping out an orphanage," Oikawa finally prompted.
"Is there something wrong with that," Mad Dog demanded, turning to glare.
Oikawa just smiled, not backing down but not pushing either. "Of course not."
Mad Dog turned away, muttering under his breath.
"What was that?" Oikawa asked.
"I said it reminded me of the orphanage I grew up in," Mad Dog grumbled, a speck more louder. "My mom runs a small one back in Kaiyo."
Oikawa hummed at the name of Heart's biggest port city. "That must've been an interesting childhood."
Mad Dog shrugged. "Never boring."
"Wasn't it hard to learn magic there," Oikawa asked, thinking of explosive fires and small wooden orphanages.
Mad Dog scratched his chin, contemplatively. "Not really, Kaiyo's got a pretty big public library and there's a lot of different mages that come through the port. It's not too hard to find people willing to show a kid a trick or two."
"I more meant with the whole fire and confined spaces with children," Oikawa commented idly.
"Oh." Mad Dog frowned and Oikawa glanced over to see a conflicted expression cross his face as if trying to decide something.
Finally, Mad Dog huffed, turning fully to Oikawa.
"Fire...look, fire's just energy," the Mage of Fire commented gruffly. "Right?"
Oikawa nodded, curious where this was going.
"And, with normal fire, that always just goes to heat and light," Mad Dog explained, rubbing the back of his head frustrated. "Ad depending on the fuel, sometimes the flame's hotter and brighter and sometimes it's not. But, it's always hot enough that it burns pretty much everything, yeah?"
Oikawa nodded again.
Mad Dog nodded, too-snapping his fingers so a small flame appeared in his hand. "But...with magic, you can change that. My fire, I can make something different. Change it up so the energy goes more to creating light than making it hot." The mage glanced at the small fire and as Oikawa watched, the fire shifted-changing until it was a small ball of pure bright light.
"Touch it," Mad Dog said, holding it out.
Mad Dog...didn't seem like he would try to set Oikawa on fire so Oikawa reasoned he'd trust him.
Oikawa touched the flame and surprisingly found it was only pleasantly warm-like a stone left under the sun-rather than the burning pain he half expected.
"That's...amazing," Oikawa breathed, looking back to the Mage.
Mad Dog looked down, grumbling. "Whatever. It's...it's just useful. Increasing the light uses less energy so the flame last longer without needing to burn more fuel."
Fire that when controlled, brings light without destruction, Oikawa mused. He wondered if the man realized what a fitting metaphor it was for the Mad Dog of Hearts himself.
"I drop back by my mom's place a couple times a year to make ones for them," Mad Dog commented, interrupting Oikawa's thoughts. "It's safer than having lanterns and candles by the kids."
"Your lights last that long," Oikawa said, surprised.
Mad Dog shrugged. "Yeah, I mean it depends how bright you want them. Mom generally likes softer light so those last awhile."
"Genius," Oikawa responded, partly to see Mad Dog's reaction.
Mad Dog growled. "Shut up. You sound like Yahaba."
The two continued to the palace, Oikawa every now and then asking another question about fire magic or the lights and Mad Dog answering with his normal gruff responses.
"There you are," a voice called out right after they got through the entrance.
They both looked up to see Yahaba coming down the stairs and glaring at Mad Dog.
"It was your day to do audiences and I couldn't find you," Yahaba accused, coming up to the Mage with hands held angrily on his hips. "I had to take over for you."
"I'm terrible with audiences," Mad Dog muttered. "I intimidate them."
Yahaba huffed. "I know that's why we only give you three hour sessions just for those who really need it."
"I'm sure you did it better than I would," Mad Dog rolled his eyes.
"Of course, I did," Yahaba smiled, preening slightly at the praise. "But that's not the point."
"The point is that I'm bad at them and you're not so there's nothing to worry about," Mad Dog argued.
Oikawa cut in before Yahaba could respond. "How were the audiences?"
Yahaba waved his hand, still not breaking his staring contest with Mad Dog. "They were fine. Easy even. Nothing of real import."
"Then, why are you complaining," Mad Dog huffed.
"I'm complaining," Yahaba said sharply. "Because they're an important experience for all Suit members. You don't see Iwaizumi complaining and he even did them the day after the war ended."
"Well, not really the day after war," Oikawa commented, more to forestall the fast approaching argument than anything. "He wouldn't even have been in the capital yet."
Both the Jack and Queen of Hearts turned to stare at him in bewilderment.
"What?" Oikawa asked, slightly unnerved under the force of two twin stares. "I mean he'd still needed to hear that the war had ended and travel here, right?"
Granted, Oikawa's village was still fighting off the last of the raiders during the end of the war so they didn't really have that great communication between themselves and the capital. They hadn't even heard anything until three months later when a traveling merchant finally felt it safe to sale there and casually mentioned that the war was over and a new Ace had been crowned.
At the time, Oikawa had been less than impressed.
Yahaba tilted his head. "Iwaizumi was in the capital for the entire Civil War. Didn't you know that?"
Oikawa shook his head, confusion rather than denial. "I thought all the civilians fled the capital?"
"They did," Yahaba confirmed. "Iwaizumi wasn't a civilian, he was a squire. He came to the capital right before the war started and stayed through it to fight for the resistance."
"He Claimed his title during the war," Oikawa demanded, surprise making his voice louder than intended.
Yahaba winced and Mad Dog motioned them in to a room on the side of the hall.
"No, no," Yahaba sighed, peering at Oikawa as if he was a confounding set of numbers. "You really don't know how Iwaizumi Claimed his title?"
Oikawa shook his his head. "My village was...a little bit out of the loop I guess." He cleared his throat, looking at the Jack. "What happened?"
Yahaba bit his lip, hesitating. "Iwaizumi doesn't talk about it much but...some of the palace knights fought for the resistance, they were here when it happened." Yahaba took a breath. "Okay, so, Iwaizumi got to the palace to train as a knight like a month before the Jack and King were assassinated and the war kicked off." Yahaba grimaced. "I wasn't in the capital or anything but I'm sure you remember how everything was a confusing mess back before it came out that the Ace and Queen had been deemed unworthy?" Oikawa nodded. "Right, well apparently the castle was even more of a mess then. No one knew who to trust, the Queen was making increasingly dangerous political moves, the rest of Cards were being pushed out and ignored to hide the Ace and Queen's secret."
Yahaba waved a hand. "Anyway, so the secret finally came out and the resistance movement formed to dethrown the Ace and Queen. That's when the city civilians were-well, I want to say evacuated but it's not like Suit did anything-the point was almost all the civilians fled the city and it became an complete war zone."
"Iwaizumi stayed" Oikawa breathed, realigning the facts in his head and trying to imagine what that must've been like for the young teenager.
Yahaba nodded grimly. "Not only did he stay, he became one of the main fighters for the resistance," Yahaba sighed. "As I'm sure you know Iwaizumi's never been particular bad with a sword," Mad Dog snorted. "He didn't tell anyone he was the future Ace or anything. Always kept his mark hidden."
"Would've been suicide not to," Mad Dog grumbled and Yahaba nodded.
"Exactly, the old Queen and Ace would've killed him on sight if they knew," Yahaba agreed. "Iwaizumi stayed and he fought. The Queen, you probably heard, was killed roughly a year before the war ended but the old Ace held onto power until the bitter end." He looked at Oikawa. "You know about the Ace's Final Stand?"
"Vaguely," Oikawa answered, still caught up in the story.
"Well, about seven of the resistance fighters were finally able to ambush him in the palace and kill him though not before he took out four of them," Yahaba paused. "I heard a rumor that Iwaizumi was one of the seven but he's never talked about it and I've never quite had the nerve to ask."
Mad Dog grunted in agreement.
"Anyway, the Queen and Ace were both finally dead, right, and everything should have been fairly easy," Yahaba continued. "And it was because we know how it came out but...back then, no one knew what was going to happen. Hearts was entirely without a Suit, the rest of the Cards kingdom had been shut out for years, no one knew who was leading the city."
"Except Iwaizumi," Oikawa added softly, putting the pieces together.
"Yeah," Yahaba nodded excitedly. "Except Iwaizumi. So, no one really knows what to do, everyone's starting to panic, and then suddenly this fifteen year old stands up in the middle of the courtyard and Claims his title as Ace. And, the Claiming magic for Hearts tends to be a little...dramatic."
"It's the fire," Mad Dog put in.
Yahaba inclined his head in agreement. "Apparently, it looked like some kind of sign from the Fates."
"Then...," Oikawa frowned, shut his mouth and started again. "Iwaizumi Claimed his title to prevent further bloodshed."
Yahaba frowned back in confusion, Mad Dog echoing the expression.
"What do you mean," the Jack asked.
"Hearts...countries can't go without a leader for long," Oikawa started, words coming slowly as he tried to organize his own thoughts. "If none of the Suit could take over, there'd be no power structure." Oikawa knew deeply what that would cost. "No leadership means no protection. Hearts would either have destroyed itself from the inside out finding a new leader or...one of the other countries would have invaded while we were still weak. Iwaizumi did it to stop another war."
Yahaba leaned back, contemplative. "I...I don't think I ever thought of it like that. You're right, I mean but," Yahaba smiled ruefully. "I guess it's rather easy to get caught up in all the Hero of Hearts stuff that followed after. That's what I heard the most."
Mad Dog nodded.
"That title's just from when he helped rebuild the government, right," Oikawa asked, feeling the prickle of old resentment that the rebuild never went far enough to actually address the real problems.
"Probably from rebuilding the Knights of Hearts more than the government," Yahaba corrected. "People tend to focus more on the flash than the politics. Back then, rebuilding our defense and the relationships with the other Card Suits was his main priority."
"Stability," Oikawa muttered under his breath.
"What was that," Yahaba asked curiously.
Oikawa shook his head. "I think….I think I need to go and, um, well think about this some more. Thank you for the story."
Yahaba shrugged. "No problem. It's Heart's history, it's yours as much as it is mine."
Oikawa nodded, waving a goodbye before sliding out the door and back to the hallway.
Oikawa had the odd sense of being below deck in the middle of a storm-waiting out the worst of the shifts before coming back up to see the world changed.
He just wasn't quite sure what this changed world would mean.
ooooooo
"I don't want to take a break, though!" Hinata complained in what would have been a much more effective manner if it hadn't been immediately followed by a loud yawn.
Tsuki merely raised an eyebrow, leaning on his desk with his arms folded.
"It's too dangerous," Hinata argued.
"It's more dangerous to let two highly trained, experienced, well-rested spies take a couple of shifts than it is to have one, who's basically falling asleep on his feet?" Tsuki asked skeptically. "It's been almost two straight days, Hinata. Take a break."
Hinata slumped in the office visiting chair.
"But, don't Shimizu and Asahi want to stay with Noya?" Hinata asked, turning puppy dog eyes on Tsuki that the Jack merely glared at. "I'm not going to take them away while Noya's still recovering."
Tsuki was unimpressed. "Noya specifically asked me to give them a mission because, and I'm quoting, 'their hovering's driving me insane'. They could use a break from playing nursemaid, too."
Hinata fidgeted. "Any leads, yet?"
Tsuki shrugged. "Well, we still have the guy that Shimizu tracked down a week ago-the one that gave the original information that led to the set up. But, I believed him when he says he doesn't know anything except some people mentioning the details in a bar."
"Why do you believe him," Hinata asked curiously.
Tsuki smirked. "Simple. He's a coward. No way he'd risk knowingly giving me false information that led to the death of the Ace. It would mean his life." Tsuki shifted his his chair. "Speaking of which, I think we should cut down on the number of missions in city for a while."
Hinata frowned. "Why? You think the assassin isn't in the capital?"
"Actually, I'm almost sure they are somewhere in the city," Tsuki corrected. "I'm going to start sending Asahi and Shimizu-out of uniform-to check into a couple of places. My main reason for cutting missions is that I'm pretty sure they think you're dead. Well, the Ace of Spades you anyway."
"They think Noya died?" Hinata shuddered a bit at the last word.
"Almost certain," Tsuki nodded. "There's a few rumors going around the city-nothing to worry about yet. Plus, with the injuries Noya sustained, it really is more than a minor miracle that he is still alive. I'm sure the assassin thinks that we're simply holding off on formally announcing the death until after the festival. To cut down panic, possibly."
"Huh," Hinata said, leaning back in his chair. "That's….weird to think about but I guess I get the logic." Hinata shrugged. "I'm fine with cutting back on the missions in city; I'm spending the majority of my time guarding Kageyama anyway."
"After your break, of course," Tsuki said idly.
Hinata grimaced.
"You're not getting out of it," the Jack returned firmly.
Hinata sighed, holding up a full hand to illustrate. "Five. I've stopped five assassination attempts just in the past week and a half since Noya was stabbed.
Tsuki hummed under his breath. "Another reason to take a break. You're overworking yourself." Tsuki frowned, a thought occurring. "By the way, did Kageyama actually notice any of these assassins?"
Hinata's face took on an affronted edge. "Of course not! Geeze, Tsuki, what kind of novice do you take me for?"
Tsuki rolled his eyes. "...My mistake. So, essentially, you've been guarding the King to an obsessive level-"
"Well, obsessive is a strong word."
"Stayed up for almost forty-eight hours" Tsuki continued with a quelling glare. "Stopped multiple assassination attempts in the week before that, and maintained your role as a servant on top of that. Hinata, take a break."
Hinata scrunched up his face and Tsuki huffed.
"Hinata, yes, I know you could probably do at least another day before you literally pass out on your feet, but you don't need to," Tsuki said, emphasizing this with an eyeroll. "Go take a full night off. Get some sleep. Or do you want to risk the King's life because your exhaustion makes you miss something."
Hinata paused before letting out a long heavy sigh. "That was a low blow."
"Thank you," Tsuki smiled.
Hinata rolled his shoulders, standing up. "...I'll take a break."
"I'm glad a modicum of your better reason has not been eaten away by sleep deprivation," Tsuki returned.
Hinata let out something that was in between a huff and a laugh. "Only for one night though. Send someone to wake me up after five hours."
"Seven," Tsuki countered.
Hinata opened his mouth to protest before Tsuki added, "If you argue, I'm not sending anyone for nine."
Hinata wisely closed his mouth. For nothing apparently, as immediately after it opened again n a wide yawn.
"Go to sleep," Tsuki ordered, pointing at the door.
Hinata gave him a sheepish smile before nodding. "Night, Tsuki."
Tsuki waved him off and Hinata left the office, heading to his room a couple of halls over
He really hoped that Tsuki actually would send someone to wake him up in seven hours. More than that, since the person he was most likely to send was Yachi, he hoped that the blonde assistant would actually listen to wake him up. Hinata...Hinata might possibly be overworking himself a tiny bit following Noya's attempted assassination. Especially, once they found that Kageyama's food at been poisoned a second time. Now, they were running not all of the Suits meals passed Asahi's poison testing before letting them be served.
Hinata didn't think Kageyama had noticed yet that his food was showing up about an hour later than normal. In fact, the King seemed distracted as of late. Today's conversation proving it further. Hinata felt fairly sure that the strangeness was due to Kageyama concern about the possibility of war from Hyakuzawa but he couldn't quite piece together what it was exactly that had Kageyama the most bothered. He supposed it could be the idea of war at all, but Kageyama's distraction seemed more specific, a personal concern of the King.
Hinata yawned again and grimaced. He'd try again tomorrow to see what was bothering Kageyama. He had time.
Finally reaching his room, he pulled open the heavy door to see his dark cozy bedroom. His unkempt bed incredibly tempting and Hinata's tired eyes zeroed in on it, moving inside and closing the door behind him.
As soon as the door shut, a hand reached around Hinata's neck-strangling him back against the room's wall. Before Hinata's eyes could adjust, a sack was thrown over his head and the distinct scent of chloroform filled Hinata's nose. Hinata closed his mouth and tried not to breathe.
On reflex, Hinata slammed his head back and felt something crunch behind him.
A loud grunt echoed followed by a swear and the arm around Hinata's neck loosened but not enough for him to break it.
"Bastard broke my nose!" a deep voice garbled nasally through what Hinata assumed was blood. Hinata threw back an elbow at the same time bringing his boot down on a foot behind him.
"Fuck!" the voice screamed and the arms around Hinata tightened as he struggled.
Hinata's vision starting to go black around the edges
"He's half your size, moron!" a new voice called from in front of him and Hinata weakly leveraged himself on the restraining arm to send out a wild kick, brushing against something but not quite connecting."
"Help me!" the first man demanded.
Through what felt like a deep pool of water, Hinata heard a sigh.
"I guess I have to do everything."
Hinata felt a muddled shot of adrenaline before something heavy hit the side of his head and everything went black.
ooooooo
A/N: Whoah, still made it in on time (okay, judging on my current time zone). Hope you guys enjoy! Also, as a note, not the next Saturday but the next (August 25), I'm taking a week off from this posting while I get back in the swing of school. After that week, posting will continue like normal. Last, thank you again for all the support. You guys are the best!