Word of Mouth

Hisame is forced into a duel.

XXX

"Sooooo… Hisame."

Hisame stopped running the whetstone down his iron katana at the sound of the unfamiliar tone, and looked up. A not-so-familiar face greeted him: a cloak-clad girl with messy braids and a golden bow slung over her back as she stood in the dawn armory's entrance. He hadn't talked with her before, but he knew Nina as Ophelia's coworker and retainer to Prince Forrest.

Still, they'd never talked before. He was surprised she knew his name at all as he replied, "Hello, Nina. Er, is there anything I can help you with today?"

Nina came closer. "No, not as far as weapons go. Unless you get a Spy's Yumi - in which case, I'll spend a fortune." She cracked a smile. "I was actually coming by to help you with something."

"Ah…" He'd heard little about Nina, but what he did know was that she was a thief. Honorable samurai didn't associate with thieves if they could help it. "I can handle it on my own."

"I'm not actually so sure you can. You haven't told her yet."

Hisame's blood ran cold. It had to be his crush on Ophelia that Nina was talking about - there was no other explanation. "W-What do you mean?"

"It's not smart to ask questions you know the answers to." Nina's grin grew into a smirk. "You have a crush on Ophelia, you know. I saw you blushing at her yesterday."

Hisame bit his lip at the memory. The previous day, he and Ophelia had been training as co-pickle knights under a certain tree in the camp. Ophelia had complimented him as "the greatest swordsman in all of Hoshido," and he hadn't been able to help blushing and looking away. Anybody who'd seen the scene would probably know his feelings… except for the dark mage herself, anyway. "Gods. I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"You're obviously bluffing. I saw you and Ophelia yesterday. You know you have this way of being happier around her, right? Anyway, I'm going to help hook you guys up."

"Wait, noo!"

XXX

Hisame hadn't even realized he'd drifted to sleep under his favorite tree until he was forcibly shaken awake, pulled to his feet. He jumped badly in the arms of the person who woke him up. Soleil stared at him with a foreign singular attentiveness. Hisame couldn't help his displeasure at seeing Soleil - her ways confused him to no end.

Soleil's next words were, predictably, ridiculous, but her tone was as serious as he'd ever heard. "I heard you've been trying to steal my girl."

The image of Ophelia flashed through his mind. He broke out of her grip and tried to keep his voice neutral as he spoke, but it shook. "What are you talking about?"

Soleil grabbed onto his arm yet again. "I heard that you've been… been crushing on Ophelia! And I'm here to tell you that you should stop that!"

"I-I've done nothing of the sort," Hisame retorted, yanking his arm back and letting it rest on his katana's hilt. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Nina told me. I trust her before I trust you, though, sword boy." She crossed her arms and pouted. "Why've you been trying to steal my girl? I mean, usually I'm not this mad, but I don't know anything about you, and I'm not about to let some jerk push my best friend into doing something she doesn't want to do, you hear me?"

"You're hardly one to speak," Hisame replied, tone derisive.

"What."

The uncharacteristically flat tone made Hisame yet fidget under the more-forward swordwoman's stare. Soleil's pout, which already looked wrong, became a wide, sinister grin. "Let's spar for it, Hisame." She pulled a Killing Edge out from her sword belt, with a soft klink sound.

Hisame didn't think she'd care that his own equipped weapon was a shoddy iron sword, good for training on practice dummies and little else. He wished he could run away, but he'd never be able to live it down. And there was the entire issue of the fact that, win or lose, he'd be drawing attention to himself…

"S-Soleil, this is hardly the best locale for this sort of thing," he replied, panicking. "Perhaps instead, you'd prefer to… er, gather some of your lady friends and take this to a less crowded locale?" It was the only way to stall for time.

"Sounds great, sword-boy. I'll see you in an hour sharp behind the mess hall. It'll be all the better for taking them and Ophelia out for tea right after I beat you." Soleil sheathed her blade once again and fixed him with a steely glare. "Stay on your toes, sword-boy, or I'll send you running off with your tail between your legs."

Then Soleil backed away for a few steps, then dashed off.

Hisame had major regrets about his life decisions.

XXX

'I can either fight her, tell on her, or not show up to duel. Fighting her might liberate Ophelia, but win or lose, I'd bring a myriad of attention to myself. And in front of all of those girls and Ophelia, at that! Not appearing or telling Lady Corrin might stop her, but it would be the cowardly way out, and samurai are no cowards…'

"Hey son!"

Hisame gritted his teeth, broken out of his thoughts. Hinata was lumbering over, a big grin on his face and a few katanas strapped into his belt. "Father."

"Wanna spar with me? I've got some extra swords here. C'mon, don't say no to your old man!" Hinata laughed.

"...I don't wish to train at this time." Hisame turned away, his gaze falling to the distant mess hall.

"Whaaaaat?" Hinata frowned. Then his face lit up with recognition, and he was smiling again. "Oh, I heard you're going to spar with a lady friend of yours! Isn't that just a couple minutes away?"

Hisame grumbled. 'So much for keeping this closed, if my thick-headed father's heard…'"That's the meat of it."

"That's so exciting! You've gotta let me watch! I'll even let you use Hisamaru for good luck!"

He pulled a purple-hilted, dented-up katana out of his belt and presented it to him. Hisame tried to imagine himself walking into a duel with such an undignified sword, but his imagination failed him. "That'll be fine, father. I don't know if I'll go."

"But son, a samurai never backs down from a challenge."

"Even if you stand to shame your liege, your kingdom, your bloodline, and your pride?"

"That's only if you lose, buddy! Not showing up is even more shameful than that because, well, how are you going to know how you rank? You can improve yourself by doing this! And if you win, aren't there going to be girls there? One lady in particular~?" Hinata nudged his shoulder, a knowing grin on his face.

Hisame blushed. "You heard that part of the story too?! I promise, whatever the person said, it's not true!"

"Still, the decision's made for you, Hisame. You've gotta do your best and pick yourself up even if you do lose. And if you win, then you should yuck it up and have a good time! But honorably-like."

"...I must admit, you have a point." Hisame stood up, picking up his sword with him. He'd exchanged out the worn iron one for a lighter practice katana earlier, certain he'd need the speed. "I'll see you soon behind the mess hall, father."

"That's the spirit! WOO-HOO!"

XXX

When Hisame got to the mess hall, he was taken aback by the volume of people who were already gathered there, whispering among themselves. There were about twenty people all gathered around; most of them were village girls, wearing somewhat-tattered old dresses, but there were also some from around camp. He locked eyes with Nina, who sat with Princes Forrest and Shiro, and she tilted her head emphatically to the left.

He glanced in that direction and saw Ophelia, looking rather upset. His heart pounded weakly in his chest at the sight. He began to approach, feeling impelled, but was interrupted by the sound of Soleil's laugh. "Ready to lose, sword-boy?"

He turned around to see Soleil, a blue and gold brave sword slung over her shoulder. She had a cocky grin on her face.

He glanced over at Ophelia, who seemed to notice the two duelists. In that moment, he knew he had to do his best, for her sake. Then he turned his attention back to Soleil and grimaced. "Not to you. I fight for Ophelia's sake."

"You really do love her, huh? Too bad I care even more!"

Hisame felt a twinge of discomfort, and a slight blush came onto his face, but his tone didn't shake when he said, "I care for my friend in the right way. I respect her enough not to make her uncomfortable."

Briefly, distress came across Soleil's face, as if she'd never thought of it, or it was a sensitive subject. Then her cocky grin returned. "Then may the most valiant suitor win. Draw your weapon and take up a position!"

The crowd silenced around them. As Hisame pulled out his katana, he noticed that most of the ones gathered had their gazes fixed on his opponent, many with admiring looks on their faces. Nina and her group were looking at him, though. Ophelia was watching him intently as he made his walk. Hinata exclaimed "you go, son!"

He ignored them all, only gritting his teeth at his father's interjection, and stiffly took up his stance on the opposite side.

One girl from the crowd, Midori, stood up tall on top of an inactive mechanist puppet. "Welcome, everyone, to the duel! On the left, we haaaaaave… Soleil, the adorable adorer! On the right, we have... Hisameeeee, the pickle pro! Who will win in this battle of wills and love? The fight ends when I blow the whistle! Begin in three, two, one… Fight!"

Soleil was instantly charging at him. He had to jump out of the way to counter it, and another slice came at his head, perhaps enough to take it clean off. Then Soleil was on him once again, striking his sword with enough force to jar his arm.

He skidded off to the side, holding his sword defensively. As Soleil breathed, he rushed at her, aiming to knock the sword out of her hand. A fleck of blood splurted at the contact, and Hisame instantly threw himself back.

Soleil launched herself once again at him, this time catching the edge of Hisame's wooden blade. They pushed their blades against each other, in lock for a full second before Soleil pulled her blade out and thrusted confidently at his shoulder. Hisame felt a sear of pain and jumped back, disguising his pain behind a grunt.

There was a gasp from the crowd as a spot of red burst through Hisame's shoulder. Hisame swallowed back the hot shame he felt. Just as he was going to charge back with vengeance, there was a shrill whistle. Hisame stopped in his tracks.

Midori ran up to him, pulling his sleeve up and remarking about how deep the wound was. His shoulder throbbed with the pain of the cut. Yet even the throb of his shoulder felt inexplicably distant, like it was happening to someone else. The gathered crowd's subdued cheers were indistinct.

He glanced over at Ophelia, whose expression was indecipherable, then looked away before she could tell he'd ever looked. He glanced at Soleil, whose hand was being checked by Forrest. Then over at his father, who was excitedly chatting about him to some girls. He ducked his head and stared downwards, knowing it'd just embarrass him.

'I lost. What an embarrassment. How can I… salvage my reputation? They'll be talking about this for ages…'

"Sword-boy? You did a pretty good job." It was Soleil's voice, genuine but tinged with pride. "It wasn't an easy one."

Hisame was tense at the sight of her; the memory of her brandishing the Killing Edge, of her chasing Ophelia, of her stripping in the middle of camp too fresh in his mind. Still, he did a quick bow and forced out, "You as well." It felt too unnatural to be bowing to such a disgraceful sword user, whether she'd won or not.

Just as he finished, he heard the sound of quick footsteps. He looked up and saw Ophelia approaching, looking angry. Soleil's smile grew. "And there's my chosen maiden now."

Ophelia's scowl grew. "Doh, don't give me that. To duel one another, for the sake of a maiden…? And with real weapons, no less!" Ophelia motioned to Hisame's arm, which Midori was still wrapping a bandage around.

Hisame cringed at her harsh tone of voice. It was so uncharacteristic for the girl who spoke in adjectives and dreams that he found himself doubly wanting to disappear.

Then Soleil made it worse by totally misinterpreting her. "You don't need to be so worried, my sweet. It's just a game. We both fought well."

"It isn't about you getting hurt, you dunderhead! I am not a trophy to be won!" Ophelia stamped her foot emphatically. Soleil's smile dropped instantly, and Hisame felt even more waves of shame. Then Ophelia gestured towards him. "And you, Hisame - I thought you cleverer. I appreciate your motives as pure in rescuing a fellow pickle knight, but this is a horrid decision to go with the worst of them."

'Ahh, and that's the final nail in the coffin.' Hisame ducked his head once again. His tongue was too frozen to apologize.

Even Soleil looked genuinely distressed by then. "You'd better think carefully about this, Soleil, or you'll lose friends aplenty." Then Ophelia stormed off, yellow cape billowing behind her.

'And are my motivations so different? I think you're just so cute…' Hisame could feel a hot blush on his cheeks. 'They're not so much purer. I just respect you enough not to pursue you as such…'

None of it would have happened if it weren't for a craftily-chosen word by a thief with braids. His glance around confirmed that Soleil was already in a circle of fans, and that Nina was already beside him, stealthy in her approach. "True love sure is hard, isn't it?"

Hisame glared at her. "You started this whole thing. Why should I talk to you about the crush I may or may not have?"

Nina looked to him once again. "Isn't it obvious? Your crush is totally different than that girl-lover's. You might think she's interesting, but you don't force yourself on her. And this whole thing is already making you a hit. Don't you see?" Nina gestured towards a couple of the villagers, talking to one another in undertone while staring at Hisame. "And Ophelia was impressed that you were trying so hard."

'...That's true. It does make all the difference in the world that I'm being respectful.' Hisame stuffed his hands in his pockets and grunted. "You didn't start this rumor with his outcome in mind."

"Hey, it was just another perk to seeing you flustered." Nina ruffled his hair and dashed off.