Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of the characters related to it. They all belong to Konomi Takeshi. Also, I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the elements from the series.

Rating: T for implied adult themes in certain chapters. K for the rest.

Author's Note: We have two couples together now. And you all probably know that there will be more, but when and how are the questions. *mouth sealed shut* Hang in there with me and with them! I do hope that all that will be introduced and developed and tied together will be well worth the wait!

Writing update since last month: Part 3 DONE! (Editing left though). Part 4 - If I add the completed chapters and where each incomplete chapter is... then I'll say 7/10 chapters done (typing quite a few and editing is left though). THE END IS IN SIGHT! With all forms of luck, I'll have this written and typed by the end of the month. Then I'll edit as quickly as possible so I can get it formatted to be sent to the NaNo publishers before the deadline (which is June I think?). AHHHHHHH!

Anyways, this chapter is.. Training. Training. Training. The getting ready for battle mentality XD I can't say much about this chapter without giving it away so just know that it's got some drama, action, emotions, friendship, and humor all swirled together. The reviews last chapter made me smile - loved how some of the funnier lines were pointed out and hearing how happy you were that Yanagi and Kirihara were brought together. Yes, Lord Yukimura is a puppet master of them all XD And Yanagi's pillows!

Please enjoy and review :) I appreciate all of them greatly ^^

Part 3 - Chapter 3 - Coastal Skirmish

Rokkaku, a medium-sized country in the northern part of the continent, is bordered by both Rikkaidai to the west and Hyotei to the east. Their citizens were a fun-loving bunch that enjoyed all activities involving the beach and the ocean. They loved to sail leisurely between the mainland and to the small island directly northeast to go fishing or to collect tropical fruit. They have a variety of different fighter types there, but their strongest are definitely their water mages and sword-wielding myrmidons.

"Watch your left side when you take a swing," Yukimura warned as he tapped Marui with his sword there. "You just left me enough time to lightly touch you. Imagine if I was actually trying to injure you."

"Sorry Lord Yukimura!"

"Make sure that you are conscious of being on the defensive when you need to be," he continued, stepping aside to dodge a predictable blow. "Always attacking will tire you out if you are against a strong opponent."

"Yes Lord Yukimura!"

"And now we begin."

He allowed Marui to come at him full force and parried all of his blows easily. As they weaved their way around each other, he could see how much Marui had grown in stamina and determination. He was still as cocky as ever, but he really worked hard to be as good as he was and Yukimura admired that.

Yukimura noticed that a little hint of frustration was showing in Marui's eyes as he failed to come close to hitting him. He only had a few more minutes before Jackal was going to join him, and Yukimura knew his pride needed to find success. The slightest of openings happened, and Marui took that chance to nick him on his chin before he was slashed across the forearm by Yukimura's blade.

Jackal ran in as Marui staggered in his movement, aiming low on Yukimura's body. As cumbersome as his cape could be at times, he used one arm to whip it around him as he took a step back to catch Jackal by surprise.

There was a ripping noise as the axe was caught on the fabric and Yukimura lifted his sword up to get him on the shoulder. Intuition told him that Marui was behind him, ready to hit him, so at the last possible moment, he pulled his sword away and sidestepped the attack.

"Marui! That's my hand!"

"Sorry Jackal, I didn't know that he knew I was coming!"

Yukimura smirked evilly as he held his sword in front of him, signaling that he was ready. He wasn't afraid as two infuriated mercenaries came charging at him, now attacking with more ferocity and speed. They landed a few minor blows, but that was all they managed before he injured them to the point where they were struggling to move.

"Definite improvement from last time," Yukimura noted as he wiped his blade clean on a portion of his tattered cape. "Good use of teamwork. I do need you two to work on being a bit more crafty in some of your maneuvers… that way Jackal can land a bit more of a decisive blow. You can get some help from Niou about craftiness and some close range help from Sanada."

"Yes, my lord!" they both said from their spots on the frozen ground. It probably felt nice on their internal injuries, but horrible on their open wounds.

"Lord Yukimura!" a voice called out and Yukimura turned around to see Yanagi, two of the wyvern captains, and the Wyvern Lord jogging towards him.

"So they have reached Rokkaku?" Yukimura said and they nodded. "Alright. Yanagi, please take care of Marui and Jackal. I will talk to the wyvern riders about the current situation."

"We have summoned General Sanada," Yanagi said as he took a knee to examine Jackal. "He, Captain Yagyuu, and Niou shall be joining us shortly."

"Where's Kirihara?"

"He got clawed by a wyvern so he went inside to grab an elixir," Yanagi explained, trying not to sound amused. "He insisted that he needed to try his hand at fighting a wyvern rider."

"At least he has confidence," Yukimura said with a small smile. "And Seigaku doesn't have any of that unit so we won't have to worry about that."

"Lord Yukimura! We're here!" a deeper voice announced and Yukimura greeted them with a wave.

"That was quick," he said, putting his sword back into its sheath. "Are you really bleeding?"

"Yes," Sanada said with a mean scowl. "Niou shot me in the back a few times during the two-on-one battle."

"Well, good for him," Yukimura said, examining Sanada's back when he turned around. "Although the way your shirt is ripped and your wounds are shaped suggests that the arrows were not removed neatly. And where's your cape?"

"Niou!" Sanada growled, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You lied to me when you said you were trying to take them out carefully."

"So I twisted them a bit," Niou said with a shrug. "A little extra pain never hurt anybody permanently… especially someone like you."

"And your side?" Yukimura continued, smirking at Sanada's reaction, and looking around to see a deep gash.

"Yagyuu threw his lance there," Sanada said, noticeably calmer once Yukimura put his hand on his shoulder. "However, Yagyuu is more injured than me."

Yukimura turned his attention to Yagyuu who had already sat down on the ground, both legs bleeding freely and clutching his arm, which was also bleeding. He had Sanada's cape draped around him and Yukimura smiled at his commander's generosity.

"I'm alright, Lord Yukimura," Yagyuu said fairly weakly. "Please hear from the wyvern riders as I get healed up."

"No mercy in a fight, isn't that right, General Sanada?" Yukimura asked as he beckoned the Wyvern Riders to come closer to him.

"Absolutely not. Not even towards my most excellent student."

"Okay, from what I understand, Rokkaku wasn't planning to send an army against them, is that correct?" Yukimura asked dubiously after ten minutes of general debriefing about their journey and the size of Seigaku's army. The three wyvern riders nodded in response to their ruler's question. "And they knew Seigaku was on their way. Even the other small countries engaged them or fought them yet Rokkaku chose not to?"

"They do not really have an army to start with," the Wyvern Lord said and they all stared at him incredulously.

"Come on, you're joking!" Marui said and the Wyvern Lord shook his head resolutely. "No way… I thought that their army was small and trained inside the castle walls or somewhere we couldn't see them."

"They're not a militaristic country. Just like Yamabuki," Jackal reminded him. "Although the difference is that Yamabuki is fearsome because of the laguz's natural strength."

"Well, at least we know in case we ever have a need to conquer them," Yukimura said sardonically. "Let's talk about their little skirmish because I would hardly call that a fight."

"It would be more like a tournament of skill," Niou clarified. "Since they met peacefully and only used their strongest fighters."

"Skirmish is easier to say," Yukimura said with a wink towards Niou.

"Okay, let's see who actually fought. Describe to me Seigaku's units," Yanagi asked and the captains saluted in respect.

"One was a sword paladin," the first captain said. "Sort of long, rich brown hair… doesn't look like he'd be strong, but he was extremely good with defending himself. He also does everything with his eyes almost closed..."

"Must be a genius thing," Marui commented, acknowledging Yanagi.

"So what does that make you?" Kirihara asked wryly before scampering behind Yanagi and peeking out from behind him.

"No fair using a demon as a shield!"

"I prefer the term 'prodigy'."

"Can we get on with business?" Sanada interrupted, crossing his arms "Was he with anyone else?"

"A very big cat," the second captain said. "He's a laguz, right? We learned about them in military school, but that's really the first I've ever seen."

"Interesting, a combination with Fuji and Kikumaru," Yanagi pondered. "How did that fare out?"

"Rough at first," the first captain explained. "They were fighting on the beach to start with and that's not really good for horses. Plus this one Rokkaku member had some remarkable analytical skills - he had the cat laguz at a loss for a while. However, those two were holding back some of their moves, so when they finally unleashed their full potential, the Rokkaku fighters ended up in defeat."

"Yanagi?"

"Fuji seems to be consistently strong. I hope that they send him solo when they come for us so we can double-team him. Kikumaru is still hard for me to predict since he wins sometimes and then he doesn't."

"He is always with a partner though," Yagyuu pointed out. "Most likely because he can't do anything in his human form and has to wait to recharge before he can go back to beast form."

"That is very true," Yanagi said. "Well, let's leave them for now and talk about the other battles."

"There was a loud-mouth warrior with spiky black hair," the second captain said, squinting his eyes a little bit in thought. "He was with this berserker that was… well… kind of berserk. Went crazy when he had his weapon in his hand."

"A power combination again, but with Momoshiro and Kawamura instead," Yanagi noted, mentally searching through the notes he had stored in his memory. "Did they win easily?"

"Not at all," the Wyvern Lord said, frowning. "It was a long fight, but it came down to who was left standing and that was Seigaku barely before they too collapsed."

"It's too bad that they won't be that worn out by the time they reach us," Kirihara said, stretching out his arms. "But in a battle of power, Jackal and General Sanada would completely wipe them out."

"You look amused about something," Niou said, indicating the second captain, who broke into a grin.

"One of their opponents had an extra long lance… and he knew how to use it well," he said, laughing softly and they all couldn't but join in when they tried to visualize what that would look like. Yagyuu laughed too, but he was blushing slightly because it was about his weapon and Niou nudged him playfully.

"Grow up!" Sanada hollered and they all immediately fell into silence. "Remember we're trying to have a serious meeting even though we already knew the outcome beforehand!"

"Yes sir!"

"Move on with it!"

"The last battle was between their leader, Myrmidon Aoi Kentarou, and the pirate with the green bandana," the first captain said quickly, standing at attention in case Sanada was going to blow up again.

"And he was losing on purpose to the pirate to test him out," the second captain chipped in, also standing at in a rigid, upright fashion. "Which only angered him and caused him to come back and defeat him soundly."

"Hold on, you just said 'last battle'…" Niou mentioned, curious. "Why didn't anyone else fight? That shouldn't have been a deciding battle."

"Well… the dragon laguz that you two have spied on," the Wyvern Lord started, indicating Marui and Jackal. "Dropped by and he said that a ship got caught in a reef and he needed some extra hands. So, they all went to help him and said Seigaku could rest until they got back. Long story short, they became friends over dinner it seems."

"Well, they are a friendly nation," Yagyuu said. "At least their relationship with Seigaku will not harm us in any way."

"Except for giving them some time to rest," Yanagi said with an exhausted sigh. "Nothing that can be done about that. We'll just have to be careful about how much we push our troops."

"Let's adjourn for a break," Yukimura said. "Thank you for you work, wyvern captains, Wyvern Lord." They bowed deeply to him and he nodded back when they rose back up. "Please tell the military school commander to have everyone break up into fighter classes and go into spar practice."

"Will do, my lord."

"What are we going to do?" Jackal asked curiously, picking up his axe from the ground.

"Take an hour to regain some strength and clarity of mind. Then meet me in the level field on the edge of the eastern grounds."

"I feel really cold," Kirihara remarked, pulling his coat closer to his body. "And it's not because of the weather." They all laughed nervously, knowing that what was to come was not going to be pleasant.

"We're here!" Kirihara announced, running towards where Yanagi and Yukimura were, but they both held up their hands and he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked like he was back at full strength and Yukimura knew he would definitely need that for what was about to happen.

"Please wait on that side of the field."

"Yeah, sure."

Yukimura watched as the rest of his fighters made his way to where Kirihara was and paused, putting their weapons at their sides. They stood silent, awaiting their orders.

"Here's your assignment," Yukimura said in a clear, loud voice, putting a hand on Yanagi's shoulder, who smiled brightly. "You are to engage Yanagi in a one-against-all battle."

"Hold on, what?" Niou said, unsure if he had heard Yukimura correctly. Judging by everyone's reactions except for Sanada and Yagyuu's, they all were experiencing the same confusion. "Isn't that overkill for him? We need a strategist in the upcoming battle and Sanada does not qualify at all."

"Niou!"

"I wouldn't underestimate him," Yukimura warned, amusement evident in his voice. "He has many things in his arsenal at his disposal and he's been waiting for a chance to try some of his new ones out on you all."

"Is he just going to use wind magic or is he also going to use some other kinds of magic?" Jackal asked as he watched Yanagi open his book and thumb through the pages nonchalantly.

"He will have the element of surprise against you. Have fun," Yukimura said, giving a signal for everyone to get ready. At the drop of his hand, they all started approaching somewhat cautiously because there was no telling when Yanagi was going to strike.

"Thanks for not giving us time to figure out some kind of strategy," Niou added dryly as they approached the other side of the field.

"Idiot, what kind of effective strategy could you come up with if we're facing an expert magic user with long distance magic in the middle of a barren field!" Marui hissed, rolling his eyes at Niou.

"Hey, you know Yanagi the best," Jackal mentioned, looking at Kirihara who was focused determinedly ahead. "What do you think he is going to do?"

"How do you expect me to know?" Kirihara retorted testily because he was on edge. "He never told me anything about how he fights."

Without warning, a large blast of wind came hurtling at them, and they braced themselves for pain, but it never came. It was Yanagi's taunt to them and Yukimura could tell that their blood was boiling.

"Yanagi, you-!" Sanada was unable to get the words out before another gust came, this time causing a few of them to lose balance. They regained it quickly and caught up to Sanada, who had started charging.

"Stop screwing around with us!" Sanada roared as he charged towards Yanagi, who merely turned the page and recited something else.

"Take cover!" Kirihara yelled, recognizing the incantation. Everyone responded like their life depended on it, somehow forming a straight line behind Sanada before they were pelted with icy shards picked up by the blast of wind.

"That was clever!" Yukimura said, chuckling at how they all thought of the same exact thing and executed it without running into each other.

"I am not a shield!" he bellowed as his face became red from the combination of the ice scraping his face raw and his anger building.

"I am sorry, General," Yanagi called out. "Perhaps a little warmth will help?" He had pulled out another book and summoned fireballs as the other came out from behind Sanada and started running.

Niou was nimble enough to dodge a fireball, ready an arrow, and fire at Yanagi, who easily dodged it. The others were able to block Yanagi's attack with their weapons. There was no time to relax since Yanagi sent streaks of fire hurtling at them and it was all they could do to avoid it or block it. Niou had a tough time hitting him with an arrow because he was busy dodging attacks and Yanagi never stayed in one place for more than half of a second.

An intense gale of wind swept through and cut into their skin and copious amounts of blood splattered onto the snow. Sanada, having battled Yanagi many times, had already warded off the attack and was advancing quickly with Marui and Kirihara shortly behind him. Yagyuu and Jackal stayed back to wait for Yanagi to become distracted so they could run in for a solid blow. Niou was behind them, now waiting for a good opportunity to stick an arrow in Yanagi's chest.

Marui darted ahead, taking a swipe at Yanagi, who ducked and then leapt backwards to avoid Sanada.

"Forgive me Yanagi!" Kirihara cried as he slashed at Yanagi's chest, causing a shallow wound and drawing blood. He staggered back slightly and quickly muttered some words, and a few seconds later, a mini-cyclone of wind had formed around him and spread out, effectively pushing his three adversaries back. Niou saw this as a chance and took it, sending the arrow into the cyclone and a cry made it clear that he got him, although he wasn't sure where.

A large lightning bolt came out of nowhere and struck Niou, who immediately collapsed. Yagyuu and Jackal darted past where the wind spell had pushed everyone back to, knowing that around three direct hits on Yanagi would be the end of him. Yagyuu reached him first with his lance, but Yanagi blocked it with his book. Each attack he tried, he found that it was useless because Yanagi seemed to know exactly what he was going to do. During this time, Jackal was positioning himself so that he would be behind him and finally got a significant blow on his backside.

Things were getting scary for Yanagi very quickly - he no longer had the advantage of long distance and he was surrounded by extremely strong physical attackers. Yukimura found himself a little bit worried, but more out of curiosity than actual fear. He was wondering why Yanagi didn't decimate half of them when he had the chance, but it most likely was because he wanted to work on some close range fighting.

Jackal and Kirihara were sent to the ground with two well placed fire attacks, where they lay writhing in agony. Marui's sword only ripped through some of Yanagi's clothes before a lightning attack caused him to collapse. Sanada and Yagyuu were left, attacking Yanagi ferociously and attempting to coordinate their attacks to give Yanagi hardly any room to get by.

"I'm sorry… you two…" Yanagi said in a strained voice, clutching the deep wound across his stomach. "I won't go down… without a fight." The book he had in his hand glowed brilliantly and Yanagi yelled, 'Kamaitachi' before he was unable to stand any longer. The sky darkened as the winds gathered around him, howling menacingly before unleashing its fury in the form of large, crescent shaped blades right at Yagyuu and Sanada, whose faces paled instantly.

"Healers and soldiers, please get everyone off of the field," Yukimura ordered to the people that had shown up gradually during the battle and they immediately ran in. "Except General Sanada, he looks like he still has some fight left in him."

Yagyuu was unconscious with many deep wounds scattered across his body. The power of the Kamaitachi spell at such a close range very considerable - his armor took some of the damage, but was shattered to pieces as a result. Sanada was currently on one knee, breathing heavily and using his axe to support him. His armor had cracked in places, but was mostly intact.

"Well, what do you say, General?" Yukimura said, pulling out his sword and approaching him from his previous spot behind Yanagi. "Are you going to concede or are you going to fight?"

Sanada glared at him as he pushed himself into a standing position. He let his axe fall to the ground and pulled out his sword, which was considerably lighter than his axe. It appeared that his arms were injured to the point where they couldn't handle the strain of holding something so heavy.

"Do not think that I would ever give up!" Sanada growled fiercely just as Yukimura launched himself at him with lightning speed. "I will not surrender until it is completely impossible for me to move."

Yukimura's hand stung when his blade met Sanada's with a deafening clang. Sanada was almost just as formidable with a sword as he was with an axe - it didn't hurt the other person as much, but he was faster with it too. Their battles were always a whirling, adrenaline-filled dance that never slowed in tempo. Any missed step or lapse of focus could be disastrous.

It was a harsh test of endurance to keep moving, attacking, and defending, trying to throw each other's rhythm off to take the advantage. Yukimura knew that Sanada's strength was waning by how he was gritting his teeth, but it was not showing one bit in his technique. His strength had grown considerably since their last mock battle and Yukimura knew he had to be on his best game to not lose.

He waited until Sanada would take a wide swing, which would open up his left side before striking. One decisive blow and Sanada would have a very hard time keeping up. Yukimura found the beginnings of a grin working its way onto his face, but was immediately interrupted when his sword met armor instead of flesh.

"Oh? I didn't see that coming," Yukimura noted, seeing that Sanada blocked the area with his armored glove. "I'm sure that hurt a bit though."

Suddenly, Yukimura's heart jolted and he staggered slightly, but not enough for Sanada to notice anything strange since he was so focused on watching for the next attack. He shook off the bizarre feeling quickly, wondering if it was because of stress, and kept putting pressure on Sanada, slashing at the bands that held his armor to his body.

As protective as Sanada was of Yukimura, he was able to suppress all of that when it came to spar practice and mock battles. Sanada had finally found his mark, cutting Yukimura's thigh deeply, and he let out a strangled cry. Yukimura made a note to commend him on his improvement when it was all over, but now was the time to teach him a lesson.

Suddenly he felt light-headed and faint and took a few steps back to give himself some time to recover. He found himself on the defensive very quickly - amazed at how fast the tide had turned on him. With each action, he felt more dizzy, and his breathing was coming out in shallow, ragged breaths. As hard as he tried, he couldn't regain momentum or strength.

Sanada only saw a rival that he longed to defeat since they started training all of the years ago. He saw someone with strong qualities that he aspired to have and someone who was his constant push to defy any limits he may have thought he reached. Finally, this was his chance to accomplish what he had toiled for constant hours towards, and Yukimura was enraged that it was going to happen like this. He would not allow Sanada to defeat him unless it was on skill alone.

At the last moment, he brought his blade up to take care of what would have been a critical hit across his chest. Sanada snarled, livid that his attempt was unexpectedly futile, and got ready for another.

Almost all of Yukimura's strength had left him and he was a hollow shell just going through the motions he was trained to do. His mind had stopped functioning properly - he couldn't find the words to call out to Sanada and tell him that something was wrong. All he could see was a sword descending on him and he was powerless to protect himself as his vision started to fade and the sounds started to dim.

"General Sanada! Stop this instant!" a panicked voice yelled out and Sanada froze in mid-strike just as everything faded to black and all Yukimura could vaguely feel was the impact of the frozen ground and the coldness of the icy snow.

"Mmm…"

"It looks like he is starting to stir."

"Thank goodness. He's been out cold for hours without moving."

Yukimura slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was staring up at seven extremely worried faces.

"What… is going on?"

"You passed out, Lord Yukimura," Yagyuu said. "During your battle against General Sanada. Do you remember?"

Yukimura frowned in thought - hazy memories were starting to form, but slowly because he was preoccupied with the fact that he had passed out unexpectedly.

"Take your time, my lord," Yanagi said gently, pressing a hand to Yukimura's forehead. "Jackal, can you see if you can get the fire larger? He's very cold and I'm not sure if he'll warm up quickly enough to be comfortable."

"Of course, Yanagi."

Yukimura first remembered his training with Marui and Jackal and then the talk with the wyvern riders that had came back from Rokkaku. Then a comical image of everyone hiding behind Sanada during their battle against unpredictable magic in the hands of someone like a demon popped into his mind. He recalled everyone being knocked out at different times and the power of the Kamaitachi spell when it hit his two strongest fighters. Then it came to him - every single move taken between the two of them in their quest for victory. He remembered how everything was going extremely well and then how suddenly everything turned against him.

"Was it you that stopped him, Yanagi?" Yukimura asked, finally remembering when he lost consciousness. "Someone yelled, but it sounded so far away."

"It was me, but Kirihara noticed a second before me and elbowed me."

"Well, I'm awake now so let me get back to-" He let out a pained groan as he tried to sit up and immediately gave up.

"Absolutely not!" they all scolded him, including Jackal who had just returned from the fireplace.

"You are to rest for until tomorrow morning," Sanada stated simply, crossing his arms. "Anything you need done, you will have one of us do for you."

"I'm the ruler," Yukimura reminded him, watching Yanagi pour some liquid into a goblet out of the corner of his eye. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Lord Yukimura, General Sanada is just worried for your safety," Kirihara said. "And so are we."

"I'm fine," Yukimura insisted. "Just disoriented and slightly aggravated."

"How were you feeling about a minute prior to passing out?" Marui questioned and Yukimura sighed.

"Faint. Light-headed. Had a very hard time breathing."

"Do you feel that way right now?"

"… Yes."

"You staggered slightly a few minutes before that," Niou pointed out.

"It felt like my heart jolted. It hurt quite a bit, but I thought maybe it was because of all of this stress and overworking every day."

"Thank you for letting us know," Yanagi said, holding out the goblet. "It's an elixir that should lessen the pain and send you straight off to sleep within the hour. It might just be stress, but I will have a doctor check up on you in the morning."

"We'll be taking our leave now," Yagyuu said, pulling the covers up to Yukimura's chin with Niou's help. "Focus on getting better, not if we think less of you for collapsing."

"Because we don't," Niou added and Yukimura heaved a disbelieving sigh. "You're as human as the rest of us when it comes to your health. However, your fighting strength is on par with immortality. Rest up." He nodded as Yagyuu and Niou left together and turned his attention back to the others.

"Would you like something to eat?" Marui offered and Yukimura shook his head slowly. "You sure? You haven't eaten since lunch… maybe a little bit of soup?"

"I'm not in the mood for food, but thank you," Yukimura acknowledged, draining the goblet quickly and handing it back to Yanagi.

"I'll prepare you some breakfast for tomorrow morning," Jackal said as he put a hand behind Marui to push him towards the door. "Come on, Kirihara."

"Promise me you'll be okay?" Kirihara asked, staring at Yukimura with pleading eyes and Yukimura reached out and patted him on the head.

"It's nothing. Everything will be just fine in the morning."

"Promise!"

"Okay, I promise!"

"Good," Kirihara said, running towards the door where Jackal and Kirihara were waiting and they all departed together.

Yukimura sighed when his two advisers looked at him again.

"I'm not going to die so treating me like I am going to," Yukimura stated dryly. "If it's any form of comfort, my breathing is less constrained now."

"It is, it is," Yanagi said, taking one of Yukimura's hands in his own. "And it might feel like we're smothering you, but it's really because this is the first time you really couldn't take care of yourself since your father passed away."

"I don't like feeling weak," Yukimura said as he mustered his remaining strength to squeeze Yanagi's hand back. "A ruler is not supposed to show weakness. Especially when I challenged Sanada to keep on fighting despite how injured he was."

"This is an unusual circumstance, my lord," Sanada said, taking Yukimura's other hand and squeezing it gently. "You would never choose for this to happen and you weren't even showing signs of fatigue earlier."

"You're right," Yukimura said, resigning to the truth. "I'm starting to get a little tired so maybe it's best that you two leave."

"Certainly. Please do not hesitate to call on us if you feel that something is amiss at night," Yanagi reminded him as he released his hand. "And thank the gods that you look a lot less pale then you did earlier when you first woke up."

"I am getting warmer," Yukimura stated, watching Sanada slowly let go of his hand. "See you tomorrow when I am back training with the army."

"That's the spirit we all know and love."

"One last question."

"What is it?"

"How exactly did I get back here?"

"I carried you," Sanada answered quickly. "I was so worried and I needed to be the one that would take care of you."

"You got blood in my hallways? Sanada, the servants don't need to work overtime…"

"That wasn't my number one concern!"

"I know, I'm only kidding," Yukimura said, laughing a little despite how hard it was on his body. "It speaks volumes about your character when I hear that you, despite being extremely injured, were willing to take care of me before yourself. Sleep well, my sweet commander."

Sanada turned extremely red, nodded shyly with a muttered 'good night', and fled the scene before Yanagi could open his mouth to comment on what had just happened.

"You just had to embarrass him, didn't you?"

"Just because I'm confined to my bed for the rest of the night for ill health doesn't mean I'm incapable of enjoying my favorite hobby," Yukimura said as he closed his eyes to give into his longing for sleep. "But make sure he knows that I really do think that that was very touching."

"He knows, my lord. Like myself, he will be there for you, always."