18 Years Prior

Hinata couldn't feel his feet anymore.

The seven year old was tired and numb and felt so incredibly small and lost.

Five days ago, bad men had come into Hinata's village. Hinata's mother had pulled him outside and Hinata had heard yelling and screaming and seen fellow villagers crying. A fire had started-Hinata didn't know from where-and suddenly, it was everywhere and taking everything-even the bad men. Hinata's mother had pushed Hinata into a wagon with a group of other children and elderly and told him not to look back that she would help with the fire.

Mama was dead now. Hinata didn't need anyone to tell him that.

His village was...his village was gone.

Hinata had gone with the rest of the small group that remained to travel to the capital-to the palace.

We can get aid, one of the older women whispered. Rebuild.

Hinata wasn't quite sure what was left to rebuild but he thought that sounded...nice, maybe? Good, but in a way that felt distant, not part of him.

Hinata had left the group once they were in the capital and had walked and walked and walked until finally he had managed to slip past the guards and into the castle.

Mama had always told him to go to the palace if he was in trouble. To find the Queen. But...but the palace was a lot bigger than Hinata thought it would be and he hadn't seen anyone that looked like they could help.

Hinata sniffled and fought the urge to cry, turning another corner and finding a wide garden in front of him.

A silver haired man sat on a bench, looking out.

"Excuse me," Hinata approached him. "I-I'm sorry to bother you but can you help me."

The man looked down, surprised. "Oh, I didn't know anyone had come out here. Are you lost? Do you need help finding your parents?"

Hinata shook his head. "My parents are d-dead. I-I'm trying to find the Queen. The Queen of Spades."

The man smiled sadly. "Then you may be in luck. I'm the Queen of Spades, though most call me Suga."

Hinata's eyes widened and he fought the shake in his legs to climb the bench so he could look the man in the eye.

"Please, please, Mr. Queen, sir, I really really need your help," he said frantically. "My name is Hinata Shouyou and my village is gone and I don't have anywhere to go."

"Oh," the Queen breathed. "You're from Kiri, aren't you? The village that was attacked by the raiders. The knights were just sent to help with damages. Are you here with the refugees?"

Hinata still didn't know what "refugees" meant but he had heard it a lot the past couple of days and thought it vaguely had to do with the people from the village so Hinata nodded.

The Queen very gently lifted Hinata's head and wiped away some spare tears that Hinata hadn't noticed he'd cried. "You, poor child. I am so very sorry for your loss. You must have traveled a long way to get here."

Hinata nodded again, leaning into the warmth of the Queen's hand.

"I know I can't fix everything," the Queen told him. "But I can help in all that I'm able. I can promise you that Spades will do everything it can to rebuild your village."

Hinata let his eyes slip shut, listening to the calm voice that was telling him everything was going to be okay.

"Would you like me to walk you back to the other refugees," the Queen asked and Hinata's eyes flew open. "I can talk to them personally and ensure them they have the full support of the palace."

No, wait, Hinata thought. This wasn't right. Hinata was supposed to stay here in the palace. He could feel it with every part of his body. He couldn't let the Queen take him back to the others.

"Wait," Hinata cried out. "I don't want to go back to the others. Not forever at least. I want to stay here with you and live in the palace."

The Queen looked at him gently. "I'm afraid that's impossible. Children don't normally live here. And I'm sure there would be a number of people from your village who missed you greatly."

Everyone who Hinata had been close to were now dead or had fled to different parts of the country but Hinata didn't want to think about that.

"Please, Mr. Queen, just let me live here. This can be my home, I know it!" Hinata pulled on the Queen's robes, trying to wiggle close enough that he'd never have to let go.

The Queen looked incredibly sad, almost unbearably so.

"Hinata, I'm sorry, I can't-"

His Mama had always told Hinata not to do this and to wait until he got older. But, if it was just the Queen then it would be fine, right? And Hinata had to stay in the palace so he didn't have any choice.

"Please, Mr. Queen," Hinata begged, shrugging off his jacket and showing his upper shoulder. "I'm the Ace of Spades."

Suddenly, a bright light burst from Hinata's shoulder, so bright that Hinata wanted to look away but found he couldn't. Wind circled them, beating the branches against each other as the sound of thunder rolled through the sky.

When it finally stopped, Hinata looked down to see a shiny "A" inside where his plain black spade symbol had stood before.

Hinata gasped and looked back up at the Queen to check if he was seeing the same thing. The Queen was looking at him with wide surprised eyes under which, slowly, a kind warm smile started to appear.

"It appears I was mistaken," the Queen told him. "This palace is your right as much as it is mine. Not a force on Earth could move you from it if you so wished it, my Ace."

Hinata smiled, trying to sort through the Queen's words. "Does this mean I can stay and this castle can be my home."

The Queen ruffled his hair lightly, pulling him into a small but very warm hug.

"Oh, Hinata," the Queen whispered in his hair. "Spades will always be your home. It's where you belong."

Belong, Hinata thought. That sounded really, really nice.

ooooooo

"You sure you don't have any chores for me," Hinata asked for what was probably the third time that day.

"I have the same number of chores I always have for you," Kageyama responded bored, looking down at his book.

Meaning none, Hinata filled in and mentally sighed. Okay, it was possible that he might maybe be stretching out the time until he had to leave so he could talk to Kageyama a bit more.

"If you're sure…" Hinata tried again.

"I'm sure," Kageyama answered firmly before looking up to frown. "How long will you be gone anyway?"

Hinata shrugged. "Probably no more than a couple of weeks? Three at the most." He smiled back at Kageyama, walking over to stand on the other side of the desk. "Why? Will you miss me?"

"No," Kageyama responded a little too quickly for Hinata to believe.

"You will, won't you?" Hinata said happily, leaning down so Kageyama had to look at him rather than the book.

"No," Kageyama glared. "I just...I mean isn't it a little bit weird that it's only you going if it's supposed to be dangerous and top secret information. Shouldn't Tsukishima send like some knights with you at least?"

It would be a little bit weird that a single small courier was going alone with top secret information, Hinata reflected ruefully. If he was a normal courier, he meant.

He should probably talk to Tsuki about setting up some kind of cover story on why he didn't have guards. Maybe just lie once he was in Diamonds and tell them he'd left the guards outside the castle.

Instead of saying this however, Hinata just deflected. "Aww, you're worried about me!"

Kageyama rolled his eyes and turned back to the book, not bothering to deny it.

Turned down at the book, Hinata doubted Kageyama saw the small pleased smile Hinata sent in return.

"I'm sure I'll be back before you know it," Hinata said, moving around the desk to lean over Kageyama's shoulder and see what he was reading. Tax law.

"How can I miss you if you never actually leave," Kageyama grumbled. He frowned, looking back up. "And why do you smell like moth balls?"

"Ugh, still?!" Hinata groaned.

The secret hallway by the eastside chamber was the worst.

ooooooo

Tsukishima had a bad feeling.

An annoying and completely illogical bad feeling that he very much wanted to stop bothering him so he could do other much more important tasks that actually might have an impact on the kingdom. So, there. He was going to forget about it.

"My, that's certainly a serious expression. May I ask why your glaring at Hinata's back?"

Tsukishima glanced up to that the Queen of Spades had joined him in the castle overhang above the courtyard. Down below, Hinata was putting the finishing touches on his journey.

"Did you know," Tsukishima started in a dry matter of fact tone. "That of all the Suit members in the entire Card Kingdom, the Ace of Spades has the highest rate of being killed in duty."

Suga gave him a flat look. "I did actually. If you recall, I've lived through several."

Tsukishima winced, an apology on his tongue when Suga waved him off.

"The important thing," Suga continued, "is that I'm sure you've also known that for years so why are you bringing it up now? Are you worried about Hinata's mission?"

"Of course not," Tsukishima lied. "The idiot's the best there is. By far. Why would I be worried about him?"

"I'm not sure," Suga commented lightly. "But I'm sure it's not Hinata's horse that's got you glaring so it's got to be something."

Tsukishima scowled, purposefully turning away from said horse and rider to look at Suga.

"It's just a feeling," he muttered.

"What kind of feeling?"

"That I'm missing something," Tsukishima finally admitted. "That this whole thing is going to end up bigger than it seems and that Spades is going to be caught in the crossfire."

"Hmm," Suga paused, looking out as Hinata finally mounted the horse. "For all I know, you might be right."

Tsukishima nodded glumly, propping his head on one of his hands.

"I'm not worried though," Suga said decisively after a moment of silence.

Surprised, Tsukishima looked up to see the older man smiling.

"Why," he ventured.

Suga quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's like you said, Tsukishima. Hinata's the best there is."

The Queen turned and was half way down the hall before he called back one more time. "The best by far."

Tsukishima sighed and watched as Hinata's horse pulled out of eyesight.

Screw this, he obviously needed a distraction.

Stepping down from the balcony railing, Tsukishima walked down the palace halls until he finally ended up in what was, barring his private chamber and office, his favorite place in the whole castle.

The library.

Just as he stepped in, a smaller slightly mousy looking man stuck his head out from one of the shelves.

If asked, Tsukishima would fervently deny that this particular man had anything to do with why the library was his favorite.

"Morning," Yamaguchi called brightly. "Anything I can help you with, Tsuki?"

Tsukishima's brain suddenly came to an abrupt halt somewhere around the last syllable.

"What," Tsukishima demanded, tone perhaps a bit sharper than intended due to the surprise.

Yamaguchi frowned, confused. "Do you need any help? Oh!" The freckled librarian's eyes widened. "Tsuki, right, I've never called you that before. Your assistant Yachi told me everyone called you 'Tsuki' and that I should, too. Sorry, did I do something wrong?"

Everyone emphatically did not call Tsukishima "Tsuki". In fact, only two people in the entire world called Tsukishima "Tsuki". And those two were Yachi and Hinata. Yachi because she accidentally let it slip during her first month on the job-back when she looked like she would cry at every single wrong step-and he was guilted into not saying anything. Hinata because he'd grown up beside him since they were seven and he-not that Tsukishima would admit it, except maybe under extreme torture-might be something like what Tsukishima would consider a brother. An annoying brother, who he often wanted to strangle.

The point was practically no one called him "Tsuki" so there was no reason for him to say, "Sure, you can call me 'Tsuki' if you'd like."

Tsukishima resolved here and now that Hinata would never find out about this.
But Yamaguchi gave him that bright shy smile that made his eyes light up, so Tsukishima felt like maybe he had made the right choice.

He was so screwed.

"Thanks," Yamaguchi chirped before reaching out and pulling his hand. "Now, c'mon, I've got to show you this really cool thing I found in the history sections! Did you know that we have diaries dating back to the Suit's second generation!"

Tsukishima followed the librarian and quietly admitted that this had proved to be a pretty good distraction.

ooooooo

Oikawa was having a very, very long day.

He had reached the capital early this morning and-after securing a room at an inn that Irihata had ordered him he had to stay at rather than attempting to ride back on no sleep-he had gone straight to the palace.

Of course, once he'd gotten to the palace, he'd completely bypassed any of the palace's royal private chambers or throne room and gone to the office of census keeping. There he was told that by a very dour looking clerk that "since the census was being delivered past the proper arrival date"-here the clerk had looked at Oikawa as if he was a bug on his shoe- "he would have to officially go to an audience with a monarch and have them give proper approval".

And by all the highly suspect odds, the Suit's official day of open audience for the public just happened to be today.

Oikawa sighed. He should have known the Fate wouldn't have made it that easy.

So, here Oikawa was-along with every other Hearts commoner that had a complaint-in the longest line in existence to get an audience with the one of the Suit of Hearts because that was apparently just how this day was going to go.

In front of Oikawa were two girls that couldn't be older than sixteen who hadn't stopped whispering and giggling since Oikawa had got in line an hour ago.

"I can't believe the Ace of Hearts himself is going to be overseeing the audience," one of the girls whispered, just loud enough for Oikawa to catch.

The shorter of the girls let out a dreamy sigh. "I heard he was so handsome."

"Really," Oikawa interrupted. "That's strange I heard he had a giant boil on his face."

Startled, the two girls looked at each other before looking back at Oikawa.

"Really," the first girl asked.

"It's massive," Oikawa replied with a straight face.

The two girls looked conflicted before the shorter finally pulled up a brave expression.

"Well," she said, courageously. "I guess it's really his personality that matters."

Oikawa restrained an eye roll.

"Yeah," the other agreed, going back to a near worshipful tone. "And he's the Hero of Hearts so I'm sure it can't be that bad." She looked back at Oikawa, apparently realizing that he could be considered as fairly attractive as well. "Are you here because you a fan of the Ace, too?"

"Oh, yeah," Oikawa commented dryly. "The biggest."

"What's up with the bandage," the shorter asked, pointing at his right hand.

On reflex, Oikawa held the bandage hand that concealed his mark protectively closer to his chest.

"An old battle wound," Oikawa lied in a tone that warned against further discussion. "Terribly disfiguring so I keep it covered."

The two girls looked at each other horrified before deciding to go back to whispering to each other rather than continue talking to Oikawa.

Oikawa fought back a sigh. This was such a long day.

Two hours later and Oikawa had finally made it near the front of the line. A palace guard with hair that was oddly shaped like a turnip had just called in the two girls in front of him and they had slipped past the massive wood doors that marked the entrance to the throne room. The girls were practically fainting in joy.

Oikawa had a good five minutes to wait where he hoped fervently that the Ace of Hearts was just as annoyed with the fawning fangirls as Oikawa had been. Though, knowing how royalty was, the Ace was probably thrilled to finally get some kind of "proper recognition".

Finally, there was a knock on the throne room door and the turnip-head guard on Oikawa's side pulled it open to let the two girls out.

Almost in unison, the two girls let out large happy sighs.

Upon seeing Oikawa, the shorter of the two glared up at him.

"You were wrong!" she accused. "He didn't have any kind of boil on his face."

Beside them, turnip-head hurriedly covered what Oikawa was sure had been a laugh.

"Really," Oikawa said with feigned innocence. He pretended to think for a second. "My mistake. The boil must be on his ass then. You see, his face and ass just look so similar that I often get them confused."

He was saved from what was sure to be the shrill and angry rebuttal by Oikawa's new personal hero Turnip Head announcing Oikawa's village.

Oikawa was quickly whisked forward and into the throne room, the heavy door closing loudly behind him. Immediately upon setting foot in the throne room, Oikawa felt the sense of right, belong, and stay. He ruthlessly suppressed them, mentally cursing Ushijima in his head.

The throne room of Hearts was a wide open space with ornate stained glass windows covering both sides of the wall. In front stood four oak thrones with silver and red lining and in one of the middle thrones sat the Ace of Hearts.

Iwaizumi Hajimi-Ace of Hearts, the Noble Knight, the Hero of Hearts-had forgone his fancy finery and ornate armor for plain, though no less rich looking, clothes. Not that Oikawa could blame him if he'd already sat through five hours worth of audiences. His dark hair was cut close to his head, highlighting a strong jawline and deep set eyes. The fine white of his tunic brought out the tan from working out in the sun while the cut emphasized broad shoulders.

He didn't have a boil on his face. Oikawa was briefly disappointed even though he himself had started the rumor only an hour ago.

The throne room was empty except for Oikawa and the Ace. The Ace, the most powerful warrior in all of Hearts, had apparently decided that the normal tradition of having guards at the door was a bit superfluous when he could strike down any opponent before their hits landed.

Arrogant, Oikawa thought unfairly. He gritted his teeth. Well time to get this over with.

"Your Highness," Oikawa began and the Ace gestured for Oikawa to continue.

Be polite, Irihata's voice sounded in his head followed by Makki's parting, And don't kill anyone!

"My village sends a new copy of our census numbers to account for decrease in tax numbers," Oikawa told the Ace, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. "The office of census keeping sent me here to request your approval."

"Bring me the new numbers," the Ace responded evenly.

Oikawa got the parchment out and walked forward to the Ace, looking at the embroidery on his vest rather than his eyes.

The Ace took the paper from him, his fingers brushing Oikawa's right hand-inches away from the bandage-for one heart stopping second.

Oikawa backed away as quickly as he could without it looking like he was running away.

The Ace looked down at the figures. "Alright, good, everything seems to be in order. I approve the new census numbers."

Oikawa breathed out, not quite believing it could really be that easy.

"Why the decrease in population though," the Ace asked, curiously rather than accusatory.

Oikawa just fought a shrug. "This year, we had a disproportionate number of daughters marry outside of the village and move in with their new husband's family. That, plus some of the villagers moving away during the harsh winter, made us lose a fair number." He hesitated wondering how much more he should say. "The village will persevere though, Your Highness."

The Ace nodded absently. "Thank you. If that is all, you are free to leave."

Oikawa dearly, dearly wished that the census numbers had been all. Unfortunately, Irihata had told him to ask for one more thing while he was there.

"My village has one more request, Your Highness," Oikawa said.

The Ace just continued looking steadily at him. "Yes?"

"Due to the harsh winter, many of our villagers are having trouble managing," Oikawa told the Ace, focusing on his people rather than any contempt he felt for the throne. "We would request extra provisions or a decreased tax only for the next year so that we would be better able to recover."

"How much of a decrease," the Ace asked.

"My village requests a twenty five percent decrease only for the period of a year," Oikawa responded. "We want to be able to rebuild and serve our country. Please, just give us the time to do so."

The Ace regarded him evenly.

Stay calm, stay calm, Oikawa thought in a running mantra.

"I'll have to ask our Jack to look into the matter further," the Ace finally said. "I'm not sure we have the extra funds available and if we helped your village, we'd have to look into an equal decrease for the rest of the neighboring ones as well."

Irihata had already told Oikawa that was going to be the most likely answer. Fuck, Oikawa was surprised the Ace had even considered. The new census numbers had already been approved, so mission accomplished. All in all, Oikawa should really just keep his mouth shut.

"You'd have the funds available if you readjusted our tariffs with Nohebi and increased the silk and precious metal export tax by two percent."

The Ace frowned for the first time in the discussion and, if Oikawa had to guess at his expression, he'd say it looked...surprised. Not yet annoyed, but curious.

"If we did that," the Ace began. "It could compromise our treaty agreement with Nohebi or they could increased tariffs against us and it would all come down to nothing."

"Not if you also offered a lowering of the basic grain tax," Oikawa argued back, ignoring the voice in his head that told him to stop talking. "That way you could justify it as just redistributing the tariffs but actually silk and metals would still bring in more money since they have a bigger initial prize-plus, it would improve our reputation with Nohebi commoners since Nohebi's a desert and most of them use our grain as their primary source of food."

Now, the Ace was flat out staring at him. "The tariffs have been that way for the past twenty-five years."

Oikawa did shrug this time. "So? Doesn't mean they still have to be. Nohebi nobles pay a bit more for some silk and jewelry they don't need, the country commoners don't starve, and we get enough extra income to help our small villages. Win-win."

"Sorry, who did you say you were again," the Ace asked.

Oikawa's courage died where it stood.

"No one important," he responded quietly.

The Ace looked at him considering. "It's a big risk. I'd have to talk to the Jack about it before anything."

Oikawa knew what a "No" sounded like in fancy diplomatic language and he couldn't quite restrain a muttered, "Typical".

There was a long beat of silence.

"...I'm sorry, what did you say," the Ace finally asked.

Okay, maybe it hadn't been that muttered.

Well, fuck, in for the penny in for the pound.

"Oh nothing," Oikawa said, finally looking up to glare at the Ace. "I just think it's fairly typical that another monarch would once again chose screwing over his own people rather than even taking the small chance at screwing over some other country's wealthy elite."

The Ace looked like he was starting to get annoyed. Good.

"Look," the Ace said, obviously fighting to keep his tone eve. "I told you I'll have Yahaba look over your proposal and see what we can do."

"Great," Oikawa shot back, acidly. "So you can look at the numbers and say 'Oh, nope, just too much of a risk. Oh well, at least we tried' and pat yourself on the back. Fat lot of good that'll do for the rest of us, Your Highness"

The Ace glared. "Has anyone ever told you that you've got a shitty personality."

Almost everyone, but Oikawa didn't say that.

"Has anyone ever told you that you make a shitty leader," Oikawa fired back.

The Ace got to his feet, stomping forward to Oikawa. "I'm doing what I can. Maybe you should back the fuck off until you know what you're talking about."

"I do know," Oikawa said flatly, stepping forward until he was maybe a foot away from the Ace's face. "I know that ever since you took power fifteen years ago that almost no policy and regulation has been changed from the way they were before the war."

"The country was struggling to survive," the Ace yelled. "What? You wanted me to try for grand political overhaul as well?"

"Maybe not then," Oikawa argued. "I get that maybe right then the goal was just to get back together. But what, about now, twelve years later and were still heading right down the same path that led us to Civil War."

"The country needs stability," The Ace glared, curling his hands into fists.

"The country needs to be better," Oikawa yelled back, throwing up his hands. "You're supposed to be the new generation of Hearts leaders and all you've done is get us right back to where we began."

"You don't know what you're talking about," the Ace repeated, taking another step forward until they were inches away.

"I know that we currently have a system where the poor struggle to survive without expecting any help from the Suit," Oikawa whispered fiercely, meeting the Ace's gaze directly. "I know that all of our money is going into rebuilding a capital that can't even tell what it is they're trying to build. And I know that nothing I say here is going to change that so why the fuck should I even bother, right?"

With that, Oikawa turned away-sending a very clear dismissal to the Ace.

"I can see myself out," Oikawa threw back, slipping through the door before the Ace could respond.

Outside Turnip Head and a sizable chunk of the nearby audience were staring at him in shock and Oikawa had a second to wonder exactly how sound proof that throne room was to two people yelling at the top of their lungs.

He strode off to the palace exit before anyone could stop him.

Seriously, fuck this day.