17 Years Prior

Hinata had been living at the castle for six months when Takeda finally broke down and decided it was time to talk about his role.

Suga had already been gently hinting about it for two months. But when Keishin finally began asking why he hadn't seen hide or tail of the new Ace, Takeda reluctantly agreed it was time.

And admittedly, Hinata had bounced back remarkably from the destruction of his village and-even though there were times the boy became sad and quiet-for the most part, Hinata was a bright cheerful boy. And an energetic one, too-much to the reluctance of his roommate and resigned playmate Tsukishima.

Takeda just hoped Hinata was read..

He also hoped that including Tsukishima in the discussion would help even though he hadn't planned on discussing this with his young successor for at least another couple of years. Jacks and Aces went about things different after all.

Footsteps outside of his office caught the Jack's attention and Takeda looked up just before Tsukishima opened the door.

Takeda watched as Tsukishima moved forward quickly as if he was going to shove forward in front of Hinata. The Ace immediately fell for it, rushing forward just as the other pulled back with a calm innocent expression. Expecting resistance, Hinata tripped forward before recovering to turn around and glare annoyed at Tsukishima. The other boy just gave him a small smirk, walking sedately into the room behind Hinata.

Takeda sighed. His two wards cared about each other. He knew it. Tsukishima was just very, very bad at showing it.

The two boys seemed to take notice of Takeda's serious expression and quickly moved to sit in the two chairs across from his desk.

Takeda smiled. "Thanks for coming.I know this is a bit different from our normal routine."

Hinata fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Is this about the vase from yesterday?" the small boy finally blurted out. "Cause if it is, Tsuki's the one who said it would be fine to throw the ball there-"

"You're the one who knocked it over," Tsukishima interjected quickly.

"And Suga used his magic to fix it really, really quickly," Hinata added. "So, you can't even see the cracks anymore."

"This isn't about the vase," Takeda reassured, though he made a mental note to ask the Queen exactly what his wards got up to in yesterday's free afternoon. "I wanted to talk to you about your roles."

Hinata tilted his head and even Tsukishima looked quizzical.

"What do you mean," Hinata asked eventually. "I'm Ace and Tsuki's going to be Jack, right?"

"Exactly," Takeda confirmed. "But, do you know exactly what being Ace and Jack mean?"

"The Aces are the best warriors in each of the Card Kingdoms," Tsukishima recited before throwing a smirk in Hinata's direction. "And the Jacks are the smartest."

Hinata stuck out a tongue.

"Right again," Takeda answered. "Or, well, close enough, at least. It would be better to say that the Ace and Jack both have the ability to be the best warrior or the smartest. It doesn't quite mean they will be."

Tsukishima frowned."What do you mean?"

"Well," Takeda continued, pleased that the conversation was going where he planned. "Like everything, being the 'best' at something requires hard work. If you say Claimed the title of Jack when you were only three then there would still be a number of people who knew more than you in most likely every subject. Same for the Ace. They have the ability to be the best warrior but it doesn't mean they're destined to win every battle. They have to train to be the strongest. And even then can be defeated if the odds are simply too overwhelming or they get caught by surprise. Having a title doesn't mean that you necessarily will become the smartest or best warrior. It just means that out of everyone, you have the most potential of being the best suited."

Tsukishima's frown took on a considering edge. Meanwhile, Hinata still looked slightly confused.

"I think I get it," Hinata said slowly. "So that's why even though I'm the Ace, Tsuki still beats me all the time when we're fighting over who's going to get the extra blanket. It's cause I haven't worked hard enough or trained yet."

Takeda all but beamed. "Yes! You're exactly right, Hinata! And that's why I wanted to talk to you,"

"The idiot's getting training," Tsukishima interrupted.

Hinata glared, reaching over to shove the other boy.

"Tsukishima, don't call Hinata an idiot. Hinata, don't push Tsukishima," Takeda ordered, phrases worn down by familiar repetition. "And to answer your question: yes, but that's not entirely what this meetings about. I want to know what kind of Ace you want to be?"

Both boys now looked confused.

"Umm...Spades, right?" Hinata asked. "I want to be the Ace of Spades."

Takeda shook his head. "Sorry, you're right. I phrased that badly. I meant what you wanted your focus to be in. Your specialty?"

"You mean like the extra power thing the Ace gets," Hinata questioned. "Cause I didn't know you got to chose that and I don't know what mine is yet."

"I meant," Takeda explained patiently. "That there are different types of Aces. Some Aces train to be knights. Others to lead armies. Spades' Aces tend to specialize in being spies and assassins."

"Then...then that's what I've got to be right," Hinata frowned. "Because it's Spade's specialty."

"No," Takeda answered firmly. "Just because it's what Spades has been doing, doesn't mean it has to be yours. What kind of warrior do you want to be, Hinata?"

The small boy tilted his head, thinking.

Takeda let him.

"I guess...I don't know," Hinata finally answered. "When my mom first told me what an Ace was, I always thought I'd be...I guess it was kind of like a knight who fights bad guys and stuff. But," the boy looked up at Takeda with a serious expression. "I really just want to do whatever will help Spades the most. Is that being a spy?"

Takeda paused, doing his own thinking. It was true that Spades had a tradition for spies and that having an Ace in the role had always helped tremendously. But, Keishin had been running the spy side of Spades since the death of the former Ace years ago, so the Spades spies definitely would be able to continue even without an Ace….just maybe not as successfully.

"Spies are definitely a benefit that Spades would not be willing to give up," Takeda answered finally. "However, this doesn't mean you have to be one."

Hinata bit his lip. "But, if I was one then I could be the best, right? I mean if I worked hard enough, then I could really help Spades."

Takeda nodded reluctantly. "Yes, but Hinata is that what you want to do. You'll help Spades with whatever you chose. Are you sure this how you want to do it? Being an assassin or a spy...well, it isn't always the most savory...or safe."

Hinata took a second to answer.

"Yes," the boy said eventually. "I think I could do it and…" Hinata shrugged. "I don't know I get the feeling that it's what I'm meant to do and Suga always tells me to try to listen to the magic. But," Hinata frowned again, "would...would being a spy mean I couldn't talk to people anymore? Because...because I would if I had to but, um, I'd really, really miss it, you know?"

Takeda smiled. "No, Hinata, you could definitely still talk to people." A thought ran through the Jack's head. "Actually, talking to people might help you be a better spy."

"Takeda," Tsukishima whined. "Don't encourage him to talk more!"

Takeda silenced him with a warning look. "If you talk to people when you're just Hinata...if you make yourself appear as someone who absolutely would never be the Ace of Spades, then it could help you hide your identity. Like becoming your own decoy, an ultimate defense."

"The Ultimate Decoy," Hinata repeated, eyes shining.

"What about me," Tsukishima interrupted, finally fed up with staying silent. "What's the different specialties for a Jack?"

"I actually wasn't planning on talking to you about this for a few years," admitted Takeda, looking to his successor. "That's because Jacks normally find their specialties on their own. What are you interested in learning, Tsukishima?"

"Everything," the boy said firmly. "Is there a way I can specialize in knowing everything?"

Takeda hid a smile. "Yes, actually. Clubs' Jacks normally focus on learning about as many different subjects as possible. Literal Jacks of All Trades. If you'd like do that, I could certainly contact Club's current Jack. Though, I'll warn you that specializing in learning one subject would mean not going into depth in any."

Tsukishima frowned immediately. "No. I don't just want to know about everything. I want to know the most about it, too."

Takeda hummed. "Well, I'm not quite sure where that would fall. My specialty, as you know, is scientific research. Diamond's currently has our foremost historian."

"Those both sound boring," the boy sighed.

"Tsuki!" Hinata glared. "He didn't mean it, Takeda. I'm sure you have a lot of fun even if it's super boring."

Takeda refrained from rolling his eyes. "That's very kind of you, Hinata."

"What if…" Tsukishima started. "What if I want to do something like Hinata. Knowing everything about everyone's leaders and all about what's going on in Cards right now?"

Takeda lifted an eyebrow. "Well, then...then, that would be something like a spymaster. Relying on informants and other types of information gathering to accumulate knowledge that might serve Spades in the future."

Tsukishima nodded furiously, a light shining in his eyes that Takeda had never seen before. "That's what I want to do. I want to specialize in that."

Takeda looked at the boy, considering. "Spades has...no, none of Cards has ever had a spymaster. It would mean a lot of work to build a network."

"I'll do it," Tsukishima reassured quickly.

Takeda gave him his most serious expression. "It would also mean working much more closely with the Ace of Spades than any Jack has previously. You two would essentially be partners. One specialized in gathering and acting on information while one specialized in sorting it and planning the next step. Are you sure you two would be able to work like that?"

Hinata glanced between Takeda and Tsukishima. "I...I think I could do that. Tsuki's really smart so if I become really good at spying and we work together then...then we could be really awesome." Hinata scrunched up his face. "As long as Tsuki's not too bossy that is."

Tsukishima sent the other a withering look before turning back to Takeda.

The boy shrugged. "Someone's got to make sure the idiot doesn't get himself killed."

Takeda smiled, for once not admonishing Tsukishima for language. Keishin was certainly going to be happy. He'd requested about one boy and gotten two new recruits-albeit in very different types of training.

Takeda looked at his wards, the closest he'd ever have to sons.

They could be great, the Jack of Spades realized. With the right training, with Hinata's determination, with Tsukishima's mind...they could help Spades become better than ever been before.

"Ow, Tsuki!" Hinata yelled as the other shoved him to the ground when Hinata tried to hug him.

Takeda sighed. If I can make sure they don't kill each other first.

ooooooo

Suga looked down at today's schedule and smiled.

...He then told himself that was a completely inappropriate and illogical response that he should stop. immediately

He hadn't quite managed yet when the Captain of the Knights knocked on his office door.

"Come in," Suga called, maybe a bit more cheerful than normal. He waved a hand, cancelling the magic that secured the room.

The sound of a door opening and rich chocolate eyes settled on Suga. The captain gave a soft smile-warm, familiar, utterly happy, and all in an understated sort of way.

He always gave Suga that smile.

Suga always smiled back. And so the dance begins.

"I brought you something," Daichi told him and brought out a single red rose, hidden behind his back.

Oh, Suga let out a breath in surprise. That was...that was different. A small misstep in the dance's flow. A bit of an overstep, though maybe not an unwelcome one, that Suga now had to adjust for.

Because bringing a flower was...obvious, Suga supposed was the best word. Not easily ignored or passed over with a few well spoken words or subtle glances. It was shining a bright light on something they had an unspoken agreement to keep hidden.

"A week ago, you talked about how the gardeners hadn't planted them this year," Daichi reminded him. "And they didn't in the garden. But there's a few bushes just outside the training field. This one got cut too early when they were pruning it. I thought it would go better here than trampled under a misplaced foot."

Suga's smile was back because that was good, that was fine, that was an excuse on why the Queen kept a flower from the Knight's Captain and an excuse that could easily hide for any other motivations the two might also be acting on.

"Thank you," Suga replied sincerely, both for the flower and the excuse. He took the flower carefully from Daichi's hand, finger just brushing for the space of a half a second. "I'll put it in a vase by my window."

Daichi nodded and moved to sit down in the office's visitor chair.

To business, then, Suga decided.

One of the Spades Suit-normally always Suga given The King's self imposed isolation, The Ace's anonymity, and the Jack's simply not wanting to do it-always had a weekly meeting with the Knight's Captain to check into Spade's defenses and hear a general assessment of the knights.

"So, how are the new recruits coming along now," Suga asked, casually propping his head on one hand. It was possible that the Queen's meetings with the captain were a little more informal than most. "Still not making as much trouble as Tanaka did?"

Daichi laughed. "No one could make as much trouble as Tanaka did. But," Daichi paused, considering. "They're doing fine I'd say. I've already split them into groups to shadow Ennoshita and Tanaka. If all goes well, I can start them in on patrols by next week." The captain gave a rueful look. "Of course, they're all disappointed they won't be able to compete in the Summer Festival. I swear, every summer Spades always gets an influx of new recruits as if they think that a few months training is enough to ready them for a tournament."

"Just trying for a shot at glory," Suga put in, shaking his head fondly.

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Then, they can try for it next summer after a full year of training to make sure Hearts and Clubs don't kick our asses in our own home."

Suga's eyes crinkled in amusement. "It's all we can ask for."

"And still more than we can expect from them currently," Daichi agreed. "Hopefully being part of Ennoshita and Tanaka's teams will show them what it really means to be a knight."

"And what's that," Suga asked, partly just to see the way Daichi's eyes lit up.

"Hard work, dedication, and loyalty above all else," Daichi recited. "Always putting the kingdom above any selfish interests."

"Well, they certainly have an excellent role model for a captain then," Suga complimented.

Daichi looked down bashfully. "Oh, I don't know about that. Sometimes, I can be quite selfish."

"Never you, Daichi," Suga returned, unconsciously moving to a softly serious tone. "Never you."

Daichi met his eyes a moment before sighing. "I suppose you're right, My Queen."

Suga would never admit it but he loved how Daichi said "my". Somehow, making it an expression of devotion without any hint of possession.

"I should get back to training," Daichi told him. "If, of course, you're done with me here."

"I think I've kept you from your charges long enough," Suga answered, standing up and waving a hand to cancel the magic that automatically set every time the door closed. The captain nodded, heading to the door

As he did, the Queen lifted the rose off of his desk and walked to the empty vase by the window.

"It's kind of sad, isn't it?" Suga mused out loud. "That it fell down early and now will spend the rest of its life inside and separated."

"I don't know," Daichi replied steadily, looking up to match Suga's gaze for a final time. "I think it's rather lucky. After all, it was going to die anyway. At least this way...it gets to spend its life with you."

With that, the captain of the knights gave a small smile and slipped out of Suga's office, the door closing gently behind him

Suga stayed standing, looking at the door and trying desperately to get rid of his blush before the next meeting.

ooooooo

For once, Oikawa found himself actually enjoying his morning in Hearts' castle.

Granted, this probably had more to do with the company.

The Ace had set up a meeting between Oikawa and the Jack of Hearts ostensibly so Oikawa could oversee his idea about the Nohebi tariffs. In actuality, Oikawa knew this was Iwaizumi's attempt to get his would be king to bond with the rest of the Suit.

In a sense, it was working. Oikawa still had absolutely zero interest in being King of Hearts but he was enjoying Yahaba more and more with every passing second. Oikawa wasn't quite sure how he was intended to "help" with the new tariff plan; Yahaba was a genius and had it done practically within five minutes of look at it. Though, the brief overview had led to an interesting conversation from Oikawa's perspective.

"Wait," Oikawa had commented, looking at the dates. "If we aren't scheduled to talk to Nohebi about the tariffs for another month then why is the expected implementation date so early? That won't even be enough time to get them approved."

Yahaba had frowned. "What makes you think we're not talking to Nohebi until next month?"

Because Oikawa had figured the Ace wanted to make sure Oikawa would actually stay the full month before he gave the tax decrease to his village.

"Iwaizumi already had me send a preliminary letter the day you suggested it in the audience," Yahaba had continued, unaware of Oikawa's internal conflict. "It would look foolish if we then didn't respond until next month. Not to mention, that we'd be gone for the Summer Festival. Is there a reason we should wait?"

"No reason," Oikawa had responded, sending an absent smile.

So Iwaizumi had lied about withholding the tax decrease. He'd lied to get Oikawa to agree to come to the castle. Oikawa...Oikawa didn't know how he felt about that.

His first instinct had been anger. How dare the Ace hold Oikawa's village over his head...even if it was a lie.

But his next instinct was...admiration? Somehow, Oikawa actually liked that the Noble Ace maybe wasn't as noble as he seemed. That Iwaizumi was ready to get down and dirty if it meant helping his overall goals. It was something Oikawa would've done and he could respect that kind of attitude. Especially, if the overall goal was helping Hearts' people.

Oikawa didn't agree that him becoming king would help Hearts and he still thought the Ace was kind of a shitty leader but maybe….maybe he liked Iwaizumi the man a little bit better.

Currently, Yahaba was showing Oikawa the budget reports for over twenty years ago to serve as a comparison for last year's. This had nothing really to do with the new tariffs and it was clear Yahaba was just showing him this because he was thrilled to have someone else to talk about finances with. This luckily suited Oikawa's inner nerd just fine as-even though he was nowhere close to Yahaba's level of knowledge-he had always enjoyed helping Irihata manage the village's expenses.

However, this also led him to an interesting question.

"Why is so much money directed to the castle guards?" Oikawa asked, looking at last year's numbers in comparison to twenty years ago.
Yahaba frowned, glancing to where Oikawa pointed.
"Oh," the Jack said. "Oh...well, that's Iwaizumi area, so…"
And the Jack of Hearts would never dream of interfering with his hero's work, Oikawa concluded.
"I guess I never really looked at it," Yahaba finished probably truthfully.
Oikawa hummed, wondering how he could go about this without letting his feelings for the Ace's leadership show. Maybe he could just avoid mentioning him all together.
"The numbers are much higher than the castle needs," Oikawa commented, showing the old report as evidence. "With all the Knights centered here, that's finding money for food, extra training equipment, servants…"
"True. But that's the same amount we've always set aside for castle knights in all of the recent years, from even back before the war," Yahaba pointed out before wincing, struck with the realization Oikawa had already come to.
Before the war was when the former Queen and Ace of Hearts had been funneling all available resources to the castle guard, preparing for the inevitable fight for the throne. The number of knights kept in castle was the numbers needed for a full scale rebellion. In a time of peace, it was more than a bit unreasonable.
Yahaba had sat back, contemplatively.
"We can't decrease our number of knights, not when there's still the risk from-" The Jack stopped suddenly, casting a frightened glance at Oikawa. Oikawa tilted his head, curiously. Was Hearts expected some kind of threat? An invasion or-
"Maybe, maybe when we see where some pieces land, then we can look at reallocation," Yahaba finished.
Oikawa meanwhile was running possibilities through his head. It was doubtful that the threat was coming from Nohebi-there was no way Hearts would have tried to readjust tariffs if they were worried about a war. Hearts' relationship with the rest of the Suits seemed fine and neither Yahaba nor Iwaizumi had shone any specific apprehension about the upcoming Summer Festival. Oikawa would have definitely heard if there were tensions enough within Hearts to cause concern. That left Hyakuzawa or the Futakuchi Islands. And with Futakuchi being extreme isolationists, that tilted the odds towards Hyakuzawa.
Oikawa looked up again. External threat would mean all of Hearts-especially border villages-was at risk not just the capital, making the concentration of castle guards not just fiscally questionable but a possible security risk.
Keeping that in mind, Oikawa smiled guilelessly. "You wouldn't need to decrease the total number of knights for the country, you know? Just the one's in the castle."
Yahaba looked at him cautiously, looking slightly relieved that Oikawa had decided not to press about the mysterious threat. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Oikawa replied, propping his head on a hand. "If you sent out the knights to be stationed in towns around Hearts then we'd still have the same number of knights, but it would mean the castle wouldn't have to keep up the cost of boarding. The villages wouldn't mind one or two extra mouths to feed, especially if the knights could help out with farming and protect against bandits and raiders."
And have a better defense in the case of an invasion, Oikawa thought but didn't add. He was sure Yahaba could put that together himself.
Yahaba's eyes widened. "That...that could...well, I'd have to talk to Iwaizumi, though."
There was that nervousness back again. Oikawa wondered what kind of brilliant ideas Yahaba would come up with if he wasn't so worried that the Ace would disapprove of them.
Instead of saying any of this, Oikawa shrugged.
"You're the Jack," Oikawa agreed, putting subtle emphasis on his title. "I'm sure if there's a way to do it, you can find it."
Yahaba gave him a small smile that looked maybe a hair more confident. "Thanks, Oikawa."

Oikawa smiled back. "Anytime."

"I think...I think I'll go talk to Iwaizumi about that now. See what he says," Yahaba commented. "Would you like to come with me?"

Oikawa thought that his presence in the matter definitely wouldn't help any so just relied with, "Thanks, but I think I'm going to go to explore the library a bit more."

Besides, Oikawa mentally added, thinking back to his previous realization. I think I'll be having my own conversation with the Ace soon enough.

ooooooo

Tsukishima was going insane.

The Jack was currently sitting in a quiet secluded place in the library where he'd been for three hours. Before that, he'd been in his office for five hours. And before that, he had been trying to go to sleep in his bedroom for nine hours.

All of these attempts had been unsuccessful.

Honestly, at this point, he was considering going to find Hinata just because bickering with him was always at least distracting. But, then he remembered that Hinata was still guarding the King and there wasn't a force on earth that could stop him from that at least until Yachi dragged him away for a break.

Tsukishima groaned. Speaking about Hinata, what the Ace had said was still bothering him. He had the pieces, he'd put them together, the almost fit! But it was the almost that kept catching Tsukishima up. Everything was almost right. Which meant Tsukishima was still missing something. And the Jack had a feeling it was something big.

"Um, are you okay," a shy voice asked.

Tsukishima's head flew up, a piece of paper still stuck to his face from where he had laid it on the table.

Yamaguchi was giving him a worried expression.

"I'm fine," the Jack reassured.

"Of course," Yamaguchi agreed immediately before hesitating. "It's just that...well, you've been groaning and glaring at your papers for the past three hours so…."

Tsukishima sighed, pushing the irritation out of his voice before speaking. It's not like it was directed at the kind librarian anyway.

"I'm just struggling with something for work," Tsukishima admitted. "I keep feeling like I'm missing something."

"Oh, I hate that feeling," Yamaguchi said, scrunching up his nose in an expression that Tsukishima could only call "cute". "I get that feeling all the time!"

"Really," Tsukishima asked, somewhat surprised. From all of his experience with him, the librarian seemed highly intelligent and competent. He doubted that Yamaguchi ever missed much.

"Yes!" Yamaguchi answered vehemently. "I mean it's always little things that turn out not to be that important. But, I swear they bother me forever and I hate it!"

"How do you handle it," Tsukishima asked, gesturing for Yamaguchi to sit. At least, this conversation was proving to be more enjoyable than his previous distraction of banging his head on the table.

The man did sit, though he still looked somewhat nervous.

"Well," Yamaguchi started slowly, obviously thinking through his answer. "I guess...I guess I just try to see it from as many views as possible. Not just mine."

"What do you mean?"

Yamaguchi blushed. "Um, normally, I mean...I'm normally trying to figure out why someone said a certain thing or acted a certain way so...I'll try to look at their reasoning. You know, try to figure out what their priorities are." The blush deepened. "I'm pretty bad at it though."

Tsukishima doubted that, too.

"...if you say so," Tsukishima eventually said, voice portraying his doubt.

"No, I am," Yamaguchi assured. "Really, really bad at it. It's because my priorities are usually so different."

Definitely an interesting conversation.

"What are your priorities, then," Tsukishima asked.

"Oh, ah," Yamaguchi let out a nervous laugh. "I guess it's silly. I guess...it's just that I don't really care about what other people are doing….Oh, wait, no, that sounds wrong. I mean I care about the people, obviously. I just…" Yamaguchi frowned, struggling through his words. "I just don't really see a point in comparing myself to them. As long as I'm being the best I can be, I don't really care on if that's better than others." the librarian gave a soft smile. "Especially...especially if me being me can help someone else, you know?"

Tsukishima's heart thumped rather loudly and the Jack hoped the other man wouldn't be able to hear it.

Yamaguchi gave an expression more self abasement than nervousness. "But….but most people aren't like that, so I'm always really bad at predicting them. Most people care more about being the best, too."

"I never let anyone know what my priorities are," the Jack of Spades remarked dryly. "It's safer that way."

Tsukishima didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't for the librarian to let out a loud amused laugh.

Tsukishima gave Yamaguchi a confused expression.

"Sorry, sorry," the librarian said, still letting out a few giggles. "That was a joke, right?"

Tsukishima hadn't meant it to be but...

"...Yes."

Yamaguchi seemed to hear the lie. Now, it was the librarian who looked confused. "Well, it's just because you're the Jack of Spades...so I mean your priorities are obvious, right?"

Tsukishima was unclear on how being the country's foremost spymaster made him obvious.

"Obviously your priority is to protect Spades," Yamaguchi continued. "I mean anyone who didn't know that...well, not understanding that would just be silly."

In his line of work, Tsukishima was fairly sure that there was a number of informants who did not know that. In fact, the Jack used it to his advantage-keeping a bored expression so the informant would panic that their information wasn't good enough and add more without him even having to ask. Hiding his priorities was a basic job requirement.

But, the way Yamaguchi spelled it out...he supposed not being able to assume was...well, silly.

It was always amazing to Tsukishima how many insightful comments Yamaguchi brushed off as obvious assumptions.

"You're right," Tsukishima told him. "And...thank you. I think you just helped me with my problem."

And he had helped. Tsukishima could feel it. He just wasn't sure how yet.

Yamaguchi beamed. "Glad I could help, Tsuki."

ooooooo

Iwaizumi wasn't all that surprised to see Oikawa waiting for him outside of the training yard.

Maybe, he should have been considering he'd been trying to give the man a wide berth after their previous disastrous conversation in front of the library. But, after Yahaba's talk with him earlier about possibly relocating some of the knights to border towns-a conversation Iwaizumi was pleased that the Jack had discussed with much more confidence than he was used to-Iwaizumi had almost been expecting his reluctant King. Iwaizumi still insisted on calling him King, even if it was only in his thoughts.

"Come to make sure I haven't cut anyone's head off or thrown the kingdom into war," Iwaizumi asked sarcastically.

Oikawa tilted his head as if thinking about it.

"No," the man responded slowly. "It's only been a day since I last saw you and from everything I've seen, you can't work that quickly."

It was strange...Oikawa may have been an actual amusing conversation partner if the man wasn't such an asshole.

"Then, what do you want," the Ace asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you hated every second of my presence."

"Oh, I do. I definitely do, Iwa-chan" Oikawa reassured him pleasantly. "But, even I could use some exercise every now and then."

"Meaning," Iwaizumi prompted warily.

"Care for a spar," Oikawa smiled, all faux innocence.

Iwaizumi shrugged. Oikawa was obviously planning something but even tired from training the new knights, the Ace still thought he was match enough to handle one simple villager. No matter how much that villager may hate him.

"Excellent," Oikawa responded and for once, it sounded like he meant it. The man stepped from the carefully manicured lawn and onto the worn down dirt of the training circle.

"Want me to grab you a practice blade," Iwaizumi asked, motioning to where the dull blades were hung up to the side.

"No, thank you," Oikawa answered politely and if that wasn't enough for Iwaizumi to be suspicious, then his next sentence definitely was. "I'll just use my knife. I never quite go used to swords. Is that alright?"

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes, but nodded. He didn't think Oikawa was trying to kill him. Though granted, that was less because he thought Oikawa didn't want to and more because he just thought the man was smarter than that.

Either way, Oikawa definitely wouldn't try to kill him in a spar. Too straightforward.

Still, though…

"It's fine if I can still use my sword," Iwaizumi replied, gesturing to his actual sword rather than the practice blades.

Oikawa smiled. "Fine by me."

At Iwaizumi's answering nod, the two men readied themselves at either side of the circle.

"Ready," Iwaizumi asked.

Oikawa nodded, pulling his knife from where it was hidden in a sleeve and brandishing it with his left hand. Iwaizumi readjusted to prepare for an attack on the left side.

"Hey, Iwa-chan," Oikawa called and Iwaizumi realized that trying to distract him would be Oikawa's opening move. Fine then, Iwaizumi wasn't that easily distracted.

He was wrong.

"When were you planning on telling me that you'd already discussed the new tariffs with Nohebi?"

Iwaizumi tensed and in that same second, Oikawa struck.

Through years of practice, Iwaizumi easily deflected the knife coming at his unprotected ribs-though still at an angle that would be non-lethal.

He wasn't quick enough to stop the punch on the right, though.

Iwaizumi fell back, unbalanced.

Once he had realized what happened (which didn't take long) and that he really had heard Oikawa correctly (which took a second longer), he looked back up at the man. His cheek he could already feel healing from his extra healing ability-courtesy of being an Ace.

Oikawa was tilting his head, looking at him from above.

"Huh, you really do heal quickly," Oikawa commented absently, though not sounding that put out. "I had wondered if that was just a myth?"

He held out a hand to help Iwaizumi up.

Iwaizumi ignored it, focusing on the more important matter. "How did you find out?"

Oikawa snorted. "Did you really expect me to talk about it with Yahaba all morning and for it not to come up?"

Put like that, Iwaizumi supposed that was a bit short sighted. To be fair, he had other priorities when setting up that meeting. Mainly, avoiding Oikawa altogether.

"Are you still staying," Iwaizumi asked, looking at Oikawa's eyes to try to get a hint at the man's decision.

Oikawa's expressions stayed as frustratingly indecipherable as always.

"Of course, Iwa-chan," Oikawa responded lightly. "Unlike you, I actually keep my word and don't lie about things that are important."

Iwaizumi breathed out in relief.

"Now," Oikawa said, holding out his hand again. "Are you planning on sitting in the dirt all day?"

Iwaizumi glared but took the hand. As he got up, he noticed Oikawa's knife-which he now recognized as the other distraction it was-in his left hand.

"You're not even left handed, are you?" Iwaizumi accused.

Oikawa smiled. "Technically I've trained enough to be sufficient in both. But, no, I'm more right handed."

"If you already knew I was lying about the tariffs why did you punch me?"

"Well, there's never a bad reason to punch you."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

"Because, Iwa-chan," Oikawa said mock seriously. "Lying about my village was a really dickish thing to do. Much too dickish for our country's hero. You're not got at it. Gotta leave the really dickish stuff to me."

"You are a much bigger dick," Iwaizumi agreed.

And Oikawa smiled-a real one, Iwaizumi realized-with just the slightest mischievous edge. "Well, Iwa-chan…"

Iwaizumi quickly ran his words through his head and glared. "Shut up! You know what I meant!"

Oikawa laughed and Iwaizumi vaguely noted that his was the first time he'd ever heard it.

It was nice...you know, for an asshole.

"Want to go another round," Iwaizumi asked, gesturing to the sparring ring.

Oikawa sent him a dry look. "I'm not actually stupid enough to go against Hearts' best warrior without a plan up my sleeve."

"Is that your way of saying I'd kick your ass," Iwaizumi asked with a smile of his own.

Oikawa's smile quickly turned into a smirk, still keeping the mischievous edge.

"Bring it."

ooooooo

Hours later and a kingdom away, Hinata was in the middle of his own spar. Though, granted, his was less of a spar and more of a long winded practice that just happened to involve fighting.

Fights for assassins generally weren't known for their longevity.

Which is good because, given how distracted he'd been so far, Hinata was pretty sure Shimizu would have slaughtered him by now if this was a real fight. She was already doing a pretty close job already.

As soon as he thought it, he ducked under another high kick that would have at the very least knocked him unconscious if had connected-if not, given him a concussion.

"Wow, Shouyou, it's like you're not even trying," Noya yelled from the side as part of his ever running commentary.

And to be fair….Hinata wasn't.

Hinata was far too distracted to give it his best.

The only reason he was in the East Tower rather than back in Kageyama's room to guard him was that Yachi absolutely ordered him to take a break.

And so now all he could think about was Kageyama defenseless in his room...with an assassin having snuck through….and Asahi probably already dead from where he was guarding him...and the assassin getting closer...and…

Hinata had to slip to the side as Shimizu aimed a lightning fast punch to his ribs.

"Close one," Noya called.

Hinata fought back a sigh. But, Yachi had a point. And he had been there for almost twenty four straight hours (mostly as a servant but for a few hours guarding from the shadows the Ace). And he really should take a break because, as Suga had commented, it would be "strange" if a regular courier was spending literally every free second with the King. And, as Tsuki had added, "I know you're stupidly in love with him, but stalking's still creepy".

Hinata frowned. Yeah, this break was probably a good idea...Especially, after he almost slipped up and kissed Kageyama yesterday.

It was just he'd been so relieved to see that Kageyama was okay and normal. And when he hugged, him he had been so warm and Hinata could hear his heartbeat. And then, for a second, it had looked like Kageyama would've been alright if he kissed him. Like maybe he would have enjoyed it, too.

Anyway, Hinata had reined himself in at the last second so it was fine.

Shimizu's next kick caught him square in his sternum and not even his last second attempt to adjust for the impact could stop him from hitting the floor hard.

"Ow," Hinata groaned from the floor.

"Are you okay," Shimizu asked, leaning down and looking at him curiously. "I expected you to deflect that."

"I'm fine," Hinata reassured, rubbing at his chest where he was sure a bruise was blooming. "Just...just probably too distracted to keep sparring. Sorry, Shimizu!"

The quiet spy nodded.

"C'mon, Kiyoko," Noya called, stepping down from where he'd been sitting on a hay stack and into the open training space. "If our heroic Ace won't fight you. I'll step up for you."

Shimizu nodded again, smiling slightly.

Hinata got up and moved to where Noya had been sitting, watching closely.

"Ready, beautiful," Noya asked, grinning.

Shimizu got into a fighting stance, still smiling.

The spar began.

Watching them move-much faster than Hinata and Shimizu's spar had been and almost graceful enough to be a dance-Hinata wondered not for the first time what the relationship was between Spades' resident spies. All of them were pretty close lipped about it but there were sometimes, like this one, where Shimizu and Noya almost seemed like a couple? And then, other times, it was Asahi and Shimizu? And then some other times, Hinata could've sworn that Noya and Asahi had a thing…

Hinata shook his head. There were some mysteries even the Ace of Spades couldn't solve by spying. He guessed the important thing was that all three of them seemed happy.

"Hinata," a voice called from the side of the room.

Neither Noya or Shimizu so much as paused.

Hinata looked over to see Yachi and his heart lept to his throat.

"Yachi! What's wrong? Is Kageyama-"

"The King's fine," Yachi immediately reassured.

Hinata could breathe again. "Then, what's up?"

Yachi bit her lip. "The Queen and I talked about it and decided it would probably be fine if you go back to guarding since you're not getting any rest here….But only for a couple more hours. And then you have to promise you'll get some sleep and let one of the others take back over."

"I'll do it!" Noya volunteered, before pulling into a flip to avoid one of Shimizu's punches.

Hinata grinned happily. Two more hours! Suga had told him to take a break for at least the rest of the night.

"Thanks, Yachi!" Hinata said happily, reaching out to hug the shorter woman.

Yachi laughed, hugging him back. "But, sleep after. Promise?"

"Promise," Hinata agreed.

Yachi patted his back, looking fond. "Alright, go grab your uniform then."

Hinata pulled away, running off to grab a spare set he kept in the East Tower.

Two hours, Hinata reminded himself. And then maybe if Hinata could prove that he really had rested Suga and Yachi would let him go longer next time.

As long as the Ace of Spades was alive, nothing would happen to his King.