All in the Cards

by Killthespares

The Card Kingdoms Stand United. ...of course, this would be a lot easier if Hearts had their King. It's too bad that Oikawa Tooru emphatically does not want the job. Meanwhile, the threat of war looms on the horizon and Hinata Shouyou just uncovered a plot that could rock the entire kingdom to the core.

9. Chapter 9

17 Years Prior

The two boys followed their new teacher up the stairs.

"So these are the spies that have been filling in for the Ace," Tsuki asked.

"Not quite," Keishin admitted. "Right now, they'll need just as much training as you two."

"Why," Tsuki asked suspiciously.

Keishin just smiled and opened the door at the top of the stairs.

"WHOAH!" a voice yelled out. "ARE YOU THE ACE?!"

A short boy-probably not much older than Hinata or Tsuki and with brown spiky hair-ran out, almost colliding into Keishin before he caught himself.

Hinata found himself staring into bright brown eyes before the eyes flickered over to Tsuki.

The boy frowned. "Wait, why are there two of you?" He looked excitedly to Keishin. "Wait, are there two Aces!? That's awesome!"

Keishin rolled his eyes. "No, one as always. The other one's a Jack that's interested in becoming spy master. The orange one's the Ace."

The boy's eyes darted back to Hinata, scanning up and down before returning to his face. The boy grinned. "Hey, you're as short as me! That's so cool!"

Hinata matched his smile. "Yeah! And you're a kid just like us!" He looked at Keishin. "So, we're going to get to train together."

The other boy let out a whoop as Keishin nodded.

The boy grabbed Hinata's hand. "Come on! You got to meet the others."

Before he could respond, the boy dragged Hinata into the room where two others waited-a boy and a girl. "Hey, guys! It's the Ace."

"P-pleased to m-meet you, Mr. Ace, s-sir," stuttered a boy that was easily a foot taller than Hinata.

The first boy laughed. "Asahi, he's like our age. You don't have to call him 'sir'"

"I'm Hinata," Hinata greeted, waving with the hand that was still free from Noya's grasp. He pointed behind him. "And that's Tsuki!"

"Tsukishima," Tsuki corrected with a glare. "Stop introducing me like that."

Hinata ignored him. "He's going to be the Jack."

"I-I'm Asahi Azumane," the taller boy replied, smiling nervously. "It's, um, it's an honor."

"Yeah," Hinata agreed. "For us, too. I can't believe there's other kids our age that we can work with."

Asahi's smile looked a little less nervous.

The quiet girl in the corner finally gave a nod in greeting. "Shimizu Kiyoko. Pleased to meet you."

Hinata smiled, sticking out a hand because that's what Takeda told him to do when greeting people. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Noya," Hinata heard Asahi whisper to the first boy. "Did you tell them your name, yet?"

"Oh, right," the boy said, placing his hands on his hips and grinning. "I'm Nishinoya Yuu. But you can just call me Noya." the boy winked. "And if you two are the Ace and Jack, then I promise that you can always count on me!"

Hinata grinned brightly.

"Oh, great," Tsuki intoned flatly, looking between Hinata and Noya. "There's two of you."

Hinata stuck his tongue, making the spluttering noise that always made Tsuki's eye twitch.. Tsuki didn't know what he was talking about.

This was going to be awesome.

ooooooo

Hinata knew there was something wrong the moment Yachi stuck her head in to say, "Your Highness, we need Hinata in the kitchen."

Brow furrowing in apparent confusion, Kageyama paused mid-sentence before gesturing for Hinata to go.

Something was...something was very wrong.

There were three warnings signs.

The first, Hinata had only been guarding Kageyama for five hours-four as the Ace of Spades, hidden in the shadowed parts of the tower, and one as Hinata the servant. Yachi had promised him he'd get at least fifteen hours before she forced him to get a break.

The second, Hinata didn't often work in the kitchens. Sure, he'd help out a few times off and on-enough to be familiar with basic procedures and friendly enough with all the staff. But, Hinata would never be one of the first to be called if the kitchen truly needed more servants. Especially, not when there was the King to guard.

The third and the biggest, the one that had really tipped Hinata off, Yachi looked looked like she'd been crying. And Yachi didn't cry over much anymore, not since she'd gotten a handle on her anxiety years ago and took over as assistant to the Jack of Spades. Not unless, something really, really bad happened.

All of this meant that the moment Hinata got out the door, he turned and said, "Yachi, what happened?"

Yachi shook her head, face grim. "Not here. Follow me."

Hinata did and she led them straight down the stairs and in the direction of the east wing of the palace-directly to the East Tower. Once, inside and past the dilapidated interior, Hinata saw his fourth sign: Tsuki was waiting for him.

"Did you tell him," Tsuki demanded briskly.

"Not yet, I figured you'd have more details," Yachi answered.

Tsuki nodded. "Go up and check on the situation. I'll fill him in."

Yachi nodded and ascended the stairs that Hinata knew led to Asahi's workshop-and the infirmary. Hinata was really worried now.

"Tsuki," the Ace began cautiously. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Tsuki sighed and Hinata's attention was drawn to the tension in his jaw. Tsuki was...upset, tense.

"Noya was stabbed early this morning and left for dead," Tsuki said before Hinata could comment.

Hinata's stomach dropped. "WHAT?! Is he okay? Is he…"

The bile in the back of his throat prevented Hinata from being able to finish.

"He's still alive," Tsuki answered quickly before hesitating. "He's...he's barely alive. Asahi says," the Jack swallowed, "Asahi says it's a miracle that he is still alive."

"What happened," Hinata asked again.

"Asahi was worried that he hadn't returned yet so went to go check on him," Tsuki explained, voice swapping to the business tone he used to impart mission details. "He found Noya on the roof across from the building he was set to monitor. He'd been stabbed, was unconscious, and was rapidly losing blood. If," the concern in Tsuki's voice leaked through into the matter of fact tone. "If it had been a few minutes longer or if he had been found by anyone without the same medical knowledge as Asahi, he wouldn't have made it." Tsuki paused again, taking a breath. "Anyway, Asahi applied immediate medical treatment along with a minor toxin he created that slows blood circulation. After that, he was able to rush him back to the palace and contact Suga to use his magic for healing, which is what they're doing right now."

Hinata breathed, heartbeat fighting to steady. "I thought it was a simple mission?"

Something dark flashed in Tsuki's eyes. "Yes. It was...or it should have been. Based on the time that Asahi found him and his estimate on how long he'd been there, I'd assume Noya's targets never showed."

Hinata zeroed in on that, trying to reach whatever conclusion Tsuki had made.

"...you think it was a set up," Hinata questioned.

Tsuki nodded. "Shimizu's tracking down the informant who gave the information currently."

That made sense. Shimizu was...Shimizu didn't handle it well when she was waiting for news on people she cared about. Normally, the spy remained calm and unflappable to a degree that boggled Hinata's mind; but the few times one of the other spies had been injured, she almost couldn't stand still. Having a mission would be good for her….though very bad for whoever the target was.

"What would be the point of a set up," Hinata asked, looking back to the Jack.

Tsuki's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure yet….but, I have a few guesses."

He shook his head before Hinata could ask. "Let's go check on Noya."

Hinata frowned but nodded, following the Jack up the stairs to the infirmary. Getting to the top, Tsuki knocked on the door and was quickly received by Yachi slipping out and closing it behind her.

"Suga says he stabilized," Yachi told them, keeping her voice low.

"Good," Hinata answered, giving a small smile that Yachi returned with a slightly wary edge.

"He hasn't woken up at all," Yachi continued. "But neither Asahi or Suga are really expecting him to for at least the next few days."

"Any more news on what happened," Tsuki asked.

Yachi bit her lip, an old habit to hide anxiety. "Nothing really, Asahi said that it didn't look like he'd been moved but there wasn't any sign of whoever did it when Asahi got there-not that that was his main priority."

"Still," Tsuki said, a contemplative note in his voice. "It means whoever did it likely wasn't rushed to hide the evidence. Whoever it was wanted him to be found." Tsuki grimaced. "Though, they probably weren't expecting he'd still be alive."

"Can we see him," Hinata asked, interrupting before it got too morbid.

Yachi nodded. "Suga says it should be fine for a few minutes now that he's got him stable. I'm going to go wait to update Shimizu when she gets back."

"Tell her to report to me when she gets finished checking on Noya," Tsuki told his assistant.

"Will do," Yachi said, heading off for the stairs and the tower's main room.

As soon as she was gone Hinata reached for the door, sparing a glance to make sure Tsuki was ready, before opening it and allowing the two to slip inside.

The smell of blood was the first thing Hinata noticed. An overwhelming smell for the small room-cloying and thick. It made Hinata's heart skip a beat in his chest before he even saw Suga and Asahi's expressions. The two men were sitting over a prone figure on Asahi's small infirmary bed that Hinata couldn't see yet but assumed was Noya. Both of their faces were set into grim lines but with some light of relief shining through.

"He's stable," Suga told them.

Asahi let out a stuttered sigh at the words, looking back to the pallet. Followed by Tsuki, Hinata stepped forward until could see Noya laying on the bed. The spy looked pale and almost grey, cheeks sunken in slightly, but his face was smoothed out in sleep.

Hinata let out a breath, feeling something relax. Noya looked...well, bad, but not like he was in immediate danger of dying.

"Yachi told us," Tsuki explained. "Is it okay if we see him for a few minutes."

Suga nodded before looking at Asahi. The bigger man shrugged, expression shifting to something softer and fond. "Sure, although I expect he may be the quieter one for once."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Noya tensed in the bed, eyes flying open.

"Hinata," Noya shouted suddenly before his breath got stuck in his throat and he choked, tilting his head and almost twisting off the bed before Asahi stepped in to hold him back.

"NOYA," Asahi yelled urgently. "STAY STILL! YOU'LL PULL YOUR STITCHES!"

"Hinata," Noya coughed before he finally caught his breath, allowing Asahi to hold him back down on the bed while Suga frantically examined the stitches in his midsection.

"Noya," Hinata said, stepping forward and leaned in close until he was in the spy's view. "I'm here. What is it?"

Obviously still in a dazed delirious state, Noya's eyes swam around the room until they finally landed on Hinata. Landing on Hinata, the eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

Oh, Hinata realized. Not calling me. Saying something about me.

"Shouyou," Noya breathed, focusing briefly. "The guy...the guy thought I was you...he said...he was killing the Ace."

In the corner of his vision, Hinata saw Tsuki stiffen from where he had leaned in beside him but Hinata was more focused on the injured spy.

"You...you were almost killed because of me," Hinata asked softly, voice barely strong enough to be heard by Noya in his disoriented state.

Noya opened his mouth again and seemed to frown before his eyes rolled back and the spy fell back onto the pallet-unconscious. Asahi briefly spared a look before calling out to Suga that the drugs had taken full effect. Suga nodded, finishing his check on the stitches and waving a hand to redo the bandaging.

"Honestly," Suga sighed. "We gave him enough to knock out two full grown men."

Asahi laughed weakly. "That's Noya." He turned to Hinata and Tsuki. "What did he say? I was busy making sure he didn't flip off his own hospital bed."

"He said," Hinata swallowed hard. "He said that the guy who stabbed him thought he was the Ace.

Hinata just had time to see Suga's eyes widened and Asahi take in a sharp breath before Tsuki interrupted with a clipped, "We need to go. Now."

With that, Tsuki grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled him urgently to the door and out the room.

"Tsuki!" Hinata yelped as the Jack continued to stride forward to the stairs-still pulling on Hinata. "What are you doing?"

"I figured it out," Tsuki told him, a serious intensity taking over his face before he frowned. "At least, I think I did."

"You figured out who stabbed Noya," Hinata gasped, hurrying to keep pace. "How?"

Tsuki shook his head. "No, but I believe I know who hired them. More importantly, I think I figured to the Hyakuzawan's plan?"

"Then, where are we going," Hinata asked.

"My office. I think I figured it out," Tsuki repeated. "But I need to talk it through with. You're my best option."

The last bit he finished with a slight disdainful tone and if the situation was different, Hinata would have rolled his eyes. When he was putting the pieces together, Tsuki always preferred talking things out with Hinata-not that the Jack would ever admit it.

As soon as the two made it to the office, Tsuki immediately closed and locked the door behind him. He looked back to Hinata, expression turning considering.

Hinata's eyes flickered to the floor.

"You're feeling guilty, aren't you," Tsuki said, somehow making it sound like an accusation.

Hinata's face contorted in what was half a sigh and half a grimace. "Of course, I am. Noya just almost got killed because they thought he was me."

"All the spies have been injured on missions before," Tsuki put in, voice calm but not cold.

"On missions," Hinata emphasized. "Because of the missions. Not just because someone wanted to kill the Ace."

"It's not like this was your fault," Tsuki reminded, raising an eyebrow.

Hinata hesitated. "No, but it was still because of me… He almost died, just because I didn't take a mission."

"Stop that," Tsuki cut him off, glaring.

Hinata winced. "But-"

"Yes," Tsuki said, voice firm. "Noya nearly died from a mission. Yes, it was because people were after the Ace of Spades. But, that doesn't make it your fault and worrying about him doesn't help." Tsuki shook his head, frustrated. "It's his job, Hinata. And one he does for Spades, not just you. So stop belittling his choices by feeling guilty and sit down and help me figure this out."

A beat passed.

Hinata nodded, sitting down.

"Okay," Hinata said, straightening to attention and giving Tsuki his full focus. "What's up?"

"It's the priorities, I got the priorities wrong," Tsuki huffed, walking around the desk to pace like he always did when he was really trying to figure something out. "I overvalued ourselves. Or maybe undervalued?...Anyway, I misunderstood what type of person the king was. What type of King he'd have to be to raise to the top among twelve other siblings."

"Tsuki, what are you talking about," Hinata interrupted.

Tsuki waved a hand quickly, focusing on Hinata. "I'm saying this wrong….Hinata, why didn't we just go kill the King of Hyakauzawa? Immediately, when we found out about the marks?"

Hinata stared at him like he was crazy. "Because it would start a war!"

"Exactly," Tsuki shouted, snapping his fingers. "And war would be bad."

"Umm, yeah," Hinata said slowly. "Bit of an understatement. But, sure."

"But, what if it wasn't bad," Tsuki demanded.

"What if war wasn't...bad," Hinata asked before shaking his head. "No, sorry, you lost me again."

"That's it, though," Tsuki said, light flashing in his eyes. "That's what different. That's why I didn't get it."

Hinata continued to stare at him.

Tsuki ignored him, walking to a shelf and quickly pulling out a rolled parchment and opened it over the desk to reveal a map of Cards and the surrounding kingdom-Diamonds to the north and bordering Hyakuzawa, Clubs to the west, Hearts to the east, and Spades to the South and bordering Nohebi.

"Okay, so let's say war isn't bad," Tsuki said and Hinata stood to stare over the map with him. "How would you start one?"

"You want to start a war?," Hinata asked, eyes wide.

Tsuki nodded sharply. "Hypothetically, yes. So, humor me."

Hinata frowned, thinking back to his history lessons from Takeda and Keishin. "Weaken the opponent's defenses, block their offense, and create instability. Right?"

Tsuki smiled though it didn't hold any humor. "That's what there doing. Hyakuzawa's starting a war."

Hinata's head snapped to the Jack.

"Why?" he breathed, horrified. "Why do you think that?"

"Weaken the defenses," Tsuki pointed to Diamonds on the map. "Cards biggest defense is the Diamond mountains, only way an army could get through is straight through Diamond's capital."

"Which they stole the defense plans for," Hinata broke in.

Tsuki nodded, moving his finger to Hearts. "Block their offense. Of all the Suits, Hearts is the only one with enough knights to make a military. Have a new King of Hearts to delay or stop them coming to our aid and Card's offense falls drastically."

"Hearts would still come to our aid," Hinata insisted. "Iwaizumi, Yahaba, and Mad Dog wouldn't let them not. New King or not."

Tsuki shrugged. "Then, it goes to the next point. Create instability. Hearts is still recovering from a Civil War. Infighting between their Suit could tip their balance. At the very least, it would delay aid." Tsuki moved on to Spades. "Also, with creating instability, taking out Spades' King." the Jack frowned. "I was stupid. I kept thinking about the King as Kageyama that I missed what was obvious." Tsuki looked back up. "Of all the Card monarchs, Kageyama isolates himself the most. He's the easiest target."

"Shit," Hinata swore, seeing where Tsuki was going. "Take out Spades monarch and we have one kingdom without a monarch for at least a few years, one kingdom with compromised defense, and our military under a divided Suit."

Tsuki sighed. "Which leads us to the last tell. An attack against the Ace of Spades."

Hinata tilted his head, confused. "Wait? Which point does that fall under?"

"All of them," Tsuki said flatly. "In a war, having a trained spy and assassin would be invaluable. Not to mention, you're the biggest unknown in all of the Cards' Suits. Take out the Ace of Spades; you hurt Cards' ability to form an offense through direct assassinations of the opposition, damage our defense by hurting a major link for information gathering, and make a blow against the entire kingdom's morale. Hyakuzawa's not making a move that might cause a war. They're making moves to win one."

Silence followed Tsuki's statement as the Jack and Ace stared at each other.

"Tsuki," Hinata said, finally breaking it. "What are we going to do?"

The Jack of Spades looked down, back at the map. "I'm not sure."

Tsuki breathed out, shifting his gaze to Hinata.

"And if we don't figure it out, the entire Card Kingdom will fall."

ooooooo

In a move more to prevent going stir crazy, Oikawa had decided to venture outside of the palace and into the capital. This time avoiding abandoned streets that bandits hung out in, thank you very much.

Currently, he found himself in the middle of a bustling market and Oikawa was entranced. Everywhere he went there was noise and laughter and arguing and people hurrying this way and that. There was obviously an established familiarity between the people-familiar greetings exchanged, children running underfoot. He'd never seen this much stuff being sold, this many people out and busy.

It was amazing and Oikawa was struck once again by a deep fondness for his kingdom. Oikawa resolved that he would have to go into the city some more before his month ran out and he returned to his small village.

Beside, the market gave Oikawa something to do except worry. Did worrying count as something to do? If so, it was kind of a shitty pastime.

This morning, right after Oikawa had met Iwaizumi for their usual tradition of breakfast and arguing, Mad Dog had coming knocking at the Ace's office. Oikawa had really only gotten a glance at the Mage but he had seemed...tense. Even for Mad Dog which couldn't be healthy.

Anyway, apparently the Jack of Spades had called an immediate meeting for all the Cards Suits so Yahaba, Iwaizumi, and Mad Dog would be busy with that for the foreseeable future. Oikawa didn't exactly know how they were planning on doing that considering that the different Suit were separated by literally entire kingdoms, but Oikawa had kind of shrugged it off to magic.

The thing that had Oikawa more worried was the reason for the meeting. Mainly, the fact that Oikawa didn't know the reason and couldn't figure out what it was. He supposed he could just ask Iwaizumi or even Yahaba, but Oikawa kind of doubt it, they'd tell him. I mean sure, the Ace was trying to get him to become King of Hearts but the fact remained that Oikawa wasn't yet. And never would be, Oikawa mentally added. There had to be limits to what you told non-Suite members.

He assumed the meeting had something to do with the same thing he'd picked up on in his first meeting with Yahaba-the potential war or invasion that had the Jack initially hesitating on repositioning the knights. But even guessing about that-which he still wasn't entirely sure about or knew if this meeting was about-it still didn't tell Oikawa what he could be doing, how he could be helping, or preparing his village.

Oikawa had always felt like not having information was generally more frustrating than even having bad news. At least with one, you knew what you were up against.

He ran a hand threw his hair, restless. This was pointless. He couldn't properly worry about something he didn't know enough about and not knowing enough about it was what was making him worry. He needed something to do or he'd drive himself crazy before this month even ended.

Accidentally being reminded of his month, now entering its third week, brought up another one of Oikawa's...challenges.

Recently, Oikawa had been spending more and more of his free time talking with Iwaizumi. Something had...something was different between them ever since Oikawa had talked to Nana in the kitchen and Oikawa still didn't quite know how to feel. He liked Iwaizumi as a person, he could admit that now. Talking to him was easy and...well, fun a lot of the time. Oikawa genuinely enjoyed his company and found himself looking for the Ace when he wasn't there. They still argued, they still insulted each other regularly but, now, their debates seemed more playful-still intensely discussed and still often heated but now the insults lacked their barbs turning them into more discussions than fighting.

The thing that still bothered Oikawa was he wasn't as sure of his opinion as Iwaizumi the Ace, leader of the country. He still disagreed with a lot of the policies, still thought the Ace leaned too cautious when the county needed progress. But...at the same time, he wasn't so sure this alone made Iwaizumi's leadership inherently flawed.

He was trying. That was what Nana had told him and...maybe if Oikawa didn't have his new friendship with the Ace as well, then that wouldn't be enough. But knowing Iwaizumi the man and seeing him in action made Oikawa's previous opinions sit uncomfortably in his mind. Not completely unfounded, but still an unfair judgement.

And if the Ace was a good leader, than what did it mean that he wanted Oikawa as King?

"Is the Young King off to see the Noble Ace?"

Oikawa just managed not to jump.

"Quit doing that," Oikawa hissed under his breath. "And make it so other people can see you or I am not doing this. I already have one village thinking I'm crazy, I'm not having the capital."

"I thought you preferred me to remain unseen," Ushijima frowned.

What Oikawa had actually said-now roughly eleven years ago-was "quit talking to me in public. People are beginning to wonder why a strange man is following me". What the Fate had done was make is so Oikawa instead appeared to talk to himself. Ushijima had a strange definition of helping.

"Just make yourself seen," Oikawa grumbled.

A pop echoed in Oikawa's ears and the crowd suddenly unconsciously moved to allow for one more person to stand in the space. No one seemed to at all notice that an over six foot man was now standing where once there was only air.

Oikawa sighed. Well, at least he wouldn't look crazy.

"What makes you think I'm going to see the Ace," Oikawa asked lazily, looking between the stalls as they passed. He had been about to head to the training grounds to see if Iwaizumi was out of the meeting...but it's not like he was going to admit that to Ushijima.

"It was a conjecture based on the inordinate amount of time you spend with the Nobel Ace," Ushijima told him as stiff and formal as ever. "Especially around the time he normally gets done training the knights. I assumed it was because of your appreciation of the Nobel Ace's physique."

Oikawa choked on his spit.

He turned to the Fate with an expression that bordered on horror. "What?! No! What are you even talking about?"

Ushijima blinked, tilting his head. "I merely suggest that your interest in the Ace was not merely of an intellectual or politically beneficial nature."

Oikawa was fairly sure he was turning the color of a tomato and hoped a stray vegetable vender wouldn't mistake him for their wares.

"Um, what makes you say that?" Oikawa asked, desperately trying for accusatory rather than defensive. "Also, how do you even know about that stuff! You're a personification of Fate, you're not even fully human!"

"I have been in this form for close to a thousand years, Young King," Ushijima commented reasonably, "Though, I will admit. I would not have put it together without overhearing you talk in your sleep."

"WHAT?!" Oikawa yelled, earning the looks of a view passersby. He hastily pulled the Fate to an abandoned alley off the corner of the market.

"What were you doing listening to me while I sleep," Oikawa whispered furiously. And that was a much much better question than what exactly the Fate had overheard. Oikawa desperately tried to not think about one particular dream he'd had a few nights ago.

"It is my duty to watch over you," Ushijima said, sounding perplexed at Oikawa's behavior. "Do not fear though. I did take my leave when your talk got too...specific."

This was it. Oikawa was dead. Ushijima would have to find another would-be King to annoy because there was absolutely no way that Oikawa was alive after this level of mortification.

"Young King?"

"Go away. I'm dead," remarked Oikawa blandly.

The Fate continued to look at him in confusion. "I am unsure the reason for your distress. My fellow Fate, Chaos, has assured me multiple times that it is a completely normal human experience to-"

"Please," Oikawa interrupted. "Please, I'm literally begging you to stop talking."

Even his grandmother giving him The Talk when he was a kid was less embarrassing than this.

"As you wish, Young King."

Oikawa glared. "Admit it, you only started all of this 'Young King' and 'Nobel Ace' stuff cause you couldn't be bothered to remember our names, didn't you?"

There was a pause. A long enough one that Oikawa actually became a bit concerned.

He looked up at Ushijima and for the first time Oikawa could remember, the Fate looked...sad or at least slightly wistful.

"Your lives go by so fast," Ushijima finally said, voice carefully blank. "I'll admit it gets hard to keep track."

And that was...well, that was just weird so Oikawa quickly changed the topic before he ended up actually comforting the personification of Order.

"So, I met the rest of the Hearts Suit by the way," Oikawa commented, swapping to Ushijima's favorite topic.

"Oh," the Fate immediately brightened. "And have they finally convinced you of your destiny."

"Nope," Oikawa rolled his eyes. "But, they are kind of cool. I like them."

Ushijima nodded. "Of course, only the best in mind, spirit, and heart are chose to lead the Card Kingdoms."

Oikawa laughed, somewhat bitterly. "I wonder what that says about me?"

Ushijima looked at Oikawa curiously. "...I don't understand your question. Are you implying that-"

"Anyway," Oikawa interrupted again, pushing off the wall. "I better get going if I want to catch Iwa-chan."

"Ahhh, yes," Ushijima nodded. "Using a 'chan' suffix as a symbol of endearment. Yet another sign of human courtship."

Oikawa squinted at the sky, wondering how long he'd been gone. "I actually use it to annoy him."

"So," the Fate asked hesitantly. "You are bad at courtship, then?"

"It's not-gah, nevermind," Oikawa huffed, heading back into the market. "The point is you've done your check, I'm still at the palace, I still don't want to be King. You're good to go off and do whatever it is Fates do in their free time."

Before Oikawa could even finish the last word, Ushijima had disappeared in front of his eyes.

"Not even a proper 'bye'" Oikawa muttered, weaving through the crowd.

Telling himself that this was his plan anyway and that he was not proving Ushijima right by doing this, Oikawa continued on from the market and to the training grounds.

Where he found that Iwaizumi was indeed out of the meeting and in the middle of training the new knights-a smile on his face and muscles stretching in his back and arms. Oikawa admitted silently that the Fate might've had something resembling a point in why he tended to visit Iwaizumi at exactly this time.

Settling down for the next hour, Oikawa waited by the palace wall until Iwaizumi was done with training for the day. Watching him with the other knights, Oikawa thought to himself that Iwaizumi was kind of good at this. Okay, he was really good at this. He was a good fighter-obviously, you didn't get to be an Ace without that. But, what more impressed Oikawa was how good he was at teaching it to others. He was patient though firm-demanding the best while still taking the time to explain and help when the knights had trouble. And it was clear through watching that all of the knights clearly respected their Ace with an admiration that sometimes skipped too close to hero worship.

After finishing for the day and staying a bit after to answer some question a few of the knights had, Iwaizumi made his way over to where Oikawa had been sitting.

"Hey," the Ace greeted with a easiness almost friendliness that had defined most of their conversations of late. "What's up? Hoping for another spar?"

Oikawa sent him a flat look, but he was pretty sure the smile ruined it. "Not until the latest bruises heal, thanks. Just making sure the Ace was keeping up with his duties. Hearts is known for their knights, had to see if they were worth the reputation."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "And are they?"

Oikawa stretched, getting up. "Well, maybe not all parts of your legendary Ace reputation are exaggerated."

"High praise," Iwaizumi answered sarcastically.

Oikawa patted the Ace's shoulder condescendingly. "Don't let it go to your head, Iwa-chan."

"Oh, I'll try," Iwaizumi told him, he looked over the field which was just turning slightly orange as the sun began to set. Oikawa took that moment to examine him, watching the darkness around his eyes and the tension that still showed in his neck and jaw even after an hour of sparring. He almost asked about the meeting but Iwaizumi spoke first.

"Hey, you want to see something cool?"

"You have another library," Oikawa asked, only half joking.
Iwaizumi snorted. "Trust me if that was true. I would have told you about it ages ago. With two libraries, I don't think you'd ever leave the palace. No, this place is different. You'll like it."

Oikawa tilted his head curiously. "Then, lead the way, oh Great Ace."

Oikawa followed as Iwaizumi led them back inside the palace, finding some stairs off the side of a hall, and then up and on another hall.

"Is this place close or are you just showing me that the palace is secretly a maze," Oikawa asked after about fifteen minutes.

Iwaizumi shook his head. "You have no patience."

"I'm beginning to think you have no sense of direction," Oikawa retorted. "Isn't that the same painting we walked passed like five minutes ago."

"No," Iwaizumi answered. "It's just part of a set. One of Hearts' Jacks had a fondness for Nohebi oil paintings."

"It's hideous," Oikawa commented.

Iwaizumi laughed but didn't disagree.

After another few minutes, Iwaizumi finally stopped at a worn down wooden door, hidden behind a curtain.

"Is it a secret room," Oikawa asked, not quite keeping the excitement out of his voice.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes again. "Just wait."

Pulling a key off of his belt, Iwaizumi unlocked the old looking padlock and pushed the door open to reveal-

More stairs.

"Iwa-chan," Oikawa joked lightly. "I swear if this is just you dragging me on your cool down after training, then we could have just stayed in the training yard."

Iwaizumi ignored him-which was probably fair-and started up the stairs, gesturing for Oikawa to follow.

Oikawa did and watched as Iwaizumi reached the top of the stairs and pushed open part of the roof, pulling himself through the opening. Oikawa pulled himself up after, finally looking around to see what was so important.

"Wow," Oikawa breathed.

"Told you," Iwaizumi responded smugly, gesturing around from the roof of Hearts' tallest tower.

It was beautiful. This high up, Oikawa could even see past the bustling city of Hearts capital and onto the green of the hills that rose above. Everything was lit by a warm orange glow of the setting sun, reflecting off the city and casting light back outwards. It felt alive-all of Hearts-alive and shining in a way that was so beautifully organic yet eternal. Oikawa felt like he couldn't breathe.

Iwaizumi laughed lightly, coming to stand beside him. "Yeah, I felt the same way when I first saw this place. You should see at night when the stars are shining and the lights of the city start to die down. It's...beautiful."

"If you like stars, you should see my village," Oikawa commented absently. "There's less lights from the town there, so you can see the stars. Millions of them. When I was a kid, my grandmother and I used to lay out on the grass and she'd name them for me."

"That sounds nice," Iwaizumi said and Oikawa finally tore his eyes away from the view to look at the Ace. He was smiling, the gold of the sun reflecting off his tan and giving him a warm light.

"It was," Oikawa told him. "Beautiful."

Iwaizumi nodded and made to sit on the roof. Oikawa joined him.

"You know," Iwaizumi began, half jokingly and half completely serious. "If you like this view so much, you can always just stay here."

Oikawa hesitated, reminded of something he'd been desperately wanting to ask the Ace almost the entire time he'd been at the palace.

"Why do you want me to be King?"

Iwaizumi glanced over at him, frowning slightly. "What do you mean? You are King."

"No, I'm not," Oikawa shook his head, only partly on impulse. "All I have is a silly little mark on my hand. That just says I could be King. Why do you want me to be?"

"It's your destiny," Iwaizumi reminded.

"Destiny's a shitty reason," Oikawa answered frankly. "Destiny doesn't make anything, it just tries to annoy us into what it wants us to do. People make Kings. What type of person someone is determines the King. Why do you want me as King?"

"You'll be good for Hearts," Iwaizumi told him but Oikawa wasn't convinced.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I should be King. You're the Ace of Hearts. You've been leading this country for twelve years. You have to know it's more than Fates and destiny that rule a kingdom. For that matter, the King is supposed to be the leader not just of the kingdom but of their Suit. What makes you want to be led by me?"

Iwaizumi paused, finally thinking about his answer.

"...you get along well with Yahaba and Mad Dog," Iwaizumi responded eventually. "Your ideas about tariffs and budget reallocations were good."

Oikawa smiled, somewhat sadly. "Friendship and having a couple ideas about finances aren't enough, Iwa-chan." Oikawa decided to take some amount of pity on the Ace. "Here, I'll tell you what. If you can tell me a good enough reason on why you want me as your King, then I promise you that I'll actually consider it."

Iwaizumi immediately opened his mouth but Oikawa shook his head. "No, don't tell me anything right now. I won't believe anything you say if you're just saying it to make me stay and you won't think of anything good if that's your only reason. Think about it first, really think about it this time."

Not waiting for an agreement, Oikawa turned back to the sky to see that the sun had almost fully set.

"What about you?"

"Hmm," Oikawa questioned, not bothering to turn back..

"What makes you think you shouldn't be King," Iwaizumi asked.

Now, Oikawa did glance back, only to find the Ace was staring at him with a determined expression that reminded him of a knight in a duel he was determined not to lose.

Oikawa sighed. "It's...it's not right for me. Being the King."

Iwaizumi frowned, surprise flickering across his face like embers across a night sky. "Do you think you wouldn't be able to lead?"

Oikawa shook his head. "No, it's not that. Not exactly. I have lead people."

"When," Iwaizumi broke in.

Oikawa waved his hand absently. "During the Civil War. My village is on the border. When the knights got pulled back to the capital, pirates from Futakuchi started attacking the village. It was right around when Futakuchi just put up the wall so they were strapped for resources and desperate enough not to care if it was just some small village."

"What did you do?" the Ace prompted.

"Anything," Oikawa answered flatly. "Everything. It was at the start of the war so I was-I don't know-thirteen? Fourteen, maybe? The knights had been training some of the teenagers in the village to fight. Nothing major just enough for when we had to travel on the roads. I...I was good at figuring out strategy and...and everyone was so desperate so...so I ended up in charge of our defenses. And...anyway, we survived. We won enough and the Civil War finally ended so the pirates moved on. Maybe to Nohebi? I'm not sure."

"You led your entire village's defense," Iwaizumi demanded, "That's...impressive."

"No, it's not," Oikawa contradicted immediately. "It's desperation and wild hope at it's finest. They needed a leader and I was the only available option."

"Still, though," Iwaizumi said, pressing what he obviously believed was an advantage when Oikawa knew it was anything but. "You have experience with leadership, you have to be fairly good at it if your village wasn't destroyed. Why don't you won't to be King? Hearts could use you."

Oikawa clenched his teeth. "No. You're not listening. You're not getting it. I have been a leader before. I know what it's like. What it takes. Hearts needs…" Oikawa shook his head, rolling to his feet and staring down at the Ace with every inch of conviction he had. "Listen. I love Hearts. I love it. And I would give everything to it. I'd give my heart, my mind, my bones, my very soul. I'd give every second of my life to it and then try to find more time. But that's not enough to make me a good King.

"Then what does it make you," Iwaizumi questioned.

"Myself," Oikawa finally snapped. "You know me. I'm not nice. I'm not patient. I'm definitely not nice or patient enough for the kind of diplomacy needed as King." Oikawa took a deep breath. "I don't...I don't care what Fates say. I don't care about destiny. I know myself better than they do. And if...if Heats needs me, then it sure isn't as a King. If Hearts needs a King? Someone to sit in a stuffy seat and hold their tongue through meetings? Someone to rule? Then, no, that's not me and it never will be me. And that's not going to change. Mark or no Mark."

Breathing heavily, Oikawa twisted his head to look up to the sky before he could so much as register Iwaizumi's reaction.

The sun had fully set and the night was lit by stars-maybe not as many as in his village but still…

"You were right," Oikawa commented lightly. "The sky really is beautiful from here...I think though...I think I better go back inside."

Without looking back, Oikawa walked back to the roof latch that was still swung open. Before dropping down, he took one final look at the Ace.

Iwaizumi wasn't looking at him, face still tilted silently at the sky.

Oikawa smiled and pretended his chest didn't ache.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Iwa-chan. Good night."

ooooooo

"Back again," a voice called out and Suga looked up from his usual bench in the garden.

The Queen smiled upon seeing the Captain-but even Suga himself could tell the smile looked tense and wane.

Daichi declined from commenting. "You know I think flower viewing tends to be best when you can actually see them."

Suga let out a surprised laugh, looking up to the moon. "I always thought it was kind of beautiful to see how they look under a full moon."

Daichi smiled softly. "So, that's why you're out here so late? Simply for the view?"

Suga looked down ruefully. So, not declining from comment just leading into it.

"It's been...a rather busy day," Suga admitted, forcing himself not to think of being woken up to see the bloody body of a friend, not to think of the dozens of moments where he didn't think his magic would be enough to save him, not to think of the near assassinations of two members of his Suit, not to think of the upcoming war.

He apparently wasn't doing a very good job as when he next looked up the Captain was frowning. "If you'd like to be left alone, My Queen…"

Without thought, Suga's hand shot out and grasped Daichi's wrist, keeping him from getting up.

The two men paused before Suga blushed, looking back down. "Stay please. My thoughts are the kind that prefer company."

Daichi nodded, sitting back down and Suga let go of his wrist and hoped Daichi would ignore the hesitation he had in letting go.

"Would you like to talk about it," Daichi asked gently. "As much as you can I mean."

Suga shook his head, directing his gaze to the flowers. "No, I just didn't want to be alone."

And he should have left it at that. Left it innocent. But, Suga was so tired and had come far too close lately to losing the people he cared about. The point was he should not have finished with, "And I prefer your company more than anyone's."

But he did.

Suga's head shot up immediately, nearly biting his tongue to keep in words already spoken. He turned to see Daichi's face was filled with a kind of bewilderment that was slowly edging toward tentative hope.

"I'm sorry," Suga said quickly. "I overstepped. I shouldn't have said that."

Daichi nodded, almost absently with the hope slowly edging into his eyes. "Did you mean it?"

Suga hesitated. "I shouldn't have said it regardless."

And Daichi laughed, a bit wildly and short. "If you meant it, then you have every right to say it."

"Every right doesn't make the act itself right," Suga responded and that caused Daichi to pause.

The Captain looked up, meeting Suga's eyes and holding the gaze for what felt like an eternity.

"Suga...Koushi, you have to know, right," Daichi whispered. "You have to know how I feel about you."

Suga swallowed. "I know...I know you...are fond of me."

"I'm in love with you, Koushi," Daichi corrected bluntly. "Don't mince words or try to downplay my feelings by calling it 'fondness'"

Suga's breath caught. "I wasn't trying to downplay your feelings. I was trying to protect them."

"From the truth," Daichi asked.

"Yes," Suga said sharply, heart beating loudly. "Because the truth is that it can never go anywhere and you need. You deserve to find someone else."

"There is no one else," Daichi told him, eyes burning into Suga's.

"Then, find someone," Suga said and somehow he'd even convinced his voice not to waver. "It can never work. I'm over a hundred years older than you."

Daichi shook his head. "No, you've just been my age for over a hundred years. You and I both know there's a difference there, even if it's not easy to define. And, more importantly, I'm adult who can make his own decisions on who's too old."

Suga sighed. "You're an adult who deserves someone who can devote themselves to you. Spades will always be my priority."

"And mine as well," Daichi countered easily. "If you ever said anything different than you wouldn't be the one I love."

"Daichi," Suga said, heart in his throat. "You can't love me. I'm not the one for you."

Daichi smiled, somewhat sadly. "I think it's somewhat late for that." he cleared his throat. "The question is do you love me?"

And Suga...Suga gave the only I answer he could. The only one that could be true while still dissuading Daichi from continuing.

"I can't."

Because 'I don't' would always be a lie.

Daichi jerked his head down, breaking Suga's gaze but not before the Queen saw his face fall.

A silence fell-too heavy and uncomfortable for the peaceful garden.

Finally Daichi let out a laugh that only sounded a bit forced. "Can't blame me for trying, I guess."

The Knight's Captain looked up and immediately his face contorted into a desperate expression that nearly broke Suga's heart.

"Don't cry, my Queen," he told him with a hint of desperation, reaching out a hand before abruptly stopping it. "The last thing I wanted to do was to make you unhappy."

It was only then that Suga noted the tears rolling slowly down his face. He scrubbed his face roughly on the side of his cloak.

Daichi was still staring at him with that same heartbreaking expression. Suga's nails bit into his hand, restraining a wish to smooth out the frown.

"I apologize," Daichi said softly, eyes once again meeting Suga's. "You came out here to get away from your thoughts and here I am just giving you more to think about."

"Please, don't apologize," Suga whispered fiercely. "Please, don't."

Daichi bowed his head, either in a gesture of respect or to hide his face Suga couldn't tell. He thought it perhaps might be both.

"I know you wished for company but I'm afraid I might not be the best choice at the moment, My Queen," the Captain commented ruefully. "I'll take my leave but only with your blessing."

And that...that was why Suga would never be able to say he didn't love Daichi. Because even when the Captain's heart was so obviously breaking, he'd put something silly like Suga's wish not to be alone above his own needs.

"I wish you a good night, Captain," Suga returned, voice proper to hide the emotions he could quite stip bare.

Daichi nodded, standing. "And I you."

And then he was gone, leaving Suga with the underlying smell of roses that hadn't grown in this garden for years.