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Seated around the long table were men dressed in silk and jewels of varying colours. They each had different personalities, but the royal air that they carried themselves with could easily be discerned even without a trained eye. The conference hall that the princes converged in had an atmosphere of nature and greens, decked in solid wood of various shades of brown, turquoise cloths and potted plants. The white curtains were drawn, allowing the spring sun to stream into the room through the tall windows. A crow then perched on the sill and stared into the room before unfurling its inky wings and flying towards a prince, whose stature was smaller than the rest but whose hazel eyes shone so bright with a gleam of intelligence.
“Another one? Suga, you gotta stop attracting the birds,” a playful voice called out. “Daichi’s gonna get jealous.”
“Who said I wasn’t?” Sawamura Daichi, the first prince to the kingdom of Karasuno gently smiled and leaned back into his chair. “At least I have it better because I can be in here, unlike your knight, Oikawa.”
Yet, even though Daichi said that and played it off in a tease, he had wished, wished so badly that he was not a prince. Because being a prince meant that he was never fated to be a knight.
Oikawa Tooru scoffed and latched onto the slender arm of the prince sitting next to him, pleading with his eyes and crying in a sulk, “Suga... I’m getting bullied!”
Sugawara Koushi was the second prince of the Karasuno Kingdom and though they were both titled princes, both he and Daichi came from different royal parents and were not directly related to the current king. They do, however, serve King Takeda as a fellow royal and subject of the kingdom. Koushi scratched the chin of the small sparrow perched on his shoulder while feeling the newly-arrived crow latch onto his other shoulder. A flock of sparrows were already surrounding him; a dove happily cuddled in his lap and a magpie in his hair.
“Daichi wouldn’t say that if he didn’t like you in the first place,” Koushi grinned at his best friend before glancing at Daichi with a wink. “He’s just jealous because Iwaizumi can be by your side 24/7 as your sworn knight.”
Red splashed across Oikawa’s cheeks and—unbefitting of his title as Aoba Johsai’s crown prince—he dropped his head and pressed his cheek against the white birch table. With a pout on his lips, he whined, “Not always! Like even now, in this meeting, he can’t enter.”
“He’s guarding the door, is he not?” Koushi patted Oikawa’s hand on his arm comfortingly. “Go ask him out on a date or something after this. We’re almost done, anyway.”
“What date!” Oikawa shot up in a fluster, the blush on his cheeks spreading across his face and down to his ears. “He—He just won’t leave me alone!”
“I’m sorry to interrupt your date, but I found something.” Daichi spoke up in that moment, passing the papers in his hands over to the duo. “The nobleman here, he’s in control of the lands out in the east, isn’t he? The one where most of the aristocrats are staying.”
Oikawa straightened himself and steeled his expression. Gone was the playful puppy from before and now, he sat with dignity and resumed his character as a royal. “That Duke is from the King faction. Has he defected to the Aristocrats faction?”
“It would seem like it. Our men caught sightings of him visiting the daughter of an aristocrat and though there’s been rumours of their engagement, we believe it is more of a cover up because the daughter’s father is the leader of the opposing faction.” Daichi pushed a few papers aside and pointed at a photo in black and white. Two men were huddled together in the corner of a shop, their faces as clear as day, and a book was being passed from the young man to the wrinkled elderly.
“Ho...is that the bait? Did he actually take it?” Koushi asked.
“It would seem so.” Oikawa pulled the paper closer with a finger and laid his chin on his palm. “Heh...this is perfect. Delivering such lavish gifts onto my doorstep. This will make everything much easier.”
The room fell into silence while a dark aura rolled off Oikawa in waves, his figure embodying that of a deathly calm predator lying in wait as he hunts his prey, baiting with little crumbs and allowing the inferior creature to feel superior, maybe even letting him feel as though he was victorious—even if just for a precious fleeting moment.
Daichi and Koushi allowed Oikawa to soak in his thoughts, tacitly understanding that a plan was underway in his mind. Oikawa Tooru may have been crown prince, but he was not a child born from two royals. His father had been a prince, his bloodline thinned throughout the generations and it thinned even further when he married a commoner for a wife. Unlike Kingdom Karasuno’s style of welcoming all the royal princes into the court for education and training, Kingdom Aoba Johsai had a simpler, more vicious style: only the strong will rule. Princes, no matter how thick or distant the royal bloodline ran in their veins, were required to endure constant tests and trials, and at an appointed time, a crown prince would be chosen.
Oikawa Tooru had won by a mile.
But he was no genius.
I worked hard! I trained everyday. I practiced relentlessly and I—! I'm—!
With a soft groan, he pinched the space between his eyebrows and exhaled the frustrations that had built up. He had fought tooth and nail for 15 years to stand where he stood now. At 24 years old, he was glad that he could at least have a handful of trustworthy and loyal friends. The pair of Daichi and Koushi were definitely surprising, but he found them to be quite different from the other princes.
But then again, Karasuno princes have always been weird. Especially that weird blueberry- and mandarin-looking duo.
In Kingdom Aoba Johsai, there had been opposition to his appointment as the crown prince, but with clear cut results, the part of the disapproving court failed to appeal to the current king. The public loved him and the king loved him, even if just for his abilities.
“Will we proceed during your coronation?” Koushi asked, giggling when the crow pressed its head against the underside of his jaw, the hard feathers tickling his skin.
“That’ll be the best time to cut the roots, yes.” Oikawa looked at Daichi who grinned in reply.
“We are ready with the preparations on our end too. You can rest assured that the whole of Karasuno will have your back. We will coordinate with Iwaizumi and your knights.”
Oikawa Tooru may be the crown prince, but that was soon to change. Next week was his coronation as the king, as the previous one had passed on from old age. With his death as the catalyst, the opposing faction finally made their move.
Oikawa glanced at Koushi, finding the grin from the silver haired prince having an uncanny resemblance to Kingdom Karasuno’s first prince’s smile, or did the latter resemble the former? Before he could even ask, Koushi replied.
“Don’t worry. It’s hidden, safe and sound. You will be its rightful owner on the day of your coronation. We will make sure of it.”
Oikawa’s lips curved into a lopsided smile. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you and Sawamura are married.”
Laughter as clear as bells filled the air, the sound relaxing and soothing like a songbird’s melody. “If Daichi had said ‘yes,’ then we would already be.”
“W-Wha—!”
“Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll meet you during your coronation, but as usual, if you need us, you know where to find us.”
Both Oikawa and Koushi chortled at the reddened ears of the first prince, making a move to stand when Daichi stood up to hide his embarrassment. The sparrow on Koushi’s shoulder hopped onto the table and he carefully clipped a thin black ribbon around its neck. A small, metal round plate bearing the Karasuno crest hung at the front.
“It’ll be your turn today. Be a good child and help Oikawa, okay?”
The sparrow gleefully chirped, ruffling its feathers and standing prouder at becoming the prince’s messenger.
“Just how and why do birds love you,” Oikawa mused. “Is this a Karasuno secret?”
“It’s only Koushi and Hinata that are loved by the animals,” Daichi replied from the window, helping Koushi persuade the remaining birds to go home with a wave of his hand. “Tobio seems to be hated though.”
“Of course. He’s such a cheeky little genius; he makes you just want to destroy him and make him admit defeat.”
“I was talking about the birds, not you.”
The door to the conference room opened amidst chuckles and Iwaizumi instantly turned around. His gaze fell onto the tall brunet at the front, his eyes inspecting every inch of the crown prince, his best friend, his lover.
The latter remained a secret, however.
Seeing the armoured knight, Oikawa immediately turned and called out, “Iwa-chan! They were bullying me!”
Despite a gruff expression, there was a gentleness in his sharp eyes and after checking left and right, he affectionately rubbed Oikawa’s head. “I’ll spoil you all you want later.” Turning to their guests from another kingdom, he addressed them more formally, “Will you be staying in the kingdom tonight or will you be returning? Arrangements for accommodation can be made.”
Koushi stayed a step behind Daichi, comfortable in letting the man take charge.
“Thank you for the offer but we will return today. I’m honestly worried about what our youngest four princes are doing at the moment. We will meet again. Stay safe.”
Giving them a knight’s salute, Iwaizumi equally wished them well and escorted them out.
There was no carriage in the courtyard, only a pair of stallions that neighed and dug their hooves into the stones. Their black and grey coats shone, their bodies already fitted with leather saddles and reins.
Daichi and Koushi shared a grin before thanking their friends. Iwaizumi and Oikawa knew that carriages were a bore and rather stuffy to sit in, and so had prepared this instead.
“Truffle and Charcoal,” Oikawa introduced the horses, pointing first at the black horse before the grey one. “They’re our gifts to you.”
“I love their names!” Koushi exclaimed as he ran up to Charcoal, patting the soft mane and gushing over how handsome he looked.
“I'm not going to be polite, Oikawa,” Daichi smirked. “Thank you. They're fine horses.”
“Wasn’t counting on it.” Oikawa smiled and returned Daichi’s handshake. “Safe journey back. See you next week and hopefully not a moment sooner.”
“I share the sentiments. You'll be a great king.”
“You'll watch over me, won’t you? I expect you to be a fellow king in the future.”
With a chuckle, Daichi released Oikawa’s hand. “We shall see. It might be Koushi who sits on the throne.”
“I don’t want it!” Koushi yelled out from atop Charcoal while playfully shaking his fist in frustration and objection. He led Truffle by the reins towards Daichi, who swiftly got on the horse.
“We’re off, then.”
But good things would always come to an end. Just the day before Karasuno’s envoy was scheduled to leave for Aoba Johsai’s coronation of their new King, invaders flooded in.
“Daichi!”
Koushi’s voice was drowned out by the fearful screams and anguished cries reverberating throughout the palace walls, but the younger man standing before him—whose wide back gave off a steady feeling and a sense of protection—heard him loud and clear. “Koushi, stay back.”
Koushi instinctively took a few steps back at the command, one hand wrinkling the silk of his shirt while the other shakily gripped the sword’s handle, his teeth biting nervously into his bottom lip. He was always more of the scholarly type, not a fighter. He knew a little bit of self-defence and he managed to fend for himself during the sudden invasion, but that was the extent of it.
Karasuno’s royal court was swarmed with men dressed in black. With hoods pulled over their heads and masks covering half of their faces, they mercilessly brandished their blades at the court’s people. The knights standing guard by the door were swiftly occupied by the first wave of intruders, allowing the second wave to easily slaughter the people inside. The ministers fell to the floor like skinned livestock, their blood deepening the red carpet’s colour to a sickly, nearly-black crimson. Having been taught the way of the sword, the younger Karasuno princes fared better than the common people and at least they could fight for their lives.
By the throne, Koushi could see King Takeda being protected by his right-hand man and the kingdom’s advisor, Ukai Keishin, as the blond man parried a thrust to his head with his sword, the light eerily glinting off the metals. Ukai followed the momentum and swiftly stretched his arm to the side as he steadied his footing, slashing out in an uppercut, earning him a deep gash across the enemy’s torso.
Koushi gripped his sword and jumped to the side with a shriek, dodging the attack and pressed himself against a stone pillar, but the enemy was relentless as he charged in. Who said that the pen was mightier than the sword? he mentally complained. Come out now; I want to have a chat.
Daichi pivoted on his heel. The muscles of his right arm went taut and with a cry, he impaled his sword through the enemy’s neck with no second thoughts. Koushi stared wide eyed at the blade’s tip that was some inches away from his face, blinking once at the fresh, warm blood splattered across his cheek when Daichi pulled out his sword. The lifeless body fell limp.
Koushi’s eyes roamed across Daichi’s body, taking in the new sight of the first prince standing tall and unyielding amidst the chaos. The blood of his enemies bloomed like red spider lilies on his black silk, gleaming under the light as though highlighting the deaths.
“Are you okay, Koushi?”
“Y-Yeah,” Koushi shakily replied. “Are they—?”
Daichi grunted as he blocked another strike with his sword, raising a leg to kick away at the enemy. He mercilessly cut the stumbling enemy down. “Probably sent by the Aoba Johsai traitor.”
“Because with our deaths, Aoba Johsai would lose their biggest supporter,” Koushi continued, feeling himself calm down at being near Daichi’s presence. “If we’re attacked now, then it's safe to assume that the Duke finally snapped. During coronation day, security would be extremely tight.”
Daichi defended, slashed, and hacked away at the enemies as Koushi’s mind worked its strategic magic. Desperation meant that weaknesses were bound to occur, and weaknesses meant advantages to be taken. Judging by the lack of coordination and rough handling of the swords by the enemies, Koushi knew that these men were most likely mercenaries hired to attack the kingdom. There were no knights on the enemy team in sight.
The knights of the Dukedom are most likely protecting the Duke himself, Koushi thought, standing calmly in his spot as Daichi continued to defend and protect him. By now, the knights of the Karasuno Kingdom were pouring in and their enemies’ morale was dying.
“It would be the best time for Oikawa to launch a counterattack,” Koushi spoke up when the knights took over, giving Daichi a reprieve.
But carelessness was bred in complacency, and with the temporary curtain of respite falling upon them as the enemy was further beaten into submission, Koushi was soon forced to live with regret.
The second prince dashed out of the royal court in a hurry, the adrenaline and hopes of a new plan muddling his mind and dulling his other senses. The knights made way, letting him pass with no obstruction and Daichi followed on his heel. Putting two fingers to his lips, he blew a sharp whistle once he got out of the room, calling for the birds in the vicinity.
He failed to hear Daichi’s warning.
He failed to see the enemy giving one last attempt.
He felt like the worst failure in the whole of the kingdom for the first time in his life.
The body that was normally warm was gradually turning cold to his touch. Daichi’s wide back suddenly felt small and Koushi couldn’t breathe. Fear. Disbelief. Guilt. The emotions lodged themselves in his throat—suffocating him, engulfing him. Daichi’s name fell from his lips again and again, and that was all Koushi could manage to squeeze out. Where should he start? An apology? For being a careless idiot? A final confession? To add to the count of all the times he declared his love?
“This is the first time I’m grateful to be a prince,” Daichi muttered, grunting when Koushi accidentally gripped onto his fresh wound. An enemy had laid in wait outside, the man small and easily hidden by the large furniture and curtains lining the corridor. He had stayed there most likely out of fear, but seeing the unarmed prince rush out, he took the opportunity to attack. His attack landed, but on the wrong prince. Regret twisted his expression when the knights turned around in alert at Daichi’s cry for Koushi’s name, lunging at the enemy like a pack of wolves. The knights surrounded the pair of princes, having learned their lesson.
Koushi could hear King Takeda call for the royal doctor somewhere in the background and he was aware of the younger princes standing somewhere around them, their stares heavy, but there was only Daichi in his eyes. Sawamura Daichi was the first friend he made in the kingdom and the first person he fell in love with.
“If I had been a knight, I don’t think I would have made it in time,” Daichi said.
Koushi tried to ignore the blood pouring out of Daichi’s wound and soaking his hands as he clutched onto the limp body.
“Will you resent me, Koushi?” The grey-haired prince snapped his head up to stare incredulously at Daichi. “Even a little, I want to stay in your heart. I'm greedy. I want all of you and not just your love.”
“I hate you.” Koushi tried to steady his voice, to sound strong despite trembling limbs and tear-stained cheeks. “I really hate you.”
“Hah...a.”
The enemy’s sword had unfortunately pierced Daichi’s lung during the attack. Blood started to fill in it.
Daichi smiled sadly when he felt Koushi’s tears on his scalp, closing his eyes to listen to the rapid beating of Koushi’s heart and silently accepted everything that was said.
“I hate that you rejected my hand in marriage. I hate that you put the stupid rules before your happiness. I hate that your pride got in the way.” Koushi buried his face in Daichi’s hair, finding comfort in the small prickles the short strands gave. “I hate that I will never be Sawamura Koushi...”
The silence that fell around them was slowly filled with faint rushing footsteps, the sound echoing off the walls, but Koushi knew it was too late.
“Daichi... I hate you...”
The dying man continued to smile, his body lightly twitching with his chuckles. He could hear only the affection in Koushi’s sobs. Breathing in Koushi’s scent, and with the very last strength he could muster, Daichi raised his head and pressed his lips against Koushi’s, tasting the tears on his tongue and feeling the love that poured into his body when the man realised what was happening.
"...I love you too." It came in the smallest whisper, a soft breath that fanned against Koushi’s lonely lips, but it was enough to shatter the man. "...I wish I had said 'yes.'"
The ambush last year had failed and it further solidified Oikawa's position as king. The kingdom of Aoba Johsai had estimated that it would take some time for them to weed out the remaining opposition parties, but with the kingdom of Karasuno spearheading the operations while being fueled by the rage of losing their crown prince, it resulted in a complete, utter destruction, and everyone watched as Oikawa Tooru was finally crowned king. Daichi’s words to the now-King Oikawa Tooru also came true a year later when former King Takeda stepped down and Sugawara Koushi was crowned king, but the man ruled with no one by his side. He had no lover and no married partner. Rumours and gossips of him gallivanting with King Oikawa were easily dispelled when Aoba Johsai’s king married his childhood friend, lover and knight, Iwaizumi Hajime, regardless of what the rules were.
“I will marry whoever I want. It will not change how I rule the land.”
Alone in his bedroom, Koushi leaned against the window. He gently caressed the sparrow perched on his thumb, the golden band on his ring finger glinting under the full moon’s silver light. Memories of his time with Daichi came flooding in and he paused in his action. The sparrow chirped as though to express its dissatisfaction, but when Koushi stared off into space, it flew over to the man’s chest and nudged the golden ring hanging as a necklace around Koushi’s neck. The ring was a matching pair with the one on his finger; the band was slightly larger and thicker in width.
“Hey, hey,” Koushi chided softly. “Not that. That’s super important to me.”
The sparrow chirped sadly and then nestled itself in Koushi’s hair, as though to accompany the man on his lonely night.
Remember the first time I proposed to you, Daichi? Today's the same date, Koushi thought. If we were reborn into the same life, would you say ‘yes’ if I asked for your hand in marriage next time?