Love Story - IwaOi

Chapter 10

Today was the day the guests would begin arriving for the ball. Only one of the royalties from a foreign ally country would be arriving today. Oikawa decided that he would drag himself out of his room and wear a fake smile to show his family he was okay. He stood beside his family at the front gates while they waited for the guests to arrive.

"Hey Toru, I've noticed you haven't taken much interest in any girls. What about any of the guys," the queen said already knowing the answer. Immediately Iwaizumi's name popped into Oikwawa's head.

"No, I haven't," he lied looking away. The discussion had ended as the carriage carrying their guest had pulled inside the castle gates. The carriage stopped and the driver jumped down and opened the door of the carriage.

The first to emerge from the carriage was a guy with red spiky hair and matching red eyes. On his hip was a sheathed sword. He must be a knight. Oikawa thought. The red haired one step aside to let the other person inside to come out. The next to emerge from the carriage was another guy with olive brown hair and matching eyes. They two began to ascend to the top of the stairs where Oikawa's family waited while the driver pulled the carriage away in the direction of the stables. The red haired one trailed slightly behind the other and his eyes were causly looking around. When they reached the top of the steps they bowed to the Oikawa's. The Oikawa's returned the gesture.

"My name is Prince Ushijima Wakatoshi. This is my personal knight Tendo Satori," the brown haired one introduced himself and his knight.

"Welcome Price Ushijima, Knight Tendo. Thank you for coming," the king said.

"Thank you for inviting us," Ushijima said.

"It was the least we could do after the help your kingdom granted us in our time of need. It's a shame your parents couldn't make it though," the queen said.

"They send their regards," Ushijima stated.

"The two of you must be exhausted. Toru would you mind taking them to their rooms," the queen said. Her daughter and husband gave her questioning glances, but she saw this as a perfect chance to distract Toru and make more plans with Iwaizumi.

"Yes right this way," Oikawa said. Ushijima and Tendo bowed slightly to the other Oikawa's as they walked past them into the palace. Oikawa led them silently to their rooms. He stopped in between two white doors. They were conjoined rooms so they were directly next to each other.

"These are your rooms. Feel free to explore the castle. If you happen to get lost ask anyone in the palace and I'm sure they'll help point you in the right direction. Dinner will be served at 6 in the dining hall. If you don't show up, your dinner will be brought to your room later," Oikawa said. Oikawa turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"So are you not going to give us a tour?" Ushijima asked. Oikawa stopped in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder and said," I will later. If you're lucky, but right now I'm busy" Without waiting for a response he continued walking and disappeared from Ushijima and Tendo's sight by going around a corner.

"I heard rumours saying that the prince hasn't been the same since the war. He barely leaves his room. I wonder what he could be busy doing," Tendo said a bit too loudly to Ushijima.

Oikawa who was right around the corner and heard everything Tendo said. I have to stop hiding away. Now even other countries are beginning to hear. I suppose giving them a tour wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I'll do it later. Oikawa thought. Oikawa opened his door to his room and saw his attendant waiting there for him.

"What are doing here Maki?" Oikawa said,shutting the door behind him.

"I've sat back and watched you mope for long enough. Let's go," Hanamaki said as he began walking past Oikawa to the door. Oikawa sighed in defeat and started following him.

"Where are we going?" Oikawa asked.

"You'll figure it out soon," Hanamaki said.

Oikawa followed behind Hanamaki as he led Oikawa through the familiar halls. Oikawa soon figured out where they were going. Soon Hanamaki pushed open the doors to the knight's training grounds.

All the knight's stopped what they were doing . They all looked at Hanamaki and the prince standing directly behind him. Oikawa made eye contact with a familiar knight before quickly averting his gaze.

"All right knights. Today the prince and his attendant will be joining us. We will be working on our swordplay. It will be a single round elimination competition. Get your swords and I'll explain the rest once everyone is ready," the commander said.

Everyone went to grab a sword out of the bins. Maki grabbed his and Oikawa's swords out of the bin before returning next to Oikawa and handing him his sword. Once everyone had a sword in hand the commander continued to explain," I will be in charge of the pairings if I say your name please step inside the ring. In the beginning, the only weapon allowed will be the sword in your hand later on you may be able to use two swords. You are not allowed to aim for any vital points. If you do you'll be disqualified. You will also lose if you step outside the ring, concede, can't continue, or get pinned for more than 5 seconds. Your goal is to cause your opponent to do any of those things in order to win. Medics will be on standby so don't worry about holding back. I'm sure the prince would agree with me, but do not hold back against him. With that being said the first pair is his highness and Kunimi." Oikawa and Kunimi walked into the ring. They were opposite sides from one another and were facing each other.

"Start," the commander said.

Oikawa made the first move, lunging at Kunimi. Kunimi deflected Oikawa's attack with his own sword and they continued to exchange blows. Oikawa had jumped back away from Kunimi. Kunimi made no effort to get close to Oikawa. He's making no unnecessary movements. Oikawa thought.

From among the knight's Iwaizumi watched Oikawa. Oikawa let his hands fall to his sides. Is he giving up. Iwaizumi wandered. Oikawa's sword slipped from his hand. Kunimi's eyes watched the sword hit the ground. Iwaizumi's eyes widened in realization as he watched the scene unfold.

Before Kunimi noticed, Oikawa was already in front of him. Kunimi had no time to react before Oikawa pushed him. Kunimi landed on the ground with a thud. Kunimi had a scowl on his face as he prepared to get back on his feet and counter.

"Match," the commander called. Kunimi looked at the ground and noticed he had fallen outside the ring. Oikawa walked over to Kunimi and extended his hand to Kunimi. Kunimi took Oikawa's hand with a huff. Surprised murmurs were heard from the crowd of knights. Oikawa walked over and stood next to Maki who had a proud look on his face.

"What's with that look," Oikawa asked.

"Hanamaki and Watari," the commander said.

"Don't worry about it," Maki said as he walked away to take his place in the ring.

〜

Hanamaki won his match quite quickly and easily. Whispers could be heard from the crowd like. "No wonder he is the prince's attendant." "I mean you have to be good to be the prince's attendant." or even "That's the attendant to the prince for you."

This wasn't the first time Oikawa and Hanamaki had sparred with the knights, but it has been a while. These knights were knights in training besides the occasional royal knights helping with their training.

"Iwaizumi and Kyotani," the commander said. Oikawa watched as Iwaizumi and Kyotani entered the ring.

"Start," the commander announced.

Kyotani lunged at Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi dodged out of the way in the nick of time. Before Iwaizumi could catch his breath, Kyotani was already attacking him again. They exchanged blow after blow. That knight is more like a mad dog than a knight. Oikawa thought.

Both of them jumped away from one another to catch their breath. Then Kyotani lunged at Iwaizumi again. Iwaizumi dodged.

"Match," the commander announced. Kyotani had stepped outside the ring and Iwaizumi won.