His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 13

September 29, XX84
-The Royal Box, Above the Colosseum-

        Katsuki hid his grin with his hand, the perfect picture of calm patience. He was doing a much better job of concealing his emotions now, wanting his mother to be surprised. She sat beside him now, trying and failing not to glare curiously at him every few minutes. Whenever she caught his grin, it made her sour, instantly pissed to be without this knowledge of what made her son so giddy with joy. Masaru had other things to attend to, but he nearly never watched the Cour to begin with.

         The Elders and the court filled other lifted boxes across the Colosseum. They always watched the Cour, and Katsuki was sure that no matter how frowned upon, they made good money betting on the victors. Denki, Tenya, and Izuku the prince could feel hovering around nearby, as always.

        On the Queen's left side sat Itsuka Kendo. She'd easily picked up on the tense air and had wisely decided to remain quiet for the time. Itsuka was a long-standing victor and had long ago been invited to spend the days after her victories in the box reserved for the monarchs, chatti ng with the queen about dresses, jewelry, music, and swords. She was magic-bound as well, a form of gigantism that made her a powerful fighter.

        On top of that, she was the reigning People's Favorite. Everyone outside the rings loved her.

        Except Katsuki, of course, but she was a tolerable soul.

        The contestants were warming up across the wide field of compacted sand they called an arena. Separating the fighters from the onlookers in the crowd was an enormous net of iron chain infused with magic, meant to keep blasts of magic from reaching the onlookers.

        Katsuki had yet to spot the brilliant shock of red hair he was looking for. Ei was probably hanging to the shadows, being shy, in his own little way. He wanted the fights to start already. The giddiness raced through him with a never ending energy, urging him to jump and dance and scream to the heavens.

        A dull worry kept him seated. Eijiro had been brilliant with forging weapons, but it had taken him years to actual learn any of the basics in wielding them. Katsuki rationalized that Ei had been forced to compete in the Citadel of Andolis, so he must have found talent with a sword somewhere.

        Oh, how he worried, though.

        "Bravo and welcome!" A voice boomed across the open space, echoing off the marble columns and igniting the crowd in a flurry of excited cheers. It originated from a surprisingly small blonde man seated in the box next to the royalty's. This was the second Cour to be announced by Hizashi Yamada, and he could always make things interesting.

        To his left sat a man dressed in all black, the exception being a thick coil of light gray fabric hanging from his shoulders. He was the kingdom's executioner, and he had been placed in charge of policing the Cour. His men all specialized in the use of a specific weapon that could be used to detain rambunctious fighters at a moment's notice. Hanta and another dark-clad guard lurked in the shadows behind him wearing similar scarves, watching the contestants carefully. If anything ever went wrong during the games, it was on their heads.

        "We have a few very special events planned for you today! Who'd say no to a little DeathRun, hm? A Balance Duel? Steal the Crown? Come on, people, show some enthusiasm!"

        Show enthusiasm the crowd did, and most of the cheering came from the Cour down below. Brain-dead men.

        "But, what's this? Why, who's joined us with his presence today?" Hizashi giggled, knowing not to go to far in his teasing. "The Cour will be on their best behavior today, if they know Prince Katsuki is watching."