His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 20

October 1, XX84
-The Cour's Banquet-

        Eijiro was still half asleep walking to get his breakfast, but he wasn't tired enough to be startled when Tetsutetsu slung an arm around his shoulders and shouted in his ear. "Hey, man! You missed a hell of a fight yesterday, Neito and Itsuka were at each other's throats."

        The redhead hummed and blinked, not even pretending to be interested. Words didn't work too well so early in the morning, so the rumbling sound that came from him wasn't exactly Japanese, but Tetsu thankfully understood. It took Eijiro another second to process that the silver-haired gladiator had spoken to him in English.

        "You're probably hungry," he rambled on, steering Eijiro towards the mountains of food. Eijiro made a noise much closer to a purr. "Yeah, me too, man. Food is so great here, but anything has to be better than porridge, right?"

        Eijiro shuddered. "Don't," he grumbled out in the same language. "Too early. Sick."

        Tetsutetsu, though, only smirked. The food available to the lower classes in Andoris had never been the best, and was often rotten."Eggs--"

        "Don't."

        "--and beans--"

       "Fork in your eye," Eijiro insisted. "No maggot food. Tired. Want pig."

        "Aye, you're as grumpy as 'Suka in the morning," the silver-haired fighter sighed. "Still, pork is delicious."

        Speaking of Itsuka Kendo, Eijiro dropped into a chair beside her, his plate piled high with food. "You fight today, Sister?" He managed, his words tired and slow. He'd feel better once he actually got the warm meat into his system, he was sure. 

        "Unfortunately," she grumbled, stabbing at pieces of fruit, "I can't. Chiyo has me on a strict recovery schedule because some asshole--" she paused to pull her leg out from under the table, and Eijiro saw that under the modest skirts of her dress, her leg and ankle were bound in bandages, "--decided to be a dick."

        Eijiro chuckled around a bite of poultry before he swallowed. "Neito?" He guessed.

        "Brutally stabs my leg and everyone fucking surrendered," she huffed. "I think I have every right to be upset. I could be doing anything else today, but now I can't even fucking walk. I hate it."

        "Hey," Tetsutetsu returned. "You didn't see the look of absolute panic on his face when Honoko started talking. I thought he was about to soil himself."

        "Well, it's either Her Majesty's wrath or His Highness's, there are not many options for not soiling one's self. That alone made me glad I'd lost," Itsuka admitted.

        Eijiro perked. "What happen?"

        Tetsutetsu hesitated. "Well, it's kind of weird to explain, and--" his gaze filtered past Eijiro to the doors, and he paled.

        "No, it really isn't," Itsuka grumbled, oblivious to her friend's hesitance. "Elder Honoko clearly didn't clear it with the queen, but she decreed it in front of everyone, so there can really be no taking it back. Guards cornered Neito yesterday; Tama's bargain is still ongoing."

        Eijiro froze, a pork bone centimeters from his mouth, and switched abruptly back to Japanese. "What?"

        Tetsu's pale face had gone white, and when the ginger opened her mouth again, he frantically gestured at her not to speak.