The Twisted Tale of The Little Merman

_-*Chapter 46*-_

Tendou POV

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My lungs burned in my chest, my gills spasmed and my ribs ached from the painful jut I just received from Kyoutani. I held up a hand in surrender and he rolled his eyes and begrudgingly helped me up.

"You've gotten good," He grumbled, "But you still leave your sides unprotected in your blind spots."

I grounded, wincing as I held myself upright, "You think you could go easier on me?"

"Will the king or his guard go easy on you?" He responded quickly.

I kept silent, knowing better than to provoke him.

"As long as you work on fixing your weak points, you'll be fine," Kyoutani said, setting his practice sword down and leaving our makeshift training room.

The dozens of other guards from each kingdom — including the Orcas and Barracudas — continued to spar with each other as I stood there. There were only a few Barracudas with us, the Queen was kind enough to lend us her elite task force — the ones who handle the roughest of the rough — in exchange for rights to hunt in the bounds of the kingdom when Oikawa is crowned king. They were exceptional fighters, which Kyoutani admitted only under his breath.

The Orcas agreed almost instantaneously, still frisky over the massacre of their innocent civilians — the king ordered it early in his ruling years for a simple mistake of a child — and their taste for blood was at an all time high.

I sighed as I picked up my sword from the ground and placed it beside Kyoutani's, my side still aching.

I swam through the halls of our new base, one we found three months ago to accommodate all of our needs — Iwaizumi found it while out scouting — it was underground in a complex cave system. But in the three months we've been here, it has turned into quite the rebel base.

I arrived at my room, which was only three turns from the training room, and pulled the door closed. I flopped tiredly onto the bed and lay like I was faking sleep.

Life has been pretty easy going, if you exclude Iwaizumi and Kyoutani's constant training exercises and Oikawa's fretting over the plan. Every second I didn't spend planning the revolt, memories of Wakatoshi occupied my consciousness.

It's been nearly four months since I've last seen Wakatoshi. I missed him sincerely, the very thought of him caused both painful stabs and a warm feeling in my chest.

I hadn't been able to swim to the surface — or leave the base for that matter — as Oikawa was worried it would compromise our position.

The only reason we were forced to come here is because the king got wind of our operation and sent troops to slaughter us. Lost in my thoughts of him, I didn't hear Lev enter my room.

"Knock knock," He spoke, grinning, his sharp teeth glinting.

"What's up?" I propped myself up on my elbows, too lazy to actually get up.

"Atsumu is calling for you," He leaned against the door frame, his antenna floating lazily in front of his face, "Looked pretty important."

"Okay," I groaned, pulling my exhausted limbs from my bed, "I'm coming."

"Sweet, well," He turned and spoke over his shoulder, "If you need me, I'll be training with that Barracuda, Yaku."

I set off in the direction of Atsumu's room, the bustle of the hallways allowing me to escape from my thoughts. Everywhere you looked, someone was doing something. A Jellyfish was taking inventory. A Swordfish was transporting weapons. Two Orcas were conversing about their best hunts. It was oddly calming.