Sunshine and a Blue Castle Prince

Chapter 10: Blame

CW: angst and fluff, Hurt/comfort

The Meet-fairground is like nothing Shouyou has ever seen.

Come July, Shouyou finds himself in the middle of a tent complex that is easily half the size of Seijoh City.

Merchants from every territory, enterprising individuals, and fae hoping to find their destined loves flock to the meet-grounds, surrounding a ring of mismatched manors in droves.

The result is something that can only be called "controlled chaos."

At first glance, not even the merchant booths seem to have any order. Food from Itachiyama is sold next to kites from Wakunan, which in turn neighbors a Johzenji acrobat troupe.

Eventually, though, Shouyou realizes that the chaos makes a certain amount of sense. With only the bare minimum of organization (an arrangement offset by maps at the end of every row), participants are exposed to a myriad of goods from various territories, giving each a fighting chance for profit.

The meet-ground's one testament to obvious planning is a ring of grass forming a boundary between the merchant tents and the sleep-tents.

There, musicians--both amateur and professional-- have taken up their instruments, filling the air with music.

When they finally reach the circle of delegation houses, Shouyou is greeted with an unexpectedly familiar sight.

Among the manors is a single azure tower with a sweeping roof and no balconies. Above it, a flag bearing leaf and mountain motif of the Aoba Johsai Royal Crest flies.

Kei, they're here. Iwaizumi-san is here.

We're here. We get to go home.

An hour after the Fukuro-Neko delegation's arrival, Oikawa drapes himself over Iwaizumi's shoulders. "Come on Iwa-chan. You've got to come to the fair with me."

Iwaizumi shoves Oikawa off with a glare. "I went with you yesterday and the day before. I'm staying here."

"The Nekoma flag wasn't up yesterday and the day before."

The younger prince freezes, "They're here."

"Mhmm. Their delegation came in a couple hours ago."

"Fine. You win. I'll go."

Oikawa grins and drags Iwaizumi by the wrist.

"We'll be back," he tells Makki and Mattsun who have been watching the exchange with passive interest.

Makki makes a shooing motion with his hand. "Go. We'll be here. Probably."

The distance between the Aoba Johsai manor and the tent city is short and soon the pair is weaving through a thick crowd.

"Next time give me the relevant information first," Iwaizumi says, scanning the crowd for a familiar head of carrot-orange hair. "I wouldn't have resisted had I known Shouyou was already here."

"But what fun would that have been? You really need to relax."

"Are you sure he's even going to be out here? They did just get here."

"Do you really think that scheming cat would let him sit around when most royals are out shopping?"

"Sometimes I hate it when you make sense."

"Hehe. I always make sense."

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes but doesn't answer, instead rubbing the heel of his hand over his racing heart.