The Blue Camellia

Chapter 2

Even though he was in a rush, Hinata tried not to let that distract him from his training. He wanted to get a little bit of practice in before Subaki's second round started, but the training partner he chose, Fir, turned out to be a bit more challenging than he had hoped, and he knew by the commotion he heard from outside the training room that he was going to be late. A part of him wanted to just throw in the towel and give her victory so he could hurry, but his pride said otherwise and pushed him to fight back harder to bring the match to an end.

Eventually, he was able to knock the swordswoman down, and after giving the quickest thank you and goodbye, bolted out the room. He wanted to run as fast as possible, but instead kept a brisk walking pace. He'd be lying if he said that, even after their talk, he was worried for Subaki's sake. During Minerva's first match, he kept a watchful eye on her, discovering quickly that she was one intimidating force. It was the main reason why he went to seek out Subaki before the second round started. But he did give him his word that he would try to remain positive. So he let out a heavy sigh, calming his nerves as he kept his steady pace.

As he walked, he watched as a small group of girls, the manaketes if he remembered, run by him, frantic and almost panicked. He stopped himself before he could start.

"Keep calm. It's probably nothing."

He tried desperately to keep calm, but as more and more people ran by him, each with the same frantic and worried look, and whispers of how the match was almost over, the barrier keeping his fears in check shattered.

"OK, I'm NOT CALM ANYMORE!"

He went from walking to running as fast as his legs could take him in an instant. He made it to the arena grounds the battles were being held, finding a large crowd of heroes surrounding the battle, their gazes focused down helping him realize the two fighters were grounded, but blocking his vision of them. He weaved his way through the crowd, finding whatever open spots he could to avoid having to push anyone, but stopped when he saw everyone look up. He gazed up as well, seeing Minerva a few feet off the ground, slightly wounded and small chips in her armor, let out a loud battle cry as she flew back to the ground, her ax raised high above her head, disappearing back into the crowd. The sound of the ax hitting something and a distinct cry of pain came before the crowd let out a collective gasp. He used this opportunity to finally make it through the crowd to the front, joining Sakura and Hana, as he saw what caused the collective shock.

Subaki laid face down on the ground, his body bruised and battered and his long red hair, freed from its ponytail, pooled around his head, his pegasus collapsed in front of him and his spear embedded into the ground a few feet away from him. His body twitched as he tried to get up, only barely getting an inch off the ground before he slumped back down.

"That's the end of the round," Alfonse said, breaking the silence, "Victory goes to Minerva!"

Loud cheers erupted from the silent crowd, but Hinata completely blocked them off as his eyes locked onto Subaki's unmoving form.

"SUBAKI!"

Hinata ran up to the fallen pegasus knight, Sakura and Hana right behind him, the sound of their footsteps made Subaki turn his head, brown eyes uncovered by his red hair.

"Subaki!" Sakura fell to her knees in front of him.

"Heh heh... Sorry you had to see me like this..."

Hinata grabbed Subaki's right arm, wrapping it on his shoulder. His free hand went to hold Subaki's side, but upon seeing the man flinch and groan in pain, he drew his back, shocked to find it stained in blood. Upon seeing this, he looked and found a large gash on Subaki's left side, the wound seeming to be deep and already staining his torn clothes red.