Chapter Text
Chimes fluttered to and fro, signaling autumn’s brisk winds. Idle chatter had started to complement the morning birdsong. The scratchy swish of a broom raked against the paved road that led to a shrine. Here, in the tranquility and reverence they afforded their ancestors, Prince Takumi of Hoshido chose to host a match.
While the war between kingdoms had ended, the battle of wits had merely begun.
Prince Leo of Nohr sat across from Takumi, turning the Black Queen over and over in his palm. The corners of his lips gradually curved upwards.
“It seems we’ve drawn a crowd, Prince Takumi,” his opponent announced with a lilt to his voice. The formal address was less for him and more for everyone else. It irked Takumi as much as it rattled him, but he couldn’t complain when it was his guest’s job to remain in Hoshido’s good graces.
Takumi lifted his gaze from the game-board and countered Leo’s cocksure smirk with a dismissive snort. “I’ve told you before: Chess isn’t all that different from shogi.” But the familiarity was enough to draw attention to their skirmish. Hushed whispers tried to assess whether or not the game had stakes, particularly the sort beyond their lord’s dignity. Takumi silenced them with a pointed stare.
A chuckle filled the gap. “Relax. I wouldn’t embarrass you in front of your fans.”
“What?! They aren’t my fans!” came the flustered response. Takumi hated how the tips of his ears still went red whenever Leo managed to catch him off guard.
Undeterred, Leo continued to speak, “How long has it been since we first met? Just shy of two years?”
Takumi gave a reluctant nod, still sore over Leo’s teasing.
In those two years, the man who sat across from him had grown: Both in temperament and in appearance. Takumi cast his gaze downward before it could fixate on the gentle lips that now held back glib words. His affection for his counterpart, his ‘twin’ if you will, was one of the few secrets he would never divulge, least of all before such an audience. It was unbecoming of Hoshido’s heir apparent to bear anything but wholesome thoughts towards another man.
The tug at his heart was easier to ignore when his pride was on the line. Priorities.
“Small talk before a game? You know that doesn’t work on me, Leo.”
The quip that followed was, dare Takumi even think it, oddly provocative, “There’s a first time for everything.”
Takumi offered a wry smile before announcing his first move, “King’s Pawn to E4.”
Leo countered with his words once more instead of a play, “I wonder how you intend to impress me today.”
Shit. Takumi had yet to master the art of playing dumb and Leo knew it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
With a graceful hand gesture, Leo announced his thoughts to both Takumi and their spectators, “We’re on Hoshidan soil and yet playing a Nohrian variant. Naturally, this puts you at a disadvantage. It only follows that you’ve something up your sleeve.”
Takumi let out a very unprincely groan and retorted, “Just hurry up and make a move.”
“Fine,” - Leo settled down with a curious smile - “Pawn to E5.”
Little did Leo know, Takumi had been practicing. Not only that, though, he had been studying the game: Never had he expected there to be so much Nohrian literature dedicated to chess alone. Countless nights had been spent pouring over known tactics and counterattacks. The more Takumi read, the more he experimented. Thoughts pertaining to philosophy had been replaced with gambits and innumerous possibilities.
With an uncharacteristically delicate sigh, Takumi placed his bets, “Pawn to F4. King’s Gambit.”
He noted the way Leo’s brow curved. The mage’s interest had been piqued. “Curious opening move, Prince Takumi.” Leo tucked his hand beneath his chin in thought. The confused commentary from their onlookers went right over his head. “Well, it would be undiplomatic for me to refuse.” Thus, he claimed Takumi’s Pawn with his own before steepling his fingers.
Lacking the same fanfare and willingness to be swept up in the game, Takumi responded with a dispassionate, “Bishop to C4.”
“Starting off aggressive, are we? It’s just like you to rush headlong into things.”
Again, Takumi flushed and not entirely from irritation. “Oh, shut up.”
“Maybe you should exercise a little more restraint, or else everyone here is going to think this is how you speak to all foreign ambassadors.” Leo chuckled as Takumi’s eyes rolled.
“No wonder King Xander appointed you. Ass is right in the word.”
“Your biting humor is as sharp as ever. Queen to H4. Check. Show me how you handle the mess you’ve created for yourself.”
Murmurs about whether or not the game would remain in Prince Leo’s favor for the rest of the match filled the gaps of their banter. Considering the crowd’s lack of knowledge and Leo’s ever-popular arrogance, it came as no surprise that they were being swayed by his opponent’s commentary.
Takumi shook his head. As if he would let someone else, even if that someone was Leo, to show him up. “King to F1.”
“Pawn to B5.”
Faced with a proposition, Takumi mulled over his next move.
“Come now, Prince Takumi. I taught you better than this.”
“Did you want to play shogi after this?” he countered.
Leo pulled his lips back into a thin line, hiding his reticence none too well. “I concede.” At least he handled their verbal sparring and his consequent defeat with grace. Ever concerned with his image, that man. Still, it brought a smile back to Takumi’s face.
“I’m going to regret this, but… Bishop takes Pawn.”
“Knight to F6.”
“Huh.” Takumi frowned. “Knight to F3.”
Leo was not one to miss a beat, “Queen to H6.”
“Hmm. Pawn to D3.”
“Knight to H5.” Leo clicked his tongue as if taunting Takumi. Which, in all honesty, he probably was. “Careful now.”
Again, the crowd sought to understand where the flow of the game had gone and whether or not their lord was already on the path to defeat. Takumi sensed their concern and said to Leo, “I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you? I look forward to deciding that for myself.” Unbelievable, how a game of chess could bring out that insufferable side of him; Takumi refused to admit to anyone, let alone himself, that he was enjoying Leo’s display.
“Knight to H4.”
“Tsk, tsk. Queen to G5. Are you sacrificing your Bishop or your Knight?”
The peanut gallery had a smattering of applause. Takumi fought the urge to whip around and say something about that. He hadn’t thought to give them a rulebook to peruse, though, so who was he to try and assign blame?
As the pressure mounted, Takumi’s declarations took on more force, as if he truly were issuing commands to an army and not humble pieces of polished stone: “Neither! Knight to F5.”
A look of surprise crossed Leo’s face for but a moment before he laughed. “Pawn to C6. That Bishop is still out in the open.”
Takumi cried, “So is your Knight! Pawn to G4.”
“Knight to F6.”
“Retreating? I thought you said you had this game.”
Leo knew better than to take his bait. “Believe me, I still do. Now, your move?”
“Hmph. Tower to G1.” Leo might have introduced him to the game, but it was only natural that the protege eventually surpassed his mentor. He knew what he was doing, even if everyone else doubted his skill level.
“Prince Takumi, I’m afraid I’ll have to claim your Bishop.” Which didn’t faze Takumi (even if it should have), seeing as how he still had one left.
“Whatever. Pawn to H4.”
Leo shifted forward in his seat, scanning the board for openings in Takumi’s assault. “Queen to G6.”
So long as he still had pieces on the board, Takumi knew a comeback was viable. “Hah! Pawn to H5. Now who has to be careful?!”
The jeer was met with cold calculation, “Said the man who lost his Bishop. Queen to G5.”
“Hinoka to F3!” Never mind how detached he was at the start of the game, Takumi simply could not avoid becoming emotionally invested.
Everyone, save for the Hoshidan prince, widened their eyes in surprise.
“... I was under the impression that she was an heir presumptive,” Leo muttered.
“Semantics!” Takumi shot back.
A sigh escaped from Leo’s lips as he caught the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger. “No, Prince Takumi, that isn’t how titles-- never mind. Silas to G8.”
“See? Now you’re copying me.” Takumi puffed his chest out with pride. It wasn’t every day that he could convince Leo to take part in one of his games. Not that he was being childish. He just, ahem, valued the usage of one’s imagination. It aided in… visualization exercises. For tactical purposes. Precisely. “Uhh. Hmm… What exactly is a Bishop?”
“Please, just move.”
As if Leo had any right to be impatient. “Hmph. Bishop takes Pawn, threatening your Queen.” Takumi folded his arms across his chest, awaiting his opponent’s next move.
But what came first was genuine praise, “Well done.”
Takumi’s chest tightened. He averted his gaze and found that the ground beside them bore nothing of interest. Perhaps the sky, then? He glanced up, caught the sun in his eyes, and grimaced as he lowered his head and rubbed them.
To his credit, Leo refrained from either questioning or laughing at Takumi’s strange behavior and Takumi was eternally grateful for that. “Queen to F6.”
“Subaki to C3.” Fingers still pinching the Knight, a flash of brilliance leapt across Takumi’s face. “Wait. He should be a Tower instead since he’s a far more mobile unit--”
Leo cut him off with an indelicate groan. “Gods. Next time, name them beforehand.”
Peeved that his fun got cut short, Takumi grumbled, “Yeah, well, you’ve done nothing but develop your Queen.”
“And? You’re still down one Bishop.” This was true. Takumi squinted at Leo who paid him no heed. “Speaking of which, Bishop to C5.”
Takumi stared at the board as if planning his next move. Which he wasn’t. “Okay, I’ve got it. The Bishops can be our retainers.”
Leo must have realized that Takumi had no intention of letting up because the Nohrian prince opted to humor him this time, “So which one did I kill earlier? Hinata or Oboro?”
“Oh.” It dawned on Takumi then what his substitution had implied. “Let’s, let’s just say it was Hinata since Oboro is decidedly more... volatile.” That, and she needed little excuse to mouth off at Leo. Takumi figured it was better this way. Leo must have understood his reasoning because that notorious smirk had widened. Takumi cleared his throat. “Anyway, Knight to D5.”
“Queen takes Pawn at B2.”
“Bishop, I mean, Oboro to D6.”
Leo furrowed his brow and shot Takumi an accusatory look, a storm brewing in those manipulative eyes. “Queen takes Tower. Are you… You’re not throwing this game, are you?”
“What? No! Why would I do that?”
Leo didn’t answer. Takumi sighed. Fine. If Leo didn’t care to explain himself, then Takumi wouldn’t make a fuss out of it. That was what children did and they were no longer children. They hadn’t been for a long time.
“Ryoma to E2.” So long as the King remained out of harm’s way, Leo had yet to claim victory for this match.
“Queen takes Tower. Your last Tower.” Where there had been annoyance before, there was now skepticism. “Is this your way of getting back at me for our spar the other night?”
Takumi’s gaze hardened. “No. Pawn to E5.”
Now it was Leo’s turn to scoff. “I have my entire army bearing down upon you and all you’re doing is sending out a lone Pawn?”
Leo’s intimidating quip did little to unnerve Takumi, never mind how late into the game they were. “Yes, because I’ve decided that piece is going to represent me.” This would be the last time his friend and rival underestimated him in the realm of chess if nowhere else.
“A lowly Pawn, you?” The Nohrian prince did not mask his presumption, “I would’ve expected something a bit closer to your actual status.”
Oh hell no. “Why? A-are you calling me conceited?!” For a split second, Takumi considered driving the tip of his boot into Leo’s shin, but the smarmy bastard was rarely without his armor.
“Hardly. I’ve just never known you to be so humble. Knight to A6.”
“Ugh. Knight takes Pawn at G7. You better move Xander before I win.”
Predictably, Leo rose to the challenge, “As if I would allow harm to befall my king. King to D8.”
Although excitement had started to well up inside of him, Takumi did his damnest not to let it show. Doing so would tip Leo off too soon. “Really? Because Hinoka’s coming right for him. Queen to F6. Check.”
“Prince Takumi, when will you learn? Knight takes Queen.” His eyes fell down to the board which he had trampled through, wreaking havoc upon Takumi’s forces. “I captured your Towers, you’ve only a Bishop, and you spent a valuable move on… that Pawn?! You, you…!”
“Oboro to E7. Checkmate.” Takumi was glowing. “Yeah. That’s right. I win. Me. Not you.”