Ship: ushijima/oikawa Fandom: haikyuu Major Tags: tags omitted Other Tags: tags omitted Word Count: 685
***
i.
Ushijima does not bow under Oikawa's command of his own accord. He leads the Kingsguard, certainly, and that entails whoever it is that sits upon the throne, tyrant or not; it does not entail usurpers, or kin slayers, both of which applies to their new king, even if Ushijima hasn't the evidence to prove it. If Oikawa is willing to trickle poison into his uncle's cup—someone of his own flesh, his own blood—it stands to reason that he would have little mercy to show anyone who accuses him of murder.
And so Ushijima falls in line with the rest of the troops, standing steadfast and stone-faced at Oikawa's coronation, because if Oikawa is ever to be taken down, it would not be by someone who is rotting in a dungeon or next in line for an execution.
He will bide his time. Ushijima is nothing, if but a patient man.
ii.
They say no horrors are worse than the ones you find yourself committing, and it's a saying that rings, high-pitched and piercing, in Ushijima's ears, as he finds himself doing terrible things in Oikawa's name.
It's for the good of the people, they're told, as he and his men set fires to homes suspected of housing traitors, because for someone so eager to partake in treason, Oikawa has no tolerance for it in his rule.
They're barely human anyway, Oikawa would say as he waves his hand to take prisoners of war out of his sight, the lot of them hauled away to be persuaded for information.
Oikawa purges the kingdom—of threats and revolts both—and Ushijima lets it happen.
iii.
Once his nation's been bent and shaped to his whims, Oikawa sets his sights beyond their borders. Again, Ushijima leads the charge, waging war on Oikawa's behalf, because, he tells himself, he has to play the part. He lays waste to Oikawa's their enemies, orphans children and widows wives.
"If they won't be mine," Oikawa once mused, in the privacy of his quarters as Ushijima stood guard, "then they will burn."
Ushijima doesn't point out that he is feeding the flames of his own pyre, uncertain of how to feel about Oikawa beating someone else to his own downfall.
iv.
The last opponents of Oikawa's reign raise their white flag after countless lost battles, their surrender written in harried calligraphy, reeking of desperation and ink. Ushijima reads it aloud as Oikawa sits, disinterested, on his throne. When Ushijima is done, Oikawa points to a nearby candle.
"You know what to do, Lord Commander."
Ushijima thinks of the mercy they could choose to enact instead, and still he walks towards the flame, no less destructive for its smallness as it turns the only remaining hope their enemies ever had into ash.
It's easier, these days, to do as he's told.
v.
When Oikawa's hand seizes to his throat after a sip of wine, Ushijima is there to catch him before he hits the ground. The crown is not so fortunate, clattering to the floor like the useless hunk of gold it is. It could not protect Oikawa, and, it seems, neither could Ushijima.
"It's Takeru," says Oikawa, as his mouth begins to froth. "That kid's always had a penchant for irony."
Ushijima own throat constricts as Oikawa, always so regal and otherworldly, turns humanly pale in his arms. This is what he'd wanted; this is the price of peace, not the tawdry imitation of it that Oikawa had tried to fabricate with his violence, and yet—
"Do me a favor, won't you?" says Oikawa, as if he's known all along. "Avenge me."
This is one command Ushijima does not have to listen to, much less follow. The demon king, as he'd been dubbed, deserves to die alone, forgotten apart from his atrocities. All of that is true. All of that is just.
But Ushijima finds himself reluctant to let go, finds himself saying, "yes, my king," as Oikawa's lips twist into a smile.
(Both of them know the saying far too well: victories are measured not in losing the battle, but winning the war.)
FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T
Fandom: haikyuu
Major Tags: tags omitted
Other Tags: tags omitted
Word Count: 685
***
i.
Ushijima does not bow under Oikawa's command of his own accord. He leads the Kingsguard, certainly, and that entails whoever it is that sits upon the throne, tyrant or not; it does not entail usurpers, or kin slayers, both of which applies to their new king, even if Ushijima hasn't the evidence to prove it. If Oikawa is willing to trickle poison into his uncle's cup—someone of his own flesh, his own blood—it stands to reason that he would have little mercy to show anyone who accuses him of murder.
And so Ushijima falls in line with the rest of the troops, standing steadfast and stone-faced at Oikawa's coronation, because if Oikawa is ever to be taken down, it would not be by someone who is rotting in a dungeon or next in line for an execution.
He will bide his time. Ushijima is nothing, if but a patient man.
ii.
They say no horrors are worse than the ones you find yourself committing, and it's a saying that rings, high-pitched and piercing, in Ushijima's ears, as he finds himself doing terrible things in Oikawa's name.
It's for the good of the people, they're told, as he and his men set fires to homes suspected of housing traitors, because for someone so eager to partake in treason, Oikawa has no tolerance for it in his rule.
They're barely human anyway, Oikawa would say as he waves his hand to take prisoners of war out of his sight, the lot of them hauled away to be persuaded for information.
Oikawa purges the kingdom—of threats and revolts both—and Ushijima lets it happen.
iii.
Once his nation's been bent and shaped to his whims, Oikawa sets his sights beyond their borders. Again, Ushijima leads the charge, waging war on Oikawa's behalf, because, he tells himself, he has to play the part. He lays waste to Oikawa's their enemies, orphans children and widows wives.
"If they won't be mine," Oikawa once mused, in the privacy of his quarters as Ushijima stood guard, "then they will burn."
Ushijima doesn't point out that he is feeding the flames of his own pyre, uncertain of how to feel about Oikawa beating someone else to his own downfall.
iv.
The last opponents of Oikawa's reign raise their white flag after countless lost battles, their surrender written in harried calligraphy, reeking of desperation and ink. Ushijima reads it aloud as Oikawa sits, disinterested, on his throne. When Ushijima is done, Oikawa points to a nearby candle.
"You know what to do, Lord Commander."
Ushijima thinks of the mercy they could choose to enact instead, and still he walks towards the flame, no less destructive for its smallness as it turns the only remaining hope their enemies ever had into ash.
It's easier, these days, to do as he's told.
v.
When Oikawa's hand seizes to his throat after a sip of wine, Ushijima is there to catch him before he hits the ground. The crown is not so fortunate, clattering to the floor like the useless hunk of gold it is. It could not protect Oikawa, and, it seems, neither could Ushijima.
"It's Takeru," says Oikawa, as his mouth begins to froth. "That kid's always had a penchant for irony."
Ushijima own throat constricts as Oikawa, always so regal and otherworldly, turns humanly pale in his arms. This is what he'd wanted; this is the price of peace, not the tawdry imitation of it that Oikawa had tried to fabricate with his violence, and yet—
"Do me a favor, won't you?" says Oikawa, as if he's known all along. "Avenge me."
This is one command Ushijima does not have to listen to, much less follow. The demon king, as he'd been dubbed, deserves to die alone, forgotten apart from his atrocities. All of that is true. All of that is just.
But Ushijima finds himself reluctant to let go, finds himself saying, "yes, my king," as Oikawa's lips twist into a smile.
(Both of them know the saying far too well: victories are measured not in losing the battle, but winning the war.)