Reclaim (Haikyuu Kingdoms!AU)

Lose

Kageyama stood up from his tall golden throne, his crown glistening in the morning light and a look of unease glowing in his eyes. Oikawa's fox-like smile made him wary; nothing good ever comes out from that insidious look.

"What do you want?" he asked, staring down at the pretty king below.

"Your throne."

The young king blinked at this request. Was he insane? "That's ridiculous. You already have a kingdom. You don't need this one."

"Oh, but I do. Your warm water ports are quite nice, and you have a sustainable amount of land as well," Oikawa purred, approaching Kageyama. "Do you think you can stop me?"

"Let's think about this rationally," Kageyama replied, standing his ground. "We can make a peace offer or a trade offer. But I will never allow you to take my kingdom."

The foxy king lifted Kageyama's chin to meet his devilish eyes. "If you don't step down from the throne, I'll declare war. The Kitagawa Kingdom will merge with mine."

"The people won't like that."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. You're too innovative to be a king! Everyone wants to progress at a slow and steady pace, but your ideas are too advanced for them to keep up with! No one wants a fast king that's too far ahead of his subjects."

Kageyama's hands curled into fists, hating that he was right. His adviser always told him that the technology wasn't made for any of his ideas. The inventions were brilliant, but they were impossible to assemble and use.

"I can slow down. Now get out."

"No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to connect with your subjects." He then snapped his fingers, the sound echoing through the tall room. "Iwa-chan, you know what to do."

The knight drew his sword and lunged at Kageyama, who stumbled back to clumsily grab his sword from the side of the throne and blocked his attack.

"If you don't step down, we'll declare war on your kingdom," he exclaimed as Iwa-chan put more pressure onto the king. "If you do, we'll protect this kingdom with our lives."

"Call your knight off!" Kageyama demanded. Iwa-chan glanced over at his ruler, who signaled him to back off. The knight locked eyes with Kageyama's as he stepped behind Oikawa.

"So? Have you made your choice?" he asked. Kageyama grit his teeth and threw down his weapon. It clattered onto the marble floor, cracking ever so slightly.

"Do not hurt my subjects in any way."

"You step down?"

"Yes. Now get out of my sight." Oikawa smiled at his declaration and pushed him out of the way, sauntering up to the throne and sitting down on it.

"You shouldn't say that to your new king," he said in his booming, sultry voice. The knight stood beside his king, glaring at Kageyama.

Oikawa picked up his sword and pointed it at the old king's throat. "For my first order, I demand that you leave the Inner City and to the Outer City. If you're found here in the Inner City again, you will be executed."

A lump rose in the boy's throat. Was this a really good idea? He knew that the Kitagawa kingdom is no match for the Aoba Johsai kingdom- his kingdom was also smaller than many other kingdoms.

"That is all. Leave, and stay out of this palace for as long as you live," he said, twirling the sword around. Kageyama took a deep breath and spun around on his heels, taking off his billowing red cloak and throwing the crown off his head. King Kageyama was no more.

He walked down the halls that he has known for his entire life. His frowning portrait stared down at him, making him feel small and insignificant. He turned away from the painting and kept walking until he left his home.

Through the palace and Inner City gates, escorted by two guards who closed them slowly, as if they felt like they needed to give him one last look of his old life. He turned around, scuffing his feet on the dusty ground and watched it dance in the morning heat.

Homeless, jobless, and penniless. He knew that Oikawa had his greedy eye on his kingdom, but he never expected him to take his throne. Tears silently streaked his face, staining the ground on impact. He wiped them away and stared up at the sky.

"Why did I ignore all of this?" he muttered to himself, trying to control his erratic breath."Why did I lose?"

He remembered when Oikawa used to come over and tutor him when he was a prince and he was a new king. He was always escorted by the knight by his side, who stood in the corner the entire time and spoke up when Oikawa was bullying the poor prince. The time when Kageyama and Oikawa were friends.

Now his only friend was gone. Everyone else deserted him, leaving him to his own thoughts as he wandered the outer city and took in his old handiwork. Small one story houses lined the streets on both sides, some having stone steps leading up to them. The straw-like roof looked weak, but he knew that the inside was well protected.

The sun peaked, reaching its afternoon state. He felt weak and dehydrated as he stumbled along. Was anyone around this ghost town?

He felt something bump into his chest, startling him. A small, orange haired boy stared up at him with large brown eyes. He stepped back from the boy with a glare. "Watch where you're going!"

"You should keep your eyes open!" the boy immediately retorted. Kageyama bit his lip to keep things from escalating. The boy also calmed himself and straightened his posture. "So who are you?"

"I'm..." he started. He couldn't tell this shrimp that he was the recently overthrown king. "Just call me Kageyama."

"Like king Kageyama?" he asked, face lighting up. The boy in question nodded in response.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Hinata! Nice to meet you!" he replied with a proud expression. "You look a little worse for the wear. Do you need some help?"

Should he trust this guy? He had a dark blue bandanna wrapped tightly around his head and a dusty orange tunic with a brown belt securing it in place. His black pants were tucked into his faded knee-high boots. He sucked in and nodded. "That'd be nice."

Hinata playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You don't need to be so formal. I'm a peasant, my lord."

"Don't call me 'my lord.' I'm not royalty," he replied as he followed the bounding boy. "Where are you taking me?"

"To my group, of course!"

"You make it sound like it's obvious, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Kageyama knew that there were rebel groups and gangs that wanted to overthrow him, but he never bothered to take action. He could handle them.

"I'm taking you to the Karasuno group!"