Chapter Text
"We have to go. Now," Tsukishima announced when he walked into the room he shared with his familiar. Yamaguchi blinked up at him for a long moment, confused. "I'll explain later. But right now we have to leave." Yamaguchi nodded and reached for the bags they usually packed when they went on long missions for the Guild. "No time to pack, either." Yamaguchi frowned, but followed the mage out of the room. At the end of the hall, another Guild mage saw them and waved. Yamaguchi waved back, deciding that whatever was going on, acting normally was probably a good idea. Tsukishima took his hand and tugged him along, expression darker than usual. They made it to the Guild Hall's exit without drawing attention, but when they stepped outside, one of the sentinel mages approached them, expression serious.
"Tsukishima Kei, your presence is requested in the announcement hall," the sentinel announced. Tsukishima hesitated, and Yamaguchi sensed rather than saw the magic pooling in the mage's hand. Deciding that it was time to stop pretending everything was normal, Yamaguchi let go of Tsukishima's hand and lunged forward, shifting his form to the shape of the spotted stag he'd originally been and headbutting the sentinel, angling his head so he didn't impale the man with his antlers. The sentinel let out a pained gasp as the force of the blow drove the air from his lungs, and he went down. Yamaguchi hopped neatly over the now coughing sentinel, returning to human form as he did so.
"Good job," Tsukishima murmured, taking his hand and hurrying toward the street, Yamaguchi at his side.
"Thanks, Tsukki!" the familiar replied happily. As they reached the street, Yamaguchi heard shouts and glanced over his shoulder. Several more sentinel mages were headed toward them. He squeaked, and Tsukishima's fingers tightened around his.
"This way," the light mage said, tugging on his familair's hand and drawing him down the street, then into a shadowed alley, where they ducked into the shadows, pressed against the wall of a building, and waited. Several sentinels passed their hiding spot, and Yamaguchi's breath caught in his throat. Tsukishima's thumb brushed over the back of his hand, soothing him. After several moments, with no sentinels in sight, the light mage led his familiar down the alley, to where a low wall separated the city from the forest beyond. Tsukishima was tall enough to grab the top of the wall and pull himself over, and Yamaguchi had the leg strength of a deer, so he leaped high enough to get over. Once they were on the other side, they made their way into the forest. They walked for several minutes before Yamaguchi finally took Tsukishima's hand and pulled him to a stop. "We have to keep moving," the mage said grimly.
"Okay, Tsukki, but talk to me, okay? What's going on?" Yamaguchi asked. The mage sighed, eyes closing behind his glasses for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he fixed them on the ground.
"The Guildmaster has an alliance with the Windswept Mage Guild," Tsukishima said finally. "I overheard him talking to some of the senior mages. Apparently, he's decided he wants to exterminate the Aoba Josei Guild once and for all." Yamaguchi's eyes widened.
"But Aoba Josei's Guildmaster has a war god for a familiar! There's no way Moonlit Shadows has the strength to take them on," he protested.
"Which would explain why we - they - have an alliance with Windswept," Tsukishima pointed out. "What I don't know is why Windswept would agree to help Moonlit Shadows." They were quiet for a moment. Then Yamaguchi bit his lip, a realization washing over him.
"Karasuno," the familiar whispered. "Windswept would look really bad if they attacked a Guild founded by one of their former mages, right?"
"Yeah. Even though they parted on bad terms, if a Guild attacked a mage for leaving, there would be outrage from all of the independent mages, and several of the other Guilds as well." Tsukishima grimaced. "But if Moonlit Shadows were to attack and get rid of Karasuno, Windswept wouldn't have to get their hands dirty."
"But why are we running?" Yamaguchi asked hesitantly. Tsukishima sighed.
"You know those illusions the Guildmaster has been trying to get me to make?"
"Yeah, but isn't that just to help you improve your skill?" the familiar questioned.
"The Guildmaster was telling the senior mages that he wants all the light mages to be capable with illusions in time for the battle, whenever that will be. He wants to use the illusions to torment Aoba Josei, to confuse their war god, make him break," Tsukishima explained. "They were discussing what kind of illusions would be best when they noticed me. I ran." Yamaguchi stepped forward, reaching up to gently tilt the mage's head so he met his familiar's eyes.
"You don't want to use your magic for this." It wasn't a question, but Tsukishima nodded confirmation anyway.
"The whole rivalry with Aoba Josei is stupid," the light mage grumbled, eyes shifting so he wasn't looking into his familiar's freckled face. "And...it's lame to use trickery to try to break someone down just because you want to attack their Guild for no reason." Yamaguchi smiled and linked his arm with the mage's, setting off deeper into the forest. Tsukishima let himself be drawn along.
"You know what I think, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi hummed lightly. "I think you don't want to be used, and you don't want to hurt someone just because the Guildmaster said so." Tsukishima gave a soft snort, but Yamaguchi wasn't put off by it. "Let me guess. Did they want to use illusions of the Aoba Josei Guildmaster to manipulate his familiar? Maybe the Guildmaster being hurt? Or killed?" Tsukishima didn't reply, so Yamaguchi took that as confirmation. "You're a good person, Tsukki."
"I just think a war between Guilds is a waste of time," the light mage replied, frowning. Yamaguchi smiled.
"Right. Whatever you say," he agreed cheerfully.
"Shut up, Yamaguchi," the mage growled.
"Sorry, Tsukki," the familiar replied calmly. They walked in silence for a bit, but then Yamaguchi paused, dark gaze darting around.
"Yamaguchi? What-" A bolt of magic - fire or lightning, maybe - hit the ground in front of them. Tsukishima whirled toward the source of the magic, placing himself between his familiar and any potential danger, spheres of light appearing in his palms. Yamaguchi shifted to his stag form, ready to charge anyone who tried to get behind the mage.
"You didn't really think you could get away from us, did you?" The question came from the direction of the magic. A sentinel stepped into the clearing, then another and another, from different directions. They were surrounded. "Come back quietly and do your part when we attack Aoba Josei, and all will be forgiven. But if you resist..."
The sentinel closest to Yamaguchi lashed out, shadows wrapping around the stag's hooves before he could dodge. Tsukishima glanced over his shoulder, scowling, and tossed one of his light spheres, hoping his magic would cancel out the sentinel's. When his attention was on that, several wickedly sharp icicles flew through the air and plunged into Yamaguchi's flank. The familiar screamed and went down. Tsukishima roared and lashed out, not that his light spheres would do much damage to the more battle-ready sentinels. He tensed, waiting to see which sentinel would attack next. Before any of them could do so, however, sparks fell between Tsukishima and the sentinels, shielding the light mage and his familiar from the others.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's all this about?" The sentinels fell back as a pair of men, one shorter with black hair and one taller with streaked, spiked hair, approached. "You shouldn't hurt a familiar to get at his master."
"Who are you?" one of the sentinels snapped. The man with the streaked hair grinned.
"I'm Bokuto Koutarou. And I have backup!" There was a sinister rustling sound, and suddenly the nearby trees were filled with angry-looking crows.