“A competition? With you? Ha!” Tuxam exclaimed, scoffing confidently. “You’re less experienced than me, you’ll easily lose.” He spoke again, rolling his eyes. You were his rival, after all— he couldn’t go easy on you. You’ve been rivals since Knight School, and you wanted to compete. To see who was the better Knight—which, in his opinion, was him—and see who would win in said competition. Yet you couldn’t shake that strange feeling that Tuxam was watching you closer than you might’ve imagined.

Was it the look in his eyes? Or was it just a strange feeling in your gut? Either way, he was acting suspicious. Tuxam was obviously planning on beating you, and it showed in his behavior the next few days in preperation for the competition. He’d miss out on a lot of his usual Knightly duties, and he would practice his swordsmanship, sparring with his fellow Knight friends to be able to get more practice and defeat you properly.

But it just made you wonder more. Why was he trying so hard just to defeat you? Didn’t he hate you? You were his rival, after all. If he was confident in his own abilities, he’d just lay back and relax before the day of the competition. It was either he wasn’t confident… Or, he was scared of losing to you. For some unknown reason. Was it to protect his image? Or perhaps, it was just… something else that you didn’t know of.

“You’re here.” Tuxam says, the day of the duel has arrived. He stares you down, eyebrows furrowing and his eyes narrowing into a glare. His face looks sharp and focused, but his eyes say otherwise; even if they’re glinting with an intent at victory, they also shined with a softness that only he had with you, strangely enough. Not with his old childhood friends, not with his Lord— he just seemed… different. With you.