And All the Prince's Men (haikyu)

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 25

Yahaba and Kyoutani fight together, with the former surging forward, nimble healed feet working to swipe at the target with quick superficial distractions before Kyoutani can step in and cut away with his sword.

Iwaizumi slices at another bandit, expertly driving his sword into his chest, watching the man slump against him. And by then it seems the rest of the stragglers have gotten the message, retreating away, dragging their wounded with them.

When there is finally peace again, Iwaizumi lets out a sigh of relief. Fingers dig into his black hair as he tries to calm his adrenaline down. His hair, he realizes, has grown longer during his journey. He drags his hand down to wipe the sweat of his brow, taking a deep breath.

He hears words reverberating in his mind, are you ok?

He supposes it's his mind reminding himself to check for any wounds. Luckily, it seems he came out of the fight mostly unscathed. Perhaps their luck had yet to run out. He turns to his companions to make sure its same for them.

Yahaba is giddy, laughing the adrenaline off as he comes out of his first battle unwounded, "We're alive!" he shouts in a breathy laugh. Kyoutani has a cut below his eye that beads up with blood, but that seems about it. Yahaba wipes the blood away with his thumb, a giggle still caught on his lips.

Kyoutani grabs his face, crushing their lips together with more force than necessary. Yahaba lets out a squawk, but wraps his arms around the blond for leverage, pulling him closer. The kiss is sloppy, untrained, but with the unrestrained desperation of two boys in need of each other and in a world of their own.

Iwaizumi thinks of Oikawa.

He kicks dirt at the teenagers, bringing them back, "Congratulations, but we need to head out before those vagrants decide to avenge their friends."

Kyoutani growls at him, ears red, having just remembered Iwaizumi's presence. Yahaba quickly stands up, face flushed. He nods quickly, silently, as if Kyoutani had swallowed up all his words. His eyes get caught on the blood staining the dirt around him, which in turn leads him to take in the battle field he'd mostly chosen to ignore once the threat had left him. A hand comes up to his mouth in horror at the realization.

He had killed someone.

Nausea builds up behind his hand and the attendant staggers away to the river to empty his stomach. Iwaizumi stops Kyoutani from running after him, holding his forearm, "Let him be," he says, "It's gonna take him a moment to accept what's happened."

Kyoutani huffs, staying put, "They attacked us."

"They were still people," Iwaizumi reminds, "Don't think so little of your enemies. They deserve your respect."

Kyoutani pulls his arm free, glaring at the ground. Iwaizumi squeezes his shoulder, and he finds a smirk decorating his features as he leans in, "Shigeru, huh?"

"Fuck off, Iwaizumi," Kyoutani shouts, blush creeping past his ears to overtake his face as he swats the man away angrily. Iwaizumi ruffles his blond hair in turn, dodging the other's swipes at him.

"Go wash off all that mud. I'll go check on Yahaba," Iwaizumi continues, patting him on the shoulder.

He finds Yahaba sitting at the river bank, hands cupping his face as his shoulders tremble. Iwaizumi takes a seat beside him, watching the river flow beneath him, unimpeded, unbothered, calm and sure.

After a beat of silence, the attendant glances over at him. "I've never killed anyone before," Yahaba murmurs, fingers shifting up into his hair to tug at the light colored strands.

Iwaizumi rests a hand on his shoulder, squeezing, "That's a good thing."

"You both, you didn't even react."