Iwaizumi herds his terrified companions toward the tree. Kyoutani hauls himself up to the first branch, helping Yahaba up and then grabbing the Prince from Iwaizumi's outstretched arms. Kyoutani reaches for him next but Iwaizumi takes a step back.
"Iwaizumi, where are you going?" Yahaba asks, wary, holding the Prince to his chest as Kyoutani goes for the next branch.
"I have to help him. Keep moving up," Iwaizumi responds, taking another step back.
"Help who? You're leaving us? Again?"
"Protect the Prince!" Iwaizumi shouts, running back toward the smokey clearing. Kyoutani stops Yahaba from jumping down, urging him upwards instead with an angry grunt. Yahaba bites his lip but follows suit.
Iwaizumi finds Oikawa keeping his distance from the shadowy beast, arms outstretched in warning. Iwaizumi unsheathes his sword, creeping closer. He makes eye contact with the demon who blinks at him before sending a fierce glare, "Stay back, Iwa-chan!"
"Watch out!" Iwaizumi calls, lunging forward. In the moment of distraction, the beast had raised its inky talons to swipe at Oikawa's face. Iwaizumi is able to slice his sword right through the arm, watching the blade cut nothing but dissipating smoke. He makes a tsking noise behind his gritted teeth.
Oikawa's back presses against his own, as they steel themselves from all directions, "Your sword isn't going to do anything," the demon snaps.
"Sure seems to distract it though, smart-ass," Iwaizumi counters, lunging at another talon creeping too close to them.
Oikawa huffs, "Someone's grumpy."
"Grumpy? Are you serious? I chase your ass down for months and--"
"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa cries, pulling him back as talons claw at the space he once occupied, "We can fight later. Just, just do what I say."
Iwaizumi catches his breath, raising his sword, "Fine, Your Highness. What should I do?"
"I think you're right. The swords distracting it. Just, keep it busy. Make sure it doesn't touch either of us. I need to focus," Oikawa orders and then takes a step back.
Iwaizumi nods, feet falling into a rhythm as he dances with the monster. He tries to keep his eyes on the skinny smokey arms, unable to bear looking at the haunting mask it hosts for a face for long. He cuts at the fog, seeing it dissipate with every whip and slash of his sword. But it does not do any lasting damage, and he can feel himself tiring from the exercise. Footwork getting sloppy, sweat beading into his eyes making his vision blurry.
An arrow whirls past him, striking the creature's center, slipping straight through it unimpeded. He glances up in surprise, seeing Yahaba brandishing Prince Tobio's bow far above. Iwaizumi ducks out of the way as another arrow whips past him, near where the creatures neck would be. It passes through the smoke with a whiff.
Iwaizumi is close to shouting at Yahaba to stop because dodging arrows and a shadow monster is too much for his tired brain to deal with at the moemnt. A third arrow shoots, and Iwaizumi sees how that it's aimed even higher. This time the beast dodges it, slinking to the left quickly.
Iwaizumi squints, pausing in his maneuvers as he realizes Yahaba's game.
He's aiming for the creature's mask.
He hears a curse far above him. A quick glance up confirms Yahaba's slipped back into the foliage, havign run out of arrows. Iwaizumi steadies himself, heaving his sword up and lunging forward to slash across the mask himself. The beast is faster, swinging to the side to evade his blade. Iwaizumi lets out an annoyed grunt, whipping back around to try again.
And then suddenly, the area around him lights up.
Iwaizumi freezes in shock, taking a step back in surprise. Around him a ringlet of fire has burst, the flames licking up higher and higher, until they are as tall as his waist. A hand grabs his shoulder, pulling him close. He startles, but relaxes when he realizes it's just Oikawa, pulling him to his chest, his other arm outstretched, reciting words he can not even hope to comprehend.
The beast begins to screech, scrunching up its form to hide away from the flames. It moves around desperately trying to break free of the circle, but the flames only grow higher. The beast continues it's wailing, screaming as it slowly disappears into absolute nothingness. Until it is no more.
The mask clatters to the ground.
Oikawa stops his chanting at the sound and the fire around them ceases. He stumbles forward, picking up the offending mask and breaking it over his knee, letting the pieces fall to the ground.
And then he too falls to the ground himself, absolutely exhausted.
Iwaizumi rushes toward him, crouching down, "Oikawa? Oikawa? Are you ok?"
Oikawa leans his head against the other's shoulder, taking in haggard breaths, "Just tired," he murmurs.
"So you're sure you're absolutely fine?" Iwaizumi presses.
Oikawa hums, lifting his head up to smile at him.
Iwaizumi slaps him, hard.
Oikawa lets out a whine, hand coming up to clutch at his face. And then he is practically barreled into by Iwaizumi, arms wrapping around him with a crushing intensity, "You fucking idiot!" Iwaizumi yells, fingers digging into his back, "Do you know the absolute hell you put me through with this stunt? How dare you just leave like that! The fuck's wrong with you?"
Oikawa hugs back, just as fiercely, "I didn't know what else to do," he whispers.
"So you run away?"
Oikawa pulls back, "It sounds stupid when you say it."
"Because it is stupid," Iwaizumi insists, taking Oikawa's face with his hands, thumb massaging the reddening cheeck, "You're a stupid, stupid, stupid, man, Oikawa."
Oikawa can't help the laugh bubbling up past his teary eyes, "Do you still love this stupid, stupid, stupid man?"
Iwaizumi presses his lips to his for a much to quick peck, "More than I can comprehend."
Oikawa pulls him back for another kiss, and another, and another, until Iwaizumi is forced to pry him off. Oikawa takes in a breath during the reprieve, looking up at the knight as he stands. Iwaizumi offers him a hand, hauling him off of the ground, "But I'm still pissed at you."
"Aren't you always?" Oikawa sighs.
"Like, super pissed at you," Iwaizumi continues, "You're not charming your way out of the nonsense you've put everyone through. You owe us a lot of apologies."
"I'm sorry, Iwa-chan," Oikawa replies, voice soft like the breeze tickling his bangs, fingers playing with each other.
Iwaizumi is unimpressed, "Save it for Yahaba."
"Yahaba?"
"Yeah, he's the one who's ground you need to worship. Now come help me get the kids out of the tree."
Iwaizumi pads over to the tree, Oikawa in tow. He cups his hands around his mouth to shout, "Kyoutani! Yahaba! It's safe now!"
There's a pause, "What about the demon!" Yahaba calls back, remaining invisible behind the foliage. Iwaizumi is impressed he was able to fire so many arrows with so little visibility.
"You can ask him yourself!" Iwaizumi huffs, letting his hands fall from his face to rest on his hips.
Kyoutani's legs come into view as he climbs down a branch, "What does that even mean?" he growls petulantly, reaching his arms up to take Prince Tobio's limp body. He offers the boy to Iwaizumi, who holds him bridal style in his arms carefully. He scrunches his eyebrows, mouth forming a thin line. Without the distracting action surrounding him, he can fully take in his state.
It is not that the Prince has passed out, but that he is completely limp in his arms. The boy's eyes are vacant, staring up at him with an empty expression. His arms hang uselessly at his sides, all of his muscles lax. It makes Iwaizumi shudder to look at. He turns to Oikawa, "Is he alright?"
Oikawa extends his hands for his younger brother, taking him in his arms carefully and easily as if he was the lightest thing in the world. He presses his ear to the boy's chest a moment, giving a little nod, "He'll be ok. It must have gotten him, so he'll be feeling the effects for a few hours. He should be fine by morning."
Iwaizumi frowns, wary.
Oikawa manhandles his brother a moment, wrapping the boys legs around his waist and his arms around his neck. Prince Tobio presses his face into Oikawa's shoulders, muscles spasming to squeeze around him. Oikawa rubs his back lightly with a sigh, drawing soothing circles across his shoulder blade, "Why did you force him out here?"
"He insisted on finding you," Iwaizumi spits back.
Oikawa purses his lips, face flushing as he looks away.
Kyoutani plops down from the tree, reaching up to help Yahaba down after him. The pair tense up at the sight of the demon, cradling the Prince beside Iwaizumi. And then fear dissolves into confusion as Yahaba takes a step forward, eyes squinting in disbelief, "Prince Tooru?"
Oikawa presents his signature smile, giving him a flourishing bow despite the catatonic thirteen year old in his arms, "Long time no see, Yahaba!"
No one is amused by the display. Yahaba steps even closer, eyebrows trembling, "I thought...I thought you died. I thought a demon, a demon killed you."
Oikawa licks his lips nervously, readjusting his grip on his brother, "Well, Yahaba, you see, it's quite a long story but, I, err, panicked. And, decided on the spot I could not go to Shiratorizawa, and I came up with an, albeit messy, plan to get myself out."
"By faking your death? And, and, making a pact with a demon?" Yahaba questions, eyes searching for answers.
"Pact with a demon?" Oikawa blinks, "Oh, oh no, Yahaba, you see, this...Umm, hmm, how do I say this, Iwa-chan?"
Iwaizumi lets out a sigh, lifting his hand up to grab at one of Oikawa's thick horns. He wrenches it down, enjoying how Oikawa shouts out and is forced forwards. He lets go of him before he can drop Prince Tobio by accident, "Prince Tooru was born a half-demon. He's been like this the whole time."
Once Oikawa recovers from the manhandling, he straightens himself back up, smiling sheepishly at the two teens.
The blood drains from Yahaba's face, confusion over taking his visage, "This...This whole time?..." Confusion distorts into anger as his eyebrows scrunch down toward his eyes, voice raising "But, I've dressed you. Hell, I've bathed you! What are you saying?"
"Can we have this discussion away from this forest, so I can put Tobio down?" Oikawa offers instead, looking over at Iwaizumi for any sort of mercy, brown eyes big and pleading.
Iwaizumi hates that it works so easily. But he must admit he too is exhausted. He lets out a sigh, "Let's head back toward the clearing we slept in last night. It shouldn't be that far."
Yahaba is none too happy with this development, but he keeps his mouth shut. His companion, however, does not, eyes distrustful and full of annoyance, "When do we get to kill him?" Kyoutani grumbles.
"Kill me?"
"You almost got Yahaba executed you self-centered asshole!" Kyoutani snaps, stomping his foot down as they walk.
"Language, Kyoutani," Iwaizumi reminds, "I already punched him."
"Yeah, well when do I get to punch him."
"We'll talk."
"Iwa-chan, I would prefer to not be punched."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should have thought of that before making literally everyone in Aoba Johsai's life a living hell," Iwaizumi spits, not turning around to face him as he keeps leading them away.
Oikawa frowns, speeding up his walk and holding onto Prince Tobio a bit tighter, "What are you talking about?"
Iwaizumi snorts, "You have a lot to catch up on, Your Highness."