It was late at night, and the boys' weren't sure of their way back. It began to grow dark and without directions, they would only travel further into this endless forest. The three of them made a "shelter" out of leaves and branches, making a fire as well for a fish that Iwaizumi had caught earlier. It was currently pitch black, and a light flame surrounded them. Oikawa was leaned up against Iwaizumi's chest, tear stains on his cheeks. He was fast asleep, most likely because of his previous actions.
"Tooru-" Iwaizumi said, slightly pushing Oikawa to wake him up. "you can't sleep like this, come on." He tried to get him off of himself, but instead Oikawa just gripped his torso tighter, mumbling "Hajime" and "don't leave". Iwaizumi just sat back against the tree he was leaning against, accepting that Oikawa would be resting on him for the rest of the night. He sighed, and opted for petting Oikawa's soft hair.
"You two really are close, huh?" A groggy voice startled Iwaizumi, but he recognized it as Kuroo's. Iwaizumi was lucky that it was dark out, otherwise Kuroo would have noticed and teased him about the blush forming on his face.
"Not really, he's just one clingy son-of-a-gun," Kuroo chuckled at this, shifting himself closer to the small fire. "Clingy, but I still... I still love him."
"Mm, that's how I felt at first," Kuroo responded, not even sounding a bit surprised at Iwaizumi's surprise confession. "I thought, 'I can't possibly like this boy who's been my friend since we were born, he won't even like me in that way anyways.'
"So you dismiss the thought until it becomes too much to handle, and one day you accidentally let something slip and your life is changed- for better or for worse. It's up to you to decide what your future will be, and how your actions will reflect your choices.
"And if life couldn't get any more challenging, only 10 in 50 men are gay. I thought my chances were shot, for sure, but I couldn't deny my feelings for Kenma anymore, so I confessed. And he has made me the happiest man I've ever been. So please, don't disregard your feelings for him as something stupid, they're absolutely real and valid."
Iwaizumi laughed and said, "You turn really smart at night, huh?"
"It's just the sleep talking. At least take my words into consideration." Kuroo yawned and stretched. "G'night 'Zumi."
"G'night Kuroo."
Little did they know that Oikawa had waken up at the words "I still love him".
--
"Hajime! You don't even know your way back!" Oikawa complained, after being dragged through several paths in the forest.
"It's this way for sure. We could've already been back but someone kept crying over a stupid shoe."
"You could've died, Hajime, if anything my reaction was calmer than it could've been!" Oikawa crossed his arms and blew a big breath of air out. He felt weak, his eyes were sensitive to the bright light and his nose was still running.
"Just quit bickering and let's get back, I'm super hungry." As if right on cue, Kuroo's stomach growled and Oikawa chuckled.
Once the group made their way back to familiar grounds, Kageyama called out to them.
"Hajime! Are you hurt!?" Kageyama exclaimed, running towards the trio at high speeds. Iwaizumi chuckled and slowed Kageyama's running to a jog.
"I'm fine Tobio," he said, patting the boy's head when he reached Iwaizumi. "But you look exhausted. What happened?" Kageyama looked a little sheepish and a small blush appeared on his face.
"I- well, I thought something bad happened to the two of you so I decided to sneak through the castle to see if they captured you or-"
"You what?!" Iwaizumi and Oikawa both yelled, their mouths wide open.
"But I couldn't find any trace of you two, so I decided to ask a few soldiers if they'd seen the prince and his knight. Well, long story short, I was given wrong directions that almost ended in my death, but I'm okay now Iwaizumi, I promise." The young servant was out of breath and just a little shaky.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Iwaizumi said, leading Kageyama's towards the castle where he would probably receive a bath that would put Aoba Jousai's to shame.
"What about me, Hajime?" Oikawa pouted, crossing his arms and slumping. Kuroo set his arm on the prince's shoulder and chuckled quietly.
"I could give you a bath and something even better, Oikawa."
"Go to hell, pervert."
"Already am!"
