Inside the palace, servants and councilman were running frantic through the halls, trying to make sense of what was happening outside. Iwaizumi watched a particularly old advisor feebly charge through the entrance to assist, a rusted sword in his hand. Iwaizumi wanted to tell him to turn back, but there was no time. He blindly hoped the old man would be alright. Other servants were arming themselves, with vase shards, with kitchen utensils, the bravest forming their own lines of defense. He wound his way through the halls, pushing past anyone within his path until he got to Oikawa's room. Makki and Mattsun stood outside, both of their weapons drawn. 

"Everything's- 

"Fine, we're-" 

But Iwaizumi paid no attention to their report, bursting into the room. Oikawa sat at his desk in his night clothes. He leapt to his feet, flinging his arms around Iwaizumi in a grip that was almost unbearably tight. His hands were in his hair and his lips were on his mouth and Iwaizumi allowed himself to be held for a moment, until the gash on his arm ached, until he realized he had gotten blood on Oikawa's robe. The young samurai took a step back, still hot with battle. 

Oikawa looked down at the bloodied prints on his white robe, then back up at him, his eyes wide. 

"That's not mine, I don't think..", Iwaizumi grumbled. The cut in his arm stung more now that he was still, the adrenaline fading. He ripped a length off the bedsheets, holding it out to Oikawa, clutching his wound, "Tie this here for me?" 

Oikawa nodded, his hands shaking slightly, "Is it Goda?" 

Iwaizumi made a noise of confirmation, listening to the crackle of fire, the clamor of fighting. He pulled away from Oikawa, calling to the two guards stationed at the door. "Makki, Mattsun, go to wall. More warriors are needed there." 

They both turned, looking at him a bit pained, then looked at each other in a silent determination before sprinting to exit. Iwaizumi hoped he wasn't sending them off to- no, he couldn't think like that. Oikawa stood nervously behind him as Iwaizumi redrew his sword, scanning the corridor. "Iwa-chan, what's going on outside?" 

Iwaizumi thought of the fire, the bodies, the genuine horror of the world outside the castle. He decided to hold his tongue. Vague. No need to harm him. "Fighting." 

"Obviously, but what- how could this have happened-" 

Iwaizumi tensed, struck by realization. He hadn't received any word from the border scouts, which he should've found automatically suspicious. Iwaizumi had been so wrapped up in his own life, he had neglected the minute details of his role. It was a silence, when unobserved, that  had proved deadly. His heart caught in his throat and he was almost certain his legs would give out right in the doorway. If only he had been paying a bit more attention..

This is all my fault. 

A great crash echoed through the castle, and the scream of steel seemed to grow louder. He flinched, his whole body primed in anticipation. There was no way- 

"Iwaizumi!" 

Mizoguchi came running from the direction of the crash, relatively unharmed, his eyes flashing. He put a hand on Iwaizumi's shoulder, steadying himself. 

"They've breached the wall, surging in with the peasantry. There's fighting in the East Wing." 

His eyes flicked to Oikawa, "You need to get him out of here. We'll keep them off your trail. The back gate should be unobstructed. Go through the woods." 

Iwaizumi and Oikawa both stared at him, a bit dumbly. Somewhere close by, a woman screamed. A body dropped at the end of the hallway, one of Goda's men, a knife in the cavity of his chest. Oikawa inhaled sharply, grasping Iwaizumi's wrist in surprise, but Iwaizumi could barely feel it. A numbness was spreading through him. 

My fault. 

Mizoguchi looked him square in the eye, "Clench your teeth together so you don't bite your tongue." Iwaizumi did as he was told before he could question the order, just because it was  a relief to have someone give him a command. That relief ended abruptly when Mizoguchi smacked his hard across the face. "Get yourself together!" 

The older man roughly forced him to stand straight, "If he dies, those who have sacrificed their lives tonight will have gone in vain. You need to go!" 

Iwaizumi nodded, the slap having knocked his senses back into his body. He grabbed Oikawa's hand and raced down the hallway, dragging him behind. As they passed the body, Oikawa dug his heels into the ground, stopping briefly to dislodge the knife. Iwaizumi continued to pull him forward as Oikawa held the weapon tightly in his own hand, his eyes round with fear. 

They turned into a hallway that split off. On one end, a fire was spreading. There was a small stampede of palace dwellers running from the blaze. Iwaizumi guided Oikawa ahead of them, running so fast his legs burned with strain. Suddenly, two of the enemy soldiers leapt out in front of him, grinning triumphantly as they spotted Oikawa. Without hesitating, Iwaizumi dispatched them with his sword, slicing through their throats in a collective sweep. He looked back, reoffering his hand to the man, only to be greeted by the briefest expression of horror. Oikawa looked at the men on the ground, then back at him, and Iwaizumi felt something like a monster. 

He moved to apologize, as if that would mean anything, but Oikawa's face changed and he grasped his hand tightly, nodding in understanding. 

He looked at him and Iwaizumi could almost see a light spread out from his body. The world opened up, and he knew he loved Oikawa so deeply, without limit, because who else could ever witness him within a worse moment, who else would ever choose to cling tightly to hands that were trained to destroy? 

Oikawa pressed his lips against Iwaizumi's knuckles, and they continued to run. 

All fear was gone from him now, because he was here, because when Oikawa had told him that he loved him purely because he was himself, there was no longer any doubt in Iwaizumi's mind that that was true. 

As they neared the back gate, he pulled Oikawa into the now emptied servant's quarters, grabbing a man's clothes. He tossed them at the young lord. "Change, it's better if you're unrecognizable." 

Oikawa quickly stripped as they both caught their breath in silence. Iwaizumi began to chart a path in his minds eye. Along the river, up to the lake. Over the crest, past the twisted tree. These woods had raised him. No one else could navigate them the way he could, in all his years growing up in Aoba Castle. As long as they made it to the lake, he knew that there was no way they could be followed. Oikawa looked smaller, younger in the simple tunic. He still held the knife is his hand. Iwaizumi looked out of the door, motioning for Oikawa to be quiet. A group of Goda's men were tearing along the edge of the courtyard, flinging open windows and doors. 

They were looking for him. 

Their fingers relaced and the two young men crept silently around the back of the long building, through the gate. The minute they crossed the threshold, they separated and began to run again, until Iwaizumi realized the only footsteps he could hear were his own. He turned to see Oikawa staring out over the burning village at the bottom of the hill, the flames that had now spread up the trees to the front of the castle. It was completely out of control, devouring all in its path without care to either side. 

"Iwa-chan... Our home." 

He saw the tears sliding down Oikawa's bare face. Iwaizumi moved to take his hand once more, "Don't look, just don't look. We have to keep going." 

But Oikawa was lost to his words, moving in the direction of destruction, "No, we have to do something, we can't-" 

There was a commotion from the back gate. The group of Goda's men saw them standing, exposed, between the castle and the woods. They began to rush forward and before he could even process what he was doing, Iwaizumi roughly picked Oikawa up and dived under the cover of the forest. He was as light as he had been the first time Iwaizumi had carried him to bed, but this time, Oikawa struggled against him, "Iwaizumi, put me down- we have to go back- we have to help-" 

Iwaizumi gritted his teeth, his heart aching with Oikawa's protest, but he pressed forward. He could hear Goda's men following, trampling the under brush. As much as he could, he fixed Oikawa with a look, holding him tighter. 

"My job is to protect you. I will not have you running into disaster. So either I continue to carry you and slow both of us down, or you accept that your job, right now, is to live. Which is it going to be, Shittykawa?" 

There was a pause between them, as Iwaizumi's feet continued to carry them forward, as the world around them continued to collapse, until Oikawa spoke in a half-whisper. 

"Put me down." 

Iwaizumi did, pausing to listen if they were still being pursued. He could hear the samurai still approaching, the cracking of movement, and he cursed. They were running alongside the small creek, but at this pace, they could probably make it over the crest within a matter of minutes. Hope flickered in his chest. He returned to Oikawa to inform him of this, but the young lord smiled strangely. 

"I love you so much, Iwaizumi. Always. But I don't deserve your love if I don't do my job. I'm staying with my people. There will be no more bloodshed tonight." 

With that, he turned, heading back down the hill. Iwaizumi tripped as he pursued him in his misguided return, falling hard against his injured arm. Stars swam in his eyes and his head spun as he got back up. He wanted to scream at Oikawa, you didn't do anything wrong! It's my fault this is happening! Even if the young lord surrendered, he would surely be executed. 

Oikawa was surprisingly fast, darting between trees, but Iwaizumi was faster. He lunged forward, tackling him into the ground, pressing his hands into the earth. Oikawa tried to push back against him. 

"Are you crazy? Nobody wants you to sacrifice yourself, we have to go-"

Then, the disruption of water, the snap of a branch. Iwaizumi was on his feet in seconds, standing over Oikawa, sword drawn. Goda's men encircled them. The man who appeared to be leading them grabbed a smaller footmen, "Send word to the general, we found him." 

He sneered, ugly, reaching to pull Oikawa off the ground. "Say that we found him fleeing, like a coward." 

Before Iwaizumi could act, Oikawa leapt at the samurai, plunging the hilt of his knife into the man's neck. The man screeched, clawing at him. Iwaizumi sprang into action, driving the rest of them back with his blade before the surprise wore off, his back pressed against Oikawa. He swung with terrifying precision, with a ferocity that made him worthy of his own title. Another soldier tried to parry his strike and he snapped his sword clean in half, driving his blade into him. He quickly decimated any that approached, using his free arm to keep Oikawa out of harm's way. When the final footmen of the group chose to drop his weapon and flee, Iwaizumi turned back to him, "Please. Can we please keep going now-" 

But Oikawa's hands were at his stomach. Iwaizumi knew, instantly, that something was wrong.  Red bloomed through his fingertips and he staggered backwards, crumpling to his knees. 

"H-Hajime."