A River Runs Through Us - Haikyuu [IwaOi]

Part One: The Beginning of Everything

The sun burned a hole in the clear, blue sky.
Its golden warmth tickled the tall grass on the hill, holding the village beyond in a fiery embrace. Iwaizumi stared up at it for as long as possible, trying to determine exactly what color it was, before his young eyes watered and burned. He squeezed them shut, rubbing his small face.

Yellow? White? Yellowy white?

He could not decide.

Iwaizumi laid back in the grass, feeling sunbeams bounce on his face. He could hear the farmers in the distance, working in the rice fields, the simple lull of the countryside, disrupted only by the occasional clang! of swordsmen practicing in the courtyard of the Aoba Castle, under the shadow of the great wooden tower.
His arms ached from his own training, an activity that produced a lot of complaint from his mother.
"He's ten, he shouldn't be worked so hard!"
Iwaizumi's father would just laugh, "Haijime wants to get strong! He'll have to be the best guard, if he wants to take my job!"

"Right!", Iwaizumi roared, making a tiny fist.

But today was his day off, and he was enjoying laying on the hill immensely, slipping in and out of silly, childhood daydreams. Iwaizumi's mother had told him a proverb about the sun, something about how the sun didn't know good or bad. Before he could remember the rest of it, a shadow cut across his field of vision.

"Hey! Iwa-chan! What are you doing?"

Iwaizumi lazily opened one eye, irritated. Maybe the sun didn't know good or bad, but it didn't know Oikawa, either. The boy stood over him, blocking out the light, his head a halo of brown curls. He smiled, bright and toothy. Iwaizumi frowned. "Move, idiot."

"You can't call me an idiot! You have to say my lord. It's the rules."

Iwaizumi stuck out his tongue, "Nu-uh. Not calling you that until you're a real lord."

Oikawa folded his arms over his chest, turning his nose up. "I am a real lord."

"Nope. You're too scrawny and puny. Real lords have muscles."

The boy looked down at his arms, holding them out to inspect them, and then frowned. He kicked at Iwaizumi in the grass. "You're so mean to me, Iwa-chan. What are you even doing, anyways?" Iwaizumi shut his eyes again, praying for his peace to return. "I'm just laying. And thinking."

Oikawa nodded slowly. He turned his own face to the sun, "Can I join you?"

Iwaizumi thought it over, "I guess."

Oikawa flopped down in the grass beside him, stretching luxuriously. "So, Iwa-chan-"

"Usually people think without noise. In their own heads."

"Right. Sorry."

The two boys laid in silence, in the glow of the strong afternoon sky. Iwaizumi turned, pressing his cheek into the earth, staring at his friend in disbelief. Oikawa gazed serenely upwards, his eyes fluttering under closed lids. He had never seen him be so quiet and still. Iwaizumi smiled, turning back, closing his eyes. He would never admit it, but he was glad that they were experiencing this pocket of sun together.

Iwaizumi was the only boy around Oikawa's age that lived in the castle walls. They had grown up together, forming a fast and intense friendship in the wildness of youth. They arranged their own happiness and games, pranks and mischief, taking turns goading the other on. Everything was wonderful and explorable. Both boys were happy to have the opportunity to be the children they were, even though expectation constantly hung over their heads. Oikawa was the only son of the lord who controlled this part of Northern Honshu, the fields within it, and the trade routes that ran through it. Iwaizumi's father was the head of the warriors that were responsible for the safety of the area, and of the Oikawa family.