𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 || 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞

| 16 |

"Stay close to me." Akaashi ordered in a hushed tone as he crept ahead towards a messy wall of bushes, Bokuto trailing not too far behind him. Both kings were deep in Kyōi's forest in hopes of running into Sakusa's men, or better yet, Sakusa himself.

The latter was focused looking off in another direction whilst Akaashi had snuck off up to the bushes, he was already well aware of the sound of a small stream on the other side, but what he found more intriguing — were the two voices he could hear along with it.

Akaashi crouched down and peaked through the bushes swiftly, eyes widening once he saw Sakusa — and surprisingly enough — Atsumu, packing up together near a horse. Without hesitation he drew his bow, trying to find a decent position where he could hit Sakusa without hitting Atsumu, which, thanks to their close proximity, proved to be quite difficult.

The dark-haired hadn't bothered to call for Bokuto quite yet, and it seemed upon further inspection — that may have been a good decision. As Akaashi looked more into the situation, he noticed something almost immediately — Atsumu showed no signs of distress, if anything, he seemed rather pleased. The two seemed to be sharing soft, playful banter, something like the kind you'd find between a couple, as they packed up their things.

The overall demeanour of the situation left Akaashi frozen in confusion, no hostage would be playfully arguing with their captor. They wouldn't be sharing gentle laughs or soft smiles, they'd be in fear, and more commonly — wouldn't be allowed outside of wherever they were being held. So what was going on here?

As much as Akaashi wanted to think on the question, he didn't have a chance as soon Bokuto walked up behind him. Bokuto — act now, think later — Koutarou.

"Keiji, you found them?" Bokuto whispered as he came to a stop, peering at the two through the bushes as well.

"Ah, yes, however I do not thi-"

"What are you waiting for then? Take the shot, and let us grab Atsumu, this is too simple." The taller of the two shook his head faintly as he took a step forward, readying his bow in the process.

Akaashi immediately perked up at this, a wave of guilt washing over him as he shot up from his crouched position. "Kou wait-" The dark-haired called quick as he tugged on Bokuto's arm, startling the other into letting go of the arrow he had lined up.

A look of panic flashed through Akaashi's features, while Bokuto simply shot him a glare — immediately grabbing onto the other man and pulling him down to hide properly behind the bushes with him. Frantically, the latter turned to his partner.

"Keiji Akaashi, what in Gods name was that about!?" Bokuto whisper-yelled, looking to the man at his side like he'd suddenly gone mad.

"Koutarou listen to me, Sakusa was not harming Atsumu in any way." Akaashi stated slowly and quietly. He silently gestured for Bokuto to raise slowly with him so they could look back over the bushes at the two. "Look." The dark-haired once again gestured towards the two.

It seemed the arrow had missed and decently cut up Atsumu's arm, prompting a worried response from Sakusa. Bokuto and Akaashi watched as Sakusa was quick to survey their surroundings, all until Atsumu seemed to reel his attention back in on him. They both watched the way Sakusa immediately shielded Atsumu from any of the open woods, they watched as he took time into carefully lifting Atsumu's arm to get a better look at the wound. They heard the soft 'are you okay', the way Sakusa seemed so concerned when saying Atsumu should be brought back to the kingdom and treated immediately was far from something two enemies would say.

Bokuto and Akaashi looked back at one another bewildered. "I believe Sakusa will be taking Atsumu to be looked after. "

"I thought they were trying to kill one another..?" Bokuto questioned slowly, still not entirely sure what to make of the scene they'd just witnessed.