Archive of Our Own

has this been done yet lmfao

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"No!" Prince Kageyama hissed, looking down at the servant who cowered in fear. His dark blue eyes held no remorse or sympathy as he continued his harsh treatment towards him. "I ordered the carpet to be blue not red! This has to be perfect, you idiot!"

"I-I'm sorry," the man whispered as his shoulders shook in fear. He dared not to raise his eyes as they remained glued on the red carpet beneath them. Kageyama felt the red hot rage inside of him rise with each passing second. "I'll get someone to fix it r-right away!"

"Yes," Kageyama grunted, finally deciding to turn away. "Go do that. Now."

The servant wasted not even a second as he quickly ran out of the room in the blink of an eye. All the other servants, bakers, and decorators quickly turned away, continuing on with their work. It wasn't rare that Prince Kageyama would lash out at someone lower in class. In fact, it seemed that every day he was growing increasingly stern and harsh towards other people. It was a true mystery how he had turned out to be so cold and bitter, considering that his parents were so kind and caring.

Daichi and Sugawara were the two rulers of Karasuno, a kingdom filled with thousands of people. In contrast to Kageyama, they ruled with pride, never with greed or disdain. The two kings were loved by all that lived there. It was very soon that they would be handing their kingdom over to Kageyama, as he was assigned to marry someone from the kingdom of Fukurodani, unless he found someone else he wished to marry. He wasn't pleased with this information, but the 18 year-old would do anything at this point to be king.

He was so impatient that he insisted on doing his planning for the coronation months in advance. This wasn't entirely crazy, seeing as how shipping supplies would take a very long time. Still, Kageyama wanted to rehearse the event in real life, sick of doing it in his head all of these years.

"Kageyama?" Sugawara called as he stood next to his son. "What's the matter?"

"Just some servant being a fool," Kageyama replied, his eyes still narrowed as he stood with clenched fists.

"Oh," Sugawara answered, looking down. He knew his son had a tendency to be let his anger issues loose. "Well, it's getting a little late. See? The sun is already setting. Why don't you go to your room and plan some more while I take care of this-"

"But-"

"No buts!" Sugawara interrupted, and Kageyama knew that he didn't really have a choice at this point. Borderline sulking, he stepped out of the throne room as he made his way to his room. In the back of his mind, he knew that this was probably the best idea. He was so angry at everyone else's utter foolishness that he could honestly kill someone right now. When he was king, he knew he wouldn't let acts slide. He sometimes wondered if his parents were too nice.

He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. There were two guards walking down the hall, but he paid no mind to them. At least, not until he heard his name. Kageyama quickly leaned against the door, pressing his ear to the wood.

"Did you hear what the prince did today?" one of them with a rather nasally voice said. Kageyama's eyes widened. Did the news really get around that fast? he wondered. Then his lips thinned as he pressed them together. Good. Now no one else will mess with me.

"Yeah. He's really cruel at times," the other with a much deeper voice replied. "He's not even the king yet and he thinks he can boss everyone around."

"I think I'll kill myself the day he becomes king," one of them snorted. The other chuckled in reply..

"Yeah. Some king he's gonna make."

Kageyama narrowed his eyes as he heard the voices slowly fade out of his hearing range. He felt his hands form into tight fists as he bit his lip hard. So what? He didn't need anyone anyways. He was going to be the king, and that was all that mattered to him. Kageyama didn't give a shit what anyone thought of him!

And he pressed the cold, dark and blue feeling of sadness that grew at the pit of his stomach. He let the boiling hot anger that resided in him take over instead, feeling his body go red. He let out a shout as he punched the window, watching as the lock broke and the window flew open. He took in a breath of air as cold wind blew in his face. The sun really was setting, and Kageyama wondered how people could find such a plain thing so beautiful. He rolled his eyes just thinking about it.

Ever since he was born, Kageyama never quite understood the concept of sunrises or sunsets. Sure, they were nice to look at and they didn't hurt his eyes, but they were just so plain. When he asked his parents, they said something dumb about the symbolism of it all. He never understood it, and it only angered him further that he couldn't. Kageyama really hated things he couldn't understand. It pissed him off to no end.

He sighed, stepping away from the window but not shutting it. He flopped back on his bed, looking up at the white ceiling. There was no spot or ball of dust in sight. The room was kept entirely clean and organized as it possibly could at all times. Kageyama didn't like messes because they only made things more confusing. Everything had to be perfect at all times, or else Kageyama would have a fit of rage. This was something well known throughout the whole castle.

Kageyama's thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly heard something crash. He shot straight up, eyes darting around his room as he pushed off his bed. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw something moving on the ground. He stepped closer to the black ball, looking down at it.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw what it was. It was a small crow, flopping around on the ground. It looked as if its wing had been bent or hurt in some way, prohibiting it from flying properly. Kageyama went to kick it before it suddenly shot past him and into a wall. It let out a helpless chirp as he fumbled around some more.

"Stupid animal," Kageyama muttered under his breath. The crow suddenly stopped moving, and the Prince looked at it, hoping it had died already. He was disappointed to find that it was still breathing.

"Whatever," he grunted. "I'll take care of it myself."

He went to the bird and made a disgusted face as he picked it up. He felt a shiver go down his spine when he felt the feathers tickle his hands, some falling to the floor. He held the crow out the window, entirely ready to let it go before he heard the crow again.

Except this time, it wasn't a chirp.

"Wait!" it cried out in a high voice. "Don't drop me!"

Kageyama let out a loud yell as he fumbled back, falling on his rear end. The bird fell to the floor again, letting out a pained sound. Kageyama quickly stood up again, backing away slowly.

"What the fuck?" he cried. "You just spoke?"

The crow grunted before finally standing on its two feet. His wing was bent at an odd direction as he shook itself, some more feathers fluttering to the ground.

"You were about to drop me!" it complained. "How could someone be so cruel?"

"You shouldn't be speaking!" Kageyama yelled. The bird just cocked its head to the side. "You're a fucking bird!"

"Hey! Be quiet!"

"No! I have to tell someone!" Kageyama said before running to the door. His hand made it to the handle before he felt something peck at his back.

"Don't leave me all alone here! I'll die!"

Kageyama turned around, ready to beat the shit out of the animal until he felt something fly in his face. The bird had lost control of its flying again and accidentally knocked its head on Kageyama's lips. Kageyama flinched back when he suddenly saw something in front of his eyes.

The crow let out a squawk as a bright light enveloped its entire body. Kageyama felt his eyes shut instinctively as he covered them with his hands. The white light continued to shine for a moment before it finally died down. Kageyama let his hands fall to his lap, gasping at what he saw.

The crow that he had previously seen was no longer a crow, but a human boy. He looked short with fiery orange hair that stuck out in every direction possible. He was sitting on his legs as one hand gripped at his left arm. It was obviously broken.

"You-You..." Kageyama stuttered. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Gah!" the boy cried, making eye contact with Kageyama. His eyes were large and a deep shade of brown.

"What are you?" Kageyama questioned, demanding. His eyes scanned the boy, falling down to his..

"AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED?"

"Well," the boy said calmly as he stuck his lip out in a pout that pissed Kageyama off, "crows don't exactly wear clothes, mister!"

"How... How the hell did you-"

"I would love to explain," the ginger interrupted, "but my arm is kind of broken here!"

"I..." Kageyama suddenly sighed, rubbing at his head as he buried his face in his hands. "I must be dreaming."

"You're not!" the smaller man assured. He stood up and held his good hand out for Kageyama to take. The prince rolled his eyes and pushed himself up on his own. The boy took his hand away, hurt, as it made its way back to his broken arm. Kageyama looked at the redhead again, looking him up and down. He was significantly shorter than Kageyama, with big eyes and a round face. He was pale, contrasting with his deep brown eyes.

"Okay, I don't know what you are, but I'm too frustrated to care. You need to leave," Kageyama stated. The boy cocked his head with a small smile on his face and Kageyama wanted nothing more than to tear that smile off of his face. His eyes fell downward again. "And cover yourself up!"

"I don't have any clothes!" the boy cried. His hand fell down to his crotch as he covered himself up. Kageyama rolled his eyes as he darted past the boy, opening the drawer with his clothes.

"Kageyama!" a voice called from the outside. "We heard shouting! Are you okay?"

Way to wait minutes before bothering to ask, Kageyama thought sarcastically.

"I'm fine!" he roared back. The guard coughed before answering.

"Ah! S-Sorry!" Kageyama heard the sound of footsteps as the guard walked away. Kageyama quickly dug out a white shirt and threw it at the boy. He quickly put it on as Kageyama searched for some pants. He didn't think any of his clothing would fit the boy, seeing as he was several inches taller than him, so he didn't bother. He turned around, sighing in relief to see the boy was dressed. Well, not entirely, but the shirt went down to his knees and the sleeves were especially big around his armpits, but now Kageyama didn't have to see his dick every time he looked at him.

The boy stood awkwardly, bouncing on his heels as he looked at the ground. Kageyama's eye twitched.

"So," he said sternly, "are you going to explain what you are and what you were doing outside my window?"

"I'm a crow!" the boy explained as if it were obvious. "My name is Hinata Shouyou, by the way! And you are...?"

"I'm Kageyama," the man muttered darkly. "Prince Kageyama to you."

"Prince!?" Hinata cried. "No wonder it's so fancy in here! This is a castle, isn't it?"

"Yes, you dumbass! Have you never seen a castle before?" Kageyama roared, making the boy jump.

"I have! I was just so hurt that I couldn't see where I was going, so I landed in here!" Hinata cried out, making a distressed face. Kageyama just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why the hell you transformed into a human."

"Oh! That's because you kissed me!" Hinata stated with a smile. Kageyama lost it at that smile and dived for the boy. He let out a cry, jumping out of the way. Kageyama noticed his incredible speed, despite having a broken arm. The raven-haired prince yelled out.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know! It just happens if you kiss me, okay?" the smaller man whimpered. Kageyama rolled his eyes.

"Alright! So if I kiss you, can you turn back into a crow and go away?" Hinata scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, averting his eyes to the ground.

"Um, it doesn't really work like that." Kageyama groaned.

"Then how does it work?!" he yelled loudly. Hinata jumped in shock and fell back on his butt. He let out a cry of pain as his arm smacked against the carpet.

"Well, it doesn't work anymore! The only way to stop it is for true loves kiss to break the spell I'm under!"

"Spell?" Kageyama cried. Hinata nodded.

"A witch put a curse on me because I stole something from her!"

"Oh," Kageyama muttered, poison dripping from his voice. "You're a dirty thief."

"I'm not a thief!" Hinata yelled with a crack in his voice. "That's not any of your business!"

Kageyama sighed angrily, rubbing at his temples. He obviously wasn't getting anywhere with this kid. Well, he wasn't really a kid. He looked to be Kageyama's age, or even a year or two younger. Still, that didn't excuse the amount of annoying this guy was being. Kageyama had no idea why he didn't just call for the guards to come execute him.

"Besides," the boy continued, "I have a hurt arm! Would you really just leave someone all alone like that? That's horrible!"

"Your arm is none of my concern," Kageyama hissed violently. The boy flinched back, still on the ground. Kageyama huffed out in annoyance.

"Listen," he said, "you can stay with me until your arm is better. Then you can go find your true love or whatever and merrily be on your way."

Despite the harsh tone that hid in Kageyama's sentence, the boy smiled brightly.

"Really? Thank you so much!" he cried, jumping up. He went to give Kageyama a hug, but the prince stepped to the side, dodging his advances. The boy just shrugged it off, going towards the door.

"I need to see a doctor, right? Come on!" Kageyama sprinted after him, placing his hand over Hinata's much smaller one to stop him from turning the knob. He looked down with anger and annoyance.

"Are you stupid? Do you know how suspicious it will look if you just walk out out of nowhere?" Hinata blinked up at him as if pondering the thought. Then he giggled silently.

"You're right! What was I even thinking?" He walked away, looking out the window for a moment before turning back to Kageyama. "So what's the plan?" Kageyama frowned wryly.

"I have no idea. I can just bring the doctor in here."

"But won't he be suspicious, Kageyama?" Hinata asked. Kageyama thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I hate this stupid bastard, but I think he's the only one who won't care enough to tell anyone."

"Ooh!" Hinata cheered. "Who?"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Who is this?" Tsukishima sneered as he adjusted his glasses. Kageyama hissed under his breath as he crossed his arms. Hinata sat at the edge of the bed with his hands folded in his lap.

"It's a long story," Kageyama explained, shooting a death glare at the small boy. He didn't seem to notice, his eyes trained on Tsukishima, the doctor. "How long until his arm is recovered?"

"Well," Tsukishima replied, "the damage is very severe, king." Kageyama's fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists. "I would say a few months at the least, so long as he keeps his cast on."

"A few months?!" Kageyama shouted. Tsukishima blinked at him with boredom and nodded. "How many months?"

"Probably 3, I'd say."

"3?!"

"Yes," Tsukishima muttered before picking his stuff up and exiting the room, annoyed with Kageyama's constant yelling. "Make sure he keeps the cast on."

With that, Tsukishima was gone.

Kageyama turned back to Hinata and sent another infamous glare at the boy. Hinata gulped and scratched the back of his head as he smiled awkwardly.

"I guess we'll become good friends then...?"

"No," Kageyama stated sternly. "We will not become friends. As soon as you're better, you are leaving. Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh, yes!" Hinata replied with a shaky tone. This guy was really scary when he wanted to be! Hinata looked out the window, noting several stars that had appeared in the sky. Kageyama followed his gaze, suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion come over him. He went to shut the window, kicking the broken lock that had fallen on the ground as he did. Hinata got up in the meantime and collected all of the dark black feathers that had escaped from his body in his struggle. He set them down in the corner, not able to find a trashcan to place them in.

"I think we should get to bed now!" Hinata suggested with a cheery tone. Kageyama narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"Don't tell me what to do," he said before continuing with, "But yes, that's a good idea."

Kageyama crawled into bed, not bothering to change out of his current clothes. He threw the blanket over himself before shutting his eyes.

Hinata bounced on his heels awkwardly, looking around for a place to sleep. Kageyama had turned off the lights, so it was rather dark at the moment, and it took all of the "crow's" willpower not to glance at the creepy dark shadow that lurked in the corner of the room.

He silently tiptoed over to Kageyama's bed and glanced over at the taller male. Hinata took note of his deep breathing and came to the conclusion that Kageyama was already fast asleep. He grinned before carefully laying down, careful of his cast. He was about to get under the covers when he heard a voice next to him.

"No."

"Aww! Kageyama, don't be stingy!"

"No, dumbass!" Kageyama countered, now turning to face the boy. Hinata gazed into his blue eyes as he was able to make them out in the dark room.

"Why not? My arm is broken, mister!" Hinata whined pathetically. Kageyama grumbled something under his breath before turning away and resting his head back on the pillow.

"Sleep on the floor or something! Just get out of my bed!"

Hinata mumbled angrily under his breath before slunking out of the bed and sitting down on the floor. He shot Kageyama's back a glare before slowly falling down on his back. He felt tears prick his eyes as he looked at the ceiling. Leave it to Hinata to get kissed by the rudest and most stressful guy on the planet. Seriously, he didn't think he met someone more selfish. All Hinata wanted to do was go home, but of course he had to be attacked by an eagle in the air!

Hinata rolled onto his side, making sure to roll over on the arm that wasn't broken. He shifted uncomfortably for several more minutes before finally finding a decent position and slowly closing his eyes.

Pearly tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the floor as he slowly faded into a deep slumber.

Kageyama's eyes slowly opened, squinting as the light from the sun flooded into his room from the window. He sat up slowly, looking around his room. He tried to remember something from the night before, but his mind was empty from it being so early in the morning. Only when he was the bright ginger looking out the window did his memories suddenly come flooding back to him.

"God," he groaned, falling back down. "It wasn't a dream."

"Nope!" Hinata called with a cheery voice. He bounced over to Kageyama, giggling at his sleeping face. "Get up, sleepyhead! Someone came outside your door and left something at it. I didn't go outside to see."

"Probably just breakfast," Kageyama told him before throwing the covers off of himself and stepping out of bed with a yawn. Hinata smiled before a loud growl sounded from his stomach. He blushed bright red as his face flamed. Kageyama snorted before opening the door and take the tray. He placed it on a desk before turning to the ginger.

"You can have some if you want. I'm going to the bathroom quick," he told Hinata. The smaller man just nodded before hopping over to the desk to examine the tray. He took note of the several glasses of milk that had been left on the tray. He cocked his head as he heard the door click shut, signaling that Kageyama had left.

He grinned before taking a biscuit off the plate. His mouth watered as he took a bite. He sat down in the chair at the desk as he saw crumbs fall to the floor. There was butter already on the biscuit, he noted when he took a bite. He was a little bit jealous that Kageyama was able to have it so easy. There was so much food that he probably could have fed an army!

He wiped the crumbs that stuck to his cheeks before taking another bite. He scarfed down the biscuit quickly, realizing that he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. Ever since Hinata was turned into a bird, he had trouble finding food. He refused to eat worms and it seemed like many people weren't willing to throw away perfectly good food these days.

He scorned the memories he had of being a bird, shaking his head. He went to bite into the bread again before he cried out in pain. He realized that he had finished the biscuit and had just bitten his finger. Hinata's lips thinned and he looked at the plate again. At that moment, Kageyama had returned back, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to Hinata and gazed down at the smaller man.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata asked. Kageyama shrugged.

"I'm gonna be very busy today, so I don't know where to put you," he replied. Hinata's face turned angry.

"I'm not an object!"

"I know! I'm just wondering what to do with you!" Kageyama replied back with an angrier tone. Hinata decided not to pick a fight with the prince and just shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

"Can't I just pretend I'm a servant or something?" Hinata suggested. Kageyama shook his head.

"I doubt it. No one will recognize you."

"I can just say I'm new! If anyone says otherwise, they'll ask you, right?" Kageyama shook his head again.

"No, they'd probably ask one of my fathers. They're the ones who are really in power, after all."

Hinata paused. "You're not jealous of the kings, right?"

"Of course not!" Kageyama said. Hinata recoiled back in the chair.

"Sorry! I was just making sure!" Hinata defended, hopping up from his chair. "Can't you vouch for me or something? I don't want to sit in the room all day!" Kageyama tapped his chin before sighing.

"Alright, but don't get in any trouble. I don't want to be held responsible for your mistakes."

"Yay!" Hinata cheered. "Where should I go?"

"Come with me. We can ask Kiyoko."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Ooh!" Hinata chirped as he followed Kageyama down a series of stairs. He took in all of the castle, looking at every chandelier, painting and even all the carpets that were laid on the floor. He had never seen a place so entirely fancy in his life! Kageyama just sauntered in front of him, oblivious to the boy's amazement.

"Kiyoko is usually in the kitchen at this time," Kageyama explained as he opened a white door. Hinata followed him in as he looked around.

Several people were running around cleaning, cooking, baking-you name it. Hinata took in the delicious scents, stepping out of the way as someone rushed past him. It took him a second to realize that Kageyama had left his side. His eyes darted around before they landed on his usual flat mop of black hair. He was talking to a woman who also had black hair. He skipped up next to Kageyama, listening in on their conversation.

"We have a new servant. He needs some clothes and something to do," Kageyama explained. Kiyoko nodded before locking eyes with Hinata. "Make sure he can do it with a broken arm."

"Of course, your majesty. We'll be right on it." Kageyama nodded before turning away and exiting the room. Not before turning to look back at Hinata, who was grinning with a big thumbs-up. Kageyama rolled his eyes and exited the kitchen.

"Yamaguchi!" Kiyoko called. Not a second later, a tall man with brown hair and freckles adorning his cheeks jogged up to her. He had an apron on, and gazed down at the woman.

"Yes, Kiyoko?" asked, who Hinata was assuming was, Yamaguchi. The woman looked at a paper she was holding for a moment before placing her hand lightly on the small boy's back and pushing him forward.

"Will you take Hinata and get him a uniform. I need him to wash clothes. He's new, so could you help him with that?"

"Of course!" Yamaguchi said before walking past Hinata and ushering him to follow. Hinata did as told and followed the taller man out the door of the kitchen. They walked down the long hall (And yes, Hinata's eyes were everywhere.) before walking down some more stairs (Which Hinata soon got tired of, seeing as he had small legs.) and into a separate room. There were more people who looked to be servants darting around, but it was mostly empty.

"This is the male dressing room," Yamaguchi explained. He went to a drawer and opened it up. It reminded Hinata of Kageyama searching for clothes, and he looked down at himself, realizing how indecently dressed he was. All he was wearing was Kageyama's too-big shirt and some boxers he had to borrow from the prince as well. They were ones Kageyama had grown out of a few years ago that he had never bothered to throw away.

Yamaguchi held up a shirt in front of Hinata and squinted. Deeming the shirt to big, he placed it back in and grabbed a new one. He bit his lip before nodding and handing Hinata the shirt.

"You can change into that while I find you some pants."

Hinata nodded and looked around, realizing there was no room to privately change. Yamaguchi must have noticed, because he awkwardly added, "You have to do it in front of everyone, unless that makes you too uncomfortable."

"No, that's fine!" Hinata squeaked. He noted that that was the first time he'd spoken since he had met Yamaguchi, and he flushed in embarrassment. He took off his (Kageyama's) shirt and put on the new one. It was black with orange accents on it. He fumbled with the buttons, managing to get all 3 buttoned up before Yamaguchi held out some pants. He looked at Hinata's (Kageyama's) boxers with confusion.

"Were... Were you not wearing pants under that?" Hinata paused for a moment before his cheeks flared in embarrassment again. Yamaguchi took his silence as an answer and snickered as Hinata put on his pants. "I'm guessing you'll also need some shoes?"

Hinata looked down at his bare feet before nodding again. Yamaguchi wanted to mention his small foot size, but he refrained. Instead, he turned back to the cursed drawer and dug out some old socks. They had a few stains, but were relatively clean. After that, Hinata watched Yamaguchi go to a rack and take out some shoes.

"What's your size?"

"My what?" Hinata echoed.

"Your shoe size."

"Oh!" Hinata said with realization. He scratched his chin, looking down. Crows didn't exactly have shoe sizes and the ginger had honestly forgotten his. He squirmed before answering, "I don't know..."

"Oh," Yamaguchi said before shrugging. "That's alright. I'll get a few pair and we'll see which one fits you." Hinata nodded.

This guy is really nice! he thought.

As promised, Yamaguchi took out a few pairs of shoes and gave them to Hinata. The boy struggled a bit, as he only had one arm. But he managed. Yamaguchi squatted down next to Hinata, who was sitting on the floor, and struck a conversation.

"So what's got you working for the kings?" Yamaguchi asked with a small smile. Hinata averted his gaze, not sure how to explain his situation.

"Oh, you know... Stuff..."

"I get it," Yamaguchi said with a laugh. "I was really poor when I started working here. I was so surprised that they actually let me that I almost yelled. It's really nice once you get used to it."

Hinata nodded, removing a pair that was too big and trying on a smaller pair.

"Now the prince... I don't think I'll ever get used to him." Hinata's ears perked up.

"Oh really?"

"Yep. He yells at everyone and anyone who does even the smallest things wrong. He's never yelled at me, luckily." Hinata could believe that. After all, Kageyama was already yelling at Hinata and they had only known each other for a night. It wasn't too surprising to discover that it was something he did a lot.

"What's the worst thing he's ever done?"

"Hmmm," Yamaguchi hummed, tapping his chin. "One time her fired someone for 'not shining his shoes properly.'"

"What?" Hinata questioned. "Something as small as that?"

"Mmhmm. That prince has some issues. Not like it's my business, though. It actually makes me worry for him sometimes."

"You must be real nice to worry about someone like that," Hinata replied. Yamaguchi laughed as Hinata smiled up at him. "This pair is good!"

"Great!" Yamaguchi said. He stood up, and helped Hinata get up by offering a hand. Hinata gratefully took it and hauled himself up. "Kiyoko said she needed you to-"

"Yamaguchi!" a voice called. "Thank goodness I found you!"

Hinata turned to see another servant walking in the room. Yamaguchi tilted his head to the side.

"What's wrong, Tanaka?" Yamaguchi asked. The man placed his hands on the taller man's shoulder and panted.

"Kiyoko needs you to serve the kings. We don't have anyone else?" Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow.

"But weren't there tons of people in the kitchen? Why can't that do it?"

"Those were all chefs. Everyone else is too busy getting things shipped and stuff. Can you please do it?"

"I mean sure, but I'd have to have Hinata come with me and he has a broken arm."

"Please, Yamaguchi!" Tanaka pleaded, shaking the freckled boy a bit.

"Alright! We can do it. Come on, Hinata!"

Yamaguchi led Hinata out of the room as they ran to the kitchen. As soon as Yamaguchi busted through the door, Kiyoko's turned to them. She smiled.

"Yamaguchi! We don't have anyone else to do this. Please, will you serve the kings their breakfast?"

"Well, sure. But what about Hinata?"

"He can help you if his arm will allow him to."

"Huh?" Yamaguchi questioned. He scratched his cheek. "His arm is broken, remember?"

"It's either that or you'll have to do it alone. I have to go no because someone trimmed down a whole hedge. Be right back," Kiyoko explained before rushing out the door. Yamaguchi held out a hand, but he was ignored. The tall boy sighed as his shoulders slouch. He finally turned to the orange-haired boy before snapping his fingers.

"Ooh! Okay, I'll do everything. All I need you to do is hold this tray like this!" Yamaguchi exclaimed before showing Hinata how to do it. He used his palm to balance the tray and Hinata watched in amazement as he didn't struggle with it at all. He licked his lips before Yamaguchi handed it to him. The boy struggled at first, almost tipping it all over, but he managed to get the basic of it.

"As long as you don't move your hand an inch," Yamaguchi said, "we should be okay. Unless you want me to hold it and you place the food on their plates?"

Hinata couched. "I don't know to..."

"Place the silverware?" Yamaguchi finished. Hinata chuckled in embarrassment.

"To do anything really." That made Yamaguchi laugh.

"If you have to, you can use two hands if you want. Anyways, come now! We have to hurry!"

Hinata gulped as Yamaguchi patted his back and grabbed a tray of his own. Yamaguchi lead him out of the kitchen and into the dining room. The smaller boy caught Yamaguchi muttering something to himself before they did, however.

"...It's like I have my own assistant!" he whispered in amazement. Hinata chuckled at that.

The servant and the "servant" walked out of the room. Hinata had to use his cast-hand to hold up the tray, but he sort of naturally got the hang of it. On his tray was several assortments of food. Hinata would have listed them off in his head if he knew what any of them were called. He did, however, recognize a stack of pancakes that made his mouth water. It reminded him of how little he had for breakfast, and he had to clench his stomach to stop the growling. Something else Hinata noticed were several glasses of pure white milk, which no doubt reminded him of the prince.

Speaking of which, as soon as the two servants walked into the room, Hinata's eyes locked with recognizable blue ones. Brown eyes widened just as deep sea-blue ones did.

And Hinata promptly dropped the tray he was holding.

"OH MY GOD!" he shouted. Daichi and Kageyama's eyes widened further as Sugawara snorted from his seat. It seemed like the 3 were having a pleasant conversation just as Hinata had totally ruined it. The boy looked around frantically before Yamaguchi mouthed something to him, but he didn't catch it between all of his apoligzing.

"I am so sorry!" Hinata pleaded with a bow. He bowed about 5 more times before continuing. "Please don't send me to the dungeon!"

"Ah! My apologies, your majesty's!" Yamaguchi said calmly before taking Hinata's shoulder in his hand and leading him back into the kitchen. He turned to Hinata. "Well, I wasn't expecting that much."

"Yamaguchi!" Hinata wailed. "They're going to put me in prison forever!"

Yamaguchi snorted. "That's not the first time anyone has ever dropped a plate. The only thing that surprised me was the fact that the prince didn't yell at you!" the man explained while he searched the cabinets for cleaning supplies. After finding some, he searched for some rags. "Normally he would chew your head off!"

"I'm so sorry, Yamaguchi! You must be so embarrassed!"

"I'm really not," Yamaguchi said. "Between you and me, Tanaka has let out a huge fart in front of the kings before."

Hinata burst into giggles as Yamaguchi handed him a rag and some sort of soapy water.

"Really? Did Kageyama yell at him?"

"The prince wasn't there, but you can bet he would've. I'll take care of the plates and food and such, just make sure you start removing the stain from the carpet. Don't worry-it's just syrup. I'll go talk to the chefs in a minute," Yamaguchi explained before sauntering out of the room. Hinata followed helplessly, watching as Yamaguchi started picking the plates off the floor.

"Our apologies, your majesty's! We're making some more right now!" Yamaguchi apologized to Sugawara and Daichi. Hinata noticed that Yamaguchi purposefully ignored Kageyama, probably out of fear. Yamaguchi left the room and Hinata knelt down on the floor, hurriedly scrubbing at the carpet. The royals just continued talking, not even noticing that the boy was there. Besides the prince, of course, who never took his eyes off of the small boy. Hinata's eyes were glued to the cherry-red carpet that rested below his knees. He scrubbed as hard as he could, happy that the stain seemed to come out so quick.

"So," Sugawara said, leaning over to look at Hinata, "who are you? I've never seen you before?"

It took Hinata a moment to realize that the king was addressing him because he was staring at the floor. Only when his eyes shifted up did he realize that the 3 were looking at him. He gulped.

"Er, yes sir." Hinata was surprised that Sugawara actually paid attention to his staff. Maybe this guy really did care about his subjects after all. "I'm really sorry about the mess."

Part of Hinata wondered if he was even allowed to say that much.

"It's no worries!" Daichi exclaimed. Hinata felt his cheeks go red, seeing as he didn't think he deserved the forgiveness.

"Yeah," Kageyama said, glaring at Hinata. "Not at all."

Yamaguchi came back then with more food. He quickly passed it out, bowing to the kings before handing Hinata a dry rag.

"It's clean enough," he whispered. "Just dry it as much as you can and leave."

Yamaguchi exited the room quickly, his hands never leaving the spot they had interlocked behind his back. Hinata screamed, "YAMAGUCHI!!!!! NOOOO!!" in his mind, but kept the thoughts to himself.

Kageyama stood up suddenly and stepped closer and closer to the boy. His working hand stopped as he made eye contact with Kageyama. The prince just squatted down next to him and muttered, "You're a dumbass." Sugawara and Daichi said nothing, knowing they couldn't stop their son when he was yelling at people.

"S-Sorry!" Hinata squeaked. He suddenly felt a warm hand encompass his own as something cool was slipped inside his smaller one. He studied the object and found it to be a key.

"Use this if you need to get in my room," Kageyama whispered. "Now get out."

Hinata nodded and tucked the key away in his pocket. He stood up and took the white rag with him as he went back into the kitchen. He smacked right into Yamaguchi's chest before the tall boy pulled him inside. Several people were surrounding him, and he felt slightly claustrophobic.

"Are you okay?" Yamaguchi asked in a worried voice. Hinata cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen the prince get that close to anyone!" Tanaka replied. "Your back was turned to us, so we couldn't see much! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"Hurt me?" Hinata questioned. "No. He was very gentle."

"GENTLE?" every other person cried in unison. Tanaka shook Hinata by the shoulders.

"What did he do to you?"

Hinata stumbled over his words, the syllables getting caught in his throat. How was he supposed to admit that Kageyama, the tyrant prince, was letting him stay in his room? He couldn't think of an excuse to make fast enough in his head, so he just blurted out the first thing he could think of.

"He was holding my hand!" Hinata quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, brown eyes widening. The rest of the room's eyes followed as their pupils changed to the size of periods in their eyes.

"H-Held your hand?" Yamaguchi asked uneasily. Hinata nodded slowly.

"Um, yeah! M-Maybe the prince isn't as bad as you thought he was going to be!" Hinata knew this was a complete lie. Kageyama was the biggest and most selfish jerk he had ever met, and everyone else must have known this as well. Hinata doubted that they would believe him, but to his surprise, everyone seemed to take his excuse into deep thought.

Yamaguchi laughed. "I guess? Maybe the prince just took a liking to you." Wrong, thought Hinata. "Good for you then!"

"Thanks?" Hinata mumbled. Then his eyes widened. "Wait! How did you guys see that? Were you spying on me?"

Someone in the crowd whistled before everyone slowly shuffled away, averting their gazes to the ground. Hinata let out a huff as he put his hand on his hip. He is lips formed into a pout as he scratched his head.

"That's super cool!" Yamaguchi stated encouragingly. Hinata could tell Yamaguchi was surely going to be a good friend. "Come on. We have more work to do. Don't worry, we'll gossip about the prince, too," he said with a wink.

And even though Hinata hated that stupid bastard, he blushed.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Yamaguchi's shift had ended and that meant that Hinata, being basically his assistant, was done with his, too. Hinata noted how late it was, the sky already a dark blue that faded into a black. Pearly white stars were shining brightly above, sprinkling the sky. It reminded Hinata of the sky he would see when he flew threw the air. He didn't really like that feeling, though. It was beautiful, but not when you're a bird who just wants to be normal again. He shook his head, the thoughts leaving his mind. He didn't have time to dwell.

Since Hinata had no clothes to wear when he changed out of his uniform, he had to borrow some from a man named Nishinoya. He was even smaller than Hinata, so the clothes were rather tight, but nothing Hinata couldn't handle. He was just glad to have a shirt and pants that actually fit his small body. He gave Noya a jug without thinking.

Hinata started walking back to Kageyama's room, ready to go inside when he was stopped by a guard.

"What do you think you're doing?" the guard questioned with a stern voice. Hinata gulped, scratching his head awkwardly.

"I... Um... Well..."

"That's it," the guard said, grasping Hinata by his upper arm. The boy let out a squeak before struggling in the guards hold. The watchman was rather rough, not bothering to be careful. Hinata felt tears prick his eyes before he heard a voice.

"Let him go."

The two turned, Hinata ending his struggle as the guard stopped pulling him away. He never loosened his grip on the poor boy, however. Hinata's eyes were met with the face of the tyrant Kageyama. He sighed in relief, knowing that the man would surely help him.

"But you're majesty! This man was trying to break into your room-"

"Are you deaf or just fucking stupid? I said let him go."

The guard immediately loosened his hold, Hinata pulling away quickly. The small boy stepped over to Kageyama and hid behind his back, not wanting to be apart of the small bickering. He held a hand out, about to hold onto Kageyama's cloak, but opted against it. Instead, he held onto his arm as he ran his fingers over the linen cast.

"My apologies, your highness. It will not happen again."

"Of course. Leave us be," Kageyama retorted. The guard bowed his head before leaving. Hinata was surprised at how willing everyone was to go about Kageyama's orders. Hinata thought it had something to do with his intensity and overall crude behavior. His anger was most definitely a powerful weapon that many would not dare to go against.

"Come inside," Kageyama mumbled, interrupting Hinata's thoughts. The boy with flaming orange hair bounded inside after the much taller male. Kageyama clicked the door shut behind them. Hinata thought Kageyama's anger would have died out by now, but it was not so. Hinata felt a hard grip on his shoulder as he was turned around harshly. He let out a cry as Kageyama bent down to his eye level. Hinata felt Kageyama's warm breath on his face and he stepped back an inch.

"Tell me, dumbass," Kageyama gritted out. "What kind of rumors have you been spreading around?" Hinata blinked rapidly, feeling the walls of the room cave in under Kageyama's tight stare.

"R-Rumors?" he managed to stutter out. Kageyama only nodded, the feral look remaining in his eyes. Hinata bit his lip as he tried to remember any rumors he had spread. Deeming that he hadn't spread any rumors, Hinata shook his head softly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh?" Kageyama said. Anger was rolling off of Kageyama in waves as Hinata averted his eyes, deciding to focus them on his bare feet as he wiggled his toes. "Allow me to refresh your memory."

Kageyama leaned in closer as Hinata took a step back. His back came into contact with the wall as he looked anywhere but the man in front of him. He hadn't really felt so anxious in his entire life. He really hadn't spread any rumors!

"Rumor has it," Kageyama muttered darkly, "that you and I held hands today?"

Hinata blinked.

Oh.

Oh.

Hinata couldn't help the small giggle that escaped his lips. Kageyama reeled back in surprise, never having his anger cause someone to laugh. He suddenly felt more confused than anything, wondering what was so fucking funny.

"Oi!" Kageyama said as Hinata bent over, clutching his stomach. "Don't ignore me!"

"Kageyama!" Hinata chuckled. "That was when you gave me that key! I mean, you kind of did hold my hand!"

"Wha-" Kageyama's eyes narrowed. "No I didn't!"

"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm actually cursed and Kageyama saved me from being a crow for the rest of my life, so now I am staying with him?'"

"Er," Kageyama gritted through clenched teeth. "Whatever! I'm going to bed!" he said briskly before turning away.

"Where do I sleep?" Hinata asked, following him.

"On the floor. Like last night." Kageyama threw off his shirt, putting on a new one to sleep in. Hinata turned away when he started undoing the buttons on his pants to put on new ones.

"But my back was hurting all day because of that!" Hinata whimpered. He heard the shuffling of blankets and turned around to find Kageyama laying in bed with his back turned to Hinata.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeasse?"

"No."

"Kageyama!"

"If I let you sleep with me will you shut the hell up?" Kageyama yelled. Hinata flinched back, but soon smiled and nodded. Kageyama rubbed at his temples before scooting over, making room for the boy. Hinata bounced over to the bed and flopped down, careful of his arm. He shimmied under the covers and smiled in victory. Kageyama was practically seething next to him.

The light was off and the only light provided was by the moonlight that leaked in through the window pane. Hinata sighed, wishing he had been able to see the sunset. It was one of his favorite parts of the day. The way the pink and orange blended into a light purple always made him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. It was such a beautiful sight to see after everything that happened throughout the day. Whenever Hinata felt sad or alone, he always turned to the sunset to help him. There was never a time that it didn't make him feel slightly better.

Hinata let out a sigh and Kageyama nudged him with his shoulder, a quiet gesture to kindly shut the hell up, Kageyama is trying to sleep here.

"It's so sad," Hinata said softly. Kageyama raised his head and glanced at the boy. Hinata sighed once again, looking back to the ceiling. "I didn't get to see the sunset today."

"The sunset?" Kageyama scoffed. "Not you, too. There is nothing special about the sunset."

"Oh, but there is," Hinata suggested. "Don't you think it's nice to look at?"

"Better to look at then you."

Hinata cried out, "Hey! Kageyama! I'm being serious here. Whoever you are, wherever you are, we all look at the same sunset at the end of the day, right?"

Kageyama shrugged. "Yeah, but we look at the same sunrise, too. The same stars, the same sky every single moment of the day. What makes a sunset so special?"

Hinata hummed. "Well, it may be different for everyone, but for me it symbolizes the end. The end of the day, the end of everything that happened that day. It's symbolizes that you can just let go of all the worries-all the pent-up anger-you had today and just let it go. It's so calming to look at and so calming to think about, don't you think?"

Kageyama didn't get it. There was nothing about a sunset that represented the end. A sunset represented that you had to go to bed and wake up the next morning reliving out the day. A day full of anger and annoyance. Kageyama could not remember a day he didn't feel those things. A sunset represented a new day filled with new torment and problems. There was nothing insightful or beautiful about that. It seemed like pure torture to him.

He didn't hesitate to voice his opinion to Hinata, who just smiled wryly.

"I guess the sunset isn't for everyone," was all he said before turning over on his side and dozing off.

Kageyama stayed up and wracked his brain for an explanation. He thought it was only his fathers that thought that. That thought a sunset was some golden mystery that meant good and happy things. He wanted to understand, but he didn't. He didn't want to. He couldn't.

Kageyama did not sleep much that night. The only thing he can recall was thoughts of a plain orange sunset and the snores of the boy that slept next to him.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A few weeks later and the two didn't interact much. Hinata said that his arm was already feeling better, but he still couldn't use it for much. Tsukishima came by to check on him and said that even when he got his cast off, it would be a while before his arm was completely better. This made both Kageyama and Hinata filled with dread for the months to come.

Hinata was busy working as a servant. The boy didn't like to toot his own horn, but he was getting the hang of things very quickly. Despite his numerous attempts, Kiyoko refused to let him serve the kings at any time of day again. Yamaguchi taught him basically everything he knew. In that time, Hinata learned that Yamaguchi was a very impressive worker. He told Hinata that he maybe-sort-of knew the kings personally, but not really. Hinata didn't know what that meant, but he was still awed.

Hinata would pass Kageyama in the hallways sometimes, but he would always be talking to some other important people. Hinata would see Kageyama yell at people sometimes, but whenever Hinata asked him about it at the end of the day, Kageyama would just turn away in anger.

Kageyama was happy with his busy schedule. It always pleased him to be in a position of power. He couldn't wait to be a king some day. Every day was a new day that he got closer to gaining his place on the throne.

The plans for his coronation continued. It wasn't unusual for the castle to begin planning things in major advance. Everything had to be absolutely perfect.

Kageyama was, to say the least, happy that he didn't have to see Hinata very often. The boy peeved him off to no end and gave him headaches all the time. His voice was high and squeaky and his bright orange hair simply hurt his eyes.

Currently, they were working on the music for the big day. It was good to get this out of the way so that the orchestra could practice for months in advance and any changes that needed to be changed would be done quickly. Kageyama really didn't like orchestras that much because they were really loud and blasted his ear drums. He liked music that was softer, with flutes and harps. But this orchestra had trumpets and drums and all the things Kageyama did not like (Granted, this list was quite long.)

"No! No," Kageyama reprimanded for what must have been the millionth time. "This is absolutely horrible! It's so loud I'm sure the room was shaking."

"Your highness," the maestro said, "this is the softest we can play. We do have a lot of people in this orchestra."

"So what?" Kageyama asked with anger pinching at his tone. "Get rid of some people! I don't care, just quiet it down!"

Kageyama didn't like loud noises because his head was clouded with anger most of the time anyways. There wasn't room for much else most of the time. Every day was becoming a constant headache and he was sure that he's ears would start bleeding if they played anymore boisterous than they already were. How hard was that to understand?

"Ah," the choirmaster said. "We will be right on it, your majesty."

"Yes, you will," Kageyama said. He turned away, preparing to exit the room. "This better be fixed the next time you play for me."

The prince didn't bother waiting for a reply. His hand gripped the cool golden knob of the door as he pushed the heavy door open. The halls were rather empty, and Kageyama appreciated the senseless silence that accompanied his ears when he exited. This is how it should be. The world should be silent.

He looked out a broad window, looking at the bright sun in his eyes. He squinted the dark blue orbs before turning away and walking down the hallway. The next thing to work on would be food. This didn't matter to Kageyama that much, seeing as he never really ate at any of the fancy events that his fathers made him go to anyways.

However, this wasn't for his coronation. It was a ball that was coming up in a month. His fathers said it was like a pre-celebration, but Kageyama knew better. He wasn't stupid like everyone pegged him for. The ball was in hopes of finding Kageyama a spouse, even though he didn't really want one anyone. Kageyama didn't know a time that he felt attraction towards anyone. Well, romantic attraction at least. He'd tried to make friends before, but his constant anger really got in the way of that. Not to mention he never had time to play with anyone. He was too busy.

Rolling his eyes, Kageyama made his way to the dining room. There were tons of plates of food lined on the long dining room table. Kageyama didn't think he could even name them all. There was something that Kageyama noted looked a lot like a pudding, but he was sure it had some random french name as a title instead. When Kageyama was young, his mentor would always yell at him when he called them simple names.

"Kageyama! You can't expect to ever succeed if you can't even name off a simple dish, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry, miss."

"Don't be sorry. Fix it."

Kageyama dismissed the thoughts. He didn't really like to think about his mentor. It had been 5 years since he had last seen her, and he never had an intention to see her again. After complaining to his fathers one too many times, they let her go. Kageyama wasn't sure where she was now. He didn't care.

"Oh, your highness!" a chef exclaimed. "We have prepared several dishes for the ball. The ones here are the ones the kings liked especially."

"Anything that my fathers picked, keep. They know more than I do."

"Uh, they asked for you to give your opinion on them as well."

Kageyama sighed. "Alright. I will try them."

Kageyama did try them, and they were all surprisingly good. He told the chef this much and he smiled and took the plates away. Kageyama picked 6 more that he really liked. One of them was the pudding that he had spotted earlier. It had a sweet peachy flavor to it. It wasn't something that Kageyama especially liked, but he enjoyed this one. He wasn't sure why. He thought it was kind of funny that it was orange with a black cream on top-the colors of Karasuno.

With that, he was already done. He didn't know why he had to pick these kind of things, but he did it anyways.

Kageyama walked down the hallway, watching as some people who were standing stopped talking and stared at him with wary eyes. He knew that others were afraid of him. He didn't care, though, because most of them deserved to get yelled at anyways. If he was so much higher up than them, why did they mess things up so often. The prince decided that he would not be as kind as his fathers when it came to ruling.

The final thing to do was talk about decorations and themes. Kageyama really didn't care about that. There were some servants in there this time. Kageyama recognized one of them as Hinata, but he ignored the boy, even when he waved at the prince. The help was putting things into place and then switching it out. This helped the planners see what looked best and what they would need for the ball. They wanted to look presentable so that the other kings would be impressed when they came. Then, they would want to marry off their children to Kageyama. The prince didn't appreciate being treated like some pawn in a chess game, but he didn't complain to his fathers about this. He knew how a kingdom worked and it wasn't his place to disturb the principles of it all.

"Oh, your highness!" the party coordinator called. He walked up to Kageyama and held out a piece of paper. Kageyama took it and scanned his eyes over the parchment. "These are some themes and ideas we have for the party. We know you haven't liked any of the ones we formerly did, so we tried to try out something entirely new."

Kageyama was glad when the man had stopped talking. His explanation had gone on for a little too long. After reading the paper a few times, Kageyama scrunched his nose up. He handed the paper back, seeing the planners confused face.

"These are all terrible," Kageyama stated blandly, watching the man's face morph into one of surprise. "If my fathers told you these were good, they were lying. Make some new ones."

Kageyama watched as the man stared at him for a second before his face turned red. The prince thought it was because he was embarrassed over his shitty ideas, but soon realized it was an expression of anger.

"That's it!" he said, and Kageyama's eyes widened when he raised his voice. "I refuse to do this anymore! I quit!" Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the bickering pair. Kageyama furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who do you think you are? Do you understand who you're talking to?" Kageyama asked. The planner just continued running his mouth.

"I quit! You're an awful person and you'll make a terrible king. I'd rather leave this kingdom than be under your rule, you tyrant. I have never met anyone as selfish and hotheaded than you! You're nothing more than a bottle of anger-issues!"

For a long moment, everyone stayed silent. Kageyama could hear his heart beating in his chest through his ears with how silent it was. He clenched his fists. For a moment, all he saw was red. He was so angry that he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do and he sure as hell wasn't sure of what to think. He wanted to punch him, scream in his face and banish him to the pits of hell.

As he opened his mouth to say something, a voice interrupted him.

"Kageyama is more than that!" a tight voice squeaked. Kageyama's eyes widened as he recognized the voice as Hinata's. "Nobody is as little as that! Sure, he gets angry more than usual people, but everyone has a story. You don't know anything about him and yet here you are, acting like you can make judgments about him just like that!" By the end of his yelling, Hinata was panting slightly. His small body was home to small lungs as well.

"You..." the planner said before scoffing. "Who are you? You're nothing more than a servant. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"No, I do! Don't ever imply that someone is worth nothing!"

"That's it," Kageyama said quietly. Hinata turned around to face him. His eyes were wide with his pupils the size of periods.

"I..."

"Guards," Kageyama ordered, "escort this man out of the castle."

The guards hurried and did what they were told. The ex-planner struggled, shouting curses as the guards dragged him out.

"You stick up for him, but just you wait, little boy! It won't be long before he throws you to the side like trash, too!" With the doors slamming shut, the man's muffled cursing was all that was heard throughout the room. Everyone stilled, not knowing what to do. Hinata's eyes were still wide, brown eyes fading into blue ones as Kageyama took Hinata's hand and dashed out of the room.

They walked for a long time. Hinata didn't say anything, even when Kageyama continued to hold his smaller cold one in his much larger and warmer grasp. He just followed silently. They walked for minutes-what felt like hours-down the hallways, down stairs, into a familiar room that Hinata recognized. It was Kageyama's room. Kageyama dragged him inside, the guard not saying a word when Hinata followed him in.

Kageyama let go of Hinata's hand then. Hinata let it loosely fall to his side. He was staring at Kageyama's back as the prince looked floor with his head down. His crown slipped off his head and onto the ground.

Kageyama didn't bend down to pick it up.

"Kageyama?" Hinata finally said with hesitance. His voice was shaky. He had a feeling that he had done something terribly wrong when he heard Kageyama speak.

"...Why?"

"Why?" Hinata echoed. "Because it's what any good person would do. I know you were being kind of stingy-"

"Dumbass-"

"-but nobody should be spoken to like that!" Hinata finished hurriedly as he waved his hands. "But he wasn't entirely wrong..."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

"You do get a little... temperamental," Hinata finished quietly, his shoulders caving in. He expected Kageyama to yell at him, but he didn't. Instead, Kageyama remained a very silent. Hinata couldn't decide if he liked this new character change or not. "I'm sorry if-"

"I... can't help it," Kageyama finished lamely. Hinata's ears perked up as he cocked his head.

"Oh? Why not?"

Kageyama felt extremely lame that he was opening up to someone that was practically a stranger, but Hinata could tell what was happening. Now that he had spoken up for the "tyrant prince," the walls that were blocking him off were cracking ever so slightly.

And Hinata liked it. He felt a weird sensation at being the only one who saw Kageyama like this. It made him think that maybe Kageyama was actually a person.

Kageyama looked up suddenly. "I dunno," was all he said. "Just has always been like that."

The ginger thought that maybe he could get away with prying a little more, so he figured he might as well try.

"Hmm," he hummed softly. "Did something happen that made it like that?"

Kageyama just shrugged his shoulders, turning to face the boy. He picked up his crown and placed it back on his head before walking past the redhead. He placed his hand on the knob, Hinata tracing his movements with his eyes. The prince paused a moment. Then looked Hinata in the eyes.

"Oi, dumbass. Thanks for helping me back there. Nobody's ever... done that before," he managed to spit out before smiling so slightly that if Hinata had been standing any further away he would've missed it.

Hinata couldn't reply before Kageyama left and slammed the door shut.

"Did he just smile?" Hinata asked himself quietly. He felt his cheeks heat up as he smacked his round cheeks. "Don't think that way about that meanie!"

Little did he know, a certain prince was marching down the hallway, a hand covering the bottom half of his face to shield the tinted pink cheeks he adorned.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The next day, Kageyama is in trouble. Not just a smack on the wrist either. It was very big trouble.

"Kageyama!" Daichi roared. "You can't go around just firing anyone you want!"

"I didn't fire anyone," Kageyama exclaimed. "He quit!"

"Still," Sugawara said, "what you did was completely unacceptable! You will not help us plan the rest of the ball in 2 weeks!"

Kageyama could live with that. His distaste for such boring matters was made evident in his mind since the start. He shrugged and then walked out of the room. He heard Sugawara make a choked noise and exclaim something along the lines of, "Maybe I should have given him a harsher punishment?"

The same boring halls with the same boring carpets and the same quartz walls surrounded Kageyama as he walked down the same hallway. A lot of his time was spent doing that.

He pondered what to do now. He basically had free reign to do whatever he wanted, considering that he wasn't planning anything anymore. Plans for his coronation had been post-phoned due to the havoc the ball was causing. Apparently someone had forgotten to hire someone or something like that and now they were a little behind schedule-wise. Kageyama didn't mind. The ball could have been canceled and he wouldn't have cared.

"You idiot! How can you amount to anything if you don't even help plan for the party!"

"But, miss, I want to go out and play with my friends! They get angry when I can't hang out with them."

"You don't need friends when you run a kingdom, you little monster."

Kageyama's eyes narrowed.

"Oh! What's Bakayama so angry about?" Hinata asked, marching right next to the prince. Everyone watched in astonishment as the prince barely reacted, only sparing the boy a side-wards glance. They had never seen the dictator so... not angry or yelling.

"What do you want, dumbass?" Kageyama asked, looking ahead of him.

"I have nothing to do! They told me I can get a day off today! Isn't that super cool?"

"That's-"

"Super cool, right? So I have nothing to do and fwoomp! You show up! I've been exploring the castle! So what are you up to?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes, but didn't raise his voice. Instead, he talked as if holding a normal conversation. Well, "as if" was wrong. He was holding a normal conversation. And the helpers around the castle watched as if a paralyzed man had just began walking.

"Nothing. After that little incident with that... that asshole," he began, "I'm not allowed to plan for the ball. I have nothing to do now."

"Ball?" Hinata repeated. "I think I heard Tanaka and Noya talking about that. And-WOAH!-you're not doing anything either? We should spend the day together!"

"Oi! Why would I want to spend anymore time with you than I have to?"

"So mean, Kageyama!" Hinata took Kageyama's hand anyway, pulling him in the opposite direction. Everyone gasped, because it was a known rule to never touch the prince because he absolutely hates that and he'll probably chop your hand right off.

But... he didn't he just pulled his hand away and followed the boy anyway. Their jaws dropped as they watched with wide eyes. Noya and Tanaka walked by, sending him some suggestive faces that made Hinata whack them on the head.

"I got to explore the courtyard today and wow is it cool. There are so many fountains and hedges and sculptures! Have you seen the lilies? Well, you live here so you probably have, but they're so pretty!"

"They're alright, I guess." Kageyama didn't care much for flowers, but it seemed like Hinata did. Well, it was as if Hinata cared for everything. Still, Kageyama followed him, deciding that this had to be at least more entertaining than doing absolutely nothing.

It was a long walk because it was a pretty large castle, but when they finally arrived, Hinata was running around in seconds.

"Kageyama, look! I've never seen so many flowers that aren't all dead or destroyed! Isn't it really pretty?"

Kageyama looked Hinata in the eyes. He averted his gaze.

"Yeah, I guess they are..."

"Let's go look at the sunflowers, okay? Is that okay?' Hinata said with excitement. Kageyama didn't really care about any sunflowers anyways, but he didn't mind. Flowers were nice to look at sometimes, even if they were brightly colored sometimes. It was better than looking at people like that stupid party planner or Tsukishima.

"They smell nice, too! Sniff! Sniff!" Hinata said. Kageyama shook his head, as he really did not like the scent of flowers. They didn't smell any different from wet grass or mud. Or maybe even vegetables. All of these things were things Kageyama didn't really care for either. If there was a flower that smelled like meatbuns... Well he would appreciate flowers a lot more. However, such a plant did not exist, and therefore, Kageyama did not care for them.

"Oh, come on!"

"No."

"Ugh, fine. What do you want to look at next then?" Hinata graciously asked. Kageyama thought for a moment before shrugging and looking back at the flowers. They were yellow sunflowers, sitting right next to a crowd of brightly colored roses. Kageyama knew that his dad, Sugawara, loved brightly colored flowers very much. They covered his room and were at nearly every party. Neither he nor Daichi ever argued, because Sugawara probably wouldn't care anyways.

"I dunno," he finally replied. "I've seen it all."

"I only saw a little bit of it and I thought 'No! I want to share my first time looking at this amazing place with someone special!'" Hinata blushed after realizing what he said, and even Kageyama looked away.

"I guess I'm glad to be that person then..." Hinata blinked.

"Kageyama is going soft?"

"No, you dumbass!"

"You're so mean, Bakayama! Come on! Let's go look at the fountains next. I think I saw one with a weird fish that was blowing water out of its mouth!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping up. Kageyama noticed that Hinata was wearing something different from his uniform. He came to bed every night with a white button-up shirt that went all the way to his wrists and a brown pair of pants that stopped at his calf. Kageyama had never bothered to ask where he got this clothing, but now he was curious.

For the rest of the day, the two tackled the entire courtyard. Maybe they could have seen it all faster if Hinata hadn't stopped to look at every kind of flower there was to look at. It didn't matter whether the flower was pretty or ugly because Hinata wanted to see it all. He'd stop and sniff at them for minutes. He sort of calmed down a bit when a bee flew out of a particularly crowded patch and flew right into his face. He let out a girly scream and hid behind Kageyama, who simply watched the bee fly away. Hinata's cheeks burned in embarrassment as he continued walking. Kageyama felt something he couldn't describe when he saw Hinata's red cheeks.

It was late in the evening when Hinata finally started to ease up. He took more calm steps, no longer dragging Kageyama everywhere, but now walking by his side. His hand was on his arm, instinctively holding onto it for no reason in particular. Kageyama watched as Hinata peacefully looked around before letting out a surprised gasp.

"Irises?" he blurted out before practically skipping over to them. Kageyama followed, tilting his head.

"Do you like these?" It was a dumb question-Hinata liked everything.

"They're lovely!" Hinata exclaimed, rubbing his thumb over the petals. He smiled to himself, taking in the sight. "They're my favorite kind of flower."

Kageyama wondered why. They weren't really special. Just a regular black that faded almost into a blew. They looked rather dark, not what Kageyama expected Hinata would really like. They looked evil, almost devilish, in a way. But Hinata stared at them as if, for that split second, they were the only thing in the world.

"They're beautiful," Hinata sighed, a content expression on his face.

"Keep them," Kageyama blurted out. Hinata stared back at him with surprise.

"What? Are you sure?"

"I mean," Kageyama started, a heat crawling on the back of his neck, "it's not like anyone would notice. Besides, I don't think anyone else will appreciate them as much as you will."

"Oh," Hinata said with a feint blush. "If it's really alright, then I guess I'll keep some! Thank you Kageyama!" Hinata picked some of them, holding them close to his face in delight as he stared at them. He breathed in the scent, giggling to himself when he did. Kageyama had to look away and put a hand on his chest. He had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't sure if he wanted it to stop or not.

"I really am tired," Hinata said quietly. "It's not even late, but I'm already yawning!"

"Come," Kageyama said, waving his hand to usher Hinata towards a swinging bench. "We can sit if you'd like."

Hinata nodded gratefully before following Kageyama with his flowers in his hand. Kageyama sat down and Hinata followed. He sat in a criss-cross position. Hinata looked behind them; and afterwards he took a small intake of breath.

"What?" Kageyama said, following his eyes. He saw a sunset. It was the same yellow, pink and purple it always was. It felt different today, though. Kageyama noticed how... nice it looked. The yellow wasn't yellow, but a brilliant gold that faded into a pink that was more of a rose than anything. And the purple was no longer purple, but a light violet that made the view simply breath taking.

"It's wonderful," Hinata sighed.

That made Kageyama turn to look at him. He noticed something he hadn't about the boy before. His hair was more endearing, and it didn't hurt his eyes to look at. It stuck out in all directions, and Kageyama wanted to run his hand through it. He wondered what face Hinata would make if he did that.

His brown eyes were trained on the sunset. Onyx brown eyes that had something like gold flecks swimming in them. They reflected the sunset they were looking at and they were shining like the sun as it fell down into the horizon.

His skin was pale, that made his rosy pink cheeks stand out. Pink cheeks like the sunset before them. Kageyama's eyes lingered down to his lips. They were pink and full. His bottom lip stuck out, plumper than the top one. They looked soft, like the soft colors of the sunset.

Kageyama breathed in.

"Kageyama?" Hinata asked, looking at the prince. His eyebrows were furrowed as he spoke. "Is something wrong?"

"Hinata," Kageyama breathed.

"I think I might understand sunsets."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Kageyama's eyes cracked open. He yawned, sitting up in his bed. He scanned the room. The room was different. The carpet was still dark blue. The walls were still made of a dull quartz, but the room was different. At least, it felt different. The aura had completely changed.

He looked to his side, reminded of the small boy sleeping next to him. He was snoring, laying on his back as he smallest trickle of drool lingered down his chin. Kageyama snorted at the sight, wanting to laugh at how such a small boy could make such a loud noise. He sounded as if he were a sleeping bear.

Memories from last night burned in Kageyama's mind. He was almost certain that the memories were engraved in his thoughts, forever etched into his memory. He didn't think he could ever forget. He didn't even want to and the realization made him feel good.

Kageyama ran a hand through the ginger's hair, watching as his face twitched and his eyebrows furrowed. His hands held tighter onto the gray blankets a little tighter.

The prince quickly retracted his hand, reminding himself that Hinata was not his to touch. He shook his head after that, wondering where such thoughts even came from. He dismissed them, stepping out of the bed. He went to pick up his crown from the bedside table, but decided not to. He didn't feel like wearing it today, which was odd. He wondered why he was feeling so different today, and decided that it was probably last night. The prince picked up the crown and placed it on his head finally, knowing that he still had to act like a prince.

He quietly stepped out of the room after placing the breakfast tray on the desk. He didn't eat anything, but he did drink 3 glasses of milk before exiting his bedroom. The door creaked when he closed it, but Hinata didn't so much as stir.

He walked down the halls, noticing that those were different too. The bland white quartz was now bright and new. The dull red carpet was a nice shade of cherry under his feet as he walked. Several people turned to stare, seeming to notice his changed aura. He seemed... happier. And happiness was a bit new to Kageyama, the bright yellow emotion clouded by red hot anger for so long. Why was he even angry?

Kageyama wondered what to do. For the last few weeks, he had been planning for the ball that was coming closer and closer, but now he wasn't allowed to help. It seemed like a gift earlier, but now it was slowly becoming more of a punishment. He had nothing to do. Kageyama could go back to the courtyard and look at the flowers again, reminisce about the fond memories he had there, and maybe even appreciate their beauty for once. But Kageyama still really didn't like flowers. He did seem to like sunsets, though. That was when it clicked to him.

The theme for the party.

He quickly dashed to the room he was at only a day or two before. He hoped that his fathers would be there, as they always began their work early in the morning. They would get things like parties out of the way fist before discussing much bigger matters.

When he arrived at the doors, Kageyama paused for a long moment. He thought in his head what he would say. His appearance would probably cause a large surprise, seeing as how stubborn he was. Everyone must had expected he would stay in his room all day.

He placed a hand on the knob and flung the door open before shuffling inside. Much to his surprise and hope, his fathers were there, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Kageyama?" Daichi said, bewildered at first. "We're in the middle of something."

"Sunset," Kageyama breathed. The kings looked at him with blank faces.

"...Sunset?" Sugawara asked. Kageyama nodded, the smallest of smiles on his face. It was gone in a second, but he still continued to speak.

"The theme for the ball should be sunset."

Daichi and Sugawara thought for a moment.

"That actually sounds... quite nice," Sugawara muttered. Daichi blinked once again before adding on to his husbands sentence.

"I agree," Daichi said. "Let us do that one."

Kageyama was surprised they had actually agreed. In the back of his mind he knew that the kings could be just as stubborn as he sometimes.

"Really?" Kageyama inquired. Then he nodded his head. "Thank you for agreeing with me."

And Kageyama was allowed to help plain for the ball the rest of the day.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Kageyama shuffled in his annoying suit. It was currently the day of the ball, everyone racing around in a havoc. After all, this was an elaborate scheme to get Kageyama to find a spouse. The prince knew that royals from all over would come to him, hoping to marry the young man.

In the weeks of planning, Kageyama didn't see Hinata very much. Again. This was all balanced out by their hour-long talks at night. They held conversations that went from the sun to shoes in a matter of seconds. They bantered and teased and called each other incredulous nicknames. They paid for it in the mornings when they had black bags under their eyes and felt as if boulders had been placed on their shoulders, but the two never complained.

Another joyous fact was that Hinata got his cast taken off. Tsukishima said that the boy had recovered remarkably well, healing almost 2 times faster than normal. However, the boy had to be careful not to put too much pressure on it, or bend it at an awkward angle. He wasn't completely better, but it was having a good outlook so far.

Kageyama began to dread the day that Hinata would leave. At first, Kageyama wanted nothing more than for the irritable boy to leave as soon as possible. He counted the days that Hinata would leave, hoping the day would arrive faster than it seemed. Now, he counted the days out of worry. Hinata was the one to finally bring a spark of happiness into his life, drowning out the frustration that boiled too hot in his stomach for so long. Kageyama wasn't sure how to continue being happy when Hinata was gone.

Little did he know, Hinata felt the exact same way.

The fiery redhead wanted to leave as soon as he could as well. The tyrant prince had caused him nothing but fear and trouble when he had first crashed into his room that faithful night. He prayed to get better as soon as possible and go home, go and find his true love so that he could go home.

He hadn't shared this with Kageyama, but true love's kiss would not turn him back into a crow. If Hinata kissed someone that wasn't his true love, he'd turn back into a crow and be stuck in the same cycle. He hated feeling so hopeless at a time like this, but he thought something in the back of his mind.

What if Kageyama-

He didn't let himself finish the thought. There was no way Kageyama felt that way about him. Hinata would simply have to wait for his little crush to die down so that he could go pursue his real true love. It really was a crush, right? Hinata hoped it was more.

Kageyama stood oblivious to the boy's feelings as he adjusted the dark blue jacket he wore. It was almost the same color as his eyes with gold accents to the outfit. The pants went down to his ankles as they tucked into his black shoes. He smoothed his hair, frowning when a couple of strands bounced back up. He put on his crown, happy that the strands were hidden.

He checked the old clock, watching as the hand moved with every second. Only a little longer before he had to be in the ballroom.

Kageyama made sure the theme matched perfectly. It was the first time he felt a little excited when planning a ball. The color scheme was mainly orange, yellow, red and purple. The prince made sure to have black irises as one of the flowers used. He received many questions as to why, seeing as black didn't exactly fit with a sunset, but in Kageyama's mind it did. He hoped Hinata would be there to see them.

He walked down to the ballroom, his head held high. He feigned confidence, but he was actually slightly nervous. Sure, he was excited, but he'd have to talk to a bunch of people he didn't know and act like he actually cared what they spoke about. Girls would be hanging on him left and right and he'd have to politely shed them off his arms.

When the guests started to arrive, Kageyama had to greet them with a handshake. He knew he was supposed to smile, but he didn't feel like it. Several girls fluttered their eyelashes at him and pushed out their chests, but he ignored their advances. Most times he would receive a scoff or some other sort of offended sound. Kageyama didn't blame himself, because he never really felt romantically about girls, or anyone for that matter. Well, not until...

He scanned the room, searching for the orange fireball. Kageyama hoped that Hinata wouldn't be hard to find with his flaming hair, but that seemed rather false. In fact, a few hours into the night and he hadn't spotted the boy at all. Hinata told him he'd be at the ball, but only as help. He was there to serve people or whatever. Kageyama missed that part, too distracted by Hinata's cute face when he was talking at the time.

"Oh, Kageyama!" Sugawara said, shuffling to stand next to his son. "You've been standing there for hours. Don't you want to dance with someone?"

Kageyama shook his head. "No."

"Why not? You can't be having fun. Are you waiting for someone?" Sugawara caught sight of Kageyama's slight blush that he failed to hide. Sugawara let out an "ooh!" and pressured the man for an answer.

"Really? Who are they? When did you meet them? I never knew you left the castle to meet people! Where are they? Are they coming soon?"

"Please," Kageyama said with a hand held up, "slow down a little bit."

"Sorry!" Sugawara apologized. "I'm just really excited! Do you know if they're coming?"

"Well," Kageyama replied, "they should be here already. I just can't find them."

Sugawara hummed. "That's alright! I'll wait with you. I can't believe you're going to dance with someone!"

"I'm not sure if I could dance with them," Kageyama responded dejectedly. Sugawara cocked his head to the side.

"Huh? Why not?"

Kageyama wasn't sure how to respond, so he stayed quiet, pretending to be searching in the crowd. Sugawara blinked, then smiled.

"You can dance with whoever you want!" Sugawara replied, slapping Kageyama hard on the back. "You're a prince!"

Kageyama pondered this before nodding. Sugawara had a very valid point. Why couldn't Kageyama dance with Hinata? He was going to rule this kingdom someday, after all!

"I can really dance with whoever I want?" Kageyama asked. Sugawara nodded.

"Dance with that piece of lettuce over there if you want!" he replied happily before scooting away, probably on his way to talk to more guests.

It was at that moment that Kageyama recognized a familiar shade of orange hair. He was talking to another servant, who Kageyama guessed was Yamaguchi based on the description Hinata had given of him. He was smiling, a healthy pink glow to his cheeks. He was holding a platter of food, and Kageyama slid over to him in an instant.

Well, tried to at least.

"Oh!" a girl said, coming up to the prince. This must have been the 20th one of the night. "Prince Kageyama!"

Kageyama knew she was waiting for him to ask her to dance. You basically had to at these balls. Kageyama just sighed and tried to get past her. She blocked his path, still smiling as she stepped to the side. Kageyama narrowed his eyes.

"Could you move? You're in the way."

The woman's eyes widened before Kageyama pushed past her. She stood still in shock before furrowing her eyebrows and puffing her cheeks in anger. With an angry huff, she walked away.

Kageyama slid stealthily next to Hinata. Neither of the two having the conversation seemed to notice him. That was until Kageyama took some random snack off of Hinata's plate. The boy spun around.

"I'm so sorry, sir! Would you-" he stopped talking as his jaw dropped. He gave Kageyama a surprised face. "Kageyama! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," Kageyama stated blankly. "It was getting really boring."

"Well," Hinata huffed, turning away, "I am working."

"More like talking. Here, want this? I only grabbed it to get your attention."

"Kageyama!" Hinata hissed. "I'm not allowed to eat the food!" Kageyama shrugged and popped it in his mouth. His face turned into one of disgust as he forced himself to swallow. Hinata laughed at him, making sure not to drop his plate in the process.

"Did you notice the flowers?" Kageyama asked. Hinata's face suddenly lit up as he spoke.

"I did! They're really pretty! Who's idea was it to have those? And the theme of sunset? It's really pretty in here."

"Mine. I did it for you," Kageyama said proudly, smiling down at the boy. Hinata's face flushed red as he looked down.

"You didn't have to do that," he mumbled. Kageyama laughed silently and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Do you want to dance?" Hinata jumped, almost spilling what he was holding.

"Kageyama!" he complained. "You can't really be suggesting that!"

"Why not?" Kageyama asked plainly. Hinata shot him a dirty look.

"I'm a servant, you dumbass! I'll get in huge trouble!"

"Trust me," Kageyama promised. "You won't. So... will you dance with me?"

"N-"

"He'd love to!" a voice interrupted, cutting Hinata off. Hinata turned to face Noya and Tanaka, who had Yamaguchi behind them.

"Noya, shut up! I'm holding something anyways!" Yamaguchi forcefully took the plate from Hinata's hand and smiled.

"Now you're not!" he said with a grin. Tanaka pushed Hinata forward, the small boy bumping into Kageyama's chest. Hinata's 3 friends dashed away, snickering as they did. Hinata immediately sank into Kageyama's warmth as the two sat for a moment. Sudden realization of what he was doing caught up to Hinata and he pushed away, scooting back several feet.

"S-Sorry!" Hinata cried, even though Kageyama thought he didn't have anything to be sorry for. Without a word, Kageyama took the boy's hand and dragged him into the crowd of people. Hinata tried to escape his grasp, but he was much smaller and much weaker than the taller male. His attempts were futile as he was hopelessly dragged between dancers.

"Kageyama, you're such an idiot," Hinata mumbled quietly. Kageyama laughed before wrapping his arm around Hinata's waist. The boy squirmed before jumping away. "Not that close!"

Kageyama sighed. "How close can I get?"

"Just put your arms around my back! You can't act all intimate. It's weird!"

"Oh," Kageyama said with disappointment. He wrapped his arms around Hinata's middle back and the boy placed his hand on Kageyama's shoulders. He blushed and looked down, not wanting to stare Kageyama in the eyes. Kageyama smiled, happy the boy had at least agreed to this. After a moment, Hinata stopped moving his feet.

"C-Can we stop?" he asked in a small voice.

"Why?" Kageyama asked. Hinata's cheeks turned even redder as he rested his forehead on Kageyama's chest and looked down at the ground.

"Everyone is looking at us, you idiot."

Kageyama looked around and it was true. Almost the entire room was looking at them with anger, jealousy and overall surprise.

"Who cares?" Kageyama said. He had been stared at all the time in his life. Who cared if a few people were looking.

"I do!" Hinata shouted as he pushed away. Kageyama stumbled back, not ready for the impact. Everyone let out a gasp, and Hinata realized that he had just pushed the prince. He gulped, tears forming in his eyes as he slowly stepped back a few feet.

"I... I have to go!" he cried before spinning on his heels and pushing past people to leave the room. Kageyama held out a hand, but he was ignored. He saw Hinata's retreating figure and his heart clenched at the sight. What had he done wrong this time?

Kageyama sighed before walking past people. Unlike how they stood still while Hinata had to force his way through, as Kageyama walked by, they parted like the Red Sea. Kageyama stepped outside of the door, ignoring the stares he got as he did. He knew he would get in immense trouble later, but didn't dwell in the thought. Right now, Hinata was most important.

The prince knew exactly where the boy would be.

He found him in the courtyard on the same swinging bench they had sat at when they stared off into the sunset together. But now the only thing that hung above was the moon and the bright stars littering the sky. He had a black iris in his hand, but it looked just about dead. Only one petal remained and Hinata stroked it thoughtfully. Kageyama didn't say a word as he sat down next to the small boy. Neither made a sound for several minutes before Kageyama was the first one to speak up.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Kageyama said. There was no 'if.' He had really messed up this time. "I shouldn't have made you dance with me." Hinata sniffed, taking a moment to answer.

"I didn't mind dancing with you," he finally managed to answer with a nasally voice. "I wanted to dance with you." Kageyama gave the boy a side-wards glance.

"Then why did you seem so.... upset?"

"Oh," Hinata mumbled. "I just didn't like everyone watching me. Dancing with you was nice, but I just felt really... I don't know-crowded?"

"I understand." The two sat in comfortable silence for a long while. The only sound heard was Hinata's sniffles, their soft breathing and the sound of insects humming lowly. Kageyama looked at Hinata again and noticed the flower he was holding again.

"Why'd you pick that one?" Kageyama asked. Hinata smiled.

"I didn't pick it just now. It's the one I picked a few weeks ago."

"Really?' Kageyama grunted. "Why did you keep it? It's dead now."

"I suppose. But thinking off all the nice things we did together when we picked this always cheers me up when I'm feeling upset." Kageyama blinked. He suddenly stood up, alerting the small boy. He watched as the prince walked over to the same iris patch and picked one off the shrub. He brought it over to Hinata and bent down. The boy blushed a deep shade of red.

"What are you doing, 'Yama?" Hinata asked with confusion. Kageyama took the flower and tucked it behind the ginger's ear.

"Let's make some new memories with this flower then." Kageyama took Hinata hand and dragged him to his feet, pulling him close. Hinata blushed as Kageyama's hand fell down to his waist. He didn't complain this time and even willingly wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck. He rested the side of his face on Kageyama's chest as they slowly rocked back and forth.

"No music?" Hinata said with a snort, shooting Kageyama a smile. Kageyama just rolled his eyes and smoothed the flower that was in Hinata's ear.

"Shut up, dumbass," Kageyama retorted, looking back down at him. Kageyama sucked in a breath, taking in Hinata's beauty. He looked absolutely stunning, despite having been crying only moments ago. His lips were plump, almost pouting and Kageyama wanted to suck on that plump bottom lip while holding the boy close. Kageyama's hand shifted from Hinata's waist to the back of his head, pulling his face closer. Hinata's hands smoothed over Kageyama's jaw, his eyes fluttering shut. Their breaths warmed the other's face in the cool night air. Their lips were brushing each other's now, only needing a small movement to seal the deal.

"Prince Kageyama!" a voice called. The two broke apart, stumbling back several feet from each other. They locked eyes for a moment before averting their gazes in the opposite direction. A few seconds after, a short female servant with brown eyes and short blonde hair that didn't pass her shoulders came running up. "Your highness! The kings are looking for you!"

"Ah, I see," Kageyama said. "I'll be right there."

Hinata fidgeted with his hands while Kageyama ran a hand through his mop of black hair. He coughed awkwardly into his hand before following the servant back into the castle. He gave one last quick glance to the ginger before directing his gaze in front of him. He and the servant slid back into the castle as Kageyama went to face his fathers.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Kageyama!" Sugawara called, patting his son on the back. He had an awfully worried look on his face as Kageyama looked to the ground.

The ballroom was empty now, as the room had been cleared out. Kageyama felt very awkward as he realized the ball must have ended on a rather sour note because of him. He didn't regret it, though. His cheeks felt slightly hotter for a moment as he thought about the dance he had in the garden with Hinata. He'd give an eye to relive that moment for a second.

However, he didn't have time to ponder such things as he received a glare from Daichi.

"Kageyama?" he barked. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Father, please listen," Kageyama stated in a calm facade. Daichi reeled back, surprised that his son wasn't yelling as he usually would. He and Sugawara exchanged awkward looks. Kageyama continued.

"Father, I think I am in..." Kageyama took a moment to ponder his next thought. Did he really feel this way? About the fiery redhead that had landed in his room a month or two ago? About the boy he had hated so much at the beginning that he now....

"Father, I think I am in love."

Daichi and Suga's eyes widened before their jaws dropped. They glanced at each other for a moment before smiling brightly, hugging their son tightly.

"Kageyama!" Sugawara said, squeezing the man. "I am so happy for you? Who is it? I must meet them right away!"

Kageyama blinked nervously, looking down once again. He took in a deep breathe before looking up again.

"Um, I'm not sure you'll be happy about this," Kageyama said.

"How could we not?" Daichi interrupted with a proud grin. "Was it someone you met at the ball?"

"Well, no. It's actually... Well..." Kageyama gulped. "You know that boy I was dancing with...?"

"You mean," Sugawara questioned, "the.... servant...?"

"Y-You said I could dance with anyone, father!" Kageyama retorted. Sugawara shot him an awkward look.

"I didn't think you'd dance with anyone like that...."

"No," Daichi decided. "You cannot be in love with this... boy."

"And why not?" Kageyama shot back, hands clenching at his sides. Daichi gave him a stern look.

"Because he's a peasant!" he barked. "There is no way you could marry him."

"It wouldn't be impossible," Sugawara chimed in. "But the reputation of our kingdom is at stake..."

"I don't care about that!" Kageyama shouted, feeling his anger rise. Think happy thoughts. Hinata's eyes, Hinata's hair, dancing with Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata....

Daichi growled. "You're ignoring all the people who do! I have had enough of this!"

"Father-"

"No more discussion! Get out!" Daichi responded. Kageyama growled lowly under his breath before snarling and slamming the door on his way out. He ran to his room, where he hoped Hinata would be. As he left, Daichi and Sugawara looked at the now closed door sadly.

Kageyama threw the door open, his eyes falling onto a familiar mess of orange hair. He closed the door loudly behind him before making eye contact with the boy.

"Ah! Kageyama!" Hinata chuckled nervously. "Are you mad because of earlier! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

Hinata bowed down, apologizing over and over again. His eyes were closed tight as waited for Kageyama's reply. It was a few seconds before he did respond, but he didn't respond with words. Instead, Hinata felt a warm pair of arms circle around his torso as his head rested on Kageyama's chest.

"K-Kageyama!" Hinata stuttered out, trying to push away. The taller male, however, refused to release him, only squeezing him tighter. "I won't be able to breathe!"

"Hinata," Kageyama said, his voice coming out soft. He felt the arms that were previously trying to push him away stop their struggle and rest on his chest. "W-We have to run away."

"Run away?!" Hinata squeaked, pushing away, hard. This time, he managed to separate from the taller male as he choked on his words. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Hinata, they said we couldn't... That I couldn't...."

"Slow down, Kageyama," Hinata said softly, resting his hands on Kageyama's shoulders. Kageyama's own hand reached up and rested his on top of the smaller boy's. Hinata blushed. "What's the matter?"

"Hinata," Kageyama said, "I want to be with you."

"Wha- SLOW DOWN!!!" Hinata cried, slapping Kageyama on the chest. The prince wasn't effected, as the slap felt like a small nudge. "Kageyama, what are you talking about!"

"I'm in love with you!" Kageyama blurted out. Hinata's face morphed from its usual paleness to a dark shade of red within a matter of seconds. He stumbled on his words before Kageyama didn't allow him to speak anymore. "Hinata, I never understood sunsets. I always thought they were stupid and dumb-a waste of time. They didn't... mean anything to me! But that evening, when we were looking at those flowers and we were looking at the sunset... It came to me! You're my sunset, Hinata! You're the reason why I want to start a new day every night. You're what I want to wake up to every morning! It's just... you!"

By the time he was done, Kageyama's hands were a little clammy from anxiousness. He hadn't meant to let all that mushy-gushy stuff come out, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He gulped as the smaller male looked up at him with big eyes. His face was even redder, and Kageyama could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. The boy stuttered a bit, not able to find the words to respond.

"I... We... Well, we are... Gah!" he cried before falling back onto Kageyama's chest. He took a deep breath, looking down calmly. He squeaked out, "I like you too, Kageyama."

"R-Really?' Kageyama gasped, feeling a swarm of happiness swirl in his chest. Hinata nodded.

"Yes, but... We cant be together, Kageyama! You're a prince and I'm just... Well, I'm a crow!"

"No, you're more than that! Did you even listen to me when I was talking about sunsets and shit? You're my sunset!"

Hinata huffed. "Lame."

"You little-"

"But I understand," Hinata chuckled. "You're my sunset too, Kageyama!"

Kageyama averted his gaze, his cheeks turning slightly pink. Hinata laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

"We can keep it a secret," Kageyama suggested. Hinata bit his lower lip.

"But that feels wrong..."

"Don't you want to be with me, too?" Kageyama asked hopefully. Hinata quickly nodded his head.

"Oh, yes! But... what would your fathers think?"

"They... They said no," Kageyama stated sourly. "But they can't dictate who I love!"

"Don't say it so easily!" Hinata snarled, but there was no real anger in it. He felt as light as a crow soaring through the sky when Kageyama said things like that. "Wouldn't I be in huge trouble if anyone found out?"

"Don't worry," Kageyama grinned. "I'll protect you."

A few hours later, the two are now laying in bed, the covers pulled up to their necks. Well, they were really only up to Kageyama's chest, but that's beside the point. The small boy was cuddled up to his chest, his hand laying lazily on his stomach. Kageyama had an arm wrapped around the boy as he looked up at the dark ceiling. He thought back on the day and smiled happily.

Despite this, there was still one thought plaguing his mind.

"Oi, Hinata."

"Yes?"

"I hope this isn't too personal, but..." he hesitated, hoping it was't a sensitive subject. "Why were you turned into a crow?"

He heard Hinata sigh loudly.

"Sorry if I-"

"It's fine," Hinata said, cutting him off. He didn't move from his position, continuing to speak. "Before I became a crow, I guess I really was a peasant. I lived with my sister who I took care of. We were really poor and I had to feed her somehow." He blinked. "I was really scared because she was so young. I didn't want her to starve! So while the merchant was looking away, I stole a piece of bread to give to her. Just my luck, the merchant is really a witch! She cursed me and said that unless I received true love's kiss, I would be stuck as a crow forever. I had to leave my sister in the care of my friend Kenma while I was gone. I haven't seen her in a long time."

Hinata felt tears prick his eyes, but he swallowed down the sob that he felt would come out.

"Maybe one day you can meet her! Her name is Natsu!"

Kageyama smiled down at Hinata. "I would love to."

"Say, Kageyama, why were you suck a selfish prick?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes as he also sighed.

"I had a really-I don't know-mean mentor when I was young. She always taught me that I had to rule with an iron fist or I'd be useless. I guess I just got used to the anger."

"Oh, Kageyama," Hinata said sadly, finally turning to look up at him. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Kageyama said, taking a strand of Hinata's hair and tucking it behind his ear. "I can be happy now, thanks to you."

All Hinata could do was pout and blush.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

4 weeks later, the mood has completely changed.

Kageyama and Hinata have resorted to hiding out in closets anytime they want to do anything. Sugawara and Daichi refuse to allow the two to be seen in public together, seeing as rumors have been spreading of the two's closeted relationship. Kageyama didn't want anything to happen to Hinata, and he'd rather kill someone than let them harm his lover. The whole ordeal makes Hinata rather uncomfortable.

The only person he can rant to is Yamaguchi, who can't really emphasize with the situation at all. The most he could do was pat his friend on the back and tell him everything was going to be okay.

Not to mention that the duo hasn't even kissed yet.

Okay, this wouldn't be as big of a deal to Hinata if he wasn't still under the curse. The curse stated that he had 3 months to get his kiss before he turned back into a crow. All he had left was 1 more week before that happened.

And okay, maybe Hinata always does reject Kageyama's advances, but it's not his fault. The dumb prince does it at the most awkward times and in the most uncomfortable places. Hinata, being the innocent boy he was, had never been kissed by anyone other than his sister in his life. If he was going to kiss anyone, it better have been pretty damn special. Still, he really did need to turn back into a full-time human and fast. Natsu was depending on him!

There was also still constant worry in his head. After all, Kageyama was a prince. The kings even said that there was no way Kageyama would be allowed to marry a commoner like him. The whole thing seemed rather because of this, but Kageyama insisted that he would find a way.

4 weeks later, Kageyama still has not found a way.

And when Hinata voices this to the prince, things do not run smoothly.

It was a bright and cool evening when they spoke. Hinata had snatched the prince into a closet very quickly, shuffling around in what must have been the smallest room in the castle.

"Kageyama, I think we need to talk..."

"Oh?" the prince asked. "What about?"

"Kageyama, I can't do this anymore!" Hinata blurted out. "Even if you do find a way for us to be together, what would happen to your kingdom? To your reputation? It would all be ruined because of stupid me!"

"Hinata," Kageyama assured. "That's not true."

"But it is! You need to think of your kingdom before anything! Your coronation is in 2 weeks! You'll have to get married and to someone who isn't me, Kageyama! "

"Hinata-"

"I don't think we should do this anymore!"

"What?' Kageyama recoiled. "I thought you loved me-"

"Maybe that just isn't enough, Kageyama. Maybe we aren't meant to be."

Kageyama froze. He felt that thing in his stomach. That swirl, that swarm. Only this time, it wasn't anger. It was something much colder, more icy. It wasn't red hot-it was black. It was prickly and cold and gross. Kageyama did not like the way it tingled in his stomach and crawled up to his chest.

"What are you..." Kageyama paused, then let the anger encompass him again. "Fine then. Be that way. Obviously I was the only one who cared-"

"You're wrong! I did care, but there isn't anything we can do!" Hinata yelled, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He was clenched his fists, looking Kageyama in the face. Kageyama let out a 'tch,' rolling his eyes. Hinata growled. "Why can't you understand? I'm doing this for you!"

"Shut up," Kageyama snarled, sending a cold look to the boy.

"No! You need to understand-"

"Shut up!"

"I did this because I wanted you to-"

"I said, SHUT UP!" Kageyama snarled, taking the front of Hinata's shirt and shoving him back into the wall as hard as he could. The smaller man let out a cry as he gripped his arm, which had banged against the wall as well. It didn't occur to Kageyama what he had done before he heard sniffs and saw tears streaming down the boy's face. The prince reached out to the boy, who slapped his hand away.

"Go away! I hate you!" Hinata cried before flinging the door to the closet open. Several people shot to look at the commotion as Hinata yelled, "Don't ever talk to me again, King!"

The boy ran as fast as he could down the halls, salty wet tears blurring his vision. He heard himself sob, but all of his other senses blocked out his hearing. He heard several of his friends shout his name, but that was it. He darted quickly out the door of the castle, opening the gates and running away.

"Stupid, Kageyama!" he cried. "I never want to see him again in my life!"

Kageyama was staring at his stinging hand, the one Hinata had slapped away. He'd never felt so disgusted in himself before. The only thing he'd ever loved and he'd.... lost it. Maybe he really was a tyrant after all. He felt tears form in his own eyes as they ran down his cheeks, hot. He clenched his fist.

"No," he murmured. "I... I don't care what they say. I love him, that stupid idiot!"

Kageyama barked before sprinted down after him. His crown flew off of his head as the usual red robe he wore fluttered behind him too. If not for his expensive clothing, he would have looked like an ordinary person. He stole a horse that was in the front of the castle and galloped after his true love.

Hinata bit his lip so hard that he could taste the metallic liquid of blood on his lips. He pumped his arms and legs, ignoring the pain that resided in his left bicep. After Kageyama had pushed him, he had hit it really hard on the wall. He hoped it wouldn't remain like this very long.

Suddenly feeling exhaustion catch up with him, he panted loudly. He stepped into the woods, following the longs rows of trees and bushes. He ran his arm along the bark, letting the tears that had dried up come falling down again. After finding a rather large one, he leaned on it before slowly falling to his bum. The rocks and twigs dug into the backs of his thighs, but he dealt with it. He had experienced worse pain recently.

He let out sobs as he thought about the day. It was really his fault for pressuring Kageyama so much. Maybe he should have just taken his advice and shut up. He decided to think about things he loved, Kageyama coming in mind immediately. He shook away the image of the prince in his mind and thought about irises. Beautiful, black irises that smelled like heaven. Black irises like the color of Kageyama's hair...

"Dumb idiot!" Hinata cried. He shut his eyes harder, thinking of what he loved most.

But not even sunsets could make him feel better right now.

He let his head fall back onto the trunk of the tree, letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm an idiot," Hinata muttered to himself. "Still liking him after what he did to me."

"Yeah, you're a real dumbass," a voice chimed. Hinata shot his gaze up, greeted with the sight of Kageyama. His cheeks puffed out as he shot up.

"What'd you come here for? To push me into the tree?" he retorted. He saw a look of hurt and regret flash across Kageyama's face an immediately regretted the quip.

"I..." Kageyama ran a hand through his hair, exposing his forehead for a short moment before it fell back into bangs across his face. "I'm so sorry!"

Hinata just looked away, crossing his arms angrily. Kageyama watched him with a sad look, never inching closer to the small male. He stayed exactly where he was, never moving a centimeter. He knew he was probably the last thing that the boy wanted to see.

"I know that you probably hate me now," Kageyama said quietly. Hinata didn't respond. Kageyama continued. "But I just wanted to tell you one last time that... I really do love you, Hinata. I know I messed up bad, but I just wanted to tell you one more time..."

Kageyama waited for Hinata to respond, to turn-anything. But the boy remained with his head turned to the side with his arms crossed. He didn't move a muscle, and that's when Kageyama knew it was over.

The prince looked down before turning away quietly. He started to walk away, listening to the sound of dirt, leaves and twigs crinkling under his feet. The sky was bright, making Kageyama even more upset. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but Kageyama felt like his heart was clouded enough.

"Kageyama... YOU IDIOT!" Hinata cried before sprinting up to Kageyama's retreating figure. He wrapped his arms around the taller males torso. Kageyama let out a gasp as he looked at Hinata over his shoulder. The ginger had his face buried in Kageyama's back as he shook.

"I must be so stupid!" he said. "I still love you way too much!"

Kageyama smiled, turning to face the boy. He had tears running down his cheeks as they were tinted with a pale pink. Kageyama blinked, just staring at the boy for a moment. Hinata growled.

"Kiss me already, you idiot!"

Kageyama didn't waste another second before locking lips with Hinata. He felt their mouths mesh together in a delightful way as Hinata wrapped his arms around Kageyama's neck. Kageyama's hand found their way to Hinata's waist as another stroked his hair on the back of his head.

There was a bright light that surrounded Hinata as he blinked in surprise. The couple felt heat wash over them before the light was gone as quickly as it came. Hinata bounced up and down.

"The spell is gone! And my arm feels better!" he cried, jumping up to kiss Kageyama again.

It was a while before they pulled away, Kageyama burying his face into the crook of Hinata's neck. The boy rested a hand on Kageyama's back, smiling happily.

"Tobio..."

"Shouyou," Kageyama interrupted. "Marry me."

Hinata smiled.

"Okay."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Natsu!" Hinata cried, swinging his sister in his arms. "What are you up to?"

"Hinata!" she cried out, playing with her brother's collar. "See you before the wedding!"

Hinata smiled, giving his sister a tight hug. Her blue dress contrasted with Hinata's bright white suit. His hair was still stuck in messy bangs as they splayed out in all directions. Hinata wanted to fix it, but Kageyama said he looked adorable with his hair that way, and who could argue with that?

"It's about to start, Natsu! Remember your job?"

"Throw the petals!" she cried out as Hinata set her down. She picked up a small basket filled with flowers of every kind. Some spilled out as she messily clambered out of the way, letting Kiyoko guide her to where she needed to be. Yamaguchi let out a laugh.

"I can't believe it took you a year to finally have to wedding," he said with a smile. Hinata blushed.

Kageyama's coronation was a little... delayed. Sugawara and Daichi couldn't argue with their son after a 30 minute long speech about why he was going to marry Hinata and they couldn't do a thing about it. They eventually agreed after seeing the impact the ginger had on their son.

"I wanted to take things slow, okay?"

"I get it," Yamaguchi replied, patting Hinata on the back. Hinata grinned at Yamaguchi as he also went away, going to his spot as the best man. Hinata felt his cheeks go redder than ever as he imagined being Kageyama's husband. It was almost like a dream come true! No, it was a dream come true. He gulped as he made his way down the courtyard. He heard the music playing, but his eyes were settled on Kageyama as he walked down the aisle.

His clothing was black with blue accents, nothing like he had worn before. In fact, he didn't even have a crown on his head. He looked nothing like a royal prince, but he was Hinata's prince and that was okay. Well, he was really a king, but that wasn't important.

Before he knew it, Hinata was face to face with the man of his dreams. Kageyama smiled down at him, slipping a hand behind his ear. He placed a black iris behind the boy's ear as Hinata grinned.

"Really? Did you just pick this?"

"Oi," Kageyama grinned. "It looks prettier on you."

Hinata blushed, looking down. Kageyama laced their fingers together, rubbing at the back of Hinata's hand with his thumb.

"Shouyou," he said. "You're my sunset, my sunrise, my first, my last, my everything. I don't ever want to lose you again."

"Oh, Kageyama," Hinata said, blushing happily. He thought his face might combust from all the smiling his was doing.

The two said their 'I do's and they couldn't get them out fast enough. Their lips molded together once again, sealing the fact that they were now married.

As Hinata giggled into the kiss, a gold,orange, pink and purple sunset glowed behind them.