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The metal arm rained down brutal blows against Oikawa’s shield, the force pushing him backward on his feet until he was pinned against the wall of the plummeting aircraft carrier. However, he wouldn’t — couldn't — back down.
Not when it was Iwa-chan.
A fist landed on Oikawa’s ribs, sending a shard of white-hot pain through his torso. “Please,” he gasped, “Iwa-chan, you know me.”
Hand raised to strike once again, Iwaizumi stopped short and gave Oikawa a searching look. Oikawa held his breath as he saw something flash through Iwaizumi’s eye that was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
“Who the hell is Iwa-chan?”
An ugly emotion Oikawa didn't have time to feel burst through his every nerve at those words. All the years they had fought side by side, had laughed together and cried together, were squashed by that denial of everything they ever were.
His heart ached almost as much as the rest of him, but he couldn't stop to grieve the loss of his first and best friend to a brutal regimen of brainwashing. Iwaizumi was still dangerous, and Oikawa couldn't let him go. He wasn't giving up, though. Not ever.
Taking a deep breath, he threw himself back into the fray. Dodging punches and landing a few of his own, Oikawa reached out between blows in any way he could.
“Kitagawa Daiichi!” Oikawa bellowed, smashing his shield into Iwaizumi’s side. “We played volleyball together. I was an idiot and you made sure I didn't forget it.” He sidestepped a haymaker and added, “You also made sure I knew that the team was always stronger together, no matter how good each player was individually.”
Iwaizumi faltered. “Shut up!” he cried. “I'm not that guy.”
Oikawa didn't miss the way Iwaizumi hesitated, nor the defensive streak in his voice. The dam was cracked, and he had plenty of dynamite to blow it wide open.
“Seijou! You were the ace and you were incredible.” Oikawa kicked Iwaizumi’s shins out from under him. Sitting on Iwaizumi’s thighs to pin him down, Oikawa snared those flailing limbs. “You're the partner I could always be proud of. That's what you said to me.”
“You're not my friend!” Iwaizumi roared and tossed Oikawa against the bulkhead of the rapidly sinking helicarrier. “You're my mission!”
Iwaizumi’s painfully familiar voice rang in Oikawa’s ears as they threw themselves into the fight. A knife found its way into Oikawa’s side, and as blood oozed from the wound, his energy flagged. Iwaizumi took advantage of his weakness and beat his face until his eyes were almost swelled shut.
Blood trickled from Oikawa’s split lip. He drew the fullest breath his plethora of cracked ribs would allow and croaked, “Iwa-chan, please. It's me. Tooru.” Oikawa coughed, and he tasted blood as the room started to spin.
Iwaizumi looked down at him, eyes wide and wild, and he slammed his fist into the floor next to Oikawa’s face. “You’re my mission,” he rasped, his voice catching. “You're my mission.”
Hearing the fight slowly drain from Iwaizumi, Oikawa gave one last try to reach the person he knew was still trapped inside that grungy cloak of violence. “Then finish it, ‘cause I'm with you ‘til the end of the line.”
The last thing Oikawa saw before he blacked was Iwaizumi’s face, twisted in indecision as he hovered motionlessly.
Oikawa awoke covered in dirt, his body sprawled out in the grass on the riverbank. His entire body protested as he pushed up to his elbows to peer around at his surroundings.
The helicarrier jutted out of the water, with billowing smoke pouring from every opening. That was the same helicarrier where he had fought and apparently lost against Iwaizumi, which was at least a few hundred meters away.
He lurched to his feet, staggering as dizziness overwhelmed him. Closing his eyes, he waited for the world to stop waving before he opened them again.
Just in the periphery of his vision, he thought he saw a dark silhouette and the glint of metal in the sunlight before it disappeared into the trees.
Dropping to his knees, Oikawa tilted his head back, the warm prick of tears in his eyes. He didn't know where it would go or how long it would last, but he knew that some part of Iwaizumi recognized him and had dragged him from the wreckage.
He wasn't sure how or how long it would take, but he could never give up on his Iwa-chan. After all, they were with each other until the end of the line, and he would never doubt that it went both ways ever again.