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Iwaizumi stared down at Oikawa. He'd known this day would come, but he'd been hoping it would take longer. The last few years, though, he could feel this time approaching, in the way Oikawa's magic responded slower and slower, and his fingers shook more and more. Oikawa, his enchanter, his lover, his whole world for the last several decades, was dying.
"Tooru," Iwaizumi murmured, reaching down and gently brushing the mage's bangs away from his eyes. "Tooru, I need you to do something for me." Oikawa opened his eyes and stared up at Iwaizumi.
"Anything for you, Iwa-chan," he rasped, grinning brightly as though he wasn't on death's doorstep. Iwaizumi took one of Oikawa's hands in both of his and brushed his lips over his mage's knuckles lovingly.
"I need you to release the bond, Tooru," Iwaizumi said, his voice breaking. Oikawa frowned.
"Release it? Why would I...?" Iwaizumi leaned down and rested his forehead against Oikawa's. He knew that back when Matsukawa had still been alive, still been the second in command of Aoba Josei, there had been a standing order to the second and third ranked pairs: if Oikawa was terminally ill or mortally wounded, they were supposed to sever Iwaizumi's bond, because if Oikawa died with the bond in place, Iwaizumi's powers would be trapped at the level they were as a familiar, a fraction of his strength from before he'd bonded with Oikawa. Once Matsukawa died, however, Iwaizumi had convinced Oikawa to change the order. After all, if Oikawa's life had been cut short, Iwaizumi would have happily traded all of the power in the world to stay bonded with his enchanter for just one more second. One more heartbeat. Now, though, there was something he had to do, and he could only do it at his full power.
"I can't tell you yet. But I'll explain soon, I promise," Iwaizumi assured him. "I need you to trust me, okay?" Oikawa met his gaze, searching for anything that might tell him what Iwaizumi was up to. He found only determination and devotion in the war god's expression, nothing that would tell him what was going on. Oikawa nodded finally, deciding to trust the one person who had never left him. Iwaizumi had never abandoned him before, and Oikawa had no reason to believe that would change just because the bond between them was severed.
"Hajime," Oikawa whispered. "I...I reject your name, and sever my ties with you..." Oikawa closed his eyes, a small whimper escaping his throat as he felt the weight of the bond that had tied him to the war god for so long lift. Iwaizumi exhaled sharply as he felt the connection break and fade to nothing, then inhaled slowly, feeling the decades of power rushing into him as his lungs filled. His body hummed with energy, and his armor slid into place with a thought, lighter and stronger than it had been when he was bonded. He straightened, tempted to summon a sword, knowing it would leap into existence instead of plodding like it had when his power was limited. "Iwa...?" Oikawa stared up at Iwaizumi, who was covered completely in black armor edged in deep gray. Iwaizumi smiled and leaned down.
"Everything is going to be okay, Tooru," the war god promised. "Just keep trusting me, and I'll take care of the rest." Oikawa's eyes widened, and Iwaizumi looked up. Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Kunimi, and Kindaichi stood around Oikawa's deathbed.
"How...?" Oikawa whimpered.
"Demons can't die all the way while they're familiars," Hanamaki explained. "But it usually takes a while to reform. I barely made it in time; I only woke up last week."
"Apparently, someone thought I'd make a great demon," Matsukawa added. "But it took Hanamaki reforming to bring me to consciousness."
"The transition takes a really, really long time," Hanamaki explained. "Especially if you die in battle, so there's no time for anyone to claim your soul and speed things up."
"And Kindaichi?" Oikawa questioned. The air mage had passed away a year before, and his familiar, Kunimi, hadn't been seen since.
"He died of age, so I was able to tune his soul and claim it," Kunimi said. "He's an air spirit now." Kindaichi shrugged.
"I didn't know he was doing it. It's taken me this long to figure out how to manifest a human form," the mage-turned-spirit explained.
"Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you all, but..."
"Iwaizumi sensed it this morning and reached out for Kunimi," Hanamaki said. "He didn't know the rest of us were in any shape to come."
"Sensed what?" Oikawa demanded, frowning at the war god.
"You're dying, Tooru. You don't have much time left. That's why I needed you to sever the bond. I've spent decades bonded to you, and since that bond was the thing limiting my power, it's tuned your soul without me having to put extra time and energy into it." Oikawa frowned, and Iwaizumi tapped his forehead lightly. "Trust me, okay? And close your eyes. It's time," he added.
"Time for what?" No sooner had the words left Oikawa's lips than he felt his whole body grow heavy, and his vision started to darken. He made a distressed sound, and one of Iwaizumi's hands rested on his cheek comfortingly. His other hand settled over Oikawa's heart.
"Trust me, Tooru. Close your eyes and focus on me," Iwaizumi commanded, and Oikawa obeyed, letting his eyes drift shut and focusing on just how much he loved his grumpy war god.
Oikawa's body took one last breath, then went still.
Iwaizumi lifted his hand from the dead mage's chest, and wispy, blue-green light rose from his body, swirled with a deep black that matched Iwaizumi's armor. The war god glanced at the demons and spirits who stood watching.
"None of us are going to fight you for it," Kunimi said quietly. "After you contacted me, I asked the higher spirits and demons. They had no intention of trying to claim him to start with. He's yours, Iwaizumi." The war god smiled and gathered the light in his hands.
"I'll let you know when he wakes up," he promised. Then he was gone, taking the light with him.
Oikawa opened his eyes and sat up. His body felt light, strong, and strangely young. He looked down at his hands and found they were smooth, almost delicate. He blinked and looked around. He vaguely recognized his surroundings as Iwaizumi's temple in Oikawa's home village.
"You're awake." Oikawa turned. Iwaizumi was crossing the room toward him. "Can you stand?" Oikawa nodded and got to his feet, a little unsteadily. "I guess you really were tuned to me," Iwaizumi observed. "It only took you a few weeks to wake up." Oikawa frowned as memories rushed back. He'd been dying. No, he had died. But now... " I was able to tie your soul to my power, and bring you here. I don't know what powers you'll have, since you're not a nature spirit or a demon."
"What am I, then?" Oikawa asked, his mind spinning. Iwaizumi chuckled.
"You can't guess? You're a god now. Just don't let it go to your head," he explained. "Oh, and once you're feeling up to it, Kunimi and the others want to see you." Oikawa decided that seeing his old friends again would be wonderful, but there was something else he wanted to do first. Oikawa closed the distance between himself and Iwaizumi, tangled his fingers in the war god's hair and pulled him closer and kissed him fiercely. The best thing about this whole situation, Oikawa decided, was that even though Iwaizumi's bond no longer tied him to Oikawa, Iwaizumi still hadn't left him. He'd even done something - Oikawa wasn't really sure he understood the whole tuning thing yet - to make sure they could be together even after Oikawa died. When Oikawa finally pulled back, he and Iwaizumi were both slightly out of breath. "Hey, Tooru," Iwaizumi said. "Remember what I promised when you bonded me?"
"Of course. You said you would protect me and guide me for as long as our bond endured," Oikawa replied. "Why?"
"Because now that you're a god, I have a different promise to make," Iwaizumi told him. The war god took Oikawa's hands in his and met his gaze solemnly. "I will love you and stay by your side. I promise."
"For how long?" Oikawa asked, half nervous and half playful.
"For eternity," Iwaizumi replied seriously.