Chapter Text
Tooru frowned. He just took a hit to his upper arm, barely managing to not fall off. Has Hanamaki become stronger in the last 24 hours? No. He was just distracted…
Dirt met his ass.
"Owww!" He was in pain.
"Bow before the new champion! I, Hanamaki-san, am the best in the air!" Hanamaki shouted. Tooru groaned.
They were practicing on the beam, an exercise specifically made to improve balance, close combat and quick thinking. All of which were needed to ride a dragon. Usually, it would be Hanamaki groaning and moaning on the ground, holding his ass. As a reigning champion this was a disgrace.
"You owe me dinner," Hanamaki said and Tooru watched as he hopped down the beam all by himself and landed on his two feet. Though he did stumble a little.
He would have protested to that, whined until Hanamaki took that back and even promised to buy him dinner for the rest of the week. But right now he only had the energy to get himself off the ground and stumble towards the small house near the training grounds. It was more of a shed than a house honestly. Made of scrap wood and stone, its only purpose was to give some privacy to the young trainees that were changing for practice. Tooru entered the dimly lit room, Hanamaki hot on his tail, and approached a small wooden chest against the right wall.
"Oikawa," he heard Hanamaki start behind him, "are you okay? You aren't this shitty usually." He said, and although Makki would never give up the chance to tease the other, there was a concerned look in his eyes that made Tooru pause a little. It was nice to know that his only friend was worried about him.
He took off his shirt.
Tooru would never admit that though. “Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He tried to hide the tension in his voice and be as cheerful as he always is. But the false smile must have faltered and the ghost of a frown must have appeared instead, because Hanamaki's eyes just became more concerned.
He busied himself with his pants so he wouldn't have to face the other. When he glanced up again Hanamaki opened his mouth to speak, but Tooru cut him off. It was better to tell him himself, rather than get nagged at until he spilled. "I can’t, okay?” His mouth pulled to one side and his hands clenched into fists. He didn't like talking about this. How could he do this after what happened? Those beasts had taken his best friend without a care in the world. He could still remember it clearly. They had been going to the river to celebrate Tooru's birthday but they didn't even reach it. A claws came down from the air just as black as the night itself. Tooru screamed, ran, and tried to reach him before it was too late. Even if it was hopeless he would have done everything to save that boy. But the dragon raised its head and flew off before he could do anything.
Tooru's lips curled, and sneered out his next words. “They are cruel, careless and selfish. Everything they do is for their own benefit. Even when they choose it's only the strong ones. Half of the kids don't even make it back and the elders don't even say anything.” His hand had come up as he was talking.
He remembered all the trainees. They pushed their bodies day and night, mastered their abilities to draw from the elements. All of them were formidable and he watched them go into the forest one after another. They all knew what happened in there and they still went in. But they at least had the chance to survive. Tooru still didn't understand why they would go but still, he could see the use in them. Dragons were the protectors of their people for five decades. That’s why they could settle here and build their houses without the nearby villages disrupting them.
Tooru still thought it wasn't worth it though. Their parents, the trainees, the elders, everyone was pretending as if kids weren't disappearing every year. They all looked the other way, when one didn't come back in the morning. To them it was probably just a simple trade. A few kids for protection. But Tooru saw what happens, he saw how the dragons drag away their loved ones without a care in the world. It was a cruel trade.
And they want it to be normal? He couldn't just do this after what happened.
“They know full well what happens,” he said, his voice strong.”I can't just… stand here and follow their orders. And I won't sit on one of those killers.” He looked away.
Hanamaki tensed up. They've had this conversation a hundred times already. Oikawa was determined to not be a rider. He wanted to fight on his own and stop the disappearances. He wanted to protect the children. It was kind, Hanamaki thought, but it was also stupid.
The selection was a day every trainee had to go through. It was when they decided which dragon they would ride with for the rest of their life. In a forest East from their village, every eighteen year old would spend their week trekking through the trees, to either come home on the back of a dragon, or not come back at all.
"I know you don't want to," Hanamaki said, now serious. He didn't usually voice his opinion this openly, but they both knew today was different. This might be the last night he could. "But I just need you to come back in one piece,” he said. Then his voice turned a little more cheerful. “You owe me a night at the pub after all.”
Tooru chuckled. This was good old Makki for you. Always cheering everybody up. He put on a clean pair of pants. “Who said anything about the pub?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. This line of conversation would only make his pockets hurt.
“I did defeat you.” The other boy grinned. “I'm gonna make you pay for your mistakes!”
They laughed as they finished changing and left the training grounds. They both wanted to make these precious few happy moments last. Tooru would depart tomorrow at dawn. And he would keep the promise he made to himself at twelve. He would not come back on a dragon.