Tooru started telling you a while ago that there was no need to rush and that you can take your time to eat during dinner, much to your reluctance. You still don't like just letting him sit there in the middle of winter waiting for you to let him in, but he insists it's fine so here you are, taking your time eating as usual. Your grandma retired to her room earlier than usual after only eating a little bit, you've noticed that she's been feeling a little under the weather recently, you hope- no, you're sure it's nothing though. You sigh out through your nose and continue eating your slightly cold dinner- you've got no one to blame but yourself for it being cold now, you should've not been spacing out so much.

When dinner is finally over you excuse yourself and make your way to your room with an excited grin on your face. You double check that no one is nearby out of habit and walk into your room. The excited grin immediately falling from your face when your eye land on a frustrated and teary eyed Tooru sniffling on your bed.

Tooru never comes into your room without your permission and though you always insist that he's welcome to come into your room at his own leisure, he always insists that it's not polite- something about it not being gentlemen like- so you know that if he's in the state he is right now and he's in your room then it must be for a good reason.

He looks up at you, tears threatening to spill over his frustrated eyes at any moment. "(y-y/n)," you run over to console Tooru immediately once the words leave his lips.

You gently place your small hand on his shoulder. "What happened, Tooru? Are you alright?" You ask, you forehead creased in concern and your eyes worried, willing to hear every sorrow he has tucked away.

"I-I hate him. I hate him so much, h-he's always s-so mean to me, I-I hate my father." Tooru clenches the fabric of his pants tightly, his lips drawing into what would be a sneer if Tooru wasn't so busy trying to keep his lips from quivering as he hiccups out his frustrations. Your eyes widen when you hear him; sure Tooru often complains to you about how strict his father is and how he doesn't like that his father is so cold hearted when it comes to ruling the kingdom, but what why exactly did the king to to make Tooru so upset? Before you can even voice the question in your mind Tooru answers it for you. "H-he found the flower crown you made me..." Your eyes widen.

"The flower crown that I made for you two years ago?" You ask, Tooru nods his head in confirmation. Oh, you remember that flower crown, how could you possibly not- you still have yours. You remember Tooru was so happy when you gave it back to him and told him that thanks to the spell he could wear it any time.

"H-he said that it was filthy, a-and that demons should never toy with something as retched a-as flowers." A couple tears spill over Tooru's eyes and he quickly wipes them away with his sleeve. "T-then he-" a hiccup interrupts his sentence, "I-I dunno how- but he undid the spell a-and he burned the flower crown i-into ashes with his hands." Whimpers Tooru, not even caring anymore that his tears are freely flowing and streaking down his cheeks. You're speechless, you've got no idea how to even begin consoling him- he's your best friend yet you can't even muster out any words that'll help sooth the pain.

So, you the only thing you can do; you hug him. His slightly taller figure hunches over easily and he buries his face into the crook of your neck, careful of his horns as usual, making sure he doesn't accidentally knock them into you in the process. His horns have gotten a little bigger since you first met, they're now slightly more visibly peaking out from Tooru's side swept curls. The combination of the way you're softly running your fingers through his chocolate brown hair without a second thought and how familiar scent is seems to be doing a good job of comforting him his sniffling slows down in response to the gestures. Even after he's fully stopped crying both of you still hold the position. Tooru speaks up again, after a few moments of silence. "Sometimes I don't wanna be king." Tooru's confession is a tad muffled sounding. "I don't wanna be hated by everyone because of who my dad is... I don't want everyone to hate me just because I exist... just wanna run away sometimes."

You don't even think about what you say next, you don't need to. "If you run away I'll run away with you, and if you become king then I'll rule with you." Tooru pulls away so he can look you in the eye, your face is determined, you grab his hand for emphasis. "No matter what happens, I will follow you. I promise that you will never be alone, not if I can help it." You hear another sniffle from Tooru, you're pretty sure you just opened the floor gates. In an instance big fat tears are pouring from his eyes and he throws himself over you in a bone crushing hug.

"(Y/n)-chaaaaaan, you're so sweeeet." Wails Tooru while your face blushes furiously as you try getting him to lower his voice so a nun doesn't hear him.

So that was the promise you made to him, Toru, your best friend.

Many would argue that a promise like that would be impossible to keep. They would think that you don't know what you're saying because you're so young, that things could happen in the future, but you don't care, and you never will, this is a promise you intend to hold onto with all your might.

Soon spring comes and it's that time of year again, that time when you and Tooru scout out every inch of the vast forest the two of you met in in hopes of finding May bells.

You're running to the spot under you and Tooru's tree where you usually meet in the summer months and are getting pretty close- you can even see someone, though you can't make out the figure- when a hand suddenly grabs your wrist and pulls you back into the nearby bushes, you nearly fall on top of your grabber and your back lands against their chest while your body becomes rigid against the unknown person as you let out a yelp. The person who grabbed you quickly covers your mouth and shushes you, you immediately know it's Tooru just by hearing his shush and your stiff posture relaxes as he lets go of your mouth.

You turn around to face him with confusion written all over your small face. "Tooru-kun, the heck was that all about?" You ask him, whispering since you don't want him to shush you again, but then something clicks for you; you remember the figure you saw under the tree... and Tooru is standing right in front of you... so who was that?

"There's some scary kid catching beetles under our tree!" Whispers Tooru urgently to you with a slight amount of panic detectable in his voice. You peak out from the bushes again to see if you can get a good look at the kid's face, he appears to be around you and Tooru's age, he's got tanned skin no doubt from being in the sun so much and dark coffee colored spikes for hair, he's bending down and away from your direction so there's not much else you can see of him. You stick your head back behind to the cover of the bush and turn around to face Tooru.

"He doesn't look that bad, he's probably friendly." You whisper, "maybe you should go talk to him?" You suggest, Tooru immediately starts flailing his arms around and refusing.

"What?! No way! What if he's like everyone else?" Gasps Tooru, completely forgetting to mind his voice.

"Well you can't be sure, you never know." You say at regular volume, Tooru knows your right but he still tries to hold onto his logic.

"W-well, uh," he starts, grasping at straws, "why don't you go say hi, (y/n)-chan?" He folds his arms and sticks his tongue out at you.

"Because-" you start your rebuttal but are interrupted by a new voice.

"Are you two spying on me?" Asks a voice coming from behind you, you and Tooru yelp in surprise and you immediately jump to turn around and face the mystery speaker while Tooru hides behind you, finding it a little difficult considering he's taller than you. As it turns out, the mystery speaker is the boy that was hogging you and Tooru's tree. Tooru responds first, peaking his head out from behind your shoulder.

"N-no! Of course we're not spying on you!" He shouts out indignantly. The kid raises an eyebrow as his eyes land on Tooru's horns, he's clearly unconvinced.

"It sure looked like you were." He responds.

You butt in before Tooru can say anything else. "We were just wondering how to approach you, since um, that tree over there is kinda ours." You point at the tree you and Tooru always meet up at. Before the kid can respond Tooru cuts in.

"Yeah, it's ours!" Tooru sticks his tongue at the stranger. You giggle and roll your eyes.

"We can share it though." You suggest, Tooru gasping at hearing it.

"Hah?!" Tooru immediately spins you around and starts shaking your shoulders, "we can't share!" He yells at you. You furrow your browser slightly in confusion.

"Why not?" You ask.

"B-because, what if he's mean to me?" He pouts while staring accusingly at the other boy.

You turn your head to look at the other boy. "Do you have a problem with my best friend?" You ask, already very sure of his answer.

"Why would I?" Deadpans the boy. You smile in response and look back at Tooru.

"See?" You grin up at him before turning completely around to face the other boy.

"I'm (l/n) (y/n), this is my best friend," you make a gesture to Tooru with one hand, "Oikawa Tooru; he's a big baby." Tooru makes an offended noise and the other boy laughs.

"I can tell, I'm Iwaizumi Hajime." Tooru wrinkles his nose in response.

"That name is too long and your first name is weird!"

"Hah?! How's my first name weird?!" Yells Iwaizumi.

"It just is! I'm gonna call you Iwa-chan instead!" Tooru sticks his tongue out at Iwa-chan once more. Iwa-chan just crossed his arms and grumbles, clearly irked by Tooru's logic while you just laugh.

The rest of the day was spent climbing trees, running, and freaking out Tooru with huge bugs. And though Iwa-chan had to leave at dinner time and couldn't accompany you once it was over like Tooru does, he assured the both of you that he would come back again tomorrow. And so, what was a party of two becomes a group of three.
:.•*.°¿°.*•.:
Sorry the chapter was even later than usual, I've been behind schedule since January but I promise I'll update Humbling Magic on time this week, then I'll finally be back on schedule. ~ ♒