"Seven!"
The competitors held their breath as the dice rolled, but the thrower held his head high with confidence. His eyes gave nothing away as everyone watched in dramatic silence, the scene almost unfolding in slow motion. Tension held thick in the summer air, hot and heavy around them. Kageyama didn't fret - they couldn't lose, it was impossible. The crowd waited countless seconds… The dice finally stopped spinning. Two and five.
Without fail, the loaded dice would always give them seven.
The cheers that followed were nearly enough to drown out the tired groans of the three thugs sitting across from Kageyama. The dark haired man smirked and scooped up the dice quickly with his left hand. "Well, there you have it," he stated as he stood up, "The winnings go to us."
"Good throw Kageyama!" His red-headed partner-in-crime whooped, grabbing half the pile of cash from the ground. "I'm telling you boys," Hinata was addressing their competitors now, "Kageyama's lucky left hand never fails!" Laughter followed and Kageyama simply rolled his eyes at Hinata's suggestive comments.
Grabbing what was left of the winnings, he stood to his full height beside Hinata. "Same time next week?" he asked with a smirk.
"Hold on a minute."
With raised eyebrows and concerned glances, Hinata and Kageyama stopped in their tracks, looking to their competitors. They watched as the tallest of the three, Aone, stood up. "One more round," the tall man deadpanned. He was expressionless, though Hinata had said on many occasions it could be because his eyebrows were nonexistent, yet his tone held a firm confidence.
With a laugh and a bubbly smile, Hinata stepped forward. "Yeah, Aone? How're you gonna play? You're broke! You've got nothing left to bet!" As if to punctuate his point, the redhead waved a small wad of cash in front of the brutes frowning face.
From behind Aone, another of the large men jumped up. This one, Bokuto, was considerably more energetic and boisterous. "I've got something we can bet with!" His wide, golden eyes scanned Hinata up and down slowly. "I've got a map."
"A map?"
"A map of the new world!" The man groped through the inside pockets of his purple vest for a moment, Hinata's attention never straying, until he pulled out an old piece of parchment. The corners were ripped and the edges were stained, but the faded images were easy to make out in the bright sunlight. "A map like this could lead you to riches and fame, if only you were to follow it."
Even as the crowd around them laughed with disbelief, Hinata's hand leapt forward, stealing the map with eager excitement. His eyes scanned it quickly, but he was being pulled backwards by the top of his head before he could even agree to Bokuto's bet. With a squeal, he dropped the map and started swatting at Kageyama's hands. "Ouch! Stop that, stop that!" When Kageyama let go, Hinata quickly scooped up the map once more. "Excuse us," he all but cooed as he dragged his dark-haired partner a short distance away from the crowd.
Once away from prying eyes, Kageyama glared at Hinata under the cover of the map. "No," he stated firmly before the other man could even make his pitch.
"But Tobio-"
"No, Hinata."
"Just hear me out-"
"I said no!"
Hinata was quiet after the outburst. Kageyama almost sighed in relief but was cut off as Hinata tried again - he should have known that Hinata giving up was too good of a hope to be true. "This map leads to the city of gold, Tobio!" First names had always been reserved for special use between the two of them. Kageyama wasn't sure when he'd last uttered the name 'Shouyo.' Surely the map couldn't be that important to Hinata? "The city of gold!" Hinata repeated, stealing back his partner's attention. "El Dorado! We could become rich as kings!" Hinata was shouting now and Kageyama had to hiss an attempt to shut him up.
"You know that little voice in our heads that tells us to quit while we're ahead?" Kageyama asked, tone sarcastic and annoyed, "I swear to God, you don't have one."
"It's not like we'll lose," Hinata urged. Really, with those damn puppy-eyes being sent his way, Kageyama couldn't say no. Besides, Hinata was right, it's not like they could lose. He exhaled in a quick huff before nodding and gesturing back towards their place in the centre of the crowd. Hinata whooped, a fist flying through the air, and bounded back to the three thugs. "You've got yourself a bet," he exclaimed, throwing the rolled up map on the ground between them.
"Awesome," Bokuto grinned. Aone said nothing, but his unmoving face somehow seemed pleased. Kageyama found the confidence in the other men unnerving… Yet still, he raised his dice with the smallest smirk. Just as he prepared to throw, the last of the larger men stood up and cleared his throat.
Kageyama hesitated, sending a pointed look to Hinata before turning back to Wakatoshi. "Yes?"
"Use my dice," the taller man stated in a monotone.
Kageyama faltered, again sending a look to Hinata - more viciousness in his gaze this time - before repeating, "your dice?"
"Problem?" Aone cut in. Kageyama was sure that, judging by the wrinkles in his forehead, his left eyebrow would be raised if he had one.
With clenched teeth, Kageyama pushed his own dice into his pants pocket. "No problem," he huffed. He could see Hinata's worried expression in his peripheral. Damn right, they should be worried. There was so much money on the line that they were just leaving to chance! He retrieved Wakatoshi's dice with sweaty hands, nerves flooding his body.
He hadn't realised how hushed the crowd was until he was blowing into his hands around the dice. The noise was thunderous in the deafening silence that surrounded them all. He muttered a quiet prayer to whatever God may exist - he could head Hinata doing the same. He promised himself that he'd find a gun to shoot Hinata with if they failed.
If it had been a slow motion scene before, then his throw of the dice this time was almost unmoving. He barely heard himself yell out, "Seven!" The seconds felt like years, even as the dice hit the ground and bounced. They spun and spun and spun, making Kageyama dizzy. The first finally stopped. Six. Had his mouth not felt so barren and dry, Kageyama would have outwardly cursed. It felt like decades before the second die finally slowed, tilted, and fell to a stop in the dirt.
One.
The crowd roared and Hinata all but screamed in victory. Even Kageyama jumped into the air, shouting profanities and exclamations of victory. Their opponents scowled, grumbling quiet swears and complaints. Kageyama almost took pity on them… But not really.
As the dark haired man swooped down to pick up Hinata's decidedly stupid map, he called out to Wakatoshi. "Have your dice back," he chuckled, throwing the faded yellow cubes to the man. He reached into his pants pocket with an evil glint in his eyes. "Here, take this too, for your troubles." He threw a singular wad of cash at the tall brunette. It hit the man in the chest and fell to the ground with a nearly silent thump, followed by the quiet clinking of Kageyama's cheated dice as they hit the ground.
Horrified, Kageyama lunged to grab the dice. He hadn't meant to pull them out with the cash, and definitely hadn't meant to throw them directly to their competitors, but he was too late. Bokuto had beat him to the dotted cubes and was now rolling them between his palms.
Kageyama watched with fear as the man with white hair and golden eyes dropped the dice. Five and two. He picked them up and dropped them again. Two and five. He repeated twice more, always with the same results. Kageyama scrambled to his feet, ready to run as Bokuto practically screeched, "Cheaters!"
Hinata was beside him in an instant and the two turned on their heels. They'd already taken two running steps when a royal guard stepped into their way. Kageyama looked up, taking in the man's blonde hair with an undercut, and his mischievous brown eyes. Bokuto's yelling continued, now directed towards the guard. "They were playing with loaded dice!"
There was a split second pause. The breaths of the surrounding people seemed to be held as they waited for someone, anyone, to say something. Kageyama turned to Hinata, a look of unbridled anger bubbling to his porcelain face. "Loaded dice?" he questioned roughly, "You gave me loaded dice?!"
The rebuttal was immediate as if rehearsed. "Me!?" Hinata held a hand to his chest in disbelief, "You were the one cheating! Officer, arrest him!"
The officer raised a brow and went to pull his sword from its hilt. Surely, he'd just take the both of them straight to jail… Kageyama jumped forward, skillfully grasping the heavy sword by its rounded handle. He lifted it high into the air, dramatic and slow. The crowd gasped and the blue-eyed man felt like a true actor on a stage. "Splendid idea officer!" he shouted, pointing the sharp metal towards Hinata's shit-eating grin. "We battle to the death!"
Hinata had to hold back a laugh, Kageyama could tell, but the freckled redhead followed the lead and pulled a sword of his own from the hilt of another nearby guard. "To the death!" he agreed readily, "Show no mercy!"
Hinata swung the first blow, coming down hard towards Kageyama's head. The swords clashed with the loud sound of metal-on-metal when the intended hit was blocked. With a scowl, Kageyama pushed the weapon out of his way and made a swing for Hinata's hip. Of course, Kageyama failed to account for the redhead's short stature and nearly cut through his slim rib cage. Again and again, they swung at each other, each blow more risky and violent than the last. The crowd shouted and screamed with approval as the two maneuvered their way away from the guards and knights. Soon enough they were climbing as they fought, pulling themselves up perfectly stacked boxes and ladders until they were standing on a flat, tiled roof.
"Good fight, Kageyama," Hinata whispered, unable to hide the laughter in his voice. Tobio nodded in agreement, barely smiling. They weren't quite done yet. They counted down together under their breath. "Three, two, one…" With mighty swings, they threw the swords to the waiting ground below. "We've decided to call it a draw!" Hinata shouted, waving excitedly to their adoring public below. The grin on his face was as bright as the sun itself. "They love us," he told Kageyama, his laughter now unbridled and loud.
Kageyama had to agree. The two of them excelled at entertaining the masses and keeping them focused on all the wrong things. The crowd truly did love them! But there was no time to think about that now. He could already see the guards running towards the mountain of boxes and ladders, ready to drag the duo to the nearest jail cell they could find. With a flick of his wrist, Kageyama saluted his farewell to the crowd. "Let's go," he muttered to Hinata. The two of them spun on their heels in sync and took off in the opposite direction.