Chapter 4: "This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen."

A/N

Ah! I know! I'm a day late again! I'm very very sorry, but I had a big midterm this morning and had to study it last night. I still finished this chapter yesterday, but I finished by like 1am and I didn't trust myself not to make a million mistakes (as I should not have, it was riddled with them). Not only that but when I went to edit it, I discovered that a quarter of it was missing! Yes, it was quite a bad time indeed.

Alas, here you have a short and sweet chapter. In both consolation for being late and in theme of Valentine's Day, this chapter is a lot more fluffy than usual, so enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing about these two being idiots.

Ps, I was studying King Lear in my Shakespeare class today and we came across Lear's little speech, where I got the chapter title – it fits nicely, doesn't it?

"Where'd they go?" Hinata asked as he and Kageyama shared a look. There was no sign of the two girls for as far as the dense forest allowed them to see.

"I don't know… Maybe we should walk a little and we'll find them?" Kageyama offered, and Hinata nodded.

"Then let's go… That way!" Hinata decided and pointed directly ahead of them. It was a logical choice, as it was the way they were heading before they stopped, but the dense forest didn't exactly have a straight path. So soon after the two left, they were taking small turns and detours which eventually led them to a place more foreign than ever, and they began to panic.

"Maybe if we go to the right?" Hinata's nervousness was palpable as he stared up at Kageyama, waiting for confirmation.

"Idiot, we just came from there!" Kageyama snapped as his nerves made him more moody than usual as well.

"Who's the idiot, idiot? You're the reason we're lost in the first place!" Hinata yelled back and took a step closer to the towering boy.

"It's your fault, not mine. Klutz." Kageyama spat as he sullenly looked away. Hinata's face scrunched up as he got ready for a retort, when his expression suddenly fell and nothing left his lips, earning a concerned look from Kageyama (albeit with an ever-present glare).

"Hey, doesn't it seem to be getting darker?" Hinata's voice was quiet and his eyes widened as he looked around the forest now filled with shadows.

"Hn? Y-yeah, I guess. What, you scared, or something?" Kageyama sneered with a stutter that stole its edge. Just as he finished his sentence, however, a bush rustled behind them and with matching very-manly screams, the two crashed into each other violently.

Hinata clung to Kageyama's shirt as the larger boy's arms wrapped painfully around him. The two remained frozen and refused to breathe as they stared at the source of the sound when it emerged. They gripped each other ever harder as the great beast leapt from the bush, barely visible in the ever darkening sky. With a strangled gasp the two fell to the ground as they beheld the animal before them. There, it sat on its haunches and watched them with beady eyes, immobilising them with its stare. Neither dared a breath as sweat built on their brows, and Hinata feared his heart beat was loud enough to make the ground tremble beneath him with the way it pounded in his chest. Another few seconds passed as the two remained on the ground in nervous anticipation, clinging to one another in fear, before the beast turned and with a flick of its long ear, bounded confidently into the bush to their side, gliding past them with ease. The last thing seen before it disappeared in the leaves was the fluff of its tail, leaving the two gaping in its midst.

Another moment passed before Hinata dared speak. "Was that… A bunny?" Hinata murmured against the shoulder of Kageyama who remained silent. Without another word, the two disentangled themselves and got up off the ground. Refusing to meet each other's eyes, they awkwardly stood there for a moment before Kageyama broke the silence.

"Maybe we should find some shelter." The taller boy muttered with a shift of his feet.

"Y-yeah. I remember was passed a cave just a little ways that way." Hinata replied while pointing to the opposite side of where the bunny had disappeared to.

"Okay, let's go then."

Kageyama and Hinata began treading back through the now dark forest and found the cave Hinata spoke of not more than ten minutes later. It was a decent size and incredibly dark, and the two hesitated only a second before going in.

"We should probably… Sleep next to each other. You know, to keep each other warm and stuff." Hinata offered, unsure as to why he was blushing, when he caught Kageyama's shocked look. "O-obviously we will be facing away from each other! But its, you know, super cold. And stuff." He coughed and dropped his eyes to the ground, ears aflame.

"I guess, that makes sense." Kageyama replied and Hinata looked up at him with surprise, locking eyes with Kageyama as the other rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"O-okay! Let's go over here then." The smaller boy bounced over to the wall furthest to the left and only a small five feet deep in the cave. With a nod of agreement, the two made way to the spot and with a quiet 'goodnight' they both laid down. Their backs were pressed against one another, and although Hinata's heart felt like it was going to burst from going so fast, the warmth of Kageyama's back soothed him and the two fell asleep fairly quickly. Without much thought to the anomaly of his heartbeat and to the warmth of his cheeks, Hinata drifted off into a comfortable sleep despite the cold ground and terrifying setting.

An undeterminable time later, a grunt and shuffling around pulled Hinata out of his sleep. The wriggling against his face caught Hinata's attention first as his drowsy mind tried to grasp reality. He then recognized a weight on his shoulder, then something both soft yet firm holding his head aloft, and then finally that his own arm was wrapped around the sleeping figure of Kageyama. His heart nearly came to a stop and Hinata realized what situation he was in and his eyes widened. He was, in fact, cuddling Kageyama. Just as he came to this conclusion, there was more rustling and mumbling from above his head. Hinata pulled his head back a little bit to look at the larger boy, careful not to wake him, when he felt something soft press against his forehead. Hinata gasped as the brief sensation disappeared and he thought – no, it couldn't be – the soft feeling on his forehead – was it his…?- it lasted for only a second but maybe… – Did he just…? – Ah, Kageyama just kissed Hinata on the forehead.

Hinata's face burst into color invisible in this darkness and his heart pounded deafeningly loud. Certain his heartbeat would wake the now-sleeping boy, Hinata froze and stared at the peaceful face of Kageyama to make sure he would remain asleep. A moment later, Hinata pried himself from Kageyama's arms and turned away from him. His face still ablaze and heart going crazy, Hinata listened to Kageyama rustle around a little bit from the sudden lack of heat before he drifted back into a deep sleep. Staring into the darkness of the cave, Hinata tried to still his thundering heart.

Safe to say, it was quite a while before he finally fell asleep again.

- o - o - o -

The morning light shone through the cave entrance directly on the two sleeping boys as the chirping of birds began to float in the air. Kageyama was the first to wake, though he sound crouched and began poking Hinata in the side.

"Wake up, idiot. We got to find our way back." Hinata groaned and rolled away from the loud boy.

"Few more min'ts" Hinata muttered and covered his face with the nook of his arm. This time a foot collided with his side. With a grunt, Hinata turned and glared at Kageyama (although it was more of a squint due to the overpowering light).

"Get up." Kageyama growled and gave another kick to his side for emphasis. Hinata sighed and slumped against the ground.

"Fine." He mumbled and, with great effort, pulled himself off the ground. His eyelids felt heavy and he stifled a yawn.

"Jeez, what's wrong with you? Any other morning you're annoyingly perky." Hinata simply shrugged as he began to stretch. The kinks of sleeping on the stony ground all night all snapped as his joints popped in place. Kageyama grimaced at the sound and muttered gross under his breath.

"Let's go." Hinata muttered as he stifled another yawn.

"Where should we go?" Kageyama asked as he looked around the immense forest. It was more of a rhetorical question, as obviously neither knew the answer.

"I don't know. Maybe we should backtrack?" Hinata replied and Kageyama nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe we'll find one of those markers Shimizu puts up."

"Yeah!" Hinata replied, his enthusiasm returning from the dulled state of drowsiness. The two set off the way they had come.

Kageyama and Hinata trekked through the forest for what felt like hours, feeling more lost than ever, when Hinata saw a brightly colored piece of fabric fluttering in the wind. Abruptly stopping his retort to gape open mouth, Hinata felt cautious excitement build in his chest.

"Is that…" Hinata began, his voice quieting in awe. Kageyama furrowed his brow and was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when he caught sight of it too.

"Shimizu's marker!" The two exclaimed in disbelief. Sharing a mutual look of relief and eagerness, the Hinata and Kageyama quickly ran to the fluttering ribbon (although careful not to fall).

"There's another!" Hinata shouted and pointed to one not five feet from the first. With this, they saw another ribbon after the other, until they eventually stumbled into the narrow path. Grinning, they looked to the right and there they saw it; they found the camp.