Chapter Text
It was October, Halloween, to be specific. The night was crisp and the autumn leaves crunched beneath its feet. The scent of rotting flesh enticed its appetite. Who, or what exactly was this creature that lurked in the dusk?
Don’t wander alone at night, or you might just become it’s prey.
“Boo!” The boy shouted as he pounced onto his friends shoulders. His friend shuddered before falling to the ground. He quickly removed the white sheet from over his head, revealing his identity.
“Jesus, Hinata you idiot! Don’t go scaring me like that, especially when I’m alone out here!” Kageyama scolded him as the latter helped him up.
“Oh come on, It’s fright night! We all need to get a little spooked sometimes.” Hinata teased, the other scoffing behind him.
“You shouldn’t be hiding in ally ways like that anyway, you know, with everything that’s going on.” Kageyama lowered his voice, anyone could be listening.
Hinata paused, a long pause. A pause that was almost hinting at something. An ominous silence.
“You mean the ghouls?”
“Yeah.”
The wind whistled through the air, a slight breeze caressing their skin.
“Hinata! Kageyama!” A familiar voice echoed.
“Oh Yamaguchi!” Hinata finally piped up.
A tall figure loomed behind him, which just turned out to be Tsukishima. Not some tall flesh eating demon.
‘Halloween is really getting to me huh?’ Kageyama thought. He had been feeling uneasy all night, it began just before he left his house. There was this pit forming in his stomach. A seed of paranoia wrenched in his gut just waiting for an opportunity to sprout.
“Hey Kageyama stop spacing out.” Hinata punched his shoulder gently and rolled his eyes.
“Sorry.”
“Did you really dress up? What are you a child?” Tsukishima continued to provoke Hinata as per usual.
“Shutup! It’s custom to dress up for Halloween!” He contradicted.
“Yeah, if you’re a child.” The taller male continued.
“I hate you.”
Their bickering was sort of comforting. It was nice to have a sense of familiarity when everything felt so odd.
Once they reached the city crowds began to flood in. There were many people dressed up and stalls full of various different types of foods. The scent of freshly cooked meat consumed him as he journeyed further into the city.
“Hey can we stop and get something to eat? I haven’t eaten yet.” Kageyama finally worked up the courage to ask.
“Sure! Let’s stop over there, it’s not as busy.” Hinata pointed over to a restaurant that was almost completely hidden by the sheer amount of stalls at the festival.
“Have you already eaten?” Tsukishima questioned Hinata, although his tone made it seem as if he was interrogating him.
“Yeah.”
They each ordered Hambagu, although it appeared Kageyama was the only one who hadn’t eaten that night. Strangely enough Hinata hadn’t even touched his food yet, usually he would scoff it down faster than anyone else. He would eat as if he was a famished animal who must consume his prey or he will die.
So yes, it was odd to see him not eating. It didn’t exactly ease the impending sense of doom that Kageyama felt within him. His mother had always told him to trust his intuition, but for some reason tonight was choosing to ignore it.
“Are you not hungry?” Kageyama asked.
“Huh? Oh sorry! I spaced out!” Immediately the boy took a bite out of his food before practically slamming it back down on the table. Did he even chew?
“Right.” Kageyama said, confused.
“Shoyo!” An all too recognisable pair approached. The captain and the setter from Nekoma high.
“Kenma! What’s up? We actually just finished here, I’ll be back in a minute I just really need the bathroom.” Hinata scurried from his seat, knocking over his chair in the process.
“He must’ve been desperate.” Kuroo snickered.
Once they had reunited with Hinata the group began wondering through the city. Everything was so bright and vibrant, Kageyama felt as if he was in a dream. It didn’t feel quite real. The fact he didn’t like crowds didn’t help either. He was starting to feel the pulse pounding in the back of his head.
“Oh look! American candy! Wow the rappers are so bright!” Hinata exclaimed. They made their way over to the stall filled with all kinds of treats he hadn’t seen before.
“They look tasty.” Kageyama said, almost drooling at the sight of them.
“Maybe.” Hinata replied vaguely.
He noticed how the others face had dropped after he mentioned how good they looked. Kageyama assumed Hinata didn’t have enough money to buy any, and that’s why he was so disappointed.
So when his friend turned away he bought him a bag full of candy, the wrapping paper had an eyeball on it.
“Hinata. I bought you these, since I saw you staring at them I just thought-.” He was cut off by the other quickly snatching them out of his hands.
“Wow! Thanks so much Kageyama! I’ll save them for later, that way I can share them with Natsu!” The boy quickly shoved them into his back pack, as if he was trying to hide them. Was there really any need to squash them right at the bottom of his bag? They would surely melt that way
They began to walk further and further. As they approached a set of stairs, the crowds seemed to disperse. They must be approaching the end of the walkway.
But as they ventured further, Kageyama began to feel sick. His stomach dropped and his pulse quickened. Everything was starting to become blurry and he thought he might pass out.
Then, there was a scream.
A young woman so repulsed she gasped for air as she fled an ally way. She fell backwards onto the concrete and wept uncontrollably into her hands.
Their group was the closest so they rushed over to comfort her. Kageyama decided to investigate the ally way. But it only took a mere step inside for him to be met with the same fate as the girl.
There it was, laying lifeless next to a bin. A corpse which had been so violently mutilated that it’s head had been torn from its shoulders. It was the body of teenage girl.
Then he was hit with a distinct scent of something rotting. It was gut wrenching, he gagged as he stumbled onto the concrete. The smell of rotting flesh was etched into his mind. Maggots crawling through the girls mangled body had scarred his eyes.
Even when his eyes were closed it was so clear in his mind.
“Get it away from me!” He begged as two hands covered his eyes.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to look.” Hinata’s voice didn’t provide the usual sense of calm that he oh so craved. Instead it added to the urge to purge himself of the impurities that he had just been branded with.
When he opened his eyes he was met with a distorted version of his friends face. It seemed so condescending. The atmosphere around him felt patronising, as if he was being judged be every living creature on earth.
“Why do you look like that? Why are you not scared? You saw it too! How are you so calm?” Kageyama screamed. His voice breaking as he tried to process his emotions.
“Hey, breathe okay.” Hinata reached out for his hand but the other immediately smacked it away.
“No! Why aren’t you screaming? Why are you so calm? Freak! Stop judging me, just let me go, leave me alone!” Kageyama cried out.
Before he knew it, he was running. Although everything was so hazy, he didn’t even know how long he had been running for before he finally stopped.
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He fell to his knees for a moment as he caught his breath. The memories came flooding, reminding him of the cruel words he had spoken to his friend. “Fuck.”
He would apologise tomorrow, when his head wasn’t so scrambled. As he got up, he realised he wasn’t that far from home. It was only across this road, then through that field. After that, he would practically be home. In the safety of his own walls, away from the madness of this world.
“Great.” He sighed in relief.
As he made his way across the road his body began to feel weak again. There was a crunching of leaves behind him that stopped when he stopped. It was as if something was stalking him.
When he turned to face whatever this predator was he was met with two bright lights and an immediate feeling of agony. Now he was face down on the curb, his body felt hot, his mind even more scrambled than before.
The last thing he saw were headlights as they sped away and shrunk into the distance. The last thing he heard was the screeching of car tires that faded into a deafening buzzing sound. The last thing he felt was the cold frost against his head as he laid against the pavement.
When he awoke, he was facing the clear night sky, stars gleaming down upon him. Although, they felt more intimidating. As if they were a trillion eyes watching him from above.
A twist in his leg and a crunch caused him jolt forwards and wail in agony. Something had just broken his leg.
“Sorry my dear, I thought you were a goner.” She loomed over him and chuckled. Her eyes a deathly red and her lips made a sinister smirk.
“Are you..here to help me?” He struggled for words, the irony taste of blood invading his mouth was suffocating him.
“Oh no dear. You see, I’m very hungry. Starving almost. Although, I’m incapable of fending for myself. If I knew you were alive I would have left you alone, but unfortunately you’ve seen my face now. So either way I can’t let you leave here alive.”
The woman chuckled once more before burrowing her teeth into the flesh of his calf. His entire leg began to tingle, he was in agony and wanted to scream. But his own blood began to drown him, he was suffocating slowly with no sign of help.
His world began to dissipate into darkness, until muffled words rang throughout his ears.
“Call an ambulance!” A boy said as someone swept him up in their arms. Their body was so warm compared to his.
“What did you do to him bitch?” Another voice exclaimed. The tension on his leg was now gone.
“He was hit by a car! I swear I didn’t-.” Her sentence was cut off by a wailing screech.
“Kageyama, can you still here me? I need you to try and keep your eyes open for me, just focus on me you’ll be okay.” It was hard to decipher through the blur of his vision, but Kenma was holding him.
Everything else moved by in a daze. Flashing torches into his eyes, beeping machines and screeching sirens. People rushing around in white coats, more beeping machines and elevator doors.
The last thing he saw was the elevator doors opening before he blacked out.