Archive of Our Own

“Asshat, wake up.”

Kawanishi’s eyes flew open when something hard slammed into his face. He blinked into awareness to a familiar image of Shirabu standing over him holding a shoe — his favorite weapon for waking Kawanishi up in the mornings. Groaning, Kawanishi pulled himself into a sitting position and shot a half-hearted glare at his roommate, now putting the shoe on and seating himself behind his desk to do some more studying or something else nerdy before class.

Absently, Kawanishi noted the incessant ringing in his ear and realized his phone alarm was going off. Judging by the time and the peeved expression still on Shirabu’s face, it had been ringing for a while already. Kawanishi shut the alarm off and rolled out of bed, grabbing his uniform and stumbling into the bathroom to shower, eyes already starting to shut again.

When he stepped back out, fully clothed and slightly more awake than before, Kawanishi found the room empty. It was a little early for Shirabu to have left, but not entirely surprising. Kawanishi elected to enjoy the peace of having the room to himself as he gathered his stuff and prepared to head out for the day.

The cafeteria was full of students eating breakfast quickly before class and chatting amongst themselves. Kawanishi glanced around for Shirabu but didn’t figure he’d find his closest friend. His plate filled with breakfast foods, Kawanishi found a table to sit at by himself and scarf his meal down before rushing to class with the rest of the dwindling students in the dining hall. In the middle of a large bite, a form appeared in the corner of Kawanishi’s eye and fell into the seat next to him. He waved silently, swallowing and offering a tired half-smile to Semi who had come to join him. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Semi grinned back, carding fingers through his hair. “How are you?”

“Good,” Kawanishi mumbled around his food. “Tired. Kenjirou woke me up with a shoe this morning. How are you?”

Semi laughed. “Gotta love his grace with those situations, huh. I’m alright, kinda tired too. I don’t think I slept well last night.”

Kawanishi kept quiet, knowing Semi would explain himself if he wanted to.

“I kept waking up from weird dreams, you know? Like there were these bug things and I was in a weird room with white walls and the floor was glass but I could see stars through it and the bugs were crawling on me — yeah, it was gross. I blame Satori for trying to bring another centipede into the dorm the other day. He said he was going to keep it in a jar, but we all know it wouldn’t stay in there long.”

Kawanishi could only picture the grotesque dream Semi reported, but it was enough to staunch his appetite a bit. He nodded to acknowledge the story but didn’t say anything, trying to analyze the queasy feeling in his stomach.

“Anyway,” Semi shrugged and stood up. “I just saw you over here alone and wanted to say hi. I gotta go though. The mothership beckons to me .”

“What?” Kawanishi snagged Semi’s wrist before he could walk away. “What did you say?”

Semi chuckled nervously and took a step back. “I said I have to go to class. So do you.”

Looking closer there was something wrong with Semi’s eyes. The color or texture or something . Kawanishi stood up to look closer.

A faint blush spread across Semi’s cheeks and he pulled his arm out of Kawanishi’s grip. “What are you doing? T-Taichi, I gotta go.”

“Right,” Kawanishi exhaled, backing off. “Sorry. Have a good day.”

Expression betraying his nerves, Semi smiled and walked briskly away, leaving Kawanishi to stand over the table and shake his head. Naturally, every alien documentary he’d ever watched came racing back into the forefront of his mind though he squashed that concept before it took hold of his imagination, still spinning itself a web of tangled stories.

Hands in pockets, Kawanishi made his way toward his classroom, pausing as he heard his name called from down the hall. With that voice inflection and the racing footsteps that followed, Kawanishi turned to look, knowing exactly who it would be coming to talk to him.

“Hey, Goshiki,” Kawanishi said amiably, slowing his pace so he wouldn’t reach his classroom as quickly.

Goshiki bounded up next to Kawanishi, looking around the hallways of second-year classes. “Hi, Kawanishi! Is this where your class is? That’s cool. Sorry to bug you, I was in the bathroom on this floor on my way to class and I saw you!”

Kawanishi nodded, waiting for Goshiki to run off again after unloading his stream of consciousness like he always did when he met up with someone.

Instead, the first-year kept pace. “I had to wash my hands. You know why? I saw something really cool this morning. Guess what! Tendou-san has a really cool centipede and he let me hold it!”

Bugs again. Kawanishi narrowed his eyes at the floor and kept walking. “Semi-san said he wouldn’t let Tendou-san keep it.”

Goshiki giggled. “He was worth keeping around! Tendou-san said he’s a cool lil dude! I liked holding him too; all his legs are all tickly and it’s kinda creepy but also all-knowing, all-seeing, with the power of a thousand suns .”

Only steps away from the door to his classroom, Kawanishi stopped short, almost tripping Goshiki up in the process. He stared down at the first-year intensely. “What did you say?”

Blinking wide eyes, Goshiki cocked his head, his voice becoming meek. “I was talking about the centipede Tendou-san let me hold?”

“No, repeat the last sentence you said.”

“It felt kinda creepy but also really cool?”

Kawanishi sighed, resisting the urge to turn around and smack his head on the wall. “Never mind, Goshiki. Go to class, I’ll see you later today at practice.”

Goshiki still looked a bit confused, but he bade Kawanishi a chipper farewell and ran back down the hallway toward his own classroom.

Taking his seat at the back of the classroom, Kawanishi leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He was still tired and couldn’t think of any decent explanations for what he’d just witnessed. It was most likely just his imagination turning the ordinary into something suspicious. He needed to forget about it and focus on what could be explained.

Class started and the teacher stood at the head of the room to begin the lesson though Kawanishi paid little attention, still absorbed in his ponderings. As much as he hated to admit it, the first reaction he’d had to the odd behaviors of his friends was aliens . Kawanishi wasn’t ashamed to admit he believed in the concept, but a little embarrassed that it was the first explanation he’d found. No one knew what aliens really looked like — there could be a hundred million species out there waiting to be discovered — and there was no reason they couldn’t look like bugs, appearing harmless until they took over the world. If he hadn’t been in class, Kawanishi would’ve groaned to himself. Of all the potential aliens to encounter, why did it have to be bugs ?

Kawanishi sat up straighter and focused on the problem at hand. Laying his current theory out on the table, bug-like aliens were invading earth and somehow, they were likely brainwashing their victims. Thinking back to what Semi had said, maybe his dream wasn’t a dream at all. Maybe one by one, people were being abducted by the aliens. What happened to the victims aboard the spacecraft was probably worse than just having bugs crawl on them and Kawanishi didn’t want to know what Semi's hazy memories had left out.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kawanishi spotted movement on the floor along the edge of the classroom. He blinked and scanned the floor. Bug? Was there an alien bug in his classroom, targeting him or one of his classmates next? Kawanishi didn’t want to see the inside of that spaceship, experience the brainwashing his friends had to become a mindless host of another species, preaching the messages of the ether.

An abrupt silence made Kawanishi look up to find most eyes in the classroom on him including his teacher’s. He licked his lips. Had he been called on for an answer?

The teacher repeated his name again, inspecting him with a concerned expression. “Are you okay? Do you need to visit the nurse?”

Kawanishi shook his head, but stood up from the chair with his eyes on the door. “Water,” he mumbled, slipping out into the hall. In the silence of the corridor during class, Kawanishi paused to take a few deep breaths. His heart was racing, his breathing was quick and shallow, his hands shook, and his face was warm. His teacher had probably noticed he wasn’t feeling well easily from across the room. Kawanishi shook his head and meandered toward the bathroom. He was losing it. Aliens were not invading his school or brainwashing his friends. He was taking something silly way too far and he was being ridiculous. A walk around the school halls to clear his head would do the trick perfectly and he’d go back to class without any lingering fear of alien attack.

Wiping a bit of sweat from his hands on his pants, Kawanishi pushed open the door to the men’s restroom at the end of the hall, surprised to find Yamagata there, bent over the sink, washing his hands.

The third-year glanced up, then broke into a wide grin when he saw Kawanishi. “Hey! You sneaking out of class too? It’s getting to be really hot in the classrooms and I feel like I’m gonna faint if I stay in there too long."

Kawanishi couldn’t help smirking and he nodded. “Same.” Glancing down, Kawanishi saw the faucet was still on full blast and there was blood in the sink. “You...”

Yamagata looked down at his hands and smiled. “It’s no biggie. Just cut my hand. It’s been one of those days so far, you know? I feel like I was so off first thing this morning? I can’t even tell you what I had for breakfast. And I feel like I’ve been spacing out all day in class. And then I look down and my hand was bleeding! I must’ve smacked it on something earlier.”

Nodding again, Kawanishi stepped forward. “Is it bad?”

“Nah.” Yamagata shook the water off and pulled his hand out to show Kawanishi. With the blood gone, the cut was barely noticeable, but Kawanishi saw it anyway. The skin was raised and red, two tiny dots stood out against Yamagata’s light skin. It looked less like a cut from smacking his hand and more like a bite from some sort of bug.

Kawanishi recoiled on instinct, making Yamagata laugh.

“Alright, I won’t gross you out if you’re not into that sort of thing. The bloodlust will never be satisfied until the end of humanity. I’m going back to class. See you at v-ball!”

Rooted to his spot on the floor, Kawanishi watched Yamagata make his way toward the door in silence. As soon as he was alone in the bathroom, Kawanishi leaned against the counter, staring into the mirror. This was three weird bug-related incidents already in one morning and his mind kept screaming suggestions about alien invasions and how to escape falling victim to the brainwashing. Still, Kawanishi felt foolish for jumping immediately to the worst-case scenario, and one that was so far from logically acceptable. Absently, Kawanishi knew that if Shirabu were here with him now, he’d laugh about how gullible Kawanishi was.

The reflection in the mirror showed Kawanishi just how nervous he still was, but he steeled himself. He wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions or make a fool of himself, but Kawanishi was going to keep his eyes open. He wouldn’t be attacked unprepared and he wouldn’t go down without a fight. At lunch, he’d find Tendou and ask about the centipede. He was almost positive it played a big role in whatever was happening.

Sitting through class with such an important task in mind for lunchtime was agony and Kawanishi was much more restless than normal until the bell released him and he rushed for the cafeteria. The bustle of all the students at once made lunch a hard time to find anyone, but Kawanishi finally located the redhead — one of the easier people to pick out in large crowds — and rushed over to him where he stood in line for food.

“Taichi~!” Tendou crooned. “Are you trying to cut in line with me? Anyone else, I might tell you to go wait in line, but since it’s you...”

“Actually, I need to ask you about something,” Kawanishi said in a low voice. “You brought home a centipede?”

Tendou broke into a wide smile. “You wanna see him too?”

Kawanishi shook his head vigorously. “No, I want you to get rid of it actually. There’s something really strange going on and people are acting really off because of something to do with bugs. Semi-san and Goshiki and Yamagata-san have all said some weird things to me today and said they had seen your centipede or held it and Yamagata had a really bad bug bite on his hand. I know it sounds insane, but I think there’s something going on. You don’t have to believe me, but just get rid of the centipede.”

Expression softening, Tendou put a hand on Kawanishi’s shoulder. “ His mind is ours now. Do not encroach on our property. I’m not really following, but I’ll do what you ask. It’s just a common centipede though. I found it outside. And Hayato never touched it or anything so he must’ve been bitten by something else. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of centipedes though recently. And... Taichi, you know centipede bites are harmless, right? It’s like a bee sting; it goes away after a bit. I don’t know what you mean by ‘people are acting weird’ but it couldn’t be because of the centipede. I’d use myself as an example, but I might already be too crazy for you to believe me!”

Ignoring the blinding smile and long chuckle from Tendou, Kawanishi narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, you’re an example?”

Tendou shifted and pulled at the collar of his uniform shirt. At the base of his neck, two dots of red marked the skin, the same as Kawanishi had seen on Yamagata’s hand. Under any other circumstances, he wouldn’t care about the bug bite, but this was far too much to be coincidental.

“How did you get bit on your neck?”

With a quiet laugh, Tendou blushed. “I kinda lost track of time I think when I was playing with him. I don’t really know for sure, but one minute he was in my hand and the next, I was laying down and he was on the floor. I must’ve been tired and fallen asleep!”

Already looking at Tendou’s neck, Kawanishi’s eyes traveled upward to meet his senpai’s gaze. He recognized immediately the same thing he had with Semi. It had been harder to identify earlier since Semi’s eyes were already dark brown, but they had appeared darker. In Tendou’s eyes, it was unmistakable. They were jet black.

“ Humanity will die in the fires of hell .”

Kawanishi stumbled backward a half-step. “Uh, alright. Whatever you say. Thanks, Tendou-san.” Without waiting for a response, Kawanishi turned and walked away purposefully. He shot glances at the other students ambling around the dining hall, wondering how many of them were already infected too. Was there any way to stop it? Was there a way to keep himself safe? From the sounds of it, the aliens were taking people, infecting them with whatever brainwashing virus they used and placing them back on earth as suddenly as they had been taken with few memories left. Kawanishi wanted to know what happened during the time his friends’ memories had been lost. The answer to the problem would be there, but at the same time, Kawanishi didn’t want to get any closer to this issue.

Eyes flicking across the cafeteria, Kawanishi spotted his roommate and best friend about to sit down at a table. Kawanishi’s pace neared a jog as he wove through clusters of students to throw himself down into the chair next to Shirabu.

The second-year looked up in mild surprise at Kawanishi’s sudden appearance, but took a bite of his food instead of saying anything.

Kawanishi took Shirabu by the shoulders and turned him away from the table to look him straight in the eyes. They were the same light hazel color as always and Kawanishi exhaled in relief. He didn’t let go though, even as Shirabu attempted to struggle away, protesting Kawanishi’s hands locked around his upper arms. “Kenjirou, I need you to listen to me,” Kawanishi spoke in a low voice. “There is something weird going on around here. People are acting strange and I think we might be getting invaded by aliens.”

Shirabu stopped struggling abruptly and burst out laughing. “Taichi, please . We aren’t being invaded by aliens.”

“Just listen to me!” Kawanishi hissed. “I’ve talked to Tendou, Yamagata, Goshiki, and Semi today and something’s wrong with all of them. Their eyes are black and they say weird things like ‘The mothership beckons me’ and I don’t know what to think of it. They’ve all talked about centipedes, either holding them or seeing them, and they have hazy memories sometime in the past day. Aliens that look like centipedes are here and they’re abducting people and brainwashing them somehow and I don’t think this is the end of it. Something bad is going to happen and we all need to be very careful.”

Amusement was written across Shirabu’s face in bold ink. “Uh-huh. Right. Taichi, do you remember what you were doing last night?”

“Uh, laying in bed playing on my phone after volleyball because—”

“At midnight. I was still up doing homework and you were watching a conspiracy documentary. I told you to turn it off or use headphones because I was going to bed and you didn’t do anything so I came over and realized you were asleep so I turned it off for you. Falling asleep watching something like that probably gave you weird dreams or something and made you feel like something was off.”

Hearing it stated like that, Kawanishi did remember the alien videos he’d found himself watching the previous night. It was a rabbit hole he didn’t fall down often anymore since more times than not, he just ended up freaking himself out with the possibility of life beyond the stars. Staying up late also explained why he’d been so tired in the morning. That was probably all there was to it. He was tired and his mind had subconsciously taken in the information from the documentary while he slept and now he was letting his imagination take things too far. As with most things like this, Shirabu was right.

But then again, could Kawanishi really deny the things he’d seen and heard all day? Exhaustion sometimes made him miss things people had said but he’d never heard words people hadn’t said. And the unsettled feeling still hadn’t left him. Kawanishi nodded and stood up to acquire his own food, deciding he wouldn’t bring it up again, but he would stay vigilant. It was the only way to stay safe.

The afternoon was blissfully free from any other unsettling incidents and as far as Kawanishi could see from sneaking looks at his classmates, no one else’s eyes had turned magically black either. The world through a more realistic lens looked much better.

Dragging his still-tired body out of the school building and to the volleyball gym after school, Kawanishi locked eyes with Shirabu, standing in front of his locker. He nodded in greeting and opened his own locker, shoving his possessions inside.

“Any more alien sightings this afternoon?” Shirabu asked dryly, unbuttoning his uniform shirt and replacing it with a black t-shirt for practice.

“Shut up,” Kawanishi said, doing the same. “I’m tired, alright.”

“Who’s fault is that?”

Before he could respond with another ‘shut up,’ Kawanishi’s attention was grabbed across the locker room. The room was full of boys changing quickly to head out and start warming up and Kawanishi found his eyes landing on Reon, paused with his shirt off to talk to someone. Shirabu may have made an off-color joke about sexuality, but Kawanishi didn’t hear it. He blinked. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Kawanishi thought he saw a red mark on Reon’s skin, just above the waistband of his pants. A bug bite? Just as quickly, Reon put his practice shirt on and Kawanishi lost view of the potential evidence. He changed quickly himself and shut his locker, approaching Reon.

The older teen smiled and greeted him. “Hey, Taichi. How are you?”

Kawanishi studied Reon’s expression. His eyes were too dark naturally for Kawanishi to tell if they looked darker. So far, he hadn’t figured out any other means of proving or disproving his alien theory. “Hi. I’m okay. It’s been sort of an off day. Hopefully, it’ll be better from now on though.”

Reon gave Kawanishi a sympathetic look. “You alright? You’re welcome to talk about it if there’s something bothering you. Maybe volleyball will take your mind off of it.”

Smiling half-heartedly, Kawanishi nodded. He felt at least a little reassured by Reon’s words. As much as he tried to convince himself it was all in his head, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy. Hopefully, practice would distract him enough that he wouldn’t have to think about the dangers of aliens for the rest of the afternoon. He should never have turned on that documentary last night.

“Do what you need to to take care of yourself,” Reon continued, shutting his locker and walking toward the door with Kawanishi. “If you need to step out to get water or anything, just go for it. We’ll be waiting for you there. You’re next .”

Kawanishi stopped short, a horrified expression on his face.

“What?” Reon asked, eyebrows drawing together in concern.

“Nothing,” Kawanishi said quickly, catching up again and pushing the door open. “I... thought I forgot something, but I didn’t. Thanks for everything, Reon.”

“Of course.” The third-year smiled. “Have fun out there today. Watch your back .”

For the duration of practice, Kawanishi did his best to stay focused and achieved that for a while — but every time he let his mind wander from the court, the alien situation came back to him full force and he was usually yelled at for missing a block while his mind was elsewhere. He saw several times as Shirabu rolled his eyes from across the court.

With mounting frustration, practice finally ended for the night and Kawanishi stalked off back to the locker room to grab his stuff and retreat back to his dorm. The sooner this day could be over, the better.

Walking behind him, Ushijima caught the door as Kawanishi entered the locker room, glancing at him curiously. “Are you alright? It appeared you weren’t at the top of your game today.”

Kawanishi shrugged. He wasn’t in the mood for another lecture. “Sorry. I’ll be better tomorrow.” It was then that Kawanishi noticed the raised bite mark on Ushijima’s forearm. His eyes were darker than usual as well. Kawanishi stiffened and backed away. He was aware he could be imagining things. He was trying his best to be realistic. He didn’t even feel that tired anymore. But there was definitely a bug bite on his arm. He was infected too. “Um... Ushijima-san? What’s that bite on your arm?”

“ Everyone takes their turn. The downfall of earth approaches. No one is safe. Not you or the people you care about. In the end, you will all fall .”

Kawanishi was speechless. He stood, frozen in place while Ushijima gave him one last intense look and walked on into the locker room. He was convinced now and there wasn’t anything or anyone that could dissuade him from the truth. Not even— Kawanishi looked frantically around the locker room for Shirabu. He wasn’t anywhere in sight and Kawanishi was sure he wasn’t out in the gym. He’d been skeptical but had he finally been taken as well? The threat Kawanishi had received through Ushijima’s mouth echoed in his mind. He wasn’t safe and neither were the people he cared about. He should’ve done a better job keeping his friends safe from this as soon as he had suspicions. Now all he had were regrets.

Moving quickly, Kawanishi searched the locker room before racing back out into the gym, scanning the space for Shirabu. He was nowhere. Breaking into a sprint, Kawanishi returned to the dorm building and threw open the door to his and Shirabu’s shared room. The bathroom door at the back was closed and the shower was running. Kawanishi let go of his held breath all at once. He’d gotten worked up over nothing. Shirabu was probably safe, just fled the locker room early to shower in peace.

Still shaking, Kawanishi approached the door at the back of the room and knocked. “Kenjirou?”

“What?” came the muffled response from behind the noises of running water.

Kawanishi almost smiled, his relief almost tangible. “Never mind. Just making sure you’re okay.”

“Is this about the aliens again?” Shirabu’s sarcastic tone made Kawanishi roll his eyes and he stepped away from the bathroom door. Still, he couldn’t completely dismiss the weird happenings of the day. Maybe he should insist Shirabu come with him to find somewhere safe from the invasion. Instead, Kawanishi walked back out of the room, headed back for the gym. He needed to retrieve his belongings and shower as well.

By the time Kawanishi was finished and had changed into casual clothing, the locker room was empty and he made his way back up to his dorm, tired from the long and confusing day. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to think, but he hoped all the confusion was over for the day.

As he pushed the door open, Kawanishi was surprised to find the bathroom door still shut and the shower still running. Shirabu wasn’t one for long showers, Kawanishi knew, but there was the likely explanation that he had fallen deep into thought and was musing something over, off in his own world. Kawanishi wasn’t sure if he was more scared of aliens or Shirabu’s wrath when he was interrupted from important thinking so he elected to let his roommate be, flopping down on his bed to listen to music and at least look at the day’s homework assignments.

Kawanishi didn’t get far with any of that though, his mind still preoccupied. Another fifteen minutes passed before the shower finally shut off and Shirabu stepped into the room, blinking at the wall. He looked lost. Shirabu never looked lost. Kawanishi sat up and took out his headphones. “You okay?”

“How long was I in the bathroom?” Shirabu mumbled.

Kawanishi’s stomach dropped. He really should’ve protected Shirabu better. It had finally happened to him as well and Kawanishi could only imagine the horror of being abducted by aliens out of the shower, bugs crawling over his skin before they brainwashed him. It hadn’t seemed really truly real to Kawanishi until this moment and he jumped to his feet. He wasn’t going to let the same happen to him and he was going to devote all his effort to find a cure if at all possible.

Rushing over to Shirabu, Kawanishi picked up his roommate’s hands, turning them over, tracing his eyes up his arms and pushing up the sleeves of his shirt. There would be a bug bite here somewhere, Kawanishi only needed to confirm it.

Shirabu’s breath caught in his throat. “T-Taichi.”

Kawanishi looked up, meeting his best friend’s eyes. They were jet black. “No,” Kawanishi whispered, drawing back. He didn’t know what to do. He’d been hoping he wouldn’t find a mark on Shirabu’s skin, that he could deny this was happening. But here was proof that his best friend had been infected as well.

“ Run ,” Shirabu spoke with more force than Kawanishi was used to hearing from him so he obeyed, dashing back to the dorm’s front door. He’d find a way to escape this somehow, find a way too—

Immediately outside the door, the hallway was filled with Kawanishi’s teammates, standing in a cluster, blocking his exit.

“ You can’t escape, Taichi ,” Tendou spoke, a many-legged creature cradled in his hands.

The door opened again and Shirabu stepped out as well, a smug grin beneath his black eyes. A laugh escaped his lips, spreading quickly through the entire group until they were all bent over with laughter. “Your face,” Shirabu gasped through tears. “Fuck, that was so much work, but it was so worth it.

Kawanishi’s shoulders lost all of the tension they’d been carrying all day and he glared around his group of friends. “Are you fucking serious?”

Tendou dangled the centipede in his hands. “This is plastic. I bought it to try and prank Semi, but this was even better!”

Shirabu had his hands against his face and he pulled one of the colored contact lenses out of his eye. “You believed every second of that trick. I can’t believe you fell for that shit.”

“What about the... bug bites?” Kawanishi was quickly coming to terms with the fact he’d been completely fooled. But the complexity of the prank was still impressive.

“Just make-up,” Semi shrugged. “All part of the magic.”

“So what does this teach you about watching alien documentaries late at night?” Shirabu asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“It teaches me that I need to do a better job of preparing for an extraterrestrial apocalypse. If that had been real, we all would’ve died and I didn’t do anything except panic. You’re going to watch conspiracy films with me too so I don’t have to spend my time during an invasion trying to convince you aliens are real. I’m going to educate all of you. Shiratorizawa Volleyball Club: Alien Defense Force.”