Chapter Text
"Onii-chan! Hey! Onii-chan!"
"Not now!" Hinata snapped softly, lightly pushing his little sister away. All he was trying to do is complete homework for once, but his sister had to be bothersome. He'd rejected her request so many times that he forgot what she was asking him for. Natsu groans, finally giving up and stomping away, calling "Mooom! Sho is being mean to me again!"
The boy in question sighs, grabbing up his notebooks and heading into his room instead. The moment he puts his books down on his desk, the screen of his phone lights up.
[Kenma🐱]
Are you busy? I want to play that online game with you.
Shouyo's heart flutters with anticipation as he texts back a quick 'I'll get on now!' As he sat down at the desk. Shouyo was a kid living in the country pretty much. The quiet side of a country with so many huge bright cities. His family wasn't poor, obviously, but they weren't rich or wealthy. Just a little family living in a place that was perfect for them.
He pulls a pair of headphones over his ears and sits down, hurrying to get into the game with Kenma. He didn't have any big monitors or expensive fancy laptops like Kenma did, but he had a computer that could -for the most part- run the games they played together and that's all he needed. It's not long before his friend's voice comes through his headphones.
"Hey, Shouyo."
"Hey, Kenma!"
"What're you up to? You sound annoyed."
"My sister was being really annoying a little while ago. Let's just work on clearing this dungeon!" Hinata is quick to change the subject which Kozume doesn't seem very concerned about. Instead, they begin to play their game with the utmost freedom. A smile plastered onto his face as Kenma spoke again.
"I wish I could play games with you in person. That would be nice right? I could give you some tips and stuff and you could stay over. My moms would love to meet you, I bet," he says.
"Moms? You mean you have two?"
"Mhm. Before you even ask the question, I'm not adopted, Shouyo. I know you're thinking about it and the answer is no."
Hinata laughs nervously "I was not! Hey, why don't you come here instead? There's not as much special about this place, but it's quiet and we can do whatever we want if it's legal? What about this weekend? Please?"
Silence comes from the other end, a slightly stressful pause before "I'll have to ask," comes in Kenma's calm voice. For some reason, hearing it makes him feel at ease. He returns his focus to the screen, listening closely to Kenma's occasional soft commentary as they go. Hinata isn't the greatest gamer of all time, but he's decent enough. He shifts back in his chair as a vibration startles him. He looks down at his desk, assuming the shaking to be hitting his leg on the desk or something but it doesn't stop.
Instead, he looks around to discover that the entire room is shaking. He believed it for a moment to be a trick of his imagination, but that's until he falls backward in his chair, his back and shoulders colliding with the back of the chair mere split seconds before hitting the floor. He wines, feeling the lack of tension on his head, making him realize that his headphones had come off as the room continued to shake around him until eventually coming to a stop.
Shouyo groans, wincing as he returns to his upright sitting position and puts his headphones back on. "Kenma? Hello?" He calls gently, his eyes darting to his phone which was suddenly blowing up with messages.
[King]
What the hell was that?
[Daichi]
A small earthquake I guess. How are all of you doing after that?
[Suga]
Still great
[Tadashi]
A little worried
[Me]
I just fell out of my chair, that's all.
[Tsukishima]
Of course, you did.
[R.Thunder]
Everything in my room fell on the floor, lol
"Kenma?" He calls softly again. He receives a small groan in response. "Kenma!" He repeats, his heart racing faster.
"Yeah yeah I'm fine, I think I hit my head on the floor, that's all…" the older boy explains, sighing quietly. "Let's just continue."
"Right-"
"Shouyooo!" Once again, Natsu's voice interrupts him as the young girl bursts into his room. He heard a sound of confusion from Kenma as he pulled his headphones down around his neck. "What is it now?"
"Mommy says you have to stop being rude and play a game with me!"
"I don't want to, I'm playing with Kenma right now!"
He can faintly hear the male in question chuckle through his headphones.
"You're always playing with Kageyama or Kenma, is it even gonna be my turn? Just for like an hour or something!" Natsu makes her attempt at negotiating, but at this point, Hinata just wanted her to go away. He knew he was being a bit selfish by ignoring his sister to play with his friends instead, but he was 16 now, and his 11-year-old sister was the last thing he felt like paying attention to when he was focusing on school or Volleyball or his friends.
"Just go away, you're so annoying!" He snaps, and suddenly there's silence. Natsu huffs, puffing out her cheeks in a pout and slamming the door behind her as she leaves. He puts his headphones back on his head and the first thing he hears is- "I'm fine being an only child."
"Natsu isn't that bad she's just a kid and kids are like that."
"Doesn't everyone think you're a kid or call you one or something?"
Heat fills Hinata's face, being perfectly aware that Kenma was right. In response, he can only scoff, but this reaction pulls a soft laugh out of Kenma that makes him blush. He hears his mother call his name and sighs, knowing he's definitely in trouble for shouting at his sister which he did feel bad for now. "Um, I have to go, make sure to ask your parents about…Kenma?"
Hinata pauses as he can now hear the sound of objects and glass crashing to the floor and even louder rumbling sounds and collisions. He calls his name again but still gets no response. Something is wrong. He blinks at his screen in disbelief.
[Kodzuken has disconnected due to an unexpected error]
Unexpected error? What was that supposed to mean? He quickly pulls off his headphones and gets up, but is fated to fall to the floor as it feels as if it has been pulled out from underneath him, his phone flashing-
Emergency Alert! Incoming Earthquake, prepare for intense shaking.
The ground is shaking, much more intensely than before. He can hear objects in the rest of the house falling and the cries and screams of his mother and sister. He crawls underneath his desk, wincing as his computer falls onto the floor, everything on the bookshelf and walls crashing to the floor. He grabs up his phone when it falls nearby, but quickly shuts his eyes when it sounds like the earth below him is going to split in two. It feels like he's going deaf as he hears his bed break under a huge weight and pain splits up his arm as something shoots into it, but he doesn't open his eyes until it's all over. The screaming stops and then the shaking does. After a minute of sitting in silence, he flutters his eyes open. The first thing he notices is how much dust and diet is now flying around. The second thing is that there's now a hole in his bedroom wall and roof.
Hinata unfolds himself slowly from his curled-up position beneath his desk wincing as a throbbing pain sears through his right arm. He looks down to see the dark red seeping into the sleeve of his blue shirt, a rather large piece of glass sticking out of both the shirt and his arm. He wondered how deep it was. The piece sticking out of his arm was pretty thick, so probably pretty deep. He suddenly hears his phone ping.
[Daichi]
is everyone okay?
[R.Thunder]
That was crazy😲
[Suga]
But you guys are okay, right?
[King]
I don't know. Everything collapsed
[Me]
There's a piece of glass in my arm
[Shimizu]
Everything is broken, here.
[Yachi]
There's fire 😖
[Ryu]
I'm stuck, deadass💀
[Tsukishima]
My roof is gone
[Tadashi]
I'm scared😫
Hinata shuffles onto his hands and knees, standing up slowly to observe the damage. "Mom?" He calls. "Natsu?" He can smell the smoke coming from somewhere- probably everywhere. To his surprise, the door is still standing, but when he opens it, he's more surprised and not in a good way. The ceiling has fallen in several places as well as the walls. Natsu's whole room seems to have collapsed. It seems like no matter how many times he calls for them, he'll never get a reply.
He travels to the kitchen next, which is emitting a suspicious smell of gas and hissing. A tube or a pipe must have broken during the earthquake. He spots a suspicious tuft of orange hair unmoving beneath one of the several collapsed pieces of the house, but something tells him to back up. He backs up until his back is up against the opposite wall. He has no choice but to watch as the stove bursts into flames, making him inclined to run into the living room instead. Here he's glad to find that Natsu isn't buried under anything he can't pick up.
He stumbles over various pieces of rubble and what used to be a coffee table and bookshelves to reach the spot near the coach where a small hand lay sticking out from the bottom. She's trapped beneath a bookshelf and what was probably a piece of the wall, but that wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be. He hooks his hands beneath what he still assumed to be a piece of the wall and pulled up, doing all he can to avoid crying out in pain. He looks down to inspect the damage and figure out how to get the young girl out of the trap their house had created. Out of surprise, he drops the rubble in his hands and falls back. He exhales slowly, trying not to choke on dirt and tears. Was this for real? There was no way he would've seen that her head had already been smashed in without looking.
Bile rises in his throat and he vomits. He keeps throwing up, his constant sobbing triggering his gag reflex further. What was he supposed to do now? The smoke was making him dizzy now, too. He begrudgingly pulls himself to his feet when he hears his phone ding again. It feels as if every individual limb has become twice as heavy as it was before. So heavy that he didn't want to move them. Despite this, he slowly lowers himself to the floor and picks up his phone off the ground, allowing himself to collapse, instead.
[Daichi]
We should meet up somewhere
[Suga]
Where?
[Tadashi]
What about the school?
[Tsukishima]
If it's still standing, that is.
[Daichi]
The school it is. We'll meet at the gym.
[Suga]
Bring whatever you need. We don't know how long we'll have to wait for help to come.
[Shimizu]
Be safe, everyone.
Hinata's eyes were so blurry from tears that he didn't bother trying to text back. He could barely distinguish one character from another. Instead, he let his phone go to sleep as his mind finally shut off, dragging him down into sleep. He wasn't sure if he'd wake up or not, but a part of him hoped that he wouldn't.
-----
When his eyes finally do flutter open again, he's met with a very concerned looking face. He blinks to clear his vision of the remaining wetness from his previous tears. He can see the sky turning oranges, reds, and purples through the hole in the ceiling. He blinks again.
"Kageyama…? What're you so close to my face for?"
"I was trying to figure out if you were dead," Kageyama responds, bluntly as usual. He sounded more annoyed than relieved to discover that Hinata was indeed still living. "The other half of the house is on fire, so can we get your stuff and go? I really don't want to burn to death today," he says and yanks Shouyo up into a sitting position so hard that it makes him remember that there's a piece of glass stuck in his arm.
For some reason unbeknownst to him, Kageyama looks more concerned when Hinata doesn't say anything. He just forces himself to his feet and grabs an old book bag he usually took for vacations. As he was told, he shoves some clothes into it and a couple of sentimental items before slipping the bag onto his back, which the friendly piece of glass is not happy about. He winces, staring down at his blood-soaked sleeve. Some had dried onto his forearm and hand, while some still leaked from the injury.
"What are you standing there for?"
"It hurts…" Shouyo responds quietly. Kageyama scoffs and grabs his wrist, promptly using the broken wall as a means of exit, pulling Hinata behind him. Not even a goodbye was possible. He couldn't even remember the last thing he said to his mom. The last thing he told Natsu was that she was annoying. He wished he could tell her he was sorry. The guilt drags at him as Kageyama also drags him, and he drags his feet. He wanted to see that his friends were okay. At the same time, though, he wanted to see his mother and sister again. The questions of death preoccupy his mind to the point where the whole wall feels like a blur. He's always ridden his bike to school, so this was completely new. Everything was, in fact. Some houses had completely caved in on themselves, some streets looked like a puzzle where the pieces fit together just enough to not fall apart. At some point, Kageyama picked him up, and at some point, he fainted again. Maybe it was the blood loss, maybe it was the shock and depression, but he was just...tired.
When he wakes again, his surroundings are familiar. So familiar that when Kageyama efficiently uses his foot to open the Gym door, tears start falling down his dirty cheeks. His emotions are mixed and muddled, confused, and all over the place, but he recognizes the people around him. The setter puts him back on his feet, but his legs feel weak and unstable like jelly and he just collapses instead, naturally just curling up into a ball and resuming his much less peaceful cries.
Everyone is talking around him, but they all sound muffled to him. A hand gently takes a hold of his wrist, and before he can pull away, the glass has suddenly disappeared from his arm and the numbness of adrenaline has definitely worn off as he screams louder than he would after scoring a tricky point at a match. Something is tied above the wound and he knows that it's Nishinoya who hugs him now because his frame is almost just like his own. Just a bit shorter and just a bit chubbier.
Shouyo lifts his arms slowly to hold onto him, his heart beating fast, yet he suddenly feels safer. Noya is holding onto him so tightly that he almost fears that his ribs will get bruised.
"So…" Sugawara is the one to speak up over the various murmurs amongst everyone. By now Hinata can see Noya's face as he settles down next to him. The older boy looked focused yet somehow lost at the same time. He looked like he was experiencing an emotion that he couldn't process. Sugawara continues. "Since we're all here, I guess we have to figure out what to do from here. Where to go. I think that the best idea, for now, is to stay put," he says as he sits on the ground nearby, the others following in suit with Kageyama now sitting on Hinata's other side. "We could be here for a while. We need to wait for the cell service to come back so we can find out what's going on and contact help. We have to live carefully from now on, do you all understand?"
For a moment no one responded as they processed the words coming out of the Setter's mouth. Hinata was more impressed by the fact that Suga was the only one who didn't look like he'd cried at all. Even Tsukishima's eyes looked like he'd been rubbing his eyes until they turned glossy and red. Daichi was clearly off his game to not be talking or even looking at the rest of them. Finally, though, everyone nods with slight hesitation. Suga grins at them calmly. "Alright. Just remember how strong you all are for making it all the way here," he says without that smile faltering. Asahi hugs him and then Daichi does too.
Hinata looks to his left at Nishinoya who still had that weird look on his face. Chances were that he'd seen something horrific. "What happened?" Hinata asks, causing Nishinoya to suddenly become enraged.
"What's that supposed to mean?! An earthquake just destroyed the town! And we don't even know what's going on in other places or if they'll ever even come to save us! I was just feeling fine until you asked, so thanks!" The brunette stands up and storms off to the supply closet to calm down by himself. Everything was knocked over, but the building was pretty intact, with no holes in the ceiling or walls. No one goes after Nishinoya. The best thing, for now, was to let everyone cool off however they needed to.
They began to sort out the stuff they all had with them and took inventory. It wasn't impressive, even less so when Daichi announced that it could probably be about a week's worth of food. As far as they knew, that was going to be enough and they would get rescued by then. Tanaka suggested they raid the school which was in pieces but still technically standing. Daichi quickly shuts the idea down instantly which makes Tanaka get unusually quiet. A disturbingly quiet atmosphere falls among them. They choose to ignore the fact that they can hear Nishinoya sobbing from here.
"Hinata," Sugawara shuffled over to sit in the space where Noya had been. His hand rests gently on his back. "Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?" Shouyo lifts his eyes, starting up at his Senpai with confusion on his face.
"I mean everybody's dealing with it differently. I want to know how you're feeling. It's a lot to take in, this kind of stuff doesn't happen often here," Suga lifts his hand and runs it through Hinata's dirty orange hair. "So how do you feel?"
For a moment, he doesn't know how to respond. How did he feel? He wasn't sure if he felt anything. "Empty," he answers. "Everything is gone, It feels like nothing and everything all at once. I wish I could just feel...something." He clenches his hands into tight fists.
"I understand that…"
"And right before the shaking started I was talking to Kenma. And I could just hear everything in his house falling and he wasn't responding, and when I got up it started and both my mom and my sister are-"
"Shh," Suga pulls him against his chest. "It's fine. I think a lot of us lost someone or something that was very important to us. But we've gotta move on eventually. It doesn't have to be now, but eventually. It'll work out. I promise, Hinata."
Hinata just sighs, allowing his body to relax against him. "I want to...I want everything to-"
"Suga," Daichi interrupts, startling them both. The brunette sits in front of them with a deep-set frown. "Sorry to bring this up right now, but...I don't know how long we can wait for," he hands his phone to the other third-year who takes it with narrowed eyes.
"What is it?" Hinata asks, lifting his head to peek at the screen. He sighs "I can't read it, Senpai…" he mumbles. Suga chuckles "You can't read English? That's not surprising. You play those games with Kenma and there's people who speak English in those games, right?" His senpai asks curiously with sparkling hazel eyes.
"Kenma is really good at it, but I'm not! He does the talking when I can't. I can understand some things, just not much!" Hinata tries to defend himself. "Just tell me, though, what does it say?"
Koushi laughs softly, but it quickly becomes a frown. "There were earthquakes all over Japan and it's causing a lot of damage and injuries. They aren't prepared to help us yet," he explains with a solemn look on his face. "So we'll have to hold out for a bit. Longer than we hoped I guess, but I think everything will be f-"
"Tokyo's in shambles," Tsukishima interrupts, which puts all eyes on him. He doesn't even look at any of them "It would be an overstatement to say that Nekoma even exists anymore. It totally caved in on itself," the blonde says.
Tanaka scoffs "Those damn city boys better be okay…"
"Kenma…" Hinata murmurs, his voice reaching a high pitch as he tries his hardest not to break down. He didn't know what he would do if he found out that Kenma was gone. He quickly rubs his eyes with the back of his hand to make the tears go away.
"Hey, it's okay to cry, it's pretty scary," Suga gently rubs comforting circles into his back. "Don't worry about it, we'll get you to the hospital in the morning for your arm. You might need stitches," the silverette playfully pokes him in the side, making him squeak. "I don't want stitches, those hurt!"
"But you'll have a super badass scar I bet. You'll be able to show everyone else how cool you are. It'll be an awesome story to tell, won't it!" The setter's grin doesn't falter, seeming genuine as far as Hinata could tell. Shouyo nodded. "It's still bleeding I think, but I can't really feel it. Kinda numb I guess," he says, poking his injury, still feeling numb. He hoped it wouldn't do anything to his arm for forever.
"I have an idea, why don't you head to sleep for a bit? When you wake up we can walk to the hospital," Koushi offers, running his fingers through his hair, encouraging him to put his head on his lap. Hinata just nods, shuffling to lay down. Suga continues to pet his hair as he drifts off into sleep.
Unfortunately for him, all sleep brought was nightmares. The terrifying images of his mother and sister crushed by their own house while he miraculously survived beneath the shelter of his desk. His house burns around him while he lay in a peaceful and accepting unconsciousness until Kageyama retrieves him.
He wakes with a start, inhaling so sharply that he nearly chokes on air. His arm is terribly sore, suddenly actually feeling like he had a big piece of glass stuck in his arm. Noticing the pain in his expression increase, his senpai covers his mouth with his hand. By now it was almost pitch dark which didn't make him any less horrified. He could barely suppress the urge to scream as Suga got up and pulled him with him. He leaves a piece of paper on the floor and drags Hinata out, precariously stepping over Kageyama to avoid waking anyone else.
Once outside, Suga uncovers his mouth, still assisting him in his recovery from the nightmare. Sugawara looked a bit pale too, the only true sign of fear he'd even let show. They walked off to the road, most likely headed to the hospital as promised. Hinata couldn't help but stare out at the city below. Fires everywhere. It was hard to tell that just several hours ago it was a normal city. Now it was more like broken pieces of A 3D puzzle. "Hey, Senpai?"
"Yeah?"
"How many people do you think have died already?" He asks. Suga looks startled and quickly averts his eyes, pressing his lips together in a thin nervous line. He doesn't answer but is clearly uncomfortable with the question he posed, so he tries to talk about something else. "Um well...once everyone is safe we can meet up with our other friends and celebrate, right?"
Thankfully, Suga chuckles "That sounds like fun. A big cookout with lots of meat and also fruit and sweet things. Geez what I would do for a cupcake right now," he laughs softly. You couldn't tell, but Hinata knew he was hiding pain that he wasn't ready to express or let go of yet. He was curious but didn't press him on it. Instead, he asks "What's your favorite flavor of cake?"
"Ooh, that's a hard one. I'd have to say vanilla, though. That's probably what you were expecting though right? What about you?"
"Chocolate for sure! And I know Kageyama likes vanilla too! And Kenma likes red velvet and Noya-"
"He likes chocolate."
"Yeah!"
They both laugh, glad to be in their little bubble, separated from whatever the hell was going on around them. Hinata beams up at his senpai, then stops. Suga stops too, following his line of sight back to beyond the side of the road, down where their small town became a city. Multiple fires burned, car horns or alarms going off in some places, suggesting that either some of those people were alive or their cars had simply been destroyed in the earthquake by various falling objects.
Sugawara takes a deep breath that trembles ever so slightly "Come on, let's go," he urges, giving one last glance at the apocalypse below before putting his hand on Hinata's back and leading him forward. They fall into silence, although to their surprise it doesn't last long. Their ears are soon greeted with the startling noise of a crowd, causing their attention to snap in the direction of the commotion.
"I guess we're not the only ones who had this idea…" he murmured, frowning. It seemed like the immediate consensus among people to come to the hospital so that they or whoever else got hurt could be treated. Everyone was trying to get in and get help. Hinata looks down at his arm then back up at Suga. "We don't have to go," he says. "My arm will probably heal just fine- hey!"
Before his objection was even properly completed, he was being dragged up to the doors of the hospital. The smell of chemicals and blood overwhelm his nose, making him want to faint, but he remains on his feet, half stumbling to keep up with Suga. It felt like they were just tiny creatures in this big crowd of people. Maybe they should've brought Daichi or Asahi along…
Suga tugs on his shirt and pulls him over to the reception desk where he explains Hinata's injury. They responded with "that's very minor, we have to deal with the most concerning injuries, first."
"All he needs is stitches, it'll only take a few minutes-"
"Back up, kid. Minor injuries will be treated when the staff is available. Just go sit-"
"My mom is a nurse!"
"Sit. Down."
Suga's cheeks puffed up, turning redder than the blood on Hinata's shirt. He slams his hands on the desk, attracting more attention than necessary. "Possibility of infection makes an injury as deep as his potentially fatal. It'll take about two days for the signs of infection to kick in and by then it'll start eating away at his tissue and by then it'll take much more time and resources and possibly invasive procedures so goddamnit-!" He kicks the desk out of frustration, but all Hinata could think about is how the hell he knew all that. Then again if his mother was a nurse, that would explain it. Suddenly a woman appears behind them. Her hair wasn't silvery gray like Suga's, but white, her eyelashes nearly the same color.
"Don't make a scene here, Kou, come on, just follow me.." The woman waves dismissively at the reception desk and takes the two of them back to an exam room. "Okay, where did you two come from, are there more of you?" The woman asks, pulling up Hinata's sleeve and tying something like an elastic band around his arm above the injury. Suga nods "My whole team! Except for two second year's and my coaches."
"I'm guessing you're the only one hurt, right?" She asks. It takes a moment before Hinata realizes that he's being spoken to, but he nods once he does. She smiles softly, carrying a light conversation between the three of them as she numbs the area around the cut on his arm, confirming that he needed stitches. Not a minute after the stitches were completed and she cut the piece that remained and put the needle down the ground began to shake again. Almost like a reflex, Hinata jumps up and attaches himself to Suga who holds onto him with fear flickering in his eyes. Was this what he looked like when it happened the first time.
His mother hands him a bag and says "Go back to where you came from. It's safer outside, I'll meet you out there!" She says, pushing them back towards the door.
"Promise?" Sugawara asks. She nods. He turns on his heels and bolts out the door, holding onto Shouyo's wrist with a death grip as they push through the crowds of people, not even getting out the door before the ceiling starts to fall apart. Despite how uneasy he was on his feet, Suga keeps running down the street, finally tripping outside, gasping and wincing, but scrambling to his feet, taking up Hinata's hand again and continuing to hurry. The road beneath them was unsteady, but being Volleyball players had enough advantages.
The ground shakes further as the Hospital sounds like it shatters almost as easily as glass, collapsing. They don't look back to check, though.
"Senpai, you're limping! And bleeding!" Hinata exclaims, brows furrowed with worry. Suga doesn't say anything to him, his expression focused and unreadable. The shaking soon stops but they don't stop running until they make it back to the gym, slamming the door shut behind them. Everyone stares at them with shock. Suga's leg seems to give out as he falls to the floor, handing the bag off to Ennoshita.
"Hey, what happened?" Daichi asks, kneeling, but Suga waves him away.
"I'm fine, I just fell." He says, wiping the blood off of his scraped cheek with his sleeve. He seems to be the calmest and most collected out of everybody despite now being hurt. He couldn't forget the flash of fear on Suga's face, though.
"My arm got stitched up, but the numbness is wearing off…" Hinata murmurs. Suga points to Ennoshita then to Hinata and answers "There should be medicine in that bag." He instructs, shuffling over to sit beside Hinata with Daichi on his other side. Everyone just watches as he cleans up the blood on his face and leg, which he silently appears to find weird. Hinata just leans onto Kageyama this time and slips instantly into sleep as he's greeted with the comforting hand of his setter on his shoulder. He wondered if he knew how comforted he felt just by being beside him.
Maybe it was their intense connection as setter and attacker, or maybe as friends or maybe something else. Regardless of what it was, he wished he could find out if Kageyama felt that way with him, too.
-----
Hinata wakes up to a searing pain in his arm. He could only pray that it was just because of the stitches and nothing else, but there was a very small chance that he was correct about it. He's no longer leaning against Kageyama but instead is on the floor. He pushes himself to sit up as a commotion in the gym finally reaches his ears. He notices Yamaguchi asleep beside him from his peripheral and decides not to bother him as he tries to decipher what was going on.
Asahi and Suga seem to be having a shouting match with Daichi trying to calm them which is the most foreign concept he's ever heard of. It turns out Kageyama is behind him and not beside him, settled on the floor a couple of inches behind him but still in view. "What happened?" Shouyo asks, turning his head to look at the raven-haired make who continued to watch the chaos among the third-years unfold.
Kageyama shrugs a bit before sighing "I don't really know." His dark blue eyes flicker to meet Hinata's brown one for a moment before looking back at their Senpais.
"I think they started talking about what to do and where to go next. The conclusion that Daichi and Suga came to was that if we wanted to survive we'd have to resort to stealing. Asahi agreed at first, but then he realized how many people were still alive. He's not the type to be selfish, you know. If it feels like others are being sacrificed for his benefit, then he doesn't like it I guess," Ennoshita explains as he approached them with Tanaka and Tsukishima beside him, settled on the floor with the rest of them, minus Noya.
"I kind of like this, you know," Ennoshita admits, earning confused looks at first, but he elaborates. "It makes everything feel a bit more normal. I'm way more used to the chaos our team creates on our own, and hearing the arguing amongst ourselves makes it all feel a bit familiar. Kind of like-"
"Ugh, that's enough, all three of you!"
Everyone was startled to hear Kiyoko's voice, especially when it rose above her three shouting teammates. Of course, this caused a ripple of silence to occur in the Gym. The female crossed her arms over her chest with a stern look on her face. Hinata thought she looked more badass than usual because the lenses of her glasses had cracked. "Stop arguing like children and try to figure this out. We have to do something or else we won't make it, and arguing about it isn't going to help," she says. Suga is fidgety and Daichi and Asahi are clearly uncomfortable. They continue to talk much quieter now while the second and third year's continued their own conversation.
"What's up with Nishinoya, by the way?" Kageyama asked, making Hinata recall the incident from yesterday. He felt like he should apologize, but Sugawara had told him to wait. Tanaka decides to answer this question with "He's just feeling numb. A lot of really scary stuff has happened and he was blocking it out until you tried to ask about it I guess. Yachi is talking to him now and trying to find out what scared him so bad."
Hinata frowns a little, still feeling a bit guilty. Opting to push away the guilt, he says "I wonder what happened to Aoba Johsai, Johzenji, and Shiratorizawa. They're all in Miyagi, too. I hope they're okay…" he murmurs. Kageyama scoffs and says "Yeah, well that shittykawa can go die under a building." His words are sharp, but Hinata knows he's just coping in any way he can. The others chuckle and laugh softly.
Hinata is the only one who jumps when he hears the Gym door being thrown open and slammed shut. It even woke up Yamaguchi, who looked groggy and confused. For a moment he isn't even sure who left until he notices Suga is missing and the other third-year boys looking like puppies that just got scolded. Daichi pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, and for a moment Hinata thought he was going to punch or kick the wall, but he didn't. Asahi just leans against the wall as Kiyoko hurried after Suga.
"What's going on?" Yamaguchi asks, running his hand through his messy hair. Ennoshita re-explains the argument to him and he just blinks at him with confusion and groans, laying back down facing the wall and seems to return to sleep in an instant. This makes the second-year frown, and he lightly shakes Tadashi's shoulder but that doesn't wake him up, so he leaves him alone. "Is he okay?" Tsukishima asks, talking to them for the first time since they all arrived yesterday when he had the audacity to tell him how bad of shape Tokyo was in. Ennoshita just shrugs a little. Hinata's eyes flicker over to the Gym storage room where he could vaguely see Noya and Yachi both sitting on the floor. He wondered what they were talking about. Did Noya trust her more or was it just fear? He snaps out of it when the door opens again. Everyone just stares in shock. Never had they seen Suga's pale face burning so red with anger. He went up on the Gym's landing and hung out there by himself.
Kiyoko has her arms crossed still, sighing and watching him go before closing the door. "Why don't you guys shower in the locker room? The water is still running but it's kind of cold. It should be fine for you to get clean," she suggests softly, her narrow eyes shifting over to them, soft behind the broken lenses of her glasses. There's a collective agreement among them as everyone scrambles to their feet and grabs their stuff, heading to the locker room. The water isn't freezing, but it definitely isn't the temperature he would normally shower at.
Hinata shuffled into the shower after tugging off his grimy dirty clothes. He flinches as the water hits his skin, sliding down his face and dampening his orange curls. It washes the blood off of his arm and reveals the rushed stitches on his arm. He runs his fingers over the pinched skin, a tiny smile splitting his face at the words Suga had told him. It would leave a nasty scar but it would look so cool. He tilts his head back, opening his mouth to take in the cool water, but the moment it hits his tongue he spits it out, coughing. He turns the water off and pauses for a second. His tongue had a bitter taste on it, causing him to scrunch up his nose.
"Hey, Tadashi!" he calls.
"Yeah what's up?"
"Taste the water."
"Do what?" The taller male calls back with confusion, but a brief silence ensues followed by gagging. The water in the shower beside him shuts off and he hears Yamaguchi step out and he does as well with a towel around his waist. The dark-haired mile wipes his mouth with the back of his hand "That's so gross, that wasn't like that before…" he murmurs, frowning. Unexpectedly he hears similar coughing coming from where Kageyama was, and he soon appeared as well with a twisted expression. Hinata almost chuckled at that.
"That's disgusting…" the setter mutters, finally causing Tadashi and Hinata both to laugh.
"Boo."
"Uwaah!" Tadashi and Hinata both jump when a very displeased Tsukishima appears behind them. Hinata exhales and takes a deep breath, Tadashi also sighing. Hinata glances down at his arm, frowning at the swollen redness around the stitches. They all get dressed and Tanaka is the first to voice their complaints.
"Yo, Senpais! There's something wrong with the water, it tastes gross!" He shouts much louder than probably necessary.
"You drank the water?" Daichi looks at them, dumbfounded.
"It doesn't matter, the point is that it's gross!" Tanaka continues. Daichi chuckles nervously at their antics, but Suga responds more seriously "There were huge Tsunamis on the coast. It's probably sea and river water tainting the water. You definitely shouldn't drink that. Just stick to the bottled water, okay?" The vice-captain's voice is devoid of both anger and fondness. In fact, it's devoid of any emotion at all. He's not even looking at them. Everyone seems to pick up on it because nobody's voice rises above a whisper when they agree to the suggestion.
Probably trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, Asahi speaks up "Uh, why don't we eat now?" An awkward smile on his face as he begins to rummage through the boxes where they had stored their pathetic collection of food. Hinata and Kageyama both exchange glances with the other first year's. Even Tsukishima has a look of concern on his face. Unwilling to disturb this momentary peace, they drag out the table and chairs closer to the middle of the room. There wasn't enough for everyone but most of them were fine with sitting on the floor instead.
Their dinner for tonight is instant noodles, which causes Tsukishima to make a face and reject it. Ignoring a dirty look from Daichi, he gives the cup to Noya who still wasn't talking much, but was devouring the food. The blonde gets onigiri out of the box and eats that instead, knowing he'd get yelled at if he didn't eat anything.
Hinata twirls the noodles around with his chopsticks, staring down into the cup.
"You look depressed, Hinata, what's up?" Tadashi's voice interrupts his thoughts, causing him to blink and look up at him. He shrugs "Do I? I'm just thinking I guess, it's hard not to think a lot when there's so much to think about" Shouyo explains. Suga reaches over and ruffles his hair, making him smile.
"Why don't we talk about what we were talking about earlier? About the cupcakes?" He suggests. The suggestion makes Hinata's eyes light up like the fires in the distant city. He carries the conversation and comes to realize that everyone is smiling the more they talk about desserts and sweets. It finally feels like they've all relaxed a bit as they set up a proper place on the floor to sleep while the third-years clean up and talk amongst themselves. It's pitch dark, which makes Hinata notice Kageyama sitting stiffly beside him.
"Wait! Are you afraid of the dark, Kageyama?" He teases, hoping the setter could see the shit-eating grin on his face. Kageyama just scoffs in response, standing up as Hinata lays down. He closes his eyes in preparation to sleep, allowing himself to drift off until a loud metal banging noise interrupts him. He blinks sleep from his eyes, watching the silhouette of the other first-year approach the door and slide it open slowly. "Um-" he doesn't get a single word out of his mouth.
Confused, Hinata's eyes flicker over to Suga who was standing nearby. The fear on his face is back as he slowly walks towards the door with the intent to pull Kageyama away, but then he freezes. His hazel eyes glow in the moonlight as he hooks his fingers onto the back of Kageyama's shirt and tries to pull him back, but something- some one grabs him by his arm and pulls him towards the door which breaks Suga's grip and makes him stumble.
It seems like a blur when something hits Kageyama in the head, causing him to stumble and collapse. Hinata opens his mouth to scream, but a hand covers his mouth and pulls him against the wall.
Stay quiet…
But he wanted to scream. He watched as the guy that knocked out Kageyama wrestled with Suga. He wanted to scream at him to stop. To scream at the top of his lungs why the hell he was hurting his friends. Other guys came in- three of them. Surely 12 teenagers could usually overpower four people, but not when they were unarmed and four people with guns had enough bullets to shoot all of them twice. At least.
Hinata flinches and shuts his eyes when he hears one of the guns go off and someone drops to the floor. He covers his ears while the other boy- who he soon realizes is Yamaguchi- keeps his hand over his mouth. Hinata wasn't sure what god he believed in or if he believed in one at all, but he was definitely praying to whatever being could stop this that it did so now.
Hot tears sting his eyes, running down his cheeks and seeping through Tadashi's fingers as his friend's body trembled with every shallow breath, encapsulated in terror. Everything is muffled and inaudible to him, yet he can still hear the intense shouting going on around him. Then he opens his eyes and it's all gone. Shouyo momentarily entertains the thought that it's all a dream until he sees the shadow of Daichi creeping closer to a body that squirmed and writhed in pain, while Asahi kneeled down to a limp body. Ennoshita turns on his phone's flashlight, and Hinata wants to scream so badly that he chokes on his own voice and no sound comes out.
Both setters are lying in small pools of their blood. Kageyama is unconscious, very obviously bleeding from the blunt force against his head, while Sugawara was trying his best not to pass out. Blood was seeming into his pants from a wound on his thigh. A gunshot, probably. It was probably a miracle that it was his already injured leg and has shot out the other side instead of lodging into his flesh. Bile rises in Hinata's throat. Was this how it was going to be now?
Was it true at this point that the earthquakes weren't even their biggest concern, but humans were? Why was their biggest food box turned over and emptied? And where were the girls? Did the men steal them, too?
"Hinata…" Tadashi mumbled, holding onto him tightly as if for dear life.
"Y-Yeah?"
Before Yamaguchi can even respond, a wailing cry breaks through the agonizing quiet, Nishinoya's voice even more agonizing. Words that they kept to themselves but were all thinking.
"I wanna go hoooome!" He cries "I don't wanna fucking die here!"