Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hinata's Story

It had ended with blood.
Lots of blood.
His blood.

Although Hinata Shouyou had never really been one for the whole 'party scene', when childhood friend Kozume Kenma had convinced him to tag along on a night out after a volleyball game, Hinata had thought 'why not?'. He had no problems with crowds or meeting new people, in fact, he loved it.

The more attention he received from other people the better he felt. It was one of the reasons he enjoyed volleyball so much. He could never tire of the endless praise that was thrown at him by his peers, audience members, and other teams.
Kenma had reassured him that he went to this club, known as The Black Cat, all the time with his friends and everyone was really chill. No one would force him to drink if he didn't want to.

Looking back, Hinata wished that was the only thing they had forced him to do.

It was supposed to be a few casual drinks with some of Kenma's old high school friends, whom Hinata had heard a lot about and was eager to meet. They hadn't attended the same high school, as Kenma had been sent to some posh private estate in the country (which had made Hinata very upset about leaving junior high school behind), and the pair had only actually met up again last year when they'd both joined an over eighteens volleyball club at the local leisure centre.

Now both twenty-two and currently unemployed, the only thing they really spent their days doing was playing sports and video games, so taking a night off to do something different wasn't going to cause any dramatic changes in Hinata's life.

Well, so he'd thought.

Honestly, he'd been quite surprised when they arrived together at The Black Cat. It was a dive. Hinata knew that Kenma and his friends were all from very wealthy families, so he had been expecting some kind of swanky hotel bar with cocktails served in crystal glasses, a string-quartet playing in the corner and chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. This club looked like the type of place big, burly, tattooed men would hang out in, causing bar fights and chatting up scantily clad women. Hinata was rather disappointed.

It was smoky inside and it made Hinata cough. It was dark and there was loud, thumping music playing that vibrated through Hinata's whole body. There were awful neon lights lining the walls, with multicoloured ones that lit up the bar, reflecting off the hundreds of shiny glass bottles that sat in neat rows behind the bartenders.

Young adults milled about everywhere, looking sweaty and not quite right behind the eyes, as though the cloud of smoke that surrounded them was doing something funny to their brains.

'Just up here.' Kenma had told him, nodding to a huge bouncer and leading him past a scarlet rope and up some (rather sticky) stairs. The second level was a private V.I.P section, divided into several squashy-looking booths. There was another bar up here, but it was empty, as each booth had its own waitress to take orders and bring them drinks, meaning no one had to leave their seat. One of them walked past, holding a silver tray of smoking drinks at head height, her uniform barely covering her behind.

A glass wall ran along the left-hand side, looking down at the floor below. It was quieter up here, at least, as the music was muffled.

The man that Kenma introduced him to, before slumping down in a spare seat and pulling out his Nintendo Switch, was named Kuroo Tetsuro. He had a skinny woman on his arm and a lit cigarette in his other hand. He indicated to Hinata to take a seat, causing him to jump.

Startled, he responded as fast as he could.

Thankfully, Hinata's bumbling just made Kuroo laugh. He observed Hinata through slanted cat-like eyes, his dark mess of hair falling into his face, despite how many times he tried to push it away. With a devilish smile on his face, he offered Hinata a smoke, but was politely declined.

Hinata felt so out of place, he was so stiff and self-conscious- not to mention he was wearing his zip-up grey jacket and scruffy Nike trainers. He'd asked Kenma what he should wear for the night out, an image of bow-ties and tuxedos coming to mind, but Kenma had shrugged and said it didn't really matter what he wore, nobody would care.

'I'm just going to wear my red tracksuit. Don’t wear anything fancy.' Kenma had said. At least he blended in with the surroundings. Perhaps he had chosen that colour on purpose, as though trying to camouflage with the environment.

Kuroo looked like he'd just come from a business meeting, in a black blazer and crisp white shirt, with sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He'd undone several buttons on his shirt, through which the lady on his arm had her hand through.

'You're pretty short, aren't you?' Kuroo smirked. The woman giggled as a waitress appeared with another tray of drinks, which were passed around the group. Hinata hadn't really paid any attention to the others who were seated around him, he was too scared to take his eyes off Kuroo. He wanted to go home, he didn't like it here, something felt wrong. He was surprised Kenma found this atmosphere appealing at all, usually he was quite shy and introverted. He didn't particularly like it when there was an audience watching them when they played volleyball, he always complained that they were too loud, so surely this club must drive him crazy?

Perhaps he could shut it all out by playing on his Switch?

From what Kenma had told him about his 'good friend' Kuroo, he was supposedly a loyal, hard-working guy with a wicked sense of humour.

Were he and Kenma viewing the same person?

To him, this man just looked threatening and powerful, almost like some kind of mob boss.

'You going to answer me?'

'Yes!! Sorry!' Hinata cried shakily. Someone passed him a chute of champagne and he took a sip because everyone was looking at him. He tried his best to not pull a face- he was not a fan. He’d never really been much of an alcohol drinker, his choice of drink usually Pocari sweat, water, or a hot green tea.

'I'm guessing this isn't your usual scene, huh?' Kuroo smiled and stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray on the black wood table in the middle of the booth. 'You don't have to drink that, by the way, not if you don't want to. Kenma doesn't drink either.'
'Are you sure you're old enough to be in here?' The woman next to Kuroo asked, squinting her eyes. 'You look like you belong in high school. How old did you say he was again, Kenma?'

'He's the same age as me.' Kenma said, not looking up from his game. The outgrown brown roots of his dyed blonde hair looked black in this light. His face was illuminated with blue from his Switch screen.

'Well, I guess you're just unfortunate.' She sneered at him, clearly unimpressed by his choice of attire. She was very sparkly, Hinata noticed, it almost hurt his eyes to look at her. She didn't seem like a particularly nice person. She pointed her talon nail at him. 'Is that your natural hair colour? It's very...orange.'

'So, Shrimpy, tell me a bit about yourself.' Kuroo asked, flashing him a white-toothed grin and completely cutting off his female friend. Hinata didn't particularly like being referred to as 'Shrimpy', he'd struggled with name-calling back in high school because of his height, but he wasn't going to say anything to Kuroo about it. He was paralyzed with fear. It was only when Kuroo cleared his throat that he answered, almost shouting in his panic.

'I play volleyball!'

The woman laughed and accepted a fresh chute of champagne from a waitress. 'This kid? Really?'

Hinata didn't know what she meant by that and wanted to ask, but Kuroo told her to be quiet and Hinata decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. Kuroo turned back to Hinata with a friendlier smile.

'Yes, I have heard. You're on Kenma's team. I used to play back in school, haven't really since. Kenma tells me you have an incredible jump.'

'Y-yes! I may be short, but I can jump!' Hinata tried to keep his voice steady. He didn't know how long Kenma planned on staying there, but he was sure it couldn't be longer than an hour or so, Kenma got tired of human interaction pretty quickly. Hinata could sit it out until then.

'That's interesting. Well, maybe I will come watch you play sometime.'

'Please don't.' Kenma interrupted. Kuroo ignored him.

'What position do you play?'

'I'm a middle blocker.'

'Nice. I used to play middle blocker. I was Captain of my team until I left school. Kenma didn't enjoy being on my team very much, which I thought was unfortunate.'

'I don't particularly enjoy being on any team.' Kenma sighed, tapping buttons vigorously. 'You forced me to continue playing through school and my parents don't like me being in the house all the time, so it's easier for me to attend volleyball sessions than go job hunting.'

'I've told you already, you can work for me-'

'No, thanks.'

Kuroo sighed and swept a hand through his hair. Once again, it all fell straight back into his face. 'So, Hinata, do you work? Or are you a slacker, like Kenma?'

Shaking with nerves, Hinata tried to speak without stammering. 'I'm looking, but I haven't found anything I want to do yet. I'd happily play volleyball forever but my school's team never made it to Nationals, so I never got scouted. I tried to apply for university but I didn't get the grades to get in anywhere.'

He was certain he saw the woman mouth the word 'pathetic' and he felt himself wither on the inside. He didn't like it here, he didn't like these rich strangers judging him. He had tried hard in school but academics were never his strength. He just wanted to play sports.

Kuroo had briefly spoken to a waitress and she had returned moments later with a glass of water with a slice of lemon in it for Hinata. He thanked her and took a sip. That was much better, it had a strong zesty sting to it, which he found refreshing.

'You're too nervous, Shrimpy. We're all friends here. I'm just trying to help you fit in, I want to get to know Kenma's oldest friend a little better. I know this might not be your kind of scene, but it's a work night out and everyone wanted to come here. I'll take you out for a proper dinner sometime, Kenma too, it'll be nice to talk properly without all this music blaring.'

Hinata nodded even though he was certain he never wanted to go to a dinner with these people. He expected they went to the finest of restaurants, and he was not cut out for that kind of scene. He would make a fool of himself and embarrass Kenma.
The woman on his arm was clearly annoying Kuroo, as he snapped something at her and brushed her away. She ended up stalking off to another booth with her nose in the air. Kuroo spread out on the sofa a bit more and indicated to the other people sat around him, which Hinata only dared look at now.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

His eyes locked with a very tough-looking guy with most of his hair shaved off, apart from a blond mohawk that ran down the centre of his head. He was glaring at Hinata, with his teeth bared, a beer bottle in his fist.

'Yamamoto, please, stop it with the intimidation tactic.' Kuroo sighed. 'Sorry about him, he's like that with everyone, pay him no attention. This is Teshiro and Kai.'

The two other guys gave Hinata a brief hello before returning to whatever conversation they were having. They both held iPads in their laps and were passing them back and forth, tapping on the screens as they did so. It looked like some kind of stock take and Hinata briefly wondered what business all these guys worked for- he'd never actually asked Kenma what any of them did.

'Sorry about them, they're usually quite friendly, it's just been a hectic month in the office. We don't even get time off when we have time off.' He laughed, but it seemed forced. Hinata gulped more of his water for something to do. 'So, no job, huh? Well, maybe I could find something for you to do... Say, Hinata, you have a passport?'

'You said my name.'

Kuroo raised a playful eyebrow. 'Did you prefer Shrimpy?'

'No, no! Uh, why do you want to know?'

'Just trying to see if there is anything in my company I could offer to you, but we'd need a valid form of ID, preferably a passport that is in date.'

'Yeah, I have one. It expires next year though, does that matter?'

'No, no, that's fine. That's at your home, then, yeah?'

Hinata frowned. 'Yes?'

'Ah, cool, cool,' Kuroo leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling. 'I take it you haven't had any criminal convictions? Nothing stopping you from travelling abroad?'

'I... no, I haven't. Why are you asking me these questions?'

He tried to catch Kenma's eye, but it was as though Kenma purposely wasn't looking at him. Hinata drained his glass and placed it down, before standing up and brushing off imaginary lint from his sleeve.

'Well,' he cleared his throat and Kenma actually turned to look at him. 'It's getting late, I should be getting back, my parents will worry-'

As he turned to leave, Yamamoto stood up, towering over him and blocking his exit. Hinata stumbled back, almost falling over but grabbing hold of the back of the seat where he was previously sitting.

'Yamamoto, please. Let him go.'

Reluctantly, Yamamoto stepped aside and Hinata, heart pounding in his chest, scrambled past him, down the stairs and pushed past all the customers in the club, only daring to breathe again once he was outside. The air was cold and bitter in his lungs and he almost felt like being sick.

Something about the way Kuroo had been staring at him was creeping him out. He wasn't sure why, but something didn't sit right. That whole situation had been weird, the questions were oddly specific about travel.

Maybe Hinata had freaked out over nothing, he must have seemed so rude jumping up and leaving just like that. Kuroo might have had some kind of vacancy in his business that involved a lot of travel. Hinata knew he shouldn't jump to conclusions about people, but he couldn't help feeling there was something so off about him.

Right now, all he needed to worry about was getting a taxi home.

All the lights in the street were too bright. There were a lot of clubs lining this road, many of which had their front entrances decorated with flashing lights, all of which were hurting Hinata's head. There were so many people around him and they all were moving at a blur, like time was being sped up. He couldn't focus, everything was starting to spin.

He staggered and fell over, feeling the palm of his hand scrape the pavement. It hurt.

Noise was all meshed together, a loud, throbbing hum in his ears. He pressed his forehead into the concrete, screwing up his eyes, trying to shut it all out, but he found himself being hoisted back onto his feet by a large bouncer, who was shouting at him but Hinata couldn't make out a word he was saying.

A group of girls were trying to help him stay on his feet, but he didn't like them touching him. He pushed them away and almost fell over again, but the bouncer grabbed him and lifted him off the ground easily with one hand.

Hinata wondered if the bouncer was going to throw him, but that's when Kuroo appeared at the bouncers side and patted his arm. He lowered Hinata to the ground and Kuroo slid over, putting an arm around Hinata.

That was the last thing he remembered of that night.

Sunlight woke him.

It was creeping in through the slit in the curtains, shining directly onto his face.

Hinata groaned and tried to roll over, but realised he couldn't move. He shifted his position, attempting to sit up, but there was a leather strap across his chest, holding him down. His wrists and ankles were also bound, attached to each bed post.

Trying to keep his composure and not panic, Hinata attempted to work out where he was. He was lying on a double bed, the room was dark apart from the small patch of sunlight sneaking in, which he'd tilted his head away from so it didn't blind him. There was a wardrobe in the corner and a table to his left.

He couldn't see what was on the table, it was too high up.

However, there were a lot of bandages hanging from it, all of which were stained red.

Lifting his head a fraction off the pillow, Hinata dared to take a look at his body and immediately regretted it. His entire stomach and torso was covered in dried blood. Bandages were wrapped around his middle, but these were dirty and in need of changing. The sheets he was lying on were crisp with crimson too.

Normally in this situation, a person would scream and thrash about, but Hinata just felt numb. He had no idea what had happened to him and he was too scared to do anything. What if he screamed and someone ran in to finish him off?
Why had this happened?

He peered at the bandages again. They were covering his stomach.

Oh God, had someone taken his organs?

On the verge of hyperventilating, Hinata closed his eyes and let himself count backwards from ten. He wanted to panic, he wanted to scream and shout and fight against the restraints holding him down, but he knew this wasn't going to help him in this situation. He'd seen enough crime films to know that it would be pointless and it would only draw attention to himself.

It was likely his captors thought he was asleep and if he could silently get himself free, somehow, then maybe he'd figure out a way to escape.

Calm down, Shouyou, calm down, he had to force himself to keep his lips sealed. He was naturally so loud and boisterous that keeping quiet and composed was proving to be difficult. He was shaking so violently that he was sure someone in the next room would be able to hear him vibrating.

Freeing himself from the straps was easier said than done, he quickly found out. It was impossible to do with one hand, and with the straps being wrapped around his wrists, his fingers couldn't quite reach the knot. He kicked his legs, but when a shooting pain ran up from his stomach he soon stopped.

Tears threatened and he had to suppress a sob. He closed his eyes but the tears escaped anyway.

Why was this happening to him?

The last thing he remembered was leaving that club and then he'd felt so weird, like his mind was whirling around in his head, but he hadn't drunk any alcohol other than that tiny sip of champagne...

His water had been spiked.

That must have been it.

Perhaps that lemon flavouring had been to cover up whatever drug they'd slipped into the drink- if whatever drug he was given had a taste. He had no idea because he knew nothing at all about drugs, he couldn't even fathom a guess as to what drug it was that was in his drink.

No wonder Kuroo hadn't been fussed about Hinata trying to leave. He knew that the drug in his system would take effect and knock him out, so it didn't matter if he tried to run.

Hinata's eyes snapped open.

Did that mean Kenma had betrayed him?

No, surely not. Kenma was his best friend. He would never do anything like that to him... would he?

True, he hadn't seen Kenma for years while they both went to separate high schools, and he did feel like Kenma acted a lot different to how he did back when they were kids, but he had just put it down to the fact Kenma had just grown up and his personality had slightly changed due to maturity.

More tears flowed down his cheeks.

Had their whole friendship been a lie?

Frustration took over and Hinata began really pulling at the restraints, uncaring that he was making a lot of noise in the process. About a minute later, the door to the room snapped open and the light was switched on, which made Hinata stop struggling and screw up his face.

It was too bright.

'Oh dear, you're awake. I was watching something, but never mind. Don't struggle or you're going to tear your stitches.'

When Hinata's vision had finally adjusted to the light, he turned to look at the man who had entered the room.

Boy, was he tall. He was probably the tallest person Hinata had ever seen up close.

Thin and gangly, with a shock of silver hair, this giant loomed over him, a big grin spread across his rather pointy face. He didn't seem to blink much which freaked Hinata out.

'Who are you? Where am I? What have you done to me? Did you take my organs, huh? Where's Kenma? I want to see him, please-'

Hinata was cut off. 'Hey! You're noisy! Kuroo told me to keep you quiet, so you should probably keep your voice down or he'll be mad at me.'

'You've stolen my organs! I'm not going to be quiet!' Hinata yelled and the man hurried over and stuffed some kind of cloth into Hinata's mouth, making him gag.

'Sorry, please don't hate me. I don't want Kuroo to be mad at me, so if you're quiet I'll take it out.'

Hinata tried to shout but the cloth muffled anything he said. He was trying to spit it out but he was not having much luck. The tall man knelt down next to the bed, observing him, still with that silly beam on his face.

'So, anyway, Kuroo told me to not tell you anything when you woke up, because he's going to speak to you, but if you promise you won't tell him, then I'll tell you what's going on, do you promise, do you? Nod if you promise… no, you have to nod.' He actually tried to force Hinata to nod. He sighed dramatically. 'Well, I guess I'll introduce myself then. My name is Lev Haiba. I'm part Russian you know. I don't actually know any Russian, I was born in Japan, but it's still cool, yeah? I'm one-hundred and ninety-four centimetres, I know you'd want to ask if you could, everyone always does. You're pretty short for your age, aren't you? I noticed when Kuroo and Kenma brought you in-'

At Kenma's name, Hinata started to make noise to indicate he wanted to speak, in the hopes Lev Haiba would remove the cloth from his mouth but Lev shook his head.

'I'm not allowed to tell you anything about Kenma. Kuroo said you'd ask. You have to wait until he contacts me to find out, I'm sorry.'

'I promise.' Hinata tried to spit out, and he was sure Lev had heard what he said as he looked conflicted for a moment before gingerly reaching up to remove the cloth from Hinata's mouth. The moment he did, Hinata screamed at the top of his lungs, 'HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE HEL-'

The cloth was quickly stuffed back in.

Lev actually looked disappointed. 'Ah, Shouyou, you promised. Well, I'm not going to believe you next time.'

He suddenly reached out and snatched Hinata's shoulders, pushing him down. 'You need to lie still or your stitches will tear. It's really important to Kuroo that that doesn't happen.'

Like I care, Hinata thoughts, trying to fight against Lev's strong hold.

'Shouyou, if the stitches tear you could bleed out.' Hinata stopped struggling immediately and Lev eventually let go. He sat at the end of the bed and peeled back Hinata's bandages. He pulled a face. 'You know, I never actually made it into Med school. They said I was too haphazard with a scalpel. Too sloppy. If they could see me now, doing surgery for the great Nekoma gang. I mean, it's a little wonky but no harm done, ey? I was going to change the bandages but I don't really like looking at the cut, it makes me a bit squeamish you know, do you get that? I probably shouldn't, being a surgeon but I'm sure I'll get better at it the more I practice, and then they'll be begging me to work in every hospital. I'll be the best surgeon there is, don't you think so?'

Hinata stopped listening to him. His heart was racing and he was trying to keep his body still but he was still shaking. He didn't want to bleed out.

What had they taken from him?

His liver? His kidneys? His spleen? Did you even need a spleen?

Maybe they were taking his organs to the black market to sell. He had heard human organs fetched a lot of money.

Had Kenma lied to him about being unemployed and secretly been part of some underground organisaton this whole time? Did he have a stall set up in the black market (which Hinata pictured as a big warehouse with the windows boarded up, filled with hundreds of black-clothed stalls), was he there now just haggling the prices of Hinata's internal organs to sleazy-looking buyers?

It was apparent that this man wasn't a very good surgeon either. If he'd made a mess of just cutting open Hinata's stomach, what had he done to any of the organs he'd left behind? How many could you take without killing a person? What if he'd accidentally just sliced up Hinata's insides and he was slowly dying without realising it?

Was this man going to kill him? What would happen to him now?

Would Kuroo come in and say that he knew too much and end his life in this ... hotel room? He guessed it was a hotel room because of the fire safety instructions that were on the wall by the door, and the fact that there was a 'Room Service' leaflet stood up on the bedside table next to an ugly-looking lamp.

Hopefully that meant someone would have heard his cries for help, even if they were cut off abruptly.

What would his mother think if he never came home? How much would his younger sister, Natsu, cry if she thought Hinata had been kidnapped?

Maybe Kuroo would dump his body somewhere to be found- but then that could leave evidence behind. What if they disposed of him completely so no one ever found him again, and his family would spend the rest of their lives wondering what had happened to him and waiting anxiously for a day that he would return?

Natsu would be starting a new year of school soon and Hinata wouldn't be there to walk with her in the mornings, or help her with her homework, or teach her how to play volleyball. He wanted to see her graduate and go to university, or get married.

He was really crying now, unable to stop himself. This made Lev uncomfortable and he tried to help Hinata feel better by awkwardly patting him on the leg and saying, 'It's not as bad as it seems.'

A phone ringing in the other room made Lev jump to his feet. He left Hinata alone and returned about ten minutes later and began undoing Hinata's straps.

'Now, I know you're probably thinking that when you get up, you're going to try and run but I would really recommend not doing that because you've been in bed for about four days and your wound isn't healed yet. You'll probably end up collapsing and hurting yourself and I'll just have to restrain you again, which I don't want to do because I like you, Shouyou. I know you've been unconscious for the past couple of days, but I feel like I've really gotten to know you. I'd call us friends, even.'

This guy is a loony, Hinata thought, but decided to take Lev's word for it and didn't make a sprint for the door when he got up. He had to be helped up by Lev because he could barely walk and there was a weird pain in his stomach which only made him worry more, his mind picturing that part of his body as an empty vessel.

He allowed Lev to steer him out of the bedroom and into a living room area, where he was seated on a sofa in front of a TV. Lev handed him a glass of water and Hinata threw it on the floor- he wasn't falling for that again.

'Do you not like water?' Lev asked. Hinata wrenched the cloth from his mouth and flung it at Lev, who dodged it easily.

'I'm not falling for that again! You're not going to poison me twice!' Hinata snapped, wishing he had the strength to get up and run. The door was right there, if he was in a hotel, he could make it down to the lobby and scream for help.

What could he use as a distraction?

While he was looking around at his surroundings, which weren't very impressive, Lev walked over to a little sink in the corner of some make-shift kitchen and poured another glass of water, which he took a sip of before handing to Hinata. 'See, straight from the tap, I haven't put anything in it.'

Hinata would have thrown it back in his face if he hadn't been so thirsty. He had watched Lev's hands carefully and he was sure nothing had been added so he gulped it down and asked for a second.

'Which organs did you take? My liver? My spleen?' Hinata demanded and Lev blinked at him and then checked his phone.

'Huh? What? No, I didn't take anything. Here, I'll let Kuroo explain to you.' He picked up the TV remote and pressed a button, making the TV switch on. Hinata let out a yelp and dropped the glass when Kuroo's smirking face appeared on the screen.

'Ah, Shrimpy, you're looking well,' Kuroo laughed, lounging on what looked like a white leather sofa. He was in a lose white shirt and seemed right at home. Hinata noticed the little webcam on the top of the TV and realised that Kuroo could see him- they were video calling each other. 'I'm sure you have many questions, but I think it's better if you just let me talk and explain everything.'

'What did you do to me?' Hinata asked immediately and Kuroo sighed.

'Lev, please gag him if he keeps talking, I don't have time for this.'

When Lev approached him with the cloth again, Hinata raised both of his hands. His wrists were red from where the strap had cut into him. 'No, don't, I'll listen.'

'Hinata, you'll notice on the coffee table in front of you there is a brown envelope,' Kuroo began, folding his arms behind his head. Hinata looked at the coffee table and saw that there indeed was an envelope sat there. He reached for it but Lev slapped his hand. 'You don't need to open it yet. Inside is your passport and a return ticket to France. You'll be boarding flight 116 to Paris in three days time and you'll be met at the Charles de Gaulle airport by one of my staff members.'

Even though Hinata opened his mouth to speak, he didn't know what to say. What on earth was happening? Why was he being sent to Paris?

Was that where they planned on killing him?

But then again... Kuroo had just said return ticket.

'P-Paris?'

'Yes, Paris. It's a really lovely city, I'm sure you'll enjoy it there, but you're only going to be there one night. My worker will meet you at the airport and take you to a hospital, where he will remove the bag of drugs that Lev has placed inside your stomach.'

'What?!'

'Ah now, please keep your voice down and don't freak out,' Kuroo sighed. 'I need this shipment of drugs transported to Paris and this is the only way we can do it without getting caught. There are also documents in that envelope showing you had an operation at a hospital in Tokyo, just in case anyone wonders why you have stitches in your stomach- not that anyone should notice as you will be wearing suitable clothing to cover it.'

'Why do I have to this? Why can't you do it? What if I say no?' Hinata didn't know why he was standing up to Kuroo when he was in such a vulnerable position but he couldn't help himself.

Kuroo gave a small laugh and waved his finger to someone on his side of the camera. It swivelled away from Kuroo, crossing over a lavish-looking pool area to a chair on a diving board, which Kenma was tied to with thick rope. He looked unconscious, his head lolling on his shoulder, with blood running down from his forehead. Weights were attached to his feet.

Hinata almost screeched but Lev slapped a hand over his mouth.

The camera returned its focus on Kuroo, who now had a drink in his hand. He sipped it and smiled. 'I'm not going to do it because I have several other people like you who I have to organise, this shipment needs to be sent to more places than just Paris, you know, which is why I don't have time for twenty questions. I chose you because Kenma spoke a lot about you and I figured you wouldn't draw any suspicion travelling overseas. It was just easy to have Kenma bring you to me. Finally, if you refuse to go through with this plan or you tell anyone about what you're doing or mention my name, I will kill Kenma. I also know where your mother and your sister live, so don't get cocky.'

Lev still had his massive hand over Hinata's mouth so he couldn't speak.

Kuroo raised his glass at the camera. 'Hey, don't look at me like I'm the bad guy, you get a night in Paris at my expense and you'll be free to go the moment you arrive back in Japan- well, as long as you never breathe a word of this to anyone. I will even pay for you to attend whatever university you want so you can train to become a professional volleyball player- this isn't a deal I offer to everyone, I'm doing this because Kenma's friends are my friends.'

'You're going to kill Kenma! You can't call him your friend!' Hinata snatched Lev's hand away and was fighting to keep him off.

Kuroo shrugged. 'All my friends are disposable. I need to go, Lev will fill you in on anything I've missed. Have a nice flight.'

The TV screen went blank.

Hinata stopped fighting with Lev and let his hands fall to his side.

He had no choice if he wanted to keep Kenma alive.

Lev rounded the sofa and took a seat in an empty armchair, tucking his long legs underneath him. 'Like I said, it's not as bad as it seems. You get a night in Paris, albeit most of it will be spent in a hospital but it's better than nothing, and then you get to come back here and live the rest of your life knowing you did a good cause for someone and Kenma will be fine. No one is going to die. Everyone will be happy in the end, job done. You'll even get a wicked scar that you can show off to the ladies. It won't affect your volleyball skills at all, and how nice is that, going to university with Kuroo's help. He wouldn't even help me through Med school. That's really something.'

'Is that supposed to make me feel better?' Hinata said slowly, staring at Lev, making him fidget uncomfortably.

'Well, if you're going to be negative about the situation,' Lev huffed, fiddling with his phone. 'But we might as well get on because I have to guard you until the weekend and then someone will pick you up and take you to the airport. They have a carry-on prepared for you, so you have something to check-in. Kuroo told me to tell you that he's got one of his men stationed at the airport so if you try anything funny, they'll know.'

'Why couldn't he have sent one of his men to do this instead?'

Lev tapped his chin for a moment. 'What was it that Kuroo said... uh, yeah, you're disposable. Guess that makes you his friend.'

'It does not!'

'From what I know, Kuroo likes to use random people to transport his drug supply because they're easier to threaten, less suspicious and have no link back to him. Plus, if you were taken down by security, it's less likely you are going to name names because you wouldn't want to put your friends life at risk, would you?'

'No! I would never endanger Kenma!'

'Exactly. Many of the people who join the Nekoma gang don't have any family or friends that they care about, or if they did, they don't care enough to go to prison for them.'

'What exactly is Nekoma?' Hinata asked. Lev pulled a face.

'I'm not supposed to tell you.'

'From what I can put together, they make and transport drugs?' Hinata froze, hands moving to his stomach. 'What drugs are in inside me? Will they affect me? I don't want to become hooked on anything or have an overdose and die-'

'Huh? No, they're sealed tight in a bag, so it'll be fine. It's one of the reasons, other than ripping your stitches, that you need to keep still - the bag isn't indestructible and we don't want it ripping open because I don't even know what would happen to you if that happened. As long as you walk normally, everything will be fine. I can't tell you what drugs they are either, that's strictly confidential.'

'Would it kill me?'

Lev shrugged. 'I don't know, to be honest. It's a trial drug so it's got a lot of side effects, but it's supposed to make you happy so hopefully it would just lighten your spirits if the worst did happen.'

Putting his head in his hands, Hinata stared down at his bare feet. He was only wearing a pair of grey boxers and he didn't like the thought that someone, probably Lev, had changed him. What had they done with his clothes he'd been last wearing, where was his phone?

He doubted he would be getting that back until he returned from Paris, if at all.

It's going to be alright, he had to tell himself, taking a deep breath in. You're not dead. You're not going to die. You can sleep on the plane and meet the guy in Paris and get the drugs taken out of your system... but then, what if Kuroo was lying and they were going to keep him in Paris? What if they just made him work for them forever, constantly shipping drugs back and forth across the world inside his stomach lining?

But what choice did he have now other than to trust him?

If it was just his own life at stake then maybe he would try to fight, scream for help in the airport, but he couldn't put Kenma at risk, or his family. It probably wasn't Kenma's fault that any of this happened, he had probably just spoken to Kuroo about his friend that he played volleyball with and Kuroo had thought he'd be a good target.

Hinata liked to think that Kenma tried to fight for him after he'd been knocked out by whatever drug he'd been spiked with. The blood on his forehead suggested he'd been hit over the head by something. He must have not realised that bringing Hinata to Kuroo was a trap and tried to save him but got hit in the process.

Kenma, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have gone with you.

The next few days seemed to go by so slowly. Hinata spent most of it either in bed or on the couch, as he was to terrified to really move any further in fear he'd rip open his stomach and his intestines would all come tumbling out.

Lev forced him to walk around though, to make sure he could walk without looking weird. His stomach felt a bit funny, but with a lot of strong painkillers he felt pretty much alright. Lev changed his bandages for him and helped him wash, which was awkward but Hinata didn't like being sticky and smelly, and decided that wasn't the worst thing that was currently happening to him.

Living with Lev in this hotel room was driving him crazy, mainly because Lev didn't shut up. He talked and talked, mainly about himself, and acted like he and Hinata were the best of friends. He ordered food for the both of them as he couldn't cook, but Hinata could never stomach much and usually felt sick after, so he ended up just having miso soup.

'Your stomach just isn't very happy about the intruder, but it'll be fine once it's removed and you're all sewn up again. You'll have your appetite back.' Lev had said reassuringly, although Hinata wasn't convinced. He felt like something was going to go wrong. ‘Don’t be concerned about only staying in Paris one night either, you’ll get escorted back to the aiport in a wheelchair and you’re logged as being partially disabled, so staff will help you on and off the flight. Once you’re back in Japan, you’ll recover in a private hospital. Sounds good, huh?’

When the day finally arrived for Hinata to go to the airport, he was awash with nerves. It didn't help when the two men who would be escorting him turned up pointing their guns at him, which only made him panic and Lev had to calm him down.

He hadn't tried to run away from Lev because he was too scared about Kenma, and he bet there was probably someone waiting in the corridor to catch him if he did try it.

'You don't need the guns, he's not trying to escape.' Lev huffed at him, putting his hands on his hips.

The two men waited patiently while Lev helped Hinata into some casual clothing and he was handed a medium-sized rucksack. He was told there was a change of clothes in there, pyjamas, a travel-kit including a toothbrush and shampoo, and a phone for emergencies- but the only contact was Kuroo. There were also some business documents to make Hinata look like he was travelling for work purposes, including a lanyard to a small Tokyo-based business, and a Paris brochure. He was to pick up the disability documentation in Paris, as they didn’t want staff bothering him in Haneda airport when he had the supply in his stomach.

He added the envelope to his bag, tied his shoes at the door and followed them through the hotel.

It was a pretty shabby-looking hotel, with barely any people in the lobby and the woman at the reception desk didn't even look up as they passed by. Hinata wanted to shout something to her, but his eyes fell on the place where he knew the guard's guns were stored in their jackets and he kept his mouth shut tight. For all he knew, they would shoot the woman if Hinata spoke.

A silver car was waiting for him. He clambered inside and fastened his seatbelt.

Lev was stood in the hotel doorway, waving to him. Hinata gave a small wave back.

He didn't hate Lev, he was a nice person who had just been caught up in the wrong crowd. Hinata hoped he would actually get a proper chance to go to medical school and not risk anyone else's lives by doing dodgy surgery.

The car set off and a small lump rose in his throat.

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

It's for Kenma.

Remember that.

Kenma's life depends on this.

Travelling to Haneda airport took a lot less time than Hinata had expected, but he'd spent most of the journey in a sort of trance, trying to keep his mind off what he was about to do and how illegal it was. He had to trust that Kuroo had thought everything through. He wanted the drugs to make it to Paris, so he wouldn't do anything that resulted in Hinata getting caught.

All he had to do was act natural, board the plane, and wait until he could get the bag of drugs out of him.

Easy peasy.

Nobody helped him out of the car when they arrived. He had to look like he'd just been dropped off in a taxi.

He slung his bag onto his shoulder and slammed the door behind him, every instinct in his body telling him this was the time to run and get help, but he had to keep bringing his focus back to Kenma, tied to that chair and bleeding.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata walked forwards and entered the terminal, stopping in front of the huge boards that showed flight times. It all made his head spin, he wasn't used to this. He'd never travelled anywhere on his own before and he was scared.
There was so much security here too. He could clearly identify them because of their blue uniforms.

Don't look suspicious, that's what he'd been told. Act natural. You're just going to Paris for a business meeting. You work for a small Tokyo company that sponsors sports teams.

He assumed he'd been given this fake job because he would be able to talk about sports easily if someone questioned him. He knew more about volleyball than any other sport, but he could probably wing it.

Hinata ended up asking for help as he couldn't find his check-in desk. A nice lady helped point it out to him and he stood there nervously while the woman behind the counter weighed his carry-on, checked his ticket and examined his passport.

Although he knew it was unlikely that this woman knew he was hiding illegal substances in his belly, he kept expecting her to slam some big red button under her desk and for shutters to fall down on the windows around him before he was tackled to the floor by police.

When she gave him back his ticket and his passport with a smile, Hinata had to stop himself from sighing with relief. He returned her a shaky smile and hurried away in the direction she said, before realising he was moving too fast and needed to slow down.

Luckily, there were so many people here, no one really focused on him, and plenty of other people were rushing. It was common in an airport, people didn't have time to mess around when they had a plane to catch.

Walk, don't run.

Act like you belong.

Going through bag-check was the worst.

Despite knowing there was nothing incriminating in his bag, he was terrified when he had to hang it over, expecting them to unzip it and drugs to just come pouring out. He was especially scared when he stepped through the metal detector, but nothing beeped.

'First time travelling by myself,' Hinata found himself blurting out to the woman who was pushing bags down a metal ramp to be collected on the other side. He held up his hand to show how shaky he was without realising this was probably a bad idea. 'I don't like being by myself, it makes me nervous.'

The woman wasn't really listening, too busy instructing other travellers. Hinata grabbed his rucksack and hurried off, letting out a long sigh of relief when he was clear of anyone who looked like they worked there.

There were two hours before his flight so he had to spend time wandering around the shops. He couldn't really focus on what he was doing, he almost dropped anything he picked up so he decided to stop touching things altogether.

When he found his gate number, he took a seat away from the other people and closed his eyes, wishing he would just calm down.

It was about half an hour later that he realised he needed to pee. He scanned around and spotted a gents toilet on the other side of the airport, past the little coffee shop stall.

Hoisting his bag up, he made his way over.

Everything was fine for the next ten minutes, he peed, washed his hands and stared at his pasty reflection in the bathroom mirror, wondering if he'd always been that pale and sickly-looking. It really made his wild orange hair stand out.

It was when he left the bathroom that he crashed into a western-looking businessman who was pushing his way through. Hinata, being rather short, was sent flying and hit a nearby plant pot, knocking it over.

The business man scoffed at him and muttered something about 'youths' before pushing into the bathroom.

An elderly woman from the coffee shop came hurrying over to help him up.

'Oh dear, are you alright? Oh... child... your stomach-'

Hinata's stomach was bleeding. The front of his jacket was stained with red and it was leaking down his jeans.

He'd torn his stitches out.

Surprisingly, he hadn't even noticed. It didn't hurt. It couldn't even feel the blood spilling out of the cut. It just felt numb.

Feeling a wave of nausea and panic wash over him, Hinata knew the only thing he could do was get himself out of the airport before someone called the ambulance. If he went to hospital, they'd find the drugs in his stomach and Kenma would be killed. His mother and sister would be killed. How many more people did Kuroo know about who were important in Hinata's life?

He could ring Kuroo once he got somewhere away from the public and tell him what happened, and beg that Kenma stay alive, they could just rearrange the flight and it would all be fine. It wasn't his fault, they should have given him proper surgery, surely they must have known that Lev wasn't properly qualified. They must have known there was a risk to this kind of thing.

Dropping his bag at his feet, Hinata pushed past the old woman and ran towards the shopping area where he knew the exit was.

As he neared the coffee shop area, he slid on a pool of his own blood that came spilling out and he tripped, knocking over several tables in the process.

People were shrieking and calling for help.

Hinata was on his feet again, but he could hear a dog barking.

Several uniformed-officers were running right at him.

He doubled back, trying to run a different way, but the dog was on him, leaping on his back and taking him to the ground. The officers appeared seconds later, pinning him down and flipping him onto his front.

One of them was demanding to know what was wrong and why he was bleeding, while another was radioing for a first aid kit and an ambulance.

'No, no, let go of me-' Hinata tried to shout, but he ended up coughing blood instead. It tasted coppery and foul.

Wrestling against the officers grip, Hinata managed to get himself up again and staggered away, falling against a nearby pillar, more blood splattering on the ground around him. Hands were on his shoulders, getting him to the ground again and the dog was leaping at his side, trying to bite his arm. Another officer had to hold the dog back.

Fast losing blood and all his strength, Hinata toppled backwards and allowed the men to guide him to the floor. He was crying now.

There were crowds of people gathered around, watching him, hands over their mouths in shock. The little old lady who'd helped him up was in tears.

'He's losing too much blood. He's going to bleed out!' A man in the crowd shouted, covering his little son's eyes.

'I'm phoning an ambulance!' Another woman called, digging into her purse.

'Can someone please get someone here to clean up this blood, I think I'm going to be sick!' A snobby-looking man in a suit snapped, looking at Hinata like he was something disgusting at the bottom of his shoe. 'Is this going to make my plane late, because I really can't miss this flight. I have a connecting flight in London, this is outrageous. Get him out of here, there's got to be a hospital or something in this airport, surely?'

'Everyone get back! Get back!' A female officer was shouting, waving her hands to try and get the crowd to move.

'Hold him still, put pressure on the wound,' one man was saying, pulling up Hinata's top. He began tugging the soaked bandages off. He intidicatd to another officer. 'Miyazaki, look at this, he looks like he's been sliced open with a rusty knife. Do you think someone in the airport did this to him?'

'They can't have done, he was bandaged up, so he must’ve come here like that. It looks really infected.'

'Botch surgery?'

'Could be. Hey kid, can you hear me? Stay awake now, help is on its way. You've got to stay with me. Can you tell me where you are? What's your name?'

'That's his bag!' Someone in the crowd shouted, pointing to the discarded rucksack. A female officer jogged over and snatched it up, rummaging inside of it. She pulled out Hinata's passport and flipped it open.

'Hinata Shouyou. He's twenty-two from the Miyagi Prefecture. I'll see if I can find some contact details for his family.'

Her voice was drowned out by the sniffer dog, which was being held back by the collar. It was going mad, barking its little Labrador head off.

'The dog is going crazy, I wonder why-'

They cut off.

Hinata had started to shake.

He'd felt a piercing pain in his stomach and then a gush of something cold.

The bag had split.

Its contents were now leaking out into Hinata's system.

His whole body was vibrating like mad, his arms and legs going wild. The officers tried to keep him pinned down, but they were struggling. His eyes had rolled back in his head and he was foaming at the mouth, which was pink due to mixing with his blood.
'He's having a seizure! Get me a paramedic, now!'

'Christ, look, there's blue stuff leaking out of the wound. Fuck, that's why the dogs going mad, he's got drugs inside of him!'

There was a lot of commotion as the paramedics had arrived. They forced the officers out of the way and began their work, inserting a tube into Hinata's throat to help him breath and getting him onto a collapsible stretcher.

Hinata’s passport was handed over. The main officer who had been talking to Hinata took it and sighed, watching them wheel the boy away. He ran a hand through his thinning hair. 'Only twenty-two and smuggling drugs. Jeez, that kids going to spend the rest of his life in prison.'

Over in the corner of the airport, seated alone, a man dressed all in black was watching the commotion. He had a briefcase at his feet, which he picked up, flipped open and dug out a blue flip phone. He pressed it to his ear and waited while it rang the first number on the speed-dial.

Kuroo Tetsuro answered.

'This can't be good news.' He said, sounding exasperated.

'There's been a problem, Sir.' Yamamoto said, watching as they lifted Hinata's twitching body onto a stretcher and began to wheel him away. 'There’s been a terrible incident in the airport, so flights may be delayed. A boy was knocked over and was bleeding out.'

It was important Yamamoto didn’t say anything that could connect him with Hinata for any potential accidental eavesdroppers – he was just another concerned onlooker.

'Fuck. Shit. Can you get to him?'

'No, the police turned up and now the paramedics have taken him away, but that's not all.'

'What!?'

'It looks like he's having a seizure. There’s a sniffer dog going mad.'

‘Has the bag burst?’

‘Most likely. Do you want me to reach out to our contact in Paris and let them know there might be a delay?’

There was a pause and then a sigh. 'Yes, tell him it's off. Actually, tell him to get on the next flight to India and help out there. I'm going to have to call him about this.'

'He is not going to be happy.'

'I don't know,' Kuroo said, which surprised Yamamoto. 'This is the first case of the drug giving someone a seizure, so I think he's going to be interested in this. If Hinata doesn't die, I imagine he's going to be watched very closely from now on.'

'It's likely he's going to end up in prison, though.' He looked around before saying this very quietly.

'Doesn't matter. With Kenma's life on the line, he won't name any of us. Don't worry. I think this is all going to work out in our favour.'

'Heh, you think?' Yamamoto brushed at the dust on his trousers. He didn't like dressing so formally, but he was posing as a rich banker. He’d even worn an ugly black wig.

Now that Hinata had been taken away, the crowd was dispersing, all the audience muttering amongst themselves as the airport staff blocked off the area. Although it wasn't going to have any major side effects for them, other than possibly losing a small business deal in Paris, Yamamoto wasn't pleased that the rumours about drug smuggling were going to fly around Tokyo. They were trying to keep their business quiet and discreet, and there were already nosy journalists trying to bust the Nekoma gang for something dodgy.

As long as Hinata kept his mouth shut, there would be no link back to them.

Yamamoto got to his feet and began walking towards the exit. If asked, he would say the blood was making him sick and he needed to get some fresh air, but everyone was too riled up to notice what he was doing.

More police had turned up to collect a swab of the blood on the floor and take some photos. Two janitors with buckets and mops were stood by the side, waiting for them to finish so they could quickly clean up the mess.

It probably didn't help that a little kid had thrown up.

Kuroo was having a conversation with someone else on the phone and Yamamoto found himself having to wait for Kuroo to finish his other conversation, which he found annoying. He wasn't the type to be patient, having to sit in this airport and watch Hinata had been so mind-numbingly boring he'd almost fallen asleep at one point. 'Oh, here, Yamamoto, I'm going to pass the phone over, you should explain to him what's happened, he won't stop asking and I can't be bothered to repeat everything. Here, you, take the phone.'

For a moment, Yamamoto was confused about who Kuroo was referring to, as there was no way he would be in the same room as their boss, and he was a little relieved to hear a familiar voice down the phone.

He was glad that it was Kuroo who would have to explain everything to the boss. He hoped Kuroo wouldn't say that it was him who was the one stationed at the airport to look out for Hinata, but he wouldn't be surprised if Kuroo threw him in the deep end.

'What's happened? Is Shouyou alright? Kuroo said he had a seizure, I told him not to trust Lev and hire a professional, but he didn't listen to me.'

'Honestly, Kenma, I don't know.'

Chapter Text

Camera flashes had followed Hinata down the steps of the courthouse as he was being escorted to a police car.

The trial had ended horribly.

He was going to prison.

It had been a month since the incident at the airport and Hinata had not spoken to anyone other than police officers, doctors, and his lawyer since that point. He'd been rushed to the emergency room at a local Tokyo-based hospital and had to have his stomach pumped before the drugs all spread out into his system. Apparently, the leak in the bag had only been minor, which was lucky, according to the doctors, because the reaction to whatever drug he'd been trying to smuggle onto the plane was severe and had sent his body into shock, and anything more than the tiny amount that spilled would have probably killed him.

Hinata hadn't felt lucky. He felt sore and tired and utterly miserable. He'd failed and he felt betrayed.

Questioning by the police had not been fun. They'd handcuffed him to a metal table and slammed down a huge file in front of him, showing him photos of strange men he'd never seen before, asking him about who he worked for and what he knew about the illegal Class A drug he was trying to transport.

Still weak from his surgery, Hinata could barely mumble his answers. He didn't know anything about it. He didn't know these men. If they worked for Kuroo, he had no idea.

Mentioning Kuroo's name seemed like such a huge risk to take, because if there was the slightest possibility that Kenma was still alive, he didn't want to screw that up. He had decided he would have to talk to his lawyer about it and see what they thought, but the lawyer that was provided for him wasn't exactly what Hinata would have called 'adequate' for the job.

Although Hinata had been completely honest with him and told him that it was Tetsuro Kuroo who had set him up and forced him to smuggle the drugs whilst threatening to take someone else's life, the lawyer just laughed him off and told him not to mention any of that in his court trial.

'Leave it to me and I'll be sure to win your case, it's better them thinking you were just kidnapped and sliced up, rather than that you actually knew the man behind it, that'll make you look suspicious, especially if you've been seen with him in a club that will have CCTV cameras.'

'The CCTV cameras would show that they drugged me! I passed out!'

'Hinata, Hinata, please, I think I know what I'm doing. You were in a club, it would have just looked like you had too much to drink. You can't prove it; if you were drugged, they would be out of your system by now. Look, kid, this is your first offence so if we play our cards right, you'll get off the hook. You'll probably just get community service or something.'

'You need to find out what happened to Kenma Kozume. Please, you need to look him up and see if he's still alive!'

'Sure, kid, sure.'

Hinata didn't trust him.

Despite having requested a different lawyer, no one listened to Hinata. They said this was the best they could afford for him, as the government were the ones who would pay for his service.

'If you want to pay for you own lawyer, then fine by me.' A police officer had shrugged at him, knowing full well Hinata did not have the funds to hire his own lawyer.

Hinata wasn't sure if being held in a hospital or in a jail cell was worse. At least in the hospital he had a comfy bed and the nurses that tended to him were friendly, but he got so restless just lying there, one wrist handcuffed to the bedpost. As a naturally active person, he despised sitting still. He also didn't like the humiliation of having to be escorted to the bathroom, which he only got to visit twice a day.

At least when he was discharged from hospital, all sewn up (properly this time), and stuffed into a little cell in a holding facility, he got the chance to get up and move around. He couldn't spend too long on his feet, as he wore out his energy pretty quickly. Recovering from the effects of the drugs and the surgery on his stomach was going to take some time. He'd also lost a bit of weight from being unable to eat anything after having his stomach pumped and only relying on an IV drip to sustain him.

His appetite was slowly coming back but the food they provided in the jail wasn't really the best. He dreaded to think what the food would be like if was sent to actual prison.

Nobody offered him a phone call. He assumed that was his right but he wasn't sure if that was just something they did in crime dramas. He didn't know anything about the law, or drug-related punishments. He didn't want to go away for life.

Surely, they would see that he was forced into it.

Apparently not.

When the court date had finally arrived, Hinata was escorted from his cell, which was a relief because those four stone walls were starting to send him mad, and he was taken to a small room to change into a suit and tie.

He was greeted at the courthouse by a smattering of paparazzi, all of whom were shouting and screeching at him, holding out microphones and following him with bulky TV cameras and flashing lights. His lawyer had spoken for him, saying he would not be taking any questions and would be giving no comment, and it had only stopped once he was inside the marble lobby of the courthouse.
Waiting around set his teeth on edge. He just wanted to get it over and done with. He wanted to go home and see his mother and his sister.

Surprisingly, he didn't have to wait long. They were in the court, ready to watch the proceedings. Both of them started crying when he was brought in, hands cuffed in front of him. He wanted to go over to them and explain everything, but he was pushed forwards and forced into a wooden seat behind a table, facing the judge who sat behind a podium.

The lawyer had pledged Hinata's case, but very poorly. All he said that Hinata claimed he was not guilty and that he was forced into his actions by another, who Hinata 'refused' to name, without explaining why Hinata would not speak. When he tried to open his mouth to argue his own defence, the judge slammed down their gavel and ordered him to be quiet.

The prosecution was ruthless. They said that it was typical for young boys to get caught up in this kind of lifestyle, especially coming from a 'broken home', due to the fact he had an absentee father, which had made his mother sob quite loudly from somewhere behind him in the audience.

'Mr. Hinata claims he was forced into it, but I have found footage of Mr. Hinata leaving the Russian Cat Hotel on the day of the incident, completely alone.' A projector whirred overhead and CCTV footage of Hinata climbing into the silver car was shown. Lev was not on the video, but he had not left the entrance of the hotel. Perhaps he knew there was CCTV there and was being careful not to be spotted by it. Hinata didn't remember seeing any cameras inside the hotel itself.

The CCTV footage then switched to him getting out of the car at the airport. 'As you can see, there are no signs of struggle or panic, no one is escorting him or watching him, he checked in mid-day and spent half an hour just seated before heading towards the bathroom. He tore open his stitching when he fell after bumping into a stranger. Here, in this video, you can see him running for the exit, rather than calling for help. He knew exactly what he was doing and what had hidden inside his stomach and knew if he called for help then he would get caught.'

Hinata nudged his lawyer and hissed, 'Say something! Object!'

The lawyer sucked his teeth. 'It's a pretty damning case against you, Hinata. The evidence speaks for itself.'

'No! No!' Hinata cried, standing up and two guards leapt on him at once. 'I only did it because-'
His words were cut off. A hand had clamped over his mouth by one of the guards and he was forced back into his seat.

'Be quiet, Mr. Hinata, or I will hold you in contempt of court.' The judge snapped at him. 'If the prosecution would please continue.'

'Not only was Mr. Hinata carrying a fake business lanyard, but we also searched the hotel room he had been staying in and found his belongings left behind in a plastic bag. There were narcotics with his fingerprints on and we found trace substances in his blood, we have the medical examination reports here. We think Mr. Hinata was high during the surgery to insert the bag of drugs into his body. There is no evidence left behind that anyone else was in the room with him, and the reception informed us he had checked in alone, but signed a fake name. For all we know, Mr. Hinata may have attempted the surgery himself, seeing as how poorly it was done.' The man cleared his throat and held up some more files, while Hinata gagged at his lawyer, his whole body shaking. Why wasn't he saying something? This was all a lie! He opened his mouth to mention Lev Haiba's name, but the lawyer turned him and shook his head, pointing to the prosecutor who was still speaking. 'According to many of Mr. Hinata's peers who attend the volleyball club with him, Mr. Hinata is always hyperactive and has an incredible jumping ability, which is very rare considering his height and stature. We believe that Mr. Hinata has been taking the same substance which was found inside his body for a while and using it to boost his performance. We think the seizure was only brought on because he overdosed on the product.'

'Object!' Hinata pleaded desperately to his lawyer. 'They have no evidence!'

'Ehh...'

'I can jump right now! I can show you I can do it myself, without drugs! I haven't taken anything!
They don't have any proof!' Hinata shouted at the judge, who looked appalled at this outburst. He sniffed in disproval.

'There will be no jumping in my court, Mr. Hinata. Despite the lack of evidence for this current claim, the evidence against you for the crime of drug smuggling a Class A substance is overwhelming. Does the prosecution have any further statements?'

'No, your Honour.'

'Then I will come to a verdict, unless the defence has anything to add?'

'No, your Honour.'

'WHAT? You're supposed to be defending me! I didn't do it! I mean, I did, but I had to! Kenma was going to die! They were going to kill him-'

The judge frowned at him. 'Kenma who?'

'Ah, sir, sorry, he's a bit delusional,' the lawyer stood up, folding his hands in front of him, looking apologetic. 'My client claims that he only allowed the drug smuggling operation to take place because he believed his friend, Kenma Kozume, to be in some kind of physical danger. However, when I tracked down Mr. Kozume, he had been attending the same volleyball club all week and had many eyewitnesses to prove it.'

'The prosecution believes that Mr. Hinata was high on narcotics when he claims he saw Mr. Kozume tied to a chair over a pool. It was likely he was out of his mind when he arrived at the airport. Eyewitnesses say the sniffer dog was going crazy when it neared Mr. Hinata.'

'NO!' Hinata screamed, almost knocking over the table in his desperation. 'I was set up! I was forced into it! I really saw Kenma in danger, I wasn't on any kind of drugs! It was Kur-'

A hand had slapped across his mouth, and he was forced back into his chair by a guard. There was a mouth near his ear, hissing at him, 'You might want to consider what you were about to say. My boss has eyes everywhere, punk.'

Hinata was let go. He gasped, drawing in air, as he had been too scared to breathe, and looked over at the guard who was moving back to his original position. It was the guy he had seen at the Black Cat, the one who had tried to stop him from leaving- Yamamoto. Hinata hadn't immediately recognised him because he was wearing a police hat, which covered his distinctive hair, and he was dressed quite smartly today, whereas in the club he had been wearing a button-up shirt and ripped jeans.

Sweat was sticking his shirt to his back. He clenched his fists in his lap, trying not to cry. Kuroo had his men watching him. He must have suspected Hinata would open his mouth when the news that Kenma Kozume was safe reached him.

Did that mean that Kuroo had simply let Kenma go, or was Kenma part of the whole thing? He had been at volleyball club all week... to give himself an alibi?

Had Kenma betrayed him?

Even if this was the case and Kenma's life wasn't in danger, that didn't stop Yamamoto or Kuroo from hurting his family.

'I think I've heard enough,' the judge spoke and Hinata's head snapped up. No, there had to be something he could do, anything- but nothing would come to mind. He gaped at the judge, his eyes wide and pleading, but this did nothing to help his case. 'I find the defendant guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in Shiratorizawa Prison.'

The gavel banged and court was adjourned.

Hinata's mother had to be dragged from the courtroom. She was screaming, trying to get to her son, calling his name. Hinata couldn't even bear to look at her.

Only when her cries had muffled did he glance over his shoulder. Natsu was stood in the pews, silently crying, while the rest of the audience filed out.

His lawyer was sighing over-dramatically, making a fuss of fastening his brief case. He gave Hinata a little careless shrug and said, 'Well, it was unavoidable really.'

'Can I speak to my sister?' Hinata asked, his voice thick. The lawyer glanced over at her and then shook his head.

'I don't think so. We need to escort you outside, they're taking you straight to prison. The paparazzi will be waiting, but keep your head down and your mouth shut, unless you want to do yourself any more damage. If you're lucky, they might find new evidence and re-open your trial, or you could get a shorter sentence if you're a good kid in the slammer, but hey, what do I know? I'm not even a proper lawyer.'

He began to laugh as he walked away, swinging his briefcase. Hinata's eyes widened, and he started to shout after him, trying to get over the low wooden wall that separated the front area from the pews, but the guards were on him instantly, slamming him to the ground.

'Get her out of here!' Another guard shouted and Natsu shrieked. Hinata couldn't see what was happening.

'Leave her alone! She didn't do anything!'

'We know, kid, we just need her to leave the room. Now get up and stay quiet,' it was Yamamoto speaking. He lead Hinata towards a side door, which took him out into an almost empty corridor. Besides a man seated at a bench, holding a newspaper, it was just him and Yamamoto. He was thrown against a wall and slid down it, a sharp pain shooting down his spine. 'You were really fuckin' useless in the end, weren't you? We lost our business deal in Paris because of you.'

'Now, Yamamoto,' the man with the newspaper looked over. It was Kuroo, his dark hair all slicked back with some kind of gel. He had reading glasses on and wore a red three-piece suit with a black shirt. He chuckled and got to his feet, striding over to them before kneeling down in front of Hinata.
'Hey there, Shrimpy. Long time, no see. I'm terribly sorry about all of this, but it couldn't be helped. Don't worry about Kenma, he's fine. A little shaken up but no worse for wear. I'm terribly sorry you had to put up with that awful lawyer, I just found the worst guy on the internet.'

'You set me up!' Hinata cried and Kuroo instructed Yamamoto to get him to his feet. Hinata gritted his teeth. 'You think I'll stay silent now-'

'Remember, Shouyou, if you breathe a word of this, I will kill your family. Actually, I'll kill your mother and keep your sister. She's what- fourteen? fifteen? Very cute. They pay a lot for human trafficking, you know.'

'Don't touch her!'

Kuroo raised both of his hands, which were clad in black leather. 'I won't, as long as you don't breathe a word of this to anyone. Don't say my name, or anything about me. Don't talk about Nekoma. Don't talk about the drugs. Look, I have contacts, and I'll do my best to get you a shortened prison sentence, but for now, at least I got you into the best prison in the state. It's high max security, sure, but it's funded by the Ushijima Corporation... you haven't heard of them? They're rich, that's the most you need to know, but it means the prison has the best standards out of the lot. So be thankful, I don't do this for everyone, but, like I said, any friend of Kenma's is a friend of mine.'

With a wave and smile, Kuroo walked off, disappearing around a corner.

Yamamoto began pushing Hinata towards a door at the end. 'Be grateful. That's about as kind as Kuroo gets. This happened because you were careless, so you've got no one to blame but yourself.
Well, I guess you could blame that idiot, Lev, who skipped town after hearing what happened. Kuroo is furious at him, but that's what he gets for hiring a shoddy surgeon with no medical degree.'

Hinata felt utterly defeated, as though all the energy in his body had been sucked out in one go. He was innocent, in his own mind, and didn't deserve this. He couldn't survive in prison, no matter how fancy Kuroo claimed it to be, but he couldn't risk his family's safety.

'I'll get out.' Hinata mumbled to himself. 'And I'll expose Nekoma and Kuroo and everything you're doing.'

'Sure you will.' Yamamoto said, shoving him out into the lobby. More guards took over to take him to the awaiting police van.

Out the corner of his eye, he saw his mother and sister watching him, both still in tears. Behind them stood Kuroo, smiling from ear to ear, pointing at the back of Natsu's head and mouthing 'What a cutie!'

Hinata let his head drop as he was marched towards the white van with the blacked-out windows. All the noises from the crowd around him were a distant buzz as he imagined what the world was going to be like when he got out of prison.

If he ever got out of prison, that is.

He'd had to wait several days in a holding facility before they could transfer him to the main prison.

Shiratorizawa Prison was located in the Miyagi Prefecture, which had surprised Hinata, who had been picturing some giant castle on a rock out of the sea, surrounded by dragons, and was split up into two sides- a male side and a female side.

The main building itself was all glass and white stone, but that was just the police station for visitors. Their bus (which Hinata had been swapped into at a detention centre in Tokyo) was taken down a rocky road, past various other buildings, towards a large grey brick building, surrounded by iron fencing and barbed wire.

Hinata was sat at the front of the bus, near the guard, who was stood behind a wire-gate. He didn't look back at the other passengers, he was too scared to. They were actual criminals, not just innocent twenty-something's who'd been caught up in a difficult situation.

Once the bus they were on came to a rickety halt, the guard ordered them all to stand up and walk out single file, starting with those at the front and working back. Hinata wobbled to his feet and walked forwards, climbing off the bus and following the person in front of him through a set of gates, then a second set of gates, past a grassy field with nothing but a few picnic benches on it, and finally inside the grey building.

Initiation began right away.

It was awful.

They all had to strip down and be searched by a guard, who looked just as unhappy as they did, before being told to all shower. Hinata had no problem showering with other men back in the volleyball club, but they were all skinny, pasty dudes who weren't going to do him any harm. The majority of these guys were huge and terrifying-looking, one of them so hairy Hinata was sure he was part gorilla.

Showered and dry, they were given a small white towel to rub at their hair with while they changed into orange jumpsuits. They were the same colour as Hinata's hair and several of the men around him noticed and laughed.

He didn't have any belongings on him, so he had nothing to hand over to the security desk, other than his folded court clothes. They asked him for his shoe size before handing him a thick pair of black steel-toed boots.

With their shoes laced up, the group was taken out of the changing area and into a room that had nothing in it but a chair. They were told to line up and face the chair and were left for fifteen minutes in complete silence before someone showed up.

No one dared speak during the time they were alone, as there were two guards stood by each door, holding rifles on their backs.

An old man with short grey hair and a small grey beard entered the room. He walked over to the chair and Hinata expected him to sit down, but instead, he picked it up and flung it against the wall, where it shattered, before turning to glare at the new inmates. Despite his age, he appeared well-built and athletic.

He was dressed in a formal police uniform and had a gun at his hip. He turned towards them, arms folded. 'Welcome to Shiratorizawa Prison, inmates. My name is Ukai Ikkei, and I am the warden here. You will address me by Sir at all times and you will not talk in my presence unless directly spoken to. Now, to start with, just because you may have heard this prison is the best in the country, don't let that fool you. This is a high max security prison and we have a zero tolerance policy. If you don't follow the rules, you will be punished. Officer Takeda, if you please.'

Another man stepped forwards; he had been waiting near the door. He appeared to be in his late-thirties and had large square spectacles. He seemed a bit weedy to be an officer, but he spoke quite confidently. He was holding up a torus-shaped piece of metal. 'In Shiratorizawa Prison, all inmates are required to wear one of these collars. They are designed to regulate your heart-rate and have a tracking device, so we can identify where all inmates are in the prison. It means that if an inmate had an accident or something much worse, and their heart-rated slowed or stopped entirely, we would be able to know within a few seconds and have officers on the scene to help. Once these are placed on, they cannot be removed and we do not recommend you try. They are waterproof and can be adjusted to one of three sizes to suit your comfort. Staff will now come down the line and attach one to each of you, so please be patient.'

Hinata was tenth in line, so he got a collar with a little '10' on the front, with an orange light running around the middle of it. It was cold and it was too tight at first and he had to have the guard loosen it. Once it had clicked in place, no matter how hard he pulled, it would not come off.

When all the new inmates had their collars on, the guards stepped away and attention turned back to Ukai who was holding a remote in his hands. He held it up for them to see. 'Another point we should mention about these collars is that they are shock collars. Every guard and staff member possesses one of these little remote controls that can only be used by them, as they have fingerprint recognition. As you can see at the top, there are a row of little colours and a numbered keypad. You are all orange. This means if I pressed the orange button, followed by say, the number two, you would receive an electric shock.'

There were a few gasps and mutters from the line. Ukai frowned.

'Be aware, there are different voltage settings on the remotes, from a minor shock to a high voltage shock. We do not use high voltage shocks unless the circumstances require us to do so. We hope with this in mind, you will behave yourselves while you are living within these prison walls. If you are shocked more than three times in a week, you will be sent to isolation and you will remain there for as long as the officers in charge see fit.'

'Surely this is against our human rights?' One inmate said and Ukai's head snapped towards him. He hit the button on his remote and the man who had spoken fell to his knees, a nasty vibration coming from his shock collar.

'I thought I specified that no one is to speak unless spoken to? This is what happens when you break my rules. You should all be aware that even though we have to create certain living standards for you under the human rights law, we have a majority say in what happens to you within these walls and these collars have been approved by the government for behavioural control. Do not expect a cushy life here. You will be working from nine to five to support your community, your jobs will be assigned to you at a later date, and hard work will be rewarded with commissary. Slacking off will not be tolerated, if you want to laze around and do nothing, you can spend a month in isolation by yourself. You will be allowed visitors once a month for twenty-minute sessions, however, contact with the outside is forbidden.'

'We're aware that in other prisons, you can call friends and family or write letters, but I'm afraid Shiratorizawa does not allow this.' Takeda explained, fixing his tie. 'It was discontinued when inmates were using these communication systems to smuggle items in and out of the prison. Thank them for your loss of privileges. If your family or friends would like to visit you, they must contact the Shiratorizawa offices and apply for a visiting form, but may not be granted clearance for at least a month. We have to take strict precautions, I'm afraid. If you would like to contact a family member in an emergency, or request they apply to visit, then please talk to me and I will arrange it, if I feel the situation is acceptable.'

'Access to the female side of the prison is strictly prohibited,' Ukai took over, locking Hinata in the eyes for a moment, which made him freeze up and stand up straighter, like he was being called to attention. 'It is very unlikely that you will come into contact with any female inmates during your time here, apart from if you are allowed out into the hard area at the back of the prison, which has a fence separating off the female side from the male side. While we do not mind you speaking to the women, you are forbidden to pass anything through the fence to them, or receive anything passed to you. Do not expose yourself to the women or you will face a month in isolation, perhaps longer. There will be no touching or harassing the women.'

'It may be tempting, but we advise you to stay away from the fence altogether. A lot of those women look very pretty and sweet, but you should all remember they are inmates too. They did not come to prison for the fun of it. There are plenty of them who dislike men and are willing to hurt them, even if it gets them into trouble.' Takeda added, while Ukai nodded. 'If any of you witness any rule breaking, please report it to me.'

'Well, I think I have covered the basics. Once again, I welcome you, and hope this is the only time I have to speak to any of you.' Ukai said. Hinata figured as the warden, he didn't spend a lot of time around the inmates. 'You will be escorted out of here by Officer Takeda and greeted by an inmate who will take you to your new living quarters and fill you in about life in the prison.'

Ukai left.

Officer Takeda smiled at them all and clapped his hands together. 'Well, gents, if you'd like to follow me, I will take you to meet Suga.'

Awash with nerves, Hinata sped up to keep up with the group and tried to imagine what his life in this prison was going to be like. He pictured beds made out of nothing but metal, with thin raggedy sheets, and a steel toilet in the corner that ten of them had to share. They would probably serve him gruel and slop and he'd never see the sun again.

There were so many doors for them to go through, which had to be unlocked and relocked as they passed through. Eventually they reached a corridor that reminded Hinata of a hospital and Takeda stopped them, saying this is where Suga would take them off his hands.

Sugawara Koushi had been a surprise. Hinata couldn't help but picture some buff, masculine guy with tattoos and spikes through his skin, but Suga was so friendly-looking. He had a mess of silver hair and a really calming smile. Just looking at him made Hinata feel at peace.

'Thanks, Takeda,' Suga grinned at him, holding up a clipboard. Once Takeda had left, Suga beamed around at the group. 'Welcome, newbies! I'm Sugawara, but you can call me Suga. I'm the tour guide for the day and I will be taking you to your new bunks. You will be sharing a room with three other people. I hope that you will get along with your new roommates, but please, do not hesitate to inform me or Takeda if you're having trouble and we will try to rearrange things for you. I'm going to show you around the prison first, so you can get some bearings as to where everything is. Please, hold any questions you have until the end, I'll be more than happy to answer.'

Suga's eyes fell on Hinata for a moment, before he turned and beckoned the group after him.

He took them through a 'Recreational Area', which was a large white room with high windows, filled with chairs of different shapes and sizes, a small TV in the top corner, and a few tables scattered around, on which inmates in black were playing cards or board games. None of them paid much attention to the new guys and they passed through without a hitch. There was a room on the opposite side of the corridor to this, which was known as the 'Therapy Room', which is where they had group meetings and discussed how they were coping in prison. Suga said it was mandatory to attend the sessions if you were invited to one, but nobody would be forced to share if they really didn't want to.

They were shown the bathroom areas, of which there were four. Suga recommended they use bathroom three, as this was the least territorial space. 'It's often that certain groups tend to take over bathroom spaces, but this one is always left free for anyone to use. There are cubicles for both toilets and showers, so do not worry about anyone seeing you while you're naked, however, please be aware that some inmates are... less shy, than others, shall we put it. You may find some men don't care about being seen. You will be provided with one towel, some shower slippers, and a toothbrush. Soap, shampoo and conditioner are to be purchased from commissary, which is where I will take you to next. Ah, also, I'm afraid razors are forbidden, since they can be potentially dangerous, so if you would like a shave, then you will have to see our barber.'

The commissary shop was a little window in a wall on the second floor. The man that ran it was the type of person Hinata had expected to see in prison- tall, broad with his dark hair scraped back into a bun, a beard growing on his chin. He had tattoos just visible underneath his black jumpsuit.

'This is Azumane Asahi, he runs the commissary shop. I know he might look a bit intimidating, but he's actually quite friendly, so don't worry about him.' Suga said, waving lazily at Asahi, who gave a small wave and a smile. Hinata hoped all the guys here were like him. 'If you follow me, the barber shop is just down here. The guy that runs it is called Ennoshita Chikara, I don't think he minds what you call him as long as you're polite.'

Ennoshita was an average-looking guy with quite a sleepy look on his face. He was smiling though, which was reassuring. He had a tiny little room that was made to look like a barber shop, with red and white painted walls, a row of mirrors and chairs, and a sink in the corner. There was a cabinet in the corner, which was sealed with a padlock, behind which Hinata could see scissors and razors. He greeted them all quite warmly. 'Hey guys, I'm Ennoshita. If you need a shave, feel free to drop by. I'm happy to do that for free, however, if you want a haircut, either you'll have to trade me some of your commissary allowance or give me a trade for something. I'm not picky. Also, I'm required to tell you that all sharp objects are kept in that cabinet, which can only be opened with one key, which I return to Officer Takeda at the end of each day. I also have a panic button located on me in case anyone tries to take the key from me.'

Although Hinata really wanted to ask if that had ever happened before and if Ennoshita had been involved in any prison fights, the group was ushered along and taken back down the first floor to the cafeteria, which was currently empty.

'Breakfast is served between 7am and 8am. I know it seems quite early, but you will be woken at 6am every day by officers, I'm afraid. It will be something you will get used to over time, and nothing helps start the day like a good breakfast.' Suga smiled. Hinata couldn't help wondering if he was genuinely this nice as a person or if it was just an act he was putting on for his job. 'Lunch is served from 12pm to 1pm, and then dinner is from 5pm to 6pm. There will be nobody forcing you to eat, unless you refuse to eat anything at all for more than three to four days, and you can get snacks and other little bits and bobs from commissary, but I highly recommend getting three balanced meals a day from our cafeteria, especially since it is free for you. If you try to come at any other time besides the ones I have stated, this room will be closed. Takeda has only opened it up for me to show you around. The kitchen staff are all inmates, so it is better to keep on their good side, or they may... they might be funny with your food.'

'Can we report them?' One guy asked and Suga pulled a face.

'You could, but it's unlikely the guards would do much about it, in all honestly. Tomorrow when you come for breakfast, try and memorise who is on the kitchen staff and either befriend them or keep out of their way. The less trouble you make for yourself the better. Now, on with the tour.'

Next, they were shown the chapel, which was open all week, but service only took place on Sunday, which was run by some inmates who had formed their own religious group and welcome any faith to join them. A priest came in to hear confessions in the afternoon, but you had to book an appointment to see him.

A library was on the third floor, which Suga said was currently closed due to repairs on the ceiling, so they'd have to go there themselves in their own time, if they wanted to. 'It's the only part of the third floor that you are allowed access to. The rest is personnel only.'

'What's up there?'

'I don't know,' Suga shrugged. 'I think it's where they store all the inmate’s personal files.'

There was a gym, which Hinata vowed never to go into because all the men in there looked huge and terrifying, and Suga said it was best to be avoided unless you could deal with a lot of 'heavy masculinity' - as he phrased it- and could deal with a level of competitiveness.

'Is there anywhere to play volleyball?' Hinata found himself asking and Suga blinked at him before laughing.

'No, no, unfortunately not. There are basketball hoops out in the hard area, but that's about it. You could ask Takeda to put in a request for a volleyball net, but I don't think it would pass, I'm afraid. Do you play?'

'Yes, well, I did- I'm a middle blocker.'

'Aren't you a little short?' A guy in the group snorted and some others followed suit. Hinata puffed himself up.

'I may be short, but I can jump!'

'Hey, now, let's calm down,' Suga said, and forced the group on, walking by Hinata's side. 'I used to play volleyball back in high school. I was a setter, though. I do miss it, but that was a long time ago. Ah, this corridor is the staff offices. Takeda's is that one of the left, he has an open door policy so feel free to go speak to him at any point. The others, not so much. You might have to make an appointment.'

'How long have you been in the prison?' Hinata asked as they walked. Suga stopped smiling.

'A while. I'm sorry, what's your name?' He looked down at his clipboard.

'Hinata Shouyou.'

'Ah, I see. Drug smuggling, huh? You don't seem like the type.'

'I'm not! I was forced into it! I'm innocent!' Hinata snapped and several of the others behind him chirped up that they were innocent as well, which made Suga laugh.

'Everyone here is innocent, you know.' He winked at Hinata and took them down a corridor that was lined with green doors. 'Right, here are the rooms you'll be living in from now on. This is corridor B, there are about twenty different corridors in total, but you don't need to worry about those. Does anyone have any questions before I sort out which room you are all assigned to?'

'Yeah,' one guy asked, raising his hand. 'Do we get black jumpsuits?'

Suga nodded. 'Yes, at some point you will, but newcomers always wear orange to start with so that the guards can keep an eye on them and see how they're fitting in. I think in about a month or so, you'll be able to swap to black, although it's not actually required. Anything else?'

'Is there any way to see the girls?'

'Ha, well, no, not really. We don't get to go out onto the hard area that often, so it may only be every now and then you might get the chance to talk to them, but there is no other access to their side of the prison, I'm afraid.'

'What if someone gets hurt or if I'm sick?'

'If you're sick, go speak with Takeda. There is a hospital area located just near to this building, you have to go outside and past the woodwork shop. You're welcome to go there any time during the day, but the receptionist might not let you in if you haven't got a good enough reason to be there. Is that all?'

There were no more questions.

Hinata waited patiently while Suga organised where everyone was going. Eventually, he called Hinata's name and pointed towards a door with a number 10 written in black paint. Hinata pointed to his collar, 'Is this because-?'

'Oh, no, that must just be a coincidence. Look, I've got a 2 on mine but I'm in a dorm room with 1 on the door.' He pointed to his own shock collar, which had a blue light instead of an orange one. It was just him and Hinata left in the corridor now, and Suga was blocking the way to his new room.
'Um... do you need something?'

'I just want you to know that you can always rely on me if you need anything, alright? I know this place must be very scary and you seem quite young, so if you need a friend, come to me. I'm always willing to help. I also wanted to give you a little heads up about your new roommates.'

'Oh?'

Suga opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. He turned and took hold of the doorknob. There was a bolt on the outside of the door, which Suga had told the group got locked by officers at night, so you couldn't leave the room during sleeping hours.

They were greeted to a loud cheer as they entered. There were two bunk beds in the room, four shelves on the wall under the barred window, and a little metal toilet in the corner. There were three people in the room, one of whom was hanging upside down from the top bunk of the right bed.

‘Suga! Suga! Look!' The upside-down boy said, throwing out his arms to show that he was being held up by his leg strength alone. 'Hey, who's the kid?'

'This is Hinata Shouyou, and he will be your new bunkmate. This is Nishinoya Yu and Tanaka Ryunosuke.' He pointed to the two boys on the top bunk, one of whom had a Playboy magazine open in his lap and was drinking from a juice carton. He bared his teeth to Hinata and Suga tutted at him.
'Stop it with that face, Tanaka. Sorry, Hinata, he does that to everyone. You two need to look after Hinata, okay?'

'Sure, sure, nice to meet you, I'm Noya.' The boy flipped upright and landed with his legs crossed on the bed. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit, but had the sleeves rolled up to his elbow. The majority of his hair was black and spiky, apart from a blonde streaky bit at the front, that fell down into his face. When he grinned, he showed all his teeth. When he jumped down from the bed, Hinata gasped.

'You're smaller than me!'

This clearly hit a sore spot and Noya lunged at him, but Suga pushed him onto the bottom bunk and rolled his eyes. 'Don't start, Noya.'

'Hmph! How old are you, anyway?'

'Twenty-two.'

'Ha! I'm twenty-three! And so is Ryu! You had better respect your elders!' He lifted his legs up and began kicking the mattress above him, making Tanaka drop his juice box. He growled and punched downwards.

'Knock it off, will ya!'

'As you can see, they're a bit of a handful, I'm sorry if you don't particularly like loud people.' Suga muttered and Hinata shook his head.

'It's fine. How come Tanaka is in a black jumpsuit? I didn't see the other two in the group?' Tanaka had ripped the sleeves off his jumpsuit so that his muscular arms were showing. He had it unzipped down to his stomach and was wearing a white shirt underneath.

'Oh, Noya and Tanaka have been here for about two years now. As for Kageyama Tobio, he arrived here yesterday. Noya just prefers the orange-'

'It's my colour.' Noya interrupted. He jumped to his feet again and pointed towards the shelves. Two of them were empty, the other two were piled with junk. There were food wrappers and magazines and bits of jewellery and packs of empty cigarette cartons. 'This is my shelf, and this is Ryu's shelf. If you move any of our stuff, we'll kill you.'

Hinata wasn't sure whether to take that as a joke or not, but the way Noya grinned, he suspected the first. Noya seemed really cool, Hinata expected he would get along with him fine as long as he didn't mention the height thing again. Hinata had just been shocked to find someone who was shorter than him who wasn't female.

'I hope you like snoring, 'cos Ryu is loud.' Noya snickered and Tanaka whacked him around the back of the head with his rolled-up magazine. 'Ow! What? You are!'

'You talk in your sleep, so you can't say shit!'

'Stop bickering, please.' Suga turned to the other bunk, where a boy with black hair was sat with his legs drawn up to his chest. He had his arms wrapped around them and he was staring at the floor. He hadn't said a word since they had come in. 'Looks like Kageyama has taken the bottom bunk, so why don't you have the top, Hinata?'

'Oh, ok.'

'Everything alright, Kageyama?' Suga asked while Hinata climbed onto the top bunk. There was a folded towel, some slippers, and a toothbrush waiting on the bed for him, as well as a green blanket and a pillow. The mattress was a bit springy but it wasn't too bad- he had been expecting much worse. Perhaps with people like Suga and Noya, he would actually be alright here.

'Don't bother, Suga, we've been trying to get him to talk for ages. He won't say a word. He just keeps staring into space like that, it's creepy.' Noya said, kicking his shoes under his bed which had been lying in the middle of the room. He jumped back onto his bunk again, and the whole thing rattled.

'Guilty conscious getting to you, huh, Kageyama?'

No response.

Suga sighed. 'Well, Kageyama, if you need to talk to anyone, I'm down the hall in room 1. Don't let these two give you a hard time, they're all talk anyway. You all settled in, Hinata?'

'Yeah, thanks.'

'Well, I need to head off and report back to Takeda. Take care! Stick with these two. They'll take care of you.'

Hinata just nodded and Suga left the room. The door swung shut behind him and Tanaka let out a great burp, which made Noya laugh and began kicking the bed again.

'Stop it before I kick your teeth in!' Tanaka growled before turning to Hinata, who was staring around the room, even though there wasn't much to see. 'So, Hinata, what'cha in for?'

'Ooh! Did you kill a guy?' Noya looked interested and got up, clambering up to join Hinata on his bunk. Hinata shook his head frantically.

'No! I was involved in drug smuggling.'

'Oooh,' Tanaka made a hissing noise through his teeth. 'Yeah, me and Noya got busted for the same thing. We were caught dealing on the street by an undercover cop. Tried to run for it but more turned up and we got taken down. Too much evidence against us to even try lying in court, so me, Noya, and my sis got thrown in here.'

'Your sister?'

'Yeah, her name is Saeko, but I've barely seen her since. Don't get to mingle with the girls, which sucks because there's this goddess of a girl over there called Kiyoko-'

'She's like an angel in human form.' Noya cut Tanaka off. 'She's got these amazing eyes-'

'And her hair is so luminous-'

'And her tits-'

Hinata's face went a bit pink, and he cleared his throat, changing the subject. 'Well, I wasn't dealing anything, I got forced into trying to smuggle drugs on a plane.'

'Holy shit!' Noya gasped. 'Are you serious? That's some dangerous shit! Ah man, what happened? The sniffer dog get you?'

'No, they sewed the drugs into my stomach,' he unzipped his jumpsuit to show them the cut that had scabbed over. Both of them thought it was incredibly cool. 'But the guy that did it made a really lousy job of stitching me back up and the whole thing ripped open in the middle of the airport, and the drugs got into my system and I had a seizure. The guy that set me up hired a really shoddy lawyer to lose my case and I got chucked in here for life.'

'FOR LIFE?!' Tanaka shouted and someone banged on the wall. 'Are you freakin' kidding me?! What were you smuggling?!'

'I don't know. They just said it was a Class A drug and it was highly illegal in Japan.'

'Fuck.'

'Jeez, even we're not in here for life.' Noya slapped him on the back. 'Man, that sucks, but hey, we've got what, another thirteen years? So you've got us for a while. Hey Kags, how long have you been sentenced for?'

No response.

'He's a cheery one.' Noya shrugged. 'Whatever, you can miss out of the conversation then, you Grinch.'

'It's not even anywhere near Christmas...' Hinata muttered, but Noya ignored him. 'Is... is it easy here? I've never worked before, and they said they're going to give me a job.'

'Oh, don't worry about that!' Noya waved his hand carelessly. Tanaka nodded. 'They're super easy, really boring jobs. Sometimes they ask for people to go out and do factory work or pick up litter, which is so much fun because you get out of the prison for the day, but everyone always signs up that, so it's usually randomly picked- or so they say, but me and Ryu have only ever got to go once. Takeda probably thought we were too rowdy the first time.'

'What jobs do you both do?'

'We both do electrical work around the prison. Fixing shit. Dead simple once you know what you're doing, although we've received a couple of shocks in the past year, not that they compare to these fuckers.' Noya yanked at his collar, which had the number 4 on it, with an orange light as well. Tanaka's had the number 5.

Hinata fiddled with his own shock collar nervously. 'Are they that bad?'

'Minor shocks aren't, but me and Noya get bad ones all the time. The guards have too much power and no one to stop them, and they don't give a shit. They shock people just for fun sometimes, so best stay out of their way.'

The fear Hinata had been feeling before was now back. He didn't want to be shocked. Not ever.

'I'm pretty sure the only person who has never been shocked is Suga, but he's such a goody two-shoes.' Tanaka added and Hinata frowned.

'How long has Suga been here? I asked, but he wouldn't say. What's he in for anyway? He seems like a really nice guy. Was he framed?'

Tanaka and Noya exchanged glances and didn't reply. Hinata blinked at them.

'What?'

'Honestly, no one really knows much about him. He's always that friendly, but sometimes he acts weird.'

'Weird how?'

They both shrugged. 'Just weird. All I know is he's been here at least five years. I don't know the exact time span, but you know the colour on your collar, it's to do with what you're in for. Orange is drug related crime.'

'So, what there's only ten people in here who've sold or smuggled drugs?'

'What, no?' Tanaka shook his head. 'The collars get reused when someone leaves, so the numbers you get are just random. Hey, Kags, stop popping your collar and show us what colour you are, or I'm going to peek while you're sleeping. Just tell me now and save all the hassle.'

Kageyama still kept quiet.

'What are the colours?' Hinata asked, wondering what blue meant, since that was the colour Suga wore. He couldn't remember what Asahi or Ennoshita had, he hadn't really paid that much attention to their shock collars.

Noya began counting them off on his fingers. 'Red is theft, exploitation, and exporting illegally, or you know conman-stuff, laundering money, that kind of thing, I think. Orange is drug-related stuff, yellow is rape, human trafficking, kidnapping and prostitution; green is terrorism acts, but I don't think there's anyone with a green collar... uh, purple is assault and violence, child abuse, and domestic violence fall under that, and pink is vandalism and destruction of property, and that kind of thing. Usually the type of people who like to burn down buildings.'

'So, wait, what about blue?'

'Oh, crap, yeah, I was thinking about the others. Blue is for murderers.'

Hinata's mouth fell open.

'S-Suga... he's a murderer?!'

'Well, he's got a blue collar on, so he must be. I've tried asking him countless times, but he refuses to talk about it, so eventually I ended up sneaking into Takeda's office and dug out his file.' Tanaka said, while Noya laughed.

'That was so funny. We ended up almost getting caught and had to bolt into the bathroom, but we ended up in bathroom one which is the Aoba Johsai gang's territory and boy, were they pissed. We had to trade them the rest of Noya's hair gel to stop them from breaking our nose.'

Hinata made a mental note to never go in bathroom one.

Whoever this Aoba Johsai gang was, he didn't want anything to do with them.

'So, did you find out about Suga?'

'Yes, but I swear to God, if I tell you this and you go blabbin' your mouth off to other people-'

'I won't! I promise!' Hinata held up both hands. Tanaka narrowed his eyes and gave a great sniff before nodding.

'You break my trust, Hinata, and I ain't gonna be there to protect you anymore.' Tanaka leaned forwards, licking his lips. Hinata briefly wondered whether he should mention that Kageyama was still in the room and hadn't promised his silence at all, but was too eager to know what it was Suga had done. 'Apparently, according to his records, at nineteen, Suga killed his own wife.'

Chapter Text

Hinata's first night in the prison had been an odd experience. Nothing had really happened, which had surprised him, he'd been expecting some kind of prison riot to take place or for people to be screaming in the middle of the night, but it was just quiet and calm, apart from Tanaka's excessively loud snoring.

The three of them had spent most of the evening chatting about their lives, Hinata telling them how he loved volleyball and had always hoped to play professionally one day, while the other two spoke about how they'd ended up selling drugs on the street to be able to afford the rent on their crappy three-bedroom apartment that they'd shared with Tanaka's older sister, Saeko.

'She had three jobs: worked in a tattoo parlour in the day, stacked supermarket shelves at night, and helped us sell product in her free time, but she had this scumbag of a boyfriend who kept asking for money to help his band, and to fix his car so he could go on tour, and all this other bollocks. I couldn't stand the prick, and although I hated to see my sister in the state she was when he bailed on her, I thought it was probably better she learned the hard way. Scumbag used to ask me for money too, but I told him where to shove it.'

‘What kind of drugs did you sell?’

‘Anything and everything,’ Noya answered. ‘We had various suppliers who would split the cash with us once we sold the product. Most of the time we didn’t even ask what it was we were taking; we just took it to where it needed to be.’

'So, how did you end up getting caught?' Hinata asked curiously. He pictured the two of them stood in an alley somewhere, hoods drawn over their faces, and then police cars suddenly surrounding them. Apparently, it wasn't quite as dramatic.

'Got a call from this guy we got the product from, said some new customers were interested in buying from us, so we had to go meet them at the drop off point. Saeko tagged along because we were told they were older guys and she's, well,' Tanaka looked uncomfortable. Hinata frowned and Noya finished his sentence for him.

'Saeko is hot.' He said, ignoring the disgruntled look on Tanaka's face. Talking about his sister like that obviously irritated him. 'Men go crazy for her, so she's good to have around because she can flirt with them and haggle for a higher selling price.'

Hinata couldn't help but wonder if Saeko had much resemblance to her brother - not that Tanaka was particularly ugly, he just had a hardness to him, and his scary-expressions and shaved head added nothing to help that outward appearance.

'Turns out they were all undercover cops. Handcuffed me straight away and got me to the ground, and those two idiots wouldn't run for it.' Tanaka huffed, glaring at Noya, who stuck out his tongue.

'Like I was going to leave you behind, and you know Saeko wasn't going to abandon her little bro. I told you when we got into it, I'd go down with you, if it came to it.'

A small niggle of jealously touched at Hinata. He could see just how close of a friendship these two had and he envied it. He had never had that with another person, the closest friend he'd ever had was Kenma, who may have betrayed him anyway. He couldn't imagine having someone in his life who would take a fall for him.

Lights went out at exactly ten o'clock. They could still talk, as long as they were quiet, but eventually Tanaka fell asleep and Hinata decided it was probably best for him to get some rest since Suga had said they'd be woken early the following morning.

He found himself lying in bed for a while, listening to the other three sleep, wondering what it was going to be like tomorrow, or in a week, or a month. What would he be like in a year? Would life in prison change him? Would he have to get a prison tattoo? Would his mother and sister come visit him?

Dreams of Kuroo and Kenma swept through his mind, but he couldn't really remember anything when he was woken up the next morning by a loud buzzing sound. He bolted upright in bed, looking around frantically, forgetting for a moment where he was and had expected to see his sister in the doorway making the noise to annoy him.

'Whasgoinon?' Hinata mumbled, as he watched Tanaka and Noya jump out of bed.

'Come on, get up, you need to get dressed. You too, Kags. Don't gimme that look, I'm tryin' to be nice to you, ya' know?' Tanaka huffed, pulling on his jumpsuit. 'They'll come in to check you're up and you'll get a shock if you're not ready.'

With these words, Hinata scrambled quickly into his orange jumpsuit and pulled on his shoes. He'd taken his jumpsuit and shoes off before he had slept and placed them on his shelf.

It took ten minutes before a guard appeared, unlocking their door. They stepped into the room and scanned the beds, which Tanaka had forced Kageyama and Hinata to make, or they'd get into trouble, and they were ordered out of the room.

'They're super strict about time keeping here. Everything has to be done on the dot, or they get pissy.' Tanaka was explaining as they followed the crowd of other inmates, the majority all in black, down a flight of stairs. 'We have to do early morning exercise, which sucks ass. It's freezing as well, this time of the year.'

Tanaka wasn't lying. They'd stepped out onto a large concrete area, which had a high fence running around it, and they were all instantly hit with a wave of bitter cold. It was still quite dark, and birds were chirping in the distance. Noya was yawning and rubbing at his eyes. He grabbed hold of Hinata by the arm and dragged him towards the right side of the fence, pushing people out of the way.

A lot of guys were fighting to be as close to the fence as possible and Hinata couldn't understand why until he noticed a door on a building across from them open and hundreds of women in matching jumpsuits filed out.

'It might be freezing and super early, but at least we get to watch the girl’s exercise. You have to be sneaky though, because the guards get mad if they notice you staring.'

An officer ended up shouting at the men and forced them all to spread out. The ones who were made to stand furthest away from the fence looked very disappointed. Noya and Tanaka weren't moved at all, so they were thrilled, but Hinata decided he didn't care about watching the girls and headed to the centre, standing next to Kageyama, who was glaring around, looking tired and angry.

Hinata glanced sideways at him, noticing that his shock collar was hidden beneath the popped collar of his jumpsuit.

Was he purposely hiding it? If so, why?

Exercising this early in the morning didn't faze Hinata much, as he always got up early to jog or stretch. He usually wore a lot warmer clothing, however. The cold breeze wasn’t pleasant, but he was happy to be moving about. He couldn't follow along as easily because he was still in recovery from his surgery, but he tried his best.

Kageyama didn't join in at first but once threatened by the guard, he eventually started doing jumping jacks like everyone else, although a little awkwardly. He couldn't really match everyone else's timing.

After thirty minutes, they were told they could go inside and head to the cafeteria, and Hinata fell into a slow walk beside Kageyama, shoving his hands under his armpits to try and get some feeling back into them. There was a lot of chatter around him, many of the men had remained behind to get a final glimpse of the female inmates, but Hinata paid no attention to this.

'Do you want to sit with me at breakfast?'

'No.'

Hinata frowned. 'Why not? I'm trying to be your friend.'

'I don't want you as my friend.' Kageyama snapped, picking up his pace. Hinata jogged after him. 'Leave me alone.'

'Why? Don't you think it's better to make as many friends as possible in this place?'

'I don't care about that.'

Hinata blew a raspberry. 'Fine, be grumpy, I'm just trying to be nice.'

It was difficult to move in the cafeteria because it was so busy. Hinata was waved over to a table by Tanaka. He jogged over, taking the seat Noya was slapping, gesturing him to sit down, and had a bowl of grey-ish porridge pushed towards him.

'You have to get here first to get the good stuff, but luckily, so many guys hang back to look at the girls that we can beat the rush.' Noya explained, spooning so much porridge into his mouth at once his cheeks looked like a hamster. 'Got y' som' food, 'nway.'

'Don't talk with your mouth full, Noya.' Suga had joined them at their table, and handed Hinata a little pink packet of sugar. 'Here you are, it'll make it a bit sweeter. It's quite bland, so it'll take some time to get used to, but it's not the worst thing in the world, I suppose.'

He spooned at his own breakfast and watched it slop back into the bowl.

'If you eat it fast enough, you can't really taste it.' Tanaka told him, shovelling huge spoonfuls into his mouth. Noya had already emptied his bowl. 'Where'd you get sugar from anyway, Suga?'

'Employee lounge. Went looking for Takeda and I took a few.' He smirked. 'Are these two idiots looking after you, Hinata?'

'Yes!' Hinata said, almost spilling his sugar packet over the table. Luckily, he managed to get most of it into his porridge, which he mixed in well before taking a bite. It was pretty tasteless and very lumpy. 'Ugh.'

'Ha! I love seeing newbie's faces when they first try the food. Don't make too much of a fuss 'bout it, though, or the kitchen staff with start pissing in your dinner.' Tanaka warned him and Suga hit him on the back of the hand with his spoon. 'Ow!'

'Don't say stuff like that to him. It's fine, Hinata, the kitchen staff won't pee in your food. It's more likely they probably just won't give you any food...' He trailed off, looking over his shoulder. 'I wonder where Daichi is, I lost him during the morning exercise.'

'He looked pretty tired this morning,' Noya said, eyeing up Suga's porridge. 'Did he sleep much?'

'No, not really.' Suga sighed and tipped some of his food into Noya's bowl. Noya dived at it with enthusiasm. 'Oh dear, and it looks like they've run out of the good porridge.'

Hinata glanced over his shoulder at the food hatch. The person behind the wall was replacing a huge silver tray with a second. 'What's being served now?'

'Oh, it's still porridge, but they only get so much milk they can use per day, so the second batch is usually made with water, and it's... it's not pleasant.' Suga said, scratching his neck. Hinata's eyes fell onto Suga's blue-lined collar and he couldn't help but wonder what had caused Suga to kill his own wife. He couldn't picture Suga hurting anyone. 'Daichi is going to be disappointed.'

'Right, Hinata, listen up.' Tanaka pushed his empty bowl away and turned to Hinata, who was slowly picking up the pace with his own food. He didn't like the taste much but he was so hungry he was just forcing it down, despite the consistency of the porridge making him feel a bit sick. 'If you're gonna be stuck here, you gotta learn who to stay away from. That gang over there, the loud one at the centre table, that's the Aoba Johsai gang. Avoid them at all costs, they're nothin' but trouble.'

Hinata squinted over at them, gulping down his breakfast. They definitely looked like an intimidating group. All of their shock collars were orange.

'They are all from the same group out of the prison, massive drug gang,' Noya added, licking his spoon. 'Me and Ryu had a few run ins with them before, wasn't pretty. They didn't like people on their turf. Don't like us now either, we keep our distance.'

'That small table over there are from the Nekoma gang,' Tanaka continued, pointing at a table to the left of the Aoba Johsai one. Hinata's head shot up, staring over to them. He didn't recognise anyone sat at the table. They too had orange collars. 'They're sneaky, don't trust any of them. Worst people to get involved with, in my opinion, Aoba Johsai will just kill you if you piss them off, Nekoma will ruin your entire life.'

'You don't need to tell me that.' Hinata muttered before he could stop himself. The three at the table frowned at him.

'What? You got involved with Nekoma?' Noya hissed, being sure to keep his voice down. 'Christ, what the fuck, you didn't mention that in your story!'

'I can't talk about it, not really.' Hinata looked down at his feet. 'I met their leader, though.'

'Holy shit, no way!' Tanaka gasped. 'The actual Nekoma leader? 'Cos no one knows who that is, fuck, tell me!'

'I can't!' Hinata said, not meeting his eye. 'My family are at risk if I say anything. They have eyes everywhere. You could be spies for them! If you are, tell them I didn't say anything, okay! I haven't said a word!'

'Don't pressure him, you two,' Suga interjected, reaching over to pat Hinata on the arm. 'We don't want Hinata to get into any more trouble. Whatever you know, Hinata, keep it to yourself. And these two morons are definitely not part of Nekoma, and neither am I, you can trust me on that.'

Could he really trust a killer?

'Well, whatever... Anyway, the guys who run the kitchen are from the Dateko gang. There's one guy, he's massive, called Aone, but he's not as bad as he looks.' Tanaka was saying and Suga nodded in agreement. 'They're not a bad bunch, but they're definitely not a group you want to cross either. They're all in for drug crime as well, but from what I heard, they were framed by Aoba Johsai.'

'Tanaka, don't start spreading rumours. We can't be certain of that.' Suga scowled.

'It makes sense though,' Noya added, leaning back in his chair. 'You should see how the groups interact, Hinata, so much tension. They won't mess with the food though, because Aoba Johsai would do so much worse in retaliation, but from what we've heard, the Dateko guys were all from the same shipping company and Aoba Johsai hired them to ship mass supplies of some kind of Class A drug, and next thing they know, police are surrounding Aoba Johsai’s base. The rumour is Dateko ratted them out for the bust money, but I don't think that Aone guy could really put together a plan like that, he's as thick as a post-'

'Nishinoya!' Suga snapped, hitting him on the arm. 'Don't be rude!'

'-the Aoba Johsai gang just managed to push all the blame onto Dateko and managed to get rid of all trace evidence that they had any link to it at all.'

'They sound really scary.' Hinata said, shaking a little. He'd finished his porridge but was still hungry, but the queue for the kitchen hatch was really long still. He could see Kageyama stood in the middle, glaring at the Aoba Johsai table.

From here, Hinata could see his collar.

It was blue.

Tanaka had spotted it too. He pointed it out to Noya, who swore.

'Shit, who'd have thought it? Doesn't look the type, does he? No offense, Suga.' Tanaka smiled awkwardly at Suga, who acted like he hadn't heard anything. He picked up his empty bowl and turned to leave, saying he was going to go find out where Daichi had disappeared to. When he had left, Tanaka and Noya began whispering to each other eagerly. 'Who do you think he killed? Do you think it was on purpose?'

'What if you killed someone accidentally?' Hinata asked.

'You still get a blue collar,' Noya explained. 'If you attempt to kill someone you get blue, as well, which is why you can't judge people immediately by their collar colour, because it might not be as bad as you think. There are a lot of sub-categories for each colour, apart from orange, which is just drug-related crime, although I suppose you could get different types of drug crime- smuggling, selling, possession... can you get arrested for taking it?'

'Only if they catch you with the drugs, but then that counts as possession.' Tanaka replied, scratching his head. 'They can't arrest you if you've just taken it, even if it's in your system. The number of pills I've swallowed, I tell you...'

There was a water cooler over by the wall. Hinata got up and helped himself to a plastic cup, and drank at least five cups before moving back over to the table. He wanted to go to speak to Officer Takeda about getting in touch with his family, he needed to explain to them that he was innocent and maybe to even get out of the country.

'I'm going to take my bowl over to the service hatch.' Hinata said, standing up, and both Tanaka and Noya thrust their bowls at him to take. He piled them up and made his way over, avoiding bumping into anyone. He placed them down on the service hatch, where many other empty bowls had been discarded, and turned to walk back over to his table, but ended up bumping into someone.

There was a smash, and shards of white ceramic went everywhere.

Before he knew what was happening, someone had grabbed Hinata by the front of his jumpsuit and slammed him into a wall. He yelped and tried to wriggle free, but the guy had a tight hold on him.
Silence filled the whole room. Everyone had noticed what had happened and were watching with interest. A scraping sound followed, and Tanaka and Noya had appeared to try and drag this guy off of Hinata.

Of course, this meant the attacker’s friends joined in to drag Tanaka and Noya away, and now there was a rather large scuffle going on in front of Hinata, who had been dropped to the floor. The guy who grabbed him had broken free and dragged him to his feet again, shoving him into an open space.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' Hinata pleaded as this guy stood over him. He wasn't particularly tall, but as Hinata was only five-four, this guy still was able to stare down at him. He was quite a good-looking guy, with spiky blond hair, golden eyes, and a pierced left ear. When he spoke, Hinata could see that he had a tongue piercing as well. The collar around his neck was pink.

'Where do you think the money to replace that dish is going to come from, huh? My commissary.'

'Punch him!' Someone from across the room shouted.

'I'll give you some of mine... not that I have any yet, but when I do, I'll refund you!'

'When will that be, though? If you haven't got any family that will send you money, you won't get any until you start working, and that could be a week from now, or even longer.' He began to shove Hinata at the shoulder. 'How about this, shorty, you give me your meals for two weeks, and I won't cause you any trouble.'

'Two weeks?! I'd starve! I can't, I'm recovering from surgery!'

'Do I look like I care?' He shoved Hinata again, who was doing his best not to fall over. The whole room was staring at him and he didn't know what to do. Tanaka and Noya were still fighting with this guy’s friends, and Suga had already left. 'You're just another orange-collar, it's your own fault if you took so many drugs that they fucked up your insides.'

'I didn't take anything!' Hinata snapped, pushing back. The guy staggered backwards. For a moment, he had a shocked expression on his face, and then he laughed. He rolled up his sleeves and marched towards Hinata.

He stopped mid-step, one of his eyes twitching.

The others squabbling behind him had frozen too.

In unison, they fell to their knees, clutching at their collars, which were vibrating like mad. Hinata barely had time to register what was happening when he felt a shooting pain rush through his entire body and his legs gave way beneath him.

A guard had rush into the room and had pressed the keypad he carried. They were all receiving an electric shock.

After a few moments, it had stopped, and the others had clambered to their feet, staggering away from one another, looking a bit frazzled and exhausted, but Hinata was still on the floor. His whole body was writhing and twitching, despite the electric current no longer running through him.

'Hold him still!' He heard someone shout, and hands clamped down on his arms and legs, which were moving by themselves. He had lost control of everything. He was starting to lose vision, it was going dark around the edges, his hearing was becoming one low buzzing noise and his chest felt tight, his breathing getting more and more difficult.

A blurred face hovered over his. From the spiky hair with the blond streak, Hinata could tell it was Noya. His mouth was moving but whatever he was saying was lost in the buzz.

The porridge was coming back up and it stuck in his throat, making him choke.

Moments later, he had blacked out.

The face that was above him was not Noya.

Nor was he lying on the floor of the cafeteria. Instead, he was in a soft white bed, with the covers drawn up to his chest and an IV drip taped into his arm. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but hands pushed him back down.

'Whasgoingon? Where am I?'

'Please, stay in bed, Mr. Hinata, you've had a seizure. You'll be alright, you need plenty of bed rest, though. There's some water on your bedside table, if you'd like a drink.' It was a woman speaking to him. She was in a blue nurse’s uniform with a matching little hat.

Hinata put a hand to his head, which was throbbing, and closed his eyes. That shock had given him a seizure.

It had been such horrible pain; he'd never been electrocuted before. It was like every nerve in his body was on fire, and then everything had gone numb and his arms and legs wouldn't stop. He had honestly thought he was going to die in that moment, especially when it had become difficult to breathe.

'Those collars are such nasty things,' the nurse was saying, tucking him in. 'But I don't make the rules. Try and sleep, you should feel better soon, it was only mild.'

His hand fell on top of his shock collar. 'Can I take this off?'

The nurse frowned at him. 'No, I'm afraid not.'

'But it gave me a seizure, isn't it too dangerous for me to wear?'

She sighed. 'I don't have the authority to remove it, and neither do the doctors. I can contact Officer Takeda and he can speak with Warden Ukai, but I don't think they'll be willing to remove it, as it just wouldn't be fair to the other inmates. We can't give you special treatment.'

'What if I have another seizure? What if it kills me?!' Hinata shouted, sitting upright in bed and regretting it immediately. He fell back down onto his pillows, wishing his head would stop swirling around. His muscles felt sore, and his body was weak, as though the seizure had drained all of his energy in one go.

'The doctors will discuss that with the guards and see what can be done. It was quite a high voltage shock you received, so maybe they'll have to remember to use a low setting for you. Really though, you could avoid the whole thing if you didn't get into fights.'

'I didn't! He started on me! I was trying to get away!'

'Mr. Terushima insists that you pushed him.'

'In self defence! He was shoving me!'

'Well, not much we can do about it now, besides, he's spending the night in isolation, so count yourself lucky you get to spend it in a cosy hospital bed!' The nurse moved away from him, heading down the room towards the door at the end. She gave him a little wave before disappearing through it.

The hospital room was long and thin, with rows of white beds on either side. At the end of the room were large windows that let in a lot of winter sunlight, and at the other end was just a door with a small window, through which he could see nothing but black.

He counted the beds, there were twenty in total, but from what he could see, only three were occupied, himself included. One at the very end had the curtains drawn around it, so he had to guess there was someone in the bed. He could hear a beeping, which definitely wasn't coming from the second person, because they were sat cross-legged on their bed, staring straight at him.

'Hello!' The man said in a cheery voice. He bounced straight to his feet and came hurrying over, retaking his sitting position at the end of Hinata's bed. He was an eccentric-looking guy, with wild spiky grey-and-black hair, and big round yellow eyes that remind Hinata of an owl. The grin that spread across his face was so wide Hinata was scared he was going to tear his skin if it got any bigger. He slapped Hinata on the leg in a form of a greeting. 'I'm Bokuto Kotaro! Just call me Bokuto! It's nice to meet you! Welcome to the Shiratorizawa hospital! I'd introduce you to my best pal, Akaashi, but he's sleeping. You're Hinata, right? I heard the nurse say your name.'

'Y-yes, Hinata Shouyou, nice to meet you.' He slowly shuffled so he was sat upright on his pillows. He had to let his head settle for a moment, so the spinning stopped, but Bokuto waited for him to speak again. He was staring down at the bed at the end, which is where he'd nodded to when he'd mentioned his friend’s name. 'Hey! Why aren't you wearing a shock collar?'

Despite Bokuto's strange appearance, it had happened to be the first thing Hinata really noticed about him. His neck was completely bare, and he wasn't wearing a jumpsuit, or a hospital gown like Hinata was. He had on a white t-shirt and matching white shorts.

'Hmm? Oh yes, I don't have one. Used to, don't anymore. Clearly, I am a favourite around here, I get all kinds of special treatment, you know?'

'Why are you in the hospital?' Hinata asked. Bokuto didn't look hurt in any way, and he had practically bounced over to Hinata's bed, which showed he had a lot of energy.

Bokuto thought about the question for a moment before nodding, the grin never slipping from his lips. 'They just love me here, I get along with all the staff. Plus, I think they think it would be unfair for me to go back into the prison because I don't have a collar. The others would get extremely jealous, which I would love to see, but they won't let me even go back for teeny bit. I'm also closer to the therapy centre from here. I think they're doing a study on me, I mean, who wouldn't, really? Plus, I could not leave Akaashi behind.'

'He's in that bed?' Hinata directed to the curtained bed and Bokuto nodded vigorously.

'Yes! I'd let you meet him, but he's asleep now. He's been asleep for a long time, actually. I talk to him every now and then, but he's not as responsive as he used to be. Gotta stay for my friend though, he's only got me. Says I talk too much, but I think he enjoys it really. So, Hinata, what you in here for?'

'I had a seizure from the shock collar.'

'Maybe we could yank it off.' Bokuto reached forwards without warning and grabbed hold of Hinata's collar and began to pull. He only ended up toppling Hinata over in the bed and he got dizzy again. 'Ah, maybe not. Never mind! You know the best way to stop yourself from getting a shock?'

'What?'

'Make friends with all the guards, that's what I did. Never got a single shock, even if me and Akaashi squabbled with people- although, Akaashi will tell you it was all me, but don't listen to him. Ask around, find out what the guards are interested in, bribe them, that kind of thing, and then even if you get in a huge fight, that you could have started, they won't shock you. They might still have to yell at you or give you a warning or maybe put you in isolation, but no electric shock. Good, huh?'

'Yeah! That's amazing! I never would have thought of that!'

Bokuto laughed. 'Well, of course not, but I'm awesome.'

His owl-like image suited him, Hinata thought, so wise.

'Hey, guess what?' Bokuto questioned.

'What?'

'Did you know,' Bokuto glanced over his shoulder as though to check if someone were eavesdropping before muttering behind his hand. 'That the government are all lizard people?'

Hinata had not expected that. He blinked at him, confused. 'Lizard people?'

'Yep! How do I know, I hear you ask? Well, I saw them, with my own eyes. Green, scaly men in suits. That's why they locked me away, I think it's why they keep me away from the others too, they know I know too much.'

Maybe not so wise after all.

Perhaps he was kept in the hospital because he was a bit crazy?

Hinata didn't want to ask, but the fact that Bokuto was still going on about the government being lizards suggested to him that maybe he wasn't all there mentally. Had something really traumatic happened to him?

If he had been a few years younger, back as a hyperactive teenager, Hinata might have actually believed everything Bokuto was saying. He had grown-up a lot since then and he wasn't as gullible as he had once been, although he still had his moments. He definitely didn't believe in lizard men. Unless they were aliens?

Aliens had to exist.

'Do you think they're aliens?'

'Oh, no! No, aliens are completely different. The lizard men used to own the Earth, before humans took over.' Bokuto explained matter-of-factly. 'Roamed with the dinosaurs and all that, but obviously they needed to integrate with humans so they took human form, but they still wanted power so they took all the government jobs. It's no wonder politics is all backwards. What'd they lock you up for? I don't remember what the colours mean.'

'Oh, I was forced to smuggle drugs overseas.' He showed Bokuto his stomach scar, which Bokuto found really cool and made Hinata give him a high five for it. He then yanked off his own shirt and showed Hinata his back, which was covered in hundreds of white scars.

'I don't remember where I got these from... somewhere...' He narrowed his eyes, trying to remember. He shrugged and tugged his shirt back on. 'You know, I don't even remember how long I've been in this prison. I won't leave until Akaashi does, though.'

'What's wrong with him?'

'Oh, well, he can be quite grumpy-'

'No, I mean, why is he in the hospital?'

For the first time, the smile slid off of Bokuto's face and he stared at Hinata for a few moments without saying a word. Hinata felt his forehead get sweaty, he hoped he hadn't said anything to upset Bokuto- perhaps Akaashi's condition was really bad. When Bokuto's smile returned, he didn't feel as anxious.

'Just a bad cold.' He waved a hand lazily. Hinata didn't believe him but he kept his mouth shut. If Bokuto didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't ask, no matter how intrigued he was about it. 'You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the people who owned this prison were lizards too. I've never seen any of them, to start with, but it's probably because they've got scales or webbed-fingers or something. Too fishy, it'd give it away. I don't even think this prison is even a real prison. I think it's all a conspiracy made by the government, the lizard government, and slowly they're just going to fill it up with as many humans as possible to get us out of the way and repopulate the Earth with their lizard offspring.'

'That would be... upsetting...' Hinata didn't really know what to say to that.

'Yes, I would have to find a way to overthrow them. You could be my... well, Akaashi would be my right-hand man, but you could be whatever comes after.'

'Sure,' Hinata just agreed with him. Bokuto seemed really happy to be able to talk and Hinata couldn't help thinking that perhaps Bokuto had been quite lonely in here by himself, especially if his friend was rarely awake. 'So, uh, when was the last time you were in the actual prison?'

'Hmm, I don't recall. I was there when glasses came in, that might have been three years ago? Four? I don't know. Do you know him, he's tall and grumpy-looking. Blonde hair?'

Hinata shook his head. 'No, I haven't met him, the only people I know are Suga, Tanaka, and Noya, do you know them? Was the blond guy your friend?'

'Yes! And I can't say I've heard those names before... but if I did meet them, then they're definitely my friend. Everyone is my friend! Who wouldn't want to be friends with me? ' Bokuto grinned. 'You had a therapy session yet?'

'No?' Hinata didn't want one after what Tanaka had told him. He didn't need any kind of medication, he wasn't upset or angry or depressed. He was doing alright, apart from the seizures. 'Will I have to go to one?'

'Maybe. They do group sessions, where you talk with other inmates, but they made me stop attending those because they said I used up all the time talking, but like I said, they think I know too much. They're right, of course. Don't want me to reveal all the secrets of the prison.'

'Are there other secrets other than the lizards?'

'Yes! There are cats that stalk the corridors at night!'

'Cats? How do they get in?'

Bokuto wiggled his fingers. 'Nobody knows. Mysterious creatures. They're up to no good. Oh, and there's an eagle that's always watching us.'

Trying to be as discreet as possible, Bokuto jerked his head towards the end of the room where the door was. Hinata's eyes traced the wall before stopping on a small black dome in the very corner of the ceiling. A CCTV camera.

He had seen plenty of them over the prison, which didn't surprise him at all, it was obvious that the guards would have to keep watch on the prisoners, in case any trouble broke out. Hinata didn't know what Bokuto meant by an eagle, though, but he assumed it was probably another crazy lizard-type theory and he didn't ask any questions about it.

'Do you know much about the Nekoma gang?' He whispered, scared that the camera might have a microphone. It was unlikely that Kuroo had any connection with this prison, but he couldn't be certain.
However, Bokuto had no answers for him. He didn't know anything about the Aoba Johsai gang either. He reached over and tapped on Hinata's collar, saying, 'The orange collars work for other people. They all follow the same leader. They will not move unless they are instructed to. Keep out of their way.'

It was so alarming how quickly Bokuto's tone could change. One moment, he would be talking about wild fantasies, the next, he was giving Hinata some actual reasonable advice. Was he doing this on purpose? Was he trying to act like a lunatic so that he could play off whatever he said to the doctors or the officers, while slipping in real warnings about the people in the prison?

'Who do they work for?'

Could it be that all of them worked for Kuroo?

Since they were all in black jumpsuits, they couldn't have been placed in the prison just to keep an eye on Hinata, but then again, how easily could Kuroo get information in and out of the prison? What if he came in as a 'family member' and told the members of Nekoma to watch him like a hawk?

Who could he actually trust?

Both Tanaka and Noya had orange collars.

For all he knew, they could actually have been a part of Nekoma, or had worked for Kuroo in other ways.

There was no way to be sure.

He had to watch what he said from now on.

Bokuto was rubbing at his temple, trying to think. He screwed up his face for a moment and stuck out his tongue like a concentrating child. Then he shrugged. 'I thought I knew, but I don't anymore. I did, but I don't.'

'Whaaa?' Hinata had no idea what he meant by that.

'Sometimes things come back to me.' Bokuto jumped off of Hinata's bed and stretched his arms over his head. 'But then they go again, and I can't remember it anymore. I need to find my tinfoil hat. It'll keep the aliens away from my brain, they're always prodding and poking in there, but I'll tell you that story another time. I'll make you a tinfoil hat too.'

'Why did you end up in prison?'

Bokuto stopped walking. He scratched his head. 'I was caught.'

'Doing what?'

He turned on the spot to observe Hinata, his eyes slightly narrowed. 'I was after the boss.'

'The boss?'

Kuroo?

'The lizard boss. I went after him. Long time ago, different lifetime.' Bokuto sighed as though remembering a distant memory. He chuckled at an unspoken joke and moved back over to his own bed, which he flopped down on. 'I hope you stay here, Hinata.'

'I think they're only keeping me overnight.' Hinata felt bad. He didn't want to disappoint Bokuto, he must be lonely, but he didn't really have much choice.

Asking more questions about Bokuto's past lead Hinata nowhere. Although it was apparent Bokuto was very fond of himself and liked to talk about himself a lot, most of it wasn't particularly personal, and he just bragged about absurd talents he had. He showed Hinata how he could juggle five objects at once, which Hinata had been immediately impressed by and begged Bokuto to show him how to do it but couldn't really get the hang of it.

Eventually he decided to just roll with whatever ludicrous statement Bokuto said to him because he liked having someone he could really get along with- he liked Tanaka and Noya, but they were very boisterous and spent most of their time talking about girls, which didn't particularly interest Hinata.

Bokuto was just so fun and child-like that it actually made Hinata forget he was still in a prison hospital for an evening and wasn't just hanging out with a friend.

Things changed when it approached ten o'clock that night. The nurse had allowed them to fool around all evening and even got them a game of battleships to play, which Bokuto got far too over-eager about, but when three nurses appeared to tell them it was bedtime, Bokuto's whole attitude seemed to change, like someone had flipped a switch.

He was sullen and moody and refused to let the nurses touch him to try and get him into bed. He stuck out his bottom lip and flopped onto the floor, like a child throwing a tantrum.

One of the nurses looked over at Hinata apologetically. 'Sorry, he always gets like this when it's bedtime. He's a bit of a drama queen.'

Eventually, they got tired of fighting with him and injected him with some kind of clear liquid in his leg. He went all floppy and they dragged him into the bed next to Hinata's and said he'd probably sleep better if he could keep talking to him for a while, which Hinata didn't really mind, even though he was starting to feel quite drowsy.

However, it didn't take very long for Bokuto to fall asleep. Another nurse sighed and bustled out of the room while the other two checked Hinata's temperature and made sure he had a glass of water before sleeping.

'Why is he in here?' Hinata asked, looking over at his new friend.

'We can't really disclose patient information, I'm afraid,' one nurse said, looking over at her co-worker. The other one shrugged back at her. 'Uh, the most I can say is that he's not mentally well.'

'He has to be kept in the hospital to stop him from being a risk to the other inmates.' The second nurse added, fluffing Hinata's pillow. 'Last time they let him back into the prison, he jumped up onto a table in the cafeteria and tried to tell the inmates that the prison didn't really exist and it was all in their heads or something. Had to be dragged away by guards because he got upset and angry that everyone was laughing at him.'

'What'd he get put in prison for? What made him like that?'

'Sorry, dear, can't tell you that. As for his condition, bad trauma can do that to a person. I personally think he knows what he's doing and it's a coping mechanism, because sometimes he speaks perfectly normal, rational sentences, but I can't tell you for certain, only the doctors really know what caused it. Now, anyway, get some rest please, and I'll check on you in the morning. We'll let you skip the exercise session, and you can have breakfast here, we'll get you something nicer than that horrible porridge.'

The pair of them left.

Hinata rolled over onto his side and stared at Bokuto, who's mouth was hanging open. The nurse switched off the light.

A coping mechanism... huh ...

What kind of a trauma had Bokuto faced that had caused him to act this way?

Maybe the tall blond guy with the glasses knew.

Hinata decided that was his mission for tomorrow, to track down this guy and ask him about Bokuto.

Breakfast the following morning was average. They'd given him plain rice and some vegetables, but it was definitely better than that awful porridge. He wolfed it down and asked if he could speak with Bokuto before he had to leave, but they told him no. Bokuto had to attend morning therapy sessions and he would be there until lunch, and Hinata had to get back to the prison as soon as possible.

Before Bokuto had been escorted out of the room by a nurse, he had hurried over to Hinata's bed and gave him a hug. Hinata had been very confused and a bit startled at first, as he hadn't been expecting it, but it turned out Bokuto was using this opportunity to whisper into Hinata's ear.

'Beware the one in the blue collar.'

Hinata didn't get time to ask who Bokuto was talking about as he was being shepherded away quite quickly. Hinata was sad to see him leave, and ended up stalling a lot once he'd changed back into his jumpsuit, asking the nurse loads of random questions about seizures and how many patients they got in per week and about Akaashi and if she liked sports, and eventually she'd had enough and snapped at him, saying he could either leave by his own free will or she'd have the guards come and drag him away, and he could spend the night in isolation.

Not wanting to push his luck any further, Hinata reluctantly left the reception area of the hospital building and took the dirt path back down to the main prison. He had been hoping to take his time and enjoy a leisurely stroll outside, despite it being rather nippy, but there was a guard stood by a shed watching him with beady eyes and Hinata picked up his pace.

He bumped into Tanaka and Noya leaving the cafeteria and he dragged them to one side. They immediately burst out with loads of questions about what had happened to him, recounting the events of the previous day.

'It was so scary, you just went all weird and started flailing around like a fish,' Noya imitated his movements. 'I thought you were going to die, then you start choking-'

'A guard had to do that Heimlich thing on you,' Tanaka continued, grabbing Noya around the middle to demonstrate, making Noya wheeze. 'You ended up vomiting up your porridge. It was so grim.'

'Kinda cool though, and you got Yuuji thrown in isolation for starting a fight, so I guess you won all round! Uh, I wish I could have spent the night in hospital, those nurses man.' Noya let out a low whistle and slapped Hinata on the back. 'Plus, you get better food, and the beds are comfy.'

'Actually, I met someone in the hospital... his name was Bokuto... do you know him?'

Both of them burst out laughing.

Hinata was extremely confused.

'Did I say something funny?'

'Ah man, I miss Bokuto. He was a right laugh. He's bonkers though, what is he going off about this time? I bet it's good.' Tanaka grinned. 'They won't let him in the prison anymore because he keeps causing too much trouble, he gets overly dramatic about stuff and throws a strop if no one pays him any attention. I think he actually caused a prison riot once.'

'Those were the days.' Noya sighed happily.

‘Did you know him? Do you know why he was brought in? What happened to him?'

They both shrugged.

'He's been here longer than we have, so we don't know what he was charged with. Kept changing the story whenever anyone asked. The only person he was really friends with was Tsukishima, but I've tried bugging Tsukishima about it, and he won't tell me anything, stupid four-eyes.' Tanaka grumbled.

'What about Akaashi?' Hinata asked. They both frowned at him.

'Never heard of him.'

'Bokuto says he's his best mate. He was in the hospital, in a bed at the end, but the curtains were drawn. He said he doesn't wake up often, so I was wondering if anyone knew what was wrong with him.'

'Must have made friends with him in the hospital, I'm guessing.' Noya picked at something in his front teeth with his pinky nail. 'Me and Ryu ain't been here that long. No one actually really knows what happened to Bokuto, everyone just knows he's always been off his rocker. Now, tell us what he's been saying.'

'Something about the government are all lizard men and the eagle is watching, I don't know.'

Tanaka snorted. 'Classic Bokuto. He's loopy.'

'A lizard government would be pretty cool.'

'But listen, he said some other things too...' Hinata quickly, and quietly, explained what Bokuto had said about the orange colours and how he should look out for the man in the blue collar. Both Noya and Tanaka exchanged glances.

'It sounds weird, but then again, Hinata, you have to take everything Bokuto says with a pinch of salt. He could easily be making it all up in his own head. Besides, there aren't actually that many prisoners who have a blue collar. Most of them are orange, I've noticed.'

'There's Suga.'

'And that new kid, Kageyama.' Noya added. 'But he's new, so Bokuto wouldn't have ever met him. If he's been in here as long as we think he has, the only people he'd know would be the murder trio.'

'The murder trio?' Hinata repeated. Noya nodded.

'It's what everyone calls them, but I wouldn't worry about it, they're all dead nice, but there's this whole mystery around them because nobody knows who they killed or why they did it, or if it was on purpose or not. Well, we know Suga killed his wife, but we don't know any of the details about it. I couldn't even imagine Suga having a wife, he's never shown any interest in the girls.'

'Yeah,' Tanaka nodded. 'More interested in Daichi's crotch.'

'Daichi?'

'The guy Suga's bangin',' Noya said, a wicked glint in his eye. 'We like to try and catch them out sometimes, it makes Daichi so mad. He hasn't caught me yet, I'm too quick. Ryu on the other hand-'

'I'm expecting Daichi will be the one to kill me, one day.'

'Wait, so Suga is one of the murder trio? Who are the other two?'

'We just told you one- there's Daichi, who Ryu could not find the file for in time and got scolded by Tadeka for being in his office-'

'Isolation for a week, man.'

'-and then there's the commissary shop worker, Asahi. It's always a huge shock when people find out about that because he's such a timid guy. I know he looks big and scary, but he might as well be made out of glass, he's so anxiety ridden.'

The guy with the beard and the tattoos. Hinata remembered it now, the little blue light on his collar.

'Maybe it was murdering someone that did it to him, like he's remembering it and it's making him all stressy and stuff.'

'Could be, I reckon he was framed though. Couldn't see him as the type to hurt anyone. He cried for like, an hour, when he accidentally killed a fly in the cafeteria last week. Suga ended up whacking him with his dinner tray to get him to shut up.'

'No!' Hinata cut across their conversation, he suddenly felt a bit frightened. For some reason, he'd never really thought about actual murderers being in the prison with him, especially since most of the people were here on drug crime. 'They can't have done it on purpose, could they? It had to be an accident!'

'Honestly, we don't know.'

'Nobody does.'

Chapter Text

As Tanaka and Noya had to spend the day fixing the busted lights in the chapel, Hinata found himself wandering around the prison alone, unsure what to do. He had yet to be assigned a job and he had no idea when he would be getting one either, no one had told him anything, which was more than irritating.

He had hoped to run into Officer Takeda, as he was the only officer around here that didn't scare the living daylight out of him, but according to Ennoshita, the guy in the barber shop, Takeda was taking time off and would be back the following day.

'I would imagine you will get something soon enough,' Ennoshita told him as he swept up the barber shop floor with a broom, after Hinata had complained about being really bored and having nothing to do. An inmate had just left after having his head freshly shaved. 'Most people just end up doing factory work. There's a whole load of warehouses near the very bottom of the prison grounds, where most of the members work. It's just boxing stuff up, really boring work. You should enjoy your time off while you've got it.'

Hinata didn't want to do anything boring and repetitive, that was one of the reasons he still didn't have a job at twenty-two. He couldn't deal with standing or sitting still for long hours at a time, he needed to be active, he needed to be able to move and run and jump, which is why he preferred sports, but it wasn't so easy to just get a job in volleyball- he doubted he would ever get such a job now that he had a criminal record.

The recreational room had done little to keep him entertained. There were a lot of the Aoba Johsai members in here, so Hinata kept his distance and didn't stare. That was one rule he knew about prison life - do not stare at the other inmates or they might take it as a signal to start a fight. He didn't want to fight anyone, he didn't think he would be able to win. At least he'd be quick enough to outrun them, but then again, there was only so much space in this prison. He couldn't hide forever.

As he passed by the Therapy Room, he found Suga sat in there comforting a man he had not seen before. Suga had his arm around him and was talking quietly to him. The dark-haired stranger had his head in his hands and wasn't saying much.

Whoever he was, he was probably upset and Hinata didn't want to intrude, he would leave Suga to deal with it.

He'd been tempted to go hang out in his cell, but Kageyama was in there, and Hinata didn't like the way he stared at him. It was almost as if Kageyama wanted to say something, to ask him a question, but couldn't quite think of the words, and even when Hinata had questioned him, Kageyama had gotten flustered and then looked irritated and Hinata decided it was best to just leave him alone.

Eventually, he ended up in the chapel, where Tanaka was wobbling on top of a ladder while Noya held it still for him, although he let go to give Hinata a wave when he entered, and Tanaka almost toppled off.

'We're almost done here,' Noya said, handing Tanaka a light bulb. 'This is the last one to replace and then we can go and get some lunch. I think it's miso soup today. We'd better get there quick before they start watering it down, so hurry it up, Ryu.'

'I'm doin' it! I'm gonna' get that punk-ass Terushima for this,' Tanaka huffed, screwing in the bulb.
'His shitty followers were pissed about yesterday and they knew we are in charge of electrical problems, so they smashed all the fuckin' lights in here. Look how many fuckin' bulbs there are! We've been at this all morning!'

The chapel had six hanging chandeliers with fake plastic candles, each with small bulbs, to imitate fire.

How Terushima and his friends had gotten up that high, Hinata didn't question, but felt bad for Tanaka and Noya, as they'd had to replace over thirty tiny light bulbs. Some of the chandeliers metal structure had been bent in, too, making some of them hang wonky, but Tanaka said that the condition of the chandeliers wasn't his problem and as long as they lit up then he'd done his job.

Unfortunately, they didn't beat the rush and ended up waiting in line for ten minutes for their food, which Hinata almost dropped when the huge guy from Dateko shoved it towards him with a sour expression. It wasn't as bad as they'd made it out to be, but it was thinner than the soup Hinata was used to back at home. It was served with a small bowl of sticky white rice and a side of over-cooked vegetables, but it was definitely better than the porridge they were served for breakfast.

'I still don't get it,' Hinata said, tugging at his shock collar. It was making his neck sweaty and he didn't like it. Noya had suggested stuffing toilet roll into it to catch the sweat but Hinata only had one roll and he didn't want to waste it. He still hadn't received his commissary allowance and he needed that to buy more toilet paper, otherwise he'd have to wait a week to get a new one. 'This thing gives me seizures and yet they won't take it off. Do you think they've told the guards not to shock me?'

Tanaka snorted into his soup. 'As if! Those bastards won't have lifted a finger for you, I can bet you on that.'

'Yeah, they don't give a shit,' Noya agreed, shovelling down his rice. 'As long as you don't die under their care, the doctor's here don't give a flying fuck about your condition. The only reason they wouldn't want you to die in the hospital is because they'd have to file paperwork and attend a negligence disciplinary hearing to determine if they had anything to do with your death or not, which they don't wanna do, since it takes up their free time. If you die in the prison, they aren't responsible, and neither are the screws.'

'Screws?' Hinata frowned.

'They're the screws,' Noya jabbed his finger over at a prison guard who was stood by the door. He was on his phone and not paying attention to the crowd of inmates. 'Unless they physically beat you to death, they're not held responsible, even if they shock you to death. They're not going to take off the collar because they couldn't care less if you died in here- you're just another low-life criminal to them, they don't know what you're in here for. Well, they'll know it's drug-related but that's about it.'

'B-but someone would have to be responsible if I died! Especially if they knew that the collars are what caused the seizure!'

Tanaka sighed and put down his spoon, looking serious. 'You gotta learn in here that the only person looking out for you is you. Don't get me wrong, me and Yu have got your back, but we can't protect you from the screws. If you died, they could easily blame it on the fact that you originally had a seizure because of those drugs you tried to smuggle- I bet they'd even fake medical records and show that it had nothing to do with the shock collar. Don't think any of these people are your friends, it wouldn't be the first time they've killed an inmate and just brushed it under the rug.'

'Whaaa!' Hinata gasped, almost dropping his cutlery. 'They can't do that!'

'You gotta' remember that we're criminals, Hinata,' Tanaka replied, scooping up the last of his soup, making a lot of noise with the spoon against the bowl. 'Not to mention this is a maximum security prison- who is gonna' care if a prisoner dies? Not that anyone would even know, they wouldn't release information like that to the public, and who are you gonna' tell if someone was killed? The police?'
Noya snorted water up his nose when he laughed and almost tipped the contents of his cup down himself. Hinata had been given a bottle of water with his lunch, which he'd been surprised about, because every other inmate had to get their water from the water cooler, but the officer that had handed it to him said it was by order of the hospital doctors.

'Bet they're tryin' to poison you,' Tanaka had said, eyeing up the bottle. 'Want me to test it?'

'No! I don't want you to die!' Hinata had placed the bottle in the middle of the table and ignored it, but when he had tried to get up to get water from the cooler, an officer stopped him and said he had to drink the prescribed water or nothing.

Before Hinata could stop him, Noya had snatched the bottle and taken a swig. Hinata almost shrieked, terrified that Noya would drop dead in front of him, but after five minutes and no changes, Noya had shrugged and handed the bottle back over, saying it just tasted like water.

'Maybe they just want you to have better quality water than the piss we're served,' Tanaka suggested, glaring at his own cup. 'There's definitely something funny about the water from that cooler. I bet it's been there for years.'

'Or they take it from the showers.'

'Or the bog.'

'We can share this,' Hinata said, pouring some of his water into each of their cups, before drinking the rest himself. It did have a fresher taste than the one from the cooler. 'I was thinking that maybe we could set up a prison sports team-'

Tanaka cut him off, nodding at something behind Hinata. He spun in his seat and found Kageyama stood over him, an odd expression on his face, as though he really needed to use the bathroom. He was really staring intently at Hinata, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

'You constipated or somethin'?' Tanaka narrowed his eyes. 'You got a problem, punk?'

Kageyama spluttered, trying to get his words out while not taking his eyes off of Hinata.

'Spit it out already!' Noya huffed, flicking a soggy carrot at him, which hit Kageyama in the face.

His nostrils flared and the tips of his ears went a bright red, and although his hands were balled up into fists, he didn't go to attack Noya like Hinata had been expecting. Instead, he kept his focus on Hinata, who was trying to slide away from him.

Eventually, Kageyama managed to get out a sentence. Hinata had slid himself around the other side of the table so that he was hidden behind Tanaka, who had stood up.

'I want to talk to Hinata.'

Tanaka pulled a very unattractive expression, flexing his muscles. 'About what? If you try anythin' funny-'

'In private.'

'Whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of us or not at all.' Noya added, jumping up on his chair so he was taller than everyone. An officer yelled at him to get down and he obeyed, not without severe grumbling.

'I can't.'

'Then beat it, punk.' Tanaka moved as if he was going to hit him and Kageyama flinched and scarpered, causing Noya and Tanaka to burst out laughing. Hinata took an empty seat, watching Kageyama hurry away from them, frowning.

'What do you think he wants to talk to me about? I should go after him-'

Tanaka slapped his hand onto Hinata's shoulder, keeping him in his seat. 'That nut Bokuto told you to be wary of a guy in a blue collar, and Kags is one of the few here who has a blue collar.'

'Doesn't seem like the type, does he?' Noya sat himself on the table, chewing on the end of his spoon. 'But then again, none of the blue collars do.'

'They were probably all framed or somethin' stupid, I bet,' Tanaka said. 'You think they'd have another colour for accidental death or somethin', so people don't think you're a cold-blooded killer, but I guess they don't give a shit what the inmates think of each other. That's one of the rules here, Hinata, don't judge anyone by the colour of their collar if you don't know their story. If you're seen acting weird around someone just 'cos they've got a certain colour, you could get your face kicked in by people with the same collar.'

Yikes! Hinata thought.

'What would you get if you did more than one thing?' Hinata asked. 'Say you were caught selling drugs, but you also had killed someone?'

Tanaka scratched at his shaved head. 'You know, I don't really know. I don't think I know anyone who's done more than one major thing. They probably just pick whatever crime is worse, I guess. It's funny, ya' know, thinking about it-'

'Thinking about what?' Hinata questioned and Noya smirked.

'Don't think too much, Ryu, you'll hurt yourself.'

'What did you say to me, you brat?' Tanaka puffed himself up to square off with Noya, but he noticed a guard nearby and settled back down again, sniffing noisily. 'I'll get ya' later, you little bastard.'

'What's funny?' Hinata asked, trying to get them back on topic.

'Oh, right, yeah, sorry. It's just, this is a maximum-security prison, right?'

'Yeah...'

'Well, what kind of criminals would you expect to be here? Take a look around, but don't stare at someone, jeez, Hinata, I don't need to get into another fight for you- anyway, how many blue collars do you see?'

Hinata looked around, being careful to not catch anyone's eye. Most of the people were busy eating and chatting anyway, so he could easily get a sneaky look at everyone's collars. The majority of the people in the room had orange, with a smattering of reds, yellows, and pinks here and there, but he couldn't see any blues at all.

'None! No one has a blue collar!'

'There are only four guys with a blue collar,' Tanaka said, picking at his teeth. 'Don't you think that's weird, considering this is a maximum security prison? You'd expect it to be filled with murderers and psychos and all that, but it's not. There are mostly orange collars. It's weird. I mean, look at me and Yu, all we did was sell drugs on the street. Do you think we deserve to be in this shit-hole? We never hurt anyone... well, no one that didn't deserve it, anyway.'

'Why would you be in here, then?' Hinata asked and they both shrugged.

'Beats me.' Noya said, running his hands through his short mess of hair.

Hinata chewed his tongue for a moment, observing them. He'd never even considered it before, but it did make sense. Even though drugs were considered a very serious matter in Japan, he honestly didn't think it deserved a prison sentence like this one - he understood why he was in this prison, as smuggling was severely punishable, but selling? Unless Tanaka and Noya weren't being completely honest with him about what they'd done to land themselves here.

It definitely was strange that there weren't more murderers in the prison, though. There should definitely be more blue collars than orange...

Perhaps a lot of these orange collars had done more than their colour let on.

'You know, I bet all the crazy lunatics are locked up in isolation,' Tanaka added, watching as Noya piled up all the empty bowls and cups on top of each other in a wobbling tower that threatened to collapse all over the floor. 'I've been sent there a couple of times, you can't see into any of the rooms because the doors are solid metal, but you can hear them through the walls- wailing and screaming and banging. Gave me the shits, I swear. Don't ever get sent to isolation, Hinata, you come back a changed man.'

'Tanaka, you were in isolation for one week,' Suga had appeared from somewhere behind Hinata and made him jump. He sat down at the table and caught the tower of bowls as it fell. The guy Suga had been with earlier joined them and gave Hinata a warm smile. 'You were hardly traumatised.'

'You don't know! You've never been there!' Tanaka snapped, glaring at Suga for a moment, but when the dark haired man shot him a scary glance, he turned his head away. 'Just one night was bad enough, let alone the full week. Never again.'

'What's it like?' Hinata asked interestingly. He pictured no bed with hay on the floor and a bucket in the corner.

Tanaka actually shuddered. 'Horrible. You're thrown into this tiny square room with nothing but four blank walls, a hard bed, and a toilet. You can hear all the other inmates screaming, which makes it really difficult to sleep and there is scratching in the brick work where the previous inmates have left messages on the walls.'

'This really isn't a lunch time topic.' Suga interrupted, spooning soup into his mouth. Hinata eyed the collar around his neck. Which blue-collared man was he supposed to be avoiding? 'Perhaps we should talk about something else.'

'Who's the new kid?' The other man asked. He leant forwards to examine Hinata, giving everyone a glimpse of his own blue collar.

'Ah, yes, sorry, I should have introduced you, I'd forgotten you two hadn't met yet. Hinata, this is Sawamura Daichi, Daichi, this is Hinata Shouyou.'

'Suga's boyfriend.' Noya whispered behind his hand and almost fell off the table when he noticed the death glare, he was being given from both of them. He whistled, trying to look nonchalant.

'How are you finding prison life, Hinata?' Daichi asked. He was broad and very handsome, and although he looked quite calm and friendly, he had an air about him that was vaguely threatening. Hinata knew instantly it was better to try and stay on his good side- not that he intentionally wanted to get on the wrong side of anyone in here.

'Oh! It's only my second day, and I spent my first in the hospital... I've not really done much.'

'The hospital? What happened?'

'He had a seizure,' Suga explained. 'The guards shocked him.'

Daichi sighed and shook his head. 'Nasty things, these collars. There are much better ways to discipline people.'

'Are these two idiots looking after you okay?' Suga narrowed his eyes at Tanaka and Noya, who were both invested in a game of 'smack' rock-paper-scissors. The rules were the same, except the winner of each round got to slap the loser around the face.

Hinata nodded a little too eagerly. 'Yes! I'm glad to have them as my friends! They've taught me so much about prison already!'

'They've warned you to not use bathroom one?' Daichi asked.

'Yes! And to keep to myself and not stare at anyone and to not touch anyone else's stuff! Also to not pick fights!'

'That's ironic, considering they pick fights with everyone.' Suga rolled his eyes. He pointed his spoon at Hinata. 'Also, I would recommend not speaking to the officers, if you can help it.'

'Yeah, don't talk to the fuckin' screws.' Tanaka jumped into the conversation after having slapped Noya around the cheek. Both were very pink in the face but grinning like buffoons. 'Let your elders teach you some prison rules, and you'll be able to survive just fine.'

'Don't be a snitch.' Noya said and beat his right fist into his left palm. 'Snitches get stitches.'

'But what if I see someone doing something illegal! Or hurting another inmate! What if someone is coming after me! I shouldn't go to the officers? What about Officer Takeda?'

Both Noya and Tanaka shook their heads furiously. 'Listen, kid, I said this before, you gotta realise that in prison, the only person you gotta look out for is yourself. Not that I'm sayin' ditch your friends, it's important to have as many allies in here as possible, but you gotta' remember most of these people will stab you in the back if they get the chance, especially if you're a newbie and you've not got much protection from others.'

'They'll fuckin' eat you alive.'

'Noya! Don't scare him!' Suga snapped. 'What they're trying to say, Hinata, is that not everyone in here is as kind as we are. Be civil and polite to people, but be careful with whom you choose to associate. Don't give anyone a reason to dislike you and they'll probably leave you alone. The officers here will not solve your problems, so don't go running to them, because they won't do anything to help and it will only make you look weak. Not that I'm saying you are, but don't give off that impression.'
'You're in a cage full of lions,' Daichi said. 'You've got to act like the rest of the pack, or they're going to see you as the runt of the litter.'

'Well, he is a runt.' Tanaka snorted and Suga smacked him on the leg with the back of his spoon. 'Ouch!'

'If you see another inmate getting hurt, come find me, Daichi, Tanaka, or Noya, and we'll sort it out. There could be a reason why the fight is taking place and if you get the officers involved, both sides might hate you for it. There's a lot of turf war here and sometimes the men like to settle things with their fists. You don't want two people or more banding together to get you for squealing on them.' Suga punched Noya in the arm for trying to steal his rice and continued, 'There's a lot of contraband that enters the prison, too. Do not get involved if you see anything being swapped or handed out or whatever. If someone tries to give you something suspicious, either say that you don't have anything to trade for it, or if they force you to take it, bring it to me and I can dispose of it. You don't want to be caught with anything you shouldn't have, or you can end up in serious trouble.'

'And if anyone comes after you, I'll break their fuckin' neck.' Tanaka cracked his knuckles and Daichi just sighed.

'You don't want to be seen speaking with Takeda too much either,' Daichi spoke. 'He's the best officer to go to if you really do have a problem, because he will help, unlike the rest, but there's only so much he can do, he doesn't have much power. If you're seen talking to an officer too much, people will think you're either a favourite or they'll think you're trying to kiss ass. The best thing to do is act indifferent to the officers.'

'People totally respect you if you get into a fight with an officer,' Noya laughed, punching at the air. 'There was this time when me and Ryu tackled this fat screw, and he had me in a headlock, but I grabbed him by the nu-'

'Nishinoya!' Suga cut him off, scowling. 'Don't encourage him to fight anyone. Seriously, do not fight the officers. They will shock you until you pass out and fling you into isolation for however long they want. Thankfully I managed to bribe the officer they attacked so he just gave them a beating instead.'

'Also!' Noya had jumped on the table and was sticking his rear-end in Hinata's face. 'Don't wear your jumpsuit tied around your waist or it means you want it up the bum!'

'Noya!' Both Daichi and Suga had shouted. Tanaka was beside himself with laughter.

'What!' Hinata cried, making sure to zip up his jumpsuit to his neck.

'Don't listen to them, it's a stupid rumour that men would wear their prison trousers lower down with their boxers showing to indicate to other prisoners that they were... interested...' Suga tried to put it delicately. Tanaka was snorting. 'Obviously, we are assigned jumpsuits, so the rumour around here is that if you wear the top half tied around your waist-'

'Doesn't Asahi wear his jumpsuit tied around his waist?' Tanaka interrupted, making Suga pout, and a huge, devilish grin spread across Noya's face.

'Been there, done that. He's really bi-'

'If you say one more word-' Daichi threatened, and Noya shut up immediately. Hinata couldn't help wonder what Daichi would actually do to them if they continued. Were Tanaka and Noya scared of him because he had a blue collar?

They didn't act the same way when Suga shouted at them.

Did that mean they knew exactly what Daichi had done?

Could he be the blue-collar that Hinata should avoid?

'Oh!' Tanaka said, making Hinata jump. He'd been lost in his own little bubble for a moment. 'Don't drop your soap in the shower!'

'W-what? Why?!'

'You'll definitely get it up the bum then.'

'Tanaka, stop it!' Suga snapped and Daichi rose slowly to his feet, making both Tanaka and Noya scrambled away from the table. They only dared return once Daichi had taken his seat again. 'I'm sorry about them, Hinata, they're really crude. The showers are all separate so that's really not something you have to worry about. Well, I would recommend not dropping your soap, but that's because the bathroom floors aren't very hygienic. Always wear shower slippers too.'

'Never promise anything to anyone that you can't keep, either,' Daichi told him. 'If someone asks you for a favour, make sure you are a hundred percent certain you can do it. Don't make bets with anyone. You do not want to owe anyone anything. Don't get yourself in any kind of debt.'

'Don't tell anyone how much commissary you have either. Try not to buy loads of stuff at once or people may try to ask you to buy them stuff as a favour, and promise to pay you back, but they won't. You could be targeted because you're new and they'll expect you to have little to no friends by this point.' Suga instructed.

'If you're caught sucking your thumb people will think you're offering up bl-'

'This is your last warning.' Daichi said in a low voice. Noya raised both of his hands and turned away in surrender, but winking at Hinata when he knew Daichi couldn't see.

'Hey,' Noya froze, lowering his arms. 'What's going on over there?'

Everyone turned to look.

In fact, the whole room had fallen silent and was watching what was going on in the centre of the room.

The middle table, which hosted those of the Aoba Johsai gang, had all stood up and were squaring up to Kageyama, who was shaking and sweating and trying to back away, but found himself backed into a table, where many of the Nekoma gang sat. One of them pushed Kageyama forwards, making him stumble, and someone from Aoba Johsai grabbed hold of his shoulders and steered him into an open area.

'Oh no, this isn't good,' Suga was getting to his feet. Daichi grabbed his wrist.

'You don't need Aoba Johsai as your enemy.'

'I'm aware of that, Daichi, but I also don't want to see Kageyama's face covered in his own blood.'

'Where's the guard?!' Hinata exclaimed, staring desperately around the room. The guard from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

As the rest of the cafeteria had started cheering Aoba Johsai on and shouting vulgar and nasty comments, Hinata had no idea what was being said to Kageyama, or what he was snapping back at them. It was only when a brawl started to take place that anyone moved.

One of the members of Aoba Johsai had grabbed Kageyama and tried to get him into a headlock while another aimed punches at his stomach.

Tanaka had leapt over the table and sprang forwards, bulldozing through the turnip-haired guy who had hold of Kageyama. Noya was on his tail, leaping onto the back of the second guy, wrapping his arms around his neck and tugging at his collar to choke him.

Everyone around them was chanting 'fight' over and over, and some had even joined in, many of the Nekoma gang grabbing hold of Kageyama, who was trying to get away, and flung him back into the squabbling crowd.

Deciding he'd had enough of just standing by and doing nothing, Hinata bounced forwards and jumped as high as he could in front of Kageyama, throwing out his arms to block the person from trying to attack him. The man looked shocked, staring up at Hinata with utter confusion as to how he had sprung so far into the air, but it wasn't long before he'd gotten over it and grabbed Hinata by the ankle and slammed him to the ground.

Hinata's head was spinning and people around him were screeching. He got unsteadily to his feet and sent his elbow into the ribs of the guy behind him, who'd tried to get his arm around his neck. He could see two guys pinning Kageyama to the floor. One lifted his boot and went to bring it down on Kageyama's head but Daichi appeared, throwing a punch and sending the guy reeling. The other guy jumped up and tried to attack him, but Daichi flipped him over his hip and sent him crashing down into a table.

The prison brawl did not last long.

Just as someone was about to swing for Hinata, who was frozen to the spot, everyone in the room collapsed to the floor, clutching at their necks.

An officer had run in, having heard the commotion, and electrocuted every single person in the room, regardless of whether or not they had been involved in the fight.

Pain swept through him, and his body writhed against his control. He could see Suga and Daichi next to him, both with gritted teeth and screwed up eyes, their bodies vibrating.

Soon, it all stopped, and everyone lay still, panting and sore.

Immediately, Suga's face appeared over Hinata's, and hands were pulling him into a sitting position. Hands were on his face. 'Hinata! Hinata! Are you alright!'

'Has he had a seizure?' He heard Noya cry.

'No! I think he's alright! Hinata, speak to me!'

Hinata pushed Suga away and got unsteadily to his feet, just like everyone else around him was doing. He balanced himself on a nearby chair and tried to control his breathing. His arm kept twitching, his heart was going about a hundred miles per hour and his fingertips felt numb, but other than that, he was fine.

None of his friends had time to check if he was truly alright because the whole room was shepherded out into the concrete outdoor area at the back of the prison and forced to stand in lines with their hands held behind their backs. An officer spent about an hour shouting and screaming at them, shaking his remote for the collars in one hand, his thumb threatening to press the button and give them all another shock.

Eventually, the officer asked who had started the fight and several of the people in the yard pointed towards Kageyama, who went as white as a sheet.

'He didn't do anything!' Asahi said in a small voice, but no one but Hinata and Suga heard him as his voice was drowned out by all the members of Aoba Johsai and Nekoma shouting that Kageyama had started it by attacking the turnip-haired guy.

Suga had had to stop Hinata from marching forwards when officers came to drag Kageyama away, who was trying to put up a fight but received another shock for it. He had been shouting something about Aoba Johsai, but his words were so muddled and he was stuttering so much that it was hard to make out. After he'd received his shock, his body fell limp and he was dragged away with his feet scraping the ground.

'He didn't do it!' Hinata tried to yell, but Suga shushed him and made him fall back in line. It was only once they were allowed back inside did they let Hinata release his anger. 'How could you let them take him! He didn't do anything! Nobody pointed a finger at Aoba Johsai!'

'What do you expect us to do, Hinata?' Tanaka huffed, folding his arms. 'We can't help Kags, or we'd have been shocked. Worst case scenario, he's thrown into isolation for a while. It's not gonna' kill him.'

'But-'

'For once, Tanaka is right,' Daichi agreed. 'We don't even know what happened, we just saw Kageyama squaring off with Aoba Johsai. For all we know, he could have actually started it. We don't know anything about the boy, he barely speaks to any of us. Besides, even if he didn't start it, you don't want to be throwing the blame at Aoba Johsai, because they're not a group you want as your enemy. Let's hope they don't come after us for getting involved in the fight.'

'If they do, just say you wanted a prison brawl, and it wasn't anything personal.' Suga said and Daichi nodded his head. 'Hopefully they won't remember who hit who.'

'I'm ready if they come for me,' Tanaka sniffed and wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. He'd gotten a nose bleed from someone head-butting him. 'They've never liked me anyway, the c-'

'Just keep out of their way, Hinata, that's all I can suggest you do,' Suga purposely cut Tanaka off. 'We'll talk to Kageyama whenever they let him come back and we'll have to try and keep him away from Aoba Johsai.'

'They're going to want his head.' Noya pulled a face.

'We'll sort it out,' Suga then frowned. 'Anyway, what I'm confused about is... how come that shock didn't give you a seizure, Hinata? The moment I was able to move, I rushed over to you thinking you would be foaming at the mouth, but you were perfectly still.'

'Yeah, I thought you'd died-'

'Noya!'

'What! He was lying really still! I was scared the shock had finished him off!'

'I was thinking that too! Not that he'd died, that it was weird that he hadn't had a seizure, especially since this electric shock was much worse than the one we'd received yesterday!' Tanaka squinted his eyes at Hinata. 'You feelin' alright? You're going to end up beating my record for number of shocks at this rate, ya' know. I didn't get one 'til my fourth day!'

Hinata placed a hand over his collar. 'Yeah, I'm fine. It felt horrible, but it didn't feel the same as when I had a seizure. I was scared for a moment because I thought it would happen again, but I managed to get control of my limbs and everything was just... fine. Why didn't I have a seizure? Not that I wanted one!'

The other four all shrugged and exchanged glances with each other.

'No idea.'

Chapter Text

Hinata ended up spending the next hour just sat on his bunk in a daze, staring at the wall opposite. He kept fiddling with his collar, which he was sure felt weirdly tighter than usual, but that was probably just his imagination.

Tanaka was taking a nap; he'd screwed up his jumpsuit and left it lying on the floor and was just in a white tee and his grey boxers. His mouth was wide open and he was drooling, and he had one leg hanging over the side of the bunk, on which Noya was doodling rather crude things with a black permanent marker. Whenever he got too close to Tanaka's ankle, his whole leg would twitch, which only made Noya laugh harder.

He'd asked over and over why the shock hadn't given him a seizure and Noya was tired of answering with the same response of 'I don't know.' Eventually he'd started ignoring Hinata and humming loudly whenever the subject was brought up again.

'Just be thankful it didn't give you a seizure,' Suga had said when he came check up on Hinata's condition. 'Hope it was just a one-off thing because your body hadn't fully recovered and now it's not going to be an issue anymore, because it's very unlikely you'll go through your prison sentence without being shocked again. Anyway, I would stay, but Daichi... well, he's in a bad way. I've got to go.'

Hinata didn't ask what was up with Daichi. Noya let out a sigh but didn't mention anything and Hinata felt it was best left between them. He didn't know Daichi that well, so he didn't want to pry. His mind was too preoccupied on his lack of seizure.

There had to be a reason.

Noya looked up when Hinata sprung from his bed and landed heavily on the floor. 'You goin' somewhere?'

'I'm going to go to the hospital and ask the doctors why the shock didn't give me a seizure.' Hinata told him and set off before Noya could reply. He ended up taking a longer route because he found a bunch of the Aoba Johsai gang stood in one corridor and he didn't want to have to walk through them, especially since he was the only orange-haired guy in the prison, they were bound to recognise him from the fight earlier.

The nurse at the reception in the hospital ward didn't want to let him in and said Hinata was probably faking it. He kept bothering her to look up his medical records, as they would show he'd had a seizure before, and eventually she groaned, tired of hearing him talking, and waved a lazy hand at him instructing him to let himself inside.

After the reception there was a small corridor that led down the hospital wing. On either side of the corridor were two doors, one of them was the head doctor’s office. He bounded over and knocked a couple of times, but there was no answer. He repeated his actions and then tried the door handle, but it was locked.

He grumbled under his breath, wishing the receptionist had told him the doctor was out instead of wasting his time. His eyes drifted down the corridor to the door at the end and he decided that it wasn't all bad, it meant he could get a sneaky visit in with Bokuto at least. Maybe he would have some answers about his collar.

Bokuto could also explain his warning about the blue collar properly.

If he mentioned a name...

Hinata burst into the hospital wing all smiles and sunshine, but the look of joy was quickly wiped off of his face when he found the wing pretty much empty. Every bed, apart from the one of that the end that had the curtain drawn around it, was neatly made and vacant.

Disappointment flooded his chest. He'd been really looking forward to spending some time with Bokuto again, even if he was a bit eccentric.

Where on earth was he? Why wasn't he here?

For a moment, his mind flickered over to the isolation unit, where he imagined Kageyama and Bokuto in separate cells, both lying on the floor in the foetal position, both wondering how long they would have to spend staring at the same four blank walls.

He'd ask the nurse where he was.

As he was walking towards the door, he stopped, turning his head slowly.

The bed at the end.

If he could wake up Akaashi, perhaps he would be able to answer some questions. He must know about Bokuto and what he had done to earn himself a place in the prison, and what had happened to send him insane.

Gingerly, Hinata approached the bed and wobbled back and forth on his feet for a moment, one hand hovering next to the curtain.

In all honesty, he was scared about what he might find behind the curtain. He had no idea what kind of condition Akaashi was in- the beeping suggested he was hooked up to some kind of heart monitor and there was a pumping sound that reminded Hinata of those machines in TV hospital drama's that helped the patients to breathe.

The way Bokuto had described it, Akaashi was practically in a coma. Bokuto said he woke up sometimes but rarely spoke- maybe he was so weak that he couldn't form any words.

Throwing back the curtain would be a real disrespect to Akaashi's privacy. They had obviously drawn these curtains so that he could get peace without any onlookers goggling at him. Could he have been in a fire? Maybe he was all blackened and charred? Or he'd had some kind of terrible accident and lost half of his face?

But Hinata had to know.

He braced himself and clutched hold of the fabric, ready to rip it back but someone put a hand of his shoulder and he shrieked. He let go immediately and stumbled away, breathing hard in his panic, only to find the doctor he'd been searching for earlier frowning at him in confusion.

'Mr. Hinata? What are you doing here?'

Quickly, Hinata gave him a low bow. He stood up straight and babbled, 'I'm sorry, Sir! I didn't mean to trespass! The receptionist let me in to look for you, I tried knocking on your office, but no one answered so I thought you might be in here, and I was looking for Bokuto and-'

'Slow down, please.' The doctor raised a hand to silence Hinata. He was a middle-aged man who’d put on a bit of weight around the middle. 'Why were you looking for me?'

Hinata grasped at his collar. 'Earlier today, I received an electric shock and I didn't have a seizure! I wanted to know why.'

The doctor's mouth formed a small 'O' and then he nodded, stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets. 'It's likely the first time it happened your body went into shock. You hadn't fully recovered from the drugs in your system and it caused the seizure. I'll get you to come in tomorrow for some blood tests, I'd do it today but I've got to head out, and we'll make sure everything is alright. Hopefully, your body has adjusted to the shocks, and you won't have any seizure, but don't worry, Mr. Hinata, we'll keep an eye on you.'

The doctor turned to leave but Hinata stepped forwards. 'Also, I was wondering... why did you give me that water?'

'Hmm? Oh yes, well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the water they serve the inmates isn't exactly... fresh. It's not cleaned properly and full of really bad bacteria, so I had them provide you with clean water, just while you're recovering. I'm sorry I won't be able to do it forever, so enjoy it while you have the chance. Now, come along, Mr. Hinata, you should be getting back to the prison.'

He tried to push Hinata towards the door, but he slipped out of his grasp and held his ground. 'Where's Bokuto?'

The doctor sighed and glanced at his watch. 'He's been sent to the Therapy Room. He'll be back later, but I'm afraid you won't be able to visit. Don't worry about him, he's getting all the treatment he needs.'

'I want to speak with him. Is there no way I can visit?'

'I'm afraid not, Mr. Hinata. Hospital visits are not permitted. I could get you into trouble just being here without permission, but I'm in a hurry and I know you had no ill intentions, so please, let's head out.' He beckoned towards the door. Hinata sighed and began to follow him but gave a quick glance back over his shoulder at the hidden bed.

'Can I ask? What's Akaashi's condition?'

'Huh?'

'The guy in the bed at the end? Bokuto said it was his friend, Akaashi.'

There was a moment's silence before the doctor answered. 'He said that, did he? I see. I think it's better if you don't know.'

'Is he going to die?' Hinata said, horrified.

'The man in that bed is not going to die. Not under my roof, anyway.' He and Hinata had reached the reception. The doctor pushed Hinata towards the door. 'Off you go now, Mr. Hinata. I'll send a message to the guards about having you return for blood tests. If Mr. Bokuto is around, I will let you speak with him briefly, as long as you leave now.'

'Thank you!' Hinata said, before rushing out the door so the doctor didn't have time to change his mind.

Could the seizure really have just been a one-time thing? In some odd, rather twisted, way, Hinata was actually kind of disappointed. He hated having a seizure, it felt like his whole body was on fire and it could easily kill him, but it meant he wouldn't be able to return to the hospital again to see Bokuto. They weren't ever going to let him back into the prison again, not in his current condition.

Would the doctors get suspicious if he got Tanaka and Noya to break his leg?

He pulled a face. He didn't want to have his leg broken. That would be painful, and he wouldn't be able to jump anymore.

It took him about ten minutes to actually return to the prison because he ended up having a mini panic about what would happen if he did actually break his leg by accident and picturing some wild scenario where the doctors told him the bones had mended funny and he'd never be able to play volleyball again or even walk properly and they'd have to amputate below his knees so he'd been even shorter than he was now.

A passing guard ended up shouting at him and he scarpered back inside, running through the halls, dodging people with ease, until he burst back into his cell room, making Tanaka jerk awake, his chin shiny with salvia.

Noya was snorting with laughter, so it didn't take Tanaka to long spot the drawings on his leg. He jumped down into Noya's bunk and they ended up in a wrestling match, which Hinata ignored while clambering up into his own bunk. He threw his pillow at them to get their attention.

'You wanna be next?' Tanaka threatened, but Noya put his hand on his face and pushed him away.
'Did you go to see the doctor, Shouyou?'

Hinata nodded. 'Yes, he told me it might have just been because my body wasn't healed properly.'

He informed them about everything the doctor had said, and how he was going to have some blood tests done, and then he spoke about looking for Bokuto. 'Do you guys know where the Therapy Room is?'

Both of them made an unattractive face. Tanaka wrinkled his nose. 'Yeah, it's in the Therapy Unit- you know that sealed off bit on the third floor, that's the Therapy Unit. Suga probably told you it was just some offices or some bullshit, 'cos it stops people wanting to sneak in to have a look. No one cares if they think it's just files and shit.'

'Why is it sealed off?'

'Full of nutjobs,' Tanaka explained, while Noya nodded. 'You only get sent there if you're really off your rocker. I think they basically brainwash you.'

The hairs on the back of Hinata's neck stood on end. 'Brainwash?!'

'Anyone who's been sent to the Therapy Unit is always super weird when they come back-'

'Like Daichi,' Noya said.

'Suga's been a couple of times, I'm sure.'

'Asahi is always in there.'

'That's because they want to stop him crying every time someone remotely 'scary' looking comes to the commissary store. He's scared of everything, to be fair. I think he's the only person who actually needs proper therapy.'

'Don't bother asking anyone what it's like either,' Noya told Hinata. 'They won't say anything. I've tried, many times, and Daichi ended up smacking me around the back of the head. It's all personal stuff, I guess. I still wanna know what they actually do to them, though. Suga tried to tell me it's just speaking with a psychiatrist and they help you get over your problems, or whatever, but I think it's bullshit. I remember seeing Daichi being escorted out of there once, he was in such a weird state. He looked at me but it was almost as if he didn't even recognise me. The screw with him wouldn't let me talk to him and he just got locked in his cell for a day. That place is definitely off.'

'I don't want to go there!' Hinata cried, wrapping his cover around himself so only his eyes were showing.

'You won't have to,' Tanaka reassured him. 'Unless your experiences before prison are causing you some kind of trauma. It's not surprising all the blue collars have to go there. Killing someone must really fuck with your head.'

'Yeah, especially if all of them did it by accident or somethin'.' Noya added.

'You definitely think they're all innocent?' Hinata asked and Noya shrugged.

'I've known them for a while now, and I honestly can't picture any of them killing another person on purpose, but I don't know their stories. I'd rather remain optimistic, though. Do you think they might have taken Kags there?'

Hinata almost toppled off his bed. 'If Kageyama and Bokuto are there, we have to get them out! Especially if they're being brainwashed!'

'Calm down, Hinata,' Tanaka waved at him to sit back down. 'I've tried bustin' in there before and it's not gonna happen. You need a certain key to get in, which only the officers have and if you want to rob an officer, be my guest, but they kept their keys near their crotch and I'm not about that, son.'

'The door might as well be made of steel. You can't kick through it.' Noya said. 'Besides, neither me or Ryu have actually been there, so we're just tellin' you the rumours. I don't know about brainwashing, but I'm certain they just pump them full of drugs. That's probably why they're weird when they first come back into the prison, because they're high on something. It's the easiest way to make prisoners feel happy, just giving them something to pep them up. Asahi is always super cheery when he comes back and by the end of the day, he starts to return to normal and eventually he gets a bit... agitated, I guess, and he has to go back again.'

'Bastards have got him addicted, I bet.'

'It can't be something too bad, or he'd show much worse withdrawal symptoms.' Noya didn't look pleased about it though. Hinata guessed Asahi must be Noya's close friend. 'Plus, he can go for a week or two without going back to therapy, so if it was something like heroin or meth, then we'd definitely know.'

'What if it is something bad! What do we do! I don't want to become addicted to heroin!'

Surprisingly, both Tanaka and Noya snorted with laughter. 'Can you imagine Hinata as a junkie? You'd be bouncing off the ceiling.'

'We'd both know if it was something bad,' Noya began doodling over his own arms with the marker. 'Me and Ryu used to sell that kind of stuff, remember? We've seen enough addicts to know if someone is on something major.'

'Half of our clients looked almost fuckin' dead, I swear. All zombie-like. I actually kicked someone in the stomach once 'cos I actually thought they were one, their skin was all grey and sallow and they were skeleton thin. It was creepy as fuck. Asahi definitely don't look like that!'

Noya shook his head. 'Yeah, he's really broad and built-'

Tanaka scoffed and muttered something under his breath that only Noya could hear and ended up having to fight off Noya who tried to scribble on his face. Eventually, he pushed him away and got up, climbing onto Hinata's bed.

'What we're saying, anyway, is that this is all just what gets thrown about the prison, but it's probably just what Suga says, although that's really boring and it's much more fun to imagine it like some sleazy crack den.'

'I still think it's brainwashing. I'm not letting them anywhere near my head!' Tanaka knocked at his skull.

'Do you think Officer Takeda would let me in if I told him I wanted to speak with Bokuto?'

This earned Hinata a clip around the ear by Tanaka. 'Don't be stupid. Jus' 'cos you've heard Takeda is the nicest screw around here, don't mean he's gonna be handin' out any favours, especially to a newbie. The most you could do is bribe a screw into giving you their key, but I'd say it's pretty much impossible. You gotta' remember this place isn't just a holiday resort or some shit, it's an actual prison. A high max one, at that. The people that work here could lose their jobs if they did something like that. Takeda would never risk that, and if you lost him his job, every single person in this building would turn against you, because he's the reason we can get contraband in and out of this fuckin' shithole. If I lose my regular photos of Kiyoko, I swear to Jesus himself-'

'You have photos of Kiyoko?!' Noya had sprung to his feet. Tanaka cleared his throat.

'I- what? Did I say that? No, what?'

Noya grabbed hold of his leg and wrenched him forwards, so he slid down onto his back. Tanaka got off the bed before Noya could physically pull him off and had to wrestle him to stop him from going through his bedding and the stuff on his shelf. When a bunch of Polaroid's fell out from inside Tanaka's pillow, there was a squabble to gather them up and half of them ended up being flung at Hinata, who only panicked and threw them onto the floor again, making Tanaka groan at him.

'You were supposed to hide them! What kind of wingman are you?!'

All the photos were of an extraordinarily beautiful girl with dark hair and glasses. None of the photos were raunchy or contained nudity. The girl in question wore a black jumpsuit and was usually never looking at the camera. In most of the photos, she had a small, rather cute, blonde girl by her side.

Both of them had a blue collar.

'I can't believe you hid these from me, Ryu! I thought our love for Kiyoko was mutual! I would never hide photos from you!'

Hinata ended up tuning their argument out. Tanaka said something about wanting to the keep them personal and he was planning on getting Noya a batch of his own, which Noya didn't believe, and they ended up fighting again about whether or not to split up the photos Tanaka already had.

He was busy thinking about Bokuto in the Therapy Unit and wondering what could be happening to him. He didn't want to believe the rumours, especially since it was Tanaka and Noya telling them and Suga had warned him already that they liked to make stuff up. He really hoped that Bokuto was actually getting the treatment he needed and maybe, just maybe, he would be well enough at some point to return to prison life and Hinata would be able to hang out with him every day.

Once the two boys had finally settled their argument (only when Tanaka had reluctantly agreed to share his photos), the three of them had ended up playing a card game in the middle of the room on the floor. Tanaka had had some playing cards smuggled in, and he taught Hinata how to play Poker, which Hinata was awful at, especially because he was so bad at lying, and Go Fish.

These kinds of games didn't really appeal to Hinata, who liked games where he could get up and sprint or spike a ball over a net. He kept switching sitting positions, and ended up scattering all the cards in his hand over the pile in the middle and the other two let out dramatic sighs and chucked their cards into the pile.

Hinata was more impressed when Tanaka showed him some card tricks, pulling Hinata’s chosen card out of the deck several times, making him gasp. He kept making Tanaka repeat the trick, desperately trying to work out how it was done, but couldn't quite grasp it. Noya was smirking from his bed, amused by Hianta's distress and probably feeling smug because he knew how to do it.

Their fun was only disrupted when the cell door opened and Tanaka flung the deck of cards he was holding underneath Noya's bed, before sitting down and trying to look completely nonchalant. Hinata had been told that contraband was usually ignored by the officers, especially if it was something insignificant, but they still had to be careful or it could be confiscated, which usually happened if the officer in question was in a foul mood.

Kageyama was being pushed into the room. Hinata jumped off of his bed and allowed him to be steered on to it.

The officer left without a single word to the three of them, slamming the door behind him, and an awkward silence followed.

Something was definitely off.

Kageyama did not look right. He was really out of focus and he was dribbling a little. He kept swaying from side to the side, and when Tanaka tried to speak to him, he didn't even register it. He wasn't in his orange jumpsuit either, just a white t-shirt and grey jogging bottoms, which both Tanaka and Noya found weird as they said you didn't get a change of clothing when you went into isolation.

'Maybe he ripped his jumpsuit or spilled something down it?'

'What would they give him to spill? They wouldn't even care about that anyway; he'd just have to wait until he could come back and get it sent to laundry.'

'Think we could steal him another one from the laundry room? Narita and Kinoshita work down there, I'm sure they'd be able to snag us one. He's gonna be freezing in just that and he won't get a black one for ages.'

'Surely, they have to provide him with one. It has his prisoner number on it.' Hinata asked, concerned.

'Remember when Tsukishima ripped his? Sorry, you haven’t met him yet. Anyway, they made him pay for it to be repaired out of his own commissary money. I bet Kageyama hasn't got any coming in yet. Maybe it's a punishment for him?'

'Could be, could be.' Tanaka nodded his head.

'What the hell have they done to him?' Hinata asked, staring from Noya to Tanaka, appalled that they were more concerned about Kageyama's missing jumpsuit than his health, and then turned his attention back to Kageyama. He had a small, stupid smile on his face that was really creeping Hinata out.

'He's completely out of it.' Noya started clicking his fingers in front of Kageyama's face. He didn't even flinch. 'I told you they were pumping them full of drugs! Look at him! He must be high on something!'

'What should we do?!' Hinata was in a state, practically yanking out of his hair. 'Should we get someone?'

'Who would we get?' Tanaka frowned at him. 'The guards know about it because they bloody brought him here. I bet they'd throw us back out if we tried to take him to the hospital.'

'We should at least give it a go!'

Noya put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. 'Do you remember what we told you, about how doctor's don't want prisoners dying on them, there's no way they'd let Kageyama into the hospital in this state, unless he was escorted by a screw. Plus, you said yourself, the doctor isn't even in.'

'There's got to be more than one doctor-'

They both shook their head.

'Just nurses, and they definitely won't help us. They could easily lose their jobs if they took on a patient that could only be treated by a doctor. Nurses don't have the same level of qualifications. Their roles are different.'

'What if he dies!'

Tanaka was examining Kageyama, pulling back his eyelid and squinting closely at his face. 'I can't tell what they've got him on. His symptoms are weird. Doesn't look like he's reacting badly to it, but we'll have to just keep an eye on him. It'll be when it wears off that we'll have to really watch him, because if he has a bad reaction to his comedown...'

'Me and Ryu have dealt with this kind of things loads of time, Hinata, you shouldn't worry.' Noya slapped him on the back. 'We've dealt with situations far worse than this, as well. You have no idea how many people who came to us for drugs were in a really bad state.'

'Should we get Suga?'

They both shook their head. 'Suga won't know how to deal with this, he's had no experience with drugs. Seriously, have some faith in us, we're idiots but we know how to handle this. The best thing we can do now is try and lie him down and get him to sleep it off. Noya, go fetch some water.'

'Roger!' Noya bounced from the room and Tanaka made Hinata help him get Kageyama lying down on his side.

'Lean his head a little so he's a bit over the edge, yeah, that's it, just in case he throws up. If he's lying on his back and he hurls, he might choke.' Tanaka sighed and plonked himself down on the floor, resting his arms on his knees. Hinata joined him. 'If anything, it's probably just something to calm him down.'

'They gave him something earlier, when they took him-'

'Yeah, bet they upped the dosage when it wore off. He was probably causing them a lot of problems. Even if he was thrown into isolation and wasn't any harm to them, he could be a potential risk to himself. Most prisoners know to keep their cool if they know they're being taken to isolation, because you'll get let out much faster, but I'm guessin' 'cos Kags is new, he doesn't really know the rules around here. He started a fight with Aoba Johsai, for Christ's sake! He's askin' for it, I swear.'

'We don't know he started that fight.'

Tanaka shrugged. 'He must have done something to piss them off. They'll leave you alone as long as you don't bother them... usually.'

Hinata ended up skipping dinner that night so he could stay and watch over Kageyama, who had eventually fallen into a fitful sleep. Tanaka and Noya said they weren't going to miss out on curry night and there was nothing they could do for Kageyama until he woke up, but Hinata refused to go with them. They'd shrugged and left but had returned an hour later with a bowl of rice snuck down Tanaka's jumpsuit.

'Noya had to distract a guard so I could get this out, but we know what it's like to miss a meal in here, you don't think much of it at the time, but when it gets to about three in the morning and your stomach is really growling, you'll regret it. We only get fed the minimum amount required, so you don't wanna skip a meal.'

Eating the rice made Hinata's mouth dry, and he longed to be back at home with his mother's cooking. He missed her spicy curries, her fried eggs, and the beef-and-tofu stew she used to always make for him. Thinking about this made his mouth water a little so at least that was something.

God, he missed his family. He'd only been here two days but he hadn't actually been home in over a month. He wanted his room back, with his comfy bed and his volleyball posters and balls. He missed Natsu, it was weird sleeping without her in the room with him. It was a bad habit of hers she'd had since she was a little kid, dragging a futon into his room and sleeping next to his bed. She didn't do it as often now she was older, but sometimes she came in, usually when she was feeling sad or lonely, and would lie down on the floor next to him and talk to him for a while.

He pictured her in his room now, lying on the floor in her futon, crying, whilst staring up at his empty bed.

Would he ever be able to see her again?

Was she ashamed of him?

First thing in the morning, he told himself, go speak with Officer Takeda and get him to send them a letter so they can apply to visit. They need to know the truth. He couldn't have his mother thinking her only son was a criminal.

That night, while Tanaka and Noya slept, Hinata remained seated on the floor, watching Kageyama. They had been confused as to why he cared so much, Kageyama wasn't even his friend and he was really weird, but Hinata said if someone died under his care he'd never be able to live with it. He didn't want to end up in therapy either.

Plus, Kageyama had wanted to speak with him and Hinata was eager to find out why, even if they did think Hinata should be wary of him because of his blue collar.

If he could befriend Kageyama, then maybe he would be able to find out why Kageyama actually wore that colour.

As there was no clock in their room, and none of them owned a watch, Hinata was unsure what time it was when Kageyama woke up. He yelped, sitting bolt upright, waking up the other two.

'Kags? Shut up will ya!' Tanaka grumbled.

Kageyama wasn't listening. He was getting to his feet, his eyes wide. He stared at Hinata for a moment, before rushing to the door and trying to wrench it open. Of course, it had been locked from the outside by an officer and would not be opened again until six the following morning.

'Woah, Kags, calm it, what's wrong with ya? Are you alright?'

'I need to get out of here!' Kageyama was shouting, not bothering to keep his voice down. It was hard to see, as the light was not on and all they had was the dim glow of moonlight through the barred window, but it appeared that Kageyama was really shaking. 'Christ, get back into bed, you're havin' a really bad comedown-'

'No, no, get off me!' Kageyama smacked Noya away when he'd tried to grab hold of his arm. He looked really frightened. 'Get away from me! I need to leave! I have to leave! I can't stay here! He'll kill me! He'll kill me!'

'Who? Who's going to kill you?' Tanaka demanded, jumping down from his bed. He help up both hands to Kageyama to try and show he wasn't a threat. 'You're safe in here, no one is going to kill you.'

'No, you don't understand!' Kageyama stepped into a slither of moonlight and Hinata could see just how pale he was. Whoever it was that Kageyama was talking about, they were really scaring him. 'I have to leave the prison.'

'You're not well, Kags, let's get you back into bed-'

'NO! I HAVE TO LEAVE!'

'You can't leave! They're not going to let you out, this is a prison! Nobody in here is going to kill you, nobody in here even knows you, you're a newbie-'

Kageyama began hammering on the door, making the metal vibrate and send a loud booming echo throughout their cell room. Both Noya and Tanaka moved forwards and got either arm, dragging him back. 'Shut up, you idiot! If the guards come, they'll shock all of us! And you know Hinata could have another seizure!'

'GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF! I NEED TO GET OUT! HE WAS IN THE ROOM WITH ME! HE WAS THERE!'

'Who was there?! Who are you talking about?'

'I WOKE UP AND HE WAS THERE, GRINNING AT ME. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE! HE'S MAD AT ME. HE'S GOING TO GET ME. YOU NEED TO LET GO OF ME!'

'Will you stop screaming?!' Tanaka hissed.

'Where did they take you?' Hinata tried to get in front of him without being kicked. Kageyama was really struggling against the two of them, who were trying to force him back into bed. Tanaka even attempted to put his hand over Kageyama's mouth to stop him from shouting, but ended up being bitten and swearing even louder. 'Did you go to the Therapy Room? Was Bokuto there? He's got spiky white-sort-of-grey hair?'

'Do you think it's Bokuto he's talking about?'

'I would be scared too if I was locked up in a room with Bokuto,' Tanaka couldn't help but laugh, even though he was still holding onto a squirming Kageyama. 'Although that would be because I'd start believing his whacky theories after a while. I don't think it's him Kags is upset about though, can you see Bokuto killing anyone?'

'Definitely not! It can't be Bokuto he's talking about!' Hinata cried in Bokuto's defense, even though he had no idea what Bokuto was in the prison for. He didn't wear a collar, so for all he knew, Bokuto could have once been blue. He tried to help the two of them out but received a kick to the shin. He howled and hoped around the room. 'Kageyama, you jerk! We're just trying to help you!'

'If you want to help me, then get me out of this prison!' Kageyama wrenched himself free of the two boys and flung himself at the door again, trying to use the weight of his whole body to throw it open. Both Tanaka and Noya threw up their hands in defeat and collapsed onto Noya's bed, panting. Tanaka was massaging his hand, which had deep bite marks.

'Prepare yourself for another shock, Hinata. When the officers hear him, they're going to punish us for not trying to stop him.'

'Hope you enjoy another night in isolation!' Noya snapped at Kageyama, who froze and turned to look at them.

'No, no, I can't go back there. He'll be there. He's going to kill me. They promised me I'd be safe here, they promised-'

'Jeez, Kags, calm it and sit down and tell us what the fuck is going on, because I'm tired and you bit my fucking hand and if I get some kind of disease from you, I swear to-'

'He's in the prison.'

'Yes, you've said that, but what we're confused about is who, because I don't know if you haven't realised by now, but I'm not a fucking physic.'

Kageyama slid down the wall and put his face into his knees, muttering the same words over and over, tugging at his short black hair. There was a nasty looking bruise on his right upper arm and Hinata briefly wondered where he had gotten it from but forgot about it when Kageyama said something different.

He mumbled so quietly that the three of them frowned and leaned closer, asking him to repeat himself.

The silence that followed was long and annoying. Tanaka ended up lobbing a pillow at Kageyama, who flinched even though it barely hit him. He then got up and began pulling at the door again, before screeching when it wouldn't open and banging his head against it. Shouting at him to stop, both Noya and Tanaka dragged him away and Hinata took the opportunity to push him down onto his bed. The three of them held onto him to keep him seated.

They could hear banging outside. Other inmates were shouting.

'Shit, the guards are coming. They're going to take you away again for making so much noise, so quickly, tell us who is going to kill you and we'll do what we can to help-'

'You can't do anything.' Kageyama looked down at his feet. 'If they take me, I'll die.'

'Then I'll say it was me who was making the fucking noise then,' Tanaka snapped, glancing over his shoulder. There was an officer speaking outside their door, demanding to know what was going on.

'I'll say it was me, I can handle a night in the slammer, but only if you fucking speak and tell me who's out to get you! We can protect you if you let us! What have they given you? If you tell me, I might know what it is- for all you know, everything you're saying could be in your head! I've been on some crazy stuff before where I saw my worst nightmares come to life. Let us help you with this! Tell us!'

A bolt was sliding.

The door was opening and the light from the outside corridor was starting to sneak into the room. They barely had seconds left before the officers would burst in and shock them all.

Kageyama pulled himself free of the others. Hinata was certain he had never seen another person this frightened before. He was sure even he himself hadn't looked so panicked when the judge in the courthouse had announced he was going to be doing life in prison, but then again, he wasn't thinking that someone was going to kill him.

'Oikawa Toru is in the prison. He's come here to kill me.'

Chapter Text

Despite Tanaka's desperate attempts to tell the guards that it was he who had been making all the noise, no one was listening to him. Whomever had reported the ruckus coming from their cell obviously knew exactly who had been causing the fuss and the three men that had come into the room were now wrestling with an angry and scared Kageyama, trying to get him out into the corridor without receiving any kicks to the leg.

A guard had threatened to shock the other three if they didn't keep back. Hinata attempted to argue back, wanting to help release Kageyama from their grip, but both Tanaka and Noya wrenched him onto Noya's bed and pressed their hands over his mouth to stop him from talking.

'You don't want another shock, you idiot!' Tanaka hissed in Hinata's ear.

It was awful watching Kageyama, who was completely beside himself in panic, being dragged from the room. He managed to get an arm free and was reaching out for Hinata, who wanted to grab hold of his wrist, but Noya had both his arms clamped behind his back.

The last thing they heard before the door slammed shut was 'I can't go back there!' and Hinata felt like he was on the verge of tears.

Angrily, he jumped up the moment the door had been relocked and turned to face his cellmates, who looked worn out and ashamed. He opened his mouth to shout something, anything, but words wouldn't come. It wasn't their fault. They'd tried their best to keep Kageyama calm, but it hadn't worked, and attempting to take the blame for his actions was a bust too.

All they had done was look out for Hinata's safety.

For all they knew, another seizure could kill him.

'What are they going to do to him?' Hinata moved over to the door and pressed his ear against it. He couldn't hear anything except a guard telling some other prisoners to shut up and go back to sleep.

'They'll just chuck him in isolation,' Tanaka replied, clambering up onto his own bunk and pulling the covers over his body. He yawned and stretched out his legs, one of which still had scribbles on. 'He's off his nut, that one.'

'Who's Oikawa?' Hinata asked. Noya shrugged half-heartedly.

'No idea. He can't be in the prison though, whomever he is, 'cos I would know. There isn't a single person in here I don't know. It'll be whatever medication they've put him on, he's probably been hallucinating.'

'Must be really freakin' scared of him,' Tanaka mumbled, his eyes closed. 'Maybe Kags killed him.'

'What?' Hinata gasped.

'That'd make sense if he's having visions of him,' Noya snuggled down into his own bed. 'There are some drugs that make you see really fucked up stuff, like your friends dying or monsters or whatever you're most scared of. We know Kags killed, or accidentally killed, someone, 'cos he's got a blue collar, so this Oikawa guy he's losin' his nut over might be the guy he killed. He could think he's back for revenge or somethin'.'

'Or he killed someone close to Oikawa, either way, whatever he's seeing, it'll wear off when the drugs wear off.' Tanaka rolled over to face the wall.

'If they knew he was upset because of the medication he was on, why would they just throw him back in here and not take him to the hospital?'

'You really need to remember that no one in this prison actually gives a shit, Hinata.' Tanaka groaned. 'Now shut up and go to sleep, and we'll talk about it in the morning. I'm shattered.'

Hinata found it extremely difficult to get any more sleep. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, listening to the sound of chirping birds from somewhere outside and Tanaka's loud snoring, wondering what could have happened in Kageyama's life to make him so deathly afraid of one person. If he had killed this man known as Oikawa, then it would make sense why he was so frightened about thinking he was back, because Hinata would probably piss his pants if he thought someone had risen from the dead and was coming after him.

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because he dreamt about Kenma and Kuroo. He couldn't recall any specifics of the dream when he was awoken at six a.m., but there was a tight knot in his chest that told him it was better if he didn't know, it was probably a nightmare.

Exercise that morning wasn't fun. He, Noya, and Tanaka were exhausted and didn't want to jump around outside in the freezing cold.

Hinata was almost falling asleep into his morning porridge and Suga had to stop him from planting his face into his breakfast.

'You're joining our group therapy session today, Hinata, straight after breakfast.' Suga told him, picking up the spoon that Hinata had dropped. He kicked Noya under the table, as he had been falling asleep sat upright. 'Both of you had better attend too, or Daichi will be after your heads. You can't keep skipping it.'

'We don't need group therapy.' Tanaka grumbled, pushing his mushy porridge around the bowl. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes. 'All I want is sleep and a shower.'

'Tough. You can do that after our session.'

'Group therapy?' Hinata asked. Suga nodded.

'We have a session once a week. Not everyone is entitled to private therapy so this is a good way to talk about any problems you're having in a secure, friendly location. I've had Takeda place you in our group, which is called the Karasuno group, because I said you are friends with the majority of us, so you'd feel more comfortable talking in that kind of environment.'

'What do I have to talk about?' Hinata felt nervous. He couldn't tell this group about Nekoma or Kuroo. For all he knew, some of the other members could be part of Nekoma and would report back whatever he said.

'It's up to you, really. No one is going to force you if you don't want to speak. You can talk about how you ended up in prison, or how you're currently coping in prison, or anything that makes you feel anxious or upset-'

'Do you want people to pick on him?' Tanaka interrupted. 'Don't be sissy, Hinata. You gotta bottle it all up in here or you're gonna get beat.'

'For crying out loud, Tanaka, please don't scare him. Don't worry, Hinata, we have a rule in the therapy room that whatever is said there stays within the room.'

Both Tanaka and Noya started to laugh, which irritated Suga. 'You're kidding, right? Nothing in this prison stays private, Hinata, believe me. You gotta be careful about what you say and who you say it to.'

Hinata sprung up so fast he made the three other men jump. 'I gotta pee!'

Without waiting for them to reply, he hurried off, breaking into a sprint when he passed the guard at the cafeteria door. He'd spotted a bathroom earlier when they were walking to the cafeteria, and he was certain it wasn't bathroom one.

Unfortunately, it wasn't empty. A group of guys were stood in there, smoking. They glared at Hinata as he entered and he panicked and tried to turn to leave but one of them shouted after him. 'If you need to pee, just go.'

'No, no, I'm fine now! I don't need to!' Hinata spluttered his words, not wanting to have to pee in front of them. He knew that nerves would get the better of him and he wouldn't be able to do it and they'd only end up laughing at him even more than they were doing now.

'Hey, you're that punk ass kid that bumped into Terushima!'

'I have to go!' Hinata leapt from the bathroom before they could stop him and ran down the corridor and didn't stop until he'd reached the Recreational room. He paused to catch his breath and took the stairs to the second floor, and eventually found an empty bathroom. He was just washing his hands when a guy around his own height entered, stopped in his tracks, and observed him silently for a moment. Hinata stuck up his fists, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 'You want to go, huh? I'm not scared-'

'You really shouldn't pick a fight in a prison bathroom,' the guy sighed and moved over to the urinal. 'You of all people should try to keep their head down around here.'

'Huh? What do you mean? Who are you? A spy? What do you want from me?'

The stranger finished peeing and moved over to the sink to wash his hands. He was wearing an orange collar around his neck. 'Yes, actually.'

If Hinata hadn't already peed, he would probably be doing it right now in his jumpsuit.

'I used to work for Kuroo, before I got caught.' He wiped his hands on his jumpsuit and raised an eyebrow at Hinata, who had his fists raised again. 'Stop it. I'm not here to hurt you. I actually think what happened to you was crappy and you don't deserve to be in this place, but keep that between us. Just be aware that there are quite a few guys in here who were part of Nekoma, and they still report back to Kuroo. I've already heard word spread that we should be keeping a close eye on you.'

'I haven't said anything! I promise! I'll swear on anything! You can tell Kuroo that!'

'Calm down! Honestly, none of us are really watching you. We've got better things to do than keep an eye on some kid who got mixed up with the wrong crowd. All I'm saying is be careful what you say, because word spreads quickly around here, and don't start fights in bathrooms. Or at all.'

Something about this guy reminded Hinata of Suga.

He held out his hand for Hinata to shake. 'I'm Yaku Morisuke, by the way.'

'Nice to meet you!' Hinata said this a little too loudly and shook his hand with a tad too much enthusiasm. Regardless of how nice this person seemed, they still worked for Kuroo and belonged to the Nekoma group. For all he knew, it could be an act and everything he said could be a lie. 'I have to go now!'

'Oh, don't feel like you need to leave because of me-'

'I have a group meeting!' Hinata shouted, before exiting the bathroom as quickly as he could. He didn't stop walking and he didn't look back until he'd reached the group therapy room, where everyone was already setting up fold-out plastic chairs in a circle.

'Hinata! I wondered where you'd gotten to! Come in, get a chair, and sit down in the circle!' Suga waved him over.

There were eleven people in the room in total, including himself. He took a chair and folded it out so that he was sat between Tanaka and Suga. The big guy, Asahi, from the commissary shop was here, along with the barber, Ennoshita. There were four new faces that Hinata did not know, but one of them had really caught his attention.

Opposite him sat a tall, blonde haired guy with glasses.

Bokuto's friend?

Once everyone had settled down, Daichi stood up and addressed the group. 'I'm happy to see we have almost full attendance, which is starting to become quite a rare thing.'

Tanaka and Noya looked away when Daichi shot them a death glare.

'We were supposed to have someone else joining us, but I've heard he's currently in isolation, which is unfortunate. Anyway, to those who haven't already met him, we have a new inmate, Hinata Shouyou.' He pointed in Hinata's direction, and all eyes turned to look at him, making Hinata shake a little in his seat. 'I thought what we could do, to make Hinata feel comfortable and more willing to speak, is we would go around the circle and introduce ourselves and if you feel up to it, tell him why you're in the prison.'

'Do we really have to?' The blonde guy sighed, rolling his eyes. Daichi nodded.

'How about we start with you then, Tsukishima?'

'You've already said my name. Is that not enough?' Tsukishima wiped his glasses on the front of his jumpsuit and let out another sigh before speaking. 'My name is Tsukishima Kei. If you call me anything other than Tsukishima, I'm going to be unhappy-'

'You're always unhappy.' Tanaka cut across him and Suga reached over to hit him.

'Somehow, being locked up in a high security prison with you lot really doesn't do much to please me. Shocking, really.' Tsukishima said sarcastically, rubbing at his eyes. They were looking a little bloodshot, like he hadn't had much sleep. 'As for why I'm here, that's not really anyone's business, is it?'

He was wearing a red collar.

Hinata couldn't remember what that meant.

Robbery?

'Are you alright, Tsukki?' The heavily freckled boy to his left asked him, looking concerned. 'You keep rubbing your eyes. Are you tired?'

'I would have slept better if someone hadn't been screaming last night,' Tsukishima pushed his glasses up his nose. 'I heard it was your whack-job cell mate, Tanaka. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to be joining us today? From what I saw of him, he seemed pretty ordinary, but I guess anyone would start screaming if they had to be locked up in a cell with you three all night.'

'Why you-' Tanaka rose to his feet, fists held up, but Daichi moved over and forced him back down again.

'Yamaguchi, how about you?' Daichi steered the conversation elsewhere.

'Oh, um, okay. Hi Hinata! Nice to meet you, my name is Yamaguchi Tadashi.' He gave Hinata a small wave. He too had a red collar. 'I, uh, probably shouldn't say why I'm here, since Tsukki doesn't want to speak about it, and we're both in for the same thing-'

'Stop talking, Yamaguchi.' Tsukishima said quietly.

'I don't know why you're acting like it's such a big deal that you have to keep it a secret,' Tanaka snorted. 'All you did was rob a bank. Several, actually, if I heard the rumours correctly.'

'It's really none of your business, is it?'

'Tanaka, be quiet. You'll have your turn to speak in a moment. When someone else is talking, you keep it zipped.' Daichi snapped and turned back to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. 'Thank you for introducing yourselves. Do you have any advice you'd like to give to Hinata about prison life, or shall I move on?'

'I'd recommend growing about forty centimetres taller,' Tsukishima smirked, peering over his glasses at Hinata. 'But I'm guessing you stopped growing a long time ago. What are you, nineteen?'

'I'm twenty-two!' Hinata pouted and Tsukishima laughed.

'You could have fooled me. Hey, maybe you could convince the guards that you're actually a prepubescent teenager and have them move you to a correctional facility instead.'

'I could still grow!'

'Moving on!' Daichi cut across the pair of them and turned to a guy with short light brown hair. He had a pink collar and both of his arms were wrapped tightly in bandages. 'Kinoshita?'

'Hey, my name is Kinoshita Hisashi, good to meet you. It's a shame you got lumped with baldy and the shrimp over there, since me, Ennoshita, and Narita had a spare bed. Baldy really snores, doesn't he? I had to share with him once, it was awful.'

'You little-'

Suga and Daichi stopped Tanaka and Noya from getting up to fight him.

'Don't razz them!' Suga sighed.

'Anyway, me and Narita are both in for vandalism,' he tapped at his pink collar. The guy next to him, presumably Narita, nodded. He had a shaved head like Tanaka. 'I actually thought we'd both be charged for drugs, since we got involved in loads of gang shit and took... well, a lot, but they can only charge you with that if you're caught with something. We were caught smashing up some buildings. I don't really remember; I wasn't really on earth at the time.'

'Yeah, I'm Narita Kazuhito. Hey.' He seemed a little on edge, Hinata couldn't work out why. He ended up slapping Kinoshita, who was scratching at his bandages. 'Come on Daichi, hurry it up, I don't want to spend all day here.'

'Sure, sorry.' Daichi turned to Ennoshita. 'I've heard you've already met Hinata, so perhaps we should skip you-'

'No, no, I can tell my story.' Ennoshita smiled over at Hinata. He had on a yellow collar. This was the first time Hinata had properly noticed it. 'Well, my story is-'

There was a loud crashing sound as Ennoshita fell sideways off of his chair and collided with Narita, who panicked and jumped to his feet. Daichi was swearing and rushing over, while Kinoshita hurried over to a cabinet in the corner and brought back a small blue cushion.

'This happens every week,' Suga rubbed at his temple. Hinata was trying to lean over him to look at what had happened. 'Don't worry, Hinata. It's ok. Ennoshita has narcolepsy, which means he can randomly fall asleep. We've noticed that it happens when he tries to speak about his past. He always tries to, every week, and each time he falls asleep. It's probably brought on by some kind of trauma, but we have no idea. Is he alright, Daichi?'

'Yes! Thankfully he landed on Narita so he didn't hit his head. We'll just put a cushion under his head and let him sleep. Sorry, we should have warned you Hinata, that must have scared you.'

'I'm alright!' Hinata said. 'What if he fell asleep while cutting someone's hair?'

From the dark looks on both Suga and Daichi's faces, Hinata had to guess that this had actually happened before. 'Everyone here knows not to talk to Ennoshita about his past, unless they want him accidentally slicing them as he falls down.'

'I will remember that!' Hinata cried. He didn't want to be cut when he went for a trim.

'Do you think one day he'll actually freakin' tell us what he did? 'Cos I swear, it's driving me nuts. I tried asking Takeda but he won't tell me- prisoner confidentially or some bullshit.' Tanaka groaned, ignoring the disapproving look that Suga was giving to him. 'Come on, how many yellow collars do you know? He had to be involved in some kind of trafficking thing-'

'Don't jump to conclusions,' Daichi said sternly. 'You know full well that you cannot judge a person until you know their story.'

'Yeah, funny how you won't tell us yours,' Tanaka muttered. Daichi didn't hear him, but Hinata did. He frowned, looking over at Daichi, who was stood making sure Ennoshita was as comfortable as possible.

Surely if Daichi was the one running this group, he would have at least told them something about his prison sentence. The more people that shared their stories, the more that would talk, right?

It was Tanaka and Noya's turn to speak next. Even though they'd already told Hinata their story, they wanted to repeat it, even though the rest of the group didn't want to hear it. They ended up acting most of it out, using Hinata to play the part of Tanaka's sister, Saeko, and eventually, Daichi got sick of it and made them sit down and said it was someone else's turn.

'Well, it's not like any of you three are going to speak!' Tanaka huffed, glaring over at the three blue collars. 'We have to use up the mandatory hour-slot, so you might as well just let me and Yu put on a show! Unless you've had a change of heart and you're going to tell us who you shanked, because I'm willing to listen-'

'Tanaka, be more sensitive.' Suga snapped. 'Asahi, how about you introduce yourself to Hinata. I don't think you've properly met.'

This was a big task for Asahi. He didn't like being centre of attention and found himself stumbling over his own words, eventually going beet red and Daichi made him stop. He glanced at the clock on the wall. 'Actually, Asahi, I think it's almost time for your private therapy session. You should head off; you don't want to be late.'

'Yes!' Asahi sprung upwards as though someone had just stabbed his behind with a pin. He gave Hinata an incredibly awkward wave and left the room.

'Could he be anymore incompetent?' Tsukishima muttered, loud enough for Asahi to hear before he left. He then clapped his hands together and stood up. Hinata had to stop himself from gasping, he thought Tsukishima had looked tall sitting down, but he was huge! He had to be about six-two. 'Well, this was... not fun. I'm going to leave now.'

'If he's going, I'm going!' Noya declared. Tanaka agreed.

'Why does Asahi get to leave? For all you know, I could have a private meeting!'

'The session is not over yet, so everyone, sit down!' Daichi snapped and anyone who had stood up took their seats again. Tsukishima didn't look pleased about it but it was evident he was wise enough to know to not get on the wrong side of Daichi. He let out a long breath and turned to Hinata. 'Tanaka, I know full well you don't see a therapist, so don't even try it, and you know Asahi requires regular visits because of his anxiety, so zip it. Right, Hinata, why don't you share your story.'

'We already know it,' Tsukishima interrupted. 'The whole prison knows it, since Dumb and Dumber over there spread it around the prison while Shorty was in hospital. I really do have better things I could be doing. The only stories I haven't heard are yours, Suga's or the snivelling one, but I actually really don't care what you did.'

'Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!' Noya began chanting and Tanaka quickly joined in, the pair of them beating their legs with their fists.

Suga and Daichi exchanged troubled glances.

'Cut it out.' Daichi said and they stopped immediately. 'You had better not act this way whenever Kageyama joins us, seeing as he's obviously having a bad time because of it-'

'Kageyama?' Tsukishima spoke, his eyebrows furrowed. 'Is that his name?'

'Yes, why?' Daichi replied. 'Do you know him?'

'Thankfully, no,' Tsukishima said. 'However, now that you've said his name, I think I might know why he's in the prison. Hmm. Interesting that. Well, I'm bored of this.'

He got up to leave but both Tanaka and Noya shouted him down. Noya flung himself at Tsukishima, grabbing him around the middle, chanting 'Tell us!' again, over and over. Tsukishima eventually gave in, only because Noya refused to let go otherwise.

'I don't know, we shouldn't really tell Kageyama's story without his permission...' Suga tried to intervene, but Tanaka shushed him, which earned him a lecture from Daichi.

'All I know is that Bokuto was arrested by a cop called Kageyama,' Tsukishima said, wiping at the front of his jumpsuit as though Noya had left some kind of stain there. 'And from a newspaper I read about a month ago-'

'You know Bokuto?! Really? I thought it was you! He'd mentioned you! Not by name, but he said you were super tall and had glasses!' Hinata spouted eagerly, ignoring the irritable look Tsukishima was giving him. 'I met him in the hospital! He's great, isn't he? I really want to speak to him again, but they won't let me. Can I ask you about him? What's he in for? Do you know Akaashi? What's wrong with him? He's hidden behind that curtain in the hospital, so I figured it must be something bad. I know I shouldn't pry but I really want to know.'

For a brief moment, Tsukishima looked severely confused, almost as if Hinata had asked him how to do rocket science or to multiply large numbers in his head. 'You're aware that-'

A cry had cut him off.

Everyone spun on the spot to find Suga shrieking into his hands and Daichi was stood behind him, paralysed with shock. He had one hand on the back of Suga's neck, which he quickly withdrew. He came to his senses after a split second and moved to try and comfort Suga, who was in such a weird state, but the moment his hand touched Suga's shoulder, Suga reached out and slammed him into the nearest wall, one hand around his throat.

'Shit!' Tanaka dived forwards and rugby tackled Suga away from Daichi, who fell to the floor on his knees, gasping for breath.

Frightened, Hinata backed away, watching Tanaka struggle to keep Suga on the ground.

What had happened in the moment that Hinata had had his back to him to make him like this?

Despite having only known Suga for about three days, seeing him like this was a real surprise. He could never have imagined Suga acting this way, he was so calm and collected usually, he was the one who would keep the others in check. Now he was lying on the floor, screaming, tears rolling down his face, trying his best to throw Tanaka off of him.

'Get off him!' Daichi wheezed, crawling forwards. He pushed Tanaka out of the way and held Suga down by the shoulders. 'You all need to leave now!'

'What the fuck is going on, Daichi?'

'Why is he screaming?' Narita asked as he helped hoist Ennoshita's sleeping figure into Kinoshita's arms.

'Just go! Please! It's my fault! I was careless! The session is over! I need to handle this! Don't just stand there! Get out! Tsukishima, help me, please!'

Before anyone else could ask any more questions, Tsukishima had taken charge and was ordering everyone out of the room. Hinata left quickly, not wanting to watch Suga screech any longer.

When he got out into the corridor, he leant against a wall and tried to control his breathing.

'Holy shit, did you see that? He slammed Daichi into a wall, like, full on slammed him.' Tanaka was saying to Narita, who was scratching his head. Kinoshita and Yamaguchi, who had rushed over to help, had both carried Ennoshita off somewhere.

'I've seen Suga acting really weird sometimes, but never like that. It's actually scary.'

'I saw him flip out like that once before, but I didn't have chance to find out what had happened, I was only walking past the room at the time,' Tanaka was saying. 'Daichi turned up the moment Suga started shrieking and slammed the door in my face. I guess Daichi is the only one who can calm him down.'

'Maybe he had a flashback or something,' Noya put in, chewing his thumbnail. 'Ah man, you don't think it's our fault, do you? We were pressuring them to tell their stories, maybe it caused Suga to start thinking about his-'

'It can't have been,' Narita said, frowning. 'Daichi said it was his fault. Daichi wasn't pressuring him to do anything.'

'Stop talking about it and move.' Tsukishima had exited the room, stone-faced, and shut the door behind him. 'Do not mention this to anyone. Now go.'

It only took one sharp glare from Tsukishima to get the three boys moving. Narita, Tanaka, and Noya took off down the corridor and disappeared around a corner, leaving just Hinata and Tsukishima in the corridor. He rounded on Hinata, looming over him.

'Move.'

'What's wrong with him? What happened?'

'It's none of your business, now go.'

Tsukishima grabbed hold of both of Hinata's shoulders and spun him around, steering him down the corridor. Hinata wrenched himself free and turned to face Tsukishima. 'Wait, wait, I still want to talk to you. I won't ask about Suga, I promise. What do you know about Bokuto?'

'What I know is not your business, I hate having to repeat myself. If Bokuto wanted you to know why he was here, he would have told you. Evidentially, he does not, so I'm not going to tell you either. Don't pester me about it. Don't ask me about Akaashi either. I'm not going to tell you anything.'

He tried to push past Hinata but was blocked.

'Tell me about Kageyama then. You must have heard him screaming last night, he thinks someone is in the prison who is trying to kill him. Have you heard of someone called Oikawa Toru?'

Tsukishima actually turned to look at him, chewing his lip. 'Yes, I have.'

'So he's actually in the prison?! Oh God, oh God, we need to help Kageyama! Where is the isolation bit? I'll go and break him out! They can't lock him up with someone who is trying to kill him-'

'Will you stop talking. You have no idea what you're on about. You are aware this is a prison, right? I don't know what goes on in that empty head of yours, but it's not a game or some kind of movie. I didn't realise you were so talented. How about when you free Kageyama and Bokuto from whatever part of the prison they're being held in, how about you bust us all out, yeah? I'll definitely owe you one.' It was almost as if Tsukishima had upped his level of sarcasm. 'Give up whatever little fantasy you have in your head, because it's not going to happen and there is nothing you can do for what's-his-face.'

'But if Oikawa is in the prison-'

'From what I know, this Oikawa person is not in the prison.'

'Huh?'

Tsukishima sighed. He rubbed at his eyes again. 'For all I know, the Kageyama I've heard about might not even be related to your crazy friend. All I know is what I've read, so once I've told you this, leave me alone and stop bothering me, because I don't have any answers for you. Bokuto was arrested by a police officer named Kageyama, presumably a father or an uncle to your friend, and last month, I borrowed one of Takeda's newspapers and there was a story about an Officer Kageyama who had been murdered-'

'WHAT?!'

'You're going to give me a headache.' Tsukishima closed his eyes, rubbing at his temple. 'Just listen, will you? I'm only going to say this once. Don't jump to conclusions, but if this Oikawa's name has been said, then it's more than likely this officer was a relative.'

'Can you find me the newspaper?'

'What? No. I threw it out.'

'Why would you do something like that?!'

'Because I didn't need it anymore and I don't like collecting litter? Anyway, be quiet. All that the paper said was that Officer Kageyama had been involved with the Aoba Johsai gang, I think he was investigating them or something, which isn't surprising since they are a huge drug cartel, and he was stabbed and killed. There were a list of suspects and the name at the top was a Oikawa Toru, who was reported to have gone on the run and has been missing since the attack. There was a photo of him and I can assure you, I have not seen him in the prison. Your friend is clearly out of his mind.'

Hinata stared at him for a moment. 'So, what you're saying is... Oikawa murdered Kageyama's father?'

'Or Uncle. Or brother, it didn't actually say an age. I don't know how old your friend is.'

'Was there anything in the newspaper about why the Kageyama we know is in the prison?'

'We? I don't know him. And no. I've told you everything I know, so I'm going now. Don't follow me.'

Before Hinata could throw any more questions at him, Tsukishima had turned on his heel and strode off down the corridor as fast as his long legs could carry him.

Hinata slowly began to make his way back to his own cell, everything that Tsukishima had said rushing through his mind. No wonder Kageyama had been so scared, he was seeing the face of a man who had murdered his own father. Or other family relative.

What if Kageyama had seen it happen?

Could he have been framed for his own father's death?

What if this Oikawa person had some kind of vendetta against the Kageyama family and was now going to be coming after the final member?

No, he couldn't get inside the prison. It was all in Kageyama's head. It had to be.

Chapter Text

Three days had passed, and Kageyama still had not returned to the prison, which only made Hinata steadily more worried.

When he finally managed to get hold of Officer Takeda, whom he had been searching for to request a letter be sent to his family to encourage them to come visit, he had asked if he knew anything about Kageyama, but unfortunately, Takeda had no answers for him and said he would look into it, but Hinata shouldn't get his hopes up. He said it was more than likely that Kageyama was being held in isolation and wasn't getting any better- they wouldn't let him back into the prison unless they could be sure he wouldn't be a threat to himself or others.

'I think they're planning on assigning you to do some factory work next week,' Takeda also mentioned to him. 'I'll let you know, so just enjoy this week while you've got some free time. Suga has told me you've settled in quite easily. I'm glad you get on so well with Tanaka and Nishinoya, most people find them a bit ... boisterous.'

Hinata wasn't sure whether or not to be pleased by this news. He didn't like the idea of doing boring factory work at all, but he'd been slowly going insane having nothing to do- it hadn't even been a week yet, how he was going to survive another twenty to thirty years he didn't know. Everyone kept telling him to get a hobby, but the only thing he really enjoyed was volleyball, which he wasn't allowed to be play because it was too 'dangerous'.

Sure, Hinata had taken several balls to the face in his lifetime, resulting in many bloody noses, and he had seen teammates break fingers or arms, or come away from a match covered in bruises, but that could potentially happen with any sport.

They were allowed to play basketball on the courtyard outside sometimes, but Tanaka said this was only very rarely and they wouldn't be sent out until the weather started to warm up a bit.

The day after the group therapy session Suga had joined them at their table for lunch and everyone had held their breath. Daichi had warned them all in advance that if they breathed a word about what had happened to Suga or dared question him about it they'd be in serious trouble.

Suga acted like nothing had happened. He had returned to his normal, smiling self and talked completely naturally, as though he hadn't spent the previous day screaming. Either he didn't notice all the quick glances everyone kept giving him, as though expecting him to explode any moment, or he just didn't care.

Hinata felt on edge being near him. With Bokuto's warning still in his mind and seeing the way Suga had lost his cool and physically hurt his own boyfriend, he was unsure whether or not to keep his trust in him.

Bokuto may have known about these little outbursts that Suga had - perhaps that was what his warning meant. Hinata didn't want to lose Suga as a friend, but he was going to keep his distance from now on if he could help it, or at least stand a little away so if Suga did flip out, he couldn't easily grab him.

Despite Tsukishima telling him to stay away and not ask questions, Hinata ended up following him around a lot, talking about Bokuto and trying to get Tsukishima to at least tell him what Bokuto was like as a person before he lost his mind. This only aggravated Tsukishima and he ended up pushing Hinata into one of the Aoba Johsai gang members.

Hinata had sprinted for his life and hidden in his bunk for an hour before he was certain no one was after him.

By the fourth morning of Kageyama's disappearance, Hinata was seriously considering getting himself in so much trouble that he would be taken to isolation. He knew they wouldn't put him in a room with Kageyama, but perhaps if he shouted loud enough, Kageyama would be able to hear him. Tanaka had said when he was in isolation, you could hear the other inmates through the walls.

Then again, he didn't want to receive another shock. He'd done well to keep himself away from trouble and would always scarper from a room if he saw anyone fighting, as the guards would just shock everyone in the area. He had learnt that unless the guards specifically pinpointed a certain collar, the shock would reach everyone within a certain distance.

He hadn't noticed it before, when he'd had his first electric shock (it was hard to spot anything when you were writhing on the floor having a seizure) but everyone in the cafeteria who had an orange or pink collar went down. It was understandable, since the officers didn't have the time (or the effort) to shock all the individuals involved in the fight.

Seeing as orange was the most common colour in the prison, Hinata needed to be wary of who he was in a room with and everyone's behaviour. If a group of orange collared men started to get rowdy or attempted to pick a fight with someone, Hinata left the room as fast as he could and made sure to get as far from them as possible.

This had actually become a running joke throughout the prison and many of the inmates purposely acted up so they could watch Hinata scarper from a room with his tail between his legs. Tanaka and Noya even ended up doing it once and burst out laughing when they found Hinata hiding in their cell.

'Have you had your blood test results back yet, Hinata?' Suga asked him that morning over breakfast.

Two days after the doctor had stated, Hinata had been called into the hospital to have his blood taken by a nurse. He had never had this done before and he really didn't like it, but he managed to put his mind elsewhere and it was done before he knew it. The nurse had pushed him out of the hospital before he could even start to ask whether or not he could visit Bokuto. He had been rather annoyed by it, seeing as the doctor had promised him he could.

'No! I've not heard anything!' Hinata grumbled as he shovelled food into his mouth. They'd been given cereal today, which was a welcome change to the porridge. Hinata had been starting to get rather sick of it. The cereal was pretty bland and the milk had definitely been watered down but it didn't matter too much. 'I wish they'd call me back in, I want to go see Bokuto!'

'Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn't want to speak to you?' Tsukishima had said as he had taken a seat at the end of their table, next to Yamaguchi. 'I don't know if you've realised this yourself but you're really rather annoying.'

'I'm going to ram that spoon up your bu-' Tanaka began but Suga cut him off.

'Why don't you go back to the hospital today and ask if they've had the results back yet, or ask when they think they'll get them in. I don't know how long it takes. I suppose it depends on what they're testing it for.'

'How can they use his blood to test if electric shocks give him a seizure anyway? That seems stupid.' Noya piped up and Suga shrugged.

'I'm not a doctor, don't ask me.'

'You two are aware that a light has gone in one of the bathrooms, right?' Tsukishima directed towards Tanaka and Noya, both of whom let out a long, very-whiny groan. 'You make it sound like you've been worked off your feet, but funnily enough, every time I've seen the pair of you, you've been sat around doing nothing. I suppose the prison guards expected too much, thinking a pair of monkeys could change a light bulb.'

'Who you callin' a monkey, you overgrown matchstick!'

'Wow, you really burned me, with that one.' Tsukishima rolled his eyes and dodged as Tanaka flung his spoon at his head. 'If you can't control yourselves, they're going to put you back in your cage. Shall I come by later and throw bananas at you?'

'Please don't talk about bananas,' Daichi sighed, pushing his half-eaten cereal away. Noya scooped it up immediately. 'I haven't had fruit in forever.'

'They have dried stuff in commissary.' Yamaguchi said and Daichi pulled a face.

'Not the same.'

'Nishinoya, if you keep eating like that, you're going to get fat.' Tsukishima commented and Noya glared at him, cheeks full. He was about to say something, despite his mouth being stuffed, but then Tsukishima let out a small gasp of pain and clutched at his forehead. Suga leaned forwards, putting a hand on his shoulder.

'Are you alright?'

'Tsukki, what's wrong?'

'It's nothing, I'm fine,' Tsukishima shook Suga off of him. He took off his glasses and peered at them for a moment, before wiping them on his jumpsuit and slipping them back on. 'I just keep getting headaches. I think I've spent too much time around idiots.'

'Perhaps you should go to the hospital.' Daichi suggested and Tsukishima snorted.

'Yeah, I'm sure they'll be eager to help me with a headache. They're such a caring bunch.'

'Alright, alright, I was just making a suggestion. Here, I'll get you some water.' He got up and came back with a plastic cup full of water from the cooler. Hinata still wasn't allowed to drink the prison water but had already drunk what had been provided to him so he couldn't share any with Tsukishima.

'Attention all inmates!' A guard had appeared in the doorway to the cafeteria. Silence fell as he spoke and everyone turned to look at him. 'You will be allowed an hour on the courtyard today after breakfast, there has been a gas leak on the third floor so it is currently out of bounds. You may return to your cells if you do not wish to go outside, but once you are there, you must stay put. This is for your own safety. We would recommend you all head outside, however. You have ten minutes to finish eating.'

He left and Tanaka and Noya let out a whoop of joy.

'If they're letting us out, they'll have to let the girls out too! Our third floor is connected to theirs through the therapy unit, so they'd probably have to be sent out as well!' Noya threw his fist into the air and Tsukishima shook his head, sighing.

'Excellent! I have some stuff I need to give to Saeko- actually, I should go grab it while I have the chance!' Tanaka jumped up and ran from the cafeteria.

The girls had indeed been sent out onto their own side of the courtyard, which thrilled many of the male inmates.

Hinata and Noya had met up with Tanaka again, who had something shoved in the front of his jumpsuit, and they were dragged to the edge of their court, where the fence ran across, separating each side. Many of the guys were huddled around here, trying to get the girls attention, and many of them had gathered where a beautiful dark-haired girl was stood. She was paying them no attention and was sat on a bench with her cute blonde-haired friend.

Surprisingly, Tanaka ignored her and moved down the fence, pushing some guys aside so he could talk to a girl with short honey-coloured hair. She was leaning against the fence, flirting with the guys, and her face cracked into a smile when she was Tanaka approaching. She waved the other guys away.

'Let me speak with my little brother, will you fellas?'

Tanaka Saeko really resembled her brother, they had the same goofy smile, and she had an air about her that said, 'don't mess with me or I'll fuck you up'. She was a lot prettier than Hinata had pictured her being, but that was probably because he'd imagined her bald.

'Saeko!' Noya greeted her warmly and Saeko slipped her hand through a hole in the fence to bump fists with him.

'Ah, it's been a while. Lucky there's some kind of gas leak, I've been dying to have a smoke for the past two weeks! Can you believe the bastard screws won't let us out as often anymore?' Saeko huffed and checked over her shoulder before she accepted the packet of cigarettes that Tanaka had smuggled out for her. She handed him back a stack of photos, which made Noya narrow his eyes. 'If you want some Noya, then get me something worth the trade, and don't expect me to get you any panty shots either.'

'No, I would never-!' Noya went quite red.

'We would never disrespect Kiyoko like that!' Tanaka snapped. Saeko laughed.

'Hey, Noya, if you can get me a bottle of vodka, I'll show my panties.'

'Don't say things like that!' Tanaka whacked at the fence, making her leap back. She smirked at him and then turned her attention to Hinata.

'Hey, who's the new kid? Nice ta' meet ya'! I'm Ryunosuke's big sis, Saeko.'

'Shouyou Hinata!' Hinata gave her a bow.

'No need to look so nervous, kid, there are no screws around. You'll get used to seeing contraband being swapped around eventually. Hey, you've got an orange collar too! Welcome to the club! We're the best ones, ya' know.'

The sound of many footsteps alerted them, and they turned to see a lot of the guys following after the cute blonde girl who was approaching Saeko. She looked a little panicked and grabbed hold of Saeko's black jumpsuit.

'Um, Saeko, Kiyoko wants to speak with you.'

'Hey cutie, look over here!' One guy shouted, making the blonde girl jump and hide behind Saeko, who puffed herself up and slapped her fist against the fence, making it vibrate.

'All of you can piss off right now before I climb over and kick your ass!' Saeko shouted. Most of the men swore back at her and her face became sour. 'Fine then, I'll just take Kiyoko and Yachi inside.'

This got the men moving. They grumbled about it, but they moved away a little, although many of them still peering over at the blonde girl. The majority of them were hollering at Kiyoko a little further down and it was making Tanaka and Noya very angry. Eventually they lost it and stomped over to start a fight.

'I'll go speak with her, then,' Saeko ruffed the other girl's hair and strode off. Hinata approached the fence, trying to see more of the girl's side of the prison, and jumped back when he noticed the blonde girl staring at him.

'H-hello! I'm Hinata Shouyou! Nice to meet you!'

Even though she was much smaller than he was, she was wearing a blue collar, which put Hinata on edge.

'H-hello!' The girl stammered back, her body quite rigid. 'I'm Yachi Hitoka! Please don't sell me drugs! I don't want to become an addict and get smuggled out of the prison to join a cartel and get eventually sold on to the highest buyer where he'll keep me as a personal housewife!'

'I- what? I'm not going to sell you anything!' Hinata waved his hands furiously. 'I know I have an orange collar but I was tricked into it! I don't want you to be sold off to anyone!'

'Really?! You mean that? Oh, thank God!' Yachi let out a relieved sigh. She gingerly took a few steps closer. 'It's really awful that someone would trick you like that! Oh no! Does this mean they'll be waiting for you when you get out of the prison? Will they send an assassin?! Have you checked the roof top?'

She spun on the spot, staring frantically around. Hinata couldn't help but look up as well, his forehead sweating, a mental image springing into his mind of Kuroo stood on the roof of the prison with some kind of sniper rifle.

Both of them breathed out when they saw the roof was empty.

'Did they trick you too?' Hinata asked and Yachi's cheeks went a little pink. She looked down at her shoes. The girls wore the same steel-toed boots that the boys did. Hinata immediately regretted asking. 'I'm sorry! I don't want to pry! I just thought that, well, you know, you have a blue collar, and I didn't think you would- I mean- I don't-'

'No, no, it's ok,' Yachi gave him a weak smile. She glanced over at the bench where Saeko and Kiyoko were still having a conversation. 'It-it wasn't our fault, but it's complicated.'

'You don't have to tell me, it's alright!'

Yachi gave him a much warmer smile. 'They have said that I will be able appeal again in a couple of months time for another trial, to re-look over the evidence, and me and Kiyoko might be able to get out of here!'

'That's amazing! I bet you'll get out!' Hinata cheered and Yachi beamed.

'Do you think you'll be able to get another trial, Hinata? How long have you been sentenced for?'

Hinata's smile vanished. 'They gave me life.'

'LIFE?!' Yachi cried so loudly many of the people around the two of them stopped chatting to turn to look. She went scarlet and hid her face. 'Sorry! I can't believe you have to stay here forever! I'm so sorry! I wish I could help you! I will tell them, when I have my trial, to let you out, ok? I'll do it! If I have to come, I'll come and bust you out myself, and we can escape to Mexico together and live out the rest of our lives as fugitives, I can grow crops and you can plough the land and we'll chop wood for the winter, and we might have to have children to look after us when we get too old-'

'Yachi, calm down.' A very soft, feminine voice said and she yelped. Kiyoko had come up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Even though Hinata had never really had much interest in girls, he found himself star struck by Kiyoko. She was so incredibly beautiful, the photos Tanaka had didn't even begin to capture it. The smile she gave him made his knees feel weak. 'I'm sorry about her, she's got a vivid imagination. Do you mind if I move her away, I get worried when the boys all start staring at her.'

A crowd had started to gather around Hinata, making him very nervous. He nodded vigorously. He liked Yachi and hoped he would be able to speak to her again, but he would have to hope they had a chance to meet up again without an audience. He was starting to be shoved out the way so the other men could speak with the two girls and all he could do was give Yachi a friendly wave goodbye as Kiyoko steered her away from the fence and back over to the bench.

All of the men groaned.

Tanaka appeared from the crowd, looking sullen and was now supporting a black eye. 'Stupid pricks. I'll destroy all of them if they keep ogling Kiyoko like that!'

'Wouldn't it be sensible to give up this dream of dating Kiyoko?' Suga had appeared from somewhere. 'She's dating Yachi, after all.'

'Don't say it!' Tanaka slapped his hands over his ears and began to march away. This only made Suga laugh.

'I keep trying to tell him that Kiyoko is a lesbian, but he won't listen to me. I think she's probably one of the things that keeps him sane in here. Sometimes it's better to picture what life would be like when you get out of prison, it really helps you get through the day if you can have something to look forward to, even if it won't actually happen.' Suga grabbed Hinata's arm and began walking him over to the other side of the concrete yard. 'Come with me, I want to introduce you to someone.'

The man Suga took him to meet was called Ukai Keishin . Hinata had been startled to find out he was the grandson of the prison warden. He was seated on a bench, his blonde hair pushed back by a hair band, smoking a cigarette, surrounded by people all asking him for stuff.

He laughed when he saw the shock in Hinata's face. 'Newbies always react the same way when they hear he's my old man. Doesn't give me any special treatment though, if anything, he abuses me more if he sees me. Guess I'm an embarrassment to the family.'

'Ukai can get you almost anything in and out of the prison,' Suga explained, while Ukai told most of the people around him to piss off and he hadn't gotten anything brought in yet and it wouldn't happen until Monday at the earliest. The only trade he did do was a very small bottle of whiskey for three packets of cigarettes. 'Of course, it's at a price. You have to have something worthwhile to trade.'

'Don't just approach me if you want something, though,' Ukai said, blowing a cloud of smoke over their heads. 'I can't have every Jack and John coming up to me in the prison, it'll look too fishy. Either tell Daichi or Suga you want to speak with me, and they'll arrange a meet up, or if you see me playing cards or watching TV or something casual, just join in.'

'Although don't join in if they're playing poker, because you'll lose.' Suga warned him and Hinata nodded. From his experiences of playing poker with Tanaka and Noya, he knew to avoid the game altogether. 'Actually Ukai, I wanted to speak with you about getting in some more sleeping pills for Daichi. He's been having some rough nights.'

While Suga and Ukai haggled over a fair exchange, Hinata gazed around the prison courtyard, wondering what it would be like in a year's time. He imagined himself in the black jumpsuit, sat on a bench with Tanaka and Noya, laughing and joking and completely at ease, while new orange-clad inmates shuffled around, looking terrified. He liked to think that they would look up to him as a mentor, he would be able to take them under his wing, just like the others had done for him, and guide them through prison life.

He also thought about Yachi had said about getting a retrial.

It was unlikely. Even if he did find a way to prove that it wasn't his fault, he'd still have to name names, and with his family's and Kenma's life on the line, he just couldn't risk it. Unless, by some kind of miracle, Kuroo dropped dead tomorrow, he doubted he would ever get the luxury of returning to court to plead his case.

A bump to his side by Suga made him fall back to earth. 'I'm going back to my cell, it's too cold out here. You want to walk with me or…?'

'Oh! Actually! I was thinking I might go to the hospital and ask about my blood tests!' Hinata replied and Suga nodded.

'Ah, sounds like a plan. See you around. Good luck trying to speak with Bokuto as well.'

Hinata pulled a face. Suga had seen right through his plan. He was using his blood test results as an excuse to get into the hospital to speak with Bokuto. Or at least try to.

As he walked off, a guy in an orange jumpsuit who Hinata had never seen before moved over to speak with Ukai. He was speaking quietly, so Hinata couldn't tell what he was saying. There were several orange-jumpsuit-wearing inmates around that Hinata hadn't paid much attention to, but there was a particular reason this one had caught his eye.

He was wearing a blue collar.

Had he only just been brought in?

Deciding it was best not to stick his nose in where it didn't belong, Hinata took off at a brisk walk, wanting to distance himself as far as possible from the new blue collared inmate. He was just thinking that he should have gotten a look at his prison number that was stamped across the front of his jacket, as he could have asked around to see if anyone knew who he was and why he was in there. As he rounded a corner, heading towards the hospital building, when he ran into a guy stood facing the rough brick wall of the prison.

It took Hinata a few seconds to realise it was Daichi.

He was stood on a gravel path that ran down the side of the prison building, connecting the courtyard to the open field area that led down to the hospital. He was stock still, his arms held by his side, just staring with an unreadable expression at the wall, barely blinking.

'Daichi?' Hinata took a few steps closer, twisting his hands together. Why was Daichi acting so weird? Was he playing a prank? 'Um, Daichi? Are you alright? Suga has gone back inside to his cell, if you're looking for him.'

There was no response.

He didn't even register that Hinata was speaking to him.

Curiously, Hinata shuffled forwards and poked his head around so Daichi could see him. He must have broken whatever trance Daichi was in because he turned to look at him, although his eyes still seemed weirdly out of focus and glassy. Hinata jumped back cautiously. 'Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt! I get caught up in my daydreams sometimes-'

'Where's Yui?'

Hinata frowned.

Who was Daichi talking about?'

'Wha'?'

Daichi took a step forwards, his fists clenched, his gaze locked onto Hinata. 'Where is Yui? I need to speak with her.'

'Uhh...' Hinata glanced back over his shoulder. He couldn't see the girl's court from here and he wasn't sure why he was trying to look, because he had no idea what this Yui girl looked like. 'Well, I think the girl's are still out on their side of the court, so you should probably go over there quick before we all get sent back inside again. Is she friends with Kiyoko or Yachi? The last I saw they were sitting on a bench.'

'You need to tell me where she is right now.' His voice was low and threatening. Hinata's legs were shaking. He wanted to run away but he was rooted to the spot.

'I don't know which one she is! All the girls are in the yard!' Hinata repeated himself, pointing behind him.

Something twitched in Daichi's jaw. 'Do you think this is a game?'

'N-no! I'm sorry, I can go find out where she is if you want me to-'

'No, I want you to tell me where she is.' He took another step. He wasn't as tall as Tsukishima, but he still seemed to tower over Hinata, and because he was much broader, he blocked out most of the morning sun. His usually handsome face was twisted into a sneer and his eyes were shooting daggers at Hinata. 'TELL ME!'

'I don't know who she is! I'm sorry!' Hinata pleaded and tried to move away, but Daichi reached out and grabbed him by the front of his jumpsuit. Using just one arm, he lifted Hinata off of his feet and slammed him against the wall, making Hinata cry out and a pain rushed down his body as he hit his head against the stone. Hinata dug his nails into Daichi's arm, trying to free himself and stop Daichi from pressing his fingers around his neck. 'Daichi! Please!'

'YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!' Daichi spat, punching at the wall. There was a horrible cracking sound and when Daichi removed his hand, his fingers were bleeding. He didn't even notice it. 'GIVE HER BACK TO ME!'

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know who she is!' Hinata cried.

'DAICHI!'

Suga had appeared around the corner, looking out of breath and bit sweaty. He hurried forwards and pulled Hinata free. Daichi stumbled backwards, his face in his hands and Hinata fell to the floor, gasping and spluttering. Suga hoisted him to his feet and pushed him towards the path to the hospital. 'You need to go. He's not well. Please, leave. I'll handle this.'

Hinata didn't wait to be asked twice. Terrified, he took off down the path and didn't stop until he'd rounded a corner. He had to lean against a wall, a hand to his throat, taking huge gulps of air.

First Suga, and now Daichi?

What was going on?

Why were they all acting so odd?

Knowing he probably shouldn't, that he should respect his friend's privacy, Hinata peered around the corner at the two guys stood in the centre of the path. They were close enough that Hinata could hear them. Suga was trying to reassure Daichi, but he seemed rather upset.

'It's alright, Daichi. Everything is alright, you need to calm down. You've scared poor Hinata silly.' Suga was rubbing his arms. Daichi was staring at him, a tad confused. 'You haven't slept well. I've spoken to Ukai and he's going to get me some more sleeping tablets. Shall we go back to our cell? We can try and get some sleep.'

'Where's Yui?' Daichi repeated himself. Suga looked saddened.

'She'll come later, okay? She wants you to get some sleep first, alright?'

Daichi nodded, taking Suga's hand, looking a bit like an overgrown toddler. He was crying. 'Will you tell her I'm sorry? Please. She needs to know that I'm really sorry. She deserves better than me.'

'Yes, of course I will, and don't be silly, you're a wonderful person and I'm sure Yui would agree with me. Now come on, let's go.' Suga used his free hand to wipe at Daichi's face with his thumb. 'You look exhausted. I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I kept you up.'

'Did you?'

'Yes. It's your turn to sleep now, though.'

The pair of them turned away, hand in hand, walking back towards the prison doors. Before they rounded the corner and disappeared from Hinata's view, Daichi turned to Suga and said, 'Who are you?'

Chapter Text

Freaked out by his experience with Daichi, Hinata tried to push it to the back of his mind as he hurried down to the hospital unit. From what Suga had said, perhaps Daichi was just sleep deprived and seeing things. That had happened to Hinata once, he'd gone almost three days without sleep because he had been studying so hard for his finals that he ended up seeing brightly coloured fish swimming past the window and he had wanted to leap out to try and catch them. Thankfully, Natsu had come into the room at the time because he was making a lot of noise and forced him into bed.

It was difficult to not wonder about who this Yui person was that Daichi had asked for. Obviously, Yui was a female, but Daichi had gotten mad when Hinata had suggested she was in the other side of the prison?

Daichi had been repeating that he was sorry, that he wanted to apologise to Yui ...

No, surely not, Hinata came to stand-still in front of the hospital entrance, chewing his bottom lip.

Daichi did have a blue collar after all. Could this Yui woman be the person he killed that landed him in the prison? If it was, he couldn't have done it on purpose, because the way he was acting showed that he was upset. He wanted to see her. He wanted to apologise. It must have been an accident, and he must have taken the blame for it.

But for him to not recognise Suga?

That was really weird.

Hinata scratched at his head for a moment, before remembering he'd come down here for a purpose and there was probably only so long he would have before all the inmates were called back inside the prison again. Preparing his best excuse to be let into the hospital wing, he stepped through the entrance.

The reception area was empty, which surprised him. It was supposed to be manned twenty-four seven. He walked around the desk, checking to see if anyone was asleep under it. He had done that once at school. Apparently, the nurses here did not think the same way he did, as he found it vacant.

He decided he would just let himself in and try the doctor's office, but he jumped back when he opened the door to the corridor as he heard laughter. He paused for a moment, before sticking his head around the door.

The laughter was coming from a room to his right, which was labelled 'Staff Room'. It sounded like a television was on. The nurses were probably on break. There was a little window in the door. Hinata slipped over and took a sneaky glance through. There were four women inside, all with their feet up, lounging on sofas, watching a flashing television. They were talking loudly and did not notice the bright orange haired boy spying on them.

Excellent, Hinata thought, hurrying down the corridor, feeling a little giddy and almost like he was in some kind of top-secret spy drama. He was Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. If only he got to wear all black instead of vivid orange.

This would give him chance to go speak with Bokuto for a bit. Even if they caught him, the worst he would get was a night in isolation and a shock, which he considered worth it if he got to see his friend again.

As he passed by the doctor's office, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar, but the light was off. If Bokuto wasn't in, he would sneak in there and look at Bokuto's medical records. They would definitely explain his current condition and how he was improving, they might even say why he was brought into the prison in the first place.

His heart lifted when he noticed that there was someone lying in a bed in the hospital wing, but it soon fell when he realised it wasn't Bokuto. He wasn't too disappointed, however, as he found Kageyama's big blue eyes staring right at him.

Kageyama was strapped down to a bed on the left-hand side of the room, an IV drip inserted into his right arm. He was seated upright on a couple of white pillows and he had a book open in his lap. When Hinata had entered the room, he had snapped it shut.

'What are you doing here?' Kageyama demanded, narrowing his eyes. 'If you've come to make fun of me-'

'I haven't.' Hinata stated, walking over to him and sitting down on the end of his bed, despite Kageyama's look of disproval. 'I was looking for someone else, actually. How long have you been here? Did something happen in isolation? Are you hurt?'

'No,' Kageyama showed his arms off to Hinata as if to prove that he was fine. 'They never took me to isolation. They knocked me out with an injection of something and I've been in here ever since. If anyone else was in the room, I don't know, I've been in and out of consciousness. I only woke up this morning and the nurses aren't letting me leave. I tried to escape so they strapped me to the bed.'

He indicated to the thick leather strap that was buckled across his upper legs, stomach and one on either wrist. It reminded Hinata of when he had been tied down after Lev Haiba had done his surgery. It sent a shiver down his spine and he had to force the memory away. One of his hands was held to his stomach, where a really noticeable scar was forming. He'd been unable to look at it when he'd had a shower the other day, as the memory of everything that had happened made him feel sick.

It wasn't like he was the only one with a scar, though, so he didn't feel too self-conscious about it. He just didn't really want anyone asking him any questions.

Although Tanaka and Noya had seen his scar previously, they constantly bugged him to look at it, but eventually gave in when Daichi had yelled at them. It soon became apparent as to why Daichi thought them asking was so insensitive, when Hinata had spotted Suga stepping out of a shower further down the line and he had several nasty-looking scars on his arms and one across his chest.

Hinata understood why Tanaka and Noya were so curious all the time, it was hard not to be, being surrounded by so many people who obviously had some insane stories to tell about their past lives. No one with a boring or average life would have ended up in prison.

'So you haven't seen Bokuto?'

'Who?'

Hinata quickly explained Bokuto's appearance to Kageyama, who shook his head. Hinata sighed. Where had they taken him?

He couldn't still be in the therapy unit, not if there had been a gas leak, they would have moved him somewhere. Perhaps they'd thrown him into isolation.

Despite staring down the length of the hospital wing for a moment or two, it only just dawned on Hinata that the bed at the end that usually had the curtain drawn around it was empty. Even though Kageyama was demanding to know what Hinata was doing, he ignored him and hurried down to the bed, searching for clues. Of course, it was neatly made and there was no evidence left behind that anyone had been sleeping in it at all.

Did this mean Akaashi was up and about?

Was he with Bokuto?

'What are you doing?' Kageyama snapped. 'What are you looking for?'

'Did you see who was in this bed?' Hinata asked.

'I just told you I've been asleep, dumbass.' Kageyama threw his book onto the floor. 'That bed has been empty since I woke up. Why, who was in it?'

'It doesn't matter,' Hinata brushed him off, and stared glumly out of the window. From here, he could see one of the high wire fences that ran around the edge of the prison complex. The top was covered in looping barbed wire and there was a lightning bolt sign hung up nearby, indicating that the fence would electrocute anyone who touched it. He sighed and moved back over to the end of Kageyama's bed. 'Are you not crazy anymore?'

'Mind your own business!' Kageyama struggled against his restraints, looking irritated. 'Go away. You're annoying me.'

'Actually, I want to talk to you.'

Kageyama fell back against his pillows, observing Hinata. His short black hair was really messy and in need of brushing. 'About what?'

'Who is Oikawa?'

Obviously, this name was taboo as Kageyama's face turned to one of disgust. He looked away. 'I said mind your own business, idiot.'

'I was speaking with Tsukishima, you know, the super tall spindly guy with glasses, and he said he'd read a newspaper article about a police officer named Kageyama who had been murdered-'

'DON'T!' Kageyama shouted so suddenly Hinata toppled off the bed. He peered over the end instead, not wanting to get too close even though he was sure Kageyama wouldn't be able to break free of his straps. 'Get out!'

'He was your father?'

'I SAID MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!'

'Hey! You're the one that said to keep your voice down!' Hinata jerked his head towards the door, coming up a bit higher over the wooden bed frame. 'If the nurses hear you, I'll be the one to get in trouble!'

'Maybe I should shout then, if it'll get you away from me! I hope they throw you into isolation!'

'If I go down, I'm taking you down with me!'

'I'm already about as low as I can get.' Kageyama nodded his head at the straps that were securing him. Hinata stared at them for a moment, torn between the idea of undoing them and letting Kageyama get up and stretch his legs or not. When Bokuto's warning about avoiding the blue-collared man sprang into the front of his mind, he decided against it. He didn't want Kageyama freaking out again and attacking him.

'So, this Oikawa guy is the one who killed him? That's one of the main suspects in the newspaper, anyway.' Hinata stood up straight and rubbed at his chin, bringing the topic of conversation back onto Kageyama, who was really glaring at him and was red from shouting but he couldn't do anything to get Hinata out of the room. 'Did you kill him for revenge?'

'I'm not talking to you.' Kageyama huffed, pulling at his wrist straps. 'I just want to be left alone.'

'You'll regret that when you're a few weeks into your life in prison and you have no friends. I hate it in here already, and it's barely been a week. I want to go home, but I can't. So you should stop being so grumpy and actually talk to people who are trying to make an effort with you.' Hinata lectured him.
Kageyama let air out his nose like an angry bull. 'All I asked you was if you weren't crazy anymore. You've stopped having those visions?'

Reluctantly, Kageyama said, 'Yes.'

'Me, Tanaka and Noya were really scared when the officer brought you in, do you remember it? You were really bug-eyed and staring at nothing and you had drool all down your face, it was really gross. They said you were on some kind of weird medication and when you woke up, you started screaming that this Oikawa person was in the room with you, and you needed to escape.'

Kageyama looked uncomfortable and shifted his position on the bed slightly. 'I know now that it was all in my head, the doctor's said I was wildly hallucinating because of the medication they'd put me on to try and calm me down. They said it was a bad side effect. I was in isolation, and I woke up and he was just... there, in the corner of the room, and he was smiling, and he had a knife, and he was soaked through with blood-'

Scary!

Hinata never wanted a vision like that.

'It felt so real. In my head. He couldn't have been there. Did you know it happened again after they took me from the cell? They decided I needed proper medical help and brought me here and kept me unconscious. Now that I'm properly awake, I know that it was all in him?'

‘What did you do that’s made you so scared of this man?’

'I shot him.' Kageyama whispered and Hinata gasped, leaning onto the bed.

'WHA?! YOU SHOT HIM!'

'Keep your voice down!' Kageyama hissed. 'If the nurses come in and find you here-'

Hinata slapped a hand over his mouth and mumbled through his fingers, 'Did you shoot him because he killed your father?'

'I'm not going to talk about it, so quit asking me.'

'So it was for revenge?'

'Shut up! I'm not speaking about it!' Kageyama was firm and Hinata knew he wasn't going to get anymore of Kageyama's back-story from him today.

If Kageyama had shot and killed Oikawa, it wasn't surprising that he was seeing him in his medicated-visions. Perhaps he felt guilty for what he had done, or he just feared the ghost of Oikawa was going to come back and get him.

Losing a family member must be horrible, Hinata thought pityingly, wondering how close Kageyama had his father had been. If Hinata's mother or sister died, he doubted he would ever be the same person. They meant so much to him. They had shaped who he was today.

They were the reason he was enduring this prison sentence with sealed lips. Their safety was the most important thing.

'Hey! Wait a minute!' Hinata cried, making Kageyama flinch. 'You wanted to speak to me the other day. What did you want? You can tell me now, Tanaka and Noya aren't around.'

Kageyama studied him for a moment before saying, 'I wanted to ask you to tell me everything you know about the Nekoma gang.'

'Nothing!' Hinata said almost at once, his legs shaking. 'I don't know anything! If you're a spy for Nekoma, then you can tell Kuroo that I haven't said anything! Oh no! I said his name! Don't tell him that! Tell him I said the Nekoma boss! You didn't hear anything!'

'I'm not with Nekoma, you stupid moron!' Kageyama snapped, looking rather insulted that Hinata would even dare suggest such a thing. 'I would never have anything to do with them! Listen, my father was a cop who was investigating both the Nekoma and Aoba Johsai gangs. He found out that both of the gangs work for the same person, some big drug cartel thing. The Aoba Johsai team find new clients while the Nekoma team distribute the drug supply across the world. I told him to stop, but he became obsessed with capturing them, especially after his partner, this private detective guy, went missing! He thought it was his fault and that he hadn't worked hard enough, and he ended up dead because of it! I decided to continue where he had left off and I started doing my research, and I saw your name in the papers. I saw you coming out of the courthouse at your trial. Oikawa was there, he'd been watching you. When I heard you were going away for drug smuggling, I put two and two together, especially since you had no previous history of crime. I also saw the lawyer that took your case, my father had warned me about him before, he was a shoddy unqualified man who had faked his papers and was often hired out by the Nekoma gang! I've heard them whispering about you in the prison, telling each other to keep an eye on you in case you spread any of Nekoma's secrets. I'm going to finish what my father started and I'm going to have them all locked away.'

'I can't tell you anything!' Hinata repeated, shaking his head wildly. 'I swore I wouldn't say anything, and for all I know, you could be making all this up and it could be a trap! I am not risking the safety of my family!'

'Just tell me! Bringing them down is the most important thing right now!'

'Not to me it isn't! They know exactly who my family are and if they even suspect I said something, then my Mom and my sister will die! They actually threatened to kidnap my little sister! It's not going to happen! I could never live with it, knowing it was my fault that they got hurt!'

'If we got them all thrown in jail, then your family would be safe! It's Nekoma and Aoba Johsai's fault that the both of us are in here! We're innocent victims in all of this!'

Hinata squinted his eyes at Kageyama. 'You literally just told me you shot a guy.'

'You don't understand! I had to stop him! You said it yourself, he killed my father and he just walked free! I couldn't let him continue!'

'Was he the Aoba Johsai leader?'

'Probably. I don't know. What was the name you just said? The boss of Nekoma?'

'Nope! Nopedy-nope! I'm not telling you!' Hinata crossed his arms in front of him. 'I didn't say anything. That was a lie.'

'Stop being a brat and just tell me! It was K something, but I don't remember what you said! If we can get him arrested, that'll be the first stepping-stone-'

Hinata banged his fist on the end of Kageyama's hospital bed. 'That could also get my family killed!'

'You dumbass, no-one is safe when they're still out there!' He was really rattling the bed in his frustration. The straps were doing their job, thankfully, although Hinata was ready to flee at a moment's notice. 'Tell me!'

'Why should I?'

'Because it's more important to bring down one of Japan's biggest drug cartels!'

Hinata stuck out his tongue. 'Not happening!'

'All you need to do is tell me the names of everyone in the Nekoma group. I can get the information sent out of the prison to the right people and they'll arrest them! It won't link back to you! I'll make sure it's all anonymous!'

'I'm not going to risk it.' Hinata put his foot down. He began striding towards the exit. He wasn't going to get any information from Kageyama, and he certainly wasn't going to put his mother and his sister in harm's way.

'Oi! Don't walk away from me!' Kageyama shouted, but Hinata pushed open the door to leave. 'Dumbass! Make sure you keep away from the Nekoma and Aoba Johsai members that are already in this prison! They'll find any excuse to report back to their boss!'

'Well, duh,' Hinata paused at the door, peering over his shoulder. 'I'm not stupid. If I'm not going to talk to you, do you seriously think I'm going to bounce over to Nekoma in the cafeteria and tell them just how much I hate them and their boss? Sheesh. I'm going to look for Bokuto now.'

'Fine, whatever,' Kageyama looked sullen. 'I'll figure it out on my own.'

Leaving him to fume, Hinata closed the hospital wing door behind him and slipped over to the doctor's office, checking first that the nurses were all still in the staff room. He flicked the light on and stared around the room, looking for something useful.

It was a small box room, with a desk crammed into the corner, on which sat an AppleMac laptop, a little grey sofa, and a filing cabinet in the corner. There was also a few shelves on the wall filled with thick-bound medical journals. Hinata ignored these and went straight for the filing cabinet but found all the drawers locked.

Frustrated, he gave it a small kick and moved over to the desk. He tried to get into the Mac but it required a password. He slammed that shut and wrenched open the desk drawers, happy to find these actually unlocked. There was a half-drunk bottle of scotch in the first drawer, along with discarded pens and pencils and paper clips, as well as several photos of a woman in a nurse's uniform, bending over-

Hinata shut this drawer, trying to burn that image from his mind.

He opened the second drawer and had to peer through his fingers, but thankfully it was only filled with beige folders. They were all labelled, so he quickly rooted through them and had to stop himself from cheering out loud when he came across one labelled 'Bokuto, Kotaro'. He yanked it out and let it fall open on the desk.

Most of the medical reports he couldn't made head or tail of. They were written in really scrawled handwriting that he couldn't read and most of it was medical terms that made no sense to him. There were graphs and charts, which were also meaningless.

The only thing that actually caught his attention was a piece of paper that was dated two days ago.
It was a transfer form.

Mr. Bokuto's condition is not improving, and we have decided it would better to transfer him to the Therapy Unit for more urgent care. Subject 0 has already been moved to the Therapy Unit and we would like to record their interactions.

Subject 0?

What did that mean?

Hinata dove back into the drawer, scrambling through the folders, looking for one labelled with 'Subject 0' but he came across no such folder. There was nothing else about it in Bokuto's file either. He groaned and shoved it back into the drawer. He didn't remember where it had been in the pile, and they weren’t arranged alphabetically, so he just stuck it in the middle of hoped for the best.

The final drawer in the desk just had a stethoscope and a pair of black work shoes.

At least this meant he knew where Bokuto was- if only he could get into the Therapy Unit. Perhaps if he acted crazy, or like he was really traumatised from his experiences that landed him in Shiratorizawa prison, then maybe they'd let him go there for one-to-one counselling.

If that didn't work, perhaps someone could sneak him in. That Asahi guy had to go there a lot, and both Suga and Daichi were said to attend sessions now and again. If he could slip in behind them, somehow, he could find Bokuto.

Nothing else caught his attention in the office. There was a photo of a woman and two children on the wall, and Hinata briefly noticed that the woman did not look like the nurse in the photos in the desk, but he didn't particularly care about this. He was just about to leave when he spotted a yellow post-it note stuck to a pin board just to the right of the door.

It read:

Mr. Hinata's blood-tests were a failure. More tests needed.

They had his results back for his blood test, but they hadn't shared them with him- why? What did it mean, why were they a failure? What had they been testing it for?

He considered taking the note from the wall and waiting until the doctor was next in, demanding to know the results and their meaning, but then the doctor would know he had been sneaking around in his office. Hinata didn't know how much trouble he could get in for that, and then maybe the doctor would refuse to help him point-blank from then on. Hinata couldn't risk it, if he had another seizure, he was going to need a medical team that would be willing to care for him.

It was like Tanaka had told him: Don't make enemies with the wrong people.

Besides, it could just be that the doctor was busy or out of town and didn't have time to go over the results of the tests with Hinata properly. For all Hinata knew, he could get called in tomorrow or the day after and have a proper chat with him about it.

The message on the post-it and Bokuto's transfer form were going to really bug him though. He knew he would be thinking about them all day. He'd probably even dream about it, knowing his luck.

Subject 0 had been moved... moved from where?

Could that form be referring to the guy who was in the bed at the end of the room?

Was Akaashi Subject 0?

A Frankenstein-like monster sprung into Hinata's mind when he thought about the name of it. It was definitely the type of name a mad scientist would give to one of his ludicrous, completely inhumane experiments.

If he was Subject 0, what did that mean? Where they doing some kind of test on him? Where they experimenting on him? If so, why?

Were they trying to turn him into something?

Did Bokuto know all this?

Hinata had so many questions and no one to ask.

Actually, no, Tsukishima knew the pair of them. He had started to say something to Hinata about Akaashi. He would go and bother Tsukishima until he spoke. Hinata could easily be loud and annoying, and he knew full well that Tsukishima liked peace and quiet.

If he didn't speak, Hinata would not leave him alone until he did.

At least it would give him something to do for the rest of the day.

The sound of a door slamming made Hinata yelp. Oh crap, if that was the doctor returning, he would be completely and utterly screwed.

He turned on the spot, trying to think up an excuse as to why he would be in the doctor's office.

'Calm down, Shouyou,' he muttered to himself, slowing his breathing. If the doctor came in and found him, all he would say that he didn't mean to intrude, that the door was open and he had literally just come there a few minutes earlier to look for the doctor to ask about his blood test results. He would act like he hadn't seen the post-it note at all.

However, the person who passed by the office was not the doctor.

It was the guy he'd seen earlier in the orange jumpsuit, the new guy with the blue collar. He didn't even look into the doctor's office, he just walked straight into the hospital wing. If he was looking for the doctor, he was out of luck. All he would get would be a disgruntled Kageyama.

Hinata let out a really long sigh of relief and slipped out of the office, shutting the door behind him. He was just making his way down the corridor towards the exit when he heard Kageyama scream.

Chapter Text

Hinata had burst back through the hospital wing doors to find Kageyama shrieking, struggling madly against his restraints. The orange-jumpsuit wearer in the blue collar was just stood in the centre of the room, babbling incoherently, holding up his hands in a desperate attempt to try and calm Kageyama down.

He was a tall and good-looking guy, with wind-swept brown hair and had an aura around him that suggested he knew just how attractive he was. Currently, he wasn't smiling. He actually looked incredibly panicked and almost jumped a mile when he spotted Hinata staring at him.

'Who are you?' Hinata said.

The noise Kageyama was making was difficult to shout over. He was shaking his bed so much that it was making worrying cracking noises. Then followed a tearing noise as Kageyama ripped one of his wrists free from the straps that held him down. It only took him a couple of seconds to undo the others and leap out of bed, looking rather silly in his knee-length hospital gown.

'Crap,' the stranger said, and began to back away. Kageyama had fire in his eyes and his face was twisted into something furious and ugly. He clenched his fists and tried to throw himself at the other man, but Hinata dived in front of him and caught the blow, pushing one hand into Kageyama's face and head-butting him in the chest, digging his feet into the floor to try and hold him back. This was rather difficult as the floor was incredibly slippery.

A few more seconds passed and the hospital doors were thrown open and the four nurses appeared; one of them had managed to spill coffee all down her front and was wiping at it furiously with a dishtowel. They all let out startled gasps and hurried forwards, two of them helping Hinata force Kageyama back over to the bed (the one with the dishtowel had dropped it in her surprise). He was shrieking and screaming and making little to no sense, swinging his arms and legs wildly, so much so that one of the nurses reached into the front of her uniform and pulled out a silver needle, which she stabbed into his arm.

It made him go limp almost immediately.

Hinata let go of him and turned to face the man in orange.

'Who are you? What are you doing here? Why is Kageyama so upset?'

'You shouldn't be here!' One the nurses yelled, rounding on the strange man. She then glared at Hinata. 'Neither should you! Get out!'

'Wait! Wait! I need to know who he is!' Hinata was being grabbed by the other nurses and pulled towards the door. His feet were dragging along the ground and no matter how much he kicked he couldn't break free. 'Are you the one who killed Kageyama senior? Are you Oikawa?!'

'Let me explain!' Oikawa shouted and Hinata swore at him.

'Explain what! You're a killer! If you've come here thinking you can finish the job, you're wrong! I won't let you touch him! Let go of me, you can't let him near Kageyama! He's a monster!' Hinata snapped at the nurses, but they ignored him and pushed him through the door before slamming it in his face.

Hinata leapt at the handle, putting both feet on the door and tugging but they had locked it from the inside. He began thumping at it, kicking at it, smacking his head into it. What were they doing?
Were they idiots? They had just locked themselves in a room with a murderer! He could easily kill all of them and then take Kageyama's life while he was down and out.

How could Oikawa Toru actually be in the prison?! Kageyama had even said it himself that everything he had seen had just been in his head.

Could Oikawa have found out where they had sent Kageyama and purposely got himself incarcerated in Shiratorizawa prison just to finish what he'd started? He was definitely new, Hinata hadn't seen him around- he could have come in this morning and figured out where they were holding Kageyama.

What if he had a knife?! What if he had a gun?! He could want revenge for Kageyama shooting him!

'Let me in! Let me in! You don't know what you're up against!' Hinata pressed his face to the door and yelled, still banging with his fists. 'Don't let him near Kageyama! He's going to kill him!'

The nurses weren't answering him. He put his ear to the door and felt a little relieved to hear them all talking. They didn't sound worried. He could hear a male voice, talking calmly and softly.

Oh no! What if he was seducing them!? Maybe he had some kind of weird charm over women, and they would end up happily standing aside while he slaughtered Kageyama if it meant they'd get a kiss from him?

Why did they have to talk to quietly!? He wanted to hear what was going on.

Hinata flinched when something crashed to the floor. It sounded like one of the heart monitors that sat beside each bed had been knocked over. The man was shouting, and then he stopped. Everything went silent and a few moments later there was a heavy thud, which sounded just like a body hitting the floor.

Had he taken down one of the nurses?!

Hinata began kicking at the door again and he shrieked when it unlocked, and someone stepped out. He held up his fists, ready to do battle, but found himself face to face with a surly-looking nurse. She clicked her tongue against her teeth and put her hands on her hips. 'If you don't leave now, I will call security. If you've done any damage to this door, I'll have them take it out of your commissary allowance.'

Another nurse joined her, looking very stressed. She groaned when she saw Hinata. 'Is he still here? Get lost.'

'You have to call the police!'

'And what, have them thrown into prison?' The second nurse joked, and the first nurse snorted. 'The situation is under control; you need to leave.'

'But that's Oikawa! He's the one that murdered Kageyama's father! He's come back to finish the job! You can't let him anywhere near him!'

'Wow, that sounds like something out of a crime drama,' the first nurse chuckled. 'Calm down, inmate. Both of the prisoners in the hospital wing have been subdued. No one is going to kill anyone, so stop talking and get out of the hospital and back to the prison before I call for security and have you thrown into isolation for a month.'

'I want to speak with Oikawa.' Hinata stood his ground, making both nurses sigh.

'Mr. Oikawa is unconscious,' the second nurse told him. 'He wasn't co-operating so we had to sedate him. We'll be sending him to isolation, since he was trespassing and winding up our patient. You can speak with him whenever he's allowed back into the prison. Don't ask me when that will be, that kind of thing isn't my decision. If he behaves, it'll only be a couple of nights at the most.'

'What are you even doing here? You're not supposed to be in here. Why have they even let you out of the prison?' The first nurse pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.

'There was a gas leak in the Therapy Unit, so they sent all the prisoners outside! I thought I would just come and-'

'You're that brat that keeps trying to sneak in here to speak with Mr. Bokuto, aren't you? Give it up, kid. He's not here anymore.'

'Why not?' Hinata asked. 'Where has he gone? I want to know.'

'That's confidential and definitely none your business, inmate, you're out of bounds. You have five seconds to get out of my sight or I'm going to jab a needle into your neck, and you'll wake up tied to a bed in isolation.' The first nurse threatened.

'I wanted to speak with the doctor about my blood test results!'

'Well, unfortunately, the doctor is not around. You will be summoned when he's back and wants to speak with you.' The second nurse said, stepping aside as the other two exited the hospital wing. One of them locked the door behind her. 'Everything alright?'

'Yes, we have them both restrained and I've alerted the ... what's he doing here?'

'Nothing. He's just leaving.' The first nurse stated and began to push Hinata towards the exit. He tried to fight back but the other three came to her aid and he had two women on either arm dragging him down the corridor.

'You can't lock them up together!'

'They're both out cold!' He was thrown into the reception area. He only just managed to keep himself upright and not face-plant into the floor. One of the nurses was going towards the phone.

Hinata concluded that it was better if he didn't try to push his luck and left the hospital building quickly, even though every part of him wanted to run back, break the door down and get Kageyama out of there. He had to have some faith in the nurses and believe what they said to be true. They must know it is unsafe to keep Kageyama and Oikawa locked up in the same room. They were talking about moving Oikawa to isolation.

Kageyama would be fine.

Then again, would he?

He had seen Oikawa in the flesh standing in the same room as him, and this time, it wasn't a hallucination. Hinata could vouch for that.

Now that Kageyama knew that Oikawa was really in the prison with him, would they ever let him return to the cell and ordinary prison life? Or would he scream and shout and smash things if they tried and keep him locked up for his own safety?

How could they do such a thing- how could they let Oikawa in the same place as Kageyama? Even if he did deserve to be locked up, there must be hundreds of other prisons Oikawa could have been sent to- so why this one? The higher ups had to know what Oikawa had done and how it related to Kageyama and how it would affect him. They had already seen the state Kageyama got in thinking Oikawa was there, so why then admit him?

'If I go to Officer Takeda,' Hinata muttered to himself as he began to walk back towards the courtyard, where the inmates were still milling around. 'I could explain to him what's going on and have him transfer Oikawa to another prison. I'm sure he'll do it. I'll say it's better for the prison if he's not here and it'll mean they won't have to look after Kageyama anymore, which will save them all a job.'

As he was passing by the bench where Ukai was seated, he came to a stand-still and then turned and strode over to him. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sat with him. Yamaguchi was really shaking, even though it wasn't that cold.

'Ukai!'

'I thought I told you to not just approach me like that. If you do that inside the prison, I'll deck ya'.'

'Oh please do, that would be amusing for everyone.' Tsukishima smirked. He didn't seem to be annoyed by Yamaguchi's fidgeting and had one of his hands resting on top of Yamaguchi's. 'Could you go away? You're so vividly orange that it's giving me another headache.'

'Ukai! I need to know what it is that guy in the orange jumpsuit who was talking to you before wanted! He had a blue collar! It's really important! Is he trying to get weapons in to the prison? If he is, you can't let him!'

'What are you blathering on about?' Tsukishima raised an eyebrow while Ukai stubbed out his cigarette on the bench seat.

'He's not asking for weapons, I don't know where you've got that idea from,' Ukai told him, folding his arms. 'What's it to you, anyway? I don't give out information like that. Client confidentiality.'

'Please tell me!'

'Just do it so he goes away.' Tsukishima said. Ukai pulled out a fresh cigarette and a lighter from his pocket. He flicked the switch and lit his cigarette, taking a drag.

'Dunno what his name is, he didn't say. He did ask for some weird stuff though. Not sure what he's up to. I was gonna keep an eye on him, actually. It wasn't anything dangerous he asked for, so stop giving me that look. I wouldn't smuggle that kind of stuff in here, I'm not about violence. I don't smuggle in drugs either, just so we are clear about that. Well, illegal drugs anyway. If you need some kind of medication, it can be arranged. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, that guy. He wanted to know if there was a way he could get information in and out of the prison. He didn't say what kind of information, but I told him that was easy, and I got newspapers and letters in here all the time.'

'Is that all?' Hinata asked.

'Uh, no, he also wanted me to get him a camera with film. Probably wants to snap pictures of the girls over the fence, no doubt. So many perverts in here.'

'Why would he want a camera?'

'I don't know, I don't ask, I just get.'

'If he's a newbie, how can he even afford that?' Tsukishima queried, waving a hand in front of his face to disperse the cloud of thick grey smoke that was sent his way. 'You're not giving out favours now, are you?'

'No, I don't do favours,' Ukai said. 'Nah, he told me he'd be able to trade commissary money. He's not got any in now, so I'm not going to do anything until he does, but he told me he would be able to get some soon once his friend transfers it. I don't really care how he does it as long as it happens. Why do you care so much about this guy anyway? You think he's up to something? 'Cos you don't want to get involved in other people's business around here, if he's up to something dodgy, he'll be the one that gets himself caught and thrown into isolation or whatever. Just keep to yourself.'

'Hinata has a problem of sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong.' Tsukishima said, massaging his forehead with his fingertips.

'Oh, actually, I wanted to ask you about-'

'Please, whatever you're about to say, don't.' Tsukishima interrupted Hinata. He stopped rubbing his head and glared over at him. 'My eyes hurt and I'm tired and I'm cold. I've already said I am not going to answer any of your questions about Bokuto, so don't even bother.'

'Have you heard of anyone being called Subject 0?'

'S-s-subject 0?' Yamaguchi repeated the name with a stutter. Hinata frowned at him- if he was really that cold, he didn't need to sit outside. He could go back to his cell. It was exactly much warmer inside the prison but at least it was something, plus he would have a blanket. 'W-w-what's t-that?'

'I have no idea what you're on about.' Tsukishima responded. 'What is Subject 0?'

'I don't know! That's why I'm asking you! I was looking in the doctor's office in the hospital and I found Bokuto's file-'

'You really don't know when to quit, do you?'

'-And it said Bokuto had been transferred to the Therapy Unit and he was going to be put with Subject 0. I thought it might be Akaashi. Are they doing some weird experiments on him? Is that why Bokuto is obsessed with lizard men? Are they turning Akaashi into a lizard?'

'Christ, that's a name I haven't heard in a while,' Ukai said, flicking the butt of his cigarette onto the ground. 'Haven't heard about him since he was dragged off-'

'You know Akaashi?! What happened to him? Where did they take him? Why did they drag him off?'

'You've doomed yourself now,' Tsukishima said to Ukai. 'He's going to hound you forever until you answer him.'

'I don't actually know what happened to him,' Ukai replied, shrugging. 'Last I remember, he was trying to stop them from taking Bokuto to the Therapy Unit and the officers said they were taking him to isolation. He never came back. I figured they had just locked him up permanently. Have you seen him, Hinata?'

'Not really, I think he was in the hospital when I was there, though. There was a bed at the end with the curtains drawn around it. Bokuto told me Akaashi was in the bed, I wanted to look but the doctor stopped me. I could hear all sorts of machinery working away behind the curtain. Bokuto says he rarely wakes up. I think they're doing something to him.'

'Hinata,' Tsukishima said sharply. 'You need to drop it. Forget about Bokuto and Akaashi and stop asking questions.'

'You know what happened to them and you won't tell me! You're as stingy as Kageyama!' Hinata pouted.

'I'm not going to tell you because I respect their privacy. There's nothing you can do for either of them. They're not going to be coming back to the prison.'

'But why?'

'It's better that you don't know.'

'W-w-who is t-this Akaashi p-person?' Yamaguchi stuttered. 'I n-never met him.'

'Neither did I,' Tsukishima said. 'Bokuto told me about him. I haven't been here long enough to have known him.'

'How long have you been here?' Hinata asked.

'About two and a half years, give or take. I stopped counting.' Tsukishima shrugged his shoulders. 'The only people who would have been here long enough to know Akaashi are Suga, Daichi, Asahi, and Ukai.'

'Yeah, this prison was only built about six years ago.' Ukai told Hinata. 'I was one of the very first prisoners brought in. Suga and the others came a few days after me, and then Bokuto and Akaashi a week later. I miss having him around, Bokuto that is, he made the place pretty fun. Always making jokes and we used to sneak beer into the prison and have drinking competitions. I don't think Akaashi approved of it, though.'

'So, what happened? What made him change? What colour collar did he have when he first came in?'

'His collar? None of us had a collar to start with, they used to carry tazors instead to shock us, since the prison numbers were so small back then. The collars came in about three years ago, I think it was because one of the prisoners managed to steal a tazor from the guards and went around attacking most of them with it in an attempt to escape. He got taken away too, probably still rotting in isolation. Whatever Bokuto had been charged with, I never found out. He didn't tell me. We had a rule where we didn't ask.'

'He told Tsukishima!' Hinata huffed. Why did Tsukishima get to know everything? That was totally unfair!

'I wish he hadn't. I did try to tell him to shut up several times, but I think that just egged him on. He seemed to think he was doing me a favour. I told him he was mistaken.'

'What made him change?' Hinata repeated himself, clasping his hands together in a pleading motion and holding them up so Ukai could see. He sighed heavily.

'Honestly, kid, I don't know. None of us really noticed it at first, because Bokuto had always been really eccentric, but there got to a point where he stopped making sense altogether and ended up getting really worked up over nothing. He would disappear for weeks at a time. We think they just threw him into isolation a lot. It's understandable if anyone came back from there a bit loopy, that place can do it to the sanest of men. Then, one day, about five years ago, they decided he was unfit to remain in the prison and said he was going to be kept in the Therapy Unit. Bokuto absolutely lost it and tried to attack the guards and he got restrained and shocked and dragged off.'

'And Akaashi tried to stop it?'

'Yeah, pretty much, and he got taken too.'

'So... he's been missing for five years?!'

'Yep. It's a real shame, he was a good guy. It happens, Hinata, sometimes they just decide to keep you in isolation or therapy or whatever for the rest of your sentence. I actually thought he'd been released, but I guess not.'

'They let Bokuto back into the prison though.'

'Yeah, but it was short-lived.' Ukai nodded. 'Drove Tsukishima here nuts, didn't he?'

'He must have been lonely without Akaashi.' Hinata said. He had been feeling really lonely in the prison, even though he was surrounded by a lot of people and always had Tanaka and Noya to talk to. He missed Kenma. 'How come he told you everything and not me?!'

Tsukishima took off his glasses and rested them in his lap, keeping his eyes closed. 'I don't know. I think he just liked to hear the sound of his own voice. If you spent long enough with him, he probably would have told you. He likes to talk about himself. I would never refer to him as a friend, but that doesn't mean I'm not the type to gossip.'

'I'm g-going t-to head in-inside now, T-Tsukki,' Yamaguchi had stood up, wobbling on his feet. Tsukishima nodded and got up to help him, allowing him to put his arm around his shoulder. 'B-bye Hinata.'

Ukai and Hinata watched them go.

'Why is Yamaguchi acting weird? Is he sick?'

'Uh, he gets like that sometimes. Really bad nerves, I think. It's not really surprising, he's quite a sensitive guy, I don't think prison life suits him very much. It usually helps him to be outside but I think because there are so many people around it's not doing much for him. Don't worry about it, Tsukishima can handle it. He has been since they got here. You barely see one without the other, it's the same with Tanaka and Noya as well.'

'Tsukishima and Yamaguchi came in together, yeah?'

'Mmm, yeah. From what I heard about it, Tsukishima had an older brother who was really sick and needed all these hospital funds and stuff that he couldn't afford, I don't really know the details about his illness. I know he kept it from his brother for ages, didn't want to worry him. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi ended up stealing loads of money to try and pay for everything, the jobs they both had wasn't making enough alone. I don't think they actually went in and robbed a bank, it was some kind of computer hacking thing, got into loads of private accounts and withdrew funds. Sadly they got caught. Things online are always bound to leave a trace. I never heard about what happened to the brother. Hopefully he's doing alright. Tsukishima gets money sent in, so I'm guessing it's from him, unless he has another family member helping him out. He doesn't talk about it, and don't ask him because gets really weird if anyone talks about his brother. I once saw him tip his bowl of porridge over Tanaka's head. It served him right, he's too damn nosy.'

'What are you in for, Ukai?' Hinata rocked from side to side, not even trying to hide the fact that he was attemping to get a glimpse at Ukai's electric shock collar. He had his jumpsuit zipped all the way up to his chin. Ukai swatted at him.

'Stop that,' he unzipped his jumpsuit a little to show Hinata an orange collar. 'Drug smuggling, if you must know. I could get anything in and out of whatever country they wanted. It was actually my old man who caught me. I was careless, didn't think he'd turn me in. I was wrong. He threw me out the window. I'm not even joking. It was the living room so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think that's why he applied for the job here, wanted to keep an eye on me, not that he shows his face much.'

'D-did you work for Nekoma?'

'Huh? What? No. I was my own independent company. Couldn't stand Nekoma.'

Hinata breathed out. He had been hoping to ask Ukai to get him some paper into the prison so he could write Kenma a letter. If he wasn't with Nekoma, then he wouldn't be bothered about Hinata trying to send Kenma a letter. He probably didn't even know who Kenma was.

'Why were you asking about the guy from before? He didn't seem dodgy to me. I mean, I wouldn't trust him, but I don't trust anyone in here, but I didn't think he was up to anything too suspicious. He did have a blue collar, but we don't judge by colour in this place.'

'He's the one that killed Kageyama's father!'

'I have absolutely no idea who that is.'

'Kageyama is about this tall, with dark hair and blue eyes and he's always looking super grouchy. He kept thinking he was seeing Oikawa in the prison, that's the name of the guy you were talking to, and he was really scared because Oikawa is the one that murdered his Dad! And then, when I was in the hospital with Kageyama, Oikawa turned up and I thought he was trying to kill him! The nurses ended up knocking him out and they're going to send him to isolation, but I'm worried about Kageyama. What if they lock him up forever like they did Akaashi? He's never going to be able to return to the prison if Oikawa is around!'

A siren began to wail, and Ukai groaned, stretched and got to his feet. He slapped a hand onto Hinata shoulder and veered him towards the door, where the rest of the inmates were marching to. A guard was stood there, signalling them all to return to the prison and that yard time was now over. 'I don't know what to tell you, kid. I think you're worrying too much about other people's problems. You can't solve everything. These things happen. The only person you really need to worry about is yourself.'

'Do you think you'd be able to find out about Subject 0?' Hinata entered the prison with Ukai and allowed him to push him towards their cell block. He was eager to meet up with Tanaka and Noya again and tell them everything that had happened and see what they thought about the whole situation. They had only been there two years, so there was no way they would have ever met Akaashi, but they were always full of gossip and liked to pry into everyone's business, so he couldn't pass over the chance that they might have heard something. 'I don't know if you need to trade something for information around here... I don't have anything yet.'

They stopped outside what Hinata presumed was Ukai's cell. A guy with a middle-parting and glasses stuck his head outside the door and grinned. 'There you are, Keishin! We're about to start a poker match. You in?'

'Yes, give me a moment.' Ukai replied and the guy stuck his head back inside. He gave Hinata a reassuring pat on the arm. 'I'll ask around for you, but don't go telling anyone I'm doing you a favour. This isn't really for you, I'm actually curious myself, especially if it is Akaashi we're talking about here. I want to know what happened to him. It would be good if we found out they were actually experimenting on him.'

'Would it?!'

Ukai laughed. 'Well, obviously not, I wouldn't wish that upon him, but if the prison was up to some weird shit, then we could get evidence and send it out to a journalist or the government or someone who could spread the story and they might shut the prison down. It could even earn some of the prisoners a re-trial. Half of the people in here are innocent. I hear you're one of them. Anyway, have a good day. I'll get back to you if I find out anything.'

He vanished into his room.

None of it made sense, Hinata thought as he made his way back to his own cell. Neither Tanaka or Noya were inside. It felt oddly bigger without the four of them crammed in there. He took a seat on Kageyama's bunk and began pulling off his boots.

What reason would the prison have to do some kind of experiment on Akaashi?

It couldn't be true, could it? He was just speculating, it was all rumours and whispers amongst the inmates. It couldn't actually be happening.

But... if it was... and Akaashi was Subject 0...

Did that mean he was the first and there had been more since then?

What if it had something to do with everyone who got sent to the Therapy Unit? Could Daichi, Suga and Asahi have something to do with it?

Maybe it was only those with a blue collar...?

Hinata chewed at his fingernails, trying to fit all the bits of information he had gathered together in his head, but it was like trying to complete a jigsaw with missing pieces. His only choice was to keep searching for clues, ask more questions and perhaps even sneak into the Therapy Unit.

If there was something dodgy going on inside the prison, he was going to figure it out.

Chapter Text

Subject 0, unfortunately, remained a mystery.

Even though Ukai had done as he had promised and asked around for information, he had returned to Hinata empty handed and said that no one had a clue what that meant or what he was on about. He had even spoken to Officer Takeda about it- apparently the pair of them were very close friends and it was one of the reasons many of the officers turned a blind eye to what Ukai was doing in the prison, since Takeda had asked them to.

Having your grandfather as the warden helped too.

It soon became apparent to Ukai that doing this small favour for Hinata had been a rather big mistake, as Hinata constantly burdened him, wanting to know exactly what each person had said when Ukai had asked them and if any of them had looked suspicious.

When Ukai managed to shake him off by disappearing into bathroom one, which Hinata dared not venture in to, he ended up following Suga and Daichi around, throwing question after question at them about Bokuto and Akaashi, since they had both been in the prison long enough to have known the pair.

They tried to evade him by going to have a shower, but he just stood outside their stalls and shouted into them. Finally, Daichi had turned on Hinata and he ended up being snatched away by Tanaka, who fire-lifted him back to their cell, warning him, like he had done many times before, to not get on Daichi's bad side.

'Weren't you supposed to be watching out for some guy in a blue collar, anyway?'

'It must have been Oikawa he was warning me about! Bokuto must have known he was in the prison!' Hinata said, thumping his right hand into his open left palm. 'I bet he knows loads of stuff that's going on around here, that's probably why they've kept him away from everyone else, they don't want him spilling any secrets. Those nurses probably gossip in the hospital all the time, Bokuto could easily pretend he was asleep and listen in on it. He could have overheard one of them mentioning that Oikawa was in the prison!'

'That can't be right,' Tanaka argued. 'You spoke to Bokuto the first day you were in. This Oikawa guy hasn't been in the prison, I would have known if he was. He only arrived yesterday.'

Hinata wasn't happy that Tanaka had disproved his theory.

'Do you think Ukai would be able to find out as much information as he could about Oikawa if I asked him?' Hinata stared around the room, looking for something worthwhile to trade. His shelf only held a toothbrush, a towel, and his shower slippers. He'd heard nothing from his family yet and had no commissary as he’d yet to begin work. 'He'd probably want something to trade, drat.'

'Even if you had something, I don't think he'd do it.' Tanaka said, pulling himself up onto his bunk and flopping down onto his pillow. He stuck his hand underneath and retrieved his photos of Kiyoko, which he stared at longingly. 'Ukai's careful, he won't want to make enemies, and prying into other people's lives is an easy way to lose yourself a few teeth. If this trashy-punk Oikawa is as bad of a person as you say he is, then Ukai won't want anything to do with him. He's only got another five years on his sentence. I'm betting he wants to exit here in one piece. The way you're going, they're going to be zippin' you up in a body bag sooner or later!'

'I've got to know!'

'Why?' Tanaka rolled over to look at him. 'What will learning about Bokuto's past do to help you in here? Not that I'm sayin' don't do it, 'cos I'm as nosy as you are, but I don't wanna see you end up in a bad situation 'cos of it. This is what happens when you've got too much damn time on your hands. Wait 'til they've slapped your sorry ass down in that factory for fifteen hour shifts. You'll forget all about this Bokuto shit.'

It was true that at first, Hinata only wanted to know this stuff about Bokuto because it would satisfy his endless curiosity, but it had grown into something much more than just being about Bokuto's past. If he could figure out what had happened five years ago, what the prison had done with Akaashi, then maybe he could piece together the mystery about Subject 0 and what really went on the Therapy Unit. If no one in the prison could give him answers, he was just going to have to find them out for himself.

Since Ukai was on good terms with Officer Takeda, then there would be a chance that Ukai would be able to get the key to the Therapy Unit from him or wouldn't feel as uncomfortable trying to snatch it from his belt. Hinata could get Tanaka and Noya to make a distraction and he could slip inside, find Bokuto and Akaashi and get them both out of there- surely there would be somewhere in the prison or the grounds that they could hide. Obviously, they would be caught eventually, but if he could just have ten minutes to talk to them, get them to tell him everything that they knew, then maybe he'd be able to figure this mystery out once and for all.

Without telling Tanaka where he was going, much to Tanaka's annoyance, Hinata exited their cell and made his way to the staircase, heading up to the third floor. It was silent up here and completely empty. The library was still closed off due to ceiling damage, but the door was unlocked.

It was hardly what Hinata would consider to be a library. It was a rectangular shaped room, not exactly large, crammed with shelves really close together. There were two small wooden tables and a desk. It smelt musty and it made him sneeze.

He hadn't meant to come into here. He'd gotten confused about which door was which and just tried the nearest one. He had no interest in books, so he turned to go, but stopped and looked up at the ceiling.

There was nothing wrong with it.

All the white square panels were in place and the lights were all intact. If the staff had already mended the problem, why had they not reopened the library to the inmates?

His eyes travelled to the floor, which was littered with books. Some had even had pages torn out of them, which had been scattered haphazardly everywhere. He hadn't even spotted this at first, he didn't usually look down when he walked anywhere (which often resulted in him tripping over everything)- he'd spent most of his life looking up.

Treading carefully, he moved through the room, picking out things that were just, well, odd. Besides the sheer amount of books that had been flung around the room, and the chaos of the torn pages, many of the wooden bookshelves had been smashed too. They didn't look very sturdy, some were straining and bending under the weight of the books that were still on them; they definitely looked weak enough to punch through, if someone wanted to.

It was like someone had been in and ransacked the room.

But why?

What purpose would destroying a library bring to anyone?

When Hinata had turned back to look at the door, he almost shrieked and slapped both hands over his mouth. There was blood on the wall beside the door. A smeared handprint.

Shaking, he took a few steps closer and let his eyes fall to the inside handle. It was covered in dry crimson blood. There was more blood splatters on the back of the door too. From what Hinata could gather, it appeared as though whomever had been in this room had been trying to get out.

Had someone been locked inside the library?

What on earth would be the point in that?

Had they been bleeding when they were locked in here, or had they cut themselves on something within the room?

Hinata began to crouch, moving about the room, looking for a source of the blood- a knife, a lose nail, anything that someone could easily scratch themselves on. Unfortunately, he came across nothing of the sort, unless the person in question just managed to give themselves a really bad paper cut, not that any of the books he could see had blood on them.

Quickly, he gave the desk a once over, tugging open each drawer and rifling through it. Most of it was just office supplies, which didn't interest him.

What did catch his attention, however, was a small, battered photograph lying on the floor underneath the desk. He bent down and snatched it up, walking over to the window to get some better lighting. The photograph showed five guys all stood together, four of them were beaming and the fifth was just smiling gently. He recognised the four beaming men, despite looking a few years younger. It was Daichi, Suga, Asahi, and Bokuto. None of them wore a collar and their jumpsuits were a little different, but not much had changed since this photo had been taken.

It must have been when they'd first come into the prison, since they were all in orange.

There was nothing unusual about this picture in general, none of them held anything, there was nothing in the background other than a blank wall. He couldn't even work out what part of the prison it had been taken in. The only minor things he could pick up on were little details, like the heavy bags underneath Daichi's eyes, as though he had barely slept, or the purple bruising around Suga's neck.

The guy on the end that Hinata didn't recognise had to be Akaashi. Bokuto had his arm around him and he was stood with both of his hands behind his back. He was shorter than Bokuto and had messy dark hair. From his expression, it seemed like he was only just tolerating the photograph being taken.
That's when it dawned on Hinata- he hadn't asked Asahi anything!

Oh, he could kick himself!

How could he have easily overlooked that? He knew Asahi had known the pair of them, Ukai had said it when he was talking about the group from five years ago, but it had never sprung to mind to go and ask him questions as well.

It wasn't really his fault, he hadn't seen much of Asahi, but that's because he never had any reason to go to the commissary shop, since he had no money to buy anything with, and Asahi worked there every day. He saw him at meal times, but he was always sat away from him with Daichi and Suga. He also intimidated Hinata quite a bit, even though the others had reassured him that Asahi was a huge goofball with a glass-heart and wouldn't hurt a fly; he was just so big and scary looking.

Commissary would still be open, he could go down now and ask Asahi what he knew. He didn't know how much Asahi would be willing to share, if at anything at all, but he had to try. Asahi spent a lot of time in the Therapy Unit because of his anxiety, so surely, he must have heard or seen something.

Carefully, Hinata slipped the photo down the front of his jumpsuit and snuck out of the library, only to find himself face-to-face with Ukai and Takeda in the corridor.

They were kissing.

Upon seeing Hinata, they broke apart, their faces red.

'I won't say anything if you don't say anything!' Hinata blurted out, not wanting to get in trouble for trespassing on the third floor. 'I just wanted something to read! I'm sorry! I forgot it was closed!'

Officer Takeda cleared his throat and straightened his tie. His glasses had slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up before speaking. 'That's understandable. You should be getting back to your cell now.'

Hinata tried to hurry past them, but Ukai caught him by the back of his jumpsuit. 'Hold on, not so fast. How can we be sure he's going to keep his mouth shut? The worst he'll get for being up here is a week in isolation. You could lose your job.'

'W-well, t-that's true, b-but-' Takeda trialed off. He patted at his forehead with a tissue he'd pulled from his trouser pocket.

Ukai folded his arms and stepped aside so he was blocking Hinata's path to the stairs. 'What can I get you to buy your silence?'

'N-no! I don't need anything! I'm not going to say anything, I swear-' He froze, his mind racing. Perhaps this would be the best excuse to get some information out of Ukai. He already knew that Ukai knew nothing about Bokuto or Akaashi's past, so that wouldn't be worth asking. 'I want information.'

'About what?'

'I want to know anything you can find out about Oikawa Toru, and I want to know about Subject 0,' Hinata stated his demands clearly. Takeda sighed and wiped his glasses on his tissue. 'Or I want access inside the Therapy Unit.'

'What do you know about the inmate Oikawa?' Ukai asked Takeda, who scratched at his head.

'Oh, well, that's not really my job, but I can have a look in the files I have access to. All I know is he was charged with the murder of Officer Kageyama, who was Kageyama Tobio’s father, but I think you already know that. I can check the computers later and see what comes up, but I can't promise anything. As for this Subject 0 business, I really don't know what that is. I'm sorry.'

'You have a key to the Therapy Unit.' Hinata put it bluntly, staring at the set of silver keys on Takeda's belt.

'W-well, yes, but it's only for emergencies. I have never even used it. I don't know how I'd get you in there, I don't have the authority to decide whether an inmate needs therapy or not-'

'Give me the key. I'll let myself in. If they catch me, I'll say I stole it from you and that you had no idea. I can face whatever punishment they throw at me.'

'You really wanna risk another seizure?' Ukai asked. 'What if it kills you?'

Hinata shrugged. 'I'm spending the rest of my life in here, so what does it matter.'

Ukai opened his mouth, ready to debate, but closed it and shrugged. 'Can't argue with that. It's not up to me though. I can ask around about Oikawa, but I don't know if anyone in here will know him. If he had connects to the Aoba Johsai gang, I'll have to be careful. They'll turn on me if they think I'm asking questions about someone in their group.'

'Officer Takeda! There you are!' A panicked voice called out. The three of them jumped and turned to look down the stairs, where Yamaguchi was stood with Tsukishima slumped over his shoulder. He began pulling Tsukishima up the stairs towards them, straining with the effort.

'What's wrong? Is he unconscious?' Takeda gasped, hurrying over to help him. They got Tsukishima onto the third-floor corridor and were trying to get him to sit on the floor, but he snapped at them and pulled himself away, falling against the closest wall for support. 'Tsukishima, what's wrong?'

'He's been complaining of headaches all day, and now he said he's in agony. I don't know what to do! They wouldn't let me out of the prison to the hospital because the doctor isn't in, so I came to find you! Suga said he'd seen you coming up here with Ukai and none of the other officers would help me! They think he's faking it! But he's not! You've got to believe me! We need to call an ambulance or something! Please, help him!'

Officer Takeda was trying to look at Tsukishima's face, but he wasn't having any of it. He kept turning away, not wanting to be touched.

'Tsukishima, you need to tell me what's wrong. Where does it hurt?' Takeda was digging in his pockets. He pulled out a silver flip-phone. 'I'm going to call an ambulance.'

Hinata found himself being shoved aside as Tsukishima pushed away from the wall and staggered over to the stairs. He lost his footing almost immediately and was sent tumbling down them, landing in a heap at the bottom. Yamaguchi yelped and flew down the stairs after him, hoisting him up into a sitting position.

'Tsukki! Tsukki! Are you alright?! Are you hurt? Let me look at you! Have you broken anything?'

'I'm fine... Except...'

Covered in sweat but no longer looking like he was in pain, Tsukishima stared up at them all with shock plastered onto his face. He lifted up a hand and waved it in front of his eyes for a moment before letting it fall.

'I can't see.'

Chapter Text

What had happened to Tsukishima was a complete mystery to all of them.

Somehow, he had just gone blind.

Takeda said they should have had him sent to the hospital earlier for check-ups when he'd continued to complain about his constant headaches, but it was likely it wouldn’t have been taken seriously by the medical staff even if they had. Tsukishima had always brushed it off, saying it wasn’t that serious and being surrounded by idiots all day, every day, was going to cause headaches.

'I snuck him in paracetamol, but that wasn't working.’ Ukai had said. ‘I told him I would get him something stronger, but he said he didn't want anything. He was too stubborn for his own good.'

There was no knowing if he would get his sight back or not, as he had to be sent away in an ambulance and Officer Takeda said it was unlikely they would hear back from him for a while.

Tsukishima hadn't wanted any help getting up and heading to the front of the prison where the ambulance was waiting for him, despite Yamaguchi's pleas. His expression was one of determination, like the fact his vision had gone blank did not bother him at all, but Hinata could see how badly his hands were shaking, and when he walked face first into a wall his bottom lip started to tremble. Eventually, he had given in and let Yamaguchi, and only Yamaguchi, guide him.

Hinata stood with Takeda and Ukai and watched the two boys climb into the back of the ambulance. He and Ukai weren't supposed to be in this part of the prison, as it was the reception area for visitors, but since they were with accompanied by Takeda, no one said anything. He told them it would be fine as long as they didn't try to make a break for it.

This part of the prison was incredibly fancy-looking. The front windows were huge, stretching from floor to ceiling, the floor was shiny and there were neat grey sofas and metal coffee tables scattered around, forming a small waiting area. There was a polished wooden desk, covered in pamphlets and various charity collection tins. Behind the desk, the wall was covered in framed awards, all of them for a Mr. Ushijima Wakatoshi.

He was the man that owned the prison, not that he would ever be seen dead there. He owned several of his own companies and was one of Japan's leading billionaires. From what Hinata had seen of him whenever he had sprung up on television, he was a no-nonsense kind of man who rarely smiled.

Takeda escorted the pair back to the prison (Yamaguchi had been allowed to go to the hospital with Tsukishima for one night) and only when they were back on the empty third floor corridor did Takeda stop walking. He turned to Hinata and help up a small silver key.

'This is the key to the Therapy Unit. If I give this to you, you need to swear that if they catch you in there and find you with this, you say that you stole it from me. Try to get in and out within ten minutes if you can. If you don't come find me in my office in the next hour, I'll come looking for you.' Takeda pressed the key into Hinata's palm.

Ukai stepped forwards and slapped his hand onto Hinata's shoulder. 'Remember, this is a trade, your silence for ours. Don't tell anyone what you saw up here, whether that's what happened between me and Officer Takeda, or what you find in the Therapy Unit. You have to remember that many of the inmates who go there are seeking help for private and personal matters, so if you see something that you shouldn't or is none of your business, keep it zipped. I'm saying this for your own safety. You don't want anyone to find out you've been in there.'

Hinata was nodding his head vigorously, promising them that he would never breathe a word about any of it. He wasn't going to tell them that he had a plan to try and sneak Bokuto out, maybe Akaashi too, because he knew they would never approve of it, and he didn't want the key being snatched right out of his hand again.

'Avoid the cameras in there the best you can,' Takeda gave him some final advice. 'I don't know how many there are, but there are ones all over the prison, so it's likely there will be plenty in there. Don't worry about the ones on this corridor, they don't work. It's one of the reasons they had to shut off the library, other than roof repairs. Right, okay, I'm heading back down with Ukai now. Good luck with speaking to whomever you're looking for. I hope they have answers for you.'

He had walked down half the flight of stairs when Hinata shouted after him. 'Wait! I was also going to ask you, if it's okay with you, can you get a message to my family? I want to see my mother and my little sister.'

'Yes, yes, that's fine, I'll get on that.'

Officer Takeda and Ukai disappeared, leaving Hinata alone on the landing. He could feel his legs shaking and he was scared that if he took a step towards the white door at the end of the corridor, his knees would buckle, and he would collapse.

Although he was scared stiff, he was excited. He had been dying to see Bokuto again and he was going to figure everything out. He would solve the mystery behind Subject 0 and then maybe, if what Ukai had said was possible, he could use the information to buy himself another trial and get out of here. There was no way the government would let this prison continue to run if they were performing weird experiments on the inmates.

Forcing his legs to move, despite the fact they felt like they were weighed down with lead, he dragged himself towards the Therapy Unit door and inserted the key. He took one deep breath and clicked it open. He pushed the door and stepped inside.

The corridor that greeted him was long and mostly white. There were several grey doors lining each wall and the corridor twisted away at the end, taking a right. A few metal tables were pushed up against the walls, covered in stacks of paper and medical equipment that meant nothing to Hinata. He hurried over to the first door and peered through the tiny window, only to find a small office.

At first, he was disappointed- he'd almost expected to see Bokuto sat in a room, grinning broadly at him, but then he decided it wasn't the worst thing he could have found, as an office was bound to have some kind of information, especially if it was the office of the doctor who treated the clients that came here.

Luckily, it was unlocked. He slid inside and shut the door behind him. The room itself was tiny, cupboard-sized, and someone had shoved a really large desk in here and two filing cabinets, both of which were locked. Cursing, Hinata sat down on the desk chair and began pulling open the drawers, rifling through the files inside these. It became apparent very quickly that all the information he desired to know was probably locked up tight in those metal cabinets and this was all useless. There was nothing about Bokuto in here.

He'd almost slammed the drawer shut when a name popped out at him.

Sawamura, Daichi.

Hinata snatched it up and opened the beige folder out on the desk. It had been dated yesterday- perhaps Daichi had been brought here after his incident in the yard. He had been acting so weird. Suga must have rushed him up here to speak with someone who knew how to help him.

The file only contained one sheet of paper, which had been carelessly scrawled on by whomever had spoken to Daichi. It took Hinata a while to figure out what it said because the handwriting was so poor.

THERAPY REPORT:

Despite several attempts at upping his medication, Sawamura seems to have made no improvement and continues to lose track of time and hallucinate. It took him over an hour to calm down in the Therapy Room, but still asked for ''Yui'' for a further hour and a half, until he fell asleep.
When shown photographs of Miss. Yui Michimiya upon awakening, Sawamura had no idea who she was. It is clear that Sawamura experiences two different lives within his own head, one where he is still living outside of the prison with Miss. Michimiya and does not recognise any of his inmates, and one where prison life is all he knows.
If conditions continue to worsen, I recommend keeping Mr. Sawamura within the Therapy Unit and away from the other inmates, for their safety and his own.

Hinata stared at the paper for a while, unable to comprehend what he had just read. Daichi was experiencing loss of time and hallucinations? But why?

The rest of the report just had details about the medication Daichi needed to be put on and when his next treatment would be. There was nothing there saying why he was this way or what had been so traumatic in his life to make him lose his mind.

In fact, the only thing that was attached to the folder was a small off-white envelope. Hinata had to stop himself from tearing the thing to get it open and ended up dropping the object inside onto the floor. Thankfully, it was just a photograph.

The Polaroid was of a couple. The man in the picture was definitely Daichi, only about six to seven years younger, in his late teens. He was smiling brightly at the camera, his arm around a pretty girl with short brown hair and big eyes. Although she was smiling too, her cheeks were flushed, and she looked a bit embarrassed.

Was this girl Michimiya Yui?

Had she been Daichi's girlfriend back before he came into the prison- if so, what had happened to her and why didn't Daichi remember her now?

Being ever so careful, Hinata put the photo back in the envelope and the paper back into the folder and placed it back into the drawer, hoping it would look like no one had touched it, but ended up knocking it aside anyway when he spotted another file, only this one read: Sugawara, Koushi.

Another therapy report made the same day that Suga had gone crazy and flung Daichi into the wall.

It was the same handwriting, which was annoying.

'Why hire someone who can't even write?' Hinata grumbled to himself, squinting at the sloppy Japanese lettering. He even turned it upside down, but that didn't help. 'Uhh... I think it says...'

THERAPY REPORT

Sugawara is making rapid recovery regarding his trauma, and no longer feels panicked by the presences of others, but still faces some issues that must be dealt with. It is unlikely he will ever be comfortable with another person touching his neck, but with regular sessions, we may be able to make it so that he does not have a panic attack and violently hurt the other person involved.
As for his night terrors/sleep paralysis, this needs to be worked on. He still claims to see his deceased wife sitting on his chest with her hands around his throat whenever he sleeps. I would recommend upping medication and having him spend a few nights in the Therapy Unit to see his reactions to these night terrors ourselves.

Suga saw his deceased wife... strangling him?

Almost dropping the sheet he was holding, Hinata's free hand flew down his jumpsuit and fished out the photo he had found on the library floor- the photo of when the five of them had first come into the prison.

The bruises on his neck, Hinata had noticed them earlier. Studying them now, they could definitely pass as handprints.

'Oh my God,' Hinata fell back in the seat, staring at the opposite wall. That's why Suga had freaked out during their group session, Daichi had accidentally touched the back of his neck. No wonder Daichi had been so mad at himself for it, he must have known what it would do and how badly Suga would react to it.

Why had Suga's wife tried to strangle him? Had it been on purpose? Was she trying to kill him? And what had happened that resulted in her ending up dead instead? If Suga was traumatised by her hurting him and not by him actually killing her, then did that make him the victim?

More questions were coming up and Hinata didn't know how to get answers for them. He couldn't say anything to Daichi or Suga about what he had read, especially if it triggered something bad in either of them. He had seen firsthand how scary they could be when they weren't in their right minds.

These were the only two therapy reports in the drawer, which was aggravating. The doctor who owned this office must be the one who cared for Daichi and Suga whenever they came here.

No other reports about the inmates were in this drawer, or any of the other five. The doctor must have written these recently and not bothered to file them away properly.

He had already spent ten minutes in this room, he was wasting time. This wasn't what he'd snuck in here for, he needed to find Bokuto before Takeda got worried and came looking for him or he got caught.

Returning everything to where it was supposed to be, Hinata left the doctor's office and made his way down the corridor, crouching low so no one would see him if he passed by the windows in the doors. It was difficult to peek inside each one, not without showing off his bright orange hair anyway. The first room was another office, only this had one of those red sofas that Hinata often saw in physiatrists offices in films. The room was empty but locked.

Another room was completely padded out, the wall, the floor, the ceiling, all covered in white sponge-like material. Hinata had to guess that inmates were locked up in here when they were being violent or aggressive. There was a bed in the corner, covered in leather straps.

How many people did he know that had been locked up in here? Had Daichi been shoved in here when he'd been demanding to see Yui? Had Bokuto or Akaashi once been strapped down to the bed and left with nothing but their own vivid imaginations?

In the room at the end of the corridor Hinata found two people strapped down on to separate beds, but it wasn't Bokuto and Akaashi.

Kageyama and Oikawa were lying side by side in a small dark room, lit by an overhead light. The beds they were tied to were on wheels, so it was likely they had been pushed there from the hospital and left. Only Oikawa was awake, and he was looking straight at Hinata.

Panicked and confused, Hinata tugged the door open and jumped inside.

'You're the kid from earlier! Quick! You've got to get me up! Now!' Oikawa hissed his demands the moment Hinata had stepped foot into the room. He struggled against his restraints, but it had little effect.

Ignoring him, Hinata rushed over to Kageyama and began unfastening the belts that were across his chest and arms. Close up, it turned out that he was awake, sort of, but had no idea what was happening and wouldn't move when Hinata asked him to, resulting in Hinata having to lift him out of the bed, only to drop him on the floor and bash his head, making a loud clunk.

'Listen to me! I know you've probably heard a lot of things, but I can explain everything later. What happened between me and Tobio isn't important right now, we need to get out of this prison.'

'Why should I believe you?' Hinata was trying to scoop Kageyama up but having difficulty. His body was a dead weight and he was much bigger than Hinata. 'You're not fooling me! I'm not going to let you up so you can attack us both and try to escape! I'm not going to let you hurt Kageyama! If you've come into the prison to finish the job, you can forget it!'

'I- what? Finish what job? What are you on about? I'm not going to hurt you! I told you, it's more complicated than that. What do I have to do to make you believe me? All I want to do is get out of here before they come back! You have no idea what really goes on in this prison. It's not what it seems.'

Hinata let Kageyama fall again, narrowing his eyes. 'I've noticed that myself. Tell me what you know.'

'I will, I will, just let me up and-'

'No, you've got to tell me now! Do you know Bokuto? Do you know Akaashi? What's Subject 0?'

Oikawa blinked at him. 'Heh? I don't know what Subject 0 is, but those two names are familiar to me. I can't think off the top of my head and there is too much to tell you, so please, let me up and I will carry Tobio, and we can get somewhere safe, and I'll give you whatever information you want, or you can try to drag him out of here by yourself, get caught, and then you'll never know anything. If you've snuck into this unit looking for answers, I have them. Don't make me say please again, it's really degrading.'

Reluctantly, Hinata edged forwards and undid Oikawa's restrains, but jumped back immediately after and threw his hands out to protect Kageyama, who was lying on the floor, groaning softly.

Oikawa got unsteadily to his feet and rubbed at his wrists before hurrying over to the door and sticking his head out. 'Good, the corridor is empty. Move aside, let me pick him up- stop staring at me like that, it's freaky, I'm just going to carry him- unless you'd rather me leave him behind?'

'Definitely not!'

'Well, at least move so I can pick him up.' Oikawa sighed, watching as Hinata did some kind of weird crab dance in front of Kageyama. 'What are you doing, stop it.'

Hinata's mind was racing. He didn't know whether or not to put some faith in Oikawa, this man had murdered Kageyama's father after all, but he knew that he would not be able to carry Kageyama by himself. He'd not even considered the possibility that he might have had to haul Bokuto out of the Therapy Unit, he'd pictured him being able to walk or run- if he couldn't lift Kageyama, he'd be unable to even shift Bokuto.

'I don't have time for this!' Oikawa snapped, shoving Hinata out of the way. He got his arms underneath Kageyama's and hoisted him up into the air and threw him over his shoulder. He then turned to Hinata, glaring. 'Come on, let's move. I'm hoping you know the layout of this prison better than I do. Your orange jumpsuit doesn't fill me with much hope, though.'

Sticking close as possible to Oikawa without making him feel weird about it, Hinata slithered out the room after him and walked with them towards the exit for about a second or two, before stopping and turning, heading back to the second corridor. Oikawa hissed after him. 'What are you doing?'

'I can't leave yet! I came here to find someone!'

'Fine! I'm not waiting, I'll go ahead-'

'No, wait!' Hinata bounced back over to him. 'I can't leave you and Kageyama alone. If he wakes up-'

'Well, I don't know what you want me to do, because you're too much of a shrimp to carry him instead, and I'm not going to wait around to get caught. Either come with me or go off on your own. I'm not going to hurt him; I'll dump him somewhere and go.'

Hinata threw out his arms, blocking Oikawa's path. 'You promised me answers! You can't just disappear! How do I know you won't just kill him and then dump the body? Is that what you did with his father?'

For a moment, it looked like Oikawa was going to laugh. He instead closed his eyes and dropped Kageyama at Hinata's feet, before brushing himself off. 'You're annoying. I'm going. Do what you want with him.'

As Oikawa tried to step past Hinata, pushing at his head, Hinata grabbed hold of him around the middle and ended up tripping him up, making the pair of them land in a heap. Oikawa was swearing, trying to untangle his limbs from Hinata's when they heard a door slam.

The pair of them froze.

'W-what was that?' Hinata whispered, as Oikawa pushed him away.

'I don't know, but let's not stay to find out. Run to the door and get it open, I'll get Tobio.'

However, Hinata ignored him and tip-toed to the end of the corridor and peeped around the corner. It was empty. The door slamming must have come from somewhere else. He let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand lazily at Oikawa. 'There's no one there. I'm going to look for Bokuto.'

'I thought you didn't want to leave me with your friend.'

Hinata had been about to take a step and he froze with his leg in the air. Crap. That was true. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't take Kageyama with him, but he couldn't waste time getting him somewhere safe before trying to come back. Takeda wouldn't allow him to come here twice.

Slowly, he swivelled on the spot to face Oikawa, his eyes wide and staring. Oikawa flinched, creeped out. 'What's with that face? What are you thinking?'

'You're going to pick him up and come with me to find my friend, or I'm going to start screaming.'

'What?!'

'I bet there's someone around here who would hear it if I started shouting. I'll tell them you're trying to escape. They'll lock you back up.'

'You'd get in trouble!'

'Isolation won't mean anything if I know Kageyama is safe and alive.'

Grumbling, Oikawa scooped Kageyama up again and jogged up to Hinata, scowling at him. 'Fine. Let's hurry. He's not that light, you know. Which room is your friend in anyway?'

'Dunno.'

'You're taking the-'

'Sssh!' Hinata pressed a finger to his lips and shuffled forwards, spying into the next room. He looked back at Oikawa, jerking his head at the door. 'There's someone in here. I can't see, it's too dark. It might be Bokuto.'

'And if it isn't?!'

Hinata had been about to pull the door open, but he stopped. Oikawa was right- what if it wasn't Bokuto? It couldn't be a member of staff, it looked like a padded-cell. He was just considering knocking and seeing who came to the window when he spotted a little sticky label in the corner of the door:

Subject 0.

Holy baloney, Hinata thought, trying his hardest to see through the glass. Whomever was in this room was facing away from him, sat on a bed. All he could make out was their silhouette. There was nothing that was going to stop him from opening this door now, this is the mystery he'd been searching for. Could the person in this room be Akaashi?

He had to find out.

'Hey! What are you doing?! Stop!'

Before Oikawa could stop him, he'd undone the latch on the outside of the door and wrenched it open. He stood in the doorway, his body going stiff. The room was really cold, and it smelt like coppery blood.

'Akaashi?' Hinata managed to splutter.

The man on the bed turned his head. Hinata still could not see his face. Very slowly, he got to his feet, blood splattering onto the floor. He'd been clawing at his own hands, which were red raw. As he stepped into the light, Hinata recognised him, but it wasn't Akaashi.

'W-what are you doing here?!'

This question received no answer. Instead, the man began to slowly walk towards Hinata, crackling his knuckles, a threatening stare on his face. When he swung for him, Hinata shrieked and dived out of the way.

'What's going on!' Oikawa was shouting, trying to help Hinata to his feet. The man stepped out of the room he had been locked in and leapt at Oikawa, who managed to side-step him, watching in confusion as the attacker crashed into the wall, leaving a smear of blood behind him from his injured hands. 'Who is this man? Is this Bokuto?'

Another punch was aimed at Oikawa's head. He broke into a sprint, shifting Kageyama's position on his shoulder. Hinata was fast at his heel, the pair of them racing towards the exit, but apparently their shouting had alerted a member of staff, who was blocking the way. They looked shocked to see the two men running at them and fumbled at their belt for their electric shock remote.

A bloody hand grabbed Hinata by the scruff of the neck and flung him back down the corridor. He hit the wall with a painful thump and slid down it, wheezing.

The guard was in hysterics, radioing it in. The attacker turned towards them and began to march down the corridor, but the guard jumped outside and slammed the door shut, locking it tight- sealing the three prisoners in there with him.

Hinata's head was spinning but someone was pulling him up and pushing him down the second corridor. 'Go! Go! We need to lock ourselves in a room! This guy is insane!'

Thankfully, the attacker didn't run after them, but he did walk at an incredible stride. Oikawa was struggling to keep Kageyama from slipping from his shoulders and Hinata had to help him heave Kageyama into a small room and they both pressed their back to the door, while Oikawa fumbled for some kind of lock.

It didn't have one.

Outside, the man was throwing himself against the door, which was sending shudders down Hinata's whole body. He and Oikawa couldn't hold it shut forever.

'Hinata, get that table and pull it over here! We've got to barricade ourselves in!'

'But-’ Hinata didn't like the idea of being locked inside a room with Oikawa, but he decided it was better than being stuck out in the corridor with him. He didn't know what kind of intent the attacker had for the three of them and he most definitely did not want to find out. 'Can you hold the door?'

'Go!' Oikawa was pressing his full weight against the door, but his feet were beginning to slide. Hinata hurried over to the side of the room, where a solid wooden table sat and he dragged it over. He didn't stop there, he pushed over a metal filing cabinet and some kind of heavy-looking medical equipment. There was also a metal shelf full of cardboard boxes, which Oikawa helped him pull over and place in front of the door, since it was holding steady by itself now with all the weight in front of it.

The room they had ran into was some kind of long storage room. The majority of the stuff in here looked like useless junk. Oikawa was busy piling more and more stuff in front of the door, anything heavy that he could lift, and Hinata moved down to the end of the room, where a white curtain was obscuring something from his view.

It was the smell that had attracted him down here.

A horrible, pungent smell. The closer he got, the more he gagged. He ended up covering his mouth with his sleeve and, with a shaking hand, he ripped back the curtain.

Vomit rose in the back of his throat, and he let out a scream, which made Oikawa yelp and rush over to see what the problem was. At the sight of the thing behind the curtain, Oikawa's face went a pasty white colour and he backed away, covering the lower half of his face with one of his hands. ‘What... who-who is that?'

Tears were streaming down Hinata's face, he couldn't stop them once they had started. His nose was snotty but he didn't care. His knees wobbled and he ended up collapsing to the floor, his hands in his hair, tugging at it, shrieking.

This isn't what he wanted.

He'd never, ever wanted to find this.

When he'd pulled back that curtain, he had been expecting to find a pile of trash bags or some kind of unclean medical stuff, not a body. The man lying on the metal table was staring up at the ceiling, glassy-eyed, a look of pure horror still etched into their face. By the look of their skin, which had gone mottled and grey, and by the stench alone, they had been there for a few days, at least.

'Holy shit, Hinata. Fuck.' Oikawa dared take a few steps closer, breathing through his jumpsuit sleeve. It didn't stop him from violently coughing when he got too close. The banging on the door had stopped, so all that could be heard now were Hinata's wails. 'Shit, it looks like he had his neck snapped. Fuck. Shit. We need to get out of here.'

Oikawa tried to get Hinata to stand up, but he screamed at him and pushed him away, trying to approach the body but the smell made him back off again. He began smacking his head against the nearest wall. Oikawa grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him back down the other end of the room, despite Hinata's violent protests, and pinned him into place near where Kageyama lay. He was starting to stir now and was mumbling incoherently to himself.

'This is the evidence we need. We can bring down this entire fucking prison, but I’m going to need your help and I’m going to need you to trust me. Can you do that?’

All Hinata managed to say was, ‘I know him.’

‘I know, he was your friend, wasn’t he?’ Oikawa said soothingly. Hinata nodded.

‘His name is Bokuto Kotaro.’

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

The funeral for Officer Kageyama had been one big show. Four officers in uniform had carried his sleek black coffin down the street, towards the church where the service had been held, and when the coffin had been lowered in the ground, in the graveyard around the back, they had fired their guns several times into the bitter November air.

They had to do it like that, since he had been a high-ranking member of the police force, but Kageyama Tobio hated every moment of it. He hated that a huge crowd had turned up, sobbing into handkerchiefs like they had actually known the man; he hated the way they had given him such pitying looks as they bowed to him, and how they talked non-stop about what a great man he had been, but only being able to speak about stories they had read in the local newspapers.

Nobody really cared about Tobio though, no one would go home that night wondering what would happened to the poor, fatherless boy, or how sad it would be for him to return to an empty home. It probably didn't even cross their minds that he had no one left now. His father had been everything to him, the only family he had ever known- he had never had the privilege to know his mother, who had died during childbirth. He’d once had an older sister, but she too, was long dead. He had no remaining grandparents, and no other close relatives to turn to.

The last Kageyama.

He had been supposed to give a eulogy, stand in front of a room of strangers and talk about how much his father had meant to him, but when the time came, he could not bring himself to even step up to the front and had shaken his head at the man doing the service. Nobody in this room deserved to know what relationship he and his father had had. They didn't get to watch him try to splutter out words, or try and fail to convey his feelings about everything- how could you speak about an entire lifetime with one person in just five minutes?

Some old bat claiming to be Kageyama's great-aunt had taken his place instead and wept loudly about how proud she was to have such a wonder nephew and how sad she was going to be that he was gone, which only angered Kageyama because he knew this woman had never wanted any part in their life. None of the family had, not after his father had conceived him out of wedlock. Most of them had even had the nerve to say that Kageyama's mother and sister had died because God was punishing them for it.

He knew why she was acting like this; she was probably hoping she had been left something in the will.

She hadn't.

Everything Officer Kageyama had owned had been left in his son's name. The house, the car, any money left in the bank. Thankfully, there was enough to keep him going for a few years, but he knew he would need to find a job and start earning his own living eventually. He was twenty-two now, it was expected of him.

Surprisingly, he hadn't cried when he'd watched the coffin being lowered in the ground. He was allowed to be the one to sprinkle the first lot of soil on top of the casket, but he ended up fumbling with the spade and almost dropped it into the hole. It aggravated him that some of the people in the crowd tittered behind their hands. He was so glad that his pain was amusing to them.

All the speeches given about his father had been wrong, but he kept his mouth closed and endured them, because he didn't want to start stomping around and shrieking at everyone. The only people who had known his father properly had been himself and a very small number of his detective friends.

One of his closest friends had been unable to make it, since they had been missing for two years.
Kageyama's father had always been determined to find out what had happened to him, but no news about the man ever came to light.

Like him, his father had been a very closed off man. He had kept himself to himself and valued his own privacy. He didn't need much company and preferred spending any hours that he wasn't working with his only son.

The only other person who could have spoken truly about Officer Kageyama would have been a journalist who had been working closely with his father on a specific case, but Kageyama had never met him and only heard about him through his father's words and had no idea if he had shown up to the funeral at all. His father had never even referred to him by name, out of some deep-seated paranoia that if his son was ever captured and questioned, he could reveal nothing.

If the mystery journalist had attended the funeral, he had kept his mouth shut and not drawn any attention to himself.

This had disappointed Kageyama because he had been hoping to speak with this journalist about the case his father had been working on.

He wanted to pick up where his father had left off.

To bring down the Aoba Johsai gang and the man that had murdered him.

Oikawa Toru.

The wake had been the worst part of it. All these strangers and nobodies had gathered in Kageyama's small home, invading his privacy and touching his stuff. He hadn't wanted it to happen at all, but his great-aunt had forced it upon him and made all the arrangements. She had come and tidied the house, since neither or his father had been particularly clean, and filled most of the empty spaces with hideous flowers and incense that made him sneeze. He'd been sure to lock the bedroom doors- he didn't want anyone going in there.

While all the guests milled around on the bottom floor, eating the crappy food that had been provided, Kageyama had seated himself at the top of the stairs alone, and glared at anyone who tried to come up. Most of them returned back down willingly, assuming he was grieving, not without giving him some kind of awkward sympathy talk that he just didn't need.

It was when some of the younger children had started to poke fun at him, running up and down the stairs to try and get a glimpse of him, that he shut himself in his bedroom and let himself cry. He remained there until all the guests had gone and his great-aunt came knocking on his door, saying she would leave a tray of food on the landing for him.

She only stayed for four days. The moment they had been called in about the will and she found out that she had nothing in her name, she had huffed, had any angry rant about how Kageyama didn't deserve any of it and her brother's son's stuff should belong to her because she had, apparently, been the closest with her brother when he was alive, before snatching up her handbag and marching from the room. He didn't see or hear from her again after that.

Good riddance.
To vent a lot of his frustration, Kageyama smashed all of the ugly vases she had purchased to house the hideous flowers and left the pieces scattered over the small back garden. He stuffed all the wilting flowers into a plastic bag and put them out on the street for the morning rubbish collection. The house had still been too neat and tidy, so he had tried scattering stuff around to make it look like his father was still present, but it just didn't feel the same.

He ended up spending a lot of days wrapped up in a blanket, lying on the sofa, watching mind numbing television, eating cup noodles. He didn't have the energy to do much, he just wanted to sleep. He didn't even have anyone to talk to about how he was feeling, not that he was naturally open about his emotions, but it had hit him recently after his father's death that he didn't really have any friends. Any that he had made in high school no longer kept in contact with him.

Without his father, he was utterly alone.

Everything that he had once really enjoyed doing didn't seem fun to him anymore. Nothing satisfied him. He was so empty.

When some of his father's work friends had come round to check up on him, worried how he was coping, he did not feel happy or fulfilled in his need for companionship. These men were all older than him, they had nothing in common and most of what they had said to him had gone in one ear and out the other, nothing but a distant buzz.

It was only about two weeks later, half-way through the month, that something got Kageyama up and about again. He'd had his father's bedroom door locked since the funeral and had no reason to enter at all, but he had just decided to go in one day, and he had been greeted by all the post-its and paper and photographs that were pinned over all four walls, red string connecting things together.

His father had always kept all his work to one room of the house, because he didn't want his son to feel like he only viewed their home as another office. Kageyama had never minded it, though, he found it all quite fascinating. One of his favourite pastimes with his father had been sitting and listening to him talk about his work and all the criminals and crooks that he had sent to prison and what their crimes had been.

Everything in this room was about the Aoba Johsai and Nekoma gangs.

Although everyone and their grandmother knew that these were both notorious drug gangs, there had been absolutely no evidence to convict either, nor did they know the leaders of either gang or any of the higher-up members. Any of the men or women that had been sent to prison had been lower-ranking mules who had just been caught selling substances on the street.

Both groups had become cleverer over time and the arrests were minimal these days. It was hard to catch any of them in the act.

The Nekoma gang had been known to kidnap people and use them as drug mules to sneak their supplies to other countries. Even though security at borders and airports had become so strict these days, they were still finding ways to slip through the law's fingers.

Kageyama had always suspected they had men working on the inside, allowing stuff to slip by without inspection, but his father had said there was no way to prove that.

'All I need to figure out is who is running the operations,' his father had told him one day over dinner. 'Nekoma's leader, Aoba Johsai's leader, and whoever is their boss. There's got to be someone at the top, running it all. I still need to find out where they're manufacturing the drug they're selling as well. It's new on the market, something different, something weird, but we haven't actually been able to get our hands on it yet. The dealers we have caught haven't been in possession of that particular drug and the one that I found with it managed to throw it into the sewers and we couldn't trace it. All I remember was it was this weird blue colour, kind of like meth but it was a gooey-liquid in capsules that dissolve when in contact with water. They must have designed it like that so it could be easily flushed.'

Seeing how frustrated his father had gotten over the few years he was trying to bring these gangs in had upset Kageyama and he had really wanted to help him out but had no idea where to start. His father would never tell him any names, he didn't want Kageyama to have anything to do with it.

His father’s obsession with all of this had initially started when both his wife and daughter died. Kageyama’s mother had been pregnant with Tobio at the time, and she’d been out running errands with her eight-year-old daughter, Kageyama Miwa.

It had been an unfortunate case of wrong place, wrong time. They’d taken a wrong turn and been approached by several hooded men demanding money.

The attack had left both mother and daughter in critical care. The doctors did what they could, but Miwa passed away several hours later from internal bleeding. Distraught, this had caused premature labour in Mrs. Kageyama, one month too early. Her body had not been able to cope with the childbirth, unable to even hold her tiny newborn son in her arms.

Although Kageyama’s father had already been involved with many drug cases within the Tokyo police department, learning that the men who had attacked his family were part of the Nekoma gang had sent him over the edge. He had refused to take paid leave and took on every case he could get his hands on, determined to rid the streets of these criminals. It steadily consumed his life.

He rarely spoke to his son about them. He didn’t even keep photos of them up in the house, apart from one photo on Miwa’s third birthday, tucked away inside his desk drawer. Kageyama always assumed it was too painful for him. When Kageyama was old enough, his father had explained how they died and how his job was going to protect others out there, just like them. It also made sense to Kageyama why his father had been so over-protective with him aswell.

And once again, these gangs had robbed Kageyama of more of his family.

During October, his father had come home extremely happy and said he had an 'inside man'. Kageyama had not known what that meant and his father had not given him any more information about it, only that everything was going to go his way in the end.

How wrong he was.

It had been midnight on Halloween that his father had gotten a call from someone. He had woken Kageyama up because he had fallen over in his room trying to pull on his work uniform. The last thing he had said to his son was to 'not wait up for him' and that he was going to arrest every single member of Aoba Johsai, once and for all.

Kageyama had waited up for him. All night.

He never returned.

It wasn't until mid-day that some officers turned up at his house to tell him the bad news. Officer Kageyama had been killed while off-duty. Kageyama had been taken to verify the body. He hadn't been given much information at the start, but he soon learned that his father had been stabbed multiple times in the chest.

The officers didn't want to give him any details, but one of his father's friends told him what had happened.

Officer Kageyama had tried to organise a raid on the members of Aoba Johsai, but when the squat teams had arrived at the abandoned factory building, they had found it empty. His father had then received a second phone call and had jumped into a car and driven off, not telling anyone where he was going.

'We traced the GPS on the car and followed him to the other side of town, but when we got there, he was already dead. I'm so sorry, Tobio.' He'd received a friendly shoulder squeeze that he didn't like.

When Kageyama asked if they had caught anyone, the man looked down at his feet and shook his head. 'They had all scattered by that point, apart from one man, who was covered in blood. He ran for it the moment we got there.'

'Who was it?' Kageyama had demanded, and didn't stop until he got a name, because the officer did not want to tell him. He said it was better that Kageyama didn't know and didn't seek revenge, but another guy had turned up and said it was going to publish in the newspapers so he might as well know.

The second man had handed him a photo.

'Oikawa Toru. Twenty-six. He's our only suspect.'

His face had been splashed across newspapers, saying he was wanted for questioning, but only said it was linked to a murder and not that he was actually the one who had done the killing. If he had been literally caught red-handed at the crime scene, it had to have been him. It also came up that he had been spotted around town with members of the Aoba Johsai gang. He was part of it.

And Kageyama was going to find him.

Tracking down Oikawa Toru had not been an easy task. It was almost as if his existence had been wiped off the face of the earth.

He'd done an excellent job and removing any mention of himself online- there were no social networking pages, no blogs, no previous work. He'd been to the council and asked about it, but they had told him anything they had had on the man had been taken away by the police. Even though Kageyama had been related to an officer, the police had shooed him away when he went asking to see the information.

'Don't go looking for trouble.' They had told him.

Visiting all the houses of men named Oikawa Toru in the phone book had been a bust. None of them matched the man in his picture.

By the beginning of December, Kageyama was starting to lose hope and had to assume that Oikawa had simply fled the country. He had probably changed his name and started a new life somewhere else.
That is, until he saw him sitting at a table in a coffee shop.

Kageyama had almost dropped his bag of groceries.

The man he had spent over a month looking for was just sat having a cup of coffee in the window of a cafe, reading a newspaper and scribbling away in some kind of journal. He l9ooked like he didn't have a care in the world.

It was definitely him.

Kageyama had entered the café and ordered himself a drink and sat at a table nearby, peering over at him. Same height, hair colour and style, same eyes, same little smirk. He didn't look like he'd been living homeless, or that he was even part of some kind of back-street drug gang; he was dressed very fashionably. When he had laughed at something in the newspaper, Kageyama had felt a surge of rage rush through him- how could his sit there and laugh when he had taken a man's life and ruined another?

His first instinct had been to phone the police, but he found himself pushing his mobile back into his coat pocket. He didn't want the police to take him away, he wanted to face him on his own and...

He wanted to kill him.

If he went to prison for it, he didn't care. He had nothing to lose.

Whatever Oikawa was writing in his journal, it seemed important. He kept frowning and crossing stuff out, before tutting to himself and rifling through the paper again. It turned out he had quite a stack of them inside a leather satchel at his feet.

Not once did he get up and go to the bathroom, which Kageyama had been hoping for. He wanted to get sneak peek at the journal, perhaps he could even run off with it, but there was no opportunity that presented itself.

About an hour later, Oikawa had gotten up, shoved everything back into his satchel, threw on a very stylish grey coat and white knit scarf, and had headed out of the cafe. Kageyama was up like a shot and almost tumbled out of the door after him.

You're just walking home with your groceries, Kageyama kept thinking over and over to himself, look natural. He didn't even notice you in the cafe, so he's not going to suspect anything.

If Oikawa had looked around and spotted Kageyama tailing him, he might have been concerned because Kageyama was acting incredibly shifty and people he passed kept giving him weird looks, but apparently, Oikawa had no sense of stranger danger or self-awareness and happily walked all the way back to a block of flats at the edge of town.

Kageyama had ducked down behind a low wall. Oikawa had glanced over his shoulder when he was just about to enter a key code to the building and once he had slipped inside, he vanished from view. Kageyama had waited five minutes before rushing over and pulling at the door handle, but it was shut tight. He could not work out what the key code was, and there was a warning saying five wrong codes would alert building security.

Instead, he memorised the building name and what the street was called.

When he had looked it up online that night, the apartment building came up as one of the more expensive lots in the whole town.

How could he possibly afford such a place?

Kageyama knew that the lower members of the Aoba Johsai gang did not get that kind of money- unless Oikawa wasn't a lower member?

Could he be the leader?
Once again, going to the council provided him with no help. They got suspicious when he asked for a blueprint of the building and said he needed official clearance for that kind of thing, and when he asked for a list of residents, they had said he should leave before they called security.

As a last resort, he ended up just sitting outside of the building, waiting for Oikawa to come back out. There was a bench nearby that he could sit on, far enough away so no one would really see him when they exited the building, but close enough for him to tell who was coming and going.

It was the last week of December by the time he saw Oikawa again, just after Christmas Day. He had to alternate the times he spent sat outside because he got cold, or tired, or hungry. He didn't want to sleep on the bench and risk the police thinking he was homeless, so there were many chances that Oikawa could have left without him realising it.

Evening had just fallen, and Oikawa left the building in his fancy coat and scarf. Kageyama had been half-way through eating an egg sandwich and he'd choked on it, but tried his best to not make any sound, which was a difficult task. He threw the rest of the sandwich in a nearby bush and ran after Oikawa, who he found getting into a taxi.

He felt completely ridiculous getting into another car behind and saying, 'follow that taxi', like he was in some kind of cop drama, but the driver had just shrugged and tailed them without question.

Kageyama had thrown some money at him and jumped out, finding himself stood outside a club called 'The Black Cat'.

Why had Oikawa come here?

It was a dive.

The bouncer had let Oikawa through straight away, but Kageyama had ended up having to queue for at least half an hour, getting steadily more annoyed when pretty girls in high heels sauntered up to the front of the line and the bouncer had let them pass by without a problem.

Oikawa was seated at the end of the bar, next to some girl in a short pink dress. His coat was slung over his knee and he was wearing yet more very fashionable-looking clothing. It didn't look like something you could pick up a cheap shopping mall store. He bought the lady a drink and appeared to be somewhat talking to her, but he kept looking around the room, as though searching for someone.

Kageyama had seated himself at a table near the back, so he was hidden in the shadows and could watch him without getting caught. There were a few drunk people seated opposite him but they paid him no attention and were too busy taking photos of themselves. One did try to push a drink towards him, but he shook his head and they shrugged and went back to ignoring him.

Fifteen minutes passed by, and Oikawa started to look like he was getting sick of talking to this one girl. He was just nodding at her now, not even bothering to keep eye contact, but she was far too drunk to notice. When she fell on him, he steadied her and moved her over to some other guy stood at the end of the bar, pushing her into his arms. He gave Oikawa a thumbs up and Oikawa returned to seat, glancing at his watch.

He was obviously waiting for someone.

Perhaps he was meeting up with someone from Aoba Johsai or Nekoma- could he be doing some kind of drug trade?

Five minutes later, a man appeared and took a seat next to Oikawa. They exchanged a friendly-looking greeting and the stranger ordered himself a drink. He was tall, broad, and tan. The pair of them had attracted a lot of female attention in the room, but they weren't paying much attention to it.

From what Kageyama could see, the other man looked irritable. He was snapping at Oikawa, rubbing at his temple, frustrated.

Then, Oikawa reached into the pocket of his slim-fit jeans and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he handed over to his friend. The guy took one look at it, frowned, and then began talking again. Kageyama wished they wouldn't play such loud, thumping music- it was impossible for him to overhear anything in their conversation.

Secretly, he took several photos with his phone, holding it just below the table so no one would see- not that anyone was looking at him or wonder why he was taking pictures in a club. He was lucky the music covered up the sound of the camera shutter, which was a mobile feature that could not be disabled in Japan.

Oikawa's friend sighed and dropped the paper on the bar, before knocking back whatever drink he had ordered. The pair of them then stood up, pulled on their coats, and exited.

Kageyama had been intending to follow them, but as he passed by where they had been sitting, he noticed they had left the paper behind. He hurried over and snatched it, unfolding it and moving into better light for him to see. It didn't help that the lighting in here kept changing colours.

He almost knocked over a guy coming down a set of red-carpeted stairs. The man, whose hair was in desperate need of a root touch up, just side-stepped him and continued towards the exit, his nose almost against the screen of the Ninento Switch he was playing on.

What they had left at the bar was a newspaper clipping.

From subs to nuts, in wigs, sculptures, fruit and "wearable heroin," drug smugglers are finding more creative ways to conceal their bootlegged goods. "There are a myriad of ways to smuggle drugs," said thespokesperson for the Tokyo division of Japan's drug control. "It is apparent that radical measures are now starting to be taken."

This was, of course, referring to the drug smuggling attempt that 22-year-old, unemployed, Hinata Shouyou tried to pull off at the beginning of December. It was reported that the drugs themselves had been sewn into the lining of his stomach.

Eyewitnesses claim that Mr. Hinata managed to make it all the way to the boarding gate for his flight to Paris, France, before running into some difficulties. Does this show a lack of drug control within our own airports? [See pg. 13 for more on the upcoming drug control schemes.]

As for Mr. Hinata, he will be sentenced at the Tokyo High Court on the 31st of December and may face life imprisonment. The suspect in question has no previous history with drugs and his no criminal records to speak of...

The article ended there because the rest of it had been torn off.

Why had they been looking at this?

What did it mean to them?

He re-read it several times, trying to work out what this Hinata Shouyou meant to them. From what he could gather, this Hinata person had been trying to smuggle drugs (inside himself?! Kageyama grimaced at these words) across the border to Paris, but something had happened, and he had been caught and now he was facing a prison sentence...

Had he been working for Oikawa? Was he a member of the Aoba Johsai gang?

Could Oikawa and his friend be planning to go to the trial on the 31st to make sure he doesn't talk?

If that's where they were going to be, that's where he would go.

And he would take his father's gun with him.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

Despite his best efforts, Kageyama had been unable to attend Hinata Shouyou's trial, and found himself thrown out on his ass and threatened with a night in a cell if he tried to sneak back into the courthouse. The guards believed he was some kind of journalist, trying to sneak in to get the scoop earlier than the rest, and refused to listen to him when he said he was trying to catch a criminal.

'We've already caught the criminal, you publishing it in whatever little forgotten newspaper or magazine you work for will have to wait until we publicly announce the verdict. Now get out of here, don't let me catch you snooping around again, I hate your type.'

The door was slammed in his face.

That meant Oikawa was inside, observing Hinata's trial, and Kageyama couldn't do anything about it. He had to hope that Oikawa would not try anything or go after Hinata with so many guards around, but how many of them could be easily paid off to look the other way? What if the judge and the jury had been bribed?

Plenty of camera crews and news reporters had gathered around the front of the building, preparing for whenever Hinata Shouyou was to arrive. No one paid him any attention as he slipped through the crowd, making his way to the front where the barricades stopped him getting any closer. He'd been stood here twenty minutes ago, when he'd watched Oikawa and his angry-looking friend walk up the main doors, speak to security for a few moments and then get granted access inside.

Why wasn't anyone arresting Oikawa? How was it that no one remembered his face from the news?

It's what made him suspect bribery was afoot. How else would they have just gotten inside without a proper reason to be there?

When the police van pulled up to the pavement, Kageyama found himself being shunted aside by rabid cameramen, desperate to get a glimpse of the drug smuggler. He had to grab hold of some woman to keep his balance, which earned him an elbow in the side of the head, and he staggered away, trying to squeeze through the throng of people in front of him to get a better look at Hinata. All he managed to see was a glimpse of wild orange hair as the convict was led up the steps. Once he'd disappeared inside the courthouse, the camera crew and reporters fell back into their usual business of chatter, make-up prep, and demanding coffee from interns.

Trying to get one of the cameramen to help him out had been a bust too. He'd approached one guy, who he'd assumed to be friendly from the way he had been smiling at the news lady he was working with, but it turned out he didn't act the same way around other guys. He snapped at Kageyama and told him to piss off, and when Kageyama asked if he would be able to film a certain man who'd be coming out the courthouse after Hinata, the cameraman asked if he was planning on paying him and swore at him when Kageyama said no.

If he could get Oikawa's face on TV, he could send a copy of the recording to the police, and they'd be able to hunt him down.

The best idea he could come with was to film it on his phone, but once the trial had ended and someone came rushing out the main doors to give the verdict (guilty, life in prison), the crowd went wild, rushing to get to the front so they could be the ones to film, and perhaps speak to, Hinata. Kageyama was pushed aside, constantly told to get out of the way, and couldn't lift his arm high enough to get a good video of what was going on the middle. He rushed to the edge of the street, watching as Hinata, looking ghostly white, was herded towards the van, and couldn't help but wonder how a kid like him had ended up getting himself involved in those awful drug gangs.

Kageyama's last resort was to just wait for Oikawa and his friend to leave the court house and follow them to wherever they went next. He'd donned a grey hooded-jacket and a cap that had the word HOLLYWOOD splashed across the front.

As Hinata Shouyou was ushered into the van and driven away, the crowd of paparazzi began to disperse. Some lagged behind, trying to get interviews with those leaving the court.

A man with slick black hair and a red three-piece suit came strutting down the steps, waving to a nearby camera that was pointed his way, a smug grin of his lips. When they tried to approach him for an interview, they were shooed away by a scary-looking bloke with a blonde mohawk tuft of hair. The scary man said something under his breath to the smug man and opened the door to a sleek silver car.

Something about that man set the hairs on the back of Kageyama's neck on end, but he couldn't work out what it was.

Before the red-suited man climbed into the car, his narrow golden eyes locked onto Kageyama, which startled him, and he almost tripped over a nearby potted-plant. This made the sly looking man snicker, and he gave Kageyama a cheeky wink before sliding into the car, next to a boy with terrible, overgrown roots playing a Nintendo Switch, who seemed oddly familiar to Kageyama, and he couldn't work out where he'd seen him before. The other man with him slammed the door shut and got into the front and they drove off.

His attention was snapped away from the stranger, as the remaining camera crews had all started making a lot of commotion. A woman with short dark hair had just left the courthouse, escorted by two guards to keep the news reporters back. She was crying, clutching at the arm of what Kageyama presumed was her daughter, who had a striking resemblance to the accused. From what he could hear from the shouts of the people around him, this was Hinata Shouyou's mother and younger sister.

They didn't give any statements and were taken to a car of their own.

Before Hinata's sister got into the car, she turned, puffed out her cheeks, looking mildly like an annoyed hamster, and shouted as loud as she could, 'MY BIG BROTHER SHO IS INNOCENT! He didn't do it! He's innocent, do you hear me?! He didn't do it!'

She was dragged into the car by her mother and the door was closed with a snap.

It was apparent that Oikawa and his friend had been waiting for the paparazzi to disappear before they chose to leave the court. When the final camera had been stowed away into a van and the street in front of the court was pretty much empty apart from a few pedestrians, Oikawa and co emerged from the court and down the steps, stopping to stretch and readjust scarves and gloves.

Kageyama was hiding behind a low wall, watching them, ready to duck down if they turned. He was close enough to overhear what they were saying.

'This is getting ridiculous,' Oikawa's friend was snapping at him, grumpily fixing his scarf. He had a deep, masculine voice. 'I know what I've said, but there's nothing you can do about it. You might as well quit while you're ahead before you get yourself into trouble.'

'You're the one that brought me the information that's going to blow this thing wide open,' Oikawa replied, shoving his hands into his coat pocket. 'I never even thought about the possibility it could be connected.'

The other guy sighed and rubbed at his temple, frowning. He looked tired. 'Look, I've tried finding proof, but it's not there. It doesn't exist. They're too clever. It's all covered up. I don't like the road you're taking and if you get yourself into deep shit, I'm going to personally find whatever ditch you get left in, bring you back to life, and wring your neck. Give it up already.'

'You know I can't do that. I don't have a choice anymore.' Oikawa began to walk off. His friend looked a little pissed off and scowled before jogging after him. Kageyama waited for them to get a safe distance ahead before tailing them.

Due to the spacing between them and the rolling traffic, Kageyama could no longer make out what they were saying to each other. He glared after them, wishing he could read lips, an angry hatred bubbling in his chest every time Oikawa dared crack a smile. How dare he be happy when he had taken all the joy from Kageyama's life.

Just what information had Oikawa's friend provided for him? What proof was he looking for?

There were so many unanswered questions that Kageyama was certain he probably wouldn't get an answer to.

Surprisingly, he had almost stopped caring. All he wanted now was justice- he was still swaying back and forth about the idea of filming him secretly and sending it to the police, but there was a part of him that kept making him lower his phone.

This was personal.

He wanted to handle it in his own way.

Oikawa deserved to die.

But Kageyama needed him alone.

It took all day before Oikawa split off from his friend. They'd gone for lunch together in a fancy-looking restaurant, which Kageyama wasn't even allowed to enter since he was dressed like a slob, so he spent a good two hours sitting on a bench across the road, freezing, his feet and hands going numb, before they emerged once more. They stopped off at a newsagent and came out with a stack of the daily papers, which Oikawa stuffed into his satchel bag.

Finally, when the pair of them reached the main city library, they split ways, the unknown man heading off down the road with a casual wave over his shoulder. Oikawa climbed the steps to the library, which was a huge glass building nearby the university, and Kageyama joined a group of students and slipped inside.

He spent some time wandering around the aisles, looking for Oikawa, and eventually found him seated in the computer area, the newspapers he had bought scattered around his desk. He took a seat two rows behind, so he could get a decent look at Oikawa's computer screen without him turning around and immediately spotting him.

From this distance, the writing on the screen was too small for Kageyama to read, but it looked like Oikawa was researching more articles. He had his journal out again and was frantically scribbling in it. He was bringing up web pages with photos of criminals and mug shots.

What on earth was he up to?

Annoyingly, a group of giggling girls had approached Oikawa and were now blocking his view. They were all clutching their phones eagerly to their chests, as though hinting that they wanted his number. He seemed quite pleased by the sudden attention and leaned back in his chair, a smug grin spread from ear to ear as he talked quietly to them. Kageyama could catch glimpses of what he was saying, but it was mostly just flirting.

They hovered around Oikawa for at least forty minutes, which was driving Kageyama slowly insane, and he wanted nothing more than to stand up and tell them all to piss off, but he kept his cool and remained seated. He'd been patient enough so far, he could withstand this. He had to. He couldn't blow his cover now.

It was starting to get dark outside. Once Oikawa left the building, Kageyama would tail him until they were alone.

Finally, the girls left him alone, all squealing in delight as they went away with his phone number, and Kageyama could focus his attention back on what Oikawa was up to. Being a bit daring, Kageyama wheeled his chair closer, moving around his desk and sliding directly to the one behind Oikawa.

The article on the screen was about an arrest made just over five years ago- some man named Bokuto. There was a mug shot of the guy, he was grinning, showing all his teeth, supporting a nice black eye and a busted lip.

From what Kageyama could see, there was nothing particularly interesting about this article. The man had originally worked for Ushijima Inc. and had caused 'undisclosed problems' for the company, before getting himself arrested for a crime that was not listed on the website. All it really stated was he'd been sentenced to Shiratorizawa Prison, along with co-worker and 'partner-in-crime', Akaashi Keiji. Kageyama didn't find the article very interesting so stopped reading but couldn't help but wonder just who these people were and why was Oikawa researching them.

Could they be in danger?

Was Oikawa after them? If Oikawa had had beef with these men, then perhaps he was tracking down what prison they'd been sent to and was planning on getting someone on the inside to kill them.

He had to be stopped. Kageyama was going to let anyone else be hurt.

Ten minutes later, Oikawa's phone rang. Several people around him shushed him and tutted, and Oikawa apologised, looking bashful, and answered, speaking softly so he wouldn't disturb anyone studying around him.

'Hello? Oh, yes, hello, I didn't realise there was a meeting tonight-' He broke off, probably to let the person on the other end speak. He began closing the tabs on his computer and scrunching up the newspapers, tipping them into a waste paper bin close by. He shoved his journal back into his satchel and got to his feet, using his shoulder to keep his phone pressed to his ear. 'Right, sure, I'm on my way now. Usual place? There are things I need to discuss with you. Mmm. Okay. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.'

He hung up.

When a different group of girls tried to approach Oikawa, he didn't look as pleased. He had to wave them off, apologising, saying that he was late for an important meeting and couldn't stick around. They all looked disappointed and shuffled away, and out the corner of his eyes, Kageyama could see the first group of girls looking incredibly smug.

Oikawa shrugged on his coat, picked up his satchel, and strode confidentially towards the door. Kageyama was quick in pursuit.

To his surprise, Oikawa stopped off at a tiny sushi restaurant. He didn't appear to be ordering food, but instead, spoke briefly to the man behind the counter, before handing over his bag and his coat. He was given a black hoody, which he tugged on, and he threw the hood up before exiting, making his way quickly down small side streets.

He'd changed his appearance, which meant he was trying to disguise himself.

What was he up to?

Who was he meeting?

Oikawa turned a corner sharply and Kageyama had to skid to a halt. He crept closer and peered around, finding himself looking down a wide alley down the back of some shops. There were several large green garbage bins here, which made it stink something nasty, but the small crowd of people gathered there didn't seem to care. They all gave Oikawa a friendly greeting when he turned up, a few slapping him on the back.

They all looked scruffy and unkempt, typical drug-dealer types. Most had their faces covered by surgical type masks, which wasn't uncommon in Japan; a lot of people wore them during flu season. Many of them were smoking, some constantly checking their flip-phones.

'About time you made it,' one guy said, showing off quite yellow teeth. The sallow in his skin suggested he was a regular drug user. 'Were gonna start without ya'. Woah, nice shoes, Oik's, where'd you swipe them from?'

Oikawa did stand out a lot from the rest of these men, even with his black hoody. His jeans were clean and neat, with no tears or fraying hem, and he was wearing sensible brown shoes. Oikawa shrugged, 'Some bloke. Not usually my thing, but my sneakers fell apart.'

'Yeah man, I hear ya', take what you can get.' Another guy nodded, blowing a puff of smoke above his head. 'Anyway, down to business, got a call last night, he wants us to find more people. Says numbers are dwindlin', or somethin', and we've got to pick up the slack or we're gonna get in the shit. I've got some guys headin' up to the Miyagi Prefecture, so that's somethin', I guess. We've got to meet again tonight, at the usual spot, and we're gonna each be given a supply each. Orders are we gotta move all of it within a week.'

'Fuck me,' another guy sighed. 'He's getting demanding, like he hasn't got enough subjects already. Jeez. Fine, whatevs, I'll do it. I'm off, I gotta go meet my girl. See you later.'

The smoking man squinted over at Oikawa. 'You holdin' up? Saw your face on the news, bad shit mate, bad shit. Surprised you haven't been busted already- but I guess you've been keeping out of the way, not seen you since we axed that cop-'

'About that-' Oikawa began, but Kageyama didn't want to hear it. He stepped out from the shadows, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Everyone turned to look at him, frowning. Oikawa spun round, confused, his mouth slightly open in surprise. Kageyama lowered his hood and Oikawa's eyes widened. 'Shit. You're-'

'I'm the son of the man you murdered,' Kageyama spat, feeling his whole body shaking with white hot rage. This was it.

He was really going to do this.

All of them deserved it.

'Fuck, we should get outta here before he calls the cops-' One guy said but another shushed him and advanced towards Kageyama, pulling a switchblade knife from his pocket.

'You got a fuckin' problem, kid? Keep your nose out where it don't belong, or I'll remove it for ya'.'

The guy held up the knife, but Oikawa threw an arm out to stop him.

'Don't. He probably just wants answers. We did kill his father.'

'Huh? Who is he?'

'Look at him, doesn't he resemble that cop from a few weeks ago. He just said he's his son, unless you've been killing anyone else recently?'

'Nah man, boss said I've gotta keep my hands clean. Well, whatever, look kid, piss off, your pap got involved and stuck his nose in where he shouldn't have, it's his own fault. It's a bad business, and we don't take kindly to police. You alone?'

'Yes.'

'You got five seconds to fuck off before I slice something off-'

'Stop it,' Oikawa snapped. He stepped forwards, blocking the man's view of Kageyama. 'Let me talk to him.'

'I don't want to talk to you! You're all murderers! You stabbed him and left him to die! He was all I had left! You don't deserve to live after what you did!'

Kageyama drew the gun from his pocket, pointing it directly at Oikawa's chest. The others all yelped, swearing, and legged it down the street, disappearing around the corner at the other end, leaving just Kageyama and Oikawa facing each other.

He'd wished he'd shot them when they'd ran, but he didn't want to lose his aim on Oikawa. This was the main man he wanted. The others he could track down later, he had a whole life ahead of him to hunt each of them down individually. All that mattered for now was stopping this evil son of a bitch.

Although he was filled with a strong determination and furious anger, his hands were shaking like mad. He was worried he may even drop the gun.

Oikawa held up both of his hands, remaining completely still where he stood. It was quiet apart from the distant rumble of traffic.

'I know who you are. I knew the moment I turned around. I just had to pretend I didn't. I can explain why, I can explain everything to you, if you just lower the gun and listen to me.'

'Stop talking!'

'Please, hear me out, there's more to it than you think-'

'Stop!'

'I understand how this must look to you! It's my fault, I'm not denying that, but please-'

'STOP TALKING!'

'Tobio! Please!'

Oikawa took a step forwards.

A sharp, loud bang followed.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Kageyama hadn't intended to fire at that point, he'd just panicked and his finger had hit the trigger. He hadn't been holding it correctly either, so his aim was way off his intended target, and he felt his shoulder wrench itself out of its socket because of the recoil.

The noise of the shot had left a ringing in his ears, and he had been momentarily stunned. The gun clattered at his feet, and he staggered backwards, one hand clutching at his dislocated shoulder, his head spinning.

In front of him, he saw Oikawa go down.

Where he'd hit exactly, he couldn't tell, it was definitely somewhere in the stomach region. He didn't dare go over and check.

Oikawa's hands were twitching, and dark blood was starting to pool around him, but Kageyama had no idea if he was dead or dying. He didn't want to find out.

Immediately, he regretted what he had done.

It was when Oikawa gave a painful moan and tried to prop himself up on his elbows that Kageyama knew he had not made a fatal shot. He was in too much pain to even think about the gun at his feet.

All he could do was turn on his heel and run as fast as he could away from the alley and away from Oikawa Toru.

Perhaps if he left him there, Oikawa would bleed out and die, and Kageyama could simply go on the run. He'd definitely have to leave the country.

A sudden guilt washed over him as he thought about his father. Why on earth had Kageyama thought revenge was the best solution? His father would never have wanted this, never agreed to it. It didn't bring back his dad.

He shouldn't have let emotion guide him. He should have listened to reason and just gotten hold of the police. He could have gotten Oikawa locked up for life and enjoyed the thought of him rotting away in a lonely cell somewhere.

If Oikawa had survived that attack, then he would be coming after Kageyama.

He could never stop running.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

No one at the hospital asked any questions, which Kageyama was thankful for. As he had been running there, his mind racing, he'd been worried about what excuse he would have to give for his current predicament. He was definitely over-thinking it and decided to just say nothing when he got there.

All he had to do was fill out a form with his details and insurance numbers, which he still had benefits for because of his father's work, but they wouldn't last forever. It was difficult trying to write with his left hand and his lettering looked like something a two-year-old had scrawled, but the nurse just smiled at him anyway and said it was fine.

Unfortunately, he had to wait around in A&E for a few hours, which made him edgy and nervous. He kept tapping his legs, knocking his knees together, glaring around at anyone who dared glance his way. His shoulder was throbbing and he kept getting shooting pains in his arm, which made him wince. The nurse had told him to sit with his arm held across his chest to support his shoulder, which had a weird bulge.

The waiting area was busy, which annoyed him. He didn't like big crowds of people, he didn't like the noise of it all. There were so many small children, which he had no idea how to interact with. Whenever any of them approached him, he pulled a face and stared awkwardly at them until they left him alone.

He'd never spent any time around kids before. He barely spent time around people his own age. He'd never really fitted in at school. He had always been so used to his own company.

His eyes kept swivelling over to the entrance, as though he expected the Aoba Johsai gang to burst through the glass double doors, guns blazing, screaming about revenge for their king. Had he actually managed to kill Oikawa Toru? Or had he only left him bleeding and wounded?

There was no way of knowing, but he hoped that it wasn't the latter. He would have to run, either way. If he had killed him, he 'd be wanted by the police. There were plenty of witnesses from Aoba Johsai, who knew he was related to the cop they'd murdered, any one of them could anonymously rat him out. He'd also dropped the gun. It would have his fingerprints on it. He'd be a wanted criminal.

Of course, if Oikawa had somehow managed to survive the bullet wound in his stomach, then he would be coming after Kageyama.

Japan wasn't safe for him anymore.

Once his arm was fixed, he was going to gather his stuff and get a flight to London. He could make a fresh start in the UK. He knew basic English, he could get by, even if he had to just point at stuff. He'd take the rest of the cash he had stored away. It'd be enough until he found work.

Time seemed to be dragging on, and finally, after what felt like an eternity, he was called into an office. The doctor helped him carefully remove his shirt, which hurt, and he examined the shoulder, explaining to him how easy it was to dislocated the joint because the ball joint sits in a very shallow socket. When asked how he'd managed to do it, Kageyama had clammed up and not said anything.

When the doctor asked, 'Did you fall?' he nodded. The doctor didn't seem convinced but asked no more questions and quickly popped the joint back in place, which made Kageyama gasp. It hurt like hell.

'It'll take between twelve to sixteen weeks to properly heal, but you should be fine with moving your arm now. Just take it steady.' He said, flexing each of Kageyama's fingers and making him move and bend his arm in certain ways. 'It might be a bit stiff for a while-'

The doctor cut off. The office door had just opened, and two uniform-clad police officers had just entered.

'Oh, hello, what can I help you with? I'm with a patient.'

'We've come to speak to Kageyama Tobio. Are you finished here?' The first officer asked, and the doctor nodded, and helped Kageyama get his shirt back on.

'I'm just going to prescribe him some painkillers.' He slid past the police men and out the door. 'I'll leave you to speak in private.'

Kageyama was sweating, he could feel his shirt sticking to his back.

How had the police found out so soon? How had they tracked him down?

'Kageyama Tobio, we would like to ask you some questions. You have the right to remain silent, but be warned, anything you do say can and will be held against you in a court of law. We have received a report from several eyewitnesses that you were brandishing a loaded gun in downtown Tokyo about three hours ago. We received a call from a wounded man who claims you shot him. He has been sent to intensive care, it's unsure whether or not he will make it. He lost a lot of blood. Do you deny these charges against you?'

Kageyama stared down at his hands, flexing his fingers on his stiff arm. It took him a while before he said, 'No.'

'Do you admit to the possession and use of an illegal firearm and the intent to cause grievous bodily harm or murder?'

'Yes. I went there to kill him.' Kageyama didn't see the point in lying now. If he denied it, all they would do is drag him to court and prove he was full of shit with eyewitness reports and fingerprint evidence. 'He killed my father. He's part of the Aoba Johsai gang. He's Oikawa Toru-'

'We are well aware of who he is, and if he survives, he will face charges of his own.' The officer stepped forwards, unhooking some handcuffs from his belt. 'Your father would never have wanted this, Tobio.'

Kageyama couldn't look at them. He didn't know them personally, but his father had been friendly with almost everyone in the Tokyo Police Department. He had been a good man. He would be ashamed to see his son now.

Maybe prison would be better. He'd be locked away from Oikawa there, at least.

If there were Aoba Johsai members at whichever institute he was sentenced to, dying wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to him. It wasn't like he had anything left to live for anyway.

'Kageyama Tobio, I'm placing you under arrest for the attempted murder of Oikawa Toru and the possession and use of an illegal firearm. If you resist arrest, we have the right to restrain you. Please, stand and put your hands out in front of you. I will be careful not to make you move your arm too much.'

Doing as he was told, Kageyama got up from the bed he'd been sat on and held out his hands, watching as the officer fastened the cuffs around each wrist. He was lead out through the waiting area and past reception, keeping his head down and avoiding all the eyes that followed him, burning holes into his back. He was walked down the road a little to a police car and had his head pushed down, helping him inside. They strapped him into the back seat.

Everything that happened from this point felt like some kind of weird dream.

All the people at the police station knew who he was and gave him sad, pitying looks when they saw him, whispering behind their hands. Some shook their heads and sighed.

He had to give a statement, seated in some bare-walled room with just a table and chairs and a two-way mirror. He told them everything, how he had decided to continue with his father's work and wanted to hunt down Oikawa himself, finding out where he lived and stalking him. He told them about what he had heard Aoba Johsai was up to- trying to push the sales of their drug supply.

None of the officers treated him poorly. They had respect for him because they had respected his father.

Fingerprints were taken, as were mugshots. He was kept in a cell for a few nights before someone came and lead him towards a white van with blacked out windows. He didn't know what was happening and no one would give him answers, it was only until they'd driven for an unknown amount of time that he figured out where he was being taken.

It was when they passed by a sign that read Shiratorizawa Prison that Kageyama understood what was happening.

The car crunched over gravel and came to a halt and two prison guards appeared to lead him inside. He was trying to ask why he hadn't had a trial, but no one replied to him. He had to guess that because he'd admitted he was guilty, a trial wasn't needed, and they'd just sentenced him already.

'How many years am I doing?' Kageyama asked, and a guard told him to shut up.

He was strip searched, which made him incredibly uncomfortable, and forced to shower and change into an orange jumpsuit. They attached a metal collar around his neck, with the number 9 on it and a blue strip of colour. They didn't tell him much about it, or what it was for and pushed him into a room with nothing but a table and chair and left him there for a few hours.

When someone finally came in, he was seated in the corner of the room, his knees drawn up to his chest.

A man in a white shirt and tie with large spectacles greeted him, offering his hand for Kageyama to shake. He didn't get up, so the man sighed and pulled up a chair.

'Hello Kageyama, welcome to Shiratorizawa Prison. I'm sorry you've had to wait in here for so long, I didn't get a report that you'd arrived until ten minutes ago. I hope you're well. If you need the bathroom, just let me know and I'll take you there.'

'I don't.'

'Well, that's good. I'm Officer Takeda, I work here. If you ever need anything, please, come speak to me and I'll try my best to help you. Usually, when new inmates arrive, they're in a group and we talk to you all at once, but you were brought in earlier than the others. Sometimes that happens. A cell has been prepared for you, you'll be sharing with two other inmates. They've been here a few years, so I'm sure they can show you the ropes. They're quite loud and boisterous, but they mean no harm. Another inmate will join you shortly, when the group arrives. That should be tomorrow or the day after.'

'Okay.'

He didn't want to know about any of this. They could leave him in this room for all he cared. He just wanted to be left alone.

'There a few things I would like to explain to you, if you will be willing to listen.' Officer Takeda waited for Kageyama to say something, and when he didn't, he continued speaking. 'Shiratorizawa Prison is a high security prison, so many of the other inmates here are in for crimes similar to yours. Personally, I would recommend making as many friends as possible and avoiding the wrong crowds. There are groups of gangs in here, including old members of the Aoba Johsai gang.'

Kageyama's head snapped up. 'You can't put me in with them, they'll-'

'They are unaware of the actions that took place outside these walls. They do not know what you did. As long as you keep that information to yourself, no one will ever find out. Personal details about inmates are kept strictly confidential, it is unlikely you will know what anyone else is in for unless they specifically tell you. As for the collar you are wearing, it is an electric shock collar. Ah, you have the same face they all do when that's mentioned. Do not worry, it is just something designed to stun you, and not hurt. We used to get a lot of prison riots, so this was the best solution for dealing with them. It is designed to make inmates stay on their best behaviour.'

'I see.'

'The colour on your strip is blue because you are in for attempted murder. Ah yes, sorry, there is still no news about Mr. Oikawa's condition. I can tell you if I hear anything, or would you rather not know.'

'I don't know.'

'Well, if I find out, I'll ask you again. I won't tell you if you don't want to know.' Officer Takeda smiled warmly at him. 'The main reason you have a number and a colour is so that you can easily identified if needed. All the guards carry remotes with a number pad on, and a selection of colours. If they wanted to shock you, they'd hit blue and press 9. Let's hope it will never come to that. Please don't be alarmed, it will only last a few seconds. It's best to keep your head down and stay out of trouble. From what I've read on you, I imagine you will not cause us much bother. You've had no criminal history before now and your father was a cop.'

Takeda rubbed his glasses on his shirt.

'Losing him must have been difficult. Although, obviously, I don't support your actions, I understand them. If you do need someone to speak to about how you're feeling, come to me and I can arrange a therapist. We have a Therapy Unit within the prison that many inmates find very helpful.'

'Alright.'

'There will be some basic supplies waiting for you in your cell, but you can ask Suga about that. He'll be showing you around once I'm done speaking with you. He's very friendly, a good person to make friends with. The outfit you're wearing now will be with you for a month or so, and then it will be swapped for a black one. We like to keep a close eye on our new inmates, so you wear a different colour. We want to make sure you're settling in and not having any problems.'

‘Mmmm.' Kageyama didn't want to speak anymore. He just wanted to sleep.

'Your collar is waterproof and cannot be removed by force. It also has a tracking device, so we can locate you at all times. It monitors your heartbeat, so if something happens, we will be able to know exactly where you are and get aid to you A-S-A-P. It used to have a little button you could press to alert guards if you needed assistance, but unfortunately, prisoners abused this so it had to be removed. Guards work day and night and are close to your sleeping quarters, so you can easily shout for help. Is there anyone you would like to contact and ask to come visit you?'

'No.'

'Ah, okay then, if you do think of someone, please come ask me. I have to fill out forms and the such. We've also arranged it so that all the money your father left you will be slowly fed into the prison for your commissary allowance. This might take some time to come through, but do not worry, prisoners are fed three meals a day for free. You will also be assigned a job, eventually, but you can ask Suga about that if you want to know more information. Uh, what else? I usually have a script I follow when speaking to a group, but I didn't feel like I needed to be so formal with you. Oh, all the inmates are male. There is a female side of the prison, but it's strictly off limits to you. The only time you may interact with them is on the courtyard out back, but there's a fence that separates either side.'

'Okay.' Kageyama did not care in the slightest. He wouldn't be talking to anyone. 'Can I go to my cell now, please?'

'Certainly. I'll lead you halfway there and let Suga greet you.'

He didn't really pay attention to where he was being taken. He stared at his feet mostly, dragging his new black boots along the polished floor, wondering just how long it would be before Oikawa or his men managed to get word into the prison to the arrested members of Aoba Johsai. If they killed him, he hoped it would be quick and preferably in his sleep.

Probably not.

Sugawara Koushi was friendly and smiley, and Kageyama was polite to him, but didn't really want to make conversation. He said he didn't want to be shown around the prison and would rather just go to his cell to sleep.

Suga insisted he at least show him the cafeteria, so he could find it in the morning, and told him the set meal times and why it was important to attend. Kageyama just shrugged.

He couldn't help but notice that Suga also wore a blue collar- did that mean Suga had killed someone as well? Had it been, like him, for revenge? Or was he a cold-blooded killer? Had it been an accident? He didn't want to ask.

'Do you have any questions? There's a bathroom down here, if you need to pee. Avoid bathroom one, that's Aoba Johsai territory-' He stopped speaking when he saw Kageyama's reaction to the gang name. He chewed his lip for a moment and then said, 'I'm sorry, I don't want to upset you. I should have thought. I figured you'd want to know; it would be an awful situation if you ran into them.'

'You know?'

'Ah yes, I'm the only one who's given information about the other prisoners. Not loads, by the way, just enough so I can help them out. All I've been told is you have history with the Aoba Johsai gang. Use bathroom three, it's not been claimed by anyone. Stick around with me, if you'd like, and I can tell you which people to avoid. They all wear orange collars, by the way.'

'Thanks.'

'Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?'

'No.'

'Oh, well, if you think of anything, just come talk to me! I'm happy to answer anything! Okay then, this is your new room. You'll be sharing with three other guys- one of which will be turning up sometime shortly. The two in here are named Tanaka and Nishinoya- you can just call him Noya. They're, um, what's the best way to put it? They're a bit of a handful, I'm sorry, I don't assign rooms. They're nice people, don't get me wrong, but they can be quite loud-'

'I've been told.'

'Ah well, I'll leave you to it.'

Kageyama entered his new cell and found a short boy with wild spiky hair straight up in his face. Kageyama jumped back, startled, and the boy laughed and smacked him on his right arm, which made him hiss in pain. His shoulder was still being funny.

'Nice to meet ya'! Come in, come in, shut the door! It's so cold! I hate winter! They only put the fuckin' heating on for like, an hour, I swear. This is your bunk, here, this is your stuff, slippers, a towel and a toothbrush. I'm Nishinoya Yu, but call me Noya. This is Tanaka Ryunosuke.'

'Yo.' The guy with the shaved head nodded at him, immersed in a magazine of some sort. He was lying on the top bunk, chewing on a wooden lollypop stick. The arms of his black jumpsuit had been torn off. Noya was wearing an orange one. He noticed Kageyama staring at it.

'I'm not new, by the way, I just prefer the colour. Suits me better. Sit, will ya? You're making me nervous.' He forced Kageyama down onto his bed and took the bottom bunk opposite, folding his legs under him like an excited girl at a sleepover, ready to hear some juicy gossip. 'So, spill. Gimme the details. What you in for? What colour is your collar? Lower the collar on your jacket.'

Kageyama hadn't even realised it was up.

He didn't lower it. He didn't' want them to see.

They both had orange collars. He didn't know what that meant, but it set him on edge after what Suga had said about Aoba Johsai wearing orange.

Noya hounded him with questions for ages, un-relentlessly trying to pry information about Kageyama's past from him, but he didn't want to talk. Tanaka joined in sometimes, but he seemed sleepy and not as fussed and eventually dropped off, his head lolling on his shoulder, his magazine slipping from his grasp and onto the floor. Noya snatched it up and stuffed it under his own pillow. He wanted to know where Kageyama had grown up, what his life had been like, what he'd done to get into prison, whether or not it had been related to drugs- before then going into his own back-story about how he and Tanaka and Tanaka's older sister, Saeko (''who is smokin' hot by the way'') had sold drugs on the street until they'd gotten caught by the fuzz. He didn't mention anything about being part of a drug gang, or the name Aoba Johsai, and when Kageyama asked if he'd worked for anyone, Noya had said it was just them really, they had suppliers but being tied to drug gangs can be dangerous.

For an hour he talked and talked, demanding Kageyama answer him and eventually, seeing that he was going to get no-where, gave it up as a bad job and huffed, saying he was going to sleep, and Kageyama should too.

Sleeping was not easy. He dozed off and woke up again constantly, in and out of dreams he couldn't remember but knew he didn't like. They set his teeth on edge.

He was exhausted when they were woken the following morning at six a.m. and couldn't be bothered to get up to go for breakfast (morning exercise was skipped due to bad weather), despite Noya and Tanaka saying it would be better if he ate something. He ended up sleeping most of the day, undisturbed by anyone, which suited him just fine. Oikawa's face just kept coming to his mind, and he wanted desperately to know what had happened to him. He didn't dare go ask Officer Takeda though, he was too scared to hear the worst - that Oikawa had managed to survive.

Reluctantly, only because he was so hungry, he went for dinner in the evening but didn't really enjoy it. He didn't taste what he was eating and just shovelled it all in. He'd sat at the same table as Noya and Tanaka, because they were the only people he knew, but he didn't talk to them, despite them trying. They ended up huffing at him and Noya tried to tip yoghurt over his head before Suga came whizzing over to stop him.

'You'll be getting a new roommate today.' Suga told them. 'I'm going to go show them round soon. Make sure your room is tidy, I don't need him coming in and finding your gross, crusty socks on the floor.'

'Jeez! We're not that bad!' Tanaka pulled a face while Noya snorted into his pudding.

'Nah, Ryuu just stuffs them down the side of his mattress.'

'Gross.' Suga said and walked off, going over to talk to a broad, very handsome guy with dark hair, who also wore a blue collar.

In fact, he hadn't seen anyone else with the same colour collar as him apart from those two and a guy with a man-bun who looked like he could choke you with a little finger, but almost cried when someone had spilt milk on him. He'd purposely kept his own collar hidden, so no one could see it. People kept squinting at him, trying to figure it out, and he'd gotten uncomfortable with all the attention it brought so he left the cafeteria and went back to his room.

When Noya and Tanaka came in, they were especially loud and talkative, making jokes and bouncing around the room. Tanaka had smuggled in a Playboy bunny magazine, which he was showing to Noya on the top bunk, drinking from a juice box, when the door opened and Suga walked in followed by a boy with fiery orange hair.

Kageyama looked up.

He knew this kid.

It was the boy from the trial that Oikawa had attended.

Hinata Shouyou.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

Spending one night in prison had been bad enough, let alone how much longer Kageyama was going to be held here. No one had given him answers and he honestly expected that he would never get any. Who was going to complain about his disappearance on the outside, who was going to look for him or miss him? He had no family or friends, so he could do nothing but accept whatever charges he'd been faced with and do his time- even if that meant life.

Tanaka and Noya had rattled Hinata's brains for details about his arrest and Kageyama, even though he looked sullen and uninterested on the lower bunk, was actually listening intently, wanting to know as much as possible, hoping Hinata would say something, anything, about Nekoma or Aoba Johsai, but nothing of interest came up. Hinata was obviously keeping his mouth shut about certain details which only made Kageyama suspect that Hinata had been blackmailed by someone - probably Oikawa.

He found himself seizing up whenever Tanaka or Noya tried to speak to him, he wasn't used to it and he didn't trust them at all, not with their orange collars. They had told Hinata their story of arrest and it sounded like they had been their own personal drug supply ''company'', but they could have still had affiliation with Nekoma or Aoba Johsai. He made a mental note to avoid them when he could and hoped that if he stayed quiet, they wouldn't have any reason to snitch on him to anyone.

Sleeping had been rough. He was accustomed to sleeping in random places, so the hardness of the bed didn't bother him. Instead, it was the sheer quietness of the prison. Sometimes you would hear a door bang or the crunch of gravel outside, probably from guards walking around, but otherwise it was silent. Tanaka's snoring was the only thing that really settled him, even if it was annoying. Kageyama was used to the sounds of the city, the traffic and the people. Every time Hinata rolled over in the bunk above, Kageyama would flinch.

He was shattered by the time the alarm sounded the following morning at six. He'd almost bolted out of bed but he'd managed to get his leg trapped in the duvet. Before he could even get up, Tanaka was snapping at him to make his bed properly. He’d not had to deal with this yesterday – it had been a one off, Tanaka said, due to bad weather they’d been allowed to sleep in or attend breakfast early.

They had to stand to attention when a guard came to check their cell and Kageyama's eyes kept shifting to look at Hinata, who was looking quite sweaty and nervous. If he could get him alone, perhaps, he could question him more about his experiences. He must know more than he was letting on.

'They're super strict about time keeping here. Everything has to be done on the dot, or they get pissy.' Tanaka was explaining to Hinata as they were all frog marched through the prison towards the courtyard for morning exercise. They went down a flight of stairs and Kageyama found his head twisting this way and that, trying to count just how many orange collars he could see compared to blue. In fact, he couldn't see any other blue collars at all. It was a sea of orange collars and black jumpsuits.

Why would a high security prison have so little murderers?

There was a flurry of excitement and all the men scurried off to the edge of the courtyard, where a fence separated them from the girl's side. Kageyama had no interest in this and moved towards the centre, rubbing his arms and wishing he was at home in his own bed, listening to his Dad getting up for work. He often liked listening to him shuffling around, muttering about his recent cases and knocking things over in his hurry to get dressed.

In comparison to last night, everything here was suddenly so loud. All these men were chattering away, hollering at the ladies, pushing and shoving into each other. Despite being in the centre of it all, Kageyama felt so utterly alone.

Hinata came and stood next to him, staring eagerly around. Kageyama couldn't speak to him yet; the guards were forcing everyone to line up.

Exercising felt humiliating, even though everyone else was doing it. He was forced to do jumping jacks, as he had originally been stood there with his arms folded, and he struggled to keep in time with everyone else, even though he was really trying. He glared over at Hinata, who seemed to have a new bounce in his step and was jumping higher than all the others, as though he thought this whole thing was a competition.

As soon as they were told they could leave for breakfast, Kageyama set off a stride and quickly noticed Hinata had fallen into step with him. What did he want?

'Do you want to sit with me at breakfast?' Hinata asked, suddenly bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Kageyama glared at him. Why on earth would he want to do that? Although he had questions for Hinata, he didn't want to do it such a public place and he definitely didn't want to be seen spending too much time with him if Nekoma or Aoba Johsai knew Hinata had valuable information and they knew who Kageyama's father was.

'No.' He said bluntly. Hinata pouted.

'Why not? I'm trying to be your friend?'

'I don't want you as my friend.' Kageyama snapped and tried to walk faster, but Hinata sped up. He would never be friends with a dirty orange collar, regardless of whether or not they claimed to be innocent. Besides, there was also no way Hinata would want to be friends with him once he saw Kageyama's blue collar and believed him to be a murderer. 'Leave me alone.'

'Why? Don't you think it's better to make as many friends as possible in this place?'

Who would he want to make friends with here?

He hadn't even been interested in making friends in the outside world, so why on earth would he start now with only criminals surrounding him- especially when it was likely that his own father had put most of these men away.

'I don't care about that.'

Hinata blew a raspberry. 'Fine, be grumpy. I'm just trying to be nice.'

Kageyama watched him squeeze his way through the crowd and wondered if there would ever be a point he could speak to him alone. Would he ever be away from Tanaka and Noya, would he sit in their cell alone?

The cafeteria was packed by the time he made it there. He stopped in the doorway for a brief moment and was shoved aside by a guy with blonde hair and piercings, who cackled at him and gave him the finger, before moving to the front of the queue for the breakfast counter and shoved himself in.
Hinata was already seated at a table with Tanaka and Noya, and Suga had joined them. At least he had a blue collar, it didn't make Kageyama feel so isolated.

Perhaps the orange jumpsuit made him look weak or vulnerable or simply because Kageyama didn’t look very strong atheletically, but he kept getting pushed out of the queue when he tried to join in, and many inmates would just stand in front of him and tell him to piss off if he complained.

Eventually, he got to the middle and had a good chance to look around the room. He spotted the Aoba Johsai table immediately. He recognised their faces, men his father had put away. Many of their mugshots had been pinned on his father's bedroom wall for months at a time, only taken down and discarded once they'd been sentenced. They were also the biggest and rowdiest table and no one really dared approach them, everyone would take the long way round to find a seat. Despite the fact none of these men had killed his father, Kageyama couldn't help but feel a bubble of rage fill his chest when he looked at them. They were all disgusting. He felt physically sick knowing he was locked up in this place with them.

None of them were looking at him and no one had pointed him out.

Did this mean that news about their leader had yet to spread to them?

Had Oikawa survived the shooting?

Surely, either way, news would spread into the prison. If he had died, they would definitely be informed of it, as they would be told of a new leader, and they would seek revenge for the death of the previous. If he survived, then he would have found out where Kageyama had been sentenced and he would inform them to kill him in his sleep.

What stupid idiotic moron thought that locking Kageyama up in this prison was a good idea?

Either way, once news reached them, they would kill him. Surely the guards knew this?

How many days did he have left?

Where would they do it?

How?

Would it be painless?

Probably not.

Kageyama found himself spacing out for a while, moving without realising as the queue shortened, and was only brought back to earth when a huge crash startled him. He shook his head and looked over the other side of the room, where Hinata and the guy from earlier with the piercings were stood, the blonde guy towering over Hinata, cracking his knuckles.

'Punch him!' Someone from the Aoba Johsai table shouted while his friends all laughed.

Something had happened that Kageyama had missed because Tanaka and Noya were fighting with the blonde guy’s friends and he wasn't sure why, since it didn't look like the blonde guy had actually tried to attack Hinata and was just squaring up to him. He glanced around for Suga, but couldn't spot him anywhere. Perhaps he had gone for help.

Suddenly, the blonde guy began to shove Hinata backwards by the shoulder. Even Kageyama winced when Hinata pushed back.

That was a bad mistake.

The other guy looked shocked, then angry. He rolled up his sleeves and marched towards Hinata, ready to punch him in the face, but then they both froze, eyes wide. Behind them, the others had stopped fighting.

They were all grabbing hold of their collars, shaking, falling to their knees.

A guard had ran in and shocked them.

Everyone at the Aoba Johsai table was jeering and laughing, mimicking their faces and pretending to be shocked.

It must be so easy, Kageyama thought, narrowing his eyes, to laugh at someone else's pain.

'Hold him still!' Someone shouted and Kageyama's head whipped back over to find Hinata still lying on the floor, even though the shock had stopped, and the others had gotten to their feet. He was foaming at the mouth and writhing around, his eyes rolling back in his head.

'He's having a seizure!' Someone else cried.

'I'm radioing in Officer Takeda,' a guard informed them. 'Get him on his side so he doesn't choke! I'm not having the fucker dying on my watch.'

Suga appeared in the doorway with two other guys both wearing blue collars. They all gasped at the sight of Hinata and hurried over to help.

Feeling curious and awkward just stood there doing nothing, Kageyama walked over and stood close behind the guys Tanaka and Noya had been fighting earlier, who were just watching Hinata squirm, dumfounded. Suga had Hinata's head in his lap and was trying to help clear his airway while the others held down his hands and legs.

'Stop it!' Kageyama suddenly said, breaking through the people around him. 'Don't restrain him.'

Everyone stared at him. His face went beet red but he took a deep breath and tried not to stutter when he spoke. 'My Dad told me that if someone has a seizure, you should not restrain them. All you need to do is keep their air way clear and cushion their head.'

Tanaka and Noya and Suga's friends immediately backed off, letting Hinata's arms and legs go wild again.

Officer Takeda came rushing in, accompanied by three paramedics. The guards in the room began telling everyone to fall back, to give them room, and Kageyama found himself shoved aside and knocked onto the floor. By the time he had managed to get up again, they had Hinata on a stretcher and were wheeling him out of the room, leaving a trail of Hinata's sick behind them.

The cafeteria doors slammed shut and silence fell upon the crowd.

All eyes turned to the blonde guy with the piercings.

'He started it!' A voice in the crowd shouted and several people agreed.

A guard jabbed his finger at the man. 'Terushima! With me! Now!'

Without a word of complaint, Terushima followed after the guard and once they had exited the cafeteria, a loud whacking noise followed. A few people hissed between their teeth.

'Jeez, they could take him to isolation without hitting him first.' Suga's friend with short dark hair sighed, looking around at all the mess on the floor. Kitchen staff had already come out with mops, buckets, and disinfectant to clean it up. He turned and spotted Kageyama. He held out his hand which Kageyama did not shake. 'Hi, I'm Daichi.'

'He's still a bit shy,' Suga said, joining them. He looked very nervous and kept glancing over at the doors. 'Oh gosh, I hope Hinata will be ok. I've never seen anything like that. Thank you so much, Kageyama, for your advice. I had no idea; we just didn't want him to hurt himself.'

'It's fine.' Kageyama said bashfully, not looking anyone in the eye.

Tanaka came over and slapped him hard on the back, and tried to throw an arm around Kageyama's shoulders but he stepped aside and Tanaka almost stumbled. 'Ah, you're an alright one. But seriously, what the fuck just happened? Why did he have a seizure?'

Suga put a hand to his mouth, thinking. 'I don't know, it's so strange. What happened anyway? Why does Noya have a nosebleed?'

Kageyama hadn't even noticed Noya, who was stood off to the side, a wad of tissue pressed to his bloody nose. He grumbled something and stuck his fingers up at Terushima's friends, who swore back and Daichi glared at both of them, making them back down.

Quickly, Tanaka explained the situation. 'Hinata bumped into him, he dropped his plates and shit and he got violent, so we stepped in. Everything seemed fine with Hinata until he was shocked and then he just wouldn't stop twitching. I was shit scared he was gonna die. Honest.'

'Could the shock have caused it?' Daichi suggested. The tall, broad man with a bun behind him looked like he was on the verge of tears. Suga patted his arm.

'Perhaps? I guess that's what the doctors will find out.'

'He had a seizure before he came in here though, didn't he?' Tanaka said. Suga nodded.

'That was because of the drugs in his system... they're no longer in his system though, so the two can't be linked?'

Behind them, someone laughed.

They all turned and a man from the Aoba Johsai table shrugged at them and raised his arms. 'It's a mystery, isn't it?'

'Do you know something, Matsukawa?'

There was a titter that carried through the group. A guy with turnip-like haired answered, looking quite calm and collected, even though what he spoke about wasn't pleasant. 'Shame that kid is going to die in here.'

'What are you talking about, Kindaichi?' Daichi folded his arms across his chest, which made his shoulders look broader and his biceps bulged. 'Don't say things like that.'

'Like I'm going to listen to someone from the murder trio.'

Tanaka raised his fists, but Daichi caught him by the wrist.

'We just want to know what you mean by that statement.' Suga put it politely. 'If you know something that could be affecting Hinata or his health, it's vital that you inform someone. Would you really want to see an inmate die?'

'Who cares?' A scary-looking guy with angry looking eyes said. He had stripes shaved into his stubbly-blonde hair. He bit into some kind of candy bar, which he must have gotten from commissary, and dropped the litter on the floor. 'Who gives a shit about some kid you don't even know? The brat has been here a day.'

'Well, even so, Kyotani,' Suga looked a bit ruffled. 'There is no reason for wishing him ill. Now, if anyone knows anything about Hinata and his condition, I expect you to tell me or I will report you to Officer Takeda.'

Kyotani stepped forwards, looking like he was going for Suga, but Daichi and the bun-guy jumped in front. He scoffed and stepped back again.

'Look at this, the murder trio sticking together again.' Kindaichi piped up and the rest of the Aoba Johsai group muttered angrily. 'It seems like the only thing we should worry about in here is you three. One seizure isn't going to kill the runt... but who knows what you three are capable of, huh?'

His eyes swivelled over to Kageyama, lingering on the collar at his neck. 'Well, looks like you've got another one joining your group. Although, the murder quads doesn't have the same ring to it.'

From nowhere, someone threw porridge at Kageyama, which splattered against the side of his head and in his ear. He swore, stumbling and many of the people around him laughed. He was too busy wiping porridge out his hair to look at what Tanaka was doing, but he could hear Daichi shouting at him, and the sound of chairs being thrown around.

'We don't want murderers in this prison!' Someone yelled.

'It's a high max security prison...' The man with the bun tried to reply, but his voice was drowned out by people chanting.

'OUT! OUT! OUT!'

More porridge was being thrown.

Someone took Kageyama by the wrist. He glanced upwards and saw Suga. 'Come on, let's leave. They're just looking for an excuse to start a riot.'

As Kageyama passed by one of the Aoba Johsai members, he heard a whisper in his ear. 'We know what you did...'

Suga had heard it too.

He pulled Kageyama out of the cafeteria and down the corridor and they didn't stop until they were in a bathroom so Kageyama could clean himself off. Suga had managed to avoid getting anything on his jumpsuit.

'Don't listen to them. They're just trying to put you on edge. They don't know what you did or what happened outside these walls.' Suga knew the details of what Kageyama had done. He knew what the Aoba Johsai gang would do if they found out. He was trying to reassure him, which Kageyama felt thankful for.

Though the words had sent a shiver down his spine, he knew what Suga said to be true. They hadn't noticed him until the last minute, when they were taunting the others, but this didn't mean they weren't going to find out.

'They'll know soon enough.' Kageyama said out loud. Suga sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

'We will work it out when it comes to that.' He wasn't lying to Kageyama, trying to tell him that it would never happen, which was good. He felt he could trust Suga a little more. 'But for now, just try and stay away from them. It's the best you can do.'

'Does it bother you, what they call you and Daichi and er...'

'Asahi, and no, not really. Each of us have faced up to what we have done and have accepted the punishment. I would hope that you believe me when I say that none of us will ever do something... something like that again.'

'I do believe you.' He tapped at his own collar. 'I am no different.'

'Hmm, well, we don't actually know if Oikawa is dead or not.' Kageyama flinched at the sound of his name and Suga looked apologetic. 'But, for your sake, I hope you don't ever actually join in the 'murder trio', because taking someone's life is a horrible burden to bear on your soul.'

'Did you... I mean... was it...' Kageyama spluttered his words, unsure how to ask the question on his mind.

'Was it on purpose? Is that what you're asking?'

Kageyama nodded.

Suga ran his fingers through his silver hair and stared at a cubicle for a moment before answering.
'Yes. For all three of us.'

Shock washed over Kageyama - he had expected that maybe, at least one of them, had killed by accident but for all three of them to have set out to actually murder someone?

Could he really trust Suga after all?

'I'd like to ask that you never repeat this information,' Suga said while Kageyama shook his head vividly, promising he would never breathe a word of what he had been told. 'Please don't ask Daichi any questions about it... actually, I should go see how he is. He doesn't really deal with his... problem very well. Asahi will probably be crying somewhere, bless him.'

'How do you deal with it? Do you feel guilt?'

To his utter surprise, Suga smiled. It wasn't his usual pleasant smile either, it had some wickedness to it. He shook his head. 'No, I don't feel guilty at all. In fact, I enjoyed it.'

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

What Suga had said had really struck him.

Out of the other three who wore a blue collar, he hadn't expected Suga to have been the one who would have enjoyed what he had done. He was so sweet and friendly, Kageyama couldn't imagine him hurting anyone, let alone murdering someone in cold blood. He'd tried to ask more questions, but Suga had waved him down and simply escorted him back to his cell and left him there.

Eventually he tried to put Suga out of his mind, instead he turned his attention to Hinata. Kageyama knew enough about drugs from what his father had researched to know that the stuff Hinata had been forced to smuggle would be long out of his system by now, it had been over a month- so what had caused that seizure?

The electricity?

He didn't know enough about electric shocks to know if a small volt could cause that to happen, and maybe it could, but it just didn't sit right with him. The seizure was similar to what Hinata had experienced before, according to eyewitness reports and leaked medical records that Kageyama had found during his research before he shot Oikawa.

But there was no way Hinata could have taken anything else... unless someone was sneaking things into the prison. He'd heard plenty of stories about Class A drugs, weapons, and the like being snuck into prisons, even high max security ones like this.

Kageyama climbed up onto Hinata's bunk and pulled apart the bedding but was disappointed to find nothing that could give him any answers. Hinata's shelf was pretty bare too, considering he was a new inmate. He checked Tanaka and Noya's beds as well, but other than photos of a dark-haired girl in glasses and a few magazines he didn't want to open, there was nothing. He hadn't trusted them the moment he saw their orange collars and would have loved to been able to bust them for something, but they were clean.

Or, at least, their beds were.

Well.

He used to the word "clean" loosely.

If they had drugs, they'd have them on their body surely. They could have slipped Hinata something in his food.

There was no way to prove that though.

If Hinata had been drugged, the doctors would be able to find it in his system. They'd report it to someone and then there'd be a prison-wide search for the source. At least it filled him with some comfort that someone would get in trouble for this, because as much as he had no personal relationship with Hinata, he didn't think he deserved to be targeted.

Maybe word had got in from the outside to take Hinata out.

Nekoma, surely.

They were the group that distributed the stock, while Aoba Johsai sold it. That meant Hinata had to have something to do with Nekoma.

He would need to ask, assuming Hinata actually made it.

Oh crap, Kageyama thought, pacing up and down the tiny cell, what if they had done it to kill off Hinata for being unreliable and losing them money? He would certainly be targeted next for trying to kill one of the members.

Perhaps if he injured himself or got himself beaten up (not that that idea seemed very appealing to him), he could get himself admitted into the hospital so he could speak with Hinata. Then again, he didn't want to risk becoming too injured to run or get away if Aoba Johsai did decide to come after him, not to mention he had no idea what state Hinata was in, and he didn't want to hospitalise himself for no good reason.

Kageyama was still pacing when Tanaka and Noya returned to the cell. They both slapped him on the back, which made him flinch, and clambered onto their own beds.

'Really shit about Hinata, don't ya think?' Tanaka said to Kageyama, who ignored him. 'Good thing you knew about that kinda shit.'

Still silence.

'He'll be fine,' Noya added, taking Kageyama's pacing to mean he was worried about Hinata's well being. 'We've seen countless of people having seizures similar to that, they'd just have to pump his stomach or something.'

'That's assuming it's some sort of drug that caused it.' Tanaka pointed out, making Noya falter. He chewed his lip.

'You've got a point, Ryuu... but when did he take anything? I didn't see him take anything. Didn't see anyone slip him anything either.'

'If someone did,' Kageyama said quietly, making the pair look over at him. He was staring at them with dark, threatening eyes. They could be putting on an act for all he knew, trying to seem innocent and confused about Hinata's attack. 'They'd find it in his system and the whole prison would be searched for the source. If someone is hiding something...'

'Ah man, you've got a good point there, Kagsy.' Tanaka fell back onto his bunk and pulled out a magazine. 'I'd love to see Aoba Johsai get busted for all the crap they've smuggled in. Nekoma too.'

Neither of them appeared worried about the possibility of a full-scale search. Either it meant they really were innocent and had nothing to hide, or they were just keeping their cool until Kageyama left the room and they could go flush whatever they had hidden.

He just wouldn't leave the room then.

He could wait.

However, his plan to keep an eye on them didn't really work out when Noya decided to leave the room and Tanaka didn't follow him. Startled, kicking himself for not realising that they didn't always need to be together, Kageyama ended up following Noya out in his awkward panic. He'd gotten up so abruptly when Noya had so he'd felt it would be weird to sit back down again.

'Why are you following me?' Noya asked over his shoulder. 'Got a crush?'

'No.' Kageyama snapped. 'I need the bathroom and I thought that's where you were going.'

'Huh? What? No. I've got a visitation today- my parents are coming to see me. I've not seen them in about six months. Apply now if you want your family to come, because it seriously takes the piss to get all the documents approved and whatever.'

'I don't have any family.' Kageyama said quietly and Noya stopped walking. He turned and clapped Kageyama on the shoulder.

'I'm sorry to hear that, pal, but we'll be your family from now on, kay? Tanaka, too. Daichi and Suga are like our parents, they act like it anyway. We'll all look out for ya'. We've got your back, so loosen up.'

Kageyama jerked his shoulder away. Noya shrugged.

'Suit yourself. In a bit.' He took off down a corridor and left Kageyama standing alone.

Lunch came and went and nothing interesting happened. There was still no news about Hinata, although rumours were flying left and right, many of the Aoba Johsai gang claiming he'd definitely died. Some even mocked the way Hinata's seizure had looked and Suga had had to stop Tanaka and Noya from jumping over the table to fight them.

Instead, Tsukishima had gotten up and tipped the remainder of his dinner onto one of the Aoba Johsai member's heads, causing an uproar of laughter from the rest of the dining hall, especially the Nekoma table. Many of the gang jumped to their feet to start a fight, but Tsukishima had just shrugged and walked away with Yamaguchi at his heels.

Kageyama had been briefly told their names by Suga when he'd sat down to eat, but he'd had no desire to introduce himself or talk to them, and they seemed to feel the same way.

Much to his disappointment, Suga knew nothing about Hinata or how he was doing. He'd been hoping Suga, with his connections to the staff, would have some information, but he was just in the dark as everyone else was. Daichi said that if something bad did happen to Hinata, they would hear about it eventually and the best thing they could do is get on with their own thing and try to not think about it.

'Are you two friends now then?' Suga asked, beaming. Kageyama shook his head.

'No, not really. I just want to talk to him.'

'Well, that's the best way to start a friendship, at least.' Suga said, spooning some of his food onto Daichi's plate. 'Eat more, you're looking tired.'

Daichi did have rather large dark circles under his eyes. He didn't argue and accepted what he was given.

'Therapy sessions really take it out on him,' Suga explained under his breath so only Kageyama could hear. 'Don't worry, he's fine, it's just reliving traumatic experiences... well, I'm sure you know how that feels.'

Kageyama had actually been so obsessed with speaking to Hinata and discovering information about Nekoma and Aoba Johsai that he hadn't really thought about his father or Oikawa much at all. Now it all came flooding back to him and his hands shook, and he had to push his food away and stand up, although his legs felt weak.

'Are you alright, Kageyama?' Suga looked alarmed and tried to reach out for him, but Kageyama stepped away, shaking his head.

'I just need some air.'

He took off before Suga could say anything and didn't stop running until he'd reached his cell corridor. His chest felt tight, and he had to stop to catch his breath, leaning against a wall. It was strange how something could suddenly affect him so much.

There had still been no news on Oikawa's condition.

Was he alive?

Kageyama headed back the way he had came and took the stairs to where the offices were located. He had to speak with Officer Takeda. He had to know.

Officer Takeda answered his door within seconds of Kageyama knocking. He invited him inside and offered him a drink of water, commenting on how pasty and sweaty Kageyama was looking. 'Are you feeling alright?'

'Yes,' Kageyama lied, sloshing most of the water down his front. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. All he could remember was holding the gun in them, the feel of the trigger and a pain stabbed at his shoulder where it had dislocated.

Part of him wanted Oikawa to be alive, because the guilt of murdering someone, even if he fully believed that they deserved it... he didn't know if he'd be able to live with it. Taking someone else's live was never the answer.

Revenge didn't bring back his father.

'What can I help you with?'

'Do you know what happened to Oikawa?' He stuttered his words, unable to look Takeda in the eye. He stared at his shoes instead.

Takeda perched on the edge of his desk and wiped his glasses on his shirt. 'I'm afraid I've been instructed to keep that information private... however, while I won't tell you what actually happened to him, I will say that he's alive. If that's what's bothering you or eating away at your conscience, then I hope knowing that you haven't actually killed someone helps.'

Kageyama couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, even though the tightness in his chest hadn't gone away.

On the one hand, it meant that no one in the Aoba Johsai gang was going to come after him for murdering their boss, but on the other, it meant that Oikawa could contact them and say that Kageyama attempted to kill him. Then again, the police probably had him in their custody, he was a wanted criminal after all.

Hopefully that meant Oikawa would be locked away for life.

'They wouldn't send him here... would they?' Kageyama could barely manage a whisper. Officer Takeda frowned.

'Oikawa? No, no, of course not. That would be terrible. There are plenty of other maximum-security prisons he could be appointed to. I'm not really supposed to be talking to you about this, I'm sorry, I'm under orders. Just know that you're fine and you can just get on with the rest of your sentence here knowing that no one died. Is there anything else I can help you with?'

'No, no,' Kageyama began to move towards the door before stopping. He turned back. 'Is Hinata dead?'

Officer Takeda looked surprised for a moment. 'Dead? Of course not, he's just in hospital. He had a bad reaction to the electric shock, that's all. I'm sure he'll be out of hospital soon enough. Anything else?'

'No.'

He left the office, his mind racing.

Oikawa was alive, but in custody, which meant he had time before word spread to the members of Aoba Johsai in this prison. He'd have to go through court first, Kageyama may even be pulled out to be put on trial to talk about his father, and then Oikawa would need to make friends within whatever prison he was sent to for them to get information out and across to Shiratorizawa. From what Kageyama knew, all the members of Aoba Johsai that had been arrested were in the same prison as he was, so there wouldn't be any of Oikawa's crew anywhere else.

He had to speak with Hinata, find out everything he knew, and then get the information back to the police. He didn't care if he was locked up with them, as long as they were off the streets and not ruining any more lives.

He had hoped to be able to spend the rest of the day hanging around near to Nekoma or Aoba Johsai members but found most of them had been sent down to the factories to work for the day, and the prison seemed quite empty. Even Tanaka and Noya were off fixing some kind of electrical problem.
A trip to the Aoba Johsai bathroom proved unhelpful. It was oddly clean and there was nothing hidden inside any of the toilets or under the drains. There was a bit of graffiti here and there, but it was stupid, uninteresting slang or insults.

The only thing he did notice was a drinking fountain, which none of the other bathrooms had. A little unfair, in his opinion, but he wasn't surprised as to why they'd chosen this bathroom to claim as their own.

By evening, Hinata still hadn't returned, and he was feeling anxious, even though Officer Takeda had said he was still breathing.

He informed Suga about it over dinner, which made Suga look very happy. 'Oh thank goodness, I was so worried about him.'

'Where's Daichi?' Tsukishima had joined them at the table, not even looking at Kageyama.

'Sleeping. Oh, Tsukishima, this is-'

'Not interested. I was hoping to speak to Daichi, I've been having a throbbing headache for days and I know he has medicine for that sort of thing. I'm all out and I've not had the opportunity to speak with Ukai yet, not to mention it could take a week or so to smuggle it in.'

'Perhaps you should go to the hospital.' Suga suggested and Tsukishima scoffed.

'For a headache? No. I just need some paracetamol or something.' He took a sip of water and groaned, rubbing at his temples. 'It's like a stabbing pain at the back of my eyes. It's driving me nuts.'

'Do you think you need a new prescription in your glasses?' Suga said. 'At least go ask to get your eyes tested.'

'I had them tested two months ago, there's no way they've gotten worse in that time. If they still hurt after a week then I will.'

Tanaka and Noya joined them at the table and Tsukishima immediately got to his feet and walked away. They swore after him, making Suga snap at them.

'Kageyama went to Officer Takeda and he said that Hinata is alright,' Suga told them brightly and Tanaka banged his cup against the table as he cheered. 'Stop that, you're getting water everywhere. Hopefully he'll be back with us tomorrow. How are you finding your time here, Kageyama, must be a completely new experience.'

'It's fine.' He said, pushing his food around his plate. He'd eaten his little pudding cup first because he wanted something sweet, but it didn't satisfy him all that much and the rice, egg, and chicken combo on his tray didn't appeal to him. His mind had been wandering to a shopping trip to Harajuku with his father when he was little, and he'd eaten his first cream-filled crepe. He hadn't had one since his father had died. They were a treat they'd always eaten together. He wondered how long it would be before he could eat another.

Eventually, he gave up and returned to his cell to sleep.

Hinata appeared the following day.

Kageyama had been sat alone in his cell, still hungry after an unsatisfying breakfast, and Hinata had walked in like he'd never left. He stopped in his tracks when he spotted Kageyama and the pair stared at each other for a moment before Hinata turned on his heel and left, leaving Kageyama kicking himself for not opening his mouth and simply speaking to him. It had been a shock to see him, he'd not expected Hinata back so suddenly.

Not wanting to wander alone around the prison, Kageyama decided it would be best to wait until lunch time to try and talk to Hinata. He wouldn't ask him any questions in the dining hall but would ask him to come to a private location.

However, things didn't go as planned.

He'd spotted Hinata seated with Tanaka and Noya at their usual table and it had taken him quite a while to muster up the courage to go over. He stood right behind Hinata's chair and felt Tanaka and Noya's eyes instantly burning into him. Hinata twisted around to look.

Words escaped him. He could feel his face going red and he'd stopped breathing. Why was this so difficult?

'You constipated or somethin'?' Tanaka narrowed his eyes. 'You got a problem, punk?'

Kageyama spluttered, trying to get his words out while not taking his eyes off Hinata, who just looked confused and a little worried.

'Spit it out already!' Noya huffed, flicking a soggy carrot at him, which hit Kageyama in the face, making his nostrils flare and his face burnt even more. He balled up his hands into fists, feeling his nails digging hard into his palms.

He needed to calm down. All he had to do was talk.

Approaching people was never something he'd been good at; he'd always struggled making friends. He wasn't even trying to be Hinata's friend, and he could see clearly in his mind the exact words he wanted to speak but his mouth wouldn't open. Why wouldn't his brain let him speak?!

It took him some time, but he managed to splutter something out, although very quietly and it hurt his throat.

'I want to talk to Hinata.'

Tanaka made a face and flexed his muscles, trying to be intimidating. 'About what? If you try anythin' funny-'

It was strange how their attitude towards him had shifted overnight. Perhaps they were being protective of Hinata.

'In private.' Kageyama said, wishing his chest would stop tightening.

'Whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of us or not at all.' Noya added, jumping up on his chair so he was taller than everyone. An officer yelled at him to get down and he obeyed, not without severe grumbling.

'I can't.'

'Then beat it, punk.' Tanaka moved as if he was going to hit him and Kageyama flinched and scarpered, causing Noya and Tanaka to burst out laughing.

Why were they acting like this? They said they'd look out for him. All he wanted to do was have a conversation with Hinata. They should surely know that he had no intention of hurting Hinata. Why would he?

His footsteps slowed as he passed by the Aoba Johsai table. He'd overheard a snippet of conversation.
'I heard they're shipping more of it next week...'

Kageyama's ears pricked and he tried to act casual, moving silently past them and took a seat at a nearby table with his back to them. Three of the people sat at the table gave him a funny look but didn't ask him to move. Kageyama recognised them as part of the kitchen staff, and he knew they weren't an aggressive bunch.

'The boss is still furious about what happened with that Hinata kid. I mean, wasn't really his fault, was it. Botch surgery job- surprised they haven't caught that Lev guy yet. He'll come back to Japan soon though, they have his sister.'

'Really? I've seen her before- she's hot.'

'Think they'd actually hurt her? I thought they sent women into trafficking and that?'

'Dunno. Anyway, I hear they're trying the operation again, they need this deal in Paris.'

'Is it really gonna work after that orange kid? They're going to have drug dogs everywhere.'

'There's a new plan. Getting them on board a boat to North Korea- I know, it's fuckin' insane, but the boss has got deals with whatshisface himself. Kim something. The leader. Promised him some of the money, since that country is a serious shit hole. And we know North Korea have links to Russia and China so it's easy for them to get the subjects across the border and on a plane from there. He's annoyed about it though, way more effort than needs be. Surprised the kid isn't dead yet for failing.'

'Are you sure that's not just some whacko story? Why would the boss have anything to do with North Korea- what would they provide for him?'

'More workers. Do you even know what the prisons are like over there? They make this place look like a five-star hotel. They're basically labour camps.'

'So more of the product can be made over there?'

Kageyama's heart was racing. They were spilling so many of their secrets. He knew he wouldn't be able to prove what they said but at least he could get rumours out, get information to the police and they could monitor the coast.

'Probably. I don't know. It's all rumours anyway, I can't say it's absolute. All I've been told is we need to keep an eye on the orange kid. Also, watch that Kageyama kid closely too, his father was that pissin' cop that put us away.'

'You mean the one sat right there listening to our entire conversation?'

At these words, Kageyama's heart dropped into his stomach. He scrambled to his feet and tripped over his chair, hitting his hip against the table. There was the sound of chairs scraping and he suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides, angry faces bearing down on him, knuckles cracking threateningly.

'Think you can eavesdrop on us, do you?'

'Why didn't you say something earlier, you dolt?' One of the members hissed at the other, who shrugged.

'Took me a while to realise it was him, but I recognise the hair. They're pretty similar in appearance, don't you think?'

One of the guys grabbed Kageyama by the shoulders and shoved him into an open area. Kageyama tried to turn to run, but someone grabbed him from behind and wrapped their arm around his neck, squeezing. He struggled against them, trying to hit at them with his fists and elbows.

Suddenly, he was free and falling on his behind. Tanaka had leapt over a table and knocked the guy back that was holding him and now they were squabbling, fists flying. Noya had joined in too, jumping on an Aoba Johsai member's back, trying to choke him with his own collar.

Chants of 'fight, fight, fight!' came from all around him and he knew he needed to get away. However, when he had tried to push through the crowd, some Nekoma members got him by the shoulders and shoved him hard back into the riot. More and more people were joining in, and the noise was unbearable.

A man came at Kageyama, ready to swing, but Hinata dived in front, jumping as high as he could, blocking the man's path, only to be brought down by a tug at the ankle. He was slammed hard into the ground and Kageyama let out a small cry in shock. He went to help Hinata up, but someone was pulling him back by his jumpsuit and a leg to the back of his knee brought him to the floor. Hands were on him, pushing him to the ground and pinning him there. His entire body was covered in sweat, and he was shaking. A heavy boot appeared over his face, but Daichi was there, throwing a punch.
The man was sent reeling, and another sprung at Daichi, but was flung down on top of a table, cracking it in two.

That was where the fight had ended.

Guards shocked the entire room and everyone standing fell to their knees.

Intense pain swept through Kageyama's body, and he writhed on the floor for a few moments before it went away. He was left shuddering and feeling weak and kind of sick.

He rolled onto his side to see if Hinata was having a seizure, but he looked alright, apart from being really white and looking a bit worse for wear. The others had already moved over to him to check his condition, leaving Kageyama to climb unsteadily to his feet by himself. All around him, eyes were glaring at him, hands were clenching, but no one dared attack him now the room was full of guards.

A severe lecture followed, but Kageyama found himself tuning it all out. He didn't care that they'd attacked him, or that he probably had a target on his head now, all he needed to do was get the information to someone, anyone, and he could stop their plan before it happened- even if it was just a rumour.

Suddenly, fingers were being pointed his way and he was brought back to earth with a jolt.
Everyone was blaming him for starting the fight.

Officers marched over and took hold of his elbow, trying to steer him out of the dining hall but Kageyama flinched and tried to push them away, only to receive another electric shock, which made his legs falter. The guards caught him and began to drag him out.

The last thing he heard before he was pulled out into the corridor was someone shouting, 'he didn't do it!'

He was lead through the prison, down corridors he had never stepped foot in before, through doors that were unlocked and relocked behind him until they reached a corridor of grey doors. He was flung against one, smacking his forehead painfully. He tried to struggle but something was injected into his arm and his body softened.

The room he was pushed inside had nothing but a small bed and a toilet with a sink on top. The heavy metal door was slammed in his face, and he sunk, weak-kneed, onto the floor, leaning against the bed. His body was going numb and limp and the world around him began to spin.

What had they injected him with?

He was sleepy.

It was all fading to black.

A pain in his hip had woken him.

He must have hit that table pretty hard.

His head was pounding too and there was a high-pitched noise in his ears that wouldn't go away. Groaning, Kageyama tried to lift his head up and felt like his brain had turned to lead. It didn't matter.
All he had to do was get to a guard, a person, someone to talk to. He just needed to get up.

Everything was spinning and it took him a while to realise that he'd more than likely been thrown into isolation.

No, this was good. It kept him safe. Away from the others who could attack him.

He'd ask to speak to Officer Takeda before going back into the main prison.

Using all his remaining energy, he lifted his head and looked to his left at the rest of the room and his entire body froze. The ringing in his ears was joined by the thundering beat of his heart.

He wasn't alone.

A man was seated on the floor opposite him, leaning against the wall, his stomach covered in blood.

He slowly lifted his head and made eye contact with Kageyama, a small smirk on his lips.

It was Oikawa.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

There was something odd about Oikawa's figure, like he was blurred around the edges.

But it was his smile that kept Kageyama's attention and caused him to freeze, his heart pounding wildly against his rib cage. It was so sinister and sly, malicious even, like he planned on hurting Kageyama. He didn't move, he just sat there, slumped against the wall, blood dripping down his hips and splattering onto the floor.

For a moment, shock had completely taken over him. He found it hard to comprehend what he was seeing and was having a mental battle with himself as to whether it were fiction or reality. Part of him was screaming that it was real, that Oikawa was really there, and was going to kill him and that he needed to get out. Another side was arguing that it couldn't possibly be true, that Oikawa was locked away somewhere, probably receiving medical help for his injury, and there was absolutely no way he could be locked in this tiny cell with him.

Then how could he see him so clearly? He looked so solid.

It was when the smile widened that panic really set in and he started to scream.

Backing as far away as he physically could in such an enclosed space, Kageyama drew himself up against the wall and began hammering at the metal door, shrieking, begging to be let out. The figure on the floor didn't move to attack him, but his body was twitching, flickering even.

'LET ME OUT! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! YOU'VE GOT TO LET ME OUT!'

He proceeded to thump and kick at the door, screaming until his voice was hoarse, until, finally, the latch on the other side was slid across and the door was wrenched open. Before Kageyama could even step foot outside and try to escape, he was grabbed by the front of his jumpsuit and flung out of the cell, hitting the stone floor painfully, scraping the palms of his hands.

Desperately, he scrambled to his feet and tried to run, but a hand got hold his collar and tugged him back, choking him and bringing him to his knees once more. Something hard was whacked into the side of his head, making his vision spin.

Even though the world around him was twirling, he could make out Oikawa's figure as clear as day, stood at the end of the corridor by the main entrance to the isolation cells. He was still bleeding from the stomach, which was running down his legs, and slowly he raised a gun.

More screaming now as Kageyama attempted to thrash about, babbling non-stop about the man by the door.

'He's lost it.' A guard said to another who'd just rushed over to help restrain him. 'Better report this, they'll want to know.'

'Think we should just lock him back in the cell like this or knock him out again?'

'Don't want to risk him hurting himself, can't have him dying or it'll be our heads they'll be after. Just give him another dose and get him to the doctor.'

'Alright, boss.'

Something sharp and cold stabbed into Kageyama's neck and it took seconds to calm him. His whole body felt light, like he was floating, and it wasn't long before he was drifting down deeper and deeper until the darkness consumed him.

...'It's a common reaction, I wouldn't worry'...

The lights above his head were so bright. He couldn't open his eyes, they were too heavy, but the light was harsh enough to be shining through. He wanted to lift his hand to shield them, but something was stopping him.

A restraint.

Buzzing noises filled his ears and he was finding it hard to keep himself conscious.

...'It should wear off eventually. You can take him back to his prison cell later'...

...'Yeah, yeah, he'll sleep it off, but this isn’t good. More tests are needed, I think'...

... 'The results are in for that Hinata boy. I’d recommend he only drinks fresh water from now on, until we can work out what went wrong'...

... 'Take Mr. Bokuto to therapy, we're done with him here'...

What were they talking about?

Who was talking?

Why did his head hurt so much?

He would be fine. He just needed to sleep it off. That's what they said.

Father would wake him in the morning, bright and early, and they would cook rice and fish for breakfast before heading out for the day together. It would be nice to spend some time with his father. It had been so long.

He'd have to remind him to buy in more milk. They were running low.

But first he needed to sleep.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

Kageyama was dreaming.

There was a house, one that he didn't recognise but still considered to be his home. It was a traditional Japanese country house away from the main city, with sliding doors and a large back garden filled with cherry trees and flowers. He was with his family, his mother and his father and his sister. His mother's face was always turned away from him, as he had never known her, but he felt a sort of warmth in his chest whenever he looked at her. It wasn't long before it was replaced with longing.

His sister sat in the very corner of the garden, swinging on a make-shift swing attached to a tree. She also had her back to him and no matter how hard he tried; he could not approach her.

Turning to his father, he found his face was also turned away. No matter how many times he tried to run around his father, he just kept turning and turning. Then it dawned on him that they had no part in his life anymore. All of them were gone.

He was alone.

The leaves on the trees began to die, fading to brown and curling up as they hit the ground, which was barren and dusty. The koi pond was splashing about furiously, as though some larger animal had gotten trapped in there, but Kageyama didn't dare go over to look. The swing was now empty, the rope snapped and frayed.

Then the man came, the one with the smile that stretched unnaturally from ear to ear.

A knife in his hands slashed out and reduced Kageyama's parents to dust. Then it turned on him.

He felt the air leave his body as the blade sunk into his chest and he gasped, bolting upright, his eyes snapping open. He was no longer in the enchanting garden, but in a small, cramped cell, with three concerned faces staring at him. One hand was clutching his chest and the other the sheets of his bunk, sweat pooling down his forehead. He couldn't focus, his breathing was skewered and all he could think about was Oikawa with a weapon, coming for him.

Then he remembered the isolation cell.

Oikawa was in this prison, and he was going to kill him.

He needed to get out.

'Kags? Shut up will ya!' A voice snapped at him, but he ignored it and scrambled to his feet, wobbling, staring around in a mad panic, as though he expected to see Oikawa standing in one of the corners. His eyes met up with Hinata's for a moment, before he decided that there was no longer any need to speak with him and his own safety was first priority. He rushed to the door and started trying to wrench it open, only to find it locked tight.

'Woah, Kags, calm it, what's wrong with ya? Are you alright?' He didn't know who'd spoken but he didn't really care.

'I need to get out of here!' Kageyama shouted, not bothering to keep his voice down. His body was shaking, and his hands were so sweaty they kept slipping off of the door handle.

'Christ, get back into bed, you're havin' a really bad comedown-'

Someone tried to grab hold of him and his entire body twitched at the touch.

'No, no, get off me!' Kageyama smacked Nishinoya away, turning to look at his three cell mates. Why did they all seem so calm? Didn't they know that Oikawa was in the prison. He'd kill all of them after he'd finished off Kageyama. 'Get away from me! I need to leave! I have to leave! I can't stay here! He'll kill me! He'll kill me!'

'Who? Who's going to kill you?' Tanaka demanded, jumping down from his bed. He help up both hands to Kageyama to try and show he wasn't a threat. 'You're safe in here, no one is going to kill you.'

'No, you don't understand!' Kageyama snapped, stepping into a slither of moonlight that hurt his eyes. It was nighttime already. How long had he been asleep for? How many days had it been? 'I have to leave the prison.'

'You're not well, Kags, let's get you back into bed-'

'NO! I HAVE TO LEAVE!'

'You can't leave! They're not going to let you out; this is a prison! Nobody in here is going to kill you, nobody in here even knows you, you're a newbie-'

Kageyama began hammering on the door, making the metal vibrate and send a loud booming echo throughout their cell room. Both Noya and Tanaka moved forwards and got hold either of his arms, dragging him back. 'Shut up, you idiot! If the guards come, they'll shock all of us! And you know Hinata could have another seizure!'

'GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF! I NEED TO GET OUT! HE WAS IN THE ROOM WITH ME! HE WAS THERE!'

'Who was there?! Who are you talking about?'

'I WOKE UP AND HE WAS THERE, GRINNING AT ME. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE! HE'S MAD AT ME. HE'S GOING TO GET ME. YOU NEED TO LET GO OF ME!'

'Will you stop screaming?!' Tanaka hissed.

'Where did they take you?' Hinata tried to get in front of him without being kicked. Kageyama was really struggling against the two of them, who were trying to force him back into bed. Tanaka even attempted to put his hand over Kageyama's mouth to stop him from shouting but ended up being bitten and swearing even louder. 'Did you go to the Therapy Room? Was Bokuto there? He's got spiky white-sort-of-grey hair?'

'Do you think it's Bokuto he's talking about?'

'I would be scared too if I was locked up in a room with Bokuto,' Tanaka couldn't help but laugh, even though he was still holding Kageyama tightly, who was desperately trying to break their grip.

'Although that would be because I'd start believing his whacky theories after a while. I don't think it's him Kags is upset about though, can you see Bokuto killing anyone?'

'Definitely not! It can't be Bokuto he's talking about!' Hinata cried, trying to help the other two hold onto Kageyama but received a kick to the shin instead. He howled and hoped around the room. 'Kageyama, you jerk! We're just trying to help you!'

'If you want to help me, then get me out of this prison!' Kageyama wrenched himself free of the two boys and flung himself at the door again, trying to use the weight of his whole body to throw it open. Every time his body hit the door it sent a sharp pain down his arm.

'Prepare yourself for another shock, Hinata. When the officers hear him, they're going to punish us for not trying to stop him.' Tanaka was saying behind him. Kageyama didn't care if they got shocked, once the guards opened the door he could make a break for it.

'Hope you enjoy another night in isolation!' Noya snapped and Kageyama froze, suddenly realising that the guards wouldn't just let him go, they'd drag him back to that tiny cell and lock him up with Oikawa again.

'No, no, I can't go back there. He'll be there. He's going to kill me. They promised me I'd be safe here, they promised-'

'Jeez, Kags, calm it and sit down and tell us what the fuck is going on, because I'm tired and you bit my fucking hand and if I get some kind of disease from you I swear to-'

'He's in the prison.'

'Yes, you've said that, but what we're confused about is who, because I don't know if you haven't realised by now, but I'm not a fucking physic.'

Kageyama slid down the wall and put his face into his knees, muttering 'he's in the prison' over and over, tugging at his short black hair.

He began mumbling to himself, too quietly for the others to hear him and they asked him to repeat himself.

For a while, he fell silent, not wanting to speak, but Tanaka ended up lobbing a pillow at him, making him flinched even though it barely hit him. He then got up and began pulling at the door again, before screeching when it wouldn't open and banging his head against it. Shouting at him to stop, both Noya and Tanaka dragged him away and Hinata took the opportunity to push him down onto his bed. The three of them held onto him to keep him seated.

They could hear banging outside. Other inmates were shouting.

'Shit, the guards are coming. They're going to take you away again for making so much noise, so quickly, tell us who is going to kill you, and we'll do what we can to help-'

'You can't do anything.' Kageyama looked down at his feet. 'If they take me, I'll die.'

'Then I'll say it was me who was making the fucking noise then,' Tanaka snapped, glancing over his shoulder. There was an officer speaking outside their door, demanding to know what was going on.

'I'll say it was me, I can handle a night in the slammer, but only if you fucking speak and tell me who's out to get you! We can protect you if you let us! What have they given you? If you tell me, I might know what it is- for all you know, everything you're saying could be in your head! I've been on some crazy stuff before where I saw my worst nightmares come to life. Let us help you with this! Tell us!'

A bolt was sliding.

The door was opening and the light from the outside corridor was starting to sneak into the room. They barely had seconds left before the officers would burst in and shock them all.

Kageyama pulled himself free of the others, trying to remain on his feet- he was shaking so badly.

'Oikawa Toru is in the prison. He's come here to kill me.'

Tanaka had done his best to try and convince the guards that it was him and not Kageyama who had been making the noise, but they didn't believe him and dragged Kageyama off instead. He had struggled at first, kicking and screaming, but eventually his body felt numb, and he let them carry him off. Only, this time, they headed up to the third floor and not towards the isolation cells.

Relief swept over Kageyama- they weren't going to lock him up in that cell again.

But where was Oikawa now?

Could he be waiting for him somewhere behind this door?

The corridor that followed was long and white, giving off the feeling of a hospital. The room he was shoved into had two chairs and a table. He was pushed down into one and handcuffed to a hook in the centre of the table. He was left there for an unknown period of time. It felt like a lifetime and his eyes kept nervously glancing towards the door, expecting to see Oikawa's face through the little glass window.

Eventually, a man appeared, looking tired and grumpy. He took the seat opposite and flipped open a notepad and held up a pen.

'Hello, Kageyama, I am the therapist here at Shiratorizawa Prison, you can call me Dr. Ohira. I'd like to ask you a few questions, is that ok?'

Kageyama didn't answer him. He didn't like the look of this man.

'If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. I'm sure you're just as tired as I am, so we'll make this quick and we can both get back to bed. Just nod or shake your head if you want. The guards tell me you're having visions, is this true?'

'Visions?'

'You claim a man is trying to hurt you. Would this man be Oikawa Tooru?'

Kageyama's head snapped up. 'You know him?'

'Not personally. I've read your file. It's understandable that you would be seeing hallucinations of this man, it's a result of guilt and tiredness. The doctor has simply recommended a good night's sleep, Kageyama, and it will all go away. All we ask is that you begin to calm down. I can offer hypnosis if that helps-'

'No, I don't want that. It can't be in my head. It was as real as you are now.'

'The human brain is an incredible thing, Kageyama. It can make us believe anything, while I can't disclose information about other patients of mine, I can say that one of them has a tendency to ... well call it sleepwalking. Have you ever slept walked, Kageyama?'

'No.'

'It is a similar experience to what you are currently going through. It's incredible how strongly the human brain can convince you that there is something else in the room, or make you think you need to walk somewhere or do something. There was once a patient here, who has long since died, who used to try to cover his cell mate with his duvet every single night, almost smothering him, because he believed in his head that he was protecting him. Of course, he was really apologetic in the morning, but when he was asleep, he fully believed that his friend was in danger, even though they were in an empty cell together, and that he would only be safe if he was hidden from sight. Most of the time, anxiety and guilt takes over your thoughts and that's why you dream what you dream, and often, in a half-asleep state, you'll think what is in your head is in front of you because your brain makes it real. Does that make sense?'

'So... Oikawa was in my head? He's not here?'

'I can promise you that Oikawa Tooru is not in this prison. Tell me, what exactly did you see? Was Oikawa doing anything? Did you think he was trying to hurt you?'

Kageyama gulped, the memory of being in the cell haunting him. It wasn't real, he had to tell himself. It's all in your head. It wasn't real.

'He was just sat there, covered in blood... but he was smiling. It scared me. He didn't move at all, he just stayed seated there. The guards let me out of the cell and then I could see him stood at the end of the corridor, still bleeding, but he was holding a gun...'

'You shot Oikawa, didn't you, Kageyama?'

'...Yes.'

'Don't worry, I'm not here to judge, but it explains why you saw him holding a gun. You fear that he is after you for revenge and will try to hurt you in the same way that you hurt him.' He scribbled something down in his notepad. 'Is there anything else you've seen? Anyone else? You haven't been here long; we should have put you in for therapy sessions straight away but there's so many prisoners here with issues... it's hard to find the time. I apologise for that.'

'I haven't seen anyone else. Just him.'

'Have you felt different since being here? Have you had any hot flushes or temperature changes? Have you felt ill at all?'

'No. I've been fine.'

'Are you eating properly?'

'Yes.'

More notes taken.

'Any nightmares? Other than Oikawa.'

'Other than him? No.'

'Would you say your behaviour has changed at all?'

'No? At least, I don't think so.'

'Hmm, yes, okay.' He closed his notebook. 'I think that will be all for tonight, since it's late and you need some sleep. You'll be staying the therapy unit tonight, as we need to keep an eye on you, if you have another incident, we can be here to help you immediately. The room is a padded one, just for your safety, we've had incidents when patients, in a delusional state, have hurt themselves on something in the room before and we want to avoid that. There's a comfy mattress in there for you and soft pillows, a bit nicer than your actual bunk bed.'

He laughed and Kageyama suddenly realised how tired he actually felt.

It had all just been in his head, he hadn't been locked in a room with Oikawa at all. He was safe. Oikawa was in another part of Japan, and he wasn't in the prison. Kageyama didn't have to worry.

'Can I go back to my cell?' He found himself asking and the therapist raised an eyebrow at him.

'I don't think so.'

Kageyama pulled at his handcuffs. 'I don't want to be on my own, that makes it worse. What if I wake up again and he's there. You said that the brain can make me believe it's real. If I'm with Hinata or Tanaka or Noya they can tell me it's not real. They can help me. I want to be with them.'

'I'm afraid not, Kageyama.' The therapist was getting to his feet and stretching. 'It's against health and safety. We have to keep an eye on you. You'll be monitored at all times, don't worry. The guards will be along soon to escort you. Goodnight now.'

He left before Kageyama could say anything else.

It took even more time for the guards to come back for him and he was starting to freak out being left alone in the small dark room. His eyes were glancing from corner to corner and then back to the door. He kept shifting to look behind him, his heart skipping a beat every time he did so, imaging Oikawa's bloody form seated there.

'It's all in your head,' he kept repeating to himself, over and over, out loud. 'It's not real.'

Eventually, the guards came and un-handcuffed him from the table and lead him down the corridor towards a padded room and locked him inside. There was a window through which he could see the long stretch of corridor and he didn't like it, especially having to watch the guards walk away and disappear behind the exit door at the end.

Backing his way to the wall, Kageyama sat down on the mattress and pressed his back against the padded wall, making sure he was in the perfect position so that he could see the four corners of the room and had a good view out of the window. Would it be easily smashed? Surely not, if they'd locked up crazy inmates in here before.

That meant if someone did appear outside the window, they wouldn't be able to get in.

He still didn't like the thought of it though.

Like a horror movie.

This was the worst place they could keep him. He'd never be able to sleep, he was too on edge. He needed to have someone with him, even loud, annoying idiots like Tanaka and Noya. Suga would be good too, he was so calming and reassuring. He'd surely believe Suga if he told him he was seeing things.

How long he was sat, cross-legged, in that room for he didn't know. It felt like time had slowed down and his hearing has suddenly heightened, every little noise made him flinch. It was even worse when the light in the corridor went out. If Oikawa, or anyone, was looking at him through the window, he wouldn't know.

He had no idea how long it took for sleep to take him. He fell into fitful dreams of his family and Oikawa, and when he woke, he could see a figure stood at the window. His heart stopped and the air escaped his lungs.

It was too dark to see a face, but he could definitely make out a tall figure, staring at him. He could see the whites of their eyes.

Screwing up his eyes and clenching his fists, Kageyama began to mutter to himself, 'it's not real, it's in your head, it's not real, it's in your head.'

And then the figure knocked at the window.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

As the lights came to life in the corridor, Kageyama shielded his eyes- he'd been sat in the dark for too long and the harsh neon yellow of the bulbs hurt him. He couldn't properly make out the figure outside the window, they were just a dark fuzzy shape.

More shapes appeared, he wasn't sure from where, and shocked the figure.

At least that's he thought was happening with the way the person had brought their arms up to where their throat would be and were twisting and writhing and eventually fell to the floor. He lowered his hands a little as his eyes began to adjust and watched as the guards hauled the man to his knees and drag him off down the corridor. All he managed to get a glimpse of was a shock of white-and-grey spiky hair.

Despite being utterly relived that it wasn't Oikawa, Kageyama couldn't help but wonder who this mysterious fellow was and why he had been knocking at the window in the first place. What was he doing wandering around the therapy unit alone?

Getting to his feet, he plodded over to the window and pressed his face against it, trying to see where they were taking the stranger.

He could just make out their shapes down the corridor to his left. If they moved any further forwards they would disappear from his line of sight.

'I was just looking for Akaashi,' a loud, upset voice floated towards him. 'He's in that room, isn't he? Why won't you let me see him?'

'Be quiet, inmate.' A guard snapped, kicking him in the gut. 'How did you get out of your holding room?'

'I used to work for Shiratorizawa Inc. you know,' the man cackled. 'The lock systems are the same here.'

'Stop talking shit,' a guard snapped and hit him again. 'Ushijima wouldn't hire a whack-job like you. Someone please tell me why we even keep this prisoner around anymore? He's lost his worth.'

'Doctor's orders.' Another guard replied, making the first one grunt in disproval. Then he started to laugh, it was a cold, vicious laugh.

'Should we 'introduce' him to subject 0?'

'What?'

'Wouldn't be our fault, if we said this idiot opened the door. You can disable the cameras, can't you? Get up you disgusting piece of filth, don't try and touch me. All the blue collared prisoners in here make me sick. I don't know why they keep you.'

'It's all part of the plan.' The prisoner laughed again and got punished for it with a blow to the ribs. He keeled over, coughing. ‘I was so close to exposing everything.’

'Hold on now,' the second guard sounded concerned. 'You can't do that. You'll be just as bad as them-'

'It wouldn't be me killing him off, would it? Don't be so stupid.'

'The doctor said we have to keep him!'

'Actually,' a third voice joined the party. Kageyama couldn't see where the person was, or where they'd come from, and he presumed there must be another entrance to the therapy unit. 'I think that's an excellent idea. He's past his peak, he's not valuable to us anymore, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if we put him in a room with subject 0. They were close friends after all. Perhaps that can override the craziness.'

'Doctor... are you serious?' The second voice was wavering. They clearly didn't want any part in this. 'Subject 0 is dangerous.'

'You take off now, officer. Disable the cameras. That's an order. Then go home for the night. If you speak about this, remember the photos I have in my possession.'

There was no argument from the second officer. He took off down the corridor and Kageyama watched him go until he disappeared through the door at the end.

'Get him up.' The doctor was saying, and the guard hauled the prisoner to his feet. 'Come on then, Bokuto. Let's reunite you with an old friend.'

The man named Bokuto was moved out of sight and the doctor appeared, running his hands through his hair. He stopped when he spotted Kageyama at the window and shook his head, tutting.

'Eavesdropping is very rude, Mr. Kageyama. What are we going to do about that?'

As the doctor came to the cell door, Kageyama yelped and leapt away, turning frantically, as though he expected to suddenly see an escape route.

When the doctor entered, he tried to tackle him but was overpowered- he'd never had much physical strength. He was knocked to the floor and the doctor was kneeling over him, pressing his knees into Kageyama's upper arm. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with a blue liquid, which he jabbed into Kageyama's neck.

'Let's see if we can get Mr. Oikawa to appear again. I've mixed it with a little sedative- well, a lot of sedative, so you're going to sleep for a while, and you'll be very drowsy when you wake and hopefully, you'll forget everything that you heard here tonight.'

Kageyama tried to protest, to say something in response, but he just spat and dribbled down his chin.

His mouth and tongue had gone numb, and he was slipping out of focus.

Everything was going black.

***

The hospital was bright and warm. Kageyama was hungry and was glad for the kind nurse who spoon fed him porridge because his arms were too weak to lift.

She was cooing over him, saying it was awful how ill he had been lately. So many hallucinations and bad dreams, he'd been in the hospital ever since he'd been shocked after the attack by that 'awful gang' in the dining hall. Kageyama remembered that, just after he'd tried to speak with Hinata. Everything else was a blur to him, apart from the vivid bloodied face of Oikawa.

He couldn't remember where he'd seen him but accepted that it must have been a nightmare and sickness hadn't helped either.

'How long have I been here?' He asked the nurse, who was fixing his sheets now. She was middle-aged but still pretty, but there was something unsettling about her eyes.

'Three days, I think.'

Three days, huh?

Then he frowned. Three days?

The fight with Aoba Johsai felt like it happened so long ago, definitely more than just three days.

Then again, with how sick he'd been, he was questioning a lot, so it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him.

He looked up and down the hospital ward. He was the only patient.

Good.

Peace and quiet.

'I'll leave you in peace, you don't need me fussing.' The nurse said to him, placing an open book in his lap. 'I don't know if this will interest you, and hopefully it won’t be too difficult to turn the page, but I can't offer much else to pass the time. Try to stay awake, you need to get your bearings back. Press this button here if you need assistance. I'll be along later to see to you.'

She left leaving Kageyama with a book open in his lap that he couldn't pick up. His wrists were also restrained which made trying to lift his arms even more difficult. He had to resort to reading the book from an uncomfortable distance and turning the page with a shaky hand. It wasn’t very interesting.

Obviously, they were going to restrain him- he was a prisoner after all. They couldn't take any chances.

After about ten minutes, the hospital door opened and Kageyama turned to look, closing the book with great difficulty, expecting to see the nurse but instead found a boy with a shock of orange hair staring at him.

Hinata Shouyou.

'What are you doing here?' Kageyama demanded, narrowing his eyes. 'If you've come to make fun of me-'

'I haven't.' Hinata stated, before walking over to him and sitting down on the end of his bed, despite Kageyama's look of disproval. 'I was looking for someone else, actually. How long have you been here? Did something happen in isolation? Are you hurt?'

'No,' Kageyama showed his arms off to Hinata as if to prove that he was fine. 'They never took me to isolation. They knocked me out with an injection of something and I've been in here ever since. If anyone else was in the room, I don't know, I've been in and out of consciousness. I only woke up this morning and the nurses aren't letting me leave. I tried to escape so they strapped me to the bed.'

He nodded to his restraints.

He frowned... he hadn't tried to escape, had he? So why did he just say? He hadn't meant to say that.

He'd woken up and the nurse had fed him.

Perhaps he had dreamt it.

Hinata would definitely make fun of him he admitted that after just saying he'd tried to get free, so he'd just run with it and pretend it did happen to avoid embarrassment.

'So you haven't seen Bokuto?'

'Who?'

Hinata quickly explained Bokuto's appearance to Kageyama, who shook his head. Hinata sighed and stood up, hurrying down to the end of the room and looking at an empty bed.

'What are you doing?' Kageyama snapped. 'What are you looking for?'

'Did you see who was in this bed?' Hinata asked.

'I just told you I've been asleep, dumbass.' Kageyama threw his book onto the floor. He hadn't meant to, but he'd gotten some movement back into his arms and it was an involuntary spasm. 'That bed has been empty since I woke up. Why, who was in it?'

'It doesn't matter,' Hinata brushed him off, and stared glumly out of the window. He sighed and moved back over to the end of Kageyama's bed. 'Are you not crazy anymore?'

'Mind your own business!' Kageyama struggled against his restraints, looking irritated. He was getting severely irritated by Hinata's presence. 'Go away. You're annoying me.'

'Actually, I want to talk to you.'

Kageyama fell back against his pillows, observing Hinata. 'About what?'

'Who is Oikawa?'

Kageyama felt rage seethe through his body. 'I said mind your own business, idiot.'

'I was speaking with Tsukishima, you know, the super tall spindly guy with glasses, and he said he'd read a newspaper article about a police officer named Kageyama who had been murdered-'

'DON'T!' Kageyama shouted so suddenly Hinata toppled off the bed. He peered over the end instead, not wanting to get too close as though he was expecting Kageyama to break free of his straps and lunge for him. 'Get out!'

'He was your father?'

'I SAID MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!' Kageyama yelled.

'Hey! You're the one that said to keep your voice down!' Hinata jerked his head towards the door, coming up a bit higher over the wooden bed frame. 'If the nurses hear you, I'll be the one to get in trouble!'

'Maybe I should shout then, if it'll get you away from me! I hope they throw you into isolation!'

'If I go down, I'm taking you down with me!'

'I'm already about as low as I can get.' Kageyama nodded his head at the straps that were securing him. Hinata stared at them for a moment and then looked back at him.

'So, this Oikawa guy is the one who killed him? That's one of the main suspects in the newspaper, anyway.' Hinata stood up straight and rubbed at his chin, bringing the topic of conversation back onto Kageyama, who was really glaring at him and was red from shouting, but he couldn't do anything to get Hinata out of the room. 'Did you kill him for revenge?'

'I'm not talking to you.' Kageyama huffed, pulling at his wrist straps. 'I just want to be left alone.'

'You'll regret that when you're a few weeks into your life in prison and you have no friends. I hate it in here already, and it's barely been a week. I want to go home, but I can't. So you should stop being so grumpy and actually talk to people who are making an effort with you.' Hinata lectured him.

Kageyama let air out his nose like an angry bull.

'All I asked you was if you weren't crazy anymore. You've stopped having those visions?'

Reluctantly, Kageyama said, 'Yes.'

'Me, Tanaka and Noya were really scared when the officer brought you in, do you remember it? You were really bug-eyed and staring at nothing and you had drool all down your face, it was really gross. They said you were on some kind of weird medication and when you woke up, you started screaming that this Oikawa person was in the room with you, and you needed to escape.'

Kageyama looked uncomfortable and shifted his position on the bed slightly. 'I know now that it was all in my head, the doctor's said I was wildly hallucinating because of the medication they'd put me on to try and calm me down. They said it was a bad side effect. I was in isolation, and I woke up and he was just... there, in the corner of the room, and he was smiling, and he had a knife, and he was soaked through with blood-'

Wait, no- he'd had a gun... when had he had a knife?

In a dream?

Must have been. Either way, it was a horrible experience.

The nurse had said informed him earlier that he had been previously taken back to his cell but hadn't been able to cope and had scared the others with his poor health. He wanted to apologise to Hinata for scaring him, but couldn’t bring himself to.

'It felt so real. It was all in my head. He couldn't have been there.'

'Did you know it happened again after they took me from the cell, I saw him a second time. They decided I needed proper medical help and brought me here and kept me unconscious. Now that I'm properly awake, I know that it was all in my head.'

Another confusing statement. Had he seen Oikawa a second time? When? In the hospital? No, that didn't sit right with him. He couldn't piece it together. It must have been in the hospital, it had to have been, and he'd probably been half-asleep when they'd said that stuff to him. The nurse said he had been in and out constantly. Having missed time was really throwing him off.

'What reason would you have to be so scared of him? I know he killed your father but does that mean it was because he hated your family or-' Hinata began.

'I shot him.' Kageyama whispered and Hinata gasped, leaning onto the bed.

'WHA?! YOU SHOT HIM!'

'Keep your voice down!' Kageyama hissed. 'If the nurses come in and find you here-'

Hinata slapped a hand over his mouth and mumbled through his fingers, 'Did you shoot him because he killed your father?'

'I'm not going to talk about it, so quit asking me.'

'So it was for revenge?'

'Shut up! I'm not speaking about it!' Kageyama was firm and Hinata backed down for a moment, before bouncing up again.

'Hey! Wait a minute!' Hinata cried, making Kageyama flinch. 'You wanted to speak to me the other day. What did you want? You can tell me now, Tanaka and Noya aren't around.'

Kageyama studied him for a moment before saying, 'I wanted to ask you to tell me everything you know about the Nekoma gang.'

'Nothing!' Hinata said almost at once, his legs shaking. 'I don't know anything! If you're a spy for Nekoma, then you can tell Kuroo that I haven't said anything! Oh no! I said his name! Don't tell him that! Tell him I said the Nekoma boss! You didn't hear anything!'

'I'm not with Nekoma, you stupid moron!' Kageyama snapped, looking rather insulted that Hinata would even dare suggest such a thing. 'I would never have anything to do with them! Listen, my father was a cop who was investigating both the Nekoma and Aoba Johsai gangs. He found out that both of the gangs’ work for the same person, some big drug cartel thing. The Aoba Johsai team find new clients while the Nekoma team distribute the drug supply across the world. I told him to stop, but he become obsessed with stopping them, especially after his partner, this private detective guy, went missing! He thought it was his fault and that he hadn't worked hard enough, and he ended up dead because of it! I decided to continue where he had left of and I started doing my research, and I saw your name in the papers, I saw you coming out of the courthouse at your trial. Oikawa was there, he'd been watching you. When I heard you were going away from drug smuggling, I put two and two together, especially since you had no previous history of crime. I also saw the lawyer that took your case, my father had warned me about him before, he was a shoddy unqualified man who had faked his papers and was often hired out by the Nekoma gang! I've heard them whispering about you in the prison, telling each other to keep an eye on you in case you spread any of Nekoma's secrets. I'm going to finish what my father started and I'm going to have them all locked away.'

'I can't tell you anything!' Hinata repeated, shaking his head wildly. 'I swore I wouldn't say anything, and for all I know, you could be making all this up and it could be a trap! I am not risking the safety of my family!'

'Just tell me! Bringing them down is the most important thing right now!'

'Not to me it isn't! They know exactly who my family are and if they even suspect I said something, then my mom and my sister will die! They actually threatened to kidnap my little sister! It's not going to happen! I could never live with it, knowing it was my fault that they got hurt!'

'If we got them all thrown in jail, then your family would be safe! It's Nekoma and Aoba Johsai's fault that the both of us are in here! We're innocent victims in all of this!'

Hinata squinted his eyes at Kageyama. 'You literally just told me you shot a guy.'

'You don't understand! I had to stop him! You said it yourself; he killed my father, and he just walked free! I couldn't let him continue!'

'Was he the Aoba Johsai leader?'

'Probably. I don't know. What was the name you just said? The boss of Nekoma?'

'Nope! Nopedy-nope! I'm not telling you!' Hinata crossed his arms in front of him. 'I didn't say anything. That was a lie.'

'Stop being a brat and just tell me! It was K something, but I don't remember what you said! If we can get him arrested, that'll be the first stepping-stone-'

Hinata banged his fist on the end of Kageyama's hospital bed. 'That could also get my family killed!'

'You dumbass, no-one is safe when they're still out there!' He was really rattling the bed in his frustration. The straps were doing their job, thankfully, although Hinata was ready to flee at a moment's notice. 'Tell me!'

'Why should I?’

‘Because it’s more important to bring down one of Japan’s biggest drug cartels!'

Hinata stuck out his tongue. Not happening!'

'All you need to do is tell me the names of everyone in the Nekoma group. I can get the information sent out of the prison to the right people and they'll arrest them! It won't link back to you! I'll make sure it's all anonymous!'

'I'm not going to risk it.' Hinata put his foot down. He began striding towards the exit. Kageyama wished he could get up and chase after him.

'Oi! Don't walk away from me!' Kageyama shouted, but Hinata pushed open the door to leave. 'Dumbass! Make sure you keep away from the Nekoma and Aoba Johsai members that are already in this prison! They'll find any excuse to report back to their boss!'

'Well, duh,' Hinata paused at the door, peering over his shoulder. 'I'm not stupid. If I'm not going to talk to you, do you seriously think I'm going to bounce over to Nekoma in the cafeteria and tell them just how much I hate them and their boss? Sheesh. I'm going to look for Bokuto now.'

'Fine, whatever,' Kageyama looked sullen. 'I'll figure it out on my own.'

Hinata left and Kageyama blew sharply out of his nose, feeling agitated. The boy was stupid- he had all the information Kageyama needed but was being too selfish to hand it over. He'd get it out of him eventually. He'd hound him until he confessed.

Sighing, trying to calm himself, he went back to trying to remember anything from the past three days, but nothing was coming back to him. He must have been in a sleep-walking state. He was honestly glad he couldn't remember it, because if he'd had another incident where he'd seen Oikawa again, he definitely didn't want to relive that memory.

Kageyama didn't like the thought of acting against his will.

What had even made him so poorly to begin with? He couldn't pinpoint a starting point. One moment he remembered feeling absolutely fine, just getting by in the main prison, and then he's here in a hospital bed, strapped down and being spoon fed?

How had this even happened? It was so bizarre.

He would ask Hinata for more details about what he'd actually done when he'd been taken back to his cell whenever they let him leave the hospital- not that he had any idea when that would be. Despite his body being a bit weak and tired, he didn't feel sick. He almost felt a bit restless, like he wanted to get up and sprint around.

He was thirsty.

Maybe if he called for the nurse, she'd get him some milk.

His attention was drawn towards the door as it was pushed open for a second time and he let out an exasperated sigh. Hinata was probably back to bicker with him some more.

Only, it wasn't Hinata.

A man in an orange jumpsuit had just entered, his brown hair swept neatly to one side. His large brown eyes locked with Kageyama's and his entire body went rigid and his breath left his body.

Oikawa Tooru had just entered the ward.

Real, in the flesh.

Kageyama screamed.

Chapter Text

Kageyama's Story

Immediately, Oikawa flung his hands up to try and silence Kageyama, but he kept shrieking, struggling against the restraints holding him down. He couldn't believe this was happening again, he thought he was on his way to recovery and all he wanted to do was cry. If he made enough noise, the nurses would come hurrying in and free him from this nightmare.

'Tobio, please-'

Hinata suddenly burst in, looking around madly. His gaze went from Kageyama to Oikawa and back again, before confusion washed over him. Oikawa jumped at the sight of him, panicked.

'Who are you?' Hinata asked.

Kageyama couldn't believe this was happening. How could Hinata see him? How could he be speaking with him?

Did this mean that the Oikawa standing in front of him wasn't in his head?

How could this be real?

It couldn't be.

He must be going mad.

Perhaps Hinata was a figment of his imagination too.

A second later he pulled one of his wrists free from the restraint and scrambled to undo the rest. He leapt out of bed, his knees shaking, feeling a cold breeze whip around his bare backside.

A loathing swept throughout Kageyama as he looked upon Oikawa and he clenched his fists, feeling his knuckles crack. He went to throw himself at Oikawa, unsure whether or not he was just fantasy- either way, he wanted him gone.

Before he could reach Oikawa, Hinata had barrelled into him, driving his orange head into his chest, knocking him backwards. He was trying to keep Kageyama pushed back but was clearly having difficulty maintaining balance on the slippery hospital floor.

Moments later, the hospital doors were flung open once again and the nurses rushed in, letting out startled gasps at the sight that met them. Two of them came at him and took him under each arm, dragging him back into bed. He tried to wrestle against them, but he was weaker than normal, and he couldn't overpower them. They strapped him back down, making the restraints a little too tight. No matter how much he yelled and screamed and kicked, he couldn't do anything to set himself free.

When the nurse reached into her pocket and withdrew a silver needle, he immediately regretted his actions. He felt as though all the blood had drained from him and memories of that needle came flooding back- memories of being in isolation, and in the cell with his friends, and the therapy unit... what they'd done to Bokuto...

There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say, before the familiar stinging feeling stabbed at his neck and his whole body fell limp.

He had to fight to keep conscious. He wanted to see what happened next. He had to know if the others could see Oikawa or not.

When Hinata spoke directly to Oikawa, it confirmed Kageyama's worst fears.

Oikawa was really in the prison.

'Who are you? What are you doing here? Why is Kageyama so upset?'

'You shouldn't be here!' One the nurses yelled, rounding on the Oikawa. She then glared at Hinata. 'Neither should you! Get out!'

'Wait! Wait! I need to know who he is!' Hinata was being grabbed by the other nurses and pulled towards the door. His feet were dragging along the ground and no matter how much he kicked he couldn't break free. 'Are you the one who killed Kageyama senior? Are you Oikawa?!'

'Let me explain!' Oikawa shouted and Hinata swore at him.

'Explain what! You're a killer! If you've come here thinking you can finish the job, you're wrong! I won't let you touch him! Let go of me, you can't let him near Kageyama! He's a monster!' Hinata snapped at the nurses, but they ignored him and pushed him through the door before slamming it in his face. One of them covered the window with the dishtowel so he couldn't see inside.

Hinata was banging on the door from the outside, shouting, but his words were fuzzy to Kageyama. He was watching the nurses, now rather blurry, moving towards Oikawa, who was stumbling over his own feet to get away from them.

'Hey, hey, now,' Oikawa was saying, trying to show that he was no threat by holding his arms above his head. 'I'm not here to cause trouble, I just needed to speak with Kageyama. Please. I need him to know-'

'You're forbidden to be in here.'

'Just give me five minutes with him.' Oikawa said calmly, his legs hitting the end of a bed.

'No.'

A nurse dived for him, and he jumped out of the way, crashing into a heart monitor which fell to the floor, making a lot of noise. He tried to duck around the nurses, but he wasn't quick enough and they stabbed two needles into his back, sending him thudding to his knees. A double dose knocked him out almost instantaneously.

'This isn't good,' a nurse said, whipping out her mobile phone. 'I'm going to call the doctor. Hana, go fetch a stretcher so we can get this one into a bed.'

That was the last Kageyama heard of their conversation.

Sleep claimed him.

***

A single light bulb swung overhead.

Kageyama was watching it go side to side, blissfully unaware of the people stood around him. He briefly noted they were all wearing white coats and held clipboards, but that was about it. They were talking to each other, but he didn't know what they were saying and for some reason he didn't care, he just wanted to watch the light go back and forth, back and forth.

It was only when it started to hurt his eyes did, he stop and turn his head.

There was a man lying on a bed next to them, a man he recognised but he couldn't quite put a name to. Something about his man upset him and he wanted to lash out, but he couldn't. He didn't feel like he had a body anymore, he felt like he was just a head.

He was also awake, but his eyes didn't seem in focus. He turned to look at Kageyama and a big silly grin spread across his lips. He winked and then dribbled. Someone dabbed at his face with a white napkin.

Everything in this room was white, now he considered it. White floor, white walls, white beds. It was very calming but very empty. For some reason, it made him realise how lonely he was.

He missed his father. He missed his home and his bed and the simple, ordinary life he'd had in Tokyo. He'd never wanted any of this. There was nothing he regretted more than taking that gun out with him that night.

Voices were coming to him now, he frowned, trying to concentrate on them. He shut his eyes.

'I suggest we keep Mr. Kageyama and Mr. Oikawa in the therapy unit from now on,' an unfamiliar voice was saying, 'it will be easier to monitor them and arose less suspicion from the other inmates when Mr. Kageyama has his visions.'

'Agreed, I want to run some thorough tests,' another voice chipped in, sounding very serious. 'We'll try a varying number of dosages, mix in different sedatives and the like, and see if we can subdue the visions. I'd also like to see if Mr. Kageyama would be able to tell the Oikawa in his visions apart to the real life one. Keep them both hooked up to an IV and don't let anyone into the therapy unit.'

'The third floor is out of bounds currently, since Subject 0's escape. Has anyone cleaned up the library yet?'

'Not yet. The cleaners are coming tonight. What is Subject 0's current condition? Are they stable?'

'Make sure the cleaners move that body too; it's starting to smell. Bury it behind the factory with the rest. As for Subject 0, he has not calmed down from the previous incident and needs to be kept under lockdown for the next forty-eight hours, just to be safe. We can't have him getting into the prison.'

'I heard Mr. Tsukishima has been sent away. He never reported anything about deteriorating eyesight.'

'Hmm, no, but Mr. Tsukishima has never been very open with us. He's lost us valuable research. I'll head over to the hospital now to speak with him. As for you, head on downstairs and find Mr. Hinata, I don't need him spreading what he saw around the prison. Throw him into isolation.'

Footsteps followed and then a door snapped shut and there was silence.

The silence hung around for a while before Oikawa spoke. Kageyama flopped his head to the side to stare at him.

'We need to get out of here.' This is what Kageyama thought Oikawa had said, but in reality, it had come out as a spluttered, slurred mess. He watched Oikawa lift his head twice, before thumping back down again, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He repeated himself, a little more clearly this time. He was definitely talking about escaping.

Drool rolled down Kageyama's chin. 'You murdered my father.'

At least, that's what he thought he said. He didn't know if Oikawa had understood him because Oikawa wasn't paying him any attention anymore and was wriggling against the restraints. The IV bag wobbled but didn't come loose. The liquid inside it was a vivid blue.

Kageyama stammered, flipping his head to the other side to look at his own bag. He watched it drip down into the tube, which was connected to a point just below his elbow joint. He didn't like looking at the little ridge the needle had made in his skin. It had been taped down, probably to stop him from ripping it out- not that he could with his wrists tied to the bed.

Tiredness was washing over him.

Whatever was in that IV made him so incredibly sleepy.

He didn't want to sleep, but he didn't have much choice, he knew it was going to take him again, just like all the other times before. He wanted to stay awake, to get his bearings and actually find out what the hell was going on around here. Every time he felt like he'd gotten a step closer to working something out, to solving the mystery, they jabbed a bloody needle into his neck and made him forget the whole thing.

Is that what the solution was?

Some kind of memory... wiper?

He needed to come up with a better name than that, but he was finding it hard to think. He kept seeing colours flashing in front of his face and there was an odd, tingling sensation somewhere in his body, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it as to where.

How had his life come to this? If someone had said to him six months ago that his dad would be dead and he'd be in some crazy prison for attempted murder, being forced weird drugs all the time, he'd have laughed in their faces.

But here he was.

And oddly enough, he was finding the whole thing rather comical.

He started chuckling to himself and flung his head back over to look at Oikawa.

'I think they're poisoning us...'

To his left, Oikawa made a very gurgled laugh.

'You don't know the half of it.'

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

Everything had gone wrong.
It hadn't meant to end like this. No one was supposed to lose their life.
There was so much blood. He was coated in it, he could taste it in his mouth, he could feel clumps of flesh under his fingernails.
'This is my fault. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry.'

It was raining outside.

Raindrops were thudding hard against the windowpane of the Sunshine Cafe, an ironic name, Oikawa Tooru thought to himself, staring sullenly at the grey sky above. Winter was fast approaching and there was little hope for any actual sunlight. He didn't miss the swelteringly hot summers Japan had to offer up, though. The cooler weather was easier to work in.

His black coffee had gone cold. He'd barely touched it, but he’d been too lost in thought to pay much attention to what he was doing. He was frustrated and he didn't know how to deal with his emotions. It had been months since he'd started his investigation and still, he was drawing blanks.

He had hoped by now something, anything, would have cropped up that led him in the right direction, but it was as if the universe was purposely messing with him. He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep it up, it was starting to impact his personal life, and he was quickly running out of cash.

Perhaps he shouldn't have bought that coffee.

There were several newspapers stacked on the chair next to him. He had swiped them off some empty tables around the cafe and rifled through them, looking for any new leads he could follow. Apparently, no one but him was interested in this scoop.

It had started three months ago when a man had been arrested trying to sell a drug known as 'Joy' in the middle of a shopping centre. He had been high on the stuff himself, screaming bloody murder, saying that 'they' were going to come for him if he didn't move the shipment, trying to force it upon anyone who passed.

The man had been sentenced to life in prison but ended up having a heart attack after suffering withdrawal symptoms from the drug. According to the police, the drug had been a knock-off brand that a company known as 'Ushijima Pharmaceuticals' had once tried to create.

Unfortunately for the company, the request to continue production of the drug and begin testing on human volunteers had ended extraordinarily quickly. The government had put their foot down, after seeing the effects the drug had had on animal test subjects, and refused to fund the project, making it illegal for the drug to be manufactured.

'Joy' was a mood-enhancing drug, designed to boost serotonin levels- a kind of anti-depressant. The idea behind it was to give humans the emotion of joy to those who struggled to find it in their regular day-to-day lives. On the contrary, while some tests did show positive results, the majority did not end up successful. There were an incredible number of side-effects to the drugs, including body paralysis, seizures, blindness, brain damage and heart malfunctions. Some animals became so addicted to the drug that they could not physically function properly when it was taken away from them.

However, even though the company had been forbidden to continue production of the product, shipments of a knock-off version were suddenly spreading out worldwide, available on every black market. Most believed that a copy-cat company or some kind of high-end drug cartel had either gotten hold of the recipe or been sold it and were making the product for themselves to earn more cash.

Despite Ushijima Pharmaceuticals HQ and all their laboratories being searched top to bottom by the police, they found no trace of manufacture of the 'Joy' drug. The CEO, UshijimaWakatoshi, whose grandfather had founded the company, had stated to the press that they had abandoned all hopes of creating the anti-depressant drug and it was unfortunate that someone else was trying to recreate it, and urged whomever it was to stop because the risk of endangering human lives was too much.
Oikawa felt like he was the only one who saw straight through Ushijima's bullshit.

Most people just shrugged it off, saying there was no evidence to convict them, knock-off products got made all the time and it was likely there was someone in the company who let slip the recipe to someone else.

'If I could ruin Ushijima, could you imagine the story?' Oikawa's eye had lit up one night when he was out for drinks with his best friend, Iwaizumi Haijime. Thankfully, Iwaizumi also believed that Ushijima had something to do with it, although he wasn't as willing to investigate.

'You're never going to catch him. He's probably made sure that there's literally no connection back to him and got people working for him. I think that Nekoma gang is one of his, and the Aoba Johsai one too.' Iwaizumi took a swig of his beer. He then frowned. 'Although, I don't see why Ushijima would want anything to do with a knock-off brand. They've shown that this knock-off Joy drug is nowhere near as complex as Ushijima Pharmaceuticals had originally planned, so why would he want to sell a drug that's just dangerous to humans?'

'He's testing it.' Oikawa replied instantly. 'They won't let him have volunteers, so he's getting the drug addicts to do it for him. The one's that end up dying in the middle of the street or causing havoc end up in newspapers or on TV, so he can see the effects safely from the comfort of his bloody mansion. What does a billionaire snob like him care if all the commoners die? The ones that aren't dying are getting hooked on the stuff too, so if he does manage to perfect it, then he can up the price and sell it in mass shipments.'

'I think you might be over thinking this,' Iwaizumi had sighed. 'If anything, I reckon he just sold the recipe to someone else and is taking a percentage of the profit.'

That just didn't sit right with Oikawa. The Ushijima he'd seen on TV, read about in newspapers, was a greedy, but clever, businessman. He would want all the profits, not just a percentage of them.
But how could he prove that Ushijima and his company had anything to do with it?

There were no paper trails to follow. Nothing that could link Ushijima to any of it.

Which meant he needed inside information.

'You're crossing your eyes, you know,' a voice made him jump and he was brought back to earth. A man had seated himself across the table, a cup of coffee in his hand and some melon bread in the other. He offered some to Oikawa, but he politely declined. 'You look tired, have you been sleeping?'

'Yeah,' Oikawa lied, rubbing at his eyes. He'd tried but it was hard, especially since he had to spend most of his nights out on the streets. 'I'm fine.'

The man raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his drink. He was wearing a police uniform and looking very sharp. He sighed and leaned back in his seat, observing Oikawa. 'Are you sure you're really up for this investigation? You're over working yourself. We can get someone else to join the Aoba Johsai gang-'

'No, no, I'm too far in now, they trust me. It's fine, Kageyama, I can do this.'

Officer Kageyama and Oikawa had been friends for several years now, starting out when Oikawa was a rookie journalist, trying to make his first scoop. He'd often follow Officer Kageyama around at crime scenes, trying to ask questions and get a quote. At first, Officer Kageyama had shooed him away, but a friendship blossomed between them, and they ended up helping each other out in cases, as Oikawa had a knack for digging up a person's history and files and anything the police could use to help catch a crook.

It hadn't been long before Oikawa was one of the best journalists for his newspaper company and he certainly enjoyed splashing his cash on the finer things in life- mainly nice clothing.

Everything had reached a bumpy halt when he'd decided to take on the case against Ushijima. At first, his boss had been intrigued by the idea and gave Oikawa two weeks to uncover some dirt, but when he came back empty handed, his boss had dismissed him and told him to get on with something else- there was no point chasing a dead story.

However, Oikawa couldn't let it go. It took over his entire life, he became obsessed with it.

Instead, he'd reached out to Kageyama for help, asking if the police had any details at all, and he had learned about Officer Kageyama's current task of tracking down all the Nekoma and Aoba Johsai members, who had been big drug cartel groups way before this whole 'Joy' thing had consumed the city. He had learned everything that Officer Kageyama knew about Nekoma distributing the drugs across the world and Aoba Johsai selling them on the streets.

That's when he'd come up with the plan to join Aoba Johsai.

It was difficult work tracking them down, Officer Kageyama could only point him in certain directions, since he didn't actually know where they met up or who was part of the group. He'd managed to arrest some members, but that had been pure luck- he'd snagged them when they were selling on the street.

The best thing he'd discovered to do was ask homeless folk where he could find 'Joy'. He, of course, dressed down, abandoning his fancy clothing for simpler, scruffier attire. They usually gave him a hint if he gave them a couple of yen.

Eventually, he'd stumbled across their meeting point- completely by chance- and almost gotten himself shot, until he'd offered them a business pitch. He said that he knew everything about the police, their shifts, the streets they patrolled, and could easily keep the group out of prison. They'd been suspicious at first, asking why he was interested, and Oikawa had quickly come up with a lie about trying to get into Nekoma but not being 'good enough', which made them immediately grin and slap him on the shoulder, saying they hated Nekoma.

This had been another thing he'd learnt from Officer Kageyama- despite having to work together, Nekoma and Aoba Johsai had quite a big rivalry, because Aoba Johsai felt like Nekoma 'looked down' on them for not being smart enough or rich enough. Oikawa had been told Nekoma was quite an elitist group.

It made it very easy to get plenty of information about Nekoma, though, because the Aoba Johsai distributors would happily bitch about them for hours, from how all the money had to be given to them to organise and they only got a small percentage of it back, and how their boss, a man named Kuroo, was a sly smug-faced prick who would throw his own family under the bus if it meant saving his own neck.

But none of them knew anything about Ushijima.

'That billionaire fuck? I dunno, only seen him on TV, mate, why?'

'It was his company who was originally manufacturing this product.'

'Well, if they are now, means nothing to me. Long as I'm getting paid.'

The first month had been okay, it hadn't taken much toll on him, but then he got fired. He hadn't even been thinking of work, his head had been too wrapped up with everything going on, so he wasn't surprised when he'd gotten the phone call.

He hadn't been worried, to start with anyway. He had plenty of savings, enough for rent for a while, and it gave him more time to focus on this case. Once he had cracked it and had the proof he needed, he could go back to his former boss and get his job back and give his newspaper the biggest scoop of the year and put Ushijima behind bars where he belonged.

'With your aesthetic and demeanour, we could get you into Nekoma-' Officer Kageyama was saying but Oikawa waved his hand at him.

'No chance, I don't trust Nekoma at all. Not to mention they'd easily be able to look into my history and find out I'm actually a reporter- the guys on the street don't have that kind of power and they don't care enough to do it either, everyone's history is personal, and I want to keep it that way or they'll be after my head. I can't let Kuroo know anything about me.'

'Fair point.' He said, tearing his melon bread in half and handed Oikawa a piece regardless of whether he wanted it or not. 'Eat something, please. You're starting to look thin.'

'I'm fine,' Oikawa insisted, but took the bread anyway. He'd been rationing his food lately; he didn't want to spend more than what was necessary. He had been thinking about moving into a smaller apartment, somewhere outside the city- rent would be cheaper. The place he lived in now was expensive and he could only keep it for so long. He couldn't look for work until he'd sorted this case, at least that's what he kept telling himself, but he knew there might be a point where he'd have to call it quits and start up again as a rookie journalist at a lesser-known newspaper or magazine. He chewed his bread, feeling sour, thinking about having to write gossip columns. 'I just don't know where to go from here. I feel like I've gotten nowhere.'

'Perhaps it's time to call it quits,' Officer Kageyama said, yawning. His dark hair was starting to get streaked with grey. Oikawa had suggested he retire soon, but he'd always pushed the idea away, saying he needed to support his son for as long as possible. Oikawa knew this wasn't really the case, of course it had been at one point, but Kageyama's son was into his twenties now and fully capable of caring for himself- the fact of the matter was Kageyama wouldn't know what else to do if he couldn't consume his life with work. He'd lost his wife and daughter, and his son was going grow up and would eventually find a family of his own and he didn't want to end up old and alone. 'We'll just arrest the lot of them and get the drug off the streets. If Ushijima is behind it, that'll get his attention.'

'I suppose.' Oikawa sighed, scoffing down his melon bread. He eyed the counter, wondering if he had enough for a slice of strawberry cake. 'I thought the longer I stayed, the more information I could get but it seems they really don't know much, but it's not surprising, their group seems to be the grunts of it all. Their clients are useless and all going whacko from the drugs and I'm really not comfortable having anything to with Nekoma.'

'Something will come up at some point, we've just got to keep digging. Maybe you're looking in the wrong area, perhaps it's Ushijima's company you should be investigating.'

'I've looked into the Pharmaceutical company-'

'No, no, I mean, the employees. You looked at records and history of the company but who is actually hired there, who has been fired and when? Are there any news stories? It's all stuff you need to look into, because we might be able to find someone who could be a suspect for selling the drug recipe on, or being involved, or even someone we could just go and speak to about potential ill practice within the workplace. If there's someone who was fired by the company, I bet they'd be willing to speak up about anything going on behind closed doors.'

Oikawa could have slapped himself. Why didn't he think of this before?

He was so obsessed about Aoba Johsai and Nekoma that he hadn't considered actual company members of Ushijima Inc.

'Alright, I'll look into it after we arrest the Aoba Johsai members. There should be a meeting in a week, I'll contact you and you can surround the building. For now... I think I'm going to take a break.'

Officer Kageyama chuckled. 'You deserve one. Go home. Get some sleep and we'll talk about this later. Tobio and I are going fishing this weekend, if you'd like to join us-'

'No, thanks, not my thing. I've never actually met your son, have I?'

'You keep declining my invitations.'

Oikawa laughed. 'True, but I'm a busy bee. Maybe when this is all settled, we can go out for dinner. I'll bring Iwaizumi, I know you've been keen to meet him. He's still super mad at me for losing my job, and he's been harping on at the boss to let me back so maybe if I go there and apologise, God forbid, I might get some work again. God knows I need the money.'

'That's a good idea,' Officer Kageyama got to his feet and brushed at his uniform. 'You're young, you should be out enjoying your life and making friends and starting a family. You don't want to end up like me.'

'I admire you, Sir.'

This made Officer Kageyama laugh again. 'You don't want to spend years of your life trying to chase a ghost. I'll save you some fish that we catch.'

They bid farewell to each other, Oikawa dumped the newspapers into his satchel bag and threw on his navy coat.

One thing he did like about this weather was that it kept most people out of the streets and at home. It meant he didn't really have much risk of running into any Aoba Johsai members. They'd all be tucked away somewhere, probably fast asleep at this time in the morning, avoiding the rain. Most of them squatted in old buildings or lived in shabby one-bedroom apartments next to the railroads with several other people.

Sometimes he felt sorry for them, they weren't bad people, not really. Well, some where a bit... but a lot of them he'd spoken to, usually the younger ones, were just trying to survive. It was a hard life being poor, with no family to rely on.

He thought of his parents and older brother, who lived further North in the Miyagi prefecture, and couldn't help but feel blessed to have been born into such a well-off family. Not everyone had that privilege.

I won't get them all arrested, he thought as he walked, putting up his umbrella, just the older, more aggressive ones, the dangerous ones.

The younger ones he could try to find work, get them off the streets. They deserved at least once chance to have a normal and happy life.

Maybe he could even start up some kind of homeless organisation for youths.

He looked down at his fancy shoes and his pressed trousers and wondered how much of the money he had wasted on frivolous things over the years he could have put to a good cause. Of course, he sighed, glancing at his Rolex watch, no one sees the privilege they have until they don't have it. Or in his case, pretends to not have it.

Once upon a time, Oikawa's apartment had been quite fancy and neat, back when he cared about keeping up appearances. Now it smelt like cigarette smoke (only when he was stressed, which was becoming more and more regular), old coffee and yellowing newspapers. He'd coated the walls of his office in clippings and cut-outs and scribbled notes to himself. The floor was covered in any newspapers and articles and print outs he could collect. His clothes lay scattered across the living room floorboards, and he'd not made his bed in a while or cleaned the dishes.

Iwaizumi often came over and did it for him, shouting while he did it, obviously.

All of his plants had died. He'd constantly forgotten to water them.

He scanned his messy bedroom for a moment, part of him wanting to pick everything up and organise it, but he instead shrugged, dropped his bag and pulled off his coat, before flinging himself into bed. His sheets needed changing, but he'd do that later.

For now, he just needed to rest.

***

'Turns out the meeting has been pushed forward,' Oikawa told Officer Kageyama over dinner on Monday night. They were in a small izakaya, eating smoked fish and miso soup with fried tofu. Officer Kageyama had bought them both a beer. 'It's going to be on Wednesday instead of Saturday. I don't know why, Nekoma must be trying to push more shipment on us. The meeting point is going to be an old, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts, I'll text you the address, make sure to keep sirens off.'

'Will you need a bulletproof jacket?'

'No, I don't want anything to arouse suspicion. Arrest me too. I'll put on an act.' Oikawa poked at the fish with his chopsticks. 'None of them carry guns, at least, I don't think they do. They all have knives though, so make sure you and your squad are protected. Don't let them try to drop the 'stuff' into water, it dissolves upon impact, and you'll lose the evidence. I know you've been trying to get your hands on some of it for ages now.'

'They always toss it down the toilet.' Officer Kageyama sighed, slurping his soup. He was in normal attire today. He'd brought Oikawa some mackerel he'd caught, and it was in a small plastic bag next to him. Oikawa could smell it. 'Are they all meeting at this one point?'

'Yes.' Oikawa lied. In fact, it was just a small number of the group. The older gents who were prone to violence and aggression. These were the ones that usually met up for proper meetings anyway, before passing on their supplies down the line. The entirety of the Aoba Johsai gang never met as a whole because it was too risky, they all needed to be spread out.

Officer Kageyama didn't need to know this.

Oikawa had never actually given him names of any of the members, not yet anyway. Once they were all arrested Oikawa would be able to identify all of them.

'They'll wonder where you are when you don't join them in prison.'

'Ha! What are they going to do when they're behind bars? They'll all have the stuff on them, so you can lock them away for life- it's Class A after all. If not that, you can charge them for possession of a weapon.'

'Let's hope it all goes to plan,' Officer Kageyama raised his glass to toast with Oikawa. 'Then you and your boyfriend can come for dinner with me and my son.'

'Oh,' Oikawa was startled, his face reddening a little. He cleared his throat. 'Iwaizumi and I... we're not together...'

Officer Kageyama apologised profusely. Oikawa shook his head, laughing it off.

'I keep trying, but he's having none of it.' He joked, clinking glasses. Officer Kageyama winked at him.

'Give it time. Took me ages to get my misses to go on a date with me. She was a stubborn one, much like our boy. Shame he never got to really know her.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, I never asked-'

'She and my daughter were murdered by members of the Nekoma gang.' His eyes were dark when he said this. Oikawa didn’t know how to respond.

'I'm sorry for your loss.' He said, feeling annoyed at himself for not saying something more comforting or empathetic. ‘Sorry, that – I just wasn’t expecting that.’

‘It’s fine.’ Officer Kageyama shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s why we need to get these dangerous thugs off the street before they can hurt anyone else. Here, let me show you a photo.’

Officer Kageyama reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, reaching in and taking out three photos. There was one of him, looking much younger and much happier, with a pretty woman with long dark hair, the second photo was of a young girl with pigtails in her hair, and the final photo was of a grumpy-looking boy around ten-years-old.

'He looks like you.' Oikawa said, pointing to the photo of Tobio.

'Still looks like that, even now. I'm hoping he'll get a job soon and start making some friends. I'd like a grandchild.'

'Don't rush him!' Oikawa chortled.

Officer Kageyama stared fondly at the photos for a moment before putting them away again. He cleared his throat. 'Anyway, come out for some drinks with my work buddies tonight and we'll discuss the operation tomorrow.'

'If we're not too hungover.'

'Hmm. I think I'll have to stop drinking soon, I'm getting too old for it.'

'Hey, enjoy life while you've still got it, that's what I say.'

***

There were several spots around the city that Oikawa kept a change of clothing hidden, just in case he got a call at a random time during the day and needed to change fast. He always wore smart, fashionable clothing during the day, even if he didn't feel like it, because he felt that he would be least recognised by Aoba Johsai members in it. He usually had a black umbrella as well to conceal his face, which didn't look odd in this rainy weather.

One spot was Iwaizumi's family's small sushi restaurant, which he was always welcome to nip into. They often asked what he was doing and tried to make conversation, and he usually had to lie and say he was late for the gym (hence why he left clothing there). They didn't know he had been fired as Iwaizumi had not informed them and he just said he was on his way back from work and always liked to stop off to chat with them, which they appreciated. He often got angry phone calls from Iwaizumi because of it, since his mother would always berate him for not coming to see them as often as that 'lovely Oikawa' did.

This is where he'd collected his clothes from for the night.

Everything was set up.

He'd phoned Officer Kageyama with the location of the meet at midnight; he had been phoned by another member on his 'work' cell (an old flip phone) to arrange a time and he was fully kitted out in a hooded jacket and faded ripped jeans. He'd swapped his fancy shoes for dirty trainers and threw on a baseball cap before setting off into the night.

Tokyo was always busy, even at nighttime. Many shops were open late and most of the bars were open well into the early hours of the morning. He passed by several, listening to the men inside laughing loudly, wishing he could be in there celebrating a scoop with Iwaizumi, rather than stuck out here, freezing.

It was a brisk walk to the meet up point and by the time he arrived his fingers were going numb. However, there was a car waiting for him. He frowned and hopped inside. It was a run-down pile of junk and the seats inside were peeling away and covered in fast food wrappers and other rubbish. He eyed up his colleagues in the front seats.

'What's going on?'

'Got a call saying we should meet at another location. Feel free to walk, if ya' want.'

'No, thanks.' Oikawa shifted in his seat. He needed to get a message to Officer Kageyama, and fast. He didn't want to pull out his phone or they'd get suspicious. 'Does anyone else need contacting? Why didn't you ring me?'

'We were on our way when we got the call, saw you walkin' and we thought we'd be nice and wait. Nah, everyone is already there. Let's go.'

The guy didn't wait for Oikawa to look for a seatbelt before he sped off, flinging Oikawa across the seats into the opposite window. They snorted with laughter and mocked him when he dragged a seatbelt across his chest, strapping himself in.

'I don't trust your driving,' Oikawa glared at him. 'Don't need to be flung headfirst out the window.'

'Fair point,' said the man in the passenger seat. 'That happened to my brother-in-law. Smashed his entire skull in.'

'Did it kill him?'

'Of course it did you idiot, would you survive your skull being knocked in? Watch where you're driving, you almost hit that taxi! Don't need coppers after us, not tonight.'

'Why? What's happening tonight?' Oikawa questioned but didn't get an answer. 'Oi!'

'Dunno mate, just told something big is goin' down. Turn down here, we're almost there.'

They pulled up to a second warehouse, not dissimilar to the first one, only smaller and surrounded by piles of bricks. They all jumped out of the car and made their way inside, where they found many men stood around a platform made out of piled wooden crates. Sat on one of them was a man with messy black hair, wearing a very smart red double-breasted suit. A sly smile spread across his face when they entered.

'Finally, the last ones have made it. Good.' He jumped to his feet, climbing up onto the highest box so he could see over all of them. He clapped his hands together. Oikawa glanced around- everyone he knew from Aoba Johsai was here, along with an alarming number of men he didn’t know all in black. What was going on?

He couldn't message Officer Kageyama now; he couldn't risk blowing his cover or getting any of these young kids arrested.

'Hello, hello, everyone, eyes this way. I don't know if anyone here knows me, it's doubtful, but my name is Kuroo Tetsuro, head of Nekoma.' There were a few groans and murmurs around the room, several hands slipping into pockets where switchblades were hidden. 'Now, now, we don't need to fight, I'm here with good news. Well, good and bad. We'll start with the good news. I've got a job offer I'm sure you can't refuse. I need volunteers- not you lot, people with actual homes and jobs- to smuggle my supplies abroad for me. I've got my eyes on a few people, here and there, but I need more. Those who find me suitable candidates I might even offer spots at Nekoma, it's good pay. If you don't want to join, I'll still pay you handsomely. The business is spreading, my friends, with even more worldwide connections than ever before. I've got clients ready in England, Paris, America, Germany, France and Africa.'

'How do you plan to smuggle things over there?' Someone in the crowd asked. 'Can't get shit through airports these days.'

'Don't worry about that little detail, I've got that covered, I just need volunteers. When I say volunteers, I don't mean actual volunteers, I can't imagine many ordinary citizens signing up for this, can you? No, just find me the dullest people you can, who have boring nine-to-five jobs, maybe not a big family, someone who doesn't look suspicious and could easily look like they were going on a weekend break somewhere. Mainly, I need people with passports. Vitally important. Scout them out for me. I'll leave my number, so contact me if you find someone. You don't even need to kidnap them or drug them or whatever, I'll handle that.'

'Why can't your men do this?'

'Because my men have other business to attend to, plus I thought you'd want the opportunity to earn more cash.'

'How much you talking?'

'I need about ten people, so every person you point me at ... how about 200,000 yen per person?'

There was a lot of frantic muttering around the room. That was quite a lot of money to these people. It would definitely sustain them for a while... or sustain their drug habit.

'You gotta deal!' Many of the men around the room agreed, nodding their heads. Oikawa stayed at the back, silent, watching.

Officer Kageyama had spent so long searching for this man and here he was, making shady schemes and blabbing about his work right in front of him. If only Oikawa could get the police to his location. This would make a major story- front page news.

Then Kuroo's eyes locked on him, and he felt something heavy in the pit of his stomach.

'As for the bad news, it seems we have a spy in our ranks.' A finger was pointed directly at Oikawa and every face turned to look at him. He stumbled backwards, confused and scared. 'Meet Oikawa Tooru, former journalist for the Tokyo Shimbum, now turned Aoba Johsai spy to try and lock you all away.'

He cackled and jumped down from the boxes. A man stood forwards, looking angry. 'What are you talking about? Oikawa's been with us for months, he's one of us, he ain't no spy.'

'No? Funny.' He pulled a folded-up piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the man, who opened it up. 'One of your old articles, Oikawa. Back when you were a wealthy man. Times have changed, haven't they?'

Kuroo looked Oikawa up and down.

'I quit, they were printing false truths, and I didn't want part of it,' Oikawa lied quickly, feeling sweat bead on his forehead. 'I ended up with no money, on the streets, this was my last resort. I didn't tell you that because I didn't want you to think badly of me for-'

'Oiks,' one of the members he'd spent the most time with said, ripping the paper up that Kuroo had given to the other guy. 'We don't care about your past man, you know that. This fancy prick can piss off. We don't care if he used to be rich or a journalist, he's one of us now. Been working these streets for months. Loads of these kids here are from rich families, but things change, and you end up on your backside sleeping in alleys. Aoba Johsai stick together, we don't need Nekoma telling us what's what.'

'Is that what you want to believe?' Kuroo's smile was playful. He twirled on the spot. 'Very well, be it on your head, just trying to help out, friend to friend.'

'We ain't your friend.'

Kuroo shrugged. 'Fair enough then.'

He walked over to Oikawa and got very close to his face. He whispered, so only Oikawa could hear him. 'I have men everywhere; don't think I haven't been spying on you. I knew you'd sent all the cops to that warehouse, so I relocated here. Although, I did get a hold of your friend.'

'What?'

Kuroo nodded behind Oikawa, and he turned to find two men dragging Officer Kageyama into the room.

'No!'

'Gentlemen, what we have here in a very nosy cop, who has been trying for years to bring down our organisations.'

'How did you get hold of him?' Oikawa grabbed the front of Kuroo's jacket, hissing quitely. Kuroo pushed him away.

'I've had his phone tapped for ages, since he's been after us for so long.' He softened his voice now. 'I overheard your phone call, telling him to go to the warehouse, so I rang him and said the meeting point had been changed. He came rushing over here, all on his own. How brave.'

'Leave him alone, just kill me if you want-'

'No, no, we're going to test your worth.' He patted Oikawa on the shoulder and strode over. The men got Officer Kageyama on his knees. He had a black bag over his head, which Kuroo quickly whipped off. He addressed the room now. 'If you think Oikawa is really on your side, have him kill this cop who has been causing us nothing but trouble.'

Kuroo produced a knife and shoved it into Oikawa’s hand. He quickly dropped it and Kuroo swept it back up again.

All eyes were on Oikawa, who immediately shook his head and backed away. 'I'm not a murderer. I'm just trying to survive-'

'Boy, how boring. Are you sure?'

Several of the Aoba Johsai men stepped forwards, cracking their knuckles. 'Like he said, he ain't a murderer. Most of us will bash a skull in but we don't kill. I don't know what goes on at Nekoma, but you ain't in charge here.'

Kuroo sighed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Then he grinned, showing his teeth. 'Fair enough then, I'll let you deal with the police.'

'What?!' Most of the people in the room either stepped away or made a break for the exit. Heads were turning this way and that. None of Kuroo’s men moved to chase them. Oikawa guessed they were simply here as bodyguards.

'He has a GPS locator on his possession, so the police will be here momentarily.'

'Ditch your stash!' Oikawa was shouting to everyone, 'throw away your weapons! They can't arrest you with no probable cause!'

'Oh, well, now,' Kuroo waved the knife at Oikawa. 'They can if you're a murder suspect.'

Before Oikawa could make any noise or even scream, Kuroo sunk the blade into Officer Kageyama's chest several times, before dropping the knife on the floor. He was wearing gloves, which he quickly whipped off and handed to one of his men, who pocketed them.

He gave Oikawa a cheery wave and made towards the exit, where many of the Aoba Johsai members were now fleeing towards. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

'Bye bye now!'

Oikawa rushed over to Officer Kageyama, pulling him up into his arms, cradling him. Two of the Aoba Johsai men who Oikawa had shared many drinks with rushed over, looking ghostly white and bug-eyed. 'What are you doing, man? We've got to get out of here! The coppers are coming! We gotta go!'

'Go! I've got to stop the bleeding until they get here.'

'You'll be arrested!'

'Go!'

They didn't stay to argue. The sirens were getting louder.

Nothing he could do would stop the blood flow and his hands were stained red. He realised he was leaning on the knife, and he picked it up, a state of shock washing over him. He dropped it again, feeling like he was going to be sick, and he began to shake at Officer Kageyama, who was no longer moving.

Sirens were right outside, flashing red and blue. He could hear doors slamming and people shouting.
Oikawa jumped to his feet, terror racing through his body. Oikawa ran towards the open window that many of the Aoba Johsai members had broken to escape through and climbed onto the boxes there. The drop lead him to a small back alley which was closed off by a wire fence. There was a hole further along and the manhole cover to the sewers was off.

Lights were flashing his way from torches and Oikawa got a quick glance at several officers swarming the building, guns pointed at him, before he leapt out of the window, through the hole and slipped down into the sewers, pulling the manhole cover over as best he could. He dropped into the darkness and began to run, the metallic tang of blood stuck in the back of his throat.

It was all his fault.

He never should have done this; he should have given up right at the start. He'd been foolish to think his past wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass, he'd never suspected that the Nekoma boss cared that much about the things going on within the Aoba Johsai group. Someone must have reported him, someone must have spotted him in the street or in a cafe. He should never have met up with Officer Kageyama in public.

His stupidity had gotten his friend killed.

Tears were rolling down his cheeks and his legs were burning from running, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He needed to get somewhere safe. He needed to calm down.

He needed to ruin Kuroo Tetsuro.

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

This bar was a dive.

Not the kind of place Oikawa often frequented, but he'd heard that Kuroo often spent time here with his men. Obviously, if they were here, they'd be upstairs in the VIP section, which was roped off and guarded by a mean-looking bouncer. There was no point in even trying.

He hadn't really known what he'd been thinking, coming here. It wasn't exactly a place he could easily start a fight in, if, for some miraculous reason, Kuroo did happen to just show up out of the blue. Perhaps he'd come to a point where he was just grasping at straws.

It had been two months since Officer Kageyama's death and Oikawa had keeping a low profile since then. He knew the cops were looking for him which meant he couldn't find work, and thus he'd run out of money, lost his apartment and had to move in with Iwaizumi. He couldn't have kept his apartment anyway, even if he had some money left over, because it was the first place the police went to in search of him.

In fact, the majority of the money he was making now, he was making from working alongside those in Aoba Johsai. In some weird, twisted way, they'd become like a family to him. He'd sort of stopped caring about getting any of them into trouble, he didn't care about what drug addicts came to buy Joy off of them, he just wanted to find a way to get to Nekoma and kill Kuroo.

He was already a wanted man and would serve life in prison anyway.

Kuroo would see to that if he was ever caught.

Oikawa glanced at his watch. It was less fancy than his old Rolex, which he'd sold off at a pawn brokers. He'd stopped caring about that kind of thing anymore.

Where was Iwaizumi? He was supposed to be meet him here, he said he had some information and knew where Kuroo might show up.

'Hey,' a female voice made him jump and he looked around, to find a pretty girl in a pink dress stood at his shoulder. She moved around to lean against the bar. 'You're really hot. Wanna buy a girl a drink?'

'You know, a year ago, I would have been very interested in you,' Oikawa told her, even though he knew she was too drunk to probably understand what he was saying. Her eyes were out of focus, and she was wobbling back and forth, holding onto the bar for support. 'Don't suppose you know a man named Kuroo Tetsuro, by any chance?'

It was worth a shot.

She giggled.

'Buy me a drink and I'll tell you.'

Oikawa sighed and ordered her something cheap and fruity. He pushed it towards her. 'Here. Now talk.'

She leaned in, smiling. 'I hear he's part of the mob. You know, like, the Yakuza? That's crazy, right? He's in here, sometimes. He's really good looking, you know. I tried talking to him once, but he ignored me. I think he's got his head up his own ass.'

'Can you tell me anything about him?'

'Nope,' she slurped her drink. Her make-up was smudged, but you couldn't really tell unless a light flashed onto her face as the spotlights above moved. 'Everyone knows of him, but nobody knows anything about him. Like I said, Yakuza.'

Oikawa got bored of talking to her, especially when she went back to trying to flirt with him and continued to look around for Iwaizumi. If he didn't come in the next fifteen minutes, he'd leave and meet him tomorrow. He had stuff to do tonight with some Aoba Johsai members, so by the time he got back to Iwaizumi's flat, Iwaizumi would probably already be asleep.

The girl was really getting on his nerves now, so he stood up and steered her towards another guy, who gave him a thumbs up. She seemed happy enough, she just wanted some male attention.
Five minutes later, Iwaizumi appeared by his side, looking tired and irritated.

'Why'd you pick this dump? He asked and Oikawa scoffed.

'You're the one who said to meet here. We could have met anywhere.'

'I just said this was one of the locations Kuroo frequented, I didn’t necessarily mean meet up here,' Iwaizumi took a seat and shrugged off his jacket. He ordered himself a drink. 'Anyway, I've got something you might want to see.'

'Is that photo of you in the dinosaur costume when you were a kid? 'Cos I'm determined to see that one day-'

'No,' Iwaizumi sighed, looking irritable. 'Take this seriously, you're the one who needs to catch Kuroo and free your name.'

Of course, Oikawa hadn't told Iwaizumi that he intended to kill Kuroo- what Iwaizumi thought was happening was that Oikawa wanted to hand him over to the police and get him to confess everything. That was too unrealistic, Kuroo was too clever for that. He'd always have a back-up plan. He was better off dead.

Iwaizumi dropped a newspaper clipping onto the bar and Oikawa frowned before picking it up.

From subs to nuts, in wigs, sculptures, fruit and "wearable heroin," drug smugglers are finding more creative ways to conceal their bootlegged goods. "There are a myriad of ways to smuggle drugs," said the spokesperson for the Tokyo division of Japan's drug control. "It is apparent that radical measures are now starting to be taken."
This was, of course, referring to the drug smuggling attempt that 22-year-old, unemployed, Hinata Shouyou tried to pull off at the beginning of December. It was reported that the drugs themselves had been sewn into the lining of his stomach.
Eyewitnesses claim that Mr. Hinata managed to make it all the way to the boarding gate at Haneda Airport, Tokyo for his flight to Paris, France, before running into some difficulties. Does this show a lack of drug control within our own airports? [See pg. 13 for more on the upcoming drug control schemes.]
As for Mr. Hinata, he will be sentenced at the Tokyo High Court on the 31st of December and may face life imprisonment. The suspect in question has no previous history with drugs and his no criminal records to speak of...

'Some kid tried to smuggle drugs out of Japan? What of it?'

'Are you stupid? What was all that crap you told me about Kuroo trying to get volunteers to cross borders with his supply? This kid has no criminal history, it says it right here, he was an average student, plays volleyball with friends and has a normal life. Why would he suddenly up and want to smuggle drugs? He must have been one of the ones that Kuroo took. There's more reports about people going missing all over Tokyo, and camera footage of some of them in different parts of the world.'

'What happened to the rest of them?'

'Turned up dead. Kuroo obviously didn't want them talking about what had happened, so he just killed them. This kid got it lucky, I mean, he didn't, he's got caught and faces a life sentence in prison, but he's still alive, at least for now. Unless Kuroo plans to go after him at the trial. Not to mention the drug he was smuggling has been confirmed as the fake Joy drug, so it's one hundred percent Kuroo's doing. He's not going to let this kid just walk away free.'

'So what can we do?'

'Go to the trial. I can get you in as a journalist because my boss got me a seat in the courtroom. If anything fishy happens, we can jump up and stop it and point the blame to Kuroo. We could get police surrounding the building, if we needed to. I mean, it's all easier said than done, but can't sit back and just let it happen, can we?'

'No, no, you're right. Christ, ok. Let's go. There's still more research I need to get done, as well.'
They gathered up their coats and pushed through the crowd, exiting onto the street, which was a welcome change to that hot, sweaty club. The cold air felt nice on his skin.

They hailed a taxi and set off back to Iwaizumi's place.

Oikawa doubted he would sleep tonight. He was going to be sat up on the laptop, researching anything he could about this Hinata boy.

If he could even, somehow, get words with the kid before the trial, perhaps he could get some well-needed information about Kuroo. Hinata must have had contact with him. He must know something. Anything that could lead him to Kuroo's door.

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

One thing Oikawa didn't really miss about journalism was the sheer amount of harassment you had to place upon others. He'd used to think little of it until he'd stopped doing it and began to see it from an outsider’s perspective.

He was stood outside the court in which Hinata Shouyou's trial would be held, and he was watching the paparazzi and news reporters swarming the main steps, screaming and shouting over each other, trying to get interviews and scoops from anyone that was heading into the building. Of course, they were all awaiting Hinata's arrival, and he expected they would be even worse when his car pulled up. Like ravenous crows.

Oikawa himself was stood a little back from the scene with Iwaizumi, who was on the phone to someone. Probably their boss - well, Oikawa's old boss. Iwaizumi had managed to get them press coverage of the trial, allowing them a seat inside the court room, and had asked for two passes in the pretence that his boss would be joining him. Instead, the second pass went to Oikawa. He was currently explaining to the boss that he'd not meant to put down two and would be going in alone, which Oikawa knew he wouldn't be happy about saying. Iwaizumi didn't particularly like lying, especially on Oikawa's behalf.

'I've got someone digging for information, they should text me during the trial if they find anything significant,' Iwaizumi told him after hanging up the phone and stuffing it back into his coat pocket. It was cold today and Iwaizumi was heavy wrapped up. 'But please, Oikawa, if nothing comes of this, can you drop the whole grudge against Ushijima and go to the police. The longer you hide, the worse you look. Innocent people don't run.'

'They do when Kuroo Tetsuro is involved,' Oikawa grumbled. 'He's got money and power. It's easy to blag his way out of anything and point the blame at me, even if the evidence didn't hold up, which it probably would considering my fingerprints were on the murder weapon.'

'You just need to explain your side of the story to the police. There must’ve been other members of Aoba Johsai there who can prove your innocence, I bet loads of them would want to point the finger at Kuroo.'

‘There’s no way I could get any of Aoba Johsai to speak to the police. Look, just focus on getting a story for the newspaper and stop worrying about me. I'll sort myself out. I need to do this; I can't stop now. I need to make sure they're all thrown behind bars, I have to do it, if not for myself, then for Officer Kageyama. I owe him that much. I owe his son that much.'

'Have you heard much about the son?'

'No,' Oikawa said, sighing. 'I couldn't bring myself to look into it, the boy must be in a bad place and it's my...'

'Don't say it's your fault.'

'Officer Kageyama wouldn't have died if I hadn't stuck my foot in it. If I'd just kept my normal job-'

'He would have ended up in that situation sooner or later. He was more obsessed with this whole drug cartel thing than you are. He was a clever man. He would have figured something out and probably tried to bust them and got himself killed regardless.'

'We don't know that.'

Iwaizumi took him by the elbow. 'Come on, let's go inside, it's freezing.'

They pushed their way through the paparazzi members and climbed the steps, flashing their lanyards at the security guards at the door, who allowed them to pass through. The main entrance was modern and spotlessly clean. There was a large crowd of people milling about, waiting to enter the court room. Most of them were journalists. There was a woman with a young girl sat on a bench on the left-hand side. The woman was crying, but the girl looked blank. She was just staring around at everyone. Her eyes locked with Oikawa's momentarily and she looked away, turning to comfort the older woman who Oikawa presumed was her mother.

This must be Hinata's mother and sister, Oikawa hazarded a guess. There'd be no other reason they'd be here, as they definitely weren’t press or staff, and they were the only ones upset about this ordeal.

About five minutes later, everyone was called into the main court room and asked to seat themselves. Iwaizumi dragged Oikawa to the back, much to his annoyance. Iwaizumi hissed at him that he didn't want Oikawa to be recognised and Oikawa quickly shut up.

Instead, he watched Hinata's family being escorted to the seats near the front.

Ten minutes later, Hinata Shouyou was brought into the room. He looked pale and frightened and so young. He didn't look like someone who belonged to a drug cartel, he just looked like a kid who'd gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd.

Oikawa didn't like the look of Hinata's lawyer. He was a seedy-looking fellow who kept staring around the audience nervously.

Almost as if he was paranoid he was being watched.

Immediately, Oikawa began to scan the crowd, hoping he'd see Kuroo's sly face amongst them, but he recognised no one. When the judge banged his gavel, Oikawa jumped, and Iwaizumi hit him for not standing to attention when the judge had entered the room.

'You're lucky no one noticed.' He whispered irritably. Oikawa apologised.

The trial began and Oikawa only felt more and more sorry for the boy. The trial was absolute shambles, and it was clear his lawyer was shady. No wonder he'd been checking the crowd, he'd probably been hired by Kuroo to mess up the trial and ensure Hinata went to prison. He was looking to see which member of Kuroo's crew was keeping an eye on him.

Of course, Oikawa didn't know who worked for Nekoma, so any of these people could be suspect.
The prosecution was ruthless and didn't miss a beat. They had an answer for everything.

'Mr. Hinata claims he was forced into it, but I have found footage of Mr. Hinata leaving the Russian Cat Hotel on the day of the incident, completely alone.' A projector whirred overhead, and CCTV footage showed Hinata climbing into a silver car. Oikawa tutted.

That proved nothing. The inside of the hotel wasn't visible on this video, so anyone could have been stood in the foyer with a gun. Even if they weren't, he could have been threatened in the hotel room and told if he didn't walk downstairs by himself and get into a car without running off, he'd be shot from above or someone he knew would die.

Of course, the lawyer brought none of this up.

The CCTV footage then switched to Hinata getting out of the silver car at the airport. The prosecution spoke again. 'As you can see, there are no signs of struggle or panic, no one is escorting him or watching him, he checked in mid-day and spent half-an-hour just seated before heading towards the bathroom. He tore open his stitching when he fell after bumping into a stranger. Here, in this video, you can see him running for the exit, rather than calling for help. He knew exactly what he was doing and what was hidden inside his stomach and knew if he called for help then he would be caught.'

It almost felt too easy, Oikawa thought, narrowing his eyes at the prosecution. Had this person been hired by Kuroo too?

Maybe even the judge had.

Who in this room besides Iwaizumi could he trust?

There was so much that could be argued against these statements. What if someone was in the silver car with Hinata? There was no way to prove that. Why had the car itself not been looked up on the data base and tracked down? They say no one was watching him but how do they know- if they watched the CCTV carefully, surely, they'd spot someone fishy or someone tailing Hinata in a second car. Not to mention the boy wasn't going to call for help if he was being threatened. He would have panicked, and his fight or flight set in - in this case, flight.

'This whole thing is set up.' Oikawa muttered to Iwaizumi, who nodded in agreement.

'I think my informant has discovered something,' he whispered back, tapping at this phone screen. 'If Hinata gets sent to Shiratorizawa Prison, then it proves his theory.'

'Why? What is it?'

Iwaizumi checked no one was watching them and leaned into mutter to Oikawa. 'He was looking into the Joy drug and all the reports of the users and sellers being taken to court.'

'Right.'

'Guess where every single one of them was sentenced to.'

'Shiratorizawa?'

'Exactly. Every report ends with 'and they were sentenced to Shiratorizawa Prison'. That means every single person in that person has some link to the Joy drug. I'm starting to think your suspicions about Ushijima were right, since he's the one funding that prison. Normally, most prisons are funded through the government and taxpayer money, but the only funding going into the prison is from the Ushijima cooperation. I mean, there are some sponsors here and there but the biggest bulk of it comes from him.'

'Holy crap.' Oikawa fell back in his seat, watching the prosecutor pace up and down. 'Surely there has to be someone in there that hasn't used or sold the drug, otherwise it would arouse suspicion.'

'You're going to have to look into it, I think,' Iwaizumi said, pocketing his phone again. 'But you said before that Officer Kageyama has put away people from both Nekoma and Aoba Johsai, both of which are linked to Joy.'

'Then that means the prison is not only full of the victims of the drug, but the providers? Why would he sentence them all there- or pay off the judge to sentence them there?' Oikawa's eyes flickered to the judge, who didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was going on.

'To keep them silent, I bet. You never know what kind of rumours they could spread in different prisons. If everyone who's had any involvement what-so-ever with this drug is all under one roof, where Ushijima can watch them like a hawk, his secret is safe. I can't say if he's actually got anything to do with the drug's manufacturer, as they can't find any evidence on him regarding it, but maybe he sold the recipe or pays another company to do it and takes a profit, I don't know. Keeping everyone together stops them being pulled out for questioning. Outside police and detectives have no authority to visit prisoners or interview them.'

Oikawa couldn't help but smile. 'This is it; this is the break I've needed. When I can, I'm going to head to the library and try and find a list of every inmate in the prison. Get your informant to e-mail me all the information he's found out, see if he can find a list too - it might be easier for him.'

'What will you do if you find the information you're looking for? You need to be careful about this, you need to think how you're going to make your next move. You're going to need solid evidence to bring Ushijima down- he may already have an excuse lined up as to why all his inmates link to the drug.'

'No! No!' Hinata cried suddenly, standing up and two guards leapt on him at once. 'I only did it because-'

His words were cut off. A hand had clamped over his mouth by one of the guards and he was forced back into his seat.

'Be quiet, Mr. Hinata, or I will hold you in contempt of court.' The judge snapped at him. 'If the prosecution would please continue.'

'Not only was Mr. Hinata carrying a fake business lanyard, but we also searched the hotel room he had been staying in and found his belongings left behind in a plastic bag. There were narcotics with his fingerprints on and we found trace substances in his blood, we have the medical examination reports here. We think Mr. Hinata was high during the surgery to insert the bag of drugs into his body. There is no evidence left behind that anyone else was in the room with him, and the reception informed us he had checked in alone but signed a fake name. For all we know, Mr. Hinata may have attempted the surgery himself, seeing as how poorly it was done.' The man cleared his throat and held up some more files. 'According to many of Mr. Hinata's peers who attend the volleyball club with him, Mr. Hinata is always hyperactive and has an incredible jumping ability, which is very rare considering his height and stature. We believe that Mr. Hinata has been taking the same substance which was found inside his body for a while and using it to boost his performance. We think the seizure was only brought on because he overdosed on the product.'

'Can I go and hit him?' Oikawa muttered and Iwaizumi glared at him.

'Shush.'

'I can jump right now! I can show you I can do it myself, without drugs! I haven't taken anything! They don't have any proof!' Hinata shouted at the judge, who looked appalled at this outburst. He sniffed in disproval.

'There will be no jumping in my court, Mr. Hinata. Despite the lack of evidence for this current claim, the evidence against you for the crime of smuggling a Class A drug is overwhelming. Does the prosecution have any further statements?'

'No, your Honour.'

'Then I will come to a verdict, unless the defense has anything to add?'

'No, your Honour.'

'WHAT? You're supposed to be defending me! I didn't do it! I mean, I did, but I had to! Kenma was going to die! They were going to kill him-'

The judge frowned at him. 'Kenma who?'

Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi, who shrugged. Oikawa instead jotted the name 'Kenma' down in his phone. Who was this Kenma?

'Ah, sir, sorry, he's a bit delusional,' the lawyer stood up, folding his hands in front of him, looking apologetic. 'My client claims that he only allowed the drug smuggling operation to take place because he believed his friend, Kenma Kozume, to be in some kind of physical danger. However, when I tracked down Mr. Kozume, he had been attending the same volleyball club all week and had many eyewitnesses to prove it.'

Oikawa added Kenma's surname. This would make him much easier to find, thank you Mr. Lawyer.

'The prosecution believes that Mr. Hinata was high on narcotics when he claims he saw Mr. Kozume tied to a chair over a pool. It was likely he was out of his mind when he arrived at the airport.'
'NO!' Hinata screamed, almost knocking over the table in his desperation. 'I was set up! I was forced into it! I really saw Kenma in danger, I wasn't on any kind of drugs! It was Kur-'

Hinata was silenced by a guard, but Oikawa had heard what he'd been about to say.

Kuroo.

Of course Kuroo was behind all of this, Oikawa had known from the start. This was bad for Hinata. His trial was as good as over. Oikawa was just waiting for the verdict.

Was he going to be sent to Shiratorizawa?

'I think I've heard enough,' the judge said. 'I find the defendant guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in Shiratorizawa Prison.'

The gavel banged and court was adjourned.

Both Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned to each other, ignoring the maniac whisperings and commotion going on around them.

'Get to it,' Iwaizumi demanded, rising to his feet. 'Find out everything you can and fast. I need to go; I've got to get this verdict to the boss and write up the story.'

'Yeah, go on.' Oikawa stood up to let him pass. Iwaizumi disappeared from the room and Oikawa decided to follow the crowd heading out of the door. He didn't want to linger; he didn't need any eyes looking at him. At the moment, everyone was too distracted- he could use this cover to slip out of the main doors. However, Iwaizumi suddenly appeared by his side. 'What are you doing, I thought you needed to leave.'

'I did, but then I noticed how many cameras there are outside. It'd be bad for you to be caught on them, so let's go to the bathroom first and wait for the crowd to die down.'

Oikawa didn't object because he really needed to pee.

They waited a while before exiting the court, when the paparazzi had pretty much cleared off. Iwaizumi had spent the entire duration on the phone, telling someone at the newspaper what to write for the article, with a fabricated lie that he was stuck in traffic and wouldn’t want to risk the company from a delay in publishing the news.

When he eventually hung up, he checked his texts.

'The informant got back to me and said that there's a lot of reports of prisoners in Shiratorizawa who were sentenced for things besides drugs. Maybe our hunch was wrong after all. Don't look at me like that,' Iwaizumi said as they made their way down the steps. 'I'm just worried about you that's all. Don't go throwing yourself into the deep end before you get the facts. Get your evidence, substantial evidence.'

'You think I'm going to go after Ushijima single-handedly?'

'Yes. Probably. Despite the warnings I've given to you.'

'You're the one that literally just told me to go looking for information. Don't contradict yourself. If you don't want to help me, I can do this by myself. You really don't think I can take him alone, can you?'

'This is getting ridiculous,' Iwaizumi said, fixing his scarf. 'I know what I've said, but our one lead seems to be a dud. You might as well quit while you're ahead before you get yourself into trouble.'

Oikawa knew he was regretting giving over this information about the prison. He knew Oikawa was going to seek out answers obsessively and not rest until he'd cracked the case. 'You're the one that brought me the information that's going to blow this thing wide open. I never thought about the possibility it could be connected.'

'Look, I've tried finding the proof, and it's not there. It doesn't exist. They're too clever. It's all covered up. I don't like the road you're taking and if you get yourself into deep shit, I'm going to personally find whatever ditch you get left in, bring you back to life, and wring your neck. Give it up already.'

'You know I can't do that. I don't have a choice anymore.' Oikawa began to walk off. Iwaizumi jogged after him. 'Look, I know you're suddenly regretting telling me this and are trying to push me away from the idea of following this lead, but you've got to let me. I won't get myself into trouble, I promise you. It's sweet that you're worrying about me, though.'

'Shut up. I just saw all those paparazzi outside and imagined it was your trial I was attending and it freaked me out. I just- I don't think anything is going to come from this lead. If people are in the prison for reasons other than drugs, it disproves our theory immediately. For all we know that prison just accepts drug users because of its maximum-security status.'

'Yeah, but have you never thought that was weird?' Oikawa said, chewing his lip. 'Even if, let's say, half of the prisoners are in there for using or selling Joy, why would they send them to a maximum-security prison? That's the kind of place you'd lock up murders, not junkies. I'm still going to look into it, so drop it. I can look after myself, stop freaking out about it. Let's go get lunch, I'm starving.'

***

After he and Iwaizumi parted ways, Oikawa decided he needed to head to the library immediately and start his research. He ignored all of the books in the library and headed straight to the computer section. He pulled several newspapers out of his bag that he'd picked up a few days earlier and rifled through them but found nothing of interest and dumped them at his feet.

He checked his e-mails and found that Iwaizumi's informant had sent him a list of names of every person who had been submitted to Shiratorizawa Prison. The informant had also been kind enough to send links to all the articles he'd found.
These were all about drug dealers, members of Aoba Johsai, probably, who'd been sentenced to the prison. There was nothing special about these articles. The cleaner, posher-looking men and women sentenced there were more likely Nekoma members, but they'd just been slated off as average drug dealers too. There were a few stories about drug users being caught and sent there, but these stories too proved to be useless.

He needed something juicy.

Giggling caught his attention, and he turned to find himself surrounded by a group of college girls. He grinned at them, his charm seeping through. He couldn't help it; it reminded him of his high school and college days. He'd always loved being centre of attention.

To please the girls, he flirted with them for a while, but started to get bored and wished they would go away. Eventually, he told them he needed to get back to his work, but they should call him, and gave them Iwaizumi's phone number. He knew he'd regret it later but for now, it was rather amusing.

Instead of looking at the articles sent to him, he focused on the names of all the inmates. He scrolled all the way down the list of hundreds of names and found the inmates admitted when the prison first opened. He chose a name at random - a Bokuto Koutarou - and did a Google search. Articles popped up immediately, to his disbelief. Surely a man like Ushijima, so clever and cunning, would have these articles erased?

Perhaps they were so old he'd forgotten about them. They dated back five years.

The picture that came up was a mug shot of a man with wild, spiky white-and-black hair, who seemed to be rather pleased with his situation, despite showing off a busted lip and a black eye. The writing underneath the photo said he was the second prisoner admitted to Shiratorizawa.

Bokuto Koutarou was sentenced to life in newly opened Shiratorizawa Prison today after he had caused several undisclosed problems for the notorious Ushijima Inc. The list of his crimes were never made public, but he and co-worker/partner-in-crime Akaashi Keiji had been rumoured to have caused serious upset to Mr. Ushijima himself, who had been the one to press charges. Shown in his mug shot, Mr. Bokuto appears to be thrilled by his new home and his new, beaten look. It is still undisclosed how he came upon these injuries.

Despite this article giving away very little, it meant a lot to Oikawa. He knew had another lead he could follow. Find out who had originally worked for Ushijima's company, find out who had known Bokuto and what he had done to cause so much 'upset' to Ushijima that he'd have them locked away. It would have to have been something serious, surely, for Ushijima to have even been able to press charges. He scribbled down the details of this tiny article in his journal, along with the two names of the prisoners.
He was about to look up more about them when his phone rang.

People around him glared and shushed and put their fingers to their lips. Oikawa gave a bashful apology before answering, keeping his voice low.

'Hello? Oh, yes, hello, I didn't realise there was a meeting tonight-' The voice on the other end cut him off.

'We've had a call. You need to meet up with us. They want us to sell tonight.'

He began closing the tabs on his computer and scrunching up the newspapers, tipping them into a wastepaper bin close by. He shoved his journal back into his satchel and got to his feet, using his shoulder to keep his phone pressed to his ear. 'Right, sure, I'm on my way now. Usual place? There are things I need to discuss with you.'

'Yeah, usual spot. Don't make me nervous, you always seem too serious when you say shit like that. Can you lend me some cash by the way?'

'Mmm.' Oikawa didn't really want to give out the little money had had left, but he suspected these guys needed it more than him. He, at least, had Iwaizumi to rely on. 'Okay. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.'

He hung up.

The group of girls tried to approach him again, but he waved them away, saying he was late. He threw on his coat and headed towards the door, unaware he been watched the entire time.

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

The young Kageyama boy had shot him.

Oikawa had been shocked to see his face as he'd stepped around the corner. How had the boy found him? Had he been followed this entire time?

It was heart-breaking to see him, he looked so much like his father. Not to mention how much pain and suffering the boy must be feeling at that moment. To have lost the only family he had…

Honestly, Oikawa hadn't expected him to shoot. He didn't think Tobio had it in him, but he'd been very taken back when the bang had sounded. He hadn't even realised for the first few seconds that he had been shot, his mind was blank and there was a ringing in his ears. He felt oddly numb, and his stomach felt warm.

It was a moment later that his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, his hand moving to his stomach. Dark red blood coated his fingertips. His lungs felt tight, and he was finding it hard to breathe.

The people around him were scattering. Why were they leaving him? He needed help.

He managed to prop himself up on his elbows and look up at Tobio, who was frozen to the spot, stark-white. When they made eye contact, Tobio fled.

Alone and bleeding, Oikawa swore to himself and rolled onto his back, panting for breath. It hurt, everything hurt. He needed to call Iwaizumi, just in case he didn't survive.

He fished out his mobile and, ignoring the bloody smears left on the surface, dialled Iwaizumi's number. Trying to focus on a lamp post above his head, one hand to his wound, he pressed the phone to his ear. It took two rings for Iwaizumi to answer.

'What is it?'

'Iwa... I've been shot.' He managed to say, although it was quiet and raspy.

There was silence for a moment. 'Where are you? Tell me, right now.'

Oikawa's fingers felt numb. He didn't think he could remain conscious for much longer. The phone slipped from his grasps and clattered to the concrete. Oikawa could hear Iwaizumi’s voice, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying anymore.

He closed his eyes, knowing that was probably the worst thing to do, but a part of him almost didn’t care anymore. A voice in his head was telling him that perhaps this was for the better. He could join Kageyama Senior and forget about everything that had happened.

Fortunately, he didn’t die.

They must have used his phone’s GPS or something to locate him, because when Oikawa awoke, he was lying on a hospital bed, staring at a stark white ceiling. His right hand attempted to move to his stomach to see if he was still bleeding but found a pair of handcuffs preventing this from happening.
Sitting up hurt, so he swivelled his head from side to side. A tall blue curtain surrounded him on either side, so he had no idea where he was – well, he knew he was in a hospital, but which hospital remained a mystery.

Thankfully, his left hand was free. He ran his hand over his lower stomach and discovered tight wound bandages. It hurt to touch, so he was gentle.

‘How long have I been out for?’ Oikawa muttered to himself, feeling very confused and exhausted. There was sunlight streaming from the windows to his right, beams pouring in through the cracks in the fabric.

Oikawa tried to reach for the glass of water on his bedside table but gave it up as a bad job when a sharp, shooting pain ran through his stomach and ribs. Calling out for help was difficult because his throat felt like sandpaper.

A few moments later, the curtain opened a fraction, and a female face appeared. Oikawa didn’t recognise her. She had a white uniform on, so she must be a nurse. She didn’t look particularly happy to see him awake. He pointed to the water, and she sighed and handed it over, placing a straw into the glass so he didn’t spill it over himself. Drinking whilst lying down was not a fun task.

‘Don’t move too much or you’ll tear the stitches, that bullet tore your stomach lining. You’ll be fine once it’s all healed properly.’ She said, glancing at her watch. ‘I’ll notify the officers you’re awake, they’ll probably want to ask you some questions. Don’t make noise, you’ll wake the other inmates.’

‘Inmates?’ Oikawa wheezed, but she didn’t answer him. She fluffed up one of his pillows and sighed again. She checked the handcuff was securely locked to the bed. ‘Why am I wearing this?’

‘Be quiet, I’ve got a headache.’ She snapped. She snatched the glass of water from him and put it back on the table, far out of his reach. Oikawa decided he really didn’t like this woman. ‘Do you need to use the bathroom or anything?’

When Oikawa said no, she looked relived.

‘Where am I? What hospital is this?’ He found is a tad easier to talk now he’d had a drink. He hoped he wouldn’t need to pee anytime soon because he didn’t really want this woman helping him. ‘Can I speak to a doctor?’

‘No, you can wait for the police to get here.’ She didn’t wait for him to ask anything else before disappearing through the curtains and drawing them shut with a sharp snap. Her footsteps died away and a door slammed at the end of the room.

Oikawa had no idea how long he laid there for, staring at the ceiling. He was wondering what had happened to Tobio, he didn’t want the boy to get in trouble, but it was likely the police would ask about him. They probably wanted his statement. He should make it fair on the boy, say he didn’t know what he was doing, he was grieving. Hopefully Tobio was far away by now, somewhere safe. He could go as far as he wanted because he had no family to worry after him and no one would know who he was if he changed his name.

If Oikawa could make a call, he could alert Iwaizumi to the situation and see if he could track down the boy and help him escape. Iwaizumi could get him on a plane or a boat to… somewhere. Even another Japanese island- he knew Tobio had never been good with other languages, his father had always laughed about how poor his English was.

Eventually, the curtains parted again, and two police officers approached the bed. They both looked stern and unhappy.

Before Oikawa could mutter a single word, one of the men spoke. ‘Oikawa Tooru, you are under arrest for the murder of a police officer. You are hereby sentenced to serve life in Shiratorizawa Prison. You will not receive a trial, and you do not get a phone call. You have already been fitted with your electric shock collar, if you attempt to remove it or damage it, the penalty is death.’

Oikawa was in shock. His free hand flew to his neck, grasping at a metal collar that was attached there. He hadn’t noticed it before; his whole body had felt weird and heavy, so it didn’t seem out of place. He managed to find his voice. ‘I didn’t kill him! I didn’t kill Officer Kageyama. I can give you names! I can tell you everything, just please, listen-’

‘You wouldn’t make it very far as an actual police officer,’ one of the men cut across Oikawa. They weren’t even looking at him now. They were laughing. ‘You didn’t even read him his rights.’

‘Oh, crap, yeah. Oh well, it doesn’t matter.’ The first man sniggered. They shrugged at him. ‘Look, kid, you’ve messed with the wrong crowd and now you’re paying the price. You’re lucky an actual ambulance got to you before we did, otherwise we’d have just let you die. We had you moved here once they’d patched you up.’

Oikawa stared at them in disbelief. He tried to sit up but groaned in agony. He rattled the handcuffs. ‘What is going on?! I didn’t kill anyone!’

‘We know, shut up,’ the second man said. Studying their uniform now, Oikawa released it was fake. It looked like a costume. He hadn’t even considered it. ‘If you’re going to start giving away names, you’re going to end up in a worst position than you’re already in. Your snooping has already pissed off Ushijima-’

‘I knew he was behind this! He’s been behind everything, hasn’t he?! He’s the one distributing the Joy drug, where’s he got his factories set up? The prison is just a shady place to hide all of the people who’ve had any connection to the drug, right? Easy to keep everyone silent if they’re all under the same roof!’

The two ‘officers’ clapped slowly and sarcastically. ‘He’s cracked it. Brilliant. Come on, I’m hungry.’

‘This is what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. You’ve technically had an official trial, with an official judge, so no one is going to question you being in here. Everyone knows you’re the one who murdered what’s-his-face. Ushijima is going to be keeping a very close eye on you, so I’d watch what you say or do around here.’

‘You can’t do this!’ Oikawa shouted after them as they left his bedside. He pulled at the handcuffs, trying to get out of bed. The grumpy nurse appeared within seconds and before he could even shout at her, she jabbed a long needle into his neck. He froze, shocked. Then a warm sensation ran through his body, making him heavy and sleepy, and she pushed him back down onto his pillows where he collapsed, darkness swallowing him.

***

The nurse kept Oikawa in sedation for a long time. It felt like years, but it also felt like it was the same day whenever he woke up again. He had no concept of time anymore. Everything was confusing. He was against letting her help him use the bathroom, but she threatened to let him sleep in piss-soaked sheets, so he begrudgingly accepted her arm and let her guide him to the toilet. He knew if he didn’t felt so drugged-up and weak he could easily overpower her, but it was likely she had another needle full of … something… in her coat pocket.

He’d discovered, after constantly bothering the nurse, that this was the hospital wing in Shiratorizawa Prison. There was only one other inmate, who was usually asleep whenever Oikawa was allowed outside of his curtained confinement. He couldn’t see the man’s face, only his shock of white and grey hair.

Oikawa wanted to talk to him, but he knew it was very unlikely he’d get the chance.

He wasn’t overly sure how to feel about the whole situation. On one hand, he was pissed. He was angry that Ushijima could just lock him up and get away with it. He prayed that Iwaizumi was on the outside trying to fix it… and that he was safe.

What if Ushijima sent his men after Iwaizumi?

If only he could find a way to contact him…

Aside from this, he was also kind of happy, in a weird way. He knew it had been Ushijima who had been behind everything. He obviously found a secret way to make and the sell the Joy drug and cover up his actions. The Prison was the perfect place to hide those from both Nekoma and Aoba Johsai who’d been caught by the police – he must have a judge or two in the system pulling the strings, so they’d end up here. With his money, there was no telling how many people Ushijima could’ve bought out. And, of course, he kept all the people caught using the drug in here too, so they wouldn’t be able to snitch to anyone about who the suppliers were.

That meant … he could speak to Hinata Shouyou.

The boy was in this prison. If he could get a confession from Hinata, get evidence and get the story out to Iwaizumi, he could get this place torn apart and reveal Ushijima for the sneaky crook he was.

But that would mean being allowed in the prison.

Would they even let that happen, knowing how much Oikawa knew? Or would they not care because everyone in the prison was on Ushijima’s side anyway?

He’d have to keep up his good behaviour, and hopefully, they’d let him out of this pissing hospital. Being stuck in bed all day was striving him insane. He wanted to get up and walk around, get his legs feeling normal again. He wanted to be able to use the god damn bathroom by himself.

It aggravated him that they kept him under sedation most of the time. Whatever that bloody nurse kept injecting him with, which was very painful, knocked him out for a good couple of hours. Whenever he woke up, feeling groggy and irritated, he’d usually get to use the bathroom and have some food. Perhaps they were worried if he became healthy again, he’d fight his way out of the hospital and cause trouble.

One morning when he’d woken up, feeling like utter shit, he got a surprise from the nurse. She’d brought him some porridge and water and told him that the Kageyama boy who’d shot him was in the prison. Oikawa’s mouth fell open.

‘He doesn’t belong here. What has he done? He has nothing to do with… with anything.’

‘They don’t trust him,’ the nurse said, shoving the bowl into his hands. ‘His father was in too deep; he must’ve told the boy something. He probably has files and records at their home. Ushijima said he couldn’t risk it, so the boy got sent here. Apparently, he’s terrified of you. Funny, that.’

‘Let me see him.’

She laughed in his face. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘When can I leave this hospital? I won’t do anything, I promise. You can just shock me, can’t you? That’s what this stupid collar is for? Am I the only one wearing one?’

‘No, that’s standard for all inmates.’

‘That… that man in the other bed, he doesn’t have one.’

‘Don’t talk to him.’ She snapped. She was tapping her foot impatiently. ‘Look, I don’t make the rules. I just do as I’m told. You’ll be let out into the prison whenever the boss decides. Currently he’s worried you’re going to make some stupid mistakes and cause him more grief. You’re better off here, anyway.’

‘You knock me out every day!’

‘At least it passes the time.’ She shrugged at him. ‘I don’t make the rules, just deal with it. I’ll let you stay awake for longer today, if that’ll shut you up.’

‘Please.’

She sighed again and walked off. She’d left the curtains around his bed open, so he could see the whole of the hospital wing. It was long and narrow, filled with white beds. The man at the other end of the room was still sleeping.

Or, at least, he’d been pretending to.

The moment the doors snapped shut, he bolted upright, making Oikawa jump and almost drop his food. The man glanced at the door, hovering at the edge of his bed, checking to make sure the woman wasn’t coming back, before leaping onto the floor and dashing over to Oikawa’s bed. He plonked himself on the end, a huge grin on his face.

‘Hello!’

‘Hi… are you not handcuffed to your bed?’ Oikawa asked, even though it was obvious he wasn’t.

‘Nope. I just pretend to sleep, mostly. They don’t bother me then. You should try it; they’ll stop putting you out manually that way. The name’s Bokuto, nice to meet you.’

‘Bokuto? As in the Bokuto Koutaro who used to work for Ushijima. Inc?’ Oikawa could feel a flood of excitement wash through him. He put the bowl of porridge to one side and edged closer. ‘You need to tell me everything. What happened to get you locked up in here? The newspaper didn’t reveal much, only that it was you and your partner… uh, Akaashi?’

‘Yes!’ Bokuto jumped with delight. ‘He’s my best friend. He’s in this prison, you know. You’ll have to meet him when he comes to visit. He’s great. He can tell you everything.’

‘Does he visit often?’

‘Yes. All the time. He might come today. I don’t know.’ Bokuto looked towards the door, but his eyes didn’t seem to be in focus. Oikawa frowned. Something wasn’t right. Bokuto didn’t seem… all there.

‘Can you tell me anything, though? I’d like both of your accounts of what happened. You must have so much inside dirt about Ushijima. I bet that’s why he threw you in here.’

‘Hmm? Oh, maybe. I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.’ Bokuto turned back to him. ‘Have you been in the prison yet?’

‘No. They won’t let me; you must’ve known I’ve not left this bed.’

‘Oh. Hmm. Yeah. I guess.’ He shrugged, crossing his legs. ‘I’m not allowed in the prison. They keep me in here. I think it’s because the others get jealous. I’m too popular.’

‘You’re not wearing a collar, the nurse said everyone had one.’

‘I don’t really need one. I don’t think. They don’t tell me.’

‘Look, I need to find out everything I can while I’m in here and get the information out to my friend who’s a reporter. If we can get solid evidence and reveal Ushijima to be the sneaky bastard, I’ve been telling everyone he is, then we can get this prison shut down and you can get out of here. Akaashi, too. And Hinata and Tobio. I bet there are tons of people in here who don’t deserve to be.’

‘That’d be nice.’ Bokuto laughed. ‘I’d like to have a barbeque. Akaashi would like that.’

‘Yes, we can do that, just tell me everything you know, before they come back. We don’t want to get caught talking to each other, and if I get kicked out of the hospital-’

‘Everything I know? That’s a lot. But! But! Did you know, the government are all lizard people. Shocking, I know. And there are eagles in the ceiling. They’re watching us.’

‘No, no, about when you used to work for Ushijima’s company. What happened that made you end up in prison?’ Oikawa felt sorry for the guy. He’d obviously experienced something bad to make him this way, either that or they’d pumped him with so many drugs he didn’t know what was happening anymore. Perhaps that’s what they were going to do to Oikawa. Perhaps they’d already started doing it whenever they injected him.

He was going to end up the same as Bokuto, uncertain of where he was or who he was or anything that had happened.

A good way to keep his silence.

‘If you want to get information or want to smuggle things in and out of the prison, you should talk to Ukai.’ Bokuto said, suddenly serious. ‘He’ll do that for you, for a price. He doesn’t take my theories as payment, though. He said the lizard thing is a load of rubbish. Akaashi believes me.’

‘Right, ok, got it, Ukai. I’ll remember that. But right now, please, whatever you can remember- what did you do for the company when you worked there?’

‘Akaashi was the one who developed the Joy drug,’ Bokuto pressed his fingers to his skull, looking pained. ‘I think. It was him in a team anyway. He came home one day and said that it was failing. It wasn’t going to work, and Ushijima was angry. He wanted the money. So, he said he’d make it work, and we said we’d go… we’d go to the police…’

‘I knew it, I knew it! Yes, the drug was banned because it was too harmful, too many side-effects. Go on…’

‘I dunno. Don’t remember.’ Bokuto’s attitude changed again. He seemed light and bouncy.

‘I’m guessing you both told him if he didn’t stop the production, you’d rat him out, so he had you thrown in jail. I wonder what crime he pinned on the pair of you. If I find Akaashi, I’ll ask him. I’ll ask around for him once I get out of here.’

‘Please, do. He’ll be happy to talk to you.’ Bokuto stepped off the bed, stretching his arms above his head. He was quite a beefy guy, despite having been locked up in the hospital. Perhaps he hadn’t been here for long, or there was a gym he could use.

‘Do you know where Ushijima might have secret factories set up? I always assumed they were overseas.’

‘Could be. Not sure. I wouldn’t ask the others though; they won’t tell you.’ He began to wander back to his own bed, yawning. ‘But one thing I do know, he’s using the inmates as test subjects.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Oh, you want to a hear a joke? What do you get when you cross-’

‘No, no, go back to the test subject thing! I always thought he was just getting random drug users on the streets to test his products and get his men to report back to him, but this is even bigger. It makes sense though, no one is going to notice if a bunch of prisoners die, especially if such a secretive, high-security place. I bet he’s purposely testing on his own men as well, as punishment for getting caught. If there are weird side effects, he can easily monitor them and there’s no-one around to stop him. This is going to make such a story.’

‘Mmm. Yeah. Don’t drink the water.’

Oikawa’s eyes turned to the glass of water on his side table. ‘I’ve been drinking the water since I got here…’

‘Oh, yeah, true, my bad. I wonder what side effects you’ll have.’

‘Oh no, no, don’t tell me that. Please don’t tell me I’ve been taking that fucking drug, please.’

Bokuto looked sheepish. He rubbed his feet on the floor like an embarrassed child. ‘I mean, it might not be. They could give you… non-drug water.’

Oikawa sighed and rubbed at his eyes. This wasn’t good. He’d heard bad things happened to those who took Joy. It was too unstable. He supposed he’d have to look on the brighter side of everything- if they were forcibly drugging him without his consent, he could use that as evidence in court. Then again, what if it caused major problems for him?

‘They’re probably not, you know,’ Bokuto said. ‘They tend to only have it in the actual prison, I think they’re just getting the water you drink from the kitchen tap. Probably. I don’t know.’

‘I’m going to believe that’s what’s happening because I really don’t like the idea of some random drug going into my system. Ok, that aside, tell me about the side effects. Is… is that why you’re… uh…’

‘Me? No. I’m fine. Perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with me. I’m perfect.’ Bokuto showed all his teeth when he smiled. ‘I don’t really know. Akaashi is fine, he has no symptoms. You should definitely talk to him.’

‘Yes, I will, but did you notice anyone else acting weird when you were in the prison?’

‘Hmmm, let me think. Well, I think all the kitchen staff are probably some kinds of animal. I can’t really tell what. Maybe bears. That’d be cool, wouldn’t it? Uh, well, my friend Daichi, you might meet him, he’s real friendly, he’s a bit… funny. It’s sad, really.’

‘What happened to him? How did he end up here? Did he work for Ushijima too?’

‘No, no,’ Bokuto shook his head. He was frowning at the wall. Oikawa wondered if he was struggling to recall the story. ‘He was friends with me and Akaashi back when we worked for the company, but he worked somewhere else. I don’t remember. He had a girlfriend; I don’t remember her name either. And we had another friend, he was a test subject for Joy, back when it was legal. He got hooked on the stuff, badly. He’d get angry at us when we said we couldn’t give him anymore of it, so he found another way. He became obsessed with the girl, that poor girl. I liked her. She was sweet. She was always flirting with me, but I never told Daichi. Every girl flirted with me, of course.’

‘The man killed her, didn’t he?’ Oikawa knew where this story was going.

Bokuto nodded, looking sad. ‘When Daichi found out, he went after him. He shot him and then turned himself in. He was in a normal prison for a while before they built this place. We were the first ones in here. Suga and Asahi too. You’ll like them, they’re real nice. Even though Daichi had never touched the stuff, he’d killed one of Ushijima’s testers and that made him pissed, so he took Daichi as a replacement. Now, he doesn’t know who he is most of the time… that’s sad, I wonder what that’s like…’

Oikawa couldn’t tell if Bokuto was being serious or not.

‘I miss him. I miss my friends. I miss Akaashi.’

‘Hey, don’t worry, I’m here to fix it. I’ll fix everything, I promise. I’ll get the information out, get this place shut down and everyone who is innocent will be free. You and Akaashi and Daichi and the others, you’ll all get out of here, I promise. I’ll get you the help you need to recover.’

Bokuto grinned at him. ‘That’d be nice. I can take down the government once I’m free.’

‘Yeah, you do that, buddy.’

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

They kept Oikawa unconscious for two days straight and by the time he woke up, Bokuto was no longer there. He was rather disappointed by this, and he had so many more questions he had wanted to ask. The nurse refused to tell him where he had gone or if he was coming back and said that if he shut up and behaved, they’d let him out of the hospital in a day or so.

In fact, it took another three days.

It was such a relief to be free of that bed. His back was sore from lying down, which he didn’t realise was a thing that could actually happen. He’d never been the type for lying around and it had only made him anxious.

He was given an orange jumpsuit and thick leather boots to wear and lead to the prison where a smiling man named Officer Takeda showed him around. He took a keen interest in the prison, asking a lot of annoying questions which Takeda had a knack for brushing off.

‘You’ll be bunking with one of our friendlier inmates, Asahi Azumane, however, he’s currently in the therapy unit so you’ll actually get the room to yourself for a while. That’s a real priviledge so I’d say enjoy it while you can.’ He beamed at Oikawa as though he’d just given him the greatest gift in the world.

‘Why is he there? What’s wrong with him? What’s the therapy unit for? Are you giving him drugs too?’

‘He’s got a lot of anxiety issues that he needs assistant with, don’t fret. The therapy unit is designed to help inmates with their personal struggles. Coming to prison isn’t easy and many have suffered severe past trauma. We want to make their lives here as comfortable as possible. As for drugs, he’s only on whatever the doctors have prescribed to help his condition. There’s no illegal drug testing going on here, Mr. Oikawa, I promise you. Please, settle in and I’ll bring you some breakfast-’

A guard came rushing up to Officer Takeda and whispered something in his ear. Takeda’s face turned to stone. He then forced a smile and directed Oikawa away from the cell.

‘There’s been a gas leakage upstairs so unfortunately, I’m going to have to escort you outside along with the other prisoners. I’m sorry about this, but your safety comes first. Please, this way.’

‘A gas leak? Seems a bit more serious than that.’

‘Well, it’s worrying when we have a lot of patients in the therapy unit.’

‘So are they all going to be taken outside too?’

‘We’ll have to take them to the hospital wing; it’s unsafe for some of them to be around other inmates.’

‘Why?’

‘Please, Mr. Oikawa, no more questions. Head outside with the others.’

With that, he took off, leaving Oikawa to follow the large group of men heading towards the courtyard outside. Oikawa considered following him for a moment, when someone else caught his eye.
He strode over to the man heading towards the doors and grabbed his elbow, pulling him to one side.

‘Ennoshita?’

‘Uhh… who are you?’

‘You are Ennoshita Chikara, aren’t you?’

‘Yes… do I know you?’

‘Yes, don’t you remember? I know we only met once, and it was years back. When I first started working with Officer Kageyama.’

‘The officer that died?’

‘Yes,’ Oikawa was baffled. Ennoshita looked honestly so confused. The crowd was thinning now, and he was glancing over his shoulder, clearly eager to follow. ‘He was your partner?’

‘Partner? What are you on about?’

‘Ennoshita… you went missing two years ago.’

Ennoshita stared at him blankly. ‘I’m sorry, I think you’re confusing me with someone else. I’ve been in this prison for as long as I can remember.’

Oikawa grabbed hold of his face, making Ennoshita flinch. ‘You were a rookie private detective working alongside Officer Kageyama and one day you just vanished. He never stopped looking for you. How did you end up in here? Did Ushijimi take you?’

Before Ennoshita could reply, he had collapsed.

Panicked, Oikawa tried to hold him up but found him too heavy so laid him down, careful to rest his head gently on the floor. He knelt by him, thoughts rushing through his head.

He remembered vividly the day Officer Kageyama had phoned him to say Ennoshita had never turned up to work. His family had not heard from him. The last call he had made was to an untraceable number.

This could only mean one thing. Ennoshita had figured something out and Ushijimi had gotten to him before he could reveal it. This poor man had no idea who he really was. What had they done to him over the past two years?

There were small white scars all over the sides of Ennoshita’s forehead. This sent an angry pulse through Oikawa’s body. Electric shock treatment. They’d tortured him into forgetting. Probably pumped him full of drugs too.

‘I won’t let them get away with this, I promise you.’

He managed to find a nearby guard, who initially started shouting at him for not being outside, but when he pointed to Ennoshita the guard sighed and radioed for help. He waved a lazy hand at Oikawa.

‘Go outside, he’ll be fine.’

Not wanting to cause trouble on his first day in the prison, Oikawa headed out to the courtyard. He needed to find this man that could get him anything he wanted in and out of the prison.

Outside, the majority of the men were gathered by the fence that separated the courtyard from the womens side. This was good; it meant fewer eyes would be on him. He scanned the yard, looking for someone who he thought could be Ukai.

He paused, his eyes falling on a shock of orange hair. He’d seen that boy in the newspapers.

‘Ukai! Have you got my smokes yet?’ Someone shouted from across the yard at a man seated at a bench. The man with spiky blonde hair swore at him and turned back to his conversation with a pretty boy with silver hair.

Hinata Shouyou was walking away. Oikawa watched him for a moment and waited for him to pass. He opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind. This wasn’t the place to do it; he’d need to talk to him alone.

It looked as though he was heading to the hospital wing.

That would be the perfect place to talk, especially if they’d taken Ennoshita there too. He’d go after him once he’d spoken to Ukai.

He made his way over and stopped in front of the man known was Ukai, who halted his conversation and turned to look at him, a grumpy expression on his face. Before he could say anything, the silver-haired boy had stood up, looking alarmed.

‘Are you Oikawa Tooru?’

‘Yes.’

The colour drained from the boy’s face, and he went to say something, but Oikawa threw up his hands.

‘Please, I didn’t kill that Officer. I was framed. Listen, I’m actually a journalist and I was trying to figure out the truth behind the Joy drug, behind Ushijima and this prison. I know Hinata Shouyou is innocent. I’m going to talk to him after I’ve spoken with Ukai and we’ll clear this whole thing up, I promise. I give you my word.’

‘You need to stay away from Kageyama Tobio.’ He said coldly and walked away. He was heading in the same direction that Hinata had gone.

Was he going to warn him?

His attention was snapped back when Ukai spoke. He lit a cigarette and patted the seat next to him.

‘Sit down then.’

‘I’m ok standing; I’ve been strapped to a bed for days.’

‘Whatever.’ He blew smoke into the air. ‘Let’s say I believe everything you’ve just said. What are you going to do about it? You think you’ve got the power to take down Ushijima?’

‘Yes, I do.’

Oikawa quickly explained everything that had happened to Ukai in a hushed tone, including the stuff about Ennoshita. Ukai considered it, rubbing his chin.

‘Would explain his behaviour, making him pass out everytime he remembers it. I don’t think you’re going to get any information from him anymore, not with what he’s been through, so I suggest maybe leaving him out of it. Listen, I’ll help you, ‘cos I always knew something shady was going down at this place, especially after what happened with Akaashi.’

‘He’s Bokuto’s friend, yeah?’

‘You’ve met him? Yeah, I suppose you would have, being in the hospital wing. How’s he doing? I miss that guy.’

‘He seems… out of it.’ Oikawa didn’t know how to put it politely. Ukai sighed and took another drag.

‘Yeah, they’ve pumped him with so much stuff he doesn’t remember. He was one of the first inmates in here, along with me and some others.’

‘Did you know him when he was ... uh…?’

‘Normal? Yeah. Did tell you he used to work for Ushijima?’

‘Yeah, he did. What happened? He just said Akaashi had been in charge of the drug development and then-’

‘It’s what you can guess, really. They threatened to go to the police and got thrown in here, accused of some kind of fraud within the company. When he wouldn’t keep his mouth closed, they started to take him away a lot. Whenever he came back, he was never quite the same. Eventually Akaashi tried to stand up for him and well, uh…’

‘They killed him, didn’t they?’

‘I never found out, he's just been missing for five years,’ Ukai looked sad. ‘I never wanted to believe it, and that orange kid was saying he was in the hospital-’

'I've been in the hospital, and I haven't seen anyone but Bokuto.'

Ukai shrugged. 'I don't know. Part of me suspects he's long dead.'

Oikawa drew in a deep breath. ‘I'll discover the truth and if he is, I won’t let his death go in vain. I’ll get everything out to the press. If you can tell me anything you think would be worthwhile, if you can get any information from other prisoners, any evidence to support these claims, hit me with them. Once we’ve gathered enough, we’ll get it out of the prison and to my friend on the outside. Do you think you can manage that?’

‘Getting stuff out, no problem; getting people in here to talk? Not so easy. Remember, a lot of the people in here are Aoba Johsai and Nekoma spies. I mean, they’re test subjects too, don’t get me wrong, but they’ll still do anything for their boss. Look, I’ll see what I can do- and this is me doing you a favour, so when I come to you and ask for something, you better jump, ok?’

‘Yes. You’ve got a deal. Thank you. Right, I’m going to go and speak to Hinata, that’s probably the best place to start.’

‘He’s gone to the hospital wing to see Bokuto. Maybe you can speak to them together.’

‘Bokuto isn’t there anymore.’

‘If he’s spoken to you, they probably think he’s said too much already. I don’t know how long it’ll be before they just kill him, honestly.’ Ukai’s face grew sombre. He stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Look, kid, be careful, ok. I think we can do this, but we’ve got to be smart about it. Don’t go rushing around and getting yourself noticed. Baby steps, alright? Now hurry off, I’ve got other business to deal with.’

Oikawa gave him a quick bow and hurried off down the path towards the hospital wing. He really didn’t want to be going back there now that he’d just been released but he had no other choice. He had no idea what Hinata thought of him, and he didn’t want to try and speak to him when he was surrounded by other inmates that might be willing to stand up with Hinata if he got scared.

Not that Oikawa intended to scare him.

The reception was empty.

He hurried down the corridor and pushed open the door.

The person facing him was not Hinata, but Kageyama. Oikawa felt his heart stop. There was a small, empty silence before Kageyama opened his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs.

A few seconds later Hinata burst through the doors, glancing around wildly. He paused at the sight of Oikawa.

‘Who are you?’ Hinata said.

He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Kageyama before he could get two words out.

Kageyama was screaming so much it was hard to think. He was pulling desperately at his restraints (he was tied down onto a hospital bed), trying to break free. The noise was going to alert someone, this was bad. It didn’t take him long to free himself and he stood facing Oikawa, his fists clenched, his eyes filled with fire.

‘Crap.’ Oikawa said, backing away.

Kageyama tried to fling himself at Oikawa, but Hinata dived in front and began to push him back, struggling on the slippy floor.

It didn’t take long for the nurses to burst in. The hospital doors were thrown open and four nurses appeared, one of them covered in coffee. They let out startled gasps and hurried forwards, two of them forcing Kageyama back into his bed with Hinata’s help. He was shrieking loudly, making little to no sense and trying to lash out, so one of the nurses stabbed him in the arm with a silver needle and he went limp almost immediately.

Once Kageyama was calm, Hinata rounded on Oikawa, his face sweaty and red. ‘Who are you? What are you doing here? Why is Kageyama so upset?’

It seemed as though Suga had not warned him.

‘You shouldn’t be here!’ One of the nurses yelled, coming right up in Oikawa’s face. She was shorter than him, but she still intimidated him. It was probably the long needle in her hand. She shot an angry look at Hinata. ‘Neither should you! Get out!’

‘Wait! Wait! I need to know who he is!’ Hinata yelled as he was dragged out of the room by the other nurses. ‘Are you the one who killed Kageyama senior? Are you Oikawa?!’

Ah, that wasn’t good. It wasn’t the impression he’d wanted Hinata to have of him. If Hinata thought he was a murderer he wouldn’t be willing to speak with him freely about everything that had happened that had landed him in the prison in the first place.

‘Let me explain!’ Oikawa pleaded but Hinata just swore at him.

‘Explain what?! You’re a killer! If you’ve come here thinking you can finish the job, you’re wrong! I won’t let you touch him! Let go of me, you can’t let him near Kageyama! He’s a monster!’

Even though Oikawa barely knew this boy, the words coming out of his mouth hurt.

It was awful looking into the eyes of someone who thought you were a stone-cold murderer, especially when the one you had supposedly killed had been your mentor and close friend. With that, Hinata was pushed outside, the door was blocked and the window covered up. Hinata was clearly still trying to get back in because the door was shaking and there was a lot of banging from the corridor.

‘You really cause nothing but trouble, don’t you? I knew it was too early to let him back into the prison.’

‘Let me in! Let me in! You don’t know what you’re up against!’ Hinata’s shrill voice floated through the door. ‘Don’t let him near Kageyama! He’s going to kill him.’

‘I promise you I’m not here to hurt either of them, I just came to speak with Hinata. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. Please, just let me speak to him. Isn’t there anything you can do to calm him without knocking him out completely?’

‘No, we don’t want you speaking with either of them.’

‘You’re not going to let me go back to the prison, are you?’

‘It’s not up to us, dear.’ A nurse said and before he could stop her, she slammed her needle into his arm.

‘You’re not going to get away with this!’ Oikawa shouted, stumbling backwards, clutching his arm. He knocked over a heart monitor. ‘I’m going to burn this fucking prison to the ground.’

‘Good luck with that, honey.’

Oikawa tried to remain on his feet, but the drugs took affect too quickly, and with that, he slumped to the floor.

Chapter Text

Oikawa's Story

Oikawa awoke sharply, taking a very deep breath and shaking his head. Disorientated, he tried to sit up but found himself restrained. He was lying on a bed, his body strapped down with thick leather belts. His head was spinning, and it took a while for him to be able to focus again.

He took in his surroundings- a white room with a light hanging from overhead. Empty walls. Beside him lay Kageyama, unconscious, also strapped down to a bed.

‘Kageyama, wake up.’ He hissed several times but with no luck. Whatever he and Kageyama had been knocked out with was really doing its job. Perhaps Kageyama had been given a stronger dosage than Oikawa had.

For some reason, he felt like he’d been speaking to Kageyama, but the memories weren’t coming back to him.

Was it worth shouting and causing a fuss so the nurses would come in? He assumed he was still in the hospital. Then again, they didn’t seem very willing to hear him out the first time, so perhaps trying to talk his way out of this situation wasn’t going to work. Instead, he lay pondering for some time, trying to think about what his next move was going to be. He wanted to explain everything that had happened to Kageyama, reassure him that he was actually on his side and that he had not killed his father, but he was unsure whether Kageyama would be willing to listen to him.

His stomach hurt. He was still recovering from the gun shot. He needed to be more careful, he didn’t want to end up stuck in the hospital. He needed to find evidence as fast as he could and get himself out of the prison. The longer he stayed here, the more he was at risk of being another test subject for the Joy drug.

After what felt like an eternity of lying there, staring at the ceiling, did something finally happen. It wasn’t what Oikawa had expected at all. He saw a face appear at the little window by the door. It didn’t take long for Hinata to bust his way into the room, looking furious. Oikawa tried to sit up as much as he possibly could.

‘You’re that kid from earlier! Quick! You’ve got to get me up! Now!’ Oikawa shot his demands at Hinata, struggling against his restraints. Hinata ignored him and rushed over to Kageyama and began freeing him from the restraints. Kageyama appeared to have woken up at some point but was very clearly still out of it and wouldn’t cooperate when Hinata tried to get him up. ‘Listen to me! I know you’ve probably heard a lot of things, but I can explain everything later. What happened between me and Tobio isn’t important right now, we need to get out of this prison.’

‘Why should I believe you?’ Hinata snapped at him, trying to scoop Kageyama up with great difficulty. ‘You’re not fooling me! I’m not going to let you up do you can attack both of us and try to escape! I’m not going to let you hurt Kageyama! If you’ve come into the prison to finish the job, you can forget it!’

‘I- what? Finsih the job? What are you on about? I’m not going to hurt you! I told you, it’s more complicated than that. What do I have to do to make you believe me? All I want to do is get out of here before they come back. You have no idea what goes on in this prison. It’s not what it seems.’
Hinata dropped Kageyama and narrowed his eyes. ‘I’ve noticed that myself. Tell me what you know.’

‘I will, I will, just let me up and-’

Hinata cut him off.

‘No, you’ve got to tell me now! Do you know Bokuto? Do you know Akaashi? What’s Subject 0?’

Oikawa blinked at him. ‘Heh? I don’t know what Subject 0 is, but those two names are familiar to me. I can’t think off the top of my head and there is too much to tell you, so please, let me up and I will carry Tobio and we can get somewhere safe and I’ll give you whatever information you want… or, you can try and drag him out of here by yourself, get caught and then you’ll never know anything. If you’ve snuck into this unit looking for answers, I have them. Don’t make me say please again, it’s really degrading.’

Oikawa had lied to him about not remembering the names, but he reckoned if he said he knew them Hinata would just demand more answers that he did not have time to give. He would tell him later, once they were somewhere safe and concealed.

Hinata edged forwards and undid the restraints. Oikawa jumped to his feet, taking a moment to regain his balance, and moved over to the door. This definitely wasn’t the hospital. He’d been moved somewhere else. Either way, the corridor was clear and he could see a door at the end, one that he hoped lead to some kind of freedom. He turned back to Hinata, who was trying to haul a groaning Kageyama to his feet.

‘Good, the corridor is empty. Move aside, let me pick him up- stop staring at me like that, it’s freaky. I’m just going to carry him. Unless you’d rather me leave him behind?’

‘Definitely not!’

‘Well, at least move so I can pick him up.’ Oikawa sighed, raising an eyebrow when Hinata moved awkwardly in front of Kageyama. ‘What are you doing, stop it.’

Moments passed and Oikawa grew impatient. He shoved Hinata out of the way and hoisted Kageyama up and over his shoulder. ‘I don’t have time for this. Come on, let’s move. I’m hoping you know the layout of this prison better than I do. Your orange jumpsuit doesn’t fill me with much hope, though.’

Together, they started to move towards the door at the end of the corridor. They’d reached the halfway point when Hinata stopped dead and doubled back. Oikawa hissed back at him. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I can’t leave yet! I came here to find someone!’

Oikawa rolled his eyes. ‘Fine! I’m not waiting, I’ll go ahead-’

‘No, wait!’ Hinata ran back over to him. ‘I can’t leave you and Kageyama alone. If he wakes up-’

‘Well I don’t know what you want me to do, because youre too much of a shrimp to carry him instead, and I’m not going to wait around to get caught. Either come with me or go off on your own, I’m not going to hurt him, I’ll dump him somewhere and go.’

He started towards the exit but Hinata ran in front of him, throwing out his arms to block the path. ‘You promised me answers! You can’t just disappear! How do I know you won’t just kill him and then dump the body? Is that what you did with his father?’

Oikawa studied him for a moment, words lost in his mouth. Currently, he didn’t have time to tell this child the whole story of what had happened between Officer Kageyama, the Nekoma leader and himself, but he knew that Hinata would not trust him one bit until he did. He needed to go find Ukai. He then sighed, dropped Kageyama onto the floor and closed his eyes. ‘You’re annoying. I’m going. Do what you want with him.’

Trying to get past Hinata proved more difficult than he’d initially expected as Hinata had wrapped his arms around Oikawa’s middle and was trying to pull him back; he was pressing into the gunshot wound unintentionally and it was making Oikawa wince. He attempted to wrestle himself free but froze when a door slammed.

‘W-what was that?’ Hinata whispered as Oikawa shoved him away.

‘I don’t know, but let’s not stay to find out. Run to the door and get it open, I’ll get Tobio.’

Hinata ignored him and tip-toed to the end of the corridor and peered round. He waved his hand back at Oikawa. ‘There’s no one there. I’m going to look for Bokuto.’

‘I thought you didn’t want to leave me with your friend.’ Hinata froze and slowly spun on the spot. He stared at Oikawa, all bug-eyed. Oikawa found it very unsettling. ‘What’s with that face? What are you thinking?’

‘You’re going to pick him up and come with me to find my friend, or I’m going to start screaming.’
Oikawa was taken back. ‘What?!’

‘I bet there’s someone around here who would hear if I started shouting. I’ll tell them you’re trying to escape. They’ll lock you back up.’

‘You’d get in trouble!’ Oikawa snapped back at him, feeling more agrivated by the second. Why did this kid have to be so difficult?

‘Isolation won’t mean anything to me if I know Kageyama is safe and alive.’

For Christ’s sake, Oikawa thought, clicking his tongue against his teeth. He grumled to himself as he scooped Kageyama up off of the floor and bregrugingly made his way over to where Hinata was stood. He scowled at Hinata, annoyed by the triumphant look on his stupid face. ‘Fine. Let’s hurry. He’s not that light, you know. Which room is your friend in anyway?’

‘Dunno.’

Oikawa blinked at him. ‘You’re taking the-’

Hinata shushed him and shuffled over to the next room, peering in. He jumped back and signalled to Oikawa to come over. ‘There’s someone in here. I can’t see- it’s too dark. It might be Bokuto.’

‘And if it isn’t?’

The last thing Oikawa wanted was for them to wrench a door open and come face to face with a prison guard. Hinata, who had been reaching for the door handle, stopped in his tracks and instead squinted at the little label next to the door. Oikawa moved over so he could read it too.

Subject O.

This is what Hinata had been asking about previously. Oikawa could only assume that this was one of the prison’s many test subjects- judging by the name, probably the first. How long had this person been locked inside this room? How much of the Joy drug had they been forcefed? God knows what kind of state they would be in, what isolation and abuse had done to them. If only he had his camera now. This would be perfect evidence to send back to Iwaizumi. Perhaps he could sneak back later once Ukai had gotten him a camera smuggled in-

Hinata was opening the door.

‘Hey! What are you doing?! Stop!’ Oikawa shouted but it was too late. The door had been wrenched open and Hinata had leapt inside.

‘Akaashi?’

Oikawa couldn’t help but let his curiosity get the better of him and he moved around to see. No one had known what had happened to Akaashi, Ukai had said he was presumed dead, but was this where they’d been keeping him all along?

Hinata stumbled backwards, almost knocking into Oikawa. ‘W-what are you doing here?!’

The man inside the room swung for Hinata and he fell. Startled, Oikawa tried to help him to his feet whilst keeping Kageyama balanced over his shoulder. ‘What’s going on?!’

When the stranger leapt at Oikawa, he side-stepped out of the way and turned to Hinata, confused and panic. ‘Who is this man? Is this Bokuto?’

The man attacking them was large and very muscular. He had several tattoos and his dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Oikawa didn’t get long to look at him as he had aimed a punch at his head. Without really thinking about it, Oikawa broke into a sprint down the corridor, Hinata fast at his heel.

Unfortunately, their shouting had alerted staff. Two guards came running at them, reaching for their shock collar remotes.

Oikawa grabbed the scruff of Hinata’s jumpsuit and hurled him back down the corridor. He hit the wall with a thud. The bun-haired man was coming for them, his fists clenched.

‘Fuck,’ Oikawa muttered and dragged Hinata down a second corridor. ‘Go! Go! We need to lock ourselves in a room! This guy is insane!’

With ominous footsteps following them and the shouting of the guards, Oikawa tried his best to keep his cool. He took a door at random, hoping for the best. There was no lock.

Shit.

Throwing Kageyama to one side, Oikawa pressed his weight into the door just as the attacker threw himself against it. He was not going to be able to keep this up, that guy was a million times stronger than Oikawa was. He shouted over at Hinata. ‘Shrimpy, get that table and pull it over here! We’ve got to barricade ourselves in!’

‘But…’ Hinata trailed off, looking around frantically. ‘Can you hold the door?’

‘Go!’ Oikawa yelled, pressing himself into the door, trying desperately to stop his feet from slipping. The attacker was causing cracks to appear in the door everytime he threw himself against it. Why didn’t he pick a room with a metal door? Oikawa cursed at himself, watching as Hinata struggled to drag the table over. He timed it carefully, when the attacker had doubled back, and helped pull the table over. As quickly as they could manage, they added other items from around the room to their barricade. It appeared to be holding steady, but Oikawa didn’t know for how long.

Hinata had wandered off down further down the room while Oikawa was searching for more things to add. He threw some boxes onto the pile and picked up a broom, wondering how decent a weapon it would make. Whatever room they’d locked themselves in was full of junk, but none of it seemed very useful in combat.

A small yelp caught Oikawa’s attention, and he rushed over to where Hinata was stood, hands over his mouth. The smell back here was bad. He pulled back the curtain that was concealing the foul object and his heart stopped dead.

There was a body lying on a metal table.

Oikawa staggered backwards, covering his mouth. ‘Hinata… who- who is that?’

There was a look of pure horror etched into the dead man’s face. His skin was mottled and grey. He’d definitely been there a while.

Hinata had started to cry just as Oikawa realised who was dead on the table.

‘Holy shit, Hinata, fuck.’ Oikawa dared to edge closer, breathing through the sleeve of his jumpsuit. Behind them, the door continued to bang.

The smell was too much, and it made him gag.

‘Shit, it looks like he had his neck snapped.’ Oikawa said between coughs. Hinata was really sobbing now. ‘Fuck. Shit. We need to get out of here.’

Trying to get Hinata to move was impossible. He began screaming and shoving Oikawa away, clearly distraught. When he started smacking his head into the wall, Oikawa wrenched him back and forced him away from the body, back down towards the barricade and where Kageyama lay, mumbling stupidly to himself.

Oikawa put his hands on both of Hinata’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. ‘This is the evidence we need. We can bring down this entire fucking prison, but I’m going to need your help and I’m going to need you to trust me. Can you do that?’

All Hinata managed to say was, ‘I know him.’

‘I know, he was your friend, wasn’t he?’ Oikawa said soothingly. Hinata nodded.

‘His name is Bokuto Kotaro.’

‘I know. I met him when I was in the hospital.’

Another bang on the door made them jump.

Then it stopped. There was a lot of shouting going on outside. Oikawa suspected the guards were trying to restrain Subject 0 now. That was slightly better for them, it meant that crazy inmate wasn’t going to be able to come in here and kill them, but it did mean that they weren’t getting out of here without getting in some serious trouble. Getting locked in isolation wasn’t going to help his case, especially once they realised they’d discovered the body.

Fuck, he might lose his evidence.

They would dispose of the body and form some kind of cover up; he had no doubt of it.

‘You were in the hospital?’ Hinata asked, looking down at Kageyama who was starting to push himself to his feet.

Oh great, he was going to kick off any second once he realised he was trapped in a room with Oikawa.

‘Yes, I’ve been there a while. They kept me in the bed at the end. I had to recover after Tobio shot me.’

Hinata frowned at him. ‘No, Akaashi was in the bed at the end.’

‘I don’t… I don’t think Akaashi is alive anymore, Hinata.’

Hinata ripped himself free of Oikawa’s grip, placing his head in his hands, looking wide-eyed. ‘No, I don’t believe you. He’s here; he’s in the Therapy Unit. They’ve got him locked up.’

‘He’s been missing for five years. No one has seen him. But we’ll uncover the truth, yeah? You and me. We’ll figure out what happened to him, and we’ll bring whoever did this,’ he gestered towards the end of the room where Bokuto’s body lay, ‘to justice. Will you work with me?’

‘Don’t listen to him.’ Kageyama spat, climbing to his feet. He rested against the wall to keep upright. ‘He’s a murderer.’

‘I didn’t kill your father.’

‘LIAR!’

‘Tobio, it wasn’t me! It was Kuroo Tetsuro, the leader of the Nekoma gang! I was framed! I was the journalist who was working alongside your father to bring those groups down!’

Kageyama shook his head. ‘No, no, I don’t believe you.’

‘I infiltrated Aoba Johsai and fed information back to your father. I didn’t kill him, but I blame myself for his death. It was a set up. Kuroo had figured out who I was and did it to punish me. I’m so sorry, Tobio, it was never my intention for any of this to happen. I don’t blame you for shooting me, I understand, but everything your dad was working towards is even bigger than he could have imagined. This entire prison system is involved. Both groups work for Ushijima, he’s the ringleader of all of this. Bokuto and Akaashi used to work for him, they tried to expose him and now they’re dead because of it. Your father’s friend, the private dectective, Ennoshita-’

The guards were banging on the door now, shouting at them to come out. Hinata frowned.

‘Ennoshita?’

‘Yes, he was a private detective working alongside Officer Kageyama. He went missing two years ago. I knew him. They tortured him to get him to forget whatever information he discovered and locked him up here. I tried to talk to him, but he fainted.’

‘You’re lying.’ Kageyama spat.

‘I’m not lying to you! I respected the hell out of your father, and it was the worst day of my life watching him die in my arms. He talked constantly about you, how he’d take you fishing and how proud he was of you.’

‘Stop it!’

‘He said your favourite food is crepes. That you used to love playing volleyball. That you used to wait up for him to come back from a night shift and would always make him green tea and rice and seaweed. He said he met your mother at school, and he propsed to her after he’d been in a fight, so he was all bruised and bloody and he decided that if he didn’t do it sooner, he might not get the chance to later. They got married in a church in Yokohama and never took a honeymoon. How on earth would I know any of that if I hadn’t spent a lot of time working with him? I did not kill your father, but I’m working my arse off to bring down the man that did.’

Kageyama’s knees buckled and he fell to the floor, staring up at Oikawa. It was clear by his expression that he didn’t want to believe him, but he was doubting himself. Oikawa turned back to Hinata.

‘Do you believe me?’

‘I- I don’t know, but you mentioned Kuroo…’

‘He’s the one that framed you, I know. I was following your trial. If you work with me, Hinata, we can bring him down. We can take down Ushijima and every single scumbag out there. We need to destroy Nekoma. We need to disband the Aoba Johsai group. I’m going to kill Kuroo. If I have to spend my life being targeted as a murderer and locked away, then I’m going to take down the one that matters.’

‘How are you going to do that?’

Oikawa sighed, watching the furniture in front of the door begin to shift. ‘I don’t know yet; I get the feeling we are going to get locked away for some time. Whenever we get free, come find me. Even if it’s years from now.’

‘But-’ Hinata ran over to pull Kageyama away from the door.

‘Before they break in here and shock us unconscious, who was the guy trying to attack us? You know him, don’t you? Subject 0?’

‘I thought it was going to be Akaashi,’ Hinata cried. ‘I don’t believe he’s dead. He’s got to be somewhere. He has to be. Oh, Bokuto…’

‘Hinata, give me a name.’

‘Subject 0 is Azumane Asahi.’

Chapter Text

Ennoshita’s Story

As Ennoshita awoke, the first thing he was aware of was the heaviness in his body. His arms and legs both felt stiff and sluggish, and he struggled to move them no matter how much he concentrated. The ropes tied securely around his wrists and ankles also did not help the matter, but it took him a moment to come to this realisation. His head was foggy and he couldn’t get his thoughts straight.

Eventually, he was able to get some focus back in his eyes and he looked around the small, dimly lit room he was in. It had concrete walls and flooring, with a single light bulb hung from the ceiling. There was a metal door to his left and no windows. He was seated in the centre of the room, facing a wall covered in what he could only assume were blood stains. A lump rose in his throat and he had to do his best to keep his breathing steady - this was not the time to start panicking, it would not help.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Count to four with each breath. Focus.

With his head still feeling fuzzy, it was difficult for him to concentrate on repetitive counting. He was trying to remember what he was doing before he woke up here but black spots just flashed before his eyes.

It had something to do with an investigation - that he was sure of. If his head would stop swimming he’d be able to remember.

More breathing exercises.

A face swam into his mind and it all clicked to him suddenly.

Ennoshita had been working alongside his friend, a police officer named Kageyama, as a private investigator in his pursuit of the Aoba Johsai and Nekoma drug gangs and the new and highly popular mood enhancing drug ‘Joy’.

The drug scandal the Ushijima Corporation had faced had been public knowledge - a company that big could not escape information leaking and every news source in the country getting involved. The anti-depressant they were trying to create had never properly reached human trials and the government had prohibited continued production.

Not that this had hurt Ushijima’s reputation - they had the best lawyers and PR team money could buy. Ushijima himself took to the stand on live TV, offering apology after apology that the company had caused such distress and it was never their intention to cause any harm to anyone and would never have moved to human trials with how unstable the results of the anti-depressants had shown in the initial stages. They had simply wanted to help improve the declining mental health rate in Japan and were so sorry they had failed the general public in this way. The company would continue to focus on the development of new medicine for the citizens of Japan and would continue to help rehabilitate those who would attend Shiratorizawa Prison, which had recently opened.

A knock-off version of this drug, which had initially had the codename ‘Blue’, later renamed ‘Joy’, had hit the streets not long after the original project had been shut down and was being peddled amongst criminals and junkies. It was around a year after the drug had become widespread in Japan that Officer Kageyama had gotten Ennoshita involved in his investigation - the police did have their own task force trying to track down this new mysterious drug, but Officer Kageyama felt they were making no real leads. Ennoshita had been hesitant to get involved at first, but eventually gave in after he was pestered enough.

Ennoshita wasn’t the type of person who could infiltrate a drug gang as a mole. He was a mild mannered man, often soft-spoken, and while he could be authoritative when he needed to be, this worked better in a professional setting where reputation and age could easily gain respect from younger peers. Being in his early thirties, Ennoshita was still considered relatively young, however, so his authoritative side didn’t come out very often.

Officer Kageyama had initially suggested going undercover as an option but quickly gave up on the idea when he realised how bad of an actor Ennoshita was. He said he had another person in mind for that type of job anyway - a journalist friend who Ennoshita had met once during their investigation.

Despite this, Ennoshita was good at his job as a private investigator and rarely ever failed to get results for his clients. This job was on a whole other level than the norm, however - he was used to photographing cheating partners or hunting down stolen items, the kind of odd jobs that the police would not take seriously. Tailing members of drug cartels came with a much higher risk, but he was good at keeping to the shadows and out of danger.

A lot of the job involved hanging around areas that were commonly known for drug exchanges, or following junkies in the street to see if they would lead him to new supply areas. It was dull work. Meeting spots changed regularly and suppliers rotated.

He was able to get photos of the drug being sold off on the street, which he would pass back to Officer Kageyama. Some of the photos resulted in arrests where the supplier was identifiable, but word must’ve spread amongst the gangs that the police were catching more and more of their ‘staff’, so many started concealing their faces with surgical masks, sunglasses, and hats.

The police had been able to deduce from the photos Ennoshita had taken in the first few months that the sales were always done near a water source - this is how the police had come to realise that the drugs would dissolve in water. There had been numerous times they were so close to getting hold of the product and it had been flung into the water. Without any physical evidence on the person, it was difficult to prove that it was ‘Blue’ they’d even had in their possession. Luckily, a lot of the sellers had other criminal convictions that proved enough to lock them behind bars anyway.

Undercover police were placed around main water sources - any area that looked like you could sell drugs discreetly, without prying eyes. The cartels clocked on to this quickly and changed tactics, instead having various buckets filled with water at meeting points that could easily be tipped over for easy disposal - often with a second bucket with clean water to help wash away the first and avoid the police getting a proper sample.

It was a year into their investigation that Ennoshita decided he was fed up with acting like a freelance photographer. He knew it was helpful to the police but it was driving him insane and it was getting colder now with the winter months setting in, so he didn’t want to spend a lot of time outside. He needed to do some real detective work.

He had asked Officer Kageyama to print him off all the files for those who had been arrested in relation to their investigation. His reasoning was that he might be able to find a connection between the people - did they have any family ties to each other? Relationship history? Were they all from similar areas? Had they attended the same schools?

He had sat up late at night at the desk in his office, rifling through the files, when he picked up a trend. Every single one of the men or women who had been arrested during this investigation had been sent to Shiratorizawa Prison. He frowned and quickly googled the name of the prison.

‘Why would they send drug dealers and users to a maximum security prison?’ He muttered to himself. He ran over the files again, highlighting the name of the prison on each sheet just to make sure he wasn’t misreading things. Out of the 150 files he had on hand, all of them were now in Shiratorizawa Prison.

He clicked a random article about the prison to read.

Shiratorizawa Prison opened not long after Ushijima Pharmaceuticals had come under fire for allegedly attempting to move onto human trials for the anti-depressant drug they had in production, despite the severe negative side effects displayed in the initial trial stages and animal testing. CEO Wakatoshi Ushijima had announced that he would be building the prison three years prior to this event, stating that the Ushijima Corporation wanted to branch out their business and focus on more projects that would give back to the community.
Many citizens of the Miyagi Prefecture, where the prison was being constructed, raised concerns that they did not want a maximum security prison in their prefecture, and criticised the need as the crime rate in Japan is lower than other countries.
A spokesperson for the company stated that the reason for the prison was to provide rehabilitation - a second chance. As other prisons were government and tax funded, this resulted in limited resources and staffing. Shiratorizawa, on the other hand, would be funded by billionaire Wakatoshi Ushijima himself. They were devoted to providing the best of care to ensure those convicted and held there could be released as productive, honourable, and motivated members of society.
The real question to ask now is - can those convicted to a maximum-security prison actually be rehabilitated?

Ennoshita quickly typed in the search engine -

How many people have been released from Shiratorizawa Prison?

Zero.

Not a single convict who was sentenced there within the last three years had been released. Another article he found on the search engine was asking the same question and another spokesperson had made a statement that rehabilitation takes time, especially for those with more severe convictions and it also relied on the prisoners willingness to want to change themselves. They also issued a friendly reminder that many of the men and women sentenced there had life sentences so even if they were showing excellent improvement within the prison, they may still need to serve their time, unless a court ruled otherwise.

That made sense, he supposed, considering drug dealing or possession often had a ten year sentence or longer. He turned his attention back to the fact that all these convicts had been sent to this specific prison. He tried searching about this fact but found little to no information other than a small statement, once again from another spokesperson, that implied they were trying to tackle Japan’s rising drug problem.

‘So, what? This prison is basically some kind of rehab? What would they get out of doing that?’ He frowned, looking over the files again as if he was expecting the information to suddenly have changed. Then something clicked. ‘Unless they’re all being sent there to keep them quiet? If they’ve all been selling or buying the same knock-off Ushijima Pharmaceuticals drug, either this means Ushijima sold off the formula to a cartel for a profit or they’re still making it and creating a profit through the cartels instead of the general public. Either way, he would not want that information leaking to anyone.’

Ennoshita drummed his fingers on his laptop, thinking.

‘What about the other people in the prison?’ He said to himself. ‘There’s got to be more than just the ones we’ve arrested recently.’

Due to Japanese laws that protected personal information, it wasn’t possible for Ennoshita to search for a list of all convicts held in Shiratorizawa, however, he could try to see if there were any previous convictions that had made the news. Thankfully, there were quite a few different news stories.

Azumane Ashai - his story had made the news as he was the first inmate to be sent to Shiratorizawa Prison. He had been charged with the murder of his college roommate whilst allegedly high on ‘Blue’.

Ukai Keishin - the second inmate in Shiratorizawa. Grandson of the newly appointed prison warden. The warden had discovered his grandson was involved in drug smuggling and had reported him immediately to the police.

Sugawara Koushi - the third inmate in Shiratorizawa. Another murder charge. He had claimed it self defense after his wife, who he stated was both mentally and physically abusive, had tried to strangle him. He had claimed that he had tried to discuss her debt and drug problem and she had snapped. The judge had dismissed the defense plea as the way she had died was far too brutal to be considered just in defense.

Sawamura Daichi - the fourth inmate in Shiratorizawa. He handed himself into the police after killing the drug dealer who had murdered his girlfriend.

Once again, all of these inmates had some sort of link to drugs - not all of the reports named ‘Blue’ as the drug in question, but the link was still there.

And finally, he reviewed an article relating to two previous employees of Ushijima Pharmaceuticals who had been arrested and sentenced to Shiratorizawa shortly after its opening.

Bokuto Koutaro was sentenced to life in newly opened Shiratorizawa Prison today after he had caused several undisclosed problems for the notorious Ushijima Inc. The list of his crimes were never made public, but he and co-worker/partner-in-crime Akaashi Keiji had been rumoured to have caused serious upset to Mr. Ushijima himself, who had been the one to press charges. Shown in his mug shot, Mr. Bokuto appears to be thrilled by his new home and his new, beaten look. It is still undisclosed how he came upon these injuries.
Two of his own employees - had they tried to leak information and gotten caught? Ushijima was rich enough to have them thrown into his prison under false allegations.

He stood up, pacing.

‘He was making this prison at the same time that his anti-depressant was in production and being tested. Maybe once he realised that the drug would never be suitable to be sold as a legitimate anti-depressant, he decided he would sell it as an illegal high instead. He knew he would need to keep his suppliers and buyers under control, and apparently even his own staff, so what better place to keep them all than a prison of his own making? He could keep them there for the rest of their lives and never risk his secret being spilled. If that was the case, he would need somewhere to actually make the drug - it could be overseas but with how frequent this drug hits the streets each week, it’s got to have its main manufacturing location in Japan.’

‘If he’d partnered up with a cartel, it would make sense why the police didn’t find anything searching his warehouses and offices - they wouldn’t be stupid enough to continue making the product in their own locations. Even if they did find some of the cartel’s manufacturing locations, there’d likely be no evidence to tie it back to his company. Although, what would stop the cartel leaders from snitching if they did get caught?’

He sighed.

‘If it were me, I’d want to have oversight of the product being made, with workers I can keep control of - like a labour camp.’ He paused. ‘...Or a prison?’

Ennoshita jumped up in the air, snapping his fingers in delight. ‘He made the prison so he could continue to make the product. The prisoners can act as free labour, with no other choice and with nowhere to go and no one to snitch to.’

He frowned.

‘Although, they did inspections on the prison after it was built to ensure it was up to standard, so surely a massive warehouse or factory would have caused suspicion. It’s not uncommon to have prisoners work manual labour, but the company would have to report on what it was they were doing to ensure they complied with labour laws. So, where would he hide it? Under the prison maybe? But how could I prove that?’
Ennoshita grabbed his phone, ready to phone Officer Kageyama, but noticed how late it was and decided against it. There was the very likely chance Officer Kageyama would still be awake as that man barely slept, but Ennoshita didn’t want to risk waking him if he had on the off chance gone to bed.

Instead, he shoved his phone in his pocket, grabbed his coat and shoes, pulled them on, and headed out into the cold winter night. He wasn’t really thinking this plan through properly, but he didn’t know what else to do and his mind was racing. He checked his camera, a very large and professional looking piece of surveillance equipment, was still safely in the bag in his boot before getting in his car.

It took about an hour to drive to Shiratorizawa Prison. He parked on a side street about a fifteen-minute walk away from the Prison and made the rest of the way on foot. He’d pulled on a wooly hat, a scarf, and had his coat hood pulled up too. He needed to keep his identity concealed if he was going to scope out a max security prison with what he imagined had a lot of security and CCTV.

As suspected, it was very difficult to get any real view of the prison itself. There was a high wall surrounding the entire building complex, with barbed wire running along the top. He could see cameras pointing every which direction and he made sure to keep his head down. He took a few snaps of the outside of the prison but assumed they would be useless - he just felt like he needed to do something since he’d come all this way.

The main gates were closed and there was a security guard stationed in the little booth in front of it. Ennoshita took a deep breath, put his camera back into his leather camera bag, and approached.

‘Freezing, isn’t it?’ He chuckled, pulling his scarf up over his face more. The guard frowned at him.

‘Can I help you, sir?’

‘Sorry to bother you, I’m completely lost. I was trying to find my way to the train station and ended up out here. With how late it is, I’ve probably missed the last train anyway! Can you point me in the right direction anyway please?’

As the guard explained to him the route to take to the station, Ennoshita used this opportunity to have a look through the main gates. He could see the long paved road that led down to the reception area of the prison - this was the only part that was ever shown on the news so he recognised this. Behind the reception, he could make out the dark shapes of several buildings, and he could see the sheer amount of guards standing at attention or wandering around, some accompanied by dogs. The only lights he could see were the ones on in the reception building and outdoor lighting - there were no lit up windows.

‘Did you get all that, sir?’ The guard asked. Ennoshita nodded and thanked him, walking away.

What did he think he was doing coming all the way out here? Did he really think he would stumble across some kind of clue? As if there would be a sign pointing him towards a set of basement stairs that lead to a concealed underground factory.
Sighing, frustrated at himself for wasting his time, he walked back to his car and drove home. As soon as he got in, he collapsed onto the sofa without even bothering to get changed and fell asleep within minutes.

He had no idea how long he had slept for. It could’ve been minutes. It could’ve been hours. All he knew was suddenly he was being forced awake by several men wearing all black with their faces concealed. He didn’t even have time to shout before he struck forcefully in the side of his chest, which winded him and forced him to his knees.

A bag was pulled over his head and a sharp prick pained his arm.

And now, here he was. Tied up, groggy, and confused.

There was no way to tell what time of day it was. He had no idea how long he’d been here. He had no idea how long time passed until someone else entered the room, but to him, it felt like an eternity.

A tall, dark-haired man wearing a fitted black shirt and trousers entered the room, closing the door behind him with a sharp snap. He had his sleeves rolled up, showing off an expensive looking Rolex watch. He was holding a stack of documents, which he dropped at Ennoshita’s feet. It took him a moment to recognise them, as his eyes were still struggling to focus, but he soon realised they were the prison files he had highlighted.

‘Who else have you told about this?’ The man asked calmly, kneeling in front of Ennoshita. ‘We’ve had a look at your search history too - some interesting articles you’ve been reading, Mr. Ennoshita.’

‘Who are you? Where am I?’ The man punched him. Ennoshita’s head whipped back by the force of it and he felt a swash of pain through his skull. ‘What the fuck?!’

‘You didn’t answer my question, so I’ll ask it again - who else have you told about this?’ He bent down and picked up some of the files, shoving them under Ennoshita’s nose.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Another punch to the head. Ennoshita tasted blood in his mouth.

‘Mr. Ennoshita, I think it’s very important you think carefully about your situation and answer the questions I ask honestly.’ The dark-haired man paced back and forth in front of him. ‘You think we haven’t noticed you hovering around for the past year? You think we aren’t aware you’re the one taking those incriminating photos of our staff? You think we haven’t been keeping a close eye on you?’

Ennoshita felt his body freeze up. He thought he had been so careful.

‘And then you made the stupid decision to go scope out Shiratorizawa Prison? You think your little disguise fooled us? I mean, it might have, had we not had trackers on your car…’ He laughed and brought his knee into Ennoshita’s face. He felt his nose break and blood gushed down his chin. He screamed. ‘I think it’s gone far enough, don’t you? I’ve got Officer Kageyama and his little task force running around chasing their tails, but you, you keep causing me problems. You’ve gotten some of my best men arrested.’

Ennoshita spat blood on the floor. ‘Doesn’t matter does it, they all got sentenced to that prison and still work for you, don’t they?’

‘Yeah, they do. Your hunch is correct. I’m sure the police will pick up on it eventually, but we’ve already got our cover story sorted.’ He grabbed Ennoshita’s face, forcing him to lock eyes. ‘Who else have you told about your theory?’

‘Fuck you.’

Another punch. And another. And another. Over and over again until Ennoshita was bleeding and bruised. One of his eyes was swollen shut.

The man grabbed him by the hair and forced his head back. ‘I can do this all night, Mr.Ennoshita, so I suggest you start talking. That, or I can go find your little brother. He works at that cute little coffee shop in the town centre, doesn’t he?’

‘You piece of shi-’ Ennoshita burbled, his mouth full of blood. A hand was slapped over his mouth before he could finish his sentence.

‘Now, now, let’s remain polite. I’m giving you a choice, you can either tell me everything you’ve worked out, who you’ve told, or I’m going to ruin your little brother’s life. I wonder how much of a Joy overdose it takes to kill someone?’ He started to laugh. ‘I’m joking, I don’t need to wonder. I know exactly how much.’

He moved his hand away from Ennoshita’s mouth and let his head fall down to his chest. Ennoshita felt his body shaking.

‘If I talk, will you let me go?’

‘Oh, absolutely not. You’ve meddled far too much and I’ve decided to take it very personally. So, you have a choice, either you talk, answer my questions honestly, and then I’ll continue to hurt you, or you don’t talk, I’ll continue to hurt you anyway, but I’ll also hurt your brother. I won’t just stop there, I’ll go after your parents, your friends, everyone you’ve ever cared about. And I will keep you alive for every second of it. I’ll make sure to use your lovely little camera to capture the moments too, yeah?’

Ennoshita let his body slump.

‘I haven’t told anyone else my theory about the prison or those sentenced there. I only figured it out last night. Check my phone, the last time I spoke to Officer Kageyama was three days ago. Don’t you think if I’d have told him you’d know by now?’

‘And he hasn’t mentioned this theory to you before?’

‘No. All he asked me to do was tail your guys and take photos. I haven’t been actively involved in the overall task force or the investigation with the actual police - I don’t think Kageyama has told them he even hired me, I don’t think they’d have allowed it. I got frustrated and bored just stalking and taking pictures, so I asked him to get me those files to see if I could find any connection between those arrested. If I go missing after saying that’s what I’m looking into, he’s probably going to connect the dots himself.’

‘Don’t you worry about Officer Kageyama - I have a plan for him.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s no concern of yours.’ He walked over to the door and took a seat, resting his back against it. ‘Tell me the rest of your theory.’

‘After the government shut down the production of the anti-depressant, Ushijima either sold the recipe to the cartel, or he continued the production himself in secret. Either way, Joy has been created and sold as an illegal high and he’s profiting off of it somehow. I was thinking where you could possibly be producing such a huge amount of this product-’

‘Ah, so you came to the conclusion that it’s being made in the prison?’

‘Yes.’

The man clapped his hands. ‘Very good. You’re clever. You’ve figured it out. But that makes you a problem.’

‘Kill me then. I’ve told you what you wanted, just leave my family and Officer Kageyama alone.’

‘Oh no, no, I’m not going to do that. That’s a waste of a test subject. Congratulations, Mr. Ennoshita, you’re going to be our newly appointed resident of Shiratorizawa Prison. It’s just a shame you won’t remember anything about it after we’re through.’