dottie-writes-haikyuu - Tumblr blog

dottie-writes-haikyuu · 2 months ago

Text

Crash Landing

This is part 13 of my fic Not Everyone Survives (But I will do the Best I Can). More info and other chapters can be found here.

After a crash landing, victims must adjust despite being disoriented, and learn to move on. Or, simply learn to move once again.

Keiji was a mess. He had been able to put together a good front for the rugrats but aside from that, it was clear he was in distress. He couldn’t sleep alone, but he couldn’t go to sleep without patrolling the inside and outside of the base, and he woke up in the middle of the night crying. He slept with Kuroo some nights, then Kenma and Yukie other nights. Sometimes he slept with Lev, or Konoha, or Yaku. He woke up, calling for Koutarou, and then sobbed when he realized that his lover was not there, guilt consuming him.

In his defense, it wasn’t just him. Kenma had to be wrestled away from work, Kuroo was running on autopilot to avoid thinking about it too much, Kai and Eve were inseparable and angry, and everyone was just… not themselves.

“We’re having an intervention,” Kaori announced. “Before one of you does something idiotic, or actually loses it.”

They were all sat in the conference room, and Tetsurou could feel Keiji trembling next to him. But he was always shaking, even more so since Bokuto had been taken.

Kuroo was only mentally checked in because this was different from the code he’d programmed himself to follow. Kenma’s hands were twitching and Tetsurou reflexively passed a puzzle gadget to the blonde, who caught it. With his hands at work, Kenma looked a little more present.

“Messenger has Bokuto. We can’t do shit about that right now. But having collective mental breakdowns won’t help either.”

“What else are we supposed to do?” Kai questioned.

“Plan for when we get him back. And what we’re gonna do to them for taking him.”

“They’ll expect us if we try to get him this soon after they’ve taken him,” Kenma pointed out.

“And Messenger’s artillery isn’t something to mess with,” Lev added reluctantly.

“So, even though we don’t want to, we have to let him stay there for a while so they stop expecting us,” Konoha said, his voice quiet. Keiji’s eyes snapped over to the other.

“Are you insane? You’re seriously considering letting him stay there? We don’t have a clue what they’re doing to him, or if they’re gonna kill him, or—“

“He said he’d give him back. But not until after whatever they’re trying to do,” Kenma interjected. “We just don’t wanna wait. Which is reasonable. But if we try to get him now, we risk our safety and his. Just a few more months.”

Maybe, if God was real, he was just testing them all. How fucked up. Keiji opened his mouth then closed it. His tremors got worse. Kuroo decided against speaking.

It was, ultimately, Keiji’s decision. They all were looking at the short ravenette, probably waiting for him to speak. Tetsurou squeezed his shoulder.

“We’ll, uhm…we’ll wait, then.”

“What are we gonna do when we get him back?”

“Let’s wait until we get to that point,” Konoha said quickly. Lev nodded along.

“Yeah, let’s worry about that when it’s time to worry about it. We’ve got…more than enough to worry about right now,” Yaku said with a small sigh.

“Yeah. I just…” Yukie trailed off. “Let’s just focus on keeping things afloat until we get him back.”

“We’ll get him back,” Eve said, nodding to herself.

—

Subject 8’s experimentation was going well. Some of the desired characteristics were already showing up, and it was hardly fighting recently. The glowing eyes had already started manifesting, canines sharpening.

Things were going as they should be. They could truly begin with Project Savior soon. When he walked into the lab that morning, Subject 8’s eyes snapped up to look at him, and maybe he was smiling a little too widely because a startled hiss jumped out of the other.

Huh, that was a new ability. It looked shocked, itself.

“Oh, no need to be upset, now,” he said, and its brows furrowed. “What next, you’ll be roaring at me? Like some sort of monster?”

It gave no reply. It never did. He didn’t need it to.

He wouldn’t be observing today, as there were things to do. But how intriguing.

“That wasn’t something we gave you. You developed that on your own. You’re becoming less human by the day, aren’t you? Will Torch even want you back when we’re done, then?”

He let out a small chuckle when Subject 8 frowned.

“I— they’ll come for me,” it said defensively. “And I’m still human, just…a little different.”

He scoffed. “Let’s go with that.”

“They will come for me.”

“Then why haven’t they? We’ve had you for a month and a half. Why didn’t they come for you right after we took you?”

A growl. He laughed.

“Oh, wow! And you say you’re human?”

Hinata shook his head, shrugging.

“No matter. Project Savior will succeed.”

He started for the door, then turned to tilt his head at Subject 8.

“You will save all of us. Human or not.”

—

It was nighttime when they came. Koutarou flinched, and then there was beeping and his collar loosened and there were voices shushing him. A click of a lock, then the cuff on his right wrist opened and the chain fell to the floor.

“We’re gonna get you outta here,” one of the voices whispered. A rugrat. “This is fucked up.”

“Wait, if he catches you—“ he started, being shushed again.

ItHe could kind of see the rugrats. There were seven. Another approached him and removed his collar, grimacing at the burn scars that were definitely there. Meanwhile, his other hand and his feet were unchained.

“Don’t make a sound. We gotta pass by Captain’s room to get out.”

He nodded, and they exited the lab. It had been so long since he’d seen anywhere outside of the lab. He crept along behind the rugrats. How funny, his life was now in their hands. He was being led by rugrats, instead of rugrats being led by him.

How funny that he needed saving.

He caught sight of the door and felt his heart leap. Was he really about to go home?

Did they still want him there?

Of course they did. Shouyou had just been trying to get to him. Keiji would always want him. Even with his newer features. The others, too. They needed him. That was irrefutable. Or, he hoped so. He was so absorbed in his thoughts, moving on autopilot, that when they finally reached the door, he was a little startled. Then it clicked.

He was going home. He grinned, an excitement he hadn't felt in months filling his veins. He suppressed a purr, still unused to the sensation. A nudge had him sprinting, and then he heard a yell behind him.

“You traitors, all of you!!! If he gets back, I’m going to kill every single fucking rugrat in this base,” Shouyou’s voice shrieked. “Tobio, go reactivate the fucking collar! I am not letting him get away.”

Shit, shit, shit. His breath picked up and he ran faster. He was unarmed, it was dark, and he was so, so far from base. The moment the collar activated, it was game over. He would either scream so loud that mutants would find him, or maybe he'd just be burned to death by the voltage. He couldn't go back, though, that would most certainly yield consequences too and then those rugrats’s efforts would be in vain. So he ran, quicker than he ever had gone before. Was it adrenaline or a result of experimentation?

He wondered if this was how deer felt, back when there were deer, being chased by something they certainly could not outrun but running anyways. Did he even remember the way back to base? It had been two months. He was only running, with the hopes that he would make it there. Away, he needed to get away. He had to get away. Maybe Keiji was still trying to save him. Maybe he'd run into his lover while he was running, his lungs contracting and expanding quicker and quicker. Air began to burn as desperation filled him. A desperate hope that clung to him, clawed at him.

He felt the collar flicker back to life and his breath hitched, heart stopping, and then it started.

—

The screams were likely heard for miles. Subject 8 was immune, so Shouyou was in no rush to retrieve it. Maybe the burning electricity combined with getting maimed again would teach it a lesson, before the executions tomorrow. Seven rugrats. Seven. Shouyou was fuming, saying all of these thoughts into the air between them.

Tobio watched the ginger pace back and forth, the faint shrieks of agony heard even at base. His boyfriend’s hands were trembling and he'd never looked so maniacally angry. He looked like he was losing himself. Tobio hardly recognized him.

“Shouyou. We should go get him–”

Those eyes snapped over to him in fury and he quickly corrected himself.

“It. Before they kill it. Or before the collar does. The voltage is higher, now. It's not meant for extended use.”

“Then, change it,” his lover gritted out, something akin to disdain in his voice. The ravenette flinched at the tone, wringing his fingers together before going to do just that. At times, even before the experimentation started– even before Hinata learned of Bokuto’s immunity –there would be moments in which Kageyama truly didn't recognize him. He acted different, almost as if he didn't recognize Tobio either. Just another thing he was mad at, that wasn't doing what he wanted it to do.

He wondered if Hinata loved him during those moments.

When they finally retrieved BokutoSubject 8, it was trembling, bleeding, and the distinct stench of charred flesh filled the air. Tears streamed down its face and when they arrived it let out a fearful hiss, scrambling away as best it could as it heaved another sob, shaking its head desperately.

“Kei…Keiji,” it sobbed, curling in on itself. The collar was still going, and it scratched at the object weakly, wailing. Tobio opened his mouth, uncertainty worming into his heart for the first time since this had begun. Well. The second time. The first execution had been the first. So he was maybe going to say something– perhaps Shouyou would listen to him –when the ginger spoke first.

“Pathetic.”

And with that he doubted himself. So he simply nodded, though he disagreed, wringing his hands together instead.

“We should…get it back to base. Before it…”

For a moment, he saw Shouyou– his Shouyou –glance toward him in concern, but it was quickly replaced by agitated confusion. A quick kiss pressed to his lips by a stranger, then the ginger moved to haul up Subject 8’s trembling form. Immediately it shrieked, writhing and clawing at him in a desperate, blind attempt to get away. He sounded more animalistic than human, each desperate cry bordering on primal, and Tobio put a hand on Hinata’s shoulder. The ginger backed away and Tobio crouched in front of Bokuto. He kept his voice soft, gentle.

“Hey, hey, the only way I can make it stop is if you let us take you back,” he tried, and got a purely distraught whine in return. The other yanked at the collar again, trying and failing to stop what was probably destroying his skin right now.

“If you come back, I'll let you have one message to Keiji. Alright? Collar will turn off and we’ll fix you up, get you back in your head. But you have to come with us.”

Those hazy eyes looked up at him and watered.

“Keiji…”

Delusional, maybe, from all the pain, the man latched onto him.

“Make…make it stop, Keiji, please, please I'm sorry they found out I'm sorry,” came the broken sentence which gave him pause.

However, playing along was likely best. So he willed himself not to stim and instead soothe a hand down Koutarou’s back.

“I will, don't worry. Just let us take you back.”

A nod, instantly. With that, he carefully hauled the larger man up and they began their trek back to base, Tobio soothing little whines and growls along the way the same way he may sooth a child, or one of the strays he used to take in before the Crumble.

“You'll be alright, Kou,” he murmured, the lie sticking like glue between his teeth before coming out silky smooth.

“We’ll be alright.”

Previous Chapter

#bokuaka #shobio #bokuaka fanfic #haikyuu au #infection apocalypse au #haikyuu #haikyuu fanfiction #dottie writes

3 notes · View notes