apocalypse

Childhood

Song: YKWIM? - Yot Club

In sleep, Iwaizumi found comfort in his childhood, and his dreams often gave him the escape he needed from the reality that haunted him.

He felt the wind through his hair as if it were real. His callused hands on the handlebars ached and his feet on the pedals burned with exertion.

"You're going too fast! I can barely keep up," Tooru said breathlessly, the youthful glow of childhood exuding from him.

Hajime smiled to himself, pleased that he had impressed Oikawa. "It's not as fun if you don't go fast," he said, pushing his legs to go even faster as they approached a downhill stretch.

He heard Tooru audibly sigh as Iwa sped away, but with his speed came recklessness, and soon enough, Hajime found himself spinning out of control. His wheels spun with the gravel below him, and his bike flung him forward. He landed on his knees, scraping them against the rocks.

"Iwa! Are you okay down there?" Tooru yelled as he skidded to a stop beside Iwaizumi.

Hajime looked up at Oikawa, trying to keep his tears at bay. "Yeah. I'm okay."

Tooru knelt down with a look of concern on his face. He held out his hands to him. "We should go back. You're bleeding," he said, his eyes widening as he looked down to see the blood on Iwa's hands.

At first it was only a little. Tiny scrapes made by loose gravel. But the scrapes grew to cuts and the cuts to gashes, blood spurting out like a fountain.

"Tooru! What's happening to my hands?" Hajime asked, beginning to scream.

But when he looked up, Oikawa was gone, fading away with his dream, the comfort of childhood slipping away.

. . .

He knew where he was the moment he opened his eyes. Kuroo's apartment had a certain smell that Hajime couldn't quite describe, but the scent reminded him of where he was right away.

Iwaizumi sat up, sweat gleaming on his face. He held his hand to his bare chest, feeling his heart rate slowly decline back to normal.

A single beam of the early morning sun poked through the curtain, casting a ray of light on their bed.

He looked over at a resting Tooru, his face relaxed in sleep and his limbs construed in odd positions.

With only five bedrooms and six people, compromises had to be made. No matter how much Kuroo begged Kenma to share a room with him, Kenma had stuck to his simple "no". So that left Tooru and Hajime to share a room. Iwaizumi didn't mind of course, but he hated being so close to Tooru like this. It only frustrated him.

He watched Oikawa's chest rise and fall with steady breaths and smiled as his eyes fluttered with dreamful sleep before eventually heading to the kitchen.

To his surprise, Kuroo was already in there, pushing buttons on the microwave. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" he asked, pressing start.

"Decent enough," Iwa lied, remembering the nightmare he had earlier. "Hey, I'm sorry for being a coward last night. I...I didn't expect-"

"To give up your innocence so quickly?" he finished, leaning back against the counter.

Iwaizumi nodded. "Does it get any easier? Killing people, I mean," he asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yes and no. I've killed a lot of people, Iwa. Everyone here has. Even Tooru," Tetsuro admitted, but there was no shame in his eyes.

Hajime sighed, his suspicion confirmed. Oikawa was a killer too. "I figured so. It's just...I felt a sort of power in it. I was terrified, sure, but with the opportunity, I couldn't stop myself from plunging the knife in over and over again."