Red Winter - /Haikyuu/

27. Hurting

"Let's hurry, then. Kenma said he was planning on blowing it up at 1:00 am." Hinata looked down at his watch, heart lurching as he realized it was 12:43 am. "We have to hurry! We have less than twenty minutes!" Hinata darted towards the building, the two other boys hot on his trail.

He burst into the gymnasium, jaw growing slack as he stared at the mess.

People were running around, yelling, all the while fire licked up the walls and towards the people.

Hinata kept his head low, spotting the military people around. He knew Sergeant was looking for him, and he dreaded to think what would happen if he did find him.

They searched and searched, looking everywhere for Suga. But he was no where in sight. Maybe he was in Doctor Sohma's office? It was worth a shot. Hinata ran down the hall, swinging the door open and looking inside.

It was empty, the room flickering with the orange glow of the fire outside. Other than that it was dark. He wasn't here.

As Hinata was about to walk away, dejected, Kageyama grabbed his arm. "Stop, Hinata. Look, there's another door inside the room." Kageyama said, and as Hinata looked harder, he spotted the white door frame.

Hinata walked towards it, his feet carrying him. He rested his hand on the doorknob, turning it quickly and swinging the door open. The room inside was empty, all except for a lone chair. Resting in the chair was a limp body, one Hinata knew well.

He had silver hair, kind eyes, and a mole right on his cheekbone. It was him, it was Sugawara.

But there was something different about him, something off. Hinata's mouth went dry as Kageyama and Tsukishima stood behind him. Hinata's gaze trailed to Suga's eyes, but his blood ran cold as he looked deep into them.

They were grayed out, full of no emotion, nothing but pure hunger.

It wasn't Suga anymore.

"Suga..?" Hinata whispered out, feeling as if the breath was sucked right out of him. "Come on, Suga. Come with us. You need to lead us." Hinata uttered out, hearing Kageyama's breath catch with a sob. Tsukishima let out a shaky breath, his face pale. "Suga? Suga. Suga!" Hinata's voice rose to a scream as whatever was masquerading as Suga squirmed in its chair, desperate to break out and devour human flesh.

"That's not Suga anymore." Tsukishima's voice shook, everyone's eyes locked on the struggling Suga. No, the struggling red.

"We need you, Suga!" Hinata whimpered, clutching onto the fabric above his heart, squeezing like his life depended on it. "Please! Please! Please, Suga!" Hinata felt empty inside, as if someone had scooped out all of his insides, leaving him with nothing but turmoil. His chest heaved with effort as he struggled to breath.

"Hinata, we have to get out. Before the building explodes." Kageyama muttered, his face streaked with tears. Tsukishima's features twisted up as he looked back at Suga. At the red.

"We have to do something about that. It wouldn't feel right to keep Suga like this," Tsukishima's voice trembled. Hinata, with a face as white as a sheet, grabbed the knife out of his pocket, holding onto the base tightly. He approached the thrashing red that was once Suga, struggling to breath.

Hinata held the knife up high, eyes wide as he took in the reds face. It's jaw snapped at his arm, missing barely. Hinata trembled, hesitating, before bringing the blade down into his head. Blood squirted from the wound, splashing onto Hinata's cheek. Hinata pulled the knife out, setting it down on Suga's lap. The now deceased red's head hung, deep red falling from the hole.

"Let's go." Kageyama said, and Hinata nodded, looking to Tsukishima. The blonde boy looked reluctant about something, adjusting his glasses ever so slightly.

"How much time do we have?" Tsukishima asked after a pause.

"We have six minutes." Hinata replied, and Tsukishima sat down on the floor.

"You guys go. Leave. I'm staying here." Tsukishima's voice broke at the end, staring at the floor.

"But we can't leave you here, you'll die-"

"That's the point, Hinata." The boy lifted his hands up, wiping tears from his eyes from underneath his glasses.

"But Tsukki, I, I can't!" Hinata choked out, and Kageyama set a hand on his shoulder.

"Get out!" Tsukishima yelled, and Hinata shook his head in disbelief. "Get out!"

"Hinata, we have to leave. We can't force him to go with us, and we have no time. We have to get out of here!" Kageyama spoke hurriedly, and Hinata glanced at Tsukishima with desperation. But the boy wouldn't budge from his spot next to the dead Suga.

"Bye, Tsukishima." Hinata whispered, voice faint.

"Bye, Hinata." Tsukishima said back, his tone broken with the inevitability of death.

And with that, Kageyama dragged him by the wrist out of the room, out of Doctor Sohma's office, and out of the gymnasium.

In all the chaos they weren't spotted by any soldiers, luckily enough. But as they ran down the blackened pavement, away from the gymnasium, a loud boom rang through the air.

Hinata glanced back, the ground shaking and throwing him down. As he stared in complete awe at the cloud of orange and red that burst from the building, Kageyama helped him up. With an explosion that large, it was guaranteed that Tsukishima was gone.

With that thought, Hinata fell to his knees, grabbing onto Kageyama's shirt as he started to bawl like a baby. "K-Kageyama!" He cried, great big tears rolling down his face. The strong, stoic, silent Kageyama broke down, collapsing to his knees as well. "They're gone!" Hinata wailed, and Kageyama put his arms around him.

"I know!" Kageyama bawled as Hinata sobbed into the freezing air. Those boys had been so close to him he considered them family. And now they were all gone. They were the only two left.

Hinata thought back, to the beginning. When Kageyama had ran with him, when Sugawara had saved him, when Yamaguchi was first bitten. He thought of when they escaped from Sergeant, when they had met Nagisa, when they left to go to Daichi. He thought of when Natsu had died, the school was overrun, and when they were split up from their friends.

And then when Yamaguchi died, following after Daichi's death. When they made it to the safe zone, when he found out Sergeant was here. All of it. All of it had led them here. Alone, with no one but each other.

"We have to get out of here, Hinata. Sergeant will be looking for you," Kageyama gasped out, and Hinata nodded slowly.

"Yeah, you're right." Hinata managed out through sobs. Kageyama pulled away, swiping his eyes, before getting to his feet. Hinata picked himself up, knees wobbling as they ran away, together, into the frosty winter night.

Even though the others were gone, or just simply dead, at least they had each other. That was the outlook Hinata tried to keep as they fell asleep in the janitor's closet of an abandoned school that night.

They woke up in the morning, and had to move again. Sergeant was as persistent as can be, desperate to find Hinata. He didn't quite know why that man had such an obsession with him, but one thing he did know was that he couldn't let Sergeant find him. He never wanted to go through that pain ever again.

They managed to just slip away from the soldiers, every time they spotted them. It was like a game of cat and mouse.

Finally, once they thought they were far enough away from Sergeant, the two boys had decided to settle down in the area, hunting for food, surviving off the occasional bird or fish they caught. It had been only three days since Suga and Tsukishima's deaths, and they still weighed heavy on their minds.

They encountered a few reds here and there, but they managed, even without Hinata's trusty knife. But after what Doctor Sohma had told him about the reds still being alive, each kill dragged him further into a pit of guilt.

The two boys did converse, but their conversations were always short lived, due to heavy topics intruding. The days started to grow colder and colder, which could only mean one thing.

The first snow was coming.