In the Headlights

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The slight tilting of the bus caused Tsukishima to wake up with a start. His head throbbed and his right side seemed to be pulsing with pain with every heartbeat. Ever a quick study, however, the middle blocker didn't waste time in assessing his surroundings and quickly came to the realisation that he was no longer sitting next to Yamaguchi. Or, perhaps more accurately, Yamaguchi was no longer sitting next to him. Tsukishima looked to his right, where his best friend had been sitting prior to the crash, and his eyes bulged. The window was completely gone, just shards of glass at the edges of the frame suggested there was ever a one there, and below was a sheer drop. The tops of trees could be seen but they seemed almost fake because of how far down they were, almost like the model trees one would see on a train set. The sight of such an extreme drop and the cold breeze coming through the window – or what was once the window – made his hair stand on end.

Across from Tsukishima, Tanaka had noticed the blonde's movement.

"Tsukishima! You alright?" the wing spiker winced as his shoulder complained against his movement but he wore a brave face for his kouhai.

"I'm fine," Tsukishima snapped and glanced around at his teammates, "Yama-" he had to pause to stop his voice from cracking, "Yamaguchi's not here..."

The others saw the panicked expression on the usually stoic teenager and no one knew what to say. The most plausiable explanation was that the freckled boy had fallen out of the broken window and down into the forest below, never to be seen again. But Karasuno was not a team to dwell on the what-ifs or the negatives and Daichi always had something up his sleeve to counter their negative thoughts.

"Maybe he's on the road outside like Hinata...?" The captain wanted to sound confident but couldn't help the way his words turned into a question.

Tanaka shook his head, "I could only see Hinata out there..."

"Maybe he's somewhere else on the bus?"

Asahi had made his way back to the rear of the bus in fear of tipping it over the edge and he balanced there nervously as they each looked around for any sign of Yamaguchi. Nothing. Tsukishima ground his teeth as his infuriation grew. There was nothing he hated more than not knowing something and the fact that that something was whether or not his best and oldest friend was dead or not was gnawing at him like a plague-ridden rat. He was about to unbuckle himself and start searching the bus when he heard a faint whisper of a voice coming from outside the bus, to his right. He leaned in his seat, making himself a little taller so that he could look over the lip of the window and there, hanging by his bag's strap like bait on a fishing pole, was Tadashi.

"Yamaguchi!"

He looked ridiculous hanging there, totally helpless, and Tsukishima promised himself that he would let Yamaguchi know that just as soon as they got him back inside the bus. The freckled teen looked up from his dangling position, tears in his eyes and blood dripping down his cheek, and managed a weak smile.

"Tsukki!" his torn and bloody hands gripped his bag tightly as he swayed slightly, legs hanging limply beneath him above the chasm.

"We're going to get you, don't move!" Daichi yelled through his own smashed window.

"I- I wasn't planning on going anywhere," Yamaguchi replied softly.

"Asahi," Daichi unstrapped himself and carefully stepped over his seat so that he was next to Tsukishima, "Help me undo Tsukishima's seatbelt."

Asahi did as he was told and unfastened the blonde's belt. As soon as he did so, Tsukishima was leaning over to the window, his arms dangling in the air as he fumbled to reach Yamaguchi's bag. It had snagged on a piece of sharp metal that had been exposed during the crash and was currently the only thing keeping Yamaguchi from plummeting to his death. Knowing the straps wouldn't last long – the fabric was already starting to fray against the sharp metal – Tsukishima reached over the broken edges of the window, ignoring the way it cut into his arms, and grabbed the strap. His right side, specifically his ribs, protested with every movement and he guessed a couple of them were probably broken but he didn't have time to worry about that now. He reached further out and could feel Daichi's strong arms supporting his long legs as he pulled on the bag strap with all of his strength.

Above him, Asahi gestured to Tsukishima's seat where a dark red stain had seeped into the fabric where he'd been sitting, but Daichi knew that there was no way the middle blocker would let anyone else save Yamaguchi. He hadn't even taken a second to think about his own safety when Asahi had loosened his seatbelt and he certainly wasn't wasting any time in pulling his friend back in.

"Tsukki..."

Yamaguchi hadn't realised he was crying until he looked up at his best friend and had to blink away the tears to see him clearly. Not only were his hands and face stinging like crazy, he was also so high up. When he'd woken up a minute or so earlier he'd thought he was still dreaming and it was only when Tsukki had yelled his name that he realised it was indeed reality.

"Don't... worry..." Tsukishima gasped between breaths.

He pulled with all of his strength on the bag strap as his side screamed in protest and looked in horror as the fabric tore a little more. What if he couldn't pull him up in time? What if Yamaguchi slipped and fell? What if the bus just went tumbling over the edge into oblivion and they all plummeted to their untimely deaths anyway? Tsukishima shook his head to dispel the negative thoughts and yanked the strap upwards with an almighty tug. His glasses fell off and he watched, mesmorised, as they swooped and swayed all the way into the blurriness of the trees below. A loud RIIIIP echoed in his ears and he watched as the strap completely tore in half. With only half a second to react, Tsukishima reached out and grabbed Yamaguchi's freckled arm as the bag spiralled down away from the bus like a parachutist jumping from a plane. Tadashi swung there, his bloodied hand clasped around his friend's arm, as Tsukishima and the others helped pull him back inside the bus. The two friends lay there, Yamaguchi on top of Tsukishima as the latter locked his arms around him tightly, huffing and puffing as they tried to catch their breath. The middle blocker finally positioned himself so that he could look at Yamaguchi, although everything was now just a blur of colours and shapes without his glasses, and pressed their foreheads together.

"Tsukki, I thought I was going to di-"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

Asahi exhaled loudly and helped Tsukishima get Yamaguchi further back in the bus before turning to Daichi,

"Now what?"

"We need to start getting everyone off the bus but I don't want the balance to shift..." the captain scratched his head as the others looked to him for guidance, "You guys stay put and I'll go and see what's happening at the front."

As carefully as he could, Daichi stepped onto the armrests of each seat and started to make his way to the front of the bus. As he reached the middle, he passed Nishinoya and decided to try and move him backwards so that the weight of the front and back wouldn't shift too much. Easily, like lifting a child, Daichi scooped up the libero and handed him back to a thankful Asahi, who took the second year and put him on his back. The captain continued forward until he reached the seat behind the driver where Takeda-sensei was still strapped in securely. He didn't look hurt, the only obvious broken part of him was his cracked glasses and Daichi was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of relief at having at least one adult to help out.

"Ah! Sawamura-kun!" Takeda smiled, "Thank God you're alright! How are the others?"

Daichi nodded, "Nishinoya is unconscious and Hinata got thrown from the bus so I'm not sure..."

"Ah... Shit..." It was Ukai, "I think my wrist is broken."

Daichi's eyes widened at the sight of the windscreen. There was blood smeared across is like an oil painting and for a moment Daichi thought it belonged to someone from the team. His reasonable brain quickly told him that it was deer's blood, however, and he tried to calm his queasy stomach.

"We need to get everyone off the bus before it falls," Ukai said matter-of-factly, like it was the easiest thing in the world, "We'll have them climb out the windows above us, okay?"

Daichi had stopped listening. All of his attention was now on the window next to the front seat opposite the driver. It overlooked the expanse of nothingness below and somehow it hadn't shattered but there were cracks like a giant spider-web covering it. And, in the centre of the web like a trapped fly, was Sugawara.