TRAGEDY | Shouyou Hinata (Murder of Crows) ✓

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Not the last chapter - I split it into two again because it was getting too damn long lol.

You woke up tasting blood.

It formed a thick, metallic layer on your tongue that made your stomach twist with nausea when you swallowed it. The back of your throat felt dry and itchy, as if you'd been breathing in dust, and the muscles in your neck and back ached. When you opened your eyes, you saw nothing but watery grey light, like the sky after rainfall, and shadows coalescing at the edges of your vision.

Groaning, you pushed yourself up with shaky hands, and looked around. Misshapen shadows loomed from the dark, tall and crooked and reaching for you with spindly fingers, their edges blurred in the hazy light. You blinked again, letting your eyes adjust. As your surroundings gained clarity, coming into focus, you finally realised where you were. You'd been here dozens of times in the past, whenever you came to visit your best friend. You were in Hinata's bedroom.

The curtains had been drawn over the window and only a thin crack of light squeezed its way through to illuminate your surroundings. A bitter, mildewy smell hung in the air.

Pushing back the hair that stuck to your forehead, your fingers touched something wet and warm above your brows, and you pulled away to find blood on your fingers, still fresh. It rendered you dazed for a long, breathless second, then a memory resurfaced – you, coming here in search of Daichi, running from the madness in Hinata's eyes, bing struck unconscious. There were chafe marks running up your legs and forearms and you realised he must have dragged you up to his room after you'd lost consciousness.

Hinata. That cheerful bundle of energy you had once called your best friend. What had happened to him? When had he snapped enough to cross the line of murder to protect one person? When had the boy you thought you knew, become a stranger? You understood the affliction of grief, the damage it caused, but to send Hinata into this spiral of madness had been unprecedented. It was as if the old Hinata had died with his sister, and this new one had been born from the throes of tragedy.

Your thoughts were stilled when you became aware of breathing in the room, not your own. It was shallow and laboured, as if the person was in pain, and your own breath hitched in your throat as you sat listening to it. Then, slowly, you scrambled to your feet and looked around.

There was a figure lying on the bed. Nothing more than a shadow to begin with, but as your eyes adjusted, you noticed with passing relief that it was too big to be Hinata, too wide at the shoulders and long at the legs. Inching forward, your footsteps muffled by the grainy carpet, you almost cried out when the face came into view, pale and lucid in the dark.

"Daichi!" You cried, stumbling over to the bed, already reaching for his shoulder to shake him awake. "Daichi! Wake up, Daichi." The captain groaned in his sleep, his head lifting weakly only to fall back down with a shuddering breath. He didn't open his eyes. It was then you realised that the dark patches stretched across his face were not shadow, but blood. There was a lot of it. "Daichi, please," you said with renewed urgency, still not lifting your voice any higher than a harsh whisper for the fear that Hinata would hear you. He could be right outside the door for all you knew. You gave his shoulder another rough shake, expelling a breath of relief when his eyes finally blinked open, dazed and unfocused. Then they closed again. "No, no, stay awake Daichi. Come one, wake up." Urged by the sound of your voice, Daichi finally opened his eyes and turned to look at you. His mouth crinkled.

"[L/N]?" He slurred, squinting up at you. His head tilted drowsily, arms wobbling as he tried to push himself up. "What... what are you doing here? What's going on?" You eased your hands against his back and helped him sit up. He reached up and rubbed his face, smearing blood in the process. "Where am I? What's..."