Survival of the fittest- A Haikyuu apocalypse AU

Chapter 8

It was the middle of the night when Nishinoya woke up. He groggily opened his eyes, and with blurry vision surveyed his surroundings.

This wasn't his closet.

He wasn't even in the store.

So where was he?

This was bad. His breathing became shallow and quick as he shot up and suddenly gasped in pain.

His arm. Right.

A figure beside him moved. He hadn't been aware that there was someone in here with him. Who was this person? He did not know. Nishinoya frantically scanned the room for a weapon. Nothing.

The strange figure rose and Nishinoya scrambled backwards as silently as he could. Pain shot through his arm again, making him collapse to the ground, grunting in pain. The figure moved closer to him. It was large. Terrifyingly large.

He hadn't noticed when he'd started shaking and crying, but he was doing it now. He raised his trembling arms, ready for defense, until the figure said his name in a familiar voice.

"Nishinoya-kun?"

Asahi moved closer to him and Noya flinched, having become used to sudden movement meaning potential harm. The taller man backed away, but this time Nishinoya moved forwards.

"Asahi-san...?"

He crept towards the taller boy, and fell into his chest, wrapping his arms around him, then flinching and bringing them away. Asahi returned the embrace, holding the small boy tightly and protectively as he shook and sobbed quietly.

"I was scared you were dead!"

"I thought I would die! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"But I'm right here."

Nishinoya couldn't respond. He was crying too hard. He curled up in the taller boy's arms, shaking, before Asahi pulled a blanket over him. No, that wasn't a blanket, it was...jackets? Six large jackets were zipped and tied to each other.

"You're shivering," Asahi whispered.

"I'm scared," Nishinoya replied.

"You don't have to be anymore," the larger man said, and pulled him closer, then set him down and folded his own Karasuno volleyball club jacket to make Noya a pillow. He slipped it under the small boy's head and crawled next to him, putting his hand on the other's as a gesture of comfort.

The adrenaline died from his blood and Nishinoya fell asleep.

When Noya woke up next, his hands felt cold. He opened his eyes to see enough light to signal it was daytime, and that he was in the volleyball gymnasium closet. He sat up, wary of his arm this time.

Suddenly, his head throbbed and he felt weak and nauseous. He gasped in pain and his head was suddenly in his hands and his knees to his chest. An open container of water was pushed to him, and he drank greedily from the bottle until the pain subsided a little. It only occurred to him after he put the bottle down to look up and see who gave it to him.

"Hey, sleeping beauty."

Sugawara smiled and gave him a ration of food as well. "Don't eat it too fast," he warned, "I don't want you to throw up." Nishinoya nodded. "You're alive," he noted, "Did you get back to the gym before this started, then?" Suga shook his head. "We all got split up. Tanaka, Kageyama, and Tsukishima managed to find me and Kinoshita while we were hiding in the teacher's lounge, and we made our way back here to Daichi and Hinata. Asahi, Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, Yachi, and Kiyoko found their way here from the club room, I'm told. That's where we got the food from." He motioned towards the parcel In Nishinoya's hands. "Asahi watched you overnight to make sure you would be okay, and I'm here right now, but everyone else is outside in the gym." Nishinoya nodded again and nibbled his food. Just the thought of eating right now made him feel sick, but he trusted Sugawara with his life, so if he told him to eat, he'd eat.

It took him quite a while to finish, but he managed the task. After a small period of time sitting together in silence, Sugawara told him, "Okay, I need to do something, and it's gonna hurt. A lot." "Okay," Nishinoya whispered. Suga walked out of the closet and came back with Asahi and Daichi.

The next thing he knew, he was in Asahi's lap, Daichi was holding up his broken arm, and he was biting down on a towel. "Alright," Sugawara said, "I'm going to gently squeeze your arm to see where the bone is broken. I know it's gonna hurt, but this'll help it heal better in the long run because I'll know where to splint it." Nishinoya nodded. "I'm ready," he said as Suga removed his makeshift splint.

He was not ready.

The first two squeezes only hurt a little bit, but the third one seemed to hit right on the fracture. Pain shot through his body, his veins, and he bit down hard on the towel. Tears started to stream down his face as the next squeeze came. That one hurt the most. His vision doubled for a second, and when it returned it was over. Asahi was hugging him and rubbing his back, Suga assured him that he'd done great, and Daichi was handing Suga supplies as he applied a new splint to Nishinoya's arm.

He must've blacked out for a second, because the next thing he knew, his arm was splinted and there was only a dull pain. Asahi was still holding him. Noya looked up at him.

"How long have I been out?"
"About an hour. Do you feel better?"
"Kind of."
"That's fair. Don't worry, Sugawara knows what he's doing."
"I know."
"Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Eat something anyway."
"Okay."

Asahi handed him something. He didn't know what. Noya tried to force it down, but eventually shoved it away.

"I can't eat this. I'll throw up if I try."
"Okay. Do you want to see everyone?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want me to decide?"
"Sure."
"Okay."

A few minutes later, Tanaka pushed open the door. Nishinoya waved and smiled weakly. Suddenly they were hugging, and then Tanaka started crying, then Noya started crying too. Eventually they separated and Tanaka retold his anecdote. At the part where they found Suga though, he hesitated, then spoke.

"Nishinoya..."

Noya looked at him.

"Narita's dead."

That was the last he remembered.