What are the odds

15

The ease of earlier in the day had long since vanished, disappearing with the sun as the darkness brought a solemn chill that blanketed them all.

Suga had fallen asleep after re-dressing Daichi, head pillowed on his chest. Crying had taken a lot out of him and his body was still exhausted from the injuries. His eyes were still pink and puffy. Asahi had fallen asleep next to them, looking oddly like a guard dog.

He was curled in a ball protectively by Daichi's hip as if preparing to fight off death if it attempted to come for him that night.

Everyone could feel the change in the air. A new feeling of fear caused by their usually hopeful vice-captain breaking down weighed heavy on each member, even with the positive knowledge that they had food and they had water and on a whole, they were relatively safe. They had even managed to set up some traps out around the forest in an attempt to catch some real dinner though they hadn't had much success as of yet.

The first years, like the night previous, were the first to fall asleep, huddled together once again but this time with Kageyama holding Hinata to his chest instead of letting him fall against Tsukishima. To anyone else, it would seem like he was being protective of Hinata or wanting to hold him, but Tsukishima knew that while that might be true, it was primarily an attempt to prevent some of his pain. He did appreciate how caring the king had become.

The second years were huddled between the first years and the third years, acting like a bridge keeping them all together. Kinoshita was huddled close to Narita not far from the first year's feet while Ennoshita and Tanaka were still sitting up cross-legged as the four of them talked quietly.

It took them a while to notice Nishinoya wasn't with them.

"I'll go look for him, stay here, I'll be back soon," Ennoshita says getting up carefully so as not to wake anyone up.

He slips outside, shivering against the cool breeze that the walls of the bus had previously blocked. It took him a moment to spot the other second year, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest using a stick to poke the dying embers of the fire they had made earlier to try to purify the water to drink.

He sits down beside him quietly.

"Chikara," Nishinoya says curtly, voice barely above a whisper.

"Yu," Ennoshita replies calmly watching his friend. "Are you okay?"

Noya looks up at the boy startled, "Of course I'm okay, I hardly even got more bruises than I would in a game," he answers with a scoff that sounds mildly self-deprecating.

"That's not what I meant and you know it,"

"I'm fine,"

"Mhm, and I'm the best libero in Tokyo," The sarcasm lacing Ennoshita's words was unmistakably heavy. "Look I just, I know you're having a hard time, we all are, but everyone processes things differently and I'm not exactly a mind reader. Noya, whatever's going through your head right now, you can talk to me if you want, I'm your friend,"

Nishinoya doesn't say a word, just leans over so that he was now resting his temple on the other second year's shoulder. "I can't, not- not yet but maybe after," Noya says after a long time of the two of them just watching the warm rocks in front of them.

It seems to be enough to satisfy the other boy. Ennoshita knew that Noya wasn't okay right now but there was nothing he could really do aside from being there for him at the moment. "Come on, let's head in," he suggests.

"I uh, I think I'm going to stay out here for a bit," Noya says giving his friend a small smile, one that wasn't even a shadow of his normal smile but was better than nothing.