Spirits In My Head // kagehina AU

Nightmares

Nightmares come more often than not whenever I manage to slip into a sleep deep enough to dream at all. Dreaming is a rare event for me, and remembering said dreams is even less likely, but the nightmare I had that night was not one that could be forgotten so easily.

Something shuffles beside me, heavy and hard like stone. The cracking of joints echoes through the silence but I pay no mind. Shouyo must be awake at last, then.

I blink, carefully turning to face my friend as he moved from under the blanket that provided us warmth. He appears as only a mass of black; a blur that stood out from the shadows only from how pale his skin had become. He presses harder against my torso, and I place a hand on his head with attempts to calm him back into sleep, but my efforts are in vain.

Shouyo begins coughing, tensing up against me as his body convulses and his cough worsens. My fingers run through his hair, worry claws at my chest. He must have caught something with the cold, is all. Just a passing illness that will be cured eventually.

That's what they said about the virus when it started.

"Shou, hey, are you okay?" I whisper to him, sitting him up against the couch to get a better look at him. His eyes were sunken, dark and lifeless as his body continued to shake and regurgitate a warm, dark liquid from his body. Blood.

My eyes widen, focusing on the dark smears below his lips, a trail of blood dripping from his mouth. Water, he needed some water. I struggle to get up, tripping over the blanket at some point or another and falling face first into the cold, hard wooden floor. With a soft grunt of pain, I get back on my feet and focus on the pitch black shadows to get a sense of my surroundings. If I remember correctly, the kitchen was to the left of the couch, behind it. The hallway that Tsukishima had entered when he retrieved my drink. I walk around the couch with uneasy steps, squinting my eyes to keep track of which dark hallway I am supposed to enter.

The doorways appear like mirages, shifting in shape as I approach them. It is not until I reach one of them that I hear the thump of a body falling from the couch.

"You bastard," I hiss in his direction. "Stay put, will you? I'm just getting you some water." I turn away to continue my objective, but the only reply I received was a painful-sounding groan from the other side of the couch, where Shouyo had fallen. I scrunch up my eyebrows, worry rising once again at the sound of my best friend's pain, but there was more to it.

Yamaguchi twitches from the wooden chair they still sits at, turning their head towards the noise that woke them. I hear the shuffle of blankets as Shouyo stood up, and the next thing I hear is Yamaguchi's panicked yelling.

Zombie.

Daichi runs past, shoving me to the side and readying the gun in his grip. I slam against the wall, following the direction he aimed towards with my eyes. Shouyo stood there, white skin enveloped by darkness. With sullen eyes and a jaw dripping with blood and chunks of something fleshy, he whips his head toward the source of the yelling.

It was a blur, or maybe it was just how dark it seemed. The black mass that resembled Shouyo sprints toward Yamaguchi with careless steps, and with the same immediate response, Daichi shoots the first bullet into Shouyo's leg. The figure collapses unto the ground with a gurgle and an animal-like wail. Yamaguchi shook in fear, causing the leg he sat in to wobble and click against the wooden floorboards.

The mass of darkness crawls towards Yamaguchi, stretching a hand with a tight grip of the chair leg, pulling it towards him. Daichi walks up to the creature, and without a moment of hesitation shoots another bullet through its skull.

The figure goes limp, unmoving on the cold ground. My whole world shakes. The figure is enveloped by the shadows hiding within the corners of the room, away from my sight. Another shadow approaches me, darkening my already blurring vision.

My stomach hurts, my head is pounding, and everything is swallowed in the dark.

I awoke with my cheeks rubbing against short hair and warm skin, feeling the movement of steps marching below me and the subtle heat of the winter sun above me. My eyes blink, immediately closing again at the sight of the bright light reflecting off the snowy ground. The steps slow to a stop, and whoever's arms hold me up tighten as I shuffle in their grasp.

"Look who's finally awake," Daichi's voice mentions right next to my ear. Once my eyes fully open I realize that I was being carried by the man, and the other three from the cabin were not too far ahead.

"What...?" My voice is dry and empty, but Suga seems to take the words right out of my mouth before I can continue.

"We couldn't wake you up when we were leaving, and we couldn't just leave you alone, stranded in that cabin," He explains with the same warm eyes from before.

Tsukishima scoffs, "We should'a left him. He's a useless idiot that will only bring us trouble."

"Stop that," Daichi scolds the blonde.

That is when I realize that Shouyo is nowhere in sight. My mind drifts to the memories of the dream, and in panic I twist my head to look behind.

"What are you freaking out so much about, Tobio?" The orange-haired shorty raises an eyebrow at me.

The sight of those curls brings tears to my dry, hurting eyes. "Shut up, you ass..." I mutter under my breath.

Shouyo shrugs, "What are you calling me an ass for, idiot? I was the one that talked them into carrying you."

"Because you couldn't?" I hear myself mutter back, smiling at how he grows flustered over the comment and begins ranting over 'how strong he is but it just so happened that I was too heavy.'

"Thank you, Shou..." I whisper under my breath. The recipient does not even hear me as he continues his rant, but I do not seem to care.

He is okay, and that is all that matters.