Spirits In My Head // kagehina AU

Opheodrys

Cold is the air that whispers old secrets past my ear, caressing my cheek like an old friend who I have known for longer than I would like. With it, a voice carries through, repeating my name. His mouth moves along with the words, slowly strolling his way to me through the crowd of blathering traders. Shouyo notices him as well, elbowing me on the side to snap me away from my silent staring.

His voice leaves my lips as no more than a murmur. "Akira..."

"Close your mouth, you look like a fish," Shouyo advices from beside me, watching the man walk in our direction. "It's rude to stare."

I immediately compose myself, making sure to blink just in case the man before me was not some fragment of my imagination. He is still there the moment my eyes open, staring at me with casually half-lidded eyes and an expressionless face.

"You know why I'm here, Kageyama," Kunimi speaks, stopping a few paces from Shouyo and I. His dark eyes meet mine, common knowledge behind the void-like irises. My face lowers slightly, looking at him at an angle. "It's him."

My hands clench into fists at my sides, gaze lowering to the slush-covered road. "I know it's him, but I can't do anything about it."

"Yes you can," His soft words enunciate.

"What the hell do you want me to do!?" My head snaps up, wild eyes staring straight into his own. A few heads turned in my direction, startled at my sudden outburst. Whispers floating around us, I lower my eyes to the ground again, feeling Kunimi's dig straight into my head, reading me.

"You know what he did," He begins rather simply, yet there is a hint of venom in his tone. "You know what to do."

Lifting my head slightly, I march towards him until we are but centimeters apart. My body tenses, feeling the warmth of his breath burning the skin on my face. "I will do no such thing."

The expression on Kunimi is unchanged. "You know what he did," he repeats in a heavier tone.

"The blame lays on my shoulders alone."

"He was the one that pulled the trigger," Kunimi replies almost immediately. "You know that. You were in the right. The blood is on his hands." A tightened fist is pressed against my chest with just enough pressure for me to feel the way it shakes. Fury lies behind Akira's eyes, calling out to me. A revenge to be passed on.

I clench my jaw and stand in silence for a couple of seconds. "How will I find him? He would've left Lambda by now."

"It's the Great King we're talking about, Kageyama," Kunimi drops his hand, taking a step away from me. "Just follow the rows of kneeling plebeians on the streets." With a turn as smooth as freshly fallen snow, he begins walking away and back into the crowd. "I'm leaving it to you, Crow."

I watch in silence as he disappears among the busy roads of the market, barely noticing Daichi, Asahi and Noya as they pass us. It is Shouyo who snaps me back to reality, tugging at my sleeve.

"Oy, Tobio. Let's head back." His brown eyes are much lighter than Kunimi's, reflecting the sun with a golden glow.

"Okay..."

The walk back to Asahi's clinic is much longer than I remember. My feet drag beneath me, heavy with a newfound weight on my shoulders. A life is an enormous weight to burden, but the possibility that sparing one life will lead to the loss of many more is not one I would rather hope for. One death is always better than many, even if it was one as risky as the captain's.

"Is it true you know the Great King?" Shouyo beams, breaking the tense silence.

I nod, confused at the fact that he has heard about the captain at all.

Almost instantly, Shouyo's face lights up in amazement, mouth in the shape of an o. "No way! I've only heard rumors about the Great King. He's like, the most brutal soldier in Theta!" His motions become animated, as if he was telling a story about some mythical hero from a legend, not describing a murderer. "They say he drinks the zombie's rotten blood to gain immunity from the virus."

"The captain is not that dumb," I scoff at his last comment. If anything, he was one of the smartest men out there. Maybe not in all situations, but he was indeed a distinct soldier and leader, with the stubbornness of a mule to boot. The man was incredible, but letting your guard around his presence was a fatal mistake, even for himself. "Even so... You're right about his brutality..."

You were given orders, Crow. I expect you to follow them.

They do not deserve this.

Do it, or I will have you executed for insubordination and putting the whole zone at risk.

None of us deserved this.

A memory flashes before my eyes, of orange curls under the moonlight and dusty records on the shelves. When it was just the two of us, running East towards the smallest spark of hope.

When I was a child, my teachers would tell us a story about the virus. They said God spread it upon the Earth like a plague to rid the world of chaos and corruption, like a flood to cleanse us from the sins committed centuries past. They said, that only hope and compassion would survive the plague once it completely takes us over, and if we want to survive until then, we need to hold those two things to heart. Nevertheless, the truth is a much harder pill to swallow. If the virus was truly a plague to cleanse us of chaos, it is brutality, not compassion, that helps us survive.

Tukishima and Yamaguchi were already at the door when we arrive at the clinic, bags on their shoulders and ready to go.

"What's the big rush?" Daichi asks the pair, eyeballing them in curiosity. "We are not due to leave until dawn."

"I think we have overstayed our welcome," answers Tsukishima with a smirk, clearly hiding something. "Therefore we are leaving. Now... if you excuse us..." He steps forward, shoving his way past Asahi and Noya.

"Uh... I don't think that's a good idea... with your friend's condition I-" Asahi begins to protest, but Tsukishima turns on his heel faster than he can blink, glaring daggers at the medic.

"We would rather deal with it than deal with another minute of crazytalk." The blonde motions in my general direction, but I do not think he's motioning at anybody in particular.

"Tsukki, you're overacting..." Yamaguchi finally speaks up, gripping the straps of his bag tightly as he leans on the doorframe for support.

"Strawberry shortcake is right," Noya puts his hands on his hips. "I think what you really need is some rest to regain lost energy."

Tsukishima stares at Yamaguchi, underlying betrayal in his gaze, before he sighs and shuffles back toward the building, leading the rest of us back in.

Nishinoya is very much in the right. Rest is the one thing we need the most at a time like this. Everything else can wait until dawn.