[1] HOUSE OF CROWS | Haikyuu!! (Murder of Crows) ✓

HOUSE OF CROWS | 08

You were almost at the door when you heard a scream. Caught off guard, you stumbled back, treading on Kuroo's foot in the process.

Akaashi sighed quietly, and pointed up to the roof. "Just a crow," he muttered, and you craned your neck to see two black figures perched on the chimney, watching you with eyes like black glass. 

"Damn pests," you said, picking up a jagged piece of rock from the ground and tossing it at the birds. They scattered with a cry, black wings beating the night sky, and disappeared through the trees.

"Don't provoke them," Kuroo chided as he nudged you out of the way. He gave you a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'll go first. In case it isn't Hinata up there."

"So valiant of you," you mumbled, but the words seemed to stick in your throat and you looked away before he could say anything else. He was the one who brought you all here, you reminded yourself.

You walked in a tight line, Kuroo leading in front and the other two behind you. You felt Akaashi's hand brush the back of your shirt as if he was about to reach for you, then thought the better of it, but it left a cold tingle along your skin. When you glanced over your shoulder and saw their solemn faces, you mustered a smile. Neither of them returned it.

The stairs groaned as you climbed them, the wood dipping precariously beneath your feet. At one point you reached for the bannister to steady yourself, but felt something wet and grainy beneath your fingertips and quickly let go, wiping them on your trousers before you could see what it was.

"Hinata? Are you up here?"

The footsteps you and Akaashi had heard earlier had silenced, and not a cloud of dust stirred in response to Kuroo's call. "What if he's hurt himself?"

"Trust me, you'd hear him if he was hurt," Tsukishima commented.

"He might be unconscious," you snapped back without looking at him.

Kuroo shushed you both as came to the sharp turn in the staircase, leading up to the landing. He paused, holding up his hand for silence, and listened hard.

"Do you hear anything?" You whispered after a moment.

"No. Nothing at all."

You felt a finger of cold brush the back of your neck, raising gooseflesh. "If he was okay, surely he would have come to find us by now," you pointed out.

"That's what I'm worried about."

The top of the staircase was shrouded in darkness. The two windows you'd seen up here from outside were broken, and you could hear the wind scraping over the jagged edges of the glass. The air up here felt chilled. Untouched. Pausing on the second to last step, you stared hard into the gloom until your eyes adjusted. There were only three doors that you could see. One was off its latch, swinging gently in the draught with a rhythmic creak of hinges. Shadows spilled out between the cracks.

"Hina-" you started, but the name got lodged in your throat and the word broke in half. You swallowed, and tried again. "Hinata? Please say something if you're up here."

Silence.

"Shit," Kuroo muttered, and you exchanged a worried glance before looking behind you. The other two had been so quiet, you were struck with a momentary panic that they might no longer be there. Tsukishima and Akaashi returned your look with stony faces.

"You two stay here," you told them. "Kuroo and I will check the rooms for Hinata."

Akaashi's face crumpled. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Kuroo spoke over your shoulder: "[L/N] is right. Hinata might still be elsewhere in the house, or even outside. It's best someone stays here in case he comes back."

Akaashi looked nervous, and even Tsukishima didn't look too pleased with the idea of splitting up. "We won't be far," you said quickly. "If you see or hear anything at all, just shout for us."

They nodded glumly and retreated half-way down the stairs as you followed Kuroo upwards.

"Don't you think it's odd?" You said as you stopped outside the first door. The wood was chipped and covered in hundreds of tiny fissures, as if a great force had been thrown against it. "Hinata just... running off like that. Surely he would have felt safer staying with you."

Kuroo glanced across at you, his expression unreadable, before reaching for the handle and pushing the door open. You peered over his shoulder, considering the room. A moth-eaten curtain lay on the floor like a puddle with impossible depth, and a dresser missing all of its drawers had been turned on its side, the wood all splintered and cracked. The rest of the room was empty, and you even stepped all the way in and poked your head around the door to make sure there was nobody hiding behind it.

You stepped back out with a shake of your head, and Kuroo closed the door behind you.

The rest of the corridor seemed longer than you remembered. The doors felt further than they should, as if the walls and floors were constantly stretching, out of reach. It was disorientating, and you felt unsteady as you walked forward, as if the floor was moving in the opposite direction.

As you drew closer, the door that was already unlatched suddenly swung open completely, rebounding off the wall inside with a clatter, and before you realised what you were doing, you'd taken hold of Kuroo's hand. He glanced across at you, eyebrows raised, and you frowned in return. Neither of you let go.

The now-open doorway spilled shadows across your feet as you paused in front of it, waiting for your eyes to adjust.

When you did, you choked out a gasp. 

"Hinata? Is that you?" Kuroo made no attempt to disguise the tremor in his voice, and you felt his fingers tighten firmly around yours.

There was somebody in the room.

They were stood in the far corner, facing the wall, unmoving. At first, your eyes glided over them, thinking they were nothing more than a shadow. But as you squinted, you saw the shock of red hair, like blood in the twilight.

"Hinata? Are you hurt?"

The figure's arm twitched, but didn't turn around.

"What's wrong with him?" Kuroo said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

You wriggled your fingers free from his and stepped into the room. Almost instinctively, Kuroo went to pull you back. "You don't know if it's safe."

"He might be hurt."

Kuroo considered you for a second, his eyes searching yours. "Fine. Be careful."

Nodding, you stepped into the room, your footfalls barely a whisper on the carpet.

"Hinata," you said, reaching gingerly for his arm, hanging loose at his sides. "Hinata, it's [L/N]. Are you-" your voice fell away when your hand touched his sleeve, and his entire body stiffened up in response. He made an odd little gurgling noise, and then he moved. His foot shuffled, dislodging a piece of broken wood. You swallowed. Something wasn't right. Then he turned around, and you saw his face. His eyes.

"No-" you cried, at the same time Kuroo swore behind you, and you barely had time to react when the boy suddenly lunged for you, his fingers curled like claws. A noise, more animal than human, tore from his throat.

Your foot caught on something in the dark, and your stomach lurched up as you fell, your back meeting the floor with a solid crack. Blinking away the grainy spots in your eyes, you felt hands on you, strong, desperate, and then you were being hauled onto your feet and pulled out of the room.

A/N: ... well shit.