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

HOUSE OF CROWS | 10

There were eyes watching you from the trees.

You could see them each time you glanced around. Dark shapes sitting between the branches, crooked shadows, curious stares. As you passed, the crows would take flight and land on a tree somewhere further ahead, waiting for you again. You wondered if they would try to stop you from leaving. Or if they were just guardians. Sentinels of the forest, keeping watch.

You looked behind you when you heard a shuffle in the leaves, too loud to be one of the birds. Something about the noise seemed deliberate, as though someone was trying to get your attention. You half hoped to see Hinata standing there, his amber eyes sparkling, as if he had never gone missing, never been taken by whatever lived in that house. But there was nothing there - only darkness, biting at your heels as it chased you through the forest.

"Who could have done that to him?" You wondered aloud, not speaking to anyone in particular, but you knew they were all listening. Listening for something creeping in the shadows. "Who could have stolen his eyes like that?"

"The Crow," Kuroo answered after a moment, his voice dulled by the trees that reached out with matchstick fingers.

"Right."

Kuroo didn't speak for a long time, but you all waited for him. You could see the others listening, stealing glances his way. Then he stopped, and looked back at all of you, at your ragged faces and dirty clothes. "I'm sorry for bringing you all here," he said suddenly, not quite able to meet anyone's eye. "I wish I'd never dragged you into this, then none of this would have happened. Hinata wouldn't..." His voice broke off, and a tightness appeared in his face, a hard ridge along his jawline, and you knew he was angry. Angry at himself. He lowered his eyes to his feet, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened to Hinata, I'm sorry for putting you all in danger."

Akaashi and Tsukishima had nothing to say, but you didn't want to leave this sourness between you. Not now, when you needed to stay together, when you needed to have each other's backs. "Kuroo, look, I'm not going to say it isn't your fault for bringing us here," you said honestly, spreading your hands. "But... you didn't know that this was going to happen. You couldn't have guessed someone really would get hurt."

"But the rumours... I should have known."

"Rumours are just rumours. That's why you came, wasn't it? To see if they were true."

"Yeah. Guess I got my answer."

"What's done is done. The only thing we can do now is find our way out of here and-" You stopped short when you heard movement behind you, a whisper in the trees, too loud to be wind or feather. Heart thudding in your chest, you turned. Akaashi swung his flashlight, combing through the darkness, but there was nothing there. "Hinata? Is that you?"

The three boys huddled closer, the heat from their bodies pressing against your back as you squinted into the dark. Then you saw it, and something unpleasant crawled up your throat.

There was a figure, standing between the trees. It was similar to the shadow you had seen earlier, but back then you had convinced yourself it was just an animal. This one was unmistakably human, tall and thin and long-limbed. Watching you silently.

You stumbled backward, tripping over soil and weeds, and felt hands on your shoulder, steadying. "What is it?" Akaashi whispered, his words hot on your neck.

"Can't you see them? Stood between the trees?"

He swung the torch again, and the light glanced over the figure, but before you could glimpse anything, they had disappeared through the trees with a soft thrashing of leaves.

"Was it Hinata?" Akaashi asked.

Tsukishima shook his head. Moonlight silvered the frames of his glasses, making it difficult to see his eyes. "Too tall. That wasn't Hinata."

"So we're being followed by something else?" Kuroo asked, his voice thick.

"Someone. There's nothing to suggest it isn't just a person," you said, but there was no certainty in your voice this time.

"But we're definitely not alone in the forest," Tsukishima said, not bothering to disguise the shudder that passed through him.

"Come on. Whether we're being followed or not, we need to get out of here and find help for Hinata."

It wasn't long before you found the clearing again, with the blood buried amongst the leaves. Looking at it brought a tightness to your chest as you thought of Hinata. The boy had been terrified of the crows, and now there were black hollows where his eyes should have been, and his fingers were curved like claws, and he saw red where he should have seen his friends.

That's not Hinata anymore.

Kuroo was right. It wasn't Hinata anymore, not really. He wasn't the same bright-eyed boy you had come here with.

"[L/N]? You okay?" Kuroo said, peering at you with his narrow, cat-like eyes. You wanted to be angry with him, you wanted to blame him for Hinata's broken body, for the fear and the darkness that strangled you. But you couldn't. It wasn't just his fault. You all chose to come here. You all had a share in that responsibility.

"Yeah," you said, looking past him. "Let's go."

Akaashi was still staring at the blood, and you took his arm gently, pulling him away as you had done with Hinata. "I wonder who it belonged to," he whispered, and you let him wonder, because you didn't have an answer, and you didn't want to know.

Nobody said anything else, and the four of you turned your back to the clearing and the blood and the memory of the crows, and kept walking.

***

"We're being followed still."

"Who is it?" You asked, already picturing the figure between the trees, tall and and long and crooked, swathed in shadow and mist.

"I don't know... Do you think they mean us harm?"

The others looked uneasy at Akaashi's question, but nobody offered an answer.

"Let's just keep walking," Kuroo said. "Akaashi, keep listening out for them. If they get too close, warn us."

Akaashi murmured something to himself, and you fell back to walk beside him. It didn't take you long to hear it - the light tread of something moving through the trees, the flutter of wings, or clothes, or tar-black feathers. When you looked back, you saw something move in the darkness just behind you, skirting the edges of the trees.

You heard Akaashi's breathing start to stagger, and when turned back to him, you saw his skin was wet with perspiration, his hair stuck down to his head. His chest was moving quickly beneath his shirt. Reaching for his hand, which trembled in yours, you pulled him after you. "Guys, it's getting closer. We need to move quicker."

Kuroo cast a panicked glance over his shoulder, but before he could say anything, the branches above you parted with a shudder of leaves, and a dark shape swooped down, blotting out the moonlight. Something sharp raked over your shoulder, cutting through fabric and flesh, and you stumbled forward with a cry, your hand slipping from Akaashi's as you landed on your knees.

"[L/N]!" You didn't know which one of them shouted your name, but it was Akaashi who helped you up, his hands hot against your skin. You tried to get a glimpse of your shoulder, but his hand was covering it, and you could see blood on his fingers.

"Shit," you cried, gritting your teeth against the sudden flare of pain.

Kuroo and Tsukishima crowded in on your other side, making your head spin. You tried to move back, to put some distance between you, but your ankle wobbled and you almost fell again.

"I'm okay. I'm okay," you gasped, waving them back and taking a deep breath, trying not to focus on the throbbing of your shoulder. "I'll be okay, just give me a moment."

Then Tsukishima drew in a sharp breath, his body going rigid. "I don't think we have a moment."

You felt a breath of cold air ghost the back of your neck, and when you turned this time, it was Hinata stood behind you.

Oooh cliffhangers lol.