Red Winter - /Haikyuu/

24. Scapegoat

At the sight of the two familiar people, Hinata's jaw dropped to the floor. "K-Kageyama," Hinata stammered, pointing behind the setter, where the two Nekoma members sat, seemingly unaware of their presence. Kageyama turned his head, before his posture went rigid with the sight of Kenma and Kuroo. "Kenma! Kuroo!" Hinata yelled out of the blue, the other people in the makeshift cafeteria giving him strange looks.

The sharp eyed boy's gaze fell onto Hinata and Kageyama, bits of his dyed blonde hair falling in his face. "Shoyo...?" Kenma mumbled as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"No way!" Kuroo's jaw dropped, his eyes wide. "You're alive!" Hinata winced at that. Yes, he was alive, but so many others weren't.

Hinata stood up abruptly, hands slammed against the table, before running towards them. "Hinata, wait–" Kageyama cut himself off as the boy ran towards the others, hugging Kenma tight as if he hadn't seen him in years.

"Kenma," Hinata whispered, and not to his surprise the quiet boy hesitated before hugging him back. Hinata felt so overwhelmed and relieved some of his friends were still alive that he could have burst into tears. He pulled away, a shaky smile on his face. "What about... What about the rest of Nekoma?" Hinata was hesitant to ask, any number of things could have happened to the boys. "Are they alive?"

"They're all alive, they're in the main part of the building." Kuroo answered, and Hinata felt a wave of relief crash over him. "And Fu–" Before he could finish his sentence, a loud voice rang through the air.

"Hinata! Hey, hey, hey!"

Hinata peered around Kuroo's large form, and sure enough, the voice belonged to the one and only Bokuto. "Bokuto!" Hinata gasped out, excitement coursing through him.

"I was about to say Fukurodani was here too," Kuroo grinned lightly, before tilting his head. "Where's the rest of your team? Daichi?" Hinata's growing smile fell within an instant at the name. Kageyama pursed his lips together, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"He's... Dead." Hinata whispered, and Kuroo's face twisted with shock.

"I'm sorry." Kuroo gulped, and Kenma cringed.

"Only five of us made it here." Kageyama's voice was hard as he spoke, when Bokuto finally arrived.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Bokuto exclaimed. "You guys live so far from Tokyo!"

"We came here because we heard somebody talking about an evacuation site in Tokyo. What is Fukurodani doing here?" Hinata furrowed his brows in confusion.

"We were here for a practice game with Nekoma when... When it happened." Bokuto swallowed harshly, averting his eyes elsewhere.

"Bokuto. We have to get back to our job," The softened voice of Akaashi filled Hinata's ears.

"Job?" Kageyama questioned, and Bokuto took the liberty to answer.

"All of the survivors here thirteen and older have to sign up for one of the jobs to earn their keep here. There's cleaning, cooking, farming, and patrol. You should probably sign up for a job, otherwise you'll be stuck with the worst one; patrol." Bokuto shuddered at the word.

"What's wrong with patrol?" Hinata asked curiously, and Bokuto's eyes went wide.

"You have to go around the perimeter of the building with a partner, to make sure there's no biters. You're not allowed to have a gun because it could attract more biters." Bokuto's voice was quiet.

"Couldn't they just make the soldiers do that?" Kageyama was just as confused as Hinata, apparently.

"There's not enough soldiers." Akaashi spoke again, and Hinata felt fear surge through him.