Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warnings:
Category:
Fandoms:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 2 of FEATHERED [HAIKYUU WING AU]
Collections:
"Haikyuu!!" Fanfictions That Won Nationals
Stats:
Published:
2019-10-25
Updated:
2021-07-28
Words:
120,304
Chapters:
25/26
Comments:
222
Kudos:
508
Bookmarks:
41
Hits:
13,926

COLD BLOOD [BOOK 2 OF THE FEATHERED SERIES]

Summary:

The second book in the FEATHERED series.

It hasn't been long since the missing Karasuno boys escaped the sinister government laboratory known as the Facility. On their own with nothing but each other and the new attributes they've been cursed with, they must battle with the aftermath of their past sufferings, all while trying to recover, survive, and stay one step ahead of the enemy.
After losing three of their own to the Facility's hands, new potential is revealed to have been lying dormant all along. But as it turns out, after having seen a news report about their memorial, the boys later find that nothing has been as they thought.
They weren't the only ones abducted by the Facility one year ago. The crows are not the only ones to have endured the cruelty of the Facility.
Now that their own have been taken, once again held captive alongside the others they never knew were there, the rest of the Murder won't leave them to suffer.
But even in freedom, is captivity, and even in unity, isolation.
And once the Facility realizes their mistake, they'll stop at nothing to get their experiments under control.
But just how far will they go?

Notes:

Tbh I eventually plan to rewrite this, there are some parts I wish I'd done differently or better, but that's what learning is for! At some point this series will be thoroughly edited and partially rewritten, but I'd like to get the final book out before I dedicate myself to that. I hope you enjoy what I've written, I've enjoyed making it.

Chapter Text

It was a cool night out, air fresh with the scent of rain. The streets bustled with the noise of busy people, moving quick more like their own shadows than people. Car tires dipped into the puddles on the street, splashing onto the sidewalk pedestrians, who shied away by nature.

Lights were dim and cast a dream-like glow onto the city below them. The tall buildings and skyscrapers loomed like giants who watched people, or like walls that shielded the city from harm.
Either one sounded ridiculously amusing in Hinata's head.

"...And we send our prayers to the families of our late soldiers, and we thank them for their services, wishing them nothing but everlasting peace."

In a store window hung a flat screen, on it playing the night's news, and as if on cue, a topic they'd discussed in the morning's and the afternoon's.

"Tonight we'll be starting off the sports news by sending our deepest condolences." The female anchor spoke.

He'd been standing there watching, as he'd done every night for the past two nights. Wherever there was a tv playing the news, Hinata was there to watch it, when either being the lookout, or waiting patiently. However, no matter which, he was always hidden in his red hoodie.

"That's right, tonight marks a full year since the majority of the Miyagi Prefecture's Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball team went missing..."

Hinata's hands clenched in his pockets, and he felt his fingernails dig into his palms with a burn. His school appeared on the screen first, and it might as well have been in black and white, it felt so historic. The image faded a few seconds later, to a picture of...them. It was them. They looked so different. Their hair, their skin, and their smiles.

In the glass's reflection, he could see a distinctly familiar figure making its way over from his left, and stopping beside him to grab his shoulder. It was Nishinoya in his own hoodie of a deeper red. Hinata was positive that back then he wouldn't have recognized him. But after being cooped up with him for most of a year, Hinata knew him.

"Come on, we found a- Hey, are you okay?"

Hinata's gaze was pasted to the screen, and Nishinoya's was too in an instant. That was him on that screen, but he almost didn't recognize himself.

"The teens were reported missing by their parents one by one when each of them miraculously disappeared without a trace. The initial search began two days after the disappearance of the club's four first years, with relatives and friends bewildered and alarmed all at once. Sugawara Hanako, the mother of Sugawara Koushi states that she "never heard him leave his room," only to go in the next morning and find his bedroom a mess and his window intact."

A house Nishinoya hadn't seen before was on the screen, but he knew who it belonged to.

"Hey you two, what's going on? We're ready to-" Suga's voice halted as he laid eyes on the screen, and his eyes widened in horror at the sight of his own mother on the screen, wiping her tears with tissues. She hadn't changed. Suga didn't know when Tanaka had shown up by his side, but he had.

"The hell...?" He whispered, but Suga heard it. He heard all of it.

"It saddens me to say that authorities have officially given up their search, and the case has now gone cold, for none of the missing have been confirmed dead. But this hasn't stopped the parents from searching and hoping that their children will soon return to them. The team's three third years were the last to disappear, and would have graduated at the end of the year to start their path to adulthood. Someone's choice to snuff out their innocent lives has ruined that. 'They were so bright and hopeful, I can't believe someone would even do something like this,' said one of their teachers in a short interview."

The boys stood there, frozen in time while the tv screen held them there with a force that they couldn't deny.
A new image, a video clip, showed a memorial, a collage of all their yearbook photos up on the wall in what was definitely their school hallway. Bouquets of flowers covered the entire space underneath them. To each of their surprise, there were their old team's rivals, leaving bouquets of their own and lighting candles. Never had they seen them look so miserable.

Kuroo Tetsuro, their old Nekoma rival, appeared on the screen, gazing at the pictures beside Yaku, who looked like he'd grown a little bit. The Seijoh team was there, and Nekoma, and Fukurodani too. They all looked so very troubled.

"A shrine was made by a few of the grieving students to remember their old friends, a sweet gesture that managed to carry all the way to the team's rivals via social media. The fact that they would travel all the way just for this, was truly heartwarming."

Hinata couldn't believe it. Their rivals, their enemies and yet their friends, all came to say goodbye.
Kenma looked like he'd been crying, and Bokuto still was, a shocking sight to see. No one would look at the cameras, when normally a few of them would be excited to be on TV.

Did people really miss them that much?

"With only three players left on the team, the leftover students quit, as well as the coach, who had come through for the boys at the beginning of last year. Words haven't been spoken to him since, for he refuses to speak to the press, understandably so. If there is anything that can be taken from this devastating tragedy, it's that we must keep hope in our hearts, and never give up on what keeps us going. We give our deepest and most sincere condolences to the families of the following: Hinata Shouyo, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Kageyama Tobio, Nishinoya Yuu, Tanaka Ryunosuke, Asahi Azumane, Sugawara Koushi, and Sawamura Daichi. We wish you comfort and peace wherever you are, Angels. We would like you all to please join us for another moment of silence for the sweet lost children of Karasuno High School."

Nishinoya stormed off in the middle of it, and Tanaka followed suit, while Suga pressed his hands to Hinata's shoulders, trying to refrain from being sick all over the concrete sidewalk. The world swayed for just a few seconds, though.

"I know. Come on, okay? We need to hurry before the store closes."

"B-But we're right here...!" Hinata whisper-yelled, trying to go back to the screen. "We're right here!" He called out, and Suga shushed him, and pulled him into his chest, soothing him and caressing his head. Passers glanced at them in curiosity, but kept walking.

"I know, okay? But we've got to go. Come on, Shouyo." He whispered the last part to him, and started to walk backwards, coaxing Hinata to start walking with him. When he got the hang of it, he walked beside him, tucked up under Suga's arm.

"It's going to be okay."

Hinata felt invisible. There were so many people around him, so many of them that he could reach out to. But he was invisible to everyone.

Down the street, Nishinoya paced back and forth, trying to hold himself together. When Suga and Hinata caught up, he tried to take deep breaths. How could this happen, he wondered. But he knew the answer. And he knew that it wasn't his fault despite how much he felt like it was. He didn't know why he felt like it was his fault, but it was just something indescribable.

"Deep breaths, bro, we can't do this here." Said Tanaka, and he could hear the strain in his voice.

Nishinoya's hand slid up to grip the top of his hood. "I fucking know that!" He snapped.

It was harder to breathe, and he wasn't sure if he was having a panic attack or nearing an anger explosion. "Goddammit! Let's just get this shit over with!"
His wings tingled and burned under his skin, and he held his breath for as long as he could.

Suga touched his back and came around in front of him.

"Hey," he said gently, and Nishinoya opened his eyes. To his surprise he could barely see through his tears. The cold breeze made it hard to keep them open.

"We have to keep going for now, okay? We're almost done."

Nishinoya looked down to hide his tears, but Suga lifted his face and held it so he could look into his eyes.

"I know." Suga said, and wiped the boy's falling tears of anger and sadness.

They walked on ahead to the small store they'd been watching for a good ten minutes. Tanaka opened the door for Suga, holding onto his backpack for him.
They watched him through the glass, hiding so they were unseen. Suga started talking to the man at the counter, and managed to touch his hand. After that, he had him in his web like it was nothing.

Suga tapped his foot twice on the floor, the signal, and when Tanaka opened the door, they could see the man seemed to be smitten with him, under his control entirely. He gave a goofy smile, squeezing Suga's hand. Suga smiled back at him, flashing sweet, bewitching eyes at him. He leaned in and whispered something to him, and the man nodded. His gesture gave the green light, and the boys moved quickly into the store's aisles. They began swiping food and snacks into their bags quickly, keeping their heads down to avoid the cameras, and shoving in boxes of whatever they could find that was good. Tanaka sped back to the cold drinks and started dropping cans of iced tea into his bag. He managed to slide in a bottle of milk too.

Their bags were filled to the brim and heavy, but it would be worth it when they got to eat tonight.

They slipped out first, and when Suga joined them and took his filled backpack, they started on their walk down the street, like they didn't just rob the place.

"HEY, YOU! GET BACK IN HERE, YOU DIDN'T PAY FOR THAT STUFF!" The voice of the cashier bellowed, giving away that he was no longer under Suga's empathetic influence, and that was their cue to fucking book it.

_*_*_*_

Nishinoya was snacking from a box of crackers, head resting against his backpack when he heard Hinata speak.

"So...are we not going to talk about it? At all?"

Suga stood though, and from the roof they were on, looked around in search of the rest of their group.

"I don't think it's our priority right now. It's cold, so be ready to leave when they get here." He said, and turned around to face him in the dark.

The wind blew hard against them, shifting their clothes with its force. Suga walked over and sat beside Hinata, pulling him into his side.

"It's bugging me too, okay? We'll talk about it later. I don't think we should have this conversation alone. It's better if everyone knows first."

Hinata sighed and leaned into him, heart heavy. "I just...Can't believe they think we're dead. We're not dead...are we?" He looked up at him with his emotional eyes, paining Suga just a bit.

The older male sighed. He wanted to say, "Not entirely, no," but that was a bad idea for obvious reasons, so he just shook his head quietly and they sat in silence, waiting.
Right as Hinata began to shiver, the other members of their group could be heard flapping in the distance. A few moments later, they were landing near them, and the rest of them were standing up to greet them.

"Hey, we got it. Let's hurry, it's cold." Grinned Daichi, taking Suga's hand. Not much else was said before the group was taking off into the dark sky with their bags on their fronts and their forms unseen by the little people.

The wind whistled in Hinata's ears and blew off his hood, running its non-existent fingers through his short auburn hair. His wings spread wide, and he flapped, elevating himself higher up in the sky. He hadn't flown outside in a while, only when traveling, which they hadn't done due to sleeping on that roof for the past few days. Even though he was devastated by the news report, he couldn't deny that he was excited to finally get a hot bath.

For the majority of the evening, the group had been split up into three. Two got food, and the last that consisted of Kageyama and Daichi, went to a nearby hotel that grabbed their attention on the way into this city.

A glance over at Kageyama proved that if they didn't get to a decent resting place soon, he could collapse. To be honest, they all could. The lights lit up the world below, and for a moment, Hinata forgot that they were top secret government fugitive freaks. He felt like a bird, free to go as high as he wanted. He came back to reality when he saw Daichi land on the roof of a small building below.

"Alright, now be careful getting down. It's right over there." Said Daichi as they all landed carefully one by one.

Hinata had gotten significantly better at his landings, but that didn't mean he didn't mostly crash into Asahi on the way down. Luckily, Asahi caught him with ease after already having landed. Hinata blushed in embarrassment and muttered a quiet apology.
Slowly they helped each other off the roof, and made their way over to the hotel. Most of the windows were dark, as it had gotten later, but that just meant less people to question a group of teenage boys without adult supervision.

They went through the spinning doors, and Hinata wowed at how large it was. The ceiling was extremely high, leaving the entire room spacious. It wasn't nearly as busy as he thought it would be, but that was a good thing.
Yamaguchi clutched Tsukishima's hand when he and the lady at the desk made eye contact.

Tsukishima turned his head and pressed his lips next to his ear. "Deep breaths." He reminded him, aware that Yamaguchi was starting to get anxious.

It'd been happening since their escape about two weeks ago, mostly when they were in public, in sight. He gently caressed his knuckles and they tagged along behind the group.


Yamaguchi did take a deep breath, keeping his gaze on the cold, polished floor beneath his feet.

While Daichi and Kageyama got to work on getting the two key cards(Daichi and Suga would keep them both), Yamaguchi squeezed Tsukishima's hand for reassurance. He could feel all of their eyes on them, watching, wondering why a bunch of semi-dirty, raggedy-looking teenage boys were in the lobby of the fanciest hotel in the area. He hated it, for they stuck out like a sore thumb.

A few moments passed, and he slowly gained the courage to look up again. There was no one else in the lobby anymore. Where had everyone gone? Had it truly gotten that late?

When the group started to walk toward the elevator, they followed, keeping close when they took up the rear. They filled the elevator completely, leaving no room as they wore their full bags. The ride was quiet, air thick with the comfortable silence of anticipation. The elevator dinged and they exited, taking light steps so they didn't draw attention to themselves.

"420." Whispered Daichi, and of course, Tanaka and Nishinoya snickered to each other.

"Chris! Is that a weed-"

"Shh!" Suga shushed in disapproval, and held a finger to his lips.

Tanaka visibly deflated as his reference was ruined, and he shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets. Yamaguchi chuckled softly, for he understood the attempted reference.

"I'm calling the police." He whispered, and Tanaka turned around with a smirk.

"Knock it off, you two. When we get inside, be quiet, okay? We don't need anyone seeing us in here? The first thing we do is start taking showers, and when you get out, eat something. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are first, then..."

Yamaguchi zoned out on Daichi's orders, and scanned each of the golden door numbers with his eyes.
410, 411, 412...

'How did we even get in here,' he wondered, even though he knew the answer. They just kept getting better and better. Who knew Kageyama could ever get so good at manipulation? To be able to trick a woman into giving nine broke minors a room, was truly a fascinating gift.

'Meanwhile, what can I do?'

'Don't start.' He side-glanced at Tsukishima, who was already looking at him.

Yamaguchi averted his gaze with a blush, and pulled his hoodie lower onto his head with his free hand.

An abrupt stop caused him to bump into Tanaka's bag, and he could see Daichi fiddling with the key card in the slot.

Room 420. There were its shiny gold numbers screwed to the door, bold for him to see.

The red light turned green, and Daichi twisted the handle, calmly stepping in first to scan the room. Nothing out of the ordinary. So he waved them all in, and flipped the light on once they closed and locked the door.

"Holy shit!" Gasped Nishinoya, immediately getting aggressively shushed by the others. "Sorry..." He muttered half-heartedly and slipped his bag off.

"This is awesome!" Tanaka exclaimed, and Daichi nudged him to be quiet.

He was right. The room was huge and incredibly spacious; there were two neatly made queen size beds on the right wall, a large flat screen on the left one opposite of them, two couches facing each other with a coffee table between them, a pretty maroon recliner off in the corner near the door, and another couch closer to the bathroom more in the back.


The room smelled sweet like vanilla and honey, making its warmth all the more cozy.

"Wow," Said Yamaguchi, squeezing the sleeve of his dark green hoodie. "It's so nice." Tsukishima hummed in agreement.

It wasn't long before everyone began to explore, but that was something that the two of them didn't mind doing later. They slipped into the bathroom with towels and stolen underwear they'd stashed in their bags, and Tsukishima was secretly thankful for the lock on the door. If someone busted in, he just might kill them.

The bathroom was astonishing for its size as well. The tub was huge, and the shower had glass doors, and the sink and counter was gray and white marble. Yamaguchi ran his fingers over it, finding that it was smooth to the touch. They washed together, helping with each others backs in silence, a given because the only one who was ever allowed to bathe Yamaguchi back then was Tsukishima.

After washing and rinsing, and running warm water in the tub for a soak, Tsukishima climbed in and welcomed Yamaguchi into his arms, to hold him against his chest in silent peace.
They sat there, not speaking, not needing to because this was natural to the two of them, as natural as breathing. Yamaguchi's head rested on Tsukishima's shoulder, and he leaned it against his neck.

The water nearly melted away all of the month's worries: escape, stealing, survival and such. It was warm and peaceful, and they could have soaked in there all night if the others didn't have to get in. If it were their own bathroom.

_*_*_*_

Daichi didn't mind going last, as long as the others all had their baths and felt good as new. He grinned when he walked out of the steamy bathroom, watching Hinata, Tanaka, and Nishinoya fooling around with the coffee maker on the ledge near the TV, where all nine of their bags were in a neat pile, ready to be grabbed fast if needed.
Kageyama was already asleep on one of the couches, curled up and almost small.

Suga spared Daichi a grin as he covered the boy with a spare sheet. Daichi grinned back, and for once felt safe. Here they were, all together in a room by choice, free to move as they wanted, smelling like soap instead of rubbing alcohol, comfortable. He couldn't remember the last time he felt truly at peace like this.

On one bed sat Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, nuzzled up with their eyes on the TV and snacks spread across the covers. Asahi sat on the other couch, eating something he couldn't quite make out. Nishinoya caught sight of him and waved him over.

"Daichi, look! There's coffee and tea, and sodas in the fridge, and milk, and other stuff!"

Kageyama sprang up from his position on the couch and startled Suga, but he laughed when Kageyama had his face in the fridge a split second later. He ended up plopping himself beside the fridge and downing the entire carton.

"It's cool, I stole more milk because I knew this would happen." Shrugged Tanaka, going over to his bag.

Daichi folded up his towel and hung it on the rack in the bathroom, before joining Suga on the left bed that they had claimed.

"Alright you three, it's time to eat. That's enough fooling around for tonight." He said, and watched them all groan and shuffle around the room to find their respective sleeping spots.

Tanaka kicked back the recliner and Nishinoya and Hinata discovered that the third couch was a pullout, so they took that, while Asahi settled onto the larger of the other two couches, and Kageyama climbed back onto the other.

A colorful cartoon they didn't recognize played on the screen fora few more minutes before SpongeBob came on, and Tanaka and Nishinoya's exaggerated cheers could be heard.

It amused and even warmed Daichi, and he started to eat a roll of crackers, sharing them with Suga. 'They really still are a bunch of kids-'

"I think we should go back to Miyagi."

Everyone's eyes darted over to Hinata, and Suga muted the TV.

"What?" Daichi whispered.

Hinata glanced at Suga and back to Daichi. "Earlier, there...there was news report about us." He started, even managing to catch Kageyama's attention across the room.

"Everybody thinks we're dead, and they had a ceremony at our school. Even our rivals showed up...Everyone did. Because they all think we're dead. But we're not! We can go back now, can't we?" He said, hope filling out his soft voice.

No one spoke for fear that if they did, the conversation would get all-too real. It was about to get all-too real.

"He's not wrong. We are out now, so...couldn't we?" Asahi added softly, eyes semi-wide with the realization. Everyone looked back to Daichi, who looked like he'd been dreading the subject.

He had been.

"Look," He started, tucking his hands under the blanket with a big sigh. They could hear it in his voice.

"I know how badly you all want to go home, believe me. But it's not safe for us. If anything, we're safer away from Miyagi than in it."

Hinata's heart dropped. "But our families are there! They think we're all dead, we have to tell them we're not, or they'll go on without us!"

"Think about this, all of you: They took us from Miyagi. They know we'd want to go back, so where do you think they'd look for us first if there's no way to track us? Where's the number one logical place where we'd probably hide?" Daichi asked, and heads went down.

But not Hinata's. He looked desperate, hopeful, and devastated all at once, and it was crushing Daichi's insides. They felt heavy, tight, and stiff.

"Maybe they already looked, and they're somewhere else, far away from us!"

Tsukishima cut in."Even if they did, we have no way of knowing where they are, or if that's actually true or not." He said, brows furrowed in thought.

Hinata was losing points to make, and before he knew it, he was nearly at none. Every single one was picked apart piece by piece until it was nothing was the shreds of a dead wish.

"I think we need to forget about it. Plain and simple." Daichi said, and that just might have been the news that broke the tranquility of the entire room.

It was a harsh reality to face, but it sparked thoughts that none of them wanted to think, not even himself.

Could they really live without their families? The people who took them when they had absolutely no one, and raised them as their own? Could they really abandon the people who gave them every ounce of love they had, and made sure they knew it? Could they stay away this time by choice?

Tears dribbled down Yamaguchi's cheeks, and he leaned back against the headboard of the bed. "So we...we're just going to leave them? Just forget them after everything we've been through? How...can you even suggest that?" He said, tone barely above a whisper. Tsukishima of course went to trying to comfort him, only to get no responses.

Daichi ran his hand over his eyes and met Asahi's gaze. "Look, we...we can't. Do you have any idea how badly I want that for you?"

"No! Do you have any idea?!" Hinata stood up, fists balled and tears pouring out of his beautiful brown eyes. The room went silent in shock.

"You three knew about that place, and you knew about us! You knew everything, but we didn't know anything! Do you know what it's like to not know what's gonna happen to you?! DO YOU?!" He yelled, and Nishinioya stood up to try and grab his shoulder. Hinata shook him off.

"WHEN I FELL INTO THAT COMA, I COULD HEAR YOU! I COULD HEAR ALL OF YOU SCREAMING EVERY TIME THEY DID SOMETHING TO YOU, AND I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING! I WAS STUCK IN THAT BED FOR MONTHS, BY MYSELF! NO MOTHER, NO FAMILY, AND NO FRIENDS! IT WAS ME AND MY HEAD, AND IT WAS DARK! IT WAS SCARY!" He sobbed, wiping at his face with his large, slightly over-sized sleeves, only for the tears to keep coming. He looked so small, like a child who lost his parents in a crowd.

"It was my Mom's birthday in two days, and I couldn't be there, because they attacked us and took us away! They took the gift I bought for her, and they took my phone, and I couldn't talk to her ever again! And now she's in the hospital because she tried to kill herself! What do you know about that?!" Hinata shocked with that information, for that was something only he knew, after hearing it on a different news report just a day ago. And he kept it to himself.

"I know enough!" Daichi slammed his hand down on the nightstand, loud enough to make everyone flinch and probably disturb their neighbors. Hinata flinched, and his tears rolled down heavier as Daichi yelled at him.

"I know that when I found out you were all in there, I didn't know what to do! I know that I had to look at your faces every day, and watch you cry in pain because I couldn't do anything to help you! I know that I had to listen to you move at night because you were too injured to be comfortable! I know that every time they took you in, I had to sit and worry about if you would even come back!"

Hinata let out a quiet sob.

"So don't you ever talk to me like I don't know what you're going through! My family's there too! You think I like this?! You think I like having to look over my shoulder all the time, and have to figure everything out so we don't end up back there, in that place?! I could have abandoned you back there, and you know it! But I never did, because I cared about each and every one of you when they treated you like garbage! And nothing is going to change that! Do you know how bad I wish I could take us home and have everything go back to the way it used to be?! I would-"

Daichi inhaled sharply and swallowed back angry tears.

"I would give my life for that. I'd give it for all of you. I'd let those bastards torture me forever if it meant that the rest of you could be safe forever. The things that they did to us, those things were not our fault! But it happened, and this is where we are now! We're together, and goddammit, it's going to stay that way, because I'll be damned if I'm going to lose any of you to some sadistic madman, ever! So yeah, I do have an idea! You're not the only one suffering! Remember that I have to come up with a place for us to go after this! If we go wherever, and we get caught, then we are done! Do you understand that?!"

As if on cue, a series of deep, angry beatings pounded on the wall of the beds. Face finally revealing his break, Hinata ran to the door and flung it open.

Suga hopped off the bed. "Hinata, wait-"

But the ginger was already gone, without his shoes. Then Suga was too, without his shoes. Yamaguchi was the next one to leave, locking himself in the bathroom before Tsukishima even knew what had happened.

Kageyama went to follow Suga, but when Asahi took hold of his wrist and his glossy eyes met Kageyama's the younger teen refrained from following.

Daichi looked at the only four people left, and sighed, dropping his head back against the headboard with a thud. He tossed the blankets aside and got out of the bed, going past Nishinoya and toward the door where all of their shoes were neatly aligned.
He stuck his feet into his own, and left, going the opposite way he'd seen the others go after closing the door behind him.

This was a cluster-fuck if he'd ever seen one. He hadn't meant to get aggressive, really. Little by little the burning weight of guilt was settling upon his shoulders. Daichi hadn't mean to get angry. No, not angry. Aggressive. Yeah, that was the word.

He sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets. He remembered when they picked them out in a store, barely a day after they escaped. He remembered the smile on Hinata's face when he picked his, because he was the only one who didn't immediately think of blood. He looked- no, was so happy just to have a damn jacket.

Daichi rubbed his eyes and sighed, dropping his head to look down at the floor. "How could I yell at them like that?" He asked himself.

He knew the answer, but...it still didn't feel right. He'd never been the cause of Hinata's tears before. It made him wonder how the white coats could be, and simply wouldn't care.

The moment replayed and replayed in Daichi's mind, the moment where Hinata finally broke and ran away, because that was the only thing any of them could do anymore. Daichi did feel guilty about it, but not as much as he probably should have.

He knew he was right, and was making the right decision. He couldn't just take them back to Miyagi because they wanted to go, anything could be waiting for them there! And now that each of them had been given a taste of the Facility's power, he knew that they were just as aware of what danger could have been lurking.

Hinata's eyes appeared in his mind, desperate and scared. "I'm not wrong," He said. "I'm trying to protect them. It's my job, I can't just..." He took a deep breath and sighed again, looking up to see that he'd walked all the way to 401, where the elevator was. His shoulders drooped and he hated himself for a moment, for making Hinata cry. He didn't have to yell, no matter how frustrated he got. Hinata was just scared, and he knew that. He knew well.

"Dammit..."

_*_*_*_

"I...I just wanna see her...! I wanna go home just once!" Hinata sobbed into Suga's shoulder, clinging to him like the lifeline he'd always been. They were currently hidden on the side of a vending machine after Hinata got into an elevator and Suga had to take the next one down. Thankfully he could feel that Hinata didn't want to get too far away from the group and deemed one floor down to be far enough.

"Me too," Suga replied, holding the smaller male in his arms and rocking him back and forth. "But you have to understand that-"

"No! I don't care! I don't care anymore! I want my mom!" Hinata absolutely bawled, hugging as tight as he could. Suga had never heard him cry this hard, and believe that it'd come pretty close to this before. But this was another level entirely. A single blink sent Suga's own tears trickling down his cheeks, and the realization that he'd either been putting off or really was hadn't thought about, hit him.

He wasn't Hinata's mother. He wasn't Hinata's father. He wasn't even Hinata's parent, even though it damn sure felt like it. He hadn't welcomed the thought until it pushed its way through the wall he'd so carefully built with bricks of steel.

"I just want my mom!"

How was Suga supposed to tell him that their families could possibly be killed if they returned and were found out? They barely knew where they were now. Where else could they go?

Suga knew none of that. He didn't even know if he would see his own mother ever again.

But what he did know was that he didn't give a damn if he wasn't related to Hinata. Hinata was his, and that's just the way it was, the way it became. They were all his, and nothing was going to ever change that. He'd die before he let them go so easily, and as unsettling as that sounded at first, he never regretted the thought. He couldn't.
It wasn't just that they were all his, he was certain that if anyone was, it was Hinata.

Hinata, the boy who used to be so upbeat, and still found time to smile, was his, and that was a fact. Anyone who said otherwise wasn't worth Suga's time.
After all, if he wasn't here to soothe Hinata's cries the way only he could, who would?

So, Suga curled them up in the corner where the wall and machine met, and held Hinata's entire weight against him. His kissed his head and shushed him, no longer rocking him, but hiding him.

From everyone.