⚠️ Chapter Warning ⚠️
This chapter contains graphic violence, intense scenes, and disturbing content that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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The night pressed against the shed like a living thing, heavy and suffocating. I could hear the distant crash of water from the river, my heart still pounding from the current dragging me, and somewhere beyond the trees, their voices the ones I thought I had escaped echoed and twisted through the night.
I stayed curled against the cold, rotting wood of the shed, the thin blanket Terushima had left barely keeping the chill at bay. My blood had stopped flowing from my feet when I pressed myself into the shadows, but I could feel it, sticky and heavy, warming my skin despite the cold air. My pulse thrummed against my temples.
And then… the shouting started.
It wasn't soft, careful calls. It was rage, snapping like a whip through the forest.
I froze.
"Tsukishima!" Terushima's voice roared first, harsh and terrifying.
"Shut up, you idiot!" came the flat, venomous reply.
I pressed my fingers to my ears, trying to block it, but it only got louder. They were close. Too close. The forest around the shed was alive with stomping, shouting, and the sick, metallic crack of something breaking.
I leaned against the wall of the shed, trembling.
Then came the screams of the others. Kuroo, Bokuto, Oikawa all of them are yelling, trying to stop it. But I could hear the sharp thwack of Terushima's fist against Tsukishima's jaw, and the dull crunch of impact from whatever Tsukishima had thrown at him. The sounds were horrific, echoing like the villa's worst nights but worse, because now they weren't just yelling at me.
I wanted to hide deeper. I wanted to run but my legs felt weak. My head swam, and the blood from my feet had soaked the floor beneath me.
And then I realized: I was shaking more from fear than cold.
"Get the hell away from me!" Terushima screamed, a strangled fury in his voice.
"You're weak, Terushima!" Tsukishima spat, his glasses cracked, one lens hanging loose. "You can't even protect what's yours!"
"No! Stop it!" Bokuto's voice bellowed, and I thought I heard something hit him then a grunt from Kuroo as he shoved against one of them.
My stomach dropped.
The fight was tearing through the forest like a storm, each blow hitting not just each other but anyone in the way. Leaves and broken branches flew. I could hear glass shattering from somewhere maybe an abandoned window from the villa, maybe the shed itself shuddering from the force of their bodies crashing against it.
"Stay back!" Terushima shouted again, his voice almost animalistic. "I don't care who you are...I'll kill anyone who..."
Another metallic smash.
I flinched, biting my lip until I tasted blood. My hands shook as I covered my ears, pressing my face into the floorboards.
I couldn't stop myself from crying, quiet, shaking sobs that pooled around me. My chest felt tight, my breathing shallow. Somewhere in the chaos, I felt a weak tug of guilt. Terushima. Tsukishima. The others. They were all… risking themselves for me. And I had nothing to give them in return. Nothing but my terrified, bleeding self.
The fight raged on for what felt like hours but was likely minutes. I could hear them crashing against the trees, grunts, and curses flying, voices strained with fury and fear.
"Y/n!" Terushima's voice broke through the roar of chaos for a split second.
I froze. My heart jumped painfully.
I was still here. Still hidden. Still… useless.
Then I heard it. A scream not like the others a sharp, guttural scream that made my stomach twist.
"Get out of the way!" Tsukishima spat at Bokuto as he lunged forward, swinging at Terushima.
"No!" Bokuto yelled, getting shoved into a tree. The crack of bark snapping echoed painfully.
Oikawa's voice was high and tense. "Step back! Both of you! Stop...-"
But the fight didn't stop.
Terushima's hand grabbed a branch, swinging it like a bat at Tsukishima, who ducked and retaliated with a sharp kick to Terushima's ribs. The sound of bone-cracking or maybe wood made my stomach turn.
And then, louder than anything, the word I had been dreading:
"Y/n!"
I pressed my face against the floor. My vision blurred with tears and sweat. My body shook violently, and my blood had soaked through the blanket. The cold floor pressed against me, but it wasn't enough. My body felt weak, like the world had given up on keeping me alive.
And finally… I slipped.
I collapsed fully against the floor, unable to hold myself upright anymore. My eyelids fluttered, heavy and wet. Every sound...the fight, the shouting, the crashing trees faded into a distorted haze. My body was too tired, too weak from blood loss, and I couldn't even scream.
Somewhere above me, the fight was still raging, but I was invisible.
Until a shadow fell over me.
I tried to lift my head. My hands reached out weakly.
"Y/n!"
Terushima's voice but different. Frantic. Terrified.
I couldn't see clearly. The edge of the blanket lifted. Warm hands touched my cheek.
"You're alive…" he whispered, voice breaking. "Oh god, Y/n, stay with me."
But then came another voice. Tsukishima's.
"Step away, Terushima. She's mine to deal with."
"No!" Terushima shouted back, gripping my wrist. "Stay the hell away from her!"
The chaos from the fight spilled into the shed. The others' voices Bokuto, Kuroo, Oikawa, even Suna and Semi joined in, shouting and trying to stop them.
"She's bleeding out!" Osamu's calm voice cut through the shouts, authoritative. "Everyone, back. Now. I'm taking her."
"No! Don't...-" Terushima tried to argue, his face twisted with rage and fear.
But Osamu stepped forward, putting himself between us, his arms firm, unyielding. Atsumu and Suna flanked him, mirroring his stance.
"You are not touching her. Both of you," Osamu's voice was sharp. "Back. Step. Back."
Terushima's hands shook, but he obeyed, watching Tsukishima's scowl darken.
I couldn't speak. My lips quivered, blood mixing with tears. My body felt numb, but there was relief in knowing I was finally...finally protected.
Bokuto's voice cracked through the room: "She's… she's out. Too much blood…"
Kuroo knelt beside me, brushing my hair from my face. "Stay with us, Y/n. Don't close your eyes."
Oikawa hovered near the door, looking helpless, his hands clenched. Semi and Suna stayed alert, eyes flicking between Terushima, Tsukishima, and the rest of us, ready to intervene again if needed.
Terushima sank to his knees near me, hands trembling as he hovered over my body. His golden hair fell into his eyes, and he whispered hoarsely, "I… I couldn't… I couldn't protect you."
I felt something soft against my hand, Osamu pressing it to mine. "You're safe now," he said firmly. "Just hold on."
I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. But for the first time that night, I felt… a thread of safety. A thread I hadn't felt in months.
Outside, the forest was still alive with crashing and shouting the fight hadn't stopped, not fully but inside the shed, I was invisible to it. Surrounded by chaos, I finally allowed myself to slip.
The last thing I heard before darkness took me completely was Terushima's quiet, broken whisper:
"Stay with me, doll… please stay with me."
For a moment, no one breathed.
Only the ragged sound of Terushima's voice echoed through the shed, swallowed by the pounding rain outside.
Kuroo's hands were still pressed against Y/n's shoulder, his palms slick with her blood. He looked at Osamu, panic flickering behind the steady mask on his face.
"She's not responding," he muttered, voice breaking. "She's...she's losing too much."
Osamu didn't hesitate. "Atsumu, grab the med kit. Now!"
Atsumu was already moving, ripping open the pack they'd dropped by the door, hands shaking as he pulled out gauze and a small roll of bandages. "I can't...shit there's too much blood, 'Samu!"
"Then stop it," Osamu barked, his voice cracking. "Just stop the bleeding!"
Bokuto was pacing, his hair a mess, his breathing fast and uneven. "She's not waking up," he kept saying, over and over like a broken record. "She's not...she's not..."
Oikawa grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stop. "Bo, listen...she's alive, okay? She's still breathing. We just need to keep her that way."
But even as he said it, his voice trembled.
Terushima hadn't moved from Y/n's side. He was on his knees, eyes red, blood streaked across his face from a split lip, his whole body shaking. "She was scared," he whispered. "She was so damn scared and I..." He slammed a fist against the floor, the sound hollow and heavy. "I made it worse."
"Stop talking and help," Kuroo snapped. "If you care that much, then hold the bandage."
Terushima did, pressing the folded fabric to Y/n's foot as Osamu tied it off. But his eyes never left her face. "She's cold," he murmured, voice cracking. "She's too cold..."
Suna, leaning against the doorway, exhaled shakily. "We need to get her out of here. The shed's not safe. If she passes out longer…" His voice trailed off, grim. "She won't wake up."
"No one's moving her," Tsukishima said suddenly, his tone low but seething. He stood at the far end of the shed, lip split, cheek bruised, and blood trickling from his temple. His eyes burned through the others. "Not until I say so."
Everyone froze.
Terushima's head snapped up. "You don't say anything anymore."
Tsukishima's glare darkened. "She's bleeding because you lost control."
"Because you wouldn't stop running your damn mouth!" Terushima roared, springing to his feet. "You think I didn't notice how you looked at her? How you cornered her?"
"Enough!" Oikawa shouted, stepping between them. His voice cracked, trembling with fury. "You're going to kill her if you keep this up!"
For a heartbeat, the world was still. The rain, the wind, even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Then Kuroo spoke, quieter but sharper than anyone else. "Tsukishima. If you take one more step toward her, I swear to god I'll break you myself."
That silenced everything.
Tsukishima's jaw clenched, but the look in Kuroo's eyes raw and deadly was enough to make him stop. He looked away, blood dripping from his hand.
Osamu tightened the final wrap around Y/n's ankle and leaned back, exhaling shakily. "She'll need stitches. And heat. We can't stay here."
Bokuto nodded quickly. "I'll carry her."
"No," Terushima said immediately, his voice low but firm. He brushed his thumb against Y/n's cheek, eyes still wide, hollow. "I'll do it."
Oikawa looked at him really looked and for the first time, didn't argue. "Then move."
Terushima lifted Y/n carefully, her limp body cradled in his arms. Her head fell against his shoulder, her hair matted with dirt and blood. His breath hitched as he looked down at her pale face.
"She's still warm," he whispered. "Please...please stay that way."
Behind him, Kuroo and Osamu led the way out of the shed. Bokuto followed, keeping an eye on Tsukishima, who lingered at the door, silent. His face was blank, but his hands were trembling.
As they stepped into the night, the rain hit them like needles. The forest swallowed their figures, only the flicker of Oikawa's flashlight cutting through the dark.
Terushima didn't look back. Not once.
Inside the shed, the blood they'd left behind began to soak deeper into the floorboards, dark and silent the last trace of a night that none of them would ever forget.
The rain drummed against their shoulders, soaking through jackets and hair, the forest pressing in like it wanted to swallow them whole. Terushima's arms shook with the effort of holding Y/n, her limp weight pulling him down, but he refused to let go.
"She can't go to the hospital," Kuroo said suddenly, voice sharp, urgent. His eyes were wild in the faint light of the storm, the dark gleam of obsession flickering behind his calm mask. "Not now. Not like this. Too many questions. Too many prying eyes. Kita's at the villa...he'll take care of her. He's been guarding the place since morning. He knows what to do. She won't be safe anywhere else."
Terushima's head snapped up, his amber eyes flashing through the dark. "And you think that's better?" he bit out, voice breaking between rage and fear. "You really think Kita can save her right now? I know he's smart...I know he'd die before letting anything happen to her but look at her, Kuroo!" His chest heaved as his voice cracked, the storm outside echoing the tremor in his words. "We all love her...hell, maybe that's the problem but right now, I can't just trust that love's enough. Not when she's like this… not when she's slipping right in front of us."
"Better than exposing her to strangers, to lights, to... hospitals," Kuroo replied, voice calm but steely, like a blade cutting through the tension. "You don't want her exposed. You know it. None of us do."
A silence fell for a moment, broken only by the distant, muffled crashes of the storm and the wet slap of rain on leaves. Then Tsukishima stepped forward, his own bruised, bloodied form moving with an unsettling calm.
"I'll carry her," he said, voice cold but steady. "It's better she's with me than a traitor."
Terushima's hands tightened around Y/n instinctively, gripping her closer. "A traitor? Me? I've been the one keeping her safe while you..."
"You're weak," Tsukishima interrupted flatly. "Weak and too emotional. She'll slip from your grasp if you handle her."
The words hit Terushima like a blow, his chest rising and falling rapidly, but he didn't release her. Instead, his gaze flicked to Kuroo, silently pleading.
"Tsukishima she's not yours to gamble with," Kuroo said, voice dangerously low. "One wrong move, and she dies. I won't let that happen."
Osamu's hands flexed at his sides. "Enough talking. Decide now, or we're all wasting time while she bleeds out."
Terushima's eyes softened as they lingered on Y/n's pale face. He tightened his grip once more, whispering under his breath, "I won't let anyone hurt you. Not him. Not anyone."
Tsukishima, his jaw clenched, stepped closer. "Then we settle this here and now."
Kuroo exhaled sharply, rubbing his face with one hand. "No. There's no settling anything. She's barely alive. You want a fight? You'll get it later. Right now, she comes with me. That's final."
Tsukishima's expression didn't soften, but he nodded slightly, recognizing the threat in Kuroo's voice. For a tense moment, neither man moved.
Then Terushima shifted Y/n in his arms, her head falling against his shoulder, and whispered, trembling, "I'm not letting go. Not now. Not ever."
Kuroo's eyes flicked to him, sharp but acknowledging the quiet vow. "Good. Then we move, quickly. No arguing. No delays. Every second counts."
With that, Terushima adjusted Y/n carefully, her blood-stained blanket tucked around her, and started moving. The others flanked him, their eyes scanning the shadows, muscles tense, ready to intervene if Tsukishima made a single wrong move.
The forest stretched on endlessly, wet and dark, but inside their tight formation, Y/n was safe for now. Her fragile, bleeding body was cradled in the one pair of arms that refused to let her go. And for the first time that night, despite the storm, despite the chaos, a thread of hope threaded itself through the fear, fragile but unbroken.