Chapter One

"Are we nearly there yet?"

Hinata received an annoyed grunt as a reply as Kageyama had given up on answering the same question he'd been asked seventeen times prior. The redhead puffed out his cheeks and turned to look out of the window at the passing trees. Coach Ukai had decided to take the Karasuno volleyball club to a one-off training camp. And when he said 'camp' he actually meant it. They'd be spending two weeks sleeping in tents in the middle of nowhere, training their bodies by hiking and swimming and learning to work together more by making fires and cooking. Said coach was quite proud of himself for thinking of such an unusual training idea and was pleased that it seemed to have peaked the team's interest and lift their spirits.

The bus they were travelling on chugged up yet another steep bank through the deep forest, spluttering and wheezing as Ukai changed into a lower gear in the hopes of making it to their destination. Three hours had passed since they'd last seen another human and that had only been an old farmer in a tractor. The blonde coach prayed that they didn't break down as he knew that neither he nor Takeda had any mechanical knowledge whatsoever.

"Whoa!" Tanaka suddenly yelled, startling Kageyama awake in the seat in front of him, "We're really high up!"

Beside the first year setter, Hinata squashed his face up against the window and followed Tanaka's awed gaze, as did Nishinoya in the back. Tanaka wasn't wrong, the gaps between the trees revealed a gaping chasm a good few hundred feet beneath the road. Pebbled disturbed by the bus bounced over the edge and tumbled violently down the slope, gaining momentum as they fell. If Ukai made a wrong move they'd be in free-fall for years! Well, at least that's what Hinata imagined.

Opposite where he and Kageyama sat, Tsukishima side-eyed Yamaguchi in the seat beside him as his freckled friend gulped loudly at the sight. Tadashi had never been a fan of heights and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the headrest in front of him. Daichi, who was occupying that seat, turned and smiled,

"Don't worry Yamaguchi, I'm sure we're in safe hands with Coach."

"Yeah," Sugawara's smiling face suddenly popped up beside Daichi, "I'm glad Tanaka's sister changed her mind about driving us!"

Yamaguchi shivered at the thought of the blonde lady zooming through the winding roads like a maniac and relaxed back into his seat, images of certain death quickly fading from his mind.

On the back seats, Asahi was nodding off as Nishinoya knelt on the seat to chat with Tanaka in front of him. They were complaining about Shimizu not coming on the trip and all of the missed opportunities to see her cooking or bathing or simply showing her legs. Both of their cheeks flushed at that thought but they were soon jostled from their fantasy as Ukai spotted them in the rearview mirror and bellowed at them to sit properly or walk. Two backsides flopped back down into their seats swiftly.

Defeated, Nishinoya decided to try and sleep as Asahi had somehow managed to drift into oblivion even through the excited chatter and constant jostling of the bus. The libero guessed Karasuno's Ace could probably sleep through a tsunami as long as his mattress stayed afloat. The back seat was more like one long bench and so Noya made himself a makeshift blanket with Asahi's large jacket and stretched out his small body easily. He even decided that Asahi-san's lap would make for a great pillow and snuggled down comfortably for a nap.

After another half hour on the road the rest of the team, save for Ennoshita and the other second years who were either on family holidays or at summer school and would be joining them the following week, were all drifting into dreamland. The monotonous blur of green had even lulled the ever-excited Hinata into a sleepy daze but their rest was soon interrupted as Ukai suddenly slammed on the brakes, lurching the bus and its occupants forwards as it shuddered to a stop.

"What the fu-" Tanaka started but shut up as Takeda-sensei straightened his glasses and stood up to assess the group for injury.

"I-Is everyone okay?"

A unanimous cacophony of 'yes' rang out and the teacher exhaled thankfully.

"Sorry 'bout that!" Ukai put the bus back into gear and started to drive once more, "A deer ran out into the road!"

Yamaguchi yelped, "Ah! Did we hit it?!"

His eyes sparkled with worry as Tsukishima rolled his eyes but listened for the coach's reply nonetheless.

"No! I managed to stop in time. Thank God the brakes are good on this thing or else Bambi would be toast!"

"Waah!" Hinata had his hand on his chest, "I thought we were gonna die!"

"Idiot," Kageyama clicked his tongue, "We've got seatbelts on, we're fine."

"I don't know," Tsukishima had his usual shit-eating smirk plastered on his face, "Chibi is so small he'd probably slide right out and fly straight through the windscreen."

That won him a chuckle from Yamaguchi and a glare from the redhead, who checked to make sure his belt was securely fastened.

Sugawara wiped off any drool he'd left on Daichi's shoulder when he'd fallen asleep and smiled his usual motherly expression,

"I think I'll go and ask how long it'll be 'til we arrive," he glanced at the bickering first years, "I don't know how long we can hold off the inevitable scrap."

Daichi laughed and watched the setter stumble down the aisle towards the front of the bus. The captain's eyes rested on the windscreen, or rather through it, and for a moment all he could do was stare. He briefly registered Ukai and Takeda-sensei glancing up at Suga but his large brown eyes were more occupied with what he saw in the road ahead. Four deers, three does and a large stag, were strolling across the road like it was an open meadow. Their eyes glinted in the midday sunlight and, although Daichi knew the bus was headed straight for them, there was nothing he could do. It took only seconds for him to shout a warning but it was already too late.

All hell broke lose.

Ukai turned his attention back to the road a fraction too late and yanked the steering wheel sharply to the right to try and avoid a collision with the animals. The bus screeched and lurched sideways. Its momentum carried it too far, however, and the entire vehicle tipped violently, sending it tumbling across the road. It flipped once, then twice until finally skidding to a halt on its side.

The windows were almost all smashed, glass scattered everywhere, and some of the overhead compartments had opened, exposing the bags and making them into projectiles as the bus had tumbled. One of the hold-alls, perhaps Asahi's, had hit Kageyama in the side of the head and now, as the bus settled and everyone tried to get their bearings, all the setter could see was stars. He blinked and squinted to try and clear his vision until finally the blurriness subsided and he got a good luck at their situation.

The bus was lying on its side, the opposite side to where Kageyama was sitting, and he was hanging sideways from his seat, secured only by his seatbelt and armrest. The seats in front of him had come loose somehow and his left leg was trapped beneath them, painfully so. It hurt to move but he turned his body to try and assess Hinata's condition only to be struck with a lead weight in his stomach. Hinata wasn't there. The tiny redhead was no longer in his seat and the window was smashed, exposing the bright blue sky overhead. In an unusual state of panic – one he was not used to at all – Kageyama's breaths started to come too fast and the stars returned in front of his eyes. He tried to search for Hinata in the surrounding seats but could only lean a little for fear of falling out of his seat completely or further injuring his leg. He resorted to the only thing he could think of.

"HINATA!" he bellowed, pausing to cough as smoke and dust entered his lungs.

Kageyama's shouting jostled Tanaka from his unconscious state in the seat behind and he glanced around dazedly. His right shoulder hurt like hell and he had a lump the size of a tennis ball on his head but he was otherwise unharmed. Carefully, so as not to suddenly fall sideways out of his seat, he grabbed the back of Kageyama's seat and pulled himself forward with his left arm.

"You okay?" he asked the first year, trying to keep his composure as senpai.

Kageyama turned to him, face ashen. He nodded feebly and bit his lip so as not to yell out again. Noticing the empty seat beside him, Tanaka pulled himself a little higher and poked his head out of the broken window above Kageyama. Sure enough, about twenty feet away, there was Hinata. He was sprawled in the road like he had been the one hit by the bus and somehow he looked even smaller than usual, like a rag-doll dropped by a child. Careful not to touch the edges of the window, Tanaka pulled himself back inside the bus and spoke with as much confidence as he could.

"He's out there. Must have been launched through the window when we flipped," he saw Kageyama's eyes bulge and tried his best to reassure him, "He doesn't look too badly hurt! Still got all his arms and legs!"

Somehow that did make Kageyama feel a little better and he exhaled, not even realising he'd been holding his breath.

Behind them, still strapped into the back seat, Asahi groaned. He was hanging head first towards the side of the bus and had to pull himself sideways to straighten up. Quickly, he did a quick pat-down of his body to check for any injuries and sufficed that he was just badly bruised. He thanked whoever was looking out for him and tried to assess the carnage of what had been such a leisurely scene just minutes before. The first thing he noticed was that Nishinoya was no longer resting on his lap, or even near him for that matter. No, the libero's small unconscious frame was sprawled across the sides of two of the seats on the side of the bus that was touching the ground. He looked almost like he was hovering there and the unnatural way his arms hung limply made Asahi's stomach churn.

Without thinking, the Ace unfastened his seatbelt and braced himself between the seats. He placed one foot after another on the armrests and slowly started towards his friend, all other thoughts gone from his mind. That was until Daichi's voice suddenly snapped him out of his mission-mode.

"Asahi!"

The captain's voice sounded weird somehow and it took Asahi a moment to realise that Daichi sounded scared. It wasn't something he'd ever associate with his strong leader and it struck him like a slap to the face.

"Don't move!" Daichi yelled.

"But Nishinoya-"

Asahi's eyes were focused on Nishinoya once more and he stepped forward another seat. That was when he understood why Daichi had sounded so scared. As Asahi took another step, the weight of the bus seemed to tilt slightly. Metal groaned and screeched and the back of the vehicle lifted slightly, like a see-saw in a playground. The Ace gulped and stepped backwards, careful not to be too abrupt with his movements. He looked forwards through the broken windscreen and watched as the gaping chasm swayed in and out of view. The bus was hanging over the edge.