Hi everyone! I'm not 100% sure what to put here, apart from 'hope you enjoy'! This is my first Haikyuu! ! fic, so I'm pretty nervous about it. Though I'm excited too, so I'm really hoping you'll stick around! Have fun! It's inspired by the novel 'This is not a Drill' by Beck McDowell. Definitely recommend! -Zakkie

CHAPTER ONE: SHOYO HINATA

The teen sighed as he walked into the living room to find it devoid of life, but the TV left blaring. He flicked it to mute, setting his shoes down and tugging on his socks. He yawned, glancing at the clock on the wall. The glowing numbers told him it was ten past six. If he was looking to arrive at the gym on time, he wouldn't have had to get up until at least half past six but he liked getting there early and setting up.

Once ready, he headed for the door, grabbing a few muesli bars to eat after practice along with an apple. He had basically only just left when the home phone came to life, ringing frantically.

Caller ID: Dad's Mobile

It was morning practice, the session nearly over. It had been a good few hours with the team coming up with new inventive ways for everyone to unlock their full potential. There was energy and laughter and no one had gotten hit in the head with a ball yet.

Kuroo and Kenma were there, the timid setter having been dragged into a sleepover at Hinata's (it was Monday, and Tokyo schools had a teacher training day) and Kuroo having come down to drag him back home. Both had accepted Hinata's offer to train with Karasuno - well, Kenma had no choice - so here they were.

Apart from Nishinoya and Tanaka, none of the second years had shown up, but with what was to come...it was probably good for them.

Ukai had left for to tend to the shop, being that there wasn't much of practice left. He'd left a plastic bag full of melon bread behind, though.

The thumping of balls echoed around the gym, but one mismatched thud joined the chorus. The door had blown open in a particularly strong gust of wind, leaving two startled men in the now open doorway.

And that was when the great gym, the safe haven of the volleyball team, first began to crumble.

He was tall.

He was really tall.

That was the first impression Hinata got from the man. Probably a few centimetres taller than Asahi and a lot more muscular, he had a tattoo of a dragon swirling up his left arm and carried a bulging backpack. His hair was grey and cropped short.

The second man was smaller, but no less intimidating. His hair was tufty and brown and his face gave him a grumpy look that was even worse than a ticked-off Kageyama's.

Suga tensed in front of Hinata, obviously put off by the sudden appearance of men. The smaller player didn't have time to ask who he was before Daichi stepped forward.

"Can I help you?" he asked firmly, hands crossed over his chest in a posture demanding respect. No-one came barging into his gym unannounced and interrupted practise without getting at least a little of a scolding, Hinata knew that.

"Yeah." The man nodded. "I've come to get my son."

His voice is really gruff, the ginger thought to himself absent-mindedly. Anyway, there can't be much of practise left, right?

"Son?" Daichi frowned. "Are you in the right place?"

Hinata almost turned away, but his eyes lingered on the two men and his captain. Daichi was on edge now, his entire body tensing up. That wasn't normal.

"Yeah," the man said again. "Koushi…"

Hinata's, as well as everyone else's, eyes flew to Suga who was staring at the men with shock scrawled all across his features.

"Come on, we're going."

"What…" Suga broke off before straightening up, looking nervous. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on," the man repeated. "We're going."

"No." Suga shook his head. "You can't just march in here..."

"Why not?" The man, obviously Suga's father, had adopted a dangerous tone now, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the teenagers (and Takeda) surrounding his...son. His partner was hovering behind them with his eyes darting from person to person.

"Sir, I'm afraid you can't just come into the school and take your son out, not without permission from the front office and a valid reason," Takeda said evenly, stepping up so that he was level with Daichi. He looked nervous too - probably due to the intimidating size of Suga's father and his scary-looking friend. "Perhaps you'd like to go do that?"

The man shook his head in reply.

"They won't let me," he muttered. "They won't let me take my son."

"Sir, please." Takeda tried again. "I'm sure you can work it out."

"No," Suga's dad insisted.

"Dad," Suga said quietly, the first time he'd called the man that name. He looked pale and awfully jittery, and Hinata couldn't blame him.

"Come on Koushi." His father demanded. "We're going right now."

He stepped forward and a few of the less rowdy of the students took a step back. The more confident of them stayed put, Tanaka looking like he was about to make a break for the stubborn man. Daichi remained where he was with Takeda beside him.

"You cannot remove your son from this school." Takeda said firmly.

"Yes I can," the man shot right back. "Koushi is coming with me."

"No." Suga shook his head. The rest of the team were silent, all of them old enough to know that something serious was going on, even boisterous Hinata. In fact, the young volley-fanatic was starting to feel very uncomfortable. The situation didn't seem to have an easily foreseeable solution. All of his trust was in Takeda.

"Please, the staff at the office can help with this issue." Takeda said calmly, trying to keep a level head in this situation despite the obvious tension in the room.

"They can't." Suga's father snapped. "They won't let me near him. They go round thinking they can just take my son from me! Well, they can't! And I won't let you keep him either." And with that he swung the backpack around, hand diving in and pulling out in one smooth motion.

A gun.

Pointed directly at Takeda's forehead.

"I'm taking my son with me. Now."

Hinata's mind scrambled for an explanation and drew a blank.

Gun. A handgun. In a guy's bag...in Suga's dad's bag...and...now it's pointed at Teacher…

He had the bizarre urge to laugh, despite his churning stomach and a brain that felt semi-stir fried. Things like this happened in the movies, not the gym of Karasuno High.

In front of him, Takeda had frozen in place like a cardboard standee with his back to everyone but the intruders. The only thing that gave away the fact that he was alive was how his hands shook at his sides. Daichi had jumped back involuntarily, his eyes wide and mouth failing to get itself closed.

The man with Suga's father looked surprised too, but took it in his stride and held his ground behind the man. He was eyeing the volleyball players beyond the tense trio before him as if he were picking out the nicest loaf of bread.

Following his gaze, Hinata swallowed and looked around the gym. He himself was standing just in front of the net in the centre of the gym, Kageyama just to his left with a ball gripped tightly in his hands. He'd been about to toss when the doors had blown open.

In seconds, Hinata saw an array of expressions which ranged from blank shock like Kageyama beside him to full-blown horror like that of Yamaguchi staring from the storeroom door.

Kenma and Kuroo had taken a break on the bench only moments ago. Now Kenma was looking towards the danger with surprise in his wide eyes (his version of openly gawking) and his teammate had frozen holding his drink bottle about to be sprayed into his mouth.

Beyond them, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had just emerged from the storage room with their arms full of volleyballs, the former looking alarmed behind his glasses.

Asahi was behind Kageyama, by the edge of the court. He'd been waiting to judge Hinata's movement, but now he was gaping at the teacher who was facing the barrel of a gun less than ten metres away.

Between the ace player and the gun stood Tanaka and Suga. The normally 'scary'-faced second-year was staring with his mouth wide open whilst his silvery-haired teammate looked stark terrified.

There was a bouncing symphony as Yamaguchi dropped his load of balls and they rolled all over the gym floor.

"Geez, thanks guys, leave me to get the spare net!" came a grumble from the doorway as a small figure staggered in covered in a tangle of ropes. "I think Asahi put that up there…"

"Nishinoya…" Daichi swallowed as the teen strangled himself in netting. "You should have stayed out there."

"What?!" Nishinoya staggered forward and almost tripped up as he stood right next to the intruders. "Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of nets and abandonment!"

"Noya…" Asahi said quietly, trying to catch his attention.

"And I'll bet my hair's all messed up now!"

"Noya."

"I walked into three walls on the way here!"

"Noya."

"And why are you all so quiet?!"

"Yuu!" the third year shouted just as the new arrival managed to wrestle free of the netting and throw it to the ground.

Tawny eyes raked the gym for all of seven and a half seconds, taking in the scene. Nishinoya froze where he stood, just beside the two men and gave them a slow glance up and down.

"Um," he said carefully, eyes darting conspicuously. "I was just going."

Hinata winced as he backed towards the door.

Fwip!

A second later and Noya found the second man's gun aimed at his chest.

"Nishino…" Takeda started, but gulped and screwed his eyes shut as Suga's father nudged his own gun into his forehead.

"Don't move, kid. Not unless you want that uniform and everything under it ruined," the man aiming at Karasuno's libero said slowly. "Get over there."

Noya raised his hands into the air and walked slowly towards the centre of the court to stand between Kageyama and Asahi. The ace looked down at his friend with a good deal of concern, but breathed a little easier on seeing he looked unharmed.

Quite pissed off though.

There was a brief silence, wherein the students continued to stare at Takeda and Suga's father. Now that the second man had drawn his gun, the situation was even stickier.

Hinata switched his gaze from them to the intruders, feeling his heart speed up significantly as he was once again made aware that he was stuck in a gym with two hostile gunmen intent on taking one of his teammates away with them.

And seriously...didn't this kind of thing only happen in movies? Or on the news? In some far off, unstable country that had no contact with the rest of the world? Hinata had seen it on TV, but never had he imagined something like this would happen in Karasuno.

In fact, he was still unsure this was completely real as opposed to some kind of wild dream caused by the blunt force trauma of crashing face-first into a wall or something.

Yeah… That had to be right. He was dreaming. Obviously, he'd been trying to receive a serve and sprinted right into the gym wall, consequently knocking himself out. Because things like this just didn't happen.

Not in Karasuno.

In the distance, he could hear Takeda speaking to the two men, probably trying to talk the gun away from his forehead. Some of his teammates were muttering amongst themselves, confused and scared. But what did something like that matter? He was dreaming!

He smiled at the realisation and turned to Nishinoya. The second-year looked at him in alarm as he stepped past him and up to Kageyama.

"What are you doing?" hissed the black-haired player. "Keep still, dumbass! You really don't need another hole in that empty head of yours!"

"It's a very good impression of grumpy Kageyama, brain," said Hinata and held his arm out. "But you're not fooling me. You can pinch me awake now."

Kageyama stared at him like his head had suddenly morphed into a volleyball. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, this is a dream, so—"

"Idiot!" Kageyama shoved the ball he held beneath one arm and grabbed Hinata's outstretched arm roughly before pinching it. Hard. Like, barely stifled squeak hard.

Hinata's eyes widened as his teammate pulled him forward a little and glared right into his face.

"This isn't a dream, Shoyo." he stated lowly. His dark eyes bored into Hinata's and the teen felt cold dread seeping up from his feet all over again. Dread at the fact that the scariest thing in his known universe was staring him down with a spark of fear in his eyes.

No… This can't be… It has to be… No way…

Takeda flinched as Suga's father tapped the gun to his forehead again. He was shaking hard, but continuing to talk as best he could. Hinata couldn't see his face, but he knew that there was no way someone so polite and clumsy would be able to keep a calm face whilst staring down the barrel of a gun.

The barrel of a gun.

Hinata went numb as that weird urge to laugh bubbled up inside him again. This was too crazy! Just too crazy! But…there was no way he could pretend it wasn't happening now. No way… Undeniably, undeniably crazy.

"But…" Hinata looked around again shakily. "Why…"

Everything was silent. The gym without the sound of chatter or volleyballs bouncing off wrists and floors and sometimes the ceiling was something far too unsettling.

Suga was shaking next to Tanaka, staring at his father like he'd crawled back from the dead.

Nishinoya and Asahi's eyes were glued to the teacher and his assailants.

Daichi had stepped a few paces back from the danger at Takeda's request.

Kuroo had put down his bottle without drinking anything and Kenma met Hinata's gaze.

The Nekoma setter seemed to be trying to communicate with his eyes. His face seemed calm enough, save a couple of drops of sweat, but he looked to be silently questioning Hinata across the hall.

I don't know! The ginger teen attempted to get his confusion across in reply. I'm just as lost as anyone!

Kenma tilted his head forward a little, in some odd way of accepting Hinata's frantic eye motions and comforting him all at once.

"Sir, I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to let you leave with your son without the office's permission," Takeda stated, his voice shaking a little. But you had to hand it to him - when it came to being persistent, there was no man who could one-up him.

In the distance, the school bell rang.

Hinata whimpered a little. Outside, school would be continuing just like normal. Everyone would be joining their classmates for the day's classes. Complaining about the strict history teacher. Rejoicing when they passed their tests, or despairing when they didn't.

Will they even notice I'm missing? he thought, gripping one hand in the other and digging in with his nails. He ripped his gaze away from the scuffle and down, looking at the little red marks his fingernails were making.

"Listen!" Suga's father shouted, making everyone jump and Takeda flinch. "I don't care about your damn school rules! I don't care about the law! You think I'd be here with this gun if I was worried about following your petty codes?!"

"Taro!" The second man broke in, giving a name to Suga's father. His tone lowered and Hinata just caught, "Man, calm down. You don't want a repeat of last time, right?"

Suga's father, Taro, gritted his teeth and his grip on his gun tightened.

"I'm sure we can find a better solution for this than violence," said Takeda weakly, but without hesitating. "If you'd lower your gun, I can escort you to the front office and we'll work—"

"No!" Taro exclaimed roughly. "We aren't going to the front office! I'm leaving with Koushi right now! Hand him over!"

Takeda tensed as the man shouted and Hinata found himself imagining what it would be like to be on the receiving end of Taro's wrath. He wouldn't be able to handle the situation any better than a can of watermelon soda would.

"D… Dad."

Thirteen pairs of eyes turned in Suga's direction, where the third-year was standing firmly next to a Tanaka who looked to Hinata like his eyes were about to pop out on stalks like some weird cartoon.

"Point the gun away from Mr Takeda," the teen said quietly. "Please."

"Koushi…" Taro looked away from Takeda for the first time in a while. "Come home with me."

"Lower the gun, dad." Suga's eyes were stone hard, despite his trembling fists.

"Kou—"

"Now!"

Everyone stared in mute shock.

Taro locked eyes with his son, who didn't avert his gaze or move a single inch.

"Suga…" Daichi started to say something, but his friend cut him off with a slight shake of his head. He didn't break eye contact with his father.

Eventually, Taro lowered his hand and pointed the gun at the ground.

"Thank you." Suga closed his eyes for a second, looking to bolster himself. He opened them and stepped forward.

"Suga!" Tanaka started after him, but the setter halted him with one hand.

"Don't. It's me that he wants."

"I know that, but…" He stopped moving and Nishinoya stepped up behind him.

"I think he knows what he's doing," the tufty-haired teen said softly.

Key word being 'think'. Hinata's forehead creased out of worry as Suga walked slowly and deliberately through the gym.

"Koushi." Taro held out his free hand, but most people were still focusing on the gun. "Come."

"If you want me, you'll have to go through the office," Suga replied firmly. "Mrs Matsuda has the early dismissal forms."

Somewhere, an office worker at the school sneezed.

"I'm not filling out a form to take what's rightfully mine," Taro growled. "You are my son. No-one can get in the way."

Suga put his shoulders back. "Then I'm not going."

Hinata felt himself shaking. He wasn't even anywhere near the centre of attention this time, and yet he was sure he was more terrified than Suga or even Takeda. He squeezed his eyes shut. Man up, Hinata! Kageyama would be making fun of you if he weren't busy staring at something else!

Taro's teeth showed as he grew irritated. His jaw was set as he ground out, "We're not going to the office!"

Suga stood firm. His fists twisted nervously.

"Come with me, Koushi!"

"I will not!"

The setter was breathing fast now, staring at his father's angry face. His confidence seemed to be shrinking by the second.

Taro's face was turning red and he gripped his gun tight once more.

This is it, thought Hinata bleakly. We're all gonna get shot. We're all gonna die now. And I'll never be an ace, and I'll never be a super-cool upperclassman, and I'll never…

But he was mistaken, as Taro refused to pull the gun on his own flesh and blood.

"We can't go through the office," the man growled. "I tried going through the office. The office doesn't like people like me."

No-one said anything for a moment.

"That's why we're just going to leave."

Suga cast a quick glance around. Hinata caught it and tried his hardest to look...well, anything but as scared as he felt.

"But…" he started. He took a breath. "But you can't just walk out of school now! You'd have to walk by at least two corridors and the faculty room. Someone's bound to see you for sure."

"He's right," murmured Taro's grumpy-faced companion.

"Fine," snarled the man. "Then we'll wait. We'll wait right here, 'til everyone's gone and then leave."

Someone's bound to notice we're all missing, right? thought Hinata, wringing his hands again. Right?

He whispered this to Nishinoya, and the second year forced a smile. "Of course," came the hushed reply. "And if they come quick enough, they might just save the day before I do."

Hinata smiled a little in return, but he had a feeling it was just as pretend-looking as Noya's. "Just...don't do anything weird."

"Get comfy, kids," the second intruder called out, making sure Yamaguchi and Tsukishima could hear. "'Cause you're gonna be here a while!"

"And no-one's leaving!" added Taro aggressively, waving his gun for emphasis. "Got it?"

Although they'd figured that out quite some time ago, the new hostages nodded anyway.

The hostile gunman looked to be arguing with himself just beneath the surface. Hinata would bet his trainers that he and his partner had planned to wait until practise was over before snatching Suga as he left the gym. But that plan had been ruined when the doors blew open, and now he was running with a poorly thought-out Plan B.

Up the back, Tsukishima began clearing up the balls Yamaguchi had left to roll everywhere.

Asahi looked like he was considering helping, but went to take the net down instead.

I guess there isn't much point in leaving it up, thought Hinata, watching silently.

"Wait."

It had come from Kageyama.

Asahi paused and looked down at him as he bounced his ball once and caught it again. He looked way too calm for the situation. He must have finally gone crazy, then.

"We're not allowed to leave, but we can keep practising, right?"

Hinata's jaw dropped. His teammate seemed not to notice his blatant dumbfounded-ness and continued staring questioningly at their captors.

The stern-faced man glowered, but Kageyama's dark gaze was just as intense. It was like staring into a pointed drill held right in front of your face, by Hinata's description.

"No." Taro didn't miss a beat.

"Let the kids mess around for a while," his partner put in. "It's not like they can do anything else."

"This is why you'll never make it anywhere, Komatsu," grumbled Suga's father. "You're too easy on everyone."

"Don't let the punks play then!" 'Komatsu' replied with a shrug. "See how long you can put up with them complaining about having nothing to do."

Tsukishima nodded and tossed a lazy finger towards Nishinoya and Hinata. "It's true. The two little guys over there won't shut up until you let them play."

The 'two little guys' would have snapped something back any other day, but today was an abnormal day and all he got was a little bit of a grumpy look.

Kageyama bounced his ball lightly a couple more times, waiting for Taro's verdict.

"Fine. Whatever. Just don't make too much noise."

"Let's do a few digs," said Kageyama, spinning the volleyball and turning to Hinata. "Then pepper—"

"A-are you nuts?" asked Hinata disbelievingly. "Stuck in a gym with two gun guys and we're just gonna keep practise going? For how long? Until night time?!"

Tanaka sighed noisily from beside him. "Right. There's dedication, then whatever this is."

Nishinoya slid closer and nodded. "I can't say I'd rather sit still though…"

"There's a good reason I said what I did," murmured Kageyama. "Tsukishima knows it too. Probably Yamaguchi as well, from that angle…"

"Yup, nuts." Hinata buried his face in his palms. "If we have to send you to a mental hospital, Kageyama, who's gonna do the quicks with me?"

"Shut it, airhead!" Kageyama tossed him the ball roughly. "I'm not nuts! If you three want my reason, look at your Nekoma buddy over there! But not all at once."

Hinata threw the ball lightly to Nishinoya, who glanced towards the bench Kenma and Kuroo occupied. The latter was sitting there and drinking inconspicuously, whilst his teammate was quietly watching Daichi, Suga and Asahi talking carefully to Takeda.

"What…?" He shook his head. "Sorry Kageyama. Looks like we need a new creepy setter. You must be defective."

"Look at his hand," the black-haired player growled under his breath as he caught the ball and passed it to Tanaka. "Behind his back."

At that, the two second years' eyes widened.

"What is it?" Hinata asked urgently, having his back to the Nekoma pair.

Tanaka suppressed a quick grin. "Aww, I guess they are useful after all!"

Nishinoya's eyes lit up for a brief second.

"What? What?" repeated Hinata.

"Shh!" Kageyama passed the ball to the ginger's face. "I started practise again to try and divide their attention. That Nekoma setter is texting behind his back."

"Oh!" Hinata's awe was hushed. He tossed the ball to Nishinoya. Now he remembered a conversation he'd had with Kenma not too long ago.

"Wow! You really are good at these app games!"

"They're very easy…"

"Easy, huh? Could you play it behind your back?"

"Probably."

"And the Bedhead Captain is telling him what to send," added Tanaka, bringing Hinata back to the gym. "Right?"

Kageyama nodded tensely. "Probably. We just need to keep them out of the spotlight for a moment. You're pretty good at that, airhead. Go crash into a fence or something."

Hinata blew out his cheeks. "Let's not. Now, what did you say about digging?"

The four of them moved apart a little way as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi began practising their serves in the back end of the gym.

And that was when the worst could have happened, and the strong foundation the team's safe gym had been built on began to tremble.

Dee~Dee~Dee~Deedlee~!

Deedle~eedle~eedle~ee~!

And the Nekoma players' plan went down the drain as the realisation clicked in Taro and Komatsu's heads.

"Whose phone is ringing?!" snapped Taro, whipping his gaze around. He raised the gun again. "Which one of you is it?"

Kenma silently dropped his phone onto the bench, looking alarmed. It wasn't him the ringing was coming from.

Deedle~ee~

Deedle~ee~

Deedle~Dee~Dee~Deedee~Dee~!

The noise was coming from the front of the gym, where the third-years and Takeda were. Once they'd worked that out, it wasn't hard to see who was at blame for reminding the gunmen that most high-schoolers had phones.

Daichi winced and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a blocky little Nokia that was blasting out the cheery tune in a demand to be answered. He held it between two fingers, closing his eyes and sighing. They snapped open again a second later as he found a gun turned on his chest.

"Hang up," said Taro, looking thunderous. "Hang up, then drop it."

Kuroo subtly grabbed Kenma's phone and slipped it back into the setter's open jumper pocket, trying to make it look like he was shifting around to see what was happening.

Hinata bit his lip as he realised that if it weren't for him, the two of them would be at home enjoying a rare pupil free day from their school. Instead, they were hostages in an unfamiliar gym, held by a couple of gun-wielding kidnappers.

Turning his attention back to his captain, the teen saw Daichi press a button on the tiny phone's keypad and place it on the floor.

"All of you!" shouted Taro, sweeping the gun around in an arc. His eyes were hot with rage and he clenched the gun menacingly. "Put your damn phones down here! I know you've all got 'em! And if I so much as see you flick them on, someone will get shot!"

Everyone seemed frozen in place for a few seconds. This was broken by Takeda.

"Do as he says, all of you," the teacher said, seeming to somehow remain calm.

"And if I find out that any of you have hidden phones from me," said Taro in a deadly tone, "there will be trouble."

With that said, a few hostages walked stiffly over to their duffle bags, some reached into their pockets, and a few didn't move.

"Um, I left mine in the club room," said Nishinoya. He exposed his palms as Taro narrowed his eyes at him. "Honest, my phone isn't here!"

"Anyone else happen to leave their phone somewhere?" asked Taro in a tone that indicated that he didn't believe him.

Yamaguchi and Asahi raised their hands.

"I broke mine last Thursday…" Yamaguchi muttered, looking down.

"Mine's useless. I left it home," Asahi confessed. "I know I shouldn't, but…"

"You left your phone at home?" repeated Komatsu. "What, think a thug like you doesn't need one?"

"'Thug'...?" Asahi echoed, his expression growing worried and offended all at once. "N-no, I just…! It's just a tiny flip phone and it's flat so I didn't bother to bring it…"

A few seconds passed.

"It's Samsung…" Asahi added pointlessly.

"You three." Komatsu nodded at the boys without phones. "Turn out your pockets."

Nishinoya, Yamaguchi and Asahi glanced at each other. Their shorts didn't have any pockets.

"We don't have those either," replied Noya, tugging his shorts edgily.

"Whatever." Taro flicked his gun at the spot where Daichi's mobile was. "Everyone else, hand 'em over."

Kenma stood, his face set in a frown. He walked forward, along with Kuroo.

Nishinoya and Kageyama made for their duffle bags as Takeda placed his mobile next to Daichi's. Suga grabbed his off the floor near the front of the gym where he'd put it before practise.

Hinata kept his eyes on Kenma. If Taro decided to turn the Nekoma player's phone on, he was sure to see the text draft. Unless Kenma had a lock screen…but his phone didn't look like the type that would.

"Darnit…" Hinata gulped and watched Kenma pull his mobile out of his pocket. Please don't turn it on!

With a close eye on Taro and Komatsu, Kenma dipped his hand into his pocket and drew out his mobile. Holding it by his side, he quickly flicked it on.

Hinata drew in a quick breath. That's too risky! He'll get seen for sure!

"Hey!" The exclamation came from Taro.

This is it! We're done for! So long, dreams and ambitions… Hinata squeezed his eyes shut.

Kenma froze and flicked off his phone, but it wasn't him being shouted at.

"You there!" Taro switched the aim of his gun as the Nekoma setter put his phone down and backed off. He was truly sweating now, his hands shaking as he straightened.

Kuroo slid his phone into the pile as well, brushing Kenma's arm with his as he did so. The two shared a look and Kuroo nodded slightly, trying to reassure Kenma, so quick that the hostiles didn't notice.

But then...if it wasn't them…

"Why aren't you moving, brat?"

Hinata's pulse rate soared. He'd never stared down the barrel of a gun before, but now he knew that it truly was a terrifying thing. The small black circle seemed to expand, swallowing everything else until all the teen could see was an all-encompassing sea of dark.

One quick tug of Taro's finger was all it would take to end his life, and that was a thought that sent his mind spinning like he'd just tilted over the top of a rollercoaster.

And the only thing he managed to squeak was, "M-me?"

"Yeah, you. Ginger." Taro stepped closer. "Where's your phone?"

"I-I-It's in my bag!" Hinata stammered, too scared to even move his arm to point.

"Then why don't you go get it?!"

He couldn't reply. He could feel his breaths coming in quick gasps and a sick feeling rising from his stomach to crush his chest like a demonic claw. Dotty grey smudges pressed on the edges of his vision.

One quick tug. That was all.

He felt something hard press into his hand.

"Your phone, Hinata."

The first year managed to twitch his head to the side, where Nishinoya was grabbing his hand and shoving a mobile into it. His brown eyes were urgent and ridiculously intense.

Hinata looked down. There was a phone his hand, but it wasn't his. Same make, same model, but this one was orange, not silver. It was Nishinoya's.

"Noya…" he started, voice trembling.

Don't question me. The libero kept staring with that burning importance in his eyes. "Give them your phone."

He gave his teammate a gentle push forward.

Hinata moved forward jerkily, unable to feel his legs. He looked at Daichi instead of the gun, hoping to find at least a little confidence in his captain. He was shaking so hard it was difficult to walk.

Tsukishima had just put down his phone as Hinata walked up, all the while trying not to think of the pistol aimed almost lazily at his chest. The tall first-year was looking at the floor uncomfortably and his shorter teammate found the expression awfully unsettling on someone whose face was usually stuck on a default 'I don't care'.

"Tsukishi—"

"Hurry up!"

Hinata jumped and let out a terrified squeak as Taro snapped at him and the phone flew out of his hands. He saw it fall to the ground and crack into several pieces which skittered across the ground between his and Tsukishima's feet.

"A…ah…" Hinata shook as a fresh wave of helplessness nearly swept him off his feet. "I-I'm sorry!"

Tsukishima bent over and swept the broken pieces into a pile, pushing them up to everyone else's phones. He didn't even utter something like 'klutz' or 'idiot', which almost made Hinata feel worse.

"I'm so sorry!" he cried out to Nishinoya. Then he realised his mistake. I'm such an idiot! Darnit!

Luckily, Noya could be a lot more convincing than Hinata was giving him credit for. "What are you apologising to me for? It's your phone!"

Taro and Komatsu seemed to have put Hinata's random apology down to nerves and let their training continue without question. And to be honest, he wasn't surprised they thought he'd blabbered out of fear; he was trembling harder than he ever remembered having done before. His stomach felt like it was exploring some kind of internal theme park and he couldn't quite manage to breathe right.

But at least he was no longer in the line of fire. That gave him a little relief, though the realisation that he was still in danger brought his anxiety back only a second later.

"I'm really sorry," he mumbled to Nishinoya as he reached him. "I'm such a klutz."

"No problem." Noya patted Hinata's spiky hair and smiled. "It's just a phone. I'm hoping you have credit? 'Cause that's why I switched out phones. I'm fresh out, and we needed to hold on to something."

Hinata nodded as his hair was squished. "I think have credit. But, if they find my phone…"

"Relax. Our bags are right next to each other, so on the off chance they look, it'll be me in trouble."

That thought didn't really help at all and Hinata and he whimpered, "But I don't want you to…"

"I'll be fine! I'm your awesome upperclassman, right?" he ruffled the ginger spikes playfully.

Kageyama butted in with a grunt. "It looks weird when a short person pats someone's head."

Noya thankfully ignored him and held up a volleyball. "Pepper?" he suggested, but Hinata shook his head.

"No thanks," he said quietly. "I'll just watch. Tanaka can play instead."

"That isn't like you, Hinata. But if that's what you want…"

Hearing his name, the baldy player leaned on Kageyama, who turned his head to glare. "Someone say pepper?"

"Yeah! You can spike, I'll pass and Kageyama can set. Unless you want to switch it up a bit?"

"I'm fine with that."

"I wanted to go back to setting today."

"Awesome."

Hinata wandered backwards as they started hitting the ball about before dropping down into a crouch and pressing against the wall. He eventually found himself curled up hugging his knees and watching the ball fly around between his friends.

Taro and Komatsu were watching them from by the gym's only unlocked door.

Hinata looked down again and wondered just how long they could keep this pseudo-normalcy going. It wouldn't be long until they were hungry, and only Suga had brought a few snacks. What then?

And what would happen when the end of the day rolled around? Would Suga be taken away? What would Taro do with him once he had him? Whatever the case, it couldn't be good. Suga obviously didn't want to go with him.

And what if something happened between now and then? Hinata didn't know how many bullets fit into a pistol, but he was sure that it was at least six, and it that was true… Apart from Taro and Komatsu, there were twelve people in the gym.

And who knew what would happen? Taro seemed flippantly unstable - there was no telling what could happen.

And after that, what would happen? If they never made it out of this gym, would anyone even know? What if the two men just hid their bodies away and no-one ever knew what happened to the Karasuno volleyball team?

And what of Kuroo and Kenma? It was entirely Hinata's fault that they were even here.

Too many questions with answers that couldn't be grasped. All there was to do was wait, and that wasn't exactly Hinata's strong point. He pressed his forehead into his knees and sighed heavily.

Everyone else was trying to maintain a strangled sense of routine, though you could see in their stiff motions and hesitant smiles that all of them were just as on edge as each other.

"Hinata?"

It was Takeda. The teacher offered a wan smile and crouched down.

"They're worried about you," he said, pointing to the third years' little cluster. "Why aren't you playing?"

"Well…" Hinata shuffled a little. "Volleyball is something that is fun, right? You do it 'cause you enjoy it, right? And if I'm so scared now, I don't want to risk remembering being this scared when I was playing volleyball. I want to remember playing when being happy instead."

Takeda frowned as if he didn't quite understand the teen's logic, but accepted it anyway. "So are you just going to sit here the whole time?"

Hinata shrugged. "I…I don't know."

"Well, I can't play, so I guess I'll sit here too." That said, Takeda moved to a space of wall next to Hinata and sat down with his legs folded.

"We'll get out of here," Takeda told him quietly. "So don't worry too much. As long as we're all sensible, everything will be okay."

"Tanaka and Nishinoya aren't very sensible," said Hinata.

"Then I guess everyone else will just have to be twice as sensible."

The aspiring ace shrugged again, but accepted this theory. He offered a weak smile of his own. "Okay."

But the shaky foundations couldn't hold up the peace forever.

This is a colllaboration work as well, between myself and a close friend. Our other accounts are 'ZakuroU' and 'Toph Hitsugaya'.

We'd be more than happy if you'd stick around for the rest of the fic - and reviews are little soul nibblies of course. Hope you had fun!