They gathered at 7:45 am, thanks to Daichi and Suga. They were not that early, there were a lot of people who were there before them.
"Kei." Hinata nudged Tsukishima gently. "What do you think is going to happen?" He asked warily. Tsukishima can see how worried his boyfriend was, and to be honest, he himself share the same feelings. However, Tsukishima knew that worrying wouldn't get them anywhere, so he gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile.
"I don't know. But don't worry, Shou. It's probably just an announcement or something." He said, not believing his own words.
"Right." Hinata nodded. "We'll stay together, right?"
Surprised at the sudden question, Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. "Of course."
Right on time, the brown-haired man who announced that they have to gather here this morning appeared. He talked, using the megaphone again.
"Everyone, be quiet." He said calmly. All the boys stared at him warily. "We are going to run some tests today. Nothing big, just some tests to determine your physical and mental ability, just for the sake of data." He reassured. Everyone visibly relaxed. "Please stay quiet and listen to what the workers say, they are going to divide you into groups based on your age. Listen to what they say and follow their instructions, and it will all be over in a blink of an eye."
Hinata relaxed because he thought he'd be with Tsukishima, but he remembered that it was only July, which means Tsukishima, Kageyama and Yamaguchi haven't had their birthdays, so he wouldn't be in the same group with Tsukishima.
Tsukishima seemed to have realized this before his boyfriend did. "It'll be fine." He ruffled Hinata's hair. "You'll be with the second years."
"Okay." Hinata grinned when he realized that he would be with his senpais. "I'll see you later."
Hinata ended up being in the same group with Ennoshita and Nishinoya. Tanaka already had his birthday, so he wasn't in the same group with them. Hinata was relieved that he was with his senpais. He had looked around, searching for faces he'd recognize but he didn't find any. He hadn't found anyone he recognize after weeks in this camp though, so it was not surprising. It was always relieving to have his teammates with him, at least he wouldn't be alone.
They were led to a building. When they were inside, Hinata was surprised because there was a huge room that looked like a gym. It was almost as if they were having a sudden sports lesson. The woman who led them there was in her forties, Hinata guessed. She had a gentle smile and dark-brown hair, and her voice was very comforting.
In the end, it was almost like they were having sports lesson. Their stamina, flexibility, strength and reflexes were tested. It was fun for Hinata, it felt like everything was okay and there was no zombie apocalypse happening. He'd go home and find Natsu and his mother in his house, welcoming him home. But of course, that is just wistful thinking on his part.
"Feels great." Ennoshita was suddenly beside him, smiling. "We haven't done anything like this in a while."
"Yeah, it does feel great." Hinata grinned at his senpai. Nishinoya was in the other side of the room, chatting with a tall, bald man that looked like Tanaka from afar. He was going to tell Ennoshita how much he missed volley, but he didn't get the chance.
"Gather around!" The woman called to them. "Good job everyone. Now you're one step closer to the end of the tests." She smiled. "Form a line, please, and follow me."
The boys and girls formed a line, Nishinoya bounced to them and stood behind Ennoshita and in front of Hinata. The lady waited while they formed a line, and then gestured them to follow her. She led her to a hallway with a lot of doors, and then one by one they were called to go into the room. One kid for every room.
"Noya-senpai?" Hinata called. He gulped nervously thinking about being in a room without his senpais. "Why hasn't anyone who was called come back?"
They noticed that after some minutes, another kid would be called, and then another, but the one who was called previously never came out of the door.
"Um.." Nishinoya tried to think of a reason, but he doesn't know.
"They must have had a backdoor." Ennoshita turned to them and smiled. "Don't worry, Hinata. We'll wait for you outside if we're done first."
"Oh, right. A backdoor." Ennoshita's explanation calmed him. He knew he shouldn't worry, but he had always been with someone—one of his teammate—ever since the whole zombie thing happened. It was just a little bit unsettling.
They waited for their turn, chatting quietly, wondering what they would get for dinner. The food isn't that bad here, but Hinata missed pork buns. He wondered what had happened to Ukai and Takeda, Kinoshita and Narita, Yachi and Kiyoko-san, and of course, everyone from his school.
It was suddenly Ennoshita's turn, he slightly waved to Hinata before entering the door. Hinata was going to say something to Nishinoya, but it was suddenly Nishinoya's turn.
"I'll see you later, Shouyou." Nishinoya went inside the door beside Ennoshita's.
Hinata didn't even have to wait for a minute before he was called to go into the door in the end of the hallway, three doors away from Ennoshita's door. Hinata went inside. He closed the door behind him and he saw a small, white room. There was a desk in the center, and a women sitting on the chair. She smiled and gestured him to sit in front of her, just accross the table.
"Hello." She said warmly. She had a pen in her hand, and she was holding a clipboard. "Can you introduce yourself?"
"I-i'm Hinata. Hinata Shouyou."
"Hinata-kun." She smiled and wrote something. "No need to be nervous. I'm just going to ask some questions, and you just need to answer them, alright?"
Hinata nodded and prayed that none of the questions are in english.
"Shouyou!" Nishinoya called to him. Ennoshita was right, there was a backdoor in the room so he didn't have to go out through the hallway. The door lead to a small park. Ennoshita and Nishinoya was waiting for him there. There was barely any people in the park.
"You took long." Ennoshita gave him a small smile. "Noya's was long too." He added.
"How about you, Ennoshita-senpai?"
"Mine was only for like, five minutes." Ennoshita said.
"Must have been because you're smart, senpai!" Hinata concluded.
"Oi, Shouyou! Are you implying that I'm not smart?" Nishinoya asked.
"No! But, like, Ennoshita-senpai is smarter than us." Hinata tried to defend himself. Ennoshita laughed.
"Right, right. Let's go back, guys. The sun is setting already." He reminded his teammates. Upon hearing that, Hinata and Nishinoya realized that their test might have taken much longer than it felt like.
"Did we really take that long, senpai?" Hinata frowned, confused. It didn't feel that long.
"It doesn't matter." Ennoshita gave him a reassuring smile. They were walking back towards their tents. They took around 10 minutes, thankfully there were signs and arrows, showing them where to go. When their tent was in sight, they could see their other teammates.
"They're here!" Yamaguchi announced, and all heads turned to them.
"You guys took long." Sugawara jogged to meet them, he looked a little bit worried.
"What were you doing?" Daichi frowned.
Hinata titled his head, confused. "We were just done with our test. Right, Nishinoya-senpai, Ennoshita-senpai?"
"Yeah." Ennoshita confirmed. "Well, technically, Hinata and Noya were just finished with their test. I was done long before they were." He added.
"How long was it?" Sugawara sounded interested.
"I don't really know, Suga-san, sorry. I've got no watch, but everyone was already done with theirs, I think. I was waiting for them because we promised we'll wait for each other."
"Right then. Now that we're all here, let's go for a bath." Daichi said.
"Excuse me." They heard a voice from outside of their tent. It was three days after the whole 'test for the sake of data' thing. Daichi went out to greet whoever was coming to their tent at this hour. They have just finished dinner an hour ago, and they were sitting around and chatting with each other. He found a government worker in his uniform, holding a clipboard in his hand.
"Yes?" Daichi asked.
"Is there a Nishinoya Yuu and Hinata Shouyou in here?" the worker asked.
"Oh, yeah." Daichi was confused, but he called for his teammates. "Nishinoya, Hinata! Come here for a bit!"
Nishinoya came out of the tent, followed closely by Hinata. They eyed the worker questioningly.
"Nishinoya-san, Hinata-san." The worker nodded at them. "Your attendance is required at the City Hall tomorrow morning. A worker will come here to escort you at 9 AM, so please be ready by then."
Hinata and Nishinoya seemed startled by the news. Daichi frowned, what's happening?
"I'm sorry, but why are they summoned to the city hall?" Daichi asked carefully.
The worker looked at him and offered a smile. "There will be some announcement." He answered simply. "That's all I came to say. Please be ready by 9, Nishinoya-san, Hinata-san." He bowed at them and they bowed back, and then he went away.
Hinata and Nishinoya looked at each other in confusion. Daichi sighed.
"Did you guys get into trouble or something?" He asked his short teammates.
"No we didn't!" Nishinoya tried not to sound offended. He didn't do anything after all, so why would he and Shouyou get summoned to the hall?
"I don't think we did." Hinata added warily. "Do you think they're going to punish us?"
"Of course not, Shouyou! We didn't do anything!" Nishinoya tried to calm his kouhai.
Daichi tried to think of a reason. Why would Nishinoya and Hinata—only Nishinoya and Hinata—get summoned to the city hall? He couldn't think of anything but trouble. Maybe they did something without noticing it? Daichi doubted that his teammates are that stupid and reckless, but he couldn't think of any other reason.
"It will be fine." He finally said. "Maybe they just want to tell you something." He added uncertainly. "Let's go back in."
He went inside of their tent, followed by the two short boys who are now worried.
