They sat in the abandoned corner store. There were random cans of food scattered throughout, but other than that it had been cleared out pretty well. Since they were so close to the city, Akaashi assumed the military sent out units to scavenge for food and supplies; they'll need as much as they can if they're planning on barricading the survivors in the city.

After Iwaizumi and Oikawa had introduced themselves to him and Bokuto, Iwaizumi informed them that they were with a couple others they found hiding in a house a few days ago. Apparently they had heard a message on the radio, telling everyone to head to Sendai for safety. As Iwaizumi was telling his side of the events from the day of the attack, Akaashi noticed that Oikawa had wandered past their group and towards the intersection.

"Bed head, short stuff, come on out. I promise if they end up being crazy and try to kill and eat us, we'll give them Iwa-chan and make a run for it." He turned and shot Iwaizumi a wink and poked his tongue out. Akaashi turned back to Iwaizumi as he rolled his eyes and continued talking to the rest of their group.

He noticed that Bokuto continued to look at the direction Oikawa was talking to. Then he saw the smile on Bokuto's face.

"YES! I should've known you guys would survive! Kenma's like a cockroach! He'll never die!" Bokuto ran to the two figures who stepped out from behind the store. He grabbed Kuroo in a hug and Akaashi saw Kuroo's arms flex as he squeezed Bokuto. He approached them as Bokuto let go and turned to Kenma. He froze with his arms outstretched and then slowly took a step back and held out a hand for a high five. Kenma allowed him that and Bokuto shouted as he threw up fists and widened his stance in a victory pose.

"HEY HEY HEY! I knew you missed me! All those times you hissed at me for trying to hug you, but I bet you secretly liked it, didn't you?!" Bokuto was swaying from side to side as he talked, bouncing slightly, and Akaashi hurried his pace. He grabbed Bokuto's hand to calm him down before Kenma tried to claw him again like the year before when Bokuto wouldn't stop hassling him for another practice match.

"Bokuto-san, why don't we get the others and all sit in one of these stores? We can discuss what happened to us and make proper introductions." Akaashi had already started walking backwards as he talked, tugging Bokuto to get him to follow.

This was how they ended up sitting in a circle exchanging stories. Bokuto was sitting so close to him that his left knee and thigh were pressed against Akaashi's right. He also still had possession of Akaashi's hand. Bokuto had his left arm stretched out so their hands were in Akaashi's lap, and he could feel Bokuto's thumb move along his knuckles.

"When we saw Tanaka's head get torn off, I started to panic. Almost everyone else had started to run at that point, but the wolf was near the door and I couldn't make myself go past it so Tsukki threw a volleyball as hard as he could at one of the lower windows and we climbed out that way." Yamaguchi was looking at his lap as he spoke. Akaashi knew that Tsukishima was close with him and he hoped the story didn't end how he thought it was going to. "We hid out in the club room for a few hours. We thought maybe some of the other teammates might go there too. I know Daichi…. I know he died. I remember the blood, but I thought maybe Suga would check to see if anyone else was hiding. No one came so we ventured out. It was really quiet and there were a lot of bodies. We figured the animals had already left so we split up to see if we could find anyone still hiding in the school. I met up with Hitoka but couldn't find anyone else. We went to the part of the school Tsukki was searching, but he wasn't there. We stayed for another hour but it was already getting pretty dark. I lived close by so we went there…Tsukki knows where I live so I knew he would go there to look for me. But he never came and eventually we decided to leave… I don't know what happened to him or where he is."

Akaashi saw him start to cry and respectfully looked away. He turned towards Bokuto and saw fat tears running down his face. I have a bad feeling.

"Not your best friend! That is so sad! Isn't that awful Akaashi?! Don't worry little man, I'll help you find Tsukki!" Damnit, Bokuto. Why must you be a pain in my ass sometimes. "We'll look together! We can head back to the school if you want! Or if you're frightened I can head back alone and leave some kind of message for him?!"

Akaashi shook his head. "No, that will not be happening. We will be going into Sendai and we'll tell the soldiers there that there might survivors."

Bokuto looked like he was going to protest, so Akaashi pinched the hand he still had in his lap.

"OW! okay, okay." Bokuto looked dejected, but didn't pull his hand away.

He looked over and saw Kuroo giving him a thumbs up. Kozume was leaning against his side, playing with a Rubik's cube. Hinata was sitting next to Kozume, watching him try to match up the correct colors, with Kageyama on his other side.

Hayashi turned to stare at Kuroo expectantly. When the silence continued, he sighed. "This is the part where you tell us your story."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Not much to tell… I didn't see Bokuto right away so I panicked and grabbed Kenma. We hid out until we saw Iwa-chan an-"

"Don't call me that."

"As I was saying, we met Oikawa and Iwa~chan a couple days after the attack." Iwaizumi rolled his eyes at the nickname and stood up.

"This is stupid. We're close to Sendai and rehashing the events of that day isn't going to change anything. Let's gather some supplies from the stores around us and leave." Iwaizumi bent down to grab Oikawa's hand and yanked him to his feet. "C'mon Shittykawa, you're coming with me."

"Iwa-chan, are you trying to get me alone to take advantage of me?! Because you should know I demand dinner first-" He cut off as Iwaizumi let go of his hand an slapped the back of his head.

"Never mind, you're an idiot. I'll partner up with him." He nodded to Hayashi and motioned for the man to follow him out of the store.

"Iwa-chan wait! Don't leave me all alone and defenseless! My beautiful body isn't meant for fighting!"

Oikawa ran out after them and Akaashi turned to the others. "Okay, well Bokuto and I are going to check out the gas station across the street."

He pulled Bokuto to his feet and they walked away. He heard Yachi asking if they wanted to go with her to the clothing store a couple buildings down, but their responses were lost as they walked out of the corner store and across the street. They walked into the gas station cautiously; a lot of the snacks had already been cleared out, but that wasn't the reason Akaashi wanted to bring Bokuto here. He pulled Bokuto to the corner of the gas station where they were mostly blocked by the empty shelves. He leaned against the wall and tugged on the strip of clothing tied on Bokuto's arm.

"Let me see the bite Bokuto-san."

Bokuto just stared at him and then shook his head slowly.

"Don't worry about it Akaashi, I already checked and it's fine."

Akaashi opened his mouth to argue but Bokuto cut him off.

"What I do want to talk about, though, is what happened in the shed."

Akaashi stared at him to see if he was joking. "Bokuto-san, now is definitely not the time. We are close to Sendai, why don't we wait until we are safe within the city?"

"You don't know if it's safe there Akaashi! No one knows what's going to happen. For all we know we're going to be ambushed by wolves or raiders and will die a very slow and painful death!"

Bokuto crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Akaashi. He could tell Bokuto would be quite difficult the rest of the day if he refused to talk about what happened, which could lead to complications if something were to occur. He let out a very long sigh to delay the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

Okay. Just say it. It's no big deal. He reacted positively to the kiss. He probably feels the same way about you. Just do it. Don't overthink it. Just-

His thoughts came to an immediate halt when he felt hands grab his cheeks and warm lips on his.

His eyes widened and Bokuto lifted his face just a little. "Hey 'kaashi, has anyone ever told you that you think too much?"

The corner of Akaashi's mouth lifted. He wasn't great with words and he knew if he tried to tell Bokuto how he felt he would end up talking in circles so, instead, he decided to show him just how much he meant to Akaashi.

He ran his hands up Bokuto's chest and around his shoulders to stop at the back of his head. His eyes dropped to Bokuto's lips and he felt his heart rate accelerate. He brought Bokuto's head down just enough to press his lips back to his own. He felt the warmth of the other man's hands on his cheeks leave as he dragged them down to grip Akaashi's waist.

Their lips parted and Akaashi felt Bokuto's tongue swipe across his lower lip. The hands that we were at his waist suddenly moved to behind him to grab the back of his thighs, under his ass. Bokuto tightened his grip and then lifted him up. Akaashi immediately wrapped his legs around Bokuto's waist and crossed his ankles. His back hit the wall and Bokuto leaned into him, deepening the kiss. Akaashi had to break away after a couple minutes to breathe. He leaned his head back to rest against the wall as he was gasping for breathe. Bokuto's lips trailed down his neck.

"Keiji…" One of Bokuto's had slipped up under his shirt to press against his spine. The heat of the other man's body pressed against him caused goosebumps to break out along his arms. His other hand moved from the back of his thigh to his ass and squeezed, pushing his body even closer. Bokuto rolled his hips against Akaashi's and a moan slipped out of his mouth. He tilted his head back down to continue the kiss. His tongue slipped into Bokuto's mouth when a voice interrupted them.

"Well, hot damn. Get it Bo. Make sure you wrap it up though, teen pregnancies are always a bit awkward to explain."

Bokuto's head jerked back at the sound of Kuroo's voice, and Akaashi looked towards the front of the store where Kuroo and Kozume were standing. Kozume was focused on his Rubik's cube, but every couple seconds his eyes would flicker to where Akaashi and Bokuto were still pressed against the wall. Kuroo had his hands in his pockets and was smirking at them.

"Very funny Kuroo-san. Although perhaps you would like to retake sex ed? I would hate for you to have to worry about getting Kozume pregnant every time you run out of condoms."

Bokuto snorted out a laugh and released his grip on Akaashi. He lowered his feet and moved a couple steps away from Bokuto to clear his thoughts. Kuroo had turned bright red and Kozume walked away to sit against the wall, gaze focusing solely on his toy. "Please keep me out of this conversation."

Bokuto closed the distance between him and Akaashi and grabbed his left hand, linking their fingers. He quickly leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Akaashi's lips before turning back to Kuroo. Akaashi was so shocked by that, he barely processed any of the words coming out of Bokuto's mouth.

"Kuroo, bud, I think you're just jealous that I have a boyfriend I can kiss anytime I want."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, "Ohoho, locking him down during the end of days? Smart bro. Hey Kitten, wanna go make out before we all die?"

Kuroo turned to Kozume and wiggled his eyebrows, but the other boy didn't even look up, just turned his body completely so he was facing the wall.

"Ehh, another time then." Kuroo looked back at Bokuto and his eyes dropped to his right arm. Specifically, the dirty cloth tied to it. Shit.

"Bo, what happened? You okay?" Kuroo stepped forward and reached out to touch Bokuto's arm, but Akaashi quickly stepping in front of him.

"Bokuto-san is fine. Please don't concern yourselves. Why don't we find the others now." He jerked his chin towards the exit doors of the gas station, but his eye never left Kuroo's. He saw the other man's gaze narrow.

"What's going on?"

"'Kaashi, Kuroo is one of my best friends. Why don't we tell him what happened?"

"Absolutely not."

"Tell me what?"

Akaashi and Kuroo spoke at the same time, and he felt Bokuto move from behind him to stand right next to him. He knew Bokuto was going to show Kuroo, no matter what he said. And yes, he was close to Kuroo, but that didn't mean Kuroo wouldn't freak out and attack or tell the others. Akaashi gripped the kitchen knife he still kept in his pocket, and kept his eyes on Kuroo, looking for any sign of aggression.

He heard the rustling of cloth, and assumed Bokuto was removing the strip of clothing to reveal the bite mark. He saw Kuroo's eyes widen and vaguely noticed that Kozume had come to stand beside them.

"Holy shit, is that a bite mark?! Are you okay?" Kuroo took a step forward. Akaashi tensed and Kozume's hand shot out to grab Kuroo's arm.

"Don't go near him Kuro."

"What, why?"

Kozume looked at Akaashi, and he saw something in Kozume's eyes that made his blood run cold.

"Has he fully shifted yet?"

"Shifted? What are you talking about? Someone tell me what is going on, right now." Kuroo kept looking at all of them before settling his eyes on Kozume.

"Bites are contagious Kuro. Bokuto is no longer human."