"Oh, you are awake already. I thought I would be the first one to wake up." Oikawa's chirpy voice made Iwaizumi's head ache, and the vice-captain pinched the bridge of his nose before turning his look to the other soldier. Oikawa's mood clearly dropped and the worried pout appeared on his face when he saw the shadows under his teammate's eyes.
"You didn't sleep at all?"
"Not really", Iwaizumi admitted with a heavy sigh. "Maybe twenty minutes." He took the coffee jar from the shelf and looked inside it. Empty. Just his usual luck.
"No coffee, I see", Oikawa murmured. "I still have the energy drink Will gave me in case I feel exhausted because of the surgery, but I don't need it. You can have it." He took the bottle from his jacket's pocket and threw it to Iwaizumi.
"You're a lifesaver", the shorter brunet huffed and opened the bottle, drinking half of the drink with one draught. "We should drop by the shop today, I really need some coffee if I want to stay awake."
"I'd recommend sleeping before caffeine", Oikawa stated, "but I understand if you don't have time for a nap. What's the plan for today?"
"For me it's three patrols and a hunt", the vice-captain told and scratched the back of his head. "Kuroo hasn't told where we are going yet, but the first patrol consists of me, you, Kageyama and Yaku. The second one is me, you, Ennoshita and Akaashi. The last one is me, you, Daichi and Sugawara. Me, Ennoshita, Bokuto, Akaashi and Shirabu are picked for a hunt."
"Kuroo really is unfair today", Oikawa sighed. "I understand that I have to attend all the patrols since I can't do anything else, but you should get a break. He really must have something against you."
"If you only knew", Iwaizumi murmured, too quiet for Oikawa to hear. "Well, the patrols are short ones, only one or two streets, so that doesn't really matter. Right, how is your arm? I didn't even notice it because of the jacket and gloves", he changed the subject quickly and nodded slightly towards the prosthesis.
"Take-chan suggested me to use long sleeves and gloves, so the civilians wouldn't freak out", Oikawa explained with an embarrassed laughter in his voice. "He said I should learn to use it properly before I can show it. But it's good, it doesn't hurt or ache at all." Almost like to strengthen his words, the sniper raised his elbow and rolled his shoulder a few times. "It's really amazing how quickly this heals."
"How long it will take before you can use it properly?" Iwaizumi asked. "Weeks?"
"I don't know, but I really want to be fine when the fair starts", Oikawa said and sighed quietly. "My parents sent a letter and told that they will be coming there, too. Now I don't know if I should tell them about this before the fair or let them notice it themselves."
"I don't think you should worry them too much", Iwaizumi noted and threw the empty energy drink bottle in the trash can. "Losing limbs is pretty normal in military, after all. I think they are prepared for that, so you should just let it be."
"Right", Oikawa nodded. "Do you know others who will be coming here for the fair?"
"Kuguri's and Kindaichi's parents, and I think Semi's father is also coming. I don't know if Kenma has informed them, but I think I will at least need to explain their children's deaths." The vice-captain let out a heavy sigh. "I hate nothing more than telling parents that their son is dead."
"Do they usually take it well?" Oikawa asked quietly. "Parents in general, I mean."
"No, of course not", Iwaizumi huffed and crossed his arms. "Usually they break at the latest when I have to give them their son's belongings. It's not unusual to hear blaming or yelling. I just hope that Kuguri's and Semi's parents will take it well", the brunet sighed. "Bokuto doesn't need any more blame on his shoulders."
"Neither do you", Oikawa pointed out. "Let's hope it will go well. Anyway, should I go to get the others? The patrol is supposed to be an early one, I guess?"
"Yup, I'll try to reach Kuroo", Iwaizumi agreed. "Let's hope that he isn't still sleeping like a sloth he is." Oikawa let out an amused chuckle and headed to the bedroom. Iwaizumi was just going to take his radiophone from his shoulder when it let out a scratchy sound.
"Iwaizumi, you hear me? I know you are awake." An annoyed 'tsk' escaped from Iwaizumi's lips and he pressed the answering button without greeting his leader in any way.
"So I was right", Kuroo chuckled from the other end of the line. The chuckle was far from Oikawa's one, it was so self-conscious and mocking that Iwaizumi wanted to puke. "You have a morning shift, I see. As well as a day shift. And evening."
"Stop talking like we were office workers", Iwaizumi snapped. "Just tell me where are we supposed to go."
"Oh, impatient as always. Let's see, the patrols are short ones where you are supposed to check all the buildings on the way. Three patrols… I think you haven't checked streets seven and three in a while. The third one – first patrol – could be street 9." Iwaizumi gritted his teeth and had to stop himself for shouting in the radiophone.
"Nine? You really play dirty", he hissed. "Fine. Seven, three and nine. Clear."
"Clear, my dear vice-captain."
Iwaizumi put the radiophone back in its place although he felt like he wanted to crush it. How easy it would have been if Kuroo was like that for everyone. He would be kicked out in no time. But it was just Iwaizumi he was against. And even Iwaizumi had to admit that they wouldn't be able to do this without Kuroo. He was smart, both in good and vicious way, and that made his plans effective. With a help of Kenma they made plans that worked almost without an exception. This little unit needed them.
"Here we are", Yaku, the shortest soldier in the unit, yawned while stretching his arms. "Where are we going?"
"Street nine", Iwaizumi answered with a harsh voice. "Let's go." He led the three other soldiers to the door, and right after they had stepped outside Oikawa moved to walk besides Iwaizumi.
"Wait wait wait", he blabbered. "Isn't Street 9 that…"
"I don't need reminding of that, Tooru", Iwaizumi snarled shortly. "Orders are orders."
"You sure you'll be fine?" the other brunet asked with a low voice.
"I'm fine as long as I stay awake", Iwaizumi huffed and rubbed his eyes with his other hand. "Really, Tooru, I'll say if it gets too difficult."
"You better do that", Oikawa murmured. "I've seen you when your trauma gets triggered too much. I don't want to see that again."

The street was quiet and still. It was still quite dark, and Iwaizumi knew it wasn't the best possible timing for a short patrol, since they would have to check all the houses and wake up the civilians living here. Luckily the street was almost full of abandoned buildings, so they wouldn't need to bother many civilians.
Iwaizumi knocked the wooden door twice and stepped back a little bit, waiting for someone to open the door. The patrol had divided in two parts, Yaku and Kageyama checking one side of the street while Oikawa and Iwaizumi were on the other. Iwaizumi was just going to knock again, when the door handle turned and the door opened.
"Who in the- Oh", there was a middle-aged man standing on the doorstep. "Morning."
"Morning", Iwaizumi greeted when Oikawa had done the same, the vice-captain continued: "I apologize for waking you up, but we are just checking the houses around here. Has everything been okay lately?"
"Yes yes, we are fine", the man answered. "Although I heard some noises from the end of the street yesterday. Would you check that out?"
"Yes, we will", Iwaizumi nodded. "Are you living here alone?"
Before the man had time to answer, a little boy hurried to his side. "Dad, have they seen Wanda? Have they?" the boy asked, clinging on his father's shirt.
"Oh, right", the man said and ruffled his son's hair, raising his look back to the soldiers. "I know that this might sound irrelevant and you probably have enough work already, but our dog disappeared two days ago. She is really important to my son, so if you wouldn't mind…"
"Of course we can tell if we see her", Iwaizumi promised. "What is she like?"
"You are so kind, thank you", the man thanked. "Wanda is a German Shepherd, quite small for that breed. She should still have her collar, it's light blue. She is really kind and should come to you when you call it by name."
"Sounds easy enough", Iwaizumi noted. "We will tell you if we see her and bring her back if possible."
"Thank you so much", the man thanked again and bowed a little. "You can call me Sam. To answer your question, I live with my two sons. There's no others. Mark's big brother is still sleeping, but I can wake him up if you want to."
"There's no need to wake him up", Iwaizumi assured. "Stay safe", he crouched down to ruffle Mark's hair. "We will bring Wanda back."
"Hajime, we really should go", Oikawa reminded carefully. "We should be back before noon."
"Hajime? Iwaizumi Hajime, the vice-captain of this city's soldiers?" Sam asked with widened eyes. "So you must be Oikawa Tooru, right?" He instantly lowered his head. "It's an honor to meet you two."
"I'm amazed that you know us", Iwaizumi noted, running his fingers through his hair in embarrassment. "Do you have familiars in our unit?"
"Tadashi – my older son - has a friend there", Sam explained. "He visits us quite often, but now he hasn't been here in few days, Tadashi is quite worried. I think he called him Kei?" Iwaizumi gazed Oikawa in surprise. Tsukishima had friends outside of the unit?
"Anyhow, there's no need to be honored or anything", Iwaizumi assured, turning his look back to Sam. "We are just like the other soldiers. And Kei is alright, your son doesn't need to worry."
"I'm glad to hear that", Sam sighed in relief. "Is there anything we could do for you?"
"Well, if you have a packet of coffee, that would be much help", Oikawa chirped before Iwaizumi had time to say anything. The vice-captain gazed his teammate angrily, but he just shrugged.
"What? The shops aren't open yet, and you really need something to keep you awake before the next patrol", he defended his actions. "But if you don't have any, that's fine, too", he assured to Sam.
"Actually we have", Sam told, clearly glad that he found some way to help the soldiers. "Neither of us drinks coffee, but we have a few packets in the kitchen. Mark, could you get them?"
"Yes, Dad", the boy said and went back to the house. Iwaizumi didn't ask why they had coffee if neither of them drank that. He could've guessed the reason, some of their relatives that was no longer here had probably drank coffee.
"You really are shameless", Iwaizumi sighed to Oikawa, who just flashed his carefree peace-sign and smiled.
"It's really nothing", Sam assured and took the two packets from his son who had come back. "These would just go to waste otherwise." He handed the packets to Iwaizumi, and the vice-captain put them in Oikawa's rucksack after thanking Sam overwhelmingly.
"Well, as you said, you should probably keep going", Sam noted. "Take care!"
"Same goes to you", Iwaizumi said and the two soldiers waved goodbyes to the civilians. "Stay safe!"
"A dog, huh?" Oikawa sighed. "I understand that pets are important to their owners, but we really have enough work to do already, Hajime. You shouldn't have accepted it."
"We just need to keep out eyes open, that's all", Iwaizumi huffed. "Shouldn't be too draining for you. I neither am going to search for that dog only, we just do same as usual but keep out eyes open for Wanda."
"I guess you are right", Oikawa admitted. "But do you think we will find it alive? If it's as kind and caring as Sam told, it should've returned already."
"No one knows", Iwaizumi sighed and shrugged. "But now we should just concentrate on the patrol."
Oikawa agreed with a slight sound, and they continued checking the buildings. There were no other populated buildings in this side of the street, so they were done quite quickly. They stopped to wait for Yaku and Kageyama when they had only two buildings left to check. Iwaizumi looked around, recognizing the places without a doubt. He saw the building with a broken window which was now sealed with boards. It was the place where they hid with his family, the place where he saw his mother and sisters last time alive. The brunet turned his head, eyes following the path his mother and sisters had most probably tried to escape from the Dolls. The picture of his mother's eyes flashed in his mind, and he squeezed his hands to fists.
"Hajime, your hands are shaking", Oikawa woke him up from his thoughts with concerned voice. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah", the shorter soldier murmured. "I'm fine." He was feeling really uneasy, and he couldn't help the shaking of his hands which were suddenly cold. "Yaku and Kageyama should be here soon, right?"
"Yup, I think they are in that old store there", Oikawa said and pointed to the high building that had sealed windows. "Checking if the upper floors are empty, I guess."
"Good", Iwaizumi let out a relieved sigh and crossed his arms. He didn't have any problems when he had something to do, but staying still like this got slowly on his nerves.
"Has Elysia got used to living in the headquarters?" Oikawa asked and tilted his head. "Did she sleep well?" He was clearly trying to find a topic for a conversation, and Iwaizumi gladly took the opportunity to get his thoughts away from this place.
"Yup, she seemed to be in a deep sleep when I left", the vice-captain told. "Sugawara had given her his underlay, so she would feel more comfortable. I should get a new one for him from somewhere."
"Sugawara is so sweet brother", Oikawa chuckled. "I'm sure he will make Elysia feel cozy. She will spend the days with medics when Sugawara is elsewhere, right?"
"If it is okay with Kiyoko, then yes, otherwise Yachi will take care of her", Iwaizumi said and scratched the back of his head. "Kuroo hasn't showed any interest in the situation, so I think he's fine with it. He would have brought that up yesterday if he wanted to." Oikawa nodded slightly in agreement. Iwaizumi had an urge to tell Oikawa about the conversation he and Kuroo had yesterday, but before he could even think about it again, Kageyama and Yaku jogged to them.
"Sorry we are late", Kageyama aspirated. "Everything's alright in the left side, but many of the civilians mentioned a strange noise from yesterday evening. They said it came from the end of the street."
"We heard that too", Iwaizumi told. "That's why we waited you here. We should go there together just in case."
Kageyama nodded in agreement, and the four soldiers headed to the end of Street 9. Iwaizumi found himself glancing around like he was afraid of something attacking them, and that made the brunet feel upset. Why he had to act like a spooked mouse, when it had been already ten years since anything happened here?
When they reached the final corner, Iwaizumi slowed down a little bit. His nerves were even more on the edge than before, and he tried his best to stay calm when they turned from the corner.
His heart skipped a beat and he took a sharp breath, reeling a few steps back and almost colliding with Oikawa when he saw a bloody corpse laying in the ground. For a few seconds he was sure it was his father, but after he had blinked twice he noticed that it was just an unfamiliar civilian. His heart was racing, and he felt Oikawa's hand on his shoulder.
"Breathe", the sniper whispered with a low voice so the other two soldiers wouldn't hear. "It's okay, Hajime. Breathe."
Iwaizumi took a deep breath and tried to stop the shaking of his hands. "It's fine. Can you… check the corpse?" he asked without looking in his teammate's eyes. "I think I shouldn't do that."
"Of course", Oikawa said and patted the vice-captain's shoulder, then moving to crouch down next to the corpse. Iwaizumi was painfully conscious about the concerned stares in his back, but he didn't even look at Kageyama and Yaku. He put his hands in his pockets, trying to get them at least little bit warmer.
"He's dead, I think for more than five hours", Oikawa said and stood up. "He was a normal civilian, so I suppose a Doll has killed him. But Hajime, I'm concerned about these wounds. If you could…"
"Yup, I'm fine already", Iwaizumi assured and walked to the corpse, crouching down next to it. His frown deepened when he observed the wounds in the man's back and neck.
"They don't look like the wounds that would have been caused by another human", the vice-captain mumbled. "Not even by a Doll. I think it was an animal."
"The street dogs have never attacked anyone before", Oikawa noted. "Should we warn the civilians living nearby?"
"I don't think there's need for that", Iwaizumi said and stood up, quickly wiping the blood stains in his fingers to his trousers. "That would just spread panic. Whatever it was, it's hopefully away from here now."
"Let's hope so", Kageyama sighed. "We have enough problems already."
"We should get him to the headquarters so Kiyoko would say what she thinks of these wounds", Iwaizumi stated. "And bury him then, the corpse would start to stink if we'd leave it here."
"Right, Kageyama, could you carry him?" Oikawa asked surprisingly quick and got an unamused gaze from Iwaizumi. "What? He's the second strongest of us, and you will not carry anything right now, you'll faint."
"Stop pampering me", Iwaizumi huffed. "But you are right, Kageyama would probably be the best one. Is it okay?"
"Well, Yaku can take my rucksack, so I think I'll be fine", Kageyama assured and walked to the corpse, lifting it up easily. "Yup, he is light enough."
"Good", Oikawa hummed and quickly gazed Iwaizumi. "We should go, then."
"Right", Iwaizumi mumbled, fraying his hands together to get them warm. "Let's go." The street felt threatening and unfamiliar, and the vice-captain wanted to get back to the headquarters as soon as possible.
"Should we go from Street 7?" Oikawa suggested. "It's a completely abandoned street, so we could quickly check the buildings there to get one patrol off the schedule."
"That's a good idea", Yaku admitted, and Kageyama nodded in agreement. "I think no one has anything against some free time. What do you think, Iwaizumi?"
The vice-captain rolled his eyes. "I don't know if Kuroo will approve this, but fine. Let's go from Street 7."

As Oikawa had predicted, checking the abandoned buildings didn't take long, and they were back at the headquarters way before noon. Iwaizumi's hands were shaking the whole time, and that seemed to concern Oikawa. Even Kageyama and Yaku looked like they wanted to ask what was wrong, but luckily they had enough manners to not start asking anything. It was cold, but that wasn't the cause of the shaking. Iwaizumi's nerves were still on the edge, even when he tried to calm down and breathe normally.
"Pathetic", he snarled when they got to the hallway of the headquarters and Kageyama and Yaku had gone to the medics. "I can't stop my hand from shaking, although I am not even near the street anymore."
"That's not pathetic", Oikawa assured. "You just need a slight break and some coffee. We had bad luck, that corpse was in worst possible place, but you just need to organize your thoughts a bit and you'll be back on track. And that's why, my dear vice-captain, you will go to take a nap. I will make some coffee, and you will rest. The hunt can wait a few hours and the patrol is the evening one, so you have free time now."
"Are you trying to pretend being my mom or something?" Iwaizumi huffed. "If I wouldn't be so damn tired, you couldn't pamper me around like that. I thought it would be the best if we'd go to the hunt now, at noon, when the Dolls are the most active."
"Oh no, you don't", Oikawa chuckled and pushed the other soldier towards the coach. "Iwa-chan is a good boy now and will go to sleep if I say so."
"Where that nickname came from again? You really sound like an old woman, stop that", Iwaizumi complained. "And your hand is freezing cold, take it away from my back!" He collapsed to the coach and turned his back to Oikawa, accepting his fate without more complaints. "You better not wake me up then, stupid."
"I won't, you don't need to worry", Oikawa promised. "I'll just drink all the coffee if you don't wake up until it's done."
"You freaking shithead", Iwaizumi mumbled, changed his posture to a more comfortable one and closed his eyes. The darkness quickly turned into a restless sleep that started to feel like a routine for him – the one full of nightmares and memories.