The coldness of the water as he gently sinks down.
Then suddenly his surroundings changed, and now he was running aimlessly.
But he felt scared. And he didn't knew why. All he knew was he had to run. He was in danger if he didn't.
Who or what was he running away from?
A shadow loomed over him and his eyes widened in fear.
Was this the end? Was he going to die?
He didn't want to die.
Yet, despite running away from the shadow, it kept following him. Every step he took, it got nearer and nearer.
Hiura whimpered. Where was everyone? Who would be able to save him?
Where were they when he needed them?
The shadow then managed to grab him and trap him, making Hiura even more scared than he already was.
He tightly shut his eyes. He knew. He knew that he was going to die.
He didn't even manage to say goodbye to anyone.
And just as the shadow grabbed his neck to strangle him, he managed to make a loud scream, hoping to alert anyone who was near.
Hiura's eyes snapped open, still screaming as he sat up.
He still hasn't registered that the Fubuki brothers were beside him, trying to get his attention.
His scream soon reduced to ragged deep breaths, eyes still wide in fear and he was still unaware of his surroundings.
His mind didn't even register when Fubuki gently hugged him, hoping to calm him down, nor did he hear Fubuki telling Atsuya to get a bottle of water and the others going to their room, alarmed after hearing the scream.
Fubuki and Atsuya had found Hiura deeply asleep when they entered Fubuki and Hiura's shared room.
Atsuya had poked Hiura's cheek to check if he really was asleep, earning an un-amused look from his older brother.
The two were quietly talking about Hakuren when Hiura started to show signs of having a nightmare.
And it was Atsuya who noticed it first.
They both went to Hiura and gently shook him.
They both looked at each other in concern as the nightmare persisted and Hiura won't wake up. That is...
Until Hiura woke up screaming.
"Hiura-kun! Hiura-kun, it's a nightmare!" Fubuki tried to say, but his words fell on deaf ears as Hiura looked around in fear, though unseeingly as he was still stuck in the nightmare.
"Oi! Hiura!" Atsuya said as he shook him by the shoulders a bit.
The Fubukis calmed down a bit as the scream subsided.
"Atsuya, get a bottle of water." Fubuki said as he gently hugged Hiura, hoping that it'll calm him down.
Endou and Kazemaru was by the door the moment Atsuya had left, concerned and alarmed with the scream.
"Fubuki, what happened?" Endou asked softly as he entered the room, Kazemaru did so as well in case someone needed to enter the room.
"A nightmare, Captain. A bad one, I must say. He's still not out of it." Fubuki said as he ran his fingers on the sweaty ice-blue locks.
"Should I call Asuto and Mansaku?" Kazemaru offered, earning a nod from the white haired teen.
But just as Kazemaru was about to leave, Hiura was looking around his surroundings as if he was trying to remember where he was.
He then realized he was being held by someone which made him tense up, something that Fubuki felt and Kazemaru and Endou saw.
In Hiura's current state, he couldn't remember anyone with white hair and pale skin. If he remembered correctly, Hiyori was a bit tanned. Then... Who was this? He slowly started to shake in fear which alarmed the three Inazuma Japan members.
"Hiura!" Mansaku and Asuto's voice broke Hiura's trance-like state. The said purple eyed boy looked at the two Inakuni boys and let Mansaku take him away from the still-unknown person. He needed this, he needed to feel Mansaku's familiar warmth. Asuto's familiar fingers as he stroked his damp ice-blue locks. Their soft voices saying it'll be okay. He felt his body slowly relaxing, his eyes getting heavier each second and soon he was fast asleep.
"Oi. What was that?" Atsuya asked from the doorway, clutching the bottle tightly. "You know how it nearly gave me and Aniki a heart attack when he screamed."
"We don't know what kind of nightmares he gets. He doesn't remember anything about his nightmares. We tried asking him before. But it's that bad to get him to that state that you guys saw." Asuto asked as he gently touched Hiura's cheek. "Actually, this was still a bit tame."
"Tame?! You call that tame?! He looked like he was about to die!" Atsuya responded
"Did something bad happened back then Asuto?" Kazemaru asked, still staring at his ice-blue haired kouhai.
Asuto and Mansaku both shared a look before sighing.
"All we know is he has amnesia about his past. We met Hiura when we were 7. Then something happened when we were 10, making him forget everything. He never recovered his memories. We sometimes ask him or give hints, but all we get as an answer is 'we do? I can't remember'. We aren't even allowed to tell him that he has amnesia. Or he might try to remember and Papa said it's for the best if he doesn't remember.." Mansaku said, gently tucking Hiura on the bed, relieved that there was a peaceful expression on his face.
"If they're saying that it's for the best that he doesn't remember then it must be something very traumatic." Gouenji said as he entered the room "Everyone should be informed. Or we would risk someone accidentally saying things about it to him."
"We should inform them tomorrow. Kazemaru, you hang out with Hiura often. Do you think you can distract him for a while when the members of Inakuni explains things to us?" Endou asked
Kazemaru nodded "I think I heard enough about this anyway. I'll take care of him." He smiled
"Thank you, Kazemaru-san!" Asuto smiled brightly.
"Besides... He's like a little brother that I don't have. I have been fond of him since we competed against your team."
Asuto and Mansaku smiled warmly at that before they looked at the sleeping teen.
"No more nightmares anytime soon, huh?" Asuto said as he ran his fingers on Hiura's hair and gently patted his head. "You scared everyone when you screamed. Goujin-senpai, Kozoumaru, Norika and Golem had to tell everyone to just calm down and say it was nothing. Just sleep. We'll tell Coach and Sekiya-san about this tomorrow."
"He doesn't know?" Endou asked in surprise
"He does. But he keeps record on when the nightmare occurs. He said he might find some pattern or something." Asuto responded
"Well... Now that he's calm, I think we all should go to bed." Fubuki said as he yawned.
Everyone present in the room nodded before saying good nights to each other and went to their respective rooms. Atsuya lingered a few seconds longer as he stared at his brother and at Hiura.
Fubuki just gave him a small nod before Atsuya went to his room.
After making sure that Hiura was deeply asleep, Fubuki gently joined him at Hiura's bed.
When Atsuya had nightmares, he usually sleeps at the same bed with him. And he knew Hiura just needed the same comfort that he gives his brother.
After finding a comfortable sleeping position, he gently held the midfielder's hand, noting how small it was compared to his.
With Hiura's comforting warmth and small breathing, Fubuki was soon lulled to sleep.
Kazemaru and Hiura had left first thing in the morning, with the teal haired teen saying that he wanted to go for a walk before practice and wanted Hiura's company.
Just like what Asuto and the other Inakuni members were expecting, Hiura didn't even recall what happened last night.
Endou had asked how Hiura was after the nightmare and all he got was a confused look from the ice-blue haired boy.
With that reaction, everyone decided not to ask further, not wanting him to remember the horrible nightmare that shook him so badly.
Kazemaru occasionally looks at Hiura, who was quiet during their walk but looked happy. If there's something he liked about the midfielder is that he can stay with him for hours in peace without the silence turning to awkwardness. Both of them could spend hours together, reading or just left in their own thoughts.
But right now wasn't one of those times. He needed to get Hiura far from the dorm and give the others time to talk what they needed to talk about.
"Hey. There's a cafe near the library that just opened. But I heard their latte and Iced Mocha drinks are really good. Do you want to go and try it? We have a lot of time." Kazemaru added the last sentence after seeing the reluctant look on Hiura's face.
Hiura smiled and nodded before he followed Kazemaru to the said cafe.
After browsing through the menu of drinks and the displayed cakes, to which Hiura automatically said he wanted to try their blueberry cheesecake, the two were soon at their table, waiting for their orders to be served.
But what they thought was a peaceful hangout was soon disrupted by a man they both didn't know.
The waiter served their orders before staring at Hiura, occasionally looking at his body before staring back at his eyes.
Hiura looked back at him, but was really uncomfortable.
"Excuse me, but you're making him uncomfortable. Should you go back to attending other customers?" Kazemaru said but was ignored by the waiter.
"Your form looks good. Such a slim waist and a beautiful body." The waiter smirked at Hiura, who looked confused and scared at the same time.
Why was he staring at him like that.
That comment made Kazemaru frown and go on high alert in case this waiter tried to do something to Hiura. "Excuse me? What did you say to my friend?" He said, purposely not mentioning Hiura's name.
"Just complementing your friend," he said, not really caring about Kazemaru's hostile attitude towards him.
"K-Kazemaru-san..." Hiura said as he looked at the teal haired teen. "We can't talk to him like that. Grandma said we can't be rude to people older than us."
Kazemaru bit his lip in frustration. Hiura needed to learn that not all adults needed respect, especially when things like these happen.
"I see he has more manners than you do." The waiter said, still smirking at Kazemaru before touching Hiura by his shoulder.
"Don't touch him!" Kazemaru said as he stood up and grabbed Hiura by his wrist. He no longer cared about their food, all he needed to do was to leave the place and bring Hiura back to the dorms, a place where this man couldn't touch and harass the ice-blue haired boy.
"Don't underestimate me, Kazemaru Ichirouta. I can do things that you couldn't think of at your age." He smirked as he took a step forward towards the two.
Kazemaru gently pulled Hiura to his back out of instinct, his mind telling him to protect his kouhai in case something happens.
"And hurting a minor could make things very bad for you." Kazemaru snapped back, the growl already present on his voice.
"Hurting you? Oh no." He chuckled "Not you. But the pretty one behind you." This made Kazemaru's eyes widened and stand in front of Hiura even more protectively. "I'll show you what I can do then."
He pressed a button from his phone before the whole cafe was covered with smoke.
But it wasn't just any kind of smoke.
'Sleeping gas?!' Kazemaru thought as he tried to run to the door while holding Hiura's wrist.
By his peripheral vision, he saw the cashier and the other customers falling on the ground, asleep.
The waiter was missing, he noted.
But as Kazemaru tried to push the door open, but the door won't budge no matter how hard he pushed. It was heavily locked.
He felt Hiura's weight suddenly becoming heavy, and Kazemaru didn't have to look to know what happened to the ice-blue haired boy. He knew that he was knocked out by the sleeping gas as well.
Taking out his phone, he was thankful that he had Endou on speed dial.
He felt his eyes getting heavier. And he gently positioned himself on the floor, not wanting to collapse on top of Hiura.
Endou answered after the first ring. "Hello? Kazemaru? We're still not yet done talking-"
"Help... Endou... Help..." Kazemaru managed to say before his body gave in to the sleeping gas well.
He gave Hiura a last look before his eyes shut.