5

/Thanks to my wonderful coauthor, nvillera this chapter is being released early!/

Iwaizumi could feel himself falling but he never hit the ground. His eyes open to see that he is at least half an inch close to the ground but he's being pulled up fast, turning to see his junior teammate Kindaichi.

"K-Kindaichi," Iwaizumi breathes out and peeks behind the pillar again in alarm. Oikawa and Ushijima were gone. Iwaizumi steps out of his hiding place, Kindaichi following closely behind. "Were you looking for the, uh- captains, yes?"

Kindaichi's voice snaps him out of his thoughts and Iwaizumi turns back to the junior to nod. "They were being weird - talking about some nonsense," Iwaizumi assured, taking a slow step ahead of Kindaichi to get back to the gym. "Let's head back, they might be there," Iwaizumi smiles. "Princes and spaceships-"

Iwaizumi meant to say it under his breath but his thoughts were aloud. It doesn't escape Kindaichi's ears. "What did you say?" But before Iwaizumi could turn around again to respond, Kindaichi's hand was over his mouth, another holding him across his body. "You know about him," Kindaichi whispers into his ear, his head swiftly looking around for anyone witnessing. "And you know a lot more, right? This can be used against us.. I'm sorry Iwaizumi-san, but you'll have to come with me if you want to live."

Before Iwaizumi can shout or bite or resist in any way, there is a blinding flash of light. The light makes his eyes feel as though they are burning their way through his skull yet, Kindaichi doesn't seem affected, with his grip on him still remaining strong.

"You just experienced teleportation. Sorry for that, I've heard it is an unpleasant experience for humans," Kindaichi says, with a sad laugh. "I'm sorry for doing that to you, Iwaizumi-san. You're a great volleyball player and guy. You don't deserve any of this. But we don't really have a choice. Oikawa is dangerous. He's an evil alien that is trying to take over the Earth."

Iwaizumi is tempted to laugh. Even though, at this point he has begrudgingly accepted the fact that Oikawa (and likely Ushijima and Kindaichi) are aliens, he refuses to believe that Oikawa is evil. He especially doesn't believe that Oikawa wants to take over Earth. If by some off chance Oikawa desired to take over the Earth, his hardworking ass would have done it a long time ago. Due to Kindaichi's obvious lie, he is tempted to bite and kick his way out of his grasp. However, a part of him can't help but feel that it would be best to hear Kindaichi out, even if his side is mostly lies.

To his surprise, Kindaichi emits a loud sigh. "You don't believe me? Why would you believe me? I'm just stupid, weak Kindaichi... I'm just stupid, weak Kindaichi who is 'only strong enough to deal with humans'. Those words are Kyotani, not mine. God, I hate Kyotani." As he vents, his grip on Iwaizumi loosens. "I really don't want to do this, you know that don't you? I don't really want to hurt you or Oikawa. However if I don't, Kyotani will kill me! He's a beast, in both the metaphorical and physical sense." Clearing his throat, he adds, "To save us all from horrible suffering, tell me what you know about Oikawa. Tell me so Kyotani will have no reason to kill me or you." With this said, he releases Iwaizumi from his grip.

"What the hell, Kindaichi?" Iwaizumi shouts, suddenly grateful for the fact that they are in the middle of nowhere, with no one to overhear him shout and swear at Kindaichi. "Do you really expect me to believe you, to help you? If I help you, Oikawa will be killed by Kyotani. I'm not going to let Kyotani kill him or us! We'll find a way to save ourselves and Oikawa. Kyotani, beast or not isn't immortal. At least hopefully he isn't, I don't know much about aliens."

"He's not immortal, thankfully," Kindaichi responds, with a surprising amount of calmness. "I will admit, with the right people, Kyotani could be killed. However, if you kill Kyotani you awaken Yahaba. Yahaba is far more terrifying and powerful than Kyotani."

"What is Kyotani like? What is Yahaba like? Perhaps you are overestimating them," Iwaizumi says in a voice sharp due to determination. "There has to be a way for us to fight them, or to talk to sense into them, or make a deal with them or something! Think outside the box!"

After a few minutes of silence, Kindaichi's eyes grow wide. "I have an idea, but it is a crazy one... After all, no one has seen the ship or the crew for years. However, if we could contact or board Virgo Stellar we could fight Yahaba and Kyotani. However, after we fight them, we would have to fight Terushima. You may think I'm exaggerating when I say this, but I'm not. Terushima is the devil of the sky. He won't stop until Oikawa is dead and until he has control over the entire universe. We may not survive a fight with him... Hell, even with help, we may not survive a fight with Kyotani or Yahaba!"

"You're scared," Iwaizumi responds in a surprisingly soft voice. "That's okay, I am too. After all, it isn't everyday that you find out some of your friends are aliens that are getting hunted by other aliens. However, we can't just cower beneath them. We must try to fight them. We, at the very least, must go down swinging."

"Iwaizumi-san," Kindaichi responds, with his eyes till wide. "You'd really do that? You'd really do that for Oikawa?"

"Yeah," Iwaizumi responds. His voice grows even quieter as he realizes what he just said... What he just planned to do. "Yeah I would."

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CHAPTER CREDITS

Character design & development (for Iwaizumi): Kira (@nvillera)

Character design & development (for Kindaichi): Nika Ravenscraft

Scenario development: Nika Ravenscraft & Kira (@nvillera)

Writing: Nika Ravenscraft & Kira (@nvillera)

Editing: Kira (@nvillera)