6

Ushijima and Oikawa return to the gym, and join their teams for cool down stretches. Reaching for his toes to the count of thirty seconds, when Oikawa rises, he expects to find Iwaizumi before him. He expects to find Iwaizumi before him, a frown on his otherwise flawless face as he mutters, "I thought you were telling Ushijima your whole life story. What took you so long?"

But when he rises, he doesn't find Iwazumi before him. In fact, no one is before him... Instead his whole team is spread out, giving each other a fair amount of space to do their stretches. "Where's Iwaizumi?" He asks, all the while letting his gaze wander. Iwaizumi HAS to be in the gym. Where else would he be? With his wandering gaze helping him realize that Kindaichi is also missing, he adds, "Where's Kindaichi?"

"They're probably in the locker room," the pink haired Hanamaki responds, after finishing his arm circles. "After all, not everyone is patient enough to wait for you." With a brief pause, he adds, "What were you and Ushijima talking about?"

His words go unheard by Oikawa. He is far too worried about Iwaizumi and Kindaichi. Neither one of them, no matter how annoyed by him they get, are the type to leave without telling him... Without texting him. Deciding to first check the locker rooms, he practically sprints from the court, with his stretches forgotten.

Once in the locker room, he shouts, "Kindaichi? Iwa-chan?" When he gets no response, his voice starts to shake. "Is a-anyone in h-here?" As the silence continues, as it seems to ring within his ears, he can feel a wave of panic wash over him. What if Ushijima isn't the only one able to recognize him? What if there are other cyborgs and aliens present? What if said alien or cyborg took them? What if, what if, what if...

The only reason his breathing doesn't become shallow and rapid is because he realizes something... He hasn't checked his phone yet. Jogging over to his locker and putting in the combination with trembling hands, he checks his phone.

No new messages

Oikawa could cry. In one last attempt to get ahold of them and to remain calm, he calls each of them. He starts with Kindaichi.

The person you are calling is currently unavailable.

Cursing, he calls Iwaizumi.

The person you are calling is currently unavailable.

"Oikawa," he turns to Ushijima's voice, and the cyborg stands at the doorway. Oikawa sighs, packing his phone into his bag before grabbing its straps to sling it over his shoulder. "We should leave now, before everyone gets in here to change. Are you okay, Your Highness?"

Oikawa clicks his tongue at the mentioning of his status, and Ushijima looks down apologetically. "I need to find Iwa-chan. The rest don't matter, Iwa-chan would be crushed if I just disappeared like that." Ushijima only frowns (if that were more possible) and assures him that they'd stop to say goodbye once Lesya's been found. But Oikawa being Oikawa, he stubbornly wanted to stay.

"Leave him a voicemail then," Ushijima suggests, leaving the locker room as the players from Seijoh start filling up the room. He huffs and leaves hastily, only taking out his phone once he was outside the school. Ushijima was probably packing up, Oikawa dialed Iwaizumi's number swiftly. "This is Iwaizumi. Please leave a message after the beep."

"Iwa-chan, this is difficult to say but.. I'm leaving. Just.., leaving. Don't come find me. Eat well, have enough rest and lead the team well. It would've been nice to graduate with you, Makki and Mattsun. They'll take good care of you. And don't worry about me too much because you're not my mom, Iwa-chan! Farewell. I.. I love you, okay? Bye."

When Oikawa turns to face Ushijima, he can't help but sniffle a bit. The two stand in silence for a while until Oikawa picks himself up and decides that it is okay to go. They reach a few places where Oikawa thought Lesya should have be, with no luck. It is only by later afternoon they decide to check the junkyard. Or rather Oikawa does. Ushijima isn't fond of the idea.

"Unless your spaceship is actually a car in poor condition, I don't understand why we are here," Ushijima remarks, earning himself a laugh from Oikawa.

"You've been on Earth for a while. Why didn't you just refer to these cars as 'shitty'? You must be familiar with the word. It flows off the tongue better," Oikawa says, all the while skipping his way through the junkyard. "I supposed it's for the best that you didn't use 'shitty' though. If Lesya caught wind of you insinuating that she is 'shitty' she would run you over."

It isn't until Oikawa feels a strong wind blow by him just as he is mid skip that he realizes he made a mistake. He uttered that last few sentences in front of a certain rusted Chevy classic V-8. Said V-8, was running and seemed to scream as it reved it's seemingly non-existent engine.

Seconds later, after Oikawa completes his skip, he turns to look at Ushijima. He looks just in time to see the muscular cyborg run over by the car. Well, the spaceship disguised as a car.

For once in his life, Oikawa Tooru is speechless. With his mouth hanging open, Oikawa lets his gaze shift back and forth between Ushijima and Lesya. Did he really just see what he thought he saw? Before he can close his mouth or attempt to speak, Ushijima stands up.

Despite his clothes now being ripped, his skin turning violet in some places, and a few sparks from his left eye, Ushijima wears a blank expression. "I don't think your spaceship likes me" he remarks.

'I DON'T LIKE YOU' Lesya confirms, by having the words flash on her windshield, 'AND I DON'T TRUST YOU.' The windshield grows red as Lesya seems to grow increasingly agitated. 'THERE IS A SPACESHIP ENTERING EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. I BET IT IS HERE BECAUSE OF THE CYBORG.' Revving her engine once again, Lesya seems to be thinking of running Ushijima once more. Or, knowing her, a couple hundred more times.

"Lesya," Oikawa says, once he regains his composure. "The spaceship isn't here because of Ushijima. It's here because of me. The spaceships will always be coming for me until they catch me, until..." He lets his voice trail off. He lets the silence say the words he can't say. Until I'm dead.

A few minutes of silence pass as all present take a moment to think. "I apologize," Ushijima says, becoming the first one to break the silence, "for not thinking of it sooner. But the gym has camera's outside, it right? I should be able to connect to them and see where Kindaichi and Iwaizumi went. I may also be able to connect to some of Earth's satellites and see what kind of ship is entering the atmosphere. I can do both, but not at the same time. Which should I do first?"

Oikawa knows that his life could very well depend on knowing what kind of ship is entering the atmosphere. In fact, knowing just what or who is entering the atmosphere could help him figure out where, and how he should hide. Despite this, he finds himself saying, "Find out where Kindaichi and Iwaizumi are first."

Even though Ushijima raises a questioning eyebrow and Lesya emits a worried beep, neither argue with him. Neither insist on finding out about the spaceship first.

Oikawa can feel his heart grown heavy as Ushima's frown grows deeper. He didn't think such a thing was possible... "W-Will," his voice shakes, oh how he hates that it shakes, "w-will they b-be alright?"

"Iwaizumi won't be safe for long," Ushijma responds, and with both his eyes gaining an intense red hue, he adds, "and Kindaichi won't be if I get my hands on him."

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CHAPTER CREDITS

Character design & development (for Oikawa): Nika Ravenscraft

Character design & development (for Lesya): Nika Ravenscraft

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

Scenario development: Nika Ravenscraft & Kira (@nvillera)

Writing: Nika Ravenscraft & Kira (@nvillera)

Editing:Nika Ravenscraft & Kira (@nvillera)