Empyrean

“Oh! Toss to me, Kageyama! Toss to me!” Hinata called. “I’m not Kageyama, IDIOT!” Tsukishima snapped.

“Where’s Kageyama, then?”

“I don’t know! Look, I gotta go.”

“...Oh, well, okay.”

Hinata watched as Tsukishima walked over to the door. Tsukishima pulled the door and Hinata turned away picking up a ball.

“Ugh, the door is jammed or something…” Tsukishima said in disgust. Hinata looked up.

“I’m sure you’re just not doing it right…” He snickered. Hinata went over to the door and tried opening it himself. It didn’t open.

“What the heck…” He murmured.

Tsukishima crossed his arms.

“See?”

“That’s not right...this never happened before- WHOA-” There was an unsteady lurch to the gym and they both fell.

“Earthquake?!” He asked.

“Couldn’t have been!” Tsukishima snapped.

“Are you alright? Your nose is bleeding.”

Tsukishima, who fell face first into the gym floor, glared. “I’m fine, Shrimpy.”

Hinata flushed. “Oh shut up, Stingyshima!”

Tsukishima got up and looked around. “I’m going to try and open the door again.” He muttered.

Hinata sat up, hugging his knees. “It’s not going to work.” He called.

“Just shut up!” Tsukishima replied. Sure enough, the door wouldn’t open. Hinata covered his mouth. He laughed out loud holding his stomach. “I told you it wouldn’t work, Tsukishima!”

Hinata stopped laughing as soon as the blonde looked at him with the iciest glare.

“Shut up.” He repeated. “How are we supposed to leave? We’re clearly stuck, and I don’t want to be stuck with some shrimp like you!”

“Why do you hate me so much?” Hinata asked. Tsukishima made a tch sound and turned away. “How are we supposed to leave now?”

“Maybe the windows?” Hinata suggested.

“They have bars on them, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Tsukishima checked his pockets for his phone and unlocked it. “What are you doing?” Hinata asked curiously.

“Calling Sugawara-senpai.” He answered dialing the number. There was silence over the phone. Hinata got up and tried to open the door while Tsukishima was trying to get on hold of their upperclassman.

“Hinata, stop, you might break-″ The door slid open and Tsukishima stared. “H...How did you do that?”

“What? I just opened the door...nothing special.” He answered shrugging.

“But- …” Tsukishima slowly lowered his phone and canceled the call. “...How?”

Hinata made a face. “By sliding it open…?”

“Don’t you act like I’m the stupid one between the two of us.” Tsukishima snarled.

“Well, I’m leaving.” He snapped back. Hinata stepped forward and fell out of the gym. Tsukishima walked over and looked down.

“Why do you look like you’re eleven years old?” Tsukishima asked, snickering.

“WHY ARE YOU SO TALL AND LOOK SO YOUNG?” Hinata accused.

“What are you talking about?” Tsukishima looked down and he was indeed, his eleven year old self, only 4-5 inches shorter than he used to be. “What in the world...?”

“Norman! That’s not fair! You can just tag me!”

“Gomen, Emma, but that’s how the game works.”

“Norman! Emma! Mom is looking for you, it’s time to go in!”

“Coming Ray!”

Hinata and Tsukishima froze. They were in the forest. The gym isn’t in the forest. Why are they in the forest? Footsteps rang out and then they stopped.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” A girl with orange hair and wide green eyes exclaimed. A boy with messy hair covering his eyes and another boy with grey hair and blue eyes.

“I-I’m sorry!” Hinata bows. “I-I’m Hinata Shoyo! That’s Tsukishima Kei! W-We’re lost-”

“That story’s about as believable as the monster under a bed.” The black haired boy said.

“Listen here, Emo Boy-”

“What did you call me?”

“We’re not lying. We were in our gym one minute and now we’re here.”

“Really? Why were you in a gymnasium?” The orange haired girl asked. Hinata looked at Tsukishima.

“We play volleyball…” He answered. “You know, I think I read about a game called volleyball in the library…” The grey haired boy said.

“Right,” The black haired boy said. “They used to play it.”

Tsukishima crossed his arms. “Who are you guys?” The trio exchanged glances. “I’m Emma.” The girl spoke first. “These are my friends, Ray,” She motioned to the black haired boy. “And Norman.” She waved at the white haired boy. Emma frowned her eyes landing on the two new strangers.

“And we need to take you to Mom.”